Canterlot City was enjoying a brief time of peace.

There hadn't been any Mimic attacks for a while and some people were hoping this meant they weren't going to ever attack again. But others knew it was only a matter of time before things got crazy, so were enjoying the peace whilst it lasted. And some people were just looking forward to getting back to their regular lives.

This included Timber Spruce, the teen having been hospitalised ever since he had been saved from being the Mimic's prisoner.

The teen was back in his normal clothes, as he worked to pack everything of his that had been brought to him after he was hospitalised. But despite getting to leave the hospital, he did not look happy.

A knock caught his attention and he looked around to see a nurse step into the room.

"Good morning, Mr. Spruce. Looking forward to going home?"

"Very much so." Timber had had enough of being pricked and prodded. Of having every test under the sun done to him. All he wanted to do was get out of there and go home. However, a small part of him wanted to stay in the hospital. For no other reason, then to prolong the inevitable conversation he would have to have with a certain someone.

But he couldn't hold this off any longer than it already had. He had to face his demons and move on with his life.

He finished packing and when the doctor arrived, he gave the teen one final once over before confirming he was fit to leave. The teen thanked him before getting into the wheelchair, allowing the nurse to push him through the hospital.

He hated that he had to be wheeled out, but it was hospital policy and the teen didn't want to argue. So he tried to enjoy the ride, as he clutched his bag tightly. Eventually, they arrived at the front lobby of the hospital and headed for the doorway.

And standing outside the hospital were two individuals he hadn't seen in so long. Since he hadn't been allowed any visitors, he hadn't been able to see them since before he was captured by the Mimics.

Gloriosa Daisy smiled at her little brother, whilst Twilight gave him a nod as he was wheeled out. And as soon as he was outside, he pushed himself out of the wheelchair and moved over to hug his sister. "Timber!"

"Hey sis," he held her tightly. "I'm sorry if I worried you."

"You bet your ass you worried me." She pulled away and held his head in her hands. "When you came to visit Twilight and chose to stay, I should have known something was up. Especially when you stopped answering my calls." She sighed, "I just thought you were being swept up in city living. I should have known something was wrong."

"You shouldn't blame yourself," Timber assured her. "It's not like you could have guessed I'd be captured by a shape-shifting monster and replaced." He hugged her again and Timber held him tightly. As his chin was on her shoulder, he saw Twilight and the girl could tell he wasn't exactly happy to see her.

After he pulled away, Gloriosa pulled him over to Twilight. "I'm sure I'm not the only one who's happy to see you. Why don't we all go out? Timber hasn't had a decent meal in who knows how long. I'm sure he'll enjoy that."

"Actually," Timber sighed, "I need to talk to Twilight about something. Alone." Gloriosa frowned, clearly confused why he wanted to do that. "I'm sorry. But I need to do this." Gloriosa looked between the two, then nodded before walking off.

Timber and Twilight remained there for a few moments, silent as they tried to think about something to say. Then, Twilight pointed in a certain direction. "There's a bench over there. Maybe that would be a better place to do this."

Timber nodded and followed her, as he tried to determine what he was gonna say.

In another area of the town, two young teens had arrived at a police precinct that was heavily armed.

Thorax and Pharynx stepped up to the front door, as the guard held up his Mimic detector to make sure they weren't Mimics in disguise. "We're here to see our mom," Thorax explained.

"And we're human," Pharynx stated. "So let us in already. We don't have all day." The guard frowned before finally letting the pair through. They headed into the precinct and were led by an officer into the basement, where the Mimic cocoons had been placed under heavy guard.

The guard at the door opened up the cell, allowing Thorax and Pharynx into the room.

And there they were. The four cocoons belonging to the four hosts of the Mimic Generals. But the boys were only focused on one cocoon in particular. The one containing their mother.

Thorax stepped up to the cocoon and placed his hand on it. "Hi, mom." He stared at her calm face, which was very different to the face he was used to seeing on her. "I don't know if you can hear me, but I promise I'm gonna keep coming back as much as I can. And I'm sure the Kamen Riders are gonna find a way to free you."

"Yeah," Pharynx nodded. "They managed to take out that Timber guy's copycat. And he seemed perfectly fine afterwards. And if Shifter or Morphic can't do it, then I'll take her out and free you myself."

