"Ore sanjou!"= human speech
"Ore sanjou!"= imagin speech
*Ore sanjou!*= human telepathic speech
*Ore sanjou!*= imagin telepathic speech
"Ore sanjou!"= possessed human speech
"Ore sanjou!"= Terminal Belt speech
{Ore sanjou!}= speech over a media device (ie phone, television, intercom, etc.)

Enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 15: Join the Club

Aboard the DenLiner, Naomi, Urataros, and Double D watched in astonishment as Ed danced around with a Rider Pass proudly raised high above his head. As unconceivable as it was, there was no denying the truth.

Their friend was not only a Singularity Point, but a candidate to receive the title of Masked Rider.

Double D turned to faced Urataros. "I thought imagins had the ability to identify Singularity Points."

"We do," Urataros asserted.

"Then how did you not discover Ed was one earlier?"

Urataros shrugged helplessly. "To be honest, it never crossed my mind to even give the boy a second glance for that possibility. He just didn't seem like the… 'proper' type."

"Well… Ed always has been full of surprises," Double D reflected thoughtfully. "Now that I ruminate, it is wholly fitting that things have turned out this way. Ed, who has always been an aficionado of things otherworldly and unexplainable, should have been the first of us to gain a Rider Pass."

"Then perhaps he was lacking a certain 'something' before he could acquire it."

"An imagin partner of his own, maybe?"

"I for one believe so."

"Quiet down, we're getting to the best part," Naomi shushed the two. "Things are about to start back up again."

--..--

"What's wrong with this world?! Can anyone and their mother become a Masked Rider here?!" The Rhino Imagin beseeched helplessly.

Momotaros leisurely propped an elbow on the rhino's leg and shrugged. "Don't ask me, pally. This crazy place confuses the heck outta me too."

The huge imagin and the possessed boy nodded in mutual agreement. Then they remembered that they were fighting, so Momotaros kicked the Rhino Imagin in the shin as hard as he could and ran away.

Limping painfully, the rhino gave chase while angrily shouting threats and obscenities.

Hana was transfixed to her spot as she continued to watch Ed's display of joy. "Ed… you're a Singularity Point!" She pointed as if accusing him of some crime.

Suddenly Ed sobered up and stopped dancing. He turned to everyone with his face fixed in a serious expression and held his Rider Pass out like a police badge. "Ed is my secret identity. On duty, I am Lothar the Techno Warrior! protector of the gooey, nougat center that is justice!"

"You're a basket case, that's what you are!" Momotaros shouted. A moment later, he was diving away from an incoming mace.

*We can't beat this guy," Eddy stated. *We can't even hurt him!*

"Dammit!" Momotaros swore as his sword bounced off of the Rhino Imagin's side. "This rhino bastard is too freaking solid!"

"Out of the way, pest!" The Rhino Imagin connected a full swing into Sword Form's chest. The short, armored boy went airborne, only to be brought back down by a collision with a furled basketball hoop.

"Eddy! Tag me, tag me!" Ed cried, jumping up and down. He pointed to his Rider Pass eagerly. "Switch out and let me do it!"

"Fat chance, Ed! You'll get pounded flat!" Momotaros was able to wheeze out on his knees. "You just got that thing! We can't even call you a newbie yet!"

*Like we got a choice,* Eddy groaned. *At this rate, we'll be a smear on the ground.*

The Rhino Imagin charged in for the finishing blow.

*We gotta switch out now!*

Momotaros needed no further prompting. He jammed his finger into the Terminal Belt's red button, brining the scanner to life in a blinking red glow.

"Ooh, cool!" Ed wondered as the 'D' in the center the Rider Pass's screen blinked yellow. "Does it come with automated sound effects too?"

"Press the darn button, lumpy!"

"Here I go!" Ed flailed his limbs in a series of comic bookish poses before finally pushing the Rider Pass's button. "Heeeenshiiiin!"

