Episode 41: Inertia's True Colors

Alex sat awake at his desk the previous night, his hands on face and the grey memory with Madison's name on it on the desk in front of him. Beside Madison's memory sat the copies of the Vainglory and Violet memories that Vega had given him, the flicker of the desk lamp Alex had on to see the trio of them not being of help to the strain on his eyes. A small wince came from the bed only a few feet away from him, the squinting Madison looking up from where she slept to turn her gaze towards the glow that had woken her.

"Alex?" She asked with a yawn, checking her phone which read 5:30 AM. "The sun isn't even up right… what are you doing awake?"

"I couldn't sleep…" he told her, "I have a lot on my mind… about to tomorrow."

"Still the nervous wreck you always were I see," Madison managed a small grin as she got up with only her pink silk nightgown covering her. She made her way over to Alex, sitting down at the end of the bed before wrapping her arm around him and kissing his cheek, "I could come with you tomorrow, if you want me too."

Alex took gently hold of one of Madison's hands, giving it a tender kiss before shaking his head at her. "We're just gonna be talking business tomorrow," he said as he looked her in the eye. "I'll give you full access to the place tomorrow until I get back. It will far more enjoyable than where I'm going."

Madison frowned, "Alex," she muttered as her heart sank into her stomach, "I want to be able to help you… you know that, right?" She looked to the desk, raising a brow, "what exactly are you working on anyway?"

"I was hoping to have something to show Inertia… but I have been able to come up with much," Alex huffed, picking up the copied Violent and Vainglory memories. "A pair of riders passed through our city last week, Split and Vega… Vega gave me these two gaia memories, but I'm still not sure what to use them for."

"Have you tested them in your belt?" Madison asked.

Alex shook his head, "I don't trust them."

"I see….." Madison eyed the memory with her name on it, "and that one… that's how I remembered you, isn't it?"

Alex nodded, "That one.. I did test in my driver. But it didn't do anything. It seems to be drained of its power."

"Makes sense.. since I know who you are and all." Madison got up with a stretch, patting Alex on the back, "Well, I think I need a shower. You gonna keep cracking at it?"

Alex nodded then yawned, "Just for a bit longer."

"Alright," Madison kissed him on the cheek then headed to the door. She pulled it open, then turned back to him with a smile, "By the way… you're free to join me once you're done."

Alex smiled back at her, "I probably will."

"Then I'll see you in a bit, Superstar," she winked at him, closing the door on her way out.

After a moment of silence, the room filled with the hum of running water that acted to give Alex's mind a small bit of clarity.

"Wait a minute…" he grabbed Madison's memory and flipped it over, finding a pair of screws at the back of the device which he quickly undid and pulled it apart.

Once it was opened, he was greeted to the sight of a pair of blinking red power cells tethered to the circuits of the memory itself. Gasping a bit, he quickly undid the Vainglory and Violent memories and found power cells that were solid green. The boy put two and two together then grabbed a cell from each of the two dismantled memories and connected them to their circuits of Madison's memory.

Once he had put it back together, the vibrant pink color of Madison's then dull grey memory began to return. In response to this, Alex's jaw fell open, "... No way."

{Insert opening theme: "Alones" by Aqua Timez}

"You just LET them go with telling me anything?!" Marcoh screamed at Marcoh on the phone as he stood in the kitchen of his apartment. "I don't care what the boy said, I don't trust any of those META sacks of crab as far as I could throw them!" It was 11:45, five minutes before Tara and Ashley would be taken down by Inertia.

"Marcoh, I know it's stupid… but I'm going to trust Alex on this one," Sampson's voice called out from the other end. "He said he was just going to talk, nothing else. I don't know this Joel person very well, but he seems to want Vainglory out of the way just as much as we do."

Marcoh let out a heavy huff, gripping his hand into a tight fist, "And you aren't gonna budge on that opinion, are you?"

"I trust Alex with my life," Sampson told him, "and so should you."

"I'll give him four hours, if I don't hear back from him I'm calling up everyone I can and moving in." Marcoh hung up the phone, punching the wall before heading into the living room where Rylee sat still cuffed to the chair.

Rylee glared at him as he hung up the phone, "That your boyfriend?" She said in a harsh judgemental tone.

"My boss, actually," Marcoh glared at her. "And just for the record, my former partner? He and I broke up quite some time ago."

Rylee instantly regretted her words, shooting a glare at feet. "Sorry… I didn't know…" she looked back up to Marcoh.

"I wouldn't expect you too, it was all a long time ago." He said in a harsh as he placed a plate of food in front of Rylee. "He and I always talked about adopting a girl… but in the end, he never actually wanted one."

Rylee smirked then laughed, "Guess that's one similarity between the two of us."

Marcoh glared at her as he sat down in front of her, "Alright, you have five seconds to explain your insane comparison before I take you into the station."

Rylee kept her smirk up as she looked Marcoh in the eye, "You think you're the only one to have loved and lost, officer?"

SWITCH IN POV: First Person - Rylee

My sister always got exactly what she wanted. It's for that very reason that I always respected her. That being said, all these years later I can still recall the morning where it all went wrong. I was in high school, third year and as always I was up early making breakfast for the two of us while my sister slept in.

"SIS!" I called up to her as I set the kitchen table, "Come down and eat!"

"I'm coming!" I heard her call down from above.

With a trip and a tumble, there she was. With her perfect chestnut hair, slender waste, curved hips and perky bust, my sister entered the kitchen and began forking down the meal I had slaved over to make.

I glared at her, then smirked, "You're gonna choke like that you know."

My sister frantically nodded, swallowing as she noticed a scrap of paper. "Hey! Whats that?!" she called out, reaching for the paper only for me to swipe it just in time.

"None of your business," I said with a noticeable blush.

"It's a love letter, isn't it?" My sister smirked. "Somebody in our class?"

"If I tell you, will swear not to tell anyone?" I asked her simply.

"On my life," she placed her hand over her heart.

I whispered to her, her face lighting up in response. "Oh he's a catch! I'd move fast if I were you. I hear a lot of girls have there eye on a scholar like him."

I glared at her, "what's it to you?"

"Oh, nothing," she cooed in that sweet innocent way she always did. She looked at me, raising a brow, "Didn't leave anything direct, did you?"

I blushed harder, "Define direct?"

"Something like… if you feel the same, meet in room two zero four at three thirty-five today?" She suggested. "Guys won't admit it, but they love it when you give them simple and direct instructions."

"Okay…" I thought this over, eyeing my letter, "but once I'm in the room with him… what do I say?"

"I think that's something for you to decide," my sister sang, poking my cheek while maintaining her grin. "Now come on, you don't want to be late do you?"

I looked up at the clock, my eyes shooting open before I erupted in a roar. "OH SHIT!"

