"Onyx and Vampire"

Chapter 29: "Snow White Queen"

Disclaimer: Kamen Rider Dragon Knight belongs to Adness, Toei, the brothers Steve and Michael Wang, and Ishinomori Productions. The more native Kamen Rider series that may or may not be involved or adapted in this chapter and the overall story are also property of Toei and Ishinomori Productions. Rosario + Vampire belongs to Akihisa Ikeda and VIZ Media, and I make no material profit whatsoever from the use of any of the characters associated with those properties in this story.

Author's note: For those of you wondering what the Hopper Squad was doing in the last chapter, you'd need to read the story "KRDK: Climax Heroes" by The Amazing Shrinking Violet for a more proper understanding. Not that explanations will not be forthcoming in this story, but you would probably do better reading her story as well for fuller comprehension, since we are collaborating and all.

In any event, the Adam/Mizore date that was promised but sadly not delivered in the last chapter will be coming in this chapter. Of course, with Adam's luck being what it is, don't be surprised if somebody else shows up to try to spoil that wonderful event. In any event, let's ride!


In the hotel surreptitiously commandeered by the Riders as their base on Earth, said Riders were watching the news with no small degree of worry. The news report currently airing had a reporter speaking at length about a motorcycle chase with some very uniquely garbed motorcyclists on bikes that could only be described as "really tricked-out custom jobs." The motorcyclists themselves had been described as wearing armor – the one being chased in "high-tech armor like something out of that Kamen Rider novel" and the chasers being armored up "like bugs with scarves and bad attitudes."

Even worthier of concern was that it was not only a police copter that had caught video of the chase . . . but also a news copter, hence the footage of said chase being shown in tandem with the report. "Didn't know Adam could ride like that," Gin remarked. "If I wasn't so worried about the idiot getting us all exposed, I'd say it was the most badass thing I'd ever seen."

"What I'm more impressed by is that he did it without crashing into a single innocent person," Yukari added.

Eubulon was elsewhere, in the middle of a heated argument with Michelle Walsh about the situation. "I can get those tapes confiscated and wiped out, but you really need to talk to him about fighting out in the open like that on Earth," she was saying. "Ventara may know all about Xaviax and the Riders, but most people on Earth still don't know and we'd like to keep it that way. Something we can't do if your favorite Rider is going to get himself caught on tape."

"From the footage I saw, Adam did not invite the Hoppers' assault on him," Eubulon defended. "While it would have behooved him to be more circumspect, the Hoppers would have caused great danger . . . danger that he was trying to avert."

"Yeah, well, now we have cops we have to force an oath of silence on so that they don't start digging . . ." Michelle added huffily. "And if not all of them are swayed, you know what that'll mean for you, for the Riders, and for those girls Adam seems so fond of."

"I understand, Michelle," Eubulon conceded. "I will see what I can do in my own way, but no one innocent is going to suffer unnecessarily for the sake of our secrecy."

"Of course," Michelle acknowledged before ending the call, leaving Eubulon to sigh regretfully.

Adam, what have you gotten yourself – and us – into now? the Advent Master mused to himself.

"Hopefully he at least makes it to his date on time," Eubulon heard Ryotaro idly remark, to which the newly returned Laura grimaced in clear distaste.

"His date," the dark girl spat. "You're worried about his love life when he's just singlehandedly caused us more problems with that stunt?"

"What can I say?" Ryotaro remarked. "As unhappy as that guy seems to be, a date could be the perfect thing to take his mind off it for a while, especially after being chased down by a bunch of grasshopper goons."

"While it is distressing, at times, even people like us need to at least feel normal for a while," their newest acquaintance, a purple-haired girl in dark robes, another world's Rider named Raven, commented with a mixture of sagacity and wistfulness.

"And who are you?" Laura asked, feeling tension at the sight of the elder girl. She wanted desperately to unsheathe her claws and tear into the newcomer, but a soothing look from Ryotaro dissuaded her.

