Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt – Reading Eight: Riders' Legacy
Disillusioned youth Liss Decker found herself in possession of an artifact allowing her to transform into Tarock, a being of awesome powers, after the sudden appearance of supernatural beings in her city. Seeing an escape from her oppressive everyday life, she accepted its creator's request to use those powers to fight to become the hero of the Sphere, the strange tiered world he calls home, and save it from the evil creatures menacing its people.
Expecting mainly enemies, Liss's years of self-righteousness were shaken when she was welcomed as a savior by a group of refugees and a potential ally by one of the Sphere's primary rulers. After helping to save his city from a gigantic monster, Liss acquired the third of four cards necessary to access Tarock's full abilities. After a return to her hometown to prepare for a longer stay on the Sphere, Liss found herself being attacked by a pair of warriors intent on keeping her from harming the people of that other world…
Tarock had barely finished arming herself before Ven and Donis were charging her. They landed a dual punch her chest that knocked her five feet before she landed hard on her back. The next thing she saw was each of them aiming a jump-kick at her throat.
"Tethys Cutter!" the Fate Driver yelled, and Tarock slashed with the blade of blue energy that jumped from the tip of her bracelet. She caught Ven and Donis across the chest and knocked them away, giving her time to get up. It hadn't had the length or sheen it had when she'd been fighting the Dryad Mythos, but she'd been putting everything she had into those attacks, and what she had now wasn't much.
Donis got up and started to circle around Tarock as he looked for an opening, but Tarock flicked her glance over her shoulder trying to spot Ven, whose black armor was almost invisible in the dwindling light. Suddenly Donis ran at Tarock and spin-kicked her in the back. Tarock shouted in pain and turned as quickly as her aching limbs would allow and cried "Calamity! Jaws of Frost!" A thin sheet of ice formed over Donis's armor, but cracks were already stretching across it. It wouldn't matter as long as she could make it to the bike, then she could travel to the Sphere and have a whole world to lose them in. Tarock started toward where she'd parked Shift Runner…
…and a pair of lights she only had a second to recognize as the crystals in Ven's armor came shooting out of the darkness at her before Ven stabbed her in the chest with a pair of metal blades on the wrists of Ven's black armor. "Woe! Hydro Jet!" Tarock battered her enemy back a step, then another step, then another with the blast of water.
But Ven crouched and lunged forward, catching her in the chest with one blade at the same moment Donis threw a blazing punch at Tarock's back. Their bracelets said with alarming calm, "Twilight Convergence." And everything seemed to explode around her.
Tarock was blown through the air to land next to Shift Runner, her armor flickering away. Anxiously she checked the Fate Driver and her form card, and to her relief they looked undamaged. As the two armored warriors loomed over her, it looked like the same couldn't be said for Liss for very long.
*BOOM!*
A swarm of tiny explosions erupted over her attackers' forms. Ven and Donis seemed more annoyed than hurt, but the hulking black man holding a smoking shotgun didn't seem intimidated by them. "You okay, kid?" he asked in Liss's direction.
"I'll live," she coughed. "But not if I catch another hit like that."
"Then get going to somewhere safe," he said. Ven seemed to glare at him and raised a wrist-blade, but Donis stepped in front of her.
"We're only here to deal with one troublesome outsider, and that's Tarock," he said.
Liss climbed up onto her bike, the man still pointing his gun at the unimpressed Ven and Donis. "Why are you doing this?" she whispered while she started the engine.
"Because of those eyes," he said. "I got a girl living with me who says someone with big yellow eyes saved 'er from a giant bat."
Liss squinted. "Sensei?" The man just nodded. "Tell Paige Decker I'm sorry I had to leave all of a sudden," Liss said then roared off, speed and escape the only thing on her mind. There was a burst of light in front of her as she left Earth behind and reappeared on a darkened road with tall yellow grass on either side.
Shift Runner hadn't changed into a horse like it had the last time she'd come to the Sphere, but that was at the back of Liss's mind. She needed to find a place to hide and recover before anymore battles. After a few miles the grass thinned out and she spotted a cluster of trees away from the road. She pulled in there, found a soft-looking patch of ground and collapsed on it.
