[guncannon109]

Episode 1: Father

Rain poured down hard onto Ardent City, thunder roaring overhead as lightning cracked the dark shroud of clouds that covered the stormy sky. A small group of four young kids, around seven-ten years of age crowded under a bridge.

The oldest of the four threw a small seven year old boy into a wall of concrete causing him to fall face first of the ground, “Maybe that should teach you not to be such a smart ass huh Darwin?”

“I... was only telling... the truth,” the small boy said as he tried to get back up on his feet, “It was your fault you got in-”

“Shut up!” The older kid said kicking Alex’s face back into the dirt, “You should have kept your mouth shut you little shit!”

“Hey Vince, why you hogging!” One kid shouted trying to push Vince aside of off Alex.

“You can have what’s left of him once I’m done,” Vince growled shoving the other kid aside, “you got that?”

A small whimper came from Alex who still lay with his face in the dirt.

“Aw, you gonna go and cry now little boy?” the younger kid said kneeling down beside Alex, “well why don’t you just go run and cry to your mommy? Oh yeah, you can’t can you?” He smacked Alex over the head with a rock, “Maybe you go cry on her grave once we’re done with you then!”

“What did I just tell you Logan?” Vince sighed kicking his friend away from Alex, “He’s mine so back off!”

Glave stumbled around until he fell face first on the ground smacking the top of his head on a pair of sneakers. He looked up to see a dark skinned boy who looked to be a year older than Alex standing above him.

“Ganging up on a single kid now Vince?” the dark skinned boy sighed, “that’s low even for you.”

“Cole…” Vince said taking his foot off Alex’s head, “Hey, what’s up buddy?”

“Well for starters it’s raining, the Aron I caught in Ruby the other day is now an Aggron, and you’re ganging up on a kid that has done nothing wrong,” Cole said walking over to Vince, stepping on Logan’s hand as he did so, “Care to rank them from best to worst for me?”

“Why you pompous little,” A blond haired girl with violet, navy and silver highlights shouted out storming her way between Vince and Cole, “I’ll teach you not to stick your nose where it isn’t wanted!”

She threw a punch at Cole which he easily dodged and moved to the other side of her.

“Ashley Haze I presume,” Cole said calmly, “Sorry but I don’t hit girls, just isn’t my style.” He turned back to Vince, “Now then, how about you let that kid go and call it a day?”

Vince sighed, “Fine, have it your way,” he grunted, kicking Alex in the face once again, “it’s not fun when they don’t fight back anyway” he proclaimed walking out from under the bridge and into the rain, “Come on guys, we’re done here.”

“Gah, what a pain,” Ash grunted walking off with Vince.

Cole looked over to Logan who was currently looking back at him. Cole raised an eyebrow before Logan clawed his way to his feet and ran out of the cover of the bridge.

Alex slowly made his way to his feet and began crawling up the hill sheltered by the bridge.

“Hey kid,” Cole called out grabbing Alex’s attention, “are you alright?”

Alex shook his head, “Just leave me alone please… I have enough to deal with right now.”

“Well can you at least tell me your name?” Cole asked.

Alex gulped, “My name… is Alex… Alex Darwin.”

“Yeah, I figured,” He walked up to Alex and extended his hand to him, “I’m Cole by the way… can we talk for a moment?”

“Sure… I guess,” Alex returned grabbing Cole’s hand with his own. Alex then knocked on Cole’s head, “Hey Cole, come on get up.”

Cole raised an eyebrow, “Huh?”

Alex took in a deep breath and shouted at Cole, “COLE YOU’RE GOING TO BE LATE!”

Cole’s eyes then bursted open as his surroundings changed from under the bridge to his own bedroom before he fell from his bed onto the floor.

“Bwhahaha!” Alex bursted out laughing, “Sorry about that, didn’t expect you to freak out like that.”

Cole blinked for a moment, “What are you doing up so early?”

“You serious? This is when I normally get up,” Alex stated before helping Cole off the floor, “Now come on, we don’t want to be late on the first day back now do you?”

“Um… okay?” Cole whispered in a daze.

“Shiore and I are going on ahead,” Alex said making his way out of Cole’s bedroom, “Don’t take to long okay?”

Alex shut the door on his way out leaving Cole confused as to what had just happened as the whine of an alarm clock drowned out the morning air.

A small grin appeared on his face, “He certainly has grown up quite a lot since then… hasn’t he?” he reached over to the alarm clock and switched it off, “not like I can blame him though I guess.”

