[scikaiju]

In the main chamber the lord of the Ones of the Earth, known as Cryptids to those who live above ground, sat alone deep in thought. With not even a guard in sight he was completely alone, a rare moment. One he should not cherish but he did quietly enjoy these moments, for the most part. No one craving his attention, no one demanding his attention. Just him and the thoughts he so rarely had the chance to indulge.

“Galen,” a voice said, a female one. A voice that both pleased and haunted him. “Galen,” the voice repeated. He stood up looking at the entrance where he was positive where the voice was coming from.

He was going to say a name in return but his voice caught in his throat when he caught sight of her silhouette in the entrance way. Slowly he started to reach out for the woman.

“Sire,” a new voice, a closer one, broke through the spell of the other woman. He blinked a few times as he realized that he wasn’t in the audience chamber but in his private chambers. A guard stood a respectful distance away, waiting for him to respond.

Ignoring the annoyance he felt growing deep inside of the invasion of his privacy he looked at the guard, “What is it?”

“The Priestess asks for your presence. An experiment she has been working on is ready for demonstration.” An experiment? He only knew of one thing she was supposed to be working on, and he doubted that it was ready so quickly after they started it. So this was something that was kept from him.

Fully on alert for any sign of deception he rose from his chair. This particular guard was unknown to him so the suspicion was justified in his mind. “Lead the way,” he commanded. He fully knew the route to where the Priestess performed her experiments, but survival instinct as always told him to keep the unknown factor, such as this guard, in plain sight. Exiting his chamber two of the guards he was aware of quickly took position behind him. Although their familiarity did nothing to suppress that survival instinct.

They arrived at the Priestess’ testing chamber, all of his subjects quickly giving away as the group passed. But he did notice the father of the boy who defied his order glare at him as they passed. He acted like he didn’t notice the man but made a mental note to keep that family under surveillance. A above worlder term and idea but it fit his needs. The guard that delivered the request of his presence stood aside to let him venture deeper into the room unobstructive.

“My lord,” the Priestess said walking up to him.

“Priestess,” he said in return, normally he would have called her ‘witch’ but today he decided to be charitable in her domain. “I was told there was an experiment, one I was unaware of.” He spotted a bloated body of one of his subjects being dragged away by several others.

“Less of an experiment,” she said, trying to draw his attention away from the sight, “and more of an improvement of the natural ability of some of our warriors. Guiding him to another part of the room, here his attention was drawn to a large hunk of metal on the wall. Raising an arm she gestured for one of the warriors to step forward.

“A spike thrower,” he commented as the warrior took position across from the metal plate.

The Priestess walked over to the slab and rapped it with a gnarled knuckle. “As you know, a hard substance developed by the humans.”

“I’m aware, this material was a hindrance even before the Rider was born to vex us,” he said.

“And the armor the Rider bares is made of a harder substance than even this. It’s an advantage they have had for far too long.”

“I concur,” he said, "even the spoke throwers can barely penetrate this substance if it even penetrates it at all.”

“Until today,” she said. Motioning for him to stand back she nodded at the thrower. Facing the metal slab two extra appendages emerged from the thrower’s back. Without any prodding he fired it’s spikes. There was a large clang as the spikes impacted the slab. Both the lord and the Seer walked toward the slab. She stood back as he took a closer inspection. He raised an eyebrow as he realized that not only had the spikes embedded themselves into the slab they were fully embedded into it. A closer inspection showed the spikes deep inside the metal. “Hopefully a pleasant surprise my lord.”

“Yes it is,” he said. “Is he the only one you have enhanced?”

“No, there are more,” she said. “All ready to attack.”

“”Study your ways, determine the proper time to attack,” he ordered. As soon as she nodded he turned away and left. Finally this felt like a proper advantage.

***
Above ground in the building that was the headquarters for the Cryptid fighting organization Marcus had found a quiet corner as he held up his phone. “Wait a minute,” he said while looking a bit confused, “didn’t we just get diapers? I swear we just got a box. There’s no way we’re out already.”

“Babe,” Kat, his girlfriend and mother of said child, said, “ I told you she’s outgrowing that size of diaper. We need to get the next size up.”

Rubbing his forehead he said the thought that was running through his head out loud without thinking, “What the hell are we feeding the kid?”

“I know you just didn’t say Maddie was getting fat.”

“I didn’t say that,” he quickly countered, although deep down he was kicking himself mentally because he did sort of imply it. “I realize it means she’s just growing up,’ then added, mainly to try to get himself out of the hole he almost dug, “And I haven’t figured out where to hide the bodies yet.”

Apparently it seemed to work, he hoped, as Kat lightly told him, “We have more than a decade to figure that out. Now remember…”

“Pick up,” he repeated from earlier in the conversation, “some formula, something for dinner, and the next size of diapers,” Marcus looked over and saw an amused looking Nate, his brother, leaning against a wall and waved when he noticed him. Almost afraid to find out how long he had been there Marcus went. “You want anything specific for dinner?”

“I’m feeling chicken,” Kat answered, "but feel free to surprise me.”

“And there’s a trap if I ever heard one.”

“See,” Kat said with a slight chuckle, “you can learn.” Going quiet for a moment she said, “I better get off of here, sounds like Maddie is up.”

“Okay,” Marcus went. “Let Maddie know I love her.”

“Just her?”

Yeah,” he slowly said, “that’s all I can think of.” He purposely waited a few beats, a smile growing on his face as he pictured the expression Kat was giving him right then. “Oh and you, I love you too.”

“Yeah that doesn’t sound sincere at all,” Kat said dryly.

“As soon as you can get your sister to take Maddie overnight I’ll show you exactly how sincere I am.”

“I’ll start sweet talking her, I’ll talk to you later, love you.”

“I love you too,” he ended the call and looked over at Nate. “What’s up?”

Not losing the grin Nate just said, “Sounds like Maddie’s growing like a weed.”

“And I am not ready for it. Like at all. Have I mentioned to expect a body count when she’s older?”

