Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt – Reading Seven: No Safe Path
Not that it needs to be said, but I don't own the Kamen Rider trademark. Just the characters and settings depicted in this work.
Disillusioned youth Liss Decker found herself suddenly caught between two supernatural combatants and took the powers of one for herself in the aftermath. Soon she learned of the Sphere, a tiered world that was home to the Arcana, powerful immortal beings, and whose inhabitants were beset by the Mythos, strange and hostile monstrous creatures. Seeing an escape from an oppressive everyday life, Liss agreed to become Tarock, a champion for the people of the Sphere. However, Liss then met a strange girl calling herself Lost who spawned a Mythos monster and claimed to hear someone calling to her.
Liss followed, but Lost's trail eluded her. She then guided a group of refugees to the capital city of the empire of Avalon, being told that her next card, and the next step in her evolution it represents, lies there…
"Let go of me!" Nema screamed and pulled free of her husband's grasp. She tried to sprint away but slipped on the wet street and landed in a heap. She scrambled to get up and escape, but already he was upon her again.
"Just listen to me for a second, Nema!" her husband cried, but this time with anxiety rather than rage. He grabbed her wrists even as she struggled. "I'm sorry! I've talked to my brother, and I believe you weren't having an affair with him."
"It's too later, Lurian," Nema said darkly. "I'm not letting you accuse me of things I haven't done ever again." She yanked her arms free and started to stalk off when all of a sudden light flared in front of her. Two shapes formed out of it, a pair of faces. Lurian ran to his wife's side and rested his hands protectively on her shoulders. This time, she didn't pull away.
"Sundered lovers, is there anything more tragic?" one asked.
"But perhaps reparations can be made and the Sphere even saved if you are willing…" said the other.
Liss gave her worn out old jacket to one of the refugees who wanted to cut it up for patch material or something. Fine with her, it was another reminder of a past she didn't mind discarding. Although after getting this next card, she'd probably want to think about going back and getting some clean clothes. She'd left awfully suddenly.
The new long coat and gloves she'd been given as a reward for guiding these people to the capital city was nice and warm, though, and Liss was enjoying thinking she looked pretty badass in them.
After a few more minutes of preparation she mounted Shift Runner, her metallic horse, who'd originally been a motorcycle, and started for the lights of the city in the distance. Slowly high stone walls came into view, and in the light of beacons atop the walls the outlines of tall watchtowers. As they neared an archway with a heavy portcullis, a group of people in thick plate armor and carrying three-pointed spears with glowing barbs approached them out of the darkness.
"An armed escort?" someone behind asked in surprise.
"Yes," one of the soldiers answered. "For her. Come with us, Tarock. The emperor demands an audience."
"And what makes you think I'm Tarock?"
"We have our ways," the guard replied, and Liss honestly didn't know if she'd expected more. "Come with us," he instructed. The portcullis raised and Liss and her charges passed through, but as soon as they were inside the walls the portcullis dropped with a crash again, and a completely unfazed guard waved the refugees who'd been following Liss off with his weapon. On the inside of the gate Liss noticed a humming arrangement of multi-colored crystals embedded in the ceiling.
"What's that?" she asked.
"To reveal the Mythos who can disguise themselves," one of the guards grunted, and waved her on.
They proceeded into a huge open yard, and filled with scattered collections of tents with weary-looking people occupying themselves with preparing the evening meal for their family, turning meat on a spit or stewing stew in a thick iron pot. Some watched their children play in the fading light. Past them she could barely see rough rows of huts in the fading light. Liss suddenly pulled Shift Runner to a halt when she saw one of the guards pointing his trident at her face.
"Surrender your weapons," he guard ordered. Liss took out the Fate Driver, then suddenly locked it around her waist and grabbed the card from the pouch on her belt.
"Pentacles Suit!"
The guards pressed in but Liss's armor had already solidified and her warhammer was in hand. "I've got a better idea," she said warningly. "You guys put those away before somebody gets hurt."
"Who do you think-"
"I think she's a guest," said a calm but powerful voice. Tarock looked down to see a man with a thin white beard in a rich purple robe, who she could see right through. Liss grimaced and almost fell off her horse from the feeling of cold that shot up her arm and swallowed her entire body. It wasn't as sharp as what she'd felt from Lost, but there was no doubt in her mind she was in the presence of a very powerful Arcanum.