We hustled out the door, my heart eternally racing faster and faster from the first bell of the school day to the last. In my flurry of emotions I had found myself hustling down to fourth room on the second floor of the building at three forty-one. I was following the plan, but several minutes behind schedule.

"Please be there," I muttered between pants exhaustion and jitters nerve as I darted down the hall, grinning ear to ear like the wide eyed innocent and hopelessly naive girl I was. I reached the door to the room which was thankfully still unlocked. "Jason?! Are you here?!" I called into the room as I swung the door open.

Being the hopelessly naive girl I was, I expected him to be standing there ready to embrace me like some cheesy highschool romance film. However, what awaited me was an image I will never forget. Standing there in the room, with her disgusting lips locked to the object of my affection… was my own sister.

Standing there, grin faded and heart broken, I simply mutter. "... Alice?"

What followed however made me sick in the moment, but now it just makes me laugh. Pulling her lips from Jason, my sister looked to me with the fakest sad look I had seen in my life.

"Sorry Rylee…" she almost whimpered, "I warned you a lot of girls had their eye on him, didn't?"

As I told you before, my sister always got exactly what she wanted. That's the reason why… I always hated her.

SWITCH IN POV: Third person - Omniscient

"You hated your sister for stealing Jason Darwin of all people?" Marcoh looked at her with disgust. "You're clearly deranged."

"Call it what you will," Rylee glared back at him, "I'll follow my lord until my dying breath."

Marcoh raised a brow, "even after your sisters death?

"If my lord had ordered me to," Rylee looked him dead in the eye, "I would gladly done it myself."

Upon hearing those words, Marcoh shot to his feet and pulled Rylee up by the collar of her shirt. "Say one more word," he glared her in the eye, "and I swear I'll-"

"You'll what? You'll kill me?" Rylee smirked at him, meeting his gaze with a laugh. "I'd like to see you try."

With a huff Marcoh violently threw Rylee back into her seat, "Sounds to me like the name Spite fits more than I thought. I see why it was that memory that chose you."

"Spite didn't choose me," Rylee told him as she looked out the window, "I chose Spite."

"You moved on from that though, didn't you?" Marcoh asked her. "You found a husband and had two kids. Or was all that just a fib as well?"

"I married, that's true… but it was nothing but a loveless farce. I only did it because Jason ordered me too," Rylee told him with yet another laugh, a tear running down her face. "Besides, the man I married turned out to be a monster. I doubt he could ever love anyone, save for himself."

"And Tara and Carter?" Marcoh asked her, gritting his teeth to contain his anger. "Do your own children mean nothing to you too?"

"If I told you that they did…" Rylee looked him in eye once again, "would you release me?"

"Alex?" an echoed voice called out to the boy as he stared into a dark void. "Alex, come on! Wake up! We need you!"

Alex sharply gasped, his eyes opening to find himself laying on the floor of a stark white room with Cole kneeling above him.

"Oh thank goodness!" Cole breathed, hugging Alex tightly as he pulled the boy up, "I thought we lost you too."

"I'm okay…" Alex let out a breath of his own as he hugged Cole back, noticing the heavy tremor of each breath his friends took as he did so. "Just barely."

His eyes surveyed the room, noticing Carter standing on left side with his hand clenched to the blank featureless wall, Shiore meanwhile knelt gripping her sword by the wall on the right. They were both in their base rider form but had a vastly different energy to them. Shiore looked as though she was deep in thought, or a highly meditative state. Carter meanwhile gritted his teeth and almost snarled when Alex woke up.

"Alex.." Carter spoke, balling the hand he held against the wall into a fist, "why the hell did you have us come here?!"

"Carter," Cole glared at him, "there was no way to know-"

Carter shot a ball of fire at Alex and Cole, the blast whooshing right by the pair and striking the wall behind them. This shut Cole up instantly as Carter turned to look Alex in the eye. Shiore meanwhile watched as the Carter fire blast left nothing more than a scorch mark on the wall it hit, the mark itself fading after a moment as if it was never there in the first place.

"Say another word like that…" Carter growled, aiming his open had at the two male riders, "and the next one will hit you."

"CARTER!" Cole shot to his feet, "You think you're the only shaken up by this?!"

"I don't care," Carter scoffed, "Tara trusted Xtreme, and now she's dead because of it!"

This statement made Alex's heart shattered, the boy sitting there as his entire being shook from the thought Carter placed in his mind. Before Carter could say another word, Cole threw a punch into the fire rider's lower jaw that was strong enough to throw Carter into the back wall.

"One more word like that, and I'll break that jaw of yours," Cole glared at Carter, cracking his knuckles as Carter glared back at him while holding his jaw, "got that?"

In the blink of an eye, Cole took a step back as Shiore suddenly appeared between him and Carter with a blur to her step and her sword aimed to Cole's chest.

"Stop it," she told Cole in her usual ice cold tone, "this is exactly what he wants."

"She's right you two…" Alex said, swallowing his emotions as he stood himself up. "We can't be fighting among ourselves, or none of us are going to get out of here."

The three others riders looked to Alex with a contemplative glance, a glance that was only broke when the wall behind Carter opened up into a long hallway made up of even more countless white rooms. Carter narrowed stared down the hall, then got up and proceeded to start down it.

"Wait!" Alex called out to him, causing Carter to stop dead in his tracks. "We need a plan first."

"I have one," he glared back at Alex over his shoulder. "Find Inertia, then cut off his head." He snapped his fingers, summoning the Ryu-O Buster in a burst of fire before resting it on his shoulder. "Follow me or don't, the choice is yours."

Carter continued to march down the hall, Shiore glancing over to Carter then back to Alex and Cole. After a moment she turned on her heel to follow Carter without a word. The moment she had fully crossed the line on the floor that divided the room she once stood in from the rest of the hall, the open wall that had allowed them through closed with a sudden woosh and a clang.

Shiore jumped, taking a step away from the now closed wall as Carter kept his gaze forward.

"So it is a trap," he gripped his sword tighter as he scanned the hall with his eyes. "We know you're here! Come up and die with dignity you worm!"

With a hiss from the other end of the hall, the wall opened up and Inertia stepped through, the wall closing back up behind him.

"So my son," Inertia spoke closely as he walked towards Carter and Shiore, "You wish to kill me?"

"More than you know," Carter snarled, a spiral of flames engulfing the blade of his sword.

"Perfect… then I no longer need to restrain myself…" Inertia returned with the same cold monotone, the bone white color of his armor darkening to a worn sickly grey while the once vibrant blue shifted to a malevolent shade of violet. A matching pair of feathered wings sprouted from his back as blood red tendrils sprouted from the gaps in his pauldrons and a ruined cloak of the same color unfurled from his back.

"So that's your true form, is it?" Carter asked while gritting his teeth.

