“Great, we have company. Should have expected that,” Phoenix hissed in annoyance, cracking his knuckles at the two cloaked figures that were standing opposite to them in the hall of the warehouse.
“Yes, but intelligence was never something one attributed with you,” one of the cloaked figures said in a condescending tone.
“Especially from what Platinum told us about you. You beating us was just because you beat us with numerical superiority. But now?” He chuckled, the voice growing more familiar with every passing second. “Now you are just you two, and we are even stronger than last time.”
“Ok, listen. Whoever you two are, we don’t have time for this, so can we cut this short? I’m really not in the mood for any of this. Your ‘boss’ is trying to rip apart reality itself right now and your only chance not to die with this world is to just let us through. Right now, we two are the only chance to stop him. And really, I highly doubt that he offered you something more important than the world. You have no chance of winning against us anyway. All your friends have been defeated already and now you two think it will go different with you? Yeah, as if. So, how about you just let us go, and no one is gonna get hurt? Doesn’t that sound nice?” Phoenix asked in a mixture of exhaustion and annoyance.
Both of them looked at each other and started to chuckle. “Oh, sure. We believe you. Why wouldn’t we? You just ruined our business, beat us up, and don’t want to fight. Truly the most trustworthy of people right here!” One of them chuckled.
“We know how to manipulate people, we build a living on that. And you, you slimy ‘hero’ are just using of manipulation. You can’t trick masters of manipulation, especially not as a novice,” the other one chuckled.
“But I’m not lying. I’m telling the truth! You can’t tell me that you don’t believe me!” Phoenix shouted back in frustration. “I’m just trying to save the world here!”
“Suuuuure,” the two men said in unison with a strangely familiar annoying singsong.
“Oh no…” Ocean sighed. “Phoenix, I think I just figured out who our two Corrupted here are. And I have the feeling any attempt to solve this diplomatically is gonna fall on deaf ears…”
“Who? Who are they?” Phoenix immediately barked back, the frustration clearly audible in his voice.
“Flam and Flam, right?” She returned, deeply hoping that she was wrong, even if it was against all the odds.
“Oh, you actually managed to figure it out? Impressive,” Flam chuckled.
“But far more likely that you would figure it out than the Buffon right over there. But even knowing who we are won’t save you from us. You won’t trick us with your pathetic lies, no chance. That would be pathetic Flim added in a smug tone.
“But we aren’t-“ Phoenix once again tried to say before Ocean interrupted him.
“Forget it, we aren’t winning a flower pot with these two. They won’t believe us, even if we had better evidence. They just want revenge,” she said with a silent sigh.
“But… But… Oh fine. Then we just have to beat them up, right?” Ocean just nodded back to him.
“Oh? Just beat us up? That won’t happen,” Flam once again said.
“You two have no chance of ever winning against us. We are far too powerful for you!”
“You are finished!” Both of them said at the same time, their Magic Disc starting to glow a dark an light blue.
After the light had faded, two blue armored Corrupted stood opposite to them.
Flam had been transformed into a dark blue humanoid monster. His armor was formed from metallic seashells and scales that formed into an armor that covered his entire body. Several golden decorations in the form of tridents were scattered across the armor, one of the chest two on his knees and two on his arms. He held a similar trident in his hands. And then there was the helmet, it looked like a long pointy seashell with a golden trident covering the hole where the face should be. Only two dark blue eyes stared back at them.
Flim, however, had been turned into a thin, angular armored monster. His limbs had changed dramatically, no longer human, but bent in several places, bending backward right under the knees that had been moved upwards. Electricity was sparking off the sharp, lightning-shaped decorations of the light blue armor. His helmet looked like a long lighting bolt that extended far longer than expected, almost reminding him of a wizard hat with two slits for the light blue, glowing eyes.
Not even a second after they had emerged from the light Flim had already sped away, disappearing in the blink of a moment, leaving them behind with his brother who swung around his trident and thrust it into the ground.
Both Riders knew that this couldn’t mean anything good, dashing towards him with their super speed. They had almost reached him when they felt something scratch across their chest and sending them flying back. But before they could even land on the ground, they once again felt a sharp pain in their backside as they were thrown back at the Corrupted in front of them.
