A portal opened up in the sewers before Shinichi stepped out with Ryuji, Kotonoha and Lucy following close behind him. All of them were dressed in black spec-ops suits, the water swishing up to their boots as they made their way through the dark tunnel. The sewer tunnel was strangely wide, spacious enough to match the size of a corridor for a large-scale house.

"Come on. The BTS building is this way," Shinichi said, leading the way.

"And if we run into any of those psychics, we take them out," Lucy added.

"Try not to kill them if you can," Shinichi advised. Since this was his operation, he had the final say on how they did things.

"Fine, but don't blame me if they force my hand."

"God, I hate the sewer. Everything smells like shit," Ryuji complained. Since his sense of smell was enhanced, it was hell on his nose.

"Just breathe through your mouth," Shinichi advised. "And don't worry. It's not too far."

"I can't wait to give that bastard what he deserves," Lucy grinned sadistically. "One vector across his neck and it'll be all over." She chopped the air for emphasis. "Decapitation! Instant fatality!"

"No, we're not assassinating Kyofu," Shinichi objected.

"We're Thunderbolts. It's part of the job."

"And it does come with benefits," Kotonoha supported.

Shinichi wondered what those benefits were. After learning more about the Thunderbolts, Shinichi was reminded of his time in GIN-SHOCKER. However, unlike his former organisation, the Thunderbolts' goal was to help the greater good, whatever it may be. It was a necessary evil in the name of Multiversal peace.

"So, I heard you were having a wedding," Ryuji said, changing the topic.

"Yeah," Shinichi admitted. "My girls and I are getting married in Genovia."

"Congratulations," Kotonoha smiled. "I heard from Warren it's going to be a grand event."

"Thank you," Shinichi accepted. "If you want, I could send you some invitations."

"Hmph," Ryuji scoffed. "Like father, like son."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shinichi asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Ryuji-kun does not approve of harems," Kotonoha explained.

"I just don't see the appeal," Ryuji added. He did not condemn harems but neither did he condone the practice. "I mean, I'm perfectly happy with Koto-chan."

"Aww~" Kotonoha blushed as her husband said something so sweet. He once told her she was his mate and that she was his one true love.

It made her feel special.

"Harems are just a fantasy to feed the alpha male ego," Ryuji added. "Guys who seek harems, not all of them treat their women right. To them, their women are just living sex toys that they can brag about."

"You could say the same about every other fantasy. Fantasies exist to feed every sort of ego," Shinichi countered. "Besides, I wasn't all that fond of harems either and I was originally just fine with having Rena-chan alone. Seeing Alan being surrounded by girls all madly in love with him made my head spin."

"Oh?" Ryuji seemed interested. "What changed your mind?"

"Satie-chan began to develop feelings for me and Yuji convinced her to keep trying to romance me. Shortly after, Rena-chan found out and gave the OK. It pretty much snowballed from there with Shawna-chan, Tsuki-chan and now Lum-chan."

"So you're saying you had no control over the situation," Ryuji concluded.

"Not trying to make excuses but I didn't have the heart to reject them," Shinichi stated.

Ryuji chose not to comment. If Shinichi was truly in love with his harem instead of lust then good for him. That just meant he had a big enough heart to love them all equally and the women did not mind sharing. It seemed those with Smith blood always managed to find women who did not mind a polygamous or polyamorous relationship. Perhaps they just drew those types of women or somehow converted them.

"I think you'll be a good husband for them all," Lucy approved. "But there's no way I'll let Kouta have a harem. I'd sooner kill any girl who tries to get between us."

"Exactly," Kotonoha agreed possessively, her hand subconsciously reaching for her backsaw. Ryuji-kun belonged to her and her alone.

"So, how do you think the others are doing?" Lucy asked Shinichi.

"By now the others must've made enough of a distraction to draw most of the Espers away," Shinichi noted, keeping his eyes on the path as his antenna hair twitched. "And if there are no problems, Michiru and her team should have already found us some evidence. That leaves you three a good amount of time to find a way to disarm those bombs."

"And what are you going to do?" Lucy asked him.

"I'm going to nail Kyofu to the wall," Shinichi resolved as his antenna hair twitched and moved around.

"Why does your hair looks like it has a mind of its own?" Kotonoha asked, curiously staring at his antenna hair.

"Yeah, it does that to help me sense things," Shinichi answered with a light snicker. In his field of vision, he could see pulse waves reflecting from his antenna and throughout the tunnel. "They don't just sense danger either, my hair protrusions are like sonar so I can detect pretty much anything. They didn't work right for a while when I hit rock bottom, and they only picked back up recently."

"Seems like it'll be useful since I smell nothing but shit and piss right now," Ryuji admitted, wrinkling his nose.

"Well, no need to worry, we'll be out of here in just a few- huh?!" Shinichi suddenly stiffened as his hair antenna shot straight up. He looked back at the three in panic. "Dodge!"

Shinichi jumped while Lucy's vectors pulled her up, and Ryuji took Kotonoha by the waist before he leapt away. Shinichi's instincts were correct as he saved them from being turned into pincushions by a volley of psychic construct daggers that crashed into the dirty water. Landing on their feet, they looked up and spotted D hovering in the air.

"It's her," Kotonoha grimaced as Ryuji set her down.

"Yeah. Psychic-Sekai," Ryuji narrowed his eyes and frowned as he saw her in the flesh.

"I guess she sensed us coming," Lucy realised as she pulled out her Orga Gear and strapped it around her waist. Pulling out her Orga Phone, she quickly dialled the three-digit transformation code. "Let's take her out right now!"

