[guncannon109]

Episode 13: Common Pace

Cole proceeded down the stairs of the apartment complex on a bright sunny morning. He walked up to the door of Alex's apartment and fished out a key ring. He shuffled through them until he came upon a brass one marked with a red 'a'. He put the key into the lock and opened the door walking into Alex's living room.

“Alright Al,” He shouted as he walked up to Alex's bedroom door at the back of the apartment and pushed it open, “Time to... go?” He looked around the room but could not find Alex anywhere.

“Come on Superstar! Hurry up already!” A voice called out over the sound of running water.

Cole turned around to find that the sound was coming from the bathroom just behind him on the other side of the hall.

“Odd,” Cole said as he grabbed the handle of the door and pushed it open. When he opened the door he saw, to his surprise, Alex having his teeth forcibly brushed by Tara who wasn't giving him any mercy in the slightest. Cole blinked, “Well... good to see you two are getting along.”

Alex wrestled Tara off of him and spat the toothbrush out of his mouth, catching it in his hand. “Very funny... Now get her out of here.”

“Morning Tara,” Cole said calmly.

“Morning big guy,” Tara returned with a smirk, “and how are you this fine day?”

“MIND TELLING WHAT YOU'RE DOING HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!” Alex shouted.

“That's not very nice,” Tara said, “He obviously wanted to-”

“I was talking to you,” Alex interrupted.

“Oh...” Tara blinked, “you invited us in.”

“I opened the window and you jumped through!” Alex stated.

“Alex?” Cole interjected, “Isn't it about time you get going?”

“Oh crap, you're right,” Alex said before spitting a wad of toothpaste into the sink. He ran out of the bathroom and grabbed his sweater from the arm of the couch in the middle of the living room before proceeding to the door. He cracked open the door before turning back to Cole and Tara, “See ya.”

Cole smirked, “yeah later.”

Alex stepped out the door and closed it behind him.

“Hard to believe it's been almost a month already,” Cole sighed. “Which reminds me...” He turned to Tara, “I would've never suspected that Madison would just go out and say it like that. What did you tell her that got her to spit it out?”

Tara smirked, “'Just tell him.'”

---

Alex proceeded down the early morning street until he came to the bottom of the hill leading to the school building where Madison was waiting for him.

“Waiting long?” Alex asked.

Madison smiled, “Not at all.”

“Great,” Alex smiled back. He extended his right hand to Madison, “shall we go?”

“Of course,” Madison said reaching out and taking Alex's hand with her's.

The two proceeded hand in hand together up the long uphill climb. As they walked up the hill, Madison tightened her grip on Alex's hand a bit.

“Something wrong?” Alex asked.

“No,” Madison returned, “I'm just a little nervous I guess.”

“Oh... well don't be alright,” Alex said, “Everything will be fine... I'm sure of it.”

{Insert Opening Theme Extreme Dream}

Madison sat on the bleachers by the track while Alex and Sarah ran their usual laps. Strangely enough, instead of just falling behind and limping across the track, Alex was actual able to keep up an equal pace with Sarah. After about an hour or so of solid running, the two came around and took a rest by the bleachers where Madison was.

“I must admit Darwin I'm rather impressed,” Sarah said taking a sip of water. “I mean I never would have expected that you of all people would be able to keep up with me in a run.”

“It... was... nothing,” Alex panted. “You pick up a few things while... fighting monsters every... night.”

“I guess that's true,” Sarah returned. “Though there is one other reason I can see for your improvement...” She added looking over to Madison.

Madison blinked, “What, who me?”

“Well duh,” Sarah said rolling her eyes. “I'll admit, I had my doubts at first. But now that it's almost been a whole month since you two have been going out you actually may be the best thing that's ever happened to him.”

Alex and Madison glanced at each other than turned back to Sarah, “...seriously?”

“Hey, we've all made some bad decisions,” Sarah said, “Just be glad this isn't one of them.” Sarah quickly downed the rest of her water and handed the bottle to Madison. “Hey Mad Pad, could you refill this please?”

“Sure,” Madison said taking the bottle from Sarah and getting up from her seat, “you want a refill Alex?”

“No thanks, I'm good,” Alex returned.

“Alright, just checking,” Madison said before running off to a near by fountain just outside the fence surrounding the track.

“She certainly is something,” Sarah sighed.

“Yeah,” Alex returned.

“Listen, you remember what happened a couple months ago at the water park?” Sarah asked.

“Um... yeah...” Alex said raising an eyebrow.

“Marcoh told me what happened... with Ashley,” Sarah explained, “you, didn't hurt her... did you?”

