[guncannon109]

Episode 38: Fury’s Violent Crusade

Sixteen years ago, Jason sat on his throne holding a photo of him and Alice. His gaze was fixed on it with a heavy glare, the male eyeing his gold wedding band that he still wore if his left ring finger.

A bit of light krept in as the two large doors at the front of the lair opened up, with Derek Maverick walking inside. The doors slammed behind him, Derek placing his hand over his chest and bowing.

“You… wanted to see me, sir?” Derek asked simply in a hushed tone.

“Fury…” Jason muttered as he turned his gaze towards his subordinate, “Fata has betrayed us.” He glared towards Derek, “I can think of no one, other than you… to eliminate her.”

It was a gloomy day all those years ago. Torrents of rain poured down on the city, all while a woman with chestnut hair sat by the window of a cafe staring, watching with stern yet uneasy gaze as the rain fell down around her. It was a very gloomy day.

“Alice, thank god,” announced a young police officer, a smile on his face as he sat down across from her with his hands on the table. “I was scared outta my wits when I got your call. Why'd you wanna see me so quick? Has another one of those… things appeared?”

“They're called dopants, Gordon…” she spoke as she gave him a slight glance, “And… I might know more than I initially let on about them.”

Gordon raised a brow, his heart beginning to race as he feared the worst. “Alice… tell me everything you know, right now.”

“I can't,” she shook her head, “it's not safe. Not for you, or Alex.”

Gordon's heart sank. He stared at her for a very long while, his gaze drifting to the ring Alice wore on her right hand. He took in big gulp before reaching out his hand to place it overtop of hers, “Jason found out... didn't he?”

“No… at least not that I know of,” Alice shook her head, “I just. We can’t do this anymore.”

Gordon let out a huff, looking her in the eye as he placed his hand on her shoulder, “If there’s something you know you can tell me, no one else will ever know.”

“Stop!” she told him firmly, looking him dead in the eye as she removed his hands from her and cupping them with both of her’s. “Just stop asking questions… just listen..” she reached into her bag and pulled out two small cases, placing them both down onto the table. “These cases… I want you to keep them hidden for me, okay?”

Gordon just stared at them, feeling as though his heart was placed into a vice, “W-Why? What’s in them.”

Alice looked at him firmly, raising a brow, “What did I say about asking questions?”

Gordon fell silent, managing a nod. “Sorry… please, continue.”

“This one,” she pointed to the one case marked with a silver M on it, pulling a sealed envelope from her jacket and placing it on top of the case. “I want you to follow these instructions to the letter, do you understand Gordon?”

Gordon eyed the second one, almost afraid to ask, “Alright… but, what of the second one?”

“That’s for you to keep secret and protect alongside Alex however you can, ” Alice said. “You are to give it to him, only when you deem he is deserving of it… after you’ve followed through with all the written instructions of course.”

“Hey whoa, what’s all this about now?” Gordon said frantically, placing his hands on Alice’s shoulder, “You sound like you’re dying.”

“I am dying Gordon… I least, I’m sure that I will…” Alice choked up a bit, a tear forming in her eye as she looked him in the eye on last time. She cupped his hand before swallowing sharply. “I can’t see my own future… but I’ve seen yours, and Alex’s… and I’m not in either. So I’m going to need you to protect him, and yourself, from Jason.”

Gordon’s heart dropped hard, his hands beginning to tremble. “Okay… I still think you’re making mountains out of mole hills here… but why would Jason go after Alex? That little boy hasn’t done him no harm.”

“Gordon…” Alice took in a deep breath, then sharply exhaled, “Alex… isn’t Jason’s.”

{Insert Opening Theme: “Alones” by Aqua Timez}

Present day. A red sun rose over Ardent City as Derek Maverick stood at the peer in his human form, raising a lit cigarette to his heavily scarred face as he dialed a number on an old and worn out flip phone. It wrung as he let out a puff of smoke.

“Who is this?” Rylee’s voice echoed from the other end, “How did you get this number?”

“It’s your old friend Fury, Spite,” Derek smirked, looking down to the ground and spotted the carcass of a dead bird. “Just wanted to let you and the tin can know I’m still breathing is all.”

A long pause came from the phone, Rylee speaking after a while, “You are banished Fury. If you so much as try anything, Vainglory and I won’t hesitate to-”

“To what? Kill me?” he laughed, squishing the dead bird’s face in with the heel of his boot, “You and the old boss already tried that, didn’t work then sure as hell work now.” He took another puff, kneeling down and putting his cigarette out in the bird’s now empty eye socket. “I was merely giving you the courtesy of telling you, one I’m through with those shit brained riders, I’m coming for both you and the boss.”

“Vainglory will not sit still after such a threat,” Rylee told him with a noticeable tremble in her voice, “you know that, right?”

