//------------------------------//
// Stop 12 
// Story: Friendship is Timeless 
// by Seanzilla115 
//------------------------------//

It was a good morning this day. The sun was out, but it wasn't to bright thanks to some clouds, and a cool breeze made it just feel like a nice day. It was days like this it made getting out of bed worth it, as was the case for our two friends. Ryotaro and Twilight were both walking down the street to school. The two would on occasion get up early to avoid Pinkie's morning break in's, or as she called them 'wake up calls'. But breaking in was still breaking in. But regardless of this, Ryotaro and Twilight both where enjoying a quiet morning talking to one another, it mainly regarded books they had read.

Since the two were both fans of books in general since Ryotaro grew up in the library that is Milk Dipper, and Twilight had always loved books and reading. The two had once spent hours talking about books the had read. It was just something the two shared in common.

"Ahh...such a peaceful morning," Twilight sighed blissfully as she and Ryotaro walked down the path leading to school.

"Indeed. It is a very nice day out, isn't it?" Ryotaro asked with a smile as he looked at the morning sun.

"Indeed," Twilight nodded, "It's not too hot out, the wind is just right, and best of all...no Pinkie barging into our homes for a 'wake up call'."

"Haha...yeah. At this point, I think my sister might have given her a copy of the house key," Ryotaro chuckled sheepishly.

"Look. I don't mind Pinkie greeting us every morning, but she doesn't have to come in at five or six in the morning," Twilight stated with a small sigh.

"I know it can be a bit much Twilight, but she's just trying to be nice. You can't fault her for it." Ryotaro stated in defense of Pinkie. Part of him couldn't help defending the actions of those he called his friends.

"...I guess that's true," Twilight replied, "It's just how she is. I can't change that. It would be like if I try changing Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash of who they are."

"Yeah, they're our friends the reason they are how they are is why we like them." Ryotaro nodded with a smile.

"Indeed…" Twilight nodded before she stopped.

"...Something wrong?"

"Nothing. Just…" Twilight paused as she reached into her backpack and pulled out the container holding the last Element of Harmony, "Ever since what happened after that battle with the Shadowbolts, the last Element glows faintly from time to time."

"Eh...wait now that I think about it...Momotaros said something about that day, that something strange happened with that girl Applejack." Ryotaro remembered. "Maybe Ryutaros remembers he was the one in control that day."

"...That is plausible," Twilight said as she held her chin in thought, "But...there is one problem. Even if Applejack is the last Element holder...she wants nothing to do with us, or friendship."

"Yeah...that's right...but doesn't that just mean that we should help her more?" Ryotaro asked, "I mean, it means she was hurt, so maybe what she really needs is someone to call a friend?"

"...That could help. But...what could've happened to turn her away from the notion of friendship to begin with?" Twilight pondered further, "Does it involve her family...or perhaps maybe…"

"I don't know Twilight...but maybe she'll tell us one day if we do become her friends." Ryotaro nodded his head in positive thought.

"..Perhaps. Tho-" Twilight began before a loud honking noise caught their attention.

The two looked at a crosswalk as some people began moving out of the way of a fast moving red car, however in the rush a girl who was also on her way to school tripped leaving her in the path of the car.

'Ryotaro ikuze!' Kintaros voice shouted in Ryotaro's head as his body moved forward in a burst of yellow light.

K-Ryotaro landed in front of the girl before he held his hand out as the car made contact. But to everyone's shock the vehicle was stopped in it's tracks, it's tires still spinning and there was now a large hand shaped indent in the red cars grill and wrinkles in the hood.

"Hey ya jackass! Get outta da road!" the driver of the car shouted as he poked his head out the window, "And don't think you're gonna get away after breaking my brand new car!"

K-Ryotaro slowly stood up his yellow eyes glaring at the man. He then slammed both his arms into the hood of the car before ripping it off, scaring the man as he did.

"You almost ran over this child." K-Ryotaro stated coldly as he motioned to the little girl behind him. "You almost harmed an innocent young life...and all you care for is your cheap vehicle?"

"Cheap?! This things cost me a gr-" the man began before K-Ryotaro reached into the front of the car and pulled out the engine, "...Please put that back. I kinda need that to flee from you."

"You dare risk the life of a child...and dare to get angry with me!?" K-Ryotaro growled as his hands began to grip the metal as the muscles under his clothes began to flex and ripple from his anger. He then began to crush the engine block between his arms, slowly crushing the metal and pieces together all the while his raw strength tore his shirt apart, leaving him in only the black tank top under his uniform. He then dropped the metal ball molded from the Engine block on the ground.

"...Uh…" the man gulped before K-Ryotaro grabbed him by the neck, "Gah!"

"You put the life of an innocent little girl in danger...you endangered multiple people...you even endangered your own life…" K-Ryotaro stated as he lowered the man close to his face as his yellow eyes began to glow. "Apologize." he growled out lowly.

"...I...a...polo...gize."

"Not to me...to the little girl you almost ran over, to her family, and everyone else you endangered. Do it or so help me; my strength will make you cry." K-Ryotaro growled as to punctuate his point, he slammed his hand into the roof of the car, bending the vehicle into a V shape as he did.

The man's eyes became the size of dinner plates upon seeing that. "Yes! Yes! I apologize! I promise I won't harm a living thing ever again!"

"Good. Now…" K-Ryotaro began as he got into a throwing position.

"...Wait. Nononononononon-!" the man panicked before K-Ryotaro tossed him into the distance, the man giving out a high-pitched scream.

"...Kintaros...where did you throw him to?" Ryotaro couldn't help but ask.

"With the amount of force I put into it, he should touch down in the river about…" K-Ryotaro left off as a large pillar of water could be seen in the distance, "Now." he nodded his head before turning to the little girl behind him. "Are you alright little one?"

"...Y-yes. Thank you, mister," the little girl smiled.

"You are welcome, young one," K-Ryotaro replied with a soft smile, rubbing her head gently before...

"Woah! did you see what Nogami did to that car?!" one of the students from the school.

"Yeah! and you saw how far he threw that guy?! That had to be almost two, three football fields long!" another exclaimed in awe.

"Yosh." K-Ryotaro smiled as he picked up the little girl and placed her on his shoulder. "Let's find your mother." he smiled happily as he took off to find the child's parent.

"Aww. I never realized how much of a gentle kind of guy Ryotaro was," one of the female students smiled.

"Yeah. A bad boy, a suave hunk, and a gentle giant bundled into one cute package," another girl sighed.

"No way...the Taros are actually making Ryotaro more popular?" Twilight couldn't help but gawk to herself as she overheard all this. The fact these idiots helped his image is what shocked her the most, 'Ugh...no doubt Momotaros is taking this news well...even though Kintaros was the one who technically saved the day, so to speak.'
---
"ACHOOO!" Momotaros sneezed from his seat on DenLiner. "Ugh...I think one of those women are saying things about me again. Heh...fine. Say what you want, we made Ryotaro into a superstar at school."

"Let's just hope the fame doesn't turn him into one of those overconfident types," Urataros stated as he read a small book he borrowed from Celeste, "Much like you, sempai."

"Ye-oi!"

"Wai! Momo-baka!" Ryutaros laughed from his seat, where he was drawing with crayons.

"...That's it, hanatare kozo(snot nosed brat)! You're getting a spanking! A big ass spanking!" Momotaros snapped as he pulled out a paper fan.

"Well that wasn't suggestive at all." Urataros joked from his seat before ducking a paper fan swipe from Momotaros.
---
K-Ryotaro waved off to the little girl and her mother after finding her, all the while a big happy smile on his face.

"Remember to stay safe." he called out as they left.

"Okay! Bye, mister!" the little girl waved.

"Hehe…" K-Ryotaro chuckled happily as he turned around before he noticed the shreds of clothes on his torso before just tossing them away leaving him in just the black tank top.

'Mou...that's gonna cost 20 to fix,' Ryotaro sighed.

"It's not my fault all your cloths are so restricting." K-Ryotaro complained out loud to Ryotaro. In truth sometimes Ryotaro's cloths was constricting to Kintaros when he took over. Since each time he did, he made all of Ryotaro's muscles bigger. "Hm...it's a nice day today." K-Ryotaro finally was able to notice as he stretched his arms.

"..."

"What? Was it something I said?" he asked Ryotaro. "Oh! I smell food." K-Ryotaro stated as he followed his sense of smell towards the smell of food.

"Kintaros, we still need to head to school."

"Hm...nah. I'm good." K-Ryotaro said plainly as he kept walking.

"I suggest you do. Twilight's waiting for us, and I don't want her to be late," Ryotaro stated, "..No seriously, I don't want her to be late or…" he paused as she shuddered, "just...trust me."

"Hm...Twilight!" K-Ryotaro called out loudly as he turned around.

"What?!" Twilight shouted back.

"Has school started yet?!"

"Not yet, but it's about to any minute now!"

"Okay. Go without me then," K-Ryotaro shouted back. "I need to do something important I'll make my way to school later."

"Oh no you're not! You're coming here this instant!" Twilight shouted, "I don't want to be...T-tardy again!"

'...Did her voice just squeak right there?' Kintaros blinked.

"Please for everyone's sake just go to class for me, Kintaros!" Ryotaro begged.

"...Fine," K-Ryotaro sighed. He then jogged his way back to school as he did he grabbed Twilight under his arm before he ran into the school.
---
Stop 12: Brains Vs Brawn
---
K-Ryotaro was sitting at Ryotaro's desk as he looked to be forcing himself to stay calm and not fall asleep from the boredom. He tapped his fingers on his desk each tap making the desk creak slowly from his super strength.

"Ryotaro, I can't take it anymore. What kind of monster forces adolescents to sit through this kind of torture?" K-Ryotaro asked.

"It's required, Kintaros. That's basically what school's about. Learning in classes…"

"But this is tor-"

"And training ourselves in Gym Class."

"...Gym class?" K-Ryotaro asked as he looked out the clock. "I shall endure then." he nodded as he sat up and crossed his arms in wait. "Curse you time...you move too slow for me…" he sighed as he slammed his head on his desk splitting the wood portion in two this scared everyone in class for a second as they saw this. "Sorry. I'll fix it later."

