Disclaimer: The song Dispar belongs to Gackt and it may be the last song I will put into this story. Haven't really decided, but then again I'm close to finishing the story so I don't think any more songs are needed.
Late in the night, up on top of the Amity Park hospital, a lone man stood looking over the city. He was the same blonde haired man who gave the Rider decks away to his chosen fighters. He seemed to be deep in thought about the current status of the Rider War he created. Out of the twelve decks he gave away and the most recently made one that he gave to a mirrored manifestation of one of the surviving Riders.
"Thrust, Scissors, Raia, Verde, Spear, Tiger, and Siren are dead," said the man.
"Yes, indeed they are," replied a new voice.
The man turned around and looked at what appeared to be a blue man with a purple cloak, a specter with a small clock, as well as a pendulum inside himself. The blonde man gave a small smile as he watched this man turned into an old man.
"So what brings the all mighty Clockwork here to this little alternate time stream?" asked the man.
"I like to know how your progress is coming along Gamble," answered Clockwork.
"You and I both know you don't need to be told what is going on. After all, you can easily make time to see how things are going here," replied Gamble. "By the way, how are things in the prime timeline?" he asked.
"All is as it should be, Daniel and Samantha are getting closer as the days go by," answered Clockwork.
"And the other timeline, the Terasaurusu timeline?" asked Gamble.
"It has a few bumps, but that Daniel is becoming a more powerful version," answered Clockwork. "He has also claimed the Samantha of his timeline as his mate after she turned," he added.
"So that Sam has become part ghost as well?" questioned Gamble. "It must be hard for her since you showed me how it happened?" he added.
"It was a struggle for her, but Daniel has shown her unconditional love despite his own heartache," answered Clockwork.
"It seems like a large amount of these timelines involving this boy tends to lead him to that girl," said Gamble. "Even this one's fate is tied to the Goth girl, in fact this world's fate depends on her doesn't it?" he wondered.
"So it would seem," said Clockwork as he left the human world.
"It's a big gamble to place the fate of this world in the hands of these people," said Gamble as continued to look at the city. "But then again, risking one's life for someone or something is the greatest of gambles," he added as he vanished into the night.
The next day, Danny woke up to turn off his alarm clock, by tossing it out the window. He got out of bed and headed towards the bathroom for a shower. After about ten minutes, Danny got out of the shower and went back into his room to get dressed. After getting dressed, Danny went downstairs to get something to eat for breakfast. Before he exited his room, he noticed a piece of paper placed on his deck. He went to pick up his deck and the paper when he noticed that the paper was a note. He looked at the note and gave a small gasp at what was written.
Dragon Knight,
The Rider War is reaching its end very quickly. You along with Knight, Zolda, Ouja, Odin, and Onyx are the last six Riders. One of you six will be the winner and will be given his greatest desire. All Riders will meet at the front of the North Mercy hospital for my final appearance to you all. Be there by 5:00 pm sharp.
That was all the note had on it and Danny could tell that this was big. He pocketed his deck and headed downstairs to eat but his mind was on what the note said.
'Last six Riders,' thought Danny. 'I guess things are finally heating up,' he thought as he grabbed breakfast.
After eating breakfast Danny was riding with Jazz to school. The ride was uneventful despite Danny telling his sister that the Rider War was down to six Riders. When she heard Danny tell her this, Jazz became even more worried for her brother's safety. The idea that Danny had to face five other Riders gives her the impression that the surviving Riders would be the toughest and most desperate ones to fight. She can already guess that Dan Roberts would be among the last Riders.
When the Fenton siblings arrived at their school, Danny headed for his locker while Jazz locked up her car. Once Danny opened his locker, he saw Tucker heading towards him with a sorrow filled look on his face. Danny placed his backpack and a few of his books inside his locker before closing it. He turned to look at Tucker and saw his friend holding a note. The note had the same message that was on the note he got this morning with the obvious exemption of who the note was addressed to.
"So you got one too huh?" guessed Danny.
"Yeah," replied Tucker feeling more depressed after witnessing the deaths of Kwan and Valerie.
"So who were the most recent ones to go?" asked Danny.
"Kwan and Valerie," answered Tucker.
"So they were Tiger and Siren," guessed Danny as he thought about those two former Riders. "Can't be helped," he said as he began to walk to his first class.
"Can't be helped, Danny Kwan and Valerie are dead. Don't you feel anything for them?" complained Tucker.
