SHADOW CHAPTER PART 2: SHINOBI

Shinichi opened his eyes and was staring at a familiar white ceiling. "I'm at the clinic again…" he murmured.

"Oh, you're awake," said Dr. Irie as he came to check up on Shinichi.

"How did I get here?" Shinichi asked as he sat up. His body felt sore.

"Oh, some of your friends found you," said Dr. Irie. He pointed over to Hitomi and Rui who were fast asleep in chairs, her head against his shoulder and his head on hers. The two were snoring.

"Hitomi and Rui…" Shinichi smiled.

"They said they found you in the mountains. Did one of those monsters get you?" asked Irie.

"Who are you!" Showa demanded.

"Skull Rider," his opponent answered before kneeing him hard in the gut while letting his hand go. Showa dropped to his knees and then kicked in the face. He rolled onto his back in pain. Looking up, he saw Skull Rider bringing his foot down but Showa caught the foot and tossed Skull Rider away with some effort. He then got to his feet and went on the offensive. He began with several punches that Skull Rider blocked before using a forward kick that nailed Skull Rider in the stomach, sending him reeling. Showa followed up with a roundhouse kick only for Skull Rider to duck and use a sweep kick to knock Showa off his feet. Showa flipped back to his feet and punched at Skull Rider again, only for his strikes to be blocked. Skull Rider saw an opening and used a right cross that tossed Showa's head to the side before nailing Showa in the stomach with his left fist. Showa doubled over, leaving him open for an uppercut that sent him flying.

Showa landed on his back and groaned in pain. 'This guy's tough…' he thought. Skull Rider flicked his wrist and walked over to Showa. He grabbed Showa by his scarf and hauled him up. He drew a fist back but then Showa showed off one of his abilities towards this new enemy.

"Let's Ride: Stronger!" His armor shifted into the form of Kamen Rider Stronger. He planted his hands onto Skull Rider's chest and electrocuted him. Skull Rider's armor began to smoke as electricity crackled over and through his body. This forced him to let Showa go. Showa assumed his default form and summoned his weapon, "Weapon Ride: Showa-Blade!" With his sword in hand he slashed at Skull Rider. However, instead of slicing through flesh he sliced through fabric as both halves of Skull Rider's coat landed at his feet. "Huh!" Looking up, he saw Skull Rider coming back down. "The hell!" Skull Rider drew his gun and aimed, raining shots down on Showa. Showa cried out in pain. Skull Rider then concluded his attack with a boot striking Showa in the head, hard. Showa staggered back, dropping his sword. Skull Rider then kicked Showa violently in the stomach, the impact sending Showa flying backwards and crashing through several trees.

"You could…say that," said Shinichi. "So, does Kaa-chan and Rena-chan know yet?" asked Shinichi.

"Oh, I've called them," answered Dr. Irie. "They should be…" The door burst open, "Arriving soon."

"Shinji!"

"Shin-kun!"

The two women who meant the world to him came barrelling into the room before fussing over him. In their seats, Rui and Hitomi continued to snore.

"I thought you woke up early to deliver papers," said Shiori, "But then Dr. Irie told me you were here."

"You didn't stop by like you usually did at my house, either," added Rena. "I was so worried about you!"

"I'm fine," Shinichi said. "I just got exhausted, that's all."

"But I was so scared…" Shiori whimpered. "I don't want to lose you again, Shinji."

"Me neither," added Rena.

"Relax," he assured them, "I'm not going anywhere…"

Both the NEO-NUMBERS and the Hinamizawa Gaming Club were at the Furude Shrine, sitting together in front of the structure. Shinichi had called all of them for an important meeting. Even if his friends in the Gaming Club really couldn't help him deal with Darklings, Darkloids or GIN-SHOCKER without power granted to them by him, they had the right to know what was going on since they had supported him from the beginning.

"So, you got beat," Daichi chuckled.

"That's not funny," Rena scolded.

"Hey, it is to me. I mean No. 13 is supposed to be the best of the best and he still got beat!"

"TAKE THAT BACK!" shouted Rena, grabbing Daichi by the collar, "AND CALL HIM BY HIS NAME, NOT A NUMBER!"

"Hey, relax, Rena-chan," said Shinichi as he pried her hands off Daichi. He'd just told them about his experience last night. "So, you guys don't know about a Skull Rider? At all?" Shinichi asked the NEO-NUMBERS.

"Sorry, I don't recall someone like that," answered Michiru.

"It doesn't ring a bell for me, either," said Hana.

"Maybe it's a new project by GIN-SHOCKER. I mean maybe they made a new Rider just to fight you," said Yokoshima.

"Sounds like something they'd do," frowned Daichi in thought, "But if that was the case why are you even alive?"

