• Published 17th Apr 2014
  • 2,658 Views, 26 Comments

In Search of F - Godzillawolf



All things have a memory, why should the planet be any different? But what happens when that memory falls into the wrong hands? A two-in-one detective must unravel a web of intrigue and mystery festering deep beneath Cloudsdale's surface.

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Case 6: The Lost H/The Spirit of Youth

Case 6
The Lost H/The Spirit of Youth

The half-and-half detective revved up the bike, preparing to strike with the Metal Shaft as the hulking Industry Dopant continuing to rev up his arm. Finally, the two charged, throwing their individual attacks at the same time, the bike assisted, flaming swing of the Metal Shaft colliding with Industry's chest as the Dopant's momentum charged punch returned the favor.

Both yelled out in pain as they were launched in opposing directions, sparks flying from impact and HardBoilder coming to a rest a short bit away without its rider.

The Kamen Rider panted, regaining his footing, chest still smoking from the blow, to find Industry had already disappeared.

“Darn it! Big lug got away,” Shou's voice muttered, Double's left leg rubbing his injured chest.

“Shou,” Philip's voice replied, a hint of worry in the bookworm's normally calm voice. “I believe we may be dealing with a far more dangerous situation than we originally believed. This is far too complex to simply be one extremist with a Gaia Memory.”

Double's head nodded. “Yeah...first, Masquerade Dopants and now a Dopant with a non-production run Gaia Memory...the Museum must be involved in this.”

“This is highly unusual behavior for them. Their methods are usually much more inconspicuous. Gina most have done something to attract their attention,” Philip replied.

“Yeah, this complicates things...I'd better go check on them, partner...As much as I hate to ask, have the Schoolyard Filly to go ask Watcherstallion if he's heard anything that might be of use.”

“Trusting Akiko with such a thing? That is unlike you...”

“Yeah, but I need to keep an eye on Gina, Rainbowshine's busy, and well...you're you. Don't have many options. It's just talking to Watcherstallion, she should be able to do that. Give her a spare Stag Phone and tell her she gets to keep it if she does a good job.”

Double closed up his Driver and his armor vanished, reverting him to Shou.

The private detective trotted over his charge, keeping an eye out for another attempt by the assassin. The injured guards were tending to their wounds at the moment, white fur slightly stained with blood in spots.

“It's alright, Hope, we're safe now...” Gina reassured, the council'mare' nuzzling her child. “The monster's gone

The child slowly stopped trembling and looked up to her mother. “O-Okay mama...” she then looked to Shou. Giving that same smile with something missing he'd seen on her face since the start. “...Thank you, Mr. Kamen Rider...”

Shou smiled. “...You're welcome,” he replied, tipping his hat and kneeling down to look the filly-chick in the eyes. “I want to protect this town no matter what. Dealing with those monsters is kind of my job.”

---

“Alright, can you give me the information now?” Akiko asked Watcherstallion, the two sitting at a small cart in Cloudsdale's main street. Akiko couldn't help wondering why a ramen cart was in a pegasi city. But then again Neighponese names names seemed strangely common in Equestria for some reason.

“Ah! This place has the best ramen in town!” Watcherstallion exclaimed, digging in...then blinked. “Wait, you're not going to try to be hardboiled?”

“I'm not Shou...”

“Huh...you know it's just not the same without that,” the Pegasus replied, shrugging...until Akiko hit him with a slipper. “Ow!”

“Last time you complained about it!”

“I'm a little picky I guess...” the informant replied, picking through his ramen. “Oh, no barbecued hay? Oh man...”

“Hey!” Akiko called, trying to put on her best serious face, and brandishing her slipper in her mouth. “You said you'd heard something about Hurricane Tower?”

“Oh! Like I said, I think something's going on in the land around it,” the info dealer replied, looking at the slipper for a moment. “Seems you can hear the low rumblings at night. Plus, you hear it coming from under the ground,” he explained mysteriously, looking under the top layer of the food.

Akiko gave a small shudder, seeming a little freaked out. “Noises from underground, sounds like some Earth Pony urban legends...”

“Well, urban legends are Storyteller's thing, but it definitely sounds fishy to me,” Watcherstallion replied. “Some of my sources say they think the noise is coming from machines.”

“Machines...Thank you for the information,” Akiko said, giving a smile and a bow. “Your lunch is my treat!” she announced, getting a wide smile.

---

That is the chief's report,” Akiko said through her new Stag Phone.

Philip nodded. “I see...keep me posted should you learn anything more...”

Okay, chief out!

Philip put a hoof to his chin as he hang up. “A hidden factory near Hurricane Tower...Gina and her husband's plans would have called for construction in that area...so that's what this is about...”

---

“Success!” Akiko announced happily, looking at her Stag Phone. “Maybe now Shou will start respecting the chief...I still wish he'd give me the Memory though for this thing though...” she muttered, giving a disappointed pout. It then began emitting a busy signal, prompting her to try and hang it up correctly. “Or knew how to actually hang this thing up right!”

“I'll take an eighth helping!”

“Huh?” Akiko asked, turning to see Watcherstallion get yet another bowl, a large stack of empty ones right next to him. He'd now been joined by a reindeer buck wearing a Santa outfit who was starting a helping himself. “Ah! Why?!”

---

Rex stood in an alley way, tapping his paws on a cloud dumpster. the Unicorn-performed cloud walking spell allowing him to interact with them. His tapping began to increase in speed until it sounded like “Stupid half-and-half freak. This was a simple job. Just put one stupid griff on ice. Just like stupid pony husband...But if I don't do it, boss pony right. I'll be in big trouble if this keeps up...”

He shuddered. “I don't want Taboo Pony mad at me...” he looked down at his shoulder, currently covered by his outfit, as if something that frightening him was under it. “I need something to give me an edge on half-and-half freak...Maybe boss pony give me a bigger pay for taking him out...Hail falls on everypony after all...”

The Diamond Dog looked over, seeing the weather factory in the distance. A cruel smirk formed on his face, slowly becoming more unhinged.

---

Shou leaned again the wall of Gina's apartment, Stag Phone to his ear. The apartment was naturally well furnished for the Council'mare's' status. The detective noted several designs that were clearly from Griffin culture rather than Pegasi, or rather a mixture. Sculptures of Griffins and warriors mixed with the typical pony styling.

“So if Watcherstallion's right, Gina and her husband have ticked off...them,” Shou replied.

Correct. While I have yet to identify the Memory Brand, the second Dopant's is clearly not a production run variant. One far more powerful than Hail's,” Philip's voice answered.

“Yeah...Though he didn't have a Driver like the Commanders...”

Correct. While Dealers obtaining higher level Memories for personal use is not unheard of, it is far more likely he is trusted enforcer of some sort.

The private detective sighed. “Yeah...At least now we know why Gina's family are the targets.”

“Yes, so long as she continues her work on her Hurricane Tower project, they will likely continue to come for her...”

Shou gave a sigh. “...Yeah...but there's no way in Tartarus Gina's gonna stop.”

“You sound so certain.”

“Because it isn't just her goal, she's doing it for her husband too...and for Hope,” the detective said, giving a serious look. “To complete the goal of one who's passed way, I believe we both can sympathize with that.”

“...Indeed. In that case, we will require a more permanent solution. Otherwise defeating Hail would solve very little.”

“Yeah...Well then I guess I'll have to go ruin their plans, huh?”

“Normally you would simply report that factory to the guard, why the personal interest?”

Shou looked over to a room nearby. Gina currently reading Hope a bedtime story, the little child seeming a little more upbeat, but not the same cheerfulness one would expect from a small child.

“Because they've stolen a child's smile, and her father...” Shou ran a hoof along the rim of his fedora.
---

Philip blinked, suddenly experiencing a cold sweat. He looked at his hoof, finding it trembling.

'Philip?'