[Standing By]

D heard the Orga Phone and swiftly pointed her palm at Lucy. An invisible force suddenly hit the pinkette, causing her to cry out in surprise as she was sent crashing into the couple and they all fell into the disgusting sewer water. Before they could get up, D raised her hand and threw it down, causing a thick wall of stone to fall and separate Shinichi from the rest of his team.

"D," Shinichi spoke as he saw her and she turned to look at him.

"BLACK 13, you're alive," she said to Shinichi as she hovered just above the water. "How is this possible?"

"I'm just hard to kill," he shrugged. "But I'm not here for you. I'm going to make Kyofu answer for his crimes."

"What crimes?" D asked with a cock of her head.

"He sent your team to attack my home and kill my friends and neighbours," Shinichi answered. "If I hadn't shown up when I did, they would have stayed dead."

"Then if they are no longer dead, then there's no crime that warrants punishment," D argued logically.

"That's not the point. I may have revived them but that does not change what happened," Shinichi rebutted. "And it's not just about Kyofu sending your team to attack my village. It's also about what he did to you."

"You mean what he did for me," D countered. "He gave me everything and I owe him for my power."

"At the cost of your humanity, just like what Gebok did to me," Shinichi shot back. "Yeah, I know he's another remnant of GIN-SHOCKER and you were designed to be a weapon, just like I was. Only I managed to break free."

"Professor Kyofu is simply trying to liberate humanity from its limitations so it can evolve," D rebutted. "Just like us."

"He's trying to create an army so he can rule the world. That's what people like him do. He's just another megalomaniac trying to take over the world because of his insecurities," Shinichi shot back.

"You do not have the right to criticise him," D said sternly.

"I have every right, for everything he's done, Reiko Serizawa." D's eyes widened at the mention of her real name as it seemed to spark something but she shook it off. She narrowed her eyes and summoned her Alter Ring. "Looks like diplomacy has broken down."

"I defeated you once before, BLACK 13," D frowned as she conjured a pair of swords. "I am more than able to do it again."

"You didn't beat me. You just gave me a cold!" Shinichi shouted as he drew a mechanical cylinder and activated it. The beam blade shot out from the top and he brandished the Lazer Saber.

The two circled each other before going on the attack. Sparks flew as they clashed violently, swinging their weapons furiously. D attempted to slash Shinichi across the stomach but he managed to jump back and avoid the blow. Landing on his feet, he took out his Vulcan Shooter and fired at her. The Gattling pistol spat bullets rapidly but D managed to raise a psychic barrier to absorb the bullets. Charging at D, Shinichi slashed the barrier and managed to slice through it but D swiftly disarmed him with her psychic swords. After that, she pushed him back with her telekinesis.

Narrowing his eyes, Shinichi summoned his Spark Core as he prepared to transform. Immediately, D activated the EMP generators she had planted in the sewer tunnels, assuming they would prevent him from transforming. Unfortunately for her, Lala's little invention protected him from the EMP's debilitating effects.

Shinichi threw his right arm across his chest while he held his left fist to his hip. At the same time, D spread her arms to the side. She moved them in a circular motion before bringing her hands to the side buttons on her Alter Ring. Shinichi withdrew his right arm and rested the fist against his hip as he raised his left arm, holding his fist up to eye level.

"Henshin!"

"Henshin."

D's Alter Ring flashed with red light and she morphed into Kamen Rider Agito Crimson while Shinichi's body shined with golden energy before he transformed into...

"SHOWA GUARDIAN!" Showa's Spark Core belted out in the combined voices of his artefact spirits.

"What are you guys doing?" Showa questioned as he was clad in his golden Hinamizawa Guardian armour.

"Well, you know how your son's belt talks? We wanted to try that too," Gokuaku reasoned.

"Fine," Showa sighed. "But just this once. Don't make it a habit."

"The EMP no longer affects you," Agito Crimson observed as Showa was able to transform.

"Yeah, we knew you'd use the same trick so we came prepared," Showa answered as he punched his open palm. "So, now we can have a fair fight."

Agito Crimson cupped her hands together, filling the space between them with psychic power before shooting a beam of energy at him. At the same time, a portal opened up in front of Showa and fired a laser of its own. The water shook and a bright light shone as the two beams collided.

Showa Chronicles: Road to Annihilation

Act XV: The Jackpot

[Exceed Charge]

Orga's Orga Stlanzer glowed as the energy around it expanded into a large energy blade, and she swung at the wall of rock. All it managed to do was leave a glowing gash on the wall that slowly faded, and not much else.

"I can't break through it," Orga stated, much to her disappointment.

[FULL POWER CHARGE!]

"Step aside," Ifrit ordered as he loaded his Dyno Pass into the Liner Cross-Rod. He aimed and fired a huge blast in the shape of the DynoLiner. It struck the wall and exploded but the wall still stood. "Seriously!? Not even that worked!?" That was one of his strongest attacks and the wall took it like it was nothing.

"I don't think this is real stone," Tenshi said as she touched the wall. They had been trying to break through using their finishers but to no avail. "Did you see how she made it appear? This must be a psychic construct."

"So, it's as tough as she wants to make it," Orga said as she tapped the wall with her knuckle. "We better find a way to get to the other side."

Ifrit focused on his superhuman hearing to listen in on what was happening on the other side of the wall since he did not hear any fighting.

"He's trying to create an army so he can rule the world. That's what people like him do. He's just another megalomaniac trying to take over the world because of his insecurities." That was Shinichi's voice.

"You do not have the right to criticise him." That must be Weapon D. It was weird how similar she sounded to Sekai at that age. Especially weirder with how she sounded like a soulless robot.

"I have every right, for everything he's done, Reiko Serizawa." Ifrit heard a familiar chime like when Daytona summoned his Alter Ring. "Looks like diplomacy has broken down."

