I know this chapter will raise a lot of questions, but I will answer the ones I get next chapter. I do not own KRDK.

Chapter 5: Choose (Frank's POV)

Kit's jaw dropped so far that I wasn't sure that it wasn't going to hit the ground. At any other time, I would've wholeheartedly laughed my head off about it, but there was no humor in this discussion. "Wh-what?" Kit stammered out. "Dad, what are you talking about? The team's been as complete as it'll ever be, and-What the hell is going on? Does this have something to do with Hayley?"

I walked behind the desk, pulling a drawer open and dropping a piece of paper on the wood before leaning forward, bracing myself with my hands. "It has everything to do with Hayley." I hesitated, wondering whether I was doing the right thing or not, and then I handed him the paper. "You know Latin?"

"I know bits of Spanish, the numbers 1-10 in Korean, and how to say 'thank you' in French but not a word of Latin," Kit responded cockily, taking the paper and glancing over it. "And trying to figure out what the hell this means will give me a headache.

Fighting the urge to roll my eyes at my godson's antics, I took the slip back, opening it back up to make sure I got the words correct even though I had long since committed them to memory. "In Latin, it states, 'Elementa venti, ignis, et terrae. Aqua, et lux; animus, sociat. Ira fulminis; umbra tremit. Fulmen occultus tempestatem incendit."

"What does that mean in English?"

"Elements of Wind, Fire, and Earth. Water and Light; Spirit unites. Lightning's wrath; Shadow quakes. Hidden bolt ignites a storm." Blink. Blink. Blink. Bl- "Kit, stop blinking and staring at me like I'm insane."

One more blink. Then, "Dad, what the hell does that mean? Is it a prophecy of some sort?"

"Yes. Kit, there are seven main elements. We only have six now." I put emphasis on the word seven, wondering if he might pick it up. He frowned, looking concerned and a bit confused as he spoke.

"Well, I'm Light. Lyra's Spirit. Maya's…Water?" I nodded when Kit glanced at me to confirm his guess. "Then Chris is Earth, Callen is…." Kit looked at me again. "What is Callen?"

"Wind. His color makes it easy to confuse him for Shadow."

"Then that leaves…Vic as Fire and...wait a second. Who is Lightning?" I smirked. I'd been waiting for that.

"No one…yet. At least, no one here." Kit cocked his head to one side, looking pretty much completely lost.

"You say that like one of the Dark Riders could be a Light Rider." I simply kept my face neutral, waiting, and his eyes widened as realization struck him. "Wait, is that even possible?"

"Unfortunately," I answered, my voice tinged with bitterness, "it means that one of the Dark Riders has never been a Dark Rider. Chances are whoever it is has been too scared to speak out or was intimidated into thinking that he was supposed to be a Dark Rider."

Kit looked at the ground, and the horror on his face when he looked back up at me made me realize that he'd figured out how Hayley was part of it. "Is she a Dark Rider? Hayley?"

I looked down, trying to figure out how to phrase it without completely condemning her. I knew just how in love Kit was with her, but if Hayley was indeed a Dark Rider, she might've-and probably had been-just playing with him. "Kit, I…Possibly," was all I managed to get out. "I'm not sure. But the way she's been acting-faking being sick, wandering near places that ought not be wandered near-it all points to that."

Kit's head dropped, and I heard the shaky breath that came from him. "I just….I just don't get it. Why? Why would she betray us? Ever?"

I walked around the desk, sitting on the edge and wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "I don't know why, Kit. She might've been a spy all along. I honestly don't know. I wish I could say that I did, but…"

Kit jerked away like he'd been burned, stalking out the room before I could stop him. "Kit, wait!"

He whirled around, eyes red like he was about to cry. "What?" The snappish response was icy cold and bitter. Shit. He wasn't going to listen to a word I said now, was he? Another glance at his gaze made up my mind. Nope, he wasn't going to.

"You go out there in the state you're in, you'll get yourself killed. Calm down for a few minutes, and maybe I'll consider letting you leave this room."