"Switch Out; Axe Form."

Just as the Rhino Imagin was about to connect a hit, a flaring red light repelled him back. This light continued to grow until the Sword Form was completely shielded from sight.

Likewise on the other side of the gym, Ed was swallowed up by a golden glow. Both of these lights quickly shifted in hue, red turning yellow and yellow turning red. Only until these two lights completely changed did they dim away.

Looking worse for the wear, Eddy stood in the exact spot Ed had a moment ago.

"That was a trip," Eddy claimed. His legs wobbled as he staggered about disoriented. After gaining some footing, he looked around for his taller friend. "Hey, where'd Ed go?"

Hana pointed across the gymnasium. "Over there…"

Eddy's gaze followed her finger. "…Whoa. Looks good on ya, Ed."

Standing tall, Ed had become the modern age's adaptation of a knight.

The Axe Form's yellow and black chestplate was the perfect bulk for Ed's frame. It looked to be sturdy without being too encumbering. The same could be said about the pauldrons, which were the most rounded and conservative of the three forms. Additional metallic wiring was welded to the front and back of the armor to provide extra buffering.

Like the Sword and Rod forms, the knees and elbows were protected by grieves and bracers bearing the wearer's unique color (yellow in this case). The boots and gauntlets, however, remained white.

And of course, the full helm that entirely hid away Ed's face was covered behind a mask. In this case, that mask was a yellow visor with multiple eye slits. Each slit was sealed up by tinted glass that concealed the eyes from discernment.

This form of Den-O was not without its ornament though. From the top-front of the head and straight down the center of the face, an axe-like horn curved outward to divide the mask visor.

*I can hear my voice echo in here,* Ed marveled at being inside his own head. *Hello, my name is Ed!*

"Traitorous scum!" The Rhino Imagin roared as he charged forth, waving his mace about menacingly.

The now possessed Ed grunted and lowered himself into a readying stance. His legs widened and he cracked his neck in anticipation.

The Rhino Imagin swung his mace down towards the boy's head, only to have it knocked out of his grasp. He then found his own head painfully snapping upwards as a fast, rising palm strike caught him right under the chin. The blow sent the stone incased brute backpedalling blindly.

Seeing the chance, the possessed Ed rushed forth and pressed his hands to the front of the Rhino Imagin's stone breastplate. He fell into place with his left knee bent forward and his right leg propped back at a straighten angle. With a deep breath, he pulled back his elbows and then shoved into the rhino's chest with a subtle might.

The Rhino Imagin's eyes flew open as his diaphragm was pierced by an intense pressure. His gaping mouth straggled out a half-groan of agony before his stomach contents came pouring out. All strength left his legs as he went crashing down.

Oddly enough, there wasn't a single scratch on his armor.

"Ha! Ed's an even bigger powerhouse than usual!" Eddy said. "Sick him, mono-brow!"

Still hacking up bodily fluid and gasping for air desperately, the Rhino Imagin tried to pick himself back up. "How… how could… you… gain such… strength in… a human?!"

Not responding, Axe Form Den-O picked up the DenGasher sword and disassembled it into its four individual devices. He then fiddled around with them until they were reconfigured in a way he saw fit.

The DenGashers extended with a mechanical clink and became an axe with a yellow blade.

"My strength will make you cry," The Axe Form stated. Seemingly out of nowhere, he tossed a packet of tissue at the feet of the Rhino Imagin. "Wipe away your tears with these!"

Rage instilling his strength anew, the Rhino Imagin recovered his mace and ran back in with a frenzied set of swings. Every strike was met by the axe with tremendous force, so much force in fact, that the mace slowly began to crack.

Finally, the Axe Form delivered a downward swing that shattered the Rhino Imagin's mace to pieces. Then he turned his attention to the rhino's stone armor.

