//------------------------------//
// 27: Bug Out 
// Story: Kamen Rider: What's Your Desire? 
// by The Bricklayer 
//------------------------------//

Foundation X headquarters. Starlight found herself hard at work against the enemy of all things, paperwork. 

She honestly wanted to scream. She could fight head to head with Riders, and run an organization that prided themselves on being the Merchants of Death and yet she was stumped by paperwork. 

She heard the sound of snickering, and went for her gun. Someone was in her office. From out behind a fish tank stepped Kazari, the feline greeed currently in human form. 

“Grunge is a bad look for you,” Starlight commented. “Makes you look like somebody’s disaffected nephew really. Now what are you doing in my office? Get out of here before I call security.”

“Like they’d be able to stop me,” Kazari remarked, briefly changing to his Greeed form, before changing back to his human guise. “Hell, they already failed to do so given I’m in your office and what’s that I don’t hear? Oh, the sounds of alarms.”

“Oh, I can fix that,” Starlight said, still keeping her gun trained on the feline greeed. “Trust me.”

“You really think a gun can honestly hurt me?” Kazari snorted, inspecting his own claws, and lounging in the sun. “You’ve seen it tried before, and does that ever work?”

“There’s a first time for everything,” Starlight remarked as Kazari continued his rambles.

“You seem to really like the sun don’t you?” Kazari said, hopping off the windowsill. “Not that I can blame you really, but you really enjoy your sunshine. Ever thought of a retirement plan for Florida? I hear they have plenty of it. Sunshine State and all that!”

“Denver suits my needs,” Starlight remarked, going for a drawer on her desk, inside it was her driver. “Now state your business and leave, before I force you out.”

“Ah ah, no need to be so hasty,” Kazari said, wagging his finger. “I actually think we can help each other.”

“How so?” Starlight said. 

“Think about it. You want core medals, I want core medals, we can both help ourselves. A little birdie -not Ankh by the way- told me Uva was striking out on his own. I think you can see where I’m going with this,” Kazari remarked. “See, the way I figure it, that Driver of yours is plenty powerful. At the very least, it should be able to take him down for a short while.”

“And if it kills him?” Starlight asked. “Why aren’t you worried? If I end up killing Uva, what makes you think I'll stop at just him?”

“Oh, I think we can work out a deal…” Kazari smirked devilishly. “You’re a businesswoman right? You’re good with those!”

“That I am,” Starlight said. “But what do you get out of this?”

“To be the sole greeed standing. I’m free to conduct whatever little experiments I want, and if I end up backstabbing you… well, you can easily take me out. So, what say you, Starlight Glimmer. Do you want to ride with the devil?”

“I think…” Starlight said. “This is going to be a very lucrative partnership.”





“Well, this is a… bit of a setback isn’t it?” Eiji commented having only now just discovered how he’d been robbed. 

“You have a capacity for understatement sir,” Erika Satonaka drawled looking over the empty room. “Guess you’re going to have to talk to your father.”

“This has come at a bit of a bad time,” Eiji said looking over at Soarin’, the former fighter pilot frowning at how the Birth system had been rendered effectively useless for the time being. “Well, I’ll give Uva credit. He’d planned this out pretty well.”

“So, send him a medal. Throw him a parade,” Erika deadpanned wondering if she should have come into work today at all. Yeah, she probably should have just stayed in bed, she reasoned. She hadn’t even had her coffee yet before her boss called her in. She couldn’t function without her cup of joe. “He swindled us, whoopee! No need to acknowledge him as a worthy foe.”

“So what now?” Soarin’ asked as he looked around the now completely empty vault. “We obviously can’t just sit on our asses boo-hooing and tsk-tsking. We need to get those medals back.”

“If we can,” Erika pointed out. “Chances are Uva’s already distributed them to his fellow Greeed, end of story.”

“Has he?” Soarin’ asked. “Uva’s an embodiment of desire right? He’s more likely to hoard of the medals to himself if you want my opinion. Moreover, now that he’s got the power to do so, he’s going to go after Adagio, and collect even more medals. She and Ankh probably have a good collection of their own built up by now.”

“I should have listened, damn!” Eiji said punching the wall, his knuckles bleeding slightly. “Adagio warned me hoarding all of these medals was a bad idea. I should have just dumped them in the ocean.”

“Nothing you can do about it now,” Erika said. “It’s not even your fault anyways. The greeed would have found a way in sooner or later. We just need to get these medals back, and up our security.”

“And put a protection detail or something on Adagio, and her family,” Soarin’ butted in. “Uva’s going to be after them now. The rest of the Greeed as well. They know just as well as he does that Adagio and Ankh have a good collection of medals as well.”

“There… there’s someone I think who can help,” Eiji said. “Managed to steal her away from ZAIA Enterprises. Their CEO wasn’t exactly pleased by that, but considering the company went under a few weeks later, I don’t think he had any room to complain. Basically, I managed to save a few rats from a sinking ship, including her. A few of the other former employees went off to other subsidiaries, I think a few are at the main foundation building in Japan. I’ll see if I can get Ms. Yaiba over here. She’s exactly who we need to keep Adagio safe.”





“Really, Uva robbed the whole place blind?” Adagio asked in abject shock. “Uva? Uva? ...wow, guess he’s got more intelligence than I’m actually giving him credit for.”

“Never underestimate someone’s desire,” Ankh said, nibbling on an ice pop as usual. Adagio swore she was going to be bankrupt by the end of this with him and his addiction. “Even Uva’s. He’s about as bright as a brick, but he’s determined. And rarely, just very rarely, he has his moments of cunning. I suspect Kazari’s involved.”

“What, you think him and this ‘Kazari’ have teamed up?” asked Yua Yaiba. Adagio wasn’t honestly sure what to think of her really. She wore a suit that was nicely pressed and oh Jesus Adagio suddenly felt very inferior -or very cheap- just looking at her. Honestly, Adagio liked Eiji, she really did, but she didn’t need a bodyguard.