“You’re the father of a little girl, I think it’s implied,” he said as they started walking the hall. Then he tapped him on the shoulder, “Do you remember what dad used to tell us? If a rather angry looking man with a girl around our age just showed up at the door…”

“He would point out where we were,” Marcus finished for him, remembering that particular warning all too well. “I got to be honest, I never pictured myself as the father type growing up.”

“Trust me bro, it suits you nicely,” Nate assured him. “But youre right, I was looking for you. They finished analyzing that code you found last time. It’s in the archive so they know what it’s supposed to be, but…,” he trailed off.

Marcus knew exactly where that ‘but’ was going, “but they don’t know how my blood is going to affect it.” Given how that unknown something in his blood that had been the bane of every doctor visit for as long as he could remember, apparently materialized a sword nobody around here knew existed, it was a reasonable concern. “So when are we testing it?”

“Believe it or not they’re still analyzing it,” Nate told him. The disbelieving look Marcus was currently giving him said it all. “They’re trying to predict what your blood is going to do to it, if anything at all.”

“It be faster if I just used it,” Msarcus pointed out.

Nate countered with, “But not exactly safer.”

“It’s an armor upgrade,” Marcus argued, or tried to.

Nate quickly shot it down, “Until we know one way or another, I promised Kat I’d keep you safe. And I promised myself Maddie’s father would be there her entire life, and you will if I have anything to say about it.” Marcus looked away feeling really annoyed. “A low blow,” Nate told him, “I know. And one I will take everytime. Come on, I'll buy you a beer then help you find a chicken dinner that doesn’t come in a bucket.”

“I wasn’t going to get a bucket of chicken,” Marcus protested. “Do you have any idea how fast Kat would dump that shit on my head?”

***
“Director Miller,” she sat there in her office looking at the wall monitor and the video conference call currently being displayed. The woman who spoke her name was one of a few senators as part of a semi-regular meeting she was forced to endure after taking this position. “Ever since the Cryptids,” the senator continued, “reappearance, the reported appearances seem to have increased based on previous reports. Do you and your organization have any theories as to why that may be?”

“We have theories,” she told the group, “none of them completely concrete. To be honest most of those theories were rendered mute based on the most current incursion.”

“Yes,” a second one said. An older man looking at some paper, more for show than anything. And if it was their actual report then he had one of his aides print it out since they didn’t send a physical report to this committee. “Now Madam director,” she kept her face neutral but lord did she hate that particular phrase, “how would you explain this particular divergence?” She glanced at the others on the call to see if they noticed how more prominent that southern drawl became with that question.

“Well Mister Senator,” she specifically stressed the word ‘mister’ there, admittedly a bit out of spite, “that is the most solid theory we have. They adapted their tactics.”

“Excuse me Director,” the first woman said, “But adapted?”

“How can mindless animals adapt,” the second senator said almost dismissively.

“Well if you actually read the reports we’ve sent in over the decades,” Miller told him, “then you will have realized that the Cryptids are not simply mindless animals. They are an intelligent species, capable of coming up with their own battle tactics. And obviously changing those tactics.”

A different senator spoke up, “But why change now after so long?”

Clasping her hands in front of her she tried to figure out the best way to answer that question. “The Crytpids have a very tradition based society. And before you ask we have been able to study them, we have sent in various reports about this. It is our assumption the constant defeats over the decades finally caused them to see the folie of those previous tactics.”

“About those defeats,” the first woman said. “Your operative in those conflicts,” she picked up and looked at her phone, again something more than likely for show but a more modern take than just some paper, “this Kamen Rider?”, she looked up. “The person using this weapon, he’s an operative of yours?”

“Yes,” she said trying to keep her voice even, “he’s an operative of this organization.” Well now he was at any rate.

Picking up those papers again, not even looking like he was shuffling through them, the second senator said, “Yes, a Captain Nathan Cole, military I assume.”

Really wanting to call him out on what she was certain was the same paper as he picked up before, she simply told him, “Former military, but correct.”

“How would you rate his performance up to this point?”

“Cole has been effective,” she answered, and really hoping that none of them noticed she didn’t use Nathan Cole’s rank. Explaining why a completely different Cole was using the Driver would be a nightmare. “Given the situation of the previous conflict, he has proven to be adaptable on his own. A rare talent to be use on the fly, as I’m sure you would agree.”

The second senator decided to speak up again, “But an unusual one for a man with a military background.”

“Well, we are not a military organization,” Miller countered. “That alone gives him a bit more flexibility. Given he is a one man weapon with a support unit behind him, I see it more as a unique necessity, especially now given how the Cryptid seem to be changing how they conduct themselves previous battle tactics might not be quite as useful in those situations.”

Those questions went on for a couple of more hours, mainly about the Kamen Rider,” the call finally ended and she immediately got out of her chair and walked over to a panel that automatically slid away revealing a mini bar and poured herself a drink. “Director,” the voice of the AI said from a speaker. “Do you think it was wise to keep them in the dark about who is using the driver?”

“I figured you would be intelligent enough to figure out how bad of an idea that would be,” she said returning to her chair. “We have the level of independence that we have because they think we’re playing by their rules. Actually I think the good southern senator,” she said with heavy sarcasm, “would be surprised that we have been skirting those rules well before I took this position. As my predecessor told me before my first meeting, everything is about meeting their expectations. And I quickly learned managing those expectations is an art form. And one hell of a headache.” She took another drink and leaned back in her chair, “Captain Cole is common knowledge, Mister Cole is strictly need to know. And they do not need to know.”

***
“Come man,” one of the support crew Marcus learned was named Phil, held up some punch pads as he pounded away at them, “I know you can do better than that. Let’s do that combo again and not like a pansy this time around,”. Marcus let out an annoyed breath but he set up and started all over again. This time he saw the screw up mid punch but couldn’t do anything about it. “Dude what the fuck was that shit? I bet yer brat of a kid can do better”

“You have to remember,” Nate called out as he stepped closer, “Marcus has been a civilian all his life. Take a break so everybody can cool off a bit.”

Nate guided him away as Phil took the pads off. Taking the offered bottle of water he still let his annoyance show by saying, “A civilian all my life?”

