Now that I have a good system up, I'm gonna go for a round of writing, starting of course with resolving the cliffhanger from last chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own Kamen Rider, Cyborg 009, or any other referenced media.

*The scene starts with two armored figures driving along a beach, the first modeled after a kabuto riding a modified Suzuki GT380, the modeled after a ladybug an riding a modified Suzuki Hustler TS125. These are our first two new heroes, Kamen Rider Stronger on his Kabutoro, and Kamen Rider Tackle on her Tentoro. Explosions go off as they ride down the beach.*

Kamen Rider Stronger!

*A stylized S appears on the screen as the music picks up and we get our title.*

Cyborg Stronger

Ride as swift as wind! Flying through the skies!

*Stronger encounters Black Satan Soldiers on their own bikes.*

Black Satan will see its end someday

*Stronger and Tackle ride against the Soldiers.*

Protect Japan, the one home that we have known

*The Soldiers circle around the duo as if trying to confuse them.*

Let my raging heart burn with justice now

*The two Riders break free of the formation and begin their attack.*

Behold! My deadly Denshi Shock!

*Stronger causes one of the enemy bikes to crash.*

Your evil life will be stolen from your wicked form!

*Stronger and Tackle confront the Soldiers on foot as they prepare to battle.*

Who am I? Ask, who am I?

*Stronger starts displaying his electrokinetic powers, stealing a gun from a Soldier's hands.*

Kamen Rider Stronger

*Stronger starts displaying his Denshi Shock on the Soldiers, with them glowing red as he strikes them. He also shows this skill in lifting a car that also glows red.*

Joe Shimamura was transformed into Cyborg 009 by the Black Satan organization, but escaped with his fellow 00 Cyborgs thanks to the scientist who made them.

*Stronger and Tackle continue to battle Black Satan Soldiers.*

Learning that the organization that made him was only a small part of the evil Black Satan, he and his girlfriend Francoise Arnoul, 003, remodel themselves as Kamen Riders Stronger and Tackle to fight them in the name of justice.


Chapter 23: Titan's Final Stand!

Titan smirked as he checked his watch. "Only ten seconds left for you to live." However, just as he turned to observe the burning fuse, a King of Spades card hit right where the fuse was burning, cutting it off before it could reach the dynamite. Titan was shocked, knowing the card had to have come from Shadow. Sure enough, he was standing right in front of the cocoon. Titan grimaced. "Shadow! Get in my way and you'll pay the consequences!" "Oh I'm not here to interfere," Shadow assured him, "But I'd appreciate it if you hear me out first."

"You have five seconds," Titan said, irritation in his voice. "Wouldn't it be better to work together on this?," Shadow suggested, "It would be the best way to insure that Kamen Rider Stronger is truly ended." "And why should I agree to that?," Titan retorted, "I would lay down my life for Great Leader if he gave the word!" Shadow chuckled. "So that's how it is, huh?" He quickly teleported up to where Titan was. "So that's how Black Satan handles their business." "Silence!," Titan commanded, "You think you can take all your frustrations out on me just you're inferior? I think not."

"If that's how you want to think," Shadow said, "I'll watch you have your try today. But tomorrow, it will be my turn. You shouldn't be so cocky in your supposed victory." And with that, he disappeared in a flurry of cards. Titan scoffed as he replaced his cigarette. "I'm getting real sick of that bastard." He turned around and launched flames from his fingertips to relight what was left of the fuse. Tobei closed his eyes tight as he turned away. Meanwhile inside the cocoon, Kemunga was unaware of what was going on. "Before long Stronger will suffocate."

Indeed, Stronger was unable to break free of the webbing, neither with his strength nor his electric powers. Outside, Titan grinned as the fuse started to reach the dynamite. The explosion went off. "Finally!," Titan called out, "We've finally destroyed that damnable Kamen Rider Stronger!" The Soldiers and Necromancers cried out and hurried to the blast site, only to be met with shock. "Master Titan!," one Soldier called out, "We have a problem!" Titan's elation quickly faded. "What's going on?" He hurried over and was flabbergasted. It turned out the cocoon had survived the explosion.

