Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt – Reading Twenty-One: Queen Takes Knight
So far on Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt…
Delinquent Liss Decker found herself caught between combatants from a strange alternate world called the Sphere, and afterward found herself with the ability to transform into Tarock, a warrior of awesome powers. Tarock's creator asked Liss to become a champion for his people, who were being plagued by the reappearance of monstrous beings they call the Mythos. Mainly seeing an escape from her oppressive everyday life, Liss agreed.
Many battles followed, testing Liss's fortitude but also giving her the chance to gain powerful allies such as some of the Arcana, immortal beings who inspired the Tarot deck, and Ben Corland, her ex-boyfriend who can change into Vaga, a powerful warrior form of his own. However some Arcana automatically consider Liss a menace because the first Tarock was responsible for the death of one of their number.
After her last few battles Liss was able to rescue a girl who knows herself only as Lost, and is the source of the Mythos monsters. Directed to the Inverted Sage, a reclusive Arcanum who might be the only one able to tell Liss how to cure Lost of her affliction, they journey deep into the wilds of the Sphere, hoping to find a solution.
Meanwhile, Ben accompanies Liss, having been warned that she may be turning into something diabolical…
Something felt wrong as the wind blew across Jack's face, and he hurried even faster to his destination. He and Master Shardak been worried the danger to their kind was growing, especially as the Mythos seemed to be stronger and more numerous every time they appeared.
The trees gave way to the barren hills where Shardak hid himself from the rest of the world. But even before Jack's speed carried him past the first rise his stomach clenched in fear. Two thin ribbons of smoke rose toward the skies to from somewhere ahead, and Jack sped up until he reached the top of the tallest hill around.
All it did was confirm his fears. The area was unmistakable as the one where Master Shardak's hideout was located.A cluster of hills had been completely beaten into rubble a few miles away, so recently there were still a few smoldering fires amidst the rubble. Jack took the hobo stick off his shoulder and let it rest against the ground.
His friend was finally and truly gone.
For a second Jack's blood boiled. How had they known to attack this area? Shardak had been hiding here for eons. How could the Mythos have found him unless…
…unless he'd been right about Liss being corrupted by the Mythos.
Jack sighed. He hadn't wanted to believe it. He'd allowed himself to think behind a gruff exterior Liff was the kind of brave youth they needed. That she could become a new Tarock and inspire their people just when they needed it most.
Maybe that was what he'd let himself think because it was what the Sphere needed as the Mythos grew in strength. The Wild Cards he'd been sending to record her battles had inspired such confidence in the citizens of Avalon, and even inspired their military to launch that special project of theirs. The Emperor was even feeling nostalgic for his own days as a warlord seeing Tarock and Vaga in action.
But what did all that matter if Liss was a traitor, even if the decision hadn't been her own? The small resurgence of hope she'd managed to create would be wiped out if somehow she'd been brought under the control of the Mythos. No, worse than wiped out, pushed back further than where it'd been before she appeared and started fighting back the Mythos. After it turned out the only one willing to take those monsters on was some kind of fraud…
Jack closed his eyes and sucked in a slow, deep breath that filled his body. The implications of this were distracting him from the problem right in front of him. Shardak's fears of something dark inside Liss might have enabled this destruction, but the true message was much worse.
A purge of the Arcana was beginning. The others, even Mazones, would need to be warned…
The sky was finally beginning to brighten, and Liss called a halt. The refugees almost collapsed on top of each other from their desperate march through the night, after the cave where they'd been hiding had been discovered by the Mythos.
Ben looked at Liss uncertainly, then quickly looked away as soon as she looked back. Worry was starting to claw at the edges of his mind, that the Mythos hadn't found them by accident. He hadn't wanted to believe Shardak's warning that something was wrong with Liss and maybe she was turning into something evil.
He'd been trying to come up with contingency plans in case he did have to go up against her, but in the back of his mind, Ben hadn't wanted to believe he'd ever need them.
Liss wasn't turning into a monster, she couldn't be. She was so strong, so powerful, so brave…if that kind of thing could happen to anybody, it wouldn't be Liss. No, it would be somebody afraid to fight, somebody who took the easy way out. No, not Liss. Not Liss.
The green moth Wild Card they'd been following buzzed urgently around Liss, who brushed it off with her hand. This shook Lost, who'd fallen asleep in the saddle and was leaning against Liss's back as she dozed, but woke up suddenly from the movement and almost fell off before Liss looped an arm around her waist and pulled her back.
