//------------------------------//
// E: Everything that glitters / Jokers are Wild 
// Story: Kamen Rider Unicorn 
// by Michael_Ravencroft 
//------------------------------//

Later that night, while comfortably settled into her bed, Twilight was awoken by the sound of her phone buzzing. She quickly sprang to attention knowing that Sunset and Sugarcoat had gone on recon to the underground gambling ring. It was times like this that she envied how Sunset could move about as she pleased, if Twilight did that, her brother and parents would no doubt scold her and ask what she was doing out so late. Not that she’d blame them with the all the things happening.

Twilight unlocked her phone and saw that there was a text from Sugarcoat.

{We finished the recon, Sunset will fill you in tomorrow.}

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief.

{Oh, and you missed out on this.}

Twilight quirked an eyebrow, but when the next message appeared it came with an attachment. Twilight tapped the attachment and went wide eyed. On her screen with as picture of Sunset Shimmer in the dress she had Rarity make for their covert mission. Twilight’s left eye twitched as her face became bright red, it was only made worse by the fact that Sunset was striking a pose, standing proud with one hand resting on her right hip, left leg pointed outward that exposed just how close that slit on the dress was to revealing what was underneath. And then there was the front.

The bespectacled girl quickly slammed her phone face down onto to the bed, feeling a strange sense of excitement inside herself that was both strange and good. Twilight shook her head, she couldn’t think like that, this was her friend, and she didn’t like girls that way…did she?

Twilight turned the phone over and this time her gaze fell on Sunset’s face, seeing that trademark confident smirk along with the those narrowed, almost sultry eyes. Another text came which made Twilight groan.

{Feel free to have lewd dreams tonight.}

“Sugarcoat! Ugh!”

Twilight pressed on the image and opened up the options to delete the image, but found herself hesitating. The options showed “Save Image” or “Delete Image”. She didn’t know why she was struggling so much with this, the answer was simple, delete. And yet, her thumb merely hovered over the button.

“I’ll…I’ll just save it as a…a memory of this event!” Twilight rationalized.

She then hit the “Save Image” button and Sunset’s picture was saved to the storage of her phone. Despite having the image saved and going back to bed, Twilight still couldn’t stop blushing, nor get that picture out of her head.

“Ugh, what is wrong with me?!”



***__________<U>__________***


The next day, Sunset went to school, yawning every other minute from how tired she was from the late night, but it was worth it. Now they knew how the people were having their life force drained, and knowing that it was a Dopant made it easier. Just like clockwork, the man that Sunset and Sugarcoat saw getting drained was on the news, having been admitted to the hospital, the news were toting this as a strange new disease, but the police and Mayor’s office were doing all they could to make sure people didn’t panic because of it.

Both girls went off to the roof top for a little privacy so that Twilight could access the Infinite Library, and after a couple of minutes she was able to discern the Memory in question. “It’s the Money Memory. It preys on people’s natural greed, with its coins it can store the life force of its victims and essentially make itself stronger the more it consumes.”

Sunset bit on her thumbnail as she thought. “Okay, if we go by the number of victims already, then that’s already thirty people, but what happens if we defeat him?”

Twilight shook her head. “Hard to say, defeating him may destroy the coins and the life forces that are trapped in them. We have to find a way to get them back before that. Otherwise the people in the hospital really will die.”

The fiery haired girl cursed under her breath, Gladmane was essentially holding hostages and using them for power. “Using Fang or Cyclone may not be a good idea in this case…”

“You could use the Queen Memory, it’s the only one that you haven’t used yet,” said Twilight.

Sunset thought about it, the Queen Memory’s EnThrall ability would not only grant those she placed the Q mark on with power, but would by extension grant her more power. However, it would in fact mean that Sunset would have to essentially enslave the minds of those around her to make it happen. Sunset’s mind briefly flashed back to the Fall Formal, remembering the surge of power that overtook her and amplified the darkness in her heart to a degree that she hadn’t expected or wanted, and transformed her in to She Demon Shimmer.

‘Why fight it? Use that Memory, it’d be like old times…’

Sunset whipped around, feeling that someone was behind her, but found that there was no one at all. Her hands were shaky, and she found herself breathing hard, for a moment Sunset recognized the voice, but it couldn’t be.

“Sunset, are you alright?” Twilight asked.