"Raven," the purple-haired young woman replied simply.

Laura's fists clenched and unclenched at least three times before she managed to rein herself in. "She's a Kamen Rider like us, Laura," Ryotaro offered. "Kamen Rider Revya."

A small mechanical-looking vampire bat made its presence known, floating around Laura. "Hey, there," the bat greeted, its tone airy and girlish. "Smile a little more, will ya? It doesn't take as many muscles as that frown you've got now."

That merited the bat a swat from Laura, one that the bat ably dodged before flying back to Raven. "Tough crowd!" was the bat's response.

"Be a little more sensitive, Reiki," Raven admonished the impulsive, girlish bat.

"That bat . . ." Moka uttered. "It looks a little bit like the Demon Tribe bats. They don't bond well with humans, but I suppose with you being . . ." She trailed off, not wanting to speak any further and offend the elder Rider.

"Demon Tribe bats?" Price asked.

"Bonded to a vampire or a vampire-like race, the Demon Tribe bats excite the vampire's blood to create a heightened transformation that renders the vampire an invincible war machine," Moka replied. "I've only seen ones like that amongst elite vampires . . . or their original hosts, the Wuighyrs."

"Wee-gyres?" Ian tried to pronounce the word.

"Like vampires, but an alternate evolution of sorts," Moka explained. "Vampires need blood so much because the life-force taken from the ingested blood energizes and sustains our kind. Wuighyrs bypass the blood and go straight for the life-force itself."

"Not a species to take lightly, I guess," Nolan observed.

That was when Eubulon came back in. "I was just in congress with Michelle. She has expressed concern with this recent turn of events."

"You mean she wants to haul Adam's ass into her office and read him the riot act for fighting those grasshopper punks out in the open," Ian helpfully "translated."

"Weren't they the same guys we confronted earlier, Master Eubulon?" Nolan offered.

"The same guys I saved you from, I might add," Souji cut in, speaking for the first time in a while.

"They may be the same or they may be of the same design," Eubulon admitted. "But the fact that they went after Adam shortly after already targeting us suggests that there are still greater forces at hand than we can recognize right now."

"Where do you think they came from?" Kase asked.

"There are still other worlds . . . and other dangers . . . as I warned you after we defeated Xaviax for what I foolishly presumed would be the last time," Eubulon confessed. "I would not be surprised if they also hailed from another dimension."

"Wherever they're coming from, we'll send them back," Hunt uttered with cold finality in his voice. "Up to them just how many pieces they go in."


Meanwhile, oblivious to the trouble waiting for him when he got back to base, Adam had finally managed to make it to the ice rink where Mizore had been patiently waiting for him. The icy stare aimed his way let him know that she wasn't exactly happy with his tardiness, but by God, she was positively radiant to him. She was in a wooly grayish purple shirt with loose black sleeves and black shoulders, a white pleated skirt with long black stockings, and a pair of white skates. A red scarf wrapped around her neck with twin tails streaming down her back, completing the ensemble.

"Mizore . . . you look gorgeous," Adam uttered.

Mizore's stare melted into a placidly gratified expression, satisfied that her efforts to look pretty for her date had not gone to waste. "Did something keep you? Or someone? Because if someone is getting in the way of our relationship, I can take care of them for you."

"I'll tell you all about it after I've gotten my skates," Adam replied, a little worried about what Mizore's last comment might have meant.

"Don't keep me waiting, Adam," Mizore murmured. "I will find you."

Adam smiled. "Counting on it . . . and I am sorry for making you wait this long." With that, he made a quick beeline for the stand where the patrons could trade the shoes they were wearing when they came in for ice skates in a corresponding size. With that over and done with and payment having already been assured – Must have been Kase, Adam thought – Adam walked as gracefully as he could manage on his skates to join Mizore.

"Are you ready, dear?" Mizore asked.

"Yeah," Adam replied, and pulled something out of his pocket, namely a cherry mint lollipop. "Just my way of saying sorry for being late. I know how much you love these, so I went and got one for you."

