"For Pete's sake, kid!" growled an irate Dalmatian, "Please stop running off with the devices I've been spending weeks working on! That one's almost done!" Raito's words evidently fell on deaf ears as Hoshi scurried down the hall. When the smaller canine disappear around the corner, he let out a pained groan. Without much thought, he poked his head through the nearest door and said, "Hoshi? Are you in here? The boss is gonna kill me if she finds out I lost—" The rest of the words died in his mouth once he saw Erika standing in the middle of the room staring down a cleanly dressed timber wolf, and Lizzie staring daggers into Raito's soul. "…I'll…come back later," he muttered meekly before slinking away.

Daiki let out an amused chuff. "Quite the team you have yourself here, don't you?"

"I'd like to think so, yes," Erika replied, her eyes still narrowed at the canine. Such a detail did not go unnoticed by him.

"Relax. You and I both know that The Earth's Tree is no more. You made sure of that after dragging the company through the dirt."

"If you've waited this long hoping for an apology, then you can keep waiting; I won't apologize for tearing down a company that exploited the furs of this city for profit."

"Oh perish the thought," Daiki laughed with the same chiseled smile, "If there was anything I've been waiting to do for the past three years, it would've been to thank you for not arresting me after our final bout."

Erika huffed. "It would've been pointless. Amnesia was still a ruse set up by your company at the time. All it would've done was send you back to your boss for a slap on the wrist."

"Oh but look at this place now," he smirked, sweeping his paw out towards the door, "Amnesia has become the very thing it was pretending to be; a force of peace and protection against the Dopant threat plaguing the city. You've certainly done a fine job in turning this place around."

"Not just me…" Erika muttered under her breath before shaking her head. "We're getting off track. Why exactly are you here in the first place? I sincerely doubt you've come out of hiding just to reminisce about times past."

"As tempting as that is, you're right. I'm not." Daiki adjusted his collar and tie. "You see, I have come here in light of recent events. As you and your team have no doubt discovered, there is a new large scale Gaia Memory distributor out in the wild. They intend to fill in the vacancy that followed the downfall of The Earth's Tree."

"I knew it…" Erika growled to herself.

"They call themselves The Mob," Daiki continued, "and while they are not as widespread as my old company once was, they are by far the largest distributors of Gaia Memories currently operating in Japan. Given enough time, they will grow to be just as large if not larger than its predecessor."

"Is that why you're telling us all this?" Lizzie questioned with a raised brow, "You don't want the legacy of your company tarnished by some competitor?"

"If we were three years back, maybe," he gave the fellow canine a cheeky wink, "but no. Tell me, are you familiar with how loan sharks work?"

Lizzie crossed her arms over her chest. "Of course; they loan money to people they know won't be able to pay them back, and use that fact to take advantage of them."

Daiki snapped his fingers at her, "The Mob acts in much the same way; they loan their Memories to those in the most desperate need of them for a limited amount of time. When that time is up, and they come to collect a debt that can't be repaid…" He then reached into his coat and pulled a set of photos out, tossing them out onto the nearby table. "They make them pay by other means."

Lizzie made her way over to the table, glancing over to Erika upon noticing her not doing the same. The feline had a very stern look on her face. Shaking her head, Lizzie went over and picked the photos up and gave them a look over. And with each one she saw, her eyes grew wider and wider. She tossed the photos back on the table before shouting, "Those bastards are kidnapping furs for labor!"

"Precisely," Daiki went on, picking up one of the photos displaying furs being rallied into busses. "Unable to pay, their victims are forced to work in their factories, having them create their Memories with the false promise of fulfilling their debt."

Lizzie's fist slammed against the wall in a loud thud. "I can't believe these sick roaches have managed to infest Jinsoku!"

"And to think they'd involve such young furs as well," growled Erika, "Absolutely unforgivable."

"Yes, the young boy's brother," nodded Daiki, turning to Lizzie, "How old did you say he was?"

"Nineteen." Hearing this made the timber wolf close his eyes and sigh through his nose. And seeing that made Erika raise her brow.

"I'm surprised, Daiki. I didn't think you were capable of feeling empathy towards the furs you used to deem as your victims."

Daiki opened a single eye to look over to her. He straightened out his collar and tie before replying, "I am a man of business, but I am also a man of principle. The furs I sold my Memories to were all adults capable of making their own well informed decisions. They understood what they were doing and knew what they were getting into. The same cannot be said for those falling victim to The Mob, and it is for that reason alone that I am here today. And to prove that my motives are genuine…" He motioned to Lizzie, who then reached over to pick up a briefcase at her feet. She opened it up to present to Erika the contents inside; a set of four Gaia Memories and a buckle similar to the one the snow leopard possessed. "I am surrendering to you my Memories and my Driver."

"Raito already gave everything a once-over," said Lizzie, "They're the real deal. He's working to get them all compatible with your Double Driver."

