A Golden Drive Through Equestria

by Psyga315

Dazzling Adagio Arc 3: What Will Quell These Flames?

The following hour, Ross and I returned to CHS. Ivan went with us as well, but he decided to explore the city and try to find Kim. The image of Yang’s amputation persisted in my head. It was something I tried to shake off, though it still lingered in my head. Not because of the image itself, but because of how easy it would be for me to actually do it.

As it stands, Banno is still stuck in the Lapis Lazuli program. I could repair his belt, but that would no longer be needed with Krim out and about. All that’s left is to see if Mach and Chaser were in the area and Banno will no longer be needed. While that idea helped alleviate some anxiety I had, it still didn’t fix the other problem.

I had slowly and surely acted like Ryoma Sengoku throughout my time here. What’s to say that I wouldn’t succumb to my dark urges?

I then noticed some people doodling in the gym… Wait… What? I thought we were done the Fall Formal!

I walked in, then tried to scope out where I could find Celestia or even Applejack.

“SUNSET SHIMMER! OVER HERE!” Well, that didn’t take too long. I looked over to where Pinkie Pie shouted from and immediately went over. As I did, so too did Sunset. We both had an awkward look at each other. Ross came not too long after.

“So… Mind if I ask what the f… hell is going on here?” I asked Applejack.

“It’s goin’ to be the first ever Canterlot music festival!” Applejack said.

“We just had a festival though.” I said with a strained voice.

“Well… Before I ruined it…” Sunset looked back as she saw students staring back at her… Glad I’m not the only one who was keeping a close eye on her.

“It’s okay. You can change now.” Ross said. Of course, he’d be kissing her ass.

“Besides, the music festival is going to help pay for the damages that was caused.” Fluttershy added.

“Ah, so trick the people into paying for the expenses via donations. I like it.” As I said that, Applejack went over and elbowed my rib.

“Thought ya’d be a little nicer without Mr. Robot Belt on your waist.” Applejack said.

“He’s his own person, Applejack. He has nothing to do with how I am.” I said to him.

“Not to mention that the Grimm are responsible for most of the damage.” Ross added.

“By the way, how did Celestia and Luna explain that to the media? I’m sure the public would love to listen to how werewolves raided the school.” As I said that, the group looked at each other and shrugged.

“Yeah, that’s the weird thing. The news has been on top of the Roidmude reports ever since a bunch of them showed up at the school, but there’s never been any mention of these… Grimm.” Rainbow Dash said.

“And, if we’re being honest, darling, we don’t even know what they are.” Rarity said.

“All I know is that they’re edgy Pokémon. Ross knows a lot more.” As I said that, everyone turned to Ross, who sighed and spoke up.

“So, there’s these monsters from another world called Grimm. They care only for destroying humanity and their creations. A sure-fire way to bring them over is to emit negative emotions or do negative actions. To put simply, get mad, they come. Do evil things? They come.” Sunset began to tear up.

“I did this… This is all my fault.” Sunset huddled and hid her face on her legs, then began to cry. Ross went over and patted her on the back.

“Well, this just gives us a chance to show off my new band.” Rarity looked to Rainbow Dash.

“Your band?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah, my idea to make a band with you guys in it. That and I’m pretty much the lead.” Rainbow Dash said. I walked away as the group began to discuss matters. That’s when I noticed Flash Sentry snoozing at a corner. I went over and kicked his foot.

“Oi, wake up.” Flash instantly jolted awake.

“Huh!? What?! Oh… It’s you.” Flash said before he got up.

“Rough night’s sleep?” I asked him.

“… Something like that. Hey, your car did some crazy things last night…” Flash said.

“I can’t really call it my car anymore. Guess you met Krim?” I asked.

“You know him?” Flash asked back.

“It’s… complicated. Point is, he hijacked my ride and now it’s his. Can’t really do anything about it.” I shrugged.

“He’s a new program you made for your belt, right? He definitely needs some bugs worked out.” Flash said.

“Nah, I didn’t make him. In a way, he made himself.” I said.

“… What? I don’t understand.” Flash said.

“Again, complicated. Also, you saw my car?” I asked him.

