Supernumerary Hues ƨɘuH yɿɒɿɘmunɿɘquƧ
The Next Morning, Saturday
Sunset’s hand rested against the back surface of the base of CHS’s horse statue. Nothing was happening.
“It was open last night, I swear,” said Rainbow Dash.
The six were standing out front of the school in the late morning, as Cavalier had instructed them to. It was Saturday, so there was no one else there.
“And I have no reason to doubt you,” Sunset replied, “but it’s already closed again.”
“But it wasn’t supposed to be open yesterday, was it?” Rainbow asked.
Sunset took a second, lowering her hand. “It’s been a while since I stopped keeping track,” she said, still staring at the stone surface, “but I don’t think it’s the right time for it to be open again. Maybe Twilight forcing it to connect to help with the Sirens messed with the cycle. I’ll have to check with her before I can say more.”
Sitting back on the school’s steps, Applejack noticed Pinkie wasn’t tapping on her phone anymore. “So what happened to the game that was ‘consuming your life’?” she asked.
“Eh, it was taking too long, so I used a cheat code,” sighed Pinkie. “It ruined the fun.”
A familiar variation of the whistling ringing came into Rainbow’s ears, and she turned to see one of the glass doors warp, Cavalier appearing in the reflection. “He’s here.”
The other girls looked around. “We’ll have to take your word for it,” said Rarity.
As if in response, Cavalier stepped out of the glass. Though they turned with a nod or an “Ah”, he noted that no one jumped at his arrival. “Good benchmark,” he muttered to himself. He said aloud, “This way,” putting his hand through the reflection to hold the way open as they filed through.
They arrived in a lit room without windows and with one door off to the side. The walls were lined with filled shelves and a cluttered desk, and several tables sat around the room. The walls were a dull gray stone, but the frame of the doorway looked almost…crystal.
“The layout of the room is a bit messy and haphazard,” commented Rarity, absorbing the sight. “It clearly wasn’t planned out how it would be used all at the beginning.”
“Is that the only thing you can talk about?” Applejack said.
Rarity crossed her arms. “Well I know no one else is going to comment on it, so that means I have to.”
Applejack was about to reply, but instead silently rocked her head back and forth and then shrugged in agreement.
Rainbow slowly spun to look around the room, fingers held out in a rectangle frame like photographers and artists always do. She didn’t know what it was supposed to do, but it looked sophisticated. “Well, I think it’s the same room,” she mumbled, before the frame moved onto Cavalier. “So you’ve finally paid the electric bill, I see.”
Cavalier gave a humored sigh, shaking his head.
“So, Mr. Kamen Rider,” Pinkie said, stepping to the front, “are you gonna tell us what this is all about?”
“In a minute,” he replied. “We’re waiting for one more.”
A girl walked through an arched hallway with walls that looked cold and crystalline. -click- She passed by the odd person or two, but always looked down. -click- They never looked at her anyway. -click- In her hand, she held a small gold object with an angled silver top. -click- There was a gold spoiler fin shape on top, and she flicked it up and down with her thumb as she walked. -click- She came to a door. Room 401. Next to the door was a box mounted to the wall with an odd hole in it. -click- She took the object in her hand and and pushed the base of it into the hole.
Lock
Rainbow and the others looked over to the door upon hearing the odd voice.
The girl outside flipped the object’s switch down.
Lock Off
The locking mechanism clicked loudly, and the girl pulled the door open a crack, flipping switch back up and using it like handle to pull object from the lock slot.
Lock On
She pulled the door open and slipped in, letting it slowly shut and looking up to see all eyes in the room lock on her. She stopped, not sure why they were staring, or which gaze to try returning. The lock clicked loudly again behind her.
The silence ticked on.
“Um,” spoke up Fluttershy, “Twilight?”
At the door stood a girl with lavender skin and dark blue hair with a purple and pink stripe, and she did look very much like Twilight when she visited them through the Mirror Portal, however…
“Wait!” Pinkie said, jumping to the front of the group and spreading her arms in defense. “Hold on a second everyone, there’s something off about her this time.”
“Oh really?” Rarity said, rolling her eyes. “What tipped you off? Was it the hairstyle?”
“The clipboard?” added Applejack.
“The lab coat?” continued Rainbow.
“Or the fact that the Twilight we know would have told us if she was coming here,” Sunset finished.
“I was gonna say the glasses, but oh yeah, all that other stuff too, I guess,” Pinkie said, realizing like the others that this had to be the Twilight from their own world. “Wait, don’t you live in the city?” Pinkie asked, then nervously glanced around. “Don’t ask me how I know that.”
“Where do you think we are?” this Twilight asked as if they should’ve passed a sign on the way in.
“I dunno,” Pinkie joked, “looks like a basement.”
Twilight pushed her glasses back up in annoyance as she answered, “It’s a laboratory at Crystal Prep Academy that I’ve been granted sole access to.”
“And how do you know someone else won’t just wander in?” Pinkie pressed.
“Because other than traveling through mirrors,” Twilight said, holding up the gold and silver object, “I have the only key.”
Pinkie stared at it for a second. “That doesn’t look very much like a key.”
Twilight answered with a smirk, “Which means that no one will know how to pick the lock.”
“Ohhh,” Pinkie said, recognizing her own brand of genius. She clicked her tongue and pointed, “Gotcha.”
