Kamen Rider Alchemy

by Layton13

Legacy - The Demons of the Past

Everything was quiet in the small home he shared with Thunder. No wonder really, it was four AM. In the morning, not a time for anyone to be up and about, especially if it went his way. He wouldn't have to stand up for another three hours, and he was eternally grateful for that. It had been a day since their last encounter with Alkahest, no Shadow Gold and Platinum Shadow. Ocean had finally calmed down and was more or less back to normal, still a bit more on edge and determined to find Ivory, but who could blame her for that really?

Phoenix was still in his little dream world, not thinking about any of that. He was envisioning a beautiful hill at top Canterlot City, Ocean next to him and the warm summer breeze blowing through their hair. Everything was peaceful, not even the slightest sign of any Corrupted or Dark Rider, just the two of the above the peaceful city. He had always thought about the time all of this was over and what he would do then. Go back to working for Thunder? Join the MRG and help them? Just hang the Rider mantel on the wall to let others deal with it? Ok, the last one really didn't sound that good, but he thought about it sometimes, ultimately arrived at the answer that he couldn't do that.

But one future always seemed quite appealing to him, staying with Ocean, with or without the MRG, it didn't really matter. He was happy with her and this dream just encouraged him more on that path, seeing her next to him in a short summer dress was just a delight he didn't want to miss, not for anything in the world. Her purple eyes staring into his, he forgot everything. She came closer, so did he, both their lips ready for a kiss as-

“Thud!”

With a loud thud, he landed on the floor, face first worst of all, a loud groan escaping his lips as he looked up to the couch he had just been sleeping on. Still sleepy he flailed around wildly with his hand to reach the couch to get back up. Why had he fallen off from the couch in the first place? He just couldn't tell right now, if it was the sleepiness or just because he plainly didn't know was still up in the air. Slowly he dragged himself back up into a sitting position as the door to Thunders bedroom was swung open, a surprisingly unkempt Thunder looking at him, his hair messy and his clothes a complete mess.

“What in all that is holey is going on here? You know I need my beauty sleep, so why make such a ruckus at such a time? Don't you want to sleep?” He groaned back at Phoenix, in his eyes sleepiness and fury were mixing into an unsettling glare.

“I don't know. I just fell from the couch, don't know why I di-” that was when something interrupted the still sleepy Phoenix, the doorbell. Phoenix and Thunder exchanged looks of utter confusion and bafflement, who in their right mind would ring the doorbell at 4 AM. In the morning? That was just not normal. Not even Ocean would pull something like this, and she was always ready when stuff was happening, but she would have just called him on his phone like a semi-normal person, but doorbell? Nope!

They kept staring at each other for a few more seconds until Thunder finally spoke up: “Don't you want to open it? It would be quite rude to not open it, maybe it's important.”

Phoenix started back in even more bafflement, had his brother now lost his mind completely? “Are you for real? It's 4 AM. In the morning! The guy should just come back later like a normal person. And why should I do it? It's your home after all, not mine,” he finally managed to respond, sounding quite annoyed over the demands of his brother.

“But it could be important, and I don't want to miss it. Maybe it's Corrupted related or something. And I can't open the door like this,” he pointed at himself, then his hair and face. “I couldn't face the world after someone saw me like this,” he continued with a conviction that left Phoenix speechless.

“So, let me get this straight, you don't want to open the door yourself because you aren't looking like you normally do? Are you shitting me? This is the most stupid thing I have ever heard and so up your alley. And what about me? I also look like I just fell out of the bed,” he paused for a moment, Thunder throwing him a look that told him to cut it and just open the door. That was when the next ringing echoed through the room, quickly followed by another one and another one.

“Ok, fine, I'll open the stupid door, but you ow me Thunder. I want dinner for Ocean and me, completely on the house!”

He stared back at his brother who in return narrowed his eyes as well, but ultimately relaxed again and huffed back: “Fine, you'll get it, but you will tell no one about this or I swear to Tartarus, you will regret it for the rest of your life.” The look in Thunder’s eyes let him stagger back, almost falling back of the couch again, it was a look Phoenix had only seen a few times, it was Thunder's 'I'm dead serious' glare. He gulped in return and nodded before dragging his tired body towards the stairs and down. It took at least thirty seconds, accompanied by the ever-present ringing of the door. Whoever was there sure was persistent.

The doorbell had just rung again as he finally had reached it, opened the door and said with an annoyed tone to whoever was standing on the other side: “What!? It's 4 AM- for crying out loud! Normal people sleep at this time, so I hope you have a good excuse for-” the last few words remained stuck in his throat as he recognized the person standing in front of him. “Oh fuck all kind of ducks!” With that he slammed the door shut again, starting to loudly curse as the rining started up again.

“What in the world is going on down there?” Thunder shouted back down, in a mixture of confusion and anger.

“It's him for fuck sake. Did you tell him anything?” Phoenix shouted back, draining out the doorbell as best as he could.