“Well it’s true,” Nate told him as they stood there. “Besides, I could tell you were about to lose it.”

“I wasn’t about to lose it,” he snapped

His brother just looked at him as he opened his own water bottle, “Try telling that to somebody else. I’ve known you our entire lives bro. Trust me that temper was about to go nuclear. Phil has that effect on people who don’t know him that well. It’s why I asked him to help train you in hand to hand.”

“What the fuck?”

“Think of it as part of your training,” Nate told him. “Everybody knows you lose your cool in any type of fight you end up losing. Hell, I had to talk you down the first time you used the driver like an idiot.”

“I was fighting the one who killed Dad,” Marcus shot back. After a bit of silence he finally calmed down enough to go, “Okay I get it, getting too angry fighting a cryptid is a bad thing. But this is temporary, this is a whole lot of work for a short term situation.”

“Promises to keep bro,” was all Nate said. “Short term or not I plan on keeping them.”

“Just remember you can’t keep those promises if you’re not around,” Marcus shot back. Before Nate could make any type of response one of the guys came from the makeshift firing range in the next room. “Granted I’m still kinda new around here but that guy doesn't look happy.”

“No he doesn’t,” Nate said. “And I think I know why. Still the same result?”

“You’re going to have to see it to believe it Captain,” was an answer Nate obviously didn’t want to hear. The two of them rushed into the room and saw a couple of the others, one carrying one of the rifles, as they hovered around a cube of gel.

“Son of a bitch,” Nate went as they got closer. This time the problem was obvious even to Marcus. While the shots fired penetrated the gel, they barely went an inch into it. “Where did you fire from?”

“From the mark, sir,” the man holding the weapon quickly answered. Marcus looked down and saw a line of black tape on the floor, which was about a foot or so from the gel.

“And that just got worse,” Marcus commented without really thinking. Nate started studying the gel a little more closely. The entry point was completely torn up so the impact wasn’t the problem, it was penetration. “I’m guessing you guys still have to be really close now for those new bullets to be effective.”

“Unfortunately,” Nate said not being able to hide his disgust.

“And it gets worse,” one of the others said

“How? ”Marcus went, half out of disbelief and half to cut off the outburst from his brother. He wasn’t the only one who could tell the other was about to lose it

“This came in with the test sample,” he said handing him a tablet. “This batch is supposed to be loaded onto the vans with the regular ammo.

“Yeah,” Marcus said stepping to the side slightly, “I’m going to be over here.” The others looked slightly envious since they were pretty much stuck there.

“I’ll be back,” Nate suddenly said before storming out of the room.

“Um,” Marcus said looking at the door. “There aren’t any jail cells in the building are there?” Before getting any sort of answer he quickly went after his brother before he got thrown in one.

***
In the underground the Priestess threw her scrying material again, watching the sticks and pebbles fall into place as they settled. It was tricky to read sometimes, and as the one who taught her had said, often opened to interpretation. Something she had taken advantage of more than once, occasionally for her benefit but for the good of their society on occasion. Now, while their lord had tasked her to determine the best time to launch a new offensive, right now she was trying to understand what she had seen with the arrival of the new Rider.

As she said at the time the first time she’d seen it it was something new. A pattern she had never seen before, or since. The rider this time, there was something about this particular human that was unnerving her to her very bones. Picking up what she had thrown in one motion she quickly threw them again and paused. This was it, this was the pattern she’d sawe the first time. The something new, but what did it mean?

“Priestess,” a guard called out. She quickly scooped up the material and held them in hand as he came closer.

“What is it?”, she demanded.

“Our lord wishes to know if the time was right.”

Staring at him from under her hood she threw the materials again. Looking at how they fell she felt disappointed that they didn’t return to their previous position. “Soon,” she told him sharply and scooped it up again. “I will let him know when.” With a bow the guard left and she stared at the material before her. She had seen it again, she needed to see it once more and have the time to properly study what was shown of her. She needed to understand what she was seeing.

***

Maddie just sat there in her high chair just throwing bits of her food all over the place. As one chunk splatted against Marcus’ forehead he just sat there at the table wonder how in the hell does everybody else make feeding his daughter look so fucking easy. Picking up the towel he had on the table he wiped what bit of culinary artillery was still clinging on for all that it was worth. “Look kid,” he said looking at his daughter who just started smiling at him. “Are mommy and Uncle Nate paying you not to do this to them? Because I will match it.”

Her response was a bunch of joyous sounds while still smiling.

Marcus sighed as a realization hit him just then. “You are so going to use that smile to get your way aren’t you.?” Using the same towel he started cleaning up the mess she just made. “And mommy’s going to kill me the moment that happens.” Maddie put up a bit of a fight but he was able to get her cleaned up. As he sat back down in the kitchen chair he leaned back a bit as the two of them just looked at each other, Maddie going back to smiling up a storm. A sad smile started to grace his lips, “I wonder if dad had this much trouble feeding me?” Knowing that it was going to be a mistake saying it as soon as the thought occurred to him, yet he said it anyway as the thought of the man who raised him brought fresh tears to his eyes. “You should have met him Maddie,’ he said blinking those tears away. “He’d probably be the only person on the planet who would have loved you more than me and Kat. If only he answered that damn phone.”

Whatever melancholy that was trying to set in was quickly dispelled once Maddie starting gleefully playing with her food again. “Let’s be honest here, you’re not going to have to do much to let me let you get away with things. And at this point I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Checking his phone he noticed the time, “Yikes mommy is going to be home soon.” Jumping to his feet he started cleaning up the mess that was supposed to be lunch in earnest.” Maddie made a noise that sounded like a protest once he took her plate away. Deep down he knew that wasn’t possible and he was imagining it, still he went with it, “Sorry Maddie, I haven’t figured out how to let mommy let me get away with anything.”

***
Kat carefully laid a sleeping Maddie down in her crib. She looked up to see Marcus leaning against the door jam, something he’d been doing more and more of recently, ever since he used that driver as he called it. And he knew well enough not to say anything as she backed away from the crib and soft;y closed the door. As they walked toward the living room Kat grabbed the baby monitor and made sure it was on as they dropped on the couch. “She didn’t fuss,” Kat muttered as she sat the monitor down next to her. “I don’t believe it. Do you think she’s sick?”