Axe chiseled stone away in a tumult of thunderous crashes. The Rhino Imagin soon found his armor completely smashed, and his flesh in danger. Out of desperation, the rhino tried to grapple the young Masked Rider, only to be dealt a series of whipping hammer fists that further crippled his respiratory functions.

With eyesight blurred and feet shuffling about exhaustedly, the Rhino Imagin was knocked to the gymnasium floor by the cold, metal flat of the Axe Form's blade. The Masked Rider was forced to jump so that the strike would meet his opponent's face.

"My strength cannot be surpassed," the Axe Form affirmed. He unclipped his Rider Pass from the Terminal Belt and lowered it over the scanner.

"Full Charge," the Terminal Belt announced as the Axe Form's weapon was overtaken in a current of yellow static.

Before the Rhino Imagin could react, the axe sliced him right down the middle, blazing in its strange, yellow energy.

That was the end to all he knew.

The Axe Form turned his back conclusively as the once living figure detonated into a cloud of sand."Dynamic Chop."

*So you say your attack at the end?*

--..--

Back on the DenLiner, Momotaros couldn't help but shake in jealous anger. "Where the heck does that guy get off acting so cocky? That's my shtick!"

"But this does make things easier," Urataros admitted. "Perchance it won't be so bad having an extra hand around."

"I'm sure Ed will be happy to hear that," Double D said.

Naomi's eyes stayed glued to the monitor. "But that Rhino Imagin was acting pretty wild in the beginning…" She said. "He could go out of control like the others!"

--..--

While Eddy and Hana ran out to check on Ed and his imagin partner, the pile of sand that was once the Rhino Imagin began to reunited and grow in mass.

Everyone immediately took notice when the mutating sand broke right through the gymnasium's roof.

"Cheese it!" Eddy cried.

With Eddy leading the way, Hana and the Axe Form escaped from the building before it came crashing down on top of them. Now all three could take in the sight of what the Rhino Imagin had become.

Though on all fours, this new abomination easily exceeded the gymnasium's height by a good few stories. A scarlet ribcage jutted through the hardened, black scales that covered its skin. A pair of tusks curved outwards from its shoulders while a straightly pointed horn pierced the sky from its forehead.

Shaking a sickly gray mane that clung from shoulder blades to neck, the gigantic monster angled back it's grotesquely shaped head and released an eerie roar.

Hana ran back as it its massive haunches shook, showering down what remained of the gymnasium's support rafters. "That imagin turned into a Gingandeth!"

Gesturing for the Axe Form to follow him, Eddy took off. "Quick, we need to get to our DenLiners!"

"Den… Liners?"

A large vortex opened from the ground in answer, rushing the locomotives Gouka and Isurugi onto the scene.

Double D waved from one of the three boxcars connected to the Isurugi and urgently signaled for Eddy to hurry aboard his own locomotive. As Eddy did so without a moment's delay, a third locomotive rode in from the vortex before it flickered out. This new one was decorated in black and yellow with its windows darkly tinted.

The new DenLiner came to a stop in front of the Axe Form with a hydraulic hiss. The locomotive entrance welcomingly slid open on its own.

*Cool, we even get our own train!* Ed exclaimed happily. *What are you gonna call it, goat guy?*

The Goat Imagin put his hand to his chin in thought. "Maybe the 'DenLiner Rekkou'?"

*Like the toothpaste?*

The Axe Form stepped inside and on instinct, went directly towards the cockpit. One look inside confirmed his inkling that this was no normal train. At least, he didn't think normal bullet trains needed a control yoke.

Taking a seat, The Axe Form looked around and fiddled with a few buttons. Everything remained lightless and inactive. "I cannot understand a single thing in this vehicle. I leave the rest to you, Ed."

The Axe Form armor disappeared, leaving Ed in the simplistic Plat Form.

The radio crackled to life as two familiar voices were transmitted through.

{Ed, come in Ed. Are you there? Over,} Double D communicated.

