//------------------------------//
// Ride 14: Heart of Gold 
// Story: Kamen Rider Achilles 
// by Axle the Cobalt Exorcist 
//------------------------------//

Twilight had entered Sugarcube Corner for her morning drink on this most lovely of Saturdays.

The young scientist had a spring in her step as she made her way to the counter to place her order. However, on her stroll, she spotted Flash. He looked, to her surprise, awful. His hair was a mess, not in it’s usual non-intended way, he had marks under his eyes, and it looked like he was on his fifth cup of coffee. “Jeez! Flash, what happened. You look awful.’ Twilight pulled up a chair by her friend.

“I didn’t get enough sleep last night," Flash responded in a tired fashion. "My band-mates are mad at me and I've been waiting for a reply from the guys. I sent them like...thirty texts and still got nothing. If they were mad at me, I wish they’d tell me instead of giving me the silent treatment.”

“Did you try seeing them in person?” Twilight suggested.

“I’m scared of what might happen,” Flash answered. “I really screwed things up with them. They probably don’t want to see me again.”

“Aren’t you being a bit hard on yourself?” Twilight asked.

“I have been leaving them high and dry for weeks without giving them a reason why," Flash answered. "They have every right to be mad at me.”

“I'm sure you have a good reason behind it. You're not the kind of guy to just flake on people.”

“I do," Flash nodded. "But I can't tell them."

“What is it?” Twilight asked. Flash got an unpleasant expression on his face.

“Can’t tell you either. It's a very personal matter.”

“Well, you might as well try confronting them," Twilight suggested. "They might be mad but it must be better than being freaked out not knowing anything."

“I guess you're right. Might as well rip this bandage off now then dragging it out,” Flash said as he rose up. “Thanks Twilight. I know I can count on you.”

“No problem,” Twilight smiled

Flash was about to walk out the door till he remembered something. “Hey Twilight, any word about your brother?”

“Nothing?” Twilight answered. “I really want to talk about this. I mean he's a Kamen Rider, that's a big deal.”

“Same. I would love to see it first hand,” Flash mentioned before leaving the cafe. “Still cant believe Shining is a Rider. I certainly could use the help,” he said as he walked off to find his friends.





Meanwhile, at the offices of Wave Technologies, Mr.Wave was looking over footage of Shining's debut fight. Shining was present as well, sitting across from the CEO at his desk. “Amazing, Mr.Armor! I knew I picked right when i selected you to be my Kamen Rider. This is the dawn of a new age and I was the one to bring it about,” Mr.Wave monologue.

“I’m happy to live up to your expectations, Mr.Wave,” Shining politely responded.

“And this is only the beginning. Now that we have confirmed the Rider System is operational, we can produce new weapons and armor. The skies the limit here,” Mr.Wave continued, not hiding his excitement at all.

As the CEO continued to bask in the glory of his work. River entered the office with the briefcase in hand. “The technicians have finished calibrating the Driver Mr.Wave. it should no longer put a strain on Shining's body anymore,” The assistant reported before handing the case off to Shining as well as a card holder. “You have also been cleared to use the other Battle Cards we’ve developed. I trust you will use them wisely.”

“Of course,” Shining responded as he took his gear.

“And now that you are properly outfitted, I have a mission for you." The way Mr.Wave had said that made it clear to Shining he was serious about whatever he was about to say. “I want you to find out the identity of Kamen Rider Achilles.”

Shining was taken aback by the request. “Um, sir. I understand being curious about who Achilles is under the mask, but I don’t see how this will help us fight the Magi-Beasts.”

“It’s all a part of my plan. Alone the two of you are strong, but together you'll be able to take on any enemy. I know first hand the benefits of collaboration. After all, I didn’t get to where I am today without help. Isn’t that right, River?”

“Of course sir,” River responded.

“I get where you're coming from," Shining nodded. "But I don’t see the guy just showing me his face just cause I asked."

“I have been observing Achilles for a while now," Mr.Wave mentioned as he started to dig through the draw of his desk. "From my observations, I theorise that just like your system, if he takes too much damage the transformation would be cancelled out.”

“What are you suggesting?” Shining asked with a stern face.

“I’m suggesting that I’m allowing you to use any means necessary to complete this mission,” The CEO went on as he pulled out a few papers. “And if you can’t, I will find someone who will,” he ordered as he suddenly changes to a more serious tone.

These orders caused Shining to clench is fist tight but he had no choice. He was a man devoted to his duties and he was in no position to argue. “Very well sir,” Shining responded as he fixed his tie. “But as an officer, I am to only use force as a last resort.”

“Like I said, any means necessary. Just as long as the job gets done,” Mr.Wave said as he spun his chair to face the window. Just as Shining was about to leave the CEO stopped him. “Oh, and Shining. There is one last piece of equipment I almost forgot to give you.” He spun back around before sliding a set of keys across the desk. “You’ll find it in lot A-thirty two.”

Shining took the keys before attempting to leave again. “I’d be careful with the throttle if I were you,” River warned. Shining paused for a moment before finally leaving.





Starlight entered the Doctor’s lab to see that there was no one around.

