Flames roared from their keeper as he advanced toward the rat demon that had picked the unfortunate day to exact out a hit. The demon howled and screamed in primal fury, the flames licking away his very existence. It failed to crawl and run away from the torment it faced, unable to fulfill it's namesake no longer.

"Gunther now!" Virgil's voice echoed out from the crackling of the fire, a brisk stride quickly gaining the distance between him and the burning Rat Dobatsu.

"Right!" Gunther let off on the trigger of his dual flamethrowers, the flame dying from his weapons quickly and concise. Arching his back steadily, the orange Rider placed his left foot behind his right and locked them, allowing Virgil to launch himself off his back!

"Rider Kick!" The white Rider announced, quickly moving the white beetle's horn from the right to the left.

RIDER KICK!

White, crackling energy leapt from Lespid's horn down to his raised right foot as he soared majestically through the air. In a brilliant flash of light, the white Rider sent his foot cascading into the Rat Dobatsus' body; an axe kick that split the demon in twain. As Virgil settled on the ground, the demon collapsed under the pressure of it's final breath and exploded, leaving nothing but dust and the two Riders standing proud.

The orange Rider walked forth and disengaged the firefly that gave him his power. After the armor and bug left, Gunther was left standing, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Man, it always gets so hot when I do that."

"Well duh, it's fire." Virgil disengaged his own bug and armor, taking time to throw his head back and loosen the hair that plastered to his forehead.

"Shut up." Gunther announced while taking a quick jab to his friend's rib. Virgil yelped in protest.

"Hey! I'm still not healed yet!" He was of course referencing the fight with the Moth Dobatsu that had quite left his armor, and his physical health, broken. His rib had begun to heal rather nicely over a quicker span than the doctor at Locksbury General had prescribed. The two Riders chocked it up to a mystical healing system their suits produced. "Besides, that was kind of a derp thing to say."

"Should've hit you harder." Gunther shook his head and took a quick glance at the pile of dust that the rat demon had left behind. It was a hard week.

"So that's what," Virgil held up his hand, lifting fingers to count, "the fifth one this week. He's really trying to kill us, eh?"

"Either that, or he's trying to wear us down." Gunther gulped hard at the thought. Five Dobatsu attacks in the past week, each on elder woman. It was Coyote's m.o. for sure, but it wasn't him exacting the attacks. To the boy's credit, they figured out that Coyote had been sending out separate attackers to fund their fighting, each time distracting them from the big man on campus as well. Gunther was tired of it all. Time and time again, he voiced his opinion on the cowardly monster that had claimed his mother's life, and then more openly declared how he'd be the one to put an end to him once and for all.

Virgil of course, could only oblige.

His friend had lived in torment since that day, and with another ally on the field, the fighting became more and more aggressive to the point where Gunther had made terrible decisions while striking against the Dobatsu they were plagued with. It was only today that Virgil convinced Gunther to lay back and let the white Rider handle the finishing blow.

"If he is, he's doing a damn good job. I don't know how much more of this I can take man."

"Virgil, we have to-"

"Relax," Virgil interjected, obviously annoyed, "we've got this. The more we think about him wearing us down, the more we will be. It's all about that psychology crap."

"But you just said.."

"I know what I said. I'm conflicting myself, it happens. The more important thing is that we get back on track. If I'm right, then Coyote isn't going to send anyone until tomorrow. So for today, with it still being early, you go off and do that thing with your sister, and I'll go out and check out Locksbury. Deal?" Virgil extended his hand, locking his friend's eyes with his own.

Gunther wavered for a bit, reconsidering the decision in his own mind. He knew that if he didn't shake his friend's hand, Virgil would leave on his own accord anyway. Then again, Gunther did have an important meeting with his sister that they had been planning for some time, the only thing delaying that was the constant Dobatsu attacks that Coyote had orchestrated. Virgil was right of course, they had fought one Dobatsu every day, for the past five days; by the demon's patterns, they were due for one tomorrow and no more for the rest of the day. Sighing, Gunther begrudgingly shook Virgil's hand.

"Good, it's settled. See ya later tonight mate!" Virgil began walking away, waving a friendly goodbye as he passed.