“Know it?” Derek’s smirk widened, the scarred demon of a man letting out a fit of laughter. “I’m counting on it.”

He hung up, slamming the phone closed before gripping it tightly in his fist. Winding back his arm, he chucked the phone over the docks before aiming his prosthetic arm at it with a flared out hand. A loud hum erupted from it, followed by a bright laser blast that struck the phone and blew it to bits.

Derek maintained his smirk as the junks of metal littered the lake water and the smell of smoke filled the morning air. “Six little riders all hung in a row…” he sang to himself, gripping his metal hand into a tight fist, “Fury came to kill them, the first named… Ryu-O.”

---

Within the shadow of Vainglory's lair, Rylee closed her phone and gripped it tightly in frustration as she shot a glare of to Jason who sat at his throne. Joel leaned against one of the room's structural pillars with his hands in the pockets of his jacket, the silver haired male eyeing both Rylee and Jason.

“My lord…” she spoke after a moment, “what should we do about this?”

“I will not tolerate traitors in any form,” Jason spoke thusly as he stared at the mural on the wall depicting the earth tethered between the sun and the moon with a open gate fixed to the side that faced the moon. “Fury is to be eliminated, at any cost.”

Rylee simply nodded, bowing her head before placing her hand over her heart, “Yes my lord, it will be done.”

“Well then, if thats what we're doing I'll go and get to deploy with the X2 Troopers,” Joel said with a stretch as he headed for the door, turning back only to look Rylee in the eye, “Are you coming, Spite?”

Rylee glared at him, “And why would the both of us be needed?”

“Vainglory said at any cost, didn't he?” Joel raised a brow at her, “and I should also remind you that Fury will without a doubt be targetting those Kamen Riders as well. Or have you over looked that detail?”

Rylee gritted her teeth, looking to Jason, “My lord-”

“I am with Inertia on this one,” Jason spoke over her. “Until Fury is defeated, you are to follow his command. Is that clear Spite?”

Rylee swallowed sharply, balling her hand into a fist as she glared at Joel, “As you wish… my lord.”

---

The warm morning light filled Sampson’s office at the police station, the chief sitting at his desk with Carter across from him filling out a few documents. Sampson looked to a photo of Alice and Jason on their wedding day, Jason wearing a glum face as if he wasn’t really there mentally or emotionally. Sampson let out a heavy sigh, his gaze drifting to Alice’s warm smile that wasn’t directed at Jason but at the camera itself as if she was staring through the camera to the person who had taken the photo.

Sampson rubbed his face, grabbing the photo and putting it away in a drawer, “Never should’ve taken that stupid picture.” He huffed to himself.

Carter paused his writing, looking up to the chief with a raised brow, “You say something?”

“Oh… nothing important…” Sampson managed a grin, eyeing the papers that Carter was working on, “How’re you doing there anyway?”

“Actually, I think I’m done,” Carter told him, handing the papers back to him, “what do you think? Anything I missed?”

Sampson took the papers, flipping through them as he skimmed them. After a moment he shook his head, “Looks good to me.” His forced smile turned to a genuine one as he placed the papers down onto his desk. “I’m honored by the fact that you’re looking to join the force, Carter, but I’d just like to ask you why. I mean, it’s rather sudden isn’t it? Wouldn’t you rather give the matter a bit more thought?”

“It’s been on my mind since we took on Gorge and Crave,” Carter said, “I was a pawn once, just like that girl Kat was. I want to do all that I can to protect people from being used like that ever again, and becoming a police officer is the best way I can see to do that.”

“Well then, if you’re sure I guess I just have this to say,” the teary eyed Sampson extended a hand to him, Carter reaching out to shake the officer’s hand. “Welcome aboard, cadet.”

“Let’s not celebrate just yet,” the normally stoic Carter actually managed a chuckle, “I still need to clear training you know.”

“Oh, I’m aware,” Sampson said, “You know, you remind me a lot of myself when I was your age. So full of energy.” He grinned as he sat down.

Carter’s grinned dropped, “Now, what about putting a stop to Vainglory and META?” his gaze narrowed.

“And, there goes that energy,” Sampson’s grin faded. “I have Marcoh working on that as we speak with Kat, getting all that he can out of her.” He let out a sigh, pulling out a transcript dated with the night before, “He was able to take in Crave, or rather Vince I should say, last night. Of course what he got from that nut ball is… troublesome.”

“What did he say?” Carter asked.

“What you’d expect, my darling sister this, that bastard Alex that,” he ran his hand down the transcript until he reached one specific line. “Except for this though, ‘Go ask Desire.’ Now what do you gather from that?” Sampson gave the boy a look.

“A dopant,” Carter returned.

“My thoughts exactly,” Sampson placed his the notepad back into his desk and slammed the drawer closed. “It’s not one that I’m familiar with, but whoever they are, they’re surely a big deal in that underground network of theirs.”