The Unicorn jumped, dropping the phone for a moment before catching it again in his telekinesis. “Oh, sorry, Shoutaro. I was distracted for a moment...”

---

Shou sighed. “Anyway, I'm not taking this laying down...the only thing worse than making the city cry, is making one of its children cry.”

“Melodramatic as always, Shou.

Shou head fell. “Ugh...why can't I ever just be hardboiled?!”

“Still, if there is a factory near Hurricane Tower, I cannot argue that alerting the guard to its existence is not a valuable course of action. It is a proactive step, and even if the factory can't be captured, it being discovered would likely inconvenience the Museum. Preventing its discovery is one thing, but to continue threatening Gina afterward for revenge would serve no purpose. However, we need concrete evidence.”

“We always do...”

“Those are the limits of the Guard, Shou.”

“Yeah. I'll go check the place out, just keep trying to figure out the brand of the second Dopant's Memory.” Shou looked up to see Gina close the door to Hope's room and finally hung up. “...Haven't read Hope a bedtime story in awhile?”

Gina sighed, leaning against the wall. “...Yeah...being a politician can be a busy job...”

“She looked a lot happier,” the black pegasus replied, giving a small grin. “I think she missed it.”

The Griffin looked at him with a little annoyance. “You know it's rude to make random guesses about beings.”

Shou smoothly tipped his fedora. “Not random, informed observation. Her smile just seems to be missing less when you do that.”

“...You're right...Her father was always there for her when I was too busy...it's not easy...easy suddenly becoming a single parent...”

Shou looked at the Griffin as she gave a sad sigh, looking down. “...Neither is losing one...”

“...Speaking from experience?”

Shou jumped, having to make sure he didn't land wrong on his wings due to how he was laying. “Uh...”

“'Informed observation.'”

The detective gave an annoyed sigh, then looked down. “...Yeah...”

Three gunshots. A stallion bleeding. Putting that hat on his head as his mentor breathed his last.

“...Well, somepony close enough...”

The proud griffin gave a slightly sympathetic look. “...I'm sorry...”

Shou gave a sigh, getting back to his hooves, trying to steady himself from his trembling. “...It's fine...”

Gina gave a bitter scoff. “Yeah right...I always hated it when somepony told me 'it'll be alright'...I felt like they were mocking me...”

The pegasus looked to her in surprise. He then gave a sad sigh. “...Yeah...you're right...it's not alright, it's like having a hole in your heart that never goes away...”

“...One big enough to drive an airship through...”

“...And you can try to fill it with anything in the world...”

Gina looked up, tears welling up in her eyes. “...Yeah...” she looked to a wall in her living room nearby. On the wall was a large board with all of her plans she'd spent all this time working so hard on arranged. “...But none of it works...”

“...It just dulls it...Even once that hole scars up, it still hurts...”

Gina gave a sigh, walking over to a picture of herself with a light blue pegasus, his mane and tail dark blue, the same colors as Hope's equine half and putting a claw on the image. Tears fell to carpet below her claws. “...He never minded it when I ate meat....never minded that I had claws and he didn't...never minded that I had a beak...he didn't see a griffin, he saw me...I could've been a dragon and he'd have loved me...”

“...I'll admit, I don't know much about love,” Shou admitted. “...But somepony who sees the real you? That I can get...” he replied, looking to his naturally weak wings.

“...They attacked my family to make me stop whatever I did to clop them off...he was killed to get to me...I just...”

“...Feel like it's all your fault?” the pegasus asking, his hooves beginning to tremble again. “...Nah...it's not like you made a dumb mistake that got him killed...you were just trying to live your life and these psychos decided to destroy it...you're the last being who should be feeling guilty.”

Gina finally seemed to notice the tears streaming down her face and tried to wipe them away but they wouldn't stop. “...Ugh...I...I can't believe I let somepony see me like this...”

“...You miss him, that's all I need to understand,” Shou answered, still trembling a bit and hiding a few tears of his own. “And I'd be the pot calling the kettle black to fault you for that, Counsel'mare.'”

“...Why do you care anyway?” the Griffin asked, not looking back. “...I just hired you to protect me...”

“...Because, somepony once told me the client always comes first,” the detective admitted, having a distant look. “...Feel any better?”

“...Yeah...a little...Thanks...”

Shou tipped his hat, trying to give an aura of suaveness. “It's what I do...speaking of which.”

“SPIDER!”

“STAG!”

“Patrol the area; give the Council'mare' a warning if Hail shows up. Remember, keep an eye out for the storm clouds.”

The little machines gave several mechanical clicks and moved out to follow his orders.

Shou looked to Gina. “Please get two more guards to protect Hope's room and stay there until I get back.”

The Griffin glared. “Wait a second, where the Tartarus are you going?!”

Shou gave a smirk. “Well I was thinking I can either take down Hail and they send another assassin after you...or I can go ruin the plan they're trying to keep you from messing with and get rid of their reason to. And just got a very good hint on how I can do it. ”

The griffin blinked. “I...didn't pay you to-”

“Yeah, you didn't,” the black pegasus looked over to the door to Hope's room. The front now had a little crayon drawing of Double pinned to it. “Besides, they made somebody in this town cry, and a filly...chick...filly-chick no less. And that's got me clopped off.”

“...Really think you can?”

“Yeah. After all, nothing wrecks somepony's plans like a wild card,” Shou said, showing the stylized J on his flank. “Being a wild card is my Special Talent.”
---
A mysterious assassin stalks an innocent family, all for stepping on the wrong toes. In doing so, he has made one of this city's children cry. And there will be justice upon all those that do such things...

Shou looked up at Hurricane Tower from a distance. The ancient structure was built in classic Pegasi style and composed from a dark gray stone, towering high above the earth. The stand out feature of the structure, however, was a massive old style windmill blade on it's top floor. The stone encompassing the structure was cracking and crumbling, the blade fabric torn and tattered. The sight of it filled Shou with a mixture of pride...and pity.

Their dark mechanizations hidden beneath an Equestrian landmark in need of restoration.


The pegasus detective looked around carefully for any watching eyes. “Perfect place to hide something...I wonder if they're the reason this place hasn't gotten repairs in ages...Best go for undercover mode...”

The Pegasus put on the Double Driver and produced the Trigger Memory.

TRIGGER!

“...I'm going to have such a headache when this is over...”

Inserting the Gaia Memory, Shou opened it without waiting for a second Memory.

TRIGGER!

Shou's body tensed up and his eyes flashed blue, his Cutie Mark changing from the Joker J to the Trigger T. He took a few moments to steady himself before looking over the area, eyes now focused in calm analysis.

The detective lowered an ear to the ground and listened patiently. Gradually, his mind narrowed in on a deep, mechanical echo from below the earth. He moved slightly and listened to the sound grow slightly duller. Moving in the opposite direction, he heard it grow slightly louder. After several more checks, he stood up and calmly walked towards the source of the noise.

---

Shou continued to sneak around the rocky landscape closer to Hurricane Tower, keeping a calm, calculating eye on his surroundings. Moving with a clear purpose. His eyes fell on a small cave in the rock surface. Not a gigantic crevice large enough to be obvious, simply a small cut into the rock. He carefully approached, keeping an eye out for anything that would trigger a trap or alarm. Upon arriving at the crevice, he ran his hoof along the side of it, finding that, while still rocky, it was unusually smooth with no excessive points jutting out. He remained to the side, making sure that if anypony was watching out of a door or such, he wouldn't be seen.

“BAT!”

Releasing the Bat Shot to do a little recon into the cave and at the entrance, Shou waited patiently at the entrance...then rubbed a hoof into his forehead and rubbed his eyes.

The stallion's ears twitched, hearing hoofsteps. Ducking behind a large bolder and sticking tight to it, he peaked out slowly.

A stallion in the familiar black suit and carrying a black suitcase came trotting along a subtle path in the rock, one so barely noticeable if you weren't looking for it, you might not even notice it. The stallion continued into the cave, not noticing the pegasus detective watching from hiding.

