Finally got everything with my computer sorted out. Had to get a new one in order to do so, but hey you can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs. Just don't break more than three or the omelette won't be properly fluffy. Anyway, back to the further adventures of the Kamen Riders. 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 33: Wolf's Full Moon Rising
In his private chambers, Wolf was bowing in reverence before a painting of his werewolf ancestor. "Great and gracious Lord Wolfman... My plan to enlist Baron Rock's aid in eliminating Shadow has failed... Please, I ask that you grant me greater power!" Suddenly, the painting's eyes lit up. 'Secretary of State Wolf!,' came a voice from within the painting. Wolf raised his head. "Yes, Lord Wolfman!" 'Listen well,' the voice continued, 'You must sacrifice the life of a child under the light of a full moon. This will cause your body to surge with ectoplasmic energy! This will not only give you the power to defeat Shadow, but Stronger as well!'
Wolf was shocked. "The power to defeat Stronger!? I do owe him for wrecking any chance I had of salvaging the plan with Baron Rock... And tonight happens to be a full moon..." He cackled. "This is excellent... I have before me the perfect chance to send Kamen Rider Stronger and his worthless friends straight to hell!" He had to plan this carefully, since just the act of grabbing a child to sacrifice would draw their attention, and if they attacked he knew wouldn't stand a chance. But he was willing to take the risk.
Meanwhile Shadow was doing his card reading, flipping over the Ace of Spades. "I need to find the right bait to lure Secretary of State Wolf into killing Stronger..." Just then, one of the Wolf Corps ran into the room and saluted. "Forgive the intrusion but I have a report." "Speak freely," Shadow permitted. "Secretary of State Wolf is ready to make his move," the trooper reported, "He's making plans to go after Stronger." "What!?," Shadow said in shock as he stood up from his chair. He then chuckled. "Looks like I don't need to do anything after all... This is starting to get very interesting..."
Several kids were heading home from school, three of them splitting off as they neared their home. "Wanna finish up our homework when we get back?," one of the boys asked. Before an answer could be giving, a strange dark wall rose up in front of the kids, making it seem like the sky was darkening. "What just happened?," the girl in the group asked, "It's like night fell early. The smaller boy cried out in shock and pointed to a lion statue, the eyes glowing with a blinking light. The two boys got in front of the girl as all three backed away in fear.
Suddenly Wolf Corps leapt out from behind the state to grab the kids. They were carried off quickly. The same thing happened at a local playground, the area suddenly turning dark. Most of the kids hurried home, but one boy wound up getting his leg caught in some kind of bear trap buried in the ground. Wolf Corps then appeared to grab all of them, appearing from the brush around the playground in an ambush. While all this was happening, the four Riders were following one of Joe's hunches and heading for a small town at the base of Mount Wolf.
When they arrived, they saw the familiar sight of Tobei's jeep. "Wonder what Pops is doing here," Jet said. "Same thing as us most likely," Francoise noted. "Yeah, but why ditch the car out in the open like that?," Joe wondered, "I get the feeling something's wrong out here." Indeed, there was no sign of Tobei anywhere in the jeep or in the immediate area, prompting the Riders to look elsewhere. None of them noticed the toy dog hanging off the rear-view mirror, it's eyes blinking with a glowing light.
As it happened, Tobei was at a local dentist office getting his teeth cleaned. Several children were in the waiting room with their parents, most of them with toothaches. Tobei could barely hold back from flinching from the pain of the scrappers. "Jeez Doc, take it easy on me will ya?" "Oh show some backbone," the dentist retorted, "I've had five-year-olds in here that don't whine as much as you. Now rinse and spit." Tobei did so using the nearby water cup. As he spat out, he suddenly became aware that the room was becoming suddenly dark. "Is this a blackout?"
The model teeth in the room started chattering on their own, giving Tobei a bad sense of foreboding. Suddenly, the dentist revealed himself to be Wolf in disguise, who grabbed Tobei by the throat. "You've walked right into my trap, Tobei Tachibana!" Tobei managed to get free and ran out of the room, pursued by Wolf. The kids in the waiting room screamed in fright at the appearance of the majin, Tobei telling them to run immediately. Needless to say they did so without asking questions. Unfortunately, they got blocked off by the Wolf Corps. Wolf laughed. "You can try and escape... But you won't be getting far!" Tobei stood in front of the kids defensively. "I don't know what you want, but you'll have to get past me first!"
