Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

(3rd Person PoV)

"CLEO! GET OVER HERE TO CLEAN THIS MESS OR YOU'RE FIRED!"

Cleo, a woman with orange, curly hair and has stitches on her face that gave her a bit of a zombie like look, gave out a long and tired sigh as she grabbed the mop and trudged over where her boss was standing.

The floor around him was a mess. Syrup and cheerios were spilled everywhere. There was orange juice lying there and blueberries were spread out.

"Clean it!" Her boss yelled and he left.

Some of the customers gave her a sympathetic look as Cleo dropped the mop onto the soapy water before pulling it up and placing it on the floor, scrubbing it so the mess wound go away.

This was her current life in a nutshell.

Getting yelled at by her boss at work. Oh great, she doesn't get paid enough to deal with this.

Cleo tighten the white, linen bandanna scarf that came with their work uniform. She has to clean the mess up as fast as she can before the boss comes and yells at her again.

Working at the diner sucked but they needs the money. How else can she provide for her kids?

Right that. Cleo let a deep sigh as she continued to mop the floor.

I wonder how Bdubs and Scar are doing at school? I'm sure that Bdubs was ranting about the Language Arts tests that he's taking today and Scar has his science presentation to do. I bet both of them will do great on it, she thought to herself.

After a while, they finished mopping the floor and placed the mop back in the soapy water and pushed it away towards the kitchen to place it in its corner.

She went over to wash her hands when someone called over to her.

"Cleo, the trash is overflowing. Can you go and put it in the back!" One of their co-workers called out.

"Alright. Give me a second," Cleo called out and looked for the trash.

Yep, it was overflowing alright. One singular basket couldn't hold the heaps of trash bags that were piling up.

They grabbed the ends of a bag with one hand and grabbed another one with the other hand.

They walked out into the back and tossed the bags in the garbage. Cleo leaned on the wall and took a deep sigh.

No time to complain, I need to keep this job to provide for Scar and Bdubs. I need it, she thought.

They then looked up at the skies as soon as a flying vehicle went whooshing by.

Past the dinky side of the city where the diner was and through tall and shiny buildings of the city, the flying car dodged pedestrians and other vehicles. It might have broken a few laws, who knows.

The city had large buildings with a futuristic design and robots were on the streets, helping some people on the streets. The flying car flew past all of it.

It arrived at a tall, white, shiny building where a huge crowd of people were waiting there.

The car's doors open and a man with fiery yellow hair and reddish brown eyes got out of the car.

"President Tango! What are your thoughts on the current malfunctioning of the robots produced by Life Industries?" One reporter asked.

"A-and what are your thoughts on the robots meshing with stuff in nature like that rock one that's now under your custody?" Another asked.

The questions came and gone but Tango didn't answer to any of them as he walked through the crowd and into the building.

Before Security held back the crowd as he entered the building, he paused and turned around to look at them.

"I will make an announcement about it soon so sit tight," Tango said and walked into the building, ignoring the protests of the reporters as Security held them back.

He walked towards his office where there were two people waiting for him.

"Tango, you're here! We need to discuss it with you," a man with brown hair and wearing a black shirt with a yellow i icon on it.

"I'm aware," Tango said and turned on the news.

A reporter with orange hair and wearing overalls was speaking.

"As you saw it here folks, the president of Life Industries said that they will make an announcement about it soon. As you also saw it, many people are disappointed with that response. After all, it's been two months since the robots were beginning to malfunction and a week after the RockBot," the reporter said.

"Geez, it's already been a week?" A man wearing a tuxedo noted.

"That's why we need to discuss it! We have to decipher what Etho left for us before he died. We know that he was working on something in case this happened," the brown haired man said.

Tango said nothing at first before turning off the TV, walking towards the door, opening it to peek through it, closed it and locked it. He also shut the blinds so bits of the sun was peeking out.

"Impulse, Skizz. We need to make sure that this information doesn't go out to the public. They'll skin us alive for it and would take away what Etho has been working on or worse, rip it to shreds. It's careful research that he put into," Tango explained.

"Yeah and they'll take the context of the animals and take it the wrong way, calling us murderers when that isn't the case," Skizz added on.

"True," Impulse nodded and Tango reached under his desk and pressed a button.

The walls on the right side flipped backwards to reveal two laptops and a bunch of papers scattered across them.

"Get to work and quickly. I received reports from Mr. Yu that the room where we're keeping the RockBot isn't going to hold much longer," Tango told them.

"Yessir!" Impulse and Skizz nodded and went to grab the laptops and began to type furiously while taking quick glances at the papers.

Tango then pulled out his phone and began to text the head scientist.

Down at a lab where a huge room was being supervised by soldiers and scientists, a man with bright green hair, brown eyes and wearing green glasses huffed to himself as he stared at the head soldier barking orders to the rest of the soldiers and scientists.

That fool. Barking orders to his soldiers I understand but scientists under my watch? That's bullsh*t, he thought.

"Yu! Don't just stand there, you're the head scientist! Aren't you supposed to be doing something?" The head soldier shouted.

"With all due respect Mr...f*ck what was your name again, anyways! I'm currently receiving text messages from my boss about the current situation and sh*t so I have to respond to them," the scientist stated.

"It's Dennis Chiko, got it! And why would you be texting in this situation? Don't you see the problem that's going on?" The head soldier snapped.

"Right, right, well to put it in the most simplest terms, if the RockBot gets out, we're all f*cked. President Tango has only been CEO of Life Industries for three months and he spent most of it cleaning up after the old CEO's mess which would include this. God if only I had scientists who didn't major in astrology instead of other science course," the head scientist rolled his eyes.

