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Sam stood alone in his cafe, worried, cleaning his counter. He stared over at the corner, one that had so many friends, so many voices… But now, nobody was there. Idia, the Masked Rider Shroud, and his brother Ortho had joined Sam a year ago. Cater became a fixture. Lilia, the Masked Rider Fang. Azul, the Masked Rider Octo. Leona, the Masked Rider Lionheart, and his… Successor Ruggie.
But now, Leona was dead, Ortho was missing, and Sam had nothing to show for it but fear for the rest of his friends.
Fear that was justified, as the door burst open. Ruggie and Cater held Idia between them, his body shaking uncontrollably. Lilia and Azul came in behind them.
“We need to get him downstairs! Triton did something to him!” Azul shouted as they ran inside.
Sam stared in fear, before shaking it off and turning.
“Come on. Let’s get him to the basement.” Sam said.
There was a wipe, and the show cut to the opening, set to Piece Of My World.
Kono bangumi wa goran no suponsa no teikyo de okurishimasu
EPISODE 34: THE VAULT
It was a solemn event as everyone stood around the shivering, shaking body of Idia Shroud, confined to his bed in a strange, supernatural coma. Overwhelmed by the blot and the attacks of their enemies, the scientist rolled in his bed like he was in the worst nightmare of his life.
“...What are we supposed to do now…?” Azul muttered as he stared at the unconscious man. “Triton managed to take him out, what chance do the three of us have?”
“Come on, we can’t just stand here!” Ruggie paced through the hidden lab under Mr. S’s Cafe, the place Idia had used as a base all this time. “We know where he is, we should just-”
“And do what!?” Azul turned and shouted at Ruggie. “End up a wreck like Idia!?”
“Better to die there instead of letting Wonderland take over the world with its damn Blot!” Ruggie shouted back. “The fact we’re still waiting here-”
“Shut up!” Cater shouted at them. Both of them turned to look at Cater, who looked on the verge of crying.
“...Shut up, both of you…” Cater continued, now at a whisper. “...Arguing isn’t going to bring Idia back…” Ruggie continued to glare, first at Cater, then at Azul, before he turned and kicked a box on the floor as he walked away.
“... Cater is right.” Lilia said from his perch where he hung by his knees and sipped from a drink. “Though I wish he didn’t act like Idia was dead.” Lilia took one last sip of his drink before he tossed it in the trash and flipped off the bar onto his feet.
“Idia is down, and we don’t know how long.” Lilia said. “He’s got that last experiment of his, that… Isn’t finished…” He paused to look over at the belt. “...And we know where our enemy is hiding out. So, what do we do?”
“That’s what I just said.” Azul muttered.
“I assume you’ve got a bright idea?” Ruggie asked as he sat down on the box he kicked.
“Not really a bright idea…” Lilia shrugged. “But I think Ruggie is right… Wonderland’s plan could keep moving. They can keep hurting people, and who knows how bad it can really get before Idia wakes up.”
“Wait, so we’re going with the kick down the door plan?” Azul asked as he motioned to Ruggie. Even Ruggie was shocked.
“It’s either that or we wait for Idia.” Lilia looked back at their friend in his nightmarish state. “And who knows if he’ll wake up at all, let alone when…”
“Don’t… Don’t say that…” Cater whispered as he stared at Idia. “He’ll be fine…”
Everyone stared at Cater. Nobody wanted to say anything worse, anything that would hurt the redhead even more.
“Either way, we need to deal with Triton.” Lilia said. “If not to save the world, then to stop that bastard after he did all this to Idia…”
“...Keep taking care of him, Cater.” Azul said as he walked past Cater. He stopped only to put a hand on the ginger’s shoulder, before he walked out.
“We’ll be back before you know it.” Lilia smiled at Cater. He stepped out of the hideout, and a serious looking Ruggie followed after him.
Inside of the aquarium, the redhead form of Prince Rielle stared at the water, the shifting forms of the fish catching his eyes.
“Taking a moment to relax, Rielle?” The deep voice spoke nearby, and Dire Crowley walked up next to him. “I feel like this isn’t the time to do so.”
“Hm… Shroud is dealt with.” Rielle looked over at Crowley. “And the others? They’re no threat.”
“You think you could defeat them? Overconfidence comes before the fall.” The masked man looked into the aquarium and leaned against a cane.
“It’s not overconfidence.” Rielle glared and turned away, “I don’t see you fighting them either way…”
Suddenly there was a sound of shouting from the next room, combat, fighting. Azul, Ruggie and Lilia had arrived, and were fighting the suited, masked thugs, all dripping black with the power of Blot.