“Who are you talking about? I'm not psychic yet!”

“The old geezer! He is standing at our doorstep! What should I do?” He screamed back, the silence was his only answer. “Thunder?”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck! Are you kidding me? What have you done?” He heard his little brother panic, accompanied by the sounds of several things falling over as he scrambled to get himself ready.

“Cursed at him and slammed the door shut again? What else should I have done? You think we can outlast him? Sneek out the back door?” Phoenix frantically tried to come up with ways to escape this worst-case scenario.

“You did what?! Doesn't matter, just let him in and say you are sorry for it and get him up here. Oh goodness, I have nothing prepared for this, oh what am I supposed to do?” Thunder sounded even more desperate as he could hear more scrambling upstairs.

“Oh, no, no, no! I'm not letting him in. You can do that on your own, I'm leaving, and there is nothing you can do to stop me! Maybe I can crash at Ocean's apartment for a few days? Maybe change my name and identity? That could work, well until all of this blows over at least.” He was about to dash out the back door with just his nightclothes on, which consisted of a boxer shorts and a t-shirt as he heard Thunder again.

“Oh no, you don't. He already knows you are here, and I'm not dealing with him on my own. And you know all too well that he won't just leave again, he is here till he speaks with you and I'm not, I repeat not dealing with that for more than it is necessary. So either you get back there, open the door and let him in or I swear to all that is good in this world, you will not have a happy time here anymore. This is your only warning.” Phoenix froze just in front of the back door as he heard Thunder. He debated if it was really worth it, put his hand on the door handles, but ultimately just sighed and let go again.

Standing in front of the front door he slowly pushed the door handle down and opened the door. “What do you want?” His voice carried the pent-up frustration and anger of several years in it as he stared at an old man with milky orange skin and gray hair.

“About time, you know how long I have been ringing this thing?” The old man returned, and just walked past Phoenix without even waiting for a second, he just stared after him.

“And you know what time it is? 4 AM! 4 AM! People sleep at that time, and so do we! So next time pick a normal time, preferably when I'm out of the house!” He hissed back, shooting looks that could probably kill at his grandfather.

“How is the Driver and the Disks?” That was all he got in return, not even a how are you, or nice to see you, just asking questions about the Driver and Disks. A low growl escaped his throat as he stared after his grandfather. “Come tell. How are they?”

“Fuck of. I don't have to deal with this,” he huffed back and was about to head back upstairs to get changed, everywhere was better than here right now.

“You don't speak like that with the Elder Guardian! I demand respect from you!” The old geezer huffed back, stepping into his way.

“No, you demand my attention, but that is all. Respect is something you earn and believe me you never did, so piss off and let me live my life the way I want to, “he hissed back, shoving the old man out of his way and continued his way towards the stairs.

“You get back here this instant! Tell me how things have been going, I demand a report right now,” he bellowed after him. “Hey, I'm talking to you!” He continued as Phoenix just kept ignoring him and walked further towards the stairs.

He would have certainly walked up to them if there was not one simple, tiny problem, Thunder. The guy just stood right in his way, arms stretched out so he couldn't just squeeze past him, try as he might. “Ok, I get that you are not in the mood for this, but-”

That was as far as he got until Phoenix burst out again. “Not in the mood? This fucker comes here unannounced, in the middle of the night and demands a field report. I'm fucking livered right now! So, please, let me through so I can escape this nightmare!”

“I get it, I get it. I'm not really that happy about this as well, but the best way to get rid of him, so please, just for one day, try to play nice,” the pleading whispers of his brother combined with those damned puppy eyes was just too much for him and with a loud sigh he had to relent.

“Ok, fine, fine. But if he pushes it, I'm out, and you can deal with him for all I care,” he hissed back, the anger and frustration mixing into a horrifying mask.

Thunder, on the other hand, was just relieved, that he could avoid an even bigger catastrophe and that he wouldn't have to deal with gramps all on his own. “Thank goodness for that.”

“Yeah, yeah, just let us get it over with already,” he sighed in return, turning around and putting on the best smile he could muster, sadly it turned out to be the fakest smile any of them had ever seen. “So, what was it you wanted gramps again?”

“What is with that smile? You look ridiculous,” he returned with his old and gruff voice. Phoenix in return just suppressed a loud groan.

“Yeah, of course,” he returned, dropping the stupid smile and returning to his annoyed expression. “Better?”

“Yes,” he returned, his grumpy exterior remained. “And now stop wasting time here, I want to know what happened since you left.”

Now a smug grin appeared on Phoenix face, if he couldn't escape him, he could at least have a bit of fun and right now he knew exactly how. “Well, I managed to complete one of them on my first day here,” he returned mockingly, sprinted up the stairs and returned with his jacket from which he pulled out the Flame Disc, the first that had fallen into his hands. “Oh, and that wasn't all, I manage to complete all five of them,” he continued, the smirk on his lips already reaching his ears as he shoved the four other Disc right under his grandfather's nose. He, however, left out the Friendship Disc, he didn't want to get gramps any stupid new ideas. “And how many did you make? Oh, right none, just like any other guardians before me.”

