//------------------------------// // Level 11: The Black Rider // Story: Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider Unicorn & Ex-Aid: Tirek's Revenge // by Michael_Ravencroft //------------------------------// Emu stood before their friends, with his game vision, Emu could see that their icons had switched from green to red, indicating enemy combatants. Their status showed as “Hexed”, meaning that they were under the control of Daemona, but that there was possibly a way to reverse the effect. However, Emu was not skilled in the magical arts, the only two who might be able to pull anything off were, Midnight – who was hexed, and Sunset. Sunset, unfortunately, was having a bit of a crisis at the moment. Seeing the game version of herself transform into a monster must have been jarring, but seeing that look on her face, from a medical standpoint, Emu was willing to wager that there was a deeper psychological aspect to this. “You really are a monster,” said Midnight. “You were just going to string us along, getting whatever you wanted from us,” said Rori. “Without any promise of a commitment to any of us, you were just going to fool around with us until the end,” said Ambrosia. “And then, when everything was done, you were just going to abandon us! Throw us to the side like a piece of trash,” said Spectra. “I left my forest for you! The tree entrusted you with its seed, and this is how you repay that trust?!” Lightheart stated. “I left to fight at your side, and wanted to be with you! I wanted to make you smile, always!” Surprise exclaimed. Sunset, still on her knees, held her head as she shook it back and forth. “No, NO! I didn’t mean for any that – any of this to happen! I wanted to tell you all, so many times I wanted to! But I couldn’t – not because I didn’t want to! But because something was keeping me from doing so! I never wanted to hurt any of you or string you along like this!” Midnight sneered at the groveling girl. “Just like a demon, pretty words, and false apologies. You’re no hero, you never were.” The elf girl raised her right hand and fired a magic bolt at Sunset. Emu quickly intercepted it and deflected the bolt straight up into the air where it exploded harmlessly. Thankfully the area had been cleared thanks to Daemona’s appearance, the square was completely vacant. However, if the battle went outside the town square, there would be trouble. “Sunset’s gone bye-bye, and we’re sitting on a one v. six scenario, well seven if Daemona decides to fight.” I know, something’s wrong with Sun-chan, she took one look at that demon and now she looks traumatized. “I hate to say this, but we may need to bust out a Limit Break if we want to stand a chance against them.” Agreed. “LIMIT BREAK!” “LIMIT BREAK!” Emu’s Gamer Driver appeared around his waist. To his hand he summoned the Mighty Brothers Double X Gashat. “HENSHIN!” “HENSHIN!” | DOUBLE CLICK AND LOAD! | | CLICK TO OPEN! | | DOUBLE UP! I AM YOU AND YOU ARE ME! WE ARE! MIGHTY! MIGHTY! BROTHERS! DOUBLE X~! | A flash of teal and orange light shot up from around Emu, the lights separated until there were now two identical Kamen Riders standing beside each other. XX-R and XX-L, together they were the Double X brothers. “Now let’s save our friends, with super co-op play!” “Now let’s save our friends, with super co-op play!” | GASHACON KEY SLASHER! | | GASHACON BREAKER! | XX-R held the Key Slasher, while XX-L held the Breaker, both struck the ground before them, creating a shockwave that kicked up a dust cloud. From the cloud, XX-R dashed through it and headed straight for Daemona. However, before she could reach the demon, Spectra intercepted, using her metalized wing attack to block his strike, generating sparks from the contact of their metallic weapons. XX-R and Spectra began to duel in midair as the sound of clashing metal rang out through the air. However, behind him, Ambrosia jumped up, leading with her spear and aligned with XX-R to skewer him in the back. XX-R looked back at the last second, and narrowly dodged the attack by performing a double jump in midair. Spectra dodged the attack, but grabbed Ambrosia and tossed her up at XX-R. The Rider and Amazon now dueled, with spear against sword as XX-R struggled against the long reach of Ambrosia’s spear. Thankfully, he had an ace up his sleeve. XX-R broke away during a clash and switched the Key Slasher into rifle mode. He then fired several energy bolts at Ambrosia, hitting right in the chest. Spectra flew around to try and attack, but