"Everybody take a break, but don't get too comfy," Liss ordered them. "We're finding that sage today."
Smiles formed on almost every tired face, even Ben's. Why would Liss be rallying everyone if she was turning into a monster? Why wouldn't she just get rid of them and do whatever monster stuff she was going to do next?
But she wasn't going to do some kind of monster thing, she was going to lead them to the Inverted Sage, who was going to tell them how to cure Lost. That was the last thing a double agent for the Mythos would do.
Wasn't it?
A little resentfully, Angelo opened the blinds on the front windows of his school. It had been days since Liss and that friend of hers had been seen in town. He wasn't having trouble keeping up with all the students on his own, but a few were asking where Liss was and when she was coming back, something she hadn't been good enough to try and let anyone know in the meantime. Angelo wasn't experienced in the specifics of Kamen Riders and the kind of company they kept, but it seemed impossible they had no way at all of letting their friends know they were all right….
"She's still not back, daddy?" asked Virginia, straightening her glasses. Angelo hardly recognized his younger daughter since she'd decided to dye her hair blazing red and styled it into a mass of finger coils. So next time Liss was in town, she said, she could be sure of catching the young heroine's eye.
And that worried him. Virginia had insisted on extra sessions of martial arts lessons the same time she changed her hairstyle, and he had no doubt they were for the same reason; his prize pupil had caught his daughter's eye, and Virginia was hoping for the chance to impress Liss. But letting his prize pupil who'd found special powers go out to save the world was one thing. Letting his (younger!) daughter think about that was quite another.
"No, honey. Liss still isn't back. I'm sure she's got a really good reason, though," Angelo answered her. "I just wish I knew if those two characters from the Sphere did for hanging around here…"
Virginia looked out the window. "They killed one of the monsters right in front of you and that reporter lady, didn't they, daddy?" she asked.
"Yeah," he replied. "And the first time I ever saw them they tried to kill Liss, remember?"
She nodded. "And aren't you telling everyone in class about how even someone like Liss can be a hero?"
"Trying to murder somebody isn't the same thing as cutting class, sweetie," he told her. He looked up as two black and white streaks shot across the sky, and grumbled to himself. "Black fought because he had to…he was the only one who could. Those things were just after power, they had to be stopped. Why would those two come after Liss and think they were on some kind of holy mission? She's just a kid…"
Virginia sighed and shook her head. "No she's not, daddy. She's a hero who's fighting for everyone in town, right? That's what you tell class every time."
"Yeah, I do, don't I?" Angelo sighed. "But don't you go thinking just because you went up a belt you get to be her Robin or some crap like that."
She groaned.
The moth seemed to pick up speed as they followed it into the afternoon, as if indicating how close they were getting. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on Liss's part, since Lost was starting to groan and look green in the face as if she couldn't handle being on a horse for so long even though she had every time before.
"Maybe we ought to stop for a little bit?" Ben suggested. "Lost isn't looking so hot."
"She pukes up freaking monsters," Liss said sharply. "Getting a little carsick won't kill her."
"What?" Ben asked, unable to hide how taken aback he felt, Lost gaping at Liss as well. Ben tried to surreptitiously slip a hand to the pocket where his transformation card was kept.
Liss sighed in exasperation, but dismounted and helped Lost down next. "Okay, we'll take a break. A quick break," she said. Lost leaned hard against her, gasping for breath. Liss sighed, but held her up and carried her into the shade of a small clump of twisted trees nearby.
The others settle down and started chatting amongst themselves. A lot of them were smiling, and Meo, the girl who'd become sort of the leader of the group, looked right at Ben and asked, "Do you really think it's true, Ben? That we'll find the Inverted Sage and get to ask him how to save the Sphere? Us, a couple of dirty kids?"
"We're not just a couple kids," he replied, watching Liss out of the corner of his eye. She propped Lost up against a tree and then stood nearby waiting for the girl to recover. For just a second, he could've sworn Liss's eye flashed a dark green.
Meo smiled a little wider at Ben. "Well, you aren't," she said. "Wonder if they'll even talk about the rest of us when this is all over…"
"Let's save the world first, then we can talk about who did what," Ben replied, looking a little less surreptitiously at Liss. A shiver traveled up his spine as her eye turned green again, and this time she turned and saw him looking over at her.
