Flash could hardly believe what he was seeing.

Standing in front of him, technically kneeling, was the Mimic that had tried to steal his life and destroy his world. If it hadn't been for Flash's will and Corvyn turning him into a Kamen Rider, Flash would have been the one in the situation Sheave-Far-Tar now found himself in.

"This can't be real," Flash shook his head. "This is just a dream."

"Hardly," Sheave told him. "Welcome to the mindscape. It's a visual manifestation of our dual consciousness. Something our minds made up, so that we could communicate with one another."

"I see," Flash nodded. "A little boring. Couldn't our minds at least make a chair for me to sit in?" As soon as he said that, a comfy looking armchair appeared behind him. "Oh. Cool." Flash sat down, as Sheave rolled his eyes.

"This is our mind. Anything we can think of can become reality here. At least, it should." He pulled on the amber holding him. "If I was free, I'd be able to remake this place based on what I want."

"Well you're not free," Flash stated as he looked around. After a moment, Flash thought and the void suddenly transformed. They were now in Flash's living room, the teen feeling much more comfortable in his own home.

Sheave rolled his eyes again, as he glared at Flash. "Enjoy this whilst you can. It won't be long before the Mimics find a way to take you Riders down."

"Yeah, sure." Flash kept looking around, amazed by all the details his brain had created. "So how come we're able to talk to each other now? Would have thought you'd try and contact me as soon as possible."

"I did," Sheave glared at him. "But something was blocking my mind from connecting to yours before. Probably some kind of mental barrier, or that Driver device was keeping us separate. Either way, knowing about me seems to have finally allowed us to get in contact. Our connection is rather strong. Has been ever since that incident with my brother."

"Your brother?" Flash slowly put the pieces together, "Gule-Far-Tar."

"Yes," Sheave growled. "The one you killed."

"He was trying to kill me and my friends. Don't try and act like he's the victim." Sheave just glared at him. "So what's this incident you were talking about?"

"When you learned who Gule's host was. He tried to connect to me and I tried to connect to him. Since your mind was in the way, our link was strengthened as a byproduct."

"I see," Flash nodded. "So what? Are we gonna be able to talk to each other whenever we want now."

"Unless you try and block me out," Sheave nodded. "And like I said, enjoy this whilst you can. i will find a way to free myself from this. And when I do, that body will be mine to command."

"Not gonna happen," Flash told him. "I don't care what you try and do, I'm not letting you have command of this body. We're going to defeat the Mimics, save our world and then we're gonna destroy these bodies and become human again."

Sheave smirked. "You think you're going to defeat the Mimics? Get real. The Mimics have overthrown countless universes and in each one, they've faced and overcome challenges just like what you've thrown at them. You think you're gonna be the one to stop us? Get real. We are the Mimics. The perfect race."

"Perfect race," Flash laughed. "Yeah right. Everything about you is stolen from other races. You have no form or intelligent thought until you steal it from someone else. You guys are nothing but parasites."

"Maybe," Sheave told him, "but these parasites have wiped out more worlds than you can count. And yours will just be like all the rest. Conquered, cleansed, stripped and forgotten after we move on to the next one."

Flash had had enough of this and stood up, the teen focusing as he tried to leave the mindscape. And soon enough, he found himself waking up from his dream.

When he raised his head, he looked around and found he was back in his room. Looking out the window, he saw the sun was setting. It had felt like he had only been asleep for a few minutes, but he had been snoozing for hours. And he still felt exhausted.

Hitting the pillow once again, he tried to fall asleep without entering the mindscape again. "You can't get rid of me that easily." Flash's eyes shot open, as Sheave's voice echoed in his mind. He didn't know if that was just his imagination, or Sheave could actually talk to him now. Either way, he knew this was going to make getting to sleep almost impossible.

As this was happening, Thorax was sitting on his roof staring up at the night's sky.

When Shining had explained everything to them, Thorax's head had almost exploded from information overload. the good news was, it seemed to convince Pharynx and the girls that they were on their side. As such, Thorax and his brother soon returned to his house.

The place had somehow come out of the attack without any damage, though there was a lot that needed cleaning up.

"I'm a Mimic," he told himself whilst holding the Mimicore he had gotten in his hand. As he stared at it, he remembered what Shining had told him earlier.

"Thorax, I'm giving you a choice. Flash and I have already decided we're gonna keep fighting, even after knowing what we know. But you don't have to be a part of this. If you want, I can return you to your real body and you can got back to being a normal kid."

