Episode 42: One More Day

Ten years ago on the afternoon of November 17th in a traditional Japanese home, a six year old Shiore blew out the candles of a white birthday covered in blueberries and matching flowers make of sugar and frosting. The room filled with applause from the trio that sat around her, an older man and woman and a young boy about ten years older than her.

"Happy birthday Shiore," said the man and woman. "What did you wish for?" Asked the woman.

"Mom! If I tell you it won't come true!" Pouted Shiore, smirking at the young boy, "Besides!" She jumped at him, the boy wincing as he caught her, "Its big brother's birthday too! Remember?!"

"Hey there!" The boy laughed, "you know, you're a lot heavier than you look."

"Satoshi!" The mother barked with a laugh, "that is no way to speak to a lady."

"Ya! Big brother!" Shiore snickered, biting her brother on the hand before darting away on all fours.

"Ow!" Cried Satoshi as he held his hand, glaring at his little sister, "That's not a lady mother, that's a beast in the guise of one."

"Lady or beast, she's right about one thing," the father got up and headed over to a sliding door, opening it as he poked his head and arm into the dark hallway behind it, "Satoshi it is your birthday as well." He pulled himself back in, holding a black case which he proceeded to hold out to the boy, "And so, it is on this day that you are ready to claim your birthright. Your legacy."

Satoshi gasped, as did Shiore. The pair of them with their eyes fixed on the case.

"Shiore," cooed her mother, patting the floor to get her attention, "come to mother please."

Shiore's face lit up with a grin, charging once again on all fours before leaping into her mother's arm. "Sing me a birthday song mom!" She demanded.

"A song?" Her mother grinned, "which one?"

Shiore's grin widened as she relaxed into her mother's arm. "The one I like… more than the others…"

Shiore's mother patted her daughter on the head, then took in a deep breath. "Yuki wa shiroku" she started to sing, "daichi wo somete. Sora he tsuzuku" With a heavy yawn, Shiore cuddled up into her mother's lap and fell asleep as she continued to sing, "michi wo tsukuru."

Once Shiore was asleep, the mother nodded to the father, "She's asleep Otoya.. You may continue now."

The father bowed his head to his wife, "Thank you Shion." He said as he gripped the case, opening it to his son to reveal the Yuki Driver contained within on the bottom half of the case and the Yuki and Shira memories staring at the boy from the top half, "This is one thing I'd rather Shiore not become involved in."

Satoshi gasped in awe at the sight of the device, reaching out with a trembling hand as he placed his hand atop the driver "Father…" he muttered as he looked up to meet his father's gaze, "are you sure I'm ready?"

Otoya nodded, "I am sure, my son."

Satoshi managed a smile, "Thank you father." He bowed, "I won't let you down." He took the driver in his hands and brought it to his waist, a pair of belt straps shooting out before connecting at the back.

"It suits you Satoshi," smiled Otoya, taking the Yuki Memory out from its case before closing the case with the Shira memory still inside it. "However, I believe we need to complete the look, don't you?" He handed his son the Yuki Memory.

Satoshi nodded as he took the memory, "Please, not in the house," Shion called out gently, motioning towards her daughter, "at least not while someone is trying to sleep."

"Shion, sweety, we were not going to," Otoya laughed, looking to his son. "At least not here, right Satoshi?"

His son sharply gulped then nodded, eyeing the case his father still held. "And.. we'll be testing the other memory too? Right?"

"No, we will not," Otoya's tone suddenly changed to a more serious one, placing the case back behind the door he got from and shutting it. "The Shira memory is… different to what you are used to, Satoshi. Only those it accepts can use it.. And those it does not…" he looked his son dead in the eye with a narrow soul piercing gaze, "it will rip them apart, little by little until there is nothing left. That's why unless the day comes where it deems you worthy of it, you are better to pretend that it does not exist."

Satoshi's heart beat slowed to a crawl upon hearing his father's words, "How…" he finally muttering, "How will I know if it does?"

"Should that time ever come," his father told him, "you my son, will know."

The morning of November 16th, present day. It was a cold day with frost covering every surface it could outside and yet not a single flake of snow had fallen. Shiore stood in the lobby of her building by a wall of mailboxes staring into her own that was empty as she held a trio of three white envelopes. All of them were bills, the same three bills she had received since she had moved into that building. As she stood there on that cold November morning, holding the same three pieces of mail that was all she ever received, her arm violently pulsed once again. It was only for a moment, however, and was stopped when she heard something she did not expect.

"Hey! I didn't know you lived here!" called out a voice that was softer than the coo of a dove, "Small world, isn't it?"

With a slight jump, Shiore pulled the sleeve of her sweater over her pulsing arm and turned on her heel to see Madison standing directly behind her with a smile on her face and a thick winter jacket covering her. "Oh… it's just you," she muttered, the blink of her eyes being the only movement made by her face, "Madison Tyler, right?"

