Ride Saga: Kamen Rider Charge x Kamen Rider Diend: Hunt for Ω

by Layton13

Old Wounds

In front of the pool, the first rays of the morning sun were starting to dance over the debris riddled piazza. The intruders had really left a dent in it, now filled with craters, small boulders, and other battle damage. That wasn’t even all of it. The damage to the roof she had heard about was would most certainly make the entire building almost unusable, especially for their purposes. They already had a tight time frame. How were they supposed to keep that one if they had to relocate their outer lab to somewhere else. And since neither Hamasaki nor Mizushima has answered any calls, we most likely have a very sizeable loss in our workforce.

She let out a loud sigh. This entire job was worse than taking care of an entire government agency, she thought. For as all-encompassing that work had been, she had worked mostly with the best of the best. People who could actually manage the most straightforward tasks she gave out. Working here had been surviving one disaster after the other. And right now, the biggest one was just arriving, Riders—two of them.

“Make sure that you surround the building on all sides! Cover every exit, every window, and every other way someone could gain entry, like the pipes over us—station one Riotrooper with every platoon of Planktons. The Riders of this world are powerful enough to take on a large group of our troops. The target is extremely dangerous and deadly. Any sighting of Kamen Rider Charge needs to be contacted to me immediately!” The woman firmly spoke into her earpiece.

Monochrome was about to order the ground troops into position as a familiar voice cut through the air of the plaza. “Well then, Agent Ocean Skies is reporting for duty, Director Monochrome, or should I say, mom?” The doors to the pool slid open on their own, several of the Riotroopers already were about to unload at the door when Monochrome interrupted them.

“Stop! Let her out!” She bellowed decisively into her earpiece, and the weapons lowered a bit. “Still, keep an eye on her,” she added quietly. “Come out!”

Out of the doors stepped Ocean, arms crossed in front of her, and a look in her eyes that would have usually made her proud, were it not directed at her. “What are you doing here?” It bellowed down from the entrance of the pool. “You should be dead!”

“Am I now? I seem to be quite alive, Agent Skies,” Monochrome drily returned.

“Quit it!” Ocean returned, taking a step forward. “I saw you die! I saw you fall! I saw your lifeless body! I buried you! How can you be here!? Tell me! And stop treating me like one of your underlings!”

“Oh, you would know all about this, wouldn’t you? You were the one who killed me, after all. Threw me down at the street below—your own mother—your superior,” it came back in that oh so familiar, monotone voice she remembered vividly. “It was quite the experience to be betrayed by your own flesh and blood again.”

“Th- Then how are you back!? You… You should never come back… And why are you here?” Ocean asked again, her angry expression slowly, but surely starting to crumble. Severe wrinkles were beginning to form on her forehead, and her breaths were getting more uneven. “You owe me that much after all of this!”

Monochrome once again sighed and shook her head. “You’re getting too emotional again. Didn’t I tell you that being emotional in a tense situation will just make you an easy target?”

“Yes… You told me that, and I’m very much still aware in what kind of situation I am right now! I’m also aware that me burying my emotions will only lead to more problems. It’ll also make my heart as cold as yours,” she added with a disgusted hiss.

“Seems this Phoenix really got to you, filled your head with all this nonsense. Don’t you see? The world is drifting closer and closer to the edge, day by day. He is just a dreamer! He has yet to realize the world doesn’t work like that,” she encountered.

“Don’t you dare talk about him like this! At least his dream isn’t one as bleak as yours,” Ocean said, letting out a disappointed sigh. “You know, I always thought about what I would tell you if you had ended up arrested or in prison. A lot, actually. All these clever counters to your worldview, but right now, I just don’t care. I’m only disappointed… But probably not as much as dad, though.”

“Don’t bring him into this!” Monochrome snapped back. “If I don’t get to criticize your boyfriend, you will leave your hands off my husband as well!”

Ocean glared at her for a few moments before expression softened again, replaced with disgust. “Fine. Then tell me, how are you here? I want to know.”

“Ok. You aren’t stopping before you get that answer, I see. Like I taught you to. A few of the remaining loyalists in the MRG managed to exchange my body with a lookalike between my death and my funeral. They then kept my body frozen, to minimize the damage until they made contact with the Orphnochs operation out of this town, through a previous ally of mine. They managed to revive me as one of theirs. Their plans, while not as good as mine, will stabilize this world. No magical armageddon will consume it. They will save this world, so I accepted to help as the representative of the Circle as well as gratitude for saving my life,” she finished matter of factly.

