Kamen Rider: What's Your Desire?

by The Bricklayer

First published 30th of January, 2019

Adagio Dazzle, marine biologist. ...And apparently the next Kamen Rider OOO and someone who tried to take over the world a few years back?

Adagio Dazzle was happy with her life. Top of her field in Marine Biology and worked at one of the nation's foremost aquariums. Everything was going fairly well for her. That is, until she got mistaken for this doppelganger who apparently tried to take over the world a few years back by this rainbow-haired chick and to make matters worse some idiot calling himself Ankh decided it was a good idea to follow her around begging her to become this Kamen Rider OOO character. Whatever that meant.

And what's this about monsters named Greeeds?

...Whatever happened to her life being so simple?

Prologue: A Well Respected Woman About Town

Adagio didn’t honestly know when she started dreaming of that time, that place. But every now and then, it happened. She saw a kingdom, glorious in prospect and a being… possibly indescribable in beauty but the ruler of the skies. Medals, ten of them in various shades. No, that was incorrect, each medal shade had a set of ten. And this ‘King of Birds’ possessed ten red ones.

“So, is it ready?” this king asked. Outside this grand castle, green valleys stretched as far as the eye can see, flowing rivers and babbling brooks winding down through forests into one massive lake that this castle overlooked. Europe, Adagio knew that much of the location. Somewhere in Europe, 800 years ago.

The King’s face, she couldn’t see it. Not that she entirely wanted to, something about this man along with his attendants set her on edge. All she could see of the man, shrouded in shadow were two purple like eyes gleaming back at her. “Can these… Core Medals give life?” he asked one of his attendants. No, alchemists. Gara was the lead one’s name.

“Once we do one simple thing,” the lead alchemist answered, reaching out and removing one of the red medals from the set. “Life is about desire. Watch what the desire to be whole can create.”

The King, he watched in awe as his alchemists created life from nothingness, the King of Birds looking on perched from a window watching curiously.

“Hello, Ankh,” Gara greeted, pride filling him as he gazed at his work. “Welcome to the world.”

Other entities based on various animals were soon to follow.

“Thank you,” the King stated. “Now, you are no longer needed.”

With that, he raised his arms up high and blasted the alchemists out of existence, small silver coins tinkling to the floor. “As for you?” he asked, turning to the newly created race of beings before smiling evilly. “Happy Birthday.”

The beings, Greeed as Adagio would know them as screamed out in pain as their very cores were taken from them, and added to the King’s own power as a strange belt buckle with three slots on it appeared across his waist.

“Taka, Tora, Batta: Ta-To-Ba! Tatoba, Ta-To-Ba!” the belt practically growled out as the King ran a scanning device across it and changed into this… monstrous beast. Large tiger claws stretched out in front of him, , with more claws atop those. His legs were a horrific fusion of a man’s and an insect of some sort. A grasshopper if the symbol at the center of his chest was anything to go by. His mouth was made up of interlocking fangs, giving his visage a permanent sneer.

Snarling, he marched forwards and stepped out of his throne room looking at the world ahead. Time went by in a blur in this dream(?) or memory, and Adagio saw the King put his new powers to the test. Anyone who came, they were subsequently laid low.

Europe was soon to fall in his wake. In Slovakia, all green grasshopper-like clones of him marched in lockstep with him, cutting through armies with brutal efficiency and scything down entire legions. Other countries, like Poland and the Czech Republic, were soon to follow. In the Ukraine, fire rained down as this bird took to the skies and fired flaming blasts into enemy encampments, and contained survivors and refugees into small hideaways, with those that escaped this terror hoping and praying to their gods for survival.

The King had gone mad, and worse was still to come. In the deserts of Kazakhstan and Afghanistan, entire armies were laid low due to one single blinding golden figure of intense heat and speed, who also seemed to channel the powers of reptiles and arthropods as well. Where there had been cities and sands there was now swathes of glass. Nothing seemed to be a challenge for the King.

Finally, the world’s greatest empire, the Spanish themselves had enough. Sending their Armada, they met up with the forces of England and pressed on towards Germany, where the King met them head-on.

“You fools. You poor pathetic fools,” the King said as he looked towards the armada of approaching battleships filled with hundreds of men, flags of their native countries bore proudly. “You cannot possibly defeat me. Do you know why? Because I was born to be king.”

Adagio honestly wanted to say something different, in that the world’s mightiest Armada would stand a chance against this madman, or just simply make this night terror come to an end, but she knew chances of both things happening was fruitless. She’d had this night terror before, and she knew she would have it again. And she knew how it always -Always- turned out.

With that, the King ran his ‘scanner’ across his belt.

“Shika, Gazelle, Ushi: Shiga-Ze-Shi! Shi-Gazeshi, Shiga-Ze-Shi!”

Turning into this goldenrod and white figure, he ran across the waters smashing through ships with powerful kicks before changing forms once more as he used a powerful wave to propel himself upwards.

“Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo: Sa-Ra-Mi-Uo! Sa! Ra! Mi-Uo!”

Gripping a red staff, he spun it over his head and sent powerful whirlpools scything through the air and then the masts of the ships, bringing them down atop the unlucky soldiers. The battle did not last long. Any ship that did manage to launch an attack was merely shrugged off by the armored form of the mad king. His form changed once more, becoming blue before he turned to water and sank into the waves below. The seas lurched, the entire armada being swept up in an unnaturally large tsunami.

The earth shuddered as the waters churned and King vanished into the raging waves before another form change followed, and he emerged in silver armor with blood-red eyes. He pounded his chest, letting the thrill of his power fill him as he jumped into the air. Every time he landed, the very earth trembled beneath him. Any unlucky soldiers who had somehow made it to shore were swallowed up by the ground beneath them, or in the case when King took a polar animal-based form frozen and then shattered. When all was said and done, Eurasia was nothing but smoldering wreckage, and King was the ruler of the ashes.

Somehow, the Greeed he had created managed to regain their Cores and rose up against him in his own castle, the battle raging for hours on end, these creatures of desire actually managing to hold their own against the tyrant.

“Cobra, Kame, Wani: Bura-Ka~~Wani!” King slid along the ground, weaving between his opponents. His gaze settled on the lone female of the group, figuring she would be the weakest. He jumped up, large jaws forming on his leg and readying themselves to clamp down on her head. She kicked him away, only for a large snake to set itself upon her before the largest of the group grabbed this snake -and King- and tossed it away.

“Mezool!” the silver Greeed bellowed, moving in to check on his ally. Suddenly, a blast of fire hit the silver one in the chest before the former King of the Birds stepped out of the shadows.

“A-Ankh?” Uva whispered in horror. “W-Why?”

“I know when to pick my winners.” Ankh smirked. However, even he didn’t see what would happen next when the King, for some reason attempted to scan every Core Medal at once, his desires getting the best of him. He even quite literally backstabbed Ankh and ripped out his own Core Medals.

“Now… Now I shall be one of the Gods!” King screamed out before descending into mad laughter. But that was not what fate desired, for even King’s body had its limits. The entire castle buckled and then exploded, and all that was left were a set of ruins and one large coffin with the belt buckle forming the seal.

Adagio woke up in a sweat, panting and breathing hard as she threw the covers off herself even as the sunlight filtered in through her apartment window. “That… that dream again. Why? Why do I keep.seeing it…?”

Groaning as she wiped some of the sweat off her face, she sighed as she looked at the nearby clock on her nightstand. Smiling, she chuckled. “Just another day on the daily grind I suppose…”

Meanwhile, far and away in a country simply called “A” somewhere in Europe something much more bewildering was occurring than Adagio Dazzle having a day job and not enthralling humans.

“Go on, dig it up!” a creature resembling a cross between a turtle and a bazooka shouted as men clad in lucha libre type suits set to work on recovering something from the ruins of a once great castle.

Standing atop hills with AK-47 rifles in hand was more of these foot soldiers.

Suddenly, a bottle containing mayonnaise of all things clocked one of the troops in the head sending him sprawling to the ground even as a coffin was revealed. Chains had been wrapped around this coffin, with some sort of belt buckle serving as the seal.

“What the…?” the turtle man trailed off before he was suddenly sent sprawling by a flying side kick to the head. Groaning, a man dressed in a thick jacket picked up the now shattered bottle of mayonnaise and inspected it.

“Aw mou… You seriously made me waste a perfectly good bottle!” the man groaned out as the turtle man picked himself up off.

“Do you have any idea who you’re dealing with?” the turtle man asked as henchmen clad in ninja robes and wielding katanas leaped out of the treeline. “You could die here!”

“Yeah? Well, you could get eaten. And besides, I view every pinch as a chance!” the jacket-clad man retorted before slipping a ring onto one of his fingers and striking a pose. “Hen… SHIN!”

“Set, open! L, I, O, N!” his Belt cried out as it opened up and the man was covered in gold leonine armor.

Cracking his knuckles, he brought out a sword. “Well, you’re no Phantom, but everyone has Mana. Kamen Rider Beast, at your service. So you’re Shocker huh? Pleasure, and arigato in advance for the meal!”

Clashing blades with the dustards, and leaping backwards to avoid a bazooka blast from the turtle man, Beast donned one of his mantles.

“Chameleo, Go: Cha-Cha-Cha-Cha-Chameleo!”

Using the mantle’s whip, he knocked some of the Combatmen back before leaping from tree to tree like some sort of spider and then used his sword to send six little energy chameleons towards the dustards taking some of them out of the fight. He then used his Kick Strike to take out some of the combat men.

“Let’s spice things up a bit!” Beast cried, donning another of his mantles.

“Falco, Go: Fa-Fa-Fa-Falco!”

This time however, when he used his dice saber he only managed to send one puny little falcon towards a Combatman, who looked befuddled before kicking the falcon away.

“Aw mou… This again?” Beast muttered and his eyes widened as he saw some of the combatmen lifting the coffin out of the ground and starting to carry it off. “Crap, this is not happening!”

Running alongside a stone wall, he then tried to catch up to the combatmen before a jaguar-themed monster knocked Beast to the ground.

Said monster was then hit in the stomach by a series of bullets fired from a sword hilt as a white samurai-themed Rider leaped out of the treeline alongside Kamen Rider X, both using their respective weapons to take out the dustards. Zangetsu, as that was the Samurai rider’s name then brought out a lock of some sort and slammed it into his belt before slicing it open with a small cutting blade.

“Soiya! Watermelon Arms! Midare-dama, Ba-Ba-Ba-Bang!”

His shield was changed into this massive gatling gun which he used to swiftly cut down legions of Shocker’s troops before he switched back to his default arms and began cutting down whoever was left.

X meanwhile drew a red X of energy in midair with his staff before using said staff like an acrobat’s pole and swinging from it.

“X Kick!” X shouted, and with that, he delivered a powerful strike to the turtle man’s stomach destroying him in a fireball.

“You and your fancy new Riders with your form changes…” X muttered in slight annoyance as Beast and Zangetsu assumed new forms to chase after the combatmen carrying the coffin.

“Oh no you don’t!” X shouted as he chased after the combatmen.

“Soiya! Mix! Melon Arms! By Heaven’s Decree! Jimber Melon!”

“Hyper, Go: Hy-Hy-Hy-Hyper!”

Trouble was, Shocker was having none of that, as Beast, X and Zangetsu were all stopped in their tracks by revived versions of Mukadetiger and Hitodanger and several more dustards.

“They’re bringing them all out of the woodworks aren’t they?” Beast deadpanned as he fired upon Mukadetiger with his magnum. “Haven’t these guys learned anything yet? They’re jokes by now! And they’re not even good ones!” he sighed as Zangetsu finished Hitodanger off with a sonic arrow blast. Beast was soon to follow with a hyper magnum strike, swallowing up Muka’s mana. X in the meantime had dealt with the grunts.

“So, you’re all that’s left…” X commented pointing his staff at the combatmen who looked understandably and positively terrified by this point, dropping the coffin with a loud thud.

Suddenly, a loud eagle’s screech cut through the air and Beast was knocked to the ground as this massive eagle monster wearing a gas mask landed in front of them. At some point before the unearthing of the coffin, a cell medal had been found and using science, Shocker had managed to create their own Greeed. During this, they had wondered where more of these medals could be found and so they tracked the cell medal to its origin point here in Country A.

“YEE! YEE!” the combatmen cried out and made off with the coffin as the Shocker Greeed charged towards the three Riders. Swearing under his breath, X readied himself for battle alongside Zangetsu and Beast.

Striking the Shocker Greeed multiple times across the chest with his staff, X moved out of the way for Beast to deliver a hyper magnum strike and Zangetsu a sonic arrow blast. Nothing seemed to faze this monster, and in any case, it’s job was done. It had slowed the Riders, and taking to the skies it cackled in glee as it flew off.

Canceling their transformations, the Riders all shared a significant look.

“So, they really are back.” X sighed as Beast tossed him an old flip phone he always kept on him in case of emergencies -like this for instance- which X used to dial a number.

“Come on Kohtaro… Pick up,” X thought to himself as he looked towards the sky and the Shocker Greeed’s retreating form. “What’s that old saying? Oh yes… Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war. And our war, the Riders’ War against Shocker has just reignited.”

---

Shocker wasted no time in escaping to their temporary base, set deep underground and wasted no time in prying the lid off the coffin.

“Now, as we all know,” the current Great Leader of Shocker, an old member known as Ganikomol lectured to his troops. “We’re being outshone and pushed to the shadows by that Foundation Z or whatever they call themselves. They’re just the new kids on the block, dogs needing to be shown their place.”

At his side was the Shocker Greeed, standing at rapt attention. Ganikomol patted the lid of the coffin. “Our newest Kaijin, this ‘Greeed’ as he calls himself was devised from this! A simple medal!” Ganikomol cried out holding up a cell medal. “Who knows what lies within this coffin! Perhaps more of these grand little offerings from Kami-Sama!”

He turned to his men. “Rip it open!”

Using buzzsaws and chain cutters, the coffin was quickly opened up, the seal being tossed aside with Shocker paying no mind to it. This proved, however, to be a grandiose mistake of the highest order. From within, howling spirits erupted from the broken lid and took shape as they began reclaiming what was rightfully theirs.

A grasshopper themed monster was the first to form, and the irony wasn’t exactly lost on Ganikomol even as the grasshopper greeed began cutting down the combatmen and dustards who tried to stop him. For the record, Shocker had gotten their hands on some cosmic energy and managed to manipulate it for their own ends to create some dustards for themselves. Not that it really helped.

“And so history repeats…” he thought before shouting out an order to his own greeed who leaped down from the rafters to began fighting his cohort of sorts. During this chaos, a floating arm slipped out of the area and took off with several core medals as the rest of the greeed went to town on Shocker. Mezool, the aquatic animal-themed greeed turned into liquid and flooded the caverns washing away most of the troops before Uva cut down any that remained.

Soon, all that was left was the Shocker Greeed and Ganikomol.

“So, you’re one of us aren’t you?” Mezool commented. “Artificially created or no, you’re still one of us. Now why, why I ask, would you side with these fools when it’s clearly obvious you have greater power at your fingertips?”

The Shocker Greeed considered this, and it didn’t take long before he made up his mind and with one swift movement cut down Ganikomol who only started at him with a look that asked: “Why?”

Chuckling, Mezool put a hand on the Shocker Greeed’s shoulders. “Come now, there’s much better things to do than hang out with these… artifacts.”

At this, the Shocker Greed smirked and walked off with his fellows. What they didn’t see however, was this little camera shaped like a bug watching this entire exchange. The buzzcam as we’ll call it flew off and into the hands of one white-suited man.

“Perfect. Once again, Shocker’s provided us with an opportunity,” the man said before turning to some dustards of his own. “Sweep the area! Anything of use, take it!”

“And so the game begins… Now then, what will you do next?” the man thought towards the Greeeds.

---

Back in the USA, Adagio continued life unaware of just how much exactly things were to change for her. However, this wasn’t the same Adagio Dazzle that ravaged Canterlot High. Hell, she wasn’t even from Equestria. No, this was Adagio’s human counterpart, working as a marine biologist at Denver's local aquarium. The Colorado-borne woman was happy with life, and here at her home state’s aquarium, she felt at home and what’s more, she was respected and working with the animals she loved.

“Now, that’s it… Come to mommy…” Adagio whispered, currently coaxing over a leopard seal over to her with some fish. “Relax, I’m not going to hurt you… You, hurt me, maybe. But me hurting you? No… No.”

This seal had been recovered from the Antarctic, with his right flipper damaged and so it was unable to hunt and fend for itself. Adagio, while on a trip there to find some new animals for the aquarium via her boss’ request, found the seal and brought it back home in order to nurse it back to health. Honestly, she would have liked to have put it back in the wild where it belonged, but that wasn’t exactly feasible. Just getting it here was a job by itself! So in the aquarium it went, once it was back in shape that was.

She knew what she was doing, coaxing it to come closer would probably be considered crazy, and indeed her colleagues were standing as far away from her as possible. Just doing this was probably as close to suicide as you could probably get, as the leopard seal was one of the top predators in its home environment outmatched only by the orca and the elephant seal but Adagio had a saying. If there was an animal who needed help, she would always reach out her hand to help that animal. Never mind the fact that this particular animal had massive jaws capable of easily killing her.

However, this particular seal didn’t really seem interested in her, it was more interested in the fish she was tossing towards it. Wincing as the seal gulped the fish down, Adagio knew she really didn’t want to be that fish.

“There… There, that’s a good boy,” Adagio whispered softly, trying not to show any fear as she stroked the seal’s head, with the seal rolling over onto its belly and yawning. “So proud of you, you’ll be back to fighting shape in no time. It’ll take a while, but you’ll be swimming eventually. ...Just wish it was in the Arctic waters instead of a tank.”

“Adagio, you can back off now,” her colleague Star Hunter said through a handheld radio. “I love your care for sea creatures and all, but that thing is dangerous! It’s a freakin’ leopard seal, have you not noticed this?”

“I know what he is, thank you very much,” Adagio deadpanned. “And in case you haven’t noticed, his flipper isn’t exactly in best of shape right now. I could run faster than he could waddle.”

“Fine fine… I’ll send flowers if he bites your arm off and you bleed out,” Star Hunter sighed. “But anyways, we need you at the Mediterranean monk seal exhibit. Seems our alpha male has come down with something, not sure what. He’s not exactly feeling up to snuff.”

“First off, can we not call them exhibits? It doesn’t sound exactly pleasing to the tongue if you ask me, sounds like we’re keeping these animals just for the public to gawk at,” Adagio retorted as she stepped out into the hallway leaving the leopard seal or Arthur as she called him to his dinner. “But I’m on my way.”

“Uh, yeah, we sorta are keeping these animals for the public to gawk at as you put it,” Star Hunter remarked. “I mean, the leopard seal alone, you know how costly it is to send it back to the Antarctic, so he has to stay here. And our Mediterranean monk seals? They have to stay here, get us a good breeding population. Only about 700 at most in the wild after all…”

“You don’t have to guilt trip me Star, I know the situation behind the monk seals,” Adagio replied and sighed sadly to herself. The reason the Mediterranean monk seal population was so low was because of various reasons. One reason was to revenge attacks on fishermen’s nets and offshore fish farms. The other was due to as always, poaching. Adagio fought back a sniffle, such rare and beautiful creatures hunted to near extinction simply due to the fact that people couldn’t pull their heads out of their asses and respect the planet and figure out they weren't the only creatures on it in their arrogance.

She knew how it sounded. It was like she was some sort of eco-terrorist and just trying to justify her hatred towards some idiots probably sounded awfully eco-terroristic of herself as well but she couldn’t help how she felt. She loved the sea, as her father did. He’d raised her with a deep respect for aquatic life, and all of the sea’s creatures. Playing Endless Ocean 2 on the Wii when she was a teenager probably hadn’t helped matters either.

Making to the monk seal exhibit, she quickly found the Alpha Male of the group, which was an easy enough task to do really. It was the largest of the bunch after all. Star Hunter was already near his pool, checking the seal’s temperature.

“I… I just don’t get it, everything seems normal… But it’s like this seal just doesn’t want to do anything.” Star Hunter muttered to himself, the dark blue-jacketed man running a hand through his hair in frustration and confusion.

“Sure he’s not just bored?” Adagio questioned, shining a light inside the seal’s jaws. “Or maybe he’s just tired. Doesn’t seem to be in any pain… We all have our good days and bad days, you know the kind, where we just don’t want to get up and do anything.”

“Fair enough I suppose,” Star Hunter sighed. “Been there, done that. It’s just with population numbers as low as they are, I was getting worried. We paid a huge amount of money to the Greek government just to have this seal and his friends here, the last thing we want is one of our favorites dying off on us.”

At this, the monk seal let out a swift barking sound in annoyance, as if to say: “Don’t count me out yet you idiot!”

“See, he’s just restless, that’s all!” Adagio added in a cheerful tone as the monk seal dived into his pool and began swimming about. Adagio smiled. This seal, along with Arthur and the Weddell seals were some of her personal favorite inhabitants of the aquarium. She didn’t know why, but she always felt a kinship with them, creatures trapped between land and water, never knowing which was their natural home. Like real life mermaids, really.

Adagio smiling as she thought of just getting in the main tank and swimming with the hammerheads was suddenly interrupted from her thoughts by a chirping sound as this small violet bird sorta resembling a cube flew up to her. Perching itself on her shoulder, Adagio smiled as she looked at the little creature.

“Right… Forgot you were flying about…” she thought, letting the condor-like mecha nibble on her finger, letting out a giggle as it did so. “So, what mischief have you been up to today fine sir?”

A few explanations were owed really. A few months back, this team of Super Sentai calling themselves Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger -Yes, it was a mouthful- fought this group known as the Deathgaliens who were intending on using Earth as their latest setting in a long line of sick blood games. In the end, Earth, and another world, ZyuEarth were merged and now both Zyumans -anthropomorphic animals- were living peacefully. Sure, there were still some issues from time to time, teething troubles but that was to be expected.

After the Deathgaliens were defeated, some of the Zyuohger’s cube animal partners scattered to the winds intend on exploring Earth and its wonders. Cube Conder had found himself in America, and in Adagio’s hands sorta becoming a best friend of sorts to her. A few eyebrows were raised yes, but for the most part, everyone just lived and let be. Sure, the condor did cause his fair share of mischief but it was all in good fun and everybody knew it.

Adagio found herself wandering into the small sea life section of the aquarium, eying some leafy seadragons in their tanks. This particular part of the aquarium, as the name implied housed the creatures too small to be put in larger tanks, like little garden eels and triggerfish.

Smiling as she watched an Orange Sea Slug crawl next to a Luminescent Sea Slug, which as its name implied could give off bioluminescence she then pulled out her phone. A news headline caught her attention, commenting on a mysterious altercation in Country A. Apparently, if it was to be believed, those Japanese heroes from the shadows, the Kamen Riders were involved. A few years back, Adagio wouldn’t have put much stock into heroes like them. Super Sentai yes, but Kamen Riders were a bit less believable due to the lack of evidence supporting them.

But then incidents like the eclipse in Japan in 2013 and the Inves invasion a few months later changed her mind, along with about everyone else’s in the world really. She even heard rumors of a game called Kamen Rider Chronicle being developed, allowing you to play as your favorite Kamen Rider. Sounded interesting enough, she supposed. Her sister Aria thought it a game for weebs, but both Adagio and Sonata found it interesting enough. Who didn’t want to be a superhero after all? ...Oh, she did hope X was in the game, given the fact that apparently his gear was originally designed for deep sea exploration.

Cube Condor then let out a small chirping sound, and Adagio blinked in confusion before smacking herself on the forehead.

“Oh right, it is time to check on the orcas isn’t it?” she muttered, and walked towards the changing room to find a wetsuit and diving gear. Groaning as she tried to straighten out her curly golden locks, she eventually just gave up. Eventually, with a little bit of effort, she was ready and walked towards the orca tank.

Unknown to her, nearby a certain rainbow haired woman was getting a lecture on marine life alongside her friend Fluttershy from Star Hunter. Rainbow’s eyes widened as she saw the distinctive form of Adagio Dazzle walk towards the orca tank.

Blinking, she whispered: “No, it can’t be…” before she rushed over pulling Fluttershy along with her making her friend -poor girl, really- let out a sharp yelp. “Hey, what the hell do you think you’re doing here?” Rainbow shouted at Adagio.

“Uh… My job?” Adagio asked slowly, quite confused by why this young woman was so angry with her.

“How’d you even fucking get a job in the first place?” the rainbow-haired woman shouted at Adagio, making quite a few people stare at her. Adagio studied the hair. Probably dyed, nobody had hair like that naturally. The small perverted part of her mind did idly wonder if it was like that down there before she quickly told it to shut up.

“First off, yes I’m me, think that’s fairly easy to establish,” Adagio deadpanned, with Cube Condor flying up to the rafters to observe the whole scenario as it unfolded. “And secondly, mind your language, please. Family institution and all that. You’re really making a scene, don’t force me to call security.”

“Oh, har har, that’s funny,” the rainbow-haired woman deadpanned. “You speaking about family-friendly policies, you being who you are and all! ...Damn succubus…” she muttered as an afterthought.

“Oh, while I’m flattered you’re actually comparing me to a literal sex demon,” Adagio remarked. “I’m honest to god confused here. Seriously, why are you thinking me as someone I’m not, AKA a real bitch from the sounds of things.”

“Uh, because you are?” the woman replied, Adagio reading off her guest pass as Rainbow Dash. Her friend’s pass read Fluttershy.”Now listen, I’ve got an orca to feed, so if you don’t mind Rainbow Dash, can you please wait till after I feed Neptune to register any personal complaints about me? Cause seriously, Neptune? He doesn’t like it when he’s kept waiting on his food.” she said, gesturing behind her with a finger to the aforementioned orca swimming about in his tank impatiently.

“Uh, Rainbow, can we talk for a minute?” Fluttershy asked nervously, tugging on her friend’s shoulder.

“Yes, please do talk amongst yourselves. I’ve got an aquarium to help run,” Adagio stated, quite fed up with being accosted by this woman who didn’t exactly sound like she knew what she was talking about. “So please do.”

With that, she marched off and headed towards Neptune’s tank.

“Um, Rainbow, you do realize that Twilight has a human counterpart as well right?” Fluttershy whispered. “So it’s entirely possible that…”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just the two are so alike in so many ways that…” Rainbow grumbled. “Well, she really burns me up!”

“Well, to be fair you did accost her and treat her like dirt, so I can’t entirely blame her for being… peeved,” Fluttershy said delicately. “Now come on, there’s still a few more exhibits I want to see before this place closes.” she said, dragging Rainbow along much to her protests.

---

A few hours later, one very exhausted Adagio Dazzle fell into her apartment bed before hugging a little killer whale plushie close to her chest. Cube Condor was out on the balcony, watching the stars. The sound of Denver’s foot traffic came up from below, and cars honked and beeped in the night.

“Okay, seriously… what was that about?” Adagio mumbled to herself before she eyed her laptop sitting on her desk. “When in doubt… Search the internet!” she said with a snap of her fingers at her lightbulb moment.

Adagio pulled up a chair, and opened up her laptop searching for anything that might help. Typing in her own name into the search bar, her eyes widened when she saw something labeled “The Battle of the Bands” on YouTube. Her eyes widened even more when she saw almost an exact duplicate of herself, maybe slightly younger along with duplicates of her sisters change into monstrous sea serpent-like creatures and face off against these girls -Rainbow and Fluttershy included- who summoned up this rainbow horse thing.

“Well, that answers a lot of questions… Including why Rainbow sees me as such a complete and utter bitch. To her, I am a complete and utter bitch!” Adagio muttered to herself, hardly impressed with her doppelganger and her behavior. “Still, last I checked me and my sisters didn’t have evil twins running about. That’s only in science fiction… right?” she asked herself.

For a moment, Adagio wondered if her sisters knew about this. Then she realized Sonata and Aria probably wouldn’t really care. Aria was just concerned with her music, and Sonata was almost always at their uncle’s farm helping beekeep so she was sorta isolated from the world.

She then considered the matter of Fluttershy. Talking to Rainbow herself was a definite no, at least for the time being hostile as she was. However, talking to her friend, who seemed definitely more reasonable at least might provide some answers.

“Yeah, in the morning, that’s what I’ll do. Fluttershy seems nice enough, but I really don’t think she’d love me calling her up this late at night. Never mind that fact that I don’t have her number anyhow.” Adagio mused taking a sip of her coffee.

“Damn though if Rainbow isn’t attractive as all hell, hotheadedness aside,” Adagio remarked aloud, and Cube Condor let out a squawk even as he stared at her in shock. “What, I’m not allowed to admire women my own age? Besides, the only reason she hates me is that some excuse for a doppelganger tried to kill her and enslave Earth’s population. Or at least Denver’s anyhow. Makes one wonder what my evil twin wanted to accomplish anyhow… I mean, an army of teenagers? That’s just… well, that’s just too stupid for words.”

Come to think of it, she remembered Denver, or more specifically Canterlot High played host to a lot of weird incidents that could easily be thought of as magic lately. Like a demoness trashing the school, and then another demoness two years later opening up portals to some other dimensions. There were a few other incidents, but those were the highlights really. Denver, Adagio had figured out, was one Hell of a weird place to live.

Granted, Earth was pretty much the same way, seeing as how various villains attacked it every other year, and world ending incidents seemed to happen on a regular basis. She really pitied the people in Japan. There was a reason she decided never to visit Tokyo or Japan in general. Bit of a shame really, fun country. Just had a real problem with monsters. The only years where nothing seemed to happen were 2002, 2003, 2007, 2009, and finally 2010.

Sighing, Adagio closed up her computer and turned on the TV, hoping maybe there was something good on.

Far away, in a morgue somewhere on the other side of town, a hand found itself gravitating to one of the recently deceased. Auburn haired man, Japanese. Foreign transfer student. As soon as the hand attached itself to the man, he sat up eyes wide open.

“Okay… well, this is going to take some getting used to I think…” Ankh murmured, checking over his new host. “Oh for God’s sake, a human body… So frail and so fragile. This… this is just ludicrous! Me, the former King of Birds having to take up residence in a human’s body!” he grumbled, before hopping off the table. Apparently, the coroner hadn’t exactly gotten around to this body yet. He read the name tag on the foot.

“Shingo Izumi huh?” Ankh thought. “So that’s the meatbag I’ll be borrowing.”

He then heard a loud clatter and saw the coroner staring at him in shock, his tools laying on the floor.

“What? You’ve never seen a dead guy rise from the autopsy table before?” Ankh asked with a small shrug. “And cutting me open! Rude!”

With that, the coroner fainted dead away. Ankh sighed to himself. Humans, they couldn’t take a joke. This was going to be fun. Just fun, Ankh thought with a sardonic tone. “Wonder where I can find some Ice Pops…?”

Author's Notes:

Yep, it's time to start counting up some medals now. Consider this, alongside "That Long Wandering Road" my other big project debuting this year. Now, you'll have to excuse me for certain errors here and there, as I'm still just starting on OOO, and on that I really must thank Thunderclap for helping me write the scene with King.

Now, a few explanations are in order. First off, the OOO series as we know it? It never happened. So Eiji, while he will be appearing in this story rest assured and he will be close to his canon personality won't be OOO. I have a different role in mind for him. And yeah, the ZyuEarth thing. I sorta realized I had to take that into account, given it's sorta hard to ignore really. So who knows, maybe Yamato or another one of his teammates will appear. As a side note, Cube Condor and company? They'll be substituting for the CanDroids if you haven't guessed.

Anyways, as ever, comments, feedback and thoughts are welcomed.

1: I'm... I'm a Kamen Rider?

Denver

The Capitol Hill neighborhoods. Rainbow Dash knew these streets like the back of her hand. It was after all, where she and Fluttershy had grown up. So suffice to say, when her grandma Firefly was worried about someone burglarizing homes in the area, she was the first to come to her aid.

Rainbow was still more than a bit ticked off about her confrontation with Adagio a few hours prior. That bitch thought she could get a new job, and completely put the past behind them, act like the whole shenanigans at Canterlot High never even existed?

Sure, there was always that possibility that Flutters was right, and this wasn’t the Adagio that they knew, but she sure was having a hard time believing that from her demeanor alone. Just as hostile, and just as spiteful as ever. Plus, she worked with sea animals! Wasn’t that alone enough to be a tip-off?

Rainbow, even as she sped through the neighborhood like the world’s fastest cheetah clutching her geode tightly growled slightly. “Son of a…” the young woman thought to herself. “Can’t believe it’s been five years since the Battle of the Bands and she turns up in our life again! My life! I’d moved on, wanted to forget she ever existed, but no, Adagio Dazzle had other things in mind!” she thought, blurs of electricity left behind in her wake.

She was distracted from her musings by the sound of glass breaking, and rounded a corner and hid behind some dumpsters to see some guy dressed in all black busting in a window with a baseball bat.

“Well, there’s our burglar…” Rainbow thought to herself. “Gotta say, not the brightest bulb in the socket really… I mean, he isn’t worried about alarms from the looks of things.”

Dash didn’t know if she wasn’t looking, or it was something else but when she looked at the spot where the burglar was, he’d vanished almost as if in the blink of an eye. “What the…?”

She then saw a black blur speeding away from the house and Rainbow’s eyes went wide.

“You gotta be kiddin’ me! I thought I was the only speedster around here!” Rainbow whispered, before gripping her geode and running after the fellow speed demon.

Running around the neighborhood in flashes of light, Rainbow tried to get a good look at her prey, but for the most part he was featureless, hidden by a mask. He was, however, almost cat-like in shape and build. Like an actual honest to god cheetah, and when Rainbow eventually managed to rip his mask off his face, turns out he was a cheetah.

“You… Well, I’ll be damned. A Zyuman?” Rainbow whispered, skidding to a halt as the cheetah thief sped off. “Brings a new meaning to the term cat burglar…”

Groaning at her own terrible pun, one that would probably do that french superhero Fluttershy liked so much proud, Rainbow ran off after the zyuman. Eventually catching up to him, running alongside a brick wall and then leaping onto the side of a truck Rainbow tackled him to the pavement. His bag rolled to the ground, spilling out cash and pearls.

“Okay, spill!” Rainbow said, holding the cheetah-man to the ground by pressing her arm against his throat keeping him from moving. It wasn’t enough to choke him or anything like that so he could still speak but he wasn’t going to be going anywhere any time soon.

“Had… Had to…” the zyuman coughed out. His clothes were raggedy like he’d been searching through a rummage store or living on the streets. “Had to find cash!”

A small little animal, mechanical in nature climbed out of his pants pockets. Little leopard-like like mecha, about the size of Rainbow’s palm at best.

“So, you could have just grabbed something from the local wishing fountain, no need to resort to stealing,” Rainbow said. “Hell, why didn’t you just get yourself a job?”

“They won’t accept us, us Zyumans. You humans, you’re always afraid of what you don’t understand!” the Zyuman said, pushing Rainbow off of him, grabbing his loot and running off down the street.

“...Hey, hey you forgot your…” Rainbow shouted to no avail, gesturing to the zyuman’s leopard companion. “Oh, never mind. Guess you’re with me buddy, least till we can get you back to your friend!” she remarked, the little Cube Leopard hopping up onto her shoulder. She sighed, this was just great, first Adagio Dazzle popping up into her life again and now she had to worry about a burglar who just so happened to be a part of the zyuman race.

Rainbow mumbled something to herself under her breath. She knew about the human and zyuman conflict. It was hard not to see really, with settlers from all points of the globe coming in to find their place in life, and like the zyuman said humans often did fear what they didn’t understand. Hell, Rainbow was honest to god surprised more humans weren’t scared of her and her magical abilities as it was. She’d seen zyumans kicked out of stores, just for being ‘different’ and it was rare at least in this city for a zyuman to get a stable job. She supposed it wasn’t entirely surprising this one had turned to theft.

“God above, I hate racial politics…” Rainbow muttered as she ran back to her car, this nice Dodge Hellcat she’d gotten as a college graduation present from her father. “And now I’m stuck in the middle of them all. Lovely, just lovely.”

Firing up the engine, she turned to head home all the whiles unaware that she was being watched, by this cat-like figure covered in enough studded leather to make Sunset drool with envy.

“So, humans have changed, if only a little from the pathetic apes we knew 800 years ago…” Kazari, the cat greeed mused to himself. “Well, doesn’t this make things that little bit more interestin’? Oh Ankh, can’t wait to see how you survive in your current state in this brave new world.”

---

It wasn’t long before he’d made his way back to his fellow greeed, all of them hiding in some woodlands outside of the city.

“So, Ankh’s booked it already has he?” Metool, the aquatic animal greeed commented. She rolled her eyes. “Figures, he always was a cowardly type. I still haven’t forgotten him siding with that bastard King 800 years ago. Suits him well to be just an arm! Just an arm!” she grumbled.

“Well, it’s what he deserves,” Uva remarked, with his domain being insectoid creatures. “Can’t think of any better fate for him!”

“Yeah, but we’re not out of the woods yet are we?” Kazari remarked. “He’s always been a wildcard…” he trailed off.

“Yeah, and to make matters worse for us, he took Core Medals from each and every one of us. Hell, took quite a few from you! I think you’re missing the most of all of us. I don’t see your shark, whale or wolfish medals laying about anywhere, do you?” Uva remarked before laughing before Metool shot the giant bug creature a look.

“Don’t see why you should be laughing. You lost medals as well! As you said, we all did! So unless anyone has a plan on sniffin’ them all out…” Metool trailed off, and Kazari snapped his fingers. In the background, Gamel, the heavy mammal-themed greeed was chasing after a woodpecker that hid himself in a tree trunk, before he smashed part of the tree apart bark flying everywhere. Uva rubbed his temples before sighing.

“Kazari, I assume you’ve got something?” he asked the felid creature.

“Yes, yeah… quite. Been observing a human, yes feel free to gag, but I noticed something. Superspeed, this one had!” the cat creature chuckled, and everyone stared right at him.

“Superspeed?” Uva asked. “Last I checked, that wasn’t within any human’s abilities... unless they’re borrowing all of your core medals,” he commented.

“Looks like they’ve undergone evolution, or at least this one has,” Kazari remarked. “Consider this, humans always fall prey to their desires don’t they? What makes this one any different?”

“You’re saying we should make a Yummy out of this one, aren’t you?” Uva remarked, picking up on what his fellow greeed was thinking. “Use her to our advantage, find Ankh and our missing core medals and then toss her aside like garbage?”

“Exactly…” Kazari smirked. “Metool, a question?”

“Yes?” she answered.

“What of this… Shocker Greeed? What do we do with him?”

“Artificial he may be, but he’s a powerful force, and if we could make use of him, we may not even need Ankh to create bird yummies!” Metool mused. “Still, I don’t trust him. He’s not like the rest of us, I’m keeping him at arm’s length for the time being. Just until he proves his worth. Right now, he’s no better than trash to us, a tool to be discarded when the time comes unless he proves… useful.”

“Agreed.”

---

High above Europe, Takatora sat in one of the Yggdrasil corporations’ private jets. While it no longer sought to control the city of Zawame, the company still existed but this time to actually help the populace and ease them along after the Inves disaster, help them rebuild.

“Yes, yes, I understand,” Takatora said as he got off the phone. “Be safe little brother.”

He sighed to himself. Mitsuzune, he still continued to beat himself up over his sins, even if Takatora forgave him for his crimes. Even now, his little brother was tracking a group called the Black Bodhi Tree across Asia, the group distributing strange pomegranate lockseeds frighteningly similar to those the former Kamen Rider Savior used. What was worse, the group had managed to get ahold of lockseeds on the black market, and through Ryoma's research had somehow managed to create replica Sengoku Drivers. The black Baron that Zack had stopped in Zawame with his Neo-Baron team was only just the beginning, and Mitsuzune saw fit to stomp out this Black Bodhi Tree group wherever it hid.

“Little brother… I forgive you,” Takatora sighed. “It was my fault you turned out this way, me pushing Noblesse Oblige onto you too harshly and I didn’t see what you were becoming. Just like I didn’t see my closest friend turning on me.”

His thoughts turned to Shocker, and them making off with that strange coffin. What, exactly was so important to them that they’d take it? What, just what?

“Looks like you and I brother of mine, we’re not so different now,” Takatora thought to himself. “We’re both hunting a group, and yes their end goals may be different but we’re both looking out for the whole in our own ways. Once a Rider… Always a Rider.”

“You’ve been awfully quiet this whole flight, really…” Came a male’s voice from beside the former Kamen Rider Zangetsu. Takatora looked up, to see a male in his fifties or so wearing this odd belt around his waist, with two red stones embedded in it. “Deep thinking? Been there myself a few times…”

“Yeah, just thinking about a friend. Well, a former friend really,” Takatora sighed. “I’m not much for talking, but there are times I wonder if I could have just foreseen his betrayal coming or if his fate was already set in stone and it wasn’t possible for me to save him.”

“I know a few things about that really…” Kohtaro sighed. “Had a stepbrother, you may not know of him. Nobuhiko Akizuki, that was his name,” the older man continued. “He, like me was abducted by Gorgom to become their new Century King. I made it out with my humanity still intact, he didn’t. He became Shadow Moon, and even after I evolved into Black RX, he returned to battle me. In our last fight, he told me of the Crisis Empire’s plans to erupt a volcano and he asked me to save the children he could not. In that last moment, he became human once more,” Kohtaro sighed. “He told me he was still Shadow Moon, and that one day he would return to fight me once more but I think, I think that was Gorgom’s programming still persisting on. I’d like to believe in those last moments, my friend, my brother had returned. So yes, I think it possible to change one’s fate. Your friend, Ryoma was it? He could have changed his fate, he was just too foolish and too caught up in his own selfish desires to do so.

“You… You think that?” Takatora asked looking his fellow Rider in the eye. “You think I could have saved him…?”

“I believe it so. It was his own fault he refused to change, you had nothing to do with his demise and descent into madness.” Kohtaro said, putting a hand on Takatora’s shoulder.

Suddenly, their little discussion was interrupted by a loud screech filling the air, and Takatora’s head whipped around to see a massive bird-like humanoid wearing a gas mask flying alongside the jet and using his wings to cut into the body.

Suddenly, a loud eagle’s screech cut through the air and Beast was knocked to the ground as this massive eagle monster wearing a gas mask landed in front of them. At some point before the unearthing of the coffin, a cell medal had been found and using science, Shocker had managed to create their own Greeed. During this, they had wondered where more of these medals could be found and so they tracked the cell medal to its origin point here in Country A.

“YEE! YEE!” the combatmen cried out and made off with the coffin as the Shocker Greeed charged towards the three Riders. Swearing under his breath, X readied himself for battle alongside Zangetsu and Beast.

Striking the Shocker Greeed multiple times across the chest with his staff, X moved out of the way for Beast to deliver a hyper magnum strike and Zangetsu a sonic arrow blast. Nothing seemed to faze this monster, and in any case, its job was done. It had slowed the Riders, and taking to the skies it cackled in glee as it flew off.

“That… That creature from before!” Takatora whispered in horror as the Shocker Greeed pried open the cabin door, wind rushing inside the jet’s interior. To their horror, both Takatora and Kohtaro found themselves being pulled out by the rushing winds, and even as the Shocker Greeed cackled in glee, Takatora’s eyes widened when he saw the pilot be pulled outside, his body flying past him.

“Henshin!” both riders cried out, knowing the time for mourning was for later. Now it was a fight for survival.

“By Heaven’s Decree!” Takatora’s driver cried out even as his boots gripped the floor of the cabin, Black RX’s as well both effectively magnetizing them to the ground. Blades rang out as RX and Zangetsu drew their blades known as the Revolcane, and the Musou Saber respectively and met the Shocker Greeed’s own. Zangetsu raised his shield to defend against the Shocker Greeed’s energy blasts, while Black RX changed into his Robo-Rider form and fired a blast of light from his energy pistol, the Vortech Shooter. The Shocker Greeed staggered backwards, before it grabbed both Riders and pulled them out the cabin door.

Black RX changed into his Bio-Rider form and quickly changed into a form of gel and grabbed Zangetsu in his clutches and together the two raged a battle atop the plane’s wing against the bird monster even as the ground came closer and closer towards meeting them. Takatora knew he had to finish this battle quickly and even as Black RX changed back to his Robo-Rider form and fired off several more blasts Takatora flicked the blade on his driver once before charging forwards at the Shocker Greeed his sword glowing with melon-shaped energy.

“Meron Musō Zan!” his driver cried out as this occurred.

The Shocker Greeed staggered, before grabbing RX by the shoulder and tossing him off the plane’s wing. Takatora’s eyes widened under his helmet before he grabbed a lockseed off his belt and threw it towards his brother Rider.

“Catch!” he shouted as RX caught the lockseed and it unfolded to become a Dandeliner hoverbike with Zangetsu hopping on one of his own. Together, they flew towards the ground dodging the Greeed’s shots and engaging in an aerial dogfight with the Kaijin. Eventually, the ground came fast and hard, and both Riders leaped off their machines and tumbled to the ground rolling down a hill as the two hoverbikes exploded.

“Well, that was… fun.” RX deadpanned before he heard that same horrific screech come from above him.

“Don’t celebrate yet, looks like he wants a bit more…” Zangetsu grumbled as he pulled out his Melon Energy Lockseed. “Still a bit pissed we helped ruin Shocker’s latest scheme it seems.”

"Soiya! Mix! Melon Arms! By Heaven’s Decree! Jimber Melon!" the Sengoku Driver shouted as the Greeed flew down in front of the two veteran riders.

The two riders and the monster circled each other, all poised to strike as they were surrounded by trees and snow-covered mountains on all sides, Russia’s heartland.

“Good old Mother Russia eh?” Takatora mused, the flaming wreckage of his company jet behind him. In one hand, he held his shield aptly named the Melon Defender and the other his Sonic Arrow. His musou saber was holstered on his hip. Nearby, Black RX had changed back to his default form and his Revolcane was at the ready.

Then, a wolf howled and all hell broke loose as the battle began anew.

“Armored Rider huh?” RX asked. “Bit pretentious if you ask me.”

“Could say the same, Child of the Sun,” Zangetsu remarked as he ducked under the Shocker Greeed’s blade allowing RX to hit the kaijin in the shoulder sparks flying as the blow connected.

“Your point has been well taken, Slaying Moon.” RX -In Robo-Rider form once more- stated punching the Greeed in the face with a powerful right cross. The irony of him fighting alongside a moon-themed Rider was far from being lost on Kohtaro even as cell medals hit the ground. “I wonder… Was this what fighting alongside you would have been like… Nobuhiko?”

Zangetsu tossed his shield at the kaijin clocking him in the head, with the shield impaling itself on a tree trunk, freeing up the usage of the Sonic Arrow. Zangetsu fired it upwards creating an energy melon in the sky above him which exploded and rained down multiple arrows of energy, some hitting and some not. Takatora then followed up with a powerful energy slash from the blades on the bow driving the Greeed backwards.

RX resumed his Bio-Rider form and changed back into gel forming a drill slamming into the Greeed’s stomach before changing back into humanoid form kicking it.

“RIDER KICK!” Black RX bellowed out as the Shocker Greeed rolled along the ground, before picking himself up, bleeding out cell medals by the truckload before his wounds closed and he took to the skies.

All the while, from atop a hill a Foundation X member watched this entire fight through a pair of binoculars and gestured to two dustard ninjas as Takatora and Kohtaro left to try and find some civilization.

“Salvage those medals, I want to know just what secrets they hide…”

---

Back in Denver, Adagio had contacted Fluttershy -much to the younger woman’s surprise- and had asked her to meet up with her for lunch, place of her choice saying she just wanted to talk.

To say Fluttershy was extremely nervous was a bit of an understatement. Sure, this was Adagio’s human counterpart and chances were that she was nowhere near as mean spirited as her equestrian doppelganger but there was still that slight problem of Adagio being a bit of a hothead. Fluttershy was worried she might just set her off accidentally.

She then heard the low rumble of an engine and saw this actually fairly refined german saloon -Fluttershy didn’t keep up with car makes and models, that was more Sunset and Rainbow’s thing- pulling up outside of the coffee shop.

A door opened, and then slammed shut softly and Fluttershy looked up from her drink to see Adagio walking in wearing a nice sweater and long pants, the curly hair Fluttershy normally would have associated with the woman actually being nice and straight.

“Sorry for being so late, got caught up in traffic. Just be glad you caught me at a good time, and the Aquarium doesn’t need me today,” Adagio apologized after taking her order. “But even if it did, I would have been happy to meet you there. Might let you behind the scenes as it were to show you some of the more interesting attractions. Our Mediterranean monk seals? Trust me on this, you’d love them! ...Oh dear god, I’m babbling aren’t I?”

“Yeah, you are,” Fluttershy replied, and Adagio flushed red. “Is something bothering you?”

“You might say that, yeah…” Adagio trailed off, brushing a strand of her orange-toned -actually bordering on downright golden if you looked at it right- hair out of her face. “Guess that’s what happens when you learn your horse-land counterpart was a complete and utter bitch really.”

“Ah, so you know then?” Fluttershy sighed fighting back a wince.

“Wasn’t hard to figure out really. People gossip on Facebook, really should keep their mouths shut at times, unless they desire the government coming after them,” Adagio deadpanned. “Got to admit, it really threw me for a loop though, magical horses being real and me having an evil twin.”

“No weirder than vines from another dimension being fought by fruit samurai or giant mecha battles over Tokyo?” Fluttershy pointed out. “And besides, if the government took any interest in Equestria, I think we’d know right?”

“Fair. If the feds were in town, I’d think I’d notice them in their big black trucks and nice suits. Very standout, really,” Adagio remarked and Fluttershy giggled. Adagio raised an eyebrow.

“What? What’s so funny?” she asked.

“Nothing… it’s just, well…” Fluttershy mused as she took a sip of her coffee. “Never in my life I actually thought I’d be having a friendly conversation with you. Well, not you you, but you know what I mean. ...Right?” she asked nervously.

“Yeah, I gotcha, and I admit it probably would be more than a little weird from your perspective,” Adagio admitted. “So, mind if we start over? Adagio Diana Dazzle, pleased to make your acquaintance,” she said, holding out a hand which Fluttershy graciously took.

“Fluttershy Breeze, pleased to meet you,” Fluttershy replied before noting some men in suits setting up what looked to be a vending machine outside the coffee shop. Adagio noticed this as well.

“Bit odd, setting up a vending machine outside a coffee shop really. Sorta defeats the point!” Adagio remarked.

“Yeah, some new corporation came in a few days prior, calling themselves the Kougami Foundation and started setting up those things all over Denver. Didn’t say what for really, all I know is the founder’s adopted son… Forgot his name, starts with an E asked for it to be done,” Fluttershy mused, rubbing her chin in thought. “Very, very weird.”

“Probably not our business really…” Adagio commented before clearing her throat. “Anyways, as you were saying. My counterpart?”

“Yes, she and her sisters -I assume they exist here as well?- were all so very scary. Wanted to control the world through song!” Fluttershy whispered. “I… I honestly don’t know how we would have defeated them had Sunset not gained the courage to step up at the last moment…”

“Well, no accounting for taste I suppose…” Adagio sighed. “Taking over the world? So last season!” she remarked with a dismissive wave of her hand. “But to answer your question, yeah I do have sisters here. Aria and Sonata. Bit annoying at times, but I do love them. Sonata wants to be a cook, and if she ever gets off the family farm, I’m sure she’d succeed. Makes the best beef stew you’ve ever tasted, let me tell you!” Adagio continued, smacking her lips.

“I’m sure I’d like to meet them, might be nice…” Fluttershy trailed off.

“Well, maybe not Aria. Bit of a grump, and you can usually find her in some dive bar trying to make some money trying to become this superstar punk rocker. Not sure she’ll succeed, as southern gothic is where the money’s at nowadays, but I’m rooting for her all the same,” Adagio continued, Fluttershy continuing to listen gobbling up every bit of information she could on this Adagio and her family. “So, CHS right?”

“Yeah, born Canterlot Wondercolt,” Fluttershy confirmed. “What about you?”

“George Washington High School for me. It was nice enough. Patriots forever!” Adagio briefly cheered with a small fist pump. “Trust me, we really should see about organizing a game between them and your Wondercolts.”

“Well, if Coach Spitfire is still there, and has her way, you probably will see that before the year’s out. I’m not much of a sports fan, but Rainbow…? Well, that’s another story entirely let me tell you!”

Adagio grimaced at the mention of the woman, before sighing. “So, how long you two been friends? ...Or is it something more with you two?”

“No, just friends. Dash is more interested in dating another gal pal of ours, Twilight Sparkle. Complete and utter opposite, but you know what they say about that!” Fluttershy laughed, and Adagio nodded fighting back a vampire-related joke upon hearing a certain name. “Anyways, been friends since childhood. Around kindergarten with Mrs. Cheerilee was when I first met her. Pushed me into the sandbox.” Fluttershy giggled.

“...Well, that’s one way of meeting.” Adagio commented.

“She apologized, right after Cheerilee put her in timeout and denied her access to the snacks table. And threatened to call her mom,” Fluttershy admitted, laughing slightly at the memory. “Oh, those were the days…”

Fluttershy then realized something as she wiped away a tear. “Wait, did you say something about Mediterranean monk seals? As in the Mediterranean monk seals? One of the rarest species in the world? Oh, I’ve got to see them, they’re so cute!” she began to babble.

“Animal lover huh?” Adagio commented as the waitress arrived with her latte. She chuckled, it was always nice to see someone so passionate about the seals. God knows they needed all the help they can get at times.

“Yeah, I love animals! I want to open a sanctuary for them one day!” Fluttershy nearly squealed.

“...Well, if we ever have any job openings at the National Aquarium, I know who I’ll be recommending…” Adagio murmured with a small chuckle.

It was about then Rainbow Dash walked in, hands behind her head wearing jeans and a black t-shirt with a blazing phoenix on it commenting: “Always into the rare animals aren’t you Flutters, especially the cute ones?”

It was then she saw Adagio, and her eyes narrowed. “You!” she exclaimed, pointing a finger directly at the marine biologist who simply rolled her eyes.

“Yes me. Here to shout at me again?” Adagio drawled taking a sip of her own coffee. “Because if so, please take your complaints outside. There are people in here who don’t want to hear your bellowing, and actually want to work on things,” she commented, gesturing to the patrons around her hard at work on their laptops or doing their crosswords. And just about all of them were giving annoyed looks at Rainbow.

Rainbow bit back a snarl, and sighed as she pulled up a chair noticing Fluttershy giving her a distinct look as well. “Alright, alright, I’ll try and be civil…” she muttered.

“Keyword, try.” Adagio snarked, taking another sip.

“Why you…” Rainbow hissed out before Fluttershy shot a sharp glance at them both.

“Girls!” she snapped, surprising even herself. But then again, everything was going so well until Rainbow showed up, and both she and Adagio started up again. “Please, can you at least try and act like you don’t want to punch each other?” she asked calmly, taking a few deep breaths. Rainbow, Adagio’s done nothing wrong, we’ve just been talking, and she’s nothing like her Equestrian counterpart. Adagio, Rainbow’s done nothing to you, so why don’t you please try and be nice to her?” she stated, with another warning glare that made both Adagio and Rainbow share a glance and swallow nervously.

“Scary…” they both thought in unison eying the slipper Fluttershy was holding over both their heads. Rainbow then ordered quite a few sandwiches, and a few muffins to boot.

“Wow, she sure can pack it in, wonder what her secret is…?” Adagio murmured to herself before whispering to Fluttershy: “I thought you said she was one of those athletic sporty types!”

Fluttershy sighed to herself, her head hitting the table. “Rainbow, please tell me you haven’t been out being a vigilante again…?”

“Oooh, do tell!” Adagio exclaimed. “What’s this about being a vigilante? Wait, you one of those real-life superheroes I’ve heard so much about?”

She was, of course, referring to those people who got up and dressed up as superheroes to perform various acts of community service, like a neighborhood watch or inspecting for building code violations or performing acts of charity. Denver even had its own branch, the Colorado Initiative.

“No, it’s this stupid metabolism thing kicking in again… I swear, this geode gives me some fun powers but there are a few drawbacks…” Rainbow muttered as she packed it in seemingly forgetting Adagio was even there for the moment.

“Dare I ask?” Adagio remarked, and Rainbow facepalmed.

“Damnit…” she muttered upon realization. Adagio looked towards Fluttershy for an explanation, but Rainbow surprisingly was the one to answer.

“A while back, me and the girls got these cool geodes that give us awesome superpowers. Flutters over there can talk to animals, while I get to be a real-life Flash!” Rainbow exclaimed. “...Wow, can’t believe I just admitted that to Adagio Dazzle of all people.”

“Well, I personally think it's nice your doing something for the city,” Adagio said being genuinely sincere and not snide towards Rainbow for the first time since they'd met. “Gives the people hope.”

“...Wow, complemented by Adagio Dazzle of all people. What the Hell am I supposed to say to that?” Rainbow wondered aloud. As much as she appreciated the sentiment, it was still so… odd getting it from this person.

“A thank you would do,” Fluttershy added. Nobody during all of this noticed the small little coin slot that appeared on the back of Rainbow's head and a little medal being inserted into it by this blond-haired man.

“Yeah, I suppose. Never thought I'd say this but… thanks, Adagio.” Rainbow said finally swallowing her pride. Adagio blinked out in shock but accepted the thanks all the same.

“I'm sorry Rainbow, never should have been so snide. It's just… well, never been much of a people person to be honest. Always been better with animals I guess…” Adagio sighed and Fluttershy gave her a smile of sympathy.

“Trust me, I know how you feel.” She said kindly. She then noticed an odd coin-like object hanging from around Adagio’s neck via a string, with a shark engraved on it.

“Coin collector?” Rainbow inquired, noticing this as well with a bit of food hanging from her mouth. Fluttershy smacked her for her poor table manners.

“No… No, it’s just something I found. Had a shark, so I thought it was cool.” Adagio shrugged.

“Ah, I see,” Rainbow nodded before she began to look nervous. “Hey, uh, listen, there’s something I got to talk to Flutters about. Like, in private. So is it okay if you uh…?” she trailed off.

“Yeah, I gotcha. Well, see you around I guess…” Adagio said giving a shy little wave and taking a deep breath. Who knew making new friends was such hard work? Certainly nothing like it was with animals. As she left the cafe she overheard a brief snippet of something about zyumans from Rainbow but that was about it. It was about then she bumped headlong into her sister, Aria, whom she noticed had messier hair than usual today. Almost like some of it was parted to one side. And was that eyeliner? Aria almost never wore that stuff! And was that an ice pop in hand? Sonata, sure, but Aria…?

“Hey sis, taking a break from your-Urk!”

Aria had thrust a hand around her neck, squeezing it.

“That medal, give it to me!” Aria practically growled out, the hand clutching the terrified Adagio having turned feathered.

“Aria, what the hell’s gotten into you? Wait, please tell me you’re not my sister’s counterpart?” Adagio squeaked out before kicking Aria away and apparently knocking the feathered arm off of her. Said arm then dived for the medal around Adagio’s neck but Adagio smacked the arm aside, before it quickly reattached itself to Aria.

“I want that medal! Give that back, it’s my body!”

“Wait, what?” Adagio blinked out. “How can a medal I just found on the street be a part of your body?”

“Okay, well, it’s not part my body technically, but it can help get mine back! Bargaining posture and all that!” ‘Aria’ spoke.

Then loud laughter cut through the air as Kazari leaped down from a rooftop, with his claws bared.

“Oh Ankhy, Anhky… Still focused on that one exact thing aren’t you?” the cat greeed laughed as people screamed and scattered, others taking pictures and wondering if this whole thing was for a movie. “Suppose it serves you right to suffer really… And do you honestly think Mezool -or any of us for that matter- will let you bargain for your body back after what you pulled?”

“Worth a shot in the dark, yeah,” Aria/Ankh remarked, looking towards Adagio rather intrigued by her. She wasn’t running, unlike most of those other spineless apes. “I wonder…”

“What’s your name human?” Kazari asked. “Toss that medal to me, and I’ll think on sparing you.”

“Oh, so you say this Ankh character won’t have a chance in getting spared, and yet I will. That’s hypocrisy in action for you. Yeah, I think I’ll pass.” Adagio said, pulling out a baton and readying it.

“Foolish human!” Aria/Ankh shouted. “You think that’ll save you? Mind you, you’ve impressed me so I think I can offer you something that might just save us both. Here, catch!” she shouted, tossing this odd stone slab with three holes cut into it towards Adagio and it wrapped itself around her waist forming a belt with a golden scanning device on the left side.

“No, it can’t be…” Adagio thought, remembering this item from her dream even as Kazari charged at her.

“That’s… That’s the seal! Ankh, you bastard!” Kazari roared out as he launched a blast of pure hot air towards Adagio even as she remembered.

The beings, Greeed as Adagio would know them as screamed out in pain as their very cores were taken from them, and added to the King’s own power as a strange belt buckle with three slots on it appeared across his waist.

“Taka, Tora, Batta: Ta-To-Ba! Tatoba, Ta-To-Ba!” the belt practically growled out as the King ran a scanning device across it.

Knowing at once what to do, if not really rather hesitant about it as Adagio flipped backwards, she caught the two tossed medals thrown towards her by Ankh and slotted them into her belt. Next, she ripped the shark medal off her necklace and slammed it into the belt before scanning all three.

“Henshin!” she shouted as if on instinct.

“Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo: Sa-Ra-Mi-Uo! Sa! Ra! Mi-Uo!”

Energy manifestations of the medals spun around her before combining into one large medal depicting all three animals. This new medal slammed itself onto Adagio’s chest and formed an armored suit around her. The suit itself, it was a mixes of blues and a crimson red, the helmet having yellow lamp-like eyes.

“I’m… I’m a Kamen Rider?” Adagio whispered in shock looking at her hands, before letting out a yelp of shock as Kazari lunged at her with his claws and she leaped backwards. A crimson spear soon formed from the water in the air and Adagio grabbed it using it to block Kazari’s next strikes.

She then struck several times with the spear dealing out damage with it, making Kazari bleed out cell medals. Seeing his chance, Ankh detached himself from Aria’s arm for a brief moment and began gobbling up the medals before reattaching himself.

“Can't these jingles be in freaking English? Come on, surely it's not that hard to alter them!” Adagio grumbled to herself, not really knowing as much Japanese as she would have liked. She’d only learned bits and pieces for when she had to deal with Japanese colleagues at the Aquarium.

“Yeah… uh sorry. The King, your predecessor? Found them… catchy.” Ankh admitted, with a small sheepish blush.

“Wonderful,” Adagio grumbled, noting her shoulder armor which resembled a beached whale far more than she would have liked. She was then sent flying backwards by a powerful kick from Kazari and then a blast of hot air followed it knocking her to the ground and making her roll along the pavement. Staggering to her feet, Adagio recalled more of her dream where she’d seen this specific weapon used and twirled it above her head sending a slicing, spinning whirlpool towards Kazari.

Kazari leaped to the side, the whirlpool only hitting him in the arm and drawing out more cell medals.

“The scanner, run it across your belt you stupid bint!” Ankh shouted.

Adagio ignored the insult, and reminded herself to punch whoever this being masquerading as her sister was later and followed Ankh’s instructions.

“SCANNING CHARGE!” the belt sang out.

Adagio slid along the ground, a miniature tsunami being conjured up from behind her and let out a shout of: “RIDER KICK!” before knocking Kazari skywards before he even had a chance to dodge. He landed in a nearby dumpster, a yellow medal of some sort flying out from his body which Ankh swiftly caught.

“Damn you Ankh, damn you OOOs!” Kazari hissed out, now sporting some broken armor before he leaped off. Adagio in the meantime canceled her transformation and let out a sigh of relief.

“That… That was something.” Adagio whispered before she approached Ankh. “Now, you’re going to tell me what you’ve done with my sister.”

Ankh, choosing the wisest course of action for him at that moment grabbed the belt and detached himself from Aria before flying off with it.

“Why that… That little coward!” Adagio snapped with a stamp of her foot. “Oh, when I find him and get my hands on him…” she grumbled before sighing as she looked at Aria. “Oh, well at least you’re safe little sis…” she smiled as she picked up the unconscious Aria Dazzle bridal style looking at her with what could only be described as relief. She then heard gasps of shock and looked up from her sister only to see Fluttershy and Rainbow gaping at her in shock.

“Oh boy…” Adagio muttered.

Author's Notes:

I swear, I'm not trying to make these chapters as long as they are, I'm really not. Oh, well, you get to see Adagio's first meeting with Ankh and her first henshin right?

Also, Black RX and Zangetsu. Trust me, that plotline may seem pointless right now, but I promise you it's leading up to something in the end. (Huge thanks to RuinQueen for providing me a guideline for Kohtaro.)

Anyways, as ever, comments, thoughts, and critique are welcomed.

2: "I'm a... Cheetah Girl?"

“Wait, since when were you one of those Kamen Rider things?” Rainbow asked as Adagio walked to her car, still carrying the unconscious body of her sister.

“Since today apparently,” Adagio deadpanned, setting her sister down on a nearby bench as she fiddled with her car keys grumbling to herself how BMW couldn’t possibly make their car any more complicated than it already was. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, I know about as much relating to this as you do, which equals zippo. All I care about is getting my sister home, then finding the guy who possessed her and knocking his block off and getting a few answers out of him.”

“Um… are you sure about that?” Fluttershy asked.

“Oh, quite sure. He tried to strangle me using my sister’s body, and right when I was in the heat of battle and could have been killed by that… well, whatever it was, he barely explained a damn thing. Hell, I still don’t even know what that was I just fought! So yeah, it’s safe to say he’s not exactly high on my Christmas card list.”

“Listen, what I’m saying is, don’t you think given how dangerous he seems to be, reasoning with him might be a better option?” Fluttershy asked, pressing her fingers together nervously as Adagio continued fumbling with her car keys. Eventually, the lock chirped and Adagio gently lifted her sister into the passenger seat.

“Suppose it’s possible, considering I still have one of these…” Adagio murmured, holding up the blood-red Ookamiuo/Wolffish medal. She’d managed to fish it away -if you pardon the pun- from Ankh before he took off. “Seemed rather interested in these things, and I’m willing to bet Ankh or whatever he calls himself would be willing to start bargaining off information for getting his… hand on this.”

“Seems a bit of a gamble really,” Rainbow commented. “Now listen, you know I’m not your biggest fan, but if this ‘Ankh’ tried to choke you don’t you think you should play this smart?”

“I am, actually,” Adagio remarked. “Now Rainbow, what’s your desire?”

“To… To be awesome, of course?” Rainbow stammered out, rather confused. “What’s your point?”

“My point is, everyone desires something, don’t they? It’s only natural, to live without wanting something is just not in human nature. And I’m willing to bet from what I’ve seen of Ankh that while he may not be human, he still desires something. Namely this,” Adagio continued, flipping the Ookamiuo medal up in the air. “And if he doesn’t, well… someone else probably does.”

“You’re playing a dangerous game Adagio…” Fluttershy warned. “I hope you do realize that.”

“Hey, family matters to me,” Adagio replied as she buckled herself in. “Soon as Ankh possessed my sister’s body, well… suffice it to say he and I were going to have words no matter the case.”

“Least you know you have your priorities in order…” Rainbow muttered, seeing where Adagio was coming from. If someone had possessed or did anything to her adopted little sis, she’d be pissed really. “Still, uh, one question. Let’s presume for a second, Ankh. He doesn’t realize that medal thing isn’t in his possession. Personally, I don’t buy that theory. From what you told me, he probably will, therefore, he’d have to come looking for you. And that presents a problem, doesn’t it? He’d have to come looking for a woman whom he probably doesn’t care jack-shit about enough to remember her face.” Rainbow remarked, leaning on the hood of Adagio’s car. A BMW Z8 if she remembered correctly. Rainbow was proud to know her cars used in James Bond films. Guilty pleasure, she admitted to herself.

Adagio was struck speechless, this not having occurred to her.

“Aw fu…” she trailed off, her head hitting the steering wheel of her car in frustration. “So you’re saying I have to get Ankh to come to me?”

“Yep,” Rainbow remarked, popping the p. “Could go and rent a crop duster or whatevs from a nearby airfield or wherever, and write a message in the sky saying: “Hey Ankh! I have your medal thingy! If you want it, come find me! -Adagio Dazzle.” Rainbow remarked, finishing off her sentence in this perhaps needlessly overdramatic tone. Adagio admitted if only to herself, it was a fairly good impression. In the background, Fluttershy facepalmed.

“Really Rainbow….? Really?” the woman thought to herself.

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea. May just be crazy enough to work actually... “ Adagio trailed off. “But I’ll skip renting the crop duster. One, I don’t have a pilot’s license -Hell, I’m terrified of heights!- and two I don’t need one anyways.”

Placing two of her fingers in her mouth, she let out a sharp whistle and darting out of the skies came Cube Condor, chirping and perching himself on her shoulder. Rainbow stared at the little violet-toned bird-bot wordlessly. Peeking out of her jean pockets was a certain Cube Leopard, his eyes sparkling upon seeing his fellow cube animal once more.

“Way ahead of you on that front,” Adagio smirked before Fluttershy let out a small squeal and began hugging Cube Conder to her chest.

“Oh, he’s soooooo cute!” Fluttershy squeaked out as she rubbed Cube Condor’s head. Adagio and Rainbow shared a look, sweatdropping in unison. “Oh, you must simply tell me where you found him!”

“Ah, maybe later…” Adagio trailed off. “I’ve got to get my sister home, and he’s got to get about writing a message in the sky anyways.”

Snapping her fingers, she summoned Cube Condor to her, the little bird transforming himself into his cube form and hiding himself in the car’s glove compartment. With that, Adagio drove off down the streets, a plan beginning to form in her mind. And not even an hour later, as he was stealing ice pops from one very angry vendor in that body he’d found in the morgue, Ankh found himself seeing a certain message in the sky made of violet smoke. Adagio had left her name out, but Ankh didn’t need to know who’d left it. The identity was clear enough.

“Tch…” he muttered before tossing his ice pop in a nearby trash can and walking off.

---

“So, you called?” Ankh remarked with a wave of his hand, meeting Adagio in one of Denver’s many parks. Cheesman Park to be exact. The irony wasn’t exactly lost on Adagio really, given she was meeting a world-class asshole in the exact same spot her counterparts had tried to take control over all of Denver’s teenagers atop the nearby pavilion at this Battle of the Bands nonsense.

“New body?” Adagio commented, on a bench and looking up at Ankh who was sitting atop a tree grasping a nearby branch for balance. “Which poor soul did you possess this time?”

“A dead one. Found this body in the morgue just after I was set free,” Ankh said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Now, give me the medal and we can all be on our way. Won’t bother you and your pathetic little mortal life anytime soon,” he remarked, unwrapping another ice pop and nibbling on it.

Adagio looked… well, I suppose infuriated might have been the proper word for it.

“Yeah, I don’t think that’ll be happening,” she snarled grasping the Ookamiuo medal in her hand tightly. “You said you grabbed that body from a morgue, does respect for the dead have any meaning for you?”

“Well, it’s not like the meatsack who this body used to belong to had any more use for it!” Ankh remarked, taking the ice pop out of his mouth and looking down at Adagio. The way he looked at her… she shuddered. It was like a hawk regarding a snake right before he dived down to grab it in its claws. “So, I don’t see why you’re so offended… Wait, was he someone close to you? Like that last meatsack I grabbed?”

“No, b-but!” Adagio sputtered out trying to calm herself long enough to form a coherent sentence. Eventually, she managed to do so by taking a few deep breaths and continued. “Firstly, bodily possession? Generally frowned upon! That was my sister you possessed you dunce! And this guy… While he may not be related to me, he was still a living being once!”

“Once. Emphasis on once,” Ankh snapped back. “You humans, you throw away your dead like it doesn’t matter to you. Well, I suppose it doesn’t. It’s not like you can do anything with the bodies, and once they start to rot… well, awful smell isn’t it?” Ankh commented with a dismissive wave of his feathered hand. “So, really, I’m doing the world a favor by using this meatsack, and hell if I start gathering up enough medals and reform my body maybe you’ll get lucky and this guy will come back to life as well! So win-win for you!” he said with a small clap of his hands. Adagio didn’t look amused.

“Explain. You. Now.” Adagio stated glaring back at Ankh, almost sharklike in her gaze. Hey, if Ankh could look at her like a hawk, she could channel the shark with him. “What the hell was that thing back there, and who is Kamen Rider OOOs?”

“That thing as you called it was a ‘Greeed’,” Ankh explained, and even while he said this unbeknownst to either of them Rainbow Dash was piling away on any food she could find. Not just from her metabolism thrown into overdrive by the geode, but the little cell medal Kazari had given her as well acting up and making her embrace some of her desires. All around her, patrons of the restaurant she was currently in were watching in a mix of awe and disgust as Rainbow grabbed a little bit of everything. Ankh continued with his explanations. “About… Oh, I’d say 800 years ago we, the Greeed race, were born from the Core Medals. Namely, one of those things you, you little homunculus are holding in your hand right now. That enough of an explanation for you?” Ankh asked, leaping down from the tree.

“Sorry, no. Tempting, but no dice Ankh,” Adagio said, and when Ankh lunged for the Ookamiuo medal she pulled it away from him with a teasing laugh. “An answer, and you might just get this Core Medal of yours back. The keyword is might, if I like your answer and I’m feeling charitable.”

“Oh, you’re an interesting little homunculus aren’t you?” Ankh remarked. “Your bargaining posture, bit dubious though really…”

“Way I see it, you need this Medal to give to that cat thing, maybe to regain a position of power or to keep him from killing you. So, until I get the answers I want, no Medal for you,” Adagio remarked, tossing the medal in the air almost daring Ankh to try and catch it. “Now, explain to me, who is Kamen Rider OOOs and why was Cat Scratch Fever so angry about me becoming him/her?”

Ankh bit back a growl. “Fine, fine. A long time ago, even before you were in a womb, there existed this king. A tyrant really. He took our Core Medals from us, and rather foolishly so, decided to become a god. He created this belt,” Ankh explained, holding up the belt from before still with the Same and Kujira medals in it. “To try and contain this power. It did, for a time. Right up till the moment he tried scanning every Core Medal at once. Destroyed his body, and that belt became the seal for the coffin holding us inside. Right up till the moment some idiots calling themselves Shocker dug it up. Got them killed, but alas. Too bad, so sad for them at least. Now, the Greeed are free once more upon your little planet to try and grab every ounce of desire they can! Kamen Rider OOOs, as much as I hate to admit it, is the only way to take back the Core Medals and destroy the Greeed completely. Well, not completely as I want my own Cores back, just so I don’t have to rely on this meatsack for a body. There, that good enough of an explanation for you?” Ankh sighed.

“Hardly,” Adagio commented, staring Ankh down. “What are these Core Medals anyways?””

“Oh, do I have to explain everything to you?” Ankh muttered before grumbling something rather rude under his breath and holding up an ice pop and a yellow Core medal, depicting a cheetah. “Fine, fine… See this ice pop? You can liken it to Core Medals, and Cell Medals. That part you eat? That’s the cell, and the stick is the core. The cells stick to the core, which is our center if you will. Bad analogy, but it’s the best one I can think up that your little human brain will actually understand. Happy now?”

“Fair. A bargain’s a bargain,” Adagio remarked, tossing the Core to Ankh, but not before taking the belt out of Ankh’s hands, as the Bird Greeed’s eyes widened. “But I’m keeping this. If these Greeed have been unleashed upon the world, someone’s got to stop them right?”

“You’ll die in the process,” Ankh remarked, looking towards another part of Denver. It was almost as if he sensed something Adagio didn’t. “And what’s in it for you anyways?”

“What, is saving lives not enough of a reward for you? Suppose not, but that’s what’s in it for me. And sure, I’m probably going to die, but if I save even just one life before that happens I’ll be happy,” Adagio said, grabbing onto the driver and holding it tight. “And from the looks of it, I’d say someone’s life does need saving. Unless that intrigued look on your face is you having a brain freeze. Or you’re constipated. Can’t tell yet.”

“A yummy’s been born,” Ankh stated. “So, time for you to prove yourself worthy, and get me some cell medals. That’s about the only value that poor sap who became a yummy has to the world now. Just more cell medals for me to rebuild a complete body.”

“Well, while you may have it in you deciding how much one person is valued, that’s not me. Let me repeat this so so you get it in your head. It's not for me to decide other people's worth,” Adagio replied without an ounce of hesitation. The thing was with her, once she’d made up her mind about something you were hard-pressed to change it. And it was the same with Ankh.

“Well, I will. The moment you are worthless to me, I will abandon you,” Ankh stated as his final answer on the matter. Adagio turned to him and smiled even as she gestured for him to get in her car.

“I'll find an opening in you and save you from your own greed. Even if that means defeating you.”

“I’d be actually impressed if you did, Adagio Dazzle,” Ankh smirked. “This way! The yummy’s not far…”

---

Eventually, the chase led the two under a bridge, where they found Rainbow Dash of all people scaring away the drivers of a food truck and ravaging it of its contents.

“R-Rainbow, is that you?” Adagio asked as she got out of the car, seeing the gray granite-like markings on Rainbow’s body.

“It is, and it isn’t. That’s some of Kazari’s work alright,” Ankh mused atop the car hood, seeing Rainbow ravage the food truck. “Parasite type yummy. It builds up inside the host and eventually, the host becomes a yummy, the Greeed’s foot soldiers if you will. Made for one reason only, to seek out Core Medals. As for this Rainbow girl… well, she’s just reaping what she’s sowing really. Her gluttony got the better of her.”

“No, it didn’t,” Adagio refuted sternly, looking at the glowing geode around Rainbow’s neck and remembering back to that time at the cafe.

“Wow, she sure can pack it in, wonder what her secret is…?” Adagio murmured to herself before whispering to Fluttershy: “I thought you said she was one of those athletic sporty types!”

Fluttershy sighed to herself, her head hitting the table. “Rainbow, please tell me you haven’t been out being a vigilante again…?”

“No, what happened is that geode around her neck. It spikes up her metabolism. She’s not a victim of her own greed, but simply of her own body’s needs. Kazari just mistook it for greed, that’s all.”

“So, she’s still going to become a yummy all the same!” Ankh remarked. “Now, just let her develop, and then grab her cell medals!”

“No,” Adagio stated, holding the OOO Driver over a manhole. “Ankh, see this? This is your last hope in getting any of those cell medals and core medals you cherish! And I’m losing my grip!”

“Why you…” Ankh hissed out, detaching himself from his body and swiping at Adagio, but she simply moved out of the way. “What the hell are you doing, I thought you wanted to save your friend!”

“Oh Ankh, it’s slipping!” Adagio singsonged, loosening her grip. “No, I can’t save my friend, not if you don’t let me do things the way I want to.” she remarked with a small smirk. Ankh swore, realizing he’d been played like a fool. Not just that, but his pride had been stripped from him. Adagio had figured him out, and knew just how to control him… for now anyways.

“Oooh, do tell!” Adagio exclaimed. “What’s this about being a vigilante? Wait, you one of those real-life superheroes I’ve heard so much about?”

She was, of course, referring to those people who got up and dressed up as superheroes to perform various acts of community service, like a neighborhood watch or inspecting for building code violations or performing acts of charity. Denver even had its own branch, the Colorado Initiative.

“No, it’s this stupid metabolism thing kicking in again… I swear, this geode gives me some fun powers but there are a few drawbacks…” Rainbow muttered as she packed it in seemingly forgetting Adagio was even there for the moment.

“Dare I ask?” Adagio remarked, and Rainbow facepalmed.

“Damnit…” she muttered upon realization. Adagio looked towards Fluttershy for an explanation, but Rainbow surprisingly was the one to answer. “A while back, me and the girls got these cool geodes that give us awesome superpowers. Flutters over there can talk to animals, while I get to be a real-life Flash!”

“Fine, do what you want. Here!” Ankh snapped, tossing Adagio the Same and Kujira medals while she flipped in midair to avoid a swing from Rainbow, and caught them before tossing out the Cube Condor letting it unfold.

“Go on little guy, find some food for Rainbow. I’ve got a plan.” she told it and it flew off.

“Ankh, like I said. It’s not within me to decide other people’s worth,” Adagio stated striding forwards as she slammed the driver across her waist the belt wrapping itself around her. Next, she slammed the Ookamiuo medal into the driver. “That should never be an option. And I will save Rainbow, and I will save you no matter how difficult the path is. But for now… Henshin!”

“Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo: Sa-Ra-Mi-Uo! Sa! Ra! Mi-Uo!”

The Wolffish Spear forming in her hands, Adagio smirked under her helmet when Cube Condor returned with some raw chicken. Ankh balked at the sight, while Adagio flipped behind Rainbow, and grabbed her by the waist holding her tight.

“Ankh, you said the yummy inside her is a parasite right?” Adagio asked. “Well, time to draw it out! Oi Rainbow, you see that nice chunk of raw chicken, don’t you? You want it, don’t you? You desire it…”

Groaning, a mummy-like creature climbed out of Rainbow’s mouth, before changing into this massive yellow and blue cat creature made seemingly entirely of fat. Rainbow collapsed to the ground, with Adagio slicing and dicing into the cat’s body. Or trying to anyways. No matter what, not even throwing a whirlpool from her spear managed to pierce the cat yummy’s body.

“But there’s an issue isn’t there?” Adagio remarked.

“Yeah, damn thing wrecks havoc on my metabolism. Just like the Flash himself, the issue is the longer I use this damn thing, the more likely I am to need a huge amount of energy to actually build myself back up again. And man oh man, did I use a Hell of a lot last night. Chasing down this robber, or what I thought was a robber anyways…”

Rainbow’s expression turned sad for a moment, and Adagio wondered if she should pry and try to help Rainbow, but thought the better of it. No, it wasn’t her own business. If Rainbow wanted to talk about it, she’d say so when she wanted to. But it probably wasn’t going to be to her of all people, considering their current… relationship status and all.

“So basically, you’re a Cheetah Girl!” Adagio teased.

“I’m a… Cheetah Girl?” Rainbow blinked out in confusion before her eyes widened in realization. “Hey! Don’t you go comparing me to those girls from that crappy Disney movie!”

“Well, to be fair Rainbow, you’re pretty fast, and you did perform in a rock band back during your high school days so you’re not that far off…” Fluttershy teased, barely holding back her giggles.

“Tch, you’re not going to do any damage that way…” Ankh grumbled before sighing. “Here, take this!” he said, tossing the cheetah medal towards Adagio who rebounded off the cat yummy’s body and slammed the new medal into her driver before scanning it.

“Same, Kujira, Cheetah!”

Adagio soon found herself moving at superspeed and running around in circles around the yummy confusing it, she smiled to herself and chuckled. “Guess I’m the Cheetah Girl now eh Rainbow?”

“I’d rather be compared to Joan Jett thank you. Much cooler than a tween pop band. You calling me a Cheetah Girl, Adagio, well you might as well be calling me Miley ‘Wrecking Ball’ Cyrus! No thank you!” Rainbow huffed. “So uncool,” she grumbled with a crossing of her arms.

“High-School band?” Adagio asked in confusion, raising an eyebrow and looking towards Fluttershy.

“Yeah… It was something we all did back in our high-school days. Nothing came of it, except perhaps Sunset Shimmer, another friend of ours getting it big with a label. Now she’s off touring Europe and such. Think she’s in Russia right now…” Fluttershy mused. “But anyways, Rainbow, her ego kicking in decided to name the band after herself, and called it the Rainbooms.”

“Hey, plenty of cool bands have had their names stemming from a band member. Tom Petty, Alice Cooper, you know. Hell, Joan Jett!” Adagio put in, and Rainbow smirked smugly.

Adagio then realized something. “...Wait, weren’t the Rainbooms the ones who… Uh, defeated me and my sisters’ Equestrian counterparts?”

She then leaped onto the cat yummy’s body and grabbed onto it via the shoulders before kicking it over and over at nearly blinding speeds making it bleed out cell medals. Adagio then leaped off the yummy’s body and then ran the scanner over her belt.

Scanning Charge!

Three rings were in front of Adagio and she ran through all three powering herself up before slide kicking the monster with a shout of: “Rider Kick!” and with that destroyed the yummy making it explode into a pile of cell medals.

Fluttershy and Rainbow sucked in breaths, and Rainbow muttered out a small comment of: “Awkward…”

“Sorry ‘Dagi. Didn’t mean to bring up…” Fluttershy started before Adagio waved a hand dismissively.

“No, no, it’s fine. And on this superhero thing? Well, I personally think it's nice your doing something for the city,” Adagio said being genuinely sincere and not snide towards Rainbow for the first time since they'd met. “Gives the people hope.”

“...Wow, complemented by Adagio Dazzle of all people. What the Hell am I supposed to say to that?”

Ankh, seizing his chance dived for the medals before a swarm of what looked to be red hawks grabbed them all up and flew towards a man wearing a black suit, a red feather as his lapel. The man smiled as the ‘hawks’ all turned into little cans and deposited themselves in an open briefcase.

“Who…?” Adagio wondered, canceling her transformation.

“Who dares!?!” Ankh snarled.

“Hello, sorry for the interruption OOOs, Ankh. I just feel I needed to grab up those cell medals before any of the other Greeed came sniffing about. As for who I am, name’s Eiji Hino.”

Author's Notes:

Okay, so yes, this was basically a repeat of the Neko Yummy arc really, but I wanted to get an easily done Yummy first before I move onto the more challenging and interesting ones. Plus, an easily written Yummy allowed me more time for Ankh and Adagio to meet, and establish their relationship quo more. And of course, introduce this universe's Eiji Hino.

Now, while I do have a small interest in Ankh/Adagio shipping, it obviously can't happen right now. Pretty sure necrophilia is illegal in... Oh, I'd say just about every state. Granted, I may take the obvious route and do an Adagio/Secondary Rider ship. But in any case, all of this is for later.

Right now though, your comments, thoughts, and feedback are welcomed.

(Edit: 2/28/19: Rearranged the Flashbacks around to more my liking, and made them a bit less disruptive to the flow of the chapter.)

3: Eiji Hino

“Hey, where do you get off at stealing my Cell Medals?” Ankh demanded, grabbing Eiji by his tie with one feathered arm, and lifting him up in the air. To his credit, Eiji didn’t really seem all that fazed. Ankh just continued looking at him, with a hawk-like piercing gaze. “Answer me, you bastard!” he demanded, shaking him slightly.

“Drop him Ankh!” Adagio shouted. “Drop him, now!”

“Relax Ms. Dazzle,” Eiji remarked. “I can handle him. It’s just like meeting someone in the boardroom isn’t it? I only came down here from the office to… negotiate a settlement. With him, actually.”

“Oh, you must be stupid,” Ankh said, tossing Eiji into some barrels. “What, negotiate a settlement with me? Are you that cracked in the head? I’m a Greeed, therefore I’m the embodiment of desire!”

“Yes, yes, I did catch that. You shouting it to the world isn’t helping my hearing any,” Eiji deadpanned, picking himself up off the pavement and dusting off his suit. “Greeed,” he continued, letting the word roll over his lips and getting a feel for it. “You really aren’t one for subtlety are you?”

Adagio had to stifle a snigger at that. Whoever he was, Eiji had nerve that was for sure.

“Why I oughta…” Ankh hissed out, lunging towards Eiji who simply stepped out of the way and let Ankh smack himself face first into a concrete pillar.

“Are you done abusing that body?” Eiji asked. “As I said, I did come here to negotiate with you, and your friend and I really don’t think negotiating with just a hand would be all that… easy.”

“Eiji Hino…” Adagio mused to herself. “Why the Hell does that name sound familiar?”

“How do you even know what I am?” Ankh demanded.

“I have a few friends in high places, therefore doing research on ancient history wasn’t that hard. Stumbled across references to a certain man and his creations wasn’t really that difficult,” Eiji remarked. “Now I’m actually not out to get you, or interfere in your medal gathering. Actually, I’m here to-”

“Negotiate, yeah yeah… We got that,” Ankh said, flipping Eiji the… ahem, bird. “That implies a barter of some sort, am I right?”

“Well, at least you catch on fast. Personally, I have no interest in the Core Medals, but the Cell Medals on the other hand? That’s another matter. Call it interest in humanity’s common good.”

“Tch!” Ankh muttered. “Humans, all the same. They all desire something, and you’re no different Hino.”

Eiji shrugged, a hapless smile on his face. “Not really, as long as I have a pair of clean underwear for the next day, I’m happy.”

Adagio blinked. “...Okay… But what’s with your interest in these… Cell Medals?” Adagio asked, one of the Taka Candroids flying into her hand and giving her a few of the medals.

“Well, it’s not my interest really, but my boss’s interest. Kousei Kougami, that’s his name,” Eiji replied. “You ever heard of the Kougami Foundation?” he asked.

“Should I have?” Ankh asked.

“Wasn’t asking you,” Eiji remarked, before turning his head back to Adagio.

“Yeah… sorta. Mega Corporation, right? The Aquarium got a cake from them last year, when we successfully managed to celebrate our 35th birthday.” Adagio trailed off. “Wait, you telling me you work for that guy?”

“Well, I just head up his operations here in America. Sorta kicked things into overdrive when those idiots in Shocker managed to pry open King’s casket and free Ankh along with his friends.” Eiji remarked.

“I’d hardly call them friends of mine. Sure, same species, but we’re not friends,” Ankh remarked. “Anyways, you still haven’t gotten to the point here.”

“Look, Greeed. They’re homunculus beings comprised of those medals right? I just want the cell medals, and as a tradeoff, for 80% of the Cell Medals you collect from the Greeed and their yummy foot soldiers I’ll send you information as needed. Sound like a fair tradeoff?”

“80%?!” Ankh barked, glaring daggers at the man. “That’s highway robbery. What could you possibly know that’s worth that?”

“Current whereabouts of the Greeed, and such. Yes, I realize it’s such a steep price, but there’s nothing in this world that’s free…” Eiji returned. Mind you, he had no such interest in the things as to be honest, he was just seeing how far Ankh was willing to go just to get ahold of the medals and what would happen to him if he did get ahold of enough cells to build himself a proper body.

“Bah, that’s not even worth 40%, you’re even thicker than you look, Hino. Hell, you’re even thicker than her!” Ankh dismissed him, gesturing to Adagio.

“Thick?” Adagio asked with an amused smile. “I seem to remember conning you into letting me use this,” she remarked holding up the OOO Driver. “I could of course just drop it down a manhole, for real this time, and then where would you be? Oh yes, out one Rider.”

“Bah, try bluffing when the fate of your city isn’t at stake,” Ankh snapped, glaring at her. “And keep quiet, dealing with one human is enough of a headache as it is.”

“Carrot,” Adagio replied, gesturing to the OOO Driver as she looked directly at Ankh. “And stick,” she continued, gesturing to the manhole. “Oh, I’d eventually dive down into the sewers after it, eventually, but you’d be without a way to collect your precious cell medals. And from what you told me, you need those cell medals to get yourself a body back. Granted, that’s a fairly bad thing from what I can figure out, as you with a full body probably isn’t good for the whole world.”

“You’d ruin your hair though,” Eiji commented. “I’m guessing you take pride in it. Most women do, from my-”

He quickly stopped himself, before he said something stupid that probably would have offended Adagio. Said woman didn’t look even the slightest bit annoyed actually.

“Eh, nothing a nice hot shower wouldn’t be able to fix. Anyways, swear I’ve heard of you somewhere before Eiji,” Adagio replied. “Just can’t remember where…” she trailed off, making a mental note to google the name later.

“You’re a fairly bad negotiator, you know that right?” Eiji remarked. “You’d make a terrible politician. You, without the OOO driver, yes you’d prevent Ankh from getting his body back but what about the Greeed? They’d still ravage everyone else am I correct?”

“Unbelievable, even the messy haired dunce gets it,” Ankh said, jabbing a finger towards Eiji. “If he can see through your bluff that should tell you something.”

“Here’s a question for you though,” Adagio remarked. “Say you get your body back, turn Earth into a wasteland devoid of any life except you. What then?” she asked Ankh. She knew perfectly well from experience, or at least reading up on the legends of various Kamen Riders, once you stuck that driver onto you, you were the only person capable of using it. She had no intent on leaving Earth to rot, she just wanted to see what Ankh’s endgame was first. That way, she knew exactly who she was dealing with, and how best to handle him. He was like any other dangerous animal, you just needed to handle him with precision and care. And if necessary, take a few steps backwards before you got bit.

Ankh was noticeably silent after that.

“Yeah, thought as much,” Adagio remarked, idly flipping the Same medal skywards like a coin before catching it in her hand once more. “You really don’t honestly know do you?”

“It doesn’t matter, all I need is my medals and a body,” Ankh grumbled, not looking at either of them.

“You know, if you weren’t such a dick and so intent on possessing people, I’d almost feel sorry for you,” Adagio replied snidely.

“Tch!” Ankh hissed. “You’re still on about that? I only needed to possess your sister to find out who had that medal! I gave the body back!” he almost whined.

“I actually do feel sorry for you, Ankh,” Eiji replied. “What a miserable existence you and your fellow Greeed must live. Only concerned about medals and the like. I’d like to try and help you, if you’d allow me. Just extend a hand, and try and find you a place in society.”

“Greeed aren’t meant for a place in society,” Ankh retorted. “Don’t even bother.”

“Damnit, why does that attitude of Eiji’s… Why does it seem so familiar to me? And that name, Hino… I swear I’ve heard about it somewhere else before!” Adagio thought to herself in frustration. A low moan then caught her attention, and she rushed over to Rainbow Dash’s side as the women slowly awoke.

“Hey, hey… You alright?” Adagio asked, helping her friend up. “Steady now, don’t do anything that might strain your body. Had a rough day.”

“I don’t get why she’s decided to partner herself up with you Ankh,” Eiji continued as he watched this. “I really don’t. She’s much too kind to spend any sort of time around you. You’re like poison if you ask me.”

“Because I have something she wants,” Ankh noted, gesturing to his current host. “And without me, she’d be clueless as to what to do with her belt.”

“Pretty sure necrophilia is illegal in just about every state,” Adagio shot back towards Ankh. “So no, and Hell no, I sure don’t want that body! Ugh, think I can smell it starting to rot from here. Or maybe that’s just your natural odor bird-brain… And anyways, I’d figure out how to use the belt myself. Not like it needs a manual or anything. Ever heard of learning on the job?”

“Ugh, I wasn’t talking about it like that,” Ankh growled, disgust crossing his features. Rainbow meanwhile, was just watching this entire exchange with a mix of amusement and confusion. “Do all you humans keep your minds in the gutters at all times?”

“Only reason I’m keeping you around Ankh, and not just tossing you in the nearest dumpster, is because you know more about the Greeed than I do. That’s it,” Adagio replied as Rainbow slipped into unconsciousness, her time as a Yummy finally catching up to her. “Make no mistake, if I were to learn more about the Greeed from another source, I’d be kicking you to the curb.”

“Fine by me,” Ankh growled. “And if you don’t collect Cell Medals, then I’d leave you high and dry on information.”

“Nice to see you two have reached some sort of agreement,” Eiji remarked before walking over to Adagio and kneeling down to her level. “Listen, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. Don’t strain yourself. You can't do anything more than what you can do, right? Right?”

“I… I suppose,” Adagio whispered.

“But you still have to try. I’m willing to help you Adagio, not just so that your only source of information is… him,” Eiji continued, giving a quick look towards Ankh. “You have to try your best here, you’ve got a responsibility to not just your own job, but the people around you now. Like it or not, you’re going to have to work with Ankh so that people around you can be happy! I’m sure even he can understand that… right?” he asked, looking again towards Ankh.

“Hey, why did you look at me when you said that?” Ankh asked. “I don’t see why I have to be involved in this discussion at all!”

Ignoring him, Eiji continued. “Listen, brave heart Adagio Dazzle, and never forget the people around you are your rock. The previous King… The previous OOO. He didn’t have that luxury, all he cared about was power. He didn’t care about his subjects. You do. Now, I’m not saying you should let your status go to your head or anything, but-”

“Yeah, I gotcha,” Adagio smiled as she lifted Rainbow into the passenger seat of her car. “Just keep on hanging in there, and protect the smiles of the people of this city right?”

“Err, something like that…” Eiji trailed off before he walked back towards his own car. “And remember, I’m still willing to negotiate here! Cell Medals, for information and whatever else the research labs can come up with!”

Ankh just let out another hiss before he leaped off as Adagio buckled herself in and drove off.

“Interesting guy… Eiji Hino huh?” she thought. “Yeah, definitely worth looking into…”

---

Rainbow eventually found herself awakening on a couch. Not her couch, really, which was concerning but a couch nonetheless. Groaning, she held her chest in pain. Felt like she got kicked in the chest by about one hundred horses. At once. Or she had a really bad hangover. Either one was probable.

“Okay, so where am I…?” Rainbow muttered before she picked herself up off the couch and walked slowly but surely to the nearest window, the evening light filtering through some particularly gauzy teal green curtains. “Place looks vaguely familiar, but…”

She looked out the window and saw acres of open land in front of her, a small forest off to the west of the area and an old Ford Bronco pulled up on a driveway. Wooden fences surrounded the patch of land, and horses galloped off in the distance.

“Can’t believe this, me getting stuck with you.” a voice muttered from behind her, and Rainbow whirled around in an instance, grabbing whatever was in reach for protection. Granted, that object turned out to be a stool but considering she recognized that voice, and moreover who it belonged to she’d take that over nothing.

“Aria…” Rainbow muttered, holding out the stool over her head.

“Yes, me,” Aria Blaze or rather this world’s version of her commented, hands on hips. “You know, if you were going to attack me, could you at least have grabbed the baseball bat? Much more likely to crack my head open.”

“Buh… Whu… Uh…” Rainbow stammered out, the stool slipping from her grasp and falling to the carpet below her with a loud clatter. “What… what are you doing here?’

“Keeping an eye on you, shortstack,” Aria grimaced, noting Rainbow’s much smaller size compared to her own. “Just like my sister asked me to. What’d you think I was going to do, ya doofus?”

“Try… Try and control my mind, or pull out a knife on me, or something…” Rainbow replied slowly, unable to believe her frankly terrible luck. First, it was meeting up with Adagio Dazzle or rather her human counterpart, -which to be frank, Rainbow really still didn’t see much of a difference between the human and Equestrian variants- and now Rainbow was meeting up with one of her two sisters! What next, she had to ask herself. To be honest, she wasn’t entirely sure if she wanted to know.

Aria stared at her, before she shook her head and flopped down on the nearby couch, before grabbing a guitar that Rainbow only just now had noticed that’d been hanging nearby. Strumming a few notes that Rainbow recognized as the opening chords to as Awesome as I want to Be -Something which Rainbow took personal offense to, given the one playing it currently- Aria sighed to herself.

“Ah yes, you’re running from the assumption that I’m totally and completely like my Equestrian counterpart, IE a complete and utter bitch,” Aria muttered complete with a roll of her eyes. She adjusted her jacket. Rainbow noted it had so many patched up holes in it, Rarity would probably have a conniption if she ever saw it. “Yes, that makes perfect sense. Constants and variables and all that. And before you ask how I know about her,” Aria remarked upon seeing Rainbow’s open mouth. “I’ve actually run into my Siren counterpart, and moreover her reputation. Made it almost impossible for me to get a job, I was lucky enough that some band downtown was lacking a rhythm guitarist after their previous one wimped out over stage fright.”

“I’m… sorry?” Rainbow asked, not sure how exactly to be sympathetic in this sorta situation. To be fair, this Aria wasn’t exactly that far removed from her counterpart in demeanor, occupation, and even dress sense. So seeing a woman wearing Aria’s face and yet claiming she was different from her counterpart was a bit more than Rainbow could swallow at the moment.

“It’s to be expected you’re low on sympathy towards me, couldn’t say I blame you,” Aria remarked. “My counterpart hardly did anything endearing really…”

“Woah, woah, back up! Just back up just a tad, okay?” Rainbow said. “Let’s just back up just a scooch. Since when did Adagio ask for you to keep an eye on me, and for that matter since when do you own a ranch?”

“Okay, one, Adagio for whatever reason -Yes, I know, she’s capable of compassion so can you get that through your thick headed skull shortstack?- said you were affected by something called a ‘Greed’ which I can only assume your desire for fame and passion went for you head. So she asked me to watch you. And secondly, who said this is my ranch?” Aria asked with a raise of her finger, and another set of footsteps was heard as the last person Rainbow expected peeked her head into the room.

“Um, Aria… You could try to be a little nicer to Rainbow,” Fluttershy asked, Rainbow’s brain fritzing out for the next few moments and rendering her incapable of speech. Fluttershy + Aria = WHAT THE FLYING FUCK? was what was pretty much going through Rainbow’s head at the moment. “She’s had a very long and tiring day…” Fluttershy continued, wearing a bathrobe around her and looking like she’d just got out of the shower.

Rainbow’s head whipped out towards the window once more, and now that she looked at that Bronco again, it looked very suspiciously like the one Fluttershy used whenever she needed to be on call as a vet for the farms in the area. Complete with a “I heart dogs and cats” sticker on the front bumper.

“Oi vey…” Rainbow muttered, feeling rather weak even as Fluttershy closed the curtains for privacy. Never mind the fact that there was probably nobody else for miles around. “I… I think I need to sit down for a moment…” she muttered, before collapsing into a nearby bean bag chair clutching her head in pain.

“...Well, she’s taking this a lot better than I thought she would,” Aria muttered. “Thank God you’re here Fluttershy, considering this is your best friend and all I figured you’d know how to handle her best.”

“Yeah…” Fluttershy murmured, pressing her fingers together nervously. “I just hope she’s not too mad about me keeping this a secret from her.”

“I’m in the room you know,” Rainbow muttered with a small huff.

“Remember when I asked for your opinion? Yeah. Me neither.” Aria sniped at her, switching up from Awesome as I want to Be into another song, one that required particularly fast strums of the guitar and quick chord change-ups.

“Aria, be nice!” Fluttershy said, hitting her friend(?) atop the head with a green slipper. “Look, I’m sorry Rainbow, for keeping this from you. I was just-”

“Afraid of how I’d react?” Rainbow asked. “Yeah, I suppose I get that. I suppose I do…” she muttered. “Could be worse, it could be Applejack or Sunset who’d you have to deal with…” she joked weakly.

Fluttershy didn’t look amused by Rainbow’s sense of humor before murmuring under her breath: “...They already know. Well, at least Sunset does. I’m not so sure Applejack does.”

“So, why is Aria Blaze here anyways?” Rainbow just had to ask. “Please don’t tell me she’s your girlfriend, because I think I’ve had too many shocks in one day already…” she muttered to herself, under her breath.

“Well, a few months ago, I found Aria Dazzle wandering the streets after getting thrown out of her own apartment by her landlord, apparently being cited as an inhuman monster and so I asked if she wanted to stay with me. Took a few tries, but…”

“Yeah, suppose it was better than living on the street like some hobo really,” Aria added. “Common sense won out over distaste in the end. Even if Fluttershy over here was in a way sorta responsible for my situation, didn’t have much choice.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t your fault Aria,” Rainbow said. “If you’re really who you and Fluttershy claim to be, blame your counterpart. Not my friend.”

“You make it very hard to hate you, you know that right, shortstack?” Aria huffed. “Anyways, you really should get some sleep. Trust me, you didn’t look in the best of shape when sis brought you here.”

“Alright, but I’m getting that couch. Much more comfortable,” Rainbow told her. “And if it turns out you two are lying about being girlfriends and I wake up to you having sex, I’m going out to sleep in the barn with the horses!”

Aria just laughed her head off, while Fluttershy hid her blush behind her hair.

---

The next day, Adagio was back at work, giving a tour of the Arctic Waters exhibit, which housed… well, exactly what the name implied, the tanks having to be specially cooled every so often for the animals it put on display.

“Now, everyone if you look to your right,” Adagio said gesturing to the nearby tank, an enthused kindergarten class led by a woman named Mrs. Cheerilee eagerly following in her wake. “You’ll see one of our pride and joys here at the National Aquarium, our seals. Today, it seems our Ribbon Seals have come out to join us! Now, the Ribbon Seal… What can I say about it? Well, it’s an ice-bound species, it is found only in of the North Pacific Ocean’s colder climates, one particularly notable location being right in the Bering Sea. It’s recognized easily by to me, its frankly striking coloration, with two wide white strips and two white circles against either dark brown or a black fur coat.”

In the tank, as he checked over the various functions and made sure everything was up to spec, Star Hunter smiled as he watched Adagio animatedly explain to the class all about the seals. One of them actually was so bold as to go right up to this ponytailed girl and rubbing his nose against the side of the tank. This seemed to be one of the only times Adagio did seem to be genuinely happy, educating people about the sea’s creatures, especially those that were trapped between land and water. Maybe she was happier at other times, and Star Hunter hadn’t seen them as he really didn’t have much of a relationship with Adagio outside of work, but so far the only times Adagio seemed to be actually at peace was here.

“Now, ribbon seals…” Adagio continued. “Despite their coloration, their pups? They’re actually born stark white, making it impossible for predators -Such as Orcas or Great Whites, and don’t worry kids we don’t have any of those here!- to spot them up against the ice. As they grow, they lose this fur and gain their more distinction ‘ribbon’ patterns, it sometimes taking up to three years for this to occur!”

The kids ‘oohed’ and ‘ahhed’ on cue, and Adagio continued her narration. “Now, during the summer and fall, the seal lives in the open waters, although this isn’t always the case. Some have been known to move north as the ice recedes as the temperature climbs higher. We don’t actually know much about what it does during these times, as they rarely go to land, so marine biologists like myself can only speculate as to what they’re up to. There have been rare cases where we’ve found ribbon seals in areas like Seattle, but those kids, you can count up how many times that’s happened on one hand. It’s that uncommon of an occurrence.”

Suddenly, Star Hunter spoke into his radio.

“Hey Adagio, there’s this creepy guy hanging about the edge of the exhibit. Just thought you should know,” the man said, noting this guy with bleached blond hair and a yellow shirt watching Adagio in interest. “I don’t know why he’s here, but…”

“I’ll go shoo him off, thanks for the tip,” Adagio said, and gestured for another tour guide -Some dude named Sea Spray- to continue the tour. Adagio quickly spotted the man Star Hunter had warned her about and chased after him into the back hallways of the aquarium. As she ran up a staircase, following the sound of footsteps above her Adagio went for the OOO driver, and pulled out three medals from her pocket. How she managed to convince Ankh to lend her these medals was another story for a different time, but it involved ice pops and puppy dog eyes.

“Henshin!” Adagio shouted, running the scanner across her waist and making the three medals light up in unison.

“Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo: Sa-Ra-Mi-Uo! Sa! Ra! Mi-Uo!”

As she changed into Kamen Rider OOO, she gripped her spear and kicked in a door, now above the seal tank on a small catwalk. Sunlight filtered in through a skylight, a now open skylight with the man having vanished.

“Okay, what was that about?” Adagio muttered aloud before canceling her transformation.

Atop the roof, Kazari smirked to himself. “So that’s Ankh’s pet human huh? Interesting sort… She begs further observation.” he thought before leaping off.

---

Meanwhile, Rainbow had returned to the city, still thinking over her childhood friend’s relationship with… Aria. It just didn’t feel right, no matter how Fluttershy put it.

“God dammit it Flutters, you’re always too damn kind for your own good,” Rainbow thought as she punched a wall mid-jog. “What if… What if Aria’s lying about being her human counterpart, and she’s just biding her time, waiting to shank you in your sleep when you least expect it?”

Maybe she was just being stupid, or overly paranoid, or just protective of Fluttershy as she found new friendships, she didn’t know. Maybe none of her fears had any merit to them, and they were all just her being just that, a complete and utter worrywart that would put Twilight to shame.

“Twilight…” Rainbow thought to herself. “Of course, she might know. Maybe the two are alike, Aria and her human counterpart! After all, pony Twilight was hugely nerdy, and so is this world’s Twilight so…”

Rainbow sighed, again maybe she was just being overly paranoid. Perhaps she should give Aria the benefit of the doubt and just watched and saw what happened. Aria could have been biding her time, or maybe she was just that. Harmless. And besides, it wasn’t like Fluttershy herself was defenseless. Aside from that geode which could probably summon up some really big and nasty animal if Fluttershy needed -Like say, a bear- Rainbow had seen it fit to take Fluttershy to some local martial arts classes, and get her trained up in Hapkido.

That came in handy pretty soon, as some idiot tried to have her way with Fluttershy. She’d floored him quite easily.

Now, Rainbow knew most ‘sporty’ martial arts, like say Judo, Brazilian jujitsu, and/or schools of karate and Tae Kwon were actually next to useless in a fight. It was things like Krav Maga and Hapkido that were the really useful ones.

Now, Rainbow knew a few things about martial arts, and how useful they actually were. The ones that were actually best suited to defense had to have these things.
1. It had to include striking and grappling
2. The motions should be simple and easy: complex movements? Forget about it. Too easy to fumble or mess up.
3. It shouldn’t have over-complicated or formulaic defenses. That only wound up getting you shanked.
4: The practice should actually have to involve striking another, and finally…
5: There really should have been no rules involved in this.

Hell, Muay Thai was actually a killing art, before it got bowdlerized down over the years. If Rainbow remembered right, it involved punching and kicking trees of all things in its early years.

Rainbow was suddenly drawn from her thoughts by a loud angry shout of: “Hey, get out of here you freak!”

Rainbow looked up, and across the street, that same cheetah zyuman from before was practically getting thrown out of a shop by a man. Rainbow let out a snarl of fury and stepped over.

“Hey, leave the man alone. He just wants a job!” Rainbow snarled. “What’s your issue, huh?”

“My issue is with him!” the shop owner, this tall burly man who had more muscles than common sense shouted. He was a butcher, and the blood-stained apron and the giant carving knife showcased that in spades. Rainbow swallowed, maybe this was a mistake. “He comes in here, asking for a job, when he shouldn’t even exist! He’s got his own Earth, so why can’t he get a job there huh?”

“Why you…” Rainbow hissed out. “Listen, just because he’s from a different world doesn’t give you the right to judge him!”

Rainbow was well aware of her hypocrisy at this moment, her breath catching in her throat. Earlier she was judging Aria Blaze/Dazzle/whatever she chose to call herself just because of where she came from, and now she was defending someone over that same issue.

“Can’t believe myself…” Rainbow thought.

Storming off, the cheetah zyuman caught up to her.

“You… You didn’t have to do that you know…” he stammered out.

“Yeah? Well, I felt I had to. Didn’t see anyone else doing a damn thing. Where’s the justice?” Rainbow shouted, and the cheetah sucked in a breath.

“...Not like it would have mattered. And you’re right, there’s no justice in it at all, but what can you do? The humans, they’re too set in their mindset. Even Zyuoh The World, this guy named Misao marrying another Zyuman -Named Lillian- hasn’t changed things. ...At least here in America.” he sighed sadly.

“Well, it damn well should have!” Rainbow snarled before a man wearing this green jacket and sporting slicked back hair like a greaser stepped out of the shadows.

“Yes, you’re quite right Rainbow,” Uva commented as a coin slot appeared in Rainbow’s forehead, and he tossed a medal into it. “But now, you’re going to be able to change all that. Fight for justice… Just like a Kamen Rider.” he smirked and walked off as a mummy-like creature began to form...

Author's Notes:

Really says a lot about Rainbow if she's become parents to two yummies by now, hasn't it? But I swear, last time she'll be a yummy parent. Next time, it'll be someone different. I just happened to remember how the Hopper Yummy was born and what desire it embodied so I figured it lined up perfectly with the plot of Rainbow and the Zyuman.

Now, Eiji. First off, can you give a huge pat on the back to Thunderclap for helping me write his section? Now, I'm honestly not sure about this, if he's just out of character enough to work with this universe, or we took too many broad strokes with him. This is where you guys come into play. Your feedback is especially welcomed here.

(Edit: 2/15/19 Corrected a certain error regarding the ending of the Zyouhgers series.)

4: Justice in My Heart

Author's Notes:

And yes Layton, you're free to make Another Justice jokes. (Also, huge thanks to Shagohad12 for help writing the opening sequence.)

“Got to… Got to get away…” one Ham Hocked panted out as he sprinted away from his place of business, sweating bullets as he rounded a corner, something in pursuit of him. It’d been a normal night for him really, and he was just about to close up and head home when this… thing smashed in through the front window of his shop. It almost looked like a man. Almost. Trouble was, the man had his eyes seemingly sewed or stitched shut and bore two antennae coming out of the top of his head.

Growling and frothing at the mouth, the creature had approached him, one arm outstretched bearing vicious-looking claws. “Justice…” it had growled out in a guttural tone.

“Stay… Stay away!” Ham Hocked had shouted, grabbing a large cutting knife and swinging it wildly at the grasshopper man. Drawing blood -at least he thought it was blood, it couldn’t have been what he thought it was… right?- he ran towards the storeroom, with the monster in pursuit.

Shoving a pig on a hook in the monster’s face, Ham then ran out the back door and into the alleyway behind his shop. He wheezed, his legs burning from the exertion. Unfortunately, he wasn’t exactly in the best of shape -probably ate one too many pork sandwiches himself- so it was fairly easy for the Hopper Man to catch up.

“Justice…” the Hopper Man growled out, leaping in front of him, and knocking Ham to the ground with blasts of green electricity from his antennae. “Justice...” it repeated, making a series of clicking noises.

“What are you?” Ham asked as he tried to scramble away before the Hopper Man grabbed him by his flabby neck and shoved him against a dumpster. He let out a grunt of pain, the lid of the dumpster digging into his back.

“Justice!” the creature declared, before flinging him into the ground once more. It clicked again, it’s antenna twitching frantically. Just as he was about to slam a fist through Ham’s gut, the young man managed to find a burst of speed.

Scrambling away from the monster, Ham let adrenaline take over his actions; running as fast as he could. He dove behind a crate clamping a hand over his mouth. Ham’s heart pounded in his chest, faster than he ever expected. The fear of a heart attack shot through him like a bullet wound.

Sadly, said crate was picked up and tossed aside by the Hopper Man. Ham ran again, blood pumping through his veins as he ran out into the streets, car horns screeching out warnings. Weaving through traffic, Ham ran into another alleyway that bordered a parking garage.

People screamed as they saw the Hopper Man leap across the street and over the cars in a flipping motion, and land in front of Ham.

“What do you want? And don’t give me any of that justice shit!” Ham bellowed, spittle flying out of his mouth. “This… This isn’t justice! This is… This is stalking and harassment!”

The Hopper Man tilted his head, before asking. “And you call treating that zyuman like you did justice?”

“That’s… That’s what this is about?” Ham asked even as he continued running down the alleyway. “I gave that creature what he deserved, a wake-up call! A dose of reality!”

The Hopper Man leaped in front of him again.

“No, you kicked him out on the street!” the creature growled, slamming a fist into Ham’s gut making him fly back into a collection of barrels.

“So? It’s nothing anyone else would have done, right?” Ham asked. “Let’s face it, those freaks have their own world, their own culture! Why are they trying to push it on us?”

Suddenly, a voice sang out through the night.

“Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo: Sa-Ra-Mi-Uo! Sa! Ra! Mi-Uo!”

“Because they have a right to live here as much as we do,” Adagio commented, even as she flung a whirlpool in the Hopper Man’s direction.

“Who… who are you?” Ham demanded. “And why are you here? Are you that thing’s master?”

“No, I’m just someone who saves people… Even if they don’t necessarily deserve it.” Adagio commented, socking the Hopper Man across the jaw drawing Cell Medals. Ham’s eyes widened. So he was right, he wasn’t seeing things. Those were coins, not blood!

The Hopper Man managed to land a roundhouse kick to Adagio’s chest, making her stagger, and then went for another, only for Adagio to grab him by the leg and toss him through a wall.

“Yes, he is a despicable little homunculus, isn’t he?” Ankh commented, resting on a nearby streetlamp.

Adagio, as she caught one of the Yummy’s punches, looked up at him. “Are we sure we’re not talking about him… or you? Because quite frankly, I can’t see a difference. Both of you need to learn some basic decency.”

“Tch. Just finish the damn thing off, already will you? I want my medals!” Ankh demanded.

“What do you think I’ve been trying to do? Slack off?” Adagio remarked, blocking a blow from the Yummy with her spear. “Besides, I’m trying to put that guy first, the human. Not the Medals!”

“I thought you didn’t like him?” Ankh remarked. “...Bit of an oxymoron, isn’t it? You saving a bigot who probably deserves everything that this Yummy was going to inflict on him. This saving people thing of yours… It’s going to get quite troublesome.”

Of course, said saving people thing became a moot point when the Yummy picked up Ham Hock by the neck, and with a sickening crack, his body fell limp to the floor.

“See, there wasn’t a point to it anyways,” Ankh remarked as Adagio watched in horror, letting out a shout and briefly, -if only briefly- reaching towards the Batta Yummy. “He was dead meat. Whoever this Yummy’s Parent is, I’d personally think he’s doing the world a good thing. Getting rid of the trash.”

Adagio, fighting back the urge to send a whirlpool or two Ankh’s way, continued to step forwards. “Ankh, you said it yourself. These desires, they escalate and spiral out of control. Sure, it’s scum at first, yes, but what next? Just petty crooks? People just breaking minor laws like noise levels? Ask yourself, what then?”

“I’d still say the Yummy is just following the desire of its parent. In this case, punishing evil. Or what it perceives as evil anyways. But if you really want to defeat this… thing, and me for to get my medals… Catch!”

Tossing a red and then a green medal towards Adagio as she backflipped in mid-air to avoid a swing from the Batta Yummy, she scanned this new combo.

“Taka, Kujira, Batta!”

“Ugh, and I thought the beached whale look was bad…” Adagio grimaced, the red, blue and green color combo doing her no favors in her mind. But all the same, she ran her gold scanning device across her belt even as the battle progressed into the parking garage itself.

Scanning Charge!

Leaping skywards, she then aimed a kick downwards towards the Yummy, but he only tossed a car towards her letting it take the kick as he made his escape. Cursing under her breath, Adagio canceled the transformation and watched as the Batta Yummy leaped off into the night.

---

Morning came, and despite a search that lasted a good hour or so, Adagio couldn’t find any trace of the latest Yummy. It seemed for the time being, at least, she’d have to wait for it to show its face again. And when it did, she’d have to hope that when she found it it was in time.

High above the city, in his office, Eiji had received a call. From Russia of all places. Seems an old friend of his, Kohtaro had tangled with a Greeed of sorts all the way over there. He and another Rider -Zangetsu, was it?- would have been stranded there had they not found their way to the nearest town. From there, they received transportation back to Japan from a musician in the area, a woman going by the name of Sunset Shimmer.

“Hmhm, yes, I see…” Eiji murmured from his side of the phone call. “Stay safe, okay? And be on the lookout for those ‘items’ I requested, they might come in handy sooner now than later.”

He placed the phone back in his pocket and sighed. “So, Shocker made themselves a Greeed before they were destroyed. It’s only a matter of time before this Greeed gains sentence and joins up with its fellows, if it hasn’t already. OOOs, she’ll need a bit more help.”

Eiji frowned, yes that was true Adagio would need help -especially considering one of her only allies was another Greeed- but the trouble was he wasn’t sure if her body could stand the strain of the Core Medals. Presuming if she gathered enough, she’d be able to form a full combo. But that in itself had inherit problems. The Core Medals were made from desire, so if Adagio wasn’t careful she herself could eventually become a Greeed of sorts. For a moment, Eiji wondered what if that was how Shocker’s Greeed was created, a member of Shocker getting their hands on a Core Set and succumbing to their desires.

Eiji was then drawn from his thoughts when he heard tapping on his office window, like a small beak. Opening it, an orange bird-like creature being propelled by a fan carried in a green grasshopper robot. Dropping it, the Peacock Candroid then replied what the Hopper Candroid had captured.

Eiji watched the footage of the fight against the Batta Yummy and sighed when he saw Ham’s death, and Adagio’s shock and horror as she reached out a hand to try and grab the yummy. For a moment, just a moment in place of his office and Adagio he saw the ruins of a village and a young girl, crying out for someone to save her before a barrage of missiles hit and a wall of fire erupted in front of his eyes.

Jerking backwards up against a wall, Eiji went for his pockets and used a small cloth to wipe the sweat from his face as he panted hard, his hands shaking and nearly dropping the cloth.

“If… If she’s anything like me... “ Eiji whispered as he went for the door leading out of his office. “She’ll blame herself. I just hope she’s not.”

But even as he looked back one more time at the footage, Eiji honestly doubted the truth to that statement.

Back at her apartment, Adagio switched off the early morning news detailing all of the incident with the Batta Yummy, and going over details of the victim’s life. Of course, then the entire topic shifted towards her. Or at least, her other life.

“So, what do you think of this new hero? Kamen Rider OOOs, as she calls herself?” one Vignette Valance asked one of the locals, a guy named Flash Sentry.

Personally, Adagio was never one for watching Vignette, as she always liked to run stories that would get her the biggest viewing figures no matter how true they were, but she’d been the first to hear about this story apparently. Someone with a camcorder had managed to record the whole fight -thankfully missing Adagio’s transformation- and had sent it to the local news station where Vignette had been the first one to see it.

As for why Adagio found herself watching that woman with one too many botox jobs and possibly a little too much breastwork, she admitted if only to herself she was curious as to what exactly the public at large thought of her. Self-imagery, she thought. Probably stemming from the fact that most people in Denver of Rainbow’s generation knew her as this all-conquering siren bitch queen.

“Look, I don’t know Vignette,” Flash said, as he rubbed the back of his head. “Look, I’m all for Denver gaining this new superhero or something, but really shouldn’t we wait a little to start judging her? OOO is new at this, cut her some slack.”

Adagio smiled a little at that, this Sentry guy seemed to have a good head on his shoulders.

“But that’s just the thing, she said she saves people. Hell, she calls herself a Kamen Rider. And from what rumor and legend tell us about Kamen Riders, they fight for justice and peace on Earth. So why I ask you, did this new Rider fail to save that man, and stop that monster?”

“...Look, uh, not everyone succeeds all the time Vignette. I’m sorry that man had to die, but-”

“So you’re saying that death was a necessary evil?” Vignette pressed. In the background of the shot, Adagio had noticed a small portrait frame of Ham Hocked had been set up, with people contributing flowers and such -There was even a small stuffed little pig there of all things- in memoriam. News traveled fast, it seemed.

“No, ma’am, I’m not!” Flash stated, quickly backtracking. “We don’t get to judge who gets to live and who gets to die, that would make us monsters. I’m just saying, it’s not always possible to save everyone all the time.”

“Tch!” Ankh said, as he wrenched the remote control out of Adagio’s hands and shut off the TV. “I don’t even know why you’re watching this garbage. Besides, I doubt this Flash dipshit -or anyone else for that matter- would be mourning Ham if they knew what he was really like. Honestly, flowers and everything!” he said, throwing up his hands up in the air in disbelief.

“Sadly, a lot of people are still on the fence about ZyuEarth merging with ours, so they wouldn’t care anyways. It’s not just fear of things being different, it’s population concerns,” Adagio commented, not entirely sure why she was letting Ankh even stay with her. She reasoned if he went anywhere else, he’d be a bother to someone else. Plus, he had the Core Medals and was one of the only people who knew about her double life. And she wouldn’t go trust him not to spill secrets given the chance. So it wasn’t as if she actually cared for him. “Earth’s already barely managing to hold all of us as it is. So imagine a whole other planet’s population suddenly having to be dealt with.”

“So you’re saying the Zyumans have to go as well?” Ankh asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No, I’m simply being pragmatic, and considering both sides of the equation,” Adagio answered. “Don’t you have anything better to do, like go bother someone else or steal some candy from a baby? Or… here’s a thought, find that Yummy!”

“Meh,” Ankh remarked slouching in a nearby chair. Red, of course. “I won’t be able to find the Yummy unless it acts on the desires that created it. And I don’t know when that’ll be. Besides, I sent those little cube things of yours out looking. That leopard and that condor. Not a fan of cats, but I think I can make room in my heart for the bird. ...Even if I don’t like the color.”

“Wait, what?” Adagio asked in surprise.

“Oh, didn’t you notice?” Ankh remarked, with a raising of the eyebrow. “After you saved your prismatic friend, that leopard in her possession tagged along with you back here. Seems he was all a-flutter about meeting his fellow Zyuoh Cube again. Or something of that ilk. Like I care, honestly.” he muttered shrugging his shoulders and unwrapping this ice pop he’d grabbed from the fridge.

“...I’ll never understand you,” Adagio muttered to herself. Ankh only rolled his eyes before hopping up off the chair and walking towards the window. He opened it, and stepped out onto the windowsill itself. For a moment, Adagio thought the man was going to jump, and she leaped up out of her chair to try and stop him but no such thing occurred. Instead, Ankh just sat on the windowsill, staring at the sky.

Adagio studied him, watching his every movement. She caught a glimpse of Ankh’s face, and the look captured in his eyes. For a moment, just a moment Adagio could have sworn he looked sorrowful, longing even.

A soft knock at the door interrupted that moment, and Ankh crawled out of the windowsill and walked off still nibbling at his ice pop. Adagio meanwhile opened the door and blinked in surprise when she saw Eiji step in.

“...Well, you could have least asked for my number or taken me out on a date before you invited yourself in…” Adagio teased. Eiji flushed but quickly regained his composure.

“I apologize for dropping by so early in the day Ms. Dazzle,” Eiji said with a small bow. “I… I just wanted to see how you were holding up, that’s all.”

Adagio’s smile dropped. “You… You saw the news I presume?”

Eiji held up the grasshopper candroid before pocketing it. “I… I suppose you could say that. Been keeping an eye on you Adagio Dazzle.”

“Uh… Thanks, I guess?” Adagio murmured, not sure how to take being spied on.

“I just want you to understand this. No matter how hard it burns in your heart, that pain whenever you fail to save someone -even if that person never deserved it in the first place- you are not alone. You are never alone, and do you know what you do with that pain?” Eiji asked with Adagio shaking her head in a confused manner. Eiji elaborated, firmly putting a hand on Adagio’s shoulder. “You hold it tight. You grasp out with it, and you say no more. You say this should never happen to anyone. You keep that person’s memory alive in your mind, and you say no more. Their pain becomes your pain, spurring you onwards. It helps you pave a path to tomorrow, to the next battle and how you’ll win it. How you’ll reach out a hand, and save the next person. Do you understand this?”

“I… I think I do,” Adagio whispered. “And… And I think me being a Kamen Rider will work out.”

---

Meanwhile, unaware of what exactly her desires had caused, Rainbow continued life as normal. After graduating High School she went straight to the military surprising everyone. Or perhaps not, given Rainbow’s strong sense of justice and love of flight. So when she finished basic training, and got planted in Buckley Air Force Base she found herself right at home.

Mind you, she wasn’t exactly having the greatest time of her life right about now. Sure she was well-liked amongst her fellow flight squadmates -she had noticed this airman, going by the name of Soarin’ Skies giving her the eyes or at least that’s what she liked to think- and the job did give her fairly good housing for her and her little sister. But that didn’t mean everything was perfect. No, it wasn’t her commander being a hardass at times that irritated her, that was part of the job really but it was what she’d heard about a specific part of Denver. Namely, the northeast end of Capitol Hill which was about where she grew up.

Groaning as she saw once again there’d been another gang-related shooting, she balled up the morning paper and threw it into the trash.

“Something bothering you, Crash?” Soarin’ asked, referring to the nickname she’d been given during Technical Training referring to her at times klutziness.

“Yeah… I suppose,” Rainbow muttered rubbing her temples. “My old neighborhood, been experiencing a few issues lately. Like crackhead related issues. Some asshole gang’s been running the place, trying to get their next fix. Police can’t even find out where they’re holed up at, seems to change weekly.”

“Damn…” Soarin’ sighed as he sat down next to her. “That is something. Wait, didn’t you say that there was this Kamen Rider OOO going about, dispensing justice? So why isn’t she dealing with them?”

“Seems to stick with monsters, like the kind you’d get out of a horror tv show like Supernatural or something, not real monsters like junkies,” Rainbow muttered. “Believe me, if I could get in contact with her, I’d smack her upside the head and politely ask for her to deal with the city’s real problems, not just… well, whatever these Yummy things are. I mean, being a hero endows you with a certain amount of responsibility right?”

“Let’s be fair here, this is for the police to deal with. Besides, I heard Captain Shining Armor’s going for a crackdown these guys. Brother of mine, he’s on the force. Been giving me the latest updates. Let OOO stick with her niche, and the police with theirs, right?”

“I suppose…” Rainbow sighed to herself, balling up a fist and having to fight back the urge to punch something. “It’s just, you’d think a superhero would do her part to clean up the city, not just deal with whatever she feels like. Take Superman, he fights villains like Luthor and the like, but he always looks out for the little guy.”

“...The little guy?” one of Rainbow’s squadmates sniggered in the background. Sounded like Fleetfoot. A quick glare in that direction from Soarin’ silenced the snigger.

“Who’s to say she’s not thinking about doing something about it?” Soarin’ asked, and Rainbow looked at her wingman.

“...Well, there is that I suppose. It’s just… It’s just…” Rainbow sighed. “Me and one of my best friends, Gilda… Well, we grew up there together. I managed to get out of there fairly quickly, but Gilda stayed as times went on. Never really had enough money to finish school so she just stayed there in the neighborhood.”

Clenching her fists, Rainbow continued. “It’s… Well, I’m always worried that one day I’ll get a phone call from Gilda’s mom or someone like that saying Gilda got put into the hospital by one of those crackheads or worse, killed in a shootout being gangs fighting over a turf and I couldn’t do a fucking thing about it!” she yelled, having punched a wall and by now she had attracted quite a bit of attention with a few of her fellow squadmates staring at her from the other side of the room.

“Crash, maybe you need a cooldown. Some time away from the base,” one of her squadmates -Fleetfoot- suggested. “You know, before you break something. Or punch someone. Just a set of friendly advice.”

“Yeah… Yeah, might take you up on that. I have some downtime coming up anyways. Few unused vacation days,” Rainbow muttered.

“Personally, I think Fleetfoot’s right,” Soarin’ added. “You need to take your mind off this whole thing. Look, I get you, I really do, but-”

“You… You get me?” Rainbow snarled, whirling on Soarin’ with an unexpected ferocity in her eyes. “How the Hell can you do that? You didn’t grow up in a neighborhood like I did, far as I know! So how the hell can you get me and my situation?”

“Rainbow, look,” Soarin’ stated calmly while wisely taking a few steps back. “That’s true, I didn’t grow up where you did, or anywhere like it. But I’d know exactly how you feel if one of my friends was stuck in a dead end neighborhood with gangs living practically next door. I’d be worried sick, out of my mind. But you shouldn’t let your fear control you. If anything, growing up where she is, Gilda’s probably a tough girl. She’d probably learn to handle herself.”

“I know, it’s just…” Rainbow muttered. “I worry about her Soar. Sure, she can handle herself but what if… Just what if one day she gets into the situation that she can’t handle? What then?”

Soarin’ placed a firm hand on Rainbow’s shoulder. “Listen, we can’t worry about what-ifs or maybes. We can’t control the future, we can only control what’s around us. Our lives, not the lives of others. First thing I learned in basic training, Hell the first thing you learned was not to let fear control you. Fear controls you, it controls your life. Starts making it unravel until eventually…” he sucked in a breath. “Listen, all I’m saying is you need something to get your mind off this. How about dinner tonight? Say, around 7:00?”

“Like… Like a date?” Rainbow asked raising an eyebrow. “I don’t do ‘dates’. Just shooting the shit with people.”

“It can be that sure,” Soarin’ replied. “If that’s what you want.”

Rainbow smiled and shook her friend’s hand. “Then tonight then.”

Oddly, Rainbow was in a rather cheery mood as she walked off base later. She wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because she hadn’t actually been off-base to do something with any of her friends aside from Fluttershy in ages. The burdens of military life and all.

Walking to the base parking lot, she smiled when she eyed her car. Her car. A bright furious red, black racing stripes with four lights on the grill. Looked aggressive, downright frightening even. And that suited Rainbow just fine. Took her a bit to work up the money to buy it on her salary but it was completely worth it in her mind. As Rainbow fiddled with finding her keys, she had her back briefly turned to the car, and somehow failed to see the shadow of a massive bird in the reflection of the door windows. Equally, she somehow failed to hear the screech that accompanied it.

However, what she did hear was the sound of another vehicle’s engine idling and looked up to see Aria getting out of Fluttershy’s SUV.

“...Okay, you gotta be kidding me. Seriously, you’re just stalking me by this point aren’t you?” Rainbow muttered looking skywards briefly. “Look, I know I’m awesome, but really? Really? You just following me to my place of work?”

“Contrary to popular belief, my life doesn’t solely revolve around you. Fluttershy just wanted to drop by and say hi, that’s all.” Aria deadpanned before she eyed Rainbow’s choice of transportation. “So, a Hellcat huh hun? Says a lot really.” she deadpanned with a small chuckle.

“What's that supposed to mean?” Rainbow demanded looking Aria straight in the eye. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with Aria’s particular line of bullshit, and honestly, she doubted the woman’s claims that she was this world’s counterpart. She certainly had the attitude problems of the Aria Rainbow was used to, that was for sure.

“Oh nothing… just maybe, just maybe you're overcompensating for something huh shortstack…” Aria trailed off eying Rainbow's chest.

“Oh, really? We’re going there?” Rainbow asked. “Well, you’re not really all that gifted yourself Blaze!”

“Oh for the last time…” Aria growled. “It’s Dazzle! Dazzle!” she hissed out. “Look, I don’t know what my counterpart did to you to get you all so huffy, but maybe you should… I don’t know, grow up?”

Rainbow let out a sound like a cat hissing before both she and Aria were smacked over the head by Fluttershy, holding a green slipper.

“I don’t care what problems you two have with each other, but can you save it for another time?” Fluttershy ‘requested’ looking them both straight in the eyes causing both women to shudder.

“...Yeesh, she’s even scarier than Captain Spitfire whenever she whips out that look of hers.”

“I just wanted to stop by, see how things were going and hopefully get you to socialize more, work out a few of your issues.”

“...Yeah, like that’ll happen at this rate.” both Aria and Rainbow muttered before Rainbow sighed.

“I’m sorry Flutters, I really am, but I just-”

“Have bad memories of Aria’s counterpart? Look, I know it’s weird seeing someone wearing her face walking about and believe me I had trouble accepting her as well at first but I managed to do so. So why can’t you?” Fluttershy asked with a stern note in her voice.

“I’ll try, but no guarantees on that…” Rainbow muttered. “I’m sorry Flutters, all this is just a lot to take in at once. First Adagio’s counterpart, and now Aria’s. The only thing that would make it more difficult if I met Sonata’s counterpart as well!”

“And if Dash here stops acting like such a bitch, maybe I’ll be nice to her as well,” Aria added before looking at Rainbow once more. “And trust me, I can arrange you and Sonata meeting. How much do you enjoy bees though, I gotta ask first.”