"Pharynx," Thorax frowned at his brother. "That's insane. You can't fight against a Mimic." The guards nodded, as Pharynx shook his head.

"I don't care if it seems impossible. I'm gonna find a way. Those Kamen Riders can't be the only ones able to go toe to toe with them. A bunch of people have been researching the Mimics for ages. There's gotta be a way to fight them on our own. And if it saves her, I'll find it myself."

Thorax frowned, as he thought about what Pharynx was saying. If it was possible to fight a Mimic, he hoped he could find it to save his mother as well. But even if they did find a way to slay a Mimic, how would Thorax and Pharynx get a hold of it. He was pretty sure a weapon like that, wouldn't just fall into the hands of two kids.

Back with Timber and Twilight, the pair had found the bench and were currently sitting there.

They were sitting in front of a large hedge, the road right in front of them as they tried to figure out what to say to one another. And finally, Twilight spoke up. "I'm really glad you're okay. When I learned a Mimic was replacing you, I was worried something horrible had happened to you."

"I'm sure you were," Timber frowned.

Twilight gave him a glance, clearly wondering what was wrong. "I can't imagine how horrible all this must have been for you. To be attacked like that and have your whole life stolen away."

"I'm sure you can't," Timber agreed. Twilight moved closer to him and tried to place a hand on his, but he pulled it away.

"I'm here for you," Twilight told him. "Gloriosa too. I know you still have a long way to go before you can put this behind you. But I'm here to help you get through it." Timber turned to her, giving the girl a look that showed something was upsetting him. "What's wrong?"

Timber closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "I remember what you said."

"What I said?"

"What you said to Shifter. During your fight with...Gule." Twilight's eyes widened. "It started during my stay at the hospital. Every time I slept, I would dream and remember things that had happened to Gule. It was just small events. I remember the night I was taken by Gule and made into his host. I remember fighting several times. But then I remembered the fight Gule had against Shifter. When he was destroyed."

"Timber..." Twilight could hardly believe it. She wasn't sure if Mimics had some kind of mental connection with their host, but this pretty much confirmed it. "And you remember me telling Shifter something?"

"You told Shifter to destroy Gule," Timber replied. "Even though you knew I was being held by the Mimics, you let Shifter kill Gule."

"But that freed you from the cocoon."

"But I was still the Mimic's hostage!" Timber told her. "You had no idea what the Mimics might have done to me. They locked me up, but what if that didn't happen. What if they had killed me? What if they chose to give me to another Mimic, as soon as I was free? You had no idea what might have happened, but you still told Shifter to destroy me."

"Timber," Twilight frowned. "I'm sorry. Gule was too dangerous. That Hyper Core he had made him too powerful. If we didn't destroy him then, we might not have been able to defeat him again. There's no telling how much damage he could have caused."

"So you decided to destroy him?" Timber asked. "Even though you knew there was a chance I wouldn't have survived."

"I'm sorry," Twilight looked down in shame. "I know Shifter was the one who did it, but I'm the one that convinced him to. Be mad at me. Not him."

"I'm not mad," Timber stated. "I understand why you did it. Gule was a danger and needed to be stopped. I just...I thought you would have tried to save me. You've saved so many others before. Done the impossible so much. I just figured, you'd try and do the impossible for me."

"Timber," Twilight whispered.

Timber got up. "I'm going back home. I can't be in this city anymore. Not after all the bad things that happened here." Twilight nodded, as he began to walk away.

"Will...will I see you again?" Timber was silent for a moment, clearly unsure what to say back. Twilight sighed, "I understand." She watched him leave and knew this was probably the end of their relationship. And she couldn't blame him.

He had trusted her and she had broken that trust. She had risked his life without even trying to save him from the Mimics. She didn't deserve to be his girlfriend after that. All she could do was hope he was able to put his trauma behind him and live a happy life.

The Mimics had finished moving into their new base of operations, with almost everything they had taken from their old home now up and running.

The Mimics were all in their human forms, as they finished the delicate work needed to get the last machine online. And as they worked, they thought about the cocoons that had been stolen by the Riders and their former prisoners.

