IDENTITY CHAPTER PART 4: DOPPELGANGER

"Switch!" Carmen yelled as she slashed at Petrifier in the chest, causing sparks to fly.

Arachnea ran and then jumped forward. She performed a flying kick at Bomber's chest as Slasher walked forward and used his chainsaws to slash away at Seras's blood vessels.

"It doesn't matter! You're dead either way!" Petrifier yelled as he slammed his hands down making crystal spikes slam into Carmen, piercing her armor. Petrifier grinned thinking he'd killed her but he was shocked to see the girl fading from view. "What!"

"Over here!" Carmen said. Petrifier shot some crystal spikes at her but she too vanish. "No, over here!" Petrifier turned around to see 4 Carmens, "No here!" he turned around to see even more. He realized he was surrounded by Carmens. "I hate Illusionists," Petrifier mumbled as the Carmens begin to attack.

"It doesn't matter who my opponent is, you're still going to be Swiss cheese!" Bomber yelled as he pointed his machine guns, but Arachnea's mouthguard unfolded into a pair of pincers as she shot acid at his machines guns melting them.

"Why you!" Bomber yelled as he was about to open up his chestplate to drop his bombs but Arachnea shot some webbing on his chestplate, preventing him from opening it and dropping his bombs.

"Hey, cut it out!" Bomber yelled annoyed.

Zero was silent for a second before he ordered, "Withdraw!"

"WHAT!" the NUMBERS shouted at their field commander.

"We withdraw! We're done here!" Zero ordered.

"No, I wanna play some more!" Seras whined.

"That's an order!" Zero shouted.

Grumbling, the NEO-NUMBERS withdrew as they fled from the scene, escaping into a portal Zero had made with a device.

"We should go too," said Arachnea. She surveyed the damage. "Damn..."

"Guess you're right," agreed Armadillo. "Man, did we do this?"

"Why are we wasting time!" snapped Musician. "Let's get out of here!"

The NEO-NUMBERS nodded and fled the area, feeling guilty as hell.

Beatrice could only laugh in glee as she watched the result of the battle. To her, mortals were just game pieces to be manipulated and observed like rats in the cage. The destruction they caused themselves was just so delicious to watch.

Lambdadelta yawned, bored. She had seen this type of destruction several times. It became redundant after several centuries. Bernkastel just watched with an apathetic expression, neither smiling nor frowning. Her face only held a neutral expression.

Topper, however, smiled, as the next twist of the story was about to unfurl itself.

"Topper, is there more?" asked Virgilia.

"Yes, much more. Just watch, ladies. Things will become quite interesting," said Topper.

"I can't wait," said Beatrice.

"Hope it suffices," said Lambdadelta.

"Oh, it will, Lady Lambda,' grinned Topper. He snapped his fingers.

The town of Okinomiya had seen better days. What buildings weren't leveled or burned to the ground were massively damaged. Only a few buildings on the opposite side of the town escaped harm…barely. Debris was everywhere and no one could go anywhere without tripping on something…or what was left of someone. The authorities were still searching for survivors who were trapped inside the demolished buildings although hopes were not very high. And all agreed that the Riders were at fault. Daichi, Hana, Michiru, Yokoshima and Chiaki barely survived the confrontation with their former comrades and were nursing their wounds at home. A lot of damage had been done to the town and many lives had been caught in the crossfire and lost. The hospital had plenty of new arrivals with injuries caused by the sudden battle. The news had covered the entire thing and it was on the front page of the newspaper. No one would ever forget, no matter how hard they tried to. It would be a day remembered in infamy.

Oddly enough, Shinichi seemed to be taking things in stride. Despite the injuries he'd gotten in the war, he was in high spirits.

But Rika knew something was not right with the situation.

Shinichi idly read the paper as he sat in class. On the front page was a picture of the aftermath of the battle between the NUMBERS and NEO-NUMBERS.

"Hey, Shinichi," Keiichi spoke. Shinichi looked up to his friend.

"What is it?" Shinichi responded, annoyed.

"Aren't you worried about all this bad publicity?" Keiichi asked. The paper referred to the Riders as a threat. After all the damage in Okinomiya caused by the battle, it was right to deem them so.

"Not really," Shinichi shrugged. "It's just collateral damage, anyway."