She was struck with inspiration from the last monster she created. She wanted to get to work on it as soon as possible, but it all had to start with the thing Kirogire held most precious.

Sitting on their desk beneath piles of notes was the tome that started everything. Starlight flipped through the book, images of creatures only thought to exist in the world of myth and fiction passed before her. "Yes," she thought out loud. "A lot of these would work, but I need to be careful. I don't think my plan would work if I make them too strong. I don't want to risk being condemned to a hospital bed again."

“Working on a new project?” A voice asked. Starlight turned around to find Cypher standing in the door-frame.

“Best to get things done as soon as possible,” Starlight replied casually as she continued to flip through the tome.

“You know that book is very important to the Doctor’s research,” Cypher pointed out.

“Don’t worry, I'm not going to hurt the man’s precious toy. Are you going to tell on me like some snot nosed brat?”

Cypher was silent at her comment, till the Doctor's voice called him over. The young man turned to see the doctor standing in the hallway. He was no longer in his scrubs and in a navy blue suit with an overcoat draped over his shoulders. He got closer to Cypher and pleased a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll be going out for a moment,” Kurogiri said before getting closer. He then whispered, “don’t worry about Starlight."

“But we can’t risk her ruining your plans.”

“Whatever she's doing can be to our benefit. Plus, I have contingencies if Starlight gets too ambitious. One of them is you.” Kurogiri continued in a whisper, “do you trust me?”

“Of course,” Cypher whispered back.

“Then let Starlight do what she wants for now,” Kurogiri said before walking away. The young man looked at Starlight before leaving, letting her do her work.





Flash found his friends at a local music shop. He knew this would be a place to find them since Ringo worked at this place.

“Guys please you guys can at least talk to me,” Flash pleaded as his shades wearing friend sat behind the counter. Drum Roll was standing nearby with a mean look on his face.

“You blew us off again Flash,” Ringo responded in a cold tone after a long silence.

“Yeah but there was a monster attack. If you read my text, I said there were mummies all over the place. And you know for a fact I'm not making things up,” Flash explained.

“Oh, we know about the attack. But your text came long after the monsters disappeared,” Drum Roll pointed out.

“And it’s not just yesterday. We get there have been crazy things going on around town but that excuse can only work so many times. Have you been avoiding us or something?” Ringo followed, keeping his cool demeanour.

“You've been hanging out with Trixie a lot too,” Drum Roll continued, getting more worked up as he went. “Are you thinking of leaving us for her band? Or maybe you two are dating and rather spend time with her!?”

Flash was getting overwhelmed by Drum Roll pressing him so intensely. “Calm down, Drum Roll. First off Trixie doesn't even have a band, The Illusions was just for the music showcase. Second, if we were dating it wouldn’t be something I’d hide from anyone.” Flash defended.

“Then tell us what’s up," Ringo told him. "What is so important you need to hide it from your closest friends?”

“I…” Flash started. He stopped himself to think of what to say. “I-I can't tell you. You're just going to need to trust me.”

“Trust is a two way street,” Ringo replied.

Flash turned to his other friend. “Drum Roll?”

“Sorry Flash. I thought we were a band,” he turned away.

Flash tried to say something, but his words failed him. Deep down, he knew that his band-mates had every right to be mad at him. “You guys are right, bu-” Flash started but he saw something that made him stop. “LOOK OUT!!!”

The two musicians looked at each other before turning to the front window of the store to see something flying towards them. Following Flash’s warning the two duck down as the window was smashed. With broken glass all over the floor, the three boys looked up to see what crashed into the store.

“About time I found ya,” the figure said. It was clear to everyone that this was a Magi-Beast. This one in particular was very reminiscent of a lion with a large red mane. it’s right arm was covered in a dark purple exoskeleton, having a large scorpion stinger coming out of the forearm and a pair of bat wings coming out if it’s back. The monster turned to find Ringo trying to get up with his green eyes flashing. “Your coming with me,” he said as he reached over to grab the young man.

“Get away from him!” Drum roll yelled. The drummer picked up one of the mic-stand displays and charged at the monster, trying to hit it. However the monster caught it and threw it to the side. The Magi-Beast grabbed Ringo by the shirt before speeding his wings and flying off.

Flash saw this and quickly pulled out this Owl Phone. The device transformed and flew quickly to follow the monster. He then rushed to his bike and prepared to follow. “What are you doing?” Drum Roll asked.

“I’m going to get help," Flash responded as he put on his helmet. "You should probably do the same.”

“Uh, right,” Drum Roll replied as he ran away from the scene.

“Why would that monster attack Ringo? Unless” Flash thought out loud as he started the motorcycle. He peeled out after the monster and put the Legend Driver onto this waist. “Henshin,” he slotted the Rider card into the driver and transformed with his bike. The rider then pulled out the storm card and put it into a slot on the bike. the lines on the machine turned blue as he got a boost in speed to close the gap between him and the monster. “Put the guy down!” The Rider demanded.

“Not a chance,” the Magi-Beast replied as he pointed stinger towards the Rider to shoot out spikes only for him to swerve out of the way.

