Herman's Hideaway: Denver, Colorado
“And I got a little lost along the way
But I'm just around the corner 'til the light of day, yeah
I'm just around the corner 'til the light of day, yeah…”
Aria did a little guitar riff, looking a little like Pete Townshend or a windmill with her left arm flailing about as the crowd roared in approval. Aria’s only response was to flip them off before handing her guitar off to a roadie and walking off the stage.
Walking up to the bar, she ordered a glass of whiskey and sighed as she kicked her feet up on the countertop. Ignoring the glare the bartender sent her for this, she let out a laugh. It was another good Friday night. “Well, at least things are sorta going back to a semblance of normalcy I suppose… the Equestrian bitch has vanished, along with her little posse and MY Adagio is back as OOOs. Though I’m not entirely sure she’ll be up and about fightin’ any time soon…”
She thought back to the night before, where Adagio had been returned to the hospital still in a lot of pain, largely from exerting herself too much. To put it mildly, she had been… in a state.
“Hey… Uh… guys… did you know this hypothetical medal combo had… uh, existed. Turkey! Duck! Chicken! TurDucKen! ...Man, am I cravin’ something right now…”
Aria sighed, taking a swig of her whiskey. She wasn’t nearly drunk enough to think about this shit right now.
“Hey… Uh,” Aria muttered swallowing her pride and turning to her drinking partner. “Thanks for the… uh, assist. Like really, heard what you did back there.”
“Well, it’s what I’m supposed to do, innit?” Rainbow shrugged. “I mean, I’m a you know what now so… Uh, I have to help people no matter how much I may or may not dislike them, right?”
“You’re really taking this to heart aren’t you?” Aria asked craning her neck to look at her… well, calling her a friend might have been a bit of a stretch. But the sentiment was there. Possibly. Aria still wasn’t sure where she stood with the Rainboom, honestly.
“Well… sorta,” Rainbow sighed. “I’m not sure if it was because I’m the embodiment of the Element of Loyalty here, or it was because I was so shitty to your sister. Hell if I know.”
“Well, whatever the reason…” Aria muttered. “Thanks. Like really, thank you.”
“...Just doing my job, I suppose. All that there is to it, really,” Rainbow sighed. “So, who’s the pretty boy who helped your sister back to the hospital?”
“...I think I caught his name, started with a T…” Aria muttered before she snapped her fingers in recognition. “Takeru, that was his name! Yeah, that’s it…”
“So Eiji sent him in or something?” Rainbow asked. “I mean, that’s what I heard anyways…”
“Yeah, I mean apparently,” Aria shrugged. “Who is this guy anyways? He looks like a monk of some sort, like he seriously did. What, is he here to help Adagio get all zen with it?”
“...Do we know his last name?” Rainbow asked. “I mean, if so we can probably just Google it right?”
“Oh, you know what? Screw it,” Aria said going for her phone. “I’m doing that anyways. Ah, let’s see… Takeru… Takeru… Ah, here we go! Oh… OH! Now, this is interesting…”
“Eh?” Rainbow asked leaning over to see what Aria had found. “Wait a minute, what? The… Mysterious Phenomenon Institute? So what, is this guy like a fancy ghost hunter or something?”
“Apparently,” Aria stated.
“Great, so Eiji hired a nut to help out your sister,” Rainbow said. “Isn’t that just wonderful?”
“...Now now, I’m sure if Eiji hired him as a friend, I’m quite sure that there’s more to this guy than meets the eye,” Aria remarked. “For one thing he’s a fellow you know what…”
“A you know what?” Rainbow asked. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I think you know what a you know what means!” Aria exclaimed.
“...No, I don’t know what a you know what means,” Rainbow replied. “Stop being so damn cryptic, woman!”
Aria slapped her over the head making Rainbow yelp out a little “Oww!” before a mutter of: “...Seriously?”
“Are you that dumb?” Aria remarked a little snappishly. “Like seriously, you transform into this you know what every day it seems like.”
“Oh you mean he’s a…” Rainbow said eyes widening. “...well, that explains a bit. Who better to teach a you know what than another you know what. Right?”
Aria facepalmed and muttered: “...why am I friends with such a moron…?”
“HAH!” Rainbow exclaimed pointing directly at her. “So you do admit we are friends!”
Aria let out an “Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuugggghhhhh. Please Lord, let lightning strike me down and somehow end this humiliation.”
Rainbow just threw an arm around her and exclaimed: “Relax, as long as you’re with me, nothing can go wrong! You and me, we are two peas in a pod. We are best buds.”
“...We are not best buds,” Aria grumbled crossing her arms with a huff. “You don’t even have a clue.”
“Oh, you’ll warm up to me, in time!” Rainbow said chirply.
“...I’m not sure if this is an improvement to her hating my guts or not…”
Then Aria’s mind was definitely made up on the matter when Rainbow leaped up on top of the bartop -probably quite drunk, at least that’s what Aria hoped- and began to say this. “REJOICE! For I, Rainbow Danger Dash, have finally put my hatred of the Dazzlings aside and taken on Aria Blaze as one of my new best friends!”
Scattered if not confused applause began to fill the bar room, and as for poor Aria? Well...
