Ride 4
Take this, lizard lips!” Achilles yelled, and he slammed the pole of his spear into the monster. After chasing the monster all across the city on his motorcycle, the Rider finally had cornered him in a parking lot. The monster in question was a reptile looking creature, with a long serpentine neck attaching his head to his body. On his shoulders, he had more serpents sticking out, two more poking out on his chest, and two more serpent heads adorning his knee armor. In his hand he held a halberd, with a saw toothed blade.
“Gee, real original insult there,” the monster remarked sarcastically, as he swung his weapon. The Rider dodged, scoffing as he rolled.
“You're the last one that should be talking about originality. I mean you’re a hydra and your name is Hydrax. How lazy can you get?” Achilles asked as he switched his weapon to blaster form.
Hydrax didn’t take kindly to the Rider’s words, and spat at him. Achilles jumped out of the way, but when the spit landed, it started to dissolve the pavement in a green haze. “There is no way you will beat me,” the monster declared. Hydrax then charged at the rider with his halberd. Achilles shifted quickly, and blocked it with the but of his blaster. He pushed back to aim his blaster at the monster, blasting Hydrax in the chest. The shots pushed the monster back, but he spun his weapon to try and defend himself. When the shots stopped, Hydrax spat again at the Rider, who had to jump out of the way.
As Achilles was dodging the monster’s acidic spit, his phone started to go off. He fired a few shots before pulling it out. “Hello?” He answered, putting the phone up to his ear.
“Flash , where are you? We have a chemistry club meeting today,” a girl's voice questioned.
“Oh man, Ditzy, that totally slipped my mind,” Achilles said, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s rude to take a call during battle,” Hydrax said as he switched over to swinging his weapon. Achilles waved his hand at the monster in a ‘Give me a second’ fashion, and the monster lowered his weapon. Hydrax tapped his scale foot against the ground impatiently.
“I’ll be there, soon, I promise” Achilles assured his friend before ending the call. “OK, now I need to try and end this fight faster,” the rider explained to Hydrax. The monster scoffed. “As if you could, boy!” When the monster swung his weapon, Achilles ducked to avoid it. He then jumped up, delivering a kick right to Hydrax’s head. With the monster recovering from that, Achilles then kept up the momentum, shooting the monster in the chest.
“Haha, try as hard as you want, with my powers, I am absolutely invincible!” Hydrax gloated.
“I’m happy to see someone like you so confident, but I really have somewhere to be,” the Rider said. He then pulled out his Rider card, and placed it into his blaster.
“CHARGING! CHARGING!”
“RIDER FEEDBACK!”
He aimed his blaster at Hydrax as a large magical circle appeared in front of him. The blaster began to charge up with energy, before Achilles fired a large shot that hit the magical circle. The blast was separated into many smaller shots, all homing in on the monster. “It’s too early for me to be defeated! There’s still so much more I want to do!” Hydrax cried out, before the shots hit. He was destroyed in a massive explosion.
With the monster eliminated, Achilles transformed back to normal. “Lucky I could get that done so quickly. Now whoever the host is no longer doesn’t need to be afraid of fading away,” Flash said to himself. He made his way to his bike, and started it up. “Now all that’s left is to get back to school,” He said. He strapped on his helmet, started his engine and rode out of the parking lot.
Unbeknownst to Flash, the whole battle was being observed. Cypher, in his monster form, was perched on a roof, watching the whole thing. “Hmm, this is an interesting development indeed,” The monster said as he flew down, landing right next to a manhole cover. He proceeded to tap on it twice, before removing his foot. “You can come out now. The Rider is gone.”
As Cypher moved out of the way, the manhole opened to reveal Hydrax, completely unscathed. “Awesome, I almost thought my plan wasn’t gonna work,” Hydrax said as he climbed out.
“Your powers are quite impressive, Hydrax,” Cypher complimented. Though, he soon noticed that Hydrax wasn't as unscathed as he’d first appeared. One of the serpent heads on his chest was now missing. “I hope fooling the Rider was worth it.”
“Oh, this?” Hydrax said, looking down at the now empty spot on his chest. “Don’t worry about it. Now that the Rider thinks I'm gone, I can drain my host, and this’ll be healed up in no time.”
“Well, since you’ll be in hiding, I guess the task of defeating the Rider falls to me,” Cypher said. He drew his sword, gazing at the blade. "I'll also need to keep an eye on your host, to make sure no one notices her fading away before it's too late."
“Go get’em, Cypher. Thanks for the hand!” Hydrax laughed, crawling back down into the sewers.