“I waited patiently until that exchange was over,” interrupted Rainbow, “but whoa, whoa, whoa, this is at Crystal Prep?”
Twilight turned to Rainbow. “The fact that that’s what you decide to focus on out of everything tells volumes about what you’ve dealt with previously. In particular, I’m curious about what happened before you came across the Mirror Monsters. I’ve been recording unusual energy readings all centering around Canterlot High, and—”
“Effective transition, there,” Rainbow whispered aloud.
Twilight fell silent and took a step back, pushing her glasses back up again.
Sunset quickly stepped up and pushed Rainbow aside with an, “I think I’ll handle this. If there are unusual energy readings, it would have to be because there’s a magic portal hidden at the school that leads to another world…”
As several minutes of explaining concluded, the girls had migrated to sitting at one or another of the tables.
Still standing off to the side, Cavalier looked to Rainbow. “And that’s why you were so interested in the cracked base of the statue?”
“Uh-huh,” she answered. “If the Mirror World is a copy or something, that might mean the Portal was a part that just couldn’t be copied so it broke. Maybe.”
“Yeah…,” he mumbled, turning aside, “…if…”
“I’ve noticed you’re taking this rather calmly,” Sunset said to Twilight.
Twilight sighed. “I’m already aware of monsters from another universe attacking through a world that’s behind every mirror. If you’re telling me that there’s also a magic portal somewhere that leads to another parallel-style world populated by a different intelligent species, then that’s surely intriguing, but the potential shock value was lost long ago.”
“Well, now that that’s all settled…,” Rainbow said, pointing to Cavalier. “Your turn. Mirror World, go.”
“How about just the Mirror Monsters,” he offered.
Rainbow crossed her arms, not surprised. “That could work too.”
“Up until not too long ago,” Cavalier explained, “a ruthless alien named General Xaviax of the planet Karsh was using the Mirror Monsters as soldiers to attack a world called Ventara. Ventara, however, was protected by the original team of twelve Kamen Riders.”
“Twelve?” said Rainbow. ”Isn’t a team that big a bit crowded?”
“They thought they’d won,” he continued, “but he tricked and defeated them, Ventara falling to him, before then turning his sights on a world reached through Ventara’s mirrors, called Earth. He gave the Riders’ Advent Decks to new users there who he tried manipulating to his whim, but some stragglers of the original team and their new allies managed to take back the Decks one by one and eventually return them to their rightful owners. The team restored, they confronted Xaviax and defeated him.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” Rainbow asked, jumping up. “Why don’t we go to wherever this Xaviax guy is hiding out and kick his sorry—”
“But it’s not Xaviax in control of the Mirror Monsters this time, that’s the point,” he said, “I just said he was defeated by the Ventaran Kamen Riders.”
“That doesn’t mean anything,” she brushed off. “Any time you ‘hero defeat’ someone,” adding air quotes, “they just come back a while later to—”
“He was vaporized.”
“Iiii stand corrected,” Rainbow Dash said, taking a step back and tossing her hands up. “Also. Yikes, hardcore.”
“He was cornered in his base,” Cavalier continued, “and the Riders combined the powers of their Final Vents into a concentrated blast, finally ending the war. That’s how we know someone else is controlling the Mirror Monsters this time, because they’re too coordinated to just be acting on their own. They don’t exactly ‘think’ very much.”
“We?” asked Sunset.
“One thing’s still bugging me,” Rainbow said. “Earlier, you said that my not being able to keep this a secret was ‘part of the plan’. What’s this plan, then?”
“To introduce them to the concept of the Mirror World and give them some time to think about it,” Cavalier said, “…before this.” He turned to the table at the center of the room that none of them had been observant enough to look at until now. Lined up on it were five colored Advent Decks lacking gold symbols.
“And then the rest of us are all just brought in at once,” she said, disappointed at the repetition of theatrics, but the others were still staring in surprise. “Where do you keep getting these from, anyway?” Rainbow took out her own Deck. “Who is recommending us? And what was their criteria, ‘recruit teenagers with attitude’?”
“The Advent Master made them,” Cavalier answered.
“Ah-ha!” she exclaimed, raising a finger. “That…doesn’t answer very many questions.”
“He was the leader of the Ventaran Riders and the one who invented their equipment,” he added. “May’ve forgot to mention that first.”
“Wait…,” Pinkie said, still staring at the Advent Decks, “…gaaasp! This means—mm-Mmmph-mm!” Applejack had quickly covered Pinkie’s mouth with her hat to save everyone’s ears.
“You’re making all of us Kamen Riders?” said Sunset.
“I’m offering you the opportunity, nothing more,” Cavalier clarified. “I’ll warn you that this is quite a commitment, and the choice is entirely up to you.” He glanced over towards Twilight. “It’s not something to go into half-heartedly.”
“Pardon me,” said Rarity, “but why would you assume us capable of fighting monsters? We’re hardly black belts.”
“The Decks themselves carry the skills needed to fight,” he said. “Just pick them up and they’ll pass on the knowledge.”
Dash looked up. “Wait, my Deck didn’t do that, did it?” She stepped closer to Cavalier. “All that fighting was from me, right?” She looked to her friends and back. “Yes, no?”
Ignoring her, the other girls walked over to the table and the five Decks: red, orange, purple, pink, and yellow.
“At least we don’t have to ask whose is whose,” said Rarity as Sunset and Pinkie picked up the red and pink Decks.