{Insert Opening Theme - “Period” by Chemistry}

Joel paced across the floor of Vainglory’s chamber with a large folder in his hand flipping through pages as he walked along the room. Rylee leaned against a wall on the far side of the room as Vainglory sat in his throne.

“Roy Lawrence, dopant memory… Flame, Rank B-2” Joel called out turning to one page, “Was ordered to track down Subject X and return classified equipment to META HQ. Made contact with a student at Ardent Secondary School before sharing vital information regarding the nature of gaia memory with Subject X. Flame Memory destroyed by Subject X via Blast Diver combination. Current status of host... imprisoned” He turned to Vainglory, “Remind me again, who do you say it was that sent Flame after the rider?”

“Flame was under Fury’s command,” Rylee explained, “Vainglory had nothing to do with it.”

“I see,” Joel returned before flipping to the next page, “Ashley Haze, dopant memory shift, rank C-5. Acted on her own to steal a valuable necklace from the Ardent City museum before running into Subject X at a local water park, the brawl between the two causing a mild uproar. A group of high school students were seen leaving the sight with Subject X. A few hours later made contact with Subject X before having her memory destroyed by her own hand… current status of host, year long parole.”

“We only distributed the Shift Gaia Memory, everything that she did up was out of her own free will.” Rylee proclaimed, “Besides, she proved to be of no use to us in the long run. If she had any worth she wouldn’t have given up as easily as she did.”

Joel smirked, “Did I ever imply otherwise? Honestly you worry too much. ” He chuckled as he turned to the next page, “Besides it’s this next one that I’m more interested in. Greg Walker, AKA Shredder, rank B-3. Killed Fata only to be defeated himself and imprisoned. Was bailed out of prison on the date of Friday March thirteenth twenty thirteen. Encountered Subject X shortly after before fleeing and challenging him to a fight in a warehouse in the east end of Ardent City. Shredder had his memory destroyed that same night and was returned to prison,” he closed the folder shut, “It’s that last part that gets to me,” he said turning his attention to Vainglory, “The report says that Shredder was defeated by Fata, however it doesn’t mark his memory as destroyed until after his encounter with X.”

Rylee raised an eyebrow, “what’s your point Inertia?”

“A Gaia Memory that’s marked below the rank of A-5 shatters once the dopant is defeat.” Joel stated, “If he was indeed defeated by Fata as the report says they how come his memory remained intact?” he raised an eyebrow, “Care to explain that little detail… Vainglory?”

“You were still in power at the point in time,” Rylee spat at Joel, “If anyone would know, it would be you.”

“Oh would I now?” Joel asked turning to Rylee, “Then perhaps this might be a question you might be able to answer,” he looked to the empty under Rylee, “What happened to Gorge?”

---

It was still sunrise, Alex was busy running his usual laps around the track just like he used to do with Sarah. It was strange, he started doing them because he had been forced to but now he was simply doing them out of habit. Shiore sat on the bleachers watching Alex as he mindlessly ran around at a steady pace.

As Alex came around to Shiore he stuck out his arm, “Water.” Without saying a word, Shiore picked up a bottle and threw over to Alex. “Thanks,” he said catching the bottle and cracking it open taking a few sips of it.

Shiore’s ear twitched as the clanging of a rock against steel echoed through the morning air. She turned her head towards the sound and saw a girl with long black hair done up in a ponytail with a red ribbon that resembled cat ears hurling small stones at an air vent.

Alex raised an eyebrow, “what’s her problem?”

Shiore shrugged.

Alex set his bottle down on the bleachers, “I’ll go handle it.” He walked towards the girl until he reached the fence dividing the track from the rest of the school, “Um excuse me!” He shouted grabbing the black haired girl’s attention, “you think you could maybe keep it down?”

The girl rolled her eyes, “Eh whatever,” she sighed dropping the stones she had in her hand to the ground, “I was just about to leave anyway… getting kinda boring watching you run round in circles ya know.” She said wiping her hands on her skirt.

“Um… did you just come out here to watch me run?” Alex asked.

The girl looked at him and laughed, “Don’t get too full of yourself, you ain’t as hot as ya think you are.” She reached for her bag and pulled out a chocolate bar from her sweater pocket and shoving it in her mouth. She hopped up onto a steel bar above her head, “Catch ya later Alligator,” she said giving Alex a salute before climbing up the side of the school disappearing over the edge of the roof.