Lilia, armed with the sword he carried as a hero,slashed at the mooks, sparks shooting from their bodies with each strike. Mooks fell with each strike as he cut through the aquarium.
Azul’s style, while not perfect, was practiced boxing. Fists up like an old fashioned boxer, he swung and dodged with his strikes, occasionally adding in tricks as he tied someone off with his scarf for an attack.
Ruggie, on the other hand, was a brawler. He swung his fists, tackled people into fish tanks and displays of the types of fish inside, and fought as dirty as he could.
Crowley, his masked face inscrutable, looked at Rielle. “It seems that they may be more trouble than you think. I guess I’ll make my leave.” With that he turned, and with a flick of his cloak he disappeared into shadow.
Our trio of heroes finally pushed all the way through the crowds into the main aquarium room. Slightly bruised and injured, they stared down the villain. Rielle glared at them, arms crossed.
“I thought I dealt with you already…” Rielle said. “I thought you would run back with your tail between your legs after I took out your leader.”
“He’s not really our leader…” Ruggie said between pants and heavy breaths, even if it earned a glare from Azul.
“We’re not going down easy. Not while you and the rest of Wonderland are still standing.” Lilia said as he stared down Rielle.
“In that case, why don’t I show you what you’re really up against.” Rielle smirked. He reached into a jacket pocket and pulled out a strange, mechanical looking syringe viewers were familiar with at this point. He pressed a button on the side, and a small jingle rang out from the syringe. TRITON!
With that he stabbed it into his neck, and his body rippled into a new form. Water rippled out from the aquariums and down onto his body, and his new body was a strange armored design, looking like it was covered in coral. His hand held a trident, ready to fight.
“We’ll show you…” Azul said. The trio held up belts, all very similar in design. Azul’s had a coral like design, Ruggie’s had a golden glow, and Lilia’s was a deep red. They put the belts up to their waist, and their belts magically grew and attached to their hips.
Almost in sync, all three of the men pulled out small bottles and slid them into their belts. All three belts let out their own small jingles.
OCTO WARRIOR!
KING LION!
DRAGON FANG!
Ruggie pointed at Rielle, Azul raised his fists in a fighting pose, and Lilia brought his hands to his side like a martial artist focusing their breathing. And then all three at once shouted “Henshin!”
Their hands went down to their magical belts and slammed down on switches. With a set of magical effects, the three all transformed into their armored, heroic forms.
With that they charged into battle. They leaped, kicked, swung at Rielle in his Triton form, but Rielle dodged and deflected with his trident weapon. Cheesy special effects shot out of the tops of the aquariums and splashed down on the heroes as they fought, sparks flying off of their injured forms.
Rielle, unfortunately, had the advantage. Whatever strength he had, he was knocking away at our heroes. They were getting thrashed by Rielle, despite the numbers advantage. It looked like the heroes wouldn’t last much longer.
Back in the basement hideaway, Sam and Cater sat drinking coffee on a couch. Both were quiet, and occasionally they glanced over at the injured Idia… But neither of them wanted to speak.
At least, of course, until Idia suddenly shot up with a gasp.
“I know what it is!” He said as he climbed out of bed. He stumbled slightly, his form clad only in pajama pants, as he leaned against the wall.
“Idia, you’re okay!” Sam shot up and ran over to him, with Cater right behind. Idia tried to walk forward, but stumbled into Cater’s arms.
“I’ve got it… I know what to do…” Idia clung onto Cater.
“You know what to do?” Cater asked. “You’re… still injured. You can’t-”
“I’m fine…” Idia looked at him, “I… What’s happening? What happened to Triton?”
“He injured you first…” Sam explained. “You were downed and everyone retreated to take care of you.”
“Then… Where are they now?” Idia asked as they looked around.
“They’re going after Triton. They left a few minutes ago.” Cater explained. Idia gulped and shook his head.
“No, no… They can’t. Triton defeated me, there’s no way… I have to save them-” Idia pushed past Cater and over to his computer.
“What is it? What did you figure out?” Sam asked as he followed Idia to the computer.
“You can’t… Be encouraging him!” Cater turned and spat the words out at Sam.
“Cater…” Idia stopped his typing to look at the redhead. “...We’re in this together, right?”
Cater stared at Idia and shook his head, “What do you mean…?”
“Wonderland.” Idia said. “When we met, you wanted to stop Wonderland, right? You saw the same thing I did, even if you didn’t have the full picture.”