“Y-Yeah, I’m alright. But – uh – no, I really don’t want to use that Memory. The whole EnThrall thing sounds too close to the old me…you know…the Fall Formal thing that the others talk about.”

Twilight clasped her hands over her mouth, recalling that the girls had mentioned this to her, about how Sunset Shimmer transformed into a demon and almost enslaved the school. How could she forget that the one person who knew best how to help her through her own demonic transformation, was the same person who had gone through the same thing? “I’m so sorry, I-I can’t believe I didn’t see the correlation between the two! I…I…!”

Sunset quickly waved it off. “Hey, hey, it’s fine! It’s just still a sore experience, but I’m okay, really!”

“We’ll just have to figure something else out…” Twilight suggested.

Suddenly, there was a buzzing sound coming from Sunset’s pants pocket. She reached in an pulled out her cellphone and saw that it was a text from Sugarcoat.

{Sunset. I know you and Twilight are doing all you can right now. But I can’t let my Dad stay the way he is. Gladmane isn’t secretive because he knows no one will go against him, because he’s a monster. I’m going to play him, and win back my Dad’s life force! I’m sorry, but I need to do this!}

“WHAT! Sugarcoat you – ugh!” Sunset growled.

“We can’t let her go alone! Gladmane might…”

Sunset paced the rooftop as she contemplated their next move. Leaving now would just cause trouble, then again after the recent Gene Memory incident, Sunset could leverage some leeway in her up and leaving school. However, without a reason it’d just look like she was just using that incident as an excuse to leave school whenever she wished. Sunset ran her hands through her hair as she growled in frustration, finding the life of a secret hero restricting and a bit aggravating.

“It’d be so easy just to tell Principal Celestia or Vice Principal Luna that I’m Kamen Rider Unicorn so I leave whenever crazy crap like this happens!” Sunset stated in aggravation.

“It can’t be helped, we’ll just have to wait until after school, I can run a back trace on Sugarcoat’s phone and pinpoint her location that way we can go there immediately afterwards,” said Twilight.

Sunset didn’t like it, but it was the only option they had available. Hold on Sugarcoat.



***__________<U>__________***


The moment the final bell rang, Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle dashed out of the school like the place was on fire. Twilight had pinpointed Surgarcoat’s location to a used car dealership, which was oddly not what they were expecting, but then again, no one would suspect a used car salesman as the leader of an underground gambling ring, and would help with keeping more of his high spending under the radar. Sunset peeled out of the parking lot of CHS and sped down the street towards the city.

Sunset opted to give Twilight her helmet, more worried about her safety than her own, and because was more experienced in riding. Twilight didn’t argue as she held onto Sunset tight as the bike weaved around traffic and made it to “Gladmane’s Used Car Emporium”. Upon arriving to the lot, the girls could tell that it was a lot nicer than most used car lots, there were a sparse amount of cars, but each was a different make and model and at a fairly good price. There were however some men that appeared to be security guards, Sunset tensed up though when she recognized one of them from the other night.

Sunset parked her bike in one of the spaces and dismounted, with Twilight following behind. The building ahead was quite large, with the name of the business at the top, some tinted windows since it was facing towards the sun, and a cardboard cutout of Glamne giving a thumbs up. Right on cue, Gladmane exited the office, wearing the same style business suit, minus the cape.

“Hello young ladies, and what can I do you for on this bright sunny day,” said Gladmane.

“We’re for our friend,” said Sunset.

“Oh, is she lookin’ into buyin’ a car? I’d be happy to work out a deal,” said Gladmane.

“Her name is Sugarcoat, but I think you’ll remember her as ‘Sweet’, and me as ‘Dawn’.”

Gladmane’s eyebrow rose as he studied Sunset. “Hmm, my, my, my, so you’re the girl she was talkin’ about comin’ to ‘take me down’, is that right?”

Twilight’s brow furrowed as she glared at Gladmane. “Where is Sugarcoat?!”

Gladmane waved his hands in a calming fashion. “Now simmer down little miss, no need to talk business out here. Step into my office where it’s much cooler.”

Twilight and Sunset, reluctantly and begrudgingly, entered Gladmane’s facility. Gladmane gave a quick nod to his men outside who safely closed the lot and put up a sign that showed “Out to Lunch”. Once inside, Gladmane showed them to the back room, which turned out to be spacious and with a window and blinds that let in just enough sunlight to give the room an ominous feel to it. In the back, they saw Sugarcoat, seated in a chair and with the same milky eyed, distant look that her father had. This only served to enrage Sunset as she readied to call on the Uni-Driver.