Meo was about to say something but was interrupted when Lost suddenly screamed and fell to the ground. Ben and Liss were already rushing to her side but she wretched horribly and spewed a stream of black slime. Ben took her by the arm and started dragging her away, but Lost didn't stop shaking and spewing the black goo. Instead he let go and waved his card in front of his bracelet.
"Change Vaga!" it announced just before his armor solidified, and nearby he could the announcement of "Swords Suit!" coming from Liss's Fate Driver. The familiar sensation of superhuman strength and speed filled Ben's body as he became Vaga again, but he was wasn't comforted by the rush, worried instead he was going to need those powers against more than just the inhuman forms taking shape in the puddle of blackness Lost was vomiting up.
"I'm sorry," Lost choked through another mouthful of the horrible slime. "I was trying to hold it in! I thought if I could hold it long enough-" she pleaded before being silenced by another heave and another thick splash of blackness. The pool of slime was already eight feet across and two forms had finished solidifying from it already while other clawed their way out of the ooze behind them. One had a long serpentine tail in place of legs and the upper body of a woman, but her face was dominated by crazed eyes and a pair of three-inch fangs sticking up from her lower jaw. In hands with fingers that were far too long she clutched a solid metal spear.
The other was humanoid, but Vaga took one look at her hair, its strands dancing of their own accord, and looked away. The first monster he recognized from Jack's monster cram school: a Lamia, a vicious snake monster that was either a vampire or a cannibal, accounts varied, but nasty in all of them.
The second monster he recognized from personal experience. It was one of those snake-hair ladies who could turn people to stone with their eyes, a Medusa. Or, no, a Gorgon. Jack had been insistent on making sure he knew the difference, for some reason. Personally, Ben would've thought being turned to stone was the more important thing to remember with the way he'd almost ended up petrified when it took him a minute to recognize the monster…
Lamia crouched on her tail and suddenly launched herself at Vaga, spear aimed at his heart. He brandished his Warder and a screen of light appeared in its path deflecting the tip away from him, but the Lamia slithered back and forth with blinding speed jabbing her weapon just as quickly, catching Vaga five times on the chest before another blow out of nowhere sent him cartwheeling off the ground. He got his feet underneath him and landed in a crouch. "Vaga Lancer!" he said and his weapon shimmered and changed into a long spear of his own he used to parry Lamia's next stab and then swing the weapon at Lamia, opening a long gash that seeped blue blood.
Armor glistening red, Tarock hurled herself at Medusa. She tackled the snake-haired monstrosity and they both went rolling across the ground, through the puddle of black slime even as more forms started to emerge. They both rolled onto their feet and in a flash Tarock was wielding her sword Skycalibur and Medusa recoiled as the first powerful swing came singing through the air and missed the monster by inches.
"Watch out, Liss!" Vaga called. "That one can change people to statues!" He gasped as Lamia suddenly crouched on her tail and sprang toward him, crashing into him and dragging him twenty feet along the rocky ground before coming to a painful stop. Vaga recovered his senses and gripped his weapon, and looked up to see Lamia's eyes turn an even scarier red.
"Seems as if you've got something to watch out for yourself," said the gloating of the White Lady through the monster's mouth. She opened her jaws so wide the skin actually cracked open a few inches back, leaking blue blood, and then lunged for his neck with her fangs. Vaga gasped and grabbed the haft of his spear in both hands like a staff then jabbed it up, catching her throat against the length of the haft and trying to shove her back before she could sink her teeth into his neck. The struggled back and forth for a minute before Vaga managed to curl his legs against his chest, then plant his feet on Lamia and shove her away with all his strength. She gasped as she went flying back in an arc and landed with a sound somewhere between a crunch and a splat. In a heartbeat she was back up and zigzagging toward him again, spear raised.
"You aren't gonna get me!" Vaga yelled and charged right back at her, their weapons deflecting off each other with a clang that reverberated through the air.
Medusa's eyes flashed and a bright red beam shot from them but Tarock rolled out of the way just in time. There was no explosion, no hail of dirt, no gaping hole in the ground to mark its power. Before Medusa could attack again Tarock launched herself at the snake-haired monstrosity, swinging armored fists at her enemy's face.
