“Come on Shining,” Twilight said. The young woman was sitting at the counter of Shining’s kitchen.
“I’m sorry Twily,” Shining responded as he poured himself a cup of coffee. “This was a last minute thing. I would love to do it, but duty calls.”
“But we can’t bring Spike with us. The guy that wants the Rainbooms to play is allergic. And I can’t leave him home alone,” Twilight followed. “Don’t cops work with dogs?”
“Not my department," Shining answered. "Plus, Spike isn’t trained to be in the K-9 unit."
“But he can talk," Twilight boasted. "And he's smarter than any dog on the force, maybe even smarter than some of the officers.”
As the two siblings continued to argue among each other, a woman with tri-coloured hair and a blue dress walked in. The woman poured herself a cup of coffee and walked over to the two siblings.
“I'm sorry, it's too dangerous for him.”
“Morning Honey,” the woman said as she kissed Shining on the cheek and interrupted the argument.
“Morning Dear,” Shining said as he broke away from the argument and returned the kiss.
“Spike has been through the worst,” Twilight responded, catching the woman's attention.
“Oh hello Twilight."
“Hi Cadance,” Twilight responded before going back to her argument.
“I hope you don’t mind, Shiny, but I’m taking Flurry with me to run errands,” Cadance said as she headed to the hallway. As she continued, she heard a knock at the door. “I’ll get it!”
When Cadance opened the door, she was greeted with the sight of Flash Sentry. “Oh hi,” Flash said nervously with a wave of his hand. Shining did mention he had a wife when he invited Flash over, but he didn’t mention that she was a very beautiful woman. “You must be Cadance. I’m here to see Shining.”
“Oh, you're Flash. You're younger than I thought when Shining said he was having a friend over. You wouldn’t happen to be one of Twilight’s friends?” Cadance asked.
“Yes, yes, in fact, that's how we met,” Flash explained.
“Well come on in, can I get you something to drink?” Cadence invited Flash in and led him back to the kitchen. “I'm afraid to say you won't be able to spend much time with Shining. Work called last minute and they're asking him to work on his day off.”
“Will you stop being so stubborn, Twilight!” Shining yelled out.
“Wait, Twilight’s here?” Flash asked.
“Yeah," Cadance answered, "sounds like she needs someone to look after Spike."
"Huh," Flash replied. “Would have thought with how smart the little guy is, he could be left alone without chewing up the couch.”
“Me too," Cadance nodded. "But apparently, he spent a lot of money on online shopping.” That just raised more questions for Flash.
Always one to help out, Flash decided to help out his friend. “Hey, Twilight, if you need a dog sitter I could do it.” This caught Twilight's attention and turned to see him step into view.
“Oh, Flash!” She exclaimed in surprise at seeing her friend at her brother’s house. “Wait what are you doing here?"
“I invited him," Shining explained. "Turns out, Flash and I have some things in common. So we decided to hang out. Spike would have been welcomed to join, but as I said, I can’t bring him along. But Flash looking after Spike does sound like a good idea.”
“Yeah," Flash said with a smile, "I can hang out with Spike. It'll be no problem."
“There, problem solved,” Shining crossed her arms.
Twilight pulled out her phone to check the time. “Spike is sleeping in the living room right now. I need to meet with the girls, but I'll text you everything you need to know to take care of him.” With that, she rushed out. “I'll be back by six." They heard her open and shut the door, leaving Flash and the adults alone.
“Oh," Cadance stated, "I should go get Flurry ready."
“Flurry?” Flash asked.
“Our little girl,” Shining answered.
“I'm taking her with me for today, so you will hear by yourself.” With that, Cadance headed upstairs. It was only when she was gone that Flash realized what she said.
“Wait, you want me to stay here?”
“Would you rather try and bring a sleeping dog back to your house on your bike?” Shining replied.
“Good point,” Flash nodded. “By the way, what is interrupting our planes?”
“There are a string of fires showing up in town," Shining explained. "Chief thinks it’s arson, but they don’t want to rule out it being a Magi-Beast attack. That's why I was called in."
“Could it be a monster attack?” Flash asked before moving in closer to whisper into his ear. “Do you want me to come with?"
Shining shook his head, “I’m only coming as a precaution. Not to mention what if it is just an arsonist? I know you wouldn’t use your powers on a normal human.” It was then that he looked at his watch, Flash noticed it looked overly designed and not something he would a man like Shining would own. “Not to mention, River wants me to test out some more equipment.”
“I see,” Flash said as he leaned on the counter. “It just sucks that it has to be today. I was looking forward to binge-watching the new season of Butterfly and Silver Wolf.”
“I’ll try to get back soon. Keep in contact,” Shining said as he headed out.