"That's what confuses me," said Shinichi as he tried to think about the reason the Skull Rider had let him live.

"Maybe he isn't from GIN-SHOCKER," supplied Keiichi.

"Then why did he attack Shin-chan?" asked Mion.

None of them had an answer for that.

"This just means I have to get stronger," spoke Shinichi as he clenched his fists tightly in his lap. Shinichi hated losing. Maybe it was his pride but it was humiliating to be beaten and left alive by an opponent who had the opportunity to kill him. It was like he was being taunted.

Shinichi felt a hand on his right fist and looked up to see Rena looking at him in concern. Another hand rested on his left fist and he looked to see Rika smiling at him in encouragement.

"We'll help you get stronger," said Rena.

"Together," added Rika.

"Thanks," Shinichi said, looking at all his friends. Even Hitomi and Rui, who were formerly outsiders, were part of their group.

"Yosh! Let's start Shin-chan's training!" Mion pumped her fist.

"Onee, you're really fired up," giggled Shion.

"Hey, it's not everyday you get to help a superhero train," said Mion.

"True," said Shion.

"But how exactly are we going to help Shinichi train?" asked Satoshi.

"Yes, how?" asked Hanyuu. "Do you have any ideas, Chiaki-san?" The mute Rider shrugged.

"Oh, leave that to me," smiled Satoko eagerly. She already had plans for an obstacle course she could use.

"If you need help, we're here for you," said Hitomi.

"Yeah, what the idiot said," Rui joined in. "And I'm gonna make sure you turn into a fighting machine!"

Shinichi was somehow comforted by the idea of his friends helping him, but was a bit discomforted by the gleam in Rui's eyes.

"Che," Daichi scoffed. "Whatever."

"I think he should stop," said Mion as he watched the spectacle.

"Not until he breaks 3 more," said Rui.

"He'll have a concussion if he tries to break more!" Mion shouted.

"You want a head-butt, green girl?" Rui glared, tapping her forehead. Mion backed away from the crazy head-butt girl.

The first step of Shinichi's new training regime was suggested by Rui. He was to break a number of breaks with his forehead and he'd broken 7 already. A bruise was starting to form on his forehead and he looked like he was about to collapse from pain.

"Rui, babe," spoke Hitomi. "As much as I agree with your training, I don't think head-butting bricks is going to help him much."

"Don't argue with me, baka." She shouted at Shinichi, "And you! More head-butting!"

"Hai…" Shinichi groaned.

"You know, this was entertaining the first few times," spoke Daichi, "But now it's just…pathetic."

"OK, one more brick," said Shinichi and he smashed it to pieces with his forehead. However, this one knocked him out as he fell on his back.

"Shin-kun!" Rena screamed.

"What did you do? Run into a brick wall repeatedly?" asked Dr. Irie as he wrapped bandages around Shinichi's forehead.

"Training," Shinichi said.

"Well, don't overdo it, Banabara-kun," said Irie as he secured the bandages. "You're lucky you didn't get a concussion.

"Pick up the pace, Shin-chan! Move it! Move it!" shouted Mion through a paper megaphone as she rode after Shinichi on her bicycle. He was jogging in front of her, working up a sweat. "You still got two more laps, Shin-chan!"

"Alright, Shinichi-san! Welcome to my obstacle course!" said Satoko as she presented said course to Shinichi. It looked like a standard obstacle course. There was the two rows of tires Shinchi would need to run through, then the rope net he would need to crawl under, followed by a wall he had to climb over and finally he had to avoid falling into trap holes Satoko had dug all over the ground outside Rika's home. Satoko got all the materials she needed from the junkyard.

"Knowing you, something is going to blow up in my face," Shinichi deadpanned.

Satoko laughed, "Do you doubt me, Shinichi-san?"

Shinichi looked to Satoshi, "Satoshi, you supervised her. Are you sure she didn't leave any nasty surprises?"

Satoshi shook his head and answered, "I'm sure."

"Alright!" Shinichi clapped his hands together.

"And start!" Satoko whistled.

Shinichi began to run through the obstacle course.

"I asked Kasai to help with this," said Shion. "Are you ready?"

Shion, Kasai and Shinichi were on the roof of the apartment building. Shinichi nodded and then he attacked Kasai. Being Shion's bodyguard meant that Kasai would be knowledgeable about martial arts, including Judo.

Shinichi found himself landing on his back several times, thrown by Kasai.

When Shinichi returned home that night, he was completely exhausted and sore. He appreciated the help he was getting from his friends, but he wondered if they were going to kill him while trying to help him.

"Shinji, you look awful," said Shiori. "What did you do?"

"Training," he replied.

"I see," she nodded. "Get out of those clothes and wash up, young man. You reek of sweat. Oh, and the Smiths have invited us all to dinner at their home so please dress nicely."