"Kintaros…" Ryotaro and Twilight(the latter sitting at the desk behind him) sighed mentally.
---
Later after the class incident, K-Ryotaro rushed to the gym, mainly be jumping out the window which nearly gave the teacher a heart attack.

"I'll fix that later!" K-Ryotaro shouted as he landed in the ground, creating a mini-crater. He then ran across the ground to the gym. He made his way in where he was among the first there before he began to strip off his cloths and change into his gym uniform, "YOSHA!" he cheered as he entered the main gym.

"Huh? Kin?" the voice of a certain tomboy asked, causing him to turn and see Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, the two wearing the female variant of the gym uniform.

"Uh...hello." K-Ryotaro waved to them. "I'm surprised to see you two."

"Heh...I'm always the first here," Rainbow smirked as she stretched a little, "I'm not the fastest girl in school for nothing."

"Hi Rainbow!"

"GAH!" Rainbow yelped as she jumped back, seeing Pinkie poking her head out of a trash can, "Damn it, Pinkie! Stop doing that!"

"Ah, Pinkie. You're here too." K-Ryotaro noted as he grabbed the trashcan before holding it upside down and forcing Pinkie out.

"Yep!" Pinkie beamed as she stood up, shaking her head a bit to rid the junk in her hair, "I'm prepped and ready for gym class!*squee!*"

"Ah. She still squeaks." K-Ryotaro noted, grabbing her by the head and lifting her up. "How does that happen?"

"Ugh...it's Pinkie, Kin. Don't question it," Rainbow facepalmed.

"Hm…" K-Ryotaro sighed as he just stared intently at Pinkie. Pinkie then blinked as K-Ryotaro smirked. "I win."

Who knew it was a staring contest this time?

"...Did we just start?" Pinkie blinked before shrugging, "...Oh well. Time for a run on the track! Come Rainbow, Fluttershy! Let us run!"

"You have to much energy…" Rainbow sighed. Sometimes Pinkie's energy was draining on them. Maybe that's why she has so much energy now that she thought about it.

"Is that such a bad thing?" Pinkie asked with a smile.

"...Ugh...let..let's just go already."

"Ano, j-ja ne, Kintaros-san," Fluttershy said as she followed after Rainbow and Pinkie.

"Ja-ne!" he waved to them happily, "Okay...time for me to train as well!"

"Ano...th-" Ryotaro began.

K-Ryotaro ignored him before he walked into the gym. The first thing he did was put every single weight on a single dumbbell. The combined weight on the dumbbell was around 400 pounds. K-Ryotaro laid down on the bench before he began to lift the weight up with a single arm making all the other men present in the Gym gawk at the sight. After ten reps K-Ryotaro changed arms before continuing the process.

"...Okay, what the hell is he eating, and where can I get some?" one of the guys there asked.

"The key is to train with all your might!" K-Ryotaro shouted as he added even more weight to the dumbbell before repeating the process of doing several single handed reps before swapping to his other arm. "And lots of sleep. Don't forget that." he chuckled before his head rolled to the side and he began snoring, but still lifting the dumbbell.

"...That man is a god…" the guys awed.

"Oh brother…" Rainbow rolled her eyes as she ran the track, Fluttershy trying her best to keep up with the tomboy.

"Nakerude!" K-Ryotaro snorted as he woke up as he put the dumbbell down and took the excess weights off. "Alright I'm all warmed up time to begin the rest of the training." he stated as he yanked the door that connected the gym to the pool off before he made his way in. "Yosh. This is big enough." he exclaimed as he took his shirt off before he jumped into the pool. He then began to swim back and forth moving at great speeds to to the power of his arms, unintentionally splashing water on the students sitting on the benches.

"Kintaros, I didn't know you could swim."

"Bears are naturals honestly." K-Ryotaro stated as he took a break from swimming. He then got out of the pool as he began to stretch and in the process flex most of his muscles from the use with his swim. This had the effect of getting lots of attention due to being shirtless at the moment, mainly from the female students there.

"Wow...Kin's really getting a lot of attention," Pinkie blinked as she, Rainbow, and Fluttershy had poked their heads in the hole that used to be the door, "Right Fl-woah!"

"Grr…"Fluttershy growled a bit as her hair shadowed over her eyes, a tick mark on her head was what looked like a mini-tornado hovered over her head.

"Uh...Fluttershy? You okay?" Rainbow asked her shy friend.

"Rainbow...I'm afraid now…" Pinkie stated blankly.

"Hey girls. What did we…" Twilight began as she and Rarity walked over, the former noticing the currently growling Fluttershy, "...Uh…"

"Don't ask," Pinkie gulped.

"Ugh...Rarity, wh-"Twilight began before she noticed the student class president staring at K-Ryotaro, the purple haired beauty couldn't help but drool over at the site, "...Oh no…"

"Ah! That was a great swim!" K-Ryotaro smirked as he began to towel himself off, "I think I will enjoy this...Gym class." he smirked as draped the towel around his neck. "Ah minna. What are you doing here? Ah, I know. You also came for a swim."

"...I...I'm sorry, what?" Rarity blinked as she snapped out of it, "Sorry. My mind was...elsewhere."

"Well you're all here at the pool. So what other reason would you have for being here?"

"...Well, since we still have time in gym, we might as well enjoy it," Twilight shrugged.

"..Hai," Fluttershy nodded as she calmed down.

"Ahh...excellent. More time for me to have a sprint on the track while you girls enjoy yourselves," K-Ryotaro smirked happily as he tossed the towel away. He then crouched down before sprinting off and beginning to run around the track whipping up a large wall of dust.

"...R-right," Twilight nodded, 'At least the school's nice enough to let us bring our own swimsuits.'
---
Fifteen minutes have passed since gym started, and the girls seemed to be enjoying themselves in the pool while K-Ryotaro ran around the track.

"Is it odd we let Kintaros do all these crazy things?" Twilight asked as she was wearing a light purple two piece that had a large bow/knot on the back of her top, the violetette sitting down on the benches.

"Possibly so, dear," Rarity replied, she had a white bikini top with a purple sarong tied around her waist. She was also sitting down on a bench next to Twilight.

"What's the big deal? At least Kin gives Ryotaro super human strength and durability." Rainbow, dressed in a more athletic swimsuit consisting of a professional swimming top and a pair of light blue shorts, stated as she swam in the pool.

"Th-that is true," Fluttershy agreed, the shy pinkette wearing a pale yellow one piece swimsuit as she was sitting on the edge of the pool with her legs in the water.

"Yep. W-woah!" Rainbow yelped as she was pulled under the water.

"Rainbow!" Fluttershy gasped in worry, but the next thing she knew, Rainbow was pulled back up with Pinkie having her arms wrapped around her.

"Gotcha!" Pinkie smiled happily, the excitable pinkette wearing a pink colored two piece bikini with white straps.

"Pinkie! What the…*cough*hell!?" Rainbow coughed as she got out of the excitable pinkette's arms, "I could've drowned, damn it!"

"Oh don't be silly. No one on this show dies unless they're an Imagin." Pinkie scoffed, waving the idea off with her hand.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...What?"

"You….do realize you jinxed us, right Pinks?" Rainbow facepalmed.

"Oh please. We've ignored that form of logic a long time ago." Pinkie countered. "How many times has Ryo or Momo said something like that, only for them to blow up the evil Imagin and just end up with very bad booboos?"

"Not what I-" Rainbow began before an explosion occurred outside, "...meant."

"Nakerude!" they heard as the wall was broken down by K-Ryotaro. He cracked his knuckles as he walked over to the next wall before he slammed his fist into it making another hole in the concrete wall. "I shall take care of this threat." he called out as he held up the belt for Den-O along with the pass.

"Right," Twilight nodded as she got up, "I'll meet you shortly. Rainbow, you and the others track the Imagin in case it gets away."

"On it," Rainbow noded, giving Pinkie the stink eye.

"...What?"

"Ikuze!" K-Ryotaro shouted as he ran through several more walls.

"Hey wait!" Twilight complained as she tried to find her cloths.
---
In the middle of the courtyard, students all ran from the sound of the explosion. Standing in the field was an Imagin. It was as big as Kintaros is normally, only its body was overlapping stripes of white and black with larger armored shoulder pauldrons that resembled the paws and claws of a tiger, it's torso was covered in barrel chested armor that had matching stripes as well as claws acting as spikes along the sides of its ribs. Its arms were covered in armored gauntlets with claws extending from its knuckles and armored boots as well. Finally its head resembled the head of a tiger with two large fangs extending from it's mouth it's eyes hidden behind a light blue visor of sorts and tufts of hair/fur on the back of its head that was tipped blue.

The White Tiger Imagin looked around in disappointment at the youths running away from it. It sighed before he plopped down sitting crosslegged on the ground.

"Humans...weak the lot of them…" he sighed in a deep gruff voice that had a noticeable chinese accent, "Is there not a single warrior out there to give me the battle I deserve?"

"Nakerude!" at that K-Ryotaro burst out the wall of the school. "This school has a lot of unnecessary walls." he noted, dusting his shoulders of dust from the broken concrete and plaster.

"Oh?" the Tiger Imagin raised a non-existent brow as he looked over at him, "And who might you be?"

"Ore wa Kintaros." K-Ryotaro introduced himself. "This is my contractor's body. His name is Nogami Ryotaro.  Sa, Ore-tachi no tsuyosa ni omae ga naita!" he stated proudly as he grabbed the shirt Ryotaro ordered him to put on, and proceeded to rip it off, "Namida wa kore de fuitoke!" he shouted tossing the scraps of shirt at the Imagin. He then slung the belt on before pressing the button starting the music before he held up the pass. "Henshin!" he ordered swiping the pass.

=AX FORM!=

With that yellow shards combined to K-Ryotaro's body before forming into Plat form Den-O the armor formed and floated into it's place for Ax form and spun around before slamming into place as the ax shaped DenKamen grinded down his helmet and formed into the mask.

"Hmm...you look like you might provide a good match," the Tiger Imagin noted.

"Ikuze!" Den-O shouted as he charged at the Imagin. The Tiger Imagin jumped to its feet as he blocked a palm thrust from Den-O but the force still pushed the Imagin back across the ground leaving tracks in the dirt. Den-O then grabbed the Imagin by its shoulder before spinning around and tossing him to the ground.

