[guncannon109]

Episode 37: The Eye of the Hurricane

Thirty years ago, Ms Seraphina sat in her dimly lit bar. The woman grinned while staring into her reflection within her blood red wine. The door cracked open, a much younger version of Jason stepping in alongside his wife Alice, Rylee, Joel and Derek.

Jason glared at Seraphina, motioning towards Derek, "Is this her Maverick? The one you spoke of?"

"I believe she can speak for herself," Derek smirked, bowing a hand to Seraphina. The lot of them stepped into the bar, Joel shutting the door behind them. "Show onto them what you did me."

Seraphina looked to them, pulling out a gold gaia memory marked with a D in the shape of a heart before striking the activation button. "DESIRE!" Cooed the memory in an alluring tone, Serapina tilting her head back as a connection port appeared just above her left breast.

Connecting the memory to her skin, the device dissolved into it transforming her into a pale blue succubus like being clad in a provocative ball gown. A pair of bat like wings sprouted from her wings as the group gasped in awe, save for Jason who merely stared with intrigue.

"So, this is the power you plan to give us? He asked bluntly, "Not entire my style."

"Do not fret, this form belongs to me alone," she placed four gold memories, one black memory and one white memory on the table. "These however, are yours."

"Star… Fata… Fury… Spite… Inertia…" Jason read off the memories in order, his eyes falling upon the final memory in the line. "Vainglory…" he reached out his hand to grab it, as if it was calling out to him. "And what exactly are we to do these?" He eyed Desire.

"Use them as a map," Desire smirked, "in your search for the keys to paradise."

Back in the present day, Seraphina while in her human form sat at her desk in her empty classroom polishing a memory marked with a V. It was gunmetal grey but possessed a blood red hue to it.

She smirked, eyeing the amber ring on her finger, "Well my darling sister. The events I set in motion so many years ago are about to come full circle."

The door to her class jimmied as Kat kicked it open. Limping tiredly into the room with a groan, she flopped onto the face of Seraphina's desk and groaned. Seraphina gawked at her, raising both her hands and brow as the girl stumbled towards her.

"Kat… darling…" Seraphina forced a grin, "my telling me what you are doing?"

"Failing at the mission you gave me," Kat's tired gaze met Seraphina's, "the guy's a white knight if I ever saw one!"

"Well then, looks as though we'll need to change our target then won't we?" Seraphina pulled out several blank worksheets, filling in the wrong answers to each question and marking them according. "Where are they right now?"

"Classes just ended… so Cole will be heading right home," Kat yawned, curling up on Seraphina's desk. "Gale wasn't in home room today, so she's probably at his place by now. Been going there everyday since lover boy confessed to her at that fancy house of her's… pretty sure that was the day after she got her memory back too."

"Pampered little princess… isn't she… a little bird all snug in a cage?" Ms Seraphina cooed to her servant, patting her on the head before gently stroking her black head of long almost fur like hair, "To a stray cat like you, I bet it most bother you. Doesn't it?"

As Seraphina patted Kat on the head, the girl's laid back and carefree demeanor changed as her eyes narrowed into a glare.

"Ya… it does…" Kat sat open, looking Seraphina in the eye with her own that were now filled with anger. "But what should I do?! Those two are like peanut butter and bread!"

"How about you use your imagination a little?" Ms Seraphina slid the stack of failing worksheets she had written up and marked with Kat's name. "We do not need to disrupt them permanently, only a large enough reaction."

"Ah… I get it," Kat smirked, "dip a little chocolate in the peanut butter."

"If you wish to put it in such a crude way, yes," Seraphina laughed, "You said they should both be at his place correct? I would go now if I were you."

{Insert opening theme: "Alones" by Aqua Timez}

Later afternoon, Cole walked up to the apartment building his parents owned. It was a small building, only three floors with two units on each floor. From the outside looking in it looked as if it were a normal house. Cole's family and Alex lived on the main floor with Carter taking the unit above Alex on the second. The other unit on Carter's floor seemed to be a revolving door of tenants with the unfortunate luck of housing one nut job after the other. The basement meanwhile housed an olympic gymnast in one unit and a sweet old lady who constantly confused Alex and Carter in the other.

Cole came in through the vestibule, raising a brow a bit in surprise when he saw Ashley sitting in front of Alex's door. A brace was on her injured leg, but that wasn't what surprised Cole. She had dropped her leather punk attire in favor of a midnight blue wrap dress, black tights and red platform heels. Her face was done up with ruby red lipstick and vibrant blue eyeshadow.

A smile came to Cole's face, figuring she had been sitting there for a while. "Hey there Ash, you're looking nice."

Ash blushed hard, grinning ear to ear, "Oh! This get up?!" she jumped a bit before hiding her face behind her knees. "It's nothing special, just something I threw on."

"Well, either way Alex is a lucky guy to have you checking up on him," Cole checked his mail then eyed Alex's door, "how is he anyhow? He feeling any better?"

"Wouldn't know, he won't open the door," Ashley huffed as she got up to stretch, "just keeps watching the same old show over and over again."

"Figures as much," Cole let out a huff of his own, fishing out his keys, "come on, I'll let you in."

He went to Alex's door, unlocking it before stepping inside with Ashley following close behind him. As they entered, a gasp of shock followed by a gag of disgust came upon Ashley and Cole as what they found truly horrified them. The place was a mess with food and litter scattered all over the place, with the biggest mess of course being the shell of a human sprawled out onto the couch, still fully clothed hoodie and with a blanket and half eaten bags of chips covering him. He stared at the tv, his gaze blank as the bright colors danced over his eyes.

