Horseshoes and Hand-grenades

Intermission II: 22-15-15-4-15-15/3-8-9-12-4

"To see a doll of yourself is very weird and very neat at the same time."

-Thuy Trang

Gentaro used a finger to trace the Roman Numeral for two in the air. Then, he whispered, "Gemini"

A glowing Roman Numeral Two emerged beneath his feet and soon, a duplicate of Gentaro rose from beneath the ground. It looked exactly like the original Gentaro Kisaragi, the only difference was that the eyes were the color of gold. The Number vanished as the original Gentaro Kisaragi's eyes turned from black to silver.

"Master Ophiuchus," said the original Gentaro. "Have you returned from your sojourns?"

A low hiss was his answer. Ophiuchus's form materialized from the darkness and let out a low hiss as he saw his Serpent-bearer and his double. He chuckled and nuzzled his Serpent-bearer.

"I see you are making so much progress with your abilities, Serpent-bearer." Ophiuchus replied. "And you have so much concentration when it came to creating your duplicates. I see that my words have changed you."

"Of course it has, Master Ophiuchus. I realize that I am doing what is right by following you and bringing these wayward serpents into the light. My role as the Serpent-bearer is to gather all serpents to prepare for what is to come and to end the lives of those who have betrayed me."

"You have done such a good job. I have been sensing other sources of power in areas close to where we are residing. You know of the people we are searching for, correct?"

"The ones from Futo? I am aware of those 'two-in-one' lovers or whatever they claim themselves to be. I just don't see what's so special about combining bodies to create a Kamen Rider. It sounds like they're making love instead."

Ophiuchus laughed as he slowly transformed into his own Gentaro Kisaragi form, his eyes shining white. He then took the yellow-eyed Gentaro into an embrace, letting out a low hiss.

"Then you know what we have to do, correct?" he asked. "We must gather these powers soon; I have a feeling that more and more of my brethren are coming to find us."

"Brethren? They are no match for us," Gentaro shook his head and smiled. "They are weak compared to what we have in store for them."

"I like your newfound confidence, Serpent-bearer, but time is of the essence. I shall take the duplicate to Futo, and you keep an eye on everything that happens here."

"As you wish, Master Ophiuchus. Go and find our next Serpent. I promise to make sure everything goes well while you're gone."

Ophiuchus smiled as he took the Gentaro doppleganger into his arms, disappearing in a cloud of black Cosmic Energy. Gentaro looked at the entries of his journal and began to rip them page by page, before tossing them into the roaring fire.

0-0-0-0-0-0-

It was 8 AM in the morning when Shotaro Hidari woke up. He let out a yawn as he looked at his window. The city of Futo was preparing for a new day, and there would people entering the Narumi Detective Agency requesting help. Philip would probably be looking up something interesting—as usual—to get his mind ready for the upcoming cases, while Akiko would drop by and ask how everything's doing. Life was good.

A knock interrupted his thoughts. That made Shotaro curious—the detective agency opened at 9 AM, after breakfast was made and everything was accounted for. Who would be knocking at his door at this time?

"Yo! Shotaro! Open up!" cried the voice. "It's me, Gentaro!"

Gentaro? Shotaro silently thought to himself getting out of bed. He approached the door, maneuvering through cluttered files and the smell of coffee beans and opened it to reveal Gentaro Kisaragi. Gentaro had a smile as he lightly patted his chest with his fist and stretched his hand out.

"Gentaro!" said Shotaro, seeing the Amanogawa High student. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to visit you!" Gentaro replied, hugging his friend. "After all, what type of friend would I be if I didn't come visit them every now and then? So…" Gentaro stepped inside and looked around. "This is the Narumi Detective Agency where you and Philip work in, right? It's so amazing!"

"Yep." Shotaro nodded his head and patted Gentaro's shoulder. "Well, sit down while I get a cup of coffee brewing for us. You do like coffee, do you?"

"Coffee and its bitterness represent the trials of friendship!" Gentaro cried. "We all go through tough times in life, but then we gain the energy to keep fighting and unite everyone! So let us go, Kamen Riders! It's coffee time!"

Shotaro laughed as he went toward the coffee brewer, his back turned to his guest. Unfortunately, while he began preparing two mugs of his favorite dark coffee, Shotaro failed to notice Gentaro's eyes turning yellow and his happy-go-lucky smile replaced with a snarl.