"You did not truly believe I commanded META in the form you saw before, did you?" said Inertia with a simple look, "this is the face, of the true Inertia."

"Fight me in whichever form you want," Carter told him, pulling out his Phoenix memory, "you will die either way."

Shiore starred at Carter, her hand automatically drifting to grab her own Shira memory.

"Stay out of this," Carter told her as he replaced his Ryu-O memory with Phoenix, "its my fight now."

Carter spun his driver, the device engulfing him in a howling twister of fire. "PHOENIX!"

In the empty living room of Alex's apartment, a long shadow began to move out from the wall and towards the center of the floor. As the shadow came out, so did the head of Vainglory with his whole body coming out moments later.

"So… he isn't here after all…" Vainglory said with a huff as he surveyed the room, taking not of the clutter on the couch and coffee table as well as the television that was paused on a romance film. Among the clutter on the table, he found a framed photograph of Alice smiling sweetly at the photographer.

"Oh… my darling Alice… look at where your mistake has gotten you..." Vainglory's voice cracked, his helmet unfurling to reveal his poorly kept face as he picked up the photo with a trembling hand. "Buried among garbage, and a son who cares not to dust your frame."

Vainglory dusted off the frame then grinned. "No matter, soon I will make it right… we shall be one once again. I am almost there, so please… wait just a bit longer my love." His lip quivered as a single tear ran down his cheek.

A creek in the floor nearby caused Vainglory's gaze to shift over the kitchen where Madison stood behind the counter pointing a large knife towards him.

"W-Who the hell are you?" she said with a glare in her eyes and a tremor to her grip.

Vainglory met her gaze, shooting a glare of his own back to her as his helmet formed back over his face. "I should ask you the same question," he said, tucking the photo under his arm as he walked towards Madison with his towering stature. "Madison Tyler, I take it?"

"Al- Xtreme isn't here!" she barked at him, continuing to aim the knife at Vainglory as he drew closer towards her. "Now get out!"

With a good swing of her arm, she slashed the knife across Vainglory's chest only for the blade to crack and shatter to bits from the mere contact of his armor. Madison gasped, dropping the handle of the knife to the floor. Vainglory's haunting red eyes remained locked on Madison as the chill of his slow but heavy breathing filled the air like the growl of a beast.

"I will… Ms Tyler," he muttered, flaring out his free hand as he looked down to her, "after I am done what I came here to do."

Madison looked him dead in the eye, gritting her teeth, "And just what in the hell would that be?!"

Madison's voice choked within an instant, the girl finding herself suspended above the floor with Vainglory's hand gripped tightly around her throat. "A message… to that bastard child who believes he is mine…"

As Vainglory tightened his grip, Madison began squirm violently, balling her hands into fists and hurling weak punch after weaker punch at the dopant that held her as she desperately gasped for air. In spite of the fight she put up, Vainglory maintained his hold on the girl who's life he now held in his hand. He tightened his grasp further, pausing only when he noticed smoke beginning to rise from the hand he held her with. The dopant gasped, releasing his grip and dropping her to the floor.

"When he returns, tell him of what happened here," Vainglory spoke, turning on his heel and throwing the now empty picture frame to the floor with the glass shattering and covering the floor. Madison coughed violently, holding her throat as she tried to catch her breath. "The twenty fourth floor, Eighty-Six Eighty-Six Dead End Drive. On the morning of November 17th I will be waiting for him there."

"You have a death wish!" Madison coughed as she forced herself up, "You know that?!"

Vainglory looked down to the girl on the floor for one a single moment more then looked away from her. "No…" he said as he began to sink into the shadows on the floor, "my only wish is to fix this broken world."

Within an instant, Vainglory submerged into the floorboards of Alex's apartment then re-emerged within the shadows of his lair. Stumbling forward with his teeth gritted and fist tightly clenched, he collapsed into his throne and ripped his gaia memory from the driver strapped to his waist returning him to his human form.

Raising his clenched fist, he opened it and his suspicions were confirmed. The skin on the hand he used to grab Madison's throat had been burned away leaving not even the muscle beneath unscathed. Clenching his fist back up and holding it with his other hand, Jason slammed his fists down and threw himself into the backrest of his throne.

"SPITE!" he roared into the shadows of his lair, "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" To Jason's cry, only silence answered. Jason sat there, puzzled as he rose from his seat and called out again. "SPITE?! ANSWER ME!"

Upon his second call, the door to his lair opened allowing a small crack of light to rush in as Rylee stepped through and slowly approached Jason with a broad shouldered stride.

"Forgive me my lord," she bowed before kneeling to Jason, "what is it you require?"

"The eclipse is only days away," he muttered, not even looking in Rylee's general direction, "are all the preparations in place?"

"Yes my lord," Rylee told him, "everything is going according to plan."

"And what of Inertia?" Jason grunted, resting his head on the back of his hand, "where on earth has he disappeared to now?"

"During the battle between Crave the riders and the two enigmas, Inertia turned on us," Rylee bowed her head. "He aided the riders, and was executed by my hand for treason. Forgive me, I should have informed you sooner."

"Do not apologize to me Spite," Jason let out a heavy disappointed sigh, "so long as you do not betray me, or attempt to deceive me in anyway. That is the only thing I need until the dream Alice and I once shared-" he closed his eyes and shed a tear, "- is finally realized."

"Have no fear my lord," Rylee smirked, raising her head as her calm red eyes shifted into a piercing yellow, "I only live to fulfil your desire."

Within the stark white hallway, Carter cut through six of Inertia's tendrils seconds before diving out of the path of another and firing a bright blue blast of fire to burn the tendral to a crisp. Every move he made was in the effort to get closer to Inertia while the dopant that opposed him hadn't moved an inch, guarded by the barrier of thorn covered tendrils that were connected to his wrists and pauldrons. As Carter cut down each Tendril, it would repair itself within seconds.

Inertia stared down Carter, his gaze shifting to Shiore after a moment who still stood sword in hand by the wall opposite Inertia. Without a single word of warning from Inertia, the dopant sent one of his pauldron mounted tendrils hurling in Shiore's direction at high speed. The ice rider noticed this and raised her sword to slice it before it touched her.

Just before the tendril made its mark however, Carter cleaved five tendrils that surrounded him before rushing over to Shiore and sliced the tendril aimed at her cleanly in half. With a snarl and gritted teeth, Carter set his claymore a blaze with blue fire before hurling it at Inertia with a heavy spin to it.

The moment his sword was released from Carter's grasp, all of Inertia's tendrils retracted into him and he leapt out of the burning blade's path just in time for it to strike and embed itself in the wall behind where the dopant had previously stood.

"This is between you and me!" Carter snapped his fingers, the Phoenix King Blade bursting to flames on the wall before reappearing in Carter's clenched fist. "If you so much as touch her-" he glared, "I'll kill you!"

