//------------------------------//
// The Show must Go On - The Magic of Frienship
// Story: Kamen Rider Alchemy
// by Layton13
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So no shit, there they were, stuck in an ocean of mind-controlled music fanatics that were out to get them. All in all, it ranked pretty high on his ‘Weird-Shit-I-Have-Seen-List’. Still, that could probably wait till they had a quiet moment again, something that didn’t seem so near if he was honest to himself. They were coming from all sides, clawing and grabbing at him and his little companion, not that it really did much against his armor and superstrength. Timber, on the other hand, had already received several scratch marks and some of his hair had been pulled violently from his head, much to his dismay.
This had to be one of the worst situations he had ever found himself in, stormed by a masse of angry and violent people and babysitting for a teenager, not that the teenager had any fault in the matter, really, it just was something else he had to deal with. And then there were the Corrupted that constantly appeared, even if he knocked one out two more would soon take his place anyway. He never signed on for this insanity. They had to been running for over at least ten minutes and had only managed to get three quarters back to the bus of the Rainbooms, probably the safest place they could find in a kilometer wide distance if the rest of the festival was just as affected as the people around them. Judging by the foul mood, everyone had been in today.
As Alchemy shook of another overenthusiastic visitor from his arm he could hear Timber shouting over the crowd: “Why aren’t you just turning into something else that could get us out of here?” Or something like that anyway, was quite hard to understand what he really had said over the constant screams and other noises the controlled people around them excited.
“Simple, that would probably send a good amount of them to the hospital, and that is the best outcome. You know what happens when people get thrown away by the equivalent of a hurricane or get shot at by a boulder? Nothing good I tell you and with these idiots swarming us like this, they are far too close for any of that to not be bad,” he shouted back in annoyance as he slowly continued his walk throw the crowd, occasionally getting the odd idiot off of Timber when he was too stubborn for his own good.
“Dammit!” came as an answer from his companion, desperately trying to shove a young girl away that was currently busy with trying to claw out his eyes. “Why can’t anything be easy for once?” With a loud groan, he shoved the girl off him and right into a group of other people giving them finally an opportunity to advance.
“You get used to it, believe me. But if I’m honest, this is extremely annoying,” Alchemy returned in a mixture of annoyance and exhaustion while punching one of the charging Corrupted right in the face and into a group of angry festival visitors. “When Ocean sent me here I was not expecting that amount of resistance. This is just ridicules.”
“Yeah, at least they are normal people and not just vines. Trust me, vines are the worst, hard to cut and incredibly strong, I rather deal with a crowd of people anyday,” he muttered back, interrupted by a few grunts as he again shock of a few of his assailants.
“I would ask, but right now I strangely don’t care,” Alchemy chuckled back, right before slamming the heads of two Corrupted together like two halves of a cymbal, he could almost imagine the tone if the constant noise wouldn’t overshadow everything, even his own thoughts.
“Yeah, long story,” Timber interrupted his answer to punch one of his pursuers right in the face. “And not in the mode right now for a story, surprising, right?” He jokingly returned, even if there was a bit of nervousness in his voice. “Hey, Alchemy? Do you see that over there?” The boy was pointing at a group of campers, they were apparently getting closer to the musicians part of the area.
“Great idea, this might be our way out of here.” With increased vigor both of them pushed even harder through the crowd, shoving and pushing away whoever got in their way and even the occasional Corrupted attack was quickly dealt with until they finally reached the first camper.
“I don’t think you are going to like this, but get over here for a moment Timber,” Alchemy screamed over the crowd of mind-controlled visitors, hoping that Timber had heard him.
“Sure, give me a moment,” he returned as loud as he could while wrestling with one particular girl that had managed to jump on his back and was unwilling to loosen her grip, try as he might. The increased weight on his shoulders was nothing to scoff at, and if he didn’t find a solution soon, he would probably be overwhelmed. No matter how much he dislikes what he was about to do next he hadn’t really a choice, and with a loud sigh that was quickly overshadowed by the screams of the crowd, he slammed the girl against the wall of the first camper. With a loud thud he could feel the grip of the girl weakening, and with her loud groan, he was certain this would work. Still, he wasn’t done, quickly repeating the process again, the girl almost letting lose completely and with a final slam got her off him, the girl slumping down behind him, unconfessed. “Got it!”
Before he could even realize what was happening, the Rider had grabbed him at the back of his color, and with a swift motion, he found himself in the air, sailing towards the sky. Or that was at least how it felt to him until he firmly landed backside first on the camper and the pain shot through his body. “Ouch! Are you insane? Do you know how much that hurt?” Timber shouted back to Alchemy below him.
“Yeah, save it for later. You should get moving before the Corrupted decide to go after you. The camper will probably only support your weight and if some of the join you up there, well, let’s just say, you should just get moving, see you at the bus,” and without waiting for an answer he rushed of, or as best as he could thanks to the crowd.
Timber was left behind, staring after the Rider in shock, that however didn’t last all that long since the first Corrupted and people were already starting to climb the camper. Realizing this he started to run, straight for the edge of the little camper and closer to the edge with an army of mind-controlled people beneath him. As that thought crossed his mind, he picked up even more speed and with one leap jumped over to the next camper, barely avoiding one of the Corrupted hands that had tried to grab him. Still, even if he escaped the danger on one of them that didn’t mean he was saved just yet, so not wasting any time he continued his sprint towards the next best platform to jump to.
