> Kamen Rider Shifter
>  by Banshee531
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Episode 1: A Shift in Life
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot, a city of many amazing individuals.

The people of the city were living their lives, wondering what insane situation might happen next in the crazy city. Over the last year, many strange things had occurred in Canterlot. Most of it was situated around Canterlot High, but over time the strangeness began to spread out. But what nobody knew was that on that day, the most unusual thing ever seen was about to occur.

At Canterlot High, the students were all arriving at the building ready for another day of education.

This included a blue haired orange skinned boy named Flash Sentry, who had just arrived to the school on his pedal bike. The teen huffed in exhaustion, having not gotten used to needing to get up earlier now that he couldn't drive his car. Why, you ask?





Three days ago.

Flash let out a moan as he felt himself beginning to come around. His head was completely fuzzy but he knew one thing: He wasn't currently asleep on his bed.

Instead, he felt himself laid out on something hard. He opened his eyes and found himself looking directly up at the sky. His body ached as he pushed himself into a sitting position. He looked around and found he was actually in an alleyway, one he frequently walked through when he was heading home from where he parked his car.

He pushed himself to his feet, but ended up staggering slightly as his legs felt like jelly. He managed to regain his strength and looked around, trying to figure out what he was doing sleeping in an alleyway. "What happened to me last night?" He tried to think back, but the last thing he remembered was getting out of the car after parking it and heading towards his house. But everything after that was a total blank.

He reached into his pocket to grab his phone to check the time, but when he did he found it wasn't there. "What?" He began checking his other pockets but they were empty too. His phone, keys, wallet, all of it was missing. "I've been robbed!"





The police believed that Flash had been snuck up on from behind and knocked out, though he didn't appear to have any injuries that would result in a KO.

Despite his keys being taken, Flash's car remained where it was and nothing from it seemed to be taken. However, with his only key set gone he had no way to use it. So until he could get himself a new set, Flash was stuck riding his old bike to school.

Pulling up to the side of the building where the bikes were kept, he put it into place and used his bike lock to keep it from being stolen. He then swung his bag over his back and headed into the building.

"Flash!" He turned to see his friend Derpy heading towards him, "hey. You doing okay after what happened?"

"I'm fine," he told her. "Just wish I knew who it was that got the jump on me." Derpy nodded as they headed for their lockers and started getting what they needed, Flash placing his bag inside and taking out his books whilst Derpy grabbed everything she needed.

"I heard the Rainbooms managed to stop another magic attack the other day."

"Really?" Flash asked, "what was it this time. Did magic infect a coffee maker and turn anyone who drank from it into a magical being with super powers?" Derpy laughed at this, but shrugged telling him she didn't know what it was that they beat.

"All I know is it was pretty dangerous and the girls barely managed to stop it."

Flash sighed, "man I wish I could be like that. If I had magic, I could help those that need it like the girls." He imagined what life would be like if he had one of the girl's powers, even the slightly less useful ones like animal speak and reading minds. If he had something like that, he could help people like he always wanted to do. Unfortunately, it was highly unlikely something like that would ever happen to him.

"I bet it's not as great as the girls make it seem," Derpy told him. "I mean, they're constantly on guard for anything that might happen around him. That sounds really stressful if you ask me."

"Maybe," Flash nodded as Derpy headed off for her homeroom. Flash closed his locker and as he did, he turned to put his back against it to think about what Derpy had said. His hand then reached into his pocket and took something out of it. A device that he had found three days ago.





Three days ago.

"I've been robbed." But then, he felt something in his jacket pocket. Something that was too heavy for his keys and wallet and to big to be his phone.

He reached inside and felt some kind of glass screen in his pocket, which was connected to something thick. He pulled it out and looked it over, seeing it was just like Flash had felt. It was a glass rectangle with multiple dots covering it, which looked like they were actually lights. The glass was big enough that Flash could put his entire hand on it and be completely inside it. On the left side of it, there was a thick square-shaped rod of metal that ran up the side of it and had a button on the top of it. On the left side, between the rod and the dots, letters could be seen one on top of the other to make a word. S, T, R, I, K, E.

Flash looked the device over and pressed the button on top of the rod, which caused it to come to life. "STRIKE!" It cried, surprising him as several dots in the middle of the screen lit up and glowed orange. Doing so caused them to make the outline of an insect, which appeared to have a light on its rear end. Flash realised it was a lightning bug, the lights suddenly going out before other came on to make the same animal shape but in a different pose. It did this several more time, the lights flash on and off to make it look like the insect was flying all around the screen. It didn't stop until Flash pressed the button again, confusing him. "What is this thing?"





Present.

Flash stared at the device, still wondering what the heck it was. He wanted to show it to somebody, but every time he thought about doing so he got a strange feeling that made him think again. He was completely clueless about what the heck was going on, but he knew whatever this device was, it was important.

He put the device back into his pocket and began to make his way to his homeroom, the teen trying to get the unusual item out of his mind. But what he didn't realised was that the item in question would prove rather important to him in the coming days and weeks. Rather important to the entire town in fact, as time would soon demonstrate.





In the suburbs of Canterlot, inside a quint little home, a man was busy getting ready for work.

His wife and children were all laughing around the table, since it was there day off from work and school so they didn't have to hurry to get anywhere. "Daddy!" A two year old girl called out, showing her father a picture she had just drawn of the family together.

"Wow," he told her as he knotted his tie. "That's great honey. You're a young Leonardo." The girl looked confused by the statement, but could tell it was a compliment and smiled. "Well," he turned to his wife, "I'd better get to work." She nodded and reached up to kiss him, the kids letting out several disgusted looks as they did.

He headed out the front door, grabbing his briefcase and coat as he left. He stepped outside and took a deep breath of the fresh air before heading to his car. As he did, he noticed a tiny spider had made a home for itself on his wing mirror. He smiled, happy to see his car could keep a living thing safe and shot it the world.

But before he could get in the car, he heard something that made him spin around. Movement coming from around the side of his house, causing him to raise an eyebrow. "Who's there?" He asked, putting his briefcase down and taking out his phone. "Whoever you are, show yourself before I call the cops."

After a few moments, somebody stepped out from behind the house. He couldn't see who it was they were, since their entire body was hidden from view by a dark brown cloak with a deep hood that hid their entire face. The figure stepped around the house and slowly made its way towards him, the man feeling very weary about the figure.

"Who are you?" He asked, as the figure got right in front of him. "Why are you here?"

"I am here to remind you," the figure explained. "The time has come for our people to attack and claim this world." He lifted his hood and the man was met with a pair of green eyes. "Awaken and remember what you truly are." These words combined with the eyes caused the man's head to suddenly explode with information, making him grab his head and fall to his knees as he cried out.

"Gyah!" He was in tears as the information flowed through his head, his brain running on overdrive as he remembered everything. After a few seconds, he stopped crying out and looked up at the cloaked figure. "I am...Keel-Tra-Vull. Ready to receive orders."

"Good," the cloaked figure nodded. "Attack and destroy. Let all those in this world know that their time is up." With that, he turned to walk off whilst the man calling himself Keel stood back up. The figure vanished around the side of the house as Keel turned to the spider that was crawling on his wing mirror, the man reaching out and grabbing it in his hands.

As soon as he did, his entire body began to transform. His skin began to melt into a strange dark orange liquid, which consumed his entire form before it started reshaping.

Eventually, the reshaping finished and the liquid began to solidify and be absorbed by the body within it. And in doing so, a new creature was revealed. It was a fusion of a man and a spider, the creature's body being grey in colour with green stripes covering it. Its head was round and had eight bright red eyes, along with a pair of mandibles where its mouth should be. Its arms and legs were normal, but from out of its back had sprouted four spider legs that were large and spindly.

The creature looked its new body over before releasing the hand that had grabbed the spider. From it, a lump of orange amber-like substance fell to the ground. Inside the amber, the spider from before was trapped.

The door of the house opened up and the woman stepped out. "Honey, I thought I heard yelling and-" She stopped when she saw the creature, which turned towards her and let out a roar. The woman screamed as ran back into the house, the spider creature chasing after her but getting stopped when she slammed the door shut.

It pounded against the door, threatening to rip it down any second. But before it could, the sound of a motor filled its eyes and made it turn to see a motor bike rolling down the road. The rider looked over at the house and spotted the creature, almost losing balance from the shock of seeing it. The monster began to charge towards him and the rider let out a scream, riding away as fast as possible.

The monster chased after him as as it did, it let out a hiss as a chord of white sticky string shot out of its mouth. It barely missed the back wheel, the rider crying out and increasing speed. The spider kept up and the pair arrived at the more populated area of the city, the people of Canterlot hearing the man's screams and turning to see him being chased by the monster.

They wondered if this was some kind of performance, until the spider fired out a bunch of webbing that grabbed the wheel of the bike and caused the rider to be thrown from the vehicle. The beast then grabbed the webbing in its humanoid hands and began swinging it and the bike around before throwing it, the bike flying through the air towards a group of people.

They screamed and barely managed to leap out of the way to avoid getting crushed. As they did, the spider monster leapt up onto a parked car and let out a kiss roar combo that made everyone scream.

"Freeze!" A police officer cried as he rushed up and pulled out a gun, pointing it at the monster. "Put your hands in the air where I can see them!" The spider did so, raising its arms and the four spider-like legs. But then it spat out a glob of webbing that struck the gun and knocked it out of his hand. "Augh!" He cried as it fell to the ground, whilst the spider leapt into the air and landed in front of them. One of its spider legs swung down and slashed him down the front, the cop screaming as his cloths were torn and a large gash appeared on his chest.

He fell to the floor, whilst the monster turned to the people still remaining there. It hissed one more time and charged, the people screaming as they rushed off. The monster gained on them and as they ran, they preyed that somebody would show up to save them.





Flash was in class, his mind still on the strange device he had in his pocket.

He barely seemed to notice when the bell rang and everyone began to pack up, Flash remaining seated staring at his book. That was until he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. "Flash?" He jolted back to earth and turned to see Twilight Sparkle, the glasses wearing girl looking at him curiously. "You okay?"

"Yeah?" He nodded, looking around and seeing they were the only ones in the classroom. "I'm fine." He started packing up before getting to his feet.

"You sure?" She asked as they headed for the door. "You looked a little...distracted."

"I'm fine," he assured her. "Just...got a lot on my mind."

"Well try not to let it effect your school work," she told him. "I'd hate all the work I put into tutoring you to go to waste because you're not paying attention in class. You still up for our session later?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Flash told her as they made their way through the halls. "I need a lot of help if I wanna pass math and history...and science...and geography...and...you get the picture." Twilight laughed at this. "So I heard you and the girls ended up saving the day again a few days back."

"Yeah. Nothing to big. A little kid got their hands on a bubble blower that was enchanted with magic. Every time she blew a bubble, it was grow larger and larger until it touched something. When it did, it sucked it inside before lifting it into the air. We were able to stop it before she sent her whole school into orbit." Flash laughed at this.

"Man I wish I could do stuff like you girls. Super speed, super strength, telekinesis. I'd love to have one of those powers."

"Well you've got a lot of skills most would kill for," Twilight reminded him. "Even Rainbow would have to admit you're guitar skills are the best around. And you're the best driver in school. You're the only one who has a licence and hasn't gotten a parking or speeding ticket."

"Still not as cool as you what you girls can do," Flash pointed out. Twilight was about to argue back, but before she could...something happened.

All of a sudden, a wave of dizziness suddenly washed over Flash. The teen suddenly staggered to the side and had to lean against the locker, moaning as he did so. "Flash?" Twilight asked as he held a hand to his head. "Are you okay?"

Flash tried to block out the dizziness, but as he did he felt images appear on the forefront of his head. Images of down town Canterlot, which was being destroyed by something. A creature he had never seen before. He shook his head and when he did, the images vanished but the dizziness continued.

"Flash?" He blinked and his eyes began to focus again, allowing him to see Twilight looking at him worriedly. Several other students who were moving between classes were also looking at him, some looking worried whilst others seemed confused. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he told her. "Just...got dizzy for a moment." But as he said that, he suddenly got a very powerful urge. And urge to go see if what he had seen was real or not. He couldn't explain it, but it was like a hunger. A thirst begging to be quenched.

"Maybe you should go see the nurse?" Twilight suggested. Flash wanted to deny it, but he would rather do that then have everyone continue to look at him.

"Maybe you're right," he told her. "I'll head over there. You go get to your next class."

"Are you sure?" She asked, "I could come with." Flash shook his head.

"Naw, you go on. I'm just a little dizzy. I can survive on my own long enough to get to the nurse." Twilight frowned, but seemed to buy it.

"Alright." She began to walk away, "I'll come check on you at lunch." Flash nodded and began making his way towards the the nurses office whilst Twilight headed to her next class. But as he drew closer to the room in question, the drive to leave and go to the area he saw grew stronger and stronger.

He eventually arrived at the office and was about to knock, but once again the dizziness overcame him and his clutched his head as images of the monster attacking flash through his mind. He wanted to ignore them, but he could no longer fight the urge he felt. The urge to go to this creature and do...something.

Before his mind could make him stop, he pulled away from the nurses office and rushed down the hall towards the exit out to the parking lot. He jumped through the door and ran to his bike, unchaining the vehicle before pulling it out of the bike lock.

By the time his mind finally caught up with his body, he was already racing down the road on his bike and peddling like a madman. "This is nuts," he told himself. "Why am I doing this? I'm not gonna find anything there. And even if what I saw is true, what the heck can I do about it. I'm nothing special." What Flash didn't realise was that the device in his pocket was starting to glow, its power beginning to influence him. Whatever happened when he arrived downtown was gonna be big. Whether Flash realised it or not.





In a dark area, the figure in the brown cloak was watching something. A screen that appeared to have been projected into midair.

The figure stared at the screen, which was showing footage of the spider monster as it ran a muck in the city. "Perfect," he chuckled whilst watching. "Do more damage. Destroy everything you see." Sure enough, the spider monster used its four spindly legs to stab into a car and throw it towards some people. Nobody had been hurt yet, but they were running out of places to hide.

As the figure continued to watch, he was soon greeted by two more figures in the exact same cloaks. One was taller then the first and appeared more thin, whilst the second was a little shorter then the first but had more bulk filling out the cloak.

"Gule," the taller one said with a female voice, "how goes our first operation?"

The cloak known as Gule laughed. "Excellent Maya. I knew activating this monster would be a good start. The humans don't know what to think of him."

"Don't get too overconfident," the bulkier figure stated. "If we believe we've won before the final strike lands, then we'll only be inviting our own doom."

"Relax Frill," Gule told him. "We've been studying this world long enough to know the human's capabilities. There's nothing here that could destroy us, not even those seven magical girls."

Maya nodded. "And once this world has been conquered and purged, we'll move onto the world that the magic they wield came from. I look forward to wielding it myself once I've found a strong enough host."

Frill let out an uninterested hmm. "Let's stay focused on our main goal for now. Even if their weapons do little to no damage to us, a lucky hit could still spell our untimely demise."





Back at school, Twilight sat in her geology class taking notes.

But that stopped when the overhead speaker came on and Principal Celestia's voice echoed out of it. "Will Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity please come to my office." Twilight frowned and turned to Rarity, who looked just as confused, but both got up and left the room.

They headed down the hallway and met up with Fluttershy and Pinkie. "What's going on?" Fluttershy asked, "did we do something to get in trouble?"

"I don't remember doing anything," Pinkie stated.

Rarity also looked worried, but did her best to hide it. "I'm sure whatever it is, it's nothing too severe. And I'm sure we can talk ourselves out of it if we are." They arrived outside the hallway and found Rainbow, Applejack and Sunset coming from the other way. "Rainbow, did you do something to get us in trouble?"

"Not me," she assured them. "I've been on my best behaviour lately." Before the girls could say anything else, the door opened and Celestia stepped out.

"Good, girls, you're here."

"What's wrong?" Sunset asked, Celestia gesturing for them to come in. Luna was also in the room, which made the girls worry more since she wouldn't be there if this wasn't serious.

"Are we in trouble?" Applejack asked.

"No," Celestia told her before turning her computer towards them. "I called you in because I just received a news report." The girls stared at the image on the screen and their eyes went wide seeing photos and a few videos of some kind of spider creature attacking people.

"What the heck?" Rainbow asked when they looked closer, "what is that thing?"

"We're not sure," Celestia told them. "It just showed up and started attacking people. But one thing's clear, it's not something you would find in this world. So I figured it could only mean one thing."

"It's from Equestria," Twilight caught on before they all turned to Sunset.

She took a closer look at the creature, a frown appearing on her lips. "I've never seen anything like that back home. It must have been a normal person or object that was enchanted with magic and transformed, like Gloriosa and Juniper."

"Does that mean we have to go fight it?" Fluttershy asked.

"What are the chances of it being a hoax?" Luna asked, Sunset shrugging.

"It's possible, but I'd rather not take that chance." She turned to Celestia, "permission to leave school early and go check it out." Celestia nodded, "thanks. Let's go girls!"

"YEAH!" All but Fluttershy cried out, the pink haired girl letting a whisper version of the cry free. They all rushed out the office, Celestia telling them to be careful.

