Tempest Shadow -Or Fizzlepop Berrytwist if you were a very close friend- was not having a very good night, to say the least. First off, one damned Fangire after another, all of which seemed to be ones she or Kiva had killed before. And now she’d had to follow another Fangire who’d escaped their clutches to another world. To make matters worse, it seems he was the source of their troubles, having the ability to bring back past Fangires from the dead. So, suffice to say Tempest Shadow was not in a particularly good mood.
“Fangire, return that life to Faust,” Tempest growled out, gripping IXA Calibur and changing it to its blade form. As ever, an intense blast of pure heat shot out of her once her transformation had completed itself. Thunder rumbled in the sky as a storm threatened to break, almost as if highlighting Kamen Rider IXA’s anger. “Let me highlight the mistakes you’ve made tonight. One, you’ve ticked me off. Two, you’re defiling the dead. Three, you’re picking on children. So yeah, I’m going to make this nice and painful for you.”
Slowly, she marched forwards with both Sweetie and Apple Bloom watching the Knight Templar-themed Rider. She turned to look back at them briefly.
“Go, now,” she ordered before engaging the Shinigami Fangire in battle, sparks flying in the night.
“Hey, we can…” Apple Bloom started to say when Sweetie put her hand gently on her shoulder.
“We need to get out of the jamming area,” Sweetie said. “Plus SMILE’s probably picked this up already. We already tried fighting it, whatever this thing is our weapons, let’s go see if we can get in contact with Scoots.”
“Okay, but Ah don’t like it,” Apple Bloom said with a sigh as the two of them turned and ran away. Mind you, a certain monster wasn’t having any of that, and he snapped his fingers before two cards appeared in front of the twosome, two older Order Members, low on the ranking system but still enough to be an issue. Namely, the Ace of Pentacles and the Two of Wands Arcana.
“Surprise!” the Shinigami Fangire laughed, as both he and Tempest clashed weapons once more. He swung low but Tempest leaped over the strike and kicked him in the chest before their weapons met once more.
“Aw, ya gotta be kidding me! He can bring those things back as well?” Apple Bloom shouted in shock as the being formerly known as Zauzwei approached with weapon drawn.
“...Okay, that’s… New. I thought his ability was only limited to Fangires, not whatever those things are!” Tempest thought to herself, her eyes widening briefly in panic before she regained her composure. However, this was just long enough for the Fangire to score a slash across the chest making her stagger back.
“IXA…” the Shinigami Fangire growled out. “You and Kiva, you’ve put so many of my brethren in the ground. Consider this fate catching up to you.”
“Yeah, never put much stock into that kinda thing, really,” Tempest replied as she met blades with the monster once more. “Always thought it a lot of crap. But I can read your fate, and that’s death.”
With that, she switched IXA Calibur back into gun mode and seized her opening, shooting the Fangire in the chest several times with burst shots. The Fangire staggered back and pulled out his own rifle, Tempest rolling to the left to avoid the shots, and then switching IXA Calibur back to blade form to block some more rounds. With that, letting out a battle cry she charged it once more.
“Didn’t Scootaloo defeat that one?” Sweetie said as she fired at one of the monsters with her gun. She recognized it as Zauzwei, the same monster that Scootaloo had defeated before.
“Ah think so,” Apple Bloom said as the other monster raised a revolver and fired several energy shots at them which they barely rolled out of the way of. “But that one’s new.”
“Any ideas?” Sweetie asked as they steadied themselves.
“Ah don’t know… somethin’ about this is weird,” Apple Bloom said as she fired at the other monster again. “Let’s split up, we can’t take them both on at once.”
“Agreed, on three?” Sweetie asked and Apple Bloom nodded. “Come on Scootaloo, where are you?”
“Three…” Apple Bloom said.
“Two…” Sweetie added.
“ONE!” They said in unison as they broke away from one another and ran down separate alleyways with the monsters close behind them. Joining them in a flurry of glass shards was a reanimated Fangire, this time based on an Earwig of all things.
Sweetie kept running as she dodged another shot from the revolver holding monster that hit the wall behind her. She kept running before she felt her foot hitting against something that caused her to trip.
Meanwhile quite unaware of what was about to transpire, Tempest had chased the Shinigami Fangire to a nearby playground, leaping over a swingset to avoid a shotgun blast from a newly regenerated Rat Fangire.
Or maybe not, it could have been just doppelgangers Sweetie and Apple Bloom defeated before. It was impossible to tell with this one. She kicked the shotgun out of the Fangire’s hands, before filling its chest full of bullets. The rain poured down as the storm finally broke, and Tempest dodged a bolt of lightning the Shinigami Fangire had caught with his scythe before spinning in midair and firing another round of bullets at the monster.
As she landed, Tempest stared it down. “Really, is that your only ability? Are you that cowardly, using shields instead of fighting me yourself?” she asked tauntingly before with a roar of rage the Fangire charged and once more blades met. They rang out in the night as the scythe and sword met, again and again, neither fighter getting a chance for an opening. All the while, Tempest knew the Fangire could recreate another fallen warrior to oppose them.
“I just hope those two civilians are alright…” she thought to herself.
Meanwhile, a few streets over Apple Bloom was cornered at a dead end. The reanimated Zauzwei along with the Earwig Fangire was lurching forward, Zauzwei’s weapon was being held up as if it was about to strike her and she closed her eyes as if waiting for the hit.
“Sorry Ma, Pa, guess Ah’ll be seein’ yah a little sooner than Ah thought…” Apple Bloom thought.