"Make me," Kit hissed, the challenge clear in his voice. I gritted my teeth as he turned away, about to leave. I hate doing this. My eyes turned to their Karshian black as I sped towards him, grabbing his shoulder. He jerked around again, knocking it off with his arm and sending a kick to my chest. I stumbled back a couple inches but countered with a punch.

Kit blocked, and a well-aimed roundhouse kick was sent towards my head. I had many more years experience, though, and I grabbed it, knocking him to the ground as I swept my leg under his other one, sending him sprawling across the ground. He rolled, crouching as he came up, one arm pulled back and ready to attack. I tensed, my long-dormant fighting instincts raring up as I analyzed any and all attacks that Kit could come at me with next.

He came with what had been Number 27 on my list.

He rolled forward, intending to sweep my legs out from under me when he unrolled his legs to wrap around mine. I jumped backwards, and he leapt to his feet, looking frustrated and just flat-out pissed. I wasn't overly surprised-Kit had every reason to be mad, hurt, confused, and multiple other negative emotions, but what I was worried about now was him going out and making a reckless decision. If he did that, he could get himself hurt. No, scratch that. He could get himself Vented, or worse, killed. And chances were, with the nice little flaring temper he had now, he would.

I collided with my desk after a sharp and hard spinning back kick, and Kit nearly got the chance to bolt. I managed to wrap one hand around his wrist, and he countered with a punch that I caught. He freed his other hand, attacking with it, but I caught that as well, twisting it so that he couldn't move. "Kit, look at me." He didn't, focused on trying to escape my grip. "Kit, now." Two cold, gray-blue eyes bored into mine. I saw the torrent of emotions that was flickering through his eyes at rapid-fire speed. Pain. Hurt. Confusion. Disbelief. Anger. Hate. Those were just a few. "Kit, do I need to tell you that what you're contemplating doing is stupid?"

My godson turned his head away, and I saw the sole tear that made its way down his cheek. I silently thanked Eubulon for the words of wisdom that he'd given Len all those years ago, now quoting them to Kit. "So ask yourself, Kit. Do you know it in your head, or just your gut?"

The sharp look I got made me pretty certain I knew which it was. "Kit, you're a great fighter. But you have to be more than that to be a great warrior. Sometimes listening is harder than fighting." He looked down, and I saw his composure start to return as I finished. "A true warrior must do both."

I felt Kit's muscles go slack as he stopped fighting, and I slowly let his arms go. "Better?" I asked softly. Gray-blue eyes flickered up to meet my blue, and our gazes met briefly before he glanced down again with a silent nod. "Kit, I know you're hurt. But we need to give this a just little more time to unfold. Not long, just a little while longer. I told you so that you would be able to keep an eye on the situation and hopefully stop it before it happens. I know it hurts, but there're no other options."

"Yeah," Kit whispered dully, the pain evident in his usually bright gray-blue eyes. "I just….I just don't want to believe it."

I wrapped my arms around him, and surprisingly, he clung to me, holding onto me like a lifeline. "I know, Kit. I know."

(Hayley' POV)

I hurried down the halls, my hands quivering from an adrenaline rush. I was worried, scared, and I needed to contact James before anything else happened. Callen and Kit were both suspicious, and Markus had been keeping an extremely close eye on me the past day. The secret had to be out, meaning that the war was truly about to begin.

I was almost at the entrance to the city, ready to run back to my teammates, when a figure stepped in front of me, cutting me off.

"Kit," I asked, trying to keep the shock and fear out of my voice. "What are you doing here?"

He crossed his arms, eyes calm as he answered, "I could ask you the same thing. Rather close to the edge of the city for someone who's so recently been sick, don't you think? Last time I checked, only the Riders and soldiers were allowed border patrol, not civilians." His voice sounded simply concerned, but there was an underlying current of something else it in as well.

Anger flashed in my eyes as I felt power welling up inside me, begging, pleading with me to be released. "So?"

"One might thing you're doing something you're not supposed to do." Conviction. That was the undercurrent.

That was it. He knew. Shit, he knew.

"You're right. I am." The cat was out of the bag, and my cover was already blown. Might as well start the rest of the mission now. "Now get out of the way, or I'm not going to hesitate to kill you."