When Flash got to the school, he made a beeline for the science lab. When he opened the door, the only one there was Twilight. The girl in the lab coat was so focused on scribiling in her note book that she didn't even notice Flash. “Oh, hey Twilight,” Flash said, startling her. Giving her an apologetic grin, he grabbed a lab coat from the hook on the wall.
“Oh, Flash! I was afraid you weren't going to show,” Twilight exclaimed, trying to calm herself down from the scare.
“Yeah, sorry, I kinda got held up by something,” Flash explained, while he put on the safety goggles. “So where’s Rarity and Ditzy?”
“They had to get some stuff in the supply closet,” Twilight answered simply, resuming her notes.
“And they left you to work on your project?” Flash asked. He walked over to peek over her shoulder, looking into her notebook. Surprisingly, they were drawings of the Kamen Rider, with various details written out. What was even more surprising was that there was even a drawing of Flash’s new Storm Form.
“Yeah, The Rider has really piqued my interest. Especially after Rainbow Dash told me about his new form,” Twilight explained, letting Flash have a better look at the notebook. “Note that the Rider was able to gain new abilities from the power of Rainbow’s geode. But the interesting thing is that Rainbow has suffered no negative side effects, and also the Rider’s mental state didn't seem to change. From all of the encounters we’ve seen, an overload in magic tends to cause massive personality shifts, but not this time.”
“Wow, you were able to get all that from what Rainbow told you?” Flash asked. He scratched the back of his head. It was unreal to him that Twilight was able to gain so much more information about his Rider alter ego from a secondary source then he had from being the Rider. He chalked it up her previous encounters with the magic forces.
“I would love to get more data on him. Maybe if I used my magic scanner on him, I can get a better idea on how his powers work. Whoever this guy is, he's opening a new door in my magic studies,” Twilight said, as she continued to flip through her notes.
“Your incredible, Twilight. If anyone can figure this stuff out, it's you,” Flash told her, smiling. After he said that, his excitement died down instantly and was replaced with awkwardness. As much as he wanted to be happy for Twilight, something in his head was telling him to pull back. Flash didn’t trust his feelings, and he was afraid that Twilight would take his words the wrong way. It was a fact that Twilight would never return the feelings he had for her, and it would really hurt if she thought the feelings were disingenuous, considering where she would think they were coming from.
Flash had tried with all his might to move on from the girl before him, but he could never let go. Etched into his heart were feelings beyond the friendship he had formed with her. And those feelings were for her alone, not as a replacement for another girl who'd left without a goodbye, but for a girl he'd had the pleasure of getting to know and spend time with. “So, did you find anything else?” Flash asked, getting a grip on himself.
“Well, I do have a theory. If the Rider was able to gain new powers from Rainbow, it’s very likely that he can do the same with the rest of the geodes.” Twilight said as she showed off a graph drawn in colored pencil. “I’ve decided to call this event ‘Element Change.’”
“Element Change, sounds cool,” Flash said, a bit excited." I wonder if I can use that without anyone catching on to who I am?" he thought to himself, a bit excited.
As the two continued to make small talk, the door opened. Rarity and Ditzy rushed into the room, a bit panicked. “Sorry for the hold up, darling. But there’s trouble. One of my friends called, saying she was attacked by one of those dreadful Magi-Beasts,” Rarity reported, before noticing Flash had finally arrived. “Oh, Flash, you finally made it, we were getting worried.”
“Oh, it’s fine. That Magi-Beast is part of the reason why I was late,” Flash explained.
“Well, it looks like everything worked out in the end,” Rarity said as she sat down next to Twilight. “So, where were we last time?”
“Oh, I have it all right here,“ Twilight said, pulling out another notebook from her bag.
“Trixie has waited a long time for this. Your secrets, your riches, they will all be Trixie’s. A chance like this only comes once, and now Trixie has you in her hands. You, the Cake’s famous peanut butter and chocolate cake,” Trixie crooned, holding a plate with said slice of cake on it.
“Um, Trixie? Do you mind moving out of the way? We do have other customers waiting, kiddo,” Mr.Cake pleaded.
Trixie looked back to see the line forming behind her. “Fine, ruin my monologue, will ya,” Trixie grumbled under her breath. She still moved out of the way, much to the relief of the people in line. As she made her way to an open table, she was so wrapped up pouting, she didn’t notice another girl walking in front of her.
Before either of them could react, the two bumped into each other. Trixie kept her balance in a desperate attempt to protect her cake from falling. Unfortunately, the other girl couldn't do the same, and landed on her behind.
Trixie turned, and looked at the girl. She saw she was a cream skinned girl with powder blue hair. She also looked to be wearing a certain maroon school uniform. “I’m so-sorry, I should have been watching where I was going,” The girl stammered, picking up the contents of her spilled bag.