Thorax thought about Shining's offer. To be returned to normal and get back to his everyday life, even though his mother would still be gone. But if he didn't choose that, it would mean he would need to fight the Mimics.

"Thorax?" He looked around and saw his brother, whose head had popped out of the attic skylight. "There you are." He pulled himself up and moved over to him. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Thorax nodded, "Just...thinking."

"About what that Shining guy told you?" Pharynx sat next to him. "You want to turn back to human?" Thorax frowned, clearly having trouble deciding. "So you want to stay as...this?"

"I don't know what I want," Thorax sighed. "If I turn back to normal, I'll be leaving Shining and Flash to fight the Mimics on their own. But if I stay like this, I'm gonna have to fight. Shining said I'd be able to sense when the Mimics attack and he said ignoring it is almost impossible. If I sense them, I'm gonna have to fight. I don't know if I can do that."

"You did it earlier," Pharynx pointed out. "I wouldn't be here if you hadn't."

"Shining said that wouldn't happen again. The next time I fight, I'll need to actually fight instead of letting myself be on autopilot. I don't know if I can do that." He glanced at his brother, "why couldn't you be the one that became the Kamen Rider?"

Pharynx shrugged in response. "I wish I could be one as well. But I wasn't strong enough to fight against the Mimic controlling me." He smiled at him, "you were."

"I get the feeling that was more because my Mimic wasn't very strong, than me being a strong willed person."

"Maybe. But that doesn't matter. What matters right now, is whether or not you think you can handle this. Don't forget, we still need to save mom. Do you really want to pass up the chance you have to save her?"

"I...no," Thorax shook his head. "I want to save her. I need to save her."

"Then I guess we have the answer we were looking for." He patted Thorax on your shoulder. "And don't worry. I'll be there to help every step of the way." Thorax smiled at him, as he looked down at the Mimicore in his hand.

Even if he wanted to do this, did he have what it took to do what Flash and Shining could do. To be a Kamen Rider?

The next morning.

As soon as the sun was up the next morning, Flash headed out to respond to a text Shining had sent him that morning.

The teen looked like heck, barely managing to get any sleep due to Sheave trying to talk to him whenever his mental focus slipped. He prayed this was something he would learn to control with time. But until then, he had a feeling he was going to be getting very little sleep for the foreseeable future.

He soon arrived at the area Shining had asked him to meet him at. A junkyard on the far side of town. One that nobody ever went too. The perfect place to train as a Rider without anyone noticing them.

As he pulled into the yard, he spotted Shining's car parked further in. And his vehicle wasn't the only one. Rainbow's bike was also there, along with Fluttershy's car and Applejack's truck. He spotted Shining, Thorax, Pharynx and the Rainbooms waiting for him, the teen pulling up and getting out.

He could see the unclear expressions on the girl's faces, the Rainbooms still clearly unsure whether or not to trust him.

"Good," Shining nodded, "you're here."

"Yeah," Flash nodded, "what are we doing here?"

"We're here to give Thorax a choice." Shining turned to the teen in question. "Alright, kid. I know you haven't had much time. But have you decided what you're gonna do?" Flash gave Shining a curious expression, the others looking towards Thorax with curiosity. "If you want, I can turn you back to human. All I gotta do is destroy you and you'll return to your real body. You'll be back to normal and can go on as a normal kid."

"Oh," Flash realised what he was saying. "Or you can help us." Thorax turned to him. "I'm not trying to pressure you into anything, but we need all the help we can get. If yesterday proved anything, it's that Shining and I aren't enough to take the Mimics down. We need all the help we can get." Shining nodded, as Thorax glanced over at his brother.

Pharynx nodded, Thorax turning back to him. "I'm in." Flash smiled, but Shining didn't look confident.

"Are you sure about this? It's not gonna be easy."

"I'm sure," Thorax nodded. "You said there's no danger in fighting, right? If the Mimics destroy me, I'll just return to my own body. So why wouldn't I want to use these new powers, to fight against the ones that took my mother from me?" He reached into his pocket and took out his Mimicore. "I was able to save Pharynx from the Mimics. Now I wanna do the same for mom. And if I need to stay as a Mimic to do that, so be it."

Shining smiled. "Alright then. Welcome to the team."