“Okay… so… yeah, I’m definitely wanting her to go back to just hating me now…” Aria muttered as she sank down into her seat blushing up a storm. “Like seriously Lord, now where is that lightning? Because I sincerely need it now! Like, right this minute you understand!?!”
“So glad you’re getting along,” came a familiar softly spoken voice. “So proud of you both, like I am. Thank you Rainbow, and thank you Aria.”
“Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked in a surprised tone. “What… what are you doing here? I mean, no offense, but this place isn’t exactly your kind of hangout…”
“Well… I… Uh… came to support Aria, that’s all…” she mumbled to herself shuffling her feet slightly.
“Oh, ooooooooh, I get it! I get it!” Rainbow exclaimed. “You two are dating, aren’t you?”
“Well… we… uh… no, we’re not right now…” Fluttershy whispered almost sounding if she was about to add a ‘Yet’ to the end of that sentence.
“So, what are you two then? Best friends with benefits?” Rainbow asked as Fluttershy blushed a bright beet red and Aria facepalmed. “You two are totally screwing each other night and day, aren’t you? Seriously you are, aren’t you? ...Well, I suppose that’s one way to beat the cabin fever eh?” Rainbow cackled.
“Does your mind run the gamut of the damn gutter 24-7?” Aria demanded.
“...Actually I think it was born in the gutter…” Fluttershy admitted. “Like, back when I was in high school you have no idea what she was like. She was constantly making joking come-ons with Applejack -for whatever reason- and having competitions on who grew their breasts larger…”
“...Okay, so it was born in the gutter then,” Aria said before sarcastically stating: “Nice to know.”
“Hey, listen,” Rainbow said before looking her new best friend dead in the eyes and poking her in the chest. “I don’t care if you two are dating or something. Like, I really don’t. But I swear, Aria if you break her heart I don’t care if you box or anything. I will come and hunt you down, I will find you and make sure you remember this face, okay? This face will be the last you see, understand?”
“I’m intimidated,” Aria deadpanned crossing her arms and letting her muscles show. As she got up off her chair she raised herself to her full height. Rainbow swallowed. “So, you think you can take me on eh shortstack?”
“Oh, you wanna go?” Rainbow said putting up her dukes, not caring about how small she was compared to Aria. “I box too you know, I’m a military woman now! I was trained in the ancient art of ass-kicking!”
Now Fluttershy was the one facepalming. She then muttered: “Oh, why aren’t you two the ones just kissing already? I mean, God knows you’d probably be having great angry hate sex or something.”
Then both Aria and Rainbow turned to stare at her.
“...Oh, did I say that out loud…?” Fluttershy stammered. “I… I didn’t exactly mean to do that…”
Then came the explosion.
“ME KISS HER? NO WAY IN HELL!” both Aria and Rainbow snapped.
“She’s an impudent little shortstack with enough hot air to fill a damn balloon!” Aria shouted pointing at Rainbow.
“She’s an insane punk rocker with anger issues and way too many muscles!” Rainbow shouted pointing at Aria. They then turned to face away from each other huffing to themselves. Fluttershy had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing outright.
“Oh… Uh, Rainbow…” Fluttershy stammered. “I’m… I’m so glad you decided to come and just visit with Aria at all, before the… big day, you know.”
“Aaaaaagh,” Rainbow groaned hanging her head. “...You had to go ahead and remind me about that didn’t you?”
“Big day?” Aria asked. “What big day?”
“Oh… Uh, yeah…” Rainbow admitted rubbing the back of her head. “I’m… Uh, getting shipped out to Japan in about a few days. I asked Fluttershy to keep an eye on the squirt, but… Uh…”
“She doesn’t know yet does she?” Aria asked.
“Oh, she knows alright,” Rainbow said. “She doesn’t like it, but she knows. But it’s not that I’m worried about.”
“...what do you…?” Aria murmured before she realized. “Ah, yes. That. It’s him you’re worried about, right? The Mirror Rider?”
Rainbow let out a little squeak of fear before she took a look around, reminded of just how many reflections there were in this bar alone. “Course I’m worried! Without me there to protect her…”
“Look, personally?” Aria began. “I think you have absolutely nothing to worry about.”
Rainbow stared at her, and Aria sighed. “No, I haven’t finally lost my mind, so sit down and shut up and let me explain, okay?”
Rainbow let out a little: “Okay.” as she did just exactly that.
“It’s you he seems to be after, from all accounts,” Aria explained. “Now hear me out. He didn’t attack you until after you picked up this deck of yours, right?”
“Well… yeah… Uh, he…” Rainbow stammered out. “Yeah, he did. Why?”
“It’s because it’s you, and only you he’s concerned about,” Aria said sternly. “Now yes, I get your worries, because God knows if I were in your situation I’d be concerned about my family. But quite honestly, what I’d suggest is giving the guy what he wants, really. He wants the deck, so give him the deck.”
“But…” Rainbow started. “But I want to help people, I really do. And this power I got? It’s one of the best ways to do that. I mean, look at last night. You and Adagio wouldn’t have escaped those yummies if I hadn’t stepped in right?”