Shou slowly crept out of hiding, moving quietly and methodically. Making sure to fall into hiding when his prey was tipped off. Following deeper into the cave, Shou finally noticed the stallion enter a hidden door using a simple key. The door was nestled between rock faces, as with the path before seemingly designed to only be very noticeable if you were looking for it.

As the stallion entered the door and let it close, Shou used a flap of his wings to land quietly in front of it, stopping it from closing and latching by a few centimeters. He held his breath, waiting to see if the pony would notice it or not. When he didn't, the pegasus detective peaked through the crack in the door and into the hallway behind it. It was a dark, cement hallway, pipes lining the ceiling. Listening closely, the sound of machinery echoed through the structure like a heartbeat.

The black pegasus suddenly cringed, holding his head with his free hoof. “Darn it...” he whispered. He motioned with his hoof and the Bat Shot flew to him. He pointed through the crack in the door, sending the small mechanical bat into the structure.

---

The next morning, Rainbowshine looked over pictures on a desk. Many of them were of the same dank, dark cave, but she then came to several of the cement hallway, a symbol of a globe surrounded by the alphabet and adorned with wings on several walls. The next picture was of several ponies in white suits dealing with Gaia Memories.

“Definitely a Gaia Memory factory...” the mare replied with an annoyed sigh. “And Shou decided to just rush in and get the evidence alone...”

The Pegasus detective was currently laying asleep on a couch, his fedora over his eyes. A pot of gingerroot tea was currently being made nearby.

“And he didn't tell the chief!” Akiko replied dramatically, producing a slipper and going to hit a sleeping Shou with it...until Rainbowshine pulled her back by her tail.

“Blech! Seriously, change your shampoo!” Rainbowshine gagged. “He told me he used Trigger to change his Cutie Mark; let him sleep.”

The younger mare blinked, cocking her head. “Why?”

“For the same reason using Metal to swap out his Cutie Mark typically leaves him physically drained,” Philip started, standing nearby with his book floating in front of his muzzle. “When using Trigger, his natural ability to analyze his surroundings for clues is increased, as is his focus and mental clarity. However, the cost of this is that it puts his body under a large amount of mental strain trying to keep up. As such, he normally is left mentally fatigued after changing back.”

“And he has a headache like a salt hangover,” Rainbowshine remarked with a bit of pity.

Akiko blinked in confusion. “A what?”

“Uh...basically, he has a nasty headache for a few hours,” Rainbowshine replied. 'You really are a schoolyard filly, aren't you?' she thought with a sigh. “Anyway, yeah, with this evidence I can bust that factory...but there's another problem.”

Akiko blinked. “What?”

“I've got to call my boss and get the Guard sent in,” the mare explained in annoyance. “I've got a lot of pull, but I'll need reinforcements to bust a factory, and we can't afford to lose our chance.”

“Why?”

The wisteria mare gave an annoyed sigh. “Because if Memory Factories were easy to find, we'd have wrecked them all by now. We're lucky to find one period. The only one that was destroyed before now was...a year ago.”

Philip nodded, tapping a hoof to his chin. “While destroying one factory will not disable their ability to manufacture Gaia Memories tremendously, many factories are tasked with developing individual Gaia Memories for mass production. Destroying one might delay production on the ones in development at this particular one.”

“Not to mention that if we capture anything of value we might get some intel,” Rainbowshine replied. “But the problem? Until we take out this factory, Gina's still going to be in harms way. So Shou will still need to play guard duty...and I'm going to have to fill out so much paper work...” the mare gave an annoyed sigh. “So yeah, in the long run this is great, but short term? It still a headache...”

Akiko sighed. “Oh...That's sad.”

“What's sad?”

Akiko gave a frightened eep and jumped up to the ceiling in surprise as Sprinkle Medley was now standing directly behind where she'd been standing. “Medley?!”

“Huh?! What?!” asked Shou, the pegasus stallion jumping up in surprise and looking around, fedora being launched up and somehow landing perfectly back on his head.

“Hey Akiko! Long time no see! Sorry, been working really hard at the weather factory!” the mare exclaimed with her typical energy. She then looked to Rainbowshine. “Oh! Hi Rainbowshine! Hi Shou! Hi Philip!”

Rainbowshine didn't seem phased, just giving a small grin. “Hey Medley,” she said, giving a small wave.

Akiko flapped her wings, lightly landing back on the cloud floor, looking at the still closed door. “How...the door...what...how did you...”

“I have a key!” Medley said happily.

“You startled me!” Akiko protested.

“I know it's fun!” the hyper pegasus replied with a smile.

Shou rubbed a hoof into his forehead. “Medley is useful in cases involve weather.”

The cheerful pony gave a nod. “Yep! It's my thing!”

The pegasus detective trotted over and got a cup of gingerroot tea, rubbing his head. “Ugh...So Medley, what do you need?” he asked, taking a sip.

“Oh! Well my boss at the weather factory sent me to ask if you can investigate a robbery! He thinks a Dopant was involved!”

The Pegasus detective promptly spat his tea out. “WHAT?!” Medley had only lost a little of her cheerful tone, though that was enough to tell Shou she was serious.

And the sound of somepony clearing his throat was enough to tell him his tea hadn't just landed in some random direction. “Sorry, Rainbowshine...” he said, turning to look at the now surprisingly wet wisteria pegasus.

Rainbowshine gave a glare then promptly shook her wet fur off, getting the detective wet in return. “It's fine.”

“Ugh...” muttered Shou, brushing himself off. 'Why is it when you spit something out in surprise there's always at least twice as much in your mouth as you remember swallowing?' he questioned mentally. “...You were saying Medley?”

“Well something stole a LOT and I mean a LOT of storm clouds from the factory!”

Shou took another drink, this time making sure he actually swallowed before continuing. “I see...” he said, trying to retain his composure. “So, what makes your boss think a Dopant is involved in this crime?”

“Oh, because something punched a hole straight through the door...or something...” said Medley, scratching her head. “I wasn't there. Anyway, all I know is ponies can't do that!”

Shou rubbed his chin. “Anything else?”

“Well there was ice on the floor!”

“Ice...” the detective replied, rubbing his chin. “...Hail is an Ice based Dopant...but why would he...”

Suddenly, an alarm went off, Philip producing his Stag Phone. “It's almost time for Councilmare Gina's appearance at an upperclass party, Shou.”

Shou jumped a bit. “Oh! Right...darn it...” he quickly swallowed his tea and headed for the Hardboilder.

“I'm coming!” Akiko yelled, chasing after.

Rainbowshine facehoofed. “I'll come along this time...having a little back up never hurt. And somepony has to keep the schoolyard filly from getting hur-ow!”

Akiko glared at her, slipper in her mouth. “I'm not a schoolyard filly!”

“And yet you stopped chasing Shou to hit me on the head with your slipper,” the wisteria mare pointed out flatly.

The young pegasus stared for a few moments. “Ah! Shou come back here! I'm the chief!”

Rainbowshine slammed her hoof into her forehead once again. “...I wonder if facehoofing this much will make my forehead hard enough to count as body armor...”

---

Chain Link looked at several Gaia Memories held in a tray by scientist's telekinesis. Next to him stood a white unicorn stallion with a long blond mane and tail, two bangs of which hanged down the sides of his face. While he was presently wearing a white lab coat, his Cutie Mark (a plus, minus, and equals symbol, all composed of ice) was plainly visible. “Looks like research is going smoothly...” the pegasus remarked.

“Hmm, yes,” the unicorn replied, icy blue telekinesis levitating the Memories for a closer look. “Still, as far as Gaia Memory factories go, this one's production is sorely lacking.”

Chain Link grumbled. “Yeah, Cold Facts.”

