With the restructuring of my Jojoverse, this story is likely to become my longest one. Anyway, time for more action. Disclaimer: I don't own Kamen Rider or The Rising of the Shield Hero.

*Kamen Rider is seen driving along a reservoir walkway with another figure in a grasshopper-themed outfit on an identical motorcycle. We now introduce Kamen Rider 1 and Kamen Rider 2. The music begins with a close up on Kamen Rider 1's face as the title appears.*

Rising of the Kamen Riders

Here they come! Shocker! The evil army of Hell!

*The two Riders race along a large field.*

Targeted by its dark and scary shadow

*They lap around each other.*

Protecting the peace and justice of the world

*A close up of 2 is seen, highlighting the differences in his outfit and helmet, including a white strip along the middle of the helmet, and a black undersuit not seen with 1.*

Go! (Go!) Go! (Go!) Let's Go! The spectacular machine!

*The two Riders drive up a nearby hill, making a spectacular leap.*

Rider Jump! Rider Kick!

*They continue to race across the hill, and a grassy field.*

Kamen Rider! Kamen Rider!

*They drive down a dirt road, 1 in front.*

Rider! Rider!

*They leap past each other in a daring stunt.*

Rider Jump! Rider Kick!

*They start driving down an empty highway.*

Kamen Rider! Kamen Rider!

*They start swerving through a construction sight.*

Rider! Rider!

*They somehow drive up a skyscraper before making a leap across the rooftops.*

Naofumi has now been joined by fellow cyborg Ren Amaki.

*A scene of Ren's forced remodeling by Shocker is shown, before cutting to the twin Riders.*

Remolded by Shocker and saved by his girlfriend from the FBI, Ren becomes Kamen Rider 2.

*Shots of Spider Man, Gebacondor, Geckgeras, Cactogron, and Lizardlon are featured.*

Together with Naofumi, re-titled as Kamen Rider 1, they fight for humanity's freedom!

*The two Riders pose, ready to do battle.*

Chapter 18: Rider Kick Repelled

In the wild mountains of Japan, a pair of brothers, one several years younger, were walking through the path singing. "Alright," the older brother said, "Once we hit the peak, we'll us the transceiver to notify our friends at the foot of the mountain." "Sounds good," the younger brother said. As they kept climbing, the young boy noticed something and went to see what it was. He took a minor slip, but was otherwise alright when his brother went to check on him. However, they saw something odd at a nearby wooden bridge. Several imprints of starfish, arranged like they were footprints.

"How did starfish imprints get so inland," the older brother asked, "They're supposed to be sea-dwelling creatures." Curious, the boy followed the prints, his brother following him, until they found a clearing with an unmarked building surrounded by poles topped with model starfish. "Wow, it's like a secret base," the boy said. His brother laughed. "You've been reading too many comics." Still, they decided to get a picture of the building. But while setting up for it, the boy tripped over what looked like a large starfish. The starfish quickly stood up, revealing itself to be a humanoid monster called Starfinjer.

Some distance away, the racing club was having a camp-out. As Naofumi strummed a guitar, Raphtalia sang a nice outdoors song. Goro was busy fishing with Ren, while Malty and Rishia were cooking rice. Nearby, Tobei got out a transceiver. "Eclair. Eclair, can you hear me?" Eclair was back in the city, having wound up catching a cold. 'I'm here. And really bored. I wish you could have at least let stay behind.' Tobei laughed. "Well, we're not sure what effect disease has on a cyborg body, and I didn't want to risk it. Not to worry, we'll get you a souvenir on the way back."

Just then, the transceiver picked up some interference. "Something wrong?," Naofumi asked. "I'm not sure," Tobei said, "I can't get in touch with Eclair anymore." However, someone else seemed to be coming through. 'Near Tengu Cliffs! A starfish… A starfish monster!' "Starfish monster?," Motoyasu asked, "Sounds like something Shocker would make." "He said the Tengu Cliffs, yes?," Tobei said, "Naofumi, Ren, perhaps you should go and check it out. If this is another Shocker cyborg, we should try and take care of it before they can start another world domination scheme."

Meanwhile, the two brothers were trying to escape from Starfinjer. The monster was surprisingly durable, able to easily shake off a large rock the older brother threw at it. After getting knocked to the ground for his trouble, he turned to his brother. "Masaru, run!" He tried to run as well, but Starfinjer leapt into the air and body slammed the man, stunning him. Seeing this, Masaru tried to punch the monster, only to get knocked aside, sending his glasses into the water.

