[guncannon109]

Episode 7: Shifting Tides

Ashley walked up the front steps to a small two story house, she stood at the door for a moment before pushing the door open and walking into the dimly light hall, the door slamming behind her.

She looked over to a small dent in the door before removing her jacket and hanging it on one of the hooks mounted to the one. Ashley surveyed the hooks until her eyes reached a gap in the row of hooks. She took in a deep breathe then exhaled slowly.

“Dad... I'm back,” She called out as she slid off her shoes and proceeding down the hall.

She walked down the hallway until she reached a door that was left ajar.

She peered into the room. The room appeared to be a standard office, with countless sheets of paper scattered about the room and a few books laid out on the desk. An middle age man, looking to be around his early fifties, sat at the desk typing away at on a laptop.

“Hey dad,” Ashley said slowly walking into the room.

“Hello Ashley... how did school go?” The man asked turning slightly to face her but not interrupting his work flow.

“Actually, I got the day off today,” Ashley explained, “So I went to the water park with a few friends. Madison bought a ticket for me so-”

“Sorry Ashley, I don't have time to chat at the moment,” Ashley's father said apologetically.

“Still looking for a job huh?” Ashley sighed, “Alright... I'll talk to you later then.” She sighed as she began to exit the room.

“Oh that reminds,” Ashley's father said quickly, “Ashley dinner will be here shortly so how about you tell me then, alright?”

“Take out again?” Ashley grunted looking back at her father, “Alright... I guess I can live with that” She said closing the door behind her.

“Love you,” Her father shouted from the other side of the door.

Ashley curled her hand up into a fist and smacked it into the door frame, “Yeah... you keep saying that.”

She proceeded up a small flight of stairs not far from the doorway. Once at the top, she walked over to a door at the end of the hall. She walked through the door which led to her bedroom, upon entering the room she through her bag onto a desk in the corner of the room and collapsed onto a single twin sized bed and buried her head into a pillow.

At the moment, a small beeping noise filled the dry air of the room. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a cell phone.

“What?” She said into the phone, “Oh... I see... yeah, I got...” She said looking over to the bag on her desk, “yeah, I'll bring it over soon... kay bye,” She hung up the phone and tucked it under her pillow.

She turned over onto her back and starred up at the ceiling, “... this sucks.”

{Insert Opening Theme - Extreme Dream}

Alex and Madison walked down a long empty sidewalk in the dead of night. Madison looked onward twirling her hair a bit while alex starred up to the star filled sky.

“So um... good movie huh?” Madison asked attempting to break the silence.

“Uhuh,” Alex returned bluntly.

“I find it odd though,” Madison began, “I know that the third movie in the series is going to be an original story, but why did shaft have to condense the entire series into two movies?”

“So more people can see it I guess,” Alex stated, “Though there are some people that still won't get it. Take Cole for instance, he can't stand it.”

“Has he seen it?” Madison asked.

“As in actually seen and not just look at the screen wishing he was doing something else?” Alex snarked

“Actually seen it,” Madison clarified.

“I'm not quite sure really, he changes the subject every time I ask him,” Alex chuckled.

“I mean sure it's not perfect but that ending man. Just... the feels,” Madison proclaimed tightening her hands and holding them in front of herself.

“Yes, that is definitely a good ending. One of the best I've seen in an anime, or any work of fiction for that matter,” Alex proclaimed, “I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to top it myself.”

“You a writer or something?” Madison asked.

“Well, I've tried a couple of times... but nothing I'd show to people,” Alex said coming to a halt, “Not to mention the world seems to hate me at the moment.”

Madison turned to face Alex, she grabbed hold of his hand with her right and place her left over top of it, “I don't hate you,” she said with a smile.

“Uh...” Alex stood confused.

“Hey, remember. If someone ever tells you its a mistake to have hope, just tell them that they're wrong, and that you'll keep telling them until they believe,” Madison said with an even wider smile than before, “no matter how many times it takes.”

“... thank you... for that,” Alex said scratching the back of his neck, “Where did you get that from?”

“It's from the movie,” Madison giggled, “and you say Cole doesn't pay attention. Anyway...” Madison looked around the corner of the block the two stood at, “My house isn't too far from here, I can make it the rest of the way on my own.”

“Okay, you sure?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, I'll see you at school,” Madison said as she walked off down the street.

“Alright, see ya,” Alex said waving to Madison.

“Later,” Madison returned as she disappeared into the night.

Alex stood in the dim glow of the street lights smiling like an idiot in a daze.