Meanwhile, Alchemy was giving his best to get to the bus, shoving and pushing away everyone that came in his way and actually getting along quite well and a lot faster than with Timber now that he didn’t need to take care of him anymore. “You know, you are all getting really annoying about now,” he sighed as he knocked out the next Corrupted with his fist, not noticing the fact that another one had already sneaked up on him. All of a sudden a sharp pain surged through his body, and he was knocked down to his knees.
This had been the opportunity his pursuers had waited for, and like a bunch of animals they started to pile onto him, the Rider only realizing what was happening as he was already consumed by at least thirty people and Corrupted and the number only grew. It was getting quite heavy under all the body, the pressure pushing the air out of his lungs and light was quickly fading. Alchemy’s eyes were starting to grow heavier with every passing moment, and he could feel the armor slowly starting to fade away, that was until his wild thoughts crossed the images of all the people around him, the girls, Timber and… and Ocean. They all relied on him; he couldn’t be crushed here, not if he had anything to say in it.
With a loud scream, he pulled together all the strength he had left and pushed, pushed and pushed, slowly rising higher and higher. With a final push with an accompanying scream, he finally got back on his feet, the pile of people slowly falling off and with several further steps almost all of them had let go of the Rider, and the last few were quickly dealt with. Still, he was exhausted. Thankfully he wasn’t too far away from his destination, the bus. And out of the corner of his eyes, he could see it already as well as Timber who was frantically running across the roofs of the parkers, pursued by Corrupted and normal people alike.
The bus in question, however, garnered a good amount of attention as well and judging by the crystalline dome above it, that was no wonder really. They were seemingly not the only ones that had escaped the mind-controlled, and if was not completely mistaken he knew exactly who else had escaped it. Filled with new determination, he moved forward even faster, fighting against his fading stamina and the crowd respectively.
Timber had almost reached the save haven as one Corrupted jumped up right in front of him and forced the young man to come to a screeching hold mere meters away from him. The beast looked at him with its large eyes and let out an ear-bursting screech, one that let Timber clutched his hands over his ears and stagger back a few steps, so far even that he could see what was waiting for him below. The Corrupted and people were almost at his hight, only a few seconds away from catching up to him and in front of him was the other Corrupted slowly approaching him. Now it was either do or die, and as much as he hated it, he could not afford to die here. Taking all of his courage he rushed forward again, right into the swinging claws of the Corrupted, or so it seemed at first. However, in the last possible moment, he dodged under the attack of the beast and through its legs, leaving the Corrupted behind him with a rather confused expression on its face.
Not slowing down he rushed forward and jumped to the last platform before the bus. “Rarity, open up!” He bellowed towards the bus, not slowing down as he approached the last jump, still nothing. “Rarity!Open up!” He screamed again, now almost at the edge. The moment he reached the end of the camper he screamed one last time: “Rarity!” as he leaped off the partially save ground and towards the impenetrable force field before him. The moments in the air felt like an eternity, time slowed to a crawl, his heart beating faster and faster, louder than even the crowd below him as he approached the barrier. Then it happened, a small opening, right before him and suddenly time returned to normal, Timber landing safely on the roof of the bus, sighing in relive, the barrier quickly closing behind him again.
Alchemy could see how the boy disappeared into the bus, the Rider continuing his way towards the save bus, and he had almost reached it, only three Corrupted really stood in his way anymore. He had to deal with them first before he could even think about joining the girls and Timber inside. The three monsters charged towards him, thankfully, just as uncoordinated as before, Alchemy easily dodging the first and giving him a little kick in the back as he passed by. The second basically ran directly into his fist and was knocked out cold. The last one was the most tricky, wildly slashing at him so that he had to dodge without getting in any counter-attack, it was even so bad that he got pushed back a few meters. He couldn’t afford that now, as he was reading himself to avoid the next attack, that however didn’t come. The hand of the Corrupted remained where it was, much to its confusion. Alchemy didn’t take long till he snapped out of his shook and knocked the Corrupted out cold with a well-placed punch.
Now finally at the barrier, it quickly faded away to let him in, closing behind him just as fast. He let out a loud groan as he opened the door to the bus, he was done. Inside he could see the seven girls, all in their special magical clothes and Timber. “Hey Girls, thanks for the help,” he weakly replied, letting himself fall onto one of the sets. “So, how is it going? Are you ok?” What followed was a rather confused look on their faces and after that a confused nod. “Good, so any idea how we can get out of this shitshow?”
Silence filled the room for a few seconds until Twilight slowly stepped forward and started: “Well, we thought about flying out of here, but we have only three flyers, and we can all just carry one and didn’t want to leave anyone behind, so sadly, no, sorry,” Twilight returned, as fast as she could, he could definitely see her worries and fear on open display, but she kept it in.
“Ok, so you can get six people out of here. Ok, so we just need something for the other three. There might be a way. Hey, Rarity?” The girl looked up from her task of keeping the shield up and towards the Rider. “Do you think your barrier could contain my transformation?”
The girl looked to him with an unsure expression that was quickly replaced with her usual determination. “Sure darling, but are you sure about this, I can’t hold up two of them at once, I would have to undo the first one.”
“One hundred percent sure. Twilight, Fluttershy and Rainbow, you go get Sunset, Pinkie and Applejack and head to the roof. The moment the shield falls you’ll get into the air, and to a safe place, I’ll take Timber and Rarity? You can do that?” The girls nodded in agreement. “Good, then Rarity, the moment they are all on the roof you encase me in your shield and don’t let it break.” Rarity nodded in return.
