I'm really excited as we get into the last few chapters of this story. We're almost through the initial batch of majin, and soon something pretty neat will be showing up as well. I'm excited, I hope you're excited, let's get into this. 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 34: Branken's End of Ambition

"Thanks to the Kamen Riders," Emperor explained, "My plans on validating my existence through the use of forcibly evolving humanity into Blessed was shut down, and most of my fellow Blessed turned on me. I want to end the Kamen Riders, and for now the only one I can reliably find is Stronger and his allies." "I too have been having trouble with Stronger," Shadow admitted, "I had hoped this little contest would encourage the Delza Army to work as one, but they squabble over power like common humans. The only upside is I have had several individuals who hoped to usurp me removed from the equation."

"Surely there must be someone amongst the leaders of Delza that you can rely on to deal with this," Emperor noted, "I have scant few allies myself and can't afford to waste them." Shadow turned to his cards. "Perhaps we will find the answers here... Emperor, select a card. Any one of them will do. We will leave it up to fate." Emperor nodded and picked one from the middle. It turned out to be the Queen of Spades. Shadow gave a rare smile, one that was neither malicious nor cunning. "Of course. If anyone is trustworthy in my organization, it's my own wife, Snake Woman."

The female snake majin appeared from the nearby wall. "You rang, my beloved husband Shadow?" "Good of you to come," Shadow said, "Allow me to present Emperor, a leader among the Blessed." Snake Woman gave a small bow. "A pleasure. I am one of Shadow's most trusted confidants, in addition to being his wife. In fact, when our original bargain of deciding leadership based on who could defeat Stronger was presented, I actually made plans to have leadership returned to Shadow upon my success." "She is arguable one of the most powerful majin in existence," Shadow said, offering a toast with Emperor. He accepted without question. "Then let us toast... To the end of the Riders."

Elsewhere the Riders were driving through the countryside on a regular patrol when Francoise picked up the sound of a little girl crying. Spotting her, the team stopped to see what was wrong. "Why are you crying?," Joe asked as he got off his Kabutoro. The girl ran up to the quartet. "Please help! Something happened to Mommy!" "Is she hurt?," Francoise asked as she knelt down. The girl shook her head. "She's sick! Really sick! Please, come help her!" "We're not exactly doctors...," Jet muttered. Regardless, they let the girl lead them to her house. "My mom's in here," the girl said, opening a sliding door.

The group freaked out a little at only seeing a small garden snake. "Please tell me your mom's further inside!," Albert called out. "This way," the girl said, ignoring the snake. The Riders looked at each other, with Jet and Joe following the girl as she knelt down next to a sleeping figure. "Mommy, a nice man's come to help!" Jet carefully removed the blanket covering the woman, only to recoil in shock at the sight of her scaled face. "What in the Boston Cream Cake!?" "Help... Help me...," the woman muttered. She grabbed at Jet, revealing her hands to be similarly scaled.

Joe then realized the girl was also turning scaly. "Please help us!" "What on earth did this?," Joe asked in shock. "We were attacked by some sort of snake woman," the mother explained, "When we recovered, we found ourselves looking like this." Albert and Francoise were listening from the other room. "A snake woman sounds like one of Delza's majin," Albert realized. "Please, help us," the mother said, "Joe Shimamura." Joe's eyes widened. "How do you know my name?" Suddenly the two of them grabbed at Joe. "We can regain our humanity by drinking your blood!," the mother called out.

"Trust me, you don't want it!," Jet pointed out, "It's all synthetic, and rather toxic at that! We are cyborgs, after all!" "I barely have any blood to begin with," Albert added. Just then the nearby window showed a blood-red tint, the silhouette of a humanoid creature with snake features appearing. The figure disappeared quickly as Joe and Jet managed to get the mother and daughter off them, knocking them out and running for the door. Francoise and Albert followed after them. The figure turned out to be Snake Woman, who ran through the small village just ahead of the Riders.

Soon enough they lost her trail just outside a local temple. "For a snake she moves fast," Jet admitted. Albert snickered. "Well she does have actual legs." "Speaking of snakes," Francoise said, "She may not be too far away." She pointed to a snake basking on a shrine in front of the temple door. Joe whipped his head around before dodging a large throwing knife. A group of Branken Corps showed up, rifles in hand. "Oh yeah," he muttered, "There always seems about two at a time." He and his team dodged the automatic fire and moved in close to take out the grunts.