"I do, but I can't do anything to change what happened," replied Danny. "They chose to become Riders Tuck, so their fates were of their own doing," he told his friend.
"How can you say that?" asked Tucker in shock. "They were our classmates, just like Sydney and Dash. They died for some freaks entertainment," he continued. "Why can't you see that?" he asked.
He didn't get an answer because Danny was already in the classroom. After that conversation Tucker hasn't been able to get Danny to listen to him or get him to help him fight to end the Rider War. The rest of the school day was fairly quiet with no interruptions from the mirror monsters.
Over at Wisconsin, Vlad Masters was in his office going over some paperwork about a new security system for Axiom Labs. The details of the security system held no interest to Vlad in the slightest. Instead Vlad's mind was on the note he had received from his benefactor about the final upcoming battle between the Riders. Much like Danny and Tucker, Vlad received his note early in the morning next to his Odin deck. When he read the note, he was quite happy with who was in the last six.
'Jack's son who seems determined to win, a young boy who believes in some foolish idea about stopping the Rider War, a mercenary that I have personally hired as my 'cleaner' and the unstable Dan Roberts have made it to the final six,' thought Vlad as he placed the paperwork down. 'I might as well just be handed the reward,' he continued to think. "Daniel and his little friend will face each other with their Survive cards and will be too weakened to defend themselves after fighting to win. Matthew will be busy fighting Dan for the simple reason of revenge and I will swoop down among them all and destroy them when they are at their weakest," he said out loud as he imagined his victory over the four Riders that he had mentioned. "However, this Onyx Rider remains a mystery. Perhaps I will find out during this little meeting," he finished as he made his preparations to head for Amity Park.
In an apartment building in Amity Park, Matthew Skulker was looking over his deck as he prepared himself for what he hopes to be the final battle. Ever since Skulker learned out Rider War, he had only one thing on his mind, revenge. His revenge was made even sweeter when he learned that Masked Rider Ouja happens to be the man he swore revenge on, Dan Roberts. He had no interest in the reward for fighting in the Rider War after finding out that Dan was a Rider.
"Soon Bullet, soon I was kill Dan and you can finally rest in peace for what he had done," said Skulker as he remembered that fateful day.
Flashback
It was a dark night in Chicago as Skulker and his partner and best friend Ryan 'Bullet' Walters patrolled their area. The two police officers were regarded as the Chicago PD's best patrol men on the force. They always seemed to always be in the right spot in case of a patrol car was needed for quick response.
However this night proved to be different from the others. They received a call from dispatch of an armed robbery taking place at a gas station. They responded to the call immediately and headed towards the gas station in question. They managed to enter the gas station and caught two robbers off guard. A gun fight occurred with one of the robbers making a run for it towards the back.
"Bullet, you go after that punk. I got this one covered," ordered Skulker.
"On it," complied Bullet as he ran for the exit the robber took, dodging gunfire as he did.
After ten minutes of exchanging gun fire with the robber, Skulker managed to get in close and took the robber down. Back up had arrived and took over allowing Skulker to go aid his partner. He arrived at the back alleyway north of the gas station and he saw what had happened. He saw the second robber badly beaten to death on the ground. He checked the man for a pulse but found nothing. Fearing for his partner's life, Skulker headed deeper into the alleyway. When he got closer to the end of it, he saw Bullet pinned to the wall with another man.
The man had black hair, and wore a black jacket with a ripped sleeve. This man was kicking Bullet's head to the wall before grabbing a broken pipe and swinging across the down man's face.
"No!" yelled Skulker as he raised his gun and fired.
The bullet missed the man, but it caused him to noticed Skulker. Skulker looked into the man's eyes and saw that they were blue. The man let out a yell before shoving the sharpened end of the broken pipe into Bullet's chest.
End of flashback
Ever since that day, Skulker quite the force and vowed to find the man who killed his partner and kill him in return. He spent several months following any lead he could get that would lead him to Dan Roberts, but he had no luck. That was until that night he met that man who had not only information on Dan, but a tool that will allow him to get his revenge with no interference with the law.
Flashback again
Skulker was in his hotel room after failing to find any clue of Dan's whereabouts. He was enraged that the psychotic man was able to slip out of the people's notice, but he was determined to find him.
"I'll find you Dan, and when I do I will make sure you never have the chance to get away again," declared Skulker.
"That's a pretty bold statement from a man who hasn't caught him," commented a male voice.