Wolf chuckled at the bravado. "Grab one of the smaller ones!," he ordered to his Wolf Corps. Tobei held the grunts off as Wolf lashed at him in an effort to stop his resistance. It didn't last long as a familiar voice rang out, "Hold it, Wolf!" Tobei turned and saw the familiar form of his Rider friends outside the window. "Joe! Francoise! Jet! Albert!" Wolf growled. "Kamen Riders! Damn it, I'm not ready to confront you yet!" The group leapt through the window one at a time and started taking down the Wolf Corps. "Get the kids out of here Pops!," Joe called out. "Got it!," Tobei replied.
Wolf growled as he tried to fight, only to get pushed back as the Riders hurried outside to follow the kids. "Get after them!," he called out. The Wolf Corps hurried outside, only to get decimated as the Riders battled against them. "I think by now we've learned enough to take out these guys at least," Albert noted as the quartet activated their devices. "Henshin!" "Stronger!" "Tackle!" "Stream!" "Arsenal!" The kids cheered at the sight of the Riders as they leapt down and started battling the Wolf Corps.
Stronger hurried over to Tobei. "Get the kids to safety, Pops!" Tobei nodded and started ushering the kids away from the battle. With the field clear, the Riders were free to go to town on the mooks. They suddenly saw Wolf's cane flying at them and dodged aside, the cane striking a nearby tree before exploding. The Riders looked on as the affected branch broke off and fell to the ground. Wolf himself appeared and retrieved his spear cane. "I was planning on doing this later," he admitted, "But if you want to finish our fight now, then by all means!" Wolf proved as strong a majin as any of the others, but by now the team was growing used to fighting Delza's leaders, and it showed in how Stronger fought Wolf.
Stronger soon had Wolf sailing over a cliff. "You will pay for this insult! False Teeth Grenade!" To the group's shock, he pulled out a set of model teeth from his mouth. He threw the model, Stronger quickly dodging aside as the teeth hit the ground behind him and exploded. Wolf continued to lob teeth-based explosives trying to tag Stronger. "Atomic Blast!" Arsenal stepped in, firing off the turret on his back to blow the grenades right out of the sky. Stream flew in from above, Stronger leaping in as well. "Gravity Wave!" "Electro Punch!" Wolf proved to be not as durable as other majin, actually taking damage from the electrically-charged attack as well as the gravity surge.
He stumbled back clutching his shoulder before swiping a hand across his cane. "Full Moon Ectoplasm Beam!" The beam of energy hit both Riders, stunning them but they noticed that not much damage was done, much to Wolf's chagrin. "Damn... I still don't have enough energy! I'll concede this victory to you, Riders! But after tonight's full moon, all of you will die!" And with that, he leapt away before vanishing. "What do you think he meant by that?," Joe wondered. "In European folklore," Arsenal noted, "Werewolves have a deep connection to the full moon. Could it be that...?" "Guys!," Tobei called out as he ran over, interrupting Arsenal's train of thought.
"Pops," Stronger said, "Are the kids alright?" "No, they disappeared and I'm worried," Tobei admitted, "Wolf is up to something and it involves those kids somehow, I can tell. The whole time those grunts were ignoring the parents." That got Stronger thinking. "Wolf mentioned the full moon tonight, and he's after children." "Some sort of majin ritual?," Tackle suggested. "Most likely," Stronger replied, "Wolf's last attack stunned me and Stream but didn't do damage." Stream nodded. "Yeah, and he claimed the beam was too weak, so just stunning us wasn't his intention. But what could he be up to?"
Wolf cackled as he approached a ritual altar, the children tied up on top of it. "Excellent... These small ones will make a most splendid sacrifice to the moon!" The children started crying out for help or their parents. "Quit your complaining!," Wolf demanded, "Once the moon rises in the east, your suffering will come to an end. And Stronger and his Rider allies will be no match for me!" One of his grunts poured him a drink and he downed it. "And then once I've dealt with Stronger, my next target will be that upstart Shadow!"
