"FIRE IN THE HOLE!"
Explosions bombarded the door, but it still stood undamaged when the smoke cleared.
"Dang, that didn't work," Yokoshima grumbled, helmetless. He had linked himself up with Sprinkles via cables from the Scarab. Together, they had tried to blast the door open with their combined payload but it did not work.
"FORGIVE ME, MASTER, FOR FAILING YOU," Sprinkles apologised.
"Not your fault, Sprinkles," Yokoshima assured him.
"Wow, that is one strong door," Asmodeus remarked, impressed.
"OK, so we've tried my stingers, Daichi tried to scream at it," Shogo listed.
"Fuckin' door," Daichi rasped.
"And even after Yokoshima tried to blast it apart, it still won't open. The Director was not kidding about it being able to withstand anything."
"And as long as those wards are up, we can't get in," Lucifer added.
"Can't even call Sheila to open a Teleportal since there's interference in the comms."
"It's times like this that I really miss Jin," Yokoshima commented.
"Shogo...*crackle...*" a staticky voice came through the NEO-NUMBERS' com-links.
"Who's this?" Shogo responded.
"It's..." *crackle...* "Lala..." *crackle...* "Hacked into the comms..." *crackle...* "Alpha Force inside..." *crackle...* "Trying to get..." *crackle...* "...open."
"Thanks for the update, Lala," Shogo said but he was worried when he heard Alpha Force got inside. "What about Alpha Force?"
*crackle...* "beat them..." *crackle...* "...butts." *crackle...*
"Butts," Yokoshima snorted as he chuckled with Asmodeuus but they quieted down when Shogo glared at them.
"Keep working on that door. We're trying to get it open on our side," Shogo told her. "Good luck. Over and out."
"OK, so Alpha Force sabotaged our shields, our comms, sealed our only way in, got inside and Alan's family kicked their asses," Daichi summarised from Lala's message. "Not bad."
"Shinichi mentioned that they might have a technopath, right?" Yokoshima reminded. "Maybe they did this."
"But how?" Shogo asked as he looked around but then he spotted something in the sky. "What is that...?" He zoomed in with his eyes and immediately identified it. "Drone!"
Lucifer was the first to react, transforming into her stake form and shooting into the sky. She pierced through the drone and it crashed on the ground. A moment later, she teleported to her hubby with the drone in hand.
"This is how they sabotaged us," Shogo said as he took the drone and examined it. "Their Esper used this to spy on us and then used their powers through this to sabotage our systems."
"That is diabolically clever," Lucifer remarked.
"Yoko-kun," Asmodeus spoke up as she looked at the Scarab on her husband's back.
"Yes, Asmo-chan?" Yokoshima asked.
"That Scarab thing, it's like an intelligent machine, right?"
"Yeah, and it can make whatever I need."
"Can't it, like, hack the tower?"
"Asmo-chan, you're a genius!" After kissing his wife, Yokoshima went to the door. He found the access panel next to it and turned his finger into a screwdriver to undo the screws so he could remove it to reveal the wires and circuitry.
"Try not to break anything over there," Daichi teased.
Showa Chronicles: Road to Annihilation
Act XIII: Chaos Doll Rising
After leaving Alice for dead, Gorgon Mu and Nu merged back as they reverted to their singular human form and snuck away. Touching the wall, Elise III went to look for the escaped villagers. While they had gone through a Teleportal, she knew that they were still hiding somewhere inside the Hive Tower as she could sense their souls. She had tried to take the elevator but the AI that ran the place refused to let it move so she decided to take the stairs. It was a long climb but she finally found the floor where the villagers were hidden. It was the HoloSim chamber floor with eight HoloSim chambers, marked from 1 through 8.
"Ready or not, here I come," Elise III grinned sadistically as she flexed her fingers with resounding pops. She approached the first door and tried to fiddle with the keypad, only to be met with an angry buzzer noise.
"Access Denied," Sheila said.
"Let me in," Elise III demanded.
"Access Denied," Sheila repeated.
"Let me in or I'll fill you with viruses, you stupid Steve Jobs reject!" Elise III snarled through her teeth.
"Just try it, bitch," Sheila taunted.
"That's it!" Elise III snapped as she brought out her Alter Ring. "Henshin!" She transformed and split into Gorgon Nu and Gorgon Mu.
"Help me open this door!" Gorgon Mu ordered her timid counterpart.
"Y-yes!" Gorgon Nu reluctantly obeyed as she took out her kunai. The two Agitos slid their blades into the crack between the doors and began to force them apart.
After defeating Merak and digitizing him into a C3, Golden Darkness went to check on Alice. When she found her daughter, she froze in horror. Alice hung on the wall, pinned by multiple kunai in her limbs.
"Alice!" Yami cried out, reverting out of her Darkness form as she flew over to her daughter to check if she was alive. Unfortunately, Alice's body was lifeless. "No...no...I'm...I'm so sorry..." Yami sobbed. She rarely showed emotion, but right now she was distraught from seeing her daughter like this. This was all her fault. She should have been watching her daughter instead of fighting Merak. She should have made sure to send her daughter away to someplace safe before she confronted the Agito.
As she caressed Alice's face, she watched in shock and fascination as nanomachines began to bleed from her daughter's wounds. The nanomachines flowed out like liquid and covered her body with a consistency that was not unlike quicksilver until all her features resembled a silver mannequin. Suddenly, Alice's eyes snapped open, emitting a purple glow. Glowing purple cracks appeared around her eyes and spread across her featureless body before dark flames burst from the cracks. Finally, her body burst into flames, erupting into a huge fireball.
"ALICE!" Yami screamed as she was pushed away by the flames. She watched in awe as a pair of blazing wings emerged from the fireball before they were followed by a humanoid figure. From head to toe, their whole body was covered in a black substance. The figure pulled itself from the ball of flames before finally freeing itself. The black substance was quickly burned away to reveal the figure's true form.
It was Alice, completely nude and still in her adult form, with blazing wings spread behind her. The fireball shrank and changed shape, becoming a flaming halo that hovered over Alice's head.
