Kamen Rider Voyager

by maxpower02

The Demon King People, the Maojins. For 657 years they have lived among us, leaving behind a path of carnage and destruction at their wake. One man has dedicated his life to stop them with the power of Voyager, traveling around the world and fighting the Maojins wherever he go. Join him in his journey as he seeks to stop the Maojins from unsealing and reviving their leader!

4. A Hurricane's Rage

A/N: What's up guys! maxpower02 here with the latest chapter of Kamen Rider Voyager! However, before we start, I have a bad news and a good news.

Bad news – Zard and Cyber are being put on hold. Reason? I felt that I had more ideas going on in my head for Voyager, with a good total of 11 episodes (including the four that have been published) in mind, before my winter Movie War with Kamen Rider Ex-Aid (yup, as I said, my fanfiction Riders universe takes place at the same universe as the Neo-Heisei Riders, so yeah, I can pull that off lol). I'll probably rewrite those two stories when I have the time, but don't worry, they're still part of my universe…it's the matter of placing it in a new timeline that suits them better. Before Voyager or after Voyager? Up to me lol

Good news – yeah I kinda leaked it in the bad news part. I already had Voyager all planned out to the point of the debut of the series' tertiary Rider and the debut of the primary and secondary Riders' Super Forms, or mid-season upgrade if you can say. Speaking of secondary, this chapter will debut the series' secondary Rider, as well as Voyager's other alternate form! So yeah, sit back, relax, and enjoy the story~~

Disclaimer: I don't own Kamen Rider, TOEI does.

xxx

Previously, on Kamen Rider Voyager

In the light of the consecutive attacks on Ho Chi Minh City by the Eagle and Komodo Maojins, the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department (HCMCPD) decided to act fast by forming a special taskforce that specializes in taking on these dangerous kaijns, the Maojin Counter Unit (MCU). Led by the newly promoted Leo, this taskforce will support Kamen Rider Voyager in his battles against the Maojin forces.

The taskforce was quick to be called into action, as the Water Tribe made their move by sending out the Seahorse Maojin to attack the city's fishing boats. Thankfully Voyager was there on the scene to take on the Seahorse Maojin, however Star, the Maojins' vanguard, interrupted the battle between Voyager and the Seahorse Maojin, saving the latter while reigniting his rivalry with the former. The timely arrival of the MCU forced Star into retreat and allowed Voyager to resume his fight with the Seahorse Maojin. The Maojin put up a tough fight, but thanks to Voyager's Inferno Form, granted by the newly acquired Ace of Swords Maojin Card, the Seahorse Maojin's threat was ended once and for all.

However, the battle between humanity and the Maojins has just begun…

xxx

"Where's Krishna?"

Entering the small kitchen of Steffi's apartment with that question, Vy immediately blinked in confusion as she saw both Steffi and Kim, who were busy cooking spicy fish soup for today's dinner, immediately dropped whatever they're doing right now after hearing that.

"I mean," Vy spoke again, "You told me that he'll be joining us for dinner, but where is he? Is he coming late? Or is he cancelling his dinner plan with us altogether?"

"Oh, right," Steffi chuckled, "I forgot that you weren't there when we met him today. Krishna told us that he's going somewhere first before coming over to our place. Leo's with him right now, as he's going to take Krishna here."

"I see," Vy nodded.

"Why don't you help us with our spicy fish soup while we wait?" Kim said, putting aside her freshly chopped chili and placing scallions on the chopping board, "I'm going to boil water for the soup, so please chop the scallions for me."

"Sure thing," Vy said, taking the knife from Kim before she proceeds to chop the scallions in front of her.

xxx

45 minutes later

The SIG members' spicy fish soup was simmering on the stove as the sound of a car and a motorcycle pulling up to the apartment's parking lot was heard from outside. Steffi peeked out of her kitchen window, before a smile appeared on her face seconds afterwards.

"They're here!" Steffi chirped excitedly, "C'mon girls, let's set up the table for our guests!"

As Steffi and the others were arranging the tablecloth on the apartment's dining table, a clearly tired Leo opened the door, a weak smile on his face.

"I'm back," Leo said, wiping away the sweat from his forehead before taking off his shoes as he entered the apartment, with Steffi immediately directing her clearly tired brother to his seat on the dining table, "Hey sis, that guest room of yours...no one's using it, right?"

"Why do you ask?" Steffi asked back, preparing a glass of water for Leo, "I mean of course it's always available, the only time that it was used is whenever you're too tired to return to your own home and decided to hit the hay here!"

"I think Krishna should stay with you girls," Leo said, gulping down his glass of water before continuing, "The guy lived in a fucking tent!"

"What?!" Steffi, Kim, and Vy gawked at the same time.

xxx

30/4 Park, District 1

One hour earlier

"Why are you taking me here again, Krishna?" Leo asked as he and Krishna parked their respective vehicles near the iconic 30-4 Park, located in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City.

30/4 Park was a small yet shady park that connected two of Ho Chi Minh City's iconic landmarks, the Reunification Palace and the Notre Dame Cathedral. It was named after the Vietnamese Reunification Day, April 30th, otherwise known as the Fall of Saigon, which marks the end of the Vietnam War and the reunification between North and South Vietnam.

"I need to pick up some stuff from here and I want you to help me," Krishna replied, taking off his helmet, "And by some stuff, I mean that."

Krishna pointed towards a medium-sized green tent standing proudly in the middle of the park, a lit bonfire present in front of it while a small clothesline that has Krishna and Karin's laundry on it was present on the left hand side of the tent. Leo's jaw immediately dropped as he saw what Krishna had showed him.

"If it weren't for the fact that you're this city's only hope against the Unrecorded Lifeforms, I would have fucking arrested you right here right now," an annoyed Leo said, "Do you know that it's illegal to set up camp in any of the city's green spaces?"

"Kinda," Krishna shrugged sheepishly, "But give me some slack, will ya? I'm Voyager, Vo-ya-ger! I travel from places to places. In other words, I don't have a permanent home. In fact, I only lived here for two days! I got kicked out from my last place of residence, you know?"

"Which is?"

Krishna lets out an even more sheepish look on his face, "23/9 Park in District 1."

Leo face-palmed upon hearing that, "Let me guess, the police kicked you out?"

Krishna nodded sheepishly.

"That's it. You're getting a permanent place to stay whether you like it or not!"

xxx

"And that's why I want him to stay with you girls," Leo finished his story.

"And why should Krishna stay with us?" Steffi asked back.

"Duh, you're the first person that literally stood for him when I arrested him when we first met him," Leo replied, sipping his drink once again, "Besides, having him and Karin in my house would add more to my already increasing headaches. And the fact that your apartment's bigger than mine."

"True," Steffi nodded.

"But are you really sure about this?" Kim asked, "I mean, Vy and I have already been living here ever since Steffi set up the SIG."

"A fourth person would add more to this apartment's burdens…" Vy added, recalling the moments where she, Kim, and Steffi often argue on how the apartment's expenses should be divided.

"Look at the bright side," Steffi said, trying to reassure her friends, "A fourth person means that the bills would be cheaper on our part. Besides, what could possibly go wrong?"

"Hey guys!" Krishna's voice suddenly boomed out from the door as the man made his way in, "Leo said that I could stay here for a while. Do you mind if I bring Karin with me?"

Behind Krishna stood Karin, grinning from ear to ear as she lets out a friendly wave at the four people inside the apartment.

"Don't worry, she'll be in her card form if she bothers you girls too much," Krishna added.

Steffi sighed, "Hoo boy, this is going to be a fun ride…"

xxx

KAMEN RIDER VOYAGER

Episode 4: A Hurricane's Rage

OP: Eiyuu no Uta – THE ALFEE

xxx

Steffi, Vy, Kim, Leo, Krishna, and Karin were now sitting around the dining table, bowls of spicy fish soup that Steffi and her friends had made earlier in front of them. Vy and Kim were busy enjoying their soup, the latter telling the former enthusiastically about Voyager's battle against the Seahorse Maojin earlier that day, to which Vy groaned in dismay about why didn't anyone told her about it. Steffi and Leo were discussing Maojin-related issues, mainly regarding the other Maojin-related cases that the MCU hasn't investigated yet. Karin was definitely enjoying her spicy fish soup, delightfully powering through bowl after bowl, however her partner Krishna remained silent throughout dinner time, occasionally taking a few spoons of his meal.

Noticing that Krishna was unlike his usual self, Steffi gently nudged Krishna by the shoulder, "What's wrong? Is the soup too spicy for you?"

Krishna shook his head, "No, it's not that. The soup's good. It's just…"

As Krishna glanced at Steffi, he was shocked to see that instead of the young woman, sitting beside him was a young Thai girl, dressed in a traditional-styled attire usually worn by villagers in Thailand in the early 20th century.

"Sobee…" Krishna whispered, his thoughts drifting away to what had happened 108 years ago…

"Krishna?" Steffi called out, realizing that Krishna had spaced out in front of her, "Krishna? You okay there dude?"

Immediately Krishna shook his head several times and blinked his eyes repeatedly, forcing himself to his senses as the Thai girl in his vision reverted back into Steffi, "Yeah, I'm good. It's just…"

Karin, knowing what's happening with Krishna all too well, decided to step in, "…Krishna hasn't been to someone's house in quite a while, so he's awestruck at how well organized your place is."

"That's right!" Krishna exclaimed all of a sudden, letting out a slightly relieved and thankful smile at Karin, "What she said."

Steffi blinked, "You haven't been to someone's house before? And how's my apartment well organized? It's a shipwreck, I tell ya."

"That's true," Krishna nodded, "And no, your house is quite clean compared to the ones that I saw throughout my journeys."

"So where did you usually go to sleep in your journeys?" a curious Kim asked, an equally curious Vy listening keenly besides her.

"We camped," Krishna replied simply, "Usually we set up camp at parks, in front of stores, or at some random place that we think it's comfortable."

"We did sleep in hotels sometimes, however," Karin added, "But only if we had enough money to afford a room for the night…and the fanciest hotels that we could afford are usually those budget, one-star hotels…"

"Interesting," Leo nodded, "Anyway, how long have you been doing this? You never actually told me that during our interrogation a few days ago."

Krishna cleared his throat, "You won't believe me if I tell you guys."

"We're ready for anything," Steffi said.

"I believe I already told Leo about this," Krishna said to which Leo nodded in agreement, "I may look 20…but I'm actually 677 years old."

Immediately after hearing that Steffi, Vy, and Kim performed spit-takes at the same time, which unfortunately sprayed Leo with soup straight in his face.

"Goddamnit," Leo muttered, taking out several sheets of tissue which he used to clean up his face.

"You're kidding me," Steffi said in disbelief, cleaning her mouth with a sheet of tissue as well.

"I kid you not," Krishna said, "When I first received my Voyager powers, I was 20 years old. It was 1366 if I'm not mistaken, and that was the year when the Maojins first surfaced."

"That means you've been doing your job for the past 657 years…" Steffi deduced, "Incredible…"

"So when these…is it cryptids or Maojins?" Kim scratched her head.

"You're free to call them cryptids if you want to," Krishna told Kim, "I mean, I told Leo that the police force are free to refer the Maojins as the Unrecorded Lifeforms. If you girls refer to Maojins as cryptids, you're free to do so."

"Right," Kim nodded, "So when these cryptids first showed up, it was during…gosh, I wish I never slept on History classes back in school!"

"I came from the eastern part of the island of Java in Indonesia, so at that time it was during the golden age of the Majapahit Empire, when King Hayam Wuruk and his trusted Prime Minister Gajah Mada performed their famous expansion of the Majapahit. I guess in Vietnam it was during the first period of the Dai Viet era, no?"

"Guess so," Kim said, "So again, when these cryptids first appear…why did they appear in the first place?"

"To be honest I have no idea," Krishna replied, "I've already told Leo that by the way. From what I've known, these creatures came from our planet itself, apparently coexisting with us without us knowing, and are allegedly as old as the planet itself. I've also told Leo that the Maojins were destructive creatures who seek to revive an important figure in their hierarchy…the one they call, The World."

"The World?" Steffi blinked.

"As in the tarot card?" Vy added.

"That's true. From what I've known from my encounters with the Maojins, they have their own unique hierarchy," Krishna continued, "Remember when I refer to the Eagle Maojin as the Ace of Wands?"

Steffi, Kim, and Vy nodded in unison, remembering the time they first met Krishna, while Leo listened on keenly.

"There are seven natural elements in this world, Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Thunder, Darkness, and Light," Krishna began his explanation, "Tarot cards are divided into two suits, the Minor Arcana and the Major Arcana, the former divided into 4 suits. The same goes with the Maojins, only this time they have 7 suits…or Tribes as they would like to call it…instead of 4, with Wands representing the Wind Tribe, Swords representing the Fire Tribe, Shields representing the Thunder Tribe, Cups representing the Water Tribe, and Coins representing the Earth Tribe. The Light and Darkness Tribes are not represented by any specific suit at all."

"Carry on," Leo said, quickly taking out his notepad and writing down what Krishna had said, "Even though the information might be minimal, every word that you say is important for the MCU, since you can shed some light to what we're facing here."

"Sure thing," Krishna nodded, "Continuing, the Minor Arcana of the Maojins are mere soldiers, the ones who carry orders. They were ranked from numbers 2 until 10, with the Aces, Jacks, Queens, and Kings serve as the executives of the Minor Arcana Maojins. Their destructive capabilities also vary depending on their rank, with the 2s the weakest and the Aces the strongest among the Minor Arcanas."

"That explained the huge scale of destruction during the Eagle and Komodo Unrecorded Lifeform attacks, as well as the more localized destruction that the Seahorse Unrecorded Lifeform had inflicted..." Leo thought as he took notes.

"But the Aces have nothing on the Major Arcanas," Krishna continued, "These are the 22 strongest Maojins, with The World being the most powerful of them all, so powerful, it doesn't need any Tribe at all. The remaining 21 are divided into groups of three that oversee each of the 5 Tribes, with the exception of the Light and Darkness Tribes since those Tribes only have their respective Major Arcana Maojins as members. To make this simple, let's refer to the Minor Arcana Maojins as just Maojins and the Major Arcana Maojins as the Arcana Maojins, shall we?"

Steffi, Kim, Vy, and Leo nodded in unison.

"Still listening? Good. Now, I need to tell you guys something," Krishna said, nudging Karin gently on her elbow, "Karin here…she's an Arcana Maojin."

Immediately Steffi, Kim, and Vy grabbed glasses of water from the dining table, drank them as much as they could, before taking a simultaneous spit-take with Leo being the unfortunate target once again.

"Goddamnit!" Leo cursed, quickly pocketing his soaking notepad, "Not again!"

"A what?!" Kim gawked.

"Arcana Maojin," Karin said, confirming what Krishna had told the group, "But don't worry. We Light Tribe Maojins are disgusted by the actions of our kind…we felt that we Maojins could live together with humans in peace. That's why we've decided to help the humans in defending themselves against our own kind."