Carter thought for a moment, then raised a brow, “So, we find Desire, we find Vainglory?”

Sampson smirked, “Glad you and I are on the same page cadet.” Carter was about to speak, but was cut off by the phone on Sampson’s desk ringing, the caller ID matching that of the receptionist at the front of the station. “Sorry, just a moment.” Sampson answered it with a grin, “What do we have Stan?”

“Hello chief,” Derek’s voice echoed from the other end of the line, a chill running down Sampson’s spine as he felt his heart practically grind to a halt, “there is a man here looking for those pesky riders you keep on a leash, especially the one scorched his flesh to a grisp. I’ll be sending him in immediately for you.”

The phone clicked, beeping loudly as Derek hung it up. Sampson quickly grabbed his gun, shooting a glance over to Carter who shot to his feet and gripped his Ryu-O memory. Before the two could so much as turn around, the door to Sampson’s office exploded in a violent blaze, chunks of it flying into the room as smoke quickly filled it.

Gritting his teeth, Carter hit the activation button on his gaia memory. “RYU-O!” It cried out as his driver formed around his waist.

Before he could slot the memory into place however, a concussive blast shot out from the smoke and struck Carter's hand, knocking the memory from the boy's hand and shattering several bones.

“Oh my my, did you actually think I'd let you transform little ember boy?” Derek laughed, entering the room in his human form with a smirk as Carter held his hand writhing in pain.

Sampson aimed his gun at Derek, snarling at him with a glare, “Carter! Go!” He barked, unloading several shots at Derek, the man simply standing there as the bullets cut into his face.

Carter darted to grab his gaia memory as Derek shot a glare at Sampson. “You're a lot braver than I thought,” he sneered, balling his metal hand into a fist before throwing a heavy punch with it directly into Sampson's gut, knocking the wind out of him. “I'll deal with you later, so just sleep for now, chief.”

Carter grabbed his memory off the floor, only for Derek to march over and press his foot down on Carter's non broken hand that the had gripped the memory with.

Carter let out a cry of agony, gritting his teeth before shooting a glare to Derek, “What .. the hell… you're supposed to bed dead!”

“Quite the contrary, Ryu-O,” Derek smirked, shooting a glare at Carter, “Fury never dies.” He eyes Carter free arm, grabbing it with his metal arm. “Which reminds me… I never paid you back for taking my arm way back when. Allow me to do so.” With a ear shattering scream from Carter, Derek ripped Carter's arm by his broken hand right out from the socket. It was still attached, but it was beyond a simple dislocation.

Carter panted heavily, holding his arm and squirmed on the ground. “If you're going to kill me Fury, just do it!” He barked out of pain and anger.

“Oh no Ryu-O, I'm not going to kill you,” Derek told him as he reached into Carter's pocket and pulled out the boy's phone, “I need you to relay a message to those friends of yours.”

Carter grunted, glaring at the man, “You expect me to do that?!” He barked as Derek flipped through his phone.

“Oh no, I expect you to look out for that sister of yours,” Derek glared at him, smirking as he turned to phone to a picture of Tara gawking in shock at a bird that had swiped a sandwich from her. “Or would you rather she be the first to die? The choice is yours.”

---

Across town, Tara and Cole walked along an open market. It had gotten a little chilly as it was moving from October into November, but that didn't stop a hand full of merchants from enjoying the weather while they could.

“Hey Tara, I know it's saturday and all,” Cole asked her as the wind rider happily skipped along, “but don't you have work today?”

“Eyup, but what kind of people would we be if we didn't pick up a few things to make a care package Kat?” Tara returned, looking back to him with a grin, “I wanna make sure she knows she's still loved while she's all locked up in there.”

“Ya, you've got a point there,” Cole grinned at her, patting her head with Tara leaning into it. “Alright, let's do it. What'd you have in mind?”

“I got a list of things Marcoh said were okay,” Tara grabbed him by the sleeve, only for her phone to ring from her bag. She quickly answered, “Tara the Airborne Terror.” She gasped, her eyes shooting wide open as she began to shake. Her tremble only lasted a moment however as she quickly focused her gaze and nodded. “We'll be right there, thank you.”

She hung up the phone, Cole beginning to panic, “Who was that?! What's going on?!”

“Carter's hurt, we need to go to hospital,” she looked to her boyfriend, “now.”

Moments later, Tara and Cole found themself bolting into a hospital room. Tara met the gaze of Shiore, the ice rider gasping a bit before turning her head away from the entering couple. Tara and Cole came in, seeing Carter on the bed with his arm bandaged up and a banged up Sampson sitting beside him, Marcoh standing just beside Sampson.

“Alright, that's mostly everyone,” Marcoh let out a heavy sigh.

Tara darted right to her brother's side as Cole looked around the room. “Where are Alex and Ashley?”

