Chapter 8: Double Den-O

Two days past since the gym incident, and things seemed to have settled down. Double D's behavior was soon forgotten with one of Eddy's scams going sour and earning the group the ire of most of the student body.

Things with Edwin did not smooth over so easily however. Any hopes of becoming reacquainted with their past friend had vanished with the grudge he held against them from the entire fiasco. It turned out that Edwin had landed in a rose bush after being thrown out the window, and he was forced to hide in its painful thorns until the cheer squad discontinued searching the grounds for him.

Still, life went on as usual.

After being let out of school ten minutes ago, the three Eds headed over to their second most frequent hang-out, the DenLiner. To Eddy's disappointment, their afternoon would not be filled with their usual activities of slacking off until evening.

"Why am I doing this again?" Eddy complained

"Because you need more experience," Hana simply answered.

"I don't need any stinkin' experience, that's what Momo's for."

"Come now Eddy, you stand to benefit from this lesson greatly," Double D said. "The first time you made your metamorphosis, you hadn't a clue as to what you were doing. If it were not for Momotaros's timely assistance, the situation may have taken a turn for the worse."

The moment Eddy set foot on the train, Hana forced him into a hands-on lecture about the Masked Rider armor. The rest of the group, minus the two feuding imagin, sat around idly and watched Eddy as he was made to walk up and down the train cabby in the Plat Form.

"It's not my fault I wasn't ready," Eddy protested "How the heck was I supposed to use this thing after getting it a second ago?"

"That's what this exercise is for," Hana explained. "You need to familiarize yourself with the armor so that you can fight properly on your own. You might not always have enough time to call Momotaros, and if that happens, you'll have to defend…"

As Hana droned on, Eddy stretched and flexed as he gained a feel for the futuristic outfit. The Den-O unit's fabric seemed to breathe easily, allowing Eddy full range of motion without any limitations. The alloy components of the suit shifted with his every twist and turn, providing protection from all possible angles.

"Hey Double D, think you can whip a few dozen of these babies up? Kids everywhere would kill to wear one of these. We'd be setting the fad instead of trying to keep up with it."

"Focus!" Hana's bellow, quickly snapped Eddy to attention. "Now, let's go over the devices on your belt."

"What, you mean these weird train thingies?" Eddy detached the bullet train-like objects from off of the belt's sides and held them up for all to see.

Hana rolled her eyes. "They have a name you know. Those are the DenGashers, and they're one of your most important tools. If you connect them together in a certain way, they'll configure into a weapon. Oh, and you forgot one."

"No I didn't, I got all three."

"There's one more behind you, Eddy,"said Double D.

"Behind me? Where?"

"I got it!" Ed got up from his seat and grabbed the back of the Terminal Belt. He gave it a hard tug, pulling the last DenGasher loose and throwing Eddy into the ceiling.

After slamming his head hard, Eddy fell back to the ground with a loud crash. Fuming, he pushed himself off of the floor.

"Ed, you dolt! When I get my hands on you, I'm gonna…" Eddy stopped and felt around for any injuries. "Hey, that didn't hurt at all."

"Well you are wearing an array of highly advanced protection gear," Double D pointed out. "It seems that this Den-O unit can withstand even the brunt of Ed's blunders, very impressive."

"So this suit's actually useful for something," Eddy took a confident stance and broke out into his signature maniacal laugh. "Wearing all this stuff makes me invincible!"

"Against humans anyway," Double D said matter-of-factly.

"The rider armor has other features as well," Hana said. "It will increase its wearer's strength, agility, and endurance by ten percent, at least that's how it was in my world."

Eddy rubbed his hands mischievously. "That gives me a sweet idea…"

Hana placed her hands on her hips. "You are not going to use the Den-O Armor to pick fights."

"Come on! It'd just be Kevin, and everyone knows he has it coming to him."

Double D picked up the mug of cocoa he had been nursing and took a quick sip. "Yes well, Kevin has been a bit more malevolent towards us lately, though we have done some things to deserve it."

Ed rubbed at his back. "He swung his bat extra hard today when we crashed his bike into the sewer."

Eddy snorted. "Well if he didn't want it parked in there, he should've coughed up an extra quarter for the special valet package."

Hana gazed inquiringly at the boys. "What in the world are you three doing when you're not here?"

Shrugging and flopping back into a seat, Eddy removed the Terminal Belt, dismissing the armor into glowing, floating specks. "Same old stuff we do every day; go to school, scam kids, run for our lives, avoid the Kankers; we've got a set schedule."