"Ho...now this is more like it!" the Tiger Imagin growled happily as he shot back up and charged. The two clashed as their fists connected with the others face sending them both stumbling back. Den-O swung again but the Imagin jumped over him before jumping behind the Kamen Rider. The Imagin then grabbed Den-O by his shoulders before lifting him up and tossing him away into a tree splintering it in two from the force.

Den-O quickly got up, cracking his neck before he charged again and slammed his knee into the Imagin's chest knocking it back a step. Den-O then grabbed the Imagin's arm before twisting it behind it's back and pushing against the wall of the school. But the Imagin kicked it's leg forward stopping it from slamming into the wall. It then ran up the wall and twisted free from the hold before landing behind Den-O and grabbing both his arms and pulling them back with all his force before slamming his knee into the Rider's back forcing him to cry in pain from the hold.

"Gah!" Den-O coughed as the Imagin kept pulling on his arms while pushing with it's knee. Den-O grunted as he began to pull his arms back with all his might forcing the two to struggle against one another. Once Den-O got the Imagin close enough he slammed his head back using the helmet to hit the nose of the Imagin making it groan and stumble back in pain. "Grr…" Den-O growled as he turned around before he slammed a punch across the Imagin's face sending it stumbling back.

"Heh...that's it…" the Tiger Imagin smirked as he spat out some sand like blood, "Make my blood boil!"

Den-O grabbed the Imagin before punching it across the face again, he then delivered a palm thrust to its solar plexus, sending him stumbling back. Den-O then charged as he tackled into the Imagin but it just grabbed the Kamen Rider by the shoulders before spinning and tossing him to the ground. The Imagin then jumped and slammed it's knees into the back of the Kamen Rider before wrapping it's arm around his neck and pulling back keeping Den-O in a choke hold.

Den-O grabbed the Imagin's arm before prying them off and tossing the monster off his back to the ground. But the White Tiger Imagin rolled so it was resting on all four limbs, It then charged at Den-O like and animal as it swiped it's hand like claws striking the Kamen Rider across the chest making sparks fly, the Imagin landed on the ground before it rolled forward before jumping and landing in a crouch a ways away from Den-O.

The Imagin roared before it pounced on Den-O slamming it's clawed fist across the rider's face scratching the helmet knocking him back a step. Den-O fell to one knee trying to keep himself up after that last attack. the White Tiger Imagin pounced again but Den-O shot his arm up, grabbing the Imagin by it's throat before lifting it up as he stood. He then slammed the monster down into the ground with great force. Den-O kept his hand around the Imagin's neck, keeping it pinned to the ground with all his strength.

"Is this truly the limit of your strength?" Den-O frowned behind his helmet.

"...Heh. I could say the same for you, bear bastard," the Tiger Imagin smirked back, it then grabbed Den-O's wrist with both it's hands before it swung both its legs up and wrapped them around the Rider's neck forcing him into a scissor lock. The Imagin then began to pull back on Den-O's arm putting pressure on his elbow threatening to break the Kamen Rider's arm.

"Ah!" Den-O groaned in pain as he tried to lift up his forearm to relieve the pressure on his arm.

"What's the matter? Can't break out?"

"Grrr…." Den-O growled as he slammed his free hand into the ground before he lifted both his legs up and swung them down, landing the soles of his boots on the ground before pushing up. Den-O lifted his entire body up from the ground, he raised his locked arm into the air along with the Tiger Imagin. "Nakerude!"Den-O shouted as he slammed the Imagin into the ground causing cracks to form in the dirt, the impact forcing the monster to release Den-O's arm. Den-O growled again as he slammed his leg into the ground only for the Imgin to roll out of the way of the foot as it slammed into the dirt making a crater from the impact and shear force.

The Imagin rolled back before flipping to it's feet, it stood up straight as it cracked its knuckles in excitement. Den-O held up the DenGasher in ax form before raising his arm back in a battle ready pose as the two stared the other down. The two then charged as Den-O spun on his right heel as he swung his axe at the Imagin as it jumped into the air with a flying side kick. Both passed the other by ripping sparks off the other from their attacks landing.

Den-O turned and charged only for the Imagin to block his left handed swing by blocking his wrist, the Tiger Imagin took this opening as it slammed its left fist into Den-O's torso repeatedly each one slowly chipping away at the defenses of the Rider's current form. The Imagin then landed a left hook across Den-O's helmet making the Rider stagger back a few steps. The Imagin then jumped a step forward as it raised it's leg and kicked Den-O in the chest sending him flying back and slamming into a tree.

Den-O ducked to the side as another kick split the tree behind him in two. The Imgin turned it's head to Den-O before charging again, he landed a punch to Den-O shoulder making him stagger back again, the Imagin then spun on it's right heel landing a roundhouse kick right to the temple of Den-O helmet sending him spinning to the ground. The Imagin didn't stop as it spun around again and raised it's leg once more before slamming it down forcing Den-O to raised both arms to block the kick, but the force still forced the Rider into the ground forming a crater from the force.

"Oh...your built tough, huh, bear bastard?" the Imagin chuckled as he jumped away letting Den-O force himself back up to his feet.

"He is stronger than I expected…" Den-O admitted as he grabbed his ax and slowly got back into a position with his ax held in front of him and his legs put into a defensive stance.

"Tch...using a weapon…" the Imagin growled as it charged it attacked with a roundhouse kick that Den-O took a step back to avoid, the Imagin swung it's right hand and grabbed the arm Den-O was using to hold the Ax, it then ducked behind Den-O and wrenched the arm behind his back forcing the ax to escape his grip. the Imagin then grabbed Den-O's other shoulder before spinning around and tossing the Rider across the ground before hitting the ground.

As Den-O tried to force himself back to his feet he was sent back down by a strong blow to his side, the tiger Imagin already over him before it kicked again the same blow to the Rider's side only this time sending him flipping over to his back sprawled out in pain from the attack. The Tiger Imagin then slammed its foot onto Den-O's chest keeping him pinned to the ground.

"Kintaros!" Ryotaro's voice called out in worry.

"Oi, Kuma! Swap with one of us! You can't out muscle this damn cat!" Momotaros ordered.

"I can...not…" Den-O growled as he grabbed the leg trying to push the Imagin away.

"Don't give me that! Switch with one of us! In fact, Switch with me! I'll show this stupid cat who's boss!"

"I said...I can not!" Den-O shouted, trying even harder.

"What's wrong? Run out of strength already, bear bastard? Heh...pathe-" the Tiger Imagin began before a sphere of magic energy pelted him on the side, "Eh?"

"Nani?" Den-O asked as he looked up to see Twilight standing there in her school uniform, her hands held out and her gear already summoned.

"Twilight!" Ryotaro stated as the Rider's eyes saw her.

"Sorry I'm a bit late. I had to make sure the others were in position," Twilight stated.

"Nani?" Den-O asked he finally pushed the Imagin's leg off his chest. The Imgain growled as it glared at Twilight. "Yamero!" Den-O shouted as he shot up and grabbed the Imagin's shoulder only for it to punch him in the stomach before spinning and kicking the Rider across the helmet sending him to the ground once again.

"...Is this some sort of joke?" the Tiger Imagin growled as he glared at Twilight, "You have to rely on a little girl for help, bear bastard? How truly pathetic of you."

"Teme…" Den-O growled as he slammed his hand and charged at the Imagin he tackled into it as the two wrestled with one another. "Twilight run!" Den-O ordered as he punched the Imagin across it's face only for it to return the favor and to the same before the two began to struggle for leverage over the other.

"Teme...get off me!" the Tiger Imagin roared as he slamemd both fist into Den-O, knocking all the air out of his lungs before he was sent flying into the school, breaking the wall, "As if I want to fight someone who relies in 'comrades' to help!"

"Urusei!" Den-O shouted as he got back up. He then charged and tackled into the Imagin again he wrapped both his arms around it's waist and kept charging pushing the Monster across the ground.

"Get off!" the Imagin growled as it began slamming its fist into Den-O's back, making sparks fly off with each blow.

"Grr...Twilight go! I'll handle this!" Den-O shouted as he tightened his grip even tighter.

"...No. I can help!" Twilight shouted, about to attack before...

"GAO!-!-!-!-!" the Tiger Imagin roared, sending out a huge shockwave that knocked Den-O and Twilight over, "...Tch. I'm done here...time I go find someone stronger."

Den-O pushed himself back up as he saw the Imagin leap away. Den-O growled as he slammed his hand into the ground, causing it to crack.

"Darn...he got away," Twilight grunted as she stood up, "I better call Dash and the others."

"It is not their concern." Den-O said as he pulled his belt off, letting the armor fall off in shards. This revealed the multiple cuts and bruises on his close and skin. "This is my battle." he grunted as he began walking away.

"Kintaros, wait!" Twilight shouted as she ran up to him, "We can help you. If I can just think of something to counteract that Imagin's roar, we can-"

"I said this is my fight," K-Ryotaro cut her off. "Only my strength is needed to defeat this Imagin. No one else is strong enough." he stated bluntly.

"...Excuse me?"

"I meant what I said, nobody but myself is strong enough to face this enemy." K-Ryotaro spoke as he looked back at Twilight with a fierce look in his eyes. "So this is my fight and my fight alone. Do not interfere."

"..Now you listen here!" Twilight snapped as she stomped over to him, "Don't just go brushing me and the others off like that! We may not be as strong as you or the others, but we make up for it in teamwork!"

"This is not a fight between teams. This is a one on one battle." K-Ryotaro scoffed walking past her.

"And that's another thing, you meat head! Strength isn't everything you know! You have to think up a plan in case something goes wrong!" Twilight argued.

"There is no honor in that." K-Ryotaro replied, "This is a battle between two who fight solely for the spirit of it. To diminish it with tactics would be an empty victory." he explained as he kept walking. "My strength shall not be dishonored like that."

"Disho...why...you….UGH!" Twilight groaned as she pulled her hair in frustration.

"That just proves you do not understand. Someone like you could never understand it." K-Ryotaro sighed.

"Ugh…" Twilight sighed before her phone rang, the violette answering it, "What?! I'm in the middle of something here!"

-Yeesh! What crawled up your butt?- Rainbow's voice spoke on the other line.