“I called them just after I called you and Archer,” Marcoh informed them, eyeing Shiore who stood by herself in the corner, “Fubuki managed to beat the two of you here though.”

Cole's gaze focused on Shiore as Tara threw her arms around her brother. “You have no idea how happy I am to see that you're alright!” She sobbed, “Who did this to you two?”

Carter looked to the officers with a steady gaze, Sampson and Marcoh looking back to him. The both of them nodded as Carter spoke, “It was Fury.” The room fell silent upon hearing those words.

“He-He's alive?” The group heard a voice speak from the front of the room. They all turned to see Alex standing at the door with shaking eyes, Ashley directly behind him.

“I saw him with my own eyes Alex,” Sampson spoke, “As much as I don't want to say it, Carter is tell the truth.”

“He wants to fight us, Alex. All of us,” Carter spoke patting his sister on the head as he shot a glare towards Alex. “He did a number on me already. So, what will you do?”

Alex thought this over in his head, about to speak before Sampson phone rang. Sampson fished out his phone, glaring at it once he saw the caller ID. “Says it's from you,” he spoke, looking at Carter.

Carter sternly looked back to Sampson, “Answer it.” He told the chief.

Sampson raised the phone to his ear, gritting his teeth as he did so, “Gordon Sampson, what do you want?”

“Are all those riders with you?” Derek's voice echoed from the phone.

“Yeah, each one of them,” Sampson returned.

“And Xtreme… is he there too?” Derek asked.

Sampson's gaze turned to Alex, “Looking right at him.”

“Put him on,” Derek demanded.

Sampson gripped the phone tightly for a moment before handing it over to Alex, “He… wants to speak with-”

Alex swiped the phone from Sampson, raising it to his ear, “Tell me where you are right now Fury! Because I heard you're looking for a fight,” he glanced to all the riders in the room, “Because I've got four fully charged riders standing right here all with equal reason to give you exactly what you're looking for!”

“Oh… such a temper, did what I do to those two cute girls scar you that much?!” Derek laughed, “Tell me, how much do you wish to kill me?”

Alex snarled, gripping the phone tighter in his hand, “Answer my damn question!”

“Oh… eager are we? Very well,” Derek returned, “Tell me, are you somewhere high up right now?”

Alex looked out the fourth story window, examining the view it gave him of the city around him. “Yes… why?”

“Look downtown, then you'll see.” Derek said.

Alex and the riders looked out the window, their hearts swelling as far off in the distance, a tall building exploded from the inside out filling the sky with fire and smoke.

“Judging by the silence, I'm guessing you saw that little show of mine,” Derek cackled. “I shall give you an encore every half hour until I see you, so.. don't keep waiting.” With that, Derek hung up.

With a wince, Carter grabbed at the rail of his hospital bed and began forcing himself up. All in the room gasped, save for Shiore who simply glanced at him with a raised brow.

“What the hell do you think you're doing?!” Tara barked, forcing him back down, “You're hurt! You aren't going anywhere!”

“Yeah?” Carter spoke, holding his arm while dodging his sister's gaze. “Well a lot of people are going to end up alot worse than me if I just sit here doing nothing.”

“Do as Tara says Carter,” Alex spoke suddenly, looking to the fire riders with a stern gaze who in turn looked back to him, “We can handle Fury, so stay here and rest, alright?”

“But the Xtreme memory,” Carter's gaze narrowed, “you can't fight in your ultimate form if I'm not there.”

“Well then we'll just have to work around that,” Alex returned, turning to look and Tara, Cole, Ashley and Shiore, “Fury must be stopped, at any cost.”

---

Within the chaos of Ardent City's downtown core, civilians scattered out from the fall of debris from the destroyed building. Derek emerged from the wreckage, smirking as he aimed his robotic arm at a group of fleeing bystanders. He laughed as he primed it to fire, shooting off a large bolt of energy only for it to the neutralized by a red orb of energy that roared down from above and struck the shot from Derek's arm.

Derek snarled, glaring up to see Spite descend in her dopant form from above him with a platoon of X2 Troopers, two Star types, twenty Blast types and twenty Blade types making forty two in total. Ten of the blast troopers formed up with Spite around Fury, aiming their blasters at him as the remaining Blast Troopers formed a perimeter on the outside along with the Blade Troopers.

“Scout out the area, ensure any civilian still present makes it out unharmed,” the Star trooper ordered half of the blade troopers, “No more blood is too be spilled by Fury. Now fan out!” He motioned his hand outward, the Blade troopers nodding before heading out to follow orders.

“Babysitting the worms that still cling to this rock now Spite?” Derek laughed, “The mighty have truly fallen.”

“Harming the people of this city was never one of our goals Fury,” Spite glared at him. She conjured six energy balls, allowing them to orbit around her, “I will say this only once. Surrender, or die.”