XX-R was a genius gamer, and had played his fair amount of First-Person-Shooter games. XX-R lined up Spectra and then fired three shots ahead of her. All three hit the harpy, causing her fall out of the sky and back to the ground beside Ambrosia. When XX-R landed he said, “Sorry, girls, but I have to snap you out of this! You don’t want to hurt Sunset, don’t let that demon control you!” Suddenly, a green aura flared up around Ambrosia and Spectra, and XX-R watched as their HP bars rose back up to full health. It was then he spotted Lightheart floating behind them, providing healing support. “Oh…right, forgot about that…” While this was going on, XX-L was defending Sunset. Rori would fire a barrage of diamonds at him, with the Gaschon Breaker, XX-L smashed the crystals as if they were fragile glass. Surprise would poof in and out to try and land a killing blow to Sunset while she was still in her shocked state, but in this form, XX-L had greater speed and reflexes. He switched the Breaker to blade mode and slashed upwards, hitting Surprise in the chest and causing her HP to drop. XX-L charged the Breaker up with energy and then slammed it into the ground. The energy then diverged into two surges that exploded before Midnight and Rori, sending them flying backwards and landing in a heap against the ground. XX-L hated this, fighting his friends was not something he liked, but if he didn’t, they’d surely kill Sunset in their current controlled state. “Girls, please, try to snap out of it! You all care about Sun-chan, you don’t want to do this!” Rori got up first and summoned an amethyst crystal, she then crushed it in her hands and threw the remnants up in the air. The crystalized powder shimmered as it fell upon herself, Midnight, and Surprise, healing the damage he just caused in an instant. “This is going to get old, real fast…” ***_____________ x [+]E[+]_____________***   Sunset was still in her state of shock, her demon, the demon she once was, was here in the game world. This was some punishment, some cosmic form of punishment for all the things she did back in CHS and in Equestria. Now, these fantasy versions of her friends were going to exact retribution on her. For playing with their hearts in such a way, for not committing to them. It hurt, it hurt because she knew they deserved to have someone who would care and love them, but Sunset knew it couldn’t be her, not without hurting someone else she loved. Even now, Emu was fighting as Double X with Parado, fighting to keep her safe from their teammates and the demon, who was just staring at her, smiling with sadistic glee as she watched all this transpire before her. This was just like her old self, setting things up, plotting and scheming, making others believe and do what she wanted, while rarely getting her own hands dirty. I…I deserve this… A rosy glow emanated before Sunset, when she looked up, she beheld the steely gaze of Midnight Moonshadow. Her hand was pointed at Sunset, with a sphere of magical energy that was no doubt powerful enough to end her in one shot from this distance. “I thought you were my friend, more than that, I had hoped you would be with me,” said Midnight. “I…I know…” “I had a vision while trapped in that illusion, one where we could all be together. One where no one’s feelings were overlooked and we could all live together happily as a family. You don’t strike me as one who would outright oppose a relationship with multiple lovers, but I guess you just wanted me because I remind you of the one you really love right?” Sunset shook her head. “NO! Yes, you do look like her, but I like you as a friend! But along the way things kept happening that were pushing me into seeing you all as more than that!” Sunset began to cry. “I tried so hard not to let those feelings go unnoticed, but at the same time I was a dueling with my heart to not hurt you and the one I love back home!” Midnight’s eyes glowed as the sphere of mana grew. “And now you’ve hurt us all anyway. You’re the worst kind of creature, Sunset Shimmer, you’re no better than a demon. And I’ll return you to the pit you came from.” Sunset raised her fists in an attempt to try and halt this, but then they went lax. Deep down, she never forgave herself, despite what everyone and everypony told her, deep in her heart she knew she deserved punishment of some kind to match the evil deeds she did in the past. Sunset gave no resistance. “At least you face the end with dignity, goodbye, Sunset Shimmer.” Midnight’s eyes shined