The Hispanic man looked at the pile of sand around him and just shook his head.
"Sorry, but I'll have to take a rain check." He smirked. He took one of his JOKER cards and threw it into the ground. The energy poured into the newly made crack and found itself inside the three mountains of sand. They reformed into three D-Shifters: the Python D-Shifter, the Gavial D-Shifter, and the Iguana D-Shifter.
The man transformed into the Caiman D-Shifter and took his leave.
"Kill them." He ordered his trio of D-Shifters.
The trio nodded as they attacked the FANGs. They found themselves overwhelmed by the D-Shifters, each of their armors freezing and forcing themselves out of the transformation.
"This was just pathetic…" the Iguana D-Shifter said.
"It's about to get a whole lot worse." Misael said as he walked up.
"Who is that?" Will looked up, trying to focus on him.
"Who are you…?" The Python D-Shifter questioned.
"None of your business;" He replied calmly. "Not that it matters anyway. I'm finishing you three off the thirty seconds."
"Pretty big talk for a human;" The Gavial D-Shifter scoffed.
"Don't believe me huh? Ok. Thirty seconds starting… now."
"Don't get cocky kid!" The Gavial D-Shifter ran towards him drawing his sword. He brought it over his head.
"23, 22, 21…" Misael whispered to himself. He sidestepped the blade wielder, walking past him. Without turning around, he pulls his handgun out and takes a quick shot, which causes the D-Shifter to crumble and explode instantly.
"You'll pay for that!" The Iguana D-Shifter yelled as he and the Python D-Shifters ran forward."
"17, 16, 15…"
Misael tossed his gun into the air, and exchanged blows back and forth between the two, not letting either one of them get a hit on him. He sweep kicks the Python D-Shifter, causing him to spin towards the ground. He turns around and catches his pistol that dropped from the sky. He kicks the Iguana back, and spins around, shooting the Python, and pointing it behind him, shooting the Iguana.
"10 seconds… new record." He slid his pistol back into the holster as he steps away from the two. The two D-Shifters roar in pain as they both die in fiery explosions.
"He only used three bullets…" Will realized. "Just who is this guy?"
"I'll tell you this much… I'm not an ally." He turns the gun at them.
"What the…?" Amy stared at the gun in front of them.
"Savage; let's go wild."
The Red and White Tiger leaped onto his shoulder and then bites onto his wrist.
"HENSHIN!" Misael called out.
"HUNTER MODE!" the computer announced as Misael transformed into the Rider from the day before.
"Congratulations on your previous fight, you saved me the trouble of wiping them out. No hard feelings by the way…"
Chapter 20: The Ultimate Sacrifice
[Flashback: One year ago…]
Misael took Mitsuki by the hand and lead her away from Hashimura. Misael gave him a glare and shook his head.
"He's gone, he's really gone…" Mitsuki sobbed. "I'm scared…"
"Come on, stop crying." Misael hugged her. The two found themselves on the roof of the HQ, as it was the quietest place of the whole building. After hearing the revelations of their mentor, Darren Aung, they were pretty torn up about it. Commander Hashimura told them that the American agents turned on Darren, and killed him, accusing him of being an accomplice of the Bat D-Brid, a D-Brid that stole the prototype FANG System a few weeks before.
"I'm scared…" Mitsuki repeated.
"Don't worry; I'm here…"
"I'm really scared… what's gonna happen to us? We have no mentor now… What are we supposed to do now?"
"I don't know; but we'll find out why this happened, I promise."
"That doesn't help, I'm still scared…"
"Come on, just calm down."
"I can't!" she shouted.
Misael suddenly jumped back away from Mitsuki. He didn't know why, his body just jerked back. Suddenly he fell to one knee, seeing blood drip from his jacket.
"The hell did this come from?" he asked himself. He looked back at Mitsuki, who wasn't herself.
"Oh crap…"
Mitsuki stood up and wiped her eyes. She opened them, her pupils red.