"You got it," she nodded, pointing a finger at the ice rider, "and you'd be, Shiori right?"

"Shiore," the girl blinked once again, "the e on the end makes more of an a sound as opposed to an e sound. Common mistake though, to be fair."

"Right, sorry. Shoulda known better given all the anime I watch," Madison laughed, jabbing herself in the head lightly with her fist. "Anyway, I'm just a bit shocked that you and I live in the same building you know?"

Shiore nodded, staring Madison in the eye with the occasional blink as girl before her just stared at her with her grin seeming to grow wider and wider with each passing second, "Is there… something you needed?" Shiore muttered after a while of silence.

"Well yeah, I was hoping you and I could be friends," Madison said, extending her open hand to her, "So.. how about it? We could hang out, go to the movies, that sort of thing?"

Shiore looked at the girl's hand then looked back to meet Madison's gaze, "You… want to 'hang out'... with me?"

"Of course," Madison said, continuing to hold her hand out. "Like today for example, I'm on my way to meet the others at this cafe called the Cat's Eye. You wanna go together?"

Upon hearing the words 'the others' escape Madison's lips, Carter's face appeared in the back of Shiore's mind as her eyes flickered violet for a split second. "I see…" her neutral gaze shifted slightly to a glare, "will HE be there?"

"He?" Madison asked.

"Ryu-O," Shiore clarified, "you may know him as Carter."

"I think they're all going," Madison told her, "so he'll probably be there. Why do you ask?"

Shiore slammed her mailbox closed and pulled her key from it. "Because if he is there," she muttered to Madison as she brushed past her, refusing to look the other girl in the eye, "then I will not be."

Madison felt her heart sink as she watched Shiore walk down the lobby of the building and into a hallway that lead to the elevators, turning around a corner. "Could two Kamen Riders be…" she finally spoke, cocking up a brow, "fighting?"

Unbenounced to Madison, she and Shiore's brief conversation was being watched. As Shiore stormed over and into one of the elevators, she marched right past an old woman with grey hair and pale skin, dressed in black with an amber ring on her finger.

"Finally," she smirked as she turned her yellow eyes to the ring she wore, three monstrous shadows appearing in the reflection. "The day I have waited so long for... has finally arrived."

It was a cold day, and it was only going to get colder.

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

In the dark shroud of an underground laboratory, Jason stared at a large test tube in a stark white room through a pane of glass from where he stood in a darkened room filled with scientists typing away on keyboards. The old tired eyed man glanced over to Rylee who had her hand pressed down on an intercom.

"All signs are reading green Carter," she spoke firmly with a slight tremor to her voice, "proceed with phase two of gaia memory activation test."

"Yes… mother…" Carter's voice echoed from the intercom with a heavy breath. "Hen… shin…"

"RYU-O!" Roared from the speakers, the test tube within the white room filling up with a warm amber color. Jason kept his eyes on the tube while Rylee's gaze darted quickly to the scientists working away on the terminals.

"How is he?" Rylee asked, a bead of sweat running down her face.

"Synchronization between subject and Ryu-O gaia memory is stabilization," said one of the scientists, looking over their screen, "we should have the full results in-" They stopped typing, a gasp escaping their lips as a massive string of errors began to pop up on the screen.

Alarms flared in the lab, the amber color of the test tube switching to a violent blood red as cracks began to form in the glass.

Rylee slammed her fist down on the desk, looking the scientist in the eye, "What's happening to him in there?! Tell me!"

"Synchronization is destabilization…" said the scientist, typing away frantically at the keypad, "gaia memory corruption is increasing even with the driver in place."

"Then shut it down!" Rylee demanded "Before we lose him!"

The scientist gritted their teeth even further, attempting to write code faster than errors were piling up, "That's what I'm trying to-"

The room went dark, everything from the lights to even the terminals shutting off with the only source of light left coming from the tube beyond the glass. A slight snarl began to erupt from it, the glass cracking even further before giving way to Ryu-O's fist as it punched through it.

Rylee's entire being trembled as she stared at the armored fist, "... Carter?…" Her voice began to sound younger, the dark taking over the entire room, "CARTER!"

Upon the second calling of his name, Carter's eyes shot open to find himself sitting in a booth at the Cat's Eye cafe with Alex and Ashley across from him and Cole directly beside him.

"Are you okay?" Ashley spoke, raising a brow at him, "you've just been staring off into space for the past-" she checked her phone and looked at the time, "-twenty minutes."

"Was I?" Carter let out a wince, holding his head. "Sorry… what were we talking about?"

"Vainglory," Alex chimed in with a whisper, "we might have the power to defeat him now, but that won't do us any good without knowing who we're up against." He clenched his fist tight, "After what he did to Madison, I refuse to let him do as he pleases for a minute longer."

