Kamen Rider: Equestrian Shade

by The Dark Brony


Chapter 5

A few seconds after Shade had stopped his rapid ascent from the planet he reached down to see that he had been forced back to his normal state as he slowly tried to stand as he looked to see gray soil below him before slowly turning his head as he saw that he couldn’t see anything but the same endless expanse of wasteland around him.

“Ugh… what the hell happened?” Alex groaned as he slowly stood up to find himself alone as he remembered what had occurred a few seconds before as he looked above him before he froze as he saw the scene above him did not seem right, the stars above him seemed dimmer, but the one thing that made everything makes sense was set out in front of him.

The planet below him, a planet that looked in many ways similar to Earth even if some of the landmasses seemed off in places as from what he could see the landmass of the planet it seemed to resemble a horse’s head.

“So that’s the Earth… or Equestria… or whatever they call it,” Alex thought to himself before adding “so, am I on the moon?” He then looked to his own body before he said “thank god I’m already dead, otherwise this would be a bad way to go.”

It was then he heard a faint groan nearby, how he could hear anything in the vacuum of space was beyond him but he chose not to question it as he tried to find where the voice had originated from.


It only took him a minute to find where the noise had come from as he saw Luna in the centre of a crater curled up into a ball.

As soon as Alex saw this he quickly ran down towards Luna before grabbing and turning her towards him as he eyes slowly flickered open as he saw that they had reverted back to normal and as she saw Alex she quickly grabbed hold of him pulling herself into his chest as she began to cry.

Alex then slowly wrapped his arms around her before he said calmly “Don’t worry Luna, everything’s fine now.”

“I knew you’d save me, I just knew it,” Luna replied as she cried.

“Like I’d ever abandon you, Luna,” Alex replied.

It was at this point they heard another voice crying as it repeated over and over again, “They’re going to kill me.”

Luna then looked to Alex before she said “Who said that?”

“I have a pretty good idea who,” Alex replied as he turned his head towards the side of the crater as he saw a small black foal that had both a horn and wings that were curled up in a ball near the edge of the crater.

“I couldn’t do it… there’s going to kill me for failing them,” the foal replied as she cried.

Alex then slowly walked toward the foal before slowly picking her up holding her next to his chest as he said quietly to her “It’s okay, let it all out.”

The foal just remained quiet as she continued to cry into Alex’s chest before a few a few seconds she suddenly began to scream out in pain as she gripped onto to Alex’s chest tightly before suddenly going limp in his arms.

Luna then slowly walked over to Alex as she asked him, “Who is that?”

Alex then felt the figure in his arms shaking, it’s breathing slower than before as her crying renewed as Alex replied by saying to Luna, “I believe the little one is the Gamma they put inside of you… those stones your sister had must have done something to her.”

“It is possible that the Elements of Harmony changed her in some way when they hit us?” Luna replied.

“What are they?” Alex asked.

“The Elements of Harmony are six powerful artefacts that are in Equestria’s possession, there’s what we see are the final defence, a last resort so to speak. We normally only use when all else fails to prevent catastrophe,” Luna explained.

“So how does that equate to this happening?” Alex asked.

“The Elements enforce peace and Harmony on their target, it’s possible it’s affected her when it separated us.”

“If we knew how ” Alex replied sadly.

It was at this point the foal below them stopped crying as she muttered “Why can’t I feel my real body? How am I still alive?”

Even though she had attempted to keep her thoughts hidden, Alex had heard her before he said to Luna, “Is it possible that these elements cut a connection to something, so that it couldn’t affect the person anymore?”

“It could be possible,” Luna replied, “why do you ask?”

“I believe that they may have cut her connection to her body… as in her real body. If I’m correct about it, she’s stuck as she is right now,” as Alex said this the foal in his arms began to cling to his chest more forcefully.

It was at this point the foal looked up towards Alex as he saw that her eyes were bloodshot but he could still make out the green pupils in her eyes as she looked to Luna before she said “I’m sorry.”