After a good five minutes or so he slapped himself hard across the face, “Focus Alex, you've got a job to do! This isn't the time to get all sappy,” He exclaimed as he stormed off down the road towards his apartment.

With in no time at all he came to a tall bridge that led across an old train line. He proceeded up the steps of the bridge until he came to a halt at the top and looked over the city taking in a deep breathe.

“Sure looks peacful,” Alex thought to himself as a wave of cool air rushed over him, “But she's out there... somewhere.”

As Alex looked over the edge of the bridge, a few drops of water hit is arm. The few drops quickly turned into a major downpour.

“Oh you've got to be kidding me,” Alex grunted as he whipped the hood of his sweater over his head and ran to the other end of the bridge.

---

Ashley marched down the flight of stairs that connected the second and first floors with her bag in hand. As she reached the first floor her phone began to ring. Ashley pulled her phone out of her pocket.

“What?” she answered as she proceeded directly to the front door of the house, “Yeah, I'm on my way now... Yeah I've got it.... You're not going to back out of your end again right?... Alright alright, I'll be there in a bit ” She said closing her phone and shoving it into her pocket.

“I'm going out for a bit!” She called out as she grabbed her coat from the hook. She placed her hand on the handle of the door, pausing for a second as she looked over her shoulder to the door down the hall, “Never mind,” She sighed as she walked out the door slamming it a bit behind her.

---

Alex walked through the front door of his apartment, closing it behind him. He switched on the light to see Cole standing right in front of him. Alex stood in silence for a second.

“AH!” Alex exclaimed as he jumped back, scrapping against the wooden surface of the door behind him, “What the hell dude!”

“So... how did your big first date go?” Cole said with a smirk.

“It wasn't a date,” Alex barked back.

“Sure it wasn't,” Cole said rolling his eyes.

“Look Madison and I are just friends that share a common interest,” Alex explained.

“More like a common obsession,” Cole snarked, “Anyway, you plant one on her?”

“I barely even know her!” Alex barked.

“So what, she's hot,” Cole retorted.

“So what? Have you talked to her?” Alex returned, “She might share the same fandom as me but other than that her personality is completely whack.”

“See, you're perfect for each other,” Cole stated as Alex opened the door and shoved Cole out into the hall.

“Get out!” Alex exclaimed as he slammed the door in Cole's face.

Cole stood puzzled, “... geez, can't he ever take a joke?”

“Man,” Alex sighed as he slid to the floor against the other side of the door and buried his face into the palms of his hands, “I don't have time for this.”

At that instant his cell phone began to ring from his pocket. Alex then dug into his pocket to fish out his phone from a bundle of pocket debris.

“Hello?” He said into the receiver.

“Darwin? It's Marcoh. You aren't busy right now are you?” Marcoh asked from the other end of the line.

“No, I can talk,” Alex returned.

“Good, because we just got a major lead on the current case,” Marcoh explained.

“The one involving the phantom thief right?” Alex asked.

“The very same,” Marcoh verified, “Anyway, we were looking over today's security footage from the water park and we may have uncovered the identity of the culprit.

“Oh, really?” Alex said enthusiastically, “Well tell me who it say I can hurry up and take 'em down for you.”

“Well, it isn't that simple really,” Marcoh said, “You see, the suspect is...” at that moment, a loud crash of thunder roared just outside the window as Alex's eyes widened in shock.

“... and... you're sure about this?” Alex asked.

“Positive,” Marcoh verified, “We've been tracking the suspect for a while now and their location has been uploaded to the X Cyclone's computer.”

“Alright... I-I'll get right on it,” Alex said shacking a bit.

“Good luck, Kamen Rider,” Marcoh said as he disconnected from the line.

Alex closed the phone and let his arm drop down to the floor, “Of the people it could have been...” he sighed, “I hoped it wouldn't be her.”

{End of Part A}

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

{Star of Part B}

Ashley walked down a dark alleyway, her grip tight around the umbrella she held in her hand and the handle of her bag in the other. She proceeded down the long constricting ally until she reached the face of a large brick wall aligned with several rusty trash cans.

She ran her hand across the surface of one of the cans, proceeding to raise her hand and bang on the lid three times with a short pause in between.

“Were you followed?” A voice called out from behind her.

“No Glave,” She said turning to face the source of the voice to see a man clad in black with his hood up standing under a stair way to get out of the rain. He seemed to be about the same age as Ashley, maybe even a little older, though not by much.

“Good,” The man stated, “You have it with you I take it?”

“Yeah, it's right here,” Ashley returned handing her bag to the man in black.

“Excellent,” Glave smirked taking the bag rather roughly. Ashley stood holding her hand out as if expecting to receive something.