Alex blinked in confusion trying to determine what just happened was real or not, “Okay then…” he walked back to the bleachers where Shiore sat patiently awaiting his return.

“What was that about?” she asked.

Alex shrugged, “Hell if I know,” he turned to Shiore, “do I have a crazy magnet stuck to me or something?”

Shiore raised an eyebrow, “a what now?”

“A crazy magnet,” Alex repeated, “You know, it’s like a magnet that makes it so that all the crazy shit in the world gravitates toward you? You ever have that feeling, where all the weirdness is just drawn to you and you can’t escape it?”

“You should be lucky if that’s all you have drawn to you,” Shiore sighed grabbing her bag and hopping down from the bleachers, “We should go… otherwise we’ll be late for class.”

“Good idea,” Alex returned grabbing his bag and following Shiore down the dirt road to the school’s main building, “sure would suck if we were late on the first day back.”

As Alex and Shiore made their way inside the school building, Tara knelt perched atop the roof looking down on them from above.

“Good to see they’re off to a good start,” she sighed. “Now then…” She pulled out a small brown paper bag, “what the hell am I supposed to do with this?”

“Well you eat it of course,” a voice called out. Tara turned around to see the black haired girl Alex talked to earlier leaning against the rail of the rooftop’s fence, “That is food right?”

Tara sighed, “Yup, that’s what it is.” She placed the bag down on the ground beside her, “I just don’t want it.”

The black haired girl reached for the bag and sniffed it, “I’ll take it off your hands for ya… if you want that is.”

Tara shrugged, “Knock yourself out.”

“Sweet, thanks!” the black haired said with a grin shoving the bag into her backpack. She turned back to Tara and looked at her closely, “Hey girl, what’s your name?”

“Oh, it’s Tara… what’s yours?”

The black haired girl smirked, “You can call me Kat.” Just then the bell rang signaling the start of class, “Op, that’s my cue to exit.” She announced dashing over to the edge of the roof, “See ya round Tara,” she said before leaping off disappearing over the edge.

Tara raised an eyebrow as Kree flew down from the sky and perched himself on Tara’s shoulder, “Damn, and I thought I was the weird one.”

Alex and Shiore made their way to their first period class which they fortunately had together. They reached the door to the classroom and made their way inside.

“Al!” a familiar voice called out, “You made it on time for once!”

Alex and Shiore turned around to see Cole sitting at a desk by the window.

Alex sighed, “Wouldn’t be right if I wasn’t stuck with you for at least one class.”

“Very funny,” Cole chuckled, “you and I both know you’d be dead without me.”

“Fair enough I guess,” Alex returned sitting down at the desk behind Cole, Shiore taking the desk behind him. “Any sign of Tara?”

Cole shrugged, “Haven’t seen her all day. Can’t say I’m surprised though to be honest, that girl is always off doing her own thing.”

“Let’s just hope she doesn’t kill anyone,” Shiore whispered looking out the window to the courtyard below. A girl with long black hair and red ribbon caught her attention, the girl seemed to be feeding a stray cat a bit of food from a brown paper bag.

“One can only hope I guess,” Alex said aloud thinking that Shiore was listening.

Just then, the door to the classroom slammed open as a red haired girl about Alex’s age stormed in out of breath, “Sorry I’m late!”

“You’re actually early,” a blond haired girl in a leather jacket who sat with her feet up called out to her, “Honestly Maddy, must you always make a scene when you enter a room?”

“Ehehe,” the red head laughed awkwardly scratching the back of her head, “Sorry about that Ash.”

Ashley sighed, “Just sit down already.”

“Right, of course,” Maddy went to sit down but quickly noticed Alex on the other side of the room, Alex having his back turned to her acting like he didn’t notice her. “Hey,” she said walking over to his desk, “don’t I know you?”

Alex turned around but avoided eye contact with her, “No… I don’t think so.”

“Oh yeah,” she snapped her fingers, “You’re that guy I ran into at the waterpark last summer. Alex right?”

Alex nodded, “that’s my name.”

Shiore cleared her throat and glared at Madison.

Madison blinked, “oh… are you two boyfriend and girlfriend then?”

Shiore shrugged, “I don’t have much interest in dating at the moment.”

Cole chuckled, “Isn’t that the truth.”