“You’re one of them?” Ocean returned, just staring at her.

“Yes, I am. And since I answered your question, how about you answer one of mine. Where is your underling?” Monochrome asked, taking a step closer to her daughter.

Ocean’s expression slowly started to morph into a similar one as her mother before replying with a smile: “First, he isn't my underling, he is my partner. And second, he got better things to do than deal with you. That is all you need to know.”

Monochrome simply shook her head before adding: “You’ve really become cocky. This is not how I taught you at all. Showing emotions only will provide your opponent with new targets to hit. You just rev-“ A loud roar of some sort of machine cut through her words, however, followed by a loud shout from Ocean.

\ SCANNING CHARGE! /

“Henshin!”

\ 50, 80, 100! THUNDER CHARGE! /

Charge dashed forward, quickly followed by the fire of guns, before she jumped ahead. Before she landed right in front of her, however, a bike burst through her troops, entirely without any sort of rider, knocking several of them over and coming to a stop right below its owner. With perfect accuracy, Charge landed on the bike, revved the engine, and said: “You also taught me the best way to distract any opponent is to get them talking.”

With that, she let the engine roar and burst through the crowd of her troops.

“Not bad. But this isn’t over,” she coldly returned. “Get me my bike!”

>-------<CxD>-------<

Scorched really hated this idea. No, scratch that, he absolutely despised it. What was Ocean even thinking? She couldn’t really expect him to do this, right? He let out a loud sigh before shaking his head. Of course, she was. Why else would she have given him this order? He looked down at the… man he was supposed to guard. He was already stiff from pulling himself between the pipe and the ceiling he had forced himself between. And Ocean expected him to wait here for goodness how long.

“Make sure that they don’t take the civilians somewhere else without our knowledge. We can’t let them get their hands on them again. I’ll inform you once I have taken down the jammer. Best, you hide somewhere close to Winter. I think a bit companionship might be good for him, or at least a bit of proof we are serious about this,” Ocean order to him, already checking her equipment thoroughly and already on the way to the door.

“But, wouldn’t I be of more use to you somewhere else? Maybe I could distr-“ he tried to argue, but was quickly cut short.

“No! These civilians are of your highest priority now. As much as I want to help them myself, I’m the only one who can deal with my mother and the jammer. And I will hear no buts anymore! Time is of the essence. If I’m correct about the plan of my mother, then she will storm the building sooner rather than later. If I don’t distract her fast, they will look through this building thoroughly, and they will find us!” And without even waiting for an answer, she started to sprint out the door.

He let out another sigh as he was knocked out of his own thoughts by a sudden voice: “Can you… Brood quieter?” It muttered from below him. “You… Are annoying!” It croaked up.

Scorched was about to throw something back at the man, but his words simply refused to leave his mouth. The only thing he managed to croak out was some awkward stutters.

“What? Lizard got your tongue?” Winter returned with a pained chuckle before starting to cough again. Scorched continued to stare down at the man, unable to pull his gaze off him. “Come on… You’re afraid or something?”

“H-How could I not?” He finally managed to press out, tightening the grip on his gun. “You’re one of them…”

“Ugh… Yeah, sure… Because being locked up… And discarded like this really makes me one of them… Right?” Winter asked with a disgruntled look on his face before his coughing fit started to flare up again.

“Look… I’ve just met you… I don’t trust you, that’s all…” Scorched encountered, trying to sound as convincing as possible, almost entirely drowned out by the coughing of the man.

“Bull- Bullshit! You’re afraid of me! Be… Be bloody honest!” It coughed back, and as he looked down, he could see Winter slowly crawling closer towards the bars, his face turned into a painful grimace.

“Y-You’re ok?” He asked, taking a closer look at the man. His fingers were clawing at the concrete floor. His mutated hand scrapping up the floor, leaving rills where it had been, while the only thing his other hand left behind were several bloody claw marks. A few growls escaped his throat in between the constant coughing. “W-Winter?”

This was meat with a loud growl instead and his head snapping upwards, his glossy eye staring at him, letting a cold sweat run down his spine. His grip on his revolver tightened again, and he was just about to pull it out of its holster as something else echoed through the hallway. Footsteps! He took a deep breath, pulled the gun from its holster, and held it tightly to him before holding his breath.

