Episode 11: The Minute, The Hour, and The Moment

The road beyond Arcadia wound into the hills, where the last traces of city light faded into a horizon of restless stars. The air was still, save for the slow tick-tick-tick of the Clockwork Runner’s idle gears.

Cole Beckett sat astride the bike, helmet off, staring out over the sleeping city. The glow of neon and chrome shimmered faintly through a thin fog below. A city once entirely made of clockwork and steam, was being replaced by modern technology. The mix of such led to what happed at the Westbrook Institute. 

Cole turned the Pocket Watch over in his hand, watching the hands move backward — slow, deliberate, defiant.

Cole Beckett: Funny thing, isn’t it? I can’t even trust the time anymore.

The Watch’s glass face pulsed faintly, gears turning inside like a living heartbeat.

Pocket Watch: Time is a predator, stalking its prey, Cole Beckett.

Cole smirked tiredly.

Cole Beckett: That’s poetic. You been rehearsing that?

Pocket Watch: Just something I recall.

Cole looked away, jaw tightening.

Cole Beckett: You’ve been “recalling” a lot lately. You mind filling me in?

The Watch stayed silent for a long moment.

Cole Beckett: I've been trying to piece this all together, Watch. After the accident at the Institute. I took over the abandoned clock shop. I wanted to forget about what happened, but at the same time...I didn't. The “Chrono Clutch.” I kept seeing the name pop up. Whispers and rumors, but they all had one thing in common. They all brought up the Chrono Engine, like it was some myth. They were obsessed with finding it.

He flipped the watch open again. Its inner face glowed faintly, the faint outline of a cog turning within.

Cole Beckett: Then they started showing up. Those Wights. One after another. They weren’t just random attacks. They were looking for several things are first, but now they seem to have pieced enough together that they're attacking Aria specifically.

The wind carried the faint hum of Arcadia below, the city’s lights flickering like embers.

Cole Beckett: I don’t know what the hell is going on anymore. But I need answers. I need the truth. Are you part of them, or do you know more of what they are?

The Watch’s hands froze. For several seconds, nothing moved — not even the gears inside. Then, softly:

Pocket Watch: The truth shouldn't be given out of order. It must happen in sequence. As I have seen it.

Cole frowned, standing and pacing away from the bike.

Cole Beckett: Sequence? We’ve been fighting these things for months! 

Pocket Watch: It is design.

Cole turned sharply toward it.

Cole Beckett: Tell me who designed it!

The Watch’s glow intensified. The faint outline of a man’s face flickered in the reflection of its glass — brief, ghostly.

Pocket Watch: My name...was Horatio Geiger.

Cole froze, his heartbeat quickening.

Cole Beckett: Geiger? You mean—

Pocket Watch: The man you saved from the Wight of Rewind. Yes. You returned me to my work... but in doing so, you set the pieces in motion for this war.

Cole’s mind reeled.

Cole Beckett: You’re Geiger?! You helped build the Chrono Engine.

Pocket Watch: Correct. 

Cole Beckett: Then what the hell are the Chrono Clutch?

The Watch’s light flickered — once, twice.

Pocket Watch: The Thirteen Hands. They tasted time, and they want more.

Cole stepped closer, voice rising.

Cole Beckett: I want more. I want more answers. You can't tell me because it's a design? I mean what about you? Why are you here, talking to me through a watch?

The glow dimmed, the Watch’s tone softer.

Pocket Watch: When the explosion occurred, I felt myself dissolve — scattered between time. I anchored my essence into the nearest stable object… this device.

Cole rubbed the back of his neck, pacing in disbelief.

Cole Beckett: You’re saying you’re—what? A ghost? I think I know a guy who can help with that. 

Pocket Watch: A fragment. A resonance. The echo of Dr. Horatio Geiger. I see through what remains of him, and I remember only pieces. Enough to know this: the Chrono Clutch were hunting me before the explosion... because I created something that could stop them now.

Cole narrowed his eyes.

Cole Beckett: Gauge.

Pocket Watch: And the Cores. Yes. When you traveled to the past, you gave me knowledge of their coming. I accelerated development, knowing the tools you would need.

Cole leaned on the bike, eyes scanning the city below.

Cole Beckett: So if you’re still here...where’s the rest of you?

The Watch’s glow softened to a faint blue pulse.

Pocket Watch: I don’t know. I feel...distant from myself. Like I’m speaking from another era. I believe I exist...in another time. But not this one.

Cole Beckett: You don’t know when you are.

Pocket Watch: No. But I know the Hands are aligning. I remember more and more. That's why I say it's a design. It must be a design. I know the Thirteen Hands of the Chrono Clutch are dangerous. I know that you knowing who or what they are too soon would spell disaster. I do not know exactly who we are dealing with. I don't even know if following the proper course of events will change the outcomes. I just know they want you, they want the Chrono Engine. They want the Paradox Core.

Cole Beckett: They want Aria. 

Pocket Watch: I feel like you know why that is. That's a secret you're keeping. 

Cole Beckett: I guess we all have our secrets.

The wind swept across the overlook, carrying the faint echo of city sirens below. Cole turned the Watch over once more, the weight of revelation heavy in his palm.

Cole Beckett: Geiger...you’ve been guiding me this whole time.

Pocket Watch: Returning the favor, best that I can.

Cole snapped the Watch shut, eyes narrowing toward the horizon.

Cole Beckett: Then let’s make sure it counts.

The Clockwork Runner’s engine roared to life, glowing gears spinning with renewed energy as Cole mounted up. In the distance, thunder rolled — not from a storm, but from something shifting in the very air itself.

Pocket Watch: The sequence continues. The next Hands are already moving.

Cole Beckett: Then let's find Aria.

He revved the Runner, golden sparks spilling across the road as he sped down the hill toward Arcadia’s sleeping skyline.

The warm glow of lamps filled the Back in Time Clock Shop, now repurposed for Aria’s ongoing research. The counter was buried in open laptops, scattered notebooks, and empty coffee cups. 

Aria Westbrook leaned over her keyboard, eyes flicking between readings. Every few seconds, a low ping sounded — each one marking a new anomaly detected somewhere across Arcadia.

Ty Mercado was sprawled on a stool nearby, flipping through a glossy wrestling magazine with one hand and holding a donut with the other.

Ty Mercado: You know, if you put as much effort into your social life as you do your on research, you could’ve been Miss Arcadia City 2025.

Aria didn’t even look up.

Aria Westbrook: I was Miss Arcadia City 2025.

Ty blinked.

Ty Mercado: ....Oh right! Okay. Bad example.

Aria sighed, pushing her glasses up.

Aria Westbrook: You’re not even trying anymore, are you?

Ty grinned, taking a bite of his donut.

Ty Mercado: Oh, I’m trying. I’m trying not to die of boredom while you try to track blips on a map.

Aria: They’re chronal entities. Every since the accident they've been all over town, and over time I've been able to find a way to detect and track them. It could be one of those Wights, but I'm seeing a stronger reading here. Something much stronger than anything I've tracked before. 

Ty: So...a BIG blip then.

Aria gave him a look that could wither steel.

Aria Westbrook: You’re lucky Cole isn’t here.

Ty Mercado: Oh, come on — he’d probably agree with me. You need better branding here! Chronal entities isn't catchy!

She fought the urge to smile, rolling her eyes instead.

Aria Westbrook: But blipe is? You’re insufferable.

Ty Mercado: That’s what friends are for.

For a fleeting second, the moment almost felt normal. Then the bell above the door chimed.

Both turned.

Standing in the doorway was Dr. Zeitbrecher — pale, exhausted, coat streaked with dust. His usually sharp composure was worn thin, his glasses slightly cracked again.

Aria’s eyes widened in shock.

Aria Westbrook: Dr. Zeitbrecher?!

She hurried from behind the counter.

Aria Westbrook: Where—where have you been? You disappeared when that thing attacked us! I thought—

Zeitbrecher raised a trembling hand, cutting her off.

Dr. Zeitbrecher: I thought so too.

He stepped inside slowly, closing the door behind him with deliberate care. His voice was calm, but there was something off in his tone — a delay, a measured rhythm that didn’t match the present moment.

Dr. Zeitbrecher: I...found myself displaced. A moment stretched too far. I walked for seconds...only to arrive hours later. Not the work of the Sundial. Another member of the Thirteen Hands must have been watching.

Ty frowned, setting his donut down.

Ty Mercado: Uh, Doc? You okay? You're looking off. Might I suggest some lo-fi beats to destress to?

Zeitbrecher ignored him completely, stepping closer to Aria.

Dr. Zeitbrecher: Aria, that Wight was coming for you. It was after you. Why would it be after you?

Aria Westbrook: I don't know! I really don't. They seem to be searching for information regarding the accident and the Westbrook Institute. 

Dr. Zeitbrecher: Maybe...the accident had something to do with their ascendence. Maybe, it didn't quite work out how they planned, and maybe they're trying to figure out why. Working the problem just like you.

Aria hesitated.

Aria Westbrook: That's a hell of a guess. 

Dr. Zeitbrecher: It's just deductive reasoning based on what I know.

He looked around the shop, taking in the rows of ticking clocks — each one moving perfectly in sync.

Dr. Zeitbrecher: Tell me, Miss Westbrook… what happens when two clocks running at different speeds try to measure the same hour?

Aria blinked.

Aria Westbrook: They... distort the reading. The difference compounds.

Zeitbrecher’s eyes darkened.

Dr. Zeitbrecher: Exactly, Aria. Exactly.

Ty’s grin faded.

Ty Mercado: You sound like you know a lot more than what you're letting on.

Dr. Zeitbrecher: What do you mean? 

Aria Westbrook: Dr. Zeitbrecher...that reading, that I've been tracking. It's here. It's here at the shop, and it's been here since you arrived. 

Dr. Zeitbrecher: Aria...wait...please listen. I can't explain your tracking, but that has nothing to do with-

Aria Westbrook: I knew it! It was too strange that you suddenly just came back! You're a part of this, aren't you?! 

Dr. Zeitbrecher: Aria, I need you to trust me. I'm trying to finish what your Grandfather started! I'm trying to solve the problem! I'm here to hel-

Aria tried to run out of the shop, with Ty following her. Zeitbrecher followed Aria, as she tried to back away. 

Dr. Zeitbrecher: Aria! Wait! 

Aria Westbrook: Are you with them? Are you one of them?! 

Dr. Zeitbrecher: Aria stop! I-

Ty Mercado: Guys! Look!

Aria, Ty, and Zeitbrecher looked up to see figures on the roof over looking the Back in Time shop. Not one, but two Wights.



One of them moved lightning fast, while the other one slowed down the trio as they tried to move out of the way.

The taller one — Hourhand — towered like a bronze colossus, every motion echoing like grinding stone. The smaller, sleeker one — Minutehand — vibrated with kinetic energy, twitching, flickering, laughing in bursts of stuttered time.

Hourhand struck the ground with a seismic crash, the force sending cracks spidering across the asphalt. Time slowed around him, shockwaves freezing mid-air. Minutehand darted through those frozen moments, slashing with its arm.

Ty barely dodged as a metal beam hurtled past, moving so slowly he could see its edges tear the air.

Ty Mercado: We got to get out of here! I’m not built for boss fights!

Aria grabbed his arm, pulling him back behind a parked car.

Aria Westbrook: Ty, stay low!

She turned toward Dr. Zeitbrecher, who stood completely still, his eyes fixed on the two Wights. 

Aria Westbrook: Get out of there!

Dr. Zeitbrecher: Stabilizers...working in tandem.

He stepped forward into the distorted street.

Minutehand flickered, appearing behind him in a blur.

Wight of Minutehand: Zeitbrecher. He knows too much.

Aria Westbrook: NOOO! RUN!

Its blade spun up, a screech of grinding gears — and in that instant, a sonic boom shattered the stillness.

A roar echoed across the city.

The Clockwork Runner burst from the distant road, tearing through the fractured barrier between slow and fast time like a bullet through glass. Sparks and light exploded outward in concentric circles, collapsing the distorted zones around it.

Kamen Rider Gauge: Looks like it's two for one day! Clockwork Runner, tag in!

The Runner skidded sideways, steam erupting as it transformed mid-motion. Gears spun outward, plates reconfigured, and in a flash of molten light, Kamen Rider Gauge stood beside Clockwork Runner Battle Mode.