“Yeah. Last night, downtown. He even made me a Kamen Rider.” I raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, that’s cool.” I said.

“It’s not! Look, I don’t know this Krim dude is, but I don’t want him to involve me in your fights.” Flash said.

“You were doing great at the Fall Formal, the fuck are you talking about?” I asked him.

“I want to help fight, but not as a Kamen Rider. I know I’ll be held back for that, but I’d rather not be a monster.” Flash said. What is he on about? Not being a monster? I mean, yeah, Kamen Riders tend to have connections to the monsters, but for the most part, they’re like watered down versions of monsters. That said, I couldn’t really fault him.

“Alright, but sooner or later, you will find a plateau in your abilities.” I said.

“I don’t care…” He paused before he spoke up. “Hey, you know when Twilight’s coming back?” Flash asked. I shook my head. “Figures…” He sunk his head.

“I’ll leave you to rest, looks like you need one.” I said to him before taking my leave.

---

I went to the hallways and cleared my head, only for my phone to buzz. I took it out and saw it was a text from Celestia advising me to show some new students around. I gave a sigh and asked where they would be. Once I got the location, I went there. It was there I noticed a trio of girls who were just standing in the shade, two of them had their arms folded with a cocky smirk.

“… Okay. I know where this is going.” I muttered as the three girls stepped out of the shadow and struck a pose. I didn’t even need to see that they all had the same blood red jewel around their necks. “Equestrians, I presume?” I asked them.

“You… could say that.” My question seemed to confuse the purple girl, almost ruining whatever cocky attitude she was trying to imitate from her golden-skinned leader. Out of the three, the only one who I could trust is the blue-skinned girl, who had a meek, bent-knee, hands behind back pose that made her easier to crack than the others.

“Well, you’re not the only ones. Name’s Professor Silverbolt, I’m the school’s scientist.” I decided to keep the cards close to my chest and waited to see who these people were, though, from first impressions alone, I knew they were bad to the bone.

I led them across the school, introducing them to the various faculties. The girls had the decency to give me their names. Adagio was the golden girl, Aria was the girl with purple twin tails, and Sonata was the meek one. So far, they didn’t seem to play their hand. Either they were good at poker faces or I had a bad read on them.

Given how I had to contend with Sunset Shimmer, I was doubting the latter option.

“Hey, what’s this?” I noticed Sonata point to one of the posters that was put up for the music festival.

“Oh, that? Just some concert made to wring people dry of their money. Get rich quick, y’know?” I asked.

“A concert, huh?” Adagio grinned, then looked to her posse, who smiled back. Their smugness was too much for my liking.

“Oooh! Can we join!? We love music!” Sonata said.

“Yeah, if Celestia says it’s cool, you can join.” Eh, maybe I misjudged them.

“Nice! Oooh, singing is our strong suit! I mean, it’s what we do when we need people to do what we want!” Bingo! Thank you meekass Sonata! That ‘you’re killing us here, bro!’ look from Adagio sells it

“What she means to say is that we-” Yeah, yeah, salvage this all you want, Adagio…

“Have the ability to hypnotize people into doing your bidding. Yeah, yeah, I got it.” I put my fists up and gave a nod. Adagio sighed, then opened her mouth, the two girls following.

“Aaaaaaahhhh~!” They sang a melodious chorus to me and suddenly… I froze. They patted me on the back and as they left…

Well, I guess I was wrong about them after all. They seemed like good people. I relaxed my muscles, not even knowing why I was going to attack them, and went about my merry way.

---

“So that’s where that golden soldier is?” The Dark Swan asked the Roidmude as they stood on a tall rooftop overlooking CHS.

“Yeah. A full-scale assault will do us no good. Reinforcements proved that it would be disastrous. The better approach is the art of subtlety.” 050 responded.

“The Sirens have already infiltrated the school. All we need now is for our mark to infect the others with Seeker’s tattoos and the school will be rife with negative energy.” Svengallop said.

“Enough for the Grimm to come… It’ll be a buffet for them.” The Dark Swan smirked.

“Not really.” 050 added. “The wonder about alternate universes is that there’s so many different nasties.” 050 said before he took out a pearl oyster shell.