“How long has the Advent Master been planning this for?” Sunset asked, inspecting the Deck as red electricity jumped across it. Cavalier looked over at her. “Five presumably new Advent Decks in three days? Unless they’re as easy to make as paper airplanes, I doubt this is a new idea.”
“Ooh, I know this one,” Rainbow interjected. “The look tells all, it says, ‘that’s enough of an info dump for right now’. Am I right?”
Before Cavalier could find a way to respond without answering, a whistling ringing started up in everyone’s ears. Rainbow knew it well, but couldn’t help but silently chuckle at the confusion on her friends’ faces upon hearing it. “That’s what I’ve been hearing since I went into that window. C’mon guys, can you listen to it without getting fired up to do something about it?”
Applejack grabbed up the orange Deck. “Nope.”
“I always learn best from field work, anyway,” Sunset said.
“I like all my friends to be happy and smile,” Pinkie said, holding up her Deck in a clenched hand, “and everyone is my friend.” She squeezed it tighter, and pink electricity sparked across it and onto her hand. “This is for their smiles.”
“Dang,” Sunset whispered, “now I wish I’d thought of something more dramatic to say.”
Rarity picked up the purple Deck, but Fluttershy’s hand hesitated over the yellow one. Twilight stared at Fluttershy without turning. Fluttershy looked across her friends and, met with a series of nods, took the yellow Deck. Twilight sighed and looked away. Then Fluttershy almost dropped the Deck as yellow electricity jumped across it.
“I’m sure their Advent Beasts await,” Rainbow said to Cavalier, who nodded to the mirror they came through, already swirling with dark clouds. Grinning, she ran to the front and announced, “Like I do, but with your cards.” A series of confused looks followed.
“The one that says ‘Contract’,” added Cavalier, “should be first in line.”
“Right…,” Rainbow muttered as the others pulled out their Contract Cards. They stood around the mirror, seeing five beasts seeming to swim amongst the clouds. The beasts looked out of the reflection and each locked eyes with one of the girls. Rainbow held out her Deck as light blue electricity streamed from it to generate a silver belt, pulling it back and pointing forward with a call of, “Kamen Rider!” She slid the Deck into the belt’s slot and it was clamped in, sliding back and spinning before light blue energy rings and a sphere projected out, the rings spinning up and around, overlaying a teal suit with cyan armor plates onto her, the rings and sphere fading.
The five girls raised their cards to the mirror, each reflecting a different beast, and called in unison, “{Kamen Rider!}” The five beasts burst from the mirror at once and at the girls, each diving through their Contract Card and absorbing into them.
A humanoid red lion with a mane made of alternating gold strips and red vents pounced through Sunset’s card and into her, turning the world dark around her. An image of the lion rose up behind her and dropped down, and with a burst of flames, her Advent Deck was sitting in a silver belt. A line of sparks ran up the Deck and expanded into the golden emblem of a lion’s face with maw open. The Deck slid back and began spinning, projecting a red energy sphere with rings that spun up and around, overlaying a suit onto Sunset before fading. Her suit was dark gray with red armor plates arranged like Cavalier and Talon’s suits, and golden shoulder pads; a red lion’s head and upper jaw device with a red and gold mane was attached to her left forearm; her helmet was red with flared gold streaks on top and a slitted silver faceplate sculpted like a lion’s with a pair of canine teeth bordering an indented mouth cover.
“Kamen Rider Leona,” Cavalier said.
A metal orange kangaroo jumped feet-first through Applejack’s Contract Card and absorbed into her, turning the world dark around her. Its image leapt up behind her and stomped down, in a flash from a seismic wave her Advent Deck appearing in a silver belt. A line of sparks ran up it and expanded into the golden emblem of a full kangaroo staring forward with its tail curving up to its left and gaps for its arms and pouch. The Deck slid back and spun, projecting an orange energy sphere with rings that spun up and around, overlaying a suit onto Applejack before fading. Her suit was dark gray with orange armor plates; a second thick orange belt just above her silver one also bore the kangaroo symbol on a square button at the front; her shoulder pads were dark gray and had orange lines running down the front, resembling paws; her helmet was orange with a slitted silver faceplate bearing ear shapes tilted back across the top of the helmet.
“Kamen Rider Vault,” said Cavalier.
A large metal white egret with alternating white and purple wing feathers and purple feather streaks across its body flew beak-first through Rarity’s Contract Card and absorbed into her, turning the world dark around her. The egret’s image rose up and wrapped its wings around her from behind, and in a flurry of falling feathers, her Advent Deck was sitting in a silver belt. A line of sparks ran up it and expanded into the golden emblem of a crouched egret, its feet and beak aiming down and being arched by a pair of curves bearing spikes akin to the top of a wrought iron fence. The Deck slid back and spun, projecting a purple energy sphere with rings that spun up and around, overlaying a suit onto Rarity before fading. Her suit was plum purple with white armor plates; attached to her left forearm was a long white wing attachment stretching back from wrist to elbow, feathers alternating white and purple with a light blue diamond-shaped gem embedded at the base; her chestplate was an inverted white trapezoid speckled with purple spots, and her shoulder pads were long and sharp and pointed straight out; her helmet was white and bore a silver faceplate looking like a pair of bird wings reaching up from the bottom, slits running in a fan array to follow the feathers, and a long slim beak pointing down from the top.
