Shifter could hardly believe what he was seeing.

One moment, he, Morphic and the Rainbooms had been fighting Maya, Frill and a bunch of new monsters named Mimicreeps. Things had been going well for them and victory seemed to be there. But then, Gule-Far-Tar had arrived and revealed a new source of energy had been granted to him.

This new power had made him evolve into a more powerful Mimic. A Hyper Mimic.

"Now you see!" He told them. "I have become so much more powerful, than any of you fools. With this Hyper Core, I've evolved into a force you can't hope to defeat. A Hyper Mimic!"

"New look," Morphic stated. "Same old lines."

"Nice," Frill nodded as Maya smiled.

"Looking good. Looks like that little upgrade worked in your favour. So long as your body can handle that much power."

"Oh, it can handle it alright." Gule turned back to Shifter. "Now, it's time I knock some sense into you." Shifter said nothing and got ready for a fight. He didn't know how this change would affect Gule's battle skill. But Shifter was ready for anything Gule could throw at him. Or so he thought.

The orb in Gule's chest glowed and before Shifter could even blink, the Hyper Mimic shot forward and slammed his foot into Shifter's chest. "AUGH!" The impact sent a wave of energy into Shifter's chest, which knocked him flying back until he crashed into the side of a building.

"SHIFTER!" Everyone cried, as the Rider fell to the ground.

"So fast," Twilight gasped before spinning around. She grabbed some bits of the damaged ground and threw it at Gule, but he didn't even look her way before unleashing a blast of energy from his claws. That energy turned the rubble to dust, then shot towards Twilight.

"Look out!" Rainbow rushed forward and pushed Twilight out of the way, whilst Rarity put up a bunch of diamonds to try and protect the others. But the lightning slammed into them and destroyed the gems without issue.

Morphic ran forward, needing to protect the girls. He threw his alligator head forward and unleashed the energy construct, but the Hyper Mimic's chest glowed before the light flew out and formed a wall to block the head. Gule shot forward and met Morphic head on.

The Rider swung his tail saw around, trying to cut into him. But Gule blocked with the spikes on the back of his arms. The saw ground against the spike, but didn't even scratch it.

"What?" Morphic asked, as the chest orb unleashed a laser that slammed into him. "GYAH!" As he was thrown backwards, Pinkie pulled some sprinkles out of her hair and threw them towards the Mimic.

But as they exploded, Gule just walked through it not looking the least bit phased. "No way!"

"His powers grown so much," Sunset realised.

"FLIGHT!"

They looked around and saw Shifter and picked himself up. "Shape Shift!" He quickly replaced the Mimicores, causing his armor to melt, reshape and change colour.

"MIMIC! OWL!" The armor reformed, the large wings appearing on his back. And as Shifter removed the Blade Core from his weapon, the belt spoke up. "Flying through the sky, seeking prey with all seeing vision!"

He took to the air and flew towards Gule, as he placed his Strike Mimicore into the weapon and changed it to its handgun form. He quickly fired and rained down lasers from above. But Gule leapt into the air and easily dodged them. And when he reached Shifter, he slashed at him with his blades.

Shifter tried to dodge, but Gule's strike landed and cut one of his wings off.

The Rider flew out of control, unable to stop himself whilst Gule spun around and slammed his foot into Shifter's chest. The impact sent him flying towards the ground and he crashed close to Morphic.

"We have to help them!" Twilight cried, the other girls nodding. But Gule had other ideas and unleashed a bunch of green lightning, which struck the ground all around them. Maya and Frill had moved to a safe distance, but everyone else was bombarded by the attacks slamming into them.

They all cried out, as they were thrown about and burned by the energy.

When the explosions began to die down, the Riders and Rainbooms were laid out on the ground. The Riders began to pick themselves up, but the girls were clearly out of it. Meaning they weren't able to protect themselves when Frill dropped Maya down next to them.

The spider Mimic unleashed a bunch of webs, tying the girls up and binding them together. And as the Riders stood up, they looked around to see the two Mimic Generals dragging them along the ground. A portal opened up behind them and as the girls started to come around, they realised they were in serious trouble.

"NO!" Shifter and Morphic ran to them, but Gule landed in front of them and blasted them with lightning again. "AUGH!" They both cried out, whilst the girls were dragged through the portal. And as the lightning faded, the Riders fell to the ground and found their suits disintegrating off of them.

Flash and Shining groaned, their bodies aching as Gule turned to them. He laughed, clearly enjoying the pitiful state the pair were in. "Don't worry. We'll take good care of your friends. Once they've been turned into Mimics, they'll become this world's ultimate destroyers."

