Scene #8767:

Owner	Pose
Go Shijima	Harley's new invention has performed well. The black-and-gold armored 'Racer X,' fighting in tandem with Chase, spins the wheel of the Zenrin Riser with his hand. The pistol's wheel moves so quickly that it begins to glow, golden light bathing the black vambrace of the wielder's armor. "Let's finish this, Chase," he calls, his voice disguised by the armor's vocoder. Racer X points the pistol forwards and upwards, above the stunned bat-type Roidmude. Pulling the trigger twice, two giant, burning wheels of energy lift into the air, grinding against one another. He leaps upwards, arms spread, drawn towards the grinding wheels of fire as he tucks into a nimble frontflip. The wheels pull him forward and shoot him like a bullet towards the Roidmude. In the aftermath of his finishing strike and Chase's, the Roidmude's core drifts upwards, into the dry Arizona air, sailing lazily above the rows of warehouses. The worker it had terrorized utters a stunned 'thank you' before scrambling to his feet and scurrying off. "What happens now?" asks the masked racer, turning to face Chase as the smoke clears.
Chase	>"What happens now?" Mashin Chaser just turns the words in his head as he watches the core drift off. That is the question, isn't it? They've been working together for so long, but for how much longer? Eventually, their fight will continue. Right? Racer X... If he had just dropped the Kamen Rider from his title, it'd be one thing, but Go did more than that. If anything, he's more like a Grim Reaper now. Like him. It's a bit nice, to not be the only one. But it's also a bit annoying. Like... Having an over eager puppy following you. Is this how Heart feels with Brain and Medic??? "I do not know. Say what you think, perhaps then I will have an opinion."
Go Shijima	Racer X looks around, as if worried that someone might see the both of them. His hand hovers near the Shift Bike in the Riser's transformation chamber, but doesn't remove it. Instead, the weapon falls, hanging at his side. "When we were at each other's throats, I used to say that resetting didn't work." His black-visored helmet slowly sweeps to the side, contemplating the midday horizon. "I only said it in bad faith, to justify destroying cores." A little twinge of shame persists, despite the voice masking. "But even if I know that destroying them isn't a solution now... resetting them doesn't undo what Banno did to them. So... here's what I think." "When you used the Break Gunner, it was with those Viral Cores, right? And you'd keep the Roidmude cores inside them, sort of like Brain does with that tablet of his." Racer X turns to face Chase, again. "What if we did that--but instead of turning them over to Brain, we... held onto them?" The armored fighter strides over to a stack of wooden pallets, hopping up and taking a seat, his legs dangling and his hands folded between. "Roidmudes still talk, and think, and feel, when they're cores. So what if we taught them? Gave them things to think about that aren't... negative, destructive things."
Chase	"... I will talk to Heart about it." Mashin Chaser was expecting to fully disagree with whatever was said, but, unfortunately, he seems to have a decent idea. Even Heart himself agrees that their idea of 'rehabilitation' produces more failures than successes. One cannot, after all, enforce good behavior with just the fear of punishment alone... Maybe this is what they were missing? If it is, it'd be more than a little upsetting that the one to come up with the solution to their problem is the person who had been culling their already pathetic numbers before. "So. Why the change of heart? Even if you change the timeline to save the roidmudes you killed, you will still have at one point killed them. Do you expect atonement, or something else?" Unusual for Mashin Chaser when it comes to questioning Go, there's genuine curiosity to his still rather monotonous voice, rather than the malicious intent to socially judo throw him at any sign of weakness in his answer.
Go Shijima	"Atonement... that sounds better than 'forgiveness,' but no. Even if someone could absolve me," answers Racer X, "Even if there were someone who could say that I've 'done my time,' or whatever... I don't know if I'd ever feel like I deserved it." "At first," he admits, setting the Zenrin Riser down on the pallets, "It was for selfish reasons. Because I didn't want to be like Banno. But when we met him, and I saw what he'd done to Kiriko--well, let's just say I'm not worried about that anymore. Now..." His helmet slowly sweeps upwards, watching the lazy passage of clouds. "Now that I've fought with you, and seen Heart through the eyes of someone who isn't..." He looks around, once more, making sure no one is listening. "'Go,' it's because I want Roidmudes to have a future." "I want them to be able to explore themselves and grow," he says. "The way that Heart did, to be who he is now. Even if it means we fight sometimes, those fights will be..." His mind drifts, thinking of something far beyond those clouds, drifting in a sea of stars. A space station. Then, of someone, rather than somewhere--someone who steps through darkness to reach hearts. "For 'something less than everything.'" "And if they learn more than just the worst parts of us, then maybe Heart will see us as something other than future subjects." He looks back down, turning to face Chase, and though his face is still hidden, his voice still masked, neither layer of obfuscation can conceal the smile in his voice. "Friendly rivals, maybe. That would be fun."
Chase	"I see..." Mashin Chaser's gaze falls down at his Break Gunner, his usually tight grip on it loosening on it just a bit. He's not sure what sort of answer he was expecting, but it wasn't this. Still, he can't truly forgive him, and he's not sure that any Roidmude would. But... Forgiveness and second chances are not mutually exclusive, and after everything he's done, Go is at least deserving of that. "Friendly rivals... I suppose, Shijima Go, that we can start there." His voice, to the untrained ear, doesn't really convey an emotion, much less his body langauge, as he's currently just standing perfectly still. Go, however, can tell this is probably the friendliest he's ever been, as the usual harsh bite in his tone is now completely gone. "Now. Is that all?"
Go Shijima	An armored index finger hastily rises, comical in its vehemence as it hovers before the helmet's faceplate. "Sshh! Don't call me that when I'm in this armor! Dummy!" No one is watching, of course, and they're alone. But as is so often said in the most annoying way, it's the principle of the matter. 'Racer X' hastily looks left, then right, then utters a sigh of relief, before hopping off of the palette. "...yeah," he says He makes to leave, pausing by a parked forklift, turning his head slightly to look over his shoulder at Chase. "There was one more thing, actually." "I'm meeting with Coach and Gunman tomorrow. I think they could help us--both in the short term, with getting our hands on some Viral Cores, and in the long term, with Tornado." The unspoken part is 'and Kiriko'--but Banno hasn't exactly made the task of extricating her from his control easy. "Apparently, there's bad blood between them. I think he tried to run them out of town over business." "He's... fixated on something bad--running some kind of kidnapping ring to try and evolve. And he's dug in. If the meeting goes well, then the three of us are going to hit his operation, break it apart, and steal a couple of Cores on the way out. You're welcome to come, if you want--maybe there'll be an opportunity to reset him in the confusion." Racer X takes a few more steps, past the forklift, and sits astride the Ride Racer, the newest beast of a performance bike to emerge from Professor Harley's lab. The outsized engine growls to life. "See ya." A little two-fingered salute is given, before he folds up the kickstand with a swift heel strike, and takes off.