0-0-0-0-0-0-

Deep within the archives of the Gaia Library, Philip saw millions of books flying by. Shelves filled with numerous tomes for every subject imaginable—and even those that most people would never think to dream of—were contained within their pages. Philip sighed as his eyes zoomed past titles of hundreds of topics, looking back and forth for something interesting to read while waiting for the first people to hire both him and Shotaro for a new case. Even with Foundation X and The Museum no longer running rampant in Futo, there was always going to be one or two rogue Dopant users that would arrive to cause trouble for the poor and innocent civilians of their beloved city.

As Philip became so immersed with all of the curious things he could read about, something caught his eye. With a simple thought, the multitude of shelves moved away until there was only one shelf left. He searched through the row of books until he found one marked with a silver serpent on its spine. Pulling it out, the book's title read "War of the Stars" in silver letters.

"Interesting," Philip noted, running a finger down the book's spine. "I wonder what's inside…"

Closing his eyes, Philip found himself disappearing from the Gaia Library and back into the underground base of the Detective Agency. Standing in front of him was a multitude of whiteboards and pens so he could scribble his thoughts, but right now, he was interested in what the subject he found. Opening the book in his hand, Philip began to read what was in store for him.

"Long, long ago, when the world was becoming anew," he said aloud, pacing back and forth. "There was an ancient being known as AGH!"

Before he could even finish one sentence, he felt something burning against his skin. Philip turned around, seeing a black snake releasing his venomous fangs from his ankle before transforming into a plume of dark flames. He let out a gasp as his body fell with a thud.

0-0-0-0-0-0-

"AGH!"

Shotaro nearly dropped his coffee mug when he heard Philip's voice. He set it down and rushed toward the secret corridor, racing downstairs to ensure that his partner was all right.

"Hey! Philip!" he cried, seeing his partner on the ground and sweating profusely. He knelt toward Philip, gently shaking him. "What happened? What's going on?"

"S-Shotaro," Philip murmured, staring into his partner's eyes. He saw a figure standing over his partner. "Look out!"

Shotaro turned around and raised his hand into the air just as a sharp blade pierced through his arm. Lowering his arm, the hard-boiled detective gasped at who was wielding it. It was Gentaro.

"G-Gentaro?" asked Shotaro. "What are you doing? Why are you-"

Gentaro let out a roar as he swung the sword once more, the blade crackling with electricity. Carrying Philip on his back, Shotaro blocked another sword swipe with his arm as he began to climb the stairs back to the detective agency. He had to get Philip to the hospital and fast—who knows how long he was going to survive whatever happened?

Unfortunately, just as Shotaro was about to make it for the exit, a white fist punched in the gut. He fell onto his knees as he saw who attacked him. It was Kamen Rider Fourze.

"F-Fourze?" asked Shotaro with confusion. "How can you be here? Gentaro is-" he turned to see Gentaro sauntering toward him with his electric saber in hand. "No...you're not the real Gentaro Kisaragi at all."

"Guess you aren't as stupid as we made you out to be," said Fourze, pulling out a switch. "Gen 1, get rid of the evidence. And as for your friend..." Fourze lowered his gaze as he saw the book clutched in Philip's hand. "We'll be needing that book he just borrowed."

"Like hell I'll let you have it!" Shotaro snarled, pulling out the Lost Driver. It wrapped around his belt as he pulled out a Purple Gaia Memory from his pocket with a letter J painted on its front. He pressed onto a button in front of it.

JOKER!

Inserting his Gaia Memory into the lone slot in the Lone Driver, purple markings decorated Shotaro's face as he whispered, "Henshin!"

Swiping the Lone Driver's slot to the side, purple shockwaves reverated around Shotaro as purple armor decorated his body, transforming him into Kamen Rider Joker. Joker's red eyes glared into Fourze's own before he turned to Gentaro—or Gen 1 as Fourze called him—before bringing his hand to beckon them into fighting.

"Count up your sins," said Joker, dropping Philip onto the side before tackling Gen 1 onto the ground.

0-0-0-0-0-

If it was Saturday, 8 AM in Japan, then it was around Friday, 3 PM in Los Angeles, California.

Kit Taylor looked at his watch as he entered Grace's Books, ready to see his best friend working on her paranormal blog. He let out a sigh; had it really been two whole years since the giant battle with General Xaviax? Sometimes he wondered if he was only dreaming that part. However, he'd always see his Advent Deck and remember that he was a Kamen Rider, a defender of justice. It was his duty to ensure that Ventara would never fall into the hands of the dark and tyrannical, but today, it was just him, Maya and a couple of smoothies.