The Wights turned in unison, their glowing eyes locking onto him.

They lunged.

Minutehand blurred forward in a streak of blue light, striking first. Gauge raised his arm, blocking with a clang that split the air. Sparks flew as the Wight’s blade grazed his armor, cutting through the edge plating.

Gauge countered, driving a piston punch into its chest. The impact knocked the smaller Wight backward, distorting the air with shockwaves that pulsed in slow, rhythmic thuds.

Before he could recover, Hourhand’s massive arm swung in. Gauge ducked, the strike barely missing — but it slowed Gauge down, as Minutehand rushed in for another lightning fast strike that sent Gauge flying. 

Kamen Rider Gauge: That's new.

Minutehand hit him several times. Gauge was sent skidding backward, boots grinding against fractured asphalt, armor hissing from the heat.

He looked to Clockwork Runner.

Kamen Rider Gauge: Runner — speed and power split! I’ll keep the fast one busy. You handle the heavy hitter!

Clockwork Runner: Acknowledged.

The mechanical warrior launched forward, shoulder plates rotating as twin exhaust vents ignited. It collided with Hourhand in a burst of steam and sparks, the ground trembling beneath their combined weight. Clockwork Runner was caught up in the slowdown of Hourhand. It was only a matter or time before it would end up tanking too many heavy blows, so Gauge had to work quickly. 

He turned his focus to Minutehand — the blur circling him in erratic, jagged movements.

Wight of Minutehand: Too slow!

It vanished — then reappeared directly in front of him, blade raised. Gauge ducked under the strike, countering with a piston punch that barely grazed its torso before it flickered away again.

Kamen Rider Gauge: Sneaky bastard!

He twisted the dial on his Driver, inserting the Valve Core into his shoulder. Steam hissed from every seam in his armor.

Kamen Rider Gauge: Driver—open the valve. Valve Form! Pressure Rising!

Bronze plating locked into place, gears aligning across his chest. His gauntlets thickened, power gauges glowing red-hot.

Gauge slammed both fists together — the sound cracked like thunder.

Kamen Rider Gauge: Let’s crank up the pressure!




He dashed forward, each step creating a shockwave that distorted the field around him. The next time Minutehand reappeared, Gauge was already there. He swung upward with a piston uppercut, the blow connecting squarely. The Wight flew backward through a wall of glass — shards scattering in ultra-fast motion as the creature tumbled through them at full speed.

Minutehand screeched, body flickering erratically.

Kamen Rider Value Gauge: Out of rhythm?

Across the street, Clockwork Runner grappled with Hourhand, both locked in a brutal exchange. Hourhand’s massive clock-blade arm slammed into Runner’s shoulder, sending sparks across its chest. Runner retaliated by grabbing the blade mid-swing, gears grinding audibly as it forced the Wight backward.

Clockwork Runner: Hydraulic lock — engaged!

Steam erupted from its vents as its grip tightened. The air vibrated as the two titans struggled — one powered by the flow of time, the other by pure engineered force.

Wight of Hourhand: Time is running out for Geiger's toy.

Its armor pulsed gold, and everything around it slowed. Clockwork Runner’s movements dragged — mechanical servos grinding as if underwater. The Wight’s next strike broke through its guard, slamming it into the side of a building.

Gauge turned at the sound, eyes narrowing.

Kamen Rider Valve Gauge: Runner!

He sprinted across the fractured street, every step switching between fast and slow zones, his body flickering in and out of phase with the world. Time bent with him, warping like heat distortion.

Pocket Watch: Cole Beckett — synchronization required. The Wights are maintaining tempo division. Counteract with dual rhythm!

Kamen Rider Valve Gauge: Got it!

He leapt, grabbing Clockwork Runner’s shoulder as it rose again, its armor smoking.

Kamen Rider Valve Gauge: Let’s show them what teamwork looks like!

Clockwork Runner: Initiating tandem combat sequence.

Their systems synchronized — Runner’s chest light flickered, matching the rhythm of Gauge’s Driver. Energy surged between them, the air alive with the sound of ticking gears.

Hourhand and Minutehand watched from opposite ends of the battlefield. Then, in perfect unison, they crossed their arms — one raising its blade high, the other lowering it.

Both: Synchronize.

The world split.
Half the battlefield froze completely; the other half accelerated into a blur. Time itself fractured into overlapping frames — one reality slow, the other impossibly fast.

Gauge and Runner stood at the fault line — one in each half.

Pocket Watch: Warning. Dual chronal fields detected. Stability — critical.

Kamen Rider Value Gauge: Who doesn't love a challenge?

On one side, Hourhand charged with lumbering gravity, its blade dragging through the asphalt. On the other, Minutehand streaked forward like lightning, leaving afterimages in its wake.

Gauge ducked under Hourhand’s massive swing, his gauntlet igniting in a burst of red steam. He countered with piston punches to the Wight’s chest — each one ringing like a hammer on steel.

Simultaneously, Clockwork Runner fought Minutehand at impossible speed — both flickering so fast that only arcs of blue light and the flash of impact could be seen. Runner caught one of the Wight’s strikes, twisted, and slammed it through a car.

The world shuddered.

Kamen Rider Valve Gauge: Trade dance partners!

Clockwork Runner: Confirmed!

They switched seamlessly. Gauge dove into the fast zone, time blurring as his reflexes strained to keep up. Minutehand lunged — its strikes were endless, layered over each other like an overclocked rhythm. Gauge caught the next one mid-air and spun, driving a piston-enhanced elbow into its jaw.

Electric sparks cascaded. The Wight shrieked, spinning backward, its body glitching between frames.

Meanwhile, Clockwork Runner entered Hourhand’s slow zone, movements heavy but deliberate. Every punch it threw landed with enough force to warp the pavement. Hourhand’s counterattacks lagged behind — too slow to catch the accelerating machine.

Gauge leapt high, the Valve gauges on his arms glowing red-hot.

Kamen Rider Gauge: VALVE SPIRAL!

A massive spiral of compressed time burst outward from his drop kick, forming a tornado of molten blue and orange light. It struck the Wight dead center, locking it in the now. The blow releasing a wave of force that shattered the temporal barrier. The two halves of the world collided — fast and slow folding back to normal. 

Time snapped back into alignment. Hourhand looked over to see Minutehand crumbling to sand. 

Wight of Hourhand: No! You killed my brother!

Clockwork Runner seized the moment, grabbing Hourhand by the arm.

Gauge twisted his Driver once more. Steam vented from his armor, as he placed the Ignition Core into his shoulder slot. flames bursting around him.

Kamen Rider Gauge: Chrono Engine—Ignition!

Gauge’s armor split, molten light pouring from the cracks. Crimson plating enveloped him, trimmed with molten gold. His vents roared fire, the furnace dial on his chest blazing. His eyes glowed ember-orange, wisps of flame rising from them like smoke.

He sprinted forward, flames trailing behind him in arcs of fire. With a leap, he twisted his body, vents roaring as his right leg ignited fully. A burning clock face formed behind him, its hands spinning wildly as fire consumed the numerals.

Kamen Rider Ignition Gauge: Pressure Inferno Break!

His flaming kick connected square with the Wight’s chest. The heat was so intense the Wight's body flash-melted before turning to sand.

Both disintegrated, dissolving into the night.

For a long moment, silence reigned — broken only by the soft ticking of the Pocket Watch.

Gauge looked at Runner and nodded, exhausted but steady.

Kamen Rider Ignition Gauge: Not bad for a tag team.

Clockwork Runner: Compliment acknowledged.

Steam drifted off the cracked pavement, the air still thick with ozone and burning metal.
The ruins of the battle glowed faintly — scorched lines tracing the outlines of their movements.

Kamen Rider Gauge — still in Ignition Form, his armor smoldering with faint ember light — stood among the debris. Beside him, Clockwork Runner powered down, returning to bike mode, its glowing chest fading to a gentle pulse.

In the distance, the sound of sirens echoed faintly through Arcadia, but here, at the edge of the action, all was still.

Aria Westbrook emerged from behind a damaged car, coughing from the smoke. Her hair was disheveled, her clothes streaked with ash, but her eyes — sharp, wet with tears — locked on Gauge.

Ty hung back, frozen in shock.

Aria took one trembling step forward.

Aria Westbrook: Gauge!

Gauge stiffened.

Aria Westbrook: Please don't go. I'm begging you. I'm trying everything I can to understand the accident that took my grandfather. I'm trying everything I can because I don't know how I'm still here, and they're all gone! I don't understand! Please help me! I'm begging you, please don't go!

Her voice broke, but her anger held steady.

Aria Westbrook: I saw the way you fight. The way you protect people. You always disappear before anyone can ask questions. I need to know why I survived that day. Why Cole Beckett survived that day.

Gauge turned slightly, the burning vents along his shoulders dimming.

Kamen Rider Ignition Gauge: Aria, this isn’t the time—

Aria: Then when is?! When will you give me peace!? WHEN!?

The words hit harder than any Wight’s strike.

Gauge said nothing. The wind picked up, carrying the faint chime of broken glass still hanging in shop windows.

Aria took another step closer.

Aria Westbrook: Why am I alive? Why? Everyone else in the lab was gone. Gone! I remember the fire, the pressure, and then...nothing. And then I was outside in the ruins. Cole Beckett too. Not a scratch on him. Just like me. Then THEY came. Then YOU came!

She clutched her head, shaking.

Aria Westbrook: I thought I was blessed. But now, every time one of those monsters shows up, it feels like the world’s reminding me — I shouldn’t be here.

Gauge’s voice, filtered through his armor’s modulation, came out low and pained.

Kamen Rider Ignition Gauge: You’re not supposed to blame yourself for surviving.

Aria Westbrook: Why did I survive, and why are THEY trying to get me?!

Before he could answer, a voice cut through the haze — calm, cold, deliberate.

Dr. Zeitbrecher: Because you weren’t supposed to.

They turned.

Standing beside the clock shop, untouched by the fire or debris, was Dr. Zeitbrecher. The faint moonlight caught the edges of his cracked glasses, his calm smile utterly wrong in the aftermath of destruction.

Aria’s eyes widened.

Aria Westbrook: Doctor?

Zeitbrecher stepped forward slowly, his movements too smooth — too precise. The air around him began to shimmer faintly, like heat over metal.

Dr. Zeitbrecher: You ask why you lived, Miss Westbrook? That's what I've been trying to figure out.

Aria stumbled back, disbelief etched across her face.

Aria Westbrook: What...what are you talking about?

Zeitbrecher raised his hand, and the world seemed to pause. The wind froze mid-motion. The flickering lights steadied. Even the smoke stopped curling.

Cole felt the shift immediately — the sickening hum of a temporal lock.

Kamen Rider Ignition Gauge: No.

Dr. Zeitbrecher looked up, and his tone shifted — deeper, resonant, filled with echo.

Dr. Zeitbrecher: The experiment, meant to see if we could travel through the time stream, and possibly create a source of energy for world, was meant to be so much more. I wanted to test the limits of Westbrook's invention. I wanted to test time itself. He was so small compared to our endeavours.

Aria’s voice cracked.

Aria Westbrook: What?! Stop this!

Dr. Zeitbrecher: Me...and twelves other scientists...that worked on that invention with him and Dr. Geiger. Us Thirteen Hands....we sabotaged the device, so that we would become engulfed into time itself. We could become time, and time and reality would cease to be as it was, and everything would be us. Something stopped the process after it enveloped us. The project is only half finished. We sought out what went wrong. We looked for the Chrono Engine, the device used to power the machine, and we found YOU.

Gauge stepped between them.

Kamen Ride Ignition Gauge: That’s enough!

Zeitbrecher’s gaze snapped toward him, the human warmth in his expression vanishing entirely. When he spoke next, his voice was mechanical, cold, divine.

Dr. Zeitbrecher: I am not the man you knew. I am the one who remained when he ceased to exist.

The air shimmered — the sound of gears grinding against each other echoing through the night. His body began to distort, faint golden light cracking through his skin like fractured porcelain. His glasses fell away as his eyes glowed bright gold, mechanical irises ticking like watch dials.



Dr. Zeitbrecher: I am the Horologue — the thirteenth Hand, and the keeper of the Chrono Clutch.

Aria stumbled backward in horror.