Gunther shook his head, wondering if he had just made a beneficial decision, or one that would end in disaster.

"Rat won't be coming back boys, I think it's time." Coyote sauntered into the living room holding a tray of three glasses of brandy. Sitting them down on the decorative coffee table in the middle of the room, he moved to the door way and crossed his bandaged arms. "They are no doubt worn out by the assaults I've presented. It's the perfect time to strike."

"I assume that's why you've called me here, eh Paul?" A burly man wearing a thin black tank top grabbed at one of the brandies on the table.

"It's why I've called both of you here today."

"Oh no, I was perfectly fine slinking in the shadows, hoping this bear of a man wouldn't have to see me. But now you go and blow me cover you git." In a corner of the room, the light began to shift and shimmer, the shape of a man replaced the shadows that had collected. Decked out in punk rocker gear, complete with numerous piercings from head to toe, and a green liberty spike mohawk, the Chameleon Dobatsu stepped away from the wall and joined in on the conversation.

"You called him?" The burly man leapt from the couch and threw his glass towards the Chameleon who deftly dodged the drinking object.

"He's gonna have me on me death bed!"

"Enough!" Paul snarled using his Dobatsu voice to keep the authority in his home under control. "So help me if either of you wake up my daughter, I'll kill you both myself!" The air in the room became thick with tension, Paul's authoritative voice still ringing in both of the men's ears.

"Sorry." They both uttered in unison.

"Now, the reason why I've called you here." Paul pulled a chair from across the room and placed it in front of both men who adopted comfortable positions on the sofa. "I've sent many low level Dobatsu to the two Riders in an attempt to wear them down. While Moth's death was quite...unfortunate...I've taken the initiative to call you both, the strongest Dobatsu I know, to finish off what I've started. I'm in little to no condition to fighting the two of them, but the strength in our numbers should take them down without much effort."

After a quick moment of silence mixed with internal thought, Chameleon shot up and shook his head, mixing hand gestures of an x.

"Nope, not going to do it. You don't fuck with Riders! There is a reason why all of your other assassins lost their lives fighting them!"

"The only reason is that they were weak, lowly Dobatsu I found to help our cause!" Paul stood from his chair, puffed out his chest and met face to face with his Chameleon friend.

"Our cause? It's your cause Paul!" Chameleon pushed a prying finger into the elder man's chest, pushing him off balance slightly. "Just because you got carried away and met opposition with a Rider doesn't make it our cause! Bear, do you hear this crap? He's gotta be taking a piss!"

"As much as I hate the English bastard, Chameleon is right. You fought with fire and got burned! Literally! You expect us to so easily walk into a pre-existing quarrel with your Riders to get ourselves killed? No thanks!"

"Need I remind you," Paul seethed, again with his Dobatsu voice, "it's either you fight the Riders, or fight me."

"Oh get off it you git!"

Paul pulled back in surprise. Did Chameleon just say that to him?

"I admire what you think you are Paul, but the truth is, I'm quite stronger than you. And Chameleon can do that disappearing thing he does. You wouldn't stand a chance against the both of us." Bear moved from his space on the couch and accompanied a standing position next to Chameleon. Their combined camaraderie had shocked Paul so much that his speech began to stammer as he thoughtlessly backed away from them.

"What's wrong mate, a wee bit scared?"

That had caught Paul's nerve. Sliding forward almost in the blink of an eye, Paul had shifted into Coyote and grabbed the punk rocker by his spike collar and pulled hard. The gagging noises that followed excited Paul, activating the bloodlust he had for the orange clad Rider and began to pull harder, until he was unexpectedly slung hard across the living room, into the dining room, and onto an oak dining table he had just purchased. Looking up, he saw Bear in his true form. The Dobatsu standing before him was seething, his muscles pulsating with anger.

"We're done here, Chameleon." Bear shifted back into his human form and helped the Chameleon Dobatsu off the floor who had fallen during Bear's assault on Paul.

"You...," Paul huffed and puffed, pulling splinters of wood off of him and from within as he struggled to stand. While his healing factor pushed most of Gunther's flame inflicted wounds from his body, the emotional scars blazed through his mind. "You two, you owe me."