"I'll run ahead," Rainbow told them as they reached the doors. "I'll beat that thing to a pulp until you show up, then we can finish it off with a rainbow blast."

"No way," Twilight told her. "If this thing is using Equestrian Magic, it's not safe to fight it alone. Remember what happened with the mirror and the phone." Rainbow frowned at that, not wanting to get sucked away by the villain a third time. "We should all go together and attack with the rainbow blast as soon as we see it." The others nodded, agreeing that was the smartest move.

So, when they got out of the school, they rushed to their vehicles and began to drive down towards the lower city. All the while, they hoped nobody was gonna be hurt by whatever was attacking.





The spider monster had gotten a lot done since it first showed up. Vehicles had been destroyed, buildings had been trashed and even parts of the street had been demolished.

Several humans had been injured but still managed to escape, the spider looking for its next victim. But as it marched down the street, a sound filled its ears and made it stop in its tracks. That sound came from a bunch of sirens, which were connected to the police SWAT vans that had just driven up to the street.

They pulled themselves to a stop before multiple highly armed officers rushed out with shields and guns at the ready. The spider stared at them as they got in formation. "Surrender or you will be fired upon," the leader of the group called out as they loaded their guns and pointed them through the gaps in the shield wall.

The spider hissed before spitting out a load of webbing and hitting one of the shields.

The officers all let the shots fly, but the monster leapt into the air to avoid them and pulled the webs back. The shield was pulled from the officer holding it and the monster grabbed it, just in time as the police pointed their guns up at it and fired. But the shield protected the spider as it fell and landed in the middle of the ground. It pinned a cop to the ground and swung its legs around, sending those around it flying.

The lead cop pointed his gun at the monster, but the beast spun around and fired a blast of webbing at him that knocked him backwards until he hit the ground. It then fired another stream of sticky silk to pin him to the ground, the man crying out as he was trapped and probably left for a snack later.

The monster continued battling the cops, it only being sheer luck that none of them had been gravely injured. When the last one was knocked to the ground and thrown unconscious, the spider turned towards the lead cop. "No," he struggled against the webs but couldn't get free, "stay back." The beast snarled as it got closer, "HELP!" It reached out with its clawed hand and got closer and closer to his face.

Both were so focused on each other, they didn't notice the sound of a bike rolling down the street.

Flash looked around the destroyed street in amazement, carefully swerving around the destroyed vehicles littering it. The teen then spotted the monster and his eyes went wide when he saw it, pulling his bike to a stop and staring at the spider. "No way," he whispered. The beast looked just like the one he had seen in that vision and as he looked around, he realised he was in the same spot the vision had shown him as well. The urge to come here completely vanished, replaced with a new urge. Getting the heck out of there.

But as he was about to turn to leave, he heard someone cry out. He focused back on the monster and saw the man it had trapped, then looked around to see the other police officers scattered around. If he left, then they would all...

"No," he shook his head, "I can't let that happen." He looked around and spotted a piece of broken cane, the teen reaching down and grabbing it before throwing it as hard as he could. The metal spun through the air and slammed into the monster's head, though it didn't even seem to scratch it.

The spider looked up form its pray and spotted Flash, the teen completely terrified but putting up a brave front. "Come and get me!" He cried, the cop turning to him before fainting in terror. The teen turned to ride away on his bike, but the monster was faster and spit out a blast of webbing that hit the wheel and locked it to the ground. "No!" Flash turned back to see the monster coming, the guitar player leaping off his bike and running.

The spider gave chase and slowly managed to catch up to him.

It tried to slash at him with its spiked leg, but Flash managed to leap to the side to avoid it. This caused the leg to stab into the floor, causing it to dig into the ground and get stuck. He then ran as fast as he could, as the spider tried to pull its leg free. When it wasn't looking, he ducked down one of the alleyways between a pair of tall buildings.

The spider finally pulled its leg free and looked up, seeing no sign of Flash.

The teen ran as fast as he could down the alleyway. But as he got about halfway down, he realised he had made a mistake when he saw a large wall in front of him. "No!" He cried, reaching the wall and looking up at it. There was no way to climb it and when he looked back, down the alleyway, he spotted only a single door going into each of the buildings.

He ran to the closest and tried to pull it open, but it was locked. It was the same with the other door. He was trapped.

A hissing made him freeze and slowly turn to see the spider monster glaring at him from the end of the alley. He stepped away from the door and the pair stared one another down, Flash's heart beating a million beat a minute. The beast let out a snarl before it charge, claws and spikes ready to impale him.

Flash's body acted before he could think, rushing forward as fast as he could run towards the monster. It seemed to think he had gone nuts and prepared to kill him. But at the last minute, he leapt down and slid along the ground under the monsters legs and claws.

He slid to the other side of the monster and leapt back to his feet, attempting to escape by running as fast as he could. But the monster quickly spun around and fired a blast of webbing that struck Flash in the back. "Gah!" He cried at the impact, making him stagger forwards before the line went taught. The next thing Flash knew, he was being pulled backwards with enough force that he was thrown upwards. "GYAH!" He cried as he swung up in an arch and came crashing into the ground, crying out as he landed on the other side of the spider monster.

Flash rolled along the ground as something fell out of his jacket. He let out several moans as he laid on the ground, rolling to his front and looking forwards and seeing he was once again trapped between the monster and the wall. He beast hissed, looking ready to kill him any moment. And it was not going to fall for the same trick as before.

Flash then noticed what had fallen to the ground from his pocket: The device from before.

He didn't know why, but he was suddenly overcome by the sudden urge to grab it. And so, his body still aching, he reached out and grasped the screen in his hand. As he did, he felt the pain from before slowly begin to fade and he began to pick himself up.

The spider watched as he stood up and focused on the object in his hands.

He continued to stare at it and as he did, something happened. A sudden pulse flew through his head, causing him to flinch and clutch his head. "Ahh!" He cried, whilst the device began to glow. "Gyah!" Both hands grasped his head as he swung it around. "RAAAAAH!" Then, suddenly, his mind went blank and his body froze.

The spider watched as Flash's arms fell to his side, the device still in his grasp, as his head fell towards the ground and his eyes closed. He almost appeared unconscious whilst remaining on his feet, the teen just standing there limply.

The beast snarled at the boy, having had enough of being ignored. It charged forward, clawed hand raised ready to slash at him. But as it got closer, Flash's eyes shot open and let out a slight glow before turning serious.

And as the spider slashed at him, Flash's left hand reached up and grabbed its wrist. The spider was surprised by this, especially when the grip became so strong it actually hurt. And before it could attempt to attack him with something else, Flash threw its arm to the side before slamming a foot into its chest with enough strength to send it flying.

It hissed when it hit the ground, whilst Flash stood tall and raised his head to show a serious expression. All the fear he had been hiding before had completely vanished.

Suddenly, a bright light appeared around his waist that circled him until it created a ring. The light quickly took shape before fading to reveal a strange looking belt, which was bulky with a large metal case for a buckle that had a glass front. Lights ran around the sides of the belt and three small pipes were on the spot below his arms and on his back that pointed towards the sky.

Flash then held up the black screen-like object and pressed the button on the side, "STRIKE!" The dots appeared to create the images of the lightning bug in motion, whilst Flash reached up and pressed a switch on the left side of the buckle. Doing so caused the other side of the buckle to slide open like a draw, with the side of the buckle still connected to the buckle by a long piece of metal.

Flash placed the screen down so it was resting on the metal, then began to wave his arms around until he struck a pose. "HENSHIN!" With that, he thrust his right hand into the side and pushed the buckle back into place. Doing so locked the thick piece of the screen between the buckle's side and the glass. Now the screen could be seen through the glass, whilst the lights on the belt lit up and glowed orange.

"MIMIC! LIGHTNING BUG!" From out of the pipes, a strange dark orange liquid shot out and flew into the air. It then began to rain down on Flash and when it hit him or the ground, it solidified. Within seconds, his body was completely encased in a strange amber-like cocoon.

The creature stared at it in confusion, until the cocoon started to crack before completely exploding. The amber flew off before stopping in midair, whilst Flash's form was revealed.

He was wearing a black body suit, with a white circle in the center of his chest that had white lines that went to his arms and legs and eventually reaching reached white circles on the backs of his hands and the tips of his boots. His head was covered in a round helmet with a pair of black round glass eyes.

The amber then shot back towards him and hit his body, melting back into the liquid form that changed colour to become a much brighter orange. The liquid struck his arms, legs chest and head before solidifying and becoming transparent armour. His boots became orange whilst a pair of armoured orange gauntlets materialised around his arm from his wrists to his elbows, his chest getting covered by orange armour. On his shoulders, back of his wrists and top of his boots were flat round lights that glowed orange.

The amber of his head morphed into an orange mask that resembled an insect's head that covered the front of his helmet, with a pair of orange antenna that formed a V-shape above his eyes. Finally, the white lines covering his body changed to the same orange as his armour, whilst his eyes changed to a blue colour.





As the armour settled, the belt unleashed new words. "Illuminate the light, striking through the darkness!"

The spider monster hissed at the newly suited individual, clearly confused by his suddenly transformation. This confusion soon vanished and the creature rushed forward, its four spider-legs primed to stab him. But before it could reach him, the lights around Flash's suit glowed brightly.

One of the legs shot forward to stab him, but Flash suddenly leaned out of the way with so much speed that the monster couldn't track him. It then tried to randomly stab him again and again, but Flash kept managing to shift out of the way with ease. As he did, the orange lights around his body created trails of light that slightly blinded the monster.

Then, the armoured teen leapt forward and threw a punch that struck the beast's chest and knocked it flying backwards. It cried out whilst staggering back, then regained its balance before glaring at Flash. It then let out a hiss, firing a blast of webbing at him.

But once again, Flash managed to avoid the attack and rushed forward. He zigged, he zagged, he was an incredible orange blur. The spider fired a blast of webbing and hit a large section of the ground, hoping to get Flash stuck. But to its surprise, he leapt over it and did several flips before landing in front of the monster and unleashing a barrage of punches and kicks that caused the beast incredible pain. With each strike, the energy from the lights on Flash's energy was sent into the beast and burned it.

It leapt back and fired another web stream, but Flash simply reached out and grabbed the end and the energy from his arm light increased and made the string melt. He then leapt up and flew over to the wall of one of the building and bounced off it to charged towards the spider, flying forward and smashing a foot into it.





Back on the destroyed street, the Rainbooms had arrived to find the place in ruins.

"What happened here?" Rainbow asked, the others unable to figure it out. They then spotted one of the police officers laying on the ground and rushed over to him.

"You okay?" Fluttershy asked, the lot rolling him onto his back. He moaned and opened his eyes, sitting himself up but flinching in pain.

"What happened?" Sunset asked, but the cop didn't appear to be in any state to answer question. Instead, she reached out and touched him as her magic activated. Within second, her mind was filled with images of what caused the destruction. A horrifying monster that she had never seen before.

She gasped before pulling away, the others turning to her. "Well?" Applejack asked, Sunset unsure how to answer.

But before she could, an explosion from a nearby alleyway caught their attention. Rainbow was the first to react. "Come on!" Rainbow cried, rushing towards it whilst the others followed after her. The seven reached the entrance of the alleyway and when they did, they were met with the most bizarre sight they had ever seen. And that was saying a lot.

The spider monster Sunset had seen in her vision, staring down a strangely suited figure. And by the looks of things, the monster was in trouble.

Once again, the monster fired a blast of webbing at the armoured figure. But once again, he caught it in his hands. Only this time, he grabbed it in both hands and pulled it harshly. This pulled the beast towards him, as he slammed his right hand into the side of his belt. This pushed the device inwards, causing the belt to announce something.

"CLIMACTIC STRIKE!"

The light on his right boot glowed, the energy unleashed from it surrounding the entire boot.

And as the spider monster reached him, he swung his leg upwards and struck the beast with enough force the send it flying into the air. After that, he stomped his foot into the ground and propelled himself upwards. He shot passed the spider, which became suspended in the air, then somehow shifted directions and shot towards the monster.

Silently, he thrust his glowing foot forward and smashed it into the beast's chest. The monster screamed in pain as the pair flew towards the ground and slammed into it, causing an explosion that filled the entire alleyway.

The Rainbooms cried out at this, covering their faces from the smoke until Rarity put up a shield that blocked it. They opened their eyes and looked into the alley, the smoke slowly fading to reveal the armoured figure. He stood in the path of the smoke, whilst the spider monster was nowhere to be seen. It had been destroyed.

The girls stared at the figure in amazement, clearly missing something as they slowly moved towards him. The figure heard their approach and slowly turned towards them, Sunset being the one to ask the question they all had. "Who...are you?"

The figure remained silent for a moment before speaking rather quickly. "Sheave-Far-Tar!" As he said that, Flash's brain seemed to reboot and he suddenly realised where he was, what he had just done and what he had told the girls.

"Come again?" Applejack asked, not having properly heard him. They watched as the figure looked around and seemed confused, then focused back on the girls. He then raised his arms and the girls were worried he was about to attack, but instead the lights on his armor unleashed a bright light that blinded them.

They all cried out and closed their eyes, forced to look away from the bright orange illumination. And when the light finally faded, they looked back and found the figure had vanished. "Where'd he go?" Rainbow asked, trying to see if she could spot him in any direction. But the figure was completely gone without a trace.

"What did he call himself?" Rarity asked the others, who hummed before Twilight spoke up.

"It sounded kind of like he said...Shifter." This name confused the girls, but they weren't sure what else he could have said. They were completely clueless about what had happened here, what that monster was and where they masked character was. "What's going on?"





Several streets over, Flash panted as he landed in another alleyway and looked himself over. He was completely lost about everything that had just happened and started looking his body over.

He then spotted the belt on his waist that had the device he had been carrying. After a little fiddling, he managed to get the belt open and pulled the device out of it. When he did, the armor he was wearing began to melt off of him and disappear into nothingness.

Once he was back in his normal cloths, he stared at the device and then at the belt on his waist. Said belt suddenly vanished, phasing out of existence and leaving him just as confused. "What happening to me?" He asked no one, terrified beyond belief. What Flash didn't know, what that he was currently being watched.

Up atop on of the buildings, a figure wearing a white hooded cloak stared down at the scared teen. Their face was completely hidden by the cloak, but a pair of green eyes glowing from beneath it. "So," the figure spoke with a male voice, "it has begun."
> Episode 2: A Kamen Rider is Born
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The city of Canterlot was on alert, due to the strange attack that had happened earlier in the day. 

Police, fire crews and paramedics had rushed to the scene, doing their best to get everything under control. The people who had been caught up in the attack, were all saying the same thing. That a monster had attacked them. 

Many people didn't believe this, thinking the victims were all delusional. But they still investigated the area and could find nothing to explain what had happened. 



Several miles away, Flash had walked back to school after having the strangest experience ever. 

His entire body had been going on autopilot and only now, Flash was starting to remember what had happened. The strange sensation he had felt, the uncontrollable running to the site of the attack, the run in with the monster and the strange occurrence that had happened. 

He had somehow transformed into an armored figure and destroyed the monster, but he had no idea how he had done it or where he had gotten the belt and device that had allowed him to destroy the monster. A million questions were racing through his head and as he reached the school and got his bike, he wondered what he should do about it. 

"Maybe I should tell someone," he spoke to himself. "But who?" The first people that came to mind were the Rainbooms. They had been there when he destroyed the monster. Maybe they could help him figure out what was going on. 

But what would they think of him, if he told them he was the one that destroyed that monster? Would they think he was messing with Equestrian Magic? He honestly had no idea. 

"Maybe I should sleep on this," he told himself as he biked back home. He was feeling really tired after what happened and he needed to rest up. 



In a dark area, three individuals are standing around together. 

Each of them was dressed in a dark cloak and clearly trying to keep their identities hidden. And as they stood there, they were listening to a radio located on a table between them. "Witnesses claim to have been attacked by a strange monster, that looked like a giant humanoid spider. But this creature has disappeared and there has been no sign of it since this afternoon. Many believe it may have been a mass hallucination, brought on by a natural gas leak or something similar. Further investigation will determine if this is true or not." 

"Mass hallucination?" One of the cloaks growled. "They think we're a hallucination?" 

"These humans are clearly not very bright," an older sounding male voice replied. "But that can work in our favour. The more they don't believe we exist, the more we can do without them attempting to counter us. What's more important, is to discover what happened to our Mimic Soldier." 

"Indeed," a female voice agreed. "We all felt it. The Mimic was destroyed. But how?" 

"I'll find out," the first figure announced. "Not sure how, but I'll uncover what happened." 

"There is a way," the older male replied. "Gule, awaken another of our brethren. One that the humans won't stand a chance against. And keep an eye on it. If whatever happened before happens again, find it." 

"Understood," the other male replied before turning to leave. 



The next day.

As Flash biked to school, he was still plagued by the memory of what had happened yesterday. 

He had barely slept a wink the previous night, too focused on what had happened. He was sure he needed to tell someone about this and his first stop were the Rainbooms, since they would likely know what the heck was going on with him. 

He arrived at school and pulled into the bike shed, locking his bike up before heading inside. 

As soon as he got in, he started looking for one of the Rainbooms. But as he did, he passed by someone and heard something interesting. "Apparently, he was wearing orange armor over a black suit and destroyed the monster with a single kick." 

