Chapter 4: D on the Horizon/Gamblers of Fate
Author's note:
To my readers, I'm terribly sorry about the delays. It HAS been a heck of a while since my last update, but school, ideas, and life have been getting in the way. Don't worry though – hopefully, new chapters will be getting in at much shorter intervals from here on, so just hold on and keep reviewing as always!
Just a few minutes after discussing the Gaia Memories with Neo-DEAVA, Amata was already having a nervous breakdown.
Then again, having pretty much no real resources whatsoever in preparing for a long-term conflict with monsters straight out of a tokusatsu drama like Kamen Rider could do that to most people – 'Ah, there I go again,' the redhead thought to himself in self-depreciation, 'leading myself in circles.'
So, while mostly everybody else prepared either for another day of school – which, now that he thought about it, seemed too normal to be related with a war against a fleet of alien machines – or just working at Neo-DEAVA, Amata was now pacing along the entirety of the school campus trying to build a plan of attack for what else might come Vega's way. Well, that and trying to figure out more about his sudden transformation using Aquarion as his body.
It was certainly the first time he'd ever seen a mecha being used as a body for a superhero like a Kamen Rider. And considering that he had used Aquarion of all bots – the 'Mechanical Angel' as it was called – he certainly had reasons for concern.
Of course, Amata must have been at it for quite a while – when he finally stopped to get some rest, he realized that it was already sunset, and he was quite a ways away from the main body of the Academy building. And, to his further dismay, he really had no idea about where to go from here.
Simply put, he was lost.
'Smooth move, jackass.' Amata berated himself as he slapped his forehead with an angry palm. 'Only an idiot would have gone and gotten himself lost in unfamiliar territory – and you did it. Well,' he then turned around, 'the best thing to do would probably be retracing my steps. It's better than waiting around till tomorrow.'
And that would've been how he got back if he didn't notice that guy from before – ah, right, Andy W. Hol – doing something with the ground on the boy's side. In fact, it looked like he was digging! With his curiosity piqued, Amata walked on over to the sizable hole the official Element had already dug and announced his presence.
"Yo, Andy! Fancy seeing you here!"
"Huh?" Andy then poked his head out of the hole, before his eyes landed on Amata. "Oh, hey, Amata! Didn't think you'd be here at this time of the day!"
"I don't think I should be, actually." Scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, he then added "Truth is, I think I'm lost."
Silence. Then….
"….pwahahaha! Yeah, I'd figured you'd do that on your first day. And without anybody to tell you where to go too…." Andy then shrugged before he waved it off. "Well, as long as you're here, I might as well invite you along. So, come on down, Digger Bro! The road of hope awaits us!"
"Digger Bro?" Amata quirked an eyebrow in confusion, before the rest of Andy's sentence came to him. "Wait, the road of hope? Hope for what?"
Andy's grin held as much ambition and mischief as Amata could've seen on anybody else – which usually meant one thing:
"Simple – to the girls' side of the Academy!"
And there it is, proving Amata's suspicions right.
"So what about it, man? Ready to find the light of bliss at the end of the tunnel we'll dig?" the beanie-wearing Element offered his hand in brotherhood, looking like he and the redhead were off to a whole new frontier.
"….." Amata looked flatly at him, eyebrows betraying his thoughts about the idea ('This is gonna land him in trouble, I know it!') before he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Very well, but I'm only doing this to help your ass out of trouble – and yes, there will be plenty of it if you're not careful, trust me!"
"AWRIGHT!" Andy cheered, going back down the hole as Amata followed, "the Digger Brothers officially start tonight!" Not even hesitating, Andy plunged his hands, now glowing with yellow light, before he took a perfect circle of dirt out of the wall that made the back of the cave they were in.
"This is your Element power – making perfect holes in the dirt?" Amata blinked at the display.
"Not just the dirt – wherever there are weak spots crying out, I come to answer their desires!" Andy proudly proclaimed. "That's my pride as an adventurer!"