"Not happening." His voice was icy cold, and I let out a sharp growl, raising my arm to my face.

"Dark Gauntlet, activate!" The purple Gauntlet wrapped around my arm, and I heard my Advent Beast's eager growl in my mind. "Dark Rider, Equip!"

"Advent Gauntlet, activate! Kamen Rider, Equip!" Kit's golden armor wrapped around him, and my purple armor wrapped around me, covering me from head to toe.

It was dark purple, with black around the waist and shins. My boots were purple streaked with silver on the sides, and my helmet was stylized after the head of an eagle. There were slits in my armor's back for the Flight Vent, and my Gauntlet was perched on my arm, easily accessible. The sides of my armor were dark navy blue, and the stripes ran down the sides.

I drew a Card, sliding it into the Visor. 'Flight Vent.' I unfolded my wings and felt the armor cover them as I leapt into the sky, my wings flapping powerfully as I flew high into the sky. I wasn't surprised when Kit flew into the air as well, his wings flapping just as powerfully. I realized that he was a bit more agile from experience, but I wasn't about to let that stop me.

'Attack Vent.' Goldenheart let out a loud roar as she flew towards me, slashing me in the chest with her front claws. I somersaulted backwards, and my Advent Beast, the purple eagle Arcean, caught me with his wing.

"Hayley, careful!"

You worry too much.

I dove, coming up under Kit and slashing the bottom of his wings and running the blade in between them. I then slashed them, and he crumpled about ten feet before Goldenheart caught him, steadying him as two other Riders flew up into the air. Shit!

Callen and Lyra were in full armor, and their movements were swift as they flew towards me. Callen let out a low growl in my ear. "You hurt my cousin. This is what you get in return." A harsh attack from his Advent Beast hit me right in between my wings, and I started to fall towards the ground, only being stopped by another attack by Akeona, Lyra's Advent Beast. Damned Light Riders!

"You won this battle," I snarled, throwing myself backwards in the air and onto Arcean. "But you haven't won the war." Arcean let out a loud caw, whirling around and flying out the city.

You'll regret this, Kit. I swear on my Gauntlet that you will.

(Callen's POV)

I flew back to my cousin, seeing that his armor was flickering dangerously, indicating a pretty bad injury. "Kit, we need to get you to the ground." No response. I moved closer, getting worried, and as I opened my mouth to speak again, he slipped, falling off Goldenheart and beginning a head-first descent to the ground.

"KIT!" Lyra half-screeched her brother's name out of fear, and we both catapulted downwards, catching Kit right before he had the chance to collide with the concrete. Landing, I rolled him over, wrapping one hand around his Gauntlet and ordering it to dispel the armor. It vanished, and I turned his shoulder enough to let his sister see his back. The gasp that the sight elicited made me glance around, and I gagged, my armor vanishing as I fought back the urge to retch.

Kit's wings were mangled.

The left one was bent at an odd angle which meant it was either broken or dislocated. Considering some of the positions of the bones, especially the wrist, I figured it was broken. The feathers were bent, and there were some that were torn out, leaving patches of bloody skin. His right wing looked like it was hanging on almost literally by a thread of bone, hanging limp.

"Son of a bitch," Lyra whispered, lightly probing one of his wings and unconsciously jolting him back to consciousness. He let out a sharp cry of pain, trying to jerk away, and I caught his shoulders, holding him still.

"Easy, easy, Kit. You're just going to hurt yourself even more, buddy," I soothed, trying to get him to calm down. It was obvious that he was in pain. Due to that, he was more likely to fight us off. I unconsciously rolled my sleeve up, speaking into the Gauntlet. "Frank, we need you over in the west end of town, Sector B-13-A. Kit's been injured, and we need help getting him back to the Infirmary."

The answer came immediately. "I'll be there in a few seconds. Keep him still, Callen. How bad is it?" I heard the sound of him getting on an Air Cycle in the background and forced my mind to focus on the task at hand.