“No... of course not,” Alex said. “Where are you going with this?”

“Madison doesn't know, I... just didn't have the heart to tell her,” Sarah stated avoiding eye contact with Alex. “She's such a little thing, you know? You may not know this but life hasn't exactly been easy for her. Her folks split up when she was little and she still to this day can't help but feel like it was somehow her fault. Sure, she looks happy but sometimes I can't help but feel that it's still bothering her.” Sarah sighed, “If she knew that one of her best friends was in jail and that her new boyfriend was the one that put her there, I don't know how she would react.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Alex asked.

“Because... if you hurt her,” Sarah said turning to Alex and looking him straight in the eye, “I'll kill you, you understand?”

Alex sat silent for a moment, than spoke, “... Yes.”

Sarah smirked, “Lucky girl.”

At that moment, the bell rang signaling the start of first period.

“Hey Mad Pad!” Sarah called out, “I'm going on ahead!”

“Kay!” Madison shouted back.

“I'll go with you,” Alex said getting up a bit.

“No,” Sarah glared at him.

Alex raised an eyebrow, “Why not?”

Sarah slapped herself on the forehand, “Oh my god, are you stupid or something?”

“Oh come, what did I do this time?” Alex asked.

“Duh!” Sarah shouted, “She's your girlfriend, do you not want to spend time with her or something?”

Alex stood silent for a moment, “... Oooh.”

Sarah slapped herself on the forehand again, “Oh my god, you really are stupid.”

“I thought you said I was improving?” Alex shouted.

“In terms of athletic ability, yes, but you're still an idiot,” Sarah retorted. “Even so...” she sighed, “you're Mad Pad's idiot.” She picked up her bag from the bleachers and headed for the gate leading to the school building, “I was serious you know,” She said turning back to Alex with a smile on her face, “look out for her alright, especially when I can't.”

Alex nodded, “Yeah, I got it.”

Sarah turned around and took off down the hill leading to the main building of the school, disappearing from Alex's sight.

“Hey Sarah!” Madison shouted running back to the gate of the fence surrounding the track, “YOU FORGOT YOUR... water...” Madison blinked, “Where's she going in such a hurry?”

“You know her,” Alex sighed walking up to Madison's side, “always rushing along with out stopping to take a look around.”

“True,” Madison returned, “Though...” she added grabbing hold of Alex's hand, “I guess we should get going as well.”

“You have a point,” Alex said as a smile grew on his face.

Alex and Madison walked down the small hill until they got to the front of the school building. As they turned the corner they noticed a small blonde haired girl sitting on the curb of the school's parking lot.

“Hey, isn't that Tara?” Madison said pointing to the girl.

The blond haired girl's nose twitched before she quickly turned to face Alex and Madison.

“Mad Pad! Superstar!” She said jumping to her feet, “What's up gu-” Before she could finish, her feet slid out from under her and she fell flat on her face.

“OH MY GOD!” Madison shouted running over to her.

“That's Tara alright,” Alex whispered to himself.

“Not fun not fun not fun!” Tara said in agony as Madison helped her back to her feet

“Are you alright?” Madison asked.

“Fan-frakin-tastic!” Tara grunted.

“How did you fall over any...” Madison asked as she looked down to Tara's feet to see rollerblades on the young rider's feet, one of which was unfastened. “...way.”

“What can I say? Wheels have a mind of their own,” Tara said trying to laugh off the pain of her fall.

“Wait a minute...” Madison said glaring at Tara, “You were the girl that nearly ran us over a while ago weren't you?”

Tara blinked, “... huh?”

“About a month ago, Alex and I were nearly ran over by a blond haired girl on rollerblades,” Madison explained, “I'm asking if that girl was you.”

“Yeah, I got that... but I've run over a lot of people on my blades,” Tara stated. “So, you're going to have to remind me, which ones were you again?”

Madison's jaw dropped while Alex slapped himself on the forehead, “Oh my god.”

“That's not important right now,” Alex sighed. “Now then, mind telling me what it is you're doing here?”

“Oh, that part is sim-” Tara said nearly slipping again. “... maybe I should take these off first.” She quickly removed her rollarblades and slid her regular tall boots on. “Ahem... now then. That part is simple,” She pointed to Alex and Madison, “you see starting today I am officially a member of the East Ardent Secondary School student body!”

“West,” Alex said calmly.

Tara blinked, “... the what now?”

“This is West Ardent Secondary School,” Alex stated, “East Ardent is on the other side of the city.”

