Powerful punches collided against his seemingly perfect defense. With every blow, pieces of his forearm armor began to crack and fleck off, leaving him desperate for a move to change the tide of combat. Virgil raised his leg into a mighty kick, knocking the attacking armored warrior off his stride. Shaking his arms, the remaining forearm armor loosened and fell, leaving him without a top side defense. He would have to play it safe this time, especially against someone who held the same power as his own.

The reddish orange warrior regained his composure, quicker than Virgil had expected. Either his current adversary had prior martial arts knowledge, or just knew what he was doing. In all fairness, the armor of the firefly warrior would've absorbed most of the blow from the kick, so this wasn't such a stretch.

The warrior leaped towards Virgil, unleashing a furry of punches, all of which he had artfully dodged. However no counter attack could be landed, as the reddish orange warrior's strikes were precise, leaving no opportunity for such assault. Concerned now, more than ever, Virgil knew this opponent would also have to be defeated with swift and precise strikes.

But before the battle could wage on, the soft, dull hum of wings flapping snapped both of the warriors out of their combat fervor, and had them both gazing around for the source of the noise. A huge gust of wind then overcame them, knocking them both to the ground, slightly disorienting the two. Virgil, standing quickly, looked back at his former opponent, noticing a yellow substance covering most of his armor. Before he could open his mouth to speak upon his observation, a figure emerged from the treeline, not twenty feet from his current location. Thanks to the help of accentuated vision his helmet gave him, he saw it was another demon, this time with a Moth's head.

"Do you see what I see?" Uttered Virgil, looking back towards his previous opponent.

"Another one. Great." The reddish orange warrior stood up and placed himself next to Virgil. He ran a hand over his armor after looking at Virgil's own, collecting some of the yellow substance upon the surface of his glove. Rubbing it between his fingers, he looked at Virgil, brandishing a concerned look behind his mask. "It's a pollen of some sort."

"What?" Virgil drug his hand over his own armor, collecting some of the so called pollen. Rubbing the substance between his fingers as well, he came to the same conclusion. Was this a special ability of the demon?

Looking again in the distance, it seemed the pollen had been spread as far as the treeline, which the Moth had been kneeling next too. Rubbing it's hands together feverishly, it began creating a series of sparks, until suspiciously, the sparks had caught a bit of the pollen on fire, and then soon, it exploded.

On a lucky break, the Coyote demon had gotten away thanks to the brief, yet much appreciated intervention of the Rider in white. Thankfully not alone in his initial attack upon the elderly woman, his companion, the Moth Dobatsu had summoned a strong attack to quell his adversaries and shadow his friend's escape. It had worked perfectly. But the adventure home was not without much difficulty. He stumbled and fell on multiple occasions, even having to stop quite frequently to gather his breath. While being a Dobatsu held healing properties, in his condition, they would take days to activate. He would need to be nursed back to health. Luckily his daughter would kindly oblige.

Upon entering his quaint little home through secret routes over the city, he shifted back into his human persona. Once inside he struggled to the couch and promptly collapsed once reaching said furniture. With an exhausted yell, he called out his daughter's attention.

"Isabella!"

Almost immediately, the sound of a door opening from a higher level in the house occurred, followed by frantic footsteps down stairs, and there was his young daughter at her father's side.

"Father! Was it the Riders again? Did they hurt you?" Weakly, his human head nodded. "Hold on, I'll help you." She quickly rushed off into the downstairs bathroom, the sound of medicine bottles being thrown about resounded all too loudly as the Coyote Dobatsu, his human name known as Paul, struggled to become comfortable on the rickety old couch. With the accelerated healing factor on his side, his human visage was barely scarred, only showing slight burn marks, however on his Dobatsu side, his body had been quite scared by the firefly Rider's flames.

"Those flames!" He seethed through a clenched jaw, remembering their first encounter. Sometimes, Paul even wondered if destroying that young man's mother had been a bad decision from the get go, spawning the vengeful Rider that the young man had become. The Riders, the Dobatsu's adversaries. Armored warriors that fought to quell the infestation of his kind, to stop them from living on. Had the process gone the right way, he would've been a powerful Dobatsu with a firefly spirit instead of the firefly Rider. But the righteous soul in that young man had called forth something powerful, something on the good end of the spectrum. He hated those people. The ones that sifted through the animosity, the evil, the dark, decrepit thoughts of the human mind to attain what some might call a higher power, Riders. "I'll get you firefly!"

"It was him again?" Isabella had returned upon her father's last words, shocked to hear that her father's recent adversary had been none other than the Rider that had killed her mother, the firefly Rider.