Flash tried to push himself up. "We...won't let you do that."

"Like you have a choice," Gule stated. "It's probably already begun. I hope they start with that annoying nerd. After today, I won't have to suffer her incessant talking." He groaned, as Shining looked ready to rip his head off. But he was too injured to do anything. "Now...to end this little game." He looked ready to land the finishing blow.

But before he could attack, something happened behind the Riders.

A powerful light appeared behind them, which the white cloaked figure stepped out of. "You!" Gule growled, as the figure turned to the Riders. "I'm ripping that hood off and finding out who you are!" He shot forward, but the figure grabbed the two and pulled them through the light.

In the blink of an eye, the light vanished moments before Gule to get to them. The Mimic let out a roar of frustration, still wanting to know who the heck that cloaked figure was.

After a moment, he relaxed and thought about the fight. "Shifter and Morphic didn't stand a chance against me." He looked down at the orb in his chest. "With this new power, I can't be beaten." He walked away, as a portal opened up. "I'm unstoppable now."

Flash and Shining were once again in the dark room, as the figure walked away from them.

Both moaned, their bodies aching as they felt like they had just been hit by a bus. But the pain they were feeling was nothing, compared to the anguish they felt after seeing the girl be taken. "No," Shining whispered. "NO!" He slammed his fist into the floor. "We lost them!"

"Twilight," Flash pushed himself up, "Sunset." He could only imagine what was going to happen to them. At that moment, the girls could all be getting taken over by a Mimic.

"I'm sorry about your friends," the figure announced. "I wish there was something I could have done."

Shining glared up at him. "You could have done something. You could have come and helped. Use that blaster of yours to force Gule back into his human form. You could have done that to all the Mimics!"

"It's not that simple," the figure replied.

"It's never that simple with you, is it?" Shining stood up. "I'm done with the mysterious crap. Show us who you are!" He rushed forward, attempting to grab the figure's hood. But the man managed to dodge Shining's attempt, Shining's exhaustion and injuries making him slower and easy to avoid.

Shining kept trying several times. But the figure kept dodging and at one point, he got behind Shining and thrust a finger into his back.

"Augh!" Shining fell forward and crashed into the ground, groaning as Flash rushed over to him.

"We don't have time for this. Your sister and her friends are in danger. If the Mimics manage to create Mimics from them, they might be unbeatable. Those girls' unusual magical abilities are too much of an unknown."

"Well what are we supposed to do?" Flash asked. "Gule is just too powerful. We didn't stand a chance against him."

"That's because of the Hyper Core," the figure replied. "A power source from the world they conquered before attempting to destroy your world. It's one of the most powerful energy sources ever created."

"Great," Flash sighed, "how are we supposed to beat something like that?"

"Don't worry. I have something that should help with that." Flash and Shining shared a look, as the figure stepped forward. "I had a feeling the Mimics would eventually use the Hyper Core. I didn't know how they would use it, but this should work out fine for us."

"What are you talking about?" As Flash said that, a light flew down from above and illuminated part of the dark room. They looked around, as a pillar extended up from the floor. And something was sitting on it.

"A Mimicore?" Flash walked over to it and picked the device up, seeing that it was inactive. He tried to switch it on, but nothing happened when he pressed the button. "It's not working."

"That's because it hasn't been charged," the figure replied. "I made that Mimicore in order to counter the Hyper Core. If you can get it close to Gule's chest, the device will start to drain the Hyper Core of its power. it won't completely de-power it, but it should weaken Gule enough for you to defeat him."

"That sounds perfect," Flash smirked. "Wait, will I be able to use it to Mimic another animal?"

"Unfortunately, no. I had to remove its scanning function in order to give it the extra power. Without that function, it won't be able to analyse a creature and mimic its powers. Once charged, all it'll do is be an extra strong power source. I might be able to make something that can wield its energy as a weapon. But first, you'll have to actually charge with the Hyper Core's power."

"Understood," Flash nodded. "We'll do our best. Right, Shining?"

"Yeah," Shining nodded as he turned to the figure. "Sorry. I know you're trying to help, but it's hard to trust you when we don't know anything about you."

"I understand. Just know that I don't keep secrets because I want to. It's just not the right time for you to know the truth. Now, go get some rest. You'll need all the strength you can muster for your next battle." Before the pair could say anything, the light appeared behind them before moving to swallow them up.

In the blink of an eye, the pair were back in Canterlot. But they weren't where they were before, instead being in a back alley two streets away.

