//------------------------------// // The Gnarled Wand // Story: Kamen Rider Justice // by RuinQueenofOblivion //------------------------------// “Do you ever stop to think about how weird this world is?” Sweetie Belle asked as she and Scootaloo laid in bed together that night, their covers pulled up over them as Scootaloo rest her head on Sweetie’s shoulder. “What do you mean?” Scootaloo asked. “Thinking about something that Pharynx said back when we were dealing with that Skinwalker monster,” Sweetie said with a sigh. “We live in a world with such terrifying creatures that we don’t even think about all of it. Most of the time unless it directly affects us, we just move on with our lives and pretend like it didn’t even happen.” “I don’t know really, maybe it’s some sort of coping mechanism,” Scootaloo said with a shrug. “I mean if we dwelled on everything that’s been going on in this world we’d probably all go insane.” “Yeah, probably,” Sweetie said with a chuckle as she rested her head on Scootaloo’s. “Or maybe it’s because at the end of the day we all have people like you keeping us safe.” “Yeah, it’s not an easy job but someone has to do it,” Scootaloo said as she snuggled against her fiance for a moment. “I wouldn’t be able to face this without you though, Sweetie Belle. You’re the light of my life and what keeps me sane.” “Of course,” Sweetie Belle said with a soft smile before she looked back at the engagement ring that had been set on the bedside table. “I love you so much Scootaloo. I’m so happy to have you.” The two young women stayed like that for a long moment as Scootaloo gently closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt the warmth of the pale skinned girl next to her and smiled a little as she thought about everything that had happened, and what might happen. “Do you think we should ever have kids, or, well, adopt kids?” Scootaloo asked softly and Sweetie blinked a little in surprise at that question. “Why do you ask?” Sweetie asked. “I don’t know, it was just something I thought about,” Scootaloo said as she shrugged a little bit. “I know it’s too early to really think about this. But, I’ve thought about it on and off, I don’t even know what kind of a mom I’d be.” “Do you want to be a mom?” “Sometimes,” Scootaloo admitted. This was a rare moment of vulnerability, she had never told anyone something like this, not even Sweetie Belle. “I lost my parents when I was young, sometimes I’d think about maybe being a mom myself someday. Having a son or a daughter, maybe adopting one to sort of, pay it forward. I know it’s silly.” “I think you’d make a good mom Scootaloo,” Sweetie said with a soft smile. “There’s nothing silly about it. Though I have to admit I wasn’t expecting you to be the one to bring it up, you are a bit, uh…” “Of a tomboy?” Scootaloo laughed. “Yeah, I am, but I love you Sweetie Belle. You’re everything I could’ve ever wanted in a woman. I feel comfortable letting my guard down around you and telling you things like that.” “Scootaloo, I love you so much,” Sweetie said with a soft smile. “And someday, I would definitely like that. But right now is not really the time to get involved with that kind of thing, we still have the Order to deal with you know? “Yeah, I know I just wanted to think about it for our future,” Scootaloo said. “You and me, we’re going to face all the challenges life throw at us head-on.” “Yeah, but let’s not think about that right now,” Sweetie said as she leaned over and gave Scootaloo a soft kiss on the lips. Her hand slowly moved to the darker skinned girl’s front and slowly began to pull the covers down over her bare skin. “I think we could both use a way to get our minds off of this.” Scootaloo smiled a little as she laid back on the bed and felt Sweetie’s soft lips press against her skin. This was exactly what she needed to get her mind off of this. 00000 “Are you aware of why we’ve called you here,” Fancy Pants said as he sat down to speak with the Agent that was seated across the table from him in the third agent they were interrogating. “I’ve heard the rumors, you’re looking for a spy or something,” the female agent said as she eyed Fancy Pants for a moment. “I’ve heard all the rumors given the sudden lockdown.” “Clearly we need to keep a better lid on things,” Fancy Pants said as he adjusted his monocle for a moment. “Given the recent events, we need to make sure that we don’t have any leaks. Can you account for your whereabouts earlier today around 1700 hours?” “Yes, I was working with Agent Harris,” the woman said. “You can confirm with him that I was there. Do you really think I’m the leak?” “We have to rule out all the possibilities,” Fancy Pants said as he crossed his arms. He made a mental note to question Agent Harris next once he was done talking to her. “Agent Harris will be questioned of course in order to confirm your alibi, Agent Rollings.” “Director, I understand your concerns but I have no reason to betray SMILE,” Agent Rollings said with a shake of her head. “Why are you questioning me at all?” “I’ll be asking the questions here,” Fancy Pants said as he looked over the files he had gathered on Agent Monica Rollings. In truth, he had found some of her recent purchases rather suspicious, though not as much as some others. “Did you recently came into some money?” “Yes, my aunt died last month and left me some money,” the agent said. “Why do you want to know?” “You made several purchases recently that are suspicious is all,” Fancy Pants said as he pushed the papers across the table that showed what he was talking about. There was a deposit that would go with that of course, but he wasn’t entirely sure what to make of this. “Have you seen anyone acting weird lately? What about Agent Stone Breaker? Have you interacted with him at all?” “No, I haven’t even had a need to go down there,” Agent Rollings said. “And these purchases are either from my inheritance or were shared among my family who paid me back for their parts of it.” “Alright, you’re dismissed,” Fancy Pants said as he rubbed his temples for a moment as Fleur came in again. “Any luck on your end?” “So far nothing that would be a smoking gun,” Fleur said as she took a seat. “I’ve found two office relationships and one guy who’s stealing office supplies though. None of which are particularly useful.” “Is it possible that we’re wrong?” Fancy asked as he looked at Fleur for a long moment. “Or maybe we’re looking in the wrong direction. The Order wouldn’t pay a spy they’d be more likely to send one of their Agents.” “Yes, and as long as they don’t transform they won’t let off any of the energy that would normally give them away,” Fleur said with a sigh. “We’re still under lockdown, maybe