Kamen Rider Ego x Idby Layton13ChaptersIt's a Demon!Showdown! The Demonic Debut!Empty! Hollow! What Now!?KABOOM! Take the Stage!It's a Demon!One could mistake it for any ordinary, peaceful day in the bustling city of Fillydelphia. The snowflakes silently glided towards the ground while the sound of cars honking below contrasted against them. The city's lights illuminated the cold, windy night like any other, as in the distance, one could hear the sounds of a Hearth's Warming song. One could… If one ignored the screams coming from one particular part of town. In front of the large brick city hall, its tower reaching up into the night sky, people were running for their lives, abandoning everything and anything, even their cars. The sound of police sirens soon drowned out the song in the distance, truly turning this into an unforgettable night. "That's all you got, you damn bird?" It echoed across the intersection in front of city hall, coming from a hulking, obese figure currently laying atop a car's engine hood. Well, slammed into would fit the description more. The figure slowly started to move, dragging itself off the hood, revealing the sizable indent it had left behind. For anyone who might have looked, the figure became more apparent. It looked like a fat man with a dark blue body and a whitish stripe across its chest, only lightly covered by a light blue, Eastern-style vest. Its face looked almost like a fish with glowing yellow eyes, a row of razor-sharp, long teeth, and a double chin. Two gills were attached to the side of its head, and one antenna stuck out from its forehead, a glowing light attached to it. The fish clenched its fist, which quickly started to glow, before throwing whatever it had in it into the sky, followed by a deafening explosion that set off every car alarm in a 100-meter range. The light of the explosion had illuminated a second figure as well. A being clad in what looked similar to a Neighponese shrine maiden uniform with lime green accents and two massive, black wings. One could barely make out its black, scaly skin from the ground, made even more challenging by the long, white, bonelike bird mask on its face, which beak reached down to its chest. "Your fat should have absorbed the impact, you vile abomination," the flying creature returned in an almost melodic tone. It was almost soothing if it hadn't come from such an unnerving creature. Raising its hand, it swung it at the fish creature below it, sending several kunai down at it. With a low gurgle, the fish grabbed the car's hood and ripped it off, using it as a makeshift shield, watching each kunai embedding itself into the metal with a loud thunk. Not missing a beat, the creature immediately chucked the hood at the flying creature, only for it to dodge out of the way as graceful as it was effortless. "It must have slipped with all the fat all over your fingers, you pitiful creature," it came back down as the bird rearmed itself with another set of kunai, which quickly started to glow a menacing purple. "Let me help you get rid of it!" "Oh, I'll show you, you flying rat! If you want to take something, take those!" The deep voice of the fish bellowed back as it unfastened two fishnets filled with glowing yellow orbs from its belt. It started to spin each net around its fists, about to chuck it when the sound of a gun cut through their banter, followed by something metallic dropping to the ground. With a low gurgle, the creature turned around, glaring directly at a now utterly terrified police officer and several others that had finally arrived. His handgun pointed at the beast that didn't seem any worse for wear, just more furious. The officer stumbled backward, dropping the gun in the process, staring as the creature simply chucked the net of orbs towards him. What followed could only be described as an inferno, as a series of massive explosions rocked the street, blowing the officer right off his feet. He didn't even notice the purple projectiles raining down from the sky, followed by another set of explosions lighting up the sky above, as if it was the middle of the day. Once the dust had settled, the previously mostly intact street was a crater. The concrete had been ripped open and shattered, cars were burning wrecks, and everything was demolished. Furthermore, the two perpetrators were nowhere to be seen; instead, the sound of explosions was clearly able to be made out in the distance, at least before the searing pain overwhelmed him and everything went black. ()E+I() Meanwhile, a figure had overlooked the entire fight hidden behind a marvelous, colored glass window of a stone brick church. His skin was of a lightish yellow complexion, while his well-kept, short hair had a golden color. His white suit looked remarkably expensive, only enforced by the golden threads woven through it as decoration. He continued staring at the battlefield, even as a frantic-looking woman with light blue skin and dark blue hair rushed through the office door. She took a few seconds to catch her breath, her eyes wandering over the office filled with marble and white furniture. The floor was made out of a warm brown packet with a heavy white marble table in the middle of the room. And behind that table, the man stood. "Mr. Pearl? Should we send reinforcement? We can't let such an insult to our-" she stuttered out, only to immediately be silenced as the man raised his arm. "That won't be necessary, Sweet Nectar. She has it under control. Even if, with this commotion in front of our home, it would be wise to keep ourselves covered for at least a while," he calmly returned, eyes not moving away from the window. "And please, call me Radiant. We are family here, after all." "Ye… Yes, Mr- Radiant," she stammered back, frozen in place, looking confused at Radiant. "Do not worry, my dear. And please, tell every enlightened to keep a low profile the next few days," he returned, the woman quickly nodding and skittering out of the room. The moment the heavy wooden doors fell shut once more, a pained sigh escaped Radiant's lips. "Onyx can't even keep his beasts on the semblance of a leash. This will cause issues. Let's hope the Riders don't get involved, as unlikely it may seem," he muttered, his fist tightening as his expression slightly soured. "Let's hope he can somehow convince his Deadman to remain as quiet as mine…." Down on the street, nestled between the church and another building to its side, a young man with yellow skin and black hair, dressed in a brown jacket, the hood pulled over his face, was crouching down and holding out a weird piece of machinery. The device beeped as he moved it around. "Another increase in power, as expected. Entirely in line with my predictions. Which means my little project should have enough juice to be fully operational by now. Just in time. I just need a suitable subject for the final phase…." He muttered, slipping the device into his pockets and picking up a metal suitcase he had cuffed to his left arm. "Let's hope the fish's buddies are suitable…." He continued, pulling out his phone and flipping through the files of several people before stopping at one of a young woman with white skin and a bright pink ponytail. "Let’s start with you, little miss Splash Page!” The man grinned as he started to quickly move through the night, just fast enough to avoid the second wave of cop cars. ()E+I() BEEP! BEEP BEEP! It echoed through the small bedroom, almost as loud as an explosion. Or at least that was how it felt to her. With a groan, a white hand awkwardly reached out, blindly fumbling for her phone before finally turning the damned alarm. With a resigned sigh, she rose from her pillows, revealing the exact same woman, well, besides the fact that she looked far less amused and her hair was an ungodly, unkempt mess. Pushing herself out of bed, she dragged herself through the tiny room, with just enough space for a dresser and a desk, a desk covered in half-finished sketches, pencils, and many other things. For one moment, her eyes darted over to it, only for a frustrated groan to follow. She hadn’t been able to finish any piece in the last three weeks, at least any piece not work-related. Turning her head in visible disgust, she dragged herself to the bathroom, preparing for another day at FEN-X Residential, where your housing dreams are born again. She shuddered as the slogan once more ran through her head, all thanks to this horrid jingle she had to listen to for what felt like months during her last project. It may have just been two weeks where the thing had occasionally popped up, but it sure had felt like months to her. Her quiet grumbling was only interrupted as her coffee started to spill out of the thermos. “Fuck! No! Stop!” She hissed as she pulled up the coffee pot back up, letting some of it drip on her hand. With a pained hiss, she dropped the pot, watching the pot crash to the ground and shatter on the tiled kitchen floor. “Fuck!” Was all she could press out as she looked down at what remained of her life-giving coffee maker. She repeated that sentiment while cleaning up after herself, ensuring none of the glass remained on the floor. With her luck, she’d just cut herself on it this afternoon when she returned from work. Work… “Shit! I’ll miss the subway!” she screamed out, grabbing her thermos, dashing out the door and down the apartment’s stairs, almost running over an older lady who did not hide her annoyance in the slightest. What was even worse, it didn’t even matter. Even if she had managed to leave on time, the subway was closed! And, of course, only the line she needed! What else? Apparently, it had been damaged in a fight last night. Of bloody course, it had been. Clearly, Fortuna had focused all her efforts on screwing her over this day. This was gonna be a long one… ()E+I() “You’re late,” Thorough Sketch muttered, a woman with a light blue complexion and silver hair dressed in a rigid and well-kept business suit, giving her a look that could only be described as a mix of annoyed and just disappointed. Splash Page hadn’t even managed to take one step through the door as she had greeted her, not seeming too bothered at the fact she was covered in sweat and clearly out of breath as she leaned against the doorframe. “Sorry… The subway had a monster emergency…” Splash huffed back while pushing herself off the door frame and towards her desk. “I don’t care! We are massively behind schedule on our work; the deadline is this weekend! We got to work even harder to make it! So, even if the building next to ours gets swarmed by a bunch of monsters, we gotta finish this!” She returned rather agitated, already having turned back to her monitor and, with it, her graphic software. “Yes, Boss,” Splash returned, trying her damndest to suppress the venom in her voice, walking past her, quietly glaring. “Bad morning?” A rather timid voice asked one she knew all too well. Taking a deep breath, her anger slowly dissipated, simply turning into an exhausted expression as she looked over to her coworker and desk neighbor, Swift Pen, a woman with light pink skin and dark purple hair. Her hair was long enough to hide behind if she wanted to, which was quite a lot, while her outfit looked like she was about to bunker down in a log cabin in the arctic. As usual, she was wearing a comfy-looking purple sweater whose collar reached up to her lips. “What made you guess that?” she simply returned, a bit of her annoyance still present in her voice, even when trying to hide it. Swift just frowned and nodded. “Your subway was affected then?” Swift continued, continuing her sketch while asking. “Yup, only one even. My luck, I guess,” she grumbled, staring impatiently at her tablet booting up. She could already feel the cold glare from Sketch on her back. “That’s kinda unfair,” her neighbor quietly returned. “You think this will happen again?” “Well, they usually take a bit of time till stuff like this is fixed, so I don’t think I’ll be using it any time soon. Which means I’ll have to wake up even earlier to catch the bus.” Her groan was long and exasperated; as she looked over at the girl with a pained expression, she simply offered an understanding smile. “Not… Really what I meant. You think the monster attacks will continue?” Swift returned, her voice a bit more nervous. “Probably, but a Rider or someone else will come along and deal with it. You hear it in the news every day or so now,” she simply shrugged, opening her work file and looking at the half-finished sketch she had been stuck with for two days now after starting from scratch. Her last attempt just had not worked even in the slightest. “So, I give it one or two days more. Tops. Good riddance,” she added with a huff. “I guess so… Still… Feels weird to have it happen so close to home…” “Was bound to sooner or later. Just another fact of life at this point,” she absentmindedly returned. “Annoying, in the way, and happens at the worst of times.” “I guess…” Swift returned, pulling her pen up from her tablet for a moment. “Still… I’m kinda afraid this could turn into something more regular…” “Eh, doubt it. Canterlot’s the only place that’s apparently stuck with these things. So, I don’t think it’ll happen here. At least, it’s not likely. You’d have to have some serious bad luck for that to come true,” she shrugged, almost dismissively, not noticing Swift’s worried frown. “Mhm…” She simply replied, returning to her work. After almost a minute of, what at least to her felt like awkward silence, she added a shaky: “Mind if I pay… for your lunch… today? So the day… is not an entire wash?” “Sure,” she simply returned, already focused on her work again. “I could use the extra money… My coffee pot broke today. Stupid fucking thing…” “Oh… That’s… I’m sorry…” “Yeah, sucks. Stupid traitor! You were supposed to make my day easier, not harder,” she encountered with a huff, her pen slipping a bit, forcing her to erase a bit of her progress again, much to her annoyance. “Well, if you do not like traitors, don’t become one for the team,” a stern voice huffed from behind her. “Yes, boss. I’ll focus,” Splash sighed as she refocused her efforts on her work. “That counts for you as well, Swift. You have your break to talk.” “I… I… I’m sorry!” She stammered back, her head slumped down, making her hair fall over her face, not that one would have to see her expression to know what it was. “Won’t happen again!” Within a second, she had turned away from Sketch and scribbled away at her pad. As Sketch had already turned around and was out of earshot, Splash allowed herself a quiet and livid: “Bitch!” ()E+I() A few hours later, most of her annoyance had once more turned into pure and simple exhaustion, like honestly, every day. She stared down at her plate of what they claimed to be a steak and some mashed potatoes but actually looked more like a burned shoe sole and undefinable mush. At least today, she didn’t have to pay for it herself. “You don’t… Want it?” Swift carefully asked, looking over at her, lightly staring at the plate as well. “Nah, I’m eating, don’t worry. Just… Trying to stomach the look of it…” she mumbled back, starting to cut into the piece of meat and taking a good chunk out of it. The first bite was always the hardest; it was like someone drained all the water in her mouth with a sponge or something, so dry was the flesh, or at least, it felt like it. The second one was better but far from what she would even call ok, but it was the only cheap and close-by food source, so she had to make due. “Thanks,” she encountered after swallowing a full cup of coffee. Thank Fortuna that it was still warm. Knowing her luck, she had already expected it to be as cold as ice coffee, but at least this little pleasure hadn’t been ripped from her yet. What it’d look like tomorrow was another thing entirely. “It’s… It’s nothing. Just wanted to make your day a bit better,” Swift simply returned, taking a bite from her salad. “Things haven’t really gone your way recently, have they?” “Scratch the recently, and you’re dead on the money,” She groaned before taking another bite of the chewy steak. “It’s like someone cursed me! Things seem to slow down for a bit? Bam! Things go wrong! I fucking hate it! You can set your watch to it, I tell you!” “That is… I mean…” “Yeah, it sucks! I know… But it’s a sad fact of life at this point. Things just never go right for me,” she continued ranting between her bites, her anger slowly starting to die down a bit into a resigned sigh. “I… Yeah, I’m sorry to hear that. I… if I can do anything for-“ Swift carefully tried to return. “No, no, it’s fine. I don’t need to annoy you with this shit. Today was just… a bit of a culmination of all this stuff, and I needed to let it out. I’ll manage; I always manage well enough,” she returned dismissively, though Swift could still clearly make out the exhaustion in her voice. “Why don’t you take a week off? You sound like you need it… Just some you time?” “Oh, fuck, I’d love that. But sadly… I already planned out all the vacation days I got this year. Only got like five days left. Two of them are for Hearthswarming with the family. Which… I’ll honestly need a vacation double the length of right after if I’m honest,” she groaned, leaning her head back, staring at the ceiling tiles with an exasperated expression. “I can already hear my aunt saying, ‘Look at your brother; he’s so successful. All those followers he has and all the charity events he has attended this year!’” Splash mockingly continued, adding a played gagging motion to it. “Right… Your brother was ‘Love_X_Self’, right?” “Yup… He’s Fillydelphia’s favorite ‘Good Vibes’ coach,” she groaned. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s fine and means well, but… Man, does it get on my nerves.” She groaned even louder, resting her head on the table. “So, typical sibling behavior?” She quietly returned but couldn’t hide the light playfulness in her voice. “You know it as well, eh?” Splash chuckled, probably for the first time today. Swift simply nodded in return. “My sister is a… writer,” she continued before suddenly stuttering, her face getting a bit red. Splash raised an eyebrow at that before Swift Pen almost frantically continued. “S… So… What about… The other three days?” “Wha… Oh… Right! There is a small, local art festival about 2 hours out of the city and I was gonna attend! Lots of regional artists are gonna be there, hold panels about technique and show off some of their newer stuff! From paintings to video editing and modeling! I already cleared it off that I’ll not be here these days, and everything is set! My legs will kill me, as will my wallet, but… A girl gotta treat herself to something nice once in a while, right?” She excitedly blurted out, her exhaustion almost disappearing instantly, and even taking another bite of the steak without twisting her face into a grimace. “Oh… I heard of it…” Swift nodded. “Had thought of going there myself, but… I don’t have a car…” “Oh, neither have I. I just noticed that in one of the art ‘Beeper’ groups I frequented, some people also wanted to go and were organizing a carshare. So, I just asked, and as long as I pay a bit of the fuel, I’m golden,” she added with a shrug. “You know, I kinda missed your little nerdy outbursts,” a new voice added from her left. It was rough and one dripping with confidence, ill-placed as it may have sounded. “Oh, zip it, Spray Can! Even I can have something to be excited about,” Splash Page simply returned with a huff, taking another bite of her steak before almost choking on it. “Spray Can!?” She burst out in between her coughing and looked o her side where a young man with yellow skin and short, bright blue hair with pink stripes was sitting. He wore a ragged-looking grey jacket stained with splashes of, what she assumed, were spray can paints as well as a spry can logo on a white shirt he wore underneath. “What the fuck are you doing here!?” “Splash… Who is this?” Swift asked, having shuffled lightly behind her, trying to hide as much as possible from the strange man sitting next to them. “Someone who shouldn’t be here! How did you get past the receptionist?” Splash returned, her voice low and almost growling while her hands had tightened into fists, lightly shaking. “I may have… Slipped past her when she was talking to the postman, but that’s beside the point,” he replied with a smile, but not without a lightly unsure undertone. “Anyway, that's no way to talk to an old friend, right?” Spray continued his trademark grin on his lips, which did not seem to calm Splash in any way. Without another word, she grabbed him by his collar and pulled him up as well, dragging and shoving the man out of the cafeteria and into one of the closeby hallways, away from prying eyes. Splash seemingly didn’t care much about the weird looks that the entire room was giving her, but Swift did all the more. Like daggers, they bored into her skin, coming from all angles as she just sat there, her head shrinking back into her body. That was until she just couldn’t take it anymore and awkwardly rushed after them, each murmur making her blush all the harder until she was out of earshot, and even then, she could swear that she could still hear their voices somewhere in the background. “Woah! Careful, the jacket ain’t that sturdy at this point,” Spray huffed, dusting it off again after he had been shoved deeper into the hallway by a very displeased-looking Splash. “Explain!” She simply returned, her voice teetering on the edge of shouting. “Hey, can’t I say hi to a friend because of old times sake?” He returned with an awkward smile on his lips. “Friend!?” She spat back at him, taking another step towards the man who stepped back, his hands raised. “Do friends sell each other out to the cops!? Do they just throw you to the wolves and hide to save their own ass!? And I didn’t say a word because that was what I thought friends would do!” “I never sold you out, Splash! Trust me! I…” He stuttered, his cheery demeanor crumbling entirely at this point, replaced by a far more worried one. “I don’t fucking care if you didn’t do it yourself! You just let me take the fall anyway! You fucking used me as a scapegoat! Just because you didn’t wanna face the consequences as well!” She hissed back, her expression one of pure venom, making Swift Pen shrink back once more, letting out a quiet ‘Eye’. Spray looked at her, swallowing hard before letting his shoulders fall down and returning, almost defeated sounding: “I’m sorry…” Splash was about to burst into another tirade as her rant just jammed in her throat, simply replaced by a: “What…?” Raising his head slowly, he looked up at her, uncertainty clearly visible in his eyes. “I’m sorry… I should… I should have talked to you back then… Just asked you what you wanted… Instead… I just broke off contact to try and get as much distance between me and this whole thing… It was cowardly of me… I even told Colour Contrast to do the same in fear it’d lead back to me in some way….” He managed to press out before adding a simple: “Thank you… For not saying anything….” Splash was just standing there, her mouth still open from the tirade she had prepared just for the day she’d met one of them again. The rant she had gone over in her head a hundred times till now for sure, but it had just been flushed from her memory. She couldn’t even remember the first word. She probably would have just stood there if it wasn’t for Swift Pen shyly asking: “What… What happened?” “I… I was a tagger back in the day,” she returned, sounding distant in a way and looking at Spray Can like a dear in the headlights. “We… Used to spraypaint our art at buildings we liked… Not asking anyone. Probably for close to a year… Everything went fine, till… Someone ratted us out… I… was the only one arrested… And they canceled my scholarship to the Fillydelphia Institute of Art and Design… That’s how I ended up here….” “I… I didn’t…” Swift stuttered, looking stunned between Splash and Spray, unable to properly put together a sentence. “Yeah, obviously. Never wanted to tell you,” Splash returned, her voice starting to regain a certain level of confidence as she continued. “So… You came here to apologize? Is that it?” “I… Kinda…” He muttered in return, awkwardly running his hand through his hair. “I… I was actually here to ask you for help….” Splash’s expression quickly hardened again, and Swift could have sworn she heared a light sigh. “Of course… You never just come to apologize, only when it’s necessary for you. Always the same with you. Fine, I accept your apology, but I don’t want anything to do with you anymore. I won’t call security, so scram! See as a last token of my gratitude for old times sakes,” she huffed and turned around on the spot. Her expression was stone cold, but there was a hint of disappointment in her eyes. “Wait! Please… At least hear me out… It’s… It’s about Colour…” Spray burst out, taking a step towards her, his forehead covered in wrinkles. Splash sighed audibly before stopping in her path and simply stating: “Fine. What is it,” without turning around. “I… Ever since back then, he cut himself off from me… I don’t really blame him, but… He started clubbing and eventually settled on a club named ‘Cataclysm Paradise’. At first, he just was getting a bit more assertive and confident. It was actually nice to see. Ever since back then, he retreated even more into himself, but… One day he just flipped. He was aggressive and confrontational… It… as just not like him. At first, I just assumed it was some kind of phase, but… as time went on, he became more and more aggressive and even got into fights,” he continued, a genuine worry in his voice. “That… does sound weird, but I don’t really get what that has to do with me,” Splash nodded along, lightly biting her lip. “I usually wouldn’t bother you with this, but… Last night… I saw him speaking with a girl… More arguing, actually. I couldn’t other than listen in. The two got angrier and angrier until….” Spray took a deep breath, almost as if to brace himself for what he was about to say next. “Until she turned into a bird monster… The same monster that rampaged through the city last night… I… I ran after that,” he finished, his voice shaking. “Colour got involved with this mess last night? Is he ok?” She returned, her voice a bit shaky. “Ye… Yeah… I… I talked to him a bit today, but… He just told me to get lost if I knew what was good for me… I… I know you don’t wanna see me, but… I’m worried for him, ok? Please!” He said, taking another step towards her, his eyes filled with desperation. “I… Just for him, ok? After this, you’ll never have to see me ever again, ok? I…” Taking another deep breath, he added: “I’ll even go to the police if you want me to… Tell them it was me responsible back then, and I blackmailed you or something….” Splash just looked at him for a moment before her fist tightened, expression once more hardening: “You really think it’d be so easy!? Just tell them, ‘Ups it was me’? No! That won’t get me the scholarship back, and even if they believe you, they still got enough evidence to keep my record! The only thing you fucking archive is to make your life worse!” She returned angrily. “But fine… I’ll talk to him once. Not for you, but for Colour! After that, you leave me alone! And you buy me a coffee pot!” Spray Can just stared at her, almost bewildered. “Co… Coffee pot?” He simply managed to stammer out. “Yeah, got a problem with that?” He simply shook his head. “Good, meet me after work. Don’t be late! Because right now, I’m already two minutes over my break time, and my boss will have me for that,” she sighed, turning on the spot and rushing off, leaving a slightly confused Swift Pen and Spray Can behind; the former didn’t take long to process the last part of her sentence and hurried after them. “That… that actually worked….” Spray simply muttered. ()E+I() A few hours later, the sun was already setting on the snowy city at this point, Splash Page stepped out of the building, secretly kind of cursing herself to even agree to this, but a bit of herself was pushing her forward regardless. And just as expected, Paint Can was waiting for her outside the building, checking his phone nervously. “Oh, finally! I was worried you’d ditched me and snuck out of the backdoor,” he sighed in relief as he saw her. “Unlike you, others have to work. And I had to tell of Swift, or she would have tagged along. Didn't want to involve her in this shit,” she huffed back before continuing: “And I keep to my word,” she continued with a light glare. “So, where you think Colour is? I want this to be over as fast as possible.” “Right… Right… He generally hangs out in an old skatepark before heading to the club nowadays. It’s kinda his tagging ground now. Smaller stuff, but he has improved his craft as well. We should manage to get there before he heads off because getting to him in the club would probably be next to impossible,” Spray returned, showing her a map on his phone. “Not too far away… We can be there on the bus in about twenty minutes… You pay,” she added matter-of-factly, already on the move, or would have been if a man in a brown jacket, a few black hairs standing out from under it, and a suitcase shackled to his arm. “What do you want?” Splash groaned, already expecting the worst. “Oh, I’m here to make you an offer of great importance,” he simply returned, smiling. “Yeah, sorry, not sorry, I don’t have time for this. I already had my share of bullshit for the day, and I don’t need more right now,” she simply returned dismissively as she continued walking. “Wait, wait, this is quite impor-“ “I said I wasn’t buying anything. Now scram!” She simply rebuked, her voice straining not to start getting loud at this point. “Uhm, Splash…” Spray tried to say, only for Splash to interrupt him once again. “We are moving!” She once more stated, making it clear there was not going to be any discussion over this subject. Looking back between the man and her, he sighed and rushed after her. Meanwhile, the man in the jacket simply shook his head. “What kind of buddies do you have, fish? So impatient,” he chuckled to himself. “Oh well, they’ll come around soon enough if that is where they are going. I hope they do; it would be a waste otherwise.” He shrugged and started to move as well, slipping into an alleyway. “Who was that anyway?” Spry said, already a good way further. “He… he was the one who tipped me off where Colour was….” Spray returned, a bit out of breath. “Wait, what? And you tell me that now!?” She snapped back, a look of exasperation on her face. “You… Didn’t let… Me, remember?” He returned, still trying to catch his breath. “Right… Whatever,” she continued, waving her hand dismissively. “We’ll manage this on our own. So, get moving!” She shook her head and continued her rush towards the nearest bus stop. She was determined to finish this as fast as possible; a damn bus would certainly not stop her! ()E+I() As they entered the old skatepark, the sun had been reduced to a few beams of light, barely visible behind the city's skyline. The gate was unlocked, a ripped-apart chain laying not too far away from it, not that anyone had cared. Stepping into the open area, boxed in by large walls, they saw the old concrete pool that skaters used for their tricks filled with old junk and leaves, absolutely in no condition to be used. A few tents were strewn across the ground, wholly abandoned, many of them definitely on the newer side. A few homeless people had most likely made this their new home and then abandoned it. It was strange that they had been left behind like this; that’d only happen if there was no other option. But the thing that caught Splash Page’s attention the most were the walls. They had been covered in artwork after artwork, each getting better than the last. She took a step closer to one of them, running her hand over the paint with a slight feeling of familiarity. “You weren’t lying when you said he got better. Those are really good compared to his older stuff,” she muttered, looking up at a demonic-looking fish swallowing a church. “Oh, thank you! I definitely needed the praise of a marketing paint monkey,” a familiar voice cut through the usual city noise of honking cars, revving engines, and pigeon cries. Spinning around, she looked at a man with light green skin and light purple hair in the form of what looked like a still-growing mohawk. He wore a leather jacket with spikes all over it and a shirt with an anarchy symbol under it. “The fuck are you wearing? You look ridiculous,” she simply blurted out, staring at him in bewilderment. “Huh, charming as ever,” he returned with a huff. “I’m just wearing what is me. The real me, the one who’s not held back by you two imbeciles.” “Well, tell your real self that it has a terrible fashion sense,” she simply returned. “You’re trying too hard.” “Oh, haha. Why are you here? Not like you give a damn,” he huffed back, walking closer, completely ignoring Spray Can. “I’m here to tell you to knock it off. Spray over there came crawling on his knees to me at work and begged for forgiveness because of you,” she encountered, crossing her arms. “I didn’t come crawling in on my knees!” He burst out, only to be immediately silenced by Splash. “Oh, you definitely did. Because you don’t ask for forgiveness if it isn’t your last option, and don’t pretend it isn’t otherwise,” she finished, moving her focus from the clearly offended man towards Colour. “And you know that as well. So, he clearly still cares about you, and even I can’t say no to this. And given what you are wearing… He probably was right to be worried.” “Would you stop trying to insult my clothes!” He hissed back. “Right, sorry. How are you?” “I’m great, thank for asking,” he sarcastically snapped back. “I finally feel like I’m actually getting somewhere. Not just riding your coattails into mediocrity,” he continued, a smug grin on his lips. “Not entirely wrong. That’s some really good shit. Give it a bit more, and you’ll get some real respect here. How you manage that? Usually, you don’t know where to start when you tag.” “I got some reaffirmation,” he returned with an even bigger grin. “People who actually appreciate me. And not just as a tag along.” “And do they respect you beating up people as well?” She returned, making sure to sound as dry and cold as possible. “I know what you’ve been up to, and… Quite frankly, that’s not you. You couldn’t hurt a fly if you tried. Nothing wrong with being more confident, but there is a limit. Whoever told you this crap, tells they are just… Using you as well,” she continued, her expression softening a bit. “Oh, because you know everything, right? Fuck off! You don’t know who I was. You just wanted a yes man, someone who’d tell you how great you were. You never really cared; you just wanted to keep me small for your own ego. And now, when I got the chance to surpass you, you fucking think you can do it again! News flash, you can’t! I’ll show this world what I can do! And if I have to beat some shmucks up, so fucking be it!” He growled back, the expression on his face making the hairs on Splash’s neck stand up straight. “You can’t be serious, Colour! You’d never do that!” Spray Can finally blurted out, rushing up to him and grabbing him by the jacket. What he didn’t see coming was the right hook that knocked him to the ground and the ensuing kick to the stomach that made him cough up, gasping for air. “Colour! What the fuck!” Splash screamed out, an expression of utter shock on her face. “Leave! Now!” He screamed, pulling a weird, blue object out of his jacket. It was hard to properly make out what it was, but it looked vaguely stamp-like. “I’m warning you one more time!” Splash was about to shout back as a voice in the back of her head told her to rather be quiet. Somehow, she knew he was dead serious. “As expected from a beast driven by its selfish desires!” A melodic voice echoed through the park. She could have sworn that it came from above, what was even weirder. As she looked up, she saw the figure of a bird-like person hovering above them. The monster from last night! It was true; Colour had gotten into trouble with her! “You! I don’t have time… You know what, fine! I’ll rip off your wings, you flying rat!” He screamed back with anger she had never seen from him before. Tightening the grip on the stamp, he pushed a button on top of it, making it call out in a clear, booming voice. ()Anglerfish!() Colour started to glow in a bright blue, his body starting to shift before the light was extinguished by the power of a force wave emanating from him, almost knocking Splash off her feet and pushing Spray further away from him. In front of them no longer stood their friend but a fishlike monster. The other one from tonight. Before either of them could react, the flying monster swung her wing, letting several kunai shot towards him, which exploded on impact, almost hitting Spray. Not that Colour cared; no, he was far more concerned with the fact the bird had hit his paintings. “How dare you!? These are my masterpieces!” He screamed even more furiously before wildly throwing his glowing balls into the air, which quickly exploded, lighting up the night sky and knocking Splash off her feet, having tried to reach Spray and get him out of here. With a pained grunt, she pushed herself back up slightly, looking over to Spray Can. He was trying to push himself back up as well, but each time he tried to stand up all the way, he winced and slumped back down. There was no way he’d be getting up without help. With a silent curse, she pushed herself up all the way and was about ready to dash about the skate park turned battlefield when a voice next to her interrupted her. “Probably not a good idea. You’re gonna get yourself killed like that. You have no chance like you are now,” the man from before said to her, unnervingly nonchalant. “Wha!?” She simply blurted out. “Got a better idea, asshole!?” “Since you asked, yes,” he returned matter of factly, putting down the suitcase in his hand; the cuff had already been removed. “This!” He smugly continued, flipping the lid open, revealing a similar object to Colour’s stamp, just in pink with a white bottom, top, and fox on it. Next to it was a strange device made of a flat plate and a rectangular box with a screen on top and on the front. It was as white as the upper and lower parts of the stamp and had several pink highlights. “What in Tartarus is that?” She simply returned, looking even more confused. “Your chance,” he simply returned, grabbing both devices and handing them to her. “What do I do with those?” She once more spat back, her tone growing increasingly agitated, the fight continuing in the corner of her eyes as pieces of concrete and wall flew across the park like they were confetti at a party. “Put it on your waist,” the man calmly continued. “Fuck it, sure!” She threw back, the panic clearly noticeable in her voice. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the device against her waist and almost shrieked as what looked like white belt straps shot out from it and around her, fastening the device to her. ()Psyde-Driver!() “Wha… What was that!?” She couldn’t other than ask, staring at the man, not noticing something materializing next to her. “It’s a Psyde-Driver, didn’t you listen?” A sly, mocking voice giggled into her ear from the other side. With a loud scream, she spun around, staring at a black figure; her body, covered in what looked like layered skin with white pieces hiding underneath it, was still becoming visible. The figure seemed almost demonic with its twisted face, reminding her of a dragon with long, sharp ears and piercing purple eyes. But the most striking thing was the white fox tail hanging from her back and the pink-tipped end of it. This time she couldn’t then stumble backward, falling on her butt as she looked at the floating, transparent figure that was grinning down at her. What was even stranger was the fact that she seemed to be connected to her. “Wha… What is it!?” “Id? She’s calling me an Id. Kind of rude to call me that. That ego you have! But I do kinda like it. Id it is!” The figure chuckled and looked down at her ‘Psyde-Driver’. “Don’t you still have something to do?” It continued to chuckle mockingly. “Yep, you do! Now, press the button on top of the Vistamp, insert it on top of the belt, scream ‘Henshin!’ and turn the display to the right!” The man added, raising his right hand to his side, imitating flipping the device over, knocking her out of her stupor. “Henshin? Do I real-“ She tried to argue, already standing back up, but was unceremoniously interrupted. “Yes! Now do it, or your friend ends as either bird of fish food!” “Fine!” She huffed, taking one last look at “Id” and the stamp before pressing the button. ()Fox!() Taking one deep breath, she raised the stamp before slamming it on top of the device, flipping it sidewards, stopping at a nighty degree angle. "Henshin!" ()Flip Out! F-F-Fox!() ()Draw Up!() (Sketch-( )Splash-) ()ing!() (Paint-( )Spray-) ()ing!() ()Kamen Rider() (Ego!( )Id!) ()Ego Plus Id!() The Driver started to scream, two voices overlapping each other and fighting for dominance before coming together for the last line. In the meantime, Id had manifested a giant version of the stamp and swirled around her for a bit before slamming it down on top of her, the pink liquid slowly forming something over her body before bursting open, revealing two figures. One clad in white armor, with a pink chest and highlights, the fox of the stamp embedded onto it. The white split open under her chest, revealing black parts to the suit before returning to the white with pink highlights. Two shoulder pads were attached to her, almost giving her suit the design of a Neighponien shrine maiden. The helmet she now wore was shaped like a white fox mask with pink highlights, a silver half moon on her forehead, and bright blue, elongated eyes. The other figure looked very similar to Id, just with a white hoodie over her upper body. A white hoody stained and covered in pink ink splashes. Two fox ears from a more traditional white fox mask with pink highlights poked out from under it. She wore short, white cloth sleeves wrapped in pink beads on her ankles. The tail was still sticking out of her but was now accompanied by two stiff pink ribbons with a silver bell attached. She wore the same Driver the other figure wore but flipped to the left instead of right. “Ahhhhh! So this is what moving actually feels like. Amazing!” Id mused, stretching herself a bit. “And I do like the hoodie. It’s very comfy!” “W… Wow…” Splash said, looking down at her suited appearance. “This feels amazing. I never felt this… Alive before,” she continued, looking over at Id. “And you are Id, right?” “No, Kamen Rider Id! You gotta use the full name, Kamen Rider Ego,” Id chuckled back before looking towards the battlefield that had fallen quiet. Their transformation had even managed to stop the two combatants to figure out what exactly was happening. “Wh… What are you?" The bird monster shouted at her from above, her entire body ready to pounce on her at any moment. “I have no id-“ Splash was about to return, as Id loudly interrupted her. “This? This is your biggest nightmare! Didn’t you listen? She is the unbeatable Kamen Rider Ego! And I’m the demonically unmatched Kamen Rider Id! We’re gonna beat you! It’s as simple as that!” Id proclaimed, adding a sly bow to the end of her speech. “The fuck, Id!? Who let you decide that?” ‘Ego’ grabbed her by the shoulder, pulling her back and looking directly at her mask, her voice a mix of anger and nervousness. “Hey, you would have just botched our introduction. And really, you wanna beat her up as much as I do. After all, I’m you,” she chuckled, poking Ego’s chest while tilting her head. “Also, dodge!” And with that, Id jumped backward, landing several meters away, almost at the other end of the park. Ego looked back towards the monster in the meantime, only to see another barrage of kunai raining down, but not on the fish, but on her. Driven by pure instinct, she shoved herself back and completely underestimated her strength, shooting herself into the next wall. “What the…” She quietly muttered, shaking her head before things started to come together again in her head. “Hey! The fuck bitch! What was that for!?” She screamed up at the bird, her voice clearly betraying her agitation. “You are a tagger; I heard that from your little talk with the abomination. And a Rider on top. You are an affront to the great order of this world! For that, you shall be punished!” The bird simply stated before descending rapidly! Directly at her! “What Thesaurus did you eat today?” She shouted back, utterly baffled by her high and mighty tone, before reading herself for another dodge. That was until she heard Id’s voice shouting over to her: “Punch her already!” As if her brain was running on autopilot, she pulled back her fist, readied herself, and- BAM! Followed by an ear-piercing screech, the monster was knocked into one of the piles of tents, Ego simply standing there, a bit of smoke emitting from her fist. She couldn’t quite comprehend what had just happened, looking between her fist and the debris the monster had just been shot into. But before she could make heads or tails of it, the bird burst forth from the tents, her mask cracked straight down the middle, pieces of rock and wood scattering everywhere, only for pink energy bolts to hit her square in the chest. Sparks burst forth from her as more and more of the laser blasts hit her, pushing her slightly back. “Uhhh, I like this thing,” Id said, holding a paint tube-shaped gun in her hand that looked like it had already been half emptied. “Why don’t you try yours?” “Mine?” “Yeah, the two things on your waist! Really, you need to just get into the grove. Might even have some fun,”she encountered, placing a few more shots towards the monster. Trusting Id’s words, she reached towards her waist and… Indeed, something was attached to it. Two things even. They felt like long drumsticks. Grabbing them, she unbuckled them from her waist holder, pulling forth two paint brush-shaped sticks with pink ink on their tips. “Who designs weapons like this?” She exclaimed, shaking her head for a bit. “Eh, fuck it!” With an exhausted sigh, she dashed forth at her opponent. With a loud scream, the bird finally managed to escape her shock, shooting another volley of razor-sharp feathers at Id, who easily dodged them, leaving herself wide open for Ego to slam one of the paintbrush batons into her back, an eruption of sparks illuminating the now dark park. With a pained screech, she spun around, trying to claw at Ego, only for her face to be greeted with a second swing and the other baton. For a moment, everything spun as it slammed into her, the pain like a surging inferno followed by her body crashing into the ground. Ego, meanwhile, looked in amazement at the weapon's power and the pink trail it had left behind, almost like the stroke of a brush. “Wow… Fuck… This is…” “Fun? Amazing? Like a dream?”Id whispered into her ear, leaning up from behind her, only for Splash to jump back, glaring at the demonic figure. “Never! Ever! Do that again!” She huffed back, catching her breath. “Can’t make promises. Where is the fun in that,”she returned, bobbing her head from one side to the other. “Careful, or you are next!” Splash hissed back, pointing at Id with one of her batons. “Woah, woah,”she exclaimed, playfully raising her arms. “I think you are aiming at the wrong target. Might wanna finish this before birdy there takes a flight,” she innocently pointed at the monster that was starting to push herself back up, not without loud and labored heavy breathing. “I agree with the demon. Take your stamps and put them into the slots on the weapons. That should take care of it,” the strange man added, his expression one of pure excitement. “Now then... I think it’s time for the highlight!” Snapping his hand, he pointed at the monster. Ego just shook her head, while Id did as told, removing the stamp from her Driver and slotting it in an opening under the gun barrel. ()ColourBurstDuo!