And once again they didn’t reach their destination as a powerful stream of water was thrown their way, washing them over the ground like wet paper. And Flim, not wanting to let this golden opportunity go to waste unleashed his powers one them once again, letting a lightning bolt hit them with its full force. The pain that surged through their body was terrible, only worsened by the water they had been covered with, both Riders letting out screams of pain and anguish. Their armors were chared and fuming after Flim finally stopped his attack to gloat.
“Ha, the great Kamen Rider Alchemy, nothing more than a weakling. Just like expected,” his voice echoed through the hall.
“Ok, this is seriously not what I had in mind,” Phoenix hissed, slamming his fist on the ground, letting small drops of water fly everywhere. “Damn it! We don’t have time for this!”
Before even waiting for any snarky answer form Ocean he already dashed forward with his inhumane speed, right towards Flam who readied his trident to strike once more. But instead of racing headfirst into his attack, he jumped out of the way in the last second, the gust of water missing him completely. The water Corrupted just stared dumbfounded at where he expected the Rider to be only to see nothing instead.
“Not there! He is over there!” Flim’s voice cut through the silence, knocking his brother out of his little stupor. Snapping around, he could see how Alchemy picked up his spear he had lost after the first attack, glaring at him with his blue eyes. Like in slow motion Flam turned around towards the Rider, ready to unleash another one of his attacks at the disgruntle Rider, but instead of doing so quickly looked back at his brother.
A loud cry of pain had echoed over from where he had stood just moments ago only a blue flash could be seen, and moments later another loud sounded directed his eyes towards several boxes at the other end of the hall. That was where he found the shape of his brother again, under the debris and splinters of the crates he had just been thrown into. Pained grunts of pure anger could be heard from the remains of the boxes, the sharp head of the Corrupted rising from them, lightning sparking out of his eyes, as he glared over to the Rider responsible for this, Charge.
She had managed to get back up from the ground and while everyone was distracted with Alchemy and him regaining his weapon. With this golden opportunity for her, she had dashed towards Flim and tackled him to the ground and into the next wall.
“You damn! I’ll show you!” With that, the Corrupted raced towards her, and so did Charge. Both disappeared into a bright blue blur, the world around them slowing to a crawl as they clashed, their fists meeting mid-air, sending shockwaves through the whole room.
While both were equally matched in speed, Charge had one massive advantage over her opponent, experience, and training. A simple charlatan with little to no fighting experience could hardly keep up with her, and as soon as the third punch he had thrown she had already had seen enough, instead of matching his attack simply dodging under it and slamming her fist into his chest.
“Ahh! What?”
She could hear him cry next to the distinctive sound of metal bending as he fist pushed further and further into the armor. The Corrupted stumbled helplessly back, having lost his speed in the process and was now once again visible for the human eye.
“Flim!” She heard from behind her, only to be ignored as she spun her cylinder on the Driver once again, screaming something at her opponent with an uncharacteristic angry undertone.
“And you can shut the fuck up! I have endured your blabbering once already, I’m not doing it again! Now, time to end this!”
\ Maximum Charge! /
Faster than any normal eye could see she rushed forward, her arms glowing with bright with light, and she started to lay into him like there was no tomorrow. Letting her fists crash into his armor, time and time again, denting the metal like it had been hit in a car crash and that all in just three seconds for a few dozen hits. The last one was the most satisfying, felling her first dent in his helmet, right where his damn blabber mouth should have been was quite cathartic, especially as he was flung against the next wall, exploding upon impact and falling to the ground unconscious.
“Finally, silence!” She sighed in relive before looking over to Flam and Phoenix.
What she had missed in her little outburst was that Phoenix had also continued to attack his opponent, all while the Corrupted had been busy worrying over his brother. Using his spear, he had slashed across the back of the Corrupted, letting him cry out in pain, still not as loud as Ocean was right now. Wasting no time he spun around his weapon and let it slice through the armor of the monster time and time again, even managing to circle around him while doing so and delivering one last strike that made the Corrupted sink down to his feet.