The footsteps quickly drew closer before coming to a halt in front of them; Winter continued to growl at them and even smashed himself against the bars of his cage. “Shut it reject! We don’t have time to deal with you right now,” a voice said before a pained whimper came from Winter. Scorched could only see how the man was knocked back into the cage before laying there, wincing in pain, coughs slowly starting to overtake the growling again.

“Don’t waste your time with him; we got an interloper to find!” Another voice returned before both started to move again. He could barely make out two of the Riotroopers running around the next corner, followed by a silent sigh of relief.

Scorched almost feel out of his little hiding place as Winter spoke up again: “Uhh… What the?” He was interrupted by another coughing fit. “My head… Did something happen?” He muttered, rubbing his head. Scorched, however, just stared at the man and didn’t answer, instead, tightening his hand around his gun even more.

>-------<CxD>-------<

After having burst through the first group of enemies, she had quickly taken a sharp left turn. She really had to thank Light Bulb for this beauty of a bike. The remote control option really had saved her skin right now, and hopefully, Scorched’s as well. If she caused enough chaos on the streets, they had to take a sizable amount of their forces off the pool. And if that worked, he had a better chance to stay hidden. She just hoped this gamble turned out well.

As if on cue, she heard something behind her getting closer. As she dared to let the autopilot take over, she sneaked in a look over her shoulder, spotting eight dirt bikes, mounted by Riotroopers and four humvees, most likely filled with the Planktons inside. Her plan had worked, now she just had to figure out a way to get rid of them all…

Before she could form any further plans, a bolt of energy shot past her and turned one of the parked cars to her left into a flaming ball of fire. She definitely had to come up with that plan fast!

Taking one last look at the large building that once was the old power plant, she gave her machine fire, raising it on its rear-wheel before racing off towards it, all while dodging the incoming fire. She dared to look back once again as the sounds behind her grew quieter. Two of the Humvees, as well as four bikes, had somehow disappeared. Probably to catch her somewhere else.

The other remaining half, however, increased their speed. She probably could have managed to get away from them, but it was only a matter of time until the other group caught up to her. She had to deal with them right now! Falling back a bit, she grabbed her Charge Magnum and readied herself for the incoming fight.

The first one to catch up to her was one of the Riotroopers on his bike, swinging his sword at her. Turning the bike sideways, she managed to barely avoid another gust of sparks coming from her armor before pushing her feet off her motorcycle and delivering a double-kick with her legs. Both feet hit the trooper square in the jaw, letting his helmet crack a bit as he was knocked off his bike and right into another parked car.

He groaned in pain and was just about to pull himself out of the wreckage as his belt started to spark and took both the car and him with it.

Meanwhile, two other bikes had caught up to Charge but were wisely staying out of kicking range. Instead, they started to pester her with energy bolts. She had managed to avoid any direct hits until now, but they were getting closer. To make matters worse, one of the Riotroopers in the Humvee had maned the Gatling-gun on its roof and was revving up for a burst of bullets.

“Fuck!” She hissed, once again, just barely avoiding of the many projectiles coming her way when she heard it. The first burst of bullets came her way, carving a line of destruction through the concrete straight towards her. With a silent growl, she once again turned her handlebar sideways, her bike taking a sharp turn, not without turning her maneuver into some rather dangerous drifting. That, however, wasn’t all she did, though. To the surprise of her pursuers, the middle part of the bike started to twist and turn, moving seemingly independent of the two wheels, allowing her to remain upright on the bike, while her rims where only centimeters away from the ground.

The sudden left turn also had another little side-effect. The gunner of the Humvee realized far too late that his new target had become the Riotrooper that Ocean had driven past, turning him into a blue and red ball of flame.

With this one take care of Charge quickly changed direction again, the wheels of her bike once again turning, while her seat remained as steady as ever. In an impressive one-hundred-and-eighty-degrees turn, she barely managed to zoom past the second bike that had followed her and raced into a small alleyway. The poor bike that had followed her tried to turn as well, but only managed to crash into the brick wall of the alley before being brushed aside by the Humvee that somehow managed to follow her.