() ()Fox!() The weapon exclaimed, starting to glow. Pointing the gun at the monster, she casually pulled the trigger. ()Fox Colour Burst!() Four pink orbs shot out from the weapon, almost knocking it out of her hand before slamming into the monster's arms and legs, stretching and locking them in place. “Your turn, Kamen Rider, Ego,” she added with a playful undertone. “Fine,” she huffed, slipping her stamp into a slot at the back of the baton, right below the actual brush part. ()ColourSmashDuo!() ()Fox!() Just like the other weapon, it started to glow. Looking at the now energized weapon, she spun it around her hand once before stepping towards the monster, straining against the hold with all her might. “Sorry, you lost,” she simply stated, pushing a button on the other side of the stamp on her weapons. ()Fox Colour Smash!() The first swing slashed across her stomach, leaving a glowing paint stroke behind, a feat she repeated with her other baton, forming an X across her chest, all while the bird was screaming her lungs out. Steading her footing, she pulled back both batons before slamming them full force right in the middle of the two strokes, causing the monster to violently explode, leaving only Ego standing in the bright explosion. Out of the smoke, a woman fell. She had pale white skin and light blond hair while wearing a comfy-looking blue jacket. Next to her, another stamp tumbled down, one the strange man immediately scooped up, screaming out loudly: “Yes! Got you, my lovely! That makes two!” Ego didn’t pay him any mind, looking around for Colour, only to find the park abandoned. “Where did Colour go?” “Oh, he left after you punched birdy into the tents,” he muttered absentmindedly, enraptured by the stamp. “You get him next time.” “Next time? What do you mean nex-“ She was about to burst out into another tirade when her eyes noticed Spray Can, still crumpled up on the floor. “Shit! Spray!” Without another word, she rushed over to the injured Spray, starting to help him up and deactivating the transformation, the armor slipping off her like liquid. “By the way, that doesn’t mean you don’t owe me an explanation!” She shouted over her shoulder at the man, who simply nodded. “Sure, sure, it’s the least I can do. Still, I’d say we get out of dodge. This was bound to attract unwanted attention,” he returned with a big grin. “And your friend might need a doctor. From the looks of it, that was at least a cracked rip,” he added, seemingly nonplussed, much to Splash’s frustration. “Stop playing with your toys and help me then, you dipshit!” “Whatever gets you moving,” he simply returned with a shrug, moving to support her in moving him. And with that, they shuffled out of the park as fast as they could with the injured Spray Can, underlined by delighted giggling seemingly echoing in her head. After all of this, she definitely needed more than one coffee. Author's Note And that was the first chapter for my Revice x EQG fanfic. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. That said if you are familiar with Revice you probably noticed a few things that didn't quite line up with the rules of the show. I've taken the liberty to play fast and lose which parts of the rules I'm going to implement and what I'm taking a personal touch to. Regardless, I hope you'll join me in the next chapter, one hopefully out faster than chapter one. Showdown! The Demonic Debut!The snow was still falling slowly toward the earth, cold, uncaring, and solitary, yet so numerous. At least, that was how it felt to Splash as she stared out the window into the courtyard and saw the empty water feature in the middle. Her hands were tightly clasped around a cup of steaming hot coffee, making the snow feel even colder. With a frustrated sigh, she turned her gaze towards the man sitting on the other end of the table, intensely focused on a laptop he had pulled out and was typing away at. "So, answers! Now! "She simply stated, her expression hardened once more as she glared at the man in his labcoat, who appeared to be lost in his own world. "Yes, yes, I know. You want answers. And I said I'd give you some, but I need to know which answer you do care about," he simply returned, not even looking up at her. "Oh, I don't know? How about what the fuck any of this even was!?" Splash hissed back, eyes like daggers. "Oh, how very specific," he returned with an overly exaggerated eye roll. "He's got you there, Splash," a third, sly voice added, making Splash almost jump up, spinning around and staring at a see-through shadow. "Ok, I know what! What the fuck is this!?" She spat out, loud enough to make a few eyes turn towards them, making her grit her teeth at "Id". "I have a name, you know? You gave it to me, after all. I'm hurt, Splash," the… creature returned, and even if she couldn't see it, she knew it was grinning smugly. Splash glared at her ghostly form, simply floating there, somehow connected to her body. "What she is? She is your demon. It is she, right?" He returned, not looking up, grabbing the coffee beside him and taking a long sip from the mug. "Correct, it is she. After all," the demon motioned down at her body, which had a clear, feminine shape. "How could anyone mistake my irresistible, feminine charm?" The irony was more overtone than undertone in her voice. Splash just looked at her in a mix of confusion and exhaustion. "Now that you avoided misgendering the demon, can we get back to the fact that I have a demon sticking out of me!?" Splash hissed back, apparently not silent enough since a few people looked at her somewhat perplexed, resulting in her giving Id another glare. "Oh, quiet down. It's not a literal demon from Tartarus. It is your demon, your inner demon," he returned in such a casual manner that only furthered Splash's aggravation. "Oh, yeah, that calms me down right away. If I knew what any of that meant!" Splash huffed back, crossing her arms, the wrinkles on her forehead only growing. He looked up at her with a labored sigh and simply stated: "I guess I have to start at square one, Foxy. Are you familiar with the concept of an inner demon?" "I’m sorry, a what now?” She simply returned, a genuine look of confusion on her face. “She’s clueless. You gotta spell it out for her,” Id added, shrugging with her shoulders and shaking her head with a light chuckle. “Shut up you….” She grumbled back, only to be cut off by him. “An inner demon can be best described as the voice inside your head that tells you to do the first thing that comes to your mind. It’s a part of your subconscious, unrestrained by morality, thought, or any other form of tempering. Some say it is your purest essence; others, it is a voice that guides you to a righteous path. But one thing is certain: it consists of all the emotions we keep bottled up. Regret, anger, and sorrow coalesced into a being with a singular goal. Act!” He finished, his eyes looking at her for the first time, a cold certainty in them. “My… subconciouss… She’s… Me?” Splash raised an eyebrow before staring at Id, who simply tilted her head in return. “Correct, at least partially. She is a part of you, not all of it. And from the looks of it, we have a demon of the Devil variety here,” he finished. However, Splash’s continued confused look made him sigh and go on: “A demon born from selfish desires and thoughts. They spawn from people who look out for themselves first and foremost. Who feel like they lack something, at least most of the time.” “Oh, thank you, Mr. first-year psych student, with his bullshit!” She growled back. “If I wanted to be insulted, I could have just looked for Colour again.” “Oh, don’t be mistaken. I’m not judging you. I’ve seen enough goodhearted people with a devilish demon and enough awful ones with an angelic one. Only because one’s desires spawn from a selfish place doesn’t mean they are wrong. Just as angelic demons aren’t born perfect, either. A demon birthed from the wish to guide others and from helping them can just as easily be twisted into a controlling, overbearing, intolerant obsession. A demon is nothing more than unshackled desires, good or bad; it really doesn’t matter to them,” he finished, leaving a silent Splash Page on the other side of the table. “Right… Either way, not like it matters. Where did she come from, and how do I get rid of her?” She responded, her voice a lot calmer, but one could still feel the edge in it. “Oh, how cute. She thinks she can get rid of me,” Id added, her ghostly elbow leaning on Splash’s shoulder, earning her another glare. “For the how, she manifested separately from your subconscious once you put on the Driver. Just like using a Vistamp would have. As for getting rid of her, I have to concur with your little kitsune, Foxy, you ain’t. Better get used to it, I guess,” he simply shrugged, yawning even. “Get used to it!?” She shouted out, completely ignoring all the angry looks she was attracting. “How am I supposed to get used to it! Everyone will think I’m a freak!” “Oh, calm down, Foxy,” he returned disinterestedly, already back on his laptop. “Not like anyone without a demon can see her. Just have to be a bit more careful when talking to her.” “I… That… Grrr!” She growled, fist clenching her fist as she glared at him. “My, our little scientist is really asking for it, ain’t he?” Id slily whispered into her ear. “Yeah, he really do-“ She muttered to herself as she suddenly stopped mid-sentence and glared at the demon. “You! Stop trying to manipulate me!” “Me!? Manipulate you!? Why, I would never!” It came back as a response from Id, sounding as fake as the demon could muster, which only ticked Splash more off. “Foxy, Kitsune, are you done with your little game now?” It cut through their little argument like a knife as he spoke up again. “ Because as amusing as your little spat is, we still got things to do. Next question. And make it quick, Foxy.” Splash narrowed her eyes, internally agreeing with her demon but swallowing that thought… for now. “Colour. What… was he and the bird?” “Ahhhh! Now you are asking the right questions!” He returned with a chuckle as he pulled out the ‘stamp’ they had retrieved from the bird monster. “This is a Vistamp! A device able to awaken one's inner demon with just one willing press of a button!” He imitated the motion of stamping himself with an unnerving grin. “And you expect me to believe a stamp like that could turn you into a monster? Yeah, fat chance,” she scoffed back, crossing her arms. “I mean, we got a hero who uses disks to transform, so, really. Is that so far-fetched, Foxy?” She simply remained quiet. “See, I knew you were at least moderately intelligent,” he smiled back, cutting off her restored as he continued nonchalantly. “But yes, these babies are what creates the 'Deadman'. The monsters you’ve seen. They are a human's inner demon being brought to the outside and changing the host's body into something stronger. Simply put, once humans willingly unleash their demon, they switch places. The demon takes control while the human sits back and has to watch it act. Most are actually quite content with that arrangement,” he shrugged. “Wait… So… That wasn’t Colour, but…” She started to mutter, only for him to cut in once more. “Exactly! That was his demon. And my, it really went to town on you. Seems your separation left some marks on him. Poor fellow,” he continued, playing up his empathy far too much. “Shut the fuck up!” She simply retorted, a cold glare directed at the strange man. “You don’t know a damn thing about this! I also don’t give a damn about what you think or who you think is at fault here. All I want is for this to be over already. So, you better tell me how I turn him back, or you’re staying longer in this hospital than you’d like!” Raising his hands, he returned in an annoyingly calm voice. “Easy, easy, Foxy. I’ll tell you. You simply need to knock them out; at that point, the demon won’t have the strength to keep control and return to where they spawned. Question is, would your friend even want that.” “Don’t you want to punch him anyway?” Id added, not even looking at the man. “We’ll punch him later,” Splash returned, nodding at her demon. “For now, we still need him. Much as I hate it.” “Exactly! I knew you’d be a great fit to be my hero,” he chuckled, but there was the hint of a genuine smile under all the smugness. “Listen, I’m not anyo-“ she tried to return as she was interrupted by a familiar voice. “Ah, there you two are…” Spray simply said, his voice still quite exhausted. Splash turned around, looking at him, two crutches firmly pressed under his arms. His leg had been covered in bandages, and his face was still swollen, at least where his skin showed under the plasters. “So, how… are you?” Splash simply asked, Id hovering behind her, eyeing him as well. “A broken leg, a few cracked ribs, but besides that, mostly only sore,” Spray muttered in return, noticeably avoiding her gaze. “Good, good..” she returned. “They call you a dumbass without feeling bad about it. What in Tartarus did you drag me into!?” Looking over to his scientist “friend”, she added a snippy “And who the fuck is this guy anyway?” “You know, you could have just asked,” the man replied drily. “But sure, let’s do it the roundabout way,” he added with a shrug. “Su… Sure…” Spray returned, awkwardly sitting down, taking an uncomfortably long time. “Splash, that’s… Ebony Sun, right?” Ebony simply nodded in return. “He… approached me yesterday, telling me where Colour was and… told me to contact you this morning,” he continued, avoiding eye contact with Splash. “I… really didn’t want to, but he said we needed you.” Splash turned back to Ebony, raising an eyebrow. “You needed me? Why?” “Is this a question that really interests you? You simply were a good test subject for the Driver. Simple as is. Don’t have to think much of it. Mostly because your friend, I’m sorry, ex-friend was the Deadman. You can call it luck, probability, or fate, whatever floats your boat, Foxy. Either way, the why doesn’t really matter; the what does far more,” he simply returned, the smug look on his face letting her brows throw even more. “Sure, whatever. And the what is? What even is Colour doing with one of those-“ “Vistamps!” He interrupted, almost as if he had known the fact she had forgotten the name already. “Yes, yes, that thing! What is he doing with something like this? How did he even get his hands on it? And why was he fighting that bird ‘Deadman’?” “Oh, simple, he joined a cult,” he responded far too nonchalantly. “That is not an answer. Also, the fuck?” She almost instantly threw back, only realizing halfway through what she had just heard. “You heard me. Your Colour joined a cult. Comedia, to be precise. They are a Deadman cult entirely composed of devil-type demons. They use their club, Cataclysm Paradise, as a recruiting ground for their religious war with the Children of True Love, an angelic cult from the city. Your friend is just another in a long line of marks for them, really,” Ebony started to recite as if this was the most normal thing in the world. “These two cults are current- “Great, demonic gang war was exactly what this city needed right now. But, no offense-“ Splash interrupted him, with a clearly strained tone in her voice, only to be interrupted herself by the sly demon beside her. “Offense very much intended.” Splash glared at Id, who gave her the best “innocent as the day you were born”-impression she could muster in return. Splash simply sighed and shook her head. How the hell was she supposed to get used to… this? “Look, I don’t care about this little turf war from Tartarus; I just want to get this over with and save my friend from himself, ok?” She finished, her expression softening a bit, the day's exhaustion clearly setting in now. “But you should care about it. How will you fight your enemies as a Rider without knowing them,” Ebony returned, matter of fact. “I think you’re not getting it, numbskull. I’m not a Rider. At least not for long. I’ll get Colour back, make sure he doesn’t get his hands on the stamp, and then I’m out. I don’t wanna play hero! Why should I? To help some shmucks who don’t know me, have never done anything for me, and would ignore me at the drop of a hat? Yeah, fat chance!” She huffed back. “I’m not your hero. I’m not anyone's hero! And I don’t wanna be! Got that?” Ebony actually looked up from his laptop at this, about to reply something, but no words came out of his mouth. “Oh, you caught him off guard? That’s new,” Id chuckled in her ear, Splash swatting her away like a particularly annoying fly. “Welll… Fine,” Ebony finally found his voice again, but his tone had soured lightly. “Not like you are my only potential Rider. Either way, it doesn’t matter right now. Maybe you’ll change your opinion once we are done. Either way, we have to finish this first.” “Good. Glad we are on the same page,” she muttered, tempted to roll her eyes at his comment but decided to be the better woman. She did, however, catch Id, rolling her head mockingly beside her. Oh, this was going to be a pain in the butt. “So, how exactly are we gonna do that?” “Oh, don’t worry! I have just the plan,” he simply chuckled, seemingly having regained his composure. ()E+I() Meanwhile, not too far from where Splash had clashed with the two Deadman, Colour had snuck back into an abandoned subway station. A place filled to the brim with spray paint and old, damaged furniture, creating a “comfy” hangout for him. But the atmosphere was far from comfy right now. Tense was a far more apt description. A man with a white, light pinkish complexion and vibrant pink hair leaned against one of the pillars. Dressed in a dark brown angler vest, complete with a matching hat, and sporting a warm smile, the man didn’t evoke any intimidating presence, but that certainly didn’t seem to calm Colour. “So, if I got this right, our bird friend has been dealt with?” He simply asked, not breaking his smile for a second. “Yea…” Colour returned, keeping his gaze fixed on a wall entirely opposite to him, seemingly admiring his own work. “She won’t be a problem anymore.” “That’s good. So, where is the stamp?” “The… stamp?” He stuttered back, his breath quickening a bit. “Yeah, the Vistamp? You didn’t just leave it there, right?” The man chuckled back before adding a second. “Right?” “Of- Of course, I didn’t just leave it there,” he returned, trying to add a few light chuckles that only come off as exceedingly awkward. “Then where is it?” The man asked, whispering right into his ear. In an instant, Colour spun around, staring directly into his smile. He could have sworn he was leaning against the pillar at least 10 meters away. “Some… Someone… may have taken… it,” he stammered back, his words coming out of his mouth without any further thought. The man raised an eyebrow. “Riders! Riders took it!” “Riders?” He dropped the smile for a moment, his eyes focusing on Colour, as if they were trying to pierce right through his head and into his brain. “Who? Alchemy? Charge or Monster? Or even Gaia?” “I… None of them… They… They were new! – I’ve never seen them before,” He stammered back, sweat dripping off his forehead as he was examined meticulously. “They… Called themselves Ego and… Id… I think. They used a stamp to… transform.” “I see…” He gave him one more look before pulling back, his smile reappearing like it had never left. “Clever boy. Trying to claim the Rider’s victory for your own, weren’t you?” “Wh-What? N-No! I’d nev-“ He respondede back, the panic in his voice barely disguised, if at all. “Shhhh! Don’t worry. I think that’s a good quality to have. Knowing what others want to hear. But, you should maybe pick your battles better,” he chuckled. “Maybe, next time, get all their stamps before calling in the big shots, boy. Then you might even real in your catch.” “You… You want me to… fight the Riders?” “Want? Me?” The man laughed mockingly and shook his head. “I don’t want anything from you. I was simply giving you some tips, you get me?” “Yes… I understand… Oleander,” Colour nodded, nervously looking at the man. “Well, that’s lovely. Now, if you excuse me, I have some information to share. Have fun, boy,” Oleander added, waving his hand, before heading out of the subway station. The moment he left, Colour deflated into one of the damaged couches he had dragged down here and let out a loud sigh. “Motherfucker! Guess we aren’t done just yet, Splash… Guess I get to show you I’m better than you now,” he muttered before transitioning into an excited chuckle. “What do you mean ‘Are you sure we should do that’? You should trust me, man. I know what you want. Now, zip it, we’ve got work to do!” He added to seemingly no one. ()E+I() Spash Page was a wreck. Or at least, that’s how she felt and probably looked. It had been past midnight when she came home, and even though she felt exhausted, sleep just didn’t want to come. Absolutely not helped by her demon making constant, snarky remarks whenever she was just about to drift off. She may have gotten three hours of sleep in, max. Worst of all, Id seemed no worse for wear, or at least was good at hiding it. The constant chattering and giggling from the demon was just the cherry on top. Until now, she had managed to avoid shouting at her, but the glares she gave the creature had been noticed. Especially by Swift Pen, who was glancing over nervously at her every chance she got. It wasn’t till lunch that she finally spoke up after paying again for her meal. “Anything… happened yesterday? I hope your friend is OK,” she carefully tried to breach the topic. “Didn’t I tell you not to worry? It’s my problem, not yours. So forget about it,” she tried to dismiss with a shake of her hand. “You… Sure? You look… Awful,” she tried again, the worry written on her face, which only became more pronounced with every second that passed. “Yes!” She hissed back. Swift immediately jerked back, eyes wide open as she stared at her. After staring at her for a few seconds, Splash's expression turned into a frown. “Oh my. And I thought I was the monster in this relationship?” Id playfully whispered into her ear. “Shut it!” Spray hissed through gritted teeth, her look trying to take Id into focus, but the demon was hiding behind her, chuckling. “Hey, I’m not the one responsible here. That’s on you,” she returned. “I may have wanted to hiss at her, but you did it. So, I’m innocent. That’s how it works, right?” Splash simply gritted her teeth, which only seemed to make Swift Pen all the more concerned for her. “You… You real sure… You seem… On edge…” She tried once more, her voice quiet and quite shaky. “I… Sorry. I’m fine. I just… Barely had any sleep tonight and last night… Was kinda… Eventful,” she sighed, her posture relaxing a bit. “But, really. Don’t worry. I’ll deal with this shitshow today, and then I never have to worry about it ever again. And everything will go back to the usual, shitty normal,” she continued with a light chuckle. “You still don’t want me around for this then?” Swift asked one last time, the embers of hope carried by her soft voice. “No, I really don’t. This is not your problem. And it’s almost over anyway. You don’t need to get involved,” Splash returned, her voice with a light, awkward undertone. “O… OK…” Swift nodded, almost sounding disappointed. “If you say so.” “Hey, I said don’t worry. Tomorrow’s food is on me, OK?” Splash chuckled, Swift nodding absentmindedly in return. “I give this apology a four out of ten. Still needs some work,” the demon chimed in, earning an exhausted exhale from Splash. ()E+I() “So, what exactly is your great plan now?” Splash muttered, arms crossed, rolling her eyes as she walked next to Ebony. She met up with him following work, shortly after she said goodbye to Swift. “Oh, simple, really. He’s not done with us yet. He’ll want the stamp! That means he’s gonna keep an eye on us. It’s dead simple,” he casually returned, flipping the lime green Vistamp up before catching it again. “You said your plan was more than just aimlessly wandering yesterday! Sure doesn’t look that way!” She huffed, her eyes wandering across the crowds that kept on ignoring them like anybody else. “This is barely a concept!” “It’s not aimless! I know where we are going. Spray gave me a good hint. We need a secluded place, but will not let him just sit idly by. You should know where we are going,” it returned before he casually started to whistle. “You can’t be fucking serious!” “Oh, we both know he is,” Id added with a chuckle, right next to the exasperate Splash Page. “Hey, I think you got it. And really, do you think he’ll be able to resist this chance? Too much buried emotion. It’s like a shitty telenovela. Unable to be contained.” “Right, yeah, great comparison,” she hissed back. “How do you even know about this place?” “My guess is on Spray. He was never one for keeping his mouth shut. Well, except that one time,” the demoness mused next to her before floating into her field of view. “Correct, Kitsune! He did inform me of your… split-up point yesterday after you left for bed, Foxy. Missed all the fun reminiscing,” he encountered, turning around and giving her a smug grin. “Yes, fun, sure,” she groaned before looking up at the quickly darkening sky. They weren’t far off now, a fact that made her weirdly uncomfortable if she was honest. “By the way, Foxy, we are being followed!” She was about to turn back when she heard a hiss from Ebony once more. “No looking! Don’t wanna scare off our little prey, now want we?” “Yes, we don’t want that, riiiiight?” The demon joined in, the sweet voice just annoying her further. “Oh, haha, very funny.” “Thank you, I’ll be here all week, every week,” Id returned, with a delighted smugness in her voice. It didn’t take long till they had reached their destination. An old city park with a basketball court and, most importantly, a perfect wall for tagging. The fact that rarely anyone ever came here was the cherry on top. Or, it was when she still indulging in her hobby. Nowadays, she avoided the park; too much jealousy, if she was being honest. They stepped into the court and towards the wall covered in a new set of graffiti, probably not even a day old, as Ebony stopped dead in his tracks before simply stating, his voice above a simple conversation: “You can come out now! I knew you were following us for a while now.” A sudden gasp for air and some nervous footsteps later, the unknown stalker made themselves known, something Splash did not expect. Instead of a wannabe punk, it was a petite, pink woman, Swift Pen. “I- I mean… It’s-“ She started to stammer, clearly caught off guard by her quick discovery. “Swift? What are you doing here!? Didn’t I tell you I didn’t need your help?” Splash burst out, stepping closer to her coworker, who took a slight step back. “You really got a way with words, Splash. Really. Some people could learn a lot from you,” the demon added in a deadly dry tone. “Zipp it, Id!” She hissed to her side, not that it seemed to bother Id in the slightest. “I… I’m sorry… I was just… worried… ok?” Swift finally managed to stutter out, her hair falling over her face, allowing her to hide a bit behind it. “I’m fine…” She sighed, shaking her head. “I really don’t need any help her-“ She tried to get through to her once more. For as much of a doormat Swift was, she was damn stubborn, Splash had to admit. “Oh, you do need help. At least if you don’t hand over your two stamps!” A voice echoed across the court, making everyone spin around and towards the wall. On top of it, a familiar face greeted them, Colour Contrast. He was sitting right on it, almost lounging on it. “Colour! Couldn’t you have waited a few more minutes till I solved this? Seriously?” She huffed back, glaring at the young man, who rolled his eyes instead and jumped off the wall. “As if I care. Just give me the things, and this is all over,” he simply stated, taking a few steps closer to them. Swift looked nervously at the man. “Yeah, fat chance that. I may not really care about any of this, but I’m not dumb enough to hand a cult this shit!” She returned dismissively. “Fine!” He shot back with a snippy tone. “Then I just have to take what is rightfully mine, I guess!” From his pocket emerged a dark blue Vistamp; Splash could swear she could see a fish on it, even from this distance. ()Anglerfish!() Pieces of paper, almost like being kicked up by a gust of wind, swirled around him before covering his body in them. The lines on them started to glow a deep blue before a shockwave pushed them away, once again revealing the Anglerfish Deadman, who wasted no time rushing towards her, starting with one Tartarus of a haymaker. Eyes widening, Spalsh barely managed to duck under the swing, rushing past him, only to be caught by his backhand, sending her flying into the fence. Her back slammed into it, followed by a series of blunt pain in her back, accompanied by a ringing sound; she wasn’t even sure if it was coming from the fence or her head. “Splash!? You OK!?” It finally pierced through her dazed senses, only now realizing she had been sent flying next to Swift. The woman looked mortified; her already pale pink skin had turned utterly white, and one could see the fear in her eyes. “No… No, I’m not,” she growled through gritted teeth, pushing herself up. “But I will be, really damn soon…” “Oh, you better be. After all, he deserves to be taught a lesson,” Id added in a sneering tone. Pulling out the Driver she had been given, she slammed it on her waist as Colour kept approaching, each step more forceful than the last. ()Psyde-Driver!() “Get to cover…” Splash simply said, her hand tightening around her own Vistamp. “But-“ Swift tried to argue. “I said go!” She shouted back, raising the Vistamp above her head. ()Fox!() Slamming it down, she simply screamed a loud, angry: “Henshin!” ()Flip Out! F-F-Fox!() ()Draw Up!() (Sketch-( )Splash-) ()ing!() (Paint-( )Spray-) ()ing!() ()Kamen Rider() (Ego!( )Id!) ()Ego Plus Id!()) Id once more appeared around her, holding the giant stamp before slamming it down on her, the armor congealing as she burst forth from it, directly at Colour, smashing her fist into his stomach and sending him staggering back despite his weight. “Hey, hey, leave me some of the fun as well!” Id shouted from behind her, casually strolling next to her. “Well, if you want some, you gotta be faster then,” she dismissed her before dashing forward again. Almost like a gunshot, the next hit echoed out across the park as Ego’s fist slammed into Colour’s fist, as both combatants tried to push the other back. But instead of giving Colour another solid smack, he proved far stronger than the Rider, knocking her fist back, followed by a backhand that sent her flying backward, once more into the chainlink fence, and right through this time. Managing to dig her fingers into the concrete, she caught herself again, letting out a long exhale. “That’s all? Come on, hit me like you mean it!” She shouted back, pulling herself back into a standing position. He simply glared at her, arching the palm of his hand like a claw, as a bright glowing ball of orange energy formed inside it. With a loud scream, he rocketed the orb directly at her. The explosion was massive; a good three fence segments were consumed instantly as pieces of metal rained down on the snow around them, quickly melting it. As the smoke had settled, Ego had barely managed to get out of the blast radius, her breath clearly labored. But she had done what she wanted. Utterly unnoticed by the Deadman, Id leaped upward, jumping on his shoulders, before hooking her feet around his waist, or at least as far as she could. He had completely forgotten she was even there in the first place. Loud screams and grunts were all he could muster as he bucked like a fish on land, and the Rider had gotten comfortable on top of him. “Gotcha! Guess the angler was caught this time,” the demon chuckled, aiming her paint-tube gun at the back of his head and unloading a salve of shots at him. His screams grew only louder with each impact, quickly shifting from surprise and pain to simple fury. It didn’t take long till his hand gripped tightly around Id’s foot, and with one mighty pull, he slammed her down onto the concrete, pieces of stone shooting up in the air as he let her slam into the ground, leaving a deep crater behind, before rolling a few meters further. His hand flared up with energy again as he hissed: “You might not be really her, but this will be just as good!” Id barely managed to get up off the ground enough to see the ball being slammed at her, or at least, she would have if another kick from Ego hadn’t diverted the course. The Rider hat dashed forward, crouched under his arm, and pulled her knee up just in time to send the bomb sky high, followed by an explosion that lit off the night sky like a firework. “Always getting in my way, are you…” The Deadman hissed as he tried to strike out at her once more, his uppercut missing her by, at most, the tip of a thinger. “Oh, I’m getting in your way? Good joke! You were the one who abandoned me! You left me on my own because of Spray’s advice! And here I am again, saving your ass!” Splash shouted back, dodging once more and delivering a solid punch to his gut, the fat over his body shaking like pudding, but it didn’t bother Color much. “The only one who was always in your way was you! You didn’t trust your own talent. I wasn’t holding you back; you were!” With a loud, primal scream, he summoned two more explosives in his fists, but instead of chucking them at her again, he dashed forward and used them like a bludgeon. Splash's eyes widened underneath her helmet, trying to dodge, but she already knew she wasn’t fast enough. BOOM! Splash was thrown backward, feeling the immense heat of the explosion wash over her, but she had expected worse. It hurt, sure, but it wasn’t like being hit by a truck strapped with C4. As she opened her eyes again, she was lying a few meters away from the monster, but to her surprise, he looked like he had also been thrown off his feet. “Careful there. If you, I die as well,” a familiar voice whispered in her ear. With a groan, she pushed herself back to her feet, only to be greeted with a green Vistamp. “Present from Ebony. He thinks turning this into a ranged fight might improve our odds,” the demon chuckled as Ego grabbed the stamp. Pulling the Driver back into the starting position, she replaced her fox Vistamp with the new one. ()Hawk!() Flipping the stamp back into position, Id turned translucent again, grabbed a giant Vistamp, and slammed the thing on top of her, the lime green covering her current armor. ()Flip Out! H-H-Hawk!() ()Draw Up!() (Soar-( )Roar-) ()ing!() (Fly-( )Cry-) ()ing!() ()Highspeed Hawk Hunter() “Don’t think just using a different stamp will save you from me!” Colour shouted as he pushed himself up once more, two more bombs already forming in his hands. With another loud, piercing scream, he catapulted them at the two Riders. A gust of smoke and dust kicked up as they hit the ground, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction, only to turn sour once more as the wind was blown away, two figures shooting up into the sky, completely unharmed. Ego’s pink had been replaced by lime green, her helmet now resembling that of a hawk with deep red bug eyes. Two wing-like scarves extended from her back and wrapped around her neck, and a stylized hawk stamp appeared on her chest. Id’s sweater far more resembled a flying jacket now, just like Ego; the pink had shifted to lime green. Her mask resembled the Tengu Deadman, just far less long. Her tail had changed to a bird's tail feathers, and two bird wings emerged from the jacket, flapping behind her. Screaming even louder, the Deadman threw more and more of his bombs up into the sky, each one lighting up the night and drowning out even the light of the approaching sirens. But no matter how many he threw up, they only kept illuminating the two figures gliding through them like an obstacle course. “Distract him already!” Ego shouted over at Id, her voice barely carrying over the explosions. Still, the demonic Rider dashed lower, or more precisely, shot towards the ground, only turning back up before hitting the ground. Like a bullet train, she raced towards Colour, whose look fixated on her, about to unleash another explosion on her. BANG! Another loud scream filled the air, the glowing orb in his hand fizzling out as he stumbled backward, holding his shoulder. He growled, trying to ignore the sizzling wound on his shoulder, eyes darting across the sky to find the attacker until finally- There she was! Ego was flapping her “wings” in the air, holding herself steady while aiming what could only be described as a rifle at him. Its main body was a bright white, with the underlying structure being black. Lime green paint splashes covered the gun, and at the back of it all, there was what looked like a white bottle with a hawk symbol attached to the firearm, with a slot for a Vistamp to be inserted. As he looked over to his shoulder, he only realized the green paint covering it. Then he felt another sudden surge of pain, as sparks burst off his side, Colour only realizing after a few moments that he was screaming out in agony. As he looked behind himself, he barely caught a glimpse of a spiraling Id, that had seemingly corkscrewed herself into him with her wings. Panting, he glared at her before rushing straight forward, pushing past the searing pain, his only aim to crush that damn Rider in his hands. Id simply jumped backward, pushed further by her wings, when he had barely made it halfway towards her; something followed by an explosion of sparks and pain across his stomach. Small feathers had crashed into him, clearly launched by the demon from her wings. “Well, seems you are lucky we took care of your bird friend, Colour,” Id chuckled, stroking her chin. “Because clearly, you weren’t gonna manage it even if you tried.” With another loud scream, Colour rushed forward, even powering through another salvo of feathers, and tried to clock Id straight in her face, only for the demon to barely manage to weave out of his swings once, twice… But the third time he would hit, he could see it, and so could Id. His fist raced forward, straight towards her- “Gah!” It echoed across the court as the lime paint exploded all over his face, sending him tumbling backward as the pain finally set in. Desperately trying to wipe away the stain, his eyes darted across the sky, searching for Ego, all while Id, slyly slipped behind him and got some distance between them. There she was! The damn Rider was flying circles around him in the air, firing shot after shot with her gun at him; each he managed to just stop with one of his bombs, something that made finding her harder and harder as the dust and smoke clouded the air between them. “Get back down here and fight me!” He bellowed across the sky; the only answer he received was another paintball he caught out of the air. “Oh, am I not enough for you?” Id’s voice came from behind. Spinning around, he was greeted by a foot in his face that once more pushed him backward as Id landed in front of him. She had shot herself towards him and readjusted midair to turn her speed into force. “Ego, now is your chance!” “I wasn’t done yet!” It came back as a response, and the sky cleared up enough now to reveal the Rider kneeling on a nearby building and inserting a Vistamp into the gun. ()ColourSplashDuo!() ()Hawk!() The gun started to glow a bright green, illuminating the position of the Rider even clearer. “Well, I still needed a distraction, after all!” Id shouted from behind him, grabbing his arms simultaneously and, with one swift motion, shut up into the air, Colour in tow. As much as he struggled, he didn’t manage to dislodge the Rider from himself until he was at least four dozen meters off the ground. At that point, Id simply dropped him, shooting further into the air. “Sorry, Colour, you lost!” Splash said, her voice was soft. ()Hawk Colour Splash!