A small, distant part of Tarock's mind told her this wasn't an enemy to fight at close range. That she should've been in her ranged Cups Form, or at least fighting at super-speed in Wands Form. It was the smarter choice, the safer choice. The one that'd prove she was not just a better fighter than any monster the White Lady picked to throw at her, but a smarter one too.
But her left fist slammed into Medusa's eye, and Tarock didn't notice the stiff hairs sticking up from arm, even through her suit. She could fight like that, but even as Medusa dragged herself out of the dirt and one eye—the one Tarock hadn't just hit, probably shutting it forever–flashed before the beam flew again, it was obvious she was dominating her snake-haired opponent. Tarock easily spun out of the way of the beam and charged, swinging her sword and drawing a gout of blue blood with every slash.
Her eye seemed to bulge painfully for a second but then it was past, and she was grinning with battle lust behind her mask. Very sweet of Ben to give her a warning about what this monster could do, but if one had given him trouble, that was because he was just a replacement for her. A powerful slash sent a pair of snakes spinning through the air. They landed in the dirt with a splat and continued to hiss angrily and thrash for a few more seconds before dissolving into blue fog. Medusa hissed and a beam lanced, almost desperately, from the good eye she still had. Again Tarock lashed out with Skycalibur, this time the blade aimed at Medusa's neck.
But suddenly Medusa's scaly hands seemed to come out of nowhere and clasped around the middle of the blade. She hissed in angle and small rivulets of blue blood flowed from between her fingers. Tarock struggled, trying to pull her weapon free, then whipped one hand to her belt and the Rend Brace jumped to her wrist. It started to charge with electricity when suddenly Medusa let go of the blade of Tarock's sword and jumped back, while a cluster of snakes stretched out from the side of her head and seized the Rend Brace, pulling it right off, then constricting around the weapon. It creaked, and with a shriek of evil delight from Medusa the Rend Brace shattered into a hundred pieces that Medusa flung into a heap at Tarock's feet.
Well, Tarock was supposed to be intimidated by the destruction of the weapon, was she? She'd show these stupid monsters just what they were up against.
Her had slid to the Royal Core on her belt and she held it there for a second to activate its strongest attack. "Coronation! Ace of Swords!" Tarock's belt announced. Skycalibur glowed and then morphed, solidifying again with its hilt changed into a thick gauntlet covering Tarock's hand entirely and fused to the armor on her forearm. The blade was curved with a saw-toothed front and every few seconds small bolts of lightning danced along its length.
"Ace High! Thunder Cleave!" The blade erupted with crackling lightning and thunder roared from it. Medusa screeched and fired her beam from her eye as Tarock swung her empowered weapon with all her might, yelling defiantly at the monster as she did. They met in midair and Tarock's sword easily deflected Medusa's beam before cleaving through Medusa's body. Her snakes thrashed spasmodically for a second as electricity arced up and down Medusa's body before she burst into blue smoke.
Meanwhile Lamia turned, swinging her massive serpentine tail at Vaga, catching him hard on the side and knocking him sprawling. He could feel the ground rumbling as she slithered after hi to press her attack and he desperately fumbled for his weapon, his fingers wrapping around it just as he heard Lamia let out a piercing scream before she raised her spear to impale him.
"Vaga Bowgun!" he said and his weapon instantly shifted into a crossbow. Vaga jumped up and pressed the tip of his weapon against Lamia's forehead then squeezed the trigger. There was a flash, a roar and Lamia screamed before she was hurled back ten feet with a smoking black scorch mark on her face. Without even getting up she slithered to attack again, moving in a wide but fast arc to keep him from drawing a bead on her with his bowgun. Vaga crouched and jumped for the upper branches of a tree to have a safer place to attack, but Lamia suddenly bunched her tail and sprang after him, tackling him out of the air and sinking her wicked teeth into his shoulder right through his armor.
Somewhere inbetween being tackled by a crazed snake-woman and all ten feet of her crashing down on top of him Vaga's weapon tumbled from his hand. He was barely aware of the blood seeping down his arm from Lamia's bite as her bulk knocked the air from his lungs and he dimly thought he could his spine creak.
Vaga could feel the life draining out of him as Lamia ground her tail back and forth on top of him, grinding him into the dirt. He knew he only had seconds or he was doomed, but he'd become Vaga to show somebody how strong he could be too, and he wasn't out of strength yet.
