Kamen Rider Alchemy

by Layton13

The Vault - The Depths of Depravity

Their machines roared over the crackling oft he flames, the wind that was rushing past them and the screams that bellowed over the runway were unnerving, even though they had taken care of things over the earth. Still, the worried agents that they drove by were a sign that things were only just beginning, even if the fight would have already ended. They would still be here, dealing with the aftermath. Whatever they would do scraps would remain, their job was it to minimize these scars.

The feeling of dread only grew larger and larger the further they went, passing debris after debris until it loomed over them, like a maw to the depths of Tartarus. A hole in the large hangar at the end of the runway. It stared at them with its cold darkness, daring them, taunting them that deep inside loomed death and destruction. The remains of what had formerly been the gate to the hangar was unnerving as they passed by, almost like they were swallowed whole by a giant monster.

Inside they could see the destruction the Dark Rider and his compatriots had brought. Walls had partially collapsed, most likely because someone had thrown something at them. The lights were all destroyed, glass shards littered the ground, and a constant humming filled the air, making the whole situation even worse. Quite a few bodies were lying scattered across the ground, the ones that hadn’t escaped fast enough to escape the wrath of these monsters. And crates that were scheduled for transport laid shattered and broken everywhere, some artifacts falling out of them.

A fence, or more a small wall that had been erected in the middle of the hall and designed to separate the entrance from the loading-bays, large rooms equipped with several shelves and one large elevator. Six of the seven were pretty much intact, besides the last one. Its gate had been ripped open, shelves threw to the wayside, and the elevator was closed. No doubt they had come through here. Especially since some bodies still littered the ground beneath them.

The entire area was illuminated by one faulty light on one wall while the rest of them had been shattered and now decorated the ground in the form of shards. The constant flickering lit the room in an ominous aura, unnerving even to the two Riders in their respective armor like something was ready to crawl inside their suits and devoured them from the inside.

Both of them shut off their engines, the constant rattling that echoed back from the walls falling silent in an instant, leaving them only with the buzzing of the light. The elevator that led deeper into the facility stood before them, or at least the large steel gates that had been building into the ground that led into the earth. They had presumably been shut close after Alkahest and his Corrupted had attacked and managed to get into the base, probably by them to stop anyone from following them.

After Phoenix and Ocean had dismounted their bikes, they slowly walked towards what looked to be a control terminal. It was in a sorry state, remains of the lights had fallen on it, together with the denser parts of them, leaving dents and scratches behind. But that wasn’t even all, several parts of the terminal had been hit by what looked like lightning, scorched and sparking. However, it seemed to be still in working order, even if the question was for how long.

Ocean quickly jogged towards the terminal, taking in the damage and after a silent sigh pushed a button on her Driver. To Phoenix surprise, a small hatch opened up on her forearm, revealing several mechanical parts as well as a small monitor with a keyboard. Before he could even ask what this was for she had already pulled out a short cable that she plugged into a small slot at the terminal. Within seconds both her arm monitor and the terminal sprung to life.

“Please identify yourself or security will be informed! Ten seconds remaining!” The terminal blurted out in an unnerving mechanical voice.

“Agent Ocean Skies, Security Level 3, Operator of the Charge System, CH4R6-KR,” she simply returned, the devices beeping happily before a new sound interrupted the work of them.

“Acces granted! Preparing for- ERROR! ERROR! Unable to comply! ERROR ERROR!” The mechanical voice screamed at them, much to Ocean’s annoyance.

“Figures, what was I expecting anyway?” She huffed before shouting over to Phoenix: “Hey, I need your help here for a moment. We need to break into a secure government facility with high tech technology as well as several highly dangerous criminals. So get to work and grab one piece of the hatch and start pulling.”

He looked at her for a moment before he shook his head and simply returned: “Ok, whatever you say. As long as it doesn’t bite me in the ass later. I really don’t want ‘destroying a government facility’ on my record. That would be really annoying.”

“As if you would need to look for work anyway ever again,” she chuckled. “Now, quit joking and help me here for a moment,” she added with a much more severe tone. As she spoke, she bent down and grabbed one of the parts of the hatch.

“Yeah…” Phoenix simply replied, following what ocean had already done.