Achilles pulled out his blaster and began shooting till he hit one of the monster's wings. Unfortunately before he could fire off his attack, his bike randomly spun out in the road causing him to roll into a pile of trash. Thankful his armor protected him from the collision. “What the!?” Achilles exclaimed. Looking back on the road to see it froze. “Ice, at this time of year?”

“Haha! Smooth move, oh mighty hero,” a new voice said in a cocky tone. Walking into view was a new monster. It looked almost like a baboon with a red face surrounded by a white fur pelt. The fur covered its whole body besides its chest which looked like a large chunk of ice. “Stinger did a great job drawing you out, Rider.”

The winged monster landed just behind the new one, the one called Stinger. Ringo was held under his arm, wrapped up in binding that resembled a scorpion's tail. The young man struggled to get out but he couldn’t even yell for help with his mouth covered up. “Your trap was pretty funny to watch Slushball. He honestly believed he was going to catch me,” the monster laughed.

“Wait, two Magi-beats at once!?” Achilles yelled out. Slushball breathed out a stream of cold air but the rider rolled out of their way, the trash being frozen instead. The monster then tried to rush at Achilles but he ducked out of the way to get behind the beast and punch him. The monster flipped over to shoot out cold air again, but Achilles stepped back to avoid it. “Ok, time for fire.” He pulled out the Blaze Card, ready to replace the Storm with it.

Unfortunately, before he had a chance to transform, Achilles was drop kicked from behind. “Oh no you don't!” The rider heard as he glanced around, spotting Terra standing over him.

“I should have known you would be the one to bring two monsters at once,” Achilles said as he got up.

“What can I say. the more the merrier,” Terra followed. “And with a team up like this, you have no chance of stopping us.”

But Terra’s gloating was cut short as a blast hit Stinger and caused him to let go of Ringo. Looking down the road, everyone saw a tricked out patrol bike speeding down the road with a familiar police officer riding it. “Shining!” Achilles yelled out, happy to see he had back up.

“Who the heck is that guy?” Terra asked.

The bike stopped and Shining took off his helmet to observe the situation. “I already met the white one with the wings. So you must be the tough guy my sister told me about,” the officer said as he got off his vehicle.

“What’s it to ya, ya dang meter maid!” Terra yelled out.

“Hey! First some of my friends are meter maids,” Shining said as he put on his driver. He then presented his badge to the group of monsters. “And second, you're under arrest for the kidnapping and the disruption of traffic.” He placed the badge onto the driver and pulled the lever. “Henshin!”

“SHIELD! OF! JUSTICE!”

“AR-AR-AR-ARGO!!!”

The armor formed around Shining in an instant to the surprise of the monsters. “To protect and serve! Kamen Rider Argo is on the scene,” he announced.

“Wow. This is way cooler then I thought,” Achilles said in amazement in getting to see the new Kamen Rider or the first time.

“What!? There another one of you rider guys,” Terra followed, more in distress then amazement.

“Looks like you didn’t get the memo,” Argo said as he pulled out the Argo Defender. He then charged at Slushball with a kick. “Time to turn up the heat in this guy,” he quipped. The Magi-Beast was quick to respond by shooting a stream of cold air. Argo blocked it with his shield before bashing it into the monster. Stinger came into the side with his stinger arm raised to attack. Argo rolled out of the way when the attack came down and shot at the Magi-Beast.

“Why you!” Terra cried in frustration. He was getting ready to kick but he was smacked down by Achilles’ spear.

“He’s not going to hog all the fun,” Achilles stated as he performed a few stabs on the Advanced. Terra jumped up for an axe kick, but Achilles blocked it with his spear.

Meanwhile Argo blocked an attack from Stinger. Slushball swung his arm but, the rider ducked down and ended up hitting his fellow monster. “Hey" Stinger cried out, "watch it!” Before the icy monster could react, Argo bashed his shield into him and caused him to be shoved into Terra. Stinger tried to grab Argo from behind, but he reacted quickly to shoot at the Magi-Beast.

When Terra and Slushball got back up, they saw the two riders, pointing their weapons at them. “Dang it, we’re going to need to take care of these guys later. Was not expecting two riders to show up,” Terra said. Slushball agreed and breathed out a cloud to allow them to escape. Stinger followed by spreading his wings to fly off.

“Thanks for the assist there,” Achilles said as he rested his spear on his shoulder.

“No Problem," Argo replied. "I'm just happy to fight alongside you as an equal now."

Achilles rushed over to the tied up Ringo and used his spear to cut him out of his restraints. “Ah man, I really owe ya one. I have no clue why I was attacked like that,” Ringo said as the rider helped him up.

“You should really be thanking your friend Flash. He was the one that found me to help you out,” Achilles followed. In an attempt to give himself an alibi.

“Yeah, I guess I should thank him for that much,” Ringo replied before the rider told him to run off.

“Hey, Achilles, can I ask you something?” Argo brought up. Achilles turned to the other rider. “Do you mind telling me who you really are?”

Achilles let out a sigh. “I'm sorry, but I can't. There are a lot of personal reasons behind it.”

“I was expecting something like that,” Argo said with a shake of his head. “I can respect that, but I don’t think my boss would be happy with it.”