"Unbelievable," Titan muttered, "Kemunga's cocoon can not only resist electricity, but explosive force as well. Very well, retrieve it at once." The Soldiers collected the cocoon and brought it over to a large crevice. "A thousand meters below us lies the depths of hell," Titan noted, "Toss the cocoon inside." The Soldiers quickly complied, and the cocoon was tossed over. "Stronger will soon be suffocating regardless," Titan said, "So it matters not that his planned execution failed. Leave the other two to die from exposure." He laughed, thinking he had finally succeeded.


Down in the crevice, Stronger's situation was looking critical. "Getting so cold... Can't even activate my accelerator... I need to do something before I freeze to death..." Night was starting to set in, and Tobei was starting to suffer from thirst. Francoise was able to hang in a little longer thanks to her cybernetics improving her metabolic rate. "If I could just get a hand free...," she muttered, "I could reach my Magnoid... Or contact the others..." As if in answer, one of Shadow's cards sliced through the binding on her wrist.

Francoise turned to see the Executive approaching. "Why the sudden mercy?," she asked, "Didn't you want to kill us?" "I certainly want to kill Stronger," Shadow clarified, "But you two I've yet to make up my mind on." He fanned his cards in front of Tobei. "Go ahead and pick a card. You have a free hand now, so use it to decide your own fate." Tobei scoffed. "We're likely dead anyway, so I'm game." He picked a card near the middle, and Shadow observed it. "The Ace of Hearts. Seems fortune favors you." He threw the card and used it to slice through the remainder of the duo's bindings.

Francois rubbed her wrists. "Why help us at all? Aren't we enemies?" "I have three reasons," Shadow said, "First, the fates were on your side, and I am not one to turn against fate. Second, I don't approve of taking hostages. That just proves you aren't confidant in your own strength. And third, as I said before, I will be the on to defeat Stronger." "Unless he defeats you first," Tobei pointed out. Shadow shrugged. "If that happens, it happens. The point is my preferred prey is still alive."

"Do you know where they dumped the cocoon?," Francoise asked. "Not someplace anything living would ever want to go," Shadow noted. He pointed them in the direction of the crevice, and the duo quickly got some climbing gear. Francoise activated her Magnoid before they began their descent. "Henshin!" "Tackle!" Using her magnetic powers to act as a living anchor point, she helped Tobei as he slowly climbed down the cliff-face. "Luckily this area is thick with iron ore," Tackle noted.

Tobei gulped. "That doesn't help my fear of heights any!" "I'm starting to question if you really are the father of a Kamen Rider...," Tackle said as she shook her head. "Hey, I raised Kanade like a good father should!," Tobei called out indignantly. Tackle sighed. "Hang on. It feels like a long strip is right around here. I can shorten the trip by sliding down it." Tobei gulped. "Hey, whatever gets us to ground level faster. That's why I never get scared of roller coasters, they never stay high for long."


Meanwhile, Great Leader was addressing Titan. 'So Stronger has truly been disposed of?' "Indeed sir," Titan said proudly, "I ordered him dropped into the very depths of the earth!" 'Good work,' Great Leader replied, 'You are truly the pride of Black Satan!' Titan beamed and lowered his head. "I am unworthy of such praise!" "I'll say," Shadow said as he appeared, "Especially since Stronger isn't dead yet. Not only that, but your precious hostages managed to escape as well."

'Make sure to finish the job, Titan,' Great Leader ordered, 'By your own hands! With your command over magma, the depths of the earth are you domain! See it done, even if you have to sacrifice your own life to do so!' "Gladly," Titan replied. He adopted his hundred-eyed form and confronted Shadow. "You are a man of integrity like me. I want you to come and be a witness to my victory... With your own eyes!" And with that, he walked off. Shadow just scoffed. "Oh I'll come... But neither of us can truly be considered 'men of integrity'. He joined Titan in a special box that was lowered via crane down into the crevice.


Still inside the cocoon, Stronger placed a hand on Kemunga and realized something. "He's still warm. In fact... I think he's heating up. Of course! He was modeled after a caterpillar, so it only makes sense he would go into metamorphosis once he spun his cocoon. He must be heating up to affect that. I can use that to my advantage. Electro Stream!" The spark hit Kemunga, causing the heat to rise up faster, to the point where the cocoon started to glow red. Stronger hoped his plan would work.