brighter, but then a tear fell from her left eye. “Goodbye, my love…” “SUNSET!” “SUNSET!” Suddenly, something shot across Midnight that made her yelp and draw back her hand. A cut formed on the top her hand that began to bleed. Midnight looked around for what caused the damage, her eyes fell to the ground when she spotted something stuck in the cobblestone road. Upon inspection, Midnight had a confused look on her face as the object that cut her was a playing card. When she flipped it around it showed a jester, the joker wildcard. Daemona saw the interference and glanced about to see what had attacked her minion. Her dark eyes glared up at a shadowy figure who was atop some strange mount, staring down at them from the rooftop. “WHO ARE YOU!?” The others stopped their battles and looked in the same direction as Daemona. Sunset managed to do the same and her eyes widened at the sight. There was a humanoid being, riding a neon colored bicycle. His body was nothing but black and purple armor, with visor eyes that shined red. Atop his head was a hat, that was also black in color. The bike he rode was colored neon red and yellow, which seemed to release sparks of game energy. This was the Black Rider. “Joker?!” “Shakariki Sports?!” “Shakariki Sports?!” Joker redirected the bike and began riding down the side of the roof. When he reached the edge, Joker flipped up into the air, doing a somersault while still riding the bike. He then went down another rooftop and hopped off it, getting lower and lower, and pedaling faster as he began to reach the bottom. Joker pedaled even faster and hit his brakes, he swung around and struck Rori and Surprise with the back wheel of the bike, sending them flying. Joker stood on the seat and the jumped upwards, flipped into the air, and performed a flying kick to Spectra, grounding the harpy. Ambrosia came in to counter, but Joker’s heightened reflexes allowed him to nimbly dodge the spear thrust, grab the shaft of the Amazon’s weapon, and – with his enhanced strength – tossed both the spear and its wielder away to join Spectra on the ground. When it came to Lightheart, Joker threw a punch, sending a pressure wave straight for Lightheart that buffeted her until she went into a tailspin and landed on Spectra’s downy soft wing. The bike, which seemed to also possess a mind of its own, charged for Midnight. The elf girl fried several magic bolts at the possessed contraption, but not a one managed to hit. The Shakariki bike skidded towards Midnight, popping a wheelie as it dodged another blast. The front wheel of the bike was then jettisoned, becoming a spinning energy wheel that struck Midnight in the midsection and carried her off until she was dropped next to Rori and Surprise. Shakariki pedaled itself all the way until it was beside XX-L and XX-R, while Joker performed multiple back flips until he was beside Sunset Shimmer. “What’s wrong, my Rider? You seem distressed,” said Joker. “I’m not worth saving, they’re right, I hurt them, I deserve this!” Sunset stated. Joker hummed and the whirled around and punched Sunset in the face, sending her straight into the chairs and tables of the restaurant. Sunset rubbed the spot where she was hit and looked at Joker with shock. “Wake up, my Rider! Can you not see the tears they are shedding?! Their hearts are crying because they are hurting the one they care about!” Sunset looked to the girls, when she looked closely, she could see tears at the corners of their eyes. It was the only act of defiance they could make against the mind control, a silent way of telling her that they were sorry. “How…How could I…?” Joker walked up to Sunset and offered her his hand. “Let us dry their tears, no one else should weep when you are around, my Rider!” Sunset smiled at Joker and took his hand, when she was pulled up, he immediately transformed into purple light, breaking down and reforming into the Joker Gaia Memory. XX-R looked to XX-L and both nodded. | CLICK TO CLOSE! | Both XXs glowed and merged back into one single Ex-Aid. Emu placed his hand on Shakariki and the bike glowed, transforming into neon yellow Gashat. “Transformation Plus, Plus, Plus!” | CLICK TO OPEN! | | GACHAN! LEVEL UP! MIGHTY JUMP! MIGHTY KICK! MIGHTY MIGHTY ACTION X! A GACHA! F-RAN-TIC! A F-RAN-TIC! BAD! BAD! FRAN! TO-THE-TIC! TO-THE! SHAKARIKI SPORTS! | Ex-Aid’s armor glowed, and soon was transformed. The upper body was covered in neon magenta armor, with the back of the bike having transformed into the right shoulder pauldron, and the