They both shared a look, really wishing he didn't just throw them out like that. But then, they looked down at the Mimicore they had gotten. If he was right, this was their only hope for defeating Gule in his new super-charged state.

Gule stepped through a portal into the Mimic Base, where he heard a bunch of screaming and groans.

Looking around, he was shocked to see the Rainbooms were still free. They were trapped in Maya's webbing, but they hadn't been used to make a Mimic yet. "What's going on?"

He watched, as Maya held up a Mimic Spawn. "Maybe you'll be the one." She turned Fluttershy, who looked absolutely terrified. The others told her to leave the girl alone, but Maya thrust the Mimic into the girl's chest.

Fluttershy screamed, as the Mimic spread across her chest. But before it could do anything, the geode around her neck glowed before unleashing a light. The slime was then propelled off of her, Frill flying up to catch it. Fluttershy panted in fear, but was alright and the light around her neck disappeared.

"What was that?" Gule cried, as the others turned to him.

"We don't know," Maya growled. "Every time we try and make a Mimic overtake them, those gems around their necks glow and blow them away. And whenever we try and take them off, we get zapped."

"Guess there's more to this magic stuff than we thought," Gule stepped forward. "Think you can work around it?"

"In time," Maya nodded. "This isn't the first time we've conquered a world with magic. I'll look into our predecessor's records and figure out how they did it. Until then, we'll just have to keep these girls somewhere they can't cause any issues."

"We could always put them out of action," Gule's fingers sparked with power, making the girls panic.

"Leave them," Frill stated. "Right now, they're more useful to us alive. Anyway, what happened after we left? Did you deal with the Riders?" Gule growled.

"I almost had them. But then, that white cloak guy showed up and pulled them through a portal somewhere. But they'll be back. Especially since we have their friends as hostages."

"How could you do this?" Twilight asked, making the Mimics look to her. "Why are you doing this? Kidnapping people. Taking their places? Causing so much pain and destruction?"

Gule smiled at her. "We're the Mimics. Wiping out inferior species is what we do." Twilight glared at him. "Besides, why are you so comfortable working with Mimics?" The girls all shared a look, obviously confused by what he was talking about. "Shifter and Morphic. They're Mimics. They might have forgotten who they really are, but they're definitely Mimics."

"That's impossible," Sunset cried. "Why would Mimics fight against their own kind?"

"That's what we'd like to know," Maya stated. "But it doesn't matter. They've turned against us and we're going to make them pay for their betrayal." She turned to the other Mimics. "I say we take these girls back and use them as bait. The Riders won't be able to resist trying to save them."

Gule and Frill nodded, as a pair of Mimicreeps suddenly appeared.

They were pushing something into the room. A large amber cocoon, the girls noticing someone trapped inside. "TIMBER!" Twilight tried to free herself from the web and run to him. The sight of her boyfriend, sealed within the rock, made her stomach turn. "Let him go!"

"Yeah, not happening." Gule stepped up to the cocoon, placing a hand on it. "You've served me well. Giving me your knowledge and allowing me to walk the human world undetected. Too bad I no longer require the human form. Although, those fingers might come in handy if I ever need to do delicate work."

Maya stepped over to him, a device in hand. It unleashed a beam, which swept over the cocoon and started beeping. "Let's see," she started reading the results. "From what I can tell, you absorbing the Hyper Core hasn't caused any negative effects. But I'll need to run a more thorough analysis to make sure. Until then, I suggest you don't overuse your new power source."

"Shame," Gule smiled as he looked himself over. "I feel incredible. Like I could defeat a hundred Kamen Riders. This Hyper Core is incredible. Hurt like hell, absorbing all that power, but this new strength is so worth the pain."

"Yes," Maya nodded. "Even so, stay in your human form for a while. Give your other form a chance to cool down. Use too much of that power too often and you'll likely hit burn out."

"Fine," Gule reverted back to his human form and gave Twilight a smirk. He then walked off, leaving Frill and Maya to start studying the real Timber and the girl's magic. If they found a way to overcome it, then everyone would be in serious trouble.

Back on Earth, Flash was in his room at home.

His mother and Scootaloo had noticed he was limping when he got home, Flash stating it was due to getting caught up in another Mimic attack. She had been worried that he was seriously hurt, but Flash assured her she was fine. But when he told her about what had happened to his friends, she and Scootaloo were both shocked.

Scootaloo had run off to call Sweetie and Applebloom, Flash reminding her that they might not have been told yet. But when Scootaloo called, she found they did know and were rather upset.