"Hey," Kit told Maya, seeing her by the cash register. "What are you looking at?"

"Oh, Kit!" said Maya, looking up from her laptop. "I just found something interesting that you might want to see."

"What is it now? The great JTC revealing his plan to go to Mars?"

"Even better," Maya turned her laptop around, pointing to an ancient mural depicting a serpent biting its tail and other serpents surrounding it. "This is something known as the 'War of the Stars'."

"Star Wars?"

"No! Kit, this is an ancient tale about how the world had serpent gods who took care of the people. See?" Maya pointed to a picture of a young boy looking up at a red serpent in an arch. "This is the Rainbow Serpent of the Aborigines, and here..." She pointed to a man holding onto two halves of a snake. "Is Ophiuchus, the Serpent-bearer. All of these serpents were ruled under the True Serpent, Ouroboros."

"Ouroboros? Isn't he like a serpent biting its tail or something?"

"That's right!" Maya scrolled down and pointed to a Medieval drawing of a red serpent biting its tail. "It was a symbol of a cycle, death and rebirth going on an on forever. Sort of like a phoenix. Anyway, the article said that over time, something went bad. Many of the serpents laid dying and the rest faded away into obscurity."

"If they all faded into obscurity, how come you were able information about them so easily?"

"That's easy," Maya smiled as she pointed to the bottom of the article. "See this name?"

"Shin...ken..." Kit pronounced. "Who's that?"

"I don't know, but this newcomer has been posting these articles about the War of the Stars for the past few days. I've been following it for quite some time, and I've been trying to find more and more sources of my own. Shinken says that I should start by researching all that I can find about these mythological snakes so..." Maya soon handed Kit a large book. "Let's start studying!"

"Wait, you call me here on a Saturday to study about some ancient serpent myth that might not even exist anymore?" asked Kit. "Maya, you're crazy!"

"Shinken is begging me to get the info though. She says that getting the information will save Japan from an ancient evil." Maya looked back at the article, particularly at the image of Ouroboros. "I just hope that I'll be able to help her out in the end."

0-0-0-0-0

Giantfoot On

Fourze's right foot was covered by a large magenta boot that he stomped onto the ground. Joker rolled out of the way just as a large construct of the Giantfoot module was about to crush him like an in insignificant bug. Gen 1 held his electric saber in hand, parrying it toward Joker's chest. Joker noticed one of Philip's whiteboards and kicked it toward his enemy, distracting them long enough for him to remove the Joker Gaia Memory from its original slot to the slot on his right hip. He pushed it down as he felt the Gaia Memory fuel him with power.

"Rider Punch," he whispered, his hand wrapped in purple flames. Gen 1 snarled and prepared to swing the sword over Joker's head, but Joker ducked. He then pulled his fist back and brought it toward Gen 1's heart, the clone letting out a cry before dissipating into Cosmic Energy, leaving his weapon behind. Kamen Rider Joker panted as he stared into the eyes of Kamen Rider Fourze before charging toward him with a punch to the face.

"Fourze, or whoever you are," said Joker, pushing his enemy back. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"I don't have to say my name to the likes of you," Fourze snarled pulling out a lavender Astroswitch stamped with the number 32. "Because you'll learn it soon enough."

Fourze inserted his switch onto the far right slot and pressed onto its topper.

Claw On

A violet gauntlet with three long claws appeared over his right hand, slashing Joker across the chest. Joker stumbled back as Fourze brought his right foot into the air as if he was going to perform a kick. Joker had no time to react when an illusionary boot smacked him across the face and into the wall, making him groan in pain. Fourze sauntered toward his fallen prey and placed his right foot over Joker's chest.

"Listen and listen well," Fourze hissed. "You are weak. You won't be able to protect the people you love by yourself. Just look at what you accomplished here—absolutely nothing." Fourze lifted the tabs of the Fourze Driver, the armor fading away to reveal Ophiuchus's Gentaro form. The serpent let out a low hiss as he turned to the unconscious Philip. "As for you, I only have one thing to say: Serpens!"

A white serpent appeared in a cloud of Cosmic Energy and slithered toward Philips neck. Joker, too weak to move, could only watch as the snake opened its mouth and sink his fangs deep into his partner's neck. The snake wrapped its body around the neck before clamping onto his tail, creating a necklace that decorated Philip's bare neck.