At a hole in the wall cafe, Starlight was happily eating a serving of coffee jelly with Cypher sitting across from her. “Are you sure you don’t want anything?" She asked. "I said I’d pay for it."
“I’m not hungry,” Cypher responded in his usually unamused way. “What did you cook this time to defeat the rider?”
“I’m very proud of this one," Starlight stated with a giggle. "I found a host that will create a whole Magi-Beast without fail. And should either of the riders try and interfere, I have a trump card." She giggled again.
“You mean that thing you made from the Doctor’s tome?” Cypher asked. “Will it even work?”
“Who knows. It could help us in battle, but it’s just the first step. It’s a test to see how far I can take it when I mix my magic with the magic of the tome. Should bring some interesting results.” Starlight ate another spoon full of the gelatin dessert, Cypher giving no response. “Awww," she teased, "are you jealous that I might end up being Kurogiri’s favorite? That my magic may be able to do what you couldn’t.”
Cypher simply glared at his fellow Advanced.
“Jeez, you need to lighten up, it was only a joke. It’s so hard to get a read on you with that same look plastered on your face.”
“You can help the doctor out with whatever he needs," Cypher declared. "But mark my words, I will be the one to take out Achilles."
“Gotta love that determination,” Starlight said as she waged her spoon in the air. She soon finished her snack before standing up. “Come on, my monster is going to attack soon.” She walked away, Cypher following.
The building was nothing but ash with officers all around. The area was taped off, the investigation taking place and Shining finally rode up on his bike. As he took his helmet off, Shining approached one of the investigators. “So did you find any causes?” He asked as the forensic officer stood up and removed his goggles.
“Unfortunately. There is no sign of it being electrical. I’ve never seen burn marks like this. It was a good thing that no one was around when this happened."
“Mind if I take a look?” Shining asked.
“Be my guess,” the officer said as he got out of the way. “I’ll go see if I can help the guys get some witness testimony.”
Shining gave a nod as he went on to look through the charred rubble. Digging through all the ash, the Officer came across a large clump of blue hair. “Hey," he turned to the CSI, "you said there was no one around when the fire happened?!”
“Yeah, the building was empty when the fire started. It was actually a few neighbors who called the fire department.”
“Then that makes this very odd,” Shining held up several strands of blue hair. He then took out a small plastic bag to place the hair in before handing it to the CSI. “Hey, once you submit this to evidence, can I borrow it? I want to look into this a bit further.”
“Um sure thing,” The officer said as he took the bag.
“Ok, let’s see how well this thing works.” Shining looked down at his watch before pressing a button. Immediately the watch sprang off his wrist, the two straps unfolding into legs as the main body formed into a quadruped. A heart flipped out of the digital face to make the whole thing look like a miniature Doberman. When the dog landed, it started to sniff around the area till it stopped short. “Did you find something boy?” Shining asked with the small robot nodding yes as its sensors picked up a faint trail that was being deployed on its optics. “Well, it looks like we have a lead. Think you can find it?” Shining continued. The robotic dog did a flip to show that it was ready and began to run with Shining not too far behind.
Once Spike woke up, Flash was quick to explain the situation.
The dog was cool with it and they just ended up crashing on Shining's couch. “Alright Black Dawn, your rain of terra is over!” The Heroin on the TV declared. On-screen was a girl dressed in a purple butterfly costume fighting in sync with a boy in a silver and black wolf-themed costume. The two were facing down a large shadowy hand with an eye in the middle.
The hand shot out several orbs of darkness but the two heroes jumped out of the way. The girl known as Butterfly pulled out a fan and smacked the orbs right back at the monster. The hand slammed down onto the rooftop but the attack missed and gave Silver Wolf the chance to flank the monster. With a giant kendama toy in hand, the boy smashed the hand with the hammer part.
Spike was actually enjoying the show flash had on. “Wow, this is pretty good. I can't believe I haven’t seen this before,” he said as he rested on Flash’s lap.
“I can’t believe Shining hasn’t shown you this before,” Flash replied as he petted the purple dog.
“Maybe he’s embarrassed that he still watches cartoons. He could be such a dork sometimes,” Spike said with a smile as he went back to watching the show.
“I think we should show Mr. Handsy here what we can really do,” Butterfly quipped.
“Ladies first,” Silver wolf responded.
“Oh here comes the big finisher,” He pointed out as the two heroes each charged their respective weapons.
“Shining Flutter!” Butterfly announced with a wave of her fan to send a swarm of butterflies at the monster.
“Silver Howler!” Silver Wolf followed, hitting an energy ball with a giant kendama toy. The attacks hit and caused the monster to dissolve in a pillar of light.
“Pound it!” The two hero’s declared as the fist-bumped.
“Pretty cool right?” Flash asked.
“Yeah, it was cool. But we’ve seen the Riders do stuff like this,” Spike replied. Flash agreed with the statement, especially since he took part in most of those final attacks.