The hit never came as the sound of armored feet against the concrete was heard followed by a screech. When she opened her eyes again she was surprised to see another Rider standing there as slammed her fist into Zauzwei shattering it.
The Rider was dressed in golden armor with silver markings crossing it. Her helmet was golden and her red eyes and faceplate were surrounded by two claw-like appendages. A pure white cape flowed outwards from the Rider’s back. She wasn’t armed but that didn’t seem to make much difference as she punched and kicked at the Earwig Fangire next.
“W-Who are you?” the Fangire whispered in fear, clutching his partially cracked sides.
“I’m your death,” she said in a distorted voice that Apple Bloom couldn’t recognize as energy started to gather in her fist. “RIDER PUNCH!”
She slammed her fist into the Fangire and it shattered into tiny shards. She stood back upright and looked back at Apple Bloom for a moment. She turned away and walked away in silence without saying a word.
“Wait, who are yah?” Apple Bloom asked, but the strange Rider didn’t say anything and just walked away as she seemed to vanish. “Okay, now that was… weird. Even by mah standards.”
Meanwhile, Tempest was going gun to gun like something out of an old Western with the Ace of Pentacles who definitely seemed to be no real slouch in the art of gunplay. Combine that with the Shinigami Fangire’s assault rifle shots and she had a real problem on her hands.
“Two against one…” Tempest muttered, actually rather afraid though she wasn’t going to let the Fangire have the satisfaction of knowing it. “Never good odds.” she continued, dodging and weaving between trees even as she fired off shots of her own.
“How ‘bout I help even them then?” a female voice asked. “Henshin!”
“Time to Tip the Scales!”
A black and green Rider stepped forward. She had a pair of antennae sticking out of her head as she looked at Tempest with red eyes. She held a sword with a golden hilt in her hand and gave the other Rider a nod. Tempest returned it, she’d never seen this one before but she wasn’t about to turn down help.
“I’ve seen your future, and it’s not bright,” the new Rider said as she pointed her sword at the two monsters. “It’s time to meet your makers.”
Tempest charged, before leaping over the Ace of Pentacles and then rebounding off a nearby tree and slicing through the monster with IXA Calibur. Landing, she kicked up a bit of mud and kicked it in the Shinigami Fangire’s face momentarily blinding him.
“Hey, that’s not fair!” he shouted even as Tempest landed a powerful right cross across his face cracking it slightly before she kicked him in the stomach.
“...And summoning monsters from the grave is?” the new Rider deadpanned before sharing a nod once more with Tempest. “You Order Agents have a funny way of thinking about what is and isn’t fair.”
She ran forward and slashed at the Ace of Pentacles monster with her sword. The monster tried to fire at her with his revolver only to have it be pushed out of the way. The new Rider kicked hard at the monster and swung her sword up which left a slash across his chest. Tempest finished the job with a few shots from IXA Calibur.
“Now, there’s only you…” Tempest smirked under her helmet as she looked at the Shinigami Fangire.
She slotted a Feustle into her belt, making it proclaim: “IXA, Rise Up.”
Taking a leap into the air alongside her newfound partner, IXA aimed her feet right at the Fangire’s chest. At the last second, before they could impact, the Shinigami Fangire recreated the Grizzly Fangire and let it take the blow.
Swearing loudly and profusely enough to make any sailor proud as the Shinigami Fangire vanished in a swirl of black energy, Tempest canceled her transformation.
The other Rider took two cards out of her Driver and powered down as she put them away which revealed a young woman with darker skin and short purple hair. She took a deep breath and let out a sigh as she looked around.
“Sweetie? Apple Bloom? Where are you?” She asked, suddenly looking concerned. Tempest’s eyes widened. So that’s why those girls looked so familiar to her, and that must have meant this was…
“Scootaloo, a Kamen Rider. Who’d have thought?” Tempest asked with a small smile of pride before it faded, the woman not wanting to let her emotions show. “Saw them run down a nearby alleyway, with those Order Agents as you called them in pursuit along with the Earwig Fangire.” she informed.
“Fangires?” Scootaloo asked and blinked a little as she shook her head. “I should go find them, they’re probably worried.”
She took off down the alleyway Tempest had pointed her to find her friends. She wasn’t sure what she meant by Fangires off the top of her head, but she filed that away for later. Maybe SMILE would know something about that, but for now, she had to find her friends.
She would find them, with Apple Bloom getting bandaged up by Sweetie.
“Scootaloo… Oh thank Gawd, we couldn’t get in touch with ya at all. That durn monster, it did somethin’ to the cell towers!” Apple Bloom said, wincing out in pain slightly as she picked herself up off the ground.
“Yeah, Fancy Pants told me, he had to send Agent Drops to find me,” Scootaloo said as she looked between her friends. “What happened? Are you two okay?”
“Yeah, we’re fine other than a few scrapes,” Sweetie said as she rubbed her head a little. “Though it’s weird, I don’t actually remember getting into a fight with anything. The last thing I remember is running away from that one with the revolver…”
Scootaloo blinked a little in confusion at that but she just smiled and pulled her friends into a hug. “I’m just glad you’re both okay…”
“Miss Scootaloo?” Tempest asked, clearing her throat so all three could look at her. “Name’s Tempest Shadow, although you can call me IXA for the time being. Least till the threat has passed. I think we need to talk.”
“Right…” Scootaloo said with a sigh. “I think SMILE is going to want to know about this if the towers are back up. I’ll call them and tell them what’s going on.”