“Very well,” Derek laughed, pulling out his blood red gaia memory along with his dopant driver, slapping the slab of metal onto his waist. “Consider your challenge… accepted.”

Spite took a step back on reflex, gritting her teeth before shooting her flared out hand at Derek. “Open fire!” She ordered her troops, the X2 blast troopers unloading everything they had on Derek.

Derek simply grinned as the gun fire barreled towards him, striking the activation button on his gaia memory. “VIOLENT!” roared the memory as smoke enveloped the man who held it.

The troopers stopped their barrage, waiting for the smoke to clear. They didn't need to however, as out from the wreckage barreled Fury, more demonic than ever with deep blood red armor and the claw, feet and tail of a dragon.

The dopant sneered and hissed, turning his black void of a face directly towards Spite. The blast troopers continued their fire, Spite hurling her orbs at him.

“Dammit Inertia!” Spite thought as she gritted her teeth, “Why is it you vanish right when I need you?!”

This momentary thought caused Spite to miss her mark with shots long enough for Fury to dart towards her, the fire from the Blast Troopers coming off as nothing more than an annoyance to him. Fury leapt right to Spite, readying his claws as he stared into her soul.

Spite let out a gasp and part of her life with it, it only being brought back in when two Blade Troopers bolted between her and Fury to take the force of his claws for her. The two troopers to cast to the side like mere flies at Fury's claw, a black mist exiting the demonic dopant's claw and flowing into the troopers.

“Commander Spite! Stand back!” Barked the star trooper that stuck by her side, four other blade troopers forming up around him. “We shall handle him for you.”

Spite gritted her teeth, “Just apprehend him, now!” She commanded in a snarl before levitating herself up into the air.

“Consider it done,” Nodded the star trooper before he along with the Blade and Blast troopers changed in to engage Fury.

---

In the dimly lit shroud of her mother's condo, Madison lay sprawled out on the couch stuffing her face with chips while watching an episode of Power Rangers Time Force.

A thin ray of light danced across the litter covered coffee table and towards the tv and a robot minion knocked down the blue ranger, only for that robot minion to be pulled away by his mutant boss Ransick.

“Hey! Not the blue guy!” Ransick pointed a finger at the robot, throwing him away and extending a hand to the blue ranger to help him up. “You good?” Ransick asked patting him on the shoulder, the blue ranger nodding after a moment of confusion. “Alright! Now get back in there!” Ransick cheered him on before shoving him back into the battle.

“I'm home!” A female voice called out as the door cracked open, the door closing once again after a moment.

“Hi mom!” Madison called out to her, not taking her eyes off the screen as she stuffed her face, “How was work?”

“Same hell,” the tall curvy woman with Madison's eye and hair color said as she came in, throwing her leather bag on the couch while kicking off her brilliant red high heels. She wore a black suit with her red hair done up in a bun. “Ugh,” she gagged, glaring at her daughter, “hey, when you have a second could you clean all this up?”

“Will do captain,” Madison saluted her mother Nicole as the woman slid off her jacket.

“Did you even go to school today?” Nicole asked her.

Madison blinked, “Its saturday mom… just cause you work weekends doesn't mean I have too.”

Nicole simply let out a huff, heading over to Madison on the couch and swiping the remote from her, “The least you could do is give your brain a rest from this stuff.” She paused the recording and switched it over to the news.

“Hey!” Madison protested, attempting to grab the remote from her, “I was watching that!”

“You can go back to it once I check the weather,” Nicole told her, holding the remote just out of her daughter's reach, “okay?”

Madison huffed, pouting with her arms crossed as the screen cut to a woman standing in front of a police line up with smoke building in the distance.

“It has been roughly an hour since the catastrophic explosion ruptured in the downtown core,” the woman spoke as calmly as possible, “officials are unsure of what exactly was the cause of such destruction but many witness testimony suggests the work of one man wielding an arm mounted explosive device. We will present all further information as it becomes available.”

Madison gasped, her eyes becoming fixed to the television as her mother simply let out a heartbroken sigh.

“Oh my.. what is this world coming to?” She switched the television back to Madison's show and handed her back the remote, “here, you can back to your show. I need to clean, since your father will be coming over for dinner. Think you can keep your brother busy when he gets home?”

Madison didn't answer the question, shooting up from the couch and bolting into her room to get dressed. She grabbed her wallet, her purse and her Ninja Storm red ranger key from her dresser and shoved them her pocket before taking an elastic and tying her hair back. While tying back her hair, her eyes drifted to a jewel box on her desk, the glimmer of a silver ring with a purple gemstone catching her eyes.

“Hey Alex, you said your favorite was Homura right?” Madison's voice echoed in her head, “Well I got doubles so, here. For you.”

