Everyone was in absolute shock at the sight before them.

Whilst facing off against the supercharged Mimic General, Shifter had somehow stolen the energy of the Hyper Core Gule was wielding. That combined with Shifter's Strike Core, had created a new Mimicore. The Hyper Strike Core. And with it, Shifter had become a new and more powerful version of his Strike Form.

Shifter felt power like he had never felt, flowing through him like a high intensity sugar rush. The upgraded Rider felt goosebumps, as energy surged off of his body.

He then turned to Gule and Maya, who didn't look impressed by his new look. Shifter then raised an arm and slowly pointed at them. "I hope you're ready. Because the winds of victory have just shifted." With that, Shifter began to walk forward.

Gule looked ready to attack, but his body was still reeling from having half his energy drained away.

Instead, Maya pulled him back. "Mimicreeps!" A portal opened and from out of it, the Mimic foot-soldiers leapt ready for a fight. "Get him!" The beasts roared before charging forward, but Shifter didn't seem the least bit worried.

As the first one got in close, Shifter dodged to the side. Whilst not as fast as his Blade Form, he was still fast enough to leave an orange blur that came off the lights currently glowing on his body. And as the Mimicreep staggered past him, he spun around and kicked the creature to make it explode.

The other Mimicreeps charged, Shifter continuing to move with an orange blur coming off him. He punched one, kneed another before slamming his foot into one behind him. He then grabbed the arm of one trying to slash at him and swung it around, the energy coming off him surrounding the beast as it was thrown into others and causing them to explode.

As more Mimicreeps attacked, Shifter took out his Shift Striker and his Mimicore. "STRIKE!" He slotted it into the device, dodging a slash as he did before leaping into the air.

The weapon transformed and he quickly started firing the laser pistol, hitting several Mimicreeps and destroying them all in seconds. And as he landed, he changed his weapon to the rapier form and started attacking at high speed.

The Rainbooms watched this in amazement. "This is awesome!" Rainbow cheered, as Shifter cut through the Mimicreeps like they were nothing.

"He's twice as strong as he was before," Applejack nodded. "Those things don't stand a chance." The others agreed, only to finally notice the webbing around them had been melted off. And with the Mimicreeps holding them destroyed, they were free to escape.

Sunset turned to the others. "We should get out of here whilst we still can."

"What?" Twilight turned to her, "we can't just leave. Shifter and Morphic might need us." Speaking of Morphic, he had continued his battle against Frill. His Rush Form was giving him the chance to avoid the incoming feather darts, even slashing some of them away.

"We're more of a hindrance to them than a help right now. Shifter can handle the Mimicreeps and hopefully, he can beat Gule and the others. We don't stand a chance against them." Sunset placed a hand on Twilight's shoulder, "we can't get in their way. If we're caught again, they might use us to make the Riders give up."

Twilight frowned, knowing Sunset was right. Even so, Twilight didn't want to just leave. Especially since they still needed to get Timber back. But the portal to the Mimic's world was closed, so they couldn't go back and get them.

"BLADE!" She looked up and saw Shifter's weapon turn to the large sword form, allowing him to cut through several Mimicreeps at once. He then used the sword to balance, as he leapt into the air and swung his leg around. This unleashed a wave of energy, that destroyed several more Mimicreeps.

He pulled his sword out of the ground and replaced the Mimicore. "PIERCE!" The weapon changed to the rifle, which he fired to send spines shooting through several Mimicreeps at once. Once they were destroyed, he replaced the Mimicore again. "FLIGHT!" The weapon changed to the owl-like device, the fans in the wings spinning to create a tornado.

This tornado sent the remaining Mimicreeps flying into the air. And once they were high up, Shifter jumped up as lightning shot off his body.

As he flew past the Mimicreeps, the lightning zapped them and they were all destroyed. He then landed and was right in front of Maya and Gule, the Hyper Mimic growling. "Enough of this!" He pushed Maya away. "I'm taking him down. Go help Frill."

"Are you sure?" Maya asked.

"He might have stolen some of my power, but not all of it. We should be on even footing. I can win. Go!" Maya nodded and ran over to Morphic and Frill's fight, as Gule and Shifter stared one another down. "I'm giving you one chance. Surrender and let me help you remember who you are. If you don't, I will destroy you."

Shifter removed the Mimicore from his weapon and prepared for a hand to hand fight, Gule growing.