“I don't know who your boss, is but tell him that he needs to respect other people's privacy,” Achilles snapped back.

“I know. But I don’t really have a choice. I need to know who you are…” Argo started before he pulled out his blaster. “Even if, unfortunately, I need to use force” Achilles was quick to react, holding up his hands in a none threatening manor.

“Hey, man. No need for us to fight,” Achilles tried to deescalate the situation but it was no use. Argo opened fire, which caused Achilles to go running. The officer followed Achilles down a back alley. The rider soon turned into a dead end with Argo closing in from behind. "I thought you were cooler than this.”

“I'm sorry it had to come to this,” Argo aimed his blaster. Before he could fire, Achilles rushed in and knocked the Argo Defender out of the way, causing the bolt to hit a wall instead. He then threw a few punches before kicking the officer back into a pile of boxes. “You're really not making this easy,” Argo said as he took out a Battle Card. this one was blue with the word “Snipe” engraved on it. He hit the butt of his blaster and slotted it in. At the same time Achilles pulled out the Storm Element card and slotted it into the driver.

“S-S-S-STORM!!!

“SNIPER ACTIVATED!”

As Achilles changed forms, part constructs appeared around Argo’s right shoulder and formed into a sniper scope. Within his Visor, Argo had Achilles locked in his crosshairs. Pointing his blaster, Argo shot two bolts. Achilles created a whirlwind to launch himself up into the air.

“I don’t want to hurt you. Especially since you're a friend!” Achilles yelled out as he looked down at Argo. he also noticed the shots he fired changed trajectory and heading right towards him. His eyes went wide as he couldn’t avoid the attack and was knocked back onto the roof of a nearby building.

Argo jumped onto a wall and then onto the opposite wall to get onto the roof. Achilles responded by swinging his spear to blast several gusts of wind at the rider.

Argo blocked it with his shield, but Achilles didn’t let up on his attacks. Behind the shield, the officer fired his blaster to the side. The bolts flew out but then curved to head right towards Achilles, which caused him to use his spear to block. “I can't go back empty handed. If I get replaced I can't be guarantee the other guy will be as cooperative as me,” Argo cried out.

“I’m sorry but I can’t,” Achilles said as he taped the butt of his spear on the ground. A twister formed around the riser and when it cleared the rider vanished.

Shining let out a sigh as he undid his transformation. He knew the rider was long gone. With the mission failed, he kicked the ground in frustration.





“Wow," Trixie thought out loud, "that’s very weird. Why would Shining attack you like that? He’s a huge fan of Achilles.” Flash had called Trixie to inform her of what just happened. The two were walking together on main street.

“Yeah. All because I wouldn't tell him who I really am,” Flash added. “He seemed more scared than anything. Talking about being replaced.”

“Maybe it has to do with his boss?” Trixie suggested as they turned the corner. “What about your band? Did you manage to patch things up?”

“No," Flash answered, "they're still pretty mad at me. It's kind of the same thing. I know things would be a lot easier if I told them who I really am. But...”

“Why not just tell them?" Trixie asked, "they could probably help out."

Flash shook his head, “I can’t. The less people that know who I am, the better.” Flash tightened his hand into a fist, “I can't let a certain person know about this.”

“You mean the Advanced, cause I think they already know.”

“No, not them. It’s someone else. If they found out...I'm scared they would never want to see me again.”

“Dang it, Flash. You're going to give yourself stomach cramps if you keep holding things in like that,” Trixie said as she threw her arms behind her head. “Did you at least check on the guys after the fight?”

“No," Flash answered as two continued walking till they got to the crosswalk. "By the time I got back to the music shop, they were gone,”

As they waited for the light to change they saw a familiar motorcycle drive up and stop right in front of them. “Oh, Flash, Trixie. Surprise to run into you two,” Shining said as he pushed up the visor of his helmet. He greeted the two teens with a warm, welcoming smile. The friendly greeting filled Flash with mixed emotions. The man who was chasing him down was now trying to start up chit chat like good friends. Shining noticed the odd look Flash had and his training as an officer told him something was up. “Looking a little down there Flash."

“Oh, I-it’s nothing,” Flash replied. He knew Shining is a nice guy but their scuffle still stuck with him.

“Yeah," Trixie followed, trying to help Flash avoid any more conversation. "He’s just dealing with some friend drama. Ya know, teen stuff.”

“Well maybe I could help," Shining offered. "The diner isn’t too far, we could have some lunch, my treat."

Flash was about to decline but then the owl phone went off. Peeking at it, he saw it was a text from Drum Roll. He was texting to let Flash know Ringo was okay and they were heading to the diner. “Well, I guess it couldn’t hurt. I need to meet up with some friends there anyway.”

“Good to here,” Shining responded with a thumbs up.





At the diner, the three got a booth table. Flash and Trixie sitting on one side with shining sitting on the opposite side.The waitress quickly came up to the table to take their orders. “I’ll have a grilled cheese,” Flash answered. Ringo and Drum Roll still haven't shown up so all they could do was order some food and wait.

“Same here,” Trixie followed.

“I’ll just have some coffee if you don’t mind,” Shining ordered. The waitress wrote all this down before leaving the table alone. “So Flash, what's bugging ya?” Shining finally asked.