He turned to them, as another pair passed him. "What did the Rainbooms call him again?" 

"Shifter," the other replied. "That's what he called himself, apparently." Flash frowned, as he continued down the hall. He eventually spotted Twilight and Sunset, who were discussing something with a serious expression on their face.

"How do we know we can even trust him?" Sunset asked, with Twilight shrugging. 

"I don't know. But he did defeat that creature that was attacking everyone." 

"But then why did he run away?" Sunset then spotted Flash. "Hey, I'm guessing you've heard about it as well?" 

"Heard about what?" Flash asked, as he spotted his locker and started opening it. 

"Oh, then you're about the only person who hasn't heard. Rainbow and Pinkie have been telling everyone. About someone we met yesterday. His name's Shifter and we saw him, fighting against a weird spider monster." 

"Spider monster?" Flash put the pieces together and realised they were talking about him. "What was he like?" 

"We don't really know," Twilight replied. "We watched him fight and after he destroyed the monster, he disappeared in a flash of light." She hummed, as she took out her phone. "The authorities think what happened yesterday was a natural disaster of some sort. Wish we could tell them the truth." 

"So what do you think of this Shifter guy?" Flash asked. 

"We're not sure," Sunset told him. "I don't trust him. He just showed up out of nowhere and disappeared as soon as that monster was destroyed. He didn't tell us anything and just left us with more questions than answers. Like what the heck was that monster?" 

"Maybe he had his reasons," Flash guessed. 

"Maybe," Twilight nodded. "I'm just interested in where he got that suit. I don't know what kind of power source he was using, but it must be one heck of a strong device to power that super kick he used." Flash frowned. Of course, Twilight was more interested in the suit than the one wearing it. "I can't help but wonder if he'll show up again." 

"I'm more concerned with the monster than with him," Sunset replied. "If one shows up again, who knows how much damage it could do before this guy shows up again." 

"You think that monster was made using Equestrian Magic?" Flash asked. 

"No idea," Sunset shrugged. "We weren't close enough to it for me to sense anything." As the bell rang, the students made their way to class.

Flash frowned as he watched the girls head off. Suddenly, he wasn't so eager to tell them who that Shifter guy really was. For now, he would keep it to himself and try not to think about it. 

That proved easier said than done. Shifter was all anyone was talking about, since Pinkie and Rainbow hadn't stopped talking about him since yesterday. The only time Flash didn't hear about his new alter-ego, was when the teachers told them to quiet down and do their work. But the second the classes ended, everyone instantly turned their attention back to Shifter. 

By the point of recess, Flash had to get away so he didn't have to keep hearing everyone theorise he was an alien, or some kind of cyborg created by an evil organisation. He headed up to the roof of the building and once he was sure nobody was there, he took out the device he used yesterday. 

Looking it over, he pressed the button on the side and heard it call out the word 'strike' and show the dots. But that's all it did. 

He looked down at his waist, where the belt had just appeared yesterday.

He took a deep breath and remembered what he had done yesterday. "Henshin." But the belt refused to appear. "Come on." He pressed the device's button several times and kept yelling out the words, but nothing happened. He didn't know what caused the belt to appear, but it clearly wasn't going to come when he called it. 

He let out a sight and put the device back in his pocket, a million questions racing through his mind. But clearly, he wasn't going to get any answers today. "What is happening to me?" 



In the city, a woman had just left a large shop carrying a bunch of bags. 

Her phone was pressed up against her ear, as she walked around wearing a fur coat and expensive clothing. "I know," she smiled. "I just managed to get some new shoes that are just to die for." She turned to walk down another street, which was currently empty. "How much? I don't know. A lot. I didn't check. Daddy's credit card went through, so who cares." 

Suddenly, someone stepped out of an alleyway. 

That someone was one of the cloaked figures, who stood in front of the woman and made her stop. "What?" She asked, frowning as she glared at him. "Can you move? You're in my way." 

The figure reached up and lifted his hood, allowing her to be greeted with a pair of green eyes. "Awaken and remember what you truly are." These words combined with the eyes, caused the woman's head to suddenly explode with information, making her drop her bags and phone before clutching her head.

The figure watched, as the woman crouched and cried out in pain. But then, she stopped crying and stood up. The expression on her face was different. "I am...Fel-Grow-Varn." 

The figure nodded and took something out. A glass case, with a grasshopper inside. "Take this and destroy all that face you. Show this primitive world, why we are the supreme beings." The woman nodded and took the case, opening the top and reaching inside. As she did, her hand changed to an orange-brown liquid. 

The liquid flew down and quickly surrounded the grasshopper, which tried to escape with little luck. She then pulled her arm away, her hand reforming, whilst the blob she had left behind solidified and turned into an amber cocoon, with the grasshopper still inside. 

Suddenly, her body began to melt and turn into a puddle of slimy orange-brown goo. 

That puddle soon began to reshape itself, growing taller than it had been before and looking much thinner in some areas. Then, the liquid began to solidify and be absorbed by the body. In doing so, it revealed a monster that looked like a green humanoid grasshopper. Its legs were bent backwards, with a membrane attaching the parts that were bent to go along one another. Its long lanky arms had small hands, but long sharp claws that looked like they could cut through anything. 

Sticking out the back of its shoulders were two long green chords, that looked like they could hold up a building. And its face had large orange eyes, with a mouth that looked big enough to swallow someone with.

The figure nodded and turned to leave, whilst the monster let out a roar and crouched down with her legs. Then, they sprang apart and the monster was catapulted forwards. Her claws dug into the wall beside her, cutting through it as she moved fast. 

She flew onto a street with people on it and landed, getting everyone's attention as they saw the monster. This caused them all to scream as they ran away, as the grasshopper monster crouched down again. And with one mighty burst of speed, it shot towards the people and screams filled the air as the claws were swung around. 



Flash had been in his Math class when it happened.   

As he tried to focus on his school work, he was suddenly overwhelmed by a strange sensation washed over his body. It was the same sensation that he had felt the previous day, but he didn't feel compelled to follow it this time. Instead, he turned to look out the window. He felt strange. Like he was meant to go somewhere, but he didn't know where. 

"Mr Sentry?" He looked back around to see Mr Cranky Doodle, the old math teacher staring down at him. "Is there something outside, more important than your work?" 

Flash gulped, unsure how to answer that without getting into trouble. 

He glanced back around and as he did, he noticed something. "Yeah. That smoke in the distance." He pointed out the window and everyone looked around, where they saw a large cloud of smoke rise up from behind several distant buildings. 

Cranky saw this and hummed. "Well, I'm sure that is interesting. But it's also none of our business. It's a long way away and I'm sure the authorities are already on it." 

"Hey," Micro Chips spoke up. "What if it has anything to do with what happened yesterday?" This made Flash look back at the smoke, as he wondered the same thing. The other students began whispering about it and all took out their phones, looking up news articles. 

Flash looked back out the window and as he did, he noticed the Rainbooms suddenly running out of the school. 

The girls stared at the smoke for a moment before they all touched their geodes, causing them to transform into their human pony hybrid forms. Rainbow then grabbed Applejack and Twilight, the girl rushing off and pulling them along whilst the others ran for their vehicles. Flash couldn't help but be curious. What was going on?



Rainbow, Applejack and Twilight, soon arrived at the place where the smoke was and looked around. 

They tried to see through the smoke, but it was so dark they had no idea what was causing it. "Wish Rarity were here," Applejack stated. "She coulda made a big fan and blew this smoke away." 

"Who needs Rarity?" Rainbow held out her arms. "Check this awesomeness out." He started spinning her arms and created a pair of small tornadoes, blowing away a lot of the smoke. When she did, she revealed the smoke was coming from a bunch of cars that had been destroyed. Several buildings looked like they had had cars crash into them and street lamps her cut to shreds. 

"What happened here?" Twilight looked around, only to then see a figure walking through the remains of the smoke. 

That figure soon came into view, revealing the grasshopper creature from before. "Wow!" Rainbow cried, "another monster!" The beast stared at them before letting out a horrible roar, then shot forward using her powerful legs. 

They all gasped, as Twilight used her magic to move a car bonnet in front of them. 

The grasshopper slammed into it, but had spun around and used its legs to hit the bonnet. It then sprang backwards and the force pushed the metal towards them, Twilight gasping as Applejack leapt in front of her and spun around to kick it away. 

As the grasshopper landed, Rainbow ran towards it. But the monster bounced forward and the two were moving at an incredible speed. But whilst Rainbow had the slight speed edge, the grasshopper had claws and swung them Rainbow. 

"WOW!" Rainbow leaned back and the claws barely missed her, but she ended up losing her balance and fell onto her butt before rolling along the ground. 

The grasshopper landed and prepared to go after her, but Applejack ran towards it whilst carrying a broken piece of lamppost. 

She swung it at the monster, but the grasshopper leapt straight up before bouncing off a wall and flying towards her. Applejack didn't have time to swing the post around before she was kicked in the chest and knocked backwards, Twilight rushing to her side as the monster landed. 

It let out a roar at them, but the sound of a siren filled the air. It turned to see a bunch of police vehicles, racing towards them before coming to a stop. As the girls picked themselves up, police and SWAT teams rushed out with their weapons drawn. 

"Freeze!" The head police officer announced. "Don't move!" The monster roared and shot forward, the authorities all opening fire on the creature. But it bounced from side to side, so fast that the bullets didn't even get close. And when it reached the police, it slashed at them and its claws cut right through their guns and shields. 

"No way!" One cried before the grasshopper spun around, slamming one of the chords on its back into him. He screamed as he was knocked flying back, whilst several pointed their surviving guns at it. But the beast leapt straight up and they all missed. 

The girls watched as the officers were completely outclassed. "What is that thing?" Applejack asked. 

"It looks like a grasshopper," Twilight stated. "But it must have been mutated by something." 

"Equestrian Magic?" Rainbow asked, but Twilight wasn't sure that was the answer. And if it wasn't, then how could they defeat this creature? 

Twilight was then reminded of the figure from yesterday, who had destroyed that spider monster. Whatever power they had, it was clearly able to defeat these monsters. But where were they and why hadn't they shown up yet?

Meanwhile, up atop a nearby roof, the cloaked figure was watching. He stared at the girls, as they tried to fight against the monster. "Are they what destroyed our brethren?" All he could do was watch and see what happened.



As soon as the class had been let out, Flash rushed out of the school. 

His phone was out and he had opened it up to a local news channel, allowing him to watch as everything happened. For a news crew had gotten to the scene and was filming everything. "As you can see, the police have engaged the creature. But their attempts to subdue it have not been successful."

The footage then showed a shaky image of the monster that was attacking, Flash's eyes going wide when he saw it. 

He watched, as the beast shot several feet forward and slammed a SWAT office in the shield. The impact sent him flying back and as several cops fired, the creature dodged every attack.

"So fast," he frowned. "The Rainbooms can handle it." But then the image happened to show Twilight, Rainbow and Applejack, Flash seeing Rainbow and Applejack looking rather scuffed up. "Ahhh." He remembered what happened yesterday. 

He had stopped that monster easily. But he had no idea how he did what he did or if he could even do it again. And even if he could, how would he get there. He still didn't have his car and who knows how long it would take to bike there. "There's nothing I can do." 

Suddenly, a bright flash of light appeared in front of him. 

He let out a cry, as the light blinded him for a moment. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust and when they did, he was able to see the light was coming from some kind of tear in the fabric of space. 

Said tear was quite large, big enough for a person to fit through it without issue. And as Flash stared at the portal, he suddenly found his body moving on its own. Before he realised what was going on, he stepped through the tear and disappeared from his school. 

And as soon as he was through it, the portal closed. 



As the grasshopper slammed its feet into someone else, Sunset, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie arrived. 

"Girls!" Sunset rushed to the other's side. "Are you alright?" They all nodded, as the monster barrelled through another group of police officers. "What is that thing?" 

"We were hoping you'd tell us," Rainbow stated. "Whatever that thing is, it's fast and dangerous." 

More police were knocked back and as the creature turned to them, it growled. "I think it's noticed us," Pinkie gulped. She took out a cupcake and as the creature charged, she threw it at the monster. 

It swung its claws around and cut through the tasty treat, which exploded right in its face. 

The girls smiled, but the grasshopper flew out of the smoke without even a scratch. "Look out!" Fluttershy cried, as Rarity put up a shield. The monster slammed into the wall and whilst the diamonds shook, nothing happened. 

Rainbow tried to use this moment to run around and try to tackle the monster, but the creature leapt straight up and the girl missed by a mile. "Wow!" She skidded to a stop before she could crash into a building, whilst Twilight grabbed a destroyed piece of car in her magic and threw it. 

The beast easily avoided the attack and flew down towards them, Pinkie throwing a bunch of charged sprinkles at it. The explosion that followed actually managed to knock the creature back, but it did several back-flips and landed. 

The police who were still able to fight saw this and were amazed, but saw these girls clearly had no way of actually harming the creature. "Bring out the biggest weapon we have!" He cried, as the officers rushed over to a van and returned moments later carrying some kind of machine gun. 

The grasshopper noticed the movement and looked around to see them taking aim, the girls quickly rushing away in case the cops missed. 

"Open fire!" The lead officer roared, as the cops began to unload on the creature. But once again, the beast was able to dodge and avoid every attack sent its way and moved towards them as fast as it could. 

Once it was close enough, it leapt into the air and spun like a drill with its claws outstretched. The speed at which it moved was like nothing any of them had ever seen and in the blink of an eye, it was behind them with its claws outstretched. 

The machine gun then fell apart, having been cut into a dozen different pieces and falling to the ground. And as the officer turned to it, the creature swung its claws around and slashed him down the chest. "GYAH!" He was knocked back and the other officers could only watch in shock, as the Rainbooms ran out of hiding. 

"That's it!" Sunset called out. "Let's end this. You girls with me?" They all nodded and took hold of each other's hand, as they summoned all of their magic and flew into the air. 

The monster turned to see them glowing, which made the creature tilt its head in confusion. Then, the girl's magic flew upwards and began to swirl into a rainbow of spiralling light. Said light curved back down and shot towards the monster, who tried to leap up to avoid it. But the second it did, the light also curved and flew towards the beast. 

It slammed into it before it could dodge and the creature screamed, as the spiral completely surrounded it. 

Everyone who saw this was amazed, hoping this meant the creature would be destroyed. And as a blinding light filled the air, everyone looked away whilst waiting to see if the fight was over. 

The Rainbooms floated down to the ground, as the light began to fade away. 

They all smiled, thinking they had won. But before they could celebrate, something came crashing down and struck the road hard enough to break it. The grasshopper, completely unharmed by their attack. "What?" Sunset gasped. 

Before anything else could be done, the beast shot forward with its claws drawn. It swung them towards Sunset and at the last minute, Rainbow pushed her out of the way. "GYAH!" She cried, as the beast slashed at her. It cut into her wing, causing her to fall and crash to the ground.

"RAINBOW!" They all screamed, as the beast prepared to slash at them again. But Twilight grabbed an entire car and threw it at the monster, the beast getting slammed into and thrown backwards. They all rushed over to Rainbow, who had changed back to her human form. 

This caused her injured wing to disappear, though she still looked like she could feel the pain she had suffered. "Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked, with Rainbow taking several deep breaths. 

They turned to the monster, as it roared and Rarity put up a dome of protection. The police began to unload on the creature and the girls realised that whatever it was, their magic couldn't stop it. But what could? 



Flash had no idea where he was. As soon as he stepped through the portal, he found himself in a dark void illuminated only by the portal. 

But the portal quickly vanished and Flash was completely blind, not daring to take a step for fear of falling into some kind of trap. "Hello?" He called out, "anyone there?" 

Suddenly, footsteps filled the air and he looked around to see someone walking out of the shadows. A figure in a white hooded cloak, the rest of their body hidden beneath it. "Welcome." 

Flash frowned at him, "who are you? And how did I get here?" 

"That's not important," the figure replied. "All you need to know, is that you are Earth's only hope of survival." Flash looked shocked by this. "your world is currently being threatened by a powerful force. And the only thing that can stop it, is you." 

"What force? Do you mean that creature I fought yesterday? And the one attacking the city right now?" 

"Those creatures are called Mimics," the figure replied. "A very dangerous species, that originates from another universe." Flash could hardly believe that. "They have only one goal. Total extinction of anything that isn't a Mimic. That's why they're attacking your world. They see humans as beneath them and must be wiped out."

"Why?" 

"I don't know. Why does your species constantly try to exterminate rats and roaches, whenever they show up? It's just something you do to a species you think has no value." Flash frowned. "Be warned. The Mimics are dangerous. Their abilities allow them to live up to their name and mimic the abilities of creatures they interact with. But those abilities are dialled up to eleven when a Mimic uses them." 

"So they want to destroy our world?" 

"Not just your world. They've wiped out all life on multiple other alternative universes. Once they've completely destroyed your world, they'll just move onto the next. The entire multiverse is at risk of being destroyed, unless the Mimics are stopped here and now." 

Flash frowned, thinking about everyone he knew and loved. His mother, sister, friends and people that just try to live their lives. If nothing happened, the Mimics could kill all of them. "But why me? You said I'm my world's only hope, but why me?" 

