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 in. 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 homeschooled until recently." Flash was surprised by this, never heard of anyone who had actually been homeschooled 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.