All four of them were twitching, as if worried that the humans would find a way to break their hosts out of them. And since no Mimic host had ever been freed whilst the Mimic was still alive, they had no idea what that could do to the four of them.

"We should storm the place they're keeping our cocoons," High stated. "Go in there with as many Mimicreeps as we can make, then take our cocoons back before the Riders arrive."

"Unfortunately, I don't think it's going to be that simple." Greye finished the wiring and stood up. "The Riders likely expect us to try and take our cocoons back and will be ready for us to do something like that. As much as I hate to say it, we should hold off on retrieving our hosts for now. Wait until the Riders have forgotten about us trying to get them and strike once they're not ready."

"But that could leave us in a dangerous state," Frill pointed out. "The Riders were one surprise we weren't expecting. Can we really risk the humans discovering how to break into our cocoons?"

Greye smirked, "the Riders weren't a human creation. I don't know who that cloaked figure was, but he's clearly not of this world. I'm sure he's the one who created the Kamen Riders. And unless he starts working with the humans more directly, I don't believe the humans will find a way to break into our cocoons. That gives us time."

"He has a point," Maya agreed. "I hope we're able to locate this person and stop them. But for now, we need to work on rebuilding our forces. We lost Gule and have been unable to replace him since his destruction. That's what we should focus on right now." The others nodded, as Maya turned to leave. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to a personal project of mine."

The other Mimics wondered what she meant by that, as she stepped out of the room and headed down a corridor towards her private quarters.

As soon as she arrived, she opened the door and made sure nobody was looking before she stepped inside and locked the door. The room wasn't much to look at. A single bed in the corner and a table with several jars of different chemicals within it.

She stepped up to the table and sat, as she stared at a pair of jars in front of her.

Each jar had a ball of slime within it, which was wiggling a little bit. The Mimic stared at them and smiled before taking out a pin and using it to prick her finger. She then held it up over one of the jars.

Slowly, drops of slime began to plop out of her finger and land on top of the slime. The slime's wiggling became more intense, as it absorbed more and more of the slime. "I know," she told it. "You were hungry, weren't you?" The slime kept wobbling, as Maya smiled. "You're certainly growing big and strong. It won't be long now until you're ready to go find your own host."

After a few more moments of this, she pulled her finger away before holding it over the other jar. Drops of slime began to fall on the other slimeball, which also wiggled more as it absorbed it. As it did, Maya frowned.

"Something about you seems strange. Not wrong, but different." She had seen many Mimic spawns in her times and some of them had been different from the others. Not in appearance, or growth rate or even size. It was like looking at two identical paintings, but knowing something was off about one of them. Like the colour wasn't the exact shade, or it just had a slight difference in strokes. To anyone else, they would look identical. But they weren't.

Maya frowned, wondering what was up with the spawn. As far as she could tell, it was healthy. Whatever this difference was, she was sure it wouldn't negatively affect the Mimic. But she was still unsure what exactly was different about it.

"Guess I'll have to wait and monitor it, once it takes full form." With that, Maya kept feeding the spawn her own essence.

Back on Earth, Thorax and Pharynx had left the precinct.

It hurt that they had to leave their mother behind like that, but they couldn't remain there any longer without putting added strain on the police. Now the two were simply walking the street, neither wanting to go home since the house felt so empty without their mother.

As they headed home, Thorax thought about what had happened after Chrysalis' cocoon had been retrieved. How he and his brother had been informed and almost put into foster care, until their mother's assistant had called the promised to take care of them.

By take care of them, the assistant had simply called them every couple of days to make sure they were both okay. The pair were more than able to look after themselves, since they did it themselves whenever their mother left for a business trip. The assistant knew they were self-sufficient, even if they were under aged. They had his number if they ever needed help with anything, so all was fine.

But even if the brothers were able to look after themselves, that didn't mean they weren't feeling lonely in their large house with just the two of them.

Thorax sighed, as he walked down the street with his brother. All he could think about was his mother and what he wished he could do to help her. But at the moment, there was likely no chance he could do anything that might be the least bit helpful. The teen shook his head, wishing for something to take his mind off the situation he found himself in.

It was in that moment, he spotted someone sitting at the table of a nearby cafe.