"Collateral damage?" Mion gaped. "Look, we know you can reverse time. Why not do that?"

"Sorry," Shinichi apologized. "My Return to the Past System is still not working."

"Can't you fix it?" Satoshi asked.

"Only one man can, and it's Gebok," Shinichi answered. Hearing that name made his friends stare. He was saying Gebok's name quite casually. He usually loathed mentioning the scientist who turned him into a weapon. "And we can't risk him getting me," said Shinichi.

"You're right," agreed Mion.

"Say, Mion," Shinichi grinned as he stood up and leaned forward. "Have I ever mentioned how hot you were?"

"Are you coming onto me?" Mion questioned.

"Is that a problem?" grinned Shinichi.

"Hey, cut it out!" snapped Keiichi.

"You got a problem, Maebara?" hissed Shinichi, grabbing Keiichi by the collar roughly. That was when Chie-sensei entered. Seeing the teacher, Shinichi snorted and let Keiichi go before dropping back down onto his seat, crossing his arms.

"So, it looks like your client has already been corrupted," said Beatrice.

"Are you sure?" questioned Topper. "Thins are not as they seem, Lady Beato. As the Endless Witch, you should know this."

It sounded like Topper was mocking her.

"Be patient," Virgilia advised. "The full story has not been revealed. Once it is, all the answers will be out."

"True, Lady Virgilia," agreed Topper. "Let's continue watching."

Shinichi's behavior was worrisome. He was acting stranger than usual. In fact, after being caught in one of Satoko's traps, he yelled at Satoko instead of complimenting her like he always did. This nearly made Satoko cry and Satoshi confronted him for it. Shinichi, however, shoved Satoshi to the ground. This made the others come to the blond boy's defense from one of their friends.

Shinichi was acting like a pompous jerk, actually. He was always a bit cocky, but this was full-blown I-am-holier-than-thou arrogance. Something just wasn't right.

And he wasn't even wearing his Magatama. When asked about it, he said he'd lost it. That was strange. He almost never took it off. Never.

Later at Angel Mort, Shinichi was looking at his menu. Well, actually, he wasn't. He was looking at all the waitresses. They all wore those skimpy looking black uniforms and Shion definitely looked good in one of those. The black outfit really showed off her figure. The Angel Mort uniform for the waitresses was a black sleeveless and strapless dress with detached sleeves and a short skirt that flared out along with black thigh high stockings.

"OK, here's your ice cream sundae," said Shion. As she turned to leave, she felt him slap her butt. Gasping, Shion turned and glared at Shinichi. "Hey! No touching!"

"Customer privileges. So, when do you get off work? Are you doing anything?" Shinichi asked, looking her up and down.

"Sorry, but not interested," Shion huffed. Shinichi roughly grabbed her wrist. "Shin-chan!"

"What's the matter, Sonozaki? Think you're too good for me?" Shinichi demanded. He then noted the glares he was getting. "Che." He let her go. "You're not worth it."

POW!

Shinichi doubled over and glared at Mion while holding his stomach. "Shi…Shion!"

"Get…Out…" she warned.

"Hmph!" scoffed Shinichi as he walked out of Angel Mort. He then smirked, "Maybe Rena-chan would like it if I did something like that. That girl loves me so much. She'd definitely would want to see me…"

"Shin-kun!"

"And speak of the devil now…" He turned to see Rena. "Hi, Rena-chan!"

"Shin-kun, do you want to go visit your mother in the hospital?" asked Rena.

"Sure," smiled Shinichi. He then noticed her looking at him. "What?"

"You're still not wearing your Magatama," she said. She pointed to the one she was wearing. He frowned in annoyance.

"I still haven't found it," he told her.

"But…"

"Look, I'll look for it soon!" he snapped. "Now, come on. Let's go."

"Must be humiliating to be shot down by so many girls," smirked Lambdadelta.

"Yes, it seems that he is no longer subtle," agreed Virgilia.

"Something tells me there is more to this than meets the eye," observed Beatrice.

"That is true!" laughed Topper. "And soon the proverbial twist of the knife!"

Shinichi sat on his couch, rubbing his newly bruised cheek.