() Pulling the trigger, a green beam of energy shot toward the Deadman, hitting him square in the chest and halting him in midair. Green bolts of energy surged across his body as his screams echoed across the city's roofs until finally… BOOM! The explosion was bigger and brighter than any that had come before, and through it all, one could see the hawk symbol she carried on her chest in the middle of the explosion. Under her helmet, a broad smile crept across her lips as she saw the explosion, the green emanating from it, and the shockwave that had kicked up the snow around her. Without wasting another moment, she had already dove off the building, sweeping into the explosion cloud before shooting out onto another nearby building, the wannabe punk in her arms. With an exhausted sigh, she lowered him back to the ground, where he groaned, slowly opening his eyes as he looked up at her. “Splash…” He simply muttered as she slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position. Meanwhile, she had canceled her transformation and stood above him in her regular clothes, her demon curiously hovering beside her. Her expression was tired and stiff as she looked down on him before finally breaking the awkward silence. “You are a fucking idiot!” Colour just blinked for a few moments before letting out a quiet chuckle, nodding in agreement. “I guess I am… I’m sorry…” “No.” She simply returned. “No?” He asked, tilting his head lightly, the confusion written on his face. “You heard me. No, I don’t accept your apology.” “I… I understand… After what I did… Or rather, didn’t do, I really can’t blame you,” he sighed, lowering his gaze back to the ground. “Not that!” She hissed back, making Colour look back up in confusion. “That you are such a weak-willed idiot! You are fucking talented! Why don’t you get it! Back at the skatepark, I meant it when I said the work was good! It’s damn good, and it got so much potential to grow! Why do you not just realize that you don’t need any fucking cult or me to get there? You always look for someone to prop you up, but you don’t need it! You never need it! Grow a fucking spine! Take what you fucking want, and don’t depend on others again!” Colour’s lip shook, his breaths became deeper, more ragged as his hands tightened around the snow on the rooftop. “You’re right…” he weakly pressed out before letting out a pained grunt as he pushed himself back up. Shakily and slowly, but he did until he stood face to face with Splash. “You’re right. I’m a coward… A coward who always needs someone to tell them that I’m doing right. When you praised my art, when Spray told me to keep quiet and abandon you, and now with my demon… I’ve always needed support more than I should have, but that stops now! I’ll try and- No! I will stand on my own feet and take what I want, starting now! Starting with you!” Splash's eyes widened, taken aback by the last part of Colour's proclamation. “With… me?” “Yes! I know you probably don’t wanna see me ever again after today, but I do! I missed you! I wanted to reach out, but I never did! I want you back, not as a support, but as a friend! It may never be the same, we probably will never tag again, but I just… Want to… Have you around!” Colour looked at her, his eyes reminding her of his eyes from back at the skatepark, which were just… less bitter. There was a fire in them that she had never really seen in them. “Oh my, seems your words had a far bigger effect than you had anticipated,” Id whispered into her ears, knocking her out of the thoughts that had crashed down on her like several rivers. Before she could answer, the door to the roof was pushed open as Ebony and Swift burst through, both clearly out of breath. “Found you, Foxy!” The scientist shouted, still catching his breath. “Good job down there!” He chuckled, raising his hand at her. “So, where is the Vistamp of Fishy here?” With an exasperated sigh, she shook her head. Without wasting another word, she pulled the Driver and the two Vistamps out from her pocket. “You sure about this,” Id’s sickly sweet voice asked. “I know how-“ Before the demon could continue, Splash threw them at Ebony's feet, who stared at them for a few seconds before looking at her in a mixture of surprise and horror. “What?” “What do you mean, ‘What’? I’m done! Our deal is finished. I’m just giving you your hero stuff back,” she shrugged, making moves to simply walk off. “You- You want to quit? You want to give up the chance to do something important? Be a hero? Be… A Rider?” Ebony shouted back, grabbing the device and taking a few frantic steps towards Spalsh. “Yes! Like I said, I’m no one’s hero! I don’t care. Thank you for helping me save this idiot. Seriously, thank you! But that was all I wanted! If you want a hero, you must look for someone else,” she returned dismissively. “You really want to just-“ “Yes, Id, I want!” She forcefully returned to the demon. “But… How could you not want to be a Rider! The 'Deadman' aren’t defeated! They’ll come back! They will turn this city into a warzone! You could have the power to make a difference! To change people for the better! To touch them… deep inside? How could you not want to!?” Ebony exclaimed, his questions turning more and more into shouts with each word he spoke. “Splash…” Swift muttered, barely audible, as she fidgeted awkwardly with her fingers, looking at Splash worriedly. “Do you just not get it, or do you just not want to?” She hissed back, stepping towards him, glaring directly into his eyes. “I’m not a hero! I’ll never be a hero! I can’t change people by simply beating up monsters! And I don’t want to! The world doesn’t work like that! I just want to be happy! And burdening myself with a responsibility like that, why would that make me happy? Maybe ask Alchemy or the other Riders if they know someone to play hero for you. Maybe they’ll find someone who can live up to your dream, but it’s not me!” Ebony glared at her, his fists clenching, and she half expected him to swing for her, but he simply took a long, deep breath and turned away from her. “We’ll see about that! I saw the potential in you! I saw that strong demon! I know I found you for a reason! And you’ll see it soon as well!” Ebony growled, shoving the Driver and the Vistamps before turning away from her with another huff. “Yeah, right, sure,” she muttered and started to move before stopping a few steps away from the door. “As for you, Colour. Call me when you make something better than what you did back at the skatepark. Something from you this time, then we’ll see!” The man simply nodded with a relieved sigh. “See ya tomorrow, Swift,” she added before slamming the door shut behind her before the woman had even a chance to respond. “We’ll see how you hold up, Foxy,” he muttered, looking over to the two other people on the roof until his eyes stopped on Swift Pen, a smirk forming. “Or perhaps…” ()E+I() Meanwhile, what remained of the basketball court had been covered in the red and blue light of police cars. Officers swarmed the scene, trying to get as clean of a perimeter as possible. But the air was different, more tense than one would expect, even after a battle like this. And it was all flowing towards one point, one person. A woman dressed in a black suit and a light blue shirt underneath. Her skin was a pale yellow, and her blue hair was tied behind her in a ponytail. On her hip was a badge, but instead of an average police officer badge, it simply read “MRG – Magical Research Group”. A government agency that had only recently stepped into the limelight ever since magic became an undeniable fact of life and not just something swept under the rug. They nowadays coordinated the Kamen Riders and dealt with anything that could turn into a monster threat. It was no wonder they were here right now. Leaning forward, the agent was looking at something lying in the snow. It had already been covered by a light layer, hiding it at least decently well, even if parts of the blue shined through it. “What do we have here…” she muttered as she pulled the strange stamp-like device out from under the snow. “A Vistamp…” Author's Note And here we have Chapter 2, which only took... almost 2 years... Ups! Yeah, sorry for that; I seriously hope the wait for the next one won't be as long as this. As an apology, or at least somewhat one, have a look at our favorite demon in all her glory, Id: Empty! Hollow! What Now!?Beep! Beep! Beep! The alarm sounded as obnoxious as ever, ringing through her bedroom without mercy. With a groan, Splash dragged herself up from her warm mattress and grabbed her phone, silencing the loud sound. Another groan later, she had dragged herself upright and was now sitting on the edge of her bed. She didn't feel all at that rested, less so than usual, if she was honest. No wonder, honestly; yesterday was a long day. Stretching herself, she finally managed to find the motivation to rise from the bed and pull herself to the kitchen. One could have mistaken this morning for any other if not for the floating ghostlike demon beside her humming a song she had heard yesterday while walking through the city. Apparently, an earworm Id could not get out of her head, much to Spray's delight. No matter how much she tried to shut her up, the humming would return within a few minutes. Eventually, she had just given up. What she hadn't given up on was her new coffee pot. It wasn't shabby at all, which honestly surprised her, given Spray Can was usually a cheapskate like no other. But this one was sturdy and even looked kinda neat, even she had to admit that. Her former friend had apparently decided to make a more personal payment, decorating it with Colour's, his, and her former tagger symbols. From the looks of it, he had used an airbrush for it. She had no idea how he had managed that this quick with his crutches, but she also didn't really care. A quick chuckle and shake of her head later, the coffee had been poured into her thermos and into a cup for her breakfast. "He can be quite cute when he wants to, doesn't he, "Id mumbled, leaning on the edge of the table and watching Splash eat. "I guess," she shrugged, taking another sip. "It's the least he can do after the shit he put me through, right?" "Perhaps, but I still find the extra effort charming," she giggled. "So, what are we gonna do today, my worse half?" "Better half," she scuffed, taking another sip. "And what do you think? Work! Like every weekday." "Oh, but that's boring! We both know you don't really wanna go. You wanna do something fun, exciting, riiiight?" The demon knowingly said. It was a real pain to argue with someone who knew what you were thinking, at least on a fundamental level. "Sure, and rent's gonna just pay itself, eh, dumbass? That's not how I get to do things. I'm just gonna enjoy my off hours. After this whole Rider business is over, maybe I can finally get something to paper again," she muttered, finishing her coffee. "Or I'm just gonna sleep some more when I'm home. We'll see." Id simply rolled her eyes as they left the building and headed to another oh-so-exciting day of work. ()E+I() Thankfully, she managed to arrive just in time for work, ready for all the usual bullshit. And it was just that for the first half of her day, her boss was still a bitch, the higher-ups unreasonable, and her workload enormous. All in all, one of the workdays of all time. What wasn't typical was the chatter in the office. Whenever Thorough Sketch was out of earshot, she managed to catch snippets of conversation, but instead of bitching about work, or Fortuna forbid, politics, today the topic seemed to be a different one. She didn't catch much at first, but with each snippet she heard, a picture started to assemble. They were talking about something big that had happened last night—the monster attack! Apparently, people had caught her fight on phones, mostly snippets, but "Kamen Rider Ego" and "Kamen Rider Id" were clearly able to be picked out from the footage, or at least that was what she caught. The conversations circled around how scary the monster was, how much property damage they had caused, and, most importantly, how cool the Rider was! At first, she had simply shaken her head while Id had snickered into her ear, "poking" her in the side and pointing between her and herself. She couldn't help but smirk a little bit herself. There was no way in Tartarus she had anticipated this kind of reaction. It was like an inside joke no one but she knew, which made this whole situation even funnier to her. She hadn't even noticed the fact the smile never slipped off her lips as Swift Pen leaned over, whispering into her ear: "Sleep well?" "Huh?" She muttered, looking over to her coworker with a befuddled expression. "Well… You look happy… More than usual, I mean…" She stammered, stumbling over her own words. "I mean… Not that you aren't happy… But… I…” “I… guess…” She returned, her cheeks flushing lightly. Anyone with even the worst hearing imaginable would have noticed that she sounded… not rather convincing. "You really need to work on your lying some more, or I'll become obsolete if you just give all your feelings away like that," Id fixed next to her, Splash turning her head and giving her a piercing glare. "You know I'm right," the demon added before retreating back into Splash. "Was… That your demon?" She whispered back, looking to where Id had disappeared. "Yeah… Her name is Id and… Wait, how do you know what a demon is?" Splash raised an eyebrow. "Uhm… Ebony told me… What they were after you left… yesterday," she returned hastily. "You just… talked to air right now… I just… assumed." "Ah… Yeah, I guess so. But don't worry, she can't actually do anything. She'd have to be able to touch something first for that," she nodded. "Ok… Good to hear. I don't want to deal with her. The way she fought was terrifying," she sighed in relief. "I don't care if the whole city is talking about it!" It suddenly shouted through the office, making Swift almost fall out of her chair, and even Splash spun around in shock. Thorough Sketch was standing in the middle of the room, glaring at everyone. "If I hear anything about Kamen Riders again today, I will make you regret it! You are supposed to work!" Swift quickly pulled her chair back to her tablet and got back to work. Splash, meanwhile, just rolled her eyes, smirking. The fact that she had managed to annoy her boss like this was certainly something worth celebrating, even if she couldn't share it. This was a joy she'd keep to herself and would not mind one bit. But still, she had to get back to work so as not to sour this little delight. ()E+I() She really was in a good mood. Even the food didn't taste nearly as bad as usual. Not that the sludge she had on her plate could be considered real mashed potatoes, but she would manage. Taking the first bite, her mind drifted back to work, or rather, the conversations that had run rampant. Even though Sketch had cursed and bitched some more, she couldn't suppress the talk about the local Rider. And even if it was awkward to hear about 'Her gorgeous curves' from a coworker, there was a weird sense of pride about it she couldn't quite a place. "Thanks again… Splash," Swift quietly returned, eating her salad hastily. "Eh, nothing really," she dismissively returned. I said I'd pay, and I'll pay. I'm a woman of my word." "Well, mostly because you don't wanna feel bad if you forgot," Id chuckled into her ear, in that sly, mocking tone she had already learned to loath. "Shut up, Id," she muttered, exasperated, before taking another bite. "She seems to be… quite the bother… doesn't she?" "You can say that again," Splash sighed, turning over to her coworker. "Be glad you don't have one," she added. Swift looked back at her with a weak smile and what sounded like a light huf. "I… I guess so. But… Maybe you are approaching her wrong? Don't you usually… you know… bargain with demons?" "Brilliant idea; bargaining with demons ends so well every time," she chuckled, taking another bite. "I don't know, I like the idea. A deal with the devil? What can go wrong?" The crafty demon added, Splash not even bothering to look over at her. "Yeah, fat fucking no from me. I have seen the movies. I'm not stupid," she dismissively returns. "I… See. Well, it's your demon, so… I'll leave it to you." "Yeah, don't worry, it's fine," Splash said with a weak smile. "Ok… Oh! I just wanted to say… You were fantastic yesterday! You… fought like you just escaped from Tartarus," Swift added, an awkward smile on her lips. "Hehe, I guess so," Splash returned, scratching the back of her head. The light blush on her cheeks was barely noticeable. "I'd be lying if I didn't have a little bit of fun, but that was all from me. I really don't wanna deal with any of that shit for longer than necessary." "I… I know what you said last time, but… Are you really sure?" She raised an eyebrow, having put down her fork, and now looked directly. "Yeah, are you really sure?" Id repeated, hovering right next to Swift's face. "Yeah… I'm sure," she returned with a sigh, followed by a quick glare at Id. "As fun and… exhilarating it is, and as much as I like the compliments they have about me, it's not just all fun and games. I'd be risking my life and the life of everyone around me, and honestly, fuck that noise. I'm not cut out for being a hero. The other Riders or the Power Rangers? Maybe? But me? Not in a thousand years," she sighed, poking around in her mashed potatoes. "I… See. I understand. That's a lot, isn't it?" "Yeah… If I would do it, every fuck up would be on me. And I don't care enough for people to stick my neck out for them. I mean, I'm no monster, so I don't want them to be killed, but besides that? Why should I risk myself for others? It's just… Too much pressure, you get that? But yeah, if I would fuck up, it'd be on me. I'd be responsible, and I just… Don't want to deal with that," Splash looked over to Swift, brows furrowed. She simply nodded and looked back down to her salad. "No shame in that, I guess. I'm sure Colour will see it that way as well." "Yeah… Colour… I'm sure he will," she groaned, looking back at her own food as well. "Anyway, different topic. Anything interesting on your end?" Splash awkwardly segued, which was followed by Swift telling her about her weekend with her parents that was coming up. She didn't really care all that much, but any topic was better than this. ()E+I() Thursday was pretty much like Wednesday; there was lots of annoying work and lots of talk about the Rider, and in general, it was just a normal day. Time didn't really fly by, but it was certainly a relatively mercifully short day, only interrupted by Id's stupid comments, and before she even knew it, she was back to bed and sound asleep. ()E+I() Friday felt similar but a lot less quick. The talk about the Riders was finally dying down, something she was happy about, she thought. As expected, this chapter of Fillydelphia would soon fade away and be forgotten again. But she had to admit, it was kinda shocking how fast that was happening. She had expected at least till next week. Oh well, not like she cared, right? Work simply moved along sluggishly until she returned home; she crashed again, falling asleep after a good while just lying in her bed. ()E+I() The alarm on Saturday was set to 1 AM, but even still, she barely got out of bed and, mainly through the nagging of Id. Dragging herself out of the pillows and into some clothes was even worse than when she was working. But she had some chores to do and some food to buy, so the threat of starvation did finally get her moving. That said, it didn't mean her day was gonna improve. The line at the grocery store was so long that she felt like she would turn to stone before she ever got to leave. Things just didn't want to move, and nothing was interesting on social media to read. She really didn't want to start a conversation with a stranger in the line, so she simply bored herself out of her mind. She was shocked when she realized she had only waited five minutes for her turn. Once back home, she collapsed onto her couch, only putting away the expirables, leaving the rest of her purchases on the kitchen table. And there she remained, putting on some videos and just hitting autoplay. ()E+I() She groaned as she woke up the next day. Apparently, she had fallen asleep on her couch, the autoplay having sent her to some sort of sports documentary she wasn't even interested in for a minute, but just didn't feel like standing up yet, so she didn't bother changing the video. She just kept looking at the moving pictures, drifting in and out of consciousness. It wasn't till her phone rang that she woke up again properly. Judging by the light shining through her window, it was probably already 2 PM. Groaning, she dragged herself up enough to grab her phone before falling back on the couch. "Yeah…" she groaned into the phone, sounding like she had the energy of a sloth. "Where are you, Splash? You wanted to meet up for some coffee today. I've been waiting for fifteen minutes already," a familiar, energetic but also disappointed voice came from the other end. "Don't tell me you forgot." "Shit!" In an instant, Splash was up, and the tiredness pushed out of her mind within seconds. "I'll be right there, Snapshot!" ()E+I() Splash was jogging through the city, already out of breath, but she was already unfashionably late, so she had no time to waste. Or at least, almost no time. There was one thing still left to be done after she had gulped down the sandwich pieces she had grabbed on the way out. "Ok, what do you want?" She huffed out in between her breaths, coming to a stop just a corner from where she was supposed to meet Snapshot. She dared to take a little peak around the corner. She could see the small park covered in cherry trees, or rather, the leafless husks of cherry trees. She could barely make out a familiar figure leaning against one of the trees and checking his phone. Slinking back behind the corner, a rather demonic face greeted her, staring directly at her. She would have jumped back, but that was somewhat hard, given she was already leaning against the wall. She settled for a gasp instead. "Id! Don't do this again!" She hissed, letting out a deep sigh, which did not help at all in catching her breath. "Awww, but it's so fun. You'll get used to it, so don't worry," the demon chuckled, dismissively waving her clawed hand. "Anyway, what do you mean by 'What do I want'?" "Don't waste my time! You know what I mean!" She hissed back, glaring at Id, before adding an exasperated: "What do you want to keep quiet during this?" "Oh, now I get it. You don't want brother dearest to think you are weird. Well, weirder than you already are," she giggled, much to the annoyance of Splash. "Fine, fine. I'm no monster," she giggled back. "So, Splash. You want me to keep out of this, right?" "Yes!" She returned sternly. "Even if I question my sanity for thinking my impulses could control themselves." "Well, to be fair. It sounds ridiculous, but I'm not just your intrusive thoughts. Otherwise, I'd just blurt out any thoughts you might have. Like when a cute boy or girl walked past you on the street," Id continued, the smugness in her voice unmistakable. "I'm more now. I'm my own being while also being you. Is that clear?" "Not in the slightest! But what I get from it is that you have some impulse control." "Basically," she shrugged. "That's one way of breaking it down. I know what you want deep down, and I'm gonna make it happen. Simple as that. And just being an annoying demon hovering over your shoulder shouting out your deepest, darkest desires would not be conducive to that. So, you can bargain with me, and I will hold off on that deal. After all, you can trust yourself, can't you?" "Yeah… Sure… I'll just trust you for now," she sighed, defeated, shaking her head. "So, what do you want." "Mhhhh… Now that, that is an interesting question," the demon mused, stroking her chin. "And don't forget, we don't have all day," Splash added rather impatiently. "My, rushing me so I don't get ideas. I know how I think. Man, I'm clever, but yes. Time is not something we should waste. So, here is the deal!" Leaning forward, the demo whispered into her ear, barely suppressing a mischievous giggle: "I'll keep out of this and let you two talk uninterrupted. You can hold me to this, and if I disturb you, your part of the deal will also be off. And you will… Have some fun with a friend after work." Splash looked befuddled at the demon, blinking several times before her brain caught up. "That's… it?" The demon nodded. "I… was expecting something… a lot worse." "Look, you may not really get that yet, but I'm you. And I want me to feel good. Not a hard concept, is it?" Splash had to begrudgingly nod. It weirdly made sense. "Good. And you have been a wound-up, lustless little pile of misery the last few days. Oh no, scratch that, the last year or so. You need to get out more! And that means spending time with your friends!" "But… I don't have… friends," Splash encountered, still looking mighty confused at the floating figure in front of her. "Oh, we both know this is bullshit. You may have patched things up completely with Colour Contrast, but you are considering it. And if that's too much, try Swift. You don't even dislike her. And really, you two already spent each day chatting. What else is that than a friend?" "Uhh…" Splash couldn't give a proper answer to that. The fact she was being verbally beaten by herself was a bizarre and, honestly, kind of humiliating experience. But the demon was right. She didn't entirely want to admit it, but Swift was the closest to a real friend she had currently. "Fine, you win," she huffed, crossing her arms. "Good girl," Id chuckled before adding: "Now get out there! You earned some time with your brother." With a frustrated groan, she pushed herself around the corner, heading over to where she had seen her brother. He wore his usual Haywaii shirt, the white flowers with yellow highlights on a black background, over a yellow undershirt. His white trousers covered his new sneakers. His rich, blond hair was messy, but in a weirdly meticulous way, while his skin was just as white as she remembered him. His eyes sparked in a warm and friendly purple. "Ah, there you are! Was almost afraid you'd fallen asleep again," he waved towards her, jogging over to her. "Don't tell me you still practice your 'It's weekend, no one cares when you head to bed '-routine." "Charming as ever, you little idiot," she groaned but couldn't hide her smirk. "How have you been? Vlogging still going well?" "Well, I've not been canceld, so, that's a good sign," he smirked, putting an arm around his sister and smiling at her, before immidiatly letting go of her again. "You couldn't have taken a shower, at least yesterday? Ughhh, you reek!" Splash looked at him, took a sniff herself and had to begrudgingly admit, she really needed a shower. She kinda… just forgot to take one since… Oh Fortuna, since Friday! "Uhmmm… I plead the fifth," she quietly muttered, before she instictivly caught a spraycan. "Here, freshen up a bit," Snapshot shook his head, closing the flap of his bag once more. "You really need to take better care of yourself, sis." "Yeah, yeah, I know," she muttered, quickly applying some of the deodorant before chucking it back at him. "But glad to hear things are going well for you. How's mom and dad?" He shrugged before adding: "Oh, you know, the usual. Getting way too invested in small things, but in general, it's good. And for you, well, besides the fact they cut the water to your shower, obviously?" "You little," she gritted before just sighing. "Alright. Work is still shit, my coffee pot broke this week, and I was dragged into some bullshit with Spray Can and Colour Contrast, but that is also over. So all in all, could be worse," she just shrugged. Snapshot just raised an eyebrow before continuing: "Spray and Colour? Really? Those two are just trouble if you ask me." "Oh, they are, but… sometimes you just gotta get involved," she muttered, letting out an almost wistful sigh. "But it's done now, so don't worry." "Alright, if you say so. Any art you finished recently? I really liked the last piece you made. Was very… abstract?" He tried to continue, brain clearly struggeling to find a good descripter. "Art-critic of the century, aren't we?" She giggled, feeling herself relax a bit, a stiffness in her shoulders, she hadn't even noticed till now, starting to lose. "Look, I know I like it; the why is just the problem," he shrunk down a bit, rubbing the back of his head. It's still good, though…" "Yeah, yeah, I believe you," Splash shook her head with a soft smile. "But no. Art-block still hitting me like a truck," she groaned. "It's! The! Fucking! Worst!" She looked absolutely exasperated, Snapshot awkwardly looking back at her. "Any idea why?" "Well, I have a list. My boss, the job, having no- almost no friends, the fact I live in this city, the fact the only aknowledgement I get is from-"she stoped herself before getting into a bit too much detail about her short stint as a Rider. She was sure he wouldn't mind, probably even find it cool, but she was not interested in another drawn out discussion about giving up the Driver. "Is from…" "Nothing, just got too into it. That's all," she dissmivly returned, quickly jumping onto anything else as not to get nailed down on this. "Not like you know that, with your channel. I'm honestly shocked no-one has asked for a photo yet." "Ok, I'm not that well known," he awkwardly returned, his cheeks flushing bright pink. "But I getcha. It's hard to relate when I just have to open up a video and see someone praising me." "Truly a curse," she added with a dry, deadpan expression. "Yeah, yeah, suffering from success. But it's not all that great, either. Most of my users would flip on a dime the first chance they'd get. They really only like the image I put out there. They don't really know… me. That's why any praise coming from you or anyone else who knows me properly is infinitely more worthwhile than thousands of their comments." "I'd take some praise over no praise," she returned, almost a bit too dismissively. "Can't fault you for that," he sighed. "But you got praise recently? What was it for?" "You wouldn't be a fan," she awkwardly pressed out. "It's… related to Colour and Spray." "It wasn't anything illegal again… right?" He stopped, looking over at her with a worried expression on his face. "Let's file under; no one would convict me for it," she laughed nervously. "It was… something good, let's put it that way. Anyway, nothing I'd be in trouble for." "Right…" He shook his head like he was talking to a dog that had gotten his head stuck in the door again. "Are… you still doing it?" "No…" she said, her voice a bit disappointed. "Way too much work, way too much responsibility, even if it was kinda fun." "Hey, a bit of responsibility isn't bad. Maybe give it a try?" Snapshot gave her a quick smirk. "I could offer an alt-" "Yeah, yeah, your church. I already told you I'd pass," Splash chuckled. "And for the other, I think it's kinda out of my-" "Down!" A loud scream echoed across the plaza, and Splash's instincts sprung to life. She knew the voice, it was Id, and she sounded nothing like she'd ever heard before. That was pure panic. Without thinking, she grabbed Snapshot and dragged him down to the wet ground, and not a second too late as something sailed over them. Something white, pink, and black before it crashed into the bench next to them. With a loud crash, the wood spintered and broke, as the something was dragged acros sthe ground. Splash pulled her head up and froze. That couldn't be right… That was… her? No! It was Ego! She was looking at Ego! Her mind was racing when she felt her wrist being grabbed, Snapshot dragging her up and away from the Rider. He was shouting something, but she just wasn't listening. This just felt… wrong… Her eyes darted around, saw the scared and running people, but also several that were staring in awe at the Rider, pulling out their phones and starting to film. It weirdly stung, each look of amazement another stab to her heart. Snapshot pulled once more, managing to divert her attention from the Rider that was pulling herself back up again, only to make her eyes focus on another figure approaching her. It was a bulky-looking one, with white fur covering its body, a blue winter jacket covering its upper body, and a beard of blue icicles covering a bearlike face. With a loud scream, the Deadmen rushed forward, swinging its arms, the Rider akwardly stepping backward, not daring to go on the offensive. Not that it helped her much as the creature struck her in the chest, sparks erupting from it as she stumbled backward, clearly trying to catch her breath. The monster was just about to deliver another strike when two shots rang out from the other side of the park. With a loud screech from the Deadman, the blasts of energy erupted from its back, making it turn around. The second part of the duo had arrived. The figure looked almost like Id, but it was marginally bulkier, straining against the clothing she wore. Further, the outline of the face under the mask seemed to be a bit more brutish as well. Spinning the paint gun in her hand, she dashed forward, kicking the Deadman away from the other Rider. "She stole my weapon!" Id hissed out of nowhere, the jealousy clearly on display. Before Splash could add anything herself, she was once more pulled by her brother. Turning around, she stared into a completely exasperated expression. "As much as I sometimes wouldn't mind seeing you beaten to a pulp, I'd rather avoid seeing it firsthand!" Splash groaned but followed his lead, pulling further away from the fight, hearing the sound of explosions and trees falling behind them. But she couldn't help herself; once out of the splash zone and around a corner, she ducked behind it, staring back at the fight. "Are you serious!?" Snapshot shouted at her, eye twitching. "Yes!" "Yes!" Both Splash and Id said in unison, their voices overlapping, making him take a step back, clearly taken aback by her quick and stern answer. Turning her attention back to the fight, she watched how the two new Riders struggled with the bear monster. The area around the three had been covered in several icicles, growing from the ground, trees, anywhere seemingly, something that gave its two opponents a lot of trouble, or at least the human part of the duo. She carefully tried to take a step forward, only to pull her leg back again, seemingly afraid to slip, much to the monster's delight. With no such problems, it dashed forward before suddenly jumping directly at the Rider like a really big, needy child. Slamming its arms around her, it dragged its opponent to the ground before tipping her under it with all the weight it must have had. Not wasting a second, its arms came down again and again and again, hitting her square in the face. Sparks erupted from her face with each hit, followed by a pained grunt, only occasionally overshadowed by the malicious laughter of the Deadman. While the monster kept pummeling the human Rider, the other part of the duo glared over before dashing forward, using the gun to blast away the ice in front of her. It didn't take long till she had reached the two, still struggling in their beatdown. While dashing around the monster, the demon Rider removed the Vistamp from her Driver and slammed it into the gun. ()ColourBurstDuo!() Once more, the weapon started to glow, and she was blinded by the time she moved in front of the monster. The ice-bear Deadman barely had time to look up and into the barrel of the ridiculous gun. ()Colour Shot!() A bright pink explosion filled the entire park with light, so bright Splash had to cover her eyes and even then, it hurt like hell. The loud boom did not make her feel any better. When the light finally faded, there was nothing left of either combatant, simply vanished into thin air. Without even thinking, she rushed towards the newly formed crater, looking around and trying to figure out where they had gone. Snapshot was not far behind her. "OK, what in Tartarus was that?" He shouted at her from behind. "You could have gotten yourself hurt or even killed!" He spun her around, forcing her to look directly at him. His face was a mix of various expressions, mostly worry. Splash awkwardly opened her mouth before closing it again, avoiding her brother's look. "I… Look, nothing ever happens here. I just... Wanted to see it from as close as possible," she shrugged dismissively. Snapshot looked dumbstruck at her like he heard the words, but they just wouldn't compute. "Are… Are you serious?" He finally managed to simply stammer out, eyes still glued on her. She just shrugged her shoulders, making him look at her even more like she should be institutionalized. "Are you really serious?" "Maybe not my brightest hour," she admitted with a light blush on her cheeks. "Oh, really?" Snapshot hissed back at her before grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her away from what was left of the park. Their little dinner had just become extra awkward, and she knew she wasn't gonna get out of his claws for the foreseeable future. ()E+I() The day had really gone by like molasses after their encounter with the Riders. Snapshot drilled her for every bit of information he could, mostly how anyone could be this dumb and why she had such a death wish. The worst part was, she couldn't even blame him. If he had pulled this stunt, she'd be cussing him out like an old sailor; the fact he wasn't simply showed his superhuman restraint, which didn't mean he wasn't making her suffer for her idiocy like any good sibling would. About four hours later, two more than she had hopped, he returned her to her apartment door. He looked awful and exhausted. "OK, here we are," he sighed, streatching a bit. "Don't forget, we have a family dinner next week on Friday, ok?" He tried to smile, but it just didn't wanna happen. "Yeah, yeah, I won't," she groaned. She really would love to forget it, but she'd never hear the end of it so that really wasn't an option. "Not like you'd let me anyway. Also… Kinda surprised you haven't jumped on the opportunity to livestream this today." Snapshot huffed lightly, crossing his arms. "Really? You think I would do that when my sister is in trouble?" "Not really," she smirked back. "But once you are home, you-" "Of course! It's my job, after all. And given the chaos in the city right now, my viewers can use someone who'll tell them things will turn out fine," he returned with a warm smile. "Ok, you saint," she returned, shaking her head. "See you around!" She was about to close the door, but he stopped it with his hand. "Something left to say?" "Yeah. If you need someone to talk to, just call me. Even if you don't. You've… Not really been yourself today. You're my sister; just looking out for you." She nodded, before slowly closing the door behind her. Once it locked shut, she kept staring at it, listening to his footsteps as he disappeared into the hallway and down the stairway. Only after she no longer heared him did she pull herself off from the door, dragged herself towards her couch, discarded her jacket and collapsed into it with an exasperated sigh. She felt spent! She must have remained there for a good twenty minutes before she was pulled from her haze by a familiar voice. "I'll honor our deal!" "Huh?" She groaned, pulling herself up, looking utterly confused at the demon hovering next to her. "What do you mean?" "The deal was, as long as I'd stay out of your meeting, you'd spend time with a friend of yours," the demon continued, her voice showing no sign of her usual playfulness. "Haven't forgotten that, but give me some time, ok?" She groaned, threw one of the couch cussions at her, which sailed straight threw her. "No, you don't have to." That got Splash to raise her eyebrow. "You heard me. I got involved back then, so I broke the deal. Simple as that." "You really… You really consider saving my life as getting involved?" She returned, her mind trying to crack what the demon was really going for. "Yes, or am I wrong here?" "I'm technically you did get invol- But why are holding yourself to it?" She stared at the demon, the exhaustion drifting into the background. "I simply hold myself to our deals. I'm trying to avoid rules-lawyering. It would be beneficial for both of us if we could trust these deals, isn't that right?" Id simply stated, still lacking her usual lightness. "I guess… That said… I think I should… you know…" She muttered, eyes drifting away from the demon again. "Yes, I know, but please, speak it out," it came back, the playfulness creeping back in, at least a bit. "Even when you save my life, you are insufferable," she groaned before adding a simple "Thank you for saving mine and Snapshot's life. I… Will think about… spending some more time with my… friends," she added before her head slammed back on the pillows. "Appreciated," the demon said warmly. "But now, maybe go to your bed. I feel your sore back as well, you know that?" "Yeah, yeah, sure!" With a groan, she pulled herself off the way too-comfortable couch and headed for her bedroom. ()E+I() She hated to admit it, but she was gald for Id sending her to bed. She would have totally complained all day about her back if she hadn't moved sleep places yesterday. Not that it made work all that more bearable, but at this point, she took what she could get. In general, work was as usual, some annoying commissions from the higher-ups, her boss chewing some coworkers out, and the office gossip. Today's topic; the Kamen Riders, again. She hated to admit it, but today, she was mostly annoyed at the fact every conversation turned towards the fight sooner rather than later. Wasn't there at least something else anyone could talk about? Well, there was, but the topic wasn't all that much btter. Swift had come into the office looking like she rand face first into a stop sign. She had a black eye and several bandages and plasters all over face. The rumor mill moved fast, especially in a place as dull and miserable as this. The theories ranged from an abusive boyfriend and a mugging to some truly ridiculous shit like getting caught in the middle of a gang war. Whatever anyone theorized, it did not seem to make Swift Pen feel any better, spending most of the morning hidden behind her sweater collar. She even managed to avoid an of Splash's questions, at least until lunch. Splash simply planted herself next to her, like usually honestly and started, before Swift had any chance to back out. "Ok, what happened? You look like your face kissed the asphalt." She looked straight at her, expression rather unamused. "It's… Nothing. I… You know… slipped on my socks… and kinda… fell down the stairs," she meekly returned, sinking so much into her sweater that one could think she was a turtle. Splash just raised an eyebrow before returning: "Bullshit. You wanna tell me that a blue eye and scrapes all over are the results of slipping down your staires? Where did you get that from? Domestic Abuse 101?" "I…" she stammered back, avoiding her piercing look. "I don't have… a relationship… That couldn't be it…" Splash sighed, rubbing her temples. "Wow, she is bad at this", Id muttered, shaking her head as well while Swift just whimpered. "Id, not now, please!" Splash groaned, almost looking pleadingly at the demon. "Fine," she huffed before disappearing back into her. "Splash… I… Please, this is nothing serious… Just drop it, ok?" Swift tried to say, grabbing her tray tightly. "I'll drop it if you tell me what is wrong," Splash remained firm, arms crossed in front of her. Swift looked to the side for a moment before nodding weakly. "I… I have to go…" Without another word, she grabbed her tray and bag, rushing away from Splash as fast as she could. She was about to shout something after her and follow when she noticed Id pointing at something. She would have told her off again when she noticed where she was pointing: Swift's bag. It was open, and for the briefest of moments, she could see something rather familiar inside it—something mostly white, with purple and dark blue highlights. "You gotta be shitting me," she muttered in utter disbelief. "She couldn't be…" "You saw it, didn't you? And you really think Ebony wouldn't jump on her if he had the chance?" Id returned, her voice carrying a murderous undertone. "Oh, we are going to have words…" Splash continued, her tone starting to mirror Id's. ()E+I() Her mood hadn't really imprived, it had shifted. From energyless to pure rage, mostly at Ebony for tricking her into this, after all, that was the only reasonable way for this to happen, right? He and, honestly, a bit at Swift. How could she be so damn reckless? Especially with her sorry performance yesterday. It was just a matter of time till she'd get killed doing this stupid, idiotic, thank- Splash's thoughts were interrupted by her phone ringing. She only now realized that she had been staring at the wall, ranting at herself, occasionally interspersed by Id, mostly agreeing with her, for what was probably a good hour by now. With a groan, she looked over to her phone, to see who was calling her, when she froze. It was Colour! What did he want? He couldn't have been done already… Could he? She hadn't expected him this early; she had hoped he'd be gone for at least two or three weeks, but- "Are you gonna pick up, or not?" Id, who had hovered into her field of view asked, before clearing her throat, pointing at the phone. ()E+I() "You work fast, you know that?" Splash muttered, having packed herself up in her thickest and coziest dark pink jacket. It was a memento from her tagger days, still showing several washed-out paint splotches all over. The white, fluffy collar stained in a faded rainbow of colors by now. She hadn't worn this jacket in ages, but when she looked into her closet, it almost seemed to scream for her. "What, had hoped for a bit more time away from me?" He chuckled, having ditched the spikes and the anarchy shirt, but still seemed to keep trying on the mohawk. All in all, it seemed to suit him far more. "You know her too well," Id interrupted her, the mocking tone in her voice only too familiar at this point. "Shut up, Id!" She growled, swatting through the demon, who disappeared back into her. "They can be annoying, can't they?" He sighed as the two headed up a rooftop in a rather familiar part of town. It wasn't too far off where she had beat him to a pulp if she remembered correctly. "You can tell me that again," she chuckled, stretching herself a bit. "And yeah, Id was right. I had hoped I'd still have some time to… work through some things." "Nah, I get it. Shit's complicated. You didn't need to come, but appreciate it all the same, really." They moved up the fire ladder of a building, making sure no cops were in any way close by, a process that was deeply ingrained in their minds by now. It was almost nostalgic, if she had to admit it. They were up on the building in no time, the cool wind blowing the snow through their hair and clothes as they stood at the edge of the roof. They could see the basketball court, or rather, what was left of it, from here. "Didn't wanna forget the beating I gave you?" She raised an eyebrow, looking over to the location of their fight. It felt weirdly distant, but still… Also fresh. "Something like that. It was weirdly inspirational," he sighed, looking awkwardly away. "Kinda like a new start, so to speak." "Well, I'm not gonna mock ya. No promises on Id though." "Oh, I will," she giggled from inside her. That was something she really didn't wanna get used to if that was even possible. With another sigh, she pulled herself free from the view and turned back to Colour. "So, where is it?" Crossing her arms, she raised an eyebrow. "Ri-Right!" He muttered, shaking his head, before pointing towards the wall of the small stairway that led to the roof. Given that there was still some light, she didn't have to get her phone out to see the piece of art properly. It's not that she didn't do this within a few seconds anyway to take one, two, maybe a dozen pictures of it. Her jaw must have hit the floor, at least if one were to believe Colour's whistle. "Damn, I didn't expect that reaction," he stated, clearly in disbelief at what he saw. He should have, though. Besides the fact this was even better than what she had seen at the skatepark from him, solely from a technical standpoint. She looked at a stylized image of both Kamen Rider Ego and Id, punching through a wall, colors exploding everywhere, but still keeping the bodies of the Riders pristine. It was a splash of life in this drab city. "I… You made this?" She stuttered in disbelief. "On your own?" "Well, yes and no. You know how it is," he shrugged. "He got help," a second, growly voice added before a black demon with dark blue lines all over his body appeared from inside him. His eyes glowed a threatening gold while his white teeth looked like he was perpetually hungry for a big, fat steak. Colour just shook his head, before pointing at the demon. "Splash, Id, this is Greee. Greee, Splash Page, and Id, even if you know them already." The demon glared at Splash before crossing his arms with a huff. "Ha, still as scrawny as I remember her. Even from closer." "Still strong enough to beat you out of my friend," she huffed back, leaning in clover towards the ghostly figure. "Pah, you just got lucky. Without that scientist, you'd be so-" "Enough, Greee!" Colour groaned, the deamon letting out a displeased 'tsk', but retreating back into him. "So, yeah. He stuck around," Colour nodded with a resigned sigh. "Not all bad, though. Legitimately got some good tips when it comes to art. Is that a thing with Id as well?" "I…" "She wouldn't know, hasn't touched a pen, digital or otherwise, in a solid month, if it wasn't related to work," the demon interrupted her, which earned her a piercing glare from Splash. "You have art block?" Colour asked, taking a step closer. "Look, no of your business!" She gritted back, her head snapping away from him with a sour expression etched into her face. "I… I guess, but… Still… Any idea why?" "Look, I don't and I'm not hear to talk about my art," she hissed back, with maybe a bit too much venom in her voice. "I'm here because I wanted to see your art and… It's… Better than anything I made in… ages." Her voice shifted fto a far more somber tone, shoulder slacking down a bit. "You're really good. You always were." "Hey, I appreciate the compliment, but… I'm here because… I wanted to apologize. I was simply afraid after what Spray said, and that kept me from doing the right thing and reaching out to you. That's what friends should do. Even if you don't think of me like that any longer, I still see you as one, and… Well, friends look out for each other, so… What's the matter, Splash?" His voice was calm, too calm for her liking. No underlying motives, no snide undertone, no nothing. It was… honest, and that was something she hadn't heard in a long while. "Friends…" she simply said before letting out a long exhale, her breath fogging almost immediately. "I'm not… sure I'm ready for friends right now…" "Then see it as a stranger for now. If you really don't want to be friends again, I won't bother you after today," he returned, she could hear the suppressed hurt in his voice. "But if I'm not your friend and we won't see each other again, what's the harm in telling me what's wrong?" Colour raised his head with a warm smile. "You and me both know this is bullshit, right?" She sighed after several cold, quiet moments. "But is it wrong?" Colour simply returned, raising