This caught Luna off guard as she asked the filly “What do you have to be sorry for?”

“I’m sorry for the pain I was forced to cause you,” the filly replied with her head lowered.

Luna just walked up to the filly as she moved her head to look at her before she said, “you have nothing not apologize for little one, we can not blame you for that which was forced onto you unwillingly.”

“T...Thank you, Princess,” the filly replied nervously

“Just Luna is fine, I have a feeling for what happened I’ve been stripped of my title for the time being… anyway, what is your name exactly?”

“I… I don’t remember, they didn’t give me one and I don’t remember anything but being the Nightmare,” the filly replied.

Luna then looked at Alex before she asked him, “What do we do? We can’t leave her like this?”

Alex just rubbed his chin with his free hand in thought before he suggested, “well we are the only ones here… maybe we should look after her?” He then turned to the filly before he asked her, “do you like the sound of that?”

The filly just nodded her head before she said “yes… but, I’d still like to have my own name.”

Alex looked to Luna before looking back to the filly as he asked her “How does the name Midnight sound?”

“Midnight? I like that, it almost feels like that name was made for me… I have no idea why though?” The filly now known as Midnight replied calmly.

Luna could only smile at Alex and Midnight before she said calmly, “I’m glad, but here is something I think we need to check, but it’s over months walk away from us.”

“Sure you can make it there without anything to eat or drink?” Alex asked with a hint of worry in his voice.

“We’ll be fine, I can and have survived for years at a time without anything like that,” Luna admitted.

Alex seemed sceptical of this but nonetheless chose not to argue the point with Luna any longer as the trio made their way towards whatever it was Luna believed she had found.


A month had passed since Alex and Luna had arrived on the moon and he was finally feeling glad for the fact he no longer required to eat to sustain himself, it had seemed to be one of the few upsides to the situation he and Luna had found themselves in.

It was at this point then he felt the unfamiliar figure of Midnight pulling on the tracksuit bottoms a she held out a small bronze object, that looked to have a small movable handle on the top of it that she held in her hand which she quickly passed over to Alex as she asked him “What is this thing?”

“You think I know… this place is Luna’s domain.”

“Oh, you just love asking if I know what things are here… but in our defence, we have no idea what that is,” Luna admitted as she looked over Alex’s shoulder.

As Alex turned the object around in his hand he found it didn’t seem to have any visible purpose, however, seconds later he heard an unknown voice say “If you need aid, call on the stars and Switch On!” this caused Alex to look around him quickly in confusion as she asked both Luna and Midnight, “Did you hear that?”

They both just shook their heads as Midnight asked “Did we hear what?”

“I swear I heard a voice… I must be going crazy being up here for as long as I have,” Alex chuckled.

“We doubt that’s the case,” Luna replied with a kind smile.

“I guess so,” Alex replied as he flicked the Switch in his hand downwards before a multi coloured portal opened in mid air, which dropped a white figure onto the ground beside them.

Midnight just walked over to the figure before she poked it before she asked “Is it dead?”

“I don’t know… let me check,” Alex replied with a smirk as he took two step back as he ran towards the figure… even if it was slower and would be clearly less effective than if he was on Equestria as he kicked the side of the figure even it did nothing in terms of damage to it.

“We are pretty sure that trying to hit it won’t work,” Luna replied.

“Maybe not… but I feel so much better,” Alex replied with a smile as he knelt down to the figure as he said “hey… are you okay down there?”

His only response was a light snoring as the figure moved slightly to scratch its neck.

“Or maybe he’s sleeping?” Midnight suggested.

“I guess it’s possible,” Alex agreed as he poked the figure in front of him multiple times.

“Alright alright, Shutter, I’m up,” the figure said as he got into a sitting position with a yawn before turning towards Alex, “you’re not Shutter.”

“No… I’m obviously your fairy godmother,” Alex replied sarcastically.

“Oooh, then do I get three wishes?” he said before standing up, “for my first, I wish to know how you can survive on the moon.”