“Perhaps,” Aria admitted. “But I think you’re being entirely too selfish for your own good, Rainbow Danger Dash.” she said sternly.
“But…” Rainbow started before Fluttershy put a firm hand on her shoulder.
“I’d listen to her, Rainbow,” Fluttershy said. “It sounds to me like Aria knows exactly what she’s talking about.”
“I… Gaaaaaaaagggghhh,” Rainbow groaned. “Why does this have to be so hard? Look, I’ll give it some thought, okay? Like seriously, I will okay?”
“Good enough for me,” Aria nodded. “Now listen, if it makes you feel any better, I will help Fluttershy look after-”
She was suddenly bombarded by what appeared to be a category 5 multicolored hurricane. Aria blinked, Rainbow hugging her tightly and whispering: “Thank you…”
“You’re welcome,” Aria said stroking her hair for reasons unknown even to her. “Now can you please let go and drop the mushy stuff? I thought we both had reputations to keep up, alright?”
“So we do… right,” Rainbow said flushing in embarrassment and rubbing the back of her head. “But yeah. Seriously, thank you for promising to look after my family. My family, you understand?”
“Yeah, I do…” Aria whispered.
“Speaking of family,” Fluttershy said. “Whatever do you think happened to the other Dazzlings?”
Aria, at this took another swig of her whiskey. “Ask me again later, okay Flutters?” Aria requested. “I’m not nearly drunk enough to be thinking about this right now, and quite honestly I don’t care. They can go screw off for all I care right now.”
“But Aria,” Fluttershy pleaded. “You saw what the other Adagio was like. She was desperate, and sick. Now imagine what your counterpart, and Sonata’s counterpart are like!”
“Bah!” Aria snapped. “They almost ruined my life and then Adagio’s, so I’m in no real position to really give a flying fuck about any of them, you understand?”
“...I… see.” Fluttershy whispered. Aria sighed before her voice softened once more.
“Look, if you really want to know?” she asked. “Here’s what happened…”
It was late one night several years ago, just after a certain series of events that had rocked the Canterlot boroughs. A hard rain poured down, Aria wrapping herself up tightly in her jacket, a leather piece not unlike that of a motorcyclist’s with the image of a dragon on the back. She looked very much the part of the punk rocker she aspired to be.
“Goddamn weather…” the now eighteen-year-old woman muttered as lightning flashed in the sky above. “Denver picks today of all days to get rain. I mean, seriously…”
Ducking inside a local Quick-Eze Mart type grocery store, Aria muttered something unkind under her breath once more about the weather. She then took notice of everyone staring directly at her. “What?” Aria asked. “My eyes? Up here you know.”
“Is this you?” a woman with white hair, and purple eyeshadow wearing this brown bomber jacket asked. She was pointing to a nearby news broadcast where a woman was speaking of three girls seemingly using special effects to turn into odd creatures. No matter the case, something had happened that night, with everyone reporting the stage destroyed the following morning by some bright blast of energy. Aria blinked, if she didn’t know better she could have sworn those girls were her and her sisters. But that was impossible… wasn’t it?”
“So what?” Aria asked turning her attention to the TV. “Everyone’s probably just suffering from mass hallucinations and that flying? Simple wires and puppetry!”
Honestly, she swore at times this town could believe anything. A year or so ago, there were these reports of this girl turning into a flaming hellish demon of all things. Of all things! Denver was so damn gullible at times it made her head hurt.
“Then explain the blast, eh huh?” the woman demanded grabbing Aria by the shirt.
“Look, if you want to kiss me, then go ahead… fine, do it,” Aria said. “But not interested, not even for a fling.”
Aria was trying to hide her fear, noticing the gathering mob. A person was smart, her father always liked to say. But people as a whole were bone-headed stupid. She had to get out of here and fast.
The woman -Gilda, as Aria would later catch her name- let out a scream and tossed Aria into some shelves, ripping away at some of the leather. “...And I just got this damn jacket stitched back up!”
“Get out of here, witch!” someone shouted tossing a soda can at her, as Gilda threw a punch at Aria, the woman just barely managing to duck to avoid the blow. Aria took the hint, and very quickly beat feet out of the store.
Of course, Aria would have liked to have said that was where her troubles ended then and there. The issue was, people liked to talk. She’d managed to find work DJing at a club for one night, having to fill in after the previous DJ, one Neon Lights had dropped off the face of the planet it had seemed. And that was where her real troubles started.
Putting her headphones on as she mixed up the tracks, Aria smiled. While she wasn’t actually playing a guitar on stage loud and proud making some ears bleed, this would do for the time.
Then came a voice, someone shouting about how she was the sea witch who had enchanted him back at this place -which Aria had never heard of by the way, at least until tonight- called Canterlot High.
“Okay, listen pal…” Aria said leaning over the mixing table. “I don’t actually know of you really, so if you want to accuse me of something, come back with actual proof instead of screaming ‘magic’.
“Oh yeah?” a girl from nearby, with electric yellow hair asked placing her hands on her hips. Lightning Dust was her name. “Explain THIS!”
She held up a picture of someone with a rather HEFTY and rather frightening resemblance to Aria kissing the boy who had accused her before. “My brother woke up with a rather nasty hangover as he described it. He didn’t remember the night before at all, and this is all we have to go on!”
