Horseshoes and Hand-grenades

XX: 4-1-25/15-6/20-8-5/4-5-1-4

"Alas, how quickly the gratitude owed to the dead flows off, how quick to be proved a deceiver."

-Sophocles

Sarina Sonada let out a tiny moan as she opened her eyes. She found herself unable to move, her eyes seeing the interior of a train. The only sound she heard was the whistling of a train.

"W-where...where am I?" she said, slowly looking around. "What is this place."

"You're in the DenLiner, Sonada," said a familiar voice. "I brought you here for interrogation."

Sonada's eyes snapped open as she looked at her surroundings. She was tied up to a chair and surrounded by four people: a man in a tuxedo, a young girl with a white blouse and black skirt, an older woman with watches on both of her wrists, and Chuta Ohsugi. At the sight of Ohsugi sipping on some strange blue and red coffee—she growled.

"Chuta!" she exclaimed. "Where am I? Where did you take me?!"

"Relax, Sarina," said Ohsugi, wiping off some coffee on his lips with a napkin. "You're in capable hands. Owner, Hana and Naomi won't kill you or place you into suspended animation in case you're wondering."

"I'm tied up in some strange train with some strange people! Is this what you call 'capable hands'?"

"It could be worse. You could be dead and your body taken over by a serpent, like what happened to Principal Hayami."

"...You're joking," Sonada hissed, glaring at the geography teacher. "Kouhei-san would never do that! He would fight till his dying breath before he let some sort of snake kill him!"

"Really?" Ohsugi asked, lifting an eyebrow. "Well, according to this little beauty..." He pulled out a communicator device in his hand. "The bug I planted on Hayami's neck, and a bit of Nadeshiko's SOLU abilities, I recently found out the truth. Principal Hayami, the Libra Zodiarts, is gone. He's now replaced by someone calling himself the Shed Skin Serpent, Ecydsis."

"Interesting," said Owner. "Ecydsis was a master of disguise and illusion. His son was the Serpent of Chaos, Apep who reigned over Ancient Egypt before Ra slayed him in battle. Gentaro and Ophiuchus chose that vessel well."

"You can't be serious," Sonada whispered. "Hayami wouldn't..."

"He did, Koinu-chan," Ohsugi interrupted. "And if you want to have even the slightest chance of letting his soul rest in peace, you're going to tell us how you got that hair of yours into a scorpion stinger."

"Never! I won't talk! You can't make me!"

"You have to though," said Hana, hands folded across her chest. "Until you speak, you'll be stuck in the DenLiner where no one can find you. Your precious 'Kouhei-san' will never return to the man you had feelings on unless you talk!"

"Bite me, little girl," Sonada snarled. "You have no idea who you're messing with."

"Of course we do," said Naomi, carrying a cup of coffee in her hands. "Come on, drink up."

"You probably drugged it with something..." Sonada never had a chance to finish speaking as Naomi poured the coffee down her throat. Sonada wanted to throw up, but Hana kept a firm grasp on her chin, meaning she had no choice but to swallow every last drop. When Naomi set the cup down, Sonada coughed.

"That was the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted!" she exclaimed. "What's in that thing?"

"Oh some coffee, brown sugar, a bit of wasabi, a truth serum and..."

"What?!" Sonada screamed. "You're drugging me?!"

"We need to get the truth out of you, Sarina Sonada," said Owner. "The destruction of the world is coming and your petty feelings will only cause everyone to suffer. The minute you decide to speak once more, we'll be ready."

Sonada just snarled as Ohsugi sat down, crossing his arms across his chest and leaning back against his chair. She still couldn't believe that she was defeated by this buffoon.

0-0-0-0-0-

"Are you sure this will work?" asked Rod Den-O, after hearing the plan from both Sword and Axe Den-O.

"Trust me on this, ero-kame," said Sword Den-O. "Come on, what have we got to lose?"

Rod Den-O slowly nodded his head as he pulled his fishing rod back. He threw it forward as the hook latched itself onto Virgo Zodiarts axe. With both Sword and Axe Den-O pulling with all of their might, the Zodiarts of the Maiden was hurled toward them.

"What is the meaning of this?" asked Virgo Zodiarts, flapping her wings as hard as she could. "Let me go, you little brats!"

"Haruka-sensei!" said Axe Den-O. "Change of plans! Head toward Leo Zodiarts!"

Leo Zodiarts, having kicked Wing Den-O to the side, snarled as he turned his gaze toward the female teacher. Haruka prepared her katana, eyes only focused on the Zodiarts of the Lion's evil grin.

"Go home and play with your dollies, little girl," Leo Zodiarts chuckled. "You're playing with the big boys now."

"You'll make a nice throw rug for my home," Haruka retorted. "Let's fight."