we should do searches instead.” “Agreed,” Fancy Pants said with a sigh. “Continue the interrogations for a moment, I’ll get Agent Drops to help with the searches. Right now she’s the only one we can actually trust with this until we eliminate more potential suspects.” “What about the monster still on the outside?” Fleur asked. “Unfortunately we’re not going to be able to help with that,” Fancy Pants said with a shake of his head. “But there are always ways around that. Is, she in the base?” “No, she’s out in the city, you know how she is,” Fleur said after looking over her tablet for a moment and looking back at Fancy Pants. “Do you want her recalled?” “No, have her keep an eye on Scootaloo and her friends,” Fancy Pants said. “If Gentov is out there, she’s the only target available to him right now. I want her to have the best help she can get right now.” “Understood, I’ll make sure she knows,” Fleur said. Fancy Pants sighed a little as he got up. It was now just a matter of seeing how things went from here. He walked out of the interrogation room to go talk with Sweetie Drops, right now their best bet was to get as much information as they could. He just hoped that everything was going to work. 00000 “Alright, we’ll keep an eye out,” Apple Bloom said as she spoke into her cell phone the next morning. “Is everything okay over there?” “We’re still working on figuring that out,” Fancy Pants said on the speakerphone. “Everyone is under lockdown right now. We’re going to get to the bottom of things out here, so Gentov is, unfortunately, your problem.” “Figures,” Scootaloo said as she took a bite of her waffle. “We’ll figure something out hopefully. This is all very, unnerving to be honest. Are you sure that the lockdown is necessary?” “For the moment, yes, don’t worry about us,” Fancy Pants replied. “Agent Drops is here with us right now and if there are any problems here we have it handled. We’ll send what help we can get on the outside, but there are only so many options we have right now.” “Well, that’s better than nothing,” Sweetie Belle said with a sigh. “Any suggestions on what we should do now?” “Stay close, given that Stone is in here and they can’t get to him with Gentov, you’re their primary target now,” Fancy Pants said. “Don’t leave each other’s sights, the Order already knows your identities. Right now the three of you are in the most danger, be careful out there and let us know if anything happens.” “We will, thank you,” Scootaloo said as she glanced at her friends for a moment. “Is there anything else we can do while we’re out here?” “Just be careful,” Fancy Pants said. “We’re hopefully going to be able to get you some help, but it won’t be a whole lot. Don’t do anything unnecessarily risky, if you can take Gentov out then that would help at least. See if you can figure out why they went after Agent Breaker, but I doubt they’ll be forthcoming with that information.” “Because of course, no way we can’t just get them to come out and say these things,” Scootaloo said with a sigh. “Alright, we’ll do everything we can to make sure that this thing is stopped before he can hurt anyone else.” “Do you know if there are any Agents in there with ya’ll?” Apple Bloom asked. “We don’t know at this point, but we’re not ruling it out yet,” Fancy Pants replied with a sigh. “Well, we need to get back on the searches, you know how to reach us if anything happens. We can’t trust anyone right now, so we don’t exactly have access to the Satellite.” Apple Bloom sighed a little as she hung up her phone and put it away. “Well, we’re on our own then. Ah really have no idea how ta feel about this.” “Yeah, me neither,” Scootaloo said with a slight shiver. “But we don’t have much of a choice right now. For now, let’s just figure out exactly what we should do next.” “Yeah, I don’t know either,” Sweetie Belle said with a shake of her head. “This is a bad situation, so now it’s just a matter of figuring out where Gentov is, without a satellite. Why do I feel like we’re in an episode of the Flash?” “Or maybe Supergirl,” Scootaloo said with a light chuckle as she leaned over and kissed Sweetie gently on the lips. “So, what are we going to do now? I mean, we can’t just stay cooped up in here, especially since the Order knows where we live.” “Right, Ah honestly have no idea,” Apple Bloom said as she frowned a little bit. “Maybe we should get out of town fer a bit. We could head out ta tha farm maybe, that might give us tha home field advantage.” “That’s not a bad idea,” Sweetie said as she looked thoughtful for a moment. “Do you think they might be able to help? I mean, we’re going to need help with this. Let’s just hope that this is going to be enough.” “Yeah, hopefully,” Sweetie said with a sigh. “I’ll check and see how much ammunition we have on hand. I just hope that it’s going to be enough.” Scootaloo nodded as Sweetie got up and headed into the other room and opened a case. It held the guns and the ammunition that they had been given to help fight the Order. She glanced back at the drawers behind her and shuddered a little. No, she wasn’t going to do that, right now she had to focus on getting to Sweet Apple Acres and figure out how to deal with Gentov. 00000 Priellit walked through the halls of the Order’s base as she headed for her destination. She finally stopped in front of an ornate looking door. She opened it up after a moment as she entered the room, it was ornately furnished with paintings and other elaborate pieces of art covering the walls. Standing at the center with a violin in his hands was the man in black as he played, his barely visible eyes closed as he played a soft but complex series of notes that grew in intensity slowly, not noticing Priellit. He finally lowered the violin and snapped his fingers as it vanished as he looked back at Priellit who had been listening. “You realize that it’s rude to come in without knocking right?” He asked as he adjusted his hat a little bit. “What do you need?” “We got a report that Kamen Rider Justice and her friends left the city,” Priellit said as she crossed her arms a little. “Gentov is asking for orders given that he’s unable to go after his primary target.” “What is the word on that?” The Man in Black asked. “Dutek is still in place and is just waiting for an opportunity to deal with him,” Priellit said with a nod. “Unfortunately there are a lot of hostiles in the area around him. They know we’re after him, and there’s also the matter of the enemy searching for our Agents.” “Yes, that is a problem,” the man in black said as he stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment. “Can we get them out?” “Not without exposing their identity,” Priellit said with a