Her heart swelled, her face turning bright red as she took in a big gulp. Grabbing the ring, she slid it onto her finger and tightened her fist around it. She then, without even thinking about it, darted out from her room and head right for the door. Madison looked around for a moment, panicking as she felt the clock begin to tick further and further down.

“Looking for these?” Nicole asked, Madison turning around with a sigh of relief to see her mother standing behind her holding her pale blue sneakers.

“Thanks mom,” she said, stepping towards her mother and reaching for her shoes.

Nicole glared at her, moving her arm up so the shoes were just out of Madison's reach. “You think I'm just gonna let you run out there and get hurt again, don't you?” He voice cracked, the woman clearing choking up a bit on her words.

“Mom, I'll be fine!” Madison huffed, swiping her hand to grab her shoes only for Nicole to instead grab her daughter by the wrist.

“I’M NOT STUPID! MADISON!” Nicole shouted, her hands trembling as she held her daughter's wrist, it now becoming visible to Madison that her mother's eyes were red and her cheeks were stained by tears. “You father and I… We were really scared for you that day… The Gardners were too.. We were called to the hospital to find you covered in your own blood, and they were told their daughter had vanished without a trace! And know I hear Vince was locked up for god only knows what?! Just what the hell is going on?! Tell me! For once in your life Madison, please!”

Madison's heart sank, her gaze falling down to the floor as she hung her head to avoid eye contact with her mother. “I… can't… if I did tell you, you wouldn't believe me. You never listen.”

“Well I'm listening right now,” Nicole glared, “so whatever it is, now the time to tell me.”

“You know those monsters… in the shows I watch…” Madison swallowed hard, “They're real… and I'm pretty sure one of them is behind what we saw on tv a minute ago.”

“Oh?” Nicole raised a brow, maintaining her glare, “And I'm guessing you're off to go fight it, is that it?”

Madison shook her head, finding the strength to look her mother in the eye, “The heroes the fight them are still real too though! Sure, I might not be one of them but they're all still good friends of mine! I need to make sure they're okay.”

“Alright,” Nicole lowered her arm, putting the shoes behind her back, “then I'm coming with you.”

Madison once again shook her head, “No mom, stay here. It'll be safer.”

“Then why is it ant safer for you?!” Nicole barked.

“IT ISN'T!” Madison barked back. She sighed gently, then held her mom's hand, “I'm just asking you this once, trust that I know what I'm doing… okay?”

Nicole gave her a stern look. It lasted for at least a minute before she finally let out a gentle sigh, “Alright…” she said, handing Madison her shoes, “But if you aren't back by the time your father gets her, we are going to go looking for you.” She pointed a finger at her, “Got it?”

“Got it,” Madison nodded, taking her shoes before hugging Nicole, “thanks mom, I love you.”

“I love you too, that's why I worry so much,” Nicole managed a smile of her own, hugging her daughter back for a moment before giving Madison a shove out the door, “Now get going! Before I change my mind!”

“Will do captain,” Madison saluted her mother again, this time with a smile as she slipped on her shoes. She then bolted off, all looking at the silver ring on her finger. “Please Alex… don't do anything stupid until I get there.”

{End of Part A}

{Start of Part B}

As Spite's forces took on Fury in the rubble of the fallen building, one of the Blade troopers that the demonic dopant had tossed away began to stir. He held his head, letting out a strained wince as he picked himself.

Opening his eyes, he gasped and began to tremble as he focused his gaze on the fallen building. Within the center of the rubble stood Spite, surrounded by forty clones of Fury. “Wh… what the hell?!” His voice quivered in fear, “What's going on?!”

“You have halted your movement, what's the problem, soldier?” He heard Vainglory's voice inside.

“Sir, Spite is surrounded,” he barked into what he thought was his comlink, “Fury… he's cloned himself. He has Spite surrounded!”

“Those aren't clones soldier, Fury has infected our soldiers to turn them in copies of himself,” Vainglory's voice returned, “Strike them down, and that should free them.”

“Yes sir, I will,” the Blade Trooper nodded, gripping his sword before beginning to charge at the clones of Fury, striking them down one by one as he made his way towards Spite at the center of the cluster.

As he had expected, the images of Fury turned back into his comrades upon each strike, a bit of black energy flowing off from his blade and into each soldier as he hit them. The troopers, once freed, rose back to their feet. “Fury has taken your comrades hostage!” Vainglory's voice echoed in the heads of each soldier as if on a loop, “Free your allies as they did you, and take down Fury at any cost!”

“Yes, my lord!” All the soldiers saluted, the eyes of their masks now blood red as they turned to the one remaining Fury. The Blade troopers gripped their swords while the Blade soldiers aimed their guns at their one remaining target.

“What hell are you all doing?!” Barked Fury in Spites voice. The sole surviving Fury conjured six of Spite's energy balls and held them above their head. “Any of you fire, and it will be the last mistake you make!”