"Yeah!" Flash held out a fist, Shining and Thorax both putting their own into the mix. "Let's all make a promise right here. To help one another, no matter what. We fight as one and together, we'll defeat the Mimic and protect this world from falling to them."

"YEAH!" The other two nodded, as Pharynx and the Rainbooms stepped into the fray.

"I hope you don't think you three are the only ones that are in this fight," Twilight pointed out. "We might not be Kamen Riders, but we still want to help."

"You bet," Pharynx nodded. "My brother's too much of a wimp to do this on his own. He's gonna need me to keep him from panicking when stuff gets real." Thorax frowned, as the Riders pulled their fists apart and turned to them.

"This is gonna be dangerous," Shining told them.

"Maybe," Sunset frowned, "but we can't just sit back and do nothing. You guys would have been toast yesterday, if we hadn't shown up." Flash and Shining weren't sure that was the case, but decided not to argue. "Besides, you owe us for keeping who you were a secret for so long."

"It's not like we wanted to lie to you," Flash told them. "Whatever. Alright, you guys can help. But only if we really need it. The three of us don't have to worry since we're not the real us. But you guys are vulnerable."

"Maybe," Rainbow smirked, "but you two didn't know you were safe and you still put yourself in danger. But fine, we'll only help if you really need us."

"Good." Shining then stepped away and took out his Blitz Mimicore. "Then let's get to the other reason I asked you guys here."

"I did wonder," Rarity didn't look happy being in the junk yard. "Why did we come to such a filthy place?"

"Simply. Thorax needs to learn how to fight. Corvyn said the first time using your Rider form is like training wheels. You weren't in complete control then. But from now on, you'll be doing the fighting. That means you've got to learn how to use your new powers at their full potential. You ready?"

Thorax gave his brother a look, Pharynx nodding as Flash took out his Mimicore. "Ready." The three summoned their Drivers. "Let's get training." He activated his Mimicore and placed it into his Driver, Flash and Shining doing the same.

Everyone else stepped back, as the three struck a pose. "HENSHIN!" The three transformed at once, morphing into their suits before the armor formed around them. Once it did, Thorax looked himself over in amazement. This was the first time he really got to check out his suit. And it was pretty cool.

But before he could really get to grips with it, Morphic summoned his weapon and started firing at him.

"WOW!" He leapt back, the others being shocked. "What the heck?"

"The Mimics aren't gonna give you time to get used to this. You need to learn to control your powers without even thinking. Time for you to be forged under fire." With that, he kept firing and Thorax jumped around as best he could.

"Use your weapons!" Rainbow told him, as Thorax was almost hit and staggered back.

"What weapons?" But then, his gauntlets melted and formed the swords in his hand. "Wow." He looked them over, only to find Shifter rushing at him. "Gyah!" He swung them around, but Shifter dodged the attacks before slamming his foot into Thorax's chest.

The teen cried out, as he was thrown backwards and crashed into the side of a car. Morphic sighed at this. "We've got a long way to go."

In the Mimic Lair, Frill, High, Greye and Maya stared at the remaining devices.

"So," High looked around, "what's the plan? Master wants us to set these up, but we're gonna need a distraction if we do that. The Riders will sense us the moment we show up."

"Leave the distraction to the rest of us," Frill stated. "You focus on getting the next one set up." High nodded, as Frill turned to Maya. "Are you going to help us or not?"

Maya was clearly still upset about what had happened the previous day. She got up and headed out the room. "One of us needs to search for the cloaked figure. Without him, the Riders won't stand a chance. I'll do that." With that, she was gone and the other Mimic sighed.

"This is why I've never made my own spawn," Frill stated. "The Mimics that make them also get too attached to them." He shook his head, "whatever. Let her search for that guy. The rest of us will get the Doom Pillars set up."

"We've already got four up and running," Greye told him. "Just eight more and the Riders won't be able to stop us."

"Don't get cocky," High stated. "If the Riders manage to destroy even one of these things before they're up and running, our plans will be completely ruined. We need to make sure they don't get anywhere near them."

"Which is why you'll be activating this next one," Frill explained. "With your super speed, you'll be able to intercept any attack that comes its way. Greye and I will keep the Riders distracted."

"And I have just the Mimic to help with that." Greye headed out of the room and returned a minute or so later, carrying a Mimic Spawn jar along with a glass case. Inside was a round looking insect that was red with black spots.

High stared at it before giving Greye a look. "Seriously?"