"Because you have a power that other humans do not. This power is what will allow you to protect your world and end the Mimics." 

Flash took out the screen he had used the previous day, whilst placing a hand on his waist. "You mean that belt I have?" 

"The Mimic Driver. With it, you can become a warrior that will slay any Mimic you come across. It is your destiny." Flash wasn't so sure about this, since he had no idea where he got the belt or the screen device. 

"You know a lot about all this. So how the heck did I get this power?" 

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that," the figure replied. "I know you probably have a million questions, but the answers to them will have to wait. When the Mimics are defeated, you will understand everything. But until then, you must fight and protect your world. And to do that, I have something to give you." 

Before Flash could ask what that was, something suddenly appeared out of the darkness between them. 

A table of some kind, ascended from below. And on that table was a tennis ball sized orb, made of a strange orange-brown material. As soon as the table stopped moving, the figure pointed to it. "Take it." 

Flash gave him a curious look, but carefully moved forward and reached out to grasp the orb. As soon as he did, the object began to melt. 

He was about to flick his hand and throw the slime away, but the substance then reshaped itself and solidified. In the blink of an eye, Flash was holding some kind of small motorbike toy. It was mostly orange in colour, with black sections below the bodywork and blue lightning bolt streaks covering it. Flash didn't know why, but it seemed to be a lot longer than a normal motorbike would at this size. 

"What is this?" 

"Something that you should find helpful, in the battles that are to come." Before Flash could ask anything else, the portal appeared behind Flash. And when he turned to it, the tear moved and he was suddenly thrown through it. 

The next thing Flash knew, he was staggering forward and almost fell over. Looking around, he saw he was back where he had originally been. Back at school with nobody around. The portal quickly closed behind him, Flash left standing there completely clueless about anything. 

No, that wasn't true. Flash had been told a few things. The creatures that were attacking were called Mimics, which wanted to slaughter his race. And apparently, he was the only one capable of defeating them. 

He then looked down at the bike toy he had been given, wondering how the heck this was supposed to help him in stopping the Mimics. But just then, the bike started melting in his hand. 

"What?" Flash held it up, as the toy turned back to the slimy substance it was before. And before Flash could ask what was going on, it suddenly flew out of his hand and shot towards the ground. 

As soon as it made contact, the slime began to increase in volume. Flash stepped back, as it got larger and larger. And once big enough, the slime began to take shape and form the same structure it had been in back when it was the toy. Eventually, the shaping ended and the slime began to harden. Within seconds, a life sized version of the toy was standing in front of him. 

"Wow." Flash stepped forward and looked it over, realising it wasn't a toy. It was a real motorbike, with an engine, lights and everything. "Awesome." As he said that, his phone beeped. 

"It appears this creature is completely indestructible. No amount of gunfire has been able to touch the creature, let alone harm it. The police are ordering an evacuation of the area, to prevent any casualties." 

Flash frowned, as he remembered what that cloaked man told him. "I have the power to stop this." He looked over at the bike, then remembered the Rainbooms were there and probably in danger. "If that's the case, I have to do this. To protect my friends and my world, I'll fight!" As soon as he said that, a light suddenly appeared around his waist. 

Looking down, he saw the light take shape and form the belt from yesterday. 

He smiled as he swung his leg over the bike, getting seated and placing his hands on the handles. As soon as he did, the bike burst into life as the engine started. Despite never having ridden a motorbike before, Flash suddenly knew everything he needed to do in order to use it. 

Revving the engine, he kicked it into gear and the bike's wheels began to spin. 

The front suddenly flew into the air and the bike shot forward, Flash holding on tight as the machine raced out of the school's parking lot. 

The front flew down as he did and he quickly swerved out onto the street, the bike picking up amazing speed but not having any issues controlling it. It was moving so fast, to everyone else it was just an orange blur. 

As he raced towards the battle, Flash opened the belt before reaching into his pocket. He took out the screen-like device and activated it. "STRIKE!" The dots appeared to form the insect, as Flash placed it into his belt. 

And as he found a straight section of road, the bike remained upright as Flash yelled out. "HENSHIN!" He slammed the draw of the belt shut, locking the screen inside and causing the lights on the belt to turn orange. 

"MIMIC! LIGHTNING BUG!" The strange orange-brown liquid shot out of the pipes, flying into the air and somehow keeping up with Flash despite him going a bazillion miles an hour. 

The liquid clung to his body and solidified, eventually forming the cocoon around him that didn't cause the bike to lose balance. And after a few moments, the cocoon cracked apart before shattering off his body. Doing so revealed him in the black suit, which the pieces of amber slammed onto and formed the armor around his body. 

As the armour settled, the belt spoke. "Illuminate the light, striking through the darkness!"

Transformation complete, the newly christened Shifter revved the engine again and the bike continued to fly forward on the road. Despite being a little scared, Flash didn't allow himself to stop going. He would stop that monster, no matter what. 



All of the police were completely out of ammo and as they turned to run away, the Mimic launched itself towards the Rainbooms. 

Rarity tried to put up a shield, but the Mimic bounced into the air and leapt over the wall. It then flew down and slammed a foot into Rarity, knocking her flying back. "RARITY!" Her friends cried, as the Mimic shot forward and slammed into each of them. They all cried, as they were sent flying and crashed into the ground. 

They all let out a groan, each reverting back to human, as the Mimic landed and glared at them. Its claws twitched, as it clearly prepared to end this fight. 

All the while, the one named Gule watched and shook his head. "They're not the ones who defeated the Mimic. So what was it?" He watched, as the girls tried to pick themselves up. But it was clear that they weren't in a fit state to keep fighting. 

Suddenly, an engine filled the air and caught everyone's attention. The girls, the police, news crew and even the monster turned to see something racing towards them on a bike. "Hey!" A police officer yelled, "stop!" But the rider didn't listen. 

The next thing they knew, the bike shot into the air and flew over them. Despite the vast distance it had to travel, it made it over the crowd with no effort and landed on the other side of the Rainbooms. 

As it did, it slid along the ground and came to a stop. This allowed them to see who it was. 

"It's him," Rainbow spoke up. The girls all stared at the armored figure, who stared at them for a moment before turning towards the Mimic. 

"Who are you?" The grasshopper cried, as the figure leaned on the console of his bike. 

"Shifter," the figure replied, "that's the name I'm apparently being called. And I'm the one that's gonna stop the Mimics. You won't do here, what you've done to other worlds." Everyone wondered what he meant by that, as the Mimic growled. 

"You don't scare me. You won't even touch me." 

"Don't be so sure," Shifter told it. "Because right now, the winds of victory have shifted." With that, he revved his bike's engine and shot towards the Mimic. 

The grasshopper bent its legs and shot into the air, moving with incredible speed away from Shifter and his bike. But the armored warrior launched into the air and his bike followed after the Mimic, catching up as the monster turned to see him coming. 

It tried to slash at him, but Shifter blocked with his arm guard before dealing a punch to its chest. The Mimic fell to the ground and Shifter landed before swerving its bike around, launching himself at the Mimic as it picked itself up. 

It tried to jump away, but the bike was too fast and smashed into the mutant before it could flee. Shifter then swerved around and swung his leg at the grasshopper, smashing it into the beast and knocking it backwards. 

The Mimic staggered back and as Shifter swung his bike around again, the beast leapt into the air and prepared to slam its foot into its opponent. But Shifter accelerated and before the grasshopper could complete its attack, he leapt onto the seat and bounced off it. He flew towards the Mimic and spun around, thrusting his own foot into the creature's chest and knocking it backwards

Shifter then back-flipped and landed back on the bike, which kept driving as the Mimic crashed into the ground. 

"Wow!" Pinkie cheered, "he's awesome." 

"Yeah," Twilight nodded, "but who is he?" 

"Well, he's helpin' us." Applejack glanced at the others, "don't that mean he's on our side?" 

"Maybe," Sunset didn't look so sure. All they could do was keep watching, as the green and orange blurs flew around continuing their fight. 

Shifter's bike somehow stuck to the side of a building, rolling along it for several seconds before shooting off and flying towards the Mimic. The grasshopper spun around and managed to slam the front of the bike with its leg, knocking it away and causing Shifter to spin out of control. 

He managed to land and skidded along the ground, as the Mimic landed and shot forward. 

Shifter revved up and pushed his bike forward, as the grasshopper slashed at him. But before it could make contact, Shifter spun his bike around and slid the side of the bike onto the ground. As the bike ground against the pavement, Shifter threw a punch upwards and struck the Mimic when it flew over him. The monster was struck in the stomach and knocked flying into the air, as Shifter pulled the bike back up and spun to a stop. 

The Mimic crashed into the ground, as Shifter swung the bike around. The front was now pointing right at the monster, as Shifter slammed the side of the belt to make it speak out. 

"CLIMACTIC STRIKE!"

The light on his right boot glowed before bolts of energy flew out of it, down his boot and into the bike. The front wheel then started glowing orange, as Shifter revved the engine. Eventually, the wheel started spinning and sparks flew out of it. And as the Mimic picked itself up, the bike shot forward at an incredible speed. 

The energy from the wheel, formed a slipstream around the bike and turned it into a giant projectile. And as the Mimic realised what was happening, Shifter pulled the bike back so it performed a wheelie and the wheel slammed into the Mimic. 

The monster roared, as the spinning wheel ground into it and the energy cut into its body. All this happened in a single second, but to the Mimic the pain felt never-ending. And in the blink of an eye, the monster exploded and the bike flew through the flames. 

Shifter once again swung the bike around so it skidded to a stop, as the smoke faded to reveal the grasshopper was nowhere in sight. It had been destroyed. 

With the danger now passed, the police, news crew and even the Rainbooms began to slowly move towards him. 

Several cops reached for their guns, but seemed to remember they were out of bullets. And as Shifter turned to leave, Twilight spoke up. "Wait!" She rushed forward and he looked back at them. "Who are you? What's going on?" 

Under his helmet, Flash wondered if he should tell them who he was and what was going on. But a worry of being captured and experimented on, suddenly appeared in his mind. He couldn't let that happen. He had a feeling the police wouldn't believe him, if he said he had no idea what was really going on. 

As such, he turned towards them and would say what he did know. "That creature was known as a Mimic. They come from another world and their only goal, is to wipe out all life on this planet." Everyone who heard this looked worried. "But don't worry. I won't let that happen. So long as I'm around, the Mimics won't get to destroy this world. Even if it costs me my life, I'll stop them no matter what." 

The crowd clearly had no idea what to make of that and Shifter said nothing else, revving his bike before racing off at high speed. "Wait!" A reporter cried, but he was already gone. She frowned, turning to the camera. "Well, there you have it. Our world is under threat and the only one able to protect us, is someone named Shifter." 

The Rainbooms all shared a look, wondering if they would ever learn who this mysterious hero was. And if he was really trying to help them. 

Up on the roof, Gule watched in intrigued at what he had just seen. "What was that? How can a human have that kind of power?" He turned to leave. He needed to tell the rest of his team about this new development. 



It wasn't long before the news of the fight spread around the city and the discovery of this mysterious armored hero, who single-handedly defeated this unstoppable monster. 

When Flash returned to school, he managed to sneak it without anyone noticing. His special bike had shrunk back to its tiny form, allowing him to pocket it without issue. He got to his final class of the day, his friends asking where he was during the previous period. 

Luckily, he was able to come up with an excuse they believed and nobody said anything else. They were too focused on the news about the new hero and the monster attack. 

As soon as school was out, Flash grabbed his bike and rode back home. He wished he could use his new bike, but realised people might get suspicious if he was racing around on the same vehicle as the armored man. 

"I'm home," he announced once he arrived at his normal suburban home. He stepped into the living room and there, sitting on the couch, was his mother. Misty Vail, a silver skinned woman with purple hair. She smiled at him, as he sat down on the couch next to her. 

"How was school?" 

"Good," Flash nodded. "Nothing out of the ordinary." 

"That's good," Misty smiled. "Your sister called and said she'd be spending the evening at her friend's house. Would you be okay picking her up?" 

"You want me to bike all the way there and bring her back the same way?" Misty smiled and pointed to the coffee table, Flash looking down and seeing a car key sitting on it. 

"Oh, yes!" Flash grabbed it. "Is this..."

"Lock smith came this afternoon. Programmed the key and managed to deactivate your old one. Whoever stole it's not gonna be able to use it anymore." 

"Thanks mom," Flash smiled. "You're the best." Misty smiled back, as the news she was watching changed subjects. 

"In other news, the police have released a statement about the monster attack that occurred earlier today. This Mimic creature is currently under investigation, along with the mysterious armored figure that appeared and defeated it." The TV showed an image of Shifter, Flash taking a close look since this was the first time he had seen himself in that form. 

He had to admit it. He looked pretty cool. 

"With us right now, is an expert in strange circumstances and unusual situations. Doctor Evan Nigma." The image showed a man dressed in a lab coat, with glasses and a strange hairdo. "Doctor Nigma. What do you make of this whole event?"

The doctor pushed his glasses up. "After closer examination of the facts, it appears our city has become host to a situation that is usually only restricted to Japan." The image showed Shifter once again. "A mysterious armored figure, riding a motorbike and fighting against a monster. In Japan, these individuals are known as Kamen Riders." 

"Kamen Riders?" Flash felt like he had heard that before.

"For many decades, these heroes have fought against unusual threats and kept our world safe. And whilst most of their activities have been localised to Japan, that doesn't appear to be the case anymore." 

The presenter turned to the screen. "There you have it, folk. Let's all hope we can rest easy in our beds, tonight. For Kamen Rider Shifter, is on the case." 

"Kamen Rider Shifter," Flash smirked. "I like that." 

"What did you say?" Misty asked, as Flash shook his head.

"Nothing." Flash got up. "I'm gonna...go make sure my car's alright. The thief might have stolen something from it." She nodded as Flash headed out. 

"Just be careful. I'd hate for anything bad to happen to you." 

"Oh," Flash smiled, "I wouldn't worry about that." He took the bike toy and screen device out of his jacket. "I get the feeling things aren't gonna be like they were before." With that, he headed out. He might not know what the heck was going on, but he knew one thing. He had been entrusted with the fate of his world. And he wouldn't let it down. 



In another area, someone was watching the news broadcast. They were in a dark corner of the room, watching as the presenter gave his last remarks. 

"There you have it, folk. Let's all hope we can rest easy in our beds, tonight. For Kamen Rider Shifter, is on the case." 

The figure paused the TV, as they began to step forward. "Kamen Rider, huh?" The figure stepped into the light, revealing itself to be a figure wearing a suit similar to Shifter's.

Their suit was silver instead of black, with blue lines running around their body, whilst dark blue transparent armour was sitting atop it. This armour was much bulkier than Flash's, with thick chest armour and bulky shoulder-pads with triangular spikes on the end of them. Its helmet was almost completely covered, by the transparent blue material. The only thing uncovered, was a white mouth guard. 

The eyes glowed yellow and the mask had a large blue horn coming out of the forehead, that mimicked a hercules beetle. On the end of the horn was a large V-shape, with two little nubs halfway up. The figure was also wearing the same belt Flash was wearing, with a bunch of blue light dots that showed a hercules beetle in many different positions. 

The figure stared closer to the TV and stared at the image of shift, clearly interested in him. "You and I will be meeting soon. And when that happens, you better have some answers for me."
> Episode 3: Strange? An Another Rider
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The weekend had come and everyone was trying to enjoy themselves, despite the looming threat of attack. 

Several days had passed since the Mimic attack and in that time, there hadn't been any sign of a monster attempting to harm anyone. Nor had there been any sight of Canterlot's newest hero, Kamen Rider Shifter. 

Said Kamen Rider, was using the free time of the weekend to do a little research. 

Flash was in his room, laptop open as he sat at his desk. On the screen were blurry images and shaky video files. It was all focused on one subject. "Kamen Riders." Ever since people had started calling him that, he had been interested in learning more about this group that he had apparently joined. 

According to what he had studied, Kamen Riders had first appeared over fifty years ago. Armored individuals, who rode motorcycles and fought against monsters, robots and a bunch of other things. And from what Flash had discovered, a good many of them were themed after some kind of insect. Just like him. 

"I wonder." Flash sat back in his chair and thought about the white cloaked individual, who had given him his bike. He couldn't help but wonder if the figure had intended for him to gain that name, or if it was just a coincidence. 

A knock at the door caught his attention, Flash turning towards it as the door opened. In doing so, his sister stepped into the room. Scootaloo. 

The orange skinned, purple haired girl, wearing a black zip-up hoodie, green cargo pants and black boots, looked him over. "What are you doing?" She asked, as Flash closed his laptop. 

"Homework," he told her. "What do you want?" 

"Can you give me a ride to the mall? I'm meeting Applebloom and Sweetie Belle there." 

Flash let out a sigh. "How is it when I got my licence, I somehow turned into your private chauffeur?" 

"Come on. What else are you gonna do all day? We both know that wasn't homework you were doing." Flash wasn't sure what she thought he was doing, but he quickly wanted to change the subject. 

"Fine. Let's go." Scootaloo cheered, as they headed out towards his car. 



In a dark place, the three cloaked figures were standing around a radio. 