00000
“You’re telling me that you were fighting Fangires?” Fancy Pants asked as he looked at Scootaloo and then Tempest confused for a moment. “I admit, I wasn’t expecting that, we’ve still been having problems with the satellite system after we were hacked before.”
“Well, congrats. You’re dealing with ‘em now. Bust out the party cannons and the confetti.” Tempest drawled sarcastically, crossing her arms. She briefly tossed a glance to her prosthetic arm and sighed. So, from a chipped horn to a fake arm. Lovely change, she thought sarcastically.
“Okay, Ah’m lost, what in tha Sam Hill is a Fangire?” Apple Bloom asked as she looked around confused for a moment. “Do yah know what they are?”
“Fangires were a monster faction that was active in Japan around 10 years ago,” Fleur said with a shake of her head. “They’re similar to Vampires though without many of the weaknesses that traditional vampires have. Typically they drain the life force from individuals, and likely would have continued to do so if they weren’t stopped by Kamen Rider Kiva and the Aozora Organization.”
“So there’s a Kiva in this world as well?” Tempest thought, her eyes widening briefly in surprise. “Constants and variables.”
“Blue Sky Organization huh?” Sweetie asked, remembering some vague Japanese classes she took back in high school. “Fitting.”
“There was a report of something called Neo-Fangires, but all evidence points to them not being active for another 12 years at least,” Fleur added.
“Real reassuring,” Scootaloo replied dryly. “So, that means they’ll be back in the future. Any other pieces of ‘good news’?”
“Well, actually yes,” Fleur replied. “There’s this Rider called Aqua active in the future if that’s any consolation, not sure how far in the future but I think he and the next Kiva whoever he or she may very well be should be able to handle things. Plus, something tells me we’re not dealing with the Neo-Fangire.”
“No, especially not with you here,” Fancy Pants said as he adjusted his monocle and looked at Tempest for a moment. “I’m guessing you’re the Tempest Shadow from an alternate universe.”
“No duh, give the man a prize!” Tempest drawled, idly wondering where Fluttershy was and if something had gone wrong in the universal transit. “...That Fangire though, he seemed a bit off. Last I checked, Fangires don’t have numbers on their chest like they’re part of some Sentai.”
“No, but Order Agents typically have that or something similar,” Scootaloo said. “The Order of the High Arcana is the current threat we’re dealing with here. Is it possible that they could’ve used one of the Minor Arcana card spirits on a Fangire?”
“It’s possible,” Fancy Pants replied. “It’s not something that we’ve encountered before, but then again last time the Order was mostly overlapped with the Undead and they were in Japan. They’re still very much a mystery to us in some ways.”
“Any possible suspects, Arcana-wise?” Tempest asked.
“What number did they have and weapon did they use?” Fleur asked.
“Six, and used some sort of assault rifle,” Tempest replied. “Real good gunslinger, I’ll give him that much. And I thought the ability to bring back the dead was trouble enough.”
“In that case, that would be the Six of Pentacles card,” Sweetie said thoughtfully for a moment as she took out her phone and looked up a website. “Let’s see, according to Biddytarot when reversed it means not being able to move on and carrying baggage.”
“Fitting, for a Shinigami,” Tempest commented. Just then, the lights went out, and computers powered down all across the room. “...Please tell me you forgot to pay the electric bill.” she asked, her hair standing on end.
“We have internal power sources, this can’t be right,” Fancy Pants said as he got up and opened a wall panel. He took out several radios and spare flashlights and tossed them to everyone. “These should be unaffected, let’s see if we can figure out what’s going on.”
Tempest, as she turned on her flashlight looked at everyone. “Be on your guard, if you hear or see anything… Call it in. Nobody do anything foolish. No playing hero, understand? Nobody’s dying tonight, not on my watch.” she said, taking command of the situation, her old training coming to the forefront.
Fancy Pants turned on his radio and spoke into it. “All non-essential personnel move into designated safe areas. We’re going under Protocol Stoker in addition to Protocol Fortuna, everyone be careful, we don’t know what’s going on here. I want to know the minute anything strange happens.”
“Where’s your power source?” Tempest asked, grabbing a very large and very dangerous looking orange and white rifle off a nearby rack and placing an energy cell in it. The weapon hummed as it came to life. “Likely to be where our little saboteur is.”
“Bottom floor,” Fancy Pants said as he and Fleur grabbed their own weapons. “Scootaloo, get your friends to the safe room down the hall. They should be fine there, then join Tempest in the reactor room. I’ll have Agent Drops meet you down there.”
Before Sweetie and Apple Bloom could protest Fancy Pants held his hand up. “Don’t argue, this is a potential foothold situation here. If this structure is compromised we’ll have a lot more to worry about. Follow my orders, and if the alarm goes off you have to run for the surface. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes sir,” Apple Bloom said and Sweetie Belle nodded quickly.
“Good, you all have your orders,” Fancy Pants said. “Fleur and I are going to direct things from the control center and try and get this place back up and running. Go, now, all of you.”
Tempest nodded, and ran off down a corridor that had an arrow pointing in the direction of the reactor room. Her flashlight had been attached to the top of her rifle.
“Come on Fluttershy, where are you?” she thought as she ran. As she did so, eventually she reached the reactor room and found who she presumed was Agent Drops using what looked to be a bo staff to fight off a blue Fangire she remembered being based off the Sungazer Lizard of all things. The trouble with this one was, the Sungazer Fangire had two shields, on either arm with both being almost unbreakable. “Duck!” Tempest shouted, and Sweetie Drop’s eyes widened before she acknowledged and Tempest fired off a blast of electricity from her rifle. The Sungazer Fangire raised his arms to block the blow before Sweetie Drops whirled around and got in a powerful strike with her bo staff.