"Don't underestimate it," Greye smiled. "This is sure to give those Riders a tough time. The new one, at least. If Frill and I focus on Shifter and Morphic, this one will be able to handle Maya's spawn without issue." With that, he opened the glass case before pouring the Mimic spawn inside. Soon enough, the insect was captured and began to transform the Mimic.

Everyone watched the slime creature leave the case and move to the floor, where it began to take shape. As it did, they prepared to head out and cause some mayhem. Hopefully, the Riders would be too busy with them to get in High's way.

Back at the junkyard, the training continued.

Currently, Flash was in his Blade Form and fighting against Thorax. "Raaah!" He swung one of his blades towards Thorax, who barely managed to avoid the sword using his own.

"Wow!" His cutlass stopped the blade inches from his chest, but Shifter quickly spun around and kicked his legs out from under him. "GYAH!" He hit the ground and let out a moan, as Shifter pointed his blade at his neck.

Morphic stood around them, watching. "Thorax, don't focus on just blocking your opponent. Think about how they'll counter your counter." Thorax nodded, as Shifter helped him up. "I think that's enough for now. Let's take a break." He nodded again and the three heroes powered down, then moved over to where Pharynx and the girls were waiting.

Twilight took some sodas out of a cooler and floated them over to the three.

"You guys are doing great," Sunset assured them. "You looked totally kickass when you were fighting." The others nodded, as the three sat down.

"I still can't believe you two were the Riders this whole time," Twilight sighed.

"Sorry I didn't tell you," Flash sighed. "At the start, I had no idea what was going on. I was hoping to find out some more answers for myself before I told anyone. Then I learned Shining was a Rider and the two of us were able to confide in each other."

"Were you ever gonna tell us?" Applejack asked, clearly not happy she had been lied to for so long.

"Maybe," Flash shrugged. "If I had known back then, what I know now. I might have risked telling you guys. Though if you guys learned I was a Mimic at the very start, would you have trusted me?" The girls didn't answer that, clearly not sure what to say.

Things seemed to get very awkward after that, the tension in the air begging for a change of conversation.

"Hey," Rainbow smiled, "I just thought of something. Thorax needs a name." Everyone gave her a curious look. "We can't just call him Kamen Rider Thorax. Everyone would know who he is then."

"She's right," Twilight nodded. "Thorax needs a name for when he's in a fight."

"But what do we call him?" Rarity asked, as everyone tried to think of something that was fitting. Pinkie then smiled at something.

"I know. It needs to follow the same rules and Flash and Shining."

"Rules?" Flash asked. "What rules?"

"Well, you guys are all Mimics. And Mimic can shapeshift and morph their bodies. Isn't that how you came up with your names?" The pair shook their heads.

"Pinkie, we just learned we're Mimics." Shining took out his Rush Mimicore. "And we didn't know we could shift and morph our abilities to fit the situation."

"So how did ya'h come up with ya'h names?" Applejack asked, with Flash looking confused.

"You guys gave me my name. The day after my first fight, I heard someone say you girls called me that."

"We were just repeating what you told us," Sunset replied. "You said your name was Shifter."

Flash thought for a moment, then sighed. "I think I said Sheave-Far-Tar and you just misheard me. Must have been a byproduct of those training wheels Corvyn talked about." Everyone nodded, realising that had to be the case.

"What about your name?" Twilight asked her brother, who shrugged.

"When I was thinking of something to call myself, the word Morphic just popped into my head." He hummed, "could it have something to do with my Mimic's real name?" Nobody said anything for a moment, Rainbow turning to Thorax.

"Anyway, we need a name that works. How about...Kamen Rider Switcher. Because you can switch your forms." Thorax frowned and shook his head.

"Kamen Rider Convert," Rarity suggested. But Thorax didn't like that either.

"Alter?" Fluttershy tried.

"That might get me mixed up with a religious Rider."

"Modifier," Twilight threw out.

"Kind of a mouthful."

"Changer," Pharynx suggested before snapping his fingers. "Wait a minute. What's the name of that old fairytale creature? Change...ling. A changeling. Kamen Rider Changeling."

"Changeling?" Thorax thought for a moment and smiled. "Yeah, I like that."

"And it works," Sunset nodded. "In Equestria, Changelings have the ability to transform themselves into other creatures and impersonate them. Kind of like how Mimics work, actually."