Now that both he and Ocean were ready they started to pull, the metal in their fingers slowly beginning to groan and bend, slowly and steadily as the sound echoed through the hall, like the roaring of a metallic beast. Their muscles tightened with every passing second, both putting everything they had into the attempt to bend the half meter thick steal. With every passing second, the metal was more and more bent out of shape until after a good thirty seconds the metal had finally opened up enough for them to jump down into the dimly light shaft below. They couldn’t even see the ground, only the darkness that swallowed everything that dared to enter.

“Well, there it is. Are you ready?” Phoenix was the first to ask, looking over to Ocean.

“Yeah. Time to end this once and for all! If we don’t stop him now, who knows what…” She was about to say before she stopped herself, looking back down into the darkness.

“Yeah,” was all he could return, the usual relaxed tone in his voice completely vanished. “But who else if not us, right?” He added with a weak chuckle.

“Yeah, who else than us?” She returned before taking one last breath and jumping down the hole and disappearing in the shadows, quickly followed by Phoenix.

Everything just rushed past him, lamps and steel bars. All just melted into one dark tunnel interrupted by the dim light of the lamps. It was in a weird way calming, beautiful even, like the silence before a loud thunder. But even these small moments of peace, or perhaps most definitely these small moments of peace had to end. The light at the end of the tunnel grew bright and brighter.

Just as they were about to smash into the ground below them, their fall was slowed down, once again Phoenix used his powers to prepare them for a comfortable landing. And indeed, instead of crashing full force onto the elevator below them, they simply landed on the large steel plate like feathers.

The sight was similar to how it had looked on top but far, far worse. Crates had been shattered and thrown around the large hall, magical Artifacts falling out of them like unwanted candy. Several shelves were thrown over, scattering their content all over the floor. Turrets that had previously been mounted atop the ceiling were either mangled beyond recognition or simply ripped from their spots. Several of the hallways leading deeper into the facility had collapsed or sealed shut by bending the massive steel doors horribly out of shape. The large overseer position at the top of the opposite end of the hall was utterly ruined, windows shattered and entirely out of operation. But worst of all were all the guards scattered around the place, ranging from some minor wounds, so they were only rolling around the ground in agony to people with missing limbs that screamed bloody murder, guards that had been beaten into unconsciousness and the dead. They all were scattered around the place like they had been thrown around by the wind and had landed where it had brought them.

And in the midst of all of this was he… The one responsible. Platinum Shadow, Kamen Rider Alkahest.

He was sitting on one of the boxes he had thrown around the place, clad in his armor and seemingly without a care in the world. One of his axes twirling around in his and while the other one had been embedded into the crate, he was sitting on.

“You!” Phoenix hissed over to him, the Dark Rider looking over to them with his glowing red eyes, stopping to play around with his ax.

“Well, There you two are. Isn’t really a surprise that you managed to figure out that I would be here. You two aren’t stupid, at least on that angel. That you look for me again after I kicked your ass? That might point to the opposite, but really, I don’t really care. I just know that you should have just let me do and all of this would be so much easier for all of us,” he nonchalantly returned.

“Let you be? And let your murderous rampage continue? Are you insane? We can’t let a maniac like you run free! Especially not after all you have done!” Phoenix shouted back, clenching his fist while he did so. “Just look around you, all these people you have injured, maimed, or killed? What about them? How could we let you ever run free? Tell me?”

“I gave them the same choice you had, leave me alone and live on unharmed, or suffer the consequences. I don’t find any pleasure in hurting these people, why should I? They are an obstacle in my way, and if they chose to stand in my way, so I had to do it. And I offer you once again the same choice, leave me be and end this without a fight or be stubborn and face me and be prepared for the consequences. This isn’t your fight, what should you care about it?” He said.

Not even a second after Alkahest had said that Phoenix had dashed towards the Dark Rider, ready to punch him right in the jaw. To his frustration, his opponent had anticipated that, dodging the swing of the Rider, all while still sitting down. Before Alchemy could react, he pushed himself off the ground, and out of his sitting position backward. He even had kept ahold of his weapon, the crate being pulled back with him and slamming into Alchemy’s chest.