"Karin's real name is the High Priestess," Krishna added, "One of the most powerful Maojins out there…good thing that she's in the side of good and not evil. Now back to our discussion regarding the Maojins, each Maojin Tribe member was based on a specific living creature, whether it's a normal Maojin or an Arcana one, their physical appearance is always based on a specific creature that corresponds to his or her Tribe. The Thunder Tribe are all insects and arachnids, the Water Tribe are all water-based animals, the Wind Tribe are flying, non-insect animals, the Fire Tribe are reptiles and amphibians, the Earth Tribe are land mammals and plants, the Light Tribe are mythical creatures, while the Darkness Tribe are extinct animals."

"So the Eagle Unrecorded Lifeform from the other day was from the Wind Tribe, the Komodo one was from the Fire Tribe, while the Seahorse one was from the Water Tribe…" Leo nodded in understanding, before something struck his mind, "What about the black Unrecorded Lifeform that you fought today?"

"You mean Star?" Krishna inquired, to which Leo replied with a nod, "Star's an Arcana Maojin from the Darkness Tribe…he's based on a Tyrannosaurus if I can recall."

"And how about Karin?" Steffi asked.

"Glad that you asked," Krishna smiled, before gesturing at his partner, "Karin, if you may?"

Knowing what Krishna meant, Karin nodded, her body slowly glowing white. Seconds afterwards Karin's entire body disintegrated into white particles, which reformed themselves into Karin's original card form that landed slowly on the table. Steffi picked up the card and examined it carefully, before letting out a slightly sarcastic chuckle.

"A unicorn. I should've known," Steffi said, handing Karin back to Krishna once again.

"What do you expect? A dragon?" Krishna smiled, "A being as angelic as Karin deserves to have a unicorn as her true form."

"Ah, shut up will ya?" Karin scoffed as Krishna pocketed her into his trousers.

"Gee, would you look at the time," Krishna said, pointing at the nearby wall clock before letting out a slight yawn, "I would like to tell you more about myself and the Maojins, but it's getting late. I need to patrol the city again early in the morning. Mind if you show me my new room, Steffi?"

"Sure thing," Steffi nodded as she stood up from her seat, "Leo, you should go back home. You need to be at the station early in the morning, right?"

"Right," Leo said as he stood up, "I'll see everyone soon, okay?"

"See you," both Kim and Vy waved at Leo in unison as he went for the apartment's door, with Krishna and Steffi doing the same as well. Leo replied by saluting the group, before making his way out of Steffi's apartment.

xxx

"Here we are."

Steffi had taken Krishna to a small bedroom located at the back of the apartment. It was quite neat and tidy for a room that hasn't been used in quite a while, despite the fact that the small wooden closet present in the room was covered with a thin layer of dust. A single bed was present on the room as well, the bed itself able to fit an adult-sized human male, while a small desk was present next to the closet, complete with a small plastic chair.

"Is this my new room?" Krishna asked, a satisfied smile appearing on his face, "Looks neat."

"To be honest I haven't used this room in like three months," Steffi sighed as she wiped away the layer of dust from the closet, "Usually if Leo comes over here he'll sleep here."

"Three months?" Krishna blinked.

"That's the last time Leo stayed over here," Steffi replied, focusing her attention on tidying up the bed for Krishna's use, "He's a busy man…his work at the police force usually requires him to either bring his work home or for him to stay over at the station."

"Don't you wish him to come over your place your often?" Krishna asked, "I mean, he's your big brother and all…"

"I know," Steffi sighed, "But then again, like I said, Leo's a busy man. I sure do wish that he has time to spend with his sister and her friends, but for now, I just need to accept the fact that Leo's job is much more important than me. The entire city count on him and the rest of the HCMCPD you know."

Krishna nodded in understanding.

"There you go," Steffi said after she had fluffed out the bed's pillow, "Make yourself feel at home."

"Thanks!" Krishna smiled, before he immediately jumped onto the bed, "Ah yes, I haven't felt this comfortable in a while!"

"That's not exactly the most comfortable bed in the world you know," Steffi chuckled slightly, remembering the time where she got that bed from a second-hand shop for a very cheap price.

"Hey, bear with me, I rarely slept in such comfortable places during my travels."

"Whatever you say," Steffi smiled, "Anyway, before I leave you to sleep, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"What do you think about Ho Chi Minh City? Do you like it?"

Krishna went silent all of a sudden. Truth to be told, the young man enjoyed the city and its sights, but his duty as Kamen Rider Voyager means that he need to patrol the city in a regular basis for any Maojin sightings, leaving him almost little to no time to enjoy himself in Vietnam's largest city.

And apparently, Steffi had caught on with that, "You've been here for a few days, dude. What do you think about our city?"

"Well…" Krishna stammered, trying to come up with the best answer, "I actually enjoyed it…but…"

Steffi chuckled, "You can't call yourself as a true traveler if you haven't experienced the city first-hand, right?"

"I know that! But what would happen if…"

"Leo and the MCU will take care of that," Steffi smiled, "I mean, the whole point of the HCMCPD forming that taskforce is to assist you in your battles! Just unwind yourself, Krishna, relax. Don't take everything too seriously. Tomorrow I'll leave the patrolling to Leo and the guys at the MCU. Because first thing in the morning, we're gonna show you how we Saigonese people enjoy yourselves here. Trust me, you'll like it! You'll be surprised even."

"Really?" Krishna asked.

"Really," Steffi nodded, "Now good night! Don't worry about your stuff, I'll put them in your room later. Sleep tight will ya?"

Steffi turned off the room's lights and closed the door, leaving Krishna to himself on his bed. The young man slowly closes his eyes, thinking about what Steffi had just told him as he drifts off to sleep…

xxx

Phu My Hung Urban Area, District 7

The mysterious Caucasian man that had spied on Pi and Bayu at Saigon Port earlier that day was seen driving his yellow Volkswagen Beetle through District 7's Phu My Hung Urban Area, an upscale neighborhood located in the south of Ho Chi Minh City. The man drove his car towards an imposing-looking skyscraper erected amongst the multitude of apartment complexes in the area, the skyscraper's distinct Victorian look made it stood out amongst the other high-rise buildings in the Phu My Hung Urban Area.

Parking his Beetle in the skyscraper's underground parking space, the man made his way towards the parking space's elevator, pressing the button that would take him to the 30th floor of the skyscraper, the very summit of the building. As the elevator slowly whirled into life, the man hummed to himself to pass the time. Minutes later a ding was heard and the elevator doors opened, allowing the man to step out into his destination. Still continuing his humming from before, the man took out a small piece of paper from his pants pocket, which displayed a roughly drawn floor plan of the skyscraper's 25th floor that showed the directions to a conference room located there. Letting out a brief smile, the man followed the map's instructions, and before he knew it, he's now standing in front of the conference room's imposing-looking doors, which, like everything else in the skyscraper, was Victorian in design.

Opening the conference room's door, immediately the man was greeted by an assortment of characters, all of them garbed in colorful clothing. The familiar figures of Hanged Man, Temperance, Hermit, and Devil were seen among them, while Bayu and Pi were seen chatting to one another at a corner of the room. Shooting out an unnoticeable yet suspicious look at the two, the man slowly made his way towards a group of two people who were conversing at a water dispenser, one male and the other one female, both of them like the Caucasian man are in their early twenties.

The male was around 21-years old of a Japanese descent, with pale skin, messy, medium-length black hair with a large fringe over his forehead, and an overall mild-mannered look. The man wore a yellow T-shirt, a light brown scarf, and blue torn-up denim jeans.

The female was around 22-years old of a Vietnamese descent, with lightly tanned skin and shoulder-length black hair that has been styled into a ponytail, complete with a tiger-themed ponytail holder. The woman wore a light brown tank top and black trousers.

"Chariot, Judgement," the man greeted as he joined his peers.

"Took you a while to be here, Strength," Judgement, the Vietnamese woman, lets out a rather displeased sigh at her colleague's tardiness.

"Sorry about that," Strength told her, "I got delayed…I need to ensure that our Maojin's doing his assigned duties. By the way, quite a fancy place that our fellow Arcanas had chosen for our meeting…usually when all the Arcanas meet up it's at some shady bar or some dark alleyway…now we're here in this fancy conference room. Times have changed, huh?"

"It's thanks to our friends the Thunder Tribe Arcanas," Chariot, the Japanese man, said, "They've managed to earn the trust of the human who runs this place."

"Ah yes, if I'm not mistaken, the Thunder Tribe Arcanas are now working together with a certain…what's her name again?"

"Le Do Hieu Lam," Judgement said, "She's the CEO of the Xich Quy Joint Stock Company, who owns this building."

"No wonder," Strength nodded, recalling the moment he saw Xich Quy Company's distinct moth-themed logo at the building's entrance, "This must be the company's headquarters. To think that the Maojins are now working together with one of Vietnam's largest weapons manufacturers…shows how far we've come in infiltrating human society."

"It's all thanks to Tower and Justice," Chariot said, pouring himself a cup of water and drinking it, "They've somehow managed to become Ms. Rin's most trusted servants. Hmph…if that woman knew what's truly going on!"

Strength chuckled upon hearing that, but soon stopped himself after he realized something, "Tower and Justice? What about Death? Isn't she an Arcana with the Thunder Tribe too?"

Judgement scoffed, "Even with the riches that Tower and Justice promised to her, Death still choose to operate independently as a drifter. To be honest I don't know what the heck she is thinking."

"I see," Strength nodded, his eyes glancing at the crowd around his group, before he realized that someone notable is absent from the room, "Anyway…where's Star? Isn't he supposed to come to this meeting as well?"

"Star's still busy with his own plans," Chariot replied, "But he did left us with an important message…"

Chariot then whispered something into Strength's ear, causing the latter's eyes to go wide in surprise.

"He's WHA-" Strength was quickly silenced by Chariot placing his hand on his mouth.

"Be quiet," Chariot told his colleague, "That issue will be addressed in this meeting as well."

'Speaking of which, the meeting's about to start," Judgement reminded her two colleagues as she ushered them to their seats on the conference table.

At the same time, the door flew open to reveal three figures entering the room, two being males flanking a female one in the middle. The male figures were physically imposing in built, fully packed with muscle from head to toe on their 2 meter tall frames. Dressed in a sharp combination of white shirts, purple ties, purple tuxedos, and black leather shoes, the two men were European in appearances, with a pair of black sunglasses over their eyes. The two men looked very alike, with their hairstyles and a small golden symbol on their ties the only items distinguishing them.

The first man was around 21-years old with a face that indicates Romanian descent, with ivory white skin, rugged black hair, a short boxed beard, and a golden stag beetle on his tie. This was the man that the characters in the room refer as Tower, a powerful member of the Maojins' Thunder Tribe.

The second man was around 25-years old with a face that indicates Greek descent, with slightly tanned skin, messy dark brown hair; a small scar located his left eye, and a golden Hercules beetle on his tie. Like Tower, this man was also an Arcana Maojin, referred by his peers as Justice.

The lone female between the two was Vietnamese, aged around 35. She has a medium build with white skin; chin-length straight black hair styled in a slight bob, and a pair of glasses on her face. She wore a black tuxedo over a white T-shirt, a black skirt, and black stilettoes, while a necklace with a silver cross on it was seen on her neck. This is Le Do Hieu Lam, affectionately called Rin by either her employees, her friends, or her Maojin colleagues, the CEO of Xich Quy Joint Stock Company.

"Today's meeting will be starting shortly, please be seated," Justice announced, prompting the remaining people in the room who were still standing to sit on their respective places on the conference table.

After everyone had seated, Rin took her own seat at the head of the table, with Tower and Justice flanking her, acting as her bodyguards of some sorts, adding more to the air of intimidation around her. On the table was a black manila folder, which Rin immediately opened. The contents of today's meeting have been written down carefully by Tower and Justice prior to the meeting, allowing Rin to merely carry out everything that has been written there.

Clearing her throat, Rin immediately wasted no time in starting the meeting, "Right, before we start, I'm going to take attendance of everyone here. I'll call you by your Arcana names, your human identities, and your tribes."

Everyone else nodded in understanding.

Picking up a sheet of paper with a list of names on it, Rin began to read the list out loud, "We start off with the Wind Tribe. Hanged Man, Simon Jacobson, Wind Tribe. Temperance, Dietmar Werner, Wind Tribe. Hermit, Nguyen Ngoc Nhat Thao, Wind Tribe."

The three Wind Tribe members raised their hands in response.

"Good, the Wind Tribe's all here. Up next is the Water Tribe. Emperor, Bayu Pradika, Water Tribe. Empress, Le Vu Quynh Mai, Water Tribe. Hierophant, Ngo The Long, Water Tribe."

"We're here," Bayu raised his right hand, representing his Tribe. Sitting next to him was Pi and a 20-year old Vietnamese man with tanned skin, a rather chubby and bulky build, short and curly black hair, and wearing a light blue Hawaiian shirt and black shorts. While he was known as the Hierophant of the Arcana Maojins, as per the rules within the Water Tribe Arcanas, he is known by his human name, Ngo The Long, affectionately called "Ken" by his fellow Arcanas.

Rin nodded, "Alright, the Water Tribe's all accounted for."

Unknown to the Water Tribe members and everyone else in the room, Strength, Chariot, and Judgement all sneered at the Water Tribe trio silently, with Strength having told his colleagues about the Water Tribe's actions earlier that day.

"Moving on now. Strength, Carlton Richards, Earth Tribe. Judgement, Nguyen Phuong Nhi, Earth Tribe. Chariot, Shouhei Watanabe, Earth Tribe."

"Here," Strength raised his right hand.

"Present," added Judgement.

"We're all here," finished Chariot.

Rin lets out a brief smile, "Good, all Earth Tribe members are here. Now for the Fire Tribe. Devil, Toshiki Akizuki, Fire Tribe. Lovers, Nguyen Minh Hung and Nguyen Nam Bich Phuong, Fire Tribe. Wheel of Fortune, Fernando Vargas, Fire Tribe."

Unlike the other Tribes that has 3 Arcana Maojins, the Fire Tribe has 4 Arcana Maojins, despite still having 3 Arcana names (Devil, Lovers, Wheel of Fortune) assigned to the Arcana Maojins overseeing the Tribe. This is because "Lovers" is actually a pair of Arcana Maojins who shared the same Arcana name, bonded together by their everlasting love for one another, hence the name.

"Present and ready for action," said Devil, still clad in his signature hakama and with that devilish smile of his on his face.

"We're here," added a male voice.

Sitting next to Devil were a young Vietnamese couple, aged around 20. The male, wearing a red T-shirt with yellow accents and a pair of blue jeans, has a rather chubby build, lightly tanned skin, and medium-length hair styled in a slight Mohawk. While his human identity is Nguyen Minh Hung, or "Beto," as he's known, he's actually the male half of the Arcana Maojin team Lovers.

The other half was a young woman sitting next to Beto, wearing a red and yellow sundress and a matching yellow sun hat. The young woman has a rather petite build, with lightly tanned skin, straight, shoulder-length black hair styled into a ponytail, and a pair of glasses on her face. This is the other half of the Lovers team, going with the name Nguyen Nam Bich Phuong has her human identity, or "Kori" as she's known.

Sitting next to Kori was a sharply-dressed 30-year old Spanish man, with slightly tanned skin, a thin moustache, and greasy dark brown hair that has been slicked back. His athletic figure was dressed in a red T-shirt and black trousers, and in the man's right hand was a red rose.