Before Liss drifted off to sleep, she thought about how the morning was sure to bring new battles for her life and the lives of thousands, millions even of people she didn't know. Thinking of the daily slog through interactions with people who hated her and who she hated right back that used to be her life, she didn't regret her choice to pick up the Fate Driver. Here she might have enemies, but she finally had more than enemies. And considering everything that had been thrown at her so far, she wasn't doing so bad.
At least, I hope, she thought as sleep claimed her.
Finally the rippling and bobbing of flight between the worlds ceased and Ven and Donis found themselves gliding through the sky over a range of hills on the middle level of the Sphere. They passed a fortified town near a dirt road, but there was no trace of Tarock. They lowered to the ground and flashed back to normal.
Nema and Lurian exchanged a strained glance. The turbulence they'd run into while flying back from the outside was nothing compared to the simmering tension in their eyes. After a second their bracelets flashed and shook, and their looks became even more anxious.
"Maybe we shouldn't answer," Nema said. "They're not going to be too pleased we let Tarock get away."
"They'd be even less pleased to hear we slaughtered someone trying to get to her," was Lurian's clipped reply. Glaring at him Nema touched her bracelet to his and an image appeared in front of them. It was of the bizarre sight of a man and woman floating in midair, their hands physically melded together, as well as their legs just below the knees. "Hello, Mila and Felco," Lurian said, bowing his head.
"Have you located Tarock?" the woman of this strange pairing asked.
"Yes," Nema replied, "and we were about to deal with her when another outside interfered. Lurian prevented me from attacking."
The male half of the strange synthesis was the one to reply. "It was for the best. You are to be the Sphere's champions, not mindless slayers who go antagonizing the outside. Slay our foes, that is why you were bestowed our power!"
The female half said next, "Here is the first portion of what we promised."
The image flashed and turned into energy that beamed into their eyes, and suddenly they were somewhere, somewhen, else.
They were by a sparkling stream, sitting in the shade of an ancient tree. Lurian had on the blue and gold uniform he'd gotten for making into Mazones's War Academy. Nema had on that red dress with the black edging her big sister had given her, and they were waiting for her family to meet them. Nema looked up and met Lurian's eyes, and he smiled softly as he looked back.
"Congratulations," she said again.
He laughed. "I'm more worried about meeting your parents, with all the things you've said about your mother, than anything I've got to look forward to in the army."
"She's…she's something all to herself, that's true," Nema giggled. She reached out and cupped his cheek, and Lurian gently cupped her wrist.
He said, in measured words, "So are you."
Slowly Nema withdrew her hand. "Lurian…," she whispered. They started leaning closer together.
Then there was a flash and they were back in the present. Nema and Lurian gave each another sidelong glance, this one far more uncertain than angry.
A persistent buzz slowly stirred Liss from her sleep. She rolled onto her back, afraid she was about to be attacked, then realized it was coming from where she'd stashed the Fate Driver inside her coat. Pulling it out she could see the image of Shardak, the bodiless wizard who'd created her powers long ago, shimmering above the crystal ball in the middle.
"Liss! There you are at last! Did everything go all right with the emperor?" he asked.
"He was nicer than I expected, and I got the card. Right after that two other guys attacked me, Ven and Donis. They changed into armor like I do. You know anything about that?"
Shardak frowned. "I don't, but it wouldn't surprise me if another of the Arcana had empowered champions of their own."
"But possible," Liss reminded him. "Which is why I need to find the last card right away."
The wizard looked at her with disapproval. "Your zeal is appreciated but there's another thing I'd like to request of you first. Not far away is something we need secured. Jack will meet you there and tell you where to find the fourth card."
Liss sighed as he gave her the directions. Wasn't this supposed to a partnership? Didn't that mean she got some kind of say in what they did, instead of him ruling over her by withholding information until he decided it was time? Still, he only wanted this one thing, and he hadn't said anything about any really badass Mythos in the area. How much of a hassle could it be?
As soon as she had the last card, though, Liss planned to have a pointed discussion with Shardak about the one of them doing all the dangerous stuff having more input. She rode into the field Shardak had directed her to until she spotted the ruins of a town a half mile or so off. There were still thin plumes of smoke rising from the shattered houses…a Mythos had probably been through not too long ago after all. Liss stopped at the edge of a small cliff, one with a mine entrance at the bottom.