"It has been several days since the attack from the usual creature calling itself a Mimic, which was destroyed by the one calling himself Shifter. Many people are wondering if it was some kind of performance stunt, whilst others are claiming to have seen more of these monsters and Shifter. But those sources are unconfirmed. Many wonder if another attack will happen and if so, where?"

One of the cloaks growled. "Shifter. He's destroyed two of our brethren now. We must make him pay."

"And how do we do that?" The female voice asked. "We don't know where he is or what he looks like without his mask. And if he has the power to destroy Mimics, how can we be sure he won't use that power to destroy us?" 

"She's right," the older male agreed. "We need more info before we can counter him." 

"Then let me awaken another of our brethren. They will lure this Kamen Rider out and once he's there, I will discover who he is and eliminate him. Why have we not attacked again already?" 

"We must keep the humans off balance," the older male replied. "If we attacked every single day, they would know to expect an attack every day. We must keep the element of surprise."

"But I'm with Gule," the female stated. "It's time for the next Mimic to awaken. And hopefully, it'll defeat this Kamen Rider." 

"And even if it can't," Gule turned to leave. "I'll destroy them myself." With that, he headed out and the other two cloaked individuals continued to listen to the radio. But eventually, they turned it off and got to their own work. They really needed to get the lights working again.



Flash and Scootaloo had arrived at the mall, Scootaloo running off to meet her friends the moment they arrived. 

Meanwhile, Flash was simply browsing as he looked around and saw everyone enjoying themselves. He smiled, happy to see that the Mimics weren't scaring people into hiding themselves away. 

He soon arrived at a store that sold electronics and decided to head inside, wanting to see if there were any cool new gadgets he might enjoy playing with. The place had the usual stuff, like phones, music players, cameras and a few laptops. But there wasn't anything he would consider interesting. 

"Flash?" He looked around and saw Twilight, who was carrying a box of new tech. She was dressed in her work clothes, a blue shirt and black pants, both of which had circuitry patterns on them, along with black shoes and blue socks she was wearing over her pants. 

"Hey," he leaned against a table with some phones on it, "got anything new for me to play with?" 

Twilight laughed. "Probably not. Unless you're interested in some new state of the art processors to upgrade your computer at home. But then you'd need to know about your laptop's gigabyte limit and data stream output." Flash was already lost. "Anyway, you come to the mall for a reason?" 

"Dropping my sister off," Flash replied. "I was kind of expecting this place to be a ghost town, given everything that happened a few days ago." 

"I thought the same thing. But I guess it takes more than a monster attack to make people scared these days." Flash nodded. "Honestly, I'm almost excited for another attack."

"Seriously?" 

"Well, I don't want anyone to get hurt. But if a Mimic did so up, Shifter might show up as well." 

"The one they're calling a Kamen Rider?" Twilight nodded, as Flash suddenly felt very hot under the collar. "Why would you wanna see him again? From what I've heard, not a lot is known about him."

"Exactly. And I want to know everything about him. Like what kind of technology he uses and how his bike's able to move at such an incredible speed. He doesn't use Equestrian Magic, so there has to be some other power source he's using. I'd love to study it, just for a minute."

"Well Shifter probably has his reasons," Flash shrugged. "Maybe he doesn't wanna risk his technology, falling into the wrong hands. Or maybe he's worried that if his identity got out, he'd never get to live a normal life again." 

"I guess that makes sense," Twilight nodded. "Still, I hope he has someone that helps him out. I'd hate to have to fight a bunch of monsters, without Sunset or the other girls backing me up. Fighting on his own must be terrifying." Flash hadn't thought of that. 

Was he really going to have to face every single Mimic on his own? So far, he had fought them one on one. But how long would it be before he was facing five or ten at a time. He was suddenly feeling very scared.



Outside the mall's back exit, a security guard was taking a break. 

He stepped outside to have a smoke and unwind, but he wouldn't get the chance to do either of those things. For as soon as he closed the door, he suddenly heard a sound and looked around. And there, a few feet away, was the dark cloaked figure. 

"Hello?" He asked, as the figure drew closer. "Can I help you?" 

The figure stopped and spoke. "Awaken and remember what you truly are." The figure looked up and the guard was met with a pair of eyes, which caused him to suddenly go stiff before clutching his head. He cried out, as something without him broke and a flood of information was sent into his mind. 

He stayed like this for a moment before stopping and looking up. "I am Lek-Nee-Ray." 

The figure nodded and stepped back. "Destroy anything you find. Make the humans fear us and if someone tries to stop you, make them pay." With that, he was gone and the one calling himself Lek looked around. 

He spotted an ant on the ground and thrust his arm out, said arm morphing into a slimy orange tendril that flew down and struck the ant. As soon as it was struck, the ant was trapped as the man pulled his arm back. The slime around the ant began to harden and morphed into an amber cocoon, with the ant trapped inside. 

His body then began to melt into the slimy substance and reshape itself, eventually hardening to reveal a humanoid ant monster. It was brown in colour and had the head of a giant ant, whilst it had four arms that ended in small crescent pincers. Sticking out of its butt was a large thorax and the creature snapped his mandibles together.



Flash and Twilight laughed at something Flash said, the teens having a fun talk as Twilight used her magic to put everything that was in the box on display. 

"Scootaloo really did that?" 

"Yup," Flash nodded. "And ever since, we've had to mix our cake and pancake batter by hand. Seriously, of all the places to stick your tongue." They laughed and as they did, someone stepped into the store. 

"Twily." They looked over and saw a man, with white skin and blue hair walking towards them. He was wearing a gray button up shirt, black pants and a silver coat over it. Flash had a feeling that despite looking friendly, Flash wouldn't wanna get on his bad side. 

"Hey, Shining." Twilight turned to Flash. "This is my brother, Shining Armor. Shining, this is Flash. A friend from school." 

"Oh yeah," Shining nodded. "Twilight's told me about you. The guys she tutors from time to time." 

"And trust me, I wouldn't be passing Math class without her." Twilight blushed at the praise, as Flash suddenly noticed something on Shining's belt. A gun holster. "Um...are you licensed to carry that?" Shining saw what he was looking at and smirked. 

"Sure," Shining took out his wallet and opened it up. "Here's my licence." He flipped it open and showed a policemen's shield, Flash relaxing at this as Shining put it away. "Anyway. Twilight, your lunch break soon?" 

Twilight checked the time. "Another couple of minutes. Did you wanna get something to eat?" 

"Sure." He turned to Flash, "you wanna join us?" 

"Really?" Flash asked, "you're okay with that? We've just met." 

"Yeah, but I'm good at telling if someone's trustworthy or not. Always been a sixth sense of mine. So, you in?" Flash thought for a moment and was about to say yes, but then another voice caught their attention.

"Twilight!" They all looked around and saw a brown skinned teen with green hair, wearing a red shirt under a sleeveless blue jacket, yellow-brown pants and a black beanie on his head. 

"Timber?" Twilight laughed as she ran up to him. They hugged and as they did, Flash noticed Shining looking a little upset. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at Camp Everfree?" 

"Things have been pretty slow around camp," Timber explained. "My sister also hired some new workers and things are working pretty smoothly. So I thought I'd use the time to come see how everything's going around here." He then noticed the other two and smirked. "Shining. Long time, no see."

"Yes," Shining nodded, "I guess it has." 

Timber smiled at him and turned to Flash. "Hey, we've met before, right? Dash?" 

"Flash," he corrected him. "And yeah. I was at the camp with Twilight and the others. How's your sister been after the whole..." He glanced at Shining, "incident." 

"Oh, she's fine now. Helps that the camp's future is secured...at least for now." He turned to Twilight. "Anyway. I thought we could spend the day hanging out together. Maybe go see a movie or get something to eat." 

"Thanks Timber," Twilight smiled. "But I've only got about thirty minutes for my lunch break. Besides, I was gonna go eat with Flash and Shining. But you're welcome to join us. Right guys?" 

"I don't know," Shining frowned. "I guess it's okay, but finding a place that seats four might be tricky. Unless we go to the food court, but I'm not a big fan of the food they serve there." 

"There's a burger place that's not too far from here," Timber smirked. "But you're right about them usually only sitting two or three. Four might be a bit of a stretch."

"It's cool," Flash told them. "You guys have fun. I should probably get going anyway." Flash wasn't sure why he suddenly didn't wanna have lunch with them, but something about Timber was making him lose his appetite. 

"Are you sure?" Twilight asked. "It wouldn't be fair if you didn't get to go." 

"It's cool," Flash assured her. "You've only got a limited break time. Spend it with your brother and Timber." He started walking away. "I'll see you later." With that, he was gone and they watched him leave. 

"Nice kid," Shining told Twilight. "Considerate." Twilight nodded, as Timber turned to her. 

"So, burger place? Sitting three shouldn't be a problem for them." Shining frowned at him. "Come on. We going or not?" He headed out and Twilight followed once she cleared her lunch break with her boss. Shining was the last one, a frown on his lips as he headed out. 



Flash was making his way through the mall, having stopped off to get a smoothie from Applejack. 

As he slurped up his drink, he thought about what had just happened. Why had he been so annoyed, when Timber showed up? He figured he had put his feelings about the guy behind him, when he realised he and Twilight didn't have a future. But seeing the two together like that had made him want to transform and Rider Kick the guy into next week. 

"Come on, Flash." He shook his head, as he slurped up more of the orange and passion fruit. "You've got more important things to think about." Number one was finding the Mimics and stopping them before they could hurt anyone. Until then, he didn't have time to be interested in girls. He needed to focus on fighting, so he could learn the truth about what happened to him. 

He headed past the sporting goods store and noticed Rainbow, using her super speed to stack boxes and put up signs. He wished he could use his powers for everyday activities, but he doubted being able to destroy things with a kick had many uses outside of fighting monsters. 



Back with Twilight and the boys, they had arrived at the burger place Timber had suggested. 

Unfortunately, the place was jam packed when they got there. Every table was full and wouldn't be empty for a while, meaning eating there was out of the question. "Oh, great." Timber cried. "Sorry guys. I was sure this place wouldn't be jam packed." 

"That's okay," Twilight assured him. "We'll just go somewhere else. Sunset works at a sushi place." 

"I'm not a big fan of sushi," Shining stated. "What about that pizza place?" 

"Pizza, for lunch?" Timber clearly didn't like that idea. "There's that fried chicken place. Eleven herbs and spices." The siblings seemed to be considering this. But before they could say yes, they suddenly heard a bunch of screams. 

They all turned towards the source of the commotion and Shining rushed forward, Twilight going with him. Meanwhile, Timber stood there. "Where are you going?" The siblings said nothing and kept running, until they reached a large crowd of people running away. 

Pushing through this group, they reached the middle of the mall and were shocked to see a monster attacking it. 

The ant human hybrid roared, as it grabbed the mall's fountain and ripped part of it out of the ground. The beast looks around and sees them before throwing the fountain part towards them, Shining looking ready to tackle his sister out of the way. 

But Twilight reacted first and ponied up, using her magic to stop the piece of concrete before it could hit her. 

Shining looks impressed by this, as Twilight spun the fountain part around her before throwing it back towards the monster. But the ant simply backhanded the piece of marble and turned it to dust, Twilight frowned. "This must be another one of those Mimics." 

"So that's what they look like." Shining pulled out his gun and fired, but the creature didn't even bother to dodge. And for good reason, as the bullet just bounced off its shell like it was nothing. "Seriously?" They both frowned, all the while Timber snuck over and hid around a corner to watch. 

The three all thought the same thing. This creature wasn't going down easily. 



Back outside, Flash was heading towards his car. 

But just as he took out his key to open it up, he was overwhelmed with a feeling. One that made him look towards the mall, as a large group of people started running out of it. "That can't be good." He rushed towards the building and grabbed someone who ran out of it. "What's happening?" 

"A monster's attacking. It's one of those Mimic things!" The man pulled himself out of Flash's grip and ran for it, Flash frowning as he turned to the building. 

The first thing he thought about was his sister. He had to make sure she was safe. As such, he ran inside and prayed she had gotten out unharmed. But if he found the Mimic first, he would destroy it before it could harm anyone else. 



"Raaah!" Twilight grabbed another piece of damaged fountain in her magic and threw it. 

The ant saw it coming and leapt into the air, showing impressive jumping skill as it landed on a nearby wall and stuck to it. As it did, Shining kept firing. He hoped hitting the same spot would damage his shell, creating a weak point they could target. But no matter how many times he fired, the shell did not allow itself to be damaged. 

"Damn it!" Shining cried, as the Ant Mimic leapt off the wall and landed right next to Twilight. "No!" Before his sister could react, the creature grabbed her around the neck and threw her across the room. Shining watched as Twilight crashed into the wall and hit her head. "TWILIGHT!" 

She fell to the ground and laid there, slumped along the floor not moving. After a few seconds, she returned to normal and was still knocked out.

Shining turned to the Mimic and roared, but the creature was faster and rushed over to grab him by the neck. He then spun around and threw Shining away, the man flying through the air and crashing through a clothing store's window. He then hit a rack of clothes and knocked it over, getting buried by the clothing in the process. 

Timber watched, as the Ant Mimic clicked its pincers together and looked around. 

It then turned to Twilight, who was still unconscious. And just as it was about to do something, footsteps filled the air and it turned to see Flash. The teen ran forward and spotted the monster, then noticed the girl laying on the floor. 

"Twilight!" He rushed to her side and tried to shake her awake, but found she was completely unconscious. As this was going on, Shining was pulling himself out of the clothing whilst Timber continued to watch. Flash turned towards the monster and stood tall, as the Mimic Driver appeared on his wrist. 

He took out the screen device and held it up, pressing the button to activate it. "STRIKE!" He quickly opened the side of the Driver and placed the screen inside, completely unaware that he was being watched by Shining and Timber. 

As the Ant Mimic stared at him, he struck a pose. "Henshin!" He slammed the draw shut and the belt activated. 

"MIMIC! LIGHTNING BUG!" Flash crossed his arms, as the liquid flew out of the pipes and began to cover him. It quickly solidified before breaking apart, revealing the suited up teen before the amber slammed into him and formed the armor. As the transformation completed, the Driver spoke. "Illuminate the light, striking through the darkness!"

Both Shining and Timber were shocked by what they had just witnessed. 

"The winds of victory have shifted," the Kamen Rider announced before running forward. Before the Mimic could respond, the Rider leapt at it as he slammed the side of his belt inwards. 

"CLIMACTIC STRIKE!"

His boot was surrounded with energy and with a mighty kick, he slammed it into the Mimic and sent it flying backwards whilst it was electrocuted by the energy. This wasn't enough to destroy it, but it did give Shifter the time he needed. 

He pulled out the motorbike toy and threw it at the ground, causing it to melt and grow before reshaping. Once the bike was completed, Shifter grabbed Twilight and carried her over to the machine. But as he placed her on it, the Mimic picked itself up. 

Shifter growled, wishing there was a way for him to get Twilight to safety and stop this thing from doing any more harm. 

Then, suddenly, the bike revved up on its own and raced off with Twilight on it. "Huh?" He watched it go, Twilight not falling off at all. "Okay. Wasn't expecting that." He heard the beast roar, as it charged forward to attack. 

He thrust his foot back without even looking, knocking the creature away. As it hit the ground, Shifter prepared for a fight. "Bring it on." He charged, as the beast picked itself up and the two began to fight. Shifter jumped around, leaping off the wall and dodging all the ant's attacks. 

Their fight caused them to both move away from the area, allowing Shining and Timber the chance to let what happened sink in.

Shining finally acted, jumping out of the window and running off somewhere. This just left Timber, who stared at the spot Flash had last been in. And after a few moments, he nodded and ran off somewhere as well. 



Shifter and the Ant Mimic continued their battle, with Shifter having a clear advantage as he fought against the monster. 

The Ant threw its claw at Shifter, but the Kamen Rider easily caught it by the wrist before flipping it around. The alien roared, as it was sent flying and crashed into the ground. Flash kept hold of the creature's arm and pulled it upwards, whilst slamming a boot into its chest. 

The creature roared in pain, as Shifter tried to think of what to do. 

He could destroy the monster, but that would only nullify the threat. There had to be a way he could get some information out of the creature. Find out how to defeat the Mimics, once and for all. Because once that happened, he might finally have some answers from that weird cloak guy. 

However, something happened that soon caught him completely by surprise. 

Out of nowhere, something flew towards him at high speed. "Huh?" He looked around, just as the creature slammed into him. "GYAH!" He was thrown off the Mimic and sent flying through the air, the Rider doing several spins before landing on his feet and sliding along the ground. 

He slid to a stop and looked up, his eyes going wide at the sight of another monster helping the ant up. 

It looked like the cross between a man and an insect. Its body was humanoid, but it was surrounded by a green exoskeleton. It had a pair of insect wings on its back and its hands and feet looked like that of an insect with three fingers that were like insect arms. On the back of each of its elbows and on its knees were some kind of glass dome that looked like they lit up. The head appeared to be humanoid, but it was wearing an insectoid mask.

"Another Mimic?" Flash asked, as the creature laughed. 

"I'm not just any Mimic." Shifter's eyes went wide, not expecting to hear these things talk. "I am Gule-Far-Tar. General of the Mimic army." Shifter let that sink in and realised, this guy had to be one of the big bosses. "I came here to uncover what's been destroying my fellow Mimics. And now I've uncovered it. You." 