“Don’t question it,” Marcus told her. Although he couldn’t hide that worried look on his face right before looking back at Maddie’s door. “Her pediatrician and your sister both said she’d get past all the fuss sooner rather than later.”

“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?”, she asked him.

“Yes,” he said less than a beat later. Then he put an arm around her and pulled her closer. “I got to be honest about something.”

“Who is she Marcus?”, she said looking at him.

He started smiling, “Oh a cute little number. Big beautiful blue eyes that will make you melt. Let’s me get that last word,” she lightly slapped him on the leg, “and currently sleeping in the next room. You’d love her.”

“I’m sure I would,” Kat said, snuggling closer to him.

“But seriously I think I’m really going to miss this once they get the other driver going.” Kat looked at him confused. “I mean all this extra time with you and Maddie. It occurred to me exactly how much of this I was going to miss out on.”

“That we were going to miss out on,” she corrected him. “We’re not exactly rich you know.”

“As the bills constantly remind me,” he sighed. “I mean I almost got it where Maddie’s not fighting me feeding her.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Kat said as she snuggled back into his arm. Then something about the look on his face raised her concern a bit, “Is everything all right?”

“Just got thinking about Dad earlier,” he admitted to her. Pulling his arm tighter around her she patted it gently as he went on. “It still hurts.”

“I know baby, and that hurt is always going to be there.”

“I know,” he said softly. “I know it’s going to get better.”

“But it doesn’t happen fast enough does it?”, she asked. He just nodded. “Just one day at a time. Just don’t forget you’re not alone.”

“Never,” he told her. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before reaching for the remote. A crying sound from the monitor made them both look at it. “Everytime,” Kat said getting up. Heading towards Maddie’s door she warned him, “You better not start the show without me.”

“I’m not that stupid,” he called back while turning on the TV. The score from the game is something else entirely.

***

“Nate hold up,” Miller sat at her desk and watched Marcus Cole catch up to his brother from a video clip from the previous day. Resting an elbow on the arm of her chair she watched as the two brothers started talking, the Captain most adamantly based on what she was seeing.

The sound immediately muted as her door just swung open as an older gentleman just barged it without even a hello. Behind him her assistant hovered at the door looking extremely apologetic that she couldn’t stop this intrusion. She held up a hand to let her know she had this. After the door closed Miller just said, “I wasn’t informed that we had an appointment today.”

Again without a hello or even an apology he not quite slammed but close enough both hands on her desk, “Did you know?”

“You have no idea how loaded that question is,” not a lie or exaggeration since this position gave her access to a lot of information, secret or otherwise. “But just to narrow things down what exactly was I supposed to know about?”

In a huff, and without permission, he grabbed her tablet and started going through it. Then he put it on the desk, at least he had the decency to keep it screen up, and pointed at something. “This. Captain Cole has authorized that the new ammunition be distributed to the guards around here.”

“Oh that,” she said almost casually because she knew it would get under his skin. And after just barging in she didn’t care if she offended him or not since he didn’t particularly care about invading her office without permission. “No, I didn’t know but it is in his purview. They are technically under his command after all so he’s well within his rights.”

“Have you not seen the test results for them?“

“I’ve been aware of the results long before you pushed to have them distributed anyway. Something about having funds wasted on something just lying around not being used, I believe that was your argument.” And she wasn’t trying too hard to hide that she was enjoying seeing him turning several shades of red. “Don’t be angry now because the board vote went your way.”

“But they’re practically useless!”

“And they were practically useless when you forced the vote.”

“This is Cole being obstinate,” was all he could manage to say.

“Maybe,” her eyes flicked over to the screen still showing the Cole brothers still in the hallway. In fact Marcus looked like he was almost pleading with Nathan. “He does take after his father in a lot of ways. However his father would be a lot more aggressive in his disagreement over the issue. All things considered this response is almost tepid in comparison.”

“It’s still unacceptable,” he said, although there was no conviction behind it.

“Perhaps further testing is required,” she said. “After all, anything that is being used for security should work perfectly for the men we put on the front line when the Cryptids show up. In fact I’ll draft that order right now. If you will excuse me,” picking up her tablet she started typing something up while turning her chair around. He didn’t argue and she kept the chair turned around until she heard the door open and close.

Still she waited a moment before turning back around and putting the tablet down. She would get back to that draft in a moment. She knew there was going to be a backlash against that order and she wasn’t the only one. Several board members were surprised that the vote actually went through. Although to be honest she was even more surprised by Captain Cole’s response, she was expecting something more bombastic. She looked at the brothers on the screen again. Obviously Marcus Cole calmed his brother down. If this was the result of him being around, maybe finding a way to keep him around after the second driver was activated might have some benefits.

***
In her chamber the Priestess waited patiently while she mixed some herbs and various oils together in a stone bowl. The amount inside wasn’t much, barely enough to cover a fingertip but it would be enough for what was needed. Still grinding it together she heard multiple footsteps walk in. More than the number she was expecting. She simply looked up to see the spike thrower she had summoned along with several guards and most surprisingly their lord stood before her. “A most surprising greeting.”

“I have come to witness the anointing,” their lord said. The hood over her head covered up her surprised reaction. This was something he had never done before. “As is your right,” she said, still grinding away. Once she put the stone pessel down and used the same gnarled hand to beckon the the spike thrower forward who compiled without hesitation. “You are the first to survive the transformation, nor will you be the last. But it is your destiny as the first survivor to lead the assault to the above world.” The thrower knelt down a bit as she reached into the bowl and scooped up the mixture on a single finger.

None of the others, not even their lord, said nothing as she started chanting as she started using the mixture to draw lines on the thrower’s face. The mixture vanished almost as fast as she was applying it. The humans would never see it but all if their kind would know he was the chosen one. Finishing her chant she put the bowl down and used an old piece of cloth to wipe her finger clean. “Rise,” she commanded and the thrower stood tall. With a wave the thrower stepped back and she walked over to another raised stone pedestal.