She could handle herself just fine. She didn’t need a woman who parked a van outside her house, followed her to work, and who probably knew krav maga when she could handle herself just fine. Adagio had always been a staunchly independent woman. She didn’t really like having to accept charity. 

Honestly, Yua could just pack up and go back to her old job really. She appreciated the thought, she really did but what use could Yua actually be? Unless she had one of those birth busters Eiji seemed to hand out willy nilly, Adagio doubted Yua could do much damage. Unless that wasn’t her purpose. Given how Adagio had caught her trying to rip away Ankh’s medal holder from the King of Birds, it begged one to wonder.

Okay, Adagio would admit someone, well anyone aside from Ankh handing out medals to her might have been nice for a change. Ankh was so demanding. However, tossing him to the curb was a bad idea. Someone had to keep an eye on him. Even if it was Adagio much to her personal disgust.

Which… come to think of it was possibly another reason Yua had saddled with this job. One less headache for her. She could focus on her real jobs like gathering medals and maintaining the aquarium. It’d been a while since things had been this easy for her. Yeah, suddenly she could enjoy having Yua around.

Even if her suit made Adagio feel very, very cheap.

“No, it’s less that and more Uva’s always felt inferior to Kazari. Which he is, but that’s besides the point. I believe this is Uva proving a point. That if he strikes out on his own, he can be just as dangerous as the rest of them,” Ankh explained, tossing the empty stick behind him after sucking it clean in… oh, okay, it was official. Adagio really didn’t need that sort of image in her mind. She had a boyfriend! 

“And do you think he is?” Yua asked.

“No, I think he’s an idiot,” Ankh replied. “Though even an idiot given the right incentive can be dangerous. I can only guess what he’s doing now. Probably cooking up a new scheme to grab even more cell medals and become ‘complete’.”

“Explain to me what being ‘complete’ is,” Yua said taking one of Ankh’s ice pops away from him. Adagio snorted at the little kicked puppy look on his face. “You’ve never quite clarified.”

“Didn’t think I needed to,” Ankh said. “Complete means complete, what else is there to say? Though then again, it’s really an oxymoron. Greeed, being what we are, will always be seeking more and more and… honestly, we don’t know when to stop. You’d never be able to understand, you’re an outsider. You’re simply not a greeed.”

“Sounds horrible if you ask me,” Yua replied as she followed Adagio to her car, scanning the area for any potential threats or escape routes. She’d already marked several of the latter. “Always wanting more, never being content with what you have.”

“So, you humans are the same aren’t you?” Ankh pointed out, leaping atop a lightpost. “Money, dollars, bucks, dough, bread, moolah, cheddar, paper, stash. Benjamins, loot, smackers, and simoleons. Need I go on? You always want more. You just never know when to stop. You and the greeed are more alike then you’d care to admit. Hell, without humanity, we wouldn’t even exist. Think on that for a while, eh?”

Adagio had been thinking about that, and she didn’t like it. 

“You humans just don’t know when to stop building, buying, ripping up the land for your own desires, and-”

“Just stop, you’re sounding like a hippie,” Yua said. 

“You can’t say I’m wrong though…” Ankh said. The day flew by without much incident and the rest of the week for that matter. it seemed Uva was laying low at the moment apparently. That did nothing to calm Adagio’s nerves. She knew he was out there plotting and planning and just buying his time. 

God, what she’d give for even a single yummy battle. Not even her late-night talks with Takeru were really helping to calm her nerves. Finally, Sonata and Aria had enough. A shared agreement had been made. Adagio wasn’t quite sure how but she found herself at a concert for Carina.

“Really ‘Dagi,” Sonata jingled. “You need to live a little.”

“I do live a little. I spend time with my animals,” Adagio said flatly. “Whoo-hoo, nothing says excitement like diving with hammerhead sharks.”

“You need a social life, just sayin’. Half of your best friends are animals, and that just won’t do!” Sonata continued as they waded through the crowd to find their seats. 

“Yes, well, animals are less annoying,” Adagio drawled. “Less likely to drag you into something that you don’t want to do.” 

To Adagio’s surprise, when she got to her seat she found someone else waiting for her. 

“Sunset?” Adagio breathed out in shock. She turned to Sonata. “Did you plan this?”

“Mhmm, maybe,” Sonata smiled in that way too innocent to be actually innocent way of hers. “You seemed like you were such great friends so…”

“Yeah, great friends,” Sunset mumbled. “That’s one way to put it.”

“See, you like each other already!” Sonata beamed taking her seat.

“You get the feeling you’ve been railroaded?” Sunset asked Adagio, who could only nod as the lights went down low, and the crowd roared. A woman in gothic lolita attire stepped out and stepped up to the microphone, her voice low and seductive as piano played in the background.

“Leave all behind, give your soul over…” Carina sung and every so often Adagio caught Sunset sneaking nervous glances at her. Oh. Oh. Oh. Yeah, that figured didn’t it. “Leave it all behind…”

Remind her to have a talk with Sunset after the show was over. 





Yua, for her part, kept a watchful eye on Adagio from the rafters. If anything happened, well she’d be the first to call it in. In a briefcase beside her was a sniper rifle based off the birth buster, obviously in pieces but ready to be assembled at the first sign of a Greeed. 

Something clattered behind her, and Yua whirled one hand going for her side arm. A giant hornet stumbled out of the darkness, and Yua fired. The sounds weren’t audible over the sound of the concert, so nobody knew what was going on. This was both a good thing and a bad thing. Okay, the good side of this was nobody would panic. Bad side, well, Adagio wouldn’t know this was going on. 

Yua would have to drive this creature off long enough for her to reach her phone. Firing her pistol several times in the yummy’s carapace, she kicked it in the stomach. The creature staggered, before it took to the skies. 

Yua watched it fly out of sight. “Okay then, I know I’m nowhere near that good. So why fly off? ...actually, why be here at all?”