Shining had had to tell the Rainboom's families about the girl's kidnapping, something Flash had not envied Shining for. Now, Flash was laying in his bed letting his injuries heal. All the while, trying to come up with a battle plan that would help him beat Gule.

He took out the new Mimicore, whilst trying to come up with an idea that would help him get close enough to Gule and use it.

As the sun began to set, Flash heard a buzzing and looked over to his phone. He saw it was Shining Armor and quickly answered it. "Hey. You doing okay?"

"Not really," Shining sighed. "Telling a bunch of distraught parents their daughters had been kidnapped, isn't exactly something you get into the police business for. My mom and dad are still crying. Cadance too. We have to find them and save them before it's too late."

"But you heard what Gule said. The girls have probably already been taken over. If they have, we stand a chance against them all. Maya, Frill and a super powered Gule were bad enough, especially with those new Mimicreep things they have. But put the girl's magic on top of it and...what if we're not strong enough to stop them?"

"We have to be strong enough," Shining stated. "Because we're the only ones who can possibly save them and stop the Mimics. If we let those things beat us, then that's it. The Mimics will take over and our world won't stand a chance."

Flash really didn't like the sound of that. He thought about all the people that were counting on them to protect their world. His family. His friends. Everyone that had cheered them on, as they struggled to keep the world safe from the Mimics.

"I know things might seem difficult, but we're not beaten yet. Gule might have powered up, but we have one thing that he'll never have."

"Which is?"

"Something worth fighting for. That's something that's always allowed us humans to overcome the odds. Think of all the evil beings that have tried to take over the world, or caused incredible pain and suffering. Hitler, Stalin, Hussein and many more. They were all trying to make the world their version of paradise. And they all failed, because they didn't have something worth winning for."

"And the Mimics are exactly the same," Flash realised.

"Exactly. We humans have a power that those Mimics will never be able to copy. When everything looks bad. When the chips are down and we can't seem to go on anymore. So long as we have something or someone we want to protect. Something we can't bear to lose, we'll find the strength to do the impossible."

Flash smiled, Shining's words washing over him and making him realise he was right. "Thanks, Shining. We can't give up. No matter what happens, we'll find a way to save the girls. Even if we have to fight the Mimics they become."

"Good. Now get some rest. That cloak guy was right. We'll need all the strength we can get for tomorrow. No matter what happens tomorrow, we don't stop fighting until the very end."

Flash nodded and hung up, getting comfortable as he let the day's exhaustion wash over him. As he did, he glanced back at the new Mimicore, knowing he had to find a way to drain Gule's power. It was his only hope of beating the Mimic. No matter what, he would find a way to stop him with it.

Back at the Mimic Base, Twilight and the rest of the Rainbooms were stuck together with the webs and placed in a corner.

Most of the girls were beginning to fall asleep, despite the danger they were in. But Twilight was wide awake and looking around, trying to take in as much of the Mimic's base as she could. If they managed to escape, this knowledge could be invaluable.

In one corner, she spotted a machine that was currently working to create a bunch of Mimicreeps. Despite how weak they were, their numbers were clearly worth the loss of power. Twilight feared what would happen, if the Mimics managed to create an entire army of them.

With Gule's new power to take out major threats, those Mimicreeps would overrun the city.

Her eyes then fell on the cocoon with her boyfriend in it. Timber looked so peaceful inside of there. She had a feeling the last thing he felt when he was taken was terror. The sight of that peaceful expression, despite the fear he must have had, made Twilight's stomach twist.

Her mind then moved to possible outcomes of the fight that was coming in the morning. What if Shifter and Morphic found a way to defeat Gule? When Derpy's Mimic doppelganger had been destroyed, she had been freed right away. If Gule was beaten, Timber should be freed as well.

As much as she wanted Timber to be freed, she feared what would happen to him if it happened whilst he was still in the Mimic's possession. Derpy had been lucky to have not been taken by the Mimics. But Timber was another story.

She feared what might happen, if Timber was freed whilst still being the Mimic's prisoner. Would the Mimic simply force him to become another Mimic's host. Or would they see no other need for him.

"We have to save him," she whispered.

"We will," Sunset told her. "But right now, we need to save ourselves. You heard what that Mimic said. They've come up against magic in the past and found a way to overcome it."

Rarity frowned. "Our gems protected us from the Mimics. But that won't last forever."

"Exactly," Sunset nodded. "I don't know how they stop magic. But considering magic works differently in each world, it's possible the magic they faced isn't the same type as the magic we have. Whatever they did to stop that magic, might not work on ours."