Aria Westbrook: No...no, it can’t—

The Horologue turned to Gauge.

The Horologue: Remove your armor, Paradox Core.

Gauge froze.

The Horologue: You’ve hidden behind the symbol long enough. Show her who you are — or I will tear her apart here and now.

Kamen Rider Ignition Gauge: Don’t do this.

Horologue raised his hand. The clocks around them — in the shop, in the city, in the very air — all began to tick in perfect unison. The sound was deafening, impossible, echoing through the streets like a god’s heartbeat.

The Horologue: She must know that you failed her, Cole Beckett!

Ty Mercado: Uh oh...the secret's out.

Aria stepped between them, tears streaking her soot-covered face.

Aria Westbrook: Cole? Cole? Cole! Please — tell me it’s not true. Tell me this isn’t who you are! It can't be!

Gauge stood motionless. His armor hissed, vents cooling. Steam drifted from his shoulders as the transformation light began to fade.

Slowly...painfully...he reached for the Driver on his belt.

He turned it once. The Chrono Engine wound down. The light faded. The armor vanished.

And standing there, bathed in fractured moonlight, was Cole Beckett.

Aria’s hand flew to her mouth.

Aria Westbrook: You.

Cole’s voice cracked.

Cole Beckett: ...Yeah.

The Horologue: Cole Beckett. The Paradox Core. Someone who should have DIED, wields the power of time, and has left us in a limbo like state, waiting to fulfill our destinies. In the process you have annihilated my hands, but as soon as I wield that power of yours, not only will I have them back, but we will solve the problem that YOU created, and we will become time ITSELF!

The ticking grew louder. The streetlights flickered. 

Cole stepped in front of Aria, defiant, even without his armor.

Cole Beckett: If you want me. Come and get me.

Horologue’s eyes gleamed like molten gold.

The Horologue: I intend to.

The Horologue rushed forward, and punched Cole in the stomach. He doubled over, as The Horologue grabbed Aria by the throat. 

The Horologue: We WILL find out what you did, and we WILL undo YOUR damage! Come find us, Paradox Core. Save her...IF YOU CAN!

The Horologue disappeared with Aria.

Cole Beckett: ARIA! NOOOO!!!

Cole tripped as he rushed forward in vain to try and take her hand. The look in her eyes, the tears, were all he could think about as he lie face down on the street. Ty Mercado ran over to help him up.

Ty Mercado: This is bad man! That dude has her! He's got Aria! 

Cole Beckett: I've got to find her. WE'VE GOT TO FIND HER!

Ty Mercado: We? Not sure what I can do...but I will do whatever I can.

Cole Beckett: I need to make a phone call.

Meanwhile, in a high rise office, a cell phone began to ring. A figure ran up to grab it. He looked at the name, and his smirk got serious. 

Blake Faust: ...Cole Beckett. What can I do for you?

To Be Continued...

Last edited by Machismo (10/09/2025 2:14 am)

Episode 13: The One Second Future

The rain poured like a curtain of liquid time, cold and heavy enough to drown sound itself. Arcadia City glimmered beneath the storm, its neon bleeding into the soaked pavement. The Back in Time Clock Shop sat in the dim glow of a flickering streetlight, a sign swaying slightly, creaking against the wind. "Out for Lunch, Never Out of Time".

The trio reached the outskirts where the Westbrook Institute once stood—a crater of memory and broken foundation. But as lightning flashed across the sky, and Cole held his hands towards the building, letting the Chrono Engine work through him, the impossible shimmered into view: the building, whole again. It stood where it had been destroyed, shimmering as if caught between heartbeats, its edges rippling like heat distortion.

Blake Faust: There. That's your building. Well, technically Geist property, but I'll give it to you if you want it. Good luck in there. I'll be right behind you.

Cole bolted, followed by the Clockwork Runner, with Ty Mercado in tow. With a human occupant, the machine seemed to developed more humanoid movements. 

Ty Mercado: This feels weird! This is insane! 

Cole Beckett: No looking back, Ty! Let's go!

They emerged into silence.

Rain still fell—but slower, heavier, each drop suspended a moment too long before hitting the ground. The Westbrook Institute stood around them in immaculate perfection. Dust hung motionless in midair. A shattered coffee mug floated halfway through its fall.

Ty Mercado: This place...it’s frozen.

Cole Beckett: It's one second ahead of us. That's why we couldn't see it. It was blasted one second ahead. Everything is still the same as it was.

The walls hummed faintly. Every sound echoed and reverberated.

Pocket Watch: Temporal synchronization confirmed. We have entered the one second future, the hiding place of the Thirteen Hands.

Cole nodded, his hand brushing the Driver on his waist.

Cole Beckett: For once, the clock strikes thirteen. We're coming for you, Zeitbrecher.

The halls of the Institute stretched forever, repeating in mirrored loops. Every hallway looked the same—identical tiles, identical lights, identical silence.

Ty Mercado: Okay, I’m starting to think we passed that broken vending machine, like, six times now.

Cole Beckett: Seven. The pattern’s fractal. He can control this place. He’s folding time.

Ty Mercado: So...can we unfold it?

Clockwork Runner: Affirmative. 

Ty Mercado: Whoa! Did I say that?

Cole Beckett: The suit did. It's saying I can use the Chrono Engine like I did outside to unfold things.

Cole looked up and exhaled. He channeled the Chrono Engine again. He remembered that the engine was orginally designed for these things before it became a weapon of war. The infinite hallways seemed to creep forward, until the stairs to the next floor were suddenly right in front of them.

Cole Beckett: That’s more like it. Let’s move.

The duo ascended. The deeper they went, the more the Institute changed. Desks were frozen mid-collapse. Windows looped the same lightning flash over and over. A toppled clock ticked backward.

They reached a maintenance door marked Restricted Sector – Chrono Engine Housing. Cole pressed his hand against the panel. The metal vibrated, humming in sync with the Pocket Watch.

Pocket Watch: Warning—temporal static ahead.

Cole Beckett: He’s close.

Ty Mercado: Then this is the last climb, eh? Well hey man, we came this far, let's see what's there. 

Cole Beckett: Heh. Thanks for coming with me, Ty. 

Ty Mercado: We got to save Aria, man. 

Cole Beckett: ...Absolutely.

The door hissed open. A vertical shaft stretched above them, filled with interlocking gears and a faint amber glow. Steam rose from pipes that had been frozen mid-leak. The ladder extended upward into infinity.

Ty Mercado: I hate this part.

Cole Beckett: Me too.

He began to climb. Cole's manipulation of the Chrono Engine was getting easier. He was able to unfold time once again, giving the ladder an actual destination. 

As they ascended, a faint shimmer of energy passed across the walls—ghostly afterimages of the Wights, replaying their own deaths in silent bursts. Cole ignored them and climbed faster.

At last, they reached a catwalk overlooking the upper levels. Cole planted his boots on the platform, the metal ringing beneath his weight. Ahead lay a blast door engraved with the emblem of the Chrono Engine.

Ty Mercado: We blow it?

Cole Beckett: How about you knock first.

Ty revved the fist of the Clockwork Runner, slammed the fist into the door, and throttled. The impact shook the entire room. The blast door buckled inward and collapsed.

The duo stepped inside.

The chamber beyond was vast—domed like a cathedral, filled with rotating gears the size of buildings. The Grand Mechanism, the heart of the Chrono Engine, loomed above them. It rotated slowly, whispering with the sound of ticking thunder.

Pocket Watch: He’s waiting above.

Cole Beckett: Then we finish it.

They took the central lift. The gears turned, lifting them toward a ceiling of glass and lightning.

The elevator doors slid open with a hiss.

The top of the Westbrook Institute was a cathedral of machinery. Rain beat against the skylight above, and the massive clock behind the chamber glowed with a pulsing gold light.

Dr. Elias Zeitbrecher stood before it, framed by the storm. His human body flickered with golden cracks, light spilling from within him like molten metal.

And there—bound to the clock’s center—was Aria Westbrook. Her arms were stretched wide, the massive clock hands forming restraints that pinned her painfully in place. Each second ticked the hands tighter, pulling her further.

Cole froze.

Aria’s eyes lifted to meet his. Despite the pain, she smiled faintly.

Aria Westbrook: You’re late.

Cole Beckett: Figured I'd be more timely, eh?

Zeitbrecher turned toward them, his tone polite and venomous.

Zeitbrecher: Welcome, Paradox Core. You have kept me waiting long enough.

Cole stepped forward, fists clenched.

Cole Beckett: It’s over, Zeitbrecher. Whatever you’re planning dies here.

Zeitbrecher smiled.

Zeitbrecher: I am not the one who dies tonight. You are. But first… I want to hear it from you. Tell me what you did to time.

Cole Beckett: I think you already know.

Zeitbrecher: I want to hear you say it!

Cole Beckett: Then make me.

Zeitbrecher raised his hand, and the floor exploded outward.

Gears screamed as time itself convulsed. The light shattered into fragments, and suddenly, Zeitbrecher wasn’t standing—he was everywhere. His form split across the room, moving faster than the eye could follow.

Cole’s reflexes kicked in. The Driver on his belt hissed open, gears aligning with a metallic snap.

Cole Beckett: Calibrate! Lock! Ignite! RIDE THE PRESSURE! HENSHIN!

The world lit up in bronze and steam. His armor clamped into place with the roar of pistons. Kamen Rider Gauge struck the ground hard, steam bursting from his shoulders.

He charged. The first impact hit like a thunderclap. Zeitbrecher barely moved.

Clockwork Runner ran in as well slicing through the storm. Zeitbrecher flicked two fingers, and the Runner froze mid-swing, the air around him thick and unmoving. The Doctor’s golden cracks pulsed as he twisted time around them.

Zeitbrecher: You still fight like men. How quaint.

Ty Mercado: I'm stuck!

Gauge pivoted, switching to Ignition Form in a flash of fire and orange light. Steam ignited across his gauntlets, and his next punch seared the air. Sparks erupted from the Horologue’s chest, forcing him back a step.

Clockwork Runner broke free of the time hold and rejoined the fight. The two Riders moved in sync, landing alternating blows. But each strike met a counter faster than they could react.

Zeitbrecher’s voice echoed in every direction, each word dripping with mockery.

Zeitbrecher: You think this is a battle? Pathetic!

He raised his hand, and the air warped with the powers of the fallen Wights. Loop replayed their last movements, trapping them in mirrored steps. Hourglass aged the floor to dust, dropping Clockwork Runner to one knee. Pendulum swung entire pieces of the room like weapons.

Gauge tried to anticipate him, shifting again to Voltage Form. Electricity crackled through his armor as he darted around the battlefield, his movements a blur of lightning and motion. He struck from every angle—until Zeitbrecher appeared behind him.

Zeitbrecher: You cannot outrun the clock, Paradox Core.

He struck, a golden blade extending from his arm, cutting through Gauge’s shoulder. Sparks exploded, and Cole staggered.

Ty shouted across the din.

Ty Mercado: Stay on your feet, man!

Gauge pushed forward, rage flaring.

Kamen Rider Voltage Gauge: I'm on it!

The Riders attacked in tandem, hitting with all they had—but Zeitbrecher absorbed the blows like they were nothing. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he threw them both aside.

They hit the ground hard, armor cracked and sparking.

Zeitbrecher turned back toward Aria. The massive clock ticked once, its gears grinding louder.

Zeitbrecher: Every revolution brings us closer to the truth. Tell me, Aria Westbrook—why did you survive? You answer might save a life tonight!

Aria strained against the restraints, her eyes blazing.

Aria Westbrook: You think I know? I didn’t ask to live through it!

Zeitbrecher smiled.

Zeitbrecher: More pain? Outstanding.

He glanced toward Gauge, whose breathing grew heavier, his armor flickering.

Zeitbrecher: If you won't tell me, he will.

Gauge tried to rise. His vision blurred.

Pocket Watch: Cole Beckett, his power draws from time. You're not fighting fourth dimensionally. Remember, you have the power.

He slammed his fists together, steam erupting in a violent shockwave. Back to Ignition Form as it flared brighter, heat rippling outward as molten gears glowed red-hot under his feet.

He lunged forward again—but Zeitbrecher was already there. The Horologue caught the blow in his bare hand and twisted, slamming Cole into the ground.

