Chapter 36: Return of JOKER
The Monday morning after the events that changed everything that weekend, things slowly turned back to normal. Nolan keeps a closer eye on Noah and Jessie, even though he knows Noah to not make a move in a crowed area like the school. Tim returns to do research the Kaiser C.L.A.W. and Yuliya also does research on Dominick's fighting style and tried to adapt them as her own.
At the NYPD office located in Manhattan, a secretary walks to Lieutenant Rodriguez's office handing him a folder.
"What's this?" The lieutenant asks.
"Information from higher up, they say you would be the best for this job."
Rodriguez skims through the folder before setting it on his desk and grabbing his suit jacket.
"Sir, where are you going?"
"I am going on a coffee run. I'll be back later."
"Okay."
Rodriguez walks to his undercover police car, a white Honda accent and he drove off; siren's blasting towards Staten Island.
"Didn't think in all of my years on the force I'd get an assignment like this. Well, let's just hope that these agents can pull this off." He tells himself. He smashes on the acceleration lever, causing him to speed faster.
A half-hour later as Nolan and Jesse sit in their chemistry class, they "copy their notes" between each other.
"We need to be careful." Jesse writes, handing it back to Nolan.
"Why? As long as we have Yuliya as the new samurai rider, KING is tied up and you're safe."
"I don't know; I just have a bad feeling, like a presence."
"Maybe it's Noah."
"No, it's not him. It's darker, more sinister. Something tells me that what we'll be seeing soon is going to be catastrophic."
"Man, do girls always worry about the smallest things?"
"No, but if you were going through as many things as I have, then you'll be in the same position."
"Well, think about it, what's the worst that could happen at this point?"
The phone rings alerting their teacher. She picks the phone up and talks to the front desk briefly, before hanging up.
"Jesse, Nolan to the front desk please, there's someone downstairs who came to pick you up.
Jesse raises her eyebrow towards Nolan. "Still think I'm crazy?"
Nolan grabs his schoolbag and waits for the both of them to walk out of the room to give her an answer. "I take back what I said."
"Yeah, you better."
The two get to the first floor of the school, only to run into Yuliya and Tim who were called out of their classes also.
"You guys got called out?" Tim asked the other two teens in front of them.
"Yeah, I wonder if this has anything to do with…" Nolan stops suddenly as he sees Lieutenant Rodriguez standing there waiting for the teens.
"Good morning agents. I'm Lieutenant Marcus Rodriguez of the NYPD, and, as of right now, your new commander.
The four freeze in their tracks as they look at him.
"What's wrong?" Rodriguez asks them. He turns to the security guard and back to them. "Don't worry, for school safety reasons, the principal and security staff is well aware of your SADE duties. As of right now we need to go to SADE for a brief mission update."
"Wait, hold on." Nolan replies. "Don't you remember that you arrested me for a murder that I said I didn't commit this past weekend?"
"And you were broken out of by her Alter-ego who is our major priority now. If you have any more questions, we should get moving. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir." They reply in unison.
"Great; let's go."
An hour later, the five of them walk into Dominick's office, where Rodriguez takes a seat at his new desk.
"Okay, first off, I need you three to head to the training room. There, I can examine your skills and see how this mission will go."
"Excuse me. But what is this mission about?" Yuliya asked.
Rodriguez sighs for a second before replying. As you know, KING is hunting QUEEN. Our mission is to make sure that doesn't happen, Simple as that.
"That's all?"
"Well, that's as far as we know. The CIA gave me information on the current situation of the war between us and the Dreamon and the information I have received is confidential. But because I have been selected as the Commander of SADE out of all the officers of the NYPD, then that means that something about this past weekend has something to do with it."
"Like what?"
"I would tell you, but due to the situation, I can't just yet. But like I said, report to the training room."
Following the command, the three riders get up and leave the office.
About ten minutes pass and the three dressed in their gym clothing, and accompanied by their claw beast stand adjacent from each other. Rodriguez stands in the control room while Jesse looks from the hangout lounge down the hall on the monitor.
"Okay you three, I want you to fight each other in a regular sparing match up, every man for yourself. When I feel that you're ready I'll let you transform. Are you ready?" Rodriguez asks.
The three nod their heads.
"Okay, Begin!"
With the instructions set, the three bolt towards the center of the room. Nolan jumps into the air, attempting a landing punch at Yuliya, who ducks, side kicking Nolan, then following up with a spin kick towards Tim, who blocks the hit. He then steps back to allow Nolan to return the kick to Yuliya, and when that was over, he begins to attack Nolan with a barrage of punches and kicks, causing Nolan to fall to the ground. Yuliya then stomps the ground where Nolan landed, causing him to roll over and sweep kick her. Tim then catches Yuliya, who then retaliates by flipping over Nolan, distracting him long enough for Tim to tackle him. While the three continue fighting, Kaiger, Kiba and Kyuki look from the side-lines.
"So, how do you like your partner?" Kiba asks the new claw beast.
Kyuki looks up and nods. "I like her." She replies in a feminine, child-like tone of voice. "She has a kind but strong personality, an ideal samurai. How about you, how much do you like your partner?"