“I assume,” their lord said as she reached into the sleeve of her robe as she stopped in front of the pedestal, “you gathered the other reason why I am here?”

“You would only come here for two reasons,” Emptying the contents of the bag she retrieved into her hand she looked in his direction. “If you were here for the other reason you would have more guards with you and I would have a replacement. Since there is no replacement then there is only one reason.” He strode forward as she threw what was in her hands onto the pedestal. All remained quiet as she studied the pattern.

“It is time,” she said. But added, “My lord, a moment if you will allow it.” The guards looked in his direction but he waved them away, although one did stay as the others left. “I do not need to see the patterns to know that the humans have been doing as I have and do what they could to improve their weaponry. The Rider is proof of this.”

“His appearance has changed since we first encountered their champion devil.”

“And so has the Rider’s effectiveness. We would be unwise to believe that they would only improve the Rider and not their other warriors.”

He stood there and absorbed her words. Slowly he nodded, “”A wise warning. I will send an observer to see if this warning has already come true.” She nodded as well as he left. With one swift motion she scooped up the stones and pebbles and threw them again. The pattern she saw the first time, she had it again and sooner this time around. She looked up at the door, if no one interrupted her she could study it in peace, and understand what about it bothered her since she first laid eyes on it.

***
“Cap,” one of the guys came in holding a tablet. Marcus looked in Nate’s direction to try and gauge his reaction seeing how the last time he was handed a tablet it almost didn’t go well. “They updated the order from yesterday.”

Nate said nothing as he calmly, almost eeriely so, took the device and read it over. Marcus wasn’t the only one who was inching their way between him and the door. Just reading it he got a satisfied smirk on his face as he looked up, “until further notice, and further testing and development the special ammo is to be removed from the vans and supplies.” This got a cheer out of everyone, even Marcus. “See you just have to be reasonable about these things.” One look at Marcus made him add, “Do not say a word.”

“It’s going to be more than a word if I did,” Marcus told him.

“Hey man,” one of the others came up and wrapped a arm around Marcus's shoulder, “I got no fucking idea what you did but thanks for keeping our Captain out of hot water.”

Before Nate or Marcus could respond another one added, “Yeah we already have him broken in. No way do we want to start over with somebody else.”

“Nothing was going to happen,” Nate insisted. “I was just going to voice my displeasure.”

Marcus looked around the room. “I don’t think any of them believe that man.”

The one who brought in the tablet said, “Trust me little Cole, we all seen the Captain ‘voice’ his displeasure before.”

“Little Cole?”, Marcus went.

“You’re the younger brother ain’t ya?”, he shot back.

“All right,” Nate cut in, “we have orders. Let’s get that garbage out of here.”

“Can’t happen fast enough,” somebody said as they started to do just that. “Hey how mad do you think they’d get if it ended up in the dumpster out back?”

“Don’t tempt me,” Nate told him. He started to go with them when Marcus stopped him. “What is it bro?”

“Little Cole?”, he repeated.

“Seriously,” Nate went, “ a nickname is bothering you? You always had a thicker skin than that.”

“But little? I’m taller than you are by a good two inches.”

“That’s how nicknames like that work ‘little’ bro.” And Marcus looked annoyed by his use of the word little, good then he hadn’t lost his older brother touch then. “Temporary or not it means they’ve accepted you. Besides I know these guys it could have been much, much worse. Now come on, we’re going to help load all that terrible ammo up and get it out of here.” The alert alarm started sounding and both of them looked at each other. “Which is what I would be saying if that didn’t go off.” Marcus rushed over to the couch to grab the back pack he carried the driver in and they headed for the door as the others ran in to do the same.

***

Humans were running and screaming as they marched forward. The unnatural structures they had built created somewhat natural, if you could even use that word, place for mass kills The enhanced spike throwers and the observer selected by their lord held back, just waiting. “We should be up front,”one of the throwers growled as they watched the others chase whatever human was in their sight.

The one anointed to lead said, “It is the will of our lord. The humans do not know of our improved abilities.”

“It is not our way,” the first one grumbled.

“Then run back and complain to him personally,” their leader snapped. The one complaining seethed but he stared in place. They all knew what fate held for any who dared ro do that. The one from the front was seen running toward them. “Why are you not up front?””

“The metal beast, the Rider and the others are coming.”

“Up front now!” the leader ordered. Turning toward the observer he held out a hand to keep him in place. “Watch the battle, stay alive and inform our Lord if what you witness no matter what you see.”

“I will be one with the shadows.” he said before stepping to the side. The leader changed shape as several appendages grew from his grey skinned back. If the others stayed with the plan the Rider would not know what was happening until it was too late.

***
“Listen up!,” Nate ordered as he got everybody’s attention in the back of the assault van. “We’re a minute away from the attack zone. Reports are saying it’s a moderately sized force we’re up against. I want us firing at anything that doesn’t look human as soon as those doors open up.” He pointed at the back of the van. A round of affirmative acknowledgements soon followed. He walked through the small space to find Marcus sitting on one of the two benches on the inside. He already had the backpack open and had the driver and buckle at the ready. Nate quickly went over and tightened one of the loose straps on the vest he was wearing. This act quickly caught his attention.

“What?”, he said looking up.

“Keep this on at all times this time around,” Nate told him. “Do you understand?”

“You do realize,” he quickly retorted, “that I’m more afraid of Kat finding out than I am of you.”

“Who do you think is going to tell her?”, he shot back just as fast. “Now keep those straps tight.” There was a weird sound that caused everybody to duck. It sounded like something piercing metal.” Nate looked around and saw a new hole in the side of the van. “What the fuck?”

“Captain!”, the driver shouted from the front, “We’re under direct attack.” There were a few more pings and new holes appeared right after.

“The fuck is that?” Marcus said, pointing at something on the other side. Nate looked at what he was looking at. In several spots were bone like spikes embedded in the metal.

“Isn’t that what the cryptid shooters fire?”, somebody asked.