Like planed the moment the last of the girls had left the bus Rarity shifted her shield towards Alchemy who quickly removed his Magic Disc and replaced it with a far more useful one.
\ WIND DISC ACTIVATED! /
And like always a strong emerald wind consumed the Rider, just this time it was held back by Rarity. She pushed as hard as she could, feeling the barrier slowly crack under the immense pressure. She couldn’t keep it up, it would crack, it was just too much. No! No, she couldn’t give up now, if she did this would all fail and her friends wouldn’t get away, she couldn’t be weak now! She kept pushing and pushing, more and more cracks appearing on the diamond-like barrier, but it did not break. Then it shattered, but thankfully the only thing that came towards her was a weak breast, she had done it, and with that she collapsed into unconsciousness, her limp body sailing towards the floor. However before she could hit it, she was caught in the hands of Alchemy, his white scarf flowing in the leftover wind. “You did great Rarity, couldn’t have done it better myself!” He smiled under his helmet and with Timber jumping on his back the three of them quickly ascended, just as the crowd cam crashing through the windows of the bus, trying to get ahold of them. However, the Rider was already far to high up and quickly taking off towards the sky.
Under them they could see the festival, thousands of people were swarming in on the bus that they had resided in mere moments ago. So many people robbed of their free will, who was powerful enough to pull something like this of, or better even who was twisted enough to strip these people of that what made them who they are and force them to do their bidding? Whoever it was, he couldn’t let this continue, but right now he had more pressing matters. First and foremost, finding a good hiding spot to get a bit of a break, all of this had left him rather tired. Thankfully there was a forest nearby, and it seemed the other girls were thinking exactly what he was thinking, also heading for the ocean of trees. However, this wasn’t over, he might have had to flee, but he would put an end to this, no matter what!
Unbeknownst to them, however, three girls were watching their daring escape, venom flowing through Adagios veins as she processed what had just happened in front of her. “Dammit! Why? Why do they always have so much luck?” She growled at her two sisters, slamming her hand against one of the campers in frustration.
“I did warn you about the Kamen Riders,” Sonata returned annoyed that no one had listened to her again.
“Shut up Sonata!” Adagio spat back, the anger burning in her eyes. “Not a single word or I will rip your tongue out, did you get that?” Sonata quickly nodded while taking a few steps back from her sister.
“Don’t worry, they come back. They won’t let these people behind,” Aria added with a wicked smile.
“Yeah, you are right, they won’t. And when they return they will regret it to ever have crossed paths with us,” she hissed back, a devilish smile crossing her lips before she headed back towards their crowd.
>--------------<
With a loud sigh he finally landed, it was great to have safe ground under them again. Carefully he sat Rarity down, who was still out of it after what she just had managed to pull off, all while Timber jumped from his back.
“I’m so done for today,” Alchemy sighed as he let himself slump against one of the trees, letting his head hang down like a wet towel. Before Timber could even realize what was happening, Alchemy was already grabbing his Magic Disc and yanked it from its rightful place on the Driver. The magical armor quickly faded away and revealed a very exhausted Phoenix.
The girls looked at the Rider in shock and surprise, some even unable to close their mouths after what they had just witnessed, especially Timber. Silence covered the small clearing they had found, only disturbed through Phoenix’s heavy breathing.
“You found me!” Was all it needed to completely ruin this moment of peace and confusion as Pinkie jumped up rushed over the Phoenix and smiled at the exhausted man who merely chuckled.
“Yeah, seems like it Pinkie,” Pheonix finally returned, an exhausted smile on his lips. “And I’m damn grateful for it. Goodness knows what would have happened to you if I wouldn’t have found you.” The girls were still staring at him like he just crawled out of a UFO, but to be honest, he really couldn’t blame them.
“You are Alchemy!” From Sunset was what ultimately snapped the girls out of their confusion.
“Yeah, I’m. Not really who you would expect, am I right?” He returned, slowly teaching his body trying to find a comfortable position to lean against the tree.
The girls all shook their head in unison. “No, sorry, not really. You are just so, so…”
“Chaotic, messy, forgetful, lazy? Yeah, you are right, I couldn’t have found a better disguise,” he snickered. “But, in all honesty, I don’t think ill of you for not getting it.”
“That explains way too much,” Twilight stuttered, staring at Phoenix. “The fact that you always are around Ocean, that you know my brother, that Alchemy was always near when you were around. It all makes way to much sense.”
“Hehe, yeah, exactly that. But I assume you have way more questions, right girls?” The only response he received was wild nodding, and so he started with a light chuckle. So he told them everything, started with his origin and the origin of the Driver, how he became a Kamen Rider and the short version of what had happened after that, careful to leave out Timbers involvement in the whole thing, that was his decision to reveal, not his.
The girls listened carefully and actually let him finish before they started to bombard him with questions. The first one was one he had already expected, just not in the way the girls did ask it. “You are also from Equestria?”
“Yeah, something like that. I’m pretty much mostly human, my ancestors were from… Wait, what do you mean with also?” He looked over to Rainbow who had asked the question, now actively staring at him, probably just as confused as he looked.
“Well, I’m from Equestria,” came from the other direction and as Phoenix spun around, he looked over to Sunset.
“No way, you are from Equestria? I can’t believe it. So, how did you get here, I’m sure you didn’t have any magical discs to help you,” he returned, now it was his turn to be shocked.