“Tempest Shadow, Kamen Rider IXA. You?” Tempest introduced herself as she whirled to the left to dodge a strike from the Sungazer’s claws before firing off another shot which like the first one was blocked.
“Agent Sweetie Drops. Kamen Rider Amores. Pleasure.” Sweetie replied, Tempest, quirking an eyebrow at the woman even as Sweetie Drops kicked the Sungazer in its arm shields cracking them slightly. There was something familiar about this woman, Tempest just couldn’t narrow down where she’d seen her before.
Tempest tossed her rifle in the air landing a solid punch with the IXA Knuckle to the Sungazer’s shields before she caught the rifle and fired off several blasts making the monster stagger back. “Just keep doing damage to those shields of his, they’re tough but they’ll crack eventually,” Tempest informed, and ducked down to dodge a swing from the Fangire’s claws.
“Thanks,” Sweetie said, spinning the bo staff and catching the Fangire in the leg sending it skywards before Tempest fired off another blast from her rifle. Sadly, this was to be the last as it appeared the power cell was all out of juice. Tossing it aside and letting it hit the floor with a clatter, Tempest changed into IXA with Sweetie Drops following suit into Amore.
“Henshin!” they both shouted as the Sungazer Fangire managed to grab onto a catwalk, and pull himself up.
“Love Conquers All Things!” Sweetie Drop’s belt proclaimed, before its user fired off a volley of pink energy arrows.
“Regular everyday Robin Hoof…” Tempest muttered as she fired off a blast of hot wind at the Fangire from her Knuckle, the combined attacks shattering one of his arm shields. Tempest and Sweetie shared a nod, before leaping up to join the Fangire. “Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide…” Tempest smirked.
The Fangire let out a roar of rage and swung at IXA, slicing through her armor with his sharp claws, before spitting out several darts like needles at Amores.
“....Right, based on a lizard, some of which are venomous.” Amores reminded herself, before she drew back her bow, and fired only for the the Sungazer to catch the arrow in mid-air and snap it in half.
“...That the best you got?” he laughed, before leaping over the reactor to another catwalk with Tempest clutching at her side, too injured for the moment to follow.
“You gonna be alright?” Amores asked, and Tempest nodded gruffly.
“Just… Just get after him,” she answered, clutching her bleeding side.
Amores nodded as she jumped after the escaping monster. She held her bow steady as she looked for a clear shot at the monster as she drew her bow back a little, preparing to fire at the moment she got a shot at them.
“Never a dull day when you’re a Kamen Rider huh?” Lyra’s voice said in her mind as Amores turned her head when she thought she heard something.
“No, most definitely not,” she replied as she looked around carefully. “Any chance you can see where this thing is?”
“No, I can only see what you see,” Lyra answered.
There was the sudden sound of something from behind her and she rolled forward just in time to avoid the Fangire. She snapped back as she raised her bow and fired a shot right at the monster only to have it be blocked by the monster’s remaining shield.
“Son of a…” she muttered as she pulled the bow back and fired three shots in a row, the first two energy arrows hit the monster’s remaining shield but the third hit it in the chest, but that didn’t do much to slow it down as it stormed forward at her and swung its shield at her and knocked the bow out of her hand.
Before Amores could react she was pushed hard against the wall of the reactor area. She tried to struggle out of its grip, but that was futile. The Fangire raised its claw to strike, but before that could happen a eerie sound, almost like a distorted violin echoed throughout the room. The Fangire let go of Amores, actually looking quite terrified.
“No… No… Anyone but her.” it whispered, as Tempest smirked. Stepping out of the shadows was Kiva, her Kiva in Empress form with the Zanbat Sword in hand. Behind her, a silver and blue Rider themed after the Ace of Spades.
“So sorry I’m late, ran into a few old friends, and one new one,” Fluttershy remarked as she gestured to the Kamen Rider behind her. She then pointed to the Sungazer. “Now, bow to your Queen.”
She raised the hilt of the Zanbat Sword up, lighting the blade up crimson red before sliding it back down as Kivat shouted: “Wake up!”
With a battle cry, Fluttershy charged into battle with Blade pulling out his personal sword, the Blade Rouzer to assist.
Fluttershy kicked the bow back towards Amores before she and Blade began cutting into the Sungazer’s armor. Kivat all the while observed Amore’s motif.
“Wait, you have a Tarot thing going on? Can you see my future?” he asked eagerly.
“Uh, no, not really,” Amores replied, as she fired her bow at the Sungazer.
“Oh come on, why not?” Kivat asked, almost in a whining tone.
“It doesn't give me the ability to see the future, it's just how I transform,” Amores answered.
“Lame,” Kivat huffed.
“What’s with the talking bat thing?” Amores asked as she looked at the other Riders. “Is he always this weird?”
“I am not a THING!” Kivat snapped in offense. “I’m Kivat the Third, thank you very much. Show a little respect! ...Oughta slipper slap you for that.” he grumbled.
Fluttershy sighed to herself, even as she scored a horizontal slash across the Fangire’s chest.
“He’s my partner, and yes… He’s always like this.”
“...No respect, Milady. You know that right?” Kivat grumbled. Eventually, with the combined efforts of the three Riders, the Sungazer cracked, before shattering after Fluttershy had pinned him to a wall with the Kiva insignia. Pulling a lever, Tempest managed to restore power to the SMILE facility as Scootaloo ran up.