Meanwhile Titan met with the leader of his Necromancers. "Welcome back, Lord Titan," the black-robed Necromancer said. "Good to be back," Titan replied, "It's certainly been a while since I've been down here. Did anything happened in my underground kingdom while I was gone?" "Nothing to report," the black Necromancer said. "Good, good," Titan said, "And what of the cocoon I left in the Valley of Darkness?" "There's been no change so far," the Necromancer replied. Titan chuckled. "How about that, Shadow? This is clearly the end of Stronger!" He laughed as he walked past the Necromancer

Shadow also past, stopping only long enough to give a playful pat on the Necromancer's cheek with the back of his hand. "I wonder about that..." Meanwhile Stronger was starting to suffer under the intense heat as the cocoon started to glow green. "I can barely stand this! But it shouldn't be long before the larva hatches!" Unfortunately, Stronger expended so much energy that he wound up reverting back into Joe. Luckily, that was when Kemunga started to change. Joe flattened himself against the edge of the cocoon as the Kikkaijin burst out, now reborn as the moth-like Dokugaran.

He spotted Joe quickly as started flapping his wings, releasing spores. "Not good!," Joe said, "Those spores are poisonous!" He tried to fight the Kikkaijin, but he was weakened from his earlier efforts and couldn't really make a dent. Luckily, he still had his cyborg strength, and used it to toss a few rocks into the icicles overhead, bringing them down on Dokugaran's head. The Kikkaijin was down for the count. "I need to find Francoise and Tobei," Joe said, and he hurried through the caves. On the way, he ran into one of Necromancers and knocked him out.


This wound up setting off alarms throughout the base, much to Titan's confusion. "This can't be right. The radar indicates that Joe Shimamura is moving through the cave system." Shadow laughed as he shuffled his deck. "I hate to say I told you so... You're just not worthy of being Stronger's opponent." Titan growled. "Oh shut up, Shadow! And get out of my sight!" He picked up a microphone. "Lure Stronger to the Valley of Magma! This time I'll make sure he's defeated once and for all!


Meanwhile Joe had entered a cave with streamers trailing from the ceiling. A quick test showed them to be electrified. Joe carefully navigated the tunnel, only to have a Soldier grab him through the wall. Joe simply pulled the Soldier through and knocked him out, then leapt to the ceiling when he spotted more shadows coming into the cave. He waited until they passed, then dropped down to ambush the Necromancer that stayed behind, quickly taking him out. He continued to hide as Soldiers scoured the caves. "I need to buy time until my Electrer recharges...," he muttered.

"Found him!," came a Soldier's voice, appearing from a wall covered in eyes. Joe fought back but wound up overwhelmed, and was soon kicked out of a secret panel that led outside. He recognized the area he was in immediately. "The Valley of Magma." "So you've arrived, Joe Shimamura," came Shadow's voice. Joe turned to see the Executive walk over and adopted a fighting stance. "No need for that," Shadow assured him, "You being here is part of Titan's plan. It's a setup. Neither of us can leave here until one of us falls. Meaning Titan loses one rival, and weakens another. But I refuse to fight for such petty reasons."

"Are you afraid to fight me?," Joe asked. "More that I prefer not to fight you in your current condition," Shadow clarified, "As long as you're here, you won't have the energy to transform. Trump Shot!" He launched one of his cards at the nearby rock wall, causing a small avalanche that revealed a tunnel leading out. Before Joe could contemplate this, Shadow rammed him from behind and sent him sprawling through the tunnel. Joe immediately felt the change in temperature and looked around, spotting a lake nearby.

"Joe!," came Francoise's voice. Joe turned and spotted her, but something felt off. "Hey, where's the old man?" Francoise looked confused. "Old man? What old man?" Joe answered with a kick to "Francoise's" midsection, revealing it to be a disguise made by Dokugaran. "Damn you!," Dokugaran called out, "I'll rip you to shreds!" But before he could charge, Tackle suddenly came flying in. "Magnetic Punch!" She socked Dokugaran in the head with a magnetically charged left cross, sending the Kikkaijin flying.

"Tobei's over there!," Tackle said, "I'll deal with the Kikkaijin while you recharge and deal with the Soldiers!" Joe nodded. "I can start with one classic trick... Accelerate!" In the blink of an eye he was over to where the Soldiers were trying to tie up Tobei. They got completely blindsided when Joe slammed into them, scattering them. "Joe!," Tobei said, "Thank the kami you're alive!" "Don't you remember?," Joe asked, "A Kamen Rider is immortal!" Tobei chuckled. "Right. I should have known better than to doubt."