From outside the masks of the troopers, they set their sights on Spite and Fury now stood behind them all with a smirk under the void that was his face.

“Don't listen to the words of that traitor,” Fury spoke, his voice changing to Spite's in the troopers ears, “his words are as worthless as he is.”

“Dammit Fury!” Spite snarled. With a strong swing of her left arm, she hurled all of her charged energy orbs at Fury. “DIE!!!” She roared as the orbs detonated around her target.

Fury simply stood in place, his gaze fixed upon Spite. “Sadly… I won't be the one dying today.” He glared at the woman before him, raising his arm and flaring his hand out at her. “Kill her.”

From atop a tall building, Joel watched coldly as the echo of laser blasts followed by the screams of his ex-wife filled the air around him.

“Sorry Spite… but sharing your fate was not part of my plan,” the silver haired man let out a sigh as he turned his gaze to the glow a wail of police sirens that had been growing in the distance for a while, “not today anyway.”

---

Five blocks away from the destruction sat a police blockade, officers standing by to defend civilians and paramedics ready in ambulances ready to evacuate the injured.

Alex and Cole roared up to the blockade on their bikes, with Shiore on the back of the X-Cyclone and Tara on the back of the Rock-Prowler. The four riders charged up to go through the police blockade but were stopped by a single officer.

“Hey, just where do you think you kids are going?” The officer told them, her gaze fixing on the lot of them. “In case you hadn't noticed, this whole area is under lockdown.”

A police car drove up to the blockade, Marcoh and Ashley hopping out of it. “They're with me, they have special clearance.”

“Them?” The officer scoffed, “gimme one good reason why I should let a couple of kids into a war zone?”

“Because it's those couple of kids that are gonna stop what's in there from spreading to the rest of the city,” Marcoh told her with a firm glare. “Sure, they aren't exactly the heroes you'd expect, but they're all we've got and they happen to be pretty good at what they do.”

The officer glared to Alex and the other riders before looking back with a scowl towards Marcoh, “And you'd bet your career on this?”

Marcoh simply nodded, “Now let them through, or I'll write you up.”

The officer stepped aside, turning his gaze away from the riders, “Alright, hurry up and get going rugrats.”

Alex and the other riders stepped through the line, each pulling out their base gaia memories. Kree flew down from the darkened sky, attaching to Tara's wrist as Alex pulled out his Star and Runner memories.

“So, what's the plan?” Ashley asked Alex, looking him in the eye.

“Get any civilians to safety and take out Fury,” Alex returned, his gaze fixed on the destruction filled horizon, “then we all go home.”

He struck the activation button of his memory, his allies following suit. “STAR! RUNNER! GALE! ROCK! YUKI! SHIFT!”

“HENSHIN!” They all cried out together, slamming their respective memories into their respective drivers as they appeared around their waists.

“STAR! RUNNER! GALE! ROCK! YUKI! SHIFT!” Cried their memories once more as they donned their rider forms in a storm of stars, wind, earth, ice and water.

The eyes of their masks illuminated brightly for a moment before they took off towards the destruction.

The officer who held doubt gawked in awe at what he had just witnessed, “No way… those kids are the… the…”

Marcoh smirked at him, “Kamen Riders,” he told him as he patted him on the shoulder. “Now wipe that look off your face.”

The officer nodded, “Y-Yes sir, right away sir.”

As the riders charged in, their advance was watched closely by a pair of eyeballs flying through the sky with demonic wings grafted onto their backs. The images they saw were projected to Fury on the ground, still in the ruins of the building as his troopers cleaned up piles of rubble as if looking for something.

“I was wondering when those brats would show themselves,” Fury laughed, watching the projection of his eyes from inside his own head. He turned to his troopers, they all looking towards him as he snapped his fingers. “Soldiers! Prepare yourselves for battle!” He barked at them, his inner smirk widening, “The main event has finally arrived.”

---

In the dimly lit shroud of Crave's bar, the devil's nest, Desire sat in her succubus like dopant form sipping a bit of her wine as she watched the news.

“The disaster from earlier has seemed to have halted, but police operatives say the threat is still at large,” the reporter said, attempting to maintain her composure, “we shall bring you further updates as they become available, however for the time being civilians are advised to remain away from the downtown core.”

Desire smirked as a figure clad in deep violet armor began to emerge out from her shadow, “Is that you… Vainglory?” She cooed, turning to face the figure, his helmet fading away to reveal Jason's scowling face that was shooting a glare towards the female dopant, “It has been sometime since you came to visit me… and was begining to fear you had forgotten about me.”

“Save it you witch,” Jason said in a cold monotone as he stepped towards her, seven blades emerging from the shadows and aiming themselves at Desire's throat. “I had no reason to come see you, until now.”