As suddenly as they appeared, the blazing wings and halo vanished and Alice fell but Yami quickly swooped in and caught her unconscious daughter before she hit the ground.
"Alice, please speak to me," Yami pleaded. "Please, be OK."
Alice's earliest memory was waking up to see her Daddy. He gave her a name and took her home with him. He introduced her to her new family. She loved her new Mommy, her aunties and her little sister Celine.
Alice knew she was not like all the other little girls and boys. They did not have scary wings like her.
She met Daddy's brother and he hated her. She did not understand why.
But it turned out that her Daddy was her second Daddy. She had another Daddy before, the one who made her. Her first Daddy made her hurt people.
Now, she understood why Daddy's brother hated her.
But in the end, he forgave her. Or rather he was forced to forgive her. As time went on, he did finally begin to love her like a sister. Like they were really a family.
But... it was all wrong.
She didn't do anything to deserve that love from him. All she did was forget. So many people hated him for hurting others and he had to work hard to get them to forgive him.
It wasn't fair.
But tonight... she was going to set things right.
Alice gasped as she woke up in her mother's arms.
"M-mommy...?"
"Alice," Yami said softly as she hugged her daughter, relieved to see her alive. "You're OK. Thank goodness, you're OK."
"What happened?" Alice groaned and then she looked at herself. "And why am I naked?"
"You got hurt," Yami answered. "But the fighting's over now. The intruders have been subdued."
"Where are they?" Alice questioned.
"Who?" Yami questioned.
"The girls I was fighting," Alice clarified. "Where did they go?"
"They are still inside the tower," Sheila reported.
"What!?" Alice cried out. "We have to find them!"
"No, you're going to the infirmary," Yami objected. "We'll go look for them."
"No, Mommy," Alice protested as she stood up. "This is something I have to do." She looked at her naked self. "But first, I need some clothes." Nanomachines bled out of her body to form new clothes for her. She decided to dress in a black sailor fuku with short sleeves, a white flap collar, a red neckerchief that was tied into a bow and a short white pleated skirt. Her legs were covered in black stockings and she wore black sneakers on her feet.
"Alice, they almost killed you," Yami warned her daughter.
"Yes, but they didn't and what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger," Alice retorted. "Sheila, where are they now?"
"They are currently on the HoloSim floor and attempting to break into one of the chambers," Sheila informed them.
"Why?"
"It's where the villagers are hiding."
Alice's eyes widened and quickly narrowed.
"Then I'm going there to stop them."
"Alice, wait," Yami spoke up.
"Don't try to stop me, Mommy," Alice interrupted. "I need to do this."
Yami wanted to protest. She had watched her daughter die once already and she had nearly lost her again. However, she saw the resolve in her eyes and knew that her little girl was all grown up.
"...I know," Yami reluctantly agreed. "Just be careful, alright?"
"I will and I'll make sure to keep everyone safe."
Yami sighed tiredly, resting her hands on her hips.
"Honestly, you take too much after your father and brother."
Alice smiled, taking that as a compliment. She really did take after them, didn't she?
"The elevators were shut down so I recommend taking the stairs," Sheila informed Alice.
"I won't need stairs," Alice said and her body ignited before vanishing in a burst of fire.
"Flame teleportation," Yami blinked.
"Hey, was that Alice?" Daiki asked as she walked over with Celine. "When did she learn to do that?"
"Just now... I think," Yami muttered quizzically.
"HERE'S ELISE!" Gorgon Mu yelled as she poked her head between the doors' gap. She and Gorgon Nu then spread the sliding doors further apart before entering the HoloSim chamber together. Instead of an empty room, they were inside the Amazonian Rainforest.
"How did they fit an entire forest in here?" Gorgon Nu wondered.
"It's not real," Gorgon Mu scowled. "Just some advanced holographic tech." Professor Kyofu would be jealous if he found out the NUMBERS had this stuff. "Now, come on. The villagers have to be here somewhere."
"What if they're not?" Nu asked and Mu smacked her behind her head. "Ow!"
"Then we just look in the other rooms, stupid!" Mu snapped. "Now, stop asking dumb questions and follow me!"
Gorgon Nu followed Gorgon Mu as she led the way. Suddenly, a jaguar came out of nowhere and pounced on top of Gorgon Nu. She screamed as it pinned her down. She held back its jaws as it tried to take a bite out of her but Gorgon Mu took it out with a kunai through its skull. The holographic jaguar collapsed and vanished shortly after.
"It's not real," Gorgon Mu reminded. "Just smoke and mirrors."
"Well, it felt real," Gorgon Nu retorted.
"Miss Hello World must be programmed to stop us from finding those villagers and set up these things to get in our way," Gorgon Mu huffed. "Like fake predators are going to stop us. What's next? A T-Rex?"
Suddenly, they both heard a massive roar and the ground shook as they heard loud footsteps coming their way. Gorgon Nu shivered as Mu narrowed her eyes.
A T-Rex emerged from the forest and it roared at the two Agitos. Gorgon Nu screamed in terror and nearly fainted but Gorgon Mu was not impressed. The T-Rex roared again before it snapped its jaws at her but she leapt out of the way. Morphing her arms into snakes, she swung them at the beast and wrapped them tightly around its jaws.
"Kill it!" Gorgon Mu yelled as she struggled to hold the dinosaur. "Kill it, now!"
Gorgon Nu obeyed and hurled a volley of kunai at the T-Rex, hitting all its vital parts. It struggled for a bit before it collapsed and vanished into thin air.
"...Don't give it ideas, please," Gorgon Nu warned her other self. Gorgon Mu huffed in disgust. Her timid self was such a coward. She only let her hang around because she was useful as a healer.
"Shut up. Those villagers aren't far," Gorgon Mu said as she sensed their souls. "Follow me!" Dragging Gorgon Nu along, she stretched her arm up to a tree branch and pulled themselves up higher.