Looking down at the weakened opponent he took a step back and pressed one button on the Magnum Opus before spinning the Disc once again.
\ THUNDER! /
\ Philosopher Stone Maximum Power! /
The entire weapon was quickly engulfed in the bright, blue lightning that was erupting from the Disc and with one last firm grip around the long end of the weapon Phoenix jumped forward, spear pointed right at the Corrupted.
The dimly light room was quickly engulfed in the bright blue of the lightning as the electricity surged through Flam’s body, the spear sticking out of his chest. The whole ordeal lasted a few seconds before the usual explosion rocked the room, leaving behind only the defeated brother and his Magic Disc.
“Finally! No damn gratitude for saving the damn world,” he hissed before deactivating his spear again and with it his Rider-form. With an annoyed huff, he kneeled down to take back the Disc in front of him.
After Ocean had done the same and deactivated her Driver, she started to walk over to him. “Don’t worry about it, we still have time. They’ll know what we did for them when they wake back up,” she returned with a weak smile, the fatigue finally starting to come over her bruised and injured body. Ocean was just about to put her hand on his shoulder and tell him that they had to leave when her hand grabbed nothing.
Her eyes immediately darted towards Phoenix, who was beginning to slump towards the floor, his legs had given up under his own weight. Within the blink of an eye, all her exhaustion and fatigue was all but gone, Ocean dashing forward and catching her boyfriend on her shoulders.
“Phoenix? Are you ok? Do you need a small break?” She immediate blurted out, genuine worry in her voice as she tried to balance the limp body of him on her back. He felt like a sack of potatoes weirdly, just laying there, no muscles tension, just a weighty bag.
“I’m… I’m fine. Just tripped, that is all,” he returned. He sounded exhausted, every word was more of a sigh than actually talking, and she could clearly hear the fatigue and tiredness in his voice.
“Tripped, yeah, sure. And I’m a beautiful princess,” she returned in a sarcastic tone.
“I’m fine. We don’t have time for this,” he huffed back, pushing himself of her back, or at least tried to and almost planted his face on the concrete below.
“Yes, we don’t have time for this. We don’t have time to repeat your suicidal idea of ignoring your body and pushing yourself way past your limits. You are so damn stubborn sometimes. Why can’t you get this in your thick skull? Even if you could stand, you are in no shape to fight. You are exhausted, that is just how it is. I’m as well, and dragging you around doesn’t help much in that regard. So, for the love of everything that is holy, please, just accept that you are ko for now. You can’t fight like this, I need you at your best for what we have planned, or we can give Platinum the victory on a damn silver platter already,” she huffed back, dragging the exhausted Rider to one of the still intact crates laying around. With a bit of effort, she actually managed to sit him down against it, only to be greeted with a rather pissed of expression from Phoenix.
“But if we don’t do anything we are doomed anyway. Right now it doesn’t matter what happens to me, we have to stop this madman before he decides to rip apart reality! I’m not sitting on the damn sidelines, and not even you will convince me too! So, let’s get going!” He grumbled back, trying once again to stand, only to be pushed back down by Ocean.
“You are the most stubborn idiot I have meat ever. You can’t even stand up on your own, leave alone when someone is pushing you down. And you want to fight? This is suicidal, damn it!” Ocean hissed back, starting to pace around in front of him in visible annoyance.
“I'm not going to-“ Phoenix was about to return as Ocean interrupted him again.
“You know what? Screw it. I’ll let you fight if you can stand up,” she said in complete annoyance.
“Finally!” With that, he pushed himself off the box again, or at least he tried only to be pushed back once again by Ocean. “Hey! I thought we were done with this? Let me get up! We had a deal!”
“Oh, I know. But until now I don’t see you standing. So, either show me that you can stand up all while I’m pushing you down, or damn accept that you are in no position to fight!” Ocean returned with a smug smile on her lips, even if her eyes told an entirely different story of worry.
Phoenix just huffed and once again pushed himself off the crate, actually managing to get halfway up before Ocean’s had sent him back down, with no effort what so ever. “That isn’t fair!”