"And I'm sure you can agree there's a certain wisdom to hanging on to what protection one can find in times as troubled as these," he added.
The guards immediately fell to their knees. "Sire, we were only thinking of your safety!" one cried.
"And you are to be commended for it, but I am not helpless, as you know," he said and turned to Tarock. "Pardon my followers, but times are trying. But I am being a poor host. Come." He clapped his hands and Tarock had to shield her eyes from the sudden brightness. She was still on Shift Runner's back, but they were in a wide room with a red carpet leading up to an ornate wooden throne with large and colorful gems worked into it, and her host was no longer transparent. He walked to the throne, and with a sigh picked up a golden crown with intricate leaf-like patterns and placed it on his head.
"Now then, what brings you to the home of Solymen, mighty Tarock?" he asked. Despite the power she'd felt just from his projection, between the softness of his voice and the dark circles under his eyes he seemed tired.
Tarock got down from Shift Runner, and let her weapon fade away but didn't let herself relax. "The first time I met one of you, they tried to kill me. Hope you'll understand if I'm a little careful."
"And I hope you'll understand that we have our reasons for being wary of Shardak's envoy. He was always secretive even at the best of times, and your original predecessor was responsible for the death of one of my kind," Emperor Solymen replied. "But you haven't answered my question."
Tarock sighed quietly in irritation. She wasn't used to playing along with people in authority. But since he already knew she was there he'd probably be keeping an eye on her. "I'm here because I'm told another of the cards I need is somewhere in this city. The cup card. Someone named Doxo has it."
"Doxo?" Solymen said, a distant look settling in his eyes for a second. "Does he really? And what use would you have for it, were he to hand it over to you?"
"You guys need all the help you can get killing those monsters. I'm the only one who can use that card, so it's going completely to waste as long as somebody else has it."
Solymen smiled wryly at her response. "I suppose it is, at that. Perhaps we can see about negotiating with Doxo in the morning. In the meantime, though, maybe there's something you can do to help the empire."
"What?" Tarock asked exasperatedly, tired from being in the saddle all day and then barely defeating a monster, and more than half expecting to be asked to run off on some stupid quest before anyone would even consider a request from her. Was Shardak's reputation really that bad?
"A strange woman appeared from nowhere at one of my outposts yesterday," Solymen said. "Says her name's something like Soo-zonn. She claims to be looking for another female outsider, something she calls a 'super hero.' When she mentioned it being someone with armor of different colors and abilities to go with them, I thought she probably meant Tarock."
Tarock sighed. "Yeah, I think I know her. I'll take her back as soon as I have the card."
"We'll discuss that with Doxo first thing in the morning," Solymen said with finality. Tarock felt a tremor in the air and a few seconds later the doors to the throne room opened and a young man wearing yellow and green entered. "Bring her to our other guest, and bring them anything they need."
Tarock looked back at Shift Runner. "What about him? I'm not just gonna-" she began, but before she could finish Shift Runner's body flared with light and when it cleared a silver medallion with the image of a horse on it hung in the air for the second it took her grab it. "Uh…never mind."
Once they were gone Solymen waved his hands again and the doors closed by themselves. He removed his crown and set it by the throne again, sighing a little in relief. There was another strange tremor in the air just before he could hear a voice in his mind.
"Master, is it wise to be so welcoming?"
"I am not your master, Sentos. And to be cordial to a potential ally?" Solymen replied calmly.
"To be cordial to Shardak's agent," the other voice corrected.
Solymen laughed softly. "Would she have come here so brazenly if she meant to kill us? At the head of a column of people hailing her as their savior? Which you surely know of better than I."
"I am merely being cautious."
"I know, old friend," Solymen said. "But perhaps it's time we held out a hand instead of a fist."
The servant opened the door and ushered Liss into a small two-person bedroom. Sitting on one of them, looking around nervously, was Sue Gand. "Back again, huh?" she groaned, but as Liss met her eyes she smiled with relief. "Thank god, finally it's the right one!"
Liss looked over at her escort. " 'The right one'?"
He shrugged. "She said was looking for a girl called Liss. We brought every one we could find, but then she said she meant one from the same world as herself."
"So what've you been doing?" Sue asked excitedly. "You kill anymore monsters since the big scorpion back on Earth? Got any other powers besides the green and the red ones? When did you get those, anyway?"