Meanwhile, deep in the simulation, the villagers made a makeshift campsite to keep themselves occupied. The advanced holographic technology made everything seem so real, with tents, fire, and whatever else that would typically be in campsites. It didn't do much to stave off their worries, however. Kasai kept watch with his shotgun and the rest of the able-bodied villagers were armed with makeshift weapons provided for them by Sheila.
"Geez, everyone's totally stiff," Mion muttered, noting all the villagers looking antsy. "Can't say I blame them. Half of us got killed yesterday and now a bunch of psychos are trying to finish the job."
"They're lucky that they don't remember dying," Keiichi replied. "It's mostly the people that survived who have to deal with the nightmares."
"It was really that bad, huh?" Mion asked.
"I watched you die, Mion," Keiichi admitted, fists clenched. "And there wasn't a damn thing I could do. Until Shinichi came back and revived everyone, I thought I would have to hold a funeral for my wife." He hated feeling so powerless. Maybe if he had Kamen Rider powers of his own, he could have prevented Mion's death.
"Hey, hey, Kei-chan," Mion said as she caressed his face, turning it to face her. "I'm here, I'm alive, and I'm alright. So don't worry about anything. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, OK?"
Keiichi was not the only one who felt anxious. Shiori remembered seeing her husband's head being blown off by his own shotgun. It had been horrific. The image would stay in her mind forever. It was only fortunate that her son came and fixed everything.
"Kaa-chan, are we going to be OK?" Sho asked his mother. Shiori looked at her son and then knelt down so they were at the same level.
"Don't worry, Sho-chan. Everything is going to be OK. Your brother won't let anything bad happen to us," Shiori reassured her son. To be honest, she was not completely sure about that but she had faith in her eldest son and his team. They had saved the world so many times before and this would not be any different.
"Yes, you're right," Sho nodded. "Onii-chan will save us all."
"Yes, he will," Shiori smiled warmly. Sho completely idolised Shinichi. After all, his big brother was a damn superhero. No, he was the superhero, Kamen Rider Showa.
"We found you~!"
The sudden sound of a sickeningly saccharine voice alarmed the villagers and all of them looked up to see Agito Gorgon gazing down at all of them from the trees. They both jumped down, landing in front of the villagers who readied their weapons.
"Gotcha," the red-eyed Gorgon Mu leered at them. "Thought you could hide from me, could you?"
Shiori held Sho protectively as Kasai cocked his shotgun.
"Stay where you are," Kasai warned as he levelled his weapon at them. "Don't take another step."
"Sorry, but I don't take orders from you," Gorgon Mu said and she lobbed a kunai at him. The blade spilt blood as it pierced his hand, forcing him to drop his weapon.
"Argh!"
"Tatsuyoshi-kun!" Shiori cried as her husband clutched his bleeding hand.
"FEAR MY LASER FACE!" AI-Shin screamed as he suddenly fired at Gorgon Mu but she easily sidestepped the laser blast and responded with a kunai that struck the sphere droid in his eye. "Oh, come oooooooon...!" AI-Shin went dead as his body dropped like a bowling ball.
"Shin!" Shiori yelled.
"Now that we've won hide-and-seek, let's play an improv game," Gorgon Mu put her hands behind her back as she paced back and forth in front of the terrified villagers. "My cowardly half and I are going to portray some drunken pirates and the rest of you will play the role of baby seals. So, get in line!"
The villagers did not move, paralyzed with fear. However, Satoko did not cower. Instead, she stepped forward.
"Oh, we have a volunteer!" Gorgon Mu grinned.
"Leave us alone!" Satoko yelled.
"Excuse you!?"
"You people think you can just come to our village and do whatever you want? Why? Because you have powers? Well, let me tell you something! You may have powers, but that doesn't make you better! You're nothing but bullies who go after people weaker than you coz you're scared to fight people who can fight back! Well, I'm not a coward! I'm not scared of you!" Satoko picked up a rock and threw it at Gorgon Mu. The rock hit Gorgon Mu's helmet and she glared at Satoko. The villagers, emboldened by Satoko's courage, picked up rocks and threw them at Gorgon Mu and Gorgon Nu. Nu, the scared little coward that she was, cowered behind Mu.
"Yeah, go away!"
"Get out of here!"
"Get out of our village!"
"Get out! Get out!"
As the rocks hit and bounced off her, Gorgon Mu was thinking of how she could kill them. Should she petrify them and then shatter their bodies? No, wait. That wouldn't be as nearly as fun as killing them and then resurrecting them to kill them again. And then doing it over and over again. Oh, yes, that would be fun.
She began chuckling before laughing maniacally, which caused the villagers to stop throwing rocks at her, wondering what was wrong with her.
"Fine, let's play a new game! It's called 'Who Wants to Die First?'" Gorgon Mu offered. "Any takers? No? Too bad!" She conjured multiple kunai above her head, one for each villager. "Participation is mandatory!"
"No!" Keiichi shouted as he stepped forward to stand beside Satoko.
"Looks like we have another volunteer!" Gorgon Mu yelled and she hurled the kunai straight at him.
"Henshin!" Keiichi shouted and his body was suddenly engulfed in a flash of light. Before the kunai connected, they were deflected by a sword and sent flying back at Gorgon Mu. They harmlessly soared past her as she was able to control their trajectory.
As the light died around him, Keiichi stood in a new form. He was now...
"Kamen Rider Black! RX!" Keiichi declared as he brandished his Revolcane.
"W-w-what!?" Gorgon Nu stammered.
"How...how are you a Kamen Rider!?" Gorgon Mu demanded, flabbergasted. The NEO-NUMBERS were supposed to be the only Kamen Riders in this village and they were all locked out.
"Just a little gift from a good friend," RX-Keiichi smirked under his helmet.
"He's not the only one!" Satoko yelled confidently as her big brother stood beside her with a look of determination. They were both joined by Rika, Mion and Shion. Gorgon Mu studied each of them and, much to her shock, found them wearing Kamen Rider belts of their own as well.
"ALL OF YOU!?" the Agito shrieked.
"Ready, gang?" Mion smirked, feeling nostalgic.
"Do you even have to ask, Onee?" Shion smiled back.
