My Idea Box

FANFICTION IDEA: Aionios' Black Sun (a KR Black/XBC 3 x-over)

Disclaimer: Kamen Rider and Kamen Rider Black/Black RX belong to the late Shotaro Ishinomori and Toei. Xenoblade Chronicles belong to Nintendo, Monolith Soft, and anyone else whom I may have forgotten to mention.

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For a long time, Shania had known this world was cursed. Though Aionios' night sky could be breathtaking as it was tonight, it could never hide the signs of a battle. Shania had seen it all from her other recon missions. The smoke. The wrecked war machines. The bodies.

"It must've hurt," Shania told the corpse by her feet. Her lips thinned, and envy filled her voice. "Still, you're lucky. At least you get to start over again."

Walking away, Shania scanned the area. Under her eyepatch–a necessity as a member of the Lost Numbers–her Iris lit up and covered her vision in data. It was like a screen, analyzing the pattern of scorch marks on the ground. Keves' soldiers and their black armor scattered with the white-clad fighters of Agnus. Some still had their Blades out, becoming either an actual sword or a firearm.

It didn't take long for Shania to find the end of her trail. The fact it had been in a tiny valley was almost poetic. Off to the side was a giant mechanical frame of a machine. A Levnis, and a rugged one at that. Since it was from the Lost Numbers, it had fallen apart like the hunk of junk it was. Keves and Agnus' machines may have been less fragile, but they also laid around in broken heaps.

And there it was, surrounded by broken crates. So surprised, Shania didn't realize how dry her mouth was until she spoke.

"The Ouroboros Stone!" Shania said and ran to get a closer look. What should have been a large metal egg with glowing lines of energy had hatched. The sides had fallen away, and the great cylindrical core popped out. "It's open? But... but..."

Scanning the other bodies, or lack thereof, tipped Shania off to what happened. She recognized their uniforms, similar to the one on her petite body. Still, she couldn't deny the reality. More Lost Numbers lost to this cruel world, never to return. Unlike those from Keves and Agnus. They would return to their home countries in new bodies.

Shania's brown pigtails swung over her eyes with every stomp in the here and now. The Ouroboros Stone's power was gone. How or why didn't matter, only that it was now in another.

"'Only six of us can become Ouroboros.' If you aren't one of those six, you may as well be dead last..."

Aside from her mother's disappointment, the rest faded. There may have been something about her family being the "House of Reid," but Shania had to focus. She had to...

Shania stopped, realizing she stepped on something. It had been another Lost Number uniform, colored black and camouflage. Its wearer had been a larger man, and Shania would've recognized those gloves anywhere. The eyepatch too, which she picked up. Like her own, it had the symbol of the Lost Numbers. This one belonged to its leader. A kind man whose gruff voice cut through the fog of memories.

"Don't worry, kid. Your pa would've been proud of you."

Shania bit back a curse. She didn't need to be reminded of her failures. She certainly didn't need pity from someone of an "upstart family." He was dead. They were all dead. And she... she was–

A voice, soft yet sharp, cut in. "C'mon now... Be true to yourself."

With a gasp and whirl, Shania felt her pale skin had turned cold. The figure in the shadows stared back, red eyes glowing as brightly as the purple orb for a heart. It–no, she stepped forward, silhouette swaying side-to-side. No moonlight had to reveal the familiar cape or red armor of a...