Seeing the boy had been largely blinded, Starfinjer picked up the older man and carried him off. Masaru wound up wandering around, unable to properly see. He wound up slipping down a steep slope, where Ren happened to be, allowing him to catch the boy before he got seriously hurt. "You okay?," Ren asked, "A young boy shouldn't be mountain climbing alone, you know." "I was actually here with my older brother," Masaru explained, "But he got kidnapped by a starfish monster, who took him inside a strange building."

Ren looked back to Naofumi, who was running up and heard most of the conversation. "So your brother was the one we heard back at our camp," Naofumi said, "We came out here hoping to get more information. There's a village at the foot of the mountain. After we bring you there, we'll go looking for your brother." While at the village, Naofumi asked an elderly woman if there was any connection between starfish and Kiriga Mountains. "Oh, lots as it happens."

"Really?," Naofumi asked, "Even though we're so far inland?" The woman nodded. "Yes, amazingly enough. This was something that happened last month, you see. They found a monster starfish fossil, proving that the area was once underwater. But here's the strange part. The fossil seemed to be alive." Naofumi and Ren were a little surprised. "Is such a thing possible?," Ren asked. "Maybe," Naofumi said, "Starfish are amazingly resilient creatures, with enough vitality to regrow lost limbs. Where's the fossil now?"

The woman shrugged. "It vanished before we knew it. Kicked up quite the uproar over how it could have gotten away." Ren realized what had to have happened. "Shocker must have gotten wind of the fossil, and stole it to remodel into a monster. They've already shown to be capable of remodeling prehistoric creatures, like what happened with Pirasaurus." Naofumi nodded. "But why a starfish, though? Unlike previous creatures Shocker used, a starfish doesn't have many combat properties besides durability."

Meanwhile at the Shocker hideout of Starfinjer, Shocker's latest plan was underway. The hideout was actually a missile base, being built right under the Kiriga Mountains. 'Once our massive complex is complete,' Great Leader said, 'We will use it to destroy everything, and rule the world! Starfinjer, never let your guard down. We cannot let any humans get close to our base until it is ready for deployment.' Starfinjer nodded. "We'll proceed with the execution of the one we captured earlier."

Little did Starfinjer realize, Motoyasu was near the base, taking a drink from the fresh and clean stream running nearby. He took a look at the building. "It was around here, I believe," he noted, "Eclair mentioned her superiors at FBI headquarters were reporting strange radio waves from this general area. And this it right around where that starfish monster was supposed to be. I think we were onto something in thinking Shocker was involved. Maybe here I'll get my answers."

He noted that several mountain climbers had gone missing for at least a month. Picking up a nearby rock, he threw it to test the defenses. It wound up getting caught by a Combatman, who threw it back. Another one appeared, prompting Motoyasu to remove his backpack. "Good grief, why do I always get the small fry in these confrontations? On second thought, I think for now it's better I deal with the smaller grunts."

He started to fight the Combatmen, then noticed Starfinjer joining in. Grabbing one of the dropped weapons, he made ready to attack. Starfinjer quickly pushed him against a wall, but before he could choke the life out of him, Kamen Riders 1 and 2 leapt in to attack. Despite being distracted, a surprise attack from Motoyasu using the weapon he picked up proved useless, Starfinjer tanking it without even flinching. "Jeez, is his body made out of iron!?" "Even stronger," Starfinjer said, "My body has been hardened over tens of thousands of years, making it tougher than even steel plates."

"We'll see about that," 1 said, and he leapt into the air. "Rider Kick!" However, the attack proved unable to make Starfinjer so much as flinch, sending 1 sprawling from the impact. "Ow… Okay, this might be more difficult than I thought." Starfinjer slammed into 1, sending him flying into the water below. 2 and Motoyasu quickly followed, but lost track of Naofumi. 2, however, noticed something. "He's not following us…"

Sure enough, once they got to safety, they saw Starfinjer wasn't coming after them directly, but instead sending some Combatmen to search the area. They quickly headed inside a nearby cave, where they wound up running into Tobei. "Here you guys are," Tobei said, "What's been going on?" "That new starfish monster is stronger than most monsters Shocker's created," Ren said, "Not even my Rider Kick was enough to so much as dent him. They're still outside looking for us."

"We know their base is nearby," Motoyasu noted, "We should see if we can check it out." As they returned to the upper area, they wound up running into Starfinjer and his grunts, prompting a confrontation. Tobei and Motoyasu held them off, telling Ren to run for it and let the others know. This promptly got the two of them captured and thrown into a nearby cell. "We'll leave them here for now until we capture those Riders," Starfinjer said. As it happened, they were tossed in the same cell as Masaru's brother. "So you two got caught as well."