"I got a question for you! Why'd you follow me to God knows where?! Had to get your big story, huh?" Liss sighed and the servant hurried out of the room with his duty done. "I'm not answering any frigging questions tonight. It's late, and I'm exhausted," Liss said and climbed into the other bed after hanging up her new coat.
"How can you sleep at a time like this? We're in a whole different world!" Sue gushed. "There's all kinds of things out there nobody from Earth's ever seen!"
"BS," Liss groaned. "Tarot cards are based on the guys who run this place. People came here. Now be quiet."
"Investigate tarot," Sue said as she wrote herself a reminder on her phone. "How many of these guys have you met? Did they say which of the cards they're supposed to be?"
"Didn't you hear me?" Liss snapped.
"Yeah, and didn't you hear me? This is a world nobody's ever seen…that anyone else knows about anymore," Sue corrected herself. "And you're the person they picked to be their hero! You're not excited about that?"
"I was watching out for a giant bird to attack all day long, and then got smashed around by it two freaking hours ago," Liss said. "And I've got a big day tomorrow, so I'm going to sleep now. Goodnight."
"Big day, huh?" Sue said. "Sounds like it'll make a hell of a story."
Liss grunted in annoyance.
Breakfast the next morning consisted of eggs, some kind of vegetable omelet and hot tea. The emperor had them join him in a dining room big enough to seat at least another twelve people beyond the three of them, but all he asked the two strangers in his empire were small things like how they'd slept and if the food was to their taste. Sue peppered Liss with questions about her exploits since being separated after Sue tried to follow her when she rode through the rift that led to the Sphere. Liss didn't answer most of them, her mind clearly elsewhere with the way she constantly glanced around the room, at the windows and at Solymen as she chewed her food. Eventually Sue gave up in frustration, and silence prevailed until their plates were cleared.
A sharp, slightly lingering chill condensed around Liss's shoulder as the doors opened up and a man in a red hooded robe, carrying a white staff entered. There was no doubt in her mind he was another powerful Arcanum, although probably not as much as the emperor. "You have a task for me, sire?" he asked.
"Indeed, Phebos," Solymen said. "It's been brought to my attention that one of the cards that empowers Tarock has been right here in Avalon for quite some time. I'd like to request that you accompany our guests to the Doxo estate and see if you can help them persuade him to part with it."
Phebos looked over at Liss and Sue, back at the emperor for a few seconds and then nodded once. "All right, if you would please follow me," Phebos said, leading the way out of the room. As they followed him out of the palace, Liss thought he seemed to drift along the ground instead of walk. His robes didn't even sway as he moved.
Outside the palace was a village of stone houses where people were beginning their days, and guards in heavy armor with nasty-looking tridents patrolled the streets in pairs. Over the tops of the houses they could see slate-roofed manors and a high white watchtower near the outer wall. And as they went Sue was snapping pictures of everything with her phone. She'd probably been saving the battery for when they let her out.
"Care for the sights, miss?" Phebos asked, and it took Liss a second to realize he was asking her and not Sue. "You should see Avalon when we're not expecting the sky to drop at any minute."
"That's kinda why I'm here, isn't it?" she said. "So it doesn't."
"Is it?" he asked cryptically.
"Yeah, it is."
Phebos nodded at that but said nothing else as he weaved through the early morning crush, drawing stares from the people they passed. After another ten minutes they were outside one of the manor houses, and Phebos rapped on the door a few times with his staff. A young serving girl opened the door and gasped as she recognized the man at the door. "Tell your master I come on behalf of the emperor. It regards the Card of Cups."
They were ushered into a large waiting room with a freshly polished wooden table taking up the middle. Expensive-looking vases on stands in the corners. Except for one, which housed an intricately-carved statue of a woman wearing a crown and a flowing dress. She was beautiful, but her mouth was downturned slightly in an expression of what seemed to Liss like repressed anger. Sue snapped pictures of all of it, and studied the statue for a long while. "Who's this?" she finally asked.
"Someone who doesn't approve of the way we do things here in Avalon," Phebos said simply. "And who, I imagine, would think even less so if she were to hear about this visit."
"Someone from Mazones?" Liss asked.
"How did you guess?"
"Someone from Mazones tried to kill me a little while ago," Liss said.
"Thena?"
Liss raised an eyebrow. "You met her, huh?"