Flash was still not very nervous about being around Shining but he knew that he wasn’t hunting him right now. He was being his usual big brother self. Twilight was always talking about how reliable he was so why not see if he can help. “It has to do with my friends. I've been blowing them off and now they're pretty peeved.”

“What has you too busy to hang with them?” Shining asked as the waitress brought him his coffee.

“I can say,” Flash answered.

Shining took a moment to sip from his mug before replying. “I'm sure you have your reasons for keeping secrets. But if you're worried about your friends, you're going to need to ask. Is the secret worth losing these guys?”

Shining’s words resonated with Flash. He was telling himself that he was keeping the secret to protect someone, but he didn’t realize if he was hurting others. Who else beside his band was he hurting. Flash was pretty deep in thought till the ring of the bell from the door. He looked up to see Ringo and Drum Roll walk in. As the two approached, Flash got up to meet them halfway. “Hey,” was all Flash could say.

“Hey,” Ringo responded, equally as awkward. “So I heard you got the rider to save me back there. Thanks for that.”

“Well I couldn't leave my friends in danger,” Flash said as he forced a smile. “Guys, I know I screwed up. You guys have dreams of being musicians and I have been holding you back. Just doing this for fun.”

“Flash, our dream may be to be pros but that didn’t really matter. What mattered was that we were playing as friends!" By the angry way he was speaking, it was clear he was starting to get heated up.

Unknown to the three young men, wisps of energy was starting to come off of the boy. Fortunately, Trixie noticed them as she was watching their conversation. “Oh no, don’t tell me those two are the hosts,” she whispered. Shining heard this and looked over at the two, seeing the wisps coming off of him.

“Wait, those two are where the monsters came from?"

“Yeah," Trixie nodded, "and they couldn't have picked a worse host. Ringo may be good at keeping his cool but Drum Roll is almost as bad as Bulk when it comes to getting worked up.”

As if on cue, the windows behind the band began to freeze over. Cracks began to form, causing the three to turn to see what was happening, only for Stinger to burst through the window. “Haha, this never gets old!” The monster laughed as he slid across the tiled floor.

“Remind me to never go window shopping with you,” Slushball commented as he entered the restaurant.

Shining jumped out of his seat and pulled out his drive, “get back you guys!” Unfortunately, Stinger shot needles at the officer, who was forced to hide under the table along with Trixie.

Flash, Ringo, And Drum Roll all tried to run, but Flash soon found himself unable to go any further. Looking down he saw his leg was frozen to the floor. “Oh no you don’t!" Slushball cackled, "we figured out how to get the most energy from your friends.” Flash tried to fight back by throwing a punch, but the monster was faster and froze the rest of his body, leaving only his head left unharmed. “You're going to be the one that will make use whole. Thanks a ton,” he commented before picking Flash up.

“You got the kid?" Stinger asked before seeing Flash. "Ok, let's blow this joint.” With that, the two monsters leapt back out the way they came with Flash in their grasp.

“Dang it,” Shining said as he punched the ground. He saw that Ringo and Drum Roll were safe and rushed up to them. “Don’t worry you two. I won’t let your friend get hurt.”

“Your gonna need this,” Trixie yelled out. Shining turned to her as she threw something at him. He caught it and found that it was the Jelly Drone. “That little guy is synced to Flash’s phone. He knows where to find him.” Trixie explained.

“Thanks,” Shining said as he ran out to his bike with the drone leading the way. As he rode down the street, he attached his driver to his waist before taking out his shield. "HENSHIN!" In a flash of light, he morphed into his rider form and the patrol bike's sirens began to ring.





The two Magi-Beasts carried Flash into a warehouse. The two were very proud of themselves with their capture. “Oh yeah!" Stinger gloated. "Now all we need to do is wait till those two human vanish into nothing.”

“Ya know, I’m going to get out of this and when I do I’m kicking both of your butts,” Flash declared as he was placed down. “Shining is going to find me and get me out of this. If not Shining, Twilight and the other will. Your plan is not gonna work.”

“Yeah right," Slushball told him. "We’re getting stronger by the second.” Indeed wisps of energy were being absorbed into their bodies. "Soon, there won't be a human alive that can stand up to us."

Flash tried to struggle to get out. Even if he couldn’t, getting to his driver or the Owl Phone would be enough to get him out of this scrape. Unfortunately it was no use. He was trapped in a block of ice and all he could do was wait for someone to come and save him.

Just as hope seemed lost, the Drone flew in to fly around the monsters and annoy them. Slushball tried to freeze it but he missed and froze a bit of Stinger’s Mane. “Hey! Watch it!” Stinger yelled as he broke the ice.

“It’s always upsetting to see good friends fight,” Argo said as he drove up, sliding his ride to a stop and killing the sirens. He got off the bike and pulled out the Argo Defender. “You guys are under arrest.”

“Nice try, but we’re no pushovers!” Stinger taunted before he shot a storm of needles. Argo pulled up his shield before rolling to the side to take cover. He poked his head out and fired a few shots at the group.

“You're on your own this time copper,” Slushball followed as he created a wave of ice shards that forced the Rider back. “Come out and face us like a man.”