"I'm scared Misael…" She repeated eerily. She roared loudly, transforming into a Saber-tooth Tiger D-Brid. She charged him, as he shot back, avoiding any more swipes from her. He catches her paw and holds it, despite her tugging.
"What are you afraid of?" He asked, losing the struggle.
"I'm afraid of accepting the fact that he's gone…" She said. Mitsuki broke from the grip and smack him away from her.
Misael rolled across the roof as she pounced. He took the three seconds given to him and shot her in the stomach, causing her to drop to the ground. He stood up and dusted himself off, as she reverted back to her normal self.
Breathing heavily, he slid the cartridge out and stared at the blue colored bullets inside it. "Guess he wanted me to be prepared for this; didn't think that these would work."
Misael grabbed Mitsuki, carrying her off the roof…
[End Flashback]
As Misael was about to pull the trigger, the sound of a motorcycle pulled up; Nolan arrived to see what happened.
Nolan pulled his helmet off of his head and saw the beaten FANG trio, and the Hunter Mode Rider that stood before him. Misael put his pistol back into his holster.
"Guess I can't do anything now that you guys are here." He shrugged his shoulders. "Not like I was gonna kill you anyway."
He walks over to a motorcycle parked nearby and his transformation cancels.
"See you tomorrow at school Nolan." He waved and sped off.
"Hold up!" Nolan slipped the helmet back on and started up the bike.
"You guys take them back to base." Nolan then sped off to catch up to him.
After dodging traffic and cutting corners left and right through the streets of Chinatown, Misael saw that Nolan wasn't gonna give up, not by a long shot. So he decided to give him a break and pull over.
Nolan pulls up and gets off the bike. "Yo, what happened to them?"
"Oh you know, rampaging D-Brids, and some JOKER wannabe is controlling them."
"And you know this because… No better question; who the hell are you!"
"I am a Bounty hunter, who works for the Shadow Organization."
"So that makes you an ene-"
"Let me finish." Misael interrupted. "I'm a Bounty Hunter, who works for the Shadow Organization as a cover; in reality I'm a SADE agent from South America, working with Mitsuki. She's working with you guys, while I'm on the inside gathering what info I can get."
"So why is it that you can transform into Hunter Mode?"
"That's because I was able to recreate the original Hunter Mode FANG System, after it was destroyed. Because of that, I was also able to design Saber Mode for Mitsuki. Is that good enough for you?"
Nolan stared at him, studying his eyes to see if he was lying. "Yeah, that's good for now, at least."
"Great; Now if you'll excuse me, I have some computers I need to get back to fixing." Misael strapped his helmet on. "Oh and two more things…"
"What's up?" Nolan asked.
"Has Mitsuki shown any emotional distress?" He asked.
"No why?"
"Just watch out for that OK, you won't like it when she's upset…" Misael warned, remembering when she went "Saber-tooth berserk" on him.
"And the second thing?"
"Don't let anyone know that I'm working for SADE, it'll blow my cover, just leave it as it is until the time's right."
"I understand."
"So long then;" Misael turned on his engine and rode off.
"Do you trust him?" Kaiger asked, overhearing the conversation.
"Guess I have to for now. Let's head back to check on them.
"Right;"
A while later at Shadow HQ, Misael walks down the hallway and into Hashimura's office to report.
"So did they take the bait?" Hashimura uttered.
"Yes sir. Everything's a go for tonight."
"Excellent."
The Caiman D-Shifter walked in a few seconds later with his report.
"Are you enjoying your powers?" Hashimura asked him.
"Oh, so very much." He replied, pulling out the deck from his pocket. "This power is magnificent."
"Glad you can put it to good use." He replied. "I have one more mission for you to take to prove you're ready to take on such a responsibility.
"Lay it on me sir!" The D-Shifter replied, enthusiastically.
"Excellent. In that case, I want you, Agent Aciar, and my Riders, to set an attack on NYC tonight."
"Any reason?" Misael asked.
