III. Second

"Curse you, Kamen Riders!" the bat hissed, flecks of spittle staining the coarse hair of its jaw, "Curse you to the very pit of hell itself!"

From behind him, the crouched figure rose up, his gloved hands tightening into fists and his scarf billowing, the resonance of his spirit energy signature awakening.

He turned and looked over his shoulder, reaching out and pointing a finger towards the suited man, heavy hands still upon the child's shoulders.

"Shocker kaijin! Release Professor Oodōji's son!" he commanded, his voice clear and unwavering.

A twitch of expression crossed the other man's face.

"Hitomoji Hayato," he hissed, "come any closer and I'll kill the boy!"

Beneath his skin, bones cracked loudly, flesh shrugging free of its human disguise so as to reveal the form of a hideous arachnid monster, compound eyes studying the scene before it and vicious mandibles twitching with anticipation.

"Give us Professor Oodōji and the secret of the GX Device and the child will be returned to you," the beast hissed, its lips quivering as it spoke.

Beneath the masque, Hitomoji's expression was unreadable.

"Damn you, Shocker, you won't get away with this!" he hissed in a low voice, his head suddenly snapping up and his eyes turning toward the figure standing behind Tsukasa.

Tsukasa felt his heart hammering in his chest, swallowing hard as he reached for the Ride Booker, struggling to regain control of the situation.

"Kadoya!" the other Rider suddenly called out.

Before Tsukasa could react, Ðecade was moving, one fist crashing into the bat monster's chest whilst the other reached down and flipped open a leather book at his side, drawing forth a single card and spinning it in his gloved hand before sliding it into his own belt.

He turned and looked over his shoulder, his glowing eyes casting illumination over the 'x' marked upon Tsukasa's armour.

"Watch and learn, Kadoya Tsukasa," he remarked.

'Kamen Ride,' the belt remarked in identical tones to Tsukasa's own, 'SKULL RIDER!'

The varnished wood and smooth plastic faded in a shimmer of dull light, replaced by black leather and a heavy motorcycle helmet decorated with the likeness of a human skull.

"Rider Uppercut!" Hitomoji roared, bringing his fist up beneath the jaw of the spider monster and lifting its feet from the air.

"Rider Punch!" Ðecade answered slamming both fists forward in a one-two combination that shattered the bat beast's ribs and sent it staggering back, gasping from breath.

The spider crashed down onto the roof of the car, buckling the metal with the force of its impact as Hitomoji's red gloved hands reached out and caught the stunned child before he struck the pavement.

Rushing past Ðecade, Tsukasa struck out at the staggering bat, shattering its jaw with his fist and sending it crashing to the ground.

"Who are you people?" he snarled, the emerald green eyes of his masque ablaze with rage.

"We are the Kamen Riders of another age," Ðecade announced, stepping around Tsukasa and slamming his leather gloved fist down into the bat's head as it rose from the ground, "another Cosmological Ðecade, to use your own words."

Tsukasa's fist caught the bat once more in the face, sending it sprawling back, unmoving at last, against the side of the ruined car.

"You're the people who turned the blind to black!" he snapped, pointing an accusing finger toward the skull masqued other, "You're the ones interfering with our journey!"

Ðecade shook his head sadly.

"Your journey was derailed by the passing of Gomoto Takeshi moving through your world on his way to a confrontation with your armour."

Tsukasa glanced down at the suit he wore.

"My armour? Gomoto Takeshi?" he repeated in confusion.

Ðecade nodded firmly.

"Your armour, amidst the emptiness of the Riderless World, commands shadows to rise up as Gomoto rushes towards it. The nine worlds through which you pass contain the warped shadows Gomoto casts on the wall of the Fifth Dimension – it is those reflections that the King of the Riderless World turns into puppets and sends out to prevent the arrival of the first king in his domain."

Slowly, Ðecade took a step forward, the leather of his trousers and jacket creaking as he moved.

"Kadoya Tsukasa," he said firmly, "the nine worlds you know and the Riders they contain are but shadows of the first king. Your armour knows this and, in time, it will destroy you in order to strengthen itself for a final confrontation with its predecessor."

"That's not true," he whispered, shaking his head, "that's impossible!"

"Kamen Rider!" a frail yet enraged voice called out.

Both Decade and Ðecade turned as one to gaze upon the sight of an old man in an immaculate white suit, his flesh pulled back from his teeth in a grimacing smile as a cape swept out behind him.

"Shinigami Hakase!" Hitomoji spat the name, his grasp on the child's arm tightening as he struggled to hide the boy from view.

The aged man hissed in recognition, his wrinkled flesh seemingly rippling with every word he spoke.

"Kamen Rider Niigo, Skull Rider – give back to Shocker what is rightfully ours!" he demanded, reaching out and pointing towards the child.

"Liar!" Hitomoji snarled in return, "Shocker has no claim to Oodōji's son or the GX Device!"

"I think," the ancient man hissed, "that you will find yourself very much mistaken, Hitomoji Hayato!"

With a dismissive wave, he gestured towards the streets above the lonely road as, from the shadows an army of shuddering monsters appeared, each one howling its name in a cacophony of noise and screams.

Smiling, Shinigami Hakase glared once more at his opponents.

"Now," he chuckled softly to himself, "we shall negotiate the terms of your surrender!"