front of the bike becoming the left shoulder pauldron. Ex-Aid’s helmet had another armor helmet, which resembled a bike helmet. “Limit Break!” Sunset’s Uni-Driver appeared around her waist, and in her left hand the Unicorn Memory appeared. < UNICORN! > < JOKER! > “Henshin!” > UNICORN! < {< JOKER! MIMETIC DRIVE! >} Purple and turquoise light engulfed Sunset’s body, transforming her into Unicorn Ace High. Her armor took on the black and purple motif of the memory, her shoulder pauldrons had become sharper and sleeker. “Don’t worry girls, I’ll free you!” Daemona growled at this latest development now floating in midair as she glared down at the two Riders. “A change of armor won’t save you! Now go on and kill them both!” The girls moved as if they were going to do that, but they stopped, bodies shaking as if they were being held back. Daemona didn’t understand why they hadn’t moved in to destroy her yet, and it was getting irritating to wait. “I SAID KILL THEM ALREADY!” Midnight began to slowly turn around to where Daemona was floating. “N-N-N-NO!!!” Daemona looked shocked at this act of defiance, but it was not singular, as soon the rest of the girls began to turn their bodies and glared up at Daemona defiantly. Their eyes shifting from the red color and back to their original eye colors. Daemona didn’t understand it, how they battling against her control? Her magic should be strong enough to suppress their will. It couldn’t be…this wasn’t because their love for Sunset was stronger than her magic, right? “NO! Love is a lie! I’ll prove it! SUBMIT TO MY WILL!!!” Daemona demanded as her forehead glowed, and the same spell was recast. The foreheads of the six girls all shined a single point of magic energy formed. The girls fell to their knees, grunting in pain as they used all their willpower to stop the spell from forcing them to fight Sunset and Emu. But at last, Daemona’s spell broke through, and now the Fantasy Six were standing, facing Sunset and Emu with their eyes glowing blood red. “No more of that!” Sunset struck the side of her Mimetic Drive port. \ HAT TRICK! COUNT IT! / The world began to slow down as both of Unicorn’s arms began to glow with purple energy. She dashed towards her friends and appeared to each of them. Unicorn concentrated the energy in her arms to the tips of her ring and index fingers, and struck the center of Rori, Midnight, and Surprise’s foreheads. \ 1! / Unicorn moved to Spectra, Ambrosia, and Lightheart, using her left hand she struck each of them in the forehead as well. \ 2! / Unicorn funneled the remainder of her energy into her right index and ring fingers and pointed them at Daemona. A beam of purple light shot out and struck the demoness at her forehead. The result was a blowback of energy that sent out a shockwave. The wave reverberated and connected to the points that Unicorn struck on each of the girls, and in a matter of seconds the spell was broken, with the red glow disappearing from their eyes. \ 3! / \ HIGH ROLLER! / Daemona rubbed her forehead, feeling dazed from the quick attack, but then her growled with fury when she saw that her spell had been broken. “NO! How?!” “Simple, despite how much you wanted to make them hate me, you couldn’t. Because in their hearts they still cared about me, like I do them! You only wanted to force them! You have forgotten what love really means!” Unicorn declared. “Love is caring for others!” Emu shouted as he jumped into the air tossed a wheel at Daemona. The energized wheel struck the demoness three times before returning to Ex-Aid, upon which he released the second wheel which added onto the damage. Daemona took to the skies and fired a beam of dark magic at Ex-Aid, but Unicorn dashed in and intercepted the beam attack with her right hand, forcing the beam to part down the middle and away from them. “Love is protecting each other!” Unicorn shouted. Unicorn and Ex-Aid jumped up at the same time, Ex-Aid launched his wheels, hitting Daemona across the chest in an X pattern. Unicorn followed up with a power punch straight to her face, bringing the demoness back to the ground. “This…This can’t be…!” >} JOKER! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {< }!!!{ SHAKARIKI CRITICAL STRIKE! }!!!