an eyebrow. "I hate your logic sometimes," she groaned before leaning over the border of the roof, looking back to where they had fought. "Fine. Whatever, I'll tell you what's been bothering me." "Ever since my so-called friends left me to clean up the pieces of our mistake and abandoned me," she hissed, the venom she had been building up for over a year at this point being unleashed in one moment. "I've been trying to cope with losing my future, some of my closest relationships, and my art! I've felt miserable ever since! Every day is a drag, a struggle to get out of bed, get screamed at by my bitch of a boss, get back home, and feel too exhausted to even hold a pen! That's what's been bothering me!" Splash's breath was visible in thick, white clouds coming out her mouth, her expression angry, but also expecting. "You've got every right to be angry... "Colour nodded, taking a step towards her. "But... I know you're going to hate me for saying this, and it'll probably ruin any chance of getting our friendship back, but I gotta be honest. At least now, you deserve that after I hid from you for so long. That's not all. You wouldn't be this angry about this alone. There is more, and your anger is fresher and deeper. But if you keep pushing everyone away, bottling it up, you'll never get out of this! Stopp wallowing in your own self-pity and ask for damn help already!" Colour shouted back, glaring at her, his eyes almost like daggers that pierced through her defenses like they were butter. "I... You .. How dar-" Splash started, her voice rising with every word as she was interrupted by Id. "He always had a good read on you, but never dared to say anything, didn't he?" The demon said, so nonchalant it boiled Splash's blood. "What? You and me both know he's right? So, do you want to tell him, or should I? Because he's getting that info one way or another." Splash's fist shook. She wanted nothing more than to throttle her demon, punch her lights out, and shut her up for good, but... She couldn't do anything! She hadn't made a deal! She couldn't stop her physically! At best, she could attack Colour, but... even now, she wasn't that angry at him... Id had planned this from the start! She had fallen right into her trap! And it left her only one out... "Fine! I'll tell him, alright!" She screamed back, head spinning back to Colour as she took a step towards him, making Colour step back on instinct. "My life sucks! I live day to day! I've been getting looks from everyone like I'm worthless! Nothing I do matters to anyone; nothing makes me feel anything, but then! Then I got this feeling of power! This freedom of being a Rider! It was fun! Exhilarating! Exciting! And the compliments! People cared about what I did! People saw what I did! I finally felt good! I finally felt like there was something that could wash away the gray of my life! But it wasn't worth it! Too much responsibility, too much of a burden for people who never gave a damn about me! They'd judge me for every mistake I'd make! It was too much! I knew that!" She grabbed Colour by his collar and pushed him against the wall with his art before continuing to shout at the shocked man: "But why do I feel so much worse now! Why do I feel even emptier now!? Why... Why do I hate Swift Pen for taking the Driver and becoming a Rider? Why is every compliment she gets an insult to me!? Why do I want it back!? Why can't I just be fucking happy for once!?" She shoved Colour to the side before slumping against the wall herself. Her breath was ragged, her body shaking, and her head hidden behind her hands. "Why can't I just be happy..." Colour looked at her, eyes wide, mouth open, unsure what to even say for several seconds, until pulled himself up. "Splash?" He smiled down at her with a weak but genuine smile. "Fighting and being seen made you happy, right?" She weakly nodded. "Then take that happiness! Play the damn hero for yourself, not them! Because I can tell you, nothing will change if you don't take some risks and effort! The reward is worth it compared to the risk, at least for you! And once it isn't, stop! You said it yourself, they didn't give a damn about you, so you don't owe them anything! Fight, have fun, save people, get their praise! Be a Rider and be happy! Who gives a crap why; just do it! The only way you will ever feel content again is if you start moving again!" Splash didn't answer, but her breathing had calmed noticeably. Id looked at both of them, not saying anything either. They remained like this for a solid minute before Colour raised his voice once more. "I'll... Leave now..." He quietly moved towards the fire ladder and began climbing down but stopped once more as he was almost about to disappear completely. "Call me when you feel ready. Or don't. That's a choice you have to make." With that, the man disappeared into the night, while Splash remained on the building and only when she no longer haired the sounds of the ladder, did she finally break. It started slowly, light sniffs, that quickly grew into loud sobs, as she pulled her knees closer to herself, crying into the cold night, with no one but her demon and the painting of herself. Author's Note God, this chapter became way bigger than I had anticipated. I had to split it in two, or it would have been way too long for my liking. On the plus side, I got to end it on my favorite scene, so that's a bonus. Thank you for the patience, even if it wasn't nearly as long a wait between this than the first two chapters. KABOOM! Take the Stage!The next day was honestly a blur. Wake up, get to work, and do what is required of you. It all felt distant like she was on autopilot. Maybe it was the fact she came home past midnight and went to bed an hour later after drinking a whole can of coffee. Either way, her body felt like it was moving all on its own; step after step she made was seemingly out of her control, not that she minded all that much. However, the most concerning part of her day was that it was quiet. No annoying demon butting on to give unqualified comments. Id was quiet, something that honestly put her more on edge than she would have thought. And not just Id was quiet; everyone was. Or at least, that's how she perceived it. She didn't notice anyone talking to her, or maybe she just didn't care enough to notice. She simply existed; it felt like her body kept on moving. Throughout the day, she drifted off, only realizing where she was and what she was doing several minutes later, and she just didn't care. Things were going their way; she was just along for the ride. But once she left work, her mind sprung to life. Her path through the city was clear. She knew what to do! ()E+I() "I'm still not comfortable being around my workplace..." Swift quietly said, her jacket collar pulled up to her cheeks as she walked next to Ebony. "Oh, why's that, Scardy? Afraid Foxy might find out?" He returned casually, stretching himself a bit. "A bit..." She whispered back. "I really don't get why that'd matter. She is not interested, so why would she even care if you got it?" "Well... She might think this is a bad idea..." "And why would that matter?" A deep, threatening voice hissed out, making Swift almost slip on the cold ground. Swift looked over to the side; the black and purple demon, sporting a set of unnervingly sharp teeth, had emerged from her. The creature was crossing her arms, and while her expression was hard to read, Swift had heard the displeasure in her voice. "It... Doesn't," she said, awkwardly brushing through her hair. "But you know... She's a friend, and I..." "Yeah," the demon interrupted her, leaning in closer. "A 'friend'. That's all she-" "Invidia! Please!" Swift shouted back, not that it was particularly loud. Still, her expression was one of clear worry. "Fine, I'll stop. We'll get back to that later, won't we?" Invidia sighed, Swift Pen simply nodding. "Ain't you two a cute couple," Ebony simply chuckled. "I mean..." "Careful there, science guy!" The two said at the same time, which made Ebony just chuckle. "Right, right, my heroes." Raising his hands, he took a step away from them, but the smirk on his lips wasn't gone yet. "Good!" Invidia hissed, glaring at the man, before adding a far less hostile. "So, any ideas how we can deal with this guy and how to find him?" "Well, you caught him in the act last day while he was trying to rob that warehouse. And in broad daylight, he's gotta be desperate. So, he'll strike again soon. He's definitely looking for something." "Right... How did you know he was there in the first place?" The demon asked inquisitively. "I stumbled upon him the day before, staking the building out. His demon has no sense of staying quiet or discrete. The desire was basically dripping from him," he simply returned. "Dripping off hi-" "Not that it matters. I know he'll be back again. And we need to put a stop to him then!" "And how do you suggest we do this, Mr. Genius?" Invidia snarled. "With this!" Seemingly out of nowhere, and with a wide grin on his lips, he pulled out... a thing... There was no better way to describe it. One could clearly see it was modeled after a Vistamp, but the shape was... Odd. It is almost like it was cut in two, only held together by a hinge. There were four wheels attached to the side of it. "What... Is that?" Swift asked, taking a step closer, eyes narrowing at the strange Stamp. "That is the thing every Rider worth their name needs! And our ticket to victory on top of that!" He smirked before slipping it back into his pocket. "After the Hawk-Stamp didn't do the trick and you couldn't manage to get him down with the Fox-Stamp, I needed to put some time in finishing this bad boy!" "Spit it out, man!" The demon growled, gritting her teeth menacingly at him. He simply didn't care before shouting out. "And there we are!" Stretching his arms, he pointed at the same warehouse from the previous day. Nestled in a back ally, it looked absolutely unremarkable, minus the dented metal gate. Invidia just groaned before slipping back into Swift. She just had no interest in arguing with the man right now. "So... Are you sure he is here?" Swift asked, looking over to the scientist, his lips twisted into a cocky smirk. "Oh, 1000%!" He returned, pushing the large warehouse door open, the sound of metal scraping across the ground sending a shiver down her neck. "He'll be here, and the stuff he's looking for will be there as well." Without waiting for an answer, he strutted into the messy-looking warehouse. The crates had been broken open, and their contents were carelessly thrown around. The Deadman was looking for something and had left no stone unturned. Not that it mattered at this point; they just needed to find him. Moving deeper into the warehouse, following the stench of desire he could sense, Swift followed right behind Ebony. The woman's head was turning from side to side, almost like she thought she was being watched. The worries were written on the brow on her forehead, all while the demon hovered behind her, excitedly sniffing around. "Don't be such a pansy, Swift; he's a pushover," the demon muttered, leaning over her shoulder. "Just leave it to me; this will be done before you know it." "Invidia, please, be quiet! He could hear us," she desperately pleaded over to her demon. "I mean, we want to find him. We could cut this so much shorter if we just-" "I agree with her. If he gets the wrong idea, he'll just run. And then we can do this all over again," Ebony added, leaning across the corner to see if the Deadman was anywhere to be seen. "I wouldn't worry about that," a fourth voice stated. It was low, grumble, and had an unnatural chill to it. Within a second, a giant icicle rocketed towards the two, Swift screaming out, pushing Ebony out of the way and getting graced for her trouble. With another screech, she fell backward, the Driver and Vistamp tumbling out of her pocket and over the floor, a good bit away from her. Her eyes darted between her bleeding injury, which was stinging like crazy, the monster, and the Driver. With a pained yelp, she pushed herself toward the Driver as the Deadman shot another icicle right where she had been lying. She didn't manage to get there all the way but pushed herself the last bit, one eye still focused on her opponent as she grabbed it and pushed herself up. "He, you are stubborn, I give you that. Fine, show me what you can do. Maybe it will be fun before you run with your tail between your legs again," he chuckled, his hands emanating cold. Swift took a deep breath and raised the Driver before slap- With no prior warning, the Driver was pulled out of her grasp. Swift froze, head spinning to the thief, only to be greeted by a stern-looking person she was not expecting in the slightest. "Splash!?" "Foxy?" Both Swift and Ebony said in unison, their reactions ranging from surprise to curiosity on Ebony's part. "What are you..." "You wanted someone to entertain you?" Splash simply ignored her question, slamming the Driver on her wrist as it looped into place. ()Psyde-Driver!() "How about you fight a real Rider? Maybe that will be the entertainment you are looking for," she continued, Id hovering beside her. Splash's voice was unnervingly confident. Like she was enjoying this. "Swift, I need that back, by the way!" She blinked, unable to comprehend what Splash was asking of her. "The stamp! I need my stamp back!" Splash emphasized the word 'my' in such a way that Swift didn't even think twice before handing the device back to Splash. "Thanks! Now, get to cover! I'm going to have some fun!" ()Fox!() Invidia was about to shout something back at Splash, but Swift's legs were faster, dragging her injured body behind the next best crate. "And you are?" The monster finally asked, clearly amused by the show in front of him. "I? I'm the real deal! I'm Kamen Rider Ego!" "And I'm Kamen Rider Id!" The demon added, crossing her arms, her tone smug beyond belief. "And we are here to enjoy our-self! Henshin!" Without another word, she flipped the Driver, Id's body once more, garbing the giant stamp and slamming it down on her. ()Flip Out! F-F-Fox!() ()Draw Up!() (Sketch-( )Splash-) ()ing!() (Paint-( )Spray-) ()ing!() ()Kamen Rider() (Ego!( )Id!) ()Ego Plus Id!()) The two Riders stood, once more, in front of a monster, Id stretching herself while Ego looked down on her body. "Man... I missed this feeling. And I missed what comes next even more!" Without another second wasted, Splash dashed forward, sliding underneath another ice spike shooting towards her, before pushing herself up into the air, delivering a devastating haymaker to the monster's jaw, making it topple backward. With no place to catch himself, the Deadman crashed into several boxes, smashing them to pieces. Once he came back up, his chest exploded into a rain of sparks as his scream echoed through the warehouse. Not that Id's gun managed to keep him down for long. He simply powered through the pain, creating several small icicles in front of him that redirected the shots everywhere, just not him. "Caught me off guard, eh? But I've seen the demon's pea-shooter before! It's weaksauce!" Clenching his fists, the ice bear slammed his fists on the ground, a thick sheet of ice spreading outward within seconds. Both Ego and Id managed to jump up and on some crates before they got caught in it, but that didn't really matter. Any step on the slippery floor would send them back down anyway. Worst of all, the literal ice skates the monster had made for itself raced straight toward the stack of boxes Ego was standing on. "Id! Let's repeat what worked!" She shouted over to the demon, hoping she knew how she thought. Putting her safely into the demon's hands, an idea she would have kicked herself just a day ago, she put all her power into the leap, dashing over the Deadman as he crashed through the boxes like crackers. Ego could see the splinters flying off him as she sailed over the head of the monster, the valuables crushed and battered beyond usability, something that made her opponent even angrier, judging by his screams at least. That's when she heard the sound of a blaster discharging, followed by a sudden force of heat from behind and under her. Id had pulled through! Ego landed on a hand and two legs, immediately looking up ahead toward her rapidly advancing opponent. The small area Id's gun had unmelted wasn't big enough for a proper counterattack, and she couldn't exactly move. Still, she wouldn't just stand there and be run over like a dear in the headlights. Tightening her grip on the two paint batons on her hip, she pulled them up, pushing the button on them. With two swift slashes, bright pink paint was splashed across the floor, covering the ice under it. She had no idea if this was gonna work, but she had to at least fucking try it. Without a second more hesitation, she rushed forward, feet stepping on the covered area and... not immediately slipping away. She took this as a good sign. Redoubling her speed, she once more ducked downward, setting herself up for a leg sweep, the Deadman too stunned to even comprehend what she was attempting to do. Her leg zoomed from one side to the other, sliding across the ground, right into his skates, shattering on impact. Without his footing, the monster was sent flying, tumbling in the air before crashing into another stack of boxes, followed by a pained groan. "I must say, clever thinking on my part," Id chuckled, jumping down from her stack and casually walking over to her, the ground under her feet covered in an excessive amount of paint. "Haha, very funny," Splash added drily before turning her attention back to the monster, who was slowly pushing himself out of what remained of the crates. "OK, you are a lot more annoying than yesterday," the monster growled. "But you ain't getting between me and this book! I'm not letting you stop me from getting it! I need to bring it back; that way, they will finally see my worth, damn it!" "Yeah, I really don't care," Ego shrugged, the monster just fuming. Wait, it really was fuming, or rather, it was smoking. The air around it quickly dropped, the icy mist enveloping the whole hall, making it almost impossible to see anything beyond your own hands. "Hey! The fuck you doing!?" She shouted through the mist, resisting the urge to shiver, even if she really wanted to. Without any further warning, Splash felt a pain in her stomach, like she was hit by a basketball shot out of a cannon. Gasping out the last of her air, she was thrown further into the mist, crashing into a stack of boxes, shattering them on impact. She hadn't even managed to catch her breath as she felt a sharp pull on her leg, and within moments, she was once more dragged into the air, sailing across the room, only barely able to roll off the ground this time, reducing some buses for just a few scrapes. Still, she couldn't just expect that it was over. Even if she had managed to not eat total shit this time, her chances were slim. She had to think of something; quick! Then it hit her! She knew exactly what to do! Immediately, she swapped the Stamp on her Driver for her second one and switched the mechanism. ()Hawk!() ()Flip Out! H-H-Hawk!() ()Draw Up!() (Soar-( )Roar-) ()ing!() (Fly-( )Cry-) ()ing!() ()Highspeed Hawk Hunter() The transformation cleared a small area around them, but sadly, it didn't last long as the fog tried to reassert itself already. "Oh no, you don't!" Splash shouted at the air around her before starting to flap the 'wings' on her back. Id followed suit, the air around the two Riders being kicked up and pushed away. A growl, followed by another icicle, was all that followed before anyone had any chance to survey the new situation. Id was the first to react, her wing reaching up and moving right in front of Ego's face. With a pained grunt, the shard exploded on impact, pieces of ice dropping harmlessly to the ground around them. "Move! You got a target! I'm not catching another for you!" Id hissed at her other half, which didn't hesitate for even a second more. Dropping to a knee, Ego pointed her gun in the direction where the attack had come from. For a moment, the warehouse was utterly quiet, minus some of the ice creaking under the warmth, and then she shot! A loud screech followed, accompanied by a burly figure dashing from one stack of boxes to another. Ego's gun followed the target immediately, a second shot hitting the Deadman, staining his arm lime-green. Then the silence returned again, Splash's finger dead on the trigger, biting her lip underneath her helmet. She was almost tempted to rush forward herself as the crates were kicked towards her, both Id and her rolling to the side, followed by several shots towards where the monster had been. Sadly, none had hit the target, harmlessly crashing into the wall behind it... No, one hadn't! One had slammed into something more... melodic... Ice! Swinging her weapon around, Splash finally noticed the lime peaking out from behind another stack. Pulling the trigger, she obliterated the cover, slamming several more shots into the target behind it. Or rather, the ice shield he was holding! It was already covered in paint, several cracks apparent on the material as he dashed towards the next line of cover. Splash was about to pull the trigger once more when the other hand emerged from behind the shield. Within the blink of an eye, three icicles were sailing towards her. Swinging the weapon to the side, she aimed, took a deep breath, and shot thrice in quick succession, each shot hitting its mark but giving the monster ample time to get to its next cover. With a hiss, she took aim once more. One more shot and she'd be able to shatter the shield, she knew that, but she had to actually get that shot to connect, and that wouldn't be easy for this cat-and-mouse game. Still, she had the advantage now; she just had to- She almost would have missed the cover switch of the monster, the barbell of her gun trailing him as she pulled the trigger three more times. Sadly, each one being countered by another projectile from her opponent, pieces of paint and ice scattering to the ground between them. Once more, the Deadman had managed to evade her attack, and once more, he was behind cover, but unlike last time, it wasn't quiet. She could hear him breaking open the crate and rummaging for something. He must have found what he was after! If she didn't get him now, he'd be trying everything to get away from her! She had to play it risky... That was the only way! Refocusing on her aim, she let out four additional shots, the first ripping the box to scrap, the three others meant for him and his shield. But it seemed like the Deadman wasn't as dumb as she had anticipated, each one deflected, followed by three additional projectiles that were heading straight for her. She could have easily managed to hit each one before it made contact, but she refused. This was most likely her last chance to get him. She took one last deep breath, focused and- BAAM! The shot connected, shattering the lime-green-covered shield, making the Deadman stumble, she just had to fire once more befo- The pain was immediate and biting, followed by an unbearable cold spreading through her body. The three icicles had hit her, sending her tumbling backward. Her body was shivering, her head was spinning, and worst of all, she had lost her gun. She had to get up; she just had to, but her body simply refused to move faster than at a snail's pace. She could hear the ice-bear huffing, clearly knocked off his bearings, but she couldn't capitalize on it! She had to fucking move already! "Agh!" It echoed through the warehouse; Ego was barely able to push herself up in time to see the Deadman sailing across the room and crashing into the steel gate to the outside. As she looked over, she saw Id landing back down. Of course! She had completely forgotten about her own demon! She must have used her as a distraction to get an attack in! She hated to admit it, but the monster would have already been gone without her. "Ugh! You little-!" He huffed, pulling himself back up, his fists emitting the mist once more. "You know what! I got what I came for! I don't have time for you two!" Slamming his fists on the ground, a wave of cold stopped Id from following him as he recreated his ice scats and dashed out the front door. She tried to stand up completely but, with a grunt, felt herself slump back down. "Hey, Foxy! Use the Fox Stamp again!" She heard Ebony shout from somewhere behind her, his voice seeming to get closer. She swallowed her snarky remark and just listened for once, pulling out the other Stamp once more and switching it out. ()Fox!() ()Flip Out! F-F-Fox!() ()Draw Up!() (Sketch-( )Splash-) ()ing!() (Paint-( )Spray-) ()ing!() ()Kamen Rider() (Ego!( )Id!) ()Ego Plus Id!()) The moment the pink substance covered her once more, she felt her energy return, the injuries started to close, and the pain at least dulled. She must have looked rather perplexed, even with the helmet, as Ebony arrived, arms crossed. "If you don't exhaust the power of a Stamp, the exes magic of the transformation will heal you! But no time for that! Take this!" He shoved a black, stamp-like thing with wheels into her hand. She just looked at him, confused. "OK, give that back!" He groaned, yanking the thing back before flipping it closed, making it resemble a Vistamp even more. "Now give me your Fox Stamp! Hurry!" This time Id managed to act, grabbing the Stamp from her Driver and handing it over to the scientist. With a smirk, Ebony slipped it into the slanted back of the device. ()Quad-Stamper!() ()Fox!() She couldn't believe what she saw; somehow, the strange device started to grow, taking on a far more recognizable form. It was a quad! Well, it looked like one, at least, for the most part. Its front looked rather normal, just covered in pink, lime green, light blue, and red paint splotches. The weird part was the seat and the back. It extended and resembled a Vistamp and not just any, her Fox Stamp. "Ohhhh, I love this!" Id chuckled, circling the new vehicle with clear interest. "What are you waiting for? You ride it!" Splash simply shook her head, but she couldn't deny it. This looked fun! With newfound vigor, she jumped on the quad, landing comfortably on its seat. It fit like a glove, at least to her. She didn't know how this was supposed to feel, but it felt right. The demon had wrapped her arms around her, effectively giving herself a hug. Splash simply elected to ignore that detail for now and pulled the gas. With a loud screech, the quad dashed out of the warehouse, following the ice marks on the ground, Id screamed in pure joy as they rode off in the distance. Ebony just smiled after them, a clear sense of pride in his expression, not even noticing Swift sneak up on him. "That was your plan from the beginning, wasn't it?" Invidia growled at him, sounding like she was about to eat him whole. It didn't seem to bother him, though, his smirk continuing as he started moving. "Potentially, Scary. Either way, this is ideal. As fun as it was seeing you two flail around with the Driver, this is infernally more preferable." "You little!" The demon's growl grew even louder, her eyes like daggers. If looks could have killed, Ebony would have been vaporized by now. "Tsk, tsk! Didn't think a human would be so crafty as one of you?" He turned around, his smirk taking on a far more unnerving quality. "There are a lot of things you wouldn't expect of me, Scardy!" Invidia and Swift stepped back, all while Ebony continued walking like nothing had happened. "And it's not like you didn't do admirably. You actually did better than I hoped. Perhaps you can be my next guinea pig if I make something new? How does that sound?" Swift shot him a look that could only be described as a mix of anger, nervousness, and hurt before she simply rushed off. Ebony was sure he faintly heard a light sob before shrugging his shoulders. "Your loss." ()E+I() The wind was rushing past them, the cold air barely bothering her; she just enjoyed the feeling of speed on her body. She could have kept racing around like this for hours, but she knew she had a target. This damn Deadman had annoyed her far too much; this had to end right the fuck now! And she would enjoy it! It had barely taken her a minute to catch up to the monster, her and he weaving between cars like pillows at the driving course. Several cars were honking at them, but most stopped when they saw the Rider. If it was because of awe or simply not wanting to piss off a superhero, she didn't know, but she didn't really care either way. Revving the engine once more, the quad dashed forward, swearing out to get a good hit on the Deadman, who hadn't noticed her yet. Well, he hadn't until the quad was approaching. Turning his head, his body kicked into overdrive, redoubling his speed. "Hey! Get back here!" Splash screamed as her crashing move missed the monster, taking her a few seconds before she was back in a straight line. Why couldn't he have been at least a bit more oblivious? While Splash was quietly cursing herself, Id was leaning over to the side, taking aim with her gun, and letting a shot fly towards their target. Within the last second, the ice bear managed to duck down, the paint bullet slamming into the street, definitely staining some cars. "Id! Careful!" Splash huffed over her shoulder before returning her focus to the street. "Relax, I'm not gonna hit anyone!" The demon groaned before retaking aim. Without any more care, she simply giggled as the hail of bullets painted the street a vibrant pink, cars and anything else on the street quickly making room for them. "See? You got your way clear." Splash simply elected to ignore the fact Id had just shot their way open and instead decided to take the opportunity. With no one between them, Ego caught up rather quickly, riding next to the Deadman, who glared over, shouting at her: "Why can't you leave me the fuck alone already?" "Mostly because it's kinda my job and second because I really wanna take some revenge for your icicles!" She screamed back, swerving over and kicking the Deadman to the side, the ice skates screaming under pressure, but he managed to catch himself before getting some distance between them once more. Once he felt safe, he raised his hand to the side and blindly fired icicle after icicle at them. Splash panicked, pulling away as well. She really had no interest in getting hit by another one of those things again any time soon. "Hey! Ride closer again; I wanna pistol-whip him!" Id shouted as she shot each blindly aimed icicle out of the air. "Oh, how about you get hit by these things? Let's see if you will be so high and mighty then?" Ego hissed back but did indeed close the distance once more, something that the ice bear didn't enjoy in the slightest. Raising his arm, he pointed it at the street in front of Ego and Id before letting a beam of ice freeze the path before them solid. Splash grit her teeth; there is no going around it anymore; she is already almost on it. The switch from asphalt to ice was immediate; she could feel the wheels spinning wilder, as well as the quad breaking out to the side. If she didn't figure something out soon, they were gonna crash! Ebony had to have given this thing something clever! The man was eccentric, but he wasn't dumb. Some wings, or turning this thing into an iguana, or the like; there just had to be something. Her eyes darted over the buttons in front of her, looking for anything that looked useful, when her eyes caught what looked like the top of a Vistamp. This had to be something, right? Without much deliberation, she slammed her fist on the button, which made the quad scream out: ()ColourCrashDuo!() ()Fox!() Within a second, the wheels started to glow a bright pink, leaving behind an identically colored trail of paint. Immediately, the grip of the wheels returned, allowing her to steady the vehicle once more. With nothing stopping her now, she swirled around again, taking aim as the quad accelerated. Something inside her was screaming to push the button again; after all, that was usually how this went. "No! Stop that! Just go away, damn it!" ()FoxColourCrash!() The wheels started to spin even faster, the paint spraying everywhere as the quad jumped forward, right towards the scathing monster, which panicked and tried to move faster once more, but he seemed to have reached his limit. Pulling the handle one last time to the max, the quad effectively turned into a bright, pink paint steak that smashed right into it before it was away in a sea of pink. With a loud screech, the quad finally came to a halt, having left a trail of paint behind her that would have been washed away if not for the fact the sprinklers of Dilwyrm Park weren't turned off during winter. She only now realized where she had ended up, right next to City Hall, in the middle of a concrete-filled park with some small green spaces. The people around had all made several steps back and were filming the entire thing with their phones. "Ugh..." The monster groaned; its body was covered in paint splashes as it pushed itself up. Apparently, it hadn't been enough to ram a quad into him. "You really are fucking stubborn," she sighed, swinging herself off the quad and slowly approaching the monster, which quickly took several steps back. She was about to say something else, when Id slammed her elbow into her side. Before she could say anything, the demon was already talking: "Don't mess up our proper debut! People are watching," she giggled, Splash only now noticing the phones and eyes glued to them. Taking a step forward, Id started to scream, spreading her arms wide: "Lady's, gentleman, demons, and everything in between, may I introduce you to Fillydelphia's new Kamen Riders? The unbeatable Kamen Rider Ego!" The demonic Rider gestured towards Splash, who remained standing where she was, admittedly unsure how to respond. "And yours truly, the devilishly clever Kamen Rider Id!" She bowed, a murmur going through the crowd. "Hey, what you waiting for? Do your thing! The people are waiting," Id hissed over to her, which made Splash snap out of her sudden stupor. "This is the end of the line for you! You lost!" She situated, her voice carrying over the entire plaza before she flipped the stamp back up and down again, Id followed her lead, the belt starting to give off a rather catchy jingle. Out of nowhere, a giant, translucent Vistamp appeared and slammed itself on top of the Deadman, carried by Id. The monster seemed to scream inside its new confinement, punching against the glass, but neither did it budge nor did it let any sound escape; it only started to fill with pink goop. Id landed back next to her as both Riders rushed forward, jumping into the air, spinning towards the stamp, and racing downwards in a kicking position. Their glowing feet impacted the glass the moment the thing had been filled to the brim, the light only growing in intensity. ()Fox!() ()Splashing Finish!() With a huge explosion, the stamp shattered, lighting up the entire park as well as the night sky; both Riders screeched to a halt several meters behind the slowly dissipating explosion; the only sign of the whole thing was for one, the unconscious body of a middle-aged man with black hair and beige skin, a light-blue Vistamp next to him and the giant, pink fox symbol now painted on the ground. For a few seconds, everything was quiet, minus the sound of cars in the distance, but still, it was unnerving regardless. Then she heard the first clap, then a second, and within moments, the crowd had erupted in cheering and screaming. Splash just stood there for a bit, unable to even move. It was just so... unreal. They were really... cheering for her? For real!? She couldn't other than chuckle to herself. This felt... good! Man, did it feel good! They were cheering for her! Man, had it been a long time since she felt this... appreciated! She could have stood there for hours, but when it poked her side once more, she simply tilted her head back to her. The demon was shoving the Vistamp into her hand, before adding: "Here you go! Probably should take it this time. And if you are done basking in our well-earned glory, I think we should scram before the police or, worse, the MRG gets here." "Fine, buzzkill," she groaned, starting to move back to the quad as she heard the sound of footsteps behind her. Turning around, she noticed several police officers, as well as a woman with light yellow skin, blue hair, and a suit, had run up to her. The woman was holding a comically oversized, red gun aimed directly at her. "Halt! We have some questions for you two!" The woman shouted, seemingly not interested in letting her get away. "I'm agent Clear Waters from the MRG, and I'd like to-" "Yeah, pass," Splash simply stated, swinging on her bike. "I work by my own rules, so bye!" Without another word, both she and Id swung themselves on the bike and let the engines rev up. Immediately, the two raced out of the park and back onto the street. "Wait! No-" Clear tried to shout at them, but they were already gone. "Was to be expected, I suppose..." She sighed. This only confirmed to her that this would be a tiresome mission for her, and she felt like she only knew half of it at this point. ()E+I() A good kilometer away, about halfway from the way from the warehouse to the park, the light pink man, with his pink hair covered by the angler hat, leaned forward, picking up a lightly wet, leatherbound notebook. Dusting it free from the snow, he flipped through it before chuckling. "Well, guess you weren't so useless after all, Cold Wind. Shame you let the Riders catch you," he muttered, slipping the book into his pocket. "Oh well, not like he was important anyway." With a shrug, he walked off into the night. The content of this book would most certainly be interesting for the Circle. ()E+I() Splash drove the quad, now missing the stamp part, looking like only a slightly more colorful one, into an utterly forgettable alley. A certain scientist was already waiting for her, leaning against the next best wall, smirking at her as she arrived. "Ah, there you are, Foxy. My, hero!" He chuckled, stretching his arms out, the smug grin on his face already annoying Splash. "Would you stop calling me that?" She groaned, pulling off a helmet she had dragged from under the seat. "He really loves his theatrics, doesn't he?" Id mussed, hovering against her shoulder. "Well, you are my hero, or not?" He returned, raising an eyebrow. "Or should I give the belt back to-" He started, lightly looking over to Swift, who was standing rather lost a few meters away from them. "No!" Splash stated, her tone not letting any doubt spring up that she was dead serious. "Mhhhm, OK. So you are my hero after all." His voice carried a sense of superiority that really drove Splash up the wall. Oh, she would have loved to snap this guy's neck, but even Id was clearly shaking her head. "If I'm anyone's hero, it's me." Splash glared back, crossing her arms after swinging off the quad. "Aren't you a little selfish?" Ebony simply shook his head before sighing. "Fine, have it your way then. You are your own hero, but you still are using my tech, so I get to set some rules, boundaries, restrictions, call it what you like. And don't even think about just stealing it. You'll need me eventually, if not for more power, for simple maintenance. You get that?" There it was again, that smug grin. One thing she had to give the man was he knew his cards and how to play them. "And what are these restrictions?" She drily responded, after a few quiet moments. "Well, more rules. First, you'll act like a hero! No stealing, no murder, no anything a proper hero wouldn't do. That's the important one!" Within a second, his playful, smug demeanor had shifted, his tone serious. "I... Fine," she said, taken a bit back by his frankness. "Wasn't gonna do that anyway. I liked the applause, and they'd hardly applaud a 'villain,' right?" "Well, glad we see eye to eye here," Ebony chuckled, back to his usual self, it seemed. "Second, I get to hear what you learn. I'm the researcher, you the Rider. We gotta help each other out. Everything I learn, I can use to help you! Which also means you'll listen to me, at least to some extent. I know what I'm talking about; you don't. Clear?" Rolling her eyes, she said: "Fine." "Bit of a stickler for rules, isn't he? Kind of a suprise," Id added, leaning over the quad. "Yeah, big one at that," Splash muttered back quietly. "So, what's the inevitable number three?" "Just don't make me regret this. It's that simple. I'd say these are fairly reasonable guidelines, aren't they?" Ebony asked, leaning against the wall of the alley. "More or less," she shrugged before adding: "How about this. I agree to your silly little rules under one condition." "Oh? You're a negotiator as well?" "No, but I can roll with the punches. First, no touching my family or friends! Not even if I croak! I won't let you make them your test subjects!" She glared at the scientist, who simply groaned. "I can remember that. It's a waste, but oh well. It won't be the end of me," he muttered, his expression a bit sour. "I... That..." Swift pen tried to speak up just as Splash continued. "Good! And if you don't, I'll let Id haunt you from the grave... somehow! Second. I don't do compromises! I'm not gonna let you push me into any decisions I might regret later. I'm doing this for my own amusement and I'll do it as long as I enjoy it, so any heroic sacrifices are out of the question. I simply refuse to even entertain that idea!" She almost spat out the last few words as she glared at him. "Greedy and selfish. Well, I won't make you, but I won't promise you won't run into them, got that?" "Good enough, I guess," she sighed, Id still glaring daggers at the man. "And lastly, don't make me regret this either. We just don't screw each other over! Sounds like a deal?" Raising an eyebrow, she eyed Ebony's dismissive expression as he pushed himself off the wall and strolled over to her. "I suppose so, Kamen Rider," he chuckled, reaching out his hand. "It sounds like the best deal I'll get. On a good working relationship. We can iron out the details tomorrow. I'll call you." He simply stated, both shaking hands, before disappearing into the night. Splash kept on looking after the man. Something inside her was telling her she may have made a big mistake. That someone sure as Tartarus wasn't Id though. The demon was clearly exhilarated about this turn of events. The glimmer in her eyes was just unmistakable. "Want a ride home, Swift?" She finally broke the silence, her coworker still standing with her in the cold alley, not having said a word. "I-" She tried to say when she was interrupted by her demon. "Screw off! We can do this ourselves!" She hissed back, Swift mouthing an awkward 'Sorry' before quickly running off before Splash could say anything else. "Well, that went great," Id said, the sarcasm almost dripping from her mouth like some venom. Splash simply gave her a deadpan look. "Come, I still have one last thing to do before we head to bed." And with that, the two disappeared into the crowded streets of Fillydelphia. ()E+I() Once more, she looked down on the city beneath her; the cars driving by, the shouts of people blowing, and the fenced-off basketball court she had become familiar with. "And you think he's coming?" She asked, leaning over to Id, the spray cans in her backpack attracting her eyes every few seconds. "You called him, and he said yes, so I'd take a big guess, yes!" Id groaned, watching her human sneak a peak at the painting again. Before she could ask again, both heard someone coming up the fire ladder, followed by Colour's Mohawk appearing over the edge. "Yo! You wanted me to come?" He asked, trying to keep his cool, but even Splash, in her current state, could notice he was beyond nervous. His smile was forced, his foot was tapping awkwardly on the ground, and he couldn't keep still to save his life. Splash simply nodded in return. "Congrats on your victory, by the way," he chuckled, the uncertainty in his voice slowly slipping away. "That was you, right? I saw the videos and... You know..." "Yeah, it was," she sighed, pushing herself back to her feet properly, pulling the Psyde-Drive out of her jacket with a smirk. "Was quite fun, should have seen it!" "Can imagine. Glad you are doing well, it seems," Colour nodded before stretching himself a bit. "So, just wanted to show me this, or did you wanna thank me?" "Thank you, for what?" She giggled, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, you know... My advice..." He awkwardly started, only for Splash's laughter to interrupt him. "Don't get ahead of yourself," shaking her head, she started to pull something out of her bag. "But I did appreciate them nonetheless.," she added in a softer tone. "Right... So... Are we... Friends again?" Splash could hear the nervousness, mixed with hope in his voice. Colour's voice pitched up in situations like this. It was always a rather amusing trait of his back in the day. "Does this answer your question?" She simply stated, throwing a lime green spray can over to him; he was barely able to catch it in time. "You want to-" "Yes!" She groaned out, followed by a light chuckle. "I'd like your help. Don't think this will be something regular, but... I thought we could add a bit to your drawing. How does that sound?" Now it was Splash's turn to sound awkward; she had already pulled her hood deep over her face, hiding most of it, but even then, anyone with eyes could see the nervousness written on her face. "Oh, fuck! Of course!" Colour almost shouted out, rushing over to his painting, looking expectedly at Splash. Both tagger and former tagger went to work, the spray paint almost moving on its own as they drew and sprayed on the wall, creating shapes and refining them to forms and, eventually, a second mural of Ego and Id. This time, the two were depicted in their Hawk-Genome Form, Ego aiming the gun while Id was spreading her wings. It was the perfect addition to the piece, pushing it to new heights. As Splash took a step back to examine their work, a feeling spread across her whole body. It was simply warm, tingly, and that despite the winter's cold. A feeling she hadn't experienced in a very long while... Satisfaction! Author's Note And here we have Splash and Id reclaiming the Driver and becoming the titular Main Rider. Took em long enough, but now, everything should be juuuuust fine, right? Either way, I'm glad I managed to get this one out in at least a decent timeframe again. I'll see if I can get back to writing faster again. I hope you all enjoy the chapter!