“And you wouldn't be here without them. They filled the Discs before you, without them you wouldn't be half as far as you are now,” the old geezer returned, not even showing a single crack in his mask.

“And yet they didn't manage to pull it off. What do I care what they did, they are the reason I had to take up this-” That was as far as he got as he received a nudge in the side from Thunder's right arm and the following glare that told him to cut it out. “Oh forget it,” he finally huffed.

His grandfather stared back at him with one of his signatures angry glares, something that made Phoenix deeply uncomfortable, even if he tried his best to hide it. “So, do tell why you are so great. I want to know everything from the day you arrived, everything! Leave no detail out!”

Thunder and Phoenix exchanged a look of complete dread, knowing fully well that this would probably take up the entire morning. “Sure, just let me get some tea ready,” Thunder finally answered.

>-------<A>-------<

At the same time on the other end of the city, five figures were sitting in the dimly lite restaurant “Elysium” and discussing something of their own. “So, you are our the new business partner of Checkbook?” Cerberus asked, the mountain of a man sitting on the other side of the table, next to him two other figures. A woman with grey skin and light blue hair and a man white skin and blond hair, both wearing formal attire, just like Cerberus.

“Yes, he is our new business partners, Platinum Shadow, and Shadow Gold. You probably heard about him already, he goes by the name Alkahest.” Before the slimy man could continue Cerberus slammed his fist down on the table, letting out a loud shout.

“What?! That bastard has killed a good number of my men! And you think we will work with him. The only thing I'm willing to do to him is ripping that bastard in half!” He shouted, having stood up from his seat, now towering over all others with his impressive hight.

Checkbook remained perfectly calm and continued: “Well, that seems unfortunate. You have not proven your worth until now Cerberus, and the higher-ups at the Circle are starting to question our arrangement, and you know fully well what that means for you.” At that moment Cerberus turned as pale as ash, his already grey skin taking on a sickly tint. “Oh, you do know. But I was willing to give you the last chance. Right now you have nothing to offer us but a few brutes and judging from their performance until now, I can safely assume that the Riders would deal with the rather quickly. On the other hand, our new partners are willing to part with the secrets of their Rider Power, something not even Monochrome was willing to do. So tell me, who would the Circle favor in a disagreement?”

“Alkahest,” Cerberus plainly returned.

“Exactly. But not all hope is lost for you, there is still something you could do for us. Shadow Gold has plans for the Riders that seem to be quite promising. He wants to strike them where it will hurt the most, at their connections to their loved ones.”

“No, I will not go after their loved ones, that is beneath Tartarus!” Cerberus returned, the man with the white skin next to him nodded.

“Cerberus, Elysium, you are in no position to negotiate. You will either come or be wiped off the face of the earth. There will be no bargaining, no excuses, no nothing. You will follow their orders, and you will do that without any complaint. The lives of your underlings are important to you right?” He leaned closer to Cerberus as he continued. “Because if I hear one complaint from our new friends, I will take care of this problem personally, one after another for every single complaint that he has.”

Cerberus blood froze in his veins, he couldn't just abandon his code of honor, it was what kept them apart from the normal criminals. And to add to that, he had to take orders from a man that had hurt his subordinates, his family. But he had sworn to protect them as well, and if he didn't compile, he would see it all come crashing down on him. There was no way out of this, he would break his word, either way, that was just how it was, and he hated it.

“This also counts for you Fury, don't think you get away with just being silent the whole time. I demand perfect cooperation from you three,” Checkbook looked over to the woman who nodded in return. “Good, now that this is clear, I think our new friends would like to explain their plan to you, right?” He looked over to Platinum with a twisted smile on his lips.

“Indeed, we have wasted enough time with your insignificant squabbles and supposed codes of honor, now it's time to talk business,” the voice started, it was not coming from Platinum's mouth, but it did come from his direction. Whatever it was, it was quite unsettling for Cerberus. Still, he couldn't let anyone know. “My plan is simple enough, to destroy the Riders you have to destroy what they hold dear, friends, family, everything. When their lives slowly crumble around them, then they will be easy picking. It's as simple as that. And before you say anything about not sinking to that level, stuff it, you work for me now, you heard it,” the voice growled, letting a shiver run down Cerberus spine, but he remained composed.

“And what is your plan exactly? Do you know who they are and who their friends are? But more pressingly, couldn't we just simply overpower them? We three, you and Checkbook could easily deal with this pack. So why don't we do it that way instead of risking failure?” Cerberus countered, staring at Platinum with a glare that could have pierced through a mountain.

“You shouldn't ask me, I don't make the plan,” he returned while playing with a necklace around his neck, one made out of a purple gemstone.