"Vaga Punch!" His fist erupted with light and he slammed it into the side of Lamia's head with all his might. She jerked to one side and tumbled off him, and from a stabbing pain in his shoulder he was sure he'd broken off one of her fangs. Vaga forced himself up on shaky legs and glanced down at his shoulder where a jagged white spike was indeed still embedded. He didn't dare take the time to yank it out, charging up his next attack instead.
"Vaga Kick!" Boots blowing now, he charged up to Lamia and executed a scissor kick that connected hard with her chin and knocked her down. Vaga's eyes started to blur from the beating he'd been taking, but he crouched and then jumped as high as he could, aiming himself in a jump kick at Lamia. His foot slammed into her midriff and she shrieked and shook horrifically from her head to the tip of her tail before exploding into blue smoke.
He panted for breath and tugged Lamia's broken tooth from his shoulder. That had been way too tough and taken way too long for him to deal with one monster…hopefully the others conjured up from Lost's puke hadn't had a chance to get the kids while he and Liss were busy with the baddest ones out of the group.
Vaga looked over toward where he'd last remembered the refugees being and saw that Shift Runner and Air Talon had placed themselves between the kids and the rest of the monster pack Lost had inadvertently created, and were flailing at the monsters with hooves and claws to keep them away. One monster, a winged man with two bird-like heads atop his shoulders, suddenly splayed his wings and took to the air. Vaga scooped up his weapon and took aim at the bird, firing off an arrow that pinned one wing to his body. Before Vaga could fire again he heard a booming voice call out.
"Dire Fate! Strato Kick!" Tarock came flying down, leg extended and blazing with red power as she crashed into the bird monster with a deadly kick. He exploded into blue smoke and Tarock landed facing the other two Mythos trying to get to the refugees, a witch-faced woman with long iron claws and a hulking yellow Troll with warty skin. Troll grabbed for Tarock with his large powerful hands while the other one hung back and sent a barrage of popping sparks flying at Tarock from her claws.
But Tarock executed a high kick, slamming the heel of her boot into Troll's chin knocking him on his back. The other's shots exploded against her armor but Tarock didn't flinch at all. Instead she raised her curved sword high as her Fate Driver announced, "Dire Fate! Final Ascend!" She smashed the blade's tip against the ground and immediately the ground seemed to explode under the pair of Mythos, a giant tornado issuing up and whirling the two of them into the sky where the roaring winds tore at their bodies until seconds later nothing was left.
"God…damn," Vaga mumbled, speechless at seeing even Tarock displaying so much power, sucking that kind of damage and shrugging it right off like she had. Trying not to let the pain of his shoulder would seem too obvious he walked up to Tarock and trying to sound nonchalant, started to say, "Not bad, Liss. I could've-"
All of a sudden he was cut off as Tarock turned and delivered a kick to the side of his head. As a surprised Vaga stumbled backward trying desperately to recover before another attack came, and somewhere in the distance he was sure he could hear Lost screaming…
The sun was sinking into the valleys of the small town's old buildings when Ven and Donis landed atop one of them to pause their aerial patrol. Most of their day had been spent in another round in Carl Stanford's trailer answering questions about the Sphere. It hadn't been quite as tiring as the first time, but after hours of probing they were still glad for the chance to get away.
"Well, how are you settling in?" Donis asked. "Certainly the locals are welcoming enough…"
"Stanford is," Ven corrected him. "Tarock's teacher I'm not so sure. Her sister would be more welcoming if we had any news. All the others…"
"…they keep their distance," Donis finished for her. "I suppose I'm not the only one missing Mazones, just a little?"
Ven shrugged. "Maybe we just need the chance to slay a few more slavering beasts, give them the chance to get to know us the way they know Tarock…" she said, but distantly, as if not believing her own suggestion.
"Makes you wonder, though," Donis murmured. "How much do they really know about her? How open has she been with her own people, never mind ours? I know how her teacher wants his other students to follow her example, but what is her example, really?"
Ven looked over at him, her gazing penetrating Donis even through their masks. "She did spare us when she could've finished us off. Maybe you aren't the only one missing Mazones, Lurian, but you know I'm not the only one who's reminded of Shir."
Donis sighed and looked away suddenly as she mentioned their daughter's name. Their daughter who'd always been willing to throw herself in the middle of the neighborhood children's squabbles. The daughter who'd been taken by the tyrant of Raijan along with countless other hostages. The daughter who hadn't been among those who'd returned when Mazones attacked to rescue them.