Phebos's shoulders slumped slightly and he frowned. "You should understand she was not always as she is now. It shook all of us when the first Tarock killed one of our number, but the ruler of Mazones was hit especially hard. Thena always admired her."
"Here they are, master," the servant said as she appeared in the doorway. Behind her walked a stout bald man in black pants, sandals and a red satin jacket.
"Hello, my illustrious guests. Lyrin Doxo, at your service, and I understand you're interested in my collection," he said in a deep bass voice. He looked them over and seemed to zero in on Liss, and she could read the veiled suspicion in his eyes.
"What exactly do you collect?" Sue asked, smiling pleasantly and plainly in her element again.
"Treasures from our peoples' past. Why don't you come with me and see?" Doxo asked, shooting a sideways glance at Phebos before flicking his gaze at Liss. It was a silent question she'd seen before, one to keep an eye on her. Apparently word of her stunt with the guards the night before had already gotten around. Phebos nodded, and Doxo led the way down a long hall to a wide room. He pressed a small panel in one wall indistinguishable from the rest and a secret door opened.
Inside it was like a museum. There were pedestals holding up swords as well spears like the ones the guards used but less intricate. Mannequins displayed parts of old suits of armor while one was covered by an intricately-woven robe of green and yellow silk. Paintings of battles of men against monsters hung on the walls, and Liss didn't have to guess they were probably inspired by actual events. Sue continued to snap pictures, and Doxo grimaced as he failed to understand what she was doing.
In the center of the room in a transparent cylinder was a yellow card with a golden border and image of a chalice in the middle. Liss walked over to it, and Phebos stood by her shoulder.
"There it is, all that remains of my people's greatest treasure," Doxo said.
"Shouldn't you have told your ruler you have that?" Sue asked, a little bluntly. Doxo blanched, but Phebos stepped in quickly.
"The emperor agrees matters would be better served if the card be given to the new Tarock and its powers put to use fighting the Mythos," Phebos said.
"Is that an imperial decree?" Doxo said and made no attempt to hide his scowl.
"It is a request. Backed by fact," Phebos said.
"Then answer me something, Tarock," he said and pointed at Liss accusingly with a thick finger. "Did Shardak entrust that device of his to you?"
"Not exactly, but I'm here to get the card because he told me this is where it is and wants me to help fight the Mythos with it."
"It's one of the most precious artifacts of my people's history," Doxo said, unmoved.
"Which I'd love to hear more about sometime, but-" Sue began.
"—but don't you have a future to think about too?" Liss said. "Aren't the Mythos everywhere? Don't you guys need everything you've got out there fighting?"
Doxo scowled even harder. "Shardak's agent killed one of the Arcana, one of our protectors."
"And why was that?" Phebos said gently.
"To protect his own interests!" Doxo shouted, unable to contain himself.
"And what interests are those?" Phebos asked, still unfazed. Doxo started to make an angry retort but all of a sudden Liss couldn't seem to hear. She felt cold up her arm and across her shoulders, and clenched her teeth. It was nowhere near as intense as before when she'd run into Lost, but something powerful was near and she doubted it was friendly…
Doxo had just finished a rant and looked at Phebos, awaiting a reply, but none came. Instead, Phebos said, "Something's approaching from the forest, and quickly." The house suddenly shook and stone dust fell from the ceiling.
"What's happening?" Doxo asked, his anger abruptly forgotten.
"Something's at the walls," Phebos replied with terrifying calmness. Then the house trembled again, and the far wall of the room collapsed as a huge mottled brown tendril smashed its way through, knocking paintings flying and toppling pedestals.
"Pentacles Suit!" As soon as the thick green armor had formed around her Tarock was slamming her warhammer into the tendril or whatever it was until it recoiled out of the house. She charged out after it, and froze even though she wasn't surprised at all by what she saw. The thing she'd hit ran all the way from the back of Doxo's house to the city wall, two more houses were already half-demolished by it. From there it draped over the twenty-foot-high wall, over which its owner loomed at least twice as high: a monster with tree bark for skin but the shape of a woman with long arms, flowing hair of leaves and dark black orbs for eyes. Curved, horn-like branches emerged from her forehead and framed the growth falling from the back of her head. She had no legs, only a mass of roots writhing out from the bottom of her body.