“Bees?” Rainbow asked. “She works with bees?” she repeated slowly.

“Yeah, bees. Make all the Wonder Woman jokes you want,” Aria replied. “Go on, I know you’ve got a few in you.”

“Nah, too easy!” Rainbow laughed waving a hand dismissively. “But seriously, Sonata works as a beekeeper?”

In the background, Fluttershy smiled. Guess it wasn’t so hard for these two to get along if only for a minute or so once they got all the issues out their systems. ...At least, that’s what she hoped would happen. Aria was a totally different beast from her sister after all, and Rainbow… Well, she was Rainbow.

“Huh, didn’t know you had such quite an odd circle of friends, Crash,” Soarin’ commented as he walked up.

“We’re not… we’re not friends,” Rainbow murmured wondering exactly how much Soarin’ had heard, or if she even wanted to know for that matter. “Well, me and she aren’t anyways,” she commented looking at Aria.

“Shame, I wanted to get to know her a bit more. See who you hang with in your off time. Fluttershy I knew about, given you talked about her endlessly in Technical but the Joan Jett wannabe?” Soarin’ asked in confusion and surprise, Aria beaming a little at the last part of his remark.

“We just met.” Rainbow deadpanned.

“Ooh, he your boyfriend?” Aria asked licking her lips. “Cause if not, I’d be all to happy to take him on a night of the town. Gotta love a military man!”

Fluttershy facepalmed as Rainbow stammered out a reply considerably flustered. “He’s not… we’re not... We’re just squadmates! That’s the end of it.”

“So, what’s behind the Crash nickname?” Aria asked. “Some sort of juicy gossip I’m missing here?”

“Trust me, I can tell you all about it. But me and Rainbow do have a dinner appointment… uh, appointed.”

“So you are dating!” Aria laughed.

“No, we’re just going out, grabbing a few beers, that’s all.” Rainbow stressed.

“Fine then, you won’t mind if I tag along. Booze? Count me in!” Aria laughed.

“Sure, the more the merrier!” Soarin’ commented, knowing Rainbow having a few friends to talk to would definitely get her mind off her previous worries. Rainbow meanwhile wanted to scream.

---

Later that night, as Rainbow and Soarin went on their ‘totally not a date’ thing with Aria in tow, the Batta Yummy struck again. It was at an apartment block in Capitol Hill, one that had long fallen into disuse and would probably have been torn down long ago had the demolition companies not been busy at the time.

The paint was peeling, vines were creeping up alongside the building walls and there was a bit of water damage here and there. And if that wasn’t enough, the whole place smelled of crack and other drugs really. Not exactly inviting to the common man. Of course, this did sway off unwanted trespassers which may have been entirely the point.

It would have been the perfect hideout for any villains bent on world domination. Trouble was, it had been taken up residence by another group first. Namely, the local gang Rainbow had been so worried about.

Watching from behind some bushes was Uva in his human guise. His fellow Greeed had taken up guises of their own. Kazari, the bleached blond punk. Mezool, this human teenager and Gamel a guy with a military buzz cut and a leather jacket.

“Really Uva, this place is so below my standards -all of our standards- that I’m so tempted to just find my own place,” Mezool remarked even as she watched a certain Grasshopper-themed being leap off a rooftop to one of the apartment’s balconies. “You sure about a place like this? It’s so… so… Well, ugly doesn’t even begin to cover it.”

“Ugly it may be, but it suits our purposes. The humans won’t go out of their way to look for us here, and it can be improved little by little,” Uva remarked. In the background, Gamel played with a paddle ball toy, his eyes widening in glee each time he managed to hit the paddle. Uva shook his head and sighed at this. Such a simple-minded creature. Easy to manipulate, it would be something he would have to keep in mind if an opportunity and a need presented itself. “For the time being, we have to keep our heads down. At least until we find our Core Medals, and then we can strike and reduce this world to dust.”

“And your new Yummy, aside from getting us a place to call house and home,” Mezool questioned as screams erupted from the apartment, along with the sounds of gunfire. “You believe it can do that?”

Uva smirked as he turned his head and as if on cue a body was tossed out a window hitting the pavement with a loud crack, blood pooling out onto the ground. Gamel, being who he was just ran over to the pool, and placed a bit of blood on his finger before tasting it. He gagged.

Uva once more shook his head, and smirked. “See, on the job house cleaning. Besides, the woman this Yummy was created from? Although she doesn’t know it, she has a strong desire for justice. Possibly one of the more dangerous human desires to keep in check, if you were to ask me. Drives humans to do things they would otherwise normally deem insane. This makes it ideal for us. I believe this Yummy of mine is what the humans would call a two for one deal. Once he gets strong enough, he can kill Kamen Rider OOO and retrieve our missing Cores and right now he’s found us a residence.”

“Alright, I’ll let you work your plans… for now,” Mezool sighed before holding up a finger. “But if for any reason I think this Yummy is failing to deliver on what you promise, I’m stepping in. I’m sure I can find a human with a nice sufficient desire. And who knows, maybe I’ll help my children in taking down OOO. Mother and child outings are so much fun, don’t you think?”

“Can… Can I…?” Gamel begged, and Mezool smiled stroking his hair.

“Of course you can dear, I’ll even let you get half of the Cells I would collect.”

“Thank you Mezool…” Gamel replied graciously, hugging her leg.

“...Now that’s just creepy.” Kazari muttered. It was fairly telling that Uva didn’t bother to disagree with the feline monster. He looked around the area making sure Gamel and Mezool were still preoccupied with… well, whatever you could call their relationship before leaning in towards Uva in a conspiratorial manner.

“So… this new Yummy of yours, you think you could share the medals it collects with a lowly cat such as I? Like say, splitting the cache up fifty-fifty?”

“Not in the slightest furball. Seventy-thirty is the highest I’m willing to go.” Uva huffed.

“That’s highway robbery!” Kazari hissed out before he tried again. “...sixty-forty?”

“I swear cat, you’re trying to work my last nerve…” Uva chittered out, his blades bared and ready to strike.

“Boys, boys... “ Mezool put in using a motherly tone. “No need to fight. We’ll all get our fair share in the end. Look, why don’t we call it all even and we all get 25% of all medals collected each time we create a Yummy? That seems fair doesn’t it?” she asked with a sweet smile.

“NOt ON YOUR LIFE, YOU SCHEMING FLOUNDER!” Both Uva and Kazari roared changing into their monster forms and a fight between the three broke out with blasts of wind, water, and lightning being sent every which way. Gamel tried to intervene before he shrugged and opened a bag of chips to watch the show.

---

The Church Nightclub:

“You know, when you said a night out, I wasn’t exactly sure this was what you meant!” Rainbow shouted over the pounding beats of the bass as she and Soarin’ walked up to the bar. “Seriously, this is so not my scene! I like loud music as much as the next person, but this loud? I’d prefer my eardrums blown out at a live concert, not at a club!”

“Hey Rainbow, just relax!” Aria shouted over the beats, even as she busted out a few moves on the dancefloor, wearing nothing but jeans and a halter top. “You wanted a night away from it all right? Well, I’d say this counts right? Whoo! Never thought a church would provide this much fun!”

That much she was correct about at least, the nightclub wasn’t named as such without good reason. It had once been a church, first constructed back in the 1800s before being recently renovated as a nightclub/dance hall. Flashing lights, -enough to give someone elipsy- pounding beats, and enough beer to give you one hell of a headache in the morning had definitely given this church a whole new set of worshippers.

And Rainbow hated every moment of it. Okay, well not every moment of it. It was just every moment spent with Aria. Rainbow wished Fluttershy had come along, even if nightclubbing wasn’t her thing she would have at least given Rainbow someone to talk to girl wise aside from Aria.

Rainbow rolled her eyes as she saw the probably drunken siren grind herself up against another one of the clubgoers in shameless fashion.

“...Why me Lord?” Rainbow muttered as she slammed her head against the bar top. Soarin’ patted his friend on the back.

“Least you’re enjoying yourself in some format right?” Soarin asked. “...Right?”

“I suppose, I mean the drinks aren’t bad,” Rainbow shrugged taking a shot and then slamming it on the bartop crying for another. “Sure, the Captain will probably kill us both in the morning but the drinks? Totally worth it!” she exclaimed raising her glass skywards.

“See, that’s the spirit!” Aria laughed as she let out another yell of exclamation raising her fist skywards before walking up to the bar. “Man oh man, I’m tellin’ you! You military brats, you really need to loosen up. Just a tad. I mean, you… you Rainbow, I thought you were supposed to be the fun one of your little circle of friends. Fluttershy told me as much. And then you went off and joined the military. Kudos for that, I mean that takes balls but I think it sucked some of the funsies right out of you.”

“Go home Aria, you’re drunk,” Soarin’ stated trying to warn Aria away before things got a bit too ugly and someone had to call the cops. He’d seen the little spat Aria and Rainbow had gotten into back at base, and he was fairly certain there was a story there that he was missing. But add in a few emotional impairments, and things could probably get ugly… fast. He was rapidly beginning to rethink this whole idea, honestly.

“Why, and miss all the real fun? Whoo!” Aria said, beginning to grind herself up against one very uncomfortable Soarin’, who was blushing and looking towards anyone for a bit of help in wrangling Aria off him. Thankfully, he got it. Rainbow grabbed Aria by the shoulder and pulled her away.

“Hey, if you want to go whore yourself out, do it to another man. Hands off my wingman.” Rainbow growled out protectively.

“Ooh, that’s rich. Your wingman…” Aria slurred out. “And here I thought he was something else to you! Deny it all you like, but man oh man can I see attraction when I see it!” she continued, poking Rainbow in the chest.

“Like Soarin’ said. Go home Aria, you’re drunk,” Rainbow stated. “Why oh why Soarin’ let you tag along here with him is beyond me, but you’re starting to wear out your welcome.”

“But the fun’s just begun... “ Aria whined sounding almost like a spoiled child before Rainbow grabbed her by the ear.

“And now it’s endin-” she started before Aria shoved her away.

“You’re such a drag, you know that right?” Aria replied, having gotten tired of Rainbow’s demeanor as well. Soarin’ just watched the two nervously, knowing there were some fights he should stay out of. A wise man never got into a bitching match between two women, especially two women who could probably kick his ass if they were so inclined.

“And you’re a right bitch, just like your counterpart,” Rainbow hissed out. “Honestly, why Fluttershy’s dating you, is beyond me!”

“I told you, we’re not dating!” Aria screeched, before tackling Rainbow to the floor with one of her fists drawn back ready to punch Rainbow. “We’re not even close to that! You… you just assume that just because I look like my Equestrian counterpart, I’m exactly like her!”

“Well, you’re not doing much to dispel that notion!” Rainbow shouted, shoving Aria off her. “Seriously, you really need to work on your attitude problems. Try that, and maybe I’ll start believing you!”

“Me, work on my attitude problems?” Aria scoffed. “Now that’s rich, coming from you! You’ve been nothing but a bitch to me ever since we first met!”

Quite a few cameras were flashing right about now, and maybe a few videos were being recorded.

“Yeah, because I’m trying to protect my friends -my friends- from you!” Rainbow pointed out. “You’re faking it, I know it! Lying to save your own skin. There’s no such thing as a human counterpart for you! You’re just saying that to get close to my friends, and ruin everything all over again, just like you did all those years ago!”

“Go home Rainbow, you’re drunk,” Aria said, looking a little bit hurt that Rainbow would even assume that she was exactly like the Aria from Equestria and that all she wanted to do was hurt people. Just like everyone else in her life. “Seriously, go home,” she warned, trying to fight back tears.

Rainbow curled up her fists and looked about ready to punch Aria in the face before a loud crashing sound was heard and Aria was tackled to the floor by this big green mass.

“What the Hell…?” Rainbow whispered before the grasshopper man got off Aria and walked towards Rainbow, bowing when he reached her.

“I live to protect those close to you milady, and dispense justice on those you deem fit,” he stated.

“Wai… Wait, what?” Rainbow stammered out, having seen the news lately and having seen this guy snapping Ham Hock’s neck while OOOs had tried to fight him off. “Dispense justice?”

Her eyes widened as she flashed back to the day before.

“...Not like it would have mattered. And you’re right, there’s no justice in it at all, but what can you do? The humans, they’re too set in their mindset. Even Zyuoh The World, this guy named Misao marrying another Zyuman -Named Lillian- hasn’t changed things. ...At least here in America.” he sighed sadly.

“Well, it damn well should have!” Rainbow snarled before a man wearing this green jacket and sporting slicked back hair like a greaser stepped out of the shadows.

“Yes, you’re quite right Rainbow,” Uva commented as a coin slot appeared in Rainbow’s forehead, and he tossed a medal into it. “But now, you’re going to be able to change all that. Fight for justice… Just like a Kamen Rider.” he smirked and walked off as a mummy-like creature began to form…

“You… No, you’re not justice. Not in the slightest,” Rainbow whispered, a horrific realization hitting her as she figured out what had happened. A punch and the Batta Yummy was sent sprawling to the floor. “You’re just my inner desires, twisted and diluted. Nobody has the right to dispense justice however they see fit. Nobody decides who lives and who dies. That’d make us monsters. And that’s what you are. A monster.”

Rainbow charged at the Batta Yummy, even as people screamed and it fired green bolts of lightning at Rainbow. Lights shattered, glass tinkling onto the floor as the bolts went wild. Rainbow managed to block the Batta Yummy’s kicks with her arms, before she grabbed the monster and tossed it into the bartop.

In the background, Soarin’ was helping everyone evacuate. Rainbow meanwhile shouted at the Batta Yummy to follow her and leaped down onto a lower level performing a roll as she hit the ground to avoid breaking any bones. The Batta Yummy was soon following after her firing off blasts of green electricity and the two continued to exchange punches and kicks on the dance floor before Rainbow roundhouse kicked the creature in the stomach.

“I thought this was what you wanted!” the Batta Yummy laughed, even as he leaped back up towards…

“Aria.” Rainbow breathed out and began clambering up back towards the Yummy. Amazingly, she managed to make it up towards the Yummy.

“She’s your enemy, isn’t she?” the Batta Yummy taunted. “She’s been causing nothing but trouble for you, she’s taken your best friend away and she’s-

Rainbow shut him up with a punch across the jaw. “Maybe. Maybe not. I haven’t figured it out yet. But that doesn’t give you the right to dispense justice as you see fit!”

“...No different from a Kamen Rider isn’t it?” the Batta Yummy sneered, grabbing a suddenly terrified Aria by the neck and rendering Rainbow speechless. He probably would have killed Aria if not for one thing, namely a small purple condor striking him and sending him sprawling into the floor.

“Same, Kujira, Cheetah!” the OOO driver sang out as flashes of color lit up the area. Small medals circling around a feminine form and then forming armor.

“Yeah, except one thing. Kamen Riders don’t kill human beings.” Adagio said, before blitzing the Batta Yummy with the cheetah’s speed knocking him around a bit, and just when the Yummy thought he got a chance at relief another supersonic punch or kick hit him. The final one managed to send him flying through a wall and into a storeroom. Adagio walked over to Rainbow and Aria.

“You two alright?”

“...Well, as alright as can be I suppose, when you find out your desire for justice was warped and twisted enough to create a monster,” Rainbow murmured. “And Aria, I’m sorry for all this. I really am.”

“Hey, you tried to save my ass, even if I’ve been a complete bitch to you ever since we met.”

“Hey, I didn’t help the situation any, did I?” Rainbow remarked and Adagio chuckled under her breath, before her eyes widened as she heard a distinctive chittering sound and her head whipped to the left only to see the Batta Yummy picking himself up off the ground. Despite bleeding cell medals by the truckload, he still looked quite ready to fight.

“This time, you’re not getting away,” Adagio muttered before switching medals. “One thing you need to learn about me and my new powers? The tides are as ever-changing as my own abilities, so, therefore, you should never underestimate the powers of the seas!”

“Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo: Sa-Ra-Mi-Uo! Sa! Ra! Mi-Uo!”

Running towards the monster, she ran the scanner across her belt before sliding across the floor.

“SCANNING CHARGE!” the belt sang out even as Adagio somehow managed to create a miniature tidal wave behind her. Kicking the Batta Yummy in the chest, the tidal wave washed over it and made it explode into a pile of about several hundred cell medals.

“Tch,” Adagio remarked before canceling out her transformation and hugging her sister tight. “You alright, Aria?”

“Yeah… Yeah, I think I’ll be fine,” she whispered. As for Rainbow, she took her leave knowing there were some moments she shouldn’t intrude on. However, Adagio had other ideas.

“Oh no, you don’t!” she said, grabbing Rainbow by the shoulder.

“Yeah, and here comes the lecture. Look, I’m sorry for creating such a monster alright? ...If… If I had known what I’d created I would have-”

“No, it’s fine. What matters is you realized what you created in the end, and you protected my sister till I got here. For that, you’ll have my gratitude.”

“Er… Thanks, I guess. Not sure what to say about that, or what to think when Adagio Dazzle is in your debt…”

“Just try to keep yourself out of trouble, okay?” Adagio asked. “I don’t want to come and have to save your ass again alright?”

Rainbow laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind. But right now, I’ve got something else to do. I wonder, how would a zyuman feel about the military?” she wondered aloud as she walked towards the exit leaving behind two very confused sisters in her wake.

5: Explanations/Fashion Designer/Aquatic Greeed

Author's Notes:

Okay, a few things to admit here. One, did a bit of fact-checking, and Cherry Creek? The neighborhood I've been using as my run-down part of town? Turns out that it's actually on the other end of the scale in the real world. So I replaced it with something more appropriate in the earlier chapters.

Also, some of Ankh's behavior here -Huge thanks to Thunderclap for help on writing him and the other Greeed, especially Uva- can be explained away by his possessed body already being 'dead' meaning he can replace any blood with cell medals.

Buckley Air Force Base:

“Okay, I think it’s about time you give up some explanations,” Rainbow asked of Adagio Dazzle after returning back to base. Needless to say, her night out with Soarin’ had been thoroughly ruined. “Seriously, second time -second time!- that I’ve had to deal with these… things, and I still don’t even know what the hell they are.”

“Second time?” Soarin’ asked, raising an eyebrow at Rainbow who chuckled nervously.

“...Yeah, the first time was related to… well, let’s say internal parasites and that geode of mine. Not fun to say the least.” Rainbow muttered quickly and quietly to herself as Adagio just winced. But not quite quietly enough, as Soarin’ had heard her murmurings.

Needless to say, now Soarin’ was rather curious and giving Adagio a look. Said woman raised her hands in a defensive manner.

“Okay, look, I’ll explain this the best I can. Greeed, medal based homunculi from about… 800 years ago, give or take an odd century. Somehow they got unsealed, and are now out and about in our world,” Adagio started, tossing a glance towards the window where outside, Ankh was watching things in a discreet manner. Well, as discreet as you could be from when you were sitting atop a humvee. Adagio was amazed nobody had shot him yet. Not that she would mind really. “They’re searching for things like these,” she continued holding up the Ookamiuo medal. “To try and fully reform their bodies. To what end, I’m still trying to figure that out, but I’m guessing the end result wouldn’t be anything we’d like.”

She deliberately left out the part about what would happen if the Greeed did fully reform, figuring if Rainbow and Soarin’ knew that they had the power to reduce the world to nothing but dust they’d be scared stiff.

“...Well, no duh on that. Medal based homunculi? Yeah… Pretty sure their endgame can’t be anything good,” Soarin’ deadpanned, and to be honest if he hadn’t seen the battle at the nightclub for himself he probably wouldn’t be believing any of this. The fact was, he probably would have Adagio committed. “But seriously, you don’t know a thing about it?”

“Oh, she does,” Ankh remarked, having cracked open a window and had now leaped inside the room catching everyone by surprise. Soarin’ had actually whipped out his gun and was pointing it at him. “She’s just trying not to upset your delicate sensibilities. I have to admire her for that, even if it’s rather foolish.” Ankh commented with a dismissive wave of his hand.

“Isn’t there an ice cream truck you could be stalking?” Adagio hissed, glaring at the flippant Greeed. “Or were you looking to get shot and save me from the headache that is your company?”

“You do realize, again, medal based homunculi and I’m possessing someone who’s already dead. I’d like flyboy over there to go ahead and try and shoot me, see what happens,” Ankh snarked back. “Might be good for a laugh.”

“And what if he hit that bright, red arm of yours?” Adagio questioned, approaching him and jabbing a finger at his chest. “It is a rather obvious target.”

“...How many Kamen Rider monsters have been actually hurt by bullets again?” Ankh asked with a raised eyebrow. “Go on, look me in the eye and answer that.” he sneered flicking Adagio on the forehead.

“...Okay, who’s the birdbrain?” Rainbow questioned with narrowed eyes.

“This is Ankh,” Adagio answered, waving her hand at the avian Greeed. “He’s obnoxious, egotistical, only eats ice cream and is a Greeed that’s barely holding his sorry ass together.”

“I’d prefer to do my own introductions, siren-girl,” Ankh remarked in a mocking tone having looked up Adagio’s name on the internet. After getting over his initial shock of what Adagio’s counterpart had pulled -nobody but him was allowed to rule the world damn it!- he’d smirked at the potential material he had with this revelation. “Okay, Ankh. King of Birds, the avian Greeed, Lord of all I see, the King of Flames, your worst nightmare, etc. You starting to get the picture?”

“...Yeah, I see that you’re either delusional or very obviously overblown in your ego. Maybe both,” Soarin’ remarked. Ankh looked offended while Adagio had to stifle a snigger. “Give me a good reason not to throw you off base…”

“Please do, I’d love to see MPs drag his sorry ass away and knock his ego down a peg,” Adagio said, letting the sniggers out. “Of course, he’d confiscate my couch to pout on it again.”

“Me, pout? Never! I brood!” Ankh proclaimed, and then slapped himself in the head upon realizing what he’d said. “And besides, you neeeeeeddd me don’t you? You desire me, you might say. You need me to explain everything, like what you’re not telling to these two about the Greeed.”

Now both Rainbow and Soarin’ were looking at Adagio with narrowed eyes, and Adagio could only laugh nervously.

“...Look, I just don’t want you to freak out okay? Promise you won’t freak out alright?” Adagio asked.

“Useless gesture siren-girl. I mean, what was your reaction to learning what the Greeed would do if they regain their full strength? ...Oh right, now I remember. Hiding behind the couch for a good solid minute.” Ankh chuckled and pretended to wipe away a tear at the memory.

“I… I didn’t-” Adagio sputtered out in indignation with her face flushed from either rage or embarrassment. It was hard to tell which truth be told. Ankh meanwhile was all too happy to explain what the Greeed would do upon full revival. And in possibly the most irritatingly cheerful tone imaginable.

“If the Greeed regain their full bodies, all of humanity would be crushed beneath their heels like ants. Not even the strongest of your weapons would stop them,” Ankh explained. “Now, imagine a desert. Say, like Iraq or the Sahara. Think on it hard, miles and miles of nothingness. You got that picture in your mind?” he asked, and both Rainbow and Soarin’ nodded. Ankh smiled, but not a kind smile. No, it was the kind of smile a cat might have given upon sizing up its next meal. “That would be tame in comparison to what your civilizations would look like. And in the middle of it all, there would be the Greeed, just laying on beach blankets enjoying… well, absolute nothingness. The end of all things. That’s what they desire, don’t ask me why, but they desire nothing and nothing else but their core medals and then the ability to devour the world once they have them. Good hearty meal for them. Munch, munch!” Ankh exclaimed clapping his hands together cheerfully. He then whipped around to face both Soarin’ and Rainbow. “If you’re not scared out of your minds yet, now would be a good time to start,” he commented, pointing at them.

Soarin’ did the first thing that came natural to him in such a situation. That is, he shot Ankh in the head. Letting out a yelp of pain, Ankh staggered back even as a few cell medals dropped to the ground.

“...Seriously?” he muttered as he collected them again to allow his makeshift body to reform itself. “That’s just rude. And pointless.”

“You outed yourself as a Greeed, and then told me your kind was planning to turn the planet into a wasteland, what’d you expect me to do?” Soarin’ exclaimed.

“I also said that shooting me would do nothing. What are you, selectively deaf or just dumb?” Ankh asked in return with Adagio having to grab Ankh by the ear before he did something to Soarin’. At about this point, she was so wishing she had that slipper Fluttershy did, might have been good to use on the so-called King of Birds. Might have been funny at the very least.

“Okay, okay. Yes, I’m terrified. But considering Adagio here actually can do something about it, I’m not as terrified as I normally would be,” Soarin’ commented. “Congrats Ankh, you’ve made me reach the freaking out stage, but I’m military. I’ve been trained to take deep breaths and such, so I’m completely and utterly calm. Well, as calm as I could be in this sort of situation. So answer me this, how do we stop your little bunch failing Adagio?”

“...Wow, talk about a real confidence booster.” Adagio drawled.

“Nuclear weapons might help before they find all their medals, but I know you humans are really squeamish about using those,” Ankh answered, holding his ear. “Mind you, I don’t see what’s so bad about glowing in the dark but that’s just me.”

“Any outright serious suggestions that don’t involve nuking ourselves and going all Fallout?” Rainbow asked. “Like say, how do each of the Greeeds work? Like how do they create their Yummies? I’d rather not become a parent for the third time around thank you very much.”

“All Yummies are made the same way,” Ankh answered, waving his hand. “It’s just a matter of how they affect the host. Okay, so you’ve already experienced Kazari and Uva’s ways. Kazari? Parasitic, the yummy grows inside your body and then takes you over. Think of it like pregnancy if you will.”

“...I’d rather not,” Rainbow muttered.

“Uva, now he’s a different matter. Simplest to explain. Think of his yummies like bugs. Uva's Yummies come out of the host or the egg if you will as White Yummy or the larvae. Next, they shed off their old bodies or molt after consuming enough desire. Now, Mezool. They feed off their host’s desires like any other yummy, but they’re hatched in egg clutches.”

“Like roe?” Adagio piped up, the marine biologist that she was.

“Suppose you could put it that way, yes…” Ankh remarked rubbing his chin in thought. “Now Gamel. He just plops a cell medal into his head, and out comes a yummy fully grown like a bouncy baby. Fitting really, given he symbolizes heavy animals like elephants. Okay, lesson over. Not sure what you can do with this information, but…”

“Hey, at least I won’t become a parent again!” Rainbow chimed in. She, along with Soarin’ had noticed Ankh did ‘conveniently’ leave out how his yummies were created. “Now I know how to avoid infection, and as they say… Knowing’s half the battle.”

Adagio muttered: “Really, that old line?” to herself.

“Considering what we’ve seen so far from you, doubtful. The other half of the battle is to not be so full of desire, draws us Greeed like sharks to blood,” Ankh returned, clutching his claws tightly.

“Yeah, slight problem. Humans can’t actually function without desiring something.” Adagio pointed out.

“She’s right,” Soarin’ agreed. “If someone was completely selfless, they’d be A, a badly written character, or B, well… I’d say they’d be broken in some format. Nobody’s void of any desire as far as I know. ...Well, nobody normal anyways.”

Ankh tsked, looking between Rainbow and Soarin’. “It’s not just any desires that make for good Yummy hosts, it’s out of control desires. Desire that is being denied. Things like that. I can think of a few examples, actually. Want me to list them?”

“NO!” Adagio cried, knowing anything Ankh would list would probably just be outright disturbing or downright embarrassing.

“Fine fine, wasn’t going to say anything out of color. I was just going to make an example, like commenting on how repressed lusts for someone’s body can count as-” Ankh remarked before a very red-faced Rainbow clamped a hand over his mouth.

“Yeah, yeah… I don’t think we need to hear any of that, thank you.” Rainbow commented.

Adagio facepalmed before muttering: “Why are you trying to make my life hell Lord? Or for that matter, why’d you stick me with this idiot?” she asked looking skywards. She was severely reconsidering her position on getting through to Ankh and saving him at this moment.

“So basically, you’re saying we’re screwed really.” Soarin’ remarked.

“Well, not completely. You’re close to screwed, but that’s what OOO is for. And knowing you humans, you’ll figure a way out of this mess. You always seem to do so year after year after all… Mind you, if you do, I’d be severely impressed.” Ankh remarked.

With that, he leaped out the window once more even as the Batta candroid observed these proceedings and relayed them back to Eiji.

“...Yeah, I think we’re already about half-way there…” he mused as he watched the Kougami Foundation scientists work on a system they only called one thing: Birth.

“The question is, who’d be best suited for the system?” Eiji asked himself, holding the prototype belt in his hand. He looked at Soarin, and muttered: “I wonder…”

---

Capitol Hill

Mezool wanted to physically throw up as soon as she stepped into her new abode. Did humans not get the idea of cleanliness? The whole place looked like it was falling apart. Take the couch, for instance, it looked like it was probably going to snap in half as soon as somebody sat on it. The only thing holding it together appeared to be bed bugs and lice.

“So Uva,” Mezool remarked changing into her Greeed form and turning to the Insect King. “I thought you said your latest yummy would produce results? I don’t see any cell medals, do you?” she asked dangerously as her hands crackled with lightning as she drew on the powers of the eel medal.

Uva growled, slamming his fist in a doorway. “It would have! But OOO and the host of all people got to them first!”

He growled, knowing even now Ankh was probably looking smug and savoring the taste of the medals he’d grabbed. Mezool had to stifle back a laugh.

“Wait, so you’re saying the parent of your latest yummy actually stopped her child?” she remarked raising an eyebrow. “I don’t know if I should laugh at the sheer irony or at you for creating such a pathetic creature!”

“My Yummy was not faulty in any way,” Uva snapped, flashing his blades at her. “The desire in that woman was rich and wild. OOO’s interference did something.”

“I’d say it was faulty actually, if it got defeated,” Kazari remarked as he lounged himself on the couch placing his feet up on the armrests. Surprisingly enough, it didn’t break. “And OOO this, OOO that. Excuses, excuses I say. The woman was the reason your Yummy got defeated. Plain and simple. Not OOOs, but the yummy’s own parent!”

“Big talk from someone who doesn’t earn their keep,” Uva retorted, scoffing at the lounging cat. “Seem to remember you tried your luck with this woman, and it didn’t pan out either.”

“Well, at least when it got defeated it was by OOOs, not by its parent!” Kazari snapped.

“...You two are pathetic,” Mezool grumbled. “Let’s recap shall we? Ankh stole core medals from all of us, alongside the seal and gave them to a woman who’s now the new OOO. And they’re gathering more cell medals than we are. Have I missed out on anything?” she asked mock-sweetly. “I think it’s time for a woman’s touch to be added to this situation don’t you?”

“Yes, Mezool is the one who will get us our medals back!” Gamel cried, clapping his hands in jubilation.

“You boys had your turn, now it’s mine,” Mezool remarked.

“My confidence in you is low,” Uva deadpanned. “Considering Ankh stole the most core medals from you. Or did I miss OOO using that SaRaMiUo combo of hers somewhere along the line?” he asked in a sarcastic manner.

“What are you implying?” Mezool asked dangerously.

“I’m not implying anything, I’m outright saying that you’re the weakest of us right now,” Uva remarked.

“Something I intend to fix, I already have my eyes on a potential parent for my children,” Mezool replied with a small sniff. “In fact, I plan to go into battle myself and reclaim what’s mine.”

“Well, if you want something done right, do it yourself…” Kazari murmured to nobody in particular filing away at his nails.

“Like I said, you’re weak. How do you intend on getting your own medals back, when you’re liable to lose what remaining ones that are holding you together?” Uva asked.

“Because unlike you, I actually have a plan. Something you seem unable to comprehend, actually.” Mezool replied wryly. “With you, it’s always attack, attack, attack! Haven’t you heard of the term ‘Thinking ahead’?”

“Actually, I have,” Uva remarked with Kazari watching this exchange with a bucket of popcorn. “And I’m already thinking ahead of you getting your ass beat by OOOs.”

“Is that concern I note in your tone, Uva?” Mezool asked. “I didn’t know you were capable of such a thing…”

“I’d just rather not let that traitor get his hand on even more cell medals,” Uva dismissed, turning away from her.

“Yes, Ankh regaining his full body his is a concern, isn’t it?” Mezool sighed. “But what I’m more curious about is why is he just an arm? Where’s the rest of him?” she asked.

“...That… That is a very good question.” Kazari agreed. “It’s entirely possible he lost enough cell medals over the years to be just that, an arm, and I’d like to believe that but it’s also equally possible the rest of his body exists out there somewhere.” he theorized.

His mind turned to that base in Country A, where those last century idiots calling themselves ‘Shelver’ or something like that had been housing themselves. “Was it possible that…?” he thought to himself, his mind’s eye conjuring up the image of the coffin they’d been sealed away in. It was no stretch of the imagination to presume that maybe, just maybe they’d left the rest of Ankh’s body behind. Then his thoughts turned to a certain other Bird-themed Greeed. It was equally possible that the Striker Greeed had absorbed his fellow bird king into his own body, and now housed even more Cores.

“Anyways, while you idiots babble about, and theorize I have some children who need tending to,” Mezool said before walking off and returning to her human guise. “A mother’s love is always the best don’t you think?” she asked with a small giggle.

---

Washington Park

On the other side of town lay this high-end boutique, sorta resembling a carousel in some aspects, with all the trimmings and trappings of a place you’d call girly or frou-frou. A few of the neighbors had complained about its appearance from time to time, but however, what they weren’t complaining about was the quality of what came out of the boutique.

Rarity Belle was a self-made woman. Sure, she came from one of the richer families in the area and was a bit of a trend-setter but that didn’t mean she let all of her money do the talking. Oh no, in fact, she’d actually decided to build her life from the ground up, not using any of her parents' money except when needed. She wanted to make her own name for herself, not just be known as Rarity Belle, the daughter of the politician Cookie ‘Crumbles’ Belle.

And actually, for her at least it had turned out rather well. Her parents had understood her desire to be more than just ‘their’ daughter, and for Rarity to be her own mare. They hadn’t really interfered in her life, to the point where it had taken quite a few of her friends by surprise Rarity was related to anyone substantially well-known at all.

Granted, Sunset had figured that out a long while back, but that was because she’d hacked the school computers just to dig up any potential blackmail material on her back during her Alpha Bitch days. Rarity was honestly surprised when Sunset hadn’t actually outed Rarity to anyone. But then again, with the benefit of hindsight and the knowledge of Sunset’s past -that is, Sunset herself wanting to distance herself from her relations- she probably shouldn’t have been surprised.

Even now, as she stitched and sewed away at her latest design, Rarity with a wistful smile flashed back to a couple years long gone by.

“So, why didn’t you do it?” Rarity asked, even as she and her friend strode through the halls of Canterlot High, textbooks pressed to their chests even as they walked to their next class. “I have to ask… why? If you knew who I was…”

“We’re sorta next of kin, if you will,” Sunset sighed. “Look, no secret I was all kinds of an…”

“Trouble?” Rarity suggested in a delicate tone.

“Well, I was going to say Alpha Bitch, but I suppose that works as well,” Sunset sighed, even as Wallflower gave her a shy little wave and Sunset sent a smile in the blushing girl’s direction. “I’ve changed since then but even back then I guess I had some sort of standards. You knew who I grew up with right?”

“The pony counterpart of Principal Celestia, right?” Rarity replied, even now still having trouble reconciling that one of her best friends was practically royalty in another universe.

“Yeah, although she was more like mom to me if I’m honest,” Sunset explained. “My parents were always sorta distant, so Celestia was sorta the closest thing I had to a mom after I got accepted into her school for Gifted Unicorns and then her personal student. ...And look how I repaid her…” Sunset murmured sadly to herself.

“Hey, you reconciled, and from what Twilight -the pony one- told me you Celestia held no ill will towards you, she recognized you changed.”

“Yeah, but still…” Sunset whispered.

“Hey, the past is the past right? You’re a new you, that’s what matters,” Rarity said with a small smile. “But, as you were saying…”

“Yes, anyways when I saw who you were related to, I guess the old me felt a rare moment of compassion and empathy and decided not to mention anything. I had -even back then- a respect for ma-Er, sorry, women who were trying to be their own person and not just their parents kids if you catch my drift.”

“Yeah, I do,” Rarity nodded. “Guess I really shouldn’t be surprised, given your past, but all the same…”

“You are? Yeah, I suppose that’s fair enough. As I said, I wasn’t the nicest of people back then.”

Rarity gave her a quick hug and smiled at her friend. “Darling, you need to stop beating yourself over the past. You’re a new woman now, almost to college and record labels are scouting you out. Keep the past as a reminder, it made you into who you are today -a strong and confident woman- but don’t let it define you.”

“Thanks Rarity,” Sunset smiled back. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Rarity smiled as she stitched a miniature sun into her mostly otherwise bright orange dress. Lately, she’d been having a lack of ideas truth be told, and the only thing that seemed to inspire her were her friends. But even then, she needed to create a full line up by the end of this week and art could not be rushed. Even if Hoity Toity and any one of her customers seemed to think otherwise.

Swearing softly to herself -after all, Rarity was a lady, and ladies couldn’t be heard cursing- Rarity ripped up another one of her notebook pages, which depicted a design that was just basic pink and hardly inspired at all! If she was going to do something based on Pinkie, she needed more than just that! She sighed, turning to her Sunset Shimmer inspired dress. It was really just… orange. That’s all there was to it, really.

“Bust my buttons, Rarity!” Rarity’s boss sighed as she saw her friend toss away another one of her designs, the cyan-skinned woman running a hand through her long amber hair. “You’re still on this?”

“Yes, sadly, and I think I’ll have to work overtime…” Rarity muttered to herself. “Why… Why can’t I get an idea, a good idea?”

“Creator’s block Rarity, it happens to the best of us,” Sassy sighed to herself empathically. “Look, why don’t you take a break for a few days? Just enjoy yourself, put fashion out of your mind for a bit?”

“But that’s just it!” Rarity cried, throwing her hands up in the air. “I can’t just not put fashion out of my mind, it’s my life. Never mind the fact that Hoity wants these things done by the end of the week!”

Sassy then put her foot down. “Bobbins and bodkins… Okay, that’s it! You’re overworked, and you’re tired. As your boss... No, your friend I’m ordering you to take some time away from the workplace. I’ll handle things for the next few days, don’t you worry. I’ll try and buy you some time. You, however, just do anything other than something fashion-related. Spend some time with your friends, take a vacation. Just put all of this,” she said gesturing to the boutique around her. “Out of your mind, understand?”

“But… But my customers, they’re used to seeing my face! It provides them with a sense of warmth, comfort!” Rarity cried.

“And an overworked fashion designer is not what they would want to see,” Sassy replied. “Look, I get you Rarity, I’ve been there before, but you trying to push yourself like this? You’ll only end up burning yourself out. You need some time away from this. Fashion’s your life, yes, but I just don’t want to see you…” she trailed off sadly.

“I know, I know…” Rarity sighed. “And you’re absolutely right Sassy. Time away, that’s what I need. It’s like any form of art, -and make no mistake, what we create here is art!- I do need breaks to recollect myself, get some actual inspiration.”

Sassy smiled. “That’s my girl. Just go have fun okay?” Sassy said, practically shoving her out the door. “I’ll hold down the fort. Rest assured, nothing’s going to happen.”

Rarity gave the woman a smile before walking off. Her smile soon faded as she got out of view. As much as she liked her boss, sometimes she just didn’t understand her. Idle hands, that’s what Rarity had an issue with. She always needed to be doing something. But on the other hand, Sassy was right. She had been working later than normal, and her designs continued to turn out repeatedly uninspired. That was not what everyone expected of her. No, they expected originality, grand designs and the latest chic. Sadly, what her customers wanted was not what her brain could come up with at the moment. Her desires and the reality just couldn’t match up.

“Oh well, I suppose there’s nothing better to do right now than just gorge myself on ice cream and watch some old romance movie…” Rarity sighed before letting out a girlish giggle unbefitting of someone her age. “Or get lost in the folds of some book. I’ve still got a few in my ‘secret’ stash…” she smiled to herself, thinking of those handsome well-muscled men on the covers.

So lost in her thoughts was she, Rarity failed to notice this teenage girl walking up behind her and tossing a medal into the back of her head into a slot that had suddenly appeared.

“The desire to create,” Mezool smiled as Rarity ran off suddenly shouting about ideas to nobody in particular. “Now there’s a perfect progenitor for my babies. Don’t worry darlings, momma’s gonna be with you every step of the way!”

Suddenly, a blast of hot wind hit Mezool knocking her back and she looked upwards transforming into her Greeed form even as she did so.

“Taka, Kujira, Ookamiuo!” a certain driver sang and Mezool looked to see OOO and Ankh, with the latter having his arm outstretched and smoking like he’d fired off the blast. But given he probably had Kazari’s Tora medal in his possession, this really didn’t surprise Mezool in the slightest.

“...Wait, so that’s Mezool?” Adagio asked and Mezool could have sworn the woman was trying not to break down in laughter. “...Is… Is that an orca for a head? Ankh, do all of your comrades look this silly? I mean, I thought Kazari with his studded leather and dreadlocks was something, but this… this takes the cake!” Adagio laughed barely able to contain herself. Mezool? Suffice to say she wasn’t… pleased.

The Aquatic Greeed, quite enraged by this mockery fired off a blast of lightning at OOO which she intercepted with a small whirlpool thrown from her staff. The two blasts met, causing an explosion in midair.

“Stay out of the way, my children must be allowed to come into this world!” Mezool shouted, changing her entire body into liquid and wrapping herself around OOO like a snake. Ankh fired off another blast of wind freeing his ‘partner’ and knocking Mezool to the pavement.

“Rule of thumb, don’t give away your hand so easily,” Ankh stated with an annoying little wag of his finger. “Really Mezool, you always were the predictable one. Love, love, love. That’s all it is with you!”

As Adagio picked herself up off the ground gripping her staff tightly, she began switching out the Kujira medal for the Tora one. Of course, while this happened a blast of lightning zapped both her and Ankh sending a few medals flying up into the air.

“You dare!?!” Mezool snarled as Uva walked up, cackling.

“Hey, it helped get some of your medals back, didn’t it?” Uva remarked still laughing. “Besides, I have a score to settle with OOOs. Don’t deny me this chance!”

“I stand corrected,” Ankh stated. “You were always the predictable one…”

“Great, two Greeeds. Didn’t know when I was quite so well off,” Adagio sighed as Mezool took the Kujira and Same medals for her own, armor regenerating around her body.

“Adagio, run! Now!” Ankh shouted knowing when to cut his losses. They’d get those medals back, another day. Adagio, grimacing fired off another whirlpool from her staff knocking Uva to his feet and sending the Kuwagata medal flying in her direction nodded.

“Fine, but at least let me take something as compensation!” Adagio said before the two made a break for it running for her car as Uva raged with Mezool smirking and walking off. She had what she needed anyhow.

6: You Had One Job!/Inspiration Manifestation Mrk 2/Marine Combo

“Goddamnit Adagio!” Ankh roared at the woman back at the apartment, this close to tossing a lamp at her head. “You had just one job, just one!”

To her credit, Adagio didn’t look particularly fazed. “...Do I look like a psychic to you?” she deadpanned. “Do I look like the kind of person who can predict two Greeed showing up out of nowhere?”

“You should! They’re all going to be after you now,” Ankh stated, flicking Adagio on the forehead. “They all want their medals back.”

“...Medals which you stole in the first place, so to be more accurate they’re after you,” Adagio snapped back, poking Ankh in the chest. “Maybe I should have let Soarin' shoot you some more, get all those medals you grabbed spilling out onto the floor and kept them to myself. Lock them in a safe somewhere!”

“...You’d do a Greeed proud with that mindset.” Ankh huffed with his back to her and arms crossed.

“Gee, thanks for the comparison,” Adagio commented in a deadpan tone. “Look, you’re pissed, I get that. You had your precious medals stolen. Your precious medals. Medals, medals, that’s all there is to you!”

“So what?” Ankh replied.

“...Ever consider that there’s quite possibly a life beyond medals? Like… I dunno, maybe you can open up a costume-themed diner, and any money you make can go to feed your ice cream addiction.” Adagio remarked, before looking at the bill Ankh had managed to wrack up with his love of the stuff. They hadn’t even been together a month yet, and somehow the Greeed had managed to go through over half of her monthly pay. ...Question is, how did you put your foot down with a Greeed?

“So, is this us getting what you humans call a divorce?” Ankh asked. “So who gets the kids… I’m sorry, the Cube Animals? I’m taking the Condor. Leopard’s all yours, you’re certainly catty enough.”

“No, unfortunately, for the time being, we still have to work together -much as I hate that- just so we can save the world from your brethren,” Adagio sighed to herself. “So for right now, I’m stuck with you.”

“You should feel honored!” Ankh proclaimed.

“Tch,” Adagio muttered. “Yeah, really honored I get stuck with an ice pop addict. ...How’d I end up with you supporting me and me being your shoulder to cry on? ...This is just the blunder of my life.”

“...Do you want the long or the short version?” Ankh teased, and before Adagio could refute that a blast of green electricity blew the window open with the two diving to the floor.

“Spare me,” she muttered as outside, a certain insectoid-themed Greeed bellowed for Ankh to come out.

“ANKH, I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE! ALONG WITH MY MEDALS! COME OUT AND FACE ME LIKE A MAN, AND GIVE ME BACK WHAT’S MINE!” Uva bellowed, and it wasn’t hard for Adagio to imagine him beating his chest like a gorilla.

“...He’s a persistent one isn’t he?” Adagio muttered. “Oh, he is so getting billed for blowing out my window. Ankh, medals!”

“...Hell no! I’m not just letting you toss them over to Uva!” Ankh snapped back.

“Ankh, medals. Now. Or else I let Uva come in and pry them from you by force. Or I cut off your ice pop supply. Whichever sounds more tempting really.”

Ankh considered his options, which didn’t take long really.

“Tch!” he muttered and tossed Adagio three medals. Leaping out of the window, Adagio slotted the three medals into her driver and scanned them.

“Henshin!”

“Kuwagata, Tora, Ookamiuo!” the driver shouted even as Uva fired off more electricity blasts from his horns, the hard-light medals circling around Adagio during her transformation sequence protecting her.

Rolling to the ground as soon as she hit it, Adagio grabbed her staff as it formed out of the water in the air and twirled it behind her back. She groaned at her current appearance.

“...Great, I look like a walking traffic light. Such an improvement over the beached whale look.” she muttered even as Uva stared her down. The Greeed tossed a brief glance upwards towards Ankh.

“I thought you two would be having a little lover’s spat after our last battle! You haven’t broken up already?” Uva remarked complete with small head tilt.

“THERE’S NOTHING TO BREAK UP!” both Ankh and Adagio bellowed before Adagio locked weapons with Uva, sparks flying off their weapons as they met again and again. Adagio kicked him in the stomach before activating the Kuwagata Medal’s power and blasting Uva backward with green electricity bolts of her own.

“One good turn deserves another, right?” Adagio teased twirling the Ookamiuo Spear as she’d begun to call it above her head and firing off a whirlpool towards Uva. Uva fired off more electricity in return, and the two attacks met in midair causing an explosion before Uva smirked as he brought out some cell medals.

“Ankh, you’re not the only one learning how to… evolve in this new world. So have I.” Uva stated, snapping each Cell in half creating what looked like one-eyed mummies staggering to their feet.

“Tch! Trash yummies, that’s all you managed to create!” Ankh stated in a fairly unimpressed tone even as the newly coined Trash Yummies surrounded Adagio. She responded by leaping upwards and spinning like a cyclone creating a small water spout to blow them away and using her spear to dispatch whatever was left.

With a loud roar, Uva charged towards Adagio and pinned her up against a car with his horns. Adagio did the only natural thing that came to her about then, namely kicking Uva in the groin.

Uva, roaring out in pain didn’t really get a chance to dodge the whirlpool thrown his way knocking him back and causing him to bleed out a few cell medals. Mind you, not one to waste a chance Uva broke these medals in half and created even more Trash Yummies.

“...Uh, Ankh? A little help here?” Adagio stammered out as she saw the mooks advance towards her.

“Sorry,” Ankh remarked licking on an ice pop. “Already done my good deed for the day. No more freebies!”

“I’m really beginning to hate that man at times…” Adagio grumbled to herself before slicing through the yummies with her spear and then tossing a massive whirlpool to mop up the rest. She was then hit across the face by a powerful right across from Uva who then walloped her in the gut.

“Oh… You’re not even worth the trouble,” Uva sighed as he and Adagio went blow to blow. “The last OOO, the King? His greed was so great I could create a yummy just as powerful as me! We all could! And now, I’m beating you even without all my Cores at hand!”

Suddenly, several blasts hit Uva in the stomach causing him to stagger back, and Adagio’s head whipped around to see Eiji holding what looked to be a fairly large-sized rifle. Tossing one ammunition clip aside, he attached another to the bottom of the rifle. Adagio did take the time to notice that said ammunition was actually cell medals.

“Overcompensating for anything?” Adagio teased as she and Eiji ganged up on Uva slicing and shooting at him making him bleed out more cell medals that were either grabbed by Taka Candroids or Ankh.

“Like I said… If there’s ever a hand that needs to be extended…” Eiji said looking somewhat flustered at Adagio’s remark.

“...So, is that a yes or a no then?” Adagio commented actually enjoying this. Eiji was much more fun to tease than Ankh. Actually fairly cute as well. She was pretty sure she was able to legally flirt with this one… Unlike say a certain Greeed. Eiji ignored her and fired his rifle at Uva some more. Adagio had also taken notice that Eiji was actually straining himself, like actually aiming the rifle or keeping hold of it was physically painful for him.

“Eiji… are you… are you alright?” Adagio asked in a concerned tone rushing over to him as Uva began to recover.

“Yeah… Yeah, I’m fine. This weapon, -the labs call it the Birth Buster- just has a bit of a kick to it. That’s all,” Eiji panted out. “I’ll manage. Besides, you have bigger issues than worrying about me I think.” he commented as Uva charged towards them horns crackling with energy. Both he and Adagio leaped backwards firing off green electricity blasts the attacks meeting in mid-air before Adagio landed atop a car and switched medals.

“Taka, Tora, Batta: Ta-To-Ba! Tatoba, Ta-To-Ba!”

Striking a pose resembling a cat holding out its claws, Adagio leaped off the car and the Tora claws flipped out striking Uva across the chest several times as she slashed into his body. Using Uva as a springboard, Adagio then leaped skywards with the Batta Legs and ran the scanner across her belt.

“SCANNING CHARGE!”

Three solid rings of color appeared in front of Adagio and two red wings sprouted from her back before Uva sizing up his chances flung a car in front of her and let it take the kick. He meanwhile, leaped off into the distance.

Adagio, holding her chest in pain and panting from exhaustion canceled the transformation before falling forwards towards the ground with Eiji calling out her name as she lost consciousness.

---

She later awoke to the slow ‘boop-boop’ of a heart monitor and found herself in a very sterile white room, Eiji sitting in a nearby chair. Ankh sat -of course, but where else?- in a nearby open window.

“Wh… What happened? Where’s Uva?” Adagio asked.

“He got away, and in your foolishness in using so many combos in such a short time period you over-exerted yourself,” Ankh chastised, tossing the Taka medal up in the air. “The trouble with combos, put quite the strain on your body. Or did I forget to mention that?” he remarked with a grin.

Adagio gave him a deadpan look. “Yeah, you sorta did. Something tells me you left that out on purpose.”

“Maybe, maybe not. I forget things in my old age. 800 years old, memory’s probably starting to go,” Ankh remarked. “So sue me!”

“I oughta… Right, you remember the Greeed and their end goals, and yet you ‘conveniently’ forget to tell me what happens if I use one too many combos,” Adagio stated sitting up in her bed and giving Ankh a very dirty look. “Forgive me if I don’t trust you right now.”

“Hello, a spirit of desire right here?” Ankh said placing a hand across his chest in mock-offense. “I’d have only given you this information if you asked for it, desired it. And it seemed you never did!”

Adagio muttered some very unkind things under her breath towards Ankh before sighing to herself. “...Great, how am I going to explain this one to my boss?”

“I’ve already taken the needed precautions and for the next few days while you rest up, someone will be taking your place at the Aquarium. Goes by the name of Erika Satonaka. Very competent woman.” Eiji explained.

Across town, a dark-haired Japanese woman with a rather bored look on her face and wearing a very fancy dress had taken Adagio’s duties. Currently, she was explaining the habits of the White-Blotched River Stingray -native to the Cortica River- to Ms. Cheerilee's class in a dull-would-rather-be-anywhere-but-here-type of tone. Every so often, she did her nails or checked her phone’s dating app.

“...Then why do I detect a hint of worry in your tone?” Adagio asked noting Eiji’s expression. “And anyways, who’s going to deal with yummies in case one shows up?” she asked and Eiji smiled in return before flinging a belt around his waist, and tossing a cell medal skywards letting it land in his belt.

“Already got that taken care of as well. Henshin.” he stated, turning a little knob on the belt.

With a popping sound like that of a capsule opening, Eiji was suddenly transformed into this grey and green armored warrior with a glowing red visor, and similarly toned lines running across the armor. Adagio blinked once at that sound, then twice before sighing.

“...We’re doomed.” she muttered.

Meanwhile across town at the Carousel Boutique, Rarity had defied Sassy’s orders and had actually returned to work with new vigor. Sassy didn’t quite know where the inspiration had come from, but she really wasn’t about to question it really. She already started scribbling down concepts for dresses, performing precise, curvy pencil strokes that normally would have taken surgical precision for her. In fact, not long after she had finished a design, she was already to work on it, sewing machine pounding away as she fed it her fabrics.

“Sequins and sashes, Rarity, they're exquisite!” Sassy cried. “You’re back in top form! But where did you ever get the ideas for these?”

“Honestly, I have no idea, Sassy. Something just came to me and spread like wildfire. All of my creative block just… vanished.” She gave her a brief look before taking the finished product out of the machine, moving on to decorating it. “I wish I could thank whatever it was, though. Now I’m sure to meet my deadline, no mistake.”

In the back of the room, unnoticed by anyone was this roe-like clutch, eggs inside it glowing. And if you were to look closely at the eggs, you would be able to see what lay inside. Small piranha-like creatures with fins and other features that scarily resembled that of human hands, painted with ruby-red nail polish. They thrashed around at the cocoons that concealed them, their demonic snarls muted by the hardened exterior.

Of course, nobody would take notice of this. That was the whole point. Mezool’s egg clutches always managed to keep themselves hidden… Right up until they hatched. Rarity meanwhile continued her stitching and sewing.

“Oh deary me, it’s like a flood! A dress, based on every one of my friends! And that Kamen Rider OOOs character as well!” Rarity cried. “Yes, yes that’s what I’ll do!” She planted the work she had been doing onto a nearby mannequin, then immediately went to work on the next, not letting a single word slip from her mouth as she ran some more fabrics under the violent nail of the sewing machine.

“Uh Rarity… are you sure you’re alright?” Sassy asked in a concerned tone, placing a hand on her friend’s shoulder having noticed Rarity’s possibly crazed expression and tone. She really should be questioning this, now that she thought of it. Just a few short hours before, Rarity had been close to experiencing creative burnout and now…? Now it was like she’d been given some sort of new vigor.

“What the Hell is going on around here…?” Sassy asked to herself as she headed towards the front door, oblivious to the nesting grounds that the back room had become as the edge of the door gleamed an eerie shade of amber. Not watching where she was going, she accidentally bumped into Vignette who was walking into the boutique with a cameraman in tow.

“H-hey! WWYW, girl!” Vignette exclaimed, the shock nearly sending her backwards into her cameraman.

“Oh… Vignette,” Sassy murmured tiredly rubbing her temples. “I’d actually forgotten you had planned to stop by for an interview and featurette on your program.”

“Yeah. I was gonna question Rarity’s CBOD, but from the looks of things, she’s fine.” Vignette looked over Sassy’s shoulders to see Rarity still engrossed in her work. “Still, I think she’s worth some words. The audience does love a good interview, don’t they?”

“Yes… Yes, they do.” Sassy muttered. Personally, she wanted Vignette out of the Boutique. One, she was a pain in the ass with all of her ‘relevance’ and love for acronyms and two, Rarity really shouldn’t have been disturbed in the middle of her creative frenzy.

“But then again…” Sassy thought to herself tossing a look backwards the half-crazed fashionista. “Maybe I should pry her away from the sewing machine. Just for a minute or so.”

“Wonderful! Well, I’ll BRB, Sassy. Time to get a scoop with the best girl,” Vignette strode by, the cameraman blindly following her towards the machine. “Hey, Rarity. Is this a bad time? I don’t wanna cause a bother, what with your rapid-fire frenzy of dresses you’ve got going for you. Don’t be bemused, it’s just the news after all!” she chirped.

“Well, as you can see I’ve never been so inspired in my life! Take this dress for instance,” Rarity said, gesturing to a number covered in reds and blues. “Inspired by Kamen Rider OOOs, and her seeming default combo. SaRaMiUo as it’s called am I correct?”

“Ooh. Your OOOs. Your One On Offense, right?” She grinned at the acronym usage. Rarity didn’t look quite so amused.

“Well… Yes, well... “ she said, clearing her throat. “After OOOs has defended the city for a few times now, I think she deserves some recognition, don’t you think dearie?” Rarity remarked, a half-finished dress based on Sunset Shimmer’s distinctive color scheme laying nearby. “You remember Sunset, don’t you? She was that fiery-haired girl you met back at that park you ran for a while, right?”

“Yes… I do remember…” Vignette muttered through gritted teeth remembering how she’d lost her job there no thanks to her. “She made it big as a musician, didn’t she? Off touring Europe right now last I checked. We’re all very proud of her, Denver producing yet another fine musician!”

Vignette grumbled something to herself before continuing and putting on her best Pulitzer winning smile. “The HOMA. I know it well, having been there a few times myself,” a small chuckle came out of her lips. “Well, I came to talk to you on a bit of a different subject. Didn’t you say that you were on the verge of burning yourself out?”

“Yes… Yes, I did say that didn’t I?” Rarity mused. “But lo and behold, something came to me last night. I don’t know what it was, but it gave me the power to manifest every idea I ever had! Even ones I didn’t know about!” she cried.

“Well, that’s wonderful! Did you by any chance get inspired by the recent CGPOF event that came around recently?” She leaned in with a smile.

“CGPOF?” Rarity blinked in confusion. “I’m sorry, me and acronyms don’t really… mix.”

“The Canterlot Grand Paradise of Fashion, Rarity. Get with the times! It’s only one of THE biggest events that’s been sweeping the town lately,” Vignette explained, using each of her fingers to list off the words. “There’s designers and brands from the world over coming to our little town to show off their works. I thought you’d be attracted to that like a moth to a flame.”

“No, sorry. I don’t follow current trends like you Vignette,” Rarity almost sneered remembering the woman all too well. “I just do what I want, when I want, and how I want it!”

“A shame. I bet the crowds would’ve loved to see what you came up with. But, I suppose pleasure always goes before business with you. That’s why you’ve got those friends of yours, right?”

“Exactly, now if you excuse me I’ve got dresses to make, and-”

It was right about then the egg clutch decided to burst open, the door giving way shortly afterwards and so came the flood...

---

Eiji as he drove up to the boutique with Erika in the passenger’s seat carrying spare ammo for the Birth Buster, found himself in the midst of chaos.

Vignette, still trying to report on what was going on had run out of the place along with her poor cameraman, Rarity and Sassy. A swarm of Piranha Yummies flew out after them, howling and screeching like they had just escaped from the darkest depths of the netherworld, ready to take vengeance against the surface-dwellers.

Atop a rooftop stood Mezool, laughing joyously as her children took to the streets.

“Yes, that’s right my darlings! Feed, feed! Bring me medals!” she laughed hugging one of the yummies close to her chest like a plushie. She kissed it atop the forehead and then flung it back into the fray.

“Oh, great. The one day I was hoping to see this town at peace, this happens.” He groaned to himself, drawing the Birth Buster as he stepped out of the car. He loaded it with several cell medals, and began firing into the crowd of yummies even as they swarmed the area.

“This is Vignette Valencia of CNN. A whole bunch of… fish things have burst out of Canterlot Carousel, and are wreaking havoc on the town!” She flinched as an explosion erupted by her side. “This literally just happened right now as I’m talking, so I’m sorry if I sound a bit more panicked than usual, but as they say in the business, FMAS! Fear Makes A Scoop!” Another detonation rang out and she stumbled over her own body, screaming as a Yummy drove itself into her.

Eiji shot the Yummy before it could kill Vignette, and walked over to her batting aside any other Yummies with the Birth System’s crane arm attachment. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“I guess so…” Vignette was breathing heavily, certain that she would have died if he wasn’t a second later. “You’re my hero, sir.”

Eiji blushed, before smiling underneath his helmet and giving her a thumbs-up. “If there is a hand reaching for help, and I don't reach out my hand when I can, the regret would make me wish I were dead... I reach out my hand, because I don't want that,” he stated, swinging the crane arm around and batting away yummy after yummy. Sadly, each one he managed to take out, another was to take its place.

“Damn him!” Mezool swore and was about to jump down to join in the fray as she saw Eiji and Erika go back to back with Rarity using her geode to create a shield for them. Sadly, before she could do so a voice cried out.

“Forehead flick!” Ankh stated doing just exactly that to the aquatic-based Greeed. Laughing, Ankh shook his head. “See some things never change. Rebirth of an age for you, least in your mind. Sorry to have to say this, but I believe you have a few things that belong to me. Or her at least.” Ankh remarked gesturing behind him where Adagio was limping up.

“Oh lovely, it’s the orca woman again,” Adagio sighed. “And here I was hoping I’d have the chance to kick Uva’s ass properly. Oh well, you do have my medals so… Every pinch counts as a chance I suppose.”

Eiji had stopped Adagio atop the rooftop and gave her a look of shock.

“Adagio, what the Hell are you doing? You should be in the hospital!” he shouted swinging the crane arm around to take out some more yummies. Rarity pushed her geode-created shield forwards clearing away some more, allowing for more breathing room. Several yummies leaped at her from behind, and she created yet another shield in mid-air to knock them away or allow Erika to shoot them down with her Birth Buster.

“Adagio… As in Adagio Dazzle?” Vignette asked in shock, Eiji realizing too late his mistake. “Adagio Dazzle, as in one of the three sirens who tried to take over the world some years back? Are you hearing this viewers, Adagio Dazzle is our Kamen Rider OOOs?”

“Yeah, I sorta took your expression about a hand reaching out to heart,” Adagio commented cracking her neck and ignoring Vignette for now. She’d deal with the fallout later. Right now she had people to save. “Besides, me and fish woman? We’ve still got scores to settle,” she stated as she slapped on the OOO driver, the belt wrapping itself around her waist.

“Now, know this for starters. The tides are as ever-changing as my own abilities. Henshin.” she stated as the driver sang out a familiar tune.

“Taka, Tora, Batta: Ta-To-Ba! Tatoba, Ta-To-Ba!” it sang as Adagio marched forwards with the claws on her arms extending. Drawing a sword that Eiji had sent her as a sort of get-well gift in the hospital -the sword being named the Medajaribur- and began striking at Mezool with either the blade or the claws. Sadly, each time she managed to get in close enough for a strike, Mezool just turned into water and managed to get behind her and strike her with electricity drawing on the powers of the Unagi medal.

“Damnit…” Adagio thought to herself as she again and again tried and failed to hit the woman with her weapons. “How am I supposed to hit what I can’t see?”

Suddenly, the Taka Head activated and drawing on it’s pinpoint accuracy powers Adagio managed to slice downwards with the Medajaribur knocking Mezool out of her liquid form. She rolled along the rooftop, medals flying from her body. Adagio smirked as two blue medals came flying her way.

“Taka, Tora, Cheetah!” the belt sang out as Adagio went for another random combo hitting Mezool with a flurry of kicks and or slashes before running up and down the building clearing out some of the yummy hoard as well. But Adagio wasn’t going to let this go. Oh no, she still had to send Mezool packing and return the beating she’d been given by her before in full. A bit petty of her one supposed she mused to herself but it also offered up the chance to grab some more medals and depower Mezool even further.

“Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo: Sa-Ra-Mi-Uo! Sa! Ra! Mi-Uo!” the driver sang before Adagio flung a whirlpool towards Mezool knocking three more medals from her. Mezool’s armor crumbled as three deep blue medals -each depicting a different animal, an orca, an eel and an octopus respectively- rolled towards Adagio.

Picking them up, Adagio allowed herself a brief smirk.

“Adagio, you’re not thinking of-” Ankh cried out. “Full-Medal combos, they’re more dangerous than random combos! They exhaust you more than usual, and that’s if you're lucky! If you’re not careful, you could go completely berserk! You understand me?”

If Adagio didn’t know better, she could have sworn that was concern she heard in Ankh’s tone. Brushing it off, she sighed. “Well, I’ll just have to take that chance won’t I? My friends are in danger, and if I don’t stop those yummies then you can say goodbye to your ice pops along with just about everything else!” she stated, holding up the Shauta combo medals. Mezool’s eyes widened.

“Don’t tell me you’re serious, OOO Girl!” Mezool blanched taking a few steps backward in shock at Adagio’s sheer nerve. “Can you really handle the power of such a thing?”

“Oh, I’m quite serious. Never been more serious about anything in my life. Now that I see the lengths you bunch are willing to go to, all in the name of gathering up more medals for your end game I have only this to say,” Adagio stated tossing the medals up into the air and letting them land in her driver. “Never underestimate the powers of the animal kingdom!” she roared, running the scanner across her belt.

“Shachi, Unagi, Tako: Sha-Sha-Shauta, Sha-Sha-Shauta!” the belt sang as Adagio’s armor shifted into a more streamlined appearance with an orca-like helmet and two white whips attached to her arms. Suckers covered her legs as Adagio let out a scream of sharp pain as she felt the power course through her body. Her helmet’s eyes flashed briefly -a sharp yellow shade- before she turned into a liquid similar in fashion to how Mezool had done a few minutes before and ran rampant through the yummy school.

“I never… I never thought I’d say this, but go Adagio…” Rarity thought to herself as she watched the Rider decimate the yummies.

“Ladies and gentlemen, are you seeing this? Our hero, the Kamen Rider calling herself OOOs has come back strong from her previous showing and is actually saving our fair city!” Vignette shouted, before gesturing for her cameraman to get in a close-up shot of what was about to happen next.

“So… So that’s the power of a Combo…” Eiji whispered in awe as the school of yummies converged into one massive fish, snapping and biting at Adagio. Adagio’s legs split apart into eight octopus tentacles and began kicking away at the massive fish before she rebounded away from it using the body as a springboard.

“SCANNING CHARGE!” the driver shouted as Adagio ran the scanner across it once more before changing into a liquid form propelling herself upwards. She then grabbed the massive yummy school with her whips and pulled herself inwards the legs turning into one massive drill spinning like a corkscrew.

“Always wanted to say this and I know this sounds so unprofessional of me but… GIGA DRILL BREAKER!” Adagio shouted in a one-off moment of completely dropping her stoic composure as she burrowed into the yummy school.

The yummies exploded and it began to rain down cell medals, Ankh, Mezool and everyone else trying to catch whatever they could.

“See ya.” Adagio smirked with a small snap of her fingers as she watched the rain of coins. Canceling out her transformation, she began stumbling forwards clutching her chest and grunting out in pain.

“Tch… Baka,” Ankh muttered as he began supporting Adagio having taken control over Vignette’s body for the time being. “Why am I on your shoulder? This is the blunder of my life…” he muttered to himself as he helped Adagio to a nearby bench.

“Is she… is she going to be alright?” Sassy asked, having managed to find cover before the whole insanity started.

“Yeah… Yeah, she’ll be fine. Just fine…” Eiji smiled after canceling out his own transformation and allowed the woman her sleep. “Good job Adagio Dazzle, good job today. Now you get your rest, you understand? This is just the first of many battles to come…” he trailed off noting Mezool screaming out in rage as she vanished into a drain. “And that one? She’ll be back. You’ve made a grave enemy today, I just hope you know that.”

Author's Notes:

Okay, not quite sure if I should have introduced a Full-Medal combo so early, but... Hey, what's done is done. And you get the TaToBa combo at last as well, so a twofer! Huges thanks to Shadowmane for the help on writing Rarity's scenes, especially with Vignette's lines. God, I hate her. Most annoying villain EQG ever made. If I make her a Yummy parent, I will have a ball with her.

Also, yes. While he's not the actual Secondary Rider... Eiji as Proto-Birth.

7: Newsworthy

Kougami Foundation, Denver Office

A few days later after the whole “Piranha Swarm Incident’ as it had begun to be called Eiji found himself in his office talking to Takatora Kureshima over the phone.

“So, you got back to Japan smoothly?” Eiji asked walking into the foundation’s local laboratory where down on conveyors, RideVendors and Candroids were being constructed by both a combination of both men and machine.

“Yes, Kohtaro’s staying in Europe to investigate what remains of Shocker a little more, but I myself had to return home to Japan,” Takatora said from a phone booth outside a hospital. Seito University, it read atop a sign. “Something’s… come up.”

An ambulance pulled up, sirens blaring and paramedics rushed a thrashing man into the emergency room.

“Are… are you at a hospital?” Eiji asked. “What’s going on?”

“It’s… rather odd, and to be honest I don’t actually know how to explain it myself.” Takatora replied, rubbing his temples.

“...This from the man who uses a melon-themed padlock to transform?” Eiji deadpanned. “...How much odder can it get? Try me.” he remarked with a teasing tone in his voice.

“This is hardly something to joke about Hino,” Takatora replied. “That game put out by the Genm Corporation, Kamen Rider Chronicle?”

“Yeah?” Eiji asked from the other end of the line. “Thinking of getting it for my daughter, -huge fan of Kuuga that she is, when she heard he was in the game- but what’s going on?”

“...I’d advise against that actually. It’s been connected to these odd little occurrences over here in Tokyo. Game Disease they call it.” Takatora finished, watching as an ER surgeon named Hiiro directed everything. “Hino, are you that blind as to what’s going on in your home country?”

“...Been more worried about what’s been going on over here, actually. The Greeed are sorta my main concern right now,” Eiji replied. “That and keeping an eye on the newest Rider, OOOs as she calls herself.”

Takatora blinked, swearing he must have misheard. “Triple-King? A woman who calls herself Triple-King? ...Okay, that is odd I’ll give you that but a Kamen Rider in America? That is a new one.”

“...It’s not as odd as you might think, I did hear a few small rumors here and there on the internet about some Riders in a city called Gramercy Heights, over in California. The rumors have mostly faded but… Never mind. We’re getting off topic. How bad are things?”

There was no answer, so Hino pressed blocking out all the noise from the machinery and just listening to whatever worrying thing Takatora had to say next.

“Just how bad are things?” he asked again.

“The Japanese Ministry of Health has been keeping it mostly under wraps, but it's bad,” Takatora replied. “5 years ago the Bugster Virus had a massive outbreak, a lot of people vanished into thin air because of the virus. Genm’s CEO Dan Kuroto and the Ministry have been-”

“-Wait, Genm’s CEO is Dan Kuroto?” Eiji sputtered out, cutting Takatora off. “From what I heard, it was Dan Masamune. ...Okay, I really am out of the loop.” he muttered to himself. Wiping the sweat off his face with a handkerchief, Eiji sighed. “Shazai… Please continue Kurashima-San.”

“Please don’t call me that, I keep expecting my father to appear anytime somebody calls me that,” Takatora requested, remembering his father and how he indirectly created Kamen Rider Iðunn and the tragedy that followed. “Anyways, as I was saying. There has been a recent increase in Bugster attacks in Tokyo so Genm and the Ministry have developed their own Kamen Riders to fight them and the Game Disease as it is called. Things aren’t easy over there, and the rest of us Riders are on standby to help if needed.”

“I… I understand,” Eiji replied before sighing. “...We never get a break, do we? This planet… year after year it’s always something. Between space aliens and giant mecha battles and our own struggles, it seems like Earth is a magnet for insanity,”

“I have learned something, presumably the other Kamen Riders have learned something like this as well. Heroes are not born out of happiness, nor are they just born. Heroes are made, sure they dazzle us with their courageous and selfless acts and flash into public view like a flare but they are never born. No, they have to be made and molded. I say this not to be cruel, but to remind you. None of us asked for this, to ask to be a Kamen Rider would probably be the definition of insanity given what we are put through.” Takatora lectured, his friend listening to every word he ever said even as he continued to walk. By now, Eiji had returned up to the upper levels of the Foundation building and was now in his personal office. Taking a seat down in his chair, Eiji sighed once more.

“And yet year after year one -or maybe two, or maybe three- comes to save the world right when they’re needed the most,” Eiji sighed. But then again, as Kohtaro likes to say: “We protect the dreams of children, and continue to rain hope for everyone. That’s what it means to be a Kamen Rider!” That’s correct, isn’t it?”

“Yes… Yes, it’s quite correct. Even if I never exactly followed the normal Kamen Rider creed -even if I did what I thought was just- I intend to make up for my sins. If you ever need me Eiji. If OOOs ever needs me or any other Rider… Just call. We’ll come running.”

“I’m… I’m sure she’d like to hear that. I’ll be sure to pass on the message.” Eiji asked, and sat in his office chair, looking out at the evening sunset falling over the city. His city, his precious city.

Eiji pulled out a cell medal and looked at it intently and asked this of it. Or asked the Greeed rather. “...So, where will you strike next, and how will you do so?” he whispered.

---

Denver National Aquarium:

Adagio meanwhile had her own issues aside from worrying about the Greeeds’ next little plot whatever it happened to be really. Oh sure, she was quite well aware she’d made a particularly nasty enemy in Mezool even if she’d managed to stop the Aquatic Greeed from gathering any large amount of cell medals but that wasn’t her current issue. No, that issue was related to something else that had happened during the last battle.

Vignette Valencia of CNN. Lovely woman, Adagio thought to herself with no small amount of sarcasm. And it seemed just to be ‘relevant’ she really didn’t care whose lives were made a sort of living hell.

“Adagio… As in Adagio Dazzle?” Vignette asked in shock, Eiji realizing too late his mistake. “Adagio Dazzle, as in one of the three sirens who tried to take over the world some years back? Are you hearing this viewers, Adagio Dazzle is our Kamen Rider OOOs?”

Ever since Adagio transformed on live television, speculation was beginning to run rampant. Sure, it boosted the visitors to the aquarium which wasn’t exactly something Adagio would actually complain about but it did have its… drawbacks.

Drawbacks meaning Adagio was discussed on live television. Not to mention that she was being actively confused with someone else. She had half a mind to sue the news station for slander.

Mind you that came with its own set of issues. After all, how did you sue someone for defamation of character that was -in a way- technically true? Plus, how did you blab about alternate worlds without sounding like some sort of nutcase?

“So, Treehugger is it? In your honest opinion, -be truthful now!- what do you think of one of your old classmates -would be world wrecker by the way- now taking up the identity of a Kamen Rider?” Vignette asked the woman, who Adagio vaguely remembered running her own yoga dojo. Adagio tried it once or twice hearing how relaxing it was, but really didn’t end up enjoying it given she ended up putting her joints in all the decidedly wrong places.

“It’s pretty far out,” Tree Hugger commented, a serene look on her face. In the background, a picture of the Equestrian Adagio was displayed. Adagio shuddered at her counterpart’s hair, seriously did that woman have a fetish for the eighties? And she looked like a friggin’ whore for crying out loud. Some high-schooler. “It’s really weird, when I last saw Adagio in school, her aura was red, but looking at the footage, she seemed to have more of a violet one.”

“Uh… A violent one?” Vignette asked… No, pressed. “Should we be worried?”

“I said violet, not violent,” Treehugger corrected. “Sorry if you misheard me, Miss Vignette. Man, you really need to loosen up, seriously ya do. I can seriously hook you up with a few classes, might do you wonders!”

“...I… I think I’ll pass,” Vignette trailed off, slightly weirded out. Watching that gave Adagio a small sense of satisfaction. “But are you really sure that we’re not dealing with an actual threat to the city, now given more power than any one person has any right to wield?”

“If you ask me, no. If OOO’s wanted to be a threat, she’d have been one by now. The footage shows her saving lives, what’s the threat there?” Treehugger continued. “Piranha hoard, no thank you! And anyways, more power than any one person has any right to wield? Man, have you not heard of the Seven Legendary Riders… Or hell, any of the Kamen Riders nowadays? They’ve been helping Japan out for years, and I for one am pleased America finally has one to call their own.”

“Evil Riders are a thing, you do realize that right?” Vignette asked. “I delved into some old news reports, coming from this city called Fuuto and there was this Kamen Rider Eternal person. Tried to kill everyone in the entire city. So yes, I think the people have every right to be concerned. Kamen Riders are supposed to be heroes of justice yes, but as we’ve seen there is every chance that sort of power can lend itself to the wrong hands.”

“What evidence is there that it’s in the wrong hands?” Treehugger retorted, leaning back in her seat. “Your own footage shows her risking her life for others. Citing that other Riders have been evil before is like, faulty logic. And bringing up Adagio in high school sounds like poisoning the well. I mean, who was the same person they were in high school? If we started judging people on that metric, then almost everyone’s in trouble. I mean, I myself was no angel in high school. Smoked pot in the restrooms every chance I got and really got on Vice-Principal Luna’s nerves, but look at me now, running my own dojo.”

“Yes, but-” Vignette started as Tree Hugger got up off of her chair and began walking off-set.

“Man, I’ve had just about enough of this shit. Find some other poor sap to grill for information, peace out assholes!” Treehugger said flipping the peace sign and leaving. Vignette was understandably… annoyed.

“Well, it seems some people can’t stand the limelight!” she harrumphed. “Anyways, we’ll be taking callers now, see what they think of this new development in this city of ours.”

The first caller opened with, “I think this OOO’s is good for our city. I was around when those piranha things attacked. I could’ve died if not for her.”

Adagio smiled at that voice. Rarity.

The next caller was one she recognized too. “I’ve been forced to be a host for one of those creepy monsters before. OOO’s is making sure they don’t hurt people. Are you really so desperate for ratings that you gotta sling mud around like a pig?”

Adagio, after these first three, did feel a sense of relaxation, but then, of course, there was always that little thing called balance. For every piece of praise you got, there was going to be someone else who wanted to punch you -metaphorically or literally- in the stomach.

“There’s no way this OOO’s should be allowed to run around!” A caller raved, their voice crackling in the speaker. “I mean honestly, she was an absolute menace to Canterlot High and she was only there for about a week! If we let her do whatever she wants then she’ll surely try something again!”

“If OOO’s really wanted to help people she’d give that power to someone in the police or armed forces,” another caller argued. “Someone who's trained to deal with dangerous situations and protect civilians. I mean, you ever heard of the G3 suit, it was made to be used against the Gurongi, and its user trained as such. Instead, here we have a woman playing around with power like it’s a toy. She shouted Giga Drill Breaker live on television for cryin’ out loud like she was having fun!”

“I think that OOO’s could be a huge threat to our city,” one caller started and Adagio sighed to herself quite tempted to turn off her phone or at least listen to something more soothing. Of course, what she heard next was… sorta unexpected really.

“Oh, how so?” Vignette pressed eagerly, having eaten up all the previous comments on OOOs, positive or otherwise.

“It’s clear that OOO’s is a tool of the Illuminati. That armor is plastered with their symbolism. They’re likely using the suit as a test of their super soldier program. I for one think we should all be scared for the end times are nigh and OOO’s is a sign that the Anti-Christ is coming.”

Needless to say, Vignette -much to Adagio’s great amusement- dropped the call pretty quickly. Several more like this followed, and Vignette quickly said: “W-Well, I think that’s a fairly definitive idea of the city’s opinions on OOO don’t you viewers? J-Join me tomorrow night when I discuss the possibility of your babysitter running a call girl ring from your very own home!”

Adagio leaned back up against a wall as she tossed a fish towards Arthur, the leopard seal eating it up. There she was, a barely suppressed grin on her face. Seeing Vignette get flustered like that at the end was immensely satisfying. A part of her wanted to find Treehugger and thank her for her appearance. She just didn’t want to look desperate or like she couldn’t take care of things herself.

“Personally, I still think you’re crazy for even getting this close to the big guy,” Star Hunter remarked from the other side of the glass that looked into the enclosure. “...Mind you, you just became a superhero so I suppose I shouldn’t really be commenting on your sanity relating to you getting close to dangerous animals.”

“Gee… Glad you have so much faith in me Star,” Adagio deadpanned, stroking the skin atop Arthur’s head. “Besides, Arthur here’s a sweetheart if you know how to deal with him. Like most men, the road to his heart is through his stomach.”

“...Wow, real sweeping there ‘Dagi. I’m hurt!” Star teased the dark-skinned man faking being shot. “Oh, by and by, I should warn you the Aquarium will have a few reporters coming by later today. Interviewers, the lot. Not that I’m grateful for the place racking up a few more visitors since… well, y’know but I hate fending off the paparazzi. We have a job to do here, and we don’t need those vultures getting up all in our business.”

“Trust me, I know how you feel. I’m the one they want. I swear I see them following me sometimes like they’re waiting for me to do something incriminating.” Adagio muttered. “I know there’s this saying stating that only the paranoid survive but this is getting ludicrous. I don’t want to have to look over my shoulder every day.”

“Tell you what, I’ll help keep an eye out for you,” Star Hunter assured. “I hate the rags that half of these people work for. The last thing I want is to see a photo of you plastered on one of them while checking out at the grocery store.”

“I’m getting security cameras, and a taser,” Adagio decided. “That way if some idiot wants to break into my apartment for a scoop, I can claim self-defense.”

“Good idea,” Star Hunter replied. “Maybe talk to your landlord too to see what you’re allowed to install. An alarm might be helpful too if they try to get in while you’re not home.”

Adagio chuckled. She suspected Ankh would work better than any man-made alarm, given his hostility towards anything and everything but then again that might wind up with her in more trouble than she wanted. “You know, if it weren’t for the commute I’d severely be thinking about taking my little sister’s route and moving outside of the city towards some ranch somewhere. Less liable to be bothered.”

“Oh please, you’d hate being out on a ranch,” Star Hunter dismissed. “It isn’t just the commute that’d bug you. It’s the isolation.”

“Oh, isolation I can handle, I like the peace and quiet, keeps me from being surrounded by idiots like Vignette. If it’s the wide-open space, I suppose yeah… I prefer the city lights honestly. Not to mention the little things I’ve heard about Skinwalkers from time to time.” Adagio admitted.

“I’d say Skinwalkers aren’t real… but given what’s been going on here lately, Skinwalkers don’t sound that crazy.” Star Hunter chuckled weakly, rubbing the back of his head.

“Trust me, you wouldn’t be laughing if you heard half of the stuff Skinwalkers can do. Talked to a friend in Arizona over Facebook, had a nasty encounter where one almost ran up to her car and ripped her limb from limb. Had to get a shaman to perform blessings, the whole thing,” Adagio admitted. “Fact is, I’m nervous to even talk about them really. There’s a reason a lot of tribes don’t speak much about them. ...Yeah, that’s it, I’m getting one to perform blessings on my house tonight. Might want for you to do that as well.”

“...This whole conversation just turned very weird, you know that right?” Star Hunter asked as Adagio exited Arthur’s enclosure briefly watching the seal dive into his pool and swim about. The little things, Adagio smiled to herself.

“Weirder than talking about me using medals to transform and the pros and cons of that?” Adagio asked with a small raised eyebrow.

“Point taken,” Star Hunter asked. “Still, there's those reporters coming in the hour, just want to remind you of that ‘Dagi.”

“...Would you like to borrow my baseball bat?” Adagio deadpanned. “Relax, I can handle myself.”

“Figured, but a heads up never hurt anyone, right?” he questioned, flashing her an easy smile. His eyes then widened as he saw a figure dart from the shadows. “Hey, you see that?” Star asked, gesturing to the shadows. He swore he saw this figure, dressed in a leather jacket. Military looking, at least due to the hairstyle.

“...Sure you’re not just getting paranoid due to all the attention?” Adagio asked skeptically.

“No, I’m sure I saw something in the shadows over there,” Star replied. “Agh, maybe you’re right. Maybe I am just getting paranoid as all Hell. Still, you can’t blame a guy can’t you?”

“...Ah, no. Not really,” Adagio shrugged before she steeled herself. “Ah well, time to face the music as it were. What do you think, a nice dress or just look like normal? Wetsuit and all?”

“Nice dress, best to not let them think you don’t take them seriously,” Star agreed. “...Mind you, if you showed up in a bikini it might be a good laugh for the rest of us, it’d give them something else to focus on besides you being a Kamen Rider.”

“Har har,” Adagio laughed. “You’re a real comedian, you know that right?” she asked, fighting back a smile.

“Maybe I’ll take my routine on the road? I can wow audiences with aquarium jokes. I can make a few fish-puns. Terrible ones, I admit, but still… Gotta start somewhere.”

“Try Lannie’s. You know, Lannie's Clocktower Cabaret? Been there a few times, Josh Blue’s a riot.” Adagio remarked.

“...Didn’t even know you had a sense of humor,” Star replied. “With you, it’s always work before pleasure. And you do take your work seriously, never known anyone to have the outright nerve to get that close to a leopard seal and pet it like it’s a common house cat all the while raising it back to health.”

“Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think…” Adagio trailed off, a hint of a smile gracing her face before she checked her watch. “...Crap, only thirty minutes till the vultures arrive. Been standing around here talking, time went by. Best I get dressed.” she said, popping a breath mint in her mouth.

So, with that, the woman quickly dressed herself as nicely as she could given the short time frame and walked out towards the foyer where more than a few reporters were waiting. As soon as she arrived, camera shutters went off and she was at once bombarded with questions. Adagio kept her cool, finding a spot to focus on just away from the flashing to avoid shielding her eyes. This also made it look like she was addressing the audience without having her focus on the reporters specifically. Wasn’t the first time she did this, given how popular the Aquarium generally was, it was just the first time she did this relating to her status as a Kamen Rider.

“Hello, I am open to your questions now. I’ll try to answer them as clearly as possible.”

“Yes. Can I just ask,” the first reporter asked, someone from Fau-Sorry, Fox News network if his badge was right. “How do you exactly feel about everything being asked of and about you?”

Great, an open-ended and vague question, just what she wanted right off the bat. And it had to be from this news network of all things. “People are curious, that’s to be expected. What’s going on in the city is not exactly an everyday occurrence. I just happen to be the center of their curiosity.”

“And… how do you feel about this?” The same reporter asked. Snappy Scoop, his name tag read. A bit on the nose, Adagio thought to herself in amusement.

And suddenly this news network learned how to press for a concrete answer. “I’m not one for the limelight so this isn’t something I’m used to. But I’m managing. Any other questions?”

“Yes, I’ve got one,” a female reporter, Press Release from Denver7 asked. Again, Adagio wondered, what was with these on the ludicrously on the nose names? “Are you quite sure you are not that person Vignette claims you are?”

A sarcastic reply was oh so tempting in that moment. If it wouldn’t make things infinitely worse, then she’d give into that impulse. Instead, she bit her tongue and said, “I am as positive as I can be that I am not that person. I have photographic and witnesses that can prove I was nowhere near Canterlot High when the incident Miss Vignette described occurred. In fact, I’ve worked at this aquarium for years now, just ask around. If you still don’t believe me, ask my co-workers. They will testify I am not that person.”

“Well, you know what they say…” Press Release well… pressed. “Sometimes the only way to find the real story is to dig deep, so…”

If one looked closely enough, one could see Adagio’s eyebrow give a slight twitch. “I’ve given my comment on the matter. If you want, I can give you my evidence.”

This went on for a good fifteen minutes or so, feeling like an eternity, but eventually, the reporters relented. Adagio sighed to herself as she wiped the sweat off her face using a bathroom sink. And to think, this was probably only just the beginning…

---

Meanwhile, at a certain apartment in Capitol Hill, Mezool had managed to retrieve a few of her children that had escaped a certain Kamen Rider’s finisher.

“SCANNING CHARGE!” the driver shouted as Adagio ran the scanner across it once more before changing into a liquid form propelling herself upwards. She then grabbed the massive yummy school with her whips and pulled herself inwards the legs turning into one massive drill spinning like a corkscrew.

“Always wanted to say this and I know this sounds so unprofessional of me but… GIGA DRILL BREAKER!” Adagio shouted in a one-off moment of completely dropping her stoic composure as she burrowed into the yummy school.

The yummies exploded and it began to rain down cell medals, Ankh, Mezool and everyone else trying to catch whatever they could.

What nobody had seen in all the chaos was Mezool, leaping down towards the ground and to her surprise and shock finding several of her yummy children still crawling about.

“Oh, my babies…” Mezool whispered as she gathered up the piranha-themed yummies in her arms and began scampering off towards a nearby dump truck, driven by Gamel.

“Gamel, get me and my children out of here, before that brat or that bastard Ankh realizes that they missed a few,” Mezool stated, gently tossing her children into the back of the truck. She then tossed a look back behind her and sighed in relief as she saw Adagio clutching her chest in pain and being helped to a nearby bench by Eiji. She chuckled. “So, it seems that petulant child can’t handle the power of my cores after all…” Mezool murmured to herself, allowing a slight smirk of satisfaction to cross her features.

“Anything for you Mezool!” Gamel answered with a rapid nod of his head, and a lovesick smile on his face. The latter of course, Mezool couldn’t possibly have noticed. And how could she, she didn’t exactly know what love was. The trouble was, when Mezool’s tenth core was removed from that set all those years ago, she like all the rest of the other Greeed lost the ability to feel as we do. Sadly, and this was the real tragedy of the Greeed it was almost impossible for them to see the world as we do. Every sense that they once possessed, it had been diluted. They could only hear drowned out sounds, and see the world in various shades of gray. As such, Mezool like all Greeed became Hell-bent on filling the void left in them by consuming the world. All just to feel what we humans do.

Mezool’s desire, of course, was to feel human love, which was why she took on the form of a teenage schoolgirl and doted over Gamel so much, alongside referring to her yummies as her children. The sad thing was, it may very well have been impossible for her to actually achieve her desire. But then again, time would only tell…

“I suppose it can’t be helped,” Mezool sighed as the last of her children dissolved into cell medals which were divided up amongst the other Greeed. “OOO will get a few of my children, and she’ll get a few of our cores.”

“...Suffering a crisis of conscience are you Mezool?” Kazari asked with a small yawn. “That’s not like you, you’re normally fairly determined.”

“Hardly. We just need to play the long game, outlast OOOs and collect Cells little by little until we… complete ourselves. It’ll be impossible for her to withstand our power by then. This assumes OOOs even makes it this far. Every human has a desire, it’s impossible for them to function without it. Why, if you showed me a human without desires I’d probably die of shock!”

“...Well, here’s one in this novel, completely selfless and only showing concerns for others…” Gamel murmured reading a frankly rather trashy book -in every sense of the word- showing a shirtless male on the cover. Written by a Satin Nights, apparently. Mezool blinked, she didn’t even know Gamel could read.

“...That’s human fiction,” Mezool said with a sigh. “Emphasis on fiction. I’m talking realistically. The OOOs Girl wouldn’t even be able to handle the power of any of our combos forever. Eventually… She’d lose control to her own desires and I for one cannot wait to see that happen. That would be our chance to strike.”

“...Or, you know we could let the humans do in OOOs for us,” Kazari suggested leaning back on the couch arms crossed behind his head. “They’re a fickle bunch, and watching this ‘CNN’ tells me they’re only a few steps away from turning on her. They’d just need the right… incentive.” he chuckled.

“...What are you plotting?” Mezool asked narrowing her eyes suspiciously. That cat always had an agenda, and trusting him was tantamount to suicide.

“It’s not just me this time,” Kazari admitted. “Me and Uva, we decided to put aside our differences for once. Just this once.”

Mezool blinked, swearing she must have misheard. Uva and Kazari, working together? Had the world truly gone mad?

“No, I assure you, Mezool, you’re still quite sane. It’s just we have to know when to fold them. And working to ensure our survival against OOOs…” Kazari answered lazily. “I can think of no better common cause than that. As you said, she cannot withstand the power of a Full-Medal combo for long, so I figure we draw her out with another Yummy -Uva’s choice of course- and when she goes berserk let the humans take over for us and kill her. All the while, we don’t have to lift a finger and we get more Cell Medals in the bargain. A two for one deal!” he said, clapping his hands together in excitement before propping his feet up on a table.

“If that’s the case… Then why do I still have a bad feeling about this…?” Mezool thought to herself.

---

Meanwhile, Uva was putting his part of the plan into action. Namely, the first part involved finding a suitable parent for the next Yummy, the one that would hopefully play a part in doing OOOs in.

It would need to be a very powerful parent, with their desire overriding everything else, such as Rainbow Dash had taught him. Her sense of justice was simply too strong for her to be used as a viable host, as she was liable to turn on the very Yummy she created.

Thankfully, Uva considered himself knowledgeable enough on all the types of Desire. And he knew the oldest and always most reliable was plain and simple greed. It never failed, as shown with the power the King possessed. His greed was so strong that as mentioned before, all of the Greeed had been able to create Yummies as powerful as their own complete forms from it. If Ankh hadn’t chosen to backstab them, they might just have defeated the man and reclaimed their cores.

“Ankh....” Uva growled out, even as he ripped off a jail cell door, tossing a cell into the head of a wanted bank robber. Even now, he flashbacked to the moment of Ankh’s betrayal...

Suddenly, a blast of fire hit the silver one in the chest before the former King of the Birds stepped out of the shadows.

“A-Ankh?” Uva whispered in horror. “W-Why?”

“I know when to pick my winners.” Ankh smirked. However, even he didn’t see what would happen next when the King, for some reason attempted to scan every Core Medal at once, his desires getting the best of him. He even quite literally backstabbed Ankh and ripped out his own Core Medals.

“Now… Now I shall be one of the Gods!” King screamed out before descending into mad laughter. But that was not what fate desired, for even King’s body had its limits. The monstrous creature running a scanner across every core medal, after he tossed them up in the air, multiple voices began calling out.

“Taka, Tora, Batta, Kuwagata, Kamakiri, Lion, Cheetah, Sai, Gorilla, Zou! Shachi, Unagi, Tako, Cobra, Kame, Wani, Kujaku, Condor, Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo! Ebi, Kani, Sasori, Shika, Gazelle, UshI, Mukade, Hachi, Ari, Seiuchi, Shirokuma, Penguin!” the belt shouted one after the other as each core was scanned. This of course, was a foolish maneuver. Like I said, even his body had its limits. With this overwhelming surge of power, the entire castle buckled and then exploded, and all that was left were a set of ruins and one large coffin with the belt buckle forming the seal.

Spending a few hundred years trapped away with his fellow Greeed left Uva with quite the headache, not to mention one Hell of a charley horse and aches in places he didn’t even know he had. Chuckling as he watched a weevil-like entity crawl out of the head of the convict, Uva stepped aside and laughed as he watched the new yummy head towards the nearest bank.

People screaming and scattering as the yummy began gnawing on the bank vault door, it soon devoured anything and everything valuable inside. As it did this, it grew in size and headed up the side of the bank devouring the building walls as it did so.

Uva watched this and then saw Adagio in her human horseless carriage 'round a corner, tires squealing out in protest seemingly right on cue. Knowing when to take his leave, he leaped off into the distance.

From his office, Eiji watched through the vision of a Batta Candroid. He groaned when he saw the Weevil Yummy, now massive in size heading towards his building. Taking out the proto-birth driver, he slapped it on, tossed a cell medal into it and transformed armor forming around his body.

“I can’t even begin to imagine how much the insurance premiums will go up after this…” he muttered, knowing his boss was going to hate this. On the ground meanwhile, Adagio had already henshined using the Shauta combo medals but something was wrong. Very wrong in fact, as Ankh was just now finding out.

Adagio screamed out in pain as she felt energy run rampant through her body as her desires took control. Not just the desire to protect everyone, but the desire to keep her own reputation intact from Vignette and her machinations. Which was proving to be much harder than it looked, as Adagio was now growling ferally, and advancing on Ankh with the Unagi Whips crackling with electricity.

“Damn it, I knew this would happen sooner or later, I just knew it,” Ankh muttered. “But does she listen? No, just no!” he grumbled, dodging to the left as Adagio lashed out, her helmet eyes glowing a sharp lamp-like shade of yellow. One lash of her whips managed to cleave the entire front end off a nearby car.

Ankh looked up to the yummy crawling up the side of the Kougami Foundation, and then back at Adagio who was advancing on him. “...Can’t believe I’m even staying for this, why am I not just cutting and running like I should?” Ankh asked himself as he brought out another Batta Candroid and slipped a cell medal into it allowing it to transform. He then ran over to a nearby vending machine with the Kougami Foundation logo on the side of it and selected two more candroids.

“Kujaku Can! Unagi Can!” the vending machine stated.

“Come on, come on… Please tell me this will work…” Ankh muttered as the two cans appeared in front of him, and he tossed two more cell medals into them activating their functions. Amazingly, he actually combined all three candroids into a hand-held device that displayed a screen. And on that screen, was another one of the Dazzling sisters. Namely, Aria.

“Alright, Adagio…” Ankh muttered as the berserking Rider turned her attention to him. Swallowing nervously, he put his and Eiji’s plan into action. “If you care any about what happens to your sister, you’re going to listen to me….”

Author's Notes:

Okay, quite a few things to say about this chapter. First off, originally I did plan to have more a focus on Rainbow Dash, and actually include Chris/Kamen Rider Sting from Dragon Knight, but I figured with the whole Vignette incident in the last chapter, I'd best focus on the fallout of what happened next. Huge thank you to Thunderclap for helping me with Vignette's lines and the whole reporter scene. On a similar note, thank you RuinQueen for helping me with the whole situation update regarding EX-Aid's events. Currently, they'd be sometime before episode 12. Namely, before it's revealed just how loony Kuruto is.

So anyways, quite a bit got cut including another Rainbow Dash plot that I won't quite spoil just yet, On a similar note relating to Rainbow, I actually for a minute considered making her Masato's -yes, that one- stepsibling or something similar. But as handling Masato would take a bit more grace than I actually possess, as his whole character is creepy and requires a Hell of a lot of delicacies, I decided against it. Plus, I hate him too much to actually want to write anything related to him. Seriously, fuck that bastard.

8: Rebirth

“Alright, Adagio…” Ankh muttered as the berserking Rider turned her attention to him. Swallowing nervously, he put his and Eiji’s plan into action. “If you care any about what happens to your sister, you’re going to listen to me….”

Letting out a guttural hiss, and lashing the unagi whips spinning them in her hands Adagio advanced on Ankh who took a few careful steps backwards.

Yelping as Adagio nearly got him ensnared in the whips, Ankh rolled to the left and held up the combined form of the candroids, projecting an image of Aria atop a nearby building like an old-school movie reel.

“Adagio!” Aria shouted.

Adagio halted briefly, her attention turning to that voice and her head whipping around to face it.

“Alright…” Ankh thought. “Just… Just got to keep her preoccupied long enough to get to her belt, and cancel out that transformation.”

He muttered something under his breath, easier said than done. And then he cast a glance to the weevil yummy climbing up the side of the Kougami Foundation building. And then there was that particular problem. Ankh figured that Hino brat would have to handle his own issues. He had more pressing concerns than just one Yummy. A rogue OOOs was slightly more concerning that a glut of cell medals getting away. Slightly.

He just thanked whatever deity was listening Eiji had thought ahead and had two of his employees cordon off the whole area so no reporters would even get near this location. He didn’t like Adagio even at the best of times, but having her angsting about her reputation in tatters would have been a bit too much to take even for him really.

“Adagio,” Aria said calmly. “If that’s really still you in there, you’re going to want to have to listen to what I have to say, okay?”

Even as she spoke, Ankh thought back.

“No, I’m not going to be party to… this!” Eiji had shouted upon learning what exactly Ankh’s plan to corral a rampaging OOOs would entail.

“Well, it’s not like we’re really going to kill anyone,” Ankh stated slamming his hand down on Eiji’s desk. “We just have to convince Adagio that we are, that’s all!”

“Even so,” Eiji refuted. “I don’t like the idea of using human beings as chess pieces. That’s what my father would have done, but not me. Never me!”

“Get realistic Hino,” Ankh replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Whatever moral problems you may have with my plan, keep them to yourself. I don’t really give a damn actually. And besides, it’s not like we really don’t have a lot of choice in the matter. Sooner or later, Adagio will get desperate enough -or foolish enough- to use a full medal combo and then what? Do we really want to just chance our bets that she won’t go berserk on anyone or more importantly me? I’d really rather not, thank you.”

“...I never told you about my father, did I?” Eiji asked.

“Not really, and even if you did I doubt I would really have cared really…” Ankh muttered with a roll of his eyes. Eiji ignored him.

“My father...Politician. I really didn’t care much for what he did, politics was never something I was ever interested in anyhow. His position however… it did afford me to live out one of my dreams, traveling the world-”

“Yes yes, sounds like a lot of great fun,” Ankh said with another dismissive wave. “Will you just get to the point already? And if it’s a sob story about how woe is you, skip it. Don’t care!”

“...You’re a real prick, you know that right?” Eiji replied flatly. “In any case, during one of my travels I got caught up in a war in Iran, and I did try to use my family fortune to help those in need including this little gir-”

“And here’s where the sob story part comes in am I right?” Ankh asked again not caring in the slightest. “She got killed, am I right? You got rescued, and for whatever human reason relating to greed, your own father used your tragic circumstances to fund his own campaign. Am I right?”

“How… How did you…?” Eiji asked, hearing the screams of that girl and the sound of explosions faintly in the background.

“It’s not hard to guess really,” Ankh commented. “Humans are all so predictable. It’s been 800 years for me, and they still have yet to change. It’d take a lot to convince me otherwise…”

Eiji actually growled, and grabbed Ankh by the shirt. “Chess. It's a useful mental exercise. Through the years, many thinkers have been fascinated by it. But I don't enjoy playing... Because it was a game that was born during a brutal age when life counted for little. Everyone believed that some people were worth more than others. Kings. Pawns. I don't think that anyone is worth more than anyone else... Chess is just a game. Real people are not pieces. You can't assign more value to some of them and not others. Not to me. Not to anyone. People are not a thing that you can sacrifice. The lesson is, if anyone who looks on to the world as if it is a game of chess, deserves to lose. Do you see my point Bird?” Eiji demanded, his tone slowly rising in anger by the moment.

“Yes, yes, I do, not caring. You think of me as using people like pawns, and yes I admit that is true,” Ankh stated prying himself away from Eiji’s grip and shoving him into his chair. “But believe it or not, I do care for Adagio as more than just another person to further my own desires, and I don’t actually care one jot about your backstory. Boo hoo, everyone’s got dead people. Everyone. So suck it up, and listen to what I have to say. Like I said before I don’t really plan to kill anyone. Just make it look like I do, long enough to distract Adagio if -no, when- this happens. It’ll only work once, but I do hope it’ll teach Adagio a much needed lesson about being so foolhardy. So shut up, sit down, and listen…”

In the present, Adagio’s eyes widened in horror as she saw what was coming up from behind her sister. A masked figure, a shotgun aimed squarely at Aria’s head.

“Ankh, he set up a deal to kill me if things ever went south with you,” Aria whispered tearfully. “Or attempt to kill me if you ever in his words ‘got fool-hardy enough to use a full medal combo’ and so please, I’m not afraid to die but I am afraid of what will happen to you if you continue on down this path. Please Adagio, give up those medals now!”

Of course, the figure was Erika and she had no intent on killing Aria -she was going to demand overtime pay for this though- but she knew what Ankh was trying to pull and even if she hated him for it she admitted it was a sound plan. And it worked as well, as Aria’s fright reached Adagio long enough to snap her out of her current state and let out a roar of rage as she charged at Ankh. Ankh drew back his fist and punched Adagio squarely in the gut and made her stagger back long enough for him to twist her belt and force her right out of the transformation. Adagio staggered forwards, clutching her chest in pain before collapsing into Ankh’s arms.

“Well, that went easier than I thought it would…” Ankh muttered clutching the medals in his free hand.

Meanwhile, in his office as Eiji readied the Birth’s Breast Cannon system to finish off the weevil yummy, Kazari’s part of the plan came into action as a lion-themed yummy came up from behind and blindsided him with a claw strike knocking him out the window.

“Crane Arm.” the Birth Driver stated as Eiji thought fast and activated the system grappling up onto a tall construction tower crane and swinging around back towards a rooftop. Landing with a roll onto a helicopter landing pad, Eiji ran some figures through his head and calculated the exact distance between him and the weevil yummy.

What he didn’t expect was the Lion Yummy jumping out of his office and onto the top of the crane and then back towards Eiji following after him.

“Subarashī…” Eiji muttered under his breath and began rapidly swinging the crane arm attachment around and slamming it into the yummy knocking away cell medals from it. He grabbed a few and loaded them into the Birth Buster and fired off a few shots damaging the yummy before swinging the crane arm around once more hitting the Lion Yummy in the side of the head.

It was floored, but it quickly recovered and charged towards Eiji with a load roar even as the man fired more Birth Buster shots into the beast. Suddenly, he heard a distinct clunking sound as he suddenly realized he was out of cell ammunition and Eiji had no time to react before the Lion Yummy tackled him through a wall and into a stairwell. Eiji kicked the kaijin away from him and maneuvered around it swinging the crane arm around some more finally managing to score a hit with it hard enough to knock away the host from the creature. The host, some unknown man fell to the floor before Eiji ran forwards and leaped into a flying side kick dispatching the yummy with a powerful Rider Kick.

“Now… Now,” Eiji panted out as he turned his attention back towards the Weevil Yummy who had grown larger with each passing moment. “There’s… There’s only you.”

Already exhausted from the impromptu fight with the Lion Yummy, Eiji sighed to himself and once more began running figures through his head. Planting another cell medal into his driver and giving the little dial on it a twist, a chest-mounted cannon that had to be held by two grips came into being.

“Breast Cannon.” the driver stated in that monotone voice even as Eiji placed a few more cell medals into the driver to charge up the weapon.

Finally, it declared “Cell Burst!” before firing off one huge continuous stream of red energy slicing through the Weevil Yummy and making it explode in one huge rain of cells. Some collected by Taka Candroids, others by of course Ankh.

“You… You sure took your sweet time Hino…” Ankh grumbled. “What the Hell was taking you? What, did some business associate decide to suddenly call you up on their phone?” he groused tossing the candroid-comprised projection device aside.

Friggin' odoroku hodo anata no ningen ga dore dake osoku naru koto ga dekimasu…” Ankh grumbled to himself as he helped Adagio into the passenger’s seat of her car. “Guess I’ll be doing the driving then today…” he continued to mutter as he got in. Amusingly, he knew nothing about such a thing as gears grinded in protest and finally, giving up Ankh banged his head on the steering wheel as the car horn let out a loud continuous blare.

“Subarashī…” Ankh muttered to himself. “Today’s been such a wonderful comedy of errors, hasn’t it?” he grumbled sarcastically and wondered what god he managed to offend for his life to go in this particular direction. Oh well, he mused. At least he had managed to get some cell medals for his troubles and hopefully had taught Adagio a lesson or two about being so unbelievably moronic.

Of course, now there was another issue. Because Adagio had overtaxed herself so badly with these constant combos this one included she was going to be out of it for the next few days. And that meant, of course, when another yummy decided to show its face -and one would- that meant it was only down to Hino of all people to deal with the matter. Such an absolutely lovely prospect, Ankh grumbled.

“Can’t believe I’m even saying this, but we need another Kamen Rider.”

---

A few days passed, without much incident. Because of the fact that the whole battle zone had been cordoned off to strangers, nobody got wind of Adagio going berserk and that created one less headache for her. Ankh had been kind enough to call Adagio in sick, saying she’d come down with a newly discovered disease called the ‘Feather Flu’ and therefore would not be able to work at the Aquarium for the next few days.

He hated himself for being nice, but he hated random idiots coming up to his doorstep questioning where Adagio was even more.

Really gave him quite the headache.

He did have to wonder what the whole purpose of the last attack was, as he suspected there was more to it than just Uva grabbing a bunch of Cell Medals for himself. But if Eiji knew anything -and Ankh didn’t doubt for a moment that he did- he wasn’t telling.

Figured, really. He suspected the man was still sore at him for the little stunt he pulled with Aria. He didn’t know why really, considering he saved Adagio’s life and just about everyone else’s really, but that man was too nice for his own good. Kindness got nobody anywhere really.

At least nowhere significant.

And yet here he was faced with one very angry Aria Dazzle.

“...You bastard, you fucking bastard…” the woman snarled looking this close to strangling Ankh on the spot. She was like an angry serpent, poised to strike. “First you possess me, then you nearly make me fear for my life all just to deal with my sister! WHAT THE HELL is wrong with you!?!” she bellowed, lunging for Ankh who had to duck behind the couch to avoid being grabbed.

In the back of the room, Rainbow sat leaning up against a wall. She too had heard Adagio had called in sick, and suspecting something was off headed off to her apartment. She supposed she shouldn’t have been entirely surprised Ankh and Adagio’s little side career had something to do with all of this. Weird things in this city -nowadays at least- could generally be led back to Ankh and his race anyways.

She was half-torn in letting Aria strangle Ankh or stepping in. She didn’t know which was the better option given she really wasn’t a fan of people using others like pawns for their own ends.

Then again, letting Aria get arrested for murder probably wasn’t a good idea.

Grabbing the woman by the ear, she pulled her away.

“Is something the matter with you, shortstack?” Aria asked. “Because seriously. That… That bastard,” she snapped pointing directly at Ankh who actually looked downright flattered by the statement. “Nearly got my sister killed, and tried to kill me as well!”

“Firstly, I didn’t want to try and kill you. It was never on the agenda, believe it or not,” Ankh stated not even remotely afraid of the angry woman in front of him. “You would have been completely fine. If everything went too sour, Erika would have pulled off her mask and explained everything. I just needed to distract Adagio long enough to cancel out her transformation considering Hino was of no help!”

“...Yeah, there’s probably a reason for that,” Rainbow huffed. “You using people and their emotions like chess pieces? Not cool dude.”

“And I honestly don’t care what’s not cool and what is,” Ankh sniped back. “I only care about one thing, namely-”

“Your little pet in Adagio?” Aria joined in. “Fuckin’ figures really, considering she’s one of the only ways you can restore your body or whatever you intend to do. Don’t forget, I still have the memories of what you said and did when you possessed me!” she remarked pointing towards her head.

“Oh, go cry about it to someone who cares Dazzle,” Ankh said with a dismissive wave. “I do what I want, regardless of your human ‘morals’. Tie people down anyways, and besides, city’s safe right now isn’t it? Adagio’s alive, and the city’s intact right?” he asked.

“Yeah, that may be,” Rainbow remarked, punching a glass mirror in frustration. “But she’s laid up in bed for god knows how long and if another Yummy attacks I don’t see anyone else coming to help stop it!” she shouted gesturing to the bedroom where Adagio laid on her bed taking a very long nap.

“...Well, there’s Eiji right?” Aria asked. “He’s a Rider, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, a useless one,” Ankh stated with a small scoff. “Hino takes too long to defeat the Yummies with that Birth system of his. Any longer on his last stint, and Adagio would have rampage and his building would have been munch-munch! It’s still undergoing repairs as it is!”

“You know, is gratefulness not in your vocabulary?” Rainbow muttered. “He saved your life, and quite a few others besides!”

“...I don’t care honestly, being saved by a human is humiliating. And as for everyone else, bah. Not my concern. All I care about are these,” Ankh replied holding up a cell and a core medal. “Haven’t you gotten that through your thick skulls yet?” he asked nibbling on an ice pop

Aria left in a huff, having had enough of this and slammed the door shut with a loud thud. Rainbow just gave Ankh a disgusted look and was about to follow her before she noticed something. A strange little bronze colored deck laying on the floor, right below the shattered mirror. Ankh seemed to take no notice of this, having invested himself in his ice pop. Typical really.

Rainbow, her curiosity getting the better of her picked it up and walked out of the apartment towards home. Little did she realize it, but what she’d just picked up was the beginning of a possible rebirth for one very old conflict if she wasn’t careful…

Eventually, she found herself back at her housing at Buckley Air Force Base just looking through the cards as the hours passed. They looked like something out of some sort of strange children’s game really. They had labels like “Sword Vent”, “Guard Vent” and the like. Each had what looked to be attack points on them, ranging from 4000 all the way up to 8000. Even one card depicted this odd golden bird, which gave Rainbow flashbacks towards back when she was playing Yu-Gi-Oh with Pinkie as a kid and Pinkie summoned that Immortal Phoenix thing.

“...Never knew Adagio was into card games like this,” Rainbow murmured. “Oh, guess everybody needs a venting mechanism for a stressful life, really. Especially when that stressful life includes a certain dick named Ankh…”

Rainbow suddenly groaned to herself, upon remembering Soarin’ was supposed to be coming over later that night, just so he could show her this recipe he’d been trying to make for the last week.

Rainbow totally didn’t have any interest in him, but she smelled like something the cat dragged in so she figured it was probably best to wash up. Walking towards the bathroom, she was about to jump into the shower when the hairs on the back of her neck suddenly stood on end. Reaching for her gun, she pulled out the Beretta M9 swearing something had just rushed past her.

Panting and sweating when nothing was there, she reholstered the piece and after a quick shower, she did a quick washing of her hands as well. Might have been called a bit of a neat freak or germaphobe but she wanted to smell and look her best for when her friend came over.

A cold wind then brushed past her again, and once more Rainbow grabbed her pistol from the nearby countertop. Whirling around, her eyes widened when she only saw her little sister.

“K-Kid, what are you doing up?” Rainbow stammered out, quickly putting her pistol down. “It’s late, like really late. It’s almost 2300 hours. You should be in bed for school tomorrow…”

“...I was thirsty,” Scootaloo admitted. “Y-you know how I sometimes get, r-right?”

Her nervous quiver betrayed her, and Rainbow had to admit her probably pointing her service weapon at her probably didn’t help matters much.

“Okay, out with it squirt,” Rainbow requested getting down to Scootaloo’s level, the girl clutching her blanket to her chest in a rather adorable fashion. “What’s the matter?”

“I… Oh, it’s nothing…” Scootaloo whispered, but Rainbow didn’t believe her and gently placed a hand on her cheek.

“Hey, you can tell me anything. Big sister remember. Anything, promise I won’t laugh. Not one bit okay?” Rainbow replied softly.

“It… It was a nightmare, okay?” Scootaloo whispered. “Now, I know those aren’t cool, especially me talking to you about-”

“Hey, hey, get that out of your head right now okay?” Rainbow stated. “Like I said, you can talk to me about anything. Anything at all, understand? Including nightmares, it’s my job as your big sister to help you through them. Got it?”

“Y-Yes…”

Okay, maybe she really wasn’t Scootaloo’s big sister by blood but she might as well have been. The kid was her responsibility, she’d actually found herself enjoying her company. Reminded her of herself really, and that wasn’t even beginning to get what happened when she found out Scoots was an orphan. She had relations, at least at one point but sadly from what she’d heard from Sunshine Smiles they’d been killed in a car accident and Scootaloo had been dumped into the system. It wasn’t one of those horrible places you read about in fiction or anything, but Rainbow knew that even the loving caretakers were no substitute for a real family. So, she’d went out and adopted the kid. She could only imagine what happened at the orphanage the day of the adoption, but Rainbow liked to think it was something like this.

“Just one day.” Scootaloo kept on telling herself, over and over and over again. “One day, I’ll finally be able to get out of this place, live on my own!”

“Scootaloo?”

One of the caretakers poked her head out of the door and walked up to the young teen sitting at the foot of her bed. “There’s somebody here to see you. And from the looks of it, well… Okay, well I won’t spoil the surprise.” Sunshine Smiles said with a soft grin.

“Surprise?” Scootaloo parroted, looking up at the tender-hearted woman. “What kinda surprise are we talking about?”

“Well, just you wait and see,” Sunshine said and began lead Scootaloo out of the room. “But trust me on this, it’s the good kind of surprise.”

“R-really?” Scootaloo’s eyes lit up almost instantaneously at those words. Was she finally about to… No, it couldn’t be. Her luck wasn’t anywhere near that good. ...was it?

When Scootaloo arrived at the lobby of the orphanage, she was met with a very familiar face and if Scootaloo didn’t know better she probably said she would have been dreaming. Hell, she still wasn’t sure if she wasn’t. Because standing before her was Rainbow Dash, with adoption forms in her hands and all of it practically filled out. This was a dream come true for her. Not only was she about to get adopted but it was by possibly the only other person outside of her aunts and her parents she actually considered part of her family. She was so tempted to pinch herself to make sure it wasn’t a dream, but decided against it so as not to ruin the moment.

“Rainbow Dash!” She squealed and barrelled into Rainbow’s leg, hugging it as tight as she could. Personally, Scootaloo didn’t care about dignity at the moment.

“Hey, Squirt.” Rainbow smiled down at her.

“Is this really happening?” Scootaloo asked practically crying into Rainbow’s leg. She knew how uncool it was, but… Right now, she just didn’t care.

“Yep.” Rainbow nodded. “Just gotta sign my name a couple of times, then we’re gonna head on home straight away. Sound good?”

“Of course it sounds good!” Scootaloo nodded, slathering her tears all over Rainbow’s leg. “Let’s go, Rainbow! I wanna come home with you as soon as possible!”

Rainbow looked down at the teary kid, then up at the mare who has escorted her. “So, where do I sign?” she asked with a smile.

“So, what happened?” Rainbow asked, now back in the present and having thrown on some clothes just in case Soarin’ showed up unexpectedly. ...Wouldn’t have been the first time really.

“It’s… It’s just, I saw you caught up in a Yummy attack, and…” Scootaloo whispered, sounding close to tears.

“It’s okay kid, you don’t have to say anymore,” Rainbow replied. She sighed. God above, she wanted to find and punch Ankh in the face right about now, given this whole monsters being unleashed upon the Earth was probably his fault anyways. And now it was starting to affect her family. Her family. “I know you’re scared. Hell, truth be told I am too. Who wouldn’t be? But I’ve got faith. This city… it’s gotten through worse, and now we’ve got Riders to protect it right?”

“Yeah, even if one of them is laid up in bed right about now…” Rainbow muttered to herself.

“Y-Yeah, but…” Scootaloo trailed off.

“Hey, listen. No matter what happens, I’ll always be there to protect you, understand? Always,” Rainbow promised. “Make that a promise,”

“Pinkie Promise?” Scootaloo asked.

“Cross my heart, hope to fly…” Rainbow trailed off, before her eyes widened and she shouted out: “Get down, Squirt!” and shoved Scootaloo to the floor as a figure stepped out of the bathroom mirror and swung a powerful sword down in Rainbow’s direction.

Rainbow, her back bleeding slightly from the strike looked up and ignored the pain as best as she could. Standing in front of her was this black knight-like figure, with glowing red eyes behind the mask. If she didn’t know better, she could have sworn that he was a Kamen Rider.

“W-Who… Who are you?”

“That is none of your concern. Give me the deck,” the figure said in English, though with a hint of a Japanese accent as well. “And I promise to make this as painless as possible.”

“What deck, this deck?” Rainbow asked looking towards the card deck laying on her kitchen counter. “I thought that was just a toy!”

“Then you are a fool.” the dark Rider stated slotting a card pulled from his belt buckle into a gauntlet on his left arm that resembled a dragon’s head.

“Advent.” the deck declared and before even Rainbow could blink a loud snarl filled the air around her before she was grabbed in a set of massive jaws and dragged outside her house and past a set of humvees. Looking upwards, she saw she was held tight in a Japanese dragon’s jaws, the dragon’s eyes glowing a deep blood-red.

Finally, the dragon let her go and tossed her into the side of a jet. The Dark Rider walked up and stroked his pet’s head lovingly.

Amazingly, throughout this Rainbow had managed to keep ahold of the deck. Apparently, as far as she could remember she’d managed to grab it before that thing had grabbed her intending on getting it as far away from here as possible. Or to be more accurate, as far away from Scootaloo as possible.

She looked up towards the jets’ cockpit, and in the window, she saw a belt similar to the Dark Rider’s wrapping itself around her waist. Only one difference. It was missing something. Rainbow knew what she had to do.

Cracking her knuckles, she then slammed the deck into the slot. With a cry as she felt power course its way through her body, she shouted out: “Hen… SHIN!”

And all went dark.

---

Rainbow found herself in a dark landscape, only her and this massive gold bird in front of her.

“You’re such an idiot, Rainbow Dash of Earth,” the bird remarked. “Still, I do have to admire your bravery in the face of danger. Not many would just slot an Advent Deck into a belt like you did. And you don’t even know what consequences might result!” he laughed, the laughter sounding like it was all around her.

“Who… who are you?” Rainbow asked, having no time for this nonsense considering the situation. Her adoptive sister was in danger, and that thing was running about amuck!

“Oh, you’ll know my name in time… But right now I suspect you have more important things to worry about yes? Like, say… your sister?” the massive bird asked with a vaguely menacing tone.

“Don’t bring her into this… You… Well, whatever you are!” Rainbow snapped.

“You may call me Goldphoenix,” the bird introduced himself. “I’m what lives on the other side of the mirror, every mirror in fact. Been a while since I had anyone to talk to really… Of course, given what’s transpired since then... “ he trailed off.

Rainbow briefly wondered what he -He? Could you even possibly assign a gender to mirror monsters?- could have possibly meant by that, but decided it was better not to ask. Time was not on her side here.

“Just… Just tell me how to stop that Rider!” she said, spitting out the last word as if it were venom.

“Simply put, kill him. It’s not like he doesn’t belong in this world anyways,” Rainbow was told. “Or maybe he does, it’s hard to say with mirror twins. For all we know, he could be the real Shinji Kido if he were to have his way. Not sure what exactly spawned him again, if he ever died, but it’ll be so good to flex my wings again and do some damage!” Goldphoenix laughed darkly.

“...Yeah, not so sure I’ll trust you if you’re going to be like that…” Rainbow muttered taking a few steps back.

“Wise choice. If I’m not satisfied with how our contract goes, I’ll eat you anyways. Just telling you straight out, so you won’t be all shocked and stunned when you inevitably fail to satisfy me,”

“Who’s to say I won’t?” Rainbow challenged. “Plenty of monsters running amuck in the world right now, who’s to say I can’t sic you on them?”

“True I suppose…” Goldphoenix was forced to admit. “You’re an interesting one that’s for sure, Rainbow Dash. Very well, I suppose I’ll humor you and for right now become your hope. Let’s go.”

Back in the real world, Dark Shinji/Ryuga took a few steps back in surprise before grinning as a golden glow filled up the area and out of the glow stepped a knight-like warrior resembling that idiot Ren in some ways. Mind you, there was more of a bird theme to this one, but the resemblance was there, Dark Shinji thought to himself as he cracked his knuckles. This was going to be fun. Barely worth the challenge, but fun nonetheless. Been so long since he and his pet were ever allowed to play with anything.

“Sword Vent.” Rainbow’s card reader -a staff with gold wingtips- called as a bird’s screech cut through the air before a long curved blade was thrown into her arm.

Gripping it tightly, Rainbow charged into battle and clashed blades with Ryuga with a ferocity that surprised even him. Mind you, perhaps it wouldn’t have been so stunning had he known one simple fact.

Never get between two sisters and their love for each other.

“Advent.” Ryuga’s card reader stated as his contract monster, Dragblacker rushed towards Rainbow Dash but somehow she managed to flip over it and actually strike its master in the chest several times with her blade.

“Final Vent.” the card reader stated before Dragblacker coiled around Ryuga poised to strike. Ryuga leaped up into the air, blasted forwards by a black flame from his dragon towards Rainbow. Rainbow simply rolled out of the way and when she got her chance struck again with her sword making Ryuga cry out in pain and surprise.

Now normally, this battle would have been tipped in Ryuga’s favor. However, he had gotten in between one very stubborn woman with a love for her little sister and one woman who he didn’t actually expect to put up this much of a fight. So his guard was actually down.

Growling to himself, Ryuga leaped into a nearby windshield and came out of another ready to kick Rainbow Dash, but the woman upon seeing this had gotten a similar idea and had done the same. The two kicks collided, and both Riders flipped backwards onto the hoods of nearby vehicles.

“Damn you…” Ryuga growled.

“Nice to see you’re not so much of a tough guy after all,” Rainbow stated pointing her sword towards him a protective edge in her tone. “Now, if you know what’s good for you… I’d suggest you leave. Like, right now.”

“Very well, but be warned… This battle is far from over,” Ryuga stated. “I am the strongest Rider, and I will prove it to you. So be warned Odin, new face or not, you will see from me again!” he shouted diving into a nearby mirror. Rainbow, panting canceled out her transformation and looked at her deck.

“And I’ll be waiting…” she whispered all the while wondering what the Hell she’d gotten herself into.

Author's Notes:

Okay, so yes, Might have been a bit of a rush job, this, but I didn't want to leave you hanging on that cliffhanger forever after all...

And on the elephant in the room... Yes, Ryuki. I'm going off Zi-O's logic here, namely that the timeline still exists -somehow- and you can get access to the mirror world if you were just really unlucky. Now don't worry, won't be getting into any Rider Wars here. I honestly hate them, or at least the way Ryuki did it. If anything, the only Rider showing up from Ryuki would be Ryuga and it's only going to be for a couple of times. Personally, I think Ryuki can piss off really. A disgrace to Kamen Rider if you ask me.

But anyways, enough of that. Ankh's back to being a dick as ever, Eiji's showing off that even with Proto-Birth he can still kick ass and three Riders now oppose the Greeed.

9: 3 Riders 1 Heart

Another day, another Yummy. Mantis themed, this time, as Eiji had found out while dodging slices of energy thrown his way from the Mantis Yummy’s scythe-like arms. Rolling to the left as the creature cleaved a car in half, Eiji fired the Birth Buster several times into the Yummy before activating the crane arm feature and swinging it at the yummy flooring it.

Born from one greedy as all hell jewel thief, which explained why he’d found the creature ripping apart a Kay Jewelers’ store. Basically, this one was depraved on account of its parent being deprived.

Reloading the Birth Buster Eiji let the yummy have it. Of course, while this was going on he just happened to get a call.

“Um, sir... Not to bother you while you’re in the middle of anything of course, but there’s something you should be aware of,” Erika remarked after Eiji took the call, her call actually being filtered in Eiji’s helmet and displayed on his heads-up display. “Might be nothing, but still I-”

Eiji suddenly let out a cry of pain as the Mantis Yummy struck him in the arm with one of his blades.

“Sir, are you alright?” Erika asked as Eiji let out a grunt of pain before punching the Yummy square in the face. “We can save this for later if you want. I’ll be down there in a bit.”

“Firstly, Erika-Chan,” Eiji said ignoring Erika’s groan of exasperation hating to be called that name. “I’m fine. Secondly, I thought you didn’t work overtime.”

“Well, if you die, I’m not going to get paid you baka,” Erika replied. “Kami, Mr. Kougami would probably fire me if I let you get yourself killed. I’m not completely emotionless, contrary to popular thought.”

“...Never said or even implied you were, Erika-Chan,” Eiji teased once more ignoring Erika’s groan. “But I can handle this on my own. It’s just one Yummy. I beat two yesterday, remember? Two.”

“That you did sir,” Erika complimented. “That you did. So, can I talk while you fight? This is something you probably want to hear anyhow…”

Eiji kicked the Yummy in the face before firing off the Birth Buster several more times. Whether it being on a lower setting or this yummy being particularly powerful on account of gobbling up gems was unknown. Either way, it was going to take some more power to beat this one.

Eiji groaned softly to himself. “I've been here and there but... having to save people's lives... is practically difficult everywhere!” he muttered, using the crane arm to slam the yummy into the side of a building. “Time to end this,” he figured to himself going for a cell medal and readying the breast cannon. However, before he could do so, a loud roar of rage cut through the air and Eiji soon found himself punched to the ground by one very angry Uva.

Whether that anger was to Eiji foiling his previous plan or just anger for Eiji currently trying to take out another yummy was another unknown factor.

“Rider…” Uva chittered, his arm blades gleaming in the sunlight.

“Yeah, Erika?” Eiji asked. “Might want to save that conversation for later. Something’s come up.”

“...That something meaning something I have to save your ass from?” Erika deadpanned before sighing. Eiji didn’t even get a chance to protest before she hung up.

Suddenly the sound of a roaring engine was heard, and tires squealing before rounding a corner was Adagio in her BMW Z8. Ramming the Mantis Yummy sending it flying backwards, she groaned.

“Yeah, there’s going to be a dent I’m going to have to work out in the future…” Adagio muttered. Eiji noticed a gorilla candroid sat on the dashboard. The same type of candroid Eiji used whenever a yummy appeared. Evidently, once again Adagio and Ankh were having a little spat. Either way, Eiji didn’t care for the two’s interpersonal relationship at the moment.

Slamming the driver's side door as she got out of the car, Adagio threw on her driver and slammed several medals into it. Where she’d got them, Kami only knew. Probably stole them from out under Ankh’s nose.

“Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo: Sa-Ra-Mi-Uo! Sa! Ra! Mi-Uo!”

“Eiji, nice to see you again,” Adagio said as she gripped the spear in her hands sending a whirlpool flying towards Uva. “Wish I could say the same for you, really…” she murmured looking at Uva who leaped over the whirling waters sent his way. “Double team them?” she asked Eiji who nodded.

“Keep him busy, Buy me time, and I’ll deal with the yummy.”

“Gotcha,” Adagio nodded striking at Uva with the spear/trident/whatever the hell it was, drawing out cell medals. She also threw the Condor Cube Animal at Uva and it struck with blinding speeds leaving Uva no chance to counter as he tried to fend off Adagio’s strikes. Finally, he stumbled backwards a Core Medal falling to the ground that the Condor was swift to grab in its beak.

“Let’s change things up a little, shall we?” Adagio asked as Uva created a hoard of waste yummies. “Same packaging, definitely same product. Loser.”

“Kugawata, Kujira, Ookamiuo!” the driver said as Adagio leaped backwards firing off both blasts of green lightning from her horns and a whirlpool from her weapon to clear out the waste yummy hoard. Uva fired off a blast of green lightning of his own and Adagio countered. The two bolts meet in midair, and Adagio leaped off the hood of her car before changing combos once more.

If one were to look closely, one would notice Adagio’s hands trembling as she pulled out medals to change combos. Truth be told, she was more than a little nervous about doing this given what Ankh had told her had happened last time she went into a full-on medal combo. Granted, these were anything but. Still, all the same, she couldn’t help but be a little nervous changing out medals.

“Kugawata, Unagi, Ookamiuo!”

Even as she changed into this combo, she was definitely holding back. Fear gripped her like a vice, that much was noticeable as she wasn’t using any of the combo powers to their full extent. Instead, she was just punching and kicking her way through the yummy hoard.

“Cell Burst!” Eiji’s driver declared as a rapid stream of red energy fired through the yummy hoard scything through it.

“Adagio… Adagio, you alright?” Eiji asked, panting. “If… If this is about what happened a few days ago then…”

“It’s none of your business,” Adagio rebuffed. “Worry about the Yummy, and Uva,” she stated clashing weapons with Uva as Eiji whirled around to shoot the mantis yummy with the Birth Buster.

“Adagio…” Eiji thought to himself. “You’re afraid, I get that. But you shouldn’t close yourself off, and deny any other help from others. Especially when you need it. We’re all on the same side here, working for the same goal!” he thought scoring a right cross across the yummy’s face.

Lashing out with her unagi whips, Adagio drove Uva back before being soundly kicked in the stomach by the monster.

“What’s wrong OOOs?” Uva taunted. “That’s not fear is it?” he asked blocking a blow from Adagio’s fist. “Come on, don’t tell me one little berserker incident is going to keep you down?” he taunted.

Adagio flinched and staggered backwards a bit and Uva knew he’d hit the nail on the head.

“Ah, so you are afraid…” Uva said as he swung at her knocking the Wolffish spear from her hands. “Fear is such a hindrance really… But then again, can’t say I blame you really. You could kill someone, or everyone with your abilities!” he cackled striking her in the stomach repeatedly with lightning blasts.

Adagio, clutching her chest panted out in exhaustion, the pain of using the combos even in such a short time period beginning to catch up with her. Uva smirked as the Tora and Batta medals came rolling his way, and he grabbed them before pocketing them. Wasn’t every medal Ankh had, but they’d do.

“And have to say, you’re such an idiot for taking these medals to the battlefield with you. Really should work out your marital spats with Ankh, then let him take care of the medals.”

“We’re not married!” Adagio shouted. “Me, married to him? Don’t make me laugh…”

“Your arguments coulda fooled me…” Uva remarked. “My, you work fast. Marrying a yummy within just a few days of meeting him!” he taunted striking Adagio again. “Just like your counterpart, really… You’re such a-”

That did it really, something snapped inside Adagio and she scored a powerful right cross across Uva’s face. “Don’t you… Don’t you ever compare me to her, okay?” Adagio whispered out. Eiji swore. This wasn’t good. Not good at all. Adagio was letting her temper get the better of her, and she was starting to make stupid mistakes. For one, challenging Uva head-on with no real plan and no obvious way to beat him.

Kicking Uva in the stomach, Adagio brought out Cube Leopard. “Meant to give this back to Dash, but I suppose she won’t mind if I use it for a while… Especially on this guy…” she muttered unfolding it and it changed into a massive axe that scraped along the ground. Adagio could barely lift it, much less use it to deal any damage to Uva. And Uva was taking every advantage of this opportunity to strike Adagio across the chest and ripping into her armor.

Soon, the cheetah, shachi and tako medals were his as well.

“Look at you, losing medals by the truckload. Can’t even form a full combo now… such a shame,” Uva mocked. “Then again, I suppose it’s for the better really considering how dangerous they are…”

“Adagio, don’t lose your focus!” Eiji shouted momentarily tearing his attentions away from the mantis yummy and firing the Birth Buster at Uva. “Deep breaths, deep breaths!” he barked.

Eiji was right, she needed to calm down. Her reputation, or rather her desire to keep her reputation as a good woman and not a monster like her counterpart was getting the better of her. And look where it had gotten her. Now, she was down to only five medals compared to having as up to twelve and two full medal combos at her disposal. Putting Cube Leopard away, she swapped combos once again.

“Kugawata, Kamakiri, Ookamiuo!” the driver rang out and Adagio deployed blades from under her shoulders, almost like scythes. Using them, she quickly cut up the remaining waste yummies, and even sliced into both the mantis yummy and Uva as well drawing out more cells.

Cells which Eiji rapidly took use of, and deployed the Breast Cannon charging it up. Of course, he needed quite a bit of time for a really powerful blast. But time was something Adagio was only too happy to give really.

“Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo: Sa-Ra-Mi-Uo! Sa! Ra! Mi-Uo!” the driver once again sang out before Adagio leaped upwards and spun in a circle creating a small cyclone to knock Uva away before she threw her spear into a nearby lamppost and grabbed ahold of it using it as momentum to do her own version of Kamen Rider X’s kick. Of course, this version involved quite a few more kicks to Uva’s stomach than X’s ever did. Not that Adagio minded. She was all too happy to homage/pay tribute to her favorite Rider.