Twilight was sitting there, twirling a spoon around in her drink without even looking at it. By the expression on her face, she was clearly upset about something. And before Pharynx could say anything, Thorax grabbed his arm and pulled him towards her.

"Twilight!" The girl looked up and saw the brother, a small smile appearing on her lips.

"Thorax. Pharynx. It's good to see you." The pair sat down in front of her, as she finally took a sip of her drink. "So, what brings you guys to this part of town?"

"Visiting our mom," Thorax explained as his brother looked bored. "She's still trapped in that cocoon, but she seems to be alright." Twilight nodded, understanding how they must be feeling. She had felt the same way when she saw Timber in the cocoon. "On our way back, we saw you here. You're looking a little upset. Did something happen?"

Twilight sighed. "It's nothing compared to what you guys are going through. I don't want to push my problems onto you."

"That's fine," Thorax assured her. "Honestly, I think Pharynx and I could use a distraction from our problems. Unlike with our mom, this might be something we can actually do something about. So, what seems to be the problem?" Twilight smiled and began to explain. The brothers listened and whilst they mentally agreed their problems were worse, they understood why Twilight was so upset.

"I get it," Pharynx nodded "Your boyfriend dumped you, because you told Shifter to destroy his Mimic."

"I didn't realise the hosts remembered things that happened to the Mimics," Thorax frowned. "I wonder if mom is seeing what Maya's doing right now?"

"I don't know," Twilight frowned. "As far as I know, Timber's the only one who's experiencing these memory flashes. None of the other people the Mimics took, seem to remember anything that happened to them when the Mimics were impersonating them."

Thorax nodded, as Pharynx spoke up. "Anyway. So he's angry you had Shifter free him from the Mimic's control."

"He's not angry I let Shifter destroy Gule. He's angry because I didn't seem to care that Timber was still in the Mimic's possession. And he's right. What if the Mimics did kill him as soon as he was freed?" She turned to the brothers. "If your mother was still being held by the Mimics, would you let Shifter destroy Maya?"

The pair sighed, letting the info sink in. "I guess not," Thorax finally stated.

"But what if you didn't have a choice?" Twilight asked, as she sat back in her chair. "Gule was almost unstoppable before Shifter drained his Hyper Core." She remembered how powerful the Mimic had been, when he first acquired the Hyper Core. He had been strong enough to defeat Shifter, Morphic and the seven of them. "There's no telling if that drain would have lasted."

"I get it," Pharynx nodded. "If he had recharged back to full power, Shifter or anyone might never have been able to beat him."

"Exactly," Twilight nodded. "If your mother's Mimic became supercharged, and the only way to stop her risked killing her. Would you still destroy her?"

The brothers weren't sure how to answer that. Thorax couldn't imagine being the one to take his mother's life, whilst Pharynx imagined how many people Maya could end up hurting. "If I didn't have another choice," Pharynx finally stated. "If it was the only way to stop her from killing hundreds of people, I would do it."

"Pharynx?" Thorax looked shocked, whilst Twilight frowned.

"I wouldn't be happy about it. But I also know that sometimes, there's no other choice in these matters. And the real question is, would you be willing to let that be you if the roles were reversed?" Twilight raised an eyebrow, clearly wondering what he meant. "If it was you who was the Mimic's host and someone had the chance to kill that Mimic and save countless people, would you be okay letting them do that? Even if it meant you could lose your life?"

Twilight sat back and pondered the question. It was a good question to be sure. She wasn't sure what to say.

She imagined herself as a Mimic monster, almost looking exactly like Midnight Sparkle. She imagined the damage and destruction she almost did. Sunset had been able to talk her down, but what if she hadn't. What if the only way to stop her, was to kill her?

"I would accept that," Twilight nodded. "If someone had to choose between saving me and saving everyone else, then I would let myself be killed."

"Exactly," Pharynx nodded. "I know mom would rather choose to save others. What happened to you wasn't an easy choice. It's probably a choice nobody can imagine making. But in the end, you made the choice and it's probably helped a lot of people."

"Yeah," Thorax nodded. "The Riders managed to save my mom and all those people the Mimics had. If that Gule guy was still there, they might not have been able to get them." Twilight hadn't considered that.

