//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: What Lies Outside The Demons' Den? 
// Story: Kamen Rider Vail & Dreadvice 
// by Blaze-saber 
//------------------------------//

Star Sky turned her head frantically as she was having a nightmare of her family being killed by the two demons. After hearing her father shout, she witnessed both demons immolating her family in red and blue flames, reducing them to charred husks. She quickly opened her eyes and sat up, but she was no longer in the cell that NOAH kept her caged in. Instead, she was in a unfamiliar bedroom, with a picture of an unfamiliar girl on the nearby nightstand. She noted that this girl looked to be about her age. The girl in the photo had yellow skin and blue hair while her eyes are light blue as she stood in front of would look to be a Japanese bath house with her, if Star had to guess her family.

"What's going on...?" She whispered to herself as the last thing she remembered was destroying two devils before her own power collapsed the bridge above her and her brother. "Night!" She realized that her brother was with her when it happened. Just as she was about to get out of bed, a boy about her brother's age with green skin and orange hair while he is wearing a light blue button shirt with a white T-shirt underneath.

"Oh good, you're awake." The boy said in a friendly tone. "I came up here to see how you're doing."

"Where am I and who are you?" Star asked skeptically with a bit of fear in her tone.

"My name is Steam Water." The boy introduced himself. "And where you are is my boss's bath house. We pulled you both out on the rubble after seeing the two of you yesterday when you destroyed those two monsters that attacked."


He's good looking for a human.


Star heard Vice's voice commented before a thought came to her. "What about my brother, Night?" Star asked him with a worried tone. "Is he still alive and alright?"

"So the guy we pulled out with you is your brother?" Steam asked before he gave a warm smile to her. "He's okay. He's with my boss, Aurora right now. I came up here to check on you." Star let out a sigh of relief to hear that.

"Thank God." She said before she saw Steam hold a hand to her.

"We can go see him now, if you like." He said with a warm smile before she took his hand.





Meanwhile at NOAH, Stamp Stride was on the his ear communicator while Tirek sat at his desk and had a very impatient look upon his face. "Still no sight of NO. 071 or NO. 072." Bright Mac said on the other end of the communicator. Tirek however didn't like the sound of that at all.

"Why're you standing around for?!" Tirek shouted from the communicator on his desk and made Stamp jumped a little. "It's been a whole day and if they're not there, then search around the area! And no matter what, don't come back without them!!" 

"If information about them gets out..." Stamp said with a worried tone. "We'll be finished..."

"It won't." Tirek told Stamp before he turned on the communicator on his desk. "If there's anyone with them, take them into immediate custody. It doesn't matter who it is." Back at the destroyed bridge where Vail and Dreadvice was last spotted, Bright Mac had a look of resignation and intense grief on his face. One of the soldiers noticed him looking concerned about all this before she walked up and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked at the soldier as she gave a small nod to comfort him.





Both Steam and Star walked down the stairs till they entered a dinning room where she saw the girl in the photo on the nightstand sitting by a table next to her brother as the two of them were having breakfast. "Night." Star called out in relief in her tone.

"Oh good, you're awake now." Night said when he saw her. "I was getting worried about you." Star then noticed that he was bandaged up around his hand and a few Band-Aids on his face.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Your brother was bleeding all over the place after we helped you both out from under the rubble." The girl answered as Steam entered the kitchen. "He was about to carry you off somewhere before I grabbed him and pulled him to my family's spa bath house."

"The one I saw in your picture in your room." Star assumed. "So you must be Steam's boss."

"I'm Aurora and yes." She confirmed what Star assumed. "It's called 'the Happy Spa.'" Steam then came out of the kitchen, holding two plates with some bacon and scrambled eggs on them before he placed them on the table.

"Here we go, you must be famished." He said before sitting down. "I made it myself, I bet you anything that you'll enjoy it." Star walked over and sat down next to steam and her brother. She been took hold of before next to the plate and he a bit of the scrambled eggs. After taking one bite of the scrambled eggs, she started to scarf down the rest of it like she hadn't eaten in days.

"It's so good." Star commented after finishing her breakfast.

"So, who are you both and what happened to the two of you?" Aurora asked the two before both Star and Night looked down. The two of them like they're trying to remember who they are, but nothing came to them as they struggled to do so.

"We're sorry, but we can barely remember anything." Night told Aurora in a sad tone. "What we do remember is our family was killed...but that's about it."

"So sorry to hear that." Steam said in a sympathetic tone. "I kind of lost my father a few months back and it's just me and my mom. Although she's kind of sick and I'm worried about her."