She managed to look back once more, looking at the Humvee that was scraping past the walls of the alley, leaving trails of spark and burn marks behind. She also saw the gunner once again preparing for his assault. Turning back, she hit the gas hard, the roars of her engine echoing from the alley as she gained more and more speed. Still, the bullets came, all the same, first shooting through the walls before slowly but surely zeroing in on her.

She barely had time to dodge the assortment of trash cans, crates, and other junk that had piled up before it was torn to shreds by the Gatling-gun. Ocean was starting to get nervous when she saw something at the end of the alley. With a cautiously confident smirk, she jumped onto the seat of her bike. Balancing on top of her motorcycle, it was even harder to avoid the cascade of bullets raining down on her, but just a little more.

Mere moments before the Riotrooper could turn her wheels into scrap metal, she had reached her destination. She pulled the bike back, raising it onto one wheel, and hit the brakes. Her front wheel landed on the wall that had waited for her on the other end of the alley. The bike drove up the wall a little bit, but before she could fall over, it stopped, and with a quick motion, she pushed herself off the wall and turned the bike around. She landed just in time to see the Humvee crash into the two small pillars that signaled the small little backyard.

With a satisfying, metal bending, crash the gunner slammed headfirst into the Gatling-gun and broke his helmet before collapsing. What followed was the sound of desperate wheels screeching on concreate before coming to a halt. The second Humvee seemed to have avoided the fate of the first.

Not that it mattered as she once again revved up her engine to continue her ride. Over the roaring of her machine, she almost would have missed the sound of metal bending and then ripping. Whatever it was, she had no time to think about it. She only had one shot at this…

Through, the question answered itself as one of the Riotroopers stepped onto the totaled first Humvee, carrying his Humvees Gatling-gun under his arm.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” She shouted back before turning the gas handle with all her might, just as the first bullets were starting to hit the concrete. With a loud scream, she let go of her breaks, and the bike shot forward like a rocket, just mere millimeters away from the gunfire directed at her. In the last second, she pulled the handle up again, forcing the bike up into the air. The Riotrooper instinctively stepped back, and felon his as Charge sailed over him, pointing her gun down at him and pulling the trigger two times.

Within a split-second, both the Humvee and the fourth bike went up in flames before Charge even landed again and drove back down the alley.

Ocean let out a silent sigh. This had been far too close for her liking far too many times; still, she had managed. But there was still about half of them standing, and they now had time to prepare for her. While the little diversion had worked flawlessly at getting the pursuers off her back, it had also taken its sweet time. Time she definitely didn’t have.

The next two minutes back, the alley and towards the coal power plant were relatively peaceful, a small calm before the storm that was undoubtedly building up right now.

And, just like she had expected, when she turned around the next corner, she could see it. The two Humvees and the four bikes and build up some sort of barricade, and without any other form of road leading away from the street, they were expecting her to go through here or turn around and look for another way. Well, one of these was right; she definitely wasn’t wasting any more time than needed on them.

The Riotroopers raised their guns when they saw her coming, and so did Charge. If they wanted a gunfight, she would definitely deliver! Her bike raced forward once more, straight towards the barricade. It didn’t take long till both the gunfire of the Riotroopers, as well as the Humvees rained down on her. Her bike, however, didn’t slow down one single bit, even as the asphalt was torn to shreds.

Having managed to pass the first half of the way to the barricade, she readied her first shot and, with a perfectly aimed bolt, hit the gas tank of the first bike. The explosion did little to distract the remaining Riotroopers, however, who continued their assault on her.

Swaying her bike right, she took aim once again, sniping through the helmet of yet another one of the enemies, letting him collapse in a burning, blue lump. Through, while she defiantly felt the slowdown of bullets coming her way, she was far from in the clear yet. Just as that thought had crossed her mind, a stray round managed to clip her in the shoulder. Letting out a pained yelp, she clutched her shoulder, almost letting the bike lose control and crash. Thankfully she managed to catch herself in the very last second and unloaded two shots at the one she assumed had shot her.

While the first shot had missed and only hit the Humvee, the second one once again hit the gas tank, letting the Rider die in a fiery explosion, debris raining down on the last remaining one. That one seemed to have finally lost his nerves and let his machine roar its engine. Racing forward, the Riotrooper let out a loud scream as he unloaded on Charge. She managed to dodge most of the attacks, but some struck their target, letting her grit her teeth, but ultimately pushed through. The two gunners of the Humvees meanwhile were screaming curses at the one on the bike for ruining their clean shoot.