Cole let out a huff, crossing his arms as he looked to his friend. "Come on man, it's been well over a week already. How much longer are you going to lay here watching the same anime over and over?"

"Y-Yeah… just a minute…" Alex muttered weakly, pointing to the tv, "just wanna… watch this."

"If someone ever tells me it's a mistake to have hope, I'll just tell them they're wrong and I'll keep tell them til they believe," spoke the cartoon girl with bright pink pigtails as Cole went over to the tv and shut it off, the dvd player along with it.

"Look, I get your still upset about what Madison said, but you can't let it rule your life forever," Cole looked at him as Alex could just barely glance up at him, "it's not healthy, none of this is."

Alex narrowed his gaze at Cole and nodded, rolling over to bury his face into the couch, "I know…" he yawned, "I should sleep on it. Lock the door behind you, okay?"

With another huff, Cole looked to Ashley, "Ash, Tara and I have a thing to get to. Make sure he doesn't choke on his tears please?"

Ashley nodded as Cole let, looking back to Alex with a sigh, "Welp…" she eyed all the garbage, "guess I'm the one who needs to clean all this up, aren't I?"

Cole came to the door of his apartment and went to unlock it. As he opened the door he caught a whiff of something steamy and delicious. A grin came to his face as he opened the door and entered to the sight of Tara setting the table with a full course meal all while wearing a frilly yellow sundress.

"Oh you're home," she smiled with glee as she finished setting the table. Practically skipping over to Cole, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips before a pout came onto her face, "How's Superstar doing?"

Cole frowned, giving her a thumbs down. "Ash is over there trying to get his ass in gear… but I think that's easier said than done at this point."

"Did she try using hers to motivate his?" Tara asked.

Cole cocked up a brow, looking at her with a bit of chuckle, "With how dolled up she is, she just about might." He grabbed Tara by her waist and began kissing her neck, "Speaking of, what's with this frilly thing?" He tugged at her dress.

"Well I mean, since we've got the place to ourselves for the next couple weeks I thought I'd play housewife for you," she looked at her dress, her smile dropping a bit, "but it's not really me.. is it?"

"Nonsense," he kissed her cheek, "I think you can pull off whatever look you want to."

The kiss to her cheek made Tara's face light up with glee, looking back at Cole with a smirk before poking him on the nose, "Good, because I'm gonna." At that moment, her phone rang and Tara immediately picked it up. "Oh, thats dad. Sorry, gotta take this." She motioned to the table that Kree was still assisting in getting set up, a tiny bowl of nuts and bolts set out for him. "Eat!"

"You don't need to tell me twice," Cole sat down, giving Kree a good pet on the head. The little mechanical bird cooed with every pet then male gave him.

"Hi daddy, how's the trip going? Cole's folks enjoying themselves okay?" Tara asked into her phone, inviting herself into Cole's bedroom. "I'm just relieved they accepted the invite so quick, its like they've never gone on vacation before."

As Cole began to eat, a knock came to his door. He quickly swallowed, "Coming!" He got up to answer it, his grin instantly dropping the moment he saw Kat standing there on the other side.

She smiled at him, "Oh thank god you're home." She reached into her shoulder bag, "I was wondering, if you aren't to busy maybe-"

"Kat, for the last time no," he began to close the door.

Kat shoved her foot in the door, preventing him from closing it. "Cole! Please! Its different this time!" Kat pleaded with him, a sad desperate look coming to her face as she fished out her worksheets. "I was told you could help me with school work. Please Cole. I'm gonna fail if my grades don't improve."

Cole stared at her close, feeling she was up to something again. However the look of genuine heartbreak on her face told him otherwise. He let out a sigh then opened the door to her.

"Alright," he regained his grin as he invited her in, "but let's make this quick okay? I'm kinda in the middle of something."

"Oh I yeah, I get that," Kat grinned as she eyed the food on the dining room table, strolling inside and plopping herself down on the couch. "But seriously Cole, thanks a bunch for this. I'm like, the only one in our class that doesn't get this stuff."

"Well, what are you having trouble with?" Cole asked her, sitting down beside her.

Kat flipped through her work, her heart racing a bit as the male drew closer to her, "Hmm…" she blushed to give the impression that she was embarrassed, "I think all of it?"

On the other side of the hall Ashley had finished cleaning Alex's apartment and now only one mess remained. The boy himself that she now simply stared at from a chair she had folded out for herself, hunching over with her cheeks in the palms of her hands. Letting out a heavy sigh, she got up and walked towards him before attempting to pull him up

"Come on, let's just get you out of the house for a while." She hoisted him up, "or at least get you into the shower. You smell like year old cheese."

As she moved him off the couch, she suddenly felt the weight of Alex's body push her towards the wall. With a gasp she turned around to face him only to find that she was pinned to the wall with his arms on either side of her. His eyes stared vacantly into hers.

"Ash… I'm hurting really bad…" he grabbed her shoulder with one hand and cupped her cheek with the other. This simple action made her heart skip a beat, her whole body beginning to shiver as his lips drifted closer to her's, "Please… just help me feel something…"

His lips drew closer to hers. She gulped, her face bright red at the thought of the impending contact.

"Whoa there bucko!" she shoved him back onto the couch, catching her breath as her heartbeat was still going nuts. "We… We can't! We just can't! You're still messed up over Madison and me… well, Sarah didn't leave me much better off…"

"Sarah…" Alex raised a brow, looking up at her, "Did.. something happened between you two?""

