I had to redo this chapter from scratch due to a computer crash and I am not happy. So let's get back into things. Disclaimer: I don't own Kamen Rider, Cyborg 009, or any other referenced media.

*Stronger, Tackle, and Stream drive along a large field in a V formation. Up behind them approaches a fourth armored warrior that seems modeled after a tank, complete with a tank turret attached to his back. His Rider Machine is a shrunken-down Panzer with himself acting as the turret. This is Kamen Rider Arsenal and his Atomic Panzer.*

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!

*The four Riders race past each other in a stunt pattern.*

Black Satan has seen its end today

*Delza Army Corps appear on motorcycles.*

Protect Japan, the one home that we have known

*The Corps circle around the Riders as if trying to confuse them.*

Let my raging heart burn with justice now

*The Riders break free of the formation and begin their attack, Arsenal firing off his turret.*

Behold! My deadly Denshi Shock!

*The Riders start causing the enemy bikes to crash one after another.*

Your evil life will be stolen from your wicked form!

*The Riders confront the Corps on foot as they prepare to battle.*

Who am I? Ask, who am I?

*The Riders display their various powers.*

Kamen Rider Stronger

*Stronger activates Charge Up, Dispersing it to power up the other Riders.*

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

*The Riders leap onto a cliff and pull off a few action poses.*

With the defeat of Black Ghost, Joe joins his girlfriend Francoise Arnoul, 003, and his best friends Jet Link, 002, and Albert Heinrich, 004, as they become the Kamen Riders Stronger, Tackle, Stream, and Arsenal to fight against the new evil of the Delza Army.

Chapter 32: Max Charge to Break Rock

Shadow laid out his cards as he pondered recent events. "Rather curious... Stronger's electric powers shouldn't have been powerful enough to defeat Major Skull. Even with Tackle's help. I suppose it should be possible with Stream and Arsenal, but Skull is capable of overwhelming them. For him to have been defeated can only mean... That Stronger has somehow obtained a new power somehow..." Rock slammed his hand on the table, scattering the cards. "There's no use fretting over it. We don't know for sure if Stronger gained any new powers, and won't unless one of us confronts him. I'll go and fight himself so we can see for sure if he's been powered up or not!"

Shadow considered his options. "I suppose that is the best way to figure things out..." "And besides," Rock added, "It won't matter either way! I'll be coming back with Stronger's head!" And with that, he left Shadow's chamber. Shadow scoffed. "He's boorish, simple-minded, and an absolute idiot... But even idiots have their uses... He may very well be the one to pull it off. Still, the situation as it stands concerns me, and the cards have offered no real answers as of late. Stronger... I wonder if you truly have gained new power..."

Later at a playground, a dump truck unloaded a huge pile of rocks just outside, catching one boy's attention. "Hey, let's go play on those rocks!" A young girl took a look at the pile. "That looks too dangerous! They look unstable!" "It'll be fine!," the boy assured her, "Come on, let's go!" All the kids ran to the rock pile, but only the one girl didn't climb on it. And a good thing too, since the rocks suddenly sprang to life, slipping out from under the kids before laying on top of them. To the girl's shock, the rocks turned into Rock Corps, grabbing the kids. She quickly ran for help and soon found her mother.

"Miki, what's wrong?," the concerned woman asked. "It's Ichiro!," Miki cried out, "He and the other kids got kidnapped by strange monsters coming out of the rocks at the park!" Credit to the woman, she didn't immediately call out Miki for making up wild stories. Instead, she latched onto the fact that her son was kidnapped, dropped her groceries, and ran for the park, leaving Miki crying by herself as Joe picked up one of the dropped apples. "What's wrong?," Francoise asked as she knelt down, "Was your mother scolding you?" Miki shook her head. "My friends were taken by rock monsters at the park!"