“Oh that one’s simple, I’m already dead,” Alex replied nonchalantly.

“The worst part is you’re not the weirdest thing I’ve seen,” the figure chuckled, “name’s Jack, aka Kamen Rider Fourze.”.

“Wait… did you just say that you’re a Kamen Rider?” Luna asked in surprise from behind Alex.

“Let me guess, you’re one too?” Jack replied, “judging by the fact you’re dead, I’m thinking Ghost.”

“Well yes… but also no,” Alex replied before adding “my name is Alex, but also go by the persona of Kamen Rider Shade.”

“An OC, seen that too,” said Jack, “what are you doing on the moon anyway? As far as I know, I’m the only Rider that comes here regularly.”

“I’ll give you one guess,” Alex replied pointing to both Luna and Midnight, who both waved to him

“Romantic picnic?” Jack shrugged, “you have to admit the starscape is magnificent outside the atmosphere.”

“Please say you’re not being serious?” Alex groaned, “but I will agree on the second one.”

“Oh, another person who likes to look at the stars… I guess it’s not just us anymore Alex,” Luna admitted with a smile.

“I guess you’re right Luna,” Alex replied “Take another guess.”

Jack looked over Luna and Midnight, “Alternate Nightmare Moon scenario?”

“Yeah… I blame a mix of the Gamma and these Phantom things if I’m being honest,” Alex admitted.

“Phantoms? Those sound like Wizard’s baddies,” Jack replied.

“Could someone please tell me who this Wizard is? I got a damn Eyecon of that guy and I have no idea who it is!” Alex shouted in annoyance as he showed Jack his the ring on his hand.

“You’ve never heard of Kamen Rider Wizard? The Last Hope?” said Jack.

“Umm, no… all I know is Celestia called him my predecessor after I dealt with this Minotaur that claimed to have killed him.”

“Well technically it’s Wizard, then Gaim, followed by Drive, and then Ghost, but yeah,” Jack said.

“Great… I’m starting to wish that I had seen more than just a few episodes of Ghost before being murdered,” Alex muttered under his breath.

“Sounds like more of a single series isn’t what you need, more like cliff notes on all of them.”

“Well if that existed for me right now I would love that assistance but as you can see I have no way to do that right now.”

Jack simply shrugged, “On the other hand, there is something that I may be able to do to help.”

“And what exactly is it that you can do to help?” Alex asked.

“Just give me a minute,” Jack said as he brought his hands together, “and bring out your Ghost Driver.”

“Okay, I guess,” Alex replied as his Driver appeared from a burst of black and red flames as it formed around his waist.

As Jack concentrated, a small swirling galaxy slowly took shape between his hands. However, after about a minute a Parka Ghost erupted from it that resembled Jack before it threw its sleeve-arms up into the air in a pose that made Jack chuckle.

“Celestial magic, still not good enough to use it in combat, but you can’t argue with the results,” Jack said, “go on, try it on for size.”

Alex just looked to the Parka Ghost before it simply nodded back to him and flew into his Driver before an almost completely black Eyecon formed in his hands that had an image of Fourze’s mask on, the image had a white outline around that surrounded a black cone shape that was under to large orange circles positioned to look like eyes.

Within seconds of the new Eyecon being created Alex opened the new Eyecon and placed it inside before pressing it in as the number (R13) appeared before a demonic voice shouted out “Eye! Kaigan! Fourze!” as the Parka Ghost attached to his back, before the sound of something being inserted was heard followed by the words “Switch oshita! Uchū kitā!” during which time Alex felt compelled to throw his hands above his head as the sound of multiple switches was heard switching on, which he did begrudgingly.

“You know you want to,” Jack said, a grin somehow visible despite his full-face mask.

“You look silly,” Midnight chuckled as she looked at Alex.

“The fact you’re a child makes it so I’m unable to deny the fact,” Alex sighed.