"So… were you not aiming to kill me before?" Inertia looked him, speaking to him as coldly as ever. "Though if you do…" he raised his hand and opened it up fully, the aura he had absorb forming into a pair of gems in the palm of his hand, one yellow and the other navy blue, "what becomes of them?"

"What are you trying to pull now?" Carter demanded, aiming his blade at his foe.

"Your sister and that other girl, they still live within me… for now," Inertia told him. "However, if my gaia memory ceases to maintain operation, the space where they reside will collapse.. and they will die." Inertia narrowed his gaze at Carter, "So kill me, or release them… which will it be, my son?"

Carter glared at him, "What's stop me from forcing you to releasing them and then killing you?"

"You ability to kill is known to me, son," Inertia told him, "if you were able to kill me however… surely, you would have already."

Shiore watched Carter from where he stood frozen for what seemed like an eternity, only for her heart to sink as the fire rider lowered his sword.

"What would I have to do…" Carter spoke with a ferm voice, eyes still glaring at Inertia, "to have you release them?"

"Lay down your sword," Inertia commanded, holding his open hand that contained the yellow and blue gems, "and come take my hand."

Carter's breath slowed with each passing second. Shiore bit her lip as she watched the fire rider from where she stood, only for the ice rider to gasp when he released his hold on the Phoenix King Blade's hilt and allowed it to drop to the floor.

"CARTER!" Shiore called out to him, only for the boy to shoot out his arm to her.

"Stay out of this!" He panted, keeping his gaze locked on Inertia as he took gradual steps towards his foe, "I know what I'm doing."

Inertia watched the boy, holding his hand further as Carter came to be only inches from his reach. Carter glanced down at Inertia, almost losing his breath as he stared into the glimmer of the two gems that were imbedded with the dopant's palm. Looking back up to meet Inertia's gaze, he placed his own hand over top of Inertia's.

Sharpening his gaze upon Inertia, Carter grabbed the dopants hand with one of his own before snapping his fingers with the other to call the Phoenix King Blade back into his grip. Not wasting a moment, Carter swung his sword down upon Inertia's wrist to sever it the palm he held the yellow and blue stones in from the rest of his body.

"Well done Carter…" Inertia spoke, remaining still has he raised his non-severed hand to him, opening it to show the yellow and blue stones embedded within it, "you have passed."

Carter gasped, opening the severed hand he held only for the two points he saw the stones in previously to shoot out into thorned tendrils and drive themselves through his gut and throat. As the thorns pierced his armor and skin, Carter began to tremble from head to toe.

He dropped his sword, gawking at Inertia with an increasingly unsteady gaze. The dopant himself however simply stared at him, entirely unphased by what he saw before him. Weakly and wordlessly, Carter stumbled towards Inertia while reaching his open hand out to grab him.

With a heavy sigh, Inertia took hold of Carter's hand with his own that remained. As the dopant's body repaired itself, Inertia gently held Carter's hand with both of his own.

"You care greatly for your sister… believe me my son, I know," he told him softly moments before Carter burst into dust that flowed with a red aura into Inertia. "Please, take care of her for me."

A red stone formed in the palm of Inertia's hand next to the blue and yellow ones. Inertia breathed out contently, only for Shiore to slash down upon him with her sword with Inertia blocking the attack at the last possible second.

"I was wondering when you'd step in," Inertia glared at her, "Ms. Shirayuki."

Shiore's gaze narrowed at him, "So, you know my name?"

"I know all sorts of things about," Slashing her with his wrist tendril only for her to shatter to pieces of ice. "As I figured," he scanned the room, blocking an attack to his back from Shiore with his shoulder mounted pauldrons. "Your lightning fast speed and ability to form ice into a mobile image of yourself," he glared at her, "a handy trick for dodging a hit.. but taxing on the body. If records serve me right, your maximum at any moment," he turned and slashed Shiore only for that image of her to break apart into ice once again, "is three."

"Your point being?" Her voice snarled as four images of Shiore surrounded him and aimed their swords to him.

"There are four of you, and I have eight tendrils," Inertia glared at the clones with the real Shiore mixed in, "which means that in time.. I will hit the real you."

In Marcoh's apartment, the officer glared at the clock while Rylee glared at him. He focus went undisturbed until his phone rang in his pocket causing him to jump before fishing it out.

"Alex's landline?" He questioned, reading off the caller ID before breathing a sigh of relief, "guess I really was worrying over nothing." He hit the green accept button then raised the phone to his ear, "Hey kiddo, how'd it go?"

"M-Marcoh?" Whimpered out Madison's weak voice followed by a fit of coughing, "is that you?"

"Tyler?" Marcoh questioned, raised his brow as an uneasy feeling caused his heart to clench, "where's Alex?"

"Hasn't come back right…" her voice trembled, "but I have to warn him. Someone's after him!"

Marcoh's heart skipped a beat, time seaming to slow down around him as he thought out his next words carefully "Who's after him?"

"His father…" Madison muttered, "He was here! I saw him, he tried to kill me but stopped for some reason-"

"Tyler! Listen to me!" Marcoh cut in, "Stay right where you are, I'm going to come get you. Do not open the door or answer the phone for anyone else until arrive. Do you understand me?"

"Yes…" Madison muttered, "I do…"

"Good, now sit tight. I'll be there shortly," Marcoh hung up the phone and shot a single glare to Rylee who at this point was looking out the window with her eyes closed.

With a huff, Marcoh walked over to a painting he had hung on the wall and pulled it down to reveal a safe behind it. With his body in front of it, Marcoh punched five zero seven four into the keypad, causing it to unlock and allowing Marcoh to open it. Among other valuables, inside were two dopant drivers at the back and Kat's Gorge memory up front with Rylee's Spite memory right next to it.

"I'll be back in a few hours," Marcoh told her, taking the Spite memory from the safe and placing it in his breast pocket. "Try anything, and I'll know. So unless you want to be thrown into a real prison, I advise you stay put. Got that?"

Rylee remained silent, resulting in a simple huff from Marcoh as he left the apartment and locking the door behind him.

"Five zero.." she muttered once she heard the door lock, her eyes opening into a glare as she eyed the safe in the wall, "seven four."

Back in the stark white hallway, Inertia slashed through three images Yuki only to have them all shattered into ice.

"Still hiding I see," Inertia muttered, his eyes turning behind him moment he heard the slightest echo of a single footstep behind him. The dopant raised his hand to catch Shiore's katana seconds before it made contact with his face. "You can certainly prevent yourself from being seen, but disappearing completely? That is something not even you are capable of."

Shiore sucked her teeth, kicking off Inertia and leaping back while chucking four kunai knives at Inertia only for them be smacked away by his tendrils.