“Silence!” The voice hissed again, Platinum nodded in return disinterestedly and continued to play with the necklace. Shadow Gold, however, continued: “A quick and painless death would be too good for them, I want my revenge and the longer, the better. I have waited over six-hundred years for this opportunity, and I will make it count, you will not deny me my rightful vengeance!”

“So we are risking our chance of victory for a stupid revenge plot? Checkbook, you can't be serious, this is insane!” Cerberus bellowed over to the man who just smiled disinterestedly back at him.

“Well, he has right now the better bargaining chip than you and the Riders are of no real danger to the Circle. We don't need to deal with them now, they don't even really know we exist at this point, and even if they ever go after us, they would be crushed by us. It's simple, you follow their orders, or you will regret it, got it?” Checkbook returned distantly, not even giving Cerberus one glance.

“Exactly, you will do as I command, like a good little lapdog,” Gold continued, sadistic glee in his voice. “But since you are so determined to fight it out with the Riders, you should be the first to take a swipe at them, and I have the perfect plan for it already.” The mountain of a man nodded begrudgingly in return. “Good, now listen. There is a man in the Canterlot City Hospital, he is a close friend to Alchemy and Charge, his name is Shining Armor. You will kidnap this man, expect heavy resistance.” Cerberus was fuming on the inside, he already despised this… this thing even more than he had done before. “After you took care of that you will make your presence known, a public place with a good view for the cameras,” Gold continued, his voice filled with a glee that was just unbearably disturbing.

“And then we start the fun, you will demand the Riders to come to you, untransformed. I want to let this city see who their heroes really are, weak, scared people, not the larger than life personas they put up. I will strip away the image of the hero, the most valuable thing for them, their mask and will let the people see the dread and fear in their faces. After that, kill him and make sure he is really dead, I don't take second chances.”

The room was quiet, Fury and Elysium both stared at Platinum, trying to hide their utter disgust from him. Even Checkbook, who until now had been quite friendly and welcome to them showed first signs of unease, some drops of sweat forming on his forehead. Cerberus was the first to speak up again, his voice sounding surprisingly calm, to the utter shock of Fury and Elysium who stared at him with open eyes. “Good, consider it done. Is there something else you wanted us to do?”

“No that will suffice for the time being. Platinum, Checkbook, we are leaving, I still have things to take care of.” Platinum just shrugged with his shoulders, stood up and walked towards the exit, Checkbook following them closely, turning around one last time as they reached the door and throwing them a threatening look before he followed his new partners out of the room.

Not a second after the door had slammed shut behind them Fury already jumped up from her seat and shouted at Cerberus: “What was that? Have you lost your bight or what? I never expected you to just cower in front of anyone that is such a piece of crap!” In here eyes glared anger and disgust at the man.

“Exactly, I never expected you to abandon your code of honor, Fury? Sure, but not you, I always thought you were better than that,” Elysium added, sounding severely disappointed in his longtime friend.

“You know me too well. I will never bow before this piece of crap, someone that is willing to sink this low. Shadow Gold, whatever he is will soon realize this,” he returned with a confident smirk on his lips.

“And I thought we had lost you for a moment there Cerb, but if you don't carry out his orders, what is going to happen to our men?” Her relive quickly shifted to dread as the consequences came back to her.

“I will make sure nothing happens to them, and I know exactly how. I'm going to take away his bargaining chip, it's as simple as that. All three Riders have something that can get us out of this mess, and I intend on taking it. If we can get that Alkahest has nothing of value anymore and we are back in their good graces, and if I kill the Riders after that we will not have to deal with them anymore. So I will follow his orders as much as I must to save the ones under me and to do that I just have to take their belts. Hiding it long enough to get all shouldn't be a problem, and if I miss one I will just take them during the little show Shadow Gold wanted, shouldn't be a problem. In the end, I can uphold my code, and we will be back in good graces with the Circle, all while Alkahest is back up for the picking,” Cerberus chuckle, letting his fist crunch as he thought about ending this bastard Shadow Gold.

His two friends stared back at him, first in astonishment, then respect. “You know not even I could have planned that better Cerberus, I'm impressed. Now we just have to trust you to pull it off, but with your power that shouldn't be a problem after all,” Elysium padded Cerberus on the shoulder, the later giving him a confident smirk.

“You rotten bastard, I love you. I can't wait to see the horror on Gold's face when he learns what you pulled… If he had a face that is… You know that pulls the fun right out of it, why can't he be like a normal person and have a face? This voice alone is just creepy,” Fury, added in devilish delight.

“Yeah, I wish he had a face as well so I can see that look of utter terror when he realizes that he messed with the wrong criminals,” he smiled back, just as devilish as Fury. “But I should head out.”

“Good luck,” came from both of them.

“Thanks, but this is nothing that will be won with luck,” he returned before leaving the door.