Ed excitedly yanked the belt away. "Me next, me next! I will become Lothar, Techno Warrior!" He launched into a series of theatrical poses before latching the belt around his waist. To his disappointment, it dissolved in the same fashion as the armor.

Hana and Naomi could not help but chuckled at Ed's eccentric display.

"Sorry Ed, but the belt only works for Singularity Points with the Rider Pass." Hana clarified.

Ed's face fell into a sullen expression. Feeling sorry for the boy, Naomi brought over a plate full of pudding skins with a smile.

"Aw, cheer up Ed. Would you settle for these instead of the belt?"

The offer was more than enough to lift Ed's spirits. He nodded eagerly and lunged head first into his favorite desert. Pieces of pudding skin flew everywhere as Ed attacked his food voraciously, making even Eddy and Double D cringe in disgust.

"You know what? I think I'll just head over to the Milk Dipper. Coming, Double D?"

"I'll go anywhere that's out of the perimeter of Ed's messy eating habits."

"I'll go with you guys," Hana announced. "After listening to you talk about Peach Creek all the time, I finally want to see it for myself."

The three headed out of the car door and disappeared into the present. Just as they left, Momotaros and Urataros came in from the back car.

"Hey, where'd everybody go? I wanted to show off my awesome new pants," Momotaros said.

Naomi questionably tilted her head. "But Momo, those are the same red pants you wear all the time."

"To the untrained eye maybe, but…" He placed a leg onto one of the chairs dramatically. "These new pants are made out of leather! Finally, my biker/rebel persona is complete!"

Urataros stifled a laugh. "What terrible sense you have. It is quite fortunate that I'm here, at least now there's an imagin with some taste around."

"Why you…" Before Momotaros could finish his statement, a large, soggy piece of pudding landed against the side of his face with a wet smack. He threw the offending debris away and wiped furiously at his cheek in disgust. Ugh, what's wrong with that guy?!"

Urataros threw his head back in laughter until another large piece of pudding skin covered in strands of saliva found its way into his gaping mouth. He fell to his knees and spat desperately at the floor.

"That was the vilest thing I've ever experienced! I think I'm going to be sick..." Making retching sounds, he covered his mouth and ran off to the bathrooms.

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Eddy, Double D, and Hana made their way past the various tables that filled the coffee shop. Each one was filled with teenagers around their age, not all of them from Peach Creek.

One of the reasons for Milk Dipper's success could be attributed to Tiffany's talent in creating coffee brews. She had a wide selection of flavors that one could only find in her shop, and for that reason, her local business was able to stand equally against the Starbucks that had moved in across the street last year.

The other reason would be Tiffany herself. It would be nothing sort of an understatement to call her attractive. Due to her looks, the store would be visited by some of the male populous from the nearby college. This is not to say that the boys from Peach Creek Middle and High School didn't stop by for the same reason.

Up to now, Tiffany had turned down every advance that came her way. She did this not out of an inflated ego or pride in her beauty, but more out of a nagging feeling that there was someone special she had to wait for…

"Hey Tiff, we brought a friend with us," Eddy called out to the front counter. "She's new to the town."

Tiffany greeted the group with a warm and welcoming smile. "Hi, welcome to Peach Creek. I'm Tiffany, what's your name?"

Hana stepped forward and bowed slightly. "My name is Hana, it's nice to meet you."

"Where'd you move from?"

Hana averted her glance as she struggled to come up with a convincing answer. "I'm from… really far away. I guess you could say I'm from across the globe."

Tiffany gasped in admiration. "That's quite the move you made. Well, I'm sure you'll like this town once you get familiar with it." She swept her hand in the Eds direction. "You also couldn't have found a better group of friends more loyal, though they do tend to attract a lot of excitement."

Eddy smiled proudly. "Hey, it's a tough job being the life of the party twenty-four seven."

"I just wish that most of the festivities were pleasant," Double D groused.

"Oh, that reminds me. Edwin has been rather angry lately. When I asked him why, he seemed to indicate something involving you three," Tiffany said.

Double D fiddled with his fingers nervously. A sinking feeling manifested itself in his stomach as he thought about the drastic actions Eddy and Ed took, especially after Edwin had just rejoined their group. "There must have been a misunderstanding, I'm sure."