“Oh, is it now? And Platinum will be fair with you? No! You damn idiot! You can’t fight like this, how often do I have to tell you this? Why can’t you just accept that? I… I… I don’t want to lose you damn it. I can’t let you throw your life away like this, why can’t you get this into your damn skull already?” She screamed back, a scream that turned into sobbing the further she went, tears running down her face.
Phoenix just stared back at her in shock, unable to utter a single word, like his throat had been pulled shut. “I know you. I know I can’t convince you to sit this one out and neither can I sit this one out. But I know I can convince you to not overexert yourself right now. This fight is in Canterlot, and even if we try to get there as fast as we can, it’s still a few hours away. So please, at least don’t do it now. Just relax for a few hours. If you power yourself out, even more, you will just lose!”
Phoenix could just look at Ocean, her tears running down her cheeks as she desperately tried to get through to him.
“Please.”
That was the last word that stung like a dagger that had been thrust into his hearth. “I… You… Damn it, why do you always have to be right?” He hissed back, tears starting to run down his face as well.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she sobbed back, pulling him into a long, tight hug. The warmth he felt was overwhelming, letting him forget everything around them, time, sound, and even the pain and exhaustion, just the warmth he felt from her.
And when he felt the warmth slowly fading, and the tightness of her grip loosening everything came flooding back, leaving him sitting there while Ocean pulled out her phone. “I’m calling the piolet to get us. Shouldn’t take longer than ten minutes and then we have a few hours until we are back in Canterlot. Until then, you can take a quick nap, should at least partially bring your energy back. And I won’t hear another word from you, you got that?”
“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll try to rest a bit, as long as you do too,” he said, looking down at the ground below them, all while his eyes were getting heavier and heavier.
“I...” She tried to return but started to weakly chuckle. “Fine, I will. But not until I called Light Bulb and the rest so they know what might be coming. I’m calling them all to the lab. I ordered Light Bulb to prepare some things, and I think we will need them. But after that, I’ll join you in resting, promised,” she smiled back at him right at the moment when his eyes finally fall shut.
>-------<A>-------<
A few hours later, inside what seemed like a library, three people had gathered. Everything was veiled in pitch black, the moonlight shining through the large glass dome on the ceiling.
Platinum was sitting on one of the chairs in the room, looking mesmerized at the artifact in his hand, a small necklace made out of pulsating purple crystal. Checkbook meanwhile was going through the suitcases they had taken from the MRG, separating them into three piles, two of them next to two bags.
And lastly, the girl. She had pulled back her hood, releasing her long-locked golden hair finally unleashed from its restraints. Adagio was just walking up and down the library, letting out annoyed grunts the entire time. “Oh, by Tartarus, why can’t we get started already? We are wasting so much time here. I finally want to rip these Rainbooms apart, especially that little Shimmer! And after that, I’ll be on my way. I could be done already with that, but no, mister high and mighty here needs to check Tartarus knows what and drag it out. If we wait any longer, they’ll be here!” She growled.
“Quiet! You will get your time soon enough. Just one thing left to do for you, and you can go off on your own. But if you want to challenge my authority, you are very much welcome. Come, try me and fail miserably. There are enough sorry excuses out there that would gladly take a shot at Alchemy for the power you have,” Platinum returned with a twisted smile. “Now, what is it gonna be? Follow orders and get your revenge on these high schoolers, or try to fight me, fail, die, and cause the death of your sisters? Tell me.”
Adagio stopped right on the spot when she heard that, her expression changing from annoyance to fear. “N… No. It’s fine. If it’s only one last thing, then it should be ok. There is no need to fight,” she stammered back much to the amusement of Platinum.
“See, knew it. But still, I kinda have to agree, we are wasting time here. Checkbook, are done soon? We are on a tight deadline here. Not much longer until the two goody-two-shoes will show back up here again. No chance in Tartarus that these two imbeciles managed to stop them,” he returned with a chuckle before looking over at the man in his suit.
