Case 5
Lost H/To Guard the Future
“Alright, Rainbowshine, here's the address,” Shou stated, hoofing a folder to her. “According to Philip, you should find the crates you're looking for there.”
Rainbowshine nodded, taking it and putting it under her wing. “Thanks, should be able to take down that smuggling ring with this.”
Akiko blinked. “Wait...that is it? No Dopant?” she asked, the young mare looking very perplexed.
Shou chuckled. “Unless the smuggler's boss got his hooves on a Gaia Memory. Did you think all our cases involved Dopants?”
“...Yes...”
Rainbowshine rolled her eyes. “Akiko, there might be a Dopant crime wave going on right now, but not all criminals have the money to get their hooves on Gaia Memories, and some actually have a brain and realize when something seems too good to be true, it actually is. I just hire Shou to help the guard sometimes when we're struggling to solve a case.”
“...So he does your work for you?”
Rainbowshine gave a flat look. “Can you name one good reason I shouldn't take advantage of a guy with a comprehensive knowledge of everything in existence that I know is accurate to help the guard put away criminals and protect innocent civilians?”
The young pegasus raised a hoof...then blinked and lowered it. “...No...”
“That reminds me though.” Rainbowshine reached into her saddle bags with her mouth and produced a sizable bag of bits that she tossed to Shou. “There's your pay. Thanks for the help.”
Shou gave a smooth tip of his hat. “Always a pleasure to help the colts in gold.”
Akiko gave an annoyed growl. “Why did you give him the money? I'm the chief!”
“He knows where the money is kept and generally handles the finances.”
Akiko pouted and turned away, crossing her forelegs.
“Anyway, I'll see you later, Shou, I'll call you if we need a Kamen Rider.”
“You heard Wakana's show too?”
“Yeah, surprised you didn't.”
“I was busy with the Wing Dopant case...”
Rainbowshine gave a somewhat more knowing nod. “Yeah, sometimes I miss stuff too. Can be a hard job,” she said, then headed out with a small wave over her shoulder.
“...Shou, does Rainbowshine actually work here?” asked Akiko.
“Not really, she's kinda my line to the Guard,” the detective explained. “She makes sure they know I'm on their side and brings me any Dopant cases they come up with..”
“Oh...So she is one of your 'Irregulars'?”
“Sorta. But she tends to hang out around here more often so she can call in the Royal Guard if she needs to. And it helps to have somepony to hoof the bad guy over to.”
Suddenly, a series of strange noises came from nearby. The two looked at the desk to see a small, black and yellow mechanical spider scuttle forwards, displaying the blue screen on its abdomen that showed the time.
“Ah! We need to go meet up with Councilmare Gina!” Akiko announced, surprising Shou by being the first one to realize that.
The black pegasus gave an annoyed sigh, not looking too excited. “Yeah.” He held out a hoof and the mechanical spider leapt onto it. He removed the yellow artificial Gaia Memory from it, causing it to transform into a watch on his foreleg. “Just let me get in body guard mode,” he said, taking out the Double Driver and undoing his shirt and vest.
'Are you in trouble already, Shou? You haven't even left the building,” Philip's voice echoed in his head.
'Nah, I'm just switching modes.”
Akiko blinked. “You're going as Double?”
“METAL!”
Shou inserted the Metal Memory and opened the Double Driver instantly without waiting for a second memory.
“METAL!”
Akiko blinked, noticing that Shou didn't transform into Double. The green pegasus backpedded, watching his Cutie Mark change from the Joker J to the Metal M. She also noticed Shou tense up and his eyes flash silver for a moment.
“Ahh! Your cutie mark changed! Are you alright?! What happened?!”
Shou took a moment to recompose himself, looking like he'd just been hit on the head. He then rolled his neck, cracking it. “You have a lot to learn about how things go around here.”
“You see,” said Philip, stepping in from the other room. “Our Driver removes the negative aspects of the Gaia Memories at the cost of decreasing their strength. The Double Driver only works correctly when used by both of us at once. We discovered a 'cheat' however. When used with only one Memory, it results in a partial change, altering our Special Talents and Cutie Marks.”
Akiko shuddered. “Sounds creepy to me...”
“Kinda was at first,” Shou replied, trotting over to the mare and closing up his shirt over the Driver. “But you get used to it. Now come on, Schoolyard Filly,” he said, patting her on the back, seeming to have some difficulty controlling his strength.
Akiko growled, producing a slipper and smacking him over the head with it...and to her surprise, he didn't flinch at all. “Huh?”
“We don't want to keep Gina waiting, do we, 'chief?'” he asked, heading out of the building.
“Wait...he didn't complain...What happened to him?!”