"Ugh...Kintaros is being very difficult…" Twilight sighed as she massaged her temples to relax away the migraine she was feeling. "He doesn't want us to get involved in fighting this Imagin. He wants to fight it all on his own for some stupid macho jerk reason."

"I heard that." K-Ryotaro called back to Twilight.

-Seriously? Doesn't he trust us at all?-

"I don't know...I can't understand any of these dang Taros at all…" Twilight sighed.

"We all heard that one." K-Ryotaro spoke up again as he kept walking.

"...Ugh…" Twilight sighed, "...Did you and the others happen to see the enemy Imagin by any chance?"

-Yeah we saw it heading somewhere into town, but then it evaded us, this thing is a lot trickier than it looks- Rainbow sighed from her end.

"...Did you at least see where it ran off?"

-Yeah we lost it around town square. Last I saw it, it was running down an alley then he was gone- Rainbow explained.

"I see...call me back in case you guys find it."

-On it- Rainbow nodded as she hung up.

"Well that just leaves me to deal with…" Twilight trailed off as she saw K-Ryotaro stop as he reached a river with a rather strong current. He then stepped into it before he began walking against the current. "Him…" she trailed off as K-Ryotaro fought against the water's current.

"Kintaros, what are you doing?"

"Training...if I can overcome that roar of the Imagin, then that's one less problem to worry about." K-Ryotaro explained out loud as he took another step.

"Soka...still. I think we should listen to what Twilight has could help w-"

"I said no." K-Ryotaro spoke up as he kept walking against the force of the river. "Only my strength is needed to face this Imagin," he grunted as he kept walking.

"Kin, we've fought alongside Twilight-tachi for a long time now. Don't you trust them?"

"I said that only my strength is required. This has nothing to do with trust." K-Ryotaro spoke as he walked forward more. "No one needs to risk getting hurt other than myself."

"Oh sweet god, how thick headed are you, Kuma?!" Momotaros exclaimed.

"I have made up my mind." K-Ryotaro stated as he tuned them all out and only focused on his task at hand.

"...Ugh. Now I know how the Mahou-onna's feeling right now."

"I had no idea you had a feminine side, Momonoji." K-Ryotaro stated bluntly.

"Ooh! Burn on you Sempai."

"..."

"...run?"

"What do you think?"

"Right running...but first. Coffee in your face!"

"Gah that's hot!" After that only the sounds of random chasing and violence could be heard, with Ryutaros laughing at them the entire time.

"Distractions." K-Ryotaro grunted as he continued to walk against the current.

"...Ugh...Kintaros, get out of there," Twilight said as she stood at the side of the river, "Otherwise you're going to give Ryotaro a cold."

"I refuse." K-Ryotaro stated simply as he continued marching. "I must become even stronger than I am now. Otherwise…" he trailed off.

"Look...I know you want to get stronger, Kin. But right now, we need to think of a way to beat that Tiger Imagin. A-"

"I do not want to rely on such trickery."

"It's not trickery! It's to make sure he doesn't do that roar again!"

"I shall not stoop to such tactics to win a battle!" K-Ryotaro shouted. "If I can not overcome what is in my way, then my strength is for nothing! And if that is the case, my own existence is for nothing!"

"Ugh! You're hopeless!"

"That may be, but if I truly can not win this battle, then you need not worry about me any longer." K-Ryotaro said as he kept walking.

"..."

"Now if you are done, I have training to do." K-Ryotaro stated as he walked ahead by himself.

"...fine...I'm d-" Twilight began before her phone rang again, "That must be Rainbow," she then pulled her phone out and answered, "Hello?"

-Uh, Twi. I think we found him...and he's not a happy tiger- Rainbow replied from the other end as a loud roar could be heard in the background.

"...I'm on my way."

K-Ryotaro then ran past Twilight as he made his way back to town.

"Hey, wait!" Twilight shouted as she ran after him.

---

"RAH!" the White Tiger Imagin roared as he jumped over the girls and landed on a roof. "Grr...this is so irritating...no one in this damn town can give me a good fight! Not one person here has been able to get my blood boiling. The bear was close, but he had to rely on a little girl…" he complained, face palming in irritation before slowly dragging his hand down his face. "Once again I am confronted by little girls who only fight me from a distance!"

"Hey!" Rainbow barked as she flew up to him, "Who the hell are you calling a little girl?! I'm 16 damn it!"

"I don't care how old you are, brat!" the Imagin roared as it's arm shot out faster than the blink of an eye and grabbed Rainbow be her throat. "To me, you're nothing more than a pest who can't take a hit!" he growled as he pulled her closer. "So do what you do best and fly away!" he shouted as he shoved her away, sending her flying through the air.

"Gh! Damn it!" Rainbow cursed as she managed to reposition herself in the air, "Pinkie, Rarity, how about some back up here?!"

"Right." Pinkie nodded as she formed several spheres of water that compressed smaller before firing off at bullets. The Tiger Imagin let them hit his chest letting the water bead off his armor harmlessly.

"Didn't feel a thing!" the Imagin shouted, jumping at them as he slammed his fist into the ground causing it to shake. He then slammed his arms into his chest loudly. "Koi!" he challenged.

"Don't worry. I have this," Rarity assured the others as she raised her hand, causing stone walls embedded with sharp gems to appear around the White Tiger Imagin, "Take this! Gem Squall!"

At that all the gems shot at the Imagin hitting him repeatedly ripping sparks from his body. The Imagin just growled.

"More! More! Make this actually exciting for me!" he ordered as he dusted bits of crystal from his chest.

"Oh yeah? I'll show you how tough we are," Rainbow smirked as she looked down at Fluttershy, "Fluttershy, some help here?"

"H-hai," Fluttershy nodded as she raised her hand towards the tomboy, "Kaze Busou(Wind Armament)!"

With that, Rainbow's left leg was covered in a mini-tornado, yet it didn't tear her leg up.

"Eat this, Tiger boy! Thunderstorm fang!" Rainbow declared, adding electricity to the mini tornado as she kicked forward, sending a large cutting wave of wind and electricity at the Tiger Imagin.

"GAO!-!-!-!-!" the Imagin roared as it unleashed the same shockwave roar from before that clashed with Rainbow's attack the two pushing against each other, the Imagin roared louder causing the two attacks to explode mid air, "Pathetic! Yet another weakling relying on 'allies!' Relying on people shows how truly weak you are!" he scoffed as he relaxed his shoulders a little his disappointment making him forget about fighting seriously, "So why don't you little girls go home and learn how to cook in the kitchen, where you belong?" he waved them off as he crossed his arms and turned his back to them.

"...Did he just...did you just...OH YOU'RE SO GETTING AN ASS KICKING NOW!" Rainbow snapped as she charged at him.

"Ah...never learn do you, little girl?" the Imagin sighed as he side stepped her charge before he shot his hand forward and grabbed the back of her head, keeping her from going any further. "Do I need to force the lesson into that little brain of yours?! You are not on my level." he growled as he began to apply some pressure with his hand.

"G-gah!"

"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy gasped.

"Yamero!"

With that, K-Ryotaro tackled into the Imagin, making him drop Rainbow. K-Ryotaro hefted the Imagin up with both arms before he tossed the Tiger Imagin away with all his might, slamming it into a wall.

"You shall not hurt them any more." K-Ryotaro growled as he cracked his neck.

"Grr...you again," the White Tiger Imagin growled as he got out of the wall, "I don't want to face someone who relies on little girls for help."

"This time I shall rely on nothing but my own strength...anyone who interferes is also my enemy." K-Ryotaro stated seriously. "Sa, shoubu da!" he ordered as he charged, he then jumped before he landed a punch to the Imagin's chest knocking it back. He then grabbed it by it's shoulders before lifting the Imagin into the air before slamming him back down into the ground. K-Ryotaro didn't finish as he pulled the Imagin up again before slamming a punch to it's stomach making the White Tiger themed beast double over in pain, and leaving him open to the palm strike to his head that sent him flying away. K-Ryotaro slowly lowered one of his arms as he took the chance to breath before he set himself into another stance ready to attack.

"...If you think this is enough to make my blood boil, Bear Bastard...you're sadly mistaken!-!-!" the White Tiger Imagin roared loudly.

"Henshin!"

=AX FORM!=

With that, K-Ryotaro jumped into the air before yellow shards formed Den-O plat form, before the armor slammed into place. Den-O then slammed his blank helmet into the Imagin's face making him stumble back before the ax shaped DenKamen grinded down the track and locked into place completing his transformation.

"Nakerude!" Den-O cried as he slammed his hand into the Imagin't face, sending him stumbling back. He then grabbed it be the collar of it's armor before pulling him forward and punching him in the stomach again. Den-O then wrapped around the Imagin's waist as he was doubled over. He then lifted the Imagin up so it's head pointed at the ground. "Doskoi!" he shouted as he slammed the Imagin into the ground headfirst with all his strength ripping chunks of concrete and a cloud of dust with the attacks impact.

As the dust cleared, Den-O pulled the Imagin up by the hair from it's head. He then punched it across the face sending it flying back across the ground. Den-O popped his neck again as he formed the DenGasher into its ax formation. As the White Tiger Imagin rose back up Den-O attacked as he slashed it across the chest once, twice, then three times before a fourth sent it staggering back.

The Imagin growled before he walked forward as did Den-O. Den-O slashed as the Imagin swung its fist, Den-O slashing the Imagin across the chest while the Imagin's fist hit Den-O's abdomen. Both attacks ripping sparks. Den-O slashed again as the Imagin punched again, and again both attacks landed a blow on the others torso ripping sparks. But the two stood their ground and attacked again once again hitting the other making sparks fly from their blows. Den-O swing down from the right landing his ax blade on the tiger Imagin's shoulder while the Imagin punched Den-O's chest armor. Both just stood their for a second before pushing the other back making sparks explode from their bodies in the process. Their strength causing even damage to one another.

Both began to breath heavily as the damage sustained on both sides began to take a toll. Both growled before attacking again as Den-O slashed horizontally while the Imagin swung a kick, both fighters landed their attacks in the others stomach sending both stumbling back as sparks exploded off of them once again. Both fighters stumbled back several steps before the Tiger Imagin actually fell to it's knees.