Amata could only chuckle at the act – at least Andy was passionate about what he did. The fact that there were already a few buckets filled with earth, a lantern plus flashlights, and an extra shovel in the tunnel space showed that Andy could plan ahead, at least.
"Come on, bro!" Andy then started digging again, making more progress as Amata joined him in earnest. "Paradise awaits us!"
'Or a whole lot of trouble that could land us both in jail,' Amata snarked.
A bit later after they started, Andy and Amata were now, according to the former, right underneath the grounds of the girls' side.
"This is it bro!" Andy whispered to Amata in barely contained excitement. "You ready to see the part of heaven known as girl Element country?"
"That and getting the f*&^ outta dodge if we're caught." Amata replied, rolling his amethyst orbs.
"Ah, you worry too much!" Andy bounced back. "Let's get ready to rock! WOOO!"
He plunged his hands into the soil above them, causing it to glow with his Element aura and bulge outwards until it burst apart. Helping Amata up, Andy then declared,
"And so we've thrust our way in!" He then shook hands with Amata, his hand meeting Amata's with a rather loud clap.
Said clap managed to draw the attention of a certain cat and his owner, who just happened to have her back to the two guys.
The two sides met – one happening to unintentionally look up the other's legs and….well, the situation speaks for itself.
"M-Mikono-san?..." Amata sputtered weakly. 'Oh hell….'
"Ah…." the girl then flushed red before she turned away with a screech. "UWAAAAAH!"
"…Oops." Andy supplied, nearly scrambling back himself. Unfortunately, his actions accidentally brushed up a cloud of dust and soil, most of which landed into poor Amata's nose.
And worst of all, Amata's Alex self happened to be allergic to dust.
"Ah…AH…AAAH….CHOOOO!"
With a sneeze that seemed more like a cannon blast in terms of force, Amata actually managed to send himself flying into the air – with Mikono literally right on top of his head!
"EEEYAAAAH!" Mikono screamed, due to both the two of them suddenly flying and Amata's head pushing right into….well, that could go without saying. "Let me down! Let me dooooown!" she cried, pounding her fists on Amata's head.
"Ow! Hey wait – oww! Mikono-san, hold on, I can't help either of us like this!" Amata protested as the violet-haired girl struggled on top of him. "You've gotta change position first!"
"But how?!" she yelled at him, just as they began to slow down.
"Just drop down and trust me!" he replied.
Mikono did just that, and Amata just embraced her, acting as a shield for her body. And not a moment too soon – they were now both dropping back onto the ground, which was pretty damn far away!
"HOLD ON!" was Amata's last words before they met the dirt.
CROOOSH!
Both of the two soon-to-be Elements crashed onto the ground before bouncing and rolling quite a bit, though Mikono was spared most of the damage thanks to Amata shielding her. After a few heart-pounding moments, they finally rolled to a stop – with Mikono on top of a bruised and battered Amata, almost like a day before.
Struggling to stay conscious, Amata crooned his neck to face Mikono before he gave a defeated grin. "Sorry for the trouble."
And then he fell into unconsciousness once again, not hearing Mikono's concerned cries.
At an unknown distance away from Vega, the red planet Altair hung about as it desperately raced to preserve itself.
Unknown to the inhabitants of Vega, Altair's population was actually on the brink of collapse – by unknown circumstances, the majority of females on the entire planet started dying out, to the point that the remaining few had to be put into stasis to ensure their safety as well as the future of Altair. With the threat of extinction hanging over their shoulders, Altair's government ultimately had to resort to finding any and every female capable of surviving not only the transportation via Dimension Gate, but also this "Curse of Eve" – Rare Iguras, as the Altians called them.
Thus, the Abductors came to be for the people of Vega.
Kagura Demuri, though, had more pressing matters to deal with as of the moment.
Not long after recovering from his battle against the Mechanical Angel, the wild redhead snuck out of his quarters in the hospital and made a run for the hideout he had built over the course of his ten years on Altair.