Philip raised a hoof. “You see, when he uses the Metal Memory for this, it results in his natural determination going from a secondary trait to his special talent. It's why he calls it his 'body guard mode.' However, it also does result in slight personality changes.”
The young mare gave a shudder. “It is still creepy...”
---
Later that morning, Shou knocked on the door to a rather impressive looking house. It opened to reveal a silver feathered griffin with gray fur on her lion aspects, wearing a black business suit. Next to her was a relatively rare sight: a young hippogriff, probably about six years old, still a blank flank. Her front half was silver like her mother while her rear half was light blue with a darker blue tail. A guard detail followed sshortly there after.
The griffin gave a nod. “Good, you're here...” she said, then gave an annoyed sigh. “Can't believe I need a bodyguard anyway...” she muttered under her breath.
Shou shrugged. “Well, I'm here,”he said, then looked down at the small child. “Should the filly...chick...fillychick be coming with us?”
“I want to come, Mister...” the little Hippogriff replied with a smile Shou couldn't help feeling seemed a little forced. It wasn't that she didn't sound sincere, it was just like something was...missing.
“If you do your job, we won't have to worry about it,” Gina replied defensively.
Shou sighed. “I don't like this...”
“The client is always right!” announced Akiko, giving Shou a smack on the head with a slipper...which once more to her annoyance didn't phase him. She turned to Gina. “Come this way, Counselmare.”
The griffin gave a growl. “I'd prefer councilqueen, but everycreature would think I'm being egotistical.”
The young mare cocked her head. “Huh?”
“Queen is what a female Griffin is called, at least where my family comes from. Now can we please get to my public address?” she asked in a somewhat desperate tone.
Shou nodded and began leading the way along with the Griffin's normal guard detail, which primarily consisted of Royal Pegasus Guards with their icon white fur and golden armor. Shou kept his posture around them respectful, but seemed a bit more anxious than normal. Like a part of him wanted a scrap to get into. Akiko shuddered looking at him.
They managed to get quite some distance, Shou's eyes darting from left to right, keeping an eye out.
Gina looked at the black stallion's cutie mark. “Didn't you have a different Cutie Mark when I hired you?”
Shou nodded. “Yeah, this is just a disguise.”
“Then why are you wearing the same outfit?” she asked, rolling her eyes a bit.
“Uh...this isn't my normal outfit I wear on cases,” Shou replied, jumping a little before trying to reclaim his hardboiled image.
Gina grumbled under her breath as they continued moving forwards.
The detective watched the ponies walking by, making sure not to take his eyes off of anycreature until they'd completely left his line of sight. Akiko remembered what Philip had said about his determination while using Metal, and his expression certainly reflected that.
Suddenly, his eyes widened and he grabbed Gina and pulled her out of the way as a passer by attempted to stab her with a concealed weapon. One of the guards retaliated with a buck to the chest, knocking the attempted assassin into a wall.
The stallion growled and got back to his hooves. He produced a block dopant memory, the symbol being a mask in the shape of an M.
“MASQUERADE!”
The stallion put it in his neck, causing a white liquid like energy to cascade over him. His face turned into what looked like a black mask with a ripcage pattern on it, a black suit manifesting on his body.
Two other similar Dopants emerged from the shadows, circling the group. “Ahh! What are they?!” Akiko exclaimed, looking around frantically, fur standing on in in surprise.
“Masquerade Dopants,” Shou replied, looking around at the three kaijin. “Weak mass production Memories. Dime a dozen. Akiko! Get Gina to her public appearance and take some of the guards with you! We can handle these punks!” he said, cracking his neck and looking ready for a fight.
Akiko blinked, then nodded.
Shou immediately leapt at the Masquerade Dopant standing in their path, ducking under a swipe and giving a spinning kick to his side, knocking him out of the way. Akiko lead Gina, her daughter, and a portion of the guards forwards.
The pegasus dodged several more swipes and bucked his opponent in the stomach, knocking him backwards with a yell. He noticed the Guards were trying to fight them head on, and ended up being knocked around by the monsters' superior strength. “They're stronger than normal ponies! Don't fight strength with strength!” he warned, the distraction allowing him to be punched twice in the face and kicked back. He grunted, but charged forwards, headbutting the monster right in the stomach as the Dopant reared up and forcing him back.
Shou touched a hoof to his cheek and looked at a little blood from his lip. “...Ugh...I'm going to be sore later.”
The guards heeded his advice and dodged the Masquerade Dopant's attacks, one of them catching the hoof and throwing him over his shoulder with his own momentium while another kicked his opponent's leg out from under him.
Shou was forced to tank a blow in order to headbutt his opponent, knocking him backwards. “Drive them altogether! I can finish them off!”