Den-O began breathing heavier as well as he raised his ax up.

"Sa this one is my win." he stated as the Tiger Imagin rose back to it's feet.

"This fight is much better than before...this is more what I'm looking for…" the Imagin growled as he crossed his arms before lowering them as he took in a breath rearing his head back. "Keep it up, Bear Bastard!" he shouted before shooting his head forward. "GAO!-!-!-!-!-!-!"

With that, the shockwave fired at Den-O ,who slammed his Ax into the ground keeping him anchored where he stood. And So the shockwave hit this time but Den-O did not let it overpower him. After a second of taking it's force, the Kamen Rider lifted his ax up before he took a step forward. Then another, and another. And slowly, step by step Den-O walked through the Imagin's attack, as he got closer to the monster, sparks began to fly off his armor. But he continued to walk forward.

"Gah…" Den-O groaned as the shockwave was getting stronger and stronger as he got closer to the Imagin. "Na...ke...ru...de!" Den-O grunted as he was now right infront of the Imagin making it's eyes widen. Den-O then raised his free hand as it began to glow faintly. "Orya!" he roared as he punched his fist into the Tiger Imagin's face causing a small scale explosion upon impact that sent the Imagin flying away. The shockwaves ended at that as sparks continued to explode off of Den-O's armor making him fall to his knees before his armor shattered from stress and exhaustion.

"Kin!" Pinkie gasped as she and the others ran up to him to see if he was alright.

"Gah…" K-Ryotaro groaned as he fell forward his hands keeping him from hitting the ground. "Stay...back...this battle is not over yet!" he shouted.

"Huh? What do you…?" Rarity began.

"It means that this battle is not over till one of us is done for right?" the Tiger Imagin asked from it's place on the ground as it slowly pushed itself back up. "Haha...ah coming into a fight ready to die facing me...now that's someone I can enjoy fighting…" he commented as he got back up. "Heh...you knew if you kept fighting hard enough that you could waste up your energy and burn out...and yet did it anyway."

"Hah…" K-Ryotaro breathed heavily as his arms gave out letting him fall face first to the ground. "Kuso...in the end I still wasn't strong enough…"

"...Tch. How sad...I was just enjoying the fight too…" the Tiger Imagin scoffed as he began to walk away, "Enjoy your company, Bear Bastard."

"...Uh…" K-Ryotaro gasped as Kintaros fell from Ryotaro as a pile of sand, letting the boy fall into unconsciousness.

"Ahh, Ryotaro! Kin!" Pinkie panicked, "Fluttershy quick! Use your healing powers on them!"

"Right." Fluttershby nodded as she hurrried over and began to use her magic to heal Ryotaro.

"Yeesh...that tiger's really tough," Rainbow grumbled as she leaned against a wall, "Not even Kin could beat him."

"Well then I guess we really will need to think of something else we can do." Rarity sighed, "We might have to go with Ryutaros or Momotaros next time."

"Yup," Pinkie nodded before she noticed Twilight running into the area, "Oh, hey Twilight. You're late."

"Is that really important to point out, Pinkie?" Twilight asked in annoyance. "What happened?"

"...Kintaros lost…" Rainbow sighed, "That Tiger's just too damn strong, especially with that roar of his."

"Ah...I figured as much...but Kintaros won't listen to reason…" Twilight sighed. "For some reason, he's dead set on doing this on his own."

"...well that's stupid," Pinkie blinked, "Doesn't he know he has friends he can rely on?"

"I know, Pinkie...but I can't even begin to understand why he's acting this way. It's like he's got some weird reason behind it," Twilight stated, looking at the pile of sand next to Ryotaro.

"I see…" Rarity noted as she pondered a bit, "Hmm...could it be because of that Tiger Imagin?"

"What about that damn tiger gets Kin so worked up?" Rainbow asked.

"I wish I knew," Twilight sighed.

"Maybe because since he lost to him, Kin's trying to get stronger so he can beat him," Pinkie stated, causing the girls to look at her, "...What? I got a boogie?"

"Well I don't doubt that could be part of it...but it feels like there's more." Twilight sighed, "I just don't know what."

"Uh...my head…" Ryotaro groaned as he began to wake up.

"Not so fast, Ryotaro. Y-you're still a bit weak," Fluttershy said as she continued to use her healing magic on him.

"H-hai…" Ryotaro groaned as he rubbed his head. "Ah...Kintaros really went all out didn't he?" he asked/joked as he sat up just a little.

"Yeah...but he lost," Rainbow sighed.

"Kintaros…" Ryotaro spoke solemnly as he looked at the pile of sand. Said sand seemed to shift a little till at least Kintaros head could form as it groaned in slight pain.

"Oh my head…." Kintaros groaned in pain as part of his right forearms reformed and rubbed the side of his head. "Is this how Momonoji feels after being punished?"

"Oi!" Momotaros snapped at that.

"Well considering it's possibly brain damage, no, Sempai has no idea what that feels like. You need to have a brain for it to even be damaged."

"Momotaros-no-baka!"

"That's it! Where's my paper fan?! It's time for some spanking!"

"How is it you words come out sounding more wrong than my own?" Urataros sweatdropped.

"...Just for that, you're first Ero-Kame."

"Wai!" the only thing that could be heard after that was random if not comical acts of violence.

"I now see what Ryotaro means...a brain filter is much needed." Kintaros sweatdropped, despite being a pile of sand, "...Where is the enemy Imagin?"

"He got away...again," Twilight sighed.

"..." Kintaros just mumbled something to himself as he turned his head away from the others, a feeling of failure washing over the Imagin partner.

"Kintaros…" Ryotaro whispered as he looked at the Bear Imagin.

"In the end...I was still a failure…" was all he could coherently say to them, not able to look any of them in the eye. His own feeling of loss and failure forcing shame upon him.

"Don't worry, Kin! We'll get him next time!" Pinkie smiled a bit,hoping to cheer him up.

"It is pointless unless I am the one to defeat him…" Kintaros sighed as he just deformed back into a motionless pile of sand.

"...Wow. Even I'm starting to feel depressed by this," Pinkie sighed a bit.

"I still don't get it. Why is Kin so obsessed with fighting this Imagin by himself?" Rainbow complained, scratching the back of her head. "I mean, we've fought alongside him before, and he's been the best team player out of all the Taros, so why now of all times is he pulling a Momo?"

"We can hear you!" Momotaros shouted only at Ryotaro since he was the only one capable of hearing him.

"...Come to think of it," Twilight spoke up, causing the girls to look at her, "Before we came here, Kintaros was training in the river, hoping to work against that Tiger Imagin's roar."

"Seriously, what's up with Kin?" Rainbow asked, finally tired of trying to figure this out.

"Hmm…" Ryotaro sighed as he placed his hand on the sand that was Kintaros before it turned into a sphere of light he held in his hand. "Kintaros...do you wish to try again?" he asked the light.

"..."

"Kintaros, I'm sure we can beat that Imagin if we just keep trying. And if we work together with Twilight and the others, we c-"

"That will not do…" the light spoke as it entered Ryotaro. Ryotaro then listened to the rest mentally as Kintaros did not want to speak his entire reasoning out loud.

"Soka." Ryotaro nodded as he overhead Kintaros.

"So what's his deal, Ryo?" Rainbow asked, "Why's Kin so hell bent on facing that tiger on his own?"

"Well it's hard to explain what he just said, mainly because I hardly understood it myself. He used a lot of double negatives and odd phrases I think he made up…" he explained sheepishly with a sweatdrop, "But more or less this is something to do with how both Kintaros and that Imagin are like martial artist, something about it having to be a fair one on one battle."

"...I see," Rarity noted.

"...Hey wait! Is this about that damn thing saying Kin's weak because he works with us?!" Rainbow snapped.

"I believe so…" Ryotaro nodded sheepishly. "I think even Kintaros pride was hurt by someone belittling his strength. Unfortunately no matter how much we try...I think our efforts would just have the opposite effect." he explained as he scratched his head.

"...So what you're saying is that Tiger got under his skin, and now he wants to prove himself by fighting on his own?" Pinkie asked.

"Yeah...and if we tried to convince Kintaros to take your help. he would just take it as you have no faith in him." Ryotaro added. "It seems we have reached a rather difficult impasse."

"Hai...demo, we do have faith in him," Fluttershy said.

"Indeed. But from the way he's acting, it's like he has no faith in us," Rarity added.

"Well then what are we suppose to do?!" Rainbow complained shooting her arms into the air. "The idiot currently hiding in Ryo's head has it all figured that it he doesn't beat this stupid cat Imagin that he's weak, and if he takes any help then he's weak. It's like the only thing that could make him happy is if he somehow beat that Imagin all by himself!" she finished with a shout, letting her annoyance and frustration out on everyone's eardrums.

"I wish I knew what to do, Rainbow...but...ugh…" Twilight sighed, "Let's...just head home. Hopefully tomorrow, he'll have cooled down."

"I wouldn't hold your breath." Pinkie and Rainbow said in unison, both already knowing how the Taros worked.

---

It was the next day at school, and it seemed like a normal day like any other. Only...there was someone missing in class.

"Where's Ryo?" Pinkie asked as she looked around the classroom in confusion. "Pst! Twilight." she called from her desk.

Twilight didn't say anything as she looked out the window in deep thought.

"Twilight…" Pinkie said again before the ripped a small piece of paper from her desk and rolled into a small ball shape before flicking it at Twilight's head.

"Huh? Wha…?" Twilight blinked a bit as she looked over her shoulder to see the pinkette, "What is it?"

"Where's Ryo?" Pinkie asked quietly...well as close to quietly as Pinkie could get. "I haven't seen him all morning...even Airi said she didn't see him this morning for breakfast."

"...I see," Twilight noted, a bit of worry on her face now.

"Yup...we need to investigate this," Pinkie said quietly as she pulled out a magnifying glass and raised it up to one of her eyes, "And don't worry, Twilight. Detective Pinkie Pie is on the case, because I'm a hard boiled detective."

"More like luke warm," Twilight muttered, not sure how to act, mainly because her worry outweighed the confusion, "...Still, you're right. After school, get Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. We're going to go find him."

"Or we could just sneak out after class," Pinkie suggested.

"I knew you would suggest that." Twilight shook her head.