"All I asked was if she wanted to have sex in one of the empty hospital beds," he grumbled. Earlier, he'd gone to the hospital with Rena to visit his mother. While pleased to hear that Shiori was recovering, he was also horny as hell and propositioned Rena for some sex. The girl refused but he pressed on. Unfortunately, when he wouldn't let up, she reacted violently and punched him right in the face.

He then heard the doorbell ring and groaned. "What now?" He shouted, "I'm not interested in buying anything!"

It was not a salesman.

"Shinichi, this is me and Hanyuu," Rika said from the door. "We need to talk. It's urgent."

Shinichi mumbled profanity and got off the couch. He headed to the door. Opening it, he questioned, annoyed, "What?"

"Haven't you heard? The NEO-NUMBERS are dead," said Rika.

"They're dead?" Lambdadelta asked, blinking. "You were hiding that from us!" she accused Topper.

"Oops! My mistake!" Topper then snapped his fingers and sheets of paper appeared before the witches. "Take a look for yourselves!"

POLICE REPORTS BY DETECTIVE KURAODO OISHI

#1: Chiaki Yukinojou was found dead in his campsite, nailed to a tree by a tenting spike through the throat. His body was discovered by Hanyuu Furude who came to visit him. There appears to be signs of a struggle at the scene. No suspects, however, and no evidence were found to suggest the identity of the killer.

#2: Hana Nekozawa and Michiru Misami were found murdered in their room in a boarding house in Okinomiya. There room number was #4. They were found with their throats slashed open. No sign of forced entry or a struggle. It appeared that they were simply caught by surprise by their killer

#3: Yokoshima Ryuunosuke's body was discovered floating in the Onigafuchi swamp by one of the Hinamizawa villagers. There were numerous bruises on his body and it appeared he put up a fight before he was killed and his body was dumped.

#4: Daichi Takashima's body was found in his workplace with his stomach sliced wide open. When his body was discovered he was lying in a pool of his own blood. His body was found by his employer who came to check on him when she heard the dogs barking loudly.

"So?" Shinichi cocked an eyebrow. "What do you want me do about it?"

"Use a Return to the Past," Rika said.

"I've told you that I can't!" he stated. "Of course why would I want to waste it on them?"

Rika looked at him strangely as Hanyuu gasped. "Don't you care? They're your friends!" Hanyuu exclaimed.

Shinichi snorted, "Friends? Yeah right! They tried to kill me! I'm glad they're dead."

Rika had felt suspicious about Shinichi's mannerism all week. This was like those worlds when Shion impersonated Mion in order to commit murders to avenge Satoshi. Then, she realized it.

His change in behavior, coming onto Mion and Shion, yelling at Satoko…She at first suspected it to be BLACK 13's influence but then he wouldn't have changed so much, unless…

"It was you!" Rika accused. "You killed them!"

And immediately, Shinichi's smile was replaced with a frown. "How did you guess?"

"It wasn't easy, but I could tell from your mannerism," said Rika. "You didn't feel anything after the news got out and you've been acting strangely."

"Alright, what about motive?" questioned Shinichi.

"Simple," Rika said. "You're not really Shinichi!" She pointed at him, "He never takes off the Magatama!"

Shinichi's eyes widened and then he laughed. "Ha…haha…HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!'

Hanyuu cringed as she heard that laughter.

"That's good, really good," Shinichi continued to laugh. He reached up and peeled off his 'scar'. Actually, it was a fake and the number branded on him was none other than XIV. "Looks like you found me out. Maybe I should've taken that ugly trinket off him and worn it instead!"

"Who are you?" Rika demanded.

"Call me No. 14, as in WHITE 14. I'm the real Shinji Banabara!" Shinji said.

"You killed Chiaki-san!" shouted Hanyuu.

"Yeah, and it wasn't easy. Guy just wouldn't go down quietly."

With a punch Chiaki was slammed against the tree. Shinji had a tenting spike in his hand. "DIE!" He then stabbed the tenting spike through Chiaki's throat, spilling blood all over him. He licked the blood off his hands and stepped back from Chiaki's body. "Too bad you can't scream. I would've enjoyed it."

"Then I paid No. 11 and No. 07 a visit. They served me tea and crackers," said Shinji. "I almost felt sorry for killing them…almost."