Aria understood the underlying implications of what this chick was accusing her of. Date rape drugs, that was the case. She shuddered at the thought, even if Lightning Dust mistook her shuddering for completely different reasons.
“See, she’s afraid!” Lightning Dust accused, the crowd below beginning to turn ugly.
“I’m sorry, but you’ve got the wrong woman…” Aria said, even if she knew she really didn’t have much of a leg to stand on with that excuse. Even if she was completely accurate in the matter, it still didn’t matter.
“No, you’re not,” Lightning Dust snarled, her eyes seemingly flashed. “You’re just sorry you got caught!”
With that, she grabbed Aria by the shoulder, her brother following after her. Aria soon found herself thrown up against a brick wall, sent reeling by a punch to the stomach. Then came another from Lightning Dust, making Aria double over, her lunch from earlier that day making a reappearance.
Finally, Aria fought back as another punch came towards her, the woman catching it, and twisting Lightning’s wrist making her scream in pain. “YOU BITCH!” Lightning shouted.
“...Funny, look who’s talking,” Aria said wiping the blood away from her mouth. “Pot, meet the damn kettle!”
Lightning’s older brother, the one who Aria had supposedly date-raped rushed in only to get kneed in the balls. As the two picked themselves up off the ground, finally came the sounds of sirens. Aria would later learn someone in the club had called the cops upon either seeing the developing situation or to get Aria arrested. She didn’t particularly care right now, just glad that the Denver police had arrived, and judging from the looks on Lightning and her brother’s faces they knew that they could be in very serious trouble.
“Come on, let’s scram!” Lightning said before tossing a very nasty look to Aria. “We’ll be back for you!”
Of course, that was hampered when both ran smack dab into Shining Armor, of the DPD. “...Now what was this about coming back for this girl?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Perhaps needless to say, Aria being lead into the back of a patrol cruiser along with her two ‘friends’ was quite a sight for the clubgoers. She had a sneaking suspicion after the events of tonight, her chances at keeping this job had just been torpedoed.
At the station, Aria gave her statement. “...God above, I just don’t know what happened…” Aria whispered. “One minute I was mixing music like usual, then the next I’m accused of date raping someone and getting dragged out into an alleyway and beat up like there’s no tomorrow!”
“Well, I personally don’t believe you did,” Shining said. “I mean, judging from what Sky Stinger said, it sounds like he just had a nasty hangover. As for your twin, it’s entirely possible it’s a case of mistaken identity.”
What he wasn’t going to tell Aria, of course, was there were records of her being enrolled in Canterlot High for about six months before every seemed to go blank. But he saw the fear in Aria’s eyes, and it wasn’t that same terror of a criminal who knew they’d been caught in the act. No, it was just straight-up terror. Quite honestly, he doubted Aria had any malicious intent, and that there was something very weird going on here.
“...You’re going to just arrest me, I know it,” Aria muttered. “For straight up assault and battery.”
“You? No,” Shining said making Aria’s eyes widen. “Lightning Dust and Sky Stinger on the other hand, now that’s a completely different story. You were just acting in self-defense. That’s all.”
“...Okay, but all the same?” Aria muttered. “I’m definitely going to be walking with a taser or something from now on, probably going to be checking into Colorado’s laws about brass knuckles as well. Something tells me I haven’t seen the end of all of this, not by a long shot.”
“You just be safe, okay kid?” Shining asked. “Listen, try not to get into a fight unless you have to okay? And if you do…” here he slipped her a phone number for a local teacher’s krav maga courses.
“Consider it a favor, okay kid?” Shining said.
“Don’t call me kid, okay?” Aria snapped. “But… thank you.”
“Any time,” Shining smiled as he opened the door. “Now listen, you run along home okay? I’ve got to pick up my little sis Twiley from school.”
Aria gave a little nod and a wave, before walking out the door. Of course, as I said before people talk. And news of the little altercation and what had led up to it had made it’s way up the grapevine to her boss. While he’d said it was because they’d found Neon Lights again, Aria knew better. The accusations couldn’t be overlooked, and neither could the fight in the alley. Never mind the fact that she was just defending herself. Damn her doppelganger, damn her, Aria thought to herself as a tear slowly slipped from her eye.
Aria was now shaking with rage as she described this to her newfound friends, having punched a wall in frustration. If ever she met her counterpart, she hoped that Aria would be able to pray to whatever god she worshipped for mercy, because she would not be offering any.
“...Damn bitch ruined my life,” Aria whispered. “You can see them now, right? The stares, and the whispers accompanying them. Everywhere I go, I have this accusation hanging over my head. It’s almost impossible to get a job, and I was lucky that band took me in as they did!”
She looked towards Flash Sentry, who was gesturing for her to get a move on. “I guess my father was right all along, a single person is intelligent, but people are dumb as shit. I mean, I’m glad it’s just me, but what if it was Adagio or Hell, little Sonata who got dragged into this mess?”