“Oh, it’s no problem, I should have been doing the same,” Trixie said as she guiltily looked down at her cake. After a quick moment, she put the plate on the table and held out her hand to the girl. “Hey, you're a Crystal Prep student, aren't you?”
“Yeah, I'm Coco Pommel,” Coco said, letting Trixie help her up. “Honestly it's all my fault. I’ve been really distracted today.”
“Really, what has you so worried?” Trixie asked, bringing the girl to her table, plopping down, and beginning to eat her cake.
“Oh, well, you know those monsters have been showing up? The Magi-Beasts? Well one of them attacked me. And then another monster...I don't know, came out of me,” Coco explained.
Trixie wasn't surprised by this. Especially after Flash had texted her about defeating another Magi-Beast, not too long ago. “Well, Trixie assures you have nothing to worry about now. One of my friends saw the Rider beat that thing with his own eyes,” She said, smiling as she took another bite.
“Are you sure? I mean, I know the Rider has beat the monsters before, I can still feel something is wrong. Like the monster is still out there, somewhere,” Coco said fidgeting nervously.
“Now you're just talking crazy. There is no way the Rider would have let a monster get away,” Trixie argued, her cake almost finished.
“I’m not trying to say your friend is wrong. I just can’t help but feel like something is off. Like I can feel like I’m being drained,” Coco said.
“Ugh..." she groaned, "Would you get over it? The monster is gone, and I know how to prove it.” Trixie put her empty plate in the trash, and grabbed Coco’s hand. “I’m taking you to Twilight. She’s been studying this magic stuff ever since she got to CHS. Odds are, she already found a way to tell if someone is a host to a Magi-Beast or not.”
“Are you sure she would help us?” Coco asked.
“Of course,” Trixie answered plainly.
“But why are you helping me? We only just met,” Coco followed.
“Because I know just what you're going through,” Trixie said sincerely. “Also, Mr. Cake ruined my monologuing mood, so this will occupy my afternoon,” She continued mirthfully. Coco giggled at that. The two left the cafe, Coco having mixed feelings of her predicament.
Without either of the two girls noticing, Cypher, in his human form, was in the doorway as they left. “So," he said as he turned around, "there’s someone else studying this magic?"
The chemistry club continued their experiment, obviously with Twilight being in charge of it. Flash was partnered with Rarity, who was in the middle of using the microscope. Flash couldn’t help but think about what Twilight has been doing during this whole monster fiasco. Could he help her with her research if he told her his secret? How would she react if he did spill the beans? How would this impact their friendship?
These questions buzzed in his head until Rarity decided to speak up. “Flash?” She asked, snapping the young man out of his thoughts.
“Oh, sorry, zoned out there for a moment,” Flash shook his head and turned to Rarity.
Rarity gave Flash a smile before speaking. “Soooo, what were you and Twilight talking about while you were alone together?”
The question took Flash off guard. “Why would you want to know that?”
“Oh, relax darling, it’s just a little gossip,” Rarity answered.
“Well, it’s nothing too interesting," Flash explained. "We just talked about her research into magic, and what she thought about the Rider."
This comment made Rarity laugh a little. “She would focus on that kind stuff. Another magic user comes out, and she wants to know every little thing about them. You should have seen what she was like when we told her about the Rider. Babbling on with theories, like Pinkie talking about cake.”
“Soooo... does she think Achilles will be corrupted like all the others, like Sunset does?” Flash asked.
“I don’t think so, or at least she’s hoping he doesn’t get corrupted. I’m sure she was upset that we had to destroy all those enchanted items before she had a chance to study them, but it was what it was.” Rarity said.
“Funny, she seems to find a man hidden behind a mask more interesting than me,” Flash said with a laugh.
This statement caught the girl's attention. Rarity turned to give him a suspicious look before she caught on. “Flash, are you still heartbroken?”
“Of course not," Flash said with a brave face. "I got over that a long time ago."
Rarity placed her hand on his. “You don’t need to act brave in front of me. If you're still hurting then I want to…”
“I’m fine, Rarity,” Flash cut her off in a forceful tone, snatching up his hand. “And even if something was wrong, what could you do to help me? If I’m still hurting, that’s my problem. That isn’t something magic can just poof away. I dealt, and I’m fine."
“Flash,” Rarity tried, before once again being interrupted. This time, by the classroom door flying open before Trixie marched in.
“Trixie," Twilight reprimanded, "why would you barge in like that? What if we were working with sodium laureth sulfate?” She wasn't too happy with people coming in unannounced during chemistry club, especially considering they might have been working with unstable materials.
“Then the mixture would have foamed up, and caused a mess. Anyway, I think I have something you might like, Twilight- a potential Magi-Beast host,” Trixie said as she presented Coco.