Kiba looks at Tim. "Well, from my understanding, He's a brute fighter and an excellent marksman. I learned a lot fighting with him for almost two years now. He's a proud fighter and will do anything to get the job done."
"I feel the same way about Nolan," Kaiger replied. "The kid's a bit stubborn on occasion but I can tell that he wants to be a hero and will fight to his last breath to protect the ones he loves. Dominick's picked great kids to protect this city, hasn't he?"
Kiba and Kyuki nod. "You can say that again." Kiba commented.
"Okay you guys break it up." Rodriguez orders.
The three stop the fighting and walk to the wall to catch their breath.
"You three fight well. I'm going to give you a five minute break and then I'm going to want to see how you fight in your transformed states.
"Okay… that shouldn't be so hard, right." Nolan says, breathing heavily.
"It shouldn't. Anyways take a break."
Back with Jesse, QUEEN appears next to her in the chair beside her.
"So, are feeling okay?" QUEEN asked the teen.
"I don't know I got a feeling that something bad is going to happen."
"Well, you're right about that, something bad is going to happen."
"What do you mean by that?" Jesse asked feeling intimidated.
"JOKER is alive…" QUEEN uttered, causing Jesse's heart to skip a beat.
"What do you mean by that!?"
"I mean, that KING didn't kill him. JOKER is a D-Brid that controls reptilian Dreamon. Reptiles are known to shed their skin."
"So what you're saying is that he faked his death to throw everyone off!?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying. And if I'm correct, then the Riders won't be able to survive."
"What can we do?"
"Nothing, unless God can give us a miracle, we're screwed."
Jesse slouches in her chair, before jumping back up. "Why don't we ask Noah to join us?"
QUEEN looks at Jesse, wanting to smack her for saying that. "Are you insane!? Don't you remember that KING is hunting us down!?"
"Well you asked for a miracle, if he joins, what's to say that that's not it?"
"Man, you human are purely insane. Fine, I'll ask him. But since you're Idea, you're coming with me. As long as I have you, then I'll be at full strength, since I'll have a physical body."
"Okay, let's go."
Jesse gets up and races out of the building.
Elsewhere, Noah cut school, since Jesse and the other's left. By leaving, he saw the opportunity to continue his search. He stayed on top of a building near the south ferry, the Manhattan entrance of the Staten Island ferry.
"Beautiful world isn't it?" Torakai commented, standing next to Noah.
"Yes, yes it is. I remember when our world was like this; that was just before the QUEEN was assassinated by those three traitors."
"Do you know if our world will return to the way it was?"
"It will, Someday. And speaking of QUEEN, you were pretty bold on coming here by yourself. What happened, you're friends abandoned you?" Noah commented.
QUEEN, holding a red rose in her hand walked from the shadow casted on the building. "How long did you know I was there?"
"Long enough to know that you're foolish enough to come here by yourself so what do you want? You came to face your punishment?"
QUEEN walks over and takes a seat next to him. "I had a favor that I wanted to ask."
"What's that?" Noah asked.
"Join us. That's all I want."
Noah looked at her and laughed. "Why?"
"Because, something's bad is going to happen and we need all the help we need."
"How bad, Noah asked, lying back."
"Shadow Day bad," QUEEN replies, causing Noah to jump back up.
"Okay, I'm listening."
"JOKER is alive. He's coming after us. If he successfully kills you, me and the Kamen Riders, then nothing will stop him from turning the planet into Dreamon, and nothing will stop the Shadow Day from happening.
But that doesn't make any since, I killed JOKER that night.
"It was a decoy probably."
"It wasn't a decoy that I was fighting. A decoy doesn't have the powers of a D-Brid.
"Wait, the powers of a D-Brid!? Then that means that-"
QUEEN gets cut off from the screams of Dreamon on the street below them.
"Oh no, this isn't good." QUEEN says noticing the Dreamon on the street. She counts three: A Tortoise Dreamon, a Grasshopper Dreamon and a Pigeon Dreamon.
"There, no way, unless-"
"If JACK and ACE have been resurrected as well…" Noah finishes her sentence.
"Right you are…" they hear a voice behind them.
The two turn around, only to be greeted by Mark and Richard.
"Missed us?" Mark asked, transforming into the Spider D-Brid.
"Because we sure as hell missed you," Richard added, transforming into the Eagle D-Brid.
"Get behind me…" Noah commanded her.
"So you'll help us?"
"Didn't say that, but the fact is that as KING, I can't allow traitors to survive. Let's go Torakai."
"You got it." It replies.
Torakai jumps into the air, catching the cast shuriken from Noah. Noah charges towards the two D-Brids, flipping over them and catching Torakai from midair.
"HENSHIN!" Noah called out
"KAGE MODE!" the belt called out as Noah charged again towards JACK. He draws his sword slashing him once and kicking him, before ducking ACE's swipe. While ducked, Noah drew his other blade and slashed ACE causing them both to fly back.
JACK and ACE get off, dust themselves off and laugh.