“You asked for it,” Argo said as he jumped out and opened fire. The two ducked out of the way but one of the shots hit Flash. Fortunately it didn't hurt him and only broke part of his ice prison. “Are you ok Flash!?”

“Yeah, I'm all in one piece,” Flash answered as he managed to pull his arms out of the ice.

“Too bad you're not so lucky,” Stinger cried as he snuck up from behind a slash with his arm claw. The rider was too slow and was knocked forward into Slushball’s arms. The icy monster was quick to hold Argo down and put him into a full nelson. Stinger’s grin grew as he cracked his knuckles. “This is you last chance to cry for mercy,” He said before he started to beat on the rider like a punching bag..

“Fat chance,” Argo replied before he swung his head back. His helmet smashed into Slushball's face and made him cry out, loosening his grip and allowing Argo to grab and flip him forward. Stringer jumped back as Slushball landed and then started firing needles at Argo, who leapt to the side to avoid them but was almost hit several times.

“Shining!” Flash yelled out. His body was trying to do anything to save Shining, but he couldn’t since he was still half frozen. The teen pulled out his driver, trying to figure out a way to free himself. If he could escape, then he could transform and help his fellow Rider.

Stringer tried to fire again, but before he could Argo spun around and blasted him. Doing so made him fly backwards and accidently fire his needles...straight at Flash. The teen gasped seeing this and did his best to roll out of the way, the needles hitting the ground before exploding.

"WHOOOW!" He cried as the explosion sent him flying backwards, his Driver flying from his hands until he was slammed into a tower of crates. "AUGH!" He cried as the crates began to wobble before falling over, Flash seeing this and gasping as he braced himself.

Argo turned towards Flash and gasped seeing the crates come crashing down onto him, burying him in the wood. "FLASH!" This distraction gave the two Magi-Beasts the chance they needed, Stringer picking himself up and jumping forward and slam a fist into Argo's guts. "Augh!" He cried as he was frown backwards, his blaster flying from his hands.

Slushball took the opening and fired some ice at Argo as the Rider tried to roll to his feet, the ice freezing them both to the floor. Argo pulled at his feet, but he couldn't pull himself free. His weapon was also out of reach, leading him with only his shield to protect himself.

"Ha!" Stinger cried, "I'm going to enjoy this!" He moved closer to Argo, while Slushball began to move so that he was on the opposite side. Argo raised Defender, but with dangers on both sides it couldn't completely protect him. As the monsters prepared to attack, the man behind the mask closed his eyes and awaiting the inevitable end.

They were all so distracted that none of them noticed the Legend Driver begin to glow and shake, eventually shooting into the air and flying towards the pile of wood. It was here that the three slammed into the wood, confusing them until they all saw a light creaking through the gaps in the light.

“A HERO’S STORY YET TO BE TOLD! FIGHTING TO PROTECT ALL!”

“R-R-R-RIDER!”

Suddenly, the pile exploded. Wood shot everywhere and the three found themselves flinching to avoid getting hit. But after that, they opened their eyes and seeing someone they hadn't been expecting.

"No way," Slushball whispered as the Rider stepped out of the remaining pile of wood.

"Flash?" Argo whispered in shock while Achilles took out his spear and changed it into its blaster form.

"My turn." He began firing at the two, making them cry out and forcing them to back away from Argo. This allowed Achilles to rush forward, shifting his weapon into spear mode, and slam it into the ice holding his fellow rider.

Argo looked up to see Achilles over him, realizing who was behind the mask. “Flash...you're the rider?”

“Yeah,” Achilles responded as he pulled Argo up. “You were going to find out sooner or later, given how dedicated you were.”

“Now I feel extra bad for trying to hunt you down like that,” Argo replied as Achilles helped him up.

“We can talk about it later," Achilles said before the two turned towards the recovering monsters. "Right now, we have these guys to take care of.”

“Let's show these mooks what a proper tag team can do,” Argo followed before the two charged in. The two riders were in sync as they both jumped up and kicked one of the monsters each. Achilles took Stinger and Argo took Slushball. Stinger tried to slash with his claw on Achilles and Slushball tried to punch down on Argo. However both attacks were blocked and the riders both roundhouse kicked their respective opponent. The riders then pulled out their blasters and faced the other’s monster before blasting at them.

The shots hit and the two monsters were blasted to the floor. “No," Stinger grunted, "it can't end here."

“We are so close,” Slushball followed. As the two riders approached, they soon saw more energy wisps enter their body. This caused the two to glow. “Wait I can feel it, it's not over yet!” The icy monster cheered as he got to his feet. The blue glow consumed his body before he transformed. The ground froze around him as he changed into a large, six legend mammoth covered in long white fur. The only kind of facial feature it has was a large red eye in the middle of his head. Crashing through the warehouse, Slushball marched to rampage the town.

“Oh great!" Achilles shouted. "We need to stop him before he turns Canterlot into an iceberg!"

“Oh you're not going anywhere,” Stinger’s voice declared. The two saw that he had recovered and now sported much larger claws on his right hand, as if each one was a sword.