Bear and Chameleon stared at each other, obviously distressed from what Paul had said. An event in their past had led their lives indebted by the Coyote that lay emotionally broken. They had no choice but to obey.

"Fine," Bear finally managed to say, "but this is the last time you call upon us."

Virgil's day on the town had virtually garnered him nothing as he could not find any store or attraction to keep him occupied. His day of relaxation became hard, as he more often than not found his thoughts shifting back to Gunther and his current state of mind. He was a concerned friend, through and through, but he had to think about himself or he would get nowhere today.

After milling around for a while, vanilla ice cream cone in hand, Virgil took refuge on a bench overlooking a theater and immediately thought back to his theater days. He enjoyed practicing the spoken word with other actors and actresses and found the idea of adopting pre-written personas quite exhilerating. It was a refreshing thought, something to break him from the monotony of the past five days.

"Interesting theater, don't you think?"

The voice snapped him from his reverie, and almost shocked him. Was he daydreaming that much? Which way did she come from? What did she think of a grown man eating an ice cream cone alone on a bench?

"Uhmm...Daaa..."

"It's ok," the voice said with a cute laugh, "I said the same thing too when I saw it."

Phew.

"So do you always eat ice cream alone on a bench?"

Dammit!

Virgil turned his head and was met with a most beautiful sight. The woman sitting next to him on this particular bench was gorgeous! Her beautiful, brown locks were kept up with a lime green hair band, which accentuated her chocolate brown eyes. He soft features made him smile like a little kid, which made her brandish a cute smile of her own.

"Oh, uh, no, no I don't. This is my first time in town, and I'm just checking out the sights. I haven't had an ice cream cone in a while, so I thought, 'Why not?' Right?" He laughed awkwardly and took a lick of his ice cream cone. "Oh damn, I'm being rude, do you want some..."

The woman offered a slightly awkward stare in response to the question.

"Duh, I hardly know you. Sorry, that was dumb. It's been a long day."

"Then what's the craziest thing you've done today?"

"Excuse me?" Virgil whipped his head around and stared into her eyes. Those eyes.

"You said it's been a long day...So what's the craziest part of it?"

Virgil began to blink and think about what was going on. A moment ago, he was deep into thought, thinking about all of the life threatening situations he had been in for the past week, and then here some random girl occupied his bench, questioned his ice cream habits, and then asked him probably the craziest question he had ever heard. Then again, he did ask her if she wanted some of his ice cream.

"The truth, or a lie?"

"Surprise me." She smiled.

"Well, I'm a martial artist that can transform into an armored hero and I fight demons that take the shape of animals and humans. I just fought one earlier today with my best friend, and we totally destroyed it. How's that?"

"So you're a martial artist, now that's cool."

Virgil smiled and finished off his cone. This girl was something else, and all he wanted to do was know more about her. If the rest of the day he was off, then he'd be with this girl.

"I didn't catch your name." Virgil extended his hand forward.

"Lily. And you?" She took his hand gracefully and shook it.

"Virgil." He smiled happily.

Gunther and Valerie walked up the cobblestone path to their mother's grave. The all so important meeting that the Wheeler's had planned was the first visiting of their mother's grave since her burial. Needless to say, the walk along the path was very quiet and somber, not so much as a sob escaped the already emotional Valerie, while Gunther's vengeful thoughts were silenced even in his own head; a first since their mother's death.

With flowers in hand, the grave site not twenty feet away, Valerie finally broke the silence.

"Mom would've loved this bouquet, it smells so pretty." Valerie lifted the bushel of flowers to her nose and took a hefty waft of the beautiful aroma the flowers released. It calmed her mind and kept her from crying as she spoke.

"Yea, I think so too." Gunther smiled at his sister

"I guess that's the reason why she kept so many flowers at home. They made her feel at peace, feel more calm."

"Hmm.. Yea." Another smile escaped Gunther's troubled mind. All these facets of their mother's personality began to creep up slowly like the killer in a horror film. He knew that eventually the proverbial knife would stab him, taking away his life, and reminding him that their mother was gone, once and for all.