"Who's there?" asked Skulker as he surveyed his hotel room. "Show yourself!" he yelled.
"As you wish," responded the voice.
Skulker was shocked to see a man appear before him from the bathroom. The man had blonde hair and simple clothing. In his right hand was a green deck with a yellow emblem that looked like an ox or a buffalo.
"Who are you?" demanded Skulker.
"Who I am is not important," replied the man. "What is, is you getting Dan Roberts and stopping him before he harms another person right?" he continued.
"Do you know where he is?" questioned Skulker.
"I don't know where he is, but I do know where he is going," answered the man. "He is heading for a town called Amity Park," he told Skulker. "And I also know of a way for you to get your revenge and the law will never be able to touch you," he added.
"You do, how?" questioned Skulker.
"With this," answered the man as he handed Skulker the green deck.
"What is this?" asked Skulker as he looked at the deck.
"Tools of your new trade," answered the man. "Just point it in front of any reflective surface and say Zolda and you will gain the power needed to bring Dan to justice," he told Skulker before he headed back into the bathroom.
Skulker followed the man, but saw that he had vanished.
End of flashback
That was the first day he became Zolda and he didn't regret becoming a Rider. When he found out about Dan being Ouja, Skulker had focus more on going after Dan than continuing his work for Vlad Masters. Now he was preparing for his meeting with that same man along with the others Riders especially since Dan was among the surviving Riders.
"Soon Dan, soon you'll pay for what you have done to my partner," swore Skulker.
Meanwhile under a bridge that connects Amity Park to Elmerton, Dan Roberts was hunched over next to a fire he had made. The place he had used for a while was scheduled to be demolished, so he took to leaving before anyone spotted him. He had also captured a raccoon, killed it and was now roasting the dead animal for a meal. Once the meat has been thoroughly cooked Dan began to eat the raccoon. As he continued to eat, Dan heard footsteps approaching him. He looked up and saw the blonde man walking towards him. The man stopped by the fire and looked at Dan as he took another bite.
"So, you're here to tell me something important?" questioned Dan as he continued to eat.
"The Rider War is reaching its end," said the man. "You and the other five remaining Riders will meet at North Mercy Hospital five o'clock sharp tonight," he continued.
"So the big endgame has finally come," commented Dan as he looked at the fire for a moment. "Good, maybe I can finally do something about my boredom," he added as he looked at the man. "Want some?" he offered some of his food.
The man stayed silent for a moment which Dan took as a no before he resumed eating. The man left Dan to his meal as he prepared for the Riders to gather for the last time.
As time continued to move forward for many, it seemed to drag on slowly for the surviving Riders. The tension of waiting for the time to meet each other before their final showdown against one another was escalating. Danny and Tucker spent most if not all of the school day watching the clocks, waiting for the day to end. The only time they were not watching the clocks was when they had to go to their next classes.
When school finally let out Danny and Tucker both exited the school and headed towards the parking lot. They both had agreed to go the meeting place together rather than separately. They were close to Jazz's car where his sister was waiting when the two of them heard someone calling Danny over. It was Star and she was holding a folder in her right hand.
"What do you need Star?" asked Danny.
"Well, I just finished reading your half of the paper and I don't get what you're trying to say in it," answered Star.
"There's not much to get Star, I wrote what I thought about the Masked Riders," said Danny.
"That's the thing, everyone calls them either the Mirror Knights or Ghost Knights," replied Star. "So why call them Masked Riders?" she asked.
"Because that's what they're called," replied Danny.
"But…" Star started.
"Listen Star, when it comes to the day the report is due. Give it to Lancer or read it out loud if that's what he wants. It will either make sense or not," said Danny. "Right now, I have something important to do," he added as stepped into his sister's car when Jazz started her car.
Star and Tucker watched as Jazz's car backed out of the parking space and head towards the hospital.
"What is going on with him?" asked Star.
"Who knows," replied Tucker. "But more importantly, how about you and I…" he continued as he winked at Star.
"I was asking that question to myself and not in your life loser," snapped Star as she walked away.
"WHY WON'T ANY GIRL GO OUT WITH ME!" Tucker shouted into the heavens.
He didn't get an answer from anyone; instead he got a football colliding with his face. The force of the thrown football knocked the poor boy out cold for five minutes. To make is even sadder, nobody bothered to help him, not even a teacher.