Joe turned to the others. "It could be the Rock Corps," Tobei suggested. Jet and Albert nodded, and the group hurried to the park Miki indicated. Once there, they only found some construction barriers blocking the path, along with a pile of rocks. "I don't see anything," Joe said. "Could she have made it up?," Tobei wondered. "I doubt it," Albert said, "Those weren't crocodile tears she was shedding." Francoise's enhanced ears suddenly picked something up. "Hey! I can hear a voice!" The others quieted down, and could make out a woman calling for help from beneath the rocks.

"Hang on!," Jet said, "We'll get you out!" He and Albert started carefully shifting the rocks. Suddenly, one of the rocks moved on its own and pinned Joe to the ground. The rock burst open to reveal Baron Rock, who tried to choke out Joe. "I knew you'd be snooping around here sooner or later." Joe managed to hold Rock off for a bit. "Guys, take care of the woman!" "Leave it to me!," Tobei called out, he and Albert helping the woman out of the rock pile and getting her to safety. Joe smirked. "Looks like your out of hostages, Rock." He pushed the majin off of him and got to his feet. "Now it's a fair fight."

"Don't be so sure," Rock retorted, "I've got more hostages than I even know what to do with. Show him, men!" Joe whirled around to the rock pile, several of the rocks changing into the Rock Corps, the kids being held by them. Francoise and Jet hurried over to their leader. "You coward!," Francoise called out, "Can't you fight your own battles!?" "Call me whatever you want," Rock retorted, "Make one wrong move and they're dead meat!" He proceeded to start tossing Joe around like a rag doll, dropping him to the ground and attempting to crush him with his head. Joe barely managed to get out of the way, only to get launched into the air as Rock pulled out a small explosive. "Baron Bomb!"

Rock laughed as the explosion seemed to engulf Joe. "He's been blown to smithereens!" Just then, he heard Joe's familiar laugh, and whirled around to see Stronger standing on the jungle gym. "Have you forgotten about my Accelerator?," Stronger asked, "Thanks to it, I was able to fall faster than your bomb could climb to reach me." Francoise and Jet activated their own devices. "Henshin!" "Tackle!" "Stream!" Arsenal also rushed onto the scene, the kids cheering at the sight of the Kamen Riders. "You just can't stop showing off, can you!?," Rock bellowed, "But I'll show you who the toughest is here!"

He didn't exactly do too good a job of it, the four Riders easily knocking him around. "Hey, it's four on one!," Rock pointed out, "What happened to your fair fight!?" "Let the kids go and I'll gladly face you one-on-one," Stronger retorted. Rock growled and charged like a bull, Stronger grabbing his head to stop the charge as Stream and Arsenal slammed their elbows onto the majin's back, knocking him to the ground. However, his tougher skin meant real damage wasn't really getting done. "Ha! Is that the best you got! You beating Major Skull must have been some kind of fluke!"

He leapt into the air and formed into a boulder. "Rock Drop!" The team scattered as Rock came down in an effort to crush them. "We gotta get those kids out of danger!," Stream called out. He and Tackle rushed over and started taking out the Rock Corps, Tackle making sure the kids got to safety. Rock grumbled as he returned to his humanoid form. "Our fight's on hold for now! But next time we decide it!" He leapt into the air and vanished. "Shadow must have sent him to learn about our new power," Arsenal realized.

"Even split among the four of us," Stronger said, "The Super-Electronics could have endangered the kids. It wasn't the right time to use it." Nearby, Shadow had been observing the fight. "Stronger doesn't seem much different than before... Perhaps I'm worrying over nothing." He started to walk off, only to whirl around and dodge away from a sudden explosion. He kept dodging as more explosions occurred, tossing one of his cards at the nearby bushes hoping to flush out his attacker. But the card came back to his hand without apparent affect. "Just who the hell was that?" He then noticed some fur on the card and narrowed his eyes. "Could it be...?"