He knew for a fact that something was up with everything about and around him – he ultimately remembered nothing about his life before a decade ago, and he had plenty of doubts about how Altair handled their relations (or lack of) with Vega. Hell, as far as he was concerned, Altair was probably better off left to die if it had to resort to Abducting people – the last thing anybody needed was an interstellar war.
That was the real reason he acted the way he did – as long as he played the beast that acted on the Altian military's leash, everybody else would give him a wide berth. Nobody else aside from Commander Izumo would even look at him, and thus they'd be out of the line of fire.
Even with all of his flaws, chief among them a desperate need for any real sense of family, Kagura still had enough standards to not want anybody else be involved with that bastard Mykage Towano.
The pretty boy with white feathers for hair was a monster in every sense of the word, and Kagura knew it. When he wasn't under Izumo's eye, Mykage spent most of Kagura's childhood systematically screwing the young boy over – torture, abuse, or even mental images of horrors that would have otherwise created a seriously twisted individual.
And yet for all of that effort – not that Kagura was stupid enough to let it show in front of the bastard – Mykage hadn't really broken the redhead into becoming his personal attack dog, at best.
Though Kagura himself wasn't really aware of the hows and whys, he was beyond grateful for the dreams he had had over his ten years on Altair – if Mykage trapped him in a cage of rose thorns, his mind would call back to memory one of countless unique figures from the folds of his dreams. From that boisterous tattooed swordsman to the caring, but steel-spined sharpshooting woman, someone or something born from his memories would come back to help him hold on to his sanity and his heart.
Even though he knew – or rather, found out – that most of these people were either already long gone or not real, he still had the utmost respect and gratitude for their being there for him. They all helped him become a better person – better understanding of people, and in this case, better prepared.
"Things are really starting, huh?" He muttered to himself as he drew the tarpaulin that hid his hideout to the side before closing it behind him. As he looked back at it, Kagura knew, just knew, that all of this would finally pay off in the end – and whatever happened, it would all lead back to the Mechanical Angel, Aquarion.
And he was pretty sure that only he knew the real truth – ironically enough, through the same dreams that he learned were of fictional characters. Apollo, Silvia and Sirius, Baron, Reika – all of these people were at the center of the real flow of events concerning twelve-thousand years ago, not Apollon and Sylvie as everyone else remembered them. Furthermore, he was also aware of the new power aiding them – the first of the 'Neo-Heisei' generation of legendary heroes, warriors known as…Kamen Riders.
More importantly, though, and Kagura knew this well, whoever brought the powers of the Gaia Memories into the equation also had a significant part to play in helping Altair get back on the right course. For now, though, he had to stay back as another cog of the Altian military machine – but, hopefully, not for much longer.
Looking at the one lone Memory he had in his possession, Kagura then tapped back into the well of energy he had discovered, once again 'diving' into Altair's own energy network. Another day of trying to root out anything that could've been harming the planet – but with one new change:
'You're not the only one trying to find the truth, kid.' Kagura thought back to what that Double guy said about his new mission. 'But wait just a little longer.'
'Nothing is ever hidden away without a reason…..'
Waking up, Amata once again found himself in the Academy medical center. And just like before, he found Mikono dozing to the side, breathing softly as she slept. He couldn't help but break a grin at the sight. "Ever the fretful one, eh Mikono-san?"
"Hmm?" the younger Suzushiro muttered as she blinked her eyes awake, before she then turned to Amata. She looked happily relieved for a moment before she then frowned, even crossing her arms in a scolding gesture. For all intents and purposes, she was certainly upset – but Amata couldn't figure if it was his breaking into the girls' side, looking up her skirt, or using himself as a human shield. Probably all three, or a combination of some sort.
Her stare probably would've worked if she didn't have her face set in a pout, which only highlighted how cute she could be. But then again, her eyes did have some steel to them, and Amata certainly knew better than to give others more reason to be angry and worried about him. So, for the time being, he shut up once he said, "May I say that I'm honestly sorry for what happened last night?"