"What's the matter?" He spoke, retracting his tendrils as he took a step forward narrowing his gaze upon Shiore. "You have a stronger form, why not use it?"

Shiore gritted her teeth, her arm pulsing sharply as the Shira memory released a slight chime that only the ice rider could hear. "I don't need it to defeat you!" She barked at him.

"You, do not need it?" Inertia raises a brow at her, "I believe you mean, it does not need you."

Shiore gritted her teeth, holding her arm as a slight beastly growl escaped her lips, "Shut your mouth!"

"The Shira memory is rejecting you, isn't it?" Inertia continued as he drew closer towards her. "Just how everyone else has rejected you. Including my own son," he shrugged.

"I SAID! SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Shiore roared, running up to Inertia and leaping into the air. As she soared over him, she grabbed the top of his head with one hand and raised her sword to his throat with the other.

Running her blade through, she landed on the other side of Inertia's still standing body with his severed head gripped firmly in her hand.

"How bold of you…" he continued from the head she held. "Of course, I'm not that easy to kill."

Shiore's eyes darted toward the head she held, the ice rider tossing it to the wall and pinning it their with a quick throw of a kunai which drove itself deep in into Inertia's eye.

"How are you still alive?!" Shiore barked at him, raising her sword to his head.

"It is a curse placed upon me," The dopant told her, "The gaia memories of Desire, Vainglory, Spite, Gorge, Fury, Crave and Inertia embody the seven deadly sins. As each of us learned long ago, anyone who uses one of the seven tainted memories is denied the grace of death so long as the memory remains intact."

Shiore drove her sword in his other eye, "You expect me to buy that from me?" She said with a glare.

"Whether you do or not does not matter," Inertia told her from his head as his body began to move on its own, stepping gradually towards the ice rider from behind. "Now then, before you interrupted me.. why follow my son to the slaughter?"

"I have my reasons," she told him in a cold tone, "speaking of," she twisted her blade into his eye, "release him and the others. Right now!"

"Tara and Shift I understand, but Carter?" Inertia continued to speak, "After what he did to your clan? To your mother and father? To your brother?"

"He didn't do it," she glared at Inertia's severed head, "he told me himself!"

"And you believed him?" Inertia glanced at her, the hand of his body grasping at Shiore's throat. "Then you, Yuki…" he tightened his grip around her throat, "have failed."

{End of Part A}

{Start of Part B}

In Alex's apartment, police officers gathered around the perimeter while inside Sampson examined the shattered glass on the floor by the kitchen as two other officers checked over the windows. Marcoh held the still shaking Madison by her shoulder as he sat with her on the couch.

"So he just… rose up from the shadows and attacked you?" Sampson asked, looking over to the pair on the couch.

Madison nodded, holding her neck that still pulsed from the grasp of her assailant, "I felt like… if he held me there for a second longer… I would have died…" Her brow furled, "But then he stopped.. And I don't know why."

"Well whatever the reason, we need to notify the others and find that bastard," Marcoh spoke up, looking to Sampson, "Right chief?"

Sampson nodded, going to Alex's phone and calling his son's cell the moment he picked it up. He prepped to wait a few seconds, but gasped when the phone went right to a recorded message, "The number you have dialed is outside of service range, please hang up and try your call again."

"W-What the hell?" questioned Sampson.

"Something's happened to them, hasn't it?" Marcoh said with a glare, getting up from his seat.

Sampson looked to him and simply nodded, "By the looks of things…" He went to the door and grabbed his coat, slipping it over himself, "we have to go." He turned his gaze to Madison, "that means you as well Ms Tyler."

Madison blinked, "Me?" she asked, pointing to herself, "why do I need to go?"

"Because with the threat made on your life, I don't feel right leaving you alone," Sampson told her simply. "So I refuse to let you out of my sight until we find Alex and the others. Understand?"

"Right, I got it," she nodded, getting up from her seat. "So.. where are we going first?"

"My scanner last picked up their signals in the old metalworking district," Marcoh told her, "we'll be checking there first."

Back in the stark white hallways of Inertia's lab, Alex and Cole unloaded shot after shot upon the wall that divided them from Carter and Shiore. Alex was in his Blast Runner combination, firing lightning fast round after lightning fast round while Cole was in Bite with his wrist mounted gatling gun and shoulder mounted missile pods refusing to let up even as the risked overheated. Suddenly, amidst the constant firing from both their weapons came a loud hiss from the wall.

"Wait," Alex ceased his onslaught, pulling his weapon back, "hold fire."

Cole let out a sharp gulp, stopping his firing as well. Within moments, the wall opened back up again causing the hearts of both Alex and Cole to race. Their eyes only seconds later shot open in horror as the wall opened up fully to reveal Inertia and Shiore facing them head on with Inertia's hand still gripped tightly around her throat and his tendril running right through her gut.

"They put up more than a challenge then I expected," Inertia told the two riders as Shiore burst into dust, her pale blue aura swirling towards his hand and forming a gemstone in his palm alongside the others. Inertia stared down Alex and Cole, clenching the fist that held the stones, "Let's see how the two of you fare."

Cole and Alex shook with both fear and rage, the pair gritting their teeth before opening fire upon Inertia. "DAMN YOU!" they roared in unison.

Inertia stood there, taking every hit while gritting his teeth and keeping his gaze locked on Alex and Cole. After a while of firing, they stopped shooting a looked to see that Inertia was still up right and steam from all the shots that had been pumped into him.

"Bastards still standing," grunted Cole, hitting the touch screen on his driver resulting in his gatling gun dissolving into a data and his shoulder pads closing back up. "I'll try getting up close and personal."

He struck a pair of icons on the screen, "LASER SLICER! TRAIL BREAKER!" screamed the driver as his wrist mounted laser swords shot out from his gauntlets and his feet mounted tank treads form around his feet.

"Cover me," Cole told Alex, taking a wide legged stance as he revved up his treads and Inertia let out his tendrils. Alex nodded, aiming his blaster at Inertia.

In the blink of an eye, Cole darted towards Inertia as the dopant unleashed his tendrils upon the advancing rider. Thankfully Cole, Alex had his back and was able to fire the tendrils clean off from Inertia before they so much as touched him. Inertia sucked his teeth with a snarl, retracting his tendrils on his pauldrons and along with the ones on his wrists, the wrist mounted tendrils becoming long enough to be used as short thorning blades.

"As I figured," Cole narrowed his gaze upon Inertia, slicing the tendrils on the dopants wrists clean off before grabbing him by the head and stabbing him through the chest. "Using those tendrils of yours makes you stationary. Which means I can do as I please so long as I avoid them."

Revving up his trail breakers, Cole rammed Inertia into a nearby wall and driving Inertia's head and chest into it. "That's for Carter and Shiore!" he barked, twisting the blade with Inertia's back resulting in a cry of agony from Inertia. "That's for Ashley.. And this-" he pulled his sword from Inertia's back then, with all of his strength, he hurled the dopant into the air, "Is for Tara!"