"Shir's gone," Donis reminded his wife.
Ven grasped him by the shoulders. "But we aren't," she said with perhaps more force than she'd intended. "Not even the Arcana can bring her back, but maybe we can remember what she was like, pick up the pieces and keep going. And if we can forgive ourselves, maybe we can forgive other people. Like ones who aren't as murderous as we were always told."
"We could always use fewer enemies," Donis admitted. He shrugged and sighed. "I'm sorry, my love. Turning our backs on Mazones just doesn't feel right, after everything I've given the empire…"
His wife tapped him on his armored shoulder. "Did you just call me 'my love'?" she asked, her tone soft and teasing.
"Maybe I did, at that," Donis replied, his voice just as teasing.
Desperately Vaga raised the Warder and formed a protective screen in front of himself just in time to deflect a swing from Tarock's sword, but then her fist seemed to come out of nowhere and smashed into the side of his head.
He recovered just a second later but Tarock was already on him, sword held high. Vaga swung his weapon struck Tarock in the chest, forming another transparent shield in front it that forced Tarock back a few steps, but he knew he'd only bought himself a second. Air Talon let out a screech and jumped to tackle Tarock while she was off-balance but she slashed her sword and swatted the metal gryphon aside. Vaga gasped in alarm, not just because Air Talon was carrying the supplies he'd banked on for his plan to capture Tarock if he had to.
He tried to dodge around Tarock but with blinding speed she shoulder-checked him to the ground and knocked the Warder out of his trembling hands before he could defend himself with it again. Then she clenched her fingers around his neck.
"This isn't you, Liss," Vaga gasped out. "I don't believe it!"
The lenses of Tarock's mask shifted colors then, the left turning a dark, evil green while the other turned the red of the Lamia's eyes when she'd talked to him before attacking. "Of course not, she's part of me, as everything is in the end," spoke the voice of the White Lady from Tarock's mouth. "I can't understand people…they're so proud of all the power they amass and all the things they construct, but for all that cleverness, you're all so desperate to push aside anything that might prove you aren't as dominant as you think.
"You wanted to believe this girl would love you if you fought at her side, and you so desperately ignored your friend's warning that she'd been corrupted by the essence of my kind. Ignored it and just let it grow stronger, infest her deeper, until it was deep enough for me to assume control.
"Oh yes, I know about that warning you received! That just goes to show how proud of yourselves you are, doesn't it?!" she roared. Then she hurled Vaga against the ground. The left side of her mask cracked and burst open, revealing an inhuman face covered in plates of a black chitin-like armor and a toothless mouth dripping with horrible venom and a prehensile mandible sticking out of one cheek. The eye was the worst, a glistening yellow-green abomination that seemed to be staring right into Vaga's soul. Her left gauntlet burst and revealed a hand of hairy black, clawed fingers.
"You might've even stood a chance of overcoming her if you'd been willing to face an unpleasant truth, human," the White Lady jeered through Liss's mutated body. "Instead, you'll be just another piece of the whole when this world is consumed."
Vaga wheezed as defiantly as he could, "I already said no to that old fart working for you already."
"Ah yes," came the reply. "You would've retained your identity, been greater than death itself and wielded powers far eclipsing those that pathetic stone of yours gives you. But you threw it away, and now your destiny is to be consumed alongside everything else."
All of a sudden Tarock was thrown off her feet by a blast of violet power. Vaga looked up and saw a woman in black, shirt, pants and boots matching her long hair hovering above him. She was beautiful, he supposed, but her face had creases that looked like they came from a lifetime of scowling. She was surrounded by a bubble of pulsating purple light.
"Ah! The mighty Empress Maeve herself graces us with her presence!" Tarock said mockingly. "She who's lived for centuries, and doesn't fear a purge of her people, let alone her kind!"
"It's not Tarock," Vaga choked out. "It's the leader of the Mythos…"
The Empress scowled again. "Tarock's always been a killer, this one's just more honest about her intentions!"
"Believe that if you want, Empress," Tarock said with mock civility. "The first Tarock was one of your own, wasn't he? This one is from a world you've never even seen, and so quick you are to call her my slave…which she is, but not by any choice of hers. And don't think you of all people are safe from my touch. You will be mine, your cities will fall and I will fill the void as I always have!"