“You’re late,” Tempest remarked. “Scootaloo Dash, meet Fluttershy Breeze, AKA my world’s Kiva.”
“I got lost okay?” Scootaloo said with a shake of her head as she looked at Fluttershy surprised for a moment. “Huh, you’re a Kamen Rider in your world? I… I have to admit I wasn’t expecting that.”
“...There have been weirder choices,” Kenzaki remarked as he canceled his transformation.
“I could say the same thing about you,” Fluttershy told Scootaloo ignoring Kenzaki. She pulled Scootaloo into a hug. “Can I just say how proud I am to see you all grown up?”
“Uh… thanks?” Scootaloo asked. “Can’t breathe though.”
Blushing red, Fluttershy released her from the hug. “So, how’s Sweetie and Apple Bloom? I presume you three are still friends here?”
“They’re fine, yeah, we’re still friends,” Scootaloo said as she rubbed the back of her head a little. “Actually me and Sweetie are, a bit more than just friends.”
Fluttershy let out a little squee sound even as Scootaloo slapped her hand to her face in remembrance.
“Oh dang it, they’re still up in the safe room probably!” Scootaloo exclaimed, before muttering: “Note to self, when coming into this room for whatever reason never go widdershins around certain corners.”
Kenzaki meanwhile, was tending to Tempest’s wounds commenting on how reckless the woman was.
“I think,” Sweetie Drops said as she powered down and looked at the other Riders. “We have a lot to talk about in this debriefing. Let’s get back upstairs.”
“Agreed,” Kenzaki said. “You can explain to me why there’s a female IXA and Dark Kiva along the way.”
00000
“So, how do we deal with a monster that can bring back defeated monsters?” Sweetie Belle asked as they sat back down around the table.
“Well, anything unusual about this particular form of Fangire?” Kenzaki asked. “Anything that would indicate something to strike at?”
“Not that we could see,” Scootaloo said as she sighed a little. “Do we know anything about this thing? You said before that there was information from the fight with the Fangires in Japan.”
“Yes, well…” Fancy Pants said as he turned on the screen behind them and an image of the Shinigami Fangire appeared on it. “The Mantis, or Shinigami Fangire of this world pretty much had a similar M.O. to the one we’ve been dealing with. It could use the fragments of Fangires to revive them as it’s mindless slaves with the intention of killing the old Queen.”
“Does it say how to kill it?” Tempest asked, and Kenzaki took over from here.
“Actually, it shouldn’t be that hard. That coffin, it seems to be connected to the Fangire itself. I recommend destroying both at once, that should stop it dead if you forgive the pun,” he theorized. “But there’s another problem. I presume Castle Doran didn’t follow you into this dimension?” he asked, and Fluttershy shook her head no. A collection of groans echoed around the table, with Sweetie and Scootaloo sharing a confused look.
“...There goes the Arms Monsters.” Kenzaki muttered.
“...Uh, back up here. Can someone explain to me what exactly Castle Doran is?” Scootaloo asked, looking at Fancy.
“Well, to make a long story short, in this world and I presume it’s the same story in your world Madam Fluttershy,” Fancy explained. “Castle Doran was once a member of the great Wyvern race until the King of the Fangires captured it and built his keep around it.”
“...That’s disgusting.” Apple Bloom muttered. “Treatin’ an animal like that!”
“Yes, it is, but Castle Doran no matter what you think of it can seal away the souls of defeated Fangires. It’s one of the only ways to stop one permanently. And as Castle Doran, this world’s one anyway is currently located somewhere in Japan I highly doubt it would be able to get here at the drop of a hat.” Fancy muttered.
“Which leads us into our next problem. That Fangire, he’s probably collected enough souls including his own to form into a Sabbat -Think a massive chandelier, with clawed arms and a group of skull heads on long necks that throw fireballs- upon his destruction,” Kenzaki explained. “They’re never easy to take down, as you’d imagine.”
“That’s not good,” Scootaloo said. “We don’t exactly have any giant robots or something kicking around unless there’s something you haven’t told us.”
“No, definitely not,” Fancy Pants said. “We weren’t exactly expecting to fight giant monsters you know, that’s not our department.”
“Well, what about those Rider Cards?” Sweetie Belle suggested, and everyone looked at her. Kenzaki walked up to her.
“Rider Cards?” he inquired, raising an eyebrow. A theory was beginning to form in his mind, there was only one type of card with that name and only one use for it. “Explain.”
“Yeah, last night someone dropped a box of cards with…” Apple Bloom started to say and facepalmed. “Crap, we left them at tha apartment when that thing attacked.”
“I presume you mean these?” Tempest asked, holding up the box. “Had a visitor in the infirmary, older guy in this long coat, wore glasses and a hat. Handed these off to me, said for me to give them to you.”
“May I see them?” Fancy Pants asked as the box was handed to him. He took out the deck of cards and went through them with a slight frown on his face. “Interesting… very interesting, I’ve only heard scattered details of these cards. I don’t even recognize some of these Riders.”
“Yeah, last I saw these cards they were in the possession of Tsukasa Kadoya, otherwise known as Kamen Rider Decade. Allowed him to transform his predecessors into weapons for him to use. ...I still have the memories of being turned into a giant sword. Not fun, let me tell you,” Kenzaki grumbled. “Justice, you use Cards as your transformation trinkets right?” he asked.
“Tarot cards yes,” Scootaloo replied as she reached into her pocket and took out her Justice card.
“It’s a long shot, but I think you might be able to use them as well, like say change Kiva into her Arrow form,” Kenzaki theorized. “Apologies in advance, Madam Fluttershy.”