"And….?" Mikono suggested, though the redhead couldn't figure out what else she wanted from him.
"What else is there to apologize for?"
"What else is there to apologize for?" she repeated incredulously. "How could you have possibly brushed off the fact that you blatantly pushed yourself headfirst into danger without even thinking about it?!" she added as she slammed her hands onto the bed, which startled Amata enough to get him scrambling away. Now she was really ticked – and, well….maybe he should've expected this, actually. In hindsight, what he did was pretty reckless….
But it was a spur-of-the-moment thing, really. And it wasn't like he could've done anything else…
"I-It's not like I could've done anything else!" he hastily argued, waving his hands in a placating manner.
"Oh?" Mikono – rather uncharacteristically – drawled, her eyebrow raised in a lack of amusement. "And I suppose you couldn't utilize your Gaia Memories like last time? HMM?"
Amata blinked, then stopped with his words frozen. "Oh….right." he answered sheepishly.
Mikono started getting angry again, then let loose an explosive sigh of exasperation. "If this is really how you act normally, then I'll be honest;" she then deadpanned at him: "You're an idiot."
Amata fell forward at the remark. 'So cruel!'
But to his surprise, Mikono then affectionately bonked him on the head, even saying "But it looks like you're my idiot to take care of."
"Wait – what?" Amata cried out, disbelieving what she just said. "I am not that bad! Honestly!" he added.
"That's not exactly something we can be sure of, as of this moment." Professor Dantes's voice interrupted Amata's line of thought. Both of the main occupants turned to see Professor Dantes himself, alongside Miss Suomi as well as Andy, Zessica, and the really bitter-looking guy with the navy/black hair from the first battle.
"In light of the situations at hand, coupled with the….incident last night," he directed a glare at Andy, then at Amata, "The best course of action would be for one of our senior Elements to act as Overseer for you alongside Miss Suzushiro." Dantes then turned to Zessica.
"Until we can tell otherwise, you are to act as Mister Sora's official guide and custodian. That is, if you do not object, Miss Wong."
And as if he didn't feel like a moron already, Amata felt even more blows to his ego when Zessica actually smiled it off. "Eh, I'm okay with it. Heck, it might even be fun!" She even added a cat's grin to her sentence!
Amata could only palm his face in despair.
Mikono sighed as well. "You really must be an idiot to need two sane girls in your life, Amata-kun." she said with another sigh of suffering as she pointed another glare at Amata.
And with that, Amata gave up and collapsed back onto the bed, double-facepalming himself as he willed himself to go out, there and now.
Being a hero was tough, he knew that, but it couldn't have been like this!
A few hours later, the trio of Amata, Mikono and Zessica was sent out by High Commander Fudo to help the new Elements get better acquainted with their new home city, Neo Kowloon. Along with that, he also went on about how they should start the whole "Social Observation Exercise" that would supposedly help the Elements reach Aquarion's powers without it going berserk, much like the incident nine years ago.
In other words, they were going to check if people could get close without letting hormones take over while on a date, or some other lunacy like that. In fact, when he heard it, Amata was the first person to call it out.
"So you're saying that people shouldn't build genuine relationships like love? How the hell is any of that right?!"
In response, Fudo brushed him off with a neatly-blocked punch as he said,
"But if one truly wishes to find love, then they mist first become masters of their own emotions, right Amata Sora?" with that ever-present, 'I know more than you do' smile.
On second thought, maybe he shouldn't have compared Fudo to DenLiner's Owner – at least the other one was more honest, and actually more likeable than the ever-enigmatic High Commander.
Moving on, though, the three teens were pretty much left to their own devices with only a flier of the "Date Plan" from Neo-DEAVA helping them. That, and some 'shock-bands' for the girls – Amata was the only one exempt from the whole thing ("Seriously? This is going too far!") But truth be told, Amata was still just plain nervous – why did he feel like he was being watched by somebody?
