Asuka trudged down a quiet sidewalk, her bike rolling beside her, its wheels squeaking slightly.
She kicked at a small rock, pouting.
"It's so weird..."
she muttered to herself, shoulders slumped.
"Why didn't anyone laugh at my hilarious gag...?"
The late afternoon sun cast a long shadow over her.
Suddenly, the screech of tires caught her attention.
A sleek black car pulled up smoothly in front of her, blocking her path.
"Huh...?"
She squinted at it, confused.
The back door opened and out stepped a young woman with short black hair, and a perfectly neat white and green outfit.
A light blue holographic interface flickered across her vision as she scanned Asuka.
"Identity confirmed. Hiden Asuka. Fifteen years old." The woman announced in a flat tone. "Currently advertising herself as an 'uproaring stand-up'. Unsuccessful comedian. Stage name: 'Asuka'."
There was a loud, comical thud sound as the next shot showed Asuka lying flat on the ground, face-down in defeat.
"W-Well I'm sorry...!"
she groaned, her voice muffled against the pavement.
Slowly, Asuka looked up at the strange girl standing over her.
"H-Hey, wait... who even are you??"
The woman gave a small, polite bow.
"I am Izu, the President's Secretary."
she said, her voice polite but emotionless.
"Please follow me."
Asuka is still lying on the ground, staring up in confusion as the weight of those words sank in.
"...President's... secretary?"
Back at Giggling DreamLand...
The stage lights beamed down on a comedy duo performing in front of a packed house.
"Hey, hey! Are you alone?"
joked the man dressed in black.
"I'm alone!"
his partner in grey replied, spinning around in a silly dance.
"I see. Someone, please team up with this guy!" The first one laughed.
The audience erupted in cheerful laughter and applause.
Backstage, Abs-Blasting Taro, the shirtless Humagear comedian, sat on a bench with a peaceful, contented smile, replaying the joyous sounds of laughter in his memory.
A figure in a dark cloak appeared behind him.
"Found you."
Before Taro could react, the cloaked man produced a strange belt-like device and snapped it around Taro's waist.
The device hissed and locked into place.
Taro's entire body jerked violently as red electric arcs surged through him, making him fall to his knees.
"Ghhh...!"
Taro gritted out in agony.
The cloaked man knelt down beside him, speaking softly yet ominously:
"You're my friend now. Destroy this place."
Taro, even through the pain, resisted:
"I can't...! My job is... to make people laugh...!"
But the cloaked man simply smiled cruelly.
"You're wrong. Your job... is to destroy humanity."
A strange energy pulsed from the device rewriting Taro's very core.
His blue Humagear eyes flickered... then turned a menacing, blood-red.
"Connected to MetsubouJinrai.net."
Taro intoned in a mechanical voice.
The cloaked figure handed him a key - the Berotha Zetsumerise Key.
(Inside Hiden Intelligence, Conference Room)
Fukuzoe stood before the gathered board members and top executives.
"There's only one reason I gathered you here today: to read the late President Hiden Korenosuke's will."
His gaze shifted to Asuka, nervously fidgeting in the high-backed president's chair.
"I didn't even know he had a grandchild..."
someone whispered.
The whole room stared at her.
"Why... why am I here...?"
Asuka muttered under her breath.
Izu, standing beside her, answered.
"Because of President Korenosuke's will. There are no legal impediments to her presence."
Asuka watched Izu place the will carefully on the table. Swallowing nervously, she opened it.
Fukuzoe tapped his foot impatiently.
"Hurry up. I have a company to run as President."
Asuka's eyes widened in shock as she scanned the document. "E-EH?! Are you kidding me?!"
Fukuzoe stormed over, snatching the will from her hands.
"Give me that!"
He skimmed through it, reading aloud:
"In the near future, my company will face a grave crisis. A large portion of our dispatched Humagears... will be exploited by a heartless entity to target humanity."
The room erupted in anxious murmurs.
"There's only one solution..."
Fukuzoe continued, voice tightening.
"The Zero-One Driver and the Progrise Key..."
At that, Izu opened the suitcase, revealing the new tech inside.
"They are equipped with a new-era security system designed to keep the Humagears under control. Only the company President is authorized to use them."
Fukuzoe smirked arrogantly.