“Oh come on,” Jack said, smacking Alex in the back of the head only for his hand it to phase through his head, “you can’t do it halfway. I’ll do it with you if it makes you feel better.”

“It’s not that,” Alex sighed before asking Jack, “Do you know what a Shade is?”

“Something to take a nap in during the summer,” Jack chuckled.

“Yes and no… in Japanese mythology there seen as demonic spirits, in other words, I’m supposed to be scary when I transform… yet that makes me look like a joke.”

“Oh, Yokai,” Jack said nodding, “anyway Kamen Rider Fourze is the man who will befriend the whole world, kinda hard to do that if you’re scary wouldn’t you say?”

“True… my whole thing is the complete opposite of my personality isn’t it?” Alex chuckled as he looked to see Midnight trying to imitate what he had just done moments before.

“You need to do the phrase when you’re doing it,” Jack half scolded/half chuckled as he stood beside her.

“Phrase… what phrase?” Midnight asked.

Jack clutched his fists to his chest before shouting, “Uchu, Kita!!!” shooting them above his head. “It’s not complete without it,” he said as he dropped them to his side, “now you try.”

“What have we gotten into to?” Alex asked Luna as both Jack and Midnight kept posing and shouting.

“Well, we can’t say it isn’t satisfying to watch her having fun… she is just a child now,” Luna admitted.

“I guess…” Alex agreed with a smirk before he muttered “It was funny to do though.”

“I knew it!” Luna shouted.

“Oh we’re not quite done yet,” said Jack as he turned back to them, “ever heard of equivalent exchange?”

“What you a short angry boy now?” Alex asked.

“Please, I’m Huges if anyone,” Jack said as he held up a hand, as something shot out of the Ghost Driver and into it. “You get a Legend Eyecon, I get a Legend Switch,” he said as he held it up showing it to be a Switch with Shade’s face on it.

“Sounds like a fair trade to me,” Alex agreed before adding “but anyway… what was that thing Midnight picked up before you appeared?” Alex asked.

“Just a sec, I want to give this a test drive,” said Jack as he swapped out one of his Switches.

Shade

As soon as the Switch was fully inserted, a small Parka Ghost flew out of it, looking more like a cape than a coat.

Shade On

The Cape Ghost attached itself to Jack’s left shoulder as it unfolded a mask that attached itself to his forearm.

“Well… that’s... Different,” Alex admitted as he looked at what the switch had created.

“Please, you want different you want the Mask Switch,” Jack said before turning to Midnight, “no I am not using the Mask Switch.”

Midnight just shrugged before saying “If you don’t want to I can’t make you do it.”

“Good, last time I used it I puked my guts out after,” Jack said before he noticed something. “Know what that is?” he asked Alex, pointing at it.

Alex just turned his head to where Jack had pointed out as he said “Luna, Midnight… get yourselves out of here.”

“What… why?” Midnight asked curiously.

Luna then noticed what Jack had seen as she said “Midnight… we need to get clear,” as she quickly grabbed Midnight and started to run away from the duo.

Once they were a fair distance away Alex turned to Jack before he said “How do you feel about fighting a Gamma? I have no idea what they’ll use to evolve through.”

“Can’t be too much harder than Zodiarts,” said Jack, “although a Ghostbuster Switch would come in handy right about now.”

“Does that exist?”

“If there’s a Ghostbuster Displaced, I can make one,” Jack replied.

“Well… here’s to hoping,” Alex replied as he lowered himself into a fighting stance as they saw a small object that Alex knew to be a Gamma Eyecon merged with a small rock fragment that was on the ground, which confused Alex as he wondered why would he merge with that?

“Oh crap,” said Jack, noticing the multi coloured residue on the rock, “it’s got some leftover Cosmic Energy from when I made my Eyecon.”

“And that means?”

“It means we’ve probably got a Zodiarts incoming,” Jack said as the rock grew into a massive figure. It was covered in thick spiky armour, and each forearm had a spiked half circle shaped shield on it.