The monster looked straight at Tarock and smiled for a second before the giant root whipped at her again. Tarock swung the Gran Crusher at it with all of her form's strength, but it she started to skid back before there was a flash of power and the root was sent flying back. Tarock smiled a little as she panted behind her mask from the exertion, then suddenly saw another root falling toward her. She somersaulted backward and the root missed by a foot. As soon as she was on her feet again, Tarock ran toward the giant tree-monster.
Sue stood in the new hole in the wall and gaped at what she was seeing, and taking a picture of the spectacle out of reflex. "That kid's got some stones, but she's gonna get herself killed!"
"A Dryad...If she tries to fight it alone, with the weapons she has, yes," Phebos affirmed.
"Aren't you gonna help?!"
"Battle is not my path," Phebos said, then raised his staff over his head. "But we are not without options. Sentos, awaken! Defend our people!"
"I hear," a booming voice Sue could only hear in her head said, and again the ground shook horribly, but out of the corner of one eye Sue noticed movement and turned to see the white watchtower sharking. Arms sprouted from its sides and its base split into two thick legs. A flat face formed out of the front, with crenulated ridges along the forehead and shoulders. But a score of dents and craters marked the tower-creature's chest and sides as if from old battles.
Sentos strode toward where the Dryad stood, carefully stepping over houses and streets still clogged with panicked people. Tarock leaped to the outer wall and looked over her shoulder at the city's defender, and past him saw five other houses that had been smashed by the monster's roots. Over them she could see a cluster of collapsed tents too, and make out the dirt-smudged face of Toles, the leader of the refugees she'd led to this city so they'd be safe from the Mythos. He was tending to someone lying on the ground, and someone brought over something in a bowl. It was the girl who'd given Tarock that new coat, the girl whose name she didn't even know. Tarock's fingers tightened around the haft of her hammer, then she turned and back-flipped over the wall and charged her gigantic enemy.
The stone giant stopped near the edge of the wall, just before a ray of red light ripped from the direction of the palace and rammed into the Dryad's chest. It forced her back foot by foot until her roots couldn't touch the city anymore. Then Sentos took a flying leap and tackled the Dryad with a crash that knocked Sue off her feet too. As soon as the giants were out of range a dome of red light formed over Avalon.
"And now," said Phebos, was still on his feet, "it's up to the two of them."
Tarock jumped and landed on Dryad's wrist then smashed the Gran Crusher down. Drayd seemed not to even notice, and send Tarock falling with a flick of her wrist. Sentos swung a fist that jerked her head to one side, but the leafy vines that made up her hair stretched out and wrapped around the giant, then flung him away. Tarock launched a boulder at one of Dryad's glassy black eyes, hoping to blind the giant monster, but it shattered without even getting the Dryad to blink. A giant root fell toward Tarock, and she brought back her hammer.
"Dire Fate! Grand Impact!" the Fate Driver said as Tarock channeled all of her strength into her swing. The head bit into the wood and for a second nothing seemed to happen, then the root cracked and snapped off from the rest of the Dryad.
Dryad looked down at her, then leaves as long as cars were whipping from her hair and through the air at Tarock. She turned and took a running jump as far as she could, but a leaf sliced against her back and she landed in a heap. Sentos grabbed Dryad by the shoulders and tried to stomp on the writhing mass of roots at the bottom of her trunk, even as they whipped back and forth digging gouges in his legs. He punched Dryad hard in the face and she tumbled backward.
"Calamity! Earth Needle!" Tarock smashed the ground with her hammer. Rocky spikes twelve feet long, the longest she'd ever managed, erupted from the ground and jabbed into Dryad's sides. But the monster just pushed herself upright and snapped through the spikes like dry twigs. Desperation gripped Tarock, and she launched herself at the Dryad's trunk again. "GRAND IMPACT!" the Fate Driver seemed to scream. A blazing pentacle appeared on the Dryad and the Gran Crusher smashed down on its center. Giant hunks of bark went flying.
And Dryad swatted her out of the air like a bug. Sentos charged up and landed a punch where Tarock's attack had hit but Dryad just spread her massive arms and shining red spores flew from her fingertips that exploded as they hit Sentos in the chest and knocked him onto his back.
And at the edge of Avalon's defensive wall Sue and Phebos watched through the giant cracks. "It's impossible! That thing's too much for them!" Sue said in fear.