"Well I figured with a big enough attack, I can allow the Bushido Riders, a test run on their new powers, and at the same time, take the Kaishi Decks from SADE.
"Sounds like a plan; just let us know when to leave." Misael turned and walked out the room.
"Everything seems to be in order for the closing act on this play." Savage commented.
"Let's just make it to the curtain call alright; we're not out of this yet…"
Rodriguez yawned as he made his way back to his office. Jessie pulling him away from his office to help her do research for the next lesson for the academy; and on top of that, sneak away when he starts to dose off. He took a sip of his coffee, and shook his head. "Sometimes I think those kids take me for granted."
His partner Shade just shook its head and chuckled. "Same old Marcus…"
Rodriguez slid the keycard through the lock as the door slid open.
"Surprise!" was suddenly blurted out as the Commander jumped back, and Shade ready to wreak the place.
"What's all this?" Rodriguez questioned. He looked inside the room, seeing his office decorated with party materials and banners saying: "We'll miss you" and "Congratulations"
"What did you do to my office?" He was ready to tear his agents apart.
"You're retiring aren't you?" Jessie asked coming from behind.
Rodriguez turned around seeing Jessie holding a Vanilla Frosted Chocolate Cake, with the words: "Congratulations on 25 years of service!"
Rodriguez turned back to see Nolan, Tim, Yuliya, Mitsuki, Amy, Will and Josh; all with giant smiles on their faces.
Rodriguez chuckled. "How about that…"
A half-hour later after everyone was settled and got cake; Rodriguez cleared his throat to explain his reason for retiring.
"I truly thank you for doing this for me." He said.
"Oh it's no problem." Nolan replied.
"Besides, you've been a father to us for what seemed like years." Yuliya added. "Jessie found out a few weeks ago, so while we were helping the Rookies train, we were planning this out too."
"Is that right?" he turned to the FANGs, who in return gave him chocolate covered smiles.
"I really appreciate this. Thank You, all of you."
"So what do you plan on doing now?" Mitsuki asked.
Rodriguez started to answer, but stopped. "I… I guess I'll move to Miami. The weather's nice and all, no snow. The perfect place to relax at;"
"Can we come and visit during our spring break?" Amy asked.
"I don't see why not. I'd love to have my kids out there with me…"
The room got silent as the words left Rodriguez's lips. He wiped his tear-building eyes before speaking again.
"You kids have grown into the finest agents I've ever seen. You not only mastered my greatest creations, but also saved the planet more than once. I am eternally grateful, and I hope that you continue doing a fine work. Thank you all…"
"You're welcome…" Nolan replied.
The alarm interrupted their moment as Rodriguez looked on the screen to see a massive army of reptilian D-Brids, being led by the Caiman D-Shifter.
"Let's get a move on people, every Rider get out there on the double!"
"Yes Sir!" They all saluted.
The Motorcycles pour out into the rainy night as they all cut corners in a single file line.
The Caiman D-Shifter and Misael, transformed into Hunter Mode, roam the streets, as Misael allows him to continue making D-Brids.
"Having fun there? You realize that using those cards up like you are, you're gonna deplete your life force pretty quickly."
"Haha, that seems to be hard to believe. I've never felt so powerful in my life!" the Caiman D-Shifter gloated.
Misael shook his head. "I never said that was a bad thing."
"Then why bring it up?"
"Because, I wanted to make sure that you knew."
"Knew what?"
Misael stopped in his tracks. "It's not a bad thing for me."
The Caiman D-Shifter stopped and laughed hysterically. "I get it now; you're jealous of my power aren't you?"
Misael walked up to him and drew his pistol, holding it to the lizard's head.
"That's actually pretty funny. I'm jealous, of uncontrollable power, while I myself, have the ACE of Hearts Deck; a not quite as strong, but calmer, more controllable deck than the JOKER Deck could ever be. But yeah I am a bit jealous; which is why I'm taking it of you don't mind."