“Don’t worry Flash. Leave the big guy to me,” Argo said as he patted Achilles’ shoulder. “Just make sure you take care of this guy.”

Achilles nodded as Argo pulled out a white Battle Card with the word Armor on it and loaded it into the Defender.

“ARMOR ACTIVATED!!!”

The Argo Speeder started up and began to drive on its own. The bike raced past Stinger and allowed Argo to hop to chase after the giant monster, the sirens blazing. The bike was then launched into the air as it started to transform. The front wheel detached and split in half. Argo hopped off the bike as the wheels attached to his legs. The bike’s main body split in half and formed into two arms connected by the front windshield section. The windshield section connected to the riders chest and he grabbed onto the handles connected to the arm. Claws deployed from the back wheels and completed the bike’s armor transformation. When he landed, the wheels on his legs acted like roller-blades as he rode off towards the monster.

With Argo taking care of the larger monster, Achilles could now focus on the one in front of him.

Stinger charged at the rider and brought his claws down, only for Achilles to block it with his spear. He then pushed back before slashing at the monster several times. “I'm gonna rip you to shreds,” Singer declared as he got a few slashes in on the rider.

"No." Stinger went for another slash, but Achilles was able to make some space with a stab. “I’m going to send you right to Tartarus,” Achilles proclaimed as he pulled out the Alchemy card and pleased it into the spear.

“CHARGING!!!”

“ALCHEMY FEEDBACK!!!”

Achilles’s spear began glowing purple before five energy constructs of the spear appeared around the monster. The five constructs then began to move as if they were being held by an invisible person mimicking the rider’s stance. Then, one by one, the spears moved forward and slashed Stinger till Achilles himself delivered the final blow with a vertical slash. When the last blow was delivered, the Magi-Beast yelled out before exploding right behind the rider giving his final pose. “That was for Ringo,” Achilles commented as he put his spear away.





Meanwhile, Argo raced after the large Magi-Beast that was currently wrecking the town.

The rider managed to get in front of the monster and fired a rapid blast from his chest place. The blasts didn’t seem to have much of an effect on Slushball, who swung trunk right into the Rider. Argo put the large robotic arms up to block the attack, which caused him to be flung back. “Ok," Argo moaned as he picked himself up, "giant monsters are harder to fight then normal monsters. Glad I'm keeping notes.” His wheel spun on the spot for a moment before he shot forward.

The large mammoth kept swinging its trunk around to hit some of the buildings, causing debris to fall down on the people underneath. Two citizens in particular were standing right under a large chunk of a building falling towards them. But at the last minute, Argo saw this and raced towards the citizens before raising up the robotic arms and catch the debris. “Don’t worry," He groaned under the strain. "I got this handled.” He finally managed to throw away the piece of building, allowing those almost crushed to escape.

“Get ready!" Slushball screamed, "cause winter's coming early!” He unleashed a large blast of cold air from his trunk, freezing almost everything around him. Argo slid under the attack to get to the other side of Magi-Beast before jumping up and bashing him with his robotic arms. Slushball blasted another freezing blast at him, but the rider was able to skate to the side. His six legs managed to turn his large body around before slamming his trunk down on the rider. “Take this!”

Argo was able to block the attack, but now he was pinned down by the mammoth trying to crush him. Ice was creeping along the ground and threatened to freeze him alive. “He’s just going to hurt more people if i keep wasting time,” The rider groaned before blasting the Magi-beat again with his chest blaster. This gave the rider the opening to get out from under the monster.

“You little toy won't stop my ice age,” Slushball declared.

“Not while i'm here to defend the people of this town,” Argo replied as he pushed and pulled the lever on his driver.

“ARGO ARMOR FEEDBACK!!!”

The sirens on the armor began to ring as claws on his armor opened and spun around, making a pair of holographic magical circles. Energy began to charge in his claws before Argo unleashed two pillars of energy at the monster. The recoil of the blast sent Argo back a great deal as the attack hit and began to burn up before the giant monster exploded and Argo stood up after being pushed back by his own attack.

As the rider stood, his armor fell off and formed back into his bike before his transformation cancelled out. The citizens who saw the rider’s fight came out of there hiding spots to cheer for the hero. Phone cameras went off as Shining gave them all a wave. “No need to cheer everyone. I’m just doing my job as a Kamen Rider,” Shining announced to the crowd. “I just hope I can keep protecting everyone,” he mentions under his breath.





Back at Mr.Wave’s office, Shining slammed a briefcase onto the desk. The CEO opened it to find that the Argo Driver and Battle Cards were all inside. “Is there something wrong with the Equipment, Mr Armor?” Mr.Wave asked.

“I'm sorry, but I'll have to stand down as a Kamen Rider. I was unable to complete the mission you gave me,” Shining explained as he stood at attention.

“You haven’t uncovered Achilles identity?” Mr.Wave asked with a deep frown.

“No," Shining shook his head, "I have found that out who Achilles really is."

“Then what’s the problem?" Mr.wave smiled as he leaned back in his chair, "please tell me. I'm dying to know."