"Just one?" Mizore asked coolly, although her slight smile suggested that she was still happy with what he'd gotten her.

"I've got more," Adam confessed. "Different flavors. Lemon, lime, blueberry, strawberry, grape . . ."

Mizore smiled just a little wider. "You are very considerate to me . . ."

"Just doing my best for someone I l – care about," Adam replied, catching himself at the beginning of the word he was going to say, the word his heart wanted him to say. He offered her his arm. "Why don't we show these people what a real ice queen can do?"

Mizore's smile widened just a little further as she took his arm and took him onto the ice rink. They skated together, arm in arm as Adam struggled to keep his balance. Having had his body honed to the absolute limits of human ability before acquiring a Kamen Rider deck, he didn't struggle as obviously as an ordinary beginner would have, but it was a lot more effort for him than it was for Mizore. The snow girl herself leaned closer to whisper in Adam's ear, "Relax. You're trying too hard. Just let yourself flow with the ice."

Flow . . . Adam thought, flashing back to a lesson Len had taught him early on when they were starting out.


"You're pushing yourself too hard, Adam," he'd admonished. "You're putting too much force into your movements without judging how much you actually need. You have to flow into your attacks, like water."

"Water?" Adam echoed.

"It's like Master Eubulon says," Len offered. "Water can be every bit as destructive as any other element and it does so just by inexorably flowing in any given direction. Floods and tsunamis don't do damage just because they're so powerful; they do damage because they just keep flowing no matter what anybody does, and the only way they stop is when they've exhausted themselves. It's the whole point of the Seven Forms – move as light as air, as fluid as water, as hard as earth, as swift and precise as lightning, and as strong as fire – when you've got all that down, you'll have all you need to be a Kamen Rider."

"Do you have that all down?" Adam asked.

"A little closer than you, but not quite," Len admitted. "But I can still help you get there. What do you say, Adam? Adam? Adam . . . ?"


"Adam," Mizore called out to him, and Adam snapped out of it. "Were you thinking about something?"

"Yeah," Adam admitted. "I was thinking about my old training and how Len helped me figure out the purpose behind the Seven Forms. It was the same thing you were just talking to me about, Mizore – just flowing into my movements instead of trying to force myself through them."

"You want to give it a try?" Mizore asked.

"Sure, but mind if I hold onto you for a little bit?" Adam asked.

"No problem," Mizore replied with a smile.

Soon enough, Adam was skating like he'd been doing it for most of his waking life and Mizore was skating with him, still surpassing him in natural grace. It was only expectable; the ice, snow, and cold were her natural environment as a yuki-onna, after all. The ironic thing was that Adam was still holding Mizore even after he'd seemed to get the hang of it, as though he was reluctant to let her go for some reason. Whatever reason he had for that, Mizore could care less, as this was the closest she'd been to Adam for sometime.

"Is your home just like this?" he inquired, whispering in her ear. They were now skating front to back, his front to her back, as he embraced her from behind, making Mizore blush at the intimate contact.

"It's even better," Mizore whispered back. "As the humans would call it, an eternal winter wonderland . . . it's so beautiful . . ."

The nostalgic tone in her voice could not be missed unless the hearer was just that oblivious – and Adam wasn't. Not to Mizore, at least; it was how he knew when she was following him, watching him. He'd trained as a Rider to be able to sense the presence of others trying to stay hidden, and it was a sense that served him well with Mizore. It comforted him in a way, to know that she would always be there for him, always watching him, even if most others would be quite more disturbed by her eerie watchfulness.

"Hey, why don't we show off a little?" Adam suggested, suddenly seized by a spirit of mischief.