Liss shivered but tried to hide it out of instinct as she went inside. She didn't like being underground, but supposed it was something she'd better get used to if she was going to do this for real. At first the walls were just bare rock, but as Liss went deeper small, colorful gems peeked out of the walls and got bigger as she went. "Is anybody here?"
Suddenly something whistled through the air at her head but Liss grabbed it and wrenched it out of its owner's hands. A shovel. Not surprising considering the dirt-streaked face and dusty clothes of the man who'd tried to attack her could only belong to one of the miners. Two others ran up and dragged him away from Liss.
"I apologize for my friend," one of the miners said. "We were expecting a monster. What are you doing here?"
"I'm the new Tarock. And I don't appreciate it when people try to bust me upside the head with shovels."
The one who'd taken a swing at her asked. "Where were you last night, Tarock? When the monster was smashing our town into rubble?"
"Fighting for my life," Liss answered. "Sorry, even Tarock can only be in one place at a time."
"Anyway," the other miner interrupted. "Thank you for coming even if it's a little too late. I'm surprised the Mythos didn't pay any attention to the mine."
"What exactly do you guys mine here?" Liss asked.
"Gems with special powers. Very, very special powers."
Liss nodded. "That sounds real important, now I understand why he sent me here," she said, and then suddenly turned and smashed her fist into the face of another miner creeping up on her with a knife. He hit the ground and convulsed, turning into one of the faceless white Mythos that could disguise themselves as other people. Immediately Liss locked the Fate Driver around her waist and loaded it
"Pentacles Suit!" The three miners were pushed back by the rush of power created by Liss's change into Tarock. Before the green armor had even finished forming over the undersuit they flickered and changed into more of the faceless Mythos themselves, and she already heard a snarl from something else behind her. Two of the Mythos grabbed her by the arms but she easily threw them off. The last raced at her with a pickaxe but Tarock passed her hand in front of the Fate Driver and her warhammer appeared. They swung at the same time but the Mythos's blow was knocked aside and the Mythos itself caught Tarock's hammer on his chest and slammed into the wall.
Then without warning a group of them came charging down the tunnel and jumped on top of Tarock, forcing her to the ground. But raw strength filled her body in this form and she struggled to just plant her hands, knowing it would be easy to throw them off once she did, but she didn't get the chance. Something huge and heavy crashed down onto her back, through all the monsters piling on top of her. Tarock yelled out and shoved herself up, throwing the weaker Mythos off her.
Looking down at Tarock was tall and green Mythos with warts and bumps all over his body. Beady eyes glared at her over a hooked nose and a mouth of sharp, uneven teeth. In his beefy hands with a stone club that he swung at Tarock's head, but she knocked it away with her hammer and smashed the Mythos again and again on his chest and one shoulder, forcing him to drop his weapon. She shoulder-checked him in the stomach but he hardly budged a step before grabbing her by the arms and threw her down the tunnel. Tarock smacked into a wall and slid off covered in blue gem dust.
The Mythos roared as he came charging at her, club high over his head. She could've easily pinned him in place with her Terra Bind, or impaled him with her Earth Needle, or even knocked him clean out of the tunnel with an Earth Fist. But after all the bashing around she'd taken yesterday, Tarock opted for something much simpler. She dodged the monster's wild swing, jumped up and punched him as hard as she could right in the face. His head jerked back and she hit him again in the stomach and he stumbled backward. Then she joined her hands and brought them down hard on the Mytho's neck. There was a crack and he roared in pain.
He turned and grabbed Tarock's shoulders and squeezed. Tarock's armor creaked but she grabbed his wrists and shoved him off, then gathered her strength for her next strike. "Calamity! Edifice Breaker!" The punch connected with the monster's chest and blasted it back down the tunnel, blue smoke coming off his body as he flew. A second after he landed outside there was nothing left.
And that was fine with Liss.
A half hour later Liss was sure no-one was hiding in the mine and the town beyond, Mythos or survivor. There weren't even any traces of bodies, and edgy as she was already, Liss tried not to think what that implied. She was waiting by the entrance to the mine when the air seemed to stretch for a second and then someone appeared on the rim.