It's a Demon!One could mistake it for any ordinary, peaceful day in the bustling city of Fillydelphia. The snowflakes silently glided towards the ground while the sound of cars honking below contrasted against them. The city's lights illuminated the cold, windy night like any other, as in the distance, one could hear the sounds of a Hearth's Warming song. One could… If one ignored the screams coming from one particular part of town. In front of the large brick city hall, its tower reaching up into the night sky, people were running for their lives, abandoning everything and anything, even their cars. The sound of police sirens soon drowned out the song in the distance, truly turning this into an unforgettable night. "That's all you got, you damn bird?" It echoed across the intersection in front of city hall, coming from a hulking, obese figure currently laying atop a car's engine hood. Well, slammed into would fit the description more. The figure slowly started to move, dragging itself off the hood, revealing the sizable indent it had left behind. For anyone who might have looked, the figure became more apparent. It looked like a fat man with a dark blue body and a whitish stripe across its chest, only lightly covered by a light blue, Eastern-style vest. Its face looked almost like a fish with glowing yellow eyes, a row of razor-sharp, long teeth, and a double chin. Two gills were attached to the side of its head, and one antenna stuck out from its forehead, a glowing light attached to it. The fish clenched its fist, which quickly started to glow, before throwing whatever it had in it into the sky, followed by a deafening explosion that set off every car alarm in a 100-meter range. The light of the explosion had illuminated a second figure as well. A being clad in what looked similar to a Neighponese shrine maiden uniform with lime green accents and two massive, black wings. One could barely make out its black, scaly skin from the ground, made even more challenging by the long, white, bonelike bird mask on its face, which beak reached down to its chest. "Your fat should have absorbed the impact, you vile abomination," the flying creature returned in an almost melodic tone. It was almost soothing if it hadn't come from such an unnerving creature. Raising its hand, it swung it at the fish creature below it, sending several kunai down at it. With a low gurgle, the fish grabbed the car's hood and ripped it off, using it as a makeshift shield, watching each kunai embedding itself into the metal with a loud thunk. Not missing a beat, the creature immediately chucked the hood at the flying creature, only for it to dodge out of the way as graceful as it was effortless. "It must have slipped with all the fat all over your fingers, you pitiful creature," it came back down as the bird rearmed itself with another set of kunai, which quickly started to glow a menacing purple. "Let me help you get rid of it!" "Oh, I'll show you, you flying rat! If you want to take something, take those!" The deep voice of the fish bellowed back as it unfastened two fishnets filled with glowing yellow orbs from its belt. It started to spin each net around its fists, about to chuck it when the sound of a gun cut through their banter, followed by something metallic dropping to the ground. With a low gurgle, the creature turned around, glaring directly at a now utterly terrified police officer and several others that had finally arrived. His handgun pointed at the beast that didn't seem any worse for wear, just more furious. The officer stumbled backward, dropping the gun in the process, staring as the creature simply chucked the net of orbs towards him. What followed could only be described as an inferno, as a series of massive explosions rocked the street, blowing the officer right off his feet. He didn't even notice the purple projectiles raining down from the sky, followed by another set of explosions lighting up the sky above, as if it was the middle of the day. Once the dust had settled, the previously mostly intact street was a crater. The concrete had been ripped open and shattered, cars were burning wrecks, and everything was demolished. Furthermore, the two perpetrators were nowhere to be seen; instead, the sound of explosions was clearly able to be made out in the distance, at least before the searing pain overwhelmed him and everything went black. ()E+I() Meanwhile, a figure had overlooked the entire fight hidden behind a marvelous, colored glass window of a stone brick church. His skin was of a lightish yellow complexion, while his well-kept, short hair had a golden color. His white suit looked remarkably expensive, only enforced by the golden threads woven through it as decoration. He continued staring at the battlefield, even as a frantic-looking woman with light blue skin and dark blue hair rushed through the office door. She took a few seconds to catch her breath, her eyes wandering over the office filled with marble and white furniture. The floor was made out of a warm brown packet with a heavy white marble table in the middle of the room. And behind that table, the man stood. "Mr. Pearl? Should we send reinforcement? We can't let such an insult to our-" she stuttered out, only to immediately be silenced as the man raised his arm. "That won't be necessary, Sweet Nectar. She has it under control. Even if, with this commotion in front of our home, it would be wise to keep ourselves covered for at least a while," he calmly returned, eyes not moving away from the window. "And please, call me Radiant. We are family here, after all." "Ye… Yes, Mr- Radiant," she stammered back, frozen in place, looking confused at Radiant. "Do not worry, my dear. And please, tell every enlightened to keep a low profile the next few days," he returned, the woman quickly nodding and skittering out of the room. The moment the heavy wooden doors fell shut once more, a pained sigh escaped Radiant's lips. "Onyx can't even keep his beasts on the semblance of a leash. This will cause issues. Let's hope the Riders don't get involved, as unlikely it may seem," he muttered, his fist tightening as his expression slightly soured. "Let's hope he can somehow convince his Deadman to remain as quiet as mine…." Down on the street, nestled between the church and another building to its side, a young man with yellow skin and black hair, dressed in a brown jacket, the hood pulled over his face, was crouching down and holding out a weird piece of machinery. The device beeped as he moved it around. "Another increase in power, as expected. Entirely in line with my predictions. Which means my little project should have enough juice to be fully operational by now. Just in time. I just need a suitable subject for the final phase…." He muttered, slipping the device into his pockets and picking up a metal suitcase he had cuffed to his left arm. "Let's hope the fish's buddies are suitable…." He continued, pulling out his phone and flipping through the files of several people before stopping at one of a young woman with white skin and a bright pink ponytail. "Let’s start with you, little miss Splash Page!” The man grinned as he started to quickly move through the night, just fast enough to avoid the second wave of cop cars. ()E+I() BEEP! BEEP BEEP! It echoed through the small bedroom, almost as loud as an explosion. Or at least that was how it felt to her. With a groan, a white hand awkwardly reached out, blindly fumbling for her phone before finally turning the damned alarm. With a resigned sigh, she rose from her pillows, revealing the exact same woman, well, besides the fact that she looked far less amused and her hair was an ungodly, unkempt mess. Pushing herself out of bed, she dragged herself through the tiny room, with just enough space for a dresser and a desk, a desk covered in half-finished sketches, pencils, and many other things. For one moment, her eyes darted over to it, only for a frustrated groan to follow. She hadn’t been able to finish any piece in the last three weeks, at least any piece not work-related. Turning her head in visible disgust, she dragged herself to the bathroom, preparing for another day at FEN-X Residential, where your housing dreams are born again. She shuddered as the slogan once more ran through her head, all thanks to this horrid jingle she had to listen to for what felt like months during her last project. It may have just been two weeks where the thing had occasionally popped up, but it sure had felt like months to her. Her quiet grumbling was only interrupted as her coffee started to spill out of the thermos. “Fuck! No! Stop!” She hissed as she pulled up the coffee pot back up, letting some of it drip on her hand. With a pained hiss, she dropped the pot, watching the pot crash to the ground and shatter on the tiled kitchen floor. “Fuck!” Was all she could press out as she looked down at what remained of her life-giving coffee maker. She repeated that sentiment while cleaning up after herself, ensuring none of the glass remained on the floor. With her luck, she’d just cut herself on it this afternoon when she returned from work. Work… “Shit! I’ll miss the subway!” she screamed out, grabbing her thermos, dashing out the door and down the apartment’s stairs, almost running over an older lady who did not hide her annoyance in the slightest. What was even worse, it didn’t even matter. Even if she had managed to leave on time, the subway was closed! And, of course, only the line she needed! What else? Apparently, it had been damaged in a fight last night. Of bloody course, it had been. Clearly, Fortuna had focused all her efforts on screwing her over this day. This was gonna be a long one… ()E+I() “You’re late,” Thorough Sketch muttered, a woman with a light blue complexion and silver hair dressed in a rigid and well-kept business suit, giving her a look that could only be described as a mix of annoyed and just disappointed. Splash Page hadn’t even managed to take one step through the door as she had greeted her, not seeming too bothered at the fact she was covered in sweat and clearly out of breath as she leaned against the doorframe. “Sorry… The subway had a monster emergency…” Splash huffed back while pushing herself off the door frame and towards her desk. “I don’t care! We are massively behind schedule on our work; the deadline is this weekend! We got to work even harder to make it! So, even if the building next to ours gets swarmed by a bunch of monsters, we gotta finish this!” She returned rather agitated, already having turned back to her monitor and, with it, her graphic software. “Yes, Boss,” Splash returned, trying her damndest to suppress the venom in her voice, walking past her, quietly glaring. “Bad morning?” A rather timid voice asked one she knew all too well. Taking a deep breath, her anger slowly dissipated, simply turning into an exhausted expression as she looked over to her coworker and desk neighbor, Swift Pen, a woman with light pink skin and dark purple hair. Her hair was long enough to hide behind if she wanted to, which was quite a lot, while her outfit looked like she was about to bunker down in a log cabin in the arctic. As usual, she was wearing a comfy-looking purple sweater whose collar reached up to her lips. “What made you guess that?” she simply returned, a bit of her annoyance still present in her voice, even when trying to hide it. Swift just frowned and nodded. “Your subway was affected then?” Swift continued, continuing her sketch while asking. “Yup, only one even. My luck, I guess,” she grumbled, staring impatiently at her tablet booting up. She could already feel the cold glare from Sketch on her back. “That’s kinda unfair,” her neighbor quietly returned. “You think this will happen again?” “Well, they usually take a bit of time till stuff like this is fixed, so I don’t think I’ll be using it any time soon. Which means I’ll have to wake up even earlier to catch the bus.” Her groan was long and exasperated; as she looked over at the girl with a pained expression, she simply offered an understanding smile. “Not… Really what I meant. You think the monster attacks will continue?” Swift returned, her voice a bit more nervous. “Probably, but a Rider or someone else will come along and deal with it. You hear it in the news every day or so now,” she simply shrugged, opening her work file and looking at the half-finished sketch she had been stuck with for two days now after starting from scratch. Her last attempt just had not worked even in the slightest. “So, I give it one or two days more. Tops. Good riddance,” she added with a huff. “I guess so… Still… Feels weird to have it happen so close to home…” “Was bound to sooner or later. Just another fact of life at this point,” she absentmindedly returned. “Annoying, in the way, and happens at the worst of times.” “I guess…” Swift returned, pulling her pen up from her tablet for a moment. “Still… I’m kinda afraid this could turn into something more regular…” “Eh, doubt it. Canterlot’s the only place that’s apparently stuck with these things. So, I don’t think it’ll happen here. At least, it’s not likely. You’d have to have some serious bad luck for that to come true,” she shrugged, almost dismissively, not noticing Swift’s worried frown. “Mhm…” She simply replied, returning to her work. After almost a minute of, what at least to her felt like awkward silence, she added a shaky: “Mind if I pay… for your lunch… today? So the day… is not an entire wash?” “Sure,” she simply returned, already focused on her work again. “I could use the extra money… My coffee pot broke today. Stupid fucking thing…” “Oh… That’s… I’m sorry…” “Yeah, sucks. Stupid traitor! You were supposed to make my day easier, not harder,” she encountered with a huff, her pen slipping a bit, forcing her to erase a bit of her progress again, much to her annoyance. “Well, if you do not like traitors, don’t become one for the team,” a stern voice huffed from behind her. “Yes, boss. I’ll focus,” Splash sighed as she refocused her efforts on her work. “That counts for you as well, Swift. You have your break to talk.” “I… I… I’m sorry!” She stammered back, her head slumped down, making her hair fall over her face, not that one would have to see her expression to know what it was. “Won’t happen again!” Within a second, she had turned away from Sketch and scribbled away at her pad. As Sketch had already turned around and was out of earshot, Splash allowed herself a quiet and livid: “Bitch!” ()E+I() A few hours later, most of her annoyance had once more turned into pure and simple exhaustion, like honestly, every day. She stared down at her plate of what they claimed to be a steak and some mashed potatoes but actually looked more like a burned shoe sole and undefinable mush. At least today, she didn’t have to pay for it herself. “You don’t… Want it?” Swift carefully asked, looking over at her, lightly staring at the plate as well. “Nah, I’m eating, don’t worry. Just… Trying to stomach the look of it…” she mumbled back, starting to cut into the piece of meat and taking a good chunk out of it. The first bite was always the hardest; it was like someone drained all the water in her mouth with a sponge or something, so dry was the flesh, or at least, it felt like it. The second one was better but far from what she would even call ok, but it was the only cheap and close-by food source, so she had to make due. “Thanks,” she encountered after swallowing a full cup of coffee. Thank Fortuna that it was still warm. Knowing her luck, she had already expected it to be as cold as ice coffee, but at least this little pleasure hadn’t been ripped from her yet. What it’d look like tomorrow was another thing entirely. “It’s… It’s nothing. Just wanted to make your day a bit better,” Swift simply returned, taking a bite from her salad. “Things haven’t really gone your way recently, have they?” “Scratch the recently, and you’re dead on the money,” She groaned before taking another bite of the chewy steak. “It’s like someone cursed me! Things seem to slow down for a bit? Bam! Things go wrong! I fucking hate it! You can set your watch to it, I tell you!” “That is… I mean…” “Yeah, it sucks! I know… But it’s a sad fact of life at this point. Things just never go right for me,” she continued ranting between her bites, her anger slowly starting to die down a bit into a resigned sigh. “I… Yeah, I’m sorry to hear that. I… if I can do anything for-“ Swift carefully tried to return. “No, no, it’s fine. I don’t need to annoy you with this shit. Today was just… a bit of a culmination of all this stuff, and I needed to let it out. I’ll manage; I always manage well enough,” she returned dismissively, though Swift could still clearly make out the exhaustion in her voice. “Why don’t you take a week off? You sound like you need it… Just some you time?” “Oh, fuck, I’d love that. But sadly… I already planned out all the vacation days I got this year. Only got like five days left. Two of them are for Hearthswarming with the family. Which… I’ll honestly need a vacation double the length of right after if I’m honest,” she groaned, leaning her head back, staring at the ceiling tiles with an exasperated expression. “I can already hear my aunt saying, ‘Look at your brother; he’s so successful. All those followers he has and all the charity events he has attended this year!’” Splash mockingly continued, adding a played gagging motion to it. “Right… Your brother was ‘Love_X_Self’, right?” “Yup… He’s Fillydelphia’s favorite ‘Good Vibes’ coach,” she groaned. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s fine and means well, but… Man, does it get on my nerves.” She groaned even louder, resting her head on the table. “So, typical sibling behavior?” She quietly returned but couldn’t hide the light playfulness in her voice. “You know it as well, eh?” Splash chuckled, probably for the first time today. Swift simply nodded in return. “My sister is a… writer,” she continued before suddenly stuttering, her face getting a bit red. Splash raised an eyebrow at that before Swift Pen almost frantically continued. “S… So… What about… The other three days?” “Wha… Oh… Right! There is a small, local art festival about 2 hours out of the city and I was gonna attend! Lots of regional artists are gonna be there, hold panels about technique and show off some of their newer stuff! From paintings to video editing and modeling! I already cleared it off that I’ll not be here these days, and everything is set! My legs will kill me, as will my wallet, but… A girl gotta treat herself to something nice once in a while, right?” She excitedly blurted out, her exhaustion almost disappearing instantly, and even taking another bite of the steak without twisting her face into a grimace. “Oh… I heard of it…” Swift nodded. “Had thought of going there myself, but… I don’t have a car…” “Oh, neither have I. I just noticed that in one of the art ‘Beeper’ groups I frequented, some people also wanted to go and were organizing a carshare. So, I just asked, and as long as I pay a bit of the fuel, I’m golden,” she added with a shrug. “You know, I kinda missed your little nerdy outbursts,” a new voice added from her left. It was rough and one dripping with confidence, ill-placed as it may have sounded. “Oh, zip it, Spray Can! Even I can have something to be excited about,” Splash Page simply returned with a huff, taking another bite of her steak before almost choking on it. “Spray Can!?” She burst out in between her coughing and looked o her side where a young man with yellow skin and short, bright blue hair with pink stripes was sitting. He wore a ragged-looking grey jacket stained with splashes of, what she assumed, were spray can paints as well as a spry can logo on a white shirt he wore underneath. “What the fuck are you doing here!?” “Splash… Who is this?” Swift asked, having shuffled lightly behind her, trying to hide as much as possible from the strange man sitting next to them. “Someone who shouldn’t be here! How did you get past the receptionist?” Splash returned, her voice low and almost growling while her hands had tightened into fists, lightly shaking. “I may have… Slipped past her when she was talking to the postman, but that’s beside the point,” he replied with a smile, but not without a lightly unsure undertone. “Anyway, that's no way to talk to an old friend, right?” Spray continued his trademark grin on his lips, which did not seem to calm Splash in any way. Without another word, she grabbed him by his collar and pulled him up as well, dragging and shoving the man out of the cafeteria and into one of the closeby hallways, away from prying eyes. Splash seemingly didn’t care much about the weird looks that the entire room was giving her, but Swift did all the more. Like daggers, they bored into her skin, coming from all angles as she just sat there, her head shrinking back into her body. That was until she just couldn’t take it anymore and awkwardly rushed after them, each murmur making her blush all the harder until she was out of earshot, and even then, she could swear that she could still hear their voices somewhere in the background. “Woah! Careful, the jacket ain’t that sturdy at this point,” Spray huffed, dusting it off again after he had been shoved deeper into the hallway by a very displeased-looking Splash. “Explain!” She simply returned, her voice teetering on the edge of shouting. “Hey, can’t I say hi to a friend because of old times sake?” He returned with an awkward smile on his lips. “Friend!?” She spat back at him, taking another step towards the man who stepped back, his hands raised. “Do friends sell each other out to the cops!? Do they just throw you to the wolves and hide to save their own ass!? And I didn’t say a word because that was what I thought friends would do!” “I never sold you out, Splash! Trust me! I…” He stuttered, his cheery demeanor crumbling entirely at this point, replaced by a far more worried one. “I don’t fucking care if you didn’t do it yourself! You just let me take the fall anyway! You fucking used me as a scapegoat! Just because you didn’t wanna face the consequences as well!” She hissed back, her expression one of pure venom, making Swift Pen shrink back once more, letting out a quiet ‘Eye’. Spray looked at her, swallowing hard before letting his shoulders fall down and returning, almost defeated sounding: “I’m sorry…” Splash was about to burst into another tirade as her rant just jammed in her throat, simply replaced by a: “What…?” Raising his head slowly, he looked up at her, uncertainty clearly visible in his eyes. “I’m sorry… I should… I should have talked to you back then… Just asked you what you wanted… Instead… I just broke off contact to try and get as much distance between me and this whole thing… It was cowardly of me… I even told Colour Contrast to do the same in fear it’d lead back to me in some way….” He managed to press out before adding a simple: “Thank you… For not saying anything….” Splash was just standing there, her mouth still open from the tirade she had prepared just for the day she’d met one of them again. The rant she had gone over in her head a hundred times till now for sure, but it had just been flushed from her memory. She couldn’t even remember the first word. She probably would have just stood there if it wasn’t for Swift Pen shyly asking: “What… What happened?” “I… I was a tagger back in the day,” she returned, sounding distant in a way and looking at Spray Can like a dear in the headlights. “We… Used to spraypaint our art at buildings we liked… Not asking anyone. Probably for close to a year… Everything went fine, till… Someone ratted us out… I… was the only one arrested… And they canceled my scholarship to the Fillydelphia Institute of Art and Design… That’s how I ended up here….” “I… I didn’t…” Swift stuttered, looking stunned between Splash and Spray, unable to properly put together a sentence. “Yeah, obviously. Never wanted to tell you,” Splash returned, her voice starting to regain a certain level of confidence as she continued. “So… You came here to apologize? Is that it?” “I… Kinda…” He muttered in return, awkwardly running his hand through his hair. “I… I was actually here to ask you for help….” Splash’s expression quickly hardened again, and Swift could have sworn she heared a light sigh. “Of course… You never just come to apologize, only when it’s necessary for you. Always the same with you. Fine, I accept your apology, but I don’t want anything to do with you anymore. I won’t call security, so scram! See as a last token of my gratitude for old times sakes,” she huffed and turned around on the spot. Her expression was stone cold, but there was a hint of disappointment in her eyes. “Wait! Please… At least hear me out… It’s… It’s about Colour…” Spray burst out, taking a step towards her, his forehead covered in wrinkles. Splash sighed audibly before stopping in her path and simply stating: “Fine. What is it,” without turning around. “I… Ever since back then, he cut himself off from me… I don’t really blame him, but… He started clubbing and eventually settled on a club named ‘Cataclysm Paradise’. At first, he just was getting a bit more assertive and confident. It was actually nice to see. Ever since back then, he retreated even more into himself, but… One day he just flipped. He was aggressive and confrontational… It… as just not like him. At first, I just assumed it was some kind of phase, but… as time went on, he became more and more aggressive and even got into fights,” he continued, a genuine worry in his voice. “That… does sound weird, but I don’t really get what that has to do with me,” Splash nodded along, lightly biting her lip. “I usually wouldn’t bother you with this, but… Last night… I saw him speaking with a girl… More arguing, actually. I couldn’t other than listen in. The two got angrier and angrier until….” Spray took a deep breath, almost as if to brace himself for what he was about to say next. “Until she turned into a bird monster… The same monster that rampaged through the city last night… I… I ran after that,” he finished, his voice shaking. “Colour got involved with this mess last night? Is he ok?” She returned, her voice a bit shaky. “Ye… Yeah… I… I talked to him a bit today, but… He just told me to get lost if I knew what was good for me… I… I know you don’t wanna see me, but… I’m worried for him, ok? Please!” He said, taking another step towards her, his eyes filled with desperation. “I… Just for him, ok? After this, you’ll never have to see me ever again, ok? I…” Taking another deep breath, he added: “I’ll even go to the police if you want me to… Tell them it was me responsible back then, and I blackmailed you or something….” Splash just looked at him for a moment before her fist tightened, expression once more hardening: “You really think it’d be so easy!? Just tell them, ‘Ups it was me’? No! That won’t get me the scholarship back, and even if they believe you, they still got enough evidence to keep my record! The only thing you fucking archive is to make your life worse!” She returned angrily. “But fine… I’ll talk to him once. Not for you, but for Colour! After that, you leave me alone! And you buy me a coffee pot!” Spray Can just stared at her, almost bewildered. “Co… Coffee pot?” He simply managed to stammer out. “Yeah, got a problem with that?” He simply shook his head. “Good, meet me after work. Don’t be late! Because right now, I’m already two minutes over my break time, and my boss will have me for that,” she sighed, turning on the spot and rushing off, leaving a slightly confused Swift Pen and Spray Can behind; the former didn’t take long to process the last part of her sentence and hurried after them. “That… that actually worked….” Spray simply muttered. ()E+I() A few hours later, the sun was already setting on the snowy city at this point, Splash Page stepped out of the building, secretly kind of cursing herself to even agree to this, but a bit of herself was pushing her forward regardless. And just as expected, Paint Can was waiting for her outside the building, checking his phone nervously. “Oh, finally! I was worried you’d ditched me and snuck out of the backdoor,” he sighed in relief as he saw her. “Unlike you, others have to work. And I had to tell of Swift, or she would have tagged along. Didn't want to involve her in this shit,” she huffed back before continuing: “And I keep to my word,” she continued with a light glare. “So, where you think Colour is? I want this to be over as fast as possible.” “Right… Right… He generally hangs out in an old skatepark before heading to the club nowadays. It’s kinda his tagging ground now. Smaller stuff, but he has improved his craft as well. We should manage to get there before he heads off because getting to him in the club would probably be next to impossible,” Spray returned, showing her a map on his phone. “Not too far away… We can be there on the bus in about twenty minutes… You pay,” she added matter-of-factly, already on the move, or would have been if a man in a brown jacket, a few black hairs standing out from under it, and a suitcase shackled to his arm. “What do you want?” Splash groaned, already expecting the worst. “Oh, I’m here to make you an offer of great importance,” he simply returned, smiling. “Yeah, sorry, not sorry, I don’t have time for this. I already had my share of bullshit for the day, and I don’t need more right now,” she simply returned dismissively as she continued walking. “Wait, wait, this is quite impor-“ “I said I wasn’t buying anything. Now scram!” She simply rebuked, her voice straining not to start getting loud at this point. “Uhm, Splash…” Spray tried to say, only for Splash to interrupt him once again. “We are moving!” She once more stated, making it clear there was not going to be any discussion over this subject. Looking back between the man and her, he sighed and rushed after her. Meanwhile, the man in the jacket simply shook his head. “What kind of buddies do you have, fish? So impatient,” he chuckled to himself. “Oh well, they’ll come around soon enough if that is where they are going. I hope they do; it would be a waste otherwise.” He shrugged and started to move as well, slipping into an alleyway. “Who was that anyway?” Spry said, already a good way further. “He… he was the one who tipped me off where Colour was….” Spray returned, a bit out of breath. “Wait, what? And you tell me that now!?” She snapped back, a look of exasperation on her face. “You… Didn’t let… Me, remember?” He returned, still trying to catch his breath. “Right… Whatever,” she continued, waving her hand dismissively. “We’ll manage this on our own. So, get moving!” She shook her head and continued her rush towards the nearest bus stop. She was determined to finish this as fast as possible; a damn bus would certainly not stop her! ()E+I() As they entered the old skatepark, the sun had been reduced to a few beams of light, barely visible behind the city's skyline. The gate was unlocked, a ripped-apart chain laying not too far away from it, not that anyone had cared. Stepping into the open area, boxed in by large walls, they saw the old concrete pool that skaters used for their tricks filled with old junk and leaves, absolutely in no condition to be used. A few tents were strewn across the ground, wholly abandoned, many of them definitely on the newer side. A few homeless people had most likely made this their new home and then abandoned it. It was strange that they had been left behind like this; that’d only happen if there was no other option. But the thing that caught Splash Page’s attention the most were the walls. They had been covered in artwork after artwork, each getting better than the last. She took a step closer to one of them, running her hand over the paint with a slight feeling of familiarity. “You weren’t lying when you said he got better. Those are really good compared to his older stuff,” she muttered, looking up at a demonic-looking fish swallowing a church. “Oh, thank you! I definitely needed the praise of a marketing paint monkey,” a familiar voice cut through the usual city noise of honking cars, revving engines, and pigeon cries. Spinning around, she looked at a man with light green skin and light purple hair in the form of what looked like a still-growing mohawk. He wore a leather jacket with spikes all over it and a shirt with an anarchy symbol under it. “The fuck are you wearing? You look ridiculous,” she simply blurted out, staring at him in bewilderment. “Huh, charming as ever,” he returned with a huff. “I’m just wearing what is me. The real me, the one who’s not held back by you two imbeciles.” “Well, tell your real self that it has a terrible fashion sense,” she simply returned. “You’re trying too hard.” “Oh, haha. Why are you here? Not like you give a damn,” he huffed back, walking closer, completely ignoring Spray Can. “I’m here to tell you to knock it off. Spray over there came crawling on his knees to me at work and begged for forgiveness because of you,” she encountered, crossing her arms. “I didn’t come crawling in on my knees!” He burst out, only to be immediately silenced by Splash. “Oh, you definitely did. Because you don’t ask for forgiveness if it isn’t your last option, and don’t pretend it isn’t otherwise,” she finished, moving her focus from the clearly offended man towards Colour. “And you know that as well. So, he clearly still cares about you, and even I can’t say no to this. And given what you are wearing… He probably was right to be worried.” “Would you stop trying to insult my clothes!” He hissed back. “Right, sorry. How are you?” “I’m great, thank for asking,” he sarcastically snapped back. “I finally feel like I’m actually getting somewhere. Not just riding your coattails into mediocrity,” he continued, a smug grin on his lips. “Not entirely wrong. That’s some really good shit. Give it a bit more, and you’ll get some real respect here. How you manage that? Usually, you don’t know where to start when you tag.” “I got some reaffirmation,” he returned with an even bigger grin. “People who actually appreciate me. And not just as a tag along.” “And do they respect you beating up people as well?” She returned, making sure to sound as dry and cold as possible. “I know what you’ve been up to, and… Quite frankly, that’s not you. You couldn’t hurt a fly if you tried. Nothing wrong with being more confident, but there is a limit. Whoever told you this crap, tells they are just… Using you as well,” she continued, her expression softening a bit. “Oh, because you know everything, right? Fuck off! You don’t know who I was. You just wanted a yes man, someone who’d tell you how great you were. You never really cared; you just wanted to keep me small for your own ego. And now, when I got the chance to surpass you, you fucking think you can do it again! News flash, you can’t! I’ll show this world what I can do! And if I have to beat some shmucks up, so fucking be it!” He growled back, the expression on his face making the hairs on Splash’s neck stand up straight. “You can’t be serious, Colour! You’d never do that!” Spray Can finally blurted out, rushing up to him and grabbing him by the jacket. What he didn’t see coming was the right hook that knocked him to the ground and the ensuing kick to the stomach that made him cough up, gasping for air. “Colour! What the fuck!” Splash screamed out, an expression of utter shock on her face. “Leave! Now!” He screamed, pulling a weird, blue object out of his jacket. It was hard to properly make out what it was, but it looked vaguely stamp-like. “I’m warning you one more time!” Splash was about to shout back as a voice in the back of her head told her to rather be quiet. Somehow, she knew he was dead serious. “As expected from a beast driven by its selfish desires!” A melodic voice echoed through the park. She could have sworn that it came from above, what was even weirder. As she looked up, she saw the figure of a bird-like person hovering above them. The monster from last night! It was true; Colour had gotten into trouble with her! “You! I don’t have time… You know what, fine! I’ll rip off your wings, you flying rat!” He screamed back with anger she had never seen from him before. Tightening the grip on the stamp, he pushed a button on top of it, making it call out in a clear, booming voice. ()Anglerfish!() Colour started to glow in a bright blue, his body starting to shift before the light was extinguished by the power of a force wave emanating from him, almost knocking Splash off her feet and pushing Spray further away from him. In front of them no longer stood their friend but a fishlike monster. The other one from tonight. Before either of them could react, the flying monster swung her wing, letting several kunai shot towards him, which exploded on impact, almost hitting Spray. Not that Colour cared; no, he was far more concerned with the fact the bird had hit his paintings. “How dare you!? These are my masterpieces!” He screamed even more furiously before wildly throwing his glowing balls into the air, which quickly exploded, lighting up the night sky and knocking Splash off her feet, having tried to reach Spray and get him out of here. With a pained grunt, she pushed herself back up slightly, looking over to Spray Can. He was trying to push himself back up as well, but each time he tried to stand up all the way, he winced and slumped back down. There was no way he’d be getting up without help. With a silent curse, she pushed herself up all the way and was about ready to dash about the skate park turned battlefield when a voice next to her interrupted her. “Probably not a good idea. You’re gonna get yourself killed like that. You have no chance like you are now,” the man from before said to her, unnervingly nonchalant. “Wha!?” She simply blurted out. “Got a better idea, asshole!?” “Since you asked, yes,” he returned matter of factly, putting down the suitcase in his hand; the cuff had already been removed. “This!” He smugly continued, flipping the lid open, revealing a similar object to Colour’s stamp, just in pink with a white bottom, top, and fox on it. Next to it was a strange device made of a flat plate and a rectangular box with a screen on top and on the front. It was as white as the upper and lower parts of the stamp and had several pink highlights. “What in Tartarus is that?” She simply returned, looking even more confused. “Your chance,” he simply returned, grabbing both devices and handing them to her. “What do I do with those?” She once more spat back, her tone growing increasingly agitated, the fight continuing in the corner of her eyes as pieces of concrete and wall flew across the park like they were confetti at a party. “Put it on your waist,” the man calmly continued. “Fuck it, sure!” She threw back, the panic clearly noticeable in her voice. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the device against her waist and almost shrieked as what looked like white belt straps shot out from it and around her, fastening the device to her. ()Psyde-Driver!() “Wha… What was that!?” She couldn’t other than ask, staring at the man, not noticing something materializing next to her. “It’s a Psyde-Driver, didn’t you listen?” A sly, mocking voice giggled into her ear from the other side. With a loud scream, she spun around, staring at a black figure; her body, covered in what looked like layered skin with white pieces hiding underneath it, was still becoming visible. The figure seemed almost demonic with its twisted face, reminding her of a dragon with long, sharp ears and piercing purple eyes. But the most striking thing was the white fox tail hanging from her back and the pink-tipped end of it. This time she couldn’t then stumble backward, falling on her butt as she looked at the floating, transparent figure that was grinning down at her. What was even stranger was the fact that she seemed to be connected to her. “Wha… What is it!?” “Id? She’s calling me an Id. Kind of rude to call me that. That ego you have! But I do kinda like it. Id it is!” The figure chuckled and looked down at her ‘Psyde-Driver’. “Don’t you still have something to do?” It continued to chuckle mockingly. “Yep, you do! Now, press the button on top of the Vistamp, insert it on top of the belt, scream ‘Henshin!’ and turn the display to the right!” The man added, raising his right hand to his side, imitating flipping the device over, knocking her out of her stupor. “Henshin? Do I real-“ She tried to argue, already standing back up, but was unceremoniously interrupted. “Yes! Now do it, or your friend ends as either bird of fish food!” “Fine!” She huffed, taking one last look at “Id” and the stamp before pressing the button. ()Fox!() Taking one deep breath, she raised the stamp before slamming it on top of the device, flipping it sidewards, stopping at a nighty degree angle. "Henshin!" ()Flip Out! F-F-Fox!() ()Draw Up!() (Sketch-( )Splash-) ()ing!() (Paint-( )Spray-) ()ing!() ()Kamen Rider() (Ego!( )Id!) ()Ego Plus Id!() The Driver started to scream, two voices overlapping each other and fighting for dominance before coming together for the last line. In the meantime, Id had manifested a giant version of the stamp and swirled around her for a bit before slamming it down on top of her, the pink liquid slowly forming something over her body before bursting open, revealing two figures. One clad in white armor, with a pink chest and highlights, the fox of the stamp embedded onto it. The white split open under her chest, revealing black parts to the suit before returning to the white with pink highlights. Two shoulder pads were attached to her, almost giving her suit the design of a Neighponien shrine maiden. The helmet she now wore was shaped like a white fox mask with pink highlights, a silver half moon on her forehead, and bright blue, elongated eyes. The other figure looked very similar to Id, just with a white hoodie over her upper body. A white hoody stained and covered in pink ink splashes. Two fox ears from a more traditional white fox mask with pink highlights poked out from under it. She wore short, white cloth sleeves wrapped in pink beads on her ankles. The tail was still sticking out of her but was now accompanied by two stiff pink ribbons with a silver bell attached. She wore the same Driver the other figure wore but flipped to the left instead of right. “Ahhhhh! So this is what moving actually feels like. Amazing!” Id mused, stretching herself a bit. “And I do like the hoodie. It’s very comfy!” “W… Wow…” Splash said, looking down at her suited appearance. “This feels amazing. I never felt this… Alive before,” she continued, looking over at Id. “And you are Id, right?” “No, Kamen Rider Id! You gotta use the full name, Kamen Rider Ego,” Id chuckled back before looking towards the battlefield that had fallen quiet. Their transformation had even managed to stop the two combatants to figure out what exactly was happening. “Wh… What are you?" The bird monster shouted at her from above, her entire body ready to pounce on her at any moment. “I have no id-“ Splash was about to return, as Id loudly interrupted her. “This? This is your biggest nightmare! Didn’t you listen? She is the unbeatable Kamen Rider Ego! And I’m the demonically unmatched Kamen Rider Id! We’re gonna beat you! It’s as simple as that!” Id proclaimed, adding a sly bow to the end of her speech. “The fuck, Id!? Who let you decide that?” ‘Ego’ grabbed her by the shoulder, pulling her back and looking directly at her mask, her voice a mix of anger and nervousness. “Hey, you would have just botched our introduction. And really, you wanna beat her up as much as I do. After all, I’m you,” she chuckled, poking Ego’s chest while tilting her head. “Also, dodge!” And with that, Id jumped backward, landing several meters away, almost at the other end of the park. Ego looked back towards the monster in the meantime, only to see another barrage of kunai raining down, but not on the fish, but on her. Driven by pure instinct, she shoved herself back and completely underestimated her strength, shooting herself into the next wall. “What the…” She quietly muttered, shaking her head before things started to come together again in her head. “Hey! The fuck bitch! What was that for!?” She screamed up at the bird, her voice clearly betraying her agitation. “You are a tagger; I heard that from your little talk with the abomination. And a Rider on top. You are an affront to the great order of this world! For that, you shall be punished!” The bird simply stated before descending rapidly! Directly at her! “What Thesaurus did you eat today?” She shouted back, utterly baffled by her high and mighty tone, before reading herself for another dodge. That was until she heard Id’s voice shouting over to her: “Punch her already!” As if her brain was running on autopilot, she pulled back her fist, readied herself, and- BAM! Followed by an ear-piercing screech, the monster was knocked into one of the piles of tents, Ego simply standing there, a bit of smoke emitting from her fist. She couldn’t quite comprehend what had just happened, looking between her fist and the debris the monster had just been shot into. But before she could make heads or tails of it, the bird burst forth from the tents, her mask cracked straight down the middle, pieces of rock and wood scattering everywhere, only for pink energy bolts to hit her square in the chest. Sparks burst forth from her as more and more of the laser blasts hit her, pushing her slightly back. “Uhhh, I like this thing,” Id said, holding a paint tube-shaped gun in her hand that looked like it had already been half emptied. “Why don’t you try yours?” “Mine?” “Yeah, the two things on your waist! Really, you need to just get into the grove. Might even have some fun,”she encountered, placing a few more shots towards the monster. Trusting Id’s words, she reached towards her waist and… Indeed, something was attached to it. Two things even. They felt like long drumsticks. Grabbing them, she unbuckled them from her waist holder, pulling forth two paint brush-shaped sticks with pink ink on their tips. “Who designs weapons like this?” She exclaimed, shaking her head for a bit. “Eh, fuck it!” With an exhausted sigh, she dashed forth at her opponent. With a loud scream, the bird finally managed to escape her shock, shooting another volley of razor-sharp feathers at Id, who easily dodged them, leaving herself wide open for Ego to slam one of the paintbrush batons into her back, an eruption of sparks illuminating the now dark park. With a pained screech, she spun around, trying to claw at Ego, only for her face to be greeted with a second swing and the other baton. For a moment, everything spun as it slammed into her, the pain like a surging inferno followed by her body crashing into the ground. Ego, meanwhile, looked in amazement at the weapon's power and the pink trail it had left behind, almost like the stroke of a brush. “Wow… Fuck… This is…” “Fun? Amazing? Like a dream?”Id whispered into her ear, leaning up from behind her, only for Splash to jump back, glaring at the demonic figure. “Never! Ever! Do that again!” She huffed back, catching her breath. “Can’t make promises. Where is the fun in that,”she returned, bobbing her head from one side to the other. “Careful, or you are next!” Splash hissed back, pointing at Id with one of her batons. “Woah, woah,”she exclaimed, playfully raising her arms. “I think you are aiming at the wrong target. Might wanna finish this before birdy there takes a flight,” she innocently pointed at the monster that was starting to push herself back up, not without loud and labored heavy breathing. “I agree with the demon. Take your stamps and put them into the slots on the weapons. That should take care of it,” the strange man added, his expression one of pure excitement. “Now then... I think it’s time for the highlight!” Snapping his hand, he pointed at the monster. Ego just shook her head, while Id did as told, removing the stamp from her Driver and slotting it in an opening under the gun barrel. ()ColourBurstDuo!() ()Fox!() The weapon exclaimed, starting to glow. Pointing the gun at the monster, she casually pulled the trigger. ()Fox Colour Burst!() Four pink orbs shot out from the weapon, almost knocking it out of her hand before slamming into the monster's arms and legs, stretching and locking them in place. “Your turn, Kamen Rider, Ego,” she added with a playful undertone. “Fine,” she huffed, slipping her stamp into a slot at the back of the baton, right below the actual brush part. ()ColourSmashDuo!() ()Fox!() Just like the other weapon, it started to glow. Looking at the now energized weapon, she spun it around her hand once before stepping towards the monster, straining against the hold with all her might. “Sorry, you lost,” she simply stated, pushing a button on the other side of the stamp on her weapons. ()Fox Colour Smash!() The first swing slashed across her stomach, leaving a glowing paint stroke behind, a feat she repeated with her other baton, forming an X across her chest, all while the bird was screaming her lungs out. Steading her footing, she pulled back both batons before slamming them full force right in the middle of the two strokes, causing the monster to violently explode, leaving only Ego standing in the bright explosion. Out of the smoke, a woman fell. She had pale white skin and light blond hair while wearing a comfy-looking blue jacket. Next to her, another stamp tumbled down, one the strange man immediately scooped up, screaming out loudly: “Yes! Got you, my lovely! That makes two!” Ego didn’t pay him any mind, looking around for Colour, only to find the park abandoned. “Where did Colour go?” “Oh, he left after you punched birdy into the tents,” he muttered absentmindedly, enraptured by the stamp. “You get him next time.” “Next time? What do you mean nex-“ She was about to burst out into another tirade when her eyes noticed Spray Can, still crumpled up on the floor. “Shit! Spray!” Without another word, she rushed over to the injured Spray, starting to help him up and deactivating the transformation, the armor slipping off her like liquid. “By the way, that doesn’t mean you don’t owe me an explanation!” She shouted over her shoulder at the man, who simply nodded. “Sure, sure, it’s the least I can do. Still, I’d say we get out of dodge. This was bound to attract unwanted attention,” he returned with a big grin. “And your friend might need a doctor. From the looks of it, that was at least a cracked rip,” he added, seemingly nonplussed, much to Splash’s frustration. “Stop playing with your toys and help me then, you dipshit!” “Whatever gets you moving,” he simply returned with a shrug, moving to support her in moving him. And with that, they shuffled out of the park as fast as they could with the injured Spray Can, underlined by delighted giggling seemingly echoing in her head. After all of this, she definitely needed more than one coffee. Author's Note And that was the first chapter for my Revice x EQG fanfic. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. That said if you are familiar with Revice you probably noticed a few things that didn't quite line up with the rules of the show. I've taken the liberty to play fast and lose which parts of the rules I'm going to implement and what I'm taking a personal touch to. Regardless, I hope you'll join me in the next chapter, one hopefully out faster than chapter one.