As the show was wrapping up, a loud growl filled the air. “Was that you?” The two asked each other, causing them both to laugh.
“I guess we’re both getting hungry,” Flash pointed out.
“Oh, there is this new place at the mall. Twilight keeps saying we can go there but we never do. Let’s go there for lunch,” Spike suggested.
“Sounds good to me,” Flash responded as he got up. “Hope you don't mind riding on my bike.”
The Watch Dog lead Shining across town. Unfortunately, there seemed to be no sign of where this blue-haired person was.
In fact, the streets were empty. It would have been fitting to see a tumbleweed rolling around. The only thing of note was a familiar girl who was putting on a performance, right in front of the magic shop.
“Come one, come all,” Trixie announced to a crowd of no one. “Who is brave enough to see first hand which is stronger. The magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie or the legendary Sword of the Nameless King!” Trixie announced as she presented a very scary looking sword. Of course, there was no one around so Trixie just sighed. “Why do I even bother?” she asked the Jelly Drone, which was floating around her.
“Oh, Trixie," Shining said with a smile as he approached the street performer. "Didn’t think I would run into you today." The Watch Dog came up to the girl only, for the Jelly Drone to float down and greet the small robot. As he got closer, he noticed the gothic sword. “Wow. I never would have thought you'd be into Ogres and Oubliettes, let alone own a replica of The Sword of the Nameless King.”
“Yeah," Trixie said as she admired the prop, "it comes in handy for performances.” She then pointed it at Shining, “I’m surprised you like O&O too.”
“You kidding?’" Shining pushed the sword down. "I’ve been playing since I was in high school. I’ve been working on a campaign for years, but the only one I’ve been able to get to play is Spike.”
“Jeez, tell me about it. The Role Play club at school isn’t what it used to be. Snips and Snails aren’t the best to be around for long periods of time. Pulse nine times out of ten I have to be the DM. I mean, I can do it but I love being an adventurer more,” Trixie explained with her hand on her hip. “I even tried to get Flash to play but he’s not interested.”
“Maybe the two of us can convince him to try it," Shining suggested. "We were supposed to hang out today but work got in the way." It was then he remembered. “Oh, speaking of work, have you seen anyone with hair like this?” He pulled out the plastic bag with the hair in it, holding it up to try and see if Trixie's matched. It did not.
“No," Trixie replied, "this place has been deserted for like an hour.”
*arf arf*
Before Shining could respond, he was interrupted by loud barking. Running down the sidewalk was what looked like a dog with blue and indigo fur. The fur at the end of their ears was white. The dog was running as fast as they could between the two and turned into an alleyway.
“Whooow, Where did they come from?!” Trixie yelled out.
Before Shining could react, he noticed the Watch Dog by his feet pointing in the same direction as the blue dog. He then looked over at the sample of hair he was holding. “I think I just found my lead, Come on,” Shining said as he led the way.
“How is a dog a lead to a building burning down!?” Trixie asked as she followed.
“I don’t know yet, but it can’t hurt to look.” The two entered the ally to find the dog, who seemed to have stopped running and was now trembling. Looking further down, they could see why.
Leaning on the wall with his arms crossed was a lizard-like figure, with red scales and two large crimson horns coming out of its head. It had a black, rocky chest plate with garnet gemstones embedded in its shoulders, hands, and thighs. Two wings came off his back with garnets embedded on them as well. Two small flames were coming out of the sides of the monster’s mouth that didn’t look like they weren't going out any time soon. “Well, well, well, glad to see ya again you dang mutt,” The monster greeted in a gravelly voice.
“So those fires were caused by a Magi-beat,” Shining said as he pulled out his driver.
“Ah, a fan of my work I see,” the dragon said as he began to walk towards the two. “The name’s Pyralspite. The art of destruction is my passion.”
Shining put on his driver and presented his badge to the monster. “Sorry to say, but your path of destruction ends here. You’re under arrest for arson,” He proclaimed before slotting the badge into the driver. “Trixie get the dog out of here.”
“Got it,” Trixie replied as she dashed for the dog.
“Henshin!”
“Ya can’t stop me, I’m a force of nature!” Pyralspite said as the flames around his mouth grew more intense. When he opened his mouth, a deep red fireball came flying out. Trixie picked up the dog, but she was unable to get out of the way in time.
“SHIELD! OF! JUSTICE!”
The armor formed around Shining as he got between Trixie and the fireball, holding up his shield to block the attack. Pyralspite continued to launch fireballs at the rider, who kept blocking them but it was clear he wasn’t going to last long. “He has the advantages in this narrow ally," Shining analysed. "We need to get him out in the open.”