The unicorn tapped his chin with a hoof, bright green eyes looking the factory over. The room they were presently in was a dimly lit chamber, the sound of machinery echoing through the area. The staff seemed rather tense, catching quick glances at their superiors nearby. “I would wager it is the shadow of discovery hanging over this place, yes? The risk of impending shutdown?”

The scientist holding the memories for examination jumped slightly. “Y-Yes sir...”

“Thought so. Well in that case, I think I am going to go investigate another factory worth my time,” Cold Facts replied, looking more bored than serious as he started to trot off. “A lack of progress bores me. Nothing new to really experiment with.”

Chain Link rolled his eyes. “It's always with the experiments with you...” he said, turning and heading after him, their hooves clopping against the hard concrete echoing through the hallways.

“I am a scientist. Experiments are what I do, yes,” the unicorn replied with a rather proud grin. “Though I do admit, my superior enjoys his far more than I do mine.”

“Ugh, don't remind me of that freak,” Chain Link replied, looking unnerved. “Even by this business' standards that guy's a psycho.”

“Oh come now, afraid of somepony who takes his Gaia Memory research that seriously?” asked Cold Facts, giving a chuckle. “Then again, I will admit, he crosses lines I will not. But the data he's gathered on Dopant physiology alone is invaluable to production over all. I believe it is worth putting up with his eccentricities, yes?”

“Doesn't change the fact the guy is a wackjob...” the pegasus replied, giving a disturbed look. He then checked a clock on a wall as they passed. “I'd best get going. Rex needs a babysitter.”

“Oh yes, I seem to recall he is not the brightest tool in the shed. He's a competent assassin, but his combat skills are lacking. And given how long he's had that Memory, I'm curious how his sanity has been effected, a bit unsafe for one so...weak of mind...though I wonder, is he truly the one in need of an overseer...”

Chain Link narrowed his eyes. “And what do you mean by that?”

“Simple. While the boss obviously believes you have much potential, I remain unconvinced you are truly worthy of that valuable Gaia Memory,” Cold Facts replied, trotting off towards a research area.

The stallion growled. “I'm your superior, scientist, you'd best show me respect.”

“Superior in rank, not in seniority. And certainly not in usefulness,” was the simple reply. “Kirihiko Sudo has more of my respect than you because he survived Mrs. Saeko. I recommend you remember this organization is founded on 'survival of the fittest.' If you desire respect, prove yourself worthy of it before demanding it. Now I have important research to return to. Good day.”

Chain Link slammed a hoof into the wall in rage...then his hoof began to tremble slightly. “...Survival of the fittest...he's right, I'm not going to last five seconds if I don't make myself useful. And stay useful.”

---

“Wow...” Akiko muttered, looking over the airship ballroom they were presently in. Upper class ponies trotting around it. A massive dinner set out nearby with foods she'd never heard of before, and the smell was making her mouth water. A huge, golden chandelier hung from a metal chain high above. “I've never seen so many fancy ponies before...”

Shou gave a chuckle. “Thus are the perks of being a detective. Just remember, we're here on guard duty, schoolyard filly-ow!”

“Stop calling me that!”

“I've still got a headache you know...” Shou muttered, rubbing his head. He then turned back to his charge and her daughter currently standing in front of a large, reinforced glass pane set in the floor, allowing them to see the land far below in a manner quite similar to a glass bottom boat.

“That's Hurricane Tower down there, Hope,” Gina explained, pointing to the child next to her that seemed to have her full attention. Shou trotted closer so he could actually see through the pane. From here what appeared to be the ruins of the observatory atop the tower were visible, what was left of them anyway.

'Her eyes aren't on the ponies in the room, just no her daughter...good,' Shou thought with a smile.

Hope looked closely. “...And that's what we want to fix up, right mama?” she asked, pointing a talon at the Tower.

“Yes, Hope...it is...”

“...Think we can do it?” the child asked, seeming for a moment to be nervous, or sad. Shou couldn't really tell which.

“I know we can...that's what you want to do right?”

The child nodded. “...Daddy wanted it...”

“Hey...” Shou said, kneeling down to get on eye level with the little child and giving a wave of his hoof.

“Hi, Mr. Ka-”

Shou put a hoof to his lips and shushed gently. “Ah! Careful. This is my secret identity, I can trust a good girl like you to keep that, right?” he whispered.

Hope nodded, doing a little beak zipping motion. “Okay, Mr. Shou...Thank you for saving mama from that mean monster.”

The detective gave a smooth smile and tipped his hat. “You're welcome...” he then looked down to Hurricane Tower. “So...your daddy wanted to fix that place up, huh?”

Gina's eyes widened. “Shou...” she said somewhat warily, eying the detective like any protective mother worth her salt.

Hope's smile disappeared and she looked down sadly. “Y-Yeah...D-Daddy said it was really important...that it was like me...”

Shou raised an eyebrow. “Like you?”

Hope nodded. “He said it was a repra-reprasan...”

“Representation?”

“Yeah! A rep-prestation of all three pony tribes being friends. He said the pegasi made it, but the unicorns liked to watch the stars from the top and the Earth Ponies made bread there.”

Shou looked back to the observatory at the top of Hurricane Tower. “Yeah, I think I heard something about that...The blades turning ground up the grain...”

The tiny hippogriff nodded. “Yeah! And daddy said I was like it because... because I was a rep-presenation of ponies and griffins getting along...” the little filly-chick looked back at her pony hindquarters. “Cause I'm half-and-half...”

“Kinda like me when I'm...” Shou looked around for dramatic effect. “Well, you know.”

The child nodded, getting a little more cheerful. “Yeah! Except you get to split down the middle, I just have a pony's butt...” she said in that cute, but blunt fashion only a child would say that sentence in.

Shou gave a chuckle. “Would you rather the two of us flipped which way we're divided up?”

Hope gave some thought then made a 'yuck' face. “No!” she exclaimed, sticking her tongue out at whatever mental imagine a small filly-chick's mind could cook up for that idea. Her energy then faded, looking down at Hurricane Tower with sorrow in those little eyes.

The left half of Double frowned. “You miss him, don't you?”

Gina put a wing on her daughter's back as the child nodded. “Y-Yeah...” Tears started in her eyes. Gina gave a harsher glare to the detective.

“...I'm not going to say you shouldn't miss him, you should...” Shou explained with a sad sigh.

“B-But it's okay, right? He's...he's in a good place...” Hope tried to reply, but that did little to stop her tears.

“...Yeah...but that doesn't mean you shouldn't miss him...” the black pegasus replied. “But I know one other thing, Hope.”

The little hybrid sniffled, looking up with hurt eyes. “What?”

“...I know he's proud of you for wanting his dream to get done,” Shou explained carefully, making a mental note not to tick Gina off much further, considering the intense glare the pegasi was receiving. “And wanting to help your mama. You're a very brave girl.”

Hope blushed a little. “T-Thank you...you're a superhero though, you're a lot braver than me...”

“...You're afraid of that mean monster's shots, aren't you? Is that why you think that?”

The hippogriff chick nodded, giving a gulp. “Y-Yeah...I...when daddy...when he...”

“...But you still go with your mama despite that,” Shou pointed out, raising one hoof and giving a smirk. “And that's brave.”

Gina gave a smile, lowering her head to be on eye level with her child and lightly wiping away her child's tears with a handkerchief. “He's right, Hope...you're very brave...Thank you...”

“Uh...t-thanks...” the tiny hippogriff replied, finally giving a sincere smile. “And I just want to help you, mama...”

“Now there's the smile I've wanted to see,” the left half of Double said, patting the girl lightly on the head. “And you want to know another thing?”

“What is it Mr. Shou?”

“I'm gonna kick that nasty monster's flank if he tries to hurt either of you again, count on that,” Shou explained, giving a confident look.

“Really?” Hope asked, finally giving genuine excitement, mixed with a reasonable amount of fear.