About an hour has passed since Danny arrived at the hospital; he was in Sam's room talking to her about anything to pass the time. Danny had his arms wrapped around Sam as the Goth girl rested her head on her crush's shoulder. As Danny looked at her, he noticed that Sam was starting to fall asleep. He smiled as he tried to move so that Sam would be sleeping on her bed.
"Danny, don't leave me," whispered Sam as she shut her eyes.
Danny hated that he had to leave soon because he really wants to be by Sam's side. However, he has a duty to meet with the other Riders soon.
"I'm sorry Sam, but I have to go," Danny apologized as he finally got her lying down on her bed.
"Can you sing to me before you leave?" requested Sam.
Danny smiled as he held onto her right hand.
"Of course Sam," answered Danny. "Any song you want to hear?" he asked.
"Surprise me," answered Sam as she propped herself to listen to her crush sing.
ureshisou ni kao o miagete shita wo hawasenagara
afuredashita amai mitsu no naka de hebi to tawamure
mune wo furimidashite yakusoku ha atsui kuchizuke ni
yubi de moteasonde
nureta kuchi wo boku ni tsukidashite
kairaku ha mou tomerarenai
hikisaita karada wo furuwase
nukegara ni sayonara wo tsugete...
karamitsuita kumo no nagai teashi ni dakarenagara
boku no ue de aegi kurushimu koto wo motometsuzukeru
hageshiku odori kurue
modae sakebeba ii
honoo ni dakarenagara kieteyuke
ayamachi ha kurikaesaretemo
kokoro made musabori tsukushite
sashidashita ude wo dakiyosete
iroawaseta hitomi wo tojita
yakusoku ha atsui kuchizuke ni
kairaku ha mou tomerarenai
hikisaita karada wo furuwase
nukegara ni sayonara wo tsugete...
ayamachi ha kurikaesaretemo
kokoro made musabori tsukushite
sashidashita ude wo dakiyosete
iroawaseta hitomi wo tojita
When Danny finished the song, he looked at Sam sleeping on the bed. She had a peaceful smile on her face as if she was having a wonderful dream. Danny smiled at her as he leaned forward a bit and stroked her hair for a moment. Sam continued to smile as she slept much to Danny's happiness. Danny leaned forward some more and lightly kissed Sam's right cheek before pulling back.
"I love you Sam," whispered Danny as he left the room and proceeded to head towards the front of the hospital for Jazz to pick him up.
"I love you Danny," whispered Sam in her sleep.
When Danny and Jazz reached the old abandoned hospital it was around four forty-seven, so Danny knew he had enough time. When the Fenton siblings looked over North Mercy hospital, they noticed that the sign lost three letters making the sign say No Mercy. Jazz felt a little uneasy about letting her brother go into the place, but Danny assured her that he'll be fine as he waved his deck towards her. Danny reached the front of the hospital and found the other four known Rider standing before him. He also noticed that Tucker was looking extremely freaked about being near a hospital as he curled up into the fetal position hugging his PDA. Skulker leaning on the wall glaring at Dan, who was sitting on the ground looking back at him with a smirk on his face, finally there was Vlad standing in the middle with his arms behind his back with a smug look on his face.
"So this is everyone?" asked Vlad.
"All except for whoever Onyx is," commented Danny as he walked up to Tucker.
"I wouldn't worry about him, he is very much aware of what is going on," said the man who gave the Riders their decks as he exited the broken down hospital. "Welcome Riders to the intermission of the final battle," he greeted the Riders.
"Final battle, you mean the next one will decide everything?" asked Tucker from his curled up position.
"Not exactly young Knight," replied the man. "I call it the final battle because if there is no last Rider standing by the end of next week, I will take immediate action," he told them. "And trust me, you don't want that to happen," he added.
"So the six of us need to fight each other to the death within two weeks or all of us will die huh?" guessed Dan as he got up. "Sounds like fun," he added as he cracked his neck.
"Yes that is correct, so if any of you have any business that needs to be done within this week. Get it done fast and get back to fighting," said the man as he retreated back into the abandoned hospital.
"Well now, it would seem that things have become more interesting," said Vlad as he began to walk away.
"So it would seem," agreed Skulker as he left as well.
"I can't wait to have some more fun," said Dan as he headed for the gate too.
Danny watched as the three men leave before looking at Tucker. He shook his head and helped the bat themed Rider up. It took a while but Danny had finally managed to drag Tucker out of the area and into Jazz's car. Jazz looked at the babbling boy that her brother threw into the back of her car before turning towards her brother.