shake of her head. “We’re going to have to have them be careful. Given how thorough these searches are though, it’s likely that they’ll be exposed.” “Then tell them to focus on dealing with the target as soon as possible,” the man in black said as he leaned on his cane for a moment. “We’ve let this breach go on for long enough, we need to deal with him now.” “Understood,” Priellit said with a nod. “I will send Dutek the message now, there shouldn’t be a chance of the target getting away. “Is there anything else?” “No, not for now,” the Man in Black said. “Tell Granforca and Kuagua to continue their operations in the city itself. We have to make sure that we don’t have any other ones out there that could be a target.” “Understood, I will,” Priellit said as she bowed slightly. She walked back out as the man in black snapped his fingers and the violin re-appeared in his hands and he set it beneath his chin once more. He started to play the same song he had been playing before as energy began to crackle over the strings of the violin. The music continued as more of the energy surrounded the violin. 00000 “Yah know this sounds crazy right?” An old woman with white hair said to Apple Bloom as Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were getting things out of the car. “Ah mean we’ve heard about what’s been goin’ on, but they ain’t been this far out.” “Yeah… about that…” Apple Bloom said with a sigh. “Look, Ah know it’s askin’ a lot of ya’ll but we need someplace ta lay low fer a little bit. Are yah sure that this is gonna be okay? We can figure somethin’ else out if we have ta Granny.” “No, it’s good ta have yah back actually,” Sandra Apple, who most called Granny Smith, they had an odd family really, said. “Ah’m glad ta have ya’ll here really.” “It’s been that quiet since Applejack and Rarity moved ta New York?” Apple Bloom asked. “Well, I wouldn’t say it’s been quiet given everythin’ that’s goin’ on,” Granny Smith said with a light chuckle. “But Ah admit it feels a bit empty sometimes. And sometimes it feels like its a bit too full.” “Well, we’re glad ta be here,” Apple Bloom said with a soft smile as she hugged her grandmother. “So, Ah guess we’re gonna need some help in dealin’ with this guy if he shows up.” “Don’t worry, tha Order is gonna regret ever messin’ with tha Apple Family,” Granny Smith said as she nodded back to the house where Big Mac was coming out of the house with a shotgun. “We ain’t gonna let a monster get their hands on ya’ll.” “Thanks,” Scootaloo said as she and Sweetie Belle walked over to them with their stuff. “So, what are we going to do?” "We're gonna set up whatever defenses we can," Big Mac said as he walked over to the group. "Sugar Belle and tha kids are gettin' everythin' set up so we'll know if they come our way." "Hopefully it'll be enough," Scootaloo said with a sigh. "I'm sorry we brought all of this on you. This isn't going to be easy, and if you want to leave then I won't blame you." "Scootaloo, yer part of tha family because of Sweetie, and we take care of family," Apple Bloom said as she looked over at Granny Smith who nodded. "We'll be fine, we've dealt with a lot of things in tha past. Tha Order ain't gonna make tha same mistake twice." "So, what are we going to do now?" Sweetie Belle asked. "We should be able ta get everythin' together, fer now go get settled in," Big Mac said with a nod. "We'll let yah know if anythin' comes up, okay?" "Okay," Scootaloo said as they headed towards the farmhouse. She took one last look down the road, there was always a risk of something happening, but that was their life now. It meant a lot that they had people like the Apples backing them up even without SMILE's help. She smiled a little as they headed into the house to get settled in. The Apples were her family just as much as Rainbow Dash and her adopted parents, now she just had to figure out how to keep them from being hurt. 00000 "Agent McKarren," Fancy Pants said as the agent jumped up as he came into the Agent's room accompanied by two guards. "Yes, Director?" Agent McKarren asked without even breaking a sweat. "We're here to search you and your quarters for any suspected contraband," Fancy Pants said as he adjusted his monocle for a moment and eyed McKarren. "This is an order, and it would help if you did this willingly." "Yes sir," the Agent said quickly as he eyed Fancy Pants for a moment. "I'm of course willing to fully cooperate with your search Director." Fancy Pants nodded as the two Agents that accompanied him started to search the room. Fancy Pants stayed closed to Agent McKarren and looked over the suspected agent. Agent McKarren tried not to look nervous as they searched the room for a moment. "You share a room with Agent Theodore Sykes, correct?" Fancy Pants asked as he looked over the information on the agents. They were two of many agents that actually lived on the base for an extended period, so they shared the room together. "Correct," McKarren said calmly. "Why are you asking?" "We're looking for a possible Agent of the Order," Fancy Pants said as he eyed McKarren for a moment. "Do you happen to have any information on that?" "No, sir." "Any suspicions about other agents?" "No, sir." "I found something!" One of the searching Agents said as he raised up and held a card in his hand. "It looks like the Two of Pentacles, Director." "That's interesting," Fancy Pants said as he eyed McKarren for a moment. "Do you mind explaining yourself, Agent McKarren?" "Director sir, I honestly did not know anything about that," McKarren said. "If one of my fellow agents was an Agent of the Order then I would have informed you immediately." "I just have one more question for you," Fancy Pants said. "Do you know the current whereabouts of Agent Theodore Sykes?" McKarren flinched for a moment before he sighed. "I don't know sir, he asked me to try and cover for him while he went to do something," he said with a shake of his head. "Thank you Agent McKarren, that will be all," Fancy Pants said before he turned to look at the other two agents. "Come on, we need to find Agent Sykes now. He's still somewhere in the base and we know he's after Stone." "What about the card, sir?" One of the Agents asked as they walked out of the room together. Fancy Pants paused for a moment, this was the first time they had actually taken one of these cards without defeating the monster spirit. He nodded to the two agents as they kept walking down the hall, something about all of this was bad, there just weren't a lot of options right now. "Sir!" The agent who had found the card said and they looked back to see that the card was glowing brightly. It suddenly vanished from his hand and the three of them exchanged a look. "That's bad, right?" The other agent asked. Fancy Pants raised his radio and spoke into it. "Agent Drops, stay on your guard. We've got a bogey in the base, repeat we've got an enemy in the base." "Understood, I'll keep an eye out for anything down here," Sweetie Drops' voice said on the other end. "What are we dealing with here?" "Two of Pentacles, so whoever it is they've got a weak gun," Fancy Pants said quickly into the radio. "Keep an eye out for Agent Theodore Sykes as well. He appears to be the enemy Agent." "Understood," Sweetie Drops said. "What do you want us to do?" "Take him down," Fancy Pants said simply. 