"You mean.. you don't know?" Her face was bright red, holding her arms crossed as she avoided Alex's gaze, "I loved her, okay. I loved her more than anything else.. She and I tried dating way back when but, she went and fell for Madison just like you did." She shook her head, "You both loved her, and I'm doomed to be the one not good enough for Sarah then, for either of you." She rolled her head back before sliding down the wall to sit on the floor before letting out a big sigh. "God, why am I such a bitch?"

Alex just stared at her for a bit, his heart sinking deeper than it already was as he listened to Ashley vent. Eventually he gripped his hair and let out a sigh.

"You aren't bitch" he told her with a gulp. "It's perfectly normal to feel that way, isn't it? So why bag on yourself for it?"

Ashley smirked with a laugh, "Because I just happen to fall for people who were taken by Madison's raw charm… that's why. Yeah, I like you Alex, I've liked you since the moment you turned my life around. I'm just, glad I could finally tell you is all."

Alex narrowed his gaze at her, "So… that's why you kissed me back then? Not for Madison's sake, but for your own?"

"Eyup…" Ashley huffed, staring blankly at the floor and refusing to look Alex in the eye, "and I feel worse about it the more I think about it."

"If I can say something…" he got up from the couch and sat down beside her, "I for the record think you're great. But to be honest, I'm just not sure I'm ready for a committed relationship just yet. I bombed hard with Madison, and I would hate to do that to anyone else, especially not you."

"Yeah… I can understand that…" Ashley rubbed her eyes from tears. She hid her face from Alex for a moment before managing a grin, her face still flushed from the overwhelming emotions that had previously consumed her, "But… to be perfectly honest…" She blushed hard, her head sinking a bit into her shoulders, "just because neither of us are ready for that sort of relationship, doesn't mean we still can't do other things." Her heart was racing at this point.

"Other things?" Alex raised a brow at her, his own face turning bright red, "like what?"

"God you're a dense boy," Ashley managed a laugh, her grin getting wider as she began tugging at his shirt. She ran her one hand up it and clawing at his chest, "Guess I'm gonna need to make you a man, aren't I?"

"And it's just like that," Cole told Kat as he jotted down the answer, looking towards her. "You get it now?"

"Oh yeah, thanks Cole you're a lifesaver," Kat grinned at him, catching the door to Cole's room begin to open. She smirked, grabbing Cole's shoulder and kissing him square on the lips.

"Hey Cole, when am I gonna get a super form anyhow? I feel that it's a bit unfair, what with Ash getting the wings and-" She paused, her eyes shooting open when she laid eyes upon Kat locking lips with Cole.

"Oh, Tara," Kat pulled away from him, smirking at Cole, "I didn't know you were here."

Tara balled her hand into a fist, charging over to Kat and punching her in the jaw with enough force to send her hurling at a wall. "GOD! WHAT IS WITH YOU! I wouldn't care but the guy already told you no! I mean seriously, do you not see how much of a fucking creep you're being?!"

"Whoa!" Cole quickly got up, "Tara! I didn't think you were actually gonna hit her!"

"The harlot forced herself on you!" Tara barked back at him, "The hell was I supposed to do?!"

"Okay… that tears it…" Kat laughed maniacally as she picked herself up off the ground, her bones cracking as she forced them back into alignment. She dug her hands into her pocket and shoulder bag, "I wanted to be a sweet, innocent little homewrecker. But now? Now, I'm PISSED!"

She ripped a dopant driver out from her bag and slapped it out to her waist before pulling out a gold gaia memory marked with a G styled in a beastly all consuming maw. "GORGE!" Screamed her memory as she struck its activation button, slotting it into place on her driver.

"I hate that I need to ruin that spread you both got," Kat snarled, baring her claws at Tara, "but I'll just have to get over it!"

Kat's memory transformed her into a humanoid cat like creature dressed in gold ninja robes. Razor sharp blades made up her claws as she stared down Tara and Cole from outside the robes and fur that covered her mouth and face leaving only a pair of glaring blood red eyes visible from the outside.

Tara laughed, "Oh great! Just another reason to kick your ass into the dirt!" She smirked deviously, extending her arm out to call Kree to connect to her arm as she pulled out her Gale memory. She struck the activation button, "GALE!"

Back in Alex's apartment, a loud shattering of glass caused Ashley and Alex pop their heads up from under the blanket they had been covering them and the couch. Their eyes were wide open as they saw Kat in her dopant form and Tara in her rider form locked in an all out brawl they quickly made its way out into the streets. They exchanged a glance before they both shot to their feet, Alex bolting to the door.

"Hey genius!" Ashley called to him, rolling her eyes in disbelief as she slipped her tights back on. "Put your clothes back on mister!"

"Oh yeah, right!" Alex redressed himself then grabbed Ashley's wrap dress, inspecting it for a second. "Hey Ash… what happened to your… underthings?"

"Wasn't wearing any," she told him bluntly, grabbing her dress before slipping it on along with her shoes before darting out the door. Alex just stood there, face bright red at that revelation. "COME ON SLOWPOKE!" Ash called out to him.

Back on the road, Kat lept from lamp post to lamp post as cars rushed from below her. She looked over her shoulder and smirked as she spotted Tara close behind her on her driver. She however felt her heart stop when she noticed Alex, Cole and Ashley not far behind the wind rider all of them in their respective rider forms. Alex and Cole were chasing after her on their bikes while Ash soared through the air with her wings.

Kat gritted her teeth as she spoke into a pale blue gemstone tethered by a silver chain around her neck. "Desire, I may have pulled more than the intended target. Ya think that toy of yours can back me up?"