Cole kept one eye on the conversation and the other on Tara as she went about serving customers with a smile on her face and a pair of yellow cat ears on her head as a bit of personal flare to her uniform.

Carter stared at Alex and Ash before letting out a heavy sigh, "Honestly… I don't know much more that you all do." Carter fell silent as he gave the matter some thought, "except for…" he narrowed his gaze upon the other riders, "his ability to manipulate and phase into shadows. I've only seen it a handful of times, but if there is a shadow, no matter how small, he can weaponize it or disappear into it."

Ash looked at him with a raised brow, then laughed. "Sounds like the perfect fit for a coward," She said as she leaned back into her seat before crossing his arms.

"Coward or not, how do we beat him?" Cole asked.

Ashley shrugged, "Grab a big light source and blind him with it? I dunno."

It was at that precise moment that the cafe's front door chimed as Madison walked in, scanning the room before finding her friends and hurrying over to their booth.

"Sorry I'm late," she panted as she sat next to Alex, the pair exchanging a kiss and a hug as they were reunited, "traffic was a nightmare."

"Hey, you're here now right?" Alex managed a smile as he wrapped his arm around her, "Shouldn't that be all that matters?" Madison gave him a smile of her own and nodded.

"Hot Bod! You made it!" Tara cheered as she rushed up to the table her friends were all seated at, a grin on her face and a pen and paper in her hands, "What can I get for you?"

"I'm good for right now," Madison shrunk her head a bit as her face turned bright red, "and, could you maybe stop with the whole Hot Bod thing? It makes me a bit uncomfortable."

Tara looked at her and blinked, her own face becoming its own shade of red, "Oh… sure, of course." She regained her grin, "I'll just need to come up with a better nickname for you. A slight headache for me saves a lot of discomfort for you, right?"

"Right," Madison nodded as she managed a grin once again, "thank you."

Ashley looked over to Tara, raising her hand, ""I'm still Juicy Butt, right?"

Tara smirked, "The juiciest," she said, clicking her teeth together with a wink.

Balling her hands into fists, she pumped her arms back into her chest, "Yes!" she cheered under her breath.

"Now then, it looks like we're still missing someone," Tara looked everybody over. "Where's the ice queen hiding?"

"Oh! I actually ran into her this morning," Madison told her with her hand raised, "would you believe I lived in the same building as her this whole time and didn't know?"

"She is known to be good keeping quiet," Ashley threw in, "sometimes I forget she's there when she's standing right next to me."

"She said she was coming though? Right?!" Tara said with a big grin on her face, like a kitten about to be given a treat.

"Oh… um actually… no…" Madison glanced over to Carter for a second before quickly looking back to Tara. "She said she was busy, and told me to tell all of you to just... carry on without her?" Carter felt his heart drop to his stomach upon hearing those words.

"Well… that sucks…" Tara let out a disappointed sigh. She shrugged after a moment, "Oh well, nothing we can do about it now I guess." She removed her cat ears and placed them on the table before calling out to another worker with shoulder length chestnut hair, "NATALIE, MY FRIENDS ARE ALL HERE! I'M GOING ON BREAK!"

"KAY!" Natalie called back to her, "BUT THEY'RE NOT EATING FOR FREE, JUST SO YOU KNOW!"

"MY DAD OWNS THE PLACE!" Tara stuck her tongue out at Natalie, "JUST SO YA KNOW!"

Across town in Marcoh's apartment, Rylee stared blankly out the window from where she sat in the chair she was cuffed to. Her lower lip quivered ever so slightly as she felt a sharp pain in her heart and the glare of Marcoh over her shoulder.

"Inertia…" she muttered, "is gone?"

"He was engaged in combat with the kid by the time we got to him… he did not survive," Marcoh told her with a nod of his head, "I only thought that you should know."

"I see…" She muttered once again, still staring blankly out the window, "what about Carter, and Thea?"

"They're fine, Inertia it seems was the only casualty in the entire affair," Marcoh told her, heading over to the painting he kept on the wall, taking it down to reveal the safe once again. "Now, if you'll excuse me," he went to open it.

"How many?" Rylee called out to him, causing the officer to stop inputting the code and turn to face her.

"What was that?" He asked her with a firm gaze on her.

"Gaia memories…" she spoke, "how many do you… have in there?"

"Yours, and one other," he told her.

"Gorge?" She asked suddenly, "it's the Gorge memory… isn't it?"

Marcoh glared at her, "so what if it was?"

"I have been looking for its user for some time now…" she spoke softly, with a tremor to her voice, "would you... happen to know where he is?"

"You don't need to worry about HER," he slammed the painting over the safe once again, "SHE is just fine, no thanks to you."