"I do hope you boys make up soon. Before, Edwin used to be an inseparable part of your group. Now he just keeps to himself. I really don't think he has any friends."

Eddy's eyes widened in shock. You remember that from a year ago, right?"

Tiffany stared, puzzled by the urgency in his voice. "Of course, it was only a year ago."

"Do you remember anything special happening a year ago?"

"Not in particular, no. Why do you ask?"

Eddy slumped dejectedly. "No reason. Do you know where Edwin is?"

"He's over there." Tiffany pointed to the back. At the farthest table, Edwin sat staring into a cup of coffee lividly. His grey sweatshirt had been replaced by an unzipped white hoodie, showing off a baby blue shirt with a white circle on the front.

"Looks like I've got some damage control to do," Eddy walked away towards the table unsurely.

With Eddy gone, Hana turned her attention towards Double D. "Why was Eddy so interested in what happened a year ago?"

"It's a long and rather tragic story," Double D said sadly. "I believe it best if you ask him directly."

Over at the table, Eddy and Edwin appeared to be in some kind of argument. It was not audible from a distance, but from the looks of the scene, Eddy was pleading his case while Edwin stubbornly refused to listen.

"I'm afraid it might be awhile before you can," Double D said, observing the dispute. "Shall we depart? I could show you around the cul-de-sac we live in."

"Sure, that sounds like fun."

Double D and Hana left just as Eddy and Edwin engaged each other in a shouting contest.

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Further out in town, two students from Peach Creek Middle School chatted outside of an ice cream shop. They appeared to be rather jumpy.

"Kyle, Ned, and Brent are gone too?!" The first kid asked incredulously.

"Yeah, mauled by the same animal, can you believe that? They were lucky that squad car was driving by."

"They ever catch whatever's doing this?"

"Nobody has even seen it upfront. I heard that the police officer who shot the thing claimed it had giant pinchers."

"That's a bunch of crap."

"No duh. Still, we're the only people left on the soccer team."

"Us and Jimmy anyway."

"Like Jimmy matters? Anway, we gotta go. My mom's freaked out by all this and wants me home early."

"Sure, dude."

The two headed off through a small tree grove in the area, deciding to cut across it in order to get back to their neighborhood faster.

When they had just made it into the middle of the grove, a rustling sound emitted from the thick growth around them.

The second kid came to a stop and looked around nervously. "What was that?"

"Calm down, man. That was probably just a squirrel or something."

"Fine, whatever."

As they continued even deeper into the grove, the rustling became louder and closer.

"Seriously dude, I think something's following us."

"Let's just get out of here."

The two quickened there pace until they came to a small clearing in front of their street. As they walked out of the dark grove and back into sunlight, a gurgling laugh broke out behind them.

"What the-!"

The kids whirled around to come face-to-face with the Crab Imagin, who foamed at the mouth with a twisted smile. Before either of them could react, the grotesque crab grabbed them by the throats and yanked them back into the grove.

Their screams were muffled by the dense growth around them.

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"…And over here we have the many alleyways that intertwine around the cul-de-sac." Double D said. All day, he had been giving Hana a tour of all of the different locations to be found in the cul-de-sac. They went everywhere; from Rolf's farm, to the junkyard, even to the edge of the woods that led to the Trailer Park.

"This was all… very informative," Hana stated bleakly. After about halfway through the excursion, Hana had become bored out of her mind with Double D's need to go through a history lesson each time they reached what he called 'treasured monuments', though she was impressed by his ability to retain and perfectly recount information.

Double D couldn't help but notice the tone in her voice. "Sorry, am I boring you? I know I have the tendency to go on and on when I'm excited."

"No, not at all. I guess I'm just a bit tired," Hana reassured him.

*You have much to learn.*

Double D jumped in surprise. "Was that Urataros?"

"Who?" Hana asked.

"The voice just now."

"I didn't hear anything. It was probably your mental link to him."

*She's right.* Urataros communicated mentally. *I've been watching your painfully boring tour, and I must tell you that you'll never catch a girl with this bait. Allow me to do the fishing from here on out.*

In a burst of blue energy, Urataros possessed Double D, changing his features back to the state they previously took in the school gym. "Won't you let me... string you along?"

Hana's face scrunched up in annoyance. "Great, it's you."

"Of course, I could not bear to be away from such beauty for so long," Urataros said with a charming smile. He took Hana by the hand and tried to lead her away. "Instead of this tour, how about we find an amusement park?"