Desire chuckled, not remotely phased by the blades around her as she continued to sip her drink, “I see…” her gaze narrowed towards him, “then what do I owe such an honor?”

“I came to you with a warning,” he told her firmly. “Should you get in the way of my perfect world. I will have no choice but to end you.”

“You came to threaten me?” Desire laughed, “If you believe I had anything to do with the mess Fury is causing out there, the fool acted on his own. All I did was bring him back from death's door after your pet burnt him to a crisp.”

“My words still stand,” his blades drew closer to her throat, one cutting into her skin and drawing blood, “stand aside, or die.”

“Very well…” Desire maintaining her smirk, not even flinching as she was cut, “but what will you do about Fury? Your champions and your son are already engaged with him.” She raised a brow as Vainglory pulled his blades away from her.

“Inertia and Spite are more than enough to deal with that pest…” He sucked his teeth as he turned his back to her, proceeding to head back into the shadows, “and that mistake… is no son of mine.”

“I see…” Desire cooed as her voiced changed in a way that made Vainglory stop in his tracks, “is that why you had me killed, Jason?”

Vainglory’s entire being trembled as he slowly turned back, laying his eyes upon Desire to see that her voice and body had taken the form of his late wife. “A-Alice…” he spoke, taking in a sharp gulp before composing himself. “Why…” he turned fully towards her, balling his hands into fists, “why did you betray me Alice?!”

Alice’s eyes filled with tears, the woman shaking her head as she got up and stepped towards Vainglory, “I did not betray you Jason… you, betrayed yourself…” he cooed to him sadly, cupping his cheek as her lips drew closer to his, “I love you… don’t you see that…”

Vainglory continued to tremble before gritting his teeth and raising his hand to strike her, “LIAR!” He swung his arm out, Alice quickly jumping back out of the reach of Vainglory’s arm.

“Well… of all the moves I expected, that is by far the worst,” Alice smirked, turning back into Desire. “Though I’m curious, after back handing me what did you plan on doing next?”

“The same as always,” Vainglory’s helmet covered his face once more as he began to dissolve into his shadows, “I will awaited the night of the eclipse… then my perfect world shall be mine.”

Once Vainglory had disappeared, Desire pulled out a box of matches, “Well then Vainglory, if that is indeed your answer… I will not be needing to anchor myself here any longer.”

She took in a deep breath then released it over top of the glass of wine she had been drinking, the wine and glass shifting into a gust of fire that quickly engulfed the counter it sat upon as Desire made her way out. Taking only one look back, she smirked as the entire bar was consumed in flames.

“No matter how this all ends,” Desire said as she watched the fires rise, “I will have what I seek.”

---

Back at the hospital, the doctors finished checking Sampson over and laid him down on bed of his own. The nurses quickly left the room, with the doctor herself letting out a heavy sigh as she looked over her clipboard. As the chief was examined, Carter kept his gaze fixed out the window where the building had fallen.

“Four broken ribs… damage to the spinal column… and several other minor fractures…” the heavyset doctor told him, adjusted her thick glasses with a pale violet frame, her brown hair tied back in a long ponytail, “Haven't seen you this banged up since that incident with Greg Walker,” she looked at him with a look of concern, “mind telling me just what the hell happened to you boys?”

“I… I'll tell you later, okay Pepper?” The old man smiled at her with a tear in his eye, “Once the dust has settled.”

Pepper held her head, letting out a sigh“Alright, but just know that if you ever mess yourself up, and I can't put you back together… Alice would never forgive me.”

“I know…” Sampson let out a heavy sigh, “I know.”

“I'm gonna run these through the system,” Pepper told him as she held up her clipboard, “Try not to move too much, okay?” Sampson nodded, Pepper waving to him as she left the room.

Once they were alone, Carter gripped his non-broken hand into a fist they spoke, “Chief… they're gonna be okay out there, right?”

“I… I honestly don't know,” Sampson let out an even heavier sigh, looking to the boy who still gazed out the window. “I know you're worried, but Alex is out there with her… so I for one have no choice but to have faith.”

“But why?” Carter gritted his teeth, “You scold him, you're always scared for his safety… so how can you still have faith? Especially when they're… them?”

Sampson sharply swallowed, “Because they're family… and the only one you and I still have.”

Carter fell silent, turning his head to Sampson and looked him in the eye, “Family?”

Sampson simply nodded, “He may be a screw up, but all always be proud of him for all that he's done… good… and bad…” he continued, wiping his eyes a bit. “It’s all because Alex is my family… it's because…. He's my son.”

{Insert Ending Theme: “One” by Altima}

Next time on Kamen Rider Ultimate Xtreme:

Fury’s crusade continues, while the riders fight without Carter to put a stop to his madness.

Can the hindered Xtreme pull through and end the demon once and for all?

All will be decided when Kamen Rider Ultimate Xtreme continues in:

Episode 39: Stand As One