He struck a button on his driver's touch screen, "BITER! MAX!" cried the device, his sword retracting as his Gatling Buster re-appeared on his left arm and the missile pods on his shoulder reopened, his Giga Drill forming around his right arm. Cole then pulled out the lever on his driver before plunging it back in with a quick motion. "BITER! MAXIMUM DRIVE!" cried his driver as Cole unleashed a barrage of missiles and bullets from his missile pods and Gatling Buster upon Inertia, filing the entire all with smoke and debris.

Alex let out a sharp breath, walking up to Cole as he lowered his gun to his side, "Did you.. Get him?" he panted, his heart still racing.

"No clue," Cole said, keeping his gaze fixed on the cloud of debris as it began to clear.

A loud crack echoed through the hall. "That actually hurt," Inertia spoke as he stepped out of the debris, the wall behind him repairing itself as he popped his arm back into the socket. "By my calculations, with point five percent more fire power," he narrowed his gaze upon Alex and Cole, "you might have actually killed me."

"Then why tell me?" Cole glared at him with a heavy breath, one of his knees beginning to tremble, "I'll just hit you harder next time."

"Because you hit me with a Maximum Drive, Cole Desmond. The second one, if memory serves me right," Inertia said as he brought out all of his tendrils again. "Try for a third, and the raw power alone would shatter you to the core before you could so much as aim your shot, let alone actually hitting me."

Alex pulled his blast memory from his driver and held it up to his chest, "You forget you're fighting two riders here!"

Inertia's eyes darted over to Alex, glaring at him, "Yes.. you are correct…" In a single motion, one of Inertia's tendrils struck the Blast memory out of Alex's hand.

Holding his hand, he maintained his gaze on Inertia, "I have more than that up my sleeve!" He went to pull out another memory, only for Inertia to grab at Alex's ankle with one of his tendrils.

"With that… you are also correct…" Inertia spoke, pulling Alex towards him by the foot.

"Let him go!" Cole barked, weakly raised his gatling buster and firing off at the tendril with only a few of his shots being being able to hit their mark.

"And what will you do if I don't?" Inertia glared at him, raising his remaining seven tendrils in Alex's direction as he bashed the boy into one wall then another. "You're worn out, I doubt you could even maintain your form for much longer. The clock is ticking Cole Desmond, and Alex Darwin will soon pay the price."

"SHUT YOUR GODDAMN MOUTH!" Alex shouted at Inertia, holding onto the tendril that had him suspended into the air with one hand gripping his Corona Blaster with the other. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH OUT OF YOU!"

With the Corona Blaster unsteadily aimed in Inertia's general direction, Alex fired off what shot his blaster had left with the Blast driver removed from his driver. One shot struck Inertia's shoulder, while the dopant easily batted the others away.

"Likewise, I am beginning to feel the same about you," Inertia spoke, sending his remaining seven tendrils hurling towards Alex.

With a gasp from both the heavily worn out riders, Alex pulled back on the trigger of his blaster only to get a slight fit of sparks from the barrel. Shortly after, the blaster itself dissolved into data followed by the vibrant blue top half of his armor fading into a depowered grey.

"Damn it!" Alex grunted, reaching for another memory only to whipped into the floor by Inertia's tendril, breaking Alex's transformation with a cry of agony upon impact. The other tendrils adjusted their course in response.

Gritting his teeth, Cole swiped the touch screen on his driver resulting in his Giga-Drill and Gatling Buster dissolving into data, the missile pods on his shoulders retracting once again. He then struck another icon, "LASER SLICER!" Cried his driver as his wrist mounted laser swords shot back out again.

Due to a newly found burst of adrenaline, all of Cole's actions happened within the span of a few milliseconds which made it nearly impossible to perceive in real time. This increase in speed allowed him to rush over between Inertia and Alex and slice through three tendrils with one sword then cut through another three tendrils with the other all before Alex so much as hit the ground.

"Thanks.. man…" Alex panted, "thought I was a goner there."

"Don't worry," Cole said as he sliced the tendril tethered around Alex's leg, "I've always got your back."

Before either of them could so much as say anything else, Cole let out a sudden gasp as the one remaining tendril of Inertia drove itself through Cole's back and broke out from the front of his chest.

"COLE!" Alex shrieked, climbing to his knees as his friend fell to his own. "Cole no! No no no!" Alex pleaded, grabbing as his friend and holding him with his shaking hands while tears began to run down from his face.

"A noble effort, Cole Desmond," Inertia spoke as he clenched his fist, "but if you are always watching his back, then who watches yours?"

"Alex…" Cole gripped Alex's collar, looking him dead in the eye as his whole body began to tremble, "kick his ass…"

With those last words, Cole shattered to dust which once again flowed into Inertia this time with a green aura. Alex fell to the floor, tightly gripping the air in his arms that once was his best friend. He shook, his tears breaking into full on sobbing as his body curled up into a ball on the floor.

"He was one of the best of you.. shame he didn't have what it took to end it when he could," Inertia told Alex, looking over to the crying boy on the floor. "Tears? Are you not going to even try to avenge them?" He asked, holding the five colored stones he held in the palm of his hand.

Alex didn't respond, the boy continuing to sob. "Carter… Shiore… Tara…" he whimpered in the dirt, "Ashley.. Cole… Madison… somebody… help me…"

"There is no one left who is able to help you, Alex… you may as well accept it." Inertia narrowed his gaze upon Alex and unfurled all eight of his tendrils once more, "It's over."

Inertia hurled his tendrils towards Alex, and as they drew closer to the crying boy on the floor, the ceiling above him began to crack with a loud thud. Inertia's gaze shifted up to the ceiling, "What?!"

Seconds before Inertia's tendrils could hit their mark, the ceiling gave way and the Xtreme memory shot down from the hole it made and connected to Alex's driver. Alex gasped, a blinding light eruption from the driver and shattering all of Inertia's tendrils.

{Insert fight song: "Extreme Dream" by Labor Day}

"No Inertia…" a angelic voice echoed in the dopant's ear, "it's not over!"

Inertia froze, the voice sending a shiver down his spine, "Alice?"

"Inertia!" Roared Alex as he climbed to his feet, gritting his teeth while tightly gripping his driver with one hand and the pink Madison memory with the other. "You've made two massive mistakes today. The first was not killing me when you had the chance!"

Inertia narrowed his gaze at the boy and smirked at him, "And the second?"

"Was letting me hold out to this!" Alex told him, holding Madison's memory to him before striking the activation button.

The memory cried out Madison's name, however due to a slight distortion from Alex's tinkering the name it cried out instead sounded closer to, "MAXIMUM!"