Mizore smiled at him, and she and Adam began to dance on the ice rink, displaying feats of gymnastic skill that would make professional skaters green with envy and red with embarrassment. It wasn't long before the other skaters began to watch them more closely, curious as to how a couple of seemingly ordinary teenagers could skate that good. Adam was practically inscribing diagrams into the ice with his movements, while Mizore was rather fond of taking to the air while spinning like a graceful top. After each aerial spin, she would land on the ice and unfurl herself into graceful pirouettes before taking her date's hand in her own so he could launch her for another spin before she landed in his arms.

It was at that point that the other skaters all but stopped moving, so engrossed they were by the young couple's impromptu performance. To them, it was the most beautiful thing they had ever laid their eyes upon in person, although it almost didn't seem natural for the couple to be as good as they were. Even so, it was a splendid performance that they felt privileged to witness . . . until they started disappearing one by one, being yanked down through portals opening up in the reflection of the ice.

This had not gone unnoticed by Adam, whose "Advent Sense" – as Trent had dubbed it after one of his favorite comic book heroes – had gone off in response to the mirror incursion. "Stand back," he warned Mizore.

"No," she answered with calm defiance. "I stand with you."

"All right," Adam conceded as he drew his Advent Deck. "Come out, whoever you are!" The black burst of energy from the deck formed the familiar Advent Belt, and just as Adam was about to place it in the empty slot that served as his buckle, an oddly – and unpleasantly – familiar face emerged from the mirrored surface of the glass dividing the ice rink from the rest of the building.

It was a petite girl dressed in a zip-front sleeveless black top and the oddest pair of black pants, the right leg ripped off completely in favor of exposing a black stocking and the red garter that attached it to the frayed hem of her right leg. Her face had a pixie-like cuteness belied by the dark look in her ochre-brown eyes, while she had dark red hair tied back in three tails, one ponytail and twin tails framing her face, all done by white bindings.

"Hello, Adam, Mizore," the girl greeted them with false affability plain in her voice. "Remember me?"

"You . . . you were with the Academy Enforcers," Adam spat. "What was your name, anyway?"

"Deshiko Deshi, at your service!" the redhead declared. "You see, you filthy little human, after you humiliated Captain Kuyo the way you did and destroyed our organization, we wanted payback . . . so Kuyo, in his wisdom, signed up those of us who were still loyal to him for Xaviax's new team. What united us all? You. Xaviax offered you a great deal; no more fighting and you get to be with your girl forever, just offer up your friends on a platter. You threw his generosity back in his face, you ungrateful snot. Then Kuyo offered you a place with our organization, and just like with Xaviax, you threw his generosity in his face and then had the nerve to pass yourself off as a vampire to humiliate him!"

"Not how I remember it," Adam snapped.

"And as you might have guessed, Kuyo wasn't the only one Xaviax gifted with an Advent Deck," Deshiko went on, withdrawing an Advent Deck with a golden crest resembling a beetle's shell and thrusting it at Adam, forming an Advent Belt out of crimson energy.

"Kamen Rider!" shouted both Adam and Deshiko as they slotted their Decks into the empty slots that served as their belt buckles. Mizore, understanding what was about to happen, stepped back slightly from Adam just before the transformation spheres engulfed both him and Deshiko, Adam's in red-tinged black and Deshiko's in crimson. Inside the spheres, twin rings folded around both Riders, forming the armors over their bodies and vanishing completely once their armors had fully manifested.

Kamen Rider Onyx and Kamen Rider Ricochet stood ready for their confrontation, itching to draw an Advent Card. "Whenever you are."


Kamen Rider Ricochet wore a black suit overlaid by metallic crimson armor on her shoulders, chest, forearms, calves, hands, and feet. The armor on her chest vaguely resembled the shell of a beetle and accentuated what would have otherwise been a virtually nonexistent bust, while the backside of said armor resembled a pair of beetle wings. Her Visor was designed like a boomerang side-mounted on her left wrist, and her armored boots had small yet sharp heels on the soles that added to her height. Her helmet was just as crimson as the rest of her armor, with a grilled silver visor over her face designed to resemble the eyes and mandibles of an actual beetle. Twin antennae akin to those on a real longhorn beetle protruded from between the visor's eye-slits.