“Oh, Coco, darling.” Rarity said as she got up, pulling her friend into a warm hug. “Are you alright? Did the Magi-beast hurt you?” the girl asked with a sisterly concern.
”No," Coco replied, hugging Rarity back, "I’m not hurt. I just have a bad feeling, like I’m growing weaker or something.”
“Yeah," Trixie agreed, "when I bumped into her she told me all about it. I want her to stop worrying. I told her that Achilles destroyed the monster."
“And how would you know that?” Ditzy asked, sincerely curious.
“Flash texted me that he saw it,” Trixie said.
“Yeah," Flash added, "I think it looked like a hydra." He was half lying, trying to act as cool as he could manage. Give the girls part of the truth.
“He’s right. It did look like a hydra,” Coco agreed. “It’s like we’re linked.”
“Well, I would be lying if this didn't present me with a unique opportunity," Twilight said. "Since Magi-Beasts drain the host’s life force, then there must be a magical link. If the Magi-beast is still out there, then it should be easy to track it with my scanners."
While all the girls were talking, Flash noticed something by the door. Whatever or whoever it was, they quickly ran off when they noticed Flash looking right at them. “Hey," he alerted the girls as he got up and took off his lab coat, "I'm going to check something out."
“Well, come back soon," Twilight told him. "This is going to get interesting." She pulled out what looked like a kitchen cullender with spikes, and a bunch of wires coming out of it, and placed it onto Coco's head, affixing it like a helmet.
“Is this going to hurt?” Coco asked, suddenly much more nervous.
Looking to his left he saw the person turn the corner. Flash immediately gave chase to the figure, which soon led him to the main entrance of the school. “Stop!" He yelled out, "who are you!?”
The figure stopped and began to turn around. “Of course you wouldn't recognize me," a decidedly male figure snorted. It was a familiar man with white skin and black hair. “I was hoping to get the research notes from this Twilight girl. I didn’t expect to run into you, Rider.”
This took Flash by surprise. “How do you know about that?”
“That’s easy. I was there when you destroyed Kirinos,” The man said.
This caused Flash to think back to his first battle as Achilles. “You were there?!"
"Yes," the man continued, "but not just then. I also observed your fights with Constellar, Grifter, and your recent bout with Hydrax."
“Who are you!?” Flash demanded.
“I should feel insulted that you don’t recognize me, but I understand that it isn’t obvious” The man said as he pulled out a mechanical looking belt buckle and placed it on his waist. Straps came out of the sides to form a belt, to Flash’s shock.
The man then pulled out a card. The card had the image of a white Pegasus in flight. “Perhaps this will help,” he said simply. Without another word, the man slid the card into the slot on the belt.
"PEGASUS!"
Several balls of lights came out of the belt, before taking positions on the man’s body. They grew blindingly bright before dying down, revealing Cypher in his monster form. Flash was awestruck at the revelation. “Now I can destroy the Rider and get the research notes,” he said as he pulled out his sword. “A win-win.”
“You're not getting anywhere near Twilight!” Flash yelled. He placed his driver around his waist and pulled out the rider card. Cypher acted on his advantage, and charged at the human before he could transform, but he was too slow. “Henshin!” Flash yelled as the magical circle appeared, and knocked Cypher back.
When the transformation finished, Achilles expended his spear and lunged at Cypher. The monster blocked with his sword, but Achilles relentlessly continued to push till they both burst through the front doors. When they landed on the pavement, the two broke away from each other. Achilles spun his spear around before performing a slash at the monster. Cypher blocked it, before smacking the rider away, and took to the skies. “Remember, Rider, you would have been dead by my blade once before, if your silver haired friend hadn't stepped in. Fortunately, there's no one here to get in my way.” He swooped down, striking at the Rider.
Achilles blocked the attacks with the handle of his spear. They may not have connected but the Rider could still feel the power behind the blows. Cypher wasn't holding back at all. “Well fortunately for me, I've learned some new tricks.” Achilles pushed Cypher back before pulling out his blue card, then placed it into the driver. “Element Change!”
“KNIGHT OF THE WIND! A SWIFT VICTORY IS AT HAND!”
“S-S-S-STORM!!”
The magical circle appeared again to transform the Rider into his Storm Form. As he jumped up, a small tornado formed around his feet, and swiftly carried him higher. “The skies aren't just yours anymore!” Achilles yelled, the sudden speed boost taking Cypher by surprise. The Rider thrust his spear into Cypher’s chest, sending the white warrior back.
“Oh, so you can fly now?” Cypher asked as he recovered, rubbing the area struck. “That's just going to make it hurt all the more when you fall!” He sped towards the rider, quickly slashing his sword at him. Achilles countered equally quickly with his spear, the two beginning to exchange high speed attacks at one another.