"Please guys..." Alex breathed, slamming the memory into the Maximum Drive slot on his belt before placing both hands on the Xtreme memory, "give me your strength."

Alex split his driver open, the pair of memories in turn crying out, "MAXIMUM! XTREME!"

Alex Ultimate Xtreme form materialized around him while a violent whirlwind raged around the boy, his transformation however was not quite down. The Maximum memory sparked a change in the Xtreme memory, its jet black wings sparkling into a shimmery pink while the red X became an even more brilliant gold. On the Ultimate Xtreme form itself, the black and red on it changed to match the new color of the memory with the eyes of Alex's helmet shifting from its burning amber color to a far more regal sapphire blue.

To top off the new form, Alex now gripped a heart shaped shield that was grafted to his left arm. The face of it was pink just like his armor, with a pair or stylized Ms lining both sides of it. This shield's name was the Maximum Defender.

"So you have a new form," Inertia scowled, hurling all eight of his tendrils towards Alex. "You'll still lose if you can't fight with it!" Alex remained still, allowing all eight tendrils to pierce his body. "As I suspected… now you have lost."

"Inertia…" Alex spoke in a snarl as sparks began to erupt from where the tendrils had pierced him, the fully charged rider extending his right arm out to the side before calling X-Calibur into it. "This Xtreme is made from the memories I have of all my friends. If you wish to absorb all that," with one clean swing of his blade, Alex cut through all eight of Inertia's tendrils, "I dare you to so much as try!"

As his tendrils were cut, Inertia jumped back only for Alex to dash behind him in the blink of an eye and slash down his sword upon the dopant. Quickly turning to face, Inertia blocked the strike with one of his gauntlets, sparks flying off from the gauntlet and the edge of X-Calibur's blade.

"I'll admit you have power," Inertia spoke, his gauntlet beginning to crack under the weight of the opposing blade, "but that alone won't allow you to win."

"Why should I believe a liar like you!" Barked Alex, continuing to push down on his sword, "You said you wanted to defeat Vainglory, but now-" he narrowed his gaze upon Inertia, "-what makes you any different from him?!"

With a grunt, Inertia shoved Alex back breaking the parry. "Defeat me, and I might just answer that question." He eyed his gauntlet, gritting his teeth as it remained damaged.

"Don't worry," Alex took a wide stance and tightly gripped both of his weapons, "I plan to."

With a quick leap forward, Alex swung his sword at Inertia only for Inertia to block it with his undamaged gauntlet. Alex had prepared for this however and from the blocked slash he went right into a punch with the arm he held his Maximum Defender. The punch landed and cut into Inertia's side, staggering the dopant for a moment as he stumbled forward and allowing Alex to skirt past him under his arm.

Inertia held his side and gritted his teeth to bare through the pain, "Lucky hit…" he muttered, glaring at Alex from over his shoulder, "but it will take more than that to bring me down."

"I know," Alex stood and held up his clenched fist, Inertia gasping when he saw that Alex held within it the memories of Gale, Rock, Yuki and Ryu-O, "but with these, the next hit will."

"What?!" Inertia stepped forward, bringing out his still cut tendrils in a defensive formation, "How did-"

"I don't know, but I don't care," Alex raised his X-Calibur, a white aura reaching out from it and pulling the four memories into a slot on the guard. "Your rampage ends here!"

"GALE! MEMORY CHARGE! ROCK! MEMORY CHARGE! YUKI! MEMORY CHARGE! RYU-O! MEMORY CHARGE!" cried out each memory as it was inserted into X-Calibur's guard, Alex pulling out the Star memory and slipping it into the slot at the top of the hilt. "STAR! MEMORY CHARGE!"

Once the star memory was in place, the wings, shin guards and claws granted to Xtreme by Gale, Rock and Yuki formed onto Alex's armor with Yuki's wrist mounted claws unfolding through the Maximum Defender through slots that seemed designed for that purpose. Clenching both of his fists, Alex caused the blade of X-Calibur to ignite in fire with a similar effect spouting out of the tips of the Ms that lined the sides of the Maximum Defender.

With his power at its highest, Alex dashed towards Inertia and drove the claws of his shield arm through Inertia's gut, the dopant becoming stunned as a direct result of the hit.

"You have wings, let's see if you can use them," Alex raised his sword to the ceiling, pulling back on the trigger resulting in a towering inferno shooting out and burning a hole through enough layers to allow daylight to shine through from above. "Going up."

With a beat of his wings, Alex shot up through the roof of the building until they were several hundred feet above it. Once high enough in the air, Alex tossed Inertia away only for the dopant to recover and turn himself back to face Alex with a defensive stance. The pair locked eyes, the beating of their wings syncing with one another in a matter of seconds.

"As someone often accused of lying, I've told only one today," Inertia spoke as his wrist mounted tendrils formed into a pair of blades. "Destroying the Inertia memory is the only way to release the energy it has stolen. Defeat me, and your friends will be restored."

"I will," Alex glared at him, gripping his sword, "count on it."

Their gaze was not to be uninterrupted, as the sound of sirens began to echo from below. The opposing foes looked down to see a full squad of police cars that had gathered around the building, Alex being able to spot Madison, Marcoh and Sampson looking up him from below.

"An audience has gathered," Inertia glared, holding his hand out to the building, "a shame… I wasn't planning on any civilian casualties." He said, an orb of deep violet energy beginning to form in the palm of his hand.

"Leave them out of this!" Alex roared, rushing over to Inertia and slashing his sword at the wrist of Inertia that held the orb.

Inertia narrowed his gaze upon Alex, raising his free arm to block the slash. "Sorry Alex…" he spoke as his gauntlet shattered to bits, "they're already involved."

Flexing out his hand, Inertia fired the ball of energy at the crowd below. The hearts of both Alex and Madison skipped a beat, the fully powered rider diving down to meet the shot. With a quick mid air turn, Alex raised his shield to block the shot only for it exploded into a blast that shattered the sound barrier and hurled Alex into the ground below.

"ALEX!" Shouted Madison as she ran to his side, lifting him up with both of her hands, "Are you alright?!"

"Yeah…" Alex panted, gripping Madison's hand as tight as he could with one of his own, "just keep your head down until I've finished things."

"Darwin," Marcoh spoke, coming up to the pair as he stared at Inertia in the air, "who the hell is that?"

"Inertia, and he's as dangerous as he looks," Alex told him as he stood back up with Madison's help.

"You think you can take him on your own?" Sampson asked, feeling a chill run down his spine.

"If I don't, no one else will," Alex gulped, "the others… they're gone."

"G-Gone?" Madison gasped, "as in.."

"Not entirely," Alex told her, looking back up at Inertia, "I've got one shot to get them back, and I'm going to take it."

"Alex…" Madison placed her hand on his shoulder, "Just, come back safe, okay?"