The red-clad enemy Rider drew her Advent Card first, her boomerang Visor splitting open and rotating to frame either side of her forearm to reveal the slot before she inserted the card. The Visor closed again once the card had been fully slotted and rotated back to its original position on the side of her wrist.

ATTACK VENT.

Immediately, a red humanoid beetle that seemed rather feminine in its proportions emerged from the icy reflection of the rink. Ricochet turned to the beetle monster. "Keep the ice queen busy. I don't want her helping Kamen Rider Onyx." The monster simply warbled as an acknowledgment of its master's command and charged Mizore, who sprouted ice claws from her hands and moved to attack. "Just you and me now . . . I hope you dance as well with me as you did for your ice queen."

SWORD VENT.

SWORD VENT.

Onyx's Drag Saber fell into his hand, granted by Dragblacker, while the crimson-hued beetle monster, Terabiter, granted its master her Biter Blades, the boomerang-hilted retractable twin swords. As soon as Ricochet caught them, she twirled them in her hands before she seized them with a firm grip to unsheathe their laser blades.

The ice lubricating their steps, Onyx and Ricochet dashed at each other, their swords clashing ferociously. "Whatever Xaviax promised you, he isn't going to give you!" Onyx warned. "He'll string you along for as long as he feels you're useful to him and once you're not, he'll get rid of you just like he got rid of Kuyo!"

"Liar!" Ricochet snapped. "Xaviax didn't get rid of Kuyo; Kuyo was vented by one of yours!"

Onyx chuckled bitterly as he kicked Ricochet in the stomach. "Is that what he told you?"

Ricochet took the kick and twisted around in mid-fall to sweep Onyx's legs out from under him. As he fell, she pressed her advantage with the Biter Blades, slashing him viciously three times in three seconds from three different angles. Onyx crashed to the icy floor with three scorched slash marks on his pitch-black armor, skidding brutally on the slippery surface.

As he impacted the glass barrier, he saw Mizore slashing fiercely at Terabiter as Terabiter swung its personal boomerang weapon at her. Straightening up with the glass barrier as support, Onyx was shocked to suddenly find himself grabbed by a pair of blue arms . . . but not so shocked he couldn't just reach back into the mirrored surface to throw his new attacker out of his hiding spot. The attacker, brutally flung out of the mirror and into the real world, rolled with the force of the throw and spun onto its feet, revealing that it was Terabiter's mate, the blue Zenobiter.

Zenobiter threw its own boomerang at Onyx, who ducked and dived to evade it. Of course, that didn't necessarily stop it; being what it was, it simply came back around from the other side to strike Onyx, only for Onyx to derail its path with his Visor gauntlet. That still didn't stop the boomerang, as it was now flying in Mizore's direction. Having fortunately sensed the boomerang's approach, Mizore ducked under and between Terabiter's legs, leaving the red-hued beetle monster to be hit instead.

A remorseful Zenobiter ran to Terabiter's side and helped it up with profuse warbled apologies. Terabiter gave its mate back the blue boomerang before hefting its own red boomerang, both beetles in position to take on Mizore. Just as Onyx was about to help, he heard the sound of another Advent Card being slotted.

THROW VENT.

Immediately, a bladed red boomerang flew with terrible speed and force at Onyx, who quickly slotted an Advent Card of his own.

GUARD VENT.

The Drag Shield mounted on his arms, Onyx used it to block the giant boomerang summoned by Ricochet, which made it rebound toward her. Ricochet agilely sidestepped the rogue Biterang, only for it to continue its flight and dangerously swerve in Mizore's direction as she fought Terabiter and Zenobiter. With speed born of desperation, Onyx managed to shield Mizore just in time, only for the Biterang to slice into his armored back.

"Adam . . . why did you do that?" Mizore asked in a soft voice choked with incensed grief.

"You . . . have to ask . . . ?" Onyx murmured painfully. "This means nothing, Mizore. Compared to seeing you hurt . . . this is nothing."