Then she was brought into a hug by Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness whispering: “Hey, it’s okay… you’ve got us now…”
Rainbow now looked at Aria with a new understanding, exactly why she was so protective of her own. And quite honestly, she could totally understand and empathize with her. As for Aria, she finally let the tears began to flow as the whiskey finally caught up to her, the woman sobbing into Fluttershy’s shoulder…
“Ohh, I’m walking on sunshine yeah…” Sonata hummed to herself as she mixed up cake batter with a wooden spoon in a mixing bowl, later that next day. “And don’t it feel good!”
For a moment, she mimed using the mixing spoon as a microphone and then licked off the extra batter, much to her colleague's distress. “...Really Sonata?” Gilda asked, an all too frilly pink for her liking type of apron wrapped around her waist. “...Sometimes I wonder how we’ve remained friends.”
“A, because I’m too cute for words, and B…” Sonata said gently bopping Gilda atop the head with her mixing spoon. “We both like baking.”
“Just shut up and continue making that poundcake, eh?” Gilda replied.
“Fine fine,” Sonata chirped before her voice softened. “I’m really glad we’re friends by the way. Nobody else in the entire family understands cooking. I mean, Adagio prefers sea life to people, and Aria… well, she’d rather be up on stage and getting drunk off her brain than anything else. At least, that’s what it seems to be like at times…”
“Alone in a crowd, huh?” Gilda said nodding in sympathy.
“...I’m really glad we’re friends,” Sonata said. “Like, you’re one of the few people who I can talk to about with stuff like this…”
“Friends…” Gilda whispered to herself. She had really only two to three people she could honestly stick with that label and Sonata… well, if Sonata knew her history with Aria she might not be so inclined to be friends with her. She was lucky enough to be in this school as it was, given she was not really that well off, and it was only via money from Adagio that she was here. And how was she repaying her? By thinking shit about her little sister. It honestly churned her stomach.
“Hey, you alright?” Sonata asked taking note of Gilda’s general expression and tone.
“...Yeah, yeah… I’m fine,” Gilda whispered and hoped Sonata wouldn’t pick up any further on her distress. The keyword here was hoped. “...Yeah, I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not fine,” Sonata said. “I’ve been friends with you for this long, so I’m smart enough to tell when something’s bothering you.”
“...You always were the smart one, weren’t you… Sonata?” Gilda sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m not fine. Not fine at all.”
“You’re not thinking about financial issues again, are you?” Sonata pressed. “Because, if so I can get Adagio to…”
“It’s not Adagio I’m worried about,” Gilda confessed. “Okay, yeah sure she’s on my mind thanks to that woman Vignette and all but it’s not her I worry about.”
“Oh?” Sonata asked gently. “Then what is it?”
“It’s… well, it’s Aria actually,” Gilda said. “Me and her… well, we haven’t exactly had the best of histories, and here I am just talking to you like it never even hap-”
“Now that’s enough of that!” Sonata suddenly shouted catching the entire class by surprise. A loud stinging slap rang out, and Gilda was left with a noticeable red mark on her face. “That’s enough of you feeling sorry for yourself! Understand?” Sonata asked sternly, Gilda only having the ability to nod weakly.
Sonata’s voice softened again, as she placed a hand on Gilda’s shoulder. “You feeling all sorry for yourself? This isn’t you Gilda, you’re supposed to be the tough gal, right? Tough as nails?”
“...Yeah.” Gilda admitted.
“Then do so,” Sonata said. “And for the record? Aria knows.”
“...w-what?” Gilda stammered out.
“Yeah, she knows,” Sonata said. “What do you think she is? Stupid? She knows what you did long ago, and she’s forgiven you. The evidence was stacked against her, hell in your position I might have done the exact same thing.”
“Seriously… you?” Gilda asked. “YOU? But… you look up to Aria, more than anyone I know!”
“Yes, but I am also smart enough to look at facts in an objective way,” Sonata admitted. “I love my sister, I do, but if there was enough evidence to support her being a monstrous siren then I’d look at her in that way as well until enough proof came around to trounch that notion. Just how my brain works, I guess…”
“Jeez, and they call me harsh…” Gilda thought to herself.
As a child, Gilda was told that monsters never existed and that she had nothing to fear. The only monsters were in her head, not lurking in closets or under her bed. Gilda now knew that to be wrong, as overwhelming evidence around the globe stated that creatures did exist. Thankfully, there were those who rose up to meet them, the Kamen Riders. And now that her best friend’s older sister was one of those Riders… well, Gilda now saw it fit to make sure that if there was any way that she needed help, Gilda would help her.
Gilda chuckled, her mother was right after all. In the 21st century, everything did indeed change. Maybe for the better, or for the worse. She wasn’t sure yet.
“By the way,” Sonata asked. “Please tell me you’re going to get rid of that bomber jacket of yours, it’s hardly fashionable!”
“What? Why you…” Gilda grumbled. “It’s cool, and it’s fashionable. So shut your trap, okay?”
“Fashionable?” Sonata teased in that good-natured way of hers. “Since when? The only place that looks good is next to the cockpit of an old Aerodrome!”
“Well, at least I’m not caught up playing stupid games about Japanese heroes!” Gilda snarked back. “Honestly, a guy based on a grasshopper? I mean, what’s up with that?”