00000 "What's going on?" Stone asked as Sweetie Drops turned off the radio and set it back down. He had been working on getting the upgrade done all night and was almost done at this point. "We think we know who's coming after you," Sweetie Drops said as she placed her hand on her Driver. "Is the elevator secured right now?" "Yeah, but I honestly don't know if they'll be able to come in through other means," Stone said as he went back to testing things out. "There are ventilation shafts and other things around here to make sure that things don't accumulate in the area down here. I know it's not the best option, but it's what we've got." "Right, and knowing our luck they'll be able to get in really easily," Sweetie Drops said with a sigh as she looked out at the underground track. "Maybe we should go back upstairs, what do you think?" "Maybe, but honestly this place is pretty deep," Stone said with a shake of her head. "They can't just walk in here you know. For now, we just need to focus on getting everything together." "Yeah," Sweetie Drops said with a sigh as she brushed her hair back a little bit. "So, exactly how is this going to work when it's finally done?" "Basically it's going to improve your vehicles in order to make sure that everything is together," Stone said with a shake of his head. "The programming and the coordination with the spirit in the card is the trickiest part right now. We should be able to make sure that this works though." "Yeah..." Sweetie Drops said as she looked over at Stone and then back towards the tracks. She narrowed her eyes when she saw that there were some signs of something being cut through in the ceiling "You might want to hurry up. I've got a bad feeling about this." "Almost there..." Stone said as he glanced back at Sweetie Drops. "How long do you think we have?" "I'll buy you time," Sweetie Drops said as she took out her Driver and placed it on her waist as the belt formed around her as she raised her half of the Lovers card. "Henshin!" She slid the card into the card slot as the Driver let out the familiar phrase, "LOVE CONQUERS ALL THINGS!" The red and pink energy flowed out of the circle at the center of the belt and encompassed her body. The pink and red armor covered her as the black and gold bow appeared in her hand. She glanced back towards Stone and gave him a nod. "Don't worry about this, I'll stop him," Sweetie Drops said as she stepped out of the lab just as the piece of the ceiling fell down and a new monster appeared. He was dressed in bizarre armor that looked like it was maybe modeled on something from ancient Greece. He looked around for a moment as he was confused a bit at the moment. "WHERE ARE YOU?" HE demanded as he tried to find Stone. "You must be the Agent," Sweetie Drops said as she stepped forward, firing an energy arrow at the monster who just barely managed to dodge it. "I'm not about to let you hurt Stone Breaker!" "And how are you going to stop me?" The monster said with a sneer as he looked at her for a long moment. "You're standing alone, you don't have your friends here to help you fight!" "I don't need them to fight, and I'm not alone," Sweetie Drops said as she fired another arrow at him which the monster dodged and drew an old fashioned looking pistol and fired several energy bullets at her. “Figures we’d run into a Pentacles Monster,” Lyra’s voice said in her mind as Sweetie Drops rolled out of the way and fired another arrow towards the monster. “How long do you think it’s been here?” “Who knows,” Sweetie Drops said with a shake of her head as she fired an arrow but the monster just dodged it. The monster raised its hand and water came out of a jug on its waist and it sent it flying towards Sweetie Drops and hit her straight in the chest before pulling it back and forming a ball of water as he laughed. “Did you really think it was going to be so easy to take me down?” He laughed. “You’re pathetic, I’m going to kill you and then I’m going to take Stone Breaker away!” “Any ideas on what to do?” Sweetie Drops asked as she fired another arrow at the monster who just broke it with a burst of water. “Because I’ve got nothing.” “You could stall them until whatever Stone is working on is done,” Lyra suggested. “Any ideas on how to do that?” “Maybe,” Sweetie Drops said as she formed three arrows in her bow and pulled back on it and fired them right at the monster who managed to stop two of them but grimaced when he was hit by the third in the chest. “Hey Spartacus, why are you after Stone anyway?” “I’m not going to let you distract me with pointless questions!” The monster sneered as he spun the water orb around and hit Sweetie Drops hard with it as she stumbled a little. “We have our reasons and we’re not about to tell them to you!” “Great, we have one that’s actually smart this time,” Lyra remarked as Sweetie Drops struggled to right herself and fired another three arrows at the monster but this time he put up a shield of water that blocked it before firing several energy bullets at her which caught her in the shoulder. “Son of a…” Sweetie Drops said with a groan as she held her shoulder, that was going to throw her aim off a bit. She was about to raise her bow again when her bike Anteros moved next to her and she called back to Stone. “Does this mean it works?” “I’ve run every simulation I can, it should work,” Stone’s voice said over her communicator as he shut and locked the door as Sweetie Drops swung her leg over the bike and sat down on it. “The card is in the bags on the side.” “Got it,” Sweetie Drops said as she reached into the bag attached to the side of the bike and took out a card. It depicted a man standing in a chariot pulled by two sphinxes. “The Chariot… figures really.” “Yeah, well don’t knock it,” Lyra said as Sweetie Drops held the card up and slid it into the bike’s card slot as she turned it around to face the monster. “Let’s see how this works.” “ACTIVATING CHARIOT MODE!” The bike’s mechanized voice said. Energy flowed out of the front of the bike and surrounded it and Sweetie Drops. Armor