"So then," Daiki continued, calling attention back onto himself, "with all that said, I have been made aware that you and your team are in a bit of a bind, not knowing where to go from here. Well, I can change that. While I am not in league with The Mob, I know the ins and outs of Gaia Memory manufacturing and distribution, and I may even be able to find out where the young man is being held. I am willing to offer my help, but my question to you is, considering our checkered past, will you set aside our differences as I have and let me help you?"

All eyes were on the snow leopard. Her eyes closed as she slowly drew in a deep breath. "There's no denying that the insight you'll be able to offer is invaluable in this case. You might very well be the answer we're looking for." Daiki's eyes went wide as she pulled out a Memory from her pocket. She then opened her eyes and met the wolf's gaze. "But I shouldn't be the only one you're asking here. Henshin."

CYCLONE! ||| JOKER!

A gust of wind swept over Erika, enveloping her before being cast away by the flick of an armored wrist. Daiki's heart began to pound in his chest as he found himself locked in a stare down with Kamen Rider 00. The two-toned Rider crossed their arms over their chest as their scarf fluttered in the breeze. "It's sure been a while, Daiki Watanabe."

The wolf's eyes widened once more. "Arata Sakurai. I'm quite shocked to hear your voice considering your…condition."

"Well I'm flattered you still recognize it after all these years. I guess all of our time fighting did leave an impression on you." He shook 00's head. "Pleasantries aside, I've been listening this entire time. If we plan on working together, then I just have one thing to say to you." As confident as the wolf had made himself out to be, his sly persona began to fall apart as the two toned Rider closed the distance between them and slammed him against the wall. His ears lowered by the slightest margin as he stared down 00's bright red, compound eyes. When Arata spoke again, it was in a low, yet powerful snarl.

"I gave up my body and soul to protect the city I love from the poison you and your company spilled across it. And I would do it again if it meant freeing its people from living in fear over whether or not their neighbor might annihilate everything they hold dear in a fraction of a second. If it turns out that you're only trying to deceive us, and this is all some plan to further your own goals, then there is no force on Earth that will stop me from hunting you down and making you answer for all of the crimes you've committed against Jinsoku." He then grabbed him by the collar and pulled the wolf in close. "Count on it."

At that, Daiki was finally released from their hold. He slumped against the wall as 00 walked away and pried their Memories out of their Driver, their armor crumbling to dust in a gust of wind. Erika continued walking forward and looked back at Daiki over her shoulder. "Come on, then; we've got a mob to hunt."

"Q…quite…" The timber wolf scrambled back to his feet and followed after her, straightening out his suit along the way.

Kamen Rider 00: Mobster Hunters

Finger on the Trigger

The group soon found themselves on the road, with Daiki sitting in an armored vehicle filled with Amnesia troopers, Erika trailing behind on her motorcycle, and empty busses trailing them all. "Gaia Memories can only be made in certain parts of the world," Daiki's voice came through their com links, "That's why Japan is the only country where Dopants have become a persistent problem. Turn right here." Lizzie, armored up as much as the other troops in the back, steered through the empty streets as instructed. "Considering The Earth's Tree had the largest control over Gaia Memory production, that naturally means their factories are the ideal places to produce them. Once the company dismantled, that left a vacancy that The Mob was all too willing to fill."

"I thought all of them were torn down!" Erika shouted back. Her ear twitched at the chuff Daiki let out.

"Not all of them. And besides, you'd be surprised at how crafty people in the black market can be." A growl came from the other line, which the timber wolf ignored. "You said the boy lives in Jinsoku City's lower district. Well, this factory is closest to there. If he was taken anywhere, it will most likely be here."

"How long until we get there?"

"Not long. Only a couple more turns."

"Bus drivers, time to break off," Erika glanced behind her, "We'll call you back in once the area is secured and liberated."

"Copy that. Over and out." At that, the two busses peeled away and disappeared behind a corner. With them gone, the snow leopard weaved past the armored vehicle to take the lead. They came to a stop several blocks away from their target destination. With nothing but a couple of old shacks and big empty fields between them and the factory, the team took the time to set up from afar and plan from a distance.

Erika ducked beneath the canopy being set up over the plastic table where several devices were being set up. Daiki glanced over to her as she walked up between him and Lizzie, the latter of whom was helping to get everything settled whilst her fellow troopers were gearing up. "So what've you got for us?" Erika asked the husky.

Without looking up from her work, Lizzie slid over a map for her to see. "Our little guest of honor wrote up a map for us to follow. Though not as detailed as I'd prefer…" She knocked a knuckle against it.

"My apologies," the wolf replied with the slightest hint of sarcasm, "but I'm afraid building layout was never my specialty. I could only draw out everything from memory."

Erika picked it up and gave it a once over. "It'll have to do."

"Do you know the plan?"

"Yep," the snow leopard nodded, "Arata and I sneak in first, find where everyone is being held, kick the hornet's nest, and let you guys snag any runners. Fun little stealth mission you've given us. Got any toys for me to take on this trip?"