“Kamen Rider Grace.”
A metal pink platypus with silver feet, tail, and a silver bill bearing a pair of pink racing stripes dove through Pinkie’s Contract Card, absorbing into her and turning the world dark around her. Its image sprang up behind her and spun forward to splash down, in a spray of water her Deck appearing in a silver belt. A line of sparks ran up it and expanded into the golden emblem of a platypus’s face and bill looking down, with its front webbed claws on either side. The Deck slid back and spun, projecting a pink energy sphere with rings that spun up and around, overlaying a suit onto Pinkie before fading. Her suit was light pink with silver armor plates; attached to her upper left leg was a pink platypus-shaped device latched on by its claws, facing up; her chestplate was a semicircular silver plate with pink spoke lines running from the center, and thin silver shoulder pads angled down over her shoulders; her helmet was light pink with the patchwork scaly pattern a platypus’s beaver-like tail sculpted on top, also with a slitted silver faceplate with a short bill-like visor above her eyes.
“Kamen Rider Dynamo.”
A metal butterfly with a segmented yellow body and large transparent pink wings flew at Fluttershy, but pulled up and arced over backwards before flying through her Contract Card, absorbing into her and turning the world dark around her. Its image floated up behind her and closed its wings around her, in a cloud of sparkling pink dust her Deck appearing in a silver belt. A line of sparks ran up it and expanded into the golden emblem of a butterfly’s profile, a point on each of its four wing segments. The Deck slid back and began spinning, projecting a yellow energy sphere with rings that spun up and around, overlaying a suit onto Fluttershy before fading. Her suit was pale yellow pink wrist and shin plates; a large butterfly-shaped shield was strapped to her left wrist, with a light blue body and transparent pink wings, head and antennae pointing up her arm; she had a silver chestplate with a pink hourglass shape in the middle, and additional silver pads were strapped onto her arms just below her shoulders in lieu of shoulder pads; her helmet was pale yellow with a large slitted silver faceplate shaped like a butterfly.
“And Kamen Rider Monarch,” Cavalier finished.
The five new Riders looked over their armor with a chorus of “ooh”s and “ahh”s.
“Heh, AJ got a kangaroo,” Rainbow taunted.
Applejack planted her foot. “I don’t want a single ‘Kangaroo Jack’ reference, y’hear?”
“Yes, platypus!” exclaimed Pinkie. “No other animal could fit me so perfectly.”
“There’s time for all this later,” Cavalier said, walking to the mirror as it began to warp. “Now is the time for putting your new powers to the test.”
“Alright, then. Let’s go, Kamen Riders!” Pinkie shouted, pumping her fist to the sky. “Anyone up for planning a group roll call?”
“And give the monsters an open invitation to attack you first?” spoke up Twilight from the side.
“Kinda rude,” Rainbow said, “but has a point.”
“Well fine,” sighed Pinkie, crossing her arms, “no roll call, then.” She glanced over at the blank wall and started thinking.
Cavalier walked through the mirror, Rainbow waving her arm for the others to follow. “Let’s ride.”
An empty city parking lot next to the street, shaded by the nearby buildings. A small swarm of Gelnewts prowled the lot, looking around. Standing at the center was a different monster, dark bronze with a silver chestplate, large perforated pads draping off its shoulders, a dull golden crescent knuckleduster on the back of each hand, and a cicada head with large lime green eyes and another perforated pad draped down its back: Sonora Boomer. It made a grated chittering sound as it strolled among the footsoldiers.
“Oh, little Riders,” mused the mysterious figure watching the area on a holographic screen from his dark hideout. “Come out, come out, wherever you are. I’ve got a surprise waiting for you.”
The Sonora Boomer hissed as it turned to the warping of several nearby windows, before a full row of seven Advent Cycles jumped out and touched down, skidding to a stop. Their covers raised and out stepped the full team of Kamen Riders.
“W-h-what!?” the figure stuttered. “Seven Riders? Oh, now that is just cheating. Only I’m allowed to do that!”
The Gelnewts moved to flank the Riders, the Sonora Boomer twitching as it snarled at them.
“Looks like you expanded the team just in time,” commented Sunset.
“Nah,” replied Cavalier, “this crowd is actually a bit disappointing.”
Pinkie stepped forward and pointed her thumb at herself. “Protectors of the right, defenders sworn to fight! Ha!” She turned back to the group. “See? There was enough time for a catchphrase.” {Time to fight!}
“You guys practice with the squints,” Rainbow said, rubbing her palms together, “let the experts handle this new creep.” She charged the Sonora Boomer and jumped to kick her shin at it, but it blocked with its crescent knuckleduster and shouted a chittering screech in her face. She and a nearby Gelnewt stumbled back, and the Sonora Boomer punched her in the chest, launching her skidding across the ground. The Gelnewts darted in, racing past her to the new Riders, ignoring Cavalier as he walked up to Rainbow.
“Interesting tactic, ‘expert’,” he said. “Trying to lull it into a false sense of confidence?”
“Oh, shut up.”
Cavalier turned to the Sonora Boomer and reached for his Deck but stopped and paused before giving a chuckle. He took out a card and held it up so Rainbow could only see the back, looking over his shoulder at her. “Watch the real expert at work.” He slotted the card and closed the horseshoe device.