"Kamen Rider Changeling," Thorax nodded. "That's who I am." The others smiled, glad they had found something he liked. But before anyone could say anything else, Thorax was suddenly overwhelmed with a strange sensation. "Wow!" He grabbed his head, Flash and Shining also appearing to notice this. "What's going on?"

"Bro?" Pharynx asked, "you okay?"

"Shining?" Twilight gave her brother a curious look, "what is this?"

"Mimics," Shining stated. "They must be up to something." He and Flash nodded, as their Drivers appeared. Thorax shook his head and the sensation began to dull. "You ready for this?"

Thorax nodded, "let's do this." Shining nodded and took something out of his jacket.

"Then here. Corvyn gave me this, to give to you." He threw it into the air and in the blink of an eye, the green and purple bike appeared in front of him. Thorax's eyes went wide in amazement, as Flash and Shining summoned their own bikes.

"Let's do this thing." Flash got on his bike and took out his Mimicore, Shining doing the same. Thorax took a deep breath and got on the bike as well.

Pharynx patted him on the shoulder. "You got this. I believe in you."

"Thanks," Thorax nodded as their engines revved up. "I'm ready."

"Then let's go show Canterlot it's newest hero." With that, Flash raced off and Shining followed. Thorax took a deep breath and took off as well, as he also took out his Mimicore. Once he caught up to Flash and Shining, he summoned his Driver and the three activated their devices.

"STRIKE!/BLITZ!/SLASH!"

They quickly slotted the Mimicores into their Drivers and as the three rode side by side, they all yelled out in unison. "HENSHIN!" They slammed the Drivers closed and in seconds, the three were transformed into their Riders suits and Changeling found himself feeling much more confident on his bike.

They raced through the city until they arrived at the spot they had sensed the Mimics. And sure enough, they found people running and screaming as a bunch of Mimicreeps were attacking.

Seeing the weaker foot soldiers, Changeling turned to the others. "Let me take those guys." Shifter and Morphic nodded as they pulled their bikes to a stop. A lot of people saw the new Rider, who quickly flipped his leg over his bike and stared at the monsters. "Get ready." His gauntlets melted and formed his swords. "Kamen Rider Changeling is here to save the day."

The crowd were amazed, as they watched him run in and start cutting his way through the Mimicreeps.

He slashed several down before spinning around and slamming his foot into another's face. He used every natural move and technique that the others had shown him, the teen feeling his confidence boost with every monster he took down.

Eventually, all the Mimicreeps were destroyed and Changeling cheered. "YEAH!" But his celebration was short lived, as he suddenly found a bunch of black disks flying at him. "WHOA!" He slashed several away, but more slammed into him and exploded. "AUGH!"

Shifter and Morphic rushed into action, running to his side as he hit the ground. "You okay?"

"What was that?" Changeling moaned, as something suddenly flew down and landed in front of them. A red Mimic that was feminine in appearance and covered in black spots. Her head was black with large green eyes, whilst on her shoulders were dome-like shoulder-pads that were red with black spots. She also had a pair of wings on her back, allowing her to fly.

"A ladybug?" Morphic guessed, as two other figures flew down. Frill and Greye. "Great. At least we're not outnumbered this time."

Greye stared at Changeling, "so you're the new Rider? You don't look like much."

Thorax frowned under his helmet. "I think you'll find I'm full of surprises." He was about to fight, but Morphic stopped him.

"Leave those two to me and Shifter. You deal with the Ladybug." Changeling nodded, as the two Riders stepped forward and took out their weapons.

"BLADE!" Shifter slotted it into his Shape Shifter and charged, Frill doing the same with the pair beginning to clash swords. Morphic fired at Greye and the peacock leapt back, freeing Changeling to attack the ladybug.

The new Mimic's shoulder pads glowed before the black spots flew off them and grew larger, morphing into projectiles that Changeling had to slash away. He managed to avoid getting hit and reached the monster, slashing at her several times and making the beast cry out in pain.

Shifter and Frill locked blades and pushed against one another, each trying to overpower the other and deal a hit to them.

Frill then spread his wings and before Shifter could react, launched several darts that stabbed into him and made the Rider cry out in pain. "Augh!" He pulled away, as Frill took to the air and fired more darts. But Shifter was able to avoid these ones as he took out another Mimicore.

"FLIGHT!"

"Shape Shift!" He replaced his Mimicores and quickly shut the Driver, causing the lights to go yellow.