"Your Mimics are trying to destroy my world," Shifter stated. "If they wanna do that, they're gonna have to go through me!" He ran forward and Gule did the same, the pair meeting in the middle and throwing a punch at one another. 

The impact knocked the two back, Shifter off his feet whilst Gule staggered back. 

As this happened, the Ant Mimic charged and dived on Shifter. The Kamen Rider managed to raise a leg, so the creature slammed into his foot. But as he kicked it away, Gule attacked. 

Shifter leapt to his feet and the pair traded blows, whilst the Ant attacked as well. It was two on one and Shifter was clearly at a disadvantage, not getting a second to catch his breath as the monsters attacked one after the other. If something wasn't done to change the odds, Flash would be in real trouble.



Outside, many people were grouped up in a large crowd. 

Whilst they were worried the monster would attack them outside, curiosity also got the better of them. They were all wondering if Shifter would show up and fight against the creature, or maybe someone else might find a way to stop it. 

Rainbow, Applejack and even Rarity were outside. They all wanted to go back in and help, but they had their own issues to worry about. Scootaloo, Sweetie and Applebloom were with them, having escaped once they heard about the monster attack. The girls had to make sure the three were safe before they could think about going in to fight a monster. 

"Is everyone okay?" Rarity asked, the girls nodding as Scootaloo looked around. 

She spotted Flash's car and suddenly grew worried. "Where is he?" She looked around, but there was no sign of him. "Is he still inside?" 

"A'h doubt it," Applejack told her. "He probably left ages ago and didn't want to find another parkin' space. A'm sure he's fine." Scootaloo wasn't so sure, but an engine pulled her attention away from searching for her brother. 

From out of the mall, a bike flew out with somebody on it. That somebody was Twilight, who Rainbow, Applejack and Rarity rushed over to. "Twilight!" Rarity cried, as they recognised the bike. "Isn't this Shifter's bike?" 

"Yeah," Rainbow nodded, "where'd you get it?" But Twilight didn't answer and they realised she was unconscious. "Twilight!" She tried to pull Twilight off, but the girl didn't move. Looking down, they realised part of her body had something fused to the bike. Her legs had the metal melded to her pants and shoes, whilst her hands were stuck on the bike's handles. 

"What the hay?" Applejack tried to pull her off, but it didn't work. "Come on. Let her go." The others tried to follow suit, but nothing happened. "What's wrong with this thing?"

As they tried to extract her from the bike, sirens filled the air and they looked around. They soon spotted ambulances, police cars and even a few news crews. Clearly, news of the Mimic attack had reached the authorities and they wanted to do something about it. 



Back inside, Shifter and the two Mimics continued to fight. 

Shifter was growing more and more tired, as he did his best to fight to two off. And as he blocked a slash from the Ant, Gule suddenly dealt a kick to his chest. "Gyah!" He was knocked off his feet and slammed into the ground, Gule quickly grabbing him by the foot and flying him into the air before throwing him across the room. 

He hit the ground and slid across it, moaning at the impact until he came to a stop. 

Gule laughed as the Ant charged again, whilst Shifter tried to pick himself up. And as it got close, the Kamen Rider raised his arms and unleashed a bright flash of light from bulbs on his suit. The light struck the creature's giant eyes and made it scream in pain, allowing Shifter to rise. 

He ran at the beast and dealt a swift punch into its chest, knocking it back as he quickly fired off two more punches before swinging his leg around to kick it. 

As the Ant tried to recover, Gule flew in and blocked another punch. And as Shifter pulled back to deliver another strike, Gule's own body unleashed a brilliant light. "Augh!" Shifter hissed, his visors doing nothing to protect him from the bright flash. 

As he staggered back, he remembered those glass domes on the Mimic General's body and realised they were the same as his own lights. This thing had his ability.

The world around him still blurry, Shifter was unable to defend himself when Gule flew forward and grabbed him by the neck. The next thing he knew, he was lifted into the air and flown over to one of the walls. He was smashed into it hard before being pulled away and flown over to another wall, smashing into it just as hard. 

This happened two more times before Gule flew him down and threw him towards the Ant Mimic, which slammed one of its pincer fists into Shifter and sent him flying in another direction.

He crashed into a pillar and broke right through it, falling to the ground as Gule and the Ant moved towards him. He tried to pick himself up, but he needed a moment to recover. 

"With you out of the way, there'll be nothing to stop us from taking over." But as Gule was about to attack, a noise caught their attention. One which made them look around and see something, moving towards them. 

It was a bike, which looked like a blue version of Shifter's bike. It had silver under the bodywork and yellow streams on it. And riding it was a figure, dressed in a silver suit with blue armor themed on a hercules beetle. 

The figure drove and before the Mimic could comprehend what was happening, the bike accelerated and rammed into Gule. The impact sent the Mimic General flying, eventually crashing into the ground. 

The bike had stopped seconds after slamming into Gule, the rider throwing a kick towards the Ant and knocking it away as well. Then, he got off his bike and moved over to Shifter. "You alright?" 

Shifter looked up at him and finally realised, he was just like him. Wearing the same belt and screen device as him. "You're...like me."

"Name's Morphic." He held out a hand, "Kamen Rider Morphic. You looked like you could use some help." Shifter took the hand and was pulled to his feet, as Gule picked himself up. 

"Another one!?" He cried, as the Ant pushed itself to its feet. "No matter. I will destroy you both." 

"You deal with the loudmouth," Morphic announced. "I'll take ant head over there." Shifter nodded and charged towards Gule, whilst Morphic walked towards the Mimic. 

Shifter leapt into the air and dealt a powerful kick to Gule, who tried to block with his hands but had little success. As he was sent staggering back, Shifter continued to throw punches and kicks at him. Gule quickly managed to recover and started fighting back, the pair appearing at a stalemate one on one. 

Meanwhile, the Ant Mimic charged and tried to grab Morphic. But the blue Rider was able to easily knock his pincers away and deal his own punch to the creature. 

The Ant staggered back. From what it could tell, Morphic was slower than Shifter. But he had more strength than the orange Rider, allowing him to hit harder. And with the Ant being at around the same speed, the two appeared to also be at a stalemate. 

Morphic charged forward and dealt several strong punches towards it, the Ant doing its best to block or dodge them. It managed to avoid two and deflect two, but still got hit several times. It cried out, but kept fighting and slashed its pincers towards Morphic. 

The Rider was struck in the chest, but his armor was able to protect him from any serious damage. And when the Ant tried to go for an unarmored section, Morphic grabbed his arm before it could deal him any damage. And with a powerful kick to the stomach, the Ant was thrown backwards and crashed into the ground. 

The Mimic hissed, but it hadn't taken any serious damage. Despite how strong Morphic was, the Ant's armor was clearly able to take his attack. No matter how hard Morphic struck it, he couldn't destroy it. 

However, it seemed Morphic realised this too. And was ready.

"Blitz Blaster!" Suddenly, part of his gauntlet turned to liquid and flew down into his hand. Once there, it solidified and reshaped itself. Soon enough, a blue handgun with a long barrel was in his grasp. And as the ant charged, he quickly fired a blue energy out of it.

The Ant saw this coming, but couldn't move in time to dodge. The energy slammed into it and when it did, a powerful explosion caused its chest armor to crack. This made the Mimic scream in pain, as it staggered back and clutched its chest. Morphic then fired again, hitting another section of his chest and blowing that apart as well. He then fired multiple times.

All the creature could do was scream. With each strike, its body was blown apart. Its hands were blasted off, its legs were destroyed at the knees and several holes were sticking out of the armor. 

As the Mimic fell to the ground, Morphic slammed his hand into the side of the belt. 

"CLIMACTIC BLITZ!"

His armor glowed before the light began to fly through his body and into his blaster, which started lighting up as Morphic pointed it towards the sky. 

The Mimic saw this and tried to crawl away, but it was no use. All it could do was drag itself, helplessly, a few inches at a time. 

"Feel the full force of my justice." Morphic fired the weapon and it flew straight up, with him suddenly leaping right after it. Somehow, he was able to fly past the energy sphere that had formed and spun around. He slammed his foot into the orb and kicked it, the blast flying back towards the ground even faster than before. 

It morphed into a glowing blue meteor, which shot down to the Mimic and exploded upon contact. 

The beast roared, as it exploded and Morphic landed on the ground in front of the explosion. When the flames and smoke from the blast faded away, the Mimic was nowhere in sight. 



Shifter and Gule continued their fight, both still at a stalemate. 

Shifter threw a kick at Gule's neck, but the Mimic General blocked before trying to kick him back. But Shifter was able to grab his foot and the pair could only stand there, each on one foot, as they fought against the other's strength. 

Eventually, they pushed away from one another and staggered back. As they did, the lights on their bodies glowed and they unleashed the beams towards the other. Both were blinded, unable to properly fight back.

They quickly shook off the blindness and both ran forward, Gule taking flight whilst Shifter leapt up and swung his leg to kick. But Gule quickly swung his claws around and the two were knocked away from one another, landing as they panted. 

Gule growled, wanting to end this nuisance once and for all. But before he could, blaster fire flew towards him and he was forced to leap back. "What?" He looked over and saw Morphic, running towards him with his weapon in hand. 

"Give it up!" Morphic announced, stepping up next to Shifter. "You can't beat us both." 

Gule growled and looked ready to attack, but then they all heard noises. More footsteps and voices, coming closer. It appeared the police had arrived. "We'll finish this later," Gule stated before leaping into the air. 

Morphic tried to blast him, but had no such luck and Gule broke through a nearby skylight. "Ahhh," Morphic cried. The noises got closer. Any minute, the place would be swarming with police. "We need to get out of here." As he said that, his bike rolled over to them. 

"Not good," Shifter gulped. "My bike's still not back yet." 

"Get on!" Morphic climbed on the bike and Shifter stared at him, clearly unsure if he should trust this guy. "I'm on your side." Shifter sighed and climbed onto the bike, holding onto Morphic's sides as the bike revved up. 

As the police and news crews arrived, the two raced off and flew out the nearest window they could find.



Back outside, they were still trying to figure out how to get Twilight off of the bike. 

"Come on!" Applejack did everything she could to pry the metal off of her, but she couldn't without risking injury to Twilight. "Why won't it let her go!?" The others frowned, wishing they had an answer. But the bike kept its hold on her. 

It was then that they heard a loud smashing sound and turned towards it, as another bike suddenly raced out from around the building. It was moving so fast, they couldn't tell who was on it. But as soon as it passed, the bike Twilight was on suddenly revved up. 

The metal holding her to it also gave way, causing her to almost slip off as her friends caught it. The bike then raced off, following the other bike in becoming a blur and disappearing. 

"That was weird," Rainbow stated before Twilight let out a moan. "Twi! You okay?" She opened her eyes and looked around, seeing she was outside. 

"What happened?" The others frowned, wishing she would have the answers for them. 



Morphic raced through the streets, swerving between the bikes until he turned into an alleyway and drove down it. 

Once they were safely out of the public's eye, he rolled to a stop and allowed Shifter to climb off his bike. "Thanks," he told him. "I might have been in trouble, if you hadn't gotten me out of there."

"No problem," Morphic told him. "Us Riders have to stick together, huh Flash." The orange rider's eyes went wide as he leapt back, ready to fight. "Wait, just relax." 

"How do you know who I am?" 

"You transformed right in front of me." Shifter tilted his head, as Morphic reached down and opened up his Driver. Once he took out the screen, the armor began to melt away and his suit disappeared. This revealed the person underneath. 

"Shining?" 

Shining Armor smiled, as his bike shrank back down. As it did, Shifter's bike finally arrived and rolled next to him. "You should really be careful when you transform. You're lucky I was the one who saw you. You might not be so lucky next time."

"But...how? How are you a Kamen Rider?" 

"Honestly, I have no idea." Shining held the screen in his hand. "One day, I was chasing after a criminal when I suddenly blacked out. The next thing I knew, I was waking up and this thing was in my hand. What about you?"

"Same," Flash nodded. "Have you...talked about this with anyone?" 

"No. But since you have a bike, I'm guessing you met our friend in the cloak." Flash nodded. "He said all would become clear when I defeated the Mimics. But before I could find one, you suddenly showed up and started kicking butt. Thanks for stealing my thunder. I had a whole speech planned out for when I revealed myself to the world."

"Um...sorry." 

"It's cool. I'll admit, you made up on the spot something that was way better than what I came up with." They both looked down at the screen devices, curious about what had happened to them. "Flash. I know you're a kid who's probably in over his head, but I need you. I can't do this on my own and you can't do it either. We need to work together." 

Flash smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that. Because based on what happened today, there's no way I'd win this fight on my own." He held out his hand. "Partners?" 

Shining smirked and took his hand, "partners. Now. let's get back to the mall. I need to check on my sister." 

"Same," Flash nodded. "I just hope they're okay. Your sister looked like she was in pretty bad shape when I showed up. Where were you and Timber?" 

"I'd been knocked into some clothes," Shining led him out of the alleyway. "I don't know where Timber went. But I'm more worried about that Mimic General. He was pretty strong, for someone who was probably just a high up grunt. Makes me wonder who the big boss is. And how many more generals he has."

Flash nodded, wondering the same thing. He knew it was just a matter of time before they met all those in charge, especially if they kept messing up the Mimics' plans. But since the Mimics had no idea who Flash and Shining were under the masks, they had nothing to worry about. 



Gule had returned to the dark place that acted as the Mimic's base, the insectoid monster sighing as he sat down. 

"Chosen to get rid of the cloak, I see." Gule rolled his eyes, as he turned towards the female voice. "Good. I'm starting to get sick of this thing as well." A ripping sound filled the air. As it did, a feminine monster suddenly appeared out of the darkness.  

Her body was mostly black, being rather slim in appearance with a large bust and hips along with thick arms and legs. Her hands and high-heeled feet were red. Her arms, legs and hips were covered in red web-like designs and around her neck was a long black collar that flowed down over her shoulders, chest and back. Along the collar were eight red lines that resembled spider legs that were connected by red spider-webbing. She was also wearing a skirt that mimicked the rear of a spider, the same webbing pattern on it. Her head was entirely round with black skin and four red eyes that appeared to be divided into four sections.

The woman stepped forward and smiled at him. "Well aren't you a sorry sight."

"Back off, Maya. I'm not in the mood." 

"Now now," a male voice replied as another figure stepped forward. "Let's not fight. We're all on the same team, after all." 

Another monster appeared out of the darkness. Its body looked like the cross between a man and a bird, as a pair of black wings came out of its back. Most of its body was also covered in black feathers, with only its neck, head, hands and feet having visible skin. That skin was pink and wrinkly around its hands, neck and head, whilst the feet were grey and thin with three long toes. Its neck was long and curved, with a round head and slanted beak for a mouth.

"Frill," Gule glared at him. "We may have the same goals, but that doesn't make us a team. My only care, is to protect the Mimics and allow them to complete their mission."

"Indeed," the vulture Mimic nodded. "But to do that, we must work together. And based on your injuries, I'm assuming you had a little tussle with the one they call Shifter." 

"Not just Shifter. There's another one, calling himself Morphic. He's just as dangerous." The other two frowned at this. "But I have uncovered something. Shifter's true identity."

"Really?" Maya asked, "how did you discover that?" Gule stood up and as he did, his body began to melt and change. Slowly, he took a new form and his body eventually solidified. When it did, it revealed a brown skinned teen with green hair. Timber Spruce.

"I saw him," Timber replied. "And now that I know who he is, I will destroy him." 

"Well, don't forget you're not in this alone." Maya raised a hand and snapped her fingers, causing light to flood the room. Doing so caused the entire place to be revealed. A giant laboratory of some kind, full of tables carrying glass jars. 

Inside those jars, pulsing orbs of orange-brown slime were moving around within them. Enough to make an entire army of creatures, ready to destroy the Earth. Timber, or was it Gule, smiled at the sight of them all. 

"Soon, those Kamen Riders won't know what hit them." He and the other two laughed, as they knew this fight had only just begun. The Riders might be winning the battles, but the war would end in Mimic victory.
> Episode 4: A Crabby Comeback
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In their mysterious lab, the three Mimic Generals were discussing their situation. Primarily, the Kamen Riders that were getting in their way. 

"What's the problem?" Gule asked, currently in his monster form. "I know who Shifter is. I can easily find where he lives. So why don't we just go there and kill him whilst he sleeps? Stop him before he can transform?"

The vulture, Frill, hummed with his arms crossed. "That might not be a bad idea." 

"Maybe," the spider Mimic named Maya stated. "But we have other issues to deal with. Kamen Rider Morphic. We have no idea who he is under that mask. If Shifter can be so easily defeated whilst unmasked, we can do it any time. But if we do it, Morphic will surely know and be on more of an alert. We should discover his identity or eliminate him, then deal with Shifter when he's not expecting it." 

Gule obviously didn't like the idea of waiting, whilst Frill turned to her. 

"What do you have planned?" 

"Gears are already in motion. I can get Shifter alone, then send in a Mimic he has no hope of defeating without Morphic. But before Morphic can arrive, I'll be there to stop him." The two looked at her curiously, as he body began to melt and shift. 