“Well, there is a magical mirror right in the courtyard of Canterlot High I used to get here. A lot has happened since then, became a school bully, turned into what you would describe as a Corrupted, got defeated, became friends with these girls here,” she shortly stopped to smile at her friends. “Then we defeated the Sirens from Equestria that could control people with their music…”
“You know that this sounds oddly familiar,” Phoenix added. “You don’t think?”
“Well, we let them go and with so much magic on the loss… Could be,” Sunset sighed as she looked in the direction where the festival would be.
“Great, ok, so we might know who is responsible for this, would also explain why the crowd was so focused on you. We probably should call Ocean, I could use a bit of help for this,” he sighed and started to rummage through his pockets only to freeze midmotion after a few seconds. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, that can’t be! No, dammit, I forgot my phone…” He slammed his hand right against his forehead in frustration. “Say, one of you wouldn’t have one I could borrow?”
The girls and Timber quickly started to search their own pockets only to start panicking as well. “Where is my phone? Where is my baby!?” Rarity was the first to scream, frantically searching every pocket she had again.
“Maybe the crowd took them, as they attacked us…” Came from Sunset, she sounded drained and defeated. “So, calling for backup is out it seems…”
“Great, so we could look for the next town and…” Phoenix was about to say before he was interrupted by Sunset.
“And leave these people here under their control? You know what they might do with them, or if this turns into a complete army of Corrupted?” She looked worried, that much was sure.
“Yeah, dammit. So, no reinforcements and alone against an army of Corrupted… Sounds fun.”
“Alone? You are not going in there alone, we are going to help!” Rainbow was the first to object, raising her fist skywards in anticipation, but the rest of the girls nodded in agreement.
“I don’t think that is such a good…”
“We can fight as well, just let us rainbow-blast this Corrupted in the face, and you will see that we can stand our ground on a battlefield!” Rainbow continued, the other girls agreeing again.
“Yeah!” Pinkie screamed from behind the rest.
“Let me guess, leaving you here is not going to work?” The girls all shook their head in unison. “Ok, got it. But be careful, we don’t know what we are really dealing with here, so no stupid ideas or reckless charges, that is my job,” he chuckled, which actually got the girls in on it as well. “So, any ideas what we are going to do to start the counter attack?”
He looked into a group of silent girls, staring at him not entirely sure what to say. That was until Sunset spoke up again. “Before we go start to get a plan together, there is still one thing I would like to ask you, why?”
“Why what?” He looked at her with a quite confused expression and waiting for an answer.
“You kept your identity a secret for so long, even when you were with us so why reveal yourself now?”
“Exactly,” came from Rainbow, Phoenix quickly glancing over to her.
“Well, in all honesty, I hadn’t really planned for it, but I’m just to exhausted to keep this charade up right now, sorry. And a close friend once told me that sometimes trusting someone will reward you with their trust. I can trust you, you tried to protect the city on so many different occasions, and I’m thankful for it. And who knows, it might pay off one day,” he smirked while leaning back against the tree.
That left them stunned again, but not for too long until Twilight spoke up again: “Thanks Phoenix. Trusting others is important if you don’t do that you will just end up alone and with no one to help you when the going gets tough.” Her friends joined in with grunts and nodding, he just smirked in return.
“Yeah, you really remind me of Ocean and my other friends in a way, reliable and always with the right words just around the corner. Kinda glad I don’t have to hold up the secrecy around you anymore. So, I think we should get back to the planning. So, any ideas how we are going to get back in there?”
>--------------<
The sun was almost at its zenith as Phoenix woke up the next day, having talked and planed until late into the night. The clearing didn’t really look that much different from before, just that the girls were already awake and discussing something he couldn’t quite make out over the constant sound of music. Wait, music? He immediately jumped up, carefully eyeing their surroundings to figure out where the strange music was coming from.
“Relax Phoenix, the music is coming from the stage at the festival. Seems our enemy wants attention or something like that,” Rainbow screamed over to him, it took a few moments for him to grasp what she had said and he merely nodded. “So, ready to kick some monster butt?” She continued, slamming her fist in the open palm of her hand in anticipation.
“Well, we can’t really let them have a party without us, especially if they give us such a nice invitation,” he returned with a light chuckle. “Ok, get up, we got a few thousand people to save.”
Like on command all seven of the girls rose off the ground and were about to head out as Timber called out for Phoenix. “Come on, take me with you, I can help!”
“Timber, I know you want to help, but you don’t have any way of fighting these Corrupted. I know it sucks for you, but if anything goes wrong, Ocean will notice far too late. She should be already suspicious anyway since I didn’t call her yesterday like we agreed on, but I need you to inform her what is happening here. You are the only one that can do it, I trust you. So don’t play the hero and throw away your life, play the part that has been assigned to you, your time will come, but until then you have to help the way you can,” Phoenix finished with a strange level of confidence and determination in his voice, it almost reminded himself of Ocean. Timber meanwhile nodded and let the Rider and his friends leave the clearing and walk towards their destination.
The plan was simple, find the Corrupted responsible for all of this, and beat him. It wasn’t really that complex of a plan, but it was a plan nonetheless. The moment they left the forest they again ascended into the air on wings or though Rider powers, heading straight for the stage of the festival. As they passed the festival area, they could see that all the people had gathered around the stage that was still blurting out music to the mindless crowd. It was a terrifying image, a see of people, completely silent and motionless, surrounded by a wasteland of campers and tents, all abandoned.