“I’ll have you know that…” Sonata started. In the background of the room, unnoticed by anyone was a man, bleached blond in hair color. He smiled like the cat that got the canary, this made very interesting information indeed. So OOOs had a sister? Two of them in fact? Well, that was just peachy! He would be sure to use this, even if he didn’t quite know how just yet. What they said was true after all, never ever trust a cat.
On the winding mountain passes outside Denver, a heavily armored truck made its way through the hills, in the back of the truck was a precious load. Three Core Medals, to be taken to a nearby private airport and shipped out to Japan for study. At least, that was how the official story was going. The real truth was something a little bit more interesting, really.
Eiji knew if that Foundation X was really stalking his company, and in the city as he suspected they were, they’d have to be drawn out of the woodwork and if this didn’t entice them, well nothing would really.
“You’re taking a grave risk, I hope you know that Eiji,” Erika noted over the phone. “What if this backfires, and X gets their hands on these Medals…”
“I can handle whoever they send at me,” Eiji replied. “Let’s just say I’ve made a few improvements to the Birth systems.”
“Ah yes, you did tell me about that…” Erika sighed. “I am worried though, these new improvements, they haven’t been tested.”
“Consider this a field test then.”
Erika sighed again, and then replied: “Be safe, okay?”
“We still on for dinner this evening?” Eiji asked.
“...Only if you don’t come back after getting yourself killed!”
“Noted,” Eiji said before he heard the sound of… something. If he didn’t know any better, he’d swear it sounded like feet crashing into pavement at high speed. Sure enough, it was Kazari, using the powers of his Cheetah Core. Then, he leaped forward, slashing at the back doors of the armored truck.
On the road ahead stood another of the Greeed, Mezool, who flicked her hands causing spouts of water to erupt from beneath the road. The truck swerved and dodged each eruption of water before a powerful fist slammed into it causing the truck to stop dead in its tracks. Gamel, obviously.
“Three Greeed,” Eiji thought to himself. “I didn’t quite know when I was quite so well off!”
Finally, having had enough, Eiji threw open the back doors of the truck revealing he was already clad in the Birth Armor, and was now sporting a hugely upgraded variant of the Birth Buster. This one sported twin gatling gun like barrels, and was more of a rifle type weapon then the massive pistol of before.
He pulled the trigger and fired sending Kazari staggering back as cell medals flew from the gun. Eiji knew he could only fire in short bursts with this weapon, as it ate up far more medals than the base variant. He was lucky this thing didn’t break his entire arm with all the power it held.
“Damn you…” Kazari yowled before letting out a war cry and leaping forwards. Eiji reacted and climbed on the RideVendor before flying out of the back of the truck. Kazari’s head was used as a stepping stone, the front wheel colliding with it. Tires squealed in protest as Eiji landed on the pavement and turned a full 180 degrees, chopping Kazari in the neck as he ran up alongside the RideVendor. The Birth Buster was stored on Eiji’s back, the weight only slowing Eiji just a little.
He drifted the bike sending Gamel flying before pressing down hard on the pavement sending the RideVendor flying before gripping the handlebars. With this, he quickly gave Mezool a flying kick to the stomach cutting through the stream of water she sent his way.
“Get out of here, now!” Eiji shouted to the driver of the van, who really didn’t need to be told twice and floored it, tires squealing in protest as it flew down the road. Eiji’s eyes narrowed under his helmet. “You’re not who I wanted to deal with today, now get out of here.”
“Well, congrats, you got us!” Kazari hissed, claws bared.
“Idiot,” Mezool sighed. “You really think you’d be able to transport three of our cores without us even knowing about it?”
She waved her hand and sent a wave of water towards Eiji, who activated the Birth System’s crane arm feature and swung it cutting through the watery wave with ease. Even a few summoned trash yummies were not much to worry about, as Eiji floored it again and swung the arm like a frail cutting through the hoard with ease. Gamel then jumped forwards, slamming a fist into the ground sending both Eiji and his bike flying.
Eiji reacted as quickly as he could have, reaching for the handlebars and grabbing them even as the bike touched down again. He stood atop the bike for a brief second, and then unloaded more rounds from the Birth Buster. With this action, he began cutting down more of the mummy-like Waste Yummies and knocking their three Greeed masters back.
He quickly reseated himself, and reactivated the crane arm feature, using it to hook onto a lamppost and make another sharp 180-degree turn before ramming Kazari off his feet. The King of Cats was sent flying and Eiji then leaped off his bike for a brief second to deliver a powerful Rider Kick to him. The Lion and Cheetah cores were his again, even as Kazari’s armor crumbled.
“Wait a moment…” Eiji realized a few seconds too late. “The last time anyone saw these cores they were in the hands of… ANKH!”
He was then knocked off his bike by a powerful force as the King of Birds then tackled him to the ground. The RideVendor meanwhile slammed head-on into a tree.
“A-Ankh?” Eiji whispered, his helmet cracked slightly as he looked up to see the Bird Greeed now reunited with his fellows. “....why are you…?”
“Well, let’s just say me and furball here, we struck a deal,” Ankh smirked. “Tch, you idiot, should you really be so surprised that I wound up eventually joining my own kind again?”