The Rider managed to find an opening to stab Cypher with his spear, making the warrior cry out as he pulled back. With more room, Achilles began to spin his spear around in a huge circle. As it spun, the wind began to form a vortex around the weapon. By the time Cypher realized what was happening, it was too late. The Rider threw the spear like a javelin.
The spear flew with incredible speed, but Cypher was able to catch it within an inch of his body. But before he could counter with it, the wind that was following the weapon hit him. The gale was so strong that it managed to blow the spear into the monster, knocking back with great force. The attack sent him crashing, hard, onto the roof of the school. “Rock you like a hurricane,” Achilles said, closing in on Cypher.
“I bet you think that was clever,” Cypher said as he stood up, and threw the spear to the side. “I think you deserve to see some more of my power." Cypher’s sword began to give off waves of colored energy.
“I can take anything you got,” Achilles said, lightning sparking around his fist.
“Decode Refraction!” Cypher yelled, launching a huge blast wave of multicoloured energy towards the rider. Achilles retaliated to it with a blast of lighting. The two attacks passed one another and hit their marks, the Rider sent crashing to the ground. At the same time Cypher was hit with his lightning, causing the monster to stumble, and fall to his knees. “This is what I get for taking a risk," Cypher said, sparks cascading his body. "That attack... leaves me vulnerable... during the strike." He picked himself back up and spread his wings, though strained. “Retreat may be the better option. Hydrax will be whole soon, and with his abilities, the Rider will have no chance of winning.” With that, the monster took to the skies before flying off.
Meanwhile, on the ground, Flash had been knocked out of his transformation. Cypher’s attack was stronger than anything Flash faced before, but the armor had managed to withstand the bulk of it. “I-I need to warn the others,” Flash said as he tried to get up. He stumbled for a moment, but soon moved as fast as he could to the school. “Geez,” he thought, “has that guy been holding back this whole time? It almost makes me afraid to fight him again.”
In the lab,Twilight was hard at work, typing on her computer. Rarity and Trixie couldn't help but look over her shoulder at her work, curious even if they didn't understand it. Coco, now sitting on a stool, waited with the modified cullender still on her head. She was more nervous than usual, being hooked up to a computer. “And...got it,” Twilight said as she finished typing.
“Got what?” Trixie asked.
“The magical output signature. Like I figured, there’s a link between the Magi-Beast and it’s host. Getting a better look at this Magi-beast’s unique signature got me a ton of data,” Twilight answered.
“So that monster is still out there?” Coco asked, shocked.
“Calm down, Coco," Rarity told her gently. "The more you stress, the worst things become." Coco responded by taking a few breaths, in and out.
“According to this, your remaining life force seems to be fifty-two percent,” Twilight said as she showed a meter on her computer. “I can assume you won’t start to fade away until over eighty percent has been drained, so, it seems you’ve been handling yourself pretty well.”
“Barely,” Coco replied as she took off the helmet.
“I can't believe the Rider could miss a monster,” Trixie said. “Can we find it?”
“Yeah," Twilight replied, "I think I can use that output signal to tune my scanner to detect its signature.” Twilight returned to typing before pulling out a device from her bag, which had a screen and antenna on it. When she turned it on, the screen shined a bright light. “Wow! It's close.”
“I’ll go find Flash,” Trixie said, getting up.
“No," Rarity said as she stood up, "I can do that Trixie. Before you arrived, Flash and I had words. I believe I should clear the air before such a mission as this." The look on her face showed how serious she was.
“Okay, go find Flash.” Trixie affirmed, intimidated. She watched as Rarity left the room, then turned to the others. “What's her problem?”
“Maybe it’s a sign you should knock before entering a room,” Twilight answered while not looking up from her device.
Flash had to slow down to recover properly from his encounter with Cypher. He slowly made his way back to the science lab, before turning the corner and bumping into Rarity, who was just as surprised to run into him. “Rarity, thank goodness. I need to warn you…” Flash started.
“There’s a Magi-Beast, yes, we figured that out. Twilight and the others are tracking it,” Rarity said.
This was another mental blow to Flash. Not only did he lose to Cypher, but he also failed to defeat the first Magi-Beast he’d encountered today. “Well, we need to go help th-” Flash started, but all Rarity did was take both his hands in hers.
“We will, Flash, but there's something you need to hear first." The intensity of her tone surprised Flash.
“Um, Rarity, are you sure this is the best time?” Flash asked, impatient.
“No, I agree, this is a bad time, darling, but it needs to be said.” Rarity released his hands, shut her eyes, and took a deep breath, before looking Flash in the eyes. "I can see that you're hurting,” Rarity said. “You can say you're fine all you want, but I know the feeling of heartbreak first hand. I know what it looks like. And I can see, even so slightly, that you are still hurt.”