Within the shroud of her bar, ms Seraphina contemplated this in her succubus dopant form. She eyed Vince with a smirk who met her gaze with a glare of his own.

"Of course my pet, hang tight for now," she cooed as Vince gritted his teeth, "find a way to cage them until Crave arrives."

"AND HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO THAT!" Kat barked back.

Kat's backpack caused Desire to glare at the ring she wore. "With that tone, you may handle it yourself my pet," she hissed at her, "and should you speak to me again with that tone you'll find yourself right back in the gutter I found you. Is that what you wish?"

Kat froze, her mind sending her back to when she was no more than five years old in rags and being thrown from the door of a small grocery store. "Steal from me again and I'll treat ya how people should treat PESTS like YOU! NOW BEAT IT!" Those words echoed in her head as she snapped back to reality.

Kat's lip quivered, swallowing her emotions while she tightened her claws. "N-No ma'am, not in the slightest..." She told her, regaining her smirk as she eyed an active scrap yard in the distance. "Tell Crave to take his sweet time. I know just how to handle the pests tailing me."

Back within the bar, Desire simply smirked. "Excellent my pet, Crave will be there shortly," her ring dulled as she turned to Vince. "I'd get going if I were you."

Vince let out a huff, looking away from Desire as he went to leave. "I will return.

The moment Vince had left, Desire looked to the blood red memory in her hand that was marked with a V, the gun metal grey parts of it now completely gone.

"Return or not, it makes little difference to me," she smirked as she turned her attention to the door to the back room of the bar, "I already have all I could ever gain from you, Crave."

Kat continued the leap across power lines, reaching a large fence and effortlessly hoping over it and landing on the ground of the scrapyard. "Never," she gritted her teeth as she recalled the cold chill of rain on her dirt covered skin, "I will NEVER go back to that!"

She became lost in a memory of her as young girl covered only by a torn blue dress that was two sizes too small for her, running in the pouring rain as an empty glass bottle was tossed at her. It shattered on the ground, cutting her feet as she darted into an ally, panting heavily as she attempted to catch her breath.

"Oh my…" a soft voice cooed to her, "you certainly have been through a lot this night, haven't you little one?"

Kat jumped, looking up to see Seraphina, clad it a form fitting white blouse and black pencil skirt. She held an umbrella, taking a step forward and reaching out a hand to her. Kat jumped, raising her fists up to the woman.

Seraphina only smirked, "Oh my.. you certainly have some fight in you, don't you?" She reached into her bag and pulled out an apple wrapped in plastic. "But I am not going to hurt you, I only wish to help you… so long as you help me."

Kat inched towards it, sniffing as Seraphina held it out to her. Kat swiped it from the woman, biting into it plastic and all. Seraphina smirked while Kat spat out the plastic before continuing to eat.

"So… is that a deal?" Seraphina asked as her white skin became pale blue.

"If you feed me like this, I'll do whatever you say!" Kat barked back as she finished the apple, not even leaving the core uneaten.

"Exactly what I was looking to hear," Seraphina reached forward, patting the girl on the head as her eyes changed from a deep brown to a piercing yellow, her hair switching from blond to a deep violet.

The girl licking her hands clean of what was left of the apple, gasping when she found her hands had changed into a pair of grey cat paws. Whiskers sprouted from her face and even her ears began to change.

"Hey! What are you trying to pull!" The girl pleaded, smacking the woman's legs with her paws as her entire body began to shrink, becoming more cat like in the process. "STOP IT! I TAKE IT BACK! CHANGE ME BACK NOW! RIGHT MEOOW!"

With that single cry of meow, the girl's entire body was now that of a chubby grey kitten. Seraphina meanwhile had reverted to her human form just as the kitten began to claw at her.

"Sorry, but a stray kitten is far easier to come home with than a stray child," Seraphina cooed, ignoring the pain of the kitten's bite to her one hand as she patted its head with her free one. "However, that temper needs to be… adjusted."

Rubbing its head, the kitten's snarls soon changed to a gentle purr. The kitten rubbing up against Seraphina as she scooped her up.

"Now then, what are we going to call you? As a human, I was thinking Kat… but as an actual cat… Hmm… Cheshire, yes that suits you nice doesn't it?" Seraphina continued to pet the kitten as she stood back up, "I have plans for you little Cheshire, so long as you behave."

{End of Part A}

{Start of Part B}

Far across down in a park surrounded by trees, Shiore sat on a bench in the shade typing away at her phone while eyeing a birthday party that was going on under the canopy of a small gazebo in the center of the park. Her thumbs stopped typed, Shiore staring almost longingly at the party before her.

Taking in a gulp, she eyed the changing leafs that still clung to the trees as a cold autumn wind rushed over her. "It's getting to be about that time of year again… isn't it?" her gaze sharpened as she spotted Carter approaching her. Due to the change in weather he now wore a deep red leather jacket. "Oh.. its you.." she sighed, tucking her phone away, "What do you want?"

"I was hoping to talk," he handed her a can of coffee, "This whole thing, it's a bit of a mess isn't it?"

Shiore sighed once again, moving over to allow Carter to sit down, "Thats putting it lightly… course it wouldn't be that way if you pointed us in the direction of your former boss."

"I would if I could," Carter told her, sitting down and taking a sip from his own drink, "Marcoh and I have been going over it, but META locked me out completely. My own mother changed numbers on me."

"Sucks to be all alone, doesn't it?" She glanced at him, "not that I would know."