Joe grabbed one of the Branken Corps and used it as a shield to block the gunfire. He noted that it wasn't actual bullets, but more of those spikes that hit the temple pillar. "These guys are always the most dangerous!," Albert admitted, "But if the Corps is here, where's Commander Branken?" "Right here," Branken said as he came out from behind a nearby tree, his own rifle aimed right at the team, "Now I'm going to finish you all off once and for all!" He opened fire, but the team scattered as they dodged out of the way, leaping onto a nearby hill. "Devices on, team!," Joe called out.

The others nodded, and their transformation devices hummed to life. "Henshin!" "Stronger!" "Tackle!" "Stream!" "Arsenal!" As the now transformed Riders confronted the Branken Corps, the grunts backed away nervously. Their masters may still have some advantages over the cyborgs, but they themselves were running out of tricks. This became evident as their numbers started to get decimated by the Riders. Branken growled as he saw one of troops go sailing off a bridge and land right in front of him. "Your turn, Branken!," Stronger called out, he and Arsenal leaping down to confront the Frankensteinian majin.

Arsenal used his atomic-powered fists to slam into Branken's mechanized midsection, while Stronger grabbed his rifle. "Electro Beam!" The metal rifle acted as the perfect conduit, bypassing Branken's normal electrical resistance to actually damage him. This left him wide open as the two Riders delivered a serious beatdown. Finding himself at their mercy, Branken barely got to his feet, wobbling as he did. "Damn Riders...!" He spotted a nearby boulder and lifted it up in an effort to smash his foes. "Let's see how you handle this!"

He launched the rock, and Arsenal acted immediately. "Atomic Blaster!" His turret went off, blasting the rock into dust. Which created the perfect makeshift smokescreen for Branken to retreat. Stronger scoffed. "He knew he was on the ropes, so he made a diversion to escape. Clever bastard." Stream and Tackle ran up. "We cleaned out the grunts," Tackle said, "But there's still the matter of the other majin and her victims. We should go check on them." Stronger nodded. They had no time to track down Branken, not when innocent lives were on the line. "One enemy at a time..."

The group returned to the mother and daughter, still out cold. Francoise looked them over and noted a large red oval on their foreheads. "I wonder..." She carefully rubbed at them and found it was possible to peel them off. Doing so successfully restored the two to normal. "I love it when it's that easy," Jet quipped. When the two woke up, they were elated at being returned to normal and hugged each other. "Mommy!" "Chioko!" Francoise held up the scales. "That majin, Snake Woman I'm guessing, turned you into hybrids using these scales."

The mother nodded. "It all feels like such a bad dream... I could hear this vile voice in my ear during that time. It's how we learned your names. Thank you for freeing us!" The group stepped outside, then noticed something wrong. "Where's our rides?," Jet asked. Sure enough, the Rider Machines had disappeared from where they had been parked, just outside the mother's house. "I just had a bad thought," Albert said, "This place is a village, yet we've only seen Chioko and her mom so far... So where's everyone else."

Not far away, Tobei was driving his jeep along the dirt road when he spotted the Rider Machines parked on a nearby road. "What are those doing here?," he wondered. Elsewhere, a group of kids were sitting near a river and doing some sketches. Tobei had placed the Atomic Panzer on auto-pilot to drag along the Jet Streamer and Tentoro, while he walked along the Kabutoro. "Excuse me," Tobei called out, "Can I ask you kids something?" The kids turned to look at him. "What's up, old man?," one boy asked.

"Have you seen the group of friends who own these vehicles?," Tobei asked, indicating the Rider Machines. Most of the kids shook their heads. "Sorry," the boy said to Tobei, "I don't think anyone here's seen them." Tobei nodded and continued to look around, when one of the girls shrieked. "It's a snake!" Actually, it was three, and they all looked large enough to be venomous. Tobei quickly got in front of the kids and herded them back and the kids started throwing crayons in hopes of driving the snakes off.

Tobei noted how the snakes seemed to follow the kids and crawl all over their coloring books and crayons. "Those snakes don't seem normal...," he muttered. Suddenly the snakes leapt straight up, changing into Delza Army Corps members wearing snake masks. "Delza!," Tobei said, "I should have known! Where's the majin that leads you?" That's when Snake Woman appeared from the nearby wall. "Right here, of course. You must be Tobei Tachibana, ally of the Kamen Riders." "And what about it?," Tobei demanded.