Finally the Wheeler siblings approached their mother's final resting place. While both hesitant to act first, Valerie yet again shattered active silence by placing the beautiful arrangement of flowers upon the headstone; a small tear escaping her eye.

"Do you wanna...Go first?" Gunther managed to say, keeping his eyes locked on their mother's headstone.

"Yea, sure."

Valerie knelt down, careful to sweep the white floral sundress she wore under her knees as she finally found a spot on the ground to kneel. Dragging a careful, yet heavy hand across the stone, tears began to sting her otherwise dry eyes.

"Hey mom, how are you doing? We miss you, a lot. I uh, I brought you a beautiful smelling bouquet of flowers that I'm sure you'd adore. What am I saying, you're probably smelling them now and wondering if either Gunther and I have watered your precious potted flowers littered about the house."

"We did mom, don't worry. We've got them covered." Valerie turned her head and smiled at her brother's interjection.

"And Virgil's here now too. Well, he isn't here here, but he's staying with us. He made a special trip to come and see you. I know that would've meant so much to you. We'll bring him along next time mom, I promise. Mom, I'm so glad that you're in a better place. The only thing that matters to Gunther and I is that you're safe, and that you're loved, and that you're protected. We miss you mom, truly. But I'm gonna go so Gunther can talk now. I love you mom." Kissing her hand, Valerie placed her hand upon the headstone and left it there for a while as her tears streamed down her face. Finally she replaced herself with Gunther who adopted his sister's place upon the earth.

"Hey mom. What Valerie said was true. We do miss you, a lot. I don't want to play favorites or anything, but I might miss you the most." Valerie stifled a short laugh. "I don't know what I can say that's already been said, but I promise that I'll avenge you. I can promise that. Virgil, he's like me too. He's got a bug of his own, and he's got his own suit. We're gonna take down that bastard...I'm sorry, I know how much you hated it when either of us swore. We're gonna take down that guy to avenge you."

"Very unlikely."

The Wheeler siblings froze in fear. The voice had become a staple of Gunther's existence since the very first time it echoed upon his ears. Anger boiled his blood. He found it hard to turn around and face the voice that had killed his mother. Looking up and to his left, he found Valerie could hardly turn as well.

"What are you doing here?" Gunther growled through clenched teeth.

"To exact my revenge of course!"

"Your revenge?" The Rider spun around, letting his angry eyes lock onto the one sight he didn't want to see; Coyote standing proud and worse, healed. The monster stood however, with a bigger, burlier man by his side, the man's muscles bulging through the slender white tank top he wore.

"Of course! Your little flamethrowers quite injured me. I want retribution. The pain and suffering you've caused me will come to an end today!"

"Are you joking?" Gunther snarled, fishing into his jacket pocket for the brace his firefly sat upon.

"I never joke, I'm quite serious."

With quick flashes of bright, white light, the two men shifted into their Dobatsu forms. Coyote still suffered burn makes and twisted skin, a fact that made Gunther visibly smile. While the other man shifted into a bear motif, his new structure accentuating his already pre-existing muscles.

"Valerie, get out of here!" He turned his head, watching as Valerie stood paralyzed with fear. It seemed as if his sister hadn't moved an inch since the Coyote demon entered their conversation. Placing a calm hand on his sister's shoulder roused her from her fear, which she then quickly started running away. "Call Virgil!" He called out after her, still keeping an eye on the demons before him.

Extending his hand to the sky, the orange firefly descended from the heavens and landed securely in his grasp. He quickly snapped on his transformation brace, then placed the firefly in it's rightful spot.

"Henshin!"

HENSHIN!

The black techno-organic material scattered and sprawled the length of Gunther's frame, armoring him with the first layer of his bulkier armor. Next came the familiar heavier set pieces, forming and shutting the lower layer off to the elements. As the helmet came to form, the Rider watched as his enemies launched into a brutal offensive lead by the bulkier Dobatsu. While he dodged the first punch, Coyote's follow up attack scathed him across his visor, blurring his vision and making him completely available to the Bear's next attack.

Bear obliged to Coyote's opening by sending a strong kick into Gunther's torso, knocking the Rider off of his feet and flat onto the ground. With an over dramatic pull, Bear reached down and grabbed Gunther by the top of his breastplate, stringing him along in the air.