"I know, the damage done to your clan… it's all the more reason we need to end this as soon as possible," Carter leaned back on the bench, glancing over to Shiore after a moment, "Which reminds me… what are you gonna do? When all this over I mean."

"Head home, rebuild what I can," Shiore told him simply with a shrug, "it's not like I have much else keeping me here after all, do I?"

Carter let out a sigh then nodded, "Yeah.. I guess that's true." Carter was about to speak once more when his phone went off, "Talk to me." He answered, Shiore's scanner going off at the same time. Carter quickly stood up, his driver materializing around his waist, "I'll be right there." He turned to Shiore.

"Marcoh?" Shiore asked him, Carter nodding in response.

He pulled out his gaia memory, "The others are already engaged, we should move quick."

"RYU-O!" Cried the memory as he struck the activation button, slamming into his driver and switching it on. "RYU-O!" The driver roared as a whirlwind of fire transformed Carter into his rider form.

Carter extended a hand to Shiore, turning his back to him. "Come, we'll get there faster by the air."

Shiore gritted her teeth, letting out a huff as she took his hand and climbed onto his back. "We'd better. I wish to not rely anyone for longer than I have too."

Carter let out a huff of his own, "That makes two of us." He spoke once more before taking off into the sky."

Within the crater of the scrap yard, Kat leapt from bulldozer to bulldozer. The workers gasped at the sudden appearance of the cat like dopant, one worker jumping once again when Tara knocked on the window of his vehicle.

"If I were you sir, I'd get you and your buddies out of here," the wind rider told him as she pulled her flail made up three feather like blades tethered to a chain from the back of her belt, "this is gonna get ugly."

The worker gulped, nodding as he hoped from the vehicle and grabbed a radio from his vest. "CLOCK OUT TIME! WE'RE GETTING OUTTA HERE EARLY!" On their que, all the other workers bolted as Tara marched towards were Kat sat perched atop a tall tower of scrap metal.

"Even in a blinding rage, you still seek to ensure others are out of the way?" Kat chuckled with a smirk as she hopped down to meet Tara's stride, "You are a strange on, you know that."

"You don't get it do you?" Tara smirked under her mask as she cracked her flail, widing her arm back before hurling the triple bladed weapon at the dopant before her. Kat leapt out of the way of the attack, dodging to right only for Tara to bolt in that same direction and grab her by the throat.

"Wha?!" Kat gasped.

"Staring down an opponent like you…" Tara stared her down, tightening her grasp on the dopant, "I'm the calmest I've ever been."

"This girl…all this chaos around her..." Kat thought to herself as she was thrown it rusted scraps. "Is she… like the eye of a hurricane or something?!" Hitting the ground, she kicked the metal off herself with a wince from the pain of being through. Kat then gritted her teeth, clenching the dirt within her tightening claws. "That just… pisses me off even more!" Kat roared, darting right for Tara with her claws at the ready.

At the main gate to the scrapyard, Alex, Cole and Ashley rushed in opposite the current of fleeing workers. Cole was in his default Rock forn with Alex taking on Star Runner. Alex and Cole's gaze darted from left to right in search for Tara as Carter and Shiore touched down on the ground in front of them in their base rider forms.

"Where's Thea?" Carter asked as Shiore hopped from his back.

Alex caught his breath, Cole pointing off to the left. "We saw her chase the dopant that way." The earth rider told Carter.

"Then let's not waste time getting to her," Carter gritted his teeth together, turning on his heel when a chilling voice filled the air.

"Oh no… I'm afraid you five won't be going anywhere," A deep green muscular dopant called out to them as he emerged from the shadows of the scrap piles.

"Crave," Ashley sucked her teeth, "I was wondering when you were going to show your ugly mug here."

"Likewise Shift," Crave glared at her, "though of all of us, I never imagined you would be the one to betray me."

"I didn't betray anyone Crave," Ash glared back at him under her mask, "I just needed someone to set me on the right path, nothing more."

"Right path?" Crave raised a brow, chuckling slightly. He readied his claw and raised his arm, "Well then, allow me to mark where yours ends!"

He let out a roar, hurling a trio a energy blades from his arm at the riders. Ashley acted quickly, pulling as much water from the air as she could with a flick of her wrists and forming it into a large barrier between Crave's attack and her allies.

Shiore tossed a pair of kunai into the water, freezing the shield into a wall of ice which was strong enough to take Crave's attack. Amidst the dust and echoes from the fallout of the onslaught, Carter rushed forward and blasted Crave with several large fire shots from the palms of his hands.

As he readied his forth shot, he gasped as Crave was suddenly in front of him with the demon eyes of his dopant form stared deeply into that of the fire rider's. He grabbed Carter's arm and twisted it, sending him to his knees.

"Thats a nice trick you have there boy…" Crave snarled, the color of Carter's arm that Crave held eroding away as as sickly green copy of it formed on Crave's arm. "But now it's mine."

More and more of Carter's armor began to erode into a dull grey, Crave only being stopped by a pair of Yuki clones darting towards him and slashing at his back with their swords.

Dropping Carter's armor, Crave shot off a blast of sickly green fire towards the one clone to destroy it before grabbing the other. "I will be taking that power too."

The clone dissolved into Crave's arm, Shiore wincing loudly before falling to her knees with only her sword keeping the strength to hold her.

"Shiore!" Alex barked, rushing to her side only to be shoved away by the ice rider.

"Get Gale… both of you..." Shiore barked as she trembled, "NOW!"

Alex shook for a moment before balling his hand into a fist and nodding. He turned his gaze towards Ashley. "Ash?... You three be careful, alright?"