"And as the second President..."
His voice caught mid-sentence, eyes scanning the next line.
The smirk fell off his face like a stone.
"I appoint... my granddaughter, Hiden Asuka."
A stunned silence.
"M-ME?!"
Asuka yelped, standing up.
"Is this a joke?!" He angrily throws the will on the table. "He's trying to keep the company in his family!"
The room exploded in outrage.
"No way...!"
"She's just a kid!"
"This is absurd!"
Asuka gulped, gripping her backpack tightly.
She could feel their glares like daggers in her skin.
"Calm down, everyone!"
The room went silent, watching her.
"I... I can't be president."
Gasps.
Fukuzoe gawked at her like she'd grown two heads. "Eh?"
"My dream... isn't to run a company."
Asuka said, eyes low.
"I just want to make people laugh and smile."
Gripping the straps of her bag tighter, she turned and hurried out of the room.
Izu tilted her head in a curious way as she watched her go.
(In the Elevator...)
Asuka slumped against the wall, heart heavy.
Memories flooded back...
A little girl making funny faces in front of a Humagear who looked like her father, Soreo Hiden.
"Let's see who laughs first! Appuppuu!"
young Asuka giggled.
Her father smiled, faint but real.
"Asuka, you're funny."
"One more time! You didn't laugh sincerely!"
"The result will be the same no matter how many times you try."
he teased gently.
"I'll make Dad laugh for real! Appuppuu!"
she cried.
BOOM!
An explosion of blue flames tore through the building behind them.
Soreo shielded her, his body burning away to reveal metal underneath...
A Humagear.
"Asuka... Jump towards your dream...!"
he whispered with his last breath.
Asuka stood alone, staring up at the lobby wall where her grandfather's portrait hung and Fukuzoe's being slowly removed.
"My dream..."
She clenched her fists.
"I'm sorry, Grandpa."
(Back at the Amusement Park...)
The comedy duo continued their act.
"Everyone loses their rulers once they graduate school!" the comedian in grey said with a grin.
"Oh brother, shall I send you mine?" The man in black pulled out a ruler and waved it around, drawing laughter from the crowd.
"Why?!" The man in grey feigned confusion, throwing his hands up.
The audience burst into applause and laughter. Asuka, standing off to the side, could only watch from behind the stage. Her heart felt heavy. The manager was there, sitting in the front row, watching it all unfold. Her mind replayed his words: "You're fired. There's already someone who can do better than you. This is the era of Humagear."
Asuka's face tightened. The weight of the situation settled deep into her chest. Was this really the end of her dream?
She turned to walk away, not wanting to see any more.
But then, just as she was about to step off to the side.
"Let go of me!"
The words broke her train of thought. She turned sharply just as Abs-Blasting Taro, the Humagear comedian, was throwing the announcers off the stage with terrifying strength.
Taro's red eyes scanned the audience.
"My job is to make people laugh..." he muttered, but his voice suddenly became darker. "...Exterminate humanity."
Asuka's eyes widened in shock. Her hands trembled as she stepped back instinctively.
"What...?" she whispered.
Without another word, Abs-Blasting Taro pulled the Zetsumerisekey.
BEROTHA!
Inserting the Berotha Zetsumerisekey into his Zetsumeriser, changing him into Berotha Magia.
ZETSUMERISE!
"I will annihilate all humans!"
"What's going on...?" The manager looked around in disbelief. Everyone running past him for their lives.
"Some heroes are on the way, please evacuate the area!" a security Humagear says, leading people out.
"Stop it!" Asuka tries to stop Berotha Magia.
"Annihilate!" the Berotha Magia knocks her down into some chairs.
Outside on the other side of the amusement park, a van full of A.I.M.S. personnel immediately pulls up.
Men armed with guns jump out the van and start shooting at the corrupted Humagears.
"Deploy immediately!"
"Collect data from rampaging Humagear," a woman says. Yua Yaiba.
"All members-"
One of the men, the Captain on the team, Isamu Fuwa, without Yua's consent, begins to shoot at the Magias mercilessly.
"I will exterminate them all."
He moves forward leading the others.
"Let me finish speaking!" Yua yells.
Asuka gets up, everything around her was destroyed and no heroes had shown up yet. She looks around seeing the corrupted Humagears going after people who didn't evacuate in time.