The closer they got to the stage, the louder the music became, it was the same music Phoenix had heard in his sleep the day before. There was no doubt now, he knew who was responsible for this, especially as they could make out who could be seen on the large screen of the stage, the three girls from that night, the three sirens. All three were singing like angles. Still, the song was just as repulsive as the first time, not even a beautiful voice could fix that.
No one interrupted their flight on the way there, safely landing on the stage, right in front of the Dazzlings. “Oh, who decided to finally show up, you are almost late to your gig Rainbooms,” Adagio said with a bright and vicious smirk on her lips.
“Hey, didn’t you hear, your show is canceled. Now, if just give up now we don’t have to go through this again…”
But before he could finish Adagio started to laugh loudly. “Oh, you are a delight. Giving up? Are you insane? We have the upper hand, and the fun is only just beginning!” With that, the three girls were covered in bright light which quickly faded to reveal their new monstrous forms.
They all looked pretty much alike, all like bipedal horses clad in armor that looked remarkably similar to ancient Fleece, just in their respective colors. What however struck him as odd was the fin-like extinctions on their back. Adagio wielded a black broadsword with a golden handle, Sonata two small dangers in the and Aria a sword and a shield. The three stood before him, and he could almost swear he heard a silent nigh from them.
“Get to the equipment, I’m going to handle this here,” he said to the girls who didn’t waste any time and rushed past the Dazzlings who just let them to their surprise. “Somehow.”
“Oh, try as you might, but today we will be victorious,” Adagio smirked and without even a second between her finishing and anything else she rushed towards Alchemy, swinging her sword directly at his head. Meanwhile, Alchemy had removed the Magic disc from his Driver and turned it into its weapon form.
\ Wind Disc Attack Mode! /
\ Hurrican Bow! /
Before she could hit him, he jumped off the stage and towards the ocean of mind-controlled festival visitors, however instead of falling he just started to ascend, letting off a few arrows at his attacker, all quickly being blocked by her sword.
“Ha, not so high and might now Horsevoice,” he smugly returned, much to the annoyance of Adagio. But that was when he noticed that he had lost track of her two sisters. And just as if on cue they did appear, right behind him, both managing to get a hit in on the Rider, letting him cry out in agony.
“You can fly? Not fair!” Alchemy shouted back at them, turning around to block the next attack from Aria with his bow.
“Pot meat cattle,” came it from behind as he felt another slash across his armor, sparks spraying from the attack and as he turned around to face his assailant, he was quickly smacked down by the next attack of Adagio, landing rather unceremoniously on the stage. The three Corrupted landing around him, weapons were drawn and pointed straight at him. The girls could only see glimpses of it since they were way to busy with their set up to pay any attention to the fight that was taking place just a few meters away from them.
“Well, that didn’t work how about this!”
\ WATER DISC ACTIVATED! /
The sirens charged towards him but were quickly sent back by the force of the water around him that had changed his armor into its dark blue variant. Not even wasting a second he had already removed the Water Disc again and started to transmute it into its other form.
\ Water Disc Attack Mode! /
\ Wave Trident! /
With weapon in hand, he charged towards the sirens, quickly dodging the attacks they were throwing at him, first Aria with a powerful swing of her sword, the several of Sonatas quick stabs and lastly Aria with a decisive stab to where his hearth would be. After evading the last attack, he quickly spun around and knocked the girls back before impaling his weapon in the ground, letting a dark blue seal appear beneath him.
The moment the Corrupted had regained their composure they again rushed towards the Rider. When they were mere meters away from he a loud snap of his fingers echoed through the air, and the seal under him started to glow in dark blue light. “Abyssal Whirlpool!” A vortex of water started to suck them in and dragged them towards Alchemy who was already waiting for them with his weapon, what he however not expected was Sonata, quickly jumping towards him and slashing him across his chest, letting the whirlpool vanish into thin air as the Rider staggered back.
“Hah, gotcha!” She let out a happy yelp, almost like it was just a game for her.
“Oh, I’m not done yet!” He returned, reaching for the next Disc on his belt.
\ EARTH DISC ACTIVATED! /
The rocks that were tossed away after his transformation knocked at least Sonata back a few feet and almost hit the Raimbooms what quickly got Rainbow to shout: “Hey, watch out there, we are working here!”
“Sorry,” he added hastily while removing the Disc from his Driver again.
\ Earth Disc Attack Mode! /
\ Boulder Shield! /
The shield had appeared in his hands and not a second too late as the first attack rained already down upon it, the Rider easily managing to withstand the pressure and even managed to knock his attacker back. “Ha, try to get through this,” he mocked the Corrupted who promptly ignored him and rushed towards him again in an attempt to overwhelm him.
But before any of them came even close to him, he had already thrown the shield and knocked Adagio of her feet, the shield returning just in time to block Sonatas next attack, Alchemy following up with a swift kick to her stomach, sending her flying as well.
Aria, on the other hand, provided a bigger challenge, she quickly struck down on to him, so weak even that he managed to push forward and try to give her one with his shield. Big mistake as she sidestepped him, blocked his shield with her own and with her sword disarmed the Rider in a swift motion, the shield landing sever meters away from him.