The guards nodded and proceeded to dodge the Dopants' strikes, retaliating with bucks to the chest as Shou flew up and kicked his opponent in the chest, knocking all three together.
“SPIDER!”
Inserting the Spider Shock's Memory, the spider-like Memory Gadget lept forwards, using a cable to wrap the three Dopants up.
“STAG!”
He then produced the Stag Phone and inserted its Memory, transforming it to live mode before removing the memory and inserting the Metal Memory.
“METAL! MAXIMUM DRIVE!”
The mechanical Stag Beetle was cloaked in a silver energy, becoming metallic in appearance before flying forwards and buffeting the monsters repeatedly from all angles. It then flew up and dove back down, flying through them and causing them to explode in a fireball.
Shou looked to the guards as three unconscious stallions fell to the ground with shattered Gaia Memories. “You handle them! I need to catch up with the Counselmare in case these aren't the ones behind this!”
“Yes, detective...uh...”
“What?” the black Pegasus asked, noting the Guard's somewhat worried looks.
“I think you're bleeding.”
Shou looked at his upper leg, noting a cut he must have gotten from the first attack. “...Yeah...” he muttered. “I'll patch myself up later. It's not very deep.”
---
“Akiko!” called Shou, the black pegasus galloping up to her and breathing heavily.
Akiko blinked, looking at Shou. “Shou, what happened?”
“We dealt with the Dopants, the guards are locking them up.”
Akiko was slightly freaked out looking at the pegasus. Not just because of his altered mark, but that he seemed to not even realize how beat up and winded he actually was. “Shou...are you okay?”
“Yeah...just gonna be really sore when this is over,” the detective replied, taking out some bandages from a pocket and tending to the wound on his front leg. Akiko wondered if he'd expected to need them today.
On the raised platform, Gina stood on stage, the Griffin having already started her speech.
“Commander Hurricane was one of Equestria's founders and Hurricane Tower stands in her honor, but also in disrepair,” the politician on stage started.
“Hurricane Tower?” Akiko asked, blinking as she turned her attention back to events on stage.
“Oh yeah, you're new here. It's an ancient tower near Cloudsdale dating back to the time of the three tribes,” Shou explained. “It was built after Equestria was founded to celebrate the new peace and Hurricane's part in making it possible.”
“The Tower is a Cloudsdale landmark, and yet the city has allowed it to fall apart. It's in such a state of ruin that it has become unsafe to visit. By the time our children are grown, it may no longer be standing simply due to our neglect. I don't want to be the one responsible for my daughter not having a national treasure to enjoy. Come here, Hope,” Gina explained, motioning for her daughter to trot over and stand next to her.
“Using her daughter as a tool...” muttered Shou. “Gets a bit under my fur...By the way, Akiko, you notice something about her smile?”
The young mare blinked, looking at the smile on the little Hippogriff's beak as she joined her mother. “...No...”
“It's strange...it isn't exactly fake, but...there's something missing in it...” the detective replied. “I noticed it when we met her...that's why I took this case...a filly...chick...fillychick like that shouldn't have to worry about her mom getting killed.”
On that note, the pegasus took a look around the area just in case. His eyes fell on nothing but storm clouds and cloud buildings that looked too packed for an assassin to hide in without somepony noticed them.
His eyes returned to the stage where Gina had Hope wave to the crowd.
Suddenly, the detectives ears twitched. “Oh no...Get down!” he yelled at the stage.
Gina listened just in time, as some form of projectile went straight through a banner hanging behind where her head had just been.
Shou and Akiko flew to the stage as fast as their wings could manage as the projectiles rained down, ushering Gina and her daughter behind the stage itself (which was at least sturdy enough to endure most of the shots) as projectiles continued hitting around them.
Shou dared peak out at the stage as more shots rained down and noticed what looked like fragments of ice laying around the stage. “This isn't normal...”
He looked to Akiko...then blinked, realizing the young mare had opted to help protect their client rather than stay in the audience. The sound of projectiles hitting the stage snapped him out of it. “Keep Gina safe, I'm going to go try and find out where the shots are coming from!” he called, galloping from cover.
Gina snarled, though kept her young daughter cradled under herself for protection. Wings wrapped around her. “He'd better do his work...It's bad enough I need him in the first place...”
She looked down at her daughter who was crying, the little child's expression one of total terror. The mother's eyes widened. “It's okay Hope...don't worry, everything's going to be okay...” she said, hugging the little hippogriff closely.
---
Shou came to a stop once out of sight of the firing and removed the Metal Memory. “Let's go Philip!”
---
Philip nodded, sitting down in the hanger with his book floating in his telekinesis. He produced the Cyclone Memory. “I have gathered some data already thanks to the Double Driver. I hope to observe more in this battle.”