"MIMIC! OWL!" As soon as his armor transformed, he spread his wings and took to the air. "Flying through the sky, seeking prey with all seeing vision!" In the blink of an eye, he slashed at Frill and the two flew through the air trying to get the better over the other.

At the same time, Greye launched several energy blades in Morphic's direction. But the Rider blasted them all before any could even get close to the Rider. But with Greye keeping his distance and being able to dodge Morphic's blasts, the Rider couldn't get a hit in.

"My turn." He took out another Mimicore and activated it.

"RUSH!"

"Mega Morph!" He replaced his Mimicores and slammed the Driver shut, the lights on his belt quickly changing colour to red.

"MIMIC! COYOTE!" As his armor transformed, he ran at Greye whilst the Mimic launched his crescent blades at the Rider. But Morphic turned into a blur and dodged the attack before shooting past Greye and slashing at him. "Howling velocity, increasing the tearing power of its fangs"

Changeling saw this and was amazed, seeing the two Riders fighting with such skill and ability being quite the sight.

"I hope I get some cool new Mimicores like that." But his momentary distraction was enough for the ladybug to unleash more explosive dots, which slammed into him and exploded. "Augh!" He was thrown back and crashed into the ground, rolling along but managing to hold onto his swords.

The ladybug then flew forward and as Changeling picked himself up, it started swinging its legs at him in an attempt to kick him multiple times. "Wow!" He dodged the first kick and blocked the second with his swords, only for the third to hit him in the head. "Ooff!" He staggered back, but managed to keep himself from tripping over.

He shook his head and stared at the ladybug, as the insect Mimic landed and prepared to fire more of her spots.

He took a deep breath, trying to keep himself calm. "I can do this." He remembered his brother's words to him. The faith that Pharynx had in him. "I can do this!" With that, he ran forward and started slashing at the dots that started flying at him.

With every slash, he felt his link to his abilities growing stronger. The swords in his hands weren't just weapons, but extensions of his body. He cut his way through the onslaught and once again reached the ladybug, then slashed at her whilst aiming for the shoulder-pads.

One blade struck the dome and cut through it, causing it to fall to the ground and make the ladybug flinch in pain. Changeling them spun around and slashed at the ladybug's chest, knocking her back and allowing him to jump forward and stab at the other dome.

When he cut that one off as well, the Mimic roared in pain before attempting to tackle Changeling.

But the new Kamen Rider did a flip and flew over the monster as it charged forward, landing behind it before stabbing both his blades into the monster's back. This caused the Mimic to cry out again, as Changeling took the chance to reach down and slam the side of his Driver.

"CLIMATIC SLASH!"

"I will change your fate's design." The energy flowed into his swords, which were still lodged in the monster's chest. And before the ladybug could try and escape, he ripped the sword through its body and cut it up. The Mimic screamed, as Changeling slashed at it several more times before leaping back to a safe distance.

Moments later, the energy that had been sent into the Mimic flew out and exploded. The fireball illuminated Changeling's back and caught the attention of the others.

"Nice!" Morphic cheered, as he slashed at Greye with his claws.

Shifter laughed and kicked Frill away before slashing at him again. But Frill managed to block this attack, as Shifter got up close. "So much for your attack. Why'd you even come here, anyway? This part of town isn't exactly known for being full of people." Frill said nothing, simply smirking as pushed Shifter away. "What, got nothing to say?"

"Probably just trying to distract you." Shifter's ears perked up, as he heard a voice inside his head.

In the blink of an eye, he was suddenly back in the white void. Flash was un-transformed and staring at some kind of floating screen, showing him everything that his real body was seeing. And as Frill attacked, Flash was able to move his body and defend.

As he did, he glanced over at Sheave. "What are you talking about?" Sheave said nothing, clearly realising he had said too much. "Distracting us? Why would they try to distract us?" Sheave kept silent and Flash focused, leaving his mental space and returning to his full body.

As he pushed Frill away, he realised there were two generals currently unaccounted for. What if they were somewhere else in the city, causing problems?

"Gotta focus." He closed his eyes and let his senses flare, as Frill attacked. But he was able to keep himself from getting hit, as he felt himself send out some kind of radar wave. And sure enough, he felt something moments later. His Mimic Sense was going off, as it detected another Mimic somewhere in the city.

"Raaah!" Frill slashed at him, but he dodged and dealt a kick right to the buzzard's face. "Augh!" The Mimic was thrown to the ground, as Shifter turned to the other Riders.