“I am Scutum,” the figure said as it brought its shields together into one massive shield, “and you cannot defeat me”

“We’ll see about that,” said Jack.

Drill On!

Jack shot forward, drill covered leg first, straight at Scutum. Colliding with the shield, it sparked for a few seconds before he jumped back, revealing a completely unmarked shield.

“Great job… your attack was completely ineffective,” Alex said calmly.

“Well excuse me for assuming the same drill that let me tunnel through Mount Canter in 20 seconds would do bupkis,” said Jack, “guy’s lucky I don’t have Magnet States yet.”

“Well, he’s also very unlucky for whom his opponents are,” Alex admitted as he pulled out another Eyecon before removing the Fourze Eyecon and replacing it as the demonic voice shouted out “Eye! Kaigan! Shade!” as the selected Parka Ghost attached to Alex’s back as the voice shouted out “Let’s Go! Kakugo! Akuma-tekina Shade!”

“Might as well bring out some heavy artillery myself,” said Jack as he swapped out another Switch.

Elec On!

Jack stood firm as he felt the usual rush of energy as he shifted to his gold and black Elec States, his Shade Module still on his left arm.

“How do you expect that to affect him?”

“Metal conducts electricity, right? Simple physics.” Jack said as he held up Billy the Rod, shifting it to melee mode.

“Yeah, simple physics… he’s formed from a stone, but yeah let’s see if it works.”

“My shield cannot be penetrated by your feeble attacks,” Scutum said from behind it.

“Follow my lead,” said Jack, charging forward.

“Okay then,” Alex replied as he charged forwards behind Jack watching Scutum’s movements for him to counter from.

Scutum grinned as he braced behind his shield, only for Jack to go intangible and pass right through it, stabbing him in the back, causing him to scream in pain.

“I was right, your shield is the only part of you that’s intangible, thanks for falling for my faint, idiot,” Jack said before turning to Alex, “intangibility is awesome don’t you agree?”

“Oh undoubtedly,” Alex replied as as he slid below the shield as his axe formed from flames forming from his hands as it cut directly through the lower half of his chest before rapidly spinning around as he brought the axe downwards cutting into the monster’s head before rapidly yanking it out before black blood ran down its head from the gaping wound.

“You will suffer for this,” said Scutum as he split his arms apart, going on the clumsy, attack.

“Looks like this guy’s ready to finish off,” said Jack, “shall we?”

“Guests first,” Alex said with a smile.

“With pleasure,” said Jack, pumping the lever on his Driver.

Elec, Shade, Limit Break!

“Rider 10,000,000,000 Volt Shroud!” Jack swung his sword several times as a curtain of electricity flowed from it, which he then wrapped Scutum in. The only reason he wasn’t completely electrified was because he used his shields to keep as much of it away from as he could.

Shade then pulled the handle on his driver once before the Demonic voice shouted out “Omega capture!” before what looked to be black and red flames ignited around Alex’s arms and legs before the flames surrounded Scutum before engulfing him along with obscuring everyone’s view of him.

It was then screams were heard from inside the burning barrier before few seconds later stopping as the flames disappeared as Jack and Alex saw Scutum was still alive but his shield shattered and broken on the ground with him kneeling on the floor surrounded by black and red flicking chains, his face looking at Alex showing he was terrified but alive.

“Now,” Jack said as he knelt in front of Scutum, “are you going to apologize? Or are we going to have to punch you again?”

Jack seemed to get no response as Scutum just stared at Shade, who in turn was looking at his hand that was shaking as he said to himself, “W… What just happened?”

“Looks like you have a method of non-lethal capture, pretty handy if you ask me,” Jack said as he rapped his knuckles on one of the chains, “might be able to rehabilitate him, a shield based Gam
ma/Zodiart hybrid might make a good bodyguard for the little one.”

Scutum’s head rose slightly as he said with a shaky voice “W...What… are you… doing to me?” as what looked to be part of his body’s colours changed as the broken shield started to repair itself as it suddenly flew towards Shade as a burning portal opened in front of him which the Shield fell into before the chains around Scutum’s body seemed to begin burning into his body, as they slowly shifted into his body as he suddenly stood up, but didn’t move.