“Ew! No! I’m not wiping my ass with that!” The Dark Swan said.

“What? No! Inside rests a monster who craves food. Obviously, we can’t feed humans to it, lest we get people involved… But Grimm…” As he said that, the Dark Swan began to smirk.

“And if it eats a lot of it… Then it could perhaps be a greater sum of Grimm…” He held his dagger before giving a smirk.

“Exactly… If we were to fuse that with a Roidmude, we’d be unstoppable.” 050 said.

“Now… let’s ring the dinner bell.” Svengallop held the red Viral Core as 050 fused with him, transforming into the Seeker Roidmude. He then snapped his fingers.

---

As I was about to go back to the girls and talk to them about the lovely trio I had just met, I suddenly heard the sounds of battle happening in the very gym I left. I ran back to the gym, only to see students fighting against one another. One of them fell by my feet. With a sigh, I casually held the student’s hand with my foot and had their palm splayed out. There, I saw a red outline of a half moon with a small, almost completed blue circle.

“Fuck. Seeker’s here.” I muttered. The Seeker Roidmude was perhaps one of the more ruthless of the Roidmudes, capable of turning people against each other by amplifying their negative emotions. The scarier part was what the Roidmude was able to do. Working with the daughter of a criminal, they gaslighted Kamen Rider Mach, Shijima Gou, into almost becoming a murderer. With that kind of mind game and the fact that the Roidmudes retained their memories, Seeker was perhaps one of the most feared Roidmudes I planned to face.

Immediately, I looked for Sunset and the gang. Thankfully, I didn’t need to go far.

“Kelly!” Ross called to me as I saw the group. “Kelly, there’s these three girls and they’ve brainwashed the students into fighting each other!”

“Huh? Oh! You met them! Well, hate to say it, but this isn’t their doing.” I shook my head.

“Kelly, we saw it with our own eyes. These creepy girls with red gems came in and started singing about wanting a battle of the bands. Then, next thing we knew, these guys started attacking one another!” Applejack said.

“Well, that’s awfully nice of them to spice up the fest. Though, this is the work of a Roidmude.” As I said that, Sunset looked at me oddly.

“… They brainwashed you too, didn’t they?” Sunset asked.

“Naaaaah, they’re cool. Let them do their little battle of the bands. What’s the harm in friendly competition?” That’s when Rarity took out her compact mirror and showed me my eyes. Now, I had some good ol’ chocolate eyes, but now? They’re full on green with evil… Except I don’t have a large mecha Godzilla in samurai armor or a cool ass dagger. “… Fuck. Welp, I can’t fix that. The Roidmudes’ brainwashing often has a countermeasure because their membrane is made of a compound similar to the cerebral cortex-”

“English!” Rainbow Dash said.

“Roidmude brainwashing, I can handle. Magic brainwashing? No siree! If I was truly brainwashed by these girls like you said, I can’t help you.” I said to them.

SOIYA! ORANGE SLICE! CUT THROUGH! TWICE!

I turned to see Flash Sentry pull out the two mini-Daidaimarus before a couple of students and sighed.

“This, though? I can handle. You girls get somewhere safe, figure out how to reverse the magic brainwashing, and for the love of God, wear some gloves!” I said.

“What about you? Your Drivers are busted!” Ross added.

“This is a kid who’s lost all sense of rational. All I gotta do is tire him out. Just hope I can remember my taekwondo classes.” I said as I got into a stance. Before Ross could say anything, his phone rang, as did Flash’s. While Flash didn’t pay attention to his phone, Ross did, and instantly got it.

“What is it?” Ross asked. After a moment, he spoke up. “On my way!” Ross hung up. “That was Oxton, there’s Grimm coming to the school!”

“Then go get ‘em, tiger!” I said before I instantly gagged. “No, no, I take back the tiger comment.” As Ross and the others left, I immediately ran to Flash and did a small hop, kicking him in the face as it stunned him.

“Ow! Out of the way, Professor!” Flash held his two blades as I shook my head.

“It’s a battle of the bands, not a battle royale. You’re not allowed to kill people.” I shook my head.

“But isn’t that the best way to wipe out the competition?” Flash asked.