“I’m working on it. I’m almost done anyway. This is a chance like no other. If I can get these Artifacts back to the Circle, all my failings will be forgotten and if I can bring back the blueprints for the Driver’s I could even get promoted. Come to think of that, how will you pay me when you succeed, you won’t be here anymore, so how are you gonna pay me?” Checkbook said, stopping his work for a moment and looking up from the table and over to Platinum.
He, however, just rolled his eyes and looked back at him with a disappointed look in his eyes. “Really? You don’t trust me? After all, we have been through? I’m disappointed. But really, I can’t blame you. You only can trust yourself, no one else. That is the ultimate truth of the world. The moment you trust someone, they will betray you. Just look a Shadow Gold, even if he didn’t like me, or respected me, he still trusted the fact that I was far too scared and weak to do anything against him. And now he’s dead. Six hundred years and he never learned the most important lesson. I’m not gonna make the same mistake. But I also know that if I don’t follow our agreement, I still would have unfinished business here that could haunt me even in my new home. So don’t worry, I placed the blueprints somewhere and ordered someone to call you when I’m gone. He will tell you the coordinates, so you will get your payment. There is no need to betray you, so don’t worry, everything will be fine,” he smiled his devilish grin before jumping up from his chair and walking over to his partner. “So, when are you done?”
Checkbook simply nodded and returned with a nonchalant voice: “I’m pretty much done. Everything that was in any way interesting and useful has been sorted out and is ready for shipping. I’ll call someone to pick it up, and that would be it. The rest is perfect for spawning an army of Remnants. That bag there,” he pointed at one of them. “Is your’s Siren. Take it and shatter every last one of them, and after that, you are free to pursue your tormentors. I heard they had gathered inside the MRG laboratory. Shouldn’t be too hard and would actually help us out a bit,” he chuckled before throwing her the bag.
“Then this is settled. You two start the mayhem while I begin to work on my part. If everything goes well, we will never see each other again. Let’s hope that is the case. Goodby and hopefully forever.” With that, he stood up and walked out of the library, holding the necklace in his hand. Both of the Corrupted shared one last look before Adagio summoned her portal once again, swallowing them whole.
>-------<A>-------<
The plane soared through the sky, both Phoenix and Ocean havening closed their eyes, using every second they had to regain their strength as much as possible. The flight had been entirely peaceful, and both having dozed off to sleep a while ago. So the sound of a loud alarm going of definitely got them on their feet as fast as possible.
“Attention, attention. We will be entering Canterlot airspace in two minutes. Prepare yourself for landing,” the voice from the intercome blurted at them.
“You couldn’t have chosen a better alarm, could you?” Phoenix groggily returned. He felt better, that was sure, still not at the height of his power, but with the Driver, he definitely felt like he could do that.
“Oh, shut up. It’s not like it-“ she was about to return when suddenly the buzzing voice of the intercome sparked to live once more.
“Incoming! There is a message from one Light Bulb, putting her through right now.”
With that, the voice changed to one more familiar: “Uhm, hey, does that thing work? Of course, it works stupid,” she hissed from the speakers. “Ocean, Phoenix, can you hear me?” She sounded like she would have a panic attack every moment now. “It’s awful. The city is under attack. Hundreds upon hundreds of Remnants roam the streets and attack anything in sight! Officer Armor already went outside to coordinate the police to evacuate anyone he can get to. We really need you down here. But before you do anything, I need you back at the lab, asap. Our guests are getting anxious down here, and I don’t know how long I can keep them here.” With that, the message ended, leaving them behind, staring at each other in shock.
Within a split second both of them jumped up and dashed towards one of the windows, trying to get a look on the city. At first glance, everything looked fine, nothing out of the ordinary, but the closer they got, the better they could see the flaming cars in the streets and the army of remnants roaming the streets.
The next minute was unbearable, the plane hovering over the city and slowly descending towards the roof of the lab. Every second felt like an eternity, an eternity they let the city be ravaged by these beasts, all while they couldn’t do anything. When the hatch of the plane finally started to open they pretty much immediately jumped out of it, landing right in front of a rather frantic Light Bulb.