"Fine! Have it your way!" With that, he rushed forward and Shifter did the same. The pair met in the middle and started fighting one another. Both moved with great speed, throwing punches and kicks at one another as fast as they could move. But neither side seemed to have the advantage, as they kept blocking and dodging the others attacks.

Gule then leapt back, as his Hyper Core chest orb glowed before firing a beam of light towards Shifter. But Shifter quickly crossed his arms as the lights on his body glowed. The light flew off of him and formed a sphere around him, which blocked the blast.

As Gule ended his attack and staggered back, the spikes on Shifter's back glowed before unleashing a burst of energy. This energy formed a pair of wings, which allowed Shifter to take to the air. And before Gule could recover from his energy drain, Shifter dived down and dealt a powerful kick right to his chest.

"AUGH!" He was thrown backwards and crashed into the ground, rolling around attempting to gain control. Eventually, he managed to get his legs on the ground and skidded to a stop. He growled, looking up at Shifter. The Rider looked ready to keep fighting, his Hyper Core state showing no problems for him.

Over with Morphic, he was still managing to keep Maya and Frill at bay. He slashed at Maya's webbing, preventing it from hitting him. At the same time, he dodged Frill's attacks and used the buildings to jump up and slash at him with his claws.

"Augh!" Frill was struck in the chest and knocked to the ground, Morphic landed next to him. But before the Rider could attack again, Maya unleashed a bunch of webbing that formed multiple circles around him. If he tried to run, he would become stuck.

The Rider watched, as Maya leapt at him. He tried to dodge, but it was difficult inside the web circle.

She landed and tried to punch and kick him, Morphic avoiding these attacks as Frill picked himself up. The buzzard saw Maya had Morphic trapped and as the spider Mimic leapt into the air, he fired his feather darts at him.

Morphic spun around and deflected the darts, as Maya tried to hit him with her foot.

But before she could land a strike, a few sprinkles landed on the web circle and exploded. The shockwave knocked her away, whilst part of the circle was blown up and gave Morphic a path to escape.

The Rider looked around and spotted the Rainbooms, Pinkie holding a single tub of sprinkles. "Hurry!" Sunset cried, as Morphic raced out of the circle towards them.

"Are you girls okay?" He asked, the girls nodding. "Good. But you should get out of here. These Mimics took you once. They're obviously gonna try and take you again."

"No way!" Rainbow told him. "You guys need our help." Frill took to the air and charged at them, with Rarity creating a wall of diamonds to block him. "We'll stay back and let you do all the fighting. If you need help, we'll be there to help."

"Alright," Morphic nodded as he glanced around. Shifter and Gule had started fighting again, with Shifter leaping back to take out his Shift Strike. Then, an idea formed in his head and he took out his Tough Mimicore. "Shifter!" Morphic threw the Mimicore towards the Hyper Kamen Rider, Shifter grabbing it and slotting it into the Shift Striker without a second's thought.

"TOUGH!"

The weapon transformed into an all new form. The base weapon was now a mix of gray and purple, with a ten inch chainsaw blade sticking out of it. The handle had a button in it, similar to a gas station pump, whilst a purple chain was sticking out the bottom of it. And on the other end of that chain was a second shift striker. Only on top of this one was a purple crocodile head, just like Morphic's Tough Form.

Shifter held the weapon and pulled them apart, the chain extending to fit the distance. He squeezed the triggers on the handles, causing the saw to activate whilst the head's mouth snapped shut.

Shifter charged and as the saw moved, he swung it around and slashed at Gule. The Mimic tried to counter with the blades on his arms, but the saw cut through them like they were nothing. "Ahhh!" He staggered back and tried to punch Shifter, but the Rider used the croc head to grab him by the wrist.

Shifter's legs glowed and he started dealing several kicks to Gule's body, making him cry out as he was zapped with every hit. He then spun around and threw Gule away from him, the Mimic General roaring as he flew through the air. But he managed to spread his wings and take flight.

"Damn you!" Gule's core sparked, as he summoned as much power as he could. He then fired it forward and it exploded into a bunch of green lightning bolts, which flew down and caused everything they touched to explode.

Morphic, the Rainbooms and the other Mimics cried out, as they were forced to avoid the blasts. "Watch it!" Maya cried, as she and Frill leapt out of the blast zone.

Rarity made a dome around the rest of them, but the lightning causes them to crack and break apart.