Tara rolled her eyes “So yeah, like I was saying. Now that this is my first official day of class I figured that I should make the most of it!” She pointed over to Alex, “Now than Superstar, you are going to be man inside man, I want you to give me a complete and total breakdown of all the school's hotspots right this very second!”

“As much as I would love to, I have class to go to,” Alex stated.

Tara's jaw dropped, “You're kidding.”

“Afraid not,” Alex returned with a smirk.

“ARGH!” Tara grunted banging her fists on her head, “I finally transfer over to this damn place and the all powerful Kamen Rider can't skip out on one stupid day for his rival? What kind of world is this?!”

“Um... if you don't mind me asking...” Madison butted in, “where exactly did you transfer from?”

“Ophelia Winston Academy,” Tara returned.

“Wait, you mean that all girls school on the north end of the city?” Madison asked.

“Yup,” Tara smirked, “That's the one.”

“Great,” Alex thought to himself in a snarking tone, “She's not just rich, she's elite.”

Madison raised an eyebrow, “Why would you transfer here of all places?”

“Honestly?... It was soooo boring” Tara began. “All the teachers there were all 'Don't do this! Don't do that!' and 'You're not allowed to have weapons on campus Ms. Evonna!' Talk about intoxicating, not to mention poor Kree had no where to go.” She sighed, “But, now that I'm here, things are going to be a lot more fun!... Plus,” She swung her arm over Alex's shoulder and brought him to her eye level, “I do need to keep an eye on Superstar after all.” She said with a smirk.

“Yeah...” Alex said pulling Tara's arm off of him, “That's all well and good, but I'm going to class.” Alex said as he walked over to the front doors of the school.

“HEY!” Tara shouted, “WHAT ABOUT YOUR WIFE!”

“She has a spare right now,” Alex shouted back, “bug her all you want!”

Madison blinked, “Uh...”

“So then...” Tara said as she placed her hand on Madison's shoulder and a devilish smirk emerged on her face, “Seems like the honeymoon is over.”

{End of Part A}
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
{Start of Part B}

Alex sat as his desk of his third period math class. The class had been given a hand out to work on that Alex just couldn't understand, so he just sat there tapping his pencil on the wood of his desk. Cole sat at his usual seat just in front of him.

After about half an hour into the class Alex felt a hard whack on the back of his head.

“OW!” Alex shouted, “What the... hell?” He turned around to see Sarah sitting at the desk behind him.

“Just making sure you don't slack off again,” Sarah said, keeping her eyes fixed on her work.

Alex paused for moment before responding, “Why are you over here in the first place!”

“This has been my desk for a little over a week,” Sarah returned.

Alex tilted his head to the side, “Say what now?”

Cole laughed before turning around, “Don't you remember? Ms. Foster put her there so she could help you out with your work.”

“Not like expected you to notice,” Sarah said bluntly. “You didn't even notice that poor Madison had the hots for you before she worked up the nerve to ask you out.” She sighed, “and it was so painfully obvious too.”

“Well excuse me for being held up fighting monsters to notice,” Alex returned. “Come to think of it though, with how timid she normally is how was she able to it anyway?”

Sarah shrugged, “Heck if I know.”

“Didn't Tara have something to do with it?” Cole asked. “It was only the day after you two defeated Minor and Major that Madison was able to spit it out wasn't it? Tara must have said something to motivate her or something like that.”

“Must have been one hell of a motivator then,” Alex said looking out the window “I wonder what it could've been.” He looked down to the courtyard below to see Tara prowling the campus as if she was looking for something or someone. He raised an eyebrow then after a few seconds he turned back to his work and acted as if he hadn't seen her.

After about an hour the bell rang signaling the end of third period and the class began shuffling towards the doors on either end of the room while Alex packed away his work materials.

Cole tapped Alex on the shoulder, “I'm heading out.”

“Alright,” Alex returned turning a bit towards Cole, “later.”

“See ya,” Cole said quickly exiting the room.

“Ready?” Sarah asked placing her hand on Alex's shoulder.

“For?” Alex asked back. Sarah pointed with her thumb over her shoulder to the door as Alex looked over to see Madison waiting just outside of the room. “Oh, right.”

Alex and Sarah walked over to the door to meet up with Madison.

“Hey there,” Alex asked.

“Hey,” Madison said with a smile.

“UHGG!” Sarah grunted sticking her tongue out with her mouth wide open, “You know if you too are going out you might as well try to act like it.”

“How do you mean?” Madison asked.

“Well you know, do stuff that couples do,” Sarah explained. “Hold hands, give each other embarrassing pet names. Come to think of it, have you two even kissed yet?”