Shinji flicked his hand to reveal the switchblade and with a single swipe he slashed Michiru and Hana's throats open. They had not expected it at all as blood gushed out from their throats. They fell to the floor as blood continued to flow from their open wounds.

"Never open your door to strangers," Shinji laughed.

"No. 09, however, saw me and ran. We had a fight but in the end he also met his demise," said Shinji.

Shinji dragged Yokoshima's bruised and broken body towards the swamp. He then lifted the young man's body up and tossed it into the swamp. He watched in satisfaction as Yokoshima floated, facedown, on the water's surface. He wanted people to find Yokoshima. He wanted people to see what he'd done.

"One more…"

"No. 08 was the hardest to kill. When I went into the place he worked in, the dogs wouldn't stop barking. That was when he realized something was wrong as I snuck up on him. He tried to subdue me, but I managed to grab his guitar and bash him over the head with it."

Shinji took out his dozuki and used it to slice open Daichi's stomach. He watched as the blood came pouring out.

"No more NEO-NUMBERS!" grinned Shinji as he licked his lips.

"And because of trust, they died once more!" laughed Shinji.

"You won't get away with this!" Rika narrowed her eyes.

"Well, if I let you both go, of course not," said Shinji as he glared at them. He snapped his fingers and a machete appeared in his hand. "Well, you're just kids, so not many will believe you. However, you're still heads of the Furude Clan so that gets you a lot of support. I can't risk you getting in the way. Now, be good little girls and hold still."

"NO!" Hanyuu shouted as she blasted Shinji backwards, sending him flying into the wall hard enough to leave a dent. "Rika, we need to run!" Hanyuu grabbed Rika's hand and dragged her along out of the Banabaras' apartment.

"You can run…BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE!" Shinji shouted as he got up and gave chase.

"So, Bernkastel," sneered Lambdadelta. "Looks like Little Rika does it again!"

"Yes," agreed Bernkastel, smiling slightly, proud of the little girl whom she resembled.

"So, what of the true Shinichi?" asked Virgilia curiously.

"Well see for yourselves, ladies," said Topper, snapping his fingers again.

"Marvelous! Amazing! Stupendous!" Gebok cheered as he danced around. In the centre of the room was a tall transparent tube filled with yellowish-red liquid. Inside said tube was none other than Shinichi, the original BLACK 13. "Oh, son! Once we get you back to GIN-SHOCKER, we're going to make you what you were meant to be! Oh, yes we will!" Gebok rubbed his hands together and cackled before skipping out of the room. After Shinichi's capture, he had dissuaded the NUMBERS from killing him. BLACK 13 was far too valuable for GIN-SHOCKER's plans.

How did Shinichi end up here? The answer was quite simple and can be explained via a flashback…

WHITE 14 had indigo hair and eyes just like his. The hair was short like his, parted in the middle like his, and had the twin ahoge like his.

"No! It can't be! It isn't true!" Shinichi cried out in denial.

WHITE 14 was him. An exact mirror image, except for the scar which was XIV instead of XIII.

WHITE 14 smirked. "Of course it's true, clone."

"Clone?" Shinichi echoed. "What do you mean 'clone'?"

WHITE 14 laughed and answered, "I'm the real Shinji Banabara! You're just a clone! A copy! A duplicate! You're not even real!"

"That isn't true!" Shinichi denied.

"Isn't it?" Shinji retorted. "How come you can't remember anything from before you were taken by GIN-SHOCKER?"

"It's because of my amnesia!" Shinichi shot back.

"Amnesia? Such a convenient excuse. The real truth is that those memories were not programmed in you," Shinji explained.

"No…" Shinichi held his head in despair. "No…you're lying!"

'Kill him! Kill him! KILL HIM!'

"YOU'RE LYING!" Shinichi roared as he transformed into BLACK 13. He charged towards his white armored counterpart. With the swing of his fist, he attempted to knock WHITE 14's head off his shoulders but then the white armored Rider vanished in a blur. BLACK 13 stumbled and whirled his head around, shouting, "WHERE ARE YOU!"

…

"Right here."

And suddenly all went black for BLACK 13.

WHITE 14 then called, "Gebok, I got him. Should I kill him?"

Gebok's voice was heard, "Oh no! Just bring him back here!"

"Right."

KR Chrome: So, how many of you guessed correctly?