As the group spoke, their conversation was cut short by a female teacher with long raven hair clad in a violet skirt and a white top that emphasized her chest opened the door and entered the room, swinging her hips with each step she took. A bright amber ring could be seen on the ring finger of her right hand.

“Alright class, settle down,” she said looking over her students with sharp sapphire blue eyes that watched everything they saw like a hawk stalking it’s prey.

“Oh gotta go, I’ll talk to you later okay Alex,” Madison bowed before scurrying back her desk.

The teacher watched Madison as she sat down next to Ashley, then turned her attention to Alex, Cole and Shiore then finally back to the rest of the class.

“Alright class, first off I must say welcome back. I hope you all enjoyed your time off,” she cracked her knuckles and deepened her voice, “BECAUSE FROM THIS POINT ONWARD IT’S GOING TO BE NOTHING BUT PAIN AND MISFORTUNE!” The entire class save for Alex, Shiore and Cole gasped. The teacher’s smile then returned to her face, “Just kidding.” She pulled out a piece of chalk and walked over to the board, “Now, my name is Sophia Seraphina but you may call me Madam or Ms S, no exceptions.” she picked up a green folder from her desk and opened it to reveal an attendance list inside, “Now, how’s about we get started with roll call.” she pulled out a pen, “Ned Bigby.”

“Here!” a male student called out.

Ms S ticked a box beside the students name, she then looked over to Alex, “Alex Darwin.”

Alex raised his hand, “here.” Shiore paid close attention to Ms S as she continued down the list. She continued with roll call making her way through Cole, Madison, Ashley and even Shiore, “Katlyn Swindler,” she called out as she looked around the room for the student that the name belonged to, “Absent,” she sighed filling in a box by Katlyn’s name, “why am I not surprised?”

---

Back in the shroud of Vainglory’s chamber, Joel flipped to another page in the folder, “Zix and Mikey Crater, dopant memories Minor and Major. Shared rank, B-1,” he read off from one page, “First encountered by Subject X along side another rider calling herself Gale. Gale and Subject X attempted to lure Minor into a trap but were countered by Major. The duo fought the two riders and were defeated, Minor’s life being compromised and Major imprisoned.”

“I thought for sure that Gale’s host didn’t survive the activation test,” Rylee spat, “I checked to see if it were the same just in case… however my suspicions were correct,” she glared at Joel, “Why are you reading all these old records anyway?”

“To make sure that they haven’t been tampered with,” Joel said flipping to the next page. He raised an eyebrow, “Oh, now here’s an interesting one. Sarah Gardner, aka Reptilian, rank C-5. Created by Fury after Rock’s activation.”

“And who’s fault is that!” Rylee shouted.

“Irrelevant,” Joel snapped back at her, “It says here that Gardner was merely a bystander, a civilian casualty. Fury used her as a weak point to get to Subject X, she was a good friend of his and had done nothing wrong to warrant her fate. Now tell me, how exactly do you allow something like that… Spite.”

“Enough!” Vainglory slammed his fist down on his throne, “Where exactly do you plan on going with this pointless recap?”

Joel smirked, “I was wondering when you’d ask that,” he said slamming the folder shut, “You see I noticed something with your records Vainglory, they mention specific names such as the dopants, riders and any bystanders, and yet the original Kamen Rider, the one calling himself ‘Xtreme’ is simply referred to as ‘Subject X’... why is that?”

Vainglory raised an eyebrow, “Why does it matter?”

Joel chuckled, “You have no idea who he is… do you?”

“You dare speak to the commander in such a manner!” Rylee stepped forward.

“As I thought, you really don’t have a clue do you?” Joel returned, unfazed by Rylee’s actions, “Well if you must know, his name commander...” he turned back to Vainglory, “is Alex Darwin.”

{End of Part A}

{Start of Part B}

The bell rang signaling the end of class. Alex went to pack his stuff back into his bag as Cole grabbed his wrist and forced his hand open.

“Here,” he said placing a brush steel grey flip phone into his friend’s hand, “try not to lose this one okay? My folks will kill me if you do.”

“Relax man, I’m not going to lose it okay,” Alex said rolling his eyes at the whole thing.

“Uh-huh…” Cole raised an eyebrow, “what even happened to you last one anyway?”

Alex scratched the back of his head, “it’s a bit of a long story.”

“How long?” Cole asked, “I’ve got time.”

Alex laughed a bit, “About seventy pages or so?”

“Nevermind,” Cole sighed, “We should get going to our next class anyway.”

