Prologue: "Will Not Fall"
-I Will Not Bow, Breaking Benjamin
Location: No-Men Base, Ventarra. 2019 A.D.
"You do realize we're risking all of Ventarra on a whim, an idea that might not even work out?"
"What other choice do we have? It's not like we have anyone from Earth who can help us."
"What other choice indeed," Kit Taylor murmured to himself, looking out the window and sighing. Earth was gone, and all the Earthlings had died with it. He cursed Alexis Lakewood as he stood, tossing the coffee cup he'd had into the trash. It was her fault that Earth had been destroyed and all the Ventarrans were now facing the prospect of their planet being lost as well.
"Not if we do anything about it," came the casual voice from the doorway. The older Rider turned to face his sister, Lyra Sharton, who was leaning in the doorway and wearing a silver thermal shirt and dark jeans. Her arms and legs were crossed as he walked across the room to meet her.
"Yeah. And we're risking the Ventarrans on a whim. Remind me again why that's a good plan?" Kit admonished sharply, walking past her and into the hall.
"Because it's the only thing we have," she rebuked simply. "Kit, we don't have many other options. This is the best one we have to work with."
Kit leaned on the railing overlooking the control room of the No-Men Base. He clasped his hands and looked at her, nodding wearily. "I know. I'm just worn out from the war. Honestly, I'll be happy only once it's over."
"Ventarra will not fall, you do know that, right?" Lyra inquired, not commenting on the idea of the war being over. It seemed surreal, unlikely to ever happen. Then again, it had taken up the last seven or eight years of her life. One couldn't blame her for being a tad bit skeptical, even with herself.
"Yes. Not easily, at least. But if it falls at all, Karsh could be next. Then, who knows where she'll go."
Arms fell on the shoulders of both siblings. "Remind me again why we're having this conversation again? I thought we'd already worked this out," Christopher Ramirez commented.
"Kit here's just being paranoid," Lyra answered, cutting off her brother's remark before he could continue. "But who can blame him? We've still got a long way to go."
"But we're closer than we've ever been," Chris reminded them gently, squeezing his wife's shoulder before leaning on the railing left between them. "And anyway, we have the help we need now. We aren't going to lose. Not this time."
"For sure," came two simultaneous reassurances from behind. Adam Taylor and Len Markel stood behind their teammates. Maya Young and Drake Trademore weren't far behind, offering silent comfort. The Earthlings all still felt the loss of their planet and home, even almost three months later. That time hadn't been used for nothing, however. Plans for the upcoming battles had been written out, and the Karshians were on Ventarra, already preparing to help in the battle thanks to the leadership of Master Eubulon. On top of that, there were plans to rescue two other Earthlings from Alexis's grasp, Trent Moseley and Merrick Arlius, both allies from the fight on Earth. Along with that, Kit and Lyra had been fruitlessly searching through their parents's journals, searching without a break for ideas on how to purify Gauntlets, which would allow the Light Riders to bring two Dark Riders over to their side, Drew Lansing and Hayley Tyler.
Few of the plans had been acted on, however. Many were still in the thought process.
"We're getting to the point where we'll actually be able to act, not think," Drake pointed out. "We're almost there. There's only a little more time need before we can rescue Trent and Merrick. Then, the fight will really begin again."
"It's going to kick our butts again, that's for sure," Maya muttered, earning chuckles from the others. While Maya hadn't fought in the first war, she had in the second and made her complaints well known from time to time.
"Yeah, but it'll be worth it," Len brought up. "I think we can all agree on that."
An alarm sounded from somewhere within the base, and the Riders all shook their heads. "Mirror monsters," Adam growled. "They always have the worst timing."
"Come on. Let's go," Kit ordered, and all but one started to move.
Lyra stood staring into the glass, her eyes curious as she saw something in the reflection. It looked almost like a city, much like Earth's had been while the city of Aldous existed. She shook her head. I'm too tired, and my mind's playing tricks on me. That's all it is. After all, I could've sworn I saw Flarethyle as well. And he and Vic have been dead for almost four months now. But why would my mind –
"You coming, sis?" The brunette's head whipped around the stare at her brother. The group had paused in the hall, staring at the Advent Master in concern. Lyra shook her head once again.