“So then, I think I know why you were at my little casino last night,” said Gladmane.

“Do you?” Sunset asked.

“Little miss over here said she wanted to get her daddy back, and to tell ya the truth, I do remember that one. Can y’all believe he actually tried to use his daughter as collateral? Terrible, simply terrible.”

Twilight rushed forward but Sunset kept her at bay. “You liar! Sugarcoat’s father would never do that!”

Gladmane grinned. “Little lady, you’d be very surprised what lengths people will go to become rich. Think about what you saw last night, ‘Dawn’, I never told that man to come and challenge me. It was by his own greed and desire for more money did he bet his own life for a chance to become richer. I’ve seen men and women alike sell things that were practically priceless, heck, even willin’ to sell their own pets! But I don’t accept things like that, what good does it do me to own another person, when I can just as easily shift the debt to someone who is younger, and has a higher chance of payin’ it back than the deadbeat who lost it all.”

Sunset glared back at Gladmane as she took out a chair and sat down. “Be that as it may, you create an environment that entices that side of people, and brings out the worst. True, the sin is there, but as the saying goes ‘punish the sin, not the sinner. And Mr. Gladmane, you’re the sin.”

“Elegantly put, so now we come to the crux of the problem. What are you going to do, Dawn?”

Sunset glanced to Twilight and to the husk of Sugarcoat. “How about a game?”

“A game ya say?” Gladmane asked.

“A game where we go all in, everything on the line. If I win, I get all the coins with the people’s life forces you stole, and that Gaia Memory you keep in your pocket,” said Sunset.

Gladmane flinched at that, looking at Sunset with new suspicion as to how she knew what the device was called, and what it was that it could do. “A high roller, I like that. Very well, but if I win, I take both your life force and the life force of your little friend.”

Sunset glanced to Twilight, who nodded with determination. “Deal.”

“Okay then, name the game, just so it’s fair.”

“Oh I got one, it’s one I saw in your casino, it’s called poker.”

Gladmane thought about it for a minute, but then conceded the game choice. “Okay, but I do have one stipulation.”

“What is it?” Sunset asked with suspicion.

“For every hand you lose, ya gotta strip, but in return if you win, I’ll give ya one of my special coins with the life force of someone in it.”

Sunset and Twilight both slammed their hands on the table, faces burning red as the glared bloody murder at Gladmane and shouted in unison, “EXCUSE ME?!!!”

The man with a pompadour laughed at the reactions of both girls, finding it hilarious. “A joke little ladies, that’s all. I may be a soul stealin’ businessman, but I’m sleazy to degrade you like that. As a sign of good faith, I’ll let ya take your friend back with you. And no, I did nothin’ to her in her comatose state before ya start askin’.”

Gladmane got up and straightened his suit before heading to the door, but before leaving he stated, “Oh and take her out the back way, not good for business if a teenage girl is seen bein’ dragged out of my office in an unconscious state. The place will be the casino, I’ll make sure my boys know you’re coming.” Gladmane made his exit, and Twilight and Sunset quickly went to Sugarcoat and hefted her up.

Thankfully she hadn’t lost all motor function and was at least able to stand, making it easier to walk her out. Twilight looked to Sunset with worry.



***__________<U>__________***


Later that day, Sunset and Twilight had admitted Sugarcoat to the hospital, thankfully they didn’t have to explain much as she was exhibiting the same symptoms as her father. Naturally her mother was called and advised to stay in the hospital under a seventy-two hour quarantine to monitor her if something happened again. They felt bad for Sugarcoat’s mother, both her daughter and husband were now in a comatose state, and the one responsible was free to do as he pleased. When the promised hour drew near, Sunset drove through the city streets on her bike, making sure to take back streets to avoid traffic as she was wearing the same outfit she did last time.

Sunset stood at a few feet away from the entrance, breathing calmly as she settled her nerves for the game that was about to occur. She heard beep noise coming from her bike’s saddle bags and took out her phone to see Twilight calling.

[Do you even know how to play that game you said earlier?]

“I watched some people at the casino, it looked simple enough once I got the hang of it. I actually won a lot at that game. But with any game, it comes down to luck, and I’ll see just how lucky I am tonight.”

[I wish I could be there, maybe I should have played instead? I can count cards – I mean, I know I’m not supposed to do that, but I just can. It’s all numbers in the end.]