"What was Tucker doing here?" asked Jazz.
"He's…..another Rider," admitted Danny.
"What!" yelled Jazz in shock.
The next day was generally uneventful for the last Riders. So far there were only minor attacks from the mirror monsters that were easily dealt with. However, the main concern for the Riders was the fact that they're Rider War was reaching its end. Vlad had managed to have any of his important business meetings taken care of or rescheduled so he could focus on taking care of the other Riders. Dan and Skulker had a few battles against each other, but they never had a clear victor. As for Danny and Tucker, they had a much tougher problem to deal with. The two friends were behind their school because Tucker wanted to once again talk sense into Danny about stopping the Rider War.
"Danny, please dude you have to listen to me," started Tucker.
"Tucker, just stop it," interrupted Danny. "I really don't want to hear any more about this and turn it into this big thing," he added.
"Big thing?" repeated Tucker. "Dude, it's already big. People are dying man," he argued.
"People die every day," countered Danny. "What makes this any different?" he asked.
"People don't die because of monsters eating them!" yelled Tucker. "Danny, out of all of us that are left, you and me can stop it," he continued.
"Do you even know why we're all fighting in the first place?" asked Danny.
"Well no, but it can't be that great," answered Tucker.
"The Rider who wins gets their greatest desire to come true," Danny told him.
"Their greatest desire comes true?" questioned Tucker as he thought about what his greatest desire would be.
"Yes and I plan on winning so that mines with come true," said Danny as he turned around.
"What could you possibly desire that isn't greater than…." Started Tucker until he stopped and realized why Danny is fighting. "You're doing this to save Sam aren't you?" he asked.
Danny didn't say anything but he did let out a short gasp after hearing what Tucker said. Before Tucker could say anything else, Danny walked away from him.
"Danny wait!" called out Tucker as he ran towards his friend. "Dude, I understand what you're going through. Sam's my friend too, but you can't seriously…" he tried to tell Danny.
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M GOING THROUGHT!" yelled Danny. "Sam doesn't have much time left. If I don't win this, she will die because of her cancer!" he continued. "I have a chance to save her, completely cure her of her cancer where it will never come back. Come Hell or mirror monster, I won't let anyone stand in my way to save her," he finished.
"SO LETTING ELEVEN OTHER PEOPLE DIE IN EXCHANGE FOR HER LIFE IS BETTER!" yelled Tucker. "Danny, the doctors are doing their best to save her. Trust in them to save her, they might be able to fix her," he told Danny.
Suddenly, Danny picked up Tucker by his shirt and rammed him onto the wall. Tucker let out a yelp of pain from the impact and looked scared as he looked into Danny's rage filled blue eyes.
"I'm not risking Sam's life on a might," growled Danny. "When I win the Rider War, she gets cured and can continue to live her life. Then and only then will I answer for what I have done in order to win. I'll take whatever punishment is thrown at me, if Sam ends up hating me for what I have done, then so be it. So long as she's alive, I don't care what will happen to me afterwards," he told Tucker.
Tucker looked at Danny in shock after hearing Danny's declaration. He felt very stupid for not realizing that it was Sam that Danny was fighting for. Tucker had always known that Danny had it bad for Sam, but he didn't realize that it was this serious. He always joked about how those two were lovebirds much like the rest of their peers, but the fact that Danny was willing to risk his own life shows just how special Sam is to him.
Finally, Danny let go of Tucker and continued to walk away from the techno-geek. Tucker slumped down to the ground and stayed there for a moment. As Danny continued to walk back into the school, they heard the sound of the mirror world. The two young Riders ran into the boys' locker room next to the gym. They stopped in front of the mirrors and pulled out their decks. The belts appeared on their waists as they got ready to go into battle once again.
"Dragon Knight," said Danny as he inserted his deck into the belt.
"Knight," said Tucker as he did the same thing as Danny.
The reflective images of the Dragon Knight armor and the Knight armor appeared over the two boys before becoming complete. The two of the jumped into the mirrors and entered the mirror world to fight once again.
Author's note: Well that ends this chapter and I'm sorry for taking so long. However, I haven't been able to think much for the story and I haven't been getting reviews lately. Either people are tired of waiting for new chapters or no longer care for the story. Either way doesn't matter to me, I plan on finishing this story and I believe I can get it done within at least five chapters counting this one.