"I'm always here, senorita," the man, the Arcana Maojin known as Wheel of Fortune, said rather flirtatiously, before blowing a kiss towards Rin.

"Ooookay…" Rin cringed slightly at Wheel of Fortune's actions, before resuming her attendance check, "Right, moving on. Finally, the Thunder Tribe. Tower, Adrian Budescu, Thunder Tribe."

"Here," Tower replied.

"Justice, Angelos Kyriakopoulos, Thunder Tribe."

"Present," Justice gave the reply.

"Death, Trinh Phuong Khanh, Thunder Tribe."

"I'm here."

Sitting on the farthest corner of the table was a young Vietnamese woman, aged around 22. Dressed in a purple T-shirt and light blue denim jeans that has been torn up in several places, the young woman has an athletic build, lightly tanned skin, and shoulder-length dark brown hair with a large bang over her forehead. A pair of black bracelets with metallic spikes on her wrists and a necklace with a silver skull on it adds more to the young woman's rather fearsome appearance. While the human world knows her as Trinh Phuong Khanh, her true identity that of Death, the third and final member of the Thunder Tribe Arcana Maojins.

"Right, all Arcana Maojins have been accounted for," Rin said, giving the list one final check before ticking everyone's attendance there, "Star should be here to represent the Darkness Tribe, but he has other matters to attend to, which is why he couldn't come. However, he did leave us with a message for all of us. I believe the respective Tribes has discovered this by themselves, but I feel it is important that we address this once again. Voyager…he is here, in Ho Chi Minh City."

Immediately the room exploded into collective gasps of worry, disgust, and resentment. While for the humans Voyager was viewed as a hero, for the Maojins and their allies, Voyager was viewed as a monster, a bane towards their survival and existence.

"It's true," Hanged Man added, clearly disgusted at the loss of the Eagle Maojin at Voyager's hands, "He had taken out our Ace with surprising ease…and shortly afterwards, he also took out the Fire Tribe's Ace."

Devil nodded begrudgingly, even though he and the Fire Tribe enjoyed the misery that the Wind Tribe's going through, the loss of the Komodo Maojin had forced him into the same page as his Wind Tribe rivals, "That's right. He also took out our proud Komodo…and he hasn't even showed his full potential like the Eagle did!"

"If we could take positives from this, at least the Eagle had done enough to weaken the seal that imprisoned The World," Temperance said, giving the Fire Tribe a rather mocking look, "Your Komodo barely weakened your Tribe's seal!"

"That's because Voyager defeated him before he could perform a kill count high enough to dissipate the seal!" Devil argued.

"Oh yeah? Face it, your Tribe's weak!" this time it was Hermit who said that, attacking the Fire Tribe with venom in her voice.

"Why you…" Devil growled, jumping out his seat as he tried to tackle the Wind Tribe members only for Beto and Wheel of Fortune to quickly restrain him, "Release me! Let me have my shot at these arrogant bird brains!"

"ENOUGH!" Rin yelled, slamming her hands against the table that silenced everyone, "We're here to discuss about how we could take down Voyager before he could take down more of the Maojins, not to prove which Tribe's more superior than the other!"

Slowly Devil sat back down on his seat, while the Wind Tribe members nodded rather awkwardly.

Seeing the argument between the Fire and Wind Tribe members, Bayu lets out an inaudible sigh, before whispering into Pi's ears, "We better not comment anything…if the Fire Tribe's Ace was unable to weaken their Tribe's seal despite all of that destruction that he had caused, I don't think our Six of Cups would be able to pull off the same feat!"

Pi nodded, before whispering back, "Yeah, but then again the Wind Tribe has been active for quite a while before we came here, hence why their seal is weaker than the others."

"We still have a long way to go," Ken added, making sure that his words are out of the other Tribes' earshot, "The defeat of our Six of Cups…means that we need to up the ante to match the Wind Tribe's progress."

Shaking her head at the Arcana Maojins' antics, Rin lets out a sigh, "Good, the very last thing that we want to have is having my office destroyed by you idiots trying to beat the crap out of each other." Rin then signaled for Justice to fetch her a glass of water, finishing its contents in one go. Once she had calmed herself down, Rin continued, "Unfortunately, we couldn't manipulate the police force against Voyager…as the commissioner of the HCMCPD preferred their weapons for their newly established taskforce to be supplied by my biggest competitor, Lotus Industries. That means we could not use the newly established taskforce to…let's just say eliminate the competition. However, this means that we have another clear target on who should we attack in order to gain complete control of this city and ensure the smooth revival of His Almightiness The World."

Rin then took out a black and white portrait of Minh from the manila folder, a wicked smile appearing on Rin's face as she showed the portrait for all the Arcana Maojins in the room to see.

"This woman here, is the new chairperson of Lotus Industries," Rin said, "For the past few years, my company have been trying to establish a collaboration with her company, with the aim of arming every single citizen of this city for the sake of their protection, thus guaranteeing the security of this city in our hands. But no, both this woman and her predecessor declined my offers! Civilians don't need weapons they said…we should focus our efforts to help local law enforcement they said…the city would do fine without our intervention they said…bullshit, utter bullshit! Le Thao Minh's predecessor had paid the price for his naivety, and it's her turn now to pay for her own decisions! Tower!"

"Yes, Madam?" Tower replied, standing up and bowing respectfully in front of Rin.

"Your Nine of Shields…has he done the scouting mission that you've assigned him?" Rin asked.

"He did," Tower answered, but suddenly a solemn look overtook his face, "But sadly…our Firefly had fallen in battle."

"What?!" Rin gawked in dismay, "Is it Voyager again?!"

Tower shook his head, "No, Madam…it was a different warrior. A black and blue one."

"Black and blue?" Rin raised her eyebrows, apparently intrigued by this piece of information, "Hanged Man, Devil, Emperor, as Arcana Maojins, I suppose you can sense what your Tribe's Maojins are sensing. Could you please tell me what colors that Voyager used during his battles?"

"Black and purple," Hanged Man and Devil said in unison, prompting the two of them to look at each other awkwardly in surprise.

"And he has adopted a new color, black and red," added Bayu, "Voyager used that form when he defeated my Maojin earlier today…he must have used the Fire Tribe's Ace in doing so."

Upon hearing that, Devil slowly grinded his teeth and quietly clenched his fists in anger. His Tribe's prized Ace has been used as Voyager's newest power source, and without no doubt the Wind Tribe's fallen Ace would follow suit.

"Interesting…" Rin nodded, "I'll ask the Thunder Tribe to send another scout to investigate. If my hunch's correct…not only Voyager's here, but that warrior's here too."

Immediately the room exploded into gasps of worry once again, prompting Rin to quickly silence the room by slamming her hand onto the table once again.

"Do not worry, I'll ask Star about this…perhaps he knows something that all of us don't," Rin said, before turning her attention towards Tower, "Dispatch another scout immediately."

"Affirmative. I'll dispatch the Swallowtail to investigate this new warrior and the Lotus Industries factories as you've requested," Tower replied.

Rin nodded, "Good. As for the rest of you, continue dispatching more Maojins to weaken The World's seal. Whenever the police or Voyager intervene, attack them without prejudice."

The Arcana Maojins in the room nodded in unison.

"Right, I have a company meeting tomorrow morning, so today's meeting is adjourned," Rin said, standing up as Tower and Justice flanked her once again, "Good night everyone."

As Rin and the two Thunder Tribe Arcanas left the room, Death silently slipped out of the room seconds afterwards, unaware that Strength is watching her in a rather suspicious manner. Strength then gestured to his Earth Tribe Arcanas to gather around him, before the trio discussed something briefly. After Bayu, Pi, and Ken had said their goodbyes with their fellow Arcana Maojins, immediately Strength called for the rest of the Arcana Maojins in the room to gather around.

"What now?" Hanged Man asked, "The meeting's over, there's nothing else to be talked about."

"There is," Strength replied, "I want you guys to keep an eye on the Water Tribe."

"Why's that?" Devil asked.

A smirk appeared on Strength's face, "I think they're trying to betray The World."

"And what makes you think that?" this time it was Kori who asked that question.

"I saw it with my own eyes," Strength replied, "How Emperor and Empress…literally asked their Maojin to protect this planet's aquatic lifeforms."

Immediately the Fire and Wind Tribes Arcanas gasped in unison, as for them, protecting another living being was an act of heresy within a Maojin's code of conduct.

"What the fuck were they thinking?!" Wheel of Fortune said in disgust, his fists clenched, "We Maojins were supposed to be destroyers, not protectors! Are the Water Tribe members trying to turn their backs on our Almighty The World just like those heretic Light Tribe members all those years ago?!"

"Easy there, Wheelie," Strength told Wheel of Fortune, "That's why it is our job to keep an eye on them. We'll keep the Water Tribe in line…but if they start to act up, we'll be there to terminate them."

The other Arcana Maojins nodded in agreement to Strength's words.

"Also, I think we should also keep an eye on Death as well," Strength said.

"Why's that?" Hermit asked, "I mean, it's true that Death's a bit distant from her other Thunder Tribe Arcanas. But to think that she's also going to betray The World…"

"It's still a mere hunch," Strength said, "But just to be sure, we'll keep an eye on both the Water Tribe Arcanas and Death. If any of them crosses the line…"

Strength then performed the classic "slit one's throat" gesture, earning him a

"Gotcha," Hanged Man nodded, "We'll be going then. It's already late, our landlord would be worried sick about us."

"Landlord?" Strength blinked, before he realized something, "Oh yeah, you guys are hiding out at a rented apartment complex in Binh Tan District. I forgot."

"Pleasant guy, our landlord," Temperance said, "He's just like an uncle that we never have. He's even willing to give us a place to stay for free! In return for us to cover up his crimes, that is…"

"Ah I see," Strength nodded, "That shady kind of guy, right? Kinda reminds me of Ms. Rin to be honest. Tell him that me and my Earth Tribe guys said hi, okay?"

"Sure thing," Hanged Man waved goodbye at the other Arcana Maojins, before the entire Wind Tribe Arcana exited the conference room.

"We should go too," Devil said, "We'll catch you around on our next meeting."

After the Fire Tribe Arcanas had left the room, Judgement asked Strength as the Earth Tribe Arcanas prepared to take their leave, "Hey, do you think our Maojin would be enough to weaken our Tribe's seal?"

Strength lets out a confident smile, "I have confidence on our Mole. He might be a low-ranked Maojin, but his determination is second to none. He's been doing his assignment for quite a while, you know."

xxx

Somewhere underneath Ho Chi Minh City

Meanwhile, underneath Ho Chi Minh City, two servicemen were inspecting the city's underground sewage system. The two wore bright orange vests over their shirts, with white gloves covering their hands, black waterproof boots protecting their feet, and a pair of yellow hard hats with flashlights strapped onto them on their heads.

"Seen anything out of the ordinary, Jared?" the first serviceman asked.

"Not at all, Clive," replied Jared, the second serviceman, as he shone his flashlight towards a nearby sewage tunnel, "Everything's clear and not clogged up."

"Nice," Clive patted Jared on the shoulder, "Looks like the sewers' all good for the night."

Suddenly a brief rustle was heard, startling the two servicemen.

"Did you hear that?" Clive asked.

Jared nodded, "Yeah, I think I did. What was that?"

"Probably a rat," Clive replied nonchalantly as he picked up his toolbox, "Come on, we need to get back to the surface."

Both Clive and Jared navigated their way through Ho Chi Minh City's complicated underground sewage system, seeking out the same manhole entrance that they had used to gain access into the complex. Clive had asked a co-worker of theirs to prepare their truck at the manhole entrance, so that once he and Jared had gone to the surface, the crew would head straight back home.

"Hey, Clive," Jared broke the silence, "Have you ever heard…about the Mole Man?"

Clive shook his head, "Not exactly…why do you ask?"

"It has been the talk of the town for the past two weeks," Jared replied, "It all started when this college girl went to the sewers by herself…it was said that she came here to take some pictures for her photography class, but she never came out from it. After her disappearance, several more mysterious disappearances began to happen. People were dragged unexpectedly underground, sewer workers were snatched, and people who foolishly went to the sewers themselves, they were never heard of ever since. Those who managed to escape all gave the authorities the same testimony…they saw the culprit behind these disappearance…a giant creature, part man, part mole. No one has ever heard from the disappeared people ever since…"

"Have you been visiting that SIG website again, Jared?" Clive asked.

"Probably."

Clive sighed, "God damn it. That's site's nothing but bull, do not fall for anything the website has written. There is no such thing as a Mole Man, believe me."

"But the missing people thing…it's real!"

"I know, I saw that on the news as well. Let the police handle those, they probably got lost here or something. They'll find those people soon enough."

Suddenly another rustle, this time louder than before, was heard, prompting Jared to jump up in surprise much to Clive's dismay.

"Dude, get over it. I've already told you, it's just a rat!" Clive smacked the frightened Jared on his head, sending the latter back to his senses, "Now let's go! Our truck's waiting for us."

But just as Clive and Jared walked a couple of steps, the rustling was heard again, this time even louder than the previous two. A faint drilling noise was also heard, becoming louder by each passing second.

"Can a rat make such a noise?" Jared asked as the drilling noise became more and more apparent.

Before Clive could say anything, the wall next to them suddenly burst open, a metallic drill had broken through it. Both Clive and Jared screamed in terror as a pair of turquoise blue eyes descended upon them…

It was the last thing that the two saw.

xxx

"Krishna!"

Sitting on the veranda of his host family's house in rural Thailand, Krishna turned around to see a young girl running towards him, a wide grin on her face. The girl, aged around 15, has a slim figure, lightly tanned skin, shoulder-length chocolate brown hair tied into a ponytail, and was dressed neatly from head to toe in an emerald green Thai traditional clothing, with a pair of golden bracelets on her wrists adding more to her graceful looks.

"Hey there Sobee," Krishna greeted, giving Sobee, the girl, a big hug, "How's school?"

"It went well!" Sobee replied happily, "We learned sooo many new things!"

"Oh really?" Krishna smiled, "Glad to know that."

"How's your day, Krish?" Sobee asked.

"Quite average to be honest," Krishna answered, "But I really enjoyed helping your father out in the fields!"

"My dad's also happy to have you around to help out," Sobee said, "Now let's get inside! Mom has cooked us lunch."

Nodding at Sobee's invitation, Krishna took no time in following the young girl into her house.

Fast forward a few weeks later, and all that happiness was wiped away. Sobee's house has been reduced into a pile of rubble, with Sobee trapped underneath it. Her parents had perished the moment the wooden structure went down on them, while Sobee was left badly injured. The poor girl's village had been reduced into a sea of inferno, having being transformed into a battlefield of life and death between Krishna's glowing white Voyager form and the Ace of Shields itself, the Kabuto Maojin. The Kabuto Maojin fired off its electric bolts, which stunned Voyager for a while, only for the glowing white warrior to stagger through it and deflect the bolts away from him with a swipe of his hand, prompting a series of explosions that startled Sobee.

And before Sobee could blink once again, Voyager had landed the coup de grace on the Kabuto Maojin, a powerful uppercut to the fiend's left chest. The Kabuto Maojin's body exploded spectacularly, sending a wave of energy that vaporized everything in sight. Houses, trees, animals, and even Sobee herself, all of them were wiped out by the Kabuto Maojin's destruction.