“...Why do I have the feeling I don’t want to know why you’re apologizing?” Fluttershy mumbled to herself.
“This might work if it comes to that,” Fancy Pants said as he placed the cards back in the box and slid them over to Scootaloo. “For now, we need to keep an eye out for the Shinigami Fangire.”
“Shouldn’t be hard,” Tempest remarked. “Fangires are greedy things, they’re never exactly ‘patient’ when it comes to dealing with their hunger pangs.”
“Uh… Fancy?” Apple Bloom asked. “Somethin’ Ah think you should know. Back when we were first attacked, Ah was saved by this new Rider, themed after a scorpion.”
“A scorpion…” Fancy Pants mumbled as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully and looked at the others before he shook his head. “That’s not something we’ve ever encountered in this city at least. Unfortunately, we haven’t had much luck with getting the Satellite working again so they could be anywhere in the city.”
Scootaloo placed her hand on Sweetie’s and gave it a light squeeze as she gave her a smile.
“There’s one problem we need to consider,” Fleur said finally. “All the evidence that we’ve found on the Minor Arcana monsters suggests that they’re draining the life force from their hosts to power themselves.”
“And in this case, they don’t have a host…” Fluttershy mused to herself. “Aside from possibly our Fangire.”
“Fangires feed on life force too, which is just going to give the parasitic spirit more to feed on as the Fangire feeds,” Fleur said. “And the more that happens, the hungrier the Fangire is going to get.”
“Which means we’ve got a potential massacre on our hands,” Tempest growled as she clenched her fist tightly enough to draw blood. Just then, as if to prove her words prophetic, an agent of SMILE came running up, panting and sweating with his face stricken with fear.
“The TV… Turn on the TV!” he shouted.
They didn’t need any further prompting as Fancy Pants changed it to the local news feed.
The report, as followed showed images of bodies being zipped up in distinctive black bags all over town. At least one hundred members of the good people of Canterlot had been massacred by the Shinigami Fangire, all in his quest to quench his thirst no doubt spurred on by the Arcana parasite in his veins.
“Good God…” Fancy muttered, crossing himself. The news feed then changed to a live one from a helicopter showing the Shinigami Fangire fighting off local police officers atop a rooftop and then sucking them dry. Sweetie, in the background stifled a sob as Apple Bloom brought her friend into a hug.
Tatsulot whispered: “Per Faust, è un mostro…” and his head dropped in mourning.
“Not even the Gurongi were this bad…” someone muttered in the background. “He’s not just killing for food anymore, he’s doing it for sport!”
Tempest slammed her fist down on the table, with a look of what could only be described as utter rage on her face.
“That does it,” she snarled. “No more. No more! This ends tonight. Anyone here recognize that building? ANYONE?” she barked.
“Y-Yeah,” Fleur replied, considerably shaken. “That’s the local ZNN Broadcasting station. I’ll arrange a helicopter. You’re right, this has to end.”
“B-But…” Scootaloo whispered as she sank to the floor as she was resigned to what was going on. “It’s too powerful, we’ve barely been able to stop the revived monsters, how are we going to stand a chance against him? And he can just summon more… there’s no way we can beat this thing…”
Fluttershy reached out a hand. “Years ago, my father said this to me: “If there is a hand reaching for help, and I don't reach out my hand when I can, the regret would make me wish I were dead... I reach out my hand because I don't want that.”
“W-Who was your father?” Scootaloo asked, having sworn she’d heard that saying somewhere before.”
“Eiji ‘Sky’ Shy,” Fluttershy replied. “Kamen Rider OOO and Kiva 1. I took those words to heart, and right now you need my help. Riders watch after other Riders, don’t they?”
Scootaloo saw Kenzaki, Tempest, Fleur, and Sweetie Drops looking at her, and she grabbed Fluttershy’s hand.
“Yeah, that they do. Let’s end this once and for all,” she stated.
00000
Canterlot: ZNN Broadcasting
“Ah, nothing like a good hunt really…” the Shinigami Fangire muttered, as the last of the police officers sent to stop him dropped to the ground and shattered like glass.
“Shame we’re going to have to cut it short!” a voice called out, and the Fangire whirled around to see all five Riders standing nearby.
“Well, little impudent souls,” the Fangire laughed. “I administer your fates from now on...and will be the judge of your fates. I set the rules of this world.”
“We’ll just have to see about that. You ready?” Fluttershy asked Scootaloo.
“Yeah, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” Scootaloo said as she placed her hand on the Driver in her pocket as she took a deep breath. “Any last minute advice on how to deal with this thing?”
“Yeah, just one. HENSHIN!” Fluttershy called as all of the other Riders activated their belts.
“Fist on.”
“Turn up!”
“Love Conquers All Things!”
“Go on,” Sweetie Drops urged in a gentle tone. “You know what to do, it’s just like any other fight.”
“Henshin!” Scootaloo said as she placed her Driver on her belt and slid the cards into it.
“Time to Tip the Scales!” Her Driver said as the energy flowed over her and formed the armor around her as the Arcana Rapier appeared in her hand.
“Let’s do this,” she said with a nod as she placed her hand on the card box where the Rider cards were.
The Shinigami Fangire conjured up a bunch of Rat Fangires to slow their attack, but Fluttershy and Scootaloo brought out their respective blades and began slicing and cutting through the army.
“Oh, Tension Fortissimo, this is just like a Rider Sentai! Molto Bene! Talk about a dream come true!” Tatsulot exclaimed, as he began cutting through some of the army with his wings, a little gold blur of light.