Jack waved his hand in front of Scutum’s face, “Hello?”

“Standing by, please input new directive,” Scutum just replied in a monotone.

Jack turned to Shade, “I said rehabilitate, not brainwash.”

“Don’t ask me what the hell happened I have no idea myself,” Shade said.

“It looks like you’ve overwritten his primary user designation and deleted his primary mission, to use computer terminology,” JAck replied, “at least I think that’s what happened.”

“Standing by, please input new directive.”

Shade then took a breath before he said “Scutum… what is your purpose?”

“Current purpose: none. Please input new directive.”

“What was your previous purpose?”

“Previous purpose not found, please input new directive.”

“Who is designated to decide your new purpose?” Shade asked.

“Kamen Rider Shade, please input new directive.”

“If you had a chance to decide what your new directive would be, what would you want from it?”

“No preferences present, please input new directive.”

“I think we get the picture,” said Jack, “could you give the guy a new directive please?”

Shade suddenly felt something shifts under his suit as a small mark in the shape of a shield appeared on his hand he then looked to Scutum before he said “Scutum, your new directive is to assist in the protection and defence of innocent and to serve alongside me to the best of your capabilities. You are both mine and innocents of Equestria’s shield, do you accept your new directive?”

“New directive accepted,” Scutum replied.

Shade then held his hand out before Scutum rose to his feet his body colour changing to match Shade’s own before Scutum bowed to him before adding “I thank you for your kindness in giving me a second chance, I will assist you faithfully from now on, you have my word.”

“Scutum… I am glad to have you by my side,” Shade said as he placed his hand out before helping Scutum to stand and adding “First thing, stop with the bowing.”

“Of course my lord.”

“Second, enough with the titles, when I’m like this call me Shade when I’m not… call me Alex.”

“I agree with your terms Lord Shade.”

Shade just groaned at this before he said “Fine, just go with that.”

“At least it’s only the one guy calling you that,” Jack said as he pulled out a new Switch

Beat On!

Jack plugged a microphone into it before using it to call out to Luna and Midnight, “We beat it, you can come out now.”

Luan then walked back towards the group with Midnight on her back as she said “What happened at the end we saw the flames… then the Gamma changed and bowed to you?”

“It’s… complicated,” Shade admitted calmly.

“My lord is correct, I am a monster sworn to assist in the defence of those Lord Shade deems worthy,” Scutum admitted bowing to both Luna and Midnight in the process.

“Shade has the ability to take control of a Gamma when he beats it,” Jack said, “pretty damn handy if you ask me.”

“Also pretty damn evil sounding,” Shade added as his suit said “Time for shut-eye,” before he reverted back to normal.

“It’s a good thing I’m the first Displaced you met then,” Jack said, “you need some serious PR lessons.”

Luna then looked to Jack before she asked him “What even is a Displaced?”

“Actually I’m curious about that as well,” Alex added in agreement.

“Well then, lesson time,” Jack said. “Now, what’s the last thing that happened to you before you came to Equestria?”

“...I was murdered, almost enslaved by someone who only wants to kill another man, and saved by the same man that the first wants dead,” Alex admitted.

“...okay, that’s a new one. Normally the last thing a Displaced does before going to Equestria is to go to a convention and buy something from a shady merchant,” Jack said.

“Well, the first guy was pretty shady, considering he controlled the man who killed me and a ton of others who were forced to become some of my Eyecons.”

“Yeah… but I’m guessing you didn’t give him a fiver for the privilege,” Jack chuckled.

“No, thank god for that, it would have been embarrassing if I had.”

“Unless it’s for one of Futurama’s suicide booths am I right?”

“Oh yeah… I wonder if there’s a place where that is a thing?”

“Well, Displaced are pretty much confirmation that the Multiverse is a thing so… probably.”