Rylee paused, raising a brow as she looked over her shoulder towards Marcoh, "She?" She jumped when she saw Marcoh already the door shooting a soul piercing glare at her.

"Before you speak," he said with a growl, "consider the fact that you are wrong."

Without a single word more, he opened the door, stepped through it that slammed it behind him. Upon hearing the door lock, Rylee waited a whole minute before looking to the handcuff that linked her to the old steel radiator that sat beside her.

Grabbing the thumb of her cuffed hand with her free one, she popped it put of the socket with nothing more than a wince escaping her lips. Once the deed was done, she effortlessly slipped her hand out of the cuff, popping her thumb back into place once she was free. Narrowing her gaze upon the painting, she got up and walked over to it, swinging it open from the wall before punching the combination into safe's touch pad lock.

The lock came undone, allowing Rylee to open it and grab her Spite memory and driver. She held it in her hand, about to pick it up when her eyes drifted towards the Gorge memory that sat directly beside her own.

"Before you speak," Marcoh's words echoed in her mind, "consider the fact that you are wrong."

Back in the Cat's Eye, Madison and the riders now having ordered drinks for themselves held them up and clinked their glasses and mugs together.

"To Inertia," Tara spoke, a slight crack coming through in her voice.

"To Inertia," the others chimed in unison, the whole group taking a sip of their drinks to honor the fallen dopant.

"He… he was a good man," Alex added, eyeing Tara as he bit his lip.

"Let's all be glad he wasn't actually planning to kill," Ashley said, trying to lighten the mood.

Carter watched as Tara let out a heavy sigh, the young man make eye contact with Cole who looked back at him. The earth rider motioned his eyes towards Tara, as if trying to tell Carter, "say something."

With a gulp, Carter nodded then looked to his Sister at the end of the table. "Tara-"

"OKAY!" Tara shouted loudly, clasping her hands over her cheeks before blowing raspberries from her mouth for a good thirty seconds to the surprise of all present, "Time to stop feeling sad! Time to stop feeling sad!" She said seemingly to herself before downing her cup of coffee.

"Isn't it a bit unhealthy to do that?" Carter questioned, "swallow your feelings I mean?"

"Big brother, allow me to answer your question with another question," Tara looked him in the eye, "when snow melts, what does it become?"

Carter looked at her and blinked, "Water… right?"

"Nuh uh," Tara shook her head, looking to the others with her typical grin, "anyone else?"

"Spring," Madison look at her with a smirk, "you aren't the only one here who's seen Fruits Basket." She pointed a finger at her, "Now you had better not start talking about how spring is always around the corner no matter how cold the winter is. You got that?"

"Hey, just cause its from something doesn't mean we can't apply it to our own lives," Tara shrugged before slamming her fist down on the table. "Besides, ain't that the whole reason we tell stories in the first place?"

Madison glared at her then laughed a little. "Touche," she said, pointing a finger at her.

"Speaking of winter," Alex leaned in with a raised brow, "what did Shiore say she was busy with?"

"Oh! Uh…" Madison jumped, avoiding the gaze of Carter who was now staring right at her as she looked her boyfriend in the eye, "She didn't say. I didn't pry, felt rude."

"Maybe she's treating herself," Carter spoke up. "Considering tomorrow is her birthday and all."

"Oh?" Sang Tara as she raised up her brow, leaning over the table to get right into the fire rider's face with the biggest smirk she could muster, "now how is it Big Brother that you know a detail like that?"

Carter stared at her, blinking for a moment as the eyes of everyone else were suddenly on him. "I-I…" he muttered, fighting a blush, "I read her file at the station, and it happened to have her birthday on it."

"Aw, and you remembered," Ashley cooed. She looked to Alex and Cole, "Take notes you two," she motioned between them before pointing to Carter, "simple things like this is the key to a girl's heart."

Alex looked at Ashley and blinked, "So he remembered her birthday, that's not exactly hard."

"Oh yeah?" Madison glanced at him. "When is mine then?"

Alex stared at her, blinking after a moment as he began to sweat a little, "Uh…"

"Oh good god," Madison face palmed, "January second."

"Okay, thank you," Alex gulped, taking hold of Madison's hand. "I'll remember, now that you've told me."

Madison looked at him, "You promise?"

"I swear," Alex nodded, "even so, it's not like I'm the only person on earth who forgets a thing like that.. right?"

Tara looked to Cole and sang, "Oh Rockyyy."

"February third," Cole chimed in instantly.

"And Kat's?" Tara pointed a finger at him.

"December sixteenth," Cole fired back just as instantly as before.

"Good boy Rocky," Tara blew him a kiss.

At the police station, Sampson sat at his desk writing up a few reports when suddenly his GMR scanner went off. The chief picked it up then gasped as he saw three blinking lights marked 'unidentified' on the screen.