Sweetie Drops raised her bow and nodded at the others as she pulled the bow back and fired an energy arrow into one of the Rat Fangires that was getting close to Scootaloo. She turned her attention back towards the Shinigami Fangire and fired several more arrows at the hybrid monster.
“Absorb Queen: Fusion Jack!” Blade’s driver called out as he went into a more gold adorned form and began slicing through the hoard with lightning infused slashes.
“I ever forget to mention how much I really hate rats?” Kenzaki asked, as he fought back to back with Tempest, their blades cutting down the forces.
“Agreed. Justice, time to try out some of those new cards!” Tempest barked. “You know the ones!”
Scootaloo nodded as she reached into her card carrying case and took out one of the cards. She slid it into her Driver’s card slot and was surprised to hear it say “FINAL FORM RIDE, BLADE!”
Poking Blade on the backside, she sighed. “I apologize, this may tingle a little.” and watched as he transformed into a massive… well, blade with cards sticking out from the hilt. “Okay, that’s not what I expected…”
“Damnit Justice, why have you betrayed me!” Kenzaki whined as he felt his body contort and shift.
“Sorry, sorry!” Scootaloo said as her Driver started to glow and she swung the blade around and slammed it on the ground. A wave of energy flew out of it and through the rat Fangires causing them to shatter. Next, as a group of recreated Order Agents ran up to her, she swung the blade around causing them to go up in massive fireballs.
“...There, that should clear us some breathing room.” Scootaloo remarked, as Blade changed back to normal.
“...Oh, such a crick in the neck!” Kenzaki muttered. “Onori Dikeido!” he roared, shaking his fist at nobody in particular before going into back into Jack Form and taking to the skies grabbing an Order Agent and a Fangire in his grip.
A shot rang out from somewhere above them. Scootaloo looked behind her in time to see a rat Fangire they had missed somehow shattering. She glanced up at where the shot came from only to get a brief glimpse of black and silver.
“Weird,” she said as she grabbed another card and slid it into her Driver.
“ACANA CIRCLE SHIELD!” The Driver said as an ornate shield appeared on her other hand and she went back to fighting the remaining monsters as she pushed towards the Shinigami Fangire.
“Whoever that was, can’t say I’m not grateful for the help…” Tempest remarked, shooting down Fangires with IXA Calibur as she went. Nearby, Fluttershy had gone into Empress Form and was striking down the remaining enemies with the Zanbat Sword.
“Why does everyone have form upgrades but us?” Sweetie Drops wondered aloud.
“Don’t ask me,” Lyra commented. “Though IXA doesn’t seem to have her Rising Form...”
“That we know of…” Sweetie muttered.
“Now, it’s just you.” Fluttershy remarked, as both she and Scootaloo stared the Fangire down.
“And your future doesn’t look bright,” Scootaloo said with a smirk as she pointed her rapier at the monster.
“We’ll see.” the Shinigami Fangire remarked, before raising Kafziel and charging towards the two. Fluttershy eyed the nearby coffin, and looked at Justice.
“Drive him back towards his coffin! I’ve got a plan!” Fluttershy told her.
“Got it,” Scootaloo said as she raised her shield up, she just hoped that it was going to last long enough as she pushed forward and stabbed at the Shinigami Fangire with her Rapier.
The Fangire continued to block the blows, and swing Kafziel at her and Fluttershy. Whenever they dodged or blocked the blows, he pulled out his assault rifle and fired.
Scootaloo raised her shield to block the shots, but bit by bit they made her stagger back.
“WAKE UP FEVER!” Tatsulot called, as Fluttershy leaped forwards, red energy blades on her foot hacking into the Fangire’s body before to her surprise the Shinigami Fangire staggered back, only winded.
“Impossible, no Fangire’s managed to survive that! Must be that extra power the Order gave him…” She thought.
The Shinigami Fangire raised his blade and called out: “Darkness Reaper’s Hell!” and swung sending a powerful energy arc towards the two Riders. Both were sent flying back, and rolled along the ground, their armor smoking from the powerful blow.
Tempest and Sweetie rushed forwards, firing their own weapons making the Shinigami Fangire stagger backwards as Scootaloo and Fluttershy picked themselves up off the ground.
“Hit him now, can’t keep him pinned for long!” Tempest shouted, as both she and Sweetie continued firing. Fluttershy nodded, before creating the Kiva insignia in her palm and using it to pin the Shinigami Fangire against a metal tower.
“Now Scootaloo!” Fluttershy ordered.
Scootaloo nodded as she jumped up, energy starting to gather in her foot as she leapt towards the Shinigami Fangire. “JUSTICE KICK!” She shouted as her foot impacted the Fangire’s chest.
The extra armor covering the Fangire shattered, along with the tower with the Fangire’s eyes wide in shock as he fell off the rooftop.
“Oh no you don’t, not finished with you yet!” Kenzaki shouted before he grabbed the Shinigami Fangire and tossed him to Tempest who kicked the monster towards his coffin.
“Don’t even have to place an order… How convenient.” Tempest chuckled darkly, as Fluttershy threw the Zanbat Sword impaling the Fangire, who cracked and then shattered to pieces.
“We did it…” Scootaloo whispered as she breathed heavily. Might have been speaking a bit too soon however, as the gathered souls in the coffin along with the Fangire’s own rose up into the sky and created a massive gold colored Sabbat true to Kenzaki’s descriptions.
“Oh, you gotta be kidding me!” Sweetie Drops shouted as fire rained down all around them.