Guard Vent
He held up his left arm as a circular shield bearing his gold Horse symbol and a gold horseshoe stretched around the border dropped from the sky. It flew down and latched onto his arm and he charged forward with it.
“Showoff!” Rainbow called after him.
Rarity and Applejack backed up to each other as a group of Gelnewts surrounded them.
“I can believe that the decks gave us fighting knowledge,” Rarity said, “but there’s a fine line between knowledge and actual skill.”
“Punch and kick,” said Applejack. “Sounds simple enough, what more is there?”
“It’s just that this isn’t the ideal time to be putting that to the test.”
“If you’re really that worried, then don’t think about it.” Applejack grabbed Rarity’s arm and spun her around to face a pair of Gelnewts rushing them. “Right punch!” she shouted, throwing her fist forward at one of them, Rarity quickly trying to mirror her action at the other. The hits collided, Rarity’s fist bringing the second Gelnewt to a stop, but AJ’s sending the first tumbling back. Rarity’s Gelnewt moaned.
“…Mind if we switch armor?” Rarity asked. The Gelnewt reached at her, but Applejack kicked out and knocked it away.
Sunset was grappling with a Gelnewt, managing to break her arms free of its grip and shove it back. Remembering Rainbow’s description of Advent Card usage, she looked closely at the lion head armament on her left forearm, noticing a set of sliding tracks along the sides of its face. She grabbed the red-and-gold striped mane and pushed it forward, the solid piece sliding over the lion’s eyes as the snout split open like a pair of scissors to reveal a card slot. The Gelnewt took its shuriken weapon off its back and swung, Sunset springing back out of the way. She pulled out a card and, briefly glimpsing the image of a sword over a red flame background, slid it into the slot and pulled the mane back into place, the snout halves snapping back together as the lion’s eyes flashed.
Sword Vent
With a flash in the sky above, a sword spun down. Sunset leapt forward at the Gelnewt, catching the sword in midair and bringing down, but the Gelnewt raised its shuriken and caught the strike. Sunset grabbed the sword’s hilt in both hands before realizing this gave her the least leverage at this close of quarters.
The Gelnewt pushed the shuriken closer, Sunset barely able to hold the shuriken or her own blade more than a few inches from her, too close for letting go of the sword to grab the Gelnewt’s weapon to work. The sword itself had a red hilt with a crossguard of a red and gold lion head similar to her slotter, a thin, lightly curved silver katana blade extending from its open mouth. Then its eyes flashed and a jet of flames shot from the mouth across the blade, turning the shuriken to ash and cleaving through the Gelnewt before Sunset even tried pushing harder. The Gelnewt stumbled back and dropped to its knees, a cloud of flames from the gash engulfing it and dissipating to leave nothing.
Sunset stared impressed at the sword as the flames died away. She looked up to see a pair of Gelnewts approaching, one throwing its shuriken. She quickly ducked and held up the sword, the shuriken slicing itself in half against it, and the halves clattering to the ground behind her. She stood back up and swiped the sword down to the side for dramatic effect, but a slash of fire jumped from the blade and flew over to the Gelnewts, bursting on the ground at their feet. Again surprised but taking every advantage, Sunset flicked the sword, another spurt of flames shooting from the lion head’s mouth and setting the blade on fire. She swung the sword left and right in front of her, sending a zigzagging trail of flame flying at the Gelnewts.
Pinkie slid her hand up the platypus armament attached to her left leg, hearing a click as she pushed on the silver bill; she let go and it popped open to reveal a card slot. Several Gelnewts were approaching.
“Alright,” she said, “time to face the danger of too much pink power.” She reached to her Deck. “Heart of the cards, guide me. I choose you!” She pulled the top card out and passed it to her left hand without looking at it, sliding it into the slot and snapping the bill shut, the platypus’s eyes flashing.
Cover Vent
Pinkie took a battle stance, ready for whatever effect the card would give her. She exploded in a burst of confetti and disappeared. The Gelnewts stopped and looked around for a sneak attack, but nothing happened. They turned to each other confused.
Pinkie blinked, finding herself standing in an empty alley. “Hello?” she called. She heard grunts, hits, and clangs a short distance away, following them and hoisting herself up to look over a fence, finding the battle. “Whoops,” she muttered. “Yeah, should probably…look at the card next time.” She tried pulling herself over the fence, but to no avail, kicking her legs in an attempt to run up it.
Cavalier grabbed the rim of his circular shield and pushed it forward, making it spin faster and faster until it ramped up to the speed of a buzz saw. He ran up to the Sonora Boomer as it ran at him, but stopped and held the spinning shield up horizontally, letting the monster run into it with a spray of sparks, a split second later the two tabs at the end of the horseshoe design spinning around and hitting it with a spark burst, sending it spinning and tumbling over to its right.
“And they said I couldn’t learn anything useful from BattleBots,” Cavalier said.
Sonora got back to its feet, still woozy, and Cavalier swung his shield at it again. It held up its crescent knuckledusters in defense, but the impact of the spinning shield knocked them clean off in a burst of sparks, leaving the tops of Sonora’s hands smoking.
“Whatever the style, whatever the angle…”
He jumped and kicked the dazed Sonora back a step, then jumped and spun around left, throwing his left arm back and up as Sonora was behind him, the shield’s tabs slamming Sonora in the chin, snapping its head up and sending it flying back, crashing to the ground as Cavalier touched down.