Several minutes later, after Krishna had picked up the Thunder Kabuto Maojin Card, the young man looked around, at first confused at all the destruction all around him.

But then, the truth dawned upon him.

Krishna, as Voyager, had inadvertently destroyed Sobee's village, killing off the only family that he had considered the closest as his own.

Crawling towards the wreckage of Sobee's home, Krishna dug through the debris, before recovering a pair of golden bracelets from the pile of burnt wood and bones. It was Sobee's favorite bracelets, the one that she usually wore every day.

Clutching the bracelets close to his chest, Krishna slowly closes his eyes, tears running down his cheeks. Mustering all the anguish and sorrow within him, Krishna yelled out to the heavens in grief, lightning flashing in the skies above him as rain poured down on the doomed village, as if the skies had responded to Krishna's feelings.

"SOBEEEEEE!"

xxx

"Krishna, wake up!"

"Sobee…Sobee…"

"Krishna, wake up!"

"Sobee…"

"KRISHNA!"

Immediately Steffi slapped the murmuring Krishna on his cheek with all her might, the impact from the slap was more than enough to snap Krishna out of his trance. Slowly regaining his composure, Krishna sat up on his bed, rubbing his right cheek in slight pain.

"Steffi…" Krishna muttered upon seeing Steffi in front of him, before he immediately winced in pain, "My cheek! Steffi, did you do this to me?!"

"I had to," Steffi told Krishna, "You were screaming a lot in your sleep, yelling 'Sobee, Sobee' all the time like some kind of broken hysterical record."

Krishna's eyes went wide in awkwardness as the realization dawned upon him, "Did I really do that?"

Steffi nodded, "You did. You even scared both Kim and Vy."

Standing in front of Krishna's room were Kim and Vy, the two of them giving Krishna weird looks.

"For a guy who fights cryptids, you sure scream like a girl," Kim teased.

"I should record your screaming," Vy added, "That would make the perfect ringtone for my homemade alarm clock!"

"And give us all ear-rape? No thank you," Kim scoffed, to which Vy responded with a slight giggle.

"You okay bro?" Steffi asked.

Wiping away the sweat drenching his forehead, Krishna lets out a nod, "Yeah, I'm good. Just a nightmare, that's all."

Slowly Krishna stood up from his bed, taking off his black T-shirt in the process.

"Yo, do you have towels with you?" Krishna asked as he folded up his black T-shirt, placing it on the desk, "I'm gonna take a shower before we go."

"Just grab the white one on the bathroom," Steffi replied, "Remember, the blue one's mine, the red one's Kim's, and the brown one's Vy's."

"Sure thing," Krishna nodded, taking his leave from the room.

"Hey Krishna," Steffi called, pausing Krishna in his tracks.

"Yeah?"

"Who's Sobee?"

Krishna sighed, shaking his head briefly, "That's none of your business."

And before Steffi could ask anything else, Krishna had gone off to the bathroom, humming a tune to himself.

"What's up with him?" Steffi wondered aloud.

"Don't mind him," came the reply from Karin, whose card form was lying on the desk, "There are some things that we couldn't tell you for now…just don't mention anything about Sobee in front of him or me."

Steffi nodded slowly, knowing that she must respect Krishna and Karin's wishes. However, her curiosity regarding this Sobee person was growing more and more in her mind by each passing second, and Krishna and Karin's refusal to tell her had helped to fuel her curiosity even more…

xxx

Now wearing a blue T-shirt underneath his jacket, Krishna sets off with Steffi and her gang on an impromptu tour around Ho Chi Minh City. Steffi, Kim, Vy, and Karin were riding Kim's car, with Krishna following them on his motorcycle.

Their first stop for the day was the famous Cho Lon quarter in the west bank of the Saigon River, known as the world's largest Chinatown by area. Steffi told Krishna that the centerpiece of Cho Lon, the renowned Binh Tay Market, was the best place to get some mi goi xao bo, or stir-fried curly noodles with beef, for breakfast. Being the adventurous man that he was, Krishna jumped onto the offer immediately, and soon the four found themselves eating generous helpings of mi goi xao bo at the market's food court.

"Holy shit," Krishna gasped in awe after he had eaten his breakfast, "That was some good noodles! What is it made of?"

"Stir-fried instant curly noodles with stir-fried beef sautéed in oil and soy sauce, onions, peppers, bean sprouts, and a dash of black pepper and cilantro," Steffi explained with a grin, "Killer combo, huh?"

"I never knew humans would pull off such amazing creations with instant noodles," Karin commented, licking her lips in satisfaction, "The creativity of humans indeed knows no bounds."

"I think we've found the perfect spot to have our breakfast, Karin!" Krishna exclaimed in delight, before he proceeded to give everyone there, the mi goi xao bo seller included, thumbs up of appreciation.

"Now that our stomachs are full, let's say we get you some new clothes?" Steffi said as she stood up from her seat, "Can't have you stuck in that look all the time, right? Follow me, I know a good place to get some cheap clothes with great quality."

And with that, Steffi and the gang took Krishna and Karin to a neat-looking distro clothing store located at nearby District 5, where Kim, being the more "street-smart" of the trio, decided to choose what kind of clothing that suit Krishna and Karin, with the two trying them out much to the girls' amusement. Eventually, the group bought two bags full of clothing articles, and much to Krishna's amazement, Kim paid for all of those with a single card.

"Oh my God!" Krishna lets out an amazed gasp as he saw Kim using her card to pay for everything with one swipe and a few button presses, "What is that?"

"My credit card," Kim replied simply as she returned her card into her wallet, "With this, you can buy almost anything that you want with only one swipe."

"Back in my day we don't have those…" Krishna commented in amazement, "Whenever we buy something, we pay for them with cash!"

"Welcome to 2023, my friend," Kim winked, "Times has changed and things have become easier. Want me to make one for you?"

Krishna nodded in eagerness, only for Steffi to quickly place her index finger in front of Krishna's face much to his dismay.

"No, you will not have a credit card. It's a lot of responsibility you know…and considering you only saw a credit card today, I doubt that you had such responsibility to own one," Steffi said sternly, "Isn't that right, Kim?"

Kim smiled sheepishly, "Oh yeah, I forgot. You can't use a credit card as much as you want, because in the end of the day, you still gotta pay the bills and if you used your card a lot, trust me, it'll be astronomical!"

"She's been there, done that," Steffi added, with Kim laughing uneasily upon hearing that.

"Yeah…sure…" Kim said sheepishly, recalling the time where she had to work a variety of part-time job to cover for her massive credit card bill after she had overused it in her first month after receiving that card.

"Right, after this we're going to get you guys new shoes," Steffi said, "Follow me guys, I think there's a Bata store near here that's having a fire sale!"

As the group moved to their next destination, Krishna looked at the clear blue skies above him. It was a lovely morning in Ho Chi Minh City, but in such sunny conditions, the afternoon would be a sweltering one. Gazing at the clouds above him, a thought hit Krishna's mind.

"I wonder how's Leo doing right now…"

xxx

Ho Chi Minh City Police Department Headquarters, District 1

"Good morning everyone!"

Leo cheerfully stepped into the MCU's temporary office, an old meeting room that has been converted into an impromptu war room of some sorts. Numerous files were strewn across the room's table, with several police officers studying through them thoroughly. Others were typing on the computers and responding to phone calls, while a couple of them are seen browsing the SIG website for any new info on Maojin sightings.

These were just temporary, however, with the HCMCPD constructing a new, more permanent base located at the HQ building's sixth floor. Equipped with the latest technology, it will surely help the MCU in supporting Voyager in his fight against the Maojins, but for now, the temporary office is all that the newly established taskforce has for now.

Scanning around the room for anyone familiar, Leo immediately saw Khanh Linh studying a file seriously on the table. Curious on what she's reading, Leo approached the stern-looking policewoman.

"Morning Lieutenant," Leo greeted as he sat next to Khanh Linh, "Lovely day, isn't it?"

"No day is a lovely day, Lieutenant, if those scums of creatures are still running around the city," Khanh Linh replied in her usual stern manner, her eyes still focused on the file in front of her.

"Wonder where's Lieutenant Thy?" Leo asked, his eyes searching around the room for his colleague, "I haven't seen her all morning."

"Lieutenant Thy's off patrolling," Khanh Linh replied, still focusing on her file, "And your partner Lieutenant Hako's still recovering in the hospital. But I suppose she will be discharged at any time soon."

"I texted her yesterday night and she said if things go well, she'll be discharged later this afternoon," Leo said, before he noticed the file in Khanh Linh's possession, "Hey, what's that?"

"The disappearance of Le Quynh Huong," Khanh Linh answered, showing the file to Leo. The file had a black and white portrait of a young woman, aged around 19. She has an average build, white skin, and chin-length wavy black hair styled into a bob, with a bang over her forehead. The portrait depicted the young woman wearing a black and white hooped sleeveless shirt, with a Canon EOS-M10 camera hanging on her neck.

"Le Quynh Huong?" Leo blinked, before he realized it, "Isn't that the case of a 19-year old photography student of Ton Duc Thang University that went missing for two weeks?"

"That's right," Khanh Linh nodded, "At first I thought that this was a normal missing person case. But then I've noticed that there was a spike of people being reported missing from the area where Huong here went missing. Missing person cases were normally treated as normal criminal cases until the revelation that Unrecorded Lifeforms are living among us, and thus every missing person case were investigated as if they were Unrecorded Lifeform cases, hence why these cases were delegated to us after the MCU's formation."

"And then?"

"I've done some investigating and thanks to your sister's website…couldn't believe that I'm using that as my reference...I've managed to trace the last known whereabouts of the missing people."

Khanh Linh then took out a map of Ho Chi Minh City from the file and handed it over to Leo. On the map were several red dots, all scattered around Districts 1, 5, 4, 10, and Phu Nhuan.

"You might be wondering, other than being districts in the city center, what do these places have in common, right?" Khanh Linh continued, producing another map, this time a transparent one, from the file, "Place this map over the first one."

Leo obliged, placing the transparent map over the first map. Much to his surprise, several of the red dots were aligned perfectly with the blue lines drawn on the transparent map.

"That, Lieutenant, is the map for our city's underground sewage system," Khanh Linh said, "I've used accounts from eyewitnesses who said that they last saw Huong entering the sewers in Phu Nhuan District and combined them with the other disappearances that were mentioned in your sister's website, all of which were either people going to the sewers, or people being dragged underground. With the addition of eyewitness testimonies that they saw a half-man half-mole creature that's been dragging these people underground…we have an Unrecorded Lifeform lurking in the sewers."

A smile broke out on Leo's face, "Lieutenant Khanh Linh, you're a genius!"

"Of course," Khanh Linh smiled back, "My intelligence is definitely without a doubt."

"So, what do you have in mind for this Unrecorded Lifeform?" Leo asked.

"I'm thinking of sending an armed platoon down the sewers to engage the Unrecorded Lifeform and retrieve the missing people," Khanh Linh replied.

Leo shook his head, taking out his cellphone, "No, I have a better idea."

Realizing what Leo's talking about, Khanh Linh quickly said, "You're not thinking of sending your sister down there, are you?"

"Sort of," Leo smiled, "I'm going to send Voyager down there, and since Voyager's with my sister right now, I'll ask for her to ask for his help."

Khanh Linh sighed, "I knew it. Why do you trust this Voyager so much?"

"Didn't you remember?" Leo asked back, "He's the only one capable enough of taking out these Unrecorded Lifeforms"

"Yeah," Khanh Linh rolled her eyes, "By using the power of other Unrecorded Lifeforms."

"And your point is?"

"We don't need some guy with a fancy supernatural armor to take down those scums for us," Khanh Linh argued, "Our taskforce with our technology and our weapons are more than enough to take them out. Our old weapons may not work against them, but with the new weapons that we've been supplied with, I'm confident that the HCMCPD would be strong enough to eliminate the threat of the Unrecorded Lifeform by ourselves, without any otherworldly interference."

"Even if what you said is true," Leo argued back, "The presence of an armed platoon might agitate the Unrecorded Lifeform and place the lives of the missing people in even more jeopardy. I suggest that we only send Voyager and my sister's group down there and let the former handle things. I'll use the SIG as liaisons between us and Voyager. If things get out of hand, then I'll allow you to send your platoon as backup."

Khanh Linh sighed, knowing that if she continued the debate, Leo's insistence would make it pointless and time-wasting, "Fine, do whatever you want, you're the boss. But remember, I have more experience here…"

Leo patted Khanh Linh on her shoulder, much to the stern policewoman's surprise, "I know. That's why I'm counting on your experience and genius to help us out here…regardless of your views towards Voyager."

"Thanks," Khanh Linh lets out a grateful smile, however her thoughts were saying something else, "Let's see if you're going to say that again once I've thrown that Voyager behind bars…I'll let you be in charge for now, Lieutenant Leo…but mark my words, one day I will put an end to your beloved masked vigilante and prove to you that we humans can eliminate those otherworldly scums ourselves!"

xxx

District 5

After Steffi and her gang had bought Krishna and Karin new shoes, the group took Krishna to a salon in District 5, where the young man's unkempt chin-length hair was trimmed and styled. Now sporting a dashing-looking Cristiano Ronaldo-style undercut hairstyle, Krishna sat outside the salon building, enjoying a bottle of Fanta as Steffi, Kim, Vy, and Karin were having manicures inside.

"Man, I never knew this city was quite wonderful!" Krishna thought as he sipped his drink, "Steffi was right, you cannot consider yourself a true traveler unless you experienced the city at first-hand. And after experiencing a portion of what this city has to offer at first-hand…I think I'm gonna enjoy it here."

"Help!"

That cry for help brought Krishna back to reality, the young man quickly placing his Fanta bottle on the ground as he stood up, his eyes scanning the surroundings for anything out of the ordinary.

"Help! My purse!"

Seeing that the cry for help came from a nearby bus stop, Krishna quickly ran over towards there. There, he found a 17-year old young girl, dressed in a white shirt and a navy-blue skirt. She has a short, medium-sized build, lightly tanned skin, black, shoulder-length straight black hair with a slight bang over her forehead, and a pair of glasses on her face. An expression of fear was written all over the girl's face, as if something catastrophic had just happened to her?

"What happened?" Krishna asked.

"My purse…" the girl whimpered, before she pointed towards the right side of the bus stop, "That guy took it!"

Krishna looked towards the direction that the girl pointed to and saw a man dressed in black running frantically away from the area with a blue and red purse in his possession, shoving fellow pedestrians aside in the process. Turning his attention back towards the young girl, Krishna said reassuringly, "Don't worry. I'll help you get it back."

Immediately Krishna ran after the man, his trained physique allowing him to catch up with the criminal within no time. Immediately once he got close, Krishna jumped to the air, performing a powerful knee strike onto the man's head, knocking him down to the ground.

"What the fuck man?!" the man cursed once Krishna forced him to stood up, "What do you do that for?!"

"Give me that!" Krishna said, swiping the purse from the man's possession as onlookers began to gather around them, "This isn't yours."

The man snickered, "I see, someone's trying to play the hero. Let's see if you can survive this!"