“Not unless the guy running it is President Snow.” As my reference confused him, I took my opportunity to axe kick his shoulder, the sudden pain causing him to drop one of his daggers. Immediately, I picked it up and clashed with his other dagger.

“Must you always be a pain, teach?” Flash growled.

“Wouldn’t be a teacher if I wasn’t. Now, pop quiz!” I kicked him right in the balls. Turns out, when your negative emotions are amped up to eleven, so too does pain. As Flash keeled over and winced in pain, I took the liberty of removing his Driver from his waist. “You be a good little boy and play by the rules. I’ll hold onto this in the meantime.” I was careful not to let his hand touch mine as I quickly took the Driver away and leaped back. Immediately, I ran out of the gym, making sure to pull the fire alarm on the way out so as to trigger the sprinkler system and get the authorities involved.

The next part of the plan was to hide the Driver so that Flash doesn’t get to it. After that, I play the role of unsuspecting dumbass. With the knowledge that I’ve been brainwashed, I figured it was time to pull a trick from Gou’s book, in which, shortly after the Seeker Roidmude incident, he faked joining with the Roidmudes by pretending to be brainwashed. Of course, I had the added benefit of actually being brainwashed… It’s… weird.

Like, I know I’m brainwashed and yet, I still feel my brain being… well, washed. I remembered the song they sang, which became a small command: “we’re just nice girls, don’t question it”. And, I guess that’s what I’m going to be doing. The most I can do now is sit back and wait for the others to find a way to reverse this. While I’m no use with this case, Seeker was someone I can handle. All I gotta do is make some repairs…

---

Ross rode on the Rose Attacker after he got the girls to safety. According to Oxton, the Grimm were sighted just before downtown. He took the highway to get to downtown quicker.

Vrrrroooom!

Just then, Ross noticed a golden motorcycle behind him… Bumblebee. Yang’s bike… Or, Kim in this case. Ross tried to steer in a way that would disorientate her, though she managed to see through it and just drove forward. Once Ross was in her sight, she punched forward with her gauntlet, firing a small fire bomb that knocked Ross upwards. As the motorcycle he was on reverted to a padlock, Ross wrapped himself in his cape and flew down to the pavement, Crescent Rose fully deployed. Kim swerved to a halt, then got off.

“See your leg has healed.” She said.

“Took some rest, but I’m right as rain now.” Ross replied.

“Gonna break it all over again.” Kim smirked before she cracked her knuckles. “Followed by your neck.” Ross slammed Crescent Rose’s top against the pavement to act as a stand for its sniper mode.

“Long range beats melee range, miss.” Ross said.

“I prefer to be called sir!” As Kim ran in, Ross noticed something leap in between them.

“NO! STOP!” It was Shadow… No… Blake. She looked at Kim, then winced. “… Yang…”

“Oh no…” Ross muttered as Blake took off the bone-white mask she wore. She stared at Kim, tears in her eyes. She trembled before Kim, completely defenseless.

“I’m sorry… But… I had to leave… I didn’t want you to be hurt!” Blake cried out. Kim just blankly stared at her.

“I have no care for you.” As Kim said that, Blake lightly winced. “All I see is a traitor…” As Blake looked at Kim with fear, Kim stepped over and shoved Blake out of the way. “That must be killed.”

“Blake!” Ross ran to her side before Kim grabbed him and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Ross barely got up as Kim kicked his face. Bits of blood spilled onto the road before Kim cocked her gauntlet.

“End of the line.” She fired...

At an empty patch of road. Kim was confused before she noticed a blue light that had scooped Ross and Blake before setting them back up. As the light faded, Oxton stood next to Ross and Blake.

“Tracer! What are you doing here!?” Blake asked.

“Don’t worry, love. The calvary’s here!” With that, Oxton ran in, firing her pulse pistols at Kim, who deflected them with her metal arm. As Kim was distracted with that, Ross flew in and jabbed Kim in the gut. She managed to tank it and punch Ross down. Just before she was ready to put Ross down for the count, Oxton got into close range and smacked her across the face. Kim staggered as Ross got up.