"Hai…" He was tired, but also hungry, so dinner sounded like a good idea.

"You look tired, Shinichi," Warren said as he watched Shinichi yawn at the dinner table. They were having homemade pizza.

"Oh, just been doing some exercise," Shinichi answered as he bit into his slice of pizza. "This is delicious."

"A friend taught me how to make it," answered Warren.

"Compliments to the chef!" remarked Shiori jokingly.

Having food in him really helped to calm Shinichi's nerves. Tomorrow was another day of training, starting right after his newspaper delivery. He needed to get serious. He didn't have a choice.

"Oh, and don't overdo it while exercising," advised Warren. "It might do you more harm than good. Your body isn't a machine."

"He's right," agreed Rachel. "If you overwork your body, it'll burn our and break down and won't do anybody any good."

"I'll remember that, Rachel-san," nodded Shinichi. He yawned again. Shiori frowned. She was going to have to tell him to not go on patrol tonight. He looked completely drained.

"That was a delicious dinner, wasn't it, Kaa-chan?" Shinichi spoke.

"Shinji, I don't want you to go on patrol tonight, no matter what," Shiori ordered.

"Huh?"

"You're tired, and you need rest. Warren-san and Rachel-san are right about you needing to rest after so much exercise."

Shinichi looked to the ground. "I don't know if I can just rest…"

"You're not the only Rider here, Shinji. You have a team that can help pick up the slack, or have you forgotten?"

The NEO-NUMBERS. Of course. They could help deal with the Darklings and Darkloids in his absence. However…

No, he had to learn to trust them so they could learn to trust him. He wasn't dealing with this alone anymore. He had his friends and allies.

"Alright, Kaa-chan. I'll rest for tonight," he obeyed.

In Okinomiya, three of the NEO-NUMBERS were in battle, fighting Darklings.

"Damn it!" Musician shouted as he annihilated the Darklings with a blast from his military fork. "Is this what he has to deal with each night?"

"Looks like it," said Carmen as she used her scythes to slash the Darklings to ribbons.

"Stop grumbling," Arachnea frowned as she used her webbing to trap a number of Darklings before rushing through and slicing them apart with the 8 connected kamas.

"Wonder how Chiaki and Yokoshima are dealing with them where they are," Carmen spoke.

"CANNONBALL!" Armadillo shouted as he came down and crushed the Darklings under his body.

Slasher's chainsaws tore them apart with ease. They were in the forest and dealing with the Darklings which had just appeared.

Armadillo had joined Slasher in the forest in order to help him fight some of the Darklings which nested there.

The next morning, Shinichi, as usual, after finishing his paper route, stopped by Rena's for breakfast. Her father was back and so he joined both of them at the table to eat breakfast. Rena even prepared coffee for him.

"So, do you plan on doing more training?" Rena asked Shinichi.

Rena's father curiously asked, "Training? For what?"

"Oh, just so I can keep up with the others when we play our more physical games," answered Shinichi. His training consisted of combat practice with the NEO-NUMBERS, running laps around the village, and going through Satoko's obstacle course and whatever ideas his friends had as ideas for training. He didn't look forward to Rui's training. He got headaches just thinking about it.

"Let's skip training for today," said Rena. "You deserve a break after yesterday."

"But I already got a good night's sleep," said Shinichi. "I'm all rested.

"No argument, Shin-kun," Rena said firmly. "You and I are going on a date today so you can relax. Is that understood?"

Shinichi nodded. There was really no talking Rena out of it when she put her mind into doing something. "Alright, we'll go on a date today, just the two of us."

Rena beamed and hugged him around the neck before pecking his cheek.

"So, Rena and Shinichi are on a date, huh?" Keiichi inquired of Mion. She'd come to visit him in the morning. His parents were out of town again, leaving him alone. "And I thought he was serious about training."

"Oh, he is," Mion defended, "But knowing Rena she probably just wants to help Shinichi relax. I mean I made him run 3 laps around the entire village. It's a miracle he didn't collapse after the first two."

"Yeah, it's easy to forget that he has way more stamina than all of us combined. He even went through Satoko's obstacle course without a scratch on him."

They were having breakfast together at the dining table and being alone like this was peaceful. "So, how are things at your place?"

"Well, Oni-baba's gotten pretty ill," said Mion, "But she still insists she's fine."

"That old woman? I doubt even the Grim Reaper would come for her, knowing how scary she is," Keiichi joked. Mion laughed.

"You're right about that."

"So, is it true that Shinichi used your family's helmet?" Keiichi questioned.

"Yeah, he told us and Rika confirmed it," answered Mion. "He used the Oni no Hone and transformed into a new form, just like he did when he used the Higurashi no Yaiba."