“What?” Asked Glave.

“The deal,” Ashley stated, “I trust that you haven't forgotten.”

“Of course I haven't doll face,” Glave explained, “But of course, I all but have the money at the moment so you'll have to wait until then.”

Ashley grunted, “That wasn't the agreement!”

“Well, I did have the dough earlier but something came up,” Glave stated.

“One of your boys need bail money again?” Ashley asked raising an eyebrow.

“Eh, don't go stickin your nose where it don't belong,” Glave barked, “We wouldn't want another accident now... would we?” He added wrapping his hand around Ashley's neck.

Ashley simply stood in place and said nothing.

“As I thought,” Glave said with a smirk, “Now, I just need you to do a couple more jobs for me and then we'll be all set.”

“Oh really?” Alex called out as he turned the corner of the ally, “And what exactly might those be?”

“The fuck are you?” Glave barked, “Ash, you know this guy?”

Ash leaned over to whisper something into Glave's ear.

“Oh... I see,” He chuckled, “So you're the famous Kamen Rider are you?”

Alex stood in the rain shaking a tad.

“Ash, you take care of him,” Glave instructed as he pushed Ashley towards Alex and proceeded to jump up to a ladder and scale the wall of the alleyway.

“Crap damn it,” Alex said pulling out the Blast and Kicker memories as his driver materialized around his waist and he slammed the memories into the corresponding slots.

“Blast! Kicker!” His driver called out as the blue armor of Blast and deep green armor of Kicker formed around him and his blaster materialized in his hand.

“Get back here!” Alex demanded as he shot out a grappling hook from his blaster. As the hook was about to latch onto Glave, Alex found himself being knocked to ground by a single kick to the face. Alex looked over to see Ashley with eyes a blaze in anger.

“Did you not hear me the first time or something?” Ashley growled as she pulled out a pale blue gaia memory from her back pocket.

“Shift!” The memory called out as Ashley hit the button below the label as a black bar code formed on her wrist.

“Back off!” Ashley exclaimed as she jammed the memory into the bar code on her wrist as the it dissolved into her arm as she took the appearance of the Dopant that attacked the water park.

“She used a memory without a driver?” Alex thought to himself, “Ashley, stop I don't want to fight you!”

“Shut it!” Ashley exclaimed as two whips of water leapt from the ground and struck Alex across the chest.

“I didn't want to have to do this,” Alex said as he removed the Blast memory from his driver and replaced it with Blade, “But you leave me no choice.”

“Blade! Kicker!” His driver called out as the blue armor of Blast was replaced by the green armor of Blade and his blaster reformed into his sword.

“Just try it!” Ashley roared as she formed the water around her into three large serpents and proceeded to throw each at Alex one at a time.

Alex sliced his way through each of the snakes as they connected with the edge of his blade. With in moments, they were returned to mere drops of water. Alex then proceeded to charge at Ashley and rammed her into the brick wall only a few feet behind. Ashley grabbed Alex by the arm as the two phased through the wall.

Ashley fell to the floor as Alex regained his footing.

“I would give up if I were you Ash,” Alex suggested, “You've got nowhere to run and no water to manipulate.”

“I'll... never,” Ashley grunted as she got back on her feet.

“Fine, have it your way,” Alex sighed, “Don't say I didn't warn you.”

Alex removed the Blade memory from his driver and placed it into the hilt of his sword.

“Blade! Maximum Drive!” The memory called out as Alex began to charge towards Ashley.

As he went to deliver the finishing swing, Ashley flexed her right hand slightly as Alex came to a sudden halt.

“What? I... can't move!” Alex thought to himself.

“There is water here,” Ashley said with a smirk. With a simple gesture of her hand, Alex's body contorted in many ways that would naturally be impossible, “and I can manipulate it just as easily.” She threw her arm up into the air as Alex propelled through the air and slammed into the wall behind him.

“AHH!” Alex screamed as he fell to the ground, Ashley quickly restricted Alex's movements.

“So, any last words?” Ashley asked, “Perhaps something along the lines of how the world hates you.”

“That's where... you're wrong,” Alex grunted as he slowly pulled out the Blade memory from it's slot on his driver.

“How so?” Ashley cackled, “You're pathetic, worthless even.”

“Because I know that not all of the world hates me,” Alex proclaimed as he replaced the Blade memory with Blast, “and even if there is only one person that doesn't, I know for a fact that my life is worth something... to someone.”

In one quick motion he forced his hand down on his driver instantly resetting it, "Blast! Kicker!" His driver shouted as his Blade memory's armor was replaced with Blast and the Bla-Jalibur was switched with the Corona Blaster.