"We're being tricked. The Mimics are up to something else." Morphic and Changeling gave him a curious look, as Shifter turned towards where he sensed the Mimic was. "I'm gonna go check it out. Can you guys handle things here?"

"We got this!" Morphic slashed at Greye, "go!" Shifter nodded and flew off, as Frill began to pick himself up. "Changeling. You sure you can handle him?"

"Yeah," Changeling raised his sword, "I can do it!" With that, he charged forward and started slashing at Frill.

The Mimic General raised his own swords and the four blades collided, with Frill clearly more experienced when it came to sword fighting. Morphic, meanwhile, kept slashing at Greye and the Mimic used his fans and dance skills to block and dodge them.

"Raaah!" Morphic slashed at him wildly, but Greye was able to dodge the attacks as best he could before Morphic suddenly thrust his foot forward and struck him in the chest.

"Augh!" He was knocked back, giving Morphic the opening he needed. The Rider picked up speed and started bum rushing Greye several times. Each time, Greye cried out as he was cut up. And when Morphic finally slowed down, he shot forward with his arms crossed before slashing him in an X formation. "Gyah!" Greye was thrown into the side of a building and fell to the ground.

Morphic smirked, as he glanced over at Changeling.

The Rider continued to slash at Frill with his swords, but Frill blocked them all. And as Frill fired his feather darts, Changeling slashed them away with his swords. "That's it Thorax. You can do it."

As this was going on, Shifter was flying above the sky towards the area he sensed the Mimic.

He eventually found the spot he was being drawn too, which was some kind of back alleyway. And as he flew into it, he found High-Vol-Tech and several Mimicreeps were there. High was messing with something, but stopped when she sensed his approach.

"Seriously?" She pointed at the Mimicreeps. "Stop him!" The monsters charged and and Shifter quickly swapped the Mimicores in his Shift Striker.

"PIERCE!"

As the weapon transformed, the Mimicreeps began to climb up the sides of the buildings before leaping at him. Shifter quickly fired at them, destroying any that got near him whilst keeping himself high above the building.

High worked on the device she had stuck into the ground, which began to power up and build up its energy. "Perfect. Just needs a minute or so to fully charge." As she said that, she sensed something and spun around.

She slashed her claws through the air and unleashed a blade of lightning, which stopped the energy spine before it could hit her. She then realised Shifter had already defeated the Mimicreeps and was diving down towards her. He fired several shots, but she was able to avoid them with her claws.

As he landed, he took out his other Mimicore and activated it.

"HYPER STRIKE!"

High saw this and rushed forward, but Shifter was able to replace his Mimicores before she could get to him. "Shape Shift!" He slammed the Driver shut and the Mimicore's power flooded into him.

"MIMIC! LIGHTNING BUG!" Shifter charged, as his armor morphed into the upgraded Striker form. And as High tried to slash at his throat, he ducked under her as the armor settled. "Ultimate light, strikes to eradicate the shadows!"

Jumping back up, Shifter threw several kicks to the Mimic before leaping back and unleashing a barrage of spine shots. But High slashed them all away before firing bolts of lightning at him.

"I don't think so!" Shifter fired his own bolts of lightning and the two attacks cancelled each other out, Shifter than charging forward as he swapped Shift Striker Cores.

"STRIKE!"

He fired several lasers at High and she dodged them all, Shifter reaching her and throwing a bunch whilst changing his weapon to sword mode. The two fought against one another, Shifter being careful not to use too much power for fear of overdoing it again. And as they fought, the device High had set up continued to charge.

"Raaaah!" Changeling thrust his sword at Frill's mid-section, hoping to stab him. But Frill was able to deflect the blade with his own before kicking Changeling away. "Augh!"

Frill laughed. "You seem to be a little less skilled than the last time I saw you fighting." Changeling groaned, pushing himself back to his feet and raising his swords protectively. As he did, Greye was knocked flying by Morphic's super speed impact.

"Augh!" He crashed down besides Frill, the buzzard looking down and the peacock. "Can we switch opponents?" Morphic suddenly zipped up beside Changeling, the two Rider tapping their weapons together.

"Get up," Frill told him. "We can take them." But as he said that, Pharynx and the Rainbooms arrived on the scene.

"Guys!" Twilight called out to them, only to notice someone was missing. "Where's Flash?" Twilight felt weird saying that, now that she knew who was under the helmet. Frill and Greye both frowned, clearly not happy that reinforcements had arrived.