Ashley was shaking but wasn't letting it show, "I wasn't even finished with you Superstud. I'm not gonna let my old boss be the end of me, let alone them."

Without a second word, Alex and Cole darted off towards Tara and Kat.

Cole couldn't help but look to Alex with a grin under his mask, "So… Tara was right afterall."

Alex looked to him and blushed, raising a brow, "What's that supposed to mean?!"

With heightened ferocity Kat slashed her claws at Tara, the wind rider just barely dodging her swipes before grabbing both of Kat's arms.

"WHY?!" Kat barked at her, staring Tara down, "I tried to steal your boyfriend, I punched a hole in his window, and now I'm threatening to kill you! So WHY aren't you ANGRY?!"

"Because, that's just how the wind is," Tara told her with a chuckle the eyes of Kree on her driver flaring bright orange for a moment. "Be in a gentle breeze or a raging storm, the wind never changes. It faces any challenge as it is, because challenge is nothing more than a passing thing. I can overcome anything, even you!"

With a roar, Tara shot a powerful front snap kick right into Kat's jaw sending her flying backwards and shooting the ring that formed the rider's gale slicer off Tara's ankle and into the air. Tara caught and twirled it into its slicer form as Cole and Alex reached her.

"Tara!..." Alex panted as he caught his breath, "you alright? We're here… to help…"

"Thanks but I got her on the ropes," Tara smirked as she approached Kat, the dopant rising to her feet while glaring at Tara with her claws up. "So, you gonna cry uncle or are we gonna drag this out for another chapter?"

Kat snarled widening her stance as the two circled each other, "Whats it to you?"

"Alright, then while we're dancing I got a question for you," Tara glared at Kat, "If you like Cole, why sneak around my back? You coulda kissed him all you wanted, maybe even go further than that and I wouldn't have cared. But that whole sneak creep thing, thats what got on my and I'm sure his nerves."

"It doesn't matter how much I liked him or you," Kat's snarling grew more violent, "I was given orders, and I followed them… thats all there is to it. But I doubt a bird in a cage like you wouldn't get it."

"Bird in a cage, huh?" Tara raised a brow, "Sounds more to me like you're the one in a cage, Kat."

Kat's eyes shot open in shock, snapping back to an image of her in a cat carrier with a young brown haired Tara stared into it with wide innocent eyes. "This is Cheshire Thea," Rylee's voice echoed in Kat's mind, "She's going to be living with us for the next little while."

"Oh wow…" the young Thea in awe before smiling, "Okay! I'll treat her like the princess she is! But can we let her out now? I hate cute things being locked in cages."

Kat's mind flashed back to reality, gritting her teeth together before letting a roar and darting towards Tara. Alex and Cole raised their weapons, ready to jump in only for Tara to extend her hand out towards them.

"No! This fight is my," she told them, gripping her slicer before tossing it to the side. As Kat drew closer to her, Tara pulled her memory from her driver and dropped her armor.

Tara stares Kat down, the dopant smirking as sue raised her claw. She was about to strike when suddenly, she found herself wrapped in Tara's arms. "W-Wha…"

"Its alright Cheshire…" Tara smiled warmly at Kat, kissing her on the forehead as she held her, "You aren't in a cage anymore… you don't have to do anything you don't want to anymore…"

"That name…" Kat's lip quivered, "how do you know? Who told you?"

"No one did… I knew right from the moment I saw you..." Tara said with a shake of her head, "Well, once I remembered I had a cat anyway."

Kat trembled, looking up to Tara before taking in a huge gulp to swallow her emotions. "U-Uncle…" she spoke as she pulled her memory from her driver, powering down. Her face hung a little, letting out a sigh of defeat.

"Good girl," Tara grinned, lifting Kat's head up a bit before kissing her on the lips. "MUAH! And there's your reward Kat… Cheshire? Which name would you prefer?"

Kat's eyes were wide open, just staring at Tara, "Kat- Katlyn would be fine actually…" She blushed hard, staring at Tara, "But why are you so weird!"

"Oh it's just the way I am," Tara told Kat as she snuggled the black haired girl's face off, holding her there for a moment after before looking at Cole, "What do you think Rocky? Think you can handle to pretty girls from this point forward?"

Cole managed a chuckle, "I think we'll need to talk about that later, we still need to deal with Crave."

"Oh I can handle him, easy," Tara boasted, pushing her chest out and resting her hands on hips.

"No you can't Tara, not on your own," an unfamiliar voice called out to her from her wrist.

"Huh? What the?" Tara gasped as she raised her arm to look at Kree who's eyes were burning bright orange. "Kree?! Did you just talk?!"

Kree simply nodded, "All because you finally let me into your heart, by shutting down the barriers you kept around it. And now I am finally able to give you the full might of my power."

A bright orange burst of energy fired out of Kree's eyes and into Tara's hand, Tara gasping as it formed into an amber colored gaia memory marked with an H shaped like twisting tornadoes merging together.

Tara's eyes sparkled as she stared at the new memory, her usual devil like smirk coming back as she gripped it tightly in her hand, "FINALLY!" She cheered, tossing her Gale Memory over to Alex, "Superstar! Do what you do with this!"

Alex jumped, catching the memory after a fumble or two before nodding to Tara, "Right!"

The Xtreme memory descended down from the sky, connecting to Alex's driver as the boy split it open, "XTREME!" Cried the driver as Alex ascended to his ultimate form, slipping Tara's gaia memory into the maximum drive slot on his belt. "GALE! MEMORY CHARGE!" Cried the driver once more as the middle portion of Alex's suit shimmered bright yellow for a moment, a pair of elegant silver wings flaring out from his shoulder armor.