"Then I'll be taking you along with these children!," Snake Woman declared. Tobei rolled his eyes. "Do you need to involve children EVERY SINGLE TIME!? I get it, you're evil. You don't need to go out of your way to PROVE IT!" The Snake Corps looked to their leader and she shrugged. "I guess he's seen it all by now. Just finish the abduction, we'll explain our actions later." Tobei did his best to stop the kidnapping, only for Snake Woman to wrap her whip around his neck. "Now now, best to come along quietly! Bring them along!" She started pulling Tobei around, still by the neck, as the Snake Corps dragged the kids behind her.

Joe and his team finally found their Rider Machines and went to inspect them. "I guess Pops found them at some point," Albert noted, "He's the only other person who could figure out the Atomic Panzer's auto-pilot function." Joe nodded. "But why bring them out all the way here?" "He may have been looking for us," Francoise suggested, "Only to bump into bad company." She held up the drawings, and indicated that the area looked like the scene of an abduction. Spotting footprints, the group started looking in that direction.

"Scattered shoes and drawing implements?," Albert noted, "Anyone get the feeling someone's luring us into a trap?" They soon reached a cliff with several holes dug into the side. Joe took a quick look. "I think these are tunnels. They must lead further inside." The tunnels lead into Snake Woman's lair, where the kids and Tobei were locked in a cell that had snakes slithering around the bars. "Don't be scared kids," Tobei assured them, "Stronger and the other Riders will come and save us!"

Snake Woman cackled as she neared the cell door. "Oh, I have no doubt they'll try. In fact, they're already on their way. The real question is... Will they be able to?" "What are you implying?," Tobei demanded. "Gaze into my eyes, all of you...," Snake Woman replied. The voice was so compelling that Tobei and the kids couldn't help themselves, Snake Woman's eyes turning a dull red, hypnotizing the group into sleep. Meanwhile the Riders were walking through the tunnel. "Joe!," came Tobei's voice, catching their attention.

They hurried through the tunnel towards the voice and reached the cell. "You in there, Pops?," Joe asked, only for snakes to suddenly fall from the ceiling. The Riders quickly grabbed them and started flinging them to the ground, where they changed into Snake Corps. "Our mysterious snake woman's footsoldiers, no doubt," Jet noted. The knocked around a few to get some breathing room, then went for their devices. "Henshin!" "Stronger!" "Tackle!" "Stream!" "Arsenal!"

With their transformation complete, they more easily dealt with the Snake Corps. "The majin are learning some new tricks," Tackle noted, "Let's check on Pops." Stronger nodded. "Be careful. Remember Chioko and her mother." "I'll go in first then," Arsenal offered, "Not a lot of blood in my body." He blasted the cell door open and checked inside. "And cue the snake faces... Now." Sure enough, when Tobei turned around, he was affected just like before. The kids as well. "Let us feast on your blood...," Tobei muttered.

He and the kids swarmed Arsenal. "Guess the process leaves the victim not in their right mind," Stream realized, "Pops knows that Arsenal doesn't really have much blood in his body." "He doesn't?," Snake Woman said her shadow appeared, "I thought you were all cyborgs." "Arsenal's only organic components are his brain and spinal column," Stronger explained, "And the rest of have easily replaceable synthetic blood." Meanwhile Arsenal had knocked the entire group out and started removing the scales.

Stronger and Tackle hurried after Snake Woman as Stream and Arsenal stayed behind to look after Tobei and the kids, who were already starting to return to normal. Tobei woke up first and checked his face, breathing a sigh of relief when he didn't feel scales. He was even more relieved to see the Riders there. "You feeling less bloodthirsty?," Stream quipped. "You barely have any blood to begin with," Tobei shot back, "Come on, let's get these kids out of here." The kids were also glad to be back to normal, and happy to see two of their heroes.

Meanwhile, Stronger and Tackle had made their way outside, only to get their legs tangled by Snake Woman's whip, causing them to tumble down the hill. As they got up, more snakes sprang up to try and strangle them. "Stronger!," Snake Woman taunted, appearing on the hill, "At long last, you will meet your end!" The two Riders threw off the snakes as they transformed into Snake Corps. Tackle and Stronger took battle stances and started dispatching the grunts. Each one that got knocked down changed back into a snake and slithered off. Stronger then noticed Snake Woman running for the water.

He and Tackle hurried after her. "Why the sudden need to run?," Tackle asked, "Scared to fight without minions to hide behind?" "Why not come fight me and see for yourself?," Snake Woman taunted. The couple leapt down to try and fight, but the majin kept teleporting out of the way. "Enough of this hide and seek," Snake Woman decided, and she leapt right into the water. By the time Stronger and Tackle reached the shore, they only spotted a small snake swimming away. However, Stronger noticed a particular rock formation in the direction the snake was swimming. "Snake Woman must be headed there," he noted, "Let's get Stream and Arsenal and head over." Tackle nodded.