Madison's face then turned a bright red, “I-I... That's none of you business!”

“Okay, sorry.” Sarah said backing up a bit, “Geez, when did you get so defensive? You think that Tara girl did something to get in you head or something.”

“NOTHING HAPPENED!” Madison shouted, “AND IF IT DID IT WASN'T MY FAULT!”

Sarah blinked, “Okay, not sure where that came from...”

Madison glared at Sarah with a light growl.

“Okay, let's break this up,” Alex said stepping in between the two. He took hold of Madison's left hand with his right, “We don't want to be late to class do we?”

Madison's face became an even brighter shade of red, “... yeah... you're right.”

Sarah smirked. “Well, it's good to know your useful for something,” She said as the three proceeded down the hallway. “Now let's see if you can be useful for something else.”

---

Cole walked out of the front of the school and proceeded down the hill to the street below. When he was about halfway down he came to a halt as he noticed someone sleeping against the trunk of a large tree a few feet away. Upon closer inspection he realized that it was Tara. He walked over to her and knelt down in front of her.

“Hey Tara, you awake?” Cole asked as he shook her awake.

“BACK OFF MY PREY LOVER BOY!” Tara shouted swiping at Cole as she came too, Cole just barely dodging her. Tara blinked for a moment, “Oh, it's just you big guy.”

Cole sighed, “My name is Cole.”

“Yeah yeah, not important,” Tara returned waving her hand around in the air. “So, where's Superstar? He done with school now?”

“He had science right now so he's not going to be out for at least another hour or so,” Cole stated.

“Aw cracker baskets!” Tara pouted. “Oh well,” she sighed lying back against the truck of the tree, “guess we'll just wait a bit longer and then go on the hunt together.”

“That might not be possible today,” Cole said.

“Say what now?” Tara asked jumping back up to Cole's eye level.

“He's got a date today,” Cole explained.

“ARGH!” Tara shouted banging her head into the trunk of the tree. “Ever since he's been going out with that ranger nut he's been avoiding the hunt more and more!”

“Can you blame him?” Cole asked, “This is his first real relationship after all.”

“I guess you've got a point. I guess the only way to get him back to his regular hunting schedule would be to get rid of her...” Tara thought for a moment. After a few seconds she snapped her fingers “LET'S BREAK HER LEGS!”

Cole smacked Tara on the top of the head, “No!”

“Aw, why not?” Tara pouted as she began to cry.

Cole hit her once again, “Because it's illegal.”

“Fine, I won't break her legs,” Tara sighed as she sat back against the trunk of the tree. “But in return, I ask for one thing.”

“That would be?” Cole asked raising an eyebrow.

Tara pointed to Cole, “You, must come on the hunt with me in Superstar's stead.”

Cole sighed, “Fine.”

Tara smirked, “Excellent.”

---

“Hey, are you listening?” Sarah asked whacking Alex on the head with the end of her pencil.

Alex whipped his head up to face Sarah snarling at him, “Huh, sorry what were we talking about?”

“I was saying that I have a big track competition coming up soon, and I was wondering if you'd like to come and cheer me on,” Sarah explained.

“Oh, when is this exactly?” Alex asked.

“It's on the seventeenth of this month, so about a five days or so,” Sarah said.

“I take it you'll be going as well?” Alex asked Madison. Madison nodded, “Alright then, guess I'll be there. As a matter of fact, I think I could even get Cole and Tara to come as well.”

Madison jumped up in her chair a bit, bumping the table the three were sitting at.

“Uhh...” Alex and Sarah said turning to Madison, “something wrong?”

“Heh, nothing... nothing's wrong at all!” Madison said trying to laugh off the matter.

“Okay...” Sarah said slowly turning back to Alex. “Anyway, thanks, it means a lot,” Sarah said with a grin. “I always get a little nervous before a competition like this, so it's good to know that I'll have you guys there to back me up.”

“You get nervous?” Alex asked trying to keep himself from laughing, “Ha, never thought the day would come that I'd hear that!”

“Yeah yeah, live it up Riderman.” Sarah growled, “because trust me, it's the only dirt on me you're going to get.”

“Oh no, trust me that's all the dirt I need,” Alex returned with a smirk.

“HEY!” A high pitched female sounding voice shouted from the front of the room, “BACK TO WORK OVER THERE!”

“Sorry miss, it won't happen again!” Alex shouted back.

“I SHOULD HOPE NOT!” The teacher shouted once again, “AND FOR THE LAST TIME IT'S NOT MISS, IT'S SIR!”