"And I lost my lost my family last year." Aurora admitted as she looked down at the memory. "But, they wouldn't want wallow in sorrow and continue on."

"But aren't you afraid now that you're alone, without anyone there to comfort you?" Star asked Aurora.

"Well, I'm not completely alone." Aurora told her. "I mean, I do have Steam working for me and I have my cousin that lives not too far from here. Not only that, but I also have my friends that are like family. So in a way, I have a big family and I'm happy for it." Both Star and her brother hadn't thought of it or even see it that way before. "Now since you both don't remember the rest of your names, why don't we call you both Star Crimson and Night Shine?"

"'Star Crimson'?" Star repeated what Aurora said.

"I think it really suits you." Steam said with a warm smile as Star blushed a little. "Now why don't you both have a nice bath? Boys on the left side and girls on the right. You'll both find it very rejuvenating."

"I guess we could use one." Night said as Star nodded in agreement.

"Before we do, let's check on your wounds for a sec." Aurora said as she took Night's arm and unraveled the bandage around it. The moment she got it all off, the scratches that had been on his arm faded away. "Whoa, what happened to them?" She asked as she looked at his arm with confusion. She then saw him remove the bandages office face and saw that the scratches that have been on his face vanished as well.

"That's odd because that's the same thing that happened to your wounds when we brought you here." Steam mentioned before Star quickly stood up.

"Well, time for that bath." She said before she quickly left the room.





Later in the women's bath, Star is soaking in the bath where a few rubber duckies is floating in the water while a small towel is on top of her head as she laid against the wall. "Vice, are you still there?" She whispered.


Yeah, what's up pal?


"Did you and Vail heal our wounds?" She asked but already knew the answer. "What happened under that bridge, what was that I unleashed?"


To tell the truth, you ever scared and surprised me. My best guess is that you are so frightened of your own reflection when you saw it, it sort of created a power search through your body and well you know the rest.


Star then pulled her legs close to her as she had a scared look on her face. "All those people, they called me and Night a couple of demons. But out of all those people, both Aurora and Steam are the ones who did fear us. They helped us and everything, even showed kindness."





Both her and Night were clothed as they are with Aurora and Steam in the front lobby and having some milk. Star is currently wearing clothes, loaned it to her by Aurora. "If you both are okay, we can go to the mall and get you both some fresh clothes." Aurora suggested.

"That sounds nice thanks." Night told her. Star however had a bad feeling, mostly about NOAH. She wonder if they're out there, looking for both her and her brother. Steam then grabbed her shoulder and she snapped out of her thoughts before she looked at him.

"Hey, I would like to talk to you about this." He said as he held up her Dreadvice Driver.





In NOAH, two monitors had 3D images of a woman and a man while a Baryonyx is next to the woman and a Kabuto is next to the man. Both images on both monitors split when a image of a stamp showed up. "VIStamps." Tirek spoke to Stamp. "They awaken the dormant DNA of various bio-organisms within the human body. Though the Giff Stamp, it manifests their demons, becoming the ultimate weapon. Furthermore, a system that allows us to weaponize and control both the VIStamps and the demons. The pinnacle of that technology is, the Vail Driver and the Dreadvice Driver."

"That said." Stamp said before he looked at Tirek. "A lot of young innocent people were sacrificed in the process. Giving birth to incomplete devils." He said with a stern tone as he remembered all the failed subjects that turned into devils that both Vail and Dreadvice fought over the months.

"We must be grateful to Experiments No. 071 and 072." Tirek told Stamp. "Thanks to them, your failures are being covered up. And we of NOAH succeeded in making the deal with the devil."

"And that justifies doing all these inhumane experiments?" Stamp asked with a mad look before Bright Mac walked in.

"Professor Stamp." He spoke up. "We've located Experiments 071 and 072. It seems they've made contact with two civilians." Stamp's expression turned from mad to worried when Bright Mac told him that.

"Why are you still talking?" Tirek spoke up. "Secure and retrieve all four targets at once. We must avoid this coming out at all cost."

"Understood." Bright Mac said as he saluted before he walked out.





Star and Night was taken to the local mall by Steam and Aurora to get them their own clothes. Star and Steam are sitting at a table in the cafeteria of the mall and looking over her driver. "So, you took this apart because you were curious as to how it works?" Star asked him as she was impressed by his skills.

"Yeah, I've always had a little knack for technology and stuff." Steam admitted as he rubbed the back of his head. "It's really an impressive device. But I should probably tell you that I might have added a second power conduit so something like what happened under the bridge won't happen again."