"OI! Earth to Rookie-kun!" Zessica's voice startled the new Kamen Rider back into conscious awareness of his surroundings. "Miko-chan and I were planning on going to the tower next. You coming or what?"
"Oh – yeah! I'm going, don't worry!" he supplied as he raced up to catch up with the two girls. Once he did, though, Zessica acted pretty boldly and latched onto his left arm, even brushing it into her cleavage!
"HEY!" Amata cried indignantly. "Th-that's not funny!"
"With the way you're acting, it is to me!" Zessica retorted, once again smiling like a Cheshire cat.
"Ah!" Mikono cried when she looked back at the two, not liking Zessica's approach at all. "Zessica-san! That's not right!"
"Aw~, are you jealous perhaps, Miko-nyan?" the more experienced Element suggested, holding tighter on Amata's arm.
"Mmm…." Mikono groaned in reply, before she took Amata's right hand in her left and started leading the both of them faster towards the tower. "And you were supposed to look after him, too!"
"Hey, come on, you two!" Amata said, trying to keep the two from fighting. "This is supposed to be a – a date, and that means no arguments!"
Strangely enough, both of the girls looked at him and said, in unison, "You're in no position to talk, mister!" After that, both of them then looked at each other, before sharing a smirk and a nod before Zessica continued. "It might not look like it, but I am still watching you, Rookie-kun."
"It's not like I'm going anywhere else with you two trapping me like this." the redhead deadpanned at her.
Both of the girls smiled the Cheshire smile again, although the fact that even Mikono got in on it unnerved Amata a lot. "Exactly."
"But even so…" Zessica then paused, looking back at Mikono before she turned back to Amata. "Amata-kun," at this Amata was surprised – this was the first time she had actually used his name – "I know you probably take a lot of pride and responsibility in being a Kamen Rider, but even then, can you promise us that you won't take any risks, especially out here? Please?"
With a nudge, Mikono brought Amata's attention to herself as well. Even with a worried look in her eyes, she nodded with a small smile at him. Between that and Zessica's plea….well, it wasn't like he could refuse this kind of thing anyway, so Amata went along with it.
"I don't know if it'll get easier (which it probably won't), but yeah, I'll be careful."
"So you can be responsible after all." Mikono teased him, letting him go as she started speeding up a bit.
"Yeah!" Zessica added, even reaching up to pet Amata on the head! "Good boy!"
"AH-!" Amata started, only to be interrupted by the two girls laughing before they both raced on ahead. And although he was pretty indignant (but then again, wouldn't anybody be if they were being treated like a pet that did something good for their owner?), even he couldn't push the humor out of his voice. "Come and take that back, you two! That wasn't funny at all!"
And thus, the three managed to get their first assignment under way with a very good start – something that even Donar, who was secretly accompanying them via rooftop, couldn't break up.
"Maybe he'll be able to do the things I failed to do." he added wistfully to his thoughts. "I just hope he'll be able to keep that up…"
Thankfully, though, his presence wasn't unwelcome – to his right of vision, he saw a small group of men in pretty crisp suits subtly – but still suspiciously – making their way to the tower.
To where his students were!
"So much for a so-called 'peaceful' assignment," Donar sighed bitterly as he prepared the dart gun on his right robotic arm.
Whatever was happening, a new party was playing its first move.
And if it looked like Amata was part of their plans…then things were officially going to a new stage.
After some more hijinks going up the tower – although the people there were kind enough to just simply ask the trio to keep things to respectable levels – Amata finally got to rest for a while alongside Mikono and Zessica, watching the setting sun while nursing a cool bottle of apple green tea. Resting a little more, he then raised his bottle up in a toast.
"Well, I can definitely say that today was good ol' fashioned fun, right ladies?"
Joining him with their own drinks, the two girls chorused with an "Absolutely!"