Both were heading for a straight-up collision course, and neither of the two made any attempt to avoid the inevitable crash. In the very last second, the Riotrooper ultimately lost his nerves and tries to turn the bike around, but only managed to make himself crash. Charge meanwhile used her changing bike to slide down directly under him as he was thrown off his motorcycle and unloaded one round straight into his head before knocking his vehicle aside.

Both gunners scrambled to their Gatling-gun once more, but it was already far too late as they once again managed to lock onto their target. Ocean was already far too close for them to actually get their guns low enough and simply slid under one of the Humvees. With a smirk, just as she came up from behind the car, she unloaded her last round into the underside of the Humvee.

One last explosion rocked the now utterly demolished street, totaling the car next to it as well before letting a cascade of debris rain down. A satisfied sigh later, she pulled herself back into a normal position. Looking up towards the sky, she could see the coal power plant straight ahead, and with it, a massive satellite tower. This must have been the jammer! She just had to take down this one and-

In the middle of her thought, a bolt of dark blue energy zoomed past her head and shoot into the building she was heading towards herself. In an instant, her head had turned around, and she saw, bursting over the wreckage of the two Humvees, another Rider, clad in a black undersuit, dark blue armor plates and silver lines separating the two, together with two red glowing eyes. Kamen Rider Hyper Charge!

Her mom was riding one of the same bikes as the Riotroopers, but she doubted that she could deal with it as quickly. If she knew one thing, it was that her mother was far too smart to be taken out like that. And before she could formulate even any sort of plan, the Rider already shoot again, Charge just avoiding a hit last second. She couldn’t slow down now anymore, or else she would have to fight her. And if things still heald as true as before, Hyper Charge was merely stronger than her.

Raising her front wheel once more, she smashed open the front door, knocking it off its hinges as she drove into the lobby. She had to react as quickly as she could, or else her opponent would catch up to her. She had to find the main engine room and probably blow it to smithereens because for anything else, she just had no time at all!

Spotting a sign in big, bold letters saying ‘Main Floor’ was all she needed and burst through the next door into the extremely slim corridor filled with stuff like flower pots and some banks she managed. To her utter dismay, the next few bolts of energy followed quickly after that, Hyper Charge quick on her heals again. Both machines echoed through the halls as they raced past them as if this was a game of chase.

Ocean silently cursed as she noticed the next sign, pointing up some stairs. With a silent grumble, she hit the breaks, pulled her bike to the side, and speed up once again after she had drifted to a halt. All while several bolts just zoomed centimeters past her face. Once again, she pulled the gas handle and sped up the stairs, accompanied by some extremely uncomfortable bumps.

And once again, her way came to an end when the stairs wound to the sides again. She would never make the turn on this small room, not without Monochrome catching up to her. That was when she noticed one little detail, one that would give her an out. A window! She just hoped this would lead to where she expected it to. Pulling back her gas handle, even more, she sped up, the bumps in the stairs growing into nothing more than distant annoyances as she burst through the window, and thank goodness, into the main hall.

Sailing through the air Ocean readied herself for the impact. Sadly, her luck seemed to have somewhat out since she was headings straight for one of the big machines in the hall. Bracing herself for the collision, her bike crashes into the solid metal before being thrown off and tumbling downwards, her bike landing somewhere else.

As she looked up, she could see Monochrome, who had stooped right at the new hole in the wall, jump off her bike, and down towards her. Seemed like there was no escaping it this time; she had to fight. But just in case, she ordered her bike to enter autopilot and stay in range.

“Seems this is the end of the line for you,” Monochrome said, spinning her own Charge Magnum once more. “You know your Rider System is statistically inferior to mine. So, just give up. This will save us all so much time. Maybe you finally will realize that I was right all along.”

“Maybe your gear is better than mine, maybe, but that doesn’t mean I’m just gonna give up. That’d be an insult to the title Kamen Rider and all the people who have carried that name before me. And especially Phoenix! Because if you give up without a fight, you already lost. Just like you! You’ve given up on this world! But I have not! And that is why I will stop you again! Someway! Somehow!” Ocean returned, eyeing her gun that had been thrown a few meters away during her crash.