"I defeated you once before, BLACK 13. I am more than able to do it again."

"You didn't beat me. You just gave me a cold!"

"We should go on ahead. He'll catch up with us eventually." Ifrit said moments before a clash could be heard coming from the other side of the wall. "He's gonna be busy."

"Aren't you the least bit worried?" Tenshi asked when she heard the sound of battle raging.

"No," Ifrit answered. He was confident that Shinichi could handle D and with that failsafe of his, he won't be crippled by another EMP.

"So, which way should we go?" Orga asked.

"Our path just got blocked, so we'll have to go back and find another way-" Ifrit suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

"Ryuji-kun?" Tenshi asked, realising something was up.

"Something's coming," Ifrit warned as his ears picked up something and he looked at the sewer wall. He pushed the two women behind him as he could hear a rumbling that was not coming from the battle behind D's wall. Almost as soon as they were a good distance away, the sewer wall exploded. Dust and rubble flew everywhere as the roar of a motorcycle echoed in the sewer. The vehicle skidded across the water and came to a stop, allowing the trio a good look at it.

It was a gothic-styled motorcycle that was blood-red with black tints and jagged edges. It looked like wings were holding the front wheel. Attached to each suspension that held the front wheel was a pair of serrated metal chainsaw blades. The single purple headlight looked like a demonic eye and it was flanked by gunmetal grey devil horns.

"Did I take a wrong turn on my way to Albuquerque?" The rider removed his helmet and shook his head before running his hand through his hair to tidy it up. He hated helmet hair. As he tidied up his hair, two strands popped up like antennas. He had silver-white hair and eyes that were the colour of blood. He also shared an uncanny resemblance with a certain psychotic android.

"Shiro Juuyon!?" Orga yelled.

"Huh?" The rider blinked in confusion. "You talking to me?"

Orga did not wait for him to respond as she unleashed her vectors on the white-haired, red-eyes Shinichi lookalike. Seeing the invisible limbs coming straight at him, he performed a backflip to dodge her vectors and then he twirled in midair. Drawing twin guns, he fired bullets at the vectors to hold them off before landing. Putting his weapons away, he turned to face them.

"Whoa! Whoa! Time out! Chill!" the silver-haired man held his hands up to show he wasn't a threat. "I'm on your side!"

"Lucy, stop!" Ifrit ordered as Orga was about to deliver another attack.

"But-!"

"He's not an android!" Ifrit could smell that this person was not Shiro Juuyon. In fact, he had a scent similar to Shinichi's. There was a hint of a demonic scent and he could also smell his cybernetics but they weren't as numerous as Shinichi's. "And he's got company."

Orga calmed down but kept her guard up, glaring at the stranger in suspicion. Indeed, he did not come alone as he was accompanied by a pair of women.

The first woman was tall, leggy and curvy with an athletic figure and big breasts. Her wine-red top had a black collar that was held together by a green gem clasp. Her stomach was left exposed and she did not wear any pants. Instead, she wore the skimpiest black and gold thong they had ever seen, with a pink marking just above it. Black detached sleeves with golden trim covered her arms and left her shoulders bare as matching knee-high boots with flared tops, red-tinted toes and high heels covered her legs. Her bright red eyes brimmed with mischief and mayhem. Her purple hair was done in long twin-tails held by black and gold orbs with a golden hair accessory on her bangs. The only thing that indicated that she was not human was the monkey tail that hung from her rear. She held a red combat staff over her shoulders, holding it with her hands in a relaxed manner.

The second woman appeared Caucasian. She was tall and curvy as well, wearing a short and tight white dress that left little to the imagination and a black leather jacket. She wore fishnet stockings and white ankle boots. Her skin was slightly tanned, contrasting with her long platinum-blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. On both her hands, she had on heavy brown gloves, not unlike those made to handle birds.

"Kikiki... good grief, you people sure are jumpy," the monkey woman snickered. "Too bad you stopped. You'd make for really good zombies."

"Seiten, you know you can't do that," the platinum-blonde chided.

"Oh, you know I absolutely can, Sasha," the monkey woman - Seiten -grinned back. "But I won't because I'm such a good person now."

"That's debatable," the platinum-blonde - Sasha -mumbled. With a name like 'Seiten', which was dangerously close to the name of the biblical Satan, she had such a devilish attitude to match.

"Who the hell are you people?" Ifrit demanded.

"Is that any way to greet someone who's practically your nephew?" the Shiro-lookalike asked humorously.

"Excuse me?" Ifrit cocked an eyebrow.

"You know, silver hair, red eyes, totally-not-Shiro?" He listed his features. "It's me! Hiro! And we were just passing through."

"...You're from the future, aren't you?" Ifrit deadpanned. He did have one grandson from the future and a niece from an alternate timeline who he had met years ago.

"Well, with his entourage, he's definitely Shinichi's son," Orga commented and then she looked at Sasha. "So, which street corner did he pick you up from?"

"Do you have a problem with me being proud of my body?" Sasha retorted coolly, folding her arms.

"I don't have any issues with someone proud of their body," Orga shrugged and eyed Seiten whose ass cheeks were on full display. "But she'll definitely get arrested for indecent exposure."

"Hey, if you got it, then flaunt it," Seiten smirked playfully as she stuck out her tongue and posed provocatively.

"Lucy-chan, let's not body shame people," Tenshi advised. She remembered being harassed by horny boys and jealous girls because she had big breasts in school. It was not a nice memory.

"And I love to tap that ass," Hiro claimed as he smacked Seiten's rear, causing the flesh to jiggle as she giggled.

"So, if you're from the future, that means you're here to help Shinichi, right?" Ifrit questioned.