"Let's do this, Nii-nii!" Satoko declared.
"Yes," Satoshi nodded in agreement.
"This is our village and you're not welcomed here!" Rika yelled at the Gorgons.
The Gaming Club members perform the transformation poses and shouted as one:
"FOR HINAMIZAWA! HENSHIN!"
Their Henshin belts glowed and the Hinamizawa Gaming Club transformed before Gorgon Mu. Incredible power flowed through their bodies as the transformation altered them, strengthening them to superhuman levels.
"Kamen Rider Ichigo!" Mion announced, striking the first Rider's pose.
"Kamen Rider Nigo!" Shion declared, posing like the Rider whose form she had taken.
"Kamen Rider ZX!" Satoko yelled as she posed. It may not be Riderman's power, but she could work with this.
"Kamen Rider V3!" Satoshi shouted, glaring at Gorgon Mu. This felt just right for him.
"And me: Kamen Rider Stronger!" Rika finally called, electricity sparking from the horn of her helmet.
"We are the Hinamizawa...KAMEN RIDER CLUB!" the six (temporary) Riders yelled as one as an explosion of multicoloured energy erupted behind them.
"Kick their ass, kids!" Shiori shouted encouragingly.
"No, this is some kind of trick!" Gorgon Mu shouted in denial as she glared at the Riders that stood before her. "This is just another illusion! You're only delaying the inevitable!"
"Yeah, well, your face is inevitable!" ZX-Satoko retorted.
"...What?"
"Satoko..." Stronger-Rika sighed.
"I mean the beating your face will get is inevitable!" ZX-Satoko corrected.
"Smooth," Stronger-Rika snarked.
"Attack!" Ichigo-Mion ordered and the Hinamizawa Rider Club rushed Gorgon Mu. She fired her kunai at them and explosions erupted from the ground as the projectiles missed, covering the Riders in smoke.
Suddenly, RX-Keiichi burst out of the smoke cloud, striking Gorgon Mu across the chest with his Revolcane, causing her to backpedal from the strike. Looking down, she felt a gash across her chest. This was no holographic illusion, this was real. She fired her beam to turn him to stone but his body flashed blue as he turned into water before reforming as RX Biorider. Lunging forward, he delivered a jab that knocked her back.
"DOUBLE RIDER PUNCH!"
Ichigo-Mion and Nigo-Shion jumped straight at Gorgon Mu, their fists glowing with power as they struck her in the chest with Rider Punches, causing sparks to erupt violently from the blow as she cried out.
"ARGH! YOU BITCHES!"
Stretching her limbs, she lashed them out like whips, knocking the twin sisters back but then a pair of shurikens stuck to her chest.
"Huh?" Gorgon Mu looked down at her chest as the shurikens blinked.
"Boom, baby!" ZX-Satoko snapped her fingers, causing the Cross Shurikens to explode, throwing Gorgon Mu to the ground. "Oh, I so missed this!"
Gorgon Mu lay on her back, seething, as Gorgon Nu knelt beside her.
"Are...are you OK?" Nu asked only for Mu to roughly grab her by the neck.
"Why are you so damn useless!?" Gorgon Mu snapped as she picked herself up, forcing her other half to stand. "Just shut up and help me kill these assholes!"
"I...I..." Gorgon Nu stammered and then she yelled. "WATCH OUT!" She pushed Gorgon Mu away as V3-Satoshi came to deliver a flying kick.
"V3 RETURN KICK!"
V3-Satoshi delivered a flying kick to Gorgon Nu's chest before he sprung off her and then flipped back to deliver a second kick on the exact point of contact, sending her tumbling.
"NU!" Gorgon Mu yelled and then she shrieked as she dodged a lightning strike.
"Damn, I missed," Stronger-Rika cursed under her breath as the Rider Club gathered together.
Mu took a deep breath to calm down, but she was still furious. Killing these villagers should have been easy, and yet they found a way to make this job harder than it had to be. Like a bunch of cockroaches, they just did not know when to die.
"You know, you all really surprised me," Gorgon Mu admitted. "Kyofu never mentioned that there were other Riders in Hinamizawa. Wonder why none of you defended your village last time."
"Let's just say we just got our mojo back," Ichigo-Mion retorted, smugly.
"Or maybe this is all thanks to BLACK 13," Gorgon Mu concluded. When nobody refuted her, that was all the confirmation she needed. "I'm right, aren't I? So, he can bestow people with the power of Riders...Interesting."
"Yeah, and we're gonna kick your ass with it," RX-Keiichi stated.
"Oh, really?" Gorgon Mu smiled as she raised her hand and snapped her fingers. All of a sudden, hundreds of energy kunai rained down on the Rider Club, causing them to cry out as explosions erupted all around them. Gorgon Nu watched horrified as they were bombarded by the attack while Gorgon Mu wore a sadistic grin.
She ceased her attack and watched as the smoke cleared and the dust settled to reveal the Gaming Club sprawled out on the ground, injured and knocked out of their Rider forms.
"Damn..." Mion gritted her teeth in pain as she struggled to get up but it was too painful.
"And that's what happens when you try to play hero," Gorgon Mu mocked. With a wave of her hand, she conjured another group of kunai. " But if you want to play hero so much, then you can all die as heroes!"
She threw the kunai volley at the Gaming Club when a wall of flames unexpectedly rose up to block them. The energy kunai did not harmlessly pass through. Instead, they were absorbed by the flames.
"What?" Gorgon Mu hissed before the wall of fire fell to reveal a new figure.
"Found you," Alice said with an eerie grin.
"...Wow," Gorgon Mu said when she saw Alice. "Real impressive, Miss Hello World. She looks so real. Well, it's not gonna work. We killed the real one!"
"Um...I don't think she's fake," Gorgon Nu pointed out.
"Of course she's fake," Gorgon Mu rolled her eyes. "This whole place is fake, just like her! No matter how real all this looks, it's all just fake!"