“True,” Alex nodded before turning to the girl sitting behind him, “you coming Shiore?”

“I’m meeting up with someone in a bit,” she said quickly putting her things away, “go on without me.”

“Okay…” Alex raised an eyebrow, “are you sure?” Shiore looked up and glared at him giving off the impression that she was rather annoyed. Alex looked at his wrist pretending there was a watch on it, “Well would you look at the time!” he stood up and grabbed Cole by the wrist, “Come on pal, we best get a move on!”

Shiore rolled her eyes before getting up from her seat and walking out the door to the classroom, Ms Seraphina keeping a close eye on her as she left.

Once the classroom was empty, Ms Seraphina switched the lights off and drew the blinds in such a way that let in only a small amount of the suns rays to enter the room. She sat back down as the small amber stone on her ring lit up for a moment, a quiet yet drowning mystical cry echoing from it.

Ms Seraphina smirked, “So the wanderer has picked up a companion has she?... How interesting.” She raised an eyebrow, “You certain there isn’t something that has caught her interest?... hmm, I see.” She got up from her chair and looked out the window, “Alright, I cause you’ll just have to keep an eye on the two for now.”

The clock ticked away behind her, as the ring on her finger called out once again.

“Not so bad, fairly relaxing in all honesty,” She chuckled, “Now now sis, there’s no need for that kind of attitude.”

The stone on her finger turned blood red for a moment.

“Well… now that you mention it,” Ms Seraphina smirked as she peered through the blinds noticing Carter walking across the courtyard of the school, “I’ve managed to get pretty close to the last remaining members of the four clans. The wolf girl in particular has caught my attention.”

The stone on her ring reacted once again, returning to it’s regular amber color.

She chuckled, “You have your methods of entertainment, and I have mine.” She smiled, “Same, I’ll talk to you later,” she blew a kiss into the ring as a knock came at the door, “love you.” She took of the ring and slipped it into her pocket before sitting back down at her desk and looking over to the door, “Come in.”

The door swung open as Kat walked into the room closing it behind her, “You wanted to see me Sophia?”

“Yes,” Ms Seraphina looked at her with a disappointed glare, “You weren’t in my class this morning… explain yourself?”

“Oh, sorry about that,” Kat returned scratching the back of her head before sitting down in a chair in front of the teacher’s desk, “I missed breakfast so I decided to have an early lunch.”

Ms Seraphina raised an eyebrow, “what did you have?”

“Grilled chicken sandwich wrap,” Kat smirked, “Gotta admit, never thought chicken could taste that good… whoever made it though used a bit too much spice though.” she breathed into her hand and sniffed it, “Thyme I think it was… never was that big a fan of it.”

“ENOUGH!” Seraphina shouted slamming her fist down on her desk, “You had one job Kat! Have you forgotten that already?!”

Kat jumped back in her seat beginning to sweat under the pressure, “Sorry ma’am! It won’t happen again!” she pleaded hanging her head, “I promise I’ll make it up to you!”

Ms Seraphina smirked, “That’s more like it my little kitten… but how exactly do you intend to do that?”

“Whatever you want,” Kat said clapping her hands together, “just say the word and it’s done.”

“Alright then,” she reached into her desk and pulled out two magnets placing them on the surface of her desk, “Are you familiar with how these work my dear?”

Kat nodded, “You put the two sides of same values together and they repel and the sides of opposite values attract… right?”

“Yes exactly, the same sides repel and the opposite sides attract,” Seraphina said putting the positive side of one magnet to the negative side of the other, “people who different will cling to one another while those who are exactly the same will be even further apart. As a result, a person who acts to form bonds with others who are completely different from themselves will form the strongest of bonds with who they interact with. However…” she picked up the two magnets with one hand and with a flick of her wrist sent one hurling into a wall, “once that bond is broken, the two opposites will be even further apart than they were at first… and the bond will be impossible to repair.”

“I see…” Kat nodded, she then tilted her head to one side, “what exactly does this have to do with anything?”

Ms Seraphina sighed and rolled her eyes, “Use your imagination.”

Kat nodded again, “Yes ma’am.”

“Good girl,” Seraphina smiled at her, “Now, I shall be returning you to stand by mode for the time being.”

“Do I have to?” Kat moaned, “I just got a chance to stretch my legs,” she pouted stretching out her arms and legs, “STAND BY MODE SUCKS!!!”