"I know this Timber guy might be upset with what happened. But hopefully, in time, he'll realise you had to do what you had to do. And you shouldn't feel guilty about what happened. He's alive. The rest of the prisoners are alive. Our mom and others are safe and sound. Now the Riders can't take those Mimics down without having to worry. So you should be proud."

Twilight smiled, feeling a lot less upset about all of this. She was still a little upset that Timber had seemingly broken up with her, but knew there might be a chance to fix things up between them.

Suddenly, their Mimic detectors all went off and the three of them went ridged.

Everyone else around them followed suit, many looking around to see which direction the device was pointing at. But they didn't need the device, as at that moment a scream caught their attention and made them look to see a group of people running around a corner.

Mimicreeps soon followed, the monsters roaring as they tried to grab people.

Twilight quickly got up and turned to the brothers. "You two get out of here." Pharynx nodded, but Thorax didn't look happy about just leaving her behind.

"What are you gonna do?"

"Stop those things," Twilight explained. "Or at least, hold them off long enough for the Kamen Riders to show up. Now go!" Pharynx grabbed his brother and pulled him away, as Twilight ran towards the Mimicreeps. She saw one grab a woman by the arm and the girl quickly threw a nearby trashcan over to them.

It slammed into the monster and knocked it away from the woman, allowing her to escape whilst the other Mimicreeps focused on Twilight. The girl felt a little scared, seeing all the monsters there whilst she was alone. But she stole her nerve and prepared for a fight.

One Mimicreep charged and she used her magic to grab the trash can and slam it into the monster. Several more charged and she started throwing whatever she could get her magical hands on, knocking several down but having little to no success.

One Mimicreep leapt at her and she barely managed to grab it in her magic, keeping it suspended in the air until more Mimicreeps attacked. That was when she dropped the first Mimicreep, which landed right on top of them.

The others began to close in on her, as she took a deep breath before swinging her arms around.

The Mimicreeps were all lifted into the air and with a great effort, Twilight threw them towards the nearest surface. They all went splat against the sides of the buildings, Twilight panting at how difficult that was. But as she did, she heard a clapping sound and looked past the few remaining Mimicreeps.

Frill and Greye stepped out from around the corner, both smiling at her as she stood defensively. "Not bad," Greye stated. "But you clearly can't take us all on." She frowned, as Frill spread his wings and swung them around.

Doing so caused several feathers to be thrown her way, Twilight screaming as she reflectively pulled a Mimicreep in front of her. The monster roared, as the feathers stabbed into it and destroyed the creature. But as it melted, Greye leapt at Twilight and summoned his fan blades.

He landed in front of her and started slashing at the girl, who cried out as she staggered back and barely managed to avoid the attack. She thrust her hands forward and Greye was thrown backwards, whilst the remaining Mimicreeps began to charge at her with their claws drawn.

But before any of them could attack, a barrage of orange energy bolts flew down and slammed into them.

The Mimicreeps roared, several being destroyed whilst the last few staggered back to a safe distance. As they did, Twilight and the Mimic Generals looked up to see Kamen Rider Shifter flying towards them.

The armored warrior was in his Owl themed Flight Form, allowing him the aerial advantage whilst his Shift Striker was in its Strike Pistol form. "Hey," he flew down and landed in front of Twilight. "Don't you people know it's rude to gang up on a lady?"

Twilight blushed at being called a lady, as Shifter pointed his weapon at them. "Shifter," Greye chuckled, "are you sure you want to do this? The last time we fought, it didn't go so well for you."

"Maybe," Shifter stated, "but that was then and this is now." He glanced back at Twilight, "you ready to cover me?"

Twilight smiled, "I got you." Shifter nodded before spreading his wings and firing his blaster, the energy bolts destroying the Mimicreeps whilst the generals swung their weapons around to deflect. As they did, Shifter shot forward and changed his weapon to the rapier mode.

He quickly unleashed several fast jabs into Greye, with the general deflecting them all using his fans.

He tried to slash back at the Rider, but Shifter leapt back and spread his wings to take to the air. But before he could counter, Frill took off and attacked with his feather swords. Since Shifter was faster, he was able to block all the slashes Frill sent his way. He even managed to deflect the swords and give him a few quick jabs to the chest.