“…spinners are some frightening weapons.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Rainbow said standing on the sidelines. Hearing a chittering sound behind her, she turned in time to see a second Sonora Boomer punch her over.
A Gelnewt ran up to a fight but stopped, not reacting fast enough as another Gelnewt flew into it and knocked it over. Applejack turned and kicked another Gelnewt away, the monster sliding to a stop and evaporating into a black cloud. She was keeping the swarm back while Rarity stood looking at her equipment. One took a step towards Rarity, but AJ made a slight jump at it, the Gelnewt tripping over its feet attempting to retreat as the Gelnewts standing behind it took a good step back.
Taking her cue from Sunset, Rarity was trying to open the white and purple wing armament on her left forearm, tapping the light blue diamond before finding that the wing bent at the “elbow”, the back half with the tip swinging around to reveal an open card tray attached to its inner edge.
“How does this work,” she asked, reaching to her Deck, “it just gives you the card you want or something?” She pulled out a deep blue card with the image of a white shield and “Guard 2000” at the bottom corner.
Applejack leaned over to see the card. “Seems to fit with what you’re actin’ like you’re after.” She looked at her empty left arm, then down at the extra orange belt above her silver one, grabbing it to find something to trigger.
Rarity slid her card into the tray, swinging the outer wing half back into place as the card tray slid back under the feathers of the inner half and the blue diamond flashed.
Guard Vent
Her large white and purple egret Advent Beast flew from the roof of the building behind them, in a flash dropping down a glowing object; Rarity caught it by a handle at the back to find a small white shield shaped like a pair of wings curving down to form an arch, several evenly spaced thin purple feathers along the wings pointing out like wheel spokes, and a white egret head at the center of the front with a long gold beak pointing down. The shield was no more than a foot wide.
“Well a shield this small isn’t going to do very much good,” Rarity said.
Investigating the wide box at the front of the orange belt, Applejack pushed the large square button with her gold Kangaroo symbol on it, and a card tray popped up from the top of the box.
“Of course it does,” she sighed to herself. What’s a kangaroo motif without a pouch reference?
Rarity let out a yipe as two Gelnewts rushed her from the side opposite Applejack, turning the shield to them and looking away as she pressed the button she saw at the top of the handle. The thin purple feathers sprung out as spines along the top and sides of the rim, and the Gelnewts stopped in their tracks in caution, but nothing else happened. Rarity peeked to see them looking at the shield curiously. Then the eyes of the egret head on the shield flashed, and a light blue energy wave burst out and knocked the Gelnewts back.
Rarity looked up to see a screen of light blue energy running between the spines like a fan, effectively doubling the shield’s diameter. “Have at thee!” she shouted, running at the stunned Gelnewts and slashing at the one in front with the edges of the shield, the second one trying to back away.
Applejack slid out a yellow-orange card showing an orange sledgehammer with an odd head and “Attack 3000”, setting it into the vertical tray and pushing it back down, a pair of beads by the sides of the box flashing.
Pound Vent
In a flash, a large orange hammer object about as tall as her dropped down and she caught it with both hands. Its long handle was simple enough, but the mallet end looked like a pair of large paw feet with their soles pressed together, clamping the end of the handle between them.
One of a trio of Gelnewts pushed another towards her, and it unwillingly charged in as the other two followed. Applejack raised the sledgehammer above her head and swung it down like she was playing that carnival game, slamming it onto the ground right in front of the group, shockwaves from the impact bouncing them into the air and sending them flying past her.
Meanwhile, Pinkie crossed her arms and glared at the wall. She turned and strolled away, then turned back and ran at it.
Fluttershy pulled every card out of her Deck one by one as she backed away from a lone Gelnewt approaching her. Staring desperately at a six-card hand for an idea of what would work, her back ran into a wall. The Gelnewt pulled out its shuriken and swung it at her, but as she threw her arms up in defense, the butterfly shield on her left forearm blocked the shuriken. Letting out a gasp of encouragement, she pushed with the shield, swinging it left for the wing to slash the Gelnewt back with a spray of sparks. The swing also dislodged the front right wing segment of the shield (back left for the butterfly design itself), and it swung out forward on a hinge at the corner to reveal an extended card slot attached to the butterfly’s body that the wing had been sheathed over.
As the Gelnewt steadied itself, Fluttershy decided she didn’t have time to decide on a card, looking away and drawing one at random from the array. She slid it into the slot and pulled the wing segment back over it, clicking it into place.
Wing Vent
The Gelnewt pulled the shuriken back and charged, but a shadow fell over them as a large butterfly passed by overhead, in a flash dropping a pair of objects. They attached onto Fluttershy’s back as a pair of clear pink butterfly wings, and she jumped up as the Gelnewt’s shuriken embedded itself in the wall.
Fluttershy found herself floating about ten feet above the Gelnewt as it tried and failed to pull its weapon from the wall. It looked up and threw something at her, Fluttershy kicking off of the wall as a glob of green slime splattered where she’d just been. The Gelnewt pulled on the slime cord still tracing back to its hand and leapt up, grabbing onto the wall and reaching after her. She’d floated out over the middle of the battlefield, turning back to face it and accidentally spinning an extra time around in the process. Hoping her luck would hold, she grabbed another random card and slotted it.
Flutter Vent
Glowing pink butterflies faded in, floating in an arch around her as the Gelnewt tilted its head. A second later they turned to pink metal, shooting forward and strafing the wall, exploding on contact. Chunks of cement fell to the ground as a black cloud evaporated from the impact point.