"So we might stay safe?" Pinkie asked.

"I don't know," Sunset frowned. "They might not be able to find a way around our magic. Or they might have an easier time overcoming our magic. I guess it all depends on the magic itself. But there's another issue if they can't find a way around our magic."

"Which is?" Applejack asked.

"Right now, they have a reason to keep us alive. But if they can't figure out how to take us over..." She didn't want to finish the sentence, as the girls all gulped.

They sat there, worrying about what was going to happen to them. If Shifter and Morphic couldn't save them, their future wasn't looking great. They had to find a way out of there. But how?

The next day.

As soon as his alarm went off, Flash was up and out of bed.

Once he was dressed, he headed downstairs and found his mother and sister sitting around the table. He spotted the picture of his father on the wall, located over his old spot at the table.

"Flash," Misty looked up, "are you sure you should be up? You need as much rest as you can after what happened yesterday." Flash smiled at her.

"I'm fine, mom. I'm feeling much better. And I wanna go meet up with some friends for...you know." Misty nodded, clearly thinking he was talking about what had happened to the girls.

Flash headed for the door, but Misty stepped in front of him. "Flash. If you need to talk about anything, I'm here to listen. You don't have to bottle it all up."

Flash wished he could tell her about him being Shifter, but he couldn't. Not until he knew the truth about what the heck he was. Until then, he had to keep her in the dark.

He gave Misty a hug, Misty being surprised by this but hugging him back. What she didn't know was that for Flash, he thought this might be the very last hug he ever got from her. So he wanted to make it last and only pulled away when he felt his mother getting suspicious.

He headed for the door and gave his family one last look before leaving, off to fight against a seemingly unstoppable threat. But no matter what, he would find a way to defeat them.

On an empty street in Canterlot, a bright light filled the air. And from it, the three Mimic Generals stepped out. The Rainbooms followed, the girls all tied up with some Mimicreeps holding them back.

As the light vanished, Timber took his monster form and unleashed a blast of energy straight into the air.

The green lightning exploded above their heads, terrifying anyone nearby who saw it. But it didn't scare the two who it had been sent up to signal, the pair instead staring at it whilst they rode their bikes.

Flash and Shining shared a look. "You ready for this?" Shining asked, Flash nodding as their Drivers appeared on their waists. They revved up their bikes and began to race forwards, taking out their Mimicores and activating them.

"PIERCE!/BLITZ!"

They quickly slotted the cores into their Drivers and as they picked up speed, they yelled out in unison. "HENSHIN!" The draws slammed shut and their belts activated, both glowing as they spoke up.

"MIMIC! HEDGEHOG!"

"MIMIC! HERCULES BEETLE!"

The slime flew out of their belt pipes and splashed onto their bodies, solidifying as they formed the cocoons on their body. And after a few seconds, the cocoons shattered and flew off their bodies. The black and silver suited individuals continued to ride towards the battle, as the amber slammed into them and formed their armor.

Transformations complete, the pair arrived on the scene moving too fast for most of the others to notice.

They spotted the girls tied up, both Riders wondering if that was some kind of trick. But a small part of them hoped the girls had somehow escaped becoming Mimics. As such, Morphic summoned his Blitz Blaster whilst Shifter readied his piercing weapons.

They started firing, hoping to hit the Mimicreeps and destroy them.

But before any of the attacks could hit the foot-soldiers, Gule jumped in front and unleashed a wall of light from the core in his chest. This wall blocked the projectiles and lasers, stopping them cold. "Shifter's mine," he stated.

"Fine," Maya agreed as the Riders stopped their bikes.

"Let them go!" Shifter cried, as they got off and prepared for battle.

"The real them," Morphic replied. "If those girls are mimics-"

"We're not Mimics!" Twilight cried. "They tried, but our magic protected us. We're the real us."

"You'd better be," Shifter stated. "Although, I kind of wish we had our detectors on. You'd think that guy would have given our drivers that function." Morphic shrugged, as Gule stepped forward.

"This ends now. You Riders will fall to my power." He pointed at Shifter. "Surrender and I will do what I can to help you remember who you are. This is your last warning. Refuse and you will leave me no choice but to destroy you." The Riders shared a look, still clueless what he was getting at.

"We're not surrendering," Morphic stated. "We're taking you guys down!" With that, he started firing and Gule unleashed another wall of energy.

"Fine then," Gule turned to the others. "Keep him busy, whilst I deal with my brother." They nodded and as soon as the wall vanished, Gule shot forward with blinding speed.