Zeitbrecher: You will never beat me. You were never meant to wield this power. I will become time itself, and you will have never existed!

Cole spat blood, forcing himself to look up.

Zeitbrecher laughed, the sound echoing through every floor of the tower.

The chamber quaked as the gears of the Grand Mechanism ground against one another, glowing hotter with every revolution. Zeitbrecher stood tall amidst the chaos, his eyes twin furnaces of gold. Each movement of his hand pulled echoes from the walls—ghosts of the Wights—Loop, Hourglass, Forward, Pendulum, and all the rest. Their forms shimmered faintly, like broken reflections in a cracked mirror, each one bleeding from the same source: him.

Voltage Gauge rose slowly, steam bleeding from the cracked seams of his armor. His vision blurred from the last blow, but he could still see Aria bound against the clock face, her eyes wide and desperate. She was still fighting to stay conscious—still fighting for him.

Kamen Rider Voltage Gauge: You’re drawing on them...all thirteen.

Zeitbrecher: I am the aggregate of all their despair. The sum of what time rejected. Do you understand what that makes me, Paradox Core?

Cole took a step forward, unflinching despite the pain burning through his limbs.

Kamen Rider Voltage Gauge: It makes you the last one. It makes you desperate.

Zeitbrecher’s expression flickered, not with anger—but with something closer to recognition.

Zeitbrecher: Do you feel them, Beckett? Each one you’ve slain? They'll return, and you'll become nothing.

Gauge’s fists clenched. Steam hissed from his gauntlets. Every word was a hammer to his guilt.

Zeitbrecher: This world was supposed to end that day. Tell me—was one girl’s life worth the collapse of eternity?

Gauge didn’t answer. He couldn’t. He only stared at Aria.

Zeitbrecher’s lips curved.

Then he moved.

The Horologue launched forward with the speed of Pendulum’s recoil and the force of Forward’s acceleration. His arm blurred through golden afterimages as he struck, each blow landing before the last one finished. Cole barely blocked the first, his arm twisting under the impact, but the next three drove him backward through a line of gears. Metal screamed and burst apart, sparks cascading across the floor.

Cole countered, switching back and forth from Ignition Form to Voltage, his armor flaring blue with arcs of electricity. He lashed out with a spinning kick that sent a wave of current tearing through the floor. It hit Zeitbrecher square in the chest—but instead of being thrown back, the Doctor laughed as the energy wrapped around him.

He slammed his hand down. The energy exploded back toward Cole, detonating under his feet and throwing him high into the air. He crashed against the massive pendulum wheel, rolling until he hung over the edge of the catwalk.

Suddenly, Kamen Rider Faust appeared again, landing a solid kick to the unsuspecting Horologue. He swung low again and cut into the Horologue’s side, the steel ringing like a tuning fork.

Kamen Rider Faust: You think you know everything! Didn't see that coming!

Zeitbrecher turned, catching Faust's next fist. 

Zeitbrecher: No, but I saw that. 

Kamen Rider Faust: Guess so.

He backhanded Faust across the room. He crashed into the railing, his armor sparking, he slowly got back up, helmet smashed, smirking through blood.

Kamen Rider Faust: Yeah, well, this bites. But as smart as you think you are, you can't tell when you're being distracted. 

Zeitbrecher: What?!

Clockwork Runner jumped behind the Horologue and trapped his arms, while Faust tapped the lens on his belt. 

Kamen Rider Faust: Coming at ya! FAUSTIAN JUSTICE!!!

The blow hit dead center, and staggered the Horologue, but he remained standing. 

Zeitbrecher: Very good, but not good enough.

Kamen Rider Faust: We're not done!

Gauge slammed his fist into his Driver—Valve Form. Steam erupted around him as gears spun to life. He shot forward, the ground blistering with molten heat.

The Horologue caught the blow but staggered. Steam billowed, lightning crackled, fire hissed. Cole shifted again—Voltage—then Ignition—and finally. He used the sudden changes to throw the Horologue off, and it was working, but coming at a cost.

Pocket Watch: Cole Beckett. The systems are overloading.

Cole grit his teeth.

Cole Beckett: Then we overload!

Zeitbrecher: You think you’re saving her?!

They collided in a storm of color and sound. The air warped with the heat of their struggle, time distorting in jagged bursts of visual noise. The room’s edges rippled like film melting in a projector.

At last, Zeitbrecher caught him by the throat and lifted him into the air.

Zeitbrecher: You’ll never win, Paradox Core!

He hurled Cole across the chamber. Cole crashed near Aria, his armor flickering out as he hit the ground. He tried to rise but fell again, coughing hard enough to spit blood.

Aria cried out, straining against the clock hands that pinned her.

Aria Westbrook: Cole! Get up! You can’t let him win! I can't watch you die! Please don't die! Fight! WIN!

Her voice cracked on the last word. Cole turned his head toward her, his vision dim.

Pocket Watch: Cole Beckett. This is the moment I foresaw.

Cole blinked through the haze.

Cole Beckett: What are you talking about?

Pocket Watch: The moment history changes forever. I can't see beyond this moment, but I know that the outcome hinges on you, and what you become. The three Cores—you must unite them. Steam, fire, and lightning. Together they form the Chrono Engine’s true power.

Cole’s hand trembled as he reached for the Cores clipped to his belt.

Cole Beckett: All three? Can the Chrono Engine handle that? 

Pocket Watch: It can. Can you?

For the first time, Cole heard something like emotion in the watch’s voice—a trace of humanity.

Pocket Watch: I built the Clockwork Runner, but you gave it purpose. I built the cores, but you gave them meaning. Now finish this.

Cole pushed himself to his feet, every joint screaming, electricity flickering at his fingertips.

Cole Beckett: Guess this is it, huh?

Pocket Watch: Yes, Cole Beckett. This is the moment.

He raised his left hand, pulling free the three Cores. The small cog-shaped relics glowed—blue, red, and yellow—each one pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat.

Across the room, Zeitbrecher saw him and froze.

Zeitbrecher: What do you think you're doing? Do you understand what you hold in your hands?

Cole looked up at him, eyes burning.

Cole Beckett: Yes, Doc. I finally do.

He transformed back into Gauge. He pressed the Cores together, the gears interlocking like one final piece of a puzzle, and slammed them into the open slot on his shoulder.The gauge flared to life, spinning wildly as steam, flame, and lightning exploded from the seams of his armor.

He gripped the dial on his belt and twisted. The sound of gears locking into place echoed like the strike of a clock.




Light burst outward, engulfing the entire chamber.

For an instant, the entire chamber was still — no sound, no movement, no rain. Only a flash so bright that even time itself seemed to recoil.

Then came the ignition.

The explosion of energy roared outward from Cole’s body, not like fire or thunder, but like something purer — restored equilibrium. The floor cracked in concentric rings beneath his boots. Golden and bronze particles hovered in the air, drifting around him like fireflies of creation.

Kamen Rider Faust: Oh yeah! That's the stuff!




His armor glowed like a living forge—bronze turned to burning gold, the steam from his vents forming wings of light. Sparks of blue electricity danced through crimson flames that wound across his limbs like veins of molten ore. The central gauge on his chest rotated endlessly, a trinity of colored needles spinning in harmony.

Cole Beckett was no longer switching forms—he was all of them at once. Valve’s pressure, Ignition’s flame, Voltage’s current—all fused into one. The ultimate Rider of time stood tall. Kamen Rider Gauge Omega Break. 

Across from him, Zeitbrecher stared, eyes wide with fury and disbelief.

Zeitbrecher: No! This is not possible! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!

Gauge Omega Break took a step forward. Each step echoed with the weight of countless seconds snapping back into place.

Kamen Rider Gauge Omega Break: I just ended your plans.

He lifted his head, steam swirling around his visor like a storm breaking apart.

Kamen Rider Gauge Omega Break: You just don't know it yet.

He vanished in a burst of heat and light.

Zeitbrecher barely raised his arm in time to block the first blow. Gauge’s fist connected with the sound of thunder, launching the Horologue through a line of gears. The impact blew them apart, sending fragments of brass spinning through the air like bullets.

Gauge didn’t stop. He moved with impossible speed, every step creating shockwaves that distorted the light. He attacked again, driving a flurry of punches into Zeitbrecher’s chest and ribs, each one a perfect mix of force and precision. Steam and sparks bled from the armor where each hit landed.

Kamen Rider Faust and Clockwork Runner watched from across the chamber, battered but standing.

Kamen Rider Faust: He’s doing it! He’s really doing it.

Ty Mercado: That’s my guy. Go get him, Cole!

Zeitbrecher staggered back, slamming his hand into the floor. Golden gears erupted from the ground, forming a cage of light that twisted inward. 

Zeitbrecher: You cannot change fate! You cannot defeat what you are!

Kamen Rider Gauge Omega Break stood firm. His armor flickered—then blazed brighter than before. He slammed his fist into his chest gauge.

Kamen Rider Gauge Omega Break: You keep saying these words like they mean something.

He reached back and drew his arm upward, heat gathering around his hand like liquid fire. Then, with one motion, he punched through. The golden cage cracked, split, and burst into flame, burning out of existence.

Gauge Omega Break charged again.

He hit Zeitbrecher with a combination of strikes, each blow infused with the raw essence of the three cores. Steam vented from his armor as his movements left glowing trails in the air. He kicked the Horologue in the chest, spun midair, and followed with a punch charged with so much voltage that the very floor exploded beneath them.

Zeitbrecher roared in anger, countering with a blast of golden energy that ripped through the air. Cole took the hit full-force, the explosion throwing him across the chamber. He landed hard, armor cracking—but he didn’t stay down.

He rose again. And when he did, the flames returned stronger.

Kamen Rider Gauge Omega Break: You were there when he built the Clockwork Runner. You helped create the Engine. But what you didn’t understand—what you never understood—

He stood tall, his voice echoing through the collapsing hall.

Kamen Rider Gauge Omega Break: Was me. Time doesn’t belong to you. It belongs to everyone who refuses to let it control them. Right now...it belongs to me.

He slammed the dial on his belt forward one last time.

Chrono Engine: PRESSURE OMEGA BREAK!

The world slowed. Every falling piece of debris hung motionless in the air. Cole bent his knees, pressure building beneath his boots as steam curled upward. The gauges on his armor spun faster and faster until they glowed white-hot.

Zeitbrecher raised his hands, summoning the combined power of the Thirteen Hands, but it didn’t matter anymore.

Gauge Omega Break launched forward—faster than lightning, hotter than flame.

He struck with the Pressure Omega Kick, driving his foot square into Zeitbrecher’s chest. The impact lit the entire room in gold and white. The explosion blasted the wall behind them completely open, and shattered the time displacement, lighting up the night sky in Arcadia City. 

When the glow faded, the Horologue lay crumpled on the floor. His armor shattered, his golden cracks dimming into dull fissures. The light in his eyes flickered as he looked up at Cole—no longer with hatred, but with a strange kind of peace.

Zeitbrecher: You ruined everything.

Cole dismissed his armor with a hiss of steam, standing once more as himself. His jacket was torn, his face bruised, but his eyes were alive.

Cole Beckett: I did.

He turned to Faust and Clockwork Runner. 

Cole Beckett: Please, get Aria out of here. I don't think the building is going to last much longer. 

Kamen Rider Faust: You got it! 

Clockwork Runner: Not going to last?! Let's go! Hurry! Hurry! 

Kamen Rider Faust: Relax! You're encased in the bike! 

Clockwork Runner: Oh yeah!

Cole turned back, his smile towards Aria turned cold as he knelt beside the fallen man.

Cole Beckett: You want to know what happened? Since you're about to die, I might as well tell you. I did it. I pulled you back from your "destiny." I used the Chrono Engine to save the actual Paradox Core. Aria died that day. She was caught in the explosion. I wouldn't let her go...I couldn’t let her go. I grabbed the Chrono Engine. I turned the clock back, forced time to give her back to me. That act—it created this alternate world. It trapped your Thirteen Hands in an alternate timeline.

Zeitbrecher smiled weakly, coughing once, his voice fading.

Zeitbrecher: You broke time! You don't even realize what you've done. I could've become time...but now...time will come for you.

Cole looked down, silent for a long moment.

Cole Beckett: Then let it.

Zeitbrecher: You’ll pay for this...more than you can imagine, you will pay for this.