“Ah, there you two are. Took you long enough,” she blurted out before grabbing both of their arms and dragging them after her before they had any chance to object or even say anything. “We don’t have any time to waste, the kids are already about to storm out there and get themselves killed. I need you here.”
When she had finally dragged them to her lab, she pretty much shoved them inside and said: “Fix! Now!”
Inside they found precisely what Light Bulb had promised them, the seven Rainbooms, Thunder, Summer, Emerald and Timber, all of them arguing: “Can’t we skip this talking stuff already? People out there need someone to kick some butt, and we are the only ones that can right now!” That was what Rainbow spat out when Light Bulb shoved them into the room, diverting the attention towards them.
Before Phoenix had any chance to do anything, he was immediately forced into a huge from Thunder who screamed out: “You are ok! Oh, thank goodness.”
“You are back!” They all screamed back in unison before Rainbow once again interrupted them.
“Great! Now you can help us kick those monsters out of the city! We just need to-“
“Rainbow!” Sunset interrupted her, all while shotting her an angry glare, Phoenix in the meantime having freed himself from Thunder. “Sorry. She is a bit… energetic right now. We are so glad you are back, everything has gone horribly out of control. But she is also not the only one that thinks that we should do something and if I’m honest I don’t know how long I can stand here and wait,” she looked at them with a worried look on their faces.
Ocean just nodded with a somber expression and leaned back to Light Bulb. “You got everything ready? Right?”
“Yes, everything is finished and combat ready. I just need your permission to give it out. If you want that, that is,” she added with an unsure undertone.
“That is their choice, not mine. Get it for me please,” she whispered back before turning back to them. “Ok, I know all of you want to do something to help this city. Some have ways of helping more than others and some not. In all honesty, I would probably want to do the same thing as you. But you have to know that this is dangerous what you want to do. This is a warzone out there. If you really want to go out there, you have to accept the consequences that come with that. If you go out there you might not come back, you know that?”
In response, she received a unanimous nod followed up by Rainbow screaming over the head of everyone else: “Of course I know, but if we don’t do anything who knows what happens. I’m not sitting on my butt if I can help!”
“Rainbow is right, Ah could never look at ma family eva again if Ah would chicken out naw,” Applejack joined in.
“Exactly Darling, I would never give up as well. That would be unbecoming of a lady,” the posh voice of Rarity added.
“Yay, we are gonna kick so much monster butt!” Pinky screamed from the back of the group.
“I… I’ll fight as well,” Fluttershy hesitantly said.
“Exactly. I can’t let monster roam through this city, right Sunset?”
“Yeah Twilight is right, we aren’t gonna sit around and do nothing. We haven’t done it until now and we by Celestia, we won’t start now. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even be here!”
“That is the spirit!” Phoenix joined in. “Probably couldn’t stop you even if we tried. Just promise us that you will be safe.”
“And to be the safest, you should sue these!” Light Bulb interrupted them and placed one of two suitcases on the lab table beside them while placing the other one down next to her. “These are Magical-Enhancers,” while she spoke, she opened the case and revealed seven colored rectangular necklaces with a small indentation in the middle of it. “These were something Ivory started to develop after he came into contact with you,” Light Bulb had to stop a moment before continuing. “I didn’t know him, but I’m sure he would be proud that his invention would help bring down his own murderer. They work by interfacing with your geodes and enhancing their power. They won’t make you as powerful as a Rider, but you should still be able to deal with Remnants far more easily. He never had the chance to test precisely how these things would enhance, but they should still work.” She hadn’t even managed to finish her speech before the girls had already grabbed the Enhancers and jammed their geodes into them, colored lightning flickering across them.
“Uhm… Do… Do you have something for me? At least my Artifact?” Timber asked, a mixture of desperation and hope in his eyes. “I know Phoenix said I shouldn’t use it anymore, but… I can’t just stand ideally by while everyone else is helping! I had to stand by while you saved my sister, I had to stand by during the festival. I want to help too. Even if it could fuck with my head. The Riders could just beat me if I can’t control it. I just want to help.”