“My, you sound like some hero on one of these awful Saturday morning TV shows. How much this Phoenix has dragged you down,” the other Rider returned, shaking her head. “He might have been successful for now, but it’s only a matter of time till he runs out of luck, and this world will eat him alive. And with him, the term ‘Kamen Rider’ will be revealed to be the mockery it always was,” she scoffed back before activating the engines all over her body, starting to fill the room with mist.

Charge had only waited for that moment and had dashed forward towards her gun. In a roll forward, she grabbed the firearm, just barely avoiding the first shoot Monochrome unloaded on her, screeching to a halt the moment she came back into an upright position. She was in the middle of jumping back when she felt another one of the energy bolts hit her square in the chest, combining with her own momentum and smashing her into one of the giant machines, leaving another sizable dent in it.

She could feel the pain surging through her, both her back and her chest, one burning and stinging while the other one was more like a really nasty bruise. Still, with gritted teeth, Ocean pushed herself back up, balancing herself by using the boiler behind her. She could hear the metal straining behind her with a foreboding.

The wait was horrendous and nerve-wracking. Every second felt like an eternity as she awaited the inevitable attack and where it might come from. But after what must have been half a minute, nothing had happened. No offense, no shoot, not even something being thrown at her. Something was wrong; even the mist started to slightly dissipate. Then it hit her! Of course! How could she have missed that?

With a silent smirk, she exchanged her Charger once more.

“Charge up!”

\ 50, 80, 100! WIND CHARGE! /

Her suit changed once more, switching to a green variant with two massive propellers encased in metal rings on her back. Within moments of the transformation, the two started spinning, pushing away the mist, slowly but steadily.

“The term Kamen Rider being revealed as a mockery? Do you really believe that? Or did you just not know what happens in the world outside? Phoenix is proving you wrong with every day he is out there, saving people! He already inspired three others to change the world! Three Riders who only started fighting this fight because he has fought day in and day out! And then there are these kids in Canterlot! The Power Rangers! They do the same thing! They are precisely what you could never see in the world! Hope! That people will be able to handle it! And I’m sure of it, there will be more, mom!” Ocean shouted into the slowly subsiding mist a smug satisfaction in her voice.

\ 50, 80, 100! HYPER FIRE CHARGE! /

Out of seemingly nowhere, her mother rocketed towards her from the side, fist ready for a sucker-punch. Ocean, however, had already pulled out the next Charger and swapped it in an instant.

“Charge up!”

\ 50, 80, 100! EARTH CHARGE! /

With her suit now replaced with an orange variant with a red orb on its chest, she readied herself for the already approaching Hyper Charge. The Rider slammed into her with all her power, but instead of any sort of pain, or the like, she felt nothing besides a slight push. With the orb on her chest glowing and a massive grin on her face, she had caught Monochrome’s fist and was pushing with all her might against her. The moment she felt the slightest bit of give, however, she let go of the fist, before garbing her mother's wrist and with one smooth motion swung her one-hundred-and-eighty-degrees around and right into a whole part of the boiler.

Monochrome slammed hard into the machine, it groaning once more as the soreness spread through her body as if a cannonball had hit her. As she looked up, she could barely see the foot of her daughter smashing right into her helmet and sending her flying into a steel support beam of the hall.

“You forgot one part, mom! I’ve been doing this far longer than you! I’ve fought, learned, and grown into these powers! You? You just have better gear! Right now, you’re the newbie, and I’m the experienced agent!” Ocean returned, before spinning the cylinder on her Driver.

\ Maximum Charge! /

Ocean charged towards her mother, who was slowly standing back up. Monochrome attempted to knock her back with a desperate punch but only bounced off her armor before Ocena grabbed her by her kneck and lifted her up into the air, legs desperately struggling in the air. Pulling back her fist, she readied herself for the deciding attack, before letting her fist rocket forward, straight towards her-

\ 100, 150, 200! HYPER OVER CHARGE! /

In the span of a moment, a black energy orb build up around Hyper Charge, throwing Ocean backward. Out of the energy field, a Rider emerged, clad in a black suit, covered in the engines of Flame Charge, the orb of Earth Charge, the tubes of Thunder Charge, with white armor plates and silver lines. All finished off by two piercing red eyes.

“H- Ho- How!?” Was all she managed to stammer out.

“You thought I wouldn’t expand my arsenal when I knew you had become stronger? You think I wouldn’t have gotten my hands on your newest tech? You really have lost your touch with reality Ocean. I expected better from you,” she returned while shaking her head, a large futuristic rifle materializing in her hands.