"Yes, but he wasn't alone this time. It was-" a rigorous cough interrupted his sentence, prompting his daughter to bring a cup of water to his lips, which he drank slowly. "It was a new Rider. A white one. Some sort of... beetle. But thanks to his timely entrance, I got away, and with the help of Mr. Moth."

"Maybe the white one is on our side?"

"No." He promptly retorted. "While his arrival was a godsend, his alliance will always lie with the Riders."

"Well that's ok. My big strong father is going to crush him!"

"Of course I will, sweetie." Sitting up, Paul clutched at his sides, incidentally where most of the burns had occurred, and was quickly sent crashing back to the couch, producing a loud roar from his animal side.

"No daddy, rest, please? I don't wanna lose you and mommy."

"I won't let that happen honey." He said, smiling through the pain. "It's up to Mr. Moth for now. Once I'm recovered, I'll kill them both!"

"Yay!" His daughter began to jump up an down, elated at the news. Paul would preserve his daughter's happiness if it took all of his power to do so. He wouldn't be taken away from her, to leave her alone forever. The Riders were his ultimate goal, and as he passed out from the pain by his earlier battle, happy thoughts of death, and destruction sifted through his unconscious mind. The two he faced, and the many more that existed, they would die, all by his hand!

The explosion tore through the air like a sonic boom. The ground shattered and shook from the magnitude of the explosive powder, as it detonated by the Moth's hands. The two Riders flew back, hit with a wave of intense heat and amazing force. Had their suits not been equipped, they would've been disintegrated upon impact. The trailer park that fit their surroundings however, didn't fair quite as well. The housing units that sat further from the blast radius had sunken with the shattered ground, and became quite mangled as a result. The others in the brute force of the blast had been eradicated completely, leaving nothing but scorch marks in their wake. Luckily, no inhabitants occupied the trailers at the time, for the burden felt by the two Riders would've been devastating.

With immense pain, Virgil shot up from his position on the ground, feeling a tight pulling in his back. Grunting in pain, he looked to find the other warrior, but could not locate the distinct reddish orange armor that occupied his form. Standing up, he placed his hands upon his chest armor, finding it fractured with tiny cracks at the abdominal muscles, and a huge, gaping whole in his right pectoral. Inspecting the black body suit beneath, he was lucky to find that nothing had been damaged beyond that frontal piece.

Reaching for his belt to disengage the armor, he heard a familiar sound, the dull humming of beating wings. Looking up, he found the Moth hovered above him, powder steadily flowing from it's appendages. Jumping back, the Moth struck it's hands together, igniting the powder, and yet again, sending Virgil crashing to the ground. Landing, the Moth began to walk towards Virgil.

"I let the other one go, Coyote wants him all to himself. Get the newbie Rider he says. The newbie is a joke! A joke!"

Virgil struggled to get up. The pain in his back reared it's ugly head, but for a much longer period. The first explosion, while devastating, he wasn't that close too it. But with the Moth's last assault being a very close direct blow, he wasn't too fortunate with the pain it produced. While looking at his armor, the left pectoral had started to go, as well as pieces of the abdominal armor had in fact, fell off. The end result of this fight wasn't going to be a good one, and if Virgil had only one option left, it was to run.

"Goes down too easily! Truly a newbie, truly!" The Moth Dobatsu began to fidget, flicking the fingers on it's hands around quite rapidly, creating bright sparks. Virgil would use this unstable creature to his advantage, or so he hoped.

"I bet your boss doesn't appreciate you. Leaving you here to deal with the newbie Rider, especially when you could waste that other guy."

"Coyote trusts me to take care of the cannon fodder. I'm his friend, not his employee. Stupid newbie! Know your place!" The Moth began to fidget again, but in a much more violent way. Virgil's plan didn't work, but he wouldn't give up, as the right opportunity came at the right time. With the fidgeting of the Moth, came the clacking of the fingers, and with the clacking of the fingers, came the bright sparks, which had landed into the Moth's compound eyes, distracting it.

Summoning some of his remaining strength, Virgil tore through the pain and broke into a quick jump kick that knocked the Moth back, giving Virgil enough time to sprint to the forest that surrounded what was left of the trailer park. Taking quick refuge behind a tree, he looked back to see the Moth back on it's feet, jumping around in anger. Looking down at his battered armor, and then back at the destruction the Moth had caused, he ruled that staying in his armor would be his best bet. Looking back one more time at the Dobatsu chasing him, he began to hobble through the woods, hoping on loosing any, and all trails connecting to the insect that was chasing him.