"Yeah, you can say that," Hiro nodded. "We were just on our way to dig up some dirt on Kyofu. I don't suppose you were on your way there too, right?"

"We were, and your Papa was with us just now," Orga said, thumbing at the hard wall behind them. "But we got separated and he's preoccupied at the moment."

"So, he's on the other side of that wall, huh? And you can't break through it because it's a psychic construct which makes it unbreakable according to the will of the creator," Hiro analysed.

"That's a pretty accurate observation," Tenshi nodded.

"That so?" Hiro hummed, looking at the wall. "Well, I'm sure he can handle it. Oyaji's strong, after all."

"You'd know that since you came from the future," Ifrit remarked. "So, if he'll be fine, that just leaves us to reach the Brain Trust Society's headquarters."

"Well then, let's work together," Sasha suggested. "We're both after the same thing so it'll be better for all of us. It'd also provide a good opportunity to learn about each other."

"Awfully convenient for you to show up right now," Orga said suspiciously.

"Time travellers are always suspiciously convenient," Ifrit retorted.

"It's how I kept repeatedly meeting your Uncle Ryuji in my past whenever he went back in time to chase after the Imagin," added Tenshi. She believed it was destiny that drew them together despite being from different universes. It was rather romantic.

Orga just rolled her eyes but she would not drop her guard. She was not one to trust so easily. Warren had to put in a lot of effort after adopting her before she began to trust him. She had been a misanthrope, much like Ryuji used to be.

"So, where should we go?" Ifrit questioned.

"There's another tunnel back there. It will take us longer to reach Kyofu's place but there won't be any guards on the other side," Hiro said as he pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. "Now, c'mon."

"Yeah, I really want to get out of these sewers," Sasha grimaced in disgust.

"Tell me about it," Seiten agreed, pinching her nose. She had to breathe through her mouth to avoid the stench.

As the new trio led the way, Ifrit, Tenshi and Orga undid their transformations and followed.

"Do we trust them?" Kotonoha whispered.

"For now but keep your guard up. If they decide to double-cross us, we'll be ready for them," Ryuji whispered back.

"It doesn't look like they trust you," Sasha whispered to Hiro.

"That's pretty much what Uncle Ryuji is like," Hiro replied.

"Well, then they'll just have to deal with it," Seiten huffed. "We generously came to help them so they should show some gratitude."

Sasha simply rolled her eyes at Seiten's haughtiness.

A manhole cover was lifted and pushed aside before Hiro climbed out. He then reached down and helped Sasha out of the manhole while helping himself to a handful of ass.

"Sorry, my hand slipped," he apologized.

"You're not sorry at all," she replied, slapping his chest. Hiro then went and helped Seiten up and did not even try to hide his intentions as he grabbed both her ass cheeks.

"Ooh, you know I always wanted to do it in an alley," Seiten purred seductively.

"No time for a quickie, I'm afraid," Hiro apologized as he winked, silently promising to give the monkey girl some attention later.

Ryuji came out next and he helped pull Kotonoha out of the manhole. Lucy was the last one out.

"Finally," Lucy let out a sigh of relief. She was going to need to take a long hot shower followed by a bubble bath after this. Ryuji felt the same. It was nice to smell some fresh air.

"C'mon, Aunt Lucy. Wading through sewers builds character," Hiro teased. Lucy just glared at her nephew.

"You obviously inherited your Papa's sass," she remarked.

"Among other things," Seiten smiled. "Like his 'sword'."

"I'd ask you to keep it in your pants but you're not wearing any," Lucy snapped.

"You need to get boned, badly," Seiten shot back.

"Excuse me!?" Lucy cried out, face flushed.

"You need to get boned, badly," Seiten repeated. "I mean, you look like you're all pent up."

"Boned!? Not like it's any of your business, but Kouta-kun and I have a very healthy and active sex life! It's just we've both been too busy and are too exhausted - why am I trying to justify myself to you!?"

"Lucy-chan, calm down," Kotonoha said gently to her adoptive niece as she held her back.

"Just ignore her," Sasha advised with a tired sigh. "She likes to get under everyone's skin."

"And you're just so easy, Auntie Lucy!" Seiten added, wagging her tail. Sasha tugged on one of her twin-tails.

"You need to stop," Sasha scolded.

"I will once she takes that stick out of her ass."

"Let's start over, really quick," Kotonaha cut in to prevent an impending argument. "Now, I don't believe you two have fully introduced yourselves."

"Hm, right. Almost forgot about that," Hiro realised.

"My name is Sasha Cullen, and I'm a witch," the platinum-blonde American introduced herself. "A Wiccan to be precise. I'm a White Witch, and I already know about Hiro's grandmother."

"And you already know me as Seiten," the monkey woman grinned coyly, "I'm a Monkey King who dabbles in necromancy with tons of zombie slaves."

"Necromancy?" Ryuji scowled in response. He had never met a necromancer who was a good person. Not to mention her claims of being a Monkey King. He might not be an expert on Chinese mythology but he watched enough Dragon Ball to get the idea.

"Red flag," Lucy agreed. Anybody who willingly desecrated the dead was just amoral and bad news.

"Were you a villain before, by any chance?" Kotonoha questioned.

"I wouldn't go as to say that I wanted to take over the world or anything like that but I really hated being bored," Seiten shrugged, "So I may have gone on a few rampages now and again, might've stolen things, turned exorcists who went after me into zombies, but I'm a good person now."

"Did you regret any of it or felt remorse?" Kotonoha asked.

"Kikiki! I never hurt anyone who didn't deserve it," Seiten chuckled.

"Not helping your case," Sasha interjected, rubbing her head.

"So you're not chaotic evil, just chaotic neutral," Ryuji concluded. Her resume did not help make her more trustworthy.

