Chapter 3
Portal to earth
As Max and Arlene drove further away from the base, Max continued asking to ask Arlene questions. "So, who made the Sol Driver?" "=}-I did. It was extremely difficult, but through a combination of hard work, blood, sweat and tears, I made the Sol Driver.-{=" "How did it end up around my waist?" "=}-That… could be anyone's guess, honestly. All I remember is that I built the driver, and that I ended up throwing it out because I didn't like how it looked.-{=" "Are you mad that I have it?" "=}-Oh, heavens no! I'm actually glad that you have it. Who knows what would have happened if it fell into the wrong hands?-{=" "At best, you'd have a teenager or a prepubescent kid with the power to destroy an entire army, and at worst you'd have either a serial killer, or someone who'd use it to make an entire army with that same army-destroying power." "=}-Precisely. Now, the Sol driver is just one of the drivers I designed in my secret laboratory to use against invaders.-{=" "Invaders? You mean the Andarsos?" "=}-...-{=" "Arlene?" "=}-N-not… exactly…-{=" "What do you mean not exactly?" "=}-The original purpose of the Sol Driver was to defend against multiple threats. It's really hard to explain, but earth is currently threatened by multiple alien forces, and we need all the Kamen Rider we can get to face these threats.-{=" "Why don't you just tell the military or something?" "=}-I did, but they dismissed my efforts to warn them.-{=" "Oh…" "=}-Besides, even at its current level of technology, earth wouldn't stand a chance against multiple advanced alien races attacking it at once.-{=" "What makes you think that I stand a chance against multiple armies of aliens?" "=}-You don't.-{="
Max's heart fell into her stomach. "Thanks for the vote of confidence." "=}-But multiple Kamen Rider do. That's why I built more drivers than just your one.-{=" "Oh." "=}-When we find the correct candidates, you'll be joined by Kamen riders Hades, Juno, Zeus, Athena, Ares, Persephone and Hermes. Each one will provide a unique form of aid along with a unique Advent sprite.-{=" "Advent sprite?" "=}-It the strongest card in your deck, and summons a being made of metal and energy to aid you with a finishing blow.-{=" Max reached into the compartment again, and pulled out a card with an emblem on it; a golden winged reptile. Maybe a pterodactyl?
"So, where are we going to now?" "=}-My secret lab on earth. We should be approaching the portal now.-{=" As the bike swerved around the corner of a giant rock, the pair was met by a small welcoming party of drones, and one slightly bigger creature. The drones were in the process of wrecking some kind of portal. Max looked at Arlene. "=}-Crap they're wrecking the gate!-{=" Max glanced back at the drones and back at Arlene. "How long will it take you to fix the gate?" "=}-I don't know! 7, maybe 15 minutes at the lowest?-{=" "Make it twenty."
Max dismounted the bike, and trudged over to the gate. "Hey! Get away from that gate, you oversized toasters!" The drones and the larger creature whirled around. The larger creature shouted, "IT'S THE FUGITIVES!" When it spoke, drops of spit rained down from its mouth. One stray drop hit Max in the eye. She clenched her fists and closed her eyes, grumbling to herself before she said, "If you know what's good fo-" She was immediately cut off by the sound of all the drones simultaneously readying their guns. "Okay, guess we're doing this the hard way then."
Max lowered her hands, and pressed the transform button on her belt. Some music started playing, as well as what sounded like some japanese girl band chanting; "come on! Let's glow like the sun! Come on! Let's glow like the sun!" She then struck a pose before she yelled, "TRANSFORM!" She was surrounded by a bright red light, and a voice yelled, "K-K-K-KAMEN RIDER! SOL!! AWAKEN KNIGHT OF FIRE AND LIGHT!" The sword appeared in her hands, and she shifted her pose to pointing the sword at her attackers. The drones charged at her whilst firing their blasters at her. Most of them missed despite being several feet away from her. As she drew closer she cracked a smile, and said, "Jeez, who was in charge of teaching you toasters how to aim? The Storm Troopers?" She made short work of the drones before turning to the monster.