"Greetings, Liss! You seem to have kept busy since our last meeting!" said a man in bright white and green clothing, tweaking his Robin Hood hat down over his face and standing his hobo stick against the ground. It was Jack, one of the Arcana as well as one of Shardak's few allies.
"Hey, Jack? You got something for me?" she replied.
He jumped down to meet and then reached into his bundle to produce a red card with a golden sword emblem on the front. It was another of Tarock's form cards, finally repaired after a disastrous defeat. She felt a little safer, a little stronger, to have it back. "So, what's so special about these jewels you need me to make sure they're safe before I go looking for the last card?"
"Many of them have special qualities," Jack answered, then stopped. Liss scowled.
"No, damn it, that's not enough. You guys want me to be your champion or whatever and do all the dangerous stuff, you can sure as hell keep me in the loop better than that. This is your world you guys want me to save, not mine. Let me know what's going on!"
Jack nodded sympathetically. "Agreed, Liss, we have not told you everything, but as you say, this is our world. You demonstrated a strength and resolve that were ideal for being Tarock, but you were not a choice we were familiar with and I hope you won't take offense that your outlook is perhaps dubious for someone we are hoping to be an example to our people."
"You and Shardak sound exactly the same," Liss mumbled and crossed her arms. "So are you guys firing me or what?" she asked, but Jack shook his head.
"I don't know that we can afford the time, and like it or not you've already established yourself with that battle at Avalon. But let me defend Shardak's decision to withhold the location of the last card. It's in the ruins where the first Tarock had his final battle with the Mythos, and those ruins aren't far from Mazones, which is home to most of the Arcana who consider Tarock a danger," Jack patiently explained.
"And what about the jewels?" Liss said. "You guys gonna give them to people for those Mythos alarms?"
"Come with me," Jack said with a smile and led Liss back into the mine. He gestured at the large gems in the walls, red in one section, yellow in the next, then green, blue, purple… "These Ora Stones have many remarkable properties when harnessed correctly. They can be used to detect disguised Mythos, for one, they can serve as amplifiers for power, and they were what gave the holy relics of the four tribes the special powers that your cards now hold."
Liss looked over the gems, not doubting they could contain potent power after all the things she'd seen. "Those look like the jewels those guys who attacked me before I came back to the Sphere had…"
"Those two flying around?" Jack asked. "I'd watch out if you're who they're looking for. They look like they won't stop until whatever they're after's completely wiped out."
"Flying? Can I fly?" Liss asked.
"Not to the best of my knowledge."
Sighing, Liss waved it off. "I can handle them, I was just too worn out last time."
Jack nodded simply. "But there's more to the Ora Stones, Liss. A few of them even found their way to your world, and were used to empower other warriors not unlike Tarock. Mostly in a place called 'nee-pon', I believe.
"Some stones were fashioned into medals used to house the powers of beasts, or rings that empowered sorcerers. Two were even formed into a matched pair, something to do with the sun and moon and their wearers fighting to the death to determine the ruler of the world. Does any of that sound familiar?"
"Maybe," Liss said, looking away thoughtfully. "Guys from something called…Gorgon? I always thought Sensei was making that up…"
"Making what up, Liss?" Jack asked.
She shook her head but answered. "This guy who taught me kung-fu when I was a kid. He used to live in Japan and he talked about some terrorists called Gorgon, or something like that, and how they had monsters working for them. He said they were supposed to have two guys fighting to be the leader. He showed every new class this huge scar on his back and he said a giant bat gave it to him when he was trying to get out of the country."
Jack set down his stick then held out one hand palm up and an image of a figure in black armor from head to toe, with bug-like antennae on his forehead and a pair of huge red eyes on his mask appeared. In Jack's other hand another figure, this one in silver with large green eyes, appeared. Both raised their fists and then started to punch, kick and dodge the other's attacks as Jack went on.
"It's all too true, Liss, and there are many stories like it. Of brave people with great power who fought powerful enemies." The black and silver fighters disappeared and were replaced by an image of another with a red mask, yellow on his arms and green on his legs fighting his way through a group of monsters that looked like thin mummies. "Much was at stake, and for many their battles cost them dearly."
"I can handle it," Liss replied.