"Looks like a fair few of the secondaries and primaries are cut, torn, or pulled out, and there're too many bones that are either dislocated or broken for me to figure out what is wrong with them." I kept my voice clipped and curt, trying to avoid getting overly worried like I knew Lyra was. It was proving to be damned near impossible.

Silence. Then, Frank's urgent voice came over the line. "I'm almost there. Hang on for just a little longer."

"I am. Not so sure about Kit." Lyra and I both glanced down at our leader, our teammate, our brother-in-arms, pained that we could only watch as he curled up into a ball, whimpering from the pain. I brushed his hair out of his face, trying to keep him calm as Lyra forced healing energy into him to keep the pain levels as minimal as possible.

"Let me see him." The order came from behind me, and I moved enough to let Frank by. "Oh my, oh my, Kit. Hayley did a number on you…Shit," he breathed, seeing the full damage. "Aw man, this isn't going to be fun for any of us. Lyra, stop healing him."

"I'm trying to keep the pain levels down!" She yelped, stunned. I gave the Karshian a startled look as well, horrified by the fact that he was actually ordering her to do that.

"Are you insane?" I hissed. "He's already in enough pain. He doesn't need anymore."

Frank gave me a cool look, and I flinched from the authority in his gaze. "I don't like it either, but she's speeding up the healing process. The wing bones are thinner than any of the other bones. They heal fast, and if they set wrong, they'll have to be re-broken, and I don't want to do that if I can avoid it."

Lyra snatched her hands away, and I saw the worry that was vivid across her face. "What do we do?" She was keeping her voice as calm as possible, and Frank briefly gave her a sympathetic look.

"I need to probe his wings and see if anything's already healed and what is dislocated. When I find something, I need you both to hold him down. He's going to fight like hell," Frank explained, and I swallowed hard. I hated making my friend hurt more, and I knew it had to be a hundred times worse for Lyra. She looked up to her brother so much and couldn't stand the thought of hurting him, like me.

"All right," I eventually choked out. "Let's get this over with."

Frank nodded, and I saw his face harden as he shoved aside the fact that he was going to be causing Kit pain. How he could do that, I would never know. I would never be able to reset a bone for a friend, even if they were unconscious. He probed the right wing, almost immediately wincing when he came across a dislocated bone. "Guys," he began.

"We know." Our voice were equally grim as we tightened our grips.

(Chris' POV)

Maya and I were in the Infirmary, talking about the morning patrol, when Frank came rushing in, carrying a limp, unconscious Kit in his arms with Lyra and Callen on his heels. Maya and I both ran up to them, stunned as we saw the blood that seeped from the wounds on his back. "What happened?" I asked as Frank set him down on one of the beds, rolling him over so that he wasn't on his back. I stiffened when I saw that the golden feathers that covered Kit's wings were damaged.

"Hayley's a Dark Rider," Callen snarled, his dark eyes looking almost black from rage. "She caught his wings right where the armor is weakest and tore them up."

I was stunned, and the look on my face must've made that clear. Callen nodded, eyes worried, angry, and hard as he looked down at his cousin. "I didn't want to believe it at first either. But it was her. She really is a Dark Rider."

"And she did this to him," Maya breathed, moving forward to help Lyra. Frank nodded, looking up at me.

"I've already re-set the bones. He just needs a bit of time to heal now," the Karshian explained. I nodded wordlessly, staring at my friend's back, still stunned by the wounds.

"Guys, what's going o-What happened to Kit?" Vic had stumbled in, leaning heavily on crutches, and his face went white as a sheet when he saw Kit, lying limp on the bed. Callen pulled him aside, explaining what had happened, and Nolan's mirror twin practically swelled with rage. "When I get my hands on that little bitch, I'm going to make her seriously regret ever harming one of our own."

"Get in line, then, Vic. I think we all will." Maya's voice was more venomous than ever. "First she gets him to love her, and then she goes behind him and tears him apart. I would love to hurt her like I would-and will, someday, somehow, I swear-James. Don't worry, Vic. Kit's not gonna have gotten hurt without her regretting it."

"Good." I fought to keep my voice neutral, trying to keep my emotions from simmering over the edge.