Showdown! The Demonic Debut!The snow was still falling slowly toward the earth, cold, uncaring, and solitary, yet so numerous. At least, that was how it felt to Splash as she stared out the window into the courtyard and saw the empty water feature in the middle. Her hands were tightly clasped around a cup of steaming hot coffee, making the snow feel even colder. With a frustrated sigh, she turned her gaze towards the man sitting on the other end of the table, intensely focused on a laptop he had pulled out and was typing away at. "So, answers! Now! "She simply stated, her expression hardened once more as she glared at the man in his labcoat, who appeared to be lost in his own world. "Yes, yes, I know. You want answers. And I said I'd give you some, but I need to know which answer you do care about," he simply returned, not even looking up at her. "Oh, I don't know? How about what the fuck any of this even was!?" Splash hissed back, eyes like daggers. "Oh, how very specific," he returned with an overly exaggerated eye roll. "He's got you there, Splash," a third, sly voice added, making Splash almost jump up, spinning around and staring at a see-through shadow. "Ok, I know what! What the fuck is this!?" She spat out, loud enough to make a few eyes turn towards them, making her grit her teeth at "Id". "I have a name, you know? You gave it to me, after all. I'm hurt, Splash," the… creature returned, and even if she couldn't see it, she knew it was grinning smugly. Splash glared at her ghostly form, simply floating there, somehow connected to her body. "What she is? She is your demon. It is she, right?" He returned, not looking up, grabbing the coffee beside him and taking a long sip from the mug. "Correct, it is she. After all," the demon motioned down at her body, which had a clear, feminine shape. "How could anyone mistake my irresistible, feminine charm?" The irony was more overtone than undertone in her voice. Splash just looked at her in a mix of confusion and exhaustion. "Now that you avoided misgendering the demon, can we get back to the fact that I have a demon sticking out of me!?" Splash hissed back, apparently not silent enough since a few people looked at her somewhat perplexed, resulting in her giving Id another glare. "Oh, quiet down. It's not a literal demon from Tartarus. It is your demon, your inner demon," he returned in such a casual manner that only furthered Splash's aggravation. "Oh, yeah, that calms me down right away. If I knew what any of that meant!" Splash huffed back, crossing her arms, the wrinkles on her forehead only growing. He looked up at her with a labored sigh and simply stated: "I guess I have to start at square one, Foxy. Are you familiar with the concept of an inner demon?" "I’m sorry, a what now?” She simply returned, a genuine look of confusion on her face. “She’s clueless. You gotta spell it out for her,” Id added, shrugging with her shoulders and shaking her head with a light chuckle. “Shut up you….” She grumbled back, only to be cut off by him. “An inner demon can be best described as the voice inside your head that tells you to do the first thing that comes to your mind. It’s a part of your subconscious, unrestrained by morality, thought, or any other form of tempering. Some say it is your purest essence; others, it is a voice that guides you to a righteous path. But one thing is certain: it consists of all the emotions we keep bottled up. Regret, anger, and sorrow coalesced into a being with a singular goal. Act!” He finished, his eyes looking at her for the first time, a cold certainty in them. “My… subconciouss… She’s… Me?” Splash raised an eyebrow before staring at Id, who simply tilted her head in return. “Correct, at least partially. She is a part of you, not all of it. And from the looks of it, we have a demon of the Devil variety here,” he finished. However, Splash’s continued confused look made him sigh and go on: “A demon born from selfish desires and thoughts. They spawn from people who look out for themselves first and foremost. Who feel like they lack something, at least most of the time.” “Oh, thank you, Mr. first-year psych student, with his bullshit!” She growled back. “If I wanted to be insulted, I could have just looked for Colour again.” “Oh, don’t be mistaken. I’m not judging you. I’ve seen enough goodhearted people with a devilish demon and enough awful ones with an angelic one. Only because one’s desires spawn from a selfish place doesn’t mean they are wrong. Just as angelic demons aren’t born perfect, either. A demon birthed from the wish to guide others and from helping them can just as easily be twisted into a controlling, overbearing, intolerant obsession. A demon is nothing more than unshackled desires, good or bad; it really doesn’t matter to them,” he finished, leaving a silent Splash Page on the other side of the table. “Right… Either way, not like it matters. Where did she come from, and how do I get rid of her?” She responded, her voice a lot calmer, but one could still feel the edge in it. “Oh, how cute. She thinks she can get rid of me,” Id added, her ghostly elbow leaning on Splash’s shoulder, earning her another glare. “For the how, she manifested separately from your subconscious once you put on the Driver. Just like using a Vistamp would have. As for getting rid of her, I have to concur with your little kitsune, Foxy, you ain’t. Better get used to it, I guess,” he simply shrugged, yawning even. “Get used to it!?” She shouted out, completely ignoring all the angry looks she was attracting. “How am I supposed to get used to it! Everyone will think I’m a freak!” “Oh, calm down, Foxy,” he returned disinterestedly, already back on his laptop. “Not like anyone without a demon can see her. Just have to be a bit more careful when talking to her.” “I… That… Grrr!” She growled, fist clenching her fist as she glared at him. “My, our little scientist is really asking for it, ain’t he?” Id slily whispered into her ear. “Yeah, he really do-“ She muttered to herself as she suddenly stopped mid-sentence and glared at the demon. “You! Stop trying to manipulate me!” “Me!? Manipulate you!? Why, I would never!” It came back as a response from Id, sounding as fake as the demon could muster, which only ticked Splash more off. “Foxy, Kitsune, are you done with your little game now?” It cut through their little argument like a knife as he spoke up again. “ Because as amusing as your little spat is, we still got things to do. Next question. And make it quick, Foxy.” Splash narrowed her eyes, internally agreeing with her demon but swallowing that thought… for now. “Colour. What… was he and the bird?” “Ahhhh! Now you are asking the right questions!” He returned with a chuckle as he pulled out the ‘stamp’ they had retrieved from the bird monster. “This is a Vistamp! A device able to awaken one's inner demon with just one willing press of a button!” He imitated the motion of stamping himself with an unnerving grin. “And you expect me to believe a stamp like that could turn you into a monster? Yeah, fat chance,” she scoffed back, crossing her arms. “I mean, we got a hero who uses disks to transform, so, really. Is that so far-fetched, Foxy?” She simply remained quiet. “See, I knew you were at least moderately intelligent,” he smiled back, cutting off her restored as he continued nonchalantly. “But yes, these babies are what creates the 'Deadman'. The monsters you’ve seen. They are a human's inner demon being brought to the outside and changing the host's body into something stronger. Simply put, once humans willingly unleash their demon, they switch places. The demon takes control while the human sits back and has to watch it act. Most are actually quite content with that arrangement,” he shrugged. “Wait… So… That wasn’t Colour, but…” She started to mutter, only for him to cut in once more. “Exactly! That was his demon. And my, it really went to town on you. Seems your separation left some marks on him. Poor fellow,” he continued, playing up his empathy far too much. “Shut the fuck up!” She simply retorted, a cold glare directed at the strange man. “You don’t know a damn thing about this! I also don’t give a damn about what you think or who you think is at fault here. All I want is for this to be over already. So, you better tell me how I turn him back, or you’re staying longer in this hospital than you’d like!” Raising his hands, he returned in an annoyingly calm voice. “Easy, easy, Foxy. I’ll tell you. You simply need to knock them out; at that point, the demon won’t have the strength to keep control and return to where they spawned. Question is, would your friend even want that.” “Don’t you want to punch him anyway?” Id added, not even looking at the man. “We’ll punch him later,” Splash returned, nodding at her demon. “For now, we still need him. Much as I hate it.” “Exactly! I knew you’d be a great fit to be my hero,” he chuckled, but there was the hint of a genuine smile under all the smugness. “Listen, I’m not anyo-“ she tried to return as she was interrupted by a familiar voice. “Ah, there you two are…” Spray simply said, his voice still quite exhausted. Splash turned around, looking at him, two crutches firmly pressed under his arms. His leg had been covered in bandages, and his face was still swollen, at least where his skin showed under the plasters. “So, how… are you?” Splash simply asked, Id hovering behind her, eyeing him as well. “A broken leg, a few cracked ribs, but besides that, mostly only sore,” Spray muttered in return, noticeably avoiding her gaze. “Good, good..” she returned. “They call you a dumbass without feeling bad about it. What in Tartarus did you drag me into!?” Looking over to his scientist “friend”, she added a snippy “And who the fuck is this guy anyway?” “You know, you could have just asked,” the man replied drily. “But sure, let’s do it the roundabout way,” he added with a shrug. “Su… Sure…” Spray returned, awkwardly sitting down, taking an uncomfortably long time. “Splash, that’s… Ebony Sun, right?” Ebony simply nodded in return. “He… approached me yesterday, telling me where Colour was and… told me to contact you this morning,” he continued, avoiding eye contact with Splash. “I… really didn’t want to, but he said we needed you.” Splash turned back to Ebony, raising an eyebrow. “You needed me? Why?” “Is this a question that really interests you? You simply were a good test subject for the Driver. Simple as is. Don’t have to think much of it. Mostly because your friend, I’m sorry, ex-friend was the Deadman. You can call it luck, probability, or fate, whatever floats your boat, Foxy. Either way, the why doesn’t really matter; the what does far more,” he simply returned, the smug look on his face letting her brows throw even more. “Sure, whatever. And the what is? What even is Colour doing with one of those-“ “Vistamps!” He interrupted, almost as if he had known the fact she had forgotten the name already. “Yes, yes, that thing! What is he doing with something like this? How did he even get his hands on it? And why was he fighting that bird ‘Deadman’?” “Oh, simple, he joined a cult,” he responded far too nonchalantly. “That is not an answer. Also, the fuck?” She almost instantly threw back, only realizing halfway through what she had just heard. “You heard me. Your Colour joined a cult. Comedia, to be precise. They are a Deadman cult entirely composed of devil-type demons. They use their club, Cataclysm Paradise, as a recruiting ground for their religious war with the Children of True Love, an angelic cult from the city. Your friend is just another in a long line of marks for them, really,” Ebony started to recite as if this was the most normal thing in the world. “These two cults are current- “Great, demonic gang war was exactly what this city needed right now. But, no offense-“ Splash interrupted him, with a clearly strained tone in her voice, only to be interrupted herself by the sly demon beside her. “Offense very much intended.” Splash glared at Id, who gave her the best “innocent as the day you were born”-impression she could muster in return. Splash simply sighed and shook her head. How the hell was she supposed to get used to… this? “Look, I don’t care about this little turf war from Tartarus; I just want to get this over with and save my friend from himself, ok?” She finished, her expression softening a bit, the day's exhaustion clearly setting in now. “But you should care about it. How will you fight your enemies as a Rider without knowing them,” Ebony returned, matter of fact. “I think you’re not getting it, numbskull. I’m not a Rider. At least not for long. I’ll get Colour back, make sure he doesn’t get his hands on the stamp, and then I’m out. I don’t wanna play hero! Why should I? To help some shmucks who don’t know me, have never done anything for me, and would ignore me at the drop of a hat? Yeah, fat chance!” She huffed back. “I’m not your hero. I’m not anyone's hero! And I don’t wanna be! Got that?” Ebony actually looked up from his laptop at this, about to reply something, but no words came out of his mouth. “Oh, you caught him off guard? That’s new,” Id chuckled in her ear, Splash swatting her away like a particularly annoying fly. “Welll… Fine,” Ebony finally found his voice again, but his tone had soured lightly. “Not like you are my only potential Rider. Either way, it doesn’t matter right now. Maybe you’ll change your opinion once we are done. Either way, we have to finish this first.” “Good. Glad we are on the same page,” she muttered, tempted to roll her eyes at his comment but decided to be the better woman. She did, however, catch Id, rolling her head mockingly beside her. Oh, this was going to be a pain in the butt. “So, how exactly are we gonna do that?” “Oh, don’t worry! I have just the plan,” he simply chuckled, seemingly having regained his composure. ()E+I() Meanwhile, not too far from where Splash had clashed with the two Deadman, Colour had snuck back into an abandoned subway station. A place filled to the brim with spray paint and old, damaged furniture, creating a “comfy” hangout for him. But the atmosphere was far from comfy right now. Tense was a far more apt description. A man with a white, light pinkish complexion and vibrant pink hair leaned against one of the pillars. Dressed in a dark brown angler vest, complete with a matching hat, and sporting a warm smile, the man didn’t evoke any intimidating presence, but that certainly didn’t seem to calm Colour. “So, if I got this right, our bird friend has been dealt with?” He simply asked, not breaking his smile for a second. “Yea…” Colour returned, keeping his gaze fixed on a wall entirely opposite to him, seemingly admiring his own work. “She won’t be a problem anymore.” “That’s good. So, where is the stamp?” “The… stamp?” He stuttered back, his breath quickening a bit. “Yeah, the Vistamp? You didn’t just leave it there, right?” The man chuckled back before adding a second. “Right?” “Of- Of course, I didn’t just leave it there,” he returned, trying to add a few light chuckles that only come off as exceedingly awkward. “Then where is it?” The man asked, whispering right into his ear. In an instant, Colour spun around, staring directly into his smile. He could have sworn he was leaning against the pillar at least 10 meters away. “Some… Someone… may have taken… it,” he stammered back, his words coming out of his mouth without any further thought. The man raised an eyebrow. “Riders! Riders took it!” “Riders?” He dropped the smile for a moment, his eyes focusing on Colour, as if they were trying to pierce right through his head and into his brain. “Who? Alchemy? Charge or Monster? Or even Gaia?” “I… None of them… They… They were new! – I’ve never seen them before,” He stammered back, sweat dripping off his forehead as he was examined meticulously. “They… Called themselves Ego and… Id… I think. They used a stamp to… transform.” “I see…” He gave him one more look before pulling back, his smile reappearing like it had never left. “Clever boy. Trying to claim the Rider’s victory for your own, weren’t you?” “Wh-What? N-No! I’d nev-“ He respondede back, the panic in his voice barely disguised, if at all. “Shhhh! Don’t worry. I think that’s a good quality to have. Knowing what others want to hear. But, you should maybe pick your battles better,” he chuckled. “Maybe, next time, get all their stamps before calling in the big shots, boy. Then you might even real in your catch.” “You… You want me to… fight the Riders?” “Want? Me?” The man laughed mockingly and shook his head. “I don’t want anything from you. I was simply giving you some tips, you get me?” “Yes… I understand… Oleander,” Colour nodded, nervously looking at the man. “Well, that’s lovely. Now, if you excuse me, I have some information to share. Have fun, boy,” Oleander added, waving his hand, before heading out of the subway station. The moment he left, Colour deflated into one of the damaged couches he had dragged down here and let out a loud sigh. “Motherfucker! Guess we aren’t done just yet, Splash… Guess I get to show you I’m better than you now,” he muttered before transitioning into an excited chuckle. “What do you mean ‘Are you sure we should do that’? You should trust me, man. I know what you want. Now, zip it, we’ve got work to do!” He added to seemingly no one. ()E+I() Spash Page was a wreck. Or at least, that’s how she felt and probably looked. It had been past midnight when she came home, and even though she felt exhausted, sleep just didn’t want to come. Absolutely not helped by her demon making constant, snarky remarks whenever she was just about to drift off. She may have gotten three hours of sleep in, max. Worst of all, Id seemed no worse for wear, or at least was good at hiding it. The constant chattering and giggling from the demon was just the cherry on top. Until now, she had managed to avoid shouting at her, but the glares she gave the creature had been noticed. Especially by Swift Pen, who was glancing over nervously at her every chance she got. It wasn’t till lunch that she finally spoke up after paying again for her meal. “Anything… happened yesterday? I hope your friend is OK,” she carefully tried to breach the topic. “Didn’t I tell you not to worry? It’s my problem, not yours. So forget about it,” she tried to dismiss with a shake of her hand. “You… Sure? You look… Awful,” she tried again, the worry written on her face, which only became more pronounced with every second that passed. “Yes!” She hissed back. Swift immediately jerked back, eyes wide open as she stared at her. After staring at her for a few seconds, Splash's expression turned into a frown. “Oh my. And I thought I was the monster in this relationship?” Id playfully whispered into her ear. “Shut it!” Spray hissed through gritted teeth, her look trying to take Id into focus, but the demon was hiding behind her, chuckling. “Hey, I’m not the one responsible here. That’s on you,” she returned. “I may have wanted to hiss at her, but you did it. So, I’m innocent. That’s how it works, right?” Splash simply gritted her teeth, which only seemed to make Swift Pen all the more concerned for her. “You… You real sure… You seem… On edge…” She tried once more, her voice quiet and quite shaky. “I… Sorry. I’m fine. I just… Barely had any sleep tonight and last night… Was kinda… Eventful,” she sighed, her posture relaxing a bit. “But, really. Don’t worry. I’ll deal with this shitshow today, and then I never have to worry about it ever again. And everything will go back to the usual, shitty normal,” she continued with a light chuckle. “You still don’t want me around for this then?” Swift asked one last time, the embers of hope carried by her soft voice. “No, I really don’t. This is not your problem. And it’s almost over anyway. You don’t need to get involved,” Splash returned, her voice with a light, awkward undertone. “O… OK…” Swift nodded, almost sounding disappointed. “If you say so.” “Hey, I said don’t worry. Tomorrow’s food is on me, OK?” Splash chuckled, Swift nodding absentmindedly in return. “I give this apology a four out of ten. Still needs some work,” the demon chimed in, earning an exhausted exhale from Splash. ()E+I() “So, what exactly is your great plan now?” Splash muttered, arms crossed, rolling her eyes as she walked next to Ebony. She met up with him following work, shortly after she said goodbye to Swift. “Oh, simple, really. He’s not done with us yet. He’ll want the stamp! That means he’s gonna keep an eye on us. It’s dead simple,” he casually returned, flipping the lime green Vistamp up before catching it again. “You said your plan was more than just aimlessly wandering yesterday! Sure doesn’t look that way!” She huffed, her eyes wandering across the crowds that kept on ignoring them like anybody else. “This is barely a concept!” “It’s not aimless! I know where we are going. Spray gave me a good hint. We need a secluded place, but will not let him just sit idly by. You should know where we are going,” it returned before he casually started to whistle. “You can’t be fucking serious!” “Oh, we both know he is,” Id added with a chuckle, right next to the exasperate Splash Page. “Hey, I think you got it. And really, do you think he’ll be able to resist this chance? Too much buried emotion. It’s like a shitty telenovela. Unable to be contained.” “Right, yeah, great comparison,” she hissed back. “How do you even know about this place?” “My guess is on Spray. He was never one for keeping his mouth shut. Well, except that one time,” the demoness mused next to her before floating into her field of view. “Correct, Kitsune! He did inform me of your… split-up point yesterday after you left for bed, Foxy. Missed all the fun reminiscing,” he encountered, turning around and giving her a smug grin. “Yes, fun, sure,” she groaned before looking up at the quickly darkening sky. They weren’t far off now, a fact that made her weirdly uncomfortable if she was honest. “By the way, Foxy, we are being followed!” She was about to turn back when she heard a hiss from Ebony once more. “No looking! Don’t wanna scare off our little prey, now want we?” “Yes, we don’t want that, riiiiight?” The demon joined in, the sweet voice just annoying her further. “Oh, haha, very funny.” “Thank you, I’ll be here all week, every week,” Id returned, with a delighted smugness in her voice. It didn’t take long till they had reached their destination. An old city park with a basketball court and, most importantly, a perfect wall for tagging. The fact that rarely anyone ever came here was the cherry on top. Or, it was when she still indulging in her hobby. Nowadays, she avoided the park; too much jealousy, if she was being honest. They stepped into the court and towards the wall covered in a new set of graffiti, probably not even a day old, as Ebony stopped dead in his tracks before simply stating, his voice above a simple conversation: “You can come out now! I knew you were following us for a while now.” A sudden gasp for air and some nervous footsteps later, the unknown stalker made themselves known, something Splash did not expect. Instead of a wannabe punk, it was a petite, pink woman, Swift Pen. “I- I mean… It’s-“ She started to stammer, clearly caught off guard by her quick discovery. “Swift? What are you doing here!? Didn’t I tell you I didn’t need your help?” Splash burst out, stepping closer to her coworker, who took a slight step back. “You really got a way with words, Splash. Really. Some people could learn a lot from you,” the demon added in a deadly dry tone. “Zipp it, Id!” She hissed to her side, not that it seemed to bother Id in the slightest. “I… I’m sorry… I was just… worried… ok?” Swift finally managed to stutter out, her hair falling over her face, allowing her to hide a bit behind it. “I’m fine…” She sighed, shaking her head. “I really don’t need any help her-“ She tried to get through to her once more. For as much of a doormat Swift was, she was damn stubborn, Splash had to admit. “Oh, you do need help. At least if you don’t hand over your two stamps!” A voice echoed across the court, making everyone spin around and towards the wall. On top of it, a familiar face greeted them, Colour Contrast. He was sitting right on it, almost lounging on it. “Colour! Couldn’t you have waited a few more minutes till I solved this? Seriously?” She huffed back, glaring at the young man, who rolled his eyes instead and jumped off the wall. “As if I care. Just give me the things, and this is all over,” he simply stated, taking a few steps closer to them. Swift looked nervously at the man. “Yeah, fat chance that. I may not really care about any of this, but I’m not dumb enough to hand a cult this shit!” She returned dismissively. “Fine!” He shot back with a snippy tone. “Then I just have to take what is rightfully mine, I guess!” From his pocket emerged a dark blue Vistamp; Splash could swear she could see a fish on it, even from this distance. ()Anglerfish!() Pieces of paper, almost like being kicked up by a gust of wind, swirled around him before covering his body in them. The lines on them started to glow a deep blue before a shockwave pushed them away, once again revealing the Anglerfish Deadman, who wasted no time rushing towards her, starting with one Tartarus of a haymaker. Eyes widening, Spalsh barely managed to duck under the swing, rushing past him, only to be caught by his backhand, sending her flying into the fence. Her back slammed into it, followed by a series of blunt pain in her back, accompanied by a ringing sound; she wasn’t even sure if it was coming from the fence or her head. “Splash!? You OK!?” It finally pierced through her dazed senses, only now realizing she had been sent flying next to Swift. The woman looked mortified; her already pale pink skin had turned utterly white, and one could see the fear in her eyes. “No… No, I’m not,” she growled through gritted teeth, pushing herself up. “But I will be, really damn soon…” “Oh, you better be. After all, he deserves to be taught a lesson,” Id added in a sneering tone. Pulling out the Driver she had been given, she slammed it on her waist as Colour kept approaching, each step more forceful than the last. ()Psyde-Driver!() “Get to cover…” Splash simply said, her hand tightening around her own Vistamp. “But-“ Swift tried to argue. “I said go!” She shouted back, raising the Vistamp above her head. ()Fox!() Slamming it down, she simply screamed a loud, angry: “Henshin!” ()Flip Out! F-F-Fox!() ()Draw Up!() (Sketch-( )Splash-) ()ing!() (Paint-( )Spray-) ()ing!() ()Kamen Rider() (Ego!( )Id!) ()Ego Plus Id!()) Id once more appeared around her, holding the giant stamp before slamming it down on her, the armor congealing as she burst forth from it, directly at Colour, smashing her fist into his stomach and sending him staggering back despite his weight. “Hey, hey, leave me some of the fun as well!” Id shouted from behind her, casually strolling next to her. “Well, if you want some, you gotta be faster then,” she dismissed her before dashing forward again. Almost like a gunshot, the next hit echoed out across the park as Ego’s fist slammed into Colour’s fist, as both combatants tried to push the other back. But instead of giving Colour another solid smack, he proved far stronger than the Rider, knocking her fist back, followed by a backhand that sent her flying backward, once more into the chainlink fence, and right through this time. Managing to dig her fingers into the concrete, she caught herself again, letting out a long exhale. “That’s all? Come on, hit me like you mean it!” She shouted back, pulling herself back into a standing position. He simply glared at her, arching the palm of his hand like a claw, as a bright glowing ball of orange energy formed inside it. With a loud scream, he rocketed the orb directly at her. The explosion was massive; a good three fence segments were consumed instantly as pieces of metal rained down on the snow around them, quickly melting it. As the smoke had settled, Ego had barely managed to get out of the blast radius, her breath clearly labored. But she had done what she wanted. Utterly unnoticed by the Deadman, Id leaped upward, jumping on his shoulders, before hooking her feet around his waist, or at least as far as she could. He had completely forgotten she was even there in the first place. Loud screams and grunts were all he could muster as he bucked like a fish on land, and the Rider had gotten comfortable on top of him. “Gotcha! Guess the angler was caught this time,” the demon chuckled, aiming her paint-tube gun at the back of his head and unloading a salve of shots at him. His screams grew only louder with each impact, quickly shifting from surprise and pain to simple fury. It didn’t take long till his hand gripped tightly around Id’s foot, and with one mighty pull, he slammed her down onto the concrete, pieces of stone shooting up in the air as he let her slam into the ground, leaving a deep crater behind, before rolling a few meters further. His hand flared up with energy again as he hissed: “You might not be really her, but this will be just as good!” Id barely managed to get up off the ground enough to see the ball being slammed at her, or at least, she would have if another kick from Ego hadn’t diverted the course. The Rider hat dashed forward, crouched under his arm, and pulled her knee up just in time to send the bomb sky high, followed by an explosion that lit off the night sky like a firework. “Always getting in my way, are you…” The Deadman hissed as he tried to strike out at her once more, his uppercut missing her by, at most, the tip of a thinger. “Oh, I’m getting in your way? Good joke! You were the one who abandoned me! You left me on my own because of Spray’s advice! And here I am again, saving your ass!” Splash shouted back, dodging once more and delivering a solid punch to his gut, the fat over his body shaking like pudding, but it didn’t bother Color much. “The only one who was always in your way was you! You didn’t trust your own talent. I wasn’t holding you back; you were!” With a loud, primal scream, he summoned two more explosives in his fists, but instead of chucking them at her again, he dashed forward and used them like a bludgeon. Splash's eyes widened underneath her helmet, trying to dodge, but she already knew she wasn’t fast enough. BOOM! Splash was thrown backward, feeling the immense heat of the explosion wash over her, but she had expected worse. It hurt, sure, but it wasn’t like being hit by a truck strapped with C4. As she opened her eyes again, she was lying a few meters away from the monster, but to her surprise, he looked like he had also been thrown off his feet. “Careful there. If you, I die as well,” a familiar voice whispered in her ear. With a groan, she pushed herself back to her feet, only to be greeted with a green Vistamp. “Present from Ebony. He thinks turning this into a ranged fight might improve our odds,” the demon chuckled as Ego grabbed the stamp. Pulling the Driver back into the starting position, she replaced her fox Vistamp with the new one. ()Hawk!() Flipping the stamp back into position, Id turned translucent again, grabbed a giant Vistamp, and slammed the thing on top of her, the lime green covering her current armor. ()Flip Out! H-H-Hawk!() ()Draw Up!() (Soar-( )Roar-) ()ing!() (Fly-( )Cry-) ()ing!() ()Highspeed Hawk Hunter() “Don’t think just using a different stamp will save you from me!” Colour shouted as he pushed himself up once more, two more bombs already forming in his hands. With another loud, piercing scream, he catapulted them at the two Riders. A gust of smoke and dust kicked up as they hit the ground, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction, only to turn sour once more as the wind was blown away, two figures shooting up into the sky, completely unharmed. Ego’s pink had been replaced by lime green, her helmet now resembling that of a hawk with deep red bug eyes. Two wing-like scarves extended from her back and wrapped around her neck, and a stylized hawk stamp appeared on her chest. Id’s sweater far more resembled a flying jacket now, just like Ego; the pink had shifted to lime green. Her mask resembled the Tengu Deadman, just far less long. Her tail had changed to a bird's tail feathers, and two bird wings emerged from the jacket, flapping behind her. Screaming even louder, the Deadman threw more and more of his bombs up into the sky, each one lighting up the night and drowning out even the light of the approaching sirens. But no matter how many he threw up, they only kept illuminating the two figures gliding through them like an obstacle course. “Distract him already!” Ego shouted over at Id, her voice barely carrying over the explosions. Still, the demonic Rider dashed lower, or more precisely, shot towards the ground, only turning back up before hitting the ground. Like a bullet train, she raced towards Colour, whose look fixated on her, about to unleash another explosion on her. BANG! Another loud scream filled the air, the glowing orb in his hand fizzling out as he stumbled backward, holding his shoulder. He growled, trying to ignore the sizzling wound on his shoulder, eyes darting across the sky to find the attacker until finally- There she was! Ego was flapping her “wings” in the air, holding herself steady while aiming what could only be described as a rifle at him. Its main body was a bright white, with the underlying structure being black. Lime green paint splashes covered the gun, and at the back of it all, there was what looked like a white bottle with a hawk symbol attached to the firearm, with a slot for a Vistamp to be inserted. As he looked over to his shoulder, he only realized the green paint covering it. Then he felt another sudden surge of pain, as sparks burst off his side, Colour only realizing after a few moments that he was screaming out in agony. As he looked behind himself, he barely caught a glimpse of a spiraling Id, that had seemingly corkscrewed herself into him with her wings. Panting, he glared at her before rushing straight forward, pushing past the searing pain, his only aim to crush that damn Rider in his hands. Id simply jumped backward, pushed further by her wings, when he had barely made it halfway towards her; something followed by an explosion of sparks and pain across his stomach. Small feathers had crashed into him, clearly launched by the demon from her wings. “Well, seems you are lucky we took care of your bird friend, Colour,” Id chuckled, stroking her chin. “Because clearly, you weren’t gonna manage it even if you tried.” With another loud scream, Colour rushed forward, even powering through another salvo of feathers, and tried to clock Id straight in her face, only for the demon to barely manage to weave out of his swings once, twice… But the third time he would hit, he could see it, and so could Id. His fist raced forward, straight towards her- “Gah!” It echoed across the court as the lime paint exploded all over his face, sending him tumbling backward as the pain finally set in. Desperately trying to wipe away the stain, his eyes darted across the sky, searching for Ego, all while Id, slyly slipped behind him and got some distance between them. There she was! The damn Rider was flying circles around him in the air, firing shot after shot with her gun at him; each he managed to just stop with one of his bombs, something that made finding her harder and harder as the dust and smoke clouded the air between them. “Get back down here and fight me!” He bellowed across the sky; the only answer he received was another paintball he caught out of the air. “Oh, am I not enough for you?” Id’s voice came from behind. Spinning around, he was greeted by a foot in his face that once more pushed him backward as Id landed in front of him. She had shot herself towards him and readjusted midair to turn her speed into force. “Ego, now is your chance!” “I wasn’t done yet!” It came back as a response, and the sky cleared up enough now to reveal the Rider kneeling on a nearby building and inserting a Vistamp into the gun. ()ColourSplashDuo!() ()Hawk!() The gun started to glow a bright green, illuminating the position of the Rider even clearer. “Well, I still needed a distraction, after all!” Id shouted from behind him, grabbing his arms simultaneously and, with one swift motion, shut up into the air, Colour in tow. As much as he struggled, he didn’t manage to dislodge the Rider from himself until he was at least four dozen meters off the ground. At that point, Id simply dropped him, shooting further into the air. “Sorry, Colour, you lost!” Splash said, her voice was soft. ()Hawk Colour Splash!() Pulling the trigger, a green beam of energy shot toward the Deadman, hitting him square in the chest and halting him in midair. Green bolts of energy surged across his body as his screams echoed across the city's roofs until finally… BOOM! The explosion was bigger and brighter than any that had come before, and through it all, one could see the hawk symbol she carried on her chest in the middle of the explosion. Under her helmet, a broad smile crept across her lips as she saw the explosion, the green emanating from it, and the shockwave that had kicked up the snow around her. Without wasting another moment, she had already dove off the building, sweeping into the explosion cloud before shooting out onto another nearby building, the wannabe punk in her arms. With an exhausted sigh, she lowered him back to the ground, where he groaned, slowly opening his eyes as he looked up at her. “Splash…” He simply muttered as she slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position. Meanwhile, she had canceled her transformation and stood above him in her regular clothes, her demon curiously hovering beside her. Her expression was tired and stiff as she looked down on him before finally breaking the awkward silence. “You are a fucking idiot!” Colour just blinked for a few moments before letting out a quiet chuckle, nodding in agreement. “I guess I am… I’m sorry…” “No.” She simply returned. “No?” He asked, tilting his head lightly, the confusion written on his face. “You heard me. No, I don’t accept your apology.” “I… I understand… After what I did… Or rather, didn’t do, I really can’t blame you,” he sighed, lowering his gaze back to the ground. “Not that!” She hissed back, making Colour look back up in confusion. “That you are such a weak-willed idiot! You are fucking talented! Why don’t you get it! Back at the skatepark, I meant it when I said the work was good! It’s damn good, and it got so much potential to grow! Why do you not just realize that you don’t need any fucking cult or me to get there? You always look for someone to prop you up, but you don’t need it! You never need it! Grow a fucking spine! Take what you fucking want, and don’t depend on others again!” Colour’s lip shook, his breaths became deeper, more ragged as his hands tightened around the snow on the rooftop. “You’re right…” he weakly pressed out before letting out a pained grunt as he pushed himself back up. Shakily and slowly, but he did until he stood face to face with Splash. “You’re right. I’m a coward… A coward who always needs someone to tell them that I’m doing right. When you praised my art, when Spray told me to keep quiet and abandon you, and now with my demon… I’ve always needed support more than I should have, but that stops now! I’ll try and- No! I will stand on my own feet and take what I want, starting now! Starting with you!” Splash's eyes widened, taken aback by the last part of Colour's proclamation. “With… me?” “Yes! I know you probably don’t wanna see me ever again after today, but I do! I missed you! I wanted to reach out, but I never did! I want you back, not as a support, but as a friend! It may never be the same, we probably will never tag again, but I just… Want to… Have you around!” Colour looked at her, his eyes reminding her of his eyes from back at the skatepark, which were just… less bitter. There was a fire in them that she had never really seen in them. “Oh my, seems your words had a far bigger effect than you had anticipated,” Id whispered into her ears, knocking her out of the thoughts that had crashed down on her like several rivers. Before she could answer, the door to the roof was pushed open as Ebony and Swift burst through, both clearly out of breath. “Found you, Foxy!” The scientist shouted, still catching his breath. “Good job down there!” He chuckled, raising his hand at her. “So, where is the Vistamp of Fishy here?” With an exasperated sigh, she shook her head. Without wasting another word, she pulled the Driver and the two Vistamps out from her pocket. “You sure about this,” Id’s sickly sweet voice asked. “I know how-“ Before the demon could continue, Splash threw them at Ebony's feet, who stared at them for a few seconds before looking at her in a mixture of surprise and horror. “What?” “What do you mean, ‘What’? I’m done! Our deal is finished. I’m just giving you your hero stuff back,” she shrugged, making moves to simply walk off. “You- You want to quit? You want to give up the chance to do something important? Be a hero? Be… A Rider?” Ebony shouted back, grabbing the device and taking a few frantic steps towards Spalsh. “Yes! Like I said, I’m no one’s hero! I don’t care. Thank you for helping me save this idiot. Seriously, thank you! But that was all I wanted! If you want a hero, you must look for someone else,” she returned dismissively. “You really want to just-“ “Yes, Id, I want!” She forcefully returned to the demon. “But… How could you not want to be a Rider! The 'Deadman' aren’t defeated! They’ll come back! They will turn this city into a warzone! You could have the power to make a difference! To change people for the better! To touch them… deep inside? How could you not want to!?” Ebony exclaimed, his questions turning more and more into shouts with each word he spoke. “Splash…” Swift muttered, barely audible, as she fidgeted awkwardly with her fingers, looking at Splash worriedly. “Do you just not get it, or do you just not want to?” She hissed back, stepping towards him, glaring directly into his eyes. “I’m not a hero! I’ll never be a hero! I can’t change people by simply beating up monsters! And I don’t want to! The world doesn’t work like that! I just want to be happy! And burdening myself with a responsibility like that, why would that make me happy? Maybe ask Alchemy or the other Riders if they know someone to play hero for you. Maybe they’ll find someone who can live up to your dream, but it’s not me!” Ebony glared at her, his fists clenching, and she half expected him to swing for her, but he simply took a long, deep breath and turned away from her. “We’ll see about that! I saw the potential in you! I saw that strong demon! I know I found you for a reason! And you’ll see it soon as well!” Ebony growled, shoving the Driver and the Vistamps before turning away from her with another huff. “Yeah, right, sure,” she muttered and started to move before stopping a few steps away from the door. “As for you, Colour. Call me when you make something better than what you did back at the skatepark. Something from you this time, then we’ll see!” The man simply nodded with a relieved sigh. “See ya tomorrow, Swift,” she added before slamming the door shut behind her before the woman had even a chance to respond. “We’ll see how you hold up, Foxy,” he muttered, looking over to the two other people on the roof until his eyes stopped on Swift Pen, a smirk forming. “Or perhaps…” ()E+I() Meanwhile, what remained of the basketball court had been covered in the red and blue light of police cars. Officers swarmed the scene, trying to get as clean of a perimeter as possible. But the air was different, more tense than one would expect, even after a battle like this. And it was all flowing towards one point, one person. A woman dressed in a black suit and a light blue shirt underneath. Her skin was a pale yellow, and her blue hair was tied behind her in a ponytail. On her hip was a badge, but instead of an average police officer badge, it simply read “MRG – Magical Research Group”. A government agency that had only recently stepped into the limelight ever since magic became an undeniable fact of life and not just something swept under the rug. They nowadays coordinated the Kamen Riders and dealt with anything that could turn into a monster threat. It was no wonder they were here right now. Leaning forward, the agent was looking at something lying in the snow. It had already been covered by a light layer, hiding it at least decently well, even if parts of the blue shined through it. “What do we have here…” she muttered as she pulled the strange stamp-like device out from under the snow. “A Vistamp…” Author's Note And here we have Chapter 2, which only took... almost 2 years... Ups! Yeah, sorry for that; I seriously hope the wait for the next one won't be as long as this. As an apology, or at least somewhat one, have a look at our favorite demon in all her glory, Id:
Empty! Hollow! What Now!?Beep! Beep! Beep! The alarm sounded as obnoxious as ever, ringing through her bedroom without mercy. With a groan, Splash dragged herself up from her warm mattress and grabbed her phone, silencing the loud sound. Another groan later, she had dragged herself upright and was now sitting on the edge of her bed. She didn't feel all at that rested, less so than usual, if she was honest. No wonder, honestly; yesterday was a long day. Stretching herself, she finally managed to find the motivation to rise from the bed and pull herself to the kitchen. One could have mistaken this morning for any other if not for the floating ghostlike demon beside her humming a song she had heard yesterday while walking through the city. Apparently, an earworm Id could not get out of her head, much to Spray's delight. No matter how much she tried to shut her up, the humming would return within a few minutes. Eventually, she had just given up. What she hadn't given up on was her new coffee pot. It wasn't shabby at all, which honestly surprised her, given Spray Can was usually a cheapskate like no other. But this one was sturdy and even looked kinda neat, even she had to admit that. Her former friend had apparently decided to make a more personal payment, decorating it with Colour's, his, and her former tagger symbols. From the looks of it, he had used an airbrush for it. She had no idea how he had managed that this quick with his crutches, but she also didn't really care. A quick chuckle and shake of her head later, the coffee had been poured into her thermos and into a cup for her breakfast. "He can be quite cute when he wants to, doesn't he, "Id mumbled, leaning on the edge of the table and watching Splash eat. "I guess," she shrugged, taking another sip. "It's the least he can do after the shit he put me through, right?" "Perhaps, but I still find the extra effort charming," she giggled. "So, what are we gonna do today, my worse half?" "Better half," she scuffed, taking another sip. "And what do you think? Work! Like every weekday." "Oh, but that's boring! We both know you don't really wanna go. You wanna do something fun, exciting, riiiight?" The demon knowingly said. It was a real pain to argue with someone who knew what you were thinking, at least on a fundamental level. "Sure, and rent's gonna just pay itself, eh, dumbass? That's not how I get to do things. I'm just gonna enjoy my off hours. After this whole Rider business is over, maybe I can finally get something to paper again," she muttered, finishing her coffee. "Or I'm just gonna sleep some more when I'm home. We'll see." Id simply rolled her eyes as they left the building and headed to another oh-so-exciting day of work. ()E+I() Thankfully, she managed to arrive just in time for work, ready for all the usual bullshit. And it was just that for the first half of her day, her boss was still a bitch, the higher-ups unreasonable, and her workload enormous. All in all, one of the workdays of all time. What wasn't typical was the chatter in the office. Whenever Thorough Sketch was out of earshot, she managed to catch snippets of conversation, but instead of bitching about work, or Fortuna forbid, politics, today the topic seemed to be a different one. She didn't catch much at first, but with each snippet she heard, a picture started to assemble. They were talking about something big that had happened last night—the monster attack! Apparently, people had caught her fight on phones, mostly snippets, but "Kamen Rider Ego" and "Kamen Rider Id" were clearly able to be picked out from the footage, or at least that was what she caught. The conversations circled around how scary the monster was, how much property damage they had caused, and, most importantly, how cool the Rider was! At first, she had simply shaken her head while Id had snickered into her ear, "poking" her in the side and pointing between her and herself. She couldn't help but smirk a little bit herself. There was no way in Tartarus she had anticipated this kind of reaction. It was like an inside joke no one but she knew, which made this whole situation even funnier to her. She hadn't even noticed the fact the smile never slipped off her lips as Swift Pen leaned over, whispering into her ear: "Sleep well?" "Huh?" She muttered, looking over to her coworker with a befuddled expression. "Well… You look happy… More than usual, I mean…" She stammered, stumbling over her own words. "I mean… Not that you aren't happy… But… I…” “I… guess…” She returned, her cheeks flushing lightly. Anyone with even the worst hearing imaginable would have noticed that she sounded… not rather convincing. "You really need to work on your lying some more, or I'll become obsolete if you just give all your feelings away like that," Id fixed next to her, Splash turning her head and giving her a piercing glare. "You know I'm right," the demon added before retreating back into Splash. "Was… That your demon?" She whispered back, looking to where Id had disappeared. "Yeah… Her name is Id and… Wait, how do you know what a demon is?" Splash raised an eyebrow. "Uhm… Ebony told me… What they were after you left… yesterday," she returned hastily. "You just… talked to air right now… I just… assumed." "Ah… Yeah, I guess so. But don't worry, she can't actually do anything. She'd have to be able to touch something first for that," she nodded. "Ok… Good to hear. I don't want to deal with her. The way she fought was terrifying," she sighed in relief. "I don't care if the whole city is talking about it!" It suddenly shouted through the office, making Swift almost fall out of her chair, and even Splash spun around in shock. Thorough Sketch was standing in the middle of the room, glaring at everyone. "If I hear anything about Kamen Riders again today, I will make you regret it! You are supposed to work!" Swift quickly pulled her chair back to her tablet and got back to work. Splash, meanwhile, just rolled her eyes, smirking. The fact that she had managed to annoy her boss like this was certainly something worth celebrating, even if she couldn't share it. This was a joy she'd keep to herself and would not mind one bit. But still, she had to get back to work so as not to sour this little delight. ()E+I() She really was in a good mood. Even the food didn't taste nearly as bad as usual. Not that the sludge she had on her plate could be considered real mashed potatoes, but she would manage. Taking the first bite, her mind drifted back to work, or rather, the conversations that had run rampant. Even though Sketch had cursed and bitched some more, she couldn't suppress the talk about the local Rider. And even if it was awkward to hear about 'Her gorgeous curves' from a coworker, there was a weird sense of pride about it she couldn't quite a place. "Thanks again… Splash," Swift quietly returned, eating her salad hastily. "Eh, nothing really," she dismissively returned. I said I'd pay, and I'll pay. I'm a woman of my word." "Well, mostly because you don't wanna feel bad if you forgot," Id chuckled into her ear, in that sly, mocking tone she had already learned to loath. "Shut up, Id," she muttered, exasperated, before taking another bite. "She seems to be… quite the bother… doesn't she?" "You can say that again," Splash sighed, turning over to her coworker. "Be glad you don't have one," she added. Swift looked back at her with a weak smile and what sounded like a light huf. "I… I guess so. But… Maybe you are approaching her wrong? Don't you usually… you know… bargain with demons?" "Brilliant idea; bargaining with demons ends so well every time," she chuckled, taking another bite. "I don't know, I like the idea. A deal with the devil? What can go wrong?" The crafty demon added, Splash not even bothering to look over at her. "Yeah, fat fucking no from me. I have seen the movies. I'm not stupid," she dismissively returns. "I… See. Well, it's your demon, so… I'll leave it to you." "Yeah, don't worry, it's fine," Splash said with a weak smile. "Ok… Oh! I just wanted to say… You were fantastic yesterday! You… fought like you just escaped from Tartarus," Swift added, an awkward smile on her lips. "Hehe, I guess so," Splash returned, scratching the back of her head. The light blush on her cheeks was barely noticeable. "I'd be lying if I didn't have a little bit of fun, but that was all from me. I really don't wanna deal with any of that shit for longer than necessary." "I… I know what you said last time, but… Are you really sure?" She raised an eyebrow, having put down her fork, and now looked directly. "Yeah, are you really sure?" Id repeated, hovering right next to Swift's face. "Yeah… I'm sure," she returned with a sigh, followed by a quick glare at Id. "As fun and… exhilarating it is, and as much as I like the compliments they have about me, it's not just all fun and games. I'd be risking my life and the life of everyone around me, and honestly, fuck that noise. I'm not cut out for being a hero. The other Riders or the Power Rangers? Maybe? But me? Not in a thousand years," she sighed, poking around in her mashed potatoes. "I… See. I understand. That's a lot, isn't it?" "Yeah… If I would do it, every fuck up would be on me. And I don't care enough for people to stick my neck out for them. I mean, I'm no monster, so I don't want them to be killed, but besides that? Why should I risk myself for others? It's just… Too much pressure, you get that? But yeah, if I would fuck up, it'd be on me. I'd be responsible, and I just… Don't want to deal with that," Splash looked over to Swift, brows furrowed. She simply nodded and looked back down to her salad. "No shame in that, I guess. I'm sure Colour will see it that way as well." "Yeah… Colour… I'm sure he will," she groaned, looking back at her own food as well. "Anyway, different topic. Anything interesting on your end?" Splash awkwardly segued, which was followed by Swift telling her about her weekend with her parents that was coming up. She didn't really care all that much, but any topic was better than this. ()E+I() Thursday was pretty much like Wednesday; there was lots of annoying work and lots of talk about the Rider, and in general, it was just a normal day. Time didn't really fly by, but it was certainly a relatively mercifully short day, only interrupted by Id's stupid comments, and before she even knew it, she was back to bed and sound asleep. ()E+I() Friday felt similar but a lot less quick. The talk about the Riders was finally dying down, something she was happy about, she thought. As expected, this chapter of Fillydelphia would soon fade away and be forgotten again. But she had to admit, it was kinda shocking how fast that was happening. She had expected at least till next week. Oh well, not like she cared, right? Work simply moved along sluggishly until she returned home; she crashed again, falling asleep after a good while just lying in her bed. ()E+I() The alarm on Saturday was set to 1 AM, but even still, she barely got out of bed and, mainly through the nagging of Id. Dragging herself out of the pillows and into some clothes was even worse than when she was working. But she had some chores to do and some food to buy, so the threat of starvation did finally get her moving. That said, it didn't mean her day was gonna improve. The line at the grocery store was so long that she felt like she would turn to stone before she ever got to leave. Things just didn't want to move, and nothing was interesting on social media to read. She really didn't want to start a conversation with a stranger in the line, so she simply bored herself out of her mind. She was shocked when she realized she had only waited five minutes for her turn. Once back home, she collapsed onto her couch, only putting away the expirables, leaving the rest of her purchases on the kitchen table. And there she remained, putting on some videos and just hitting autoplay. ()E+I() She groaned as she woke up the next day. Apparently, she had fallen asleep on her couch, the autoplay having sent her to some sort of sports documentary she wasn't even interested in for a minute, but just didn't feel like standing up yet, so she didn't bother changing the video. She just kept looking at the moving pictures, drifting in and out of consciousness. It wasn't till her phone rang that she woke up again properly. Judging by the light shining through her window, it was probably already 2 PM. Groaning, she dragged herself up enough to grab her phone before falling back on the couch. "Yeah…" she groaned into the phone, sounding like she had the energy of a sloth. "Where are you, Splash? You wanted to meet up for some coffee today. I've been waiting for fifteen minutes already," a familiar, energetic but also disappointed voice came from the other end. "Don't tell me you forgot." "Shit!" In an instant, Splash was up, and the tiredness pushed out of her mind within seconds. "I'll be right there, Snapshot!" ()E+I() Splash was jogging through the city, already out of breath, but she was already unfashionably late, so she had no time to waste. Or at least, almost no time. There was one thing still left to be done after she had gulped down the sandwich pieces she had grabbed on the way out. "Ok, what do you want?" She huffed out in between her breaths, coming to a stop just a corner from where she was supposed to meet Snapshot. She dared to take a little peak around the corner. She could see the small park covered in cherry trees, or rather, the leafless husks of cherry trees. She could barely make out a familiar figure leaning against one of the trees and checking his phone. Slinking back behind the corner, a rather demonic face greeted her, staring directly at her. She would have jumped back, but that was somewhat hard, given she was already leaning against the wall. She settled for a gasp instead. "Id! Don't do this again!" She hissed, letting out a deep sigh, which did not help at all in catching her breath. "Awww, but it's so fun. You'll get used to it, so don't worry," the demon chuckled, dismissively waving her clawed hand. "Anyway, what do you mean by 'What do I want'?" "Don't waste my time! You know what I mean!" She hissed back, glaring at Id, before adding an exasperated: "What do you want to keep quiet during this?" "Oh, now I get it. You don't want brother dearest to think you are weird. Well, weirder than you already are," she giggled, much to the annoyance of Splash. "Fine, fine. I'm no monster," she giggled back. "So, Splash. You want me to keep out of this, right?" "Yes!" She returned sternly. "Even if I question my sanity for thinking my impulses could control themselves." "Well, to be fair. It sounds ridiculous, but I'm not just your intrusive thoughts. Otherwise, I'd just blurt out any thoughts you might have. Like when a cute boy or girl walked past you on the street," Id continued, the smugness in her voice unmistakable. "I'm more now. I'm my own being while also being you. Is that clear?" "Not in the slightest! But what I get from it is that you have some impulse control." "Basically," she shrugged. "That's one way of breaking it down. I know what you want deep down, and I'm gonna make it happen. Simple as that. And just being an annoying demon hovering over your shoulder shouting out your deepest, darkest desires would not be conducive to that. So, you can bargain with me, and I will hold off on that deal. After all, you can trust yourself, can't you?" "Yeah… Sure… I'll just trust you for now," she sighed, defeated, shaking her head. "So, what do you want." "Mhhhh… Now that, that is an interesting question," the demon mused, stroking her chin. "And don't forget, we don't have all day," Splash added rather impatiently. "My, rushing me so I don't get ideas. I know how I think. Man, I'm clever, but yes. Time is not something we should waste. So, here is the deal!" Leaning forward, the demo whispered into her ear, barely suppressing a mischievous giggle: "I'll keep out of this and let you two talk uninterrupted. You can hold me to this, and if I disturb you, your part of the deal will also be off. And you will… Have some fun with a friend after work." Splash looked befuddled at the demon, blinking several times before her brain caught up. "That's… it?" The demon nodded. "I… was expecting something… a lot worse." "Look, you may not really get that yet, but I'm you. And I want me to feel good. Not a hard concept, is it?" Splash had to begrudgingly nod. It weirdly made sense. "Good. And you have been a wound-up, lustless little pile of misery the last few days. Oh no, scratch that, the last year or so. You need to get out more! And that means spending time with your friends!" "But… I don't have… friends," Splash encountered, still looking mighty confused at the floating figure in front of her. "Oh, we both know this is bullshit. You may have patched things up completely with Colour Contrast, but you are considering it. And if that's too much, try Swift. You don't even dislike her. And really, you two already spent each day chatting. What else is that than a friend?" "Uhh…" Splash couldn't give a proper answer to that. The fact she was being verbally beaten by herself was a bizarre and, honestly, kind of humiliating experience. But the demon was right. She didn't entirely want to admit it, but Swift was the closest to a real friend she had currently. "Fine, you win," she huffed, crossing her arms. "Good girl," Id chuckled before adding: "Now get out there! You earned some time with your brother." With a frustrated groan, she pushed herself around the corner, heading over to where she had seen her brother. He wore his usual Haywaii shirt, the white flowers with yellow highlights on a black background, over a yellow undershirt. His white trousers covered his new sneakers. His rich, blond hair was messy, but in a weirdly meticulous way, while his skin was just as white as she remembered him. His eyes sparked in a warm and friendly purple. "Ah, there you are! Was almost afraid you'd fallen asleep again," he waved towards her, jogging over to her. "Don't tell me you still practice your 'It's weekend, no one cares when you head to bed '-routine." "Charming as ever, you little idiot," she groaned but couldn't hide her smirk. "How have you been? Vlogging still going well?" "Well, I've not been canceld, so, that's a good sign," he smirked, putting an arm around his sister and smiling at her, before immidiatly letting go of her again. "You couldn't have taken a shower, at least yesterday? Ughhh, you reek!" Splash looked at him, took a sniff herself and had to begrudgingly admit, she really needed a shower. She kinda… just forgot to take one since… Oh Fortuna, since Friday! "Uhmmm… I plead the fifth," she quietly muttered, before she instictivly caught a spraycan. "Here, freshen up a bit," Snapshot shook his head, closing the flap of his bag once more. "You really need to take better care of yourself, sis." "Yeah, yeah, I know," she muttered, quickly applying some of the deodorant before chucking it back at him. "But glad to hear things are going well for you. How's mom and dad?" He shrugged before adding: "Oh, you know, the usual. Getting way too invested in small things, but in general, it's good. And for you, well, besides the fact they cut the water to your shower, obviously?" "You little," she gritted before just sighing. "Alright. Work is still shit, my coffee pot broke this week, and I was dragged into some bullshit with Spray Can and Colour Contrast, but that is also over. So all in all, could be worse," she just shrugged. Snapshot just raised an eyebrow before continuing: "Spray and Colour? Really? Those two are just trouble if you ask me." "Oh, they are, but… sometimes you just gotta get involved," she muttered, letting out an almost wistful sigh. "But it's done now, so don't worry." "Alright, if you say so. Any art you finished recently? I really liked the last piece you made. Was very… abstract?" He tried to continue, brain clearly struggeling to find a good descripter. "Art-critic of the century, aren't we?" She giggled, feeling herself relax a bit, a stiffness in her shoulders, she hadn't even noticed till now, starting to lose. "Look, I know I like it; the why is just the problem," he shrunk down a bit, rubbing the back of his head. It's still good, though…" "Yeah, yeah, I believe you," Splash shook her head with a soft smile. "But no. Art-block still hitting me like a truck," she groaned. "It's! The! Fucking! Worst!" She looked absolutely exasperated, Snapshot awkwardly looking back at her. "Any idea why?" "Well, I have a list. My boss, the job, having no- almost no friends, the fact I live in this city, the fact the only aknowledgement I get is from-"she stoped herself before getting into a bit too much detail about her short stint as a Rider. She was sure he wouldn't mind, probably even find it cool, but she was not interested in another drawn out discussion about giving up the Driver. "Is from…" "Nothing, just got too into it. That's all," she dissmivly returned, quickly jumping onto anything else as not to get nailed down on this. "Not like you know that, with your channel. I'm honestly shocked no-one has asked for a photo yet." "Ok, I'm not that well known," he awkwardly returned, his cheeks flushing bright pink. "But I getcha. It's hard to relate when I just have to open up a video and see someone praising me." "Truly a curse," she added with a dry, deadpan expression. "Yeah, yeah, suffering from success. But it's not all that great, either. Most of my users would flip on a dime the first chance they'd get. They really only like the image I put out there. They don't really know… me. That's why any praise coming from you or anyone else who knows me properly is infinitely more worthwhile than thousands of their comments." "I'd take some praise over no praise," she returned, almost a bit too dismissively. "Can't fault you for that," he sighed. "But you got praise recently? What was it for?" "You wouldn't be a fan," she awkwardly pressed out. "It's… related to Colour and Spray." "It wasn't anything illegal again… right?" He stopped, looking over at her with a worried expression on his face. "Let's file under; no one would convict me for it," she laughed nervously. "It was… something good, let's put it that way. Anyway, nothing I'd be in trouble for." "Right…" He shook his head like he was talking to a dog that had gotten his head stuck in the door again. "Are… you still doing it?" "No…" she said, her voice a bit disappointed. "Way too much work, way too much responsibility, even if it was kinda fun." "Hey, a bit of responsibility isn't bad. Maybe give it a try?" Snapshot gave her a quick smirk. "I could offer an alt-" "Yeah, yeah, your church. I already told you I'd pass," Splash chuckled. "And for the other, I think it's kinda out of my-" "Down!" A loud scream echoed across the plaza, and Splash's instincts sprung to life. She knew the voice, it was Id, and she sounded nothing like she'd ever heard before. That was pure panic. Without thinking, she grabbed Snapshot and dragged him down to the wet ground, and not a second too late as something sailed over them. Something white, pink, and black before it crashed into the bench next to them. With a loud crash, the wood spintered and broke, as the something was dragged acros sthe ground. Splash pulled her head up and froze. That couldn't be right… That was… her? No! It was Ego! She was looking at Ego! Her mind was racing when she felt her wrist being grabbed, Snapshot dragging her up and away from the Rider. He was shouting something, but she just wasn't listening. This just felt… wrong… Her eyes darted around, saw the scared and running people, but also several that were staring in awe at the Rider, pulling out their phones and starting to film. It weirdly stung, each look of amazement another stab to her heart. Snapshot pulled once more, managing to divert her attention from the Rider that was pulling herself back up again, only to make her eyes focus on another figure approaching her. It was a bulky-looking one, with white fur covering its body, a blue winter jacket covering its upper body, and a beard of blue icicles covering a bearlike face. With a loud scream, the Deadmen rushed forward, swinging its arms, the Rider akwardly stepping backward, not daring to go on the offensive. Not that it helped her much as the creature struck her in the chest, sparks erupting from it as she stumbled backward, clearly trying to catch her breath. The monster was just about to deliver another strike when two shots rang out from the other side of the park. With a loud screech from the Deadman, the blasts of energy erupted from its back, making it turn around. The second part of the duo had arrived. The figure looked almost like Id, but it was marginally bulkier, straining against the clothing she wore. Further, the outline of the face under the mask seemed to be a bit more brutish as well. Spinning the paint gun in her hand, she dashed forward, kicking the Deadman away from the other Rider. "She stole my weapon!" Id hissed out of nowhere, the jealousy clearly on display. Before Splash could add anything herself, she was once more pulled by her brother. Turning around, she stared into a completely exasperated expression. "As much as I sometimes wouldn't mind seeing you beaten to a pulp, I'd rather avoid seeing it firsthand!" Splash groaned but followed his lead, pulling further away from the fight, hearing the sound of explosions and trees falling behind them. But she couldn't help herself; once out of the splash zone and around a corner, she ducked behind it, staring back at the fight. "Are you serious!?" Snapshot shouted at her, eye twitching. "Yes!" "Yes!" Both Splash and Id said in unison, their voices overlapping, making him take a step back, clearly taken aback by her quick and stern answer. Turning her attention back to the fight, she watched how the two new Riders struggled with the bear monster. The area around the three had been covered in several icicles, growing from the ground, trees, anywhere seemingly, something that gave its two opponents a lot of trouble, or at least the human part of the duo. She carefully tried to take a step forward, only to pull her leg back again, seemingly afraid to slip, much to the monster's delight. With no such problems, it dashed forward before suddenly jumping directly at the Rider like a really big, needy child. Slamming its arms around her, it dragged its opponent to the ground before tipping her under it with all the weight it must have had. Not wasting a second, its arms came down again and again and again, hitting her square in the face. Sparks erupted from her face with each hit, followed by a pained grunt, only occasionally overshadowed by the malicious laughter of the Deadman. While the monster kept pummeling the human Rider, the other part of the duo glared over before dashing forward, using the gun to blast away the ice in front of her. It didn't take long till she had reached the two, still struggling in their beatdown. While dashing around the monster, the demon Rider removed the Vistamp from her Driver and slammed it into the gun. ()ColourBurstDuo!() Once more, the weapon started to glow, and she was blinded by the time she moved in front of the monster. The ice-bear Deadman barely had time to look up and into the barrel of the ridiculous gun. ()Colour Shot!() A bright pink explosion filled the entire park with light, so bright Splash had to cover her eyes and even then, it hurt like hell. The loud boom did not make her feel any better. When the light finally faded, there was nothing left of either combatant, simply vanished into thin air. Without even thinking, she rushed towards the newly formed crater, looking around and trying to figure out where they had gone. Snapshot was not far behind her. "OK, what in Tartarus was that?" He shouted at her from behind. "You could have gotten yourself hurt or even killed!" He spun her around, forcing her to look directly at him. His face was a mix of various expressions, mostly worry. Splash awkwardly opened her mouth before closing it again, avoiding her brother's look. "I… Look, nothing ever happens here. I just... Wanted to see it from as close as possible," she shrugged dismissively. Snapshot looked dumbstruck at her like he heard the words, but they just wouldn't compute. "Are… Are you serious?" He finally managed to simply stammer out, eyes still glued on her. She just shrugged her shoulders, making him look at her even more like she should be institutionalized. "Are you really serious?" "Maybe not my brightest hour," she admitted with a light blush on her cheeks. "Oh, really?" Snapshot hissed back at her before grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her away from what was left of the park. Their little dinner had just become extra awkward, and she knew she wasn't gonna get out of his claws for the foreseeable future. ()E+I() The day had really gone by like molasses after their encounter with the Riders. Snapshot drilled her for every bit of information he could, mostly how anyone could be this dumb and why she had such a death wish. The worst part was, she couldn't even blame him. If he had pulled this stunt, she'd be cussing him out like an old sailor; the fact he wasn't simply showed his superhuman restraint, which didn't mean he wasn't making her suffer for her idiocy like any good sibling would. About four hours later, two more than she had hopped, he returned her to her apartment door. He looked awful and exhausted. "OK, here we are," he sighed, streatching a bit. "Don't forget, we have a family dinner next week on Friday, ok?" He tried to smile, but it just didn't wanna happen. "Yeah, yeah, I won't," she groaned. She really would love to forget it, but she'd never hear the end of it so that really wasn't an option. "Not like you'd let me anyway. Also… Kinda surprised you haven't jumped on the opportunity to livestream this today." Snapshot huffed lightly, crossing his arms. "Really? You think I would do that when my sister is in trouble?" "Not really," she smirked back. "But once you are home, you-" "Of course! It's my job, after all. And given the chaos in the city right now, my viewers can use someone who'll tell them things will turn out fine," he returned with a warm smile. "Ok, you saint," she returned, shaking her head. "See you around!" She was about to close the door, but he stopped it with his hand. "Something left to say?" "Yeah. If you need someone to talk to, just call me. Even if you don't. You've… Not really been yourself today. You're my sister; just looking out for you." She nodded, before slowly closing the door behind her. Once it locked shut, she kept staring at it, listening to his footsteps as he disappeared into the hallway and down the stairway. Only after she no longer heared him did she pull herself off from the door, dragged herself towards her couch, discarded her jacket and collapsed into it with an exasperated sigh. She felt spent! She must have remained there for a good twenty minutes before she was pulled from her haze by a familiar voice. "I'll honor our deal!" "Huh?" She groaned, pulling herself up, looking utterly confused at the demon hovering next to her. "What do you mean?" "The deal was, as long as I'd stay out of your meeting, you'd spend time with a friend of yours," the demon continued, her voice showing no sign of her usual playfulness. "Haven't forgotten that, but give me some time, ok?" She groaned, threw one of the couch cussions at her, which sailed straight threw her. "No, you don't have to." That got Splash to raise her eyebrow. "You heard me. I got involved back then, so I broke the deal. Simple as that." "You really… You really consider saving my life as getting involved?" She returned, her mind trying to crack what the demon was really going for. "Yes, or am I wrong here?" "I'm technically you did get invol- But why are holding yourself to it?" She stared at the demon, the exhaustion drifting into the background. "I simply hold myself to our deals. I'm trying to avoid rules-lawyering. It would be beneficial for both of us if we could trust these deals, isn't that right?" Id simply stated, still lacking her usual lightness. "I guess… That said… I think I should… you know…" She muttered, eyes drifting away from the demon again. "Yes, I know, but please, speak it out," it came back, the playfulness creeping back in, at least a bit. "Even when you save my life, you are insufferable," she groaned before adding a simple "Thank you for saving mine and Snapshot's life. I… Will think about… spending some more time with my… friends," she added before her head slammed back on the pillows. "Appreciated," the demon said warmly. "But now, maybe go to your bed. I feel your sore back as well, you know that?" "Yeah, yeah, sure!" With a groan, she pulled herself off the way too-comfortable couch and headed for her bedroom. ()E+I() She hated to admit it, but she was gald for Id sending her to bed. She would have totally complained all day about her back if she hadn't moved sleep places yesterday. Not that it made work all that more bearable, but at this point, she took what she could get. In general, work was as usual, some annoying commissions from the higher-ups, her boss chewing some coworkers out, and the office gossip. Today's topic; the Kamen Riders, again. She hated to admit it, but today, she was mostly annoyed at the fact every conversation turned towards the fight sooner rather than later. Wasn't there at least something else anyone could talk about? Well, there was, but the topic wasn't all that much btter. Swift had come into the office looking like she rand face first into a stop sign. She had a black eye and several bandages and plasters all over face. The rumor mill moved fast, especially in a place as dull and miserable as this. The theories ranged from an abusive boyfriend and a mugging to some truly ridiculous shit like getting caught in the middle of a gang war. Whatever anyone theorized, it did not seem to make Swift Pen feel any better, spending most of the morning hidden behind her sweater collar. She even managed to avoid an of Splash's questions, at least until lunch. Splash simply planted herself next to her, like usually honestly and started, before Swift had any chance to back out. "Ok, what happened? You look like your face kissed the asphalt." She looked straight at her, expression rather unamused. "It's… Nothing. I… You know… slipped on my socks… and kinda… fell down the stairs," she meekly returned, sinking so much into her sweater that one could think she was a turtle. Splash just raised an eyebrow before returning: "Bullshit. You wanna tell me that a blue eye and scrapes all over are the results of slipping down your staires? Where did you get that from? Domestic Abuse 101?" "I…" she stammered back, avoiding her piercing look. "I don't have… a relationship… That couldn't be it…" Splash sighed, rubbing her temples. "Wow, she is bad at this", Id muttered, shaking her head as well while Swift just whimpered. "Id, not now, please!" Splash groaned, almost looking pleadingly at the demon. "Fine," she huffed before disappearing back into her. "Splash… I… Please, this is nothing serious… Just drop it, ok?" Swift tried to say, grabbing her tray tightly. "I'll drop it if you tell me what is wrong," Splash remained firm, arms crossed in front of her. Swift looked to the side for a moment before nodding weakly. "I… I have to go…" Without another word, she grabbed her tray and bag, rushing away from Splash as fast as she could. She was about to shout something after her and follow when she noticed Id pointing at something. She would have told her off again when she noticed where she was pointing: Swift's bag. It was open, and for the briefest of moments, she could see something rather familiar inside it—something mostly white, with purple and dark blue highlights. "You gotta be shitting me," she muttered in utter disbelief. "She couldn't be…" "You saw it, didn't you? And you really think Ebony wouldn't jump on her if he had the chance?" Id returned, her voice carrying a murderous undertone. "Oh, we are going to have words…" Splash continued, her tone starting to mirror Id's. ()E+I() Her mood hadn't really imprived, it had shifted. From energyless to pure rage, mostly at Ebony for tricking her into this, after all, that was the only reasonable way for this to happen, right? He and, honestly, a bit at Swift. How could she be so damn reckless? Especially with her sorry performance yesterday. It was just a matter of time till she'd get killed doing this stupid, idiotic, thank- Splash's thoughts were interrupted by her phone ringing. She only now realized that she had been staring at the wall, ranting at herself, occasionally interspersed by Id, mostly agreeing with her, for what was probably a good hour by now. With a groan, she looked over to her phone, to see who was calling her, when she froze. It was Colour! What did he want? He couldn't have been done already… Could he? She hadn't expected him this early; she had hoped he'd be gone for at least two or three weeks, but- "Are you gonna pick up, or not?" Id, who had hovered into her field of view asked, before clearing her throat, pointing at the phone. ()E+I() "You work fast, you know that?" Splash muttered, having packed herself up in her thickest and coziest dark pink jacket. It was a memento from her tagger days, still showing several washed-out paint splotches all over. The white, fluffy collar stained in a faded rainbow of colors by now. She hadn't worn this jacket in ages, but when she looked into her closet, it almost seemed to scream for her. "What, had hoped for a bit more time away from me?" He chuckled, having ditched the spikes and the anarchy shirt, but still seemed to keep trying on the mohawk. All in all, it seemed to suit him far more. "You know her too well," Id interrupted her, the mocking tone in her voice only too familiar at this point. "Shut up, Id!" She growled, swatting through the demon, who disappeared back into her. "They can be annoying, can't they?" He sighed as the two headed up a rooftop in a rather familiar part of town. It wasn't too far off where she had beat him to a pulp if she remembered correctly. "You can tell me that again," she chuckled, stretching herself a bit. "And yeah, Id was right. I had hoped I'd still have some time to… work through some things." "Nah, I get it. Shit's complicated. You didn't need to come, but appreciate it all the same, really." They moved up the fire ladder of a building, making sure no cops were in any way close by, a process that was deeply ingrained in their minds by now. It was almost nostalgic, if she had to admit it. They were up on the building in no time, the cool wind blowing the snow through their hair and clothes as they stood at the edge of the roof. They could see the basketball court, or rather, what was left of it, from here. "Didn't wanna forget the beating I gave you?" She raised an eyebrow, looking over to the location of their fight. It felt weirdly distant, but still… Also fresh. "Something like that. It was weirdly inspirational," he sighed, looking awkwardly away. "Kinda like a new start, so to speak." "Well, I'm not gonna mock ya. No promises on Id though." "Oh, I will," she giggled from inside her. That was something she really didn't wanna get used to if that was even possible. With another sigh, she pulled herself free from the view and turned back to Colour. "So, where is it?" Crossing her arms, she raised an eyebrow. "Ri-Right!" He muttered, shaking his head, before pointing towards the wall of the small stairway that led to the roof. Given that there was still some light, she didn't have to get her phone out to see the piece of art properly. It's not that she didn't do this within a few seconds anyway to take one, two, maybe a dozen pictures of it. Her jaw must have hit the floor, at least if one were to believe Colour's whistle. "Damn, I didn't expect that reaction," he stated, clearly in disbelief at what he saw. He should have, though. Besides the fact this was even better than what she had seen at the skatepark from him, solely from a technical standpoint. She looked at a stylized image of both Kamen Rider Ego and Id, punching through a wall, colors exploding everywhere, but still keeping the bodies of the Riders pristine. It was a splash of life in this drab city. "I… You made this?" She stuttered in disbelief. "On your own?" "Well, yes and no. You know how it is," he shrugged. "He got help," a second, growly voice added before a black demon with dark blue lines all over his body appeared from inside him. His eyes glowed a threatening gold while his white teeth looked like he was perpetually hungry for a big, fat steak. Colour just shook his head, before pointing at the demon. "Splash, Id, this is Greee. Greee, Splash Page, and Id, even if you know them already." The demon glared at Splash before crossing his arms with a huff. "Ha, still as scrawny as I remember her. Even from closer." "Still strong enough to beat you out of my friend," she huffed back, leaning in clover towards the ghostly figure. "Pah, you just got lucky. Without that scientist, you'd be so-" "Enough, Greee!" Colour groaned, the deamon letting out a displeased 'tsk', but retreating back into him. "So, yeah. He stuck around," Colour nodded with a resigned sigh. "Not all bad, though. Legitimately got some good tips when it comes to art. Is that a thing with Id as well?" "I…" "She wouldn't know, hasn't touched a pen, digital or otherwise, in a solid month, if it wasn't related to work," the demon interrupted her, which earned her a piercing glare from Splash. "You have art block?" Colour asked, taking a step closer. "Look, no of your business!" She gritted back, her head snapping away from him with a sour expression etched into her face. "I… I guess, but… Still… Any idea why?" "Look, I don't and I'm not hear to talk about my art," she hissed back, with maybe a bit too much venom in her voice. "I'm here because I wanted to see your art and… It's… Better than anything I made in… ages." Her voice shifted fto a far more somber tone, shoulder slacking down a bit. "You're really good. You always were." "Hey, I appreciate the compliment, but… I'm here because… I wanted to apologize. I was simply afraid after what Spray said, and that kept me from doing the right thing and reaching out to you. That's what friends should do. Even if you don't think of me like that any longer, I still see you as one, and… Well, friends look out for each other, so… What's the matter, Splash?" His voice was calm, too calm for her liking. No underlying motives, no snide undertone, no nothing. It was… honest, and that was something she hadn't heard in a long while. "Friends…" she simply said before letting out a long exhale, her breath fogging almost immediately. "I'm not… sure I'm ready for friends right now…" "Then see it as a stranger for now. If you really don't want to be friends again, I won't bother you after today," he returned, she could hear the suppressed hurt in his voice. "But if I'm not your friend and we won't see each other again, what's the harm in telling me what's wrong?" Colour raised his head with a warm smile. "You and me both know this is bullshit, right?" She sighed after several cold, quiet moments. "But is it wrong?" Colour simply returned, raising an eyebrow. "I hate your logic sometimes," she groaned before leaning over the border of the roof, looking back to where they had fought. "Fine. Whatever, I'll tell you what's been bothering me." "Ever since my so-called friends left me to clean up the pieces of our mistake and abandoned me," she hissed, the venom she had been building up for over a year at this point being unleashed in one moment. "I've been trying to cope with losing my future, some of my closest relationships, and my art! I've felt miserable ever since! Every day is a drag, a struggle to get out of bed, get screamed at by my bitch of a boss, get back home, and feel too exhausted to even hold a pen! That's what's been bothering me!" Splash's breath was visible in thick, white clouds coming out her mouth, her expression angry, but also expecting. "You've got every right to be angry... "Colour nodded, taking a step towards her. "But... I know you're going to hate me for saying this, and it'll probably ruin any chance of getting our friendship back, but I gotta be honest. At least now, you deserve that after I hid from you for so long. That's not all. You wouldn't be this angry about this alone. There is more, and your anger is fresher and deeper. But if you keep pushing everyone away, bottling it up, you'll never get out of this! Stopp wallowing in your own self-pity and ask for damn help already!" Colour shouted back, glaring at her, his eyes almost like daggers that pierced through her defenses like they were butter. "I... You .. How dar-" Splash started, her voice rising with every word as she was interrupted by Id. "He always had a good read on you, but never dared to say anything, didn't he?" The demon said, so nonchalant it boiled Splash's blood. "What? You and me both know he's right? So, do you want to tell him, or should I? Because he's getting that info one way or another." Splash's fist shook. She wanted nothing more than to throttle her demon, punch her lights out, and shut her up for good, but... She couldn't do anything! She hadn't made a deal! She couldn't stop her physically! At best, she could attack Colour, but... even now, she wasn't that angry at him... Id had planned this from the start! She had fallen right into her trap! And it left her only one out... "Fine! I'll tell him, alright!" She screamed back, head spinning back to Colour as she took a step towards him, making Colour step back on instinct. "My life sucks! I live day to day! I've been getting looks from everyone like I'm worthless! Nothing I do matters to anyone; nothing makes me feel anything, but then! Then I got this feeling of power! This freedom of being a Rider! It was fun! Exhilarating! Exciting! And the compliments! People cared about what I did! People saw what I did! I finally felt good! I finally felt like there was something that could wash away the gray of my life! But it wasn't worth it! Too much responsibility, too much of a burden for people who never gave a damn about me! They'd judge me for every mistake I'd make! It was too much! I knew that!" She grabbed Colour by his collar and pushed him against the wall with his art before continuing to shout at the shocked man: "But why do I feel so much worse now! Why do I feel even emptier now!? Why... Why do I hate Swift Pen for taking the Driver and becoming a Rider? Why is every compliment she gets an insult to me!? Why do I want it back!? Why can't I just be fucking happy for once!?" She shoved Colour to the side before slumping against the wall herself. Her breath was ragged, her body shaking, and her head hidden behind her hands. "Why can't I just be happy..." Colour looked at her, eyes wide, mouth open, unsure what to even say for several seconds, until pulled himself up. "Splash?" He smiled down at her with a weak but genuine smile. "Fighting and being seen made you happy, right?" She weakly nodded. "Then take that happiness! Play the damn hero for yourself, not them! Because I can tell you, nothing will change if you don't take some risks and effort! The reward is worth it compared to the risk, at least for you! And once it isn't, stop! You said it yourself, they didn't give a damn about you, so you don't owe them anything! Fight, have fun, save people, get their praise! Be a Rider and be happy! Who gives a crap why; just do it! The only way you will ever feel content again is if you start moving again!" Splash didn't answer, but her breathing had calmed noticeably. Id looked at both of them, not saying anything either. They remained like this for a solid minute before Colour raised his voice once more. "I'll... Leave now..." He quietly moved towards the fire ladder and began climbing down but stopped once more as he was almost about to disappear completely. "Call me when you feel ready. Or don't. That's a choice you have to make." With that, the man disappeared into the night, while Splash remained on the building and only when she no longer haired the sounds of the ladder, did she finally break. It started slowly, light sniffs, that quickly grew into loud sobs, as she pulled her knees closer to herself, crying into the cold night, with no one but her demon and the painting of herself. Author's Note God, this chapter became way bigger than I had anticipated. I had to split it in two, or it would have been way too long for my liking. On the plus side, I got to end it on my favorite scene, so that's a bonus. Thank you for the patience, even if it wasn't nearly as long a wait between this than the first two chapters.