Without looking back, Gunther had high tailed it out of the trailer park. With his victory over Coyote spurned, Gunther could hardly care less if the white hero had survived or not. All that mattered to him was living another day to take out the monster that had killed his mother, and protecting the rest of his family. If the white hero looked for a victory over a monster, he would have to conquer the Moth, for Coyote was his.

Battered and bruised, Gunther crashed through the front door of his shared house, and took refuge on the stairs. Because he did not take the time to walk back home, he had exhausted himself, rushing back to confirm the fear that in an act of desperation, Coyote hadn't traveled to his home, killing Virgil and worse, his sister.

"Gunther?" Valerie stepped out from the living room and walked towards the stair case, seeing her brother on the stairs. "Gunther!"

"I'm... ok." He managed to stammer out in between catching his breath. He rose slowly, almost collapsing to the wooden steps beneath him, but his sister helped support him, bringing him to the living room, and onto the couch.

"Did you fight him?"

Gunther nodded weakly. Did she finally believe him? Or was this just another ploy to understand his pain? Either way, he had to say his peace. He had to come clean. It was the right thing to do.

"Val, I need to tell you some-"

"I believe you." Shock crept across Gunther's face. All the other times he had described such ventures of fighting their mother's killer, and come back in better states, she was quick to dismiss his words. Was his battered and bruised form the final indicator of his truth? Or was another something else the source of facts?

"Wait, why? Even I couldn't believe this at first, and I've been fighting them."

"Because Gun, ever since we were kids, you've been nothing but sincere." Valerie latched onto her brother in a warm embrace, holding him tight. "Mom would've been so proud of you, never giving up for any reason. Going the distance, always."

"Thanks Valerie, thanks so much." Gunther hugged back just as tight. It was good knowing that she finally understand what he was doing, and accepting it. The next step was to apologize to Virgil. After leaving their embrace, Gunther stood, grabbing a second wind. "Where's Virgil? I want to apologize to him."

"Um, he went out a while ago, but I'm sure he'll be back soon." Something about her tone gave Gunther a bit of a chill. But never the less, he sat back down and took off his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"I almost had him Val. Then another armored guy like me, this guy in white, he came and interrupted the fight, and that bastard got away. I went to fight him off, but then we got ambushed by another monster. It created this giant explosion, and then I got away. I didn't look for the guy in white, I wanted him to pay for what he cost me." Looking to his sister, he was taken aback by her facial expression, eyes wide, and in shock. Had he said something wrong? "Val, what is it?"

"I have to tell you something too." Turning to her brother, Valerie began to explain everything that happened the night of their mother's funeral. Recounting the events, she expressed how fun it was to catch up with Virgil on their respective lives, at the bar. Then, she explained the utter terror she felt as she watched the man transform into the Rabbit demon, her being almost sick at the sounds the transformation echoed. When Virgil transformed, she was elated as he jumped into battle, but feared for him at the same time. And as the battle continued on, with the eventual destruction of the Rabbit, she was excited that he had saved the day, but utterly confused. The world she had grown up with had just gone to hell right before her eyes, and the only solace she had lied with Virgil. But now that she believed her brother thanks to her own account, she knew that she was in great hands.

"I can't believe it." Gunther stood from the couch again, and began to pace around the room. "I attacked my own best friend, the guy I consider a brother, and I left him for dead! "

"It's not too late to save him. That thing he did when he knew the demon was active, it took him to that trailer park, right? Well, there's been reports of more, condensed explosions reporting from that area. The police are afraid to move in to investigate. I know he's still alive Gunther, go save him."

"I will." Gunther sprang for the front door, only to return to the living room a second later. "Thanks Val, for everything." As he watched her smile and nod, Gunther yet again sprang for the front door. Leaving, he nodded to himself. "I'm gonna save you Virgil."

Another explosion had taken off his leg armor, and was eventually the last straw for the beetle upon the belt, as it quickly disengaged itself, as well as the armor, leaving only Virgil laying on the ground, writhing in pain. The Moth had not only found Virgil, but began to toy with him as all his escape attempts fell quickly in vain.

"Hehe. I was the perfect moth for the job. Dead newbie soon, dead newbie!"

"Fuck off!" Virgil screamed out in rage. The frustration from the situation had built such an angry response, that the Rider wanted to beat the monster without his suit. He didn't want to die like this, not to some lowly demon sent to do another one's bidding. But regardless, he would fight to the very end.

"You mad! You mad!"

Fists clenched tight, Virgil tried to rise, but the pain was too much. The Moth erupted in laughter at the failed attempt, and the Rider wanted nothing more to punch the bug in it's horrid looking face.

"Nothing can save you now Rider! Nothing!"