The four Riders retrieved their Rider Machines and raced off for the rock formation. But as they approached, a sudden explosion stopped them in their tracks. "Now what!?," Stream called out. The answer came as Branken Corps appeared to attack. The Riders leapt out of the way as they opened fire, Stronger and Stream grabbing some of the daggers to throw back at the grunts and take them out. The team then leapt up to take out more of the mooks. Soon enough Branken made his appearance, laughing as arrived at the top of the nearby plateau. "Stronger, I've come to kill you at last!"

"We need to start a new jar," Stronger noted to Tackle, who nodded in agreement. Branken ignored them and lifted up a large rock. "Take this!," he called out, throwing the rock down the hill. The rock came in fast, prompting the team to stop it manually. However, the rock suddenly exploded. "How do you like that!?," Branken called out, "Did that finish you off?" He spotted the Riders managing to pick themselves up and ran over to knock Stronger down again. He managed to smack around the weakened Stronger for a bit before tossing him aside. However, Stronger soon got back enough strength to knock the big brute off him.

That just made Branken more determined as he unleashed a charging tackle, knocking Stronger to the ground over and over. Getting annoyed, Stronger grabbed Branken's arms during a tackle and lobbed him over his head. "I'm about a hundred percent done with your little power plays!," Stronger declared, "Charge Up! Disperse!" The Super Electronic Dynamo activated, linking energy to the four Riders and unleashing their Charge Up forms. Branken growled. "Fine then! Hand me my rifle!"

A Branken Corps obliged and the majin opened fire, only for Stronger to easily catch the projectile and throw it back, hitting Branken right in his belly. The team then leapt at Branken with fists extended. "Super Electro Diving Punch!" "Super Magnetic Punch!" "Super Gravity Press!" "Super Atomic Crusher!" All four punches slammed into Branken's head one after another, driving him deeper into the ground. Now buried up to his shoulders, Branken was helpless as Arsenal and Stream pulled him and tossed him across the field. He managed to get up, only to gasp in shock as the Riders assembled their Rider Machines and charged up. "Rider Super Electronic!"

The charged projectile slammed into Branken, annihilating him in a massive explosion. The team de-transformed as Tobei drove up in his jeep. "Hey Pops," Joe said, "Are the kids okay?" "Yeah," Tobei replied, "I just finished taking the last of them home. But it looks like Delza is pulling out all the stops now. Prior to Snake Woman's appearance, a reporter woman handed me this file." Joe looked through it. It contained information about the Blessed, humans that had evolved to gain special powers. "I know of one such Blessed," Tobei admitted, "Izuku, one of the founders of the Junior Riders. But just like with regular humans, there are good Blessed... And bad Blessed."

He pointed to a picture of a young man meeting with the Snake Corps. "This man only goes by the name of Emperor," Tobei explained, "The reporter said that he had been outed by his fellow Blessed and forced on the run. She know suspects he's collaborating with the Delza Army." "And I may know where they are," Joe said. He pointed to the rock formation Snake Woman had been heading toward. "Up there?," Tobei asked. Joe nodded. "I spotted Snake Woman swimming toward it. And just looking at it gives off an ominous feeling."

"So Commander Branken has fallen as well," Shadow noted. "I didn't realize a Kamen Rider could be so powerful," Emperor admitted, "The ones who fought against the members of my organization didn't seem so strong." "Do not underestimate them," Shadow warned, "A Kamen Rider can be quite powerful." "Perhaps so," Snake Woman said as she entered, "But they have their weaknesses too. And I have yet to showcase my full power." "You were just toying with him!?," Emperor said indignantly.

"I wanted to see what Stronger is capable of," Snake Woman admitted, "But now... The real fun begins!" Shadow nodded. "And soon, an important event will take place in Japan that will turn the world on its head." He accepted the wine poured out by Snake Woman and offered a toast. "Soon the day when the world belongs to the Delza Army will be at hand. And I hope, Emperor, that those Blessed still aligned with you will be there to stand beside us." Emperor grinned as he accepted his own glass. "But of course, General Shadow." Snake Woman nodded. "A toast. To that promised day... And the end of Kamen Rider Stronger."

To be continued...

The battle is starting to reach a definitive climax, but there are special occurrences happening just around the corner. Read and review.