"Fake?" Alice repeated, her eyes blazing with dark flames. "Does this feel fake to you?!" She spread her metallic wings and swung the right one at Gorgon Mu. She did not dodge, convinced it was fake until sparks ripped off her chest. She staggered from the blow, looking down at the mark Alice had left on her. It went across the mark Keiichi had left her earlier, forming an X-shaped cut.
"You're real!?" Gorgon Mu yelled. "How!? We killed you!"
"I got better," Alice grinned cheekily. She looked over her shoulder at the others. They would not be able to help her while injured so she'd have to protect them and the villagers from both Gorgons.
"Haau~, we're in trouble!" Nu whimpered cowardly.
"OK, I admit that seeing you alive is a bit of a shocker," Gorgon Mu confessed. "But it doesn't change anything."
"The rest of your pals have already been captured," Alice informed her. "You're all that's left now."
"What?!" Mu gasped in outrage. "You have to be shitting me!"
"Hauu~... Merak," Nu whimpered, sobbing.
"Alice-chan, get out of there!" Shiori shouted fearfully. While she knew how powerful Alice was, she was facing two powerful Agitos all by herself. It would be a different story if she had the others to help her.
"Shiori-san, I remember everything now," Alice told her as she looked over her shoulder with a sad look in her eyes. Facing forwards, her eyes hardened into a look of determination as she spread her arms to the side before crossing her forearms in front of her face with her fingers spread out.
"What are you...!?" Mu demanded.
"Henshin!" Alice called out as her violet eyes flashed and she threw her arms to the side. Her body burst into dark flames which shaped themselves into a fireball. And just like what happened earlier, a pair of blazing wings emerged from the fireball before they were followed by a humanoid figure. From head to toe, Alice's whole body was covered in a black substance which quickly burned away to reveal her new form.
She was clad in a white leotard-like bodysuit with silver gauntlets and greaves. Striped black and white leggings covered her legs and she also wore black ankle boots with silver heels. The armour resembled a dark blue dress with skirt-like faulds hanging from her belt which had a golden ring in the centre. Thick round pauldrons were mounted on her shoulders and her chest was protected by a reinforced breastplate that resembled an apron with playing card symbols on it. A red heart was on the top right, a black spade was on the top left, a black club was on the bottom right and a red diamond was on the bottom left. Two vertical rows of buttons that resembled coins decorated the edges of her breastplate. Her head was covered by a black helmet with a white faceplate and a black visor that went across a pair of glowing violet eyes. A blue nun's veil was draped over the back of the helmet as a bright glowing halo adorned her head like a crown. Finally, the blazing wings shrunk and vanished as she descended and landed on her feet.
"Kamen Rider... Alice," she introduced herself with a curtsy in front of everyone.
The Gaming Club were being tended to by the villagers when they witnessed Alice's new transformation.
"...Alice-chan...is a Kamen Rider...?" Mion questioned in disbelief.
"It looks like it, Onee," Shion nodded, just as stunned as her sister.
"Would've thought she'd take after her parents," Rika commented. "Still, nice 'Alice in Wonderland' reference."
"KICK THEIR ASS, ALICE!" Satoko cheered loudly.
Alice charged at the stunned Gorgon Mu and delivered a jump kick, sending her staggering back. Grunting, she grabbed hold of Gorgon Nu and dragged her to her feet.
"C'mon, don't just sit there!" Gorgon Mu commanded. They both threw their kunai at Alice but she deflected the flying blades with her arms as she came at them again. She punched Gorgon Mu twice across the face before slamming her palm against her chest, knocking her back. Visor flashing, Alice's right foot ignited as Gorgon Mu tried to attack with her snake arms.
"RIDER KICK!" Alice delivered a roundhouse kick that sent a wave of fire at Gorgon Mu, blasting her to the ground. With Gorgon Mu down, Alice focused on Nu.
"G-get away from me!" Gorgon Nu shrieked as she summoned her weapon to strike but Alice dodged her desperate attack before closing the distance between them. She caught Nu's arm as she tried to stab her and ignited her free hand as she balled it into a fist.
"RIDER PUNCH!" Alice threw an explosive punch that sent Nu crashing to the ground. Gorgon Mu was about to intervene when Alice held a fireball to Gorgon Nu's face.
"I'm giving you one last chance. Surrender now and I promise that no harm will come to either of you," Alice warned.
"Fuck you, Pinocchio!" Gorgon Mu snarled.
"...Very well," Alice said calmly as her eyes narrowed, clenching her fist to snuff out her flame. "Just remember, I gave you a chance." Her eyes glowed as they met Gorgon Mu's gaze and she froze, unable to look away. Suddenly, she let out a horrible, bloodcurdling scream.
"AAAARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH! PLEASE, NO! AAAAARRRRGGHGHHHHHHHH!"
"Stop! Stop it! Please! You don't know what you're doing! You're going to let her out!" Gorgon Nu pleaded but Alice ignored her pleas as she continued her psychic assault by showing Gorgon Mu her greatest fears. Judging by her screams, whatever Gorgon Mu was experiencing must be truly horrific.
As Gorgon Mu continued to scream, Nu slowly vanished as she merged back with her other self and they were forced to return to human form. Elise's eyes rolled up into the back of her head as she collapsed, her body twitching while she foamed at the mouth. After she was finished, Alice undid her transformation, returning to human form.
"I'm sorry but you left me no choice," Alice said somberly as she stood over Elise. "I know you were just used for your power by a man who didn't really give a damn about you and I know you weren't given a choice in the matter, but I wasn't about to let you hurt anyone again."
"You don't say...?" a twisted voice suddenly crowed.
Alice gasped as a pair of spectral arms stretched out of Elise's body before they slammed their hands on the ground on either side. Stunned, she watched as a spectral figure arose from Elise's body like a zombie rising from its grave. Once the hunched-over spectral figure fully emerged, they became solid. She then threw her head back and let out a loud, maniacal cackle. Alice's eyes widened and when this new Elise doppelganger's eyes met hers, she saw only madness in them.
"SHAASHASHASHASHA! Oh, you made the other me go night-night," the third Elise giggled, flicking a disturbingly long tongue at Alice. "Thanks for the help, robot girl! Now I finally get to come out and play~!"