"This isn't good," he muttered under his breath as he grabbed the phone on his desk.

{End of Part A}

{Start of Part B}

Back at the Cat's Eye, Ashley leaned back into her seat with a smirk "Bet you no one here knows my birthday… well, save for Madison that is," she boasted, taking a sip of her tea.

The group stared at her, "Can we have a hint?" Cole asked with a bit of a laugh

"It passed recently," Ash told them, "I didn't even say anything due to the Fury, Crave and Inertia fiascos."

"October thirty-first…" a quiet voice echoed from over her shoulder, sending a chill down the spines of Ashley, Alex and even Madison.

Ashley spat her tea out right into Carter's face, slowly turning to look over her shoulder only to find a pale faced boy with long ratty black hair staring back at her.

"H-How in hot holy hell do you know that?!" She barked at him, "Who the hell are you even?!"

"I… I am Junn Feltcher," he told her with an unsettling grin, " and I know all sorts of lovely things about you, Ashley Haze." He stumbled out of the booth, carrying a journal in his hand which he opened and began reading off from it. "Ashley Haze, age seventeen. Natural hair color, a beautiful cream blond.. that you really should go back to. Favorite animal, arctic fox. Pastimes include, school, fighting things she really should not and playing World of Warcraft for an ungodly amount time without replying to anyone who whispers her." His smirk widened as he looked at Ashley, "Shall I go on?"

Ashley shook her head, "please don't!"

"So then…" Junn's lip twitched, the boy reaching out and grabbing Ashley's hand, "will you got out with me?"

Ashley stared at him, blinking before punching him square in the jaw and knocking him to the floor.

"HELL NO!" Ashley told him, the cafe guests and staff gasping as Ashley rose to her feet, "Not after pulling that shit! You're a creep!"

Junn shook on the floor before glaring at Ashley, "No I'm not… you're just a bitch who should learn to take a nice guy when you see one!" He said, climbing to his feet before pulling out a Gaia Memory marked with a V. "Guess I'll need this after all."

"VIPER!" Roared the memory as he struck the activation button, Junn opening his mouth and sticking the memory to the tip of his extended tongue.

With a cloud of dark aura, Junn was transformed into a sickly green humanoid snake before hurling his now long forked tongue at her. With a heavy glare and a swift flick of her arm, Ashley caught the tongue and pulled out her own Shift memory.

"Great, now I have two reasons to kick your ass into the dirt!" She told him, striking her memory's own activation button.

"SHIFT!" roared the memory as her driver formed around her waist, Ashley slamming her memory into it before switching it to its active position, "SHIFT!" Roared the memory once more as Ashley donned her rider form through a torrent of water rushing over her.

Viper gasped, pulling back his tongue from Ashley's grasp and into his mouth before leaping a few feet away from her. "Y-You're not the princess I dreamt of. You're a demon!"

"Glass houses buddy," Ashley cracked her knuckles.

"WHOA!" Natalie barked from the front desk. "TARA! Tell your friends what I told you! No Kamen Rider business inside the cafe!"

Cole looked to Tara, "Natalie knows about all this?"

"There are few things in this world Natalie doesn't know," Tara told him, looking over to Ashley, "JUICY BUTT! YOU HEARD THE BOSS! Take him outside."

"Gladly," Ashley smirked, pulling a body of water out from a nearby tap before hurling it as a bubble towards Viper and using it to transport the dopant out the front door without breaking anything.

Once Viper was outside, Ash slammed him down hard onto the pavement. Groaning on the ground, Viper looked up to see Ash before him with her warglaives pointed right in his face.

"GALE! ROCK! RYU-O! STAR! RUNNER!" roared the memories of the other riders as they formed around Ashley Tara and Cole pulling out their flail and hammer respectively with Carter summoning the Ryu-O buster with a snap of his fingers. Alex simply raised his fists as the other riders aimed their weapons at Viper.

"Stay back guys," Ash glared at Viper, pressing the blade of her warglaive to the trembling Viper's throat, "this worm is mine."

"Have at it!" Tara called out to her, shooting a thumbs up towards Ashley, "we're just here holding up the net."

Viper shook on the ground, his eyes darting from Ashley to the other riders who were cornering in around him before refocusing again on Ashley. His gaze drifted down her body to her ankle.

"N-NO FAIR!" wept Viper, lashing his tongue around Ashley's ankle and pulling her to the ground. Before Ashley could so much as counter, Viper latched his tongue up to a lamp post and used it to swing on top of it. "FIGHT ME FAIRLY IF YOU WON'T DATE ME!"

Carter chucked a fire blast at him, Viper darting onto the side of a nearby building to just barely dodge it. Viper took in a deep breath, about to exhale only to gasp as one of Ashley's warglaives flew right at him and knocked him from the building.