Behind a group of Gelnewts that had seen their opponent disappear and not come back, Pinkie launched over the wall, flailing through the air before tumbling to the ground and springing back up like no one saw that.
“Okay,” she panted, “Riders have a boost to their jumping, good to know.”
The Gelnewts turned to the commotion and saw her, stepping forward. Pinkie pulled out a card and actually looked at it this time: gravel grey bearing the image of her silver and pink platypus Advent Beast, Pinkrhynch, Attack 3000.
“You’re up, platypus,” she said, slotting the card into the platypus contraption’s bill. “Impress me.”
Attack Vent
The Gelnewts tensed in preparation for her attack. Seconds passed. Confident in another dud, the center Gelnewt rolled its head back and stepped forward. And suddenly fell into the ground with a splash. Between the other Gelnewts was a silvery puddle of…mirror. A second later, the Gelnewt was catapulted out of the puddle by a large flat pink and silver checkered metal tail, flying and ramming into the wall of a nearby building. A pink and silver blur sprang from the puddle and spun around, knocking the other Gelnewts away before splashing back into the puddle. The pink head and silver bill of Pinkrhynch splashed up again, and he made an excited honking noise at Pinkie.
She smirked. “You pass.”
Strike Vent
Rainbow caught the gryphon talon gauntlets and ducked below the next swipe of the second Sonora Boomer, ramming her shoulder into it to shove it back. She swiped with a gauntlet, but Sonora caught it with a knuckleduster; it punched with its free hand, but she caught its knuckleduster in her free gauntlet. It pushed against her and she tried bracing her stance, but got an idea.
“Take this, insect!” she shouted. Talons firmly latched onto Sonora, she jumped up and stepped on its face, rapidly stomping it with each foot in turn, with the final hit kicking off and tearing her talons free in a rain of sparks, flipping over backwards to land as Sonora stumbled back.
In a ploy to defend itself, the first Sonora let loose another chittering screech at Cavalier. Straining through the noise, he spun up his shield again and swung his arm, throwing the shield humming with speed through the air. It cut through the sound and hit Sonora, grinding it with a shower of sparks before shooting up and knocking Sonora over. Cavalier watched the shield’s path and held up his left arm. A second later it dropped down, pushing Cavalier’s arm down as it latched back into place, spinning to a stop.
Sunset slashed through two more Gelnewts, the monsters disappearing into flames and smoke. Having cleared her immediate area, she passed her sword to her left hand in reverse grip, pulling out another card: medium gray with a gold circle in the upper left corner and no number, showing the image of a medieval sword floating in front of a trifold vanity mirror, a reflection of itself in each pane.
“Pack Vent?” she read. I wonder… She slotted it.
Pack Vent
The sword in her hand started glowing and six faded copies spun out in a circle before flying off in different directions. Six very specific directions.
Applejack was resting against the handle of her sledgehammer as Rarity swung her shield at the last few nervous Gelnewts around them, when glowing copies of Sunset’s sword flew into their hands and solidified with a fading ring. They looked at their new weapons in surprise.
A copy flew into Rainbow’s grip, shattering away her gauntlets in the process. As Cavalier raised his shield and prepared to attack his Sonora Boomer, a copy flew into his right hand.
Pinkie turned to see a copy fly up in front of her and grabbed it from the air, tipping it at Sunset with a call of, “Snap!”
As Fluttershy floated back to the ground, Wing Vent shattering away, a copy flew into her hands.
The Gelnewts around Rarity and Applejack backed farther away, AJ simply watching as Rarity chased after them with her new sword.
Pinkie spun in front of a Gelnewt, leaning sideways and pointing her sword at it. “Mind if I defeat you?” she taunted.
The Gelnewt snarled and took out its shuriken, raising it, but a spray of sparks came from its back and it collapsed into a cloud of flames to reveal Pinkie standing behind it. “Sorry, couldn’t hear ya!” said the second Pinkie.
The first Pinkie pulled out a card: green border, image of five Kamen Rider Dynamo helmets on a pale pink background with an X-shaped glint from the center helmet, Attack 1000.
Trick Vent
“Oh, I am gonna love this one,” she said.
The Gelnewt Pinkrhynch had catapulted into a wall got to its feet and swayed as it looked around for that infernal pink Rider, instead seeing a yellow one. Close enough. It growled as it stumbled at Fluttershy, Fluttershy taking a step back but stopping. She held up her sword and took a deep breath.
“Be brave,” she whispered to herself, “be brave, be brave, be brave, be—”
The Gelnewt lunged at her and she raised the sword, its blade flaming up, but as she brought it down she let go and shrank back. The loose flaming blade fell down through the Gelnewt, the monster collapsing into a cloud of flame. Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief.
Seeing the army of Gelnewts quickly diminishing, another thought occurred to Sunset, and she pulled out and checked another card.
Rainbow ran at Sonora and slammed her sword onto it, but the blade stopped, Sonora grabbing it and shoving back against her. Rainbow dug her heels in, but was slowly sliding backwards. Sonora let loose another chittering screech, but Rainbow only pushed back harder, the blade flaming up and bursting through Sonora as she ducked past it. Sonora screeched and exploded, a ball of energy floating up from the site, which Aquileo flew through to absorb.