"Tarock is more powerful than you realize," Phebos corrected her, his voice still unnervingly calm even as Avalon's only defenders were blasted about by their seemingly unstoppable enemy. "But the form of Pentacles draws its powers from earth, as does a Dryad. She fights an uphill battle." He looked over but Sue was gone, and Phebos smiled slightly. "Catches on quick, that one."
Lungs aching from her sprint, Sue stumbled into Doxo's no longer secret museum. He was kneeling over a painting that had been torn by flying debris. "This can't be happening," he mumbled. "The Mythos were destroyed! How can they be back?! This shouldn't be possible…"
Sue ignored him and picked up one of the spears and swung it at the cylinder housing the Card of Cups. A shard grazed Doxo's cheek and he looked up in surprise while Sue took the card. "She was right, you know. You've got a future to think about too." Then Sue was running off and running again. In the back of her mind she was aware her lungs were burning but there was too much at stake to worry about an asthma attack. By the time she'd gotten to where Phebos was still waiting, Dryad was battering the dome with her roots while beyond her Tarock tried to drag herself to where her hammer lay. Sentos raised a huge rock over his head and smashed it down on Dryad's shoulders and his persistence finally seemed to annoy her enough to draw her full attention. She turned and let a barrage of leaves fly from her hair that sliced into the stone giant.
"Liss!" Sue screamed, holding her prize high over her head. "I've got the card!" All of a sudden the dome faded away, and Sue threw the card. Tarock caught it, glanced at the back, slid it into her Fate Driver.
"Cups Suit!" it roared. A yellow image of the card floated down over her, replacing her green armor with a yellow breastplate, gauntlets and boots, and a new mask with a wing-like design outlining her eyes. Like before this new form felt different than the others. Not as strong, but lighter, faster.
Above her Dryad had seized Sentos in a one-handed stranglehold and was bringing back the other arm, wooden fingers aimed at the stone giant's head like spears. Tarock passed her left hand in front of her Fate Driver. "Arms of Fate! Sea Hand!" Her new weapon, a glove with spray jets in the fingertips, formed over her hand. She aimed at Dryad's arm as the monster thrust it at Sentos's face. "Calamity! Jaws of Frost!" A blast of white shot up and spread over Dryad's arm coating it in a sheet of ice. Sentos punched at it and the arm snapped off. The tree-monster opened her mouth and a scream of pain tore the air. She swept her arm and sprayed a cloud of her explosive spores but Tarock counterattacked.
"Woe! Hydro Jet!" A jet of water sprayed from Tarock's fingers and she waved it back and forth, knocking the spores away before they could get near her. She jumped and fired off another from closer range, a chill on her arm guiding her aim. Pieces of bark were blasted off by Tarock's attack exposing vulnerable white wood underneath that caved in under the force. Dryad screamed as Tarock came back to earth and the mass of roots surged out to crush her, but Tarock grabbed the bladed bracelet from her belt, the Rend Brace and it locked itself around her right wrist. The sky seemed to go dark from the writhing roots fell toward her. Tarock jumped back with an agility she'd never had before, then as the roots surged at her along the ground she jumped, flipped in the air and held out her hands to grab onto the Mythos's trunk.
Quickly she looked up at Sentos, who nodded once and grabbed Dryad around the waist and held on even when the Mythos monster stabbed her sharp fingers into his back. Tarock jumped for where she'd battered Dryad's body with her water blast and aimed the point of her bracelet at it now. "Calamity! Tethys Cutter!" the buckle said and a long blade of watery energy formed from the tip, which she swung and cut into the Mythos's body. A huge hunk of wood fell off and she could just see the curve of a throbbing blue sphere. Tarock landed on the Mythos's trunk and then jumped stabbed her arm with the Rend Brace up to the elbow into the monster's heart.
A scream even louder and more horrible than Dryad's last seemed to push Tarock even farther away as she jumped to safety. She thrashed back and forth as she started to dissolve into bluish mist like the other Mythos Tarock had killed. Her vine hair, her head, her shoulders, her trunk and the web of roots at the bottom finally melted away. The Fate Driver ejected the card and Tarock flickered away, leaving an exhausted Liss Decker in her place.
Sentos dominated Avalon's skyline against the setting sun, having returned to the form of the city's primary watchtower again. Gashes and dents were visible up and down its height that hadn't been there that morning.
"Will he be all right?" Sue asked. "I mean…I don't know how it works for you guys, but…"
"Sentos will heal," Phebos answered. "If he gets the chance. The Mythos are attacking more and more, and that was the worst yet."