Ricochet snorted contemptuously. "How sweet, the noble black knight risking himself for his precious Snow White . . ."

Mizore glared furiously at Kamen Rider Ricochet, her eyes emitting a chillingly icy glow as her power rose. "You stand back now, Adam," she whispered. "She's mine."

The ice claws she'd materialized earlier retracted, replaced by sharp, stake-like ice blades protruding from her loose sleeves. In a swirl of icy death, Mizore had left both Terabiter and Zenobiter encased and embedded in almost-crystalline frozen prisons. With the mated beetle monsters out of the way, the snow girl turned on Ricochet. "You're next," she coldly declared before ice sculptures rose from the rink, sculptures that shifted into crystalline duplicates of Mizore that were also armed with ice blades.

Ricochet merely drew her Biter Blades again and twirled them in her hands before stopping them once more. The difference was that she was holding them from the other ends now, the ends where the laser blades normally emerged. "Come on . . . avenge your boyfriend if you love him so much," she taunted.

That was the clincher to get Mizore and her ice clones to attack the enemy Rider with incredible ferocity. Ricochet wasn't worried at all, extending the laser edge from one of her Biter Blades to slice cleanly through one of Mizore's attacking ice clones. With an agile twirl, she fired a laser bullet from the reversed-grip of her other Biter Blade, the impact of which made another ice clone shatter completely, shards of ice flying everywhere. A third ice clone was about to impale Ricochet on her ice blade, but Ricochet caught her wrist and snapped it so hard her hand literally broke off before she elbowed her in the face, breaking it into so many pieces.

"You know, Onyx, this is kind of fun!" Ricochet taunted. "I can keep on killing them until I find the real one . . . and then I think I'll kill her, too, just to give you a taste of what I've felt since Kuyo was vented by you bastards!"

Kamen Rider Onyx furiously slotted an Advent Card. "We'll see who gets a taste of pain," he snarled.

STRIKE VENT.

The Drag Claw landed on Onyx's right arm as Dragblacker emerged from the mirrored surface of the ice rink. "Mizore, get out of the way!" he shouted. Mizore and her remaining ice clones managed to dodge just in time for the Drag Claw Dark Fire strike to hit Ricochet. When the black flames faded, a scorched but otherwise standing Ricochet was still ready to fight.

SWORD VENT.

With the Drag Saber once again in his hand, Onyx charged Ricochet, who countered with the laser edge of one Biter Blade to deflect his slash and then kneed him in the stomach to force him back before shooting him with the reversed grip of her other Biter Blade. Both of Mizore's remaining ice clones lunged for a decapitating strike with their ice blades, only for Ricochet to switch to "gun grip" with both Biter Blades and shoot both ice clones, shattering them both into so many ice shards.

"And then there was one . . ." Ricochet purred maliciously, giving the impression that she was licking her lips behind her helmet. "Or was the real one hiding amongst those clones and I killed her and didn't even know it was her? That would be a shame, wouldn't it?"

"Shut up," Onyx growled low in his throat, both Ricochet and Mizore starting to feel a terrible dark aura rising from him. "Shut the hell up." Dragging his sword on the icy ground, his aura began to contort and warp into something truly twisted by the reckoning of both yokai girls as Kamen Rider Onyx stalked toward Ricochet.

"What are you gonna do?" Ricochet asked mockingly.

She got her answer when a black blur of violence slashed into her again and again, dashing past her defenses and offenses with terrible speed and power behind his motions. With a final strike, he'd sent Ricochet flying into the glass barrier and colliding harshly against it. She tumbled to the icy floor, her Biter Blades lost in Onyx's frenzy of retribution.

"And now it ends," he snarled, his voice deeper and colder than it'd ever been before. The chill of his voice was accented even more worryingly by the crimson glow of his lenses behind the grilled visor of his helmet. "Say hi to Kuyo for me. . . ."

FINAL VENT.