“Prioritize on kicks!” Ross said as Oxton nodded. The two pulled off a synchronized front kick and while she blocked them, the force of it knocked her off balance. Ross used Crescent Rose as a pole vault to dropkick Kim as Oxton ran and slid across the ground to do a sliding kick. Both these knocked her on the ground. However, she quickly turned herself around and let her face hit the pavement. The resulting impact hurt her, but as Ross predicted, it also powered her.

Kim got up and immediately countered a kick from Ross with a punch to the knee. Ross winced in pain before he reeled back.

“Seems I found a weak spot…” She then eyed Oxton’s chest plate. “Make that two…” Easily, she predicted Oxton’s attack and punched her square in the chest, breaking the core that powered it. As it dimmed and faded out, Oxton suddenly disappeared in a flash of violet light… Then reappeared in a different spot, before she reappeared at a different spot. Ross was familiar with this sort of teleportation. It was similar to how Displaced were summoned. It didn’t distill the shock he felt seeing Oxton seemingly vanish from the face of the earth.

“Yang! Stop this! If it’s because of me, then I’m sorry!” Blake cried out. Ross turned to her.

“That’s not Yang! She’s like me, dressed up to be like her!” Ross said. Blake looked at Kim’s metal arm, then remembered…

“You’re right… She lost her other arm…” Blake muttered before she got up.

“So, we have a fraidy cat and a limper…” Kim chuckled and shrugged. “This is all too easy…” Kim said before she leaped into the air. She remained in the air for a moment while her body eclipsed the sun. She then slammed onto the ground like a meteor, smashing the asphalt apart and knocking Ross into the air. She followed it up with a jumping punch and a slam that knocked Ross down. As Ross struggled to get up, Kim sped up to Ross and decked him across the face, knocking him down.

Blake fired at Kim with the gun in her sword’s hilt. They barely scratched her skin and all it did was make her the target. Kim charged at Blake, who reacted with a slash across the chest. While it cut through her jacket and shirt, her aura tanked the blow to her skin. With Kim now within arms reach, Blake tried to get the strawberry-themed padlock before Kim grabbed her, her metal arm squeezing Blake while the gauntleted arm was pinned to her chin. As Ross got up, he saw Kim holding Blake.

“One more step and she’s chunky salsa!” Kim said.

“Blake!” Ross screamed out before he clutched his knee in pain.

“Now… If you want her to live, it’s best you use Crescent Rose on yourself and die.” Kim said. Ross was hesitant, though Kim shook her head. “You have three… two… one-” As Blake closed her eyes and Kim readied to end Blake…

BANG!

A bullet whizzed past Ross and Kim, with the bullet being so close to her that it pierced her eardrum.

“AAAH!” She clutched her ear in pain as Blake, now let go, ran off. Ross noticed Ivan standing next to Ross, holding a police standard pistol with a smoking barrel.

“Kimberly… It’s time to return home…” Ivan said.

“My name isn’t Kimberly! It’s Yang!” Kim shouted.

“No! That’s who you are dressed up to be! You’re a Displaced! We can help you!” Ross said.

“I don’t need help! All I need is to serve the Roidmude King, and that means eliminating all threats to our kind!” Kim said.

“That’s not who you are though! You’re Kimberly Locksley, you graduated from Beverly Hills High and on the night of prom, you vanished.” As Ivan said that, Kimberly began to clutch one side of her head. At first, Ross assumed she still had a hearing problem, but then he noticed that the apparent pain was behind her ear. Ivan put away his gun and walked towards Kimberly. “Please, come home… Everyone misses you…” Ivan extended a hand to Kim… However, she began to mutter as her hair began to glow fiery yellow.

“Shut up…” Ivan stopped dead in his tracks. “Shut up… Shut up… SHUUUUT UP!” She screamed and fired a blast at Ross and Ivan…

VROOM!

Only for the Tridoron to intervene and block the hit.

“I came just in time!” Krim said as the door opened. “Hurry! Get in!” Ivan looked at the belt inside, then reached in to grab it. “W-what are you doing!?”

“Krim! Get the others to safety, I’m gonna use this to fend her off…” Ivan said.

“Wait, what do you mean?” Krim asked.