"Cheers!" they all declared before they started drinking, with the girls idly leaning on Amata as he reclined against the wall of the tower. So far, the day-long date had been a fun experience – sight-seeing from the tower, dining they couldn't have afforded otherwise, and just being able to see the sunset like this….Amata couldn't tell if he was lucky for this moment or if he had finally found a break.
"This almost seems too good to last," he replied wistfully as he closed his eyes a bit.
"Hmph!" Zessica retorted as she playfully elbowed his side, Mikono not far behind. "Don't try spoiling it, Ama-kun!"
"Hai, hai!" he added automatically.
It would've been an otherwise nice wind-down if the door didn't let some new occupants in. Said occupants immediately got Amata on edge, tensing up and motioning to the girls to get behind him.
The first of the well-dressed….Amata could only guess that they were thugs, if only looking at their body language and all, greeted them by turning around a bit and offering a seemingly-harmless nod. "Oh! I'm terribly sorry, I…hope my companions and I weren't interrupting anything."
"Don't worry," Amata then stood up, the girls following but still behind him, "you weren't."
"Ah, that's certainly a relief." the first thug answered again. "I do hate causing unneeded delays in others' affairs. Terrible display of manners, if I do say so myself."
"Indeed…" Amata said in reply, edging towards the exit with Mikono and Zessica.
He would've gotten the other two to safety, too, if he didn't suddenly feel cold steel pressing against his head. "I think we've been fooling around enough." a gruff voice sounded behind him, leaving no room for argument. With no other options, Amata and the other two raised their hands in surrender, letting their assailant lead them back to the gang of thugs.
"Heh. Don't know what's got ol' fancy pants Witch-doctor on edge with this kid, but I can understand how Neo-DEAVA could screw us over if we're not careful." One of the thugs commented as they gave the Elements (well, one Element, one tentative Element, and an Element that happened to be a Kamen Rider) a once-over.
"Witch-doctor?" Amata said in confusion.
"Look, kid," the gunslinger, another person of Japanese descent in a black mercenary uniform, grunted as he kept his sizable pistol trailed on Amata. "If you really are that curious, all you need to know is that our boss is…well, let's just say his voodoo isn't something you'd want to cross."
"You don't say." Amata snarked, although he was also plenty worried. 'Actual voodoo…this doesn't sound good.'
"Hey, hey, don't go tryin' to test 'em, man!" the thugs protested at Amata's casual disbelief. "You don't wanna see him unleash his demons, man! He's for real!"
"I think that this is enough for now." the gunslinger finished for all of them. "Just to let you three know: We're not going to really hurt you…much, if you cooperate."
"You are NOT harming my students!"
With that, a flashbang grenade exploded near the rest of the criminal group, disorienting them enough for Amata to lead Mikono and Zessica back through the door and towards safety.
Soon enough, Dantes rushed up to greet them. "You kids go on ahead and get out of here! I'll apprehend them!"
"Got it!" Zessica answered as she helped Mikono race down the stairs close to the elevator. Amata, though, chose to stay behind.
"Sora, what are you doing?"
"Helping you stop these lunatics!" came the curt response.
"These are trained, professional criminals, kid! You're not ready for this!" Dantes argued.
Looking at him, Amata then smirked before he took out both of his Gaia Memories. "You're forgetting something, sensei – I'm not just an Element!"
As if answering to his will, a Double Driver manifested itself on Amata's waist.
"I'm also a Kamen Rider!"
"CYCLONE!" "JOKER!"
Setting the two Memories in place, Amata then assumed the classic Rider stance before saying the magic word:
"Henshin!"
"CYCLONE! JOKER!"
A strong wind suddenly blew, causing debris to go flying in all directions. The same debris spun around Amata before slamming onto his body and forming a suit. The suit of armor covered his entire body and looked streamlined. The left half was completely black with purple highlighting on the shoulders, wrists, ankles and chest. The right half was completely green, with yellow highlighting on the shoulders, chest, wrists and ankles as well. A silver stripe ran down the middle. The helmet had a pair of round red eyes and the sharp 'W' shaped antenna, which could be mistaken for a 'V', was set on his brow with a red stone under it. Hanging from the right side of his neck was a long silver scarf that was like a cape as it was blown by the wind.