Light Bulb looked at him with a guilty expression before stepping back a bit and whispering something into Phoenix’s ear, the color draining from his face immediately. After a few seconds of absolute silence, Timber was about to say something again when Phoenix finally spoke up, his voice heavy and weak. “Timber, yes we have something for you, but before you put it on, you have to promise me that you know what you are doing!”
“Of course, I would nev-“
“No! I mean it! Promise me this. This might as well be the most important choice in your life, you got that! And no one is gonna think less of you just because you chose the easy way out, you got that too?” Phoenix was more serious than he had ever seen him before. He looked at the Rider for a moment before silently nodding.
“Good. Now listen, this,” he pulled up the second case and opened it right in front of him. “This is the Gaia Driver.” Inside one could see a silver belt with a red crystal in the middle. If one looked close enough, they even could see what looked like a grasshopper encased in the crystal. “This will turn you into a Kamen Rider!”
Timber was about to immediately grab the device and slam it onto his waist only for Phoenix to yank it back before he could get his hands on it. “Hey! Didn’t you promise me something?”
“I… I… Yes. I’m sorry,” he returned, letting his hands sink down just like his head.
“Good, now listen. This Driver works differently from the ones we use, this was made out of the Artifact that let you turn into a Corrupted. Because of that it’s far more connected to you and can’t be used by anyone else because we never separated you from the Artifact. That has some… repercussions. If you activate it, it will strengthen the bond between you and your artifact. In fact, it will strengthen it so much that you two will become inseparable. You will become one with your Driver. There is no turning back after that, you will become something that isn’t truly human. If you are willing to accept this, together with the fact that you could very well die out there, I can’t stop you. But think before you act,” with that he placed the Driver on the table and stepped back.
At first, Timber couldn’t other than to stare at the Driver, his eyes mirroring the thoughts that undoubtedly rushed through his head, clashing for dominance before being pushed aside by another idea. That was until one idea seemed to take shape in his head and simmering through his eyes as he clenched his fists together. “Fine! I’m not sitting around here and just let others get hurt because of my inaction. Consequences be damned because that is what a hero does, what a Kamen Rider does!” With that, he took the Driver. Phoenix smiled back at him. Still, there was that spark of sadness in his eyes.
“Ok kid, hope you don’t regret that choice.” He was about to send everyone outside when he heard another voice.
“I’ll fight too!” He slowly turned around and looked at Emerald who stared at him with a fire in her eyes he hadn’t seen in many people.
“Huh, so you are gonna fight even without powers? Admirable. I’m sure Ivory ha-“
Before he could even finish, she interrupted him. “No, I’ll fight as a Kamen Rider! My entire life, I was told to live by the teachings of Gaia Everfree. I never cared much for them, but never had anything against them. Stuff like protecting those in need of help and looking out for the people who couldn’t defend themselves were always something I looked up to. Just, I never understood why that stuff was limited to the forest. If someone would be attacked a few hundred meters away from the woods and you would help him would Gaia Everfree even care? Those were questioned I struggled a lot with, and Pinecone never could give me a satisfying answer. But now? Now I can find my own answers. Because I have the power to do so. I will protect my forest and forest is the entire world. I’ll make Pinecone proud by walking my own path and that all thanks to him and all of you. I’ll fight for this city, just like my brother has fought for it!”
Phoenix took a step back before letting his grin returned. “You know, I’m sure your brother would be proud. Well, after he had gotten over the fact that you are a Rider now.”
Emerald was about to return something snarky when the building suddenly started to shake, lights flickering as something fell off the table. “Oh, that can’t be good.”
“Ocean! Ocean! Remnants are attacking the entrance, and it seems they are under the control of a woman!” That was all Light Bulb blurted out after she had pulled her hand from her earpiece.
“Got it, we wi-“
“No! We are gonna take care of that! You two get your bikes and stop whatever is causing this! We can handle this!” Sunset interrupted her with a determination that was almost scary.
Both Phoenix and Ocean looked at them with raised eyebrows before sighing and returned: “Fine. You’ll take care of this, we stop Alkahest!”