formed over the bike that had elaborate designs on it. The energy glowed around it to form sphynx designs on the side of the armor, one black and one white. Then gold plated armor formed over Sweetie Drops’ shoulder pads and helmet. Finally, two long pincers appeared on the front of the machine and Sweetie Drops revved the engine. “So you’ve got some fancy upgrade, it’s not going to be enough,” the monster laughed as he fired several more energy bullets at Sweetie Drops which just bounced off the armor that covered her. “Wow, this is pretty handy,” Lyra commented. “Pass my compliments onto Stone will you?” Sweetie Drops chuckled a little as she gunned the engine and sped right at the monster. The gun-wielding monster’s glowing eyes went wide under the helmet as he drew out all the water he could around it, hitting Sweetie Drops hard with it as he did. “You’re… not… going… to… win…” The monster said through the strain as if she was pushing back against him. “Don’t even think about it! I’m going to beat you, I’m going to beat all of you! I know who you are and now so does my Masters!” “Then bring them ON!” Sweetie Drops said as she hit a button on the side of the handlebars and the front of the bike started to glow brightly. “CHARIOT BREAK!” The computerized voice said from the bike as it pushed through the burst of water, dispelling it as it pushed forward. The energy gathered in the pincers finally released as it made contact with the monster who cried out as it went flying back and hit the wall behind him. “You… won’t… win…” he said through the pain. “We will come back, we will always come back, and you can’t succeed…” “We’ll see about that,” Sweetie Drops said as she looked at him. For a moment the monster’s armor remained before the monster form shattered and the card fluttered down, leaving a man dressed in agent armor lying there barely conscious. Sweetie Drops reached down and picked up the card as she activated her suit’s communication system. “Director, the hostile is defeated. It was just like you said, the Two of Pentacles.” “Alright, we’ll send a medical team down to take Agent Sykes up to the medical wing,” Fancy Pants said. “We’ll do one more check over just to be safe though. There’s not much we can do without putting us at risk in case they have more than one agent.” “Understood,” Sweetie Drops said as she removed the Chariot card from the slot and looked at the card for a moment. “So, how did the test run of the new system go?” Fancy Pants asked. “Well it worked as advertised at least,” Sweetie Drops said as she put it back in the bike’s bag. “And we’ve got a new card for Death if we can ever find her at least.” “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of that,” Fancy Pants replied. “Good work out there Agent Drops. Make sure that everything is secured and take a couple of days off once we’re sure that Scootaloo and her friends are okay.” “Okay,” Sweetie Drops said as she removed her cards from her Driver and slid them into her deck box as she wheeled the bike back to the lab. “It looks like your project was a success at least.” “Yes, though it may be harder to use against a stronger monster,” Stone said as he looked up from his computer where he had been going over the data from the battle. “Sorry for using you as a guinea pig.” “We needed to do it,” Sweetie Drops said as she looked at Anteros for a long moment. The bike had served its purpose well, though she had to admit it was still weird. How had the Order managed to get to someone in SMILE itself without being noticed? And why were they after Stone at all? Something about all of this was weird, and it just left them with more questions than answers. And that worried her more than anything else right now. 00000 At the same time that Sweetie Drops was guarding Stone, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom were making their way through one of the fields. They smiled a little when they reached their destination, an old treehouse that was built into one of the trees in the farm. “Wow, it looks pretty good,” Scootaloo said with a chuckle as she looked up at the clubhouse and smiled a little as she looked back at her friends. “It’s hard to believe how long it’s been since we were last here.” “Yeah,” Apple Bloom said with a soft smile as she looked at Sweetie Belle who gave a slight nod. This had been their old clubhouse when they were growing up. The three of them had so many fond memories of this place. They had played out adventures, dreams, had sleepovers, and this place had been the center of all of them. Sweetie took Scootaloo’s hand in her’s and gave it a light squeeze as she smiled at her. This had been where they had spent their first night as a couple. Where they had laughed during the happy times and cried during the tough times. This was their home, the thing that brought them all together. “Hey Auntie Apple Bloom, Auntie Sweetie!” Two voices called out as they turned to see two kids running up to them. They were a boy and a girl that looked like they were around 7 years old, the girl had short purple hair while the boy had orange hair. “Hey you two,” Sweetie Belle said with a smile as the kids hugged her and Apple Bloom. Gala and Arkansas Apple were the twin children of Big Mac and his wife Sugar Belle and had lived on the farm with their parents. “How’s it going?” “Good, is it true?” Gala asked with a cute tilt of her head. “Is Scootaloo really Kamen Rider Justice?” “Because that would be so cool!” Arkansas said, trying not to jump with excitement which just made Scootaloo chuckle a little. “Please, tell us, tell us!” “Well, let’s see,” Scootaloo said thoughtfully for a moment as if she was trying to decide what to say. “Maybe I am, maybe I’m not, maybe this will answer…” She reached into her jacket pocket and took out the Tarot Driver which made the kids’ eyes go wide for a moment as she smiled a little. “Wow, that’s so cool!” The twins said in unison as Scootaloo laughed a little and put it back. “Wait, does that mean that what mommy said is true?” Gala asked, the girl suddenly looked very worried. “Is there really gonna be one of those Monsters coming here?” “Probably, yes,” Scootaloo said with a sigh as she sat down on the impromptu steps that lead up to the treehouse. “I wish I could give you better news, but I promise we’re going to do everything we can to stop them from hurting you or anything else.” “Definitely not gonna happen with Kamen Rider Justice here,” Apple Bloom said with a chuckle as she gave Scootaloo a nod. “This ain’t gonna be easy, but we’re gonna do everythin’ we can ta make sure that tha monster doesn’t do anythin’.” “Well, we have been following everything we can on the events that