Shifter shot forward, moving at incredible speed to avoid the lightning. He even used the Shift Striker to deflect a few blasts. And once he was under Gule, he leapt up and summoned his wings to fly at the Mimic.

Gule ran out of energy and before he could get away, Shifter spun around and slammed his foot right into Gule's face.

The Mimic screamed, as he was sent hurtling to the ground and smashed into it. He roared in pain, as Shifter landed. The Rider looked ready to finish this fight, but something suddenly happened that stopped him.

Before he could attack, his entire body seized up. "What?" He tried to move, but he couldn't. And as he fell to his knees, energy sparked around his body. "What's happening?"

"Shifter?" Morphic asked, "what's wrong?" Shifter couldn't reply, the energy making his jaw clench. "That's not good. Looks like that Hyper Core has some kind of drawback."

"So what do we do?" Applejack asked, only for a bunch of feather darts to fly down and explode around them. They looked around and saw Frill and Maya, charging towards them.

"Whilst the Rider's paralysed, we'll deal with him ourselves!" Frill summoned his feather swords, but Morphic ran forward.

"I don't think so!" He leapt up and slashed at Frill, the Mimic blocking with his swords. At the same time, Rarity started throwing crystals at Maya.

The spider woman danced around, avoiding the attacks with ease as she laughed. She shot several webs back at them, but the girls were able to avoid them.

As this was happening, Gule picked himself up and noticed Shifter was frozen. This made him chuckle, as he picked himself up. "Looks like you're not as strong as you think. Your body can't handle using so much energy." His claws sparked with energy and he looked ready to unleash it at the Rider and do some serious damage.

But before he could, a car was suddenly sent flying at him.

"WHAT?" He barely managed to unleash the energy and hit the car, cutting it in half before it struck him. He then turned to Twilight, who panted as she tried to lift another car. "You."

"I won't let you hurt him," Twilight cried. "Your reign of terror ends right now."

"Oh, really. And who's going to stop me? You? You realise if you kill me, you'll be risking the life of your boyfriend. I'm the only reason he's safe. If I go, he'll be free but still our prisoner. And trust me, you won't like what the other Mimics have planned for the hosts we have trapped after their Mimics are killed."

Twilight frowned, realising he was right. But before she could think of some way to respond, Gule unleashed another energy blast towards Shifter.

In that moment, she realised what she had to do. She used her magic to grab the car parts and moved them over to Shifter, protecting him as the Rider was beginning to feel his body move again. And as he did, Twilight stepped up next to him. "Please. Free Timber from him. Destroy this guy."

Shifter nodded, as Gule's energy stopped and she dropped the cars.

Shifter was finally able to move and leapt into the air, his energy wings spreading as he dived down towards Gule. And before the Mimic could respond, Shifter slammed his fist right into the Mimic. He threw punch after punch after punch at him, Gule unable to build up the energy needed to fight back or protect himself.

Shifter spun around and dealt a kick right to his chest, sending a burst of power right into his Hyper Core.

This knocked him back and caused the core to spark, as energy surged out of him. "Augh!" Shifter then took out his Shift Striker and placed the Strike Core inside of it, changing it into the rapier form that he ran forwards with.

As Gule picked himself up, Shifter unleashed a flurry of jabs onto him. Each one cut his body apart and caused him to roar, whilst his teammates turned away from their fight to see it. Shifter then stopped the rapid strikes and let as much power as he dare flow into the blade before thrusting it right into Gule. Piercing his Hyper Core and making him roar as a bunch of energy flew out.

He was thrown backwards, as Shifter turned to Twilight. "If I do this, Timber will be free. But he's still the Mimic's prisoner."

"I know," Twilight nodded. "But...I think he'd prefer that. It must be better than being trapped in your own mind, whilst someone else uses your body however they want." She gave Shifter a serious look. "Please. Free him from that torment."

"You're not freeing anyone!" They turned back to Gule, as he picked himself up. His Hyper Core sparking from the damage it had just taken. "You think you can win? You're fooling yourselves. If I'm going down, I'm taking all of you with me! RAAAAAH!" Gule screamed, as he started charging all the power he could muster.

Frill and Maya saw this and realised what he was doing. "He's overloading the Hyper Core. He's going to unleash its power in one mighty blast." Maya turned to Frill, "that much energy will wipe out the entire city."