"You bastard!" Joker growled. "Why Philip? Why him?"

"It's because of what he contains in his head," Ophiucus answered. "And I believe he just picked up a most fabulous book. Don't you agree, Leviathan?"

Philip moaned as he sat up, feeling the serpent necklace dangling over his neck. He rose, his legs feeling wobbly as he leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath. Shotaro slowly rose to his knees as he saw his partner looking much better prior to his snake bite. Yet, there was something wrong about Philip...there was this gut feeling inside Shotaro's stomach that screamed "Run away, and fast."

"Philip!" said Shotaro. "Philip, are you all right?"

"He's all right," Ophiuchus answered, placing a hand on Philip's shoulder. "Aren't you?"

"..." Philip's eyes flickered before coming a sickly green color, his vest soon covered with snake scales. He opened his mouth, trying to say something, but then closed it before slumping into Ophiuchus's arms.

"Philip!" Shotaro cried, scrambling to stand up. "You monster!"

He let out a roar as he charged toward the serpent, his hands enshrouded with purple flames once more. Ophiuchus brought Philip inbetween the two, Joker stopping his fist just before it hit Philip's face.

"One move and I can't say if he'll survive the attack," Ophiuchus chuckled. "Transform back into your mortal form, and Philip won't get hurt."

Joker snarled and stepped back, his hand near the whiteboard that he pushed earlier. If he even tried to attack now, Philip would be in danger, and he had no clue what else Ophiuchus was capable of. He had to play it safe, for now.

"You win," Shotaro snarled as he pulled the Gaia Memory out of the slot on his hip. The Kamen Rider armor faded away, revealing the hard-boiled detective with a snarl on his face. "Now, keep your end of the bargain."

"I already have," Ophiuchus chuckled. "Now Leviathan, can you use your powers to give me a one-of-a-kind copy of that book you were just reading?"

"But that's impossible!" said Shotaro. "Only Philip is able to read the books in the Gaia Library! How are you-" He looked in horror as Philip's eyes opened, glowing in a sickly green color. Philip looked at the book he kept in his hand and smiled.

"Of course, Master Ophiuchus," he answered, bowing toward Ophiuchus. "Anything for you."

"P-Philip," Shotaro whispered, his heart pounding his chest. "What has that snake done to you?"

"He made me see the light, Shotaro," Philip answered. "And don't call me Philip. I am Leviathan now."

Philip waved a hand over the blank pages of his book, seeing green runes materialize in front of his eyes. Then, something appeared from its pages...it was a black book with a silver snake trailing down its spine. On its cover were the words "War of the Stars" in silver letters.

"This is it," Ophiuchus hissed, his hands snatching the book from Philip's hands. "I never knew that I was going to find the informaton so easily. Then again, I'd have to thank the Serpent-bearer for writing down all that he knew on that fateful day."

"Serpent-bearer? You mean...Gentaro?"

"Yes. My Serpent-bearer should be preparing for the big fight in Kyoto at this very moment. I feel so sorry for any innocent person who would have to get in the crossfire." Ophiuchus smirked as he began to open the book in front of him. "Well, as you humans say: 'To make an omelete, you'll have to crack a few eggs.'" He chuckled as he continued to read the information in front of him. "Leviathan, can you be a dear and use your new powers to kill your friend? We can't have him tell anyone what he knows."

"As you command, your excellency," Philip replied, pulling out a red whiteboad pen from his pocket. Pulling its cap off, he traced an infinity sign in mid-air, a large red version of the sideways figure eight appearing in front of his eyes. "This should keep him busy for the time being."

With the infinity sign finished, a massive fireball hurled itself toward Shotaro. Shotaro dived out of the way at the last second, smelling the ink from the pen mixed with the burning flames from that attack. Philip didn't react to his former partner's successful dodge, but instead pointed to the fire with his pen and then dragging the pen toward Shotaro.

"Too easy," he noted. He saw the flame arch and leap toward Shotaro before continuing to use his pen to manipulate the flames. Shotaro leapt out of the way as the fire continued to burn and swallow all the oxygen in the room. "It's so easy to make such a fool like you cry."

"Philip!" Shotaro exclaimed. "Why are you doing this? We're partners!"

"We were partners, Shotaro," Philip replied cooly. "I just found someone better to work with." Capping the red whiteboard pen, he then pulled out a green pen and uncapped it. The pen created a large green spiral that soon became a cyclone, sucking up all of the flames in the room. "I hope you don't mind!"