Cole Beckett: The price? I’ll pay it gladly. For her. I love her. Time belongs to me now.

Zeitbrecher’s hand twitched once—then went still. The gold in his eyes faded. The clock in the chamber stopped ticking.

The tremors started immediately. The building began to collapse around them, the air folding as the one-second future started to merge back into the present. The Grand Mechanism groaned as it came apart, gears twisting violently as time itself reclaimed what it had lost.

Pocket Watch: The displacement is collapsing. You must evacuate.

Cole caught up to the others as they were leaving the crumbling building. Aria ran to him.

Aria Westbrook: Cole! You came for me!

Cole Beckett: Always.

Clockwork Runner, in its battle form, appeared beside them. Ty leaned out from the cockpit, drenched in sweat but grinning wildly.

Ty Mercado: This whole place is coming down! Move your butt, hero!

Cole laughed—a short, tired sound—and hoisted Aria over his shoulder. He ran with Ty toward the collapsing platform.

Blake Faust followed close behind, helping Clockwork Runner clear a path through falling debris. They sprinted through the burning remains of the Grand Mechanism as it caved in behind them.

The floor cracked. The sky fell. The storm raged around the dying tower.

And then they jumped.

The entire top of the Westbrook Institute exploded behind them as they dove from the collapsing structure. Clockwork Runner roared beneath them, transforming midair back into its motorcycle form. Cole and Aria landed hard on the seat, with Ty grabbing the back rail just as Runner’s jets ignited.

They hit the ground as the Institute imploded, vanishing in a blinding wave of light.

When Cole finally stopped the bike, dawn had begun to break. The rain had ended, and the first rays of sunlight fell across the city. Steam rose from the streets like ghosts leaving the world behind.

Aria sat behind him, her arms still trembling around his chest. Ty climbed off the bike and collapsed on the curb, laughing breathlessly.

Ty Mercado: You know, I really should start charging extra for near-death experiences.

Blake Faust pulled up beside them on his own battered machine. His armor flickered with residual energy, but he still managed a grin.

Blake Faust: You did it, Beckett. The Thirteen Hands? Done and dusted!

Cole looked up at the sky, the faint light reflecting in his tired eyes.

Cole Beckett: Yeah. They're gone. It's over.

Pocket Watch: Well done, Cole Beckett.

The voice was softer this time, almost fading in and out. Cole touched the watch on his wrist, feeling its faint pulse.

Cole Beckett: You were right. It had to happen this way.

Pocket Watch: It always had to. But remember...there’s a price for rewriting fate.

Cole closed his hand around the watch.

Cole Beckett: I know. I’ll pay it when it comes due.

Aria stirred behind him.

Aria Westbrook: Cole...or Gauge...you have a lot of explaining to do!

Cole turned, his expression unreadable.

Cole Beckett: There’s a lot I haven’t told you. But for now...let’s just breathe.

She hesitated, then smiled faintly, resting her head against his back.

The four of them sat in silence as the sun rose higher. The wind blew across Arcadia City, carrying the scent of ozone, smoke, and something new—peace.

For the first time since the day time broke, it felt like morning again.

The End...of the Thirteen Hands.




That night, the first drops of rain began to fall again.

And then, on the far edge of the city, near the ruins of the Westbrook Institute, the sky split open.

A flash of light—white and silent—erupted in the middle of the old crater. 

The light faded slowly, revealing a figure lying face down in the mud. The air around him shimmered with residual energy, faintly pulsing like a heartbeat out of sync with the world.

He groaned, pushing himself upright. The figure was cloaked in the tattered remains of his clothing. His gloved hand trembled as he reached into the dirt and lifted something from it.

A Chrono Engine.

The figure turned it over in his hands. A faint symbol glowed on the belt’s center: two overlapping circles, one turning clockwise, the other counter.

The man’s voice was hoarse, uncertain, almost… afraid.

???: So...this is where I ended up.

He stood slowly, the rain soaking into his clothes. His reflection shivered in the puddle beneath him—distorted by the ripples of time that still hadn’t settled.

He looked up at the broken skyline of Arcadia City.

???: Guess I’m late.

The device pulsed once in his hands, a low hum filling the silence like a whisper of inevitability.

“The hands of time keep turning.”

“Next time on Kamen Rider Gauge…”
A New Engine Starts.

Last edited by Machismo (10/13/2025 5:26 pm)

Episode 15: Sound and Fury

Arcadia City was alive again, and thriving, yet everyone seemed to move around with a sense of forboding, that something was still off, and they almost seemed to live in fear of it. 

But not Jude Kallen.

He strummed his guitar at the corner of Ellison and Main, just outside a rusted newsstand where the paper headlines were still two days old. His fingers worked with lazy grace, not because he was showing off, but because he’d long since learned to let his hands do the talking. The melody he played wasn’t happy or sad—it was the kind of tune that lived between the two, dancing in the grey space where nostalgia hummed.

His voice, when he sang, was low and playful.

Jude Kallen: *singing* Time runs fast and time runs slow. Bought myself a minute I forgot I owe. Clock says stop but my heart says go. Guess I’ll play until I know.

A little boy in a backpack dropped a coin in his open guitar case. Jude stopped mid-song, bowed dramatically, and flipped the coin into the air before catching it on his wrist.

Jude Kallen: I’ll treasure this, kid, until I get hungry that is.

The crowd laughed. A few more coins clinked. Behind them, a neon sign sputtered—“DINER 24”—its hum blending with Jude’s melody like a background beat.

Tick and Tock were watching from across the street, both pretending to be disinterested, both failing spectacularly.

Tick: He's very optimal. I find him fascinating.

Tock: His pitch is wandering.

Tick: You’re wandering.

Tock: I don’t wander. I observe.

Tick nudged her with her elbow.

Tick: Observe this—he’s got half the block smiling. I call that a success. 

Tock: ...Affirmative.

They turned as Jude finished the last verse, slung the guitar around to rest against his back, and gave a grin that didn’t seem to belong to a man with nowhere to sleep tonight.

Jude Kallen: That’s my time, folks—literally. If you come back for more, please bring coffee, I do love that Cafe Noir blend they're selling now.

The people clapped lightly before drifting off. The sound of footsteps on wet concrete filled the silence that followed. Jude sighed and sat on the curb, running his hand through his hair, feeling the faint pulse in the air that he alone could sense. The rhythm of the city wasn’t right. It was close—but not right.

He pulled out a tuning fork and hit it against his strings. It reverberted longer than he expected. 

Jude Kallen: Yep folks, you're not crazy. Things are a little off. This is definitely the place it all began.

The faint sound of a clock striking somewhere down the street broke the lull. Jude stared at the reflection of the shop windows. The words “Back in Time” shimmered backward in the glass.

Jude Kallen: Tick...Tock....

Tick and Tock: Like a clock. 

Jude Kallen: Right. Who did you say runs that shop over there? 

Tick: Oh, that would be our good friend Cole Beckett! We're his favorite customers. 

Tock: We haven't actually acquired his services yet, Tick. 

Tick: He enjoys our presense. 

Tock: That would have to be factual. 

Jude Kallen: Right.

Jude chuckled and started walking with them. The late afternoon sun filtered through a haze of smog, bathing the street in an amber hue. It wasn’t exactly beautiful, but it was alive, and that was enough.

As they walked, Jude noticed people carrying on with quiet, tentative confidence. Streetcars moved. Vendors sold steamed buns under hanging paper lanterns. 

They reached the shop. Inside, Back in Time was cluttered but cozy. Brass cogs, tiny screws, half-built wristwatches, and the faint smell of oil filled the air. A few half-repaired clocks lined the walls, all ticking in perfect sync.

Jude Kallen: Wow. What a place. The guy seems to know what he's doing. 

Tock: He appears to be gone. Possibly out to lunch.

Tick hopped onto the counter.

Tick: So what’s your story, guitar guy?

Jude Kallen: It’s Jude. And I’m just passing through.

Tock: Everyone in Arcadia says that.

Jude Kallen: Well I can't speak for everyone, Tock.

He set down his guitar case and leaned on the counter, eyes wandering across the workshop.

Jude Kallen: I used to work with machinery, believe it or not.

Tick: Oh yeah? What kind?

Jude Kallen: ...Not clocks, but I built things.

Tock: So you’re an inventor.

Jude Kallen: I was something like that.

He looked at one of the clocks. Its second hand was stuck.

Jude Kallen: Your friend might want to fix that one.

Tick: He tried. It doesn’t want to cooperate.

Jude Kallen: Story of my life.

He turned toward the door again, brushing dust from his jacket.

Jude Kallen: Honestly. I am here for a reason. I’m looking for someone.

Tock: You do not seem the type to settle down.

Jude Kallen: I’m not. But I’ve got questions that need answers. About the Riders. Kamen Rider Gauge specifically. 

Tick’s expression faltered. Tock stiffened.

Tick: That’s a name that carries a lot with it now. 

Jude Kallen: So you do know him.

Tock: We know of him. Everyone in Arcadia City does now. A reporter saw to that. It would be difficult to hide the facts, considering a building thought destroyed, reappeared, only to collapse all over again.

Jude Kallen: Interesting. 

Tick: What is your connection to the Kamen Riders?

Jude Kallen: ...You really don't remember, do you? 

Tick: We have excellent memory, except when we forget. 

Tock: Are you implying something happened? That would not be the first time. People have vague notions of attacks by horrible creatures, only for their to be no sign of them or any perceivable damage. 

Tick: Arcadia City is weird, isn't it? 

Jude Kallen: Very.

He didn’t mean to sound so serious, but the air in the room seemed to tense.

Jude Kallen: But I like it that way! 

Tick: I do too! It's fascinating!

He grabbed his guitar case and nodded to them both.

Jude Kallen: Well, I'd better get going. If you two ever need me for birthdays, weddings, or some major crisis, I’m available.

Tick: Oh, we’ll call. We’ve got a whole playlist of those!

Tock: Do not encourage him.

He stepped out into the fading light of Arcadia. The city’s hum returned, blending into the faint plucking of his strings as he wandered toward Café Noir, the one place everyone said you could overhear something important if you stayed long enough.

The café was half-empty when he got there. The smell of roasted beans hit him like comfort. Behind a chipped mug and a cracked laptop sat Ellie Tran, typing with focus and caffeine-driven irritation.

He took the stool across from her and gestured toward the camera sitting beside her.

Jude Kallen: You a journalist?

Ellie Tran: I’m a survivor. Journalism’s just how I pay rent.

Jude Kallen: I hear survivors have the best stories.

She looked up, sizing him up like someone who’d had too many weirdos approach her in a week.

Ellie Tran: Let me guess—you’re another one of those tourists who came to check out the weird happenings in Arcadia City?

Jude Kallen: Nope. Musician. And amateur busy body. 

Ellie Tran: That’s a terrible combination.

Jude Kallen: You’d be surprised.

He leaned closer.

Jude Kallen: Are you the one who wrote the stories? The one who met him? Gauge?

Her eyes flicked toward the window, then back to him.

Ellie Tran: Why do you care?

Jude Kallen: Because I've seen him too.

She hesitated, searching his face for something—truth, danger, maybe both.

Ellie Tran: It's just like what I wrote. He saved me. He enlightened me to the plight going on under our very noses. That building that reappeared and collapsed, some very bad people were involved. They tried to kill me for shining a light on their activities. Gauge saved me. 

Jude Kallen: What was he like?

Ellie Tran: Friendly. He cared about saving me. He put himself at risk, and he didn't even know me. He's a hero.

Jude nodded slowly, tapping his fingers against the table.

Jude Kallen: So...he didn't seem...angry?

Ellie Tran: No. Sad.

Jude Kallen: Huh. That’s worse I suppose.

Ashley sighed and leaned back.

Ellie Tran: You’re not the first person to ask. But if you’re looking for him, you won’t find him by talking to me.

She packed up her laptop and camera.

Ellie Tran: He shows up when he’s needed. Not before.

Jude Kallen: Well...maybe before...maybe after.

She walked out, leaving Jude alone with the smell of coffee and unanswered questions. He stared at the reflection of the café window, the faint hum in the background growing louder. 

Jude Kallen: This is going to be harder than I thought.

He grabbed his guitar, tossed a coin on the counter, and walked back out into the city. 