Ms Seraphina raised an eyebrow, “What was that?”

“Nothing!” Kat said with a grin as she jumped back into sitting up straight with both of her hands in her lap.

“Thought so. Now then, get back to class,” Seraphina said shewing the girl away from her, “Before you anger me once again.”

“Right!” Kat nodded and ran out the door, “I won’t let you down ma’am!”

Seraphina leaned back in her chair and looked out the window, “feels good to be active in the field once again,” she said to herself linking her fingers together, “I for one am quite curious to see how all this will pan out.”

---

Shiore sat on the windowsill in one of the school’s many stairwells, her gaia memory in hand as she gazed blankly out the window. After a while of silence, the door at the top of the stairs opened up and quickly closed.

Shiore looked down to see Carter standing at the bottom of the stairs, “So… you actually decided to show up,” she said coldly to him, “that’s brave of you.”

“I’m a man of my word,” Carter returned making his way up to Shiore and leaning against a rail, “I don’t have much time… so, what was it you wanted to talk about?”

“Otoya Shirayuki,” Shiore said looking back out the window, “does that name mean anything to you?” Carter shook his head, “When was the last time you left the country?”

“Never have,” Carter put simply.

Shiore clenched her hand around her gaia memory and dashed over to Carter placing a kunai knife to his throat. She glared at him angrily, “Liar!”

Carter stood in place, unphased by the girl’s sudden move on his life as a small bit of blood ran out from his neck and down onto the blade of the knife.

“I am many things,” he said looking her directly in the eye, “but a liar is not one of them.”

“Do you expect me to buy that?!” Shiore grunted pulling her knife away from the male, “Then how come I saw YOU downed in the armor of the Hono clan arrive at the Shirayuki main house and murder-!”

Carter slapped Shiore across her face silencing her instantly, “The first time I began Ryu-O was when I was given the order to execute Derek Mavrick aka Fury. There were several candidates selected for the Ryu-O program to activate it, but all those who tried before myself died trying to get it to work.”

Shiore rubbed her cheek where Carter had hit her, “That’s impossible, how is it that Ryu-O was able to be in Tokyo Japan if all the applicants died during the activation test?”

“Well... there was one instance in which your story would make sense,” Carter stated, “but even that is a bit of stretch.”

Shiore barked at him, “TELL ME!”

“Alright, just calm down,” Carter sighed, Shiore attempting to hold back her frustration, “There was one subject that survived the activation test, but not for very long. He ended up going berserk, breaking out of the lab and leaving a trail of destruction in his path. Spite was sent out to retrieve him but by the time she got to him the damage had been done and he was already dead.”

Shiore breathed heavily for a moment then crossed her arms and sat back down in the window looking outside, “What was his name?”

“I couldn’t find one,” Carter returned, “the subject was only marked with one word… Macabre.”

“Macabre…” Shiore thought for a moment, “as in death?”

Carter shrugged, “I haven’t the slightest clue in all honesty.”

“Thank you for your time,” Shiore said got up and made her way over to the downward staircase. She placed her right hand on the inner rail avoiding eye contact with the male, “and sorry… for wrongfully accusing you.” she said softly before descending down the stairs.

Carter shrugged then walked up the opposite staircase. He touched down on the landing and reached for the door only to have it open from the other side as Tara walked through shutting it behind her making eye contact with him.

“Oh… Thea,” Carter said awkwardly, trying to start a conversation with her, “How’re yo-”

“GAH!” she screamed before slapping him across the face, “WHY IN THE NAME OF HILARY SWANK DO YOU KEEP FOLLOWING US YOU CREEP!”

Carter blinked for a moment, “I guess I had that one coming.”

Tara slammed her foot down in frustration, “Just get out of our way!” she said pushing her way past him, “and if we see you again you’re dead you got that!”

Carter rubbed the cheek that had been slapped by the girl, “... she is certainly a lot stronger than she looks.”

---

The final bell rang signaling the end of the day.

“GAH! I CAN’T STAND THAT GUY!” Tara shouted as she walked out of the building along side Cole and Alex, “First he shows up out of nowhere acting like he knows me, then he brings me a creepy bag lunch with crap I’ve never even heard of and now he’s found out where I go to school! I need a restraining order or something else we’re gonna kill someone!”

“Uh… you’re still going on about Carter right?” Alex asked taking a few steps away from the girl.