"Of course I mind! Philip, whatever that Ophiuchus is doing to you, you have to fight it! Please!" Shotaro fell onto his knees. "Please Philip..."

"How about...no?" Philip pulled out a black whiteboard pen and uncapped it. He then made a thick black line and pointed his pen toward Shotaro. "Good bye, Shotaro Hidari. Sweet dreams."

"Wait, what do you mean by AGH!"

Shotaro screamed as he saw the black line pierce his heart. He gasped as blood escaped his mouth before collapsing onto the floor, hand clutching his chest. He stretched his arm out, as if begging for Philip to come help him stand, but Philip shook his head and began to walk away. Ophiuchus smirked as he continued reading from his book, also turning heel. Shotaro felt the tears fall down his face as he waited for the inevitable...he was going to die.

"I failed, Narumi-sensei..." he thought to himself, seeing his vision turn black. "If only...if only I can have a second chance. I want to save Philip and Gentaro...and everyone! Please...I'd give up anything for another chance! Someone!"

As Shotaro laid dying, he was unaware of a serpent slowly emerging from the shadows, its eyes glowing with utmost glee.

0-0-0-0-0-0-

Shotaro was lying on the ground, his mind racing with thoughts of how he failed to save Philip and let himself be killed so easily. What could he do now? He was dying...or was he already dead? It was strange.

"So..." A low voice hissed into his ear. "Shotaro Hidari, we meet at last..."

Shotaro slowly sat up and saw himself surrounded in a deep fog. He looked around, trying to find the source of the voice, but there was no one there at all.

"Who are you?" he asked. "What are you? Do you have a name?"

"I do. I am known as Voodoo King Damballa, a patron saint of the poor and the weak. I sensed your agony and pain, Shotaro Hidari. I wish to help you."

"And why should I trust you? What could I possibly gain from allying with you."

"First off, you'll be alive. You'll have the strength to save your friend from Ophiuchus. I don't know what he's planning with your friend, but if he's already been given a Serpent name, then..."

"Then what? What's gong to happen to Philip?"

"Then that means that he'll become a Serpent, and he will never gain his humanity back."

"NO! I won't let my partner be some snake monster thing! I have to stop Ophiuchus now!"

"You'll need my power, Shotaro. Plus you said you'd give up anything for a second chance. Well..." Damballa gave a throaty chuckle. "I know a reasonable price for giving you my power."

"Well, what is it?" Shotaro heard the sound of footsteps closeby. "What do you want?"

"I want your life, Hidari. Your life as a human ends now."

"I'm already dead, you know?" Shotaro answered with some sarcasm. "That's not a reasonable price at all."

"You didn't let me finish, did you? Yes, your life as a human is done, but I can transform you into something that will last centuries. You can become a..."

"A what?" The footsteps were growing louder. "What do you want?"

"A doll."

The foosteps stopped just behind Shotaro. Shotaro turned around seeing a duplicate of himself without eyes or a nose. It grasped onto a hammer in its hand, and when it smiled...it had nails for teeth.

"W-wait," Shotaro stammered, stepping back. "Isn't there any other price I could pay? Like, 20 years of my life? Or...or...some sort of memory? Being a doll sounds rather...painful."

"Nonsense! Your doll body will be more resiliant to attacks, and you won't die easily if a blade strikes your heart again. I know what I'm doing, Hidari. Just trust me on that."

"I don't know if I want to." Shotaro saw his double spit out a nail, the nail landing straight into his wrists, pinning him to an invisible wall. As he tried to pry the nail out, another one struck his leg.

With half of his body pinned down, Shotaro looked in fear as the double used his hand to make sure his whole body was spread out before spitting out two more nails to the wrist and leg. Shotaro looked in fear as the duplicate spat out a nail in his hand and grabbed it with his fingers.

As the double neared him, Shotaro could hear its raspy voice as it whispered, "This will tickle just a bit."

"No!" Shotaro screamed, struggling to get loose. "Damballa! I change my mind! I don't want this payment! Please don't-"

The double placed the nail near Shotaro's chest before raising the hammer into the air. Then, it swiftly brought it down and pierced straight into Shotaro's unbeating heart. Shotaro whimpered as he saw his double spit out another nail and brought it straight to his forehead. This was it; everything was gone now.

"Goodbye, Shotaro Hidari," Damballa hissed as he saw the double hammer the nail through Shotaro's brain. "Don't worry; your original memories will be intact until the day you choose to retrieve it. That is...if you ever want to do so."