There was no getting around it for Flash. Rarity had him cornered, and there was no way of getting out of it. “Alright, you got me. It still hurts, but is there nothing I can do about it. What would you do here?” he snorted. “You can’t change the way I feel, Rares. And the pain makes me feel so… empty.”
Rarity smiled at him. “Well, you don't need to go through it alone. For as long as I have known you, you have been nothing less than a true gentleman. You are proof chivalry isn’t dead, and you try to make the lives of everyone you meet better. Any girl would be lucky to have you as their boyfriend, and I have faith you will find her. You just need to follow the red string of fate,” she put focus on Flash’s little finger.
“Rarity,” Flash said, looking up at his friend. “I appreciate what you’re saying, but why now?” He asked.
“The heart is like glass, when it shatters, it hurts to pick up all the pieces. I just want you to know that the pain you feel may be unbearable, but it will lead to what you're looking for. Like I said, I have known heartbreak before,” Rarity said. “Now do you feel better?”
“Actually,” Flash thought for a moment, "yeah. A little."
Rarity smiled hearing this. “Good, now let’s go catch up to the other.” Rarity led the way, Flash hot on her heels.
As they ran, Rarity’s words kept ringing in Flash’s head. And as he thought about it, the weight he had been holding felt a bit lighter. Rarity’s pep talk had helped him take time to recover from his fight with Cypher, and he was ready to finish off Hydrax once and for all.
Flash and Rarity soon found Twilight, Trixie, and Coco at the sports field. Unfortunately Twilight was already engaged in combat with a fully recovered Hydrax, with all seven heads. “How on earth did you find me?" Hydrax asked, avoiding the objects Twilight was throwing at him telepathically. "I was so careful to hide.”
“It was almost too easy,” Twilight said as she threw several rocks at the monster. Hydrax slapped them away, before spitting a spray of acid at the girl. Twilight tried to evade but was not fast enough. Fortunately, a wall of crystals formed, blocking the acid before contact.. Twilight turned to see Rarity running in. “Rarity, I know you like to be fashionable late, but you cut it pretty close there.”
“Sorry darling, but there was an urgent matter,” Rarity explained as she ran, forming several shards to launch at the monster.
As the two girls fought the Magi-Beast, Trixie and Coco were observing the fight from behind the bleachers. “Are you sure they'll be alright?” Coco asked.
“Absolutely,” Trixie answered. “I’ve seen them take on much bigger monsters.”
Hydrax swung his halberd, and smashed all the crystal projectiles. “You two are going to pay for interrupting my plan,” The monster declared.
“Well, you deserve it for what you've been doing to poor Coco,” Rarity shot him an angry scowl. Hydrax responded by spitting acid, which Twilight expected, and using her power, pulled Rarity out of the way. “Thank you, darling” she said as Twilight helped her up.
Hydrax charged with his weapon raised, roaring his rage. This was interrupted by a punch to the gut, sending him back, delivered by Achilles. “Hey, where did you come from!?” the winded monster demanded.
“I should be asking the same thing,” The Rider said, cracking his knuckles.
“Are you sore, just because you couldn't beat me?” Hydrax mocked, ignoring the cold sweat. The Rider was giving off... waves of unsettling rage- and Hydrax knew he had to settle thing quickly.
“I’m going to make triple sure that by the time this battle is over, you’ll be in Tartarus,” Achilles said, taking a fighting stance.
“And we’ll help you out,” Rarity said, coming up next to the Rider. “Right, Twilight?” She asked, only to get no reply. She looked around, "Twilight?" There she saw Twilight on the side with her magic scanner out.
“Yes," Twilight said to herself with a smile, "I finally have a chance to get first hand magic reading from the Rider."
“Twilight!” Rarity yelled.
“Don’t worry about it," Achilles told her. "This guy was a pushover the first time I fought him. I beat him, but he’s still somehow here. I wanna clear up that mystery first!” With that last statement, he pressed the button on his driver.
“RIDER FEEDBACK!!!”
Several magical circles appeared around the Rider, before he jumped onto them. After the last one, Achilles jumped off to perform an energy kick towards Hydrax. When the kick landed, something strange began to happen. All the energy from the monster’s body was focused onto Hydrax’s leg. It looked like the serpent head on the armor was coming alive, as it came off his body and formed into its own independent body. Once the two were separated, the original body blew up, Achilles landing after a back-flip. He looked at the explosion, before glaring at the Magi-Beast. “So, that's how you survived my attack the first time.”