The Caiman D-Shifter turned, but Misael ducked his swipe and shot it in the abdomen, before roundhouse kicking him a few feet away.
"You traitor!"
"Yeah, I get that a lot." He drew his pistol and attached Savage onto it.
"FINAL SLASH ATTACK!"
"Savage Shot." He fired the shot at the struggling D-Shifter, but he subcummed to the attack as it exploded. In the flames sat the non-burning remaining Red Joker cards.
"And three cards; make 25." Misael counted the other 22 he was able to collect. "Someone should've told that idiot that he only had half of the cards."
The reptilian D-Brids, stared at Misael, now fueled by Killer instinct, as they charged after him.
"FINAL SLASH ATTACK!" suddenly echoed a few times, as the army was wiped by what Misael could make out to be: two flying robots, two Gladiator-looking fighters, and a bunch of swordsman, one of him, his favorite person.
Misael clapped his hands, canceling his transformation. "Wonderful. Yet again, you save me the trouble of taking them out. Mitsuki, Hashimura sent us our next mission."
The other riders turned to the Saber Mode Rider as she canceled her transformation and walked over to him.
"What the hell is going on?" Will asked.
"Let's see: I'm a bounty hunter working for Shadow, and so is Mitsuki; Clear enough?"
"There's no way!" Amy said. "Mitsuki, tell us he's lying."
Mitsuki stayed silent.
"Actually I am lying." Misael said. "Man I need to stop doing that."
"Which one is it?" Josh shouted. "Are you guys are enemies or not?"
"Well we are just Bounty Hunters, hired by Shadow; our target: Commander Marcus Rodriguez, who has a bounty on his head for a half-mill. He's committed more Dimension-shifting crimes than anyone else, on top of that, he sent minors as well, turning them into soldiers of war. You guys have bounties of you heads too. Despite that, with our previous target, terminated, we're gonna drop this mission and move on."
"So lied to us? You were out to kill us from the start?" Tim asked them.
"Not exactly; like I said, we were hired to kill the ones responsible for Dimension Shifting, which is the death penalty if not for business purposes, stated by the Human-Dreamon Treaty."
"So in that case, you two are just chaotic Bounty Hunters, just like that Darren guy." Tim shot.
Rodriguez turned to Tim. "Watch your mouth. We can still get out of this alive if you keep your mouth shut!"
Mitsuki became emotional, getting ready to draw her pistol.
"Don't you dare draw it!" Misael hissed not turning. "He's not our target anymore, so if you use it on any of them, it'll be considered treason against SADE, and the Government. You understand Mitsuki?"
Mitsuki's hand froze over the pistol. "They killed Darren..."
"He was a traitor. He may have been one of us, but he became a traitor when he joined up with that Dreamon."
"It doesn't matter they killed the man who saved me!" Mitsuki sobbed. "Yes it does, taking another life won't bring back Darren and you know that!"
Mitsuki stopped her sobbing and got quiet, suddenly chuckling darkly. "Well, if I can't kill him..."
Misael turned back and his eyes widen. "Oh crap!"
Around Mitsuki developed a Red and Black Tornado engulfing her. When it broke, she was replaced with the Saber Tooth D-Shifter, the FANG Beast with her gone.
"I'll kill you all." It hissed, drawing her Blade. The D-shifter then charged the group, suddenly being blocked by Rodriguez, transforming into Kamen Rider CLAW: Shogun Mode without question. He drew his blade to block hers, holding his own for the time being.
"Get out of here, all of you!" He ordered to them, losing the struggle.
They were all dumbfounded, but the CLAW Trio gathered the FANG Trio together and ran off to safety. The D-shifter, made Rodriguez suffer as the struggle continued, eventually breaking the sword. She then let loose on the commander, who accepted the beating, fighting back with the least amount of effort.
As sparks and blood rained from the armor, Rodriguez still held it back. Misael reloaded his clip into his Pistols and took the shots, both Making direct hits into the D-shifter.