"A good few, actually." Lizzie reached over the table to snatch up a briefcase. "Take a look." Erika accepted it with a nod of thanks and opened it up. As soon as she did, the screen inside flashed to life, presenting her with an image of Raito's frantic scrambling.

"Hoshi, I'm begging you to sit still for three minutes!" came his pain-riddled voice, "The boss will be calling me any second now—" The sound of Erika clearing her throat cut him off. He immediately scrambled back to the center of the screen and stood straight. "Intern Raito Suda reporting for duty! Everything's uh…" the Dalmatian flinched as the sounds of glass shattering rang from the distance, "…under control."

"I'll bet," Erika reached down and plucked out one of the two Memories kept inside the case, "So what've you got for me, Raito?"

He pushed his glasses further up his snout and cleared his throat. "Right well, as you can see, I've gotten two of Daiki's four Memories to be compatible with the Double Driver. The Heat and Luna Memories are both elemental Memories, so those will be for Arata to use."

She pocketed the two of them before picking out the last of the devices, a rather large wrist-watch. "And this? You're not trying to say anything about my time management skills, are you?"

"N-no of course not!" He frantically waved his paws at the accusation. "It's a device I have in the works. I call it the spider-shock. Its not completely done yet, but for now you can take advantage of the functions I did get working."

"Which are?"

"Well, it's got a grappling hook."

There was a pause. "…Aaaaaaand?"

Raito twiddled his thumbs. "…That's all."

The slap of Lizzie's palm against her helmet managed to reach the case's microphone. "That's it?! Why even add the 's' in there?!"

"Well there would be MORE! It has tracking capability, but I can't find the tracking tag anywhere!" The Dalmatian disappeared beneath the camera's view to rummage through unseen clutter. "I literally just needed to turn it on to complete testing, but I lost track of it trying to keep an eye on Hoshi! So until I find it, you'll just have to make do with the grappling hook." Another loud crash came, but this time from far away. Raito slammed his head against the desk from jolting too hard. "What was that?! That better had not been important!"

Erika closed the case with a sigh and handed it back to Lizzie. "I don't know why you keep him around," the husky huffed.

"He has his moments," she replied, strapping the spider-shock to her wrist, "Speaking of, I believe it's time for our moment. You ready, Arata?"

Always, Arata's voice resonated in her head. A smirk spread across the snow leopard's muzzle.

"Then it's go time." Erika snatched a sleek black Memory out of her coat and crossed her arm over her chest.

JOKER!

"HENSHIN!" she shouted before jamming it into the left side of the Double Driver, with a green one filling in the right. She used both paws to split the buckle down the middle and tossed her arms outwards.

CYCLONE! ||| JOKER!

In a gust of wind that came and went, Erika once again donned the armor of Kamen Rider 00. Her scarf continued to flutter in the wind as it died out. She tightened the spider-shock's strap around her wrist before giving Lizzie and Daiki a two-fingered salute. "We're heading out. Liz—er, 6? If this turns out to be a trap, you have my permission to kick Daiki's ass." The timber wolf's brow twitched as the two-toned hero ran off.

"Ride safe!" Lizzie called back before turning to bark orders at her fellow troopers. Daiki huffed and leaned against the table, only for the husky to smack at his hip with the back of her paw. "Don't lean. You'll tip everything over."

"Am I being baby-sat right now?"

"Do I look like a babysitter to you?"

The sounds of water dripping off leaky pipes was only joined by hum of the large generators, and the footsteps of a long-coated, hat-wearing Mob Dopant striding down the railed walkway. He had one hand in his pocket, and the other looping its thumb around the strap of his gun holster which was hidden beneath his coat. He passed by the large struts of concrete one by one, casually checking behind each one with a lazy glance. It was thanks to his aloof nature that 00 was able to sneak right by him in a gust of wind, unseen and unheard. Erika kept her voice low as she lifted a finger to her helmet and whispered, "6, do you copy?"

"Loud and clear, boss," came Lizzie's voice.

"How are things lookin' out there?" Erika carefully peeked her head out to scan the area.

"No activity yet. This hive hasn't noticed it's been kicked yet. A team and B team are getting into position."

"Copy that, 6," whispered Arata, "Over and out." Erika took her hand off of her helmet to help Arata aim the spider-shock at an overhead pipe. The fired hook latched on without a hitch and whisked them away, the only evidence left behind of their presence being a gentle breeze. A stronger gust of wind slowed their descent onto the scaffolding, allowing them to land without making a sound. They eased their way down it to close in on a room hanging over this lower section of the factory, one with its windows and subsequent blinds closed. The shadows moving from behind them told the Rider that someone was inside. The room was a good distance across from them, but one good leap would allow them to clear it.

If we jump there and it's locked, we're gonna get spotted, thought Erika, how do we make sure it's open for us once we jump?