"WORMS LIKE YOU SHOULD ONLY BE STEPPED ON!" Ash shouted, catching her warglaive at it hurled right back to her, Viper clinging on to another building and holding his side where Ash had hit him. "AND NOT IN THE FUN WAY!"

"YOU NASTY WOMAN!" Viper cried as he leapt away from building side to building side before vanishing over the horizon, "I'LL GET YOU! MARK MY WORDS!"

With a heavy sigh, Ashley fell to her knees as she shut off her driver and returned to her civilian form with the other riders following suit shortly after. Ashley balled her hand into a fist then punched the ground beneath her.

"Damn it…" she shook with anger, "I just wanted ONE god damn day. One god damn day where I didn't need to deal with a single stupid thing."

"Hey now." Tara looked at her, then walked over to her placing a hand on Ashley's shoulder, "Just cause we've got a freak on the run, that doesn't mean we still can't enjoy ourselves. Right?"

Ashley glanced at her, "How do you mean?"

"We've got a birthday to celebrate, don't we?" Tara smiled, "so lets celebrate it. We deal with monsters everyday, there's no need to let one ruin this one."

"But, what about Viper? And Vainglory?" Alex asked as he stepped forward.

"We already booked our time to deal with Vainglory for later tonight," Tara told everyone, "and if Viper comes back we'll just beat him into the dust just like we do with the rest of the creeps like him. Today is for the Ice Queen, so let's give her a bash she won't forget!"

Cole managed a grin then looked to the others, "Tara… does have a point."

"You're damn right I do!" She boasted, standing with her chest out as she looked over Madison and the other riders, "So, what did all of you get the Ice Queen?"

"Um…" Madison blinked, raising her hand, "we just found out it was her birthday?"

Tara blinked back then sweat dropped "Oh…" She held her head then closed her eyes, "Okay, okay I think I got it!" She pointed to her friends, "You five go take care of that, and I'll fix up the Cafe to be suitable for everything else." She clapped her hands together, "We only have a few hours so let's go people!"

Carter looked to Cole, motioning to himself then to the earth rider. Cole with a grin nodded back to Carter.

"We're splitting into teams? Perfect!" Madison's face lit up, grabbing Alex by the arm and dragging him over to Ashley and scooping up her friend. "The three of us will be a trio then." She smiled at Ashley and Alex.

"Perfect?" The two rider's asked in unison, "How?"

"Cause," Madison pulled out her phone and brought up a photo of a girl in full pastel lolita attire. "The FOUR of us are gonna double date. Alex and I will shop while you mingle."

Ashley eyed the photo then nodded after a moment, "She's cute." she looked at Madison with a raised brow, "Who is she?"

"Sally Montgomery. She's in my Manga club," Madison told her friend with a grin, "and, I showed her a few pics of you and told her you were looking for someone and-"

Ashley placed a finger over Madison's lips before she could say another word. "Thank you," she said with a tear in her eye, "you're amazing."

"Don't mention it," Madison smiled back at Ashley, "it's the least I could do."

As this went on, a young boy and an older girl poked their heads out from an alleyway and stared at the riders.

"So… those are the kamen riders Desire told us to watch for?" The girl sucked her teeth, looking down to the B marked gaia memory she held in her hand, "they don't look like much."

"Still, I'd rather not run into them if I can help it," the boy told her, holding up his own gaia memory marked with an M. "Now then, shall we?"

The girl nodded, the two striking the activation buttons of their gaia memories. "BURGLAR! MIRROR!"

Marcoh walked into the front door of the station with his phone to his ear and his free hand holding his forehead.

"You… want me to do what?" He asked, trying to make sense of what the person on the other end of the line was requesting of him.

"Let Kat out to play for the night," Tara spoke from out from the phone. "If you can put her up in that nice penthouse cell, I'm sure you can take her outta the big house for one tiny night."

"I would certainly love to Ms Evonna, but do you realize just how big a favor you're asking here?" Marcoh asked. "Why are you looking to get her out anyway?"

"WE HAVE A RIDER'S BIRTHDAY TO CELEBRATE!" Tara barked at him, "Kat might be a dopant, but she's also my girlfriend! I refuse to let her spend a night of fun with her in chains!.. Well, unless she wants to be in chains! But that's a whole different conversation altogether!"

"Okay! I'll see what I can do… but I WON'T make any promises I can't keep." Marcoh told her firmly, "Just.. please stop talking."

There was a long pause from Tara then a bit of laughter, "Okay! Thank you Mr Marcoh!" She sang before hanging up the phone.

With a heavy sigh, Marcoh slipped his phone back into his pocket then rubbed his head before entering Sampson's office.

"Chief," he groaned, "What even is today?"