“But they didn’t pierce metal before,” said another who looked down at the bullet proof vest. Nate’s hand went to his, if they could pierce metal now then what use were these going to be?

“I might take my chances without the vest,” Marcus said breaking the tension as that line got at least a chuckle out of a couple of the others. Looking at him Nate could tell that wasn’t his original intent.

“We’tre going out hot!”, Nate called out. Everybody got ready as the felt the van quickly spun. Before the vehicle even stopped moving Nate gave the signal and the rear doors swung open, without another word uttered the men in front started firing at the first Cryptid they saw. A few moments later one of them flew back before he could step out into the open.

“Jimmy!”, Nate and a few others called out after he went down. Nate and more burst out of the opening and Marcus and a couple of the others dragged their fallen comrade back into the van . Marcus just happened to catch a glimpse at how distraught the man next to him was looking. Then he saw why, the spike was fully embedded into Jimmy’s chest, right in the heart. He was already gone

Another one whirled around and went down clutching at his shoulder. Marcus immediately reached back for the driver, slapping the buckle on his waist as two straps shot out of it and connected at his back. He shot forward in front of the others causing them to quickly halt their fire. “Marcus!”, he heard his brother call out. Not even thinking about how exposed he was at the moment he tapped the screen of the driver with his thumb.

“Ready,” an electronic voice said from the driver. Hearing those spikes whiz past him he held the driver up preparing to slot it into the buckle. “Henshin!”, he cried out as he slotted the driver in at an angle into the buckle. Swinging both hands to the side he flipped the driver into a more horizontal position and the screen projected a QR code in front of him. As it moved back toward and past him Marcus was left looking almost digitized as the field quickly solidified into the mostly black hercules beetle style armor. The driver spoke one more time, “Kamen Rider Aegis.”

“Okay assholes,” Marcus said cracking his neck, “let's see how bad you are now.” And before Nate could stop him he ran forward.

“This is exactly why I had him training with Phil,” Nate muttered as he watched Marcus just rush into the thick of it. “Give him cover fire,” he ordered and he and the rest did what they could to do just that. But as much as Nate didn’t want to admit it, silently or out loud, that boneheaded move did draw the Cryptid’s attention enough that they were finally able to exit the van and get into better positions.

A Cryprid recoiled back as his fist smashed into it’s horrific face. As it feel back another Marcus’ arms were pinned to his sides as the Cryptid clenched it’s grip tighter and tighter as another stalked toward him, intent obvious as kept clenching and unclenching it’s fists. As best as he could he jumped up, getting enough air that he was able to plant both feet into the approaching Cryptid’s chest and kick him back. Too bad the plan he just quickly improvised only half worked as the one still holding on tight stayed on it’s feet. There were a couple of sudden rifle shots that seemed closr than the others he was hearing but it was enough to startle the Cryptid enough that the grip around him loosened enough that Marcus was was able to flip off and to the ground. After a quick hard kick to it’s head he took the chance to look back to see Nate with his rifle partially raised as he just looked at him with the type of annoyance the older brother could have for the younger brother.

And his attention was squarely on him and not the Cryptid was coming up behind him. Marcus quickly ran past him, catching Nate off guard as he ran past and intercepted the surprise attack. This Cryptid wasn’t much of a fighter of any type as it quickly went down and started scurrying off. “What the fuck?”, Marcus muttered watching go off, obviously not the leader as the assault continued. Then he caught sight of Nate looking at him again. Marcus just shrugged and said, “Call it even?”

“Just find the leader,” he responded with annoyance as he took aim and fired off another short burst. Both of them just happened to see one, apparently a shooter, look like it was motioning commands of some sort to the others around it.

“”What do you think, a possibility?”, Marcus asked him.

“It’s a starting point,” Nate got out as they headed in that direction. Then Marcus grasped at his arm as he spun to the street, crying out at the sudden pain and force that spun him. “Marcus!”, Nate cried out as he quickly went to his downed brother. “Marcus!”, he repeated as knelt down keeping the barrel of his rifle pointed in the direction of the suspected leader. “Marcus talk to me!”

“Son of a bitch,” Marcus ended up grunting as he got to his knees, still holding his right arm. With a little prodding by Nate he removed the hand so they could inspect the damage. Marcus’s worst fear was cleared as there wasn’t a spike sticking in his arm, But he was still bleeding from a sizable gash iin his arm. Whatever they did to those spikes was enough to rip through the material the armor’s undersuit was made out of, not to mention his flesh. And not only did it hurt it burned like hell. “This thing better still be under warranty.”

The fact he was making a joke, at least he hoped it was a joke, put Nate at ease a bit. He motioned for Marcus to head toward a nearby vehicle, it would be a bit of cover at least. Marcus didn’t argue as he headed in that direction, but keeping his head down. “It looks superficial,” he told Marcus as he gave the wound a quick inspection. “It should stop bleeding after a bit. So how mad do you think Kat’s going to be at this?”

“We’re going to want to keep fighting the Cryptids,” Marcus told him.

“That bad huh,” Nate commented as he tried to get some sort of look at what was going on. “”All units, the leader is in the back, apparently a shooter. Somebody get word to HQ that they did something to enhance the shooters and to equip the strongest armor we have.” Saying that last bit out loud made him look back at Marcus who was looking down at the driver at his waist.

“You swipe left for the armor upgrades right?”

“Marcus no,” Nate quickly told him. The scientists were still studying it and how his blood was going to affect it.

“We don’t have a choice,” he shot back. His eyes glanced over at the wound on his arm. Cover me,” he said as he stood up. Nate swore under his breath as he moved to take position and started firing. Marcus swiped left on the screen pulling up the code he just discovered and tapped the screen.

“Armor!”, the driver announced. Several book sized QR codes shot and started flying around him. Connecting and sliding under his feet. It started moving up leaving more digitized effects on his body. They solidified into more armor around his thighs, and biceps his chest armor extended down and the coller raised up a bit armor piece formed on his forearms with four scallops adorning each new gauntlet.