{Hurry up and click the receiver button, burr-head!} Eddy communicated right afterwards.

Ed clicked in a green button near the radio. "I'd like an order of chili cheese fries with extra gravy to go, please."

{Ed, focus!} Double D implored him. {You need to get in the sky before the Gigandeth gets you! Over.}

Ed pressed his face against one of the cockpit windows to see that it was as his friend claimed to be. The massive ghoul was heading right towards his train!

"What do I do, what do I do?!" Ed begged through the fingernails he chewed.

{Remain calm, Ed. I'll talk you through this,} Double D promised. {First, insert your Rider Pass horizontally into the master slot on your console. Over.}

Ed fumbled with his pass before succeeding. "Got it, Double D! What next?"

{Lightly pull back on your control column until it is angled at exactly sixty degrees. From there, you need to toggle the auto throttles and-}

{Pretend that you're playing Space League 4, Ed!} Eddy threw in.

Ed's reaction was instantaneous. His hands flipped switches and pressed buttons without looking before he took a hold of his control yoke and sent the train barreling to meet the charging Gigandeth head-on. "Attack the Wibbles!"

The Gigandeth pulled back a hoof and tore gigantic masses of concrete from out of the street. Every chunk went rolling towards the Rekkou's path.

Ed daringly jerked and snaked around the projectiles before ramming the Gigandeth's two left legs from out under it.

While the Gigandeth teetered on its side, Eddy and Double D brought the Gouka and Isurugi respectively to ram straight into the creature. The Gigandeth was toppled off its feet.

{Ha-ha! Way to do it, Ed!} Eddy cheered. {Now let's nail this sucker!}

Ed saluted, though of course no one could see him do so. "Aye aye, captain!"

The three locomotives joined each other in the air as the Gigandeth got back to its feet. They baited the creature by swooping in close and then flying to safety just as it swiped out to get them.

Eddy activated the weaponry on his Gouka, unleashing a barrage of bullets and missiles.

Double D was next. He rained down the Isurugi's own rotary gunfire with additional flares for good measure.

Bullets bounced off of the Gigandeth's solid hide, and missiles proved to only push it back. The flares were the only thing keeping the monster from scoring a hit on the three trains.

{It would appear our efforts are for naught,} Double D noted. {Our weapons are only working to anger the creature. Over.}

{Ed, your train got anything besides guns on it?} Eddy asked.

"You bethca, Eddy. Here it comes!"

The sides of the Rekkou opened up and deployed six centipede leg-like mechanisms, three on the left and three on the right. Each 'leg' ended in a horizontal guillotine blade.

{Well that should be more than efficient,} Double D avowed. {I and Eddy will cover you whilst you slice this fiend to ribbons. Good luck, Ed! Over.}

The Gouka and Isurugi began swooping between and around the Gigandeth's legs to keep it irritated and sidetracked.

"You can count on me guys. Lothar the Techno Warrior never lets down his friends!"

The Rekkou positioned itself in front of the Gigandeth before swinging its blades one after another in an orderly fashion.

The Gigandeth reeled back with each blow as its scales snapped away under the brutal assault. Soon the Rekkou was leaving deep lacerations in its soft, pink flesh.

In a spectacular maneuver, Ed managed to get all six legs to grip onto the Gigandeth's back before dragging it across the ground. The creature screamed in agony as the friction tore away its skin.

{It's on the ropes, Ed. Finish it off!} Eddy called out.

Ed brought the Rekkou into a straight rise before sending it into a near nose dive. Along the way, a razor sharp and bladelike cow catcher uncurled itself from the top of the train before affixing itself to the front.

"Super awesome flying train move; the Rekkou Cutter!"

The 'cow catcher' ignited into a red-hot glow before the entirety of the DenLiner Rekkou passed right through the Gigandeth like a knife through butter.

Ash and sand were all that was left of the creature.

The Gouka, Isurugi, and Rekkou barrel rolled in victory before ascending into the sky.