The next morning, the sky over Arcadia City was overcast, the color of concrete and dust. Construction crews worked on a rail line that still hadn’t run right since the explosion at the Institute.

Jude Kallen sat on the curb outside the Cafe, guitar in hand, lazily plucking a few notes as he watched people come and go. He wasn’t in any hurry. He’d learned that when you waited long enough in a place like this, someone with answers usually walked by.

A waitress came out with a coffee, handed it to him, and smiled.

Waitress: Miss Tran said you’d be back. Said you’re the guy asking about Gauge.

Jude Kallen: She’s observant.

Waitress: She’s also tired of people asking about him. You should buy HER a drink if you’re gonna bother her again.

Jude gave a lopsided grin and handed her a coin.

Jude Kallen: I’ll buy her two.

He took a sip of the coffee. It was bitter, burnt, and strong—exactly how he liked it. He closed his eyes for a moment, letting the warmth sink in, before the sound of an argument broke his peace.

Across the street, Tick and Tock were yelling at a delivery driver who had knocked over a box of clock parts.

Tick: Those are calibrated pieces! You can’t just—ugh, do you even know how much precision matters?

Driver: Lady, they’re gears.

Tock: They’re synchronized instruments of measurement!

The both stood back to back and pointed at him. 

Tick and Tock: You'll be in BIG trouble if any one these parts is damaged!

Jude smirked and stood up, strolling across the street like he had all the time in the world.

Jude Kallen: Ladies, relax. If the guy doesn’t get it, he doesn’t get it.

Tick: We had it under control.

Jude Kallen: Yeah, I can see that. 

Tock: Do you ever take anything seriously?

Jude Kallen: Oh sure. My music...and breakfast. 

Tick: Music is important to you, eh? 

Jude Kallen: Yeah, I’m an artist...I guess?

The driver quickly apologized and took off. Jude knelt and started helping the twins pick up the scattered gears, stacking them neatly into the box. He slung his guitar strap over his shoulder and crossed the street again, heading back into the café.

The bell over the door jingled as he walked in. Ellie Tran sat in her usual corner, her coffee cup half-full, papers spread across the table. She looked like she hadn’t slept much.

Jude Kallen: Morning.

Kellie Tran: You again.

Jude Kallen: You say that like it’s a bad thing.

Ellie Tran: You’re persistent. I’ll give you that.

He slid into the seat across from her, uninvited.

Jude Kallen: I just need to talk to Gauge. 

Ellie Tran: You would have to get in line. 

Jude Kallen: It's important that I speak to him. 

Ellie Tran: What makes you so important that I try and set up some sort of a meeting? Implying I even COULD. 

Jude Kallen: ...I'm a Kamen Rider.

Ellie Tran: ...What?!

The sun had burned through the clouds by the time Jude reached the pier. Street performers were setting up—jugglers, fire breathers, and a kid with a keyboard that barely worked. He joined them, setting up his own guitar case, plucking a few warmup notes. The air smelled like salt and oil.

He started to play. His voice carried across the water, low and steady. People turned to listen, drawn by the energy that seemed to pulse through his music.

As he played, the faint ticking returned.
Then the ground trembled.

A flash of light rippled across the sky, briefly cutting through the clouds like lightning—but without thunder.

The onlookers gasped. Jude stopped playing and looked up.

Jude Kallen: ...That’s not weather.

The sky above Arcadia shimmered faintly. On a high-rise rooftop, the Maestro stood alone, his coat flapping in the wind.
Below him, the city moved like a mechanical symphony—thousands of sounds blending together into a chaotic rhythm.

He raised his hand, and the air vibrated with a soft hum.

Maestro: He’s here.

Maestro disappeared from the roof and appeared atop a building near the docks, which immediately got Jude Kallen's attention. He ran after him. The Maestro turned slowly as Jude climbed the last flight of stairs. For a moment, they just stared at each other. Jude could feel something familiar about him.

Maestro: You made better time than I expected.

Jude Kallen: You’re the guy causing the light show?

Maestro: You could say I’m conducting it.

Jude Kallen: That’s not funny.

Maestro: It wasn’t meant to be.

He raised his baton and tapped it once against the air. The hum grew louder.

Maestro: You’re out of place here. You don't belong.

Jude Kallen: I have a mission. I don't really care what you think.

Maestro: You will.

The rooftop began to distort, the edges shimmering like ripples in water. Out of the distortion stepped something monstrous—humanoid, but also mechanical wtih spider legs jutting out of its back, covered in mirrored armor that flickered with static.

The Chronovore let out a piercing shriek.

Jude took a step back, eyes narrowing.

Jude Kallen: That’s new.

Maestro: One of the many creations possible because of the resonance, but you know all about that. After all...you're here.

Jude sighed.

Jude Kallen: Well, here we go. Rhythm Driver—Set the Tempo!

He hit the activation key on his belt.

Energy erupted from the belt in a wave of blue light. His armor materialized piece by piece—shoulder plates, gauntlets, the visor flashing as the Chronovore appeared in its reflection. 

Kamen Rider Tempo stood ready.

The rooftop shook as the Chronovore lunged forward, its spider-like limbs slamming into the concrete and sending up shards of debris. Blue sparks crackled along its mirrored armor, flickering like static on a broken television screen.

Kamen Rider Tempo tightened his stance. His chest lights pulsed in rhythm with a faint electronic beat.

Kamen Rider Tempo: Alright, let’s see if you can keep up with the beat.

The monster screeched — a harsh, stuttering sound, like corrupted audio played backward. Then it moved.

Fast.

Too fast.

It leaped sideways, its afterimage remaining for half a second before vanishing. Tempo swung an arm, but hit only air. One of the spider limbs smashed into his side, knocking him backward through a rooftop vent. He rolled across the gravel and barely caught himself before going over the edge.

Kamen Rider Tempo: Okay, not subtle.

The Chronovore crawled toward him, limbs clicking, its movements uneven and jerky like stop-motion brought to life.

Tempo raised his left arm and tapped the Rhythm Driver Belt.

Driver Voice: Tempo Beat Mode — Playback!

Blue soundwaves pulsed from his boots and wrapped around his fists. He charged forward, punching in a quick rhythm — left, right, kick, spin. Each hit echoed like a drumbeat. The monster blocked with its metal arms, but each strike left a glowing blue impact point that vibrated faster and faster.

Kamen Rider Tempo: Ever heard of a feedback loop?

He twisted his wrist — the glowing marks detonated with a bass-like thump. The explosion sent both fighters flying. Tempo landed hard, sliding across the gravel, but managed to stay standing. The Chronovore staggered, its mirrors cracked and flickering.

Kamen Rider Tempo: Guess that hit a note.

The monster shrieked again and raised its arms, and mirrored illusions appeared and surrounded Tempo.

Tempo drew his Tempo Baton, spinning it in a flourish. Blue waveforms shimmered along its edge.

Rhythm Driver: Rhythm Baton: Sonic Resonance!

He struck the ground — a shockwave of blue energy rippled outward in a perfect circle. The illusions shattered like glass, but the real Chronovore dropped from above, slamming him into the roof with a crushing blow.

Tempo groaned, pushing against the creature’s clawed foot.

Kamen Rider Tempo: Alright, now you're making me mad.

The Chronovore screeched in response, static crackling across its body. Its mirrored face leaned closer, and for a split second, Tempo could see his own reflection.

The monster’s chest began to pulse with white light. Time around them slowed — raindrops hung motionless in the air. Tempo’s visor flickered as his systems struggled to compensate.

Tempo clenched his fists.

Kamen Rider Tempo: I’m not done yet!

He slammed his baton into his belt.

Rhythm Driver: Beat Overdrive – Sync Up!

His armor panels shifted, light intensifying. The rhythm lines on his chest began to pulse faster, brighter, matching the beat of his heart.

He dashed forward, ducking under the spider limbs, and countered with an uppercut that sent sparks flying. Then a spinning kick — then another. Each move was perfectly timed, every impact syncing to a musical pulse. The monster stumbled backward, its glitching form destabilizing.

Tempo flipped backward and landed in a crouch.

Kamen Ride Tempo: Time to end this on a high note.

He raised his right arm and hit the finisher key.

Rhythm Driver:  FINISH BEAT: RHYTHM CRASH!

Blue energy spiraled up his leg as he launched himself into the air. The Chronovore tried to vanish again but Tempo’s trajectory bent with it. His foot connected with its chest in midair, sending an explosion of shattered reflections across the rooftop.

The blast lit up the night like fireworks.

Tempo landed hard, one knee down, smoke rising from his armor. The Chronovore staggered, broken, but still twitching — static running wild through its body.

Kamen Rider Tempo: You don’t quit easy, do you?

He took a step forward — but then the creature froze.

A faint hum filled the air, low and steady. The raindrops hanging mid-fall began to reverse. The debris moved backward. The air itself felt heavier.

Tempo looked up.

A silhouette stood on the far end of the rooftop, surrounded by faint orange light.

It was Kamen Rider Gauge Omega Break.




His armor glowed faintly with red and gold pulses. He didn’t move quickly. He didn’t need to. The world seemed to shift around him instead.

Gauge raised his hand, palm outward. The Chronovore spasmed, caught mid-motion, then froze entirely — its body dissolving into dust-like particles that reversed direction and vanished into nothing.

Tempo took a cautious step forward.

Kamen Rider Tempo: Hey—wait! Are you—?

Gauge turned his head slightly. The orange light reflected off his visor. For a moment, their eyes met — one burning with power, the other flickering with curiosity.

Then, without a word, Gauge lowered his hand.

The rain began falling normally again.

By the time Tempo blinked, the Rider was gone.

He stood alone on the once ruined rooftop, the hum of the city slowly returning. He stared at the empty space where Gauge had stood.

Kamen Rider Tempo: Yeah...you’re definitely the guy I’ve come here for.

He deactivated his transformation. The light faded, and Jude Kallen stood there again, soaked in the rain, guitar case slung over his back. He exhaled slowly, half-laughing, half-breathless.

Jude Kallen: So Axis Nova is here. Maestro, you want to get to Gauge? I'll get to him first. Only a matter of...heh...time.

To Be Continued...

Last edited by Machismo (11/02/2025 3:43 am)

Episode 17: The Man Who Would Be Time

Cole Beckett: My name is Cole Beckett, and if you had met me a year ago you would have thought I was just another repairman trying to keep broken clocks running in a city that was slowly changing. I owned a small clock repair shop in Arcadia City where the smell of oil and brass filled the air and every wall ticked with the sound of a hundred different timepieces. Back then I believed time moved forward the way everyone said it did, one second at a time, steady and predictable like the swing of a pendulum. That belief lasted right up until the moment I became Omega Gauge. Now...time moves for me.

Morning sunlight filtered through the curtains of the repair shop's upstairs apartment Cole shared with Aria Westbrook, casting warm gold across the ceiling in long diagonal bands. He lay on his back staring up at those moving lines of light while Aria slept beside him. She had one arm resting loosely across his chest and the steady rhythm of her breathing filled the quiet room. To anyone else it would have looked like a peaceful morning between two people enjoying the comfort of finally having a normal life together.



Cole Beckett: The truth is that while I lay there beside her, I am also somewhere else entirely.

At that exact same moment another version of Cole as Omega Gauge stood on the edge of a collapsing skyscraper in Arcadia City while the wind howled through broken steel beams. A Chronovore creature climbed through the wreckage with jagged metal limbs scraping against the concrete as it dragged itself upward toward the rooftop. The creature’s body was a twisted fusion of mechanical parts and shattered clockwork plating, and every movement it made caused fragments of debris to fall into the street dozens of floors below.



The monster lunged toward him with a shriek of grinding metal.

Time slowed to a crawl.

The Chronovore hung in the air like an insect trapped in amber as sparks and fragments of concrete floated around it. He walked forward calmly and placed his hand against the creature’s chest.

Kamen Rider Omega Gauge: You're not fast enough, and you never will be.

He pushed once.

The creature shattered apart in a silent burst of broken machinery as time reset the building back to its original state. 

Cole Beckett: That's the way it's been for weeks. These creatures kept attacking and trying to destroy the city I brought back from the brink. I would destroy them, and fix the damage.

Back in the apartment, Cole blinked slowly and watched the sunlight shift another inch across the ceiling. Aria stirred slightly beside him before settling back into sleep.