"Really?" Star asked before she put the driver away. "Thanks."

"Anytime, but I am a little baffled about the system that it has." Steam said. "It seems that it works with two instead of one. Almost as if it requires two beings to operate but it only can be worn by one."

"Why are you and Aurora so insistent on helping me and Night?" Star asked him.

"I guess we're just a couple of busy bodies." Steam answered. "But Aurora thinks she's number one in the world." Star let out a light giggle as she smiled at his little joke. "Hey, you smiled. So you can smile and laugh."


Even I have to admit, I never seen you do either of that before.


"I just..." Star was about to explain before she and Steam heard Aurora scream. Both of them quickly stood up and rushed over before the stopped at a corner and saw the soldiers from NOAH apprehending Aurora while two or three of them were trying to restrain Night as he struggled to get free. "No...not them again..."

"Let her GO!!!" Night roared at them as he was trying to break free from their hold. One of the soldiers then tased him as way too stop him.

"What are they doing?" Steam asked when he saw the NOAH soldiers.


Breath, Star. You need to breath and stay calm. I know you don't want to go with them, but you might get captured if you try and rescue them. Just grab steam boy genius over there and run.


Star stood there and thought for a moment as she knew Vice is right. She didn't want to go back in that dark cell and be forced to hunt down demons the rest of her life. And she definitely didn't want to drag Steam into this. But what she really doesn't want to happen is to lose the only family she has right now. Her look of fear turned into a look of determination as she placed on her driver and brought out her Baryonyx stamp before pressing the button on top.


Baryonyx!


"Stay out of sight and stay safe." Star told Steam before she stamped her stamp into the Ohinjector before placing it in the lever beside it. "Henshin!" She then charged in when she pulled the lever and the Ohinjector flipped to face forward as she transformed into Dreadvice. The soldiers saw her coming but was too late to counter attack as she she jumped and kicked one of them in the face before punching another one of them into a wall.

"Get her under control!" Bright Mac ordered the soldiers as they started to fire their guns at her. Thanks to her armor, the bullets that are being shot at her didn't harm her as they continue to shoot at her. Aurora covered her head when they started shooting as she and Steam watched Dreadvice was able to knock away the soldiers shooting at her.

Dreadvice just flipped one of them over her shoulder as two of them crawled on the ground and grabbed tasers. When they tried to get up and charge at her, two claws grabbed the tasers and crushed them. The two soldiers were shocked that the figure that grabbed the tasers didn't get electrocuted before they were knocked out by said figure.

After punching one of the soldiers unconscious, Dreadvice turned to see the figure slashing both soldiers with her claws before she slowly turned to face her. Most of the body of this figure is black with a dark red around its chest with a heart is. In the center of this metal is a stamp image of the Baryonyx in red. The figure had shoulder pads that are white and red along the edges, a white scarf with red outlines, and a dinosaur-like head helmet that is both white and red. She saw the eyes within the mouth of the helmet and saw they were all blue with no white or pupils.

"I told you to run, but you decided to take the idiot decision." The figure spoke in a familiar voice. "But I guess that's what I like about you."

"Vice?" Dreadvice spoke before Bright Mac got up behind her and tased her. She fell to the ground before he took the stamp and the driver away from her.





Soon they returned to NOAH as two soldiers were dragging a handcuffed Star into herself as she struggled to break free from their home. The soldier that opened the door to her cell then walked over to her and connected the chains from her bed to the cuffs. Once he left the room, Star looked towards the doorway and saw Tirek coming in with Stamp behind him.

Tirek had a smug smile on his face as he walked up to her and clapped her face cheek. "This is your home." He told her before he turned to leave as the two soldiers let her go.

"Wait! What did you do with Steam and Aurora?!?!" Star shouted as the chains are holding her back. Stark can even hear her brother shouting the same thing on the other side of the wall. Fear started to creep back into her heart as she started to climb onto the bed and pulled her legs towards her as she got into a fetal position. "Vice...was that you...before...?"


Yeah, it was. I think Steam's little tinkering with the driver may have caused me to take form when you transformed. Even I'm surprised when it happened. Sigh. Look, just take a deep breath. We're going to get out of this and we're going to find him. I promise.


Star tried to stay calm but was feeling a bit uneasy when she laid eyes on Vice for the first time. The way her eyes looked brought up a memory of her family being killed by two demons. The color of the one of their eyes looked very similar to Vice's eyes. There's so much going through her head as she was back in the cell within NOAH, not knowing that the cell next to her right is Steam's cell. The same with Aurora on the opposite side. Is this what fate had planned for the four of them?