“I can count too, Twi. Which is why I won big at most of the tables, but this game is little more luck based, which will make it harder for him to cheat.”

Sunset could practically hear Twilight pacing back and forth. [Oh, times like these I wish I could just leave in the middle of the night.]

The fiery haired girl chuckled. “Don’t do that, your parents and brother love you, so don’t worry them like that.”

[I know, just in case I’m going to have Hawk circle your position, I know you’ll be underground but at least you’ll have over watch.]

As if on cue, Sunset spotted the mechanimal perched on the edge of the rooftop to Sunset’s left. In the night and dim lightning, you couldn’t tell if Hawk was a real bird or a statue, which made it easy for him not to draw suspicion. Sunset looked at the time on her phone and sighed.

“It’s time.”

[Good luck.]

Sunset hung up the phone and walked towards the door where the guard nodded and opened the door right away. Sunset was again led down an underground passage and to a secret pair of double doors that opened up to show Fortuna’s House of Wealth, it had many of the same furnishings as the previous locations, with some subtle differences here and there. Again the room was packed with several people in masks, watching Sunset as she moved towards the center where Gladmane was already sitting and waiting for her. Apparently the announcement had already been made, and tonight Sunset would be the entertainment. Gladmane stood up nodded to Sunset, smiling is debonair smile.

“Glad you make it Dawn,” said Gladmane.

“Wouldn’t miss this, Gladmane, I’m looking to clean house tonight,” said Sunset.

“Remember the wager little lady.”

“I remember.”

Sunset sat on her chair and Gladmane followed. The owner of the house waved and soon one of the dealers showed up with a tray that had the deck of cards stacked up. Sunset glanced to the tray, and then to Gladmane. “Just so we’re clear, we’re both sportsman here, right?”

“Why yes.”

“And you wouldn’t go so far as to cheat because you were afraid of losing to a teenage girl, right?”

“Perish the thought.”

“Then you wouldn’t mind if I say…shuffled the cards myself?”

Gladmane shook his head. “Be my guest.”

Sunset motioned for the dealer to come to her. She took the stack of cards and began shuffling them back and forth, every combination she could possibly think of to make sure that Gladmane wouldn’t get an edge at all during this game. Despite his methods, Sunset could tell this guy didn’t need to cheat, he was good on his own, but considering what they were playing for, she couldn’t be careless. After her shuffle, Sunset gave the cards back to the dealer who gave three cards each to the players, and the game was on.

“Remember players, jokers are wild. Mr. Gladmane will be playing with his special chips which will be counted as equal betting to the challenger’s bet. Begin.”

Sunset noticed that Gladmane’s chips were in fact golden coins, and not just any, but the ones he had taken the life force of their victims. The Money Memory was obviously not on the table, but kept close to Gladmane. Sunset could see that there were several coins, about thirty-one total. Time passed, cards were dealt, bets were called and at the end of the first round, Sunset looked at Gladmane and said, “Call.”

Gladmane placed his cards on the table. 10 of hearts, 10 of diamonds, 10 of spades, 9 of clubs, and 9 of diamonds. “Full House.”

Sunset smirked as she revealed her cards.  Jack of hearts, diamonds, spades, clubs, and 7 of diamonds. “Four of a kind.”

The crowd didn’t seem too fazed by the win, and neither did Gladmane. It was only the first round after all. For her reward, Sunset earned five of the thirty-one coins. Sunset couldn’t tell which one held the life force of Sugarcoat and her father, they all looked the same. I’ll just have to win them all just to be sure.

The next round began, Sunset placed another bet, adding two of the coins she won, and some of her chips, adding up to three-hundred thousand. Gladmane matched that with two coins, and said, “Fold.”

The crowd gasped, and Sunset looked surprised. Either his hand was not good, or he was waiting for something bigger.

Another hand was dealt, and this time, Gladmane put in seven coins down. Sunset matched the bet with the seven coins she had gotten back, plus some of her chips. After another minute of silence, Sunset said, “Call.”

The fiery haired girl laid down her cards. 4 of spades, 4 of clubs, 3 of clubs, 3 of diamonds, and Queen of clubs. “Two pair.”

Gladmane showed his cards. 7 of clubs, 7 of diamonds, 7 of spades, King of clubs, and 3 of diamonds. “Three of a kind.”