But instead of sending the Rider flying it just ended up shattering on his leg and arm he had pulled up to block the incoming attack. Alkahest chuckled once and was about to dash forward once again when he saw something out of the corner of his eyes, something bright.

Out of sheer instinct, he pulled down his head instead of rushing back at Alchemy and indeed, that was a quite smart idea he realized as several bright glowing projectiles flew over his head.

Just like expected, Charge had summoned her rifle and unloaded a salve on him, but missed every shot entirely. Still, if stayed around like an idiot, she would hit him eventually, so he had to act fast. And he wasn’t the only one that had reacted to the sudden interruption.

\ Philosopher Stone Attack Mode! /

\ Magnum Opus! /

It bellowed through the hall as the Rider dashed towards him, his weapon in hand, all while Charge was still firing her gun at him. These two were starting to really get on his nerves. Before he could even pull up his hand and point it at Charge, Alchemy had already reached him and thrust forward his lance towards him. A loud clinging could be heard as Alchemy’s weapon slammed against the broadsides of his axes. He could feel the power the Rider had put into the attack, Alkahest’s muscles were tensioning, and he had to actually put effort into his defense not to be overwhelmed. The pressure was finally lifted after what had felt like an eternity, but in reality, only were three seconds as the Rider pulled back to strick once again. And while this was happening Charge had shoot once again at him, the projectiles rocketing towards him with terrifying speed.

Instead of taking the attack once again Alakhest instead dashed under Alchemy’s swing and right between him and Charge. The female Rider just hissed and tried to run forward to get him back into her line of sight, only to be interrupted by her partner trading blows with Alkahest and always just getting in the way, much to the Dark Rider’s amusement.

Alchemy had tried to strike the Rider time and time again, but at every opportunity, he was stopped by the two axes he wielded with frightening precision. His long weapon was just no match for Alkahest’s speedy little devils he had mastered.

Once again he seemingly pulled back his spear to strike his opponent after being pushed back once again, but instead, he dashed forward, raming his spear into the ground and pushing himself forward like during pole vault. With his feet in front, he rocketed towards his opponent, slamming into the axes he held in front of him like a shield. But not even Alkahest was strong enough to withstand that attack, being forced off his feet and thrown against the next wall, crashing inside it like it was a cheap cardboard box.

Before the dust had even settled and Alkahest could crawl out of the Rider shaped hole he had been thrown into Alchemy had already jumped back, grabbing his spear in the process. Dashing forward he jumped into the air, pushed two gems, spun the Magic Disc on the weapon and rammed it into the concrete below him.

\ FIRE! /

\ EARTH! /

Just moments after he had slammed the weapon into the ground, the earth started to shake only for razor sharp blades made out of dark metal to burst out of the earth and straight towards Alkahest. Boxes and crates were ripped to shreds as they were pierced by the blades erupting from the ground. With unmatched ferocity and speed, they advanced towards the Dark Rider, ready to turn him into a shishkebab, all while he was stuck in the hole, and just a few moments later they…

They just stopped! The blades standing out of the concrete like rocks, leaving only Alakhest behind, his hand stretched out from within the hole, carefree like he was never in any danger at all. A silent chuckle filled the air, slowly rising in volume, turning into a triumphant laugh. A laugh that could freeze blood and scar away everyone with a weak will.

“Oh, this is precious. I wish I could see your faces right now, realizing that you are hopelessly outclassed, that you never could hope to beat me. It’s delicious. And all this could have been avoided if you just minded your own business and left me alone. But no, you just have to play the hero. I don’t get you, people, what have these people ever done for you? Nothing, you have no reason to protect these people that would never do the same for you! You know, I don’t get you, really! You put so much effort into all of this and your family legacy, even when you hated it so much! You and me, we are so similar. Why are you doing something like this, then? You just wanted out of all that guardian shit, so why stop me? Because of some dumb family legacy?” Platinum was getting louder and louder as he crawled out of the hole. Both Phoenix and Ocean just stared at him.