The two of them glanced over at Liss, who was watching as the girl who'd given her her coat finished bandaging a woman's shoulder. "Hey," Liss said, "I didn't really thank you for the presents before, so…thanks."
"Can't save the Sphere if you catch a cold, can you?" the girl grinned.
"Hey, kid. What's your name?"
"Nabelle. Your name isn't really Tarock, is it?"
"No, it's Liss."
Nabelle gasped. "That's my mother's name!"
"Oh yeah?" Liss asked. "She the one who yelled at you to stay out of my way yesterday?"
Nabelle giggled. "That was her!"
"Yeah well, I should go now," Liss said, not sure what else to say. She was exhausted and unsure after her last battle.
"Come back and tell us about the monsters you killed sometime!"
Liss walked over to where Phebos and Sue were watching her. "Hope your boss doesn't mind but I don't think I'm gonna stick around for the victory celebration. I got stuff some stuff to take care of back home," she said. "But one other thing. There was this girl I saw on my way here. She called herself Lost, and she created a monster right in front of me. Said someone's calling her. You might keep an eye out."
Phebos nodded. "That changes a great deal. Thank you, Tarock."
Liss nodded and called to Sue, "Hey, if you're coming, now's the time."
"Totally. I gotta report in," Sue replied and flicked through a couple of her pictures to make sure they were good enough for submission. Liss took the medallion out of her coat pocket and threw it, and it changed back into a metal horse.
Phebos seemed to smile in the darkness of his hood as he said, "Thank you, Tarock. I hope we'll hear many tales of your great battles." Liss just looked at him silently for a minute before she dug her heels into her horse's sides and he galloped away before vanishing in a flash of light.
Once they were back on Earth, Shift Runner had changed back into a motorcycle. Liss shook her head and managed to tune out Sue's excited gushing about the day's events until they got to her motel.
"I'm gonna send this stuff to my boss, and we can head back tomorrow morning, okay?" Sue asked, not looking up from her photo gallery. Liss nodded and rode off. A few minutes later she pulled up outside Paige's apartment and knocked on the door.
After a minute she could hear Paige's muffled voice. "Who's there? Is it one of those monsters?"
"Kind of," Liss could hear Kelly, her sister's partner, say. "It's Liss. Should I let her in?"
"I heard that!"
The door flew open and Paige pulled Liss in quickly before closing and locking the door behind her. "What's the big deal?" Liss asked at being dragged in. "Did another monster show up when I was gone?"
"No, but plenty showed up when you were still here," Paige answered. "What happened? Everything okay, kid?" She was the only person Liss had ever met who could use that word to describe her and not make it condescending.
"I still can't believe you're encouraging this," Kelly sighed and walked out of the living room. Paige pulled out two chairs from the table and indicated for Liss to sit down. She did, and sighed.
"I don't know if things are okay," Liss groaned.
"Why not?" Paige asked patiently.
"I don't know…I mean, I go there, and everybody's supposed to hate my guts for the old Tarock killing one of the Arcana. One of them tried to kill me for it at school, remember?" Liss asked, and her sister nodded. She went on. "But then I run into some people and they think I'm a big hero. Most of them weren't even mad I couldn't save everyone from a monster. And monsters…there are ones that can turn themselves into people, and I can tell when the others are there but not them. And…and…" She stopped and clutched her head. "And it just feels so weird. Being a hero's supposed to feel awesome, isn't it? With people telling you you're the best, and beating on monsters and psychos, right?"
Is that why you said yes to these people when they asked you to save the world?" Paige asked. "Not just this one, but the one they're from too."
"I thought it would just be cutting loose even more than I was before. They were actually asking me to go out and kill monsters," Liss sighed. "Now, I just…"
"You just can't help thinking about what it's really like, running into people who understand sometimes you can't save everyone. Maybe how these things you're trying to kill are gonna try to kill you back and if you're not careful they probably can," Paige said slowly. Not judging, not insulting her choice, just laying it out bare for her.
A long, silent minute passed. "Yeah," Liss said.
"So are you gonna go back?"
Liss nodded. "Shardak thinks it's really bad, and-" she said, but Paige waved a hand for her to stop.
"Forget what he thinks for a minute. Why do you think you should be risking your life killing monsters?"