“...Not really, I suppose…” Eiji said as he caught Ankh’s punch. “But what’s in it for you?”
“Oh, the usual. More than enough cells to rebuild my body,” Ankh commented. “Sorry to break the little sea siren’s heart, but really, we all knew it would come to this. Adagio was just a pawn for greater things. She had potential, yes, but in the end? She’s just dirt under my shoe…”
“You’re a real bastard, you know that right?” Eiji said before Ankh punched him in the gut with his good hand sending Eiji staggering back.
“So I’ve been told,” Ankh remarked before he basically bitch-slapped Eiji sending him sprawling to the pavement. “Now I’ll be taking these back. And then giving them back.”
He then retrieved the Lion and Cheetah cores and tossed them back to Kazari.
Ankh swallowed, he knew he was playing a very risky gambit of his own as it was. If he lost, he lost big. And if he won… well, it’d all be worth it.
“GAH!” he shouted as something hit him in the back. “WHO DARES STRIKE THE KING OF BIRDS!”
A sound of a roaring engine was heard, and suddenly Eiji found himself hoisted up on the back of another RideVendor, Erika at the controls. She’d taken a quick shot with a lower-powered variant of the Birth Buster to distract Ankh and now was getting Eiji as far away from the Greeed as possible.
“Hold on!” Erika called, using a boulder as a ramp and driving up the side of a very steep part of the mountain before dropping off to a lower road.
“...Never knew you were quite such a daredevil.” Eiji said as soon as his heart rate had finally returned to normal levels. “Regular Evel Knevil, aren’t you?”
“I’m just getting paid overtime for this, understand?” Erika asked. “And you owe me two dinner dates now, understand?”
She was now practically tailgating the armored truck before her eyes widened as Kazari leaped down and landed on top of the truck. “Did you really think it’d be so easy?”
Slicing through the air, he sent twin gusts of wind towards Erika and she dodged. She did this running up the side of the mountain again, before getting out in front of the truck. Eiji nodded before leaping up off the RideVendor and on top of the truck to face Kazari. He fired off a Cell Burst and Kazari was sent flying, only to be caught by a hand of water from Mezool.
“And I thought cats hated the water?” Eiji teased. He readied the Birth Buster but thought against it as ammo was a critical low. So he then activated the crane arm once more, before grabbing both Kazari and Mezool with it and tossing them into the mountainside. With a sigh of relief, hoping the Greeed had finally learned their lesson he climbed back inside the truck. Erika drove alongside it, as an escort of sorts. Soon, they would be at the airfield. In fact, Erika could see it in the distance even now.
But for every spot of hope, there was something just waiting in the shadows to crush it. A dragon-like creature flew out of an upcoming tunnel breathing fire on the road. The driver of the truck panicked and flew down the mountainside till finally crashing into the sand and cacti below. Eiji, groaning in pain clutched his side as he stumbled out of the wreckage, his transformation canceling out, his belt falling to the ground below.
The dragon creature laughed in a high pitched cackling tone before he turned into a human form. Another creature, resembling a bright red pegasus landed next to the man.
“Like my Mutamids?” a female voice asked as a car pulled up, a woman in complete white dress stepping out of it. “I salvaged the research from what was left of that idiot Kannagi’s work.”
“Who… who are you?” Eiji gasped out.
“Well, let’s just say we’ve had mutual dealings,” the woman said. “You gypped me on a deal some years before, remember?”
“S-Starlight?” Eiji said.
“Or Madam X, if you prefer.” Starlight said. “I was going to let my Mutamids finish this job but then I decided there was too much to leave to chance. These practically mindless brutes wouldn’t be enough, I decided I’d have to do this myself.”
At this, she pulled off her gloves, to reveal what looked to be glowing blue orbs embedded in her hands. With a flick of the wrist, she slammed Eiji into the mountainside. Another flick and he was drawn near her, Starlight grabbing him in a chokehold. “Pathetic. I can’t believe I even considered bringing the Kougamis into X if this is the best they can offer.”
“You… you won’t get your hands on the medals, not while I breathe…” Eiji said, going for his pocket and drawing a taser. Starlight screamed and dropped Eiji as one of her hands sparked.
“DAMN YOU!” Starlight shouted. “Finish him!” she shouted to her Mutamids. Both nodded and charged before several gunshots impacted them. They didn’t do damage but were enough to attract attention. Erika had finally caught up and was now holding a desert eagle pistol in her hands. Roundhouse kicking one of the Mutamids, she then flipped over the other and grabbed it before throwing it into the ground.
“Bitch, no means no,” Erika said. “You were declined once, so take a hint. You’re not wanted!”
She fired her pistol at Starlight, but to her surprise, the bullets seemed to stop in midair as they even got close to her. Starlight smiled, her palms now glowing a purple shade as she picked the bullets out of the air. “...Please, is that really the best you can do?” Starlight asked.
“...What have you done to yourself?” Erika whispered.
“Remade myself,” Starlight said in a faux-sweet tone. “All for the betterment of mankind of course. Bioengineering and robotics have come so far these days don’t you know?”
Erika then rolled to the ground as Starlight fired a blast of energy at her. She grabbed the Birth Belt and put it on.