Trixie gave him a nod before running into the street with the dog clenched in her arms, while Shining blocked the fireballs. Once they cleared away, Argo turned and ran in the same direction. “You can’t escape me!” Pyralspite yelled as he charged up another attack in his mouth. These flames had a more orange tint to them and were going wild, “Draco Eruption!” He yelled as a giant explosion filled up the narrow ally. Argo had to dive to the side, right before a pillar of flames followed him.
“Wow," Argo cried as he sat him, "this guy's dangerous.” He got up and made sure Trixie and the dog were safe. The dragon monster walked out of the ally to find the rider taking a Battle Card out and loading it into the Defender.
“LAUNCHER ACTIVATE!”
Not wanting to give Pyralspite a moment, Argo launched missiles at the monster the moment the weapons formed. The missiles hit and caused an explosion that sent the Magi-Beast flying.
“Heck yeah, you got this salamander on the ropes,” Trixie cheered.
As Pyralspite got back to his feet, another figure walked up next to him. “Jeez, I didn’t think one of her Magi-Beast would be so weak,” Cypher said in his human form.
“He just got lucky,” Pyralspite grumbled.
“Your Cypher, right? I don't think we properly met,” Argo commented.
“I’m not here for small talk,” Cypher replied as he took out a card. This card looked like the ones used to create Magi-Beasts but it was black, depicting some kind of swirling. “I’m here to test out this new tool” He ripped the card in two, causing smoke to pour out.
As the Advanced threw the two halves to the ground, the smoke grew more intense. It soon started to form into six human-like shapes. They all looked like they were wrapped in shadows with red eyes peering through the darkness. They were all armed with shortswords that all curved into odd shapes.
A few hours early, at the cafe.
“You want me to test out one of your creations?” Cypher asked.
“Mmh yeah,” Starlight responded as she swallowed the coffee jelly. “The best I can deceive it is a kind of Lesser Magi-Beast. Creatures that we can make a large number of with little magic involved at the cost of them not being as strong as a normal Magi-Beast. Strength in numbers and all that. Got the idea from Snare-Oh and his lackeys. I felt we could use some help since our rider problem has doubled. I like to call them…”
“Nightmares!” Cypher barked, getting the attention of the creatures. “Attack!” He ordered and the lesser Magi-Beasts followed, swarming the rider. One of the Nightmares brightened their sword but Argo blocked it with his shield. Two more came in from behind and both slashed the rider on the back.
“What are you doing? I could have taken that guy!” Pyralspite complained.
“You're still a fledgling and very cocky. As you are now, that guy would have destroyed you in an instant. I've seen what happens to cocky Magi-Beast,” Cypher explained. “The witch said that it would be a success if they just wear down the rider.”
The Nightmares kept attacking Argo relentlessly. He was forced to use his shield to block the attacks, the missile batteries on his shoulders providing additional coverage from the onslaught. Once he had a moment, the rider took the Argo Defender and fired it off point-blank at one of the soldiers. This gave him the opportunity to counter-attack the group by bashing one of the Nightmares with his shield and shoving them into each other.
One of the Nightmares tried to slash Argo but was met with a kick before he could even bring the sword down. “I don't have time for this. I can't let them get away,” Argo said before launching his missiles into the sky. The rockets flew up before falling around the rider and blowing up, sending all the Nightmares flying. Once they were on the ground, Argo and Trixie saw the monsters dissolve away into nothing. Unfortunately, the rider was too late and both Cypher and Pyralspite were gone.
“Dang it, they got away!” Shining cried as he undid the transformation.
“Well at less you saved the dog, that’s something,” Trixie said as she ran up to the officer with the blue dog in hand. “Why would they be after a dog?” she asked as she gave the dog a confused look.
Shining brought a finger to his chin as he looked over the dog. He soon noticed that she no longer trembled in fear, but looked more annoyed than anything. “If I were to wager a guess, I think that Dragon’s host is the dog’s owner. The monster must be terrorising the dog to get more energy out of them,” Shining explained. “If we can find her owner we might be able to figure out their next move.”
“Well this isn’t the first time we had to deal with a hostage situation,” Trixie said as she started to bet the dog on the head. The dog responded by letting out a loud barking. “I think I know where we can get some info about who this dog’s owner might be,” Trixie said as she let the dog down.
At the mall, Flash and Spike had just gotten lunch from the food court.
The two both got burgers from one of the stands and were in the middle of a heated debate. “Spike there is no way Exterminator would be able to beat Cybercop. Cybercop took down way scarier robots,” Flash said as he took a sip of his soda.
“Are you kidding? Exterminator is from the future. Anything Cybercop has, he has something better,” Spike countered as he chomped on the last bit of burger he had.
“Hey, is it ok for you to be eating that kind of stuff?” Flash asked. Spike simply shrugged before the two just continued eating. This resulted in the two broke out in laughter. “Man, we should hang out like this more.”