Ocean pushed herself back to her feet while grabbing for her own Prism-Charger. “But… But Onyx went through the entire MRG! He weeded out your loyalist wherever he could find them? There shouldn’t be any left!”

“Oh, and here is where you are wrong. I am the MRG. When all preparations are done, I will walk right into the headquarters back in Manehatten, and the agency will fall back into my hands. Without any major complications. And no one can stop me from this,” she said, so matter of factly that it was unnerving.

“Bullshit! Neither Phoenix nor any of the other Riders would let you! And they won’t have to either! Because I’m putting a stop to this right now! Charge up!”

\ 100, 150, 200! OVER CHARGE! /

Without skipping a beat, Ocean dashed forward, now clad in her version of Hyper Charge with white undersuit. Monochrome meanwhile activated the tubes all over her body and ran towards the side, and started shooting guided energy orbs at her, each one either crashing just shy of her into the ground or slamming into her and doing no damage thanks to the glowing orb on her chest. Charge pushed forward one last time, her jet-engines firing on all cylinders, ready to slam her fist right into her mother's helmet when, in the last possible moment, her fist was caught by Hyper Charge.

A shockwave ran through the hall as the fist and the palm of Monochrome’s hand collided, the gem on her suit glowing brightly. Throwing her rifle to the side, she spun the cylinder on her Driver and jumped up to slam both her feet into her daughter's stomach.

\ Maximum Charge! /

The glowing feet crashed into Ocean, who was still far too shocked to react. She was thrown back through the wall before coming to a stop at another one, almost breaking through again. Her stomach hurt like Tartarus as if someone had strapped a boxing glove to a rocket if she was honest. Warning lights and signals were blinking all over her visor as her vision slowly started to fade back in. As she looked ahead, she could see her mother walking towards her.

“Give up. This is over!”

“Fuck! You!” Ocean croaked out as she pushed herself back upwards, past all the pain that was flooding from her stomach all through their body.

“As you wish,” Hyper Charge returned, dashing towards her. Ocean meanwhile manifested her own gun in her arms and spun her Driver once more.

\ Maximum Charge! /

Pulling the trigger, a burst of energy erupted from the gun, almost knocking it out of her hands, Monochrome easily sidestepping it before coming to a stop right in front of Charge.

“You missed!”

“Nope… Hit the bullseye,” she weakly returned before her knees gave out under her.

Monochrome looked confused for a moment when the realization hit her. She spun around just in time for the already damaged boiler to go boom and with it all the ones next to it. The explosion sent a shockwave through the entire building, followed by a wall of flame, one that engulfed both Riders and threw them backward.

Her ears were ringing like crazy as she finally felt her body coming to a stop. Everything was fuzzy, grey, bright, and just…

That was when she felt the pain surge through her body. Bruises over bruises had accumulated throughout the explosion. Letting out a pained groan, she tried to stand back up, only to collapse again. It took way too long till the fuzziness in her vision faded.

The entire power plant was in flames, rubble was everywhere, and in front of her was-

“Diend!?” She shouted out at the blue Rider in front of her. He turned around, tilting his head, and hefted something under his arm.

“Hmh. Seems you are awake. You got one hell of a daughter, I must say. Not sure if brave or just stupid, though,” he chuckled, tightening his grip on… Ocean! She had been knocked out of her transformation and was hanging limply in his arms. “But a shame she got such a rotten mother like you.”

“Drop her!” She hissed, standing back up, her gun materializing in her hands

“I’d love to play with you right now, but this building is kinda collapsing, and I got to save an idiot. Maybe you should leave as well. Alas, adieu!” He returned before using his Driver once more.

|Attack Ride|

|INVISABLE|

And with that, the meddling Rider disappeared, leaving her behind. And as if on cue, a piece of the ceiling fell down next to her. This place was doomed! She had to get out of here and worry about everything else later!