"I was about to say the same thing," Sampson told Marcoh from his desk, holding up his GMR scanner. "Three dopants, all downtown."

Marcoh slammed the door, narrowing his gaze upon the chief, "Where are the riders?!"

"Same place," Sampson told him, "I already informed them."

"THREE?!" Madison screamed as she stood in front of Alex in a clothing store downtown, tightly gripping her hair with her hands, "There are THREE running around this time?!"

Alex quickly covered her mouth then nodded, "Yeah.. Sampson said there are three this" he whispered to her. He a gulp, he looked around the store then sighed with relief as the other shoppers had seemingly continued to go about their shopping undisturbed. "But, I'd rather not disturb them with the info." He motioned towards Ashley and Sally who were standing just outside the small clothing shop.

Madison looked to the two girl then nodded in understanding. "So, we keep an eye out for mr snake to let those two mingle?" She smiled a bit.

Alex smiled back to her and nodded, kissing her on the cheek, "Sounds like a plan."

"Good, speaking of," Madison snapped her fingers before holding up a vibrant navy hoodie with a series of white triangles going up one side to form the illusion of a mountain range-esc pattern with snowflakes plastered all over the sleeves, "What are your thoughts on this?"

"Looks fine," Alex blinked, "not sure it's really you though."

"Good," Madison laughed a bit, "because it's for Shiore. It's her birthday, remember?"

"Oh!" Alex's eyes shot open before nodding, "Yeah, yeah that's actually perfect."

Outside the store, Ashley was looking over a pair of leggings with spider web pattern while Sally was eyeballing a frilly white dress with lace and ribbons covering it from top to bottom.

"So, how is it you know Maddy?" Sally asked, smiling at Ashley while batting her eyelashes at her.

"Friend of a friend," Ashley told her, smirking a bit, "well… met her through my ex actually. That's a long story though."

"Oh I bet it isn't," Sally giggled, "I'm ears if you want to tell me."

"Well, see her best friend Sarah and I dated from the second year of middle school to the first year of high school," Ashley's gaze drifted away from Sally's, her smirk fading in the process, "then I found out that Sarah had been in love with Madison the entire time and our relationship pretty much fell apart… then I went to jail… Ashley fell silent for a good long while before finally managing, "then Sarah died…"

"Oh…" Sally gulped, "I'm… I'm sorry to hear that…"

"Oh, you don't need to be sorry," Ashley told her, regaining her smile a bit as she took hold of Sally's hand. "Anyway, that's enough about me. Tell me a bit about you."

"Oh, me?" Sally blinked while placing her hand over her chest, "I… Um… I like cute things."

"NO!" screamed a slithering voice from the side Viper's forked tongue hurled towards Sally, Ashley gasping as she barrel rolled into Sally to get her to the ground and out of the way. Ashley gritted her teeth and gripped her Shift Memory before looking over to see Viper approaching with the crowd scattering. "This cannot be!" Viper screamed, stomping his foot into the ground repeatedly, "This cannot be! This cannot be!"

"Ashley," Sally trembled, "What in the hell is that?!"

"You don't wanna know. Just keep your head down," Ash told her as she jumped back up to her feet and striking her gaia memories activation button.

"SHIFT!" cried the memory as her driver appeared around her waist, Ash slamming her memory into her driver before switching it on, "SHIFT!" cried the memory once more as Ashley donned her rider form with her warglaives in had before rushing into slice Viper across his chest and knocking him down to the floor.

"You really can't take a hint?" she snarled, "can you?"

"SALLY!" Madison rushed out of the store, the now boxed sweater under her arm as she ducked down to her friends level, "Are you alright?"

Sally's eyes shot to Madison, "You all need Jesus!" she barked before picking herself up and running away with the crowd. Madison felt as her heart sank to her stomach as she watched her friend run away, her gaze drifting back to Shift and Viper a few feet away from her.

"STAR! RUNNER!" Roared from over Madison's shoulder, Alex rushing over to Ashley's side before hurling an uppercut into Viper's jaw which knocked him to the ground.

"Took you long enough Alex," Ash sucked her teeth, "now call that damn bird of yours so we can end this shit show." She pulled shift memory from her driver and slammed it into the maximum drive slot on one of her warglaives, "I am officially out of fucks to give."

"Ultimate isn't needed here," he told her, ripping his Star memory from his own driver before slamming it into his own maximum drive slot on the side of his belt, "this will be more than enough for him."

"STAR! MAXIMUM DRIVE! SHIFT MAXIMUM DRIVE!" cried both of their memories as they began to charge up, both rider readying their stances before leaping at Viper into an ultimate attack.

Viper raised his arms up, preparing for the impact only for a being with skin made of shattered glass to leap out from behind him and raise his forearms at the oncoming riders. His forearms formed into two solid mirrors.