“Yeah," Spike nodded. "Twilight and the girls are fun, but it's nice to have an afternoon with another guy."
“Same, since I left the band it's been hard spending time with friends. It's just been me and Trixie,” Flash explained as leaned back in his chair.
“You’ve been spending time with Shining too. Since when did you two become pals?” Spike asked as he started munching on his fries.
“Well he saved my life from a Magi-Beast attack,” Flash answered casually. “Things just kinda happened after that.”
“I get it and it's good Shining actually has a friend to do dorky stuff with. He's always busy, especially with the rider stuff now so I’m happy you're hanging out with him,” Spike said.
“You talk almost like he’s your older brother,” Flash pointed out.
“I guess I kinda see him as one even though he’s a human. I’ve always been by Twilight's side and she always looked up to him. I guess I started to see him in that way too,” Spike explained.
As they started to clean their wrappers off the table, Flash’s phone went off. Pulling it out he found that he got a text. It read.
Me and Shining ran into a Magi-beast, Looking for the host, meet us at the pet spa.
“Pet Spa?” Flash said out loud as he read it.
“You want to go there?” Spike asked as his ears perked up.
“Oh, no. Trixie is there with Shining. Apparently, they’re investigating a Magi-Beast thing,” Flash explained as he pocketed his phone.
“Oh, Shining could bring me but he’s hanging out with Trixie,” an upset Spike said.
“I’m sure he just ran into her. She tends to get mixed up in this kind of stuff a lot,” Flash replied as he picked up the dog. “Come on, let's go meet'em and see what they want.”
“What do you mean she’s not here!?” Trixie yelled at the pet spa worker.
“Like I said, it’s Fluttershy’s day off,” the woman responded with an annoyed look.
“Do you have any clue where she is then?” Trixie asked as she turned to Shining.
“She’s probably with my sister at a Rainboom gig,” he answered with the blue dog in his hands.
“And you couldn’t have told me this before?” Trixie snapped.
As Trixie continued to be cranky, Flash and Spike walked into the shop. "Hey," Flash called out, "what's going on that you guys ended up here?"
Shining turned around to show Flash that there was another dog in his care. “Hey, I’m starting to get the impression you don’t like me,” Spike said.
“I didn’t know things were going to end up like this,” Shining responded as he placed the dog down. “The Magi-Beast we ran into was attacking this poor girl. We think the host is her owner, but we don’t know who they are.”
“I was hoping to have Fluttershy help us find them but looks like she’s gone,” Trixie added.
“Man, that stinks,” Flash groaned as he began to scratch his chin. “Are you sure there's no other way to figure it out?”
“None that I can think of,” Shining replied.
“I might be able to help,” Spike chimed in. The humans looked down at him, “I’ll just ask her what we need to know.”
“You can talk to animals?” Trixie asked.
“I can talk to other dogs if that’s what you're asking,” Spike snarked back in a dry tone.
Trixie simply facepalmed. “I know it was a stupid question right when it left my mouth.”
Spike approached the blue dog with a mean look on her face. She didn’t look too thrilled that there was another dog in the room. “Hey, how's it going?” Spiked asked in a friendly tone.
“Bark, bark bark!” The dog responded.
“Jeez, no need for that kind of language. I get you have been chased around all day. Mind telling us who your owner might be?” Spike followed.
The dog didn’t take too kindly to that but continued. “Bark bark,” the dog replied.
“I See,” Spike said as he nodded his head. Flash, Shining, and Trixie were all lost in the conversation they were having.
“What is she saying?” Flash asked.
“Well first off, you were way off the mark with her owner. This girl is a stray,” Spike answered as he turned to the humans. “She also likes to be called Ember.”
“Well can Ember tell us why Pyralspit is after her?” Shining asked.
“Bark bark ruff bark” Ember went on.
“She says that the monster showed up when a girl slapped a card on her back,” Spike translated.
“Unicorn,” Flash said under her breath.
“The dragon torched her home in the trash along with the building as well,” Spike continued.
“So animals can be used to create magi-beast too?” Shining thought out loud.
“I don’t see why not,” Trixie followed.
Flash looked down at Ember, it was clear she was a small dog trying to be a big one. Even though he didn’t understand her, Flash could tell she was frightened. “Don’t worry, we’ll find that Pyralspite and make sure he doesn't hurt you again,” Flash said as he started to pet the blue dog on the head. The resulted in Ember biting his finger, “AHHHHHHH!” he let out a yell as he got his finger out of her mouth
“I’m glad my Nightmares were so useful to you,” Starlight said as she looked over another card exactly like the one Cypher used. Her fellow Advanced and Magi-Beast both met up with her at a deserted amphitheater.
“They made for a useful distraction,” Cypher responded as he kicked up his feet on the bench.