KABOOM! Take the Stage!The next day was honestly a blur. Wake up, get to work, and do what is required of you. It all felt distant like she was on autopilot. Maybe it was the fact she came home past midnight and went to bed an hour later after drinking a whole can of coffee. Either way, her body felt like it was moving all on its own; step after step she made was seemingly out of her control, not that she minded all that much. However, the most concerning part of her day was that it was quiet. No annoying demon butting on to give unqualified comments. Id was quiet, something that honestly put her more on edge than she would have thought. And not just Id was quiet; everyone was. Or at least, that's how she perceived it. She didn't notice anyone talking to her, or maybe she just didn't care enough to notice. She simply existed; it felt like her body kept on moving. Throughout the day, she drifted off, only realizing where she was and what she was doing several minutes later, and she just didn't care. Things were going their way; she was just along for the ride. But once she left work, her mind sprung to life. Her path through the city was clear. She knew what to do! ()E+I() "I'm still not comfortable being around my workplace..." Swift quietly said, her jacket collar pulled up to her cheeks as she walked next to Ebony. "Oh, why's that, Scardy? Afraid Foxy might find out?" He returned casually, stretching himself a bit. "A bit..." She whispered back. "I really don't get why that'd matter. She is not interested, so why would she even care if you got it?" "Well... She might think this is a bad idea..." "And why would that matter?" A deep, threatening voice hissed out, making Swift almost slip on the cold ground. Swift looked over to the side; the black and purple demon, sporting a set of unnervingly sharp teeth, had emerged from her. The creature was crossing her arms, and while her expression was hard to read, Swift had heard the displeasure in her voice. "It... Doesn't," she said, awkwardly brushing through her hair. "But you know... She's a friend, and I..." "Yeah," the demon interrupted her, leaning in closer. "A 'friend'. That's all she-" "Invidia! Please!" Swift shouted back, not that it was particularly loud. Still, her expression was one of clear worry. "Fine, I'll stop. We'll get back to that later, won't we?" Invidia sighed, Swift Pen simply nodding. "Ain't you two a cute couple," Ebony simply chuckled. "I mean..." "Careful there, science guy!" The two said at the same time, which made Ebony just chuckle. "Right, right, my heroes." Raising his hands, he took a step away from them, but the smirk on his lips wasn't gone yet. "Good!" Invidia hissed, glaring at the man, before adding a far less hostile. "So, any ideas how we can deal with this guy and how to find him?" "Well, you caught him in the act last day while he was trying to rob that warehouse. And in broad daylight, he's gotta be desperate. So, he'll strike again soon. He's definitely looking for something." "Right... How did you know he was there in the first place?" The demon asked inquisitively. "I stumbled upon him the day before, staking the building out. His demon has no sense of staying quiet or discrete. The desire was basically dripping from him," he simply returned. "Dripping off hi-" "Not that it matters. I know he'll be back again. And we need to put a stop to him then!" "And how do you suggest we do this, Mr. Genius?" Invidia snarled. "With this!" Seemingly out of nowhere, and with a wide grin on his lips, he pulled out... a thing... There was no better way to describe it. One could clearly see it was modeled after a Vistamp, but the shape was... Odd. It is almost like it was cut in two, only held together by a hinge. There were four wheels attached to the side of it. "What... Is that?" Swift asked, taking a step closer, eyes narrowing at the strange Stamp. "That is the thing every Rider worth their name needs! And our ticket to victory on top of that!" He smirked before slipping it back into his pocket. "After the Hawk-Stamp didn't do the trick and you couldn't manage to get him down with the Fox-Stamp, I needed to put some time in finishing this bad boy!" "Spit it out, man!" The demon growled, gritting her teeth menacingly at him. He simply didn't care before shouting out. "And there we are!" Stretching his arms, he pointed at the same warehouse from the previous day. Nestled in a back ally, it looked absolutely unremarkable, minus the dented metal gate. Invidia just groaned before slipping back into Swift. She just had no interest in arguing with the man right now. "So... Are you sure he is here?" Swift asked, looking over to the scientist, his lips twisted into a cocky smirk. "Oh, 1000%!" He returned, pushing the large warehouse door open, the sound of metal scraping across the ground sending a shiver down her neck. "He'll be here, and the stuff he's looking for will be there as well." Without waiting for an answer, he strutted into the messy-looking warehouse. The crates had been broken open, and their contents were carelessly thrown around. The Deadman was looking for something and had left no stone unturned. Not that it mattered at this point; they just needed to find him. Moving deeper into the warehouse, following the stench of desire he could sense, Swift followed right behind Ebony. The woman's head was turning from side to side, almost like she thought she was being watched. The worries were written on the brow on her forehead, all while the demon hovered behind her, excitedly sniffing around. "Don't be such a pansy, Swift; he's a pushover," the demon muttered, leaning over her shoulder. "Just leave it to me; this will be done before you know it." "Invidia, please, be quiet! He could hear us," she desperately pleaded over to her demon. "I mean, we want to find him. We could cut this so much shorter if we just-" "I agree with her. If he gets the wrong idea, he'll just run. And then we can do this all over again," Ebony added, leaning across the corner to see if the Deadman was anywhere to be seen. "I wouldn't worry about that," a fourth voice stated. It was low, grumble, and had an unnatural chill to it. Within a second, a giant icicle rocketed towards the two, Swift screaming out, pushing Ebony out of the way and getting graced for her trouble. With another screech, she fell backward, the Driver and Vistamp tumbling out of her pocket and over the floor, a good bit away from her. Her eyes darted between her bleeding injury, which was stinging like crazy, the monster, and the Driver. With a pained yelp, she pushed herself toward the Driver as the Deadman shot another icicle right where she had been lying. She didn't manage to get there all the way but pushed herself the last bit, one eye still focused on her opponent as she grabbed it and pushed herself up. "He, you are stubborn, I give you that. Fine, show me what you can do. Maybe it will be fun before you run with your tail between your legs again," he chuckled, his hands emanating cold. Swift took a deep breath and raised the Driver before slap- With no prior warning, the Driver was pulled out of her grasp. Swift froze, head spinning to the thief, only to be greeted by a stern-looking person she was not expecting in the slightest. "Splash!?" "Foxy?" Both Swift and Ebony said in unison, their reactions ranging from surprise to curiosity on Ebony's part. "What are you..." "You wanted someone to entertain you?" Splash simply ignored her question, slamming the Driver on her wrist as it looped into place. ()Psyde-Driver!() "How about you fight a real Rider? Maybe that will be the entertainment you are looking for," she continued, Id hovering beside her. Splash's voice was unnervingly confident. Like she was enjoying this. "Swift, I need that back, by the way!" She blinked, unable to comprehend what Splash was asking of her. "The stamp! I need my stamp back!" Splash emphasized the word 'my' in such a way that Swift didn't even think twice before handing the device back to Splash. "Thanks! Now, get to cover! I'm going to have some fun!" ()Fox!() Invidia was about to shout something back at Splash, but Swift's legs were faster, dragging her injured body behind the next best crate. "And you are?" The monster finally asked, clearly amused by the show in front of him. "I? I'm the real deal! I'm Kamen Rider Ego!" "And I'm Kamen Rider Id!" The demon added, crossing her arms, her tone smug beyond belief. "And we are here to enjoy our-self! Henshin!" Without another word, she flipped the Driver, Id's body once more, garbing the giant stamp and slamming it down on her. ()Flip Out! F-F-Fox!() ()Draw Up!() (Sketch-( )Splash-) ()ing!() (Paint-( )Spray-) ()ing!() ()Kamen Rider() (Ego!( )Id!) ()Ego Plus Id!()) The two Riders stood, once more, in front of a monster, Id stretching herself while Ego looked down on her body. "Man... I missed this feeling. And I missed what comes next even more!" Without another second wasted, Splash dashed forward, sliding underneath another ice spike shooting towards her, before pushing herself up into the air, delivering a devastating haymaker to the monster's jaw, making it topple backward. With no place to catch himself, the Deadman crashed into several boxes, smashing them to pieces. Once he came back up, his chest exploded into a rain of sparks as his scream echoed through the warehouse. Not that Id's gun managed to keep him down for long. He simply powered through the pain, creating several small icicles in front of him that redirected the shots everywhere, just not him. "Caught me off guard, eh? But I've seen the demon's pea-shooter before! It's weaksauce!" Clenching his fists, the ice bear slammed his fists on the ground, a thick sheet of ice spreading outward within seconds. Both Ego and Id managed to jump up and on some crates before they got caught in it, but that didn't really matter. Any step on the slippery floor would send them back down anyway. Worst of all, the literal ice skates the monster had made for itself raced straight toward the stack of boxes Ego was standing on. "Id! Let's repeat what worked!" She shouted over to the demon, hoping she knew how she thought. Putting her safely into the demon's hands, an idea she would have kicked herself just a day ago, she put all her power into the leap, dashing over the Deadman as he crashed through the boxes like crackers. Ego could see the splinters flying off him as she sailed over the head of the monster, the valuables crushed and battered beyond usability, something that made her opponent even angrier, judging by his screams at least. That's when she heard the sound of a blaster discharging, followed by a sudden force of heat from behind and under her. Id had pulled through! Ego landed on a hand and two legs, immediately looking up ahead toward her rapidly advancing opponent. The small area Id's gun had unmelted wasn't big enough for a proper counterattack, and she couldn't exactly move. Still, she wouldn't just stand there and be run over like a dear in the headlights. Tightening her grip on the two paint batons on her hip, she pulled them up, pushing the button on them. With two swift slashes, bright pink paint was splashed across the floor, covering the ice under it. She had no idea if this was gonna work, but she had to at least fucking try it. Without a second more hesitation, she rushed forward, feet stepping on the covered area and... not immediately slipping away. She took this as a good sign. Redoubling her speed, she once more ducked downward, setting herself up for a leg sweep, the Deadman too stunned to even comprehend what she was attempting to do. Her leg zoomed from one side to the other, sliding across the ground, right into his skates, shattering on impact. Without his footing, the monster was sent flying, tumbling in the air before crashing into another stack of boxes, followed by a pained groan. "I must say, clever thinking on my part," Id chuckled, jumping down from her stack and casually walking over to her, the ground under her feet covered in an excessive amount of paint. "Haha, very funny," Splash added drily before turning her attention back to the monster, who was slowly pushing himself out of what remained of the crates. "OK, you are a lot more annoying than yesterday," the monster growled. "But you ain't getting between me and this book! I'm not letting you stop me from getting it! I need to bring it back; that way, they will finally see my worth, damn it!" "Yeah, I really don't care," Ego shrugged, the monster just fuming. Wait, it really was fuming, or rather, it was smoking. The air around it quickly dropped, the icy mist enveloping the whole hall, making it almost impossible to see anything beyond your own hands. "Hey! The fuck you doing!?" She shouted through the mist, resisting the urge to shiver, even if she really wanted to. Without any further warning, Splash felt a pain in her stomach, like she was hit by a basketball shot out of a cannon. Gasping out the last of her air, she was thrown further into the mist, crashing into a stack of boxes, shattering them on impact. She hadn't even managed to catch her breath as she felt a sharp pull on her leg, and within moments, she was once more dragged into the air, sailing across the room, only barely able to roll off the ground this time, reducing some buses for just a few scrapes. Still, she couldn't just expect that it was over. Even if she had managed to not eat total shit this time, her chances were slim. She had to think of something; quick! Then it hit her! She knew exactly what to do! Immediately, she swapped the Stamp on her Driver for her second one and switched the mechanism. ()Hawk!() ()Flip Out! H-H-Hawk!() ()Draw Up!() (Soar-( )Roar-) ()ing!() (Fly-( )Cry-) ()ing!() ()Highspeed Hawk Hunter() The transformation cleared a small area around them, but sadly, it didn't last long as the fog tried to reassert itself already. "Oh no, you don't!" Splash shouted at the air around her before starting to flap the 'wings' on her back. Id followed suit, the air around the two Riders being kicked up and pushed away. A growl, followed by another icicle, was all that followed before anyone had any chance to survey the new situation. Id was the first to react, her wing reaching up and moving right in front of Ego's face. With a pained grunt, the shard exploded on impact, pieces of ice dropping harmlessly to the ground around them. "Move! You got a target! I'm not catching another for you!" Id hissed at her other half, which didn't hesitate for even a second more. Dropping to a knee, Ego pointed her gun in the direction where the attack had come from. For a moment, the warehouse was utterly quiet, minus some of the ice creaking under the warmth, and then she shot! A loud screech followed, accompanied by a burly figure dashing from one stack of boxes to another. Ego's gun followed the target immediately, a second shot hitting the Deadman, staining his arm lime-green. Then the silence returned again, Splash's finger dead on the trigger, biting her lip underneath her helmet. She was almost tempted to rush forward herself as the crates were kicked towards her, both Id and her rolling to the side, followed by several shots towards where the monster had been. Sadly, none had hit the target, harmlessly crashing into the wall behind it... No, one hadn't! One had slammed into something more... melodic... Ice! Swinging her weapon around, Splash finally noticed the lime peaking out from behind another stack. Pulling the trigger, she obliterated the cover, slamming several more shots into the target behind it. Or rather, the ice shield he was holding! It was already covered in paint, several cracks apparent on the material as he dashed towards the next line of cover. Splash was about to pull the trigger once more when the other hand emerged from behind the shield. Within the blink of an eye, three icicles were sailing towards her. Swinging the weapon to the side, she aimed, took a deep breath, and shot thrice in quick succession, each shot hitting its mark but giving the monster ample time to get to its next cover. With a hiss, she took aim once more. One more shot and she'd be able to shatter the shield, she knew that, but she had to actually get that shot to connect, and that wouldn't be easy for this cat-and-mouse game. Still, she had the advantage now; she just had to- She almost would have missed the cover switch of the monster, the barbell of her gun trailing him as she pulled the trigger three more times. Sadly, each one being countered by another projectile from her opponent, pieces of paint and ice scattering to the ground between them. Once more, the Deadman had managed to evade her attack, and once more, he was behind cover, but unlike last time, it wasn't quiet. She could hear him breaking open the crate and rummaging for something. He must have found what he was after! If she didn't get him now, he'd be trying everything to get away from her! She had to play it risky... That was the only way! Refocusing on her aim, she let out four additional shots, the first ripping the box to scrap, the three others meant for him and his shield. But it seemed like the Deadman wasn't as dumb as she had anticipated, each one deflected, followed by three additional projectiles that were heading straight for her. She could have easily managed to hit each one before it made contact, but she refused. This was most likely her last chance to get him. She took one last deep breath, focused and- BAAM! The shot connected, shattering the lime-green-covered shield, making the Deadman stumble, she just had to fire once more befo- The pain was immediate and biting, followed by an unbearable cold spreading through her body. The three icicles had hit her, sending her tumbling backward. Her body was shivering, her head was spinning, and worst of all, she had lost her gun. She had to get up; she just had to, but her body simply refused to move faster than at a snail's pace. She could hear the ice-bear huffing, clearly knocked off his bearings, but she couldn't capitalize on it! She had to fucking move already! "Agh!" It echoed through the warehouse; Ego was barely able to push herself up in time to see the Deadman sailing across the room and crashing into the steel gate to the outside. As she looked over, she saw Id landing back down. Of course! She had completely forgotten about her own demon! She must have used her as a distraction to get an attack in! She hated to admit it, but the monster would have already been gone without her. "Ugh! You little-!" He huffed, pulling himself back up, his fists emitting the mist once more. "You know what! I got what I came for! I don't have time for you two!" Slamming his fists on the ground, a wave of cold stopped Id from following him as he recreated his ice scats and dashed out the front door. She tried to stand up completely but, with a grunt, felt herself slump back down. "Hey, Foxy! Use the Fox Stamp again!" She heard Ebony shout from somewhere behind her, his voice seeming to get closer. She swallowed her snarky remark and just listened for once, pulling out the other Stamp once more and switching it out. ()Fox!() ()Flip Out! F-F-Fox!() ()Draw Up!() (Sketch-( )Splash-) ()ing!() (Paint-( )Spray-) ()ing!() ()Kamen Rider() (Ego!( )Id!) ()Ego Plus Id!()) The moment the pink substance covered her once more, she felt her energy return, the injuries started to close, and the pain at least dulled. She must have looked rather perplexed, even with the helmet, as Ebony arrived, arms crossed. "If you don't exhaust the power of a Stamp, the exes magic of the transformation will heal you! But no time for that! Take this!" He shoved a black, stamp-like thing with wheels into her hand. She just looked at him, confused. "OK, give that back!" He groaned, yanking the thing back before flipping it closed, making it resemble a Vistamp even more. "Now give me your Fox Stamp! Hurry!" This time Id managed to act, grabbing the Stamp from her Driver and handing it over to the scientist. With a smirk, Ebony slipped it into the slanted back of the device. ()Quad-Stamper!() ()Fox!() She couldn't believe what she saw; somehow, the strange device started to grow, taking on a far more recognizable form. It was a quad! Well, it looked like one, at least, for the most part. Its front looked rather normal, just covered in pink, lime green, light blue, and red paint splotches. The weird part was the seat and the back. It extended and resembled a Vistamp and not just any, her Fox Stamp. "Ohhhh, I love this!" Id chuckled, circling the new vehicle with clear interest. "What are you waiting for? You ride it!" Splash simply shook her head, but she couldn't deny it. This looked fun! With newfound vigor, she jumped on the quad, landing comfortably on its seat. It fit like a glove, at least to her. She didn't know how this was supposed to feel, but it felt right. The demon had wrapped her arms around her, effectively giving herself a hug. Splash simply elected to ignore that detail for now and pulled the gas. With a loud screech, the quad dashed out of the warehouse, following the ice marks on the ground, Id screamed in pure joy as they rode off in the distance. Ebony just smiled after them, a clear sense of pride in his expression, not even noticing Swift sneak up on him. "That was your plan from the beginning, wasn't it?" Invidia growled at him, sounding like she was about to eat him whole. It didn't seem to bother him, though, his smirk continuing as he started moving. "Potentially, Scary. Either way, this is ideal. As fun as it was seeing you two flail around with the Driver, this is infernally more preferable." "You little!" The demon's growl grew even louder, her eyes like daggers. If looks could have killed, Ebony would have been vaporized by now. "Tsk, tsk! Didn't think a human would be so crafty as one of you?" He turned around, his smirk taking on a far more unnerving quality. "There are a lot of things you wouldn't expect of me, Scardy!" Invidia and Swift stepped back, all while Ebony continued walking like nothing had happened. "And it's not like you didn't do admirably. You actually did better than I hoped. Perhaps you can be my next guinea pig if I make something new? How does that sound?" Swift shot him a look that could only be described as a mix of anger, nervousness, and hurt before she simply rushed off. Ebony was sure he faintly heard a light sob before shrugging his shoulders. "Your loss." ()E+I() The wind was rushing past them, the cold air barely bothering her; she just enjoyed the feeling of speed on her body. She could have kept racing around like this for hours, but she knew she had a target. This damn Deadman had annoyed her far too much; this had to end right the fuck now! And she would enjoy it! It had barely taken her a minute to catch up to the monster, her and he weaving between cars like pillows at the driving course. Several cars were honking at them, but most stopped when they saw the Rider. If it was because of awe or simply not wanting to piss off a superhero, she didn't know, but she didn't really care either way. Revving the engine once more, the quad dashed forward, swearing out to get a good hit on the Deadman, who hadn't noticed her yet. Well, he hadn't until the quad was approaching. Turning his head, his body kicked into overdrive, redoubling his speed. "Hey! Get back here!" Splash screamed as her crashing move missed the monster, taking her a few seconds before she was back in a straight line. Why couldn't he have been at least a bit more oblivious? While Splash was quietly cursing herself, Id was leaning over to the side, taking aim with her gun, and letting a shot fly towards their target. Within the last second, the ice bear managed to duck down, the paint bullet slamming into the street, definitely staining some cars. "Id! Careful!" Splash huffed over her shoulder before returning her focus to the street. "Relax, I'm not gonna hit anyone!" The demon groaned before retaking aim. Without any more care, she simply giggled as the hail of bullets painted the street a vibrant pink, cars and anything else on the street quickly making room for them. "See? You got your way clear." Splash simply elected to ignore the fact Id had just shot their way open and instead decided to take the opportunity. With no one between them, Ego caught up rather quickly, riding next to the Deadman, who glared over, shouting at her: "Why can't you leave me the fuck alone already?" "Mostly because it's kinda my job and second because I really wanna take some revenge for your icicles!" She screamed back, swerving over and kicking the Deadman to the side, the ice skates screaming under pressure, but he managed to catch himself before getting some distance between them once more. Once he felt safe, he raised his hand to the side and blindly fired icicle after icicle at them. Splash panicked, pulling away as well. She really had no interest in getting hit by another one of those things again any time soon. "Hey! Ride closer again; I wanna pistol-whip him!" Id shouted as she shot each blindly aimed icicle out of the air. "Oh, how about you get hit by these things? Let's see if you will be so high and mighty then?" Ego hissed back but did indeed close the distance once more, something that the ice bear didn't enjoy in the slightest. Raising his arm, he pointed it at the street in front of Ego and Id before letting a beam of ice freeze the path before them solid. Splash grit her teeth; there is no going around it anymore; she is already almost on it. The switch from asphalt to ice was immediate; she could feel the wheels spinning wilder, as well as the quad breaking out to the side. If she didn't figure something out soon, they were gonna crash! Ebony had to have given this thing something clever! The man was eccentric, but he wasn't dumb. Some wings, or turning this thing into an iguana, or the like; there just had to be something. Her eyes darted over the buttons in front of her, looking for anything that looked useful, when her eyes caught what looked like the top of a Vistamp. This had to be something, right? Without much deliberation, she slammed her fist on the button, which made the quad scream out: ()ColourCrashDuo!() ()Fox!() Within a second, the wheels started to glow a bright pink, leaving behind an identically colored trail of paint. Immediately, the grip of the wheels returned, allowing her to steady the vehicle once more. With nothing stopping her now, she swirled around again, taking aim as the quad accelerated. Something inside her was screaming to push the button again; after all, that was usually how this went. "No! Stop that! Just go away, damn it!" ()FoxColourCrash!() The wheels started to spin even faster, the paint spraying everywhere as the quad jumped forward, right towards the scathing monster, which panicked and tried to move faster once more, but he seemed to have reached his limit. Pulling the handle one last time to the max, the quad effectively turned into a bright, pink paint steak that smashed right into it before it was away in a sea of pink. With a loud screech, the quad finally came to a halt, having left a trail of paint behind her that would have been washed away if not for the fact the sprinklers of Dilwyrm Park weren't turned off during winter. She only now realized where she had ended up, right next to City Hall, in the middle of a concrete-filled park with some small green spaces. The people around had all made several steps back and were filming the entire thing with their phones. "Ugh..." The monster groaned; its body was covered in paint splashes as it pushed itself up. Apparently, it hadn't been enough to ram a quad into him. "You really are fucking stubborn," she sighed, swinging herself off the quad and slowly approaching the monster, which quickly took several steps back. She was about to say something else, when Id slammed her elbow into her side. Before she could say anything, the demon was already talking: "Don't mess up our proper debut! People are watching," she giggled, Splash only now noticing the phones and eyes glued to them. Taking a step forward, Id started to scream, spreading her arms wide: "Lady's, gentleman, demons, and everything in between, may I introduce you to Fillydelphia's new Kamen Riders? The unbeatable Kamen Rider Ego!" The demonic Rider gestured towards Splash, who remained standing where she was, admittedly unsure how to respond. "And yours truly, the devilishly clever Kamen Rider Id!" She bowed, a murmur going through the crowd. "Hey, what you waiting for? Do your thing! The people are waiting," Id hissed over to her, which made Splash snap out of her sudden stupor. "This is the end of the line for you! You lost!" She situated, her voice carrying over the entire plaza before she flipped the stamp back up and down again, Id followed her lead, the belt starting to give off a rather catchy jingle. Out of nowhere, a giant, translucent Vistamp appeared and slammed itself on top of the Deadman, carried by Id. The monster seemed to scream inside its new confinement, punching against the glass, but neither did it budge nor did it let any sound escape; it only started to fill with pink goop. Id landed back next to her as both Riders rushed forward, jumping into the air, spinning towards the stamp, and racing downwards in a kicking position. Their glowing feet impacted the glass the moment the thing had been filled to the brim, the light only growing in intensity. ()Fox!() ()Splashing Finish!() With a huge explosion, the stamp shattered, lighting up the entire park as well as the night sky; both Riders screeched to a halt several meters behind the slowly dissipating explosion; the only sign of the whole thing was for one, the unconscious body of a middle-aged man with black hair and beige skin, a light-blue Vistamp next to him and the giant, pink fox symbol now painted on the ground. For a few seconds, everything was quiet, minus the sound of cars in the distance, but still, it was unnerving regardless. Then she heard the first clap, then a second, and within moments, the crowd had erupted in cheering and screaming. Splash just stood there for a bit, unable to even move. It was just so... unreal. They were really... cheering for her? For real!? She couldn't other than chuckle to herself. This felt... good! Man, did it feel good! They were cheering for her! Man, had it been a long time since she felt this... appreciated! She could have stood there for hours, but when it poked her side once more, she simply tilted her head back to her. The demon was shoving the Vistamp into her hand, before adding: "Here you go! Probably should take it this time. And if you are done basking in our well-earned glory, I think we should scram before the police or, worse, the MRG gets here." "Fine, buzzkill," she groaned, starting to move back to the quad as she heard the sound of footsteps behind her. Turning around, she noticed several police officers, as well as a woman with light yellow skin, blue hair, and a suit, had run up to her. The woman was holding a comically oversized, red gun aimed directly at her. "Halt! We have some questions for you two!" The woman shouted, seemingly not interested in letting her get away. "I'm agent Clear Waters from the MRG, and I'd like to-" "Yeah, pass," Splash simply stated, swinging on her bike. "I work by my own rules, so bye!" Without another word, both she and Id swung themselves on the bike and let the engines rev up. Immediately, the two raced out of the park and back onto the street. "Wait! No-" Clear tried to shout at them, but they were already gone. "Was to be expected, I suppose..." She sighed. This only confirmed to her that this would be a tiresome mission for her, and she felt like she only knew half of it at this point. ()E+I() A good kilometer away, about halfway from the way from the warehouse to the park, the light pink man, with his pink hair covered by the angler hat, leaned forward, picking up a lightly wet, leatherbound notebook. Dusting it free from the snow, he flipped through it before chuckling. "Well, guess you weren't so useless after all, Cold Wind. Shame you let the Riders catch you," he muttered, slipping the book into his pocket. "Oh well, not like he was important anyway." With a shrug, he walked off into the night. The content of this book would most certainly be interesting for the Circle. ()E+I() Splash drove the quad, now missing the stamp part, looking like only a slightly more colorful one, into an utterly forgettable alley. A certain scientist was already waiting for her, leaning against the next best wall, smirking at her as she arrived. "Ah, there you are, Foxy. My, hero!" He chuckled, stretching his arms out, the smug grin on his face already annoying Splash. "Would you stop calling me that?" She groaned, pulling off a helmet she had dragged from under the seat. "He really loves his theatrics, doesn't he?" Id mussed, hovering against her shoulder. "Well, you are my hero, or not?" He returned, raising an eyebrow. "Or should I give the belt back to-" He started, lightly looking over to Swift, who was standing rather lost a few meters away from them. "No!" Splash stated, her tone not letting any doubt spring up that she was dead serious. "Mhhhm, OK. So you are my hero after all." His voice carried a sense of superiority that really drove Splash up the wall. Oh, she would have loved to snap this guy's neck, but even Id was clearly shaking her head. "If I'm anyone's hero, it's me." Splash glared back, crossing her arms after swinging off the quad. "Aren't you a little selfish?" Ebony simply shook his head before sighing. "Fine, have it your way then. You are your own hero, but you still are using my tech, so I get to set some rules, boundaries, restrictions, call it what you like. And don't even think about just stealing it. You'll need me eventually, if not for more power, for simple maintenance. You get that?" There it was again, that smug grin. One thing she had to give the man was he knew his cards and how to play them. "And what are these restrictions?" She drily responded, after a few quiet moments. "Well, more rules. First, you'll act like a hero! No stealing, no murder, no anything a proper hero wouldn't do. That's the important one!" Within a second, his playful, smug demeanor had shifted, his tone serious. "I... Fine," she said, taken a bit back by his frankness. "Wasn't gonna do that anyway. I liked the applause, and they'd hardly applaud a 'villain,' right?" "Well, glad we see eye to eye here," Ebony chuckled, back to his usual self, it seemed. "Second, I get to hear what you learn. I'm the researcher, you the Rider. We gotta help each other out. Everything I learn, I can use to help you! Which also means you'll listen to me, at least to some extent. I know what I'm talking about; you don't. Clear?" Rolling her eyes, she said: "Fine." "Bit of a stickler for rules, isn't he? Kind of a suprise," Id added, leaning over the quad. "Yeah, big one at that," Splash muttered back quietly. "So, what's the inevitable number three?" "Just don't make me regret this. It's that simple. I'd say these are fairly reasonable guidelines, aren't they?" Ebony asked, leaning against the wall of the alley. "More or less," she shrugged before adding: "How about this. I agree to your silly little rules under one condition." "Oh? You're a negotiator as well?" "No, but I can roll with the punches. First, no touching my family or friends! Not even if I croak! I won't let you make them your test subjects!" She glared at the scientist, who simply groaned. "I can remember that. It's a waste, but oh well. It won't be the end of me," he muttered, his expression a bit sour. "I... That..." Swift pen tried to speak up just as Splash continued. "Good! And if you don't, I'll let Id haunt you from the grave... somehow! Second. I don't do compromises! I'm not gonna let you push me into any decisions I might regret later. I'm doing this for my own amusement and I'll do it as long as I enjoy it, so any heroic sacrifices are out of the question. I simply refuse to even entertain that idea!" She almost spat out the last few words as she glared at him. "Greedy and selfish. Well, I won't make you, but I won't promise you won't run into them, got that?" "Good enough, I guess," she sighed, Id still glaring daggers at the man. "And lastly, don't make me regret this either. We just don't screw each other over! Sounds like a deal?" Raising an eyebrow, she eyed Ebony's dismissive expression as he pushed himself off the wall and strolled over to her. "I suppose so, Kamen Rider," he chuckled, reaching out his hand. "It sounds like the best deal I'll get. On a good working relationship. We can iron out the details tomorrow. I'll call you." He simply stated, both shaking hands, before disappearing into the night. Splash kept on looking after the man. Something inside her was telling her she may have made a big mistake. That someone sure as Tartarus wasn't Id though. The demon was clearly exhilarated about this turn of events. The glimmer in her eyes was just unmistakable. "Want a ride home, Swift?" She finally broke the silence, her coworker still standing with her in the cold alley, not having said a word. "I-" She tried to say when she was interrupted by her demon. "Screw off! We can do this ourselves!" She hissed back, Swift mouthing an awkward 'Sorry' before quickly running off before Splash could say anything else. "Well, that went great," Id said, the sarcasm almost dripping from her mouth like some venom. Splash simply gave her a deadpan look. "Come, I still have one last thing to do before we head to bed." And with that, the two disappeared into the crowded streets of Fillydelphia. ()E+I() Once more, she looked down on the city beneath her; the cars driving by, the shouts of people blowing, and the fenced-off basketball court she had become familiar with. "And you think he's coming?" She asked, leaning over to Id, the spray cans in her backpack attracting her eyes every few seconds. "You called him, and he said yes, so I'd take a big guess, yes!" Id groaned, watching her human sneak a peak at the painting again. Before she could ask again, both heard someone coming up the fire ladder, followed by Colour's Mohawk appearing over the edge. "Yo! You wanted me to come?" He asked, trying to keep his cool, but even Splash, in her current state, could notice he was beyond nervous. His smile was forced, his foot was tapping awkwardly on the ground, and he couldn't keep still to save his life. Splash simply nodded in return. "Congrats on your victory, by the way," he chuckled, the uncertainty in his voice slowly slipping away. "That was you, right? I saw the videos and... You know..." "Yeah, it was," she sighed, pushing herself back to her feet properly, pulling the Psyde-Drive out of her jacket with a smirk. "Was quite fun, should have seen it!" "Can imagine. Glad you are doing well, it seems," Colour nodded before stretching himself a bit. "So, just wanted to show me this, or did you wanna thank me?" "Thank you, for what?" She giggled, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, you know... My advice..." He awkwardly started, only for Splash's laughter to interrupt him. "Don't get ahead of yourself," shaking her head, she started to pull something out of her bag. "But I did appreciate them nonetheless.," she added in a softer tone. "Right... So... Are we... Friends again?" Splash could hear the nervousness, mixed with hope in his voice. Colour's voice pitched up in situations like this. It was always a rather amusing trait of his back in the day. "Does this answer your question?" She simply stated, throwing a lime green spray can over to him; he was barely able to catch it in time. "You want to-" "Yes!" She groaned out, followed by a light chuckle. "I'd like your help. Don't think this will be something regular, but... I thought we could add a bit to your drawing. How does that sound?" Now it was Splash's turn to sound awkward; she had already pulled her hood deep over her face, hiding most of it, but even then, anyone with eyes could see the nervousness written on her face. "Oh, fuck! Of course!" Colour almost shouted out, rushing over to his painting, looking expectedly at Splash. Both tagger and former tagger went to work, the spray paint almost moving on its own as they drew and sprayed on the wall, creating shapes and refining them to forms and, eventually, a second mural of Ego and Id. This time, the two were depicted in their Hawk-Genome Form, Ego aiming the gun while Id was spreading her wings. It was the perfect addition to the piece, pushing it to new heights. As Splash took a step back to examine their work, a feeling spread across her whole body. It was simply warm, tingly, and that despite the winter's cold. A feeling she hadn't experienced in a very long while... Satisfaction! Author's Note And here we have Splash and Id reclaiming the Driver and becoming the titular Main Rider. Took em long enough, but now, everything should be juuuuust fine, right? Either way, I'm glad I managed to get this one out in at least a decent timeframe again. I'll see if I can get back to writing faster again. I hope you all enjoy the chapter!