{That was awesome!} Eddy excitedly stated. {We came, we saw, we kicked giant monster a-!}

{Asphalt all about, what a horrible mess,} Double D complained. {I do hope that once we return to the future, this whole mess will be fixed.}

{So what do ya say, boys? Back to the future?}

{I believe you mean present, Eddy,} corrected Double D.

{Whatever, let's just go.}

"Right behind you, Eddy."

The three locomotives soared into a cross-pattern formation before disappearing into a vortex of light together.

--..--

The first thing the Eds did upon returning to the future was check in on Rolf. To their relief, the events after the Rhino Imagin's attacks had been undone completely. Events were able to run their course without interference

The wrestling season now promised to be a competitive one, with each school in the district offering the best of their best. Rolf and Michael Kikuchi included.

Once everything had been secured in their daily lives, the Eds returned back to the main DenLiner to give their new ally a proper welcome.

Though the Eds were jubilant, Hana still held feelings of distress about the very un-imaginlike behavior displayed by the Goat Imagin. It just didn't make sense to her. The imagins were clearly the enemy. They sought the destruction of all worlds and held no remorse for the lives they claimed – she knew that first hand from her own tragic experience.

Then why did the goat help those two boys? Why did the goat williningly help Ed to kill one of his own?

She didn't want to be around the others right now, not with so many confusing thoughts that needed to be rummaged through. So Hana opted to stay behind at Double D's home (he had been kind enough to offer).

Ed was the first one into the usual boxcar. "Hey goat guy, where are you?" Ed questioned as he looked under tables, cushions and in coffee mugs.

"Ed please, be a bit more sensible," Double D pleaded. "How could someone as large as this particular imagin fit in any of the places you're searching in?"

"Uh, by crouching?" Ed answered.

Eddy hopped into one of the seats, kicking his legs up on the table in front of him. "Maybe he ditched after we got back to the present."

"I wish. That guy's big butt is still taking up space around here."

Momotaros walked in through the back car door, followed by Urataros and Naomi.

"Where's he hiding then?" Eddy asked.

"He is not hiding, we are merely giving him a tour of the DenLiner," Urataros said. "If we must be stuck with him, it is only reasonable that we 'show him the ropes, so to speak."

Naomi stepped to the side and gestured to the doorway like a hostess on a television show. "Here he is everyone. The new and improved 'goat guy'!"

What stepped through the door totally took the Eds by surprise.

There were a few distinct changes to the appearance of the 'goat guy' that were impossible to dismiss. The foremost was that he was no longer a goat.

The second was that he was no longer the Viking hulk the Eds remembered him to be.

Before the Eds stood an anthropomorphic bear, no older or taller than Ed himself. His fur was still of a golden rod shading, which was the only trait of his that had crossed over from his former self.

The Bear Imagin standing in their presence was dressed in a black parka vest. Peppered fur surrounded the collar and arm holes. His hands (or claws maybe) were covered in leather gloves with ball bearings embedded along the knuckles. He wore yellow camouflage pants with dark brown combat boots.

A curved horn stuck out from the center of his forehead, and his eyes were hidden behind a black pair of visor sunglasses that made him look cyclopean.

There was no doubt that this creature's new form was born from Ed's mind.

"I take it by your expressions that he isn't what you expected," Urataros surmised. "Trust me, we know how you feel."

The Bear Imagin flicked his horn. "Somehow I feel as if this look better suits me."

"Pretty weird lookin' for a bear if you ask me," Momotaros stated. "Hey smokey, you got a name or what?"

"No, I do not," the Bear Imagin answered. "And I will not go by the name 'smokey'."

"Yeah, cause his name's going to be Grizzlor, devourer of souls!" Ed exclaimed. He ran around to get a better look at the Bear Imagin. "He looks just like the mutant bear from Tales of the Brimstone Lunchbox!"