"And us with it," Frill stated before opening a portal. "We're out of here." Maya nodded and as Morphic tried to stop them, they leapt through the portal and disappeared.

The Rider growled, but realised they had bigger issues. Stopping Gule from nuking the city. "We've gotta stop him!"

"How?" Rainbow asked, as Shifter stepped forward. He put his Shift Striker away and reached down and hit the side of his belt. Doing so caused the belt to glow, as the Hyper Core's power began to surge.

"CLIMACTIC HYPER STRIKE!"

Shifter stared at Gule, as the energy he was giving off formed a small veil around him. The lights on the rider glowed brighter, as Shifter shot forward and leapt into the air. The lightning wings flew off his back and allowed him to fly up high, then dive down towards Gule.

The veil around his body flew off him and formed a dome of light, the others being blinded by it. But Shifter wasn't phased and spun around, as the light flew off his body and wings before wrapping around his leg.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The light formed a spinning drill-like structure around his leg, which slammed into the dome and caused it to shake. Everyone could barely see, as the two attacks collided with one another. But eventually, the dome began to crack before it completely shattered.

Shifter kept flying down towards Gule, his drill slamming into his chest and causing a massive explosion.

Everyone staggered back, as the shockwave rocked the street and almost knocked them over. As they did, Shifter flew out of the light and landed on the ground with his back to the explosion. A few moments later, the smoke and light faded to reveal Gule.

The Mimic General's body sparked, as small explosions occurred all around his body.

He coughed, as he clutched his chest. The Hyper Core sparked and cracked apart, releasing the energy he had been building up in a short burst. And as he turned towards Shifter, he started hacking. "Don't think this means anything. You might have won, but the battle is far from over." He slowly began to fall backwards. "And hopefully, my brother will one day be free." With that, he hit the ground and exploded.

The shockwave once again blinded everyone and knocked those on their feet staggering. When the explosion died down, Gule was nowhere to be seen. He had been destroyed.

Everyone stared at the spot Gule had once been and could hardly believe it. After causing them all so much grief, Gule was finally gone. The Mimics were now down one general. But it also meant that Timber was freed.

Twilight looked up at the sky, her thoughts only on her kidnapped boyfriend. She knew this was for the best, but she feared what might happen to him now. If only there was a way to get to the Mimic's lair and free him. But by then, it might be too late.

As soon as they had returned to their lair, Frill and Maya quickly switched on a monitor.

They watched, as Shifter managed to stop Gule from blowing up the whole city. They were shocked when they saw Gule be destroyed, having hoped he would find some way to escape. But if they didn't believe Gule was dead before, the cracking sound soon confirmed their fears.

Timber's cocoon began to crack apart and eventually, it shattered away from him and he fell to the floor.

The young teen let out a moan, as he opened his eyes and looked around. "What...what happened?" He then spotted the monsters, standing over him looking like they wanted to eat him. "AHHHH!" He cried, trying to stumble away but finding himself up against a machine. "Where am I?"

Frill growled, turning to Maya. "Put him with the others." Maya nodded and thrust her hand out, shooting a web-line that quickly spiralled around Timber.

The teen screamed, as his body was tied up so that only his head and his feet could be seen. He tried to break free, but the webbing was too strong. All he could do was scream, as Maya dragged him away and Frill sighed.

They were in serious trouble now. Not only had they failed to defeat the Riders, they had lost their hostages and a member of their team. The Master would not be happy about this.

Back with the Rainbooms and Kamen Riders, Shifter and Morphic were examining the spot where Gule had met his fate.

Sure enough, they found no remnant of the Mimic. It was clear he was gone for good. "Let's go," Morphic stated. "I don't want you staying in that form longer than necessary. There's no telling what other side effects it might have."

Shifter looked over his Hyper Strike Form and nodded. Other than the paralysis it had forced him into earlier, he worried the backlash from so much power might cause him issues.

The pair took out their bikes and made them larger. As they got on them, they turned to the Rainbooms. "You girls okay to get home on your own?" Morphic was clearly worried about his sister.

"We'll be fine," Twilight assured him. "But before you leave, I have a question." They tilted their heads. "Are you two Mimics?" They hadn't been expecting that. "Gule told us that the two of you were Mimics, but that you'd been brainwashed into thinking you were humans. Is that true?"

The two said nothing. Mostly because, they weren't sure how to answer her question. Could they be Mimics?