"There's another one of you?!" Alice cried in disbelief.
"You got it~!" the third Elise gleefully admitted. "I'm actually the second personality the good doctor made to get the wimp to shape up, but he didn't like how I always broke his toys. So he locked me deep in her head to shut me up! Whatever you did to wet my other self's panties let me loose, and now I'm free to cause all the Hell I want again!"
"You think I'll let you? You must be dreaming!"
"Then why don't you try and stop me?" Elise II challenged as her Alter Ring flashed around her waist. "Henshin!" She slapped the side buttons to initiate her transformation. Elise II's body dissolved into a purple digital cloud which merged with her original body. She then rose into the air as purple light and strange flickering digitised squares surrounded her body. Once the light died down, she stood in an Agito suit of her own, identical to the other two versions of her. However, there was the Sigma (Σ) sign between her breasts and her eyes were purple with crazy spirals in them. "Shashashasha! Time to play~!"
"You don't scare me," Alice said.
"Oh, really? Coz, it's that attitude that got you pinned to a wall before," Gorgon Sigma reminded. "I can do it all over again and this time I'll make sure to put one in your skull. Then I'll chop you up into itty-bitty pieces so you don't come back to life ever again."
"I'm not the same as I was before," Alice retorted as her eyes glowed.
"Then entertain me, Doll," Gorgon Sigma challenged.
"Henshin!" In a burst of flames, Alice was back in her Rider form. She then swiftly went into action as her blazing wings sprouted from her back so she could swing them forward, lashing the psychic with blazing whips. Gorgon Sigma began to dodge the lashes as she danced around Alice's attack. Alice needed to stop her from moving so she took the halo from her head and threw it like a chakram. The Halo Chakram multiplied and bounced all over the room, slashing Gorgon Sigma relentlessly. Finally, they merged back above the psychic and then came down around her before shrinking, binding her in place.
"Not bad, for a walking scrap of metal!" Gorgon Sigma grinned before snapping the Halo Chakram off her body with ease. "SHASHASHASHA! Try dodging this!" She laughed as multiple kunai appeared between her fingers. Swinging out both arms, she threw all the kunai which multiplied at once.
Alice dodged the kunai but as they flew past her, they curved in the air to strike her in the back. She let out a yell as they exploded and Gorgon Sigma was prepared to throw another set at her. She hurled them at Alice and she dodged them again but this time she took off as they began to pursue her like homing missiles.
Gorgon Sigma smirked and then turned her snake-like gaze towards the villagers who had yet to run away. Her lips spread wide into a sadistic grin as she revealed the kunai she held in her hand.
Meanwhile, Alice had blown up the homing kunai when she saw Gorgon Sigma about to throw a new batch of kunai at the villagers.
"No!" Alice protested as she flame-teleported, just as Gorgon Sigma threw her kunai. They struck Alice as she appeared to shield the villagers and sparks violently erupted from her body as they exploded. "Argh! I won't...let you...hurt them!"
"How noble. But can you protect them and fight me at the same time?"Gorgon Sigma challenged.
"Everyone, run!" Alice shouted and the villagers were about to flee when Gorgon Sigma's eyes flashed.
"RED LIGHT!" Gorgon Sigma yelled, releasing a crimson energy wave that washed over the villagers, freezing them like statues.
"What did you do!?" Alice demanded.
"I petrified them, duh!" Gorgon Sigma answered as if it was obvious. "Now they have no choice but to stay and watch me smash you to pieces Doll."
Alice angrily lashed out, swinging her blazing wings at Gorgon Sigma but she avoided the swings by flying into the air. Alice flew after her and they clashed furiously. Alice fiercely threw fireballs at Gorgon Sigma who responded by swinging large snake-like energy constructs to deflect them. She sent the twin snakes to strike with jaws wide open but Alice cancelled them out with a stream of fire.
Holding her kunai between her fingers like claws, Gorgon Sigma tried to stab Alice but the android caught the Agito's wrists and kicked her in the stomach. Gorgon Sigma broke free and slashed Alice in the face, leaving cuts across her helmet. She went for another strike but Alice backhanded her across the face and then smacked her again before throwing her to the ground with a punch. As she plummeted, Gorgon Sigma morphed her right arm into a snake and it opened its mouth to fire her kunai at Alice like a machine gun but she summoned a flame barrier around herself to absorb the kunai.
Landing on her feet, Gorgon Sigma gritted her teeth. Alice might be a doll, but she was a formidable opponent. Scanning her surroundings, she looked for anything that would give her an advantage until she looked at the villagers and smiled.
Alice flew at Gorgon Sigma with a flaming fist but she stretched her arms to grab Shiori, yanking her in front of her to use as a human shield. Alice froze and Gorgon Sigma capitalised on this by throwing her kunai at her. Explosions went off as Alice was struck and she crashed to the ground.
"That is the problem with you heroes," Gorgon Sigma said with a sneer as she carelessly tossed Shiori's frozen body aside."You can't handle a bit of collateral damage."
Summoning several kunai, Gorgon Sigma connected them to form a whip and she viciously lashed Alice with her kunai whip, ripping sparks off the newly minted Rider. Alice cried out with each slash, failing to block them.
"Now, time for you to die again!" Gorgon Sigma hissed as she went to finish Alice off but she deftly caught the kunai whip in her hand. She looked up at Gorgon Sigma with shining eyes before causing the kunai whip to ignite, forcing her to release it.
Alice discarded the burning whip and sprouted her wings. Only, this time, she decided to bring out her original set. The branching blades still looked as frightening as before but she was no longer ashamed of them. Reaching behind her, she took hold of her wings and ripped them off her shoulder blades before flicking her wrists, causing them to straighten out into a pair of swords.
Gorgon Sigma summoned her kunai and held them between her fingers before she poured her power into them, causing them to extend. With a yell, she lunged at Alice. They both clashed and sparks flew as they traded blows.
"You seriously think they care about you!?" Gorgon Sigma sneered as she slashed viciously with her kunai claws. "Once you've outlived your usefulness, they'll throw you away!"