Sunset wanted to growl, but kept her emotions in check. However, it was starting to look grim. With each round that went by, Sunset was losing more and more of her chips, and until there were barely any left. Gladmane could see it, she was on the ropes and couldn’t do a thing, she had but one chip left, and few options at this point. “Tell ya what little lady, how about I make you a deal?”

“What kind of deal?”

“I can see how valiantly and badly you’re trying to fight for your friend. So how about this,” Gladmane reached into the pile of coins and pulled out one in particular, “I’ll release your friends life force, in exchange you’ll give me yours in her place. I’ll even let you call and make sure that she’s wide awake.”

“And her father?”

“Honestly he ain’t worth it, that girl yes, but him? I don’t see a man as sellin’ his daughter worth savin’,” said Gladmane.

Sunset began to question that herself, trading her life force for Sugarcoat’s seemed fair, but then again, without Unicorn, people like Gladmane would run wild in city and do all kinds of damage to the world if it spread out. However, she had only one chip, one last chance to win it all back, but could she do it? Just then, Sunset glanced at the deck, and spotting something strange. One of the cards in the deck was glowing, a purplish color surrounding only one of cards, and something about this glow made Sunset feel more confident.

“It may not be to me, but it is to her. Family is family, and to prove it, I’m going all in!” Sunset announced.

Gladmane chuckled. “Little lady you have only one chip left, hardly worth the coins.”

“No, but how about the location of more Gaia Memories, four stronger ones than what you got?”

Gladmane’s eyebrow raised in intrigue. “No foolin’?”

“You’ve been upfront with me, so I will too.” Sunset reached into the cleavage of her dress and pulled out the Queen Memory. “This is only one of the four, and like I said, it’s stronger than yours. I bet this Memory against all your coins!”

Gladmane grinned wider. “Offer accepted.”

The dealer shuffled the cards, Sunset watched as the glowing card was moved around, and surprisingly no one else seemed to see the glow. After the dealer was done shuffling the cards were dealt, and as if by divine intervention, the glowing card was given to Sunset. Once all cards were dealt, a small moment of time passed as both Sunset and Gladmane sized each other up. After one more brief moment, Gladmane said the word, “Call.”

The cards were laid out from Gladmane’s hand, 8 of clubs, 7 of spades, 6 of clubs, 5 of clubs, and 4 of clubs. “Straight Flush.”

Sunset narrowed her gaze and smirked and placed each card on the table one by one.

Ace of spades.

King of spades.

Queen of spades.

Gladmane’s confident grin was beginning to fade as the realization was coming upon him.

Jack of spades.

“No, no, no, you can’t possibly –!”

Sunset grinned and turned over the last card that was in her hand, the Black Joker. “Jokers are wild, right? Royal Flush, I win Gladmane!”

The entire crowd gasped in complete shock that Gladmane had lost, no had ever beaten Gladmane at any game before and yet this teenage girl pulled the ace card as if by magic. Gladmane’s hands shook as he eyes went wide, his reputation was now shot, and all his coins and Gaia Memory were lost.

“It’s over Gladmane, I’ll be taking all my winnings now.”

Gladmane looked up at Sunset, and showed that his debonair smile was now a maniacal smile. “Oh little missy, you won’t be taknin’ anythin’, but I will take everythin’ from you!”

< MONEY! >

The man with the pompadour hair placed the connector against his left arm, and in a matter of seconds was transformed in the Money Dopant. The large Dopant raised its left arm and brought it down, smashing the table. Sunset kicked off and let the chair fall backwards, allowing her to roll back until she eventually ran into some people who stopped her roll. Sunset quickly got up and began running, but as she did, Gladmane raised his left arm and began firing coin shaped energy blasts in rapid fire succession like a Gatling gun.

Sunset weaved around the tables and columns, eventually diving behind one. Gladmane began pummeling the column with blast after blast, chipping away at the column and growing closer to getting Sunset. Just ahead, Sunset spotted a roulette table. Thinking quickly, Sunset dashed for the table, keeping straight ahead to make sure the column was at her back the whole time, once she was close, Sunset dropped to the floor and slid under the table, and pushed the table on its side to offer herself some protection.

“Figures he’d be a sore loser,” Sunset reached back into the cleavage of her dress and pulled out the Unicorn Memory, and held out her right hand and materialized the Uni-Driver.

< UNICORN! >

“HENSHIN!”