Before Shifter could respond, the front of his armor was grabbed and he was pushed backwards.

"Shifter!" Morphic cried, seeing his fellow Rider get taken away. And before he could try and go after him, a web caught his shoulder and he was pulled forward. "WOW!" He was pulled towards the other two Mimics, Frill rushing forward with his feather blades.

He swung them at Morphic, but the rider raised his arms and used his thick gauntlets to block the attack.

He landed and quickly raised his blaster, firing at Frill to force him back as he ripped the web off his shoulder. He started fighting against the two, firing at Frill to keep him at a distance whilst he started throwing punches and kicks in Maya's direction.

Meanwhile, Gule continued to hold Shifter and started charging energy to channel into him. "Wake up!" He cried, but Shifter had had enough of the close quarters.

"I am awake!" The spikes on the front of his armor extended, stabbing into Gule and forcing him to let go. Shifter leapt back and took out his Shift Striker, along with a Mimicore.

"STRIKE!"

As he landed, the weapon transformed and he changed it to the rapier form. Shifter then started shooting spines at Gule, which he deflected as Shifter rushed forward and thrust the rapier at his chest. But Gule blocked it with the spikes on his arms before spinning around, slamming his foot into Shifter's chest.

"Augh!" Shifter was thrown backwards, as Gule began charging energy from his Hyper Core.

Shifter managed to regain his balance and as Gule unleashed the energy from his chest core, which became a powerful beam, the Rider changed his weapon to gun mode and fired his own laser. But his laser was nothing compared to Gule's, the green energy overwhelming the orange beam and slamming into Shifter.

"GYAH!" Shifter was thrown backwards, the girls gasping as they watched him hit the ground whilst sparking. "Ahhh."

"This isn't good," Twilight gulped. "Shifter, get up!" Shifter slowly began to move, but Gule rushed over and dealt a super charged kick into his side. This sent him spinning through the air, the Rider barely managing to land on his feet whilst clutching his side.

"Gule's too strong," Rarity cried.

"It's that thing in his chest," Sunset guessed. "It's made him too strong." Another explosion caught their attention, making them look around and see Morphic still fighting the other Mimics.

The Rider fired his blaster, but Frill dodged it and Maya hit him with a web. She pulled him off balance and as Morphic tried to regain his footing, Frill flew down and slashed at him with his swords.

"AUGH!" Morphic was sent flying and crashed into the side of a wall, falling to the ground as he let out a moan.

Maya laughed at this. "Don't worry. This will be over soon. Once Gule's dealt with your friend, we'll finish you off with him." But then Morphic pushed himself back to his feet, taking out another Mimicore.

"Don't count Shifter out yet. He's stronger than you realise, especially when he's fighting to save those he cares about." With that, he activated his Mimicore.

"RUSH!"

He opened the draw on his belt and removed his Mimicore, replacing it with the new one. "Mega Morph!" With that, he slammed the draw inwards and the lights upon the side of his belt turned red.

"MIMIC! COYOTE!" His armor melted, reshaped and changed colour. As it did, he rushed forward super fast. And by the time he reached Maya, his armor solidified and his claws appeared. "Howling velocity, increasing the tearing power of its fangs"

Before Maya could respond, Morphic slashed at her and she was knocked back. Frill raised his blades and at the last moment, Morphic flew forward and slashed at him. His blades barely blocked the claws and he was able to leap up, spreading his wings to take flight whilst Morphic prepared to take them all down.

Shifter jumped around, firing his spines and Shift Striker blasts towards Gule. But he countered them all with his energy waves, as he spread his wings and took off.

He unleashed a barrage of lightning from his body, which flew down and exploded against the ground around Shifter. The Rider cried out, staggering back as the lightning destroyed the ground all around him. Some stray bolts got close to the Rainbooms and they all cried out, doing their best to avoid it as they staggered back.

Gule stopped his attacks, staring at the smoke cloud that had formed around Shifter.

He wondered if this was enough to put him down, but suddenly heard the Driver's voice. "MIMIC! LIGHTNING BUG!" Shifter leapt out of the smoke, having swapped the Mimicores in his Driver and Shift Striker.

Now holding his Piercing Rifle, Shifter launched a barrage of high powered projectiles towards Gule.

The Hyper Mimic unleashed another wall of light, which blocked the projectiles as Shifter landed on the ground. Gule then dived down, channelling energy into his right arm as the spikes on it glowed. The beast roared as he got closer, with Shifter unleashing a bunch of light from the spots on his armor.

