A Messy Array of Stories, AUs, Covers and Many More

Mania and Depression on a Scale (Fanmade KR Oneshot)

It was so... So close...

Bright blue eyes looked at the briefcase hungrily. A smirk formed underneath his mask.

Another target found. Looks like an easy job too! What a joke!

(It was only the beginning of his growth. Of a journey beyond his imagination.)

"Now, won't you be a dear and help me, Kouri-kun? Imagine, all the information about your family that you could ever want.... So.... So close. Why risk it for people who don't even matter in the long run?"

Feeling the Dopant-Yummy hybrid holding him down, Jin felt his head pound. No! He refused to let him win this battle! This man was lying! Everything on his face told him that this piece of crap only wanted to use his mentor's status, his Imaginal Energy for his own twisted needs!

He knew why he seemed so hesitant, of course. The chance to meet the family he had never known. The chance to know why, just why, they had abandoned him... It was too good. And he refused to face reality.

However... Reality always came slapping back. He learnt that when facing his own sister... Who he had thought was lost forever.

The chains... He knew now that everyone had suffered. Not just him... All his predecessors.... His mentor... Everyone had hurt.

And so...

Those chains... Could they be used to connect to everyone? To help them heal?

He closed his eyes, controlling his breath.

Use the chains to break free! To connect and give them the strength they need!

"You're... You're wrong,” he said as he forced himself to his feet. "Sensei.... Don't believe this madman... Do you... Truly think that someone from a world made of fiction can give you actual answers?"

Kouri paused. The hybrids seemed to freeze, and Jin pushed them off, feeling a chain break with every confident step forward. "Stop lying to yourself. You and I both know that the truth of whoever your family is could remain obscure forever."

"Oh? How are you so sure that I don't know?" The villain smirked, seeming confident and banking on one thing alone; what he thought was him, a psychopath. Someone who couldn't relate.

So his smirk disappeared when Jin answered, "Your body language tells a different story. And I know the pain you feel, Sensei. I am so sorry that you... Had to suffer so badly at the hands of your place's humanity. But you were the one who made me realise... That it wasn't all that bad. Sure my family died because of mental stigma. Sure I remained friendless for so long. But the pain I have now. It's connected to you. You made me, and if I can, no, I WILL CONNECT TO YOU! I WILL SNAP YOU OUT OF THIS! AND I WILL PUT AN END TO THIS MADMAN WHO THOUGHT TOYING WITH HEARTS WAS OKAY!!"

"J-Jin...” Sento's eyes widened.

"How wonderful! You're fighting back! How futile!" Kougami regained his composure. Made him wonder who the real psycho was now. "But you can't do anything! None of the Riders here can fight! Your own Driver is gone!"

Jin's blue eyes looked around. Sougo was crying. Geiz was shaking. Tsukuyomi shuddered. Shotaro's fists were tight. Philip had tears falling down his cheeks. Sento was trying but he was slowly succumbing. Aruto seemed to have been consumed by his guilt. Ikki was pale. Touma wasn't fighting anymore. Takeru was hugging himself. Emu curled up into a ball. Gentaro growled. Haruto shivered. Kouta was limp. Shinnosuke had thrown his belt aside. Even Tsukasa, Ace and Ankh seemed to have given up.

But... "Pitting them against those they love. What a cheap move. Not even Little Albert did that sort of crap. You're nothing but a loser who uses people to fuel your ego while pretending to be on their side. You KNEW there was another way to have saved Eiji and yet you let him kill himself to protect a girl. You teamed up with his Greeeed. You WORKED with the Pharaoh. Honestly, not even I stooped that low. I was a phantom thief but I didn't destroy people the way you did."

"Does it truly matter? You of all people should know that humanity in this world cluster should be eradicated. Look at the evils it-"

"Oh cry me a river. You literally are THE most hypocritical person I have ever seen. Man, if I had a Core Medal for the amount of times you manipulated people... I think even Sensei can agree that it would exceed the existing number."

Kouri's eyes widened. "Jin..."

Standing in front of his makeshift throne, Akasei Jin met Kougami's eyes and said, "I started out as a phantom thief. Refused to see myself as a Kamen Rider. Felt so pathetic to be fighting for someone else's ideals of justice. To try to save people who may not want to be saved. But... In these two years I've been with Sensei... And the time I spent with the Heisei and Reiwa riders... It led me to realise something. Perhaps it was destiny that led me to steal from Sensei, to find the Driver and help him fight the Impulls. Every piece of this pain... I will take it and use it to fuel connection. I have been isolating myself for too long! I won't give up! Because I am the son of Akasei Allen and Akasei Miyamoto, the older brother to Akasei Ichidai, student to Shujin Kouri. A Reiwa Kamen Rider, one who will connect everyone around me!"

He held the chains that began to manifest from his Dopant-Yummy. "These chains will break! I will break them and connect them to those around me! All these sempais... All these supportive friends I've made along the way! I WILL CONNECT WITH THEM NO MATTER HOW HARD IT IS!"

His Driver then.... Morphed into something else.

"Connect!" He said while pushing his chains into the belt.

"Connected! Identity Confirmed! Kamen Rider, Empathy, 90%!"

"HENSHIN!" He roared.

The belt glowed as the chains wrapped around him.

"Beautiful! Beautiful! A birth of a new Kamen Rider!" Kougami clapped. What an amazing show!

"What the...?!" Ankh's eyes widened. This was...!

"Jin...!" Kouri smiled. He... He heard his words loud and clear now.

The chains solidified to become a metallic body as a bucket hat landed on his head. Magenta irises looked back at Kougami, white armour decorated by chains as he summoned a morning star.

"Kamen Rider Empathic Connect. I won't lose this! I will heal and break every chain as much as I can!!" He declares.

"MAGENTA!!"

"... Tsukasa, really?"

"What? It's a beautiful colour."

"Before anything! Make sure you stomp out every piece of self-doubt!" Empathic Connect said while taking out his patient tags and putting it on his wrists, allowing him to turn the hybrid monsters into chains.

"Alright, this is more like it!!" Shotaro grinned.

"Grrr...! ATTACK!" Kougami roared, and Empathic Connect chuckled. Perfect!

"You fell right into my trap. Sensei!!"

"Jin!!" He barely managed to toss it his way, and he grabbed the bandages as he turned it into a sword, ripping them apart left and right while also restoring his comrades' willpower.

They could feel it... His genuine desire to reach out, no matter the consequences.

And that led to them breaking out of their chains as Sougo smiled. "Thank you, Jin!"

"The least I can do," He answered before moving to the side. "Ankh?"

He smirked while holding out his Driver. "Always ready!!"

The others got their belts too and Jin inhaled as he twirled his chains around.

It was time... Time for the final battle.