"You're wrong!" Alice snapped back as she skillfully parried Gorgon Sigma's slashes before retaliating. Sparks flew as her swords connected with her opponent's makeshift claws. "I know who I am! I am Alice Smith, daughter of Alan and Yami Smith, Sister of Showa! And as long as I live, I will protect them!" With a single swing, she disarmed Gorgon Sigma before moving in for the kill.
"RIDER SLASH!" Alice's blades instantly ignited with blazing energy as she swung, violently striking Gorgon Sigma nonstop across the chest, ripping sparks and blood away with each stroke. At the end of the combo, she delivered a brutal double slash attack that caused sparks to erupt from her chest and tear a scream from her.
Staggering back, Gorgon Sigma glared at Alice and fired her eye beams but the android blocked the beams with her swords which turned to stone. Discarding her petrified weapons, she spread her blazing wings and took off to dodge Gorgon Sigma's next blast. Gorgon Sigma kept firing at Alice who dodged the beams while in the air before she fired her counterattack.
"RIDER SHOOTING!" Alice shouted and she fired a flurry of flaming feathers at Gorgon Sigma. She shrieked as the feathers hit and she was engulfed in a huge explosion. As the smoke cleared, she was still standing; she could really take her punishment.
"I'M GOING TO BREAK YOU!" Gorgon Sigma roared and she sent a gigantic snake construct to attack Alice but she was ready for it as she gathered her energy into her legs before she spun and delivered a tornado kick into its head, shattering the huge snake. She then flew straight at Gorgon Sigma and did a flip to perform her finishing move.
"RIDER KICK!"
Black fiery energy burst from Alice's feet as she executed a dropkick, boosted by her blazing wings. At the same time, Gorgon Sigma gathered energy in her right fist and countered, throwing a punch to meet Alice's Rider Kick. Their attacks collided with a loud boom and appeared to be evenly matched. However, Gorgon Sigma began to struggle under the strain until she could not hold back Alice's Rider Kick and buckled. Alice's feet connected with her chest and Gorgon Sigma screamed as she exploded. With her defeat, Gorgon Sigma's spell on the villagers broke and they unfroze.
As the villagers recovered from Gorgon Sigma's spell, Alice stood over Elise who lay on the ground. She had regained consciousness with Elise II still in control and Alice had her hand pointed at her as she formed a fireball.
"Go ahead," Elise II hissed hatefully. "Do it! Do it! It's what you were built to do anyway, you stupid doll!"
Alice's eyes narrowed. It would be so easy. All she had to do was fire and it would be all over.
But what would her father say?
Would he do this?
Would he kill an enemy when they were down and already beaten?
"No, he wouldn't," Alice murmured, banishing her fireball as her suit burned away to return her to normal. "And I never will." She then turned around to check on the villagers.
Elise II glared at Alice's back as she picked herself up and drew a kunai.
*Thwack!*
Suddenly, Alice heard the sound of something being hit behind her and quickly whirled around to see Shiori standing over an unconscious Elise with a blood-stained rock in her hand.
"She was going to attack you," Shiori explained. Sho happily cheered and clapped for both his mother and Big Sis Alice. They were both so cool!
Alice smiled but then she turned her gaze away with a look of shame on her face. She remembered what she had done to Shiori and her family. Even though she had been ordered to by Gebok, that still did not make her any less guilty. So, she took a deep breath, looked Shiori in the eye, then got on her knees and bowed.
"I'm so sorry!"
"Alice, wha-what are you doing?" Shiori questioned, confused.
"I remember what I did to you and your family, Shiori-san," Alice confessed, surprising Shiori. "Professor Takada may have deleted my memories when he brought me back online, but I remember everything now. I hurt you so now I understand why Onii-chan hated me so much back then. He had no reason to forgive me or accept me then, but he did. Now, I'm asking for your forgiveness because I am deeply sorry for what I did to your family."
"...Alice, look at me," Shiori said and Alice raised her head. "Now, stand up." She stood back up and Shiori dropped the rock before she pulled her into a warm hug. "I forgive you."
Tears welled up in Alice's eyes and she returned the hug. Her angel wings automatically sprouted from her back and wrapped around Shiori to embrace her.
Hana flipped a switch and a light bulb flickered on.
After Shinobu's escape, Hana brought the other two girls into a small one-room apartment that had been vacated some time ago. It looked like it was just recently dusted. There was a table in the middle of the room with a few chairs around it. Aside from that, it was mostly empty and had nothing of interest to note.
"Great job scoping this place out for a safe house, Hana-chan," Michiru said, smiling.
"I figured we needed a place to hold up in case things got too hot," Hana explained. "Looks like I was right."
"This place isn't too far from the BTS Building either, so we can keep our eye on it and bail out if we get discovered," Megan added, noticing a refrigerator nearby. "Oh, and refreshments!" She grinned before eagerly opening the fridge to pull out three cans of soft drinks. "So, Shasta or Cherry Coke?"
"Cherry Coke," Michiru answered and Megan tossed her a can. "Thanks."
Hana took out the Viral Core that the Coyote had given them and stared at it.
"You okay, Hana?" Megan asked as she offered Hana a can of Shasta.
Hana blinked briefly before taking a few breaths, calming herself down.
"I'm fine," Hana answered, taking the beverage. "When I saw what Kyofu did to Weapon D... it reminded me of Dr. Phobist." Michiru gently grasped her hand on top of her spouse's.
"Was he the scientist who made you into a cyborg?" Megan frowned sympathetically.
"Yes, but I killed him a while back so I'm not too bothered by it anymore," Hana replied. "Still, seeing Kyofu do that to Weapon D all but confirms that he's 100% GIN-SHOCKER."
"This evidence is pretty incriminating but we need more than that," Michiru said as she turned her sack over and a pile of Betamax cassettes came pouring out. "And it's all in here."
"There must be thousands of hours of footage in those tapes," Megan remarked.
"There are still a lot more puzzle pieces we need to figure out too," Hana said, eyeing the Viral Core. "What's Shinichi and Lum's future daughter doing here giving us crucial information? Better yet, why is she a thief?"