have been going on in the city,” Sugar Belle said as she walked closer. “And it’s quite the talk of the twins’ school. You’d be amazed at how many kids play Kamen Rider Justice. We’ve got our own Superhero.” “Yeah, and it’s our antie Sweetie’s fiance too!” Gala said excitedly. “Everyone’s gonna be so jealous,” Arkansas said with a big grin. “No!” Scootaloo said which made them stop. “Uh, you see Superheroes really shouldn’t let their secret identities get out. You know, like how Spider-Man or Superman doesn’t? Justice is my secret identity, I can’t let it get out so the two of you have to promise not to tell anyone, okay?” “Oh fine,” Arkansas said. “Can I at least say I got to meet you? I’d get so much cred for that alone. Maybe a picture or…” “We’ll see, but don’t push your luck,” Scootaloo said with a chuckle as she looked back at Sweetie Belle who gave her a slight smile. “It’s nice to be back here though, feels like forever since we were last able to visit.” “Well, we’re always glad to have you here, even under these circumstances,” Sugar Belle said with a sigh. “So, what are we going to do now? I mean, we can’t just keep the twins in the line of fire.” “We could put them in tha tornado shelter,” Apple Bloom suggested. “Ah mean, we had that thing built ta be hard ta get into, right? It might do tha trick.” “Aww, but we want ta help too!” The twins said together. “Please don’t make us go away? Pretty please?” “Gala, Arkansas, yer too young ta be put in danger like this,” Apple Bloom said as she knelt down next to her niece and nephew. “We can take care of this and yer Pa is gonna be helpin’ us out, okay?” “Okay,” Gala said with a pout and Arkansas looked disappointed but nodded in agreement. “Well, it sounds like everythin’ is gonna be okay,” Apple Bloom said as she took a deep breateh before her phone went off. She held it up and noticed that it was Big Mac calling as she answered it. “What’s up, Bro?” “Ah’ve got somethin’ weird goin’ on here,” Big Mac said on the other end. “Some lady on a black and silver motorcycle showed up. Looks like somethin’ out of a detective story or somethin’. Yah know anythin’ about her?” “Ah think so,” Apple Bloom said as she looked back at her friends for a moment. “Ah doubt she’s gonna cause any problems. We’ll be there in a few minutes, okay?” “Alright, just hurry up, she gives me the creeps,” was the response. “There’s somethin’ about her that just ain’t natural.” Apple Bloom hung up the phone and sighed a little as she looked back at her friends. “Looks like Kamen Rider Death showed up.” “Kamen Rider Death?” Sugar Belle asked. “That’s not a very subtle name you know.” “Yeah, we’ve realized that,” Scootaloo said with a chuckle as they started to head back towards the farmhouse with a sigh. “We’re really going to have to come visit here when we’re not in the middle of fighting a monster aren’t we?” “Definitely,” Sweetie Belle said with a soft smile as she took Scootaloo’s hand in her’s and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Come on, we don’t want to leave her waiting.” Scootaloo nodded as the group headed for the farmhouse. Scootaloo was at least happy that they were getting some help here. A lot of weird things were going on, it was just a matter of stopping the monster if he headed this way. 00000 “You have an interesting choice in hiding places the strange woman dressed in black said as she eyed Scootaloo and the others as they arrived. “It wasn’t easy to track you down.” “That was kind of the idea, we wanted to get somewhere away from the city,” Sweetie Belle said with a shrug. “We know this territory so we have an advantage over the monster at least. And, well we didn’t actually think we were getting any back-up.” “Understandable,” the woman in black said as she adjusted her mask a moment to take a drink from a bottle of water. “Unfortunately this thing wasn’t too far behind me. I hope you’re all ready for this.” “Sugar, get tha twins into tha shelter,” Big Mac said as he cocked his shotgun. “We ain’t gonna let some monster hurt our family.” Scootaloo smiled a little as she gave him a nod and placed her hand on her Driver as Sugar Belle lead the twins away. “How long do you think it’ll be?” Scootaloo asked as the woman raised a handheld device just as a bell started ringing. “I’d say any moment now,” she said as she took out her Driver and placed it on her waist as the belt formed around it. “You might want to get ready.” Scootaloo nodded and did the same with her own Driver as Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom took out their guns. There was a long moment of silence as they waited for something to happen. For a moment it seemed like nothing was going to happen as they stood there. The woman frowned a little as she looked at the handheld device and hit it a little bit." "What's wrong?" Sweetie Belle asked. "I don't know, it says it should be right on top of us," the woman said as she looked around confused for a moment and then back at Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. "What's going on?" "Wait... didn't the Director say that Gentov's powers were..." Scootaloo started to say before they all felt it, the rumbling beneath their feet. Their eyes went wide as they jumped out of the way just before the ground cracked open and Gentov jumped out swinging his whip around and just barely missing Scootaloo as she jumped back. "Earth manipulation!" "Well, well, how convenient that you all decided to gather in one place," Gentov said with a laugh as he eyed the gathered group. "Are you going to come quietly or do I have to do this the hard way? Please do it the hard way, I find it's way more fun." "Scootaloo, are you up for this?" The woman asked as she glanced at Scootaloo from behind her black mask. "I remember what happened with Granforca before." "I'm fine," Scootaloo said as she raised her cards up and nodded to the woman. "Let's do this then." "Right," the woman in black said as she took out her own two cards and slid them into her Driver. "Hen… shin!" "Henshin!" Scootaloo added as she slid the cards into her own Driver. "THE PALE HORSE RIDES AGAIN!" "TIME TO TIP THE SCALES!" The energy flowed around the two women as their armor formed over them. The woman's armor was black with a silver breastplate and arm and leg armor. A silver helmet shaped like a human skull formed over her with more armoring that ran down her back with holes in it and two small antennae along with glowing red eyes. A black and gold revolver appeared in her hand. Kamen Rider Death had returned once more. "I can see your future, and it's not bright," Scootaloo said as she held her Rapier out and pointed at the monster as she narrowed her eyes from behind