“Interesting,” Marcuse said after he quickly looked himself over. “Let's try that again,” he said while rotating his injured arm a bit. He winced under the helmet but it was bearable so he charged again, this time in the direction of the suspected leader. Still at the first Cryptid he reached he kicked it with all he had and set it flying into another one. A metallic ping made him stop his charge and he looked down and saw a spike roll on the ground then he was hit again and saw the spike fall off him. With a short laugh he looked back at Nate, “Looks like I’m spike proof.” Then he was tackled from behind

Another bruiser started pounding him in the back of the head. Grunting, “Get off!”, Marcus pushed up and got free. Quickly he went for a punch at the Cryptid behind him. It moved, but not enough as the scallops on his forearm made contact with it’s flesh and cut deep as the momentum of his swing kept him going. Marcus regained his balance fast enough but the Cryptid fell backwards, clutching at it’s chest

Marcus looked at it then at those scallops which now had a bit of it’s blood on them. “And nobody could tell me this was a thing before now?” Catching sight of another Cryptid coming at him made him react by reaching out to grab the creature and throw it over his head. Another one came close enough that he slashed it around the neck with the other set of scallops. Around then Marcus realized something, the leader was holding back and not charging forward like the most of the others had.

“Marcus!”, he heard Nate through the armor’s communication system, “fall back to my position. We need a plan other than this * Marcus looked back at the leader who was taking aim after coming forward a bit then quickly fell back as it fired a round of that spike. This felt all kinds of wrong but he started his way back to Nate who was still at that car.

“You have a plan?”, he asked once he got back to the car.

“Not a great one,” he admitted, “but it’s better than nothing.” One of the others ran up and handed Nate a couple clips of ammunition. To Marcus he said, “You notice how the one we think is the leader is staying back for the most part?”

“I’m starting to think it’s not him.”

“Captain,” the man who brought the clips said, “it looks like the others are guarding him. Everytime Little Cole gets close one from the front line comes right at him.”

“Again with the little?”, Marcus complained, and Nate completely ignored.

“I saw that too so chances are good that shooter is the leader.” While he was saying that he was also changing clips in his rifle. Granted Marcus didn't know that much about guns and rifles but that clip still looked fairly full to him. Then again Nate did so he just ignored it.

“Wait,” Marcus went, “if that shooter is the leader why isn’t he up front?”

“Because shooters aren’t known to be that great of fighters” the both ducked as several spikes hit the car from a couple of different directions, there was more than one of them, at least one almost came all the way through right next to Nate’s head. The moment clearly unnerved him but he kept going. “It makes sense that he’d hold back. Which means we have to break that and disrupt that line.”

“And how do we do that?”, Behind him Marcus noticed the third man in the group looked at the fresh clip in his hand with some trepidation before slamming it home in his rifle. Okay what the hell was going on?

“We use the test ammo,” Nate told him.

*How are you planning on getting that close?, Marcus demanded as yet another volley hit the car they were behind. “You’re going to get mowed down as soon as you pop out from behind here *

Nate looked at him with a smirk, “Remember that football play we used to use in the park to score a goal?”

Unfortunately Marcus knew exactly the play he was talking about. “I fucking hated that play.” Still he positioned himself then charged toward the Cryptid line again with Nate right behind him Heading right toward the line and the shooters quickly zoned in on him and started firing away. The pings got closer together as he quickly neared. Picking out one shooter in particular Marcus increased his pace then once he was just outside arms length he quickly dropped down in a baseball slide slashing the one next to his initial target in the legs with the scallops as he passed. The one he was running toward looked confused at what just happened suddenly noticed Nate was right in front of him with his rifle up and primed.

“Sup?”, he said at the same time he pulled the trigger. The Cryptid jerked violently as bullets riddled it’s chest before falling. More gunfire to his right meant that the man who brought him the clips had followed too. Nate swung his rifle around and shot another one as the other did the same while Marcus was fighting off any Cryptid coming their way.

“How many times do you think we can do that?”, he quickly asked as he looked around.

“Just take the leader!”, Nate told him. Marcus gave him a quick nod before running at that one shooter. Nate and his man kept firing, while taking out a couple more, started falling back a bit as both noticed that they were starting to try and circle around the three of them.

“Die Rider!”, the shooter yelled as he continued firing away. He was enhanced, he was chosen. Why wasn’t the Rider falling? Marcus got closer then landed a punch that sent the Cryptid reeling and those spikes firing wildly, even hitting one of his own in the back as the impact took its off it’s feet. In the moment Marcus quickly realized how bad that wild firing could be, especially if there were a few dumbasses stupid enough to hang around and watch. Tackling the Cryptid to the ground, and after a brief struggle Marcus was able to grab one of those appendages and ripped it off to make sure that one couldn’t fire again. The cryptid screamed in pain and started thrashing around enough to shake Marcus off.

Both got to their feet but Marcus was the first to attack with a right cross and pressed the attack not given the Cryptid room to breath much less fire off another spike. He kept pounding and pounding until he felt something grab him and pull him off. It was a couple of more Cryptids that he was quickly able to fight out, added by Nate and a couple of others and he was able to concentrate on the Shooter he was fighting. It struggled to get to his feet and his hand immediately to the driver and swiped to the right pulling up another code and tapped the screen. “Thunder Drill,” the driver called out.

“Huh?”, Marcus said looking down at the driver. That was not the announcement he was expecting. A light effect coming from his right forearm, from the scallops to be exact. he watched as the energy started spinning in alternating clockwise and counterclockwise rings. “Okay,” Marcus went, “drill, you punch forward.” Running in to close the distance and figuring the Cryptids hasn’t seen anything like this he jumped up and delivered a Superman style punch as the energy rings engulfed his forearm and fist into a point and hit the shooter with all he had. The Cryptid spun back, exploding before it even hit the ground. Marcus, Nate and the rest quickly turned their attention to the other Cryptids to see what they were going to do. None of them relaxed until the first one started to retreat causing the others to do the same. Letting out a breath he looked back at Nate and pointed at his forearm, “That would have been nice to know ahead of time.”

Before Nate could say anything a couple of guys who startes securing the area past by. One of them could be heard saying, “Did you see something glow behind Little Cole’s left ear?”