"Trust me, I know she has a habit of causing headaches, but she's very loyal and hardly ever goes back on her word," Sasha defended. "As long as she's happy, she's on our side."

"Sounds like my sister," Ryuji muttered. He was really starting to see a lot of Kat in the divine monkey demon.

"And what's your story?" Lucy asked Sasha. "I have a witch for an adoptive mother but you're the first one I've seen who practises witchcraft as a religion."

"I come from an order of witches who draw power from nature," Sasha explained, "I was taught everything I know from my mother until she was murdered by a vampire. I wanted payback and encountered Hiro here who was on a case related to that. With his help, I was able to avenge my mother."

"And you've been working with Hiro-kun ever since," Kotonoha concluded.

"There are a lot of people who become victims of dangerous supernatural creatures. Creatures like that bloodsucking bastard who take pleasure in preying on the weak because they know there would be no repercussions. I want to prevent others from experiencing the same tragedy that befell my family as best as I can," Sasha continued.

"Well now I'm convinced you're a good person," Lucy said before glancing at Seiten. "Still on the fence about her."

"She takes a lot of getting used to," Sasha agreed, sighing as she rubbed the back of her head. "She was a pain in the ass the first time we met. The second time was when she impersonated me and Shia so she could have Hiro as her boy toy."

"A third girl?" Ryuji scowled instinctively.

"She's at the village to keep Kyofu's cleanup crew away. You'll meet her later," Hiro answered.

"So how did you finally get along with her?" Lucy asked Sasha.

"We had an orgy," Seiten answered happily. "One that lasted from dusk till dawn."

"Man, that was a night. I mean, you made clones and shapeshifted," Hiro grinned at the memory. Seiten had fulfilled plenty of Hiro's sexual fantasies and then some.

"Yep, you are definitely Shinichi's son," Ryuji quipped. "So, where are we now?"

"This is where they receive their supplies," Hiro pointed at the shutters of the loading dock, his hair antenna starting to twitch. "And a truck should be coming out. Now hide."

The shutters went up as the group scrambled to hide behind a dumpster. Just as Hiro had predicted, the shutters opened up before a truck rolled out. Hiro signalled everyone to quickly get inside the building before the shutters closed back up again.

Hiding behind some crates, the group spotted Psycho Soldiers on patrol. Across the loading bay was a door with an access panel.

"No guards, huh?" Lucy snarked.

"Wait for it," Hiro said. "In five, four, three, two, one." Suddenly, alarms blared and the Psycho Soldiers quickly left the loading dock to respond to it. "See? No guards." Hiro grinned as they stepped out from behind the crates.

"How did you know that would happen?" Kotonoha questioned.

"I have my ways," Hiro answered cryptically. "Now, follow me before they come back. I know where we can find stuff that can put Kyofu away for life." He led the way and they managed to avoid detection. As for the security cameras, a few freeze blasts from Ryuji took care of them before they could be spotted. As they reached the door, Hiro approached it and fished out a keycard from his pocket. He slashed it across the scanner and then punched in the numerical access code. The light turned green and the door unlocked.

"How did you get an access card?" Lucy asked.

"I have my ways," Hiro answered as a matter of fact and opened the door. The group entered and found themselves in a room filled with rows and rows of glowing cylindrical tubes. There were dozens of them, each glowing with an eerie green light. They seemed to be filled with some kind of murky fluid. Each tube was attached to a metal base with a number on it and at the top of them were pipes that were attached to the ceiling.

"What is this place?" Lucy asked as Kotonoha went to examine one of the tubes.

"Be careful, Koto-chan," Ryuji warned her.

"Don't worry. I won't touch anything," Kotonoha said as she took a closer look only to recoil in fright when she saw a face inside. "Aah!"

"What is it?" Ryuji rushed to her side.

"There's someone inside!" Kotonoha cried before taking a few deep breaths. "...I know what this place is. This is a cloning lab."

"Bingo," Hiro confirmed, giving Kotonoha two thumbs-up. "This is where Kyofu grows his grunts. I bet when everyone learns about Kyofu playing God, his approval rating will drop."

"We need to shut this down," Ryuji decided, eyes narrowed.

"Do we?" Kotonoha looked at the cloning vats sympathetically. "I mean, they might have been created artificially, but do we have the right to snuff them out like that?"

"Koto-chan, these clones are just pre-programmed flesh robots," Ryuji said reasonably. "They're not really alive."

"I know that, but it just seems so unfair that they were brought into the world just to be expendable tools."

"So do we start smashing?" Seiten raised her battle staff, ready to cause some havoc.

"We'll trip the alarms if we do that. We just need to take a few pictures," Sasha said.

"Seriously, Kyofu needs to get better security," Ryuji frowned. "I mean, leaving a place like this unguarded is just begging for a SNAFU to happen."

Lucy went to the back of the room and found a rather large cloning vat that looked like it was designed to house something huge. The fluid was murky, concealing what was contained inside. On the metal base, instead of a number, there was a title: 'The Terminator'.

"Well, that's not ominous at all," Lucy said sarcastically.

Seiten decided to look around. It was very creepy to see all these clones floating in their vats. Then again, was it any creepier than the undead she created with her necromancy? She then came across the computer terminal that controlled the facility. Beside the terminal was a big shining red button that was under a clear plastic cover. The button was labelled as 'TERMINATE'.

The lights in the cloning lab suddenly flashed red as an alarm went off.

[INITIATE TERMINATION SEQUENCE!]

"Seiten!" Sasha snapped as she grabbed the monkey girl by her collar. "What did you do!?"

"Nothing!" Seiten denied, shaking her head. "I didn't do anything!"

"You were the one standing next to the computer terminal!"