“It’s clear that something’s wrong with her… Kelly’s right… Words alone can’t get through to her… That’s why…” Ivan put the belt on his waist, followed shortly by getting the bracelet and wearing it. “I need to get her to understand me!”

“You’re… in top gear now…” Krim said.

“Yeah… I’m done thinking about it. It’s time I close this case.” Ivan stood firm as Ross and Blake hopped into the Tridoron. Krim remotely drove the Tridoron away from the battle that would ensue.

“In that case… START YOUR ENGINE!” Krim announced as a miniature highway was constructed around Ivan. The Speed Shift Car drove in the center of the highway, driving towards Ivan’s hand. He grabbed it, then turned the ignition. Swiveling the rear end of the Car, Ivan plugged it into the Brace and pulled it like a lever.

“HENSHIN!” Ivan shouted.

“DRIVE! TYPE… SPEED!” The holographic forcefield appeared around Ivan as clumps of armor snapped onto him, followed by a tire that wrapped around his armor. All while quick jazz played in the background. The inner engines of Ivan’s armor vroomed as his headlight-like eyes shined white.

“If you’re not gonna answer to me, then answer to us. We’re Kamen Rider Drive…” Ivan crouched and got ready to sprint.

“And you’re comin’ along for the ride!” Krim added as Ivan ran towards Kim within two seconds. Kim responded by blocking the punch with her own. The two then grabbed each other as Ivan ran, dragging Kim along. They crashed into an abandoned warehouse as Ivan tossed her across the ground. Kim rolled over and steadied herself while Ivan leaned on one leg.

“Start handing me some Shift Cars, Krim.” Ivan said as a fleet of Shift Cars drove to Ivan. He picked up one, the Max Flare Shift Car, before he swapped out Speed for it and activated it.

“TIRE EXCHANGE! MAX FLARE!” His tire was replaced with a spiky flaming wheel. The wheel spun as Ivan flicked the lever a few times. “FLA-FLA-FLARE!” It generated enough flames for Ivan to fling fireballs at Kim’s own fireballs. They ran across the warehouse, throwing projectiles at each other. Each one missed their mark. It was to the point where they ran to the edge of the warehouse. Once Ivan realized there was a sudden stop, Kim took her advantage and landed a hit on Ivan’s chest. The force of the hit knocked him onto his knees.

“Nnngh!” Ivan grunted as the Wild Shift Car approached him, with the Steering Sword attached to the top.

“Ivan, let’s keep her on her toes by switching types!” Krim advised as Ivan took the Wild Shift Car and swapped it out. “DRIVE! TYPE… WILD!” Hiphop beats began to play as black clusters of armor wrapped around Ivan’s form, changing the sports car motif of Type Speed to a dune buggy theme. Another blast came Ivan’s way, though he blocked it with his shoulder, right where the tire would come and snap into place. He stood up, Steering Sword in hand. He swung his sword and deflected the following blasts from Kim before he ran close to her.

“Hmm… This works like a steering wheel?” Ivan asked, then turned the wheel a few times.

“TURN! TURN! U-TURN!” Just as Kim was about to land a blow on Ivan, he drifted out of the way and struck at her side. He slashed two more times. On the last drift, Ivan picked up the Rumble Dump Shift Car and loaded it into the Shift Brace. “TIRE EXCHANGE! RUMBLE DUMP!” A yellow tire came to replace Wild’s tire and long with it came a large drill. Kim and Ivan punched at the same time, though the drill overpowered her metal arm and shattered it, revealing her normal arm underneath. She was knocked over as Ivan switched out Rumble Dump for Midnight Shadow. “TIRE EXCHANGE! MIDNIGHT SHADOW!”

A large purple shuriken replaced Rumble Dump and, instantly, four copies of Ivan appeared, all of which threw large, purple aural shurikens at Kim. She rolled out of the way and punched one of the copies, which disappeared. The remaining three locked on and threw shurikens at her. She tried to block it with her arm, but the sudden force flung her back. She then looked at her arm and saw the metal casing on it was gone.

“How!? No one’s able to penetrate this kind of metal!” She exclaimed. The copies soon merged with the real Ivan as he walked towards her.