“Yeah. He made you and your mother cry,” the detective said, giving a serious look. “And no one gets away with making this city or anypony, griffin, or hippogriff in it cry on my watch.”

“...Thank you...” the foal said, giving a smile.

Shou tipped his hat. “Glad to be of service...”

Akiko watched this with Rainbowshine. “Shou is good at talking to ponies, isn't he?”

Rainbowshine gave a small chuckle. “Shou might be halfboiled, but when he says he doesn't want to see the city cry, he means it...He really does try to help everypony he can.”

The young mare nodded, though then got bumped into by one of the nobles passing by. “Hey! Watch where you're going!” she grumbled and got herself to her hooves...and noticed something through the window. Getting up, she trotted over to it, seeing a large number of black clouds beginning to roll in. “That is odd...I don't think there is supposed to be a storm today...”

Rainbowshine's eyes widened. “...That's because there's not! Shou!”

Shou jumped up, looking in the direction Rainbowshine was pointing. “Storm clouds?” he trotted over and looked through the windows. He noticed the clouds weren't moving like the wind was blowing them. “They're moving kind of odd...but no pegasi or griffons moving them...” the pegasus eyes went wide. “Get down!”

He turned and tackled Gina to the ground, Rainbowshine doing the same to Akiko, several shots of ice firing out of the clouds and piercing the window, throwing the room into panicked screams.

Watching from the crowd, Chain Link smirked. “Credit where it's due, not a bad plan, Rex...” he whispered and slipped away. “Let's hope it works, for both our sakes.”

“Everypony! Get below deck!” screamed Rainbowshine. The nobles didn't need told twice.

“Well now we know what he stole all those clouds for...” Shou muttered. “Come on, Gina! Let's get you and Hope to safety,” he stated, then smiled to the child. The poor thing was trembling from the sound of the shots. “Then I'll go give this guy a tailkicking! That sound good?”

The small hybrid looked up at the left half of Double...and slowly nodded, returning the smile.

Grabbing Gina, who grabbed her child, Shou prepared to pull both into cover...when glass shattered behind him.

Instinctively covering Gina, he heard Hope scream.

“HOPE!” Gina yelled, the two turning to see the Hail Dopant snatching the child by the hind leg, the Dopant quickly retreating back on a long path of ice back to the now dangerously close storm clouds.

“Meet me on the roof griffon lady if you want little pony back!” called the Dopant with a now somewhat unhinged laugh, disappearing into the storm holding the child captive.

The Council'mare' snarled in fury and attempted to fly straight after, only to be held back by Shou. “LET ME GO! I'VE GOT TO GET HOPE!”

“Hang on a minute! It's a trap you know!” Shou replied.

Gina slammed the back of her head into Shou's face, knocking him down. “I ALREADY LOST SKYQUAKE! I'M NOT LOSING HER TOO!” she roared and flew after the Dopant.

Rainbowshine growled. “What's that griffon thinking?!”

Shou got back to his hooves, touching one to his face where he'd got hit. “She's a grieving widow, she doesn't want to lose what she's got left...”

He quickly ran after her and leapt out the window, flying up and putting on the Double Driver mid jump.

“Come on!” Rainbowshine called to the Guards in the room, charging afterward and taking off with them in toe.

“Hey! Wait for the chief!” called Akiko, joining in.

---

Philip set looking through his book. “Why is it Hope's situation makes me feel strange?” he asked, looking at his slightly trembling hoof. “This is most unusual...” he said, shuddering again and the trembling becoming worse. “Could it be...my-”

He looked down the Double Driver forming around the unicorn's waist.

'Philip! Let's go! Hail's got Hope and Gina's shot off after him!'

“A-Alright...” the unicorn muttered, shaking.

'Something wrong, partner?'

“N-No...was just thinking...Let's go...”

He produced the Cyclone Memory.

CYCLONE!

---

TRIGGER!

Shou pushed the Cyclone Memory in and inserted the Trigger Memory himself.

---

“Henshin!”

---

CYCLONETRIGGER!”

Double's armor formed in a swirl of wind around him. He seemed to gain much more speed and agility in the air than he previously had, wings having a lot more ease keeping him in the air..

“These are storm clouds,” Philip's voice stated.

“Yeah, the same ones that were stolen from the Weather Factory!” Shou's voice replied. “Hail was planning this...be on guard! No telling what's coming!”

---

Hail stood on the deck of the airship, Hope struggling to escape his claws as any frightened child would do.

“Hehe, struggle all you like, little freak,” Hail stated, voice unhinged. “Won't change a thing.”

“Let me go!” the child screamed, trying to kick him as best she could.

“When mama griffon come for you,” he muttered. “Then again, hail falls on everyone. Might include you too. Just like when I killed daddy pegasus.”

The child's eyes went wide. “You...you took daddy...” Tears welled up in the child's eyes.

“That was me,” the assassin chuckled, his insane laugh seeming to be to the beat of hail hitting a roof. He then fired hail into the nearby roof, causing her to jump in fear. “Remember the sound?”

“...So it really was you...”

“Mama!” called Hope, whimpering, tears of fear streaming down her face.

Gina was glaring daggers at the Dopant. “You...you killed Skyquake...you took my husband from me!”

The Dopant gave a deranged laugh. “At the time, killing pony was just business...but now...” He fired a hail shot into the deck between Gina's front legs, causing Hope to scream in horror and began to cry harder. “I'm kind of enjoying myself!”

Gina snarled in fury, claws digging into the haul. “Skyquake...” she growled, glaring daggers. “...How could you?!”

“Why does anybody do anything?” the canine Dopant questioned with a chuckle. “Gems and bits! Now hold still, stupid griffon!” he said, holding his hand forwards in preparation to fire, keeping the other holding Hope in place...only for a high pressure air shot to slam into his hand and throw his aim off.

“Ah ah, don't you know better than to talk like that to a lady?”

“What?!” the Dopant asked, turning to see Double standing on the roof of the airship, Trigger Magnum in hoof and aimed right at him.

“Kamen Rider!” called Hope, managing a smile despite the terror she was clearly in.

Double slowly approached, keeping his weapon aimed right on him. “Especially a lady you hurt.”

“Careful, Shou. It appears Hail's Memory corruption has reached an advanced stage,” Philip's voice warned.

“Yeah, I noticed. And this guy was already dangerous,” was Shou's response.

The icy Dopant laughed, holding Hope right in front of himself. “What half-and-half freak going to do? Shoot me through little girl?”

The two-in-one detective didn't say a world, merely removing the Cyclone Memory and producing the Luna Memory.

“LUNA!”

Double opened his driver without letting Hail out of his sight.

LUNATRIGGER!

As the green Cyclone half was replaced by the yellow Luna half, Double straightened his aim.

Gina gasped. “Shou!”

Hail took a step back, putting his hand to Hope's head. “You wouldn't! Half-and-half freak good guy!”

“Trust me...both of you...” Double said in a hushed tone. “You believe in me, don't you?”

Hope watched, tears and fear still in her eyes as Double held a gun in her direction.

“I'm gonna kick that nasty monster's flank if he tries to hurt either of you again, count on that.”

The little filly-chick nodded.

Gina saw her daughter's nod...and hesitantly gave one of her own.

With that, a blast of yellow energy with a small trail behind it erupted from the gun, flying straight at the Dopant, and the hostage in his grasp.

“What?! He actually fired?!” asked Hail in disbelief...right before giving a surprised yelp when the shot curved sideways before it could hit the small child, slamming into the side of his head in a shower of sparks.

The monster fell to the roof, giving a canine whimper and holding his smoking head. “How?!”

Hope gave a scream as she was thrown from the monster's grip and into the air, only for Gina to do a wing assisted dive and catch her daughter.

“Are you okay, Hope?” the Griffon asked, hugging the child close.

“...I'm fine mama...are you?”