Leo Zodiarts rushed toward her, his feet moving faster than Haruka could anticipate. Still, Haruka fixed her gaze to one of Leo Zodiarts' mighty claws raised over her head. Thinking quick, she formed a horizontal swipe in the air, slicing through Leo Zodiarts' stomach. The Zodiarts of the Lion stumbled back as Haruka knocked the large claws away with her blade.

"Not so high and mighty now, huh?" she asked, pointing her katana at Leo Zodiarts. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Don't get too cocky," said Leo Zodiarts, slowly standing up. "I'm just getting started."

The two charged toward each other once more.

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

"This isn't funny!" Kijima cried, finding himself wrapped around a tree by some steel cables. "Let me out of here, you little bitch!"

Nadeshiko ignored Kijima's screaming as she placed a hand on the pillar. A dollop of SOLU escaped her palm as the pillar began to glow with a blue aura. Seeing her work done, she flipped both tabs of the Nadeshiko Driver up, reverting to her form of Nadeshiko Misaki. She then walked toward Kijima, her hands folded behind her back.

"Do you even know who you're messing with?" Kijima snarled, baring his teeth. "I can steal your soul and render you useless if given the chance!"

"You can't as long as you're tied up," Nadeshiko replied, pulling on one of the steel cables. "No human is capable of breaking through steel."

"I'm not human, aren't I?" asked Kijima, noticing his bound crab claw. "With my indestructible body and crab claw, I'm much more than a human."

Nadeshiko stayed silent as she walked around the tree. Kijima stayed silent as he lifted his left arm into the air. With a roar, the spikes on his crab claw cut through the cables, freeing him. He slowly began to walk behind an oblivious Nadeshiko, preparing to pull out her soul with his claw. He brought his claw back, ready to strike.

Only for Nadeshiko to retaliate with a roundhouse kick to his head. As Kijima stumbled back, he felt something pierce through his chest. He looked down, seeing Nadeshiko's left arm transforming into a metallic crab claw. She pulled the claw back, ripping out a large, glowing halo from Kijima's heart.

"My soul!" he exclaimed. "You bitch!"

Nadeshiko grinned as she placed a foot on Kijima's chest, pushing him away as she she opened her crab claw hand. She inched closer to the soul, preparing to snip it in half...

"Okay, I'll talk!" Kijima cried. "Just...just don't do what I think you'll be doing."

Nadeshiko smirked before she grabbed onto Kijima's hand, the two walking away from the stone pillar.

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

Riderman rode his motorcycle, the Ridermachine, throughout the city, hoping that his friend Amazon was doing okay defending the pillar all by himself. Even if Amazon could regenerate wounds quickly, that was only if he wasn't in his Kamen Rider persona, meaning that Amazon would've had to take too much damage before the Gigi Armlet could actively kick in.

He saw a few figures fighting in the distance, one of them being the Zodiarts of the Scales. Thinking quickly, he swerved to the left and parked his motorcycle behind some bushes as he quickly exchanged his Swing Arm for the Net Arm once more. He poked his head out of the bushes, noticing how the Libra Zodiarts was too busy with a purple armored Kamen Rider Amazon to pay attention to him. This was his chance to defeat him and obtain the Libra Zodiarts Switch.

Riderman slowly approached the Zodiarts of the Scales and pointed his right arm at his target. He cocked his arm back, releasing a net that would entrap his opponent. Unfortunately, he didn't expect the Zodiarts to turn around and fire a bolt of electricity from his antenna, incinerating the net into ashes. The Zodiarts of the Scales snarled, pointing his staff toward Riderman.

"I won't fall for that trick again," he said. "Come and fight me like a real man, and without your fancy gadgets."

"If that's what you want, so be it," Riderman swapped the Net Arm for his regular metallic silver hand. "I always loved a good fist fight anyway."

Libra Zodiarts charged toward the Kamen Rider, staff at hand, as Riderman crackled his knuckles. The battle had just begun.

0-0-0-0-0-

"Over here! Over here!" cried Gun Den-O to the red haired Dustards. "You can't hit me!"

The red Kabuki Dustard charged toward the purple Den-O, only to be stopped by Gun Den-O firing multiple shots from his gun. Gun Den-O laughed and jumped around, firing more and more shots that caused the Dustard to reel back.

"Quit playing around and end this already!" said JK. "The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can help Haruka-sensei against Leo Zodiarts!"

"Right!" said Ryutaros, scanning a Liner Pass over his belt.

Full Charge

Tossing the Liner Pass aside, Gun Den-O fired a giant orb of energy from his gun. Cocking the gun back, the orb flew toward the Dustard, both Dustard and orb exploding into a large puff of smoke. Gun Den-O began to dance with joy.

"I did it! I did it!" He cried. "I beat the bad guy!"

