A shadow darted across the dark wall, but that time he knew he saw something.
That time, it wasn't going to get away.
Because this time, he wasn't after it by himself.
"Noir, do you hear me?" Kamen Rider Joe whispered into the Mini Gashat he had in one boxing-gloved hand. "I just saw Jackie's shadow, looked like it was headed for the back stairs!"
Above the cartridge's circuit board was a projected a small holographic screen, showing his partner. Kamen Rider Noir was tall but skinny, wearing a plastic-looking black fedora over his mask's giant green eyes, the armor over his chest styled to look like a trench coat. "I'll spot him if he comes that way, but you come down after him so we can catch him between us," Noir whispered back.
Joe nodded affirmatively. "I'm on my way!"
Behind him, Jackie the Blade could hear the Kamen Rider's heavy footsteps coming through the upstairs room he'd managed to escape . He knew Kamen Rider Joe was powerful, but the "hero" was as subtle as one of his haymakers. If Jackie just had a chance to hide, the big clumsy idiot would probably go right past him in the dark mansion Game Area they were in.
The Corrupture started slinking into a shadowy corner, chuckling faintly to himself. He stopped suddenly as he felt the barrel of an oversized handgun pressed into his spine.
"You didn't really think a game like Joe's would create a Game Area like this, did you, Jackie?" its owner asked.
An amused but disturbing chuckle. "No, I guess not. He needs five hundred screaming fans in the stands," Jackie said. "But you, Noir…I think I can respect you."
Noir answered by squeezing the trigger on his gun.
Already Jackie had been twisting out of the way but Noir's shot still tore into his side. Stifling a scream, Jackie clutched his wounded side, shiny purple pixels dribbling out between his fingers. He kept moving with the force of his spin and swung the serrated blade at Kamen Rider Noir's head.
Already Noir had been expecting the Corrupture's counterattack, throwing himself onto his back as the knife whipped by. Its blade skidded along the brim of his hat, the skull on the bottom of the knife's handle staring into Noir's face as the deadly weapon went past. "Almost got me that time, Jackie," Noir taunted from flat on his back. "You might actually be getting better."
The Corrupture grunted. His slicked back hair, supposedly the color of his victims' blood, seemed to get lighter as pixels spilled over the floor from his open wound. But he smiled with his misaligned teeth. "You too, Noir," he wheezed. "I mean, you actually got the drop on me. And blew a hole through me, too."
Noir jumped to his feet and the two faced each other down from across the room for a second of silence. Suddenly he sprang to his side and fired his pistol twice in midair. The first shot went wide and Jackie the Blade deflected the other second one on his namesake. With an unsettling grin on his skeletal face, the Corrupture villain lunged with his long knife held out in front of him. Aimed at Noir's chest.
Just before it could impale him Noir swung his gun up and knocked the blade away from his heart. His gun barrel stopped just underneath Jackie's chin, but the tip of the grinning villain's knife prodded against the bottom of Noir's chin too.
"Heh, looks like we got us a Mexican standoff," Jackie chuckled.
"Heh, looks like you were so busy fighting me, you forgot something," Noir chuckled back.
Jackie the Blade only had a fraction of a second to process what he'd heard before a fist the size of a basketball smashed into the side of his head. Noir tried to lean away but the Corrupture's dagger sliced across his chest as Jackie was knocked away by the powerful blow. He grunted from the pain and stumbled, with the new combatant jogging up to his side. The newcomer had yellow and green spiked hair atop his mask, matching the green shorts with their bright yellow waistband he wore.
"You did a great job keeping him busy, Noir!" Kamen Rider Joe congratulated his partner, bumping him on the shoulder with a fist covered in a shiny oversize boxing glove.
Noir shoved Joe's shoulder. "And you did a good job getting me stabbed when you punched him, idiot," he growled.
"Hey, I'm sorry! But it's not that bad, is it?" Joe asked as he inspected the gash in Noir's armor. "See? Your Rider Gauge only went down by one."
Shaking his head, Noir muttered, "Let's just finish this idiot off."
Suddenly Jackie the Blade threw his coat open wide. A barrage of knives of all shapes and sizes flew out of the darkness inside. Flew out at the pair of Kamen Riders. Noir gasped in fear and sprinted out of the way. One blade found its mark in his side regardless and the detective Rider screamed before going down. Kamen Rider Joe spared a quick glance at his fallen partner, then did what he did best.
He raised his powerful fists and started punching. Straights. Hooks. Knocking the incoming blades out of the way on his giant armored fists. Instead of his body, Jackie's weapons impaled themselves in the walls or clattered off them and fell all over the floor. In a few seconds Kamen Rider Joe had crossed the area between them and threw a right straight that hit Jackie with a sound like a sonic boom.
Jackie hit the wall with a crack nearly as loud. He slid down the wall, his sunken eyes spinning in their sockets. Joe grabbed his shoulders and lifted the villain off the floor. A ray of light arced out, Jackie's knife seeking the Rider's throat, but he easily blocked it on the edge of his boxing glove. "This is gonna be your final count, Corrupture!" Joe declared.
"If knives were my only trick, maybe," Jackie sneered.
"Huh?"
Opening his jaws wide Jackie the Blade stuck out his tongue. The tip was just as sharp as the knife in his hand, and hit Kamen Rider Joe right in the throat. A surprised gurgle was the only sound the Kamen Rider had a chance to make before he landed flat on his back. It only took a second before Joe was back on his feet but by then Jackie the Blade had kicked open the back door and run outside.
Kamen Rider Joe was justifiably proud of his footspeed and in no time he came running out into the backyard of the mansion. He looked back and forth, and back again, but there was no sign of the Corrupture villain. Shadowy woods was the only thing in front of him.
He was about to turn and head back in to check on Noir. See if he was okay to use his power to see in the dark. Joe never got the chance.
An eruption of stinging, penetrating pain hit him between his shoulder. Joe went down into the dirt, his last thoughts hoping that at least Kamen Rider Noir would be able to keep on fighting.
"Mission accomplished. Kamen Rider Joe has been successfully eliminated."
"Excellent. Bring his game and join me in Japan. You'll be my champion in the tournament I have planned."
"Understood, Master Byougen…"