“You still haven’t told me what a Displaced is?” Alex pointed out.

“The basic definition is ‘a person who’s been sent to Equestria with the abilities of a fictional character’,” Jack replied, “of course since you’re the third OC Displaced I’ve met, the term ‘fictional character’ can be a bit liberal.”

“Really? Who else have you met?” Alex asked curiously.

“A ninja Spider-Man with a sword named Dark Spider and his sister who’s Amy from Sonic although she gets mad if you call her that.”

“Please say she doesn’t know that she’s almost as fast as Sonic himself… I feel sorry for everyone if she has,” Alex admitted with a smirk.

“She kept up with the Machine Massigler, so yeah,” Jack said, “next I met a guy who became the Mask, you seen that movie? Jim Carrey?”

Alex just rose an eye to this as he said “Who hasn’t seen that?”

Jack just chuckled as he pointed to Luna and Midnight.

“We haven’t!” Luna and Midnight shouted out.

“Who on Earth hadn’t then,” Alex replied as he rolled his eyes.

Jack just chuckled as he continued, “Next was a Bionicle OC named Caldoric, and you’re the fourth.”

“I get the feeling it’s a crazy world out there,” Alex admitted with a smile as he looked at the switch in his hand before asking “also… why did you appear when we found this?”

“That’s my Token, all Displaced can make one,” Jack explained, “think of them as a combination business card and summoning item, care to learn how to make one?”

“Maybe an idea for me to do that,” Alex agreed, “Besides if you need someone to bail you out of trouble could be a good idea to have a second rider his your back pocket so to speak.”

“Even if they are a Red and Black OC,” Jack chuckled, “okay first step, pick an item to choose for your Token.”

“An OC who can turn your most hated enemy into a strong ally, with almost a click of his fingers” Shade added as he pulled out his Eyecon and asked “I won’t lose it will I?”

“Don’t think you will,” Jack shrugged, “okay, now infuse it with some of your energy and say something, something that represents you.”

Alex then nodded as he shut his eyes before the Eyecon in his hand began to glow in a soft pulsating white glow before he said To those who hold this Eyecon, I am Alex Shade, If you require the assistance of Kamen Rider Shade, click the side of my Eyecon and call out my name, be it for a conversation or to protect your world from your enemies and I will heed your call.

Alex then looked to Jack as the glow faded around the Eyecon before he asked “So… what now?”

Jack rubbed his chin, “Well, now we have to cast it into the void between dimensions, but I’m not entirely sure how to do that. My Cosmic Switch could potentially do the job, but I’m nowhere near unlocking it.”

“Well I guess we’re stuck then,” Alex replied before his Eyecon glowed once again before it began to multiply into three identical copies the each floated into a strange but familiar black portal that closed after they passed through it. “Or that could happen.”

“Huh, and I was going to see if my Kanohi Switch had the chops for it,” Jack said.

“What sort of switch is that?” Midnight asked.

“Oh, a Displaced Switch I made from Caldoric’s Token, let’s me mimic his ability to use any Kanohi. Was thinking of using the Olmac, mask of Dimensional Gates,” Jack explained.

“Kind of a shame I ruined that isn’t it,” Alex admitted, “Unless you use it to try and get my token.”

“Odds are I’ll get it either before I leave or when I get back,” Jack said.

“I guess that’s true.”

“Alright, Token made, obligatory team-up fight won, that’s about everything I think,” JAck said.

“Unless there’s anything we forgot,” Alex added, “What was that thing about that Kamen Rider… what was he called Wizard?”

“Ah yes,” Jack said before turning to Luna, “I believe he was a part of your history was he not?”

“I already know about that, he was her mother and father’s personal bodyguard, but was killed by a Phantom who came after her father who was a gate… and the Phantom that took part in creating Nightmare Moon, by using a Gam
ma Eyecon to force her darker desires to the front… I believe the Elements did something to the actual Eyecon which we think created Midnight when I removed the Eyecon’s influence from her.