Shotaro's eyes rolled to the back of his head and a line of drool escaped his lips. The double grined as he bit into his bottom lip, a small stream of blood trickling down his chin. Pulling a nail from his mouth, it dipped the nail into the blood and began to paint arcane symbols over Shotaro's face.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Shotaro! Shotaro, wake up!"

Shotaro groaned as his vision returned. In front of him was Akiko, her face brimming with tears. Ryu was also there too, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Shotaro!" Akiko cried. "Shotaro, can you hear me?"

"Akiko..." Shotaro murmured. "You're here?"

"Yes, Shotaro! And so is Ryu! We saw Philip walking out of the Detective Agency and then found you inside screaming at something before passing out. What's going on?"

"Akiko...Ryu..." Shotaro sat up and placed a hand onto Akiko's shoulder. "Listen to me very carefully. Philip is gone—he's been brainwashed by an evil serpent named Ophiuchus who's taken the form of Gentaro Kisaragi."

"Ophiuchus...Gentaro..." Ryu repeated, pulling out a notepad to write everything down. "What's next?"

"Then..." Shotaro felt his body grow stiff. He didn't have much time. "There's something called the 'War of the Stars' that Ophiuchus wants and that's why he brainwashed Philip. Please, find anything you can about the War and then...then..."

"Then what? Shotaro, what do we do next?!"

Shotaro stayed silent, his skin turning pale, and his eyes resembling glass. Akiko felt her heart pounding against her chest as she saw Shotaro lower his hand and bowed his head. Akiko felt like she was about to scream when she Shotaro collapse onto the ground, his body spasming as if he was having seizures.

"Ryu!" Akiko cried, running to her husband. "Ryu, something's wrong! Shotaro, he's...he's..."

Purple markings decorated Shotaro's face as he slowly stood up. A strange white symbol was sown onto his black fedora and decorating his back was a trail of purple, green and yellow feathers. His right hand began to grow stitches and his teeth became sharp nails. Shotaro smiled and tilted his head.

"S-Shotaro," said Ryu, seeing the strange transformation happen before him. "Are you all right...are you..."

"Shotaro is not here right now," Shotaro giggled, giving Ryu a nail-filled grin. "You can talk to me though. I am King Damballa's Serpent-bearer. Nice to meet you."

"Shotaro!" Ryu growled, punching Shotaro in the face. "Will you wake up! You're freaking us out!"

Normally, whenever one was punched in the face like that, they would let out a sign that they were hurt. Shotaro did no such thing—to him, it was like someone poking him with a finger.

"Sorry, have to go!" he said. "Off to stretch my wings like a bird! Bye-bye!"

"Wait! Come back, Shotaro!" Akiko cried. "What's this War of the Stars and King Damballa? Shotaro!"

The purple, green and yellow feathers circled around Shotaro before he disappeared. Ryu turned to the words he wrote on his notepad and what Shotaro told him before turning to his wife.

"Akiko," he said. "What...just happened?"

0-0-0-0-0-0-

Ophiuchus ran his hands throughout Philip's hair and body, smiling at his newly caught serpent. With all of the world's information at his fingertips, he was one step closer to completing his plan.

"Master Ophiuchus," said Gentaro, his voice echoing in his master's mind. "How was your success?"

"It went well," Ophiuchus answered, running a finger down the snake necklace draping Philip's neck. "How is everything in Kyoto?"

"It's in chaos what with all the fighting and all of that. I have no word on Apep's whereabouts, but I know that he'll come back to us soon.

"In the meantime, just lay low. Your appearance yesterday is giving your 'friends' some sort of idea that they can't have their guard down. We want to do the opposite of that, do you understand?"

"Yes, master. I wish to see you again soon."

Ophiuchus nodded his head as he saw Philip reading into the War of the Stars book in hand. In just a few hours, informaton regarding the war would be in his grasp, and after all, "knowledge is power." Plus, with Shotaro out of the way, it also meant one less Kamen Rider chasing after him. He placed a kiss on Philip's cheek and continued to listen to his the new serpent's voice reading the information in hand.

"Soon," Ophiuchus whispered, closing his eyes. "Ouroboros, you shall awaken very soon..."

Next Time: In Japan, the Kamen Rider Club and associates are preparing for Day 2 of the Kyoto Field Trip, and it seems as if there's nothing but trouble just around the corner.

To be continued in XVI-Dance Macabre