Another blast of power ripped from Maeve's hand and sent Tarock flying away from where Lost and the refugees were trembling. "Not without the source of your underlings you won't," Maeve said. "And I have a feeling that's the 'lost soul' I've been looking for right there."
"Forget it!" Tarock yelled, but in her own voice. She ran toward the Empress in a stagger as she fought to gain some amount of control, almost dragging the Skycalibur on the ground behind her. She slapped the Royal Core again and her sword flashed with lightning. She swung it at the Empress who casually leveled one hand and released a purple beam that blasted through the power of Tarock's strike and exploded at her booted feet knocking Tarock down amid a shower of sparks and flames. She aimed her hand at Tarock to finish the job.
"No! I won't let you hurt her!" Vaga screamed. "Vaga Bowgun!" His weapon changed into again and he fired an arrow as soon as it had solidified. The arrow streaked toward the Empress but when it was mere feet away another figure came out of nowhere and deflected it off the blade of a shining sword. The Empress's rescuer landed and seemed to solidify into a women with a short sword clutched in each hand and a winged helmet covering her entire face. It was Thena, the Empress's envoy.
Suddenly something buzzed in front of the Empress's face, and she swatted it aside with an annoyed wave of her hand. It crashed to earth near Vaga, who gaped in dismay as he recognized the green moth that had been guiding them just before it crumbled into fine crystal dust.
"Enough of this," Empress Maeve sighed and loosed a giant blast of power near Tarock and Vaga, carving a deep fault in the ground. The edges crumbled in on themselves in a powerful rockslide, and Vaga and Tarock tumbled in with the rocks and were buried in a matter of moments.
Ignoring the spectacle of destruction completely, the Empress hovered lower near the group of refugees who'd crowded protectively around Lost's quivering form for what little good it might do her. "Do not fear us," Maeve said in a gentler tone. "You're finally safe."
She waved a hand and a purple bubble surrounded them, then another wave and a bubble surrounded Thena. Then she turned and flew away from the of battle at breathtaking speed, towing the bubbles along behind her.
As they flew away, only Meo saw Vaga shoving his way out of the rockslide and with shaking arms digging Tarock out next to him…
Ben had to put a lot of effort into not looking at Liss's unconscious face as he tied her arms and legs together with thick rope. Even after she'd changed back from being Tarock the left side of face was still the hideous black chitin of the spider monster that had been growing within her all these weeks, her eye looking more like a lifeless jewel that Ben still swore was watching him.
"God damn it," he almost sobbed. "What now? Even if we could still get to the Sage, how are we supposed to cure Lost when that crazy bitch has her? She's just too strong, even for Liss…if I could even count on Liss anymore…"
Suddenly he could hear a familiar voice echoing inside his mind, "Power takes many forms," it said. "More than just the ability to vanquish one's enemies." Something slipped from his inside pocket and danced back and forth in front of his eyes. One second it was shaped like a scythe, then spun itself into a ring, then a spider's web then a harp, then an obelisk, but they flowed from one form to another so smoothly he hardly noticed the changes taking place. It took Ben a second to recognize a manifestation of the strange Arcanum called Master Segic.
"Well if you've got some god damned healing power to get us out of this, I would've liked you telling me the first damned time!" Ben snapped.
"I serve other powers," said the spear-shape in front of him. "More intricate powers. But I come to you now because the time for my kind to guide this world is soon coming to an end. It is time for the power to be wielded by younger hands, if they are willing."
"You're not going to tell me what the hell you mean until I say yes, are you?" Ben immediately retorted. "You're going to be all mystical and cryptic when all I want is a straight answer."
"You want far more than a straight answer," Master Segic replied evenly. "You want to save Liss Decker, you want to save the one you know as Lost, you want to know you're making an impression on your world. You've wanted that last one even before you knew of having special powers and fighting great battles. Your knowledge of your stake in all this is greater than you may be willing to admit to yourself, certainly more than you were willing to admit when last we met."
Ben clutched his head in his hands. "How do you know so much?" he asked.
"It is the nature of my power to see the connections between everything," Segic explained. "To influence them to a degree. As our time is ending, this power can belong to another, and that other can be you. And that power can lead you to the Inverted Sage. The question is, will you relinquish your humanity to wield it?"
"Is that the only way?"
A long moment of silence passed. "No," Segic finally answered. "But it is the only safe way. The potential to influence the flow will be greater, but no mortal mind was meant to see so much."