“The blot, yeah…” Cater said. “But that was so long ago, now…”
“But all that’s changed is what we know.” Idia took Cater’s hands. “We are getting closer to taking down Wonderland. The blot, that darkness… We’re going to cut out of the world…”
“And if you die? If the others die?” Cater asked. “I’m scared. I can’t lose you…” He pushed forward again to cling to Idia. Idia held him and rested his head on the redhead’s shoulder.
“I can’t lose you either… But I can’t stop fighting…” Idia said as he pulled back to look Cater in the eye. “Not when we’re so close... Not when we have answers…”
“... Just promise me you’ll take care of yourself…” Cater said. He leaned in, and Idia kissed him slowly.
“I’m sorry to interrupt this romantic moment, but we have answers? What are you talking about?” Sam asked as he raised his hand to interrupt.
“Right, answers.” Idia turned around. “...That key we had…That the old me left as a hint…” He reached into a drawer at his desk and pulled out a key, the head looking like a trio of golden gears in the shape of a cartoon mouse head.
“Blot is pure destruction. It is hatred, evil, everything bad… It is worse than entropy…” Idia put the key on the desk and continued typing.
“Okay…” Cater gulped to try and get past the sudden end of the conversation and his feelings for Idia, “What does that have to do with that key there?”
“Because there’s one power that is opposed to destruction…” Idia continued. “Just as dangerous, maybe even more so…”
“...Which is…?” Sam asked.
“Creation… Imagination…” Idia explained. “The Blot is just destruction. But creation… Creation can be the invention of things that are good, things that are bad… An invention can be a cure, or it can be a weapon.”
“And you want to use that power?” Cater asked.
“Yes. I didn’t realize it at the time, but… I left myself clues. A group of files, designs that when combined together…” Idia said as he typed and clicked on his computer, finally there was a serious of dings that showed the confirmation of that he had solved the puzzle.
“This is our new toy. This is how I can defeat Triton.” Idia pointed at the screen. “Let’s save our friends…”
With three strikes, Triton struck down Azul, Lilia, and Ruggie. Their armored forms fell to the floor, and with a flash the armor disappeared. They rolled around in pain, now no longer in their superheroic forms.
“You really are just a bunch of thorns in my side…” Triton said, as he looked at the fallen three. “I should have killed Shroud when I had the chance… And now I have you…” He looked right at Azul and lifted an armored boot. Triton put his weight down on Azul’s chest, and Azul cried out in pain.
“For years I wanted you dead… And now you walk right into my home…” Triton smiled, and he lifted his trident to stab down right on Azul’s head.
A series of gunshots cut him off, and Triton stumbled back and looked at the source of the shots.
Standing there, his superheroic gun raised, was Idia.
“Shroud!” Lilia shouted and raised a hand to him, grasping at him.
“You! I thought I dealt with you already!” Triton growled and pointed the trident at Idia.
“You should have killed me when you had the chance, Rielle…” Idia said as he stepped forward. “All you did was give me the chance to defeat you once and for all.”
“You lost last time. What’s going to save you now?” Rielle laughed. Idia smirked and held up what looked like a vault.
“This. More power than you ever imagined.” Idia said, before he put it on his hips. The belt shot out and wrapped around his waist.
IMAGINATION DRIVER!
Idia held up the mouse eared key before he stuck it in his belt.
KEYS TO THE KINGDOM!
The belt let out a looping jingle, a more intense loop of those famous seven notes of If You Wish Upon A Star.
Idia lifted his arms, one to the side, the other across his chest.
“Henshin!” He shouted, before his crossed arm moved down and his hand spun the wheel on the vault.
With a burst of light, the vault opened, and golden reels of film burst forth and wrapped around Idia’s arms, legs, and torso before they finally stopped at his head.
When the light cleared, Idia’s armored form had become silver and gold, with a vault wheel emblem on his chest, a pair of rounded gears on his head like mouse ears, and the weapon in his hand turned into an ax shaped like a key.
IMAGINATION RIDER! SHROUD FANTASIA!
To all who come to this happy place, welcome!
“Let’s bring this story to a happy end.” Idia lifted the blade over his shoulder and pointed at Triton.
NEXT TIME ON MASKED RIDER SHROUD
As Piece Of My World starts playing, we see scenes of Idia in his new Fantasia form fighting Triton and posing, as various lines of dialogue spoke over the action.
“My power is that of Creation!”
“You’re playing a dangerous game, Idia Shroud.”
“Why don’t you see how deep the rabbit hole really goes?”
EPISODE 35: IMAGINATION FANTASIA