Alex then sat quietly for a few seconds until Madison lightly nudged him with her elbow.

Alex turned to Madison, “Hey, we're still going over to your place after school right?” she asked.

Alex nodded, “Yeah, of course.”

Madison smiled, “Kay, just checking.”

---

Tara stood atop the roof of a tall building looking down upon the city below. She knelt perched over the edge stalking passers-by through the eyes of Kree who had transformed himself into a pair of high powered binoculars.

Cole sat on against the rail beside her, “So... how long does this hunting thing normally take?”

“Depends,” Tara stated. “Usually between three or four days, but for some odd reason there hasn't been a single sign of one for the past few weeks. Not even a single claw mark.”

“You know,” Cole sighed, “I don't mean to be negative but I doubt someone with a gaia memory would just be walking around in the open in their dopant form.”

“HA, shows what you know!” Tara shouted, “We've underhanded many beasts before using this exact same method.”

“How long did you say it was since the last one appeared?” Cole asked. He waited a few seconds for a response but heard nothing. He then turned his head to the left to see Tara right up close to his face glaring at him intensely. “GAH! You trying to give me a heart attack or something?!”

“You know,” Tara began, “now that I think about it, it's you that must be the problem. You're bringing done the mojo so the fish won't bite.”

Cole's eye began to twitch, “Say what now?”

“You're an Anti-Biter, dead weight, not helping at all,” Tara explained, “Get it?”

Cole turned away from Tara, “I guess I haven't been of the most help in recent memory.” He sighed, “I didn't even know about all of this until it was pointed out to me... Think there's anything I can do to change that?”

“Well dear, the solution to that problem is simple,” Tara proclaim returning to her perch on the ledge. “The only way to help out Superstar... is to put yourself on the front lines of the battlefield and become a rider yourself.”

“How would I do that?” Cole asked.

Tara turned back to Cole, “... I haven't the slightest idea.”

“Well how did you become one?” Cole asked again.

“Man that's going back quite a long way...” Tara thought for a moment, “It was about ten years ago. I was exactly the brightest back then so I liked to wonder off on my own a lot. While I was on one of my long walks I found a bird on the side of the road, he was injured but was still alive. So I thought I would take him home and nurse it back to health.”

Cole leaned in closer to Tara, “Then what happened?”

“Well,” Tara said trying to recall the events, “Soon after I picked him up and went to take him home this giant cat monster thing came out of no where and began chasing me. I didn't know why or what to do so I ran for my life until he backed me up into a corner.” She sighed as a small grin appeared on her face, “I honestly thought I was a goner until, out of nowhere, a white rider appeared and drove the creature away. The way she fought that creature was so awesome that it inspired me to become a hunter myself, though I was still only a kid at the time.”

“That bird you saved was Kree... was it?” Cole asked.

“Yup. After she saved my life, she told me to take the bird home with me and protect it with my life,” Tara explained as Kree flew up and landed on her shoulder. “It wasn't soon after that that the two of us became Kamen Rider Gale and we set out in search of creatures like the one that attacked us... and with hope, the rider that saved us that day.”

Cole raised an eyebrow, “Why would you go looking for the white rider?”

Tara smirked, “To thank her, of course.”

Cole took in a deep breath then exhaled, “Don't worry, I'm sure she's out there somewhere.”

“Of course she is,” Tara said rolling her eyes. “Everything is somewhere, all you need to do is find it.”

“I like the way you think Tara,” Cole grinned. “It's refreshing to see someone as optimistic as you.”

Tara smirked, “I was just about to say the same.”

---

Vainglory stood in front of a broken cell, with glass along with scorch marks scattered across the floor. Rylee knelt before him.

“Spite,” Vainglory said calmly, “that's three times now.”

“Forgive me my commander,” Rylee pleaded, “I did not predict he would be that powerful upon his first awakening.”

“This mistake of yours shall not be tolerated,” Vainglory proclaimed. “However, I shall allow you to correct it. After all we've already lost two and I shall allow another to fall out of our grasp.”

“Of course my commander, I shall go in search for him at once,” Rylee stated as she rose to her feet and hurried out of the room.

“Fury,” Vainglory said as the large door closed behind Rylee.

“What is it that you require, my commander?” Derek asked as he emerged from the shadows behind Vainglory.

“It's time we put an end to this game with the riders,” Vainglory proclaimed, “do whatever is necessary to eliminate them as quickly as you can.”

“It will be my pleasure,” Derek smirked, “... my lord.”

To Be Continued

{Insert Ending Theme - Stand By Me}