"WHAT?!" Gasped Ashley and Alex. the riders colliding with the mirror resulting in the force of their own attacks being fired back at them and throwing them to the ground by Madison, breaking their transformation.

"Honestly Viper," the glass dopant sighed as they extended a hand towards the downed snake boy, "can you not think before you act?"

"I had her Mirror!" Viper barked at him, smacking his hand away as he climbed to his feet, Ashley and Alex still recovering from the pain. "I would have her if that stupid girl hadn't gotten in my way!"

"Your way, huh?" Mirror grabbed him by the throat, "Well you are getting in Desire's way. You're only making things worse for her goal." He said before throwing Mirror to the ground, "Now then, we're withdrawing for now."

Viper gritted his teeth, glaring at Ashley and Alex who were glaring back at him. "Fine!" he barked, getting up and leaping uptop a building before using it to run away, Mirror doing the same.

"Well, that's two of three," Alex winced as he forced himself to stand, Madison helping Ashley up, "now all we gotta do is find the third, get them all together and kick them into the dirt. Right Ashley?" Alex asked, but didn't get a response. He looked over to Ashley, raising a brow at her, "Ashley?"

The punk girl was looking around, her lower lip quivering, "Madison… where's Sally?" Madison and Alex both looked at her, their hearts swelling as they did so.

"She… she ran away when Viper attacked," as Madison managed to mutter, "I'm sorry."

Ashley struck a steel pole with her fist. "I'm gonna kill him…" she growled, "all three of them… I'm gonna kill them."

Across town, Cole and Carter walked down an empty street as the sun was beginning to set.

"Geez," Cole whistled as he looked up to the horizon, "hard to believe its sunset already. Always seems like there isn't enough time to get everything done, doesn't it Carter?" Carter kept his gaze fixed on the horizon, clenching a bag in his one hand while keeping his other hand in his pocket. "You uh.. Certainly went all in with your gift for Shiore, didn't you? Why is that?"

Carter stopped, turning on his heel before looking Cole dead in the eye. "Cole, is there a real reason you're asking me all these questions?" He narrowed his gaze at him, "because it's rather prying, don't you think?"

"Alright, you caught me," Cole let out a sigh then held his hands up, "Tara and I having been thinking the same thing… so, I'm just gonna be direct and ask it." He looked Carter dead in the eye, "It's about Shiore… what is she to you?"

"What is she, to me?" Carter repeated, eyeing the bag he held in his hand. He took in a big gulp, then exhaled as he felt his heart began to race. Time slowed around him, it only picking up once he finally said it. "She is spring."

"That's sweet," a voice echoed from all around them, the two riders gasping as their gaze darting over to street lamp only to see what appeared to be a black humanoid cat hanging off of it by their legs. "Of course, it takes more to unlock a frozen heart than just words," the cat said, holding up the same bag Carter once held in his hand, "and of course, this."

Carter gasped once again, looking to his now empty hand before balling it into a fist and pulling out his Ryu-O memory.

"Give that back!" Cole demanded, pulling out his own Rock memory, the two striking the activation buttons on their memories.

"ROCK! RYU-O!" cried the memories as Carter and Cole's driver formed around their waists.

"Big words," purred the dopant, "and what will you do if I don't?"

"Bad answer for you," Carter glared as he and Cole slammed their memories into their drivers, "perfect answer for me."

The two riders struck a wide stance before crying out in unison, "HENSHIN!"

Within the shadow of Vainglory's lair, the yellow eyed Rylee sat upon the black armored dopant's throne staring into the amber ring on her finger. In the gemstone's reflection were images of the riders and the three dopants.

"Well, this is more interesting than I thought it would be," she smirked while running her hand through Jason's hair who currently had his head on her lap. "Would you not agree my pet?'

Jason nodded, his once green eyes having a pale blue glaze to them. "Spite…" he muttered coldly, "Fata's vision… have you ensured that it will come to pass?"

"Of course, my lord," the false Rylee smirked as she transformed into the blue succubus that was Desire. "The boy now holds a gaia memory that was basked in light, and you have always held one of born in shadow. Those who hold memories of opposing elements are drawn to one another, whether they realize it or not."

"Then I need not lift a finger…" he closed his eyes as a tear ran down his face, "and our dream shall be realized.. right, Spite?"

"Yes my lord, now sleep for now," Desire cooed to him before kissing him on the forehead, Jason begining to nod off as a result. "Before this is over, the boy will come to you."

{Insert Ending Theme: "Magia" by Kalafina}

Next time on Kamen Rider Ultimate Xtreme:

Three dopants on the run, and the final battle with Vainglory is only hours away!

Can this night be salvaged with what has already been unleashed?

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

Episode 43: Moonlight Dance

Yuki, lady or beast, what are you?