“Indeed," Hydrax replied, "my power comes in handy in situations like this. But that’s not it's only use,” Hydrax let out a laugh as the other serpent heads began to show signs of life as well. They suddenly began to separate from his body, forming into reptile-like creatures themselves. Each one of the creatures were all holding daggers- and were ready to fight. “Lets see how strong you think you are when you're outnumbered.”
Achilles saw the army, and sighed deeply before turning to Rarity. “Now I need your help."
“I would think so, darling,” Rarity agreed as she elevated her arms and her crystal hexagons.
The Hydrax lackeys all charged on the two. One of them tried slashing at Achilles, which the Rider responded to with a side step, and countered the attack with a punch. Another lackey attempted to stab the Rider from the side, but missed, leaving him open for Achilles to grab his arm and throw him to the ground, before punching him in the face and stomach.
Three of the lackeys tried to gang up on Rarity, but the fashionista made quick work of them when the hexagon crystals began to rotate around her, knocking them all back. “You were a disgusting reptile before, and now you're just six times as revolting,” Rarity said.
“You want revolting? I’ll give you revolting, girly,” Hydrax said as he ran towards Rarity, swinging his halberd. Rarity responded to this by creating a wall that blocked the attack, successfully protecting herself. This opened the monster up for a punch from Achilles.
Meanwhile, Twilight was eagerly observing the fight just in front of Trixie and Coco’s hiding spot. “Um," Trixie spoke up, "shouldn't you be helping? You know, away from us?”
Twilight didn't look up from her scanner. “If you're worried that Achilles and Rarity are outnumbered, there's no need. I scanned those other reptiles, and they only have one seventh of the original’s power. It's nothing the two of them can't handle.” A giddy smile appeared on the girl's face. “Not to mention, this data on the Rider is incredible.”
She focused on the Rider’s fighting as he performed a kick right to the side of the monster's head. “The Rider’s armor does have an enhancement quality to it that boosts all of his attributes. It’s not to the extent of Applejack or Rainbow, but it is what I would consider superhuman.”
As the Rider fought on, the remaining goons started focusing all their attention on him, just as the fallen recovered, and followed suit. Suddenly Achilles found himself overwhelmed with the six monsters all attacking him at once. “Dang it, guys!" He pushed one away, only to almost get stabbed by another. "It’s really not sporting of you to all attack me at once! What happened to one at a time?” The next thing he knew, the lackeys all tried to slash him at once. He just managed to block using his spear, but felt himself be pushed down onto one knee.
“Oh no!” Coco yelled.
“I guess even Riders can have it hard overcoming a dogpile,” Trixie said, her worry clear on her face. She grit her teeth as she watched her friend struggle to help him.
As the Rider was trying to get a better defense up, Twilight noticed something… interesting. His driver was beginning to give off a bright golden glow. She then looked at Rarity, to see that her geode was giving off a similar purple light. “Rarity," she called out, "see if you can lone Achilles some of your power."
Hearing this, Rarity looked at her geode, and saw the light as well. “Are you sure that’s going to help?”
“It worked with Rainbow Dash,” Twilight replied.
Putting her faith in Twilight, Rarity put her hand to the geode and a purple orb of light appeared. She threw the orb toward the Rider, where it was soon absorbed by his driver. A large flash of light then exploded out of it, giving Achilles the chance to throw the goons back and gain some breathing room. He looked at his hand to see a purple and white card appear, the word “Glamor” on the corner, and pictures of diamonds here and there.
The Rider turned back to Rarity, and used the card to salute. “Thanks a ton,” he pushed the button on his driver.
“LETS GO!!!”
“OK!”
Achilles then presented the card before slotting it into the driver. “Element Change!” He yelled out, before a white magical circle appeared. Once it passed over him, the armor’s colors changed to white with deep purple accents. The rider now had a pair of bulky shoulder pads, each with five purple diamonds embedded into them. His head crest was now a single horn, and his eye plates were deep purple. His red scarf was now tied into a more stylish fashion.
“FABULOUS! THE SHINING CRUSADER ON DAZZLING DISPLAY!”
“Oh, yeah, looking good,” Achilles said, inspecting his new armor.
Rarity gave him a knowing smirk. “I wouldn't expect anything less from something created from my powers."
Hydrax growled “So? All you did was change colors. That still doesn't fix your numbers disadvantage,” He and his goons all laughed, only to be taken completely by surprise when one was hit by a beam of purple light that knocked him back. Looking at the Rider, the monsters noticed that one of the diamonds on his shoulder armor was smoking. Seconds later, the diamonds detached, before each one grew to the size of a baseball. They floated around Achilles, the Rider suddenly knowing exactly what he could do with them.