Gina smiled, giving child a nuzzle. “Yes...thanks to the Kamen Rider...”

Double gave a small chuckle in Shou's voice. “And that's what the job is about, right partner?”

No response came.

“Philip?”

“Huh?” Double's right half jolted, nearly knocking him down. “Oh...sorry, I was distracted for a moment.”

“Ah...”

The armored warrior noticed Hail getting back to his feet as Gina and Hope got to cover beneath the ship's bridge. “Hey! You!”

The Dopant snarled in fury. “What?! Half-and-half freak?!” The next moment, Hail suddenly felt like he was being glared at, even though his enemy's face was presently a visor.

“Now, count up your sins!” called both voices, the rider pointing a hoof at the monster with a flourish.

Hail roared in fury, opening fire with an onslaught of icy bullets. Double retaliated with an onslaught of yellow energy shots, countering his, then firing several shots in different directions, all of which curved to hit home on the Dopant at once, knocking him backwards across the airship deck in a shower of sparks.

“You know, I'm a forgiving pony,” said Shou's voice, a dead seriousness about it. “But excuse me if it takes me awhile to forgive you for the horseapples you've pulled.”

The monster gave a furious snarl, firing several more times, only for Double to do a wing assisted spin jump to dodge, firing when he came back around, the curving shots slamming into Hail's chest and staggering him.

The Kamen Rider then did several more curving shots, doing a roll to dodge still more in retaliation as his own hit home. Double spun around, doing a spread shot with all the blasts converging on the Dopant and sending him crashing to the wood.

“Stupid half-and-half freak!” screamed the Dopant, sending a freezing blast of cold air at the Rider to force him to dodge, then leaping back into the clouds.

The two-in-one detective noticed the storm clouds lowering themselves down to below the balloon supporting the airship. “Uh oh...”

“Oh boy...” muttered Rainbowshine as she and Akiko landed on the roof with the Guards, looking up at the low hanging storm clouds.

Suddenly, hail bullets slammed into the armored warrior from behind, knocking him to the roof. He turned and aimed, only for the ice shots to come from another direction, forcing him to roll out of the way. “So that's why he stole these clouds!” Shou's voice exclaimed, the Double Rider having to dodge more icy projectiles but taking a few more to the chest, knocking him to the ground in a shower of sparks.

“It appears in a storm cloud such as this his movement speed increases, we are at a disadvantage,” Philip pointed out.

As ice bullets continued to rain down, Akiko and the guards took cover, the Guards using their armor to keep Gina and Hope protected.

“Do we always get shot at this often?!” asked Akiko in annoyance.

“Tell me about it!” exclaimed Shou, doing a roll to evade still more shots. “We need HardTurbuler!”

“I agree...Where's the Stag Phone?” Philip's voice asked.

Double's left hoof raised. “Uh...” he then had to duck another bullet. “...Still patrolling Gina's house...”

Rainbowshine slammed a hoof into her forehead. “Shou, you can be such an idiot sometimes!”

“Hey! Cut me some slack, I had to rest from using Trigger!” yelled Shou's voice, right as several shots from Hail floored him again. “Dang it!”

“Wait...” Akiko asked, cocking her head. “He needs the phone to call his bike?!”

“Yeah, it's not like he has a transmitter embedded in his brain or something,” Rainbowshine muttered in annoyance.

“Ah!” the young mare exclaimed, going into her saddlebags and presenting her Stag Phone in her mouth triumphantly. “I've got mine!...How do I call it?”

Rainbowshine stared for a few moments in shock. “...Credit where it's due, that was smart, type in this code...”

“What?” Double asked, looking over...and getting himself shot a few times with hail. “Stop shooting me while I'm thinking!” he yelled, holding a hoof to his smoking chest in pain.

Suddenly, the black and red HardTurbuler rose out of the clouds nearby.

“Yes! I did it!” exclaimed Akiko proudly, fluttering a few feet into the air in excitement. It then began emitting a busy signal. “Ah! I still don't know how to hang it up!”

“Good work, Schoolyard Fi-OW!” yelled the two-in-one rider as a slipper was thrown with pinpoint accuracy and hit him square in the face, followed by a barrage of ice bullets slamming into his back.

“I'm not a schoolyard filly!”

“Ugh...let's just finish this guy!” Shou's voice muttered, the Rider dodging another barrage of shots and leaping onto the HardTurbuler. The craft took off into the air, heading above the clouds. “You know, I hope one day we get to use HardSplasher, but not many situations were it'd come in handy come up in Cloudsdale...”

Hail emerged from the clouds, opening fire on the Rider. Double turned sharply to the right, dodging the bullets and opening fire with the built in guns of the Ride Machine, but Hail dove back into the clouds and reappeared quickly in another spot, sending more shots. The two then swung around each other, Hail through the clouds and Double on the HardTurbuler, dodging the others' shots and returning their own. However, the moment Double tried to raise the Trigger Magnum to fire a tracking shot, Hail dove back into the clouds.

“Darn it!” yelled Shou's voice, swerving hard to the right to evade more shots, this time behind him. “We still need to get a bead on him when we're actually firing. We can't get a target!”

“We need to catch him off guard...” Philip's voice replied. “Or anticipate where he's going to show up next.”

“Until then we're a boat with a shark circling us....Wait! That's it! Time to switch up who's the shark!”

A few moments later, Hail burst out of the clouds, ready to fire...then stopped when he noticed the two-in-one Kamen Rider was nowhere to be seen. “Huh? Where did the half-and-half freak go?!”

“Right here!”

The monster spun around just in time for the HardTurbuler to burst out of the clouds behind him, Double with the Trigger Magnum in hoof atop it. An onslaught of yellow energy bullets erupted from the weapon, arching through the air and slamming into Dopant, getting a series of sharp yelps.

Before the Dopant could recover, Double's right hoof fired off the HardTurbuler's guns, blasting the monster repeatedly and driving him back through the clouds.

Zipping down under the clouds, Double and the HardTurbuler slammed into the kaijin from below, carrying him up into the air and causing him to fall off of the front of the Ride Machine.

“Consider this your payment for killing Skyquake,” Shou's voice said with venom in his tone. The Rider jumped off of the Turbuler and did a dive at the monster, firing a barrage of tracking shots that all hit home on the creature at once. As the smoke and sparks cleared, Double flipped forwards and drove a powerful buck straight into Hail's chest. The Rider's momentum drove both straight through the clouds and slammed Hail hard into the deck of the airship, breaking some boards.

“We missed everything...” Akiko muttered with a pout.

Rainbowshine gave a sigh and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Nice job with the Stag Phone, rookie.”

“Thanks!” the young mare replied with a wide smile. “Now if only I knew how to hang this up right...” she admitted, the Stag Phone still making a busy signal.

“Let's wrap this up,” Shou's voice said as the Dopant began to get back to it's feet, grabbing the Trigger Memory.

As he prepared to insert it, the deck suddenly quaked and splintered up. “What?!”

A piston fist erupted through the deck, slamming into Double and sending him flying back. The Industry Dopant soon followed in an explosion of splinters and saw dust.

“That thing again?!” Shou's voice asked as the Kamen Rider landed back on the deck.

“Boss?!” asked the Hail Dopant, taking a step back as a small group of Masquerade Dopants rushing out of the doors and the hole the hulking Dopant had created by emerging.



“It appears our suspicions of him being an enforcer of some sort are confirmed,” was Philip's reply.

“Kill her, you moron! Leave this freak to me,” ordered the massive Dopant, giving a surge of steam from his exhaust for emphasis, causing Hail to give a whimper and back up.

The Guards that had been shielding Gina and Hope quickly jumped forwards while Rainbowshine moved Akiko behind her as the Masquerade Dopants closed in on her.

“Dang it...” muttered Rainbowshine, taking a fighting stance.

“Ah! There is another Dopant?! Nopony told me about this!” Akiko exclaimed, producing her slipper.