"I hardly think class is as important as our friend, who by the way I bet a week's worth of sweets is possessed by Kin and out there looking for a killer Tiger Imagin." Pinkie reasoned. "So what's more important? Class, or our friend, who is probably in a heap of trouble?"

"I'm not sure whether to be shocked by the logic...or just plain shocked?" Twilight muttered, "...Fine. After class, we sneak out. But make sure nobody sees us leave."

"Oh please. I've done this tons of times, so trust the professional here." Pinkie stated confidently.

"..."

"What?"

---

"Why does this make me feel so guilty?" Twilight asked as the five where just outside the school's main building and on their way out the back entrance of the school.

"Because we're all worried about Ryotaro at the moment?" Rainbow asked.

"...true...but let's hurry this up before somebody notices we're missing," Twilight said.

"Okay, then lets get a move on. Who knows where Kin has gone off to be Kin," Pinkie stated as she marched forward a little faster.

"Uhm...but where would Kintaros go?" Fluttershy asked.

"That's a good question? Where in the city could he go without anyone bothering him?" Rarity pondered.

"...The park?"

"No I think I got an idea as to where he went." Twilight spoke up. "It's the one place he can do the outrageous training he enjoys."

"And that is?" the others asked as Twilight led the way.

---

The five girls made their way through the forest that got denser and denser the further they went, that is until they began finding trees that had been nearly knocked over, some having an imprint of a hand embedded deep in them. There were also a plethora of rocks that seemed to have been split in two and left behind.

"Wow...safe bet Kin's been through here." Pinkie said as she held up two halves of a rock before putting it back together.

"The guy is like some kind of one man wrecking crew…" Rainbow sweatdropped, seeing a large boulder that had been split in two, "...Really glad he's on our side."

"Yup. Good thing his first pick was Fluttershy, and then he liked Ryotaro enough to partner up with him." Pinkie remembered.

"H-hai," Fluttershy nodded before yelping when she heard a loud roar.

Everyone stopped and turned to see a large brown blur shoot past them and slam into the ground. It was a full grown bear that slowly got back up and glared up a hill. the girls followed its line of sight to see K-Ryotaro standing their, multiple cuts across the yellow and black kimono he wore. He then jumped down as he landed in front of the beast as the two glared at eachother.

Both growled and charged as K-Ryotaro blocked both of the beasts arms with little trouble, he then slowly lifted the beast up before tossing it into the air just a bit before he grabbed it and held it over his head.

"ORYA!" K-Ryotaro roared as he spun around once before tossing the wild bear away and into the woods, letting it slam into a tree before hitting the dirt and grass below it. K-Ryotaro then stomped his foot into the ground causing it to shake a little. He growled a bit as the Bear got back up it whined once before it backed down and retreated back into the forest, "Ossu!"

"Oh my...such strength," Rarity awed.

"Wow...Kin really went to town on that bear, huh Fluttershy?" Pinkie asked before she noticed the shy pinkette was missing, "...Fluttershy?"

"Oh boy…" Rainbow realized as she noticed her missing as well, "Kin's gonna get it."

"Huh?" Twilight blinked as she, Rarity, and Pinkie looked at the tomboy, "What do you mean?"

"Word of advice, don't, and I repeat this, don't hurt animals, or mention the 'H' and 'M' words around her." Rainbow advised.

"H and M?" Pinkie blinked as she tried to figure out what that meant, the odd girl even sat down rubbing the palm of her right hand across her chin trying to figure it out as soon as possible. Everyone just ignored this though.

"Yosh...back to where I left off then…" K-Ryotaro huffed as he wiped some sweat from his brow. He then turned to go back to his training but stopped as he looked down to see the ever so slightly shorter Fluttershy standing in his path, "oh...hello Fluttersh-"

"Kintaros…" Fluttershy growled in a tone that actually sent shivers down K-Ryotaro's spine.

"I tried to warn you not to fight that bear…" Ryotaro sighed.

"Kintaros-no-baka!" Fluttershy snapped as she began to yell at him in full-on Japanese.

"Wow...I didn't know she had it in her." Pinkie stated in a state of shock as her eyes widened into blank white orbs.

"Yup. Like I said, don't hurt animals around her, or mention the 'H' and "M' words," Rainbow said.

"H...and...M...oh you mean hu-" Pinkie figured it out before Rainbow covered her mouth, "Hmph?!"

"Shh! Yes that! Don't ever mention those words around her!" Rainbow hissed before gulping, "You don't' want to see her when she hears both those words in the same sentence."

Everyone nodded as Pinkie decided to save her randomness for after the danger of Mad Fluttershy passed. Which was still going on as she ranted and scolded and chastised K-Ryotaro to no end. Something along the lines of how it's not right to harm an innocent wild animal.

"Gah...hai hai! I understand Fluttershy! Please stop Ryotaro is already starting to cry…" K-Ryotaro was able to whimper out as he held his hands to his ears to try and drown out her endless shouting.

"Good..just don't do it again," Fluttershy frowned as she walked back to the others.

"I honestly think I'll never be able to get that scene out of my head…" Twilight stated plainly.

"Ugh...I just had to be the one with the better ears…" K-Ryotaro mumbled as he stood back up straight before dusting the torn kimono a little.

"I honestly don't know who's scarier when mad. The Mizu-onna, or the Kaze-onna," Momotaros spoke with a slight gulp.

"Woman...definitely the truly most terrifying thing in all of time and space." Urataros shuddered.

"Yeah...The timid girl can get really creepy when she's mad." Ryutaros spoke up.

"No kidding. I think Ryotaro might've fainted during that scolding."

"Ryotaro? Ryotaro, can you hear me?! Speak to me buddy!"

"Mou~" Ryotaro replied in a dizzy, yet scared manner.

"Well, I think Ryotaro has been mentally scarred enough." K-Ryotaro sighed, rubbing his neck before he turned away and went back into the woods.

"Wait!" Twilight shouted, causing him to stop, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Going to resume my training," K-Ryotaro stated simply. "I have had enough distractions with that rowdy young bear and then the lot of you."

"Do you even realize how worried we were when Ryotaro didn't show up in Class?" Twilight frowned as she walked towards him, "Airi was starting to get worried when she didn't see him this morning!"

"If you are done, I have to resume my training." K-Ryotaro said not even turning around.

"Ugh! You...you are so stupid right now!" Twilight snapped.

"Twilight dear, calm d-" Rarity began.

"Ever since you've lost to that Tiger Imagin, all you've done is nothing but act like an idiot! I keep trying to offer to help you against that thing, but no! All you seem to do is nothing but think of yourself, like you have no faith in me or the others!"

"..." K-Ryotaro turned his head as his eyes held a very upset, if not angry look as he turned to look at Twilight. "You are right...I am thinking of myself." he admitted, confusing them. "I am thinking of myself as the only one who needs to be harmed to face this Imagin, as the only one who needs to enter this danger. I can not even begin to imagine what would happen to Ryotaro if I allowed any of you to get hurt while I could have done something. Ryotaro is one who blames himself for any little mistake. So yes. I thought of myself while deciding to be the one to burden all this."

Twilight didn't say a thing at that...not sure of what to say really. All this time she thought he was doing it for himself, but in reality, he was doing it to make sure she and the others don't get hurt.

"So if we are done here, I must return to my training...I realize that as we are, Ryotaro and I can not exceed our current power. But I have figured a way to finally defeat this enemy." K-Ryotaro stated as he held up his hand before he gripped it firmly.

"...what….what is it?" Twilight asked.

"I shall take a note from Momonoji and perfect a new...technique. An attack that could blow this Imagin away in one blow…" He explained as he walked up to another boulder. "I realize that this Imagin is so powerful because it has something more to it, like those Imagin that have worked for the woman known as Luna...an enhanced Imagin if you will." he explained rather wisely. "So if I can land one blow with all of my strength that should be enough to defeat him." he explained as he raised his right arm into the air as it began to glow a soft yellow for a second before he swung it down in a chopping motion, a yellow downward streaked form from his swing before the boulder slowly split into two. The rock cleanly cut and smooth as well.

"Wow...now that is strong," Pinkie gawked.

"Yeah…" Rainbow agreed.

"It is still not enough…" K-Ryotaro spoke. "In retrospect, that attack just now is about the same power as my normal ax swing as Den-O." he explained rolling his shoulder slightly, "What I am going for is to make sure it is fast and powerful, much like a shooting star." he stated, holding his hand up again. "But in order to do so first, I must be able to achieve the same feelings and powers as that day."

"I see…" Twilight noted.

"Yes...as Den-O, our power becomes stronger the more we can synchronize with Ryotaro's own emotions. Yet...it is hard to match the same level of devotion to protecting others that Ryotaro has honestly," K-Ryotaro admitted with a sigh. "Where as I can burden a great weight on my shoulders, Ryotaro can burden much more that then one could believe. I believe that is why my fellow brothers in arms choose to stay with him."

"Oi! Don't go giving us cheesy names like that!" Momotaros complained in his head.

"True...Still, there has to be a way we can both take this Imagin down together," Twilight said before sighing a bit, "And...look. I want to apologize for what I said earlier. All this time, I thought you were training just to prove yourself, but...you've been training just so you can make sure me and the others can't get hurt."

"You need not apologize to me Twilight...I pushed you all away so rudely, but I did what my heart told me was best to protect mine and Ryotaro's precious Nakama," K-Ryotaro countered as he crossed his arms to relax a little. "This Imagin does not pull its punches. It is savage. It will go for the blows that could seriously harm you...or worse. My making Ryotaro many times stronger and Den-O's armor made me the best choice to take him in hand to hand combat."

"Yeah...the guy likes to pull cheap punches like that," Rainbow noted, rubbing her head a little, "I mean, it's not like there's a way we can confuse him enough, AND make sure he doesn't do stuff like that."

"To do that, we'd probably need like six Kin's, our included," Pinkie added, nodding her head in unison.

"If there were six of me, I'd bet this battle would have been won the first time." K-Ryotaro shrugged his shoulders in agreement with Pinkie, "But sadly, there isn't."

"...or is there?" Twilight spoke up, causing everyone to look at her, "Rarity, how fast can you sew?"

"Hm?" Rarity blinked in confusion at the sudden turn of attention on her. "Well, I guess fairly fast. Why?"