Dragblacker slithered around Onyx from its hovering position, which rendered Onyx afloat himself, almost dangling from invisible wires that positioned him for a flying side kick. Nearby, Mizore could only watch with awe – in both senses of the word – as Onyx brought his terrible power to bear to once again punish someone who had sought her life out of spite. With a powerful breath of darkness flame from Dragblacker, Onyx flew like a torpedo, crashing violently into the red-hued beetle Rider . . .

. . . or he would have, had Kamen Rider Argent not pulled a save at the last minute by pulling Kamen Rider Ricochet into the reflective glass and vanishing safely away. This left Onyx to merely shatter the glass they'd escaped through, the mirror portal inside closed to his vengeful reach.

Denied. He'd been denied his vengeance, denied the retribution that was justly his for daring to ruin his date with Mizore and even try to kill her. "Mizore . . ." he growled softly, turning back to her side to see if she was all right.

"I'm fine, Adam," Mizore whispered.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Kamen Rider Onyx dispelled his armor, revealing Adam . . . and yet, not quite. His eyes had turned vampire red with dark ochre framing the slits of his pupils, his hair had paled to a dreadful platinum blond, and strange web-like black marks were starting to creep up his face.

"Good," he growled softly, his voice carrying a deadly edge, thanks to the terrible fury he was trying to hold back. Slowly, the web-like black marks on his face receded into nothing, as his hair darkened back to its usual coloring and his wrathful red eyes turned back to their gentle yet haunted clear blue. "We'd better go back. Tell the others. Guess this is another date ruined."

Mizore had retracted her ice blades and taken Adam's hand in hers. "What do we do about all the people she and her cohorts took?"

"Nothing we can do by ourselves," Adam admitted. "But with all of us together, we have a much better chance of saving them and making Xaviax pay for what he's done here."

"He seems . . . very determined to make you suffer," Mizore mused grimly.

"I'm the one that got away," Adam replied. "The one he thought he had his hooks secured . . . but as painful as it was, I ripped those hooks out and now he won't stop until he breaks me . . . and he'll use anybody and everybody I l – care about to do it."

Mizore tilted her head curiously. "That pause again," she remarked. "Were you about to say something else, Adam?"

"No," Adam replied curtly. "Let's go."

Mizore wanted to pursue her line of inquiry, but she'd followed and watched Adam long enough to know that this was the point where he began to close himself off. Asking further would only cause him more anguish at this particular moment, particularly with whatever internal conflict he was going through now. The last thing she wanted now, or ever wanted, was to cause him more anguish . . . not after he'd saved her from her own pain.

"All right," she assented, and as they held hands, they slipped into another mirror portal within the unbroken portion of the glass barrier, disappearing entirely from human sight.

Next: Kiss of the Dragon


Endnotes: There you have it, the Adam/Mizore date that I promised; shame it was interrupted by Kamen Rider Ricochet. Seeing Mizore "killed" over and over has further eroded Adam's control over his dark side. As if things weren't bad enough, though, Xaviax has reverted to his old kidnapping strategy, so what dangers are now ahead for the Riders, the Newspaper Club, and their dubious new allies?

For those of you confused as to "Raven's" presence, I strongly recommend reading Kamen Rider Dragon Knight: Climax Heroes by The Amazing Shrinking Violet. It'll have quite more of an explanation for her presence if you read the latest update of that story, and Den-O/Ryotaro, "Souji Tendou," and Laura/Alter will be explained as well soon enough. Until then, say your prayers and ride to survive.

P.S. If you want to know where Len's description of the Seven Forms came from, it was inspired by Soulblazer87's explanation in "Aku no Chi, The Demon Blood" in the Rosario + Vampire page on . Specifically, chapter 17 has a character explain to Kokoa Shuzen that all martial arts ultimately stem from one or more of the five elements of earth, fire, wind, water, and lightning. I thought it would fit well with Eubulon's instruction of the original Ventaran Kamen Riders, and I hope he is flattered and not too offended by this homage.