"Um, maybe a more appropriate name is in order, Ed," said Double D. "In fact, I believe I have the perfect name for our new companion here."

Eddy rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me; another 'amazing legend' from Japan. For crying out loud, this is America sock-head! Come up something English!"

"Oh, bravo Eddy, you're impeccable logic has bested me yet again," Double D replied sarcastically. "But I believe I'll trust in my own opinions, thank you very much."

"I bet I know what the name is!" Ed hurdled off of Eddy's head to dive behind Naomi's service counter, where he found all of the utensils put away in their proper holders. He pulled out a handful of forks and shoved them in his mouth to act as rows of razor sharp teeth before plodding back towards everyone.

"Wasabi the Unquenchable!" Ed mumbled out while flopping his arms around in what he thought was a good impression of tentacles. "He will drink the cola of the innocent and never burp!"

Momotaros slapped the Bear Imagin on the back and jeered snidely. "That's your new host, buddy. Good luck with that."

"Um… not quite Ed," Double D refuted politely. "I was going to offer the name 'Kintaros'. In light of certain… changes our new compatriot has undergone, I find this name most fitting, given the tale behind it."

"Which none of us care about or wanna hear," Eddy curtly interjected.

Taking a seat, the Bear Imagin crossed his arms and gave the name a sincere moment of thought. Everyone else waited in calm anticipation as their guest took his time to mull over the suggested moniker.

The Bear Imagin lifted his head after a few minutes and gave a grateful nod. "If you think it fits, I accept it. Thank you."

"And another 'taros' joins our merry club," Urataros drawled.

"Interesting indeed!" A baritone voice rang about from behind the gathering.

While the Eds and the Taros leapt in surprise, Naomi remained unprovoked and instead greeted her employer with a smile. "Welcome back, Conductor sir. It's been awhile."

"I trust things have ran smoothly in my absence." The Conductor tapped his cane against the ground as he laughingly grinned at the youngsters attempting to stop their hearts from racing. "You lot act like you've seen a ghost."

Momotaros immediately flew into a tantrum and roughly grabbed the Conductor by the bottom of his coat. He would have preferred the collar, but there was no possible way he could reach that high. "What's wrong with you, ya old geezer?! You trying to give us heart problems or somethin'?!"

The Conductor dismissively brushed the fuming ogre off and proceeded to eye the new passenger inquiringly. "Ah, what good fortune to have the DenLiner filled with life after being vacant for so very long. Welcome aboard… Kintaros was it?"

Baffled as to who the human was and where he had come from, the newly dubbed Kintaros decided to merely nod his answer.

"You certainly have a rather distinct look about you, young man, just like the others. It's amazing what can pop out of an adolescent's head these days," the Conductor chuckled.

Ed ran up to the enigmatic man to show off his Rider Pass with pride. "Look, train-owning guy! Masked Riders all three we are!"

The Conductor gave no mind to the boy's faulty grammatical structure and instead shook his hand. "Well congratulations, Ed. It certainly is a surprise to see that you too are a Singularity Point. Even more surprising to see that you have been chosen to be Den-O as well."

"Yes, what an unforeseeable coincidence," Urataros commented with a timbre of suspicion as he eyed the Conductor. "If I recall from what I've heard about Masked Riders, there should only be one per world. So enlighten me sir, why are there now three in our midst?"

Shrugging, the Conductor put on a face of dramatic stupefaction. "Now how would I know a thing like that, sonny?"

Urataros wasn't convinced in the slightest, and he allowed his annoyance with how the Conductor dodged the question physically show on his countenance.

"Think about it this way, my young turtle friend," The Conductor tried to placate him. "There is only one Masked Rider for this world. Even if Ed, Eddward, and Eddy possess different forms, all three are still the same rider; Masked Rider Den-O."