Lyra nodded, standing up. "He's been healed most of the way," she stated, her voice soft as I walked over, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close. She clutched me tight, burying her face in my shoulder. I felt the wetness of her tears as she hid them in my jacket and wrapped my other arm around her, pulling her to my chest. I understood that Lyra was hurt-she'd felt her brother's pain as her own for a few moments, and she'd come too close to losing him again. She'd be fine once she got over the shock of it, we both knew that.

"Frank, I think he needs to stay here for the night," Maya spoke up. Frank nodded agreement.

"I agree. He needs to actually sleep for once." We all rolled our eyes at that, even Lyra. "I'll stay here with him. Lyra, don't worry. He'll pull through. He always does."

"I know." Her voice was calmer now. "But that doesn't mean he doesn't scare the Rider out of me every time he does it."

"He does that to all of us," Callen added, earning a few chuckles from the group. Several of us yawned, and Frank glanced at the clock before turning back to us.

"I want all you guys to go and get some sleep." Mouths opened to protest, and he silenced us with a stern glare that clearly stated, Do you want me to kick y'all's butts in practice at the end of the week? "It's been a long day, and we all need to rest."

I nodded, and Lyra and I walked out with our teammates, worried about our leader, the heart of the team.

Kit, take care of yourself.

(Drake's POV)

I slashed the training dummy, agitated and frustrated. I was slowly, dreadfully starting to realize just whose side I was on, and I wanted to deny it with everything I had in me. But the call of my true team was starting to come, and it was getting harder and harder to fight it.

I'll have to leave at night. Otherwise, I'll draw attention.

"Agreed." Thornton's voice was cautious, and I knew he was trying to avoid attracting attention. He landed next to me, his hooves making little sound on the training mat. He stiffened suddenly, and I turned to see that my brother was walking in, a training sword in his hand as well.

"Drake," he greeted lightly, "I didn't expect to see you here."

"I can say the same," I answered casually, meeting his gaze. There was something in his eyes that was off. Was it…guilt? No, it….it couldn't be. My brother never felt guilty, not for anything….right?

"Would you like to spar?" Not an unusual question, but something in the back of my mind still warned me that something was wrong, something was off.

"Sure." We both crossed the room, standing in the middle of the training mat. We clasped the swords to our sides, raising a hand and bowing before beginning the mock battle.

It was supposed to be a mock battle. Boy, was I wrong.

The slash towards my head was harder than ever, and the strength of it cracked my sword. "James, what the hell?" I yelped, stunned by the sudden coldness in my brother's eyes. He just moved forward and a glancing blow had me seeing stars. Son of a gun! He's trying to kill me! They know!

"Drake, you have to run!"

I was about to respond, but James slashed my chest, sending me stumbling backwards. I was horrified, stunned as he transformed into his armor, and I mentally griped around in my head to command the Gauntlet to put my armor on. I didn't get it on in time.

He lashed out with his sword, and the blade slashed through the skin on my chest, making me fall to my knees. Thornton let out an angry, infuriated cry, rushing forward and driving James back long enough for me to create a portal to the city.

I crumpled to the ground, and my brother approached me, having followed me in another portal. On my knees, I clutched my chest, gasping as I began to feel desperation take over. I was weak, and the next blow was to my head, nearly knocking me out as I tried to cling to my rapidly fading consciousness.

"Drake, let me get some help!" Thornton's cry was a plead, and I blinked rapidly as my vision blurred, threatening to vanish from the blood loss.

G…Go, I rasped out, trying to draw my own weapon as James approached, his movements swift and strong as he approached, preparing for a final attack that wouldn't Vent me but would instead kill me. Hell, all he had to do was kill Thornton, and I would be a goner for sure. Hurry….James' sword rose above my head, and I bowed it, waiting for the painful blow that would end my life. HELP!

It never came.

Another sword blocked the blow, and both of us stared up to see Kamen Rider Cynogriffin Equip holding his sword and blocking it.

"Nice try, James," Kit stated coolly, slashing my brother in the chest and sending him tumbling backwards. Kit protectively stood in front of me, and the next words out of his mouth nearly sent me into shock.

"But you're not going to harm another teammate of mine."