"Augh!" Frill cried, as Shifter then spun around and dealt a kick right to his stomach.

This knocked him downwards, causing him to crash into the ground and let out a cry of pain. As he did, Greye and the Mimicreeps were attempting to attack Twilight. But the girl had managed to defend herself by dodging the Mimicreeps and using her magic to push them away.

And when Greye attempted to slash at her, she would pull a Mimicreep in front of her to block the attack. "Will you stop that!" He growled, as his fans began to glow. "Making those things isn't easy."

"Then maybe you should leave them at home," Twilight joked. "Don't bring something to a fight, that you're not willing to give up." Greye growled and with a single mighty swing, the light flew off the blades and shot towards Twilight.

The girl gasped, trying to find something to shield her with. But none of the Mimicreeps were close enough to pull to her, causing her to flinch as she braced herself. But before the attack landed, Shifter flew down and grabbed her. "I gotcha!" He leapt back up and the crescent blades missed, exploding on the ground as Shifter flew upwards. "You okay?"

Twilight sighed, "I'm fine."

Shifter nodded and switched his Shift Striker back to blast mode, using it to gun down the rest of the Mimicreeps and leaving only Greye and Frill.

Frill pushed himself up and the two Mimic Generals stared the pair down, as Shifter landed once again before carefully placing Twilight on the ground. Once that was done, he turned back to the pair and began to walk forward. As he did, he took something out. It was another Mimicore, the Rider activating it as he opened his Driver's draw.

"HYPER STRIKE!"

He quickly replaced his Mimicores before striking a pose. "Shape Shift!" With that, he slammed the draw shut and his Driver glowed brightly.

"MIMIC! LIGHTNING BUG!" His armor began to melt and reshape itself, changing colour and morphing into the extravagant version of his Strike Armor. Once it was settled, the lights on his arm exploded and almost blinded the Mimic Generals. "Ultimate light, strikes to eradicate the shadows!"

The Rider felt the energy of his super form surge, as he replaced the Mimicore in his Shift Striker.

"BLADE!"

Weapon changing into the sword form, Shifter charged as Frill launched several feather darts towards him. But Shifter deflected them all with a single swipe, as his body blurred and he flew towards Frill. Once there, he slashed at the Mimic and sent him staggering back. Had Frill not been holding his feather blades, he would have likes been cut in half.

As Frill fell backwards, Greye slashed at Shifter only for the Rider to dodge and swing his leg into the Mimic's side.

Greye was sent flying by the impact, as Frill picked himself up. But before he could attack, Twilight had found some piping in a nearby alleyway and used her magic to send it flying at the Mimics. The vulture monster slashed at the pipes with his sword, but a few slammed into him and he quickly found himself getting overwhelmed by the attacks.

Greye picked himself up, as Shifter charged at him and swung his sword into the Mimic. But he blocked with his fans and was able to push Shifter back before spinning around, morphing into a miniature tornado.

Shifter used his sword to defend, the spinning fan blades slicing at his weapon but not hitting him. The impact did push him back a little and when he staggered back, Frill saw him and launched several feather darts in his direction.

"Look out!" Twilight cried, Shifter hearing this and jumping away at the last minute. As he did, he replaced the Mimicore inside the Shift Striker.

"PIERCE!"

The weapon morphed into the futuristic rifle and once he landed, he started firing at the Mimics. Frill defended with his own projectiles, whilst Greye did an elaborate dance to swing his fans around. But as the pair focused on Shifter's attacks, Twilight was able to hit them both with the piping.

Both Mimics staggered around, as Shifter and Twilight smiled at one another. It was clear, the pair of them had the upper-hand in this fight. "How are these two beating us so easily?" Greye cried, as Shifter fired a few more spines in his direction.

"Shifter's getting better at controlling that super form of his," Frill growled. "Making sure not to use too much energy at once so as to not overload." He ducked under a pipe, the Mimic General turning to glare at the girl that was throwing whatever she could at them. "And she's not helping matters either."