"You bums need to shape up!," Rock berated his Rock Corps, smacking them with his club, "Thanks to you incompetence, that runt Stronger and his Rider team got away! Just for that, you're all in for a heap of special training! Fifty tumbles down that hill! Starting now!" The Rock Corps saluted and got started on the training. "Any more of my time wasted," Rock warned, "And I'll eat ya for supper with a side of mashed potatoes!" The Rock Corps changed into their rock forms as they tumbled down the hill. "That all you got!?," Rock called out, "You're all useless!" Suddenly he heard someone laughing.

"Just what is so funny!?," he demanded, "Whichever one of you laughed, get out right now!" The Rock Corps all shook their heads, indicating it wasn't any of them. Rock was confused. "Then who was it!? Show yourself, whoever you are!" The wolf majin from Delza walked over. "It was I, Baron Rock." "Secretary of State Wolf," Rock noted. "You haven't changed a bit," Wolf noted. "Did Shadow send you here to get Stronger?," Rock demanded, "It's supposed to be my turn right now, you know."

Wolf just laughed. "Don't forget that I am a direct descendant of the proud werewolf clan. I don't take orders from upstarts like Shadow. I'm here because I refuse to ignore that whelp using the Delza Army's numbers as his personal attack dogs." "What are you babbling about?," Rock asked, "This ain't about Shadow! We all agreed that whoever defeats Stronger becomes leader of the Delza Army, didn't we?" "And should Stronger fall," Wolf pointed out, "Who would stand to benefit the most?" Rock thought for a moment. "Well... Shadow, I suppose..." "Precisely," Wolf said, "We all agreed to the deal, but Shadow was the one who proposed it in the first place, in response to arguments over leadership."

"That damn bastard!," Rock called out, "He's trying to remove all of his rivals for power!" Wolf nodded. "Baron Rock, why not join forces with me? With our power together, we could overthrow Shadow, and rule over the Delza Army." Rock chuckled. "I like the sound of that. We might even be able to get some of the others on our side." Wolf laughed. "Perhaps we could. And maybe even make a bargain with the Riders, if we play our cards right." He held out his hand, and Rock shook on their agreement.

The Riders and Tobei were driving on patrol when a familiar King of Spades hit the tower of a bridge they were passing under. "Shadow again," Joe realized. Sure enough, the card grew and Shadow materialized from it. "It's been some time, Joe Shimamura. And I see you have some new friends." "You've got some nerve showing up out of nowhere!," Tobei said. Joe chuckle as he dismounted the Kabutoro. "You suddenly your Delza Army can't defeat me and decided to do so yourself?" "Actually I'm not here to fight," Shadow clarified, "I'm here to propose a temporary truce."

"You really think we'll buy that?," Jet demanded. "Hear me out," Shadow pleaded, "A member of my army has his own agenda and has been scheming behind my back. I need to discover his identity as soon as possible." Joe couldn't help but chuckle. "So even the great Shadow can be spooked by the boogie man when he decides to overthrow him. But you left out the reason why this should concern us?" Suddenly an explosion went off near them, putting everyone on guard. "That's why!," Shadow said, "They intend to kill us both!" As the explosions sent the Riders scattering, Shadow took the opportunity to knock out Tobei and grab him. "I'll look after your friend until the problem has been dealt with."

He quickly vanished with Tobei in tow. Before the Riders could try and follow them, more explosions went off. "They're coming from this way!," Francoise called out, tracking the source with her enhanced senses. The others followed her until they came across something strange on the ground, yellow circles with eyes cut into them. The masks floated into the air and manifested Delza Army Corps wielding spears. The four Riders quickly started fighting them off. As they broke free of the encirclement, the Electrer, Magnoid, Graviton, and Atomizer sounded. "Henshin!" "Stronger!" "Tackle!" "Stream!" "Arsenal!"