…I think I have an idea. Arata aimed and fired the spider-shock, but rather than latch onto anything, the grappling hook lightly tapped against the window before being quickly reeled in. A moment passed with nothing happening, so Arata fired it again to produce the same effect. It was the third time that prompted the shadow inside to shift. The blinds were tossed aside before the window was thrown open by an unamused canine.

"OI MAKURA!" he barked down at the Dopant patrolling below, "Quit PISSIN' AROUND down there!"

"Huuuh?!" the Mob Dopant shouted back, "What're YOU barkin' about?!"

The canine thrust his finger at the window. "Like! You! Don't! Know! Between this and the time you dropped an entire crate of our sake because you were distracted by a bunch of birds, it's no wonder you were demoted to a patrolman!"

"EH?! You wanna come down here and say that to my FACE?!"

"Just get back to work! Unless you want the capo to hear about this!"

"YEAH yeah!" The Dopant waved him off dismissively before returning to his patrol. The canine chuffed through his teeth and began to draw the windows back in. But he felt something catch against it before he could close it all the way. Raising a brow, he opened it back up to check and found a small hook latched onto the windowsill. He didn't have time to look up and see the twin-colored mass of armor flying directly into his face.

After he dropped to the floor unconscious, 00 carefully stepped over him to close the window proper. "Well that's that," said Erika, "and if Daiki's map is correct…" She turned away from the window to confirm her suspicions. Sure enough, set up on the wall was a multitude of screens, each displaying a different area within the factory. "Bingo." She stepped over the unconscious fur again to get a proper view of the security footage. As she searched the desk for any ports, Arata raised a hand to his side of their helmet.

"6, this is Arata. We made it to the security room."

"Copy that. Standing by for an uplink."

A soft click was made from Erika plugging in a small device. "Uplink live. How's the view from over there?"

"Beautiful," was Lizzie's response, "We've got visual."

"Copy that. Over and out." Arata lowered his hand with that send off before looking up at the screen. "Erika, do you see Taiyo anywhere?"

"Lemme take a look," she replied, sweeping her eyes across the wide array of screens. She scanned the faces of every fur that the cameras came across. "I can't say that I do, but he might just be out of shot. He could be held in a more secluded part of the fac…tory…" She trailed off, noticing their green fist shaking. "…Arata?"

He didn't respond for a moment. "There's…so many…" Erika's gaze returned to the screens, and the many working furs displayed within them. Their vacant, almost dead expressions put a pit in the snow leopard's stomach. They were working tirelessly at their stations with the hat-wearing Dopants pacing around them and monitoring their work.

"We're gonna get them out of here, don't worry," she tried to reassure her partner, "Let's try to focus on the task at hand so that we can bring justice to these people later."

"…Right," Arata nodded, "they'll be free soon enough. Let's get to work." Their scarf trailed behind them as they rushed out of the room and down the hall.

The white noise of factory worker assembly was all there was to hear. The hissing of parts being soldered, the shrill noise of screws being drilled into place, and the scratching of plastic casing being filed down and smoothened. No one was looking up from their work, lest they face the wrath of their armed, monstrous overseers. This allowed 00 to carefully scale the rafters undetected. They watched from above and analyzed every face. Taiyo was yet to be found amongst them.

Look at them all, came Arata's inner voice, they look so lifeless…

That's factory work for ya… Erika thought in response, Doesn't help that they're being held here against their will.

We'll make them pay, every last one of them. Arata was clenching his fist again. No one gets away with taking advantage of Jinsoku's people. Their thoughts were taken away from themselves and towards one of the furs below, who suddenly collapsed at his work station. The loud thump he produced from his fall drew all eyes to him, most notably the eyes of one of the Dopants. He was the first and only one to come to his side.

"Hey! Get up!" he shouted down at him, nudging him with the tip of his shoe, "This ain't your lunch break! Get back to work!"

"Is there a PROBLEM here?!" another voice came from across the room. The Dopant looked up from the collapsed fur and over to the voice's owner; a large, stout feline wearing a hat, suit and tie. His presence immediately made the Dopant stand straight.

"It's nothin' I can't handle, capo. Just someone who doesn't wanna work." The big cat sneered down at the fur, who still had yet to rise.

"How long has this one been workin' here?"

"About three weeks, sir."

"Feh," he waved his paw, "Forget 'bout it. Ain't worth the trouble no more. Just get rid of 'im."

"You got it, capo." But just as the Dopant went to move, he felt the big cat's paw on his shoulder.

"Actually," he began, a sly grin across his muzzle, "better yet, we can make an example out of this one." Nodding in understanding, the Dopant yanked the fur up to his feet and carried him over to the end of the room. As he did, the big cat reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a cigar. He chomped down on it and lit it with a pocket lighter before shouting, "A'ight LISTEN UP! I dunno how long any of yous 've been workin' here, but I'm gonna teach you all a lesson!" He reached into his coat again. "A lesson about what happens to those who don't wanna work for the money they owe!" The fur was slammed against the wall as the big cat pulled out a Gaia Memory.

CAPOREGIME!