"Whatever!" Greye's fans glowed. "The two of them can't keep this up forever. We will find a way to destroy them." He swung his blades at Shifter and sent the energy crescents in his direction, Shifter seeing them coming and leaping into the air. As he did, he pulled out and re-slotted the Mimicore in his weapon before hitting the side of his Driver.

"HYPERCLIMATICSTRIKINGPIERCE!"

The Rider pointed his weapon at the pair, as all the energy from his Hyper Core began to flow into the rifle.

Frill and Greye could feel the power coming off it, as Twilight ducked into the alleyway to avoid it. And when Shifter fired, a powerful energy blast exploded out of the weapon and shot towards them.

The spike was green and covered in orange energy, which flew off it as it got closer and closer to the two Mimics. Frill launched several feather darts, whilst Greye unleashed his twin energy blades. The attacks collided with the super attack, attempting to push it back. And whilst it did some to slow it down for a moment, the energy eventually pushed through the attacks and shot towards them.

All they could do was brace themselves, as the attack slammed into the ground in front of them and exploded.

Both Mimics cried out in pain, as they were thrown backwards and crashed into the ground with smoke coming off their bodies. And as they did, Shifter felt himself flinch as he used too much power again.

"Augh!" He was completely paralysed again, the Rider hoping the Mimics were too badly beaten up to take advantage of it. And sure enough, the pair were just laying there smoking. "Come on. Snap out of it." He tried to move, but his body was too numb.

Twilight saw this and worried Shifter might be in trouble, especially when Frill and Greye began to pick themselves up.

"Not good," she gulped. She was about to run out and stand protectively in front of Shifter, but another sound caught her attention and made her look around. And coming down the street behind Shifter, she saw Morphic's bike racing towards them.

The Rider flew past the frozen warrior and skidded to a stop in front of him, Morphic getting off whilst in his Blitz form.

"You okay?" He asked Shifter, who groaned to show he was in a bit of a bind at the moment. "Got it. Don't worry. I'll finish these two off for you." He headed towards the Mimics, preparing to blast them into oblivion and free their hosts.

Greye and Frill growled, as they watched him approach. They were still badly damaged and Morphic was coming in fresh, meaning he had the advantage. If Morphic couldn't destroy them, he could at least keep them busy long enough for Shifter to recover and get back in the fight.

"We can take them!" Greye cried, pushing himself up and charging forward. He summoned his fan blades and as Morphic started firing, Greye deflected the blasts and slashed at him. But the beetle Rider managed to avoid the attacks and block some with his gauntlets.

He then pushed Greye back and fired at Frill, who was summoning his feather blades preparing to attack again.

As he shot at Frill, Morphic started throwing kicks and a few punches towards Greye. The peacock Mimic grunted at the impacts and was forced to stagger back, as Twilight sent a pipe flying behind his feet. The next thing he knew, he was tripping over it.

"Augh!" He hit the ground and Morphic pointed his blaster at the Mimic, Greye barely managing to roll out of the way at the last minute. As he did, Frill launched several feathers towards Shifter.

The Riders still couldn't move enough to protect himself, forcing Morphic to shoot the darts out of the air. And as he did, Greye charged and once again slashed at him. But Morphic blocked them again and whilst his armor took a bit of damage, he didn't feel anything and swung his blaster around the fire into Greye's chest.

The Mimic screamed, as he was thrown backwards and took more damage.

He slammed into the side of a building, as Frill charged and swung his sword towards Morphic. But the Rider was able to dodge one slash and catch the other blade in his hand. Using his higher strength stat to break the blade before throwing a kick into Frill's chest.

Greye watched, as Frill fell backwards and tried to attack Morphic himself. But Twilight threw several pipes in his direction.

But he managed to use his fan to slice them all to pieces, as he charged at Morphic. But the Rider jumped back and avoided his fans, as Twilight kept her distance and kept throwing the pipe pieces in his direction. And as Greye kept batting them away, Morphic began charging up his blaster before pointing it in their direction. And soon enough, the Mimic General found an extra powerful laser blast flying towards him.

He raised his fans and swung them at the Rider, creating an energy X that flew towards the laser and collided.

The two attacks pushed against one another and eventually, an explosion occurred. Morphic and Twilight were far enough away from the blasts to be protected, though Morphic leapt over to shield the girl, whilst Greye was slammed by the shockwave and sent flying backwards.