Alex then pulled back on the trigger causing a grappling hook to fire out of the barrel. The hook hurled through the air hitting Ashley in her the hand she was using to keep Alex restrained causing her to release her hold on him.

Alex severed the hook's connector line to his blaster and proceeded to fire out another one, this one wrapping around Ashley's wrist before Alex grabbed on to the rope and pulled Ashley to the ground.

"and so long as I'm worth something to someone,," Alex proclaimed as he replaced his Kicker memory with Runner and reset his driver, "I will never give up!"

"Blast! Runner!" Alex's driver shouted as his Kicker armor was replaced with Runner.

“Bull crap!” Ashley shouted, tightly clenching her fist her right hand with her left, “What kind of moron would base their value on how they effect the lives of others? It's stupid! I don't need anyone to know what I'm worth.”

Alex sighed “I think I get it,” he said, loosening his grip on his blaster, “You've been neglected for so long that began to reject the kindness of others and deemed it below you... Haven't you?”

“Shut up, what would a mamma's boy like you know anyway!” Ashley barked.

“I can't answer, because you see... both my parents are gone,” Alex returned, “But even so, I still have people that care about me and... so do you.”

“How would you know that?” Ashley demanded.

“You know, Madison has a lot more insight than I gave her credit for. And Sarah isn't half bad either once you get to know her,” Alex chuckled a bit, “Now please Ashley, stop all this... for their sake?” He added raising his blaster to her. "Otherwise... Otherwise I'll have no choice but to shoot you."

Ashley reached for her wrist and pulled out her gaia memory, causing her to revert to her human appearance. She held her memory in the palm of her hand for a second. She took in a deep breath then cracked it, the memory turning to dust in her hand. Ashley then opened her hand as the fragmented memory fell to the floor.

Alex lowered his blaster and knelt down in front of Ashley, “Thank you,” He said placing his hand on her shoulder.

Ashley starred at the ground for a moment until looking Alex dead in the eye, “What exactly should I do now?”

“That's for you to decide,” Alex stated, “Although, I'm sure there a few people that can help you with that decision... all you need to do is ask them, and listen.”

“I guess that's true,” Ashley said quietly.

Alex sighed as he removed his two memories from his driver with his right hand and let it fall down to his side causing him to revert back into his civilian form, “Now come on," he said with a grin, "lets get out of here.”

The two walked out of the front entrance of the building to see a squad of patrol cars lined outside.

“Ashley Haze,” Marcoh called out placing his hand on Ashley's shoulder, “Under the law of Ardent City, you are here by being placed under arrest.”

Alex gasped in shocked, “But, Marcoh isn't there-”

Ashley placed her hand in front of him, “It's fine... I'll be alright.”

“You sure?” Alex asked.

“Yeah,” Ashley nodded, “It is my decision remember.”

“Alright, take care of yourself,” Alex said as Ashley was placed into the backseat of one of the patrol cars.
“I will... and thank you,” Ashley said as the car door slammed in her face.

“She'll be alright... right?” Alex asked to Marcoh.

“The way I see it, she'll only be facing a couple mouths or so,” Marcoh explained, “Hopefully that will allow her father to get his financial issues in order.”

“Wait, what?” Alex asked.

“After digging around a bit more, we discovered that the two had been living in poverty after her mother left,” Marcoh stated, “Her father had been denied welfare due his poor credit rating and he has been looking for employment ever since.”

“Can't we do something about that at all?” Alex asked.

“Wish we could, but unfortunately that's not how the world works,” Marcoh proclaimed opening the door to the patrol car behind him, “All we can do is hope for the best.

“I see...” Alex returned, “One more thing. She was meeting up with someone in the alleyway, so-”

“Don't worry. He's been detained and the Eye of Luna is being returned to the museum as we speak,” Marcoh explained as he got into the front seat of the patrol car, “Good work as always kid, your mother would be proud.”

“Oh, that reminds me. Where has Sampson been? I haven't seen him in a while,” Alex asked.

“Looking through old case files to make sure they're all up to date,” Marcoh stated, “I think he was around the ones from March Third of o' three last I checked.”

“March Third huh?” Alex asked with a slight tremble in his voice.

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Marcoh as the patrol car started up, “Anyway, have a safe trip home kid.”

“Yeah, you too,” Alex waved as the car pulled away from the curb and drove off down the street.

“March Third. how could I forget?” Alex thought as he took in a deep breathe and then slowly exhaled, “I still remember it clearly... that night.”

To Be Continued

{Insert Ending Theme - Mask}