“What do you mean? We are nothing alike! I’m not a homicidal monster like you! You killed people, willingly without any shred of remorse! You are a monster! Just look around you, all these people you hurt! Gow could you even think about comparing me to you! You know what makes me different than you, I chose to not be a monster with the powers that were given me, you, on the other hand, use them without any sort of care and remorse. You disgust me! I’m not doing this because of some stupid family legacy! No, I do this because it is the right thing to do, to protect people from monsters like you, no matter where they come from! Because that is what Kamen Rider does, a title, you don’t deserve!” Phoenix screamed back, ripping the spear from the ground once again and reading himself to race towards their opponent once again.

Platinum just growled and barked back: “You have no idea what you are talking about! You had the chance to run, the opportunity to do whatever you want, and you just throw it away. I never had that luxury! And now you tell me what I did wrong? You are pathetic! You know nothing about me! Nothing!” With a that he dashed forward towards a startled Alchemy who ran ahead as well.

The two Riders clashed once more, the shockwave from their impact knocked over crates and debris alike, nearly knocking both combatants back, but they remained standing. Their angry screams almost drowned out everything else and drew in Ocean into their angry cries. Almost. After what felt like an eternity she snapped out of the hypnotizing struggle of the two, hastily aiming her gun at Alkahest and-

A scream even louder than the ones from the two Riders locked in combat filled the hall, a cry filled with agony and pain. Phoenix recognized the voice almost immediately, snapping his head back towards her. He could see how Ocean had been knocked off the ground, several metallic feathers scratching across her chest and landed rather unceremoniously on the ground, her weapon falling next to her.

“You really should focus on the things in front of you,” Platinum’s said with the unnerving amount of malice in his voice. Before he had even any chance to react, he felt the pain in his stomach and stumbled back. The two blades of the axes came into view as they came down on him, slashing across his chest, leaving trails of sparks behind where they had hit him, accompanied by the burning sensation of pain.

What followed was another kick to the stomach, knocking him on his back, rolling around the ground in pain while holding his stomach.

Over the groans and pained yelps, they could hear the sound of footsteps, one pair loud and heavy, the other others far lighter, accompanied by frustrated grunts. “Move it, you worthless pile of trash, Be glad that we let you live for so long,” a familiar female voice said.

“Alchemy, Charge. Of course, you two would be here. Doesn’t take a genius to guess that. It also doesn’t take one to guess that you would not stand against my partner here. He is just far superior to you two,” Checkbook smirked. The businessman was clad in his Corrupted form, accompanied by three remaining figures in long robes, every single one carrying two metallic briefcases in their hands. And then there was the scientist he was pushing forward, arm twisted behind his back and obviously terrified for his life. He had an ember skin tone with black hair. “Especially since he-“

“Checkbook!” Alkahest growled towards him, shutting up the Corrupted before he could say any more. “You want the blueprints or not? If yes I would suggest you shut up now or will suffer the consequences. Question is if you should be more afraid of me, the Riders or your employers,” he simply continued with a cold voice.

“Of- Of course. Understood. Won’t happen again,” Checkbook returned, his voice uneven and shaky. “Still, there is no chance you can stop us now. And I suggest you don’t even try, it will end badly for you!” He continued, slowly regaining his composure before twisting the arm of his hostage further. The helpless yelp of pain let them both shoot up and grit in frustration. “No, no, no! Any step further and he might not make it. Capishe?”

Their low growl was all the answer he needed as he started to chuckle. “How predictable you all are,” Platinum added, his twisted glee clearly audible through the mask. They could already imagine the sick grin under it. “Like he said, don’t try anything funny. You lost again. But look on the bright side, at least you got away with fewer injuries this time, am I right? Anyway, you will let us leave now, is that clear, or else..” Alkahest pointed at the scientist.

Ocean looked over to Phoenix who begrudgingly nodded, relaxing his posture, much to Platinums delight. “Perfect. I knew you would do that. Now, Checkbook, do you have what we came here for?”

The metal-clad Corrupted simply nodded and returned: “Yes, and as you ordered, we took as many artifacts as we could carry. This should be sufficient for what we have planned. Should I tell her to open up the portal so we can leave?”

“Excellent. Yeah, it’s time we leave,” he returned, flicking with his finger at one of the hooded figures. She chuckled and once again pulled out the Friendship Disc and held it in front of her with her yellow hands. Moments later, the portal had appeared behind them, the two other servants attempting to go through it as they were grabbed by Alkahest as he whispered something into their ears. With a silent nod, they walked through the portal and disappeared.