What followed was Aria unleashing Tartarus on him, slashing him across the chest multiple times with no chance to fight back, in the end even so strongly that he was sent back flying, thankfully landing next to his weapon. Sending the shield out one last time he managed to at least get her halted in her tracks as hse blocked the incoming projectile, meanwhile already fetching the next Magic Disc. The moment his weapon returned he was already about to transform again.
\ THUNDER DISC ACTIVATED! /
Sonata had tried to sneak up on the Rider. However, she had not expected one of the bolts of electricity that protected him during his transformation to strike out and hit her. What she expected even less was Alchemy flashing to her and punching her right into the face and firmly cementing her to the ground. With Sonata dealt with for now he removed his Disc again and started the change.
\ Thunder Disc Attack Mode! /
\ Thunder Tonfa! /
While all of this had transpired Aria had already crossed the gap between them and started her counterattack. The Rider however easily walked out of the way, and within seconds the siren was thrown back several meters after receiving several swift punches with his weapons.
Things were finally starting to look brighter as he looked after the flying siren, chuckling a bit under his helmet. That was a mistake since he failed to notice the massive sword that was heading for his head. Only in the last split-second did, he realizes what was transpiring behind him and dashed out of the way, or at least tried, the sword still gazing his helmet, complete with sparks.
As he came to a screeching hold again, he quickly turned around and rushed off towards her with his superhuman speed. Before she could even rais her weapon again, he had already managed to circle her and with a swift motion of his arms managed to hit her right in the side, letting the siren cry out in pain. She even couldn’t really register what was going on as she was again punched in the gut and send flying into the stage, a few meters away from the Rainbooms. Rainbow this time merely sighing in annoyance, but ultimately remained silent.
That was when he felt a sharp pain in his back, quickly followed by something heavy landing on his back and letting him stagger forward. “Huy, this is fun. Go horsey, go, go!” Sonata chippered from his back in a disgustingly happy tone. Alchemy was resisting every step of the way, trying to get the Corrupted of his shoulders, but she remained there, only letting her dangers dig deeper into his armor, complete with singing, unbearable pain.
That was when he had finally enough, jumping up and deliberately landing on his back trying to crush the monster on his back. He did manage to get her off. However, that also meant that he could feel the dangers sting one last excruciating time. Staggering back to his feet he replaced his Disc with his last. If this wouldn’t work, he knows this would not end. Hopefully, the girls managed to get their setup done in time.
\ FLAME DISC ACTIVATED! /
The flames that surrounded his body were strangely comforting, and the moment his armor had taken on its new form he rushed towards the Siren, Disc in hand.
\ Flame Disc Attack Mode! /
\ Flame Saber! /
Sonata didn’t react fast enough to avoid the slash of Alchemy’s first weapon which sent her flying back again, landing with a loud groan. Aria was the next to attack, trying to hit him with her shield, Alchemy managing to block the attack with his sword and quickly followed up with a kick into her stomach. As she was stumbling backward he started to spin the Disc on his weapon, fire gathering around the blade with a smirk under his helmet he dashed forward. “Flaming Slash!” A loud scream coming from Aria as she felt the burning blade slash across her chest, falling to her knees. But Alchemy wasn’t done just yet, spinning around and with one strike managed to hit her in the back again.
That was however where his second wind ended as he was forced off his feet by a powerful shockwave that hat hit him from the side, sending him sailing through the air and landing on his back, one of his Magic Discs landing right in front of him. It was the spare, the empty one, the useless one. Pain was surging through his body, not even able to lift himself up from the ground anymore, try as he might. The three sirens gloating over him as Adagio finally started: “See, pointless, Kamen Rider. You are just as weak as everyone else. You should have just stayed out of it, you know. Maybe even joined us, but this is where your show ends,” she smugly stated, only to be interrupted by a loud.
“We got it!” And a subsequent shockwave that let the Dazzlings stumble back a bit. The Rainbooms had finally managed to set up their equipment, not a second too late he might add. “Now it’s time to show you how it’s done,” Rainbow smirked and started to play her guitar, all of the other girls followed suit and joined in with their instruments. Not even seconds later the Dazzlings were bombarded with small ethereal diamonds, butterflies, rainbows and so much more. And it seemed the girls were actually able to pull it off, the sirens crying out in agony and slowly being pushed back. The magic that was emitting from them was something he had never before felt, it was warm, but not hot, he felt drawn to it, almost like steel to a magnet. He could have watched that magic all day long, it was just so beautiful and special.
He could have if it weren’t for the fact that the Dazzlings were pushing through, the screams had slowly ebbed down and had been replaced with an unnerving canceling from them, and they slowly advanced towards the girls, seemingly unimpressed with everything they were throwing at them.
“Girls, it’s not working!” Twilight cried out, desperation in her voice.
“Try harder!” Was all Rainbow shouted back in return.
No, it couldn’t end like this, this had to work. He couldn’t fail here, everyone was relying on and trusting him, he couldn’t betray that trust. His eyes frantically darted across the stage for any way of saving this mess, then they stopped on the blank Disc. Memories of his first day as a Kamen Rider came back to him, how he had created the first Disc. Then an idea began to form in his head, one so insane it might just work. “Girls! Attack me instead of them!”
“What? Are you insane?” Sunset shouted back to him, her expression a mixture of exhaustion and desperation.
“Just do it! Trust me on this!” Alchemy shouted back, the girls look in his direction for one last time before nodding and changing the direction of their attacks directed at him. While this was happening, Alchemy had lunged forward with all his strength and had gotten hold of the Disc, holding it in front of him, right into the attack of the girls. The entire stage was consumed in a bright purple light, making it impossible for anyone to see.