Alex nodded, "I will."

Without another word, Alex shot back up into the sky and past Inertia, giving the dopant a heavy slash up his chest with X-Calibur. This staggered Inertia, allowing Alex the time he needed to slide the blade X-Calibur into a slot made for it on the top of the Maximum Defender and position himself above the still air born dopant.

"As I said before Inertia!" Alex called down to him, closing the slots of his driver, "Your rampage… ends here!" He said before reopening his driver.

"MAXIMUM! XTREME! MAXIMUM DRIVE!" Roared the pair of memories in unison.

"MAXIMUM MEMORY STORM!" shouted Alex as he dove down into a drop kick with both his feet extended, striking Inertia in the chest and taking the dopant down as the rider kicked him numerous times each with a spark and an explosion.

"Congratulations… Alex Darwin…" Inertia smirked as he felt himself strike the ground, "you've passed the test…"

{End fight song}

Inertia struck the ground, causing a deep and very wide circular crater to form in the ground where he had landed. Alex flipped off from Inertia, touching down just outside the mouth of the hole with a firm but quickly weakening stance. His body trembled, the Xtreme memory losing its color as Alex closed his driver resulting in his armor dissolving away and returning him to his cut up and bruised civilian form. His ankles shook as he inched his way closer to the crater, looking down to see a withered old man with dust oozing out from him and into the air.

The moment Alex laid eyes on the man, his legs gave out and he tumbled into the hole and rolled down it until he was practically on top of him. Alex's breathing was heavy, his hand clenching the dirt only to find something within the unsettled soil. He weakly lift his fist to see that he was holding what remained of the Inertia memory shattered to bits and faded of all color.

"You asked... what made Vainglory different from myself…" the severely aged Joel muttered as he stared up at the sky, watching as the particles of dust flowed out from his being, "he will stop at nothing to get what he wants… and I have sacrificed everything in my efforts… to save those I love." He used all the energy he had left to shift his gaze towards Alex, "If nothing else… don't let my efforts be wasted."

Alex looked up to Joel, cold tears beginning to run down his face as he lay there next to the withering man, "It didn't have to be this way… we could've-"

"What's done is done… Alex…" Joel looked at him, a smile appearing on his face, "Inertia… the inability to end the monster I had called a friend… were my sins to bare." He lifted his hand and placed it on top of the boy's head, "Nevertheless… you now have all that you need to face Vainglory on your own."

"I will…" Alex nodded, beginning to choke up, "I'll defeat him, then make sure no one ever will be able to open the gate again! I swear!"

"I see… then I have only one more favor to ask…" Joel muttered as his body began to break apart, "in the world you leave behind… make sure it is one where Carter and Tara can be happy."

With those final words, Joel broke apart completely leaving Alex alone in the crater.

"I will…" the boy muttered as his still tear filled eyes began to close, Alex's vision beginning to go dark, "I swear…"

"Alex?" A soft voice called out from the shadow of the void, "ALEX!"

His eyes opened once again, gasping as he saw Madison crying over top of him and holding him as tight as she could. Letting out a sigh of relief, Alex wrapped his own arms around her and brought her closer towards him.

"It's okay Madison…" he spoke in a still weakened voice, "I'm okay."

As they two held one another, the pitter patter of several footstep in the dirt became to echo in the distance and grow louder as they drew closer. Two pairs of footsteps stopped once they reached the top of the crater while three others dove in and proceeded to slide down the side of the hole itself.

"HOT BOD!" Tara's voice cried out as the blond rider shoved Madison off him, "I get you're having a moment, but I need Superstar right now!" She barked, grabbing Alex by the collar and looked him in the eye with her own that were full of rage. "Where's Inertia?! I'm gonna kill him!"

Alex took in a sharp gulp, gently placing his hand over top of Tara's as he met her gaze with his own, "He's… he's gone…" he told her, showing her the broken memory he held in his hand.

"G-Gone?" Tara's heart sank, grabbing the memory shards from Alex's hand as her body suddenly began to tremble. "As in…" Alex simply nodded, pulling Tara close and holding her.

"What happened?" Cole spoke up, him and Ashley both standing in the crater with they same worried and confused expression.

"I.. I passed his test…" Alex told them, managing a sad smile, "then he told me.. To make sure that Tara and Carter would be happy…"

Tara fell to her knees, tears beginning to uncontrollably run down from her face as Cole came over to her before gently placing both of his hands on her shoulders.

"Wait, if he told you that.." Ashley spoke up, looking Alex in the eye, "then he wasn't aiming to kill any of us?"

Alex shook his head, "He was trying to help us... " he looked down to the Xtreme memory that still clung to his belt, "and by the looks of things.. He did."

From the mouth of the crater, Shiore and Carter stared down from above. Carter maintained his gaze upon the riders while Shiore in time shot a glare towards Carter. She clenched her fist as her arm began to violently pulse.

"He told me he didn't do it," her own words echoed in her mind as she looked upon Carter. "And you believed him?" echoed Inertia's response.

As this scene transpired, Ms Seraphina watched it with a smirk through the reflection in a glass of red wine she held in her hand while sitting at a bar in a form fitting black dress.

"Inertia you fool," she spoke, "in your efforts to foil the events I have set in motion… you've only brought them one step closer to becoming a reality."

"HEY! IT'S YOU ISN'T!" a voice called out to her, Seraphina looking over then down to see a scrawny poorly kept teenager with long ratty hair and spotty facial hair clawing at her feet. "You're the one they call Desire, aren't you?"

Seraphina's gaze flickered in surprise then she regained her composed smirk, "that I am…" she told him, patting him on the head, "now tell me, what is yours my child?"

"There's this girl," said the boy whose clothes smelled of rain, "will you help me win her heart?"

Later that same night, Shiore sat in her darkened condo eating away at the meal she had cooked for herself. As she cut away at her food, the arm she held her knife with began to violently pulse once more until eventually the plate shattered under the pressure of the knife. She punched the table, pulling her pulse arm to her chest and grabbing at her sweater with her free hand.

"Damn it!" she gritted her teeth as a direct result of the pain, tears running down her face as she pulled back the sleeve of her sweater to stare at the icy blue crystal like shards that protruded out from her arm. The crystals pulsed in a pale blue glow, and were not just stuck to her skin, then were growing out from it. Her lower lip trembled, closing her eyes as she curled up into a ball in her chair. "... Damn it…"

{Insert ending theme: "Magia" by Kalafina}

Next time on Kamen Rider Ultimate Xtreme:

The riders prepare for the final confrontation against Vainglory, while Desire aims to disrupt their plans.

Will the riders be able to prevail in spite of the interruptions?

All will be decided when Kamen Rider Ultimate Xtreme continues in:

Episode 42: One More Day

Happy birthday, Yuki.