Rainbow stepped up to her. "Um, Twilight. You sure that's a good idea? What if telling them they're Mimics, makes them remember and they turn on us?"

"I don't think telling them will do anything. Gule was trying to get Shifter to wake up before. If that didn't do it, just telling them probably won't either." She turned to Shifter. "I don't know if you know or not, or if you really have been brainwashed. It's just...I wanna trust you. After everything you guys have done, you deserve our trust. But..."

The Riders understood. If they were Mimics, people needed to know. But they had no way of figuring out if they were or not.

"Um, Twilight." Everyone turned to Fluttershy, who was looking down at her wrist. "If they were Mimics, wouldn't this tell us?" She showed them the Mimic detector, which was currently showing no signs of a Mimic in the area.

"Yeah," Applejack nodded, "ya'h right. These things would have told us if these two were Mimics. But it's not, so they can't be." Shifter and Morphic weren't so sure about that, but decided not to say anything.

"We're on your side," Morphic told them. "Just remember that." He revved up his bike and raced off, Shifter remaining for a moment as if wanting to say something. But then he followed Morphic and the two disappeared. This left the girls alone, tired and hungry. They needed to find a way to get home to their families.

As soon as they found a clear spot, the two Riders turned into an alleyway and powered down.

When they did, Flash held up his hand as if wondering if it would melt. Shining noticed this and knew Flash must be having some kind of existential crisis. Then, he saw Flash take out his keys and used the sharpest one he had to cut his arm. "What are you doing?"

"When Mimics get cut, they don't bleed blood. They bleed that weird ooze." They watched as Flash's arm expelled blood, Shining sighing whilst Flash didn't look convinced. "Maybe they only bleed the ooze in monster form. We haven't seen a Mimic bleed in human form."

"Flash!" Shining grabbed his shoulders, "get a hold of yourself. You need to relax."

"How can I relax?" Flash asked. "What if the girls are right? What if we are Mimics? What if that robed guy brainwashed us somehow? If we are really Mimics, what happened to the real Flash and Shining? We must have gotten to them. They could be hidden away, somewhere, whilst we live their lives. What if-" Shining slapped him in the face, "OW!"

"Snap out of it!" Shining looked like he was on the verge of snapping as well. "I get it. We have a lot of unanswered questions and barely any answers. But let me ask you something. Do you love your family?" Flash looked confused, "do you love you family!?"

"Of course I do!"

"Do you care about your friends at school, my sister and her friends, everyone you know?"

"Yes."

"Then you are Flash Sentry. I don't care what anyone says. That's not something a Mimic can feel if they're just impersonating someone. Even if they're brainwashed to think they're someone else, they'd know it in their hearts that the feelings they had weren't real. Are your feelings for everyone real?"

Flash stayed still and let himself think. He remembered his life up to this point, growing up with Derpy as a friend and playing with his little sister. The pain he felt when his father died and the healing his family had to do afterwards. All the hardships he had experienced in his life that had helped him grow into the person he was today.

He remembered all the fun he had had with his friends. The time he spent with his mother and sister, like that very morning, and everything else that had ever happened. All the feelings he had ever felt. They weren't fake. He did care for those closest to him.

"Yeah, they're real."

"Then you are Flash Sentry," Shining told him. "And if you ever think otherwise, remember those feelings." Flash sighed, nodding as Shining pulled away. "Alright. I'm gonna go get the girls. I don't like the idea of them being alone. The Mimics might try and grab them again."

"Okay," Flash nodded. "Just don't give away that you know they're not Mimics. They might figure out who you are if you do." Shining nodded before heading off, leaving Flash there alone.

He kept thinking about Shining's words, as he looked down at his still bleeding arm. He took a deep breath and stepped out of the alleyway, heading home with a smile on his lips. He was glad he had managed to save the girls and stop Gule. And with his new Hyper Strike form, he hoped he would be able to deal with everything the Mimics through at him.

Back with the Mimics, Maya and Frill were standing in front of the hologram device.

The machine activated and projected the hologram, showing their master as he sat in the shadows. "Your hostages, escaped?" They nodded, not daring to look him in the eyes. "Gule, destroyed?"

"Well," Maya tried to reply, "not...yeah." She nodded. "He is."

"You two, paralysed with fear?"

"Definitely," Frill nodded.