"How does it feel, Gunther?" Coyote bellowed as he circled his prone enemy.

"Fuck you!" Gunther struggled against his captor's grasp. Neither kick nor punch could shake this death grip the Bear Dobatsu held upon his armor. There did however, exist two options that the orange Rider could use to shake his captor; casting off and his flamethrowers. Casting off would prove costly, in exchange for the speed he would gain, his heavier, more protective armor would leave his frame, allowing the much stronger Bear Dobatsu to easily break through any defense. Using his flamethrowers now became the only option.

But even that was stifled.

As Gunther pulled his arms up for his fiery attack, Coyote whipped around, grabbed the orange Rider's arms, and pinned them behind his back. Verbal distaste exited Gunther's mouth, which was quickly silenced by another of Bear's powerful punches.

"How does it feel to know that you're out of options?"

"Virgil, where are you?"

"Is that the other Rider?" Bear asked, never keeping his eyes off of his caught trophy.

"It would seem so," Coyote replied, "but he isn't here. He should've been by now. We're lucky."

"Damn right you're lucky!" Gunther spat, struggling against both Coyote and Bear.

"It doesn't matter, we got what we came for. Right Chameleon?"

The air beside the bulkier Dobatsu shifted and simmered, revealing their punk rocker friend from before, this time however, his shift back into normal light was not taken alone. Slung over his shoulder was Valerie, knocked out cold.

"VALERIE!" Gunther struggled harder than before, but it was no good. No amount of rage could break him free of the iron clad grasp that held him. "Don't you dare hurt her!"

"I'll do damn well what I want! You're in no position of power!" Coyote let go of his hands and joined Chameleon. "Now don't fight until we leave. We wouldn't want anything to happen to your poor sister." The Coyote demon carried his hand softly across her face, angering Gunther to no end.

"You son of a-"

"We'll keep in touch." Placing a hand on his free shoulder, Coyote shifted out of sight with Chameleon, and worse, Valerie.

Demoralized and broken, Gunther stared off at the spot in which his sister had previously occupied, wishing and hoping that Coyote or his friends would not lay another hand on her. Unfortunately his reverie could not last, as Bear had thrown the Rider to the ground. Taking this opportunity, Gunther slid the small lever on the firefly, releasing his heavier armor.

"Cast off!"

CAST OFF!

The heavier pieces of his armor loosened and rocketed off of his body, causing a few stray pieces to hit the Bear Dobatsu head on. This only angered the demon, as he rushed toward Gunther with a heavy fist raised.

CHANGE FIREFLY!

Irrationally, Gunther decided the best action was the offensive and followed with the same charging attack his foe produced; the outcome however, was not the same. The Bear's powerful fist collided with Gunther's helmet, the weaker armor taking the hit with dire punctuation. The orange Rider heard ringing and then saw nothing as his consciousness blanked away, with only one thought struggling to remain.

Virgil, where are you...

Author's Note:

Hey guys! I'm so very sorry for the lack of Lespid and any lack of knowledge to where I've been. With 2011 coming to a close, it's safe to say that it's been a really awesome, yet stressful year for me. For one, I just got back from my first semester at college and shall be heading off for the second semester the day before my birthday. I also had to get a new laptop. My last harddrive crashed and I was left without all of my story ideas, as well as my unreleased graphic art projects; that was not cool.

I had intended to finish this chapter of Lespid much sooner than it's come out, I can assure you. I am sorry to my loyal fans, all three of you probably, that were eagerly awaiting more stuff from me.

As with the New Year, I'm planning on doing A LOT of new things with Lespid that wasn't in the original design. I can't tell you for spoiler reasons and such, but I'm hoping you guys will love reading it as much as I've enjoyed creating it.

I'm also going to re-edit transitions over the next coming weeks to make them smoother, i.e. line breaks. I've only just learned, don't laugh, how to do them, and will be implementing them in future chapters as well as going back to older chapters to fix the clutter I feel they present. It's a thing to help out potential new readers who might be turned off by that sort of thing, and just of personal preference.

For those that will read this and continue to do so, or even just the occasional looker, have a Happy New Year, and stay safe!