“Do you know of anyone else that ungodly intolerable!” Tara returned with a growl in her voice.

“I could think of a couple,” Shiore said appearing out of nowhere from behind Tara, “one of which being the girl yelling at the top of her lungs at the moment.”

“GAH!” Tara shouted jumping into Cole’s arms, “Sayuri! Where did you come from!”

“Inside… obviously,” Shiore returned. She glanced over to Alex then to Cole “So, what are you guys up to?”

Cole’s phone began to ring, “Hold that thought for a sec,” he placed Tara back down on the ground then fished out his phone, “hello? Oh, hey mom what’s up?” Cole’s eyes shot open as he stood silent for a moment, he looked over to Alex then back to the phone, “are you serious?... I see, okay I’ll be right over.”

“What was that about?” Alex asked as Cole dropped his phone back into his pocket.

“Nothing major,” Cole said forcing a smile, “I’ll just need to be heading home early is all.”

Alex took a step forward, “Wait, weren’t we supposed to-”

“Go on without me,” Cole insisted placing his hand on Alex’s shoulder, “you were the one that wanted to go in the first place, so do it.”

Alex nodded, “Okay.”

“Hey Shiore, would you mind going with him?” Cole asked.

Shiore shook her head.

Alex raised an eyebrow, “You sure?” Shiore nodded.

“Of course,” Shiore returned.

“Alright, thank you,” Alex said with a smile, he looked over to Tara, “What about you?”

“I’m a bit busy today,” Tara said stretching her arms out, “sorry.” she smirked, “I managed to get a part-time job at my dad’s cafe.”

Shiore raised an eyebrow, “You sure he doesn’t have something mentally wrong with him or something?”

Tara shook her head and placed her hands on her hips, “What can I say? He finally realized the skills I have as a waitress.” A small beep went off from the watch on her wrist, “Holy shiitake I’m late!” she picked up her feet and ran off down the road, “I GOTTA GO BYE!!!”

Cole smiled, “Alright, then that’s that. I’ll catch you guys later then,” he said before making his way down the hill toward the street below the school.

“See ya later!” Alex waved to him.

“So,” Shiore spoke up, “where are we going exactly?”

Alex smiled to her, “You’ll see when we get there.”

Shiore raised an eyebrow noticing a large white paper bag in Alex’s right hand, “Alright… lead the way then.”

The two took a long walk down the city streets. As they continued to go farther, Shiore noticed the ratio of houses began to grow thin until they were surrounded by nothing but fenced off and forested areas around the bare sidewalk and road that would very rarely have a car pass by.

Shiore let out a small sigh, “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed this but… this place is completely dead.”

“Well it is a cemetery,” Alex started putting out the gateway leading into a graveyard. Shiore fell silent realized why the boy wanted to come here, “I haven’t really gotten a chance to come by here as of late, so I appreciate you coming with me.” he smiled at her, “thank you.”

She placed her open hand out to him, “It’s no trouble, you don’t have to thank me.”

Alex laughed a little, “Right, sorry I forgot.” He reached into the paper bag and pulled out a bouquet of flowers, “Well, we should probably make this quick then.” Shiore nodded as the two made their way through the gate.

They walked in silence along several rows of graves until Alex came to a stop at a pale pearl blue one with a bouquet already laid out in front of it.

“Looks like someone was already here,” Shiore pointed out.

“Must have been Sampson,” Alex returned kneeling down to the grave and placing his bouquet next to the one that was already there. He brushed a bit of dirt away from the stone and placed his hand on top of it, “Hey mom… I’m back. School was needless long, but it was a nice change of pace from what I’m used to.”

“Alice…” Shiore read off from the headstone, “A celtic name meaning noble… it’s a nice name.”

Alex nodded, “from what I’ve been told, she was a good person too…” he said holding back tears, “I know it’s hard on you being so far away from your family Shiore, but at least your folks are still around...” Shiore balled her hand into a fist gritting her teeth a little behind her lip, “Sorry… that came out wrong, what I meant is-”

“It’s fine,” Shiore spoke out cutting him off, “I get what you mean.”

“Oh, Alex,” a voice called out from behind Shiore, “You’re already here I see.”

Alex looked over to the source of the voice, “Vince… how have you been?”

Shiore turned around to see a young man with short wavy blond hair and bright sapphire blue eyes dressed in a well kept black suit, a bouquet of blue flowers in his right hand resting on his shoulder. A shiver went down her spine at the sight of him.