He was about to storm off when he turned back to Thunder one last time and said with a smile: “Don’t worry, I’ll be back. Couldn’t stop bugging you after all.” And with that, he stormed off out of the room, leaving a weakly smiling Thunder behind.
>-------<A>-------<
Outside an army of Remnants were storming against the building, throwing cars and rocks ripped from the street at it. And in the middle, Adagio, raveling in the destruction and mayhem around them.
One of her little soldiers was about to throw one of the cars that had been parked on the sidewalks at the door of the building when that one was thrown open by itself, and the vehicle caught in midair and flung back at the poor monster, crushing it beneath its weight.
Out of the door stepped several people, most rather young, two she had never seen before and seven she most definitely recognized, the Rainbooms. “Ah, look who actually shows up? Want to get it over with so soon? Well, I can’t blame you, really. Wouldn’t want to see this city go to shit either. Now, how do you wanna do it? Line up or be wiped out all at once? I’m really open for options,” she chuckled, the anger burning in her eyes like wildfires.
“Yeah, screw that! We are here to kick your ass back to wherever you came crawling back from!” Rainbow shouted back in her usual cocky tone.
“Tsk, you think so? You couldn’t beat me with your third class magic back at the festival, and you definitely won’t beat me now! Not since I got a generous donation from a fan of mine,” she chuckled, pulling out the purple Magic Disc. “You have no chance!”
“Sorry to disappoint you Adagio, but the Magic of Friendship will never bow to you. Especially not with a few upgrades our friends gave us,” Sunset chuckled before activating her enhanced Geode which quickly covered her entire body in bright light.
When the light had finally subsided, she was once again clad in her magical clothing, but things had changed. She now wore a metallic, armored recreation of her previous dress and what looked like rocked powered wings on her back. And soon after that, her friends joined her, sporting similar outfits like her.
“Oh, you got a few upgrades? So have I,” Adagio just chuckled letting her Disc glow in bright purple. When she was once again visible, one could see what she had become. She was clad in purple armor with elaborate detailing and two more massive wings made out of floating blades on her back that weren’t connected to each other. Her helmet had taken the form of a horse head with a massive horn at the end. In her hand, she held a long rapier, pointed directly at them. “This is where you die, you pests!” She chuckled, ready to attack when her eyes landed on the two people in front of her that hadn’t transformed yet. “And who are you two? Cheerleaders?”
“No!” Timber shouted back, pulling out his Driver.
“We are the protectors of this city, and it’s inhabitants!” Emerald continued, pulling out her own Driver as well.
“We are Kamen Riders!” Both screamed in unison, slamming the Drivers onto their waists.
All of a sudden lightning sprung from Timber’s Driver, surging through his body, letting him experience pain like never before. Still, if this was the price to pay for finally being able to do his part, he was willing to do just that. With a loud scream, he crossed his arms in front of him, almost like a shield and screamed, the belt starting to glow in a bright green light, all while Emerald had opened the driver and inserted the green medal into it.
\ UNLEASH THE MONSTER! /
“Henshin!”
\ AWAKEN: MANTICORE! /
Emerald had dawned a female version of the Monster armor while Timber had been clad in dark green suit with turquoise plates a downed on it. A long red scarf hung around his neck, and his helmet resembled that of a grasshopper with two sizeable red bug eyes and antenna.
Both Riders dashed forward, towards the Corrupted, taking her by surprise and each of them managed to embed their fists in her armor, pushing her back. “I’m the new Kamen Rider Monster, and this entire world is my forest!” Emerald shouted at the Corrupted.
“And I’m Kamen Rider, Gaia! I’ll fight for those that can’t!” Timber added, both pointing their fingers towards her.
“And in the name of the Kamen Riders, we will defeat you!” They screamed in unison.
At that exact moment, the sound of two bikes roared through the night, and just moments later both Alchemy and Charge soared over their head and landing behind the Corrupted, having jumped from the roof onto the street. With one last look, they speed off through the hoards of Remnants.
While all of this had transpired Adagio rose from the ground and growled: “You will regret this!” and dashed towards them.
The Battle for Canterlot had truly begun.