Slowly, it grew smaller and less monstrous. And eventually, it began to solidify and revealed a black skinned woman with flowing blue hair and bright green eyes. She was dressed in a business suit, with a green shirt under a black blazer with black pants and black high heels. 

The woman stepped over to a table, where a jar of slime was waiting for her. She reached in and the slime transformed into a sphere, which she removed with a smile. "Yes. You will do quite nicely." 



A few days had passed since the battle against the Ant Mimic. 

Since that day, Flash and Shining Armor had stayed in contact with each other. This was to help them foster a sense of teamwork, which they would need if they wanted to stand any chance of defeating the Mimics together. So far, Flash had learned that Shining enjoyed comics and making models of robots and futuristic vehicles. 

He was actually engaged to the principal of Crystal Prep, Cadance, and was also an enjoyer of Ogres and Oubliettes. Meanwhile, Shining had learned everything he could about Flash. It turned out, the two could get along quite well with each other. And that meant they should be able to work well together, should the need arise. 

After the fight, the two had snuck back to the mall and instantly went to check on their younger sisters. 

Whilst Scootaloo was okay, Twilight had a small head injury. But after a night in hospital, she was cleared with no damage done whatsoever. But her friends had quite the story to tell her, about how she had appeared on Shifter's bike. That had certainly thrown the girl for a loop. 

Now, Flash was at his house getting ready. 

He had promised to help out with a special event, chaperoning young children as they went to the city's aquarium. He was going with Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow and some other kids who apparently didn't go to CHS. He had been asked to help by a woman who had contacted him after talking with Celestia, having asked for any boys that were willing to help out. Flash had apparently been the first on the principal's list and Flash, being Flash, had been unable to say no. 

"Alright," Flash headed down stairs where his mother was working on her laptop, "I'm off. Sure you don't want me to get you a souvenir?" 

Misty chuckled. "No thanks. Fish have never really been my thing. Probably because of how easily I get seasick. But have fun." Flash nodded and headed out, running to his car and actually being excited for the day ahead.  

But as his car came into view, a bright flash of light suddenly appeared before him. 

"Wow!" Before he could stop himself, he ran through the light and found himself in a dark area. The same place he had appeared in when he first learned about the Mimics. "Hey, cloak guy. You here?" A light suddenly shined down from above, blinding him. 

Once he was used to the light, he looked down and saw something rise up from below. The table that had once held his bike, now rose up and allowed him to see what was on top of it. Five more of the strange screen devices that he and Shining used to transform with. 

He stepped forward and picked one up, allowing him to look it over and see it was blank. There were no letters on the side and when he pressed the button, nothing happened. The screen didn't light up at all. "What?" 

"Those are Mimicores." Flash jumped and looked around, but saw no sign of the cloaked individual. "As you've probably realised, they are necessary to allow you to access your powers. The one you hold, allows you to wield the powers of a lightning bug. And the one Shining holds, grants him the power of the hercules beetle." 

"Right," Flash nodded. "But what about these ones?" 

"They are blanks," the voice replied. "They cannot be used. Not until you program them." 

"Program them?" 

"When you see an animal you wish to wield the powers of, hold the Mimicore up to it. Doing so will cause the Mimicore to copy all the abilities of that animal."

"Wow," Flash smirked, "imagine what Shining and I could do with these." 

"That is why I am giving them to you. To help in the battles that are to come. Use them wisely, but be careful with who you let use them." Flash looked confused. "Each Mimicore, will also link itself to whichever Driver uses it first. You and Shining cannot swap the Mimicores you already have, so be careful when you use one. Because once you do, Shining will be unable to use it." 

"Okay." Flash nodded. "Five Mimicores. Don't suppose you have a sixth one, do you?" 

"Not at this time. But when I do, I will attempt to give them to you. For now, you and Shining decide who gets what. Use them to defeat the Mimics." 

"I don't suppose you plan on telling us more about this whole situation?" Flash asked, but the figure did not reply. Instead, the light appeared behind him and he was thrown through it. "WOW!" The next thing he knew, he was back in front of his house. "Of course." He looked down at the five Mimicores he had received. He needed to get them to Shining. 

But he also had the aquarium visit, which he was now probably late for. As such, he rushed over to his car and got it. As he did, he connected his phone to the car and dialled Shining's number. "Hello?" The man replied when he picked up. 

As Flash drove to the aquarium, he told Shining what had happened. To say he was surprised was an understatement, but he was interested in the Mimicores Flash had received. 

"Those will definitely come in handy," Shining told him. "Our Rider forms have their weaknesses, but this should help to overcome them." 

"So what do we do about dividing them?" Flash asked. "There are five and only one person can use them." 

"You take three," Shining replied. "I'll take the other two. I'm more trained when it comes to combat, so I should be able to do more with less. And if what that cloak guy said is true, we may end up getting more later." 

"Alright," Flash nodded as he arrived at the aquarium. "I'll bring them over to you later. Hopefully, you don't run into a Mimic before I can get it to you." 

"Cool. See you then." He hung up and Flash pulled into his parking space, as he spotted a group of young children at the front of the building. 

Getting out of the car, he spotted Twilight, Fluttershy and Rainbow amongst them. And they weren't the only ones, as their were two boys around Flash's age there as well.

One was a light green skinned boy, with orange hair and purple eyes. He was wearing a green jacket over a purple shirt and brown pants. Next to him was a kid that looked almost identical, having the same face. But his skin was dark green and his hair was red. He was wearing a gray version of the other boy's jacket, with a purple shirt underneath and black pants. 

"Hey," Flash waved as he approached. "This everyone?" 

"Looks like it," Twilight nodded. "Have you met Thorax and Pharynx?" She gestured to the two, the light skinned boy stepping forward. 

"Hey," he held out his hand. "Name's Thorax. Nice to meet you?" 

"Flash Sentry," he shook the teen's hand. "Same here. Do you go to CHS?" 

"Yes, but not for very long." Thorax gestured to the other boy, "my brother and I were home schooled until recently." Flash was surprised by this, never heard of anyone who had actually been home schooled before. "Our mom was really protective of us." 

"But not anymore?" 

"No," Pharynx shook his head. "She's barely ever around anymore. Which is why this whole thing feels weird. Why is she bothering to do all of this?"

"Is it so wrong that I wish to do some good for the community?" They all looked around and saw a tall woman with dark skin and green hair, marching towards them. "With everything that's been happening in this city lately, I thought the younger generation should enjoy some fun. Who knows how long those days will last, with those Kamen Riders causing trouble all over the city." 

Flash frowned at this, whilst Thorax stepped forward. "Mom. The Kamen Riders aren't the ones causing trouble. It's the Mimics that are attacking. The Kamen Riders are trying to stop them." 

"Don't be so naive, Thorax. It's clear those two weirdos are unleashing these creatures on the city, just so they can destroy them and pretend to be the heroes." Thorax frowned, clearly not agreeing. But before he could say anything else, his mother spoke up. "Anyway. Let's not ruin this day with an argument. Hello. My name is Chrysalis and I hope you're all looking forward to today." 

"YEAH!" The younger children cheered, clearly excited to see all the different fish. 

"Alright then." Chrysalis gestured for them to follow. They all headed into the building and arrived at a circular room, with a reception desk at the front, the walls painted blue with many cartoon fish and sea creatures covering it. 

They all waited, as Chrysalis paid the woman for the entrance fee. And once that was done, she returned with a bunch of arm bands that they had to wear until they left. 

"Now then," Chrysalis handed the bands out to them. "Please remember to behave whilst you're here. Any bad behaviour will reflect poorly on me. Be good and this may end up becoming a regular thing. Understand?" 

"YES!" All the children announced. Once they were all wearing their arm bands, they ran off with the older teen following and making sure they stayed under control. 

Chrysalis watched with a smile. But when they were out of sight, her smile dropped and she looked around. Once she was sure nobody was watching, something appeared in her hand. The orb of brownish orange slime, which she dropped. 

As soon as it hit the floor, the orb melted and changed colour to mimic the carpet. "Find what I told you to find. And when you do, destroy Shifter and anyone else that gets in your way." The puddle began to move off, as Chrysalis turned to leave. She had to prepare for their next guest. 



In the next room, Flash and the others all stared into the tank. 

There were many different fish in the tank. Clown fish, starfish, flatfish and so on. The children were all amazed by them, but then noticed what they thought was the coolest fish of all. "Swordfish!" One boy cheered, seeing the creature in question swim into view. 

"Cool," Thorax smirked at the sight of it. "Just imagine what it's like, to be a fish in the ocean whilst that thing is around. One minute, you're swimming along. And the next, you're suddenly impaled on its spear-like nose." 

Twilight laughed. "Actually, that's not how swordfish hunt." Thorax turned to her. "In a way, it should really be called a club-fish. It uses its nose to whack their prey into submission, stunning them so the swordfish can easily finish them off." 

"Really?" Pharynx asked. "So it never cuts its prey?"

"Sometimes, they use the tip to slash at the prey. But that's more to injure them so they slow down, allowing the swordfish to catch up and stun them." 

"I wonder how sharp its nose is," Flash stared at the fish before it suddenly shot off. 

"Probably not that sharp," Twilight replied. "It doesn't need to be. At the speed it can move, even a dull blade would be able to cut into a fish's body. If something's moving fast enough, it'll be able to cut through anything." 

Flash nodded, as the kids moved to another tank in order to check out a cool looking octopus. 

They continued through the aquarium, seeing the many interesting sea life all over the place. There were puffer fish, large turtles, a small coral reef with all kinds of different creatures living there. Stingrays, eels and even a few rare breeds of sea snail. All of them were amazing to look at.

Slowly, as they made their way further and further into the aquarium, the groups began to split off in order to examine the different tanks and sea life. 

Flash and Thorax's group soon arrived at the area that housed the penguins, Flash being very glad he was wearing a hoodie due to how cold it was. They stepped over to the observation platform, overlooking the penguin habitat. There, they watched as the flightless birds slid down the ice slides and dived into the water. 

There was another section below them, which would allow them to watch the penguins swim. They would have to go see it later. 

"This is awesome," Thorax smiled. "I've always wanted to see penguins up close." 

"Haven't you ever been to something like this before?" Flash turned to him, as Thorax shook his head. 

"No. Honestly, my brother and I never get to go anywhere like this. Growing up, mom was always too busy. First she was busy running a business on her own, whilst also looking after my brother and me. Then, when her business took off, she was constantly running around trying to manage the different branches of it. All the while, she made sure Pharynx and I studied and got good grades." 

"What about your dad?" 

"Never met him. He ran off before my brother and I were born." Flash frowned, feeling bad for him. 

"Sorry, man. I know what it's like, growing up without a father. Mine died when I was younger. I can barely remember him." Thorax nodded, as they began to make their way down to the lower sections. "Ever since then, it's just been my mom, sister and me. My mom worked hard to provide for us but even so, she always found time to make sure my sister and I were happy." 

"I never said I wasn't happy," Thorax stated. "My mom might always be busy, but I've got Pharynx and we have fun together. We play games, do our school work together. We have a large house that we have pretty much free reign over. Everything's good." 

"Except your mom hardly spends any time with you guys. I get she wants to make enough for you all to live comfortably on, but I think I'd rather spend time with my parents instead of having a large house, cool car and going on fancy vacations." Thorax nodded, clearly not arguing against him. 

They arrived at the lower section, where they got to see the penguins swimming around having fun. The kids were all having a blast and as they watched a penguin do a spin as it dived lower, Flash and Thorax couldn't help but smile. 

But then, Flash suddenly sensed something and turned towards an area of the aquarium. 

"You okay?" Thorax asked, only for a bunch of screams to suddenly fill the air followed by the sound of shattering glass. "What the?" 

"Take the kids back to Twilight and the others. I'll go make sure everything's okay!" Flash ran forward and Thorax was left to wonder what was going on, the blue haired teen running through the aquarium towards the screams. And when he arrived at the source, he found a bunch of people running towards him. He pushed himself to the side and looked over them, allowing to see what they were running from. 

It was a humanoid crab monster. Its body was a mixture of black and red, being black in the areas that had moving joints such as the shoulders, elbows, waist and knees. The rest was covered in red armor, its head being encased in a red dome-like structure with multiple glowing green eyes. Instead of hands, it had a pair of large crab claws on the ends of its arms. And when it opened those claws, holes could be seen in the centre that it shot high pressured water out of. 

The Mimic was standing next to a large tank, which had been shattered and water sent everywhere. Along with it, a bunch of lobsters and crabs were running about the place. 

Flash looked around and spotted a doorway, which he quickly rushed through into another room. This one was empty and Flash took out his phone, texting Shining two words. 'Aquarium, Mimic.' Sending it off, her took out his Mimicore as the Driver appeared around his waist. 



As soon as Shining got the text, he ran over to a spot he wouldn't be seen. And as the belt appeared on his waist, Shining took out his Mimicore and activated it. 

"BLITZ!" 

He opened up his driver and placed the device inside, striking a pose as he did. "HENSHIN!" He slammed the draw shut and the lights on his belt turned dark blue. 

"MIMIC! HERCULES BEETLE!" Shining crossed his arms, as the orange-brown liquid flew out of the pipes and began to cover him. It quickly solidified into the cocoon before breaking apart, revealing the silver suited figure. The amber then slammed into him and turned blue, forming his hercules beetle armor and mask. As the transformation was complete, the Driver spoke. "Power that shatters everything, contained in a mighty horn!" 

Morphic took out the toy motorbike and threw it into the air, the vehicle melting and enlarging itself as it fell to the ground. It solidified as soon as it hit the pavement, creating the blue, silver and yellow motorcycle. 

He leapt onto the machine and revved it up, racing out of the alleyway and zooming down the street towards the aquarium. "Hold on, Flash. I'll be there soon." 



Back at the aquarium, the Crab Mimic continued to attack anything that moved. 

The people continued to run to escape, whilst the Mimic smashed multiple tanks and caused them to empty out. Luckily, all the animals in these tanks were ones that could survive out of the water. But it was drawing closer to the ones with fish and other completely aquatic creatures in it. 

Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Pharynx and Thorax, were trying to get the kids out of the building. 

"Where's Flash?" Twilight asked, looking around. But the teen was nowhere in sight. The others shrugged, as they tried to make it to the exit. But the only way out of the location they were in, was to go through the area the Mimic was in. 

"What do we do?" Thorax asked, as Twilight and Rainbow nodded. 

"We'll hold that thing off," Rainbow stated. "You guys get the kids out of here!" They nodded before the girls cards into the room, which had crabs and other creatures scuttling around the place. 

The Mimic noticed them and quickly launched a blast of water towards them, but Twilight managed to stop the water and push it away from them. And once the water flow stopped, Rainbow charged forward and performed a powerful kick right to the creature's chest. 

But the attack did nothing but hurt Rainbow foot, the girl crying out as she was forced to stagger back and hold her leg. "Rainbow, look out!" Rainbow had to duck under the creature's claw, then leap back to safety.

The Mimic growled, snapping its claws as it chased after her. Twilight was about to throw something at it, but a sound then caught her attention. 

"CLIMATIC STRIKE!" 

An orange blur flew past and the next thing she knew, the Mimic was getting struck by a supercharged kick. The impact sent it flying backwards, as Shifter landed in front of them. "You alright?" He asked Rainbow, who nodded. Shifter was about to say something else, but the Mimic stood up. "What?" He looked towards the beast, but saw it didn't even have a scratch. "Tough little bugger." 

"We need to keep it distracted," Twilight told him. "So Fluttershy, Pharynx and Thorax can get the kids to safety." 

Shifter nodded and charged, the beast firing a blast of water at him. Shifter dodged this attack and managed to get in close, throwing a punch into it. But this did nothing against its rock solid armor. "Ow!" 

The monster roared, as it swung its claws at him once again. But he managed to avoid them, as Twilight and Rainbow helped Shifter keep it distracted. As they did, Pharynx saw the opening and turned to the others. "Let's go." They nodded and all headed off, running as fast as they could. 

They managed to get past the Mimic and headed for the exit, whilst Shifter crossed his arms to block a punch by one of its large clawed hands. 

As they ran, they came across the remains of a tank. Thorax happened to look into this tank and when he did, he stopped as he saw something within it. A crab. 

However, this crab wasn't walking around or pinching at the air. This crab wasn't doing anything. Because it was encased in an orange cocoon made of some kind of amber. "What the heck?" For some reason, he felt like seeing this was important. 

But before he could think to investigate it, a stray blast of water struck next to him and he remembered he was in danger. As such, he ran for his life and left the Kamen Rider to fight against the Mimic. 



Outside, Morphic continued to race through the city towards the Aquarium. 

As he got closer, he spotted a large crowd outside the building. One he would need to jump in order to get to the building. So, he revved his bike up and shot forward. But as he was about to jump over them, the people heard his engine and turned to see him coming. And to his surprise, they all moved aside to allow him through. 

He rode through the crowd and reached the other side, sliding his bike to a stop as the people called out of him to stop that monster. 

Many were taking pictures of him, Kamen Rider Morphic finally getting the spotlight. And as he got off his bike, which shrank down to the toy form, he turned to the aquarium and could feel the Mimic within it. 