"Hey, Megan," Michiru asked as she turned to the woman in question. The White Martian audibly gulped. "How are things in the future? I know we can't know too much coz of spoilers and all that but did anything stick out?"
"Well..." Megan began, trying to choose her words carefully. "There were a few things that I noticed out of place. For one thing, when I watched the news back in Alan's time, I saw news reports of dinosaurs rampaging in Kyoto."
"Did someone get that idea from reading 'Jurassic Park'?" Michiru wondered.
"I wouldn't rule that out," Megan shrugged. "And there was also some weirdness that went on, like a giant airship that looks like a raceway flying over Paris."
"From what we've heard about Alan's universe, strange and unusual events are pretty common," Hana remarked.
"Yes, but the truth is..." Megan hesitated slightly before dropping the bombshell. "These events aren't from Alan's universe at all. They're from this one, and they didn't happen until after Alan returned to his universe."
"Are you saying that something caused the timeline to change?" Hana asked.
"It all started when Alan and the others travelled back in time to visit Shinichi. The longer they stayed, the more their presence caused ripples across the timeline," Megan admitted. "Just by staying, they unknowingly influenced events. Everything that happened in the last few years: X-SHOCKER, Anastasia, Shinichi going rogue, Shiro and Orochi, the Religion of Crime, none of that was ever meant to happen originally. And now as a consequence, events are not playing out the way he remembers them anymore."
"How big were these changes?" Michiru inquired.
"It's pretty hard to say," Megan answered. "But Alan said that when he left, this universe's future was peaceful with very few villains and almost no existential threats. But now, that's no longer the case. Even the technology isn't as he remembers it. Thanks to everything that happened, this world's tech has jumped ahead ten years."
Michiru and Hana allowed this to sink in. How much had the timeline been altered from its original direction? It was hard to say.
"I hate time travel," Michiru complained, tugging on her twin-tails in frustration. After joining ARMOR, the NEO-NUMBERS had to take a mandatory course on time travel. Even after that, time travel theories still gave Michiru headaches. How exactly could changing the past change the future when it already happened?
Shinichi's Return to the Past worked by reversing time. But using time travel to change events just caused paradoxes. Like, wouldn't going back in time to change an event that made you go back in time negate the time travel in the first place?
Time travel rules were broken and confusing!
"Look, we can worry about temporal aberrations some other time. What we need right now is information," Hana interjected as she looked at the dozens of cassettes they had stolen from Kyofu's archives. "Going through all of these is going to take forever."
"Maybe not," Michiru countered. "Let me take these back to the Metaverse and watch them there. It will be like no time has passed."
"Really?" Megan asked, surprised.
"Sure," Michiru nodded. "Later, gals!" She snapped her fingers and vanished along with the cassettes in a burst of pink petals.
In the BTS' headquarters, T decided to question Coyote. The last time she had seen the Phantom Thief, she had her taken away to a holding cell. So, it came as a surprise when she discovered that Coyote was not there.
"Where's the prisoner?" T demanded as she grabbed a Psycho Soldier by his collar.
"What prisoner?" the Psycho Soldier answered dumbly.
"I had three of you bring a thief here," T explained, trying not to lose her cool. "What happened to her?"
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we haven't had any new prisoners recently," the Psycho Soldier answered. T growled and tossed him against the wall in anger.
Just how could this have happened? She knew the thief had been unconscious and in no shape to escape. But what if that little thief had been faking it? If T could find those three soldiers, she would yell at them and then kill them for their incompetence. Unfortunately, all the Psycho Soldiers looked alike.
She turned and left the holding cell area to blow off some steam. The Coyote had gotten away and had done it without alerting anyone. Clever girl, but T did not appreciate being made a fool of. She was going to pay her back for this humiliation!
"You seem upset," Cryska observed as she spotted T stomping past her.
"Oh, did you read my mind?" T snarked.
"No, it's written all over your face," Cryska pointed out.
"We had an intruder," T hissed.
"Oh," Cryska blinked and T looked at her suspiciously.
"You don't seem surprised about this."
"Oh, I am surprised," Cryska lied. "I just wasn't expecting something like this. Never thought anyone could break into a place teeming with psychics."
"Well, apparently, they did. We need to update our security."
"What do we tell the Professor then?"
"We tell him nothing. You know how he gets when things don't go his way. Imagine what he'd do to us when he finds out some intruders broke into this place!"
"What happens when he finds out anyway and we did not tell him?" Cryska countered.
T offered no answer.
Kaguya sat on the Genovian shoreline, dressed in a black school swimsuit, building a sand castle with a bucket and shovel in hand. After she finished, she took a moment to admire her work.
"What do you think, Chibimoose?" Kaguya asked.
"Nah!" Chibimoose squeaked, wearing sunglasses.
"You're right. It is a palace fit for a king." Kaguya put a small crown on top of Chibimoose's head. "There, now you're royalty."
"Nah!" Chibimoose tried to sit on the sand castle like it was a throne but ended up crushing it instead. Now covered in sand, he squeaked playfully and shook it off himself hard.
"Ah. I have sand all over me now," Kaguya monotoned, looking over herself. She soon noticed a large shadow being cast over the beach and looked up to see dark storm clouds roll in, blocking out the sun. Sighing, she stood up and dusted herself off. "Huh, it was such a nice day too."
"Nah!"
"I know. Raheem warned me this would happen."
END OF ACT 13
DrEx: For those who don't know, the 'Jin' Yokoshoma is referring to is Jin Majutsushi, aka No. 06, aka Kamen Rider Petrifier who was both a thief and the team's locksmith. Also, it looks like Alice remembers what she's done and this has allowed her to evolve into a Kamen Rider. At the same time, Hana and Michiru discover how much the future was altered. So, what do you think of Alice becoming a Rider in this chapter? Let me know in the reviews. In the next Act, we'll check out Kaguya in Genovia!
NOTE: The "Hello World" joke is a reference to when Steve Jobs first unveiled the Macintosh in 1984.