He tilted his head to the side before jamming the device against his neck, where it spasmed violently before sinking into his flesh. His fur became covered in a black film, fusing the cigar to his lips as a bony, grotesque mask peeled over his face. In the end, he was a bigger, stockier version of the Dopant holding the fur against the wall. "Now then," he reached into his coat again, "how much does this one owe?"

"Three hundred n' thirty thousand yen, sir."

"Heh," a fully loaded tommy gun was pulled out of his coat, "then Imma need to reload a whole bunch!" Screams of horror rang out as he aimed at the exhausted fur. "SAY G'NIGHT, YA FREELOADER!" The Mob Dopant ran before the capo pulled the trigger, filling the air with smoke as he unloaded the entire clip of bullets. He cackled like a madman, keeping the trigger pulled until the clip was completely emptied. He sighed with content as the smoke cleared, waiting to see the mangled remains of their captive. But there was no body to be seen. He and his fellow Dopant exclaimed in shock and confusion before a loud thump was heard from the other side of the room. Everyone whirled around to find the fur without a scratch to his name, held in the arms of Kamen Rider 00.

"Got tired of the stealth game, huh?" came Arata's voice, "Good. So was I."

"It's the Kamen Rider!" spat the capo, aiming his gun right at them, "LIGHT EM UP, BOYS!"

With the exhausted fur still in their arms, 00 rolled for cover behind the nearest work station. The other captives quickly followed suit as gunfire filled the air, which only barely muffled their terrified screams. 00 kept their rescuee's head down as they reached for their belt. "Alright, Daiki," said Erika, "Let's give this little gift of yours a spin." She pulled out their green Memory and replaced it with a yellow one, jamming it in and splitting the Driver in a quick motion.

LUNA! ||| JOKER!

A bright light erupted from their body that utterly blinded the Dopants in the room as they stood up. They failed to see the light engulfing the green side of 00's suit and replacing it with a bright yellow sheen, taking away their scarf in the process. They also failed to see 00's fist flying straight into the side of their skulls as the Rider flailed their arm around the room like an elastic whip. It snapped back into regular length with a flick of their wrist. "Time for that lunch break, fellas!" shouted Erika, "Everyone get outta here! Go! Go! Go!"

The captives all scrambled for the exit, with one of them taking the exhausted fur in their arms as 00 helped him up. One of the Dopants at the door tried to get up and aim, but 00's flying fist ensured that his gun never fired. "Dirty RAT!" snarled the capo before a storm of bullets was unloaded from his gun. The work station 00 dove behind was torn to absolute shreds from the lead hellfire that rained upon it. Their cover blown to bits, the Rider rammed their elongated arm into the capo's gut, and then through the window of the upper floor. They grabbed onto something before their arm could yank itself back to normal size, flinging them up through the window in the process.

"After em!" hissed the capo, "Ignore the prisoners! If we ax the Kamen Rider, we'll be earnin' ourselves a pretty penny from the underboss!"

Sirens were ringing throughout the entire facility now. It drowned out the sounds of foot stomps thundering down the halls. "Do you think we ran far enough?" asked Arata.

"They haven't caught us yet, so no," was Erika's answer.

"You don't think they ran back for the captives, do you?" The answer to Arata's question was a gunshot from behind, striking them in the back. "I'll save the stupid questions for later then!" 00 leapt mid-run and swung their arm back, hurling their elastic arm back at their pursuers. Their fist rammed into the face of one of the Mob Dopants, toppling over him along with some of his allies. More gunshots rang out, and more bullets peppered 00's frame. They shielded their face with their arms and rammed their shoulder against the nearest door.

The door was smashed to bits as they stumbled into a long room, with tables all around stacked with suitcases and various belongings. They snapped their head back upon hearing the Dopants rumble into the room as well. 00 quickly snatched up the nearest suitcase and flung it at the entrance, knocking out the first one that entered. His allies simply ran over him and opened fire. Papers, clothes and feathers exploded everywhere as the bullets meant for 00 exploded against the suitcases and the subsequent contents inside.

00 rolled to their knees and flung their elastic arm forward, launching their hand beneath the tables and grabbing the foot of one of the shooters. He was literally yanked off his feet as the Rider's arm shortened back to normal length, sending him crashing to the floor. Two other Dopants followed before one of them shouted, "Forget shooting! Just beat 'em senseless!" Seeing all of them make a break for it, 00 stood back up to properly face their challengers. In one smooth motion, they leapt over one of the tables and delivered a clean kick to the grotesque face. Arata's arm blocked a right hook before Erika's delivered a devastating uppercut.

"Excuse us!" Erika shouted as they rolled off the Dopant's back, kicking another on the way down. She knocked over the nearest table to halt another incoming group, and as they reached for their guns, Arata kicked the same table and flung it directly at them. It shattered against them hard enough to stun them, allowing him to fling out an elastic 1-2 jab. He flicked his elongated wrist back into shape as the Dopants fell over.