The Riders and Tobei searched for the children, but had no luck even picking up a trail. "We need to find something fast," Francoise said, "The full moon is going rise before long." Tobei kept searching down the roads while the Riders headed off in a different direction, not knowing that the Wolf Corps had been observing them the entire time. They split off into two group, one to track the Riders and the other to track Tobei. They managed to ambush him, but he was able to fight them off for a bit while calling out for help, Francoise picking up his call using her super senses.
However, she and the other Riders were having problems of their own in the form of a sudden earthquake that tore the ground apart, causing them to fall into a crevice. "Henshin!" "Stronger!" "Tackle!" "Stream!" "Arsenal!" Transforming on the down, the group was able to survive the massive drop. However, they discovered that they had been dropped into several glass tubes. The glass proved durable enough to withstand their attacks. A door opened up behind them, revealing Wolf and his Corps. "Looks like you quite literally fell into my trap," Wolf quipped.
"Bastard!," Stronger called out, "Just what are you planning on doing with those children!?" Wolf was surprised that Stronger figured out he had the kids, but recovered quickly. "I'm holding them until tonight," he explained, "Why don't you all take a nap until then? You'll be needing all the strength you can muster." He nodded to one of his grunts, who hit two switches on a dashboard. One unleashed gas in Stronger, Tackle, and Stream's cells, while the other sent an electric shock through Arsenal's. Wolf laughed as the Riders started going numb. "That sleeping gas is quite potent. Of course, since Arsenal doesn't require oxygen to breathe, we had to go a different route."
He chuckled as the Riders drifted into sleep. "But the end result is the same... A small taste of heaven before you are sent off to hell!" Just then, the cyborg majin burst into the room with some of his own troopers, wearing blue stitched masks and carrying battle rifles, which they quickly turned on the Wolf Corps. "Commander Branken!," Wolf stated, "What are you doing in my lair!?" "I'm here to kill Stronger of course," Branken stated simply. Wolf chuckled. "Branken, I didn't take you for a coward. Killing a sleeping enemy like this?" "What did you say!?," Branken demanded.
"But if you so choose, then by all means," Wolf taunted, "Of course, it would bring shame on the name of Adam Frankenstein, son and creation of Victor Frankenstein, of whom you are descended." "You dare bring my family into this?," Branken warned. "Come now Branken," Wolf said, "You may not be the smartest majin, but I know you did at least inherit some of the intelligence of your master. You're certainly smarter than Baron Rock was. With your strength, don't you think it would be possible to kill Stronger at any time you wanted? Come now, let's have a toast to the occasion of our victory?"
Branken considered it. "Fine, but I am smart enough to suspect you might be playing me. I'll stand guard here just in case you try anything with Stronger." Wolf shrugged. "If you prefer. But if you even try to kill Stronger without my permission, then you will be the next to die." Branken scoffed. "Fair enough." He watched Wolf exit before lowering his rifle at Stronger's head. "Whatever Wolf has planned for you, you'll likely overcome it. And then it will be my turn to have a go at taking you out."
Wolf had Tobei chained to a post. "What do you want with those children?," he demanded of the majin. "The sun will soon be setting," Wolf explained, "When dusk arrives and the moon begins to rise... The wolf clan will rise up as rulers of the world!" "Wolf clan?," Tobei asked in confusion, "Not the Delza Army?" He looked at the kids, still crying out for help. "Just hang tight in there," he assured them, "Stronger will be here soon to save us all. I don't know why Secretary of State Wolf wants to break off from Delza, but he may soon come to regret it. Shadow doesn't strike me as the sort who takes dissension well."
"Wolf's had far too long to ready that toast," Branken noted, "I had a feeling I couldn't trust him. I'm not letting anyone but me kill Stronger. Open the cages." His Branken Corps nodded and hit the switch to raise the cage. However, it wound up lifting all four cages. "They must be set to the same circuit," Branken realized, "Not that it matters. Take aim, men!" As he and the Branken Corps aimed their rifles, the sun began to set outside. "Once the sun sets behind the mountains," Wolf said, "You will all breath your last." He gave a howl of victory.