the visor. "Are you ready for this, Death?" "Of course," she said as she spun the barrel of the revolver and pointed it at Gentov as she smirked a little bit. "You're not going to be able to stop us. Death, after all, comes for everyone." "She's a bit overdramatic isn't she?" Sweetie Belle asked as they managed to steady themselves again. Scootaloo nodded as she ran forward at the monster as she just managed to avoid a rock being thrown at her by Gentov. She stabbed her sword at the monster who just laughed as he snapped his whip at her, catching her across the chest as he laughed at her. "You're just going to keep trying aren't you? Too bad I can hit you when you're close by or far away," Gentov said with a laugh as he dodged another stab from Scootaloo's rapier as the woman fired several energy bullets at him. "I'm not about to let this be where it ends." "Good luck with that," Scootaloo said as she rubbed where the whip had hit her for a moment as she stabbed at the monster as Gentov snapped the whip and wrapped it around the sword's blade. "Ha, you thought I'd actually let you get a hit in that easily, did you?" Gentov asked with a laugh as he avoided a bullet shot by Sweetie Belle who stomped her foot. "Yeah, but I can still do this," Scootaloo said as she quickly switched her cards out and the Rapier vanished from her hand as she did. "ARCANA KATANA!" The Driver said as a new sword appeared in her free hand, this one was a katana that had the same ornate black and gold designs as the other Arcana weapons. She swung the sword around as she slashed the monster across the chest as he stumbled back. "I'm not about to let you hurt these good people," Scootaloo said as she held the sword out and kicked at Gentov who stumbled back a moment. The monster cried out as his back was filled with buckshot from Big Mac's shotgun. While it hadn't done nearly as much damage as the guns actually made to fight against Order agents would, it still stung Gentov as he turned around to see the large man standing there. "Why you little... I'll make you pay for that, I'll..." he started to say only to get another shotgun blast for his trouble. "Foolish human! You have no idea what you're messing with." "Ah know what Ah'm messin' with, Ah'm messin' with tha freak that's tryin' ta hurt mah family," Big Mac said as he reloaded his shotgun. "Scootaloo, hit him good fer me!" Scootaloo nodded as she slashed the katana hard across his back. Gentov finally let out a roar as he rose up with rock and dirt flying up around him as he used it to push her back. "NO! I'M NOT GOING TO LOSE HERE!" He shouted as he slammed his foot down onto the ground as more dirt and rock started to rise up around him and formed over his body. "What the hell is he doin'?" Big Mac asked as he took a step back. "Ah have no idea, this is new fer us too!" Apple Bloom said as she fired several shots at the monster only to have them barely penetrate the forming armor. "Hey, skull lady, any idea what this is about?" "It's not seen very often, but the fact of the matter is that sometimes the powersets can have some unusual effects," the woman said as she fired several more shots at Gentov that chipped off some of the armor as Scootaloo tried to do the same with her sword. "The best we can do is try and deal with the armor before it gets any bigger." Scootaloo nodded a little as she raised her fist and slammed it hard into the monster's side but it didn't do much good as he swung his own fist around and connected with her stomach, knocking the wind out of her as she went flying back onto the ground from the force. "Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle said as she quickly fired off several more bullets before running over to Scootaloo and helping her up to her feet. "Are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine," Scootaloo said as she tried to get her breath back, it felt a little better at least as she held the katana tight in her hand. "This is hard, but nothing we can't handle... right?" "Right," the woman said as she quickly switched her cards out too and slid one into her Driver again. "ARCANA SHOTGUN!" Her Driver said as the ornate black and gold double-barreled shotgun appeared in her hands as she fired several more shots at the monster, knocking off more of its armor as cracked its whip, striking the woman across the chest. "Ah, yes, Kamen Rider Death, you were bound to return weren't you?" He laughed as he cracked his whip once more. "You're so predictable, we knew we could draw you out eventually and we'll make sure you pay for everything you did to the Order!" "Good luck with that," the woman said as she fired several more shots that hit him in the chest again as she moved in closer and quickly switched the shotgun around and swung the butt of it at his head, catching him off guard as it hit and cracked the armor hard. "I'm not letting anyone get hurt again as you've done in the past!" She finally aimed the shotgun right at his head and pulled the trigger again, breaking off the helmet armor once and for all as she jumped back to avoid another hit. She nodded to Scootaloo who ran forward and kicked and punched at the monster, breaking off more of the armor as she slashed hard at it with her katana, before preparing to stab it. Gentov swerved around and caught Scootaloo in the chest again, but not before he sunk the sword into his shoulder. She stumbled back a little before she gripped the sword and pushed it in deeper. “I’m… taking… you… down…” Scootaloo said through the exertion of pushing the sword farther in before punching Gentov and pushing it back as she pulled the sword out with energy crackling out of it. She jumped up and energy gathered in her foot as she came crashing down on the monster. “JUSTICE KICK!” She shouted as it hit the monster hard. For a moment it was quiet before finally the monster’s form shattered leaving a form of a man with a shaved head with several tattoos on his body collapsed on the ground. “It’s finally over…” Scootaloo said breathing heavily as she turned around and deactivated her Driver as she powered down and picked up the card from the ground. It depicted a man with an arm in a sling with nine sticks behind him. “The Nine of Wands, that’s another one down.” “What the hell are you doing?” Sweetie Belle said and Scootaloo spun around to see the woman in black, now powered down, pointing a pistol at the head of the unconscious man. “He’s a known member of a gang, this man is scum and doesn’t deserve to plague this city,” she said as she prepared to pull the trigger. “Why do you think the Nine of Wands was attracted to him?” “Not everyone who gets possessed by a card is scum,” Scootaloo said as she