This merited further investigation. Grabbing her briefcase, she made her way down the stairs and found herself near Carina’s trailer. Hiding behind a stack of equipment, she paid attention to the ongoing conversation. 

“Okay, I don’t get it,” one of the stagehands said. “A few days ago, Carina was B-List at best. Had a fancy gimmick and all, but she just doesn’t have that raw talent. The gift. Now she’s playing completely sold-out shows!”

“Maybe she got lucky,” the second stagehand said. “Clearly, the public sees something we don’t!”

“Hey, have you heard the rumors?” the first piped up. “I heard this from my sister, but apparently Countess Coloratura and Sapphire Shores? They suddenly dropped themselves from their tour schedules! Just like that!”

“But they’re…” the second stagehand breathed.

“Big names?” the first said. “I know, but suddenly they’ve decided to go on hiatus. I know artists are fickle, but wow!”

Suddenly, a lot of things were beginning to make sense, Yua realized. The hornet yummy, the rumors, Carina suddenly being an A-Lister? While she didn’t have concrete proof, apparently at least this musician had sold her soul to the devil. Or at least, a giant cockroach.





Sonata had one more gift for Sunset and Adagio. One little behind the scenes meet and greet. 

“Sonata, I don’t want to meet Carina,” Adagio tried to protest but it was tough going, really. “I don’t even like goth rock! Give me pop music any day!”

“But this is pop music,” Sonata said. “And… and think of it, alright? Carina? She’s hip, relatable and if a few paparazzi snap a few photos with you and her together? Boom! Instant tourists for the National Aquarium!”

“Your sis has got a point,” Sunset agreed with a small nod. “Me, I’m here for pretty much the same reason. It’d boost record sales if I was seen to be hip and relatable.”

“You’re shameless, you know that right?” Adagio deadpanned.

“Hey, at least I admit it,” Sunset snarked. “Admit it, you want some new peeps filing into the aquarium.” 

“True enough,” Adagio admitted with a small shrug. “Now a question for you. Okay, I gotta ask, what’s your problem with me? Is it my doppelganger? You’ve been giving me the… well, not quite the stink eye but the suspicious eye all night. Hard to really enjoy the music when you’re looking at me trying to figure out the best way to murder me and hide the body so to speak.”

“Oh, you caught that?” Sunset said with a small nervous giggle. “Okay, yeah I’ve got problems with you.”

“You and about half of this city, apparently,” Adagio mumbled. “Gee, thanks other me for giving what little I have of a social life your own personal private fuck you. It’s gotten real old, thank you. Now can you kindly jump off a short pier?”

Sunset winced, maybe she had been judging Adagio too harshly. She hadn’t really given much thought to how the Equestrian Adagio might have affected her human counterpart’s life. “Pretty sure drowning her wouldn’t work,” Sunset remarked. “She’s a giant sea siren hippocampus… horse thing.”

Adagio gave Sunset a truly withering glare. “I’m so not in the mood for jokes like that.”

“Sorry, just thought I’d lighten the mood,” Sunset said. “I’m guessing you had a run-in with your other half?”

“No duh,” Adagio sighed. “She almost ruined my life and nearly gave me heart failure, all in the course of only just a few days.”

“Well, if it helps you any, she was just trying to protect her family,” Sunset said.

“Bullshit. Some Freudian excuse is still no excuse for being an insane bitch,” Adagio drawled.

“You shouldn’t have to worry about her,” Sunset said. “She and her siblings have been shuffled off back to Equestria.”

Wisely, Sunset decided against mentioning that the Equestrian Adagio had managed to help a certain Queen of the Fangires against the evil Kamen Rider Arc. At least that’s what Princess Twilight had mentioned. Sunset doubted the human Adagio would believe her anyways. 

“So basically she’s now her nation’s problem?” Adagio asked. “Hooray.”

Sunset couldn’t honestly tell if she was actually being sarcastic or not.

It was about this moment when Yua ran up, -her long coat flapping in the wind- and whispered something in Adagio’s ear. Adagio’s eyes widened.

“Trouble?” Sunset questioned. 

“Possibly, yeah,” Adagio said as they neared Carina’s trailer. “Keep your eyes peeled okay?”

“Okay…” Sunset muttered nervously, really wishing she was let in on what was going on around here. Adagio was welcomed inside the trailer with hugs and kisses, Sunset soon to follow. 

Adagio thought she knew how to read people, she knew how to read sea life at any rate. And the way she figured it, reading a person couldn’t really have been much different from reading another animal.

She could easily pick up on the fact that Carina was nervous. You’d have to be blind not to see it. Maybe Adagio was reading her wrong, maybe she was only nervous due to the fact that this was her first real big gig. More people to meet and greet, more people to put up a false smile towards and pretend that she liked every one of them. Adagio had been there often enough.

“Carina, is it?” Adagio greeted politely, shaking the woman’s hand. For the life of her, Adagio just couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d seen the woman somewhere before. Maybe it was on a magazine cover or somewhere. Cosmopolitan or Vanity Fair maybe? “A pleasure.”

“Didn’t even realize you liked my music, OOOs,” Carina said. “Nice to have fans from all walks of life.”

Yua lurked outside, keeping an eye on things. If it was time to move, she’d let Adagio know.

“Ah, I actually was basically just dragged here by my sister. And please, call me Adagio. No titles, not here anyways, ” Adagio admitted with a nervous little laugh, rubbing her hand behind her head. Nervously, she ran her hand through her golden locks. “But it was… Oh, how do I put it?”

“One of those you couldn't say no type of deals?” Carina said with a soft smile before spotting Sunset. “...haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Hello Kiwi,” Sunset said stiffly, her tone still polite but even. Obviously, they had met before under less than… pleasant circumstances. Then it hit Adagio like a slap to the face. Kiwi. As in that Kiwi. Kiwi Lollipop of the former girl group PostCrush. She and her sister(?) Supernova Zap had been at the top of the pop charts for a couple of odd years, before like a cataclysm their split had rocked the music world. Adagio only knew this thanks to Aria, who’d been grumbling about how they’d been no talent hacks anyways.