"I can." Both startled, Virgil and the Moth snapped their heads to find Gunther coming from behind a tree, a strange looking brace equipped on his right wrist.

"Gun man, run! You're gonna get yourself killed!" Virgil screamed, hoping that his friend would listen to him.

"No, because I'm going to save you." Walking over, Gunther helped Virgil to his feet and even brushed him off a little. Virgil stood confused, but the Moth quickly cleared the confusion.

"Coyote kills you firefly Rider, not me! Not me!"

"What?" Virgil turned to his friend and noticed the strong, stoic look that he brandished upon his face.

"Virgil, I'm truly sorry for attacking you earlier. Had I known, I wouldn't have been so hostile. So as a stipulation for that, let me fight this thing for you." The mechanical firefly flew down from the sky and into Gunther's left hand. As he was about to place the bug into the wrist device, Virgil rested one of his hands upon Gunther's shoulder.

"And I'm sorry that I let that monster that killed your mother get away. But I can't let you do this alone." With all of the damage he had been dealt previously, Virgil had hoped the white beetle would come to his call. Extending his arm up the sky, thankfully, the white beetle emerged from the atmosphere and landed into Virgil's right hand. Sharing a quick glance and nod, the two slammed their respective insects into their respective devices.

"Henshin!" They both screamed in unison.

HENSHIN!

Their black body suits shot over their bodies, covering their forms in the protective layer. The hexagons quickly went to work, layering the thicker armor over their body suits, as well as the sleeker leg armor upon their lower body. Finally, their helmets formed, and both upon completion of the transformation, their visors emitted a crimson red, and navy blue flash of light respectively.

The Moth, scared out of it's wits at fighting two Riders at once, flew back while beating it's wings, spreading it's explosive powder on the ground and the Riders that gave chase to it. Flicking it's hands together, a spark formed, which caught the powder, and caused it to explode.

CAST OFF!

CHANGE LESPID BEETLE!

CHANGE FIREFLY!

Through the explosion, pieces of the Rider's discarded armor forced the explosion back onto the Moth, knocking it down to the ground. Standing up feverishly, the two Riders, charged the Moth, with Gunther being the first one to attack, slamming a powerful right fist into the Moth's gray stomach, it stumbled back, and was quickly met by another flying kick of Virgil's. The demon however, stood it's ground, confident that if it could get off another explosion, it would turn the tide of the battle. Fate had other plans.

The two Riders sent powerful punches into it's chest, Virgil on the left, Gunther on the right. This attack knocked the Moth back, miraculously it still stood. But the Riders continued their charge, producing back kicks into the Moth's chest, which sent it crashing to the ground. Sensing it's defeat, it began to beat it's wings, but found that to be a useless tactic, upon crashing to the ground, the wings had torn. Furious it stood up and charged at the two Riders.

Snapping the wings shut on the firefly, and then opening them up again, Gunther stopped the charge of the Moth.

"Rider Barrage!"

RIDER BARRAGE!

The energy from the firefly traveled to his antennae, then back to his wrists, upon which, Gunther began to slam his powered up fists into the Moth, punching as fast and as hard as he could. The Moth began howling in pain, hoping that his demise would end come soon.

ONE! TWO! THREE!

"Rider Kick!"

RIDER KICK!

Upon hearing his friend's finisher announced, Gunther rolled backwards as his friend ran forward, lending him his back so Virgil could gain altitude. Jumping off of Gunther, Virgil pulled his leg high, and then crashed it down upon the Moth, giving it the look as if it had been split in half. Upon landing, the Moth's body exploded in a brilliant flash of triumph, and once the smoke had cleared, Virgil and Gunther stood untransformed.

"Good job." Virgil said, reaching out to his friend. But the strain from transforming again and then exhausting all of his energy to kill the demon had taken it's toll, and he promptly fell to the ground.

"Hey now!" Yelled Gunther as he rushed over to his friend, helping him up. "I promised I'd save you, you can't quit on me yet."

"Heh, I'll be fine man. Thanks for coming around. Off the record, I wouldn't have survived if you hadn't come just in time."

"Don't worry about it, I promised Valerie, so I couldn't let you go like that. And besides, I'm sorry for leaving you earlier. Like I said, I wouldn't have done that if I knew."

"Dick." Virgil uttered as he shook his head.

"I can still drop you, you know." Gunther laughed.

"Yea, yea." Virgil stammered out as they continued out of the forest. "We're gonna get him, that I promise."

Gunther nodded and shed a hearty smile, happy that his friend was alive, and his mom's death would be avenged, soon. He wouldn't let anyone else feel the same heart ache he had. He would make damn sure of it, and with Virgil on his side, the odds were even better.