“CYCLONE!”
---
“METAL!”
---
“Henshin!
---
Philip inserted the Cyclone Memory, collapsing.
---
Shou pushed the Cyclone Memory completely into the Double Driver and then inserted his Metal Memory before reopening the Driver.
“CYCLONEMETAL!”
Shou ran as the transformation began, the tornado forming the armored suit midrun.
He did a leaping, wind boosted jump, landing back on the stage and beginning to deflect the shots with the Metal Shaft.
Gina blinked, looking up at their protector. “What?”
“Shou, if we don't know where the shooter is, it's too dangerous to use Trigger,” Philip's voice warned.
“Gotcha. Can you at least use your big brain to send the shots back to sender even if you can't tell where exactly the shooter is?” replied Shou's.
“That I can do.”
Double nodded and continued deflecting shots, finally managing to send one directly back at the launcher, eliciting a sharp, loud yelp from something.
The armored warrior stood still for a moment, the shots stopping completely. “I think we got him.”
“That was not enough to defeat a Dopant, but it may have driven him off, or he simply was not expecting us to fight back. Please bring me back some of the projectiles for study.”
“Alright...” said Shou's voice.
He closed the Double Driver and reverted to pony form, his Cutie Mark reverting to normal as well.
The stallion's eyes blinked silver for a moment. He gave a groan, falling to his knees in pain, panting heavily.
Akiko gasped. “Shou!”
“Stay with her, I'll be fine...” said the black pegasus, staggering to his hooves, but still gritting his teeth. “Just things catching up to me. Nothing I'm not used to.”
Gina looked down at Hope, the child still trembling. “It's okay, Hope...you're fine now...the bad guy is gone. The Kamen Rider saved us.”
The little Hippogriff relaxed and nodded. “O-Okay...are you alright mama?”
“Yes, sweetie, I am...”
---
“Ugh...I might have overdid it...” Shou moaned, holding an ice pack to his bruised face back at the agency.
Akiko cocked her head. “Is this why you don't do that all the time?”
The sore pegasus nodded. “Yeah...problem with high pain tolerance is not realizing you've been hurt. It makes me a good body guard, but I normally end up paying for it in the end...”
“...What's it feel like to change Cutie Marks like that?”
“...Weird...:” Shou moved the ice pack to another bruise. “It helps that it's kind of a more intense version of what happens to me under the suit. First few times using memories other than Joker really freaked me out. It...it kinda felt like I was switching places with somepony else. Kind of freaked me out. Especially considering...”
Double roared in fury, sounding more like a feral beast than a pony. He stood surrounded in flames in a ruined building, the flickering light illuminating the white right half of his body.
Shou shuddered, then recomposed himself. “But eventually I realized something about it,” he said, leaning back in his chair, putting a hoof to his chin, and pausing.
“...What?” Akiko asked, cocking her head.
“I was being dramatic!”
“Stop being so over the top!”
“It's who I a-ow!”
“Hey, it works again!”
The two then heard the door to the hanger open, Philip trotting in, book in his telekinesis. Shou noticed the unicorn seemed at tad unnerved. “What is it, Philip?”
“I have yet to narrow down the Memory Type, but I discovered something about Gina and her daughter...Did you notice Hope's reaction when the Dopant began firing?”
The left half of Double thought back to the events earlier that day. “Yeah...seemed pretty freaked out. But she is just a kid, I'd be more concerned if she hadn't been scared out of her wits...”
“True, but it appears this isn't the first time this happened.”
Shou's eyes widened. “What?”
“Last year, she witnessed her father be murdered.”
The pegasus took a step back in shock. “What?!”
Akiko shuddered, pinning her ears. “I can't imagine what it'd be like to lose your father...”
Shou froze up, beginning to reflexively tremble. “Y-Yeah...that'd be...that'd be horrible...” he said, breaking out in a cold-sweat.
He shook it off as best he could, but was unable to stop the shaking...but then it occurred to him he wasn't the only one trembling. “Philip? What's wrong?”
“I...I'm not sure,” the unicorn replied, putting a hoof to his head, trying to will himself to stop and finally succeeding. “I...I think I'm going to go back to my research now...”
Shou watched the green unicorn return to the hanger. “...I wonder what's got into him...” he muttered. He then checked the Spider Shock. “Oh! I need to get back to Gina!”
Akiko got up, but Shou shook his head. “Huh?”
“Uh, stay here...I...uh...need somepony to keep an eye on Philip since Rainbowshine isn't here. If he needs to tell me something while in the Gaia Library, he needs somepony to hold his Stag Phone.”