The wisteria pegasus gave a sigh. “Just stay behind me...”

Double watched as Hail attempted to get an easy shot on his target, and fired a tracking shot, striking and knocking the Dopant to the ground...only to leave himself open to a piston punch from the monster, sending him flying back.

“Your fight's with me,” stated Industry, marching towards him, footsteps sounding like a factory.

“Ugh...he still hits like a train...” Shou voice muttered, Double's left hoof rubbing his chest.

Industry's exhausts began pumping out smoke, the gears in his chest revving up faster.

Double gave a cry of surprise, then used a wing assisted jump, leaping over Industry's out of rhino-like charge, managing to keep Hail on the ground with another onslaught of tracking shots while in the air.

Coming back down, the Rider bucked back with both hind legs, managing to launch himself off of Industry's back, but not doing any damage to the brute.

“Shou, Luna Trigger is incapable of harming the larger Dopant,” Philip's voice explained.

“Yeah, I know, but if I switch to Heat Metal, Hail's gonna kill Gina!” Shou's replied, the Rider doing a jumping spin to evade Industry's blows while firing another salvo of tracking shots at Hail, forcing the Dopant back down as it kept trying to line up its shot.

The Guards present did their duty and began holding off the Masquerade Dopants to the best of their abilities, trying to keep them as far away from the Griffin and the little hybrid.

Rainbowshine intercepted a swing directed at Akiko, using one hoof to throw the blow off track, then swung forwards with her other, slamming her hard hoof into the back of it's neck, knocking to the ground. When another attempted to strike, she ducked under the blows, driving a hoof straight into the monster's throat, sending it staggering back, choking, allowing her to fly up and kick out with both hind legs directly to the head, sending it to the deck.

Akiko's jaw dropped. “Y-You can fight?!”

“At what point did I imply otherwise?” the mare asked, ducking under a blow and using her wings to do a backflip and toss the Masquerade Dopant into another that was fighting the guard. “I'm just not strong enough to fight the bigger Dopants.

“Why aren't you the Kamen Rider?!” Akiko asked in disbelief.

“The Double Driver's bonded to Shou and Philip, can't answer why. And they're more in sync than I could ever hope to be with either of them, swapping one of them out would be weakening Double.”

“Oh...”

Akiko then screamed, having to fly back from a Masquerade Dopant lunging at her.

“Akiko!” yelled Rainbowshine, the mare having to do a buck to a Masquerade's leg, then a quick punch to it's head to take it down, but several others made the jump at her.

The young mare screamed and started throwing slippers at it. “Get away!”

While distracted, and very very confused, the monster still kept rushing after her...until a set of talons latched onto it's shoulders and hoisted it into the air, using it's own momentum to send it crashing through one of the windows of the bridge.

“Gina?” Akiko asked, watching the griffon land and quickly roared to throw another Masquerade Dopant off guard enough for one of the Guards to give it a shoulder toss. “You...”

“Shou has helped me...a lot...” was the Griffin's reply. “And these things are trying to hurt my baby,” she explained, keeping herself between the monsters and her daughter. “I'm not as good of a fighter as I wish I was, but I'm an official of this city...after all your friend's done for it and me, I thought saving your flank was a decent way to pay him back.”

Akiko slowly nodded, then gave a scream, flying up and dodging a swipe from a Masquerade Dopant, landing on it's shoulders and pounding it with the slipper in her mouth. While more of a nuisance than anything else, it distracted it long enough for Gina to tackle it with a flying charge, staggering it back and finally giving Rainbowshine the opening needed to knock it to the deck with a well placed buck to the back of the head.

Double gave a cry of pain as Industry revved up the train framework on his arm and punched him in his chest, nearly knocking him through the railing at the edge of the deck.

“This is getting us nowhere...” muttered Shou's voice.

“That's it, a few more seconds...” cackled Hail's now insane voice.

Double gasped as he saw Hail preparing to take his shot at Gina, Industry now charging right at the rider as well, standing right between the two. “...Wait a second...”

Double took out the Trigger Memory and put it into the Trigger Magnum before pulling up the rectangular piece coming off the bottom up to form a longer barrel.

TRIGGER! MAXMIUM DRIVE!

The half-and-half detective flapped his wings to support himself so he could brace the Trigger Magnum with both hooves as yellow energy began to gather in the barrel and a charge up noise began to sound.

“Trigger Full Burst!” yelled Shou and Philip at the same time, letting loose the attack in the form of a massive barrage of supercharged yellow energy bolts.

Industry skidded to a stop and shielded himself with his front forelegs in response...only for all the shots to fly right past him. “What?!” the Dopant asked, looking around as the powerful blast continued to fly past him. “Are you even trying to hit me?”

“No!” called Double, the last of the blasts flying past the Dopant and the Rider resting the smoking weapon on his shoulder.

Industry cocked his head, then turned slowly as the 'missed' shots all curved and converged in the Hail Dopant's direction. “Oh...Oh...Oh horseapples...”

Hail saw the yellow light coming towards him and turned just in time to see the gigantic swarm of energy blasts about to nail him head on. All he could do was give a frightened whimper as they slammed into him full force.

Gina shielded her face with her wings as Hail gave off a scream of pain and exploded in a massive fireball, leaving nothing but a shattered Hail Memory laying on the ground next to an unconscious Diamond Dog.

“Consider that your payment for their tears,” Shou's voice quipped with a serious edge. While Industry Dopant was staring in disblief, the Rider sent a barrage of tracking shots, each slamming into a different Masquerade Dopant that had been attacking, causing the weakened food soldiers to explode and leave behind unconscious Gaia Memory Dealers and broken Memories.

Gina gave a sigh of relief, walking over and hugging Hope. “Thank Celestia...”

Rainbowshine looked to the Guards. “Alright, stallions, let's do our job,” she ordered, producing her hoofcuffs.

Akiko produced her slipper. “And I shall do mine...” The young mare then proceeded to begin pummeling the dealers who were still somewhat conscious into submission with her slipper.

“You...you...” snarled Industry, snapping back to the Rider and charging, his fist going through the railing behind him and shattering it to splinters as Double barely managed to get out of the way in time. The monster slammed his piston hoof into the Rider's chest to knock him into the air, winding up the railroad armature on his other arm. “I'm not letting you make a fool of me!”

“Well this gonna hurt,” muttered Shou's voice voice right as the monster slammed the arm down on his back and drove him straight through the deck into the room below, ripping through after him.

“Come on!” Rainbowshine called, pulling Akiko along and through the hole after Double and his enemy.

“Ah! But I still haven't hit them all with my slipper yet!”

As the guards continued arresting the criminals, Rex slowly got back to his paws. The Diamond Dog looked down at his shattered Hail Memory, ears going back and a look of fear forming on his face. “I need to get out of here...”

As the defeated Dopant tried to flee, he found his hind legs snatched by talons. He was promptly pulled around face to face with a furious griffin.

“You killed Skyquake...” Gina stated, claws trembling. “You took him from me!” the female griffon snarled in a mix of rage and sorrow.

The Diamond Dog trembled at the look in her eyes, ears pinned back.

“You took my little Hope's father from her! All for a couple of bits!” the widow roared, tears beginning down her face, but the sheer rage never leaving.

The Diamond Dog was whimpering by this point, ears pinned back and tail between his legs. “I-It was a lot of bits...” he said desperately.

She shut him up by putting a talon to his throat, causing him to gulp. She kept it there for a few moments...then took in a massive breath of air and let loose a loud, furious roar directly in his face, leaving him a trembling mess. She noted a wet spot forming on the deck beneath the Diamond Dog.

“...You've hurt my daughter enough without her seeing another murder,” the furious griffon spat, dragging the now terrified Diamond Dog to the Guard. “I just wanted to see you squirm...”

After handing over the assassin to the Guard, Gina just hugged her baby close and nuzzled her. “...The bad guy's gone Hope...it's over...”