It took a moment until the light died down, revealing Alchemy shakily standing on his feet, holding the Disc in front of him. However, there was something different about it; it had taken on a new form and color, now resembling a pink six-pointed star with a similar weight one underneath it. “You!” he pointed at the sirens that stared at him with confused looks. “You are going down. All these people here have to keep moving forward towards a bright future, but you, you keep them chained down. I’m going to break these chains, with this!” With the last word, he slammed the Disc into his Driver and started to spin his new artifact.
\ FRIENDSHIP DISC ACTIVATED! /
He was consumed by a whirlwind of southing purple and pink that eliminated the stage. After the light had faded it reviled Alchemy in a new form, the red of his armor had been replaced with purple, and the golden accents of his armor had been changed into a pristine pink. His shoulders looked seemed to resemble waves, of pink and purple energy and his horns were stylized similar, with pink and purple overlapping waves. Two pink eyes stared at the three Corrupted before him.
Alchemy slowly made a step forward, his body felt better than ever, he had never felt such energy surge through his body. There was no doubt in his mind now, he would win this fight. For the Raibooms, for Timber, for everyone here… and for Ocean. He had to win, and there was no way he would lose now.
With newfound determination he suddenly rushed towards the Corrupted, taking them completely by surprise. The first punch sends Sonata flying, without even much effort required on his part. Aria was the next to follow, knocking her shield out of her hand and when she swung her sword at him, he just floated back, hovering several meters in the air before rushing back and delivering a devastating punch to her stomach.
That was when Adagio had enough. This costumed freak would not ruin her chance at revenge, she would not be denied that. Gathering all her strength, she unleashed her shockwave, filled with music notes at the Rider. He saw what she was doing out of the corner of his eye and removed his magic Disc from his Driver and thrust it into the direction the attack was coming from. The moment the attack and the Disc meat the stage was again consumed by purple light.
\ Friendship Disc Attack Mode! /
\ Connect Protector! /
Out of the smoke came Alchemy, now a shield in hand, formed exactly like the Magic Disc itself, minus something sticking out from behind it. Without as much as a word, he pulled the strange thing out of from behind the should, revealing a sword, with a handle identical to the form of the shield. The pristine white blade of his sword gleamed as he dashed forward with it, cutting apart the attacks Adagio was throwing at him with ease. The Corrupted was starting to panic as Alchemy came closer and closer, striking at him with her broadsword. The Rider however countered with a sword strike of his very own, cut her bled in half and finished off with a strike towards her chest, the blade glowing a menacing purple as it cut across her chest and right through her armor like butter.
A loud scream came from her as she felt the warm steal across her flesh, sparks, and lighting flying everywhere as she fell to her knees, the pain almost robbing her of her consciousness, but she couldn’t stop here, not after she had come so far.
That was when she heard to more screams, one of her sisters, but not of pain, but out of desperation and determination. Both of them were rushing at Alchemy from behind with their weapons and were mere inches away from his face as the Rider held out his hand and a purple seal appears in the air. At that moment the two Corrupted just stopped in mid-air, unable to move a muscle. Alchemy regarded them for a moment before slashing across their chests with his weapon, sending them both sailing over to their sister.
Alchemy looked at the squirming Corrupted for before slowly walking over towards them shifting his sword back into the shield and turning both backs into their Disc form. “Sirens, you used the powers that were bestowed upon you to attack others, take away their freedom and turned them into monsters. By the magic that was bestowed upon me, I deem you unworthy of your powers and will now take them from you!” While he spoke, he placed the Disc back into the Driver and with a firm swipe of his hand started to spin the magical device again.
\ Friendship Disc Maximum Power! /
Around the sirens, six seals appeared and before they had any chance to even do so much as to lift a finger, purple chains made out of magic shoot forth from them, restraining the Corrupted and neatly putting them in a line. Meanwhile, Alchemy was ascending seemingly floating, before he stopped and with surprising speed rushed towards the sirens, his leg glowing in bright purple, extended for a kick. A bright explosion consumed the stage, even being so high that it reached higher than it only to quickly fade and reveal three girls with strange coins lying next to them. All of them were gold and had the emblem of a fish-horse hybrid on them; Alchemy levitated them towards his hand and tightly held onto them.
While he had been focusing on the sirens, he had missed the fact that with them defeated the crowd had stopped crying and screaming and had become quiet. As he looked over his shoulder, he could see them returning to normal, Corrupted and not Corrupted alike.
“That was, awesome!” Rainbow shouted. “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Can you do that again, all the slashing and music and, oh that was just so cool,” she labeled on, running up the Rider, who was sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.
“Glad you liked it, but I think I should leave now before they actually understand what is going on. Would be a nightmare to turn back. I have to make a phone call anyway,” with that waved towards the girls and walked off behind the stage, leaving the Rainbooms with the rest. Not like he would just abandon them here, just make a quick call, grab Timber and then head back, he was sure they could handle it, and if everything else failed, they could just play a song, that was what they were best at, or something like this. He smirked as he turned back, put the Driver back into his pocket and marveled at the new Disc in his position, Thunder would go mental over this. But that didn’t matter right now, he had something to do after all.