“That’s what they’re made for. Anything to make things harder for the riders. Of course, I will need to see it first hand. Maybe help my dragon become whole as well,” Starlight said as she took a seat on the edge of the stage. “And this is just the beginning, finding out my magic can let me modify cards like this make my plan much easier.”
“What plan?” Cypher asked.
“My plan to attack the source of Achilles’ greatest power,” Starlight answered.
“His greatest power?”
“His friends. The seven girls with magic who have been behind him all this time. Weakening their bond will be a massive blow to him. my plan will be to finally will be the first step to getting rid of our problem once and for all,” Starlight went on before letting out a laugh.
Cypher just looked at the young woman with a look of scepticism. He already didn’t trust what Starlight was doing and feared how it would affect the Doctor’s master plan.
Flash, Shining, Trixie, and the two dogs went back to the main street to find the Magi-beast. The crew was currently following the Watch Dog as it tried tracking down the monster. Flash looked down at Ember walking right next to him. “Just stay close, things may get dicey later,” Flash told the dog.
“Bark arf” Ember replied with her nose in the air.
“She said to just focus on keeping yourself alive,” Spike translated. “Why are you so gung ho on helping her anyway? Didn’t think you loved dogs so much.”
“I always loved dogs. I helped Fluttershy at the shelter, even when everyone at school was divided into clicks. Wanted to adopt one but I never got around to it,” Flash answered as he scratched the side of his face.
The group continued to follow Shining till the robotic dog stopped and hung its head down. “Looks like the little guy lost the trail,” Shining said as he knelt down to his little friend.
As the Watch Dog transformed back into its gadget form, the Owl Phone flew in with a loud chirp. “Did you find anything?” Trixie asked. The robotic Owl responded with more chirps and pointing with its wings. “Looks like he found it,” Trixie interpreted as the group before a loud boom filled the air. The group ran to the source of the blast with the Owl Phone leading the way.
Several citizens were running away from a horde of Nightmares that were attacking them. Pyralspite stood in the middle of the chaos, destroying buildings with his fire blasts. “Yes!" the Magi-Beast yelled as the fire spread, "yes! Burn!”
“Jeez, random destruction? I thought you were some kind of artist or something,” Flash quipped as the groups got on the scene.
“Just wiping the slate clean for my masterpiece,” Pyralspit declared before he took to the sky. The monster crossed his arms as Wisps of energy flowed into his body causing the gems on his body to glow brightly. With a mighty roar worthy of his dragon appearance, each garnet blasted out a narrow beam of energy in all directions. One of the beams went right for Flash and his group causing everyone to jump to the side. The beam left a glowing red trench in the ground before exploding. “This town will be my magnum opus when I leave it a molten crater!” Pyralspite announced, firing off more of his lasers.
“Trixie!” Flash called out.
“Got it! Running! seems to be all I'm doing today,” Trixie replied as she scooped up the two dogs and tried to get as far from the fiery destruction as she could.
“Wait, what about Flash?” Spike asked as he looked up at the magician.
“Shining can protect him. Don’t worry,” Trixie replied. She looked back at the two as they stood up to confront the dragon.
“You ready to take this guy down?” Shining asked as he put on his driver.
“Just keep the goons off me. I need to sock Dragon Breath here for what he did to Ember,” Flash put on his own driver.
“I think I can manage that,” Shining said as he held out his Badge. Flash pulled out the Blaze card as the two stood side by side.
“Henshin!” they both announced in unison before activating their transformations.
“OK!”
“ACTIVATED!”
“PASSION BURNING AT 1000 DEGREES, CONSUMED BY THE FLAMES OF REBIRTH!”
“B-B-B-BLAZE!!!”
“SHIELD...OF...JUSTICE!”
“AR-AR-AR-ARGO!”
The two riders stood stoic as they transformed into their armored forms. “By the time this is over I will send you to Tartarus,” Achilles said as strummed a cored on his Solar Sonic.
“To Protect and Serve!” Argo followed as he stood at attention. “Kamen Rider Argo is on the scene.”
The Nightmares saw the riders and began to attack the two. Achilles spun around to attack several of them with the Solar Sonic, knocking them back. One of the goons tried to bring down their sword, but Argo blocked it with his shield. He then put the barrel of the Argo Defender to the monster’s abdomen and fired, making some much needed room.
As the fires raged, the two Advanced stood to the side in their monster forms to protect themselves from the flames. They watched the chaos unfold between the horde of Nightmares and the Riders. “Are you really going to let this guy wipe out the whole town?” Cypher asked, turning to his acquaintance. “Not only will he destroy his own host, but it will make our operation much more difficult to carry out.”