>-------<A>-------<

8 AM. It was already 8 AM. when Thunder finished recounting the events that had transpired ever since he had become a Kamen Rider. The old geezer wanted to know every little detail and Thunder had obliged, well, he left out any mention of the Friendship Disc or anything connected to it. He had silently told him that when he had made the tee, as much as he wanted to see the look on gramps' face when he realized that the slacker and shame of the family legacy had managed to do what no other guardian had managed in over five-hundred years. He was not willing to risk gramps pushing him into combining them, he really didn't want to end like Fools Gold, that much was sure.

Gramps had listened carefully, always asking questions after question that seemed completely unnecessary to him. He had been annoyed after the first hour, livered after the second, steaming after the third and was about to despair as the fourth hit, but luck would have it, they had finally reached the end. And best of all, Ocean would be here any moment now and drag him away from this horrible place, he had things to do, after all, not even gramps would put the life of a person over a stupid story even Thunder could tell him, right? He could only hope really.

“Ah, so this is what happened, all of it?” The old man asked, Thunder quickly nodding in return. “Goo, take note Phoenix, you should be able to give me this in just as much, or even more detail. That you let your brother do it is pathetic,” he continued. Phoenix just cursed under his breath, his patience was really wearing thin at this point. Come on Ocean, you aren't usually this late, of course, the one time he wanted her to get here as soon as possible she was late, perfect.

Gramps was about to say something as suddenly the doorbell rang again, Phoenix was cheering mentally, finally. He jumped up and dashed to the stairs, letting out a loud: “I'm gonna look who it is,” out and was already down the stairs, not letting the old geezer any time to object, thank goodness.

The moment he reached the base floor he let out a deep sigh, he really needed this break, the old geezer was just unbearable for anything longer than a minute, four hours was just insanity. After he had ordered his thoughts again, he casually walked over to the door and opened it. “Hey Ocean, you wouldn't believe how happy I am that you are here,” he burst out the moment he opened the door, much to the confusion of his girlfriend who looked at him like he was crazy, well crazier than normal.

“Hey Phoenix, good to see you too, why the warm welcome? Did you do anything wrong?” She returned hesitantly, eying him carefully.

“What? No, it's just my gramps came by unannounced, and I have been looking for a way to get out of her for four hours already, you are like a gift from the heavens right now,” he sheepishly said in return, rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

“Your grandfather is here? Didn't you dislike him if I remember correctly?”

“Dislike is not enough, I hate him. He was the one that sends me here in the first place, completely against my will. He has pushed me to be the guardian for the Magic Discs my entire life even if I didn't want to. He cares more for this stupid legacy and thing than for any of us,” he growled back.

“The stupid thing that has saved countless lives?” She raised an eyebrow, Phoenix just stared back at her, not entirely sure how to respond. “Well, look at it from this perspective, if you never became the guardian then you never would have come here, never became a Kamen Rider and never meet me, does this sound so good?”

“I… You… That is… Huh, never looked at it from this angle. Guess it did turn out well in the end, but still, doesn't mean I have to like him now,” he huffed in return.

Ocean just sighed and walked past him. “Why don't you try to start new again, maybe with a new perspective this won't be so bad. I at least want to get to know him a little bit, so come,” she continued, walking towards the stairs, leaving Phoenix behind, who just stared at her in utter shock.

“You were supposed to get me out of this mess, not get me deeper into it,” he finally shouted back at her, but she just ignored him and let the door to the kitchen fall shut behind her. “Oh, you are lucky that I like you so much,” he sighed and rushed after her.

He could already hear the old geezer again as he muttered: “Phoenix, and who is this? This is a meeting for family members and not you random friends.”

Phoenix was about to yell something rather unpleasant in return as he already heard Ocean retort with a friendly: “I assume you are Phoenix's grandfather. A pleasure to meet you, my name is Ocean Skies, or Kamen Rider Charge if you prefer. I'm Phoenix ally and girlfriend.” That was the moment Phoenix reached the living room, Ocean smiling at the old man, he instead just looked at her like she was a pack of thirteen days old milk.

“Sulfur Teeth, that is my name, and I am indeed the grandfather of this idiot over there,” he pointed over to Phoenix who was right now staring daggers at his grandfather. “But it doesn't matter who you are, this is a family matter, nothing someone like you needs to-”

“Enough! She stays!” Phoenix bellowed out, storming over to his grandfather and staring him dead in the eyes. “It doesn't matter if she stays or leaves anyway, she will know what we talked about before lunchtime, so get that stick out of your ass and shove it!”

“What do you mean she will know it anyway? Don't tell me you told her about it?” The old geezer just stared at him in utter shock. “You imbecile, what when she is not on our side? You are risking everything we worked for all these years! How can you be so reckless? Doesn't this legacy at least mean something to you?”

“Not really, I haven't cared for this antiquated thing since I came here. I didn't risk my life for something an idiot set out to do for himself six hundred years ago. I couldn't care less about it actually. I care about protecting people, making sure this thing is not wasted on you and your stupid traditions. And look, it has worked out for me this far. I have succeeded where they all failed, so listen up, once, and for all, I don't care about this stupid legacy!” Phoenix was fuming now, his eyes burning with the pent-up frustration of over twenty years.