He marched forward, ready to help Shifter and take the Mimic down. But before he could get inside, he suddenly sensed something and his instincts kicked in. 

He leapt to the side, as a web shot down and almost hit him. 

He rolled along the ground and as he did, he summoned his Blitz Blaster and pointed it towards where the web had come from. He and everyone watching, looked up to see something sticking to the side of the aquarium's wall. 

The humanoid spider smirked before leaping down, doing several flips before landing on the ground. Morphic could see it was female and as she stood up, she got into a fighting stance. "Kamen Rider Morphic, if I'm not mistaken." 

Morphic tilted his head. "You know me?" 

"My confidant, Gule, told me all about you. You were quite the surprise for him, when you saved Shifter from him and our Mimic underling." 

"I see." Morphic nodded. "You seem to have me at a disadvantage. You know my name, but I don't know you." 

"Of course. Where are my manners?" She bowed. "My name, is Maya-Vala-Uru. Mimic General." Morphic frowned, as Maya got into a battle stance. "And I am here to defeat you. Once you're out of the way, taking down Shifter will be easy." She punched the air and from out of her wrist, a stream of webbing shot out towards the Rider. 

Morphic fired his weapon, igniting the webs and forcing Maya to cut the line before it reached her. She then shot forward and Morphic tried to gun her down, but Maya managed to dodge each of his blasts until she reached him. 

When she did, she spun around and kicked the gun out of his hand. The Blitz Blaster hit the ground and started to melt into a puddle, whilst Morphic was forced to block a punch she dealt to him. The pair started fighting one another, throwing kicks and punches at one another. 

It quickly became clear that they were both even when it came to skill level, both able to perfectly match the other's attacks. When one threw a punch, the other deflected it. When one swung in for a kick, the other rolled out of the way. Neither side seemed to have an advantage. 

But when Morphic tried to punch her in the chest, Maya leaned backwards and formed a perfect L-shape without falling. And before Morphic could pull back, she thrust her fists forward and fired a pair of web blasts. "Gyah!" Morphic's eyes were covered and he staggered back, as Maya pulled herself forward. When he pulled the webbing off his helmet, he suddenly found himself getting hit in the head by a kick. "AUGH!" 

As he fell to the floor, Thorax, Fluttershy and Pharynx arrived with the kids. 

They quickly saw the fight going on and Thorax gasped at the sight of the new Rider, whilst Pharynx focused on the Mimic. "Cool!" Thorax cried, making Maya glance back at them. When she did, Pharynx got the feeling she was looking right at him and Thorax. 

Morphic used this momentary distraction to swing his leg around and kick Maya's out from under her, knocking her to the ground. This allowed him to roll away and get to the puddle that his blaster had melted into. And when he touched it, the slime flew up his hand and reformed his weapon. 

As Maya picked herself up, she suddenly found a bunch of laser blasts coming her way. But she was able to avoid them all, as the others watched Morphic continue to keep her at a distance. 

But before they could get too invested in watching the fight, a loud crashing sound made them look back into the aquarium. And they saw Shifter, crashing into the ground due to being hit by a water blast that had knocked him through a wall. 

Not wanting to get accidentally hit, the teen ushered the young kids away from the building. They had to get somewhere safe. 

Shifter groaned, as the Crab Mimic leapt through the hole he made and caused it to double in size. It then landed and roared before charging, Shifter getting to his feet just in time to avoid a claw swipe. He then thrust his arms forward and unleashed a bright flash of light, which blinded the Mimic. 

Rainbow and Twilight arrived, as Shifter tried to punch the Mimic and damage it. But all this did was make Shifter cry out, the Rider staggering back and clutching his hand. "Ahhh!" He waved it around, as the Crab prepared to attack. But before it could, Twilight grabbed a destroyed piece of the wall and threw it. 

The rock slammed into the crab and knocked it forward, allowing Shifter to jump away. 

"Isn't there any way you can beat this thing?" Rainbow asked, as the Crab turned to them. It fired a blast of water and Rainbow barely managed to pull Twilight out of the way. 

"I wish. But I'm not strong enough to break through the shell." He thought about his powers and realised, all of his abilities were evenly increased. 

He was stronger, faster and more agile than he was out of costume, but the increases were all equal to one another and he wasn't strong enough. Morphic was obviously slower and less dexterous than him, but that meant he had more strength. Enough to probably break through this thing's shell, if he were here. 

"Where is he?" He dodged another slash from its claws, as Rainbow picked up a piece of rock and ran forward. She picked up a tone of speed and once fast enough, she stopped and the rock was flung from her hand. 

It flew across the room towards the Mimic, but the creature spun around and backhanded the rock, shattering it without even leaning a scratch. "Seriously?" Rainbow cried. "What the heck is this thing even made out of?" 

Shifter was thinking the same thing, as he once again ran forward and attempted to hit the Mimic in the back. But as he did, the Crab spun around and his claw slammed him in the chest. "GYAH!" He was thrown backwards, as the Mimic completely turned towards him. And as he did, the creature raised its claw. 

"Look out!" Twilight cried, but the Mimic unleashed a powerful blast of water at the Rider. 

Shifter picked himself up, but couldn't react in time to avoid getting slammed by the high pressure water blast. "AUGH!" The water felt like a truck and slammed him backwards, the Rider's arms and legs flail as he flew and crashed into the back wall. 

The Force of the impact was enough to shatter it, causing Shifter to be pushed through the wall. 

Kamen Rider knocked away, Twilight and Rainbow gasped at the sight. The Crab then turned to them, its pincers snapping as it prepared to attack. But the girls weren't going to be so easily beaten. 

Twilight lifted a bunch of rocks into the air and threw them towards the Mimic, but it quickly knocked them away whilst Rainbow ran behind the creature. And she quickly raced forward and leapt onto its back. "Gotcha!" The Crab Mimic roared, as it started flailing around trying to dislodge her. But Rainbow held on with everything she had, hoping she could distract the Mimic long enough for Shifter to recover. 

But with how little the Rider was able to do, she wondered if he had any chance of beating it. 



Shifter groaned, as he pushed himself up and looked around. 

He had landed next to a large tank, full of different fish. And as he stood up, he realised he wasn't going to be able to defeat this Mimic. At least, not with the powers he was using at the moment. 

He took out one of the Mimicores he had been given and realised he was in the perfect place to use it. He looked towards the tank and saw the many different fish, all swimming around looking rather tough. But what would help him defeat the Crab.

It was then that a swordfish happened to swim by, Shifter's eyes being drawn to its sleek form and sharp nose. Staring at it, he remembered what Twilight had said. "If something's moving fast enough, it'll be able to cut through anything." 

"That's it," Shifter smiled before holding up his Mimicore. "I hope this works." As the swordfish swam past, the Mimicore light up a bright light flew out of the screen. 

The light passed over the swordfish and scanned its entire body before retracting back into the Mimicore, which started glowing as it changed. Letters appeared along it, going down the side of the screen to form a word. B, L, A, D, E. The dots on the screen started glowing blue before all but a couple of them went out, creating the image of a swordfish in different poses. 

Staring at it, Shifter suddenly knew everything he could do with it. "Perfect." 



As the Crab Mimic swung its claws around, Rainbow narrowly avoided the attack and slid along the ground. 

Twilight threw another piece of debris towards it, but the monster spun around and unleashed a blast of water that atomised it. It then ran forward, but Rainbow managed to race around it and grab Twilight before it could crush her in its claws. 

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Twilight nodded. They came to a stop and Twilight turned towards the Mimic, wondering how the heck they were gonna defeat it. But before she could come up with a plan, Shifter stepped out of the next room and walked towards the Crab. "Be careful. That thing's too powerful!" 

"I know." Shifter held something up. "But I'm ready for it now." 

The Mimic looked towards him, curious about the object in its hand. Twilight and Rainbow were just as curious, as Shifter pressed the button and activated the device. "BLADE!" The dots began to form the image of a swordfish, swimming around in different positions. 

Shifter hit the button on the side of his Driver and the belt opened up, allowing him to remove the Lightning Bug Mimicore and replace it with the new one. Once it was in place, he struck a pose. "Shape Shift!" He slammed the draw of the belt shut, locking the screen inside and causing the lights on the belt to turn blue.

"MIMIC! SWORDFISH!" The armour around his body began to melt once again before changing to a transparent flyway blue, then began reshaping itself before hardening to reveal Flash's new form. 

His helmet's mask was now shaped like a fish's tail, whilst his armour was thinner and more aerodynamic. The back of his chest armour had a curved dorsal fin, along with the toes of his boots and on his shoulders. Finally, his eyes changed to bright yellow whilst the lines on his suit turned the same blue as his armor. 

As the new armor settled, the belt unleashed new words. "Slicing through the ocean, with speed and precision unmatched."

"Wow," was all Rainbow could say. Twilight was just as amazed, but the Mimic didn't look impressed. 

It did look annoying, especially when Shifter pointed at him. "Hope you're ready to lose. Because now, the winds of victory have shifted." That got the Mimic mad.

It raised its arm and fired a blast of water from its claw, which shot straight towards Shifter. But the Kamen Rider suddenly disappeared and the water broke through the wall inside. This shocked the Mimic, as it suddenly heard Shifter behind it. 

"Surprise!" It spun around, only to find nothing behind it. "Peekaboo." It spun around again and nothing happened. 

Twilight and Rainbow were just as shocked. To Twilight, it looked like Shifter was teleporting behind the Mimic. But Rainbow's magic let her keep up, despite him still looking like a blur. Shifter was moving at super speed, circling around the Mimic. 

The Crab roared, as it started swinging its large claws around wildly. But every time it got close to the Kamen Rider, Shifter easily avoided it and even managed to get a few shots in on the monster. But his punches and kicks were still doing nothing against its hard shell. 

"Come on," Rainbow cried. "There's gotta be a way to hurt that thing." 

Shifter shot away from the Mimic, who still looked undamaged despite all the hits it had taken. But Shifter wasn't beaten yet. 

Both his gauntlets turned to liquid and reshaped themselves, extending forwards above his hands before solidifying. Sticking out the ends of his arms, were a pair of blue blades with a white line running down the middle of it. Each blade was roughly one and a half feet long and looked strong enough to cut through anything.

Shifter chuckled at this, then turned to the Mimic before racing forward. The next thing the creature knew, something sharp struck its shoulder and broke through its shell. 

Shifter appeared behind the Mimic with his blade pointed forwards, as an explosion came off the spot that had just been struck. The Mimic roared as part of its shell fell away, revealing its weaker underside. And as it staggered away, Shifter turned to it and charged forward again. 

He moved with incredible speed, flying past the Mimic and cutting into it again. He then did this again and again and again, multiple times which caused the beast to roar as its shell was destroyed. 

The girls were amazed by this, as Shifter came to a stop. "It's go time!" He announced, slamming his hand into the side of his belt and making it call out. 

"CLIMATIC BLADE!" 

Shifter stood at the ready, as some of the water that had escaped from the tanks began to move. It shot towards Shifter and picked him up, shifting into a wave shape that he rode upon towards the Mimic. The crustacean creature cried out, as it tried to escape. But the wave came crashing down towards it and it suddenly found itself swirling around in the water. 

As it tried to escape, Shifter dived down into the water and moved through it like it wasn't even there. And as he moved towards it, he started spinning and morphed into an underwater tornado. Once that slammed into the crab and destroyed the rest of its shell, allowing Shifter's blades to cut into its body and rip it to pieces.  

The water then flew away, allowing Twilight and Rainbow to see the two. 

Shifter landed on his feet, his blades pointed forwards, whilst the crab crashed into the ground and exploded. Shifter's blades returned to his arms and he turned towards the explosion, which faded to reveal the Mimic was gone. The girls cheered at this, but another explosion caught their attention from outside. 



Morphic and Maya continued to fight, with Morphic shooting at the Mimic to keep her from getting close to him. 

She, meanwhile, was attempting to hit him with her web punches. But Morphic was able to blast the webs or simply dodge them, using his Blitz Blaster to destroy them whenever they hit the ground. "You can't keep this up forever," Maya finally stated. "Eventually, your little blaster will run out of ammo. Then, you'll be in trouble." 

"I don't have to keep this up forever," Morphic told her. "Just until Shifter's finished with your Mimic and comes to help." 

"Please. I've studied your friend's abilities. He might be strong, but he's not strong enough to harm the Mimic I created to destroy him. Without your help, he'll be completely crushed." 

"So that's why she's keeping me out here." Morphic frowned, trying to think of a way he could get past her and help Shifter. But when he looked behind her, he saw something that made him smirk. "You might wanna double check your plan. Because it has a serious flaw." 

"What?" Maya suddenly heard a whooshing noise and looked around, as a blue blur suddenly shot past her. "GYAH!" She fell to the ground, as a deep gash was running along her chest. She looked to where the blur had gone, she and everyone around them seeing a light blue rider with blade arms appearing. "What?" 

"Nice look," Morphic told him. 

"Thanks," he nodded as Rainbow and Twilight left the aquarium.

Thorax, who was off to the side with the others, called out to them and they ran over to the group. "What's going on? Who is that?" 

"it's Shifter," Twilight explained. "We're not sure how, but he changed his suit. And with it, he somehow gained new powers." They all turned to the battle, as the two blue Riders stood ready for a fight. But Maya didn't seem to like the idea of two on one. 

"You may have won this time," she told them. "But I'll be back. Just you wait and see." With that, she thrust her arms up and a bunch of webbing shot out of her arms. That webbing then began to spiral around her body, forming a cocoon that completely concealed her from view. 

The Riders saw this and tilted their heads, as a light began to come out from the cocoon. "Oh no you don't!" Shifter shot forward and slashed through the cocoon, ripping the threat to bits. But as the cocoon fell apart, they found Maya was nowhere in sight. 

"Where'd she go?" Pharynx cried, the others wondering the same thing. 

Morphic and Shifter looked the area over, but there was no sign explaining how she had escaped. "Damn it!" Morphic cried. He then turned to the crowd and realised they needed to get out of there before the police arrived. "Let's book it." He took out his bike and threw it into the air, the vehicle growing larger and falling to the ground.

Shifter rushed off, using his new super speed to race away whilst Morphic shot away on his bike. Before anyone could think about trying to follow, the Riders were gone. 

"That was awesome," Thorax smiled. But then he noticed something. "Wait, where's Flash?"

"Guys!" They looked over and saw Flash, who was creeping out of the aquarium. "Is everything okay?" He moved over to them, "the monster..."

"Is gone," Pharynx told him. "Where the heck were you?" 

"I went to go see what was going on and came face to face with that...creature. The next thing I know, it hit me with his claw and I was getting slammed into a wall. Then everything went black." 

"You sure you're okay?" Fluttershy looked worried, but Flash nodded. 

"I'm fine. Bit of a headache, but I think I'll be okay." They nodded, Flash sighing in relief. Thanks to his new abilities, he had been able to super speed around the building and run through it back to the entrance before powering down. Luckily, nobody seemed to question his coincidental disappearance and reappearance whilst the Riders were there. He would have to be careful. Let that happen too often and people might get suspicious. 

But for now, everything was A-okay. 



In the laboratory, Maya flinched as Frill was applying something to her gash. 

It was the same slime that made up the creature she had unleashed, which was being absorbed by her body and allowing the gash to close. "How's that?" He asked, as Maya nodded. "Well, we've now learned something about our enemies. They're not bound to simply one form and power set." 

"We should strike now," Gule told him. "Before they're able to get any stronger." 

"Patience," Frill told him. "We're not in a position for an all out assault yet. Our forces are still growing. And if we wish to be able to fight full on, we'll need powerful creatures to Mimic. So far, we've used bugs and small creatures humans could easily defeat. If we wish to win, we must increase the power of our Mimics." 

"How?" Gule asked, only for Frill to chuckle. 

"Leave that to me."



Back at the aquarium, the police had arrived to secure the area. 

Thorax and Pharynx were trying to locate their mother, but she didn't seem to be anywhere at the moment. At the same time, the younger children's parents had arrived when they heard about the attack. To say they were upset was an understatement. 

Luckily, Thorax had managed to calm them down before they could talk about suing their mother. And as the children left, he let out a sigh whilst Pharynx patted him on the back. "Nice work, bro. Mom'll be happy...when she finally shows up." 

Thorax nodded, as he looked over to see a cop walking out of the building. As he did, he was carrying something. Pieces of yellow stone that looked familiar. "We found this when we examined the area. The aquarium's manager said it's not a part of the aquarium's display." 

Shining Armor, who had arrived shortly after the excitement ended, examined it. "Never seen anything like it." 

"I have," Thorax spoke up. The cops, Flash and Rainbooms turned to him, Pharynx looking worried. "By any chance, did you find that thing is the crab's tank?" The cop nodded. "Earlier, when we were trying to escape from that Mimic, I saw a large rock made of this stuff. It had a crab inside of it." 

"A crab?" Twilight looked curious, "like what the Mimic looked like?" Thorax nodded, as Flash and Shining shared a look. 

This was new information. And they would need to find out what it meant, if they wanted to have any advantage over the invading monsters. They might have the edge with their new Mimicores, but there was no telling how long that edge would last. They had to find a way to get the better of these things once and for all.