Kamen Rider ZO, Rider Forever

Chapter 8

All That Follows Is True

After his fight with this new Neo Organism, before Masaru even makes it to his bike, he collapses on the ground, with his thoughts swirling in his head.

*What on earth was that thing? It jumped and kicked exactly like I did, and it had the claws of the Mantis Neo Organism. It attacked with the same level of ruthlessness as the Mantis Neo Organism. Just what on earth is this thing? And why is it lurking around on hospital grounds?*

He remains unconscious for an unspecified amount of time before he is suddenly shaken awake by somebody.

"Hey! You! Are you alright?? Keep it together, let's get you treated!"

In his partially conscious state, he hallucinates that it's Nanami calling out to him, but the voice gets deeper. He realises it isn't Nanami.

It's the guard he saved earlier on. Masaru politely declines but thanks him anyways. He decides to make up a story.

"I'm alright, I'm alright, I had finished my shift, and I came here to visit my friend. But I guess I'm so exhausted from work that I passed out here"

The guard is visibly concerned.

"Even so-!"

Before he could finish his sentence, his colleague calls out to him. He checks on Masaru one final time before rushing off to work.

Masaru looks around at his surroundings, it's still dark.

*What time is it? Well whatever it is, it's definitely not visitation time.*

Shoji flies from behind the bike and lands on his shoulder. It telepathically tells Masaru about how it saw the Neo Organism jump into the observation ward after their battle.

*The observation ward?! I have to find a way in! It's going to harm more people unless I stop it!*

He looks around, before finally opting to come in the same way the Neo Organism did. He transforms once more and begins sneaking in through the hospital garden.

He leaps in through the same window that the Neo Organism jumped in through. He spots Nanami and finds that she's unscathed. He breathes a sigh of relief, before he slowly walks around the rest of hospital, carefully hiding from nurses, doctors, and guards.

He combs through the entire hospital with Shoji flying around the perimeter of the hospital, but nothing comes up. The other patients seem to be alright too.

The sun is finally rising after a long and suspenseful night. Masaru opts to leave the hospital to prevent getting into any trouble.

He returns to the inn to have a quick breakfast before returning to the hospital to visit Nanami. He tells Shoji to hide in the garden as he registers.

The receptionist informs him that Nanami's condition is stable and she has been moved to a general ward on the second level.

Masaru makes his way up and he sees that Nanami is still asleep. He goes over and sits down on the chair next to her.

"Nanami?"

She doesn't respond, but her complexion is visibly better than it was when he first bought her over to this hospital. He is startled by a sudden tapping on the window and he finds Shoji bumping into the window and trying to get in. He opens the window and Shoji lands on his head.

"You could've really hurt yourself there! Didn't I tell you to wait in the garden?"

Shoji doesn't respond and watches over Nanami from Masaru's head.