“Because no one tried. But they didn’t have my determination before, and right now, I’m in top gear.” He tried to lend her a hand, but she retaliated with a blast from her shotgun gauntlet. Ivan blocked it with the Steering Sword and as Kim ran in to melee range, he continually blocked it with the Steering Sword. He then turned it around and had Kim punch the button right after he turned the wheel.

“TURN! DRIFT ROTATION!” Ivan spun around and slashed Kim across the gut. She backed up, though her breath was coming short.

“Give it up! I don’t want to hurt you further!” Ivan said to her.

“I don’t think you had hurt her.” Krim said.

“What do you mean?” Ivan asked.

“A person put through that much battle would at least show some bruises, but she’s able to fully function.” As Krim said that, Ivan recalled how Ross mentioned that he and Kim had a forcefield called Aura that would block wounds from being damaging.

“We might need to draw her power out a little longer.” Ivan said.

“Right, switch to Technic!” Krim said as Ivan noticed a green garbage truck. He took it and placed it in the Shift Brace. “DRIVE! TYPE… TECHNIC!” Dynamic music played as green armor replaced his black, making him more appear like a garbage truck. A tire hit his chest as Ivan looked down and noticed his chest cavity was the tire.

“WHAT THE HELL!?” Ivan freaked out.

“Calm down! It’s not actually in your chest!” This distraction gave Kim the advantage to knock Ivan down with a punch to the face. As Ivan rolled over, he quickly grabbed Road Winter and loaded it in. “TIRE EXCHANGE! ROAD WINTER!” The result gave him a tire that, from a bird’s eye view, looked like a snowman. When the head portion loaded into the wheel, the body folded downward, revealing a snowflake design. Ivan then flicked the Shift Car’s lever a few times. “WIN-WIN-WINTER!”

A stream of frost sprayed out of the snowflake, disorientating Kim. Ivan saw that, despite the rough change in temperature, her aura was able to tank it. Still, it gave him an opening for the next Shift Car. “TIRE EXCHANGE! FUNKY SPIKE!” The snowman wheel was replaced by, as the name suggested, a spiky wheel. He got up, grabbed Kim, and had the wheel spin, cutting through most of her aura before he let go and kicked her to the ground.

“There, that should take care of it.” Ivan said. Though, Kim got up and slammed her fists together, exploding into flames and setting her hair on fire. “Crap! That’s what I feared!” Ivan stood firm and anticipated her charged attacks. One punch from her sent Funky Spike’s wheel flying and caused a small dent in his form. He fell down on his back as Kim loomed over him. “Damn it… There’s… no way I can…”

“Ivan, I’m not sure what this power is, but it seems similar to an ability I’ve seen before. If that’s the case, I believe I have the counter for it. Though, it’s going to be costly…” Krim said. Kim tried to step on Ivan, only for him to roll away.

“Do it! I’m not giving up on Kim for a second!” As Ivan said that, the Dead Heat Shift Car came by.

“Alright, but you have to be quick about it… The longer you fight with this, the higher chance you’ll be stuck in a berserker state.” Krim said.

“I’ll take the risk if it means saving her!” Ivan then placed the Shift Car into the brace, causing the belt to shoot out red lighting to the Brace.

“DRIVE! TYPE… DEAD HEAT!” Ivan’s body coursed with red lightning as two wheels circled around Ivan. They danced around him before they collapsed on him, changing his armor quite significantly in contrast to the other armors, having a red chassis over a white, fully detailed undersuit. The only similarity was the tire acting as a sash, borrowed from Type Speed’s armor, though the key difference was a smaller wheel that had a gauge on the hub. Once the armor was completed, Ivan gave out a shout as several explosions went off behind him.

“Keep changing all you want, I’m going to kill you regardless!” Kim punched with her shotgun gauntlet, only for it to hit square in the chest without damaging Ivan at all.

“That won’t happen, Kim… You’re better than that!” Steam was still flowing from Ivan’s armor before it glowed a soft red. Ivan then punched Kim with a red lightning powered fist that knocked her back a bit.

“This can’t be… My Semblance is supposed to make me invincible!” Kim said.