“There’s only one way to finish this guy, and you know what it is,” Fluttershy nodded, holding up her Final Form Ride card. “Only going to hurt for just a second, remember?” she added, at Scootaloo’s noticeable hesitance.
“Alright…” Scootaloo said with a nod as she took it and slid it into her Driver.
“FINAL FORM RIDE, KIVA!” her Driver proclaimed as she pressed a finger into Fluttershy’s back, who folded up into a massive bow and arrow resembling Kivat of all things.
“You sure you’re up for this?” Sweetie Drops asked.
“Hey, it’s a big target, I don’t think I can miss,” Scootaloo said with a nervous chuckle as she raised the bow up towards the massive target and pulled back on it and fired.
The arrow sailed through the air before it hit the Sabbat. For a moment nothing seemed to happen before cracks started to form in the massive construct and it finally shattered before exploding.
“Justice… is served.” Scootaloo commented as Fluttershy back in her normal state stood beside her. “Are you okay? There aren’t any side effects or something are there?”
“Eh, none that I can feel,” Fluttershy commented as she canceled her transformation. “Least nothing a hot bath won’t cure.”
“...Hey, maybe you can get Vinyl to join you!” Kivat suggested gleefully.
“S-Shut it, you!” Fluttershy stammered out, blushing a deep red as Tatsulot cackled in the background.
“Wait… Vinyl?” Scootaloo asked as she blinked a little in surprise as she powered down. “Who’s Vinyl?”
“...Wait, you haven’t met?” Tasutlot asked. “Wears shades? Neighponiese and goes by DJ-Pon3? Seriously? So uncultured.” he muttered, and crossed his arms with a small huff.
“Hey, Canterlot’s a big city but yeah I’ve heard of her,” Scootaloo said and thought back. “Actually come to think of it I think she was performing in the Battle of the Bands we went to right before Tripen attacked.”
“...Think she’s thinking of transferring to Zawame and joining Team Pop Up…” Sweetie Drops muttered. “Should be safe enough… I think.”
“Anyway you’re with her?” Scootaloo asked as she looked confused.
“Long story.” Fluttershy said, with a dismissive wave of her hand.“But yeah.”
“Wow, that’s quite different from this world,” Scootaloo said with a chuckle. “You’re with Rainbow Dash here.”
“...Could have seen that possibility,” Tempest remarked. “I was actually betting on it.” she remarked, before Fluttershy shot her a stunned look.
“Constants and variables!” Tatsulot shouted as he buzzed around overhead.
“Anyway,” Sweetie Drops said as she picked up the Six of Pentacles card. “We should probably get back to HQ for the full debriefing. Something tells me this is going to be an interesting one.”
“...I can see the paperwork now.” Scootaloo groaned out hanging her head in dismay.
Once they had left a dark figure moved out of the shadows and bent down to gather some of the surviving Fangire shards. Looking around for a moment it found some green blood that had been shed in the fight and gathered some samples of it before putting them away and walking off.
00000
Later that day, Fluttershy and Tempest were returning home as Scootaloo and her friends looked on.
“Brings back memories, doesn’t it?” Sweetie asked, as she looked up at the giant horse statue in front of their old high school, tracing a finger along the stonework.
“Yeah,” Scootaloo said in a wistful tone as she looked up at the school for a moment. “Some good and some bad. But still, I wouldn’t change a thing.”
She smiled as she gripped Sweetie’s hand gently. “So, guess this is goodbye huh?” she asked, as she watched Fluttershy step into the portal. Tempest had already gone through moments before.
“Yeah, but if you ever need us… Just call. Kamen Riders have to keep an eye on each other after all, look after one another.”
“Yeah…” Scootaloo smiled. Fluttershy returned it, before her face turned serious.
“Just be careful okay, I have a feeling that things have only just begun for you.” she stated, before stepping through.
“Yeah, I’m starting to get that feeling too,” Scootaloo said as she looked back at her friends. “But I also know that I’m not going to do it alone.”
“Looking back on it, that was when we should have realized the gears were just starting to turn. We thought we knew everything. We didn't know that our fates were already written in stone. We just wanted to fight to save our city, that it was all so simple. That's what we all believed, at least. But, you can't wish yourself into growing up. You grow up when you can't be a child anymore. In due time, we would discover that for ourselves.”
00000
SMILE Headquarters:
“I wanted to thank you for your help back there Kenzaki,” Scootaloo said as she offered the senior Rider a hand. “You really helped us out.”
“Just doing my job,” Kenzaki replied with a touch of sadness. “...To be honest, that’s all I can do nowadays given my… condition.”
“It can’t be easy having to be separated from everyone you ever cared about,” Scootaloo sighed as she looked over towards her friends. “I can’t imagine what that must be like. I read the file on the Battle Fight and the Undead…”
“Just treasure the life you have kid,” Kenzaki replied. “Treasure its moments, they may be here one day, and gone the next.” he said, with a little snap of his fingers for emphasis.
“I’ll remember that,” Scootaloo said with a nod. “What’s next for you?”
“Wandering as ever, I suppose. Heard there’s this new Rider, ZI-O. Might run into him, might not,” Kenzaki replied with a shrug before walking off. “See you around kid.”
“See you around,” Scootaloo said softly before she went back to her friends.
As Kenzaki left the building and climbed back on his motorcycle he looked up towards the roof where he saw a dark figure standing there. He gave them a nod and started up his bike before he drove off and out of the city as the sun began to set.
The figure watched him go before reaching into her pocket and taking out a card and Driver. She pulled her hat down a little as she turned and walked away.
Her time would soon come. Death, after all, came for everyone.