Sword Vent
Cavalier caught his own sword in his left hand as he ran at the first Sonora, jumping up and kicking it in the chest. As he landed, he spun left, slashing both swords across it at once, stopping facing away in an epic pose as Sonora collapsed to the ground and exploded behind him. Its energy floated over to a waiting Caballkhan.
Sunset slid the card into her slotter but left it open, tossing her sword aside to clatter loudly on the ground. “Hey, mooks!” she called, holding up her left arm and putting her hand on the slotter’s lion mane. “Think you useless clowns can even take on an unarmed opponent?”
The dozen or so remaining Gelnewts crowding around Pinkie and dodging Rarity turned to Sunset, as did the other Riders. Dismissing their current adversaries, the Gelnewts rushed over to form a ring around her. Applejack took a step over before realizing she needed both hands for her sledgehammer and got caught up on which weapon to ditch.
“Sunset, what are you doing?” called Rainbow. She started to race over.
“Stay back, I got this,” Sunset called to stop her. “I hope,” she added under her breath. She looked around as the crowd of Gelnewts closed in, waiting for them all to pass a mentally drawn line. As the last one stepped over, she took a deep breath. “This worked in ‘The Last Starfighter’…” She pulled the lion mane down, snapping the slotter closed.
Sun Vent
Yellow and red energy began shining from her armor, quickly building up into a layer around her, the Gelnewts stopping in surprise and curiosity. Sunset crouched down before quickly standing up and throwing her right arm into the air, unleashing a blinding burst of yellow and red energy in the shape of her yin-yang sun cutie mark. The Gelnewts were blasted back, the closest ones vaporizing in midair, the others falling to the ground before disintegrating.
Sunset stood breathing deeply, looking around to find the pavement around her feet scorched black and the air still sweltering.
“Wowza,” Pinkie said, running over with the others.
Rainbow put her hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “Maybe read us in on your plan next time,” she chuckled.
In his dark base, the mysterious figure waved his hand to flip the screen away from the scene, turning away.
“Well, that just about exhausted my supply of expendables,” he sighed in frustration. “I’ll have to be more conservative from now on. But at least things promise to remain interesting.”
As the figured weighed his options for his next move, he heard a pittering sound. He turned back to the screen to see in its new feed that it was beginning to rain somewhere. He smiled.
Its location no longer a secret, the new Riders were led back to their base as Cavalier gave a brief tutorial on how to navigate in the Mirror Plane.
Standing around the lab, Pinkie held up her Attack Vent card.
“Well, Pinkrink,” she said, “I think this looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
Cavalier looked over her shoulder at the name on the card.
“Uh, its name is pronounced ‘Pinkrhynch’,” he said. {Pinkie said it “rih”nk sounding like “pink”; Cavalier said it “rai”nk sounding like “lie”.}
“Nope,” Pinkie shrugged off, “Pinkrink rhymes better, so that’s what I’m calling him.”
Cavalier shrugged and walked off.
“You know it’s a he?” asked Sunset.
“Well, duh,” Pinkie said, holding up a card labeled Spur Vent showing a webbed claw foot with a large hooked spur at the end. “Why else would he have venomous spurs on his feet? Only male platypusususes—platywhatsits have them.”
“Venomous spurs?” Applejack spoke up. “Land sakes, is every critter from Australia deadly in some way?”
Pinkie shrugged. “Why else would their motto be, ‘You better run, you better take cover’?”
“Don’t think that’s what it is,” Applejack said suspiciously.
“But isn’t it?” said Pinkie.
“Well, that about wraps things up for now,” Rainbow said, clapping her hands together. “Need me to show you the way back to the school from here?”
“Before you go, just one question,” said Twilight. Without turning, she pointed up at the wall, asking a flat, “What’s that?”
Rainbow looked up to see a poster hanging on the wall with their Advent Deck symbols on it: indigo Horse symbol at center; cyan Gryphon, orange Kangaroo, and pink Platypus symbols on right side; red Lion, purple Egret, and yellow Butterfly symbols on left; and the letters ‘KRC’ written in bold underneath them. The group all turned to Pinkie. She smiled nervously back at them.
“What?” she said. “It’s a poster for the Kamen Rider Club. Y’know…us?”
Twilight slowly arced her hand over to facepalm, pushing her glasses down her face. “When did you even…”
“I can…take it down.”
Next time, on “Kamen Rider EqG”…
A pair of wide hands ringed in suction cups grabbed the head of a large orange hammer mid-swing.
The whistling ringing echoed in their ears.
Talon and Cavalier stood in an alleyway as a blast erupted from the ground near their feet.
“It sounds like it’s comin’ from all over,” said Applejack.
Amidst a heavy downpour, a green and silver monster stood holding a pair of razor-barbed swords.
“Three different locations to be exact,” Cavalier said.
Fluttershy pushed open the door to room 401 before stopping with a surprised gasp.
Chromatic Dispersion
Also, available now…
“When two mirrors face each other, they reflect an infinite number of worlds. You have been following the events unfolding in one of these worlds. But what might have happened in another? Perhaps the other Rider story will tell you. Prepare for your journey through the worlds.”
A dark room. A set of chains rattled, and down from the ceiling descended a painted mural depicting the front of a school with the life-sized statue of a horse reared atop a pedestal. The mural gave a brief flash.
Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider: EqG & Decade
The World of EqG