“X Kick, my version!” Adagio smirked before performing a scanning charge right alongside Eiji’s cell burst and the two attacks did two things. One, they destroyed the Mantis Yummy sending down a rain of cell medals and secondly, they sent Uva flying backwards into a dumpster.

“Another day, Riders…” he hissed, but not before showing a few of the medals he’d collected in the battle as a taunt and then leaping off. It was then Erika finally decided to show up, in a red checkered dress and pompadour style haircut of all things with her own Birth Buster in hand. She groaned.

“...Eiji, you are so paying me overtime fees for this,” Erika muttered having been deprived of any actual work. “Now, about that little thing I told you about…”

---

Buckley Air Force Base:

Later that afternoon, all three arrived at to Adagio’s surprise, the base. Erika was riding shotgun in Adagio’s car, while Eiji had opted for one of the company bikes.

“...So, you and Ankh huh? Having a little lover’s spat?” Erika teased, running her hands through her wallet now stuffed with overtime pay.

“Nothing like that. That would imply we love each other to begin with,” Adagio remarked. “Soon as he’s out of my life, the better!” she muttered before grumbling: “Oh, he’s going to be pissed when he finds out I lost half the medals to Uva.”

As she got out of the car, having pulled into the base housing, Eiji patted her on the shoulder. “Your temper and your desires got the better of you. Nothing to be ashamed of.”

“I suppose…” Adagio murmured to herself not entirely believing him given the fact that Uva had managed to hit her where it hurt the worst. Her pride. As much as she hated to admit it, she was probably like her counterpart from ponyland in some ways more than she would have cared to admit. Both of them, they had a certain sort of pride in themselves and hated that particular bit being wounded. Sure, in Equestrian Adagio it was much easier to do so given how full of herself she seemed to be, but for the human world counterpart, it could still happen. Just comparing her to Equestrian Adagio was a surefire way to get under her skin, and Uva had managed to just do that in all of the right ways. And so losing her temper due to that, well suffice to say Adagio was more than a bit ashamed. “Can I just ask, what are we doing here anyways?”

“Well, there was an… incident involving your friend Rainbow Dash.” Erika explained.

“Well, I don’t know if we could be called friends just yet…” Adagio stated. “More like acquaintances really…”

Her eyes then widened in shock as she saw a hole right in the side of Rainbow’s house. “Jesus Christ!” she whispered at the sight of it. “...You have a gift for understatement, you know that right Erika?” she commented looking towards the woman. Immediately Adagio’s mind set to wondering what the Hell could have possibly happened here. She at first thought of a terrorist bomb, but if that were the case she’d have heard about this on the news and she suspected the tone would be much more somber besides. Taking a few deep calming breaths, she reminded herself everything was okay, everything was fine.

“It’s okay Adagio, it’s okay…” Adagio whispered, for a brief moment instead of seeing Rainbow’s trashed house, she saw the ruins of a city building and heard fire engines wailing in the background. “That was then… This is now.”

Even if that was the case, it didn’t stop her from hugging Rainbow Dash tightly as soon as she appeared.

“Adagio… Can’t… Breathe.” Rainbow gasped out with a small cough and as soon as Adagio realized this she let Rainbow go. In the background, Erika and Eiji shared an unnoticed look of concern.

“Well… Well, it’s sorta something, not sure what the hell to call it,” Rainbow whispered looking beyond tired. If she had any sleep at all last night, it probably would have been a miracle. “I’m fine Adagio, I really am,” Rainbow said, though if anyone believed her it was hard to tell. “I’m just more worried about the kid…” she whispered to herself.

Adagio quirked an eyebrow even as Rainbow continued to ramble on about something, muttering something along the lines of “Given what the last thing she saw was… Well, that!”

“Rainbow!” this teenager with cropped purple hair shouted running up to the woman shouted before hugging her tightly. Rainbow winced out in pain but returned the hug anyways.

“Ribs…” she breathed out. “Glad to see you’re alright Squirt. Did Soarin’ take good care of you?”

“Y-Yeah…” Scootaloo whispered. What had happened right after Rainbow/Odin had driven Ryuga back was this. Apparently, Soarin had heard the commotion from a few doors down and had grabbed a gun before rushing towards the house thinking someone had broken in. He’d also seen in the process this armored warrior fighting another armored warrior sword to sword, the second barely visible in the dark of the night. All he could see were faint glimpses of silver and two blood red eyes. Eventually, the darker warrior had retreated -although Soarin’ wasn’t quite sure how- and the first had shed her armor to reveal Rainbow bleeding heavily, looking like she’d been bitten by this massive creature. An ambulance had been called, while Soarin’ returned to the home to calm Scootaloo and see if she was alright. Figuring it best to take her back to his home for the night just in case that whoever it was returned -and so Scootaloo wouldn’t get in anyone’s way at the hospital- he did just that. Needless to say, it was a very restless night for Scootaloo, and Soarin’ had stayed at her bedside till she finally fell asleep.

Somehow though, Soarin’ suspected she’d be having nightmares for a while yet considering whatever she saw -something involving a dragon- scared her half to death. Soarin’ had deemed it prudent for him to go and call ahead and explain to her teachers that Scootaloo might be missing a few days of school. He also figured, with Rainbow’s consent anyways, an appointment with a psychologist would be needed. While Scootaloo wasn’t his kid, he did care for her. He wasn’t sure why yet, but yet Soarin’ did. Reminded him of himself when he was her age, maybe. Had that certain spunk about her.

He also meant to talk to Rainbow about her armor. If he didn’t know better, he could have sworn that looked like the armor of a Kamen Rider.

But looking at Rainbow hugging Scootaloo and reassuring her she was alright and that everything was fine, he figured it could wait for another time.

As he walked off -not noticing Adagio discreetly handing Cube Leopard back to Rainbow- he was pulled aside by Eiji.

“Okay, so what happened here?” Eiji inquired. “Can’t be a terrorist bombing, the news would be all over it, and yet something big happened here and yet judging by how hard it was for me to get in -I had to show my credentials just for the guards to let me past- it’s clearly something big. Something you want to keep quiet. Maybe something… strange? Unbelievable even?”

“You’re a curious one aren’t you, quite shrewd as well,” Soarin said before letting out a sigh. He knew Eiji’s type. They wouldn’t give up till they got the answer they wanted. “Okay, I’ll tell you what I know, and… well, what I’m allowed to see anyways. But you have to keep this quiet, the last thing anyone wants is those idiots from Way Above Top Secret poking about.”

Eiji nodded. “Understandable.”

He’d heard of the name, he’d poked around the website when Adagio had first become a Kamen Rider just on a hunch. He vaguely remembered reports of Riders in Gramercy Heights a few years back, and curiosity getting the better of him and wanting to study up on these American Riders he ventured on to the site. Most of the information was scarce at best, and there were only a few vague pictures of this magenta Rider themed after a stingray it seemed. It was like someone was trying very hard for the information to be kept quiet.

In any case, Eiji was led to a room on the base that kept track of all of the security feeds and cameras. “...For once, I’m glad Big Brother’s watching…” Eiji murmured before his eyes widened as he saw the wall of Rainbow’s house ripped open by this massive black dragon, Asian styled. In its mouth was a figure that looked distinctly like Rainbow.

The camera feed recordings switched from outside her house to the vehicle depot where Eiji saw a blinding flash of light briefly light up the camera. Before this, a shout of “Hen... Shin!’ was heard. The flash cleared before an armored warrior seemingly themed after a gold bird of some sort became visible.

Eiji eyed the darker Kamen Rider that seemed to be in control of the dragon take a few steps back in shock before the two Riders went head to head. They each seemed to dive into nearby reflective surfaces before emerging each ready to kick the other. Eiji didn’t have a name for the gold rider, but he would call the black one Ryuga, meaning Dragon Fang in his native tongue.

“Damn you…” ‘Ryuga’ growled.

“Nice to see you’re not so much of a tough guy after all,” Rainbow stated pointing her sword towards him with what sounded to be understandably a protective edge in her tone. “Now, if you know what’s good for you… I’d suggest you leave. Like, right now.”

“Very well, but be warned… This battle is far from over,” ‘Ryuga’ stated. “I am the strongest Rider, and I will prove it to you. So be warned Odin, new face or not, you will see from me again!”

“...Bit pretentious, isn’t it? Kamen Rider Odin…” Soarin’ questioned with a small shrug of his shoulders. “Naming yourself after the chief Norse God? ...And I thought the air force had taken some of that arrogance out of her…” he muttered. He did remember in Rainbow’s wilder, younger high-school years she had sorta loved to show herself off -even forming a band which really didn’t go anywhere- and had sorta become a local superhero. Rainbow confessed to him the truth about Equestria, and at one point her life actually gone looking for any form of Equestrian Magic that may have been liable to cause trouble. Her heart was in the right place, as she did want to protect others she admitted but what she didn’t factor in was the toll it’d take on her social life. She’d nearly ruined her friendships with her ego and bravado more than once, so Rainbow was all too happy to join the Air Force. Well, either that or the Navy as a certain crime drama made it look good. Plus, Semper Fi and all that. At least that way she could help people in a productive manner and maybe get that ego of hers whipped into shape.

“Who says she gave herself that title?” Eiji remarked. “For all we know, Odin may be a legacy name. Plus, I can’t honestly see a woman naming herself after a male god. If anything, Kamen Rider Horus or Morrigan might be more appropriate.”

“Morrigan?” Soarin’ blinked out. “Like Morgan Le Fay? But didn’t she… you know, you know kill Arthur?”

“...In later tellings yes, but Morgan Le Fay in early versions was actually a protector of the Kingdom. Hell, her name means Morgan the Fairy,” Eiji explained. “Anyways, getting off track here. We need to find out who this guy is, and if he’ll be back. Kami-Sama knows we have enough trouble as it is with the Greeed,” Eiji muttered to himself. “Last thing we want is an Evil Rider dancing about the city causing trouble. ...Even if we seem to get those every year anyways.” he sighed.

“Trust me, if he comes back we’ll deal with him as needed,” Soarin’ said. “Hell, looks like Rainbow herself can handle him pretty fuckin’ well really. Kamen Rider indeed!” he laughed.

“Can’t be too careful,” Eiji replied. “Besides, just looking out for her. If Rainbow really is a Rider now, she’s in for a hell of a lot of trouble, and she just might find herself in over her head…”

“Yeah, she’s got a good head on her shoulders, but ludicrously rash at times,” Soarin’ admitted. “I do love her drive and all, but still…”

“You care for her, don’t you?” Eiji remarked seeing the small blush on Soarin’s face.

“As a friend, as a friend,” Soarin’ clarified. “As a friend and as a squadmate.”

“Sure…” Eiji trailed off not believing him for a moment. “Just sayin’ though, keep an eye on her and keep her close. World’s a dangerous place nowadays.”

“I get what you mean, but keeping Rainbow too close? She’s liable to punch me. Does not like to be treated like a delicate flower, that one…” Soarin’ shuddered.

Eiji only laughed. And Soarin’ said he only thought of Rainbow as a squadmate. Unaware of the conversations the boys were having between themselves, Adagio meanwhile was talking to Rainbow, while some construction workers set to work on patching up the massive hole in the wall of her house.

“So, Kamen Rider ‘Odin’ is it?” Adagio asked with a teasing grin raising an eyebrow. “Weren’t aware you were interested in changing gender.”

“It’s not… It’s nothing like that!” Rainbow sputtered with a beet-red flush on her face. “It’s just what that creep called me! It’s pretentious, even by my standards! I’m not like that ‎Souji Tendou guy, who thinks himself a god!”

“Sure, keep telling yourself that,” Adagio teased and after her laughter at Rainbow’s expression had subsided she continued. “Didn’t know you kept yourself up to date with Kamen Riders, Dash…”

“Eh, well after you became a Rider, I figured it was best to start learning about your predecessors really, and there’s definitely some characters in there. Personally, I find myself drawn to Kamen Rider Double and his two in one Rider thing, but… Agh, never mind. What I find interesting is there’s no mention of anyone like Ryuga anywhere.”

“Maybe he’s a new guy,” Adagio commented. “You know, some nutjob who somehow got his hands on the powers of a Rider. It was bound to happen someday…”

“Yeah, but he seemed a pretty damned experienced Rider, like he’d been fighting for years. So by that logic, you’d think someone would have heard of him right? I mean, someone… anyone right?”

“...That’s the thing, how do we know anyone has. With the powers you claim he has and what you described to me, he could easily eliminate you or anyone who knows about him and nobody would be the wiser…” Adagio trailed off.

“Gee, thanks for putting that thought in my head. Kamen Rider Kira!” Rainbow shuddered. “...Just give him a notebook and he’d be all set.”

“Hey, you’re a Rider now right, and you can counter his powers with your own eh?” Adagio smiled.

“True… But there is a little… uh, hitch,” Rainbow said nervously rubbing the back of her head. “See, uh, the powers involved rely on me feeding a monster I’m contracted to. Otherwise, he eats me instead.”

“...So, you’re like Beast and Wizard then. Only instead of mage powers, you’re like a knight and her winged steed,” Adagio remarked. “Just don’t start preaching on how mayonnaise is the world’s greatest food okay? ‘Cause trust me, it’s not.”

“Why are you so nonchalant about this?” Rainbow demanded grabbing Adagio by her sweater. “I’ve got a giant gold bird in my gut threatening to burn me to a crisp if I don’t… feed… him... Oh.” she realized, her speech becoming slower as she figured out what Adagio meant.

“Exactly, city full of monsters ready to be taken out by one grumpy gold phoenix and one hell of a Rider,” Adagio stated. “You interested?”

“Sure, as long as it stops golden boy’s bitching. He’s like Audrey in that regard. Feed me, feed me! Oh, he’ll get fed alright.”

In her mind, Goldphoenix harrumphed and muttered: “Impudent brat.”

“See, even now he’s grumbling. He acts half his age,” Rainbow remarked and Adagio sniggered. “Anyways, yeah. Glad to help. May be from different worlds in a sense, but both of our hearts lie in protecting this city.” Rainbow said taking Adagio’s hand and shaking it.

“You mean three Riders,” Eiji said walking up behind Rainbow making her let out a small yelp. “Here, take this,” he said handing her the Gorilla Candroid. “Trust me, it’ll be able to alert you to any Yummies whenever they appear. Annoying at times, but…”

“Yeah, I gotcha,” Rainbow nodded. “Now, it’s only a matter of time…”

---

Rainbow was right, as across town Gamel was paying witness to another prime candidate to creating a Yummy. An artist, chopping up and carving wood to create something beautiful. The thing was with Gamel, his simple mind could only comprehend certain things and hope to imitate them with his yummies.

And on his yummies, which he created just by plopping a cell medal in his head, they weren’t exactly wealthy when defeated simply because of this method of creation. But being that they were built like tanks thanks to Gamel being the heavy animal Greeed, they took a hell of a lot of punishment meaning it might have been a very good thing there were now three Kamen Riders to protect the city…

The Bull Yummy, beating his chest ran off smashing things up as Gamel transformed into his true form and plodded after him chuckling to himself.

“Art…” Gamel whispered. “How do I create it?”

Well, he supposed, there was only one way to find out. And that was to watch this guy work. And watching Gamel, of course, was Ankh, perched high atop a roof.

“So, the idiot’s decided to go out and terrorize everyone, just in hopes of understanding something… Tch. Oh, this is not going to be a good haul at all.” Ankh moaned to himself. Why, oh why did he get the bad luck of having to follow Gamel of all creatures? Oh well, maybe he’d get a few cores to replace the ones that idiot human lost to Uva...

Author's Notes:

Yep, just as the title says, three Riders now...

10: The Foundation

“So, I presume the plan is proceeding as scheduled?” a woman asked over the phone, flying high over Asia in a private jet. A black flight, unknown to anyone with no records of this flight ever existing and anyone who did know about it would be swiftly dealt with. “The package is acquired?”

“Yes, we are en route to the airport as we speak. Madame, I must question. We are taking a rather large risk. The Riders… They know of us, so what is stopping them from interfering with the pickup?”

“They rely on basic search engines to gather information,” The woman answered with a chuckle, brushing her purple hair out of her face. “Hackers they are not. No records exist of this flight so there’s very little chance of them finding us. Plus, I’ve left some bait that those Greeed won’t be able to resist. Very soon, the Riders are going to have their hands full.”

“And of our transport?” the man on the other end of the phone asked. “We have been noticed before, considering that idiot Kannagi and the SOLU.”

“Well, that was entirely your fault thanks to you driving through Fuuto. Why you forgot about the damnable detective is beyond me really…” the woman scoffed. “I just pray this time you picked a less suspicious route.”

“We’ve picked small towns and back roads for our route. Takes longer, but should lower our chances of being spotted. Plus, we have two dummy vehicles and are using a flower delivery van to transport the goods.”

Madame Starlight chuckled. Those fools in Shocker didn’t exactly realize how set up they had been. Really, receiving an anonymous tip-off of a coffin in the mountains of Europe containing a powerful energy source and not even suspecting something was off? They were even dumber than she thought. Granted, she hadn’t suspected the Riders appearing to try and stop whatever Shocker planned with those cells, but that was only a minor annoyance at best. The Greeed were now unleashed upon the world, and their medals were ripe for harvesting. Starlight found it interesting that the final greeed, the one Shocker created themselves didn’t exactly seem all too interested in joining his cohorts. Instead, as the battle with Black and Zangetsu proved, he seemed to want to keep to himself. Or perhaps, she mused the other Greeed didn’t trust him due to him being part of an ‘original generation’ to put it one way.

“I do assume -or rather I would hope to assume- you do have a plan c in place of your plan b falling to pieces?” Starlight asked. “I do not tolerate stupidity, or foolishness that leads to failure.”

“The dummy vehicles are in-laden with Cell Medals, yes, but they are also primed to explode should one of the greeed become… interested.” the voice at the other end of the line remarked. “It is only the main vehicle that is not primed to explode. Instead, I myself am primed to do that. I swallowed an explosive that is primed to detonate upon a simple press of the trigger. No information shall ever be learned. The route itself, as I’ve said is through small towns and back roads, winding through mountain passes where we should hardly be noticed.”

“Impressive, you really have thought everything out,” Starlight mused fingering a bronze Gaia Memory that had a small T imprinted on it. Contrary to the late Madame Usland’s beliefs, perhaps there was some use to be gained out of Gaia Memories yet. If anything else, this could help them in some way in acquiring that mysterious power source developed by Genm Corp. “This may make up for your failure in Fuuto yet!”

High in the mountain roads of Japan, the transport continued uninterrupted for a good hour or so after Starlight had hung up the phone. Of course, not all good things lasted as the driver of one of the trucks noticed a mysterious man on a motorbike coming up from behind.

The driver kept them in their rear view, motioning to the man next to him to bring out the detonator. The helmet the man on the bike was wearing kept the driver from identifying him, but it was best to err on the side of caution.

The back doors of the van were kicked open by a white-clad man and a gaia memory of a blue shade was pressed into his arm.

\ Trigger! /

The man morphed into this massive blue-clad brute with a rifle for an arm, and what looked like targeting crosshairs on his ‘head’. Whipping his arm up, he aligned the crosshairs with the bike and opened fire on the wheels.

The man looked unfazed and weaved between the bullets even as the chase continued up the mountain pass, a sheer drop towards a roaring rushing river on one side and heavy forest on the other. One wrong move would either send him smashing into a tree or flying into the raging waters below. Which of course, the Trigger Dopant knew perfectly well.

Tires squealing as the bike rounded a corner, he decided to take an alternate route and up a separate mountain road. This kept the man out of the Dopant’s sight lines.

“Is he gone?” the driver asked. “Maybe he’s scampered off!” he then theorized. The Trigger Dopant was hardly so foolish.

“Don’t bet on it. Expect him to return, keep your guard up!” he shouted reloading his weapon.

And return the man did, off of the higher road landing in front of the van, and screeching to a halt in front of it to halt its progress even as they reached a dam.

Tapping his foot against the road even as the van screeched to a halt, the man tossed off his helmet and watched as both the Dopant and the driver stepped out of the van.

“I’d be getting lost if I was you,” the driver said implanting a Gaia Memory of his own into his arm.

\ Magma! /

“See, that’s just counterintuitive. Foundation X, right?” the man asked as he brought out what looked to be a small whistle flipping it open. “Heard about you guys. Have to say… Not really all that impressed by what I’ve heard. You’re not exactly the Makamou, so you’re not in my jurisdiction but I’m a Rider in a sense and we fight for love and peace so letting you guys go would go against my oath to protect the world.”

Blowing into the whistle, a high, horrendous wind filled the air before it finally subsided revealing a blue and black armored oni-like warrior, with golden shoulder armor. “The name’s Ibuki. Yours?”

“I don’t give my name to dead men,” the driver replied, throwing his arms up and spraying streams of magma out at Ibuki. Ibuki dodged and pulled out what looked to be a combination of a trumpet and a pistol, firing several shots into the Magma Dopant.

The magma dopant laughed, his body distorting before returning to normal. “Nice try, but my body is pure magma. You can’t break me.”

“Let’s test that little theory shall we?” Ibuki asked firing off several homing shots into the Magma Dopant’s body before taking off his belt buckle and placing it on his weapon. Blowing into it, the pure sound created made the Dopant’s body buckle and he probably would have had his memory shattered had the Trigger Dopant not shot the trumpet out of Ibuki’s hands.

“Oh right, forgot about you…” Ibuki muttered kicking the Trigger Dopant in the stomach before flipping backwards atop a tree. Next, Ibuki leaping off of it used a branch as a springboard to kick the Dopant in the stomach with a power upwards of 30 tons.

A distinct shattering sound was heard as the Trigger Dopant resumed human form. “...Well, that was entirely boring really. I honestly don’t see why Double had so much trouble with-” he stated before being punched into the side of the truck, tipping it over.

“...Okay, yeah. Maybe now I do,” Ibuki muttered his vision a bit blurry as the Magma Dopant advanced on him, the street crackling with small embers with every step he took and trees catching alight. “...Least there’s only one of you now.”

“One of me is more than enough.” A ball of magma formed in his hand and he tossed it at Ibuki.

Ibuki rolled to the left and then pulled out several CD-like objects and letting them flying the CDs turning into what looked like red falcons or hawks in mid-air and barraging the Magma Dopant or at least keeping him off-balance long enough for Ibuki to barrage him with a series of powerful punches.

“Wow, you weren’t kidding about being made of magma,” Ibuki commented, waving one of his fists. Pulling out his trumpet gun -in actually, something called the Ongekikan Reppuu- again, he fired a point-blank shot at his stomach. Another shot, and then another. He then once more blew into the trumpet and this time an explosion occurred shattering the magma memory.

“...So, what have we learned boys?” Ibuki teased. “Don’t play with fire and guns?”

“And you are an idiot.” the former Trigger Dopant said pressing a detonator and the truck went sky high nearly taking Ibuki with it had he not leaped out of the way in time.

“Mou…” Ibuki muttered before pulling out a radio. He wasn’t a fan of certain modern technologies, but he could see where some had their uses. “This one’s a dud. How are things on your end?”

On another mountain road near a small town, an armored warrior found himself fighting alongside one of Ibuki’s fellow Oni Riders, the two working together to dispatch a legion of Foundation X members using bootleg Sengoku Drivers that had changed them into Kurokage Troopers.

“...Depends. We were… delayed. X was ready for us!” the armored Rider said pulling out a small pistol and firing it into the Kurokage Hoard in small purple energy blasts. To help him out, the other Oni Rider -Hibiki- actually breathed hot blue flame into the crowd of troops.

“Can you give me your position?” Ibuki asked a pang of worry in his voice. He knew Hibiki was one of the best of the Oni Riders, and he had another Rider to back him up but he still couldn’t help but feel concern for his comrade. Whatever Foundation X was transporting, it was obvious they were desperate to protect it.

“About five miles due west of your location,” Hibiki replied using his burning drumsticks to fight through the crowd of Kurokage Troopers. “I don’t think you’d be able to get to us in time. However, I did see the truck heading due north. If you hurry, you might be able to cut it off.”

“Understood,” Ibuki said getting on to his bike and flooring it. “Best of luck to you Hibiki.”

“Luck is hardly needed.” Hibiki said going into his Armed Form and bringing out a massive sword while his fellow Rider assumed an armored state as well, gaining a burning red jinbaori coat and sword, the hilt of the blade themed after a dragon’s head. Both launching battle cries, the two performed their respective finishers, the Ongeki Ha: Kishin Kakusei and the Seiryū Bāningu Jigoku Surasshu respectively to clear out the crowd.

Meanwhile, Ibuki raced through the mountains on his bike following the directions Hibiki had given him, the engine roaring out through the normally peaceful and tranquil mountains. Using another disk animal, this one themed after a blue wolf he was able to keep track of the truck’s movements.

Finally, as he crested over a hill, he saw the second truck. Gunning the engine, Ibuki roared down the mountain roads and pulled up alongside the mostly plain panel truck.

Chuckling, Ibuki knocked gently on the side of the truck. “Knock knock!” he called, before swiftly pulling away as the entire back of the truck exploded revealing a massive sea green figure clutching an equally massive club.

Noting the design on the creature, Ibuki swallowed nervously. “Hercules… Oh, lovely.”

His fear was only heightened when more Kurokage Troopers poured out of the woodland with what looked like a giant bug of some sort -The Pyxis Zodiart in actuality- in command. Throwing his arms out, the Pyxis Zodiart forced the van to roll towards Ibuki.

Taking out his own version of the Onigekibou, Ibuki thought fast and began drumming on the ground making the van flip over him entirely. Then, using these same drumsticks - the Ongekibou Yamase- he ignited them with blue fireballs that he tossed towards the Hercules Zodiart.

Spinning them in his hands, Ibuki chuckled as he saw the Hercules Zodiart staggered backwards. He could see why Hibiki loved these things, even if they weren’t his particular style personally speaking. He found himself surrounded by the troopers, their spears at the ready. Placing the Yamase on his belt, Ibuki readied himself for combat.

“So this is the best the infamous Foundation X has to offer?” Ibuki challenged his Ongekikan Reppuu at the ready. “Cheap knock-offs of already-defeated monsters -ghosts, if you will- and frankly rather pathetic foot soldiers? Have to say, I’m less than impressed. I thought the Merchants of Death would be better at dealing… you know, death.” he commented roundhouse kicking a kurokage trooper before taking down another with a few shots from his Reppuu not letting his fear show. “Instead all you have to offer are these phantoms.”

The Hercules Zodiart growled, slamming his club onto the ground and creating a shockwave. “Are you saying we’re weak?” he bellowed. “See how you like these, and then judge our combat capability!” he roared throwing what looked to be like gold dust up into the air which swiftly reformed into Stardust Ninjas, or Dustards for short.

“Probably, yeah,” Ibuki commented even though he was now hugely outnumbered. “And you hide behind warriors instead of facing me yourself. That is hardly the ability of a strong warrior. No, it speaks more of a coward.”

“Even so…” Ibuki mused to himself as the combined forces surrounded him. “I cannot deny their large numbers…”

“Look at you, you’re outnumbered and out-matched! And who are you to speak of cowardice?” the Pyxis Zodiart remarked. “You haven’t been seen in years, what does that say of you?”

“I’ve been simply honing my skills and keeping the Makamou away from civilization,” Ibuki replied. “And considering you hardly do any fighting yourself, at least direct fighting then you have no room to talk of bravery!”

He fired his gun at the Pyxis Zodiarts even as the creature pointed at Ibuki and the combined Kurokage/Dustard army charged. Ibuki leaped backwards down a hill and into a nearby quarry firing his trumpet gun all the while thinning out the herd so to speak.

But there were still far too many for one man to face alone. Thankfully, Riders were never short on help, as proven when Hibiki’s ally from earlier -Mitsuzane Kureshima AKA Armored Rider Ryugen- appeared atop a dandeliner hoverbike leaping down into the fray twin massive spinning disks in hand.

Truth be told, Mitsuzane never considered himself worthy of being a Rider after all that he’d done, but considering Kouta -the only true Rider to emerge from the Sengoku battles of Zawame- was no longer around he had to carry on the torch himself.

“Pain... and sadness... will never disappear. That's why... I'd rather get hurt than let it happen to those dear to me. Isn't that right? Kouta?” Mitsuzune thought to himself as he cut through the forces with his Kiwi Gekirin, Ibuki taking out the footsoldiers with his Yamase drumsticks.

Pulling out a dark red Lockseed, Mitchy ripped the faceplate off his driver and slammed the Energy Lockseed into its place.

“Hai! Mix! Grape Arms! Dragon Cannon, Ha-Ha-Ha! Jimber Dragon Fruits! Ha-Ha!”

“You know, I never understood what was so hip as they say about the talking drivers…” Ibuki murmured blowing flames into a hoard of Dustards before kicking the Pyxis Zodiart in the stomach. “They just seem to take longer and longer than a simple fanfare.”

“It was a… guilty pleasure of the designer,” Mitchy admitted slicing through the Hercules Zodiarts’ club with his sword. “Very telling his own Lockseed called out “Fabulous Ryouma” or something like that…”

“...You have got to be…” Ibuki muttered shaking his head before Ryugen tossed his sword to him, perfect for slicing the Pyxis Zodiart across the chest with. Sadly, the power of the Zodiart could not be denied as he used his compass-based abilities to throw Ibuki for a loop upsetting his balance.

As Ibuki wandered around clumsily trying to regain his bearings, Mitchy knew he had to act.

Firing off the little gun he always kept on him, Mitsuzune made the Hercules Zodiart stagger back with a couple of purple-shaded blasts of energy before shouting “Hey, over here!” to the Pyxis Zodiarts.

“You’ve got a lot of nerve helping out this Rider,” the Zodiarts remarked. “After all, considering what you pulled during the Rider War of Zawame City…”

“Yes…” the Hercules Zodiart commented. “Killing your own brother, or trying to anyways and selling out your entire race? And they call us in Foundation X bad…”

“Yes… I freely admit I was a terrible person. I have so many sins to count up by the end of the day it isn’t even funny,” Mitchy stated blasting both Zodiarts with Grape Squashes. “First, I wasn't able to accept my own failings. Secondly, I as you said nearly committed familicide. Third, the city cries because of this. To this day, I believe I will not see anything good when I die, but at least I can attempt to make up for my own moral failings by dispatching scum like you!”

Taking out the Pyxis Zodiart fake with another Grape Squash, he turned towards Ibuki who’d regained his bearings. “Ibuki, are you ready?”

“Quite…” the Oni Rider nodded before they both ran forwards and then leaped towards the Hercules Zodiart with a dual Rider Kick dispatching him.

Mitchy, canceling out his transformation swore when he realized the second truck like the first was also a ruse. Question was… Where was the real one?

Chuckling as he drove towards an airport, the Foundation X member with whom Madame Starlight had spoken to earlier smiled. Now, the Foundation would have a fresh supply of Cell Medals. Perfect for an experiment.

---

Unknown Foundation Site C:

Eiji found himself pulling up outside a seemingly abandoned runway. While Adagio and Rainbow dealt with the yummy in the main heart of the city, Eiji was miles outside Denver in the desert. Normally he wouldn’t exactly abandon the two when there was trouble afoot -even if it looked like both Rainbow and Adagio were equally capable Riders- but his Gorilla Candroid had detected the emergence of a Yummy here.

“Mou… While they get the beautiful city,” Eiji muttered taking off his helmet. “I get the creepy abandoned airport. And no telling what the hell kinda Yummy I’m going to end up dealing with…”

He wracked his brain, trying to make sense of the Yummy’s behavior. Normally a Yummy wouldn’t seclude themselves unless they’d been in a fight recently. If that was the case, he might not be the only one tracking the thing down.

Sure enough, he heard the flaps of wing feathers, and turned to see Ankh.

“Figured you might show up around here…” Eiji smiled.

“Cut the crap kisame,” Ankh remarked, grabbing Eiji by his shirt. “I know there’s a yummy around here, so spill! Where are you hiding it?”

“Honestly, I’m just as surprised as you are,” Eiji stated calmly despite a very furious greeed staring him down.

“Bullshit!” Ankh spat. “You’re farming cells, I know you are! I half expect some of those walking trash bins to show up any time now!”

“Ankh, I know you’re smart, smarter than me in fact. So, use that feathery brain for a second. How often have you heard of a Yummy secluding themselves without having been in a fight?”

“...Well, mine but very obviously I’m in no state to actually do that,” Ankh replied waving his good arm. The greeed one. “Because trust me underpants-boy, if I was in any state to be creating yummies, you’d know!”

“...Right, well we are in a real fix then. As much as I hate to admit it… Care to help me out?”

“Right. Well, if it's to remove that stick up your ass, I’m sad to say there's no one strong enough to pull that one out,” Ankh replied. “And seriously, me help you? Ha, now there’s a laugh. If you’re going to bribe me with cells, then let me mark my calendar. Yeah, here it is. Uh... the ‘7th of never’ through to the ‘15th of ain't gonna happen’. I can grab cells on my own, really. That clear enough?”

“Oh? Never huh,” Eiji said, fighting off a smirk. “And what if the Kougami Foundation offered you something other than cells?”

“And what possible thing other than cells could you have to offer me, baka?” Ankh spat. “...Don’t even think about Ice…”

Eiji reached into his pocket and produced a small photo. On it was a very familiar red coin. Ankh grabbed him almost at once, a fire in his eyes.

“Where the Hell did you get that…” Ankh growled.

“Does that really matter right now?” Eiji retorted, putting the picture away. “If you help me, I can promise that it’ll be in your hands by tomorrow.”

“...And there’s a but coming up isn’t there? A conditional clause besides simply ‘I help you’ really. Because honestly, it would not be in your best interest to have me anywhere closer to my full strength. Or are you really that brain-dead, Hino?” Ankh asked flicking Eiji on the forehead.

“Didn’t anyone ever teach you not to look a gift horse in the mouth? And it’s not Hino, it’s Kougami,” Eiji inquired, feeling a bit proud of picking up that turn of phrase. “Can you really afford to not have all your medals. Even missing just one and you may not be able to have your own body again.”

“Gah! Fine, when you put it that way Kougami or whatever the Hell you chose to call yourself…” Ankh said with an eyebrow twitch. “Plus, it’ll help Adagio in the long run anyways help me gather Medals, considering she was foolish enough to lose over half of the twelve we gathered!”

“Aww, you do care about her,” Eiji teased, holding out his hand to seal the deal. “When you two have the wedding, be sure to invite me.”

“Shut up!” Ankh snapped. “Actually, hold up! ... Swore I heard something…”

“Besides your grousing?” Eiji teased.

“Did I or did I not say shut it?” Ankh snapped. “Because if you keep that up they’ll be finding your body in a dumpster, news at eleven!”

Ankh then just listened, hearing footsteps throughout the warehouse and occasionally the splash of standing water. “...We’re not alone in here. You were right. There’s a yummy here. What kind… Now that I can’t be sure…”

Going to his bike, Eiji returned it to its vending machine mode and inserted a couple cell medals. Pressing a button twice and created two Batta cans. “Here, these can help us quietly examine everything and still split up to cover ground.” He held out one of the cans to Ankh.

“...You could have just bought radios if that was the case and you knew I’d be showing up…” Ankh grumbled before sacrificing two cells and grabbing himself two Taka candroids and letting them scout ahead. “...Eiji, look. This stays between us okay, but truth be told I am slightly concerned about Adagio. Slightly, I must stress.”

A knowing smirk split across Eiji’s face and his eyebrow rose on reflex. “And why would you be concerned about some human? Isn’t she just a means to your ends?”

“Yes, she is, make no mistake about it. But she can hardly be useful to me if she goes berserk every time she gets the moronic idea of using a full-medal combo. And as much as I hate to admit it, getting rid of my fellow greeed or their more powerful yummies will require that!” Ankh returned.

“Well, sounds like you need to help her find ways to not go berserk,” Eiji offered, cracking open the tab on his Batta can and letting it unfold. “Otherwise, you’re caught between a rock and a hard place.”

“You know, for someone who claims to care for Adagio, you seem really unhelpful, you know that right?” Ankh mused.

“To be fair, the Kougami Foundation is built around nurturing human desires,” Eiji began, walking towards the abandoned hangar. “Helping someone mitigate their desires is outside our purview.”

“Yeah yeah, keep spouting off that trash your adoptive father feeds you,” Ankh mocked. “You just care about her, don’t you? I haven’t seen someone take this much of an interest in anyone since… Well, since a very long time.” Ankh started, seemingly about to say something else instead but thinking the better of it.

Eiji chuckled, looking up at the sky. “To be fair, she is a very attractive woman. But, I see the way she looks at me. I’m just a friend to her.”

Ankh actually threw back his head and laughed. “...Oh, you sad simple sap…”

For the next few minutes, the two searched the warehouse without much luck before they met up again.

“Gah! How hard is it to find one yummy? What, are we dealing with a Copperhead Yummy, something with fucking camouflage?” Ankh bellowed stamping his foot in frustration. “You’d think between the two of us, and those candroids, we’d find the damned thing!”

“...Well, to be fair it is a fairly big warehouse…” Eiji mused before something hit him in the head, beaning him square in the forehead. Rubbing his head in pain, it took him a minute to realize it was the remains of a taka candroid. Ankh cackled before he realized he sacrificed one of his cells for that, and then as if to add injury to insult the second hit him in the forehead as well.

“WHO DARES! I AM THE KING OF BIRDS!” Ankh screeched. “I AM THE MIGHTIEST OF THE GREEED!”

Eiji struggled to contain his laughter at Ankh’s indignation before he soundly shut up as a massive black cat creature walked -or would that be strutted?- out of the shadows.

“...Oh, lovely. One of his,” Ankh remarked in a deadpan. “Did I ever tell you how I detest cats? Want an animal to stare at you with contempt? Get a cat. Open a bag of excrement in your house. Cat!”

“...Aww, I’m touched…” Kazari commented as he jumped down from the rafters. “No, really, I am!”

“...Well, this sorta went from bad to worse in a hot minute didn’t it?” Eiji remarked, skipping his usual flare with the cell medal and just popping it in his driver with a quick statement of: “Henshin.”

“You take the Kuro Neko yummy, Hino,” Ankh stated as a popping sound marked Eiji’s transformation completing itself. “I’ll take the other bastard.”

“You’re in no state to-” Eiji started before Ankh cut him off.

“And neither are you with that low-powered Driver. Besides,” Ankh stated cracking his neck. “Me and Kazari… Oh, we’ve got scores to settle.”

“...Didn’t anyone ever teach you what cats do to birds?” Kazari asked bearing his claws.

“Must not have paid attention,” Ankh replied dismissively.

Eiji knew he couldn't argue with Ankh, not with who they were up against. Taking out two cell medals, he popped one after the other in and formed the Crane Arm attachment. Swinging it around, he managed to clock the Kuro Neko Yummy in the head once, before it leaped up to the rafters, Eiji tracking its movements.

“...Sure this thing isn’t half kangaroo…?” Eiji muttered before he jumped backwards as the yummy leaped towards him. It struck again and again with its claws, slashing out like a madman before biting down on his arm with powerful fangs.

Hearing Eiji’s sharp scream of pain that cut through the air like a knife, Ankh briefly considered helping him, before he leaped backwards to avoid a slash from Kazari. Eiji would have to help himself, Ankh mused as he kicked a jet engine towards Kazari. Kazari’s eyes widened before he sent a powerful blast of air towards the jet engine only causing it to explode in his face.

“And here I thought you were supposed to be the cunning one?” Ankh said as Kazari cursed and swore, the cheetah and tora medals flying towards Ankh. He swiftly grabbed both before smirking. Back where they belonged. “Thanks for holding onto these for me, but I'll take them off your hands now!”

Kazari leaped towards Ankh only to get blasted into the ceiling by a powerful blast of hot wind thrown from Ankh’s palm.

“Hmm… Interesting development.” Ankh mused before his eyes widened at seeing Kazari coming at him like a bolt of lightning. Seems he still had a cheetah medal left in him. Striking again and again, he managed to reclaim the tora and cheetah medals in the process.

“What were you saying about taking these off my hands…?” Kazari mocked dangling the two medals in front of Ankh. “I swear, without OOOs you’re exceedingly pathetic. I remember when you used to be the best of us Ankh, and now look at you! Scrounging around for scraps, and hanging around humans!”

“Like you’re any different?” Ankh shouted, throwing a hard right cross to Kazari’s face which sent him staggering back with the tora medal landing in Ankh’s hand. Eiji had managed to free himself from the Kuro Neko Yummy’s grip, and fired the Birth Buster at Kazari doing some damage cell medals spilling to the floor.

“Here, take this! I believe it belongs to you!” Eiji shouted, throwing Kazari’s yummy towards him knocking the feline greeed to the floor. As the two stood up, Eiji once more swung the crane arm knocking a straightjacketed man free of the yummy’s body before engaging the Proto Birth system’s other feature.

“Cell Burst.”

Firing a powerful stream of red energy towards both Kazari and his creation, he managed to send Kazari fleeing for his life while utterly dispatching the yummy.

As Eiji pulled out his phone, with Ankh knocking the yummy parent unconscious he looked towards his partner.

“Now… Now, who would be insane enough to use a dribbling lunatic from a asylum as a yummy parent and a lure…” Ankh murmured. “Even in my heyday, I knew to use mostly stable people!”

As Eiji finished dialing 911 and explaining the situation with said dribbling lunatic, he looked back towards Ankh and replied with two very simple words. “Foundation X.”

Ankh deadpanned at the young man and gave him a flat stare. “Why did you say that dramatically like I'm supposed to know what that is? Dumbass.”

“Foundation X…” Eiji sighed as he got on his bike after changing it back from vendor form. Ankh, reluctantly, hopped on the back. “You might call them merchants of death really. I’ll explain everything I know on the way back…”

Eiji’s first encounter with the Foundation was several years ago really, a few shy of a decade. It was several years before he decided to move offices to Denver. In hindsight, Eiji wondered if Foundation X hadn’t scared him enough to actually get him to move to America where they hopefully wouldn’t find him.

“Mister Kougami,” a well-dressed woman with oddly pink skin, and purple and cyan hair greeted with a bow as she waltzed into Eiji’s office in Tokyo. Behind her, a man carrying a briefcase. “Such a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Then you have me at a disadvantage, Miss,” Eiji joked managing to force a smile. He couldn't place it, but something was off about this woman. “May I ask your name?”

“Starlight Glimmer… Or would that be Glimmer Starlight over here?” the woman asked with a touch of embarrassment. “I’m not exactly sure I admit…”

“How about we use first names to help you feel more at home?” Eiji offered, indicating for her to take a seat. “Call me Eiji, Starlight-san.”

“Yes… Well, in that case…” Starlight smiled though there was something… off about that smile if Eiji had to admit it to himself. Too false. It gave him the shivers. “I’m from a company, similar in interests to yours, in improving the world. I thought you might have an interest on what we have on offer.”

“I suppose this is where I ask what you're offering?” Eiji teased, putting his hands together atop his desk. “Please, go on.”

Starlight snapped her fingers, and the man with the briefcase walked forwards. “You see, your father likes to preach how desire furthers human evolution, makes them strive to go on and do greater and better things. How desire will save the world. He’s not wrong, although we believe in human evolution of a different kind to improve the world around us…”

The man opened up the briefcase as Starlight spoke. Inside the briefcase were what looked to be flash drives of a sort, although much larger and ribcaged for whatever reason. Eiji looked towards Starlight, and swore for just a brief moment he saw a similar object in Starlight’s hands before she pocketed it in her pantsuit.

Eiji’s eyes narrowed. Gaia Memories. He’d heard about the incidents in Fuuto involving the Museum and later on, the incident involving the Necro-Overs led by a madman calling himself Kamen Rider Eternal. Not that Eiji acknowledged him as such, given he bore no behavior of that exhibited by a true Kamen Rider.

“You want me to invest in something that terrorized an entire city?” Eiji questioned, holding back a glare. “Because while I believe our PR team is good, even they'd be hard pressed to make that sound like a good idea to the press.”

“Our team has been working on… refinements,” Starlight replied. “These new Gaia Memories will not drive anyone out of control, and a Driver of any sort would not be needed. All anyone would gain is just the powers each offer. A demonstration if you would permit me?”

One of Eiji's hands dipped below his desk, primed to call for security. “Against my better judgement, yes.”

\ Heat! /

The man had injected a gaia memory, and was now creating flames in his hands. In actuality, Starlight was lying. He did gain a dopant form, but Eiji could not see this thanks to the secret usage of a Mirage gaia memory that had actually been active before Starlight even entered.

Eiji's eyes scrutinized the pair, not trusting what he was seeing. It was obvious by the look in her eyes that Starlight was hiding something. But, he had his ways of smoking out her true face. “Intriguing, Starlight-san. But I don't think I can finalize a deal based on this. Send us a copy of your research data and let my team examine a memory and we'll come up with our answer after that.”

“Your request will be fulfilled with. You should expect the data within a few weeks.” Starlight replied before taking her leave.

What Starlight had hoped to accomplish that day, Eiji was never entirely sure. Maybe she needed a new distributor, or maybe X was running low on funding. Whatever the case, Eiji had made sure to contact an old friend back in Fuuto and they had informed him of the existence of Foundation X. And even as he heard the triumphant cries of both Adagio and Rainbow and the sounds of cell medals over the radio he couldn’t shake this nervous feeling. “If Foundation X is even here in America slightly, then that means trouble. Of what kind, I cannot be sure, but we are now all in grave danger…”

Author's Notes:

First off, huge thanks to Thunderclap for co-writing this chapter with me. Massive thank you.

Okay, yes... The Foundation. You sorta knew what you were getting into with a chapter title like that really. Now, Starlight as the leader. Let's face it, in her insane days she was totally a Toku villain, and a certain story called "The Long Con" which I believe is still featured only cemented her as a good choice for a Foundation X boss. Well, that and Kamen Rider Unicorn.

And yes, Eiji and Ankh teaming up was totally fanservice. What else could it be?

Now, I apologize if you didn't get to see Adagio and Rainbow's first team up as partners, but I honestly couldn't figure out how Gamel's plan would work without it pushing the Teen rating. So, imagine what you like no matter how disturbing. Plus, this plot point took more precedence anyhow.

11: Rest, Recuperation, Humilation

Adagio groaned as she sank down into the folds of her couch later that night. Even with Rainbow’s newfound help, that Bull Yummy did not go down easily and for all their troubles they’d only gotten one measly little cell medal for it. Adagio hadn’t managed to land any blows on Gamel, so sadly she didn’t have any Cores to show for it either.

“Ankh’s going to kill me for this one, I just know it… Especially after I lost so many Medals during the fight with Uva.” she thought to herself looking towards the ‘nest’ Ankh had made out of various materials he’d found lying about. Like any bird, he’d taken whatever he could find and used it to create his nest. That included some of Adagio’s clothing. Narrowing her eyes as she spotted some of her underthings in the nest, she quickly grabbed them and tossed them in the wash to wipe away Ankh’s taint. She and him would have words, rest assured.

And perhaps she would limit his ice pop intake for the rest of the month. Served him right, anyways.

Personally, she didn’t actually care about being in Ankh’s good books. She honestly wanted him gone as soon as possible really. The man (bird?) was a nuisance and frankly a real pain in Adagio’s ass even if he was helpful from time to time. His arrogance, for one thing. He actually put that old boyfriend of hers -one Vladimir Blueblood- to shame. And believe you me, that was quite a feat considering Blueblood considered himself God's gift to women at least in his mind. Even if he -Ankh- was jaw-droppingly gorgeous in a pretty boy way -didn’t the Japanese have a term for that?- his negative qualities not to mention being partially dead were a real turn off.

She hoped that when springtime came about, Ankh didn’t exhibit any other annoying traits, like performing mating dances. Knowing him, he’d go all out just to impress her, Adagio thought with a shudder. Chances were, and Adagio thought this with an amused smirk he’d just do that “Hello my baby, hello my honey’ thing complete with top hat, and cane! Adagio would more likely fall over laughing at that then being swept off her feet, swooned and then being taken towards her bedroom for a nice long night of-

Adagio nearly gagged at the direction her train of thoughts were heading.

“God,” Adagio muttered to herself aloud as she went towards the fridge for some leftover pizza. Comfort food. Didn’t really matter about how many calories she got, being OOOs would burn them up quickly anyways. “What the hell is wrong with me…?” she muttered to herself as her thoughts once more turned towards the wicked and potentially disgusting. Namely, with Adagio lying on her bed, before allowing herself to be taken by Ankh. Gentle thrusts, in and out. That’s how it went in her mind. Adagio then nearly gagged at the thought. Her, and Ankh having sex? Okay, yeah… She needed to get her head checked. Handsome as he was, he was still dead! And Adagio Dazzle did not fancy herself a necrophiliac!

“...Woof, okay wow…” Adagio muttered. “I really do have to get back into the dating scene if I’m seriously considering Ankh as a potential choice in boyfriend material… God, how long has it been since I’ve been on a date…?” she wondered aloud to herself. “Well, probably too long if my current thought train is any indicator…”

She once more fought back a gag. Really, Ankh of all people as a potential… -Adagio fought back another shudder at the idea- mate.

Adagio wanted to scream about then. She had to choose that word, right then and there! Mate, mate! Oh god, she thought to herself. He’s beginning to corrupt me with his… Ankhness!

Adagio fell back into the couch wondering who she pissed off in a past life for everything to go in this direction with her. Greeeds, her becoming a Kamen Rider, and her thinking about a spirit of desire with the world’s largest ego known to man as a potential boyfriend. What the Hell was wrong with her? Seriously, someone up there had to be sitting on their cloud and laughing their ass off at her. “Note to self,” Adagio thought. “When I die, punch the guy who wrote how my life was going to go in the face.”

Looking through the DVDs she had stashed under her TV, Adagio sighed. “Oh well, suppose there could be worse people in the world to show mild -and I must stress mild- interest in. At least Ankh’s handsome, and is somewhat sane. I could be thinking about a complete loon like Kazari.”

Adagio sighed. Yeah, that was it. She’d been out of the dating scene for far too long if she was seriously considering Ankh as a potential ma-No, partner she swiftly corrected herself. Beastility and Necrophilia aside, there were so many reasons she would never -and she meant never- date that ass.

Now… Eiji on the other hand… Hmm, now he was a catch Adagio thought with a small lick of her lips. If she noticed she had done this, Adagio probably would have been mortified given she was trying to be as far away from her siren counterpart as possible. And that included personality quirks. But anyways, back to Eiji. Probably way above her station though Adagio thought with a sigh, and he would have to be called away on business trips more times than Adagio would have liked. As much as she hated to admit it, Adagio aside from loving her job loved romance as well. Not to the extent of Sonata mind you, but she did at times get visions of welcoming an unknown male back to her home, being cooked a nice dinner and then taking him back to her bedroom for a nice night of soft, sensual sex with every part of her body being kissed and caressed.

Adagio realized a little too late she was drooling a bit. “Goddamnit Rarity… Why’d you have to send me those romance novels as an apology for accidentally being a yummy parent and outing me as OOOs…?”

She appreciated the sentiment, she really did, but lately, they had been distracting her more than she actually would have cared to admit. She preferred to get lost in marine life encyclopedias, not the folds of a trashy book with a likely digitally retouched man on the front.

(The only reason Aria hadn’t died of hysterical laughter upon learning this little facet was that Adagio still had enough movies to win her some ‘cool big sis’ points. Well, that and Adagio had caught Aria drooling at some of the covers.)

Finally managing to pop in a DVD without being distracted in some way, Adagio smiled and took a bit of her pizza even as the movie began. An old film really, from the seventies. About a guy on a desert planet suddenly discovering his long-hidden destiny. Adagio didn’t know why honestly, but she could relate. Maybe it was the whole given secret powers to become OOOs thing. Maybe.

“I swear, if I turn out to be related to that ‘King’ I’ve heard Ankh ranting about from time to time I will scream.” Adagio thought. She didn’t ask for this, becoming a superhero. She just wanted a normal life. Marry a nice guy, work in the Aquarium with the animals she adored and at the end of the day just go on with an ordinary life. Instead, here she was working day in and day out braving all sorts of dangers just to deal with what in the end, were monsters made out of coins! Adagio laughed bitterly. Life had an odd sense of humor it seemed.

“Mumbling to yourself again, Dazzle?” Ankh’s grating voice commented after the sound of wing flaps came from her window, and Adagio looked to see the bird-man perched on her balcony.

“Getting yourself into trouble again Ankh?” Adagio returned with an amused smirk even as the sound of blaster fire came from the TV. Ankh’s face was awash with bruises and it looked as if something had beaned him in the forehead. It took all of Adagio’s strength not to laugh. So much for the mighty king of birds.

Ankh ignored her and sat down on the couch. Adagio noticed a red medal he flipped up in the air briefly before catching in his hand. “...The man should have shot first…” Ankh grumbled at the TV. “More practical. It’s what I’d do…”

Adagio rolled her eyes. Of course, Ankh would like the more roguish types really. It suited him. She mentally made a note that if starships were ever invented in the recent future Ankh should never get his hands on one.

“So, what happened to you?” Adagio asked. “And what’s with the new… Wait, is that a peacock?” she asked, barely able to contain her laughter. Of course, Ankh would have a fucking peacock as one of his core medals. He was such a flamboyant bastard, it made so much sense!

“It was a gift for helping Eiji with a Yummy,” Ankh started before Adagio cut him off.

“The same yummy who I assumed beaned you in the head with… something?” she mocked. “So much for the mighty king of birds eh…?”

“Shaddup,” Ankh grumbled. “At least I got two cores out of the whole ordeal. Kazari showed up before you ask. Eiji and I managed to send that cat fleeing for his life.”

“Sure you did,” Adagio said not entirely believing him. She more than likely suspected Ankh just hid like a coward -no, a chicken- and let Eiji do all the work before striking when the time was just right. It suited Ankh really. “And I own Brooklyn Bridge.”

“...Fine, don’t believe in our superior teamwork!” Ankh huffed crossing his arms. “We made a better team than you or I ever did.”

“Yeah, because you rarely lend a hand to me anyways,” Adagio sniped before swatting Ankh’s hand away from her pizza. “So that I can believe.”

“Hey, let me have some of that…” Ankh whined. It was almost cute in a way really.

“After finding some of my underwear in your ‘nest’, -which by the way we need to talk about as by god the space it takes up- I think not!” Adagio sniffed.

“Hey, don’t get all snooty with me Ms. I Like Sea Cucumbers!” Ankh huffed and Adagio raised an eyebrow. Not one of his better insults, usually they managed to sting a bit more or were at least a bit more creative.

“...You must have been beaten up bad if you can’t think up any good and really biting insults. Maybe a few punches rattled your brain or something?” she returned, briefly thinking what little of a brain Ankh actually had. “I happen to like sea cucumbers actually. Did you know scientists recently discovered one that looks like Cthulhu? Sorta awesome, in a creepy way really…” Adagio commented and smirked as she watched Ankh’s face fall realizing how badly that insult had backfired.

“Yes… Well…” Ankh sputtered out. “That still doesn’t mean you get to dictate how I make my nest. This is my house too as you very well know!” Ankh sputtered out. “That is of course, unless you want to throw me out to the street and leave me the mercy of my fellow greeed…?” he said looking a little like a kitten who had been thrown out in the rain. At least probably in his eyes anyways. In Adagio’s eyes he just looked pathetically sad.

“Don’t tempt me…” Adagio mumbled even as Ankh went rummaging about in her DVD selection and found one of the things Rarity had loaned her.

“Oooh… My my Adagio, I didn’t know you had it in you. Fifty Sha-”

It was then Adagio finally lost it and launched herself at Ankh with a battle cry. Needless to say, Ankh found it better not to comment on Adagio’s tastes after this.

---

“You know, one of these days I am so going to tie a bell around your neck,” Adagio commented to Ankh later that next day, car engine roaring as they drove out of Denver and into the large area known as the Green Valley Ranch. Both Fluttershy -and by that extent Aria as well- and Sonata called this general area home and after day after day of Yummy fighting Adagio actually relished a day or so off from work to enjoy herself and spend some time with her sisters. Sadly, Ankh had to come along as Adagio didn’t trust him alone for a minute.

“Ooh, a bell…?” Ankh teased. “Kinky. I can see a certain movie has been rubbi-”

“Don’t… Just don’t even go there,” Adagio threatened her face quite flustered. “If you do, there will be news at eleven about a murdered bird-man.”

“Go ahead and try. I’d be impressed if you killed me,” Ankh stated. “Well, dead but still impressed.”

“One of these days…” Adagio muttered to herself. “One of these days…”

Ignoring her, Ankh continued on. “You know, is it just me or do the ordinary people seem to create the most prolific yummies? Word to the wise, just a tip, the most evil people have the most commonplace names. Least that’s my experience. Beware anyone named Keith. Or Tom. They always turn out to be lords of darkness and evil. Or kings.”

“...Pretty sure names like Rainbow Dash and Rarity are hardly ordinary,” Adagio commented feeling a phantom pain from how hard the Batta Yummy had managed to hit.

“Says the woman named Adagio Dazzle,” Ankh snarked. “Yep, you’re a paragon of ordinary names, you are! You and your sisters!”

“...Point taken,” Adagio commented. “But wait, was this infamous King really named Tom or Keith?” she asked eyebrow raised in an utterly fascinating manner.

“What makes you think I was talking about that King?” Ankh returned. “You assume my entire life revolves around past troubles…”

Adagio gave him a flat look. Ankh didn’t seem to catch the message and just licked on an ice lolly before he gained a lecherous grin. “...Oh, and if you’re wondering I can do that with your bre-”

Adagio’s withering glare and a slipper slap to the head promptly shut Ankh up. She then took away the lolly and tossed it into the wind.

“Okay, A, that’s littering, and B, have you seen how hot it is lately?” Ankh whined.

“When you stop acting like such an egotist, maybe I’ll start being nice,” she remarked feeling a rather nasty headache coming on. “Of course, that’ll come when hell freezes over but…” Adagio grumbled as an afterthought.

“Fine fine, next battle I’ll offer you both the Taka and the Kujaku medals, will that make us nice?” Ankh asked.

“Medals, Medals, Medals. Don't you have anything else?” Adagio asked pulling to a halt once they were past the ranch gate. It took Ankh a very long time to formulate an answer.

“...Well, I have my looks. If ever comes the time you need the help of a very beautiful man…” Ankh trailed off.

“Pretty sure your attitude is a major turn off, not to mention just about everything else about you. Must we get started on your hair…?” Adagio grumbled as she got out of the car.

“Oh, so you don’t need my help then?” Ankh teased. “You think you can use your own beauty to sway a woman to your side? ...Granted, I suppose that’s not that particularly difficult for you. You can ‘dazzle’ them with your…”

It was a bit too late for Ankh before he realized what exactly he’d said.

“Oh, so you think I’m beautiful do you…?” Adagio commented turning back to look at him. She’d taken off her denim jacket, allowing some of her figure to be visible.

“Beautiful, for a human. For a human.” Ankh stated trying very hard not to observe Adagio’s rear end as she walked forwards. He could have sworn she was putting on a show of it, just for him. Amusingly enough, Ankh wasn’t being a narcissist for once. Adagio actually was putting a bit more sway into her step if only to screw with him.

“Ugh, I’m going to need a shower after this…” Adagio thought to herself. It wasn’t her just acting like her Equestria counterpart that made her disgusted, it was because of who she was doing it for.

“So why are we out here anyways?” Ankh asked in exasperation. “Seriously, this is like… the middle of nowhere!”

“The head of the Aquarium decided I needed a few days off from my job, just because of what you’ve been putting me through after you gave me this,” Adagio gestured to the driver in her pocket. “So here we are, going to visit my sisters. You’re just along for the ride, as I trust you to be alone about as far as I can throw you.”

“Want to correct you on a teeny, tiny thing really…” Ankh replied holding up a finger. “I didn’t just decide to slap the driver on you and that was that. You did it yourself remember, just to protect your sister. And me, I might add.”

“...Yeah, don’t remind me. I’m starting to regret the protect you part of the decision,” Adagio mumbled. “Do me a favor and go get yourself stung okay?”

“Wait, stung?” Ankh asked sputtering out the words. “What’s that got to do with this?”

“Oh, Sonata helps keep bees,” Adagio smiled gesturing to a woman out near some hives dressed in an all-white outfit. “Did I forget to mention that?”

“...Oh, joy.” Ankh muttered somehow getting the feeling Adagio may have partially brought him along just so she could enjoy his misery. “...You’re not going to put me to work are you…?”

“Let’s see… Hmm, yes. Yes, I am. Might help knock you down a few pegs, and in the process finally pay back the bill of ice pops you’ve been racking up. 280 dollars just this week alone! So yes, it’s time for you to finally earn your keep.” Adagio stated in a tone leaving no room for argument.

“...Can’t decide whether to admire you or just hate you right now…” the bird greeed grumbled. Ankh’s mind would soon be made up when he returned from the hives covered in stings muttering: “Bees… My god.”

Sonata, of course, given her chosen profession -well, temporary chosen profession anyways given she knew she wanted to be a top-notch chef someday- was no stranger to getting stung. And even if Ankh was everything Adagio had told her about… Well, he looked exceedingly pathetic covered in stings.

Even as Sonata applied a paste made of baking soda and water to the affected areas -which there were many, I tell you- Ankh continued to yelp and whimper all the while.

“Oh, be quiet you big baby. Your own fault you decided to anger the queen bee and get the whole hive after you.” Adagio commented absolutely awash with sympathy.

“So, is it true Ankh decided to make himself a nest in your apartment?” Sonata asked still tending to the very humiliated king of birds.

“Sadly,” Adagio muttered. “Believe me, he and I will have words.”

“...Aww, you’re just like an old married couple!” Sonata squeed. Did I forget to mention Sonata was an utter romantic?

“You’re kidding me. Me marry him?” Adagio shouted while Ankh said something pretty much to the same effect that -mind you- was far ruder and led to Sonata smacking the bird greeed upside the head. Adagio huffed and crossed her arms and looked away from the man-child. “...Not if he was the last male on earth.”

“Just sayin’ Dagi… You’re not getting any younger really and let’s be honest, when was the last time you were on a date?” Sonata remarked. “Oh god, how I’d love to be a flower girl at your wedding…”

“There is no wedding!” Adagio replied. “There never will be a wedding!”

“Oh, so you’ll just elope then?” Sonata asked innocently and Adagio just sighed. Somehow she knew the ditz act her youngest sibling put up was a front. Somehow she just knew it, and Sonata was just laughing on the inside at Adagio’s reactions.

She decided not to argue the point any further and attempt to tell Sonata that eloping was very much out of the question as well.

“Just sayin’ Dagi…” Sonata continued. “Those fields of yours, very very dry and I think they do need plowing. You’ve got quite a few hallways that have cobwebs…”

“Dear God Sonata!” Adagio muttered to herself, face flushing a very, very bright red. “I swear sometimes…” she murmured shaking her head while Ankh cackled in the background sorta like a crow or a kookaburra. This led to yet another slipper slap.

“She’s totally tsundere…” Sonata said towards Ankh in a conspiratorial whisper complete with a wink. “She’s into you, she just doesn’t want to admit it. Adagio’s always been a very proud woman…”

“...Heard that Sonata…” Adagio half groaned, half sighed.

“So, what do you do in your spare time?” Ankh asked the youngest Dazzling. “Besides keeping those little… Uvas in the making.”

Sonata blinked at Ankh’s particular choice in phrasing before answering: “Just... chill on the couch and watch Masterchef.”

Ankh facepalmed. “You hear this Adagio?” he shouted looking towards the woman in question. “This is the fantasy life of a post-menopausal housewife! I swear, I never thought I’d meet someone more boring than you, but congrats in some amazing way your sister managed to succeed you on that front!”

For the third time that day, Ankh found himself slapped upside the head by Adagio’s patented slipper. She really had to thank Fluttershy for teaching her that one day, she mused.

“I want to be a chef, so I think watching TV shows related to that is a requirement!” Sonata said smacking Ankh upside the head. Needless to say, for once Adagio wasn’t the one nursing a headache.

“...I’d really hate to be in his head,” Sonata remarked. “You really sure about dating him Dagi?”

Adagio didn’t bother to dignify her sister with an answer to that one.

“...Oh, so prove to me you can cook!” Ankh challenged in his usual biting tone.

“Don’t accept it…” Adagio mentally pleaded hoping her sister would somehow in some way hear her. “Don’t accept it… For the love of all that is holy… Do not accept it!”

“You know what? Fine, I will show you just how well I can cook!” Sonata declared striking a sort of pose while Adagio just banged her head up against the nearest wall.

Just a half-hour later Sonata returned with cooked chicken. Apparently, she didn’t remember what Ankh embodied or she just didn’t care and was basically saying: “This is my revenge for your comments, so you’ll eat this and I don’t care if you don’t like it!”

Adagio hoped, and I mean severely hoped it was the latter thing.

Ankh meanwhile looked horrified, and at a loss for words. Eventually, he shrugged and began tearing into the chicken. But of course he would, given that a lot of birds ate other birds and he was the king of them. It was more likely he was horrified he was expected to eat it cooked considering to him it should have been raw meat.

Obviously, Ankh liked the meat though both Adagio and Sonata knew very well that he would never admit it -aloud anyways- due to that ever abundant pride of his. As Ankh continued to ravenously tear into the chicken making anyone with table manners within 100 miles probably die a little inside, Sonata and Adagio turned to some sisterly talk.

“So, you really are a superhero huh ‘Dagi?” Sonata asked eating some honey-filled cookies. “Man, and I thought me and Aria were ambitious…”

“Not by choice, I should point out,” Adagio replied. “It was either become OOOs, or let Aria die via giant cat monster.”

Yeah, guess that does sorta put things in perspective…” Sonata sighed knowing anyone in that sort of situation would probably have done the same thing. “But still, you’re a Kamen Rider now. You can be like Kamen Rider X, aka your senpai! You just need the guy in the mecha suit!”

“...Not my senpai.” Adagio sighed trying very hard not to let her embarrassed flush show. Especially when Ankh was nearby. God, she hated even talking about this when he was around. The last thing she needed to give him was more blackmail material. Sadly, Sonata had other ideas and was all too happy to embarrass her older sibling.

Honestly, Sonata thought to herself. Adagio needed to loosen up and be less all business. Maybe then she’d attract someone and finally be able start dating again. ...Why she hadn’t started dating that Star Hunter guy at work was beyond her, given he did seem to be the closest thing Adagio had to a best friend.

“Right, and you totally didn’t have drawings of the guy hung up all over your room when you were younger, nor did you not use to own a body pillow styled after the guy…” Sonata deadpanned. “Must be remembering a few things differently than you, that’s all!” she chirped.

“...Okay, okay. I’m a fangirl. But he’s cool. Marine diver and hero, what more could you ask for?” Adagio sighed wistfully. “...God, I’d love to get my hands on Kamen Rider Chronicle and play as him…”

“Hey, I’ve noticed you’ve had a lance in some of your Rider forms. You haven’t tried performing his X kick have you…?” Sonata inquired with another raised eyebrow.

“I… I may have?” Adagio admitted nervously with a little giggle. “But once. Just once! I’m not an acrobat you know…”

“Eh, knowing you and your fangirling towards him… You’ll find a way. In the meantime, you mentioned over a text once there was this marine-themed greeed? Mezūru or something like that?”

“Yes, I did,” Adagio said before correcting Sonata. “And it’s Mezool. She’s… She’s sorta an odd case really. Apparently, all she wants to do is experience motherly love but because of the way the greeed are she can’t do that…”

“That’s… That’s kinda sad really,” Sonata whispered. “For a villain, I can’t help but want to give her a hug if all she wants to do in the end is be a mom… She doesn’t sound all that evil really, even if she did nearly flood the city with piranhas…”

“...I still have the memories, and bites to prove it.” Adagio muttered rubbing one of her shoulders upon reflex.

“You think you can reform her? I mean, motherly love isn’t that hard of a desire to achieve really…” Sonata murmured to herself. Ankh begged to differ. Big surprise there.

“HAH!” Ankh scoffed wiping the grease off his face fearing another slipper slap for lack of manners. “You, reform a greeed? That’s a laugh! It’d be… It’d be like pigs flying!”

“She works with you doesn’t she?” Sonata asked standing her ground.

“And yet I’m a model person,” Ankh deadpanned. “Make no mistake, as soon as your sister stops being of use to me, I’m leaving her. Get that through your thick skull m’kay? Trying to reform Mezool? That would be an impossibility. It’s because of how we’re made. We cannot experience any sensations as you can.”

“Then why do you eat so much? Seems to me you like human food well enough doesn’t it?” Sonata asked with an eyebrow raise. Ankh didn’t answer. Sonata chuckled. Only way to a man’s heart, namely through his stomach.

“I… I suppose I could try really…” Adagio murmured. “Would be an uphill battle, but I really don’t feel right not trying at the very least. ...God, this kindness will be the death of me probably.”

“No, it’s a sign you’re well suited to being a Kamen Rider,” Sonata replied with a smile before she noticed Adagio’s expression.

“...Yeah, about that…” her older sister sighed to herself before pulling Sonata out of Ankh’s range of hearing. “See uh… Not too long ago, there was an attack on a military base, targeting one of my friends. It wasn’t a explosive, and what it was is hardly important right now but…”

Sonata’s eyes widened. “You… You thought it was a bomb or something like that, wasn’t it? Did… did you see it? Like, did you see it again?” she asked in a concerned tone.

“Yeah… Y-Yeah, I saw it. A building collapsing, and I… I heard the screams and the roar of the flames. I heard it, just like I did 15 years ago.” Adagio shuddered to herself. “What… What if a similar situation arises? What if we get a yummy born from a madman? What… What if he tries what happened all those years ago? Sonata, you know perfectly well as I do I won’t be able to handle it, I’ll… I’ll freeze up!”

“Oh ‘Dagi…” Sonata whispered pulling her sister into a hug and letting her cry. “You’re not alone in this remember? It’s not just those other Riders in the city. You’ve got us, your family to help you through it. Your ‘ohana.”

“Yes… But…” Adagio whispered. “This is proof alone I’m not cut out to be a Rider. I… I simply wouldn’t be able to handle this all over again…”

“No, it’s proof that you’re only human,” Sonata reprimanded her sister in a soft tone of voice. “You don’t have to be the perfect one of the family, you never had to be. If that time comes, we -and that means me and Aria- will help you through this. And don’t try and stop us, Adagio,” Sonata continued. “That’s what family is for. To help each other out.”

Wiping away her tears, Adagio smiled. “You… You know Sonata, sometimes I think you’re the real superhero here… Not me.” she whispered and hugged her sibling tightly.

Author's Notes:

Okay, so no action unlike last time, and that was entirely the point. The last chapter, balls to the wall action and very little chances for you all to breathe. Here, I wanted to devote more time to the characters themselves. While yes, the last chapter did further the story in some aspects, in others, it did not.

Here, it was all about Adagio and how she's been changed by her new-found job.

12: Reflections

It was late one night at Rainbow’s household at the base. Like every other night since the attack, Rainbow kept a close watch on the squirt. She shuddered as she thought of that… thing which had dived out of her mirror. She didn’t know what it was, or why it looked like a Kamen Rider but needless to say every hour or so until she was sure all was quiet she kept a close eye on Scootaloo.

Privately, she wondered if smashing every reflective surface in her house just in case was a good idea. She wasn’t superstitious by any margin, but she still felt nervous whenever she looked into the mirror… almost as if she expected something to look back. Always, she seemed to swear something out of the corner of her eye seemed to move within each and every mirror she looked at. She wondered exactly just how many types of reflective surfaces that thing could possibly dive out of, or was it just mirrors?

In any case, if she went around destroying things she’d probably have quite a bit of explaining to do to her bosses. If she said some monster was jumping in and out of mirrors to try and attack her and her family, the Captain would probably consider her crazy to say the least. Yes, monsters existed in their world, all kinds -a few years ago Rainbow would have called stained glass creatures a joke for example - but there was a distinct difference from things that very clearly existed in reality and things that just hopped out of mirrors.

And yet, Rainbow mused as she looked at the bronze deck in her hands, clearly they did in some way.

“Well, at least you’re not stupid,” Goldphoenix said in her head the bird sounding almost like he approved of her current demeanor. “I can think of quite a few users who would go by life despite knowing they could be attacked by a Mirror Rider or Mirror Monster at any moment, and not care.”

“I’m sorry, did I ask you?” Rainbow retorted back to the generally useless creature. He, if rarely ever helped her on anything just expecting her to figure things for herself like how each and every card worked. He did explain to her that she had a Time Vent card, which could turn back time to a degree, even extreme ones if she so desired if things went catastrophically wrong for her. Rainbow at first had scoffed, but now that she thought about it it could come in handy. Briefly tempted as she was by it, Rainbow then realized why exactly Goldphoenix was offering how to explain it to her. He wasn’t doing it to be helpful by any means, he was just doing it to tempt her further into power. So, in defiance of Goldphoenix’s wishes, she had ripped it up.

Rainbow smirked to herself slightly as she thought back to Goldphoenix’s enraged expression.

“You did what!?!” the bird screeched, wings alight with flame in his anger. A look of pure hatred was being driven into her very soul behind piercing green eyes.

“I said I ripped up that damn Time Vent card. That’s the kind of power nobody should have, nobody you hear?” Rainbow stated holding up the two halves of the card to Goldphoenix causing him to screech even louder. He took a swipe at Rainbow with one of his massive talons, causing Rainbow to jump back slightly in fear before she relaxed. This was her mindscape, the bird couldn’t do anything to her in here. Granted, she realized outside of her mindscape if she ever summoned him again he probably would if something else didn’t catch his attention first.

“You idiot!” Goldphoenix hissed out. “While not a crucial part of my deck, what you just did was deprive yourself of a possible tactical advantage! And you of all people, a soldier should know how useful those are!”

“Yes, I do,” Rainbow stated regaining her cool. “However, I also know power when I see it, and that kind of power as I said before should be in the hands of nobody. I would not be able to resist its usage given enough time. Let me tell you a story okay?” Rainbow lectured sitting down on a chair. “You ever heard the name Sunset Shimmer? I don’t care if you haven’t, you’re going to hear it anyways.”

“Oh, I have heard the name…” Goldphoenix stated back grinning devilishly making Rainbow shudder. That kind of smile just looked… wrong on the bird. “Trust me, if I had a way I would have made sure my deck landed in her hands a long, long time ago…”

“And it’s a good thing it never did,” Rainbow refuted. “I love Sunset like a sister, but even I know of what might happen if she were handed a little too much power for her own good. Yes, she’s changed since those days, but the kind of power you would offer her might be a little too much. It’s still in her, you know. That dark side. It would just need a way to break out.”

“You’re a smart woman Rainbow Dash, if not a little too caring and loyal for your own good. If I had my way, then you’d be looking out for yourself and nothing but yourself. It’s the only way to survive in this world.”

“It’s a good thing then, you’ll never have your way. I will never allow it,” Rainbow replied. “Anyways, since you claim to know so much about Sunset then you know her past.”

“Oh yes, I do. Very much so,” Goldphoenix laughed. “Such an idiot she was for giving up that kind of power that ‘Element of Magic’ gave her. She would have probably been the best Ride-”

“Yeah yeah, got that. I still fear to this day, given the proper incentive that side of her would emerge again. Maybe I’m being too worrisome, or paranoid, or something but that’s besides the point. It’s my job as one of her best friends to worry about her even now you understand?”

“...Yes, yes… Element of Loyalty and all that…” Goldphoenix deadpanned not particularly caring. “You’re too nice for-”

“My own good? Yeah yeah, got that. You’re like a record on repeat you know that?” Rainbow snarked back. “So unless you have anything useful to offer me, can you just shut your damn beak?”

“Well, I will give you this, Rainbow Dash of Denver Colorado,” Goldphoenix chuckled approvingly. “You’ve got nerve, that’s nice. Haven’t know any users to actually have the gall to backsass me or defy my wishes. Then again, they’ve never had really much will to begin with. You… You, on the other hand, are something to keep an eye on. Very well then, play your game. And I’ll give you one piece of useful information. Survive.”

Before Goldphoenix snapped her back to reality, Rainbow was wondering what the hell he possibly could have meant. Surely he didn’t mean survive as in just… survive right? No, she mused looking at the card depicting a phoenix. No… he was trying to give her a clue. But knowing him, he had a second hidden agenda. So for the time being, this card would go unused.

Back in the present, Rainbow had finally felt safe and fell into the couch sinking into its folds with her eyelids growing heavy. Just as she was about to fall asleep completely, she heard something. A scream. Rainbow’s eyes widened and she jumped up grabbing the Deck on instinct before she was met with the sight of Ryuga standing over Scootaloo’s bed, a sword through Scootaloo’s chest. Blood stained the heavily matted sheets. Scootaloo’s blood.

Rainbow let out a growl of fury after choking back a sob and launched herself at Ryuga with a howl knocking him through a wall. She began punching him over and over denting his faceplates before she heard a roar. Leaping out of the way just in time, she narrowly avoided being snatched up by Dragblacker before pulling out the Deck. She looked up, wiping away her tears to see Ryuga walking into the living room sword scraping the ground. A sword stained with the blood of her little sister.

Wiping away her tears, she looked towards a vanity mirror in her bedroom -the one Ryuga probably had leaped out of- and shouted out “Hen… SHIN!” in a barely incomprehensible snarl of rage. Knuckles cracked at her armor covered her before a solid right punch sent Ryuga flying out through another wall. Rainbow followed and wordlessly summoned her swords.

Above them, as blades causing sparks to fly met both Goldphoenix and Dragblacker fought for dominance. Talons and claws struck at each other, and beaks and jaws snapped.

No words were exchanged, nor any needed to be. This wasn’t a battle to fight for justice of any sort. No, the die had been cast and this was revenge on Rainbow’s mind. Ryuga needed to die now.

“Steal Vent.”

Rainbow suddenly found herself in possession of Ryuga’s sword which she used alongside one of her own to continue striking at the dark Rider. Slashing across his chest, she smiled when she saw blood and the Rider staggering backwards.

“Shoot Vent.”

Ryuga avenged this slight by firing a blast of pure black flame at Rainbow and she rolled to the left and tossed her sword at Ryuga. He howled in pain as the weapon he once held was knocked from his grasp. And then to add insult to that injury, Rainbow was now in possession of it as well.

Firing a pure blast of flame at Ryuga she knocked him backwards before running forwards grabbing her fallen sword and picking it up out of the ground. She’d tossed Ryuga’s weapon aside and struck fiercely with the force of a hurricane slashing Ryuga again and again as she howled in rage and in pain for the loss of her little sister.

Behind her, Dragblacker was knocked into what remained of her already smoldering home by Goldphoenix, before being ripped apart by the massive bird.

Ryuga roared in rage but didn’t have time to think about the loss of his pet as he heard two words.

“Final Vent.”

He looked upwards to see Rainbow clad in flame a kick aimed squarely at his skull before all went black.

Rainbow awoke in a sweat, finding herself on the couch and out of her armor. She took a deep breath and looked around. No smashed walls, and she knew everything was just the way it should be.

“Just the way it should be…” Rainbow thought and choked back a sob and rushed to the bathroom running water across her face. “So… That’s all it was… Just a dream. Just a dream…” she whispered to herself looking but looked back up at the mirror and quickly grabbed it. Pulling it off, she smashed to the ground with a mighty crash in a cold sweat, glass tinkling to the floor.

She stood there for several long minutes, looking at what remained of the mirror. “No… No, I can’t let you rule me. You may have won tonight’s battle, but I promise you I will not be afraid of you.” she whispered.

If Rainbow was listening, and maybe she was but refused to acknowledge it, she would have heard a low chuckle echo throughout the room. It would not have eased her fears in the slightest, to say the least. Breaking into a sprint small pieces of glass crunched underfoot Rainbow rushed towards Scootaloo’s bedroom almost afraid of what she might find. Throwing open the doors, she allowed herself to relax and reminded herself of what she saw was not real when she looked at Scootaloo sleeping softly in her bed. She hadn’t even been awoken by all the noise. Rainbow climbed into bed alongside her sister and hugged her tightly finally allowing herself to cry. Needless to say, she didn’t really get a whole lot of sleep that night.

---

Daybreak came, and Rainbow rang up Fluttershy. She needed someone to talk to. Soarin’ would have done fine in any other instance, but no… this time she needed her best friend. With a shaky breath, she picked up her phone and dialed her number.

“Come… Come on… Please pick up…”

“Rainbow… you alright?” Scootaloo asked.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine squirt. You just eat your breakfast okay?” Rainbow asked. Scootaloo didn’t look convinced, given her older sister had tear stains running down her face and looked bleary-eyed. And every so often, she looked at the windows or anything else that might cast a reflection.

“But-” Scootaloo started before Rainbow glared at her harshly. “...Okay.” Scootaloo whispered before she was pulled into a hug.

“No, you’re right. I had a dream, a terrible dream squirt…” Rainbow whispered. “But I’ll be fine. It’s just a dream…” she whispered. A dream Rainbow swore that would never come true in any form.

An hour or so passed, and Rainbow was at a local coffee place outside the base. Ordering a simple black coffee -Rainbow mentally screamed on how hard it was to get a simple beverage these days- she drank it in silence going over the dream from last night.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have destroyed that Time Vent card so soon…” Rainbow muttered to herself going through the cards in her deck. “After all, what if I fail to keep that dream from not coming to pass…?”

Shuddering at the thought and once more choking back a sob Rainbow was pulled away from her musings by the low rumble of a motorcycle’s engine. Looking upwards, she saw Fluttershy on the back of one very sexy dark blue bike driven by Aria. A Valkyrie Rune, if Rainbow remembered correctly. She was almost jealous. She snorted. She could totally whip that thing’s tailpipe in a race with her Hellcat if she so desired.

Rainbow visibly groaned when she saw that Aria wasn’t wearing a helmet. Even if Fluttershy was, that sorta reckless behavior could rub off on her! Aria was punched in the gut by Rainbow as soon as the punk-dressed woman.

Coughing, Aria shouted out: “What… What the hell was that for ya bitch!?!”

“Really Rainbow…” Fluttershy sighed to herself rubbing her temples.

“I’m just looking out for you Flutters. Next thing you know, you won’t be wearing a helmet on your next ride with her!” Rainbow shouted pointing directly at Aria.

“Uh, a her who’s in the room right now? Seriously, you are so fuc-”

Fluttershy glared at Aria before sighing. “Don’t speak for me Aria, I hate it when you do that,” she said before looking at Rainbow. “I was fine. The only reason Aria wasn’t wearing a helmet was simply because that she had to loan hers to me,” she stated.

“...Oh,” Rainbow flushed feeling rather embarrassed. “Couldn’t… Couldn’t you have just taken that…”

“My SUV? Yeah, I suppose but… You sounded like you needed me over here fast so Aria offered to take me on her bike,” Fluttershy answered. “So can you lay off her please?”

“...Yeah, I suppose…” Rainbow muttered feeling rather ashamed of herself for assuming the worst of Aria especially when Fluttershy dropped everything to come and see her.

“Rainbow… You alright?” Fluttershy asked noting her friend’s expression even as the threesome sat down.

“I’m… I’m fine…” Rainbow said after taking a deep breath and another sip of her coffee. Aria didn’t believe her for a second.

“Yeah, excuse me if I don’t take you at your word. First, you look like someone just died, and secondly, you called your oldest friend down here not saying exactly why but sounding terrified.” Aria deadpanned. “First off, my sympathies if someone did die but-”

“Nobody… Nobody died!” Rainbow snapped causing a few people to look at her and a few whispers erupted from around her before a glare from Aria silenced her. She after all still looked and acted very much like her infamous Equestria double for better or for worse. Rainbow personally thought it a good thing right now, though she’d never admit it. She didn’t need any gossip making it back to her boss, or worse… Soarin’. “It’s just… It’s just a dream threw me for a bit of a loop that’s all…”

“Must have been some dream,” Aria said as she went off to get a cappuccino. She did not function this early in the morning without some sort of beverage. She normally took beer, but Fluttershy had banned it from the household so she settled for the next best thing. Fluttershy stared at Aria for her seemingly uncaring and dismissive tone. She, of course, was ignored. “What, it’s just a dream innit? I don’t see why Rainbow needs to get so freaked out over it!” Aria exclaimed.

Fluttershy sighed. “Ignore her. She’s grumpy this early in the day… Or, well… any time of the day really. I’ve been working to try and get her to be a little friendlier…”

“Can’t say I blame her being such a grouch really,” Rainbow mused seeing all the ugly glares sent Aria’s way and hearing the murmurs. “She and her sisters… God above, they have it rough. Another reason for me to want to deck the other Adagio in the face I guess.”

Fluttershy hid a smile. At least her friend was no longer hostile towards Aria. Or at least, this world’s Aria anyways. So that was a definite improvement. “So, about this dream of yours…” Fluttershy started. “It was about Scootaloo wasn’t it? Or one of us. Only thing that would get you this worked up about a dream was if it was either a nightmare or you dreaming about So-”

“Shush you!” Rainbow whispered a blush gracing her cheeks before she sighed. “But yeah, you’re right. It was about Scootaloo. I saw… I saw…” she began before Fluttershy placed a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay Rainbow. Take it slow,” Fluttershy said. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” she reassured.

“No… I gotta speak with someone about this…” Rainbow muttered. “I saw Scootaloo being killed okay? By that monster I told you about, you know the one,” she said before Fluttershy nodded in response. Yeah, she knew exactly the one. Rainbow had texted her soon after the first attack on the base just to reassure her she was fine and when Fluttershy had demanded explanations Rainbow had given them as best she could. They were short but simple. She hadn’t stayed on the line long, given she was concerned about both Scootaloo and who might have been listening.

“Geez…” Aria muttered her tone suddenly changing. She knew who Scootaloo was, or had at least a vague idea from Fluttershy’s conversations with her. “Can’t say I blame you with having a dream like that given all the monsters in this city lately. God knows I’m terrified for my sisters, Adagio included…” she muttered.

“Wasn’t just any one of those yummies…” Rainbow shook her head. “Fuck… Wasn’t even a yummy or a Greeed at all. No, it was… something else. A dark Kamen Rider, from the world behind the mirrors…”

“I’d say that sounds like crazy talk, but given what I heard about Gramercy Heights a few years back I’m inclined to actually believe you on this one…” Aria trailed off. “So how did… How did this start?”

She didn’t like Rainbow, not by a long shot so why she was helping her Aria didn’t exactly know but if she had to guess she owed her a debt for saving her life back at that club. Sure, she created that yummy in the first place but Rainbow realized it and wanted to put a stop to it. So Aria couldn’t really be angry at her in the end for that. She was admittedly curious though about what Rainbow meant by a Zyuman being interested in the military. Ah well, not her business she supposed.

(Aria would only later find out the answer to this when she saw an anthropomorphic cheetah dressed in marine corps garb a few weeks later.)

And so Rainbow explained much to a slack-jawed Aria’s shock. Rainbow, a Kamen Rider using the power of what lurked from behind the mirrors, and now contracted to a really grumpy phoenix with a dark dragon Rider in pursuit? And this same dragon-themed dude was the reason for the attack on the air force base? Was definitely a lot to take in at once to say the least.

“Wait, you mentioned you had this time vent thing?” Fluttershy asked immediately realizing why Rainbow was so scared.

“Emphasis on had. Ripped it up, no one should have that kind of power…” Rainbow replied. “Though I’m now wondering if…”

“If it was the best thing to do given last night’s dream?” Fluttershy asked. “...Yeah, I can see how that might be an issue…”

“Hey, said it herself. Nobody should be able to change time, good intentions or not! That kinda power… it’s just not right!” Aria replied.

“But what if… What if that dream does come to pass?” Rainbow asked. “What then? What if I had the power to stop it, and I got rid of it?”

“You’re right, you do have the power to stop it, but you didn’t get rid of it,” Fluttershy said sternly looking at the Goldphoenix deck. “You still have the ability, right there. I believe in you. You’ve always been able to do anything you’ve set your mind to.”

Wiping away her tears and not caring for once if anyone even Aria saw her crying, Rainbow whispered: “Thanks Flutters…”

Fluttershy’s only response was to pull her best friend into a hug. Smiling happily, she happily talked with Rainbow, earlier worries forgotten as they began relaxing into less frightening lines of conversation.

Eventually, Rainbow had to go back to base citing Spitfire would probably yell at her otherwise if she missed flight practice. Still smiling, Fluttershy watched Rainbow drive off the Hellcat roaring down the streets leaving chaos and tire smoke in its wake. The smile was soon to fade as Rainbow’s vehicle faded into the horizon.

“...Showoff, I could soooo whip the shortstack’s ass if I wanted to. Seriously, Rune against Hellcat. I’d totally win each and every time,” Aria huffed before she noticed her friend’s expression. “...You like her, don’t you?”

Aria wasn’t stupid. Nor was she surprised given how long both Rainbow and Fluttershy were friends. Love on either side was bound to pop up. And she had her suspicions confirmed each and every time she saw Fluttershy’s smile fade each and every time Rainbow talked about Soarin’.

She hated seeing that smile fade. It looked beautiful on her. Personally, Rainbow probably didn’t know what she was missing.

“...Yeah, I do. God knows when I started falling for her, but…” Fluttershy whispered. “With Soarin’ around I never had a chance did I?” Fluttershy laughed bitterly. She should have seen it coming really, given the two spent so much time around each other since flight school and how Soarin’ acted as an adoptive dad to Scootaloo. The cruel irony of it was, Fluttershy knew she had her chance, and could have acted on it after Rainbow tried asking Twilight out once but was rejected -Of course Twilight only had eyes for two things, her books and Sunset- but failed to do so as her fear caught up to her. Fluttershy knew she had her chance and she wasted it. “I… I just hope he makes her happy someday. That’s all I can hope for…” Fluttershy whispered sadly and Aria could only look upon her friend in pity before putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, as long as Rainbow’s happy, that’s the main thing. Now come on, I’ll go take you to the pet store or something. Maybe get you an ice cream, if not this one time. Seeing you not smiling?” Aria asked. “Just looks wrong really…”

---

Later that day, after finishing off with flight practice Rainbow walked back to her house with Soarin’ in tow.

“...Damn, you were on fire today!” Soarin’ remarked. “Like you felt the need for speed or something…”

“Really? Top Gun references?” Rainbow asked arching an eyebrow. “Pretty sure every time we make a joke towards the film we have to pay a fine or something…” she teased. “...Yeah, pretty sure.”

“Oh, so I can’t say “Great Balls of Fire!” anytime soon?” Soarin’ teased back.

“That’s a song reference you doofus,” Rainbow remarked lightly punching her friend’s arm. “An outdated song reference to be sure, but still… a song reference. Doesn’t count even if it was said in the movie.”

“Man… Can’t quote the greatest air force propaganda film ever made on an air force base?” Soarin’ sighed with Rainbow patting him on the back trying to hold back her laughter. “Whatever has the world come to?”

“Oh, it’s a sad, sad situation,” Rainbow sung jokingly. “And it just keeps getting on more and more absurd!”

“Now who’s going all waxing lyrical on us?” Soarin’ sniped back with Fleetfoot and Blaze bursting out in fits of giggles nearby. “And you call my song references tacky and outdated! I mean, Elton John? Really?”

“Hey, could be worse. Could be singing “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” really. Oh god above…” Rainbow said with a roll of her eyes.

“Hey, I like the Lion King!” Soarin’ replied. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Oh, the movie’s fine. It’s just the song is so… so… sappy!” Rainbow replied faking a gag. “Original version was fine, till Elton got his hands all over it. He’s a good songwriter, but my god he ruined the song!”

“Oh, so you’re saying you’d like to hear the original?” Fleetfoot teased. “Maybe on a date with Soarin’? Cause trust me, we can arrange that!” she cackled.

Her cackles were only to increase when Rainbow muttered: “Oh shut it you…”

Eventually, managing to get away from the idiots she had to share a flight squadron with, Rainbow hung up her flight gear -her helmet marked Golden Eagle- and changed into more casual wear.

“Hey, you seemed… different earlier this morning,” Soarin’ replied. “Like… Terrified even. Something going on I should know about? I’m your wingman. I have a right to be concerned about you, ya know…”

“It’s… It’s nothing. It’s something I can handle myself, and that’s that,” Rainbow said dismissively. “You don’t have to worry about me Soar. You just worry about showing off for the ladies Mr. Maverick wannabe.”

“...Firstly, I only did that one time, back in technical school!” Soarin’ pointed out. “Secondly, as much as I respect you Rainbow, I’m still your friend and you seemed to be rather out of it earlier. So excuse me if I don’t stop trying to help you wherever I can…” he replied sternly before his voice softened. “...God, listen. I know balancing this job, and fighting the yummies has to be hard so I just want to lend you a hand wherever I can. I respect your abilities, but you can’t do everything at once. Don’t want you to burn yourself out.”

Rainbow whirled on him with a rather nasty glare settled on her face. “Did you not hear me Soarin’? I said let me do things my way, let me handle my own problems understand?”

Privately, Rainbow admitted she needed the help. She was barely holding herself together as it was to be perfectly honest, and although Soarin’ didn’t see it up in the air today Rainbow was actually quite terrified having got a momentary thought into her head about just how many reflective surfaces there actually were in Denver alone. She’d quickly pushed the thought out of her head and growled out how she wouldn’t let Ryuga win but there was the fact that he was still managing to play mind games -psychological warfare- with her even if he was never present. Rainbow was lucky her training kicked in at the last moment, as a split second error probably would have made her crash into Soarin’ or Misty Fly’s jets. She shouldn’t have been affected by Ryuga’s presence, but still, somehow she always managed to let her fear get the better of her at the worst possible times. She got off lucky this time. But simple luck never kept anyone alive forever… And Rainbow knew it.

“...Okay,” Soarin’ sighed wisely deciding to back off. Truth be told, this would be far from the end of things really with him and Rainbow. He knew his friend all too well. She was often far too proud to admit when she needed help, even if and when it was obvious she did. She was just far too stubborn for her own good at times to actually accept that help. But he also knew pushing too hard with her would result in her lashing out at him and not getting anywhere. It was better he waited for Rainbow’s temper to cool and then attempt to help. “But this isn’t the end of this, understand?” he said sternly. “I’m just looking out for you Rainbow, you know that right?”

“Yeah, I suppose I do…” Rainbow sighed to herself rubbing her face with a cold towel. “And I appreciate that, I do… It’s just there are some problems I want to solve by myself okay?”

“That I can understand,” Soarin agreed. “It’s just… well, I don’t want to see you burn yourself out or get hurt trying to solve these problems, whatever they may be, when you could have accepted help.”

Truth be told, Soarin had a very sneaking suspicion that these ‘problems’ were not in fact related to the Yummies and their Greeed masters but in fact related to what he saw on those security cameras that night. God knows he’d be terrified if it was his little sister that nearly got charbroiled by some big dragon thing. But what could he do to help Rainbow? This was way beyond him right now. And it made him sick to think that one of his best friends was forced to deal with these issues all alone simply because nobody else could help her aside from being probable moral support.

Then again, he mused, being emotional support was sometimes all someone needed to face their problems and not crack under the pressure.

So, for the time being, that’s what he’d be. That’s what he’d be as long as Rainbow needed him he thought with a sad sigh.

Rainbow, as she returned to her home contacted Goldphoenix once again.

“Oh, so you finally decide to talk to moi?” the bird asked in a mocking tone. “And here I thought you hated me and my advice…”

“Still do, jackass,” Rainbow replied with narrowed eyebrows. “I just wanted to ask a question. Okay, maybe a few questions.”

“Make it quick, because I’m trying to understand how I just detected Destwilder and Venosnaker’s powers in usage in Japan once again,” Goldphoenix murmured to himself in a confused tone. “...Shouldn’t really be possible given their contract holders are dead last I checked... Ah, a mystery to ponder for another time I suppose. Anyways, fire away!” he said resting himself on a giant tree in Rainbow’s mindscape.

“Okay, it’s mainly about Ryuga,” Rainbow replied before taking a deep shuddering breath. “Just… Just how powerful is he?”

“Fairly powerful I’d say. Not as powerful as you’d be if you chose to unlock your true potential, but still extremely dangerous,” Goldphoenix remarked. “Of course, I suspect you already know this given that dream of yours last night…”

Rainbow glared at him.

“Hey, not my fault you can’t keep your thoughts to yourself. There’s two of us in here now! Anyways, if you’re wondering, Ryuga would have to make a great effort to just dive out of any mirror given his timeline no longer technically exists.” Goldphoenix explained before setting about preening his metallic wings.

“How is that... ?” Rainbow wondered looking directly at the massive bird knowing that if Ryuga’s timeline no longer existed then logically Goldphoenix shouldn’t be around either. “Agh, never mind. Probably more of a headache then I want to tackle right now.”

“Probably yeah. Something a little bit more than your simple human mind can comprehend, alternate timelines and all…” Goldphoenix drawled. “You’re certainly no Albert Einstein or Neil deGrasse Tyson after all…”

Rainbow decided not to ask how Goldphoenix even knew those names to begin with. “Okay, second question then. How did Ryuga even appear to begin with?”

“Okay, to give a bit of background. His name isn’t even Ryuga really. It’s Shinji Kido. Or rather to be more accurate a mirror world version of a man named Shinji Kido. I’m not quite sure how he came about in the first place, but my best theory is that he was created from Shinji’s darker thoughts about the Rider War. I thought Dark Shinji and that lizard destroyed by their counterpart, but I guess he found a way to survive. As for why he’s alive and well now long after his timeline -and mine- were rendered destroyed for lack of a better term… Again, I can only guess.” Goldphoenix replied giving his version of a shrug.

“You know, you’re ludicrously unhelpful when you want to be, you know that right? You’re offering up only theories. I’d rather want concrete facts.” Rainbow snapped.

“Simmer down little bird,” Goldphoenix replied. “I can offer only theories, because I’m just as much in the dark about Dark Shinji as you are here. My best guess, and you can take this however you want, is something and it’d have to be something huge, -not something little like say, “Oh I ruined my breakfast this morning, shame the world!” or something similar- stirred up nasty little thoughts in the corner of Kido’s mind. Sometimes, as they say, all it takes is one bad day… You’d probably have to book a trip to Japan to figure out what happened. Probably talk to the man himself.”

“...Yeah, I’ll do that whenever I get free time,” Rainbow replied sarcastically. Goldphoenix seemed to be immune to this or just didn’t care. Hard to tell with him really.

“Oh, and while you’re there, care to find out why I detected Venosnaker and Destwilder alive and well again? Really nagging at the back of my…” he trailed off rubbing his beak with a talon.

Rainbow then just tuned him out not particularly caring for Goldphoenix’s own troubles. She was as she stepped into the front hall kicking off her boots bombarded by a hug from Scootaloo.

“Hey squirt,” Rainbow smiled while Goldphoenix mentally gagged. She, of course, ignored this as well. The bird could go stuff himself like a turkey for all she cared. “And how was your day?”

“...Fine I suppose, but I’m worried about you Rainbow,” Scootaloo whispered. “You’re just not yourself lately.”

“I know kid, I know…” Rainbow muttered. “God above, I know. I just keep on thinking about that damned black dragon and his ‘friend’. Starting to get to me more than I’d like.”

“Yeah, I saw the smashed bathroom mirror,” Scootaloo deadpanned. “But you’ve got the power to deal with him, right? I mean, I saw you fighting him as Kamen Rider Odin…”

“So you did, huh?” Rainbow chuckled mentally making a note to change her name. Far too pretentious, and Odin was a male god anyways. Bit of a dick. Maybe something more fitting like Kamen Rider Iðunn or Morrigan. “So you did… Always were a little too observant for your own good right…?”

Rainbow then broke out into the first real smile she had all day as her sister curled up onto the couch alongside her and together the two watched an old movie. Rainbow chuckled to herself even as the opening title music blared. Yeah, this was what she was fighting for. Not the safety of the city or anything else, not to feed Goldphoenix, but fighting to protect those closest to her. She fought back a dark smile. Ryuga would have to be on his guard now...

Author's Notes:

Okay, so now for Rainbow's side of things. Now, had a few long talks with a few friends of mine over Discord given certain revelations from Rider Time: Ryuki -still can't believe Ryuki can be made good- and they mainly boiled down to the nature of Odin's survive cards and Dragblacker.

The BricklayerYesterday at 8:51 PM

Okay, now I've got a problem.
Need a bit of advice here.

---

ScootalooYesterday at 8:51 PM

What's that?

---

The BricklayerYesterday at 8:51 PM

The Survive Mode cards.

I'm very curious as if Odin has all three by default, or just Mugen and the Shippu and Rekka ones were only given to him for the events of Rider Time.

---

ScootalooYesterday at 8:52 PM

You know I'm not even sure

---

The BricklayerYesterday at 8:54 PM

Well, given Odin's last words in Rider Time, namely "Yui" implying it was Shiro under the armor and the fact that Shippu and Rekka were in Shiro's possession during the events of Ryuki proper I'd say they aren't normally part of his deck and he only has Mugen.

Plus, when you add in the fact that Odin's been held by mulitple users...

---

ScootalooYesterday

Alright

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The BricklayerYesterday at 8:55 PM

I'd say in Rider Time they were given to him for some reason.

The BricklayerYesterday at 5:08 PM

Namely, on Dragblacker.
I might want to have Rainbow take him away from Dark Shinji after finally defeating him.
Just wondering how good of an idea that is.(edited)
And could it even be done?

---

ScootalooYesterday at 5:11 PM

I mean, it probably can be

---

The BricklayerYesterday at 5:12 PM

Yeah, Ouja did this twice with Evildiver and Metalgigas even if I'm not sure how, but Dragblacker seems to be a part of Dark Shinji or at least hugely connected to him.(edited)

Like Dragblacker was spawned from Dark Shinji and can't exist without him.

---

ScootalooYesterday at 5:14 PM

Hmm, good point... honestly I have no idea

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The BricklayerYesterday at 5:15 PM

It's hard to tell really. I also can't tell how intelligent Dragblacker is. Is he a puppet or a thinking beast by himself.

Plus, there's what you do with him after you contract him. You now have to feed him as well.

---

ScootalooYesterday at 5:17 PM

Yeah, he's probably gone

I dunno really

---

The BricklayerYesterday at 5:18 PM

That's part of both the joy and pain of Dragblacker. You know nothing about him aside from him being an mirror version of Dragredder.

So... Anything goes!

Anyways, as ever comments and critique are welcomed.

13: Heisei Rider, Reiwa Rider

Author's Notes:

Okay, so yes... The title. Well, considering Japan is now in the Reiwa Era, I figured it only apt plus a title like that wouldn't give away what Shadow and I (Give him a shout, will you?) had in store for you...

Also, new thing. Starting to count up the medals Adagio and Ankh have, not just to remind me but to remind you and keep track of everything.

Taka (2x) Tora, Kugawata, Kamakiri, Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo.

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. Glamours and Glamettes, it’s that time of the day again. I’m Vignette Valencia, coming to you like from the streets of downtown Denver with a SCOOP!” Vignette proudly addressed the camera, microphone tightly locked in both of her hands. “I have with me one of the best MVPs for keeping our little city safe; a Kamen Rider!” She stepped aside, letting Adagio take up the entirety of the camera’s view.

Adagio was currently in the midst of fighting another Yummy, namely one of Gamel’s this one being based on a powerful rhino. Just barely holding back the rhino monster with the Ookamiuo Spear, she then slashed it across the chest once making it stagger back.

“Lady, do you have no sense of self-preservation?” Adagio thought kicking the monster with a powerful strike to the chest. Gamel’s yummies as Adagio very well knew were a source of trouble in more ways than one. One, they were built like tanks, and secondly, they offered only a single Cell Medal on defeat making them practically useless for farming. Adagio was starting to share Ankh’s hatred for the damn things, simply because now he always got on her case for not collecting enough Cells. And yet he very well knew this type of yummy never provided cells by the truckload.

“As we can see, our little Rider is currently locked in a vicious cycle of CQC. She’s determined to lay the FB on this SOB and take him down in a blaze of glory,” Vignette gave her commentary, watching as Adagio flipped over the Rhino’s back and dealt a palm thrust to his neck, sending the beast flying towards a car. “Oof… Let’s hope whoever owned that thing has insurance.”

“Uh, that was your car Ma’am,” Vignette’s cameraman commented.

“Yeah, but they don’t know that…” She muttered to the cameraman off-screen. “And, to be fair, if I did want the thing scrapped, it’d definitely be from a Rider battle. Anything less would be insulting.” She quickly slid back into view of the camera. “Anyways, let’s see if we can get some questions in from our fierce combatants.” Vignette looked over towards the rhino as it pulled itself out of the mess that was her car. “Sir! Or ma’am, whatever you are. How does it feel to be a monster fighting an OG Kamen Rider?”

The rhino yummy simply roared in her face, spittle flying everywhere. Adagio facepalmed before she let out a yelp of fear as she saw the rhino yummy swing a punch towards Vignette.

“Oh no you don’t!” another voice shouted before a golden phoenix made of flames swooped in and slashed up the Rhino Yummy with its talons. The monster roared out in pain from these strikes and his attention was turned towards another Rider themed after a knight with golden wing ornaments holding what looked to be a staff.

“Advent.”

Returning to his perch on the gold knight’s arm, if one looked closely you could see the phoenix rolling his eyes in disgust.

“Sword Vent.” the staff stated even as Rainbow placed the corresponding card into it.

Two of the phoenix’s wings detached and landed in the warrior’s hands with the knight scraping them up against each other creating sparks. “Let’s dance then, shall we?” the knight asked. “Sorry it took me so long Adagio, but… Traffic and all that.”

“Adagio, is it?” Vignette perked her ears up. “Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a name for one of our riders! Adagio. Remember that well, because you’ll soon be chanting it once she and her Rider friends save the day!”

“You already know my name…” Adagio muttered to herself. “You already reported it, there’s a reason half the reporters in this damn city are flocking to the aquarium’s doorstep…”

“Really Adagio, do we absolutely have to save this bimbo?” the knight-themed Rider asked, no small amount of disgust audible in her tone. “Like seriously, can’t we just let the yummies get someone just this once?”

Rainbow groaned to herself, she still had the memories of dealing with Vignette back at that Equestria-themed theme park and that was before someone got the bright idea of handing Vignette a camera crew. She grumbled something rude under her breath even as she hacked and slashed into the rhino yummy’s armor before sidestepping out of the way even as it charged her. She became a Kamen Rider to protect her sibling and those close to her, not someone like… Vignette! Truth be told, she wasn’t entirely a fan of Adagio -even if it was the human world’s counterpart- being handed Rider powers, but she would help her as long as she needed to. Element of Loyalty and all that.

“Doubting yourself, are we, Riders?” The Rhino boasted as it ran into Vignette, pulling her into a chokehold-hug. “Well, then. Guess that makes it a free kill for me. When not even the high and mighty Kamen Riders want to save a human like you, that’s what makes it all the more delicious…”

“You’re… You’re nuts! Help!” Vignette squeaked out before turning to her cameraman. “Well, why are you still standing there you dumbass? Either do two things, capture my glorious death on camera and show the world Riders won’t always help others or help me!”

Adagio facepalmed again. “You gotta be…” she thought to herself.

“Adagio, again I ask… Do we absolutely have to save her?” Rainbow grumbled. “I mean, seriously, what has she ever done for us? Aside from being a pain in the ass I mean?”

“We’ve got no choice, sadly. Those Yummies are just gonna make Gamel and the other Greeed even stronger with every Cell they collect,” Adagio twirled her weapon around avoiding naming Rainbow. The last thing she wanted was for the woman to deal with the same issues with fame that she was. She actually wanted her to have some semblance of a normal life. “And besides, aren’t superheroes supposed to save everyone and anyone, regardless of how big of a douchebag they are?”

“Fair point,” Rainbow grumbled. “Have a plan?” she asked, eyeing Vignette who the rhino yummy was clutching tightly.

“Now would be a very good time to use the Survive Mugen card, just sayin’...” Goldphoenix commented towards Rainbow. “Access all of your power, and really give that creature a thrashing.”

Needless to say, Rainbow ignored his advice. She didn’t trust her ‘companion’ in the slightest. She knew perfectly well he wasn’t offering that sort of power for any altruistic means. He had his own agenda and Rainbow wasn’t going to play his game.

“Three! Two! One!” The Rhino counted down, bearing his body for an attack that would crush Vignette’s head like a grapefruit, granting him another Cell for his master’s collection.

“Damnit, me without the Cheetah Medal…” Adagio thought frantically before she acted a smirk forming on her face. Twisting her spear just so, she allowed the sunlight glinting off of it to momentarily blind the Rhino Yummy. As he roared out in pain and his thrashing knocked Vignette free, Adagio gave a shout.

“Odin! Now!” she barked

“...Really beginning to hate that title…” Rainbow muttered before throwing her sword into the Rhino Yummy’s chest. The strike was enough to pierce through the back of the beast, causing it to let out a screech of pain so loud that it shattered the glass around it, dropping Vignette in the process.

“Scanning Charge!” Adagio’s belt sang as she slid along the ground in a kick, a small tidal wave left in her wake. Both collided and sent the rhino yummy up in a powerful explosion and Rainbow’s blade along with a singular cell medal clattered to the street.

“And that’s… that.” Adagio sighed before picking up the cell medal and tossed it to Goldphoenix who began nibbling on it.

“And with that… back to the studio…” Vignette murmured weakly before fainting dead away. Flash forwards a few days and Adagio once more found herself under Vignette’s cameras. But not in the street while in a battle but in her studio.

“We’re here with the town’s greatest saviours. The OAO heroes that stood up to a big, bad monster, stared it dead in the eyes, and punched its’ lights out. Adagio and her rider friend!” She jabbed a finger towards the two of them, causing the broadcast to cut to another active camera fixated on Adagio and her guest. “Do you have anything you want to say to your adoring fans, Riders?”

“Yeah, kill me now,” ‘Odin’ stated. “I’d rather die in battle than be ripped apart by your God-awful, anger-sparking acronym assault. There’s a reason why this kind of stuff doesn’t work in the media, y’know.” she continued crossing her arms.

“Ooh... Feisty! But our studies did show that people did like acronyms a lot more than you’d think, sir. Or is it madam. I can never really tell, what with how gender neutral those suits look...” Suddenly, a bright idea hit her. “Hey! I’ve got a great ratings booster. How about you show us who’s really under the suit right here and now? It’d be sure to pull in a crowd.”

Rainbow gave Adagio a look. Even though the helmet prevented anyone from seeing Rainbow’s face it was incredibly withering and easily readable. “How the hell did I let myself get talked into this?” Rainbow wondered to herself before answering Vignette with a simple yet blunt: “No.”

From up in the rafters above Vignette’s place on her couch Goldphoenix shook his head. Some types of humans, they’d never change the Mirror Monster mused to himself. Always out thinking for themselves and how to get their five minutes of fame. It disgusted him.

“Well, if you can’t show us your face the least you could do is tell us if there are any other Riders besides that incredibly handsome Eiji Hino out there,” Vignette said with a small blush and for whatever reason Adagio made a brief growling sound. “They might need to swing onto the scene if you or Adagio get defeated in battle someday…” Vignette continued as regained control of the situation, completely unaware of the seething rage hidden behind Rainbow’s helmet.

“Their identities are their own to keep,” Adagio replied coolly, a sharp contrast to the boiling cauldron of fury that was about to erupt in Mount Rainbow Dash. “It would be improper of me to ruin their lives just so you can have your five minutes in the spotlight.”

“Oooookay. And now I’m starting to think that this whole thing was a big flop…” Vignette’s face sunk. “You know, with all the attention you’re starting to get, you two should live up the idea of glitz and glam a bit more. Maybe some paparazzi crews sent around to watch your battles would help. Maybe even interact with the people at home, let ‘em know you’re more human underneath? Maybe?” She shrugged. “I mean, we can’t just have a bunch of stuffy No-Emo-Go Riders who don’t even live up the fun side of being heroes, right?”

“I’m not to do this for any sort of fame and grandeur,” Adagio continued. “I’m only doing this because people need help. That’s the only reason I grabbed the belt and that’s the end of it.” she stated calmly.

“That’s a new one…” Rainbow whispered to herself, remembering the Battle of the Bands vividly in her head. She shook her head rapidly, this wasn’t that Adagio despite how much they shared the same face. This was her world’s Adagio, not the Equestrian one.

“So… let me ask something. You didn’t want to come here, you don’t like being talked to by the public, and you’d rather live a life alone in solitude rather than let the people thank you for your services?” Vignette asked, pushing the palms of her fingers together. “With that in mind, are you sure that you’re not delinquents yourselves? Doing who knows what when these monsters aren’t attacking us?”

“Excuse me?” Rainbow snapped getting up off the couch and glaring harshly at Vignette and then Adagio. “Why do you put up with this crap?” she asked Adagio. “No, seriously… Why?”

“Down, girl…” Adagio said forcing Rainbow down not even caring for her momentary slip-up. It wouldn’t do anyone any good if Rainbow ripped apart Vignette on live TV.

“All I wanted was to know what you do. Who you are. Why you’re doing this. And so far, all you’ve done is provide me with the cold shoulder.” Vignette crossed her arms, a noticeable lack of acronyms flying out of her mouth. “Are you even human, Riders? Or are you just robots programmed to think that you’re above everyone else, like you don’t even care about the human race and are just living out some fancy-schmancy protocols created by your inventor?” She barked, her face red and her hands tightened into fists.

“Well, pretty sure I’m human, and I know your crush Eiji is…” Adagio trailed off. Yeah, she knew it was a low blow towards Vignette but quite frankly Adagio was getting tired of the woman. The only reason she and Rainbow were here in the first place was because it: A, would have been rude to refuse the summons, and B, she knew Vignette would find nastier ways to get the truth from them if not satisfied. Adagio sighed to herself softly in disgust. Vignette in some ways represented the worst aspects of the human race and was prime Yummy material.

“And people wonder why I prefer marine life to humans…” Adagio thought. And then it finally happened. Rainbow erupted.

“Yeah. Y’know what, Vignette Valencia. I’m done with your stuff. Just so done. Ever since that Equestria-land stuff, you’ve been nothing but an obnoxious, self-absorbed brat who does nothing but bury her nose in some stupid social media, constantly worried about her image, her high profile, her follower counts. Quick to abandon everyone and everything else just for bettering herself. If you were turned into a Yummy, I’d waste no time in cutting you down in front of everyone, just so that they know how pathetic of a woman you are!” Rainbow screamed, lunging her arms over Vignette’s shoulders and onto the back of her chair. Vignette meeped out in fear before Adagio pulled her back.

“That’s enough, Odin. You’re better than her, no need to sink to her level.” Adagio stated calmly even if she admitted Rainbow made more points than she would have liked.

“No. She needs to know this for her own good because she’s too brain-dead to get it drilled into her mind!” Rainbow snapped her head back towards Adagio. “The quicker she learns how to get her head out of her ass, the better, I think. The world does not need NEWS REPORTERS LIKE YOU!” She roared, the air rushing through Vignette’s hair. Goldphoenix winced from his perch, before doing the bird equivalent to a facepalm. This could only end badly.

“Stop it, Odin!” Adagio grabbed Rainbow Dash and shoved her back down into her chair. “Save your anger for when you’re saving the world. Don’t just let her be tempted by darkness like that! If anything, you’re tired of her. I’m not. Learn to keep your emotions in check, that’s all. Remember, we are on live television.” Adagio said, her breath briefly catching in her throat. As much as she disliked Vignette, she was always afraid of her ruining her reputation. There was a reason one of her worst desires was exactly that, a ruined life and the reason why she once went berserk in the Shauta Combo. “You’re better than her, so start acting like it.”

“You’re a sorry excuse for heroes, you two!” Vignette stood up and stormed off of the set. “Fine then. Just go! Go and save the city. Go and tell your fanbase to fuck off! No-one’s going to tune in to watch someone save the day without at least letting the people know that they’re friendly!” And without another word, she sobbed and barged her way out of the studio, cameras still rolling, leaving everyone else in the room flabbergasted. Well, almost everyone. Rainbow seemed to be pleased.

“Well, you’re going to need a bleep for that, not exactly family friendly! And I thought she was trying to keep up that sort of image for her Facebook Friends!” Rainbow snarked offering up a fistbump to Adagio. “Nice going. Really sent her packing.”

Adagio didn’t return it. She sighed having a feeling this was going to come back to bite her or Rainbow later in the ass. “Odin, as much as I enjoy sending a newshound packing… You do realize that you’re probably about to get lynched by her facebook friends as you put it right?”

“That would require them knowing who I am, remember?” Rainbow remarked. “If anything, you should watch your own back.”

“And that’s why I’m so glad I don’t use Facebook,” Adagio stated walking out of the room before turning back to look at her fellow Rider with a pointed glare. “But when she comes back as or with a yummy in tow don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

---

Meanwhile, at the Greeed ‘lair’ in Capitol Hill…

“Kazari. Mezool. You might need to take a look at this… Very interesting show this!” Gamel beckoned the two other Greeed to stand by him and Uva, watching the TV that showed Vignette screaming her lungs out at the Riders, before leaving the set in a state of rage and sorrow.

“Oh my… Is a human angry with the Kamen Riders? There’s something you don’t see every day…” Kazari chuckled to himself as he splayed his arms over the couch as a cat would.

“Yes. Perhaps we can use that to our advantage…” Uva spoke, rolling the tongue on his ‘S’s. “We’ve never made a monster with a desire to strike back against the Riders before. Think of the sheer power that their emotions could bring with it.”

“The question now, though, is who do we send to give her the wish she so desperately wants?” Mezool asked, bringing a hand to her chin and scratching it. “What animal does this presenter most likely represent?”

“Either way, I think she’d make a fine Yummy.” Gamel boastfully bashed his belly with the palm of his hand. “Shame I can’t do it, though. I hand-craft all of mine. If only Ankh hadn’t backstabbed us, because I could already see her as some kind of vulture-Yummy...”

“Bah, who cares about him?” Mezool asked waving an arm dismissively. “What we’ve got here is prime material for mining cells, and I suggest we do not skip out on this one!”

“Mezool… Mezool!” Gamel begged and the Marine Greeed looked at him fondly before patting his head in a motherly way.

“Yes, dear, you can have half the spoils…” she smiled at him before Uva chittered angrily.

“Like hell he is!” Uva snarled dangerously, claws bared. “Half the reason why we’re so low on cells as it is, it’s because you’re so fond of that… that dumbass!”

“And I’m not allowed to care?” Mezool asked tilting her head. “Here, I’ll let you in on this opportunity. You and I… We both can seed this woman.”

“Like Hell I’d take you up on that offer!” Uva hissed. “You’d hog all the cells for you and Gamel anyways

“Might be your only chance to grab the most prosperous parent in ages…” Mezool trailed off before shrugging her shoulders. “But if you don’t want a piece of the action, well… your loss I guess?”

“Two Greeeds seeding one parent at once?” Gamel asked slowly. “You can really do that?”

Kazari sat silently, tracing a claw along his chin in curiosity. “Yes, can you really do that…? This, if it ever gets underway no thanks to my comrades and their squabbling would be very interesting to watch.”

“Well, in theory, you could dear,” Mezool explained. “As far as I can see, there is nothing in the yummy rulebook that does not permit such an act.”

“It would be an interesting experiment, at the very least!” Kazari agreed.

“Hearing you support this makes me all the more interested not to partake in such an act!” Uva chittered. “But on the other hand, seeing as how my creations have yet to be successful, an entire swarm of yummies keeping OOOs busy might be beneficial. Plus, I would have in no way you,” he continued gesturing to Kazari who simply licked himself. “Steal my glory!”

“Me?” Kazari asked innocently. “Do such a thing? I would never!”

Uva gave him a quick glare before turning back to Mezool. “Alright, I’m in. Far be it from me not to take a golden opportunity when offered. I would so love to see OOOs go up against such yummies that this Vignette woman would give birth to! These would quite possibly be the most powerful yummies we’ve created since the King himself! This time, she’s met her match!”

“Bold words,” Mezool mused. “But quite possibly accurate. This Vignette Valencia woman… She has a need to be relevant, and in the moment via any means necessary. Now I’m not quite so sure what’s the big deal about such a thing but it is undeniable she is literally bursting at the seams with desire! She’s like a shark, and the people of Denver and their many secrets are blood in the water to her. I’ve got tingles just thinking of what kind of yummies she would give birth to!” the Marine Animal Greeed cackled. “Oh, just hearing her name gives me shivers!”

“Now that's power,” Uva agreed. “The thing such as social media, as I understand it is quite dangerous in this age of humanity. And she knows how to use every aspect of it! I’ll give her this, in her own way Vignette is as dangerous as us!”

“Tell me about it. I just hear that name and I shudder.” Mezool commented.

Smirking, Uva commented: “Vignette!”

Quivering, Mezool commented: “Oooh, do it again! Please!”

“Vignette!” Uva shouted.

Once again, a quiver.

“Again!” Mezool laughing getting a kick out of this while Gamel just wondered what the hell was going on.

“Vignette! Vignette! Vignette!” Uva shouted, and finally, Mezool collapsed to the floor in a dead faint.

Kazari facepawed. “I’m surrounded by idiots…”

Meanwhile unaware of just exactly what was going on with the rest of the Greeed, Adagio was walking back to her car in a huff very unamused with how Rainbow had conducted herself with Vignette.

“Can’t believe her!” Adagio grumbled to herself before she saw Rainbow’s Hellcat missing from the tv station’s parking lot. Adagio scoffed. “Of course, she’s already left. Typical!” she muttered throwing a hand up in the air in frustration and then massaging her temples.

She knew Vignette would come back in a rage, probably with a yummy or two in tow. She just knew it. Nobody left that pissed off and full of desire for good information without attracting some attention from the Greeed.

“I swear Rainbow… I don’t like that woman as much as you do, but can’t you just control your temper a little?” she asked even if she knew such a request was probably futile. She then heard a metallic clang and looked upwards to see Ankh perched atop a light pole. Quizzically, he tilted his head.

“So, what’s got you in such a huff?” he asked. “Haven’t seen you this mad in ages. Not since I possessed your sister…”

Adagio gave him a nasty glare for that. She hadn’t forgotten Ankh possessing Aria and still wondered why she hadn’t punched his lights out for that yet. Sometimes she did wonder if she was far too nice for her own good and if her carefree Equestrian doppelganger had it easier. For a brief moment, she did wonder what had happened to her other half but quickly dismissed the thought. Given how much trouble she’d been for her and her sisters, Equestria Adagio wasn’t really worth much of a thought she mused to herself. Not one bit.

“It’s nothing, really…” Adagio murmured shaking her head.

“Can’t be nothing, like I said I haven’t seen you this pissed since…” Ankh started before coughing and clearing his throat thinking the better of finishing that sentence. In this state, Adagio would probably punch him or worse -he shuddered at the thought- take away his ice pops! “Well, you know.”

“It’s Rainbow…” Adagio grumbled as she buckled herself up. “Probably just caused me another yummy… Again.”

“My my, she does seem to be quite the troublemaker, for you at least. Creating two and now possibly three yummies with her own personality? My my!” Ankh laughed. Truth be told, he didn’t mind Rainbow. Given how many yummies she created, it meant a lot of cell medals for him and the possibility of drawing out the Greeed to take their Cores so it was a win-win all around. At least for him anyways. Adagio didn’t seem to share that sentiment, for whatever reason.

“It isn’t funny, Ankh!” Adagio barked -eyebrow twitching- but this only caused Ankh to laugh even harder.

“You gotta admit, it kinda is!” Ankh said through his sniggers. “I mean, what’s the likelihood of one woman creating three different yummies? Not very high, I’d say!” he cackled. “But anyways, what’d she do?”

As Adagio explained, Ankh rolled his eyes. Vignette, of course. She would be a yummy parent, wouldn’t she? From all that Adagio had actually told him about the woman, he was honestly surprised the Greeed hadn’t tried to take her sooner than this. Hmph, maybe they were getting dumber in their old age or maybe senility was finally setting in. He could only hope he supposed.

Idly tossing his Kujaku medal in the air before catching it again Ankh looked at Adagio. “Look, I don’t know what it is with this saving people thing of yours but honestly… With Vignette… I don’t think you should bother. Not worth it in the end. People like her, -and trust me I know- they burn out quickly and just trying to help them is quite frankly a pain in the neck. You can go ahead and try if you like but I’m warning you now… it’s futile.”

“That’s just it Ankh, nobody’s worth giving up on, not even her. Sad thing is, she’s got plenty of followers everywhere… but honestly, I doubt she has a single true friend in the world…” Adagio trailed off shaking her head in slight pity.

“And why should she?” Ankh remarked. “She’s a bitch and a sociopath! Plain and simple! God above, don’t tell me this Friendship is Magic garbage is getting to you!” he groaned slapping his forehead in disbelief. “Rainbow’s rubbing off on you! That Fluttershy chick as well!”

“And what if it is? And what if they are?” Adagio asked. “Is it really such a bad thing?”

“Tch! Well, let me think about that…” Ankh trailed off. “You are seriously considering befriending Vignette Valencia, the woman who’s caused you nothing but grief ever since you outed yourself. Let me repeat that. Vignette Valencia. Does this not sound wrong to you?”

“In retrospect, my outing myself was a product of my own foolishness. And if I befriend her, maybe she’ll stop going after me.” Adagio shrugged.

“So it’s just simple pragmatism and self-preservation then?” Ankh asked before beaming. “I’m rubbing off on you!”

Adagio looked frankly rather offended by that suggestion.

“And as for Rainbow, well… Don’t you worry your head about her. Not your monkey to keep in line and to stop from throwing shit everywhere,” Ankh stated. “Let her solve her own issues for herself, and work out her temper. If anything, that friend of hers Fluttershy will probably reprimand her later.”

Adagio stared at Ankh. “How do you even know about Fluttershy anyways?”

“Oh, she brought Aria with her on a lunch date of sorts. I just happened to strike up a conversation with her. Simple as that,” Ankh shrugged. “I’m allowed to start making friends am I not?”

“One, I’m more than a little unnerved by the idea of you out alone by yourself visiting my sister and talking to her,” Adagio replied. “And two, I really can’t see you having friends. More like allies of convenience.”

“Tch! Whatever…” Ankh said with a dismissive wave of his hand as he leaped into the passenger seat of Adagio’s BMW. “Call it what you want. I don’t give a damn. In any case, if Rainbow’s going to become an actual Kamen Rider -don’t think me stupid, I know it’s her under that gold armor- she’s really going to have to make an effort to try and reign in her temper. Temper and stupidity go hand in hand in the book of getting you killed manual.”

“You’re real reassuring, you know that right Ankh?” Adagio replied in such a tone that it was impossible to tell whether it was actual honest to god sarcasm or not.

“Frankly I consider myself one of a kind…” Ankh grinned.

“Yeah, that’s saying something…” Adagio grumbled to herself in distaste and disgust. “You’re definitely that, that’s for sure…”

“Oh, is that a compliment from your mouth about moi I do detect praytell?” Ankh replied. “Who are you and what have you done with Adagio Ms. Hate-My-Guts-and-the-ground-I-walk-on Dazzle?” he teased.

“She’s still here,” Adagio rolled her eyes. “Don’t delude yourself into thinking otherwise…”

She kept meaning to ask where exactly Ankh had gotten ahold of that new red core medal but never got around to asking and truth be told she probably didn’t want to know the answer. Granted, it did scare her that he was one step closer to regaining his full power and taking off but for the time being he was still bound to her. She smirked to herself. Maybe she should get a collar and leash, that would keep him in line.

Adagio shuddered at the images that conjured up. “On the other hand… maybe not!”

As Adagio wondered why the Hell Ankh had to be so attractive even with his bitchy personality she heard a soft sobbing coming from behind a production truck used to broadcast images to the studio. Her curiosity getting the better of her, Adagio carefully pulled up to it and walked behind it only to find…

“Vignette?” she whispered out in shock eyes widened.

---

“Come to laugh at me some more, have you?” She asked, eyes still dripping with tears as she balled her hand into a fist. “Just do it, then. You’ve only just gone and single-handedly flushed my entire career down the crapper.” She smashed it into the table, causing the stress salad she had been eating to fling into the air and come crashing down all over her face, dressing landing shortly after.

“I’m sure you can rebuild it…” Adagio tried to reassure her in a gentle tone. Ankh on the other hand…

“Tch! Yeah, that’d be a laugh. Just trying to watch that…” he muttered with a small eye roll.

“No. Don’t try and tell me that everything’s gonna be alright now. After all, YOU are responsible for this,” Vignette growled. “As soon as that goes live on TV, the entire town is going to see that you don’t like me. That’s going to cause the public to think differently about you. They might even start fighting you instead of the monsters.”

“I think you’re overreacting really,” Adagio commented. “I doubt that’ll happen.”

“Then how do you explain this?” Vignette pulled out her phone, showing a video of the outburst, as well as all of the comments rapidly spawning underneath it. Some being from her fans; others from random people who had clicked on it and were only there for the moment. “One particular comment reads, and I quote, from ABC_CPA, ‘Wow. These Riders have no respect for a TV presenter? Pathetic. I don’t see why we need them at all when we have the police to do this stuff for us’,” she read. “Not my words, theirs.”

Ankh burst out laughing sounding like a kookaburra before Adagio clocked him with another slipper slap to the head. She then knelt down to Vignette. “Listen, I’m sorry for Odin’s behavior. I really am. And I’m sorry for mine. Listen, what you need right now is a friend. God only knows why I’m thinking it over, but…” Adagio muttered before extending a hand.

“I wanted to respect you, but I feel that I’m not going to get any more answers out of you, Odin, and the rest of your friends. I’ve accepted the fact that you’re lonely; humans not willing to show their faces, but rather hide away like some kind of secretive mercenaries hired by the government,” Vignette slapped Adagio’s hand away. “How can I accept someone’s apology when I don’t even know them? When I don’t even know the emotions beneath their Rider helmets? And why would I ever want to accept an apology from the people who just turned my whole career into a festering garbage pile?”

Ankh gave Adagio an ‘I told you so’ type of look while sucking on an ice pop but Adagio ignored him. “Listen, I’m sure your career is salvageable. Hell, I have nothing to hide. Tell you what, I’ll give you a proper interview later this week. No catches and no Odin.”

As soon as Adagio finished, a call came through on Vignette’s phone, cutting out the video that was still playing on repeat and replacing it with the options to collect or hang up. Taking the device back, Vignette hit the green button, before saying, “Hello? Vignette Valencia speaking. The PSS of Denver How may I help you?” Placing the device to her ear, she turned away from Adagio and Ankh, giving them some time to talk.

“You sure about this, Dazzle?” Ankh commented. “Last time I’m warning you. She’s trouble, just watch. Soon as she gets back on her feet, she’ll be hounding you again.”

“Maybe she will, maybe she won’t. I’m willing to take that chance. What she needs right now is a friend.” Adagio said putting an end to the matter.

“Oh yes. A friend indeed…” The venomous voice of Uva filled the air, emanating from Vignette’s phone. Despite the speaker against Vignette’s ear, it could be heard throughout the entire trailer. “The woman whose life was ruined by the Kamen Riders. Have we got a proposition for you…”

Vignette let out a shriek as she dropped the phone.

“To think. The very Kamen Riders; the saviours of this town would be responsible for causing another one of our pets to come out and play. How high and mighty do you feel now, Adagio Dazzle?” Mezool’s voice was added to the conversation as she stepped out from behind a building. “Be this disaster upon you and Odin’s heads!”

Adagio looked towards Ankh, who tossed her two medals while Adagio plucked the Same medal off her necklace and slammed it into her driver before doing the same with the Kujira and Ookamiuo medals.

“Ah ah,” Mezool said wagging a finger as Uva leaped down to street level off a building. “No need to get defensive on us now. We’ll just be leaving our gifts behind and then we’ll be on our way,” She plucked out a simple silver medal, crackling with dark purple energy. “This woman is going to make a fine parent to our Yummies.”

Both she and Uva tossed cells into Vignette’s head and Adagio could only watch as a mummy-like creature crawled out of Vignette’s body and turned into this fire ant-like monster. Mezool smiled to herself, she knew her babies would take a little longer to mature but she could wait. Turning into water, she escaped into a nearby manhole while Uva laughed and took off into the city with his Yummy. Vignette stumbled forwards, before collapsing. Adagio ran forwards and caught her in her arms while Uva’s laughter rang in her ears.

“Dammit, Rainbow Dash…” Adagio muttered while looking at the unconscious Vignette. Hours passed, and nothing came of the whole incident. If anything life seemed to continue on as normal. No abnormal reports of yummies or any other monsters. The fact of the matter was, Adagio had been checking social media or anything else she could lay her hands on for monster reports while using Taka Candroids to scout the city and nothing had happened. She wasn’t entirely surprised. Yummies only existed to act on the parent’s desires, and Vignette’s desire was for a good story. Granted, Mezool’s influence would drive her into desperation for such a thing but anything worthy of Vignette’s attention would have to come to her on its own.

Adagio had fallen asleep at her computer, Ankh absentmindedly stroking her hair before for whatever reason grabbing the covers off the bed and pulling them up over her.

“...What’s wrong with me?” he muttered to himself, opening a window and looking out over Denver’s skyline. Looking back towards Adagio, he sighed. “Tch! I need some air,” he grumbled before leaping down onto the street below. If Adagio couldn’t find Uva’s yummy then that left the job up to him he supposed.

---

On that cold, gloomy night in the city of Denver, another Adagio strolled through the streets, not fazed by the rain trickling down onto her hoodie or the puddles her shoes were striding through. She was travelling alone tonight, having left Aria and Sonata back home to make sure that they didn’t get in her way. The last thing she needed after a clean start was her incompetent sisters making a mess of everything. Now, powerless and alone, she needed to start eating. And not like the kind of magic she was used to, but rather that of actual food made by human hands.

As she came to the closest cafe -a pizza parlor called the Magnum Opus-, she was about to walk inside when all of a sudden she heard a loud clattering, followed by some spilled bins over the road, with a shadow skulking off into the distance. “Feh.” She said, going inside to get herself a well-deserved meal.

The smell of the establishment was one that Adagio had come to know and cherish quite fondly. Ever since she came to this town, she never could pass up a visit to a place like this. With the tiled floors, faux-neon bars for a counter, and the kitchen visible behind the order window, it gave her a sense that she was in a comfortable place. She quickly fiddled around in her pocket as she went for her money, passing by the empty tables that surrounded her. Not that she wanted anyone to witness her in this state. She laid out her money on the counter, speaking to the man on the other side.

“The usual, Ocean. Get me a large meateor with stuffed crust,” Adagio bluntly demanded folding her arms over as she watched Ocean take her payment. “I need something to fill my belly after the bull I’ve been through in this world.”

Ocean raised an eyebrow before shrugging and shouting towards the kitchen. Adagio sighed and out of the corner of her eye saw a video on a phone of a blue armor-clad woman smashing through a horde of giant fish. She cursed under her breath. That damn counterpart of hers… That’s what the issue was really. She was stealing all the fame that was meant to be rightfully hers!