“I’ve been better…” Vince said coldly, “It’s a sad day when a man goes to visit the grave of his younger sister.”

Alex frowned looking back to his mother’s grave, “I know… it can’t be easy for you.” He let out a sigh, “I only wish I could have done something to prevent it.”

“There’s nothing you could have done…” Vince said softly tightening his grip around the flowers in his hand, “stuff like this just happens… and there is nothing you or I can do to change it.”

Alex nodded, “We were just finishing up here, you want to head over to Sarah’s now?”

Vince raised an eyebrow, “we?”

“Yeah, Shiore and,” he looked over to Vince and noticed that Shiore was nowhere to be found, “I… what the...?”

Vince rolled his eyes, “Nevermind, let’s just go.”

Alex stood up and nodded, “Okay.”

The two walked over a few rows until they came to the grave marked with the name of Sarah Gardner. Alex reached into the paper bag and pulled out another bouquet of the same kind of flowers as the one he left for his mother, Vince placing his down right next to his making sure they were closer to the gravestone.

Vince let out a sigh, “How pitiful… it hasn’t even been a year yet and we’re still the only ones that bother to come out to visit her grave, it makes me sick.” he proclaimed balling both of his hands into fists, “My own sister was taken from this world and all she gets is an empty grave with no one to see it.”

“Sarah and I rarely got along… but I still thought of her as a valued friend,” Alex said softly, “I only hope that she saw me the same way.”

“She did… I know that for a fact,” Vince returned looking over to Alex, “I know I picked on you a lot when we were younger so I don’t expect you to forgive me for the way I treated you, but even still,” he extended his hand out to Alex, “You have my thanks… for staying by her until the end.”

Alex reached out and shook his hand, “She always was the backbone of the school,” he frowned and looked back down to the grave, “Hard to believe she’s gone.”

Vince pulled his hand away from Alex and slipped them into his pockets, “I swear, I will hunt down whoever it was that did this to her… and I will bring them to justice.”

Alex said nothing as a calm wind rushed over them picking up fallen leaves off the ground and sweeping them into the air. After a while, a small buzzing noise went off in Alex’s pocket. He pulled out his phone and flipped it open seeing that his alarm had gone off, the time was now 6:30 pm.

“I should be going,” he said dropping the phone back into his pocket, “it was nice talking with you.”

Vince nodded saying nothing else as the boy walked away. Once Alex had left, he noticed a small bit of movement behind Sarah’s gravestone. A big grey cat walked out scratching the side of it’s face with the rough side of the stone.

“Oh, there you are Cheshire,” he said with a slight grin. The cat meowed and rubbed up against his leg. Vince gave him a scratch on the chin looking back to the horizon where Alex was still just barely visible. “So… he’s the one is he?”

---

Alex walked along the busy city street until he came to the front steps of his and Cole’s building. He walked up the stairs and fished out the keys to the front door opening and stepping into the main stairwell.

At that moment Cole ran down the stairs, “Alex… I think you might want to come up here.”

Alex raised an eyebrow as he slowly dropped his keys back into his pocket, “Why?”

“Just… follow me,” Cole returned heading back upstairs.

Alex rolled his eyes, “Alright fine, this had better be good.”

Alex walked up the stairs to Cole’s apartment and, to his surprise, the door was already closed and Cole had gone back inside. He went for the handle on the door and heard talking coming from the otherside.

“I stopped by her grave on my way here actually,” a male voice called out, “It’s been far too long since I’ve paid her a visit.”

“Well I’m sure she appreciates the sentiment,” said another more feminine voice.

Alex out of curiosity turned the handle and pushed the door open. As he did, he saw Cole’s mother and father sitting on one couch by a coffee table while a grown man with the exact same eye, skin and hair color as his own sat on a reclining chair with his back to the large bay window at the front of the room.

The man turned his eyes to him as he entered the room, “Alex… I’ve been wondering when you would get home,” he said getting up, “it’s been far too long.”

Alex’s eyes shot open as his heart began to race, “... Father?”

To be continued

{Insert Ending Theme - “Reason” by Yuzu}

Next time on Kamen Rider Ultimate Xtreme:

A new force shows itself as META sets its next phase of action in motion.

What lies ahead for Alex and company with new trials on the horizon?

All will be decided when Kamen Rider Ultimate Xtreme continues in Episode 2 Genesis.
Father, why now do you choose to return?