Now transformed, the Riders started wiping out the Corps. Tackle even took the chance to grab one Corps member's spear and throw it at him, impaling him through the chest. The Corps starting closing in, only got a sudden howl to get their attention as they backed off. "Must be one of Delza's majin," Arsenal realized, "Probably the one behind these new Corps units." "That would be my unit," Wolf said as he appeared. The Riders took battle stances. "Hold your attack a moment," Wolf pleaded, "My earlier attack was merely a test of skill. And from the way you handled my Wolf Corps, you certainly do have skills."

"So who are you?," Stronger asked. "I am Secretary of State Wolf," Wolf explained, "And I am here to discuss something with you that you may find beneficial." Stronger sighed. "First Shadow offers a truce, and now Delza's Secretary of State wants to bargain?" Wolf was gobsmacked. "Shadow offered you a truce!?" "Looks like Wolf's the one who was trying to overthrow Shadow," Stream noted. "That bastard Shadow," Wolf muttered, "He must have foreseen my intentions and sought to attempt a truce first." Stronger chuckled. "You hit the nail on the head, Stream."

"Please hear me out," Wolf said, "It's true that I desire to overthrow Shadow. I even enlisted Baron Rock's aid in this. I ask that you also join our cause." "One problem," Stronger said, "Shadow's holding a friend of ours hostage." "I'll hear whatever stipulations you may have," Wolf offered, "And I'll help recover your friend. We can meet in Sesshou Gahara." Stronger considered it. "Let me talk with my team." "By all means," Wolf agreed. After some deliberation among the Riders, Stronger spoke with Wolf. "We'll agree to join you, but only if you get our friend back first."

"Of course," Wolf replied, "I'll inform Baron Rock immediately." He leapt away before vanishing. "Looks like there's dissension in the ranks of the Delza Army," Arsenal noted. Stronger nodded. "Even more so than usual." "You think we can turn this to our advantage?," Stream wondered. "We may have a chance to bring down the whole operation at once," Tackle pointed out, "But at the same time, there is a chance that either Wolf or Shadow is planning a trap. So let's hope for the best... But prepare for the worst."

Rock approached Tobei's cell and opened the door, stepping inside. He knelt down and started breaking off pieces of his body. "Secret technique... Rock Clay Creation." He started molding the pieces into a clay-like substance. "Good, it's coming along nicely." Soon enough, he had made a life-sized clay doll from the substance. "Perfect. The spitting image of Tobei. One last detail." He carefully removed Tobei's clothes and placed them on the doll instead. "That should do it. By the time Shadow notices the difference it'll be too late." He carried Tobei out of the cell, but didn't notice the King of Spades under the hat. Shadow laughed as he manifested inside the cell. "Did he really think this doll would fool me?"

Rock and his unit brought Tobei over to where Wolf was waiting. "Good, you've arrived," Wolf said, "And with Tobei, as promised." Rock nodded. "Yeah, but where are the Kamen Riders?" They both turned when they heard the Rider Machines roaring in. "Ah," Wolf said, "That would be them now." Rock chuckled and stepped forward, but Wolf held him back. "Keep your cool. We're not here to fight him, remember?" Rock smacked himself in the head. "Sorry... Got lost in the moment."

The Riders pulled up to the duo. "We're here, Wolf," Joe said, "So, will you hand over Tobei now?" "We have a few conditions of our own to discuss first," Wolf replied. Albert rolled his eyes, the only one who could get away with it due to his albinism, but they had all seen something like this coming. "Fine," Joe said, "We'll hear you out." "First I'd like you to act as a decoy," Wolf said, "To lure Shadow into the open." "Bait will not be necessary," came Shadow's voice. Rock stumbled back in confusion. "Shadow!? What's he doing here!?" Shadow's familiar King of Spades flew to the ground, allowing him to teleport to them.