Akiko blinked, then gave a small nod. “Right! It is the chief's job to watch over her employees!”
“Yeah...exactly...” the detective replied, rushing out. 'This job has gotten a tad too dangerous for a rookie...'
---
Councilmare Gina's life has come under threat. While I do not approve of her use of her daughter as a campaign tool...something is gone from the child's smile. Something a child should never have lost. I'm going to protect her smile as much as I can. No pony, griffin, or Hippogriff will cry on my watch.
Shou sat at a Griffin restaurant a good ways away from Cloudsdale. Truthfully, the pegasus wasn't comfortable. Being around griffins eating their fill but finding everything unappetizing by nature wasn't the easiest of things. Hope was currently in a play house, under careful watch of the guard.
He watched Gina finish off a piece of cooked chicken, leaving a small pile of bones on her plate. “...Long way to go for a bite to eat, isn't it?”
The griffin gave a snarl. “Excuse me for having a reputation to maintain.”
“How so?”
“There are ponies who want anything they can use against me, that's how politics works,” Gina replied with an annoyed, almost sad look. “And right now somecreature's trying to murder me, so clearly they would do anything to get rid of me...”
“So you're afraid if ponies see you eating meat, they'll think less of you?”
“Yeah, they felt that way before I was a politician,” the griffin asked, a bitter look on her face. “Don't tell me you don't feel feel the same way about me.”
“Actually I don't.”
Gina blinked. “Huh?”
“Got two friends who are griffins. They're not exactly run of the mill, but I'm no speciesist,” the black pegasus replied, leaning back in his chair and looking nostalgic. “Boss always told me 'there's only different species when it comes to evidence, not clients or perps.”
“...I see...That's quite noble of you,” the griffin admitted.
“Thanks...can I ask you something?”
“...Can't say I'll answer it.”
The detective gave a serious look. “Why are you bringing Hope into this?” he asked. “She's a little...what do you call a baby hippogriff?”
Gina gave a sigh. “...I don't think that's any of your business.”
“You hired me to protect you and her, so that means it's my business to know why the girl isn't out of harms way.”
“...Fine...Look, I know it looks like I'm using my kid for politics...and I kinda am, but look-”
Suddenly, a window was shattered by a projectile tearing through it. Shou reacted on instinct and tackled the Griffin to the ground as more hit the table. “Everycreature! Get down!” he yelled, the restaurant patrons wisely abiding. He used the Spider Shock to grab several of them that couldn't get to cover and pull them to safety. He quickly checked the table's sturdiness before toppling it over to be between them and the shooter. As the table gave them some protection, he looked around and saw a door.
The detective grabbed Gina's shirt in his mouth and escorted her quickly into a supply room, motioning the patrons as well. Once they were safe, he took out the Bat Shot.
“BAT!”
The mechanical bat launched out and flew out the window as the shots stopped before he could produce the Double Driver.
Shou slowly came out and carefully trotted over to the broken windows, seeing nothing but storm clouds.
He turned back to see Gina checking on the patrons, a genuinely concerned expression on her face. The griffin then wasted little time hurrying to check on her daughter.
---
A Diamond Dog ran away from the scene on all fours. The gray furred creature wore a brown vest, his necklace covered with various types of teeth. He gave a snarl. “Stupid pony.”
“Rex.”
The Dog spun around, turning to see Chain Link fly down in front of him. The pegasus now had pants on, hiding his Cutie Mark from view. “Plan to finish off that griffin anytime soon?” the street boss asked, looking rather annoyed.
“I would have killed her then if stupid pony hadn't gotten in the way...” the assassin muttered, folding his front legs in front of his chest, having a slight accent.
“Pony?”
“Half and half freak...”
Chain Link gave a serious look. “Well the boss wants her dead. There's a reason Hurricane Tower hasn't been renovated in years, you know.”
The Dog scoffed. “Yeah yeah, I don't care why you want her dead.”
“You may not care, but if you fail, it'll be my problem,” Chain Link replied, getting close to Rex's muzzle despite the Dog being a good head taller than him. “And I'm not disappointing the boss, got it?”
Rex growled. “Are you threatening me?” he asked, grabbing the pony's shirt threateningly.
The pegasus responded by throwing said arm off him, then giving the dog a bloody nose with a headbutt. “Yes. Let me put this in perspective,” the now serious street boss stated as Rex held his bleeding nose, whimpering. “If you fail, then you'd better hope you end up getting arrested. Because I'll make sure to tell Mrs. Saeko who's to blame.”
The Dog yelped and backed away at the name.
“Am I clear?”
Rex nodded fearfully.
“Good. Now don't let me down,” Chain Link replied, trotting off and giving an expression that seemed to be a cross between determination...and fear. “Because I'm not letting the boss down on my watch.”