"Alright! Looking slick there partner!" Tara gave Alex a thumbs up before looking to Kree on her wrist. "Now, it's our time to shine."

Tara held the memory up high and struck the activation button, "HURRICANE!" Cried the memory, Tara slamming into the top of Kree's driver mode before flipping his head around. "HURRICANE!" Cried the memory once more as a strong storm of wind erupted from Tara, transforming her into a far more regal yet hyper aggressive variation of her standard rider form.

Her armor was heavier and covered in amber tribal markings. A long blade hung from each of her hips and large bright yellow eagle wings with orange tips now extended from her back.

Tara looked to Alex, her gaze narrowed as she pulled the blades off her hips and combined them into a double ended sword. "Lets fly." She told him before taking off into the sky, Alex following shortly after with a kick of his own.

Back by the main entrance to the scrapyard, Crave had Carter and Shiore on the ropes with the six clones he had conjured, Ashley just barely dodging his attacks as he fought him directly. She lost her footing just for a moment, but that was enough for the green dopant to claw at her back and erode away her wings.

"GAH!" She cried out as her wings became puddles by her feet and Crave donned a pair of sickly green water based wings of his own.

"Now… we end this…" Crave growled at her, raising his hand to her and charging up a ball of fire. Before he fired it however, a familiar sound to Crave roared over the pile of scrap metal. One that he thought he could disregard.

"GORGE!" Cried out a gaia memory as Kat swooped down from above and pulled down her face mask, opening her jaws as wide as possible to swallow the blast of fire whole. She then spat it right back out at Crave, forcing him to leap back just to avoid it.

Crave gritted his teeth as he stared down Kat, "Gorge! What are you doing?!"

"Whatever the hell I what for once," Kat told him bluntly as she darted towards him. "Starting by taking you down!"

Crave raised his claws just as Kat bit down on the arm the housed Ryu-O's fire blast. With a snarl and a look of confusion, Crave raises his claw to attack. That was when Kat began to suck inward, Crave feeling his own strength begin to weaken. Crave fell to his knees as the stolen Ryu-O armor crumbled.

"Wh-What did you do to me?!" Crave barked as Kat released him from her jaws.

"Just watch and learn," Kat inhaled as she turned to Ashley, spitting out a navy blue ball of energy at her. Ashley's wings came back once the ball hit her, her armor even repair from the damage.

Kat then inhaled once more and spat out two more balls of energy at Carter and Shiore, one red the other pale blue. Their own armor repaired itself once the colored orbs hit their matching rider.

Carter wasted no time and struck a pair of Crave's clones, taking them both out with one shot "Shiore…" he spoke to the rider behind him, "do you feel-"

"Stronger?" She asked, finishing his sentence as she gripped her sword and conjured a pair of her own ice clones with a snap of her finger, "Yes… and then some."

It wasn't long before Alex and Cole rushed it, Cole slashing one of Crave's clones with Biter's wrist mounted laser sword while Alex slashed apart another with X-Calibur. Two more clones remained, encroaching on Shiore and Carter. Before they could take another step however, two yellow arrows of light roared down from the sky and struck the clones, shattering them instantly.

Once the clones were dealt with Tara touched down, her sword Hurricane Smiter now having the shape of a bow.

"Thea?" Carter gasped, "Is that you?"

"The gal, the myth, the legend herself," Tara smirked at her brother under her mask. She eyes Crave, her, Gorge and the other riders forming up in a line around him. Crave, with nowhere else to run, backed up into one of the piles of scrap metal.

"Crave!" Tara roared at him, pulling her memory from her driver and placing it into her bow before aiming it at the dopant before her, "Your rampage ends here!"

"HURRICANE! MAXIMUM DRIVE!" Cried out Tara's memory as it began to charge.

Alex looked at her, "That's my line."

"We've got six chapters to go after this," Tara patted him on the shoulder, "let me have this one?"

"Alright, then I'll just follow your lead here," Alex refocused on Crave, closing his driver before opening it again.

"XTREME! MAXIMUM DRIVE! GALE! MAXIMUM DRIVE!" Cried both of Alex's memories, gripping his sword as the blade began to glow bright yellow.

"XTREME TORNADO!" Tara and Alex cried out in unison, Tara firing a bright orange arrow at Crave and Alex a bright yellow slash of energy.

The two merged together in the air as they struck Crave, engulfing him in an explosion. After a moment, the smoke cleared and Vice stood glaring at the riders.

Alex gasped upon seeing the face of Sarah's older brother, "Vince?" He muttered, perplexed.

"Damn you… Alex .." Vince growled as he limped forward, gripping his Crave gaia memory only moments before it shattered in his clenched fist. "Why must you always be the one… who stands in my… way…"

Vince's eyes slowly shut as he fell forward towards the dirt. Alex darted forward, catching him just before the older man hit the dirt. Alex stared in silence for a few moments, gulping sharply as the setting sun faded beyond the horizon.

Once it was dark, Alex looked to the other riders, "Get Marcoh and Sampson over here."

Cole and Ashley nodded, Cole pulling out his phone as everyone powered down, returning to their civilian forms.

Some time passed and Marcoh and Sampson arrived on the scene with three cop cars, Vince being cuffed and loaded into the back of one car now that he was awake. Alex stared at him over Sampson's shoulder, frozen for a while before finally mustering the strength to march himself over to vince and look him in the through the lowered window.