“I don’t think so!" Hydrax roared, raising his halberd, "We’re not scared of you or your little toys!”
“Suit yourself,” Achilles said as he directed the drones to attack. The diamond drones started to fly around the group of monsters, swarming them. The goons tried to swat at the drones with their daggers, but they were too fast for them. One of the drones got behind one of the goons, and shot a laser at it. The rest followed, shooting at the group of monsters. The monsters were helpless as the drones blasted them.
The others all watched, wonder filling their eyes. “This is incredible data,” Twilight said, her eyes skipping from the fight to her scanner, and back.
The group of monsters were so overwhelmed by the drones that they were all surrounded. “Shine on, you crazy diamond,” Achilles said, snapping his fingers. The drones then started to spin around the monsters at high speeds as they bombarded the group with laser blasts.
When the lasers stopped firing, only the original Hydrax was left. “Wh-what does that...even mean?” He asked as he stumbled forward.
"It means, goodbye,” Achilles said as he pressed the button in his driver for the final time in the fight.
“OK!”
“GLAMOR FEEDBACK!!!”
The ten drones all took a position, five on either side of the rider. A white magical circle appeared in front of each Diamond as they charged with energy. “You're out of scapegoats," Rarity said as she pointed at the monster. "So this will be your end!"
“Fire!” Achilles followed her lead. He thrusted his arm forward. On his command the drones all fired large blasts of energy, all aiming for Hydrax.
“No!" Hydrax yelled as he was struck, "My plan was perfect! I was supposed to win this one!” Those were his last words before he was consumed by the explosion. After the ten diamond drones all returned to their position on Achilles’ shoulder armor, he and Rarity turned for a victory pose.
A spectre like entity flew out of the explosion, zooming towards Coco and flying into her, restoring her.
Soon after the battle was over, Achilles used his new drones to make sure that there was no sign of Hydrax left. Once the rider was absolutely sure the monster wasn't coming back again, he went to see if Coco was alright. Twilight was already using her scanner on Coco, confirming if she was back to normal. “Everything looks like it's in order now. You have nothing to fear, Coco."
“Oh, that's wonderful,” Rarity said, gleeful as she brought Coco in for a hug.
“Everything looks back to normal,” Achilles said as he joined the girls.
“Yeah," Twilight said as she turned to the Rider, "Thanks for everything."
“Oh, yeah," Achilles noticed her device. "You were using that scanner thing the whole time?"
“Yeah," Twilight said with a smile, "I did get a lot of data. But you saved someone’s life again. That's kinda incredible.” She bowed, “Thank you for saving my friend.”
Achilles was at a loss of words. He was turning red, and he reflexively scratched at his face, but the mask itself helped him keep his cool exterior. “It was nothing. Someone was in trouble and I helped out,” he said, trying to keep his composure.
Twilight gave the Rider a nod, before she realized something. “Wait, you said 'Element Change' when you changed forms. That’s the same thing I called it."
“Oh...well,” Achilles slowly backed away. “Great minds think alike, I guess,” he said, before he ran off. Before Twilight could stop him, the drones on the rider’s shoulders flew out, and formed a stairway to the roof of the building.
“Geez, what was that about?” Twilight asked.
“People who were masks tend to be on the weird ones,” Trixie stated as she walked past Twilight. “Now that this whole ordeal is done, I need to get back to Sugarcube Corner before they run out of Peanut Butter Chocolate cake.”
Once Rarity saw Coco off, the two girls made their way back to the science lab. As they entered the room, they saw Flash packing up his things. “Oh hey, glad to see everyone is alright,” Flash said as he put on his backpack. “I figured we should end the day early after what happened. Already sent Ditzy off.”
“I think that’s a good call, Flash,” Rarity said as she walked over to the work station, gathering her things.
“Yeah," Twilight said as she did the same, "I need to get home to upload all the data I got."
“Are you sure you have to go home so early?" Flash asked, still trying to keep cool. "I was thinking we could all go to the diner, and see if Pinkie can’t score us some free onion rings."
“Oh," Rarity said as she slung her bag over her shoulder, "that sounds delightful! I do feel a bit peckish."
They turned to Twilight, who thought for a moment before shrugging. “Well if you two are going, then I guess finding out more about the Rider can wait." She put away her magic scanner. With a plan in mind the three left the school.
“So, Twilight," Flash asked as he and Twilight took the lead. "What info did you get on the Rider?”
“Well, I got a good look at his stats. Strength, speed, jump height,” Twilight said as they walked side by side.
As she walked behind them, Rarity couldn't help but smile. Those two do look cute together. Really makes me think what it would have been like, if things were different. Well, it can’t be helped. Whoever Flash does find in life, they are going to be very lucky. Rarity though to herself wistfully.