"Because I may have an idea that'll benefit all of us," Twilight replied, "And we have Pinkie and Kintaros to thank for it."

"Me?" Pinkie asked pointing at herself.

"I am just as confused my hyper friend." K-Ryotaro blinked.

"Let me explain…" Twilight began.

---

As all this was going on, the White Tiger Imagin was sitting on top of a roof, its legs dangling off the side as it looked out at the city a frustrated and angry growl escaping it's mouth as it glared at all the people. All of them weak, to weak to even stand a chance against him. Such a truth aggravated the Imagin, what was the point of it's strength if it could not use it to full effect. So the Imagin finally had enough and jumped from his spot on the roof and landed on the ground below shocking the poor people down below.

"Grrr…" the Imagin growled before he grabbed to random people. He then raised them up before tossing them away. "I'm tired of all you weak pests poisoning this place!" he shouted out loudly, "So I'll just do this place a favor and exterminate all of you!" he roared as he smashed his hand against a nearby car, totaling it. He then roared before he began to rampage further as he attacked random people and destroyed anything that was within his reach.

The Imagin jumped on a moving car caving it's roof in. He reared his head back before aiming it at a near by store.

"GAO!-!-!-!-!-!" he roared, firing a sonic blast that caused all the glass to shatter

The people began to panic as they ran away from the vicious tiger like monster continued it's senseless rampage destroying buildings, vehicles, and attacking poor people who got in it's way.

"Ha!" the Imagin roared as he backhanded a man out of his way. "Ah, I can smell it...someone who could be a fight...don't disappoint me meat." he stated as he marched through the sea of people to find this person he sensed could fight, "Now where could he be hiding?" he asked as he pushed people aside roughly. The Imagin then stopped as he felt a familiar presence.

"You know...there is an old saying. Go looking for trouble, and it might just find you," a familiar voice said as the Imagin and the crowd all turned around to see Den-O Ax form walk into the area. "But I guess this more relies to me now doesn't it. You know it's said that two beasts can't live on the same mountain." he stated as he popped his neck loudly. "So lets see who fall off for good shall we?"

"...Heh...let's see if you can give me a challenge this time around," the White tiger Imagin smirked, cracking his neck, knuckles, and shoulders before getting into position.

"Minna! For your own safety, leave this area!" Den-O shouted at everyone as he rolled his shoulders. "Or at the very least get behind me. This beast shall not make it past me."

The people didn't need to be told twice as they bolted out of the area as quickly as they could.

"Good. Didn't want any weaklings to get in the way of our fight," the Tiger Imagin smirked, causing Den-O to frown behind his helmet.

"I merely did my duty and protected those who are not strong enough to fight themselves." Den-O stated, "I think somewhere along the lines of our battles, I focused too much on another task. But this time, I will be fighting for them."

"Kintaros." Ryotaro's voice spoke in Den-O's head as the hero slowly moved his right leg back and got into a firm defensive stance.

"Ikuze, Ryotaro. Our strength shall make him weep!" Den-O shouted as the Imagin charged first, Den-O took a step back and pushed the Imagin's arm to the side knocking him off balance, Den-O then grabbed his shoulder before grabbing the Imagin's hip with the other. Den-O then lifted the monster up over his head with little trouble. "Utchari!" Den-O shouted as he tossed the Imagin high into the air.

"Sugoi...that's higher than the other times."

"Wait for it." Den-O replied as the Imagin fell back down. Den-O raised his arm back before he swung it and connected with the monsters face sending it flying away towards the less populated park a ways away.

"Guh...you've gotten stronger since last time…" the Tiger Imagin growled a bit as he stood back up, shaking the dirt off him.

"Last time I was fighting to defeat you...this time I am fighting to defend." Den-O spoke as he slowly walked into the park his ax already in his hand. "Sa Nakerude!" he called out as he stood before the Imgin ready to battle.

"...Heh...we'll see," the Tiger smirked as he pulled out a pair of metal nun-chucks, spinning them wildly like an expert.

"I'll be the first to say it; I didn't see that one coming." Ryotaro spoke up.

"Likewise." Den-O agreed. The Kamen rider then charged as he slashed high at the Imagin's head but it ducked under the swing before it rolled and swung it's flailing weapon, striking Den-O in the back, making him roll forward before getting back to his feet as the Imagin charged this time. Den-O countered as he swung his ax horizontally but the Imagin blocked the blade with the chain of its nunchucks.

The two tried to force their footing to get the edge over the other. Den-O rolled to the right and let the Imagin stumble forward.

The Tiger imagin growled a bit as he got back up and shot forward at Den-O before trying to deliver a roundhouse kick to the kamen Rider's head, but Den-O just raised his hand to block the kick before he ducked under it and shoved the Imagin forward making him fumble over his own feet. The Imagin growled in anger and turned around to attack Den-O whom he assumed had taken some steps back for breathing room, only the Imagin was surprised to see Den-O standing right infront of him. Den-O then punched his arm next to the Imagin's head making him turn his head in surprise. Den-O then tossed his ax into the air confusing the Imagin again as he looked up at the weapon but this left him open as Den-O masked his previously free hand across the Imagin's head knocking him back a step. Den-O then grabbed the ax formed dengasher before he slashed the Imagin across the chest once sending sparks flying as well as the Imagin.

"You left yourself open." Den-O spoke as he lowered his arms.

"Grr...damn you…" he Tiger Imagin growled before he noticed a nearby couple trying to hide, "...Heh...you say you want to defend...but...can you defend them?!" he roared as he threw his nun-chucks at the frightened couple. The weapons making it's way at the two as they coward from the oncoming attack.

But before the weapon could hit it's mark a large barrier formed in it's path and let the weapon harmlessly bounce off it before landing on the ground. The barrier was a large glowing circle with magical symbols etched into it. And standing behind it was….another Den-O ax form?

"Eh?! There's two of you?!" the tiger Imagin gawked.

"Correction…" Den-O stated before four blurs ran into the area, "There's six of me."

"Say wh-?!" the Tiger Imagin began in shock before he saw six total Den-O's all standing before him all of them having their arms crossed over their chests plates in anticipation, "Wh...what the hell's going on?!"

None of the Den-O's said anything before two began to charge at him. The Imagin expected them to swing their fists at him only for them to both stop short as one held their hand up before an electric shock came out and send the Imagin stumbling back, the other held their hand out before the ground under him lifted up shooting him into the air before crashing into the ground.

"Grr...why y-" the Imagin began before another Den-O raised their hand, causing a nearby hydrant to explode as water pushed the Imagin further back. The Imagin tumbled along the ground before two more Den-O's moved forward and held their arms out, one of them caused a small tornado under the Imagin that lifted him into the air while the other unleashed a small cluster of yellow stars that all were sucked into the tornado before causing a series of explosions that sent the Imagin falling to the ground smoking.

As the Imagin got up it was slashed across the side by another Den-O with his ax ripping sparks from the monster's body. It turned around to punch at Den-O but his arm was caught in a mass of water before it wrenched his arm behind his back. The Den-O with the Dengasher then slammed the palm of his hand into it's chest sending the Imagin flying back.

"Grr...I am getting really tired of this!" the Tiger Imagin growled, getting back up before he roared, "GAO!-!-!-!-!-!-!" he roared but a large wall of water formed before him and absorbed the sounds, letting them ripple inside of it before the water calmed down. "NANI!?"

"Water makes a natural insulator against noise." Den-O explained confidently as he crossed his arms again. "The sonic waves of your attacked bounced around inside canceling itself out." he added as the other Den-O's stood by his side.

"What?! My...my most powerful attack's been rendered useless?!"

"Hm...I'll be the first to admit sometimes being smarter is useful." Den-O sighed as he unfolded his arms and rested his DenGasher on his shoulder. "I get the feeling I shall never live this truth down though." he added before he took a few steps forward. "But I can worry after this battle is over." he stated as he charged.

As he did, he slashed the Imagin across the chest knocking him back a few steps. Den-O then ducked out of the way as two of the other Den-O's raised their hands as a mass of water that was rippling with electricity was shot at the Imagin shocking it to it's core making it stumble back as it mumbled in nonsense from the electric shock amplified by the water. The other three then walked forward before one raised their hand forming rock around the Imgin's legs before vines wrapped around it's arms keeping him from moving. The last Den-O then raised both arms before firing a powerful blue beam of energy that hit the Imagin with a small scale explosion sending him flying through the air.

"Th….this can't be...how?! How can I lose?! How are you stronger than me?!"

"Simple; we are stronger than you." Den-O stated as he walked up to the Imagin, the other Den-O's right behind him. "Our strength has made you…" Den-O began.

"Cry," the other Den-O's finished as the original prepared for the finisher.

"Grr! Onore!" the Tiger Imagin growled as it reached around before finding it's nun-chucks on the ground behind him. "I won't lose to you!" he shouted as he shot up and swung the weapon in an arc at the main Den-O.

The Kamen Rider raised his arm and blocked the Imagin's arm but the weapon still swung in it's arc as the second half of the nun-chucks slammed into Den-O's helmet and caused it to crack before shattering half of it revealing the black hair and yellow streak that belonged to K-Ryotaro along with one of his yellow eyes.

Den-O however didn't seemed affected by the blow or destruction of his helmet. He then twisted the Imagin's arm and pulled him closer as he did.

"Wipe your tears...with this." Den-O growled as his visible eye glared at the Imagin. Den-O then slammed his fist into the Imagin's chest sending it flying back.

Den-O then grabbed his pass and swiped it once sending energy into the DenGasher.

=FULL CHARGE!=

Den-O then swiped it a second time letting even more energy flow into the ax.

=FULL CHARGE!=

Den-O flung his axe into air with all his strength, sending it high into the air. Den-O then jumped into the air and grabbed the glowing weapon before it's blade extended and grew double in size. Den-O then came down as he swung down with both arms, leaving a glowing cut in the air before his feet slammed into the ground and the ax blade cut through the Imagin before cutting into the ground.

"Dynamic…" Den-O began before he raised his weapon and spun around cutting a second time horizontally across the Imagin's chest leaving a large + shaped glow in it's body. "Ryusei Chop." he finished as he rested the ax on his shoulder.