> UNICORN! <

A field of turquoise light enveloped Sunset as lightning shot at her body, forming her armor. When the field went down, a flash went off and she disappeared. Gladmane on the other hand continued to fire at the spot where he last saw Sunset, unrelenting his drive to kill her. But then, a flash of turquoise light went off behind him, and Gladmane suddenly found himself getting struck with a roundhouse kick that send the Money Dopant flying to the other side of the room, smashing through one table before coming to a stop. When the Dopant looked upon the visage of the heroine, Kamen Rider Unicorn.

“Gladmane, I’m shutting you down, and taking back the lives of the people you stole from!” Unicorn declared.

“Heh, I was told that you might come if I stirred up too much trouble, but I didn’t think you’d ever find me,” said Gladmane.

The Money Dopant began firing again, but Unicorn was faster, teleporting quickly to avoid the first volley, and appearing high above. Mana was channeled to her right hand as Unicorn fired a magic bolt straight for Gladmane, the blast hit him square in the chest, sending sparks flying. Thankfully, the patrons of the casino had long since bailed, leaving Unicorn and Gladmane alone to fight. Unicorn fired three more magic bolts, two hit Gladmane and the third struck the ground before him, throwing the Dopant back even more. Unicorn landed on the ground and teleported once again right next to the Money Dopant.

The masked hero began throwing one punch after the next, pushing Gladmane back and giving him one spinning kick that sent the creature to the ground. “I'm ending this now, Gladmane!” 

“Oh baby, you should’ve ended it when you had the chance!” The Money Dopant rose back up, and revealed the pile of coins that had the Money Memory symbol on them. The Dopant’s body began to absorb all thirty-one coins, and in less than a second its body shined, looking like polished gold with a faint gold aura about it. “Now I’m supercharged and fair warning hero, you destroy me and all these coins go with me, along with the life force trapped in them!” 

Dammit, Sunset thought.

The Money Dopant charged in with a right hook, but Unicorn managed to block it. However, that was a feint for the left uppercut to Unicorn’s midsection and fired its Gatling blast point blank range. Unicorn was thrown back and slammed against a column, but Gladmane didn’t relent, dashing across the room for a lariat and striking with his right forearm straight through the column.

Unicorn fell to the ground, and looked up as Gladmane prepared to come down on Unicorn with the final blow. A card from the scattered deck from earlier rose up and shot straight for Sunset’s position. The card flashed a stylized “J” and released a shockwave that sent the Money Dopant back and skidding to a halt on the floor. Sunset rose up and recognized the card as the black joker card from earlier. The card changed into a sphere of purple light, which Sunset quickly placed her hand into. Upon grasping the objet inside, the sphere shattered and revealed the Joker Memory.

“What in the world?! How did that even happen?!” Gladmane asked.

“When it comes to magic and weird stuff, trust me, it’s better to roll with it!” 

< JOKER! >

{< JOKER! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

The Joker Memory symbol appeared behind Sunset. The symbol broke apart into particles of light and power and wrapped themselves around Unicorn’s form. The field of light shattered after a few seconds, and revealed the new Mimetic Drive Form of Unicorn. The pauldrons of Unicorn had a sharp curve to them, colored black and purple, patches of the armor colored the same along the forearms, and biceps. Following up the below the knee and cover part of the thigh armor. On Unicorn’s helmet, a single black stripe went down the middle along with the purple striped going down the same way.

“Unicorn: Ace High!” 

The Money Dopant rose to combat Unicorn, but before it could act, Unicorn teleported fast and struck the Money Dopant before it had time to react. Unicorn chased after the Money Dopant, but while in midair, Gladmane righted himself and aimed his left arm at the hero, firing its golden Gatling blast. However, to Unicorn, in Ace High form, the individual coins were moving slower, or rather, Sunset’s perception was faster. The masked hero laced her hands and forearms with blazing purple light and struck at the coins that got too close, to Sunset this was happening at normal speed, but to Gladmane it was as if Unicorn was moving at lightning speed, deflecting all his shots as she got closer.

Once Unicorn was upon him, she performed one midair somersault and came down with kick to the Money Dopant’s left collar bone. Gladmane was sent back to the floor with a loud crash. Sunset placed her left hand over the left hip port and pressed it once.

\ HAT TRICK! COUNT IT! /

Unicorn dashed down to Gladmane, coating her right forearm in the energies of the Joker Memory. She then came down with a vertical slash, right on the Dopant’s belly.