"Now, count the number of your crimes!" Amata declared as he struck the Double pose.
Kamen Rider Double had made his debut on Vega.
"N-no way!" The thugs gasped at the sight of the Rider.
"He has those things too?"
"Where did he get a Driver?"
Quirking an eyebrow, Double then crossed his arms in annoyance. "Alright, you guys have a lot to answer and answer for. So come along quietly and-!"
A gunshot missed Double as he cartwheeled out of the way, coming to a stop as Dantes took up the other flank. The gunslinger could only sigh in anger through his nose.
"Damn – another Memory user? Not good for us!" He then gestured to the rest of his unit. "Men! Assume formation, now!"
Following his command, the thugs brought out their own Gaia Memories – sinister looking things surrounded by what looked like ribcages – before they plugged them into their bodies with mechanical cries of "MASQUERADE!" Accompanying them was the gunman plugging his own Memory into his palm, his giving a cry of "TRIGGER!"
Not long after, Double and Dantes found themselves facing a small platoon of the ribcage-masked Masquerade Dopants, alongside a Dopant mostly made of blue steel, appearing more robotic than organic. His head was pointed with a cycloptic face but the pupil on the front of the face was shaped like a targeting reticle for a gun. His right arm was made of a bronze material and instead of a hand, ended in a long-barreled rifle that looked like it was fit for a sniper.
Double immediately broke into a sweat – even if it wasn't a T2 Memory, that Trigger Dopant was still a force to be reckoned with! Best to take him out now before he gets a chance to attack!
"GO!" Double shouted to Dantes, who followed through with crackling fists as he smashed the Masquerades away. Double, meanwhile, launched a surging punch at the Trigger Dopant, who blocked his attack with his rifle arm. When the hit connected, both combatants rattled a bit because of the vibrating rifle.
Grunting, Double stated "You seem a lot….sturdier than your Memory implies!"
"Nobody knows everything at first glance, Rider!" the Dopant snarked back as he backhanded Double back with his rifle. To the Rider's surprise, though, the rifle then changed into an oversized pistol – with a bayonet blade covering the length of the barrel!
"WHOA!" Double exclaimed as the Trigger Dopant swung at him with the blade of his right hand. "I don't remember this about the Trigger Dopant!"
"Heh!" came said Dopant's reply. "So the Doc was right – you do know more about the Memories than anybody else does, especially for an Element brat!"
"HEY!" Double shouted in turn. Ducking underneath a backhand swing, he then gave an uppercut to the Trigger Dopant, who went rolling back in an ukemi maneuver. Digging his fingers and bayonet blade into the ground, the blue Dopant then launched himself back into Double, grabbing him with both of his arms.
"Time for an exit, kid!" the Dopant sneered. And with that, he bulldozed through Donar and the remaining Masquerades and back outside the door, until both were jumping right off of the roof!
"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-waa-waa-wah!" Double started crying in shock as he and the Trigger Dopant went careening down from the tower. Wriggling with all of his might, the Kamen Rider then broke free of the Trigger Dopant's hold before he sent a vicious roundhouse into his opponent's midsection, which sent the Dopant flying into a nearby building before he bounced off, continuing his fall. Summoning some wind around his body, Double then followed.
For the next few heart-stopping moments, Double and the Trigger Dopant kept exchanging blows, either sending a straight attack or weaving their way through one. A few lucky hits sent an opponent flying back into a building's wall, but even then they managed to kick back off of it and resume the fight.