"Oh?" Jack said, and let it hang in the air. The image changed again to a figure in blue suit under silver armor with an image of a spade on the chest. He wielded a long sword against a monster that looked like a huge bat, not unlike the one she'd fought herself. Then he was replaced by another, green on his right side and black on his left who punched and kicked away attackers in black business suits with luchador masks that had a white centipede design from top to front. "I know your world glorifies the way of the warrior, Liss. But remember the fate of your predecessor, poor Mesho. Even the first Tarock didn't survive to tell us what he saw in his final battle."
Oh, so he was trying to psych her out, was he? See if she'd back off when he told her how hard it was for the ones who'd come before her. Well, he could forget it. She hadn't exactly been getting by on her good looks before, and she'd beaten that giant Mythos yesterday.
"You're not scaring me out of this, Jack."
Jack placed a hand on her shoulder. "Perhaps I was asking you to ask yourself if this is truly the kind of life you want."
"Maybe I don't have many other options."
"There are always options," Jack smiled, "but if you're set on your course you see it's important we made sure these Ora Stones were safe. That Mythos were here means they know what the stones can be used for and had plans for them. These are not mindless beasts."
"I kind of got that when they singled me out at school," Liss replied. "But thanks for explaining that. What do they want 'em for, though?"
"I shudder to imagine," Jack answered.
"Okay then…where's the last card? Exactly."
"Ride west until you come to one of the crystal shafts. When you reach the end, ride to the mountains you see. There's a pass with a rock that looks like a wolf's head near it. Follow that and you'll find the ruins, and within the Card of Wands. Be careful."
Liss nodded. "Thanks, Jack. See you around."
"You will," he said as she walked back out of the mine. A second later he heard her motorcycle roar to life and fade into the distance.
It was a pity. Someone so young, so strong but so conflicted already. Was it right to continue to ask her to be their envoy, yet did they dare change their course with what she'd already accomplished in their world as well as her own and how much time was against them?
A thought came over Jack and he pried loose one of the gems, a brilliant green one. Maybe there was a way to get more help for their cause…
Darkness was setting in by the time Liss found the rock Jack was talking about. She took the pass slowly, expecting Mythos to jump out of every shadow. The thought of a Mythos attack ate at her as she rode farther and farther down the road. So far it had only happened when she was there, but people from the Sphere didn't seem to have much trouble getting to her hometown back on Earth. What if they did do something when she wasn't there and attacked someone who wasn't her? What if Ven and Donis did? Was Shardak expecting her to only think about the people on his side?
A few minutes later the pass emptied out into a small valley full of jagged columns and stone blocks laying wherever the forces of nature had left them after years of neglect. Liss rode around the debris looking for anything that stood out. A pedestal. A standing building with a sturdy door. Finally her headlight stopped on a flight of stone stairs descending into the ground.
That had to be it, didn't it? Liss pondered waiting until daylight before going down. At least she'd be rested up before she faced whatever was down there. But the longer she waited, the longer it would be before she was at full power and ready as she could possibly be for whatever the Sphere decided to throw at her next.
While she thought it over, a pair of glowing objects appeared in the sky overhead and started to grow larger and larger as they grew closer. Liss tensed and ducked behind a wall as they stopped and hovered over the ruins, probably having spotted her bike. One of the lights was bright white, and the other was a stark black that stood out against the deep blue of the night sky.
Ven and Donis.
After hovering a few seconds more they started to descend, and Liss vaulted the wall and dashed to where Shift Runner was parked. It shimmered and changed to a medallion again that Liss stowed in her coat before bolting down the stairs. She'd give them the fight they wanted when she decided. At the bottom was a stone room with a passage leading away. Liss started toward it but there was a blinding flash of white light and Donis was blocking it. Not to Liss's surprise Ven was between her and the stairs.
The familiar urge to defend herself started to well up inside Liss, but she stopped herself. Couldn't she stand to have a few less people gunning for her? Maybe she could talk her way out of this, and get them to see they wanted the same thing. "Why are you guys after me?" Liss asked as she slowly got out the Fate Driver. "I want to kill Mythos so they don't kill people, isn't that what you guys want too?"
"We want to save the Sphere," Donis said. "From all its threats."
"Why don't you ask that Emperor Solymen guy? I killed a huge Mythos attacking his city. That something somebody who wanted to kill the Arcana would do?"