"Secretary of State Wolf," he said, "I suspected it was you who was conspiring against me." Despite his earlier bravado, Wolf was now nervous. "W-Wait a moment... General Shadow... This was all a ruse! I thought it might benefit us if we... Pooled our strength and defeat Stronger together!" "Enough excuses!," Shadow declared. Rock then confronted Wolf. "What are you trying to pull all of a sudden!?" The Riders looked at the scene in amusement. "I think now might be a good time," Jet decided. Joe nodded and hopped on the Kabutoro. "Accelerate!" The next thing the majin knew, their Delza Corps was knocked to the ground and Joe had Tobei with him, the Riders racing off.

"You bumbling buffoon!," Wolf called out, knocking Rock aside. "We'll discuss this later, Wolf!," Shadow decided, "For now we need to get after them!" "Then lemme at 'em!," Rock called out, "It's about time I finish our fight anyway! Anyone who gets in my way... I'll tan their hides!" He and his Rock Corps shifted to their boulder form and started rolling after the Rider Machines, barreling down on them in an avalanche. However, when they changed back they saw no sign of anyone.

The Rock Corps looked around confused, until they heard the familiar laughter of the Riders. "Come and get us if you can!," Stronger called out from a nearby cliff. As the Rock Corps moved to climb the mountain, Stream suddenly swooped in, landing hard on the ground. "Gravity Wave!" The Rock Corps got knocked back, leaving them wide open as the other Riders leapt down to attack. Each grunt defeated turned into rock, much to the shock of the team. Several more grunts leapt into, changing into rocks in an attempt to bombard the Riders, who easily dodged out of the way. Stronger even kicked one back, causing pain to the Rock Corps member once it landed.

"So they can still be injured while in rock form," Arsenal noted, "Good to know. Blast Missile!" He launched a rocket from his knee, taking out several Rock Corps at once. "Now where's that blockhead Baron Rock!," Stronger called out. As if in answer, Rock came flying in while in stone form, landing on Stronger and attempting to crush him. "Think you can call me a blockhead and and just get away with it!?," Rock roared, "I'll beat you to death!" As he raised his club, suddenly Tobei came charging in with a battle cry, successfully pushing Rock off of Stronger while his guard was down.

Of course, Tobei was essentially slamming into a brick wall, so he didn't come out unscathed, getting knocked on his back writhing in pain. Tackle hurried over to check on him. "Stronger, if this keeps up we may not last. You'll have to hit Rock with the full force of the Super-Electronics." Stronger was already in the midst of battling Rock, the majin's stone skin proving almost unyielding. Rock laughed as he pounded. "Now do you understand how tough I am!?" "Yeah," Stronger admitted, "But not tough enough! Charge Up!" Rock was flabbergasted as the Super Electronic Dynamo revved up, changing Stronger's form.

"I only get one minute at full power before it destroys me," Stronger noted, "I'll have to make this quick." He took a diving leap at Rock. "Let me show you my new power! Super Electro Drill Kick!" Rock's head went flying off his body before exploding, but Stronger wasn't done. "Super Electro Three-Strike Kick!" With a powerful triple repeating kick, Stronger sent Rock's body flying before it hit the mountain and exploded, ending the majin once and for all as Stronger returned to normal.

The others looked in amazement at the amount of power used. "Good grief," Tobei said, "And I thought it was powerful enough at only a quarter of the strength." "It worked though," Tackle said, "But I'm worried we may have tipped our hand to Delza." Indeed, Shadow had been nearby once more to observe the fight. "So Stronger really did receive an upgrade, and a dangerous one at that. It would be foolish to underestimate him. Perhaps I can have Secretary of State Wolf sent after him. That treacherous dog needs to be taught a lesson regardless..." Even as Shadow plotted, the Riders rode off triumphantly to the cheers of the children they had saved, ready to continue the fight against the Delza Army.

To be continued...

I've mostly gotten the computer problems under control, including relying on a wireless keyboard. It feels good to hear keys clacking under my fingers again. By the way, this is the last version of the Cyborg Stronger opening, just so you guys know. Read and review.