Adagio did have to wonder what Sunset’s deal was with her though. Ex-girlfriend maybe? Had Sunset come to cheer her on in secret? They certainly gave off that vibe, even if you were to ask Adagio everyone Sunset seemed to meet screamed ex-girlfriend at times. Jesus, did that girl have that much bad luck when it came to dating? 

“Haven’t seen you in ages!” Kiwi/Carina said. “Not since the…”

“Starswirled Music Festival,” Sunset said, her tone still even.  “What’s with the name change?”

“You’d be surprised how hard it is for me to get work as Kiwi. Apparently, without my sister, I’m nothing. So I had to go incognito, so to speak. Do the whole new me deal before anyone could take me seriously again,” Kiwi/Carina said. “The whole music biz is a rough deal. As I’m sure you can empathize.”

Oh, right right… Adagio had forgotten Sunset was a bit of a big deal in the music business. She just didn’t give off that sort of vibe at times. 

“Yeah, well, from one musician to another, sorry to hear that,” Sunset said, her tone genuinely empathetic. “I honestly thought you and your sister were go… oh. Idiot!”

She’d smacked herself in the face for reminding Carina of her bad break. “Yes, well,” Carina said. “I’m trying not to be defined by my sister anymore. This is the new me, plain and simple. I’m just a girl who’s trying to show the world what I can do, that’s all.”

“Including taking other musicians off tour?” Adagio pressed, wanting to get to the bottom of tonight’s events. Carina at this looked surprised.

“What do you mean?” Carina said.

“Surely you’ve heard the rumors,” Sunset added. “You’re suddenly the biggest star in the music business and people like Sapphire Shores and Coloratura are dropping their acts. It can’t be a coincidence.” 

“Sunset, I’m hurt,” Carina said. “I’m past that, cheating to get ahead of everyone else and get that one perfect show.”

Adagio felt like she was missing something.

“Right, sorry, it’s just…” Sunset mumbled.

“Ever heard of profiling?” Carina asked. “I thought you were supposed to be the embodiment of friendship.”

“I am, it’s just…”

“...I know,” Carina sighed. “Once a villain always a villain I suppose. I admit though, all of this is pretty strange. But I have nothing to do with it.”

Sunset gazed at her for a few minutes before making up her mind. “...yeah, you’re right. I’m an ass. To fresh starts?”

“To fresh starts,” Carina nodded before taking her hand. After the two had reconciled, Adagio looked to Sunset as they left the trailer. 

“Something I’m missing?” Adagio had to ask. “Like, what was all of that?”

“It was a long time ago, I suppose it doesn’t really matter now,” Sunset admitted.

“Hey, seemed like it mattered to you!” Adagio replied. 

“Alright, it’s like this. Kiw… Ah, Carina and her sister? They’d gotten ahold of a time twirler from Equestria, and used it to do a whole groundhog day loop type deal. They weren’t even aware they’d been doing it till me and Pinks told them. I’d been trapped in that loop for a solid couple of months, actually,” Sunset admitted with Adagio wincing in sympathy. “After the whole beat them to earn their friendship, the loop broke.”

“Friendship laser, the whole Nanoha Starlight Breaker nine yards type of deal?” Adagio asked, and Sunset stared at her. “What, I’m not completely pop-culture illiterate!” 

“Nah, didn’t even have to go that far,” Sunset laughed. “Ended up joining them onstage for a song to show them that they didn’t have to have the perfect gig as long as their fans were enjoying it. That seemed to put them on the right track.”

“And yet still you suspected Carina… er Kiwi for creating a Yummy,” Adagio said silently judging her. “Nice, real nice.”

“Old habits die hard, I guess…” Sunset admitted shamefully. “Still, someone’s created a yummy and someone wants to take out the competition so… No, it couldn’t be, could it?”

“What? What is it?” Yua inquired. “Come on, if you’ve got something, we gotta know!”

“I… well, I still need to confirm my suspicions,” Sunset said. “We need a trap, and frankly looks like I’m on bait duty.”

She whispered something to Adagio and Yua, and their eyes widened. It took a fair bit of doing, but eventually later that night another concert was put together. A live broadcast of Sunset herself doing her greatest hits. 

“In the dusty basement where we met
May you surprised so much
Because you're talking now…” Sunset sang, softly strumming her guitar with all eyes on her. Recorded at the Cheesman Park Pavilion, the yummy and the person behind it were sure to see the concert.

And that was exactly what Sunset and Adagio were counting on. It was too tempting not to resist. Adagio had argued with Sunset for a bit, saying that she didn’t need to put herself in danger like this. Sunset had refuted that she didn’t need to put herself in danger to save her school and her city time and time again back when she was a student and yet she did. That had silenced the argument.

“Think the Hornet will take the bait?” Adagio said as she and Yua watched from the shadows. They’d managed to find another nearby structure to watch the proceedings.

“They’d be a fool not to,” Yua said, her gun in its holster hidden beneath the folds of her coat. “Sunset’s a prime target, she’s the last of the truly great musicians the Denver’s produced. Carina, or whoever’s behind this? If they’re going to strike, now would be the time.”

A distinct buzzing filled the air, and both Yua and Adagio shared a nod. Adagio gestured for medals, and Ankh from his hidden spot tossed them.

“Kugawata, Kujaku, Zou!” the driver rang out and Adagio tossed a fireball while Yua fired the birth buster. Together, their shots brought the hornet yummy down, his wings scorched.

“NO!” came a shout and from out for the shadows came a familiar figure.

“Just as we suspected then,” Yua said as Supernova Zap tried to make sure the yummy was still alive. “Someone had to be stealing away musicians, and we figured Kiwi was either lying or you were helping her. Kiwi doesn’t know, does she? That her sister is helping her along like this, kidnapping talent and making her the only viable musician on the block!”