“Are you saying I can’t be responsible for my creation?” Starlight asked with a hint of sarcasm. “Having him go all out gives us a better chance that he will turn these riders to a mark on the pavement. If he does go out of hand,” The Advance started as her horn began to glow. “I have no problem marking this one as defective.”
“Burn to ash!” Pyralspite yelled as fired his lasers. The beam missed the rider but hit a car, cutting it in half before igniting an explosion. The two riders jumped out of the way of the blast but were swarmed by the Nightmares who took advantage of the destruction.
As Argo blocked an attack, a Hazard alarm started to go off in his helmet, warning of the rapidly increasing temperature. “Achilles, things are starting to reach their boiling point...literally!” Argo called out.
Achilles slashed one of the goons. “Are you sure you can take care of these guys on your own?” He asked.
“I’m sure I can,” Argo replied as he pulled out a green battle card with “K-9” engraved on it. Achilles nodded as he ran off towards the Magi-Beast. Some of the Nightmare tried to chase after him but Argo shot them in the back. The lesser magi-beast turned back to the rider who loaded the card into the Defender.
“K-9 ACTIVATED!”
The construct of parts appeared around the rider’s left shoulder to form into what looked like a dog cage. He then crouched down and hit the cage to open the door. What came out was a small octagonal prism energy construct. The prism soon sprouted legs and showed a flat angry face. The Nightmares looked down at the strange thing before it started to grow till it was the size of a truck.
“RAAA RAAA RAAA!!!”
The dog-like construct looked down at the lesser Magi-beasts, as a siren popped up in its head before opening its large mouth. This resulted in the Nightmares running away as the construct gave chase with the siren going off. One of the monsters was unfortunately too slow and was bitten down by the construct. It shook the Nightmare around violently before it bit down hard and turned the Nightmare into black smoke. “Didn’t think I’d find a use for that one,” Argo commented.
Meanwhile, Achilles was charging at Pyralspite.
The Magi-Beast saw this and responded by blasting a fireball at the rider. Achilles switched his grip on the Solar sonic and strummed some of the strings. Right before the Fireball could hit, it stopped and changed form into a phoenix. The fire construct flew into the sky to struck Pyralspite in the back.
“How dare you change my art!” Pyralspite yelled, putting his hands forward and fired his beams. Achilles ran to the side to avoid the attack, jumping behind a car. A wall of flames appeared in the beam’s wake and when it died down it just showed the dragon was furious.
“This guy is about to blow his stack any minute,” Achilles commented. Pyralspite spotted the Rider and put his hands together. The gems on his arms glowed bright red before firing a massive pillar of flame. Achilles saw this and jumped up on the car. He brought down his blade and cut the pillar in half before it could hit. “Dude you need to chill. You're going to take everyone out like this. Including yourself” Achilles pointed out as he defected the attack. 'Why is he so strong?' He asked himself, then realized something. 'Wait! Dogs live shorter lives than humans, does that mean the draining rate is faster for them?'
“And what a way to go, bathed in such powerful flames!” Pyralspite replied as his attack stopped. The power he was absorbing from Ember was reaching its max, as the gems on his body started to spit flames. A massive wave of heat radiated off of him pushing the rider back.
“Flash!” Shining yelled out, accidentally saying his real name. Achilles turned to see Argo's construct finish off the last of the nightmares. “Time for some teamwork,” He continued as he sent his dog towards the other rider.
Achilles saw what he was getting at and jumped up, landing on top of the construct, riding it through the intense heat. The Rider took the Blaze card out of the driver and slotted it into the Solar Sonic.
“ROCK ON!”
“BLAZING FEEDBACK!!!”
The blade ignited with a swirling vortex of flames. At the same time, Argo pulled out a purple battle card and slotted it into the Defender. He held his weapon with both hands as it began to charge with energy.
“ACTIVATED! FULL-BLAST FEEDBACK!!!”
“BURN! BURN! BURN! BURN! BURN! BURN! BURN!!!!!!” Pyralspite screamed as he let out a beam towards the rider. Achilles jumped to avoid the attack but the construct wasn't so lucky and was cut in half. Achilles yet out a yell before cutting the Magi-Beast’s right across the chest. Argo immediately after pulled the trigger and launched a massive bullet with his shield logo on the front. “At least I will leave this world in glorious flames” Pyralspite yelled as the attack hit. The result was a massive explosion of purple energy and flame. A shockwave radiated from the monster’s defeat, causing the intense heat to dissipate and returning the area back to normal.
“Dang, looks like all his talk was nothing but hot air,” Cypher commented as he glared at Starlight.
“Is that your attempt at a joke,” Starlight replied. Even though her face didn’t show it she was very upset about this situation. “Stick to doing what Kurogiri tells you and leave the planning to me. One way or another, I will be the victor!” She declared before teleporting away.