"Hey!" Seiten pushed Sasha away. "I may like to play around but I know how serious this is! When I say I didn't touch anything, I. did. Not. Touch. Anything."

"Something's happening," Kotonoha spoke up as the cloning vats suddenly bubbled violently before their contents started to dissolve. First, their skin melted away, followed by their muscles until their bones dissolved into nothing. Finally, the fluid was drained from each of the vats, leaving them empty. It had only taken a few seconds to finish the process.

"Guess that terminated the clones," Ryuji observed.

[INITIATE ACTIVATION SEQUENCE!]

"Wait, what?" Hiro blinked.

"Guys, something's happening with the big one!" Lucy pointed, alarmed. The giant vat was completely drained and now they could see its occupant. The humanoid creature was huge and curled up in a fetal position. Its entire body was covered in a black, green and brown exoskeleton. Suddenly, the creature's eyes flashed as it woke up and the vat shattered, sending glass shards flying before the being emerged from its slumber.

Standing twenty feet tall, 'The Terminator' was a giant version of Kamen Rider Gills. It somewhat resembled an Agito but its exoskeleton armour appeared more organic. Its horns were green and segmented with the tips nearly touching the ceiling. It had wicked clawed hands as sickle-like blades protrude from its wrists. Around its waist was a yellow belt with a green stone in the centre.

The Giant Gills threw its head back and roared, opening its jaws wide before looking right at them. It lashed out at the closest target which just happened to be Lucy. Reacting quickly with her vectors, she blocked the huge sickle blade that could've sliced her in half. She then used her vectors to retaliate, slashing it across the chest to spill its blood. The creature roared as it recoiled but then its wounds healed instantly before it glared at Lucy with bloodthirsty eyes. With a sweep of its hand, it knocked Lucy into a cloning vat, shattering the glass on impact.

"Lucy!" Ryuji ran over to see if she was alright.

"Ow, ow," Lucy groaned in pain as the glass cut her up.

"You son of a bitch!" Ryuji roared as he exhaled a blast of ice flames at the Giant Gills, enveloping it in a blue blaze that encased it in a block of ice. "Koto-chan!"

"Right!" Kotonoha ran over and took out a small bean from her utility belt. "Lucy-chan, take this." Kotonoha popped the bean into her mouth and she was instantly healed.

"Ah," Lucy sighed in relief as the pain faded away. "Much better."

Meanwhile, the ice block the Giant Gills was trapped in began to crack as steam rose from it before the ice exploded, sending chunks flying. Seiten deflected the chunks of ice as they came flying at her and her companions and narrowed her eyes as the Giant Gills emerged with some additions. A pair of wings made of green flames burst out of the pods on the Giant Gills' back and waving behind it was a long tail made of green energy flames that resembled a scorpion's stinger. Green saliva dripped from the Giant Gills' jaws.

"Looks like this is a Boss Fight, people!" Hiro declared.

Ryuji, Kotonoha and Lucy shared a determined look as they strapped on their transformation belts. Standing together, they initiated their transformations.

"Henshin!"

Ryuji pressed the buttons on his Dyno Belt in descending order before sliding his Dyno Pass between the jaws of the buckle. Kotonoha swiped her Rider Pass across her Tenshi belt. Finally, Lucy flipped open her Orga Phone and dialled 0-0-0 before she closed it and slammed it into her Orga Driver, pushing it down to lock it in place.

[DYNO FORM!]

Ryuji was bedecked in his Dyno Form armour. First, he had his Mammoth Form's chestplate, with the pauldrons of his Tricera and Tyrano Forms. Finally, his Saber Form Denkamen slid over his faceplate and snapped on. A flowing cape appeared on his back right before he summoned the Liner Cross-Rod.

[VALKYRIE FORM!]

Kotonoha assumed her default Angel Form before the armour reconfigured itself. The wing-shaped visor split down the middle and both halves moved to the spots where her ears would be, revealing a pair of green hawk-like eyes. Her white angel wings also appeared but then they turned brown before moving to attach to her waist, forming coattails that hung from her belt. Her shoulder pads also changed, pointing upwards instead of to the sides. She took both halves of her A-Gasher and put them together to form her sword.

[Complete]

Golden lines streamed from the belt to cover Lucy's body in an intricate pattern before they flashed brightly, materialising her black armour. Now equipped with her suit, Kamen Rider Orga gripped Orga Stlanzer in both hands.

Green energy coated the Giant Gills' arm blades and it swung at them, throwing energy blades at the group. They scrambled to dodge the energy blades which sliced through several of the empty cloning vats. As they regrouped, Ifrit found himself standing beside Hiro, Sasha was with Tenshi, and Orga was with Seiten.

"Looks like it's mixed pairs," Hiro grinned.

"Try and keep up, kid," Ifrit teased.

"Back at ya, old man."

The Giant Gills swung at both Hiro and Ifrit but the Rider effortlessly parried its strike while Hiro's body flashed gold as he assumed the form of a demonic dagger. Piercing the air, the dagger screamed and flew through the creature's chest. Not even its armoured body could protect it as it howled in pain as Hiro exited the back and returned to human form, landing on his feet.

"Girls! You're up!" Hiro and Ifrit shouted together.

Using her augmented speed, Tenshi jumped up and delivered a flurry of slashes before spinning in the air to land a spinning slash attack. The Giant Gills swatted her away but she landed beside Sasha. The White Witch added to the damage by levitating in the air with glowing hands, pelting large streams of magical energy directly onto the Giant Gills' face. The magic blasts seemed to do heavy damage as they tore through the helmet, revealing a ghastly skull underneath.