The locust and hopper yummies leaped out of the shadows to attack Adagio, but the Rider punched them away before changing combos once again.

“Same, Unagi, Ookamiuo!” Adagio’s driver said as she lashed her whips keeping the two yummies at bay. She changed combos again -”Kugawata, Unagi, Ookamiuo!”- and blasted them back with a ball of green lightning.

“I’m sorry, but… but… This was the only way. After PostCrush broke up, my sister couldn’t find a gig. So I helped her from the shadows, recommending her when she needed it. That worked, for a while anyways. But it wasn’t enough! She wasn’t packing them in like me and her used to,” Supernova babbled near tears. “So I had to get drastic.”

“And so you made a deal with this Uva,” Carina said sternly as she walked out of the shadows glaring at her sister. “And resorted to kidnapping?” 

“I’m sorry sis!” Supernova sobbed. Carina hugged her.

“I know… I know…” she whispered. 

Adagio, seeing the yummies were handled for the time being, canceled out her transformation. She looked Supernova in the eye. “This isn’t how you do it though. Your sister was getting by on her own merits. Now tell me, where’d your yummy put them? The others, I mean.”

Nervously, Supernova handed the location on her phone. Yua and Carina shared a look before running off calling for a taxi.

“I assume you’re going to take me in now?” Supernova mumbled holding out her hands.

“Well, I…” Adagio started before a voice cut her off.

“Giving up so soon?” Uva chittered.

“Yes, really!” Starlight laughed as she too stepped into view. 

“Get behind me,” Adagio said and Supernova nervously did that. “When I say so, run. Don’t worry about me, I can handle these two clowns.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the other yummies recovering. Adagio could feel the wave of power coming off Uva. Was this what a complete Greeed was like? 

“You’ve really managed to one-up yourself this time, Uva,” Adagio said sternly. “Preying upon a defenseless teenager like that. Now I’m really going to enjoy kicking your ass. You and your yummies are going down.”

“Oooh, brave words. But I think you’ll find a complete Greeed a whole new type of challenge.”

“And there’s still me, assuming you survive Uva and his… lackeys,” Starlight said. “Now I don’t know about you, but five against one? Those aren’t very good odds.”

“Yes, well,” Adagio said. “I’ve been known to beat the odds before. And you two have to be stopped. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but you two have to be stopped. That’s my decree, and I will not give up until this city can rest peacefully again. Ankh, medal me up!”





“Wow, little three-way Mexican standoff,” Starlight said as both she and Adagio held up their drivers even as Uva changed into his true form. Even as she slapped on her Driver, Starlight remarked: “Always dreamed about something like this.”

“You have odd dreams. So here we are again,” Adagio said, slapping on her driver as all three Yummies surrounded her, Uva brandishing his claws and horns crackling with green electricity. Adagio heard the distinct whizzing sound of medals flying through the air. Reaching out her hand, she ripped them from the air and tossed them in her driver. “Let’s hope after this little beatdown-”

“Equalize, Scienticize! Energize, Solarize!”

“Taka, Kujaku, Condor! Ta~Ja~Dol!” 

“-That you’ll stay down for a good long while!” Adagio stated, flames crackling all around her, and the room filled with a certain type of distinctive warmth. She knew it well. With each step she took, the earth cracked and flames were left in her wake. The first yummy, the one based on the locust rushed her and received a powerful punch to the face for his troubles. The grasshopper Yummy was flipped to the floor, the ground cracking beneath him, spiderweb style ruptures erupting underneath.

Adagio sent a searing blast of fire at the Hornet Yummy making him stagger, little cells scattering all over the floor. Several more punches and he was on the floor. Uva let out a roar of rage, and green lightning filled the room, shattering the lights and leaving the world one of black. 

Adagio’s eyes glowed a red in the darkness, and from out of the gloom she saw a green flash of electricity. The air sizzling, she side-stepped to the left. She felt the rush of movement and grabbed Uva by the arm before slamming a fist into the insect greeed’s face. Adagio let out a sharp yelp of pain Uva’s claws ripped across her armor before he slammed a foot into her chest.

Adagio slid across the floor, using her fist to stop herself, and sparks flew. Her chest plate glowed, and Adagio’s arm shield followed suite. Almost as if it was trying to tell her something.

Grabbing three medals tossed to her, Adagio watched Ankh slinking back into the darkness. Pulling her arm shield open, she slammed three cores into empty slots. “Sai, Gorilla, Zou, Gin Gin Gin! Giga Scan!”

Firing a massive spiked missile at Uva, he was punted across the room. Adagio was behind him in a flash of red fire, and then above him bringing her fists down in a hammer maneuver atop his head. Uva plummeted through several floors, but before he hit the ground he managed to right himself. Leaping back upwards with his grasshopper abilities, he was soon upon Adagio with fist drawn back. Adagio’s eyes widened before Uva reached out and slammed his fist into her face. Instead of punching her, however, he grabbed her before running along the ground. As he did so, he dragged her along the wall, ripping through it and her armor. Rubble and armor shards flew everywhere. 

Adagio tumbled along the ground before she finally lay to rest. Picking herself up again, she swapped medals. “Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo, Gin Gin Gin! Giga Scan!”

Launching a shuriken of water at Uva, she was pleased to see him leap over it. This was exactly what Adagio had planned for, and spinning on her heel, she scanned the medals in her belt. 

“Scanning Charge!” the belt shouted as Adagio slammed both of her feet in Uva’s stomach in a mule kick. Watching as talons ripped into Uva, Adagio out of the corner watched him fly as cells sprinkled down.

It was going to take a few finishers to finally reduce him down to core medals, she knew that much. He had gorged himself on the cells in the Kougami Vault, and this ‘complete’ status had so much more armor than any prior form of Uva’s. 