"WHOA there!" shouted Arata as he ducked beneath a swing from behind. Erika slapped the offending Dopant on the back as they ran past. Before he turned around, Erika snatched one of the suitcases off another table. "Hold this, please," she asked politely as she tossed it, the Dopant catching it purely out of reflex, "Thank you very MUCH!" He was launched all the way to the other side of the room from Erika dropkicking him into next week. The gunshots began anew with the room cleared of most of the tables, forcing the Rider back on the run. They rushed over to the next room and slipped past the door, entering a small office with two Dopants playing a game of cards at a table next to a fridge.

"Oi, Makura," said one of them, "you think we should check on that alarm?"

"Why? Afraid you're gonna lose? I ain't letting ya win this bet."

"I dunno, Makura," said Erika, "the deck might be stacked with Jokers."

"Ey back off, buddy. This is my ga—" He stopped himself and finally looked up. Just in time for 00 to ram his head against his buddy's.

"Dammit, Makura," he murmured before the two of them passed out on the floor. 00 dusted off their hands before grabbing the fridge and tipping it over to block the door. Once the gunshots rang out, the Rider took off again.

"6, come in! This is Arata! What's the situation over there?"

"Hostages are secure," came the husky's voice, "B team is extracting with them now. A team is intercepting the runners."

"Then that's the first part of our job done!" said Erika. She busted down a door and came running out onto the same hall as before. "Steer us towards the big guy! We're bringing him in ourselves!"

"Ain't no need to BOTHER!" was the shout that came before the storm, the bullet storm. 00's entire front was lit aflame with bullets exploding against their armor. Erika threw themselves into the nearest room, hissing through her teeth from the pain. The Capo Dopant came strutting down the hallway with smoke seeping from his gun's muzzle. "You want me? I'm right here, toots." His gunfire rang loud and proud as he sprayed bullets in wide, indiscriminate arcs. They tore through the walls and struck 00 in the back until their elongated fist rocketed out the door, straight for the Dopant's face. However, it was his palm that it collided against. "Nice try," he laughed, yanking the elastic arm forward and the Rider out of hiding, "But that ain't gonna work on me twice!"

Pained cries from both sides of the Rider rang out as the capo sprayed bullets all over them. They tugged and pulled, but the Dopant wouldn't let go of their fist. So with grit teeth, Erika pried the yellow Memory out of their Driver and swapped in the red one.

HEAT! ||| JOKER!

Flames erupted from their captured fist, burning the capo's hand and forcing their release. As the limb snapped back to normal length, the bright yellow coloring of the armor was burned away to a cherry red. The bullets were burned away by Arata's fierce swing. 00 let out a rallying roar as they charged at the Dopant, shielding themselves from the gunfire with their blazing side. They closed the gap between them with a mighty bound and delivered a scorching right hook into the capo's face.

Erika knocked his gun aside before he could aim it proper, punishing him with a few more quick jabs. Forced onto the backfoot, the capo went on guard and blocked his face with his forearms. 00's offensive was fierce. They punched, kicked and swung from all angles, with half of their attacks threatening to set his coat ablaze. He tried to regain the offensive tilt with a reckless charge, but his agile adversary managed to somersault over the attack. He quickly used his gained distance to open fire once more, but his bullets were burned to ash by 00's flames.

"We're putting you behind bars," shouted Erika in the midst of a flurry of punches, "You and your whole band of misfits!" She threw a roundhouse kick that sent the capo back a couple steps.

"Heh, gonna be pretty hard to do when we've filled you to the brim with lead!" He raised his gun, and Arata threw his arm forward to block. But when the bullets were fired, they exploded against 00's back. The sudden strike threw them off balance and allowed the capo to land all of his shots on the Rider. 00 desperately tried to burn the bullets away, but too many were coming from too many different angles. "Let's see how bulletproof you really are!" the capo cackled as he and his Dopant lackeys unloaded as many bullets as they could.

Rather than let them find out, Arata rammed his fist through the nearest wall and punched a Rider-sized hole into it. They staggered through as quickly as they could and made a run for it. "6!" shouted Erika, "we need a better playing field! I can't punch him if he turns me into Swiss cheese!"

"On it, boss! Head down the—" Lizzie suddenly stopped, not unlike the camera feed on her consoles. "Dammit! Boss, I think they found our bug!" Erika's heart leapt as Mob Dopants burst down one of the doors ahead of them and flooded out into the room. The Rider threw their arms in front of their face just before the Dopants opened fire on them. They rammed through another wall with sparks exploding off of their armor.

"We got em, boys!" whooped one of the Dopants, "They're on the run! Cut 'em off at the pass! We'll corner 'em in the lower levels!"

"A team, get your asses in there ASAP!" barked Lizzie, her finger on the side of her helmet, "B team, head in from the other side! Ignore the rest of the runners; the boss is deep in it right now!" She snarled beneath her helmet and snatched up the map on the table.

Next to her, Daiki was nervously tapping his heel against the ground. "They're not gonna make it in time. It's going to take too long to navigate everyone through there."