Sulfur, however, did not cower before him but instead stared right back. “You are the biggest disappointment I have ever laid eyes on. You insult the people that brought you here, you insult for what they stand for, and you insult me. You really think you could hide it from me?”

“What?”

“The new Disc? The last piece of the puzzle we have been looking for, for over six hundred years. You were just lucky that you stumbled upon it and that the world is getting out of control. What is it, and don't try to tell me any lies!”

Phoenix stared at him in shock, he apparently did watch the news, of course, he did, the guy was obsessed with these damn Discs. “Friendship, the new Disc is friendship, no wonder you never found it,” he smirked back.

“Friendship? Well, if it's true then so be it. But you will have to answer why you didn't tell me?”

“Take a guess, I didn't want you involved, that's why. So, now that you know, get lost, I have nothing left to say to you,” he huffed back at him.

“Oh, we aren't done yet. You think you are out of this, that easily? Forget it! You might not like it, but you have a responsibility to fulfill. I don't know how, but you managed to complete a task that has already taken us six-hundred years, you are the guardian, it's your birthright, it's your duty. Thanks to you we can finally fulfill our part in this. You will come with me back home, you too Thunder. We will gather every family member and will bear witness to the creation of the Philosopher Stone,” Sulfur finished.

He however only received shock and three loud: “What?!” in return. Phoenix, Thunder, and Ocean all stared at the old man with disbelieving looks on their faces. This couldn't be anything other than a cruel joke.

“You want me to abandon my shop? Are you crazy? This is my one and all! You can't make me do that!” Thunder was the first to break the following silence, he stormed over to Sulfur in a mixture of anger and confusion. “I have always done my best, and this is what I have always dreamed of. I can't give this up.”

“This was nothing but a convenient way to stay afloat and look around for any magical incidents that might happen here, it was neither something permanent,” he coldly replied. “You are part of the family, and you will take part in the creation of the Philosopher Stone!” Thunder just stared at him, his mouth open, all the energy he usually showed had vanished and left only an empty man behind.

“With all due respect, you can't be serious. The city needs Phoenix, he is one of its protectors, he is a hero, we need him here!” Ocean added.

“The problems of the city are of no concern for us, our goal was always the assembly of the Philosopher Stone, nothing more and nothing less. And the city has two more Riders anyway, so this shouldn't be a problem,” he said.

Before Ocean could counter the ringing of a phone interrupted her. She quickly picked up her cell phone and answered: “Hello, Ocean Skies here. What? What?! We'll be right there,” she almost shouted back into the phone. With a look over to Phoenix, he realized that it was urgent. “Phoenix, we have to go. A corrupted is attacking the hospital.”

All the anger and frustration that had burned in him just a few seconds ago was quickly washed away, instead replaced with worry and determination. “Got it, let's go!” Before his grandfather could even utter one word the two Riders had already rushed down the stairs, neither of them cared even the slightest about the shouts they heard as they dashed towards the exit and to their bikes.

“I'm sorry,” huffed Ocean during their sprint.

“For what?”

“About the fact that I wanted you to reconcile with your grandfather. He sure is just as bad as you described him as, I'm so sorry,” she returned, shame carried in her voice.

“Ah, don't sweat it, it's no wonder you wanted me to a least try. But rest assured, I'm not leaving, he can do whatever he wants, but this time I'm not bowing like a dog.”

“Thanks.” With that, both of them raced off towards the hospital.

>-------<A>-------<

The police had already surrounded every exit that was open for the Corrupted, a few dozen police cars were parked outside the building. First reports said that the Corrupted had just appeared inside the building, but no one could tell if the Corrupted was a visitor or a patient at the moment. Their first orders had been to create a safe perimeter around the building, after that, they were supposed to save the still trapped civilians. What however made this far more difficult was the fact that not every civilian could be moved, some were hocked up to life-sustaining instruments and removing them from them would surely result in their deaths. Until now they had done their best in locating the Corrupted and saving as many civilians as possible, primarily from the outer areas of the hospital, but they would soon need to delve deeper into the clinic.

That was when they heard the roaring of three familiar engines. The first cop that turned around could see three armored figures on bikes coming closer and closer to them. A loud sigh of reliving went through the ranks of the police as they could see that the Riders had finally arrived.

“How is the situation?” Charge asked while dismounting her bike as well as drawing her Charge Magnum and eying the building carefully.

“Corrupted just appeared, we have no idea where he is, and there are still civilians in the building, some of which we can’t get out,” the officer returned.

“Of course, so we just go in and kick his butt? Preferably after we kick him out?” Alchemy jokingly added.

“Pretty much that. Try to get him outside of the building. But before we can do that, we have to find him first.”

“Well, probably just follow the loud noises and where the civilians are coming from, is my best bet.”