"High should have set it up by now. Let's get out of here." Greye nodded before his fans glowed and he swung them around, unleashing the energy blades that struck the ground and exploded. This blinded and Rainbooms and Riders and when the smoke cleared, the two Mimic Generals were gone.

"Where'd they go?" Sunset asked, as she looked around. "Doesn't look like they did much damage?"

"They weren't trying to hurt or destroy anything," Morphic told them. "Shifter realised they were a distraction. He went to go find the other Mimic attacking the city."

"A distraction?" Twilight frowned, wondering what the Mimics would want to distract their attention away from.

Shifter channelled as much energy as he could into his Shift Striker and as High charged, he thrust the rapier forward with incredible speed.

The tip flew towards High and if it had been any other Mimic, it would have blown a hole right through them. But since it was the lightning tiger, High managed to shift herself out of the way just in time. The tip struck her shoulder, but she was able to spin out of the way before it could be blown off.

Shifter went sailing past her and as he stopped, High spun around and slashed her claws through the air.

This struck Shifter and knocked him flying back, but he managed to rotate himself through the air and land on the side of a building feet first before kicking off. He was sent sailing back towards High and before she could react, he swung his blade down and slashed at her chest.

"Gyah!" She cried, staggering back as Shifter spun around and slammed his foot into her chest.

Shifter watched her go flying backwards until she crashed into the side of a building before falling to the ground, hitting it with a grunt as Shifter prepared another attack. But before he could, a bright flash caught his attention and he looked around.

The device High had stuck into the ground had finally finished charging and started shooting out energy, which began to take shape and formed a dome around the device. When the Mimic saw this, she laughed. "Another Doom Pillar online."

"Doom Pillar?" Shifter looked at her in confusion, as she picked herself up. "What is that thing?" But High said nothing and instead, a portal opened behind her. "HEY!" He tried to grab her, but she leapt into the portal before he could reach her.

The portal closed and Shifter hit the wall, frustrated he couldn't get any info.

He then turned back to the device and watched as the dome of energy appeared to vanish. He moved over and tried to grab it, only to find the force field appear and force his hand back. "Ahh!" He shook his hand, which was tingling as the field disappeared.

He raised his Shift Striker and tried to hit it, but the shield kept protecting it.

For the next several minutes, he tried everything he could to destroy the barrier and let him get to the device. All his forms, all his Shift Striker forms and even one of his finishing moves. But nothing worked.

Eventually, Morphic and Changeling arrived with the Rainbooms. When they got into the back alley, they found the place half destroyed with Shifter panting in front of the device. "Flash?" Twilight asked, "what's happening?"

Shifter groaned and stepped aside to show them the device. As he and the other Riders powered down, he explained everything that had happened. Nobody liked the idea of this unusual device just being here, especially since they had no idea what it did.

"But why did High put it here?" Shining asked. "I get not a lot of people would come here, but it's bound to be spotted eventually."

The others all tried to grab the device, but none of them could get through the barrier. And as Flash thought about Shining's words, he remembered what High had said. "I don't think this is the only one." This got the group's attention. "High said another Doom Pillar online. Another means there were already ones active."

"That doesn't sound good," Thorax gulped. Suddenly, Rainbow shot off out of the alleyway fast enough to almost blow everyone over.

"Where's she going?" Pharynx asked, still amazed someone could move that fast.

"My bet," Applejack smirked. "She's gonna run around the entire city to try and find the rest of these things."

"Let's hope she finds them," Twilight tried to lift the device out of the ground. But whatever energy was protecting it, also kept Twilight's magic from getting to it.

Rainbow didn't return for five minutes and when she did, she did not look happy. "I found a few more of these things all over town. They all had the same force field, so I couldn't pick 'em up."

"What are these things?" Rarity asked.

"They can't be good," Pinkie pouted. "You don't call something a Doom Pillar unless it actually causes...doom." They all frowned, fearing the dangerous possibilities these devices could bring.

But then, a bright flash of light caught their attention. And when they looked around, they found a portal opening up. And a familiar cloaked figure stepped out of it. "Corvyn," Flash frowned. Him being there could only mean trouble.

"Kamen Riders," Corvyn told them all. "Your world is in serious danger."

Author's Note

Thorax has officially joined the team and chosen his name. Come on, what else could it be? Now, what's the deal with these Doom Pillars? Only time will tell.