"Well we're DAMN WELL out of options right now!" she snapped at him, "B team, first left!" Daiki's tail wagged behind him, his eyes snapping back and forth between Lizzie and the factory. His ears perked as the sounds of a car rolling in reached them.

"Sorry I took so long!" shouted Raito as he and Hoshi came out of it, "I came as fast as I could!"

"Not NOW, intern!" Lizzie barked, "Wait, why did you bring the kid with you!"

"No one else was gonna look after him!" he shouted back before holding up a blue device, "and I needed to bring you guys this! I just finished converting the third Memory."

"Unless you developed teleportation with it, there's no way that the boss is getting it in time!" Lizzie snatched up the map again and barked more orders through her com link. "They're pinned down, A and B team are still navigating, and if I leave, they have no one to navigate for them!" No snarky reply came; only rustling and a surprised shout. Before Lizzie could find out why, Daiki bolted past her table and out onto the field.

"THIEF! COME BACK!"

"What?! What happened?!"

"He took the Memory from me!" the Dalmatian shouted, slamming his paw against the table, "He really WAS just out for himself!"

But as Lizzie watched Daiki run out onto the field and towards the factory, her mind took her elsewhere. "…That crazy son of a bitch…"

Flames danced across the air as 00 delivered a flying kick that sent them and an unfortunate Dopant flying off of the scaffolding and down to the bottom floor of a multi-level "plaza." Metal frames rattled as they landed, with the Dopant's far less graceful than the Rider's. The twin colored hero kept running as gunfire ricocheted at their feet, tearing through crates and shredding up the papers inside like confetti. There were so many floors above them, and nearly as many Dopants shooting from all of them. They ran and ran, throwing up tongues of fire to protect themselves as much as they could. But there were so many shooters, so many bullets. They couldn't possibly stop them all.

They slammed their back against a concrete pillar, the only form of cover that didn't immediately get torn to pieces. Instead, it was getting gradually torn up with every bullet that pummeled into its frame. The capo's familiar cackle came soon after, silencing the rest of the gunfire to let him speak.

"Looks like we got you now!" he shouted from up above, "There's nowhere left to run, n' me n' the boys have got you surrounded!"

"Dunno…about that!" Erika shouted back, struggling to mask the heavy panting she was taking, "I'm just letting y'all…get a false sense of security is all!"

"Oh is that so?!" The capo's laughter was soon followed by those of his goons. "You said you were gonna put us behind bars, right? Well it looks like we'll be putting you six feet under! LIGHTEM UP, BOYS!" The gunfire began anew, tearing into the Rider's solitary form of cover.

Hate to admit it, but they've got us pinned down, Erika thought, Even if the other Amnesia members get here, I don't think they'll be enough to stop them all!

But there must be something we can do! Arata thought back, Maybe we can try the Luna Memory again?

They're all too far away; we'd never be able to reach them all in time! She peeked her head out and immediately retreated as a bullet stream took out a chunk of the pillar.

We don't need to! We just need to create a long enough opening to escape. Luna's flash will blind everyone, but can we run out of here in that short of a time?

It's our only shot. Erika pried out the red Memory and pulled out the yellow. I'll count us down. Three. Two. One.

"00!" shouted a voice from above, a voice that made Erika's head snap up in shock. She peeked out to see Daiki dodging through gunfire up above. His eyes were wild, his tie disheveled, and his fist clenched tightly around a bright blue Memory. The instant their eyes met, the timber wolf reeled back and shouted, "This makes us even!" He chucked the device as hard as he could, prompting 00 to launch themselves out into the open.

LUNA! ||| JOKER!

A searingly bright light filled the entire plaza, halting the gunfire long enough for 00's stretched out arm to snag the sailing Memory out of the air. The two halves smirked upon seeing which one it was before closing their Driver and yanking out their black Memory. With a swift flick of their wrists, 00 jammed the new one in, split their Driver and tossed their arms out to the side.

LUNA! ||| TRIGGER!

The Mob Dopants took aim before a harsher light than before seared into their eyes. Gunshots rang out, and the sound of bodies slumping to the floor soon followed. The capo grit his teeth and fired blindly in the midst of the chaos. "Did we get 'em?" he hissed as the light began to die out. He peered down below, but the light was still too bright. But it wasn't bright enough to wash out the sight of his goons lying face down on the ground, the shattered remains of their Memories lying close by. That's when another gunshot rang out, and a bullet whizzed by and struck his cigar right out of his mouth. "Huh?!" Confused and furious, he grabbed onto the railing and peered down to search for the smoking gun.

The gun that belonged to 00.

They now stood with their armor garnished in yellow and blue. A poncho wrapped around their torso, and their crest was now covered by a half-and-half old-west style hat. They twirled their blue pistol around their finger before blowing out its smoking barrel. "Old style with our old colors from our old friend," huffed Erika, "The man really knows how to make an apology, I'll give him that."