“Erika… no…” Eiji gasped out.
“You want to live through this, or not?” Erika asked before tossing a cell medal into the driver. “HENSHIN!”
“Very well then…” Starlight sighed. “If that’s your game…”
With that, she threw what sickeningly resembled a Driver around her waist and an orb developed in the center of it, beeping intermittently. “Henshin.” Starlight said pressing down on a button atop the orb.
“Equalize, Scienticize! Energize, Solarize!” the belt stated as purple armor wrapped itself around Starlight, actually resembling Kamen Rider Agito in quite a few ways, right down to the horned helmet. The only difference was of course the silver orbs dotting the purple armor, and the chest plate which depicted a sun. The orbs in Starlight’s palms were still there, embedded in silver gauntlets styled after equal signs.
“Ever heard of the Tunguska event?” Starlight asked as she traded punches with Erika, before dodging a swing from the crane arm feature. She then blasted Erika back with a blast from her palms “Russians reported it as a meteor. They were covering things up, of course. In reality, some alien craft showed up from a cross-dimensional rift. Consider yourself… enlightened.”
She then grabbed the recovering Erika and threw her into the ground. “It took me several years to get ahold of enough stuff from the crash to reverse engineer it to build this. The files called it a Mirai Driver. Fitting, as I open the way to the future.”
“So you’re a thief then,” Erika said, knocking Starlight to the ground with a powerful leg sweep maneuver. “Not surprised.”
“Cell Burst.”
Erika then fired a powerful beam of red energy at the Dark Rider, who simply raised her hands in an x-shaped move to protect herself. She was pushed back but seemed otherwise unharmed.
“My turn!” Starlight said firing an identical beam of red energy at Erika, who barely moved out of the way just in time. She then moved like a flash of light and tossed Erika into the wreckage of the truck. She drew back her fist, but just as Starlight was about to deliver the killing blow, the entire armor began to spark and steam. “No… NOT NOW!” Starlight shouted as her transformation canceled out.
The Mutamids helped Starlight up, supporting her while unknown to anyone, Mezool had used the chaos to recover the Cores from the wreckage.
“Another day, Kougami!” Starlight hissed out as she climbed into her car. “Another day…”
See, this was the problem with the new Driver, Starlight for all of her genius hadn’t quite worked out all the kinks yet. This was the problem with working with completely alien technology and putting a bit of Earth tech into it, cannibalizing the two into something completely new. There were bound to be a few teething troubles along the way, really. And this meant that Starlight’s Rider Form could only last about fifteen minutes, at max. And that was if she was lucky. Today, obviously, was not one of those days.
“Eiji,” Erika said as she pulled herself out of the rubble, the Birth Prototype armor missing quite a few pieces. Erika’s bleeding arm was exposed to the world. “You okay? Speak to me!”
“...That was… foolish, Erika…” Eiji gasped out. “So incredibly foolish, you do know that right?”
“Yes, well…” Erika muttered. “Consider us even, okay? For… before, with that incident okay? Besides, Mr. Kougami would kill me if I even let his precious son get hurt. But you’re still paying me overtime, got it?”
“Got it…” Eiji laughed weakly before he slipped into unconsciousness. Meanwhile, Ankh watched the scene from high atop a mountain. Kazari stood next to him. “So, you’ll hold up your end of the bargain?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Kazari said, fingering the Condor medal behind his back before he absorbed it.
“I’ll be keeping my eyes on you cat, understand that?” Ankh asked.
“And I will be keeping my eyes on you,” Kazari said. “Can’t have the most untrustworthy greed in existence going off the rails again, can we?”
“There’s a human phrase that fits this scenario,” Ankh mused. “Tch, it’s called pot… meet kettle.”
Far away, on the other side of Denver, a train pulled into a station. It’d been a very long while since its occupant had been in Canterlot. But now, she was home. Breathing in the fresh desert air, Sunset Shimmer smiled to herself. There was nothing quite like the smell of home to invigorate the senses after one long and very tiring tour of Europe.
“Still, can’t say things weren’t interesting over there, at any rate…” Sunset smiled. “After all, when you meet a guy whose name literally translates to Tigerhawk well… Still, it’s so glad to be home. Huh, wonder if Twilight’s still nose deep in that collection I caught her in a few months ago?”
Sunset smiled, she’d definitely make an effort to get her girlfriend out of the pages of those books once in a while, really. Celestia knew she was such a horny little pony at heart, really.
Sunset’s eyes widened as a newspaper, several weeks old blew right in her face. More accurately, they widened at the headline on it.
“Sea Siren turned Hero? Adagio Dazzle a Kamen Rider?”
Sunset nearly fainted then and there, she’d heard a few stories about the Riders and to even think that Adagio Dazzle was now one of them… well, it made her very worried indeed. “Still, at least I know what happened to her. After the Battle of the Bands, she and her sisters basically… vanished. Somehow I wish that they’d stayed vanished.”
Sunset’s walk broke into a sprint as she gripped her geode tightly. If Adagio Dazzle was truly a Kamen Rider, well it looked like things in her city were about to take a turn for the worse. That is if they hadn’t already actually. She could only hope she was in time.