“Nah man,” the other replied,” I was paying too much attention on not dying.”

Nate was going to have to talk to those two and remind them about unnecessary conversations while in the field. Speaking of, “Why did you hate that play? Do you even remember how many goals we scored with it?”

“I was the smallest guy on the team and you had me out front taking the brunt of the defense.”

“Bro we called it the arrowhead. The point of the arrow is always the smallest part of it.”

“”If we ever get a game going you are going to be the point shorter brother.” Before Nate could fire back a response Maecuse started stretching his neck while trying to get a finger between the new collar around his neck and the undersuit.

“That tight?”, NaTe asked.

“Do you remember those shirts we used to get from Aunt Lucy?”

“The ones with the super starched collars that we had to wear when she visited no matter how bad they chaffed our neck, what about them?”

Pointing at the collar he told Nate, “This is almost as bad.”

“Bro, those shirts were fabric, and this is a,” Nate was saying as he reached out and touched that collar. His eyebrows went up a bit, “Actually that’s pretty close.”

“More importantly,” Marcus held up both of his forearms, “Why am I ripping off Batman?”

***
The Rider had prevailed, that much was obvious when she threw her scrying material again. Their Lord saw it on her face and he was not pleased. But there was something else, something she had seen before. Something she hadn’t seen in years but it wasn’t possible. There was no way this sign should have appeared again

***
Rubbing his right arm slightly Marcus walked with Nate as both prepared to leave.”It’s going to be fun explaining this to Kat,” he said while making sure the bandage didn’t bulge too much under his sleeve. “I had her convinced I’d be safe with the armor on. Hell I was convinced I was safe with the armor on.”

“That caught me by surprise too bro,” Nate told him. “Anytime dad came home hurt he swore up and down it happened before he activated his armor.”

“Still didn't stop mom from looking like she wanted to kill him,” Marcus commented and the both chuckled. “Fortunately, once the other driver gets going I’m not going to have to worry about this any more.”

As soon as they hit the lobby they heard ,”Marcus!” Both looked at the entryway and saw Kat and the director there. Kat looked down at the stroller and Maddie looking at her new surroundings. Marcus quickly broke away and met both of his girls. He was surprised when Kat immediately went for his right sleeve and raised it up.

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Marcus quickly told her, looking back toward Nate for some support, as he walked up. He was keeping his distance but he was there. Clearly out of the danger zone but he was there.

“Were you even going to tell me?”, Kat demanded.

“Be kinda hard to hide this,” he said gesturing toward the bandage. Suddenly she wrapped both of her arms around his neck and held on tight. “Hey,” he said while putting his arms around her, realizing she was shaking slightly, “I’m okay, it’s just a scratch.”

Kat pulled away enough to look at him, “Do you have any idea what was going through my head when the Director called and told me you were hurt?” Letting out a growl like sigh he looked over at Director Miller, Who, truth be told, did not look all that impressed by the look he was giving her.

“I felt,” she said, clasping her hands behind her back, “that if you were like your father then something this minor wouldn’t be brought up. I promised your mother to keep her in the loop. I decided to extend the same courtesy to Katherine.”

Suddenly letting go of Kat Marcus looked down at Maddie who was wearing a yellow sun dress, and immediately reached down and picked her up. While she squealed happily Marcus held her saying, “Can you believe that mean old lady made mommy worry over nothing.?”

Both Kat and Nate looked at the Director. She looked nonplussed at his comment, going so far as to say, “I’ve been called worse.”

Kat walked up to her as Nate joined them, “Marcus thinks I won’t do anything to him as long as he’s holding Maddie. He keeps forgetting he has to put her down eventually.”

“He got that from Dad,” Nate told them. “He used to pull the same move with us when he was trying to avoid Mom’s wrath. You did know that level one pass gets you past the gate?”, he said pointing at the lanyard she was wearing.

Her hand went to it, “I know but I wasn’t sure about Maddie being with me.”

“Oh I think,” the Director said walking up to Marcus and Maddie, “we would have made an exception for this little angel,” She put a hand on Maddie, accidentally moving part of the sundress covering her shoulder. She was stunned for a moment seeing the two scratch like marks on her shoulder. She quickly tried to cover up her stunned reaction by smiling. Marcus caught her initial reaction and looked confused.

Kat caught it too, “It’s a birthmark.” To Marcus she said, “A reminder that we’re going to have to explain that for a while.” The Director excused herself leaving them be. But she was able to catch a glimpse Behind Marcus’ left ear. While he wore his hair slightly longer than the Captain the same scratch like mark was just visible.

Pausing at the door she took one more glance back at the happy family. She looked slightly concerned for a moment before walking through the door.

***
It was dark when the Director arrived home. Reaching down she petted the old shepard dog that greeted her. “Hello Fred, holding down the fort? I’ll check your food in a bit, I have to take care of something really fast, okay?” Fred turned his head but kept panting. “All right, all right I’ll feed you now.” Fred practically trotted toward the kitchen with her in tow.

After putting his dish down Fred started gobbling the food up. Smiling at the dog she walked to her home office, closed the door and walked over to the desk. Turning on the computer she typed in a password and in moments a blank window popped up. Her private access to the AI program. “Hello Director Miller, was there something you forgotten?”

“No,” she said. “What was my order regarding Madison Ciole?”, she walked over to a built-in bar.

As she picked up a a particular bottle and opened it up the AI replied, “You ordered me to erase anything I collected on Madison Cole. Later you told me to not look into her again.”

She nodded while carrying the glass back to the desk. “I’m altering the order. Look into Madison Cole’s medical history. As deep as you can go without being noticed. Do not save anything you find to your servers. Send it to me directly and only to me. Is that understood?”

“Yes Director Miller,” the program answered as she took a sip of her drink. “Is there anything else?”

“No, wait yes. Look into Marcus Cole and identify anything that would seem… unusual.”

“I will comply. But can I ask why the change?”

“No,” she said right before cutting the link. Sitting in a chair she opened a drawer and pulled out an old manilla folder. “Some things are need to know. And right now I’m the last one who know anything”