Joe noticed that his Electrer had gone back to full charge. "Speaking of which... Henshin!" "Stronger!" Stronger started wailing on the Soldiers as Tackle battled against Dokugaran. She dodged the Kikkaijin's metal tongue, which pierced a Soldier that Tobei had just pulled in front of him, avoiding impalement himself. Tackle spotted another tongue being launched at her. "Magnetic Return!" Dokugaran suddenly found himself impaled on his own tongue. As he pulled it out, Tackle began to spin around. "Electro-Wave Spin!" Using her magnetic force, Tackle struck Dokugaran hard with a spinning kick. The Kikkaijin was sent sprawling to the ground, where he ultimately exploded.

Stronger and Tobei hurried over. "Good work Tackle." Tackle nodded, then spotted something come out of the lake. "Uh oh... Looks like we're not done here." Stronger nodded, noting that the figure was Titan. "Looks like it's my turn now." Titan walked up onto the shore. "Let me one thing clear. This Underground Kingdom is my domain. I will end your life here." The two began to trade blows, Stronger dodging away from Titan's explosive revolver shots. He got close and struck Titan with a few good kicks, even knocking the gun out of Titan's hand. Stronger then followed up with a few flying kicks, causing Titan to stagger backward a little.

In retaliation, Titan pulled off one of his eyes. "Fire Shoot!" Stronger quickly backed away from the stream of heat before leaping into a spiral. "Screw Kick!" He aimed for Titan's ammo belt, blasting it with the force of the kick and staggering Titan back. "Electro Fire!" He launched his attack into the ground, but Titan just walked through it, laughing. "You're electricity barely singed my skin! I'm now thirty times stronger than you ever were! Now die!" He made to approach, only for Stronger to sweep his legs and knock him to the ground.

The two wound up tussling on the ground. 'He's got to have a weakness somewhere,' Stronger thought to himself. He then spotted a red bulb on Titan's shoulder. "That's it!" He grabbed for it, forcing Titan to stand up, which let Stronger kick him away. "He must be storing power in that bulb. Time to finish this!" He leapt into the air, aiming for both of Titan's shoulders. "Double Electro Kick!" The attack broke the energy modules, causing Titan to start overloading, smoke coming off of his body. "I'm not done!," he declared, "We'll settle this in the Valley of Magma!"

He ran for the valley, Stronger in pursuit. In spite of his earlier words, Titan could feel his energy fading. "Looks like the end of the line for me... Your power is truly astounding..." He walked off. Tackle tried to go after him, but Stronger held her back. He noted that Titan was approaching a large magma pit before turning to his old rival. "Stronger... Honor me with a final handshake." "This has got to be a trap," Tackle noted. Stronger nodded. "Maybe, but it won't help him."

He leapt over and accepted Titan's hand. Rather than try some last minute burst of heat, Titan settled for trying to pull Stronger down into the magma with him. "Follow me into the depths of hell, Stronger!" "Even if this was my day to die," Stronger called out, "Heroes don't go to hell! Only villainous cowards like you!" And with that, he knocked Titan off him, briefly grappling with Titan before leaping away. His last gambit having failed, Titan slumped against the rocks around the magma pool.

"Black Satan... Banzai!" His head suddenly came loose as his body started to burn up. "Not good!," Stronger said, "Once he hits the magma this place is going to erupt! We need to get to the surface!" He and Tackle each took one of Tobei's arms, and together they made a great leap out of the crevice. Once they made it to safety, they turned around to see the Underground Kingdom erupting. "I get the feeling we've finally seen the last of Titan," Tobei noted. Joe nodded. "He was a formidable enemy. But Black Satan is still a threat."

Nearby, Shadow held up the last of Titan's eyes. 'It seems this was the limit of Titan's power,' came Great Leader's voice, 'Shadow, now you are the only one I can rely on. Promise me you will defeat Stronger!' Shadow chuckled. "That's all I needed to hear. I will see it done." Titan was now gone, this time for good. But Stronger and Tackle still had Shadow to deal with, along with the rest of Black Satan. And they would surely be stepping up their game from this point forward.

To be continued...

Of course, anyone familiar with these old tokusatsu know that Shadow won't be the only Executive for long. But that's for later. Read and review.