\ 1! /

Unicorn slashed again with a horizontal, creating glowing cross.

\ 2! /

Finally, Unicorn balled up her fist and struck the center of the cross.

\ 3! /

The sound of a slot machine hitting the jackpot rang out as the life force coins came spilling out of Gladmane’s body.

\ JACKPOT! /

Each of the coins began to crack and in the next moment shattered, releasing sprites of energy that zoomed out of the building and through the walls. Unicorn looked to one of the sprites, her horn resonating with it and sensing that it was Sugarcoat’s life force.

“Go back to your body,” said Unicorn.

As understanding her words, the sprite zoomed off through the walls. The masked hero looked at Gladmane, who was now staggering to his feet after losing the power up he got from the coins.

“This…can’t be how…it ends…!” 

“Gladmane, your presence sows greed and disharmony in the hearts of others, but no more!” Unicorn moved the Joker Memory into the right hip port. “Time to restore harmony!” 

>} JOKER! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Unicorn’s body glowed with turquoise and purple, and then, from Unicorn two more appeared, and from them two more for a total of five Unicorns. Each one took a fighting stance as their fists and feet blazed with ethereal energy.

“JOKERS WILD!” 

Unicorn 1 dashed forward and struck Gladmane across the face with blazing fist. Unicorn 2 followed up with a left roundhouse kick. Unicorns 3 and 4 moved in and formed a double uppercut that made Gladmane fly. Unicorn 5, the original, jumped into the air and flipped once, bringing down her right foot for a flaming ax kick right on the Money Dopant’s head. The final blow caused in explosion, with Unicorn landing on the floor and having her clones absorb back into her. When the explosion subsided, Gladmane landed on the floor, sprawled out. The Money Memory landed next to him, but just as quickly, the Memory shattered to pieces.

The Kamen Rider walked up to Gladmane and hoisted him by the collar, she then looked him dead in the eye and asked, “Who was it that gave you that Gaia Memory, Gladmane! Do something good for once, spill!” 

“I…I don’t know! It was some guy who approached me one day…said with that thing I could make more than I could ever do on my own! I was already doing this House of Wealth before I got it, but with it, I was makin’ more…”

Sadly I believe you, Sunset thought.

Thanks to the Joker Memory, Sunset was now aware of approaching people and released Gladmane. “The police will deal with you.” After that, Unicorn teleported, leaving Gladmane to the mercy of the CCPD.



***__________EXE__________***



“Party Favor, how went the Gladmane affair?” Starlight asked as she gazed out towards the city.

“Just as you expected, Ma’am. Kamen Rider Unicorn managed to beat him,” said Party Favor as she stood before her desk.

Starlight nodded her head. “Did we get enough data from his life force draining?”

Party Favor tapped on his watch and generated a hologram of said data. “Plenty, thanks to that we can advance a further now.”

“Good, then proceed with forwarding the police all of Mr. Gladmane’s business affairs and locations of his little underground casinos, I let run around my city long enough,” said Starlight.



***__________<U>__________***



Case Report: Money Dopant




I can’t say that this particular case was easy, it came with a lot of risks to everyone. Sunset and Sugarcoat heading into an underground casino full of greedy gamblers made me worry, but it was necessary in order to determine the cause of the comatose victims, one of them being Sugarcoat’s father. 



Apparently Gladmane told Sugarcoat about how her father offered her as collateral for his debts in Fortuna’s House of Wealth, but Sugarcoat didn’t believe him. I can understand why she wouldn’t believe, I can’t imagine my parents using me as human currency like that. Nevertheless, Sunset appeared before Sugarcoat’s father, Soft Pedal, as Kamen Rider Unicorn and made sure that if stepped out of line again like that, he’d answer to her. 



Gladmane’s establishment, and funds, were all seized in a raid that was conducted a couple of days ago. Apparently some anonymous source gave detailed information about each location of casinos and a list of the gamblers who frequented the House. So hopefully that will remove the temptation for Soft Pedal to try that again. 



It just unnerves me how much a single Gaia Memory can escalate a situation, Gladmane didn’t appear on the radar until he started using the Money Memory, and someone is giving these dangerous objects out as if they don’t care about the kind of damage they could do to innocent people. 


Regardless of this victory, we have yet to win this war. Unfortunately, I fear that Sunset and I have begun to wage one, we who are trying to stop the rampage of the Dopants, against those who are supplying the power for people to become Dopants.