There was another thick pause before Liss answered that. It had indeed been a long time since she'd listened to anything any kind of authority had told her, but it had been just as long since she'd had a reason for doing something that wasn't spiteful or defiant. "Because this is too big to walk away from," Liss said. "That's why I have to go back."
Paige nodded then smiled and tousled her sister's hair. "Maybe this'll be good for you after all. When you going back?"
"In the morning," Liss replied "I was gonna go over to mom and dad's and get some clean clothes and stuff first. I was in a hurry last time 'cause I thought I could catch somebody and…this is all I've had for the last couple days."
"Nice coat. You think mom and dad are gonna let you in, though, after all this crap?"
"I'm kinda hoping they got my message to skip town what with the monsters and everything," Liss said.
"Oh, you told them to skip town but not me, huh? Thanks a lot!" Paige said in mock offense.
"You already knew! Besides," Liss bit her lip. "I really need you to not skip town, you know? Even though…you know."
Paige nodded. "I know."
"I'll be back soon. And Paige…thanks," Liss got up and left.
No one answered Liss's knock but her key turned in the lock. The dingy little apartment was much as she remembered it, but all the appliances were gone, and her parents' closet and dresser were empty. Looked like they'd listened to her after all, even though for all she knew they thought she was behind the attack on the school. It didn't matter, they were out of harm's way and she could focus on going back to the Sphere and getting the last card.
Her room was untouched, and she got down her backpack and got a few clean outfits together before pulling up the secret compartment she'd made in the floor of her closet and opened the lockbox inside. There wasn't much inside besides a quarter she thought was lucky when she was seven and a picture of her and Paige smiling and making peace signs at the camera from the family trip to Florida that same year. The only time the Deckers had gone anywhere. Liss looked at it for a while before slipping it into a protective inner pocket.
She'd locked the door behind her more out of habit than anything and was walking back to the street when she froze in her tracks. Standing between her and her bike were a man and woman wearing dark shirts, pants and coats. The woman had white hair that fell past her shoulders and dark eyes that glinted with malice. The man's hair was dark and short and he held up a clenched fist as he glared across the parking lot at her.
"Tarock," they said in unison. "For the good of the people of Sphere, you must die." Then they held up their arms and Liss could see they wore metal wristbands with colored discs in them, black for the woman and white for the man.
"Join!" they yelled in unison and pressed the bands together. There was a short but sharp eruption of cold up Liss's arm as they changed. Glistening armor formed around their bodies out of thin air. The man's was shiny and white with black lines running up the arms and legs and across the chestplate with a darkened visor and a large black I-symbol on his right shoulder. There was a single golden spike sticking straight up from his forehead and a small green gem lodged at the base, identical in color to the large round one in the black belt around his waist. "Donis," he said menacingly.
The woman's was black with white stripes across the legs and chestplate, the visor almost invisible against the rest of her mask. A V-symbol was etched in white on her shoulder armor. Five slanted spikes of silver decorated the brow of her mask with a small blue gem at the base of the central one. Another blue gem, diamond-shaped, was set in the front of a white belt she wore. "Ven," she whispered. "Remember those names."
"Tell Shardak who the Sphere's real saviors are," Donis added.
Just perfect. Right when she was still drained from the fight with the Dryad Mythos. But hell if she'd let them know that. "You want me, come and get me!" Liss said and loaded the Fate Driver.
"Cups Suit!" Her yellow armor solidified over her black undersuit and immediately she donned the Sea Hand and Rend Brace. It seemed more and more like she didn't need to go looking for trouble, it would always find her…
Next time on Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt…
Ven: Even you can't withstand the kind of power that binds souls…
(Donis and Ven catch Tarock in the middle of a dual attack that causes an explosion)
Liss: I've withstood a hell of a lot so far.
(Jack walks through a cavern of brightly-colored stones)
Jack: Some of your predecessors received their powers from these.
(Tarock rides across a field of ancient ruins following something that starts as sphere, shifts to a cube and then a pyramid)
Narrator: Your fate is in your hands.
I realize this one was a little long and I apologize, but it had some stuff I didn't think could wait to be covered. Also, we see what Liss would've had to fight if she'd taken the people into the forest. Maybe a good thing she just had to fight the Roc then, huh?
Also, seems Liss has even more enemies than she thought, but it looks like a few unexpected friends, too. We'll see what happens as the fight with the Mythos picks up, and pick up it will…