Back in the lair, Branken called out, "Fire!" But just as the bullets began to fly, Stronger disappeared from the ground, as did the other Riders. Branken looked about in confusion. "What the hell just happened!?" "I woke up just enough to use my Accelerator," Stronger replied, popping up behind some of the Branken Corps and taking them out. Branken felt a sudden impact that sent him hurtling into the nearby wall, courtesy of Arsenal's turret. Branken turned around to try and fire, only for his rifle to fly out of his hands thanks to Tackle's magnetic power. The rest of the Branken Corps were sent flying thanks to Stream's gravity powers. Branken quickly scrambled for his gun again.
But Stronger was ready. "Charge Up! Disperse!" His team was empowered by the shared energy of the Super Electronic Dynamo, taking on their Charge Up forms. Branken and his Corps opened fire, only for the shots to bounce off the group harmlessly. They even caught a few and threw them back, shocking Branken as his grunts were killed with their own rounds. Angered, he tried to battle the Riders with what few of his men remained. It proved futile, as the Riders' enhanced strength could now match his own, even Tackle's.
"I overheard a little about you as we were waking up," she said as she easily grappled against the big brute, "Commander Branken, was it? Descendant of Frankenstein? Not exactly a clever sort." Branken was shocked as the petite woman actually threw him across the room. "These new upgrades are really something," Stream noted, "Normally 003 is the weakest of us from a physical standpoint. But right now she could probably arm wrestle Geronimo Jr and win." "But what about the sleeping gas?," Branken pointed out. "Thanks to our recent upgrades," Stronger said, "A non-issue. Even the electrical surge was useless due to Arsenal's insulated circuitry."
Branken growled. "Upgrade or no upgrade, you all die today!" The four Riders quickly kicked at him as he charged, knocking him against the wall. "We don't got time to play right now!," Stream declared, "Come look us up once we deal with Wolf!" They hurried out of the lair, noting the setting sun as they reached the outside. Wolf looked eagerly at the rising full moon. "At long last... The time has come to fulfill the ritual... In the name of the glorious Wolfman... I shall offer up these young lives as a sacrifice for true power..." He began bowing in reverence as he howled, his Wolf Corps doing the same.
The Riders were already running for the site as Wolf prepared himself. "Let the ectoplasmic energy surge throughout my body! Great Wolfman, lord of my clan, I hereby sacrifice these children in thy name..." "Wait, Wolf!," Tobei said, "Take my life instead!" "The ritual is very specific," Wolf rebuked, "The power can only be given if I offer up the life of a child." Tobei blinked. "As in... One child?" Wolf nodded in confusion. "Then why kidnap so many?," Tobei asked incredulously. "My thoughts exactly," came a familiar voice as a large stone smacked into Wolf's hand, causing him to drop his spear in pain.
"Who dares interrupt me!?," he demanded. He was then shocked at the sight of the four Kamen Riders stepping onto the altar. "That would be us of course!," Stronger declared. "How are you suddenly here!?," Wolf asked in shock, "Even if you had just started waking up, I left Branken in charge of guarding you!" The Riders leapt down and started taking out the Wolf Corps. Stronger quickly got Tobei free of his chains. "Thanks," Tobei said, "Wait, over there!" Wolf had grabbed one of the kids and was now carrying him off. Stronger chased after him, only to get blocked off by the Wolf Corps.
Stream flew down with a hard punch to the ground. "Gravity Wave!" The Wolf Corps was sent flying from the shockwave as Tobei hurried to get the other kids free. "I'll get these kids to safety! Get after Wolf!" The team hurried up the hill and managed to intercept Wolf as he continued to run. "What's your hurry, Wolf?," Stronger asked. The other Riders surrounded the majin on all sides. "Hand the child over now, Secretary of State Wolf!," Arsenal demanded, "We have you on all sides, there's no escape!"
Wolf spotted some of his men come through on a diagonal and quickly tossed the girl to them. "Why not try and take her back!?" Tackle and Stream quickly moved to intercept the Wolf Corps while Stronger and Arsenal battled against Wolf. However, Wolf seemed to be stronger than normal. "What the hell?," Arsenal called out, "Last time we were wailing on Wolf, but now he's somehow increased his strength!" "Try a double shot!," Stronger suggested, "Electro Fire!" "Atomic Blast!"