>-------<CxD>-------<

Everything was black… No… Not everything, only mostly… There was something bright… Some form of light above her… But she could just not make out what it was. The more she concentrated on it, the more her mind was starting to rattle. Her body was beginning to feel something soft… Something very soft under her… And… Above her as well? Where…

In an instant, she shoots up straight, knocking the blanket off her as her eyes darted around what looked like a room. She must have been in one of the abandoned places somewhere in town, but how did she get her and-

“Oh. Seems like you’ve woken up,” a playful voice suddenly said. When she turned around, she could see Diend, no, Kaito, sitting on a table, legs crossed and sipping a cup of what looked like coffee. “Took you long enough to wake up,” he added with a sweet smile, a far too sweet smile. Ocean narrowed her eyes and instinctively went for her Driver and Charges only to-

“Looking for these?” He smugly held up her belt buckle with the gem and sat it down next to his cup, where her Chargers already waited for her.

“Give those back!” She returned firmly before trying to jump up and leaping for her gear when her body simply refused. Pain once again surged through her before letting her fall back to the mattress.

“In due time. But for now, they are insurance you listen,” he continued, seemingly not bothered by her outburst. “I’m offering an alliance.”

“Why now? Why not form the start instead of attacking me?” Ocean asked, narrowing her eyes at the Rider. “I smell something more.”

“Well, you’ve proven to be more trouble getting rid of than worth. We have the same goal, take care of this remnant of Smart Brain and Dai-Shocker.”

“Smart Brain? Dai-Shocker?” Ocean returned, a questioning look in her eyes.

“Remnants of a group of lunatics who tried to take over the multiverse and a faction under them. I took them down with a comrade of mine,” he added with a smile on his lips.

“Wait… I heard that name somewhere… It was… Do you know Tsukasa? Kamen Rider Decade?” She muttered before shouting out.

“Oh, you’ve met my dear Tsukasa? What a coincidence. I haven't seen him for a while. How is he?” Kaito asked, far more energetic than she had anticipated.

“He’s probably fine… Meat him a few months ago. Helped us deal with a dimension traveling mage. Then you… You are the thief Rider he talked about… Oh, damn you, Tsukasa…” She sighed and shook his head. “Seems all your comrades are as difficult as you are.” She shook her head before adding. “Wait… That also means you’re the one who’s brother…”

“Tsk. It seems I got to talk with Tsukasa about a few things regarding talking about the personal lives of others,” Kaito cut her off with an annoyed undertone.

“Is… Is that why you’re helping me? My mom? I faintly remember you saying something about how… How wroten she was when you… You saved me. Thanks for that,” she sheepishly added.

The thief looked away for a moment before merely stating. “Even if, what would it matter to you. I have my reasons; that should be enough for you. Now, are you willing to work with me on this heist?”

“What do you want?”

“Only the Orga-Driver. That is all. It is my property, and I want it back! That is why I’m here and nothing more.”

“That’s all?” He nodded. “Fine. You can have it, as long as you leave again,” she sighed, defeated. “But if we work together, I need to know what you do. What are they doing here? You were on the terminal before… everything devolved.”

“Yes, before you interrupted me,” he added with a smug smirk.

“Yes, yes, whatever. Did you find out anything?” Ocean muttered back.

“Fine. They plan to turn this world into an Orphenoch world. They are developing a gas that will turn every human who breathes it in into one of them. Either a lesser Orphonoch, like those identical ones, or a real one like the one with the human form you faced. They call themselves Neo Orphenochs. Some kind of bioengineered branch of them, but that doesn’t mean much to you. They are using this town as a testing ground for their big plan. They used the citizens a lab rads to know if their gas plan would work,” Kaito said, before taking another sip from his coffee. “Mhhh, lovely. I got this specific recipe from a former alien host. Want some?”

She shot him a quick glare. “Pass. So that’s what they are planning…”

“Exactly. Their research is spearheaded by a certain Doctor Maeda. He is also the one who stole my Orga-Driver. And I want it back. He’ll be another problem besides the army of Plankton Orphenochs and your mother. But he is most likely inside their central lab situated in the old mine. And that is currently closed off by a large steel gate. I currently lack a way to get in there with force. And until now, finding another way in has sadly been a failure,” he said with an annoyed huff.

“Oh? A steel gate? Maybe I have something for this… If you give me my phone back.”

“Oh? Some form of tech I haven’t seen yet? You make me curious… What was your name again, girl?” He smirked playfully before emptying his coffee and standing back up, her phone in his hand.

“Ocean. Ocean Skies, or, if you prefer it that way, Kamen Rider Charge,” she returned with her own smirk. “But introductions can wait for a little while longer, I’ve got a call to make!”