Oh well, it was nothing she wasn’t ready for. Uva was still Uva, new power or no. He was just as reckless, and just as easy to anger. It was the other fights Adagio was really concerned about. Starlight outclassed her by a country mile, and Adagio didn’t see backup coming about any time soon.

Speaking of which, ah, here she was. Starlight was running forwards and then jumped right at her in a diving kick. Adagio cartwheeled backward, spinning around to catch Starlight in the stomach with a powerful kick of her own. Several more rapid-fire kicks followed, drawn from the French art of Savate. ...which admittedly, Adagio only knew from one scene from that one movie Aria had dragged her to watch one late night. 

Starlight was constantly kept on the defensive by Adagio’s kicks, forced to use her wrists to block the blows. And this, of course, was about the time Adagio noticed Starlight’s armor beginning to glow and crackle with energy.

She had only the briefest moment to let out a small “Aw shit…” before she was slammed into the back wall by a shockwave of energy. Starlight smirked under her helmet, grabbing Adagio by the throat. Tossing her aside, Starlight heard the sharp ‘crack’ of fist hitting face. 

Uva was back on his feet. Landing several powerful blows, he finished his onslaught by punching Adagio into the next room, rubble from the ruined wall landing all around her. Uva leaped after her, claws at the ready. Adagio rolled to the side, before flipping up onto her feet just in time to land a kick to Uva’s chest armor. Running her scanner across the belt, she kicked him again this time with even more force. Uva staggered, several cell medals falling to the ground.

Adagio took a running leap forwards, landing several kicks to Uva whilst still in mid-air. More and more cells dropped to the floor. Finally, Uva had enough, grabbing Adagio by the leg and slamming her into the ground. Adagio tried to right herself with another flip, only for Uva to cut her down with a leg sweep. Adagio’s eyes widened under her helmet as she saw Uva charging up electricity, and she thought fast. Swiping her hand along her arm shield, Uva’s face was covered in a blast of fire. Adagio righted herself, and continued swiping, making the arm shield fire off several more fire blasts. 

The Medajalibur was summoned, and Adagio grabbed some of the cells off the floor slotting them into the blade. Slashing forwards, the air warped with what hopefully would be the final finisher Uva needed to go down. He staggered, a green kamakiri core medal falling to the floor.

Starlight rushed forwards, ready to get in on the action and do some damage to Uva as well. Three cores fell into the blade, one by one. Adagio swung the Medajalibur, green lightning scorching the air. 

Both Uva and Starlight staggered back, cells and cores going flying. Adagio knew it was time to change medals. Thinking of Takeru’s smiling face, she focused on that even as she changed combos. “Takeru… watch my transformation!”

 “Kuwagata, Kamakiri, Batta: Ga~ta-Gata-Gata-Kiri, Ba! Gatakiriba!" the driver called out, Adagio covered in green insectoid armor, her horns crackling with lightning. The air smelled of ozone.

“Those… those are my cores!” Uva raged.

“Not right now they’re not,” Adagio said striding forwards, arm blades flipping out. “The winds are as ever-changing as my own abilities, now don’t you ever underestimate the powers of the animal kingdom!”

Several punches showed a dramatic increase in speed, and while there wasn’t much as power behind them, Adagio didn’t care. That wasn’t what this combo was meant for. It was meant for overwhelming your enemies before they knew what hit them. 

She remembered when the other Adagio had this power, and what it’s abilities were. Good, at least she wasn’t dashing in unawares. Running across the room, before running alongside the wall, outpacing Starlight’s energy blasts, Adagio laughed. She felt so free. Yeah, right, no time to rest on her own laurels. She had a job to do. Leaping off the wall with enough force to crack it in a series of spiderwebs, Adagio flipped in midair with her left leg aimed in a powerful axe kick. The kick missed at the very last moment, but cracked the ground below it creating a small fissure. 

Adagio allowed Starlight no time to breath, giving her no quarter. Lightning-fast punch after lightning-fast punch flew, and if Starlight dodged these by even an inch? An arm blade slashed out to greet her. 

Starlight was constantly on the defensive, Adagio allowing herself a moment of cockiness as she practically danced across the battlefield. Her Savate abilities -thanks Aria!- sprang into action, kick after kick striking Starlight. “Got to keep it real, right?” Adagio remarked, grinning.

“SHUT UP!” Starlight roared, and an energy wave lashed out. Adagio pushed herself up off her feet, and aimed for the sky. The abilities of the grasshopper were evidently not to be underestimated, and she dived forwards for a non-scanning charge powered Rider Kick.

Starlight’s wrist flung upwards at the last moment, and Adagio was forced to flip backwards to set herself up for another strike. She settled for punching Starlight in the face. Starlight caught the following punch, and twisted Adagio’s wrist making her let out a scream. The Head of Foundation X then shoved her palm into Adagio’s stomach.

Forcing out all of the gathered kinetic energy, Starlight sent Adagio crashing through several walls and out into the street. From out of the smoke, Starlight came, her armor still crackling with energy. Thrusting her hands forwards, beams of light erupted forth and slammed into Adagio, smacking her up against a wall. From the sounds of it, they were threatening to send her catapulting through that one as well.

Finally, Adagio managed to pull herself away as the energy beams tore through the wall. Cartwheeling along the street to avoid several energy blasts, Adagio grabbed a car and tossed it at Starlight. The Rider sliced it in half with an energy blast, but her eyes widened under her helmet as Adagio catapulted forwards fist drawn back. The car was only a distraction, and she’d pushed herself off the ground to punch Starlight directly in the face. 

Starlight reacted at the last minute, and suddenly she was above Adagio with an axe kick of her own. Adagio let out a scream of pain as she slammed into the concrete. 

“So falls Kamen Rider OOOs…” Starlight chuckled darkly, rolling Adagio over and reaching for her belt. Amazingly, it was Uva to the rescue. His Rocky Mountain Locust and Milkweed grasshopper yummies mobbed Starlight, and while she struggled to fend them off, the Asian Giant Hornet yummy stung Starlight again and again and again. Uva finished the mobbing with a solid punch to the face.