"You have failed me for the last time." Both looked absolutely terrified, clearly expecting to meet the same fate as Gule. "I think it's time I allow someone else the chance to complete this task. Mimics that know how to get things done." The pair share a confused look, wondering who he was sending. Then, they noticed the two figures usually beside him weren't there.

A portal suddenly opened up behind them, the pair turning to see a pair of monsters step out into their base.

The first, was a humanoid bird creature, though it didn't appear like the other avian Mimics. This one didn't have any wings, instead appearing to be wearing a cloak made of teal feathers with blue gemstones on them.

His body was blue at the chest, head and arms, whilst his lower half appeared brown. His face was bird-like, with a beak in place of a mouth. But covering the upper half of his face was a large pink mask, with two long ribbons coming off the top that flowed up his head and down all the way to his lower back.

The second was a perfect fusion of man and tiger, though its figure made it obvious the man was more woman. She stood upright with humanoid legs, though her feet were long with tiger pawed ends. Her entire body was covered in purple fur, with black lightning bolts covering it to give her the tiger look.

Her purple face was rather human-looking, with white hair coming out the top that had the same black bolts as the rest of her body. The same white fur was covering her chest, whilst her hands were humanoid with a lightning bolt blade coming out the back of her hands. She also had a long tail that was purple with black lines.

The two new Mimic Generals, stared at the original two with an air of arrogance coming off of them. "Allow me to introduce, your new teammates. High-Vol-Tich. And Greye-No-Bill" The two frowned, already not liking the look of this. "I expect some results soon. Do not disappoint me." With that, the hologram vanished and the four generals continued to stare at each other.

The tiger Mimic then laughed. "It's no wonder Earth hasn't been conquered yet. With such pathetic looking Mimics leading the invasion, it's a miracle the Riders haven't wiped us out yet."

Maya growled. "You wanna say that again?" But Frill stopped her before she could attack their new teammate.

"Let's not get angry with one another," the bird Mimic announced. "We have more important things to worry about. Like defeating the Riders. And now that Shifter has gained even more power, we must up the stakes against him."

"And how do you expect to do that?" Frill asked. "Unless you've got another Hyper Core, there's no way we can match the power Shifter can wield."

The tiger Mimic, High, chuckled. "The Hyper Core might have powered up Gule and the Rider, but its power has been wasted." She shook her head. "Lightning Bugs. What a weak creature to power up. Had Gule had a real creature to Mimic, the Hyper Core would have made him truly unstoppable."

The bird, Greye, nodded. "Exactly. This world might be another pathetic one we need to conquer, but the creatures on it are quite impressive. But out of all of them, you've been using some of the weakest creatures to create Mimics with."

"We haven't just used weak animals," Maya stated. "Some of the creatures we've used powerful. Hawks, cheetahs, electric eels..."

High crossed her eyes. "But mostly, you've been using small pathetic animals. Ants. Grasshoppers. A freaking dove. No wonder the Riders have had such an easy time beating you." Maya and Frill would hardly call what the Riders went through easy. "No. We need to use animals with serious power. Serious bite."

"And what animals do you intend to use?" Frill asked. "Because one of the reasons we've been using small animals like insects, is because they're easier to find and capture."

"You have several creatures you stole from that human zoo," Greye pointed out. "But no, we won't be using one of those. We'll be using something even more powerful."

"More powerful than some of the deadliest animals on this planet?" Maya asked. "Where do you intend to find something like that?" High chuckled, as she moved over to a jar that had a Mimic Spawn within it.

"We just need to make a few adjustments to our little friend here. Once that's done, we'll be able to awaken the most powerful creatures to have ever existed on this planet. And against it, the Kamen Riders won't stand a chance.

Inside his lab-like area, the cloaked figure was re-watching the battle that had taken place.

Around him, a bunch of different machines were doing a variety of things. One such machine had a bunch of blank Mimicores inside of them, all but one appearing to only be half finished as their screens were slowly being printed onto the side of them by some kind of 3D printer.

The cloaked figure moved over to the machine and removed the completed core, looking it over to make sure it had been properly constructed. As he did, the battle footage showed Shifter freezing up.

"That Hyper Core is going to take some getting used to." He placed the Mimicore down. "Using too much power at once could force the Rider system to stall. With training, Flash should learn to properly control it without causing a stall. But if a stall happens whilst he's alone, there's no telling how much trouble he could get into."