“I can’t Mr.Wave. After finding out who Achilles was, I knew I had to keep his secret. He saved my life so I need to repay him somehow. If that means I need to step down as Kamen Rider Argo, then so be it,” Shining explained before he turned around to walk out of the office.

“So you found out who the rider was and are now working with him as a team,” Mr.Wave thought out loud. “I think you accomplished your mission Mr.Armor.”

“Um, Excuse me?” Shining said as he turned around. A bit confused by his boss’ thought process.

“I asked you to form a team with Achilles and you have. I never said you had to report to me who it was,” the CEO said as he spun around in his chair. “Take back the Driver and know that you are still under my employment.”

“Oh-um, thank you Mr.Wave,” Shining blurted out quickly. He ran over to take back the briefcase and ran out of the office. Happy that he was able to keep his friend’s secret. Once he was out of earshot, Mr.Wave spoke up.

“River, did you get the footage from Shining’s helmet camera?”

“Indeed Mr.Wave. We have deduced that Achilles is a student of Canterlot High School. Flash Sentry, age seventeen,” River read off of her tablet. “Are you sure we should keep the fact that we know a secret from Shining Armor?”

“Shining is the best candidate for the Argo System we have ever had,” Mr.Wave stated. “His sense of duty wouldn't have let him continue if I didn’t add that little technicality. And he would been crushed if he knew he broke his promise. Right now, we need Shining ignorant to what I know. All that matters is that he is fighting the monsters and protecting the City. We will leave Mr.Sentry alone in the meantime. We have no need to medal in a teen’s life. As long as my rider system continues to grow, that’s all that matters.”





After the whole ordeal, Ringo and Drum Roll were happy to hear that Flash was ok. They did get a text from him to meet him at Sugarcube Corner, mostly because it was the only place left that wasn’t attacked by a monster. The two waited on the sofa in the cafe till Flash walked through the door. “Flash dude, are you sure you're ok?” Ringo asked.

“Ah man, I was so scared,” Drum Roll followed as he came in for a hug with his band-mate.

“Yeah guys, I'm fine,” Flash answered as he taped his friend’s back to let him go. “But guys, you were right. I have been pretty lousy blowing you guys off. The Flash Drives don’t deserve someone that is not going to give their all. And that's why I'm quitting.”

The two Teens were shocked by this announcement. “Flash, come on. I think you're going a bit over the edge. Quitting the band is kind of extreme,” Drum Roll commented.

“Like you said," Flash explained. "Trust is a two way street and it’s not fair that i haven't been showing you guys any."

Ringo let out a sigh. “You better not regret this later man,” he warned.

“I’m sure this is the right call,” Flash said as he hung his head low. “But don’t think I'm just going to leave you guys high and dry without a guitar player.”

As if on cue the door opened up and a familiar face entered the cafe with a guitar case in hand. “Guys, this is Holly Holly. She’s an awesome guitarist and is definitely who the band deserves,” Flash said. Introducing the band to the pink haired girl.

“Flash told me all about you guys and if you're willing to give me a chance, I will do what I can to take this band to the top,” Holly said.

“Um...it’s nice to meet you. I'm Ringo,” the bass player introduced himself as he shook Holly’s hand.

“Well if Flash’s the one recommending you, then you gotta have some killer skills,” Drum Roll followed.

“You know it,” Holly responded with a cheeky grin. She then turned to Flash, “are you sure you want to do this?”

“I’m sure,” Flash answered with a bit of a melancholy tone.

“Well, we can’t make you change your mind. Just know you will always have a place with the Flash Drives if you ever decide to come back,” Ringo offered.

“Hope your solo career goes well,” Drum Roll Followed.

“Same to you guys,” Flash said with a smile before he walked out of the cafe.

“Come on guys. I want to see what you're made of,” Holly said with an eagerness to start rocking out.

When Flash left the Cafe, he was greeted by Shining and Trixie who were both waiting for him. “That looked like it was hard,” Trixie Commented.

“It was,” Flash responded. “But I couldn't keep hurting the band just cause I was keeping secrets. They were almost goners cause of me.”

“Why is this such a big secret if you don’t mind me asking?” Shining questioned.

“Like I said, it's because there is someone I know I will hurt if they knew I was the rider,” Flash answered.

“And who would that be?” Shining continued

Flash just let out a little chuckle. “Sorry man but one secret at a time. We only just became a team,” Flash replied was a cheeky smile. Shining responds with a light jab on his arm as the trio revealed at the start of their new partnership.

"Alright, but you gotta tell me how you got your Driver to go flying towards you like that. I could really come in handy if that ever happens to me." Trixie looked confused while Flash frowned.

"Honestly, I'm not sure how that happened. Everything between the crates falling on me and me breaking free is a complete blank. All I remember is that I really wanted to help you."

"It's possible that's what made it happen," Trixie explained. "Magical artefacts get more in tune with their users over time. That's what I heard Sunset say once. Flash has been using the Driver for weeks, so he must have become mentally linked to it...or something."

This statement made Flash stop, the teen frowning. If them magic in his Driver was starting to evolve, what could that mean for him in the future? Memories of his first few days as Achilles surged through his mind, the teen remembering the fear he had felt back then every time he transformed.

Before now, those fears were all but forgotten. But now...