“Noted,” Charge returned sarcastically. “Do you have anything else you wanted to share with us or can we actually start saving people now?” Alchemy’s response was a simple nod and to walk towards the doors of the clinic, quickly followed by his two companions.

On their way through the building, they could witness the mess everything had left the halls in. Chairs and potted plants laid thrown over on the floor, as well as other stuff that had just been abandoned. Several officers with civilians passed them on their way further into the building, the looks of utter terror burned in their eyes. Charge grabbed one of the officers and asked: “Any idea where our target is?”

The man looked at her in surprise before stammering: “I think the second floor near room two hundred or something like that.”

Charge's face turned pale under her helmet, she knew who was near that room. “We have to go! Now!” The two other Riders didn’t even bother to ask what was near room two hundred and just followed her as she made a mad dash towards that particular room. That took the three about three minutes, on the way they passed several rooms with patience hocked up to medical equipment, just abandoned as the crisis hit. The closer they got to their destination the more and more did Phoenix recognize the part of the building they were in, as they passed a particular broom closet he knew exactly why Charge was so determined to reach the Corrupted.

Just as he finished this thought, they dashed around a corner, now standing face to face with a hulking mountain of a Corrupted. The thing was at least a head bigger then they were, it’s body consisting of hard stone like it was chiseled out of a mountain and had just suddenly started to move. Its stature was that of incredibly muscular men, that probably could crush their heads with its small finger. All over the muscular body, other types of stone held together by metal formed some sort of armor. What however was the weirdest part was the shoulders, they were in the form of two stone dog heads, just like the face, all the accented by metal like the rest of the armor. The Corrupted just came through a hole he had left in the wall behind him, over his shoulder a white man with blue hair in a hospital zone, Shining Armor.

“Hands in the air and let the man go!” Charge shouted at him, pointing her Charge Magnum directly at his head, the two orange glowing eyes staring back at her.

“Charge, or should I say agent Ocean Skies? It’s nice to finally see you, I have waited for you for quite some time already,” the Corrupted returned, with what was presumably a smile, it looked more like he was showing his teeth off.

“Hey Doggy, how is it going? And what do you want with this man?” Alchemy jokingly returned, pointing with the end of his sword at Shining.

“Alchemy, and Monster as well, it seems I have the whole group. This makes this somewhat easier, I appreciate this. Your punishment is long overdone anyways, especially yours agent Skies. But where are my manners, I haven't even introduced myself yet? My name is Cerberus, we three have already meat,” he pointed at Charge and Alchemy, the two staring back at him in shock. Whatever they had anticipated, that they would be facing one of the three heads of Tartarus was not something they had expected.

“Stop wasting time and fight already,” both of them heard someone growled from behind, Monster. Before they could even turn around, they could already see the Rider lunged past them and towards Cerberus, his claws ready to spread the Corrupted to tiny little pieces. However, instead of his claws slashing across the body of the Corrupted he has effortlessly shoved aside and sailed through the air and right through a window.

Charge and Alchemy shared a quick look before dashing both forward towards the Corrupted who just looked at them for a moment before merely blocking Charge’s first attack with her gun with his arm, letting the shoots bounce back against the floor. Moments later Alchemy tried to slash at him with his sword, but he merely lifted his arm up again and caught the weapon with his hand, letting Alchemy fruitlessly try to pull out his sword only to be thrown aside, the same way Monster had been throw just moments earlier. The only remaining Rider now was Charge, who had remained a bit further behind, her Magnum still aimed at Cerberus.

“Weren’t you supposed to be honorable criminals? Should have guessed that something like this doesn’t exist,” she pointed at Shining. “Sinking so low and kidnapping someone else so we wouldn’t attack you? You did even hate it when one of your men did it, so why the sudden change? I assume those morals you claim you have are nothing but a cheap show!”

“Believe me, this was not my idea, and I’m truly disgusted by this myself, but sometimes you have to make the hard decisions for the people you have to protect, you should understand that. It is however in a way very satisfying that I finally can settle the scores. You and your Rider friends have been messing with our operations for far too long now. But enough of the small talk,” he returned in his gruff voice as he put Shining down, Charge staring at him in confusion. But before she could even think more about it, she saw how his feet sank into the floor, making it unable to escape even if he would wake up. “Now, shall we?”

Charge didn’t even give him an answer as she charged forward, dodged his fist he had thrown at her in return. She just barely scraped past his attack, digging under it and unloading the three remaining rounds of her Magnum in the guts of Cerberus, who didn’t even move an inch in return. But as he tried to grab her in return she had already rushed around him and slammed her Stun Batons into his back, the two blunt weapons just bouncing back off like nothing had happened.

“I’m sorry agent Skies, but this won’t work on me. I hope you realize this, you have to put in more effort to even scratch me,” Cerberus coldly chuckled in return and with surprising speed spun around, the back of his arm slamming into Charge’s stomach, the sheer force alone letting her feel like a truck had just rammed her. Within a single moment she had lost her stand and was flying towards the same window Alchemy and Monster had been thrown out. And as luck would have it, they were about to come back to this floor, both in their Wind Forms. What they had not expected was a flying Charge that flew straight into them, knocking three Riders all out of the air and landing in the courtyard beneath them.