The D-shifter's armor cracked and dispersed into sand, while Rodriguez fell to the ground as well, his armor being heavily damaged. It literally fell off his body, revealing the crimson stains from the sword slashes.
Misael checked his pulse to see if he was OK...
"He died with a smile on his face;" he sighed halfheartedly. Misael looked into Rodriguez's hand, realizing that he was about to use the Black JOKER Deck to its full potential. He pulled the deck from the lifeless hand and slipped it into his pocket, taking his leave. He turned and looked at Mitsuki.
"We'll take it from here, Bounty Hunter." James said as he suddenly appeared in his Rider Form. "You have nothing to worry about; she'll be safe for now."
Misael looked at her unconscious face, covered in dry tears. "We'll be back for you; just wait for us…" Misael then walked off in the rain.
James then snapped his fingers, opening a nightmare vortex. "So much for trying this out; Maybe another time, Scum." He walked inside of it, as a tear dropped form Mitsuki's face.
The CLAWs and FANGs race back after seeing the Nightmare Vortex close. There they find Rodriguez's body on the ground…
Two days pass after Rodriguez death, as Will and the others head to the CLAW's rec room; It was there that they found the note taped on the door.
Dear Will, Josh, and Amy.
Sorry for the sudden notice, but we just need to clear our heads for a bit. We headed to an undisclosed location to see how things are gonna go for now on. We understand that you guys need us, but a bunch of emotionally disturbed teens isn't the best thing in the world. We'll be back soon, back and more powerful than ever. So please wait for us OK?"
Sincerely, the CLAWs
P.S. Class is cancelled until we come back, however that doesn't stop you from finishing your ten rules project!
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!" Will shouted ripping the note off the door and kicking it.
"Will calm down!" Josh grabbed him.
"Oh like hell I will! What is this, how can they leave us like this!"
"Dude, relax!"
"Don't tell me to relax!" Will pushed Josh off of him, causing him to hit the wall. Josh then grabbed will and slammed him into the wall as the two were about to get into a fistfight.
"You guys Please stop!" Amy tried to break it up, but to no avail.
The security raced up the stairs and escorted the three out of the building.
The three of them were mentally unstable at this point. But once they calmed down, after about an hour, they returned back inside, and went into the CLAW's room.
"Do you think he had this planned from the start?" Josh pondered.
"Why would you say that?" Amy asked.
"Because he risked his life purposely just when he's about to retire; something didn't add up."
"I wouldn't worry about it. Let's just hope that they come back…"
THE 10:30am FLIGHT TO MIAMI IS NOW BOARDING AT GATE 15; ALL PASSENGERS HAVE A SAFE TRIP!
"That's our flight." Nolan said, as he stood up, throwing his book bag over his shoulder.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Tim asked. "Let's go."
Jessie and Yuliya nodded in agreement as they walked and validated their plane tickets. They took their seats as Nolan stared out the window, thinking about the previous night.
"You think there's a reason why he mentioned Miami in particular?" Jessie asked.
"I guess we'll see when we get over there. I just hope the rookies are ok with us being gone."
"I wouldn't worry too much. When you think about it, it's just like when Dominick died. We got a new commander instantly. It'll be the same this time." Tim replied.
"I hope you're right about that."
The plane took off about five minutes later as it soared to its destination.
Misael walked across a roof of a building, going towards a dirt-blonde haired man who watched the very plane take off.
"This is yours I believe." Misael said, tossing the man the combination JOKER Decks. "Any reason why you're sending them to Miami, sir?"
"My father always liked the hot sun and the beaches over there. They need a vacation; it's not every day that you lose someone close to you. However in this field of work, that's all too common.
"I know what you mean." Misael sighed. "So when are you gonna meet your new team?"
"All in due time, I have one more thing to take care of before I do that."
"And that is…?"
"I need to get Shade back…"
[END]
[Super Hero Time]
Amy: And this ends our 3-part comeback for Kamen Rider FANG; Good night everyone.