"I'm betting he gets a new form when he uses the Kage no Hoshi, next," Keiichi spoke. "Wonder what it will be like?"

"A ninja, maybe?" Mion guessed. "It would fit considering that the Kage no Hoshi is a shuriken."

"Yeah, it should be cool," said Keiichi.

"Damn," Mion muttered.

"What's wrong?" Keiichi asked.

"I just feel useless right now. All we can do is help Shin-chan train and he's the one risking his life for us," said Mion.

"But what else can we do? Sure, we beat Takano-san but this is huge. Shinichi has to fight an entire organization and it's the same organization that game him his powers," replied Keiichi, "It's just lucky that he has a team that can back him up."

"But it's so unfair! We should be that team, right?"

"I feel the same way, but this is something he has to do."

"It still doesn't make me feel better and Rena probably feels even worse knowing what he has to face everyday."

"Hey, we have to have faith in our friends, right?" grinned Keiichi.

"Yeah, you're right, Kei-chan" Mion smiled.

"How did it turn up this way?" Showa grimaced as he dodged an energy blast from the Leech Rider, No. 01: Scanner. Both Shinichi and Rena were just riding along the road together, headed to Okinomiya, when all of a sudden Scanner ambushed them. It would appear that Scanner had absorbed the abilities of the NUMBERS since he'd created crystal spikes that suddenly sprouted out of the ground. It was only due to his quick thinking and reflexes that he was able to save Rena. Rena was hiding behind the Showa-Racer as the energy barrier shielded her.

Scanner was in the air, balls of energy in each palm. He fired them continuously at Showa, laughing at the explosions he was causing with each blast. "What's the matter, BLACK 13? Too scared to fight me?"

Showa frowned. He knew Scanner was goading him but right now he needed a plan to counter Scanner's attacks. If he tried to transform into another Rider, Scanner would take advantage and attack him in mid-transformation.

Scanner changed tactics and fired a rain of needles at Showa instead. Showa saw the needles coming and quickly summoned his sword. He swung his blade repeatedly, batting the needles harmlessly away from his body. Then he summoned his gun and fired, but the shots bounced off a barrier surrounding Scanner.

"Dr. Gebok gave me some upgrades!" mocked Scanner, "Now, just let me absorb all your power and it'll be all over!"

"Sorry, but I'm currently using my power and I'm not sharing," Showa shot back.

Angered by Showa's audacity, Scanner armed himself with machineguns like Bombers and opened fire at Showa. Showa valiantly tried to defend himself by batting the bullets away, but a few managed to pass through his defences, hitting him. Small explosions of sparks erupted from his armor and his knees nearly buckled under the onslaught. However, he was not going to quit. Quitting would mean Rena's death and he was not going to let her die.

"RIDER BOMB!" Showa sent an energy ball flying at Scanner. The ball blasted right through Scanner's barrier and exploded against his chest. Showa and Rena watched as he plummeted and crashed into the crystals he'd made earlier. Showa rushed towards Scanner but was struck by a crescent energy blade that cut into his armor. He felt it go right through him. He probably had a very nasty cut right now.

"Shin-kun!" Rena cried out.

"I'll be fine! Don't worry about me! Just stay put!" he ordered. "I'll be fine. I promise."

"How touching," chuckled Scanner as he stood up among the shattered crystals, "Trying to act all cool in the face of danger."

"It's not an act when I really am cool," Showa remarked.

"You have a smart mouth, No. 13. Why don't I shut it for you?" He aimed his machinegun arms at Showa. "Prepare to meet your maker!" He fired.

However, something flew in between the barrage and Showa, deflecting the bullets as it spun around and around. "What?" Scanner gawked to see what it was. Floating in the air, with a light around it and still spinning was the Kage no Hoshi.

"About time," smirked Showa. If this worked then the Kago no Hoshi would grant him a new form.

"NO! I WON'T LET YOU!" Scanner grabbed the shuriken but it cut its way through his hand, mutilating it as blood splashed. Scanner screamed in agony from having his hand being cut through. The Kage no Hoshi flew straight towards Showa and imbedded itself within his chest. Rena then watched as her boyfriend exploded with ebony energy. Scanner was blown away by the energy being generated by Showa. "What is going on!"

And then he heard the words as the energy turned into a dark aura which surrounded Showa.

"Born in darkness, to live in darkness, and eventually return to the darkness…that is the path of a ninja." The dark aura vanished, revealing Showa's new form. His armor and bodysuit had turned completely black with blue plating on his gauntlets and boots. His torso armor resembled a ninja's uniform in black with blue trim. On his back was a large four pointed shuriken. His helmet had also changed, sporting yellow eyes and a four-pointed shuriken mounted in the centre of his helmet.

This was his new form…Kage Form.