And now, a special extra:

"No more sitting on the sidelines!" Kurumu declared.

"It's morphing time!" Yukari added.

"Wrong show!" Kurumu snapped. "But all the same, it's long past time for us to get in on the action!"

"Everybody ready?" Moka asked.

"Always ready," Mizore answered coolly.

A small silvery-white mechanical bat flew over to Moka's outstretched hand and bit her in the juncture between her thumb and forefinger. Yukari waved her wand and it transformed into a short blade tipped by the familiar heart-framed pentagram. Kurumu picked up a strange sword with a microphone for a hilt, and Mizore held a bluish-silver ice sculpture in her hands.

"Kamen Rider!" all four girls shouted and started their transformations in their own ways.

The mechanical bat perched itself on a belt mysteriously formed from ghostly chains around Moka's waist. Yukari slotted her bladed wand into a strangely ornate belt fitted around her waist, the heart-framed pentagram locking into the center buckle. Kurumu locked her strange sword into a gauntlet-like slot mounted on her left arm and struck the microphone hilt to "properly" activate it. Mizore impaled herself in the heart with her own ice sculpture, which merely shattered to encase her whole body in ice.

Moka's own body began to transform as well, taking on the coloring and texture of stained glass as it shifted forms, becoming taller and curvier before shattering to reveal a white-armored figure with red eyes shaped like batwings, a matching rapier sheathed at her side. Multicolored light encased Yukari, light that made her body suddenly expand in several directions, growing taller with longer legs and arms, a narrower waist, wider hips, and a very developed bust.

The light then shattered to reveal a very feminine figure in metallic red armor with silver accents, an almost blank face save for a visor resembling that of a medieval knight's, and three gems colored violet, blue, and green rested on her chest in a triangle. Rings of energy danced around Kurumu as sensually formed dark armor assembled itself over her body, the succubus completing her transformation by removing the microphone sword from its sheath on her gauntlet and striking a sexy yet deadly pose. The ice that had encased Mizore's body shattered to reveal a female figure in crystalline ice blue armor with a dark faceplate that obscured everything but her bright green eyes.

"Kamen Rider Nosferatu!" Moka announced herself, unsheathing her rapier.

"Kamen Rider Witch Saber!" Yukari declared, releasing long blades from her arms.

"Kamen Rider Lilim!" Kurumu proclaimed boldly as she brandished her microphone sword in sweeping motions.

"Kamen Rider Yukikaze!" Mizore announced herself, forming a sword out of ice.

"Defenders of Earth, Yokai, and Ventara . . . we will never rest until the evil of Xaviax is extinguished so that all we love may know peace at last!" all four lady Kamen Riders declared valiantly before falling silent.

"Don't we look sexy?" Kurumu giggled to herself.

"I actually look like a woman!" Yukari rejoiced. "This body . . . I've always dreamed of having a body like this! Now there's nothing that will get in the way of me becoming the meat in Adam and Moka's hot sandwich!"

Moka giggled a little nervously, while Kurumu openly balked. "Dream on! Adam's mine!"

"You yourself can keep dreaming," Mizore murmured in retort. "Adam is mine."

"It's time to go!" Moka shouted, and it was very clear that it was Inner Moka calling the shots in this new transformation. "There are foolish monsters that need to be shown their place! And if you would rather bicker than help, I will show you your place!"

"Right!" Kurumu agreed. "It's time to right wrongs and beat down evil! Who's with me?"

The four newly minted Kamen Riders jumped on their motorcycles, which were all differently styled. The chassis of Nosferatu's bike was modeled on a bat's body with the "wings" folded back to provide the frame. Witch Saber's bike resembled a rocket on wheels to a certain point, while Yukikaze's motorcycle could be compared to a retrofitted snowmobile. Lilim's motorbike was a sleek, graceful, sexy black beast that practically purred when its engine started.

"Let's ride," Yukikaze murmured softly.

And ride they did.