---
Philip stood in the Gaia Library, the books rearranging themselves rapidly and the few remaining floating in front of him. “The projectile is definitely a form of ice, but I can't seem to find the final keyword. If we cannot isolate the type of Memory or where the shooter is hiding, we will be at a considerable disadvantage.”
---
Akiko nodded, looking through pictures taken from the Bat Shot. “Yeah, he is not in any of these pictures...All there are is storm clouds...which is odd...I don't remember a storm scheduled for today...”
Philip gasped. “Akiko, you may be a genius.”
The green pegasus blinked then smiled widely. “I am?”
---
Philip nodded in the Gaia Library with an ecstatic grin on his face. “He's not showing up in the pictures because he is shooting from a place where he wouldn't show up. As you said, the common theme is all the attacks occurred in areas surrounded by storm clouds, which would obscure him from view. To hide inside storm clouds without risking a lightning strike, the Dopant would need to be based in a form of precipitation.”
The word 'precipitation' formed in front of his muzzle in green lettering, resulting in the books rearranging and leaving one white one with the word 'hail' embroidered in gold lettering.
“The memory brand is Hail.”
---
“So, you were saying before?” asked Shou, looking to Gina, leaning on Machine HardBoilder. The group was now in a small park on the ground near Cloudsdale, watching Hope sit nearby, running a claw through a puddle absently. Shou couldn't help but think the little Hippogriff looked so lost. Not particularly a good sign when the entire point of this stop was to try and settle her down after the shooting.
The older one gave a sigh and set down, tail whipping back and forth with some level of anger. Shou noted it was thankfully not directed at him...he thought so at least. “...Hope wants to help me do this...I think it's the only...well, hope she has right now.”
The black pegasus blinked in confusion and worry. “What?”
Gina looked down. “...She was there when Skyquake died...”
“Skyquake...ah, your husband...my partner told me about it.” Shou trotted over and sat down next to her. “Condolences...losing somecreature is never easy...” Shou trembled slightly as he spoke but forced himself to remain composed.
“Thanks...as you can guess, a griffin and a pegasus getting together turned a lot of heads...and even in Equestria, there are still those who aren't as tolerant as the Princess would like. I swear it cost me a lot of votes just being a Griffin. I know we used to be your predators, but that was ages ago...but Skyquake stuck with me through it all...” The female griffin looked over at her daughter, the guards still watching her carefully. “That's why we named her Hope, well that and my family is one of those who feel we should all have G-names, so I thought since she's a Hippogriff, it made sense...The fact I was able to have a child with a pony meant a lot to me. It spat in the faces of some bigots that told us a griffin and pony hooking up was 'unnatural'. To me...she was hope that no matter what happened, our love was right...Ugh. I sound so sappy don't I?”
The left half of Double shrugged. “Eh, no more than my friend Fluttershy.”
“All these near death situations have got me slipping...Then...one day I heard glass breaking. I came in and...he was gone...and Hope was trying to 'wake him up'...She saw her father die...”
Shou looked sadly at the little Hippogriff, giving a shudder. “By Riku Sanjo...that'd mess an adult up...” 'Believe me, I know...'
“...She's been so depressed since it happened, not that I blame her...but, restoring Hurricane Tower...it was actually Skyquake's idea...”
The detective blinked, looking to his client. “Skyquake's?”
“He thought that a griffin putting her all into restoring a pegasi cultural landmark would show the pegasi that it didn't matter what species I was, I still cared about this city. I thought it might be good to show them species doesn't matter period, like I wish it didn't...Wanted to build several museums dedicated to Cloudsdale's history too...Hope always loved hearing him talk about the past...tell her old stories. He had her so excited to see it happen...I know you think I'm a terrible mother using my child like this...but now I honestly think carrying on her father's work is the only thing that's keeping my baby girl going...and I can't even bucking keep her safe myself...” she muttered, balling up her talons and punching the ground...a few tears falling on the yellow eagle-like appendage. The proud griffin instantly started trying to wipe her eyes and regain her composure.
Shou sighed, the pegasus looking at the small, lost little child. “...If that's the case...I guess help her do that...”
The griffin blinked. “Wait, what? I thought you hated me doing this...”
Shou tipped his hat. “I might not be fond of it...but I won't let anycreature in this city cry...if helping you do this will put back that kid's spark and dry her tears. Then I'll keep her safe while you do it...just know this.”
“Yeah?”
“She has more than that to live for, she still has you. She was afraid of losing you just like she was afraid to lose her father. If you want to put her spark back, you'll need to show her mom still cares about her.”
Gina gasped, remembering the shooting before. How closely Hope had clung to her.