The owner of the phone then switched to another video, this time of the human world’s Adagio fighting alongside a golden armor-clad woman.

“Rainbow Dash of the Rainbooms. How much longer must she and her friends haunt me and my sisters?” She grumbled, planting her eyes and forehead on the table. She wasn’t as stupid as anyone else. She sorta figured Rainbow would be the one under that Odin armor, being the goody two shoes she was. It wasn’t that hard to believe that Rainbow would graduate from Equestrian magic to the powers of a Kamen Rider. Adagio had been around the block before, she’d seen the powers of the Kamen Riders in action before. They’d changed over the years, but she’d seen them. She’d been back in Japan during the seventies, the Showa era. She’d seen Riders Ichigo and Nigo fight against the forces of Shocker. She chuckled to herself. And now those powers had somehow found their way to America of all places and ended up in the hands of her very own counterpart along with Rainbow Dash.

“If only those brats hadn’t destroyed my pendant. I’d easily get their powers with a few songs and disagreements. But, as luck would have it, fate hates the Dazzlings and wants to make sure that they never sing ever again.” Adagio headdesked. As it was, her sisters needed medicine. They hadn’t exactly been in the best of condition as of late, the human world’s sicknesses finally catching up to them after living on the streets for so long. Adagio chuckled darkly to herself.

Irony really. She and her siblings had survived for so long on humankind’s misery and now it seemed the human world was getting its own back. As she reflected on the life she lived and how it was gone forever, her pizza finally arrived at the counter. At least that would keep her one step farther from the edge of the mortal coil. Still, she needed to get back on her feet somehow, and find a way to save her sisters. Much as she hated to admit it, she did care for them. They’d been together for hundreds of years since that dick Starswirl and the Pillars tossed them out of their homeland. They’d seen the rise and fall of empires together, swam the high seas as pirates and pillaged ports, even worked side by side alongside Oda Nobunaga in the Sengoku period of Japan. She at least owed them that much.

“If only… If only I had those powers… I could use my counterpart’s fame to my advantage, and when I’m done with them… ruin her life for taking what’s rightfully mine!” Adagio thought with a downright evil grin. The question was, how to go about it really…?

Then she looked out the nearest window and saw a man in a leather jacket with blond hair that could only be described as ‘feathered’ really. She smirked. She’d seen the man in the background of a few videos featuring her counterpart and had a feeling that they were connected somehow.

“Boyfriend maybe?” Adagio wondered. “Oh well, no accounting for taste I suppose…”

Leaving a small tip behind, she dashed out the front door.

Adagio ran towards the man with the feathered hair, planting one of her hands on his shoulder just as he was about to turn the corner. She gave him a smile as she slid her arm around his shoulder. “Hey. What’s up, big boy? Might I say, you are looking ravishing this evening...”

Ankh blinked. He could have sworn he just saw Adagio fast asleep at her computer. He furrowed his brow, maybe she wasn’t as tired as he thought. Or maybe this was an Adagio thing. Sleep-Flirting? Was that even a thing? He eyed Adagio, she certainly looked more… frumpy than usual. Her hair was a mess and her clothes looked like they’d seen better days.

“Oh, don’t mind the clothes. It was a rush for me to get dressed and I grabbed the first thing I could find.” She showed off her clothes to Ankh, letting him get a good look at her hoodie. “Not the most glamorous thing, I’ll admit, but it does the job of keeping me under wraps pretty well...” she said slowly unzipping it and allowing Ankh a good look at her cleavage. “Like what you see?” she asked noting Ankh’s expression.

Ankh blanched, letting out a comical little squawk. Was… Was Adagio flirting with him? “Go home Adagio, you’re drunk,” he stated even as Adagio stroked his chin sensually. The Bird Greeed was really not sure how to take this. “How… how do humans deal with these… these emotions?” he mentally screamed feeling an odd sensation overcome him and feeling a bulge in his pants.

“What? Drunk. No way. If I were drunk, do you think I’d find my way out of the house and back into your arms?” Adagio asked, massaging Ankh’s shoulders tenderly. “Now, what’s say we go out and find the monsters that are hurting this little town, shall we? All I need are those medals and we’ll be on our way,” she said her voice a dangerous purr.

When Ankh tried to protest, Adagio put a finger to his lips and shushed him, stroking his hair affectionately as she locked gazes with his, almost leaning in for a kiss. “There’s nothing to hide with us, is there? Now, let me see that driver and medals. After all, it’s only fitting that such a handsome, radiant, and elegant man like you show your treasures to a girl like moi.”

“Ad-Adagio!” Ankh squawked out in shock. “What the hell?” he shouted. “Is this mating season for you humans or something?”

Yeah, something was definitely wrong here even if he couldn’t put his finger on what exactly. This was extremely odd, even by human standards.

“In any case, I kinda need that medal and driver. Otherwise, this whole town’s going to go tits up with those monsters running around, causing chaos…” Adagio clambered off of Ankh’s body, trying to use his sudden shock as a weak point for her to talk him into handing them over so that he didn’t have to put up with her sensual attitude.

“Yes, yes quite. And I do need those cells…” Ankh whined really starting to feel a little bit of pain from that bulge in his pants. Was this a human thing? Seriously, when he signed onto to collecting the cores from his fellow Greeed, this was not in the instruction manual!

“Thank you,” Adagio took the medals once Ankh finally relented and pocketed them before capturing Ankh’s lips in a kiss and then pulling away leaving Ankh motionless from the shock of it all. Adagio purred. “Thank you… So debonair, so devilish… So DUMB!” she shouted out before soundly kicking him in the balls leaving Ankh kneeling over in pain and slipping into unconsciousness. Searching Ankh’s pants pocket she smirked when she came upon a house key. Of course, Ankh wasn’t so stupid to keep the Driver on him or more likely given how stupid the man was her counterpart had conned it out of him. No, it would be at the other Adagio’s house in her possession.

She chuckled as she took to the shadows and waited for Ankh to awaken. “Now, all that’s left to do is trace you back to your little friends, and the power of Kamen Rider OOO will be mine…”

She vaguely remembered how powerful the original Kamen Rider OOO was, the King of some far off European nation and a mighty conqueror all those centuries ago. She drooled at that sort of power. Not even the mighty Spanish Armada could withstand his strength. Now that was power. Exactly the kind of power she needed to rule this world. But first things first, she had to ruin her counterpart’s life. This was the internet age after all, and gossip flew all too easily. Anon-A-Miss was proof of that. Waiting till Ankh managed to kick in the door at her counterparts’ house in the Highlands district she slipped in behind him and waited till he was out of sight. Grabbing the driver off the dresser and the Same medal off of her counterpart’s necklace, she quickly fled the premises and smirked. Finally, a chance to regain her old glories.

“Henshin.” Adagio stated with a grin and felt the power overcome her.

“Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo: Sa-Ra-Mi-Uo! Sa! Ra! Mi-Uo!”

14: Give a Little Bit...

Author's Notes:

In which classic Inoue style miscommunication kills...

Equestrian Adagio's Medals: Taka, Tora, Kugawata, Kamakiri, Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo.

Ankh's Medals: Taka, Kujaku.

That previous afternoon… (Nine hours before Equestrian Adagio obtains the Driver)

Soarin’ swallowed as he looked up at the massive Kougami Foundation stretching high into the sky and glittering and glintering out over Denver like a diamond shard. He knew the history, of course. Founded back in the mid-seventies by the ingenious businessman Kousei Kougami and now a practical mega-corporation with facilities stretched out across the globe it was a true success story. It honestly had its reaches in everything, from medicine to food production. Anything to make the world a better place.

Now, the cynics, of course, derided this enterprise, saying nobody in their lives could really be that generous and have their hearts set out on actually improving the world. However, the current head of this particular outpost, Eiji Hino nee Kougami seemed intent on proving the entire world wrong on those assumptions.

Soarin’ had already heard the news reports of a few years back during the War on Terror, Eiji had made a personal trip to Iraq and other countries just like it to set up medical facilities that catered to both sides. He honestly didn’t care who was fighting for who really or why he just didn’t want to see any unnecessary loss of life. ...At least that’s how the papers put it. Or the more open-minded ones anyways. Some of the more political-minded ones accused him of… less scrupulous motives.

“Intimidated, Soar?” Fleetfoot remarked as she leaned on the side of the humvee. “Come on, it’s just one guy in one business. Nothing to get so nervous over. Unless of course, you have some sort of secret crush on him you’re not telling us about. If that’s the case, feel free to share. We won’t judge. Dash might be pissed off though.” she smirked.

“S-Shut up!” Soarin’ replied. Honestly, Fleetfoot could be such a pain at times. She meant well, but she always enjoyed getting everyone’s goat whenever it suited her. Everyone had to have a hobby, he supposed. “It’s nothing like that. And me and Rainbow are just friends.”

“Sure sure, and you weren’t the one staying the night at her house calming down her little sister after everything went bat-shit crazy that time,” Fleetfoot deadpanned. “Just sayin’. I don’t think any person who’s ‘just friends’ would do that. Plus, you’re on first name basis already, how cute!”

“So are you and I, Fleets.”

“Yes, but ‘just friends’ don’t watch each other’s family do they?” Fleetfoot remarked as she, Captain Spitfire and Soarin’ strode inside. “Dash and Soarin, sitting in a tree…”

“...You’re such a child, you know that right?” Soarin’ replied even as his friend continued to sing in the background. He flushed red at the looks being sent his way and wished desperately for Fleetfoot to just shut up.

“To stay young of body, one must remain young at heart,” Fleetfoot replied, speaking like a kung-fu master from a cheesy movie. And Soarin’ and Fleetfoot would know. They’d seen plenty.

“You got that from inside a fortune cookie down on seventy-first street, didn’t you? From that little Chinese place you and Surprise like so much.” Soarin’ returned.

“...Might have done, yes.” Fleetfoot admitted. “Anyways, why are we here again ma’am?” she asked turning to her Captain.

“These monsters are a serious threat, and I think these guys can help us deal with them. Kougami has its hand in everything.”

“...No kidding,” Soarin’ muttered as he saw a massive case with what looked to be armor wheeled past by a bunch of men in suits with someone carrying a small silver briefcase with a big letter G on the side. They clearly were military, he could tell that much. Research and development most likely.

“...Geez, who are the guys in the fancy suits?” Fleetfoot muttered.

“Clients, that's all you need to worry about right now,” Spitfire chided, pushing her way to the reception desk. She recognized them alright, having heard of the incidents in Tokyo back in 2001. She frowned to herself. What the hell were those guys from the G-Project even doing here? Actually, she was surprised they were even around to begin with. She gently chimed the bell and a receptionist walked out. “Yes, we’re Mr. Hino’s three o’clock?”

Erika groaned to herself. Eiji was going to have her head for this. She’d forgotten the G-Project was supposed to arrive today as well on this time and had accidentally booked them and the three from Buckley Base at the same time.

“...Last time I go out drinking with friends on a weekday…” Erika thought. Between this, and the whole Greeed issue Eiji was focused on, she was beginning to be run ragged. Yeah, she needed to request a raise or overtime pay. “...Right, I’ll buzz you in. Top floor office. You should be able to find it well enough.”

With that, she dialed Eiji’s number. “Yeah? Mr. Hino? ...Your three-o'clocks are here. Yes, both of them. Yes, I apologize sir. I won’t make the same mistake twice sir. You can dock it from my pay sir.” Erika said over the phone looking incredibly ashamed and embarrassed with herself.

“...I thought his name was Kougami?” Fleetfoot whispered to Soarin’.

“Must be close enough to get away with calling him by his original name,” Soarin’ guessed. “You know those old stories about the receptionist and their boss…”

“Why Soarin’,” Fleetfoot smiled. “Didn’t know you had it in you to actually look into those sorts of things…”

“...I watch the late night mysteries, okay?” Soarin’ replied with a blush. “It’s always the receptionist that commits the murders or something.”

“The butler always did it,” Fleet added, snickering at her friend's embarrassment.

“And the receptionist can hear you both,” Erika commented with narrowed eyes. “And any private life I may or may not have with Mr. Kougami is none of your business understand?”

“Yep, totally banging each other on the side…” Fleetfoot muttered before Spitfire slapped her over the back of the head.

“I’m sorry about her,” Spitfire apologized with a small bow. “Satonaka-san, hontōni otona ni natta no ka na?”

Erika burst out laughing while Fleetfoot could only wonder what was said in return. Soarin’, having actually learned Japanese could only snicker.

“...What’s so funny?” Fleetfoot asked. “Seriously, what’s so funny? Am I missing the joke here?”

“Learn to get stationed in Osaka, Fleet, then you won't be out of the loop,” Soarin' teased, glad to have the leg up on her for once.

Fleetfoot huffed and crossed her arms. “Bastard,” she muttered.

“Love ya too Fleets.” Soarin’ teased feeling very satisfied with himself. Something which Fleetfoot very obviously picked up on.

“You’re very happy with yourself, aren’t you Skies?” Fleetfoot muttered. “Yeah, well… we’ll see how you like it when I start hogging all the pudding and pies to myself…”

“Not the pies…” Soarin’ whimpered looking rather sad. Almost like a kicked puppy.

“Yes, especially the apple,” Fleetfoot assured, cackling like a comic book villain. Soarin’ only hung his head.

“Karera wa itsumo kono Capit supittofaia no yōdesu ka?” Erika asked.

“Kanari.” Spitfire nodded.

“In any case, Mr. Kougami will see you… all now,” Erika muttered watching the group of nine all pile into the elevator before when nobody was watching sneaked a flask from under her desk and took a sip. Yep, she definitely did not get paid nearly well enough to deal with all of this.

In any case, the group all filed into Eiji’s boardroom, upon his insistence and widened eyes upon seeing just how many people he was actually dealing with. Rubbing his temples, already feeling a headache coming on he turned to the G-Project and said: “You first.”

An older Japanese man stepped forward, his round face starting to show signs of wrinkles and his hair kept in a military fade. Clearing his throat, he spoke. “Kougami-san.”

“Please, no need for the honorifics,” Eiji refuted. “Just Eiji will do. Takahiro Omuro, right? You’re the current head of the G5 group, right? How’s Hikawa doing?” he asked remembering the incident with the Hydrozoa Tegula donning the G1 armor a few odd years back.

“He managed to become chief of police, as such he's unable to officially take part in the project anymore. He and I meet up often at a restaurant a mutual friend owns,” Omura answered, a silly smile on his face.

“Yeah, I think I know the friend,” Eiji replied. Meanwhile, Soarin’ and Fleetfoot just looked on cluelessly.

“...Why do I have the feeling we should be read in on something here…?” Soarin’ muttered and Fleetfoot could only nod.

“The G-Project, formed in response to a group called the Lords and some mysterious murders. A development of SAUL, after that Gurongi incident at the turn of the century,” Spitfire whispered. “Do some reading sometime. It’s interesting stuff.”

“...Yeah, I’ll pass. Eggheady crap, if you ask me,” Fleetfoot muttered. “Had enough of that in technical school. I just signed on to fly jets and serve my country remember?”

“Which you’re very good at,” Spitfire mused. “But you need to expand your horizons if you ask me…”

“In any case,” Eiji replied to Omura. “I presume your appointment has something to do with this?” he asked as the briefcase was set down in front of him. He also eyed the suit of armor in its case. “You know perfectly well I don’t deal in military weapons.”

“And yet you’ve developed a system called Birth,” Omura pointed out. “A one-man suit of armor, designed for one purpose and one purpose alone.”

“To deal directly with the Greeed when they returned,” Eiji returned. “It was never a matter of if, we always knew some idiots would unseal them eventually.”

“And of course, those idiots had to be Shocker,” Omura replied. “I thought they were dead and gone. Like Marvel Comics’ Hydra, really…”

“Don’t joke,” Eiji replied. “This is a serious matter.”

“Shocker?” Soarin’ asked and Fleetfoot smirked.

“Now who’s the clueless one?” she smirked before explaining in a whisper. “Terrorist group, formed back in the seventies. Complete loons, might as well call them the Japanese Neo-Nazis. Loved to make people into cyborgs in their quest for taking over the world. Sounds sci-fi, I know, but…”

“Quite, which is why we aim to help,” Omura replied. He and Eiji seemed to be unaware of the conversation taking place nearby. Or didn’t care, more likely. “See, I think the G4 Armor could uh… help. Least as a reserve before you complete the Birth system. And even then, afterwards.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t the G4 system have it’s… issues?” Eiji asked raising an eyebrow. “Like the AI being too dangerous for a normal human?” he said remembering what happened to one Shiro Mizuki.

“Yes, but it was modified from G3-X’s systems, remember?” Omura returned with Soarin’ and Fleetfoot watching this whole exchange like a ping pong match. Fleetfoot was half-tempted to go for some popcorn. “I can only presume it wouldn’t be difficult to alter, especially now that it’s been almost two decades and technology has advanced.”

“True, but I don’t deal with military hardware,” Eiji replied coolly. “You should know why. And in any case, why bring out something that’s been mothballed for sixteen years now?”

“You heard the reasons,” Omura replied. “It never helps to have reserves. Look, I know what your birth father did was-”

“Not here in public, understand?” Eiji stated narrowing his eyes slightly.

“I understand, but all I’m saying is you need to look at every option presented to you,” Omura returned. Fleetfoot, Soarin’, and Spitfire were beginning to feel all rather awkward by now. “Make no mistake, you’re fighting a war now. And if what you said about them getting involved is true… it’s one on multiple fronts now.” he stated.

Eiji sighed to himself as he fell back into his chair. Ideally, he wouldn’t like Foundation X to get their hands on this suit at all, and it being out in the open like this made that into a very real possibility. But on the other hand, Omura had a point. “I’ll… I’ll think on it.”

“You won’t have a long time, our flight back to Japan leaves in just two days,” Omura said before he bowed and took his leave.

“I’m sorry you had to be witness to that,” Eiji apologized to Spitfire. “So, what brings you by?”

“We've seen worse from Admirals on base. You should see the debates over contracts,” she assured, smiling weakly at the man. “But we're here for a similar reason, to discuss the monster attacks."

“I should have figured the military would start to worry about that any day now…” Eiji sighed. “Tell your bosses everything is under control.”

“Is it?” Spitfire asked raising an eyebrow. “Because I seem to remember a massive weevil looking thing crawling up the side of your building and devouring half of it.”

Eiji flushed at this.

“Yes, that… uh, was a thing. I admit it did get out of control there, I do admit that Captain.” he sighed.

“At the very least, coast guard and other non-combatants need equipment to help protect civilians,” Spitfire argued, a frown on her face. “I'm not asking you to help create future war machines. I’d never ask that. I’m just asking for an assist.”

“I’d rather not risk dangerous arms getting out onto the street,” Eiji muttered. “But that’ll probably happen anyways, I suspect the Birth Buster would find its way to unsavory hands no matter how hard I try and keep that from happening. I suspect what you’re really asking is can you have someone have full access to Birth’s systems? Make no mistake, I’ve been around the block long enough to know how this works. So please do me a favor and don’t take me for a fool.”

Spitfire, for her part, was stunned into silence that Eiji had picked up on that so fast. Eventually, she sighed, took off her sunglasses and rubbed her temples. “You’re absolutely right, Mr. Kougami. The attacks on the city are getting more dangerous every day. But it’s not to protect my own self-interests or have the military get access to the Kougami Foundation hardware. Actually, truth be told we’d like to work with you or at least alongside you in stopping these attacks.”

“And none of this is involved in or related to making sure any crucial secrets you may have at Buckley won’t get trashed or stolen?” Eiji inquired with a skeptically raised eyebrow.

Fleetfoot raised a hand in protest and was seemingly about to speak before Spitfire shut her down with a glare.

“Yes, I freely admit that may play a part, but I’ve got family on the base, not just friends. You can understand where I’m coming from here,” Spitfire said. “You know perfectly well about the attack on base housing a few weeks back I trust? Didn’t make the news thankfully, but I saw your people there so I can only assume you assume the Greeed had something to do with it.”

“If it were only that…” Soarin’ thought to himself. While he obviously didn’t know the whole truth in matters relating to what exactly had gone down that night, he honestly doubted the Greeed were actually involved.

“...I… I see,” Eiji replied after a long silence. “Yes, I do understand where you’re coming from. It’s a rarity in this day and age to actually meet anyone who’s so upfront about what they actually desire as opposed to what they think they desire. So, I assume you already have one of your men picked out for-”

“Well, no... “ Spitfire admitted. “We’d need to search the base for a viable candidate to work with you on this project.”

Finally, Soarin’ made his move. “I’ll do it, ma’am,” he stated sitting up in his chair and slamming a hand down on the table. Everyone looked at him. “Look, I know this seems drastic, but I’ve been watching these attacks go down week after week, and I’m tired of sitting on the sidelines feeling useless you understand?”

Truth be told, and as much as he hated to admit it Soarin’ partially was doing this just to help Dash. He wanted Rainbow to be her own mare and he knew she could take care of herself -god knows she’d sock him if he even implied so much as otherwise- but at the same time the attacks were growing in intensity every day and he feared one day she might have been overwhelmed.

“Well, Ieast you’re honest about things…” Spitfire muttered. “Even if you can’t spit it out to Lieutenant Dash that you like her…”

“How dense can a man get?” Spitfire thought to herself. “Even I can see it, and when I say that…”

“W-What?” Soarin’ sputtered out not exactly helping his case really. Fleetfoot had to bite her tongue to keep herself from laughing. “I… No, we’re just friends okay?”

“Love and peace forever…” Eiji murmured to himself. “Isn’t that the way it should be?” he smiled. “Well, you’ve caught my interest that’s for sure. Quite honestly, I couldn’t think of a better candidate to assist me in battle.”

“Assist me?” Soarin’ asked before Eiji clarified.

“Yes, quite obviously I can’t just hand you the Birth Buster on full power, nor can I hand you the system itself just yet. You’re going to have to receive training to actually use them. It’s not as if you can simply just step into the armor and know what each part does simply by snapping your fingers.” he stated.

“There’s not an instruction manual or anything is there?” Soarin’ asked. “Because I hate reading those.”

With a chuckle, Eiji pulled out said manual and placed it in front of Soarin’. The manual itself was thick, far thicker than any one instruction manual had any actual right to be. Soarin’ himself looked about ready to faint.

“...You can always back out now…” Fleetfoot teased.

“No,” Soarin’ said his eyes hardening. “I’ve come this far, no sense in chickening out now. I’ve got a job to do, and I intend on seeing it though.”

“Always the determined type aren’t you Soar?” Fleetfoot thought with a smile while Spitfire looked on in approval.

“Good to know,” Eiji said. “Because your training starts now.”

---

A day and a half passed since Soarin’ made his proposal and the Equestrian Adagio had begun her plot. Right now, the woman sighed to herself as the sun dipped low over the horizon turning day into night. She had the OOO Driver, and all of the medals her counterpart had on her. So the question obviously was… what now? Looking into a shop window, she had to fight back a snarl. In a prominent fixture was a CD, with a certain mare on the cover of it. Adagio laughed bitterly to herself, she lost her voice and yet her archenemy went on to be the one with the adoring fans all over the world. That was just how things seemed to work, didn’t they?

“So… guess you’ve won, Sunset Shimmer. Congrats, you beat us,” Adagio thought to herself one of her fists curling up into a ball. “I’m woman enough to accept that. But did you have to go rub in our faces like that?”

Recomposing herself, Adagio continued on with her evening. She smiled almost evilly to herself. She had the face of the city’s hero and the powers. There were so many things she could easily do with them now. But in the end, what would it accomplish? Wouldn’t change the fact that she and her sisters were still living in a dump, and nor would it ever get them their powers back.

“Gah!” Adagio thought to herself. Was taking revenge ever supposed to be this complicated? “...Why couldn’t it just be ruining her life for ruining mine by stealing all my glory, and stealing the populace’s love of me?”

Except… Adagio knew this world’s counterpart of hers didn’t exactly do that. No, she’d worked to get that glory all by herself, and her counterpart was at least 12 years older than her at least physically. She’d been in this world longer at least in Denver’s mind and by all intents and purposes, the law’s as well. Adagio chuckled again. And once again it was a bitter laugh, this time followed by a cough. In hindsight she supposed, it had been an amazing feat for her to actually enroll her and her sisters in CHS like she did. Nobody should have been able to fall for the ruse if they had even an ounce of common sense or bothered to look in school records and yet… nobody did.

To be honestly fair, 5 years ago -was that how long it had been?- Adagio’s human world counterpart probably would have been in college or something. Possibly. She didn’t know. Despite it being common sense, Adagio hadn’t actually looked into her counterpart’s life beyond being the local hero and a marine biologist. She honestly didn’t even know where she’d gone to school at. Now, in the good old days Adagio probably would have run down every piece of information she could find on her other half, but these days -and Adagio honestly didn’t know why- she just couldn’t be bothered. Was she admitting defeat against her counterpart? Possibly.

But the fact that she’d broken into her apartment -really, a marine biologist should have been able to afford better!- and beaten up her boyfriend along with stealing her powers indicated otherwise.

Groaning as she sat down on a nearby park bench, Adagio sighed to herself and looked skywards. What the hell was wrong with her? She should have been out and about, actually… doing something. Instead, she was here having a crisis of faith or whatever they called it and looking a bit like an idiot.

“Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with me?”

Deep down, Adagio knew what it was. A conscience. Something she never actually thought she possessed. All those millennia ago, when she went up against the Fangire -her and her pod- she was one of the few to actually say that they wouldn’t take things lying down and allow those creatures to take over Equestria. Of course, Starswirl -that old fossil- had misunderstood the whole ‘create an army’ thing and thought they were trying to take over the world. And here she was now after he and his so-called Pillars of Equestria had tossed them into this world hoping to forget about them.

Adagio knew she wasn’t the first source of Equestrian magic that had been dumped into this world and she probably wouldn’t be the last. She knew about the rumors of a certain magic stone and a certain staff of storms winding up here somehow. She guessed some idiot -probably that Princess of Friendship- had something to do with it. Or maybe Starswirl. Usually, everything traced back to him somehow in the end. Him or any students he took on.

For a brief moment, Adagio wondered how in the centuries after her pod’s banishment Equestria had gotten on. Had the Fangires taken over? She half-hoped they had. Might have taught those ponies a thing or two about misjudging situations.

Mind you, Adagio mused to herself as she walked onto the bus and sat down as it carried her home. It wasn’t like this world was any better. Deathgaliens. Gurongi, Shocker, The Black Cross Army, the Dimensional War Group Vyram, Gorgom, the Greeed, the Deboss Army, the Necro-Overs, the Orphnochs, the Phantoms, and even the Fangires of this world just to name a few. She could go on about how many issues this crapsack of a world had not to mention it’s own idiotic humans.

Honestly, she was surprised that this world hadn’t pulled itself apart by the seams via the constant issues it seemed to face year after year by now. Yet somehow it managed to stay together. Adagio couldn’t believe she was admitting this and if you asked her years later she would explicitly deny it, but she had to give these meatsacks credit. They actually could possibly beat the odds set against them every damn time.

“Gods above, can’t believe I’m actually starting to support these meatbags. Then again, becoming one does sorta put a change of perspective onto you…” Adagio thought coughing again.

Eventually returning home or what she could barely call that, the former siren sighed to herself. Place just kept on getting crappier every time she returned to it, she mused as she walked down the cramped hallways, with the mold spots and the peeling paint seeming ever more visible to her. It had sunk in long ago exactly how far she had fallen, really. And Adagio hated every moment of it.

“Hands to yourself, perv!” she said as she swatted away the grabby hands of her next door neighbor, this creepy old guy with eyes that seemed to glow far too much to be natural and a head like a pin. A model he was almost certainly not, and it made Adagio shiver in disgust to have to live next to someone so decrepit and so disgusting.

Adagio sighed as she went for her keys and went for the lock on her apartment door. It always had needed fixing. Inside, she could already hear Aria shouting at her sister. Some things never changed, really.

“Aww, come on Aria!” Sonata whined. “I was watching that!”

“My Little Corgi?” Aria barked out in a harsh laugh. “Come on Sonata, at least try to act your age! Now budge up, I want to at least try and see if there’s anything remotely good on.”

“B-But they’re so cute!” Sonata blubbered. “And all you ever want to do is watch porn!”

“Yeah? Well, I’m a siren, I thrive on sex. So deal with it!” Aria scoffed. Adagio resisted the urge to facepalm. Same argument every week, or something to that effect. It varied really, but it always came down to the exact same issue. The two generally couldn’t stand each other and being in close quarters for long, or at least Aria couldn’t stand her sister. It was a miracle they hadn’t ripped out each other’s throats long ago.

“Will you two both can it?” Adagio snapped her temper close to a boil thanks to how her day had been. “I’ve already got a headache, and you two aren’t exactly helping with that!”

“Shut up Adagio,” Aria grumbled. “At least tell us you found something good. Like a decent meal, or something.”

“Depends on what you define as good, you bint,” Adagio thought to herself. “Overwhelming power? Yes, possibly. First real trace of magic we’ve had in ages? Maybe, if it weren’t for the fact only I could use it. Oh, they’ll take that one really well…”

Adagio wondered how exactly to break that particular slice of news to her two siblings. Or if she should even say a word about it at all.

Flopping down on a nearby chair, ratty and worn Adagio then looked at her clothing and then at her sisters and their own attire before fighting back a snarl. This was what they had been reduced to. This… Just this. It disgraced them.

“So, one can presume by the fact that you returned empty-handed that your little search was a bust?” Aria deadpanned. “Why does that not surprise me in the slightest?” she asked throwing her hands up into the air.

“Not even a small taco…?” Sonata whimpered before Aria punched her in the face.

“Shut up, you ditz!” Aria barked. “I don’t give a damn about you and your damned taco obsession! We’ve got more important things to worry about than you and your issues!”

“But… but…” Sonata’s lip quivered before she fell silent upon seeing Aria’s glare.

“Gah, look at us,” Aria muttered. “We used to be at the top of our game, adored by all and now we’re just living in this shithole like rats and scrounging for food. Drug dealers to the left of us and a perverted old creep to the right. Yeah, living the dream. The fuckin’ good old American dream! That’s us!” she laughed harshly before coughing. “And to make things better, our human sides are finally catching up with us and now we’re getting sick like dogs!”

“...Maybe we brought this on ourselves…” Sonata whispered and Aria looked at her furiously for even suggesting such a thing.

“Sonata…” Aria growled out. “This is the Rainbooms’ fault and the Rainbooms’ alone. They sent us here, they put us in this position, and don’t even think about suggesting otherwise!”

“Yeah, well I certainly haven’t seen our position improving really!” Sonata shouted tears threatening to break. “We may have been living on residual leftover magic in our systems for the past few years, but now look at us! And we’ve been sitting around on our asses feeling sorry for ourselves and saying ‘oh woe is me’ without actually doing a damn thing about it!” she continued white hot tears stinging her cheeks catching Aria off-guard. Rarely did Sonata ever shout at anyone, and whenever she did it was never a good thing. She was the heart of the group, much as she was loathed to admit it. Adagio may have been the leader, but Sonata was just as important in keeping the three together.

And it honestly shamed Aria that she was rarely, if ever, able to contribute to the threesome beyond playing bodyguard and big threatening woman if needed. Aria had the looks and the cunning, Sonata was the cutie and Aria… Well, about all she had going for her was her muscle. Yes, in her younger years she had defended the pod with her personality and her brawn but in the real world, in the here and now of the modern age that amounted to very little aside from making her a very big scary woman nobody wanted to be around. She didn’t have her fangs and her muscle really didn’t amount to much here aside from making her look intimidating as all hell. Not that she was ever going to admit this aloud of course, given she was far too proud of herself to actually say such a thing.

“Oh by Writer’s Quill…” Aria muttered to herself as Sonata broke down sobbing and Adagio just held her, eyes widening briefly in shock. She had never, in all of her life ever heard Aria swear by anything -just swear in general- and certainly not by the Lady Faust herself. Then again, if there ever was a time to turn to religion of any sort, Adagio supposed, this was probably it. “Come on,” Aria continued to herself. “Come on milady, just give a little bit. Some… sign, I guess? Goddess, I don’t even know what to think anymore…”

It hurt Adagio seeing her siblings in this state. Her siblings, her pod. As the eldest, she was supposed to provide for them and she was failing drastically. As she walked out of the room, and down the hall her mind turned back to the fangires of her world. She vaguely remembered how it all got started.

The ponies and the fangires were allies once. Then the Arcle and the Amadum had been found, turning one pony into Kamen Rider Kuuga, the mightiest warrior ever to walk the face of Equestria. The fangires turned scared, afraid of this new power and started to go out on their own to raise up an army and conquer the lands before the ponies ever could. Least, that was the story anyways. Or one of them. The other was this. Long ago, the two races had been good friends fighting against a powerful group known only as the Legendorgas and their leader, known only as Kamen Rider Arc. Maybe it was to save themselves from extinction, or maybe they truly did care for each other but eventually sometime after the defeat of the Legendorgas by the first Kiva, the first King of the fangires that alliance… fractured.

This also had to do with the Amadum, as the story went. And the power of Kuuga. The stone was fractured, and King now having no obstacles in his path waged a bloody campaign, with many races being caught up in the crossfire the Sirens amongst them. Any race that was deemed a threat to his rule, like the Sirens, the Thestrals, or the Timberwolves was systematically hunted down and slaughtered. Some races managed to find shelter for a time, such as the Thestrals or devolved out of pure necessity in the Timberwolves so they would not be hunted down and killed in the Fangire King’s mad quest for power and absolute control.

The Dazzlings in their case, they couldn’t fight back against the fangires and their sheer power, nor could they go to the Princesses for help because all ponies distrusted the Siren race by pure instinct so the Dazzlings were forced to take matters into their own hooves. Or fins as the case might have been. And so you know the rest. Starswirl being the zealot he was banished them. Or maybe he did know of the fangires and sent the Dazzlings to another world to escape the systematic genocide. Who was to say really? The lines had become so blurred over the years Adagio for her part had simply stopped giving a damn and just embraced what they called her. All three of them did. They became monsters, traveling all over the world and leaving destruction in their wakes. But believe it or not, the Dazzlings and the Siren race as a whole were only the tip of the iceberg.

Perhaps the most tragic story in all of this was, in fact, the Changelings. You see, King in secret, attacked and drained the life energy of ponies alongside his soldiers. And so ponies needed a scapegoat. The changelings had only been newly discovered back then and sadly they had a similar modus operandi but only took what they needed to survive. Because the Fangires never revealed themselves publicly at least, guess who took the blame? The changelings were banished from Equestria forever creating a grudge that is still upheld by the former Queen Chrysalis today amongst other hardliners.

There were many such stories, and nobody by this point knew the real truth and perhaps nobody cared. But whatever it was, it all boiled down to one simple fact of life.

Miscommunication, that’s all it came down to in the end.

Perhaps more efforts should have been spared, to try and talk to the King. Maybe he would have listened, maybe he wouldn’t have. Adagio didn’t know. But maybe just maybe Equus wouldn’t have gone to hell and maybe, just maybe Adagio and her pod wouldn’t have had to raise up an army to try and fight the hoards. And maybe Starswirl wouldn’t have had to banish them out of sheer fear of what they could do.

There were a lot of maybes involved, really. A lot of what-ifs and loose ends that probably never would be resolved. At least, not in Adagio’s lifetime. She cursed herself for falling back and focusing on the past. What she needed to do in the here and now was provide for her siblings and help them. Even if the means to do it disgusted her, getting drugs from some back alley chemist. But what could she do? It wasn’t like anyone she knew would actually help her. Not with who she was.

The drug dealer at the end of the hall. He was a greasy haired sort, with green teeth. Made Adagio shudder. Humans, always finding new and creative ways to disgust her.

“Mind you, am I any different?” Adagio thought. “I have that same desire to conquer, given what I tried to do at CHS. And unlike those times back home, I enjoyed this. This wasn’t simple self-defense against a powerful race bent on conquering and genocide. No, this time I was the monster.”

And as she opened the door and the drug dealer leered at her with those eyes of his… well, Adagio’s resolve stiffened. Slamming on the driver she knew what she had to do.

“Taka, Tora, Batta: Ta-To-Ba! Tatoba, Ta-To-Ba!”

He never even had time to scream even as Adagio went for her blade…

---

Adagio groaned as she stepped out of the shower, the early morning light shining in through the windows. Even so, as she dressed herself she couldn’t help but feel something was… off. Going for her bedside table, she reached inside and pulled out a baton and gave it a flick extending it. Slowly walking into the dining room, she felt something behind her and whirled around before hitting a person square in the face.

“OOOOOOOWWWWWW!” Ankh shouted holding his possibly now broken nose. A black eye was beginning to form as well. “What, it’s not enough you damage my pride, but now you have to damage me as well, you bint?”

“...Funny, you seem to do a fine job of damaging your own pride without me,” Adagio muttered. “Seriously, you had that coming. Nearly gave me a heart attack sneaking up behind me like that!”

“Well, I’m sorry Ms. Pretty Princess, you want me to bow down and kowtow to you apologizing before you spin my feelings for you around once more and kick mini-me in the balls?” Ankh snapped leaving Adagio very, very confused indeed.

“Okay, something’s definitely not right here,” Adagio thought to herself as her mind began to race. Yes, okay, Ankh’s an oddball with an egotistical streak a mile wide but yeah… something strange is going on here....”

“Spin your what…?” Adagio asked slowly and Ankh let out a hiss.

“You know perfectly well what!” he snapped. “Don’t play twenty questions with me, Pretty Princess. I know you were out walking the streets last night, near that Magnum Opus place! You played with me! Made me feel… human things! Gah!” he screeched out.

“...You’re definitely acting odder than normal, you know that right Ankh?” Adagio asked in reply. “Now can you stay quiet for a moment? Just… I just have this feeling. Something’s definitely off.”

“...Yeah, like my mini-me aching like-”

“Okay, one I didn’t need to hear that, and two what part of stay quiet did you not understand?” Adagio asked. She so did not need a headache from Ankh this early in the morning. Not till she’d had her coffee at the very least.

Or was it the afternoon? Adagio honestly couldn’t tell, given she’d had to work an all-nighter back at the Aquarium last night and so she’d slept in quite a bit. Star Hunter had been out sick, amongst other things so she’d had to fill in for him. At least in return, she’d gotten the day off out of it. She loved her job, but by god that was a long night.

Walking back towards the bedroom, Adagio went for her nightstand in a panic realizing exactly what was wrong, and her eyes widened.

“Ankh, the Driver! And the Medals, they’re gone!” she shouted before taking a few deep breaths. She’d just misplaced them, that was all.

“Oh, so now you’re lying about not only assaulting me, but you’re also lying about the medals and the driver going missing. You’re just doing this to spite me, aren’t you?” Ankh shouted from the kitchen, taking the ice pop out of his mouth. “Seriously, you are aren’t you! This is to get back at me for making my nest with your underthings isn’t it?”

“I’m not so petty as to make up a story like that,” Adagio replied calmly trying to keep herself from throttling Ankh in her panicked state. Okay, she knew it wouldn’t help her… but it’d probably feel good and it would certainly ease her headache if Ankh just shut up for a moment. “I’m not kidding Ankh. They’re gone. Alright, where’d you hide them? Is this some sort of game? I’ll give you a month’s supply of ice pops -the cherry kind, as you know you love them- if you just tell me where you hid the driver and the medals.”

“Why do you assume it’s all about me?” Ankh replied his voice coming almost across as a whine. As she peeked back into the kitchen, Adagio gave her roommate a flat look.

“Because it usually is,” she deadpanned. “Name me one instance in your life where it hasn’t been completely about you.”

Ankh froze, thinking back to all those centuries ago. To that girl in that village he’d let down so badly. Taking this as silence and confirmation of her theory, Adagio smirked before muttering: “Yeah, I thought so…”

A chirping sound came from the window, along with a pecking sound soon after and Adagio opened it and in flew Cube Condor. He chirped and hissed before his eyes lit up and displayed footage from last night. Adagio’s eyes widened as she saw a much rattier version of her with much wilder hair follow Ankh inside her apartment before soon dashing out with a certain driver and medals in her hand.

She swore quietly, and Ankh came running as soon as he heard this. “What, forgot where you hid the driver in this little game of ours?” he sneered. “I’d heard with old age in humans your me-”

He promptly shut up at Adagio’s withering glare. “Ankh, tell me what happened last night while I was away. All of it.”

And so Ankh explained. Adagio wanted to groan to herself. Why oh why did she have to put up with this stupid bird? He should have realized that he was being played like a fiddle from the start, smart as he was supposed to be. But then again… she remembered she never actually explained about her doppelganger. And so she did, here and now. Ankh was… less than convinced.

“Wait, so you’re telling me there’s this other you, an even bitcher one, from this magical land of horses and all sorts of crap? She’s the one who stole everything, and kicked me in the balls?”

“I know, I can’t believe it half the time myself,” Adagio grimaced. “Although, now that I think of it, her kicking you in the balls might have been a good thing. God knows we don’t want a bunch of little yous runn-”

“WHAT KIND OF IDIOT DO YOU TAKE ME FOR!?!” Ankh roared. “THAT’S THE MOST BULLSHIT STORY I’VE EVER HEARD!”

“Fine, believe what you want, but as it stands…” Adagio started before realizing Ankh was already gone in a huff and swore loudly. She then made perhaps the most colossal understatement in the history of understatements.

“This… is not good.”

15: Another Adagio

And so the search began. Adagio knew her counterpart would be a massive issue with access to the powers of OOO, so sitting down and just waiting for her to reappear was not an option.

Quickly taking the city bus across town, she kept an eye on the local news feeds via her phone. If she knew one thing about her Equestrian counterpart, it was that she thrived on attention and therefore wouldn’t keep to herself for very long.

“Of all of the things that had to get its hands on the Driver, it would have to be my other self…” She muttered to herself. She had to applaud and yet curse herself at the same time for letting Ankh be deceived by someone like that. Then again, how could he not have been tricked, given how both Adagios were exactly like one another. Maybe not in personality, but definitely in appearance.To a certain extent anyways. “How am I going to explain this to Rainbow and Eiji? Yeah, this is going to be a headache to explain unless somehow both me and her end up in the same place and time…”

The local news was reporting on a murder in one of the lower ends of town, with Vignette -of course- on the scene. Apparently, there had been a man sliced apart with a type of sword.

“Now, I’m not one for dealing with crime scenes, but I can say that whoever did this had NCW. That’s no chill whatsoever for those who don’t like the idea of acronyms, by the way.” She winked. In the background, police were dealing with the crime scene. “Whether it was another one of those yummies spawned by the Greeed to spread chaos and misery, or a Rider gone rogue, it’s hard to tell, really. Though, I would imagine that either side would be up for debate in this time and era. Thing is, trust is the most malleable thing ever, these days. Putting too much trust in something is a bad thing. It makes you look like a lapdog so loyal that you would run to the ends of the earth and back just to keep their names intact.

Adagio scowled, hating what Vignette was implying. Maybe she should have listened to Ankh, -loathe as she was to admit it- and not bothered trying to befriend this woman.

“Well, ladies and gentlemen, I don’t trust whoever did this, and I certainly don’t trust anyone other than the police to handle this mess. But since there aren’t any witnesses as of yet, there’s not a whole lot this story can go on, so I’m going to hand it back to Starbreak back in the studio. Star?” And with that, the report flickered back to the newsroom.

“So, that’s the story from Vignette,” Starbreak said. “Now, this isn’t the first murder in that part of town but this one is very unusual. Death by the sword, not something you see every day. Now the man, as we’ve learned was a local drug dealer. Apparently, the police have been after him for weeks.”

Now Adagio was far from stupid, given she distinctly remembered being given a sword by Eiji to go with the OOO power set. Didn’t exactly take a genius to figure out who did what with it. She sighed. Well, at least finding out where her other half lived didn’t take as long as she thought it would. “Joy,” Adagio thought to herself. “Wonder how long it’ll take for the police to collect witness statements and learn who exactly was responsible.”

Adagio began taking several frantic deep breaths, imagining police walking up to her doorstep and arresting her on murder charges. Her hands went to her contacts for a brief moment, wondering if she should call work and tell them she likely wouldn’t come in tomorrow. She then took a deep breath, regaining her composure as she calmed herself. The Northern Denver neighborhood wasn’t one of those places most people recommended to live in for a reason. People got offed there just about once a month or so. It was to the point people weren’t likely to talk on who murdered who, even if it was her as the culprit.

“Nice job on blowing the secret of the Greeed wide open Vignette,” Adagio mused her thoughts turning back to the reporter. “Now people will probably start digging and then here comes the mass panic as they realize what’s amongst them.”

She sighed to herself, she supposed she should have been more surprised that nobody had learned about them until now for this long. In this day and age, it was hard to keep a secret under wraps. She certainly could attest to that! Adagio chuckled to herself bitterly. How long was it until there was something like a Riderwatch or some other blog devoted to Denver’s local heroes? She did have to wonder.

“Probably not long,” she continued to think. “Not being narcissistic here, just being realistic. People talk after all.”

In any case, she had far bigger worries than bloggers. Like for example, her other half. From all that she’d heard and all that she’d seen on the internet, her Equestrian half represented the worst aspects of her. Yes, Adagio could be -somewhat- charismatic and certainly knew how to handle people but her other half took it to a whole new level. Sociopathic was probably a good label, given she seemed to see other people only as tools if Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were correct on their observations during that Battle of the Bands.

Adagio groaned. As if she didn’t have enough problems keeping Ankh under control and dealing with his former partners in crime and their creations. Now she had to worry about her doppelganger.

For a brief moment, she wondered about Ankh. What was he going to do now, really? She swore to herself silently, she’d left the idiot alone to his own devices, and god only knew what he was going to do now. Adagio, now she held no illusions that Ankh was on her side. She would have to have been stupid to even consider the possibility. Every action he took always had to benefit him and him alone in some way. Hell, even giving her access to the Driver was to save his own skin.

Her hand went back to her contacts and she found who she was looking for. Dialing the number, Adagio whispered: “Come on… come on… Pick up…”

She breathed a sigh of relief when Star Hunter finally did answer. Someone she could trust with her life, that’s what she needed right now. And who better than one of her two best friends?

“Hey, Adagio? What’s up?” Star Hunter responded on the other side of the line. Adagio let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding. This is what she needed, someone to talk to. Someone who she could rely on.

“Star?” Adagio asked her voice a bit shaky. Understandable, really given what she was going through. “How… how long have you known me?”

Stupid question, they’d known each other since High School. Patriots forever and all that. But Adagio felt it had to be asked, just so she could know her counterpart hadn’t gotten to her friend.

“Since we were teenagers. Why? What’s going on?” He asked, completely oblivious to the hung head Adagio was giving. “Adagio, what’s going on?” he repeated this time in a more serious tone knowing something was definitely wrong. Adagio sounded almost… scared? No, that couldn’t be it, could it? She was one of the strongest women he knew. Took quite a bit to rattle her.

“Just… just want to know if I can trust you, that’s all,” Adagio replied with her voice still a bit shaky though you could detect a note of faint relief in there as well. Never change Star, she thought. Never change.

“Adagio, you need help with anything?” Star asked. “Like burying a body perhaps? I’m your best friends, and you know what they say about best friends and burying bodies…” he joked.

“N-Not… Not funny, Star…” Adagio replied.

“Sorry… Just, uh, trying to lighten the mood, ya know?” Star replied sounding quite ashamed of himself. “But seriously, what’s wrong? You sound freaked.”

“Star, I know that this is going to sound weird right about now, but if you see me, don’t try and talk to me,” Adagio clutched the phone not really caring right now about the odd looks the other bus passengers were giving her at the moment. “I can’t really explain it properly, but let’s just say that there’s another me out there. One that has my stuff. It’s going to try and do something really bad but I’m not sure what it is just yet.”

“Um… okay?” Star replied. “Is… is this about the Equestrian you?” he asked.

“Y-yeah. How did you know about that?” Adagio asked, her tone melting like some of the finest butter under heat. “Don’t tell me she found you and is holding you hostage right about now…”

“No… Nothing like that!” Star replied hoping to soothe his friend’s fears. He shuddered, no wonder she was rattled. He could hardly blame her with that loon running around. “Hardly! I just happened to do some digging after that Rainbow girl came to the Aquarium and acted like a right bitch to you. So sue me, I’m a curious sort of guy. YouTube has a lot of stuff on it, you know…”

“Listen. How much do you know about this other me outside of the Youtube stuff? Has she left any clues? A paper trail, as it were? We need to know as much about the other me as possible if we’re going to stand any chance at beating it and getting my Driver back.”

“Whoa whoa, slow down!” Star Hunter said. On the other end of the line, he could hear the bus pulling to a halt and the doors opening with a hiss. “Your Driver? Where’d she even get that? What’s going on?”

“If my hunches are correct, trouble is going on. If you can, speak with Rainbow and Eiji before they find the other me. She might try to tell them that I’m the fake and lead them into trying to fight me in her place.” Adagio clambered off of the bus and into the pouring rain once more. “I don’t want one of those ‘everyone turning against me’ scenarios for something that a fake me did instead…”

“Well, technically she’s not exactly a fake… I mean, the Equestrian you is… well, you for all intents and purposes. Just a you from a different world,” Star replied. He could practically see the glare his friend was probably giving him now over the other end of the phone. “...Okay, I’ll see what I can do. Sadly, I don’t have Rainbow’s phone number, but Eiji came here a few days ago just to check up on you. Real sweet guy, you really should consider dating him after this is all over, just saying.”

Adagio fought back a blush and mentally thanked whoever was listening for Eiji even existing, and then made a mental note to thank him later. Maybe a nice dinner when he wasn’t busy. “Man shouldn’t have to go out of his way to help me, and yet…”

“In any case,” Star continued. “As for what I know about your other half… well, it’s not much really. But I can go ahead and speculate if you want.”

“Please, Star. Anything at this point would be good. Is this other me acting evil for the Greeed or is she acting evil for her own benefits and no-one else’s?” Adagio tried not to let her phone get drenched in the torrent of rain by cupping a hand over it.

“Honestly…” Star mused. “I think I’m probably right on the money in guessing she’s doing this of her own accord. From what I’m thinking, she’s like you but with your less than… positive traits magnified. All about her, and only about her. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe she’s doing this for another reason. But I think I can guess she’s probably none too happy with you stealing her thunder if you will. That probably plays into this quite a bit.”

“Alright. Thanks, Star. You’re a great friend,” Adagio let the knowledge set as some of the tension lifted from inside of her. “Now, I’d better find this other me and fast.”

The only question was.. Where was she now?

---

On the other side of town, Rainbow was currently engaged in a battle with the Fire Ant Yummy in an underground parking garage. Dodging a blast of flame from the giant insect’s mouth rolling to the left to do so, she then kicked a car towards the monster.

“Goddamnit Adagio, where are you right now?” she thought even as thunder rolled. “Seriously, where the hell are you?”

The Fire Ant Yummy leaped over the car and then unleashed another blast of flame from his mouth, Rainbow summoning her shield to protect herself and then bashing the creature upside the head. Cell Medals went flying even as Rainbow brought out the Gold Visor spinning it above her head and catching the Yummy in the stomach with it.

“Sword Vent.” the Visor stated as it opened up like the wings of a bird reading the card before a loud screech was heard and two swords landed in Rainbow’s hands. Dragging the blade of one sword across the other, sparks were created.

“Looks like I’m going to have to fight alone, at least for the time being,” Rainbow thought. Slicing into the Yummy’s armor with strike after strike, she then kicked it in the stomach making the monster stumble back. “However… I do have to wonder. Is this Adagio’s way of telling me she’s pissed at me for the whole Vignette debacle?”

A powerful punch landed making Rainbow stumble backward. “...Cause, if so I get the message!” she thought.

“Advent.” the Gold Visor stated and Goldphoenix flew in slicing into the Yummy with his talons.

Rainbow didn’t even crack a pun or give the monster any sarcastic remarks as the beast got back up. All that she could think about was the interview. Why did Vignette Valencia, the most obnoxious and secret-destroying people need to question her and Adagio? Why didn’t she just keep her fat, lipsticked, Facebook-loving mouth shut and move on with her life? All she did was destroy her career and cause two of the Greeed to seed her at the same time. Job or no job, she didn’t need to go that far or get seeded by multiple Greeed at once. It was partially her own fault for getting her into that trouble in the first place. After all, a reporter’s job was to report, report, and only report, caring not for anyone else or the consequences of press, be it good or bad press. Maybe, outside of the consumerist and commercial world, Vignette was a nice person, she just didn’t see that side of her yet.

Rainbow let out a battle cry and charged the Yummy slashing into it with her swords before leaping over and behind it as it let out another blast of flame. Spinning on her heel, a quick leg sweep knocked it into the pavement.

“But still… did I really have to ruin her career like that?” Rainbow thought to herself. “I mean, yes, she’s horrible at times, but still…” the Element of Loyalty mused. “She’s still a human being like I am. Not a monster.”

Observing this whole bout was another figure. Seemingly dressed from head to toe in leather and studs, dreadlocked. Looked like a refuge from a bad metal band really. He chuckled to himself. Always rely on Uva’s creations be all brawns and no brain. He’d wait and see how this ended. He figured this one had no chance at all against Odin or whatever she called herself now. He’d take her on after the Yummy was defeated, she’d be tired. Worn out. Ripe for the picking. Of course, not even Kazari could anticipate what came next.

Heels clacked up against the concrete just as Rainbow pulled out her Final Vent card and readied it.

“Well now, isn’t this a sight?” a low seductive murmur asked. Followed by a powerful strike with Adagio’s sword, slicing the beast in half. Following that, she took off her helmet, revealing her face and the forest of golden follicles beneath it. “I kept you waiting there, didn’t I?”

“...Oh, now you show up. This is punishment for earlier, isn’t it?” Rainbow groaned hanging her head in defeat. “Seriously, it is isn’t it?”

“Well, if you want to call it punishment, yeah. But hey, I’d say that’s another beast in the books,” Adagio sheathed her sword and approached Rainbow Dash, who de-morphed seeing as how the danger had passed. “Come on, admit it, you were struggling with that Yummy, weren’t you?”

“Had it well in the bag, actually…” Rainbow replied, her eyes briefly darting to the left as she took notice of a figure moving about in the shadows.

“Then why did you let me land the finishing blow, then?” Adagio smirked and playfully nudged Rainbow’s elbow, playing her for the fool that she was. She could always tell when Rainbow’s brawn overpowered her brain.

“Oh, I was about to deal with him,” Rainbow replied holding up the Final Vent card. “Final Vent, I mean come on! That sorta says it all doesn't it?”

She ignored Goldphoenix’s mental sniggering, even if by all rights she figured she probably shouldn’t. She somehow got the feeling -no thanks to the bird’s general demeanor- that there was something he wasn’t telling her about that card in particular.

“In any case, dinner’s on me tonight. Hope that’s alright with you.” Adagio wrapped her arm around Rainbow Dash’s back.

“...Wait, since when did we get dinner together?” Rainbow asked. “Last I checked we were barely even frien-WATCH OUT!” she suddenly cried as Kazari leaped out of the shadows claws extended.

“Okay, really?” Rainbow snapped transforming back into her Odin armor. “How long were you waiting in the shadows like that? What, are you my stalker or something?”

“Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo: Sa-Ra-Mi-Uo! Sa! Ra! Mi-Uo!” Adagio’s belt called as she transformed as well.

“Stalker, no. Destroyer, yes. You’ve been working yourself much too hard, Odin. Perhaps it’s time that we put you and your little friend out of business for good.” Kazari chuckled to himself as his claws splayed outward. Slicing forwards with his claws, he sent powerful slices of wind towards the two, with Adagio thrusting forwards with her Wolfish spear sending a wave of water towards him in turn.

“Guard Vent. Sword Vent.” the Gold Visor stated as Rainbow summoned a sword and shield. Striking forwards, she watched as Kazari turned into a pile of cell medals and then reformed behind her striking her in the back.

“Double team?” Rainbow asked as she looked towards Adagio. Even now, Kazari was collecting all the cell medals from the destroyed Yummy. “Figure we’re going to need it with this guy…”

“Yeah. Double team.” Playing Rainbow Dash and taking revenge for Canterlot High could wait. For now, this was the immediate threat. Or more like an opportunity, given Kazari had a few Cores on him as well. Cores she could probably make great use of. She slipped the helmet back on and re-drew her sword for battle.

Even as the whole area glowed with an intense light, Rainbow threw her shield forcing Kazari to duck before the shield took his head clean off. The light faded as the shield impacted a concrete pillar and Adagio went on the offensive. Striking a few times with the Wolfish spear, Adagio whirled around and impaled Kazari in the chest causing a few cell medals and more importantly the Lion Core to leak out.

“Perfect…” Adagio smirked in a downright evil manner under her helmet. Grabbing the Core, she slammed it into her driver.

“Lion, Kujira, Ookamiuo!” the Driver shouted as Adagio used a new combo.

“Ngah… You filthy vermin!” Kazari stumbled backward as he tried to grab the Cell Medals back up again, not paying Adagio or Rainbow any attention as the Lion Core glimmered brightly in Adagio’s belt.

“SCANNING CHARGE!” Adagio’s belt shouted as she slid along the ground, creating a miniature tidal wave behind her even as the Lion helmet created an immense blinding light. Kazari was sent flying backward by the sheer force of the kick before Rainbow leaped forwards seizing her chance. Slicing clean through and through with her sword, the Cheetah medal was sent flying to the ground.

“Lion, Kamakiri, Cheetah!” the belt sang before Adagio took use of her new combo to absolutely blitz both Kazari and Rainbow knocking them to the ground and slicing into them with the Kamakiri blades.

As Kazari took his leave, Rainbow coughed out: “Adagio… what… what the hell?”

“I’ve been wanting to do that for so long, Rainbow Dash. For a number of reasons, in fact.” She held her blades out, the energy from the Lion Core coiling around it all the while. “And I think you know damn well exactly what I mean!”

“...Who…” Rainbow whispered going for her shield plucking it out of the pillar as she realized which Adagio she was dealing with eyes widening in abject horror. “...Wait, it can’t be… Can it?”

Rainbow swore to herself, she knew she should have searched harder for those three. They all should have.

“Canterlot High. The Battle of the Bands. Ring any bells yet?!” Adagio snarled as she sent another wave of energy towards Rainbow Dash with the combined powers of the Lion and Kamakiri Cores, making her airborne for a brief instance. “You saw me with two others, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk. You ruined our lives just because of your little light show, because of your puny Magic of Friendship nonsense. Well now, I’m returning the favour!” She stood on the tips of her feet and darted towards Rainbow, sword ready for another strike. “Tonight, the Rainbooms LOSE their lead singer and guitarist!”

Rainbow dodged the strike and then deflected the next with her shield. “Adagio…” she pleaded. “It’s been five years. Five! I’ve moved on from that, so why don’t you? Give it up. You created this situation for yourself, nobody else! It wasn’t me who made you walk into Canterlot High and decide to try and take it over. It was just you, nobody else!”

“Thing is, you haven’t moved on, have you? You’ve been waiting for the day we could meet again.” Equestrian Adagio channeled her power in a new way, creating a spiritual manifestation of her Equestrian Form, while still retaining control of her own body. “You, the western stereotype, the ditz who makes dresses, the pink-haired bimbo, the shy butter-girl, and your little princess and her protege. You and your Rainbooms never gave up, did they? Speaking of which, how are they doing? Still gawking and babbling over their stereotypical interests? Get real and get some new friends.”

“Hey, we seem to have worked out well enough,” Rainbow asked. “Which is more than I can say for you Adagio. Why are you doing this? I mean, I know you’re petty, but going after me now? After five years?”

“Now, I actually have something I can kill you with. Seeing as how your Magic of Friendship makes you immune to our songs, perhaps it’s time I dealt with other means of dealing with the competition. Never underestimate the power of the seas!” Adagio roared further perverting her counterpart’s deeds with the butchering of the catchphrase. She twirled the Medajaribur, causing the ghostly sea-horse to dance with the tip, creating a whirl of golden energy. “For Aria Blaze! For Sonata Dusk!” She ran towards Rainbow, letting out a scream as her blade readied itself for another onslaught, accompanied with the roars and charge of her hippocampus accomplice.

Rainbow just barely dodged the blast but was sent sprawling. As she picked herself up back off the ground, blades met again and again for a brief moment causing sparks to fly. Rainbow kicked Adagio in the stomach before pulling out the gold visor and slamming a card into it.

“I’ll tell you this for starters… My soul burns bright today!” Rainbow stated even as Goldphoenix let out a screech slicing into Adagio’s armor. Then, flew back to Rainbow golden energy gathering around the two. He screeched again in a challenge to the Siren.

“Final Vent.”/“SCANNING CHARGE!” both drivers exclaimed.

Goldphoenix picked Rainbow up and tossed her before Adagio leaped forwards her foot glowing with energy. The two powerful kicks met in midair, energy colliding and slamming into each other before both users were tossed backward. Both slammed into the ground rolling along it as they were knocked out of their transformations.

Adagio, picking herself up off the ground clutched her chest in pain and staggered off unknowingly being watched by a red-handed figure.

“So Adagio wasn’t crazy… there really are two of them…” Ankh thought to himself before taking off.

---

Night fell over Denver once more, the rain finally clearing up. Lights for every single shop lit up, with the only others accompanying them being the streetlights and those in the bedrooms of the houses nearby. Most of the people had finished their day’s jobs and were winding down for a much-deserved rest. Except for Adagio, who prowled the streets with her coat wrapped tightly around herself and her Driver and her medals on hand.

“Okay, that’s another thing to add to my list as well as these supplies for my sisters. Getting rid of Rainbow Dash and her puny band.” Adagio murmured to herself as her eyes locked onto a store at the end of the road, with a bright green plus sign on it, flashing in the darkness. “Of course, that shouldn’t be a problem. The Magic of Friendship or no, they can’t hold their own in physical combat. These new powers should be enough to leave them as bloody, messy pulps…”

For a moment, a brief moment Adagio considered Rainbow’s words. Should she just move on? After all, she’d spent five years away from the Rainbooms and hadn’t exactly cared to bother with them until now. So why was she? They’d moved on with their lives evidently, so maybe she should do the same.

But then again, they were why she and her sisters were in such sorry states. Their leftover Equestrian magic had finally run out a couple of years ago, and now it was just a daily battle to survive. One day, it was whoring herself out to creepy old men in their apartment block -Adagio had to hide her smirk at remembering how the Medajaribur had dealt with him easily enough- just to get medicine or pay the rent. The next, it was scrounging for scraps in the dumpsters. How low they had definitely fallen. And to think, Adagio laughed bitterly once more, they used to be at the top of the heap!

Also, Rainbow was right as much as she hated to admit it. It was her, nobody else. It was her who had decided to just waltz into the school that day and decide to grab that raw magic for her and her sisters. Still, it was the bed she had made and now had to lie in. With nothing else to survive for, Adagio entered the pharmacy, readying her medals if she needed to go lethal on her opposition.

For a brief moment, she swore she heard something landing behind her, like feet touching the ground before brushing it off as just her imagination. Stupid paranoia, thinking that everything was against her ever since that day at CHS. It had played with her ever since that chorus of boos and jeers washed over her; a constant reminder that she had failed, that she had been bested by a group of primitive humans. Nothing else mattered. Her life was in tatters and she was left to pick up the pieces, no matter how ridden with blood and destruction they were.

“So… This what you wanted… Starswirl?” Adagio thought thinking of the old mage and laughing bitterly. He may or may not have known he was making a mistake sending her here. Or maybe he didn’t care. May have been too caught up on the glory of being a ‘hero’ to actually stop and listen to her problems. Probably wouldn’t have believed her in raising up a resistance against the Fangire race. Nope, all he saw was just three sirens causing chaos.

But then again, considering the Fangires barely left any evidence of their hunts behind… Adagio shook her head, clearing herself of those thoughts and let out a growl. No reason she should start thinking of the past and that old fogey now. She’d put it behind her. Now, right now? She needed to think of her siblings, and not old grudges.

“Hang on for just a bit longer, girls. Big sis Adagio’s coming with the goods…” Adagio gathered up everything in the store that the Sirens would need to stay alive, taking it in triplicate, quadruplicate, even quintuplicate. She didn’t want to keep having to make multiple runs for Aria and Sonata’s condition, potentially risking everything.

A shotgun cocked, and Adagio turned to see an old man with weapon in hand aiming it right at her.

“Oh goddess, what happened to you? Family problems? Mental health condition?” Adagio asked the man, barrel shaking as he pointed it at her nose. “Either way, there’s no need for this kind of stuff. I’m just a simple girl getting some stuff for her friends, alright?”

A snicker from somewhere nearby. Adagio ignored it before darting out as the sound of a shotgun went off. Running out of the store with the stockpile of drugs, she took to the alleyways and found herself face to face with a man. Blond-haired, with his hair in a frankly rather messy style. Reminded her of a bird’s head. She sighed, she remembered this idiot from a few nights back.

“Well, Adagio Dazzle is it?” Ankh asked crossing his arms. Adagio took notice of how his left arm was more feathered than anything else. “My my, seems your human counterpart was right on the money with you. You really are an ambitious sort, remind me of myself in a way. Tch. Such a pain…”

“Back off. This doesn’t concern you. I just want to get these drugs back to my sisters and leave you in peace.” Equestrian Adagio instinctively went for her medals. She knew that Ankh would be a force to be reckoned with in the wrong situation. “Whatever you want… You keep doing that. I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing and keep my sisters alive. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that,” Ankh remarked with a small shrug. “I can respect that. Fact is, birds of a feather as they say… should flock together. I should know, I invented that phrase after all!” he chirped in this sorta snide way.

“Get to the point…” Adagio grumbled having no time for this nonsense. “Or do you want me to kick you in the balls again?”

Ankh flinched at this, making Adagio fight back a smirk. So he did remember.

“See, trouble with my Adagio is… Well, she’s too… well, she’s just too damn human!” Ankh whined. “Has too many things holding her back. Doesn’t give a damn about the medals, not one bit you see?” he asked tossing the Kujaku medal up in the air and then catching it, absorbing it back into his Greeed arm.

“And you think I do?” Adagio asked narrowing her eyes.

“Well, from all that I’ve heard about you, you crave power do you not?” Ankh enticed tracing a finger along her jawline making Adagio practically purr. “Am I not wrong?” he asked.

“Singing magic. Something I can’t get any more thanks to a bunch of bratty teenagers shattering my crystal.” Adagio cocked a brow. “But, then again, these Kamen Rider powers are a pretty acceptable replacement. I could do some real damage to Sunset Shimmer and her rag-tag group of infants with this.”

“And… that’s it?” Ankh asked resting himself on top of a nearby dumpster. “Revenge? Just plain and simple revenge? My my, you are petty…” he said sounding almost impressed.

“That’s only the first step. Seeing as how that fool Rainbow Dash also has some Rider powers of her own, I feel that I should steal them away from her too. Then, I should find more of these riders, strip them bare, and give their powers to my sisters.” Adagio flashed the widest, toothiest grin she could muster. “Three Siren Riders, ruling the earth with voices of gold and weapons of utter destruction. The greatest comeback story ever for the likes of the Dazzlings, don’t you think?”

Ankh threw back his head and laughed. “Oh, I think I’m going to like you…”

---

Come morning, the other Adagio was shaken awake by her phone buzzing. Sleepily, she went for it.

“Hmmm… what?” Adagio murmured as she grabbed her phone off her nightstand. “Star… what is it?”

“Adagio, turn on the news right now!” Star Hunter shouted, and from the urgency of his tone Adagio didn’t waste any time in following through on that request. What she saw made her eyes widen.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a SCOOP!” Vignette spoke on the TV as images appeared on the right-hand side of her. “Last night at around 11 PM, this pharmacy was raided by one particular individual. Goes by the name of Adagio Dazzle, according to our sources.” A CCTV shot of Equestrian Adagio with the drugs in hand was shown. “Not only that but if my sources are correct, then she is also rumoured to be one of the Kamen Riders who have been supposedly protecting our town from monsters. What a petty attitude, don’t you think? Heroes when it suits them, but brats the rest of the time.”

Adagio’s eyes widened even further as her mind raced. This was exactly what she had imagined, her worst nightmare coming true. Her counterpart with her powers and knowing exactly how to use them.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!” Adagio’s entire body heated up as she dashed around the room, trying to take the situation in. Right now, she was being framed for everything that her other self was doing, and it was only a matter of time before the police came crashing through her front door to arrest her wrongly. “Damn her! That other me is just… RRRGH!” She yelled, hands now like claws slicing through the newspaper on the breakfast bar.

Taking a few deep breaths, she calmed herself. There had to be a way out of this… didn’t there? Of course, there was. There always was. Now, her Equestrian counterpart had only committed one crime that the police actually knew of, and right now she just had to get out ahead of these rumors and squash them.

Adagio swore to herself silently, a fine time for Ankh to go ahead and take off and do god only knew what. She needed to put a leash on that man, or give him a phone and find a way to track it or something. In any case, now was not the time for panic. Right now, she had to do something and do something fast. She didn’t care about her reputation, that could be worried about later. Right now she needed to deal with her counterpart. Trouble was, her Equestrian half had the powers now. So that meant challenging her would not be easy. Not easy, but doable.

Once more, she went for her phone and dialed another number.

“Eiji…?” she asked her voice shaky. “I… I need your help…”

Author's Notes:

Seriously, huge thanks to Shadowmane for his help on this chapter. Been stuck on this one for ages, and tried to work out exactly how it would go. I knew what I wanted to do, but actually getting it on paper was another matter. But Shadow... whoo boy, Put the menace back in Equestrian Adagio that she sorely needed.

Equestrian Adagio's Medals: Taka, Lion, Tora, Cheetah, Kugawata, Kamakiri, Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo.

Ankh's Medals: Taka, Kujaku.

Next time: Showdown! Adagio VS Adagio...

16: Deep Breath

“So Adagio… the other Adagio by any means has finally shown up?” Eiji asked as he received the news. Well, this certainly made things more complicated didn’t it? He had a few suspicions that it was only a matter of time before she showed herself. “Lovely.”

“I fail to see what’s so lovely about it, sir,” Erika remarked in a deadpan. “This could cause a few unexpected complications. Presuming, of course, it already hasn’t.”

“Of course it has,” Eiji stated in reply. “Adagio’s already dealing with the fallout from her counterpart knocking over that drug store. I was just talking to her now, she’s in a bit of a panic.”

“And you hung up on her?” Erika asked smacking Eiji over the back of the head. “You idiot. She needs reassurance right now and look at what you’ve gone and done. I swear you’re such a baka sometimes…”

Eiji could only smile sheepishly. “I’ll… I’ll go ahead and talk to her. I’ll call her back.”

He frowned to himself. He’d kept an eye on certain things ever since Adagio -the human one, for the record- had gotten her hands on the OOO Driver. It wasn’t like he was suspicious of her or anything, but he always knew there was the possibility her Equestrian doppelganger would return and cause more trouble for everyone. He had performed some digging, and it seems, for the most part, the Equestrian Adagio had been keeping herself on the down low as the Americans said.

There was a minor incident here or there with a record company trying to sign on a group naming themselves the Dazzlings but from what Eiji could tell some usage of lip syncing was discovered a la Mili Vanilli and so that was the end of that. Things had been quietly buried. After that, any traces of the Equestrian Adagio and her siblings had vanished from the public eye. He did have to wonder what had happened to them. Guess he knew now.

“...And looks like she’s trying to make her comeback,” Eiji frowned. “Wonderful, absolutely wonderful.”

Dialing Adagio’s number back he quietly took his leave. “E...Eiji?” Adagio asked. “That you?”

“Yes, it’s me,” he said looking out his office window and frowning again when he saw a local news truck pulling up outside the building. It didn’t really take a genius to figure out who was probably inside. “Are you alright?”

“Fine as I can, considering the situation I suppose…” Adagio sighed to herself. “Okay, so how do you suggest I go about this situation? Just… just continue as normal?”

“That would be a prudent course of action. If you let yourself fall into panic, then your doppelganger's won already. Continue dealing with the yummies as necessary, and go on about your life. Continue your work at the Aquarium. As for Vignette… stand tall. If she comes calling, just handle her as you’ve always done.” Eiji instructed. He vaguely heard Erika shouting at someone from outside his office but paid them no mind.

“What about Ankh?” Adagio asked. “Chances are he’s already partnered up with my other self. Suppose I have no one but myself to blame, for not keeping a tighter handle on him. Treated him as this stupid birdbrain and not remembered that he’s still a Greeed.”

“It’s fine. You can’t be blamed for assuming that Ankh, weak as he was, was hardly any threat. I’ll be honest with you, I sorta thought the same thing really. Foolish of me, I know, but we’re both only human are we not?” Eiji asked with a small chuckle and he could hear Adagio laugh in response. Eiji smiled. It was nice to hear her laughter. It was a nice sound.

“That is very true,” Adagio admitted. “I’ve already sent out Cube Condor along with some Taka Candroids -thanks for placing one of those vending machines near my house by the way- to try and find either Ankh or the Equestrian Adagio. Chances are if I find one of them, I’ll find the other. Ankh would be stupid not to stick close to his source of medals and Adagio would be equally foolish to avoid him when he’s the only one who can provide her with combos.”

Adagio groaned over the phone. “Something wrong?” Eiji asked.

“Yeah… sorry. It’s just even talking to you about this is very, very headache inducing. I mean, I’m talking about myself and yet… not myself at the same time, you know what I mean?” Adagio asked. Eiji got the distinct feeling she was rubbing her temples. “Oh god, I”m going to need an ice pack before the end of today, I just know it.”

Eiji chuckled. “Yeah, you and me both. Can’t wait till this week is over...” he muttered to himself. Adagio laughed again, a very musical sound. “Listen, Adagio. I’ve already been thinking ahead.”

“Thinking ahead?” Adagio asked in a confused tone before realizing. “Oh, you mean after I get the Driver back from my other self right?”

“Exactly,” Eiji stated. “I’ve made a few calls, and there’s an old friend of mine coming from Japan to try and help you curb your… desires. He might be able to lessen the risk of Full Medal Combos. He won’t be able to render them harmless, make no mistake but-”

“Yeah, I gotcha. Anything to help, right?” Adagio asked. “Seriously, thank you Eiji. I cannot thank you enough for all that you’ve done lately. God, I’d probably have fallen to pieces if you hadn’t…”

Eiji flushed red. “T-Think nothing of it, okay?” he asked with a slight stutter in his voice. “I’m just doing what’s right. If there’s a hand that needs… well, you know the rest of that I presume.”

“Yeah, that I do,” Adagio smiled. “So, about this friend of yours… Is he at least cute?”

Eiji was rendered speechless for a few moments even as Adagio burst out laughing. “I’m sorry, I had to do that. Aria’s over here and she was just wondering that.”

“She’s a good sister. Keep safe, okay Adagio? I’ll call you back soon.”

“Noted. And thank you.” Adagio said before hanging up. Back at her apartment, she sunk into the folds of her couch.

“So, fallen to pieces without him eh?” Aria laughed giving her sister a look. “My my, seems you’re quite taken with this one!”

“Oh, shut up!” Adagio blushed hitting her sister over the head with a couch cushion.

“Well, at least he’s a better boy toy than Ankh anyways. Damn him, and that doppelganger of yours for that matter,” Aria practically snarled. “So that's two lives those bitches have pretty much ruined now. Let's hope they never get to Sonata otherwise… well, I can't be held responsible for whatever happens next.”

“Amen to that sister…” Adagio grumbled. “Trust me, when I find both her and Ankh we will have words. We will have words.”

Back at Eiji’s office, the man was dealing with the nigh-unstoppable force of nature known as Vignette Valencia. Adagio’s descriptions of the woman still had somehow failed to prepare Eiji for actually meeting her in person.

“Listen, Madam, I have important work that needs doing. So if you can just leave, I promise I will get back to you with a proper interview,” Eiji stated calmly. Vignette’s hair was a mess, frazzled and frayed. Not she probably cared. She was just looking for a good story like all reporters. Of course, Eiji doubted that all reporters were this… insistent. “So, if you would just-”

“Get back to me with a proper interview…” Vignette whispered. “Yes, that’s what Adagio said and where is she now? Oh yes, knocking over drug stores and god knows what else. What’s your take on this Hino?”

“Kougami.” Eiji corrected his voice a dangerous tone. “It’s Kougami now.”

“Kougami, Hino, whatevs,” Vignette said with a small dismissive wave. “Doesn’t particularly matter to me whatever you call yourself.”

Erika scoffed in the background. She doubted that very much. She had a feeling that given the right incentive, Vignette would probably go digging into Eiji’s past. Presuming, of course, she hadn’t already. Erika wouldn’t put it past her.

“So why are you here Valencia-San?” Eiji asked practically having to force the honorific out of his mouth. In all honesty, he doubted she deserved the title. But for the sake of politeness and professionalism, he would use it. “Aside from the obvious of course.”

“I know you and Adagio are in contact. You must be! Every hero must need their funding, don’t you think? Someone working from the shadows, advising them. The Alfred to their Batman!” Vignette stated. “So, what is your take on Adagio supposedly going rogue?”

“There is no proof that woman captured on the CCTV was really Adagio,” Eiji stated. “The picture was too blurry. You just assumed that-”

“Excuse me, but are you accusing me of simply making up a story where there is one?” Vignette hissed out.

“I do not accuse you of anything,” Eiji clarified. He noted the way Vignette was standing, with her hands below the table. It would be all too easy for her to slip a bug of some sorts without him noticing. “I am just saying that you quite possibly just jumped to the first conclusion you thought of. I thought reporters always checked their sources and facts?”

“And I have,” Vignette said although her face said otherwise. “Everyone I’ve talked to says that was Adagio there that night. Besides, how many other women do you know that have Adagio’s particular shade of golden blond hair?”

Vignette, of course, neglected to mention that her so-called ‘sources’ were the homeless and the drunken.

“I also say it would be very easy for someone to frame Adagio because of this,” Eiji replied. “Think about it, she’s in a position where she’s at the top of her game now. Who’s to say someone for their own reasons can’t bring her crashing down with just a simple frame up relying on the stupidity of the masses?” he reasoned.

“Are you accusing me of something?” Vignette asked again. “I would never do such a thing in my line of work! It would ruin my journalistic integrity! My credibility!”

Erika scoffed to herself once again. Quite honestly, she wouldn’t have put it past Vignette to have made this whole thing up just for the hell of it and to boost her popularity. If she didn’t know the Equestrian Adagio was a thing, it would have been her first thought.

“I believe you. I’m just pointing out other possibilities,” Eiji remarked. “That is all.”

“One must begin to think that you’re on Adagio’s side,” Vignette pressed. In her van, a clutch of eggs glowed brightly before one dropped to the floor and cracked open. “You do seem to be defending her feverently, so is this not the case? Do you deny such a thing?”

“I am just covering all the bases,” Eiji replied. “I’d rather not see anyone locked up before proof is uncovered. Innocent until proven guilty, is that not the saying?”

“...Or guilty until proven innocent with her…” Erika grumbled. Eiji rubbed his temples and sighed to himself even as Vignette whirled around to face her.

“Erika…” Eiji muttered. He liked her, he really did but he did wish she could control her temper around Vignette. He understood how hard it was but feeding her could only end in disaster.

“And what is your take on this Ms. Satonaka?” Vignette asked. “It seems you believe that I am involved in a frame-up job, when all I am doing is simply trying to report the truth no matter where it hides.”

“And that includes performing hatchet jobs?” Erika deadpanned ignoring Vignette’s look of outrage. “I did some research on you, Ms. Valencia. Seems you were involved in an incident at… Equestrialand, was it?”

Eiji facepalmed. “That was years ago,” Vignette said. “I have learned since then.”

“Could have fooled me…” Erika sneered. At any other time, Eiji admitted he probably would have laughed at the look on Vignette’s face.

“How dare…” Vignette started before regaining her composure. “This interview is concluded,” she stated before waltzing out the door with her cameraman in tow.

“Come back soon!” Erika mocked even as Eiji sighed and slid down in his desk chair. Erika turned to him. “...I thought you wanted to be rid of her. Is that not what you wanted?”

“Yes, but…” Eiji sighed. “I’m just worried you set her off, and she’ll do something reckless now.”

“Eiji, she was already going to do something reckless. She’s already giving the tabloids something to gossip about and trying to run Adagio’s name through the mud,” Erika refuted. “Am I not allowed to get back at her in some small way?”

Eiji elected to say nothing. He gestured for Erika to follow. Leading her into a side room he pressed in a six-digit key code and the chamber opened. In a corner of the room was a massive round stone, and embedded in that stone were three Core Medals. They were black in color. One depicted a crab, another a shrimp and the last finally depicted a sea scorpion. Erika sucked in a breath.

“...Mezool’s missing cores?” the woman whispered. “But how did you…?”

“Acquire them? Well, it goes like this...” Eiji began completely oblivious to the spider-like robot watching this whole scenario from the ceiling. Vanishing through a vent, it crawled back to its handler and folded up into a large thumb drive-like device.

“Madam Starlight,” the man said as he took the data from his computer. “It’s confirmed. Kougami has access to some of the Core Medals. Do you want me to-”

“Do nothing, at least for right now,” Starlight’s voice said over an earpiece. “Let’s not be hasty now. I want to learn everything and that includes what Mr. Kougami plans to do with these cores…”

“Understood,” Mogami said before vanishing from sight as he saw Eiji walking out of the room.

“So, you found your twin, for lack of a better word?” Eiji asked. “I’m glad to hear it. I’m sending you something to help in your battle against her. Do not engage her until I get there to back you up. She has undoubtedly grown very powerful by this point.”

“Hell no, she has to be stopped now!” Adagio disagreed. “She’s running around with more power than she has the right to. She needs to be dealt with!”

“Is this about the safety of the people or revenge?” Eiji asked. Silence was his only answer. “...Well, I suppose there’s no stopping you is there? Okay. Here’s what you need to know about the G4 system…” he started.

---

At a construction site, in TaToBa form Adagio smirked to herself as she sent Uva running, a collection of cell medals rolling along the ground. She picked them up, before tossing them towards Ankh who absorbed them into his arm. Adagio smirked as she fingered a green medal. Another set completed.

Adagio’s head turned when she heard the low rumble of a motorcycle engine. A low rumble as something smashed in the front gates. She smirked. Right on time. “I knew you’d come… Other me.”

“So, took you long enough,” the Equestrian stated. “Thought you’d spend your time with your head in the sand. So happy to be proven wrong.”

The human Adagio sighed as she got up off the RideVendor, and took off her helmet before tossing it aside. “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world. You know, have to say… you’ve got a lot of nerve. First things first though…” she muttered turning to Ankh. “You know you’re an idiot right? What’s to say my counterpart here will let you keep these medals you keep on gathering up?”

Ankh said nothing.

“Oh, we’ve worked out a deal,” Siren Adagio said. “Trust me. In any case though… You and your words. I have to wonder if that’s courage or naivete speaking,” The equestrian chided, flipping part of her hair off her shoulder. “Either way, you were better off not coming.”

“Yeah, see… Uh, the thing is, I kinda had to come,” Human Adagio remarked in turn. “Aside from the fact that you’re running about causing way more trouble than should be allowed, I really need to teach you a few things.”

“Oh, so you’re a teacher now?” the Siren remarked with a small laugh.

“Guess you could put it that way,” her human counterpart said in reply slamming a fist into her open palm. “Pay close attention now. There’s quite a few things that will be on the test.”

“...Ooh, you’re going to punish me for being bad teach?” the Equestrian half mocking. “Oooh, I’m quivering. No, I seriously am!”

“...Yep, that’s a mental image that’ll haunt me forever…” the human Adagio muttered blushing a bright red. But her Equestrian counterpart was on a roll now.

“Now I’m a shameless narcissist, but you’re especially yummy… Want to date? I can drive you wild with any and every sexual fantasy you desire… Including the ones you didn’t even know you had!” the Siren laughed before licking her lips.

“Why do I get the feeling if I date you, I’ll get at least 27 different kinds of previously unknown STDs?” the human Adagio grumbled throwing a belt around her waist. The buckle glowed with an ominous red light. Now or never, the woman supposed. No turning back from here. “You want to back out now… Well, here’s your last chance…”

Adagio quickly changed her mind. Her counterpart had to be stopped. “Enough of this. Henshin!”

Armor parts flew in, wrapping around Adagio even as she slammed a fist into her Equestrian counterpart’s face. Another punch was thrown, but a simple flick of the wrist and the human Adagio was tossed into a dumpster before leaping forwards even as the last of the G4 armor wrapped itself around her body, the helmet slamming into her completing the transformation.

“Was that supposed to impress me?” the Equestrian Adagio deadpanned tossing several medals up into the air. “The tides are as ever-changing as my own abilities. Never underestimate the powers of the animal kingdom!”

“Oh, now you’re really asking for it,” her human counterpart stated as she kicked her Equestrian counterpart in the stomach and caught the medals before smiling. One less combo for her to use against… well, her. Oh, Adagio got a headache just thinking about this. “That’s my catchphrase.”

“Technically our catchphrase, but if you like it so much, go ahead and put out a trademark on it!” her Equestrian half sneered. Human Adagio was very well aware of how royally screwed she actually was. Her Equestrian doppelganger was not only older than her meaning a lot more fighting experience but she also had access to a wider array of powers. There was a very good chance she wouldn’t win this fight but the thing about being a Kamen Rider? You never gave up, and you went into battle anyways no matter the odds. All to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves.

“You don’t get it, do you?” the Human World’s Adagio stated even as the two traded blows. Both her Equestrian counterpart and Ankh were confused. Had she finally lost her mind? Ankh shrugged to himself, he supposed it would have happened sooner or later.

“Get what?” the Equestrian Adagio asked swinging the Medajaribur. Her human counterpart barely dodged the swing, before blocking the next strike with her gauntlets and kicking her Equestrian doppelganger in the stomach.

“Being a Rider. Allow me to kindly inform you about what it’s about. The path of the Rider is not an easy one. To be a Rider means to put your life on the line for others, to fight often in the shadows against threats the rest of the world is often blind to,” Adagio stated with her voice going into a calm tranquil fury. This woman, she had turned and perverted the powers into something they never should have been. They were being used to strike terror, for Adagio’s own interests. This could not be allowed.

“You'll never be the same as you once were. But at the end of the day, you did something that no one else could. You stepped up and drew a line in the sand and said: “This far and no further!” It’s not easy, it’s not glamorous or rewarding, and you don't know if you'll make it out of it alive. But it is a path that must be tread, and those that walk the true path, have earned the title of hero,” Adagio stated, facing down her opponent. “You disgust me. It’s clear you don’t have those ideals in mind.”

“I’m not asking for your approval…” the Equestrian Adagio sneered tossing two green medals up in the air and letting them land in her driver, tossing the Taka and Tora medals aside to Ankh. The Bird Greeed simply watched the battle from a nearby building with an interested expression.

“Can’t wait to see how this turns out… Who is worthy of the title indeed?” he thought.

“Kuwagata, Kamakiri, Batta: Ga~ta-Gata-Gata-Kiri, Ba! Gatakiriba!” the OOO Driver rang out.

Human Adagio reached down to her belt and pressed a button. A moment later, a metal case came flying in towards her. Catching it, she opened it to reveal a missile launcher with four primed and ready to fire.

“Oh?” Ankh asked himself. He had seen this and the armor formation. “I wasn’t aware the humans had progressed this far, to create personal combative adaptive armor for themselves.”

“My my… someone’s overcompensating…” the Equestrian Adagio laughed before running forwards leaping and dodging the fired missiles getting in close with the Kamakiri swords. Every time the human Adagio tried to dodge one strike, another seemed to come from another angle. It was as if her counterpart was everywhere at once. Then Adagio realized. It was because she was.

Jumping back, she saw that at least ten clones of her counterpart were darting around the battlefield. Pushing another button on her belt, a compartment on her leg opened up and she pulled out a pistol to open fire while she waited for more missiles to arrive. Leaping backward to avoid green lightning blasts from OOO’s horns, she fired several well-placed shots. Taking cover behind a metal container, she then got an idea.

“...Well, being a Rider does mean you’re a bit stronger than the average person in the armor…” the human Adagio mused. Tossing the pistol aside, Adagio grabbed the container and tossed it at her Equestrian half.

No time allowed to do a scanning charge, the Equestrian Adagio simply sliced it in half before her eyes widened under her helmet as she saw a powerful fist drawn back. It slammed into her with the force of a freight train shattering a good portion of her helmet.

“Damn you!” the Siren snarled breathing hard before using another Combo. She could not let this double defeat her. She was OOOs now, not her.

“Lion, Kamakiri, Batta!” the Driver shouted before the human Adagio’s vision became a sea of light and she felt several strikes cutting into her body. She screamed out in pain and was given no time to think on what happened next.

“Lion, Tora, Cheetah: La-Tah La-Tah, La-Tora~~Tar!”

Her Equestrian counterpart became a blur, slashing and striking at her rapidly. Each strike seemed to come even faster than the last. Each more violent than the previous strike. Adagio’s growing rage.

“...How… How the hell am I supposed to hit her, if I can’t even see her?” the human Adagio asked herself.

“So, where’s those fancy speeches about what being a rider is really about now?” the Equestrian one mocked. “Oh, I can’t hear you!”

“...Adagio, there’s something you need to know!” the human counterpart shouted. Just a few more seconds and she’d have the Gigant’s missiles back. “Something… something about the medals!”

But her Equestrian counterpart was on a high and wouldn’t listen to reason.

“Shut up!” she shouted. “You… you took everything from me. The glory, the fame… all of it!”

“I didn’t take anything!” the human world Adagio shouted back at her doppelganger. “I didn’t ask for these powers, for the OOO medals to wind up in my hands!” she shouted firing the Gigant. Her double dodged every shot with the LaToraTar combo’s speed.

“And yet you took them anyways!” the Siren snapped.

“Only to protect my sister!” the human Adagio shouted even as her other self ripped into her armor. “That’s the only reason I ever took them, you get it?”

Ankh watched the two with a continuing interest. He frowned. It was only a matter of time before the continued usage of the medals caught up with Adagio. He was amazed she had lasted this long.

“...Your… your sister?” the Siren asked her voice breaking slightly and breaking off from her speedy slashes and strikes. One moment of hesitation, one. That’s all her human self needed. Another powerful punch was landed. “That’s all it… No. No, can’t be just that. You’re me. You want to be recognized!”

“Cobra, Kame, Wani: Bura-Ka~~Wani!”

“Think about it…” the Siren continued striking at her human half with powerful kicks, crocodile jaws of orange energy forming with each strike. “You’re no different than me in some regards. Why haven’t you ended this fight by twisting the Driver back into the standby position? You want to prove who’s better, who’s more deserving of the title of Kamen Rider OOOs!” she accused.

Adagio couldn’t deny it. Even as she struck her Equestrian counterpart who only blocked her punches and kicks with arm shields, she couldn’t deny a single thing. She did want to prove who was the better owner of the title. That’s why she was dragging this fight out for so long. Why she was risking the power of the G4 system killing her from the sheer strain it put on her body. She wanted to prove who was better, plain and simple.

But that didn’t mean she had to admit it was selfish. Gritting her teeth, she hefted Gigant like a club and swung it at her counterpart who only blocked the blow with her arm shields. If she merely switched the Driver off, what was to stop the Equestrian from coming back to steal it again? No, she needed to prove that OOO’s or not, she was still a Rider to the core.

“It… it doesn’t matter if we’re alike or not. Even if we both want to be recognized, we both have very different ways of going about it!” Adagio roared firing the Gigant once more. The cobra atop her Equestrian half’s helmet unfurled with a few simple flute notes and dodged the missiles. Next, it ripped off part of the human Adagio’s faceplate. “And if you say you want to take over the world with those powers, I will use the very same powers to fight for love and peace. That's the kind of Kamen Rider I believe in!” the human Adagio roared before slamming a powerful fist into her Equestrian counterpart’s faceplate cracking it.

“You’re so idealistic,” the other Adagio said with a trace of respect in her tone before fighting back a cough. She stood on the tips of her feet and darted towards her doppelganger, sword ready for another strike. “Still… Still, you’re a very impressive woman.”

“Look at you…” the human Adagio whispered feeling the force behind her opponent's kicks get weaker and weaker. Her strikes with the Medajaribur became slower and easier to dodge as well. “You’re sick, and you’re only getting sicker. Let me help you!”

“What hospital would take me, or my sisters?” the Equestrian Adagio asked her eyes flashing a dark purple color. The human Adagio’s own widened. The medals. No, she couldn’t allow this to happen. Everyone deserved to be saved, even this woman.

But the current Kamen Rider OOOs begged to differ. She twirled the Medajaribur, creating a manifestation of her Equestrian Form same as before during her duel with Rainbow. However, unlike before it was barely visible. A sign of Adagio’s sickness, or her weakening magical capabilities? “Think about it, I’m a wanted woman now. I’m more likely to get chucked in a jail cell before anything else! Humankind couldn’t give a damn about me or my sisters!” Equestrian Adagio shouted sounding close to tears even as she struck. The manifestation struck ripping into Human Adagio’s armor before fading away. “They never have! To them, we’re just those freaks who always turn up at catastrophes and cause chaos no matter where we go. It was the same in Equestria and it’s the same here!” the Siren shouted her voice breaking before it turned into a roar of rage as the power of the medals took hold.

“I know someone who has connections!” the human Adagio shouted, hoping in vain to snap her other self free of the influence of the medals. Even so, the Equestrian Adagio charged at her counterpart, punching and swinging wildly. It was all the human one could do to hold her off. “There’s still a way to make things right!”

“No… There’s nothing left for me. Unless you can pull a magical pardon out of your ass and get me home to Equestria…” the Siren whispered briefly snapping free of the Medals. Briefly. Only briefly. Soon, she was back to fighting like a wild animal, one powerful punch sending her human counterpart staggering back and then another made her nearly double over.

“This battle is nearly over…” Ankh thought to himself looking rather bored. “Now, who will come out on top? Or will both die? Fine by me either way.” he thought sucking on an ice pop. But if that was the case, he mused to himself why did he feel… no, it couldn’t have been concern could it? No, that was impossible.

Pain was beginning to register. Pain wracked the human Adagio’s body. She knew what it was, the G4 armor beginning to take its toll. She knew she had to act fast. Finally, two powerful punches connected and both combatants were sent sprawling to the ground. The medals flew out of Equestria Adagio’s driver and she slipped into unconsciousness, with her human counterpart soon to follow.

Ankh meanwhile jumped down from his perch and picked up the medals the Equestrian Adagio had dropped. He chuckled to himself. Of course, he knew Adagio would never let him keep the Medals. But he also knew she would be defeated. And now he had a few bargaining chips.

Author's Notes:

So, this ends the Another Adagio saga. Hope it was everything you expected. Now, I admit there were a few things that got cut such as Human Adagio losing her job at the Aquarium but those things may still happen. Who's to say, eh? But in all honesty, in this chapter, I wanted to focus on both Adagios and their ideas and just give you a proper showdown between the two, Hope I delivered.

Okay, I admit the new special did have some effect on the chapter and me worrying about how to incorporate it into this canon but to be honest, I eventually gave up and kept things going as they were. Word of advice for you in the future, I would say always mark your stories AU, given MLP canon is constantly being changed. Scootaloo's living situation, anyone?

In any case... As ever, your thoughts and comments are welcomed.

Ankh's Medals: Taka, Kujaku, Taka, Lion, Tora, Cheetah, Kugawata, Kamakiri, Batta, Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo, Cobra, Kame, Wani.

Human Adagio's Medals: ?

Eiji's Medals: Ebi, Kani, Sasori

17: 'Ohana

Author's Notes:

I apologize for the long wait, I really do. But you know, purple dragons and giant moths were a bit of a distraction. But here you go, two Adagios bitching at each other, one Showa style bike sequence and a partridge in a pear tree!

Also, give Layton13 a shout eh? Huge help.

Saint Joseph Hospital: Denver

“Ugh…” Adagio groaned as she found herself awakening in a white room, a soft beeping of a heart monitor coming from somewhere nearby. “...Another unfamiliar ceiling? No, wait… I think I’ve been here before, seen these rooms and walked these… floors.”

She laid her head back on the pillow grumbling something to herself about how the lights were far too damn bright. A window was open, and car horns beeped and honked as the sounds traveled up from the streets below. A breeze rushed in, making Adagio shiver and she pulled the covers around her body tightly. She laughed, no giggled a bit at the whole scenario. She wasn’t sure why it was funny, but here she was sitting in a hospital bed after beating up her double in Iron Man ripoff armor.

“So… so this is my life now isn’t it?” Adagio thought to herself. “Getting smacked around by my own stupidity or animal coin monster… things and being sent directly into hospitals. My my, you really are a complete and utter moron. A good kind of moron, but a moron all the same. Also, was I quoting Hallelujah just then? Half expecting some massive angel thing to rape my mind now… Oh dear god, why am I giggling to myself? That shouldn’t even be remotely funny and yet it is!”

“Are you this much of a giggling girl normally?” another voice, almost exactly like hers if slightly younger asked in this sorta snide way. “...Or is that just the hospital meds? Oh, by and by? I can see your ass hanging out of the gown. It’s a nice one, yes, but not sure you want to freeze to death.”

Adagio’s head whipped around to face her doppelganger and let out a little ‘eep’ as she realized she was right. Quickly covering herself, she glared at her double. “Do you get off on flirting with me, or technically yourself?”

“...Well, now that you mention it…” the Equestrian Adagio trailed off.

“You are such a complete narcissist you know that right?” her human world self deadpanned. “Like, do you every morning get up, go to the mirror, and then have a rummage around in the bush?” she asked and when her counterpart began to open her mouth Adagio wisely decided she was better off not knowing. “Wait! Stop, don’t answer that! Forget I asked.”

“You are such a fucking prude, you know that right?” the Equestria Adagio commented. “Go on, live a little!”

“And you just love fucking,” Human Adagio sighed to herself in resignation. She’d later either chalk all this up to the medication or to just being plain irritated and fed up with her counterpart. “And as for living a little? I prefer not to have any diseases transmitted thank you very much.”

“Tch,” the Equestrian Adagio deadpanned. “I can see it now, you never getting married and living out your life with 900 or so cats and then dying alone and miserable.”

Adagio then decided to turn the table. “I’m not a crazy cat lady, I just prefer eccentric feline enthusiast. I own the title, I live the title.”

“Not something to be proud of, ya know…” her equestrian half deadpanned. “But I can tell. I mean, you were hugging that sea lion plushie in your sleep quite tightly. It was almost cute in a way.”

“You were just doing that to stare at my ass, weren’t you? Watching me, I mean,” Adagio said blushing tightly and quickly hiding away said sea lion plushie. “...Wait, you opened that window didn’t you? Just for the hell of it.”

“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t…” the equestrian Adagio trailed off with a lecherous grin.

Her human counterpart’s heart sunk, she knew the answer already. So that begged the question, why did she even bother? “You know, I could call the cops with that grin of yours, probably get a restraining order. Makes me feel as if I need an adult.”

“Oh?” the Equestrian Adagio asked as she placed a hand on her chest. “But I thought I am an adult.”

“Only in body…” her human half muttered to herself. “...And it’s not even a good body at that. You look like a whore half the time, you know that right?”

“Oh, are you flirting with me?” the Equestrian Adagio asked. “And I thought you said to me that I was a classic… oh, what was it? A complete narcissist? YES! That’s how you put it! Or am I mistaken?” she asked in this sickeningly sweet way.

If looks could kill, Equestria Adagio would have ignited right then and there.

“But seriously, credit where it’s due… You gave me quite a good fight. I mean, I’ve been around since the Argonauts -who let me tell you, Odysseus was quite the looker!- and I haven’t had that much fun in ages! Ages, honey, I tell you!” the siren continued breaking out into a cackle.

“Why am I not surprised you knew Homer? Hell, you probably seduced him…” the human Adagio muttered. Her counterpart’s shameless grin said it all. “...And don’t call me honey.”

“Sure… Honey.”

The Human Adagio used her pillow to suppress a scream.

“Oh, now there’s a scream I’d love to hear again…” the Equestrian Adagio sneered. “Under completely different circumstances of course. And by that, I mean you under-”

“Yes, yes I kinda get the picture, thank you very much,” the human Adagio said with a growl, her face flushed a bright red. “You are this close woman, I swear…”

“Oh, so you don’t want to jump my bones? I’m hurt… Then again, seeing those puppy eyes you were giving birdbrain -it was really pathetic by the way- I’m not really that surprised,” the Equestrian Adagio remarked. “Oh, I cannot believe it. You are so in love with a coin comprised bird! And I thought I’d seen it all!” she cackled.

“Trust me,” the human Adagio growled out. “After this, my affection for him is… fading.”

“Awwww… Does ickle Adagio want a bucket of ice cream to sob into? Well, I supposed I triumphed over you in one regard, I stole your heart’s desire!” a certain Siren sneered.

“You want me to throttle you?” her human half asked. “Because I am quite willing to do that…”

Her Equestrian half smirked. “And then I can call for the orderlies with just a simple press of the button. Really, this hostility will get us nowhere! For the next few days, we are stuck together!”

“And ain’t that a joy?” the human Adagio deadpanned. “...I could be doing so many things right now, and needless to say having a bitch fest with my sea serpent counterpart isn’t particularly high on that list.”

“Oh, don’t you worry,” the Equestrian Adagio said with a small little dismissive wave of her hand. “Your boy toy -totes see why you like him, my my he is cute!- is out there defending the city in your absence. Along with the walking pride parade and her pet overstuffed parrot...”

Adagio felt a sense of relief wash over her. This was good news, very good news indeed. At least the city wasn’t completely undefended. All the while, her completely infuriating counterpart continued. “In any case,” she said. “You really must thank Kougami when all is said and done. He was the one who found you in that mess of armor and rushed you here. Rushed us both here actually. He didn’t have to, but he did…” the Equestrian Adagio said sounding almost… was that remorse she heard in her voice? No, it couldn’t possibly have been. This woman regretted absolutely nothing.

“...I swear…” her human counterpart muttered. “Whoever thought it was a good idea to put us both in the same room is going to get a good smack to the head. Jeez, who do I prefer right now? Bitch bird or this woman? No, strike that… That’s like asking which is worse, a Morris Marina or an Austin Allegro. Or which leg I’d like amputated!”

“Your morphine’s kicking up again!” her siren counterpart sing-songed. Adagio, of course, ignored her.

“They should have shoved morphine into you, made you high as a kite!” Human Adagio snapped at her. “Maybe that would have made you actually bearable if you were completely and utterly stoned!”

“Awwww… so you do care. I’m touched,” Equestrian Adagio said putting a hand to her chest. “And here I thought you didn’t have it in you to even give a shit after all I did to you. I’m amazed really, fucking amazed. Like… really… amazed…” she whispered and if Adagio didn’t know any better again she could have sworn her doppelganger sounded almost remorseful. Almost. “You really are some kind of woman, you know that right?”

“So are you,” Human Adagio sneered. “I mean, what was the point of all this? To be recognized as a complete and utter psychopath? Because in my mind, that’s what you’re you’re well on your way to being in my mind.”

“SHUT UP!” her Equestrian counterpart snapped. “You just shut up, okay? You don’t know a damn thing about me…”

“I’d think I would, given that you’re… well, me,” her human half remarked. “I mean, despite our major differences in… personality, there’s got to be something we share…”

“You’re this close woman…” her equestrian counterpart growled out. “You are really asking for it.”

“Just trying to strike up a conversation, that’s all. You said it yourself, we’re stuck here for the next couple of days…”

Another growl was her only answer.

Adagio realized she had touched a nerve. She remembered what her counterpart had said, during the battle. “You’re so idealistic,” the other Adagio said with a trace of respect in her tone before fighting back a cough. She stood on the tips of her feet and darted towards her doppelganger, sword ready for another strike. “Still… Still, you’re a very impressive woman.”

“Look at you…” the human Adagio whispered feeling the force behind her opponent's kicks get weaker and weaker. Her strikes with the Medajaribur became slower and easier to dodge as well. “You’re sick, and you’re only getting sicker. Let me help you!”

“What hospital would take me, or my sisters?” the Equestrian Adagio asked her eyes flashing a dark purple color. The human Adagio’s own widened. The medals. No, she couldn’t allow this to happen. Everyone deserved to be saved, even this woman.

She remembered her counterpart’s breakdown. At the time, it had been an advantage to her, allowing her to close that gap and beat her. But now? She wasn’t so sure.

“Think about it, I’m a wanted woman now. I’m more likely to get chucked in a jail cell before anything else! Humankind couldn’t give a damn about me or my sisters! They never have! To them, we’re just those freaks who always turn up at catastrophes and cause chaos no matter where we go. It was the same in Equestria and it’s the same here!” the Siren shouted her voice breaking before it turned into a roar of rage as the power of the medals took hold.

Adagio, back in the present day, swore quietly to herself. Common sense told her she should have just let her Equestrian counterpart rot and left her to her own misery. And yet for whatever reason, she had yet to figure out, she had… elected not to do just that and decided to help her. What was it? Was it because she was, in an odd way, technically ohana? Oh, that was just ridiculous. Her equestrian half was as bitchy as they came and pretty close to being labeled a sociopath. Or psychopath, or… whatever. So again, she had to ask herself why she even extended a helping hand to her.

Was it because it was what Eiji would have done? Oh, surely not! Adagio sighed to herself as she felt sleep beginning to overcome her. It was going to be a very long night.

---

Kougami Foundation: Denver Branch

“I see, it’s a welcome piece of news,” Eiji said over the phone. “Thank you for coming when you did, and on such short notice as well. Arigato, and goodnight.”

“So, what was that about?” Erika asked as her boss put down the phone. “Friend of yours?”

“In a way, yes. We met when I was on a business trip back home,” the man said adjusting his tie. “Owed me a favor actually, he’s coming to help Adagio… curb her desires if you will.”

“Oh, it’s a him is it?” Erika teased. “Are you sure you’re not just calling him to help get Adagio a date? Goodness knows she needs one.”

“...Erika…” Eiji muttered rubbing his forehead. “It’s hardly anything but! I don’t think dating is exactly high on Adagio’s list of priorities at the moment.”

“Well, after Ankh went out and broke her heart…” Erika chuckled. “She does need to be on the rebound, get back out in the world. I told you Eiji, dating a Greeed would not turn out well for her! Did I not say this?”

“That you did, yes…” Eiji grumbled. “Though I hardly think the two were actually dating as such. Whenever I talked to Adagio, she seemed to have nothing but thinly veiled disgust for the man…. Er, bird.”

“Well, all the girls do want bad boys, isn’t that the saying here in America?” Erika teased.

“Erika…” Eiji grumbled. “Please stop.”

“What, don’t tell me you’re jealous…?” Erika teased once more not really having any intention of letting up. By this point, she was on a roll. “Well, if you are good on you for being the better man and calling in this friend of yours!”

“This is not a way to set up Adagio for a date!” Eiji replied perhaps a little more snippishly than he actually intended. It certainly didn’t help his case at any rate. “This is just a way to help her.”

“And if that way helps her get over her heartbreak…?” Erika said tossing a mint in her mouth. “Well, that’s what we’d call a bonus is it not?”

Eiji headdesked. “This is why I shouldn’t have gifted you those romance novels last Christmas…” he muttered largely to himself.

Erika chuckled. “Oh, trust me Eiji, I was a… what the Americans call a ‘shipper’ long before you gave me any romance novella. Did I tell you I met up with Rarity once or twice? Nice woman. Hey, if your relationship with Adagio doesn’t work out, there’s always her eh?”

Eiji facepalmed. “You are shameless aren’t you?”

“Generous woman, loving woman…” Erika tittered. “You and her? Like two peas in a pod!”

Eiji looked skywards, as if to wonder what god he’d pissed off in a prior life to deserve any of this. “In any case, Adagio having trouble controlling her combos is the least of our worries as it is.”

Erika frowned knowing exactly who her boss was talking about. Vignette Valencia. That bitch of a woman. Erika never thought it possible, but she had finally found a woman she detested more than a certain con artist named Miho Kirishima. The ‘Woman in White’ as she was called had tried to seduce and marry Eiji just to get her hands on the now… shall we say considerable wealth the Kougami family had possessed. There had been a few attempts, all ending with Erika escorting Miho off the premises. Miho had even tried the deadly baby trap, faking a pregnancy. It had taken a lot of legal wrangling from a family friend of Erika’s but in the end, he and Erika had proved the pregnancy false. After this, a restraining order had been given. And yet somehow, in some astounding way Vignette had managed to eclipse the hatred Erika had felt for Miho.

That devil woman.

It really was true it seemed, reporters were like vultures flocking to carrion. In this case, that carrion was one Adagio Diana Dazzle, who seemed to quite frankly wanted to be left alone. Erika did have to wonder though if Adagio never picked up the King’s Belt then who would Vignette have gone after? Eiji? Probably. Vignette flocked to whoever happened to be the most famous at the moment, and if it suited her desires then she would gladly tear them apart.

That devil woman.

Eiji by this point had taken a few steps back from his assistant who by now was grumbling quite a few curses under her breath and had developed an uncontrollable eyebrow twitch. It didn’t look healthy really. Understandably, Eiji wondered about calling a doctor. Then decided, wisely, it was best not to incur Erika’s wraith. So he went for the old tried and true approach, rubbing his hands on her shoulders in a nice relaxing massage. “...Relax, I have plans to deal with Vignette as we speak,” Eiji said softly. “I’ve already contacted a lawyer and I’m planning to sue her for libel. I’m going to tell Adagio about the lawsuit, so she can join in if she so desires.”

“...That’s a stupid question, asking if she desires to do so,” Erika muttered. “You know she desires to do so after all the bullshit that witch of a woman put her through.”

Eiji elected not to tell his assistant Adagio had promised the woman a personal interview a while back. It was probably better for her sanity that way.

“But you’re right,” Erika continued. “Let’s not get hung up on semantics. If Vignette wants to commit career suicide, let her. I’ll just be watching from the sidelines with a case of instant ramen as I watch her burn.”

“Anyone tell you that you may have issues, Ms. Satonaka?” Eiji asked.

“It has occurred to me on several occasions, yes,” Erika replied. “But then I dismiss said concerns out of hand. Anyways… Now tell me about this friend of yours… Please tell me at the very least he’s cute?”

“Erika…”

---

Saint Joseph Hospital: Denver

Unaware of impending Erika Satonaka explosions or whatever Eiji had in store for her, Adagio had other worries to worry about. She had been told by a nurse that Aria was coming up, and couple that with one very already irritating counterpart she could not see this ending well. Goodness knows whenever Aria’s counterpart was brought up something -or someone- generally ended up getting punched. Perfectly understandable really, given Adagio’s counterpart was such a pain in the neck. One could only wonder what the Equestrian Aria was like.

All three sirens, as of so far, seemed to have inherited the worst of their traits and almost none of the good ones. The fact of it was, if Adagio hadn’t witnessed her counterpart’s obvious love for her sisters then she would have written her off as completely insane.

Actually, that still wasn’t out of the question just yet really, now that Adagio gave it some thought.

“You keep mumbling to yourself like that,” the siren snarked at her human world counterpart. “And people will think you’re crazy.”

Ah yes, that could very well be a possibility, the equestrian driving Adagio around the bend she mused to herself. She wondered if that was the plan, Adagio driving her human counterpart crazy as revenge for her previous defeat and subsequent humiliation. She wouldn’t put it past her.

“Do you even have an off switch?” Adagio asked her counterpart. “Like, is there a button I have to press to shut you up, without shoving your bed out the window and committing murder?”

“Oh, am I irritating you…?” the Equestrian Adagio asked with a small laugh. “Well, so the Princess does have a limit to how much she can take. Nice to know!”

“You are severely testing me, woman…” Adagio muttered under her breath. “Like seriously, attempting to commit murder is beginning to become such a tempting prospect!”

“Now now, would your boy toy be approving of that?” the Equestrian Adagio sneered. “My my, and here I thought you were striving to impress him!”

“...I’m sure he’d make an exception in your case…”

“Oh please, you ever heard of ignoring someone?” the Equestrian Adagio said in this sickeningly sweet, and yet condescending manner of speaking she had somehow mastered. “The only reason I’m driving you up the wall really is… well, you keep on providing me no end of material! Seriously though, legit talk. Me and my sisters... made the mistake of using our power to manipulate Canterlot High School, and we've paid the price for it... with our magic. Now I don’t know if you actually care about any of this or not, but we got a good do-over. It’s called living life, or attempting to anyways,” she continued. “We made the most of our situation, and yet as far as I can see? You’ve just been stuck in the same rut with Ankh and the Greeed ever since this all started. Think on that. While you sat around and bitched about your problems, we at least tried to find solutions to whatever issues faced us, even if it meant living in a grubby apartment. Now, have you tried to find a way to stop the Greeed? Or have you just been meeting the threats as they come?”

Adagio’s silence said it all really.

“...Yeah, I thought so,” her Equestrian counterpart remarked. “Granted, I admit I really haven’t been much help to you in some regards.”

The human world’s Adagio fought back a bitter laugh. “...No shit. You sure this isn’t the morphine talking?”

“Hell if I know, probably is really…” the siren admitted. “Just don’t say I wasn’t trying to be at the very least helpful in some regards. Goddess knows why I am, but here you go. Just a tip for the road.”

“...This is just because I beat your sorry ass isn’t it?” the human Adagio asked. “That’s the only reason you’re like this. Not the morphine, but because I beat you.”

“Maybe, or maybe not. Might be me showing you respect because you trounced my ass, or maybe it’s just because we’re technically the same person and I don’t want to see myself get killed,” the Equestrian Adagio remarked before shrugging and going back to her book. “Who’s to say, really?”

“...God, you are such a conundrum, you know that right?” the human world Adagio asked with a raise of her eyebrows. “Like, you are an honest to god conundrum. One minute you’re being an absolute bitch, and the very next you’re being helpful. In your own way of course.”

“But of course!” the siren cackled. “What kind of person would I be if I didn’t give myself a helping fin… er, hand every now and again?”

Adagio’s expression grew softer and she tossed the plush over to her roommate.

“...Okay…?” the siren asked looking quite befuddled. “Is this supposed to mean something? I’m sorta in the dark here…”

“You miss Equestria don’t you?” her human half asked in a soft tone. “Don’t think I missed out on your little slip-up. And that whole speech you gave, crude as it was. You just miss home, don’t you?”

“...So now you’re just mocking me, aren’t you?” the siren asked gently hugging the plushie for whatever reason. “Suppose I deserve as much.”

“No mockery,” the human Adagio said. “Just honest to god concern. Try all you like, you can’t really hide it. You’re homesick, plain and simple.”

“You expect me to fall over sobbing at this?” the equestrian snapped. “Fine, I admit it. I miss home. But I don’t expect them to welcome me or my sisters back with open arms. I’m a wanted criminal back there, probably. All thanks to that geezer with the beard. Greatest mage of his time? Maybe. But he really has a tendency to jump to conclusions, the stallion needs a good smack to the head if you ask me.”

“Tell me about him,” the human Adagio said. “It never really hurt anyone to start… well, venting. Goodness knows I’ve felt better after a talk with my ‘ohana. My family. And in a way, I guess that’s what you are as well. Like you said, you’re me.”

“Sweet thought, really it is but I doubt your actual family will take kindly to that…”

“You got that right, bitch,” a very distinctive voice remarked and Adagio -both of them- turned to see Aria leaning in the doorway. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t take my sister and haul her ass out of here.”

“Aria…” Sonata’s voice said. “You know perfectly well why she’s here, ‘Dagi needs to heal and to rest up!”

“Yeah, yeah… you’re right…” Aria muttered to herself sitting herself down beside her sibling. “But it honestly boggles the mind why the two of them had to be put in the same room together…”

“I apologize for her, I really do,” Sonata said plopping herself right beside the Equestrian Adagio. “But you understand, she’s just looking out for our Adagio.”

“Yeah,” Adagio muttered. “Pretty sure my Aria would be doing the exact same in my…” she whispered. “Oh, by the goddesses… ARIA! The medicine…” she whispered her breathing beginning to speed up and become more frantic.

“Relax, Eiji said he would send the proper medication to your sisters. After he heard about your predicament he told me to tell you that everything would be taken care of okay?” Sonata said as she laid a hand on her sorta sibling. “You just relax, okay? Everything’s completely under control. Now, you worry about yourself okay? Need anything? Tacos? There’s a vending machine down the hall, I can go raid it if you..”

“Firstly, no thank you. They give me indigestion,” the Equestrian Adagio said with a shudder. “Secondly… what kind of vending machine sells tacos?”

“The one down the hall, apparently,” Aria deadpanned. “Sonata just about had a fiesta upon learning that. Ay caramba…”

“You just haven’t discovered the joy of tacos Ri-Ri!” Sonata chimed in. “They’re like heaven’s gift to earth!”

“...Don’t call me that name…” Aria muttered to herself even as her oldest sibling laughed for probably the first time that entire evening. “Like, please don’t.”

The Equestrian Adagio meanwhile, had thoughts running in a completely different direction. Family, huh? Yeah, that was something she admitted she had been taking for granted as of late. Yeah, she cared for her siblings well enough, given this whole crusade of hers had some root in just looking out for them but looking at this group she was almost envious. They seemed to have, at the very least, a healthier relationship than she did with her own siblings. ‘Ohana huh? Yeah, she supposed that sorta fit. Definitely made sense for her counterpart to be Hawaiian. Fighting back a sob, Adagio chuckled. So this was what her life had led up to huh? Sitting in a hospital bed thanks to her own stupidity while watching doppelgangers of her siblings argue over something as simple as tacos?

“...I’m a such a fool,” the Equestrian Adagio muttered to herself, finally letting the tears come. “So this is your punishment, is it Starswirl?”

Somewhere outside the hospital, Rainbow was walking back to the base with Soarin’ and Scootaloo after a visit to a local theatre when all three bore witness to what looked like sharks cutting through the concrete. “...That can’t be normal,” Rainbow muttered and her eyes widened when she saw the exact direction the sharks were heading. Tossing a phone to Soarin’, she yelled out: “Call Eiji, tell him exactly what’s going on! I’ll explain later!”

Pressing a button on a nearby vending machine, she watched it transform into the RideVendor. Hopping on, she went for her deck and slotted it into the buckle using the motorcycle’s rearview mirror for the buckle to manifest itself. “Hen… Shin!”

Gunning the engine as the gold armor wrapped itself around her she tore off down the nighttime streets. Meanwhile, unaware of what was coming Aria and Sonata rushed over to their ‘sibling’ with the human Adagio looking on with an expression of concern. “...Are you okay Other ‘Dagi?” Sonata asked. “Go on, you can tell me…”

“Nothing, I just realized what a complete and utter fool I’ve been,” the Equestrian Adagio muttered wiping a tear from her eye. “That’s all.”

Aria wanted to make a snarky comment, but upon seeing her older sister’s glare quickly shut up. Swallowing her pride, she sighed to herself before speaking. “Oh, I’m sure you meant well enough. I mean, nobody’s just born evil. Well, except Hitler. Pretty sure Hitler was definitely born evil.”

“Yeah, he was,” the Equestrian Adagio laughed through her tears. “I’m pretty sure he was.”

“In any case, as I was saying…” Aria went on. “You started off well enough, right? Your intentions just got… twisted along the way. Like Nobunaga, right? He wanted to unite Japan and-”

“Yes yes, I did my history courses,” the Equestrian Adagio deadpanned. “Hell, I lived through the Sengoku period. Not fun. Made for some good lunch, the violent emotions running high at that period, but… Did give me and my Aria some indigestion. Pretty sure Sonata was more interested in having sex with Hideyoshi.” she laughed bitterly.

Aria and the human Adagio turned to look at Sonata, who asked: “What? You can’t blame me for whatever my counterpart wanted. ...Not that I can blame her, this Hideyoshi person must have been handsome…”

“But yeah, I started off with good enough intentions, all of us did,” the Equestrian Adagio continued. “Wanted to help save my race from extinction, these creatures called the Fangires were… Never mind. We gathered an army, and for all our troubles we got chucked into this world filled with you human trash. And so we reveled or maybe we just wanted to party to hide our pain from being exiled from our home. Aria… my Aria, she used to be such a kind woman. But with how many negative emotions she ate over the years… It twisted her. It twisted all of us. Soon, we’d become the very same monsters Starswirl believed us to be. In a way, I suppose…”

“In a way what?” the Human Adagio pressed her counterpart. “In a way what?”

“In a way, I suppose… I’m sorta grateful to Sunset. After she shattered our gems, it sorta expelled, I’d guess you’d say, everything we’d eaten over the years. Gave us a do over all along, just never realized it until now… Adagio? I’m… I’m sorry. For all the trouble I caused you. I wanted revenge, and yet… well, I guess I never realized what I had in front of me this whole time…”

“If you’re going to confess your love to my sister, please… Don’t. That’s all kinds of wrong.” Aria said and the Equestrian Adagio cackled at this.

“No, I’m not interested. She’s too… nice for my tastes. What I was going to say was this. I’ve been taking my own family, my own ‘ohana for granted. Time I stopped.”

Before the Human Adagio could give her an answer, Aria’s phone rang.

“You need to get out of that hospital, like right now!” Rainbow said over the phone Aria having put her on speaker. “Vignette’s desires seem to have created a whole bunch of yummies. Like, friggin’ great white sharks! I’m on my way now, but as it is? You need to get your sister out of there. Like, right now!”

“No,” the human Adagio said as she went for the King’s Belt and her medals. “That’s not happening. I’m not running, the people need-ARGH!” she suddenly screamed as she clutched her chest.

“No, you’re not helping anyone, not like this,” Aria said as she slammed a fist into the fire alarm. As alarms blared, Aria looked towards her sister. “Those yummies are after you, right? Well, we certainly can’t have them in this hospital. Sonata, grab a stretcher. No, two! We’re getting them both out of here.”

And soon the two Adagios were loaded up into the back of a ‘borrowed’ ambulance even in the midst of all this chaos. Aria floored it, sirens blaring as she took to the streets. An engine roared and beside her, Aria saw Rainbow in full Rider armor driving up alongside her with a hoard of shark yummies in her rearview.

“...Well, that’s a welcoming sight…” Aria deadpanned as she spun the wheel taking off down a street with half of the school breaking off in pursuit. The other half followed after Rainbow who swerved down another street and into the industrial district.

Some of the yummies leaped out of the concrete and Rainbow, using one hand to grip the handlebars kicked two of them in the stomach. “...Okay, you know what?” she muttered to herself looking back to see the yummies swimming through the concrete as if it were water. “I’m not even going to question this shit anymore… But I am going to be punching Vignette in the face when this is all over…”

Gunning the engine she tore off down the streets, with the yummies still in hot pursuit. Grabbing the gold visor, she spun it like a staff knocking away one yummy. Several others were coming at her, and Rainbow slammed the visor into the ground somehow launching herself and the bike up over them as if the visor were a pole. Grabbing the bike with her feet, she held on for dear life even as it touched back down.

“Geez, never realized just how strong these powers made me. Applejack, eat your heart out! I’m totally winning our next competition!” Rainbow laughed in a sort of giddy high. She then heard a roar from behind her and was reminded that could wait. Right now she had more important things to worry about.

“Shield Vent.” the visor stated as part of Goldphoenix landed in her hand like a shield. Bashing another yummy away, she then gripped onto the gold visor and basically clotheslined two more yummies.

“Sword Vent.”

A rigid sword appeared in her hand, halfway gold while the other half was a brown shade. With the new weapon in hand, the yummies switched up their tactic, overtaking her as they zoomed past the Ridevendor. It didn’t take them long to be way ahead of her and suddenly turn around, now a deadly wave of fins and teeth hurdling her way. “..Aw come on…” Rainbow muttered to herself before smirking. “...Hmm, wonder if Scootaloo likes diced shark steaks?”

Against any better judgment, she jumped off the seat of the bike, now standing on it almost like on a surfboard, sword and visor in each hand. “Cowabunga…” Rainbow muttered to herself in a nervous fashion.

Taking one last deep breath she once again rammed the long end of the visor into the asphalt in front of her. She used the speed of the bike to launch herself forward and off the seat of the Ridevendor.

For a moment the hectic and stress of the battle had melted away, letting her feel like she was flying. That short moment of peace was rather short-lived however as she saw the yummies jump out of the ground and straight towards her, mouths open and hungry for her flesh. Gripping the handles of both her weapons tightly she unleashed the first strike, cutting in half three of the ravenous beasts, complete with several medals hitting her helmet in the aftermath. Landing back on the bike, she revved the engine and continued the chase.

There was however no time for any collecting, nor any time to stop and take a breath. The yummies had no intent on letting up. Rainbow had to wonder the condition of Vignette’s psyche if this was the type of yummy she birthed. In any case, reaching out with her visor, she hooked onto a lamppost and made a sharp 90-degree turn. Panting and sweating, Rainbow looked behind her to see no yummies before her eyes widened to see the last of the school in front of her.

She felt a poke and a prodding at her side and saw Cube Leopard nipping at her armor. Her eyes widened when she saw the small creature change into an ax. “Err... I appreciate the sentiment bud, but… Uh, you’re a bit… small?”

She quickly changed her mind about this as Cube Leopard glowed with a soft warmth before changing size. Gripping the handle of her new weapon, she waited and then slashed forwards as the last of the yummies leaped out at her. Medals covered the ground even as Rainbow tore down the streets.

Sirens blaring and lights flashing, Aria sped down the streets even as cars swerved out of the way. If it was due to the ambulance going full throttle down the streets, or the yummies in hot pursuit, well… that was something that could be decided at a later date.

Swerving down a side street, Aria kept her foot squarely on the gas pedal smashing through several garbage cans and then serving onto another street, sideswiping a yummy in the process. Aria looked back and saw it tossed through a shop window and exploding into cell medals.

“...Goddess, I never knew your sister was such a madmare behind the wheel!” the Equestrian Adagio shouted in fear, the rear doors swinging open thanks to this. Tires squealed out in protest as Aria rounded another corner. Down in the concrete below, shark jaws snapped and bit at their heels.

“...It’s a musician thing,” her human counterpart muttered. “Gotta get to those gigs somehow…”

Aria slammed into a yummy, pressing it up against a brick wall sparks flying as metal ground up against brick the yummy finally exploded into a pile of cell medals. Adagio meanwhile quickly changed into her Rider form.

“Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo: Sa-Ra-Mi-Uo! Sa! Ra! Mi-Uo!”

Knocking a gas cylinder out of the back of the ambulance, she slashed it with the Medajaribur. A fireball went up and yummies were sent flying backward. “See ya…” Adagio muttered. Another sharp turn came and then another, Adagio feeling as if she was going to be sick thanks to her sister’s mad driving skills.

“How the hell did she even pass her driver’s test?” Adagio mentally screamed in fear. “I mean, this is like the Fast and the Furious back here! No, strike that, it’s like Grand Theft Auto! ...I knew I shouldn’t have gifted her that game for her birthday…”

In any case, she knew that there were still yummies to be dealt with.

“Triple Scanning Charge!” the Medajaribur yelled out as Adagio slashed again at several more yummies who leaped out at her. Reality was ripped though, warped even. Then it repaired itself even as the yummies exploded into piles of cell medals. One yummy leaped up and over and began clawing at the hood, opening to rip into the engine beneath.

“Hold on!” Aria shouted spinning the wheel and going into another sharp turn in an attempt to throw the yummy off.

“What do you think we’ve been doing?” the Equestrian Adagio shouted even as tires squealed in protest. A sharp crunching sound as the back of the ambulance nicked a light post. The shark yummy held on, if only barely. Another sharp turn and it was thrown off only to be run over by the emergency vehicle. “...You deserve to have your license stripped from you! You do know that right?” the siren shouted.

Another yummy tried leaping up into the back of the ambulance, but the human Adagio grabbed the IV pole and thrust it into the yummy’s chest knocking it back. “Do you do anything besides complain?” she snapped at her twin. “For God’s sake!”

“WILL YOU BOTH SHUT UP!?!” Aria shouted. “You’re both like backseat drivers, so can you can it?” she snapped quite fed up with tonight. Her eyes widened, she had been so focused on the two squabbling she failed to see what was coming up ahead. Smashing into the lobby of the Aquarium, glass shattered as the ambulance plowed into the building right through the front doors. Blood dripping from cuts where the glass had slashed into her face, Aria staggered out of the side door and groaned as she looked at the ambulance. Needless to say, her abuse of it had killed it.

“...And they’re still coming, and we’re not going anywhere fast…” Aria swallowed nervously before giving a solid right hook to one of the yummies.

“Is she even human?” the Equestrian Adagio shouted, Aria all the while continuing to knock several yummies flat. But her strength alone would not be enough against the hoard.

While everyone was busy with the ravenous yummies a loud sound echoed through the entrance hall, overshadowing the screaming, growling and everything else.

“Eye! Batchiriminā! Batchir-”

“Henshin!”

“Kaigan: Ore! Let's Go! Kakugo! Gho-Gho-Gho-Ghost!”

Even the yummies were surprised by the sound, diverting their attention to it and dashing towards its origin. In the middle of the room stood a man clad in a strange grey suit, the yummies dashing straight for him. The first to reach him however quickly exploded into Cell Medals as something dashed past them, something orange and black. On a second look, one could make out something that looked like a black jacket with hoodie and orange accents that quickly flew over to the man and threw itself over him. A glowing orange helmet, sorta like a jack-o-lantern was now visible in the darkened room.

“...A-A ghost?” Adagio whispered, Aria taking a step back in fear. The yummies overcame their own and charged at the new Rider. It was all too easy to dodge their strikes, the Rider seemingly not even caring or putting in much effort as he did so, seemingly flowing like water as he dodged the attacks. Floating in midair, the Rider was living up to his name as he seemed to channel some sort of supernatural power. A palm strike and one shark yummy was sent flying back before exploding.

“Kaigan: Robin Hood! Hello Arrow! Into the woods we go!”

The black and orange hoodie disappeared and a new one flew from the massive white Driver that was attached to his waist. Green and yellow in tone, it wrapped itself around the Rider. A bird flew in, and transformed and combined with the Rider’s sword into a bow. Pulling the bowstring back it started to spark with what looked like green electricity, dancing across the darkroom like a violent firefly. Then he pulled back the handle on his Driver.

“Dai Kaigan: Robin Hood Omega Drive! Omega Shooting!”

Then he let the arrows fly, several clones of him appearing all around forming a circle, dispatching the remaining yummies as a shower of coins rained down. Canceling out the transformation, the Rider pulled back his hood even as his armor faded away. Underneath it, was an auburn-haired man wearing a monk’s robes.

“Hello Adagio.” he smiled.

18: Family Matters

Author's Notes:

Ready to count up some medals again?

Herman's Hideaway: Denver, Colorado

“And I got a little lost along the way
But I'm just around the corner 'til the light of day, yeah
I'm just around the corner 'til the light of day, yeah…”

Aria did a little guitar riff, looking a little like Pete Townshend or a windmill with her left arm flailing about as the crowd roared in approval. Aria’s only response was to flip them off before handing her guitar off to a roadie and walking off the stage.

Walking up to the bar, she ordered a glass of whiskey and sighed as she kicked her feet up on the countertop. Ignoring the glare the bartender sent her for this, she let out a laugh. It was another good Friday night. “Well, at least things are sorta going back to a semblance of normalcy I suppose… the Equestrian bitch has vanished, along with her little posse and MY Adagio is back as OOOs. Though I’m not entirely sure she’ll be up and about fightin’ any time soon…”

She thought back to the night before, where Adagio had been returned to the hospital still in a lot of pain, largely from exerting herself too much. To put it mildly, she had been… in a state.

“Hey… Uh… guys… did you know this hypothetical medal combo had… uh, existed. Turkey! Duck! Chicken! TurDucKen! ...Man, am I cravin’ something right now…”

Aria sighed, taking a swig of her whiskey. She wasn’t nearly drunk enough to think about this shit right now.

“Hey… Uh,” Aria muttered swallowing her pride and turning to her drinking partner. “Thanks for the… uh, assist. Like really, heard what you did back there.”

“Well, it’s what I’m supposed to do, innit?” Rainbow shrugged. “I mean, I’m a you know what now so… Uh, I have to help people no matter how much I may or may not dislike them, right?”

“You’re really taking this to heart aren’t you?” Aria asked craning her neck to look at her… well, calling her a friend might have been a bit of a stretch. But the sentiment was there. Possibly. Aria still wasn’t sure where she stood with the Rainboom, honestly.

“Well… sorta,” Rainbow sighed. “I’m not sure if it was because I’m the embodiment of the Element of Loyalty here, or it was because I was so shitty to your sister. Hell if I know.”

“Well, whatever the reason…” Aria muttered. “Thanks. Like really, thank you.”

“...Just doing my job, I suppose. All that there is to it, really,” Rainbow sighed. “So, who’s the pretty boy who helped your sister back to the hospital?”

“...I think I caught his name, started with a T…” Aria muttered before she snapped her fingers in recognition. “Takeru, that was his name! Yeah, that’s it…”

“So Eiji sent him in or something?” Rainbow asked. “I mean, that’s what I heard anyways…”

“Yeah, I mean apparently,” Aria shrugged. “Who is this guy anyways? He looks like a monk of some sort, like he seriously did. What, is he here to help Adagio get all zen with it?”

“...Do we know his last name?” Rainbow asked. “I mean, if so we can probably just Google it right?”

“Oh, you know what? Screw it,” Aria said going for her phone. “I’m doing that anyways. Ah, let’s see… Takeru… Takeru… Ah, here we go! Oh… OH! Now, this is interesting…”

“Eh?” Rainbow asked leaning over to see what Aria had found. “Wait a minute, what? The… Mysterious Phenomenon Institute? So what, is this guy like a fancy ghost hunter or something?”

“Apparently,” Aria stated.

“Great, so Eiji hired a nut to help out your sister,” Rainbow said. “Isn’t that just wonderful?”

“...Now now, I’m sure if Eiji hired him as a friend, I’m quite sure that there’s more to this guy than meets the eye,” Aria remarked. “For one thing he’s a fellow you know what…”

“A you know what?” Rainbow asked. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I think you know what a you know what means!” Aria exclaimed.

“...No, I don’t know what a you know what means,” Rainbow replied. “Stop being so damn cryptic, woman!”

Aria slapped her over the head making Rainbow yelp out a little “Oww!” before a mutter of: “...Seriously?”

“Are you that dumb?” Aria remarked a little snappishly. “Like seriously, you transform into this you know what every day it seems like.”

“Oh you mean he’s a…” Rainbow said eyes widening. “...well, that explains a bit. Who better to teach a you know what than another you know what. Right?”

Aria facepalmed and muttered: “...why am I friends with such a moron…?”

“HAH!” Rainbow exclaimed pointing directly at her. “So you do admit we are friends!”

Aria let out an “Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuugggghhhhh. Please Lord, let lightning strike me down and somehow end this humiliation.”