"Very good, Ryutaros!" said Wing Den-O. "Now can you come here AND HELP ME OUT?!"

The White Den-O ducked from the White Kabuki Dustard's fist, slicing through Dustard with his axe. He quickly threw his boomerang into the air as he held onto the white haired Dustard's arm.

"Now, Ryutaros!" cried Wing Den-O. "Do it!"

Gun Den-O nodded his head as he scanned another Liner Pass. Tossing that aside, he fired another charged shot toward the Dustard. Unfortunately, the attack was blocked by Virgo Zodiarts teleporting in front of him, shielding herself with her feathery wings. Trailing behind the Zodiarts of the Maiden were Rod, Axe and Sword Den-O, the three of them desperately clinging onto Rod Den-O's fishing pole so they wouldn't start flying about.

"Bird lady made me mess up!" Gun Den-O whined. "You're such a meanie!"

"Life's unfair and then you die," Virgo Zodiarts snapped. She tapped the ground with Rhodia axe as her wings unfurled. "Shall we begin round two?"

Gun Den-O snarled as he began to aim another round of shots at his target. Virgo Zodiarts flew to the sky, causing the three Kamen Rider Den-O forms that were anchoring her to the ground to float helplessly along with her.

"Are you ready to risk hurting your friends?" the Zodiarts chuckled. "While I can guarantee my safety from your bullets, I highly doubt that your friends are that durable."

"Don't do it, kid!" said Sword Den-O. "It's not worth it!"

"Do it!" said Axe Den-O. "We must destroy the Zodiarts while we still have a chance!"

"I'm afraid of heights!" said Rod Den-O, seeing the ground below them. "Think this clearly, Ryutaros!"

Gun Den-O's hand trembled. He waved his gun back and forth, trying to find the right target. He only had one shot and it had to count. Haruka couldn't keep fending off Leo Zodiarts forever, and once Leo Zodiarts started picking off the Den-O Kamen Riders one by one, then their plan to cripple the Zodiarts would end in failure. Not to mention the fact that the Zodiarts probably didn't have any qualms in regards to killing five innocent teens.

"What do we do?" asked JK. "This pressure...it's gonna kill me...just like it did..."

"Calm down," Ryutaros hissed. He looked at his surroundings, tightening his grip on the gun. "I know just what to do."

He pointed the gun toward his target and fired.

0-0-0-0-0-

"Well, Sonada-sensei," said Ohsugi, setting his notepad down. "Thank you for telling us all you know."

"Son of a-" Sonada growled. "Don't think that you're so high and mighty just because you defeated me. I'm still ten times better than you are!"

"Really now?" asked Ohsugi, raising an eyebrow. "Let me tell you something, since you've berated me on me not having students who actually like me, how many students actually like you for who you truly are? At this moment, I have-" Ohsugi quickly counted on his fingers. "Two former Amanogawa High students, one exchange student, six currently here right now in Kyoto and a few more. How many students know that you're the Scorpio Zodiarts and how many appreciate the time you've given them?"

"I don't need them at all!" Sonada snapped. "I don't need those pathetic students or that stupid school in the first place! All I need is Master Gamou's word!"

"And how exactly did Gamou help you? He sent you to die in an artificial satellite and probably didn't give two shits if you died! He only cares about himself—making the students that we teachers have to protect into grotesque monsters!" Ohsugi slammed his hands on the table. "Do you even know what you're saying?!"

Sonada just smirked as the door opened. Then her smirk turned into a gasp as she saw Nadeshiko wave hello, Kijima trailing behind her.

"Kijima, you bastard!" Sonada screamed. "How did you fail against that little brat?"

"That little bitch has my soul, damn it!" Kijima snarled, trying to pull away from the vice-like grip his hand was stuck in. Nadeshiko, in the meantime, handed Owner Kijima's soul.

"For safekeeping," she said.

"Ooh, it's really pretty," said Naomi, approaching the large glowing halo. "So this is what a soul looks like."

"How's it like it to be beaten by a girl?" Hana asked Kijima, sticking her tongue out. Kijima tried his best to kick Hana away but his foot could only go so far.

"Well," said Ohsugi. "This is turning out to be quite a party. The only thing we need now is some cake."

"Speaking of cake," said Owner. "I just received an email from an old friend of mine. He told us that we might be interested in some information regarding Ophiuchus."

"Really now? Does this friend have a name?"

"He does," Owner said with a sly smile on his face. "He goes by the name of Kousei Kougami."

While the Zodiarts have their hands tied, Kamen Riders and Kamen Rider Girls duke it out for superiority over the other. Unfortunately, no one is prepared for the next step in Gentaro Kisaragi's transformation and the state that he's about to obtain.

To be continued in XXI, "Dead Sea"