“O-Okay...are you alright mama?”
“...I-”
Suddenly the Stag Phone rang. “Hold on.”
Shou picked up the Memory Gadget. The detective's eyes went wide a few seconds later. “What?!”
---
Philip continued looking into the book only he could read. “The Hail Dopant is capable of concealing itself inside of storm clouds with no difficulty. That is where the shooter is firing from. Keep Gina and her daughter inside, away from the clouds.”
---
Shou looked up, his eyes searching the sky. He gasped and tackled Gina to the ground just in time to save her from a ice projectile launched right at her skull. “Good timing Philip!” he yelled into the phone as the guards grabbed Hope and let their armor take several hits to defend the girl. The detective then rushed Gina to cover before giving her a reassuring glance. “Don't worry.” Shou took out the Double Driver and put it on. “Now I know where to aim.”
---
Philip calmly put away his book and produced the Cyclone Memory. “Now that we know his hiding place, narrowing down his location will be simple.”
“CYCLONE!”
---
“JOKER!”
Gina gasped as the tree they were behind withstood the shots. “A Gaia Memory?”
---
“Henshin!”
---
Philip inserted the Cyclone Memory.
“Oh! Wait for-” Akiko yelled, flying towards him...the unicorn passing out right as she reached him. “-me...”
---
Shou inserted the Memories and threw the Driver open.
“CYCLONEJOKER!”
Gina shielded her face with her wings as a cyclone surged up around the pony before her. When she lowered her arms, she gasped at armored form standing before her. “Wait, you're...”
Double ran from cover and deflected several projectiles with his armored forelegs from hitting the wounded guards. “Get Hope to safety!” he yelled in Shou's voice. The guards nodded and quickly did so, rushing the trembling child to her mother's waiting front legs. “Philip, we know where he is now!”
“Yes, now is the correct time to use Trigger,” replied Philip's voice, Double's right eye flashing.
Double closed his driver and produced a new, blue memory with a symbol resembling some sort of fire arm in the shape of a T.
“TRIGGER!”
Replacing the Joker Memory with it, Double reopened the Driver.
“CYCLONETRIGGER!”
Blue energy surged over the black joker half, transforming it into a metallic blue, the shoulder, chest, and ankle accents a lighter, more cyan color. Holding his hoof to his chest, a black and blue rectangular device manifested. It had a black stock with a trigger projecting from the bottem, and cyan accent running around a transparent window in the middle of the device. Below the black barrel of the weapon, a second metallic blue rectangle stuck out at a diagonal angle. Double aimed the weapon skyward, revealing a yellow W embroidered on the back of the device.
Several super pressurized shots of green air erupted from the weapon towards the storm clouds in the direction of the shots, quickly sending a humanoid form plummeting from the clouds with a loud yelp.
“I've always wondered, how exactly do we use the Trigger Magnum with hooves?” Shou's voice asked.
“Oh! The answer is quite interesting, you see-”
Philip's voice was interrupted by Double evading an ice-like projectile aimed at his head.
The rising Dopant was an icy blue color, but with snow white armor covering his chest, shoulders, and head. The head resembled a skull and the shoulder pads gigantic pieces of hail. The monster stood on his hind legs, but with a bit of a hunch, and had hands in place of hooves, one of which was presently extended in Double's direction
“Stupid pony!” Hail yelled, his other hand on his still smoking chest. Hail fired several ice shots in quick succession. Double spun to the right to dodge and opened fire. The Dopant ducked to the left to dodge the shot, firing off several of his own. Double flapped his wings, doing a spin to evade the speeding hunks of ice and returned several shots of compressed air. Hail did a roll to evade the attack and continued the cycle.
After several moments of exchanging shots dodging the opponent's, Double did a wing assisted backflip, and fired several shots, the pressurized air into slamming Hail's chest and sending him staggering back with a sharp yelp. The Kamen Rider spread his wings and strafed Hail with barrage of shots, knocking him backwards, seeming to have an easier time in the air in this form than others. As the Dopant staggered to his feet, Double skidded to a landing in front of him, the Trigger Magnum to the kaijin's chest.
Hail yelped as the resulting assault struck him and sent him flying backwards and rolling across the ground.
“You know, I don't like jerks that endanger kids,” said Shou's voice. “Let's finish this guy off.”
“Agreed,” Philip replied, Double's right hand producing the Luna Memory.
---
Chain Link watched from a nearby cloud. “That idiot...if he loses here...”
“Good. I'm sure you'll live up to my expectations, won't you?”
The street boss trembled at the memory. “...If Rex messes up, it will look bad on me...no way am I letting that happen...” he stated, putting a hoof into his pocket and producing a bronze colored Dopant Gaia Memory. The symbol was an I, the center being formed from a piston, the upper part being a smoking exhaust pipe, the bottom being an iron girder. “Time to finally put this thing to good use.”