The door of the clock repair shop slammed open with enough force to rattle half the timepieces hanging on the walls. Tick and Tock burst inside like a pair of human firecrackers, each one carrying something that was smoking suspiciously. Cole was there too. 



Tick placed a battered kitchen appliance onto the workbench with dramatic enthusiasm.

Tick: Cole!  It's me Tick! 

Tock: And Tock! 

Tick and Tock: LIKE A CLOCK!

Tick: We built an amazing clock that keeps time down to the nano-second!

Tock proudly gestured toward the device as smoke curled from the top.

Tock: And it's only exploded twice so far! 

Cole Beckett: So, it's a bomb?

Tick pointed accusingly at the machine.

Tick: It wasn't MEANT to blow up. 

Cole Beckett: ...So it's a bad bomb.

Before they could say anything else, Ty Mercado leaned casually into the doorway with a takeout carton balanced in one hand and chopsticks dangling from the other. He looked at the smoking appliance and immediately grinned.

Ty Mercado: I told them this was a terrible idea.

Cole Beckett: You absolutely did not.

Ty Mercado: I absolutely did not.

The clock made a loud popping sound and launched a piece of blackened bread into the air.

Tock: It worked!

Cole Beckett: You made it out of a toaster? 

Tick: We make clocks out of everything! We love clocks, just like you!

While they argued inside the shop, another version of Cole Beckett stood on a black stone platform at the edge of existence itself.

The beginning of the universe burned in front of him.



Cosmic beings known as the Celestials clashed against monstrous entities of living darkness called the Infernals. Their battle stretched across the newborn void like a storm of impossible light and shadow. Every strike between them created shockwaves powerful enough to ignite new stars or collapse entire galaxies before they had even finished forming.

Cole Beckett: I see it all. I stand here with my hands in my pockets watching the violence unfold like it was a historical documentary. The universe had a rough childhood.

One of the Celestials swung a massive blade of radiant energy and split an Infernal titan in half, sending fragments of cosmic matter drifting across the forming galaxy.

Cole Beckett: So they created a new timeline that cohabitates with the previous one. Interesting. Well...curiosity is satisfied. Probably best if I don’t get involved in this one.

At the same moment rain poured down across the neon-lit streets of Hanta City where Kamen Rider Faust was fighting a towering Wraith creature. The monster swung a jagged blade of shadow that forced Faust backward across the pavement.

Faust raised his arm to block the next strike and shouted into the rain.

Kamen Rider Faust: Could use a little help here!

A ripple of golden energy distorted the air beside him as Omega Gauge appeared.



The Wraith paused mid-attack.

Faust glanced sideways.

Kamen Rider Faust: Took you long enough! 

Kamen Rider Omega Gauge: I was preoccupied with the war at the beginning of time. 

Kamen Rider Faust: Sure you were.

The Wraith lunged forward with a howl that echoed through the empty street. Omega Gauge caught the creature’s arm before it could reach Faust and allowed the flow of time around the monster to fold inward like a tightening spiral.

The Wraith froze.

Faust stared at the immobilized creature.

Kamen Rider Faust: That’s got to be cheating.

Kamen Rider Omega Gauge: I can undo it. 

Kamen Rider Faust: Oh no, we're good. We're good.

With a small motion of his hand, the monster collapsed inward and dissolved into fading fragments of shadow.

By the time Faust turned to speak again, Omega Gauge was already gone.

Back at the repair shop, smoke filled the room as the toaster continued burning something that definitely wasn’t bread.

Tick waved a wrench in the air.

Tick: The progress to the future is delicious!

Ty Mercado casually pointed his chopsticks toward the smoking appliance.

Ty Mercado: I’m pretty sure the future is on fire.

Time wasn’t a river.

It was a symphony.

Every moment played simultaneously.

Every heartbeat layered into the next.

And somehow, he could hear all of it. He could even hear the humming of one that was not meant to be there.

At the edge of one rooftop stood Kamen Rider Omega Gauge.

His armor glowed faintly with orange and blue temporal energy, the circular clock embedded in his chest turning slowly as if keeping time for the entire world below. He did not move. He did not breathe. He simply watched the city.

A single violin note echoed across the rooftop.

Omega Gauge turned.

Standing near the roof’s edge was Maestro.

His long coat fluttered in the wind like the tail of a conductor’s jacket, and the strange violin he carried seemed less like an instrument and more like a piece of futuristic machinery. Thin metal ribs ran along its body, glowing faintly as if each string were part of some delicate chronal circuit.

He played a slow, deliberate chord.

The note lingered in the air.

Maestro: Beautiful city. Clockwork ambition. Human stubbornness. All ticking toward the same inevitable end.

Omega Gauge did not respond.

The Maestro smiled faintly.

Maestro: You know, most people would say something dramatic right now. A threat. A warning. A declaration of justice.

He lowered the violin slightly.

Maestro: But you’re not most people anymore, are you?

The wind pushed across the rooftop again.

Omega Gauge stepped forward slowly, boots echoing against the concrete.

Kamen Rider Omega Gauge: You’ve been interfering with the timeline.

Maestro: Interfering?

The Maestro chuckled.

Maestro: I prefer to think of it as maintenance. Isn't that what you're doing? Cleaning up my mess? My mess is all about getting your attention, so WE can clean up the larger mess.

He lifted his violin again and lightly tapped the bow against one of the glowing strings.

The note that rang out vibrated unnaturally.

The air itself seemed to ripple.

Maestro: My world exists because of what happens here.

He stepped closer.

Maestro: Every decision made in this era... every invention... every war... every hero...

He gestured toward Omega Gauge.

Maestro: Because of you.

The Rider stood silently.

Maestro: The future I come from is magnificent, but it could be better. Under the protective embrace of Axis Nova, it could become a paradise.

His voice darkened slightly.

Maestro: But it only exists if history unfolds differently. 

Omega Gauge: That doesn’t justify manipulating time.

Maestro laughed softly.

Maestro: You're one to talk, sir. You're the one...that gave us the idea.

He pointed toward Omega Gauge.

Maestro: You of all beings should understand that.

A low humming vibration began building in the air.

Maestro: Tell me...how many moments are you experiencing right now?

The orange glow in Omega Gauge’s chest pulsed.

Maestro: The birth of stars. The fall of empires. A man crossing a street in Arcadia five minutes from now. A war that hasn’t even started yet.

The Maestro tilted his head.

Maestro: You feel it all, don’t you?

Omega Gauge remained silent.

Maestro: Exactly.

He began pacing slowly across the rooftop.

Maestro: My world learned something extraordinary about time.

He lifted the violin.

Maestro: Sound.

He dragged the bow across the strings.

A deep resonant tone rippled through the rooftop.

Maestro: Sound flows like time.

Another chord rang out.

Maestro: With the right resonance...the right harmonic structure...we can travel just like you.

He gestured around them.

Maestro: That is what brought me here...for you.

The night sky flickered faintly as if reacting to the sound.

Omega Gauge stepped forward again.

Kamen Rider Omega Gauge: Why have you been sending Chronovores into this era?

Maestro: Controlled experiments.

He pointed at Omega Gauge.

Maestro: You see, my dear Omega Gauge, you're the key variable.

His expression hardened slightly.

Maestro: Someone from my future tried to kill me recently. The man you made..."disappear".

The rooftop lights flickered.

Maestro: He traveled here to stop me before Axis Nova could stabilize the timeline. So I'm glad you removed him from the board.

The Maestro lifted his violin once more.

Maestro: And now...for another test.

He drew the bow violently across the strings.

The sound that exploded outward felt wrong.

More like a scream made of metal and electricity.

The rooftop shook.

The air above them tore open like fabric.

From the rupture something massive dropped down onto the rooftop with a thunderous crash.

Concrete shattered.

Steel railings twisted.

Standing before them was a new Chronovore.

Its body looked like a monstrous fusion of eras.

A tyrannosaur skull formed its head, but its jaw was reinforced with glowing cybernetic plating. One eye burned with prehistoric ferocity while the other was a rotating mechanical lens.

Its torso was disturbingly human, muscular and upright, but threaded with cables and glowing circuitry that pulsed with time-energy.

Mechanical spines jutted from its back like antennae pulling signals from different centuries.

Its arms ended in massive claws composed of alloy bones and jagged technological blades.

Its legs were digitigrade like a dinosaur’s, but reinforced with jet-like thrusters that hissed with temporal energy.

The monster roared.

The sound warped the air.

Maestro spread his arms proudly.

Maestro: Beautiful, isn’t it?

Omega Gauge’s orange eyes burned brighter.

Maestro: A creature assembled from multiple eras.

He gestured toward the monster.

Maestro: Prehistoric DNA. Human genetic structure. Technology from three hundred years in the future.

He smiled.

Maestro: A true masterpiece.

The monster slammed one claw into the rooftop, cracking the concrete.

Another deep tone echoed from the violin.

Maestro: We compose reality.

Omega Gauge stepped forward, fists tightening.

Maestro studied him carefully.

Maestro: You don’t have to fight me.

Omega Gauge stopped.

Maestro: Think about it.

He gestured toward the skyline.

Maestro: With your power...and Axis Nova’s understanding of it. We could shape the timeline.

He stepped closer.

Maestro: Prevent wars. Guide humanity. Build a future that never collapses.

The Chronovore let out another monstrous roar.

Maestro: Join us.

Omega Gauge’s chest clock began spinning faster.

The wind intensified.

Kamen Rider Omega Gauge: Time doesn’t belong to you. It belongs to me now.

The Maestro sighed.

Maestro: I was hoping you’d say yes.

He lifted his violin again.

Maestro: Chronovore.

The monster’s mechanical eye flashed.

Maestro: Give your life to feed our new Master of Time! The Man who WOULD be Time!

The creature lunged forward.

Its massive claw slammed downward toward Omega Gauge.

But the Rider was already moving.

He vanished in a flash of orange and blue energy.

The Chronovore’s claw smashed into the rooftop, tearing a massive crater into the concrete.

Omega Gauge reappeared behind it.

The clock on his chest glowed brighter as it turned around.



With a single punch, the Chronovore was annihilated. Maestro clapped, bemused at the situation. 

Maestro: Well...that's another masterpiece I'll have to fine tune, but we're learning so much about each other today. It's truly been a learning experience. Maybe you'll come around when you realize what you've truly gotten yourself into.

With one last note, Maestro disappeared, leaving Omega Gauge standing there. 

Night eventually settled over the apartment in Arcadia City while Aria slept peacefully beside Cole. Her life had gotten easier following her brush with death...her second brush with death. The quiet ticking of the clock on the nightstand marked the passing seconds for everyone else in the world.

Cole stared up at the ceiling.



Cole Beckett: I can do anything now.

Aria shifted slightly and rested her head against his shoulder without waking.

Cole Beckett: I can be anywhere.

The ticking of the clock continued.

Cole Beckett: I can see everything.

My eyes remained open.

Cole Beckett: There’s just one thing I didn’t think about.

The pocket watch on the bedside table vibrated softly.

Cole Beckett: I can’t sleep....I hadn't expected that.

The clock ticked.

Pocket Watch: Cole? Cole, can you hear me? Cole! COLE!

To Be Continued...

Last edited by Machismo (3/11/2026 6:55 pm)

Episode 19: Dark Future

The city stretched endlessly beneath them, glowing in layers of amber and white as the night settled in, and the wind rolled steadily across the rooftop where the two Riders stood without their armor, just two men trying to make sense of something far bigger than either of them. Cole Beckett leaned back against the ledge, arms folded, staring out at the skyline.



Cole Beckett: You ever have one of those days where you accidentally become a cosmic constant and ruin a guy’s entire existence?

Jude Kallen let out a quiet breath through his nose, folding his arms as he leaned beside him.

Jude Kallen: I had a day where I got erased from time, so I think we’re in the same ballpark.

Cole gave a half-smirk, but it faded quickly as he looked down at his hands.

Cole Beckett: It was...weird. Being out there. Outside of everything. It felt like I could see all of it at once, like every second was happening in the same place, and I was just...standing in it. And then I look back, and I realize I left you stuck in a moment like a screenshot.

He exhaled slowly.

Cole Beckett: I’m sorry, Jude. I didn’t even realize what I was doing. I was so caught up in...everything.

Jude didn’t answer immediately, and for a moment the wind filled the silence between them. Then he nodded.