Wolf just stood there and tanked both attacks like they were nothing. He laughed at there confusion. "Even without the ritual, I can still gain great power while under a full moon!" "Damn," Stronger said, "And that moon's high in the sky." "Now you die!," Wolf declared, "Ectoplasm Beam!" Empowered by the full moon, the assault actually blasted Stronger and Arsenal back, Tackle and Stream joining him. "What just happened!?," Tackle asked. "Wolf got a boost from the light of the full moon!," Arsenal explained, "He didn't need the ritual at all! He was just greedy for more power!"
"And once I have completed the ritual," Wolf declared, "I will become unstoppable! Once I have finished I shall each and every one of you, leaving not even a single scrap left!" Stronger growled as he struggled to stand before Wolf could finish the sacrifice. "Charge Up!" Wolf whipped his head over to the new surge of power as Stronger readied himself. "Damn it!," Wolf called out, "Don't you ever know when you're beaten!?" "I'm beaten when I'm dead!," Stronger retorted, "And not a second prior! Super Electro Screw Kick!"
However, not even the full power of the Super Electronic Dynamo seemed enough to even make Wolf budge. "You've gotta be kidding!," Stream called out, "Why go through with a ritual when you're already unstoppable!?" "Because I am only like this under a full moon," Wolf clarified, "When that light fades my power returns to normal. But with the ritual, I can gain this power indefinitely!" Stronger was able to grab the girl from the Wolf Corps, so at least there was a small victory.
Wolf growled as he pulled out his model teeth. "False Teeth Grenade!" Thanks to his enhancement, Stronger was able to easily dodge the explosions, making Wolf angrier. "You blasted cockroach!" "Rhino beetle, actually," Stronger pointed out, racing at Wolf before launching another attack, "Super Electro Three-Strike Kick!" This time Wolf did get pushed back a bit, but otherwise seemed undamaged. "Is that all your Super-Electronics are capable of!?," he taunted. "I dunno," Stronger admitted, "Why not wait until that cloud cover recedes?" Wolf looked up in shock and saw that, indeed, clouds were moving in front of the moon. "It can't be! Without that light my power is dimmed!"
"Looks like you were so excited about the full moon," Stronger noted, "You forgot to check the forecast! Disperse!" He split up the Charge Up energy to the rest of his team, powering them up to deal the final blow. They called in their Rider Machines for a combined attack, the Kabutoro, Tentoro, and Jet Streamer linking to the sides and front of the Atomic Panzer as Arsenal's turret charged to full. "Rider Super Electronic!" The powerful energy sphere slammed into Wolf and sent him hurtling into the nearby hill, where he exploded and died. "Stronger!," the girl from before called out, seeing the heroes victorious.
Stronger and Tackle hoisted the girl into their arms. "You're alright now," Tackle assured her, "Let's get you back to your mother." The girl nodded happily. Stream and Arsenal chuckled at the impromptu parenting practice the cyborg couple was having. Nearby, Branken was also amused, but for a different reason. "So Secretary of State Wolf has fallen... Shadow will appreciate the loss of such a traitorous majin. But next time... I will be the one to eliminate Stronger!" He didn't see the strange masked man on the hill above him.
Shadow chuckled as he performed his usual reading. "So now Secretary of State Wolf is dead. For all his talk he didn't amount to much. But I wonder who could have given Wolf the idea for that ritual. From what I know of the wolf clan, such a ritual never actually existed." "That would be because of me," came a new voice. Shadow turned to see the masked man, wearing a cream colored suit and having light indigo hair. Shadow raised an eyebrow. "And what does a Blessed want with a majin?" "The end of a mutual enemy," the so-called Blessed replied, "For now, you can refer to me as... Emperor."
To be continued...
Every story in this series needs a personal villain from the series being crossed over into Kamen Rider in preparation for my planned narrative in Zi-O. For this story, it's Emperor from Cyborg 009 Call of Justice. Also, hope you like the team attack I came up with. Since most of these early Showa Riders are gonna be actual teams, I thought it fitting. Read and review.