{ Ex-Aid’s right leg shined with game energy, while Unicorn split up into five different Unicorns, each one with either their left or right legs shining. Unicorn 1 and 2 charged forward, dashing around behind Daemona sending her flying towards Unicorn 3 and 4 as they kicked her straight into the air. Unicorn and Ex-Aid jumped straight up, looking down at Daemona as they lined up for the final blow. The two Riders dove down with a flying kick, about to take down Daemona, however, before their attacks could land, a portal of pure darkness opened behind Daemona, and the demoness passed through it right before they could finish their attack. Unicorn and Ex-Aid cancelled their attacks and landed on the ground with no harm. Both looked around to see if Daemona had just teleported out of sight, but there was no sign of her, she had disappeared completely. “Do you think that was…?” Ex-Aid asked. “It had to be.” Unicorn looked at her fist, remembering the moment she struck the girl’s face. She felt something, something that she recognized all too well. “That girl, she was crying too…” ***_____________ x [+]E[+]_____________*** The day was spent at an inn, allowing the team to rest up after the emotionally and physically draining battle they had had the previous day. It seems that Surprise made the discovery using her ninjutsu skills, one of which was a type of eavesdropping skill that allowed her to hear private conversations from a distance, so even spells that would normally silence your voice wouldn’t be a match for it. Apparently, this also translated into the system block that prevented Sunset from saying anything regarding Twilight and her love life, but once that was known, the block seemed to have disappeared, allowing Sunset to speak Twilight’s name and say that she was her girlfriend, they seemed to believe that this was a curse of some sort so Sunset just rolled with that. “I really am sorry, girls. I never wanted to keep this a secret from you, or hurt any of you,” said Sunset, her gaze downcast. “No, if anything we need to apologize to you, Sunset,” said Midnight. “We selfishly believed that you would just stay here after we defeated Tirek. We never took into account that your family and friends in your home worlds would be missing you dearly!” Ambrosia rubbed the back of her head. “I’ll admit, I was being selfish, I didn’t want to admit it, but the illusion that I saw when we were trapped, I kinda wanted that to be a reality. However, I pushed it to the back of my head. So, I’m sorry we put you in a position that made you think you had to choose between our world and yours.” Surprise rushed to Sunset and began to bawl her eyes out as she hugged Sunset. “We’re sorry, Sunset!” Sunset padded Surprise on the head as she smiled. “Girls you did nothing wrong, it’s fine. I’m just glad I can finally say it now. I hated not being able to tell you, because I knew how hard this would be when we eventually beat Tirek and Emu and I go back home. While I can’t be with you as a lover, I really hope we can still have the friendship we created along the way. Is that okay with you?” All of the Fantasy Six nodded their heads with big smiles on their faces. Sunset heard a chime, it was different from the normal chime she heard. With a quick swipe, Sunset brought up the menu and checked on the party status. The relationship meter had filled, but now the status had it listed as “Friendship”. Sunset sighed in relief, she hadn’t lost their friendship, despite everything that had happened. “Still, that leaves Corona, I don’t think she’s as evil as she appears or wants to be,” said Sunset. “Are you kidding?! She took over our minds and almost had us kill you two!” Spectra stated incredulously. Midnight hummed in contemplation. “I-I have to agree with Sunset on this one. I felt it when we she used her magic on us, there was a pain there, a sorrow that sought to be soothed. I…I want to save her.” The girls looked skeptical, but they couldn’t deny that they did feel a pain coming from Corona when they were under her spell. Suddenly, a scroll appeared out of nowhere, bearing the seal of The Pillars. Midnight quickly grabbed the scroll and opened it, the elf scanned over the words and her eyes went wide. “Darling, what’s the matter?” Rori asked. “It’s a report from The Pillars…Tirek is launching his attack! Reports of multiple incursions are going on throughout the land!” Sunset and Emu read the scroll and narrowed their gaze at the information in the scroll. “How far are we from Heaven’s Fall?” Sunset asked. Ambrosia took out the map and laid it across the bed, after finding their position, Ambrosia said, “About two days ride, one if we just keep going with no stops.” “Looks like it’s time to finish this once and for all,” said Emu. “Tirek, we’re coming for you.”