As Achilles landed, his transformation was undone with a loud gasp. “Jeez that one was tougher than all the other,” Flash exclaimed as he took a seat on the ground. “Is Ember ok?”
As if on cue, the blue dog came out of nowhere and jumped into Flash's arms. “Dang it. I set her down for one second and she just bolts,” Trixie complained as she was quick to follow. “I think she was worried about you.”
Flash just smiled. “I kept my promise. No one is going to be hurting you again,” he said as he started to scratch the dog’s chin.
Shining undid his transformation as he walked up to his partner. “Well with the danger over, I think I know a way to relax after something like this,” Shining offered as he helped Flash up.
“After making quick work of Iron Skeleton’s lackeys, the wizard Garbunkle raises his staff up high as he forms three orbs of energy and casts the spell Mystic Darts,” Spike declared in a dramatic fashion. He climbed up on the table. Once the monster was dealt with and order was restored to the town. The group all returned back to Shining's house.
“Ok, Roll for damage,” Shining said. Spike took three four-sided dice and threw them on the table. The police officer was currently sitting at the head of the table with a small partition in front of him. A map was set up in the middle with game pieces in positions around a large skeleton figure. The three game pieces were a dragon wizard, a witch with pointy ears, and a Fishman with a large sword. After such a fight, Trixie and Shining wanted to play O&O. Spike was more than happy to join and Flash just ended up getting roped into it.
“I got ten,” Spike responded
“And the Iron Skeleton stumbles back as the bolts of magic hit his rib cage,” Shining said as he acted out what the Skeleton would be doing. “Alright Lunara, your turn.”
“Dang it, I'm really not doing well in this,” Trixie thought out loud. Over the course of the fight, Trixie’s character, Lunara Grimmhowl, seems to have been the one taking most of the hits. “The Powerful sorceress, Lunara, looks at her new friend Mica since she has been mortality wounded in this battle, her only choice of action. She looks to the Fighter and casts Blade of the Heavens on him.”
“You do what?” Flash asked. He hasn't really been able to follow most of what was going on throughout the campaign.
“As Lunarea casts her spell, Mica’s sword begins to glow with a heavenly light,” Shining explained. “Flash’s next attack will now do light damage. Is that all your doing Trixie?”
“All I can do,” Trixie responded.
“Ok Flash, it's your turn,” Shining said.
“Um, Um what do I do?” Flash asked as he was put on the spot.
“You swing your sword at the boss. Come on, you better not waste my buff!” Trixie yelled.
“Just move your character and declare an attack,” Spike followed in a calmer tone.
Flash did what the dog said and moved the fish man closer to the skeleton. “Ok, I attack the guy with my sword,” Flash declared nervously.
“Roll to attack,” Shining said.
Flash looked nervously at the group and then down to the floor where Ember was sitting and crewing in one of Spike’s bones. He nodded his head and rolled his twenty-sided die. Trixie and Spike looked at the die intently till it eventually stopped. When they saw the result, the two caster players yelled out in joy. “NAT TWENTY!!!” The two yelled out.
“Is that good?” Flash asked, confused by the cheers.
“Mica ran full speed at the Skeleton, his glowing sword held high before the mighty warrior cut right through the spinal column. The enchantment on the sword doing double damage,” Shining narrated as he knocked the figure down. “You defeated the boss.”
“WHOOOOOO!” Trixie and Spike yelled.
“Congratulations Flash. Pretty good for a first-timer,” Shining complicated. “Did you have fun?”
“Ya know I kinda did,” Flash said as he scratched the back of his head.
The celebration was soon cut short by the sound of the door opening. “Spike, I’m back,” Twilight's voice called out.
“Twilight,” Spike said as he hopped off his chair to run to his best friend. The others followed to see that she was accompanied by Sunset and Fluttershy.
“I hope you didn’t miss me too much,” Twilight said as she picked him up. “He wasn't too much trouble, was he?” She asked as he looked over to Flash and the others.
“None at all. We had a really great time,” Flash replied. He soon turned his attention to Fluttershy. “Oh Fluttershy, are you free?”
“Um yeah, why?” Fluttershy replies. She then heard a bit of barking and looked down to find Ember at her feet. “Oh, where did you come from?”
“That’s Ember, we ended up finding her today. She’ a stray and I was hoping I could help her out by taking her in. Was wondering if you can help me out. Being with Spike made me want to finally get around to finding my own furry friend?”
This causes Fluttershy’s eyes to light up. “Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes!” She said as she picked up the blue dog. One of Fluttershy’s favorite things was matching her human friends up with her animal friends. One of her happiest moments was introducing Sunset with Ray, her gecko. “We just need to stop by the shelter and I’ll get you everything you need.”
The young woman was overjoyed as she brought Flash and Ember in for a huge hug. Flash knew Fluttershy would be happy but not this happy.