"Yeah. Sorry, mind's playing tricks again," she responded, earning a few chuckles from the group.
"You haven't been sleeping well," Kit allowed." Get some decent sleep tonight, and maybe you'll quit seeing things that aren't there."
"Sounds good to me," Lyra teased, jogging up to catch up with her teammates. She paused only once, glancing back into the reflective surface. This time, she knew she saw something, but it vanished with a blink. The adult shook her head, mentally scolding herself.
You're tired, that's all. Flarethyle is dead. Reflective surfaces may be ways to get to other parts of Ventarra now, but there are none left on Earth, where the remains of the Gauntlet are. Quit tormenting yourself, Lyra!
Location: …Unknown. 2019 A.D.
Flames erupted from the Cerberus's mouth, and his Rider jumped, glaring at him.
"Flarethyle, that doesn't help!" the dark-haired adolescent snapped, her gray-green eyes flashing with annoyance as she stood from the folded position she'd been sitting in for the past hour. "We got them to notice! That's the first time, idiot!"
The fire red Advent Beast looked properly chastened, and he put his tail between his legs as all three heads bowed, the middle one hesitantly making eye contact with his Rider's. The youngest Rider sighed, falling to her knees and rubbing him on the middle head. "I'm sorry, Flarethyle. I just want to help, and all I can do is remain here, stuck in the thing we call a base."
The Beast licked her face gently, his eyes reflecting her pain as she leaned her cheek on top of his head. "I know. I want my family back too. I want to feel my siblings playing around one another in free time and healing one another when we're injured. I want to be there to comfort you and your brother when you two have fallen and can't stand back up on your own. Believe me, that's all any of us want."
"It really is." Rider and Advent Beast both looked up. The other brunette woman sighed wearily, her brown eyes the only thing that really showed the hope the No-Man held in reaching the others. "And we're getting there. We've salvaged most of the Void Healer. It's only a matter of time before we can reach Ventarra."
"How long do you think it'll take?" the adolescent Rider interrogated, her voice harsh. "We're making more progress on reaching the others than you have fixing that damned machine!"
"How dare you-" The older woman bit her lip as her superior came over, his eyes, once cold, softening when he saw just how worn out the duo were.
"Enough, both of you. You're both worn out. Get some sleep. We can't be fighting with ourselves when we're living in a barely functional city on a barely surviving planet," the older man rebuked, sending them both off without another word.
That was when a short-haired, blonde man made his presence known, his eyes flashing the typical Karshian black for a brief moment as he assessed the situation. "They're still not cooperating?"
"They're both frustrated, Alyss the most. She's so close to contacting the Riders, yet still so far away." Agent Phillip turned to the mirror the teen had been working on opening a portal through. "How long will it take before it's fully functional again?"
"Not long now. No more than a few weeks," the elder of the two answered calmly. "But seeing my godson again…that was torture. Do they really think me dead?"
"You were caught up in the explosion and fell into a coma for weeks after, Frank. Hell, you even saw those you'd lost to death while you were out of it. Near-death experience much?"
Frank snorted. "I may nearly have died, but that's happened before. And next time, I'll stay dead, how about that?"
"Let's now have a next time for a long time, how about that?" Phillip turned to the door. "Come on, we need to get some rest as well. We've been working nonstop for two days. We're going to maim ourselves with the tools soon enough."
"Yeah." Frank didn't go right away, however. He placed one hand on the mirror, smiling when the surface rippled under his touch, begging for help to open a gateway to the world on its other side. "Keep fighting, my Riders. Don't ever give in."
Then he turned, leaving the room and the mirror within it.
Kamen Rider Lynx does not own Kamen Rider Dragon Knight or its characters. The plot ideas and characters are, however, copyright of Kamen Rider Lynx.
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