The man took out a Swiss army knife and brandishes it at Krishna, shocking the onlookers around the two. Undeterred by the man's threatening gesture, Krishna kicked the knife out of the man's hand, before landing a couple of jabs onto the man's chest, a powerful uppercut to the chin following suit.

Rubbing his bruised chin in pain, the man lets out a growl, trying to land a hit onto Krishna, only for the young man to easily grab the criminal's hands, before kicking the man right on the stomach, knocking him down once again. Growling in anger, the man tried to pick up his Swiss army knife from the ground, only for Krishna to kick the weapon away from him and land a perfect jab onto the man's face, knocking the now bloodied and bruised man out.

Rubbing his hands in satisfaction, Krishna grabbed the unconscious criminal and asked a nearby bystander, "Where's the nearest police station?"

xxx

Fifteen minutes later

Having handed the criminal over to the authorities, Krishna returned to the bus stop, handing the purse back to the girl.

"Here you go," Krishna said, a smile on his face, "Told you I'm going to help you get it back."

The girl immediately beamed in happiness once she received her purse back, "Wow, thank you so much! How did you managed to get it back? The guy had a knife with him!"

"Let's just say…" Krishna replied, flexing his muscles confidently, "I've got some training in self-defense."

"But that was reckless! You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"Nah, it's okay. At least you've gotten your purse back, right?"

The girl nodded slowly, "That's true. Thank God you're trained, otherwise…"

"May I know your name?" Krishna asked, quickly changing the conversation subject.

"It's Ngan, Le Hoai Kim Ngan. How about yours?"

"Krishna. Just call me Krishna," Krishna replied, "Who are you waiting for here? I see a couple of buses coming back and forth here but you didn't board any of them."

"I'm waiting for my sister," Ngan replied, "She's going to pick me up here."

"Pick you up?" Krishna blinked, before he noticed a small nametag on Ngan's shirt, "Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted?"

"That's my high school," Ngan said, pointing at a large, colonial-looking building located nearby, "I just finished my classes for the day. Usually I wait here for my sister or her friend to pick me up."

"I see."

"There you are, Krishna!"

Steffi and her group ran across the road towards the bus stop, with Karin bringing Krishna's half-drank bottle of Fanta. Immediately Krishna waved at the group.

"You girls!"

"Were have you been! We've just finished our manicures and you were supposed to wait for us in front of the salon!" Steffi scolded.

"Sorry about that," Krishna said rather sheepishly, "A robber had taken this girl's purse and I helped her get it back."

"Friends of yours?" Ngan asked.

"You can say that," Krishna nodded.

At the same time, a silver Mercedes-Benz S-500 pulled itself into a stop next to the group. The front window of the car was rolled down, revealing both Minh and Thao, the latter behind the Merc's wheel.

"Oh my God!" Kim gawked as she saw Minh, "That's the young billionaire and philanthropist Le Thao Minh! What is she doing here?"

"I heard that she's working together with my brother's taskforce now," Steffi added, "An amazing young lady indeed…even though she's rich, she always does something to give back to the society."

Krishna's eyes went wide for a brief second, "Le Thao Minh? Where have I heard that name before…"

"Nee-chan!" Ngan called out as she rushed towards the car while at the same time Minh stepped out of it, the two then proceeded to embrace each other.

"Hey there, sis!" Minh replied happily, before releasing her embrace on Ngan, "How's your day at school?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Ngan replied, "Until when my purse got robbed that is."

Minh's eyes went wide in both disbelief and worry, "You got WHAT?!"

"Don't worry, nee-chan!" Ngan said quickly and reassuringly, before she pointed at Krishna, "That nice young man over there helped me get it back!"

Both Krishna and Minh looked at each other and for a split-second a startled look appeared on their faces.

"That man…where have I seen him before? He looks familiar..." Minh thought as she looked at Krishna from head to toe.

Krishna's thoughts were racing as well, "Is that Le Thao Minh? She looks oddly familiar…could it be…"

"Thank you for helping my sister," Minh said, trying to break off the awkwardness between her and Krishna, "I really appreciate that."

"You're welcome," Krishna replied, rather awkwardly as well, "Take good care of her, okay?"

After Ngan had left with both Minh and Thao, Steffi and her group hailed a bus heading towards District 1 for their next destination. As the group boarded the bus, Steffi noticed that Krishna was frozen in his place.

"You okay bro?" Steffi asked.

Krishna quickly shook his head as he came back to his senses, "No, no, I'm okay. It's just…"

"…you're hungry, right?" Steffi guessed, which Krishna replied with a series of nods, "I knew it. Get in. I know a great place where we could get lunch."

xxx

Saigon Central Post Office, District 1

The group had gathered around a small table in front of the breathtaking Saigon Central Post Office, a popular tourist spot in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City's District 1. Parked nearby was an orange and black food truck, the word "Banhtastic Mi" emblazoned all over the truck. Krishna lets out a slight chuckle on the truck's name, until Steffi told him that the truck sells banh mi, Vietnamese-styled sandwich that consisted of oven-roasted seasoned pork belly, Vietnamese sausage, cheese, fried eggs, cucumber, carrots, and the obligatory cilantro and mayonnaise.

Once his banh mi had arrived, Krishna wasted no time in digging in and before he knew it, an explosion of flavors erupted in his mouth.

"My God…this is good," Krishna commented, taking another bite of his banh mi, "I could have this every day."

"You liked it?" Steffi asked as she munched her own banh mi.

"Like it? I love it," Krishna replied, licking away the mayonnaise on his lips, "But in my opinion, this would be the number two best food truck meal that I had."

"What's number one then?" Kim asked.

"I'm gonna let you girls guess," Krishna said, biting off a piece of his banh mi and eating it before continuing, "I'll give you the first clue though. It's in America."

"You've been to America?!" Kim gawked, almost spitting out her banh mi out of shock, "So cool! To which city that you've been? New York? Miami? Seattle? Detroit? Los Angeles?"

"I've been to New York, Miami, and LA, but the number one food truck for me was not in those cities," Krishna said, swallowing the last of the banh mi in his mouth, "In fact, you girls might probably never have heard of this city until today."

"What is it?" Vy asked.

"It's a fledgling city called Prometheus Falls," Krishna answered, quickly biting onto and munching on a cucumber that almost fell off from his banh mi, "Mmm, crunchy."

"I think I've heard of that place before!" Vy exclaimed, "I've read on one of my scientific journals that Prometheus Falls was one of the leading places for artificial intelligence development in not only America, but in the world as well! I've always wanted to visit both Prometheus Falls and Silicon Valley when I visit America."

"You bookworm," Kim teased, punching Vy on her shoulder.

"Whatever," Vy pouted, rubbing her shoulder in slight irritation, "While everyone always wanted to go to Los Angeles or New York, or San Francisco for their trip to America, I've always wanted to study more underneath the brilliant minds at both Prometheus Falls and Silicon Valley. Perhaps I could get a job at Apple…or Microsoft…or Google…or even Rising Industries? Who knows?"

"Chase your dreams and it'll happen, Vy," Krishna gave Vy an encouraging pat on the shoulder, before proceeding to take out his wallet from his trouser pocket. Rummaging through it, Krishna pulled out a small photograph for the group to see.

"Who's that?" Steffi asked, examining the photograph that has Krishna posing together with a young man of African-American and Hispanic heritage in front of a royal blue food truck.

"A friend of mine," Krishna replied, "His name is Luke Anders and he's the chef of Big Guy Bites, possibly the best food truck that I've ever visited. If you go to America and to Prometheus Falls, you should visit his truck and try out his tacos and burgers, they're the best!"

Swallowing the last of her banh mi, Karin joined in the group, before noticing the photograph of Luke and Krishna in the latter's hand. A smile broke out on the Arcana Maojin's face as she reminisced the meeting between Krishna and Luke.

"Ah yes, Luke Anders," Karin said, "We met him around two years ago, when Krishna was touring America. Other than being a chef and a student, Luke's also an armored warrior just like Krishna, or a Kamen Rider, as you people like to call it. I think his designation was Kamen Rider Wild?"

"Yeah, Kamen Rider Wild," Krishna nodded, "The three of us fought strange monsters called Beastmen together during our stay there. Sadly, there were no Maojins there for us to take out, but with a pleasant guy like Luke and his amazing friends, our trip to Prometheus Falls was a memorable one. To be honest, you girls kinda reminded us of Luke and his friends."

"Really?" Steffi blushed slightly, "If this Luke guy and his friends are as good as you told us, I take that as a compliment."

Before the conversation could continue, however, the group was startled by screams of terror coming from the nearby Notre Dame Cathedral.

"Maojin," Karin told Krishna, which the young man replied with a nod.

"Let's go!" Krishna exclaimed as Karin transformed into her card form, the young man grabbing her and pocketing her before going straight towards the direction of the screams.

"Wait for us!" Steffi hollered, before turning her attention towards Vy, "Vy, do you bring your camera with you?"

Vy shook her head slightly, "Unfortunately not, but don't worry, I've got my phone!"

"That'll do!" Steffi nodded, before she quickly went after both Krishna and Karin, "Let's go!"

xxx

Notre Dame Cathedral, District 1

A terrifying-looking humanoid creature stood in front of the famed Notre Dame Cathedral, freaking out the tourists visiting the area. Behind the creature was a large hole that the creature came out from, bits and pieces of broken asphalt and stones scattered around it. The creature was based on a mole, covered from head to toe in brown fur with orange armor on its shoulders, elbows, knees, crotch, chest, and head. A pair of large orange claws adorned the creature's hands, while a silver drill was present on the creature's nose. The creature's head armor resembled that of a miner's hard hat, complete with a glowing turquoise gem that goes well with the creature's turquoise eyes. Confirming the creature's identity as a Maojin was the golden belt with a yellow loincloth hanging out of it on the creature's waist.

The Mole Maojin roared to the heavens, announcing its arrival, before making its advance towards a Taiwanese tourist couple who were holding onto each other in sheer terror.

"You two would make a fine addition to my collection," the Mole Maojin spoke with a sinister male voice as he approached the two Taiwanese.

"Please, oh, please, spare us!" the female Taiwanese tourist begged.

"Just take me!" the male Taiwanese tourist, the female's boyfriend, added, "Do whatever you want with me, but please don't lay a finger on my girlfriend!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that," the Mole Maojin said, raising his right claw, "Now, it's lights out for you two!"

"Hey, Monty Mole!"

The Mole Maojin turned around to see Krishna running towards him, his ScanDriver already on his waist. This momentary distraction gave the Taiwanese couple a chance to retreat to the sidelines.

"Ah, if it isn't Voyager," the Mole Maojin greeted in disgust, "Here to dig your own grave, I see?"

"The only one who's digging his own grave is you, Nine of Coins," Krishna replied, taking out his Thunder Kabuto card, "Henshin!"

ACE HENSHIN! THUNDER KABUTO!

Steffi and her gang arrived just in time to see Voyager in his default Thunder Form grappling against the Mole Maojin, the Rider landing a couple of punches onto his opponent's face. Immediately upon seeing the Mole Maojin, Steffi's eyes went wide in surprise.

"It's the Mole Man!" Steffi gasped.

"The Mole Man?" Kim added, "You mean that cryptid that we've been investigating for the past two weeks?!"

"That's the one!" Steffi replied, "Now I kinda regret leaving that case behind due to investigating other cryptids…"

Quickly Vy took out her phone and recorded the fight, just as Steffi's own phone began to ring.

"Hello?" Steffi said upon picking up her phone.

"Hey sis, it's Leo," came Leo's reply from the phone, "Listen, are you girls still investigating the Mole Man case?"

"Actually Voyager's fighting him in front of our eyes right now," Steffi replied, as Voyager kicked the Mole Maojin twice on his head.

"Really?!" Leo gawked, before he quickly regained his composure, "Right, this just made my job easier. Remember the disappearance of Le Quynh Huong and the subsequent disappearance of people in the HCMC city center?"

"Yeah," Steffi nodded, "We suspect that it was the Mole Man who did that…but unfortunately with the numerous appearances of cryptids lately, we hadn't had time to investigate further."

"Good news for you, now's your chance," Leo said, "We've done our investigation of ourselves and we've managed to trace the disappearance to an Unrecorded Lifeform living in the city center's sewers."

"I knew it," Steffi smirked, "What do you want us to do?"

"Since Voyager's busy handling the Unrecorded Lifeform, I want you girls to go down in the sewers and search for the missing people."

"Sure, I think we've got our thermal scanning devices with us right now. Why don't you send your men there?"

"You've got Krishna with you, right? I believe he's more than enough to do the job. But just in case things goes south, I've asked my deputy to prepare an armed platoon to back you guys up."

"Thanks bro. I think we'll handle it but if we ran into trouble, we'll contact you again."

"Sure. I'll be in touch. See you," Leo said before hanging up the phone.

Back to the fight between Voyager and the Mole Maojin, the latter slashed the former several times with his large claws, before landing a powerful upward slash onto Voyager's chest that sent the Rider tumbling to the ground.

"Is that what you've got?" the Mole Maojin taunted.

Voyager slowly stood up, wisps of smoke billowing out from the dents on his chest armor inflicted by the Mole Maojin's massive claws but underneath the Rider's helmet was a confident smirk.

"Glad you asked," Voyager replied, taking out his Inferno Komodo card, "Now let's see how you fare when I turn up the heat!"

ACE HENSHIN! INFERNO KOMODO!

(Cue BGM: Burnmite no Theme – Takao Konishi from the Ultraman Orb OST)

Letting out a wave of heat from his transformation to his Inferno Form, Voyager slowly assumed a relaxed stance, allowing steam to burst out from the joints on his armor.

"Ah, that felt good," Voyager commented, cracking his neck twice before assuming his fighting stance, "Evil shall be burned into crisp!"

Voyager charged forward, executing a couple of jabs onto the Mole Maojin's chest, before grabbing the kaijin and locking him into a rear naked choke. Bashing the Mole Maojin's head a couple of times with his left fist, Voyager released his hold on the creature and gave him a solid kick to the rear end, sending the Mole Maojin crashing face-first to the ground.

As the Mole Maojin slowly stood up, Voyager wailed punches upon punches onto the kaijin's body, finishing the crippling combo with a powerful roundhouse kick to the Mole Maojin's face. And to top it all off, Voyager went rushing towards the recovering Mole Maojin, preparing a punch with his right fist that forced the kaijin to brace himself for the inevitable…

…only for Voyager to stop half-way through.

"Eh?" blinked the clearly confused Mole Maojin, "What's going on?"

Suddenly a stream of flames came out from the gaps between the fingers on Voyager's right fist, striking the Mole Maojin right on his eyes! Immediately the kaijin collapsed to the ground, clutching his burning eyes in agony.

"Man, I should do that more often," Voyager chuckled as he saw the Mole Maojin frantically putting out the fire on his eyes. But much to Voyager's surprise, instead of blinding the Mole Maojin, the fire did nothing apart from sending the Mole Maojin into a flying rage.

(BGM ends)

"Do you forget that I'm a mole?!" the Mole Maojin growled as the drill on his nose began to spin rapidly, "Even if that sneaky attack of yours blinded my eyes, I can still fight without them! Now…I'm going to show you my true power!"