"Solymen is weak," Ven said, unmoved. "The Sphere is at war with one enemy already, we don't need Shardak plotting in the shadows too."
"Do you guys even-"
"Enough talk!" Ven roared.
Liss locked the Fate Driver on her waist. If that was how it had to be, she wasn't about to roll over die for these two. "Swords Suit!" Thick red armor solidified on her undersuit and as soon as it did she passed her hand in front of her belt and the hilt of a sword appeared from it. She grasped the haft and a pair of crossbars slid from the center, and a glistening blade flashed into being atop it.
Then Ven rushed at Tarock, jabbing and slashing with the blades on her armor's wrists. She landed a slash across Tarock's chest, but Tarock spun with the momentum of the blow and slashed Ven in retaliation across the back. Sparks flew and Ven cried out, then her bracelet said "Ven Split." Her form blurred and then turning to face Tarock were three black-armored warriors.
As one they surrounded Tarock and slashed, punched and kicked at her again and again. Gathering her strength Tarock swung her sword in a circle around her. One Ven ducked, the second jumped over the blade, but the third was taken by surprise and knocked on her back. Tarock took her chance and jumped through the opening she'd created by knocking down the one Ven. But as soon as she did Donis landed next to her from a jump and delivered a vicious chop to the wrist of the hand holding her sword.
Tarock yelled as her entire arm went numb and her sword dropped from her hand. Donis aimed another chop at her other shoulder but Tarock dodged to the side and grabbed the Rend Brace from her belt. "Calamity! Thunder Lash!" she screamed and cracked the electrical whip as soon as it appeared. It hit Donis square in the chest, causing him to cry out and sink to one knee. The three Vens ran at Tarock wailing like banshees but she cracked the whip in an arc and sparks flew from their chest plates.
Quickly Tarock bent down and swept up her sword in her left hand. She didn't like the idea of fighting four opponents with her strongest weapon in her off hand, but it was still the only one she could feel. Desperately she considered her options as Ven and Donis closed in, then suddenly spotted something behind them. It was a floating cube the size of a baseball, but as she watched it shift into the shape of a pyramid and flitted back and forth in front of one section of the wall.
"Woe! Bladestorm!" Tarock screamed and swiped her sword with all her might, unleashing a barrage of shining daggers that battered at Ven and Donis. She took a running jump and somersaulted in the air above them and landed where the floating shape indicated. Glad for any escape she might get Tarock slashed her sword into the wall and the stone fell away revealing another passage. The shape nipped into the darkness and Tarock followed, hoping it would lead her closer to the last card.
She didn't notice the faint form slinking through the shadows behind her.
The guard squatted closer to the watchtower beacon. Nights seemed to be getting even colder since reports of the Mythos's return had come trickling in. They were so remote, no help would be coming in time if a Mythos did. And he certainly didn't like their chances if one did attack.
He sighed and huddled closer, scanning the darkened terrain with aching eyes. His stiff bunk in the barracks was seeming like a featherdown bed in the emperor's palace ever since they'd ordered extra sentry duty in case a monster should attack.
But then, he spotted a hint of movement some fifty yards from the edge of the town wall and ran as fast as he could to the alarm bell and rang it for all he was worth. Another group of guards ran out, weapons drawn, but returned slowly a few minutes later, and carrying an emaciated teen girl in a ragged robe between them.
"What's your name, little one?" one of the villagers asked.
"I am…Lost. Water," she whispered hoarsely. "Please, just let me have some water."
"Of course, little one, of course," she was told while the bucket was brought up from the well. "You can tell us all about what happened once you've got your strength back." They filled a tin cup with water and Lost gratefully grabbed it and started gulping down the contents.
In the dim light of the torches and lanterns no-one noticed the black rivulets seeping from her palms.
Next time, on Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt…
Donis: We'll find you wherever you run, Tarock.
(Liss enters a stone crypt with an open sarcophagus)
Liss: What else was down here?
(Shadows watch Liss, Ven and Donis as they search the ruins but scatter as a red-eyed shape walks among them)
Ven: What could possibly drive her to fight so hard?
(Tarock appears in a new form with light blue armor, carrying a metal rod)
Jack: (amused) Perhaps she fights to find out for herself.
Narrator: Your fate is in your hands.