Rainbow just threw an arm around her and exclaimed: “Relax, as long as you’re with me, nothing can go wrong! You and me, we are two peas in a pod. We are best buds.”

“...We are not best buds,” Aria grumbled crossing her arms with a huff. “You don’t even have a clue.”

“Oh, you’ll warm up to me, in time!” Rainbow said chirply.

“...I’m not sure if this is an improvement to her hating my guts or not…”

Then Aria’s mind was definitely made up on the matter when Rainbow leaped up on top of the bartop -probably quite drunk, at least that’s what Aria hoped- and began to say this. “REJOICE! For I, Rainbow Danger Dash, have finally put my hatred of the Dazzlings aside and taken on Aria Blaze as one of my new best friends!”

Scattered if not confused applause began to fill the bar room, and as for poor Aria? Well...

“Okay… so… yeah, I’m definitely wanting her to go back to just hating me now…” Aria muttered as she sank down into her seat blushing up a storm. “Like seriously Lord, now where is that lightning? Because I sincerely need it now! Like, right this minute you understand!?!”

“So glad you’re getting along,” came a familiar softly spoken voice. “So proud of you both, like I am. Thank you Rainbow, and thank you Aria.”

“Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked in a surprised tone. “What… what are you doing here? I mean, no offense, but this place isn’t exactly your kind of hangout…”

“Well… I… Uh… came to support Aria, that’s all…” she mumbled to herself shuffling her feet slightly.

“Oh, ooooooooh, I get it! I get it!” Rainbow exclaimed. “You two are dating, aren’t you?”

“Well… we… uh… no, we’re not right now…” Fluttershy whispered almost sounding if she was about to add a ‘Yet’ to the end of that sentence.

“So, what are you two then? Best friends with benefits?” Rainbow asked as Fluttershy blushed a bright beet red and Aria facepalmed. “You two are totally screwing each other night and day, aren’t you? Seriously you are, aren’t you? ...Well, I suppose that’s one way to beat the cabin fever eh?” Rainbow cackled.

“Does your mind run the gamut of the damn gutter 24-7?” Aria demanded.

“...Actually I think it was born in the gutter…” Fluttershy admitted. “Like, back when I was in high school you have no idea what she was like. She was constantly making joking come-ons with Applejack -for whatever reason- and having competitions on who grew their breasts larger…”

“...Okay, so it was born in the gutter then,” Aria said before sarcastically stating: “Nice to know.”

“Hey, listen,” Rainbow said before looking her new best friend dead in the eyes and poking her in the chest. “I don’t care if you two are dating or something. Like, I really don’t. But I swear, Aria if you break her heart I don’t care if you box or anything. I will come and hunt you down, I will find you and make sure you remember this face, okay? This face will be the last you see, understand?”

“I’m intimidated,” Aria deadpanned crossing her arms and letting her muscles show. As she got up off her chair she raised herself to her full height. Rainbow swallowed. “So, you think you can take me on eh shortstack?”

“Oh, you wanna go?” Rainbow said putting up her dukes, not caring about how small she was compared to Aria. “I box too you know, I’m a military woman now! I was trained in the ancient art of ass-kicking!”

Now Fluttershy was the one facepalming. She then muttered: “Oh, why aren’t you two the ones just kissing already? I mean, God knows you’d probably be having great angry hate sex or something.”

Then both Aria and Rainbow turned to stare at her.

“...Oh, did I say that out loud…?” Fluttershy stammered. “I… I didn’t exactly mean to do that…”

Then came the explosion.

“ME KISS HER? NO WAY IN HELL!” both Aria and Rainbow snapped.

“She’s an impudent little shortstack with enough hot air to fill a damn balloon!” Aria shouted pointing at Rainbow.

“She’s an insane punk rocker with anger issues and way too many muscles!” Rainbow shouted pointing at Aria. They then turned to face away from each other huffing to themselves. Fluttershy had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing outright.

“Oh… Uh, Rainbow…” Fluttershy stammered. “I’m… I’m so glad you decided to come and just visit with Aria at all, before the… big day, you know.”

“Aaaaaagh,” Rainbow groaned hanging her head. “...You had to go ahead and remind me about that didn’t you?”

“Big day?” Aria asked. “What big day?”

“Oh… Uh, yeah…” Rainbow admitted rubbing the back of her head. “I’m… Uh, getting shipped out to Japan in about a few days. I asked Fluttershy to keep an eye on the squirt, but… Uh…”

“She doesn’t know yet does she?” Aria asked.

“Oh, she knows alright,” Rainbow said. “She doesn’t like it, but she knows. But it’s not that I’m worried about.”

“...what do you…?” Aria murmured before she realized. “Ah, yes. That. It’s him you’re worried about, right? The Mirror Rider?”

Rainbow let out a little squeak of fear before she took a look around, reminded of just how many reflections there were in this bar alone. “Course I’m worried! Without me there to protect her…”

“Look, personally?” Aria began. “I think you have absolutely nothing to worry about.”

Rainbow stared at her, and Aria sighed. “No, I haven’t finally lost my mind, so sit down and shut up and let me explain, okay?”

Rainbow let out a little: “Okay.” as she did just exactly that.

“It’s you he seems to be after, from all accounts,” Aria explained. “Now hear me out. He didn’t attack you until after you picked up this deck of yours, right?”

“Well… yeah… Uh, he…” Rainbow stammered out. “Yeah, he did. Why?”

“It’s because it’s you, and only you he’s concerned about,” Aria said sternly. “Now yes, I get your worries, because God knows if I were in your situation I’d be concerned about my family. But quite honestly, what I’d suggest is giving the guy what he wants, really. He wants the deck, so give him the deck.”

“But…” Rainbow started. “But I want to help people, I really do. And this power I got? It’s one of the best ways to do that. I mean, look at last night. You and Adagio wouldn’t have escaped those yummies if I hadn’t stepped in right?”

“Perhaps,” Aria admitted. “But I think you’re being entirely too selfish for your own good, Rainbow Danger Dash.” she said sternly.

“But…” Rainbow started before Fluttershy put a firm hand on her shoulder.

“I’d listen to her, Rainbow,” Fluttershy said. “It sounds to me like Aria knows exactly what she’s talking about.”

“I… Gaaaaaaaagggghhh,” Rainbow groaned. “Why does this have to be so hard? Look, I’ll give it some thought, okay? Like seriously, I will okay?”

“Good enough for me,” Aria nodded. “Now listen, if it makes you feel any better, I will help Fluttershy look after-”

She was suddenly bombarded by what appeared to be a category 5 multicolored hurricane. Aria blinked, Rainbow hugging her tightly and whispering: “Thank you…”

“You’re welcome,” Aria said stroking her hair for reasons unknown even to her. “Now can you please let go and drop the mushy stuff? I thought we both had reputations to keep up, alright?”

“So we do… right,” Rainbow said flushing in embarrassment and rubbing the back of her head. “But yeah. Seriously, thank you for promising to look after my family. My family, you understand?”

“Yeah, I do…” Aria whispered.

“Speaking of family,” Fluttershy said. “Whatever do you think happened to the other Dazzlings?”

Aria, at this took another swig of her whiskey. “Ask me again later, okay Flutters?” Aria requested. “I’m not nearly drunk enough to be thinking about this right now, and quite honestly I don’t care. They can go screw off for all I care right now.”

“But Aria,” Fluttershy pleaded. “You saw what the other Adagio was like. She was desperate, and sick. Now imagine what your counterpart, and Sonata’s counterpart are like!”

“Bah!” Aria snapped. “They almost ruined my life and then Adagio’s, so I’m in no real position to really give a flying fuck about any of them, you understand?”

“...I… see.” Fluttershy whispered. Aria sighed before her voice softened once more.

“Look, if you really want to know?” she asked. “Here’s what happened…”

It was late one night several years ago, just after a certain series of events that had rocked the Canterlot boroughs. A hard rain poured down, Aria wrapping herself up tightly in her jacket, a leather piece not unlike that of a motorcyclist’s with the image of a dragon on the back. She looked very much the part of the punk rocker she aspired to be.

“Goddamn weather…” the now eighteen-year-old woman muttered as lightning flashed in the sky above. “Denver picks today of all days to get rain. I mean, seriously…”

Ducking inside a local Quick-Eze Mart type grocery store, Aria muttered something unkind under her breath once more about the weather. She then took notice of everyone staring directly at her. “What?” Aria asked. “My eyes? Up here you know.”

“Is this you?” a woman with white hair, and purple eyeshadow wearing this brown bomber jacket asked. She was pointing to a nearby news broadcast where a woman was speaking of three girls seemingly using special effects to turn into odd creatures. No matter the case, something had happened that night, with everyone reporting the stage destroyed the following morning by some bright blast of energy. Aria blinked, if she didn’t know better she could have sworn those girls were her and her sisters. But that was impossible… wasn’t it?”

“So what?” Aria asked turning her attention to the TV. “Everyone’s probably just suffering from mass hallucinations and that flying? Simple wires and puppetry!”

Honestly, she swore at times this town could believe anything. A year or so ago, there were these reports of this girl turning into a flaming hellish demon of all things. Of all things! Denver was so damn gullible at times it made her head hurt.

“Then explain the blast, eh huh?” the woman demanded grabbing Aria by the shirt.

“Look, if you want to kiss me, then go ahead… fine, do it,” Aria said. “But not interested, not even for a fling.”

Aria was trying to hide her fear, noticing the gathering mob. A person was smart, her father always liked to say. But people as a whole were bone-headed stupid. She had to get out of here and fast.

The woman -Gilda, as Aria would later catch her name- let out a scream and tossed Aria into some shelves, ripping away at some of the leather. “...And I just got this damn jacket stitched back up!”

“Get out of here, witch!” someone shouted tossing a soda can at her, as Gilda threw a punch at Aria, the woman just barely managing to duck to avoid the blow. Aria took the hint, and very quickly beat feet out of the store.

Of course, Aria would have liked to have said that was where her troubles ended then and there. The issue was, people liked to talk. She’d managed to find work DJing at a club for one night, having to fill in after the previous DJ, one Neon Lights had dropped off the face of the planet it had seemed. And that was where her real troubles started.

Putting her headphones on as she mixed up the tracks, Aria smiled. While she wasn’t actually playing a guitar on stage loud and proud making some ears bleed, this would do for the time.

Then came a voice, someone shouting about how she was the sea witch who had enchanted him back at this place -which Aria had never heard of by the way, at least until tonight- called Canterlot High.

“Okay, listen pal…” Aria said leaning over the mixing table. “I don’t actually know of you really, so if you want to accuse me of something, come back with actual proof instead of screaming ‘magic’.

“Oh yeah?” a girl from nearby, with electric yellow hair asked placing her hands on her hips. Lightning Dust was her name. “Explain THIS!”

She held up a picture of someone with a rather HEFTY and rather frightening resemblance to Aria kissing the boy who had accused her before. “My brother woke up with a rather nasty hangover as he described it. He didn’t remember the night before at all, and this is all we have to go on!”

Aria understood the underlying implications of what this chick was accusing her of. Date rape drugs, that was the case. She shuddered at the thought, even if Lightning Dust mistook her shuddering for completely different reasons.

“See, she’s afraid!” Lightning Dust accused, the crowd below beginning to turn ugly.

“I’m sorry, but you’ve got the wrong woman…” Aria said, even if she knew she really didn’t have much of a leg to stand on with that excuse. Even if she was completely accurate in the matter, it still didn’t matter.

“No, you’re not,” Lightning Dust snarled, her eyes seemingly flashed. “You’re just sorry you got caught!”

With that, she grabbed Aria by the shoulder, her brother following after her. Aria soon found herself thrown up against a brick wall, sent reeling by a punch to the stomach. Then came another from Lightning Dust, making Aria double over, her lunch from earlier that day making a reappearance.

Finally, Aria fought back as another punch came towards her, the woman catching it, and twisting Lightning’s wrist making her scream in pain. “YOU BITCH!” Lightning shouted.

“...Funny, look who’s talking,” Aria said wiping the blood away from her mouth. “Pot, meet the damn kettle!”

Lightning’s older brother, the one who Aria had supposedly date-raped rushed in only to get kneed in the balls. As the two picked themselves up off the ground, finally came the sounds of sirens. Aria would later learn someone in the club had called the cops upon either seeing the developing situation or to get Aria arrested. She didn’t particularly care right now, just glad that the Denver police had arrived, and judging from the looks on Lightning and her brother’s faces they knew that they could be in very serious trouble.

“Come on, let’s scram!” Lightning said before tossing a very nasty look to Aria. “We’ll be back for you!”

Of course, that was hampered when both ran smack dab into Shining Armor, of the DPD. “...Now what was this about coming back for this girl?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Perhaps needless to say, Aria being lead into the back of a patrol cruiser along with her two ‘friends’ was quite a sight for the clubgoers. She had a sneaking suspicion after the events of tonight, her chances at keeping this job had just been torpedoed.

At the station, Aria gave her statement. “...God above, I just don’t know what happened…” Aria whispered. “One minute I was mixing music like usual, then the next I’m accused of date raping someone and getting dragged out into an alleyway and beat up like there’s no tomorrow!”

“Well, I personally don’t believe you did,” Shining said. “I mean, judging from what Sky Stinger said, it sounds like he just had a nasty hangover. As for your twin, it’s entirely possible it’s a case of mistaken identity.”

What he wasn’t going to tell Aria, of course, was there were records of her being enrolled in Canterlot High for about six months before every seemed to go blank. But he saw the fear in Aria’s eyes, and it wasn’t that same terror of a criminal who knew they’d been caught in the act. No, it was just straight-up terror. Quite honestly, he doubted Aria had any malicious intent, and that there was something very weird going on here.

“...You’re going to just arrest me, I know it,” Aria muttered. “For straight up assault and battery.”

“You? No,” Shining said making Aria’s eyes widen. “Lightning Dust and Sky Stinger on the other hand, now that’s a completely different story. You were just acting in self-defense. That’s all.”

“...Okay, but all the same?” Aria muttered. “I’m definitely going to be walking with a taser or something from now on, probably going to be checking into Colorado’s laws about brass knuckles as well. Something tells me I haven’t seen the end of all of this, not by a long shot.”

“You just be safe, okay kid?” Shining asked. “Listen, try not to get into a fight unless you have to okay? And if you do…” here he slipped her a phone number for a local teacher’s krav maga courses.

“Consider it a favor, okay kid?” Shining said.

“Don’t call me kid, okay?” Aria snapped. “But… thank you.”

“Any time,” Shining smiled as he opened the door. “Now listen, you run along home okay? I’ve got to pick up my little sis Twiley from school.”

Aria gave a little nod and a wave, before walking out the door. Of course, as I said before people talk. And news of the little altercation and what had led up to it had made it’s way up the grapevine to her boss. While he’d said it was because they’d found Neon Lights again, Aria knew better. The accusations couldn’t be overlooked, and neither could the fight in the alley. Never mind the fact that she was just defending herself. Damn her doppelganger, damn her, Aria thought to herself as a tear slowly slipped from her eye.

Aria was now shaking with rage as she described this to her newfound friends, having punched a wall in frustration. If ever she met her counterpart, she hoped that Aria would be able to pray to whatever god she worshipped for mercy, because she would not be offering any.

“...Damn bitch ruined my life,” Aria whispered. “You can see them now, right? The stares, and the whispers accompanying them. Everywhere I go, I have this accusation hanging over my head. It’s almost impossible to get a job, and I was lucky that band took me in as they did!”

She looked towards Flash Sentry, who was gesturing for her to get a move on. “I guess my father was right all along, a single person is intelligent, but people are dumb as shit. I mean, I’m glad it’s just me, but what if it was Adagio or Hell, little Sonata who got dragged into this mess?”

Then she was brought into a hug by Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness whispering: “Hey, it’s okay… you’ve got us now…”

Rainbow now looked at Aria with a new understanding, exactly why she was so protective of her own. And quite honestly, she could totally understand and empathize with her. As for Aria, she finally let the tears began to flow as the whiskey finally caught up to her, the woman sobbing into Fluttershy’s shoulder…

---

“Ohh, I’m walking on sunshine yeah…” Sonata hummed to herself as she mixed up cake batter with a wooden spoon in a mixing bowl, later that next day. “And don’t it feel good!”

For a moment, she mimed using the mixing spoon as a microphone and then licked off the extra batter, much to her colleague's distress. “...Really Sonata?” Gilda asked, an all too frilly pink for her liking type of apron wrapped around her waist. “...Sometimes I wonder how we’ve remained friends.”

“A, because I’m too cute for words, and B…” Sonata said gently bopping Gilda atop the head with her mixing spoon. “We both like baking.”

“Just shut up and continue making that poundcake, eh?” Gilda replied.

“Fine fine,” Sonata chirped before her voice softened. “I’m really glad we’re friends by the way. Nobody else in the entire family understands cooking. I mean, Adagio prefers sea life to people, and Aria… well, she’d rather be up on stage and getting drunk off her brain than anything else. At least, that’s what it seems to be like at times…”

“Alone in a crowd, huh?” Gilda said nodding in sympathy.

“...I’m really glad we’re friends,” Sonata said. “Like, you’re one of the few people who I can talk to about with stuff like this…”

“Friends…” Gilda whispered to herself. She had really only two to three people she could honestly stick with that label and Sonata… well, if Sonata knew her history with Aria she might not be so inclined to be friends with her. She was lucky enough to be in this school as it was, given she was not really that well off, and it was only via money from Adagio that she was here. And how was she repaying her? By thinking shit about her little sister. It honestly churned her stomach.

“Hey, you alright?” Sonata asked taking note of Gilda’s general expression and tone.

“...Yeah, yeah… I’m fine,” Gilda whispered and hoped Sonata wouldn’t pick up any further on her distress. The keyword here was hoped. “...Yeah, I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not fine,” Sonata said. “I’ve been friends with you for this long, so I’m smart enough to tell when something’s bothering you.”

“...You always were the smart one, weren’t you… Sonata?” Gilda sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m not fine. Not fine at all.”

“You’re not thinking about financial issues again, are you?” Sonata pressed. “Because, if so I can get Adagio to…”

“It’s not Adagio I’m worried about,” Gilda confessed. “Okay, yeah sure she’s on my mind thanks to that woman Vignette and all but it’s not her I worry about.”

“Oh?” Sonata asked gently. “Then what is it?”

“It’s… well, it’s Aria actually,” Gilda said. “Me and her… well, we haven’t exactly had the best of histories, and here I am just talking to you like it never even hap-”

“Now that’s enough of that!” Sonata suddenly shouted catching the entire class by surprise. A loud stinging slap rang out, and Gilda was left with a noticeable red mark on her face. “That’s enough of you feeling sorry for yourself! Understand?” Sonata asked sternly, Gilda only having the ability to nod weakly.

Sonata’s voice softened again, as she placed a hand on Gilda’s shoulder. “You feeling all sorry for yourself? This isn’t you Gilda, you’re supposed to be the tough gal, right? Tough as nails?”

“...Yeah.” Gilda admitted.

“Then do so,” Sonata said. “And for the record? Aria knows.”

“...w-what?” Gilda stammered out.

“Yeah, she knows,” Sonata said. “What do you think she is? Stupid? She knows what you did long ago, and she’s forgiven you. The evidence was stacked against her, hell in your position I might have done the exact same thing.”

“Seriously… you?” Gilda asked. “YOU? But… you look up to Aria, more than anyone I know!”

“Yes, but I am also smart enough to look at facts in an objective way,” Sonata admitted. “I love my sister, I do, but if there was enough evidence to support her being a monstrous siren then I’d look at her in that way as well until enough proof came around to trounch that notion. Just how my brain works, I guess…”

“Jeez, and they call me harsh…” Gilda thought to herself.

As a child, Gilda was told that monsters never existed and that she had nothing to fear. The only monsters were in her head, not lurking in closets or under her bed. Gilda now knew that to be wrong, as overwhelming evidence around the globe stated that creatures did exist. Thankfully, there were those who rose up to meet them, the Kamen Riders. And now that her best friend’s older sister was one of those Riders… well, Gilda now saw it fit to make sure that if there was any way that she needed help, Gilda would help her.

Gilda chuckled, her mother was right after all. In the 21st century, everything did indeed change. Maybe for the better, or for the worse. She wasn’t sure yet.

“By the way,” Sonata asked. “Please tell me you’re going to get rid of that bomber jacket of yours, it’s hardly fashionable!”

“What? Why you…” Gilda grumbled. “It’s cool, and it’s fashionable. So shut your trap, okay?”

“Fashionable?” Sonata teased in that good-natured way of hers. “Since when? The only place that looks good is next to the cockpit of an old Aerodrome!”

“Well, at least I’m not caught up playing stupid games about Japanese heroes!” Gilda snarked back. “Honestly, a guy based on a grasshopper? I mean, what’s up with that?”

“I’ll have you know that…” Sonata started. In the background of the room, unnoticed by anyone was a man, bleached blond in hair color. He smiled like the cat that got the canary, this made very interesting information indeed. So OOOs had a sister? Two of them in fact? Well, that was just peachy! He would be sure to use this, even if he didn’t quite know how just yet. What they said was true after all, never ever trust a cat.

---

On the winding mountain passes outside Denver, a heavily armored truck made its way through the hills, in the back of the truck was a precious load. Three Core Medals, to be taken to a nearby private airport and shipped out to Japan for study. At least, that was how the official story was going. The real truth was something a little bit more interesting, really.

Eiji knew if that Foundation X was really stalking his company, and in the city as he suspected they were, they’d have to be drawn out of the woodwork and if this didn’t entice them, well nothing would really.

“You’re taking a grave risk, I hope you know that Eiji,” Erika noted over the phone. “What if this backfires, and X gets their hands on these Medals…”

“I can handle whoever they send at me,” Eiji replied. “Let’s just say I’ve made a few improvements to the Birth systems.”

“Ah yes, you did tell me about that…” Erika sighed. “I am worried though, these new improvements, they haven’t been tested.”

“Consider this a field test then.”

Erika sighed again, and then replied: “Be safe, okay?”

“We still on for dinner this evening?” Eiji asked.

“...Only if you don’t come back after getting yourself killed!”

“Noted,” Eiji said before he heard the sound of… something. If he didn’t know any better, he’d swear it sounded like feet crashing into pavement at high speed. Sure enough, it was Kazari, using the powers of his Cheetah Core. Then, he leaped forward, slashing at the back doors of the armored truck.

On the road ahead stood another of the Greeed, Mezool, who flicked her hands causing spouts of water to erupt from beneath the road. The truck swerved and dodged each eruption of water before a powerful fist slammed into it causing the truck to stop dead in its tracks. Gamel, obviously.

“Three Greeed,” Eiji thought to himself. “I didn’t quite know when I was quite so well off!”

Finally, having had enough, Eiji threw open the back doors of the truck revealing he was already clad in the Birth Armor, and was now sporting a hugely upgraded variant of the Birth Buster. This one sported twin gatling gun like barrels, and was more of a rifle type weapon then the massive pistol of before.

He pulled the trigger and fired sending Kazari staggering back as cell medals flew from the gun. Eiji knew he could only fire in short bursts with this weapon, as it ate up far more medals than the base variant. He was lucky this thing didn’t break his entire arm with all the power it held.

“Damn you…” Kazari yowled before letting out a war cry and leaping forwards. Eiji reacted and climbed on the RideVendor before flying out of the back of the truck. Kazari’s head was used as a stepping stone, the front wheel colliding with it. Tires squealed in protest as Eiji landed on the pavement and turned a full 180 degrees, chopping Kazari in the neck as he ran up alongside the RideVendor. The Birth Buster was stored on Eiji’s back, the weight only slowing Eiji just a little.

He drifted the bike sending Gamel flying before pressing down hard on the pavement sending the RideVendor flying before gripping the handlebars. With this, he quickly gave Mezool a flying kick to the stomach cutting through the stream of water she sent his way.

“Get out of here, now!” Eiji shouted to the driver of the van, who really didn’t need to be told twice and floored it, tires squealing in protest as it flew down the road. Eiji’s eyes narrowed under his helmet. “You’re not who I wanted to deal with today, now get out of here.”

“Well, congrats, you got us!” Kazari hissed, claws bared.

“Idiot,” Mezool sighed. “You really think you’d be able to transport three of our cores without us even knowing about it?”

She waved her hand and sent a wave of water towards Eiji, who activated the Birth System’s crane arm feature and swung it cutting through the watery wave with ease. Even a few summoned trash yummies were not much to worry about, as Eiji floored it again and swung the arm like a frail cutting through the hoard with ease. Gamel then jumped forwards, slamming a fist into the ground sending both Eiji and his bike flying.

Eiji reacted as quickly as he could have, reaching for the handlebars and grabbing them even as the bike touched down again. He stood atop the bike for a brief second, and then unloaded more rounds from the Birth Buster. With this action, he began cutting down more of the mummy-like Waste Yummies and knocking their three Greeed masters back.

He quickly reseated himself, and reactivated the crane arm feature, using it to hook onto a lamppost and make another sharp 180-degree turn before ramming Kazari off his feet. The King of Cats was sent flying and Eiji then leaped off his bike for a brief second to deliver a powerful Rider Kick to him. The Lion and Cheetah cores were his again, even as Kazari’s armor crumbled.

“Wait a moment…” Eiji realized a few seconds too late. “The last time anyone saw these cores they were in the hands of… ANKH!”

He was then knocked off his bike by a powerful force as the King of Birds then tackled him to the ground. The RideVendor meanwhile slammed head-on into a tree.

“A-Ankh?” Eiji whispered, his helmet cracked slightly as he looked up to see the Bird Greeed now reunited with his fellows. “....why are you…?”

“Well, let’s just say me and furball here, we struck a deal,” Ankh smirked. “Tch, you idiot, should you really be so surprised that I wound up eventually joining my own kind again?”

“...Not really, I suppose…” Eiji said as he caught Ankh’s punch. “But what’s in it for you?”

“Oh, the usual. More than enough cells to rebuild my body,” Ankh commented. “Sorry to break the little sea siren’s heart, but really, we all knew it would come to this. Adagio was just a pawn for greater things. She had potential, yes, but in the end? She’s just dirt under my shoe…”

“You’re a real bastard, you know that right?” Eiji said before Ankh punched him in the gut with his good hand sending Eiji staggering back.

“So I’ve been told,” Ankh remarked before he basically bitch-slapped Eiji sending him sprawling to the pavement. “Now I’ll be taking these back. And then giving them back.”

He then retrieved the Lion and Cheetah cores and tossed them back to Kazari.

Ankh swallowed, he knew he was playing a very risky gambit of his own as it was. If he lost, he lost big. And if he won… well, it’d all be worth it.

“GAH!” he shouted as something hit him in the back. “WHO DARES STRIKE THE KING OF BIRDS!”

A sound of a roaring engine was heard, and suddenly Eiji found himself hoisted up on the back of another RideVendor, Erika at the controls. She’d taken a quick shot with a lower-powered variant of the Birth Buster to distract Ankh and now was getting Eiji as far away from the Greeed as possible.

“Hold on!” Erika called, using a boulder as a ramp and driving up the side of a very steep part of the mountain before dropping off to a lower road.

“...Never knew you were quite such a daredevil.” Eiji said as soon as his heart rate had finally returned to normal levels. “Regular Evel Knevil, aren’t you?”

“I’m just getting paid overtime for this, understand?” Erika asked. “And you owe me two dinner dates now, understand?”

She was now practically tailgating the armored truck before her eyes widened as Kazari leaped down and landed on top of the truck. “Did you really think it’d be so easy?”

Slicing through the air, he sent twin gusts of wind towards Erika and she dodged. She did this running up the side of the mountain again, before getting out in front of the truck. Eiji nodded before leaping up off the RideVendor and on top of the truck to face Kazari. He fired off a Cell Burst and Kazari was sent flying, only to be caught by a hand of water from Mezool.

“And I thought cats hated the water?” Eiji teased. He readied the Birth Buster but thought against it as ammo was a critical low. So he then activated the crane arm once more, before grabbing both Kazari and Mezool with it and tossing them into the mountainside. With a sigh of relief, hoping the Greeed had finally learned their lesson he climbed back inside the truck. Erika drove alongside it, as an escort of sorts. Soon, they would be at the airfield. In fact, Erika could see it in the distance even now.

But for every spot of hope, there was something just waiting in the shadows to crush it. A dragon-like creature flew out of an upcoming tunnel breathing fire on the road. The driver of the truck panicked and flew down the mountainside till finally crashing into the sand and cacti below. Eiji, groaning in pain clutched his side as he stumbled out of the wreckage, his transformation canceling out, his belt falling to the ground below.

The dragon creature laughed in a high pitched cackling tone before he turned into a human form. Another creature, resembling a bright red pegasus landed next to the man.

“Like my Mutamids?” a female voice asked as a car pulled up, a woman in complete white dress stepping out of it. “I salvaged the research from what was left of that idiot Kannagi’s work.”

“Who… who are you?” Eiji gasped out.

“Well, let’s just say we’ve had mutual dealings,” the woman said. “You gypped me on a deal some years before, remember?”

“S-Starlight?” Eiji said.

“Or Madam X, if you prefer.” Starlight said. “I was going to let my Mutamids finish this job but then I decided there was too much to leave to chance. These practically mindless brutes wouldn’t be enough, I decided I’d have to do this myself.”

At this, she pulled off her gloves, to reveal what looked to be glowing blue orbs embedded in her hands. With a flick of the wrist, she slammed Eiji into the mountainside. Another flick and he was drawn near her, Starlight grabbing him in a chokehold. “Pathetic. I can’t believe I even considered bringing the Kougamis into X if this is the best they can offer.”

“You… you won’t get your hands on the medals, not while I breathe…” Eiji said, going for his pocket and drawing a taser. Starlight screamed and dropped Eiji as one of her hands sparked.

“DAMN YOU!” Starlight shouted. “Finish him!” she shouted to her Mutamids. Both nodded and charged before several gunshots impacted them. They didn’t do damage but were enough to attract attention. Erika had finally caught up and was now holding a desert eagle pistol in her hands. Roundhouse kicking one of the Mutamids, she then flipped over the other and grabbed it before throwing it into the ground.

“Bitch, no means no,” Erika said. “You were declined once, so take a hint. You’re not wanted!”

She fired her pistol at Starlight, but to her surprise, the bullets seemed to stop in midair as they even got close to her. Starlight smiled, her palms now glowing a purple shade as she picked the bullets out of the air. “...Please, is that really the best you can do?” Starlight asked.

“...What have you done to yourself?” Erika whispered.

“Remade myself,” Starlight said in a faux-sweet tone. “All for the betterment of mankind of course. Bioengineering and robotics have come so far these days don’t you know?”

Erika then rolled to the ground as Starlight fired a blast of energy at her. She grabbed the Birth Belt and put it on.

“Erika… no…” Eiji gasped out.

“You want to live through this, or not?” Erika asked before tossing a cell medal into the driver. “HENSHIN!”

“Very well then…” Starlight sighed. “If that’s your game…”

With that, she threw what sickeningly resembled a Driver around her waist and an orb developed in the center of it, beeping intermittently. “Henshin.” Starlight said pressing down on a button atop the orb.

“Equalize, Scienticize! Energize, Solarize!” the belt stated as purple armor wrapped itself around Starlight, actually resembling Kamen Rider Agito in quite a few ways, right down to the horned helmet. The only difference was of course the silver orbs dotting the purple armor, and the chest plate which depicted a sun. The orbs in Starlight’s palms were still there, embedded in silver gauntlets styled after equal signs.

“Ever heard of the Tunguska event?” Starlight asked as she traded punches with Erika, before dodging a swing from the crane arm feature. She then blasted Erika back with a blast from her palms “Russians reported it as a meteor. They were covering things up, of course. In reality, some alien craft showed up from a cross-dimensional rift. Consider yourself… enlightened.”

She then grabbed the recovering Erika and threw her into the ground. “It took me several years to get ahold of enough stuff from the crash to reverse engineer it to build this. The files called it a Mirai Driver. Fitting, as I open the way to the future.”

“So you’re a thief then,” Erika said, knocking Starlight to the ground with a powerful leg sweep maneuver. “Not surprised.”

“Cell Burst.”

Erika then fired a powerful beam of red energy at the Dark Rider, who simply raised her hands in an x-shaped move to protect herself. She was pushed back but seemed otherwise unharmed.

“My turn!” Starlight said firing an identical beam of red energy at Erika, who barely moved out of the way just in time. She then moved like a flash of light and tossed Erika into the wreckage of the truck. She drew back her fist, but just as Starlight was about to deliver the killing blow, the entire armor began to spark and steam. “No… NOT NOW!” Starlight shouted as her transformation canceled out.

The Mutamids helped Starlight up, supporting her while unknown to anyone, Mezool had used the chaos to recover the Cores from the wreckage.

“Another day, Kougami!” Starlight hissed out as she climbed into her car. “Another day…”

See, this was the problem with the new Driver, Starlight for all of her genius hadn’t quite worked out all the kinks yet. This was the problem with working with completely alien technology and putting a bit of Earth tech into it, cannibalizing the two into something completely new. There were bound to be a few teething troubles along the way, really. And this meant that Starlight’s Rider Form could only last about fifteen minutes, at max. And that was if she was lucky. Today, obviously, was not one of those days.

“Eiji,” Erika said as she pulled herself out of the rubble, the Birth Prototype armor missing quite a few pieces. Erika’s bleeding arm was exposed to the world. “You okay? Speak to me!”

“...That was… foolish, Erika…” Eiji gasped out. “So incredibly foolish, you do know that right?”

“Yes, well…” Erika muttered. “Consider us even, okay? For… before, with that incident okay? Besides, Mr. Kougami would kill me if I even let his precious son get hurt. But you’re still paying me overtime, got it?”

“Got it…” Eiji laughed weakly before he slipped into unconsciousness. Meanwhile, Ankh watched the scene from high atop a mountain. Kazari stood next to him. “So, you’ll hold up your end of the bargain?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Kazari said, fingering the Condor medal behind his back before he absorbed it.

“I’ll be keeping my eyes on you cat, understand that?” Ankh asked.

“And I will be keeping my eyes on you,” Kazari said. “Can’t have the most untrustworthy greed in existence going off the rails again, can we?”

“There’s a human phrase that fits this scenario,” Ankh mused. “Tch, it’s called pot… meet kettle.”

Far away, on the other side of Denver, a train pulled into a station. It’d been a very long while since its occupant had been in Canterlot. But now, she was home. Breathing in the fresh desert air, Sunset Shimmer smiled to herself. There was nothing quite like the smell of home to invigorate the senses after one long and very tiring tour of Europe.

“Still, can’t say things weren’t interesting over there, at any rate…” Sunset smiled. “After all, when you meet a guy whose name literally translates to Tigerhawk well… Still, it’s so glad to be home. Huh, wonder if Twilight’s still nose deep in that collection I caught her in a few months ago?”

Sunset smiled, she’d definitely make an effort to get her girlfriend out of the pages of those books once in a while, really. Celestia knew she was such a horny little pony at heart, really.

Sunset’s eyes widened as a newspaper, several weeks old blew right in her face. More accurately, they widened at the headline on it.

“Sea Siren turned Hero? Adagio Dazzle a Kamen Rider?”

Sunset nearly fainted then and there, she’d heard a few stories about the Riders and to even think that Adagio Dazzle was now one of them… well, it made her very worried indeed. “Still, at least I know what happened to her. After the Battle of the Bands, she and her sisters basically… vanished. Somehow I wish that they’d stayed vanished.”

Sunset’s walk broke into a sprint as she gripped her geode tightly. If Adagio Dazzle was truly a Kamen Rider, well it looked like things in her city were about to take a turn for the worse. That is if they hadn’t already actually. She could only hope she was in time.

19: Burning Fires

Author's Notes:

Give Layton13 a shout eh? He was a good help getting Takeru started here, and yes before you ask, Ghost will be staying around for a few chapters at least. He's so much fun to write, what a sweetheart.

“Well, isn’t this just lovely to know…” Sunset thought to herself as she finally arrived back home, throwing open the curtains to let in the evening light. “Adagio Dazzle, back again. And as if to add insult to injury she’s a freaking Kamen Rider, of all things to boot!”

Sunset was about to ask herself if anything could possibly get any worse, then decided against it. Usually, things did whenever someone asked that particular question.

Seemed Fate still had a few more jokes left to play on her, really. Falling backwards onto her bed, Sunset sighed to herself even as PostCrush played faintly in the background. How the Hell was she supposed to take this, moreover, how was she supposed to handle this? She had a sneaking suspicion even a Rainbow Friendship Laser of Love -as Pinkie had so nicely named it- wouldn’t really do much to a Rider. And that was assuming Adagio’s own abilities weren’t all that powerful. Really, her getting hold of a particularly powerful set of abilities would be just like her, wouldn’t it? “So, even without the power to sing and bewitch others, she still finds a way to come back with a vengeance.”

A thought occurred to her, where were the other two? Where were Aria and Sonata in all of this? Had they finally went their separate ways, too jealous of Adagio’s newfound power to function as a cohesive unit? Or worse, were they secretly supporting their sister(?) from the shadows with belts of their own?

“So many unknowns here, it’s not even funny,” Sunset thought trying to resist the urge to scream into her pillow. It’d be cathartic, sure, but it’d solve absolutely nothing. “I mean, I don’t even know the extent of Adagio’s powers, nor do I know what Aria or Sonata could or can do.”

Sunset climbed off her bed, and then reached under it to pull out a dusty old box. She hadn’t touched the contents of it in years really. Opening the box, she blew the dust off the old notebook inside, feeling it’s pages. Sunset sighed in pleasure, while she loved books as much as the next woman there was always this underlying feel of magic only a book made in Equestria possessed. It was warm, soothing even. But there was no time for reminiscing, not right now.

In Equestria, the Princess of Friendship, the Sun and the Moon now sighed to herself rubbing her forehead in pain. It was another one of those days, dealing with the nobility who she swore could be equated to children at times. Simply put, Twilight Sparkle was a tired mare and would have loved nothing more than to just turn in for the night as soon as she raised the moon.

Looking inside her bedchambers, she saw her marefriend of now several years already fast asleep and snoring soundly. Her armor was laying by the bed, discarded in a hurry. That fit, Twilight mused to herself. Fizzlepop when she wanted her sleep, she really wanted her sleep. At least this time she’d bothered to take off her armor before collapsing.

“Wait a moment…” Twilight murmured to herself as she saw her bedside dresser glowing. She knew what this meant. Opening it up with a gentle creaking sound so as not to disturb Fizzlepop’s beauty sleep, Twilight gave a soft gentle smile. “It has been too long, hasn’t it… Sunset?”

Twilight frowned when she read Sunset’s message. Adagio Dazzle returning, now that was a problem. She’d thought about the siren a few times in the past couple of years, but not often. And it was only with pity, thinking about how truly great she could have become if she hadn’t lost herself in her power. Twilight had hoped Adagio losing her powers would teach her a lesson. Clearly not, if Adagio had greedily grabbed up the powers of a Rider the first chance she got.

“Are you absolutely sure, Sunset, that Adagio is a threat?” Twilight wrote. “From what it sounds like, Denver seems to hail her as a hero of sorts. And given it is quite frankly impossible to bewitch a whole city -and that presumes Adagio’s own powers have returned- it seems a possibility that-”

“...Possibly, yes,” Sunset admitted. “But hello, this is Adagio Dazzle we’re talking about here. I’d like to give her the benefit of the doubt, but remember your counterpart here? She’s basically you if you never had friends, with only a few minor differences here and there.”

“And all counterparts are exactly alike?” Twilight replied. “That seems… well, I’ll be honest with you, rather narrow-minded if you ask me. I mean, well yes, this raises the old nature VS nurture debate but really! Consider the possibility that the human world’s Adagio had a very different upbringing than our world’s version of her. It’s a thought worth considering, right?”

“The nature vs nurture argument has never have been proven to have any factual basis,” Sunset replied. “For all we know, really, the human Adagio could have been raised right and still turned out to be some sort of sociopath.”

“The only reason the nature vs nurture argument has never been proven is because there’s been no way to test it! Until now, at any rate. You’re letting your emotions rule you again, Sunset…” Twilight wrote back suppressing a sigh. “Honestly! Your past history with Adagio Dazzle is clouding your judgment!”

“Yeah… yeah,” Sunset admitted. “Perhaps you’re right…” Sunset agreed. “Good night, Twilight.”

“Good night, Sunset.”

Closing the book, Sunset sighed as she fell back into her bed. Yeah, this was going to be a lot to take in, and take some getting used to, really. Maybe Twilight was right, maybe it was just her old emotions getting the better of her, preconceived notions of what an Adagio was supposed to be. “Goddess above, Sunset,” the mare thought to herself. “You really are getting a little bit too paranoid for your own good! You really haven’t even met the woman, and already you’re getting crazy ideas in your head that this Adagio is playing the long game! ...Hmm, maybe your girlfriend is rubbing off on you.”

If this was an anime, she suspected -if she were a stupider sort of woman- she’d probably be winding up in some sort of Toshiki Inoue style plot. Well, at least she knew better and actually had an idea of communicating with her friends when it mattered. Sunset facepalmed at this, of course… She was such an idiot. Surely this Adagio had friends, right? And actually, come to think of it, where did she even get the Driver? What, did she go all Tony Stark and build the thing in a cave, with a box of scraps and random bits?

Sunset had to laugh at the mental image this conjured up.

Sunset then pulled up her phone, and went through Adagio’s Facebook page. It was easy enough to find really, given it was about the only one with the name ‘Dazzle’. It wasn’t a common name, really.

Sunset blinked in shock, Adagio had a lot of followers yes -this was a given considering who she was- but she really wasn’t following a lot of people back. If Sunset didn’t know better, she would almost swear Adagio had very little in the way of actual friends. “Whether that’s due to her downright bitchy personality, or something else is… uncertain.”

She caught a few names, like someone named Star Hunter and Eiji Kougami of all people but then her eyes narrowed. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy -Fluttershy!- was on that list. A protective rage filled her, Fluttershy and Rainbow would have to be talked to. If Adagio had even touched a hair on their heads there would be Tartarus to pay indeed!

Then Sunset regarded Adagio’s profile picture, and general presumed demeanor that the page seemed to indicate. Unlike the Adagio she had met, this one seemed more reserved if her style of dress was of any indication. Also, Sunset was surprised to note Adagio rarely -if at all!- seemed to mention her… exploits. Instead, she just talked about various sea life. If Sunset didn’t know any better, she would say that Adagio didn’t even want fame. But that was impossible… right? Right?

This time Sunset really did slam her head face-first into her pillow and screamed. Goddess above, like Writer’s Quill why did this have to be so frustrating? Why couldn’t Adagio just be out and out evil and Sunset could ask her friends to rainbow laser her again into oblivion?

“Because real life is not that simple,” a voice in the back of Sunset’s mind -one that sounded suspiciously like Twilight- commented. “People, they just aren’t like that. You can’t put them into neat and tidy little boxes labeled black and white.”

Sunset got the point really, and went for her phone and dialed Rarity’s number. She’d noticed she was also following Adagio… for some reason. Well, if anyone was a good enough judge of character it was generally Rarity or Fluttershy. Sunset noted to call her kind friend later for a second opinion. What really puzzled her was Dash. Was she just keeping an eye on Adagio? Were all of them just doing that? Sunset’s finger hovered over Rarity’s number. Well, there was really only one way to find out, wasn’t there?

“Sunset, darling!” Rarity cried over the phone in joy. “I didn’t even know you were back in town! Oh, have you told Twilight yet? Have you swept your girlfriend away -or plan to- for a night of dazzling romance and passion?”

“You’ve been reading those romance novels again, haven’t you?” Sunset deadpanned.

“...I… Er… yes? Maybe?” Rarity stammered out. “Look, look, let’s not go pointing fingers here, okay?”

“Who said I was pointing fingers?” Sunset asked. “Anyways, did you have to use the word dazzling?”

“Why would that be a… bad word unless… Oh,” Rarity muttered as she finally cottoned on as to why Sunset was calling her. “Oh, so I see. You must have seen the morning edition really…”

“Well, not this week’s morning edition, but yeah… I sorta did,” Sunset said before taking a deep breath and sighing. “When did… well, when did Adagio get Rider powers? Like seriously, for Celestia’s sake when the buck did this happen?”

“Calm down, Sunset,” Rarity tried to soothe to little to no avail.

“Calm down?” Sunset nearly shrieked. “You want me to calm down when my worst enemy has the powers of a Kamen Rider? Like… Like, I don’t even know how to deal with this right now!”

“Deep breathes, Sunset,” Rarity soothed. “Deep breathes. You doing that right now?”

“Yeah… yeah, I’m doing that…” Sunset muttered. “By Writer’s Quill, this is terrifying. Like, when did this even happen?” she asked again.

“To be honest, I’m not sure myself…” Rarity admitted. “One day, Adagio -the human one, as far as I can tell- just showed up out of the blue with powers of animals. Hell, I wouldn’t have even known who it was if Adagio hadn’t accidentally outed herself while saving my life…” she murmured.

“Huh, that doesn’t seem like the Adagio I… She’s so full of herself that…” Sunset muttered before her eyes widened in abject shock as she realized what exactly her friend had said. “Wait a minute, what!? Saved your life? When did this happen!?!”

“A few weeks ago, these piranha fish-like creature things just showed up in my shop -In my shop, Sunset!- and they would have eaten me and Sassy alive had Adagio not showed up and stopped them. IN MY SHOP SUNSET! Can you imagine…?”

“Well, that certainly lends a point towards Adagio’s favor…” Sunset muttered.

“IN MY SHOP!” Rarity shrieked making Sunset rub her ear in pain from the sheer volume. Sometimes Rarity forgot that Sunset -as a herd animal- had more heightened senses than her own.

“Yes Rarity, I sorta get the picture,” Sunset deadpanned as her hearing slowly returned to normal. “Now what was that you were saying about deep breathes?”

“...Yes, yes, you’re quite right,” Rarity admitted shamefully. “Et tu, Sunset?”

“Saved your life, huh?” Sunset muttered as she fell back onto the bed and sighed again. Yeah, she said to herself. This was going to be a lot to process, and a lot of getting used to. “By the Writer’s Quill…”

When did her life get this complicated?

“Sunset?” Rarity asked in a worried tone. “You… well, I hesitate to ask this, but you don’t honestly think Adagio could be dangerous do you? I… I hesitate to ask but-”

“You can go ahead and ask anyways,” Sunset said. “I think I know what you’re going to say.”

“Well, I hesitate to ask, but what if…” Rarity muttered. “What if Adagio is indeed the Equestrian one, and she is indeed playing the ‘long game’ as it were?”

“It’s a possibility I don’t like to think about,” Sunset replied. “But yeah, it’s definitely a possibility.”

“I mean, I only ask because not too long ago, there were these rumors -crafted by Vignette, dreadful woman- of Adagio knocking over a drug store. Oh, I cannot believe I lended her my romance novels to a drug addict!”

“Well, if it’s by Vignette, I’d ordinarily say it’s some sort of hatchet job, but…” Sunset commented. “But when it’s Adagio, you can never be too entirely sure really.”

“Oh, we are being entirely ridiculous, aren’t we?” Rarity decided. “There is really only one way to decide this matter, and make up our minds on if Adagio is dangerous or not! And that is ask her ourselves!”

“Yeah... “ Sunset admitted. “I… and Twilight -my world’s one- said this to me as well, and I agree with her completely that I may be letting old bias cloud my judgment.”

“No duh, as I believe they say,” Rarity tittered. “But I would be remiss to admit if it’s not happening with me as well… Shameful, just shameful I say! To fall into such old habits, I thought I would be old enough to move past such things!”

“Well, you would think…” Sunset commented. “But here am I as well, doing things as well. We’re not as perfect as we like to think we are, are we?”

“No…” Rarity admitted with more than a touch of shame in her voice. “No we are not. Have… have you looked at Adagio’s Facebook page, like I have?”

“Yes, I have. It’s… well, I hate to say it but she has almost no friends,” Sunset said. “And if this is really the human version of Adagio like I hope she is, and she’s just… well, not an out and out sociopath we should really amend that right?”

“Yes, quite!” Rarity agreed. “Well, we’ll handle this in the morning, give Adagio a good grilling if you will. And if she turns out to be a friend… well, then she is a friend. Goodnight Sunset.”

“Goodnight Rarity.” Sunset said as she finally hung up before letting sleep finally claim her.

---

Elsewhere in the city, Adagio had finally returned to the National Aquarium, though not for work-related reasons as one might think. In lew of an actual temple or shrine, Takeru figured somewhere the woman felt most comfortable would do.

“Well, it’s not the Daitenku Temple, but this should do…” Takeru commented observing Adagio trace a finger along the glass tank in front of her, a school of fish swimming out of the way as a beluga whale swam near.

“...I’m assuming the Ghost naming thing, well, that’s just to make you sound cool, right?” Adagio asked with a sigh. “I mean, you can’t actually be a… Look, I’m a woman of science. I believe what I see with my own two eyes, and so far, there’s absolutely no proof of ghosts. None.”

The senior Rider just smiled as he returned: “You somewhat remind me of a close friend. She probably would describe herself as a woman of science. She always got into arguments with another friend if Gamma were something explainable with science or not. In the end, she found her answer. But regarding your answer, I once was a ghost, but not anymore.”

“Yeah, sure firefly boy,” Adagio said rolling her eyes and pointing to the beluga in the tank. “See this? This I can touch. Look, I was entertained by Ghostbusters just like anyone else. I can appreciate good science fiction. But that’s all it ever was and ever will be. Science fiction. I also appreciate something I can reach out and touch with my bare hands, something approved and supported by scientific fact. Needless to say, the paranormal is not.”

His smile not wavering he returned after a few seconds: “So how can you believe in the feelings of someone else? You can't see them, you can't measure them, you just have to believe they are there. Sometimes there are just things we can't explain just yet. Only because we don’t have proof of something right now doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”

“...You sound like Sonata going on about Bigfoot,” Adagio said. “If Bigfoot existed, pretty sure we’d have proof of the big guy by now beyond just footprints -which can be faked I feel I should add- and blurry photographs. ...Or her and aliens for that matter. Wow, Sonata believes in a lot of conspiracies now that I think of it.”

“And until recently no one believed in coin based homunculi as well and now they are running around out there and hurting people. There is a lot about our world we don’t know right now.”

“...Point taken,” Adagio muttered leaning up against the glass. “I mean, ask me a few years ago about if magic existed and I probably would have laughed my ass off in your face. And yet, somehow magical sea sirens from another world exist, with me and my sister’s faces for their human forms. Goodness gracious, this is just…” she trailed off rubbing her forehead in frustration.

“The world is full of surprising things, isn’t it? Last year I thought a giant Pac Man that rampaged through Tokyo was just the stuff of fantasy. You never know what the world might throw at you next,” Takeru said, rubbing the back of his head.

“...Oh right, I did see that,” Adagio said. “Did anyone else just think it was a rebroadcast of that one movie, Pixels?”

Takeru just looked at her with a bewildered expression in return. “You really are a stubborn one, aren’t you?” he asked.

“So I’ve been told,” Adagio said with a smile. “Aria didn’t get all of it, actually. Though in my line of work, some stubbornness is required, just to help that one animal or to get by being more than a pretty face.”

“Definitely some qualities one can admire if they don’t consume one,” Takeru observed.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Adagio asked her hands on her hips.

He simply chuckled and added an innocent: “Nothing.”

“Oh, I know you were going somewhere, firefly boy!” Adagio said poking him in the chest. “Listen, you may be cute, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you get away with insinuations!”

“Cute?” He raised an eyebrow.

Adagio huffed. “I’m serious, you look like you stepped out of one of those mangas I know Sonata reads, the shoujo ones I think she calls them. Not that I care, of course. Life’s not all flowery romance.”

Takeru resisted the urge to snark about the reason behind life not being all flowery romance for Adagio was perhaps her general grumpy demeanor.

“I mean, I don’t even have time for romance, as it is,” Adagio huffed. “I’ve got a full workload as it is, plus animals are far more interesting than humans half the time really. They’re less likely to do something stupid.”

Then she was promptly hit atop the head by a paper fan. Rubbing her head and groaning in pain, Adagio turned to see a Japanese man in monk’s robes behind her. “Do not insult Takeru-Dono!” he shouted at her.

“...Who’s this guy, and why is he shouting at me?” Adagio asked in a confused tone.

“Ah, Onari, you finally made it. I was getting a bit worried,” he said before turning back Adagio. “That’s Onari, a friend of mine and currently running a paranormal activity agency.”

“...are all of your friends… this odd?” Adagio asked, trying to word her distaste for the somewhat overbearing man as politely as she could.

“They are the best friends one could ask for and as far as I heard, you have some colorful ones yourself,” he chuckled with an innocent smile.

“If you’re talking about Ankh, or my Equestrian doppelganger, then they’re no friends of mine,” Adagio said. “...I still have an urge to punch the both of them in the face as it is… The little sellout, threw me to the wind as soon as he found someone better. I don’t know why I’m surprised but…”

“Is it just me, or was there something more going on between the two you think?” Onari asked as he leaned over to Takeru. “I mean, the way she talks, it’s like she’s a spurned lover…”

“I’m not going to be the one to bring that up,” Takeru whispered back. “I’m too polite for that, besides she scares me! And anyways, where were you? We met up at the airport, and it’s only now you decide to show up?”

“I… may have decided to take in the sights, and heard about a mysterious incident in a house not too far from here. It was my duty to protect the little old ladies of Denver!” Onari whispered back.

“...You got lost didn’t you?” Takeru said in a flat tone. “Mapquest is a thing, you know…”

“KAMI-SAMA DAMN THESE AMERICAN APPS!!!” Onori shouted falling to his knees and screaming to the heavens.

“Shamballa? Well, what’s this, my mantra?” Adagio drawled. “No, It's the wi-fi password. We're not savages. Are you two done whispering behind my back? I can hear you two you know.”

Both Takeru and Onori yelped upon seeing the annoyed looking woman staring at them.

“Well… she’s quite a… catch,” Onori muttered. “I pity the poor soul who ends up with her…”

Adagio’s eye twitched. “I can hear that too.”

Both of them shared a last nervous look before Takeru returned his attention back to Adagio, adjusting his color continuing, his voice a bit shaky: “Yeah… Noted. Uhm… Anyway, we probably should get back to what we came here in the first place. Eiji told me you had some problems controlling your powers, is that right?”

“...If by problems controlling my powers, you mean turning into a berserking animal, then yeah,” Adagio said. “I’ve only seen it happen twice, once to me and once to my counterpart.”

“So I heard, Eiji also told me that it might be connected to your desires since the Medals apparently enhance them. He hoped I could help you keep them in check and I think I can help you, but it won’t be easy.”

“Neither was getting to where I am now, but I managed that right?” Adagio asked.

“True, but this will be an entirely different challenge, not one of brawns, but one of the mind. You have to find your inner self and to do that you have to slow down and meditate,” Takeru said pulling out a mat from… somewhere and unrolling it along the floor. “That’s why we are here because this is a place you feel at home. You are familiar with the concept of meditation?”

“Sonata recommended me and Aria trying it,” Adagio said. “But truth be told, I’ve never actually seen much use for it.”

“Then this explains so much…” Takeru mentally grumbled.

Onori let out a sharp gasp before hitting Adagio atop the head with a paper fan again. “How dare you disregard the principles of simple and daily meditation! It frees the mind, the body, the soul! Takeru-Domo here meditates every day, and that is why he is so at peace with the world and its woes!”

“...I really don’t need you to speak up for me, Onori…” Takeru thought. “I can explain this for myself.”

“The answer lies in your heart, Adagio Dazzle-san,” Takeru said sitting himself down next to her. “You have absolutely nothing to worry about. In fact, I think just some time meditating every day, just a little for about ten to fifteen minutes or so could do you wonders.”

“How so?” Adagio asked.

“Your life… yes, you’re quite intent on making something of it, and you certainly don’t treat it recklessly but-”

“Recklessly?” Adagio asked. “What’s that supposed to mean? Are you implying I’m going to suddenly start treating it as a game? You only live once, and playing around with your life as if it’s a toy is downright asinine!”

“Yeah, you only live once…” Adagio thought to herself, flashing back to several years before.

It was Hawaii, that was where it all began. Adagio and her sisters were the children of an ambassador, ‘Ohana or family was respected above all else. To even disrespect those values was sacrilege in her family. Something, Adagio would later begrudgingly admit that she and her Equestrian counterpart shared.

“You can’t catch me!” Sonata chorused merrily as she ran through the halls of the embassy, the then only five-year-old laughing up a storm. Adagio and Aria followed after their sibling, running past the adults.

“Oh, but I think I can…” said their father as he scooped his child up into his arms, Sonata letting out a cry. “So there you are, you little scamps.”

“Hello father,” Adagio said. “How are things?”

“Tiring, but I can never take time out of my day to spend time with you three little rascals, right?” Musical Score asked. “Tell you what, later tonight? How about we all go to the beach, there’s supposed to be a fireworks show planned.”

“That does sound like fun…” Adagio said. Aria was silent in those early days, shy and hiding behind her hair. She would be the one to change the most in the coming years, though if it was a positive change Adagio would never exactly be sure. “Ooooh, can I wear a lei? And a hula skirt? I want to…”

“Dance like the rest?” Musical asked the ten-year-old. “Yeah, I know. That’s my little girl, my little Adagio. And I’ll help you reach your dream. That’s what family is for. To help each other out.”

Then her whole world seemed to be unmade as in the next several minutes or what seemed to be a slow eternity everything was enveloped in a flash of light. There was a powerful explosion, and flames reached through the building as Adagio was sent flying backward. There was a loud crack, and some part of the building began to come down on top of Adagio…

In the present, Adagio continued to think: “I barely survived, I still have the scars on my back to show for it. Dad… he didn’t make it out. The firemen only arrived to just save us, and a few others. It was one of the worst terrorist attacks in history, and to this day the man or woman behind it hasn’t been caught. We all handled it in different ways, Aria got angrier, took up boxing and rock and roll to vent out her issues. I… I learned all life was precious, after it nearly got taken away from me. I turned to marine animals to cope. Sonata… she turned to cooking. Dad…” she sniffled. “If you could see me now, I wonder what you’d think of me. Did I do you right, become the daughter you wanted me to be? ...or would I be just a disappointment?”

“I never implied you were treating it as a game,” Takeru said placing a hand upon Adagio’s shoulder, and watched as she flinched. “Are… are you alright?”

“Yeah… sorry, just thinking,” Adagio whispered. “I suppose my problem is… well, maybe I’m in over my head. I’m supposed to be collecting every medal of the Greeeds that I can get my hands on, and now… well, I’ve only got three, and when Ankh stole the rest out from under me and gave them back to their original owners... “

Adagio stood up and walked back towards the glass. “In the end, I suppose a large part of this is on me. I should have tried harder to make nice with Ankh, instead of keeping him at arm’s length. Guess it’s no real surprise when he decided to make tracks and head right back to his own kind.”

“You couldn’t have predicted that,” Takeru said. “Human… well, not human but you know what I mean. Human nature is a very funny, and fickle thing. The Greeeds, from the sound of them, are very human. They just want to live their lives as well. They’re close to extinction, and they want to live, no matter what means they chose to do so, that does seem to be their end goal. To live, and become complete. Isn’t that right?”

“...I suppose, yes,” Adagio admitted. “But they’re a mockery of life, and they only want to think about one thing and one thing alone. And that’s themselves.”

“...well, when nobody else is able to look out for you, suppose you don’t have much choice really,” Takeru said. “There’s a saying of mine that I like. You never know when a person might die. But until the moment it actually happens, you should let your life burn bright! Isn’t that what the Greeeds want? To burn their own lives brightly? To be… remembered? Maybe I’m misjudging the entire scenario and maybe I’m wrong. But it seems to me that they want a hand extended, and to live in such a way that they make it worthwhile. Isn’t it worth considering that we should help them? Or at the very least, try to understand them?”

“...Maybe, maybe you’re right,” Adagio said. “And starting today, that’s what I will try to do.”

“And I, Takeru Tenkuji will help you, Adagio Dazzle-san.”

“Please, just call me Adagio.”

---

Morning came, and Adagio awoke in her apartment, dressed herself and drove to work. “Good to see you back, Adagio!” Star Hunter said. “Arthur’s been lonely without you. Actually, the entire workplace has been a bit lonely. It’s like there’s been a certain energy missing without your constant devotion to the job.”

“Star, stop sounding like such a suck-up. It doesn’t suit you,” Adagio drawled. “I’m sure the National Aquarium can survive a day or two without me. It’s not like everything’s just going to fall to pieces.”

“I-I know,” Star said. “But you bring a certain level of energy and devotion to the job here. I mean, seriously, I can count the number of people on one hand who’d get close and personal with a leopard seal. I’m still not sure if you’re brave, or just plain crazy.”

“Yeah, well join the club,” Adagio shrugged. “Still, Arthur’s a sweetheart once you get to know him.”

“I’ll…. I’ll take your word for it. He tries to bite my hand off every time I get near him.” Star Hunter muttered.

“You just have to know how to talk to the guy, that’s all,” Adagio said looking to a nearby tank where the seal in question swam around freely, and happily. He almost seemed to smile as he swam past Adagio. Almost. Adagio had long learned not to anthropomorphize creatures.

Taking a glance behind him, Star Hunter sighed before he then muttered: “Ugh, I can’t believe we have to replace the front doors. It’s like someone ran a truck through them!”

Adagio flushed brightly, yeah that was Aria’s driving skill for you alright. She drove like she was possessed. There was a reason she had often politely declined for Aria to take her to work on her bike.

“The boss is up to my ears, wanting to know who pulled that,” Star Hunter continued. “And the worst part is, I can’t even tell him, as the security cameras chose to cut out right then. It’s like they’ve been on the fritz as of late, as every so often they just… shut down.”

Adagio flushed again, she suspected that was the energy Takeru put out. While he was no longer a ghost, he did mention he still put out a form of supernatural energy. Like a barrier, or forcefield of sorts. Adagio didn’t believe him personally, but there were some things about him she simply couldn’t explain.

At the very least though, he was a definite step up from Ankh in potential boyfriend material. She was seriously considering asking him out to dinner. He reminded her of Fluttershy in some ways, except he was… well, a guy and Takeru was a bit more of a spitfire in some regards. He wasn’t afraid to speak his mind.

“You ever been on a date, Star?” Adagio asked. All the while, she considered Takeru’s words. Yeah, she could definitely do with a few methods of destressing herself at times. Especially considering her raised cortisol levels at times were half of the reason performing a full-medal combo was so risky.

Also, he was right. Helping Ankh might benefit her in the long run really, considering it was her pushing him away that led him to go back to the Greeed. Who knew what damage he’d managed to cause by doing so. She even hated to think about it. Oh well, she supposed she’d be reaping what she’d sown really.

“...N-Not particularly, no,” Star Hunter stammered out, blushing a bright red. “Why do you even… Oh, so someone’s finally caught your eye is it? Is it Eiji?”

“NO!” Adagio shouted catching a few looks at her sudden shout. “No, hardly. It’s a friend of his, from Japan. He’s here to help me… destress myself.”

“He’s got to be some friend,” Star Hunter observed. “I mean, to come all the way from Japan to give you what’s basically a massage. I mean, wow! That is dedication to his work! Hell of a favor, really.”

Truth be told, Star Hunter thought Adagio deserved someone to call her own. She often got so caught up in her work, she didn’t know what day it even was without being told. Usually by Star Hunter himself. She’d worked long hours far too often, probably because she had no inclination to go back home. She was just far too much of a workaholic than was necessary. He’d heard of loving your job, but Adagio took it to egregious levels. Star did hope whoever had caught her eye was ready to handle her.

He swallowed. He’d often caught a few glimpses of Adagio’s back when she was zipping up her wetsuit. It… well, it really wasn’t pretty to say the least. It looked like some great ugly mess, and Star Hunter had seen enough of his brother’s work at the hospital to know a burn scar or two when he saw it. He’d had the delicacy to never ask where Adagio had gotten them, but for whatever reason, Star Hunter felt like he should give her a great big hug. To describe her, Star would first start with her eyes.

“She has such beautiful, kind eyes...Yet, for some reason, she really looks… incredibly sad.” Nanoha Takamachi once said of her future friend Fate Testarossa, and Star Hunter swore it applied to his friend as well.

“Oh, who are you kidding?” Star said to himself. “Stop fooling yourself, if Adagio really liked you that way, she’d have taken notice of you long ago.”

Yeah, Star Hunter had resigned himself to just be Adagio’s best friend, and that was the end of it. He’d support her through thick and thin, but she’d never let him be anything more than that.

“...Yeah, a hell of a favor,” Adagio muttered before perking right back up. “Yeah, I’ll be sure to send Eiji some flowers.”

“Oh, Adagio~!” a surprising if not welcomed voice sang merrily.

“Rarity?” Adagio asked to see the fashionista, alongside another woman who had -quite possibly- the most vibrant red hair Adagio had ever seen in her lifetime. It reminded her of a blazing fire, and her eyes were like that of the seas. This absolutely could be none other than the Sunset Shimmer woman she, Fluttershy and Rainbow talked about. “...Look, can you come at a later time, like maybe during my lunch hours? I’ve got a few days worth of work to make up, and I’m pretty sure Arthur is pissed as all hell that I haven’t dropped in to feed him. And have you ever seen an angry leopard seal?”

Then she took notice of Star Hunter, who looked to be trying very hard not to do anything but proclaim his undying love for Sunset. Adagio facepalmed, of course. Of course. She wasn’t a complete and total shut-in, she’d vaguely heard Sunset was some big music star. It just hadn’t… clicked in her mind till now. Oh well, attendance numbers would rise for the Aquarium, so all was good.

“I’m sorry about Star, we haven’t gotten him… completely trained as of yet,” Adagio said kicking her friend in the shin as a none too subtle hint. Star Hunter took the message and straightened himself. “You know how it is, right?”

“Yeah, I do…” Sunset laughed rubbing her hand behind her head in embarrassment.

Okay, Adagio wouldn’t lie. She was… well, she could consider herself sufficiently intimidated. There was no getting around the fact that Sunset was goddamn beautiful. Now, Adagio had never concerned herself all that much with her looks -again, work was more important than attracting a man- but she knew others considered her beautiful.

She’d gotten more than enough compliments to tell. But Sunset…? Hoo boy, she was on a whole ‘nother level. It was like a goddess had descended, possibly literally if any of the stories coming from Canterlot High had any small amount of truth to them. Adagio hated rumors, they always amounted to large amounts of unsubstantiated fact and spelled trouble. She could attest to this thanks to Vignette, that devil woman.

“Oh well, thanks to some big country music star just dropping in, attendance numbers will rise,” Adagio shrugged. “Now, are you going to just stand there, or did you actually want to see me about something? Because if not, I have a…”

“Leopard seal to attend to, yes we heard,” Rarity said. “Listen, can you at least spare us a few moments? We honestly haven’t talked since the whole coin piranha fish thingy incident, and I do want to just catch up. Plus, you really must meet Sunset. She’s a joy to talk to, and I’m sure you two would get along great.”

“Yes, yes, I’m sure we will, but we’ll talk and walk,” Adagio said as she began walking towards Arthur’s tank. Star Hunter followed behind, like some puppy I guess Adagio would compare him to. “You’re awfully pushy, aren’t you? I mean, I can meet your friend some other time right? Goodness knows she just finished her European tour and probably wants to relax right? Not talk to some random ass stranger, and get hounded.”

“Er… yes, right,” Sunset said exchanging a look with Rarity. “That is… admittedly, a tempting idea. I actually had a spa date with Lotus and Aloe planned…”

Okay, so yeah. Adagio was definitely not what Sunset had been expecting. While she clearly didn’t want to talk to them, it wasn’t out of a measure of just being a bitch. She wanted to do her job, and Sunset could respect that. Celestia only knew if she’d been interrupted whilst in the middle of a recording session she’d have been none too pleased.

Sunset did also take notice of what was something of a curiosity to her, a strange sort of medal glimmering around Adagio’s neck. It radiated some sort of power, and it made Sunset’s hair stand on end. Was it Equestrian magic of some sort? Quite possibly. Sunset did know this however, it quite possibly eclipsed the power of a siren amulet.

And yet… Sunset felt a strange disconnect between the woman in front of her, and the one who had tormented her at Canterlot High all those years ago. Even now, watching her toss a fish to a leopard seal, Sunset didn’t feel threatened, at least not in the same way the Equestrian Adagio threatened her. She was on edge, of course, who wouldn’t be seeing the face of a former enemy seemingly working some sort of job in a well-functioning society? But it wasn’t the kind of edge that, at least for the moment, made her want to reach for her geode and pry inside Adagio’s mind.

“Gah!” Sunset thought with a grimace. “Maybe I’m being paranoid! Being around threats so often, with the power of Equestrian magic is clearly starting to get to you Sun. Twilight’s right again, you’re pre-judging this Adagio based on your history with the previous one. Of course, she’s right, you know she’s right. Rarity said Rainbow didn’t trust her, but at times Rainbow’s thick as a brick, and sometimes has a tendency to let her emotions do the thinking for her, not her head. Great, now you’re just rambling to yourself, and standing around like an idiot!”

“...Rarity, listen,” Adagio said. “I’m sorry, I’ll talk with your friend some other time. But I’m, as you can see, very busy today. We’ll meet up this weekend, okay? I’ll put a pin in it, you put a pin in it okay? Hell, I’ve got certain books of yours I’d like to return anyways. They were just a bunch of rot anyways.”

“Why I never!” Rarity huffed. “They were perfectly fine romance novels!”

“You’re implying there ever is such a thing,” Adagio deadpanned. “I was so tempted to feed Arthur one until I realized it’d make him dumber and probably sick as well.”

Sunset suppressed a snort. Clearly, getting a good judgment of Adagio was going to be harder than she previously thought.

20: Guidance

“Remind me why you invited me to this again?” Adagio had to ask. “...’Nata, look, I’m not a baker.”

There she was, at one of Sonata’s baking classes for… some reason she had yet to figure out. Sonata, being herself had pretty much embraced her the moment she’d gotten out of the hospital -possibly causing a few cracked ribs- and resolved to get her more positive time with her siblings. Adagio could appreciate the thought, but she had work to do.

“Well, we’ll just have to fix that won’t we?” Sonata beamed. “Besides, you’re always so stuffy at your job. Look, I know you love it, but you never take days off for yourself. You’ve been working a straight week and a half since you got back.”

“I have sick days to make up, m’kay?” Adagio said to her. “Contrary to popular belief, I can’t just go off and take off whenever I feel like it even to save the world. Not unless I want to get fired.”

“I mean, fair enough,” Sonata said. “But at the very least you need to loosen up.”

“I didn’t get to my level of success by ‘loosening up’ as you put it,” Adagio deadpanned. “I got there by working hard. Fact is, I only have an hour before I have to rush back over to the National Aquarium, and I don’t exactly have time to kill learning how to bake cakes.”

“...Adagio, look…” Sonata whispered. “It’s just… well, after the other Adagio showed up, I… well, I got worried okay? Worried I was going to lose you.”

“To what?” Adagio whispered back. “I can handle myself.”

“And yet you got yourself put right into the hospital for the second time this year,” Sonata whispered back. “I… I just don’t want to lose my sister like I lost… da.” she choked back her tears.

Adagio’s eyes widened in recognition before she hugged her sibling briefly. “You’re not going to lose me, I’ll be right by your side. And if you ever need me, I’ll come running.”

“Promise?” Sonata asked.

“Promise,” Adagio smiled before she went back to kneading the cake dough in front of her. “...wait, you’re not doing this so I can become a housewife, are you? Because I’d…”

“Never stand for that?” Sonata asked. “I dunno, it might help you reign Ankh in if you knew how to appease his stomach. Isn’t that the way to a man’s heart and all?”

Adagio actually had to fight back a laugh at this. “You’re a goof, you know that right?”

“But I’m your goof,” Sonata said tossing a piece of cake dough at her sister.

“Oh, okay,” Adagio said holding up a wad of dough. “You want to go there? Seriously, you wanna go there?”

Sonata was then covered by cake batter and dough. What happened next, well it could only be described as a small civil war breaking out as the two tossed ingredients back and forth and soon they were on the floor laughing like fools possessed.

“...what’s… what’s gotten into us?” Sonata giggled, unable to stop herself from laughing. Adagio didn’t look to be that far behind seeing the frankly ridiculous state of her sibling. “It’s been years since we’ve been this dumb! I could get tossed out of class for being like this!”

“And… and yet here you are!” Adagio said clutching her chest as she came very close to doubling over in laughter. “God, I’ve missed this. Just… I have, okay?”

“See, I knew my sister was in there somewhere!” Sonata shouted. “It wasn’t just some stick in the mud wearing my big sis’s body!”

As Adagio wiped away tears of laughter, Sonata had to smile. Mission accomplished, it would seem. Truth be told, there was more to this than what Sonata was actually telling her sister.

“Wait wait wait,” Sonata said. “Hold up, back up the bus. You’re telling me you actually went ahead and bought out Denver National Aquarium, and then you went ahead and called Ghost-Guy?” she asked in stark disbelief pointing to Eiji and then pointing to Takeru.

Eiji nodded while Sonata held her head and muttered: “...I think I need to sit down for a moment. Chair please?”

As her sister fell back into a chair, Aria crossed her arms. “Bit of a big buy, isn’t it? Especially all for one woman…” she remarked suspiciously. “And you’re saying all of this is to make Adagio ‘happy’?”

“More accurately,” Eiji said. “It’s to lower her stress levels. As we’ve studied, and noticed, the more stress is put upon her to fulfill her desires, the more likely she is to go berserk while in a full medal combo. I hold no illusions about denying she will get ahold of another sometime soon. It may be tomorrow, it may be the day after that. But at the rate she’s going, she will have another full set in her hands soon.”

“So all you’re doing is easing her burden, huh?” Aria remarked raising her eyebrow even further not entirely believing him. She sighed “Okay, well, I can respect that. God knows her life is pretty stressful enough between being outed as a superhero and all that comes with it, along with her regular day job.”

Aria sighed, sometimes she wished Adagio had taken up a normal everyday job, like as a police officer or something, not a marine biologist. Okay, yeah it paid well and Adagio was clearly happy with her work but it wasn’t an easy job. Oh well, at least Adagio got to travel to far off corners of the globe whenever the Aquarium needed new exhibits. She’d heard rumors they wanted the skeleton of a blue whale as of late, so that meant she could see Adagio now booking tickets to Canada or somewhere.

“Do you suspect any other reason?” Takeru said. “I’ve known Eiji for a while now, he’s very… transparent.”

Sonata had to fight back the mental images assaulting her then if not futilely, and Takeru had to hide his laughter at the small droplets of blood leaking from the youngest Dazzling sibling. “Something your sister clearly has ideas about, it seems...” Takeru couldn’t resist the snark.

Aria blinked before glancing over to Sonata and she had to fight back her laughter. “Yes, well, forgive her but my sister can be a bit of a ditz at times.”

“Yea… HEY!” Sonata started to agree before she let out a shout of: “Hey, I resemble that remark!”

“...Not helping your case ‘Nata…” Aria drawled. “Oh well, if your relationship with Takeru doesn’t work out, well then! I think I’d really like to take you up on a dinner date if you’ll have me!”

“I… I…” Eiji stammered out as Takeru fought back laughter of his own and Sonata grabbed a tissue to stuff into her nose. “I already have someone actually.”

“So I see…” Aria commented looking to the small box on a nearby desk which looked to be able to contain medals. “So I see…”

“It’s not Adagio,” Eiji said flatly. “Now if you can stop kidding around…”

“What? It’s not like I get many opportunities to take the piss out of a big businessman really!” Aria commented holding a hand to her chest. “So you’ll have to forgive me if I savor my every moment of this.”

“...Is she really Adagio’s sibling?” Takeru muttered as he leaned over to Eiji. “They seem so…”

“Different?” Eiji whispered back. “Yeah, they’re related. Believe me, I checked. Twice.”

“Oh well, might want to check again…” Takeru drawled. “I’m somewhat skeptical.”

“Is there any other reason you called us to your headquarters other than to explain your latest business endeavors,” Sonata asked. “Cause I got culinary classes to get to, and I’m pretty sure Aria has that Valkyrie bike of hers to get back to work on…”

“Well,” Takeru said. “What I’d actually like the two of you to do, no what WE would like the two of you to do is just… keep Adagio’s stress levels down as much as possible. Don’t care how you do it, but the only thing that Adagio should be worrying about is her beloved leopard seals.”

“Wait, she’s getting another?” Aria muttered. “Kill me now… She’ll never get out of the aquarium, and then there will be more freaked out kids. One’s bad enough as it is!”

“Kids, or leopard seals?” Sonata teased. “Cause I dunno, I rather like Arthur…”

“You would!” Aria sniped. “You haven’t seen his teeth!”

“Are we sure the freaked out kids we’re talking about here don’t include you?” Takeru commented to himself hoping Aria hadn’t heard. She had, and sent a nasty glare towards the former ghost which went unnoticed. Sonata meanwhile just blew a raspberry at her sister.

“...Okay, yeah, they’re related,” Takeru admitted to himself before speaking again. “You do understand what we’re asking you two to do right?”

“Yeah, sure,” Sonata commented. “Keep ‘Dagi from going completely and utterly crazy, and becoming some sorta wild animal? Yeah, I think we can do that. I mean, how hard can-”

Aria quickly clamped a hand over her babbling sister’s mouth. “Please do not finish that sentence. Last time you asked that, I was stuck for a month trying to fix up your car’s transmission.”

“But you fixed it in the end, didn’t you?” Sonata commented. “So all’s well and good right?”

Aria facepalmed. “...Completely missing the point sis…”

She half-expected her sister to then remark “I miss every point!” with a cheery little grin. Given her general ditziness, she wouldn’t have at all been that surprised.

“Relax Ri-Ri, I-”

“Please don’t call me that…” Aria grumbled with a little twitching of her eyes.

“Relax Ri-Ri,” Sonata said again completely ignoring her. “I got this in hand. I’m the epitome of responsibility! Adagio will stay completely relaxed under my watch, just wait and see!”

Takeru then turned to Eiji as Aria launched herself at her sister, pulling at her hair and asked: “You sure you got the right people for this job…?”

“I’ll get back to you on that…” Eiji answered.

That was Sonata’s job now, to keep her sister completely at ease. She would say she was succeeding. They were like Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long, they were that tight.

“Oh, by the way! I just remembered!” Sonata suddenly cried with a snap of her fingers. “Didn’t you promise to give Vignette an interview?”

“I politely declined,” Adagio answered. “I have far too much work to do nowadays to worry about such things.”

“You mean you’re getting ready to sue for defamation of character, right?” Sonata said raising an eyebrow.

“Meh… that too,” Adagio shrugged. “Vignette’s a bitch -there, I said it!- so she gets what a bitch deserves.”

Sonata blinked. “...wow, I thought you’d be defending her for like, forevvvvvverrr!”

“My patience wears thin with everyone eventually,” Adagio answered simply. “Even with her. After her little shark hoard nearly got me and my doppelganger killed, guess it finally ran out.”

“And you’re sure this has absolutely nothing to do with Vignette nearly ruining your reputation and taking Ankh from you?”

“...Well, okay, that might be playing a part in it,” Adagio admitted with a small shrug of her shoulders. “Okay, yeah that’s totally it.”

“Thought as much,” Sonata smirked. “Goodness knows you were so hung up on the birdbrain, as anyone blessed with the gift of sight could tell…”

“I WAS NOT!” Adagio barked, catching the attention of the rest of the class. She blushed and muttered: “...Go back to work, nothing to see here…”

“Denial isn’t just that river in Egypt, don’t you know?” Sonata mumbled before patting her sister on the back. “Anyways, don’t you worry none. I’ll have Ankh back on your side before you can say ‘Boo!’. Just you watch and see, okay?”

“...what are you going to do?” Adagio asked suddenly very nervous. Whether that was for her sister or for Ankh, she couldn’t tell yet.

“Oh, a little bit of this, and a little bit of that,” Sonata commented. “I’m going to needle him until he’s completely back under your thumb again! In fact…” she grinned.

“In fact what?” Adagio asked not sure she really wanted to know.

“In fact… When I’m done with him, you might even say he's… henpecked?"

Instead of the reaction of laughter Sonata was probably hoping to get, Adagio only gave her sister a flat stare. “‘Nata? For all our sakes, please don't ever pun. Again. Ever. It doesn't suit you.”

“Awwww…” Sonata whimpered hanging her head. Gilda could only just pat her on the back in sympathy even if she was secretly thanking Adagio for that.

“Actually,” Sonata then suddenly said perking right back up. “Going back to the subject of doppelgangers, whatever happened to our own? You ever find out?”

“You presume I’ve actually stopped to care enough about them, to go ahead and find out,” Adagio replied with a snort. Okay, yeah, that was a lie. She was… mildly concerned about her other half. But the way she figured it, they were in good hands. She’d seen them near Canterlot High earlier that week, accompanied by Sunset and whom she swore was Fluttershy. But Fluttershy had never been that nicely dressed, so it couldn’t have been her… right? Oh well, if the rumors were true about that horse statue in front of the school then that meant the other Dazzlings were back in their homeworld.

Which was a great relief to Adagio, to be honest. For so many reasons.

Actually, Adagio had never felt happier with her life. Maybe it was the fact that she had something to fight for, as cheesy as it sounded. Maybe it was that she finally had friends beyond her work colleagues, who were nice enough she supposed but were hard to talk to beyond sea life. Well, except Star Hunter but he was another matter entirely.

Star Hunter was… well, he was a special case if Adagio were, to be honest. He went sorta above and beyond just a ‘work colleague’ if the fact that Adagio had contacted him to talk when her other pony world counterpart was running about. She wondered if that meant anything, or she was just really that desperate for someone to talk to and know if everything was alright. Maybe she was just that poor of a judge of character given she thought Ankh of all people could be her boyfriend.

Yeah, she needed to really work on her priorities. Clearly they were… skewed.

Speaking of that, Adagio checked her watch and nearly yelped. “Look, ‘Nata I gotta get going, you work on getting into… Omega or whatever that restaurant in France is okay? I’d rather not have my boss screaming at me anytime soon.”

“You go get him girl!” Sonata cheered pumping the air and Adagio paused, wondering what that meant. She brushed it off, it was probably Sonata just being strange as usual really.

Sonata had to laugh. If her sister only knew who her new boss was.

---

Adagio swore she felt like she was being watched that evening, like she swore it.

“Star,” Adagio said as she went over some paperwork relating to the whale bones being transferred in. “...you think I’m going paranoid on you?”

“Is that a rhetorical question?” Star Hunter said going at that exact same paperwork. He had earbuds resting nearby, some song playing faintly out of them. Adagio couldn’t quite catch it, all she knew was that it involved roses and red. She never knew he was that much of a romantic. “Like, is it?”

Adagio gave him a flat look. Star held up his hands in a surrendering motion. “Look, all I’m just saying is that it’s probably a good thing!” he continued.

“...you’re supposed to be reassuring me here Star…” Adagio muttered rubbing her head. Yeah, that was definitely a headache coming on, she mused to herself.

“Well, for all you know, some Greeed may come out of the shadows any moment now, and quick as you like, you’d slap on the belt and give them an ass-kicking!” Star shouted punching the air.

Adagio gave him a faint smile, well at least he was trying. She adored Star, even if he was a bit of a doofus at times. There was a reason she kept him around as a friend. “Still…” Adagio said casting a glance upwards. Ankh maybe? “Doesn’t make me feel any better knowing that. Okay, yeah, I know, I’m a target now. Still don’t have to like it.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, then I may have hotwired the fire alarm system to my phone,” Star Hunter said and Adagio stared at him. How… no, she probably didn’t even want to know. “...My brother’s a techie, okay? In any event, if Kazari crawls around here again, he’s going to get quite a nasty surprise… Cats, after all, do hate water!”

Adagio then finally lost her composure and fell over laughing, wiping tears from her eyes. The whole scenario was just so ludicrous and Star Hunter’s solution was just so novel she couldn’t help but laugh. “True as it may be,” Adagio said trying to regain her composure if failing. “We could just dump Kazari into the leopard seal enclosure, that’d teach him!”

“I dunno,” Star said jotting something down on his notepaper. “I’d think Kazari would give Arthur and Morgana indigestion…”

“That he would,” Adagio agreed in between fits of laughter. “That he would…”

She honestly didn’t get Kazari, of course, this could be said about all the Greeed but Kazari just made her… well, he made her want to take a shower, and not the nice long cold kind. The cat really just made her worry about whatever he was going to do next, even if he was the Greeed she’d encountered the least. And that, she supposed what was what made her worry. It meant she could never get a proper eye on him, get inside his head. He wasn’t like Uva or Ankh, who wore their emotions on their sleeves. And he was certainly not like Gamel, who was just plain stupid.

Adagio suddenly went to her phone, bringing up the medals she’d encountered so far and their powers.

“Okay… Green Medals,” Adagio murmured to herself. “Electricity, blades, and duplication. Blue medals, water-based powers. Yellow medals? Abilities resembling big cats. Red medals? Unknown, but probably bird related. Gray(?) medals… well, probably pretty obvious that they correspond to heavy animals somehow…”

“Count the medals one two and three…” came Star’s voice and Adagio yelped before her heart slowed back to normal. He’d evidently been looking over her shoulder. “...sorry, just thought of that on the fly I suppose. Sounded good to me, but hey, what do I know?”

“No,” Adagio said supportively. “That actually sounded… well, pretty good. I say you should send that off to Sunset, she might actually make a song out of that!” she teased enjoying the… interesting shade of red Star Hunter’s face became.

“R-Really, you think so?” Star Hunter stammered out. “...you think Sunset Shimmer would be able to make a good song out of… well, my inane ramblings?”

“Never know until you try, right?” Adagio said patting him on the shoulder, declining to mention the poster of Sunset dressed up in gothic lolita she knew Star Hunter kept around. Fanboys, Adagio mused to herself with a shake of her head. Mind you, she could understand the interest. Not musically, as Adagio was not a heavy metal fan but in work ethic. Sunset, well from what she could tell anyways was very business-oriented. Adagio, well she saw her as an interesting sort to say the least. While, understandably, Sunset didn’t trust her, Adagio could see her as a potential ally.

The fact that Sunset seemed to be able to make Rainbow her bitch from what Rarity told Adagio had nothing to do with it. Probably.

She would have to ask how Sunset managed to reign the rather wily girl in at times, God knew that could come in handy for her someday. Adagio could already feel a headache coming on just thinking about Rainbow. It sorta reminded her of the kind she got thinking about Ankh, only less pleasurable. At least Ankh was cute when he wasn’t being a pain in the neck. Adagio couldn’t say the same about Rainbow really.

“...The birdbrain…” Adagio grumbled upon reflex.

“Birdbrain, you talking about Ankh again?” Star Hunter said, looking up from his work. “Or Rainbow? I can hardly tell the two apart at times.”

Adagio blinked before she started laughing again. “Never change, eh Star?” she asked. “Never change…”

Star looked at her. “I’m not sure if that was a compliment, but yeah, I’ll take it if it was!”

In the shadows, a bat fluttered about before resting itself on the rafters above. So far, so good, it seemed. Best things stayed that way.

---

“Well, that’s interesting, isn’t it! It’s downright funky!” Kaisei Mogami said with a cackle, nearly falling over himself in glee at his genius. “I’ve finally done it! I’ve done it!”

“So, pat yourself on the back a little more hmm?” Starlight remarked crossing her arms. “We’re nowhere near done yet, and while I don’t doubt your genius we still have a long ways to go yet.”

She cast a glance to the nearby laboratory table. On it rested a distinct flash drive-like device that was marked with a letter T. “We still need the proof of concept.”

“Oh, don’t you worry any Madam Starlight,” Mogami commented with a little cackle. “My genius knows no limits! I’ll make this, along with that special other little project you’ve assigned to me work! It’ll be all funkyed up!”

Starlight rubbed her forehead with a pained grimace. That man… he loved the word ‘funky’ and all of it’s variations far too much. If he wasn’t such a genius, he would have driven her around the bend a long time ago. He sorta reminded Starlight of Dan Kuruto, in his irritating obnoxiousness the way he flaunted around his genius mind. Still, he was one of her best men to work on such projects. That little moment of breaching the time-space continuum a few weeks back to bring in those from lost timelines was one of his first major projects. Even if that surgeon had stepped in, it wasn’t a complete ‘wash’ as people put it. After all, the Night of Safari Gashat was now the property of Foundation X.

The possibility of lost timelines or those had yet to come was still an intriguing prospect to explore, and Starlight couldn’t wait to see exactly where this research led them. It could open up a new era for the Foundation!

“Are you sure, Madam, that coming to the States when you did was such a good idea?” Mogami asked. “It’s taking a grave risk as it is, isn’t it? Especially when your Driver is far from finished.”

“Sometimes problems call for desperate solutions,” Starlight replied as her lips curved into a smile. “Plus, showing how powerless Eiji in the face of the Foundation and our might was an added bonus.”

“Oh, I see how it is,” Mogami commented. “You just want to prove to Eiji that he shouldn’t have rejected you that time, is that it? I never thought the Iron Lady of X could be so… petty.”

His own lips curved into a smile before Starlight gave him a deathly glare. “Watch your tongue, you’d be wise to hold it before I cut it out!” she hissed out, her voice reminding Mogami of that of a rattler’s tail. “Let’s see how you work when you can’t talk. I dare say, it’ll be all… funked up?”

Mogami let out a low growl. “Very well then, I’ll continue my work in silence. In fact, I think I know how to prove the Night of Safari is worth pursuing. Time to put it to some… practical use. Let us see how our dear OOOs handles the powers of the animal kingdom turned against her!”

He let out a mad laugh as Starlight’s hologram flickered out of existence. So let the games begin.

Adagio didn’t quite know how, but she found herself following a Greeed reporting. And it had led her to the sewers right underneath Denver. She groaned, she was definitely going to need a shower after this.

As she followed the Taka candroids who’d picked up the scent of the Greeed, apparently, she found herself in front of a huge waterfall, sludge pouring down it. “...Today started out so well…” she thought to herself. She knew this was likely to be a trap, she’d have been stupid to have thought otherwise. But what better way to catch Kazari or Ankh by surprise and gain their medals than to spring the trap?

She heard what sounded like the roar of a tiger, and Adagio smirked as she transformed in a flash of blue light. What she did not expect was something that decidedly not resembled Kazari jumped out of the shadows. It bore a blank silver face, with tan and brown armor on it.

The creature charged before Adagio leaped over it, grabbing it by the shoulders to do so. She landed behind it, and sent the monster sprawling through the wall with a massive water shuriken from her weapon.

“...Looks like Kazari’s gotten imaginative with his yummies. Credit to him I suppose.” Adagio remarked as the creature took swipes at her, Adagio blocking the blows with the Ookamiuo spear. Using it like a harpoon, she stabbed away at the monster, before water gathered at its tip like a drill. She thrust it forwards sending the monster sprawling into what looked like a lab.

“...Okay then,” Adagio mused looking around her to see tanks with various liquids all around her. “I’m going to go out on a limb here, and I’m guessing this place wasn’t built for Prohibition!”

The creature had disappeared and Adagio allowed herself to relax only to be tackled by Gamel.

“...well, okay then,” Adagio groaned out in pain. “Guess I’ll be getting myself some Gray Cores then!”

She swung her weapon, slashing into Gamel’s skin sending silver cell medals flying. A powerful punch sent her sprawling into another room and knocked her out of her transformation. Adagio quickly grabbed at her Cores before Gamel could steal them and take them back to his ‘mommy’. She needn’t have bothered, as Gamel gave up calling after her after a few minutes.

“...He probably thinks I’m dead,” Adagio whispered to herself. “And being too stupid to think otherwise, he probably thought his mother’s cores got shattered as well.”

She pitied Gamel, she honestly did. He was far too stupid to realize the other Greeed were playing him like a puppet, really. She wondered if he’d ever realize before it was too late.

Adagio’s eyes widened in shock as she realized the tank she was resting herself up against had a man inside it. He was about… well, Adagio would guess fifteen, seventeen at most with bleached blond hair. “...Someone’s running experiments? Well, guess I should free this little lab rat and get him, and me for that matter out of here.”

It didn’t take a genius to realize who had lured her here. That creature, as he was clearly not a yummy of any sort. He’d probably lured Gamel here as well, hoping to test his powers against both a Rider and a Greeed.

Drawing back her fist, Adagio punched through the glass of the tank, and the kid inside tumbled out. Adagio’s fist was caked with blood, the glass had cut into her skin. Not her brightest move, but she was short on time.

“Come on,” she said to the teen. “We’re getting you out of here.”

“W-Who are you?” the kid breathed. “...Oh, oh no. You’ve gotta get out of here! X, they’ll kill you if they discover you broke me out! You need to run!”

Filing away the name X for later, Adagio sighed. “Not without you kid, okay? Trust me, it’d go against the grain if I just left you to rot and let… whoever pull a few more experiments on you like some sort of lab rat! Please don’t tell me you’ve got Stockholm Syndrome okay? Cause if so…”

She heard the squeaking of a bat, and raised an eyebrow. Bats, in a sewer cave? Oh, there were so many jokes to be made about that.

“Who are you again?” the teen asked.

“You first,” Adagio said as she helped him along towards the nearest exit. The likelihood of them actually getting out of here without being caught was… highly unlikely but Adagio had to try. She just had to. “Seriously, if you don’t give me your name I’ll probably call you something stupid like Eleven or something. And I am not shortening that name to El!”

Yes, Adagio had seen Stranger Things, at least the first season anyway. What about it?

“El, I like that name actually. I’d heard them call me… Elias, I think while I was in my tank.”

“...You gotta be kidding me…” Adagio muttered. “Oh, I swear, if you turn out to have psychic powers I’ll…”

She paused when Elias gave her a strange sort of look. “...Never mind.” Adagio mumbled under her breath.

Together, they slowly made their way out of the laboratory only to be stopped by Gamel, who let out a low growl. Adagio sighed, you just had to be kidding. Since when was her luck ever this bad?

“I’m really getting tired of today,” Adagio said as she slung her belt and driver around herself. “Alright, Gamel… I’ll tell you this for starters! Never underestimate my ever-changing abilities! And trust me, they will be changing here in a minute soon as I grab your Cores! Henshin!”

Elias watched with awe as the belt sang out “Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo: Sa-Ra-Mi-Uo! Sa! Ra! Mi-Uo!” and transformed Adagio. The Rider went forth and struck with the fury of a typhoon as a gray core medal went flying into her hands.

“Same, Gorilla, Ookamiuo!” the belt sang as Adagio tossed her spear aside and punched Gamel with the force of the great apes sending him sprawling into a few metal crates.

“Come on, we’re running!” Adagio shouted as she grabbed Elias. “...Again.”

“Who-”

“Who am I?” Adagio finally answered. “Well, since you’re asking, it’s Adagio Dazzle. Kamen Rider OO- DUCK!” she started and then shouted as Gamel grabbed at her, only for Adagio to punch him in the stomach with a powerful right hook.

“As I was saying…” Adagio muttered. “We’re leaving!”

Running, with Elias on her shoulder, Adagio made a break for it, and found herself outside the lab and back in the sewer systems again. “...Now, how did this maze go? Oh well, suppose I’ll head to the nearest latter, look for a few landmarks up top!” Adagio decided really not having time for this today.

She pulled out a Taka Can and transformed it letting it fly. “Okay, show me the way boy!”

“But he’s a robot,” Elias said in confusion. “He has no assigned gender. Logic dictates that you call-”

“...Just go with it okay?” Adagio asked as the wall was smashed in, Gamel having given it a good solid headbutt. “And besides, does it look like we really have the time to argue the point of the matter!”

Adagio would have to give Gamel this, he was certainly determined, that was for sure.

“I don’t think we have the time nor the ability to outrun him,” Elias noted. “Logic dictates that-”

“Well, screw that!” Adagio said. “I got you out of that madhouse, and I’m not letting you experience freedom briefly! I don’t leave others behind, it’s not my way. All life is precious, so that means yours as well!”

“A-All life is… precious?” Elias repeated, even as Adagio flashed back to words which she’d taken to heart.

“I just want you to understand this. No matter how hard it burns in your heart, that pain whenever you fail to save someone -even if that person never deserved it in the first place- you are not alone. You are never alone, and do you know what you do with that pain? You hold it tight. You grasp out with it, and you say no more. You say this should never happen to anyone. You keep that person’s memory alive in your mind, and you say no more. Their pain becomes your pain, spurring you onwards. It helps you pave a path to tomorrow, to the next battle and how you’ll win it. How you’ll reach out a hand, and save the next person. Do you understand this?”

“As long as…” Adagio whispered, her eyes glowing briefly as she sliced into Gamel with her spear. “As long as there is a hand whom I need to reach out to help, I shall extend my hand!”

Two more Cores landed in her hands and were swiftly replaced in her Driver. “Sai, Gorilla, Zou: Sagohzo, Sa-Goh-Zo!” it proclaimed with a snarl.

Adagio let out an animalistic scream as she beat her chest like one of the great apes and performed a scanning charge on Gamel. Elias could only watch in a mix of awe and fear as Adagio manipulated the very gravity of the earth itself to bring Gamel within reach and punch him. HARD.

Gamel was sent flying skywards up through the streets in almost comical looney tune style fashion. Adagio panted hard as she turned upon Elias, eyes flashing a sharp purple. Then, before she could do anything, musical notes of all things hit her as Takeru, in Beethoven Damashii stepped out of the shadows. He pulled his hood backward, whispering in a gentle tone: “That’s enough Adagio, the battle’s over now.”

A brown bat flapped over his head, having been watching Adagio all day. All week even.

Adagio just let out a growl and charged at Takeru, fist drawn back. Takeru caught the fist, before sending Adagio staggering back with a palm thrust. He played the ‘keys’ on his uniform surrounding Adagio in musical notes like a prison.

“Guess there’s no choice for it then,” Takeru murmured. “Going to have to knock you out of that transformation. ...This is why I told you to train, Adagio.”

He knew he shouldn’t be blaming her, she was a victim here. It wasn’t her fault that Adagio had such a strong desire to save others. In fact, if the situation were different he’d actually be proud of her. He had heard her declare that all life was precious after all.

Grabbing another Eyecon, Takeru slotted it into his driver as what looked like an overly large spider crawled up and transformed. It fused with his weapon, and soon he was holding a massive hammer.

“Kaigan: Benkei! Intimidating Sworn Brother! Tougher Than Any Other!” the Ghost Driver proclaimed, and Benkai’s soul lived up to its reputation. In ancient times, Benkai had defended his Lord against an army of 500 strong, killing 300 soldiers and dying on his feet. Such fear was his reputation, was that the army had only noticed he was dead upon closer inspection.

With a few powerful swings of his hammer, Takeru soon knocked Adagio out of her transformation. Her cores were pocketed as Adagio lay on the ground. “Are you alright?” Takeru asked as he helped her up.

“I… I went berserk again, didn’t I?” Adagio asked and Takeru nodded before Adagio breathed: “T-Thank you… Sensei. For saving me from myself.”

“It’s what I do,” Takeru smiled warmly, and Adagio felt her heart flutter. “Now let’s get you home, okay?”

Neither of them noticed two things. One, Elias had vanished in the chaos and two, Kaisei Mogami peeked his head out from behind a wall. “You want me to grab him now?”

“No, wait till he changes to his most powerful Luminaries. That’s when we strike…”

“Yes, Madam Starlight…” Mogami grinned, Night of Safari dangling from one finger...

---

Late that night at in the middle of Denver, Adagio found herself in an old wooden building overlooking a lake, with the building itself mostly Spanish style in construction. Water lapped softly at outside, birds crying in the evening hour.

All around her, a maze of forested paths that quite honestly, one could compare to an eldritch location. At least in Adagio’s opinion. It did seem to change each time she tried to find the building first few times without a map It amazed her how one could find themselves in the middle of the place several times and still have no idea how they’d gotten there or where they even were, to begin with.

Finally, with a bit of help from Takeru’s bat friend she’d managed to find the pavilion.

“...why does his robot buddies have to be cooler than mine? I mean, mine just transform into soda cans,” Adagio thought to herself as she sat in legs crossed position, trying to block out the rest of the world. “He gets lanterns, clocks, and phones…”

“Block out the rest of the world,” Takeru instructed laying on a soft mat opposite her. While it was no shrine, the peace and serenity of this particular park would substitute in a pinch. “There is nothing but you, and when you realize this? The impossible transitions to the possible. When you realize nothing is lacking, the whole world belongs to you.”

Adagio was at peace, at least that’s what Aria hoped.

“...You really sure this is what’s going to work?” the woman asked, crossing her muscular arms.

“Do not doubt Takeru-Dono!” Onari said in a hushed whisper, almost sounding like a hiss. “Takeru-Dono has trained much harder students than this! He can train your sister!”

“The place to improve the world is first in one’s own heart and head and hands,” Takeru said. “Do not rush to improve yourself, do not think you can handle everything all at once. Know what you can handle, and then you’ll truly be free. Life is a balance of holding on and letting go.”

“...I dunno, sounds like Zen nonsense mumbo-jumbo if you ask me!” Aria hissed back at Onari, even as the twosome listened to Takeru’s teachings. “Did he just get that garbage off th-”

Onari then put Aria in a headlock shouting: “Do not disrespect Takeru-Dono!” whilst hitting her atop the head with his staff.

He was then soundly dropkicked into the lake.

“...what a whackjob…” Aria grumbled with a huff and watched with an expression of amusement as Onari pulled himself out of the waters.

Onari opened his mouth to speak before Aria interrupted him holding up a finger. “...Lemme guess, there’s rules against that? Don’t care, really.”

“You’re a little juvenile delinquent, aren’t you?” Onari observed.

“Meh, more like got a lot of issues I gotta get off my chest,” Aria replied. “So, about the same thing really.”

Onari shoved a book into her hands. ‘Zen and You, 500 Easy Secrets to Improve Your Life’ it read. Also, it read: ‘Approved by the Daitenku Temple.’

Aria facepalmed before she sighed. “...I dunno, Onari. It’s just, well, I’m fairly skeptical about the supernatural and zen. Not much good it’s done me. If it helps my sister, good on Takeru I suppose. But…”

Onari sighed as he sat down beside Aria. “I know, most people don’t believe in this stuff either, even in the homeland. People have busy lives, pushing and shoving just to get to that next moment. It’s… hard, but for every person me and Takeru help, just to try and ease their lives if only just a little? Well, it’s…”

“Satisfying?” Aria finished. “...Yeah, I’d say that. Adagio… That girl... she always gets carried away, with her work and her life in general. Sometimes I feel that she'd drive me crazy if I were anyone else, really. But, as her sister, I gotta help her.”

“Eiji made a good choice,” Onari smiled. “I feel you will.”

“Yeah, yeah, now we’re getting all mushy, and deep…” Aria grumbled. “I hate that. But you know what? I think… if I ever have to, I know who to call to help me manage my own life.” she said with a smile and Onari smiled right back.

Meanwhile, Takeru continued his teachings. “Every experience is a lesson. Every loss is a gain. If you chase two rabbits, you catch none. Simply put, if you continue to gnaw at the bit at things you can’t change, you will cause yourself unneeded stress in the long term. Now, I ask you, what can you change?”

“The fate… the fate of the city,” Adagio whispered. “And the Greeed, I want to change them. I want to show them that they don’t have to be monsters anymore.”

A bold claim, that was for sure. But as I said, Adagio had taken Eiji’s words to heart. If there was a hand she could continue to reach out towards, and extend her own to she would continue to do so. The Greeed, she felt, were not monsters by choice. Some of them were capable of love, like Gamel and Mezool. Perhaps even Ankh. Maybe that’s why she chose to take Ankh in, way back then. Because she felt he could be helped, and if possible, she would help him.

“Oh, so you say this Ankh character won’t have a chance in getting spared, and yet I will. That’s hypocrisy in action for you. Yeah, I think I’ll pass.”

“I'll find an opening in you and save you from your own greed. Even if that means defeating you.”

“I’d be actually impressed if you did, Adagio Dazzle,” Ankh smirked. “This way! The yummy’s not far…”

“Ankh, like I said. It’s not within me to decide other people’s worth. That should never be an option. And I will save Rainbow, and I will save you no matter how difficult the path is.”

Yes, Adagio decided back then. She would help others in need, no matter if they didn’t want it or didn’t know if they needed or wanted saving. That was her desire.

Takeru knew this as well, Adagio’s desires were pure. But it was because of how pure they were that meant she was going to have trouble managing them. The hardest part of this job was knowing, no matter how much you wanted to, that you couldn’t save everyone.

A low rumble echoed from outside, and Takeru stood up to see both Mezool and Gamel walking forwards out of the treeline.

“...So, I heard an interesting little story,” Mezool said crossing her arms and transforming into her Greeed form. “Seems your little friend, Tenkuji, well she stole some of my son’s medals. I’m taking them back.”

“Let me handle this,” Takeru said before Adagio stood up. “Adagio…”

“No, we handle this,” Adagio stated firmly in a tone that left no room for argument. “I swore to change the fate of the Greeed and so I shall.”

“But if you go out of…”

“Control?” Adagio asked. “I trust you to bring me back. But right now, I feel as if nothing can stop me now! Gamel, Mezool, listen up! The tides are as ever-changing as my own abilities, now don’t you ever underestimate the powers of the animal kingdom!”

“That’s my sister…” Aria thought with pride as she watched Adagio and Takeru transform together.

“Kaigan: Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, Ieyasu! Who Will Unite the Warring States? Tenka tōitsu!”

“Sai, Gorilla, Zou: Sagohzo, Sa-Goh-Zo!”

Together they charged into the hoard of Waste Yummies, Mezool turning into water to get behind Adagio, only to be punched through trees. Takeru just cut down the Waste Yummies with his blades. Adagio had to blink just to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. Was one of those blades based off a pair of… sunglasses?

“Omega Drive: Tenkatoitsu!” the Ghost Driver shouted as an image of a golden eye appeared behind Takeru as he slashed through a hoard of Waste Yummies.

Uva leaped out of the trees, ready to strike only to be blasted backward by a palm strike from Onari. “You shall not touch the Master!” he screamed.

“Triple Scanning Charge!” cried the Medajaribur as another hoard of Waste Yummies bit the dust. Gamel was judo flipped into the lake by Aria, who shared a fistbump with her sister.

“Nice moves,” Adagio complimented as she ducked to avoid a swing of Mezool’s water blades only to slash her across the stomach sending the Unagi and Tako medals into her grasp.

“Hey, you need to give yourself more credit,” Aria said pummeling Mezool across the face. “You’re not so bad yourself!”

Mezool steadily got up, only to be walloped in the face by twin haymakers from the duo, who turned and high-fived one another. Dazzling Sisters one, Mezool… zippo.

“Well, this seems to be all going well,” Onari commented backhanding Uva. “It looks like for all their bluster, they can’t handle all five of us!”

“Maybe you just need a different opponent then!” came a voice as another Driver joined the fray.

“Equalize, Scienticize! Energize, Solarize!” Starlight’s MiraiDriver proclaimed as the Foundation X scientist sent all five of them sprawling with an energy wave.

“Who…” Takeru groaned out in pain as he picked himself up off the ground clutching his shoulder. “Who are you?”

“Nobody really,” Starlight said smacking him to the ground. “Just someone trying to make the world a better place. You’d do best not to resist.”

“You’re… You’re with them,” Takeru realized with no small amount of horror. “Foundation X.”

“Well, you’re half-right,” Starlight said. “But half right is still right. Now, be a good boy and cough up those… eyecons is it? I heard you were in the city, and I just couldn’t miss the opportunity. For science and all that.”

“You’re not getting them…” Takeru said while pulling the lever of his driver. “Not while I live and breathe.”

“We’ll just have to fix that, won’t we,” Starlight remarked slamming a button on her driver. “Your codename is Ghost right? Time to make you live up to that moniker!”

“Omega Drive: Tenkatoitsu!”

“Scienticize! X Kick!”

The two attacks connected, and Takeru was sent flying with the Nobunaga Eyecon flying from his driver. Starlight caught it, only to be besieged by a flurry of punches from Adagio.

“SCANNING CHARGE!”

“Oh, is that the best you got?” Starlight said pressing a button on her driver even as she was dragged forwards. “I thought you’d have learned from your betters!”

Like Takeru before her, she was knocked out of her transformation. Unlike before her however, Starlight showed no interest in her transformation trinkets.

“I’ll come back for those later,” Starlight decided. “I have what I need for now.”

Aria and Onari leaped in front of her. “You want them, you’ll have to go through us…” Onari growled out protectively.

“...You are serious, aren’t you?” Starlight said with no small amount of disbelief. “You saw what I did to them, full-fledged Kamen Riders in their own right! And you think you can stop me?”

“Hey, it’s our job,” Onari said. “We protect them, while they pick themselves up. Besides, we don’t have to stop you for long.”

“Oh, and why’s that?” Starlight asked.

“We just have to buy time!” Aria declared as she and Onari moved out of the way to allow Takeru to deliver a powerful Grateful Omega Drive to Starlight’s chest. She staggered back, still holding the Nobunaga Eyecon.

“Damn you!” Starlight hissed out as she heard the sound of police sirens, and felt her suit’s power began to reach its limits. “Oh well, I think I have what I need for now. I’ll see you again, hopefully someday soon Mister Tenkuji! And you as well, Miss Dazzle.”

She bowed, before teleporting off in a purple flash of light.

“Who…” Adagio breathed. “Who was that? And what did she mean?”

“I don’t know, but I have a feeling we’ll be finding out soon enough…” Takeru said.

Author's Notes:

Okay, so it's been a while, but I will be honest. Had a massive creative burn out. So, needed some time away. Think it did me some good, if I will be honest.

So yeah, Starlight's starting to become more active and Adagio's learning to control her powers even more. Good times.

Medals collected: Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo, Gorilla, Sai, Zou, Unagi, Tako.

21: Fanfic Generations: Crossing Worlds Part 1

Denver, Colorado, United States of America:

“No, no, you see,” Adagio Dazzle said to her sister. “We can’t just feed a Greeed to some Great White. As tempting as it is, I’d like to keep the Great Whites are man-eaters reputation away from my Aquarium.”

“...well, it’s technically not a man…” Aria said with a drawl and a roll of her eyes. “...though it’d probably just give poor sharkie a case of indigestion. I mean, if I fed a shark Ankh, he’d be sick to his stomach!”

“Poor sharkie?” Adagio blinked. “You’ve got issues sis. In any event, we can’t even keep Great Whites in captivity. Some California aquarium tried it, guess what happened. It ate all the other sharks.”

“Bull sharks then!” Aria proclaimed. “They’re even bigger bastards!”

Adagio just facepalmed. “My sister everyone,” she uttered gesturing to the woman who beamed unashamedly. “If she became a Rider, we’d all be calling her Kamen Rider Meathead!”

“Ye… HEY!”

Adagio just smirked to herself. Victory was hers.

“Oh, you are coming home for horror night right?” Aria asked. “Rainbow got the genius idea of hosting it.”

“Wait, Rainbow got the idea of hosting a horror night? And you, you agreed with her?” Adagio stared at her sister, seemingly judging how crazy she was or figuring out if she’d been replaced with an imposter. Either one was likely nowadays. “Wait, wait, wait… back the truck up here just a tad m’kay? I thought you two couldn’t spend a moment alone without strangling each other!”

“Look, okay?” Aria said. “Way I figure it, if she’s your friend, then she’s my friend okay?”

Adagio raised an eyebrow. “...Plus your girlfriend is threatening to kick you out to the curb if you strangle Rainbow, am I right?” she said in a flat deadpan.

“That has nothing to do with it,” Aria said in reply. “Absolutely nothing at all.”

“That’s denial I hear in your tone…” Adagio teased with Aria gently shoving her away.

Adagio had to laugh at this, it’d been far too long since she’d actually spent any quality time with her sister in any capacity outside of the hospital or sending Greeeds flying. It was… nice, actually. Sad as it was, Adagio couldn’t actually remember the last time when she could pull some time out of her own life just to spend time with her sister. Life just caught up with them, she supposed. Aria was wanting to become a rockstar and her? Well, Adagio knew she was a very business-oriented woman and whenever she got caught up in her work -which was, I will be honest 99% of the time- it took a lot to pull her out of it.

“Anyways, horror night?” Adagio asked. “You really sure that’s such a good idea? I mean, the last time I watched a horror movie -Saw, I think it was- I just pointed out how unrealistic all the blood was.”

“I was trying to forget,” Aria deadpanned. “You’re a real mood killer, you know that right?”

“No, mood-killing is when I ruin the love life of you and your latest boy toy,” Adagio deadpanned. “Which is… oh yeah, about every time I find you having sex on my couch.”

“That was one time, ONE TIME!” Aria snapped, people by this point paying far more attention to the two squabbling siblings than to the actual exhibits. “...you still haven’t forgiven me for that, have you?”

“Not in the slightest,” Adagio said. “I swear I was decontaminating my couch for weeks afterward. There are things an older sister should not see, and that’s just one of them as it happens.”

“You’re just a stick in the mud,” Aria grumbled. “Seriously, I’ve never seen you excited about… anything. Except for marine animals as new exhibits.”

“I do get excited about things!” Adagio shouted in a tone that sounded suspiciously like denial. “It’s just… sex isn’t one of them.”

“Tell that to your bird-brained boyfriend,” Aria teased.

“...for the last time,” Adagio grumbled rubbing her forehead. “Me and Ankh were not dating. Nothing even close to that.”

“...Notice how I didn’t say Ankh,” Aria smirked resembling the cat who’d gotten his canary. “You just ‘so happened’ to fill in that particular gap yourself.”

“You’re a real bitch, you know that right sis?” Adagio grumbled to herself. Somehow, she was now remembering the exact reason why she and Aria almost never hung out. It always ended up with the two of them trying to pull each other’s hair out.

To be entirely fair, Aria was plenty angry at the world, and she had every right to be -Adagio blamed Aria’s pony world counterpart- given the cards that life had dealt her. Okay, sure, it didn’t entirely excuse Aria for acting like a bitch, but it explained some of her attitude. There was a reason she, when not playing guitar, was found next to several destroyed punching bags.

Actually, Adagio would be completely over the moon if Aria and Fluttershy suddenly started dating. Fluttershy was a lot more even-tempered, and probably the only sane woman between them in their small circle of friends. Probably. Adagio still wasn’t sure about Sunset Shimmer yet. Actually, Adagio wasn’t even sure if she could consider Sunset a friend yet. That bridge had yet to be crossed.

“Oh, by the way?” Aria said. “You’ve got that school tour Ms. Cheerilee is bringing in, apparently when what’s her name filled in for you? She was apparently… and I quote: “Quite dull”. Star Hunter’s words, not mine. But that’s what he said.”

“Noted,” Adagio grumbled, muttering something under her breath in Hawaiian. “I swear, I adore Ms. Satonaka, but she has no passion! None!”

Aria had to suppress a snort. “Nobody has as much passion for sea life as you ‘Dagi. I still can’t believe you named that seal of yours that you love so much Arthur. ...actually, I still can’t believe you adore a leopard seal that much. Not my first choice for an animal companion, let me tell you!”

Of course, Adagio’s phone had to choose that moment to ring, playing a snippet of ‘What’s Up Danger?’ before Adagio answered it.

“...you want me to tell them to take a rain check, don’t you?” Aria sighed. Adagio simply nodded. “...Okay, but I will be blaming you when they ask exactly who and what went wrong this time. Not the Greeed.”

For the record, Adagio didn’t actually have to blame the Greeed this time. Actually, she didn’t know who to blame.

All the same, it didn’t exactly change the fact that -only about 30 minutes later- she was dodging and weaving the strikes from a Chinese Dao, or a type of short sword.

Backflipping atop a pipe, she scanned three medals and with a call of “Henshin!” transformed into her Rider form. Grabbing her staff, she flipped off the pipe and became a whirling dervish of water.

The opponent in front of her was clad in white robes, well mostly white anyways. Where their face was, well that was a black gaping maw. This was the user of the dao sword, spinning the blade like a creature possessed. It was all Adagio could do to keep on the defensive, as it was clear her opponent knew his(?) way around a blade.

Then a palm strike to the chest sent her sprawling backwards before Adagio’s eyes widened as her opponent manifested twin burning lion dog heads sending her flying through a wall.

“Who… who are you?” Adagio whispered as her opponent stood over her, before the dao sword was discarded for a simple katana.

“Masamune…” growled out a voice, though if it belonged to the white one in front of her, it was hard to tell. Adagio then yelped as she rolled out of the way to avoid a downward slash.

She grabbed her Ookamiuo spear and swung it sending a massive tidal wave of water towards her opponent. All she could do, however, was watch in shock as her attack was simply cleaved in half.

“Do not beg for your life, it is a waste of time.” said the White One, before he reached for his belt. It said nothing, even as it’s user leaped upwards and massive black wings sprouted from his back. He was then launched forwards, feet ablaze with black flames. Adagio’s eyes widened under her helmet. They then closed, awaiting what came next.

She never felt the hit, and Adagio’s eyes opened in abject shock as she saw Uva in front of her, the Insect Greeed having taken the blow. Well, this was new.

“...okay, what the…?”

“Don’t misunderstand this for us suddenly being friends,” Uva snarled as he forced the White One off of him, the ghostly figure backflipping and wings retracting into his back. “Only reason I saved you was so that you can be defeated by my own hands!”

“Yeah, what he said,” came a familiar, rather irritating and frankly unwelcome voice as a man with very distinctive almost feathered blond hair ran up. He helped Adagio off the ground, though the Rider pulled herself away from his grip. “Oh, so rude!”

“Well, considering that you ditched me in favor of bug boy…” Adagio drawled. “You’ll forgive me if I’m not welcoming you home with open arms just yet!”

“Why I oughta…” Ankh grumbled. “You owe me some ice pops woman! I just saved your life!”

“Me owe you ice pops?” Adagio growled. “I don’t owe you anything, you didn’t even save my life! If anything, I should be giving the ice pops over to Uva!” she shouted as said Greeed punched the White One hard enough to knock him back before he was kneed in the gut.

“Oh, you two want to put a can in it?” Uva said as he continued pummeling the enemy. “Your little lover's spat is starting to make me go ape! And I’m not even the Heavy Animal Greeed!”

He grabbed the enemy, before giving him a straight-up piledriver. “...Though you know, I could branch out…” Uva commented. “Now scram!”

“...you’re so ungrateful, you know that Adagio?” Ankh said sitting atop a tree. “I don’t even know how you got into this mess -not that I really care- but here I am, dragging you out of it!”

“Here we are, birdbrain,” Uva said and Adagio had to stifle her laughter. Apparently Uva and Aria were two birds of a kind. She should probably refrain from telling her that though. “Remember, you owe me!”

“Fine… fine,” Ankh said before quite literally coughing up some cell medals and then tossing them to Uva. Adagio couldn’t imagine how much Ankh hated to do that. “Your little friend’s getting away though, just wanting to point that out.”

Uva looked and his eyes nearly popped out of his skull as he saw his opponent running like hell towards a bike, before he got up on it and drove off. “Alright you bastard, come back here and take your punishment like a man! Like a small, herbivorous shrew, you are nothing! I will hunt you to the ends of the earth, I will burn your empire to the ground I... I... I really hate that guy…”

“And only one fight too!” Ankh chirped. “That must be a record!”

If looks could kill, Uva’s glare could probably melt steel.

Ankh just nibbled on a cell medal, not really caring or paying him any mind. He then leaped off as Uva gave Adagio a begrudging look and followed, clearly planning on dueling her another time.

Adagio then found her voice.

“...what the hell just happened? Was I just saved by Uva, of all people!?! That’s it, I officially have no clue as to what’s going on around here.”

Rainbow chose that very moment to arrive on the scene, in her Hellcat. Adagio could only imagine the scenes in traffic that day as everyone stopped and stared at the golden warrior driving a car like a normal person.

“You’re late,” Adagio commented somewhat torn between laughing at the whole ludicrousness of it all and shooting Rainbow an annoyed glare for being so late.

“Yes, well, I sorta got hung up in midtown traffic. Eiji told me you ran off on your own again, and they call me the impulsive one!” she remarked.

“...Well, at least you being here is confirmation I’m not completely insane…” Adagio remarked.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rainbow said as she canceled out her transformation tossing her deck up in the air and then catching it.

“Well, let’s just say some other bird saved me.”

“Oh, that makes perfe…” Rainbow started before she blinked as she registered what her fellow Rider had just said. “Wait… WHAT!?!”

“...welcome to my world. Population? One very confused Rider.”

---

Ponyville, Pony Safe Zone.

In another world dominated by not humans, but equines was Ponyville. At the center of a place known as the Pony Safe Zone which had been set up following the takeover of Equestria by the Changelings. That had been decades ago and they were doing their best to survive.

But still, even in the harshest of times, life went on. Ponies had gathered at Sugarcube Corner in town where a band was setting up. The lead singer, a dark blue mare with a blue-green mane took out a guitar and took a seat as she adjusted the mic and began to play her guitar.

“I’m waking up at the start of the end of the world,
But it’s feeling like every other morning before,
Now I wonder what my life is going to mean if it's gone.
The carts are moving like a half a mile an hour,
And I started staring at the passengers who are waving goodbye,
Can you tell me what was ever really special about me all this time?”

She smiled a little as she kept playing and looked out at the crowd. Her eyes fell on a purple Unicorn with an orange mane and a lavender stallion as they listened to her and the band play. The Unicorn continued to play as she closed her eyes, letting the music flow through her as she sang, running her hoof along the strings.

She finished singing as she took a deep breath and walked over to the counter where her friends were waiting. “How’d I do? We had just finished that song when, well, you know…”

“You did fine, Sea,” the purple Pegasus said with a smile. “Your singing is always beautiful. You don’t have anything to worry about.”

“Thanks, Jasper,” Sea Spray replied with a smile. She glanced at the lavender Unicorn who just rolled his eyes. “Come on, Khepri. You know you like my music.”

“Tch, you have more important things to worry about right now than singing for ponies,” Khepri reminded her. “You’re the one who decided to keep fighting. You still have a lot to do to be ready for…”

“Khepri, shut up, we’re in public, you know we can’t talk about that in front of everypony else,” Sea said through gritted teeth. “And yes I am dealing with, that. But I’m not going to let it stop me from living my life.”

“Tch, pointless, it’s only a matter of time before…” Khepri started to say before Sea shot him a look. “Okay, okay, whatever.”

“Both of you, this isn’t doing you any good,” Jasper groaned. “Sea, you’re going to be okay, don’t listen to him. Just because, you know, that is happening, doesn’t mean you should lose faith in yourself. You’re a good, strong pony, and that’s not going to change, no matter what he says about it.

Sea paused a moment and smiled a little at her Pegasus friend. She had recently found out that the Change Driver and Shifter that allowed her to become Kamen Rider Scarab was turning her into a Changeling. It hadn’t been an easy choice to make, but in the end, she had decided to keep fighting.

Though Khepri had been less than optimistic about her chances. She didn’t want to think about that to be honest, she was focused more on living her life just like she said.

“Tch, whatever. If you want to keep deluding yourself I’m not going to stop you,” Khepri snorted. He walked off and out the door, leaving the two mares to talk.

“Remind me why we put up with him again?” Jasper asked as Sea ordered herself a drink.

“Because we need him to protect the Ponies,” Sea reminded her. “And yeah, he is a pain in the flank. Be glad you don’t have to hear him in your head too.”

“Yeah… I’ll bet that’s creepy,” Jasper said as she took a drink. “So, what should we do with the rest of our evening?”

“Eh, I was thinking about taking a walk alone or something,” Sea replied with a shrug. “I need to get some fresh air, honestly. Right now I’ve got a lot on my mind and Khepri wasn’t exactly helping with that.”

“I don’t blame you,” Jasper agreed. “See you back in our room at the Communal House?”

“Yeah, see you there,” Sea said with a smile as she gave her friend a quick hug. “Stay safe, okay? We don’t know if anything else might happen.”

“I’ll be fine, I’m more worried about you,” Jasper said with a shake of her head. Sea released the hug and headed back outside.

She took a deep breath as she went back out into the cool night air. She hummed a tune to herself as she did, barely noticing that Khepri was following her in his insectoid form. The Shifter finally made his presence known with a telepathic nudge.

“What do you want, Khepri?” Sea demanded.

“I’m just checking on you, you’d be surprised to know that I actually don’t want anything to happen to you,” Khepri replied.

“Oh? Is the high and mighty Khepri getting sentimental?” Sea asked with a smirk.

“Tch, nothing like that, you just make my life interesting,” Khepri retorted. “You don’t want my life to get boring do you?”

“Yeah, just keep telling yourself that, you like me under that hard exterior,” Sea said with a laugh out loud. “Look, I know you’re not exactly, optimistic about my chances. But I think that I’ll be okay, so can we just move on, please?”

“Tch, whatever,” Khepri said. “I don’t really care. Either you’re right or you’re going to become just another member of the Hive. I find the latter to be much more realistic, but perhaps you might be right. Whatever happens, I would be careful if I were you. The Hive isn’t going to be the only ones interested in you.”

“Yeah, I know,” Sea replied as Khepri landed on her head. “Come on, let’s just enjoy the night together, okay?”

Khepri just made the telepathic equivalent of a shrug as they started walking around. She took a deep breath as she reached the edge of town, looking around a little. She could’ve sworn she saw something in the distance for a moment before the ground started shaking a little beneath her hooves.

“What the…” She said as she looked around confused. “What’s going…”

Before she could say anything else, a swirling vortex appeared before her and drew the two of them into it.

---

Manehattan, United States of Equila

In yet another world a man in a black leather jacket, orange, and red hair, as well as light orange skin, was walking up a seemingly never-ending stairwell. After what had felt to him like ages he finally took the last step and was now face to face with a grey metal door. A frown crossed his lips as he pushed the door open, letting the orange light of the sunset illuminate the stairwell behind him. After his eyes had adjusted to the new light it didn’t take him long to find the person he was looking for.

“I knew you would be here Ocean,” was all he said as a woman with light blue skin, long dark and neon blue hair and a black jacket turned around and staring at him with a somber look in her eyes.

“Really, wasn’t hard to figure out. Every time something goes through your head you come here and ever since you came back from Quarzquarry you’ve been here a lot So, what is it that keeps your mind occupied?” He continued with a warm smirk on his lips, taking a few steps closer to her as she leaned over the fence and stared off into the sunset and the city bellow.

“Nothing important,” she returned, not looking away from the city beneath her for even a moment.

“Nothing important, eh? And that’s why you spend at least an hour every day up here, just staring into the distance? Sure,” he returned, shaking his head as he did so before joining her on the fence and stared in the same direction as her. “I kinda remember someone who told me not to just bury stuff like this. To talk to someone about stuff that keeps you up at night, or you just eventually collapse. And I actually thought you got that after last time.”

She just lowered her head a bit and let out a defeated sigh. “You know, you know me far too well. Keeping anything from you is fucking impossible I tell you. It’s… It’s just...”

“You don’t have to say it, I can guess. It’s what you had to do in Quartzquary, isn’t it?” He said, wrapping his arm around her.

“If it only were that. No, that was just what I had to do. I accept that; it’s just...“ Ocean said before biting her lip. “It’s just that I’m afraid that she might be right. The world is changing. Corrupted are appearing all over the country, these Changelings are currently rampaging through Canterlot City and I have the feeling this Orphenoch situation isn’t over just yet. It reminds me of Haruto’s and Scootaloo’s world. A new evil constantly arises, a new world-ending threat… I’m just afraid that at one point no one will stand up to fight against it…” She finally said with a loud sigh, letting herself be pulled towards Phoenix.

He just looked down at her and her worried expression. “So, that’s it. I see. Would you stop fighting though?”

That actually got her to look up to him with a confused look on his face. “What do you mean? Why would I stop fighting?”

“If you really think that this world is doomed to live through catastrophe after catastrophe until it eventually falls apart why are you here and not with her? Why did you stand up to her? Why aren’t you out there, trying to stomp out any danger that might come from what’s out there and force this world under one rule so it will be able to stand up against the threats to come? Tell me,” he smiled back at her.

“I… I just don’t think that’s the right way, but she isn’t wrong…”

“I see, so you think what we are doing is the right one then? You know, as much as I dislike her, I get where she is coming from, but things like Scoot’s and Haruto’s world kinda give me hope. They faced this stuff for decades and they are still standing. Their world might be bonkers crazy, but they are still there. There were always people who did the right thing, who stood up to those who fought for their own gain. I can accept a bonkers world when it means that there will always be people to look up to, that simply do the right thing. And I will make sure we can move forward towards a bright future like that in our world too. That’s what I’m fighting for,” he smirked, a smirk that also forced a smile on Ocean’s face.

“Did anyone ever tell how damn sappy you can be?” She just sighed, now fully turning towards him.

“A few times, but don’t lie to me, you love it,” he winked at her, receiving a chuckle from her.

“Oh, you damn idiot. I swear you are the biggest idiot in the whole world, but damn if you don’t get me every time with your dumb speeches,” she said with a smirk on her lips. “Come, it’s getting cold out here and I have no interest in getting myself a cold like Scorched Earth. How about we check out another pizzeria? It’ll probably pale in comparison to Thunder, but I’m hungry. What do you say?”

“Hmh, you are right about the Thunder bit, but yeah, we can’t just call him here every time we want one, even if he would be insane enough to do it. Though, do you have any idea what you want to order? Letting you figure that out in the restaurant always takes ages.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Would you rather have something normal? I’m sure I could go for fungi-ham if that is what you want,” she returned.

“No,” he simply returned.

“Good, then deal with it,” she said with a chuckle. “And, don’t worry, I didn’t waste the whole hour just brooding, I actually thought of something to eat. Now, listen up: Pineapple-Chilly-Sweetcorn-Fungi-Bacon. Doesn’t that sound great?” She finished with a wide smile on her lips.

“Not really, but I long since just learned to roll with it, so I’m not worried,” he chuckled.

But before they could open the door again the roof started to shake a bit. “Oh, this can’t be good…” Was all Phoenix managed to say before both of them were sucked up by a vortex that appeared right where the door should have been.

Just a minute later the door opened once again, a muscular man with black hair and grey skin stepping out: ”Phoenix, Ocean, did you feel th-” He stopped mid-sentence when he saw no one but himself on the roof. “Oh boy, I have a bad feeling about this…” Was all he managed to say as he stared at the empty roof in front of him.

---

Denver, Colorado, United States of America:

Atop a rooftop, Uva and Ankh ‘talked’.

“Ask me again, why did you have me save that bint?” Uva snarled, slapping Ankh’s arm away. “That new boy could have killed her right then and there, and all of our problems would have been solved!”

“I have my reasons, tch!” Ankh commented. “You don’t need to know them. All you need to do is be your brainless self, and follow orders when commanded!”

“C-Commanded?” Uva said, grabbing Ankh by the throat. “Who do you think you are? I am not to be commanded!”

Ankh didn’t even look remotely nervous. “You’re such a child Uva, you fail to think of the long term,” the King of Birds sighed. “Adagio gets killed, and then some other idiot comes along to take the OOO Medals. Plus, doesn’t it worry you? Adagio’s one of the only ones to match us in pure combat, and there that new Rider was, throwing her around like a rag doll! Now think about it, use what little brains you surely have! If she can get beaten easily, what does that mean for us?”

Uva thought about it, and he didn’t like it. Ankh smirked.

“Exactly,” he said. “Be that as it may, we can still revive as long as we have enough Cells and our Cores are intact, but what’s stopping the new Rider from taking as much as he wants? We’re all targets now.”

“Gah!” Uva hissed. “I preferred it when all I had to do was use my two fists and rampage, not when there’s four to five Riders running about, they’re just popping up like rabbits these days!”

“Everyone’s getting in on the fun, tch!” Ankh grimaced. “Still, I haven’t seen that Eiji boy around in days, makes me wonder what happened to him!”

“Oh, do you actually care for the Kougami?” Kazari remarked as he stepped into view. “Why, I never thought that you had a heart…”

“Shut it cat!” Ankh snapped. “It just makes me… concerned. What is he plotting? Why has he not suited up?”

“Perhaps someone finally beat him? Trashed his Rider system beyond the point of repair?” Kazari pondered sitting down atop an air conditioner. “It’s an amusing thought, no?”

“If that’s the case, remind me to thank the person responsible!” Uva laughed. “I’ll shake their hand!”

“Use your brains, if you have them,” Kazari sighed. “If someone could take down Eiji’s system, trash it beyond repair then that means there’s someone else we have to worry about right now. Maybe it was the same person who quote: “Threw Adagio around a rag doll” unquote or maybe it’s someone different!”

Ankh meanwhile felt his face falling. He hated to admit it, but Eiji made his heart… dance. He was a curiosity really. He honestly believed that he could take it upon himself to save the King of the Birds. It was nonsense really, no human had that power to change a Greeed’s nature.

He should have just jumped in bed with that Adagio woman, both of them shared the same naivete! It was frankly embarrassing really. Ankh didn’t even know why he associated himself with Eiji that one time, even if he had recovered one of his cores in the bargain. He cast a glance to Kazari, he knew the Cat Greeed had one of his core. That was the only reason he’d gone back to the Greeed in the first place, wait for the right time to strike and recover his Condor.

Ankh went for a ‘borrowed’ phone and opened up a list of the cores he had currently. Two Takas, and one Kujaku. No, it wasn’t enough. There were still six more cores out there, and he knew the other Greeed had them. It was the only logical explanation for why he was just an arm. As soon as he recovered the rest of his Cores, that would soon be remedied.

“And then…” Ankh thought casting a longing glance towards the sky. “And then? That’s when I’ll take to the skies once more, burn and make my desires whole again…”

He remembered the freedom of flying through the clear blue, it was something nothing else could quite replicate. No rules, nobody to tell him off. He was at peace up there.

“Oh,” Kazari asked. “Ankh? Did you know that Adagio has siblings?”

“I’m aware,” Ankh muttered in distaste rubbing the spot on his face where he’d been stung by the youngest Dazzling sibling’s bees. “That was not a… fun realization. Still not sure that Adagio forgives me for…”

Then he realized, and his eyes widened in shock. Kazari knew about them. Kazari knew about the two younger ones. His hand and he didn’t quite know why reached out to grab Kazari by the throat before he shoved the Cat Greeed up against a wall. Uva gaped. Kazari smirked.

“Oh?” he remarked. “So you do have human emotions, I wasn’t just kidding myself. You do… care.”

“Don’t mistake this for me going soft,” Ankh growled. “I just want you to leave them out of this. I prefer not to play dirty, and threaten a Rider’s loved ones. I want Adagio to face me without anything holding her back, and if she faces me knowing that her siblings are on the line it will be far from the fight I desire!”

“Is that all?” Kazari asked. “I could be mistaken, but is that actually fear I hear in your voice? Makes my heart dance at the sheer prospect of it all!”