It was on one such attack, though, that Double then changed strategy. As he impacted against another wall, he then dug his fingers in, using them as hooks as he slid down the building. Seeing this, the Trigger Dopant then changed his weapon again, this time going with an Armsel Striker. Taking aim, he then fired three rounds of his weapon at the sliding Rider. In turn, Double then let go before he started running down, making sure to dodge the explosions from the arm cannon.
"This is getting too dangerous!" Double noted as he saw more damage being dealt to the city's structures. Readying himself for a last attack, Double slotted his Joker Memory into the Maximum Drive slot on the right of his belt, before he took a flying leap at the Trigger Dopant's position.
"Joker Extreme!" he shouted as he neared the Dopant. To the latter's surprise, though, Double then turned in midair before he sent his Cyclone half spinning into a butterfly kick, with the Joker half turning in a heel drop kick. To accentuate this, both halves went with "Spiral Cutting!" before their feet met the Trigger Dopant's body. The result: the blue Dopant was sent plummeting down like a missile, raising a plume of debris before he exploded in a blaze of fire.
The two halves of Double then realigned themselves before the armor faded away, leaving a winded Amata Sora in Double's place. As he walked over to the crater made by his fight, Dantes and the girls finally caught up to him.
"Sora!" Dantes shouted as he raced towards the gunman's prone form. "Stand back – I'll apprehend him!"
"Wait!" Amata protested. "I have to make sure that his Gaia Memory was-!"
"Oh don't you worry your pretty li'l heads, sirs and ladies!" a smooth, New Orleans voice suddenly appeared. All of the Neo-DEAVA members then stepped back as a giant playing card – this one decorated with the Joker of Death – spun into existence before it came near the gunman, continuing to spin until it revealed a familiar man to Amata.
Tall and very slender, mustached, gap in his front teeth, purple eyes, black jacket, purple shirt that showed his bellybutton, tall black top hat with a skull and the crossbones up front and the purple thin feather on top, cane – combined with the faux affable expression on his face, Amata couldn't help but voice his surprise.
"Dr. FACILIER?!"
"Aaaaww!" the 'good' doctor mocking cooed, "It looks like my little old reputation precedes me, even across worlds." He then dropped any pretensions of being nice, now bearing a full evil grin. "But of course, you do realize what this means for you, right sonny?"
"Amata-kun – you know this guy?" Zessica asked him as she and Mikono huddled closer, choosing to stick with Amata as he stared the new player down.
"I'd be surprised if people didn't know about him at this point in time!" Amata replied. "Nobody could forget the Shadow Man of New Orleans!"
"Oh?" the witch-doctor quirked his head at the response. "But then again, little man, would people really know that much about the, eh…." he then spread his arms before spinning his hands around, "greater picture at hand?"
"What greater picture?" Amata demanded as he prepared his Driver again.
"Well…." Facilier drawled as he picked up the gunman and set him on his shoulder, "let me put it this way:" he paused, then sent a card flying towards Amata, who caught it in his fingers, "the Keyblades are coming on home!" With a demented cackle, Facilier and the gunman vanished in another card, spinning back to where they held their forces.
Amata then looked at the card for a moment, before crushing it in his hands. Turning around, he then marched on towards the docks, waiting for transportation back to the Academy. Behind him, Mikono and Zessica looked at him in worry.
Dantes saw the boy's body language and made a decision. Striding up right to him, he then asked of him, "If you may, Mr. Sora, would you discuss what Facilier left you?"
"…"Amata was silent for a few moments before he responded. "We're going to need to make a plan with Commander Fudo. The Chairman, too, if possible."
"Both of Neo-DEAVA's leaders? But why?"
"Because we've more than likely officially entered a war." Amata grimly responded, still gripping the card like a vice.
The card itself held the image of Facilier's organization, as best as it could be represented:
Wicked claws holding an upside down, splintered heart, all of this could only mean one thing:
The Seeker of Darkness was making his return.
A/N: Whoo! This was a doozy to think up! And, well, I'm sorry if I couldn't keep my end of the deal! But don't worry, readers! I'm coming back, and that's a promise!
So, read and review!