narrowed her eyes at the strange woman. “We are not judges and juries, we’ll turn him over to the proper authorities!” “I am Death, I come for everyone,” the woman in black said coldly as she shot a look at Scootaloo, her barely visible eyes flashed with anger. “This man does not deserve life and I will send it back to God.” “Scootaloo, I don’t think you can reason with her,” Sweetie said as she placed her hand gently on Scootaloo’s shoulder. “I’ll stop you,” Scootaloo said as she raised her Driver and placed it on her waist as the belt formed around her. “Are you going to fight a fellow Kamen Rider over this piece of human trash?” The woman asked. “You’re not the type, Scootaloo. You only fight the Monsters, me, well, I’ve battled monsters far too long.” “Scootaloo…” Sweetie Belle started to say. Scootaloo paused a moment, she knew deep down that the mysterious woman was right. She would never be able to fight someone like her. No matter how she acted, she was still a fellow Kamen Rider. So, what was she supposed to do? She couldn’t let her kill this man even if he was a career criminal. She was about to take out the cards again when the door to the house opened up. “Is it safe?” Sugar Belle asked as she poked her head out, the twins looking out nervously for a moment. “Take them back…” Apple Bloom started to say when suddenly the woman looked right at them and lowered her pistol. “Fine, you want to let the police deal with him, be my guest,” the woman said as she walked back to her bike and climbed onto it. “But the day will come when you realize just like I have, they don’t deserve your mercy.” She revved up the engine and sped off down the road towards the highway, leaving them all confused. “What just happened?” Sugar Belle asked as Scootaloo took out her phone to call Fancy Pants. “It’s a long story,” Apple Bloom said with a sigh as they looked off towards where the strange woman had left. “And Ah honestly don’t know what ta tell yah.” They all stood in silence for a few moments as Scootaloo talked to Fancy Pants to get the man taken away. There were a lot of unanswered questions, something about all of this still felt off, they just had to hope that they’d be able to figure this out. The mystery of Kamen Rider Death had just deepened. 00000 Lyra yawned a little as she looked at the clock, it was getting late and she was a bit hungry. She figured that she might as well order something as she didn’t really feel like cooking dinner after the day she had. She was about to order something when her doorbell rang. She blinked a little in confusion as she hadn’t been expecting anyone. She walked over to the door and looked outside before smiling as she opened it up to find Sweetie Drops standing here with a pizza box from Magnum Opus Pizza. “Hey, Sweetie Drops, what brings you here?” Lyra asked. “Well, I happened to be in the area and was holding a pizza so...” Sweetie Drops chuckled a little as she held the pizza up. “I thought we could have a take two on our dinner the other night, what do you say?” Lyra smiled a little and moved out of the way so Sweetie Drops could come inside. Sweetie Drops set the pizza down on the table as Lyra went and got the plates and something to drink as she sat them down. “You didn’t have to do this you know,” Lyra said as she picked up a slice of pizza and put it on her plate. “I mean, it was just a dinner between old friends.” “Maybe, but I wanted to,” Sweetie Drops said with a soft smile as she took a bite of pizza. “Besides, I can’t eat this whole pizza by myself.” Lyra just laughed at that as she took a bite of pizza as well as she smiled over at Sweetie Drops. The two of them had been through a lot together since becoming Kamen Rider Amores, and it really was nice to be able to spend time together. “Well, the Director gave me a few days off,” Sweetie Drops said with a slight smile. “Maybe we should use that time to get caught up on things. I mean, it feels more like we’ve mostly spent our time together fighting monsters.” “I’d like that,” Lyra said with a soft smile as they started to talk. It was nice to finally be able to spend time together as friends. 00000 “Sweetie, do you ever wonder why we’re here?” Scootaloo asked as she and Sweetie Belle stared up at the stars together. “Wasn’t that from Red vs. Blue?” Sweetie Belle asked with a chuckle as she looked over at her fiance. “Yes, but my question still stands,” Scootaloo said with a chuckle. “I mean, with everything that’s been happening do you ever wonder why we’re here? I mean what might have happened if my family hadn’t been killed?” “Honestly, I’d like to think we’d have still found one another,” Sweetie Belle said with a soft smile as she laid her head on Scootaloo’s shoulder for a moment. “I don’t believe in fate or destiny or anything of course. There are a lot of things that we have to wonder about though.” “Yeah, I still have to wonder why Justice picked me,” Scootaloo said with a sigh. “But I do know one thing.” “What’s that?” “That I’m not going to let the Order hurt you or anyone else,” Scootaloo said with a soft smile. “No matter why we’re here, I’m going to make sure that the Order is stopped.” “Good,” Sweetie Belle said with a soft smile as she wrapped her arms around Scootaloo. “I love you so much Scootaloo.” Scootaloo smiled a little as she kissed Sweetie Belle gently on the forehead and placed her hand on her fiance’s hand where the ring was. Sometimes she felt like she had rushed into this a little bit, but she knew that it was the right decision. “We’re going to have to start working on wedding plans you know,” Scootaloo said with a chuckle. “Yeah, I know,” Sweetie said. “I mean, we don’t exactly have an easy job. How are we even going to pick a date for the wedding? Knowing our luck we’ll get attacked on our wedding day, that is usually how these things work.” “Heh, yeah, maybe we should see if we can find all the past Kamen Riders we can and invite them or something,” Scootaloo said with a chuckle. “That way the Order will have to fight through a bunch of the guests first.” “Don’t even joke like that, I doubt they’d come,” Sweetie Belle said with a roll of her eyes. “I love you Scootaloo.” “I love you too Sweetie,” Scootaloo said as she and Sweetie Belle shared a long kiss. Even if there was going to be a lot of challenges for them moving forward, they both knew that they were going to be just fine as long as they had each other. Scootaloo pulled Sweetie onto her and they deepened the kiss, enjoying the moment together in the cool grass of the field near their old clubhouse. It was the perfect moment, nothing else mattered to them right now. They just enjoyed the moment as they shared a loving embrace.