“Seems straightforward enough,” said Jack, “ the only question left is does Luna or Midnight get the Wizard Driver?”

“...Why would either of us get that?” Luna asked.

“The original Wizard’s powers come from taming his personal Phantom, see no reason said Phantom being tamed after the fact could cause a problem, the Cross of Fire isn’t picky,” Jack said.

“I don’t believe it’s possible for me… I already fell a long time ago, he already dealt with it a long time ago as well,” Luna admitted.

“Oh,” Jack said before turning to Midnight, “sorry for assuming you were a Phantom.”

“Why did you think I was a Phantom?” Midnight asked.

“You’re basically Nightmare Moon turned good, Nightmare Moon was born from Luna’s despair, Phantoms are born from despair, again, sorry.”

“I can see your point… but,” Midnight said before her body disappeared into an Eyecon as he just floated in the air before reverting back to normal, “See… I’m a Gamma, not a Phantom.”

“We just took down a Gamma/Zodiart Hybrid,” Jack said as he gestured to Scutum, “all this means is that I was half right, you’re a Gamma/Phantom Hybrid.”

“I feel like I’m wasting my time trying to explain this,” Midnight sighed as she walked over to Alex before climbing onto his shoulders.

“Either way you’re a reformed baddie, I suppose your exact species doesn’t matter,” Jack shrugged.

Midnight just rolled her eyes at this before she rested her head against Alex’s shoulder as she muttered, “In the end, it doesn’t even matter what path we take.”

“Well sure it does, the path is the most important part,” said Jack, “make no mistake, it is the choices we make that defines who we are and how people see us. And as Alex can tell you, choices can impact the lives, or lack thereof, of other people too.”

Midnight, however, hadn’t heard what Jack had said as he heard her begin snoring which caused Alex to smirk before he said “I don’t think she heard you.”

“Well, she is young, the little ones need their naps,” Jack chuckled.

“I’m not going to explain the issue with that,” Alex replied.

“Alright, I’d better teach you how to send a Displaced back so I can get back to my nap,” said Jack.

“Yeah… sorry about that one,” Alex admitted as he rubbed the back of his head.

“No problem, anyway it’s easy, either wait for the arbitrary time limit to end, or tell them that ‘our contract is complete’,” Jack said.

“Ah okay, anything else you wish to do before I send you back home?” Alex asked.

“Let me think, Tokens traded, monster stopped, locals met… oh yeah,” Jack extended his hand, “gotta do the Fourze Friendship Handshake.”

“What Handshake is that?” Alex asked.

“This one,” Jack said as he grabbed his hand, shook it firmly, then reversed the grip, before shifting to a fist bump followed by one from the top then the bottom. “Now we’re officially buds.”

“I guess so,” Alex replied with a smile before adding “If you ever require my help you know who…” he was then cut off as two objects flew towards him, the first was a small metallic band that had the mark of a shield engraved into it, whilst the second flew past his head towards Jack which was found to be a copy of his Eyecon which was assumed to be his token.

Jack tilted his head, “Did Cestus just get his own Token?”

“I think… that’s mine?” Alex admitted in surprise.

“Okay… I’m just gonna ask ya to send me back before this turns into meeting the Mask 2.0.”

“Probably for the best,” Alex agreed before adding “Jack, our contract is now complete.”

“Call me if you need pointers on my Damashii,” Jack said as he walked through a portal that opened in front of him, “or if you need a sitter for Midnight, I love kids.”

“Careful on how you say that… someone might take that badly,” Alex added with a smile.

“I remind you that a Fire/Shade Limit Break would probably hurt even you,” Jack said before the portal closed.

“Maybe… but we’ll never find out,” Alex admitted.

Luna the walked to the side of Alex before she said “So… it seems you are not the only one of your kind that you can contact anymore?”

“Looks like that Luna… we better continue on to whatever you wanted to show me,” Alex added as he, Luna, Midnight and Scutum continued to walk towards whatever Luna had found a month ago.