"My amusement park..." A little ways in front of her on the ground is the manager.
"Everyone can laugh and be happy." Asuka remembered his words. "It's my dream for the amusement park to be a fun place."
Berotha comes behind the manager and raises its hand up holding Twin daggers held with a backwards grip, ready to strike.
"Annihilate!"
"Manager!" Asuka charges forward, tackling Berotha, hanging onto its back with her arms around its neck.
"I won't let you hurt anyone else...!"
Berotha swings Asuka around, finally getting her off and hits her with one of its Twin daggers, sending her rolling to the ground.
Izu arrives to Asuka holding the same briefcase from earlier.
"Asuka-sama!"
"My... dream..." the manager says in despair.
Berotha picks him up by his collar.
"A future where humanity can dream will never come."
Asuka watches from the ground as Berotha laughed at the man's face.
"That's not true...!"
"Don't you dare laugh..."
"Huh?"
"Don't laugh at people's dreams when you don't understand anything!" Asuka slowly gets up, fighting off the pain from her injuries.
Berotha throws the man to the side.
"Oh, but I do understand. 'Dream' is a word to express a future goal or-"
"You think you can understand people's dreams... by looking the word up...? They aren't that simplistic!"
Asuka looks at Izu standing behind her.
"Hey... If I use that Driver... I'll be able to do something about this guy, right?"
"Correct," Izu says. "It can only be used by the president of the company-"
"I get it! Give me that!" Asuka stretches her hand out towards Izu.
"Understood, Asuka-sama."
Izu gives Asuka the Zero-One Driver and Progrise Key.
"Please equip the Zero-One Driver around your waist."
ZERO-ONE DRIVER!
Asuka equips the Driver and her mind is uploaded into the communication satellite There.
"What is this place?"
Asuka is now in a white space with floating blue digital codes of 0 and 1 around her.
"This is the thought circuit of our company's communications satellite ZEA," Izu explains, appearing near Asuka.
"Your brain is now wirelessly connected to the satellite."
"So basically, I'm..."
"You now have the same thought-processing speed as an AI. And can interact with computers and other technology with your mind."
The white room disappears and they're back in the amusement park, but time is going slowly and Asuka is not in her body.
"Huh?"
"You will die in 5 seconds if you don't move," Izu says.
"What?!"
They're back inside the white space.
"Before that happens, please learn the manual."
Different screens pop up showing different sections of the manual for the Driver.
"So you want me to learn how to use it...?"
Asuka looks towards Izu and stands before one of the screens that says 'User Manuals'. She taps it.
[Starting Tutorial Mode.]
Meanwhile in the outside world, the A.I.M.S. agents are struggling with the corrupted Humagears.
"This is getting nowhere," Fuwa says and runs back to the van.
He gets inside and punches through the glass of a box containing a blue-looking pistol called the A.I.M.S. Shotriser.
"So it's finally time to use this...?"
Yua opens the van door.
"Wait, Fuwa! Without my permission, you can't...!"
Fuwa shoots and the bullet passes Yua's face, hitting a corrupted Humagear that was behind her.
"Move!"
Fuwa runs out of the van, pushing Yua out of the way.
[Learning completed.]
Asuka raises her head up and holds up the Progrise Key.
»JUMP«
Asuka presses the Progrise Key against the Authorizer on the Driver.
»AUTHORIZE«
From the satellite in outer space, a yellow beam is shot from it, making its way down to earth to Asuka's location.
A giant grasshopper lands in front of Asuka, blocking Berotha's attack.
The grasshopper jumps around her as she gets ready to transform.
She opens up the Progrise Key.
"Henshin!"
»PROGRISE«
When the Progrise Key is inserted into the Driver.
»JUMP UP AND RISE«
The Rise Architecter undersuit forms around Asuka once inside the Driver.
»RISING HOPPER«
The Progrise Key's data is loaded and the Rider Model separates into sections which transform into armor pieces that cover the Rise Architecter, completing the transformation.
»A jump to the sky turns to a rider kick«
"What are you?!" Berotha says.
Asuka hands Izu the black and lime green looking case.
"Zero-One!" She spins and does a pose with her arms crossed.
"That's my name!"