Hana pulled her hand free forcefully. "Forget it. Now get out of Double D's body."

Urataros's sighed and turned away. "If that is what you truly want, though it would be rather troublesome to look for him later."

"Look for whom?" Hana asked

Urataros turned his head towards her with a knowing smile. "Why, the human with the contract of course. I sensed one in this vicinity."

"There's a human with a contract here?" Hana looked around before glaring suspiciously at embodied turtle creature. "How do I know you're not lying?"

Urataros shrugged nonchalantly. "While one falsehood can make life more interesting than a thousand truths, I regret to say that this is not one. Besides, what would I have to gain from lying about this?"

"I'll take your word, for now. So how close is this person?"

He pointed to a green dumpster against a fence. "They've been hiding behind that dumpster this entire time."

Hana approached the dumpster and looked into the crevice behind it. Hidden in the shadows was Jimmy, crying silently to himself.

Hana reached her hand out. "Hey there, what's your name?" She asked kindly.

Jimmy sniffled a bit before answering. "J-Jimmy."

"Hi Jimmy, why are you hiding back there?"

"So it doesn't find me." Jimmy took her hand and warily came out.

Hana crouched down to Jimmy's height. "So what doesn't find you?"

Jimmy wiped the last remaining tears from his red eyes. "You won't believe me."

"Would it perchance be a monster you're hiding from?" Urataros inquired smoothly.

Shocked, Jimmy nodded his head vigorously. He seemed to calm down a bit more now that it appeared Double D was there. "It came in my room last night and told me it was going to grant me a wish, and then take something from me."

Hana grabbed onto his shoulders. "What wish did you make?"

Jimmy shook his head. "I didn't make a wish; I was just talking about how I wanted to show everyone I could play on the soccer team."

"That's right!"

The Crab Imagin busted through the fence, dragging the limp form of a boy behind him. Everyone backed away slowly as it advanced towards them, grinning widely with foam constantly flowing from its mouth.

Hiding behind Hana, Jimmy glanced down at the kid and shrieked. "Tom!"

"Impressed huh?" The crab threw the boy in front of the group like a peace offering. "I bet you are! I can see it all over your face!"

The boy recognized to be Tom had one broken arm, several jagged cuts, and large, dark bruises. Despite the injuries, he seemed to be alive, albeit just barely.

"I got this one really good," The Crab Imagin gloated. "That other kid got away, but I'll be sure to give him special treatment once I find him again."

Jimmy trembled violently. "Why are you doing this?!"

"Don't you remember? You wanted to show people you could play soccer. Once I get the last player, you'll get to be the entire soccer team. I hope you're ready to compensate me."

"You disgusting monster!" Hana spat. "I won't let you hurt anyone else!"

The Crab Imagin stomped forward, raising a pincher menacingly. "I'll just kill this girl as a bonus."

Urataros got between the crab and Hana, wagging a finger in disapproval. "Tsk, threatening a woman. You're the second most obscene imagin I have met so far."

The Crab Imagin stared in confusing. "Hey, you're one of my comrades, don't get in the way."

Urataros scoffed and reached into one of Double D's pants pockets. "Don't even try to compare yourself to me." With a confident smile, he pulled out a Rider Pass. "It would be like fishing in the mountains; utterly impossible."

Hana gawked with her mouth wide open. "How did you get a Rider Pass?"

"I noticed it in Double D's pocket earlier, but I'm not sure quite how it got there though." Urataros pressed the white button on the side and called up the Terminal Belt

"At any rate, this is quite convenient for us, don't you think?" Latching the belt on, Urataros swiped the pass over the scanner slickly, which in response, lit up in blue light.

"Rod Form."

The Plat Form flickered into existance, latching itself onto Double D's entire body.

Next, a blue ball of light shot out of the belt's scanner. It sailed around Double D and continuously split apart into blue pieces of armor. By the end of it all, the boy was clad in an azure getup mimicing the Sword Form, though there were distinct differences from it. One of the most outstanding of them was that the Rod Form possessed pronounced pauldrons crafted in the manner of turtle shells.

The last piece to appear was the figure of a blue turtle that slid onto the helmet. Upon reaching the visor, it unfolded into a blue mask with orange goggles and two turtle-like fins that attached to the sides of the helmet like antennae.

Though everyone stared in shock and awe, the newly reinforced Urataros merely took a composed stance and detached all four DenGashers.

"Now, mind if I string you along?"