And with that, the Mole Maojin dove straight into the ground, disappearing within seconds. Realizing that his opponent had vanished, Voyager immediately assumed his fighting stance, waiting for the moment the Mole Maojin returned to the surface…

"PEEK-A-BOO!"

Suddenly the ground underneath Voyager's feet burst open, with the Mole Maojin leaping out of it. The Maojin struck Voyager right on his chest with his drill nose, a shower of sparks flying out from where the drill had struck Voyager as he was sent stumbling back in both pain and shock.

"What the fuck was that?!" Voyager cursed and before he knew it, the Mole Maojin had vanished underground once again, "Now, where is he?!"

Assuming his fighting stance once again, Voyager prepared himself for the Mole's reappearance, clenching his fists tightly as he was determined to punch the lights out of the Maojin once he had surfaced. Unfortunately for the Rider, the Mole Maojin had resurfaced…a few meters behind Voyager.

Cackling madly, the Mole Maojin made a dash towards Voyager, striking the hero in the back with his drill nose before disappearing underground quickly the moment the Rider had realized what just happened.

"Oy!" Voyager called out, clenching his left fist even more tightly as his right hand clutched his now slightly injured back, "Show yourself!"

Steffi and her friends could only watch on in horror as the Mole Maojin jumped out of the ground once again, this time blindsiding Voyager from the Rider's right side. Seconds afterwards the Mole Maojin landed yet another hit, this time his drill piercing through Voyager's left shoulder armor. Grunting in pain, Voyager collapsed to the ground, clutching his now injured left shoulder.

"That cryptid actually broke through Inferno Form's defenses…" Steffi muttered in disbelief.

Standing over the downed Voyager, the Mole Maojin lets out another mad cackle, savoring every minute of the misery that he had inflicted onto Voyager.

"Now, I would have stayed here and beat you up even further," the Mole Maojin said, before glancing at the Taiwanese couple in the sidelines, who were huddling each other in both fear and shock, "But I have more important things to do!"

And with that the Mole Maojin once again dove underground, quickly making his way towards the Taiwanese couple.

Realizing what's going on, Voyager slowly stood up, fighting the pain racking throughout his body as he does so.

"Run!" Voyager yelled at the Taiwanese couple, but it was all in vain.

Before they could realize it, a fissure opened underneath the Taiwanese couple's feet, effectively swallowing them underground to the horror of not only Voyager, but also Steffi, Kim, and Vy as well.

"Damn it!" Voyager cursed, punching the ground three times in frustration, before reverting to Krishna, "Damn it!"

"Krishna!"

Quickly Steffi, Kim, and Vy went over towards Krishna, the three of them looking clearly concerned.

"Are you okay?" Steffi asked.

"I'll fight another day," Krishna replied, however his eyes were fixated on the nearby hole where the Taiwanese couple once stood, "However…"

"It's okay, we'll save them," Steffi cuts in, before turning her attention towards her friends, "Let's go!"

"Wait!" Krishna called out, grabbing onto Steffi's wrist to stop her, "It's too dangerous for you girls to go. Let Karin and I go by ourselves. Just enjoy the rest of your day, okay?"

Steffi quickly released Krishna's hold on her, much to the young man's surprise.

"No, we're going," Steffi insisted, pointing at the nearby hole, "If we go in there, we can catch up to that cryptid and save them, right?"

"Steffi, it's too dangerous," Krishna shook his head, "I've fought these creatures for a long time, okay? I know what I'm doing. Please, stay here, and go on with your day without me."

"But Krishna, you know damn well that we can take care of ourselves out there!" Steffi protested.

"Yeah, I even managed to hold off a cryptid before you showed up yesterday!" Kim added, showing Krishna the bruises on her cheeks and neck from her encounter with the Seahorse Maojin the previous day, "See? And I'm still alive and kicking right now."

"Please, you would have been toast if I didn't interfere," Krishna scoffed, earning himself a pout from Kim, "Girls, listen to me. I appreciate what you girls do…but don't you think that what you've been doing is…reckless? Have you ever had any regard for your safety? Remember, the Maojins are dangerous creatures, you can't just go near them like they're some kind of petting zoo animal!"

"We know!" Steffi argued back, "But…"

"No buts!" Krishna interrupted, "At least your brother and his team are now well-equipped to take the Maojins on, but you girls are not. Please, for your own safety, stay out of this. I don't want anyone else who are not involved with my fight against the Maojin to get hurt, especially after…"

Krishna stopped himself immediately, his right hand slowly clenching into a fist as flashbacks of Sobee's death were played repeatedly in his mind.

"Krishna…" Steffi muttered, clearly concerned for Krishna. Kim and Vy were left speechless by Krishna's words, however just like their friend, they were also concerned for him.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Krishna immediately went towards the hole, his decision to go there by himself final.

"Sorry girls," Krishna thought to himself as he jumped into the hole, "You three are amazing people…and because of that I can't allow you to endanger yourselves even further. I don't want what happened to Sobee to happen with you three…"

As Krishna disappeared underground, Steffi lets out an exasperated sigh, stomping on the ground in sheer frustration as she took out her phone.

"That idiot!" Steffi grumbled as she dialed Leo's number with her friends trying their best to calm her down, "Bro?"

"Hey sis," came Leo's reply, "What's up?"

Steffi took several deep breaths, being instructed to do so by Kim. At the same time, Vy decided to make a run to a nearby vending machine and bought a cool bottle of water from it, handing the beverage over to Steffi as quickly as possible.

"Sis? You okay?" Leo asked as Steffi calmed herself down by drinking the bottle of water that Vy had bought her.

"I'm good," Steffi replied as soon as she had finished drinking and calmed herself down, "It's Krishna."

"Krishna? Did something happen to him?" Leo asked.

Steffi sighed, "He ditched us. We're literally on our own here."

xxx

Leo immediately facepalmed upon hearing what Steffi had just told him. To think that Kamen Rider Voyager, the only person he knew that can go toe-to-toe with the Maojins, had the gall to abandon his sister and her friends who as far as Leo knew had little to none combat experience against anyone…it's just unimaginable.

Plus, with that smug-looking grin that Khanh Linh's putting up right now after overhearing his conversation…looks like Leo's going to concede defeat here.

"Well, well, well…" Khanh Linh smiled smugly after Leo had hung up his phone, "Was that your sister?"

Leo nodded.

"Care to tell me what happened?" Khanh Linh asked, still with that smug look of hers.

Letting out a sigh, Leo said, "We've ran into a…small problem, so to speak."

Khanh Linh nodded, "Let me guess…Voyager, huh?"

"I need to ask my sister to give more detail about this…it's not like him to just…"

"Save it, Lieutenant Leo. I'll send my men down there right now. It's too risky to let your sister and her friends go down there without anyone watching their backs."

"But we don't know what we're facing down there!" Leo argued, "It's too much of a risk to send an entire armed platoon down there."

"What other options do we have, huh?!"

"Me."

Both Leo and Khanh Linh turned around to see a familiar figure standing in front of the office's entrance, a warm smile on the figure's face. Immediately a look of relief washed over Leo's face, while a look of utter shock was written all over Khanh Linh.

"But you've just got out of the…"

"Save it, Lieutenant Khanh Linh," the figure said, "I'll make sure that Leo's sister and her friends are safe and sound, you can have my word for it."

xxx

"So you're telling me…you've met Voyager's human form today?"

Having dropped off Ngan at her friend's house where Ngan had been staying for the past two years, Minh went straight back to the LIT, where she talked about how she had met Krishna over lunch with Tran in Tran's room. Despite having an IV drip linked to her arm from her previous therapy, Tran looked cheerful as usual, enjoying her small bowl of mashed potatoes.

"The guy literally hasn't changed after all these years," Minh said, taking a bite of her banh mi, "Last time I saw him was around…5 years ago, I think? Maybe I need to check again…taking care of Lotus Industries sure does wonders to your memory!"

"I see. So what are you going to do now?" Tran asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Minh replied, swallowing the last of her banh mi before taking out her phone, opening the SIG website with it and showing it to Tran, "I'm going to hunt for some Maojins. This website had helped me a lot in my previous hunts and I'm going to use it to track down Voyager."

"Because whenever a Maojin shows up, Voyager would be there too."

"Correct," Minh smiled, "The hottest case right now is the case of the Mole Man…for the past two weeks people have been disappearing around downtown Ho Chi Minh City, with eyewitnesses saying that they were pulled underground by some unknown force. If my hunch is correct…Voyager's tracking down this Maojin as well!"

"And if Voyager doesn't show up?" Tran asked.

"He can wait another day," Minh smirked as she pocketed her phone and went towards the exit, "At least…I'll have my Earth Tribe power-up for my ArmTrans, right?"

"Riiight," Tran giggled, "Good luck!"

"You too," Minh winked, "Now rest well, okay? We'll have another round of chemo for you later tonight."

Tran gave Minh a thumbs up before the latter took her leave, leaving Tran all by herself in her room. Once she had made sure that Minh was not around her anymore, Tran silently placed her bowl on a nearby nightstand, before taking out her phone, which has a lot of missed calls from an unknown number. Looking around to make sure that no one's there to see or hear her, Tran quickly dialed the unknown number.

"Hello?" Rin's voice was heard from the other side of the line.

"Sorry for not replying to your calls," Tran said, almost whispering to make sure that she's not heard by anyone, before her voice slowly shifted to that of Star's as her eyes glowed orange, albeit still speaking as if she's almost whispering, "Minh was bothering me for quite a while…I didn't had time to contact you. How did the meeting went last night?"

"It went well," came the reply, "Apart from the fact that we have another nuisance to deal with other than Voyager. A black and blue warrior had terminated the latest Maojin that I'd sent to attack some Lotus Industries factories."

"Ah, the Thunder Tribe's Nine of Shields. A brave warrior indeed, that firefly."

"You didn't sound concerned at all."

"Because, my dear Rin, that black and blue warrior is my peon, an important piece of my plan," Tran said, a sly smirk appearing on her face, "I've sacrificed a few of my kind so that that warrior could grow stronger…so that she could execute my plan perfectly."

"You have got to be kidding me," Rin replied in utter disbelief, "To think that you…"

"My dear Rin, don't jump into conclusions," Tran told Rin slyly, "I know that you ordered that hit on that man. But what you don't know…" Tran then whispered a few words into her phone, prompting a startled gasp from the other side of the line.

"WHAT?!" Rin gawked in surprise.

"Small world that we live in, eh? Turns out your little business competition has enabled me to cook up an excellent plan that would not eliminate Voyager, the biggest bane of my kind's existence, but also eliminate the last person standing in your way of placing this city underneath your company's control."

"What are you trying to say?"

Tran then proceeded to whisper into her phone, to which Rin replied with a sinister chuckle.

"Well then…" Rin said, clearly interested by what Tran had told her, "We'll see how it goes."

"We'll see. If it goes well, it'll be like killing two birds with one stone…," Tran smirked, before she lets out an evil chuckle that echoed throughout the vacant LIT penthouse...

xxx

Meanwhile, at the lowest level of the LIT's underground parking lot, Minh and Thao stepped out of the elevator, heading towards an area in the parking lot that has been cordoned off from public usage. There were several cars parked in the area, all of them the latest in the range of supercars, sport cars, and luxurious cars, and all of them were Minh's. The young woman had a knack of collecting high-end cars, switching them each time she goes out to the point of never using the same car twice in the same month.

"Which one should we use?" Minh asked as she and Thao checked out the multitude of cars around them, "The Jag?"

"You already used that last week," Thao replied.

"Alright. How about the Bentley?"

"Already used."

"Supra?"

"You used that earlier this month."

"The DB9?"

"You used that the day after you used the Supra, Minh."

"The S-Class?"

Thao rolled her eyes, "Again? We've already used the S-Class when we picked up Ngan, didn't you remember?"

Minh slapped her own forehead in realization, "Ah right, I forgot. Any suggestion on what should we use today?"

"The Evo," Thao replied, pointing at a nearby cobalt blue Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, "We haven't used for quite a while, I think."

"Nice," Minh smirked in excitement, as the Evo has always been one of her favorite cars, "Excellent choice indeed."

The two young women then got into the car, with Thao behind the wheel as usual. As Thao warmed up the car's engine, Minh slowly took out something from her jeans pocket. It was a Maojin Card, with the card depicting an image of a manta ray jumping out of the ocean with a moonlit background on its front side, while the backside of the card, like any other Maojin Card, was gunmetal gray in color, with a stylized A superimposed on a cup engraved on it. A blue line was present on the left-hand side of the card's front, the words MARINE MANTA was emblazoned in white on the line, while the familiar blue swirling circle icon was present on the card's top left corner.

"Lead us the way, Manta," Minh spoke softly as she placed the card onto the Evo's dashboard, before turning her attention towards Thao, "Let's go."

Nodding, Thao immediately floors the Evo's gas, and the car soon made its way outside the LIT parking lot complex and into the streets of Ho Chi Minh City.

xxx

Somewhere underneath Ho Chi Minh City

It has been 20 minutes since Krishna went underground in search for the Mole Maojin and the Taiwanese couple that the kaijin had took, but so far, his search has been futile. He even let Karin out in her human form for her to use her Maojin senses to detect anything out of the ordinary, only to find nothing at all. Sighing in frustration, Krishna sat against a nearby wall, not caring that sewage water was dripping all over him from above, staining his new haircut, his jacket, not to mention his shirt.

"Damn," Krishna muttered as Karin sat next to him, the sewage water drenching her hair and clothing as well, "No signs of them. Had any luck?"

"Nope," Karin shook her head, "Even my instincts couldn't detect where they are…that mole is one sneaky bastard."

Suddenly the two were startled by a loud thud noise that came from nearby. Immediately Krishna and Karin stood up, exchanging nods, before running off towards the source of the noise, knowing that the Mole Maojin could be there.

But once Krishna and Karin discovered what had made that noise…

"Oh for fuck's sake."

Steffi smiled sheepishly, having slipped to the moist ground a few seconds earlier. Kim and Vy were there too, helping Steffi back to her feet, with equally sheepish grins on their faces. Karin sighed, facepalming at the sight in front of her, while Krishna shook his head in utter dismay.

xxx

Five minutes later

"What are you girls doing here?"

Steffi remained silent as Krishna patched up her slightly bruised ankle, the injury being inflicted by her earlier slip. Kim, Vy, and Karin were sitting nearby, the trio leaning themselves against a nearby wall. Slowly after he had finished patching Steffi's ankle, Krishna helped Steffi back to her feet, a slightly relieved smile on his face as he saw Steffi managing to stand up on her own despite limping a bit.

"Again, I ask you," Krishna said once Steffi had regained her balance, "What are you girls doing here?"

"Helping you, duh," Steffi replied, "We came here to help you search for that mole cryptid."

"Didn't I tell you that it was too dangerous?"

"Yeah, and so what? We've been doing this for quite a while, Krishna. We know the risks."

"You already got yourself hurt. Just leave this to the me, okay? I got this. Besides, Karin would help me in doing things that I couldn't do here."

"Oh yeah? Do you even know that we've been investigating this case before you even set your foot into this city?"

"Really? Prove it to me."