This blinded Gule, causing him to go off target as he slashed at Shifter. The Rider barely managed to avoid the attack, but the slash hit the ground and created a wave of energy that followed Shifter and eventually slammed into him.

"Augh!" He cried, hitting hard as his Rifle fell from his hand.

Gule pulled his claws out of the ground, whilst Shifter picked himself up. Flash knew he had to de-power Gule soon. He wasn't gonna be able to take much more punishment. But he needed the right moment.

Gule charged forward and tried to slash at Shifter, who leapt to the side in order to grab his Shift Striker. He removed the Pierce Core and replaced it with another.

"BLADE!"

The weapon changed to a sword and as Shifter charged, he swung the blade towards Gule. But Gule was able to easily block it with the spikes on his body. And before Shifter could pull back, the Hyper Core unleashed a bunch of energy that flowed into the Rider.

"AUGH!" He cried, getting zapped by it. And as the energy locked him into place, Gule knocked the Shift Striker out of his hands before throwing a punch right into the Rider's chest. "GYAH!" The force sent him flying backwards, crashing into the side of a building before falling to the ground.

"SHIFTER!" The girls cried, as Morphic saw his partner fall.

"Oh no." He wanted to help, but Frill and Maya had him cut off. "Hold on!"

Shifter tried to push himself up, but he couldn't. And as Gule approached, he felt his body give up and fall back to the ground. Gule saw this and chuckled, as energy surged around him.

"Now...my brother. It's time for you to be free." The energy surged out of the Hyper Core and into his hands. "DIE!" He unleashed a burst of green lightning, which struck Shifter and made him cry out in pain.

The Rider tried to fight back, but he couldn't move. He felt the energy flowing into him and as he did, he realised he wasn't going to last much longer. Was this the end for him?

He forced his eyes open and happened to spot the Rainbooms, who were looking just as terrified as he felt. As he stared at them, he wondered what would happen after he was killed. Once Gule was done with him, he would likely do the same to Shining. Then, without the Riders, their world would be the Mimic's for the taking.

Images of everyone he cared about, Flash in front of his eyes. His mother and sister. His friends at school. Everyone he ever cared about. If he let himself lose here, everyone would lose.

"I can't let that happen. I...won't let that happen!" Using all his strength, he forced himself back to his feet.

"What?" Gule asked, "impossible." He added more power, but Shifter seemed unaffected by it. He began to move forward and as he did, he took out the new Mimicore.

As he did, the device began to absorb the power being channelled into Shifter. That was what it was programmed to do. But something else was also happening. His Strike Mimicore was also sparking, its energy becoming intertwined with the Hyper Core Energy.

As it did, the dots began to light up. Glowing orange and creating an image. The image of a lightning bug, just like on the Strike Core.

Shifter moved closer and closer to Gule, groaning as he was constantly hit by the energy. It didn't exactly tickle, but he refused to let himself be stopped. And soon enough, he was right in front of Gule.

"What are you doing?" He cried, as Shifter stood tall.

"Stopping you from hurting everyone I care about." He pulled his arm with the core back. "Your reign of terror ends, here and now!" With that, he thrust the core forward and slammed it into the Hyper Core.

This caused a brilliant flash of light, as the core absorbed the Hyper Core's power directly. Gule tried to pull away, but he couldn't. The energy from the two cores was forcing them together. Both his Hyper Core and the Strike Mimicore were connected to the new core, their energies combining into the device until it finally reached full charge.

Suddenly, the new core unleashed a powerful wave of energy. Shifter and Gule were blown apart, the wave continuing and hitting everyone around them.

It struck the Rainbooms and the Mimicreeps holding them, the girls feeling a slight jolt whilst the Mimicreeps were destroyed. Though it didn't hurt them, Twilight and the others suddenly found themselves blacking out.

When it reached Morphic and the Mimic Generals, Morphic decided it was best not to let the wave hit him. As such, he shot off in his Rush Form. Frill quickly took to the air, whilst Maya was slammed by the wave and sent flying back.

As Morphic ran away from the wave, Frill followed. Meanwhile, Shifter and Gule slammed into the ground and were both reverted back to their human forms. As they laid there, the new Mimicore sparked and glowed.

In his dark space, the cloaked figure watched the battle.

When he saw what had happened, he was amazed. "Mimicore is being programmed. How?" He started rewinding the footage and paid closer attention to the Strike Core. "I see. The energy flowed into the Mimicore and was infected by the programming inside it. And when the new core was charged with it, the programming became a part of it too. Amazing.