“INDUSTRY!”
---
Before Double could swap memories, an object that looked as if it was coated in molten iron fell from the sky.
“What the Tartarus?!” asked Shou, the Kamen Rider backpedaling as the dust settled from the impact of the obviously heavy object landing and the transformation aura faded.
The Dopant was a hulking quadruped, a good head taller than Double, and looking to be made of solid metal. It's armor was black with silver accents, bronze exposed gears in the chest. The monster's right leg had a silver piston in place of a hoof while the left leg had a brace running the length of it resembling the wheel mechanism of a steam locomotive. Double could hear the steam emerging from several pipes emerging from the monster's back and the gears turning in it's body, like a factory at work.
The new Dopant looked to Hail. “Get out of here,” he ordered, the smaller Dopant nodding and running for it.
“Another Dopant?!” asked Shou's voice, Double taking a fighting stance.
“Shou, this does not appear to be a production run Gaia Memory,” Philip's voice replied. “At least not one I remember being put into production.”
“So this guy isn't a run of the mill Dopant, huh?”
The Dopant moved forwards towards Double. “I don't know who you are, but this job is too important to let you ruin it,” he said, gears beginning to rev up in the chest as the steam began to billow more and more rapidly. The Industry Dopant finally galloped at Double like an out of control rhino.
The Kamen Rider replied by shooting him repeatedly with the Trigger Magnum, but the thick armor of the creature deflected the shots before he had to leap out of the way or be trampled.
The brute of a kaijin skidded to a stop, tearing up the ground under his hooves in the process as his gears winded back down to normal speed.
“CycloneTrigger does not appear to possess enough power to punch through its armor, Shou,” Philip observed.
“Gotcha! We need something with a bit more punch!”
“HEAT! HEATTRIGGER!”
Double's right half turned from green to red as Industry stomped towards him, speed having decreased considerably. While the shots did cause the Dopant to flinch slightly, he didn't seemed slowed down and proceeded to throw heavy punches at the Kamen Rider, forcing the hero on the defensive.
As Double ducked under a blow, one of the park's wooden structures was not so fortunate and the blow shattered it to bits.
“Uh oh...” Shou muttered, looking at the damage before Double finally took a shot from the creature's piston hoof himself, the force of the blow sending him flying backwards through the air with a cascade of sparks. As he rolled through to his hooves, Industry delivered several punches with his left leg, staggering the hero back before connecting with another blow of his piston arm, launching Double a sizable distance and into a tree.
The Rider grunted, getting back to his hooves with a grunt. “Ugh...as if I wasn't already sore, this guy hits like a train!”
Industry charged forwards and punched Double in the ribs, lifting the rider off the ground before slamming him into it with a considerable amount of force. The Dopant reared up on his hind legs and tried to crush the Rider under his considerable weight. Double barely managed to roll out of the way as Industry made a small crater in the ground slamming back down.
“Shou, switch to Heat Metal!” Philip advised as Double used a tree to prop himself back up.
“Right!” Shou replied as Industry's 'engine' revved up again.
“METAL!”
Double leapt out of the way of the charging Dopant as he changed Memories. Industry plowed straight through the tree, splintering it to pieces as Double reopened the Driver.
“HEATMETAL!”
Double landed and delivered a powerful, fire charged blow with the Metal Shaft to the monster's back, finally staggering him with a shower of sparks.
“I actually felt that,” remarked Industry in mild surprise before turning and throwing another punch that was blocked by the Metal Shaft, forcing Double back a few feet. Double retaliated with a blow of his own that was met with a similar result, but much shorter distance.
The two exchanged blows, each strike sending the other staggering back.
“We can match his blows at least,” Shou muttered.
“Yes, but his armor is still superior to ours, we need to be careful,” Philip replied as Double did a leaping trust of the Metal Shaft, driving Industry back at the same time a piston punch struck the Rider in the chest and sent him flying back a good ways further. “We're are also much lighter than he is.”
Industry held up his right leg, the wheel assembly on it activating and building momentum as his steam billowed more and more from his exhausts. Double used the Metal Shaft to block the resulting blow, but the force was too much and overpowered his guard, sending him flying backwards for a heavy landing on the ground.
Shou grunted. “I'm definitely going to feel that tomorrow...” Double looked over, seeing Hardboilder parked where he'd left it. “Philip, I've got an idea, but it's kind of crazy.”
“Aren't all your ideas?”
As Industry began revving up his left arm again, Double galloped to HardBoilder and got on, revving the engine. The two combatants charged one another head on.