Double D looked doubtful. "By technicality that reasoning may hold, but…"

"How the heck did it turn out that all of us were Singularity Points," Eddy pointed out without reserving the volume of his voice. "You said that every world only had a handful of us!"

"And I stand by that statement," The Conductor affirmed. "But it seems you boys have defied several improbabilities; the first being that each of you were born Singularity Points and the second being that the three of you acquainted each other. Such a thing is unheard of."

"You boys must really be lucky!" Naomi chirped as she happily clapped her hands together.

"Than what about the Rider Passes?" Eddy continued to protest. "Why does it keep duplicating itself if there's only one belt meant for one person?"

"Though I have my own theories, I find that fact puzzling myself," Double D admitted. "I have another baffling question; if the Terminal Belt is meant to be utilized by a human wearer, why has it adapted itself to allow three imagin to use it so easily? Why create three different forms?"

The Conductor strolled around the group with his arms placed behind his back. "So many questions and so many mysteries, just like time itself. What has been, what is, and what will be? What has been undone and what will return? How can one solve such a complex riddle when it contains lines that have yet to be fathomed?"

"Cut the psycho-babble, old man!" Eddy suddenly snapped. "I wanna know what the heck this has to do with us!" Eddy stomped up to the man and jabbed his finger towards the gentleman's face. "All of this stuff with monsters, time travel, and other worlds I can take or leave. What I wanna know is what happened to my brother?!" Eddy demanded at the top of his lungs.

Double D and Ed watched in a nervous silence as their friend's face started turning a dark shade of red.

"I've fought a freakish bat, crab, goat, and rhino, but I still ain't any closer to finding my big bro! Did the imagin get him? Is he even alive? Am I gonna forget him like everybody else did? I want answers NOW!"

The air tensed with Eddy's last word reverberating off of the metal walls of the boxcar with a ring. The shortest of the Eds looked near the point of hyperventilation as he defiantly stood before the Conductor, whose features were fixed in a calm expression.

Ed was the first to finally reach out and place a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. Double D soon followed suit. Slowly, Eddy started to calm down, but now dark thoughts of his brother's unknown fate raced through his head. He shrugged Ed and Double D off before miserably collapsing into a seat with the feeling of hopelessness pervading around him.

The Conductor closed his eyes and lowered his head in a single, understanding nod. "The threat that faces your world is as extraordinary as it is immense. The imagins are a threat that has never been encountered by any world before. I'm afraid to say that the abnormalities that have found themselves attracted to you boys are an ill omen. However, there is still a glimmer of hope."

Momotaros, Urataros, and Kintaros jumped back as the Conductor swept his cane towards them. "The imagins that have bound themselves to you under the most unconventional of circumstances have granted you three the strength to fight. Your bonds with each other continue to grow as these dark times test your mettle. You must believe in them."

Eddy lifted an eye to give the man a tired glance.

"There is no doubt that your older brother's disappearance is connected to the threat of the imagins, Eddy. Strife and conflict await you and your friends down the road if you wish to discover what is behind your sibling's utter departure from this world. It will be even more difficult to find a way to bring him back."

The Conductor allowed a moment of silence to let his words sink in.

"But do not discourage young man. Listen very carefully to my words, all of you, and keep them close." The Conductor fixed the Eds and the imagins with an earnest glare. "You are all Masked Riders, and each of you holds a will that time itself cannot extinguish. Stand against what is wrong, fight for the right to choose your destiny, and always hold onto your bonds. There is a great power behind them. Do not give in to despair. The future was, is, and always will be in your hands."

The words themselves helped to elevate the overall mood, but the feeling behind them, the very spirit in which they were said, uplifted each and every one of them in a different manner.

Ed wore the same determination he felt when he placed himself in the shoes of the protagonists of his comics, Double D held himself in the level of fortitude he yearned for to prove to others that he was not weak, and Eddy's eyes burned in righteous fury as he promised himself that he would undo whatever the imagins did to his brother.