Orga ran from her spot and used her vectors to propel her into the air before she came down with an overhead slash, sending it reeling before pushing it back with a forward jab. It released a deafening roar as it reached out to grab Orga but Seiten's staff grew into length, knocking the hand aside.

"Guess you owe me!" Seiten grinned cheekily, retracting her Nyoibou. The Giant Gills' tail shot straight at Seiten like a cobra and she knocked it away with her staff. She plucked a few hairs from her head and blew on them, causing the strands to transform into copies of her as they swarmed the Giant Gills, striking it furiously with their Nyoibou. It lashed out with its blades, slicing through several copies which turned back into strands of hair.

Seiten grinned as she suddenly grew in size and grappled with the creature. They seemed evenly matched until she tossed the creature to the ground before bashing it with her battle staff. It rolled out of the way after the sixth hit before rising on its feet. Roaring, it swung its flaming tail at her, striking her across the chest. She cried out as she shrank back to normal, with a burn and cut across her breasts.

"Why you...!" Hiro yelled furiously, calling on his magic to create a light spear. It turned towards him and Hiro threw the javelin, piercing the Giant Gills' right eye. It shrieked as it stumbled back, holding its damaged eye. He jumped high into a midair backflip, a golden magic circle shining behind him. He planted his feet on the circle and kicked off straight to Giant Gills, ramming his left fist into its face to send it flying into a wall.

Ifrit held the Liner Cross-Rod in his left hand as the Tyrano Head on his right shoulder slid down his arm to connect to his fist. The jaws then opened, allowing the Tyrano-Katana blade to slide out. Jumping up, Ifrit twirled in the air and delivered a spinning slash attack. The Giant Gills was pushed back as sparks flew before it smacked Ifrit away. Landing on his feet, Ifrit conjured an array of ice swords and sent them flying. The frozen projectiles struck violently, causing the creature to cry out in pain.

"Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore, report for duty!" In a gold flash, Hiro conjured his next set of weapons, which were a pair of rocket launchers that were held like tonfa. He jumped up and delivered a swift and brutal combo of blows with the rocket launchers before firing them at Giant Gills's face at point-blank range, causing it to shriek and reel backwards while smacking Hiro away. The Giant Gills went to attack them again and threw a punch but Tenshi intercepted and effortlessly caught the giant fist with the flat of her blade and threw it aside. It then rapidly thrust its tail at Tenshi but she deftly parried the strikes.

Seeing an opening, Sasha cast a spell to summon a magical greatbow. Gripping the bow in one hand, she conjured an arrow and nocked it with the string. Taking aim, she pulled the bowstring taut before she released it, sending the arrow flying at the Giant Gills. The arrow pierced the creature through the chest and exploded, causing it to cry out in pain.

Orga propelled herself with her vectors and slashed the Giant Gills with her golden blade. It staggered and moved to retaliate but Seiten knocked it back with a swing of her Nyoubou. Ifrit hit it with rapid-fire blasts of his Tricera-Buster before his chestplate shot off and hit the monster in the face. As the chestplate bounced off, Hiro caught it and threw it like a frisbee to strike the Giant Gills in the face, knocking it to the ground. Catching the shield again, Hiro returned it to Ifrit.

"I think this is yours," Hiro offered.

"Thanks," Ifrit accepted as he took back the chestplate and put it back on.

As the Giant Gills began to pick itself up, Hiro drew a pair of desert eagles from his coat, one with a red stone in the grip and the other with a blue stone in the grip. Known together as 'Divine Comedy', the gun with the red stone was named 'Dante' while the one with the blue stone was called 'Vergil'. Using his speed, Hiro ran circles around the Giant Gills to confuse and disorient it while shooting rapid-fire shots at its knees until they exploded, causing the Giant Gills to collapse and shriek in agony. Jumping into the air, he defied gravity as he hovered over its head and fired multiple shots into its skull.

While Hiro fired upon the Giant Gills, the three Riders regrouped to execute their special attacks.

[FULL CHARGE!]

Tenshi swung her sword vertically and horizontally, forming a cross made of energy and threw it at the Giant Gills with a swing, causing it to recoil further. As it recovered, it tried to charge at them but an immense blast of blue flames engulfed it, freezing it in its tracks.

[FULL POWER CHARGE!]

Ifrit loaded his Liner Cross-Rod with his Dyno Pass before he fired at the Giant Gills. An energy construct of the DynoLiner roared as it slammed into the Giant Gills, causing an explosion that blasted apart the ice and more of its armour, exposing more of the soft tissue underneath.

As the Giant Gills shivered from the cold, Orga struck the beast with a barrage of vector punches, knocking it back. Her invisible limbs could hit hard and each blow managed to put the Giant Gills off balance. Once it was disoriented, she took the Mission Memory off her Orga Phone and slid it onto her weapon.

[Ready]

She opened the Orga Phone and pressed the 'Enter' button before shutting it.

[Exceed Charge]

The Orga Stlanzer charged with golden energy and she thrust it at the Giant Gills, piercing its stomach with the elongated energy blade as she drove it against the wall. It grabbed the energy blade and tried to take it out as it struggled to free itself. Orga withdrew her blade and the Giant Gills stumbled forwards, landing on its hands and knees. Raising its head, it fired lasers from its eyes at the Rider trio, prompting them to scatter as the floor exploded.

Hiro then summoned another weapon, which resembled three nunchucks that were attached by chains to a central ring. He swung the weapon, hitting the creature with a flurry of ice-based attacks. It raised its right arm to block but its limb froze and turned brittle before it shattered to pieces.

[FULL CHARGE!]

[FULL CHARGE AND UP!]