Jude Kallen: I figured. Hard to hold a grudge against someone who literally didn’t have a normal perspective on reality anymore.

He glanced over.

Jude Kallen: Besides, I might have deserved it.

Cole raised an eyebrow.

Cole Beckett: Oh yeah? Why is that?

Jude shook his head.

Jude Kallen: I was sent back to kill you.

That landed heavier than anything else had so far. Cole blinked, then tilted his head slightly.

Cole Beckett: Okay, that's interesting. Go on.

Jude Kallen: Axis Nova. In the future, they’re in control of everything.

Cole’s expression sharpened.

Cole Beckett: “In control” how?

Jude stared out at the skyline, but his eyes weren’t really seeing it anymore.

Jude Kallen: The world is broken. Time doesn’t flow right anymore. Entire regions exist out of sync with each other. And above it all...there’s this massive presence. A Cloud of Darkness that just hangs over everything. Laughing. It laughs, Cole.

Cole frowned.

Cole Beckett: That sounds...just awful.

Jude Kallen: It gets worse. The Earth is at war. Not with aliens. Not with something abstract. With another Earth.

Cole turned fully toward him now.

Cole Beckett: I’m sorry, what?

Jude Kallen: Another version of Earth, ruled by something called a Star Prince. It’s a timeline that was supposed to stay sealed away, but it started merging back into reality.

Cole let out a short laugh.

Cole Beckett: Of course it did. Why wouldn’t it. Time always seems to be the problem.

Jude Kallen: Axis Nova wanted that merge to happen. A world where the Cloud of Darkness spreads, where massive alien threats roam freely, and something called the Darkness Angel rules over everything.

Cole’s jaw tightened slightly.

Cole Beckett: And Maestro wanted me to help make that happen.

Jude Kallen: Exactly.

Cole looked down again, then let out a breath and shook his head.

Cole Beckett: Well...good news. I ditched Omega Gauge. I can't merge it. This Maestro guy can't either.

Jude didn’t smile.

Jude Kallen: The merge already started.

Cole froze.

Jude Kallen: Our records indicated it happened when the Thirteen Hands reached into time. They unknowingly grabbed upon a locked away timeline. You have stopped it from completing. You broke the path it was supposed to take. But now all those pieces are loose. That future is bleeding into this timeline anyway.

Cole slowly looked back up.

Cole Beckett: So...I didn’t stop it. I just made it...complicated.

Jude Kallen: You made it survivable...for now.

That hung in the air for a moment.

Jude pushed off the ledge slightly.

Jude Kallen: I’m staying. Until it’s over. That future doesn’t get to exist here. Not if I can help it. I want to protect this time, to protect everyone.  

He hesitated just slightly.

Jude Kallen: And...I want to protect Ellie Tran.

Cole’s expression shifted immediately into something far more mischievous.

Cole Beckett: Oh? You want to “protect” Ellie Tran.

Jude rolled his eyes.

Jude Kallen: Don’t start.

Cole Beckett: No no, I’m just saying, very noble, very heroic, very definitely not a crush.

Jude pointed at him.

Jude Kallen: You do not get to talk! I know how much Aria means to you.

That hit harder than expected. Cole’s grin faded, and for just a second, he locked up completely.

Because he knew something Jude didn’t.

Because he had already changed the timeline once...to save her.

Cole Beckett: Yeah. Well.

He looked away.

Cole Beckett: We all have our reasons.

Before Jude could press further, Cole’s phone buzzed violently in his pocket. He pulled it out, glanced at the screen, and immediately answered.

Cole Beckett: Ty, what’s up?

Ty Mercado’s voice came through fast and loud.

Ty Mercado: WHAT’S UP IS A GIANT NIGHTMARE MONSTER JUST DROPPED INTO DOWNTOWN!

Cole closed his eyes briefly.

Cole Beckett: Of course it did.

Ty Mercado: I’M NOT EVEN KIDDING, MAN! IT'S BEING FOLLOWED BY A WANNABE CONDUCTOR! 

Cole Beckett: Yeah, that tracks.

He hung up and looked at Jude.

Cole Beckett: You ready?

Jude smirked slightly.

Jude Kallen: Let's bring the Tempo!

They moved at the same time.

Cole snapped his driver into place.

Jude raised his.

Cole Beckett: Let’s go.

Jude Kallen: Right behind you.

Both voices rang out together.



Cole Beckett: Calibrate. Lock. Ignite. RIDE THE PRESSURE! HENSHIN!

Jude Kallen: FEEL THE TEMPO! HENSHIN!

Light erupted around them as Kamen Rider Gauge and Kamen Rider Tempo burst into existence, energy flaring outward as the rooftop cracked beneath their feet.

A moment later, Cole swung onto the Clockwork Runner as it roared to life beneath him, gears spinning and engine screaming as it launched forward. Tempo hitched a ride as the two took off. 



The city blurred.

The battlefield came into view.

The Chronovore stood in the middle of the street, massive and repulsive.



Kamen Rider Gauge: That thing is a mess! 

Maestro: Another masterpiece! The last one was designed for Omega Gauge, and Omega Gauge ONLY. This one? Much more proficient at destroying obstacles. 

Kamen Rider Gauge: We're going to put a stop to it. 

Kamen Rider Tempo: And then you're next!

The moment Kamen Rider Gauge and Kamen Rider Tempo hit the street, the creature lunged forward with unnatural speed, its body twitching, its limbs snapping from one position to another without crossing the space between, pulsing in erratic, unstable bursts like a broken clock trying to force itself into rhythm.

Gauge revved the Clockwork Runner hard, the engine screaming like a living thing as flames curled off the tires and scattered across the asphalt.

Kamen Rider Gauge: Hold on!

Kamen Rider Tempo: I am literally holding onto you!

The Chronovore swung first, a jagged arm stretching and skipping forward in time, appearing directly in front of the bike mid-strike, forcing Gauge to jerk the handlebars sideways. The Runner drifted hard, sparks exploding as metal scraped pavement, just barely avoiding a direct hit.

Tempo twisted around on the back, raising his arm as blue waveform energy built along his forearm.

Kamen Rider Tempo: Let’s test its rhythm!

He fired a burst of compressed sound energy, a sharp WUB-WAVE blast that slammed into the Chronovore’s chest.

The creature staggered, but not for long. It snapped back into action and retaliated instantly, bringing a claw down toward the bike.

Gauge’s eyes flared.

He slammed the brake and leaned, the Clockwork Runner pivoting with mechanical precision as the claw missed by inches and carved a glowing scar into the street. Gauge kicked off the bike, flipping forward into a roll, while Tempo launched off the back and landed opposite him.

Now they stood on either side of the Chronovore.

The creature twitched between them.

Kamen Rider Tempo: Let's keep it guessing!

Gauge smirked behind his helmet.

Kamen Rider Gauge: Absolutely.

They moved at the same time.

Gauge rushed in with heavy, grounded strikes, while Tempo danced around the opposite side, fast, syncopated, unpredictable, his movements breaking cadence with sharp bursts of speed and sudden stops.

The Chronovore tried to track both.

It couldn’t.

Gauge drove a fist into its side, gears in his armor grinding as steam burst from his joints, while Tempo followed with a spinning kick that crackled with blue energy, the two attacks landing half a second apart.

The Chronovore screeched, but kept swinging. Maestro pulled out a cane. 

Maestro: You two aren't the only ones that have tampered with time, you know. I came here the same way as you, Tempo, and I have more tricks up my sleeve.

He slammed his cane to the ground. 

Time lurched.

Gauge suddenly felt heavy, like his movements were dragging through molasses, while Tempo stumbled as his speed surged uncontrollably forward, overshooting his own strikes.

Kamen Rider Tempo: Damn!

The Chronovore struck back, slamming Gauge with a delayed impact that hit a full second after the swing connected, throwing him across the street, while Tempo was caught mid-step by a pre-emptive strike that landed before the attack visually happened, knocking him off balance.

They crashed hard.

The Chronovore advanced.

Gauge pushed himself up, armor hissing.

Kamen Rider Gauge: I can't tell you what I'd do if I got my hands on that cane.

Tempo staggered to his feet, shaking his head.

Kamen Rider Tempo: We're thinking the same thing.

Gauge glanced back toward the Clockwork Runner.

Kamen Rider Gauge: Let's give it another target!

He raised his arm.

Kamen Rider Gauge: CLOCKWORK RUNNER!

The motorcycle roared.

Then it changed.

Panels unfolded, gears expanded outward, and the entire machine lifted off the ground as its frame reconfigured, wheels retracting while mechanical wings extended, glowing with orange energy as the front clock-face rotated and locked into a new position.

The Clockwork Runner transformed into its Battle Mode.

Clockwork Runner: Engaging Temporal Defense Protocols. Threat level: Elevated. Protective override: Authorized.

Kamen Rider Tempo: Okay, that’s extremely cool.



The Chronovore reacted instantly, launching upward in a jagged leap toward the machine, but it pivoted with precision, firing off a barrage that struck the creature mid-air and drove it back down into the street.

Gauge pointed forward.

Kamen Rider Gauge: Tempo, sync with me!

Tempo cracked his neck.

Kamen Rider Tempo: Right!

They charged again, but this time, Clockwork Runner joined them.

Kamen Rider Gauge: Now!

Kamen Rider Tempo: NOW!

Both Riders and Clockwork Runner leapt.

Gauge ignited with steam and heat, orange energy spiraling around him like a pressure release.

Tempo erupted in blue waveforms, sound energy pulsing outward in rhythmic surges.

Clockwork Runner used high powered steam propulsion. 

They rose into the air.

Kamen Rider Gauge: Steam Spiral Kick! 

Kamen Rider Tempo: Finish Beat! Rhythm Crash!

Clockwork Runner: Rider Kick!

They all three came down together.

One blazing with raw mechanical force.

The other vibrating with harmonic energy.

The third erupting in steam. 

The triple impact struck the Chronovore’s core dead center.

For a split second, everything froze.

Then the core shattered.

Light burst outward as the Chronovore’s body fractured, spiraling into an explosion.

The shockwave rolled through the street...then silence.

Gauge landed, skidding slightly before straightening.

Tempo dropped beside him, exhaling, as Clockwork Runner returned to its bike form. 

Kamen Rider Tempo: Okay...yeah. That worked.

Gauge dusted off his shoulder.

Kamen Rider Gauge: Classic solution. Hit it harder.

Maestro grabbed up his cane. 

Maestro: Jude Kallen, I hope you realize what you're doing. We know who you are. We know...where they are. 

Jude Kallen: I'm betting on a better future. 

Maestro: ...You're already too late.

Maestro disappeared into the shadows of an alley. 

Gauge gave the Clockwork Runner a pat.

Kamen Rider Gauge: You did good.

Tempo glanced over.

Kamen Rider Tempo: Does it always do that?

Kamen Rider Gauge: Every now and then. 

Kamen Rider Tempo: You had tricks up your sleeves as well. What about your cores?

Kamen Rider Gauge: I don't know...if I should use them again. Wait...what did he mean? They know where who is?

Kamen Rider Tempo: If we win...it won't matter. But...we have to win.

The city lights flickered back to normal.

Suddenly, a voice echoed from Coles’s watch as they powered down.

Pocket Watch: Well done, Cole Beckett. 

Cole Beckett: Thanks, Doc. 

Pocket Watch: And you as well, Jude Kallen.

Jude slowly turned his head.

Jude Kallen: ...No way.

The voice continued.

Pocket Watch: The future is not yet decided.

Silence fell.

Jude stared at Cole.

Jude Kallen: That voice...I know that voice!

Cole looked down at the watch.

Jude Kallen: That’s Dr. Horatio Geiger!

Cole Beckett: You know him?

Jude Kallen: He's the one...that sent me...to kill you.

The wind picked up again, carrying the weight of what that meant.

Back at her lab, Aria was putting away the results of a recent experiment, when she heard a knock at the door. She looked at the time, but cautiously opened the door, hoping for Cole. She looked around, but didn't see anyone. She looked down to see a small package at her doorstep. A late night delivery. She was casually glanced at it, but the name on the package, sent shockwave down her spine. 



Aria Westbrook: Dr. Zeitbrecher?!

To Be Continued...

Last edited by Machismo (4/05/2026 2:53 am)