"That Taiwanese couple wasn't the cryptid's only victims, Krishna. That creature has been responsible for several people going missing in the HCMC city center."

"What the fuck?!" Krishna cursed in disbelief.

"That is why it is very important for us to track down this cryptid and rescue the people that the creature had took."

"I know that! But it's still too dangerous for you girls to tag along with me."

"ENOUGH!" Karin yelled all of the sudden, startling both Krishna and Steffi, "If you two keep arguing like that, we won't get anywhere! The lives of that couple is at stake here and if we couldn't find them or the Maojin…well…I could only say that it'll be really, really bad."

"Krishna, please," Kim added, "Like Steffi said, we know the risks. We've already placed our lives in the line investigating these creatures for the sake of the city. Can't you let us help you? Even Steffi's brother was more than welcome to accept our help for his taskforce. Why can't you do the same?"

"Because I can't let any of you get hurt, okay?!" Krishna snapped, startling everyone there before he realized what he had just said, "Sorry, I'm so sorry, it's just…"

"It's okay Krishna," Karin said softly, "You can tell them."

"Tell?" Vy blinked, "Tell us what?"

"Don't tell me…" an equally shocked Steffi muttered, her mind managing to piece together the reason behind Krishna's reluctance in allowing the SIG to assist him, "Was it because of that Sobee girl?"

Krishna took a deep breath, calming himself down for a few seconds. Once he had regained control over his emotions, Krishna started his story, "You girls…you three…and Leo…and Hako…and Thy…you are all amazing people, welcoming me to this city with open arms. Especially you, Steffi. When your brother asked me to stay at your place…to be honest…this was the first time for 108 years that I felt that I was being drawn into a family. You girls were so tightly knit, you reminded me not only of Luke and his friends back in Prometheus Falls…but also of a certain family that I stayed with when I was in Thailand."

"108 years? What do you mean?" Steffi asked.

"108 years ago, I stayed in what is present day Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand," Krishna continued, "I was welcomed by a family of peasants who took care of me when I came to the area injured after a battle against a Maojin."

"Nakhon Ratchasima?" Steffi's thoughts wondered as she listened to Krishna's story, as apparently that name struck something in her mind, "Why does that place sound familiar…"

Realizing that Steffi is spacing out, Krishna asked, "You okay?"

Shaking her head as she came back to her senses, Steffi replied, "Yeah, I'm good. Just continue."

Nodding, Krishna continued his story, "I was taken in by that family and nursed back to health with them. In exchange for their kindness and a roof for me to sleep underneath with, I helped with their farming work and took care of the family's only daughter, Sobee."

"So, that's who Sobee is…"

"Correct," Krishna nodded rather solemnly, "I lived peacefully with that family for quite a while…to the point that Sobee considered me as an older brother that she never had. We had a good time together...but unfortunately like all good things, it had to end."

"What happened?" Vy asked.

"The Maojin that injured me…" Krishna continued, taking out his Thunder Kabuto card and giving it a solemn look, "…he decided to attack Sobee's village. The Ace of Shields, the Kabuto Maojin. The very creature that powered my Rider form."

"And then?"

"I fought the Kabuto Maojin in a fierce battle…but unfortunately that battle ravaged through Sobee's village and destroyed it…and Sobee…she…she…"

Fighting back the tears that are starting to overwhelm his eyes, Krishna pocketed his Thunder Kabuto card and clenched his fists tightly.

"When I said that I've fought the Maojins for a long time…I meant, a really, really long time. And during that time…I saw a lot of people around me die. Innocent women and children, men who had sacrificed their lives fighting alongside me…I saw them die, with my own eyes. I've lost so much friends, so many comrades by the years…I just…"

Krishna broke down into tears, prompting Steffi to place her hand on the young man's shoulder to comfort him as Kim and Vy watched on sadly.

"That's why I told you earlier that you shouldn't mention Sobee in front of him or me," Karin added, "But I guess since you're already a part of this war, you girls deserve to know. Throughout the 657 years that Krishna had fought the Maojins, he had made friends with lots of people…and had to watch them being dragged into his fight and get killed off one by one in front of his eyes. He even lost his own family before becoming Voyager to the Maojins, which is why he considered Sobee's family as the closest thing that he had to a family. And when Sobee and her family perished…he still couldn't forgive himself until this day. And with every innocent blood that the Maojin spilled, that guilt became bigger and bigger."

"That's why Krishna's so dedicated in fighting those cryptids…" Kim concluded.

"He doesn't want what happened to him to happen to everyone else…" Vy added.

Steffi had finished wiping away Krishna's tears, allowing the young man to regain himself. Letting out a thankful nod, Krishna said, "Even though I ran into you girls a few times…your actions towards me had touched me. When I was arrested, you were the one who vouched for my innocence to the point of coming to the police station for me. When I struggled against the Komodo Maojin, you were the one motivating me to fight on. And the fact that you allowed me to stay at your place with open arms…I've begin to consider you three as my family, and I don't want what happened to Sobee's family to happen to you. Which is why…"

"Krishna, it's okay," Steffi said comfortingly, "You don't have to worry about us. When we decided to set up the SIG, we always thought to ourselves, are we being too reckless? Are we biting off more than we can chew? But then we thought about why are we doing this. We're doing this for the sake of the city! We need people to know, that they're not always safe in this city and that monstrous creatures are lurking among them. We want them to stay alert, to prepare themselves for the inevitable…and to help my brother and the police force mopping those creatures up as well. You're not alone in your war, Krishna. You've got us. You've got Leo and the guys at MCU. As long we have the same goal, we'll try to achieve it together. Because sitting here doing nothing won't get us anywhere, right?"

Krishna wiped off the last of his tears, a small smile etched on his face.

"To be honest Krishna, if you join us, we'll be safer than ever," Steffi grinned, "You're a freaking Kamen Rider, dude! We won't need to run away and play hide and seek with those cryptids anymore as well as relying on my brother…we have our own personal bodyguard here, right in front of our eyes. You're the only person that we know who can defeat those cryptids without breaking a sweat, which is why wherever we go on our missions, if you're with us, we know that we'll be safe."

Krishna chuckled upon hearing those remarks, "My God, you sure know how to make someone feel better."

"Meh, I just say what I need to say," Steffi shrugged playfully, "So yeah, from now on, we'll watch each other's backs. How about that? That way no one would get killed until this conflict of yours ends."

"It's a deal," Krishna smiled, and both he and Steffi proceeded to fist-bump one another, much to the delight of Kim, Vy, and Karin.

"Awwh, so sweet."

Everyone turned around to see the Mole Maojin standing in front of them, a mocking grin etched on his mouth.

"I was about to go back to the surface to harvest more humans, but I guess the harvest decided to come to me instead. Three more juicy morsels for the awakening process, how delightful."

"I won't let you touch them!" Krishna exclaimed, taking out his ScanDriver and placing it on his waist as Karin reverted to her card form, flying into the Driver's card holder.

READY!

"Steffi, Kim, Vy, go find the Mole's victims. You said that you've investigated this case before I came, right? I think since he dared to show up here, his lair might be not far away. I'll take care of our friend for us."

Steffi nodded, taking out a small, black scanning device that resembled a barcode scanner commonly found in supermarkets, "Let's go!"

Taking out the same devices, Kim and Vy nodded in unison, before the two of them and Steffi ran off from the area much to the Mole Maojin's dismay.

"My collection!"

"Your opponent is me. Henshin!"

ACE HENSHIN! INFERNO KOMODO!

Transforming straight into his Inferno Form, Voyager went for the offensive first, landing a jab onto the Mole Maojin's face. Igniting his fists with fire, Voyager punched the Mole Maojin's chest twice, stunning the kaijin.

xxx

As Steffi and her friends ran through the sewers in search for the Mole Maojin's victims, a million of thoughts flooded into Steffi's mind. Krishna's story about Sobee's death sounded strangely familiar to her, as well as the fact that Krishna had stayed in Nakhon Ratchasima before. Combined with the fact that Krishna was the mysterious warrior from her dreams…it adds more to the mystery surrounding the young man.

"Krishna…just who are you?"

"Steffi!" Vy called out, bringing Steffi back into reality, "I've found some heat signals!"

The trio stopped in front of a small alleyway, with their thermal detecting devices detecting a huge amount of heat signals coming from there indicated by the red mass on their devices' screens.

"You think they might be in there?" Kim asked.

Steffi nodded, "Probably. Can't hurt if we check it out, huh?"

The trio wasted no time in entering the alleyway, the size of the path forcing them to enter it one-by-one.

xxx

Back to Voyager vs. the Mole Maojin, the former had a hard time handling the latter's speed, especially since they're underground, the Mole Maojin's natural element. The Inferno Form's dense armor had done a decent job in protecting Voyager's body from the Mole Maojin's drill strikes, but only time would tell when the armor would give in.

The Mole Maojin burst out from the ground underneath Voyager's feet, once again striking his drill against the Rider's chest. Stumbling back and clutching his slightly damaged chest armor, Voyager leaned himself against the wall, panting heavily as he does so.

"Man, that bastard's even quicker compared to last time!" Voyager muttered, writhing in pain from the injuries inflicted by the Mole Maojin's rapid drill strikes, "If only I could find a way to pull this guy back to the surface…"

Suddenly a familiar pair of claws broke through the wall behind Voyager, grabbing the Rider instantly before the claws dragged Voyager behind the wall. Groaning in pain, Voyager was left open for a swift kick to his chest, before a headbutt to the torso sent him reeling out the wall, clearly dazed and disoriented.

Seeing Voyager's predicament, the Mole Maojin lets out a maddened cackle, "Voyager, you foolish, foolish boy. This is my element. I live here, I breathe here, I can unleash my maximum potential here. This is a battle that you'll never win, Voyager. The sewers of this city shall become your tomb!"

"Not if I could have a say about it."

Suddenly sparks flew from the back of the Mole Maojin's head, startling the kaijin and forcing his attention off the downed Voyager. The Mole Maojin slowly stumbled back, rubbing the back of his head in pain.

"Who's there?! Show yourself!"

A figure stepped out from the shadows, a Strike pistol in its hand. As Voyager saw the figure, the Rider lets out a sigh of relief, knowing all too well that the figure's here to help.

"Glad to see you back, Hako."

Wearing black Kevlar from head to toe and with a matching baseball cap, no one could recognize that the armed-to-the-teeth young woman standing in front of the Mole Maojin was in fact the same young woman that fell victim to the Komodo Maojin's possession only a few days ago. But now Officer…no, Lieutenant Dao Ngoc Phuong Anh is back, and with a vengeance to boot.

"Consider that we're even now, Voyager," Hako told the still-downed Voyager as the Rider struggled to regain his footing, "You saved me from those bastards…and its my turn to save your butt."

"But how do you know that I would be here?" Voyager asked as he finally stood up.

"Leo told me," Hako replied, "The MCU wanted a platoon of armed officers to storm the sewers to both engage the Unrecorded Lifeform and rescue its victims, but Leo felt that it was too risky. So, I volunteered to come here instead by myself to support both you and the SIG."

Voyager bowed in gratitude upon hearing that, "Thanks Hako. I am forever indebted to both you and Leo."

"Don't mention it," Hako chuckled, "Like I said, we're even now, right?"

"Damn you!" the Mole Maojin cursed as he slowly stood up, smoke still coming out from where Hako had shot him earlier on his armored head, "You'll pay for this!"

"Voyager, think of a strategy to beat this guy quick," Hako told the Rider, "I'll distract this guy for a while."

"But how?" Voyager asked, "His attacks were too quick for me! Do you have something that could counter it in the meantime?"

Hako smirked, holstering her Strike and taking out her Buster grenade launcher, "I have this."

Voyager chuckled, "Grenades, huh? That should buy me enough time."

Voyager slowly stepped back to the sidelines, allowing Hako to aim the Buster at the Mole Maojin. Roaring aloud, the Mole Maojin went for his dash attack once again, his drill nose all primed to inflict some serious damage. But unfortunately for the kaijin, Hako was all prepared to inflict some serious damage of her own.

"Fire in the hole!" Hako exclaimed, firing a grenade from the Buster that detonated instantly once it touched the Mole Maojin's head, sending the stunned kaijin tumbling back in agony.

"What the fuck was that?!" the Mole Maojin cursed as he groggily stood up.

"There's mooore," Hako said rather playfully in a sing-song fashion, firing two more grenades that stunned the Mole Maojin even further.

With the smoke from Hako's grenades blanketing the entire area, Voyager took the time to regroup and recover, thinking of a strategy to counter the Mole Maojin's speedy attacks.

"Right, so Inferno Form is useless against this guy," Voyager said as he took out the Inferno Komodo card from his ScanDriver, leaving the Rider in his black bodysuit, "Any ideas, Karin?"

"Thunder Form might work, but considering that we're in the guy's domain, I doubt that it could keep up with him," Karin replied, before she realized something, "Hang on…I got it!"

"Got what?" Voyager asked.

"We still have that one Ace card that we haven't used yet."

Voyager thought for a moment, before the same realization hits him, "Oh right! How can I forgot about it!"

"Wind Tribe Maojins are always known for being exceptionally speedy when fighting," Karin said, "Maybe using the Hurricane Eagle card would be the perfect counter for the Mole Maojin's speed!"

"Karin, you fucking genius."

Voyager quickly took out the Hurricane Eagle card from his card holder and inserted it into the ScanDriver, slamming the Driver's tab shut afterwards.

ACE HENSHIN! HURRICANE EAGLE!

A green ring of energy bursts out from the ScanDriver along with a powerful gust of wind, which not only cleared away the smoke enveloping the battlefield and forcing Hako to hold onto her baseball cap, but also blowing away the recovering Mole Maojin off his feet. Dramatic techno music was played out from the ScanDriver as the ring splits into two, scanning through Voyager's body from top to bottom as the translucent screen on the ScanDriver glowed green, displaying a white image of an eagle on it. Voyager's chest insignia changed itself the moment the energy ring scanned itself above it, now being a green circle with an eagle's head sticking out from its right side.

Green grid lines began to materialize around the bodysuit, forming armor pieces that configured themselves onto Voyager's bodysuit. Unlike the bulky design of Inferno Form's armor, the new armor pieces were more streamlined in design, being sky blue in color with a dash of silver and gold on the gauntlets and greaves and silver and red on the torso armor. The most striking feature of the armor were the shoulder armors…or the complete lack of them. Instead, protecting Voyager's shoulders were a pair of rounded sky blue pauldrons with a silver, gold, and red trim.

Last but not least, green grid lines began to materialize around Voyager's helmet, forming a sky blue helmet that has elegance written all over it. The helmet has an eagle-themed headdress, complete with a pair of sky blue wings with dark blue highlights on them, one wing for each side of the helmet, a small eagle's head on the forehead of the helmet that has a pair of green eyes and a golden beak, and a red, feather-shaped crest that rose from the top of the eagle's head. Voyager still retained his yellow eyes, while his silver mouthpiece has a much more smooth and elegant design compared to both Thunder and Inferno Forms. As usual to signal the final phase of the transformation, Voyager's eyes flashed three times, along with the appearance of green lines on the arms, thighs, legs, and the sides of the bodysuit's torso.