He crashed into the ground, moaning as the smoke began to clear. The Mimic could feel himself in serious danger. The damage he had taken was severe and he needed medical attention. And to make matters worse, Shifter was beginning to move again.

Frill pushed himself up and grabbed Greye. "We're leaving." Greye nodded and the two ran away, as Morphic tried to blast them. But before a laser could hit them, a portal opened up and the two leapt through it.

Morphic watched the portal vanish and as he did, Twilight ran over to Shifter. "Are you okay?"

Shifter groaned, as he was beginning to move. "Yeah." He managed to get on one foot, with Twilight helping him stand. "I'll live." He turned to Morphic. "Nice timing."

"Thanks," Morphic stated. "But you really need to stop overdoing it with that form. We can't keep having you freeze in the middle of a fight." Shifter nodded, as his body began to move more.

He then turned to Twilight, "thanks for the help."

"You're the one who came in to save me," Twilight smiled back. "I've lost count of how many I owe you." Shifter nodded, as Morphic moved over to his bike.

"Come on," he told his fellow Rider. "We might have gotten rid of them, but High and Maya might be using his time to attack somewhere else." Shifter nodded and summoned his bike, both of them getting on with Shifter turning to Twilight.

"You gonna be okay?" Obviously, he was worried the Mimics would attack again. But Twilight nodded.

"I'll be fine. If more Mimics show up, I'll run and call for help. Now go save the city." Shifter nodded and revved his engine before racing off, Morphic doing the same as Twilight watched them disappear. As they left, Twilight

Back at the Mimic Lair, Greye and Frill moaned as they applied their healing salve to their bodies.

As this was happening, High rolled her eyes. "You two are pathetic. I can't believe you let that one Rider and girl beat you. Knew I should have been the one to do this mission." The pair glared at her, clearly not happy about the sass.

"That Rider is getting stronger," Greye stated. "He's learning to control that new Hyper Core much better. I'm certain that with more time, he'll learn to use it for longer without freezing up. And that'll be a problem for us."

"All the more reason to take him out now, whilst we still can." The other two were thinking the same, but didn't have time to say anything. For in that moment, an alarm went off and the three stood to attention.

They all ran towards the communication device and knelt, Maya running into the room and doing so seconds before the hologram of their master appeared. "What do you have to report?"

"Master," Greye looked down in shame, "our attempts to gain more Mimics has failed. Before we could capture anyone, they escaped thanks to those detectors they have. We tried to give chase, but one of those magical girls and Shifter appeared."

"I see," the leader nodded. "Then we have no choice but to move onto the next phase."

"Master?" Frill looked worried. "Are you sure about that? We all agreed that we should wait until the Riders were dealt with before moving on to phase two."

"And are you any closer to dealing with the Riders?"

"No...not as such."

"I will accept no more delays. You will move on to phase two and prepare the city for Mimic colonisation. You will set them up without the Riders discovering them. I don't care how you keep them ignorant. Just make sure they don't learn what you're doing." With that, the feed cut out and the Mimics all sighed.

"That could have gone better," High stated. They all stood up and headed over to an area of the lab. "So, how do we set these things up without the Riders knowing?"

"We need to keep them distracted," Greye pointed out. "And we'll need to set them up someplace they can't be found too easily."

"That's gonna be tricky," Maya frowned. They all stared down at the table they were standing around, which had a bunch of devices on them.

Said devices were made of stainless steel. They were a strong looking metal tube, with lights and buttons on the tops and sides. Beneath the tubes was a single metal rod, roughly two feet in length, which ended in a sharp metal spike.

Greye picked up one of the devices and looked it over, nodding as he determined it was in perfect working order. "Let's get to work. When we've got these operational, nothing will be able to stop us. Not even the Kamen Riders." The Mimics nodded, looking forward to seeing the reactions the Riders had to what was about to come. Soon, Canterlot would belong to the Mimics. And after that, the rest of the world would follow.

Author's Note

We're back to the main story and wow, Timber remembered what Twilight said. And he's not too happy about it. You can understand why he's upset, but still.

So what are these strange devices? Only time will tell.