"...D….damn….you!" the Tiger Imagin cried out before he split into four pieces and exploded.

"Ossu." Den-O huffed as he turned on his heels and bowed in respect to his enemy. "Perhaps if you had a more kind soul, we could have been good rivals." Den-O spoke to the rising pile of smoke, "Perhaps we will meet again in another life." he added as he turned away from the smoke as it slowly faded away and carried off into the wind. He then looked at the other Den-O's, "Minna...I truly thank you for your assistance." Den-O bowed to them as well.

"It's no problem, Kintaros. We were glad to be of some help," one of the Den-O's replied in...Twilight's voice?

"I would also like to apologize for pushing you away...I realize I must have hurt your feelings by doing so." Den-O added his exposed eye showing deep guilt and remorse for his actions.

"It's cool man," another of the Den-O's shrugged in Rainbow's voice before they all took their helmets off, revealing themselves to be Twilight and the others.

"Even still, I wish to apologize for it. Ryotaro told me constantly to accept your help but I refused." Den-O added as he scratched the exposed part of his head. "I suppose this is why Ryotaro is the brains between these formations, isn't he?" he asked. while it sounded like a joke he sounded rather serious in it yet that somehow also added more to the joke part of it.

"In a way, yes," Pinkie nodded before she began to look at her costume, "Not to go off topic, but these a really detailed, Rarity. It almost feels I turned into Den-o myself!"

"Yeah. Is this how it feels for you guys and Ryotaro to where that armor?" Rainbow asked.

"Well sometimes I forget I am wearing armor...the suit feels almost like a second skin really," Den-O explained as he pointed to the fabric over his arms. "Though honestly I wouldn't know how it works. I mean...I don't see a way out of this thing really...look. No zipper or anything." Den-O added as he looked around his back for a method of taking the suit off normally.

"...Well, I guess it was a good idea I added one to these then," Rarity stated.

"H...hai," Fluttershy nodded, a blush on her face.

"...Something wrong, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked her shy friend.

"...Ano...w-well...it's a bit...tight."

"It is? but I made it so it would e-" Rarity began.

"I...in the chest," Fluttershy said.

"Guess we can't tell due to the chest plate." Pinkie figured, tapping the armored portion for emphasis.

"Hey Kin, how do you deal with this giant hunk of armor on your chest?" Rainbow asked, knocking on Den-O's armor, which made a very loud metallic clang.

"Feels light as a feather to me." Den-O replied.

"Oh...Then again, you are the muscle of the taros, so to speak," Rainbow stated.

Den-O just nodded in agreement before yawning.

"Tired, Kin?" Pinkie asked

"Ah...I just realized how much sleep I missed...I must make up for it if I am to have energy for the next battle." Den-O yawned as he stretched his arms. He then yanked off his belt letting the armor fall as yellow shards. "*yawns* ah...well time for a quick...three week nap." he said as he sat down before leaning on his side with his head resting on his arm before snoring slightly. "Zzzzz."

"...Come on, girls. let's help carry him back home," Twilight spoke, "After what happened, he deserves a nice long rest."

"Count me out. All that new muscle makes him way a ton!" Rainbow complained.

"Well how are we suppose to get Kintaros back to Denliner if he's fast asleep?" Twilight asked.

"Quick! Someone look for the Pass! That way, we can call DenLiner here." Pinkie spoke up. "It's either in those bushes or deep in his Kimono."

"Pinkie. I don't think th-"

"Fluttershy, you check his kimono, I'll go check the bu-" Pinkie began before Fluttershy fainted with a heavy blush, "...Fluttershy?"

"You just had to take that opportunity, didn't you?" Rainbow sighed.

"What? it's not like she was going to f-ooh…"

"...Ugh...this is gonna take a while, isn't it?" rainbow asked with a sigh.

"Yup." Most everyone agreed.

"Alright. I'll just get it from him then." Pinkie replied as she walked up to the sleeping K-Ryotaro she reached for his kimono, only for his arm to shoot up and grab her face with a strong grip, "Ahh! Regret! Regret! DX"

"Ahh! Pinkie!" Twilight exclaimed as she and the others-minus the still unconscious Fluttershy, ran over to try and pry the excitable pinkette from K-Ryotaro's grip.

"ZZZZ….My strength shall make you cry...ZZZZ!" the sleeping possed youth snored as his grip seemingly got harder.

"You're already making my cry~! T-T" Pinkie whimpered as she cried small, waterfall tears.

"This is what you get for trying to pickpocket him!" Rainbow countered as she tried to pry the fingers off Pinkie's face.

"Ryotaro, please push Kintaros out...oh please don't tell me you're sleeping too," Twilight begged.

"Oi, Kuma! Wake the hell up! You're gonna crush the Mizu-onna's head like a pumpkin!" Momotaros exclaimed.

"Zzzz…"

"...Ugh...I know I'm going to regret this but...cry."

"Snkr! Nakeru?!" he shouted as he let go of Pinkie letting her fall down as he shot up. "Who is crying?" he asked before Twilight slapped him upside the head, causing a yellow flash as he was returned to regular and tired looking Ryotaro.

"Th...thank you...Twilight…" Ryotaro managed to get out, bags under his eyes.

"My face still hurts…" Pinkie cried.

"Again, that's what you get for trying to pickpocket him," Rainbow frowned as she stared at the pinkette.

"I already said I regret it…" Pinkie whimpered.

"Sorry Pinkie…" Ryotaro apologized as he rubbed his head. "I tried to push Kintaros out...but I haven't slept since Kintaros took over...I'm really weak."

"...Dude, I think you may need a vacation or something," Rainbow suggested.

"Maybe...once this is all over...or tomorrow...yeah tomorrow…" Ryotaro mumbled as he fell over, letting sleep take over as he snored very quietly.

"...I'll go ahead and call Airi," Twilight sighed.

"Well at least now he's light enough to move," Rainbow sighed as she picked Ryotaro up with little trouble.

"After what happened today, the poor dear deserves a nice long rest," Rarity said as she helped Fluttershy up, the shy pinkette starting to regain consciousness, "You okay, dear?"

"H...hai," Fluttershy nodded, the blush still on her face, "Ano...I think I might need a cold shower once I get home."

"You said it, not me," Pinkie spoke as she shot up, a red hand mark still on her face.

"Oi..." Rainbow shook her head, "Let's just hurry and get him home."

"Good idea," Twilight nodded.

"Come on, you goof. Let's get you home." Rainbow chuckled, dragging Ryotaro along.

"Ano, m-matte, Rainbow! Please be careful with him!" Fluttershy shouted as she ran after the tomboy.

"Eh, he's fine. He's been through worse. I mean, he did fell off a building while Momotaros was possessing him, and that was during the whole iron Warrior competition." Rainbow countered.

"Well yes, but still we don't want to cause more harm to him." Fluttershy defended. "I mean, he did save us all many times. It's the least we could do."

"...Alright. Then I guess you got Ryotaro watch for the rest of the week," Rainbow shrugged.

"Hai….wait what?" Fluttershy gawked once she realized what she just agreed to.

"Well it was your suggestion." Rainbow countered, "So you get to watch over him."

"Wait...I mean yes I suggested being careful but I didn't meant...well what I meant was that…" Fluttershy kept trailing off trying to find that right word, "...Mou...Twilight-chan, help me out here."

"Sorry Fluttershy. I'm kind of at a loss for how to help you out on this…" Twilight admitted rubbing the back of her head.

"...W-well, can you at least help me with it?"

"Can't. I got to cover Ryotaro's shift until he's all better," Rainbow stated.

"I have to work at my store," Rarity added.

"I have a few lessons with Celeste," Twilight added.

"I have nothing." Pinkie smiled. "But you're still on your own on this one."

"But…"

"She's right. You're on your own for this one, Flutters," Rainbow stated.

"Mmm…" Fluttershy whimpered in defeat.

"Come on. He's asleep whats the big deal?" Rainbow complained tired of the arguing, "I mean, you hang out at school with him, we always see him at the Milk Dipper, so what's the big deal?"

"Well yes...but it's just those times we are all together…" Fluttershy began as they all walked down the road together. "And well...every time when Ryotaro is around one of you is there as well…"she mumbled.

"So what? You've never spent any time alone with him?" Rainbow asked.

"...H-hai," Fluttershy managed to squeak out, a blush forming on her face.

"But what about...no we were there too...huh. I guess you and Ryotaro never have spent time together without one of us there." Twilight realized.

"Hm...suspicious." Pinkie spoke up as she stared intently at Fluttershy, "Why on earth would you want to spend time alone with Ryo?...Unless you want to say you l-and there she goes."

"Ugh...again?" Rainbow facepalmed.

"Pinkie, I think you went too far...again." Rarity sighed.

"What? I was just asking a legitimate question," Pinkie said, raising her hands up a bit in defense.

"...just for that, we're giving all your pudding to Momotaros," Twilight deadpanned.

"Aw…" Pinkie cried like a child. "That's not fair!"

"You made Fluttershy faint twice, Pinkie. it's a fitting punishment," Twilight stated.

"And your being a crybaby will not make us change our minds." Rarity added.

"It makes me want to put Kin back in Ryo and have him do the iron grip on your face again." Rainbow admitted with a straight face.

"Aw, come on! It's not fair that you girls are gaining up on me like this!" Pinkie complained.

"Consider it your punishment." they all spoke in perfect synch.

"Mmm~" Pinkie whined at that, the excitable pinkette crying mini-waterfalls tears.

---

Ryutaros: WAI~! Yosh Minna lets have fun! Everybody dance!

Fluttershy: R-Ryutaros, calm down!

Ryutaros: Nah, I don't have to listen to you. You're not Momo-nee or Onee-chan. Oh look at that doubutsu-tachi(animals)!

Fluttershy: You have to be careful when tending to animals, let them know you're not trying to hurt them

Ryutaros: Hm...nah they just listen to me anyway. See they like me.

Ryotaro: Ryutaros does have a knack for making friends with animals…

Fluttershy: H-hai…

Ryutaros: Yeah, and I'll make sure to protect them from anyone too...so don't get in my way. Kotae wa kiitenai!

Stop 13: A Kind and Gentle touch.

Ryotaro/Fluttershy: Ryutaros please calm down!