"Vince… there's still one thing I don't understand," Alex spoke, resting his hands on the door of the car, "Why do this? Why do any of this?"

"You… want to know why?" Vince scoffed, turning to face Alex with a glare, "Then why Alex, did you murder my sister? Why did you kill Sarah?"

Alex gasped, jumping back as the sensation of running his fist through the Reptilian dopant flooded back to him. "I… didn't do it by choice..." he muttered, trying to find the right words.

Vince narrowed his gaze at Alex, "But still, it was your hand that ended her life. It is that reason, and that reason alone, that I will always hate you Alex Darwin."

Sampson smacked the top of the car, glaring at Vince, "Alright, that's enough from you." He looked to the woman in the front of the car, "Take him away Ro."

The woman nodded, rolling up the window and drove off. Vince and Alex exchanged one single glance as he was driven off, Vince shooting daggers at Alex with eyes.

"Sampson…. It wasn't my fault… right?" Alex trembled, choking up a little, "I… was only doing what I had too… right?"

Sampson's heart sank as he watched the boy, letting out a heavy sign before placing his hand firmly on Alex's shoulder. "That whole situation… was rather messy, wasn't it?" He spoke as he brought Alex towards him, "You did what you thought was right, which isn't always easy to do. Sure, HE might not ever understand, but I do. You hear me, son?"

Alex nodded, taking a moment to breath, "Ya… I do…"

Over by Marcoh, Kat and Tara high fived one another, Tara sneaking in a quick kiss onto Kat cheek. "Nice moves out there, girlfriend."

Kat blushed, smiling at Tara before nodding, "You too… girlfriend." She couldn't help but laugh a little at this.

"Alright, Kat was it?" Marcoh came up and cuffed the black haired girl, "now its your turn."

Tara gasped in shock, "WHAT?! BUT! She's on our side now!"

"Marcoh, Tara's right," Cole stepped in, placing his hand on Kat's shoulder and looking Marcoh in the eye, "can't we make an exception?"

"Wish I could Desmond, but she broke the law," Marcoh told him sternly, looking Kat in the eye, "Of course how much time she spends, will depend on how she behaves."

"Cop guy does have a point," Kat grinned with a blush, looking at Cole with a grin, "It is the least I can do, at least for breaking your window at least." She reached herself up to kiss Cole on the cheek, "I'll be good, I promise."

Tara pointed a finger at her, "You better, else I'll have a word with you when you get out."

"Ya, I figured as much," Kat managed a laugh, looking at the two of them with a wide smirk, "you two aren't gonna replace me while I'm in the big house, are ya?"

The pair both shook their heads, "Wouldn't even think of it… just don't drop the soap, okay?" Tara sniffled, rubbing her eyes a bit.

"Just.. be safe okay?" Cole asked as he looked Kat in the eye.

Kat gulped, smiling at the two of them as a few tears began to form in her eye. "Not making any promises."

"Alright, it's time we get going," Marcoh told Kat, guiding her into the back of his patrol car.

Closing the door on her, Kat waved to both Tara and Cole with the two riders waving back to her as she was driven off. Once they were out of sight, Kat let out a heavy sigh before flopping herself down on the back seat. Her gaze drifted over to the rear view mirror, looking at Marcoh's eyes in the reflection.

"So copper," Kat spoke, choosing to make small talk to kill boredom, "what you got planned for little old me?"

"That depends," Marcoh gave her a look in the mirror, "you got any family? Someone who'll go looking for you if you go missing?"

"Not a soul," Kat shook her head, feeling her heart sink a little as she muttered her next words, "well… no one that will care, given the spot I'm now in."

"I see…" Marcoh turned his gaze back to the road, "Well, then why don't I become your family?"

Kat gave him a look, snickering a little, "Um, I think I'm a bit too young for you. Besides, I kinda got a thing going with Cole and Tara in case you missed that?"

"That's not what I meant," he shot a glare to her which soon softened into a neutral grin, "My partner and I… he and I were always thinking about adopting a girl of our own."

Kat gasped, tears running down her face as she began to choke up a bit, "Are… are you serious?"

Marcoh simply nodded, "Dead." He raised a brow at her, "So then, how about it?"

Back within the shroud of Crave's bar the Devil's Nest, Desire watched as the v marked gaia memory she held turned completely blood red. Once it was completed, she stood up from her seat and waltzed into the back room. Inside, connected to cables and other forms of life support sat a heavily scarred man. His left arm was a heavily marred stump, a mechanical prosthetic limbs connected to it as a replacement.

"The process is complete my champion," Desire told the man as she came in, holding out the memory to him as she shut off all the machines that kept him stable. "The hour for your return is now."

The man glared at her, ripping the cables from his body as he rose from his seat. He stretched himself out, bones cracking into place as he did so. "Took long enough," he smirked devious like the demon he was, "Crave served his purpose then?"

"He was the perfect pawn until the end my wrath," she told him, handing him the blood red memory, "my Fury."

"Then I will not need to hold anything back," the male gripped the memory, "not from those riders, or even Vainglory himself."

He held the memory up high then struck the activation button. "VIOLENT!"

{Insert Ending Theme: "One" by Altima}

Next time on Kamen Rider Ultimate Xtreme

Derek Maverick lives! And he is armed with a gaia memory filled with the violent energy sparking from the chaos surrounding Ardent City.

Do the riders stand a chance against him?

All will be decided when Kamen Rider Ultimate Xtreme continues in

Episode 38: Fury's Violent Crusade

All riders! Unite and fight!