[Exceed Charge]

The three Riders came at the Giant Gills from different directions and leapt into the air. Flipping once, they delivered their flying Rider Kicks as energy swirled around their feet. Their Triple Rider Kick connected explosively and sent the Giant Gills flying into the cloning vats, shattering them all as it crashed to the floor. Its energy wings and tail began to flicker, showing that the creature was losing power.

Sasha hovered over the Giant Gills' body and chanted a spell as her eyes glowed brightly and her hair rose. She conjured a magic circle over the Giant Gills with a pentagram inside the circle. At each point of the pentagram was a sigil which corresponded to one of the six elements; fire, water, wind, earth, light and darkness.

"Starlight Explosion!"

The six sigils flashed and the Giant Gills was hit with a combined elemental blast, engulfing it in a massive magical explosion. While that should have killed it, the creature rose from the flames but it looked to be in great pain. Much of his armour was gone, exposing most of its soft tissue and bone. Despite its regenerative healing factor, it was not recovering as fast as before. Its lower jaw also hung loosely via strands of flesh.

"It's on its last leg," Seiten observed.

"Then let's finish it," Hiro decided as he reached behind his back and drew his signature sword. The blade itself was made of a metal that seemed to glow with a silvery-white light, mixed with a gold tint. The handgrip was also made from pure gold or something like gold and the handle itself seemed to be made out of another silvery metal inlaid with gold leaf. The blade had two edges and was three feet in length with strange markings as well as small gems on the flat of the blade in regular intervals. The base was surrounded by two strange serpent-like beasts that then covered the flat of the blade on either side. The handguard was made in a way that it resembled bat-like wings, with two sharp prongs moving upward. There appeared to be some sort of gem under a metal sheath in the middle of the guard and the handle was covered in a scale-like pattern, like that of a snake or any reptile, and the handle was good for either a single or double-handed grip. The end of the handle had a serpent's head with its jaws open and a beautiful gem that seemed to shimmer in different colours of the rainbow. This was the Holy Talon of Faldren, a mystical sword once wielded by the infamous Priest.

Hiro ran his hand across the blade, causing it to light up with golden flames. Swinging the sword repeatedly, he threw arches of golden flames at the Giant Gills, sending it backpedalling. Using its psychic powers, the Giant Gills gathered all the broken glass and hurled it at the group in a hailstorm of shards. Thinking quickly, Ifrit punched the floor and erected a dome barrier of Genki around them. The glass hailstorm harmlessly buffeted it.

"Thanks, Uncle!" Hiro said as he ran out of the barrier and dashed straight at the Giant Gills. The creature lashed out with its tail but Hiro parried it as he crossed the distance. Roaring, it flared its wings and lunged at Hiro who jumped and spun in the air as he swung his blade, the blazing sword slicing across the Giant Gills' neck before he landed behind it.

The Giant Gills froze and slowly turned its head around to look over its shoulder but the movement caused its head to roll off its shoulders, revealing a cauterised neck stump. Beheaded, the creature lurched forwards, landing flat on the floor with a loud thud. Hiro flicked his sword, putting out the flames before sheathing it on his back.

"OK, this will make a good picture," Hiro quipped as he flipped open his phone and took a selfie with the headless Giant Gills corpse behind him. "Sasha, Seiten, let's take a selfie together!"

"Coming!" Seiten skipped over as Sasha walked alongside her, the two girls taking a spot beside Hiro so he could take another selfie with them, making sure to get the Giant Gills' carcass in the shot with them.

"What do you think of them now?" Tenshi asked her husband as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Not bad," Ifrit honestly praised. Hiro and his girls had yet to fully gain his complete trust but they were on the right track. "Kinda flashy if you ask me."

"Like you weren't ever flashy," Tenshi teased.

"He seems to like showing off, though," Orga commented as Hiro took several selfies with his girls.

Shinjiro fiddled with his screwdriver as he put the finishing touches on the new device. Satisfied, he put down the screwdriver and nodded to himself.

"Finished," Shinjiro said as he examined the device to make sure that there were no flaws.

"Ara, so you're done now?" Layna asked as she looked over his shoulder. "So is that it?"

"Yeah," Shinjiro nodded, putting the device in a small protective case. "Took a while too."

"Then, we'd best get a move on ourselves," Layna smiled.

Shinjiro gazed intently at the case. The device inside was a game changer that would be vital for their father's survival.

END OF ACT 15

Dr Exposition: In this chapter, we have Shinichi's team sneaking into the BTS to find a way to disarm the nanobombs but they run into Weapon D. Rematch! The rest of his team also runs into Hiro and a couple of his ladies:

Sasha Cullen (from: "Coven"): A white witch. Sasha is only able to use a minimal part of the power that she has inherited from her mother, though she is slowly growing in power. She initially joined Hiroyuki on a case to avenge her mother who was murdered by a vampire.

Seiten (from: "Queen's Blade"): A monkey demon, Seiten is a powerful necromancer. She's known to rampage around using the mighty magical power she was born with. Much like a force of nature, she lives by giving full rein to her desires. Though she enjoys rampaging all she wants, she seems unwilling to attack the weak. There's also a side of her that seems to genuinely act as a devoted helper and friend to some. Seiten can revive corpses as the undead and command them. At some point in time, Genjou, a well-known and virtuous priest, sought to exterminate her, only to somehow end up being bossed around by Seiten as an undead servant.

Oh, and Kotonoha also debuts a new form:

Kamen Rider Tenshi Valkyrie Form: This alternate form was unlocked by Kotonoha during the Vicious Wars. In this form, she excels in melee combat and uses the A-Gasher in Sword Mode. Despite losing the ability to fly, her maximum jump height and strength are increased in exchange for speed.

And in the next chapter, we will see the continuation of Shinichi and D's rematch. Now that he won't be crippled by the EMP, Shinichi won't be held back. Stay tuned for that.