Ankh gave the cat a look of disgust, dropping him with a thud. “I just want a fair battle, that’s all. I prefer not to resort to the same underhanded tactics that you love so much.”

“...Suit yourself…” Kazari answered.

Unknown to them, a taka candroid watched with a batta candroid in its claws. It flew back to its master ready to report its findings. In the back of his company car, Eiji watched with interest. “Well then,” he mused. “Ankh… Kazari, what will you do next?”

Eiji should have seen Ankh’s betrayal coming, and yet still it surprised him. He’d actually thought Adagio had gotten through to the bird. Oh well, given Ankh was 800 years old and literally an incarnation of desire he should have expected nothing less. Asking Ankh to change was like asking for an act of God. Neither was likely.

His teaming up with Kazari was even more surprising, given that all accounts indicated the two hated each other with a burning passion. Okay, so maybe they hated Adagio more, or more accurately wanted their medals back more than they hated each other.

No, that wasn’t right. If Ankh wanted his medals more than he hated Kazari, he’d do something different. Ankh had to be playing the long game. That was the only explanation. Did Kazari suspect he was being had? Probably, as after all, it was in their very natures to naturally distrust the other.

There were other matters as well. Namely, the theft of Takeru’s Eyecon. X had to be involved, they were the only ones known to be investigating anything and everything relating to Riders.

Well, at the very least, there was some slices of good news. One, Takeru felt confident Adagio could control herself for at least 30 minutes in a battle with a full medaled combo. Two, he -Eiji- had a candidate for Birth picked out.

Eiji adjusted his tie as the car pulled up at Buckley Air Force Base. The trouble was, getting his commander to sign off on the whole thing. He shuddered, he’d rather be in a board meeting right now rather than negotiating with Spitfire for one of her soldiers to be the next Birth.

But needs must. This would also solve the problem of the US Government sticking their noses in where they weren’t wanted, and getting ahold of Birth to be used as a military weapon.

Eiji gave the guard outside of Spitfire’s office a quick salute, the sound of fighter jets screaming in the background.

“Mr. Kougami,” Spitfire said, barely looking up from her paperwork. “Can you come back tomorrow, or better yet actually schedule an appointment?”

“Ms Freeflight,” Eiji cleared his throat. “I actually wanted to-”

“Look,” Spitfire sighed rubbing her forehead. “I’d love to talk, look I honestly would, but right now I’ve got an entire squadron that needs to be shipped out to Tokyo, on loan to the John C. Stennis. I’ve got to decide who goes, and who stays. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay? Just… just for now can you take your leave?” she asked gently waving Eiji off.

“Actually, I may be able to help in that regard,” Eiji said. “See, I need one of your men, or women, for my own purposes. I sent you a notice last week, didn’t I?”

Spitfire groaned, and checked the sea of paperwork on her desk. Sure enough, she saw it. A transfer paper for anyone of Spitfire’s choosing that she’d yet to fill out. Her eyes widened at what exactly Eiji was requesting they be transferred for. “...I’ll see who I can spare. They’ll be on board for this. Just watch.”

Sure enough…

“...There’s no way I’m on board for this,” Soarin’ Skies said looking Eiji in the eye. “Look, I get it. You need help. And I’d like to help, I really would. But I’ve got to pack for Tokyo, I’ve only now just gotten started.”

“Congratulations,” Spitfire said crossing her arms. “You’re not going to Tokyo. You’re staying right here. You’re the best marksman we have on the range, and from what I hear Eiji’s little project requires a very good shot.”

“Shame really,” Fleetfoot commented with a little smirk. “I heard Akihabara is nice this time of year, they’ve got some really good figurines. Very sexy ones. Maybe a few nerdy ones, as well… Like for that magical girl series you like so much? What’s it called? Lyric-”

“Oh shut up,” Soarin’ groaned hanging his head. “You know I hate you right now, right?”

“Hey,” Fleetfoot said patting him on the shoulder. “I’m your flightmate, it’s my job to give you shit. Tell you what though, I’ll see if I can get Rainbow to stop by there okay?”

“Hey, don’t drag me into this!” Rainbow said before turning back to Soarin’. “I’m actually sorta jealous really. This Birth thing? Sounds cool. I’d think of this as an opportunity really.”

“Rainbow’s right,” Spitfire said. “This could open a few new pathways to you. Like it or not, you can’t be in the service forever. I’d suggest you take Eiji up on his offer.”

“...I feel like I’m being railroaded,” Soarin’ muttered. “But since you put it that way, okay yeah, I’ll do it. One question though,” he asked turning to Eiji. “...The suit doesn’t blare AC/DC does it?”

Everyone just facepalmed.

---

Sea groaned as she placed her hoof on her head. “Ugh… that’s the last time I let Jasper talk me into drinking after a show,” she groaned as she looked up and realized she was no longer in Ponyville.

The buildings around her were too tall and clean. For a moment she thought she had wound up in one of the Hive Cities somehow, but they lacked the Changeling architecture she had seen from Canterlot in the distance. Wherever she was, it was too metal, more like pictures she had seen of old-world Manehattan. Tall, glistening glass structures with towering snow-capped mountains in the background.

And then she looked at her hoof when she realized it felt wrong. She let out a scream when she realized that in its place was a strange appendage with long odd attachments. What was going on?

“Okay… Sea, clearly you’re having some sort of weird dream… just give it a few minutes and you’ll wake up…” She muttered as she looked down at herself. She was dressed in a black jacket over a shirt and pants. “Weird dream… why am I on my hind legs anyway?”

“I’m not sure that this is a dream,” Khepri’s voice echoed in her mind. She looked down at the mechanical scarab. “I don’t feel the usual ambient magic, or at least not any that’s as strong as back home. If I had to guess we got dumped in another reality.”

“Oh great… here we go…” Sea groaned. Not for the first time, she remembered when she became a Rider, life got very weird. “I suppose this was inevitable. So, what should we do now?”

“I don’t know, but I have to conserve energy,” Khepri answered. “The ambient magic is too low for me. Tch, I’m not sure how this world’s survived.”

“Yeah, well we’ll figure something out, I’d rather be ready for anything…” Sea said as she stepped forward, wobbling a little. She felt like her whole center of gravity was thrown off, this wasn’t like being bipedal in Rider form, it felt so weird. “Maybe I should see if I can talk to some of the locals, see if they’ll help…”

So Sea walked up to the nearest person she could find, staggering somewhat as she struggled to find her balance. Eventually, she opted to balance herself on a building.

“Hey, can you tell me where I am?” She asked the person. She was tall, muscular. Dark-skinned with her purple hair tied in twin pigtails.

Let it be said, Aria Dazzling had seen plenty of drunk party-goers. Hell, she’d been one more than a few times herself. So she was no stranger to questions like this. She knew a bouncer, someone originally from Los Angeles. Tempest Shadow, odd name really but she was intimidating enough. She’d learned all she knew about recognizing a drunkard when she saw one from her. It was clear that this woman in front of her was one. “...Lady, look, I’d suggest you go home. I’ll call you a cab.”

“Home? Yeah… I don’t think your cabs go that far…” Sea groaned.

Yep, she was definitely drunk, Aria decided. “I don’t know,” she drawled with a little dismissive wave of her hand. “Pay them enough of a fair, and they’ll go anywhere.”

“Trust me, I doubt they’ll go where I come from,” Sea replied with a shake of her head. If she told her the truth then she would sound crazy, but she didn’t know anything about this city to try and bluff her.

“Ha! You’re a strange one, aren’t you?” Aria laughed. “This city does get all kinds… Really now, if it’s not the birdbrain or Kougami, it’s people like this! Come on, I’ll see if I can whistle you a cab. ...Now, how do the New Yorkers do it again?”

“New Yorkers?” Sea asked confused. “Look, uh… really that’s not necessary. I’m just trying to figure out where I am and what I should do next. I know it sounds crazy, but I’m from… really far out of town, like, really far.”

“Tch, real subtle,” Khepri commented. “Might as well try and tell her you’re from Prance.”

“You shut up,” Sea snapped at him.

“...wow, you really are out of it, aren’t you?” Aria blinked. “New York? The Big Apple, the City that Never Sleeps? The Capital of the World? The City So Nice, They Named It Twice? Any of these ringing any bells?” she asked snapping her fingers in front of Sea’s face.

“How are… never mind…” Sea groaned. There was no point in hiding it at this point, she already looked crazy and drunk. “I’ll tell you, but you’ll just think I’m crazy… crazier.”

“Trust me, already there lady,” Aria drawled crossing her arms. “Go on, out with it. Don’t have all day here.”

“I’m from another universe, I’m not even a… whatever you are, I’m a pony, I got sent here by a weird vortex portal thing and I don’t even know what’s going on,” Sea said simply. “I honestly have no idea how I got here or where I am… or what New York is.”

She waited for Aria to laugh. She didn’t.

“You know… that would actually explain a lot,” Aria admitted rubbing her chin in thought. “This portal thingy, it wasn’t near Canterlot High by any chance?”

Aria had been hoping this woman was either a very dedicated LARPer or just outright drunk, but this just created a whole ‘nother set of headaches. Perhaps needless to say, after two Adagios running about she wasn’t exactly a… fan of the pony world.

“Uh, no it deposited me right here,” Sea replied as she looked back behind her. “Why?”

“No reason…” Aria muttered feeling that headache returning. Why Lord, why she had to ask herself. Why was her family a magnet for this kinda thing?

“Look, I don’t want to cause any trouble, I just need to get back home, things aren’t going well over there…” She muttered and shook her head. “I’m guessing it won’t be that easy.”

“I dunno,” Aria muttered. “Not the kinda person you should be asking about magic. ...Oh for fuck’s sake, I really should have Sunset’s number on speedial. Might as well go for the next best one really. Hopefully Flutters isn’t too busy…”

Before she could go for her phone however, there came the sounds of screams. A trash can went flying into the side of a building as crowds scattered as this massive dark green stag beetle creature walked into view.

“Uva…” Aria sighed. “As if things couldn’t get anymore headache-inducing.”

Uva was not a happy Greeed, perhaps needless to say. He’d been absolutely humiliated this past week, first by that monk backhanding him. A mere human handing him his ass on a platter! Now, he’d been forced to help his archenemy against another Rider! And Ankh asking him to do so, at that! He needed an outlet. Perhaps terrorizing some humans would be a good thing. He’d be able to blow off some steam at any rate. Flexing his muscles, he let out a low growl as he spotted Aria. She’d been responsible for his humiliation earlier that week, it was time to repay the favor.

He threw a punch, only for it to be easily caught by Aria who grumbled: “So predictable.”

He was judo flipped into the ground, the Batta and Kuwagata medals flying into Aria’s hands. “Welp, that’s two more for Adagio…” the woman remarked pocketing them.

“I’m guessing this isn’t a new development,” Sea commented as she took a step back. “Khepri, can you handle a transformation?”

“Yeah, it’s sorta a regular thing,” Aria said as she roundhouse kicked Uva as he tried to get back up. “Why aren’t you running? Are you that stupid? I’m guessing pony magic doesn’t work here!”

“Tch, no problem,” Khepri replied. “As if you needed to ask!”

Sea reached into her jacket and took out a belt with a slot on it for something to slide onto it. It was black with several holes in it as she spun it around her waist, connecting the two pieces as Khepri flew into her hand.

“...Um, okay then,” Aria muttered blinking a bit in shock. “I’mma guessing it does work here…”

“Only one way to find out,” Sea said as she held the shifter up and slid it into her Driver. “Henshin!”

“WHAT IS BORN IN THE DARK MUST COME TO THE LIGHT!”

Energy flew off Khepri as it attached to her body. Purple and black armor formed over her with pink lines crossing it. Her head was covered with a helmet with a silver mouthpiece and large pink eyes with two curved horns sticking out of the top. She gripped her hands and two tonfas appeared in them as she swung them around and glared at Uva.

Uva blinked and then shouted: “Not another one!”

“I’m not going to let you do this… whatever you are…” Sea said as she ran forward and swung one of her tonfas at Uva. “You’re not going to hurt innocent… whatever you call the locals!”

“Oh, so you want to play hero, girlie?” Uva chittered. “Fine then, I think you can amuse me for a bit!”

He swung, the blades on his hands connecting with Sea’s tonfas. He forced her arms upwards before scoring a few slashes across Sea’s chest. He then kicked her through three solid pillars.

“Just as I thought,” Uva remarked. “You can play the hero, but you can’t back it up in actual combat!”

“Nope, just getting used to this…” Sea muttered as she straightened herself out. “You try going from four legs to two! And these… things aren’t helping any either!”

Uva just headbutted her, before grabbing Sea by the chest, and then he tossed her into the side of a building. He then began delivering a series of powerful right hooks to her helmet pressing his advantage. Throwing her to the ground, he grabbed her in a chokehold.

“Give up,” Uva chittered. “I don’t want to have to hurt you girlie.”

“Yeah, sure… and I’ve got a bridge in Manehattan you can buy…” Sea gasped out. With that, Khepri slid off the Driver and flew into Uva’s face.

“Gah!” Uva shouted as Khepri bit him. “You little bitch!”

He released Sea, giving her a chance to finally counterattack. Sea swung her fist around and hit him hard in the chest causing a few cell medals to plonk out. Uva staggered back, but quickly recovered, nailing Sea with a powerful uppercut, before forcing her back with green electricity blasts from his horns.

“So you’ve got some fight in you, after all!” Uva laughed. “Well, isn’t that just interesting!”

“I’ve dealt with worse than you,” Sea growled. She dug her foot in for a moment then sped forward at him, hitting him several times in quick succession with her tonfas.

Uva dodged the next few strikes before sending Sea staggering back with more electric blasts, and then picked up a dumpster and tossed it at her. Sea’s eyes widened, but she could do nothing about it as she was then sent flying through the wall of a building. “Clearly,” Uva deadpanned recovering his cells. “I can see that, yep!”

He then blocked or caught a few punches from Aria, kneeing her in the gut before shoving the Dazzling away. “Impudent girl…” he muttered as he looked at her laying sprawled out on the ground in pain. He quickly recovered his stolen Cores, absorbing them back into himself and his armor began to regenerate.

“Okay… that could have gone better…” Sea muttered as she groaned a little.

“So, is that all you got?” Uva commented slowly striding forwards into the wreckage of the office around him. “And I thought a Rider could do more damage!” he remarked crossing his arms, his horns crackling with green electricity.

“No… it’s not over!” Sea said as her back armor opened and insectoid wings appeared as she took off. She connected her two tonfas together and twisted them.

“TRANSFORM: SCARAB TONFA RIFLE!”

She flew up into the air as the weapons turned into a rifle and she leveled them at Uva and fired several shots at him. Uva ducked and covered behind whatever he could find, before he grabbed a desk and tossed it at Sea. She just punched right through it, and suddenly Uva was on his feet as he was hit again, and again, and again by pure lightning speed.

“...Damn you…” Uva muttered, seeing the blur of the mare turned woman dancing around the room. His eyes narrowed, and he let himself get hit, only to strike at the last moment with his blades. Sea was sent tumbling along the ground.

“Tch, you might want to do better, this is embarrassing,” Khepri commented.

“Shut up, I’m trying my best…” Sea grumbled as she got to her feet and stared Uva down. “Okay, so you’re a bit better than what I’m used to, I’ll give you that. But I’m not going to let you win!”

“You mean you’re not going to let him embarrass you like this, right?” Khepri snarked.

“SHUT UP YOU ANNOYING BUG!” Sea shouted before running straight at Uva even faster this time. She slammed hard into him with her fist, sending him flying through a window and out of the building from the impact.

“But I didn't say anything!” Uva whined as he tumbled along the street.

“NOT YOU!” Sea shouted, and as Uva picked himself back up off the ground Sea braced for another fight. Only for poor Uva to get rear-ended by the back of a car, the driver drifting just so that she’d hit him.

“...Picking on little girls now, Uva? I thought you had more common sense than that,” Adagio remarked slinging her belt around her waist. She blinked at the sight of Scarab before sighing. “...They’re like rabbits, aren’t they?”

“Sai, Unagi, Zou!” called the belt as Adagio transformed, spinning her whips around and allowing them to strike Uva, again and again, each time shocking him with electricity.

“You gotten the message yet?” Adagio asked holding up the Gorilla medal. “Leave. Now. I won’t be asking again.”

“Does that ever work?” Sea asked.

“Nope,” Adagio said making a mental note to talk with this one later. “So, plan B.”

“Sai, Gorilla, Zou: Sagohzo, Sa-Goh-Zo!” the driver shouted.

“Shall we?” Adagio asked looking to Sea.

“Let’s do this,” Sea said as she detached her rifle again to form the tonfas.

“You hit him high, I’ll hit him low!” Adagio said tossing one fist forwards and sending Uva rocketing skywards. The Kugawata and Kamakiri medals fell into an outstretched hand. “Here we go!”

Sea nodded before jumping skywards and hitting Uva with a powerful ax kick sending him flying to Celestia only knew where. She swore she could hear the thud on the other side of the city.

Canceling out her transformation, Adagio smiled. And no berserking to boot! She’d have to thank Takeru, preferably by dinner date.

Sea took a deep breath as she removed Khepri from her belt. The scarab rested on her shoulder. Clearly, that had taken a lot more energy than he had anticipated.

“Thanks for your help back there,” she said as she turned back to look at Adagio.

“Hey, it’s what I do,” Adagio said. “Riders should help other Riders out. Now, you are?”

“Sea Spray, or Kamen Rider Scarab I guess,” Sea replied with a shrug. “Always thought it was a bit on the nose, but if it works, it works.”

“Least people know who you are,” Adagio laughed rubbing the back of her head. “I’m still trying to figure out the meaning of OOOs. Well, I’m glad to have another Rider about, now that Birdbrain’s gone and taken off for Japan. Not her fault of course, but…” she sucked in a breath.

“Yeah… uh… I’m not sure how long I’ll be around,” Sea said as she rubbed the back of her head a little. “I’m not exactly from around here.”

Adagio picked up the hidden hint, noting her sister picking herself up in the background. “Ah well, sorry for your first greeting being Uva, all around resident pain in the neck. He’s persistent, I’ll give him that much…”

Then she heard the roaring cheering of the crowds, and noticed they weren’t just cheering her name like usual. “Seems someone’s famous,” Adagio commented eyeing the reporters. “Careful now, this is where it gets… difficult.”

Well, at least Vignette wasn’t here, Adagio commented to herself. She would have been the real trouble. That devil woman, she added. “So,” Adagio said turning to her new friend as she pulled Sea away from the crowds not sure on how the Rider handled fame and all the misfortune that came with it. “I assume you have a motorbike?”

---

Later when night had already set over the city, two other individuals were laying in an alleyway, one of them completely knocked out cold while the other one was just walking up. “Oh, my head,” Ocean muttered, rubbing her temple as if she had the worst hangover in human history. “What was that?”

As she finally opened her eyes again she quickly took note of the fact that they were no longer on the roof of the MRG-building, but instead in a rather filthy alley, Phoenix snorting next to her. With a resigned sigh, she started to shake him, taking a few seconds to get him back to the world of the waking. “Wake up you idiot!”

“Wha?” He groaned back as he was shaken awake and after a few solid seconds of shaking he actually pulled himself up enough to actually sit and not lie on the ground. “Hey, why are you waking me this early in the mor-” That was when he abruptly stopped, staring with wide-open eyes at Ocean. “Uhm, Ocean, you look… different…” he stammered.

She just looked at him when it hit her like a truck, Phoenix had lost all his color. “Ph… Phoenix, you… You are so pale…”

“Oh, son of a bitch, not this again,” he sighed, letting himself sink back onto the ground. “Why does this keep happening? What time is this now? The fourth? This is getting ridiculous.”

“Can’t disagree there,” she muttered back, pushing herself off the asphalt. “But we can’t just sit around here and turn our thumps like a bunch of idiots.” With that, she offered him a hand.

“Yeah, fair,” he returned as she pulled him up. “But what are we gonna do? Not like we know jack shit about this world.”

“True, but we might gain some information if we just ask around a bit. Maybe we find something that might help us like a map, or something like that.” With their plan set, they followed the light of the streetlamps that lead them to a street filled with shops and restaurants, one of which stood out to them in particular.

“Well, that’s convenient,” Phoenix chuckled as he pointed towards a pizza parlor named ‘Magnum Opus’. He was about to walk over to it when he noticed Ocean didn’t make any sign of following him.

“You’re sure this is a good idea? I mean, what if they freak out when they see you or me? In the last universe we were the MRG didn’t even exist. Everything could be completely different here,” she hesitantly said.

“Well, any better ideas? It’s at least something familiar. Worth a shot at least,” he shrugged and continued to cross the street, Ocean shaking her head one last time and following him.

They didn’t miss the newspaper on the street, reading:“Kamen Rider OOOs does it again…”

“Well, at least we are not alone...”

What had they gotten themselves into?

Author's Notes:

So... this is a thing. Kamen Riders Alchemy, Scarab, and OOOs meet. So, are you ready? Me, Layton and Ruinqueen are...

Medals collected: Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo, Gorilla, Sai, Zou, Unagi, Tako, Kugawata, Kamakiri.

22: Fanfic Generations: Crossing Worlds Part 2

The door to the restaurant slowly opened, both Phoenix and Ocean stepping into the strange place. The sense of familiarity they had expected quickly was washed away when they gazed at the actual interior.

Instead of the rustic, warm restaurant they were used to, this was far more modern and really nothing like they remembered with the biggest difference being the strange neon bar between the eating room and the kitchen. Still, the smell, the crowdedness, and general air were just as welcoming and homely.

“Huh,” was all Phoenix said on the topic, staring blankly at the unfamiliar restaurant.

“What are you doing here?! Did you forget anything? Because if you did, I swear I will rip you a new one! The pizzas are getting cold!” A very angry and familiar voice hissed next to Phoenix.

Turning around he stares directly into two very angry eyes, eyes he knew all too well. His expression turning from sunrise to a far more nervous one as he stared at her, dressed in an apron of all things, arms crossed in front of her.

“Uh… Hey Ocean?” Phoenix stammered back, adding an awkward laugh to it, all while she just continued to stare at him with an angry glare.

“Don’t just ‘Hey Ocean’ me! You have a job to do, so why aren’t you doing that?” She returned. “Is it because of that girl ther…” She continued as her voice suddenly frizzled out, leaving her standing there with her mouth wide open. “Wha… What?”

His Ocean just waved her hand awkwardly in return. “Hey, sis?” She returned as convincingly as she could as this moment.

“Star Catcher is in Los Angeles at a race right now! You aren’t her,” she returned a bit more composed, still, there was an underlying confusion in her voice. “Who… Who are you?”

Phoenix had meanwhile turned back to his Ocean when she whispered back at him: “I knew this was a dumb idea! We should have never gone here!”

“Excuse me, but you didn’t have any better ideas either!” He returned as silently as possible. “So what now? You are the smart one here!”

“But you got us into this!”

“You know I can hear you, right?” The other Ocean asked, having stepped between them, much to their embarrassment as they immediately shut up and started to turn red. “So, what in God’s name is going on here?!” She asked again, eyeing them with an intense look.

“Would you mind doing this somewhere… less crowded?” Ocean asked, rubbing the back of her head and pointed her head at the tables around them. All eyes were square on them, a few people sneakily filming the entire situation with their phones.

The waitress just sighed and signaled them to follow her, the two quickly trotting after her and through to the kitchen door and into the half-open kitchen.

“Ocean? Is anything the matter? I didn’t expect you to come back in here so fa…” A cook with black hair said, currently in the process of preparing another pizza for his guests before looking up to them, just as he threw the dough. He could only stare in confusion at the two Ocean’s and Phoenix who entered the kitchen at this moment, only snapped out of it when his dough fell right onto a bottle of marinara sauce, knocking it over. “What the fuck?”

“Hey Thunder, how’s it going?” Phoenix returned the most uncomfortable smile ever on his lips.

“I have no idea, but I want answers and I want them fast,” she muttered in return, walking over to Thunder.

“Soooo… Should we just go clean?” Phoenix leaned over to Ocean and whispered, one eye still on the two.

“Are you sure? This is already extremely awkward. If you tell them where we are from they might think we are crazy!” She hissed, back, also eyeing the two familiar yet unfamiliar faces.

“I mean, why not? Not like they will believe anything else and I don’t want them to think we are Changelings or something like that! So, yeah, at worst they won’t believe us, and if they do, all the better.”

Ocean was about to say something in return when she just sighed and let her head hang low. “Fine, but I’ll do the talking, ok?”

“Sure, go ahead,” he shrugged, a sigh of relief escaping his lips.

“Oh, you sly…” She huffed before being interrupted by a cough of her other-self. “Oh, right, you want answers. Can’t really blame you for that, I would probably act the same. But where to start,” she crossed her arms and started to tap her foot on the ground before finally saying: “Yeah how about names. Names are good. I’m Agent Ocean Skies and this Phoenix Feather, but I assume you already know that.”

The two just stared at them with open mouths. It took them a few seconds to respond: “What? Ocean Skies? Bu… But I’m Ocean Skies! A… Are you some sort of monster or something like that?” She asked, her eyes starting to narrow.

“No, I’m no monster. We two are just not from around here one could say. If I’m honest we are really far from home. We think we are from another universe,” she continued, a nervous look in her eyes.

“You’re what now? Another universe? And we should just believe you about this?” That’s ludicrous! Ludicrous I say! You are just playing a prank on us Phoenix! “ Thunder returned, a confident smirk on his lips while pressing his hands against his hips.

“Sorry bro, but that ain’t it. You can just call me if you want, but it ain’t gonna ring here,” Phoenix waved around his phone.

“We’ll see about that!” Thunder grumbled, pulling out the phone and picking out the number. After a few seconds, the ringing stopped and someone picked up on the other end, but Phoenix’s phone remained silent. “Hello, who is there? Wait, what, but how? You are standing right here! No, you are not! But… Forget it,” and with that, he ended the call and just stared at the two-dimension travelers with open eyes. “Ok, at this point I don’t even know what to believe anymore, but sure, why not? Not like it would be so strange in a world like this,” he muttered.

“Puh and I were afraid this wouldn’t have worked for some dimension traveling bullshit,” he chuckled putting his own phone away. “So, hey Thunder and Ocean of this world.”

“Well, that takes care of that I guess,” his Ocean just shook his head and continued. “I know this is hard to take in all at once, but we wanted to ask for your help if that would be possible. We have to get back home, do you two know a way to do that? I know it’s not likely, but still. We are kinda on unknown territory here.”

Thunder looked at the two before shaking his head and weakly returning: “Sorry, but I’m just a simple chef, I can’t help you with getting back home, but I could offer you my hospitality. I just don’t have any free beds at the moment so you would have to sleep on the couch if that would be ok.”

“Wait, what? You are offering us to stay at your place? You don’t even know us! We could be totally different from your Phoenix and that completely ignoring the dimension travel stuff. That you accepted that was already really unexpected, but this? Why?” Phoenix stammered, staring at Thunder in confusion.

“I… I don’t know, but I just get that feeling I can trust you. You kinda give me the same feeling as my brother… Well, you are my brother… I think… I just get that feeling of sincerity from you that I get from him. I… I can’t describe it. I… I know it’s a bit naive, but I can’t help myself…” He muttered, his expression twisted into a grimace of confusion.

“Aww, come here you big softy! I knew I could always count on you, no matter the world,” Phoenix burst out and quickly walked over to his “brother” and give him a tight hug.

“Ey! Ey! You’re crushing me! Let me go!” It quickly came from the poor man as he struggled to free himself from his grasp. Phoenix quickly released him with a slight chuckle. “What is with you? You’re far stronger than usual? Did you work out in that world?”

“Something like that,” he returned with a sly smile. “Hey, I know you already have done so much for us, but can I ask you something else? We stumbled across a newspaper outside, about one Kamen Rider OOO’s. You wouldn’t know how to meet that Rider, would you?”

“Why do you ask Phoenix?” Ocean said before Thunder could answer.

“I mean, until now whenever something happened with multiverse stuff it always resolved itself when we meet the involved Rider. And we are in a city with a Rider again, so I mean, that can’t be a coincidence, right? I mean, it’s worth a shot at least,” he shrugged before turning back to Thunder.

“Oh, you mean Adagio? She is a regular here, but I haven’t seen here for a couple of weeks, but I heard she works at the aquarium, so that would be a good place to try,” he returned. “But why do you want to meet her?”

“Oh, the aquarium, I see. So that is where Adag-” Phoenix nodded before stopping mid-sentence, his eyes widening in shock, Ocean following his example and both screamed out in unison:

“Wait, what?! Adagio?!”

---

“Well, this is interesting enough, isn’t it?” Starlight commented leaning back in her chair, one of her arms resting on the red velvet. On the TV screen in front of her, the newscaster went on about a new Kamen Rider appearing out of nowhere, assisting OOOs against Uva. Where’s her face was the newscaster again, making remarks about OOOs being the one on offense or some such rot. Starlight made a noise of disgust at this. Anyone with just half of a brain could see OOOs was a pun on Ozu, meaning triple king. “Seems the game just got changed, as a new player has entered the field…”

Her other hand went to her tablet, and she sighed to herself. So, the buyout of Hiden Technologies was a wash. Bit of a shame really, it may have been a tiny company now but she could see that one going places, especially in robotics. Oh well, she could just approach it at another time, try again. After all, Starlight mused to herself, she always got what she wanted.

It was all to make the world equal, after all. Foundation X, despite its many dealings over the years just wanted to improve the quality of life, make everyone strive to create a better world where all were welcomed under the sun.

Yes, it may have put them into conflict with the Kamen Riders, but that was a minor trifle really. They were a nuisance anyways, considering they were hardly equal to anyone else. They had their belts and abilities that placed them above the average human, and Starlight despised them for it. Hell, taking up the abilities of her driver was only so she could match them on equal footing if you were. She had to teach them that they were a glitch in the matrix, a fly in Starlight’s ointment of her grand design.

“Tch!” she muttered in disgust. “They need to be taught a lesson, and so that’s what I’ll do.”

So what if she had to make herself out to be the villain? The Riders were a problem that needed to be dealt with, and Starlight was anything but if not tenacious in her goals. Foundation X always got what it wanted. Always.

Okay, yes, there were some setbacks like that incident with the Lem Kannagi and those Core Medals somehow coming from the future, but any great plan had its challenges. Obstacles to be overcome, and every time Foundation X emerged from them ever more stronger and with just a little more knowledge about what was lurking out there in the universe. Soon, Starlight mused, she would be at the tipping point. OOOs, she meant. Not everyone could continue the fight forever without cracking. Now, Starlight had to wonder what exactly were Adagio’s limits.

That was the other half of the reason why Starlight had first put on that belt. To test Adagio, to see just if she was worthy of being in the grand new world Foundation X envisioned.

She looked at her Equalizer Driver, sighing to herself as she placed it on her waist, the belt wrapping itself around her. People were scared of her, that was fine. “It's hard to blame them, I even scare myself. Built to kill, seems to be detrimental to my health.” Starlight mused.

That was the real reason why she only had a max transformation time of about fifteen minutes, and that was if she was lucky. The alien technology behind the Driver itself did not interact well with the human condition. She needed a patch. Of course, that was what the research was for. But for now, she needed to train herself, maybe force her body to adapt itself to this new power.

She waved her hand, and all the screens around her retracted before her chair sunk into the floor as she stood up inside a stark white room. Snapping her fingers, she whispered: “Training Program, Level Two. Henshin.”

Starlight transformed ignoring her driver’s announcements as she found herself fighting a holographic copy of the late Mitsuaki Gamou in his Sagittarius Nova form. Jumping skywards as the world around her changed into a forest of sakura blossoms, she landed atop a branch before firing an energy blast. The Gamou copy deflected it with his arm, before firing a hoard of arrows at her.

Starlight flipped off the tree and landed behind Gamou, performing a roundhouse kick. Gamou leaped over the attack before nailing Starlight in the stomach. Starlight pressed a button on her belt, sending him backwards with an x-shaped energy blast. Gamou recovered, and regained his footing.

More arrows were fired, and Starlight did a series of cartwheels and handstands to avoid them.

She waved her arm to launch an energy wave, and Gamou leaped over it before kicking her over the side of a cliff. Starlight crash-landed in a small lake below, before blinding the Gamou look-alike by throwing water in his face. Starlight used the distraction to deal a series of lightning fast punches to his chest, the final throwing him into a cliff face by sheer force alone. Starlight snapped her fingers, and Kamen Riders Tiger and Dark Kiva appeared as Gamou went up in an explosion.

The Aquarius Zodiarts appeared behind Starlight, spinning her watery whips around as Starlight blocked Tiger and Dark Kiva’s blades with her armored wrists. Forcing them back with palm strikes, the woman readied herself for what came next. In what seemed like micro-seconds Starlight then spun around and Rider Kicked the Aquarius Zodiart.

By now, warning lights were appearing all over Starlight’s heads up display inside her helmet, but she paid them no mind.

“I… I have to keep pushing myself,” she thought as she continued to fight the three projections. “I… I have to break the barrier, find out just what this suit can do! My body must not give in, it mustn’t!”

Red energy crackled all over Starlight’s armor, and she gasped out in pain.

“No, not now! I was so close!” Starlight shouted. The transformation canceled itself out forcibly, the belt clattering to the floor as the world faded.

“You’re pushing yourself again,” Mogami noted as he stepped into the room, a strange sort of gun strapped to his waist alongside the Night of Safari gashat along with a sort of bottle. “That’s the third time this week,” he remarked.

“Is there supposed to be a point to this?” Starlight asked. “Or are you going to just make some snippy comments along with a shout of “Funky!” thrown in for good measure? Because if so? Can it.” she snapped holding up a finger to Mogami’s gaping mouth.

Mogami frowned, Starlight was pushing herself way behind the limits of what a mere human could take. This little personal experiment of hers could kill her. That was why he had that back up plan. If Starlight wanted a Rider, then he’d give it to her.

“As long as…” Adagio whispered, her eyes glowing briefly as she sliced into Gamel with her spear. “As long as there is a hand whom I need to reach out to help, I shall extend my hand!”

“Sai, Gorilla, Zou: Sagohzo, Sa-Goh-Zo!” Adagio’s driver proclaimed with a snarl. She let out an animalistic scream as she beat her chest like one of the great apes and performed a scanning charge on Gamel. Elias could only watch in a mix of awe and fear as Adagio manipulated the very gravity of the earth itself to bring Gamel within reach and punch him. HARD.

Eilas’s expression turned into one of sheer terror as he watched Adagio brutally beat on Gamel and then turned her attention towards the spectral Rider who came to stop her.

He heard the proclamation of: “Kaigan: Benkei! Intimidating Sworn Brother! Tougher Than Any Other!” as he desperately sprinted down another sewer passageway, the water splashing at his feet.

“You… you said you’d help me!” Elias whispered in fear as he ran faster and faster, unknowingly being followed by a midnight blue condor. “Not turn into a monster yourself!”

Cube Condor always followed Adagio, always. He felt a sense of loyalty to the woman, given she’d taken him in and given the Zyuoh Cube a nest of sorts. Yes, she didn’t always have the best sense of judgement -Ankh alone was proof of this- but she was a nice enough woman at heart. He had been… concerned when Adagio went off into those sewers alone, and had secretly followed after her. He was glad he did, considering what he had seen thus far and was seeing now. Now his task was to follow this Elias and make sure he didn’t run into any trouble.

It wasn’t Adagio’s fault she turned into a monster periodically, it was those damned medals, Cube Condor mused to himself. They were the real issue. He got it, he really did. Adagio’s nestmate needed saving, but were these things really worth the trouble? Probably not.

He hated to play the dithering mother hen, if you will, to a fully grown woman.

He perched himself atop some bricks, out of sight as he watched Elias run smack dab into a strangely dressed man. The man wore a white robe, and had eyeliner of all things! He was what Rarity would have called quite the fashion disaster.

“Now, where are you going in such a-” the man started before he was tossed backwards by an unknown force. Cube Condor observed Elias’ outstretched hand, the teenager’s eyes wide in terror.

“...what? Did I…” Elias whispered observing his own two hands and holding them up to his face. Cube Condor noted he suffered a nosebleed. “Did I do that?”

“Oh, ho ho! Funky!” Mogami laughed. “A Quark, we haven’t had one of those since the Eternal incident! Well now, guess it means taking you back to the labs is as much of a priority as Starlight said it was! But little old me facing you as I am now? It’d be funky stupidity! Suicidal, even! Lubricate.”

He placed a bottle into his gun, and fired.

“Gear Engine! Funky! Engine Running Gear!” the weapon proclaimed as Mogami was half covered in red gear-like armor. He placed a knife into his weapon, transforming it into a rifle.

Mogami fired as Eilas fled down another corridor and out into the sunlight, throwing out his hand on pure instinct bringing rocks down atop Mogami. Again, Cube Condor observed all of this.

Mogami let out a roar as he threw the rubble off of himself. “You’re all funked up now…” he uttered.

He dodged the blastwave Elias threw at him, and his weapon crackled with electricity. Cube Condor reacted, and he shot into Elias hands transforming into a sword. Elias blinked but blocked every slice of Mogami’s weapon, now separated into its knife and gun mode once more. He rolled to the left, and then blocked a shot from Mogami’s gun.

“Now who is…” Mogami wondered before he laughed slapping his knee in joy. “Oh, I should have known, the Rider! I’ve seen that bird before, it’s her friend! So, she supports you even from the shadows huh? ...you know, actually I’ve had a good idea. I won’t kill you. No, I’ll just have to see what happens when she… well, I won’t spoil the surprise. Let’s see how long you can keep this up, hmm?”

He slashed out with several more electricity-laced strikes, before changing to ice-based attacks.

While Elias tried to defend against these, he was kicked in the chest by Mogami. Cube Condor in blade mode clattered to the ground, and reverted back to his normal form lapsing into consciousness. He was kicked away, collapsing into cube from. “...See,” Mogami uttered. “I want to learn as much as I can, like all Foundation X members. We’re visionaries, you see. World’s changing, even if we have to force those changes. You’re just along for the… uh, Ride if you get what I mean.”

One final kick to the head, and Elias was unconscious.

“So, this is what I’ve been up to,” Mogami continued to ramble, Starlight rubbing her forehead to prevent the oncoming headache as she was led into a darkened room. “Way I see it, you’re risking yourself far too much to even be out in the field. That Driver, until we find a patch -if one can be found that is- will kill you. So…”

“...will you get to the point?” Starlight asked. Mogami nodded as he went over to the center of the room, and pulled a tarp off what looked to be a partially frozen tube. Inside was Elias, almost completely nude and a machine hooked up to his brain.

Mogami went over to the Nobunaga Eyecon, resting atop a plinth in what looked to be a small shrine. He clutched it in his hand, tossing it upwards and then catching it in his other.

“Yes, yes, I know you only wanted this for study, but I had far grander plans,” Mogami continued. “Decided to take the initiative, if you will.”

“...Mogami, what did you do?” Starlight asked feeling as if she wouldn’t like the answer.

“See this man?” Mogami asked gesturing to Elias inside his casket. “He’s a Quark, and I found that very interesting. I thought Doctor Prospect murdered them all, each and every last one.”

“I know this already,” Starlight sighed. “I was the one who found him wandering the streets of Moscow that one winter. No idea how he got there, but… Just get to the point.” she grumbled waving her hand for Kaisei to move along.

“Oh, oh, you’ll really like this one!” Mogami babbled. “It’ll really funk up those Riders’ days~!”

He set the Nobunaga Eyecon atop the casket, and to Starlight’s surprise and horror a crude copy of the Ghost Driver appeared appeared around Elias’ waist. Starlight whirled on Mogami, grabbed him by the throat and shoved him up against a wall.

“So, you decided to create another Rider to fight for me?” Starlight hissed. “I don’t require that, I hate Riders. I only became one to equalize the score!”

She then remembered a report from one of her agents in the city. Of a strange white Rider-like being attacking OOOs, then Ankh and Uva. “...You didn’t. You already let him out didn’t you?”

“Only… Only to test his abilities, and to see if the Driver even worked!” Mogami wheezed. “They worked swell~! OOOs was on the backfoot throughout the entire fight!”

Starlight slowly but surely released Mogami from her grasp as she mulled this over in her head. She didn’t like Foundation X being directly responsible for the creation of yet another one of those Riders, but she would be a fool to deny this one had his users. And Starlight Glimmer was no fool. The only question was, where did he get the other Eyecons?

That could be shelved for another time. It was entirely possible Mogami, he created them from reverse engineering the Nobunaga Eyecon. It wasn’t exactly that particularly implausible of a theory.

“Continue your work,” Starlight finally decided. “Refine him, but only bring him out when necessary. Quarks are dangerous, and Riders even more so. Takeru’s probably already talked to his friends as it is, so that means that new Rider? She’s probably in the city because of it. They could find us soon. Pack up your things and go, we’re relocating to the secondary laboratory.”

“Already?” Mogami asked. “...well, I suppose I’d be a fool if I didn’t see this coming. We haven’t stayed hidden this long by being foolish. Very well then, but what about that other project?”

“We’re advancing the time table,” Starlight said. “Grab the Time Memory and get going, we need to leave nothing behind.”

“Torch and burn then?” Mogami asked. “Very well.”

He gestured to two more members dressed in white coats, and gestured for them to grab Elia’s casket.

Later that night, both Eiji and Takeru would pull up on their bikes to see a burning building, the firefighters already hard at work putting it out.

“...well, this is interesting,” Takeru observed. “X isn’t usually this sloppy, are they?”

“We don’t even know it is X,” Eiji replied.

“Could it be anyone else?” Takeru pointed out. Eiji was forced to concede his point.

“No, they’re not…” Eiji murmured as he picked up a fallen twisted piece of metal, scorched and burned. It looked like a slot for an overtly large USB drive. No, that wasn’t correct. It was a slot for a Gaia Memory of some sort. “They obviously had to pack up and go in a hurry. I wonder what scared them?”

“Not much, but I’ll wager that-”

“I didn’t know monks could wager,” Eiji remarked. “Thought it was unholy or something.”

“It’s a figure of speech,” Takeru deadpanned. “As I was saying. I’ll wager that the new Rider, Scarab, her appearance here had something to do with it. They probably think I called her in, or you did. One of the two.”

“Speaking of X, you okay?” Eiji asked. “I heard your Nobunaga Eyecon got grabbed by Starlight. You’re not worried, are you?”

“...well, I don’t need fifteen to revive myself for some wish anymore, now do I?” Takeru joked in an attempt to lighten the mood. He noted his friend’s expression. “...Of course I’m worried. It’s X, who knows what they could do with it.”

“Well, we’ll get it back,” Eiji said placing a firm hand on his shoulder. “In any case, you can still transform, right? Even if your Tenkatoitsu Damashii is gone, you’ve still got plenty of power.”

“Yeah, but is it enough?” Takeru murmured. “Tenkatoitsu Damashii was my most powerful form, even more than Mugen, and your Starlight sent it flying like it was nothing…”

“Well, we’ll get our act together. In the meantime, don’t you have a date?” Eiji teased.

“Oh… Uh, yes… Uh, that…” Takeru stammered out, flushing a bright Toucon Boost shade of red as Eiji laughed.

---

“I don’t believe it,” Sonata babbled excitedly over the phone, sounding like she was going to jump over the moon any moment. “My sister’s actually decided to go on a date for the first time in foreeeeeeevvvvveerrrr!”

“It hasn’t been that long since I’ve been on a date…” Adagio mumbled. “You make me sound like some sort of stoic prude who couldn’t be bothered to remove herself from her home.”

“Um, well, you sorta are,” Sonata pointed out. “Seriously, it HAS been that long since you’ve been on a date of any sort. Me and Aria would have started taking bets on if you were Ace if it weren’t for the obvvvvvvvvvioooooouuusss attraction you had for Ankhy!”

“Me and him weren’t…” Adagio sputtered before sighing knowing it was futile to argue with Sonata on this subject.

“Speaking of which, you don’t think your little moments as OOOs alongside Ankh counted as dates do you?” Sonata pondered. “Nah, they probably didn’t. There’s a difference between fighting and f… the other thing! Yeah, the other thing!”

Adagio blushed. “Honestly Sonata,” she mumbled. “If you weren’t such a ditz I’d wonder about you at times…”

“Oh, you know I just want what’s best for you, ‘Dagi…” Sonata replied. “Goodness knows, successful as you are -sorta jealous really- you do sorta neglect your social life. I just don’t want you to end up dying alone…”

“Sonata…” Adagio replied, trying not to cry a little at her sister’s love for her. “You don’t have to…”

“But I WANT to, end of story. No argument,” Sonata replied. “None. You hear? N. O. N. E!”

“Okay okay!” Adagio laughed. “I’m not arguing with you. Not even going to try!”

“Good, now that we’ve got that settled…” Sonata said. “Let’s talk about your boy toy, okay? Okay, maybe he’s a little young for you, but I’m not complaining. He’s cute, and goodness knows if he gets you out of the house and actually going out to dinner with him, well… there’s probably something there for you! Which dress you wearing? The little black one I got for you last Christmas, or the blue one?”

“The black one, it’s practical,” Adagio said before she heard Sonata sigh. “...is there something wrong with my choice?”

“No, none at all! Leave it up to you to choose the practical choice,” Sonata replied. “I was just hoping you’d choose the blue one, as A, it’s sooooooooo your color, and B, I could make Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels jokes!”

Adagio nearly facefaulted then and there, but managed to keep her composure. “Okay, A, if you thought it was so my color, you should have told me ahead of time. Not like I can go back and change now. And B, ...how do you even know of that band?”

“Blame Ri-Ri,” Sonata chirped. “She lent me some of her old records, said I needed some better taste in music beyond pop music. ...I don’t understand her at times. What’s wrong with the Smashing Pumpkins and Muse?”

Adagio laughed as she heard the sound of a car pulling up. “You do you, okay? Anyways, I gotta go, Takeru just arrived.”

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do~!” Sonata sing-songed as she hung up.

Adagio chuckled as she put away her phone inside her purse and smiled as Takeru walked in, dressed in a nice red suit. “...and here I was expecting the unicorn bike,” Adagio teased poking him in the chest. “And no roses for the lady? My my, we need to educate you on proper etiquette!”

“Well… I… Um…” Takeru stammered out. “I… I didn’t know what flowers you liked, and I figured the bike would be a bit of a tip off as to who I am so…”

“Relax,” Adagio said as she wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “I was just teasing you. And yes, before you say anything, yes, I do have a sense of humor.”

“I wasn’t going to,” Takeru replied politely. “You clean up nicely, by the way.”

“...are you trying to imply that I…?” Adagio started.

“No no no!” Takeru said quickly backpedaling.

“Relax,” Adagio giggled. “I was just teasing you, again. I swear, you’re far too easy to mess with. Shall we?” she asked, as she linked her arm with his.

Adagio smiled to herself, a lady was allowed some of her secrets. Said secrets may have involved Rarity and one of her friends, true, but they were still secrets as long as they remained that way.

“...Er,” Adagio stammered out as she was fussed over by both Rarity, and a friend of hers from this school called Crystal Prep. “I’m not sure all of this is really needed… I think I can prepare for a date by myself…”

“Nonsense!” Rarity chided while she did up Adagio’s golden locks. “Me and Sugarcoat here? We’re just here to make sure you’re at the top of your game tonight. That’s all. Isn’t that right Sugar?” she asked, turning to the white haired woman.

“Quite correct,” Sugarcoat nodded adjusting her glasses. “In any case, we shall help you prepare to meet your friend. Proper posture, the correct clothing, and some rapid yet effective hygiene will perfectly optimise you for whatever tasks you have planned with your hopeful boyfriend to be.” she continued placing a black dress on Adagio’s bed.

“...I feel like my personal space is being invaded,” Adagio mumbled to herself the comment going unheard. “Really you two, I’m not completely helpless!”

Even if she did admit the little black dress never went out of style and was quite practical.

“You want to be at your best, yes…?” Rarity said gesturing for Adagio to sit with her hairbrush. “Now, SIT!”

“I’m not a dog,” Adagio muttered. “Look, I appreciate the thought but…”

“This is just us helping you along,” Sugarcoat replied. “Quite honestly, I think you need the help. This little dress has barely been used, judging by the fact that it’s in the back of the closet indicating you really don’t care for it. Neither do you really care for your personal appearance that much given that there are some tangles in your hair. Quite shameful really!”

“I’ve honestly cared more about my job than my own personal appearance, really,” Adagio replied. “Is that so wrong?”

“No, not at all dearie!” Rarity tittered. “But be that as it may, I did notice whenever you were with Ankh, you at least gave that little extra effort to your appearance. I just want your friend and teacher to notice the best in you! We just want that, now is that so wrong?”

“No… No, I suppose not…” Adagio admitted. “...You’re not going to make any student-teacher relationship jokes are you?”

“...No…” Rarity whispered though her tone said otherwise.

“She’d better not, they are quite crude,” Sugarcoat replied handing Adagio a bra. “Now, while we don’t expect this on the first date, if you do bring your friend back to your home for a little something extra…”

“S-Sugarcoat!” Adagio stammered out. “Don’t you think we’re getting ahead of ourselves just a little here?”

“Perhaps, perhaps not,” Sugarcoat admitted. “But it doesn’t hurt to be prepared for anything.”

“I don’t even know if this date will turn out well…” Adagio replied. “He could end up being just a friend anyway!”

“The blush in your cheeks says otherwise, dearie…” Rarity smiled. Or was that a knowing smirk? It was hard to tell with her really.

“Here,” Sugarcoat said shoving a little purse towards Adagio. “Purse. Never leave home without it!”

Adagio groaned.

“...why do I feel there’s a story there?” Takeru noted seeing the expression on Adagio’s face.

“...I’m being conspired against,” Adagio muttered hanging her head in defeat and already hearing Sugarcoat’s voice inside her head telling her to correct her posture. “...I am seriously being conspired against.”

Takeru patted her on the shoulder as they took their seats. “You can tell me all about it. Did it involve your friends?”

“How did you…?” Adagio asked as she went over the menu.

“...Ah, Onari may have elected to place himself as my personal date planner or something.”

“No, no!” Onari chided. “You cannot just go out in public, on a date, no less in your usual attire! That may be good for casual fun, yes, but not on an actual date Takeru-Dono! It’s shameful!”

“Onari…” Takeru whined. “Don’t you think you’re just overthinking this just a little? This may go nowhere!”

“That may be true, but you must always look your best!” Onari shouted. “You are representing your family, the Daitenku Temple and Mysterious Phenomenon Institute! Appearances must be kept up with the proper apparel!”

Here, he shoved a pile of clothing in front of Takeru. “And don’t come back to me till you have changed!”

Takeru hang his head in defeat and walked back, and soon returned clad in a very nice suit and tie. Onari pulled a string from… somewhere, and confetti rained down all over the room.

“The powers of 15 great stitchers and sewers have gathered! This is Ghost’s Grateful Suit!” Onari proclaimed. “Your date will surely be shining... no, burning bright!”

Crickets chirped outside as silence reigned before Takeru finally regained the power of speech.

“...Onari, don’t get yourself as a job as my hereld,” he mumbled. “It doesn’t suit you… or anybody.”

Far away in time and space, a man in a gray robe sneezed, dropping his calendar of calamities. He felt a slight against both his person and his overlord. This must be investigated! He held up a watch and pressed down on it.

“GINGA! Finally Time! Shakunetsu Burning! Gekiatsu Fighting! Hey, yo Taiyo! GingaTaiyo!"

Takeru’s ability to sense danger suddenly kicked in for some reason. “...why do I have a feeling I just ticked somebody off?”

He shrugged it off. It was probably nothing in the end. In any case, he knew Onari meant well, he just had a… odd way of going about things. He also had a sneaking suspicion Onari, if he could help it, would arrange a marriage for him if he felt things were really going to go that well for his friend.

“...Those aren’t papers are they?” Takeru asked eyeing the monk with a trace of suspicion.

Onari quickly hid something behind his back. “No, Takeru-Dono, they are nothing of the kind. None at all!”

Takeru quickly grabbed the papers and sliced them in half with the Sunglasseslasher. “And now they don’t exist at all,” he said rubbing his forehead. “...Honestly, Onari…”

Onari sighed as he sat down. “Look, Takeru. I saw you die… and it scared me. And now, you’ve just barely escaped death several times, the most recent being just only a short while ago with that Genomes thing, that Michihiko Zaizen man. I… I just want to see you live a proper life for once. Fall in love, have kids, and not have to deal with anything Rider related for once.”

“I’ll always be a Rider, Onari,” Takeru said. “As soon as I put on the belt, as soon as anyone puts on a belt, they have a responsibility.”

“I know that, and I can’t keep you from it,” Onari said. “But I just want to help you live, and I mean truly live for yourself when you’re not engaged in battle with whatever the latest world-ending threat might be, you understand?”

“I… I do,” Takeru nodded. “Thank you… Onari.”

He knew Onari was right, half of the time he was so concerned about saving the world he neglected his own life. Even now, helping out Adagio with her… issues and training her to be a Rider in her own right was consuming some of his life. He wouldn’t leave Denver, not until she could handle herself properly whilst in the middle of a Full Medal Combo and not until Foundation X’s latest plot was put to a stand still.

“It’s what I’m here for,” Onari answered. “Takeru-Dono. Now… go have fun okay?”

Takeru smiled and gave him a thumbs up even as he was practically shoved out the door. Huh, Godai was right. That did work.

“...You too huh?” Adagio asked in a sympathetic tone. “...Seems our friends really do want what’s best for us, I suppose. Even if they can be…”

“Overbearing?” Takeru laughed before taking a glance at the menu. “What do you think, the Butternut Squash Bisque or the Hasselback Potatoes?”

“Why…” Adagio said before mentally kicking herself. “Oh, right. Monk. You’re a vegan. ...Forgot about that. Your choice, though I think this here? The Sweet Onion Tarts with Cream Cheese and Thyme? Sounds tasty.”

“Eh, I’ll go with your recommendation,” Takeru said. “You chose the venue, so you probably know what’s good here.”

Adagio smiled. “Good, you’re learning.” she teased.

“...Also, Ruby Rose?” Takeru said taking note of her phone casing. “...Really? I thought it would be something like seals or dolphins!”

“I-I’m… I’m a fan okay?” Adagio stammered out trying very hard to not blurt out the fact she wished her sword could be something like Crescent Rose instead. “Is that so wrong? I blame Aria. Yep, definitely blame her…” she muttered.

“...I was expecting Weiss, actually,” Takeru commented. “She fits you.”

“...Weiss, really?” Adagio answered. “...I’m not that stoic am I? ...am I?” she asked herself. Takeru laughed.

“No, no, you’re fine. She’s just beautiful, like you,” Takeru replied before clapping a hand over his mouth. “I didn’t overstep my bounds did I?”

“Honestly, Firefly,” Adagio said. “You really need some more confidence. You’re a sweetheart, you are, but you need a bit more confidence!”

“...If you say so,” Takeru mumbled. “Speaking of insects, how is your little purple friend?”

“Little purple…” Adagio started before she smacked her forehead in realization. “Oh! OH! You… you mean Sea? Aria and Fluttershy offered to take her in, so did Sonata. I decided Sonata was the better choice, given well… between you and me?”

Here she leaned in and whispered. “I personally think Aria and Fluttershy have this ‘thing’ going on. I have no confirmation about that, but I really do think so!”

“You’re a nice woman, you know that right?” Takeru said. “I can see why you got the powers of OOO…”

“I try,” Adagio answered. “It’s about all I can do really…”

“By the way,” Takeru said. “You declaring you’d save the Greeed from themselves? Quite brave of you… and so kind of you.”

“Well, I… I just don’t think anyone should live like that,” Adagio replied. “Living just for themselves? I just don’t think it’s right. Maybe I’m overstepping myself, but I should at least try. I’d never live with myself if I didn’t extend out a hand to help.”

“Eiji’s definitely rubbed off on you,” Takeru smiled approvingly. “Good on him.”

“Well, I do just wonder if I’m not… well, into deep. As the old song goes, I probably should know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em. Or just walk away and run. The Greeed have been like this for 700 years, expecting them to change is… well, maybe I need a miracle.”

“But if you didn’t try,” Takeru replied. “You’d be betraying your own values, correct?”

“...Yeah, I suppose,” Adagio muttered. “Sometimes I wonder if that dream didn’t push me into this.”

“What dream?” Takeru asked. “Go on, you can tell me. Your secret’s safe with me…”

“I had this dream, a few days before I got the OOO Driver,” Adagio said. “I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but… well, I saw HIM. The first OOOs, backstabbing the Greeed, even Ankh. I just want to make up for the actions of my predecessor, I suppose…”

“A noble goal, indeed...” Takeru said getting another feeling as to why the Cores affected Adagio so badly, and how easily they drove her so berserk. He did have to wonder, were Adagio and this King related in some distant fashion? It was worth a thought at least. Plus, he couldn’t think of any other reason why the King’s memories would reach across time and into Adagio’s head as a dream. He’d have to ask Eiji, the Kougami knew more about this King than he did.

In the cover of some false ferns, both Sugarcoat and Rarity peeked their heads out ever so carefully.

“...We’re really doing this?” Sugarcoat drawled. “Spying?”

“Such an ugly word!” Rarity tittered. “We’re just making sure Adagio’s date goes well, yes? Isn’t that what we want?”

“It still feels like an invasion of privacy,” Sugarcoat said in her usual blunt fashion. “If I were on a date, I’d rather not be bothered by my friends.”

“Oh, hush hush darling!” Rarity said clamping her hand over Sugarcoat’s mouth. “This is all for a good cause, really! Think of it this way, if anything goes wrong we can fix it on the fly!”

“Well, when you put it that way…” Sugarcoat muttered. “I suppose I can sorta get behind the idea.”

Adagio blinked at the table, and looked at Takeru. “...you ever think you’re feeling watched?”

“All the time, why?” Takeru asked.

“No reason…” Adagio trailed off casting a glance towards the ferns where Rarity and Sugarcoat dived back in to avoid being seen. They wiped the beads of sweat off their faces and sighed in collective relief. What a narrow escape!

Rarity was then beaned on the head by a hairbrush thrown at her via Adagio. Sugarcoat gaped, before she too got the beaning atop the head. The woman smirked. That should teach the both of them to spy on her.

“...Isn’t that overdoing it?” Takeru asked glancing at the twosome wondering where exactly Adagio had pulled those two hairbrushes from.

“No, and besides, wouldn’t you be annoyed if you had Onari peeking in on our date like this?” Adagio questioned.

“Fair point,” Takeru admitted conceding his date’s point. “Fair point…”

Adagio smiled before she saw the waiter returning with their drinks. “Oh look, here’s those onions and thyme that you ordered!”

---

Kougami Foundation, Denver Branch:

“How the hay am I supposed to walk with these things…” Sea muttered as she was lead into the Kougami Foundation building. She was still getting used to this odd body with its two legs and the different center of gravity, and it wasn’t easy. “How do human mares walk like this…”

“Just put one foot in front of the other,” Adagio instructed, checking her watch for the time. Her boss would kill her if she was late for work again. “Simple as that.”

“You say that like it’s so simple,” Sea groaned as she stumbled a little. “I feel like I’m trying to roller skate with a sombrero on my head.”

“...sounds like the one time I tried doing work at a fast food joint…” Sonata muttered behind her, ready to catch Sea if she fell. “Regretted it at once. Looked like an idiot, and my god, the fashion… Still, the free tacos were totes worth it!”

“Ignore her,” Adagio said. “My sister as you’ve probably figured out, she’s sweet but she’s a bit of an oddball.”

“A sister who totally supported you on your date last night…” Sonata chirped. “How’d that go, by the way? You were smiling. Like, an actual smile when I saw you last. Not that smile you put on just to please people.”

She leaned over to Sea and whispered: “My sister cannot smile for the life of her, not unless she’s around A, Arthur and Morgana, or B, Takeru apparently.”

“I see, I have no idea who either of those are,” Sea said with a shrug. “I mean I’ve been on my hind legs before, but the armor compensates for it. This just feels… weird.”

“How is it being a pony, anyways?” Sonata asked. “Just curious. Like, how do your herd animal instincts work? Do you really eat grass? Or is that just an Earth horse thing?”

“You’re babbling again, ‘Nata,” Adagio drawled. “Stop freaking the poor woman out okay? She’s still new around here, you want to spook her any more than she probably is?”

Adagio rubbed her forehead and muttered: “Rely it upon me to be the sane one in the family again…”

“Admit it, ‘Dagi!” Sonata said. “If you found out Sea was say… something like a hippocampi or whatever, you’d be digging her for info!”

Adagio said nothing except a grumble of: “...don’t you have cakes to bake?”

“Awwwww, but I want to be with my new best friend,” Sonata said slinging an arm around Sea. “...Plus, I totally want to grill you for info on your date.”

Adagio facepalmed before muttering: “I think I’ve had quite enough of seaponies after my doppelganger and her sisters.”

Sonata turned to Sea and said: “Sorry, her pony world counterpart came to town -did I mention?- and turned out to be a real bitch. Fun times!”

“Uh, I see… well I’ve never met another me,” Sea shrugged. “And to answer your question, I haven’t exactly ever had a frame of reference for being anything other than a pony… though that’s going to change soon I guess, if I ever make it back home at least.”

Sonata and Adagio shared a look. “...Dare I ask what you mean by that?” Adagio inquired.

Sea flinched a little and sighed. “It’s a long story, and I don’t even know all the details. I’m not exactly a full pony, one of my parents was a Changeling.”

“What’s a changeling?” Sonata asked. “And why should it matter? I mean, so what if you’re half and half? You’re still you aren’t you? You’re still a Rider for Great Justice and all that right?”

Here she punched the air on reflex. Adagio had to suppress a smile at her sister’s antics and kindness.

“It’s, kinda like a pony only more insect-like and can shapeshift, they also feed on love instead of food,” Sea answered. “And yeah, I’m still me, trust me I’ve been through this already. But still, I’d be lying if I said it was easy. Changelings are…”

“So, pony bug succubi?” Sonata asked. “Sounds more cool than… scary. I mean, tell me, what part of that doesn’t sound cool? Now, if you were Uva, we might have a little talk, but I don’t see why this is such a bad thing. Sounds like you got the best of both sides if you ask me.”

“What’s a succubi?” Sea asked with a confused look. “But, not really. I mean I always thought I was a pony so I never had any Changeling traits. It’s only coming up now because the Driver and Khepri activated my Changeling blood.”

“Ahhhhhh, so this is that Cross of Fire thing?” Sonata asked and both Sea and Adagio stared at her. Sonata blinked. “...Wait, do neither of you know what this is? Adagio, I’m surprised at you! You should do your reading. It’s a known fact that Riders always get their powers from the same source as the villains!” she chided with a little finger wag.

“...Ahhhh, I forgot to mention,” Adagio said as she leaned over to Sea. “Sonata? Huge Rider Nerd. Don’t get her started on Kamen Rider X really…”

“It’s Otaku, learn the difference!” Sonata shouted, hugging a plushie of the WizarDragon to her chest.

“Exactly how many Kamen Riders have you had in this universe?” Sea asked with a tone of surprise in her voice.

“32, so far,” Sonata said holding up her phone, it being on the web page of a blog titled ‘The Kamen Rider Club’, The editor was one Yuki Jojima, whoever that was. “...and this is just the main ones. I think the count is close to 100 these days. Odd though, 2002 had none…”

“Geez… we only have four currently where I come from, though there was more a long time ago,” Sea commented. “During the Sengallop era of ancient Neighpon. It’s where we actually got the name and stuff from.”

“Well, we need to fix the ‘Rider’ part of your title, Sea,” Adagio said. “Plus, get you hooked up with Eiji here. He’s kinda a big deal here in Denver, and really a guy you’d want on your side. Trust me, the Kougami Foundation’s little RideVendors and Candroids? Useful in a pinch.”

“Yeah, Tinker and Vira are the experts on that kind of thing back home,” Sea said with a shrug. “Now that you mention it, it’s kind of odd that I don’t have something like that.”

“So what did the Sengallop Riders ride?” Sonata asked before cracking up. “Each other? Cause… you know, you’re all horses and all that… I’ll shut up now.”

“You know… I honestly have no idea,” she admitted. “I’m not really the expert on that kind of thing. I’m just a musician who stole a Driver and Shifter from a Changeling Princess. Maybe magical constructs or something? This is all magic based technology, magitech I guess. It’s pretty normal back home.”

“Well, I don’t know about magitech, but I do know a few things about regular technology,” came a male voice Adagio knew all too well. Eiji had entered the room, rolling up a silver and black bike that looked like it had pinchers on the front cowling. The word ZECT was on it, along with a strange beetle. “I called in a few favors, really. Arata was all too happy to lend me a spare. Just in case.”

“...And I don’t even get that sort of express shipping to my house with Amazon…” Adagio mumbled to herself before smiling. “Eiji, so glad you could help.”

“Eiji Kougami,” Sonata whispered to Sea. “He’s been providing Adagio with all sorts of stuff, including a really nice sword.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Sea said with a polite smile as she looked the bike over for a moment. “What’s a ZECT?”

“ZECT, they were… still are a paramilitary organization formed back in the seventies dedicated to fighting shapeshifting creatures called Worms with their Masked Rider program,” Eiji explained showing a bit of distaste at the word ‘paramilitary’. Adagio didn’t have to guess why remembering his history. “You’d be surprised at what they still have lying around in surplus. Eiji Kougami. Pleased to meet you, Sea-Chan.” he said with a bow.

“Likewise, uh… sorry, I don’t know how honorifics work here,” Sea said as she returned the bow politely.

“Well, will just Sea be fine?” Eiji asked.

“Yeah, that would be fine,” Sea replied with a smile as she took a deep breath. “This world is really different than mine, not just in terms of species. This might take some getting used to.”

“Trust me, we’ll be there to help you for as long as you need,” Eiji said putting a hand on her shoulder. “Riders help other Riders out.”

“Tell that to the Changelings…” Sea muttered but smiled a little. “Thank you, that helps a lot really.”

“Anything to help. Now, the Machine Zectron. Pretty basic, really. But it does have a few features of note,” Eiji said holding up an owner’s manual. “Like this, apparently it fires a ball of molecular shock forwards, destroying anything in its path.”

“Mental note, get a bike. Fix the Rider part in my name as well. I mean, my car’s cool and all but… It’s against the spirit of things.” Adagio muttered bringing up her phone and looking through the bikes on offer. “Oooh, this looks interesting. A Honda VTR1000F Firestorm…”

“She just got her paycheck,” Sonata said turning to Eiji. “Can’t you tell?”

“Look, uh, there’s one other thing,” Sea said as she reached into her pocket and took out the dormant Khepri. “Khepri here feeds on ambient magic and your universe is lacking in it apparently. Is there anything we can do to power him?”

“I think I might be able to help with that…” Adagio said flipping the Kuwagata Medal towards her. “Not a scarab, but I think it’ll do in a pinch.”

“And a pinch is a chance after all~!” Sonata singsonged before pressing a button on the Machine Zectron making it fire a blast of energy. Something clattered in the background, sounding rather large. “...Oops?”

“Please… don’t do that.” Eiji asked rubbing his forehead. “...well, at least we know it… works.”

“Yeah… uh… I think I’ll be careful with that button…” Sea commented as she held the medal in her hand. “How is this…”

Khepri suddenly sprung to life as his insectoid wings stirred and he flew around. “Whoa… that was a rush, I haven’t felt anything like that before.”

“Like a Kivat…” Eiji murmured. “Interesting.”

“You know Ankh’s going to kill you for that, right?” Sonata asked her sister.

“Eh, the birdbrain complains about anything. Medals this, medals that. Ice Pops this, Ice Pops,” Adagio waved her off. “You know how much of a bill he racked up?”

“Yeah… wait, can you hear him?” Sea asked as she looked at Eiji. “Because normally only I can hear him.”

“Must be the core medals’ own magic interacting with your Khepri’s own…” Eiji murmured. “Interesting.”

“Tch, I could’ve told you that,” Khepri commented. “I’ve never felt any magic like this before. It’s so invigorating!”

“Oh great, now there’s two of them!” Adagio grumbled already feeling a headache coming on. “And just when you think Ankh was bad enough…”

Sonata patted her sister on the back sympathetically. “If he starts asking for Ice Pops,” she added. “Just say no! Trust me, it’ll be better for your budget in the long run!”

“Tch, I was perfectly designed by Princess Dusk Shadow,” Khepri retorted. “I don’t need food, let alone ice pops.”

“It’s true, I’ve never actually seen him eat,” Sea shrugged.

“Oh… Okay, good…” Sonata said. “Let’s hope the two of them never meet…”

“Yeah, let’s hope…” Sea said as she took a deep breath. “Look, uh, I wanted to thank all of you really. You’ve been a great help in getting me used to being here. I do want to get back home at some point though, this universe is kinda weird to me. No offense.”

“Well, we’re working on that,” Eiji said. “A few nights ago, had a satellite detect some odd… blip, I’d guess you’d call it somewhere in or near the city. Then another. I’m guessing it’s related to you showing up. It’s probably no coincidence at the very least.”

“Hmm, I wonder…” Adagio murmured. “Starlight maybe?”

She remembered the woman well, after all it was hard to forget a Rider who took down Takeru without even breaking a sweat. “Her and her… Foundation, I think it was?”

“Mhmm, yes…” Eiji muttered. “No doubt.”

“Am… Am I missing something here?” Sea asked.

“Foundation X,” Eiji explained. “They’ve got their hands in just about everything, from drug laundering to weapons development. I’ve had a run in with a few of their operatives, and so has Adagio.”

“Yeah,” Adagio muttered flashing back to the footage Cube Condor had shown her. “They’ve got a friend of mine. Sea? Word to the wise? If you ever see one of their operatives -and trust me, they are hard to miss- run. Just run.”

In the back of Adagio’s mind, her suspicions ran rampant. She had a sickening feeling as to what was going on, she just didn’t dare voice it aloud. But this would explain a lot of what was happening lately. From the new Rider, to the appearance of Sea, and from the sounds of it someone else as well.

“Kaisei Mogami,” Eiji said holding up a picture of the man Eilas had encountered and Cube Condor had seen. “Don’t know much about him, which is par for the course for X operatives but we do know he’s in possession of a Rider like system. It wouldn’t be much of a leap to assume with the appearance of Starlight, he’s working on perfecting those systems and giving X a solid Rider of their own.”

“...and he may have already succeeded, what with that new White Rider around,” Adagio muttered rubbing her arm unconsciously, wincing. “He mentioned Masamune. I have a feeling I know exactly what happened to Takeru’s eyecon…”

Then as if to make matters worse, her phone rang. “...Oh Jesus,” Adagio said with an audible groan. “Looks like someone’s asking for me. I need to get to the Aquarium.”

“Adagio!” Eiji started. “Be careful, don’t rush into anything. Too many things are happening right now for me to feel safe just letting you go alone into an unknown situation.”

“Well, I’m not exactly alone, am I?” Adagio asked looking towards Sea.

---

“So, you had someone for me?” Adagio asked as she pulled up to the Aquarium, walking inside and towards the front desk, where Star Hunter was rapidly trying to explain to Phoenix a few things. Sea was soon to follow on her new bike, catching a bit of attention from passersby due to the Machine Zectron’s appearance. It was a very eye-catching bike after all.

“Yeah, yeah,” Star Hunter said. “This guy, okay? Never seen him before in my life, but he asked for you directly -getting a bit famous ‘Dagi!- like he knew you. Like he knew you personally.”

“Okay, A, don’t call me Dagi. Only my sisters get that privilege. B, you can tell him to talk to me after I get some work done. I’ve got a full schedule today. One, feed the belugas and narwhals, two, check the Small Life tanks, and three… Oh, yeah, there’s that tour group from Belleview Elementary School.”

“You’re at risk of overworking yourself Adagio, you do know that right?” Star Hunter said. “Let me handle the feeding, you take the tour group okay? You’re not the only employee around here, you know that right?”

“And what about him?” Adagio asked, gesturing behind her to Phoenix. “I still have him to take care. ...No, actually, let him join us on the tour group. He might learn something.”

“Mhmmm, frugal,” Star Hunter noted as he watched Adagio give the newcomer her best ‘winning’ smile, the one she reserved for making business associates and reassuring idiots she was not that other Adagio. “Making friends as always eh?”

“You know, joining you on that tour doesn’t sound so bad, we don’t want to take up too much of your time,” Ocean returned from behind her with a polite, but somewhat phony smile. “But I have to disappoint you in a way, he won’t learn anything from this,” she added with a light chuckle.

“...Oh, so he’s an idiot then?” Star Hunter snarked. “And here I was thinking he was President of Third World Shithole #32.”

“You know I can hear you, right?” Phoenix muttered in return, giving him an exhausted stare.

“When did you become so…”

“Snarky?” Star Hunter asked, finishing Adagio’s unanswered question. “I work with you don’t I?”

“...I was going to go with rude.” Adagio drawled feeling that headache return. “...well, it could be worse. Better an idiot than a Foundation X employee.”

Although that didn’t stop her from fingering the Same medal hanging around her neck via a small chain.

“Yeah, idiot pretty much covers it,” Ocean chuckled, Phoenix giving her an overplayed frown. “But that isn’t always a bad thing. And he is my idiot and I like him just how he is,” she added with a sly smile. “But it’s nice to meet you, Adagio Dazzle. I’m Ocean Skies.”

“You two married yet, or are you just eye-fucking?” Adagio asked before sticking out her hand. “Pleasure’s all mine.”

“...My point has been proven…” Star Hunter muttered in the background going ignored.

“No, not married yet, but we are past the eye-fucking,” Phoenix added with a grin on his lips before stretching out his hand as well. “Phoenix Feather.”

“Pleasure. Adagio Dazzle. So… Uh,” Adagio started. “I hate to ask, but Star Hunter mentioned you seemed to know me personally? Did we date in the past and I just forget about it, or is there something else going on here?”

“It’s complicated…” Ocean started to say, nervously rubbing the back of her neck.

“”Lemme guess, my pony world double?” Adagio asked knowing that look a bit too well.

“Well, knowing is a strong word. I beat you up once… Well, not you-you, but also not pony you-you from here… Oh, my head hurts…” Phoenix groaned, holding his head like he had a splitting headache. “Look, short version is, I beat a you up and we kinda wanted to ask you for help.” Ocean just stared at him and let her head sink into her hand with a loud sigh.

“Welp, guess we’ve found that other… blip.” Adagio thought taking Phoenix aside. “Lemme guess, you’re from another dimension?”

He just looked at her funny for a moment before sheepishly nodding: “Yeah, pretty much. We kinda wanted to ask if you knew a way to get back since you are the Rider of this world, city or whatever.”

“...Who do I look like, Shinobu Katsuragi?” Adagio asked with a ‘look’.. “...Uh, yeeeeeeeahh, sorry to break it to you, but I’m just a simple biologist.”

She rubbed her head again. “I apologize, it’s not even 10 in the morning yet and already I’ve had a really long day…”

“Oh, hell…” he hissed. “Look, until now whenever something weird happened with dimension traveling and such it usually resolved itself when we meet the involved Rider and you fit right in there. Any ideas or leads for us?”

“Well, I think I have a few, but… Uh, we’re kinda risking it as is speaking so openly. My office.” Adagio gestured. “Ocean too, just so she doesn’t get any ideas about what we’re discussing. Wouldn’t want to ruin what you’ve got going here. STAR!” she bellowed making the man look up. “You’ve got the tour group!”

“...How did I get myself wrangled into this?” Star Hunter asked. “Note to self, keep my mouth shut more often.”

Phoenix eyed her with a bit of suspicion but ultimately sighed: “Ok, if you say so and if he is ok with it,” he pointed over at Star. “Then fine, we can do that. Ocean?”

Adagio gestured for Sea to follow, knowing she’d be able to probably help correlate Adagio’s explanation.

Adagio’s office was neat and organized, a testament to her laser focus on the job at hand. It was a bit impersonal, but then again that was Adagio for you. When she was on the job, she didn’t like distractions. That wasn’t to say there weren’t a few odds and ends that stood out, such as a newspaper clipping reporting her first outing as a Rider, and of course, a plush leopard seal that could have easily doubled as a pillow. It wouldn’t have surprised anyone if Adagio fell asleep at her desk once or twice. A figurine of Holo from Spice and Wolf of all things was being used as a paperweight.

“Aww, isn’t he a cute one?” Phoenix chuckled as he looked down at the plush.

“A bit simple,” Sea commented as she looked around curiously. “But, hey it’s nice.”

“Now, here’s what I know, and what I can only speculate,” Adagio said sitting down at her desk getting right down to business. “One. You two are both from alternate dimensions. One of the pony world, and one of… well, my world I can only presume. Two. A few nights ago, the Kougami Foundation detected two odd blips. I’d say it’s obvious the blips were the two dimensional gates from which you came opening. Now, here comes the speculatory. I’m only guessing here but… well Phoenix, Ocean, does the name Foundation X ring any bells?”

“No. I have never heard of that name, what is this ‘Foundation’?” Ocean answered.

“Imagine the worst organization you can think of, like James Bond levels but actually… well, effective and real,” Adagio said searching for a comparison. “I’ve only heard bits and pieces, but they’re… well, to say they’re not good news would be a bit of an understatement. They’ve dabbled in a little bit of everything, Gaia Memories, Astroswitches, you name it. Eiji’s told me that they’ve kept an eye on just about every Rider in the world right now, and are likely researching them as we speak. Calling them merchants of death wouldn’t be inaccurate.”

“While over half of these words mean nothing to us, they sound awfully familiar to an organization in our world, ‘The Circle’. They support people who can create weapons or other advanced tech. They supported those who were using Corrupted like Gold Shadow or Tartarus and they were involved in the Orphenoch situation. And if I’m sure they are somehow connected to the Changelings as well,” Ocean said, crossing her arms in front of her with a somber frown on her lips.

“Wouldn’t be surprised if this Circle group is part of X. It sounds like them.” Adagio thought to herself.

“Yeah, in my world we’re…” Sea started to say before what Ocean said clicked in her mind. “Wait, your world has Changelings too?”

“Awkward…” Adagio murmured.

“Wait, didn’t you say she was from a pony world as well? Are you from Equestria?” Phoenix interrupted both of them a look of realization on his face.

“Yeah… I mean, the nation pretty much exists only on paper these days… but, yeah I’m from Equestria, technically,” Sea replied as she rubbed the back of her head a little. “I wound up here by accident too obviously. This world is a bit awkward for me.”

“What do you mean the nation only exists on paper now? Last time I heard from Sunset how Equestria was doing she said great,” Phoenix muttered, the worry clearly written on his face.

“Oh… I must be from a different Equestria then…” Sea said as she scratched her head a little. “I’m not really an expert on this kind of thing, but this, uh, Sunset? Well, if there’s different versions of your world, then there has to be different versions of Equestria, so I’m not really from that Equestria. I’m from a different Equestria.”

“Yeah… Yeah, that has to be it, still… Doesn’t sound good,” Phoenix returned in a surprisingly somber tone. “Kinda surprised that this means anything to me though… Never really cared where my ancestors were from.”

“If a coin comes down heads, that means that the possibility of its coming down tails has collapsed. Until that moment the two possibilities were equal. But on another world, it does come down tails. And when that happens, the two worlds split apart...” Adagio murmured reciting a book she’d read once. “Look, I won’t ask what happened on your world, Sea, but as long as it has Riders… it has hope.”

“Now, that’s something I can get behind,” Phoenix smirked. “As long as someone is still fighting there is always a chance to fix the mistakes of the past and move forward towards a bright future!”

“Leap past the end to the sky at the beginning
Your destiny is infinite
The one who does not give up
Will recall the shine to a wilting flower
And can become hope.” Adagio said before fighting back a sniffle. “...sorry, something my father liked to say. He was a poet.”

Recomposing herself as she looked at a portrait on her desk, Adagio turned back to Phoenix and Ocean. “So then, you never did tell me exactly who you were. Like, you really are. I know for a fact that kicking my pony counterpart’s ass isn’t easy. Trust me, I still have the bruises from when I borrowed the G4 Armor to prove it.”

Phoenix just smirked: “Yeah, easy isn’t the right word to describe it. Especially when you have to fight yourself through a festival that slowly is turning into a monster mash, as well as her two sisters, all three Corrupted, you have yourself one Tartarus of a day I tell you. And then there was…” he was about to say when his expression turned sour and he stopped.

“I think my world should be glad it took this long to get Kamen Riders again…” Sea said as she raised an eyebrow at Phoenix. “Your worlds are very... strange.”

“Says the pony.” Adagio drawled figuring it best to leave out the other part of Sea’s heritage for right now at least. She noted Phoenix’s sudden change in demeanor, but figured it best not to comment on it. He was deserved some privacy.

“So, who are you again?” she then repeated to Phoenix and Ocean.

Both of them looked at each other and shared a sly grin before standing up and taking a few steps back. “I think we are just gonna show you two,” he said with a light chuckle as he pulled a strange oval metal device out of his pocket, all while Ocean pressed the large red gem on her belt-buckle. Phoenix slapped the device on his waist while Ocean’s belt-buckle morphed into a strange device with a large red gem on it and a cylinder.

Before the two others could ask anything Phoenix pulled out a red disc with rigid golden edges and pressed it into the belt. Ocean meanwhile pushed a silver and blue battery like thing into the side of her own belt, right where the cylinder was.

\ MAGIC DISC DETECTED! /

\ SCANNING CHARGE! /

Simultaneously both Phoenix and Ocean moved their hands, he spinning the disc while she spun the cylinder of the belt. “Henshin!”

\ FLAME DISC ACTIVATED! /

\ 50, 80, 100! THUNDER CHARGE! /

Phoenix was enveloped in a fiery whirlwind while Ocean was covered in an electric blue orb of light, small little bolts of electricity arcing across it. It only took a few seconds before both of these things disappeared, revealing two armored figures. One was clad in crimson armor with golden ornaments, with green eyes and golden flame-shaped horns. The other one wore a blue undersuit overlayed by silver armor plates with black lines, two glaring red eyes and long silver antenna on her helmet.

“Alchemy, and Charge at your service.”

Adagio looked around her office and her eyebrow twitched at the destruction the transformations had brought. “...you’re footing the bills for this, you know that right?”

Author's Notes:

Medals collected: Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo, Gorilla, Sai, Zou, Unagi, Tako, Kugawata, Kamakiri.

Hoo boy, so a bit of a long one here. ...okay, maybe that's a bit of an understatement really. But yeah... I did want to further the main story here, as well as continue with the crossover so that's why it turned out so long. So, Starlight's personality is given a bit more insight and the equalize statement in her transformation call is explained. Your mileage may vary if she truly wants what's best for the world or is just delusional.

Also, the origins of Kamen Rider Wraith, as we shall call him.

Punching Power: 40 t.
Kicking Power: 60 t.
Maximum Jump Height: 30 m

Punching Power: 10 t.

Kicking Power: 5 t.

Maximum Jump Height: 60 m

Stats for Starlight's Rider form, and Wraith respectively. Now, I had a bit of an argument with Layton on Alchemy's description. Now, if it takes me a minute and a half to read a description, chances are it's probably too long. Now, he says a bit of leeway is allowed for OC Riders. So, to compromise here's some artwork of Alchemy and Charge.

23: Fanfic Generations: Crossing Worlds Part 3

“...News from Japan. Continuing our story from last week, the shockingly popular game Kamen Rider Chronicle has taken off by storm, enveloping the nation. CEO of Genm Corporation Ren Amagasaki had this to say:

“My Motto is: “I Love You.” I love my player base, and like any good game developer I intend to deliver my beloved game to the whole world.”

“Naturally, some are skeptical as the previous Genm Corporation CEO, Dan Kuruto was recently discovered to be a bioterrorist and has currently vanished. He is suspected in the disappearances of those such as Kiriya Kujo and Saki Momose…”

Ankh tuned out the news, silencing his tablet. “Tch,” he thought to himself. “Humans, why they want to lose themselves in these ridiculous realities is beyond me. There’s far more excitement in the real world as is. And this Amagasaki Ren… he makes me uneasy. I’ve been alive for over 700 years, and I know when someone’s lying through their ass. I do it all the time, after all.”

He had to wonder what this man wasn’t telling his player base. Ah well, it wasn’t really his business to bother with in the end, not when there were far more interesting things in this city to focus on. Why he should concern himself with the goings-on in continents far across the world was beyond him.

“New Riders, huh?” Ankh remarked upon seeing another news story reporting on this Kamen Rider Scarab. “Well, doesn’t this make things a bit more interesting. Sounds like she’d get along with Uva, by the name. ...or maybe not, seeing as how she handed Uva his most embarrassing defeat yet! Honestly, that one needs to learn not to charge into things so much. He needs to form plans.”

Ankh was quite content with sitting back and letting the rest of the Greeed worry about their medals and OOOs. As long as he had his own medals, he was happy. No, that wasn’t right. He wasn’t happy with just collecting his own medals. There was this...hole in him. He hesitated to name it, but he knew he was missing something. He just wasn’t quite sure what that something was.

He thought back to Adagio, she made his heart dance in some ways. Not that he was in love with the fish woman, but she’d been the most interesting human he’d met in a while. Yes, she was very… rude, but at the time she didn’t seem to give a crap about herself and would freely self sacrifice herself for her fellow humans. Not that he saw why, humans weren’t all that interesting and pretty stupid at times. They only lived about 70 something years before their bodies expired. And more often than not, they rarely did anything with those years.

“Heh!” Ankh laughed to himself. “Remind me never to live like one of those flesh bags, doing so would just degrade me as the King of Birds.”

He paused for thought. But he wasn’t the almighty King of Birds anymore now was he? No, he was just another idiot who had to live off and mooch a human’s body just to stay alive. And so far, he couldn’t do much to change his situation.

“Not that I ever did much good as the King of Birds anyways…” Ankh thought. “Though… there was that one girl…”

He quickly brushed that thought aside, not wanting to think upon that for any longer than he had to. He fought back the image of a terrified face, and bloody eyeballs. He punched a wall in anger, he tried to help one human and what did he get out of it? Fear and scorn.

“I’d almost say I was happy to be a Greeed again,” Ankh sighed as he sat down upon the bank of the riverwalk. “But then HE showed up. The mongrel proved me right in that humans are worthless fools, backstabbing me the way he did!”

His fist curled in anger as he thought of the ancient King. He was the reason the way he was now, disgraced and alone. “Well, I’m not completely alone I suppose, I do have… them.”

He thought of his fellow Greeed, the bumbling Gamel and the almost motherly Mezool. Even that accursed cat Kazari. Ankh frowned, that was odd. He felt a fifth pull that he knew he wasn’t supposed to be feeling. Was Adagio turning into a Greeed herself? That was entirely possible, and Ankh had to laugh at the thought of it. It just came with the territory of using those Cores too much he supposed. Humans were foolish, show them something shiny and they’d think it was worth the world. Obviously nobody ever heard of reading the fine print.

“Just goes to prove my point I suppose… Humans are idiots,” Ankh continued to think before he unwrapped his latest ice candy sucking on it. “...Though they aren’t completely terrible, as if they can make something like this maybe they’re still worth a few laughs.”

There was another possibility Ankh hated to consider. He didn’t like to think about it, but he couldn’t deny it was on his mind. There was a reason why he hadn’t seen the rest of his body around lately, and it was entirely possible that it had formed a Greeed of its own. That would explain why Kazari only had the one medal… Or, well he had that one medal before Ankh swiped it from him when he wasn’t looking.

Eyeing the red bird as it glittered in the sun, Ankh pocketed it. His body and his cores were his alone, he didn’t like to think about the possibility of someone else having even one as Kazari had dared to do. Yet that was exactly the reality he faced now, with Another Ankh -as the original would so name it- running and probably flying about. It would have the mind of a child, being newly born but it would learn. It probably already had been active for some time now, and knew a few things. Ankh frowned. This was a change to the agenda he didn’t like at all.

He would have to recalculate his plans.

---

“Let's Party ENJOI shinakya mottainai
datte, jinsei wa ikkai…” Sonata hummed to herself as she did a little spin on her heels before doing a little curtsy. Adagio, watching this had to shake her head as her sister seemed to be off in her own little world. Yeah, okay, Sonata was a bit of an oddball to be sure.

But… Adagio mused to herself that didn’t mean she wasn’t the good kind of oddball. She seemed intent on making a few people smile even if she had to look like some kind of idiot in the process. Even her dress sense -honestly, who else wore a taco on their shirt?- screamed ‘look at me world, I don’t care what you think!’ in every regard.

Adagio knew Sonata’s seeming perpetual cheeriness was possibly a way of coping with the utter crap basket life seemed to be handing her family. It had started after her father’s death, and all the Dazzling siblings had their own ways of coping. Adagio retreated into her texts, Aria played it hard and loose, while Sonata just smiled. It was their way of handling things, and Adagio would have been a fool not to have noticed that this picked up just right after she started putting herself in mortal danger as a Rider.

She also would have been a fool to not have checked on who now owned the Denver National Aquarium. She knew what Sonata and Aria were doing, just trying to make life that little easier for her. After all, how else could you explain Sonata dragging her on a crawl through the city’s clubs on her possibly only vacation week?

Not that Adagio wasn’t grateful for the sibling bonding time, but she was getting way too many benders for her own liking, and it wasn’t even 5:00 yet. Okay, yes it was probably five-o-clock somewhere but it wasn’t that time here!

“Hey, uh…” came a familiar if not concerned voice. “Are you sure your sister’s alright?”

Adagio looked to her left, and saw Sunset Shimmer walking up her gaze firmly trained upon Sonata’s twirling form.

“...dare mo ga motteru yasashisa idenshi
Toki ni miushinai (shinai)
Kizutsukeba ttemo Kizuna ni CHENJI
Jinrui mina kyoudai…” Sonata continued to sing -if not horribly off key from the song itself- and dragged a nearby passersby into her dance. Said passersby, a man in a white business suit seemed to be horribly annoyed by all this.

“No, it’s fine…” Adagio murmured. “This… This is something she does.”

“Heh,” Sunset chuckled. “Reminds me of Pinkie Pie actually, why do I suspect those two would get along…?” she trailed off as the man was finally let go and allowed to continue on his way.

“Oh god no!” Adagio shuddered. “Not to fault either of them, but if those two were ever allowed to meet the world would never survive!”

“Oh come on ‘Dagi!” Sonata said. “You are really so stuck up, you need to loosen up and have some fun! Seriously, you do. Like, ya do.”

She tried to coerce Adagio into doing the Macarena with her. Adagio didn’t comply.

“Fine fine, fun killer! Killer of fun!” Sonata said sticking out her tongue at Adagio. Now if Sunset didn’t know better she could have sworn a faint ghost of a smile trailed up Adagio’s lips at her sister’s antics. Sonata threw her arm around her older sister’s shoulder. Adagio hung her head and suppressed a sigh. “But like seeeeeeeeerrrrrriooousssssllly girl, you need a theme. Like, you do. You’re an honest to god superhero now. Superman, Batman, they all got themes. Why not you? Heeeeeey, I bet that Alchemy fellow has his own theme!”

“...Don’t remind me of him, okay?” Adagio said her eyebrow twitching momentarily. “I try not to think of him after he blew up my office.”

At this, Sunset turned to look at Sonata and Adagio. “...He blew up your… office?” she asked slowly. “...Doesn’t sound like a very heroic thing to do.”

“Eh, it’s not his fault his transformation is so destructive,” Sonata shrugged not really caring she’d possibly just outed another Rider. “I was walking up and man oh man, did I catch the aftermath! Adagio looked more furious than I’d ever seen her! ...though that may just be due to the mounds of paperwork she has to do now.”

Adagio looked skywards, as if to ask ‘please, oh please Lord save me from this hell’ or something.

“Okay, okay,” Adagio said. “I’ll consider this theme song proposal of yours. Though it’s not going to be J-Pop dance music alright? Certainly not this Micheal Jackson ripoff of yours that you found… somewhere.” she teased playfully.

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!” Sonata said with a little wave of her finger.

“No, imitation is the sincerest way to a lawsuit.” Adagio drawled.

“Eh, pish posh!” Sonata said. “Don’t deny it, you like it!”

Sonata smiled upon seeing the look on Adagio’s face. “My job is done. I dedicate my day to making you crack even a little smile, and this is the thanks I get? No laughter, no amusement? Oh, my life is such pain…”

Here she turned to Sunset who was trying to stop herself from laughing at Sonata’s overacting. “Like seriously girl, ‘Dagi here? She wouldn’t know fun if it danced up to her naked and bit her in the patootie sister!”

“She does have a point you know,” Sunset remarked. “You are rather… taciturn even at the best of times.”

“I prefer the term work-oriented,” Adagio said. “You don’t have a lot of room to talk, Miss Three-Time Gold Record artist and Top of the Pops charting artist. So tell me Shimmer, what’s your secret?”

“Well, I… Uh…” Sunset stammered out feeling as if she was being interrogated by the old Adagio Dazzle.

“Relax, I kid,” Adagio shrugged. “I have no real interest in the music industry. Hell, I couldn’t name you the top five biggest-selling artists this decade, let alone this year if I tried. I only know of you because Rarity likes to gab about you so much. Now Sonata on the other hand with her Bieber-Fever…”

“I was fifteen!”

“Seventeen actually,” Adagio corrected. “And neither me nor Aria are ever going to let you forget it.”

“Well, we are never going to let you forget that little crush you had on Kamen Rider X when you were a kid,” Sonata said with a small smile. “Because Lord have mercy, you were a fangirl. Like, I bet you money if X walked up to you today, you’d be reduced to a babbling wreck.”

“Yes, well, when you go up against a super-secret organization with nobody to help you, you go ahead and try not to be a fan of the guy! I dare you!” Adagio huffed.

“Sounds familiar…” Sunset teased.

“Oh, I’d hardly call the Greeed an organization!” Adagio huffed.

“In any event, I still cannot take GOD seriously,” Sonata teased. “Not when they produce things like… well, this!”

Adagio should have averted her eyes, she knew what was coming. But like a trainwreck, she couldn’t help but to not look away as one of the weirdest monsters -if possibly the weirdest- was shown on Sonata’s phone screen.

Sunset gaped doing a remarkable impression of a fish as she stared at the figure on the screen. “Is that…” she started upon finally regaining the gift of speech.

“...Yes, it is,” Adagio answered. “No, you’ve not gone crazy. That is indeed what you think it is.”

“Oh, good god,” Sunset replied. “I know I want to look away, but I just… can’t. It’s utterly fascinating in how utterly horrific it is…”

“Can’t say I blame you,” Adagio replied. “I mean, that is… Well, it’s… there’s no other way of putting it…”

“It’s Adolf Hitler on a starfish’s body,” Sunset said before blinking. “Oh my god, it’s still there.”

“I know,” Adagio said patting Sunset on the back. “It is a… thing. Yep, it’s definitely a thing.”

“What were they thinking?” Sunset asked. “No, that’s inaccurate. I should be asking something else. And that is… WHAT WERE THEY ON?”

Kamen Rider Otaku Sonata Dusk, everyone.

“Same drugs as those Amazing Squadron show writers I bet,” Sonata shrugged finally removing the image from their sights. “I still can’t take them seriously as an organization after seeing this.”

“...well, I mean, at least they were trying…” Adagio muttered. “I mean, it’s not Shocker, they’re sooooooooooo last century. They’re like Hydra, except less cool.”

Sonata got up in her sister’s face with a shout. “DO NOT DISRESPECT THE GROUP THAT CREATED ICHIGO AND NIGO!”

“...Wow, she is a nerd.” Sunset said mildly intimidated.

“Otaku, learn the difference,” Sonata said with a huff and crossed her arms. “...seriously, they kickstarted a legacy that’s still going strong over thirty Rider Kicks later.”

“...Did I forget to mention she plans to turn Ankh into a ‘henpecked’ and I do quote that, henpecked house husband?” Adagio whispered to her fiery-haired friend.

“I don’t know who to feel more sorry for, her or Ankh…” Sunset murmured. Adagio could only nod.

“Ankh, definitely Ankh…” Adagio replied after a few short minutes of thought.

Sonata had spied a man on the riverbank while Sunset and Adagio chattered away. She blinked, no, it surely couldn’t be. “As much as I hate to leave my sister, I really must see if my eyes aren’t playing tricks on me and I haven’t had too much to drink.”

Because surely that could not be Ankh sitting on the riverbank just a mere few short feet away from them going practically unnoticed by anyone. “Oh well…” Sonata thought to herself. “What’s that they say? Nothing ventured, nothing gained? Yeah, that’s it! And the best thing about being a woman, well, that means you’re obligated to have a little fun! Or teach certain birdbrains a thing or two about manners!”

She marched over to Ankh, with a confident smirk on her face. Playing it totally cool, she slid up to the former King of Birds and flung an arm around his shoulders. She tapped him on the shoulders, and when Ankh let out a totally not girlish yelp she said: “Hey.”

“...Oh right, there’s three of you crazy little…” Ankh said after taking a few deep breaths and recovering what little was left of his dignity. “Don’t you have someone else to bother?”

“Oh, but you’re too good of a person to just leave alone and sulk by yourself…” Sonata said. “So, whatcha brooding about? Cause right now, you’re definitely Mc Broody Broodster face right about now. Hell, even Kylo Ren looks happier than you! And he sucks balls!”

If looks could kill, Ankh’s glare would have made Sonata explode on the spot. “I am not sulking.”

“Sure you’re not,” Sonata said. “And you’re also totally not grumbling over whatever loss of dignity you probably suffered lately. So, who got you this time? Was it the cat?”

“SPEAK NOT OF HIM!”

“...Okay, so yeah, it was definitely the cat,” Sonata decided. “Also, would it kill you to be a little more polite?”

“And would it kill you to be a little less annoying?” Ankh asked. He was soon bashed upon the head via paper fan by Sonata. “OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW!”

“See, that’s your problem isn’t it?” Sonata sighed. “You’re so rude, no wonder my sister dumped you like yesterday’s garbage.”

“She didn’t dump me, I dumped her!” Ankh said, almost sounding as if he was whining.

“You’re not helping your case…” Sonata singsonged wagging her finger and Ankh had to suppress a groan. Were all of that accursed family this completely crazy? “Thankfully, I’m here today to teach you some manners, and straighten you up into a proper suitor!”

“What have I gotten myself into?” Ankh asked himself as he felt an encroaching feeling of doom come across him…

---

“Life…it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury; signifying nothing...” Mogami ruminated. “Or, that’s how it was in the beginning. Nowadays, life is significant. And it’s all thanks to the glorious power of science.”

He fired his gun into several holographic targets, before whirling around to meet a shot from Kamen Rider Wraith in mid air. The two engaged blades, with Mogami flipping upwards and kicking Wraith’s belt knocking the eyecon inside free. Wraith fell to the ground, canceling out his transformation.

Mogami pocketed the Eyecon and smiled. He only lasted five minutes against the power of Wraith, and it was proof that the Rider could hold his own against the Kaiser system. “And the Kaiser System is far superior to most Rider belts currently in operation today. If Wraith can handle me, well… then that means Madam Starlight may never have to go out in the field again! I’ve done it!”

He paused for a moment of obligatory mad laughter. Walking back into the main lab, he overheard a snippet of a news report.

“...I love my player base, and like any good game developer I intend to deliver my beloved game to the whole world.”

“Naturally, some are skeptical as the previous Genm Corporation CEO, Dan Kuruto was recently discovered to be a bioterrorist and has currently vanished. He is suspected in the disappearances of those such as Kiriya Kujo and Saki Momose…”

“Please,” Mogami said with a roll of his eyes silencing the report. “Amagasaki is talking out of his ass. I heard rumors already that the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has been talking about this Kamen Rider Chronicle in hushed tones. Planning recalls.”

“It’s just a game isn’t it?” one scientist asked. “But then again, this is Genm Corporation we’re talking about. Bet they never released to the public that they had games that could actually turn someone into a Kamen Rider…”

“Yes, that would be fun wouldn’t it…?” Mogami mused idly fiddling with the Night of Safari Gashat. He laughed. “This is going to be something we’re going to have to keep an eye on. I can’t imagine the world’s most deadly game will do well for a company.”

He knew Genm Corporation hadn’t had a hit in years. And to suddenly spring up out of nowhere with this Kamen Rider Chronicle meant that they were either desperate or planning something.

Mogami betted on the latter. He did hope after all the fires were put out from Genm Corp tanking hard, Foundation X would be able to take control. Starlight was a frugal woman, after all. She knew good business opportunities when she saw them. And what could be a better opportunity than a company that produced Rider powers?

Though Mogami knew that Starlight wanted to buy up a company like this just to spite Eiji after he’d spited her by not partnering up when he’d had the chance. She was an odd woman like that. Not that Mogami was complaining, Foundation X was at the height of its powers with locations set all across the world and no one the wiser.

Okay, perhaps maybe odd was underselling it at times. Starlight was a very driven individual, Mogami would almost call her desperate. She was also exceptionally scared of power, even if she held a vast amount of it herself. She wanted to equalize things, bring basically gods down to her level. At times, Mogami had to wonder about where she came from, what made her like this.

Perhaps it was none of his business, but when your leader seemed to be a paradox at times one was allowed to wonder about them weren’t they?

He didn’t envy those who got called into her office, though. Mogami had been in there a few times, and it was like the blinding light of the sun sometimes. Did it really need to be so warm? Mogami had to dab at his face with a handkerchief just thinking about it.

Oh well, she was allowed her little quirks. Starlight certainly didn’t seem to say anything about his predilection for saying ‘funky’ every other sentence.

Least not publically.

“Alright, let’s try this again,” Starlight said as she walked into the room. Speak of the devil. She gestured to Mogami and his right-hand man. “Mogami, this one had better actually amount to something.” she sighed in a tired tone.

Grumbling something under his breath about crazy dancing taco ladies, the scientist tossed what looked to be a blank watch of some sort into a gate. The theory was, out there somewhere in time and space existed a Rider’s powers that could augment Starlight’s own and put an end to the fifteen-minute restriction.

As Mogami had explained: “A certain Gaia Memory is our lure, and the machine is our fishing rod. The watch is the bait.”

Mogami pressed a button. < TIME! >

After a whirring sound and a ‘ding!’ thanks to Mogami’s… offbeat sense of humor a man dressed in dark blue armor came flying out of the portal created. He seemed to be shaking, and the shoulder pads seemed to be themed after onibi fireballs.

“Rider Time! Kamen Rid~er Geiz! Bibill Time!”

“Scared Time?” Starlight blinked before observing the man. “...seems fitting.”

The man punched wildly at his surroundings and the strange setting like some sort of madman possessed before the belt rang out: “Bibill Time Burst!”

This Geiz dived forwards two flaming eyeballs aimed squarely at Starlight before she with a roll of her eyes transformed. She then soundly kicked him back right through the time portal. Turning to Mogami, she remarked with a raised eyebrow this: “...well, at least we know your hairbrained scheme works.”

Mogami shrugged. “Shall we try again?”

< TIME! >

This time, the same Rider seemingly in Faiz themed armor with a Crimson Smash at the ready. He was thrown back into the portal.

< TIME! >

Again, the Rider appeared but this time resembling a matador, and had a kick aimed squarely at Starlight’s face. She grabbed him by the foot, and tossed him overhead and behind her. Without so much as a word, the Rider was tossed back into the portal before Starlight having had enough plucked out the Time Memory. “Put it to bed, we’ll continue this one later. And next time… please no Riders who want to kill me…”

Mogami turned to his right-hand man and said: “...well, at least it’s not the worst experiment result we’ve ever gotten…”

He was reminded of what exactly that worst experiment result was…

“Check all systems!” Mogami had ordered. It was a simple order, but screwing it up could have absolutely disastrous consequences. First, a bit of history. The year was 1908, and it's just after seven in the morning. It took place in Siberia, and from even forty miles away the explosion could be felt. People, hurled from their chairs like an atomic bomb had been dropped several decades too early. Locals blamed the god Odgy, and it wouldn’t be until 1927 that a successful expedition was launched.

If you ever wanted to start up a conversation with anyone even remotely interested in asteroids, all you had to do was mention Tunguska. After 100 years, scientists still talked over and speculated over it. Nobody knew what had happened, and of course the conspiracy theorists blamed aliens instead of a simple meteorite. They talked of coverups and flying saucers.

Because, of course, what else was there to talk about?

They wouldn’t be that far from the truth, as for what had happened was a dimensional rift tearing wide open and allowing a spaceship from another timeline to just crash land in the middle of the wilderness. The Russian government did indeed cover it up, and said it was just a meteoroid. That was the official story they stuck to and allowed the public to believe. Neo-Shocker would later form an alliance with the one who inhabited the ship, and Foundation X would later reverse engineer the technology -as they always did- to create bits and pieces of Starlight’s driver.

Sadly, they botched the job or maybe Starlight’s body wasn’t meant to handle the strain the driver simply put her under. It was hard to tell, and after watching the head of the Foundation nearly kill herself fighting hard light copies of the Rider’s greatest enemies time and time again -all in the name of getting herself to adapt to the powers of the Driver- Mogami had enough. He needed to get more of this race’s technology and complete that driver. It had become a personal crusade for him.

If Starlight died, the whole Foundation would fall apart. And obviously, asking Starlight to simply just give up the Driver was folly. So, there he sat in a room that was strictly off the books, unknown to even Starlight. A black-ops experiment was being conducted. Like the later model of this gate that would be used in conjunction with the Time Memory, bait was used. This time, namely a piece of the Galaxy King’s ship.

“Check all systems,” Mogami said. “Are all lights green to go?”

Several nods, and Mogami fingered his Nebulasteam Gun and gear engine. Kami only knew what could come out of he was not careful. He was so nervous about the results, Mogami hadn’t even said ‘funky!’ once.

“3, 2, 1.”

What followed next could only be described as simply cataclysmic.

A loud explosion and a hum as the whole area seemed to bend and warp around them. Lights flashed and alarm bells rang as jagged shards began erupting through the walls. The world began to warp, and as beings erupted from the hole in space and time, Mogami transformed to fend them off. Blasts of energy flew as he shouted wildly for the machine to be shut down.

“Funky Drive! Engine Running Gear!”

A hoard of the invaders were wiped out before another Funky Drive was channeled to completely destroy the ship that was encroaching into the room. Mogami would only later find out this experiment was probably the cause of Charge, Alchemy and Scarab appearing as well.

From the outside, nobody knew what happened. A massive explosion blew off a door, Mogami was thrown from the room and knocked out of his transformation. “...Damn you,” he whispered before slipping into unconsciousness.

Back in the present, Mogami rubbed his chest. He’d been brutally scarred by that incident, and of all the people in Japan he’d been rescued by the future Kamen Rider Brave AKA Hiiro Kagami. Of course, Hiiro didn’t question what happened as there was very little left of the lab. Maybe he suspected but he’d said nothing. The Super Surgeon indeed.

This incident only tightened Mogami’s resolve, he knew he was on the brink of finding an answer and that his experiment worked. Yeah, sure there were a few bugs that needed to be worked out but the basic idea was sound. He only altered it slightly, from reaching across dimensions to only reaching through time itself.

“Try it again.” Mogami ordered and Starlight looked at him.

“...what?” she asked. “Did you not hear me? I thought I said you should put this experiment to bed!”

Her tone was firm, unflinching. She wouldn’t give in. And neither would Mogami. Ever heard that phrase of what happens when an unstoppable force met up with an immovable object? Well, Mogami was that unstoppable force and Starlight was the object here.

Finally, the question was answered as Starlight gave in. “...Alright, one more time. But if anything goes wrong? This project is shut down… permanently.”

“...Understood,” Mogami swallowed nervously tugging at his collar. “But shall we try again?”

< TIME! >

The hand reached out through time, and aimed to grasp the future. And grasp it did, as a watch flew out through the portal and impacted against the far side of the room. Spiderweb style cracks were now emanating out from the now steaming Ridewatch. Mogami smiled as he pulled it out of the wall, and turned it. Seemed those doctors would come in handy after all.

“Ex-Aid!”

---

Sonata’s Apartment:

“Hey, you mind turning it down in there Ri-Ri?” Sonata called over the blaring rock music. “I can hear your boombox from the other end of the house!”

“Not my fault you decided to get yourself a possible hangover by going clubbing!” Aria chimed in.

“Oh, like you’re so innocent!” Sonata said. “You still come and ask me to call a cab every other weekend from your stupidity! Amazing, I’m younger than you and it falls to me to be the responsible one…”

Aria had to fight back a laugh. “Responsible? You brought home birdbrain!”

Sure enough, Ankh set on the couch eating an ice pop he’d… uh, borrowed from somewhere. Sonata already felt her wallet crying for mercy. She’d never again tease Adagio again about this. Taking the pop from his hands, she tossed it in the trash can and ignored Ankh’s heartbroken look. “Oh, don’t give me that look, you’ll get brain freeze. Mind you, it might teach you a thing or two…”

Yes, even Sonata had her limits when it came to her patience.

“I apologize for him,” Sonata continued to Sea watching Khepri buzz about her head. “Seriously, I am. But I’m going to turn him into a productive member of society no matter what.”

“Tch,” Ankh said looking at both Sea and Sonata. “I’d like to see you try…”

Sonata then sprayed Ankh with what looked to be something in a can, Ankh recoiling. “Hmmm, concentrated Friendship Spray, guess it really does work,” Sonata remarked. “Whaddya know. Guess I’m going to have to thank Rarity for the gift.”

“Concentrated Friendship Spray?” Sea asked as she raised an eyebrow as she caught Khepri in her hand. “Stop that, you’re making me dizzy, this body is disorienting already.”

“Blame Rarity for the idea, actually…” Sonata murmured. “Soon as she heard about Ankh, she said and I quote: “Well, one must find a way to keep that uncouth brute in line!” I thought she was having me on, but seeing is believing I guess…”

Ankh looked ready to raise protest before Sonata held up the spray bottle and shook it. He looked scared by this, and Sonata smirked almost devilishly. Guess Equestrian Magic was good for something after all.

“Tch, maybe you should bring some back with you, might actually give you a chance against the Hive,” Khepri commented.

“You shut up,” Sea said as she rolled her eyes at him. “I swear, the gods picked him just to torture me. Probably payback for something I did when I was a filly.”

“Meh, he’s annoying, but least he isn’t planning to stab you in the back,” Aria said as she walked into the kitchen covered in grease and oil much to Sonata’s disapproving look. “...which is more than I can say for birdbrain over there.”

“Really Aria,” Sonata said. “You could at least wash your hands and face…”

“Hey, not my problem Sea’s new bike has a few problems with it,” Aria said. “Small wonder this ZECT wanted to give it up, the cowling alone… Oh, and you don’t want me to start on the issues with the engine. Eiji’s a cheapskate, if you ask me.”

“I’m not sure he knew how bad it was…” Sonata said. “Plus, I expect he meant to fix it himself in any case before Sea decided to just take it with her. It’s military surplus, these things always have a few problems! You really expect ZECT to sell you a perfect example of their hardware?”

“So don’t bother bringing it back with me, got it,” Sea chuckled. “Then again, I’m not sure I could drive that thing with hooves…”

“It’s a bike! It’s not like it’s a Zector…” Aria said with a roll of her eyes. “Oh well, it least it works. Honestly, inter-organization bitching is just the worst. I thought I’d seen it all when Eiji got shoved that G4 armor onto him!”

“It wasn’t ‘shoved’,” Sonata said. “From what I heard it was basically given to him in hopes he could actually find some use for it.”

“In other words, the G-Project didn’t want something with such a deadly history tainting their offices,” Aria deadpanned. “Read between the lines ‘Nata.”

“Still doesn’t give you an excuse to just waltz into my kitchen dripping globs of grease,” Sonata said eyeing the floor she was going to have to clean now. “Honestly, what would Fluttershy say if she saw you.”

Aria looked fairly unnerved by the thought. She was quickly shooed out of the room by Sonata.

“Interesting that all the Princesses still have their old names here,” Khepri commented. “I wonder if that means things are that different or if something is yet to come.”

“Definitely just a difference, we don’t need two universes dominated by Changelings,” Sea reminded him. “Besides, I think this universe could handle itself if they tried.”

She noted all the old files she’d looked up on Sonata’s computer on this Kamen Rider Club website. Seeing all of those Riders… it was both impressive and intimidating. And fairly frightening when it came to the Worms. She shuddered in remembrance.

“Oh, by the way,” Sonata said scooching up to Sea. “If Ankh tries anything, please tell me. Us girls gotta stick together and teach this idiot some manners.”

“Tch!” Ankh said.

“Oh, tch yourself!” Sonata said. “You treated my sister like crap, so if I have to manhandle you to make you into a better person I will. So stop complaining. You’re lucky I’m even giving you this chance.”

Sea raised an eyebrow at that for a moment before nodding. “Noted, same for Khepri really, he’s full of hot air. I was talking with Jasper just…”

And she let that trail off for a moment as she thought about what might be happening back home. Jasper was more than a capable fighter, and a Kamen Rider at that, but she couldn’t help but be worried. Her best friend was having to protect Ponyville on her own right now, all she could do was hope that she could handle it.

“Yeah…” she finally finished and looked away, closing her eyes a little.

“You alright?” Sonata asked noticing her new roomie’s discomfort. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen Sea drift off like this and Sonata had also seen Sea visibly shaking in her sleep. Clearly, she was in the throes of some horrible nightmare, and about what Sonata could only begin to guess.

“My best friend is back in my home universe, she’s the only other Rider currently protecting our home,” Sea replied with a sigh. “I’m just worried about her is all.”

“Hey, I’m sure your girlfriend is fine,” Sonata said. “She’s a Rider, right? If anyone can protect themselves, it’s a Rider. If you don’t believe in a God, or a Buddha or whatever, you can at least believe in them.”

“She’s not my girlfriend, she’s just my friend! You haven’t even met her, you can’t… whatever,” Sea protested. “But yeah, she’s a Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider Lux. She’s been trained by the Resistance since she was young, and I’m sure she’ll be fine. But still, I can’t help but worry a little bit.”

“She’ll be fine, though I don’t blame you for worrying if she’s struggling against those Worm ripoffs,” Sonata said. “Though she isn’t your girlfriend? Please, you’re fooling no one, not with the way you speak of her like that!”

“Tch, they both deny it so much they might as well be in a river in Somnambula,” Khepri laughed. “Even Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle can see it, and they see Sea almost like a daughter.”

“We’re not dating, we once… never mind, that’s private, but we’re not in a relationship together,” Sea sighed. “Jasper is just the best friend I’ve ever had, we grew up together after her parents vanished and she was taken in by her grandmothers. You haven’t even seen us together, it seems like kind of a leap to assume that.”

Sonata didn’t have to guess what Sea meant by Jasper’s parents vanishing, given what she could guess of that universe. “Please. Like I said, you’re fooling nobody with the way you worry and fret over her,” she said unconvinced. “Trust me, that’s basically the way I’ve seen Aria talk about Fluttershy at times. If my counterpart in Equestria is one of those things from the Odyssey, I’d like to think I know a bit about romance.”

“You two make me sick, you know that right?” Ankh said faking a gag. “Like, you really do. You’re like from some girly-girl Japanese anime… talking about your feelings and stuff!”

“And how do you know about these types of anime hmm…?” Sonata asked pointedly. Ankh said nothing in response.

“We all have our secret shames!” Khepri said.

“Tch, shut it you!” Ankh growled swiping at the bug with his good arm. Khepri simply flew out of the way. “I’ve never liked insects and I’m beginning to like you even less!”

And so began the great ‘tch’ war of 2017.

“Tch.”

“Tch!”

“Tch.”

“Tch!”

“Tch.”

“Tch!”

“Tch.”

“Tch!”

“Oh Gods above, there are two of them…” Sea groaned as she held her head in her hands. Ankh meanwhile looked ready to strangle Khepri. “I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but I’m paying for it big time.”

“This guy is really annoying!” Ankh and Khepri shouted at each other. Ankh was now pointing at the bug like a small child throwing a tantrum.

“Speak for yourself!” Sonata said. “Pot, meet kettle.”

Clearly, rehabilitating him would be much harder than she thought. Sonata had planned to introduce Ankh as some feral child from the Amazon jungle who had nothing in the way of absolute manners. ...which was pretty damn close to the truth now that she thought about it.

“I swear, if I ever get into a conversation with Dusk Shadow again, I’m going to ask her about the personalities programmed into these things,” Sea groaned. “I’m pretty sure that she and Elusive don’t have to put up with Shifters this annoying.”

“Oh I don’t know,” Sonata hummed. “They say when two people argue then that must mean they really care about each other… So by that logic, that means Khepri must care for you a lot.”

“Said logic’s faulty,” Ankh drawled. “I argued with Adagio a lot and we hated each other.”

“Yes, well, you’re… you, so you don’t count!” Sonata said in return.

Ankh looked fairly offended by this. “...why I oughta…”

“Again, that’s your problem,” Sonata said. “You’re so hostile it’s next to impossible for anyone to stand you. You need an attitude adjustment. Like, you do. And I don’t care if you’re 700 years old, that kinda thing didn’t fly then so I’m certain it won’t fly here!”

“Tch, not so high and mighty now are you?” Khepri chuckled.

“You need a Core to function!” Ankh shouted. “I wouldn’t be acting so haughty if I was you, considering if I took it away from-”

He was soon hit with the Friendship Spray.

“Bad Ankh,” Sonata chided. “No ruining anyone else’s transformation device!”

She then noticed the three little red medals that had fallen out of his body upon this third spray. A hawk, a peacock and a condor. Sonata knew exactly what this meant. “A full set…”

“Alright,” she said looking Ankh directly in the eyes. “Explanations, now. When did you get three red Cores, and who from?”

“Is it really your business?” Ankh challenged but backed off upon seeing the look in Sonata’s eyes. Sea was just confused.

“I… I don’t get what’s so important about a matching set of these medals,” she asked. “Do they increase your sister’s power or something?”

“Idiot woman, of course they do. You’ve seen Adagio only with mixed combos,” Ankh explained. “Now imagine the power a full set of any color would grant.”

Sea looked lost in thought at this.

“So where’d you get yours?” Sonata asked and Ankh finally relented before he explained.

“So, running experiments are we?”

Ankh hated that voice. It always spelled a headache for him. He groaned as he saw the unwanted form of that damn cat walking up. Yes, sure he was in his human guise but it was no less irritating to look at.

“Don’t you have anything else better to do?” Ankh asked in a ‘please kill me now’ tone. “Like, some female feline to hit up?”

“Some way to greet an old friend,” Kazari said with a wicked grin. Ankh remembered a saying. Never trust a nun, never trust a nurse, and never trust a cat. That’s how it went, right? “Still scheming I see. What’s got you so worked up this time?”

“You know exactly what, Kazari,” Ankh said not even bothering to look at him before he sniffed the air. “Dive into any dumpsters lately? Something stinks.”

“Only thing around here that stinks is your breath,” Kazari hissed. “I followed a trail of feathers here, are you molting bird-boy?”

“Ooooh, think a little harder on your insults and they’d almost sting…” Ankh sniped back. Kazari clutched a hand over his chest, miming being shot in the heart. Ankh had to keep himself from rolling his eyes.

“I’ve noticed a curiosity about you lately Ankh,” Kazari observed licking his hand. “Teaming up with Uva, to save Adagio? That’s not like you, I’d almost think you actually cared for the girl…”

“What are you driving at?” Ankh asked. “The only reason I had to team up with Uva was so that one less threat to our cores was out of the picture. If someone can defeat OOOs, then they surely can defeat us. This doesn’t concern you?”

“Yes, sure, keep telling yourself that,” Kazari said looking out over the city, leaning on the edge of the rooftop. He turned back to look at Ankh. “You care for the girl, admit it. Never thought it would happen again, but here you are… Let’s hope this turns out better than LAST time.”

Ankh let out a growl. “I thought we agreed never to talk about that…”

“I’m just saying,” Kazari said with a small shrug as he got up and walked over to the former King of Birds. “You’ve got your weaknesses, and I’ve got mine. Yours are just more… obvious.”

“Speak for yourself,” Ankh said trying very hard not to just toss Kazari off the rooftop and be done with it. It wouldn’t have killed the cat, but it would have made Ankh feel better. “Anyone knows your weakness is your pride and your lust for power.”

“That’s because in the animal world,” Kazari leered booping Ankh on the nose. “I’m on top of the food chain. Now remind me, what do cats do to birds again?”

“Your pride will be your downfall Kazari,” Ankh warned. “Someday you’ll pick a fight with an enemy you can’t win, or you’ll meet someone more manipulative than yourself. Sounds hard to believe, but it happens… every once in a century. Remember the King?”

“I seem to remember you fell for his lies as well, so you’re hardly innocent,” Kazari replied. “Granted, he had one advantage over you, and I don’t mean his belt…”

“...what are you implying…?” Ankh asked even though he already knew.

“Oh, a little of this, a little of that,” Kazari said. “I’m just saying, he knew exactly what buttons to press and how. He found you sobbing your little heart out after that mess with that girl. It was really quite pathetic really…”

“Why you…” Ankh said getting up off his perch.

“If you’re really going to fight me,” Kazari remarked. “Think on your choices a bit better. Think about it hard, considering unlike you I actually have a powerful body to back up my claims. What about you? Are you… ahem, armed and ready dare I say?”

Ankh curled up his fist and threw it punching a wall right next to the feline greeed. “If I were at my full power, we know how this would end…” he growled.

“But you’re not, are you?” Kazari remarked. “Fact of the matter is, you’re at the lowest you’ve ever sunk. You’re forced to rely on humans, and other Greeed!”

“And what about you?” Ankh pointed out. “You keep boasting about how you’re going to return to form, and yet… I’ve seen nothing of the kind.”

“Exactly, you’ve seen nothing of the kind, and that’s the entire point,” Kazari said. “I can’t be showing my hand at this stage in the game just yet. Especially not to you.”

“Tch!”

“And there we go, resorting to childish expressions!” Kazari laughed. “Granted, I know you’re working on something, surprised I didn’t think of it first!”

“Will you get to the point?” Ankh asked.

“I know what you’re doing,” Kazari smiled. “You’re trying to figure out what can kill a Greeed by throwing Uva, our punching bag around into various situations! Wraith was just the latest! If something does work, then you rush in and claim his medals! Hah! Sounds like something I’d do, run this experiment. Shame I didn’t think of it first.”

“I’m glad you didn’t,” Ankh said disgustedly.

“Be that as it may,” Kazari replied. “You’re still plotting to off your fellow Greeed. My my, how the times have changed! From saving little girls and giving them back their eyesight to offing your own kind!”

But finally he had gone too far, and Ankh punched him to the ground. Kazari changed into his true form and charged at Ankh claws bared. Suddenly he was covered in a nearly blinding light, and Kazari growled in rage as he realized what had happened. Ankh was now in possession of his Lion Core. And then he realized something else. He was now missing a certain bird core as well.

“So you let me goad you into punching me, just so you can rummage around in my body and steal a few cores,” Kazari appraised. “Clever bastard. I approve.”

And yet somehow, Ankh didn’t really like said approval…

Now obviously, Ankh had left out a few details such as his plans for Uva but this was what he had -mostly- explained to Sea, Sonata and Khepri.

“Well… that was certainly interesting,” Sea commented. “Are multiple transformation devices normal in this universe? We only have one each where I come from.”

“You read that Rider Club article, right?” Sonata asked. “Don’t think I didn’t catch you reading up on the Worms. Be thankful someone like Gorgom didn’t experiment on you and turn you into a cyborg! ...actually, do you even have those in ponyland?”

“Not outside of the comic books or whatever, no,” Sea replied with a shake of her head. “From what I understand our gear is based on ancient Neighponese magitech like I probably said. Though, I’m not really an expert on it as Tinker is our tech expert.”

“Tch, Or Princess Dusk Shadow, she’s better than that rookie,” Khepri snorted.

“Oh shut up, you like her,” Sea chuckled with a roll of her eyes.

“Ever feel you’re missing half the story?” Sonata asked leaning over to Ankh who could only nod.

“Sorry, more used to talking to ponies who know more about the Resistance,” Sea replied with a shake of her head. “It’s a long complicated story involving a scientist being captured and the Changelings using their notes to design the Change Drivers. Later when I got the Change Driver and Khepri, Tinker, our tech expert, used that to finish a Driver for the Resistance which is what Jasper now uses.”

“...Cross of Fire again…” Sonata murmured. “If one thing stays consistent between universes, it’s that. That, and a whole bunch of Rider Kicks.”

“Tch, are yours at least more original than just shouting Rider Kick?” Khepri asked with a chuckle.

“Hey, it was all I could come up with on the fly!” Sea protested.

Sonata could only laugh.

---

The Magnum Opus

The restaurant was once again jam-packed with customers, this world Ocean, and Thunder busy as bees keeping everything rolling while their Phoenix was busy delivering. While all of this was taking place the other Phoenix and Ocean were sitting inside a small break room right next to the kitchen. Ocean had been busy, looking across the net to find any Rider related information. There was a lot about Denver and OOO’s, but even more about a country named Japan, apparently this world’s version of Neighpone. Thankfully she had stumbled across a site called Kamen Rider Club that detailed information reaching back to the seventies.

“Really, really interesting,” she muttered, clicking on the next article, the familiar face of a gem-faced wizard looking back at her. “We never had time to look into the Riders when we were in Justice’s world. They even have an article about Kamen Rider Wizard. It seems to line up with what we learned about his history as well.”

“Wait, there is a Haruto in this world?” Phoenix returned, looking over to her.

“Yep, and also a little bit about Decade, but nothing but rumors. Seems he doesn’t show up that often. But he seems to have made enough of an impression apparently, someone has cursed him under every article about the guy. Guy calls himself DamnYouDecade1010. To be fair, Tsukasa is… well, Tsukasa after all. And nothing about any Rider called Justice either. Seems like OOO’s is the only Rider of this country until now besides rumors about one in 2010 and 2011 connected to a wave of missing person cases.”

“Anything about dimension travel?” He asked with a nervous undertone.

“No, sadly not. Well, nothing that would help us right now at least. Seems we have no choice than to stick to Adagio for now if your logic has any merit to it,” she sighed, clicking on the next article. “Come to think of it, what’s your opinion on her?”

Phoenix looked back at her with crossed arms before beginning. “Well, she definitely has a temper that could rival ours, but besides that? Not really much alike I would say. Nice enough on first glance, but I’m not really on the trusting her phase yet. Not that I think she is evil, I’m just… Somewhat unsure when I see her being the hero, that’s all.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean, it’s weird. Especially after our last battle… To be fair, if she puts the same kind of drive into being a hero, I think this city should be safe, don’t you agree?” He just chuckled in return. “And, in all honesty, she faintly remembers me of you when we first met and that can’t be too bad, right?”

“Well, as long as she doesn’t decide to not sleep anymore, then no, it’s a good thing. But we’ll see soon enough, right? Knowing the life of a Rider, trouble isn’t too far off, right?” He continued to chuckle only for it to slowly die out, replaced with a sigh. “This world is really filled with trouble, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, yeah it is…” Ocean nodded before slowly turning away from the laptop, a frown on her lips. “You think this will happen back home too? I mean, this is the fourth Rider World we know of and all are filled to the brim with monsters…”

“And all are filled with Riders as well,” he said with a smile. “For over forty years now I might add. They don’t give up, even in a world with so many monsters. Tartarus, even Sea is still fighting, even if her world sounds to be on its last legs. That’s the only thing we can really do, isn’t it? Fight till the last breath.”

Her expression slowly shifted into a weak smile before she bumped him on the shoulder: “Goodness, you’re happy. But thanks.” And with that, she gave him a quick kiss.

“If you two are making out in there…” came a warning tone.

“And what if we were?” Phoenix returned in a snarky tone.

“There’s someone here to see you,” Thunder said peeking his head in. “Looks important, wearing a nice suit and everything. Who’d you broker a business deal with?”

“No one… Who do you think it could be Phoenix?” He just shrugged in return. “Maybe someone of Adagio’s friends? Uhm, Thunder, would it be ok if she could come here so we can talk about this out of earshot of your guests?”

Thunder gestured with his hand, and in walked Starlight Glimmer setting her briefcase down at the edge of the door. She pulled up a chair.

“Starlight?” Ocean managed to say, her eyes wide open, just as her mouth as she stared at the new arrival.

“So you are familiar with me,” Starlight said looking slightly annoyed by the amount of grease in the restaurant and the smell of pizza. Evidently, she was not one for fast food. “Interesting.”

“You know her?” Phoenix added as well. “Who is she?”

“A genius and one of the quickest rising agent in the MRG. Onyx took her in after an… incident in the village she came from. Even though she is only twenty at this point she has already a position similar to mine before I was sent as head of a team to Canterlot,” she returned, curiously eyeing the woman. “We meet a few times, mostly through Onyx. He pretty much adopted her.”

“...You know, if you were trying to hide the fact that you’re from another dimension,” Starlight drawled. “...you’re not doing a very good job of it.”

“The only reason you would be here in the first place is that you know that much already. And since you should have met my double of this world just outside I thought I should come clean right away so we can skip that part. So, what do you want?” Ocean said, her tone still welcoming, but a bit more on the diplomatic side.

“I represent an organization,” Starlight said. “I think I might be able to get you home.”

“Oh, that is great, do you rea-” Phoenix interrupted only to be stopped by Ocean gesturing him to calm down.

“Organisation? Government, private, illegal? I would prefer to know what kind of organization you are talking about. Just to be sure of course,” she returned, an insincere smile on her lips.

“Private Contracts,” Starlight replied. It wasn’t technically a lie as such given the fact that Foundation X had their pockets in nearly everything nowadays. “Look, I believe we can help each other, and to be honest… I feel I owe you an obligation seeing as how it was one of my scientists who may or may not have accidentally brought you here.”

“Oh? A private organization that is able to breach dimensional barriers? Fascinating. Does that organization have a name or are you some group of no-men?”

“Ocean? Why are you so defensive? She just offered to help us,” Phoenix said, looking confused back at her.

“Well now, this is X-Tremely interesting isn’t it,” Starlight asked laughing at her poor pun in spite of herself. “But I wouldn’t blame your friend for being so suspicious. After all, if someone came to me and said I could just open up dimensional wormholes then I’d take it with a grain of salt. If something seems too good to be true, then it usually is.”

“So indeed, Foundation X, the merchants of death, wasn’t it?” She coldly returned, Phoenix face suddenly turning an interesting shade of pale white.

“Wait, what?”

Starlight suddenly realized she’d slipped up, before regaining her composure. “So you have heard of us,” she said pressing her fingers together. “Impressive. This is due to that group calling themselves the Kamen Rider Club isn’t it?”

Ocean just smirked: “Perhaps, who knows? I just know that just like ‘The Circle’ you are nothing more than a bunch of maniacs who whored power everywhere they can for whatever purpose, the consequences be damned.”

“Kougami then,” Starlight spat with no small amount of distaste. “Damn that insufferable man, he’s always been spreading lies. But I assure you, Foundation X only wants what’s best for the world. I want what’s best for the world, to improve it. We are simply just the foundations -if you will- of the next phase of humankind.”

“Sounds familiar actually. The world is changing at a rapid rate, it’s only a matter of time before everything will get out of control. Would you rather have someone in charge who cares for those beneath them or a bunch of criminals who would exploit it, right?” She returned, keeping a keen eye on every move she made.

“Well, obviously building the new world requires money, and even if we have to get it from… less than reputable sources we’ll still need it,” Starlight returned. “You’d be surprised on just how hard building a career is without the proper funding, especially if you’re a woman in this world.”

“You know, you sound just like my mother. Successful woman, head of a government agency to contain and study magical artifacts. She was considered one of the all-time greatest. I learned everything from her, looked up to her. Till the day she came with that argument to me. A preventive measure to stop the world from falling apart, turn our organization into a police state that would prevent anyone from causing any damage through magic,” she returned with a somewhat shaky voice.

“Ocean…” Phoenix muttered.

“Yes, well, your mother had good intentions but we all know what the road to Tartarus is paved with don’t we?” Starlight whispered sounding reminiscent. “I assure you, I have no intent on making the same mistake. I hoped I could make an ally out of you two, manage an error and get out in front of it before that damned Kougami could. I see now that I was mistaken.”

“Oh, you won’t make the same mistake? Then why are you here trying to recruit us to your side? I would advise you to leave now and not return. Not if you want to avoid her fate at least. This is my only warning, leave or we take you down.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Starlight said slapping on her belt. “I’ve faced two Riders already, and defeated them. I wanted to recruit you, because I know how powerful Riders are damnable as they are. But I see this venture was a wash now.”

Then, she flicked her wrist blasting Ocean out the back wall with the little gems embedded in her palm. “Henshin.”

“Equalize, Scienticize! Energize, Solarize!”

“I’ll foot you the bill,” Starlight said as her armor covered her, before she grabbed Phoenix and tossed him next to his girlfriend. “For both this establishment and... anything else.”

“The Revolution begins now.” Starlight stated, her armor letting off blasts and bursts of steam.

Outside both Phoenix and Ocean had landed rather roughly on the back alley behind the restaurant. But that didn’t stop either of them as they pushed themselves of the ground, each of them either putting on or activating their Driver.

“Ok, first, ouch! Second, fuck you for destroying my brother’s restaurant and third,” Phoenix growled back, slapping his Disc in the Driver while Ocean inserted her Charger into her own.

\ MAGIC DISC DETECTED! /

\ SCANNING CHARGE! /

“Henshin!”

\ FLAME DISC ACTIVATED! /

\ 50, 80, 100! THUNDER CHARGE! /

Both were once again covered in a fiery whirlwind and an electric orb before revealing their Rider forms to Starlight. “Come on, get out! I want to beat the shit out of you here!” Phoenix added, tauntingly waving her to come closer.

“I hate ruffians, you really are a fool if you think we can fight here and not put someone in danger,” Starlight said with a sigh. “And two things. One, I hardly call one brick wall destroying a restaurant. And secondly, it’s not you I’m interested in. It’s your girlfriend. She intrigues me.”

“Says the one who through us through that wall. And you know who I hate? It’s people who think they are so much better than everyone else and can decide what is best for them, but in reality, are just in it for themselves.” He hissed back, stomping on the ground to reinforce his point.

“Very well then, I’ll dance with you,” Starlight said in continued annoyance snapping her fingers. “Deal with her.”

As she said this, a fine mist covered the area leaving only the lights of Starlight’s helmet visible. Then Charge felt herself kneed in the gut before she was tossed into a brick wall by an unknown force. With a blast of wind, the mist faded away to reveal that same white-cloaked figure Adagio had encountered earlier that week, some of the white robes becoming wings.

“Masamune,” the figure stated before his armor changed and a truly elegant katana materialized in his hands. “The maker of the finest sword in Japan.”

Starlight meanwhile took advantage of Phoenix’s shock to land a powerful blow across his face, before slamming him into a nearby wall. She dragged him along it, ripping up bricks from along the wall. Finally, she released him, dealing out several more powerful punches.

Phoenix was thrown backwards several meters, landing a short distance away with a loud groan. The Rider was strong, but that never stopped him before, after all, he thought as he pushed himself up from the ground, slamming one of his fists into his open palm and dashed forward, straight ahead.