He sped the footage back up, as Morphic finally outran the wave.

The energy died down and Morphic skidded to a stop.

He turned back the way he came and prepared to rush back, only to find a bunch of feather darts shooting down towards him. "Wow!" He used his claws to deflect them, looking up and seeing Frill glaring down at him.

The Mimic General summoned his feather swords and dived towards him, Morphic using his claws to block the slashes and attacking back. As Frill flew up, Morphic ran back to the battlefield. The two continued to clash as they did, Frill diving down to attack whilst Morphic jumped off the sides of buildings to get high enough to strike.

The two continued to collide over and over, neither able to get a good hit on the other.

Back with Flash, he picked himself up and let out a moan.

Timber did the same, the Mimic growling as he turned to Flash. "What did you just do?" He summoned his power and transformed back to his monster form, only to feel different. Weaker. "What?"

Flash felt a heat in his hand and looked down. He saw the new Mimicore, as it sparked and glowed before suddenly transforming. In a flash of light, it changed into a more decorative version of his Strike Mimicore. The orange dots created the image of a firefly, but it was surrounded by bolts of lightning.

"Wow." Flash could hardly believe what he was seeing, whilst Maya rushed over to Gule's side.

"What happened?" She asked, as he picked himself up. She then felt the energy flowing through him, but realised something that horrified her. "The Hyper Core. It's been drained."

"What?" Gule felt the orb in his chest and realised she was right. "Impossible." He looked over at Flash, who was also picking himself up. "He stole my power!"

"It's not all gone," Maya replied. "I'd say it's only working at half capacity. You're still stronger than before you had the Mimicore, but..."

Flash stared down at the device, as it shut off again. He also heard a moan and looked over at the Rainbooms, Twilight looking like she was about to come around. He couldn't let her see him there.

"Alright," he told himself, "time to see what this thing can do." He turned back to the Mimics, as the Mimic Driver reappeared around his waist. He held the new core up and pressed the button. When he did, it lit up and Flash could feel the energy flowing out of it.

"HYPER STRIKE!"

He quickly opened the side of his belt and placed the core inside, striking a pose as he yelled out. "HENSHIN!" He swung his arm around and slammed the draw shut, the Mimicore's power flowing through the belt and powering it up as the lights along the side glowed orange.

"MIMIC! LIGHTNING BUG!" Flash crossed his arms, as the pipes on the side of his belt spewed out the orange-brown slime. As it landed on him and sealed him within the cocoon, Twilight finally came around and opened her eyes.

She pushed herself up and when she saw the cocoon and feared the Mimics had gotten someone. But then, the amber began to crack apart before exploding off the body. Doing so revealed the new form of Kamen Rider Shifter.

His black suit appeared the same as his standard one at first, but then it began to change. The muscles on his arms, legs and chest began to bulk up, turning him from looking like a reasonably muscularly man to an extra buff individual. Seconds later, the amber flew towards him and slammed onto his body. At first, it looked like he was going into his Strike Form, but there were several differences.

Like his suit, the armour was bulkier and there was more of it on him now. He had knee-pad-like armouring along with some on the sides of his waist below his belt, whilst his mask now encased his entire helmet. Speaking of his mask, it was now thicker and the V-shaped antenna now zigzagged to give them a lightning-bolt appearance. Similar lightning-shaped spikes stuck out of the back of his body armour, giving him the appearance of wings.

And finally, his body was covered in the same lights as his strike form except there were more. There were the ones he normally had, but also ones on his knee-pads, waist armour and the ends of his gauntlets before his elbows. The lights on his shoulders were larger and stuck out like normal light-bulbs, the lot of them glowing to unleash an almost blinding light.

The light swept over everyone and began to rouse the rest of the unconscious individuals. As the Rainbooms came around, they all saw the new Shifter and looked amazed. Morphic and Frill finally arrived in time to see the completed transformation, Morphic shocked to see the new Mimicore could actually be used.

As the armor settled, the driver spoke. "Ultimate light, strikes to eradicate the shadows!"

Everyone was amazed by what they were seeing, whilst the Mimics frowned. This new form of Shifter felt more powerful than anything the Riders had used before. And as the light on Shifter powered down, the Rider pointed at them. "I hope you're ready. Because the winds of victory have just shifted."

Author's Note

Woo! Flash has acquired his first super form. How will it handle against Gule? Will it allow Flash to defeat the Mimics and save the girls? And will there be any side effects to this new form? Only time will tell.