“So, what,” Starlight remarked, rubbing her chin. “Is this a ‘I’m the only one who’s allowed to defeat her’ type of deal?”

Uva shrugged before answering: “Pretty much!”

Lightning ripped through Starlight’s armor as Uva interlaced his claws with green electricity. Slashing downwards and across the chest, he practically mauled Starlight and it was only because of her armor that she wasn’t ripped open entirely. 

Starlight spun around the next slash and kicked Uva in the back, shoving him forwards. His next slash ripped open the Locust Yummy. He snarled in rage and spun around only for Starlight to grab him by the wrist and flip him into the ground.

This was all Adagio needed, as she’d recovered and with a simple leg sweep ripped Starlight’s legs out from under her. The Rider toppled to the ground, but was soon back on her feet. A blast to the chest sent Adagio flying into a car. Starlight barely had time to rest before the Milkweed grasshopper yummy slammed his foot into her face. His Rocky Mountain Locust counterpart, likewise, slammed a fist into her gut.

“Geez, you’re like a regular pair of knock-off double riders…” Starlight mumbled. “You just need the scarves and you’re good to go!”

“That’s the idea actually,” Uva chimed in, sending Starlight staggering back with electricity blasts. “I do read, you know. Despite the rumors, I’m not completely illiterate. After all, better to know your enemies than to not to and get caught off guard. I’ve read about Riders Ichigo and Nigo. The way I figure it, imitation is the sincerest form of screwing your enemies over!”

He punctuated this with a kick to Starlight’s chest. She staggered and earned a headbutt for her troubles. 

In the background, Adagio rose up, grabbed Starlight by the shoulder and flipped her into the ground. Starlight aimed an energy blast at her fellow Rider with a humming sound, and had Adagio not been a second faster she might have been decapitated. 

This time Adagio was the one on the defensive, dodging energy blasts left and right. She let out a yelp as Uva charged in, sidestepped, and let Uva take the next blast. The Hornet and Locust Yummies mobbed Starlight and got a few good blows in before they were knocked away by an energy shockwave.

That gave Adagio an idea, as she’d observed that Starlight seemed to have ‘trouble’ handling multiple opponents at once. 

Several green flashes lit up the street and Starlight found herself facing multiple GataKiriBas. At least eight to ten in total. They surrounded her, and all rushed in. 

Clones 1 and 2 slashed at Starlight with their arm blades, Clone 3 jumping in with a diving kick. Starlight grabbed it by the leg and tossed it into 1 and 2. Slamming a fist into the ground, Starlight up-ended Clone 4 and Clone 5 with a small earthquake. Drawing back her fist, she punched Clone 6 out of existence.

Clones 7 and 8 rushed forwards and kicked skywards with dual side kicks. Clone 9 fired electricity at her. The original Adagio came from behind and kicked the now stunned Starlight through a building. 

Starlight staggered to her feet, before slamming Adagio into a wall with an energy blast. 

Starlight was upon her, punching her several times in rapid succession. Adagio staggered woozily only to get knocked off the rooftop. She, in rather undignified fashion, crashed into a dumpster. 

As Starlight cackled above her, Adagio let out a groan of pain. It might as well have been Ankh laughing at her for all the good she was doing. Fury raced through her at that thought. Oh, the indignity. She would not let that bird win! 

Adagio leaped upwards to face her opponent once more, but Starlight was back on street level. And once again, she’d engaged Uva and his yummy hoard. 

The Locust and Hopper yummies round-house kicked Starlight opening up for several stings from the Hornet yummy. She staggered -geez, how tough was this woman, Adagio had to wonder- only to get hit by a big ball of electricity from Uva.

With Starlight temporarily out of the picture, Adagio pressed her offensive and sliced through the Locust and Hopper Yummies. Cells spilled to the floor, as Adagio retracted her arm blades. The Hornet Yummy surged forwards but Adagio elbowed him in the face. Her arm blade ripped his head from his shoulders, medals spilling everywhere. 

“One down, three to go…” Adagio murmured. She dodged several punches from Uva and deflected the last with her elbow. Pulling away, the woman turned to face the other two Yummies.

Calling for the Medajalibur, Adagio loaded several cells into the blade. The air rippled as she struck down the Locust and then the Hopper. Allowing herself a moment to breathe, Uva came up from behind and locked his elbows around her neck. As Adagio gasped for breath, the Medajalibur clattered to the street. The Locust and Hopper Yummies reformed and unleashed a series of lightning-fast punches to Adagio’s gut. 

Uva pulled away at the final punch at the very last moment as Adagio was sent flying. In a split-second, her arm blades implanted themselves in the street to slow her down. 

Uva’s horns charged up and sliced through the air in a ball of lightning. Adagio unleashed a ball of green energy of her own. Both balls collided, and the air cracked with the sound of thunder. A bright flash illuminated the street, nearly blinding and windows shattered. Both Uva and Adagio were sent flying backwards. Adagio regained her footing first, and summoned the Medajalibur to her hands once more. Loading Ankh’s medals into it, she planted her feet.

A burning slash turned the Locust and Hopper yummies to cinders. Adagio sliced at the air, sending two more burning slashes at Uva. He staggered as one arm burned off, only to swiftly reform. Adagio surged forwards, slamming the blade of the Medajalibur through his gut.She wrenched the sword out and watched as cells spilled out from Uva’s body.

Uva grabbed her by the neck, using his free hand to scoop cells back into her body. Once he’d reformed enough of his body, he tossed her aside. He picked up a car, and slammed it into her. Adagio destroyed it with a lightning blast. She leaped forwards, slashing at Uva with the Medajalibur, full moon at her back. Letting out a warcry, she probably would have decapitated Uva had he not ducked his head. 