Starlight sidestepped, and grabbed Phoenix by the back of his armor slamming him into the ground. “Idiot, your rage is clouding your judgement.”

“Oh, really?” He chuckled, mixed with a bit of coughing, before grabbing her foot and snapped his fingers. In an instant, the two were consumed by a big explosion, seemingly from Starlight’s foot.

“That idiot!” Charge said as she saw the fireball racing towards her and Wraith. If Wraith was afraid, he didn’t show it.

Starlight’s palms glowed before the fire was absorbed into her body. The energy made her suit glow before with a wave of her hand she threw Phoenix back with a blast of energy. “And you shout at me for property destruction!” Starlight snarked. “Pot, meet kettle!”

She spotted something across the street and aimed a powerful roundhouse kick at Phoenix. He was once more sent flying into an empty construction site. “Least now if we destroy something, we won’t hurt anyone in the process,” Starlight noted. “Well, except you but that was a given.”

“Aww, you do care… How cute Stray,” he returned with a deep breath, once again pushing himself off the ground, his right arm charred and burned. “Whatever that was, I think that’s not gonna cut it,” he continued, removing the Disc from his Driver before replacing it with a purple, star-shaped one, spinning it quickly there afterward.

\ FRIENDSHIP DISC ACTIVATED! /

A pink and purple energy surrounded him before it dissipated and revealed the Rider in a purple suit with pink lines over it, two star-shaped shoulder pads and pink eyes. His previously charred arm now once again perfectly fine.

“So you’re going to friendship laser me?” Starlight asked with a chuckle. “Cute. But you’ll still fall. Listen up silly boy, you’re fighting someone who’s fought any Rider I can program into my training regiment. I’d advise you just sit back and take this as it comes.”

She let out a roar as she charged towards Phoenix, her suit glowing with energy.

He quickly ripped the Disc out of the driver once again, the disk starting to glow with light.

\ Friendship Disc Attack Mode! /

\ Connect Protector! /

The disc transformed into a star-shaped shield and a purple sword with a star-shaped armguard. In a split-second, he pulled the shield between himself and Starlight.

“So you intend to make me see stars?” Starlight asked, using the shield as a stepping stone to jump over Phoenix. She then knocked him to the ground with a leg sweep. Phoenix recovered, and rolled out of the way, pulling himself back up. He drew his blade, Starlight holding back the strike with her gauntlets.

With a swift movement, Starlight kicked him in the stomach making Phoenix stagger. Starlight slammed a fist into her palm, and then punched Phoenix hard knocking him out of his transformation…

Meanwhile, Charge and Wraith dueled.

“ALL IN THE FAMILY! GODFATHER AL CAPONE!” Wraith’s driver shouted as he fired a supercharged Tommy gun at Charge, the bullets never seeming to end.

Charge dashed to the side, circling the Rider while firing four shots of her Charge Revolver, which was a simple silver and blue six-shooter style revolver. All four shots hit the Rider square in the chest, letting him stumble backward a little bit. His Tommy-gun clattered to the ground.

Then the mist returned, thick and choking like pea soup.

Charge let out a scream as her eyes adjusted to the fog, feeling a knife cut into her armor. Then another slash and then another. She was kicked backwards. The mist returned to Wraith’s hand, his attire having changed once again. From the light tan to a deep black, twin surgeon’s knives on the faceplate with a top hat above them. “Jack the Ripper, Horror of Whitechapel.” Wraith stated still in that deathly monotone.

“Oh, you want to play hide and seek? Fine, two can play this game,” she hissed, switching her electric-blue Charger for a dark blue one.

“Charge up!”

\ 50, 80, 100! WATER CHARGE! /

Her light blue undersuit was replaced with a dark blue one and all over her body small engine like devices appeared all over her body. “No more hiding for you,” she said with a smirk under her helmet as the fog started to become nonexistent to her, instead replaced with infrared vision. Without warning, she spun the cylinder of her revolver before firing six shots at the ghastly Rider.

This proved the weakness in the fog, as it was mainly used for hiding and striking an opponent who couldn’t see through it. But when one could… the game changed. However, Wraith was already changing tactics and adapting. A strum of a Spanish guitar sounded as rose petals covered the alleyway.

Now the Rider was dressed like a skeleton, and holding a massive scythe. He swung it and the petals flowed towards’ Charge. Explosions peppered the alleyway as she was tossed back.

“Deadset.” Wraith said. “Game, set… and match.”

He snapped his fingers and returned to his base form, before with another snap of his fingers Charge found herself weaponless. Wraith now held her weapons. “This is why I am Lady Starlight’s Knight, her enforcer. You lost as soon as you chose to battle me, you just didn’t know it yet.”

One small push of the lever on his belt and a glowing eye opened up behind Wraith as he selected his target. “The finisher. Fade to black.”

He fired, and the battle was over.

Back with Phoenix and Starlight, they continued their own battle unaware of Charge’s defeat. “So you fought programs of Riders? Interesting, but I think that might actually come in handy here. You know, one thing machines or intelligent people can’t do is being stupid. People don’t fear idiots, but in the end, they don’t know the most logical approach and instead go for something completely bonkers. And, I tell you, I’m a massive idiot!” He chuckled before pulling out a perfectly round white Disc with golden line all over it.

“So now you show your true potential?” Starlight asked. “Very well then!”

\ PHILOSOPHER STONE DETECTED! /

“Henshin!”

\ HEUREKA! /

A powerful wind blew through the construction site, covering Phoenix in a white whirlwind and golden feathers. When everything calmed down once again he stood before Starlight in white armor with golden ornaments all over it. His shoulders had taken on the form of a large feather, a white cape hanging from his back. His horns had been turned into two golden, curved feathers and two blue eyes stared at her.

Placing both his hands behind his head and right against his helmet. “Ok, now we can start. By the way, I think I figured it out.”

“X Kick.” Starlight said swinging her foot in a powerful roundhouse maneuver knowing she had to end this battle now. She could already see the warning signs flashing all over her helmet. As Phoenix raised his gauntlets to block the strike, his eyes widened. Starlight vanished in a purple flash of light and came from behind pile driving him into the ground below.

“Oh, not bad. Teleportation as well? But that was a mistake,” he chuckled, snapping his fingers again. On the back of his helmet, a white seal appeared, intricate in its design, but Starlight had no time to admire it as suddenly something shot out of it. Within moments a tree had shot out from there, entangling the Rider and pushing her backward.

“Not… bad,” Starlight appraised. “Not bad at all.”

The seal disappeared from his back, the giant tree falling to the ground with a loud crash. Standing back up he chuckled: “You know, you aren’t half bad yourself, but you’re completely set in your ways. You can do no wrong, the ends justify the means, but in the end, you’re just stuck in your dream of a future, a bleak one, I might add. But you know what, that’s not gonna happen because I and every Rider in this world will not stop to keep moving forward towards a bright future!” With that, he spun the Disc once again. Jumping forwards, Phoenix glowed with a bright light, six wings appearing from his back, before kicking Starlight through several buildings.

Starlight bleeding in several spots and armor practically destroyed stood up. “Very well, I see the game is over.”

With this, she produced the Ridewatch and slammed it into her now open Driver, the Driver closing up around it. “Haipā Muteki na ōgon bodi! Kanzen shōri no Eguzeido Muteki Gēmā!”

A bright nearly blinding light lit up the area, and Starlight stood her armor completely repaired and glowing gold. “Hyper Muteki Rider… Hyper Muteki Ex-Ai~d!”

“And if I have to clear this with continues, so I shall!” Starlight said her eyes glowing a sickening color before she darted forwards punching Phoenix right out of his transformation.

“Like I said silly boy…” Starlight said as Wraith walked up tossing the unconscious Charge beside him. “I did advise you to sit back and take what comes. But I have some semblance of honor, I don’t beat on defeated opponents.”

“And besides..” Starlight said as she saw Scarab and OOOs driving up on their bikes. She saw the blast from Scarab’s Rider Machine coming, and took it quite unaffected. “I think these two should take you to the hospital. Till next time.”

With a golden flash she vanished as Wraith took to the skies.

“What… what was that?” Adagio asked as she helped Phoenix up.

“Someone who is really gonna regret underestimating an idiot…”

Author's Notes:

Well then. Scared yet?

24: Fanfic Generations: Crossing Worlds Part 4

Saint Joseph Hospital: (Again.)

Sea shifted uncomfortably in her seat for a moment. She had never liked visiting the doctor back home in Ponyville, and that was in a small clinic. Something about sitting in this place just made her more uneasy than anything else. She glanced around at the others, trying not to look nervous, but it only made her look more uneasy.

“Tch, calm down, you’ve faced worse than doctors and nurses,” Khepri reminded her. “Kamen Riders really shouldn’t be such babies.”

“Uncomfortable?” Adagio empathized, shifting in her seat as well. She’d already called ahead and told her co-workers she had to take the rest of the night off due to Rider things. “...Yeah, I know how you feel. I’ve been in this hospital… what, twice by this point and I still hate it. Way too… sterile. Smells like someone just died.”

Adagio realized too late that probably wasn’t too reassuring given the current situation.

“You’re not helping, you know that right?”

“...I work better with animals over people okay?” Adagio admitted. “So sue me!”

“Yes, and it’s totally like I’m not something that would be considered an animal in this world.” Sea drawled.

“Okay, point,” Adagio conceded. “...Okay, I work better with sea animals.”

“Well yeah, Sea Ponies still live in Seaquestria after the Changelings drove back the Storm King’s invasion force years ago,” Khepri commented. “So I doubt any of them would be visiting this world.”

“Tell that to my other counterpart…” Adagio thought to herself.

“Anyway… I’m just not good with doctors…” Sea said as she shifted uncomfortably. “Sorry… I’m focusing more on my discomfort than why we’re actually here…”

“They’ll pull through,” Adagio said though it sounded like she was reassuring herself more than anything else. “They’ll pull through.”

Inwardly, she cursed the Foundation. They did this, they put Phoenix and Ocean in the hospital and they brainwashed Elias and turned him into Wraith. If the situation were any different, she might have laughed given Wraith was already halfway there to the classic Rider origin story. Brainwashed by a large group, to serve their own ends. Now he just needed to defect. Well, if Adagio had her way she’d see to that.

“I hope you’re right,” Sea said with a weak smile. “I just wish Scootaloo was here… or Jasper… or anypony from back home really…”

Adagio looked decidedly awkward, not really knowing how to handle this. She glanced over to Sonata, who was absentmindedly doodling what looked to be a bug in samurai armor. It resembled Kamen Rider Gaim in some ways, but in other ways not.

“Sorry, so sorry,” Sonata apologized. “Needed to so something before I go crazy. Idle hands, after all. Sea mentioned Riders in what were Ponyland’s Sengoku period right? So, I let my mind wander and well… I came up with this. Basically, it’s Ichigo… reimagined. Though I’m not sure how a horse rides another horse. ...aside from the obvious way I suppose?”

Here she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively and Adagio facepalmed.

“I highly doubt they did that, honestly I don’t know what they used…” Sea admitted. “I’d have to talk to Tinker about that, she’s the expert on Rider tech for the Resistance not me.”

“Honestly, you should have just tried frying Starlight with the tako medal, or at least brought her in for a good knock to the head. Doesn’t matter how good your armor is, head injuries HURT.” Aria suggested.

“Taco medals?” Sonata asked. “...I thought the medals were based on animals, not food. I want some!”

“Tako, as in octopus, not tacos you dolt.” Aria grumbled.

“Even better. Octo Tacos!” Sonata chimed in. Then the doctor walked in before Aria could have a brain aneurysm of the highest order. Sonata looked at her. “Is… are they alright?”

The doctor nodded, and gestured for the group to follow. After roughly a minute they reached one of the many rooms of the hospital, he opened the door slowly to reveal the two patients.

“Hey…” It came an exhausted voice from inside the room as they entered, revealing the two Riders bandaged up and inside hospital beds. “Nice that you all visit,” Phoenix chuckled as he waved at them before hissing and pulling back his arm. “Ouch!”

“It was your own fault,” Takeru noted sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. “The doctor said for you not to move.”

“How did…?”

Here, Takeru held up an eyecon to Sonata to answer the unfinished question.
“I’m so jealous of him…” Sonata muttered. “I want one, and his driver.”

“Well, you either have to be a brainwashed Quark or have to be dead to get one,” Takeru said drolly. “So, what is there to be jealous about?”

Aria burst out laughing at this and Adagio had to hide her laughter with a cough. Even Phoenix couldn’t hide a light chuckle, only to once again hiss out in pain.

“See, that’s who you need,” Aria said punching her sister in the arm. “A funny man, you better stake your claim up quick before I do…” she remarked licking her lips.

“Your brain needs something to pull it out of the gutter,” Adagio said. “You’re depraved.”

“Damn right, and for the record it was born in the gutter…” Aria grinned proudly. Takeru rubbed his forehead.

“Focus you two, I believe we have larger problems don’t we?” Takeru said giving them a look he’d inherited from Inari or Akari. Both women seemed to look ashamed of themselves immediately. Adagio mumbled something on how he should use that on Ankh.

“So… Starlight,” Adagio mumbled resting herself up against a wall. “What do we know about her? Any ways to beat her aside from throwing her into that black hole those guys at CERN created?”

“Well, she certainly isn’t nice,” Phoenix returned. Captain of the obvious, really.. “And she can throw back your attacks. Really uncool. But she apparently has a weakness against trees, well until she used that strange Hyper Mutaki, Mutuki, Mu-whatever thing.”

“Muteki.” Takeru corrected.

“So you’re suggesting we hit her with a tree?” Aria asked. “Great, let me call up King Kong on speed dial, maybe he can force feed her one down her damn throat.”

“I mean, it worked when I did it, so, maybe?” He shrugged, only to let out a slight whine.

“Any useful information?” Takeru asked with a small roll of his eyes.

“I mean, hit her with something she can’t really throw back at you I guess. Oh, and she can teleport as well. But besides th- Oh, right, when she used that Mutoki thing, her eyes started to… bug out? Like some sort of glitching computer. Does that help?”

“Excuse me,” Takeru said getting up and walking out of the room mumbling something about hopefully anyone at CR was awake at this time. If he was right, Phoenix may have just accidentally discovered the secret to their success.

“Well, seems it did,” Phoenix chuckled. “Come on, thank me,” he continued with a smirk on his lips.

“With a kiss?” Aria asked. “Because I’m sure your girlfriend will loooooooveee that. Unless she’s into, y’know, sharing and all that!”

Ocean just raised an eyebrow and simply said: “Oh, go ahead. I don’t have to worry about a criminal record in this world.”

“I like her,” Aria suddenly declared. “But seriously, tell me how was it getting your ass beat by Starlight’s personal fu… sorry, second in command?” she said correcting herself upon seeing Adagio’s expression. She was still hit over the back of the head by Sonata though.

Ocean sighed before returning: “I underestimated him, simple as that. He caught me off guard with his weapon stealing ability and managed to knock me out. Through I think the next time we see each other will be different. I have a few ideas.”

Adagio considered herself an observant sort, and she knew something was on Ocean’s mind. She quickly shoved her siblings out of the room, much to their protests. She then vaguely remembered something Takeru taught her, and touched her finger to Phoenix’s forehead knocking him out.

“Okay, we’re alone now,” Adagio said before Phoenix snored. “...well, mostly alone. Now tell me, what’s on your mind?” she asked pulling up the chair Takeru had previously occupied.

“Well, seems like we are. You definitely have an eye for details. You have to teach me that trick by the way,” she said with a smirk before continuing with a far more serious tone. “This world… It isn’t the first time we heard about one like this, just the first we actually get to see more of. So many Riders… So many monsters... For so long… It’s… Unnerving.”

“Luck of the draw I suppose,” Adagio remarked. “We both knew what we were getting ourselves into… Well, I suppose you did. I was just impulsive and wanting to save my sister.”

“I got captured by Changelings and had to free myself and the others so I stole my Driver, I didn’t exactly know what I was getting into,” Sea said with a shake of her head.

“I suspect on some level you did,” Adagio remarked. “And maybe I did as well, given I grew up with stories of the Riders thanks to my sister. I love her, but she’s an out and out nerd.”

“Otaku!” came Sonata’s shout from the other side of the door. “Get it right!”

“Siblings,” Ocean said with a shake of her head. “I thought I did as well. I had collected magical artifacts for a government organisation for a few years at this point and seen Phoenix fight as Alchemy when I had the chance to use the Charge System. I assumed it would just be a bit more dangerous version of my job until then, but Phoenix sure did prove me wrong.”

“So you’re scared of this world, and what it has in store for you next?” Adagio questioned before she corrected herself. “...No, you’re just scared of what every world might have in store for you.”

“I’m afraid my mother was right…” She returned weakly after a few seconds of silence.

“What do you mean?” Adagio questioned wondering to herself if she was getting too personal.

“My mother was the director of the MRG, the organisation I work for. She believed that it wouldn’t take long until the Corrupted would overrun the world and the only way to save it was if the MRG would take a more proactive stance in saving it. In other words, use the artifacts we found to make sure no one else would get their hands on them in a sort of police state. I disagreed… And… Well… I…” Her eyes lowered to the sheets of the hospital bed as she said these last words.

“I’m sorry,” Adagio said. “So you believe you’re a false Kamen Rider? That all you did was a lie? I don’t think so, not really. It wasn’t a lie to you, the devotion you had to protecting others was true enough, wasn’t it? If you ask me, and I didn’t believe this at the start but I do now, whenever one is needed a Kamen Rider will come to call.”

“No, I don’t think that. I wouldn’t have made the decision a second time if I didn’t believe in it. I’m just worried that, just like this world, the tide will never stop… I thought we would find a way to get rid of the Corrupted, but after they were knocked out of Canterlot City they are everywhere in the country now. Then the Changelings showed up and are fighting the Power Rangers. And then there was the entire Orphenoch situation with my mother… And I have the feeling that this wasn’t the end of that as well… And it hasn't even been a year yet...”

“You seem to think you have to shoulder everything alone. What I said still stands, whenever a new era needs it a Rider will come. And you have Phoenix, and these Rangers and god knows who else right? I’ve never been afraid to ask for help, and I’m not implying you are either. But you don’t have to shoulder this alone.”

Ocean smiled warmly at her. “You know, you sound just like Phoenix. This could have easily come out of his mouth. He has that unbreakable optimism about him. That every mistake isn’t the end, just the next step to become a better person.”

“If you’re going to start quoting Gurren Lagann at me, just… stop okay? I get enough of that from my sister.” Adagio muttered.

“Gurren what?” Ocean raised an eyebrow.

“I envy you.”

“Don’t worry, I have my personal sappy monologer right over there,” she chuckled back while pointing at Phoenix. “And really, it can’t be cheesier that ‘I’ll keep moving forward to a bright future’, right?”

“Take my word, it can.”

---

“Well, this is… all a bit concerning really isn’t it?” Eiji remarked sometime later that night. “So X has stepped up their game, apparently. Hyper Muteki. Lovely, Hyper Invincible. ...as if Starlight’s ego wasn’t big enough!”

“And it comes from Emu’s powerset, of all places!” Takeru commented, the phone on his room’s bedside table set to speaker. “While I’m happy to know Emu is going to get that kind of power somehow sooner or later, it really doesn’t exactly bode well for us currently does it?”

“Well, it could be worse, it could have come from Genm’s powerset now couldn’t it?” Eiji remarked. “Think about it, Starlight with the powers of a zombie.”

“Yeah, I’m thinking about it and I’m not liking it,” Takeru said in response. “Thanks for the nightmares by the way!”

“Look on the bright side, I’ve heard rumors of a game being developed, one about a monk slaying zombies. Sounds like you could toss in a few pointers, really!” Eiji teased. The sounds of shots being fired were heard from the background, and what sounded like drink cans clattering to the floor. Takeru could only guess that Eiji was continuing to train the new Birth, from his scattered messages back and forth.

“Invincible or undead, now there’s a choice for you!” Takeru grumbled. “Mind you, I’ll send Inari over to this game developer, I’m sure he’ll be flattered to be an inspiration.”

“Should I contact one of the others?” Eiji asked after shouting something to Soarin’ Takeru didn’t quite catch. There had been an explosion in the background a few minutes before. Huh, he could have sworn Soarin’ had better aim. Was the Birth Buster really that powerful? “Maybe Haruto-San could…”

“No, nobody would be able to get here in time, not even Haruto with his teleport rings. And I doubt you have Gaim on speed dial,” Takeru sighed. He held up a certain Eyecon, clutching it tightly in his palm. “Besides, I already have a plan in place. Far as I can see, Starlight’s carrying a strain of the Bugster virus, from Adagio and Phoenix’s descriptions. So basically… All we need to do is cut it out.”

“And how do you plan to do… Oh, I see. Clever!” Eiji realized and praised. “Dangerous, but clever!”

“And when is anything we do not dangerous?” Takeru drawled.

“Point,” Eiji conceded. “Still, all the same be safe. Don’t do anything foolish, okay?”

Takeru smiled and shook his head, honestly Eiji was such a worrywort at times. His heart was in the right place, it really was, but Takeru had been a Rider long enough -and died enough times by this point- to know when to exercise caution. Takeru knew had only one life to live, and he didn’t want to see himself wasting it. “The question is… am I really living that life? Riderdom is okay enough I suppose, I’m helping people when they need it but now that I’m out of school… what next?”

Well, he supposed there was one option really. Yes, Adagio was a few years older than him, but only a few. Plus, she was a fascinating woman, and really duty minded. Maybe a bit too much but her heart was in the right place. And really, who could better understand the woes of a Rider than yet another Rider?

“Besides, we’re already past the student-sensei barrier, really…” Takeru thought as he walked into the kitchen, Adagio cooking dinner in the microwave. “If I wanted to tell her off for it being inappropriate, I would have or should have at that restaurant. Mou… I’m such an idiot, you’re in too deep now Takeru!”

He blinked at the little glass case set beside the stove, with what looked to be a grasshopper of some sort inside, crawling up the sides. Takeru blinked, that definitely didn’t look like any american grasshopper he knew of -not that he knew of that many- and if anything he expected fishtanks knowing Adagio. Then again, he doubted Adagio could either fit or even be allowed to have leopard seals in her apartment.

“Paying tribute to the older Riders?” Takeru teased. “I was expecting a waterbug!”

“Har har, you’re very funny,” Adagio deadpanned while her ramen cooked. “It’s Sonata’s, she asked me to take care of it for the week. Said she didn’t trust Ankh to be around it, not that I can really blame her. Phymateus leprosus, I think that’s the name…”

“Aren’t most bugs with bright lime green colors toxic?” Takeru questioned.

“Well, what does she expect me to do?” Adagio asked. “Eat it? ...though I will admit the idea of Ankh eating it and throwing up his cells all over the kitchen floor is pretty funny.”

“...You have a very disturbed mind, you know that right?” Takeru said taking a few noticeable steps backwards.

“Not saying I was going to feed Sonata’s pet to him,” Adagio deadpanned. “Though I do wonder if she is trying to send a message with a grasshopper to take care of.”

“I’m not sure to be scared or in awe of her…” Takeru wondered aloud.

“With her?” Adagio answered. “Equal measure I think.”

“Probably a safe bet, yeah,” Takeru agreed as Adagio blew on her ramen. “Didn’t you say your sister was trying to housebreak Ankh and turn him into a quote henpecked husband unquote?”

“Yeah, she is,” Adagio said. “I’m curious to see how long it’ll be before Ankh goes on strike until he gets his ice pops. And knowing Sonata, she’s probably already deprived him of his ice pops.”

“Well, it works as a carrot and stick method. He doesn’t play nice, he doesn’t get fed,” Takeru agreed. “I don’t care if Ankh hasn’t really tasted anything in over 700 years, you deserved better than him.”

“Oh, like you?” Adagio teased booping him on the nose and leaving Takeru noticeably flustered. As she slurped on her noodles, she had to bat away a certain cube-based condor grumbling: “...and I thought Ankh was the piggy one…”

“Give him a cracker, maybe that’ll calm him down,” Takeru suggested with a teasing smile.

“You’re so not funny…” Adagio grumbled to herself and looked around and sighed. “Oh, this is going to be a long week. Between the moving apartments, work, and Foundation X, I’ll be amazed if I don’t hang myself from the tallest tower any time soon.”

It was true, Adagio had recently engaged in the hellish task known to all as moving house. She’d opted for the same general area really, close to her workplace but for a larger apartment. Boxes lay strewn all throughout the house and Adagio was frankly amazed by this point she hadn’t tripped and fallen smashing her skull open on the floor. Mind you, she had found some stuff she hadn’t seen in years, her eyes drifting to what looked to be a small orange sauropod with yellow hair. It looked to be brushable, just like the mane of the purple pony next to it. Strikingly, and somewhat frighteningly she was sorta reminded of Aria now that Adagio thought of it.

“I wasn’t aware that you had a love for such things…” Takeru remarked his eyes following. Adagio hit him over the head with a pillow, her face now an interesting shade of red.

“S-Shut up, I-I was a little girl t-too once, o-okay?” she stammered out, her face still red. And most damningly of all to her, that blush absolutely refused to go down! “So sue me if I had a Cutesaurus when I was a kid, it was a gift from my mom okay? And don’t you say a word about the name, alright?”

“Was I going to?” Takeru asked. “Though I am imagining you as a kid, and you probably were a cute one right?”

“Yeah, well, you can go out and ask Sonata for baby pictures, or Aria. I know one of them has the album these days…” Adagio said to herself as she walked out to the balcony. Throwing the doors open, she was greeted by a welcoming blast of cool night air. Lights covered the city skyline, some moving and others not as car horns rose up in a symphony of intermittent honks. Adagio smiled, she always loved the sight of the city, and it was another reason she chose this location. It was a prime spot to just go out and view the city for what it was, and beyond the skylines you could see the mountains and rising hills. In her old apartment, -or on her coffee break at the National Aquarium- Adagio often found herself just looking out at the city with earbuds in place and listening to her music. Soft, tranquil stuff. A mix of what they called chillhop and piano music, no pop or anything like that.

Speaking of music, Adagio’s ears caught the soft dulcet tones of a saxophone rising up from the streets below. She looked down, and saw Old Man Bert as the neighborhood called him playing his horn, money being flicked into his case. Next to him, sat a man with a guitar to accent the brass section. The saxophone was soft, sweet and soothing and at once Adagio felt the day’s troubles just wash away.

She let out a soft moan before she realized what was happening, and what was happening was Takeru rubbing her back. “Didn’t know you knew how to…” the woman murmured.

“Yes, well my friend, Akari?” Takeru asked as he did his work on her lower back. “She thought I’d be more cultured if I learned how. She also thought it might net me a potential girlfriend.”

“Yeah, well she’s not wron…. Oooohhh, yeah, that’s so much better,” Adagio murmured as Takeru worked out the kinks. “You know, you could make a fair bit of money from this. I know these two in town, Aloe and Lotus? They’re hiring, and they do need a spare hand from time to time.”

“For obvious reasons, I won’t be in town all that often, not long enough to hold a steady job at their salon,” Takeru said and Adagio sighed sadly. Yeah, there was that. Such a shame really, as she was beginning to enjoy Takeru’s company for more reasons than just as a sensei. Such was her luck really. Her first potential boyfriend was an egocentric bastard, and the next happened to live in a completely different timezone. Not to mention the potential accusations of being a cougar being thrown around. Not that Adagio cared, not really. She’d long since given up caring about what others thought. ...Yeah, Adagio didn’t believe that one for a microsecond. Her other self wouldn’t have gotten to her so good if that was the case. Adagio loved the limelight, she loved both the idea of being a hero and being a famed marine biologist.

“Yeah, I suppose you wouldn’t have made it five minutes without being hit on. Aloe and Lotus are both perverts to some extent,” Adagio admitted. “I have heard the rumors of ‘special services’ that they both offer.”

“Well, I’m definitely not working for them then if that’s the case,” Takeru deadpanned blushing a bright red. Adagio almost smirked, so it seemed the shoe was finally on the other foot for tonight. “I’d really not wind up working for madams.”

“No, you’re too innocent, way too innocent for that,” Adagio said. “It must be preserved. You’re literally a cinnamon roll, or a Disney Princess given male form!” she teased.

“Wouldn’t that make me a Prince?” Takeru questioned. “So does that mean I’m the Hans to your Elsa?”

“Firstly, Hans was an abusive scheming bastard, so no that would be Ankh in this analogy. Though I am pleased with the Elsa comparison, really,” Adagio remarked. “No, you’re the Kristoff.”

“The guy with the moose?” Takeru blinked looking almost insulted. “So that means I should be dating Sonata then, given she’s more of an Anna than you are.”

Adagio burst out laughing in spite of herself. Regaining her composure, she turned back to a very confused Takeru. “I’m sorry, we were just… first my night started off with a hellish move and now we’re talking Frozen of all things! What has happened to my life?”

“Well, you’re smiling again, so that’s one thing,” Takeru said continuing his ministrations. “But what happened to your life? Well, for one thing you…”

“If you say that I met you, I’m punching you off this rooftop,” Adagio drawled. “That’s too damn corny.”

“But you seem to be responding well to corniness,” Takeru countered. “Didn’t you say I was literally a Disney Prince given human form?”

“...Yeah, that’s fair,” Adagio admitted with a small grumble of defeat. “Though if you start doing the Shakespeare I’m still throwing you off this balcony…”

“Well, at the risk of sounding cornier than normal and getting tossed off a balcony, I say But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and you are the sun.”

“....Oh dear god, you’re doing the Romeo and Juliet routine,” Adagio grumbled. “Oh, anything but that…”

“It’s a good love story, what can I say?” Takeru shrugged taking his hands off Adagio for a moment.

“One which had both lovers commit suicide at the end, may I remind you,” Adagio drawled. “And did I say you could stop with the massage?”

“Yes ma’am…” Takeru said sweat dropping and getting right back to work. He was sorely reminded of Akari on her worst days. What was it with him and his luck? “You sure you’re not related to Akari? You remind me of her…”

“What, your science friend?” Adagio asked. “Doubt it, I don’t know of any family in Japan though it sounds like we’d get along. I think I’ll take her in as an honorary sister!”

Takeru shuddered at the thought. That was… scary, the idea of those two meeting up for tea and coffee. Somehow he figured they’d get along like a house on fire as Adagio predicted.

“So, are we really doing a thing?” Adagio questioned. “Like, are we really dating? Here you are giving me a massage and quoting Romeo and Juliet like some cliched shōjo male lead?”

“Well, I assumed we were,” Takeru remarked. “I mean, I assumed you were showing interest when you took me out for dinner.”

“T-That w-was a t-thank you for teaching me,” Adagio stuttered out even if she didn’t quite believe it herself. “N-Nothing more, nothing less!”

“A very expensive thank you, I should note,” Takeru commented not entirely convinced himself. “My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when I saw the check.”

“Hey, what you did for me was worth it, and I paid for all of it in full right?” Adagio asked. “I never do anything by halves!”

“So I’ve seen. Adagio Diana Dazzle, Kamen Rider and workaholic marine biologist,” Takeru observed. “You’re quite correct, you never really do anything by halves.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Adagio demanded. Takeru immediately sensed he was treading on unsteady ground. Smart guy, really.

“I’m just saying, at times me and Eiji both worry you’re stretching yourself too thin, and that you’re on the verge of snapping,” Takeru clarified. “That’s all, really…”

“Well, I can’t just do one or the other now can I?” Adagio asked. “Being a marine biologist has always been my dream and now I’ve achieved it. I can’t just give it up, and nor can I give up being a Rider now. Once I put on this belt, I had a duty to accomplish. You know that as well as I do!”

“Agreed,” Takeru said. “Someone I met once, Yusuke Godai -yes, that one- once said this. The path of the Rider is not an easy one. to be a Rider means to put your life on the line for others, to fight often in the shadows against threats the rest of the world is often blind to. You'll never be the same as you once were. But at the end of the day, you did something that no one else could. You stepped up and drew a line in the sand and said this far and no further. Its not easy, it's not glamorous or rewarding, and you don't know if you'll make it out of it alive. But it is a path that must be tread, and those that walk the true path, have earned the title of hero.”

“Well, if anyone knows about any of that, it would be Kuuga wouldn’t it?” Adagio murmured in a tone of undying respect for the first Heisei rider. The man who fought alone, with no other Riders to help him out and only the local police force. Well, that explained where she'd first heard that line. “There’s a Japanese word for it, right? Gimu, isn’t it? Obligation, something you can neither run from nor avoid.”

“I’m impressed, you really are a cultured woman,” Takeru remarked.

“Well, I was in Japan a few times accepting a few transfers to the Aquarium, so I did pick up a few things. Not much, but a few,” Adagio said. “Though we’re getting away from our original subject. Are we or are we not a thing?”

“Well, it all depends on if you want us to be, or not I guess,” Takeru remarked. “You seem… scared. Not to s-step out of line or anything, not trying to but that’s what it feels like.”

“O-Of course I’m scared, there’s my reputation to think about. A-All the accusations of cougar and the like. A woman in my position can’t afford… you saw the looks at the restaurant right, the judging ones?”

“But you’re happy right?” Takeru asked. “You seem happier than you have been in years, at least that’s what Aria tells me…”

“Of course she would say that... “ Adagio grumbled. “But she’s right, and I AM happy. It’s just… I’m worried. And then there’s our other problem. You live in Japan, and me… I’m stuck here in f-fucking Denver for the time being!”

“We’ll make it work,” Takeru said and brought her lips up for a kiss. Quick, but passionate enough.

“Y-Yeah, we’ll try…” Adagio said grasping his hand tightly. “We’ll have to.”

---

“Well, I’m about done really,” Aria said pulling away from the bike. “Not much more I can do, really. I’d say this thing is actually… fairly battle ready the moment you decide to take it for another spin.”

Here, she whacked Sea atop the head with her wrench, making her let out a little yelp.

“And when I say do not touch the bike, do not touch the bike. But what did you do last night?”

“...I touched the bike.” Sea mumbled.

“Exactly,” Aria said giving her a pointed little look. “You touched the bike.”

“Hey, it was either that or let Phoenix get himself killed,” Sea said the stress obviously starting to get to her by now. “So, I had a very good reason for touching the bike.”

“Yes, but there’s one of those vending machines turned bikes right outside, like literally right outside,” Aria said. “You could have popped a cell in, and there off you go putt putt putt!”

“But I grabbed my bike, my bike okay?” Sea said. “It was my bike or Phoenix died.”

Aria groaned. “Ugh… Okay, yeah. Big girl in a suit of armor. Take that away, what are you? You want to go a few rounds, I’m fine with that. Like, I am. Bet you couldn’t even last five minutes with a woman with severe anger issues.”

“I’m a survivor, okay? I survived in a wasteland that looks like anything Dmitry Glukhovsky could come up with look tame. I think I can last a few rounds with you with or without the suit.” Sea snapped.

Ankh was perched atop a crate once full of motorcycle parts and was nibbling away at a drumstick, long since stripped to the bone. He chucked, and both Aria and Sea looked at him.

“What?” they snapped in unison, Aria going for the Friendship Spray. Again, Ankh chuckled. He was far too amused to even fear it right now.

“I mean, are you the people who are supposed to be helping fight Miss High, Mighty and Golden? No, I don’t think so. So what are we, a team? No, no, no. Thanks to you two, we're a chemical mixture. Just absolute chaos. To put it simply, we're a time-bomb. So excuse me while I laugh in the face of you ‘stopping evil’ and all that,” Ankh drawled. “Let’s see, what do we have here? We’ve got a horse woman in a bug suit, a ditz, a woman with enough anger management issues I’m surprised she doesn’t turn into a rage monster. We’ve got an idiot, we’ve got firefly, we’ve got the overgrown watergun and last but totally not least we have the sea animal fucker.”

“And we have you, a confirmed narcissist and possible psychopath,” Sea deadpanned. “So you want to chip in at any time, that’d be nice. Or Aria will probably shove that wrench up your ass if I don’t beat her to it.”

Aria looked approving. Sonata popped her head in. She then spritzed Ankh with the Friendship Spray -he yelped and swore as ever- and gave Sea a look.

“Hey, be nice. Nobody will have any things shoved up in any of their places,” Sonata said trying to defuse the possible ticking time bomb as aforementioned.

“Oh god, where is my CBD?” Aria muttered leaning back in her recliner, a dusty old thing that had probably seen better days. “Like, I could so use some just dealing with Ankh alone.”

“CBD as in… Cannabis oil?” Sonata blinked swearing she misheard. “You smoke pot?”

“It’s not pot, it’s a relaxer you dolt!” Aria said. “It’s anything but pot, so shut up!”

“It’s pot!~! You smoke pot~!” Sonata singsonged and Ankh and Sea shared a look. They both suppressed a snort.

“It’s the non-psychoactive stuff. It’s not gonna make me high or anything you dingus,” Aria explained. “It just helps me with anxiety and other shit. Been trying to get some for Adagio for years. She always refuses, not sure why.”

“Because it is pot!”

“It’s not…” Aria started reaching for her sister before deciding it wasn’t worth the effort. "Look, if it helps you any Fluttershy takes the stuff as well. Perfectly alright with her. A mutual friend of ours, Tree Hugger -you know, the yoga girl down at the center?- hooked us up. ...and now I realized that's helping neither of our cases.”

Aria made a mental note to apologize to Tree for making her sound like a drug dealer. Oh well, it could have been worse. At least Tree drove that Tesla around instead of one of those big bulky and rather intimidating Escalades. Then again that was a whole different lifestyle choice with the rap and the gold chains and shit. ...not that there was anything wrong with that.

“I've just been so on edge lately with Adagio being a Rider and this X and the Greeed I needed a release, y'know?" Aria said. "And yeah, before you say anything sex is nice but do I look like the type to be attracting long term boyfriends?”

“...I thought her and Fluttershy were totally rutting…” Ankh murmured.

“Yeah, so did I…" Sonata agreed before turning back to her sibling. “But seriously sis, you need to give yourself more credit! You'll find-”

Just then something fast, a white blur rocketed outside shaking the whole complex. Glass shattered, car alarms went off.

“You hear that?”

“Course I did 'Nata. And it doesn't take a genius to realize what it was,” Aria agreed going for her bike. She grabbed her phone and tossed Sonata her own. “Call Adagio. I'm going to follow SoulJar Boy here and see where he goes.”

With that, she gunned the engine and tires squealed -smoke in her wake- as she took to the streets.

Messages flew back and forth between Sonata and her sibling, who was rushing to the scene on her own bike.

“So, what do you think it is, why is he popping out of hiding like this and that?”

“Guilt? Maybe he’s drawn to you sis, you saved him from that lab and all that and so maybe he’s been trying to figure both out you and whatever X did to him.”

“You really think so?”

“Don’t get your hopes up sis. Do not get your hopes up. I’ve seen where that leads, your desires churning whenever you fight. Yes, Takeru has been helping you but it still happens. It still happens!”

“I’ll keep my head ‘Nata, I promise you that.”

“Can you? Can you really make a promise to a girl that you can’t keep?”

“...Don’t go quoting Cortana on me ‘Nata, only I’m allowed to do that.”

“Be safe sis, okay?”

Adagio whispered an “I will.” as she exited the elevator. She was on the uppermost floors of the Shiba Financial group. In the middle of the room there he stood, Kamen Rider Wraith. His wings, weathered and soaked to the bone made him resemble some fallen angel. Lightning cracked, and the room lit up.

“Elias, is that you in there?” Adagio approached him delicately, not ready to go for the belt just yet. “It’s me, Adagio, remember me? I know you must be so scared, and so confused about what X did to you. I understand that, okay so maybe I don’t but I do want to he-Huurk!”

She was thrown up against the wall by the phantom Rider, his hand around her throat. His wings had folded back up into his cloak. “Can you really look me in the eyes, while you kill me? I know what’s happening here, you’re like an animal lashing out. I get that. You’re scared.”

She was tossed head over heel and landed on the floor with a crash. Wraith brought his foot down, and Adagio screamed out in pain. She couldn’t feel her arm, she couldn’t feel her arm.

Then a zap, and Wraith trembled as Aria stood with a taser in hand. A powerful roundhouse kick sent him sprawling. “Apologies for following you sis, but I knew you’d do something stupid. He’s not like an injured animal,” Aria said as she helped her up off the floor. “He’s brainwashed, and only way I figure you’re going to knock some sense into him? Knock some sense into him.”

“Y-Yeah, I see that now…” Adagio whispered as she went for the belt.

“Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo: Sa-Ra-Mi-Uo! Sa! Ra! Mi-Uo!”

Meanwhile, Sonata argued with Ankh.

“Now, my sister is facing an opponent who put a Rider far more powerful and far more experienced than her in the hospital, there’s no way she can take Wraith on alone!” Sonata said. “Especially not with her… emotions.”

“Tch!” Ankh said. “You humans and your flexible feelings. So, what’s in it for me. I assume you want me to help!”

He was soundly hit with a riding crop. Ankh let out a yelp. “Oh my, I didn’t know you were-OWWWWWWWW! Goddamnit, you little bitch!”

He’d been hit again.

“Aside from the glory of the so-called King of Birds gaining fame for helping defeat a powerful opponent?” Sonata said with a devious little smile playing upon her face. “You’ll get back in good with Adagio, and I know she’ll feed you all the ice pops she can give you. Which knowing her pay grade is a lot.”

Ankh was out the door before she could even say anything more. Sonata smirked and flexed her crop. Good not just on potential partners, apparently it worked on bribing birds. Oh, she was spending too much time around her sister wasn’t she?

“Life asked Death, “Why do they love me, but hate you?” And Death responded saying, “Because you are the beautiful lie, and I am the painful truth,” Wraith said in full Masamune mode blocking spear strikes with his blade. “You don't know what kind of person you are until the very end. So which are you?”

“You’re like a broken record! And to answer your question, I’m the woman who never gives up hope.” Adagio said before she struck, and sent a powerful whirlpool spiraling around the room sending desks and papers flying. She lost track of Wraith though, and only ducked behind a pillar at the last moment. Machine gun bullets littered the sky above her. Adagio wanted to emerge but couldn’t.

“Tch! Always relying on me to pull you out of the messes you get yourself into!” Ankh’s familiarly grating voice said. “Here, catch! Maybe you can do something with these!”

He tossed three little birds her way, and with her good hand Adagio caught them and slotted them into the driver. Scanning them was a bit awkward, but it was doable as she whirled around to let Ankh do the deed. While this happened, Wraith changed forms again and roses filled the air.

“Taka, Kujaku, Condor! Ta~Ja~Dol!

The roses ignited, and Aria’s eyes widened as the room was consumed by flame. Then, the flames cleared as a familiar figure stood blazing true. Like a crimson angel, the figure leaped out of the fire six elaborate wings extended. The torso armor flashed, and a small disk appeared on one of Adagio’s arms.

“It doesn't matter how, those petals of yours will scatter now,” Adagio said flames licking her armor. Several were left in her wake as she strode onto the battlefield. “I will save you. That I promise you. Listen to me well as right now, I feel as if nothing can stop me now! The winds are as ever-changing as my own abilities, now don’t you ever underestimate the powers of the animal kingdom!”

Several disks of fire were sent Wraith’s way and although he dodged these he couldn’t outmaneuver the kicks. Like a whirlwind, Adagio spun with her leg armor shifting to form what looked like talons to slash and strike at the brainwashed Rider. Then, using her good arm she haymakered him.

Wraith was sent flying out the window, and shifted to his base form wings extending. He rocketed upwards, and on instinct, Adagio seemed to follow. Her armor ignited as she punched holes through roof and beam until they emerged on the roof. Wraith shifted forms again, to his Jack the Ripper based attire and mist filled the air. It was soundly blown away by TaJaDor’s powerful wings. But then Wraith shifted forms again, and a series of explosions threw Adagio to the roof.

Meanwhile, Ankh ran and emerged onto the rain-slicked roof lightning flashing in the sky above. Adagio was barely using her arm shield to block powerful strikes from the La Calavera Catrina form’s scythe. She was then soundly punched in the face, and sent staggering back.

“Gah!” Ankh said, Aria right behind him watching with fearful eyes. It was then everything seemed to go out in a blur, and next thing Aria knew his body was on the floor. No, the body he had been possessing was on the floor. As for Ankh himself… Well, he was now controlling Adagio.

“As she said, prepare to scatter now,” Ankh said, all six wings on his -his- armor extended and ablaze with light. “You don’t get it yet, do you? This is my combo, the burning combo. The Hawk, the Peacock, and the Condor. It’s where my and Adagio’s desires intertwine. Meaning, I can do this. She’ll wake up with a headache in the morning, but it’s clear she won’t be able to beat you as is. I can, and now rejoice for you face the King of the Birds!”

He became a blaze of red light, and Wraith became a blur of white as they battled in the skies.

“You don’t care about her, all you care about is the fame and the glory!” Wraith sneered.

“Perhaps,” Ankh admitted. “But you’re a little piece of trouble, aren’t you? And to be honest, I know exactly what it’s like to be controlled. Yet you’re so naive, people always betray people. You just haven’t realized it yet!”

More speed was poured on and the two battled above the cityscape trading blows time and time again. Glass shattered as a sonic boom was unleashed over the city, and at one point Ankh did a scanning charge. Wraith was kicked through one end of a building to the next. But he seemed to take damage like a tank. Ankh contemplated a Giga Scan, that might do it.

It also might kill the fool, and he knew he’d catch hell -and more importantly, be deprived of his precious pops- from Adagio if he did that. So, instead, he opted for the softer option. The softer option being to draw back his fist, of course, and unleash a powerful blow. Wraith’s helmet shattered, parts of it falling to the floor.

“Good, now did that wake you up?” Ankh said after another roundhouse kick -with talons extended- knocked Wraith to the floor. Wide, blank eyes stared out at him. Ankh shrugged. “...I guess not. Oh well, maybe a few more knocks and blows will-”

“Magic rings are in! The last hope within!” came the Ghost Driver’s voice and Ankh just barely dodged a flame powered kick. There stood Ghost, dressed in attire resembling that of Kamen Rider Wizard.

“That’s enough,” he said gently. “Now, I know you want to be out and about for showtime, Ankh, but would Adagio ever forgive you?”

“Tch, screw you Firefly,” Ankh said throwing a punch that Takeru caught. “Just because you’re her boyfriend doesn’t mean that you get to dictate her life.”

“No, but neither do you. And yet you did from what I heard from Eiji,” Takeru said blocking another blow. “Now release her, and allow me to undo some of X’s work.”

“Of course, it was Kougami. Always stepping in where he’s not needed!” Ankh said grabbing Ghost by the shoulder and running him through a wall. “And you’re not exactly earning my respect either!”

“I’m holding back, I could easily go into Mugen if I wanted and draw you out if not for the pain it would cause Adagio,” Takeru said making Ankh stagger backwards with a magic-infused palm thrust. “I’m willing to bet Mugen could kill you and we’d have one less Greeed in the world. Would you like to test that theory?”

Ankh collapsed and released Adagio, the transformation canceling itself out. He floated above the woman, her normally long and beautiful straight hair in curls. It actually was frighteningly similar to that of the other Adagio’s. Takeru wondered if Ankh did that as a twisted joke. Knowing him, probably so.

“Now for…” Takeru said going into Himiko form, the driver ringing out another tune.

“Future Seeing Eye! The Queen From Yamatai!” it rapped as Takeru’s attire became a shocking pink. Readying some enchantments, he groaned out as he saw Wraith had vanished.

Adagio for her part was leveling Ankh with a deadly glare, and the arm seemed to shrink under her look. It soon retreated to his body of choice, and ripped all three of his red medals out of Adagio’s grasp.

“This was the only time, I only lent them to save you and you still found a way to screw it up,” Ankh hissed looking about ready to choke Adagio before he seemingly thought the better of it. “But good on you, I’m feeling generous today. I won’t kill you for not showing the proper form of respect towards my cores capiche?”

“So what will you do?” Adagio asked not sure she really wanted to know.

“Haven’t you guessed?” Ankh said. “I’ll be using them properly.”

He shoved them inside his body, and for a brief second twin rainbow wings erupted from his back. They were ghostlike in shape and form and for a brief moment, Adagio wondered if he could truly fly. But it was not to be, as both shattered a second or so later.

“So that’s how it’ll be eh?” Ankh said and if Adagio didn’t know better she could have sworn he was… crying? “I see… I see…”

He trudged off into the night, and into parts unknown...

Author's Notes:

Adagio's Medals: Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo, Gorilla, Sai, Zou, Unagi, Tako, Kugawata, Taka, Kamakiri.

So yeah, TaJaDor was in play only for a brief moment, before it was lost. Oh well, if Sonata has her way she'll get it back from Bitch Bird. And yes, the parallels to an abusive relationship are quite intentional.

https://au.reachout.com/articles/signs-of-an-abusive-relationship

https://twentytwowords.com/signs-youre-in-an-abusive-relationship/

Okay, now that I've got that out of the way as a moral obligation, I should feel free to answer why Takeru didn't just use the Heisei Rider Eyecon. Well, think about it, OOO would have never have been collected here because of how botched up the timeline is -Blame Zi-O- so he couldn't have access to it.

25: Fanfic Generations: Crossing Worlds Finale

Author's Notes:

And so, the finale! Please, hugs all around to both Layton and Ruin for allowing me to embark on this little adventure.

Kougami Foundation: Denver Branch

“Okay, so what do we know?” Eiji asked, a PowerPoint presentation behind him. Adagio had to stifle a chuckle. Yeah, that was so businessman like. “Foundation X is in the city. Starlight herself came, presumably to… investigate the new Riders.”

Here he gestured to Adagio who waved weakly and muttered to herself: “...I’m so flattered. Might invite her over for coffee.”

“Next, she battled Takeru and stole his Nobunaga Eyecon,” Eiji continued the information appearing behind him and marked with bullet points. Takeru’s section had a chibi version of Ghost next to it.

“Technically it’s Nii-san’s Eyecon…” Takeru said to himself quietly. Eiji looked flustered with himself and then changed the chibi Ghost to a chibi Spector.

“Afterwards, somehow and in some way currently unknown to us the Riders Charge, Alchemy and Scarab appeared in this city. Soon after, Starlight gained the powers of some future form of Ex-Aid via a watch-like device,” Eiji said. “It is entirely possible to theorize that all of these events listed thus far are connected.”

“Hey, let’s not forget Wraith appearing,” Erika remarked sending an apologetic glance to Adagio. “Though from what we’ve seen so far, Wraith is less connected to this overall plan and more bodyguard. Enforcer really. Side experiment.”

“A side experiment I’d like to punch Starlight in the face for…” Adagio said irritably. Takeru by this point was rubbing her back in a calming manner.

“Trust me, you may very well get your chance soon enough,” Eiji said. “We currently have a satellite um… borrowed from Hiden Technologies tracking any unusual energy surges. There were a few when Charge, Scarab and Alchemy appeared and I suspect whatever move X makes next will produce more of these surges. I feel Foundation X’s current plot is reaching its climax.”

“Wait, didn’t Charge, Scarab, and Alchemy all appear at different moments in time?” Erika pointed out. “Scarab appeared first in the early afternoon while Charge and Alchemy only appeared later that same evening.”

“Yes, now that you mention it…” Eiji murmured to himself in thought. “It’s odd isn’t it, like really odd. You’d think they’d appear all at the same time! But instead… There has to be something we’re missing!”

Ocean looked at the projection behind Eiji for a moment before saying something: “Hmm… There seems to be something connecting a few of these things… Both Scarab, Phoenix and me, as well as that strange watch, don’t seem to belong in this world… Could it be that our appearance is connected to them opening-up pathways to other worlds to get their hands on this Muteki Power?”

“The question is how?” Erika remarked before shooting a look at Eiji. The kind of look that said: ‘you so owe me overtime pay for this’. “What did they do, suddenly get their hands on a time machine? What, did they mug Tsukasa? Because if so, I don’t want him to come here and go all Destroyer of Worlds on us! I won’t see my next paycheck!”

Ocean let out a pained sigh before returning: “Let’s hope Tsukasa is not involved. My run-in with Diend was enough of these kinds of Riders for a while… And a time machine wouldn’t explain how we ended up here.”

“The only thing remotely like this back home is when we ran into Guardian and some others,” Sea commented as she thought back for a moment. “But, yeah this is different.”

“Was Tsukasa involved in that too?” Erika had to ask, not reeeealllllly sure if she wanted to know the answer or not.

“Is he kinda maroon and carries around a pink and black camera?” Sea asked, trying to remember the strange pony that they had met towards the end of that adventure.

“Yes!” Both Phoenix and Ocean muttered in unison.

“Well, he’s kinda a moron if you’re asking that, but yeah, that camera sounds exactly like him,” Erika said. “...Good god, how many of us have met this guy?”

There was a light cough and everyone turned to see Adagio, hand raised nervously. Takeru murmured to her: “You’re not in a classroom, you can put it down you know…”

Adagio blushed as Eiji indulged her flight of fancy with a: “Yes?”

“...Um, am I missing something?” Adagio asked. Naivegio, really. You really had to envy her.

“Trust me, you don’t. Tsukasa is a good guy, but dear goodness, he can drive you nuts…” Ocean returned with an exhausted expression.

“...do I want to know what this Destroyer of Worlds thing is about?” Adagio asked somewhat nervously. Okay, maybe a bit more than somewhat. Her voice was coming out as a terrified squeak really.

“Well, I didn’t exactly get to know him, but he showed up in my world during this… well, it’s kind of a long story,” Sea said. “This Rider named Guardian showed up along with some others and we were under attack by creatures called Another Riders. I worked with Princess Dusk in a sort of temporary truce to deal with them. Tsukasa I guess, he appeared a couple of times and sent them back to their home universes. Like I said this seems to not be connected to that though, not even sure why he was in my world.”

“Guy can travel through dimensions, seemingly helping out where he can. You just seemed to be on his way,” Phoenix shrugged. “Don’t think about it too much. Tsukasa does what Tsukasa wants.”

“Basically, every Rider meets him at some point or the other,” Erika said to Adagio. “Don’t think too much about it. It’s basically like that one episode of Jungle Strike, Eternal Crimson? Except we all want to kill him.”

“...I feel so honored,” Adagio sighed sinking into her seat. “Yeah, so honored!”

“If he was involved in what happened with the Another Riders, I’d rather not cross paths with him again,” Sea commented with a shake of her head. “Those things were freaky.”

Erika patted her on the back. “Usually, once you’ve met him once, you don’t generally meet him again.”

“...Don’t bet on it,” Takeru grumbled. “Onari’s put up sealing paper to keep him out and I think Akari nee-san now owns a baseball bat with his name on it.”

“Anyway, as much fun it is to bitch about Tsukasa, where were we again?” Ocean returned.

“Things not of this world, and however Foundation X got ahold of them?” Takeru remarked. “Because I have a theory. Ocean, Phoenix, you’re from an alternate timeline right? One where you were the first Riders?”

“Timeline, world, dimension, however, you want to call it, but yeah. Even if my world is totally different from this one,” he encountered.

“Then how do we know Sea isn’t from an alternate timeline herself? One where ponies evolved to become the dominant species instead of humans?” Takeru asked.

“We keep on coming back to time, and the more and more I think about it the more and more it’s beginning to make sense…” Eiji murmured to himself.

“This is starting to give me a headache…” Sea muttered as she rubbed her head a little. “So what does this mean in plain and simple ponish?”

“I think it means she messed around with timeline-dimension-bullshit and pulled us all here. Same with that watch, right?” Phoenix said, a somewhat confused look on his face.

“Basically, yeah,” Eiji said. “I have a working theory, does the phrase Gaia Memory ring a bell to any of you?”

“Oh no…” Erika muttered to herself. “Don’t tell me… Eiji, I am so going to need a raise after all this is over.”

“Noted…” Eiji squeaked out nervously tugging at his tie.

“Uh, what’s a Gaia Memory?” Sea asked.

“I second that,” Phoenix joined in.

“A few years ago, back in this city called Fuuto, this group called the Museum was distributing them. Imagine super-drugs, and every time you injected one? Boom, instant superpowers at the cost of turning into a monster,” Takeru explained. “The Cross of Fire striking again really, as it took a Gaia Memory to stop a Gaia Memory. I’ve been talking with Philip Hidari -Akari’s suggestion, said I needed a penpal- and apparently one Gaia Memory’s gone missing.”

“Let me guess, it has something to do with time?” Eiji said beginning to feel a headache coming on.

“Correct-a-mundo!” Takeru shouted before everyone looked at him strangely. “...which is a phrase I shall never say again. Basically, yeah, I think I know what’s going on around here.”

“Foundation X built themselves a time machine,” Eiji sighed wondering if that glass of sake he kept under his desk was appropriate right now. “And they’re using the Time Memory to grab and snatch whatever they want to further their plans. Well, I guess that explains why Taiga-san mentioned to me there was a Dark Kiva lurking around Seito University…”

“Okay, I only understood part of that, but I guess it makes sense,” Sea said.

“Monsters, superpowers, the usual I see,” Phoenix adds.

“Yeah, it’s like Michelle Rodriguez’s characters always getting the axe,” Erika commented. “Some things are just universal.”

“Yeah… I’m getting that impression,” Sea said. “Honestly sometimes I’m amazed it took my universe this long to get Kamen Riders again considering some of the stuff I’ve read about.”

“Timeline!” Takeru corrected before everyone looked at him again. He let out a mumble of: “Y-Yeah, it’s just I thought we settled on timelines, not alternate universes. Alternative timelines. J-Just clearing that up.”

“Does it really matter?” Phoenix asked, leaning on one of his hands. Adagio patted her boyfriend on the back in a sympathetic manner.

“W-Well, I mean it probably does given we don’t want to get confused here, Phoenix-San…” Takeru remarked.

“All that matters that we aren’t from around here, right?” Phoenix shrugged.

“We have to find and stop Foundation X,” Eiji said. “They cannot be allowed to possess this memory or this machine. This ends tonight!”

“Problem is, we don’t know where X is. Okay, yeah sure, they’re obviously somewhere in the city, that much we know,” Erika went on. “But assuming we can even comb the city inch by inch, it could take weeks. We don’t have weeks!”

Wordlessly, Eiji handed her a brown paper bag to blow into. Then there was a knock at the door, and Eiji said: “Enter.”

Soarin’ stepped in, and held up a tablet. “Right, I don’t know if you’re in the middle of something but I was told to give you this. I don’t understand most of this, I’m not a rocket scientist but there’s something about energy conversions and to be honest, I figured you’d better see this.”

Eiji, looking quite excited grabbed the tablet out of his hands. “Well, this makes a 0 for 1, for us against Foundation X. We’ve found their base, or at least the one they’re currently using. Thank you Korenosuke Hiden!”

“Isn’t it a 1 for a 0?” Adagio asked as she leaned over to Takeru.

“You want to correct him?” Takeru asked watching Eiji-San dance around the boardroom like an idiot.

Eiji then leaped up on the table and struck a pose, similar to Phoenix Wright’s ‘objection!’ pose. He then struck it again, before coughing. Erika sighed to herself before suddenly, spotlights shone on Eiji. “TEAM, MOVE OUT!”

Takeru facepalmed.

“Oh, and uh,” Eiji said. “Nobody take anyone’s cars. We’re Kamen Riders, not Kamen Drivers.”

Another facepalm as Erika sighed. “...More like you don’t want Phoenix to damage your new Centenario with his… Phoenix-ness.”

Phoenix meanwhile had leaned over to Ocean and whispered: “And you complain about my jok- Hey!”

Adagio, trying very hard to keep the mirth off of her face leaned over and patted him on the back in sympathy.

“Is Phoenix-ness even a word?” Takeru asked in a ‘you gotta be kidding me’ tone of voice. Sometimes he wondered about Eiji, he really did.

“It is now, apparently…” Adagio remarked. “Though given my track record, I dunno. Kamen Driver sorta fits me.”

Somewhere in Japan, a man named Shinnosuke Tomari sneezed.

---

A loud whine cut through the darkened streets, another to follow. Under the streetlights, a glistening silver soon became visible, a streak of red soon to follow. In the lead was the silver-lined form of Sea’s rider machine, the word ZECT standing tall and proud.

“I notice we’ve picked up some eyes,” Adagio commented, her face hidden by the deep black visor of her helmet. Her golden hair flew freely in the wind. Oh, she was so going to get helmet hair after this, she knew it. “And that they’ve been steadily growing.”

A low rumble came from beside her as Phoenix on a borrowed RideVendor pulled up. He grumbled something under his breath, mutters of how you had to pay to ride these things and capitalism.

The continuous growl of the engines was suddenly interrupted by the squealing of tires, right next to Adagio. As she turned her head to see what was going on she just noticed that Phoenix wasn’t where he was supposed to be anymore. With a confused look even further back she could only make out the shape of the RideVendor racing off in the opposite direction.

Her eyes widened as she saw two Masquerade Dopants on bikes heading right for her. Drawing the medajalibur, she swung wide as one of the Masquerades ducked his head. She let the sword loose, flinging it like a boomerang. Next, she used her sword hand to grab one handlebar, and in another quick movement knocked the second Masquerade off his bike. The medajalibur returned and dealt with the first Masquerade, flying back into her grip.

More came, and Adagio gunned the engine leading them down off a pathway into a park. Trees flew by in a blur, scarlet and coal-black forms cutting through the park and down the path. Adagio smiled under her helmet, as she popped a wheelie and then spun the bike on its front wheel. Loading three cells into the blade, she struck.

Reality warped for just a brief moment and then re-strung itself as the Masquerades went down in a heap. The rear wheel touched pavement and Adagio was off again. As soon as she was back on the streets, she became aware of a massive black SUV heading right for her. Twin machine guns popped out of the headlamps. Adagio weaved right and left as she uttered: “What is this, James Bond?” under her breath.

Pushing herself off the pavement with her boots, Adagio made the bike take a flying leap over the van. With a screech and sparks flying, it landed safely behind the colossus. More tires squealing as the van made a sharp turn, and Adagio became aware of it on the street opposite hers. Bullets flew over her head, and Adagio let out a yelp. The van’s passenger had pulled out a machine gun, of all things! Then, an energy ball flew right past her, and the van exploded in a massive fireball. High-fiving Sea as she drove past, Adagio gunned it, wondering how Phoenix was doing. Hopefully a lot better than her.

A bit before, when Adagio had heard the squealing of Phoenix’s tires his bike had spun around before racing off in the other direction, right towards a group of bikes that had followed them for a while now. With unnerving speed, he had raced towards the pursuers. Neither of them seemed to back down as they headed straight for a collision, instead, Phoenix even increased his speed instead.

Just within the last few seconds, his opponent seemed to finally catch cold feet, rearing his bike to the side just enough for Phoenix to pass him by. Fate was not too fortunate with the Masquerade however as he lost control of his bike and crashed it into a nearby lamppost. Phoenix meanwhile had pulled out his Driver and slapped one of his Disks on it as he hit the breaks once again.

\ MAGIC DISC DETECTED! /

“Henshin!”

\ EARTH DISC ACTIVATED! /

The bike came to a stop, both wheels now pointing at the sidewalk, all while the orange armor with green eyes formed around him. Ripping the Disc from his Driver once again with one hand he let the engines roar with the other as he speed back towards the remaining opponents.

\ Earth Disc Attack Mode! /

\ Boulder Shield! /

He was already halfway towards the turning around bikes when the shield in his hand formed. Without as much as a second thought, he threw the round piece of metal, right at the Masquerade in front of him. With a loud clang, it bounced off him, knocking the monster clean off its bike before rebounding towards the next one, slamming into its front wheel. Phoenix only chuckled as the shield returned to him, the remains of two bikes passing him by.

He was about to let his engine roar once again to catch up with the rest when two red energy bolts zoomed past him, hitting something behind him. Moments later Ocean zoomed past him, in red armor, covered in jet engines all over her body. “Watch out!” Was all he heard before she continued forward, right towards two more bikes that had just dashed out of a side alley and one that was already a wreck on the street.

In a single fluid motion, she pushed her legs on top of the seat of the RideVendor before a few of the engines on her back started to go off. She was rocketed off her bike and straight towards the poor minion in front of her. He was just about to pull sideways as her foot slammed into him, knocking him right off the bike as Charge pushed herself off the Masquerade again.

A few moments later, the Rider still in the air pulled up her revolver and aimed it right at the last pursuer that was still on his bike. One single pull of the trigger later and the last remaining bike exploded in a fiery explosion, all while Charge landed safely back on her bike, pulling it back around and racing after Phoenix and the others.

Adagio had found herself pursued by twin SUVs, similar to the one before approaching from either side. Looking right, and then to her left she eyed both. Machine guns were already appearing from the headlights. “David vs Goliath and his twin brother apparently…”

Planting her foot hard on the brakes, she ducked behind them just in time before with a squeal the bike came to a stop. The headlamps pointed at the sidewalk, while Adagio drew her Wolffish spear. “Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo: Sa-Ra-Mi-Uo! Sa! Ra! Mi-Uo!”

Her armor covering her, she sped after the two massive SUVs pulling up alongside one. Leveling her spear under the car as the passenger windows rolled down to reveal another gunner, she struck. A geyser of water and the SUV flipped end over end before finally being totaled with an explosion. The second of the two pursued her down a side street, walls closing in fast. Then, a distinctive sound of ripping metal and all the doors of the massive vehicle were torn clean off in a shower of sparks. Tires squealed as the massive vehicle went into a drift as it rounded a corner.

The problem now was both Adagio and pursuers were in the middle of oncoming traffic on a freeway leading out of Denver. Dodging and weaving between traffic, Phoenix somewhere below her, Adagio thought fast. Planting her boots to the ground once more, she jumped over the divider and onto the street below. “Well, that’ll probably be taking several more years off my life won’t it?” she remarked at Phoenix.

“Several years off your sister’s as well,” Phoenix remarked before he gestured to the right of them. “Looks like he’s a persistent one isn’t he?”

Sure enough, the SUV was still in pursuit having found an offramp. Adagio groaned. “Oh, you have to be kidding me… I need a halfpipe, Captain Planet! Can you do that?”

“A what now?!” He shouted back before shaking his head, touching each side of his shield quickly. “Well, I can try. No promises though.”

“Just trust me!” Adagio shouted. “I’ve got a plan!”

With that, he threw the shield a good distance in front of them, bouncing it off the sidewalk before it slammed into the other side of the street and back to him. “Here goes nothing,” he screamed before snapping his fingers, two bright orange circles appearing where he had hit. Within moments the ground began to move and grow as a rather rocky halfpipe shaped rock formation emerged from it.

Adagio smiled and then drove up it, and drifted along the rockface, sparks flying and tires squealing in protest. And then she swung the wolffish spear, a massive shuriken of water taking down the SUV. “Well, looks like those plans are all… washed up?” she joked as she rejoined Phoenix. “What do you think, needs work?”

“Eh, give it a 7.8 out of ten. Too much water,” he chuckled.

“Suit yourself Human Torch,” Adagio drawled. “You still owe me for ruining my office by the way.”

“You’re both terrible at jokes if that’s what you’re trying to do,” Sea groaned as she caught up with the two of them. “I’ve met Militia Ponies that can tell better jokes, and I’m pretty sure they remove the sense of humor in training.”

Adagio did the mature thing and flipped Sea off.

“Make a better one and I might be quiet for five minutes,” Phoenix simply returned. “Emphasis on might.”

“I’m a musician, not a comedian,” Sea said with a roll of her eyes. Adagio briefly glanced upwards, seeing what looked to be a giant lizard leaping from rooftop to rooftop. She blinked, had to be her imagination. “Plus I don’t think you’d get any jokes I might make given the timelines thing.”

“Too bad for you.”

All four then crashed through a security gate, Foundation X employees on humvees driving up to meet them. Chainguns were mounted atop the humvees.

“...Great, so it seems we get the fun-vees,” Adagio drawled. “Can’t they just be regular gas-guzzling humdrumvees instead?”

“Oh, don’t you know? It’s never easy,” Phoenix sighed.

“I’m starting to be glad we don’t have these things in Equestria,” Sea groaned as she placed her hand on her pocket. “Khepri, are you ready for this?”

“Oh please, Foundation X is everywhere,” Adagio said only now just beginning to figure this out. “Pretty sure your world has some variation of them somewhere.”

“Tch, I’m always ready,” Khepri retorted as he flew out and slid into place on her Driver.

“Henshin!” Sea said as the shifter glowed brightly.

“WHAT IS BORN IN THE DARK MUST COME TO THE LIGHT!” The Change Driver said as the purple and pink armor formed over her. She gunned the engines on her bike and nodded to the others.

With squealing of tires, all four bikes managed to charge forwards, dodging and weaving between gunfire. With a roar, all four leaped over the gunners and slid to a stop behind them. Adagio got off her bike, and spun her weapon around like a staff as dustards leaped out of nowhere and surrounded the group. “Ninjas, as if they weren’t overcompensating enough!” she remarked.

“Look, I’m sorry if we so rudely interrupted, but we’ve got places to be. Let me see if I can book you in for a later appointment,” Adagio commented as she mimed checking a schedule. “Yep, that’s hum… Interesting. Yeah, here it is. Uh…the 7th of Never through to the 15th of Ain't Gonna Happen. How's that work for you guys?”

“Um yeah, I wouldn’t antagonize the henchmen..” Sea piped in.

“Why, they’re just henchmen, and ninja henchmen at that! They have only two jobs, to hench and to get their behinds handed to them,” Adagio commented. “Haven’t you ever heard of the law of Conservation of Ninjutsu?”

“Yeah, I agree with our OOO’s here. Even if I have no idea what she means with that. And anyway, the more there are, the less likely they’ll get any hits in,” Phoenix muttered, while he and Ocean pulled out one of their other transformation trinkets and replaced their current ones.

\ FLAME DISC ACTIVATED! /

\ 50, 80, 100! THUNDER CHARGE! /

Then the sound of wings flapping was heard from behind the group.

“...On the other hand,” Phoenix muttered. “That may be something to worry about.”

Sure enough, when they turned Wraith was waltzing up to them. He leveled his sword at them, as the gunners locked on target. Then, a crash as a massive… iguana sent one of the humvees flying. “Every Bullet Hits its Mark! Gunpowder Flash and Spark!” the Ghost Driver boasted as Takeru walked up in western-themed attire.

“Howdy partner?” Phoenix asked a bit startled, staring at the giant robotic iguana. Takeru looked unamused as he shot down a Dustard creeping up behind Phoenix.

“You go on ahead, deal with Starlight,” Takeru said miming blowing gunsmoke from his weapon. Embers fell all around them from the nearby fire. “I’ll handle Wraith.”

Before anyone else could say anything Ocean stepped next to Takeru. “If you don’t mind, I’m joining you as well. My power set is not well suited to fight against someone like her…”

“Whose is?” Adagio drawled.

“…so I’ll be of more use here. And I have to pay him back for last time as well.”

“What makes you think you can get Elias back?” Wraith said and for the first time Takeru realized it was the Eyecon speaking, not Elias. Wraith pointed to Adagio. “She tried, and you saw how well that worked for her.”

“Yes, well I’m certain Ankh didn’t really help matters so…” Takeru said. “I am Takeru Tenkuji. On my 18th birthday, I was killed by rampaging Gamma. In order to come back to life, I became Kamen Rider Ghost, stood up, and fought. And I won. My life is burning bright, and I swear to save Elias from you and give Nii-San back his eyecon. So two choices, you can either stand down, or I’ll take you down by force.”

“So be it…”

---

As the battle below kicked off in earnest, Sea and Adagio ran through the building. For the most part, it seemed to be an abandoned work site. Adagio knew better, as the construction site angle was clearly a front. Through panes of glass, she could see Takeru and Ocean engaging in battle with Wraith. Adagio took a few deep short breaths, knowing Takeru could handle himself. Oh yes, sure, Wraith had beaten just about anyone who challenged him, but Takeru… Yeah, he knew what he was doing. “Oh, so we’re making assumptions now are we? How much you want to wager?” Adagio asked herself. “60%? 70% chance Takeru will win? What about that other 30%?”

“Do you think they’re going to be okay?” Sea asked as she glanced out the window where Adagio was looking.

“Well, I-I’d say Takeru has this well in hand,” Adagio murmured to herself. Though the stammer in her voice betrayed her. As well as what she said next. “85%? Is that too high? Is… is this really the number we’re going with?”

The earlier adrenaline had left her. Now the fear had set in. They were actually inside a Foundation X base, where only god knew what sort of creatures awaited them. Phoenix had branched off and taken another route. Yeah, Adagio felt he was in no danger. Not if this Philosopher's Stone mode or whatever he called it was available.

“I hope you’re right,” Sea said as she took a deep breath. She glanced around for a moment, looking down at her tonfas for a moment. “What about you, Adagio? Are you doing okay? You sound more stressed than I do.”

“You haven’t seen Wraith in action,” Adagio said. “I have. Even with TaJaDor I couldn’t defeat him.”

“Oh, I see,” Sea said with a frown. “I never thought I’d actually kind of prefer being back home in Ponyville. Dealing with Changelings seems almost easy compared to what’s going on around here…”

“Oh, you think this is easy?” Adagio asked. “At least you know how to put down the changelings, like permanently put them down. The Greeed, well… I’ve still yet to find a way to stop even one of them. You can hold off them off and take their Cores, but that still leaves the problem of destroying a Core. That’s the only way to kill a Greeed, and Eiji says short of an atomic bomb there’s really nothing you can do to destroy one. We’ve tried slashing them, burning them, blowing them up with a freakin’ bazooka! Hell, we borrowed a jet and shot one with a cruise missile! Don’t ask me how the military let us do that but there you go.”

“I don’t like killing…” Sea admitted. “After I killed the first Changeling that went after me, I felt sick. I’ve been doing what I can to avoid killing ever since…”

“Tch, not exactly the smartest move if you ask me,” Khepri commented. “But whatever, it does the job. And given how the Changelings work, it’s probably kept more ponies from being taken.”

“Yeah…” Sea agreed.

“Sea…” Adagio started and made a motion to comfort her before another voice joined them.

“You two are so sweet, you know that right?” Mogami remarked as he stepped into the room, slowly clapping. “Like, really you are.”

“Well, great, we’ve got company,” Sea commented as she gripped her tonfas in her hands. “What do you want?”

“Mogami…” Adagio growled filled with a gutteral primal rage. “You did that to Elias didn’t you?”

“Oh, got it in one!” Mogami said twirling in place. “Oh, it seems I’ve been found out, whatever shall I do? But yeah, out of all the experiments I’ve done over the years, I have to say, Wraith is my masterpiece! I mean, tossing the soul of Lem Kannagi himself into one of these Eyecons and overriding the base personality of Nobunaga himself? Oh genius!”

“You’re sick…” Sea whispered.

“Bet you’re real proud of yourself aren’t you,” Adagio asked just barely keeping her anger from bubbling to the surface. God knows one enemy was bad enough, a berserking OOOs was the last thing they needed. “Now how about you sit there real pretty so I can Rider Kick you into the stratosphere!”

“And I’m going to help her,” Sea added as she stared Mogami down. “Soul magic, black magic! I may not know everything about this universe or timeline or whatever, but I do know that kind of thing is dangerous.”

“Danger is in the eye of the beholder, science decides everything in this world. The law of the victory has been set, and I’m afraid your time as part of this experiment? It’s come to an end. Kaiser!” Mogami shouted before his armor formed around him. Before Sea got a chance to react, she was pinned to the ground. Something snarling, snapping and feral. Adagio, as she whirled around to avoid a shot from Mogami’s rifle, noticed a gashat sticking out of the monster’s head. So this was the same thing she’d encountered before, lovely. As if Mogami wasn’t enough!

Sparks flew as Adagio blocked Mogami’s blade with her spear. Mogami lunged but Adagio caught him by the wrist and shoved him into a wall. She staggered back as laser shots riddled her armor. Adagio felt a massive force hit her like a freight train, and saw the projection of an energy gear fade out. She’d been tossed through a wall, rubble laying all around her.

“Same, Kamakiri, Tako!” Adagio’s belt sang out before her legs turned into tendrils pulling Mogami closer. This was so her arm blades -formed from the kamakiri medal’s power- could slash at Mogami in a scissor maneuver. As Mogami staggered back, she switched again. “Sai, Unagi, Ookamiuo!”

Sending Mogami upwards with a wave of water, Adagio used her unagi whips to bring him closer. Once he was within striking range, she gored his armor with her helmet’s horn. Roundhouse kicking him across the room, Adagio smiled in satisfaction as she watched him get kicked through a wall this time. Laser shots were soon fired in response and once more the combo of medals changed. “Kugawata, Gorilla, Zou!”

Using the water to her advantage, Adagio fried Mogami with the kugawata medal’s electricity. Next, she fired the gorilla fists but at the last second? Mogami dodged. He actually recovered his wits and dodged at the last second. “Funky Attack! Engine Running Gear!”

Adagio let out a scream as she was kicked upwards, smashing through several floors. The sound of medals hitting the floor was heard even a few rooms over. Meanwhile, Sea was struggling against the grip of the monster holding her. She kicked hard at the leg of the creature, trying to escape its grip.

“Khepri, any ideas?” Sea said out loud as she tried to release her wings to push the grip out, only to find them pinned too.

“Not particularly, tch, you get caught so often I’d wonder if you were doing it on purpose,” Khepri commented. “Maybe if you were fast enough you could get out of its grip somehow. Unfortunately, you’re not fast enough to do that.”

Sea let out a scream as the Collabos Bugster actually bit her, before pulling hard as if to try and yank her arm out of it’s socket. Kicking her in the stomach several times, Sea let out a cough and nearly vomited. With a growl, the Collabos Bugster tossed her to the ground. One arm was raised, powerful claws at the ready. Sea eyed the three little grayish silver medals next to her.

“Khepri… one medal enhanced you before… do you think three would do something more?” She asked with a groan as she reached down and placed her hand on the three medals.

“It’s worth a try,” Khepri replied as she tossed them up into the air and he flew off her Driver and drew them in before sliding into her belt again. “Dai Henshin!”

“INTO THE LIGHT WE FIND, AND RULERSHIP IS THINE!” Her Driver said as magical energy flowed out of it and over her armor.

The first thing the Collabos Bugster noticed was the flash of light, and then he found himself knocked into a wall. Then he saw it. Scarab’s armor had… evolved. Small wings jutted out from the arms and legs, glowing with a cerulean light. Energy crackled all over the armor, glowing lines covering it, including glowing rib armor. Twin arm blades had erupted from the forearms, the tonfas having evolved to grow these same blades as well.

“Tch, I have to say it’s an improvement,” Khepri commented. “I must say I’m impressed, the Princess form is something that was still in development.”

“Well, let’s give this thing a test drive,” Sea said as she turned back to look at the Collabos Bugster and dug her feet into the ground. The bugster let out an animalistic howl as it charged towards her. “Let’s see what this can do!”

She took off, moving in a blur as the Bugster swung at empty air. She swung one of the bladed tonfas around and slashed hard against the Bugster’s back. It let out an animalistic roar of pain as it sung back around, trying to hit her again only to have her raise her hand and catch its arm in mid-air.

“Okay, this is definitely an improvement…” she said as she kicked hard at the bugster’s chest. The bugster tried to punch her, but to her amazement Sea managed to vibrate at a speed fast enough for the blow to pass right through her. In a flash, the bugster was on the floor from one punch.

“A shame we can’t keep it,” Khepri commented the bugster rolling to a heap at their feet. The Night of Safari gashat flew out and then shattered. “Um… game clear I guess?”

Back with Adagio, Mogami held her by the throat. Cackling madly, he lunged with his blade. “And now… it ends!”

Adagio then kicked him, right in the place where no man ever wanted to be kicked. “You bitch!”

“No, sorry that’s my doppelganger,” Adagio said as she summoned the medajalibur. Sadly, tired and beaten up as she was, she barely was able to muster the strength to even swing it. Mogami easily side-stepped the slash, and then the next and then the next.

“Okay, you’re a bitch but foolish. You don’t even have your armor anymore! I don’t know why I waste my time with you…” Mogami sighed before shrugging. He went for his weapon. “Oh yeah, because Lady Starlight commands it!”

He lunged again, but this time the strike was caught. Sea had appeared in a flash of light, and if Mogami didn’t know better he could have sworn she winked at him. She drew back her fist and he was on the floor.

“You were saying?” Adagio asked before she appraised Sea. “Love the new armor by the way. Very… very evil overlordish. Not sure that’s what you’re going for, but there you go.”

Her transformation overtook her and she felt her strength return.

“Yeah? Well, blame the mares who designed this suit.” Sea returned.

“Funny, I believe it’s my medals who got you that power unless I miss my guess?” Adagio drawled.

“Can’t we just deal with Mogami?” Sea practically whined as the mad scientist readied himself.

“Yeah, fair,” Adagio remarked. “Though we will have words about your fashion choices later!”

“I didn’t… never mind,” Sea groaned as she tightened her grip on her bladed tonfas. “Let’s do this then.”

---

“Seems like a real Mexican Standoff, doesn’t it?” Wraith remarked as he looked towards Takeru. “See, he even has the guns!”

That wasn’t to last, as Wraith looked above him as he heard the Ghost Driver proclaim: “Intimidating Sworn Brother! Tougher Than Any Other!” and leaped backwards only just in time to avoid a massive hammer blow. Takeru threw a punch, and Wraith only just barely caught it, before twisting his body to leap right over Takeru. A leg sweep, and Ghost was knocked to the pavement.

Just as Wraith was about to make his next move several energy bolts rushed past him. Looking to his side he could see Charge aiming her revolver at him before dashing away in a blue blur again.

Wraith spread his wings, and flew upwards before changing into his La Catrina-themed form, scythe at the ready. Takeru was already intercepting the strikes in Musashi, twin blades blocking every blow as sounds of clashing metal rang out across the battlefield. He whirled around behind Wraith, in dance-like fashion and Takeru kicked the Rider towards Charge.

Only moments before he would have hit her she once again dashed out of the way, only to race back almost instantly, just from the side. With her momentum enhanced kick she knocked him down into the concrete, leaving a few cracks on the impact point. As he was about to push himself back up she planted her foot on his chest, pointing the revolver directly at him.

Wraith snapped his fingers, and the rose petals that had been floating around the battlefield exploded. Both Charge and Takeru were sent flying, and Wraith rocketed above the smoke, before blasting it away with a powerful flap of his wings.

“Far above, far above, we don't know where we'll fall.
Far above, far above, what once was great is rendered small,” Wraith uttered to himself, ramblings of a madman. “Dealing with battle is alright, yes, It's what goes on in here that's hard…”

“Damn, this guy is so annoying,” Charge grunted through her teeth, slowly pushing herself back up again. “I’m personally not a fan of excessive force and Light Bulb is definitely gonna kill me for this, but how about we pull out the big guns… metaphorically.”

“You seriously know someone named Light Bulb?” Takeru murmured.

“And people would say that Takeru is a strange name where I’m from,” Charge snarked. “So focus!”

Takeru nodded before he let out a yelp as Wraith rocketed towards him, scythe drawn. Drawing a symbol in midair, he shoved Wraith back with a palm strike.

“That still won’t take care of our main problem though, that Eyecon’s got full control of Eilas’ body. Now, I believe Himiko can take care of whatever brainwashing he was put under, but I need to get in close. Real close, and something tells me that…” here he dodged another scythe strike from Wraith before blocking another blow with his blades. “...that is easier said than done.”

“Oh, you need to get close? Say, are fifteen seconds enough for you to do whatever you need to do?” Charge returned, pulling out a silver device with a cylinder on its side.

“Seems like a fair assessment,” Takeru said backflipping to avoid another scythe strike and implanting his swords in the ground to stop himself. “I’ll get you an opening.”

“Officer of the strange! Righteous tire change!” the Ghost Driver proclaimed as Takeru went into Drive’s Damashī. Spinning the ‘steering wheel’ on his sword, he was seemingly able to ‘drift’ around Wraith’s slashes before he changed forms once again to deliver a fire-infused roundhouse kick. “Magic rings are in! The last hope within!”

“Good,” she simply returned before pulling out her Charger and slipping the device into its place before giving it a good spin. Wraith meanwhile was sent flying back from the kick Takeru had dealt him.

\ 100, 150, 200! OVER CHARGE! /

It didn’t take long for her blue armor to be replaced with dazzling white, the same engines of Fire Charge all over her body, as well as a red crystal on her chest. Her two red bug-eyes focused on Wraith, clenching the large futuristic rifle in her hands tightly, lifting it and to everyone's shock slam it down on her knee. With a loud crack, the weapon broke in two, the Rider throwing the two pieces to the side where they exploded, taking with them the remains of the vans.

“What is it with final forms and white…? Isn’t white death here in Japan?” Takeru wondered to himself as he observed the form and what happened via transformation into it. “...such a showoff.”

“Incredibly expensive equipment destroyed… Check,” she sighed before cracking her fists. “But at least you don’t get your grabby hands on it either. Goodness, this could have been one of Phoenix’s plans… He is rubbing off on me.”

“Um… Less monologuing, more heroics.” Takeru pointed out.

“Roger,” she stated matter of factly before suddenly disappearing, only to suddenly show up again right in front of Wraith. The tubes on her body glowed bright blue and the engines were blasting at full force. He had not even reacted to the strike yet that he was already knocked back down to the ground, crashing into the concrete below.

A flash of red and then pink before… “Future Seeing Eye! The Queen From Yamatai!”

Wraith was pushing himself back off the ground as suddenly two white arms grabbed him from behind, Charge pinning the Rider tightly to herself. He couldn’t see it, but the crystal on her chest started to glow. “You have fifteen seconds! Don’t waste it!”

Takeru simply nodded before pulling the handle of his Driver once again. “Dai Kaigan: Himiko Omega Drive!”

The area around them started to fade into a pink dreamscape, the three Riders seemingly floating within it. Wraith escaped Charge’s grip but found himself restrained by chains of flame. Ghost dashed forward, stabbing the controlled Rider into the chest before delivering another slash across his chest, every strike accompanied by a rain of cherry blossoms.

Making several movements with his hands, Takeru nodded. Himiko was a sorceress, and so he would use her power to stop this horrible fusion. A dark spirit was suddenly beginning to draw itself out of Elias, before another hand gesture from Takeru and it went up in a flash of fire. Nobunaga’s image appeared before Takeru and nodded before the spirit returned to his proper place within the Eyecon as the dreamscape faded away. Wraith, no… Elias staggered back and fell into Eiji’s arms.

“What… what… X, they did that to me…” Elias murmured. “I can’t believe. It has been so long and my path has been so dark, darker than I ever dreamed it could be.”

Eiji smiled as he helped Elias to his Centenario, ignoring the smoldering wreckage around them. “And yet you survived, your chains have been broken. X can do many things, it was never your fault. Here, let’s get you out of here.”

“Yet I was lost and became a rabid animal…” Elias whispered. “A beast without purpose. Far above, far above, we don't know where we'll fall. That’s what he said. The Eyecon, X’s Eyecon…”

“Well, if all goes well, X will be out of the city before a new day dawns,” Eiji said before gesturing to his car. “Now come on, let’s get you out of here. As much as I want to stick around and see how this ends, I… frankly think attending to you is more important.”

Elias nodded weakly, even as he cast a glance upwards to a window, where inside Adagio, Phoenix and Sea battled…

---

Adagio slid back, using her sword to stop herself as Starlight laughed. “Don’t you get it yet, you persistent little grub? Invincible means invincible!”

“Anyone ever tell you that you talk way too much for your own good?” Adagio asked, sending a wall of water towards Starlight. Her eyes widened under her helmet before Starlight focused two laser blasts to turn it to steam. “Like, you seriously do.”

“And you’re insolent.” Starlight said in return.

Adagio rolled her eyes at this muttering a: “Bitch, please…” to herself sending a triple scanning charge at Starlight with the medajalibur. To her credit, while it didn’t do damage, it did knock Starlight off-balance long enough for Sea to smash her into a wall.

“Um… what she said basically…” Sea commented.

“New form, new packaging,” Starlight said having absorbed the energy. Then she unleashed it in a wave of pure power flooring the group. “Same product. Losers!”

“Great…” Sea muttered as she struggled to get to her feet again. “Any ideas on how to deal with this?”

“I, for one, rather like being a loser, if that’s what being a winner is like!” Phoenix remarked as he threw a powerful punch. Starlight caught the first one, but was then punched in the gut. Flames licked at her armor, but she caught the next punch and twisted Phoenix’s arm. A scream of pain filled the room.

“Mogami, deal with the rabble,” Starlight sighed as the ‘Kaiser’ leaped back into the fray. “That idiot isn’t even worth my time. Eiji’s little pet and the Equestrian however, they’re more interesting. Let’s see how long they last eh?”

“Tch, she’s going to regret that,” Khepri commented. “Let’s show them how we do this back in Equestria.”

The room became a blur of purple and gold, both Riders battling at top speed, scoring hit after hit before finally… In a matter of seconds Starlight slowed down long enough to deliver a roundhouse kick. She was only visible for a few brief seconds, but that was all Adagio needed to deliver a Rider Kick of her own to Starlight. Nearby, Mogami engaged Alchemy, the Rider still groaning from Starlight’s twist of his arm. He, because of this was too slow to block the shot of his opponent.

With a loud grunt he was pushed through the next wall, his armor shattering away just as the last rocks fell to the ground. “Ok, that really hurts,” he hissed, gritting his teeth as he pushed himself back up from the ground. “But you know, that is no reason to give up hope, is it?”

With a shit-eating grin he pulled out a ruby-red Disc with a dragon on it and slammed it into his Driver just as Mogami stepped through the hole in the wall.

\ RIDER DISC DETECTED! /

“Henshin!”

\ WIZARD DISC ACTIVATED! /

A red magic seal appeared under Phoenix, it swirling up him in a fiery whirlwind until it revealed a black armor with silver highlights that reminded of Kamen Rider Wizard. Red gemstones adorned his chest and large silver, dragon-like horns his head. “It’s showtime!”

“Last hope or not, that’s still not enough,” Mogami said as he merged his blade and gun to form a rifle. “I’ve studied Haruto’s fights, I know what he can do. For example!”

He leaped over a flame-infused kick and riddled Phoenix’s armor with laserfire.

“Irony, a Rider named Phoenix using the powers of Wizard!” Mogami remarked. “Funky!”

Phoenix grunted as the bullets hit him, but didn’t slow down his kick. Instead, he continued onward until his leg suddenly grew in length and like a whip clocked Mogami in the back. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I just know that even if you know Haruto’s moves, I know really dumb ways of using them, so that won’t help you at all!”

As the leg returned to him he had already stuck his hand into another magic circle that had suddenly appeared, pulling out a copy of Wizard’s own sword. Mogami chuckled before he detached blade and gun, lacing his blade with electricity. He spun in a feint, before scoring several powerful slashes to Phoenix’s chest. As a coup de grace, he fired his nebulasteam gun point-blank several times making Phoenix stagger back.

“Apologies for those fancy jewels of yours… or not.” Mogami remarked before kicking Phoenix in his family’s jewels.

Phoenix let out a pained scream before sinking to his knees, the blade about to hit the floor beneath him tip first. But instead of the sound of the metal against the floor, nothing could be heard, until a second later as the tip of the blade slammed into Mogami’s own. “Really… That was your witty remark? Or not? Man you are bad at this…” he hissed through his teeth the mocking tone still audible

“I’m really good at funking you up though,” Mogami remarked before he slashed with his blade. The strike was about to meet but…

“Orange? Banana? Now that's bananas!” the Ghost Driver joked as Takeru stood with daidaimaru in hand. He drew back his fist and sent Mogami staggering with one punch. Switching out eyecons, he traded a look with Adagio. “Heisei Rider! Aratana Kousei! Kore wa Heisei!”

His new costume was truly… out there, purple and white with spiked ‘hair’ atop the hood. “Why don’t we switch dance partners. You handle Mogami girls, me and Phoenix will clear Starlight’s game with no continues!”

“Sounds good to me… Just… Let me do one thing…” he grunted as he switched the sword into its gun mode and shot seemingly aimlessly at the floor only for the bullets to disappear into another magic seal. Seconds later a loud crashing sound could be heard as the bullets appeared right under Mogami, slamming upwards, making them even. “I needed that…”

Takeru shook his head before pulling the lever on his belt even as Phoenix waved his hand. Starlight was suddenly trapped in several seals. Before she even had time to think, once again Phoenix changed forms.

\ FRIENDSHIP DISC ACTIVATED! /

“Dai Kaigan: Omega Drive Ex-Aid!”

\ Friendship Disc Maximum Power! /

Starlight’s eyes widened before both Phoenix and Takeru rider kicked her into a world of ones and zeroes. The Game World…

“Huh, that’s new…” Phoenix muttered, finally regaining his breath again.

“Yeah, but now the real battle begins,” Takeru said as he drew his Gashacon Breaker changing it into sword form. “Be ready!”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll try,” he returned, carefully looking over at Starlight. The Rider flickered, seemingly glitching out. She let out a grunt of pain, but for the most part, seemed unfazed. “What was that?”

“Ah, so that’s your plan?” Starlight remarked slowly stepping forward, the world around her warping into a grid, and like out of the movie Cube, began shifting and changing. Walls sprung up, boxing the heroes in. It was all Takeru and Phoenix could do to dodge pillars erupting from the ground or from the sides. “Keep in mind, I’m a game character now as well.”

With a flash of gold light, she was behind Takeru. The monk’s eyes widened under his helmet, before a shield -shaped like Twilight’s cutie mark- sprung up between them. Phoenix shared a nod with Takeru before Ghost changed the Breaker back to hammer form. Leaping forwards, little ‘hit’ flashes becoming visible.

Starlight waved her hands and walls sprung up between her and Takeru. Then, another gold flash and Starlight was leaping out in front of the wall with Key Slasher in axe mode. Takeru leaped backwards, only for a great chasm to rip into the ground. The abyss below was filled with… nothingness. No data, no codelines. Just pure blackness. Takeru ran, more abysses forming before he changed forms. “Officer of the strange! Righteous tire change!”

Spinning the little ‘wheel’ on his sword, Takeru ‘drifted’ and fired several shots from Drive Damashī’s door gun. Starlight blocked or deflected every one of these shots, but the intent wasn’t to hit her. No, it was to distract her, as Takeru back in Ex-Aid Damashī got in several strikes with the Breaker in hammer mode.

Then Takeru was sent flying as a part of the wall erupted outwards and knocked him into Phoenix. ‘Hit’ flashes sparked above their heads. Starlight did a little bow and said: “I control the medium. This is my game world as much as yours. Sending me here was the worst mistake you could ever possibly make!”

“Blah, blah, blah. And people tell me I never shut up,” Phoenix sighed, reading his sword before dashing forward, hovering over the ground and slamming his blade against her Key Slasher. It was just a moment later that she noticed his star-shaped shield wasn’t any longer in his hand; instead, she felt something crash into the back of her head.

“Little trick of mine. Someone told me once it’s quite a good one,” he chuckled before jumping backward, the shield floating back into his hand. Starlight looked unamused before sending him crashing through several walls with an energy beam.

“You’re going to need to get that sword thing away from her,” Takeru said floating above him. “Seems to me, only game world constructs damage her. You need Ex-Aid’s powers to fight Ex-Aid’s powers.”

“Damn it… Why can’t that stupid virus work by normal rules… Wait… Ex-Aid gets his powers from a virus, right?” He muttered, levitating himself back into a standing position.

“Well, nobody said this was going to be easy,” Takeru said. “I talked to Emu, the real Ex-Aid. Didn’t give away specifics, really didn’t want to change the future or anything like that so I didn’t mention the Muteki thing but I did mention Starlight being infected. He agreed, Ex-Aid’s powers or something like them would probably be the only way to drive the virus out.”

“But it’s still a virus… I have a really stupid idea… You wouldn’t mind covering for me a bit while I set something up?” He returned, already grabbing for the Disc on his weapon.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Takeru said before rocketing forwards changing souls once again. Slapping the Toucan Boost Eyecon into his driver and then another Eyecon he asked: “How long do you need?”

“Kaigan: Musashi! Kettō! Zubatto! Chō Kengō!”

“Puh, I think about half a minute? I guess… Shouldn’t be too long,” Phoenix returned, putting the Friendship Disc back on his belt holder and pulled out the white Disc, spinning it. Takeru meanwhile kept Starlight off balance with the master swordsman’s twin blade style, the sunglasseslasher and his usual blade in play. The sound of clashing blades rang out as Musashi’s power kept the Key Slasher at bay. Another soul was used, and Starlight lept backwards to avoid a barrage of arrows from Toucan Robin Hood.

\ HEUREKA! /

Now in his white-gold Philosopher Mode again he wasted no time he pulled the Disc from his Driver again, letting its shape turn into an ornate spear with a round tip. Six gems were arranged around the circle with one in the middle, holding the Disc in place.

\ Philosopher Stone Attack Mode! /

\ Magnum Opus! /

Slamming the spear on the ground he quickly touched multiple of the stones in quick succession.

\ WATER! /

\ WATER! /

\ WIND! /

\ FRIENDSHIP! /

Takeru changed into Ex-Aid Damashī to summon the Breaker in sword form before implanting the blade in the ground. “Kaigan: Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, Ieyasu! Hatasu no wa itsu! Tenkatōitsu!”

Grabbing the Breaker and the sunglasseslasher, Takeru shared a nod with Phoenix who slammed the spear on the ground again, a wave of green energy washing across the entire game world, letting it glitch out, nothing seemed to remain steady. At the same time, Takeru felt all the injuries he had sustained during this fight fade away.

“Arigatō, Phoenix-San.” Takeru said with a little bow before pulling the level on his driver.

“Dai Kaigan: Omega Drive Tenkatōitsu!” The driver proclaimed several eyes appearing behind Takeru and opening. Takeru slashed forwards -twin ‘perfect!’ hit flashes appearing- before rider kicking Starlight. Takeru then looked at Phoenix, giving him a nod. He just smirked under his helmet before placing the Disc back onto the Driver and spinning it.

\ Philosopher Stone Maximum Power! /

Dashing forward he jumped at her, his six wings appearing behind him as he started spinning to hit Starlight right in the chest. The game world shattered and with a shout of “Game Clear!” and triumphant music the three were back in the real world.

“As I said, never underestimate an idiot. You never know what they might come up with,” Phoenix chuckled as he stood back up again. Mogami stumbled into view, Sea and Adagio sharing a fistbump. A black ridewatch clattered to the floor, Takeru crushing it underneath his boot.

“...We’re leaving…” Starlight growled before she pulled something out of her suit. Pressing a button, a fireball consumed the entire room…

---

A new day dawned, and everyone was once again back at the Kougami Foundation. Due to some quick thinking -emphasis on quick- by Sea, everyone had escaped the explosion. Eiji’s people were searching through the rubble now, to find the Time Memory and the machine used to bring everyone here.

“So… this is it huh?” Aria asked as she watched the machine be re-assembled. Off to the side, Vignette on TV reported of a strange explosion in the night along with Kamen Riders racing through the streets.

“Eh, you get used to it. It’s always weird to say goodbye, especially if you don’t know when you’ll see each other again, since, you know, different worlds and such...” Phoenix chuckled, giving her a soft clap on the back.

“Timelines…” Takeru mumbled out of sheer force of habit.

“Timelines, slimelines,” Phoenix muttered in return. Then he was barraged by a blubbering Sonata Dusk.

“BUT I DON’T WANT YOU TO GO!” Sonata sobbed, an almost incoherent mess. “YOU… YOU… RIDER! I HAVEN’T EVEN INTERVIEWED YOU FOR THE KAMEN RIDER CLUB YET! YOU OR SEA!”

Aria muttered something to herself, something along the lines of how she didn’t even know how she was related to Sonata. That, and the usual comment of: “Idiot…”

Adagio chuckled, noting Aria -though she would completely deny it- looked like she was close to crying herself. Not that she would admit to this. “Where is Sea, anyways?” Takeru asked. “The machine should be reassembled within a few minutes…”

Phoenix quickly returned a somewhat desperate: “I’ll go look for her!” He tried to free himself from Sonata’s surprisingly tight grip. Eventually, after a few botched attempts, he actually slipped out from her grasp long enough to bolt for the door.

Ocean just shook her head and chuckled. “You know, I think our world will be just fine.”

“What makes you say that?” Adagio asked remembering their earlier conversation. “You’ve had quite the little change of heart it seems.”

She smiled back at her. “More a confirmation of something I knew deep down already. Seeing all of you and the other Riders around the world through the web. It reminded me of what I saw in Phoenix. Good people. Good people that strive to do good and make the world a better place. And as long as there will be people like all of you, I think someone will always stay in for what is right.”

Sonata’s phone beeped and she let out a shout of joy. “Gen-Kun! He messaged me! He messsssaggggeeeed me~!”

She shoved the phone in Adagio’s face, the text message reading: “HEY! THERE WERE NEW RIDERS AND YOU DIDN'T INVITE ME!? I MISSED OUT! I SO WANTED THEM TO BE MY FRIENDS!”

Adagio facepalmed before chuckling.

“Y-Yeah, I think we’ll be fine. Yeah, completely fine.” she said, Takeru grasping her hand gently.

Aria meanwhile, had found Sea in an abandoned office, taking one last look at the setting sun over the city. Shades of bright orange and yellow cascaded over the sky, Aria smiling. “Peaceful isn’t it?”

“Yeah, very peaceful,” Sea replied with a sigh as she looked out the window. “I guess I just wanted one last look before I went home again.”

“I can’t pretend to understand your world… timeline… whatever,” Aria said. “But I think it’s in good hands. As long as good people… ponies… whatever continue to fight, I think… No, I know the sun will shine on your home again.”

“I’m sure you’re right,” Sea said softly as she took a deep breath as she thought back on something for a moment. “‘When the era comes when Equestria needs it again, Kamen Riders will return.’”

“Yes, well, most worlds have some sort of prophecy, something like ‘When England’s need is at it’s greatest, the rightful King will return’ or something like that. ‘Course,” Aria commented. “It seems when magic is actually involved, well in your case certain soothsayers might be onto something. Or they were high as kites and such. I mean, to be fair, there’s always need for a hero or two. That legend, probably less legend and more wishful thinking, or something.”

“You’re terrible at this.” Sea deadpanned.

“What? Were you expecting sympathy?” Aria asked. “All the same, I have a feeling your world’s going to be just fine. And one other thing, if you ever get the chance… come back and see us. You’re ‘Ohana now. Family. Family means nobody ever gets left behind or forgotten.”

“If I ever get the chance, I will,” Sea said softly as she looked back out the window. “Family… I never had a biological family, at least not one that I knew. First Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle along with Jasper… now this. Feels like I’m making my own families more than anything else sometimes.”

“And this is a bad thing?” Aria asked. “I… I fail to see the problem here.”

“It’s not a bad thing, just, thinking is all,” Sea said as she looked back at Aria. Out of the corner of her eye, Sea thought she saw something in the window. A dark figure, knightly yet… not. Draconic. She blinked, maybe it was just her imagination. “I looked them up, briefly, just to see what’s been going on. There’s something surreal about being older than the ponies who raised you like their own daughter.”

“I can imagine…” Aria chuckled before she took a deep breath, sighing. “You know those two, they’ll be back right? Starlight and Mogami. Eiji and Takeru searched the rubble. They found the pieces of the machine, and the Time memory. But they didn’t find either of their bodies. Starlight… she’s going to be more pissed than ever. God only knows what she’ll do next. Somehow.. Somehow I get the feeling we played right into her hands. From what I’ve heard of X, this was probably only step one of a larger plot.”

“I know…” Sea agreed as she took a deep breath. “Part of me wants to stay here and help. But the rest of me knows that I have to go back.”

“I know,” Aria said. “Well, I suppose we can’t keep Kougami waiting can we? Plus, there’s this Jasper you keep telling me about. Goodness knows she’ll probably love her marefriend back, eh?”

“We’re not dating!” Sea protested. “She’s just my best friend, and we were practically raised together, it would be like dating my own sister!”

“In my experience?” Aria asked with a little smirk, Sea still stuttering and blushing as they rejoined the others. “Best friends make for the best girlfriends.”

“I get this enough back home you know,” Sea groaned as she shook her head. “Everypony always jokes about the two of us dating. It doesn’t help that we… never mind, nothing ever happened between us.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Aria said before she took in a deep breath as she saw the machine. A massive ring-like device mounted on a platform, perfect for generating portals. “...well, I guess this is it isn’t it?”

Sonata’s sobbing started up in earnest. Aria just pulled her into a hug. Then the whole world warped as the memory was activated.

Flashes of moments in time. A black Rider with silver armor and green lines on it, facing off against a grey monster in the remains of an office building. There was a familiar-looking girl with purple pigtails laying under some debris. Another Adagio, under a red sky, Riders ready to fight. A hero declaring she was the new Monster. Mass-produced Riders and belts, explosions and sounds of warfare amongst the buzzing of wings. And then a shout -no, a snarl- of “HENSHIN!” and the call of a belt and a roar and a screech. A purple figure, both draconic and prehistoric undergoing evolution under a rainbow light.

“Ho-Ki-La-Ge-lo-Ma!”

And then things returned to normal, a portal to a dark and twisted Equestria revealed. Aria shuddered, was that… was that really Sea’s home? Smoke, factories, and hives?

“Home sweet home,” Sea said as she looked through the portal for a long moment. “Thank you, all of you.”

Adagio hugged her tightly.

“Anytime. Riders help other Riders out, right?” she asked before mumbling: “Now, what was Kuuga’s signature…? Oh, yeah…”

Here, she gave Sea a thumbs-up.

Sea smiled as she returned the thumbs up before pausing a moment and reaching into her pocket. “Oh yeah, almost forgot, you’ll need these back,” she said as she tossed the medals to Adagio. “Khepri almost didn’t want to let them go, but they’re yours and they won’t do us any good back home anyway. Thanks for the loan.”

“A-Anytime…” Adagio sniffled. “Now go, I’m sure your world needs you.”

“Yeah… hopefully, if we ever see each other again, it’ll be under happier circumstances,” she said as she headed through the portal.

“Welp, it’s your turn now,” Eiji said to Phoenix as the Time Memory was activated one final time. Thankfully, there was no world warping this time around. “Anything left to say? I’m not sure how long I can keep this portal open.”

“Not much. Just make sure you all keep moving forward towards a bright future. Then everything should turn out alright,” he smiled back. ”I know you can do it.”

“Yeah, we can,” Adagio nodded. “I think… No, I know we can.”

“That’s the spirit!” Phoenix returned with a thumbs up before he and Ocean vanished into the portal. The memory shattered, and Adagio finally allowed herself to cry.

---

Manehattan, United States of Equila

The wind picked up atop the large skyscraper in the city as the portal opened once again with thunderous sounds, out of it stepping both Phoenix and Ocean. “Well, that was certainly something,” he chuckled, stretching himself as he leaned on the railing.

“One way of looking at it, certainly. But I’m glad to be back,” she returned with a smile.

“Yeah, I can’t wait to relax for a day or two.”

“Well, then I have just the right thing for both of you,” a smug voice returned, a very familiar voice.

Both Riders spun around in an instant before being greeted by a very punchable, magenta face clad in a black suit, a camera hanging around his neck. “Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” Ocean let out an exasperated sigh.

“Oh, not happy to see an old friend again Newbie? I swear, not even Tendou is this incorrigible… ” Tsukasa chuckled, taking a picture of the two. “Good work with Starlight and her little Kaiser. But if you don’t want to see me, I can take these with me again,” he continued, not for a second dropping his attitude and waving two envelopes in his hand.

“What’s that?” Phoenix asked, looking a bit puzzled at the man.

“Invitations.”

“Oh, yeah, because that tells us so much,” Ocean countered, her arms crossed in front of her.

Tsukasa rubbed his forehead. “Invitations for a certain someone’s wedding, I swear not even Bravo needed this explained to him…”

Ocean raised an eyebrow before chuckling. “Wait, you are an interdimensional errand boy now? Didn’t know that being a Rider wasn’t paying the bills for you anymore.”

“Tsk,” he returned before lifting the two envelopes into the air and continuing. “I’m a passing-through Kamen Rider and that little detail makes me somewhat responsible for every Rider in the multiverse. Even if their requests and needs might be a bit… Unorthodox. I offer the same service for when you two tie the knot. And not just in the bedroom.”

“How do you-” Ocean’s face turned bright red, as she wished she could sink into the ground and die.

Phoenix didn’t fare much better, his head in flames so to speak, still, he managed to stammer: “Uhm… Wh… When is the wedding?”

“That’s more like it. We don’t have any time to waste. You two would have almost missed it because someone didn’t plan this out properly. No time for packing anything. We leave right now!” Tsukasa returned and before any of them could say anything else the dimensional curtain already passed over them, once again leaving an empty roof behind.

And once again the door was ripped open seconds later, Onyx bursting through it. “Ocean! Phoenix! Thank goodness you two are ba…” His sigh of relief was cut short by the fact that no one was around at all. “But… But I heard something… I’m sure I did. Oh. Decade...”

---

Ponyville, Pony Safe Zone.

“Well, that was certainly a unique experience,” Khepri commented as Sea stepped out of the portal, stretching out a little as she returned to her normal form. “Though that Ankh fellow got on my nerves.”

“Oh really?” Sea asked with a chuckle. “He got on your nerves? I would’ve thought you’d find him very familiar.”

“Tch, you’re imagining things, I’m telling you we’re nothing alike,” Khepri retorted. “But I have to say that Princess form was... interesting. It shouldn’t even be possible for you to unlock that kind of power...”

“What are you talking about?” Sea asked.

“Nothing, you should get back to town, I’m sure Jasper is worried about you,” Khepri pointed out and Sea just shrugged as she walked back towards the town. She looked up at the sky, they had left at night but now it was the middle of the day, so there was no telling how long they had been gone.

As she walked back into Ponyville she was rushed and hugged by a familiar Pegasus mare. She smiled a little as she hugged back. “Hey Jasper.”

“Sea, where have you been?” Jasper asked. “You’ve been gone a week, we were afraid that… you know…”

“I’m fine, don’t worry about it,” Sea replied as she smiled gently. A week? She had been gone a whole week? Well, the time difference was definitely weird. “So, did anything happen while I was gone?”

“No, everything’s been pretty quiet,” Jasper answered as they started walking together towards a building built out of a tree. “You’re going to want to talk to my grandmothers, they’ll need to debrief you.”

“I don’t think they’ll believe me, but then again after what happened before…” Sea said as she took a deep breath. “I’m sorry if I worried you.”

“I’m just glad you’re back,” Jasper said as she opened the door to the library and they walked in together. “I’m going to have to hear about what happened though. I’m sure it’s one heck of a story.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” Sea groaned. “I’ll tell you about it when I tell your grandmothers. Trust me, this is one story I don’t want to tell more than once.”

Khepri watched the two of them as he thought about what had happened. The Princess form was only supposed to be reached by Changelings that were, well, Princesses. Sea shouldn’t be able to achieve more than Drone form, the base form that she used right now. At least, that’s what everything he knew told him.

There was something special about Sea, that much he could tell. The question now was what was it?

26: The New Normal

Okay, to be honest after the whole Foundation X business Adagio planned on kicking her feet up, taking it easy for as long as she could. She felt she deserved it.

What she did not feel she deserved was listening to what could be called an offense against the ears.

Sadly, her siblings seemed to differ.

“Oh please, don’t tell me you actually listen to that rot,” Adagio said peering over before blinking. “...wait, what are you listening to?”

Adagio almost immediately regretted the question as soon as she asked it.

“Oh, this is Carina!” Sonata began to babble. “New up and coming idol singer, you can’t even find her normally! See see, every 12:00 exactly you have to type in her name on Google and only then will a video of her singing come up!”

“Uh-huh?” Adagio asked, wondering why she should care. “And where’d you hear about…?”

“Aria told me!” Sonata chirped. “And Aria learned it from Fluttershy who… well, I don’t know where she learned it from but it’s cool! They say Carina is a devil borne from hell who has come to bewitch and beguile us with her succubus powers!”

“Meh, everyone’s got a gimmick,” Adagio shrugged in possible disgust. “I still can’t believe you actually went out of your way to search for someone who probably doesn’t even know your name.”

“Oh what, like you wouldn’t roll over and faint if Tom Jones kissed your hand?” Aria drawled. “Because don’t lie to me sis, I know you would. I’ve seen your shrine of shame, scary as it is.”

“I thought we agreed never to speak of that,” Adagio hissed out, Sonata watching with wide eyes. Adagio felt a little of herself die inside as soon as she saw that, because yep here comes the blackmail.

“I’ll never understand you humans,” came a voice from Adagio’s left. “Honestly, I never will. You’re all too easily embarrassed.”

“Right, of course…” Adagio said. “Greeed have no sense of shame.”

Yeah, right, this was all fairly weird really. Having to put up with him again for any length of time. Personally, Adagio was both surprised and… well, okay just surprised that she hadn’t killed the guy yet. It was certainly tempting after about half of the stuff he’d pulled. Then again, even if she did do anything to him, it really wouldn’t stick so… That probably had something to do with it.

“Why should we?” Ankh said. “We’re better than you in a lot of regards, so having that particular emotion would probably be a hindrance to us.”

“Or humility,” Adagio quickly added her tone that of a sarcastic drawl. It was a tone she reserved specially for the Bird Greeed. “Is it just me or has your ego gotten a hell of a lot bigger?”

Sonata quickly spritzed him. “I’m sorry sis, I’ve been trying to housebreak him. He doesn’t learn as well as I’d like.”

“Yes, well, given as old as I am, you really expect lessons to stick that easily?” Ankh noted. “I’d be amazed if you managed to change my personality for even a few days.”

“Hey, a few days is better than nothing, and if you can stop being a self-centered jerk for all of five minutes…” Sonata trailed off. “Just saying, being nice? It’s not all that hard and who knows maybe we’d take to liking you a lot quicker.”

“Yes, well, I’m not in this job to be liked,” Ankh said sourly. “I’m only in this to help you get rid of my fellow Greeed and that’s that. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“And yet we’re still no closer to doing that,” Aria said. “We’re pretty much at the exact same place we started. We grab some cores, Adagio gains a new form, they take the cores back and Adagio loses a form. We grab, new form. They take, she loses a form. It’s not a complicated concept. So why don’t you divulge some of your secrets eh? Show us how to permanently kill one of you bastards.”

“I… can’t.” Ankh said hesitantly. Aria raised an eyebrow.

“Can’t or you just won’t?” she asked.

“Like, I literally can’t,” Ankh said. “Even I don’t know what could take us out. Because trust me, if I knew I would have taken out my fellow greeed years ago! Don’t you think? Hell, I wouldn’t even need you!”

Adagio conceded his point. Ankh was too dangerous to just be left to his own devices. God knows what he’d actually do if he was let free. He was chaos given form, and only restrained by the loosest of devices. He was… frightening, and yet he at times felt very… human.

Adagio cursed her traitorous thoughts. No, she couldn’t think like that. Not anymore. She’d been burned one too many times by the King of the Birds. Like Icarus, she’d flown too close to the sun and had gotten burned.

She wondered if she’d ever really learn her lesson. What was it about her that made her go after the completely untouchable men? Was she that desperate? Or maybe she wanted a man in her life that was extraordinary because she couldn’t stand anyone overtly boring. She wanted to laugh. She cherished the normal parts of her life nowadays, and yet when it came down to something like romance, a normal man was never even -not even once- considered.

This was her life now. The new normal.

“Of course,” Ankh went on. “It seems you don’t even need me now right? After all, there was that Takeru guy right? Little Firefly?”

Adagio’s eyes widened before she glared sharply at Ankh.

“Shut up…” She hissed at once and Ankh knew he had touched a nerve by the smirk on his face. Damn her, was she really that easy?

“Well, this keeps on getting more and more interesting doesn’t it?” Ankh chuckled. “You never cease to amuse me…”

The woman sighed. Adagio hated him at times, she really did.

---

48 Hours Earlier…

Takeru was in a bit of a pickle. He knew he couldn’t stay for much longer, though breaking it to Adagio could be the tough part. It was impossible to mistake that look in her eyes. Love, yes love.

It… ah, yeah, this was something new to him as well. He didn’t want to end it, but he knew he had to. He had responsibilities of his own back in Japan, and he doubted either of them could make a long distance relationship work for long.

Could they? He wasn’t sure. This was the first real relationship he’d had. It was probably the first real relationship either of them had, Takeru suspected. Granted, he may have been wrong and Adagio could have had some sort of romantic relationship before him, but he honestly doubted it.

Takeru sighed. Being a Rider and fending off the paranormal did nothing to prepare you for the real world did it?

Did Makoto Nii-san or Alain Nii-san ever have this sort of problem? He really had to wonder.

Takeru found himself smacked into a wall. Right, of course. Back to reality

“Remind me,” Takeru said as he landed a solid fist to the locust yummy’s face, before drawing his warhammer to strike at the insectoid’s skin. “Do we even know what this one was sent here to do?”

“Knock over a bank? Blow something up?” Adagio said lighting up the ground with the kuwagata medal’s powers. “I lost track honestly.”

“Sai, Gorilla, Ookamiuo!” her driver yelled out and Adagio delivered several powerful punches to the creature making it spill out cells with every hit. The coins jingled with every drop, and they just kept on coming.

“Maybe it was just sent out to make sure we’re still breathing,” Takeru suggested switching from Toucon Benkei Damashii to Toucon Musashi Damashii. “...Honestly, as Yummies go, this one seems to be…”

“Piddlingly weak?” Adagio remarked switching combos yet again.

“Same, Kamakiri, Tako!” Adagio’s belt sang out before her legs turned into tendrils pulling the yummy closer. This was just for her arm blades cto slash at the monster in a scissor maneuver. As the yummy staggered back, she switched again. “Sai, Unagi, Ookamiuo!”

Sending it upwards with a wall of water, she pulled it back down with the unagi whips before impaling it in the chest with the sai horn. Once again, she switched.

“Sai, Gorilla, Ookamiuo!”

Going back to this combo, Adagio once again delivered several powerful punches. Takeru once again switched souls.

“Kaigan! Bee~tho~ven! Symphony! Destiny! DA-DA-DA-DUN!” the driver called out, and Takeru -pressing the keys on his outfit- manipulated musical notes in such a way to bind the yummy in a seal of magic. He switched souls once again. “Kaigan! Robin Hood! Hello Arrow! Into the Woods we go!”

Drawing back his bow, he fired a powerful arrow finishing the monster. Cells rained down covering the street. Whatever the monster had been sent out to do, it had apparently done it well enough.

“Oh look,” Adagio remarked in a cheery tone. “You made it rain. So what, you going to take a girl out to dinner with all of this spare change?”

“Well, I, uh…” Takeru stammered out.

“You’re way too easy to tease, you know that right?” Adagio chirped, ruffling Takeru’s hair as he canceled out his transformation, removing his eyecon from his driver. “But wow, we’re like an unbeatable team by this point.”

“An unbeatable team making little to no headway,” Takeru pointed out. “It’s been months since the Greeed appeared in this city, and they still haven’t been stopped.”

“I thought it was like a little thing between us, honestly,” Adagio drawled, canceling out her own transformation as well. “We do this little dance day and night, they stay to their side of the fence and I stay to mine. It’s pretty much our ‘thing’ you know?”

“So what does that make our ‘thing’?” Takeru asked not sure if he really wanted to know.

“Oh, you’re the dashing sidekick who comes to save the day, and look cute.” Adagio said, patting him on the head.

“R-Really?” Takeru asked, wondering if he should be offended. “That’s all I amount to?”

“Well, that and you’re the great boyfriend who reminds me what I’m fighting for,” Adagio murmured. “As I said, you’re way too easy to tease.”

“I ought to dump you…” Takeru flushed.

“And then you probably wouldn’t find another woman in the world who’d take you in,” Adagio remarked, booping him on the nose. Eiji coughed and both Riders turned.

“As fun as your flirtation is, you do realize some of us here are trying to work?” Eiji flushed. “It’s kind of hard to pay attention when you two are… being, well, you.”

“What do you plan to do with all of those cells anyways?” Takeru had to ask. “You’ve been showing up a lot, you and your little collection team. You saving them for a rainy day?”

“Something like that, yeah,” Eiji admitted. “Rest assured, I do have a reason for my little hobby. It’s not just for a rainy day fund type of thing.”

“Oh, well, you don’t have to lie about it,” Adagio teased and for a brief jealous moment -wow, he could get jealous, huh who knew?- Takeru wondered if there was a flicker of something between them. Maybe there had been at one point. He hoped there had been. Adagio deserved someone who was less of a flake. Adagio continues with: “I mean, we all know your Rider form uses Cells so…”

“Actually, it’s not my Rider form anymore,” Eiji corrected. “There’s going to be a new Birth. A… uh, rebirth if you will.”

“...wait, you’re actually calling him that? Kamen Rider ReBirth?” Adagio said in a flat tone.

“Well, no!” Eiji said through the tone he took didn’t exactly make Adagio believe him. “You should be seeing him shortly. I need to help run the company, I can’t be out in the field.”

“So no Kamen Rider Iron Man, got it. You’re just going to use the bodyguard excuse then? Well, don’t blame me when some comics nerd calls you out on it…” Adagio continued to tease.

“Iron Man?” Eiji mouthed and Takeru wanted to laugh. Surely Eiji wasn’t this behind on pop culture? Even he knew what Iron Man was, and he was a monk!

“...actually, I was hoping I’d be compared to Bruce Wayne,” Eiji muttered and Takeru let out a small ‘oh’. “Batman’s cooler.”

“...so what, you think you’re Batman?” Takeru asked. “Sure, you’re probably rich enough but you’re more Iron Man than Batman. You’ve even got the high-tech suit.”

“So you’re saying I’m self-destructive then?”

“Well, I wasn’t saying that,” Takeru muttered his face flushed. “Though... though Batman’s pretty self-destructive too…”

“Batman’s all edge,” Adagio pretended to gag. “Oh please! We get it Bruce, your parents are dead. No need to recite it every five comics.”

“It’s not that bad!” Eiji retorts a little too quickly to be even remotely believable.

“Yeah, sure, keep telling yourself that,” Adagio said, picking up a Cell Medal and as she fiddled with it out of boredom, an idea came to her. “...hey, you don’t think we can’t just pull all of the medals out of a Greeed? Like, just invent some vacuum attachment for Birth and have it suck out all but one Core?”

“Where are you going with this?” Eiji inquired curiously.

“Like, just suck out all of the medals but one core and then just bury that core on some faraway island somewhere, or in the arctic circle and leave it to be forgotten?” Adagio pondered.

“That feels a bit too much like we’re passing off our problems to the next generation, seems to me,” Eiji replied as he gestured for Adagio to sit down next to him. Hesitantly, she did. “We have a right and a responsibility to deal with these monsters in the here and now. If we just pass them off for someone else, we’re basically saying it was never our problem. All we’ve done would have been for nothing. And if we destroy all information…”

“Hey, I didn’t say we should destroy all informat-” Adagio started before Eiji continued.

“You seemed to be implying it,” Eiji put in.

“Alright, fine, we’ll leave an instruction manual for anyone who finds the cores. Tell them what we know,” Adagio said, sounding so very tired at that moment. This was understandable, Takeru reasoned, given with how much she’d been fighting them day in and day out. Fighting them day in and day out without making really any headway. She deserved her rest. Maybe a spa date.

“And what if someone digs them up?” Eiji pointed out. “Someone who’s nowhere near as benevolent as us. Shocker dug the Cores up once, and hell they’re the reason why the Greeed have returned as is. Someone like them could easily dig the Cores up, and unleash the Greeed on the world once again.”

Ah, yes. Takeru swallowed hard, he hadn’t even thought about that. Damn.

Adagio sighed. “It’s just…” she murmured. “Well, it’s just that… God, I’m so so tired. Day in, day out, I’ve been fighting the Greeed and day in and day out not once inch of ground has been gained. I’d happily take this pass them off to the future scenario just so it wouldn’t have to be my fight anymore. It’s not like I can just give up the belt either. It’s genetically locked to me now.”

“Say you do pass this problem off to the future,” Eiji reasoned. “Could you live with yourself in the days afterwards? You’d probably be alright for the first few days, yes, but I know you Adagio Dazzle. You’ve got a good heart. You wouldn’t want anyone else to have to suffer this.”

“Well, maybe what if I do?” Adagio snapped and Eiji and Takeru both flinched from the sheer venom in her tone. Surprising ever herself, Adagio went on with a: “Maybe it should be someone else’s problem. I’ve been fighting this long, and maybe I deserve a rest. It’s like everyone puts all of this on my shoulders, and every day it seems to get a little bit worse. Hell, there’s another Rider out there now in Starlight and you’re stockpiling cell medals for your own greedy gains!”

“It’s not…” Eiji stammered out. “I’ve got a plan in place to use these Cells for the betterment of mankind!’

“Yeah, well these Cells have caused nothing but trouble!” Adagio replied waspishly. “Everyone’s after them, and you’ve just made yourself a big target for both Foundation X and the Greeed alike! Count the medals 1, 2, and 3 right? Because oh trust me Kougami, they’ll be doing plenty of that as soon as they realize just what you’ve got in your possession!”

Eiji wanted to tell her otherwise, that the Kougami Foundation had a plan for all of these Cells. They’d known the Greeed would one day return, so they’d been grabbing as many Cells as they could to help fight the Greeed. Not for just Kamen Rider Birth, but for the endgame scenario involving OOOs. They knew, somehow, the OOOs driver would find its way to the right person. Bit of a lot to place on faith, but the power always managed to find its way to the right person.

“I… I…” Adagio choked back a sob. “I just want it to end…”

Takeru rubbed her shoulders comfortingly. “It will Adagio, I know it,” he said softly. “You’ve just got to tough it out a little while longer.”

“I’m not sure I want to…” Adagio whispered. “Some days I just want to say fuck the world and toss this driver off a bridge. But Eiji’s right, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. I… God, I’m such a mess.”

“Then we’ll be messes together, right?” Takeru asks and his heart aches because he knows he has to leave this wonderful woman soon.

“R-Righ… Yeah, guess we will.” Adagio murmured.

---

Sunset still doesn’t know what to make of Adagio Dazzle, she really doesn’t. On the one hand, she knows this isn’t the same Adagio who gave her so much hell in her high school years. On the other hand, it's hard to trust someone who wears the same face of the person who gave her so much hell in her high school years.

Plus, there was that whole personality carryover thing. Her Twilight shared enough personality traits with Equestria’s Twilight that there was reason enough to believe both Adagios had some personality overlap.

Maybe she is just being far too paranoid for her own good. Years of dealing with magical threats before she hit twenty had left a bit of a mark on her, Sunset supposed.

“Wonder what it would have been like for me if I just stayed in Equestria like a good little pony?” Sunset said as she sipped her drink. She hadn’t thought of the place as home in years, really. But at times, she did have to wonder… “Of course, I’d probably get dragged into heroism anyways. I mean, hell, I’d probably have ended up doing Twilight’s job for her. Might have ended up being the Princess of Friendship like I always wanted at the time. Yay. No more peace and quiet for me really. How does Twilight do it? Pony Twilight, not…”

Was it too much to ask just to be normal? To live a normal life with a normal family, maybe a couple of kids? Fillies, preferably. Foals were always way too much work. Sunset probably knew she was kidding herself, since when had she ever been normal? She’d been Princess Celestia’s student for crying out loud! Normal had never simply been in the cards for her.

Sometimes she really hated that.

So, for whatever reason, Sunset finds herself wandering back through the portal and back into Equestria. Hasn’t really changed much over the years really. Yeah, sure the Princesses retired for reasons Sunset couldn’t fathom and Twilight took their place but it’s still Equestria. Ponies still partied, pranced under the sunlight, baked cakes and… some other things she was sure. Okay, okay, it hadn’t been her home for a few decades now, cut her some slack alright?

Twilight, of course it was Twilight who got to be Celestia and Luna’s successor. It always had been. She even had the Element of Magic practically tattooed on her butt for Celestia’s sake! This was fine. Sunset had long outgrown any traitorous jealous feelings she may have had. Being a Princess of the Realm was really way too much fucking work for her anyhow.

Okay, yeah, being a megahit star touring the world wasn’t exactly kick your feet up on the dash relaxing but at least she wasn’t running a whole country! Boy, oh boy, she really had been kidding herself back then thinking she was in any way ready for that sort of responsibility.

She must have been high or delusional or something.

Huh, the castle seemed less… lonesome than the last time she’d been here, less empty. Now while Canterlot Castle was never exactly empty so to speak, there was definitely something different about it right now. Okay, yeah, Celestia and Luna not being there may have had something to do with the different feeling, but… that didn’t seem like the only explanation.

Oh, that explained it, Sunset realized as she saw the framed painting on the wall. Twilight was married. Married. When had this happened again? ...why was she always the last to know these things?

“Tried to send an invite you know,” came a somewhat masculine tone, and Sunset whirled on her hooves in fright. Collecting herself, Sunset took several deep breaths. “Not sure they do deliveries between dimensions.”

Fizzlepop, of course it was always Fizzlepop. Twilight had babbled to no end about her after the whole Storm King incident. Mentioned that she wanted her in her guard. Well, Sunset supposed if you were freely able to kick the Princess of Friendship and Element of Magic’s ass then I suppose being hired to captain her guard was a smart move. “...does the Royal Guard even allow fraternization with the mare you’re, uh, guarding?”

“Well, Shining Armor and Princess Cadence are a thing so…” Fizzlepop rumbled. “Yes, I know. Royal Guard marries her Princess. Sounds like something out of a bad bodice ripper. Guess truth is stranger than fiction.

“Tell me about it,” Sunset agreed. “Former villain gets a second chance at life in a whole ‘nother dimension. What part of that doesn’t sound like something from a bad sci-fi plot? Or a cartoon?’

“When did…” Sunset trailed off before deciding against it. No, this was stupid. Then again, who better to answer her question? “...when did Twilight decide to start trusting you? Come on, from one former villain to the next?”

“I think probably from the moment we met, probably suicidal of her. But she…”

“Saw something you’d been trying to deny?” Sunset said knowingly. “A part of yourself that even you had wanted to forget about? A good pony?”

“Yes,” Fizzlepop answered. “That. Now what’s this about? I know you’ve got your own life Sunset Shimmer. You wouldn’t just drop everything and come here again unless it’s rather important. Is it Adagio Dazzle?”

“How did…?” Sunset trailed off before she sighed. “Twilight told you, of course.”

“She may have mentioned it, it came up once or twice,” Fizzlepop admitted. “She seemed mostly content to leave you to it, from all accounts. Said you were a smart enough mare, that you could probably figure it out.”

“She said that did she?” Sunset said.

“Now, do you want to prove her wrong Sunset Shimmer? Do you want me to tell Twilight that her faith in you is misplaced?” Fizzlepop asked and in spite of herself, Sunset swallowed. Yeah, just because Fizzlepop was no longer a villain, didn’t mean she wasn’t still scary.

“No, I got this I think…” Sunset smiled, sending Fizzlepop a grateful look as she vanished back through the portal.

“That you do, Sunset Shimmer,” Fizzlepop said as Twilight walked up. When she was asked who that was, Fizzlepop could only reply. “Nobody. Just a mare who needed setting straight, that’s all.”

---

“Equalize, Scienticize! Energize, Solarize!”

“Kaigan: Kondō, Hijikata, Okita! Kimi to kata kumi! Shinsengumi!”

Bit suspicious really, to find Starlight out in the open like this. Takeru knew this was a trap, she wanted him out in the open for some reason. Common sense told him not to go. His conscience told him to save the people. Guess which one won out in the end?

Problem was, well, Starlight seemed even more powerful than before. Takeru could easily guess why. The Hyper Muteki Ridewatch had been destroyed, but slamming it into her Driver had given Starlight the ability to reach even higher power levels than before.

Any blow he dealt out to her, she just absorbed and re-directed.

What’s worse, her time limit seemed to have expired long ago.

Joy.

“So you’ve experienced being dead before, right?” Starlight remarked, Takeru fairly certain she’d gotten even crazier. That was a bit of a feat, really. “Tell me, can the afterlife be studied? The soul utilized?”

“I think you already know,” Takeru said, surprising even himself with the iciness in his tone. Hmm, had being around Adagio improved his self-confidence any? “After what you did to Elias…”

“Oh, him. A failed experiment,” Starlight said, her Rider form changing into energy and smashing Takeru through several walls. Takeru’s anger surged even as he grabbed her, and slammed Starlight bodily into the ground. That’s all he was to her? An experiment? “Yes, well, not all of Foundation X’s ventures can be so successful, can they?”

She was on top of him again, and Takeru found himself floored by a wave of energy. As he struggled to stand, more shockwaves hit him. Starlight waved her hands, redirecting the kinetic energy stored in her suit like a sinister orchestra. She grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into a wall.

Takeru slammed the level on his driver. “Dai Kaigan: Omega Drive: Shinsengumi!”

Starlight was kicked backwards, allowing Takeru some breathing room. He switched forms yet again, Starlight seemingly gasping for breath.

“Kaigan: Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, Ieyasu! Hatasu no wa itsu! Tenkatōitsu!”

Summoning both the Sunglasseslasher and the Deep Slasher Takeru slashed into Starlight’s armor with a spinning maneuver. He leaped upwards and slashed downwards with both weapons, Starlight staggering back. He changed both to blaster form and riddled her with energy shots.

“Dai Kaigan: Omega Drive Tenkatōitsu!” the driver called out before Takeru ran forwards, changing both weapons back to blade form. Striking with both, he then side-kicked Starlight through a wall.

The sun beat down, Starlight slamming a fist into the earth to stop herself. “You… Do you think this is the end? Ask yourself, Takeru Tenkuji. You think you can be there for Adagio all of the time? While I’m sure she appreciates having her own personal knight in shining spandex for her, you’ve got responsibilities you know,” Starlight lectured slamming a fist into Takeru’s faceplate. “You’ve got a life of your own, and yet for the last few days you’ve let it be defined by Adagio. Tell me, what are you scared of? Giving up the rest of your life for a woman who, for all you know, may not work out?”

A swift uppercut and Takeru was floored. He recovered only for Starlight to land a well-placed roundhouse punch to the gut. Once again, he was on the ground. “Sad, but true am I right?”

“Do you ever shut up?” came a familiar voice as Eilas walked up, placing one of his spare eyecons into his own driver. “Wow, Eiji really didn’t do you justice. You really are a talker. It’s the supervillain thing, am I right?”

“And so the failed experiment comes crawling back,” Starlight said, blocking a punch from the Rider, and a kick as well. “Come to pledge your allegiance? Sorry, you forfeited it. But don’t worry, you’ll always carry the memories. I'm your pain when you can't feel, sad but true. You will remember me. Just when you think you’re going to dispense justice -because that’s what types like you always end up doing, you’re so predictable- you’ll remember who gave you these powers.”

“Funny, Takeru contributed as well,” Elias said leaping over her, and knocking Starlight to the ground with a leg sweep. As soon as Starlight got up, Takeru slashed her with his sword. “I remember that as well. I think it ends up evening out in the end.”