As Max continued to deal with the drones, Arlene grabbed the emergency tool kit she had stashed beneath the hood of her side car, and ran towards the gate, frantically opening the box. As the knelt down next to the gate, her hands fumbled with her wrench before she looked up at the gate. As she undid the bolts, Max ran up to the gate, slamming the monster into one of the loosely hanging panels, slamming the panel back into place. Arlene poked her head inside the gate and looked around. Her eyes gravitated towards a glowing stone. She popped her head back out and said, "=}-Aw, shit!-{=" "What's wrong?!" "=}-They broke the spacial stabilizer gem!-{=" "The what now?" "=}-It's a crystal that stabilizes the Cherub portal for interplanetary travel. Break the crystal, you'll be torn across time and space.-{=" "And that's NOT a good thing I assume?" "=}-OF COURSE IT'S A BAD THING!!! No one wants to have their living atomic structure scattered across the dimensional tide!-{=" Max froze up, and while she couldn't see it directly, Arlene was almost certain Max's eyes had crossed again.
"=}-OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE!!! IT WILL KILL YOU!!!-{=" "Oh, thanks for that! How many more people would you say could SAFELY jump back through?" "=}-One, maybe two if we jumped in at the same time?-{=" "That's all I needed to hear." With that, max pulled out the card with the golden pterodactyl emblem on it, and placed it into the sword. The electronic voice blared, "F-F-F-FINAL STRIKE!!! C-C-C-COME ON, PTEROSPRITE!!!!" There was a red flash of light, as giant humanoid pterodactyl with a ghost tale made of glowing red energy, and covered in regal looking armor appeared. This being flew up behind Max, and linked to her back, with a metallic clanking noise. Max turned to look at Arlene and yelled, "can you turn the portal on?" "=}-I-i think so!-{=" "Good, on my mark, turn the portal on, and get ready for a wild ride!" "=}-What about the bike?-{=" "Once you get the portal working, climb in!" "=}-Before I go through with this, I just need to ask you a question.-{=" "Make it quick!" "=}-DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR DOING?!-{=" "Let's say I'm somewhere between a gut feeling and being completely unsure of myself! NOW MOVE!!!" Arlene swiftly turned the portal on, and closed her toolbox before she jumped into the sidecar. "=}-I'm ready now!-{="
Max grinned and said, "perfect." The pterodactyl spread it's wings, and fired engines underneath her, launching her up into the air. It's long tail detached itself from the creature, reassembling itself as a massive leg mounted drill. A pair of crosshairs targeting the bike, the monster and the portal appeared. She lined all three of the crosshairs up, one on top of the other, stretched her right leg out in front of her in a kicking pose before the rockets fired, and max screamed, "LET'S GO, RIDER KICK!" launching herself at the monster, impaling him with the drill. The pterodactyl detached itself from her back and grabbed the bike with its talons before propeling them all through the portal. As they were transported through a beam of green light the monster screamed, it's robotic form slowly disintegrating as they swiftly approached the earth.
Max and Arlene emerged from the other half of the cherub portal, with the charred remains of the robot stuck to her leg. This is when Max's Sol driver deactivated, causing the armor and the pterodactyl to disappear and causing the bike, Arlene, and Max to crash to the floor of Arlene's lab. The chunk of the robot crashed into the wall where it immediately exploded. Max sat up and looked at the explosion and said, "Why do evil robots always explode when you destroy them? You'd figure that if someone was smart enough to build them that they'd also be smart enough to construct these robots would also have a little quality control!" Arlene groaned and said, "=}-Tell me about it.-{="
Max stood up and said, "so, where are we now?" Arlene stood up and rubbed the back of her head. "=}-My lab. It's where I do a lot of building and fixing stuff.-{=" Arlene looked down at her wrist, likely checking the time on a wrist watch before she yawned and said, "=}-And by the looks of things, it's bedtime.-{=" Max yawned as well, and figured that it had been a crazy day, and that a well-deserved nap was in order. "So, do you have any spare beds I can sleep in?" "=}-Yeah, my hive has a few spare Respiteblocks, so you're more than welcome to use one.-{=" "Thanks, Arlene. Wait, what's a Respiteblock?" "=}-It's the term we trolls use for bedroom.-{=" "Oh, okay then." Shortly afterwords, Arlene led max to an empty room with a bed. Arlene said, "=}-If you need anything, just holler.-{=" Max yawned as Arlene closed the door before finally passing out on the bed.