“You know, I’m generous today. I offer you one last chance. Forget about me. Let me go, and this will be the last you ever see of me. This one thing that is all I have to do. That is everything I ask. Please. I just want my freedom and peace. I will not break this promise. Let our family history die on this day and end forever, and we both can be free. I know you want that. I will leave now, and if you don’t follow me, we will never see again. But if you do, I will make sure you will never be able to follow me ever again!” Platinum finished with a chilling voice and strangely with what sounded like sincerity, honesty. “Checkbook!”

With that both of them stepped into the portal, but not without shoving the scientist towards them, the poor man helplessly landing on the floor before them. And as soon as the portal had appeared, it had disappeared once again.

“Damnit!” Phoenix hissed, slamming his fist on the ground beneath him, leaving a small dent in it.

Ocean, however, was far more occupied with the man that had been thrown in front of them, rushing over to help him up after deactivating her Driver. “Are you ok?”

After a few coughs, the scientist nodded weakly. “Yes, I’m fine. I’m sorry. If I wasn’t he-“

“Bullshit. They would have found another one instead. That is just the kind of monsters they are,” Phoenix interrupted him, having deactivated his Driver as well and dragging himself over towards the man. “And we will stop them, there is no other option.”

“Phoenix…” Ocean whispered.

“I… You… Thank you! The name is Test Tube, a researcher for the MRG. And you must be the Kamen Riders, right?” His terror slowly melted away into nervousness, something quite calming after what had happened just now.

“Yeah, Agent Ocean Skies and Phoenix Feather. We are glad that you are alright, Test Tube,” Ocean returned with a warm smile, or at least what she had managed through the pain and anger that was currently rampaging through her body. “I’m sorry, I know you are still shaken from this whole ordeal, but we have to ask you, did they get Artifact R155? Do you know what that is? This is extremely important!” Her voice filled with guilt she continued, her expression taken over by a grimace of shame.

“R155? R155! Of course, I know what it is. I started researching that thing today! You know how hard it was to get it back out of storage and to testing again? A scientist in Canterlot, a good friend of mine, sent me several files of very fascinating readings that were from a while back. She called it a crossover event. What was fascinating was that the data was nearly identical to the artifact R155. So, after a while of trying to convince my superiors, I was allowed to research it more. I sadly couldn’t find out much, but I was making progress. The energy is definitely similar, and with what we know about this little beauty so far, I think I have a solid theory what our little artifact does. Or would have if it wasn’t taken by that barbarian!” Test Tube hissed, angry overtaking his expression.

“Wait, it had similar readings to the crossover event? Do you mean?” Ocean said back, things were starting to fall into place.

“Yes, it is a portal to another reality. Or at least, I assume it is. But why that savage would want it is beyond me. It can just transport small things to other realities. Expect if he would want to get rid of something,” he returned, sounding somewhat distracted.

Phoenix and Ocean just looked at each other with a worried and knowing glance. “Say, could he make it more powerful so it could teleport him? Just curious,” Phoenix asked, worry and uncertainty in his voice.

Test Tube looked at them with a confused expression before continuing: “Theoretically, but anything other than a similar power source would just cause significant unforeseen consequences. It could backfire and hurt him, and form of the looks of it, they know at least something about magic. But if one would find a suitable magic source that has a similar energy, sure. One could strengthen the artifact on a theoretical level. You would need to know exactly how, though. Otherwise, who knows what could happen.”

“What… What exactly could happen?” Ocean asked, her nervousness growing with every second.

“Well, if everything goes well, you would strengthen the artifact, but if not, who knows. A massive explosion is one option, a discharge of magical energy that could scar the area around it for decades, or if everything goes completely of the rails, well…” he was about to finish when he suddenly turned pale, staring at the two of them with an expression of absolute terror.

He suddenly felt two strong hands grabbed ahold of his shoulders and start shaking him, something that did not help with his fear and terror. “What! Tell us! We need to know now!”

“Ocean!” That word was what finally stopped the violent shaking, the grip on his shoulder disappearing as he sunk to the floor, his head spinning. “Shaking him like a maraca won’t get you your answers sooner!”