“I’m still inside, just open your eyes. I’m you, or what made you, you,” Starlight said dodging a swing from the Deep Slasher, now in Eilas’ hands. He changed it to blaster mode and shot her, Takeru following up with the Sunglasseslasher also in gun mode. “Waxing lyrical aside, you know I’m right. I’ll always be there, the little devil in your soul.”

Takeru and Elias shared a nod, changing weapons back to their sword forms. They, in unison, slashed Starlight across the chest. “Pretty sure the devil on my shoulder usually ends up being ignored. Got a little angel as well.”

“Who, Adagio?” Starlight laughed. “Between you, Eiji, Takeru, and Ankh, she’s a regular dude magnet isn’t she?”

“Ocean actually. She woke me up,” Elias said slamming a fist in her helmet. “I’ll be forever grateful for that.”

“Aren’t you sweet,” Starlight said, throwing her hand out and nearly flooring the two riders with a wave of energy. “You really know how to charm a girl.”

“From anyone else, I’d almost believe that,” Elias said, switching to Jack the Ripper Damashii. Mist clouded the battlefield, and Starlight’s vision became a blur before she felt several strikes across her form. She let out a scream of pain before she heard the distinctive calls of:

“Kaigan: Omega Drive Jack the Ripper!”/“Dai Kaigan: Omega Drive Tenkatōitsu!”

Takeru landed a kick to the stomach, while Elias came from above with a powerful Rider Punch. Starlight knew when to cut her losses, another blow and she’d be out of her armor. And then she was gone as Adagio pulled up on her bike, rapidly pulling out her medals.

“Awwwwww, and I missed out on all of the fun,” Adagio nearly whined. “Seems like you two got to kick her ass three ways from Sunday and I missed it!”

Elias stared as the two Riders canceled out their transformations. “You’ve got issues, you know that right?” Elias deadpanned.

“More like problems I’d like to vent my frustrations towards,” Adagio admitted with a low grumble before she turned to Elias. “Hey, you alright? Facing Starlight, I know that can’t have been easy for you.”

“So you do have a heart. Here I thought you were all business.” Elias smiled weakly. Truth be told, a lot of what Starlight said had gotten to him. She was right in a few respects, he did owe his powers to her. Without sounding too angsty about the subject -god knew the world had enough soap operas as is- he really didn't know what to think of that at times. It… was a lot to unpack, knowing you’d been turned into a madwoman’s personal blunt instrument, and only just barely snapped out of it.

Okay, so he was angsting about it a little. It wasn’t like there were therapists for this sort of thing, were there? ...were there? He didn’t honestly know. It wasn’t exactly something, Elias suspected, that most psychiatrists were trained for.

“I do have a heart!” Adagio refuted before she stared Elias directly in the face. “You sure you’re alright?”

“Okay, truth be told? I’m not,” Elias admitted. “I’ve still got a fair bit on my plate regarding… well, you know. Starlight made me, and I’m still working out how to handle that. I think… I think I need a vacation. One of those little ‘find myself’ type things. You know?’

“Y-Yeah, I do,” Adagio said. “I’m going to miss having you around, you know? We probably could have been good friends.”

“In my mind?” Elias answered. “We already are.”

After he’d left, Takeru turned to Adagio. He had to break this to her. Yeah, this was going to be hard. Kami, he felt like such a jerk. And… and, looking into Adagio’s expectant face he was already was starting to second guess his decision. Yeah, no, he couldn’t go through with this.

He simply couldn’t. He could already hear a little voice sounding like Akari-Chan inside his mind lecturing him for dumping her like this.

It was… just wrong. “Adagio, you do realize I’m going to have to go back to Japan someday, right?”

“I… I figured,” Adagio admitted sounding as if she was holding back tears. “I sorta figured from the outset this wasn’t going to last. That’s alright, go on out with it. I’m a grown woman, I can take it. Wouldn’t be the first time I got dumped actually, pretty sure it won’t be the last either.”

Kami, if he wasn’t already feeling like such a jerk…

“I… I, yeah, no, I’m not dumping you,” Takeru replied, deciding against telling her he originally did plan on it. He doubted that would help his case. “I… no, we’ll find out a way to make this work. It’ll be difficult, but I think we can figure out a way to make it work.”

“What about… what about that kid from the future you mentioned?” Adagio asked. Ooof, yah, he did mention that didn’t he? “I mean, shouldn’t you find out his true mother and marry her?”

“The future’s not set in stone, remember? It’s always changing. For all I know, that future is no longer possible. The one I saw when I first met Emu and his doppleganger, I mean,” Takeru replied. “And for all I know, you may be his mother.”

“Me, a mom…” Adagio tried to process the fact that Ex-Aid’s real name was Emu. Now there was an odd name that probably beat them all. And she knew people named Star Hunter and the like. “Not sure how I feel about that. I mean, I’m always so caught up in work. God, for all I know, I’d be barely there for the kid. I’d probably pass him off to nannies and my sisters and yeah. I’d be one of those mothers. Akari and Onari -dear god- would probably end up raising him more than me. See, self-doubt already!”

“I doubt that,” Takeru laughed and when Adagio gave him a mildly offended look -yikes, now that was a glare!- he explained. “Knowing you, you’d figure out a way to balance both business and pleasure.”

“You think so?” Adagio asked before Takeru gently kissed her.

“I know so.”

Meanwhile, deep in the cell medal storage facilities, a form rose up from the mountains kept deep underneath the building. This had been today’s plan, Uva would send in a yummy with one of his cores embedded deep within and it’d get sweeped up with the rest of them. Nobody would notice in all of the collecting, and within the hour he’d be inside the building. His yummy getting defeated was all part of the plan, and it was working wonderfully.

Oh, the damage he could do from inside the Kougami Foundation. But it wasn’t a good idea to get too greedy. He had to grab the cells and get out. Nobody would notice until it was far too late. He even knew how to create the perfect distraction! Once again, the Rocky Mountain Locust Yummy came into play, this time joined by another Yummy, based off the Milkweed grasshopper. Formed from his own desires, they would be powerhouses for certain.

Uva laughed, he’d love to see how Kamen Rider OOOs would handle these two! Now, he smirked, it was time to get to work. And Kazari thought him an idiot!

Author's Notes:

Adagio's Medals: Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo, Gorilla, Sai, Zou, Unagi, Tako, Kugawata, Taka, Kamakiri.

Yeah, what basically happened was, well, I needed a break. A nice long break from this before I went nuts. Went on for a bit longer than probably necessary, I will admit but I'm inspired again. To borrow a certain show's quote... INSPARKLERATION! Okay, yeah, I'm done. I just had to get that out.

As this chapter shows, I had to get Elias and Takeru out of the story in varying fashion. They're game-breakers in some regards. Plus, fewer Riders to handle. I like to think of this story in similar fashion to the MCU. Focused on one or two characters, but there's a wide-ranging universe all around them.

27: Bug Out

Foundation X headquarters. Starlight found herself hard at work against the enemy of all things, paperwork.

She honestly wanted to scream. She could fight head to head with Riders, and run an organization that prided themselves on being the Merchants of Death and yet she was stumped by paperwork.

She heard the sound of snickering, and went for her gun. Someone was in her office. From out behind a fish tank stepped Kazari, the feline greeed currently in human form.

“Grunge is a bad look for you,” Starlight commented. “Makes you look like somebody’s disaffected nephew really. Now what are you doing in my office? Get out of here before I call security.”

“Like they’d be able to stop me,” Kazari remarked, briefly changing to his Greeed form, before changing back to his human guise. “Hell, they already failed to do so given I’m in your office and what’s that I don’t hear? Oh, the sounds of alarms.”

“Oh, I can fix that,” Starlight said, still keeping her gun trained on the feline greeed. “Trust me.”

“You really think a gun can honestly hurt me?” Kazari snorted, inspecting his own claws, and lounging in the sun. “You’ve seen it tried before, and does that ever work?”

“There’s a first time for everything,” Starlight remarked as Kazari continued his rambles.

“You seem to really like the sun don’t you?” Kazari said, hopping off the windowsill. “Not that I can blame you really, but you really enjoy your sunshine. Ever thought of a retirement plan for Florida? I hear they have plenty of it. Sunshine State and all that!”

“Denver suits my needs,” Starlight remarked, going for a drawer on her desk, inside it was her driver. “Now state your business and leave, before I force you out.”

“Ah ah, no need to be so hasty,” Kazari said, wagging his finger. “I actually think we can help each other.”

“How so?” Starlight said.

“Think about it. You want core medals, I want core medals, we can both help ourselves. A little birdie -not Ankh by the way- told me Uva was striking out on his own. I think you can see where I’m going with this,” Kazari remarked. “See, the way I figure it, that Driver of yours is plenty powerful. At the very least, it should be able to take him down for a short while.”

“And if it kills him?” Starlight asked. “Why aren’t you worried? If I end up killing Uva, what makes you think I'll stop at just him?”

“Oh, I think we can work out a deal…” Kazari smirked devilishly. “You’re a businesswoman right? You’re good with those!”

“That I am,” Starlight said. “But what do you get out of this?”

“To be the sole greeed standing. I’m free to conduct whatever little experiments I want, and if I end up backstabbing you… well, you can easily take me out. So, what say you, Starlight Glimmer. Do you want to ride with the devil?”

“I think…” Starlight said. “This is going to be a very lucrative partnership.”

---

“Well, this is a… bit of a setback isn’t it?” Eiji commented having only now just discovered how he’d been robbed.

“You have a capacity for understatement sir,” Erika Satonaka drawled looking over the empty room. “Guess you’re going to have to talk to your father.”

“This has come at a bit of a bad time,” Eiji said looking over at Soarin’, the former fighter pilot frowning at how the Birth system had been rendered effectively useless for the time being. “Well, I’ll give Uva credit. He’d planned this out pretty well.”

“So, send him a medal. Throw him a parade,” Erika deadpanned wondering if she should have come into work today at all. Yeah, she probably should have just stayed in bed, she reasoned. She hadn’t even had her coffee yet before her boss called her in. She couldn’t function without her cup of joe. “He swindled us, whoopee! No need to acknowledge him as a worthy foe.”

“So what now?” Soarin’ asked as he looked around the now completely empty vault. “We obviously can’t just sit on our asses boo-hooing and tsk-tsking. We need to get those medals back.”

“If we can,” Erika pointed out. “Chances are Uva’s already distributed them to his fellow Greeed, end of story.”

“Has he?” Soarin’ asked. “Uva’s an embodiment of desire right? He’s more likely to hoard of the medals to himself if you want my opinion. Moreover, now that he’s got the power to do so, he’s going to go after Adagio, and collect even more medals. She and Ankh probably have a good collection of their own built up by now.”

“I should have listened, damn!” Eiji said punching the wall, his knuckles bleeding slightly. “Adagio warned me hoarding all of these medals was a bad idea. I should have just dumped them in the ocean.”

“Nothing you can do about it now,” Erika said. “It’s not even your fault anyways. The greeed would have found a way in sooner or later. We just need to get these medals back, and up our security.”

“And put a protection detail or something on Adagio, and her family,” Soarin’ butted in. “Uva’s going to be after them now. The rest of the Greeed as well. They know just as well as he does that Adagio and Ankh have a good collection of medals as well.”

“There… there’s someone I think who can help,” Eiji said. “Managed to steal her away from ZAIA Enterprises. Their CEO wasn’t exactly pleased by that, but considering the company went under a few weeks later, I don’t think he had any room to complain. Basically, I managed to save a few rats from a sinking ship, including her. A few of the other former employees went off to other subsidiaries, I think a few are at the main foundation building in Japan. I’ll see if I can get Ms. Yaiba over here. She’s exactly who we need to keep Adagio safe.”

---

“Really, Uva robbed the whole place blind?” Adagio asked in abject shock. “Uva? Uva? ...wow, guess he’s got more intelligence than I’m actually giving him credit for.”

“Never underestimate someone’s desire,” Ankh said, nibbling on an ice pop as usual. Adagio swore she was going to be bankrupt by the end of this with him and his addiction. “Even Uva’s. He’s about as bright as a brick, but he’s determined. And rarely, just very rarely, he has his moments of cunning. I suspect Kazari’s involved.”

“What, you think him and this ‘Kazari’ have teamed up?” asked Yua Yaiba. Adagio wasn’t honestly sure what to think of her really. She wore a suit that was nicely pressed and oh Jesus Adagio suddenly felt very inferior -or very cheap- just looking at her. Honestly, Adagio liked Eiji, she really did, but she didn’t need a bodyguard.

She could handle herself just fine. She didn’t need a woman who parked a van outside her house, followed her to work, and who probably knew krav maga when she could handle herself just fine. Adagio had always been a staunchly independent woman. She didn’t really like having to accept charity.

Honestly, Yua could just pack up and go back to her old job really. She appreciated the thought, she really did but what use could Yua actually be? Unless she had one of those birth busters Eiji seemed to hand out willy nilly, Adagio doubted Yua could do much damage. Unless that wasn’t her purpose. Given how Adagio had caught her trying to rip away Ankh’s medal holder from the King of Birds, it begged one to wonder.

Okay, Adagio would admit someone, well anyone aside from Ankh handing out medals to her might have been nice for a change. Ankh was so demanding. However, tossing him to the curb was a bad idea. Someone had to keep an eye on him. Even if it was Adagio much to her personal disgust.

Which… come to think of it was possibly another reason Yua had saddled with this job. One less headache for her. She could focus on her real jobs like gathering medals and maintaining the aquarium. It’d been a while since things had been this easy for her. Yeah, suddenly she could enjoy having Yua around.

Even if her suit made Adagio feel very, very cheap.

“No, it’s less that and more Uva’s always felt inferior to Kazari. Which he is, but that’s besides the point. I believe this is Uva proving a point. That if he strikes out on his own, he can be just as dangerous as the rest of them,” Ankh explained, tossing the empty stick behind him after sucking it clean in… oh, okay, it was official. Adagio really didn’t need that sort of image in her mind. She had a boyfriend!

“And do you think he is?” Yua asked.

“No, I think he’s an idiot,” Ankh replied. “Though even an idiot given the right incentive can be dangerous. I can only guess what he’s doing now. Probably cooking up a new scheme to grab even more cell medals and become ‘complete’.”

“Explain to me what being ‘complete’ is,” Yua said taking one of Ankh’s ice pops away from him. Adagio snorted at the little kicked puppy look on his face. “You’ve never quite clarified.”

“Didn’t think I needed to,” Ankh said. “Complete means complete, what else is there to say? Though then again, it’s really an oxymoron. Greeed, being what we are, will always be seeking more and more and… honestly, we don’t know when to stop. You’d never be able to understand, you’re an outsider. You’re simply not a greeed.”

“Sounds horrible if you ask me,” Yua replied as she followed Adagio to her car, scanning the area for any potential threats or escape routes. She’d already marked several of the latter. “Always wanting more, never being content with what you have.”

“So, you humans are the same aren’t you?” Ankh pointed out, leaping atop a lightpost. “Money, dollars, bucks, dough, bread, moolah, cheddar, paper, stash. Benjamins, loot, smackers, and simoleons. Need I go on? You always want more. You just never know when to stop. You and the greeed are more alike then you’d care to admit. Hell, without humanity, we wouldn’t even exist. Think on that for a while, eh?”

Adagio had been thinking about that, and she didn’t like it.

“You humans just don’t know when to stop building, buying, ripping up the land for your own desires, and-”

“Just stop, you’re sounding like a hippie,” Yua said.

“You can’t say I’m wrong though…” Ankh said. The day flew by without much incident and the rest of the week for that matter. it seemed Uva was laying low at the moment apparently. That did nothing to calm Adagio’s nerves. She knew he was out there plotting and planning and just buying his time.

God, what she’d give for even a single yummy battle. Not even her late-night talks with Takeru were really helping to calm her nerves. Finally, Sonata and Aria had enough. A shared agreement had been made. Adagio wasn’t quite sure how but she found herself at a concert for Carina.

“Really ‘Dagi,” Sonata jingled. “You need to live a little.”

“I do live a little. I spend time with my animals,” Adagio said flatly. “Whoo-hoo, nothing says excitement like diving with hammerhead sharks.”

“You need a social life, just sayin’. Half of your best friends are animals, and that just won’t do!” Sonata continued as they waded through the crowd to find their seats.

“Yes, well, animals are less annoying,” Adagio drawled. “Less likely to drag you into something that you don’t want to do.”

To Adagio’s surprise, when she got to her seat she found someone else waiting for her.

“Sunset?” Adagio breathed out in shock. She turned to Sonata. “Did you plan this?”

“Mhmm, maybe,” Sonata smiled in that way too innocent to be actually innocent way of hers. “You seemed like you were such great friends so…”

“Yeah, great friends,” Sunset mumbled. “That’s one way to put it.”

“See, you like each other already!” Sonata beamed taking her seat.

“You get the feeling you’ve been railroaded?” Sunset asked Adagio, who could only nod as the lights went down low, and the crowd roared. A woman in gothic lolita attire stepped out and stepped up to the microphone, her voice low and seductive as piano played in the background.

“Leave all behind, give your soul over…” Carina sung and every so often Adagio caught Sunset sneaking nervous glances at her. Oh. Oh. Oh. Yeah, that figured didn’t it. “Leave it all behind…”

Remind her to have a talk with Sunset after the show was over.

---

Yua, for her part, kept a watchful eye on Adagio from the rafters. If anything happened, well she’d be the first to call it in. In a briefcase beside her was a sniper rifle based off the birth buster, obviously in pieces but ready to be assembled at the first sign of a Greeed.

Something clattered behind her, and Yua whirled one hand going for her side arm. A giant hornet stumbled out of the darkness, and Yua fired. The sounds weren’t audible over the sound of the concert, so nobody knew what was going on. This was both a good thing and a bad thing. Okay, the good side of this was nobody would panic. Bad side, well, Adagio wouldn’t know this was going on.

Yua would have to drive this creature off long enough for her to reach her phone. Firing her pistol several times in the yummy’s carapace, she kicked it in the stomach. The creature staggered, before it took to the skies.

Yua watched it fly out of sight. “Okay then, I know I’m nowhere near that good. So why fly off? ...actually, why be here at all?”

This merited further investigation. Grabbing her briefcase, she made her way down the stairs and found herself near Carina’s trailer. Hiding behind a stack of equipment, she paid attention to the ongoing conversation.

“Okay, I don’t get it,” one of the stagehands said. “A few days ago, Carina was B-List at best. Had a fancy gimmick and all, but she just doesn’t have that raw talent. The gift. Now she’s playing completely sold-out shows!”

“Maybe she got lucky,” the second stagehand said. “Clearly, the public sees something we don’t!”

“Hey, have you heard the rumors?” the first piped up. “I heard this from my sister, but apparently Countess Coloratura and Sapphire Shores? They suddenly dropped themselves from their tour schedules! Just like that!”

“But they’re…” the second stagehand breathed.

“Big names?” the first said. “I know, but suddenly they’ve decided to go on hiatus. I know artists are fickle, but wow!”

Suddenly, a lot of things were beginning to make sense, Yua realized. The hornet yummy, the rumors, Carina suddenly being an A-Lister? While she didn’t have concrete proof, apparently at least this musician had sold her soul to the devil. Or at least, a giant cockroach.

---

Sonata had one more gift for Sunset and Adagio. One little behind the scenes meet and greet.

“Sonata, I don’t want to meet Carina,” Adagio tried to protest but it was tough going, really. “I don’t even like goth rock! Give me pop music any day!”

“But this is pop music,” Sonata said. “And… and think of it, alright? Carina? She’s hip, relatable and if a few paparazzi snap a few photos with you and her together? Boom! Instant tourists for the National Aquarium!”

“Your sis has got a point,” Sunset agreed with a small nod. “Me, I’m here for pretty much the same reason. It’d boost record sales if I was seen to be hip and relatable.”

“You’re shameless, you know that right?” Adagio deadpanned.

“Hey, at least I admit it,” Sunset snarked. “Admit it, you want some new peeps filing into the aquarium.”

“True enough,” Adagio admitted with a small shrug. “Now a question for you. Okay, I gotta ask, what’s your problem with me? Is it my doppelganger? You’ve been giving me the… well, not quite the stink eye but the suspicious eye all night. Hard to really enjoy the music when you’re looking at me trying to figure out the best way to murder me and hide the body so to speak.”

“Oh, you caught that?” Sunset said with a small nervous giggle. “Okay, yeah I’ve got problems with you.”

“You and about half of this city, apparently,” Adagio mumbled. “Gee, thanks other me for giving what little I have of a social life your own personal private fuck you. It’s gotten real old, thank you. Now can you kindly jump off a short pier?”

Sunset winced, maybe she had been judging Adagio too harshly. She hadn’t really given much thought to how the Equestrian Adagio might have affected her human counterpart’s life. “Pretty sure drowning her wouldn’t work,” Sunset remarked. “She’s a giant sea siren hippocampus… horse thing.”

Adagio gave Sunset a truly withering glare. “I’m so not in the mood for jokes like that.”

“Sorry, just thought I’d lighten the mood,” Sunset said. “I’m guessing you had a run-in with your other half?”

“No duh,” Adagio sighed. “She almost ruined my life and nearly gave me heart failure, all in the course of only just a few days.”

“Well, if it helps you any, she was just trying to protect her family,” Sunset said.

“Bullshit. Some Freudian excuse is still no excuse for being an insane bitch,” Adagio drawled.

“You shouldn’t have to worry about her,” Sunset said. “She and her siblings have been shuffled off back to Equestria.”

Wisely, Sunset decided against mentioning that the Equestrian Adagio had managed to help a certain Queen of the Fangires against the evil Kamen Rider Arc. At least that’s what Princess Twilight had mentioned. Sunset doubted the human Adagio would believe her anyways.

“So basically she’s now her nation’s problem?” Adagio asked. “Hooray.”

Sunset couldn’t honestly tell if she was actually being sarcastic or not.

It was about this moment when Yua ran up, -her long coat flapping in the wind- and whispered something in Adagio’s ear. Adagio’s eyes widened.

“Trouble?” Sunset questioned.

“Possibly, yeah,” Adagio said as they neared Carina’s trailer. “Keep your eyes peeled okay?”

“Okay…” Sunset muttered nervously, really wishing she was let in on what was going on around here. Adagio was welcomed inside the trailer with hugs and kisses, Sunset soon to follow.

Adagio thought she knew how to read people, she knew how to read sea life at any rate. And the way she figured it, reading a person couldn’t really have been much different from reading another animal.

She could easily pick up on the fact that Carina was nervous. You’d have to be blind not to see it. Maybe Adagio was reading her wrong, maybe she was only nervous due to the fact that this was her first real big gig. More people to meet and greet, more people to put up a false smile towards and pretend that she liked every one of them. Adagio had been there often enough.

“Carina, is it?” Adagio greeted politely, shaking the woman’s hand. For the life of her, Adagio just couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d seen the woman somewhere before. Maybe it was on a magazine cover or somewhere. Cosmopolitan or Vanity Fair maybe? “A pleasure.”

“Didn’t even realize you liked my music, OOOs,” Carina said. “Nice to have fans from all walks of life.”

Yua lurked outside, keeping an eye on things. If it was time to move, she’d let Adagio know.

“Ah, I actually was basically just dragged here by my sister. And please, call me Adagio. No titles, not here anyways, ” Adagio admitted with a nervous little laugh, rubbing her hand behind her head. Nervously, she ran her hand through her golden locks. “But it was… Oh, how do I put it?”

“One of those you couldn't say no type of deals?” Carina said with a soft smile before spotting Sunset. “...haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Hello Kiwi,” Sunset said stiffly, her tone still polite but even. Obviously, they had met before under less than… pleasant circumstances. Then it hit Adagio like a slap to the face. Kiwi. As in that Kiwi. Kiwi Lollipop of the former girl group PostCrush. She and her sister(?) Supernova Zap had been at the top of the pop charts for a couple of odd years, before like a cataclysm their split had rocked the music world. Adagio only knew this thanks to Aria, who’d been grumbling about how they’d been no talent hacks anyways.

Adagio did have to wonder what Sunset’s deal was with her though. Ex-girlfriend maybe? Had Sunset come to cheer her on in secret? They certainly gave off that vibe, even if you were to ask Adagio everyone Sunset seemed to meet screamed ex-girlfriend at times. Jesus, did that girl have that much bad luck when it came to dating?

“Haven’t seen you in ages!” Kiwi/Carina said. “Not since the…”

“Starswirled Music Festival,” Sunset said, her tone still even. “What’s with the name change?”

“You’d be surprised how hard it is for me to get work as Kiwi. Apparently, without my sister, I’m nothing. So I had to go incognito, so to speak. Do the whole new me deal before anyone could take me seriously again,” Kiwi/Carina said. “The whole music biz is a rough deal. As I’m sure you can empathize.”

Oh, right right… Adagio had forgotten Sunset was a bit of a big deal in the music business. She just didn’t give off that sort of vibe at times.

“Yeah, well, from one musician to another, sorry to hear that,” Sunset said, her tone genuinely empathetic. “I honestly thought you and your sister were go… oh. Idiot!”

She’d smacked herself in the face for reminding Carina of her bad break. “Yes, well,” Carina said. “I’m trying not to be defined by my sister anymore. This is the new me, plain and simple. I’m just a girl who’s trying to show the world what I can do, that’s all.”

“Including taking other musicians off tour?” Adagio pressed, wanting to get to the bottom of tonight’s events. Carina at this looked surprised.

“What do you mean?” Carina said.

“Surely you’ve heard the rumors,” Sunset added. “You’re suddenly the biggest star in the music business and people like Sapphire Shores and Coloratura are dropping their acts. It can’t be a coincidence.”

“Sunset, I’m hurt,” Carina said. “I’m past that, cheating to get ahead of everyone else and get that one perfect show.”

Adagio felt like she was missing something.

“Right, sorry, it’s just…” Sunset mumbled.

“Ever heard of profiling?” Carina asked. “I thought you were supposed to be the embodiment of friendship.”

“I am, it’s just…”

“...I know,” Carina sighed. “Once a villain always a villain I suppose. I admit though, all of this is pretty strange. But I have nothing to do with it.”

Sunset gazed at her for a few minutes before making up her mind. “...yeah, you’re right. I’m an ass. To fresh starts?”

“To fresh starts,” Carina nodded before taking her hand. After the two had reconciled, Adagio looked to Sunset as they left the trailer.

“Something I’m missing?” Adagio had to ask. “Like, what was all of that?”

“It was a long time ago, I suppose it doesn’t really matter now,” Sunset admitted.

“Hey, seemed like it mattered to you!” Adagio replied.

“Alright, it’s like this. Kiw… Ah, Carina and her sister? They’d gotten ahold of a time twirler from Equestria, and used it to do a whole groundhog day loop type deal. They weren’t even aware they’d been doing it till me and Pinks told them. I’d been trapped in that loop for a solid couple of months, actually,” Sunset admitted with Adagio wincing in sympathy. “After the whole beat them to earn their friendship, the loop broke.”

“Friendship laser, the whole Nanoha Starlight Breaker nine yards type of deal?” Adagio asked, and Sunset stared at her. “What, I’m not completely pop-culture illiterate!”

“Nah, didn’t even have to go that far,” Sunset laughed. “Ended up joining them onstage for a song to show them that they didn’t have to have the perfect gig as long as their fans were enjoying it. That seemed to put them on the right track.”

“And yet still you suspected Carina… er Kiwi for creating a Yummy,” Adagio said silently judging her. “Nice, real nice.”

“Old habits die hard, I guess…” Sunset admitted shamefully. “Still, someone’s created a yummy and someone wants to take out the competition so… No, it couldn’t be, could it?”

“What? What is it?” Yua inquired. “Come on, if you’ve got something, we gotta know!”

“I… well, I still need to confirm my suspicions,” Sunset said. “We need a trap, and frankly looks like I’m on bait duty.”

She whispered something to Adagio and Yua, and their eyes widened. It took a fair bit of doing, but eventually later that night another concert was put together. A live broadcast of Sunset herself doing her greatest hits.

“In the dusty basement where we met
May you surprised so much
Because you're talking now…” Sunset sang, softly strumming her guitar with all eyes on her. Recorded at the Cheesman Park Pavilion, the yummy and the person behind it were sure to see the concert.

And that was exactly what Sunset and Adagio were counting on. It was too tempting not to resist. Adagio had argued with Sunset for a bit, saying that she didn’t need to put herself in danger like this. Sunset had refuted that she didn’t need to put herself in danger to save her school and her city time and time again back when she was a student and yet she did. That had silenced the argument.

“Think the Hornet will take the bait?” Adagio said as she and Yua watched from the shadows. They’d managed to find another nearby structure to watch the proceedings.

“They’d be a fool not to,” Yua said, her gun in its holster hidden beneath the folds of her coat. “Sunset’s a prime target, she’s the last of the truly great musicians the Denver’s produced. Carina, or whoever’s behind this? If they’re going to strike, now would be the time.”

A distinct buzzing filled the air, and both Yua and Adagio shared a nod. Adagio gestured for medals, and Ankh from his hidden spot tossed them.

“Kugawata, Kujaku, Zou!” the driver rang out and Adagio tossed a fireball while Yua fired the birth buster. Together, their shots brought the hornet yummy down, his wings scorched.

“NO!” came a shout and from out for the shadows came a familiar figure.

“Just as we suspected then,” Yua said as Supernova Zap tried to make sure the yummy was still alive. “Someone had to be stealing away musicians, and we figured Kiwi was either lying or you were helping her. Kiwi doesn’t know, does she? That her sister is helping her along like this, kidnapping talent and making her the only viable musician on the block!”

The locust and hopper yummies leaped out of the shadows to attack Adagio, but the Rider punched them away before changing combos once again.

“Same, Unagi, Ookamiuo!” Adagio’s driver said as she lashed her whips keeping the two yummies at bay. She changed combos again -”Kugawata, Unagi, Ookamiuo!”- and blasted them back with a ball of green lightning.

“I’m sorry, but… but… This was the only way. After PostCrush broke up, my sister couldn’t find a gig. So I helped her from the shadows, recommending her when she needed it. That worked, for a while anyways. But it wasn’t enough! She wasn’t packing them in like me and her used to,” Supernova babbled near tears. “So I had to get drastic.”

“And so you made a deal with this Uva,” Carina said sternly as she walked out of the shadows glaring at her sister. “And resorted to kidnapping?”

“I’m sorry sis!” Supernova sobbed. Carina hugged her.

“I know… I know…” she whispered.

Adagio, seeing the yummies were handled for the time being, canceled out her transformation. She looked Supernova in the eye. “This isn’t how you do it though. Your sister was getting by on her own merits. Now tell me, where’d your yummy put them? The others, I mean.”

Nervously, Supernova handed the location on her phone. Yua and Carina shared a look before running off calling for a taxi.

“I assume you’re going to take me in now?” Supernova mumbled holding out her hands.

“Well, I…” Adagio started before a voice cut her off.

“Giving up so soon?” Uva chittered.

“Yes, really!” Starlight laughed as she too stepped into view.

“Get behind me,” Adagio said and Supernova nervously did that. “When I say so, run. Don’t worry about me, I can handle these two clowns.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the other yummies recovering. Adagio could feel the wave of power coming off Uva. Was this what a complete Greeed was like?

“You’ve really managed to one-up yourself this time, Uva,” Adagio said sternly. “Preying upon a defenseless teenager like that. Now I’m really going to enjoy kicking your ass. You and your yummies are going down.”

“Oooh, brave words. But I think you’ll find a complete Greeed a whole new type of challenge.”

“And there’s still me, assuming you survive Uva and his… lackeys,” Starlight said. “Now I don’t know about you, but five against one? Those aren’t very good odds.”

“Yes, well,” Adagio said. “I’ve been known to beat the odds before. And you two have to be stopped. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but you two have to be stopped. That’s my decree, and I will not give up until this city can rest peacefully again. Ankh, medal me up!”

---

“Wow, little three-way Mexican standoff,” Starlight said as both she and Adagio held up their drivers even as Uva changed into his true form. Even as she slapped on her Driver, Starlight remarked: “Always dreamed about something like this.”

“You have odd dreams. So here we are again,” Adagio said, slapping on her driver as all three Yummies surrounded her, Uva brandishing his claws and horns crackling with green electricity. Adagio heard the distinct whizzing sound of medals flying through the air. Reaching out her hand, she ripped them from the air and tossed them in her driver. “Let’s hope after this little beatdown-”

“Equalize, Scienticize! Energize, Solarize!”

“Taka, Kujaku, Condor! Ta~Ja~Dol!”

“-That you’ll stay down for a good long while!” Adagio stated, flames crackling all around her, and the room filled with a certain type of distinctive warmth. She knew it well. With each step she took, the earth cracked and flames were left in her wake. The first yummy, the one based on the locust rushed her and received a powerful punch to the face for his troubles. The grasshopper Yummy was flipped to the floor, the ground cracking beneath him, spiderweb style ruptures erupting underneath.

Adagio sent a searing blast of fire at the Hornet Yummy making him stagger, little cells scattering all over the floor. Several more punches and he was on the floor. Uva let out a roar of rage, and green lightning filled the room, shattering the lights and leaving the world one of black.

Adagio’s eyes glowed a red in the darkness, and from out of the gloom she saw a green flash of electricity. The air sizzling, she side-stepped to the left. She felt the rush of movement and grabbed Uva by the arm before slamming a fist into the insect greeed’s face. Adagio let out a sharp yelp of pain Uva’s claws ripped across her armor before he slammed a foot into her chest.

Adagio slid across the floor, using her fist to stop herself, and sparks flew. Her chest plate glowed, and Adagio’s arm shield followed suite. Almost as if it was trying to tell her something.

Grabbing three medals tossed to her, Adagio watched Ankh slinking back into the darkness. Pulling her arm shield open, she slammed three cores into empty slots. “Sai, Gorilla, Zou, Gin Gin Gin! Giga Scan!”

Firing a massive spiked missile at Uva, he was punted across the room. Adagio was behind him in a flash of red fire, and then above him bringing her fists down in a hammer maneuver atop his head. Uva plummeted through several floors, but before he hit the ground he managed to right himself. Leaping back upwards with his grasshopper abilities, he was soon upon Adagio with fist drawn back. Adagio’s eyes widened before Uva reached out and slammed his fist into her face. Instead of punching her, however, he grabbed her before running along the ground. As he did so, he dragged her along the wall, ripping through it and her armor. Rubble and armor shards flew everywhere.

Adagio tumbled along the ground before she finally lay to rest. Picking herself up again, she swapped medals. “Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo, Gin Gin Gin! Giga Scan!”

Launching a shuriken of water at Uva, she was pleased to see him leap over it. This was exactly what Adagio had planned for, and spinning on her heel, she scanned the medals in her belt.

“Scanning Charge!” the belt shouted as Adagio slammed both of her feet in Uva’s stomach in a mule kick. Watching as talons ripped into Uva, Adagio out of the corner watched him fly as cells sprinkled down.

It was going to take a few finishers to finally reduce him down to core medals, she knew that much. He had gorged himself on the cells in the Kougami Vault, and this ‘complete’ status had so much more armor than any prior form of Uva’s.

Oh well, it was nothing she wasn’t ready for. Uva was still Uva, new power or no. He was just as reckless, and just as easy to anger. It was the other fights Adagio was really concerned about. Starlight outclassed her by a country mile, and Adagio didn’t see backup coming about any time soon.

Speaking of which, ah, here she was. Starlight was running forwards and then jumped right at her in a diving kick. Adagio cartwheeled backward, spinning around to catch Starlight in the stomach with a powerful kick of her own. Several more rapid-fire kicks followed, drawn from the French art of Savate. ...which admittedly, Adagio only knew from one scene from that one movie Aria had dragged her to watch one late night.

Starlight was constantly kept on the defensive by Adagio’s kicks, forced to use her wrists to block the blows. And this, of course, was about the time Adagio noticed Starlight’s armor beginning to glow and crackle with energy.

She had only the briefest moment to let out a small “Aw shit…” before she was slammed into the back wall by a shockwave of energy. Starlight smirked under her helmet, grabbing Adagio by the throat. Tossing her aside, Starlight heard the sharp ‘crack’ of fist hitting face.

Uva was back on his feet. Landing several powerful blows, he finished his onslaught by punching Adagio into the next room, rubble from the ruined wall landing all around her. Uva leaped after her, claws at the ready. Adagio rolled to the side, before flipping up onto her feet just in time to land a kick to Uva’s chest armor. Running her scanner across the belt, she kicked him again this time with even more force. Uva staggered, several cell medals falling to the ground.

Adagio took a running leap forwards, landing several kicks to Uva whilst still in mid-air. More and more cells dropped to the floor. Finally, Uva had enough, grabbing Adagio by the leg and slamming her into the ground. Adagio tried to right herself with another flip, only for Uva to cut her down with a leg sweep. Adagio’s eyes widened under her helmet as she saw Uva charging up electricity, and she thought fast. Swiping her hand along her arm shield, Uva’s face was covered in a blast of fire. Adagio righted herself, and continued swiping, making the arm shield fire off several more fire blasts.

The Medajalibur was summoned, and Adagio grabbed some of the cells off the floor slotting them into the blade. Slashing forwards, the air warped with what hopefully would be the final finisher Uva needed to go down. He staggered, a green kamakiri core medal falling to the floor.

Starlight rushed forwards, ready to get in on the action and do some damage to Uva as well. Three cores fell into the blade, one by one. Adagio swung the Medajalibur, green lightning scorching the air.

Both Uva and Starlight staggered back, cells and cores going flying. Adagio knew it was time to change medals. Thinking of Takeru’s smiling face, she focused on that even as she changed combos. “Takeru… watch my transformation!”

“Kuwagata, Kamakiri, Batta: Ga~ta-Gata-Gata-Kiri, Ba! Gatakiriba!" the driver called out, Adagio covered in green insectoid armor, her horns crackling with lightning. The air smelled of ozone.

“Those… those are my cores!” Uva raged.

“Not right now they’re not,” Adagio said striding forwards, arm blades flipping out. “The winds are as ever-changing as my own abilities, now don’t you ever underestimate the powers of the animal kingdom!”

Several punches showed a dramatic increase in speed, and while there wasn’t much as power behind them, Adagio didn’t care. That wasn’t what this combo was meant for. It was meant for overwhelming your enemies before they knew what hit them.

She remembered when the other Adagio had this power, and what it’s abilities were. Good, at least she wasn’t dashing in unawares. Running across the room, before running alongside the wall, outpacing Starlight’s energy blasts, Adagio laughed. She felt so free. Yeah, right, no time to rest on her own laurels. She had a job to do. Leaping off the wall with enough force to crack it in a series of spiderwebs, Adagio flipped in midair with her left leg aimed in a powerful axe kick. The kick missed at the very last moment, but cracked the ground below it creating a small fissure.

Adagio allowed Starlight no time to breath, giving her no quarter. Lightning-fast punch after lightning-fast punch flew, and if Starlight dodged these by even an inch? An arm blade slashed out to greet her.

Starlight was constantly on the defensive, Adagio allowing herself a moment of cockiness as she practically danced across the battlefield. Her Savate abilities -thanks Aria!- sprang into action, kick after kick striking Starlight. “Got to keep it real, right?” Adagio remarked, grinning.

“SHUT UP!” Starlight roared, and an energy wave lashed out. Adagio pushed herself up off her feet, and aimed for the sky. The abilities of the grasshopper were evidently not to be underestimated, and she dived forwards for a non-scanning charge powered Rider Kick.

Starlight’s wrist flung upwards at the last moment, and Adagio was forced to flip backwards to set herself up for another strike. She settled for punching Starlight in the face. Starlight caught the following punch, and twisted Adagio’s wrist making her let out a scream. The Head of Foundation X then shoved her palm into Adagio’s stomach.

Forcing out all of the gathered kinetic energy, Starlight sent Adagio crashing through several walls and out into the street. From out of the smoke, Starlight came, her armor still crackling with energy. Thrusting her hands forwards, beams of light erupted forth and slammed into Adagio, smacking her up against a wall. From the sounds of it, they were threatening to send her catapulting through that one as well.

Finally, Adagio managed to pull herself away as the energy beams tore through the wall. Cartwheeling along the street to avoid several energy blasts, Adagio grabbed a car and tossed it at Starlight. The Rider sliced it in half with an energy blast, but her eyes widened under her helmet as Adagio catapulted forwards fist drawn back. The car was only a distraction, and she’d pushed herself off the ground to punch Starlight directly in the face.

Starlight reacted at the last minute, and suddenly she was above Adagio with an axe kick of her own. Adagio let out a scream of pain as she slammed into the concrete.

“So falls Kamen Rider OOOs…” Starlight chuckled darkly, rolling Adagio over and reaching for her belt. Amazingly, it was Uva to the rescue. His Rocky Mountain Locust and Milkweed grasshopper yummies mobbed Starlight, and while she struggled to fend them off, the Asian Giant Hornet yummy stung Starlight again and again and again. Uva finished the mobbing with a solid punch to the face.

“So, what,” Starlight remarked, rubbing her chin. “Is this a ‘I’m the only one who’s allowed to defeat her’ type of deal?”

Uva shrugged before answering: “Pretty much!”

Lightning ripped through Starlight’s armor as Uva interlaced his claws with green electricity. Slashing downwards and across the chest, he practically mauled Starlight and it was only because of her armor that she wasn’t ripped open entirely.

Starlight spun around the next slash and kicked Uva in the back, shoving him forwards. His next slash ripped open the Locust Yummy. He snarled in rage and spun around only for Starlight to grab him by the wrist and flip him into the ground.

This was all Adagio needed, as she’d recovered and with a simple leg sweep ripped Starlight’s legs out from under her. The Rider toppled to the ground, but was soon back on her feet. A blast to the chest sent Adagio flying into a car. Starlight barely had time to rest before the Milkweed grasshopper yummy slammed his foot into her face. His Rocky Mountain Locust counterpart, likewise, slammed a fist into her gut.

“Geez, you’re like a regular pair of knock-off double riders…” Starlight mumbled. “You just need the scarves and you’re good to go!”

“That’s the idea actually,” Uva chimed in, sending Starlight staggering back with electricity blasts. “I do read, you know. Despite the rumors, I’m not completely illiterate. After all, better to know your enemies than to not to and get caught off guard. I’ve read about Riders Ichigo and Nigo. The way I figure it, imitation is the sincerest form of screwing your enemies over!”

He punctuated this with a kick to Starlight’s chest. She staggered and earned a headbutt for her troubles.

In the background, Adagio rose up, grabbed Starlight by the shoulder and flipped her into the ground. Starlight aimed an energy blast at her fellow Rider with a humming sound, and had Adagio not been a second faster she might have been decapitated.

This time Adagio was the one on the defensive, dodging energy blasts left and right. She let out a yelp as Uva charged in, sidestepped, and let Uva take the next blast. The Hornet and Locust Yummies mobbed Starlight and got a few good blows in before they were knocked away by an energy shockwave.

That gave Adagio an idea, as she’d observed that Starlight seemed to have ‘trouble’ handling multiple opponents at once.

Several green flashes lit up the street and Starlight found herself facing multiple GataKiriBas. At least eight to ten in total. They surrounded her, and all rushed in.

Clones 1 and 2 slashed at Starlight with their arm blades, Clone 3 jumping in with a diving kick. Starlight grabbed it by the leg and tossed it into 1 and 2. Slamming a fist into the ground, Starlight up-ended Clone 4 and Clone 5 with a small earthquake. Drawing back her fist, she punched Clone 6 out of existence.

Clones 7 and 8 rushed forwards and kicked skywards with dual side kicks. Clone 9 fired electricity at her. The original Adagio came from behind and kicked the now stunned Starlight through a building.

Starlight staggered to her feet, before slamming Adagio into a wall with an energy blast.

Starlight was upon her, punching her several times in rapid succession. Adagio staggered woozily only to get knocked off the rooftop. She, in rather undignified fashion, crashed into a dumpster.

As Starlight cackled above her, Adagio let out a groan of pain. It might as well have been Ankh laughing at her for all the good she was doing. Fury raced through her at that thought. Oh, the indignity. She would not let that bird win!

Adagio leaped upwards to face her opponent once more, but Starlight was back on street level. And once again, she’d engaged Uva and his yummy hoard.

The Locust and Hopper yummies round-house kicked Starlight opening up for several stings from the Hornet yummy. She staggered -geez, how tough was this woman, Adagio had to wonder- only to get hit by a big ball of electricity from Uva.

With Starlight temporarily out of the picture, Adagio pressed her offensive and sliced through the Locust and Hopper Yummies. Cells spilled to the floor, as Adagio retracted her arm blades. The Hornet Yummy surged forwards but Adagio elbowed him in the face. Her arm blade ripped his head from his shoulders, medals spilling everywhere.

“One down, three to go…” Adagio murmured. She dodged several punches from Uva and deflected the last with her elbow. Pulling away, the woman turned to face the other two Yummies.

Calling for the Medajalibur, Adagio loaded several cells into the blade. The air rippled as she struck down the Locust and then the Hopper. Allowing herself a moment to breathe, Uva came up from behind and locked his elbows around her neck. As Adagio gasped for breath, the Medajalibur clattered to the street. The Locust and Hopper Yummies reformed and unleashed a series of lightning-fast punches to Adagio’s gut.

Uva pulled away at the final punch at the very last moment as Adagio was sent flying. In a split-second, her arm blades implanted themselves in the street to slow her down.

Uva’s horns charged up and sliced through the air in a ball of lightning. Adagio unleashed a ball of green energy of her own. Both balls collided, and the air cracked with the sound of thunder. A bright flash illuminated the street, nearly blinding and windows shattered. Both Uva and Adagio were sent flying backwards. Adagio regained her footing first, and summoned the Medajalibur to her hands once more. Loading Ankh’s medals into it, she planted her feet.

A burning slash turned the Locust and Hopper yummies to cinders. Adagio sliced at the air, sending two more burning slashes at Uva. He staggered as one arm burned off, only to swiftly reform. Adagio surged forwards, slamming the blade of the Medajalibur through his gut.She wrenched the sword out and watched as cells spilled out from Uva’s body.

Uva grabbed her by the neck, using his free hand to scoop cells back into her body. Once he’d reformed enough of his body, he tossed her aside. He picked up a car, and slammed it into her. Adagio destroyed it with a lightning blast. She leaped forwards, slashing at Uva with the Medajalibur, full moon at her back. Letting out a warcry, she probably would have decapitated Uva had he not ducked his head.

She could feel it, the Green Cores gnawing at her. It wouldn’t be long before she was on the rampage. She could change to stave it off, but she had to do it soon. Keeping Takeru’s face pictured in her mind, Adagio changed her combo for the second time. “Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo: Sa-Ra-Mi-Uo! Sa! Ra! Mi-Uo!”

Thrusting her spear forwards, Adagio ate away at Uva’s armor with a massive drill of water. She slashed through his body, doing more damage. She changed again, and the air practically ignited as cinder coated wings erupted from Adagio’s back. Her helmet burned red, sharp and angled like a feather. A third combo sprung into play. “Taka, Kujaku, Condor! Ta~Ja~Dol!”

“What, you think all of these combos will do anything?” Uva said. “You take away my cells, I’ll just reform. You can’t destroy my cores, so fighting me is impossible!”

“So?” Adagio said shoving a hand into his body and ripping out several more green cores. “I’ll just have to steal them then. Bury them all across the earth, that should shut down your blabbering mouth for a bit.”

Locking her thighs around Uva’s head, she wrestled him to the ground Black Widow style.

She heard the screech too late, saw the flicker too late, and turned to see Starlight. Starlight’s boot slammed into her helmet, the Rider having teleported back to the battlefront. Adagio staggered before Starlight grabbed her with one hand and tossed her bodily skywards.

Adagio thudded into the ground behind her. Groaning out in pain, she loaded the red cores into her arm shield, before slamming the cover shut. “Taka, Kujaku, Condor! Gin Gin Gin! Giga Scan!”

Adagio surged forwards hitting Starlight with the force of 100 tons. Starlight braced, and the predictable happened. Adagio was sent flying backward, knocked out of her transformation.

“Foolish girl,” Starlight scoffed, grabbing Uva by the throat. “You’re just playing at being a Rider. I’m done playing.”

Adagio was powerless to stop what happened next.

“X Kick.” Starlight said swinging her foot in a powerful roundhouse maneuver. The foot glowed with sickly purple and gold energy, remnants of the Muteki Ridewatch’s power. Uva was reduced to cells and then… his cores shattered.

Adagio’s eyes widened, and Ankh’s jaw dropped. The King of Birds, watching from the shadows had seen everything.

Starlight grabbed up all of the Green Cores as she canceled out her transformation, looking barely even winded. She had only this to say: “There’s a new power on the block. Fall in line, or be destroyed.”

Starlight strode off, not a word left.

Adagio’s eyes stung with tears. She hadn’t loved Uva, not by any means. But to see him destroyed just like that was… it was horrifying. And she’d played a part in that. If she hadn’t whittled down Uva so much, maybe Starlight’s new Rider Kick wouldn’t have destroyed him.

She felt like she was going to be sick, bile rising up in her throat. She’d… she’d actually killed someone. Or at the very least, helped play a part in it. “What… what have I done?” Adagio whispered looking at her hands. While they weren’t covered in blood, they might as well have been. “I’m… I’m a murderer.”

“Come on… come on Adagio,” Ankh said as he helped her up, looking thoroughly shaken. Adagio could only guess what was going on in his head. Shock, horror, disgust? “We’ve got to get out of here, we’ve got to get you to the hospital. I’m amazed you haven’t collapsed outright. You strained yourself. 4 full medal combos in rapid succession! You should be dead!”

“Yeah, I should be…” Adagio whispered looking at the cell medals scattered throughout the street as if they were pools of blood.

“Well, isn’t this interesting!” Kazari laughed as the Feline Greeed stepped onto the scene, arms crossed. “So we can be killed. Nice to know. Well, Uva had it coming I suppose.”

“He was your friend!” Adagio snarled that old fire back. If Ankh hadn’t been holding her so tightly, she probably would have wrenched herself from his grip and pummeled Kazari to a pulp. “He was your comrade!”

“He was neither,” Kazari said, scooping up the last of the Green Cores. One by one, he swallowed them, as if it didn’t matter who they once belonged to. “I barely tolerated him as is. He was just a means to an end. Starlight did me a favor honestly. I knew my faith in her wasn’t going to be misplaced.”

“You’re a monster!” Adagio hissed out.

“Helllllllloooooo, an embodiment of desire here?” Kazari commented, Ankh watching him intensely with a seething hatred. His fingers were just barely able to dial 911 as it is. “I just happened to desire Uva dead. I take what I want, every time.”

“You put out a hit on Uva!?!” Ankh shrieked.

“Hey, you wanted him dead too, right?” Kazari said, barely able to stop himself from laughing outright. “You said it to me, didn’t you? One less Greeed for the both of us to worry over, and more medals for us, hooray right?”

Adagio looked at Ankh with a piercing look. “Is… is this true?”

“Oh, trouble with the missus?” Kazari remarked. “I knew you had the hots for her, but oh man… Boy, it must burn you up to not be able to provide for your woman. Must be why you let Firefly have her, right? Knowing you’d never be the proper man for her. Honestly, it was a fool’s endeavor from the start. Greeed and humans can’t mix! Not that way.”

Ankh stayed silent, a boiling cauldron of rage.

“Admit it, you just stayed to protect her. That’s why you wanted Uva dead right? So that nobody will threaten your nest. Guess I should watch my back, riiiiiiiiigggghhhhtt?” Kazari continued the sounds of sirens somewhere in the background. He walked off with a little wave and a remark of: “Toodles!”

“Is… it true?” Adagio asked and Ankh’s silence said volumes. Fighting back tears, Adagio slapped him straight across the face. “Get out… Get out of my life. I’m done.”

As she was loaded into the ambulance, Adagio caught another look at Ankh’s face and for a brief moment swore she saw heartbreak in his eyes. She must have been imagining it through.

Far and away, Starlight stumbled into her office. She’d actually done it. She’d killed one of the Greeed. And some of the cores were hers! Finally, finally, some of her goals were starting to come into fruition. Tossing her head back, she laughed long and hard before thinking: “Someday soon, I’ll be able to kill you… Queen Nightmare Moon.”

Author's Notes:

Adagio's Medals: Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo, Gorilla, Sai, Zou, Unagi, Tako, Taka (x2), Kujaku, Condor.

Starlight's Moonkiller Form stats.

Punching Power: 70 t.
Kicking Power: 100 t.
Maximum Jump Height: 50 m

28: Halloween Special: Season of the Witch

Adagio honestly didn’t even know why she was doing this.

Uva had been her enemy! And yet here she found herself on a canoe rowing not out to sea, but out to the middle of an otherwise barren fish tank with a small jar of Uva’s cells. Sonata was on one side of her, and Aria was on the other, with Yua right behind them, all three on surfboards. Hawaiian traditional funerals and all.

She knew they were looking at her in concern, she could feel their eyes boring into the back of her skull even as she paddled out to the center of the tank. It was no ocean, but it would do.

It wasn’t long before they reached the center, and Adagio took a deep breath. She wasn’t exactly a reverend, but it would have to do.

“Na ‘Aumakua mai ka la hiki a ka la kau!
Mai ka ho’oku’i a ka halawai
Na ‘Aumakua ia Kahinakua, ia Kahina’alo
Ia ka’a ‘akau i ka lani
‘O kiha i ka lani
‘Owe i ka lani
Nunulu i ka lani
Kaholo i ka lani
Eia na pulapula a ‘oukou ‘o ka po’e Hawai’i
E malama ‘oukou ia makou
E ulu i ka lani
E ulu i ka honua
E ulu i ka pae’aina o Hawai’i

“E ho mai i ka ‘ike
E ho mai i ka ikaika
E ho mai i ke akamai
E ho mai i ka maopopo pono
E ho mai i ka ‘ike papalua
E ho mai i ka mana.
‘Amama ua noa.”

As she spoke, she scattered the cell medals into the waters, and watched as they gently floated down into the sands below. From the seas they’d come, and from the seas they’d return. Taking a deep shuddering breath, the woman finally spoke again. “Okay, uh… I don’t even honestly know why I’m doing this. You were my enemy, the only times we knew each other were when we were trying to kill each other. I have to keep this short anyways, given I have to open the aquarium in an hour. But uh… I guess you deserve at least this, given you were used and abused by the other Greeed in your short lifetime, so having someone give you your last rites? It shows you at least someone’s willing to give you the respect you deserve. And I admit it, I did respect you. Didn’t have to like you, but I did respect you for your drive, and your determination. And maybe… one day soon? We’ll meet again, somewhere over the rainbow and not on a battlefield, but as equals and as friends. I’ll swear I’ll stop Kazari, and Ankh, and Starlight. You deserve at least that much. I’ll get your cores back, and give them a proper burial, put them in a place where nobody, not even me, will be able to touch them ever again. Till we meet again, Uva.”

And finally, Adagio felt like a great weight had been pulled off of her shoulders. Her time as OOOs wasn’t over yet, not by a long shot. She had a greeed to avenge.

---

In the Greeed’s home, tensions ran high. Mezool and Kazari could sense that Uva had left this mortal coil; most likely struck down by Adagio and Ankh. Mezool was trying her very best to stay calm about it, which was more than she could say about Kazari, who was just finishing disemboweling a table, leaving nothing but splinters in his wake as he shredded it with his bare claws, breathing heavily as he looked over the remains of his victimised piece of furniture.

“Kazari? Why’d you smash up the table?” Gamel asked, sauntering in from the corner onto the scene. “I liked that table. It’s where some of my finest works came to life, y’know. You totally owe me a new one.”

“Blame that witch,” Kazari said, plain and simple. “Her and that scum, Ankh.”

“Oh, don’t pretend you actually cared about Uva,” Mezool sighed. “You hated him like the rest of us.”

She cast a glance towards Gamel, who was desperately trying to restore even one of Uva’s cores to life, by dumping cell medal after cell medal on top of it. “Well, most of us anyways…”

“By the way? Has anyone seen Uva around anywhere?” Gamel asked, which caused Kazari to feel another shiver run up his spine. Gamel just watched as Kazari screamed, putting his hands to his head, then raced off and drove his claws through the walls, leaving scratch marks all the away along. “What? Was it something I said?”

“Gamel? Do you… not know what happened to Uva?” Mezool stood up and walked over to his side, laying a hand on his shoulder. “Oh, you poor, poor thing.”

“Oh well, I’m sure he’ll be back. I guess he needs time to think, he’ll come back to us eventually,” Gamel shrugged and looked around. “By the way, Kazari must be really mad about things, huh? I would be too, given the whole OOOs deal.”

He doesn’t seem to have any clue. Mezool pondered to herself as she watched Gamel eventually walk away from her and lounge against one of the walls that Kazari had so callously clawed up. Oh, Gamel. You sweet, innocent, little dumpling. If only you knew the truth. Then Adagio Dickweed would be six feet under by now.

“Right. I can’t take this anymore,” Kazari finally spoke up, attracting both pairs of eyes to his. “I’m going outside to blow off some steam. Maybe slice and dice some of these meatsacks up too. Depends.”

And with that, he left the room with the speed of a cheetah.

“Well, well, well… Whatever are we going to do about this?” Mezool asked, now that she and Gamel were alone. “Kamen Rider OOOs is simply far too much for us, isn’t he, sweetie?”

“No way. She just got lucky. That, and she’s got that meanie-pants Ankh on her side,” Gamel spat back. “We should all rush her at once! Maybe that’s what Kazari’s doing! Setting up a good place for us to ambush her and strike her down! We should go!”

“Patience, Gamel. Adagio Dazzle will get what is coming to her in due course,” Mezool pushed her fingers together. “We are already getting stronger with each medal we amass. It is only a matter of time before we finally achieve our dreams, and these human brats get swallowed by the raging waters of the sea,” She walked back over to the couch, lounging on it as any diva would. “Anyways, how is your newest pet coming along, dear?”

Gamel placed a cell into his head, and out from his body popped a rhino yummy.

“Good, that’s great of you sweetie! That’s sure to defeat Adagio!” Mezool praised before her thoughts turned darker. “But would it be enough to defeat Starlight? She’s truly who I’m worried about.”

A soft rap at the window caught her attention, and she wandered outside taking a long sigh.

“You’ve got balls coming here, you know that right?” she said, the aquatic animal greeed’s head not even turning to look at Ankh, who was perched atop the rooftop. “It’s really your own fault, you know.”

“Tell me, how’s Gamel taking it?” Ankh wondered.

“He doesn’t know. And for your partner’s sake, it would be best if he doesn’t know,” Mezool shook her head disapprovingly. “Why are you here, Ankh? You’re already branded a traitor to the Greeed. What’s stopping me from alerting every creature we have to you right now?”

“Not much, I admit,” Ankh said watching Mezool with a careful eye. “But I think you’re mistaken. Me and Adagio, we’re not partners anymore. Bitch ditched me.”

“Well, then that’s your own fault, isn’t it? That little rat is too pure of heart to be mingling with the likes of you,” Mezool turned her back to Ankh.

“Was that a compliment towards Adagio I heard?” Ankh asked, surprised.

“Don’t joke,” Mezool said. “Also? If you want Cell Medals, then I’m afraid we have none to spare. As for our alliance, don’t even bother trying. You had your chance and you blew it. Now, both sides are against you. All they need do is pull the trigger and your wings will be clipped, ‘old friend’.”

“Medals, medals, medals!” Ankh said before giving out another ‘tsk’ as he shook his head, jumping onto the balcony with her. “I bet I could give you every cell and every core in my body and it still wouldn’t be enough! You’d never be satisfied.”

“Touche. Your negotiation skills never were the best of the best, Ankh. But you always have a method behind your madness, don’t you? Whether you’re working with us or against us.” Mezool turned back to Ankh, transforming into her Greeed form. “Now, I’ll ask you again. Why are you here?”

“Oh, just to dispense some advice, really…” Ankh said looking out towards the city, he’d noticed how… resigned Mezool had sounded to her fate. “If you want my advice, give up the conquering. You can be killed now, all of you can. And I’m sure if one Rider can figure out how to kill a Greeed? The rest are sure to follow. Me, I’m starting to learn how to appreciate humanity.”

“Even if they don’t appreciate you?” Mezool asked. Ankh ignored her and continued speaking.

“Me, what I’d be doing right now? Probably doing what the humans call clubbing, or whatevs. Enjoying life. I’m done with collecting cores really. It’s gotten me nowhere, and burned -no pun intended- any friendships I might have had. So me? I’m just going to have some real fun. I’d suggest you’d follow my advice, actually!” the bird greeed laughed.

“Of course…” Mezool just smashed a glass window with her fist, sending shrapnels of glass directly into Ankh’s leg. If it weren’t for the fact that he was just an arm, that would have REALLY hurt. Too bad for the sucker he was controlling. “Just go, Ankh. I am one word away from bringing this whole place down on top of you. And you don’t wanna know when to take the hint.”

“Hmm, so much rage and so much anger,” Ankh said, perched atop the balcony rail. “It’s really not healthy. Of course, who am I to expect you to listen to me. Find, get yourselves killed. All of you! See what I care.”

“Or…?” Mezool questioned.

“Or actually make something of yourselves, you and Gamel. You want to figure me out, right?” Ankh pressed. “First, figure out what makes humanity tick. It’ll help, trust me. It’s a Friday night, I’m sure a nice woman like yourself can find something to do! Or die alone and miserable wondering what might have been, it’s your choice.”

And before Mezool could answer, he was off, leaping into the city streets below.

“Lousy bastard. I don’t know why the King even created him to be one of us,” Mezool muttered to herself as she wandered out of the room, off to the depths of the Greeed house. “...still, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, maybe he’s right. Wow, that felt weird to say. I need something to do.”

Taking a look outside, she noticed the decorations on every house. Ghosts, ghouls, and other monsters. She’d never understand humans, really! But… maybe she should try. Great, here she was, seriously considering Ankh’s offer! But, clearly living amongst the fleshlings had changed him. Maybe she should try to understand why, if only to figure out what to use against him.

A knock at the door caught her attention. She opened it, only to see some very small humans dressed in strange costumes.

“Trick or treat!” they called, with more of them apparently on the way.

With a sigh, she chose ‘treat’ and tossed some apples from the pantry at each of them before slamming the door shut. Greedy little brats. Maybe she should have just chosen ‘trick’ and scared them off in her monster form.

“Mezool?” Gamel asked, wandering in.

“Yes dear?” she asked her child.

“All of those small humans, they seem to be getting candy for free!” he said. “I want some!”

“Well, you wanted to understand humans…” Mezool mused to herself. “Let’s get some then. Gamel, grab your new yummy! We’re going shopping!”

With laughs, they both changed into their monster forms and took to the streets with the Rhino Yummy in tow. Little did they know that they weren’t the only monsters out tonight…

For in Denver tonight, in a seemingly-abandoned part of the road, there was a house. A rather eerie, haunted-mansion-like house that you would only see in a really cheesy theme park or in that of a horror movie. With peeling wood on the outside, large, skeleton-like trees with no leaves on them growing on the grass, and a number of gravestones risen from the ground, it was the perfect place for something dastardly to take up residence.

And sure enough, there was such a beast inside. One that had a fleshy structure, with two large loops on her shoulders. Her mouth was oozing with a bioluminescent bile, and every last inch of her was covered in fur. Another year, another harvest.

“This is Halloween, everybody screams! Won’t you please make way for one very special monster!” Giranbo said to herself as she brewed up her extra special candy. One rat tail, one hair of a virgin. The eye of a newt, and the slime of a wendigo. “Aaaaaaaaaaah, it’s so good to be back in the game! I’ve been trapped here for a year, and I’ve got only one night to feast before I go into hibernation for another year. Let’s make it a good harvest, eh?”

She’d had to abandon Japan, people had gotten wise to her. They’d said to stop trusting strangers, for they might be a baku in disguise. And of course, there were those damn Oni Riders. They’d tried to get rid of her, the nerve! She was simply just another animal, she needed to feed after all. It eventually got to the point where it simply wasn’t worth the risk. Now here in America though… That was another story! No Riders, and nobody to stop her.

Oooooh, her candy was done! Time to get a move on, she only had a couple of hours before midnight and the holiday was over!

Her form shifting, she took her favorite disguise. Well, she was a witch, so she might as well look the part. And on this night, with everyone in costume, a monster in disguise was only fitting.

Be warned, Denver. The original monster was on the prowl, she thought with a laugh.

Grabbing her lollipops, each dripping green slime, she shoved as many as she could fit inside two plastic pumpkins and took to the streets on a bicycle. It was lucky for her humans were such total suckers for suckers. Otherwise this job might have been harder!

And there, on the streets, were her first victims of the night. A pair of little kids, one boy and one girl. The boy was dressed up in a vampire outfit, while the girl was dressed up as a witch. Both of them held their hands as they walked down the street, trying to find a house they could hit. They both looked out for jack-o-lanterns on the steps, and eventually found one. Up they went to the house, to which they both knocked on the door. The two children waited as a woman opened the door wide and noticed both of them standing on her porch.

“Trick-or-Treat!” They both chorused together as the woman squatted down to their height; a tender smile on her face.

“Oh, well look at you two!” She grinned as she handed the children some candies, depositing them into their buckets. “You look really good, you know. Have a wonderful Halloween now, okay?”

“We will!” They both nodded. “Happy Halloween!”

They waved her off and scampered back down the stairs down to the road, candies acquired and their business done for this house.

As they came to the road, they then noticed a peculiar figure standing in the road, dressed up as a tall, slender witch. Both of the kids were enthralled by her appearance and went over to her legs.

“Wow, miss! You’re awesome!” The boy complimented.

“And you look super-spooky too!” The girl added.

“Why, thank you. Most children say that to me, but it’s still a pleasure to hear it coming from you.” She squatted down and tousled the hairs of both of the kids tenderly. “My, my. Is that all of the candy you’ve gotten from Halloween this year?” She looked into the buckets and saw that they were quite filled for their size.

“Mmhmm!” The girl nodded and showed the bucket off. “The candies at Halloween are so yummy! I can’t wait to get home and eat them all up!”

“Well, who am I to stop you, then? In fact, why don’t I offer you some of my own candy?” And like that, she procured them. Two of the devilish lollipops that she had been cooking up in her lair. “These lollipops are special. I only make them whenever Halloween comes around for good little boys and girls like you. Take them. My treat.”

And like that, she dropped the lollipops into the hands of the boy and girl.

The two children saw the lollipops there and then. They had no wrapping on them and the green colour was eerie and spooky-looking. Not that either of them minded that, since it was Halloween, after all. Tempted by the tantalising treats, the boy and girl wasted no more time. They brought the lollipops to their mouths and plopped them in. And that was when it all happened.

The lollipops glowed once they were inside the children’s mouths, and magic coiled all around their internal organs, wrapping itself around them like the web a spider would weave to ensnare its prey. On the outside, the children’s pupils grew and grew until they were as wide as the rest of their eyes. A small zombie-like groan escaped their lips as their bodies glowed with a dark shade of green. They were now under the spell of Gilanbo, and stood there waiting for her to strike.

“Excellent,” Giranbo thought, licking her lips. “My first harvests of the night! I’ll leave them to wander for a bit, I’ll call them when I need them. Besides, there’s plenty more where they came from!”

---

“I can’t believe I got talked into this,” Adagio muttered to herself, dressed as a witch. Tugging at her costume, she adjusted her hat and stuffed some of her curls under it. Groaning when that didn’t work, she had a taka candroid hold her hair back while she tied it into a ponytail. “I don’t even celebrate Halloween! I have work to do, and I’m too old for candy anyways!”

“And you need a break,” Yua said walking into the room. “You’ve been through a lot.”

“Yeah, so?” Adagio argued. “I’m not going to break down crying if that’s what you’re implying. I’m not a little girl.”

“Aquarium’s closed anyways,” Yua pointed out.

“So, I’ll re-open it, do a whole Creeps of the Deep thing for Halloween.” Adagio returned.

“Uh-huh, and you’ll be doing it all by yourself,” Yua pointed out. “Everyone else has got the night off.”

“I’ll just do their jobs myself then, I can handle things all by myself,” Adagio said with a sniff. “Puh-leeze, dressing up in costumes and getting free candy? That’s kids stuff. I’m a grown woman. And yeah, I know parties exist, but I’m simply not interested. That’s Aria and Sonata’s types of thing.”

“Speaking of which, how are your sisters doing, anyway?” Yua asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen much of them...”

“Is this your attempt at casual conversation?” Adagio asked. “You’re my bodyguard, which by the way I’m still on the fence about. I can take care of myself, because hello superhero here. But yeah, you’re not getting paid to speak.”

“Last I checked, I wasn’t getting paid, period. Least not by you,” Yua deadpanned. “You really need to loosen up, Adagio. You’re not like your Equestrian doppelganger, right? Surely, you’ve got some kind of fun aspects to you?”

“Yeah, and they all involve spending time with animals,” Adagio drawled. “I’m still sore about getting dragged to that concert by the way, that music wasn’t really my speed.”

“You sure you wouldn’t have been happier if your boyfriend wasn’t there?” Yua asked.

“...yeeeeeeeah, we’re so failing the Bechdel Test now aren’t we?” Adagio muttered.

“It’s an honest question!” Yua said.

“Well… no, yes! Maybe. I don’t know! It’s a moot point anyways, innit?” Adagio commented. “Considering Takeru’s back in Japan, and actually I’m not paying you to comment on my relationships. Get yourself a girlfriend, or a boyfriend if you’re really that desperate to know how love works.”

“You know, I’m starting to get the feeling that you didn’t have a good upbringing when you were a child, Adagio. You’re always so distant; not to mention, you can’t ever seem to find any fun in anything. It’s always about work with you, which I can respect, but…” Yua mused. “You need to find some time for yourself.”

“And I do,” Adagio said as they walked into the crowded streets. “It’s just that I happen to find enjoyment in my job. Is that so hard for you, or my sisters to understand? Speaking of… And I know I’m probably going to regret asking this, where is…?”

She soon got her answer.

“There are despots and dictators
Political manipulators…” came a voice belting out a boombox as Sonata slid up, dressed as who else but a female version of Kuzco. Adagio watched as her youngest sibling danced across the sidewalk in front of her, going into a moonwalk. Which, Adagio realized with no small amount of horror, Sonata had probably practiced in her room.

“Right on cue…” Yua chuckled.

“...and you know she probably waited for the perfect cue,” Aria said, a cigarette in her mouth as she walked up. Sonata swatted it out of her mouth.

“Bad Aria, no smoking in front of the kids!” Sonata said, gesturing to two giggling teenage girls. One Aria, recognized as Scootaloo but the other…? She hadn’t seen her before, though her frighteningly blond hair would definitely be stuck in her brain for a while.

“Oh right, forgot you were the designated chaperone…” Aria said with a sigh, having not even bothered to dress up. “Who’s the squirt’s friend?”

“Luster Dawn! Pleased to meet you!” the blonde said, sticking her hand out.

“...Oh, if only I could say the same,” Aria grumbled before sucking on a lollipop. If she couldn’t have her smoke…

“Wow, what’s with the sourpuss attitude?” Sonata remarked.

“I was going to enjoy Halloween in my own way, actually,” Aria commented. “Just a couple of bad horror movies, gallons of blood -totally metal- and some popcorn. But…”

“But! Let me guess,” Adagio joined in seeing a familiar woman walk up, dressed as of all things, a cute vampire. Her pink hair framed her face, two fake plastic fangs jutting out of her mouth. “Fluttershy dragged you out here.”

“...was it really that obvious?” Aria frowned.

“Mhmm, considering how whipped you are…” Adagio teased. “You’re not doing much to dissuade me from the notion that you two are dating…”

“Well, it’s a nice night,” Fluttershy said sweetly. “You can’t spend it all cooped up in your house!”

“Oh, and here I thought it was you couldn’t handle the blood!” Aria teased her back.

“Nonsense!” Fluttershy scoffed. “It’s not the amount of blood, well okay maybe it is! Nobody bleeds that much, nobody even has that much blood in their bodies!”

“Oh right, you’re a veterinarian. Now I remember…” Sonata nodded in remembrance.

“Oh, I bet you’re a joy to have on movie night!” Adagio laughed.

“She’s been banned!” Aria said, nodding. Fluttershy blushed sheepishly.

“Now this, I have to hear,” Adagio gave a little bit of a smirk as she leaned over towards Fluttershy. “You don’t seem like the kind of person who would get banned, Fluttershy. What happened?”

“I… I may have commented on how the SAW films have more blood than anyone has in their entire body at one point…?” Fluttershy laughed nervously, playing with a strand of her hair. “I may have made a bit of a, uh, scene about it on movie night. Kinda ruined the movie, apparently…”

Aria snorted while Adagio seemed to be a few facial twitches away from bursting out laughing completely.

“I know, I should be ashamed of myself.” Fluttershy said demurely.

Adagio couldn’t hold it in anymore and started to burst out laughing. Bending her body downward, she grabbed onto her knees and started sputtering out wheezes of laughter. “I’m, I’m sorry, it’s just that, of everything to get banned for, THAT’S the reason?”

“Apparently.” Fluttershy didn’t quite understand Adagio’s humour, so just shyly gave a nod. “But it’s true! There’s so much blood that it’s impossible! Twilight could definitely give you a more in-depth look at it!”

“That clown? Pah!” Aria tipped her hand. “It’s not like she’d ever be able to take away anything from the utter gorefest that is SAW, no matter how much she tries to go on about science and blood trajectory or some other Harvard-level shit…”

Fluttershy sent her roommate a dirty look, casting a glance towards Luster and Scootaloo.

“...Oh, riiiiiiiiiiight. Pretend you didn’t hear anything just now kids!” Aria said towards the two teenagers.

“See, what’d I say?” Adagio grinned. “Whipped.”

“Meh,” Scootaloo said. “I live on a military base remember? I’ve heard much worse!”

“Again, it’s so nice of you to do this while Rainbow’s out on deployment,” Fluttershy whispered towards Sonata.

“Hey, just because her mom’s away, doesn’t mean she doesn’t get to enjoy some fun!” Sonata whispered back.

“Also, what have I said about talking smack about my friends?” Fluttershy said in a warning tone towards her roomie.

“...to not to?” Aria asked nervously.

“Good, that’s better,” Fluttershy nodded before pointing forwards. “Now let’s go, we’ve got plenty of houses to hit!”

“...didn’t take you for the type to be so excited about Halloween, Ms. Fluttershy,” Yua said. “I thought, from what I’ve heard of you, that you’d be inside all night.”

“Oh no, that was years ago!” the woman elaborated with a laugh. “I’ve outgrown my fear of all things spooky! Besides, someone has to keep you all from getting into too much trouble!”

“Why do I think she means Aria?” Yua thought.

“Also, no offense, but I kinda agree with Yua. Not about you staying inside, not that part, but Halloween doesn’t really seem like your type of jam! I mean, I thought you’d be checking everyone’s candy for razor blades or something!” Adagio shrugged.

“Those are just rumors. There hasn’t been a single reported case of that ever happening. The correlation between candy and kids falling over because of something they ate is minimal at best. That being said, I will be watching your candy intake because I don’t want any of you to get upset tummies,” Fluttershy went on.

“Man, you’re lame!” Scootaloo groaned out.

“No, getting an upset stomach is ‘lame’,” Fluttershy said kindly. “Trust me, it isn’t very fun at all.”

“I mean, she does have a point, Scootaloo.” Luster Dawn lifted a finger toward Scootaloo. “If you have an upset tummy, that means you can’t eat anything until it settles. And on a night like Halloween, that’s the worst kind of feeling.”

“Lamer than the chance of having a razorblade in my belly?” Scootaloo lifted a brow.

“Oh, absolutely!” Luster Dawn nodded in concern for Scootaloo. “But like Fluttershy said, it’s just a rumor. There’s no recorded instances of that actually happening!”

“Meaning I get to eat whatever I want then, cool!”

“...you’re missing the point entirely,” Luster sighed and Adagio could have sworn she saw her face somewhere before. But where? “I’m just saying, your stomach is going to regret it in the morning...

“God, you’re such a funkiller!” Scootaloo said.

“Just looking out for you, that’s all.”

“Y’know what? I need something to eat.”

She picked out one of the candies in the bucket and while she did, she failed to notice exactly where she was going, accidently knocking herself into another trick or treater.

“yIqIm! puqloDna' jIHechtaHvIS, jIHvaD pong'e' 'e' vIpIHbej! QI'yaH!” the man roared at her, dressed as a Klingon and carrying what was probably a prop sword. Probably. At least she hoped it was a prop.

“Er… sorry? I don’t speak gigantic oaf!” Scootaloo said, not really phased by any of this. “Now would you kindly stand aside, I’ve got places to be!”

“...and here we go,” Luster muttered, slapping a hand to her face. “Just… let’s just get going okay?

“vaj yIpoSmoH. 'ej qa'lI' vISuch vIneH vaj Dayaj'a' qeylIS, qar'a'? mura'chugh ghot tIqDaj rurtaHvIS.” the Klingon said.

“...er, sorry? I don’t understand a word you’re saying!” Scootaloo said. “Is that even a real language?”

“net poS! tlhInganpu'! ghojwI' DaSov'a'?”

“...right, you’re still not making a lick of sense!” Scootaloo blinked. “Speak English!”

“Don’t bother,” said a gruff voice, and Sonata’s eyes lit up at the sight of her friend, Gilda muscling her way through the crowd. The brawny woman was dressed as a 50s Greaser type. “This idiot’s only going to take one thing for an answer. Allow me. va, vumnISlu' 'e' vISovbe'. jupwI' chopongqang'a'? I’m sure they’d love to know all about you threatening to beat up a teenage girl, asshole!”

The Klingon swallowed before scampering off.

“I didn’t even know you spoke Klingon!” Sonata gaped.

“Eh, it’s something my dorky brother made me learn. Didn’t ever think it’d ever come in handy though… I don’t normally frequent the big cons,” Gilda shrugged, her Spanish accent leaking through. “What’s that the French always say? C’est la vie?”

“The nerve of some people though…” Sonata grumbled.

“You shouldn’t worry about me, G!” Scootaloo said. “I coulda handled him!”

“Oh, I like her! She’s got fire, spunk!” Gilda laughed before she spotted something. A rhino, walking up the street accompanied by two more animal-men. “...huh, now those are some awesome costumes! I gotta ask where they got it…”

“That’s… that’s not a costume…” Adagio whispered in realization as she spotted the two people with it. Eyes narrowed, she walked up towards Mezool. “What are you two doing here? What’s your game?”

“Oh, no game, OOOs,” Mezool said. “It’s a night of fright, and these people deserve real monsters! Not these fakes!”

She gestured all around to her, to the many cheap costumes that didn’t even come close to the real deal.

“And so for Halloween, you’re going as yourself?” Adagio questioned, watching the passersby compliment the two Greeed and their Yummy minion on their ‘costumes’.

“Mhmm, basically!” Mezool grinned. “No plots, no plans. We just want to see what all of the fuss is about!”

“Oh, is that all? You want to live as humans for a change?” Adagio challenged and Mezool nodded. “Mhmm, sure. I’ll be keeping an eye on you. Both of you…”

“Ta-ta! Don’t let your paranoia get the better of you!” Mezool said giving a little wave before she, Gamel and the Rhino Yummy strutted off into the night.

“Friends of yours?” Gilda asked. “Man, you know everybody.”

“...Friends. Yeah, sure,” Adagio muttered. “I guess…”

“Is it so hard for you to believe that they’re not up to anything?” Sonata asked. “That they’re willing to change?”

Adagio gave her sister a flat look.

“It’s Mezool and Gamel. Yes, of course it’s hard for me to believe!”

“I dunno, you were pretty optimistic about Ankh…” Sonata said.

“Yeah, well, that was before…” Adagio trailed off. “That was then, and this is now.”

“Just saying,” Sonata reminded her. “Not all of the Greeed are like him.”

“Yeah, most of them are worse,” Adagio replied in bitter fashion before taking a deep breath, and letting it out. “Anyways, enough about my crap. Don’t we have candy to trick out of someone?”

“Oh, are you finally getting into the spirit of things?” Sonata beamed.

“...yeah, no, don’t mistake me for actually enjoying this,” Adagio scoffed. “No, this is only for the kids. That’s it!”

“Sure…” Sonata said, not really believing her for a moment.

Continuing on with Mezool and Gamel, the two of them and their Yummy eventually were wandering a seemingly abandoned street. Not a single child could be seen for miles around, despite the fact that the houses were still very much decorated for Halloween.

“I don’t understand Ankh, Gamel. I really don’t,” Mezool looked around for someone; anyone that she could understand this Halloween thing from. “First, he says that we’re doing nothing and staying cooped up inside, then when we do go out, everyone’s gone missing. What kind of game are these humans playing, exactly?”

“Maybe they’re going to jump out and say surprise?” Gamel wondered.

“If so, it’s an awfully unnerving surprise. And surely, there must have been someone that wasn’t wise to this little scheme…” Mezool surveyed the area once again, but still found no-one. “Why do I get the feeling that he told these humans we were coming, so ordered an evacuation of this part of the town? Just as his idea of a twisted joke?”

“I don’t like it. And neither does poor Winnie,” Gamel stroked the neck of his Rhino Yummy gently, as it rattled from side to side. “There, there, girl. It’ll be alright. You’ll be fine...”

And in came a witch, with a bucket of lollipops.

“Oh, it seems all of the kids are gone…” she mused. “Maybe I should close up shop for the night! No more kids to hand out my sweet treats to!”

“Who are you?” Mezool asked, taking a step forward. Then another. And then another, her legs hypnotically lured towards this new face.

“Nobody. Just a simple woman wanting to hand out candy to the kids!” the witch said.

“Candy?” Gamel tilted his head. “Can I see?”

“Yes! Sure!” the witch said, pulling a lolly out of her bucket.

“Ooh…” Gamel clapped his hands together like a preschooler. Quickly, he snatched up the candy and saw that it was unwrapped. “You even took the time to unwrap it for me beforehand. That’s awfully nice.”

As he brought it closer to his mouth, Winnie noticed something and made a small groan.

“Oh, it’ll be alright, Winnie,” Gamel stopped momentarily. “It’s just a piece of candy. What harm could it do me?”

And just like that, the candy went into Gamel’s mouth. Mezool saw it, even if the witch was pretending to be subtle about the whole ordeal. She was smirking. But it was too late for Gamel, as like with all of the other children before him, he had fallen prey to the hypnotic powers of the witch’s treats. He groaned as his body glowed an eerie shade of dark green and his pupils swallowed the rest of his eyes. The lollipop still stayed in his mouth and Winnie let out a small groan of horror at what her master had become.

“Gamel? Hello?” Mezool tried to get Gamel’s attention back. She waved a hand in front of his face, clicked her fingers, even tried to slap him across the face. But nothing would bring him to. She then turned towards the witch and her eyes narrowed.

“What did you do to him?!” She barked.

“Do what?” the witch asked, playing innocent and Mezool knew it.

“What did you do? What kind of spell did you put him under?” she demanded.

“Nothing you can stop now,” the witch said and suddenly Mezool realized.

“Giranbo…” she whispered. “I heard the King talk about you, he called you a plague upon the lands.”

“Oh, talk about flattery!” Giranbo said. “So you’re a Greeed. I suspected as much, seeing that monster of yours. But it’s nice to have it confirmed. But there’s naught you can do to stop me now. The harvest is coming, and you’re way too late to interfere…”

“We’ll see about that.” Mezool said, her hands crackling with electricity, calling on the Unagi medal’s powers.

“Oh, so we’re to have a witch’s duel?” Giranbo asked. “So be it!”

Tossing fire at Mezool, the two energies collided and an explosion shattered windows and created a massive smoke cloud. And then, from out of the smoke, charged the Rhino Yummy. ‘Winnie’ shoulder-charged Giranbo, only for the witch to sidestep and call down a thunderbolt striking him in the back.

“I could kill him, but…” Giranbo muttered. “I’ve got a better idea. Gamel’s mine now, and by the same coin…”

She snapped her fingers, and slowly but surely the Rhino Yummy turned to face Mezool, no emotion or light in its eyes.

“So’s his yummy,” she grinned. “Get her!”

Mezool honestly didn’t know if the power of a Yummy could kill a greeed. And personally, she didn’t want to find out, changing into a tidal wave and launching herself at her former partner’s henchman. Sweeping him off his feet, she changed into a bolt of water and slammed into Giranbo, knocking her to the ground as well.

Standing over the two of them, she smirked, summoning her version of the Ookamiuo spear. Twirling it behind her back, she charged it with electricity.

Spinning the weapon in her hands, she blocked lightning blasts from Giranbo, and even as the witch multiplied, swept away all of the clones with a wall of water.

“What, you think getting lots and lots of cells isn’t just to feed my greed?” Mezool asked, her ‘belt’ now glowing gold. “Oh no, I’ve been hard at work and now, my powers are complete!”

Thrusting the spear forwards, she launched a bolt of electricity at Giranbo, who teleported behind her. A wall of fire from an exploding car swept Mezool off of her feet, only for the whale woman to be grabbed by the Rhino Yummy and slammed into the side of a building.

“You were saying?” Giranbo asked, tilting her head.

“Oh shut up!” Mezool growled, turning into a pile of cells before the medals reformed directly in front of the witch. Gathering up a ball of water, she slammed it into the monster’s chest, grinding away at her.

The Rhino Yummy charged, only for Mezool to whip around, impale it in the chest with her spear before she went into a spin. Whirling around, she tossed the Yummy into the side of a building and blasted it full of electricity with the unagi medal’s power making the monster explode. His singular cell medal rolled back towards Mezool.

“I’m sorry my dear,” she said of Gamel. “I know you loved your child so.”

“Aren’t you going to swallow it up?” Giranbo said, stroking Gamel’s head and eyeing the cell medal “Isn’t that what you Greeed do? Take, take, take?”

“Give him back, now!” Mezool hissed holding up her hands and. summoning up water from the sewers. With a roar of rage, she launched it at the witch.

“Sorry, he’s mine now…” Giranbo grinned, before there was a bright flash of light and Mezool found herself on a rooftop. Letting out a scream of rage, she watched kids march through the streets, towards an old house on the edge of town…

---

“It’s gotten really quiet, have you noticed?” Luster commented. “Like, a few minutes ago, the streets were full of kids and now… Oh well! More candy for me I guess!”

“Hell yeah!” Scootaloo agreed.

“Should we be concerned?” Sonata whispered to her sister. “Like, what if this is some kind of greeed plot?”

“Now you’re coming around to my way of thinking…” Adagio mused.

“Damn, no service!” Yua muttered. “Cell towers must be down. Oh, of all the nights…”

“Right, well, let’s not tell the girls, just yet okay?” Fluttershy said. “I wouldn’t want them to panic.”

“Right…” Aria agreed. “Let’s just… keep our eyes peeled okay? If we see anything strange…”

“Besides the streets being empty on a Friday night?” Adagio deadpanned.

“Besides that,” Aria said in reply. “Oh… give me a Greeed or give me a Yummy. Just give me something to punch.”

“You have such a one track mind!” Fluttershy whispered, somewhat terrified of what might be going on. A million possibilities ran through her head. Not just a Greeed plot, but maybe a mass alien abduction. Or alligators from the sewers kidnapping people or maybe even a Shocker plot! “Oh, get ahold of yourself, girl! You watch way too many movies, and besides whatever’s going on, I’m sure Adagio can handle it! You’ve got your very own Kamen Rider right here with you!”

In most stories, Adagio knew after an earthshaking event such as what Ankh pulled, the protagonist would go through a crisis of faith. A temporary retirement. They’d hang up their sword and not wish to help anyone. But not her. As much as she wanted to give up the belt and her medals, she knew she couldn’t. At least… not yet. Not while the Greeed still existed. She had a promise to keep anyways.

“Candy?” said a witch, handing out strange looking green lollipops to both Luster and Scootaloo. “I’m sure you both will find it very delightful!”

“Ooooh, thank you!” Luster said, licking the lollipop.

“Alas, it seems most of my customers have vanished, but what can you do?” the witch sighed. “Ah well, at least I’ve got you two little rascals eh?”

“Shame on them!” Scootaloo said, licking the lolly. “This stuff is great!”

And that’s when Adagio noticed their eyes go blank.

As the witch walked off, waving goodbye, it was about then that Adagio also noticed the legions of children marching through the streets.

Including, now amongst their ranks, Luster and Scootaloo.

“...what the hell?” Aria wondered aloud, the others watching in transfixed horror. “...this is some real Pied Piper type shit!”

“And probably with just as horrible an outcome!” said Mezool, walking up and Adagio tensed going for her belt. “Woah, no need. I’m not behind it, it’s not me this time!”

“Why should we believe you?” Aria snarled, Fluttershy only just barely holding her back.

“Because…” Adagio realized seeing the look in the Greeed’s eyes. “Someone you care about is in that hoard isn’t it? Whoever’s done this, they’ve got Gamel under their sway. Am I right?”

“Yes…” Mezool whispered. “Whatever else you think of me, I care for Gamel. I’m not letting that witch, Giranbo have him!”

“Giranbo?” Sonata questioned.

“Giranbo…” Yua breathed as everyone looked at her. “...sorry, it’s just… Back in Japan, there was this dream demon that went by that name. I only heard it in passing but…”

“You know what she’s capable of,” Mezool said as they walked. “Go on, share with the class!”

“Every year, masses of children go missing. One night, just on the last vestiges of life, a child in Osaka, he said the name Giranbo. And then he…” Yua fought back a sob.

“She eats children?” Fluttershy whispered, horrified.

“We have to stop her, tonight. Before she goes back into hiding for another year,” Mezool snarled. “She’s got a house, it’s her only gateway between our dimension and hers. Destroy the house, you seal her away forever.”

“Oh, I’m going to do more than that,” Adagio said, slipping a cell medal into a nearby ToRide Vendor, making it transform into bike mode. “I’m going to help you kill her. No more. This ends tonight!”

Getting on the bike, she helped Mezool onto it.

“Why though? I’m your enemy.” the aquatic animal greed asked, surprised.

“If there is a hand reaching for help, and I don't reach out my hand when I can, the regret would make me wish I were dead... I reach out my hand, because I don't want that,” Adagio said slapping on her belt. “Plus.. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe you’re a terrible person deep down inside, but… I want to believe you can be better. Nobody who cares for someone else can be completely evil.”

“Thank you…” Mezool whispered, her voice going almost unheard. Almost.

Adagio gunned the engine, tires squealing against the pavement as she rode off into the night.

“So what, was that witch a servant of hers or something?” she asked her new partner.

“Not exactly. Giranbo can clone herself. I’m guessing the real one is up in her house, while the witch we saw…”

“Was just a copy,” Adagio realized before she felt medals slip into her pocket. Turning back towards Mezool, she asked: “...why?”

“Because you’re going to need all the help you can get,” Mezool replied. “I know, I hate doing it myself, but if it’s a choice between losing Gamel or swallowing my personal pride and helping you kill that bitch? It’s no choice at all!”

“Right…” Adagio said, perhaps less surprised than she ought to have been. “Henshin!”

“Ebi, Kani, Sasori: Bikaso, Bi-Ka-So!” the belt sang as Adagio changed into an orange and purple armored warrior, themed after aquatic arthropods.

Using a flatbed tow truck as a ramp, she sped into the house, smashing through a wall, splinters flying before planting her boot into the ground as the ToRide Vendor ground to a halt, tires squealing.

“...you’re… you’re crazy,” Mezool said as she stopped to catch her breath. She looked a little green around the gills honestly. “Oh, I think I’m going to be sick.”

As Mezool tossed her cookies, Adagio ducked to avoid a flying fireball.

“You come into my house,” said a nearly breathless Giranbo, shaking with rage. In her hand was a stirring spoon, the witch clutching it so tightly it snapped in half. “And you come smashing it to pieces, don’t you know that’s not neighborly?”

“I didn’t realize kidnapping kids was particularly neighborly either!” Adagio drawled before Giranbo assumed her monster form grabbing an axe off the wall, bringing it down.

Adagio spun to the left to avoid the axe blade, before bringing her boot down in an axe kick slicing the weapon in two. Drawing back her fist, she punched the monster in the face before grabbing Giranbo with one of her pincher gloves. Tossing the witch through a wall, the two ended up in the witch’s laboratory, Giranbo tossing potions at her opponent.

Sidestepping one potion, Adagio’s eyes widened as another came flying at her. She couldn’t move and her blood turned to ice, as Giranbo had frozen her solid. Then came another potion, busting her out of the ice in a powerful explosion. Adagio slammed up against a wall, vials of acid falling down on her from atop a shelf and beginning to eat through her armor.

“How do you like my precious poisons, siren?” Giranbo laughed.

“I can’t say I’m impressed,” Adagio grunted out in pain, gathering water in her pinchers, before she threw it at her opponent. “How about we drown us a witch!”

Giranbo was smashed through a wall as Adagio ran forwards and went into a jump. A poison stinger wrapped itself around her boot, the armor glowing bright purple. Falling into a diving kick, she watched Giranbo’s eyes widen before the witch fell to the floor, sliding along it. Adagio slammed into the wall, leaving an implant of her insignia before tentacles wrapped themselves around her. They’d come from a rune in the floor, and began dragging her down into the eldritch abyss.

“Have you seen any hentai anime, Dazzle?” Giranbo laughed, sitting in an armchair with a bucket of popcorn.

“Yeah, and funny that, this so ain’t my fetish,” Adagio said looking down though she immediately regretted it as below her was a gaping maw of razor sharp teeth. Inside that maw, a single unblinking eye. She had to think fast, otherwise…

Snipping herself free with the kani medal’s pinchers, she cut the tentacles to pieces. Slamming a fist into her open pincher, she marched forwards. “Now, be warned, the tides are as ever-changing as my own abilities. So, in short, this is the end for you.”

Together, she and Mezool fired off twin streams of water and blasted Giranbo through a wall. A fine mist crept into the room, engulfing them as it changed to fog. And into the graveyard of dreams the two crept...

Around them, as the fog began to clear somewhat, it was a ghost town. Silent streets were on every side, and an ill wind blew through dead trees. And if that wasn’t enough, in the playground in front of them were children, laying unmoving. Adagio felt like she was going to be sick and Mezool whispered: “She’s a monster…”

“I see you’ve found my graveyard of dreams!” came a voice, impossible to place it’s exact location. Rising from the children were thin wisps, floating into the sky above and rising higher and higher with each passing minute. “That’s the thing about children really, they waste their dreams. They always set out to do something good with their lives, they plan to accomplish so much. Maybe they’ll become a firefighter, or an astronaut or even a scientist. But that’s the thing, isn’t it? Nobody ever really achieves their dreams. They just waste them! And… Well, that’s where I come in. Better I take their dreams from them before they shame themselves by never really achieving anything. It’s better in the long run, really… Let no good food go to waste, I always say!”

Adagio finally placed the voice, and whirled around firing a blast of water through a wall and knocking Giranbo off her feet. “Bullshit! I achieved my dreams you know. Ever since I was a little girl, I always wanted to be a marine biologist, and now I am. Yeah, sure I’ll admit not everyone achieves their dreams, but they should still be given the chance to do so!”

There came a roar of rage, and Giranbo lunged out of the shadows from behind. Adagio didn’t have time to react, and Giranbo readied a spell. However, she was knocked into a street lamp via an electric blast, Mezool’s hands sparking.

“Oh no, we can’t have you interfering,” Giranbo said as she picked herself up. “Gamel darling!”

Then, to her shock, Mezool was grabbed from behind, Gamel holding her close in the world’s deadliest hug as he began crushing her.

“Gamel, please! I know you’re in there,” Mezool begged, tears coming to her eyes. “You’ve got to fight it!”

Adagio changed combos, and switched to SaRaMiUo form. Summoning the Ookamiuo spear, she tossed miniature whirlpools at Giranbo, the witch teleporting away each time. And then, the witch was in front of her, and firing a beam of magic. And the ground gave out from under Adagio, and she was plummeting to the earth.

Then, from out of nowhere, a savior. And a very unexpected one at that.

“Starlight?” Adagio breathed out, held in her enemy’s arms.

“Pffft, don’t think this makes us friends,” her fellow Rider said. “I’ve got a score to settle with that witch as well. We’re allies against a common foe.”

And suddenly, Adagio could see it. Luster and Starlight, they were mother and daughter.

“...wow, talk about being thrown for a loop…” Adagio said before Starlight tossed her at Giranbo, the Rider’s form rocketing towards the witch as she scanned her core medals.

“SCANNING CHARGE!” her belt cried out as she went into a flip before descending into a powerful diving kick.

Giranbo’s eyes widened, and she only managed to teleport away at the very last second as Adagio’s kick ripped up the ground, asphalt flying as the woman created a massive crater. Her chest insignia was stamped in the middle. Adagio leaped out of the ruins, spinning in mid-air as she transformed back into BiKaSo form. Scanning her medals once again, multiple poisonous tails erupted from her back striking and stabbing away at Giranbo, the witch barely dodging the various poison jabs.

However, she’d been lined up for another Rider Kick and Starlight slammed into her, before spinning away in mid-air as Giranbo crashed through a parking garage wall. Starlight took a moment to breath, confident her enemy destroyed.

And then, two hands clasped her face from behind and she let out a scream as her worst fear manifested. Adagio watched in shock as the mists above her worst enemy reformed into a gigantic hell-horse, with massive wings, a long lance-like horn and slitted eyes.

“Fine then…” Starlight said with a deep shuddering breath, kicking the Giranbo clone away. “I developed this form to kill you anyways. So, let’s kill the moon!”

And Starlight tossed several medals in Adagio's direction.

“And how do you know I won’t just take these?” the woman asked.

“Because I’ll be back for them,” Starlight said, blocking and absorbing a magical blast from the hell-horse, redirecting it back at her. “Count on it!”

Stroking the three green cores, Adagio’s eyes softened under her helm. “This one’s for you, Uva.”

Without another word, she scanned the medals. “Kuwagata, Kamakiri, Batta: Ga~ta-Gata-Gata-Kiri, Ba! Gatakiriba!”

And with green crackles of lightning, she created several clones of herself with Giranbo doing the same. Mezool had managed to free herself, and knock several medals free from Gamel, tossing them Adagio’s direction. The Rider knew what she had to do, and the air soon sang with a mish-mash of overlapping belt calls.

And then all chaos erupted as everyone fought one another, with one clone in Mukachiri combo chasing a Giranbo clone inside a parking garage. Summoning an arm shield, the honeycomb-shaped attachment opened, and a flurry of deadly japanese hornets flew out. The Giranbo clone had no defence, raked by a series of stinging, burning sensations. A scream burbled itself up in her throat, and it erupted.

The clone charged towards Giranbo, before flying into a leap and finishing the Giranbo copy with a roundhouse Rider Kick. The witch erupted into an explosion that could be seen several levels below, where another clone fought another Giranbo copy in SeiShiroGin combo. Freezing the very ground beneath her with polar bear claws, and skating towards the Giranbo copy with penguin ice-skates.

“So how is that one of Gamel’s combos?” Starlight asked Mezool, before dodging another blast from the dark horse she faced. “Isn’t it mainly aquatic animals?”

“Yeah, but a polar bear and a walrus?” Mezool said, blasting the dark horse away however reluctantly. This was the same woman who’d killed Uva after all. “Those are big animals!”

Calling upon the polar bear’s powers once again, the SeiShiroGin clone first scanned her core medals. Then, she froze the Giranbo copy solid before pulling back her fist. With one powerful blow, she shattered the ice leaving only shards in her wake.

Another Giranbo copy rose up to face the SeiShiroGin clone, but the Mukachiri clone was already on the case. Pulling the copy away with a whip spawned from her head, -resembling a centipede- the copy was pulled towards the clone, who scanned her medals. Lashing forth with a stinger weapon, the clone paralyzed the Giranbo copy with one singular stab. It was soon Rider Kicked out of existence, sent flying into a building with the clone’s chest insignia imprinted into the walls behind it

Tearing her attentions away from the Shauta Combo clone, which was lashing at another Giranbo copy with the unagi whips, Starlight flipped to the left to avoid another dark magical blast. Nightmare Moon, her worst enemy now here in this world.

It was only a copy, generated from her worst fears by Giranbo’s powers. She knew this. But all the same she couldn’t help but see it as the real deal. Punching through the monstrosity’s armor, she watched the dark horse turn into a smoky mist. Then, the mist came down atop her, reforming as a massive maw.

“Sorry, but I’m not into... “ Starlight started, flipping upwards to meet the deadly set of jaws in a Rider Kick. “VORE!”

Nightmare Moon was sent skywards, and Starlight leaped off several buildings before surging forwards in a Rider Punch. The skies darkened around her, and too late she realized. Trapped in a bubble of eternal black, monstrous demons and eldritch things lurked. And now they had their prey.

“Kill the moon, you say?” the Nightmare cackled. “That’s an impossibility. My reign shall be eternal, and the night shall last forever!”

It was the reason she’d fled her world, Starlight remembered. This madmare had made it impossible to live in it any longer. Everything was dying without her sun, and she didn’t want her daughter to grow up in a land of light. One day, Starlight mused, she’d return. With the entirety of Foundation X behind her. And then the Nightmare would fall.

“Your daughter’s cute,” the Nightmare sneered. “Maybe I should keep her. Train her, raise her as my student. And who knows… everyone needs a mate right?”

Starlight erupted, burning through it all. The eldritch things, the demons, the bubble of black surrounding her, all with a roar of motherly rage. “YOU WON’T LAY A HAND ON MY DAUGHTER!”

And then all went silent.

Down below, Giranbo watched her clones get destroyed one after the other. Growing to an impossible size, she finally declared: “I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!”

She now towered over everything, blocking out even the moon. The OOO clones converged, the main Adagio swallowing in fear as she looked up. “The bigger they are, the harder they fall, right?”

All scanned their medals, and all the belts belted out: “SCANNING CHARGE!”

The Gatakiriba clone came first, blasting the witch with lightning from her horns. Then came the Mukachiri, slashing into the being with her stinger before leaping away as the SeiShiroGin clone punched the dream demon, fists encased in ice.

That clone backflipped off and away from Giranbo as the Shauta combo clone latched onto Giranbo with whips of electricity pulling herself forwards. Drilling into the beast’s hide, she bored out the other side.

Then came clones in BiKaSo and SaRaMiUo, each Rider Kicking the dream demon with a combined force of 50 tons. And finally, the finale as a clone in TaJaDor form erupted forth, coated in flames burning Giranbo to ashes.

Landing on the ground, Adagio canceled out her transformation, limping from the usage of so many combos and feeling incredibly weak. She staggered, both Gamel and Mezool catching her as she fell, each wearing a grateful smile.

What none of them saw was Giranbo, still alive and limping towards Adagio, a blade erupting from her remaining arm. And then a gun shot rang out, before the demon fell forwards finally dead. Standing in the middle of the street was Yua, holding a smoking gun.

With a shared look, both Mezool and Gamel handed their sworn enemy off to the woman before heading to parts unknown.

“Come on…” Yua said as she led Adagio and the surviving children out of Giranbo’s already collapsing dimension. “Let’s get you to the hospital. All of you.”

And then… WHAM!

Starlight took advantage of her rival Rider’s weakened state, punching her across the face.

“But I…” Adagio whispered weakly watching Starlight gather up all of the medals, leaving only a single taka medal behind in mockery. “I helped you save your daughter.”

“That you did,” Starlight acknowledged. “But hello! Supervillain. I can’t just let a good opportunity pass me by! Till the next time… OOOs.”

Adagio eventually staggered out of the collapsing house, watching it crumble. Children were being reunited with their parents, and a weak smile came to Adagio’s face seeing Scootaloo embrace Sonata and Fluttershy. Then it faded, remembering how expertly she’d been burned.

“Don’t worry,” Yua reassured. “We’ll get your medals back.”

A strange glimmer flashed in Adagio’s eyes, going unseen, before she answered. “Yeah… we will.”

Author's Notes:

No more medals now, except a single taka.

So... yeah, Happy Halloween? (Huge thanks to Shadow by the way, pointed me in the general right direction for this chapter.)

29: Holly Jolly

“Adagio-Chan, it’s so nice to hear from you!” Takeru said cheerfully, a day ahead of her as they conversed via technology from the Kougami Foundation. Consisting of two antennas, they created a holographic screen that Adagio could very easily rest on her desk. “...wow, you’re still working? They must be keeping you busy, considering Christmas time is coming and all.”

Adagio laughed. “Oh no, everyone else has already gone home for the holidays. I’m just choosing to do this! This paperwork won’t fill itself after all!”

“Adagio…” Takeru sighed, sounding sternly disapproving. “We’ve talked about this, you need to take a break.”

“I’ve never heard the meaning of the word,” she joked, but apparently her boyfriend didn’t quite find her joke amusing.

“...this is about Starlight isn’t it?” Takeru surmised, in realization. “You’re trying to get your mind off her, aren’t you?”

“Well, no, it’s just that…” Adagio sighed but realized she wasn’t going to get out of this one. Her boyfriend didn’t seem to believe her lie, not even for a second. “...okay, you got me! I’ve been trying not to think about her. She stole my medals!”

If Takeru noticed her eyes flashing for a moment, he didn’t comment on it.

“It doesn’t help that she’s seemingly vanished, correct?” he realized.

“Yeah, it’s… like after Giranbo died she’s gone underground. Of course, I’m not entirely surprised honestly, given that’s what Foundation X does. Stick to the shadows and all that. It’s just… well, now I’m honestly starting to get worried! Where the hell is she?”

Again, her eyes flashed, this time more vibrantly.

“Woah, easy Adagio-chan,” said Takeru, making calming motions with his hands. “Deep breaths, in and out. In and out.”

Adagio did as she was instructed, and slowly but surely the fiery rage began to leave her. In and out, in and out just as her boyfriend told her.

“Gomen-nasai, it’s just… she gets me so mad!” Adagio steamed before bowing in apology. “It’s like whenever I think of her I’m filled with this white hot rage. A sort of… desire, I think as well. This want, this need to ‘defeat’ her!”

Takeru laughed, with Adagio giving him a ‘look.”

“Sumimasen, it’s just you remind me of how I was with Makoto Nii-San once!” he explained before saying: “As your Sensei, and as your boyfriend I would advise for you to take some time off. Spend time with your family. Starlight can wait. Your family cannot.”

Adagio smiled.

“Yeah, you’re right,” she said. “Arigato, Takeru.”

“Dōitashimashite, Adagio-Chan.”

With that, the call ended, Adagio now having a new purpose for the next few days. With an extra spring in her step, she never realized that even now her boyfriend was placing a call to one of his fellow Riders.

“Yes, hello Eiji-Sama?” he asked, his voice filled with worry. “It’s about that thing we discussed, I’m beginning to worry about her. Is… is there any way you can help? I’m beginning to wonder if the OOOs driver is really safe for her right about now…”

---

“...well, I gotta admit!” Aria laughed, not bothering with the ‘sexy Santa thing’ unlike Sonata who seemed to be trying to look as cute as possible. “I didn’t expect for you to grace us with your holy presence, sister dear!”

“I’m not that bad.” Adagio returned, the three all bunched up into Sonata’s house for the evening.

“You’ve been stuck in your office for the past week,” Aria drawled. “You really are ‘that bad’.”

“Well ‘Mele Kalikimaka’ to you too, sis,” Adagio deadpanned. “I do have some ability to take time off, spend it with my ‘Ohana. Of course, if you don’t want me, I have some paperwork with my name on it!”

“I’m glad, I really am,” Aria said. “You’re making an effort this year, you really are. I was actually beginning to get worried. Ever since Halloween, you’ve been throwing yourself into your work!”

“Takeru said that as well, have you been talking?” Adagio asked.

“...actually yes, we’re both concerned,” Aria replied. “But enough worrying and fretting okay? We’ve got plenty to do, and not enough time! We’ve still got Christmas shopping, last minute of course, and some Kalua pork to buy! Alas, not sure we can go down to Ted’s and get some haupia pie, not unless Eiji is willing to lend us his private jet! I mean, I assume he has one.”

“...did you say pork?” Scootaloo asked, peeking her head in.

“We’re Hawaiian, we don’t do a Christmas goose. Give me rice and a nice fat pig any day over that crap!” Aria explained.

Adagio was about to ask whyScootaloo was here, but she remembered Sonata did say something about the girl bunking with her for the holidays. Suppressing a wince, she thought of her mother.

God, to be sorted out to Japan and not make it back until January! This was getting ridiculous. Not that she missed the loud mouth braggart, but she wished she could be here for her daughter! Oh well, never argue with the military apparently.

(And it wasn’t like she could contact Takeru and have him teleport Rainbow here or something. That would do wonders for Japanese/American relations, to have one of their superheroes suddenly steal away a soldier!)

“Why isn’t she with Fluttershy, I honestly thought she and Rainbow were dating…?” Adagio whispered to her sister.

“We drew straws,” Sonata replied, fiddling with the radio so that Bing Crosby could sing a little louder. “I drew the short one. ...not that I actually mind! The kid’s adorable, and playing adoptive mother for the holidays? I love it, it gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling! …shame we’re not back home though, Scoots would probably love to see the parades!”

“Oh, don’t get me started…” Adagio sighed, honestly feeling a bit homesick now remembering the grand celebrations that the Islands always threw. The parades of fancy multi-colored lights all on display, and Santa on his outrigger canoe pulled by a pod of dolphins.

“...maybe one day,” Sonata replied. “Maybe as soon as you defeat the Greeed, we can all go back home, forget about our troubles for a while.”

“Maybe, yeah…” Adagio smiled, thinking of better times long since past, of the sun and the surf and of her ‘Ohana.

In any event, they found themselves soon doing a bit of shopping. The 16th Street Mall beckoned, all done up in lights and with way too many times overplayed Christmas music playing over the speakers. Mariah Carey had done one too many remixes of her infamous hit, if you were to ask any of the sisters.

“Oooooooh, look! Charmant!” Sonata babbled excitedly, barely able to contain herself as she pointed at the famous cake store. “I didn’t realize any of it made it outside Japan! Oooooh, we gotta go in! We just gotta!”

“Come on ‘Nata,” Aria groaned out as she tugged her sister along before anyone made any purchases that their wallets would soon regret. “We’re on a budget, and Charmant, suffice to say isn’t in it!”

“Awwwwwwwwww…” Sonata whined.

“We’d just be buying a fruitcake, and nobody eats those!” Aria pointed out. “There’s only a finite amount of those in the world, as there should be, and I don’t intend to add to that amount! They always get regifted anyways, and I’m nowhere near cruel enough to force one of those on anyone! I don’t think the Geneva Convention even allows those!”

“But they’d be fruitcakes from Charmant!” Sonata proclaimed, eyes sparkling with want and desire. “They’d be fruitcake royalty!”

“Yeah, they’d still be fruitcakes!” Aria disagreed. Elsewhere, a very flamboyant baker-slash-mercenary felt an indescribable irritation.

“...you’re a fruitcake to not even want to try Charmant!” Sonata stuck out her tongue.

“Yeah, and you’re a fruitcake for even wanting to try a fruitcake!” Aria returned.

“Are they always like this?” Scootaloo asked her chaperone, remembering Halloween.

“...pretty much,” Adagio admitted. “Oh, you get used to them… eventually.”

“Merry Christmas, ho ho ho!” shouted one of the Mall Santas, ringing his bell and by his collection pot for charity. “Sisters, can you spare me a dime?”

Adagio flipped a few coins in his direction, before striding off trying to get that damnable Mariah Carey song out of her head. Alas, it was a losing battle, leaving her to wonder if even the Geneva Convention allowed such tortures.

“...oh, you don’t like it do you?” Sonata teased. “I mean, I can’t say I blame you as it is utterly terrible but I’d expect you of all people would like the song! Especially as you’ve got a boyfriend now…”

“Okay, uh, no,” Adagio groaned. “...do we really have to do this?”

“Yeah, we do!” Sonata grinned. “Admit it, you want him to fly over from Japan, find your home all dark except for a few candles and you on the bed ready for lovemaking… The song playing all the while…”

Adagio gave her sister a look of utter annoyance, trying hard for her to avoid seeing the interesting shade of red on her face.

“Admit it, you want your sensei to teach you a lesson!” Sonata continued, unable to stop grinning.

“He’s a monk, and I’m pretty sure there are vows taken,” Adagio shot her down. “So, no. Just no.”

“But don’t you want him to open his very extra special Christmas present?” Sonata asked, her charge having long since plugged her ears so she wouldn’t have to hear this.

“He’s a Buddhist, so he doesn’t even celebrate Christmas,” Adagio told her. “So it’s a moot point anyway.”

“Drat,” Sonata sighed. “Oh well, I’ll have to cancel my plans to get him here somehow. Because trust me, I’ve seen you happy and I’ve seen you happy. Like, you’re in a state of perfect zen around him, which for you isn’t easy.”

“...you’d really do that?” Adagio asked, touched.

“Of course I would,” said her sister in reply. “I’m your sister!”

Speaking of people who should be home for Christmas, Scootaloo looked all around her and sighed sadly, seeing families who were happy as can be. Sisters, mothers, brothers, fathers, all spending time together. And yet she was without her beloved older sister.

“...of course, it’d be too much to ask if she could come home for Christmas, wouldn’t it?” she pondered. “I know she has a duty to god and country, but… but I just want her home! Like my own personal Christmas miracle!”

She laughed bitterly, it apparently going unnoticed.

“Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus right down Santa Claus lane, he doesn’t care if you’re rich or poor he loves you all the same. ...just not enough to bring you home to me!”

For now, thought, she could take in the winter wonderland around her. Corny Christmas music and all! Okay, just for a moment she could pretend all was holy and bright with the world, seeing all the massive Christmas trees around her and the jingly music. It made her feel a few years younger, when she was begging for a Rudolph plushie on a drunken mall Santa’s lap with Rainbow looking on with a mix of happiness and concern.

“...Have a holly jolly Christmas, and when you walk down the street, say hello to friends you know,” Scootaloo sang along, waving to friends that she knew with Luster in particular giving a nervous wave back. “And everyone you meet…”

Of course, Scootaloo knew the next bit of lyrics in the song but she had no intent on following through with those! ...maybe. Luster was sweet, but so not her type. Brief flashes of bubblegum pink hair entered her mind, and for a moment she considered picking up the phone. But… well, Sweetie was probably spending time with her sister and didn’t want to be bothered. No time to think on ‘what ifs’ and could have beens.

Oh well, guess right now she had to stop Sonata from going a bit too crazy with the gifts. And stop Aria from killing her.

---

Soarin’, for his part felt reasonably skilled with the Birth Buster. It no longer shook in his hands with every shot, the recoil barely worth a mention.

And then…

“Go home, Soarin,” said Eiji, having been watching his progress all the while. “It’s the holidays, spend time with your family. Parenting, done properly, is a heroic act. Done properly.”

And Soarin’ obliged him, taking his hint.

“Well, I think he’s the greatest gift I’ve ever gotten,” Eiji remarked. “Loyal to his friends, and to his family. I think he’ll make a great successor as Birth.”

“Greatest gift?” Erika said in a dangerous tone. “I think I am the greatest gift you are ever going to get! You still owe me a Christmas dinner by the way, and don’t think you’re getting out of it with some KFC!”

“Alright, I’ll think of something…” Eiji said, placatingly holding up his hands in a surrendering motion.

---

Meanwhile, the Christmas spirit was in full swing back at 16th Street. Adagio found herself doing some last minute clothes shopping for her sisters, having shooed them off.

“OOOs,” said an unexpected voice, and the Rider nearly went for her sword recognizing it. “A honest surprise seeing you here.”

“Mez… Mezool?” Adagio gaped. “...what the hell?”

“Well, can’t a Greeed enjoy the holiday spirit as well?” she asked, with a little laugh as she continued looking through the clothing racks “Think about it, the wild emotions in the air. The desires for the perfect gift! Your human holiday has become all about the spirit of excess, gift, gift, gift! Isn’t that what it’s really about? Getting what you want for Christmas?”

“I swear, if you’re planning to try something…” Adagio said in a warning tone.

“Honestly, I don’t have any real interest in that,” said the Greeed. “I’m ‘complete’ now, but why bother with plots and plans if you’re not there to stop us? Don’t think I haven’t noticed you seemingly vanishing after Halloween. You and your heroics haven’t been on the news in a while now. I, at the risk of sounding like Uva, have actually come to enjoy our little bouts. A battle of wits, woman to woman!”

“And you want me to transform, here and now, just so you can go off and cause chaos?” Adagio asked, disbelievingly.

“Well, when you can,” Mezool mused. “Now, obviously, I’m not just going to give you my spare medals! Oh no, you’re going to have to hunt down your own. Starlight has them right? Presuming, of course, she hasn’t started experimenting with them already, go find a way to draw her out! Make her give you your medals back!”

“...just so I can kick your ass again?” Adagio replied, still skeptic.

“Can you believe I’m bored?” Mezool remarked, still looking through the clothes till she found a nice blouse, and held it up in front of her sorta frenemy. “What do you think? Does it suit me?”

“Yes, it is rather hard to believe,” Adagio replied. “And no, it doesn’t suit you. It’s not your color.”

“Oh, drat, I was hoping it’d look nice on me, but you seem to be the fashion expert,” Mezool admitted. “But honestly, Dagi? Can I call you Dagi?”

“No, you can’t. Only my sisters get to call me that,” Adagio replied. “And needless to say, you’re not one of them.”

“Oh, fine, Dagi,” Mezool replied rather enjoying the twitchy eye her frenemy sported at that. “But as I was saying, yeah, I’m bored. Hard as it is to believe, Greeed can get bored. What’s the use in going after medals if you’re not there to stop me?”

“...the only reason you want me to fight Starlight is so you can take your missing medals back from me,” Adagio surmised.

“Believe what you want,” Mezool sighed. “But between you and me, I’m tired of this old back and forth. Nobody’s gotten anywhere, and as loathe as I am to admit it, maybe Ankh had a point. Medals, that’s all we care about and I’m beginning to wonder if that’s all we should be caring about…”

Adagio was struck silent. Here was Mezool, basically admitting to her that she was incredibly tired of their war.

Should she believe her? Adagio wanted to, given she had long since realized that if things continued the way they did? They would be in this private little war for the rest of their lives. Now, Adagio knew the medals could handle it, but what about her body? It would grow old, and wither and soon it’d be next to impossible to pull off the moves she originally found so easy. No more Rider Kicks for her.

“...of course, you don’t have to believe me,” said Mezool. “Why should you? I haven’t exactly been making life easy for you.”

“And what do the other Greeed think about this change of heart exactly?” asked Adagio, honestly curious.

“Oh, Gamel will follow me no matter what I do. Ankh, pfffft, like I care what he thinks. And Kazari won’t give a damn. He’s still plotting and planning and honestly I’m not sure what he’s up to. I do know he’ll be coming after you though. See, another reason to get your medals back!” Mezool encouraged.

“...right, my medals,” Adagio said, her eyes flashing. And this time, Mezool did take notice.

“Oooooh, you may want to get your desires under control. Take it from someone who knows, okay?” Mezool remarked. “Your desires are dangerous, if you don’t learn how to balance what you want and what you need… Well, let’s just say there are some things worse in the world than me.”

She sounded honestly terrified by the idea, and for a moment Adagio wondered what could scare her so much. She wasn’t honestly sure if she wanted to know. “Uh huh, and you’re giving me this advice out of the goodness of your heart?”

“Well, as I don’t have a heart exactly, no. But I’m trying to be a friend.”

“A friend? You?” Adagio pondered.

“It’s Christmas, it’s the time for giving! Even giving free advice,” Mezool replied. “But yeah, a friend if you’ll have me. I know you’ve already considered your body giving out if we continue this forever war. I know I have. Better to make a friend rather than have another enemy.”

“So what, you want me to invite you and Gamel to Christmas dinner?” Adagio asked.

“If you want, though I never said anything about Gamel…” Mezool chuckled. “Just keep my words in mind okay? Merry Christmas, or Mele Kalikimaka as it is to you I guess!”

With that, she sauntered off leaving Adagio to think on her words…

Meanwhile, Aria and Sonata continued their shopping, trying so very hard not to get smashed into a wall.

“Woah, Jesus!” Sonata yelped nearly squashed into a wall by rampaging customers. “...I should sue for assault and battery!”

“Christmas gets crazier every year…” Aria mused. “And I thought working on Black Friday was bad!”

Now, it must be said, no store was crazier on Christmas than a game store. And poor Aria knew it, having walked in to get her sister a copy of Harvest Moon. And no game was crazier to buy than a certain series of first person shooters. Imagine a horde of ravenous zombies, licking their lips, with only a small plastic barrier between you and them. That was the situation Aria found herself observing while she, nervously, attended to her things.

And there were huge sales soon!

“I’m sorry sir,” said a nervous Button Mash, trying desperately to just do his job. A rabid customer was waving their hands with a copy of the latest Call of Duty grasped tightly in their grip. “But I’m afraid if you took a copy of that game to the registers right now, it would be marked as full price. The sale doesn’t start till several more hours!”

“Well, can I grab a copy now and just wait until then?” the customer asked.

As Button Mash tried explaining that no, he couldn’t do this, another shout rang out from across the store. “Call of Duty for 70% off!”

At that, he literally smashed through a certain barrier and the customer Button Mash was trying to fend off had realized he may miss out on this sale. In a panic, he practically stampeded over the second customer, poor Button shouting over everything.

“Guys! Sirs! You can’t…”

But it was too late. The zombies could smell blood, and within seconds poor Button was being mobbed by about twenty or so hungry flesh eating gamers. Hard work was gone in a second, display cases knocked over and Aria contemplated hiding behind something until it was over.

“...they do know those cases are empty right?” Scootaloo pondered, having worked in this store.

“I barely managed to get a word in,” Button whispered to her. “You try telling them! Oh well, the joke will be on them when they get to the checkout and find they won’t be able to scan anything…”

He, Aria and Scootaloo peeked over the aisle and saw a display of full tilt jungle madness. They were like animals, without a zookeeper to keep them under control. The ringmaster had left the building, the circus going into chaos. The zombies bit, grabbed, and clawed at each other for huge savings and Aria, for a moment, wondered if she was going to get out of there alive.

She and Scootaloo crept out, just barely managing to have purchased Adagio’s gift.

“...poor Button, don’t you think we should go back and help?” Scootaloo wondered, remembering how all was not calm and how all was not bright back there. “He looks to be in way over his head.”

“...are you kidding?” Aria scoffed. “You saw that store! I value my life and limb!”

“But Aria…” Scootaloo said, bringing out the big puppy dog eyes.

“Ugh, fine, I hate it when you do that to me, kid…” Aria groaned before deciding if she should be arrested for assault. Deciding against it, she, instead of sending a few crazed animals to the vet, took control of the in-store announcement system. “Would the following idiots who grabbed empty display cases please return them? If you don’t, I will be forced to call the police and have you arrested for shoplifting!”

All of the aforementioned idiots looked at her, and Aria with her arms crossed and best glare made a very intimidating sight.

“Thank you…” Button Mash said. “I thought high school was nuts! This is worse!”

“My advice?” Aria asked with Button leaning in. “...get a taser.”

“I’ll… I’ll keep that in mind!” Button stammered out. “Oh, and Merry Christmas!”

Adagio meanwhile, remembered that Fluttershy said to her yesterday that she was lacking a Christmas goose. So it was time to get one.

“...I wonder if these turkeys get any bigger…?” asked a little old lady to the left of her.

Remembering a certain comedy sketch, Adagio replied: “No, they’ve shuffled off this mortal coil, they have ceased to be, they’ve expired and gone to meet their maker. Bereft of life, they have ceased to be! They are ex-turkeys!”

The old lady laughed with her all the way to the checkout. And Adagio smirked, and Aria said she didn’t have a sense of humor!

“...you’re insensitive to the animal, you know!” said another lady. “What if someone joked about your death, would you take kindly to that?”

“No,” Adagio said and the woman looked satisfied. She then drawled: “...No, I wouldn’t care because I would be dead.”

With a smug look, the possibly crazed lady got in her face. “Would you kill me if I was a turkey?”

At this, she began to make chicken noises including clucking and if that wasn’t enough she began flapping her arms like a bird. By now, other customers had stopped and were staring, pointing and stifling laughter.

“If I was a turkey, would you kill me?” the woman asked again.

“...look, I’m trying to do some shopping,” Adagio said, about at the end of her patience. “Do you want me to give you the bird, or bust out some fowl language? I don’t want to end up gobbling my words, and end up feeling rather poultry!”

The turkey woman gave her a dirty look and marched out of the store, but not before giving one last shout: “I won’t ever shop here again until you get fired! Your soul will burn unless you repent you… you animal-killer!”

Adagio didn’t bother to tell her that she didn’t even work here. That being said, she did have one question… “Why was someone like her in a butcher’s shop anyways?”

Still pondering, she walked out with her newly purchased goose in hand. And then Adagio realized something. “Crap, I forgot the pork!”

---

“I’m dreaming of a White Christmas… Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten…”

Sonata kicked it over to another station, switching it to Bing Crosby’s dulcet tones. “...hey guys, did any of us ever get a white Christmas? I don’t see why we’re listening to this, we’re from Hawaii! We got Mister Green Christmas, Mister Heat Blister, Mister 101~!”

“It’s a traditional song, just let it play,” Adagio said, switching it back over, as she slid a plate of pumpkin haupia pie down the table smelling simply delectable. Some macadamia nut snowballs were to follow soon after, glistening white as the frost. “Besides, this is Colorado. It’s always Mister White Christmas here, Mister Ten Below.”

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re going to be quoting Christmas songs all night!” Gilda said from the kitchen, wearing an apron that said: ‘Kiss the Chef and Die.’ “Like, because if so? Oh chico, aquí vamos... As fun as that is, could you at least quote the good ones?”

“...did you…?” Sonata trailed off watching Gilda work on some red posole soup, apparently passed down from parent to child in her family. “You’re telling me you never seriously grew up with Rankin and Bass as a child?”

Gilda switched over to stirring something else, a nice chicken pozole verde. “No, mi chica. I had things like Plácido and Santa Claus. Oh, el Dios, there’s nothing like Santa in outer space fighting demons called Pitch!”

Sonata blinked, giving her a weird look. “...that is… uh, yeah is certainly a thing!”

“Oh, mi chica,” Gilda said leaning in with a smile. “We’ve only hit the tip of the iceberg! I need to show you stuff like Satanico Pandemonium or The Exterminating Angel sometime!”

“...and you say my flirting with Takeru is bad!” Adagio called, taking a sip of a drink Gilda had contributed, something she called champurrado. Thick and creamy, it was apparently filled with a mix of cinnamon, vanilla and a few other things.

Sonata just childishly stuck her tongue out at her in return.

“Don’t you have a family of your own to be with?” Adagio asked, wearing a particularly ugly sweater with dolphins on it as per tradition.

“Mi familia understands,” Gilda replied wearing an equally ugly sweater. “I’ll be with them later ton… HEY!”

She’d spotted Sonata’s hands drifting to the pork, swatting her away with the spoon.

“What did I say? You touch that pork, and you’ll be Feliz Navidead, you hear?”

Grumbling to herself, Gilda knocked back her cranberry margarita. Somehow, Adagio got the feeling by the end of the night they’d all be very drunk.

In the other room, Scootaloo and Soarin’ could overhear the threesome.

“...Huh, okay, uh wow,” Scootaloo blinked, overhearing something about marranitos, whatever those were. “Clearly, I’ve been missing out on something over on base! Man, holidays with this family is so totally wild!”

Already, delicious smells were starting to emanate from the locked dining room. Tantalizing forbidden fruits that would be locked away until later in the night. “Oh, if only sis was here to share them with us…”

Soarin noticed her expression, sitting down next to her. “Hey, it’ll be alright. Your sister will be back soon…”

“But I don’t want her back soon,” Scootaloo said, her lip beginning to quiver. “I want her back now. All day, I’ve been seeing families spending time together, all the while knowing Dash is… well, you know!”

Soarin’ brought her in for a tight hug, wondering all the while what he could do. Then he remembered something his boss had told him about. “I’ll be right back, okay?”

“But where…?” Scootaloo trailed off seeing him walk off, before throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. “Of course, go on, do your own thing. Best not to stick around, before my misery infects you or something, brings down the holiday cheer.”

Eventually, Sonata, Adagio and Gilda all returned from the kitchen/dining room. Adagio was conversing with Soarin’ over… something, before nodding and running off. Already, she was out the door and soon there was the roar of a motorcycle’s engine as it tore off down the street.

“...but where is she going in such a hurry?” Aria asked. “She’s going to miss the carolling!”

“I didn’t know you caroled!” Gilda laughed in her gruff tone. “...wow, guess you learn something new everyday.”

“It’s the holiday spirit, it’s infected me. We all have our little weaknesses,” Aria mused, watching Fluttershy find her book of carols. Gilda followed her gaze and suddenly gave an understanding nod and a little laugh.

“Ah, I see. Pequeña 'tímida got to you too huh?” the muscled Mexican mused. “Well, can’t say I blame you. If Sonata didn’t exist… well! But my pequeña panadera is just enough for me.”

“So I can tell, given you were talking about grindhouse cinema! Satanico Pandemonium eh?” Aria commented.

“Oh, you heard that?” Gilda chuckled. “Didn’t know you were even interested in stuff like that!”

“Uh, hell yeah!” Aria said. “That stuff is the shit for me!”

“Well, I’d have to invite you along one night. Hell, bring your gal. That is, unless pequeña 'tímida is willing to live up to her nickname…” Gilda replied. Aria suddenly barked out a laugh, even as they took to the streets.

“Oh, you’ll see! Fluttershy was actually banned from horror nights, largely because she’s always commenting on how unrealistic the movies are,” Aria replied, a certain vet giving a little nod of confirmation.

Gilda gave a surprised look, then barked out a laugh of her own. They walked up and down the streets, serenading them with carols.

“Come they told me
Pa rum pum pum pum

“A new born king to see
Pa rum pum pum pum

Our finest gifts we bring
Pa rum pum pum pum…” Fluttershy lead, with Sonata and Aria providing backing vocals. And the gift they brought was one of song.They may not have had any drums, but words were enough.

To the next house they went, with Gilda taking the lead. It was a less traditional carol to be sure, but no less welcomed.

“Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad, próspero año y felicidad

I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
Celebremos juntos la vida

I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
Y que viva la alegría…” Gilda sang, her spicy Spanish accent ringing clear and true through the chill of the night.

This continued throughout the night, until they returned home and ready to eat, ready to stuff their bellies. But they had an unexpected guest that night. Two, actually. There sat Mezool and Gamel.

“...oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!” Aria said, cracking her knuckles. “Alright, out!”

“Oh, so you want to go?” Mezool asked ready to transform into her true form. Water gathered at her feet, pulling itself out of the carpets and ready to encase her like a cocoon.

“That’s enough!” came a shout, and Adagio stepped into view. “No, I let them in, as this holiday is a time for building bridges and tearing down walls. Going into the new year, I want to end this war of ours.”

Aria and Sonata shared a look, before shrugging.

“...okay, but if this goes bad, don’t say we didn’t tell you so!” Aria remarked while Fluttershy sent Adagio an approving look.

“I have confidence that it won’t,” said Adagio, firmly and confidently. “We’re all tired of this war, and it’s time to search for a better solution. The me today is stronger from the me from yesterday, and the me of today says to search for new solutions instead of kicking everyone. I’m not going to be like her, conquering and killing. I want to reach out to all forms of life, work with all animals.”

“Well said!” Mezool agreed. “I may come to like you OOOs!”

From a rooftop, watched a familiar bird. “Tch! She’s fooling herself if she thinks she can reach out and create a bridge between humans and Greeed!”

Nobody saw him sit there, and nobody saw him leave.

“Well, uh… if that’s the way you feel…” Gamel said. “I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

“Of course you would, dear,” said Mezool sweetly kissing his forehead.

“Now, when can we eat?” Gamel asked, setting off a round of laughter from the group.

“Righhhhhhhhhhhhhhtttt now!” chorused Sonata, bringing out the pork. “Now, who’s hungry? Go on, don’t rush me, don’t take more than you need! There’s plenty for all!”

“Mele Kalikimaka,” said Gilda to Aria, raising a glass.

“Feliz Navidad,” returned the punk rocker. Mezool and Gamel took what they needed, Gamel finding some star fruits and dragon fruits interesting while Mezool went for the bread pudding.

Adagio smiled, feeling a warmth rush through her at the sight. Maybe this could work after all. It had been a long, tiring year but… honestly, she felt a lot of hope for the future. It had been a strange year to be certain, but from it she had made many new friends and honestly? That was a win in her book.

Her and Soarin’ led Scootaloo away from the calamity that was their family dinner, and showed her their Christmas present. Bringing up two antennas, a familiar face soon became apparent.

Scootaloo’s eyes lit up seeing her beloved sister come on screen, as clear as day.

“Hey squirt,” Rainbow’s voice said, crackling a bit from the possibly bad connection. Scootaloo fought back a sob, like oh wow her eyes were a little wet. “I’m sorry I can’t be there with you this tonight, at least not in the flesh. But Merry Christmas okay, kid? How’s life been treating you?”

“It’s… it’s been good,” Scootaloo whispered, still a bit teary. “I’ve made a few new friends, I need to tell you about Luster sometime when you get home! She’s great, frighteningly smart. She reminds me of Twilight actually!”

“Don’t worry kid, I’ll have plenty of time to listen when I get home. And don’t worry, I’ll be home soon, okay? I’m on the next plane, and with any luck you’ll be seeing me before New Year’s Eve.”

“REALLY?” Scootaloo shouted, and Rainbow laughed.

“Yes, really. Japan’s been nice, really! I’ve had some… experiences, which I’ll tell you about when I can, but I miss home. I promise you, I won’t miss a minute with you when I get back, alright? Now, tell me you’ve been keeping up with Sweetie, okay?”

“Sis…” Scootaloo nearly whined, her face an interesting shade of red.

“No no, don’t make any excuses. I know that you like her, okay? No time for what ifs or could have beens or should have beens. As soon as we’re done, contact her okay? Wish her a Merry Christmas and all that!”

“I… I will…” Scootaloo nodded, and together they stayed talking long into the night. As Adagio and Soarin’ let them be, the Kamen Rider turned to her friend.

“That was a good thing you did,” she said to him. “It was a really good thing.”

“Eiji said it to me, actually. Parenting, done properly, is a heroic act. Done properly.”

Adagio smiled. “I think you’ll do fine.”

Author's Notes:

And with this, I am officially done for the year. Happy Holidays, all.

Few minor notes, okay? Tried to bring as many characters as I could in for this chapter, from all across the fic. Adagio's friends and family, the works. If I missed anyone, please tell me. I'm sure someone didn't make it in.

Also, the holiday shopping scenes. Went to Not Always Right for inspiration, meaning a lot of that stuff I wrote actually happened. Let that sink in, okay? And now, we enter the final fifteen chapters. If that!