>--------------<
The wind was blowing through his hair with a warm spring breeze as he was standing at the edge of the observatory, looking down at Canterlot City. The sun had almost seat, and the sky was drenched a bright orange, eliminating the city below him in a beautiful light. It was a breathtaking view; really, the city looked so peaceful, letting you forget entirely what might be lurking in it at this moment.
Pulling out his phone he checked the time, she should be here any minute from now. His breath was heavier than usual, and he shifted the weight of his body constantly. He had to be honest with himself, he was nervous. Worse than when fighting a monster, worse than when he had faced the Dazzlings, and worse even than he had felt when he had faced Alkahest, Phoenix was completely scared of what would soon follow.
Phoenix was snapped out of his thoughts by the sounds of an engine that was steadily coming closer and closer. When he turned around, he could see Ocean dismounting her bike and seeing her long flowing hair dark and light blue hair flow in the wind. “So, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about? If it is about the Timber thing, don’t worry, I’m not mad anymore. Not your best decision, but not your worst either.”
He smiled back at her and shook his head before beginning: “No, no, that’s not it. By the way, it’s good to see you again, kinda missed your snarkiness.”
“And I kinda missed your insanity,” she smirked back.
“Meh, if we both weren’t insane we would probably strangle us already,” he shrugged getting a good chuckle out of her.
“Ok, you win, that one was good. But anyway, you already told me what happened at the festival yesterday, or did you left anything out?” She looked at him with a raised eyebrow and eying him carefully.
“Yeah, you are right on that part. I could only win through this,” he pulled out his newest Disc out of his pocket and held it out towards her.
“Wait, a new Disc? I thought you already had all five of them together?” She burst out at once, then quickly looked around to see if anyone had heard her.
“Yeah, thought the same, but in all honesty, it was always suspected that there was something Fools Gold missed if there wasn’t he would be standing right here, wouldn’t he?” Ocean slowly nodded. “I wanted to thank you, for all of it. Without you, I would have never managed to get this far. I trust you, you are a good friend, one I would not like to miss, that is why I’ll give you the data. That’s a promise.”
Silence, that was all that followed. Ocean was standing there, her mouth open and staring at Phoenix as he stared at the Disc, a smile across his face. “You are doing what?”
“I’ll let Ivory study this thing as much as he wants to,” he calmly returned.
“Why? You said countless times that you don’t trust the MRG, what changed?”
“Oh, nothing, but I trust you, and after the last few days I learned that you sometimes have to trust someone even if it might appear stupid.”
That got a light chuckle from Ocean. “Seems I might have rubbed off on you. Thanks that will make fighting Corrupted far easier.”
“Oh, you wouldn’t believe. Just wait till you see that Disc in action, you will be amazed. But there was something else I wanted to ask you,” he quietly added.
“Oh, what is it? Another new form that we can study?” She looked at him with a smile on her lips as she stepped closer. “Just ask.”
“Probably should have done that before I gave my promise to let you study the Disc…” he muttered quietly.
Ocean raised an eyebrow and returned somewhat perplexed. “What? What would be so bad of a question that you wanted to bribe me?”
“Ahm, you see, well, I…” He stuttered, his eyes shifting from one place to the next. Ocean now raised both of her eyebrows. Phoenix took one last deep breath and finally said: “Do you want to go on a date with me?”
That one broke Ocean, she just stared at him with an open mouth for at least a good thirty seconds, unable to process what she had just heard. Then the blushing started, both of them looked like tomatoes so crimson were their faces.
“I… I shouldn’t have asked, of course not. Why would you,” Phoenix finally sighed, letting his head hang low and was about to run off as something grabbed hold of his hand.
“You idiot.” Phoenix stared at a smiling Ocean. “Of course I want to go on a date with you. Why wouldn’t I?” She smiled at him, her head still as red as his.
“You… you would?” He stammered back, a smile overtaking his lips.
“I just said that you idiot,” she laughed back.
He quickly joined in: “Yeah, you did. Sorry, I’m just a bit shocked. Thanks, thanks so much.”
“Well, you could make it up for me if you don’t ruin the date,” she jokingly added.
“Oh, don’t tempt me,” he devilishly returned, both sharing a loud laugh. They remained there for a while longer, standing over the city and holding hands.
>--------------<
Meanwhile on a stage several kilometers away a man in dark brown jacket with a hat was casually eyeing the signs of a battle. His short black hair was flowing in the wind, at least as much as his hat would allow it. His grey skin was almost invisible in the shadow of the stage.
“Well, it seems our friend has finally managed to stumble upon the Magic of Friendship. About time I would say. I was already worried that we would never get it,” he grumbled as he rummaged through the pockets of his jacket. “Ah, here it is.” He pulled out a blank white disc, looking exactly like the ones Phoenix possessed.
“Move, we don’t have all day. I don’t want to get any company,” a low voice said from seemingly out of nowhere.
“Yeah, yeah, I got it,” he huffed back and pointed the Disc at the stage. At first, nothing seemed to happen until dark purple energy started to rise up from the ground and towards the device. After every last drop of it had been sucked in, he sighed loudly: “Of course it’s not enough.”
“Don’t worry, the idiot will provide us with enough magic to fill a Disc, if he is dumb enough to use it excessively and judging from what we know of him, he is just that kind of idiot,” the voice from the off chuckled.
“Yeah, you are right. We just have to finish up the second set, and we are ready for the next phase,” he chuckled as he looked at several Magic Discs, some finished, some even two times and some still blank. “Soon, soon,” he muttered before sneaking off the stage again, avoiding anyone that was crossing by.