“Not when you rely on it too much… I’m able to predict your next move now!” As though to prove it, he correctly guessed which fist Kim was gonna use and smashed it with his own, sending red lightning from his hand to hers. While Kim landed some hits on him, they did nothing to wear him down, though the same was true for Ivan.

“Careful! The more you hit her, the stronger she gets! If she hits you enough, you’re gonna go berserk!” Krim warned Ivan.

“So be it! It’s my duty to bring Kim home… and I’m going to fulfill it!” As Ivan said that, the gauge on his shoulder went to maximum as the tire shattered, now showing a red cracked outline. Ivan’s eyes flashed white, blinding Kim for a bit while he lands the next few strikes. Kim retaliated with strikes of her own. The resulting combination of hits and strikes resulted in lightning blasting throughout the warehouse and causing several explosions around them. A hit from both of them knocked each other back. The two took a moment to breathe before Kim ran to strike. Ivan responded in kind with a turn of the ignition and a press on the Brace.

“DEAD HEAT!” As the two blows struck each other in the chest, their respective fists landed explosive hits, though the two remained still. Lightning sparked between the two of them before they were engulfed in a large explosion. When the smoke cleared, Ivan was back to his human form, kneeling on one knee as Kim stood for a moment before she fell on her stomach, unconscious.

“I… did it…” Ivan weakly said. He approached Kim and moved her hair back to check her pulse. It was still beating.

“Wait, Ivan… I think I see something… Pull her hair back a little more, right where the back of her ear is.” Krim said. Ivan did just that and even folded the lobe of her ear. That’s when he saw a brand in the shape of a snowflake. “It can’t be… Freeze is involved!”

“What?” Ivan asked.

“Her memories are altered by a Roidmude known as Freeze. There’s an antidote for that, but we need someone to replicate it. I think Silverbolt will be able to do it!” Krim noticed Ivan was grunting in pain. “But first, Mad Doctor! Come over here!” Ivan winced. With a Shift Car named that, he can only expect a world of pain.

---

I went to the library and put away Flash’s Sengoku Driver in a drawer. Maybe as a pet project, I could see what makes it tick and what separates it from my Sengoku Driver. Once I closed the drawer, I heard someone.

“Ah… Finally, huh, Kelly?” I jumped as I saw Banno’s belt on the desk, fully lit.

“Banno! I thought you were broken!” I said.

“I was, but thankfully, your program didn’t account for my form taking damage to the point of shutdown. As such, while I returned to the Lapis Lazuli Program like you programmed it to, it opened a back door to the Driver. With free access to the Driver, I was able to repair myself. I can now freely come back and forth as I please. Credit to where it’s due, I can’t do anything else. You seemed to install countermeasures just for this occasion, I take it.” Banno asked.

“Yeah… You can’t be on anyone’s waist but mine and you certainty can’t transform on your own without explicit approval except from the owner and no, you cannot outright hijack their body like you did with Sunset.” I said.

“You think outside the box… I like that. Were you not so annoying an obstacle, I’d call you my greatest pupil.” Banno said.

“You tried to murder me the moment you broke free, I think we’re past formalities.” I muttered.

“Yes, yes, I won’t lie about that, but we need to take care of the Roidmudes first. Sword has returned.” Banno said.

“As is Seeker. Of the two, Seeker’s the more dangerous one to look out for. He’s already brainwashed the student body into fighting one another. We deal with him first, then Sword.” I said.

“Hmmm…” Banno hummed.

“What is it?” I asked.

“There’s something else, isn’t there? You don’t have to hide it from me…” Banno said. I gulped as I remembered Krim was now active. Even if he’s in transit and is trying to find a new Drive, he’s now in play… If Banno finds out of his existence, who’s to say he wouldn’t prioritize destroying him over everything else?

No, scratch that.

If Krim found out I currently have Banno and that I’m Gold Drive, who’s to say he wouldn’t prioritize destroying me over everything else?

Comments

[Hopelight]

Nice end picture.

[blazikenking]

Golden soldier. For a moment, I suspected Thouser's involvement, but then Kim was mentioned and I remembered. Still though. . .

When the five puns cross, the golden huntress Yang is born. Presented by Beacon.

[Psyga315]

10293588
Well, its referring to Gold Drive.