He untied the two of them. "Those guys are really cruel, huh? They were about to execute with without mercy until they heard another alarm go off. Apparently their building a missile site down here." "So that's Shocker's goal," Tobei realized. "Too bad they didn't bother to search us," Motoyasu said, getting a lockpick out of the heel of his boot and starting on the lock to the cell. However, the latch didn't seem to be moving. "That's odd." "Maybe you could use some help, said a fourth man in the room. He smiled and removed his hat and fake facial hair, revealing himself to be Naofumi.

"I already got in contact with Ren," he said, "But getting out of here won't be as simple as picking a lock. They've upped their security several times to compensate for the numbers of times I've infiltrated their bases. But there is a way we can draw them in. We need to start a brawl, the four of us." Masaru's brother looked confused, but shrugged and immediately slugged Motoyasu. "Don't do it for real!," he yelled out, "The idea is make a commotion." And with that, the four of them started making noises like they were actually fighting.

They stared fighting for real when a lead Combatman came in to try and keep them quiet. He brought in a few more grunts and they got the cell open, only to get quickly dispatched as soon as they were inside. "Nice," Naofumi said, "Now let's get them stripped." Disguised as Combatmen, the four men made their way out of the dungeon. Naofumi went to disable the alarm, carefully pulling the lock open so at not to make too much noise. He disabled the emergency bell, then use the lights to signal the others.

Unfortunately, they quickly got caught by Starfinjer when his other troops looked into the cell just as they were leaving. Naofumi started a fire in the munitions center, but had to call out about it when he spotted the others fighting Starfinjer's grunts. Once the coast was clear, he turned to the others. "Ren should be here by now. Go let him in, I'll distract Starfinjer." The trio nodded and headed out.

Naofumi breathed deep as he walked to the door. "Henshin!" He ran to the other side of the hall, letting the Typhoon absorb the wind pressure to transform into Kamen Rider 1. Meanwhile, Starfinjer had reached the munitions room, which was ablaze thanks to Naofumi lighting an acetylene torch and leaving near the gunpowder. "Sound the alarm bell!," Starfinjer called out, "Get that fire out before it blows up the entire building!" One of the Combatmen got a hose, but as it went off, Starfinjer moved away from it. "Careful with that spray! Don't get it on me!"

1 noticed this. "So Ren was right. Water seems to be a big weakness for him. Makes sense. A fossil that absorbed too much water will return to its original state." Meanwhile, outside, Tobei, Motoyasu, and Masaru's brother had managed to escape, changing back into their normal clothes. Outside they ran into Ren, already transformed into Kamen Rider 2. "Where's 1?," he asked. "Still inside," Tobei realized, "And the place is about to blow!"

Sure enough, that was when the building blew. Unfortunately, Starfinjer managed to make it outside before that could happen. "You bastards!," he said, "I'll kill all of you!" He moved to attack, only to be forced to dodge when 1 arrived in the Cyclone. "2!," he called out, "Use the remote on your Typhoon to call the second Cyclone!" "Got it!," 2 replied. Once his own Cyclone arrived, the two Riders used them to charge at Starfinjer, each time racing through the stream to cause a big splash as Starfinjer leapt over them.

Finally, 2 managed to nail Starfinjer and send him flying into the stream near the cliff. "Now we have you," he said, "We learned about your body's weakness to water. By now you should be softened up from all the times we splashed you!" "What!?," Starfinjer said in disbelief. Sure enough, this time the Riders attack began to hit home, finally causing Starfinjer some damage.

Eventually Starfinjer managed to get the Riders off the cliff, only for them to cling to the edge. He stepped on 1's hand to try and force him off, only to slip and plummet to the bottom of the cliff, landing in the water below. The twin Riders pulled themselves up. "At this point he should be more than vulnerable," 2 noted, "So which of us take the kill here?" "Janken for the win?," 1 offered. The two played one round which 2 won. So he leapt down to confront Starfinjer. However, there was no need for a finisher, as while Starfinjer was able to get up, he soon collapsed again, dying shortly thereafter.

"What happened!?," 1 called out. 2 went to check. "Looks like his body was completely smashed when he impacted!," 2 replied, "He was dead on impact and didn't even realize it! The only thing that let him get up one last time was Shocker's remodeling…" Starfinjer had seemed like the ultimate invincible monster, but like all beings he had a vulnerability. With his dead and the missile base destroyed, Shocker's schemes were once again foiled. No doubt they would be reeling from this failure, but the twin Riders knew it wouldn't be long before they made another attempt to conquer the world.

To be continued…

Glad we didn't get another two-parter. I think it was only in the Heisei Era that those were a norm for the series. But wow, this may be the first time that a Shocker monster took itself out just from being clumsy. Well, unless you count the first Pirasaurus. Read and review.