"Really, is that the best you can do?" JACK commented.
"I honestly don't understand why those people you rule consider such a weakling like you to be KING. When I'm done with you, I will become the next KING of Spades!"
"I'm not going to let that happen!"
"So hardheaded," ACE commented, disappearing behind Noah. ACE swiftly jabs Noah in the back, causing the transformation to cancel out and Noah to fly across the roof.
"Now, it's over…" ACE says, walking slowly towards the teen.
"FINAL SLASH ATTACK!" a mechanical voice echoed three times. The four of them hear it and looked down on the ground, seeing the three Dreamon, taken out one by one by Nolan, Yuliya and Tim, each equipped with the speed, flight and power modes respectively.
"Damn those kids!" JACK cursed.
"Take care of them." ACE commanded.
As JACK proceeded to jump, Noah transforms into the tiger D-Brid and catches him out of the air; slashing him with his blade and throwing him back up.
"Don't underestimate me. I was made KING for a reason." Noah said.
"Just like how I will be KING for a reason!" ACE snapped charging at him.
Noah sprinted towards ACE, spin kicking him, with ACE dodging the attack. They continue the fighting with QUEEN taking the opportunity to escape.
"So, how was that?" Nolan asked, talking to the Rodriguez.
"Excellent." Rodriguez commented. "Return to base so I can go over the data."
"Got it." Yuliya answered.
As the three begin to leave, Jesse appears in front of them, breathing heavily. "You guys, big trouble."
"Are you okay you look like you seen a ghost."
"Heh, Heh; something like that." She laughed sarcastically.
Out of nowhere, the building she left began to ignite explosions from the roof as they see the body of Noah fall. Nolan without realizing uses his turbo shot to catch Noah before he hit the concrete.
"Jesse, what in God's name is going on!?" Nolan asked.
As she was about to answer though, Jesse gets off guard by JACK and ACE appearing behind her and grabbing her. As fast as they came, they blow back the riders with a strength that never existed until that moment, and that they kept hidden from Noah.
That sheer power causes the three to cancel out their transformation and causes themselves to fight to stand back up.
"There's no freaking way. The both of you were dead." Nolan managed to say.
"There's no way that you guys could possibly be alive unless… JOKER never died…" Yuliya fits together.
"Congratulations, I knew training you to have a perceptive mind on things was a good idea…" a dreadful but familiar voice uttered behind them.
They didn't want to turn around, but as they heard the footsteps track themselves in the grass, they slowly turned, only for their worst nightmare come true…
"By the way you guys…" the figure started. "Thanks for following my orders for protecting Jessie. Now with her alive, my plan can finally commence, and Shadow Day will become a reality…"
"Dom…Dominick!?" Yuliya asked slowly, building up tears.
The figure walked towards JACK and ACE as laughed as a black and red dragon-like claw beast slid up his shoulder. The figure turned around, revealing to be Dominick. No…JOKER!"
"Dominick, we should finish these kids. They'll still be a nuisance for us in the future." The Dragon said.
"You're right, Ryuge. Let's wipe them out." Dominick replied holding a sword-like key out in the air. Dominick tossed it in the air causing the dragon to catch it in his mouth. He then slid onto the brace and the belt appeared.
"Welcome to Chaos… HENSHIN!" Dominick called out as Ryuge slid onto the crimson red belt.
"CHAOS MODE!" Ryuge called out as black and red dragon-like samurai armor encased Dominick. He appeared as Flight mode of the samurai mode rider, with his black wings stretched out and his blood red armor the shape of a dragon. His helmet was a cross between a samurai helmet and a dragon helmet and he had a sword that shot straight down his back. He held his hand in front of him to develop a ball of black energy that he shot at them. The blast lit up the area, causing people to run for their lives and the four teens to become more bloody.
"Now, that was fun. How Ironic that they thought they were saving their city, when in actuality they created Armageddon, the very thing that will exterminate these humans. Well, it looks like there's only one thing left from keeping me from becoming the ruler of the Dreamon, and that's you…" Dominick commented, turning to Jessie.
Jesse starts to scream, only for ACE to hit the back of her neck, knocking her out.
"Let's go… we have work to do." Dominick commanded, snapping his fingers and opening a nightmare vortex. The two obey as they walk through with Jesse.
Nolan looks in horror as he reaches out, only to black out when the portal closed. "I messed up… I couldn't protect you…I'm sorry…"
An hour later, Nolan wakes up only to find himself in the infirmary along with Tim, Yuliya and Noah, all hooked on machines and all bandaged up. There, Rodriguez sits going through the Project trinity folder.
"Hey, woke up huh?" Rodriguez asked.
"What happened…? Oh God Jesse; I have to save her!"
"You're not going anywhere! Not until your wounds heal. When that's done, then I'll let you do whatever you want. But for now, you stay put."
Nolan leans back in the bed, allowing Rodriguez to talk. "Okay, for starters, until they wake up, I'm going to explain Project Trinity and what it will do, to make a major comeback…" Rodriguez started, causing Nolan to listen…
END