Hope looked...calmer. Like a weight had been lifted. “I'm glad mama...” she said, returning the nuzzle.

---

Double gave a cry of pain as he was sent flying through a table in the dining hall they'd been in previously. “Gah...well, he's still tough...” Shou's voice groaned, opening fire with the Trigger Magnum, but the energy shots doing nothing to slow Industry Down. The hulking Dopant charged, forcing the two-in-one Kamen Rider to roll out of the way as he plowed through a wall.

“And your previous method of driving him off isn't going to work here, Shou,” Philip's voice replied. “Even if we utilize Heat Metal, we will need a new plan.”

“Yeah...”

Double had to roll out of the way again as the floor where he was standing was pulverized by Industry's piston fist, sending bits of wood flying in all directions.

Looking up, the half-and-half detective found himself right next to the glass bottom area. His eyes wandered up to the very large chandelier, which could be lowered for maintenance if needed.

“Philip, how sturdy do you think that is?”

Double had to leapfrog over the Dopant, but was burned by a blast of hot exhaust from it's vents. The Dopant stepped on the tempered glass, but it seemed to bend, not break.

Double's right eye flashed red. “Airships are prepared to handle turbulence and other kinds of airborne hazards. If it's hanging, it would need to be extremely durable by necessity to withstand potential impacts with the walls during flight.”

“Alright, I've got a plans!”

“After you transform back, I will make sure to have medical supplies prepared for your return.”

“Hey!”

Double was sent flying back in a shower of sparks, but managed to use his wings to catch himself, dodging another strike and landing right in front of the glass pane. “On second thought the medical supplies might be a good idea...”

As Industry charged, Double did a flip, landing on his back and using him as a springboard for a wing assisted jump, swapping Memories mid leap.

CYCLONE! CYCLONETRIGGER!

Landing on top of the chandelier, Double wrapped a leg around the center portiona and fired the Magnum multiple times to the side, the high pressure air shots acting like a jet to propel the chandelier into a high speed spin. “Alright, here we go...” he muttered, firing a shot of air at the pulleys holding it up.

Industry looked up just in time to see the rapidly spinning chandelier be swung as it fell downward into his ribcage, the momentum resulting in one of the arms forcing the massive Dopant off the ground.

METAL! CYCLONEMETAL!”

“Sorry, big guy, here's your stop!” yelled Shou's voice as he drove a wind powered smash into Industry's head, dislodging him and sending him falling hard into the glass pane.

Industry screamed out as the once sturdy piece of glass shattered to bits and he plummeted from the airship, disappearing far below.

Double panted, slumping on the Metal Shaft. “I doubt that's the last we'll see of that big lug...”

“Yes, considering the strength of his armor, it is highly unlikely that fall did more than wound him...but it will keep him away for now...”

“Yeah...let's go check on Gina and Hope...”

---

With Hail defeated, and the Gaia Memory Factory soon to be exposed for what it was, the shattered family will finally have a chance to heal.

Gina and Hope stood in their living room with Shou still watching, the mother talking with her daughter while looking about a picture of Hurricane Tower when the renovations would be completely.

---

At the very least, Hope's smile is missing a good deal less.

Taking a break, Gina played pretend with her daughter playing dolls. The child smiling bright and real, enjoying every moment.

---

And with his murder resolved, hopefully Skyquake will be able to rest in peace.

Gina put a flower on a grave marked with a cloud being fractured as if by an earthquake, hugging her sad child close with bittersweet look on both their faces.

---

As for Rex, he's being interrogated by the Royal Guard. When they're done, he will face Princess Celestia in Canterlot for his crimes.

Rex sat silently at a desk in a dark prison room, guards grilling him. Every time he tried to speak the name of his employer, a strange symbol on his upper arm glowed and he felt like a gag was around his mouth. The symbol was a stylized T that seemed formed from lips.

I imagine life in prison will be his 'payment' for his services to his employers.

---

Renovation on Hurricane Tower should begin soon. Gina and Skyquake's work would soon bare fruit, as soon as the Guard did some weeding.

In the shadow of Hurricane tower, a squad of Royal Guards watched the hidden entrance through binoculars, preparing to move in.

---

And thus the case of the threatened council'mare' finally ends. Justice is done, and healing can soon begin.

“Ugh...” groaned Shou, leaning back from his typewriter, closing his eyes. “Using both sets of Memories and fighting two Dopants...definitely one of my more tiring cases...”

Akiko was busy flipping her Stag Phone open and closed. “Why can't I have the Memory?”

“Cause there's only Pseudo Memory for the Stag Phone, and they're a lot harder to come by than the gadgets...” the black pegasus explained.

“Huh? Where do you get those?” Akiko questioned.

“A mysterious benefactor,” Shou explained, giving a sigh. “They send us the Memories and blueprints, Philip takes it from there.”

“Oh...”

Rainbowshine sighed, a quill in her mouth filling out paperwork. “You're lucky, I've got to go through a ton of paperwork to get anything sent to me...” she muttered. “Speaking of which, a special squad is going to take out that Memory factory. Still haven't gotten anything out of Rex though. Seems his bosses made sure he couldn't spill the beans.”

Shou cocked his head. “What happened?”

“One of them placed this weird mark on him,” Rainbowshine explained. “Whenever he tries to mention anything relating to his superiors, it glows and he literally can't say it...called it the 'Taboo pony's curse.'”

Shou gave a gasp.

The floor exploded in a blast of pink energy, forcing the pegasus and unicorn to take cover. A strange black and red creature with an elongated lower half flew from the hole it had just blown.

The stallion had to steady himself a little bit as trembling started again. “...Yeah...At least once that factory gets taken down Gina and her family will stay safe even if we got nothing out of the jerk...That family deserves their peace...”

---

Philip stood in the library, book floating closed in front of him. “It's still so strange...why did seeing that family cause this?” he questioned, holding up a trembling hoof. “Could it be...my family?”

Author's Note:

I will explain one thing here, I decided to kind of do a focus switch on this arc.

In the original episode, the focus was on the child more than the mother, here I felt flipping that would make it more unique and not just a transcript, and have some emotional moments with Shou you can't have between an adult and a child.

Hope that worked!

Comments ( 5 )

So, we got a little bit of bonding between Gina and Shou over the loss of someone important to them.

And just like in canon, Double got to show how Luna-Trigger can control the directions of the shots it fires.

Akiko getting a spare Stag Phone proved to be a very good thing, since Shou went and left his in Live Mode.

Philip is starting to have some flashbacks to his own family.

Also:

“I am a scientist. Experiments are what I do, yes,” the unicorn replied with a rather proud grin. “Though I do admit, my superior enjoys his far more than I do mine.”

“Ugh, don't remind me of that freak,” Chain Link replied, looking unnerved. “Even by this business' standards that guy's a psycho.”

“Oh come now, afraid of somepony who takes his Gaia Memory research that seriously?” asked Cold Facts, giving a chuckle. “Then again, I will admit, he crosses lines I will not. But the data he's gathered on Dopant physiology alone is invaluable to production over all. I believe it is worth putting up with his eccentricities, yes?”

It's come together. My brain cells are in top gear. They could only be talking about Isaka Shinkuro, the stallion with the W Memory.

Awesome ^_^ I must read this soon.
I've been working on something that looks like it might be kind of similar, and I'm amazed by how much I see in common just from the description page. (Though enough differences too, so I hope I'm not treading on your toes). I'd seen quite a few Kamen Rider crossovers, but when I started I hadn't come across any W ones. So this will be a joy to read ^_^

You know, when I first saw the title, I thought of Frieza. Was that intentional?

4374251 The video is broken. Please fix it.

Kamen Rider W gets a lot of crossover love I've noticed. Which is weird since a lot of the other series work just as well in Equestria.

I'm looking at you Wataru and Haruto.

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