With a loud thud, Cerberus jumped down to the three Riders, all laying scattered across the empty courtyard groaning in pain, trying to get back up. The Corrupted slowly walked towards them, his arms crossed behind his back. “And I had expected something more. Where is the power that you crushed all my men with? That you send them all to jail? Show me, I refuse to believe that my men feel to weaklings like you,” he grew increasingly louder as he got closer until he had started to scream.

“You want our full power? Fine, you can have it Doggy!” Alchemy was the first to shout back, replacing his current Disc with his strongest. Charge and Monster quickly followed suit.

“Charge up!”

\ FRIENDSHIP DISC ACTIVATED! /

\ 50, 80, 100! FRIENDSHIP CHARGE! /

\ AWAKEN: CHANGELING! /

\ Friendship Disc Attack Mode! /

\ Connect Protector! /

The Riders and the Corrupted didn’t wait any more time and with loud battle cries from everyone they rushed towards the opponent. Monster was the first to reach Cerberus, dashing past him and swiping him with his claws, letting the monster stager back in pain. While Monster was about to come back from behind Alchemy reached the Corrupted, distracting him with several wells placed strikes with his sword, sparks erupting from every strike. Thanks to that Monster again flew past the Corrupted and slashed across his back. Stumbling forward the Corrupted was quickly covered in laser bolts from Charge’s weapon forcing him back into Alchemy’s sword strikes.

Monster was about to strike again as he flew towards Cerberus, but to his surprise, the colossus of a Corrupted grabbed ahold of his head as he was about to fly by and claw at him again. In the blink of an eye, Monster felt how he was plucked out of the air, and violently slammed into the ground, the resulting shockwave sending both Alchemy and Charge flying backward. Still stunned from the impact Monster could not even lift a muscle to stop his body from being lifted up again and slammed into the ground again. The pain was surging all through this body, and his vision was starting to get blurry, he didn’t even realize when he was again lifted up and returned to the ground with terrifying speed. This was enough for the Rider, his armor shattering all around him, Cerberus letting go of his head and letting the beaten Rider fall to the ground, darkness overtaking his vision.

While Monster had been beaten Charge had managed to get back up on her legs again and had activated her Finisher.

\ Maximum Charge! /

With a loud boom, a burst from Charge’s rifle was unleashed on the Corrupted, countless projectile heading for Cerberus, who only lifted his head and with a swift flick of his wrist detached them, bot rocketing right towards the incoming projectiles. To Charge’s complete horror the fist just burst through her attack, the remaining projectiles that hadn’t exploded upon impact harmlessly crashing into the ground around Cerberus. What was however far worse was what was now heading her way, too stunned to dodged she took the full frontal force of the attack, the first exploding into a massive fireball. With a loud scream and unimaginable pain, her armor shattered, letting her fall to the ground unconfessed.

“You bastard!” Was what followed this not even a second later, Alchemy was charging towards Cerberus, sword ready to strike him down. “Eternal Bond!” The blade basically overflowing with magical energy he brought it down on the Corrupted, this would surely be enough to give him an opening to end this.

Then the bald stoped… Phoenix could only stare in disbelief as the blade was effortlessly blocked by the new arms of the Corrupted, not even able to put much more than a dent in his armor. He couldn’t move, the shock was just too much, the failure, the dread that was choking him.

He was so distracted by his own despair that he didn’t even see the other fist coming that sent him flying into the wall of the building, debris collapsing on top of him. That was when he felt the pain in his stomach, it was unbearable, like a heard of rhinos had stampeded over him. He could feel his armor slowly fading away. Out of the debris, he could see how Cerberus picked up Pinecone and Ocean before walking towards him.

However, before he could pick up the Rider from the rubble, a loud voice echoed past the Rider and towards the Corrupted. “Hands off him! He is mine!” Cerberus froze on the spot, looking frantically over to where the voice had come from. “Take the other Riders and show the city how pathetic they really are, but Alchemy is my prey, and he is going to have to face this on his own.” Shadow Gold continued, Alkahest now stepping into few. Cerberus quickly nodded and stepped away from Alchemy. “Get the other one and off with you.” The Corrupted quickly complied and with a good jump returned to the floor they had originally started to fight.

“And you, your life will soon fall apart around you. Enjoy the last days of peace your life will ever have,” the voice continued to Phoenix who barely got any of that at this point, everything felt so distantly, and his vision fell more and more into darkness. “So, have fun…” That was the last thing before his world fell into darkness again.

Author's Note:

Well, I'm gonna be honest, the next chapter is going to be a rather special one and I'm really excited for it to come out. I never would have thought that I would actually get to this point, and all I can say right now is, thank you for sticking with my stories.

Like always, criticism is very much welcome so I can improve my writing.