“I… I’m sorry. It’s just…” she tried to return only to bit her lip in shame.

“No, problem, no problem. It’s fine. And before you ask. The worst possible outcome is a tear in reality that won’t close again and instead expand, ripping apart this universe in the process with no way to stop it.” Test Tube had delivered that last part with a voice that left no room for interpretation, cold, serious, and without any sort of uncertainty.

Like expected, the color had been drained from both Phoenix and Ocean’s faces. They were just nodding silently. “Hey, you think you can handle things here? I know we could help you here a lot, but we have to-“ She couldn’t even finish what she wanted to say before Test Tube put his hand up.

“I get it. You have to got to save the world. If you think he could find a way to rip apart reality, you are probably right. What does it matter if people here are safe? We are doomed anyway if you don’t stop him. I’ll try my best to deal with things here so you two can stop him before he does something dangerous,” he said, pushing himself off the ground.

“We do care if everyone here is safe. Just look around, you all are hurt or near death. I’m not just leaving. But we have to…” Phoenix said with a stern voice. “But I still have one thing to do before that!”

“Are you sure about this? You could tax yourself and-“ Ocean was about to say before she was interrupted by Phoenix.

“Yes, I’m sure!” With that, he pulled out his Magic Disc and Driver once again.

\ PHILOSOPHER STONE DETECTED! /

“Henshin!”

\ HEUREKA! /

\ Philosopher Stone Attack Mode! /

\ Magnum Opus! /

Now once again clad in his Rider armor pushed several buttons in quick succession on the weapon.

\ WATER! /

\ WIND! /

\ WATER! /

\ FRIENDSHIP! /

The entire hall was bathed in a golden light, a warm, caring golden light that disappeared just as fast as it had appeared. Test Tube felt far better all the pain over his body was like it had been washed away. And as he looked around, he could see that several others were also starting to move again, their injuries seemingly gone.

“What have you-“

“What I needed to do. Now, I need to stop a madman!” That was all he received as an answer from the Rider before he turned around and walked towards the lift shaft, followed by Ocean who activated her Driver as well.

\ SCANNING CHARGE! /

“Henshin!”

\ 100, 150, 200! OVER CHARGE! /

Both of them looked back one last time before Alchemy once again pushed a button on his weapon.

\ FRIENDSHIP! /

Out of nowhere, a portal appeared in front of them that quickly swallowed them whole and throwing them back out over the ground where they had jumped down.

“And he was right. Look, brother, they just can’t stop, can they?” A familiar voice said.

“Yeah, brother. They are stubborn. But in the end, that won’t help them. This ends here,” an almost identical voice returned.

Both Riders immediately shot around, staring at two cloaked figures who were holding out two blue Magic Discs.

Author's Note:

And with that, we are in the final with the next chapter. I'm so happy for all of you that stuck with me and this story, it really means a lot to me.

Now, let's bring this to a satisfying conclusion.

Comments

[Layton13]

9668329

The hero not thinking something through? Gee, that's never happened before, I'm sure it'll never happen to him again either.

Have you met him? Oh wait, you did. Then you should know.

Especially if you become a zombie, zombies are not helpful at all!

Yeah, they just annoy you with their 99 lives.

...

AND YOU MAKE JOKES ABOUT MY FIC!

Yes, yes I do

"What about that one guy who ran faster than near instantaneous teleportation, what was his name, Wally something..."
"OH SHUT UP!"

I have not the faintest idea what you are talking about.

Gee, you're not slow huh? Explains why you're single.

Oh dear Celestia you've infected my brain...

Ah, that was what you meant. And you're welcome.

Lightning Dust you've failed this city! Oh wait, wrong show.

Yeah, she should really count up her sins.

"Hi, we work for the government."
"AHHH, GOVERNMENT!"

I see some issues there.

And no taking me into bases with coffee drinking aliens!

"And if you do, at least let them be aliens that know how to make good coffee."

Who says the permanent record is a myth?

See it as a case of drug use without much consent. They have dealt with stuff like this for a long time, they know that magic fucks royale with your head.

"I did meet this one guy the other day though, he gave me a Pamphlet titled "So you're fighting magic based monsters." I think he was from some place called Moperville."

Presents to know that reverence. Funny.