He watched, as Shifter finally managed to move and finished off Gule. "This new power will surely come in use, for the battles that are set to come." He frowned, "but the Mimics won't take this set back laying down. They'll find a way to fight back. I just hope the Riders are prepared when that time comes.

The next day.

A class of young children, was having a field trip to the local Canterlot Natural History Museum.

They had just spent the last hour, listening to a girl named Maud talk about the different kinds of rock that existed in the world. To say the kids had been bored to death was an understatement, but it was all worth it. For now, they would get to go and see the exhibit that every young child would want to see. The dinosaur exhibit.

The young children ran into the room and looked around, amazed by what they were seeing.

There were exhibits of all kinds of dinosaurs. The head of a triceratops, hanging up on the wall, along with several cases full of different raptor claws. There were plastic exhibits, showing what many different dinosaurs looked like.

Parasaurolophus, Ankylosaurus, Spinosaurus and so many more.

And in the very centre of the room, was the massive skeleton of a tyrannosaur rex. The complete skeleton stood proudly, looking like it could almost come alive any second and gobble everybody up. Its massive tooth filled jaw, long sweeping tail and deadly claws were what made it one of the most dangerous creatures that ever roamed the planet.

The young children stared up at the creature in amazement, all of them wishing they could see a T-rex in action. But unless time travel or cloning was suddenly mastered in the next few years, they doubted such a thing would be possible. All they could do was use their imagination, to try and guess what a creature like this would really look like.

But suddenly, a portal opened up and from it, a bunch of Mimicreeps leapt out and scared everyone.

They quickly ran away, whilst two other figures stepped out of the portal. One was a man who appeared to be in his late twenties, having white skin and blue hair with a blue moustache on his face. He was dressed in a full tuxedo, black pants and blazer over a white shirt with a blue vest and purple bow-tie.

The other was a woman in her early twenties, with dark purple skin and dark pink hair. She was wearing a black leather overcoat over black clothing, with a black fingerless glove on her right hand. A large scar could be seen on her face, running down from her forehead and over her right eye.

The two looked around and smiled at the T-rex skeleton. "Perfect," the man stated before taking out the Mimic Spawn.

in another part of the town, Flash was visiting the Rainbooms.

Just like they had discussed, Shining had gone to get the girls and pretended to be un-trusting of them when he first found them. It wasn't until he checked his Mimic detector, that he agreed they weren't Mimics before running over to hug Twilight.

The girl's return had brought great joy to their families and now, Flash was heading to Twilight's house where the families were all together.

He stepped up in front of the house and happened to spot a large group outside the open window. Shining was amongst them, his fiance sitting beside them as they listened to the girl's story.

He was about to head over and knock, but suddenly got a feeling. He was sensing Mimics. A bunch of them. "Not good." He took out his new Hyper Core and knew whatever this was, they wouldn't stand a chance against him. But he would still need help, which was a problem.

As Shining to his sister's story about the Mimic's lair, he suddenly got the same feeling as Flash. He realised he needed a way to get out and go, without drawing too many questions. But how?

Suddenly, his phone buzzed and he quickly answered it. "Hello?"

"Pretend I'm your boss," Flash told him from the other line.

"Captain?" Shining quickly caught on. "What's up?" Flash didn't say anything and Shining pretended he was talking to someone. "Alright. I'll be there right away." He hung up and stood up. "Sorry guys. But there's a Mimic attack. I need to go and make sure nobody got hurt."

"We'll go with you," Rainbow got up. But her father grabbed her shoulder and pushed her down.

"I don't think so. After what happened yesterday, you're not getting anywhere near those Mimics again." Rainbow looked shocked, whilst the rest of the Rainboom's parents seemed just as adamant. Only Sunset could technically leave, but realised she didn't have any way to fight the Mimics if she did.

"Come on," Rainbow cried. "We've gotta go."

"Let the Kamen Riders deal with those monsters," Hondo stated. "You girls have been through enough." The girls frowned at this, but realised they weren't going to be changing their parent's minds.

"Don't worry," Shining told them. "With that new power you said Shifter has, the Mimics probably won't stand a chance. Trust me." He and Cadance shared a kiss before he headed out, getting into his car and driving off.

But as he did, he got a text that told him where to go.

Once in the city, he pulled into a nearby alleyway and found Flash waiting besides his Rider Machine. "You ready?" Flash asked, as his Driver appeared.

Shining looked around, to make sure nobody was watching them. "Let's do this." He took out his Mimicore, as his own Driver appeared around his waist.