She could feel it, the Green Cores gnawing at her. It wouldn’t be long before she was on the rampage. She could change to stave it off, but she had to do it soon. Keeping Takeru’s face pictured in her mind, Adagio changed her combo for the second time. “Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo: Sa-Ra-Mi-Uo! Sa! Ra! Mi-Uo!”

Thrusting her spear forwards, Adagio ate away at Uva’s armor with a massive drill of water. She slashed through his body, doing more damage. She changed again, and the air practically ignited as cinder coated wings erupted from Adagio’s back. Her helmet burned red, sharp and angled like a feather. A third combo sprung into play. “Taka, Kujaku, Condor! Ta~Ja~Dol!”

“What, you think all of these combos will do anything?” Uva said. “You take away my cells, I’ll just reform. You can’t destroy my cores, so fighting me is impossible!”

“So?” Adagio said shoving a hand into his body and ripping out several more green cores. “I’ll just have to steal them then. Bury them all across the earth, that should shut down your blabbering mouth for a bit.”

Locking her thighs around Uva’s head, she wrestled him to the ground Black Widow style. 

She heard the screech too late, saw the flicker too late, and turned to see Starlight. Starlight’s boot slammed into her helmet, the Rider having teleported back to the battlefront. Adagio staggered before Starlight grabbed her with one hand and tossed her bodily skywards.

Adagio thudded into the ground behind her. Groaning out in pain, she loaded the red cores into her arm shield, before slamming the cover shut. “Taka, Kujaku, Condor! Gin Gin Gin! Giga Scan!”

Adagio surged forwards hitting Starlight with the force of 100 tons. Starlight braced, and the predictable happened. Adagio was sent flying backward, knocked out of her transformation.

“Foolish girl,” Starlight scoffed, grabbing Uva by the throat. “You’re just playing at being a Rider. I’m done playing.”

Adagio was powerless to stop what happened next. 

“X Kick.” Starlight said swinging her foot in a powerful roundhouse maneuver. The foot glowed with sickly purple and gold energy, remnants of the Muteki Ridewatch’s power. Uva was reduced to cells and then… his cores shattered. 

Adagio’s eyes widened, and Ankh’s jaw dropped. The King of Birds, watching from the shadows had seen everything. 

Starlight grabbed up all of the Green Cores as she canceled out her transformation, looking barely even winded. She had only this to say: “There’s a new power on the block. Fall in line, or be destroyed.”

Starlight strode off, not a word left.

Adagio’s eyes stung with tears. She hadn’t loved Uva, not by any means. But to see him destroyed just like that was… it was horrifying. And she’d played a part in that. If she hadn’t whittled down Uva so much, maybe Starlight’s new Rider Kick wouldn’t have destroyed him. 

She felt like she was going to be sick, bile rising up in her throat. She’d… she’d actually killed someone. Or at the very least, helped play a part in it. “What… what have I done?” Adagio whispered looking at her hands. While they weren’t covered in blood, they might as well have been. “I’m… I’m a murderer.”

“Come on… come on Adagio,” Ankh said as he helped her up, looking thoroughly shaken. Adagio could only guess what was going on in his head. Shock, horror, disgust? “We’ve got to get out of here, we’ve got to get you to the hospital. I’m amazed you haven’t collapsed outright. You strained yourself. 4 full medal combos in rapid succession! You should be dead!”

“Yeah, I should be…” Adagio whispered looking at the cell medals scattered throughout the street as if they were pools of blood. 

“Well, isn’t this interesting!” Kazari laughed as the Feline Greeed stepped onto the scene, arms crossed. “So we can be killed. Nice to know. Well, Uva had it coming I suppose.”

“He was your friend!” Adagio snarled that old fire back. If Ankh hadn’t been holding her so tightly, she probably would have wrenched herself from his grip and pummeled Kazari to a pulp. “He was your comrade!”

“He was neither,” Kazari said, scooping up the last of the Green Cores. One by one, he swallowed them, as if it didn’t matter who they once belonged to. “I barely tolerated him as is. He was just a means to an end. Starlight did me a favor honestly. I knew my faith in her wasn’t going to be misplaced.”

“You’re a monster!” Adagio hissed out.

“Helllllllloooooo, an embodiment of desire here?” Kazari commented, Ankh watching him intensely with a seething hatred. His fingers were just barely able to dial 911 as it is. “I just happened to desire Uva dead. I take what I want, every time.”

“You put out a hit on Uva!?!” Ankh shrieked. 

“Hey, you wanted him dead too, right?” Kazari said, barely able to stop himself from laughing outright. “You said it to me, didn’t you? One less Greeed for the both of us to worry over, and more medals for us, hooray right?”

Adagio looked at Ankh with a piercing look. “Is… is this true?”

“Oh, trouble with the missus?” Kazari remarked. “I knew you had the hots for her, but oh man… Boy, it must burn you up to not be able to provide for your woman. Must be why you let Firefly have her, right? Knowing you’d never be the proper man for her. Honestly, it was a fool’s endeavor from the start. Greeed and humans can’t mix! Not that way.”

Ankh stayed silent, a boiling cauldron of rage. 

“Admit it, you just stayed to protect her. That’s why you wanted Uva dead right? So that nobody will threaten your nest. Guess I should watch my back, riiiiiiiiigggghhhhtt?” Kazari continued the sounds of sirens somewhere in the background. He walked off with a little wave and a remark of: “Toodles!”

“Is… it true?” Adagio asked and Ankh’s silence said volumes. Fighting back tears, Adagio slapped him straight across the face. “Get out… Get out of my life. I’m done.”

As she was loaded into the ambulance, Adagio caught another look at Ankh’s face and for a brief moment swore she saw heartbreak in his eyes. She must have been imagining it through. 

Far and away, Starlight stumbled into her office. She’d actually done it. She’d killed one of the Greeed. And some of the cores were hers! Finally, finally, some of her goals were starting to come into fruition. Tossing her head back, she laughed long and hard before thinking: “Someday soon, I’ll be able to kill you… Queen Nightmare Moon.”