"I'm already up to my eyeballs in trouble. You're not scaring me, buddy," Ben said.
"Very well," Segic said the floating shape softly, as if it'd been expecting such an answer. It started to shrink and solidify, and unlike before Ben realized he was noticing the change from one shape to another this time. It assumed a flat rectangular shape and shrank until it was the same size as his transformation card, and in a flash there was an image on it of a golden wheel divided into sections with strange symbols in the center of each. The wheel floated among clouds as demons and angels floated around it in turn.
"Call it…Trosik," Segic's voice said, but it grew fainter with each word.
"Wait!" Ben cried, knowing it was useless. "How do I save Liss with this? How do I save Lost with this?"
"You can save Liss Decker with that power," Segic answered even more faintly. "You can save the one you call Lost with that power. You can save the entire Sphere..."
"How?!" Ben screamed.
"By looking," Segic replied, his voice almost inaudible. "And by seeing."
A second later the voice of Master Segic was gone, Ben standing alone on a cliff with a strange new card in his hand. He looked it over uncertainly, then waved it in front of his bracelet.
"Change Trosik!" he said and the card flashed into a stream of blue particles into his bracelet. Then the bracelet flashed and a different suit of armor than he'd worn before. Instead of green it was a dark blue, with a golden disc on the chest engraved with the same strange symbols as on the card. White circuit-like lines traveled out from it on all sides, up and down his arms and legs and over the sides of his mask. The yellow lenses in it seemed to open wider than before.
Again power raced through his body, but it was different from all the times he'd changed into Vaga before; he felt faster, stronger than any ordinary person, but only a fraction of what he'd felt before his old battles. But all of a sudden everything took a blue hue and he could see small white lines—wires, almost—running underneath the surface of the ground, the trees, even Air Talon and Liss.
He concentrated and the wires became more visible, and through them he could see small motes of energy flowing down their lengths. A second later Vaga could even see wires running through the air, energy flowing through them and into the ground, the trees, his companions, even himself. He shut his eyes but still he could see them and his brain started to ache from the overload of seeing the intricacy of all the wiring, all the power and the flow…
As intensely as he could Vaga focused on one thought: finding the Inverted Sage, the only one with the knowledge to get them out of this. Hesitantly he opened his eyes again, and then he felt himself flying along the wiring away from where he stood, across a plain, through two destroyed villages before finally reaching a thick forest. And right in the middle of the forest was an impossibly tall, thick three with layers and layers of wires beneath its bark. Just looking at it Vaga felt as if the complexity of the wiring would drive him insane, but then he could make out the shape of a man, hanging upside down from a rope around his legs from the highest branch.
A minute later Ben, transformed back to normal, looked up at an ordinary sky, with no strange colors and no flow of energy from tiny strands of wire. His brain still felt soft and sore from the onslaught of what all he'd seen, but even now that things were back to normal, he felt reassured: now he was sure he knew where to go.
He hoisted Liss's bound form onto Air Talon then climbed into the seat and the gryphon galloped away. They'd find the Inverted Sage. Then they'd find a way to save Lost.
He hoped.
Finally Lost's vision started to clear, and she could make out a large rectangular room around her, brightly lit by several large stones embedded in the ceiling. In front of her was a woman dressed in a regal black and gold gown, her hands crackling with bands of purple power. Between her and Lost were a pair of guards in shiny metal armor carrying spears with glowing prongs, but Lost had no doubt from the waves of power she could feel coming off the woman in black that she had no need of their protection.
Bolts jumped from the woman's hand and struck a pair of cone-shaped crystals lodged in the walls on either side of Lost. They crackled and then energy flowed from them and formed a dome of light around Lost.
"Will the preparations be ready on time?" the woman asked one guard.
"They're proceeding as scheduled as of the last report, Empress," she replied.
"Good," she said, then looked over at Lost, a cold glint to her eyes. "Don't worry, child. Your suffering won't last long."
Next time on Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt…
(The Empress stands in a large plaza as people assemble a stage)
Empress: The source of the enemy of the people will soon be eradicated!
(Lost languishes in her cell, quivering with fear)
Lost: We were so close…Liss, where are you?
(Ben rides over a bridge of light to the small planetoid in the middle of the Sphere, but is stopped by three flying, brightly-lit objects)
Ben: I can't let anything stop me now!
Narrator: Your fate is in your hands.