"HYPER STRIKE!/BLITZ!"

They quickly placed the devices into their belts and struck a pose. "HENSHIN!" They slammed the drivers shut and the devices powered up, the lights changing colour

"MIMIC! LIGHTNING BUG!/HERCULES BEETLE!" The pipes unleashed the slime and the two were soon placed inside the cocoons, which quickly shattered to reveal their Rider forms. Flash's body bulked up, as the amber flew down and struck the pair to form their armor.

"Ultimate light, strikes to eradicate the shadows!"

"Power that shatters everything, contained in a mighty horn!"

The two shared a look and nodded before Morphic took out his bike and threw it into the air. Once it grew to its normal size, the pair got on and raced down through the town towards where they sensed the Mimics. To their surprise, they found themselves outside the natural history museum.

"Why would the Mimics come here?" Shifter asked, as they got off their bikes and shrank them down before heading inside. The place appeared to have already been evacuated, the two looking around and seeing no signs of the Mimics.

"I can still feel them," Morphic stated. "But where are they?" He got his answer, when a bunch of Mimicreeps leapt into the room.

The Riders were quickly surrounded, but they weren't worried. Morphic started shooting at them with his Blitz Blaster, giving Shifter the time he needed to place his Strike Core into his Shift Striker. The two started shooting at the Mimicreeps, being careful not to hit any of the exhibits.

Shifter then shot forward and began to fight his way through the monsters, being careful not to use too much power for fear of stalling like the previous day.

Morphic threw a few punches at the Mimicreeps himself, shooting any that were in a large group so they couldn't dodge as easily. Morphic spotted a Mimicreep that Shifter kicked into the air, the monster flying towards a rare painting. The Rider quickly fired at it and destroyed the Mimicreep before it could hit the painting, then spun around and kicked several more away.

Shifter dealt with the remaining Mimicreeps and the monsters were soon completely destroyed, the two Riders turning to one another and nodding. They sensed where the remaining Mimics were and headed in that direction, pushing the doors open and looking around.

They spotted two individuals, standing in front of a large T-rex skeleton. Only something wasn't right about it. it was covered by the same slimy substance they recognised as a Mimic. "What are you doing?" Morphic asked, "get away from that thing!"

The two turned towards him, both smiling a worrisome smile. "Oh, I don't think so." The woman told him. "So, you must be the legendary Kamen Riders we've heard so much about. You've been causing quite a lot of trouble for us." The Riders were on guard, both having a feeling these weren't real people. "But it's good that you've come. Now we don't have to hunt you down."

"Who are you?" Shifter asked, as the pair's bodies began to turn to liquid and transform.

Slowly, they reshaped and their bodies solidified. The woman had turned into the tiger Mimic, whilst the man had turned into the peacock Mimic.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves." The peacock bowed, "Greye-No-Bill. Mimic General."

"And I'm High-Vol-Tich," the tiger announced. "And you are about to meet your match." The Riders prepared for a fight, as they stared at the Mimic currently covering the skeleton.

"What is that Mimic doing?" Morphic asked, only for the Mimic to suddenly fly off the skeleton.

Greye chuckled. "Did you know that fossils can contain the DNA of the animal it once was? And with a little tweaking, that small sample is all a Mimic needs in order to gain that creature's abilities." The skeleton was sealed within an amber cocoon and as the Mimic hit the ground, it started taking shape. "And with this almighty beast, you Riders won't stand a chance."

Shifter and Morphic were on guard, as the Mimic finished forming its physical form.

It was a large Mimic, standing at over ten feet. Its body was black, with red streaks covering it. Its head was humanoid, but had feathers striking out the top instead of hair. Both its arms were humanoid up to the elbow, with everything after that being T-rex inspired. Its right arm had a massive T-rex head, with a large mouth that looked like it could bite through anything. Meanwhile, its left arm had a series of round rings stacked one on top of the other.

Each ring was smaller than the other and gave it the appearance of being a tail, with the very end having a drill-like tip. The monster's legs and feet were just like a T-rex's, appearing strong and fast. The Mimic was unlike anything Shifter and Morphic had seen so far.

Author's Note

With that, Gule is done. Hopefully, Flash and Shining will be able to save Timber. So what did you think of Shifter's new form? It has a drawback, but Flash just needs to be careful with it. And what do you think of the new Mimics? Can you guess who their hosts are?