As the gust of wind died down, Hako slowly released her hold on her baseball cap, her eyes going wide in awe upon the sight of Voyager's new form. The Mole Maojin was also left speechless as he saw Voyager's new form, awestruck by the elegance oozing from the armor but at the same time wary of the armor's capabilities.

"Kamen Rider Voyager, Hurricane Form," Voyager introduced himself, checking out his new armor in awe at the same time, before he proceeded to point at the Mole Maojin, "I cut apart darkness faster than the speed of light!"

"Is that a challenge?!" the Mole Maojin growled, preparing to execute his dash attack once again, "I accept that!"

The Mole Maojin dashed forward, his drill ready to pierce a hole on Voyager's fancy new armor. Hako immediately grabbed her Strike, preparing herself to shoot the Mole Maojin should he gets too close to Voyager; however, the Rider was more than ready. Just as the Mole Maojin went in for the kill, Voyager swiftly and gracefully twirled around, easily avoiding the Mole Maojin's attack much to both the kaijin and Hako's surprise. Swirling like an elegant ballerina, Voyager came to a stop just behind the shocked Mole Maojin, smirking mockingly underneath his helmet.

"Holy shit!" Hako gasped in disbelief, "Such speed…such elegance…such grace…"

"What the?!" the Mole Maojin gasped, surprised that he had missed his target completely, "Where did he go?!"

"Right here, dumbass."

(Cue BGM: Hurricane Slash no Theme – Takao Konishi from the Ultraman Orb OST)

The Mole Maojin turned around, only to receive an energized chop to the face from Voyager. Before the kaijin could recover, Voyager was at it again, energizing his fists and feet with green energy as he delivered a barrage of punches, chops, and kicks onto the Mole Maojin's body with such speed and precision, the creature had no time to set up his defenses.

Sent reeling by a solid kick to the jaw, the Mole Maojin attempted to slash Voyager with his huge claws, but much to his frustration, Voyager nimbly avoided them, delivering a couple of energized kicks to the chest in return. As the Mole Maojin grunted in pain from the attacks, Voyager quickly charged green energy into his hands, cupping his right hand to his hip and using his left to toss the gathered energy at the Mole Maojin.

"Hurricane Dart!" Voyager exclaimed as he fired the gathered energy in a form of a small dart that blasted the Mole Maojin in his chest.

xxx

At another part of the sewers, Steffi and her friends had managed to locate the Mole Maojin's victims, who were all safe, yet unconscious, and were strapped to the walls of the sewers by a black, web-like substance. Thankfully Kim had the ingenious idea of using broken pieces of ceramic, scattered on the ground below the victims, to slice open the restraints, allowing the trio to free the captives.

"That's all of them," Steffi said after she had released Jared, Clive, and the Taiwanese couple from their restraints, the quartet coming to seconds afterwards, "Let's go!"

As Kim and Vy led the victims to safety, Steffi looked around the area one last time to make sure that they haven't missed anyone, before she realized something.

Le Quynh Huong was still missing.

"Girls, have you seen Le Quynh Huong?" Steffi asked, to which Kim and Vy replied with shrugs respectively.

Biting her lower lip nervously, Steffi knew that she must find Le Quynh Huong as soon as possible, but the safety of the other victims remained their number one priority. So, without hesitation, Steffi ran out of the area to escort the victims to safety, with Kim and Vy following suit.

xxx

The Mole Maojin prepared his dash attack once again, launching himself straight at Voyager. The Rider however, had another trick up his sleeve. Just as the Mole Maojin came close to him, Voyager's body glowed green, before breaking down into green light particles. This caused the Mole Maojin to ram the wall behind Voyager instead, getting his drill struck there as a result.

Immediately Voyager reformed himself behind the Mole Maojin, crossing his arms in satisfaction.

"Now, stay put there for the finale!" Voyager exclaimed, taking out an Overcharge Card the moment Steffi, Kim, and Vy arrived, having led the victims out of the sewers from a nearby manhole a few moments earlier.

"Is that another new form?" Steffi gasped upon seeing Voyager's Hurricane Form armor, "I have to admit, that guy has got some taste for his wardrobe."

Steffi then noticed Hako standing on the sidelines, the latter still awestruck from the battle unfolding in front of her.

"Hako!"

Blinking as she was sent back to reality, Hako turned around to see Steffi and her friends running towards her.

"Hey girls!"

"You're out of the hospital already?" Steffi asked.

Hako nodded, "Yeah. Went straight to the HCMCPD after that and overheard about you and your friends going down here to investigate an Unrecorded Lifeform case. I heard that HQ's going to send a whole armed platoon here and your brother felt that it was too risky, so I volunteered myself to come down here."

"I see. Did we miss anything?"

"Only the speediest battle that you've ever imagine. I doubt that your team's camera could capture it."

"It's okay," Vy said, taking out her trusted phone and started recording with it, "I'll just record the finisher for the website."

Voyager quickly inserted the Overcharge Card into his right hip slot and to the surprise of everyone, took out two more Overcharge Cards and inserted them into the slot as well.

HURRICANE TRIPLE OVERCHARGE!

Green energy surged from the ScanDriver and swirled into Voyager's right boot. Voyager took a deep breath, releasing it slowly as the energy gathered in his boot became more and more intense, to the point of his right boot emanating a slightly blinding green glow. Feeling that he had gathered enough energy, Voyager jumped into the air, assuming a flying side kick position and aimed straight for the Mole Maojin's chest.

"Hurricane Smash!" Voyager exclaimed as he struck the Mole Maojin once.

Much to everyone's surprise, the Mole Maojin actually endured through the attack, green energy surging throughout his chest but the creature was nonetheless unscratched.

"Hah!" the Mole Maojin scoffed, "Is that what you've got?!"

"Not yet."

Voyager vaulted off a nearby wall, ricocheting back towards the Mole Maojin with his energized right boot this time aiming for the Mole Maojin's stomach.

"Hurricane Smash!"

Voyager's boot struck its target cleanly, sending yet another surge of green energy into the Mole Maojin's body that weakened the kaijin considerably. But Voyager wasn't done just yet.

"The finale!" Voyager exclaimed as he bounced off the sewage's ceiling, this time heading straight towards the Mole Maojin's head, "Hurricane Smash!"

The Mole Maojin was left defenseless as Voyager's Rider Kick smashed his head, sending the kaijin flailing backwards and into the ground. Voyager landed gracefully in front of everyone as the Mole Maojin exploded behind him, the Rider snapping his fingers in delight.

(BGM ends)

"Now that's what I call…the perfect finish," Voyager commented to the applause of everyone there.

The smoke and fire from the Mole Maojin's destruction quickly died out, leaving behind an unconscious Le Quynh Huong and the Mole Maojin's Maojin Card.

"So, Le Quynh Huong was the Mole Maojin all along…" Steffi muttered, "Should've known. The Mole Man cases did start to appear after she vanished and she was nowhere around this area…so the number one possibility about her whereabouts was the cryptid using her body…"

Slowly Voyager picked up both Quynh Huong and the Maojin Card, before heading over towards Hako, handing Quynh Huong to the policewoman.

"Take her to the hospital," Voyager told Hako, which the policewoman obliged immediately.

As Hako left with the unconscious but otherwise unharmed Quynh Huong, Voyager was suddenly pulled into an embrace by Steffi, with Kim and Vy following suit. Feeling touched, Voyager returned the gesture and hugged the trio.

"Thanks girls," Voyager said after they had released their hug, "Where are the Maojin's victims?"

"We've managed to take them to safety," Steffi replied, "I've already called my brother on my way here, so I think he had already taken care of them."

"That's a relief," Voyager smiled underneath his helmet, "Thanks girls. I couldn't have done this without you girls."

"Hey, that's what partners are for, right?" Steffi winked, fist-bumping Voyager.

"I think I'm gonna like working together with you girls," Voyager chuckled, taking out the newly acquired Maojin Card, "And another one for collection."

The front side of the card depicted an image of a mole poking its head out of the ground, while the back side of the card, like all Maojin Cards, was gunmetal gray in color, with a stylized 9 superimposed on a pile of coins engraved on it. The left hand side of the card has a yellow line running through it, the words "TECTONIC MOLE" emblazoned in black on the line. On the card's top left corner was a small icon that resembled a pile of sand or dirt.

But just as Steffi, Kim, and Vy were about to examine the card in Voyager's hands…

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

Three blue energy blasts struck Voyager's wrists, causing him to drop the card and stumble back in shock much to the surprise of Steffi, Kim, and Vy. The Tectonic Mole Maojin Card suddenly floated in mid-air just as it was about to touch the ground, slowly rising up and flying towards the direction of the energy blasts much to the shock of everyone.

"Who's there!" Voyager called out, "Show yourself! How dare you take my Maojin Card and get away with it!"

(Cue BGM: Agul Advent – Toshihiko Sahashi from the Ultraman Gaia OST)

Stepping out of the shadows was another armored warrior, the armor that the warrior sported looking somewhat identical to Voyager's. Wearing a black bodysuit just like Voyager, the warrior was covered in navy blue armor that cover its shoulders, gauntlets, torso, and greaves. The armor had golden linings, highlighting, and trims, while the shoulder armors were designed after the waves of the ocean. The torso armor rest between the warrior's waist and the navy blue circular insignia on the warrior's chest, that has a manta ray's head sticking out from its right side. Much to Voyager and everyone else's surprise, on the warrior's waist was a ScanDriver, with a blue tab compared to Voyager's red, the translucent screen on the Driver glowing blue with a white image of a manta ray on it. Navy blue lines adorn the warrior's arms, thighs, legs, and the sides of its torso, but unlike Voyager's straight lines, the lines on this warrior's bodysuit were wavy in design.

The warrior's navy blue helmet was designed after a manta ray's body, with its "head," colored silver between its "fins," acting as the helmet's mouthpiece. The manta ray's curved "wings" acted as the helmet's headdress, while silver tribal lines adorn the forehead region of the helmet, just above the helmet's single glowing ellipse-shaped yellow monoeye visor. The manta ray's tail acted as the helmet's ponytail of some sorts, braided in design with a whip-like tip on the end.

The warrior's most striking feature, however, were its gauntlets. While its left gauntlet was normal in design, the right gauntlet of the warrior was slightly enlarged with a trilobite-like device attached to it, colored navy blue with a white, ribcage-like design, orange spots on the trilobite's "eyes," and what seems to be a card slot on the rear end of the device.

On the warrior's left hand was the Tectonic Mole Maojin Card, while on its right hand was a royal blue biopunk-looking shotgun with what seems to be a pistol shrimp resting over it, the shrimp's claws lined up between the shotgun's muzzle, while a silver dial was present on the rear end of the weapon.

"Who's that guy?" Steffi asked.

"No…" Voyager gasped as he slowly regained his footing, "It can't be…"

"What are you talking about?" Kim asked.

"I know this guy…" Voyager replied, "He's what you call a Kamen Rider as well, just like me, an armored warrior fighting against the Maojins. And his name is…"

"…Mariner," the warrior replied with a female voice, which strangely sounded like Minh's, "Kamen Rider Mariner huh? If that's what the people call you nowadays, guess I'll take it. It sounds better than just Mariner, to be honest."

"Wait, why on Earth are you a woman?" Voyager asked, "Did something happened to Eric?"

"You…" Mariner growled, tightening her grip on her shotgun before aiming it at Voyager in an accusing manner, much to the shock and horror of Steffi, Kim, and Vy, "…you dare to speak of his name…even after you've betrayed him and killed him?!"

"What?!" Voyager gawked in disbelief, "You mean…you mean…"

"Eric is dead, Voyager!" Mariner exclaimed in anguish, "Because YOU killed him!"

Steffi, Kim, and Vy gasped in unison, while Voyager remained silent in utter shock and disbelief.

"He trusted you, Voyager!" Mariner cried once again, "And this is how you repay his trust?! By striking him down when he least suspect?!"

An air of tension descended upon the area, with Mariner still aiming her shotgun at Voyager, Voyager still in disbelief over Mariner's words, and Steffi, Kim, and Vy having no clue whatsoever on what's going on.

Suddenly, much to everyone's surprise, Mariner put down her shotgun, turning around with her back facing the group.

"I'll let you off now…" Mariner said, "I can see that battling the Mole Maojin had taken a lot from you…and fighting a weakened opponent is never an honorable option. However…I'll be taking this Maojin Card…and the next time we'll meet…I'll settle this once and for all."

And with that Mariner suddenly turned around once again, firing her shotgun at the ground that created a thick cloud of dust that blanketed the entire area and caused everyone to break into fits of coughing. Once the cloud of dust had cleared away, Mariner was nowhere to be seen.

(BGM ends)

"Krishna…" Steffi coughed away the last of the dust in her lungs, "Can you tell us what's going on? What's up with that Mariner person? Why did she suddenly came out of the blue and accuse you of murdering someone?!"

Voyager, stunned and speechless, could only say this as a reply, "To be honest…I have no idea…"

xxx

TO BE CONTINUED…

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Next time, on Kamen Rider Voyager, episode 5 – Mariner, The Vengeful Rider of the Deep

The newest Maojin to attack humanity, the Swallowtail Maojin, has orchestrated a series of attacks on Lotus Industries-related facilities. As usual, it is up to Voyager to put an end to the Maojin's rampage, but with a vengeful Kamen Rider Mariner to contend with, Krishna must choose between stopping the Swallowtail Maojin or finding the answers behind Mariner's grudge towards him! And with the Swallowtail Maojin targeting Ngan's school trip to a Lotus Industries factory, the stakes have been raised like never before. The clash between Riders is drawing near, who will emerge on top?

xxx

Maojin Card of the Day

Inferno Komodo

Class: Ace of Swords

Tribe: Fire

Properties: Transforms Voyager into his Inferno Form, which trades speed and agility for strength, raw power, and increased defenses. Themed after Indonesia's very own Komodo dragon, Voyager is a walking fortress in this form, with most attacks bouncing off him harmlessly. His attacking power is also increased in this form, capable of executing devastating blows with his fists. In this form, Voyager is also capable of pyrokinesis, charging his fists with fire and performing fire-based attacks. However, using this form would overheat Voyager considerably, hence the occasional release of steam from the armor's joints that the Rider could use as an impromptu offensive option.

Maojin of the Day

Mole Maojin

Class: Nine of Coins

Tribe: Earth

Motif: Mole

Host: Le Quynh Huong

Abilities: burrowing at high speeds, performing dash attacks with his drill nose, and large claws that are used for slashing and bashing. Being an Earth Tribe Maojin, he also has considerable durability, being able to withstand Overcharges attacks for a while before eventually giving in.

Destroyed by: Kamen Rider Voyager Hurricane Form's Hurricane Smash (x3)

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A/N: And we're done! The fourth chapter of Voyager all wrapped up. I hope you guys enjoyed it! And I apologize beforehand if the story's not that good – it's kinda hard to write these kinds of things when you have exams and assignments and your part-time job in the way, not to mention Football Manager 17 lol. However, with the summer break coming, I'll have all the time that I need to continue with Voyager and (hopefully) deliver more chapters to you!

As usual, leave your reviews but no flames, please! Flamers will have their reviews deleted by me so yeah, don't bother lol. And don't forget to follow and favorite this story!

This is maxpower02, signing out!