Kamen Rider Chrono

Chapter 18: Trishception

The night was young, and the hustle and bustle of the city provided an adequate light as Trish and her future self sat outside a fancy restaurant. Inside, their brother was paying for their meal, giving them time to chat.

Trish: "...I know it's been a while, but... this is so awkward."

Older Trish: "Trust me, I know." The future lady had let out a sigh and looked into the starless sky. "It wasn't my intention to reveal myself and join your life..."

Trish: "Yet here you are. It's honestly kinda weird staring at how I become in the future..." 

Older Trish: "Just remember that the future isn't set in motion. It can always change, hopefully. It has to..."

Trish: "Right, because you came back in time to stop the world from getting destroyed? Honestly. I wonder how you ever do it..."

Older Trish: "Hm? Is that because I'm a Kamen Rider?"

Trish: "That's exactly it! That dragon told me that I was the only person who could become Kamen Rider Chrono and use it to its full extent... yet when I was fighting that Rabbit Zodiac, I froze. Kibou had to save me... and when I was attacked again, I was saved by you. I don't understand how someone like me could possibly be a Kamen Rider."

Older Trish: "You just need the right motivation. That's all..." The older Trish closed her eyes, and images of her Kibou flashed in her mind. The final moments of her love.

Trish: "The right motivation? Well, I guess stopping the destruction of the world would be great motivation. Still, I can't possibly see myself doing something like that."

Older Trish: "Trust me when I say I didn't either. In fact, I still have my doubts. Just because I have doubts doesn't mean I should stop, though. I have to fight regardless of them."

Trish: "Then I'd say the future is safe in your hands. It's got three strong people defending it."

The older Trish smiled when she heard her present self say that. The older lady nodded and thought to herself that she had to change the future. Chrono, Gears, and herself would change the future.

Older Trish: "Say, would you mind staying here by yourself for a bit? I gotta talk to your... er... our brother."

Trish: "Yeah, I'm fine with just staying here for a while. Go do whatever it is that you got to do."

Just as Trish had finished saying, their brother had stepped out of the restaurant and was making his way over to them. Older Trish decided to intercept him, pressing her hand against his shoulder and shoving him back lightly.

Older Trish: "I gotta ask you something. Something very important."

Connor: "Can it wait until we get home? It's getting late, and we all have to wake up early in the morning."

Older Trish: "No, I'm sorry but... but this is something I gotta ask right now." The serious look on Trish's face caused the smile on Connor's to fade, and he nodded.

Connor: "Go ahead and ask anything you'd like. I'll be an open book."

Older Trish: "It has to do with the other day. Kibou, Yuya, and I were taking a break, and Zodiacs we thought we had killed came to attack us."

Connor's face paled when he heard this, causing him to turn away from his instinctively from his future sister. This caused Trish to grimace.

Older Trish: "You know something about that, don't you? I could see it on your face."

Connor: "Er... Well... It's hard to explain..."

Older Trish: "Then you better explain it!"

Connor: "I... I can't... I'm sorry, but I can't..."

A pit formed in Trish's stomach as she heard her brother speak. Her hands clenched into fists, and she was so close to punching him in the face.

Older Trish: "And why not!? Why can't you possibly tell me!? Does HOME even understand what's going on!?"

Connor: "That's a part of it. It's more complicated, though. Not something I can just talk about..."

Older Trish: "I'm a Kamen Rider! My entire job is eliminating threats to Humanity, isn't it!? Shouldn't I know about whatever the heck happened that day!?"

Connor: "That's... sensitive information, Trish. It's not something that you should know. The order came from the top."

Older Trish: "I'm not joking around, Connor. We defeated the Zodiacs. We have their coins, and yet they were standing in front of us! Is all this fighting that we're putting ourselves through useless?"

Connor: "Please. Believe me when I say that it's not useless." At this point, Connor looked defeated. His posture slumped, and he looked at the future version of his sister like he had wanted to tell her something.

Older Trish: "Fine..." Trish shook her head, tears threatening to fall from her eyes as she looked at her brother. She had felt betrayed, and dozens of thoughts ran through her head. The most prominent of them all being if her beloved brother was a traitor.

Older Trish: "Can you at least tell me if you're on our side? Putting aside HOME, putting aside all your obligations... Can I trust you?"

These words hurt Connor. It shook him to his core, but he couldn't say that he hadn't expected this from her.

Connor: "Of course I'm on your side. I wouldn't do anything that meant bringing harm to either of my sisters... I know it's going to be difficult, but please put your faith in me. If it turns out to be something more serious than we thought, the Riders will be the first to know."

Older Trish: "...Alright. I'll put my trust in you. I still wish you could tell me what that was, but there's no sense in pushing it."

Trish let out a massive sigh and looked back toward her past self. Her past self staring intently at the two of them due to the outburst that her future self had.

...(Somewhere deep in the city)...

Dragnis was flung out of the alley, landing on his feet before stumbling forward and falling down into the ground. He quickly managed to roll back to his feet and watched two hulking figures stumble out of the alley. Out from the darkness came the Pig and Snake Zodiac, but something was off about them. Their skin had been drained of all color. They swayed heavily while walking toward them, and no sound could be heard aside from their footsteps.

Dragnis: "What a disgrace. To use their powers to such a flawed degree... They are nothing but a shell to their former selves."

The Dragon Zodiac stood up and began walking forward. Flames started to erupt from the floor and wrapped around his hand, making him curl his fingers around the fire as if grabbing something.

The flames took on the shape of a sword. The handle long enough to be held in two hands, the guard was designed like a crown. Finally was the blade, which had jagged edges all along the steel, which was meant to tear and rip through things rather than slice.

Dragnis: "I'll put the two of you out of your misery..."

Just as he said this, the Snake Zodiac charged at him. Its long and slender body crouched down to the floor, giving the appearance of a blur as it slithered forth.

Dragnis pivoted just at the last second, slashing down low to lodge the blade into the scales of the Zodiac. Black sand bled from the wound as the razor embedded itself deeper and deeper. It writhed around as it tried to break free, but to no avail. In the end, flames erupted from the Snake's wound, turning it to ash.

Dragnis flicked his sword forward, wiping it clean of the remains, and looking forward as the Pig Zodiac marched toward him. The Rabbit Zodiac stepping out of the shadows soon after.