"Oh nice!" Arata flicked at some of the tassels on their poncho, "We even got one of these."

"You liked that thing? But Daiki's poncho looked so tattered and ragged."

"Well ours looks cleaner. And hey! It's in the shape of a star! How fitting given—" They cut themselves off to suddenly lean to the side and draw their second pistol, firing both in rapid succession meeting the capo's shots bullet for bullet. The big Dopant gawked as he heard them all clatter to the ground, the Rider untouched by any of them. "Nice shootin, Tex. Now how about we take care of the crook?"

"You've got it, partner." As soon as Erika said that, the capo took off running in the other direction. He dared not look back as he ran for the door at the corner of his floor's level. Suddenly, a barrage of bullets exploded at his feet and stopped him in his tracks. Seconds later, the two-toned Rider came zooming up via grappling hook and landed between him and the door. "Capo, we've counted out your goons!" He hip-fired at them as he turned tail and ran the other way. 00 returned fire in kind, shooting down half of his bullets and dodging through the rest. As they ran after him, they shouted in one unified voice,

"Now it's time to count up your crimes!"

Shelves, lamps and any other object the capo ran across was thrown to the floor in hopes of slowing his pursuer. Upon throwing down the last, he took hold of his tommy gun and blindly fired. This gave him the perfect view of 00 clearing every "obstacle" he'd thrown down. The acrobatic gunslinger was leaping and flipping over every shelf, using one hand to clear the leaps and the other to continue shooting down his bullets. The capo didn't even realize he'd run out until he felt 00's explode against his shoulder.

He hissed through his teeth and busted down the door to the stairs, fumbling to reload as he ascended as fast as he could. As he rammed his shoulder through the door at the bottom, another cluster of bullets exploded against his back and sent him crashing through a large crate. As he clawed to his feet, he took notice of someone scrambling to get away. The capo didn't even think twice before grabbing him and whirling around to face the door. "Don't move a MUSCLE!" he shouted as 00 ran out the door with their guns raised. They stopped upon seeing the Dopant press the barrel of his directly against his new hostage. "One wrong move and this guy BITES IT!"

Arata lowered his gun. "Damn you… I thought your dirty tricks ended with the loans."

Erika tilted her head. "Could've picked a better hostage though."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" barked Daiki.

"QUIT YER YAPPIN!" snapped the capo, pressing his gun's barrel harder against the wolf's temple, "Now I want you to drop your guns on the floor! No funny business!" A growl left Erika's throat as she and Arata slowly lifted their guns beside their head. "I said DROP EM!"

"Well Erika?" said Arata, "We should do what he says." The twin-toned Rider stared the Dopant down in a cold glare. They opened their hands and allowed their pistols to fall, prompting the capo to take his barrel off of Daiki and fire at them. That's when Arata leaned to the side and snatched his pistol out of the air, whirling around before firing a shot wildly off to the side. The sight alone made the Dopant cackle.

"Nice shot! That crate on the other side—" He didn't get to finish on account of the bullet exploding against the side of his head. His hostage made a break for it as he was thrown to the ground.

"I've always wanted to do that."

"Looks like you owe us again!" Erika shouted, patting Daiki's shoulder as he ran past. She kicked her pistol off the ground and snatched it out of the air before letting loose another bullet barrage. The capo ducked his head and rounded a corner, busting down the door at the end to run out to the roof of the factory. He tossed his gun aside to run as fast as he could, reaching the fire escape right as 00 came running out as well. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Erika.

"Hell yeah, let's do it!" shouted Arata. They let out a rallying battle cry as they ran full speed ahead. Not a single ounce of hesitation reached their system as they leapt right off the edge of the roof and rocketed towards the ground head-first. It gave them the perfect vantage point to barrage the capo with even more bullets and stop him in his tracks. The Dopant cried out in pain as 00 twisted in the air and fired the spider-shock to land gracefully on the ground.

"Say, Arata; what say we finish things up here?"

"Sounds good to me."

Erika lifted her pistol. "Anime style?"

Arata lifted his. "Anime style."

With a smirk, and guns still in hand, 00 plucked both Memories out of their Driver and tossed them high into the air. In the midst of their descent, 00 twirled both pistols around their fingers and tossed them up as well. The guns and Memories met halfway, with the latter perfectly slotting inside of the former. The sharp-shooter swiped them out of the air with the opposite hands, crossing their arms in an 'x' formation as light poured out of their barrels.

LUNA! TRIGGER!

MAXIMUM DRIVE!

00 thrust both guns forward before shouting in one unified voice, "Trigger: FULL BURST!" Their arms became nothing but blue and yellow blurs as they held down the triggers and unleashed an absolute cascade of speeding, glowing bullets. They all arced wildly through the air before swirling around and honing in on the capo, slamming into him all at once until his Dopant body burst into a neon cloud of smoke. With the big cat collapsing face-first against the fire escape, 00 twirled their guns around one last time and blew out the smoke rising from their barrels.