The imagins were going through the same thing. Momotaros was ready to burst with the need for action, Urataros smirked brazenly at the concept of outwitting his opponents to come, and Kintaros, though new to the train and to the people aboard it, felt his resolve to aid the boy who saved his life grow.

The Conductor bowed to them all before walking away towards the next boxcar in front of the one they were in, offering a few last words. "Your boundaries are unlimited, so in a pinch, jump over them. Fortes fortuna juvat." With a final nod, he opened the door, walk through, and gently shut it behind him.

"…was that some kind of special alien language?" Ed questioned.

"No, Ed. That was a Latin," Double D answered. "And I find the phrase he just gave use most fitting."

"No foolin'? What did he say?" Eddy asked.

Double D looked to the imagin and then to his friends before answering.

"Fortune favors the brave."

--..--

Evening had settled quietly over the neighborhood by the time Edwin Ryotaro Gladlocke got home. He was delayed by a number of obstacles, one being his need for a balanced and 'symmetrical' appearance.

Now while Edwin's problem had deflated from OCD during his younger childhood years, he still felt obligated to uphold certain standards. They weren't too bothersome, just a few quirks that went largely unnoticed. At most, he would find himself counting the checkered patterns on some of his shirts to make sure that they held an even number.

He rather liked checkered patterns. They could be a true work of art if done the right way.

No, his main obstacle was Beth Kanker. Ever since they 'met' in homeroom, a continuous string of unsettling occurrences had plagued him. These occurrences ranged from discovering that she had followed him down a few hallways, to being downright disturbing. One such event happened today during break. When opening his locker, he was greeted to the sight of… eyes.

Not real eyes, mind you. Merely a multitude of eyes painted with unbelievable detail along the entire inside of his locker. Every iris was painted a dull gray, but when the light hit them, they would glow ominously. Beth Kanker was obviously the perpetrator of the deed. She had left a 12x10 portrait of herself to prove it.

It still sent shivers down his spine when he thought about how she had gotten into his locker so easily.

She wouldn't even tell him why she was doing these things to had mustered up the courage to confront her about her acts, but all she did was fix him with her usual apathetic, fish eye glare. It chilled him to the bone.

He couldn't avoid Beth either. Whenever he tried, she would silently materialize out of nowhere when his guard was down. To Edwin, she was only a notch away from being one of those stringy-haired ghost girls that were supposed to crawl out of your television set.

To make things worse, the Kanker Sisters were starting to take notice. He hadn't suffered anything by their hands yet, but they sure implied that something was coming soon. So far, it had just been threatening letters that claimed that if he even so much as put a speck of dust in their cousin's eye, they'd raise his voice by a few octaves.

He wasn't even a big fan of singing.

But for now, he strolled home underneath the orange sky as he cogitated about his Kanker woes. His abysmal and awkward relation with the Eds was a whole other problem that needed its own time to be contemplated in…

As Edwin opened the front door to his house and greeted his parents, an orb of light lazily flitted down from the sky and through his open bedroom window. It illuminated the uninhabited darkness of his room as it searched around for an appropriate place to hide and wait.

The space under the bed would do.

A/N: Let's sum things up:

Edward Jerry Noble O'Kelly: Axe Form Den-O (Kintaros the Bear Imagin)
Eddward Marian Peterson: Rod Form Den-O (Urataros the Turtle Imagin)
Eddy Skipper McGee: Sword Form Den-O (Momotaros the Ogre Imagin)

I hope the 'pep-talk' parts weren't too corny and drawn out for all of you. I tried to use some of what the actual DenLiner owner said in the show to make up most of it, but I had to use my own variation. The next chapter will be out as soon as possible. For fans of the series, here is a hint to who appears in it:

Chapter 16: Can't Hear An Answer

Thank you for reading, and please review.

PS. I'm actively correcting and cleaning up previous chapters (it's a wonder you people kept reading past chapter four... I wouldn't have).