"Toshino Yu, as leader of my own team, I find it disrespectful that you would talk to your own scientists like that!" Dennis snapped.

"Tell that to the old CEO. Oh right, he died so you can't. But that aside, the room isn't going to hold for much longer so the President is telling me what to do in case the RockBot gets out," Toshino stated.

"I already have my own orders. Shoot on sight," Dennis said.

Toshino rolled his eyes again before pointing to a man with a blonde hair that sticks up, defying gravity and wore a badge pin with a duck on it.

"Princeton, get ready to pull the lever. Things are about to get ugly!" He shouted.

"Yes sir!" The man stood up and bowed. Dennis could see his name tag on his coat.

Brad Princeton.

"What kind of name is Brad?" Dennis murmured.

"Don't disrespect my best scientist. Now brace yourself," Toshino said. He kept glancing up and down from his phone and whenever he would look up, his face would sweat a little as he looked at the cracks that were forming in the room where the RockBot was being kept in.

Dennis grabbed his gun and held it up. Brad had his hand on the lever as they all waiting for the inevitable.

(Later)

Cleo face planted the couch as they was were done with their shift for the day. Their kids were still at school and they'd figure that they would take a nap before going to pick them up.

The rumbles of the garage truck that went by lulled her to sleep as she was used to hearing it before taking a nap on Fridays.

Little that she knew that her nap was going to get interrupted by something or someone...

*KNOCK KNOCK*

Cleo lifted her head up and stared at the door. 

Who's there? Oh god, please don't tell me that rent is due! I don't have enough to pay it off today! She thought in a panic and got up immediately.

They cautiously walked over to the door to look through the makeshift peek hole.

It wasn't the rent collector but it was some people that were equal as bad.

Cleo opened the door and said in a disgruntled voice, "what do you want?"

Skizz looked at Impulse before looking at Cleo. "Can we come in? We just want to talk?" He asked.

Cleo glared at them before stepping aside to let them in.

They all sat down at the table with Tango in the middle, Skizz on his left and Impulse on his right, while Impulse was clutching onto a briefcase.

Cleo sat across from them with their arms crossed. She didn't seem amused nor pleased by this visit.

"Care to share why you're here?" She asked.

Tango took off his sunglasses before saying, "well we have something to give you. Something that...Etho had made before his passing."

"Something that Etho made? Really? It's been nearly three months since he passed away and since his funeral. You think now is that time to give me something of his?" Cleo asked.

"Well, the thing is...remember how vague his will was?" Skizz asked.

Cleo rolled their eyes. How could they not? Etho's wording was so vague that many people dismissed it and wrote him off as a madman.

Even if Cleo didn't agree to those claims, they still found it rather strange that Etho would word his will that way. Even if they didn't get along very well as a married couple, Etho was never vague on his words for better or for worse.

"Well we have decided to decipher what his will could mean especially since the news of the robots malfunctioning and the appearance of the RockBot if you have heard of it," Skizz continued.

Right, the RockBot. When she first saw that on the news, she made sure that whenever they walked home from school, that Scar and Bdubs should never separate from each other and to run as fast as they could if they're ever in danger.

"What does this have to do with Etho's will?" Cleo asked.

Tango gave Impulse a nod and he placed the briefcase on the table.

He flicked the switches and opened it up. Impulse turned it around to reveal something odd:

A small cassette looking object that was the color indigo and had a picture of a praying mantis and a green belt like object with a large green buckle.

"What's this?" Cleo asked.

"It's what we call a Driver Belt and that's the Key to activate it. Whoever is bonded to it, transforms into this soldier called Kamen Rider. This is what Etho left behind for the situation like the RockBot," Tango explained.

"Wait so you knew that something like this would happen?" Cleo asked.

"Yes and no. Etho had stumbled upon some top secret documents that foreshadowed the malfunction of the robots and the creation of what we now call NatureBots like the RockBot. He kept this from us until the day before he died where he has been working on this. He told us to decipher his notes and to find the person whom he deemed as worthy to become the Kamen Rider. The Proto-Rider, he called it," Tango explained.

"What does this have to do with me?" Cleo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Cleo, your name was repeated over and over in his notes. I think...," Impulse trailed off, waiting for Cleo to connect the pieces.

"...oh no! No no no no! I refuse! I can't do it, I won't do it," Cleo made an X with her arms.

"Cleo, Etho has deemed you worthy of becoming the Proto-Rider for this event. It means that he trusts you enough for this responsibility," Skizz pointed out.

"I already have too much responsibility on my plate. I have to work to provide for my kids, raise Scar and Bdubs and pay the bills. Do you know how many jobs that I had to take after Etho died? I can't do it! I'm sorry but I can't," Cleo stated.

"Cleo, our whole city will be in danger if we sit and do nothing! You saw how it took the whole police force plus the military to lock up the RockBot. It's not even destroyed!" Impulse shouted.

"And you think this Kamen Rider can help? More importantly, you think I can take down the RockBot!" Cleo slammed their hands on the table.

"ENOUGH!" Tango shouted which made everyone quiet.

"It's clear that we no longer have business here. Let's leave," he stood up.

"Just a moment, Tango," Impulse started but Tango's glare shut him up.

He closed the briefcase and the three of them stood up to leave.

Tango opened the door to let Impulse and Skizz through and before he left, he turned to Cleo.

"I think you'll find the news interesting today," he said as he placed his sunglasses on.

"Huh?" Cleo looked confused but Tango just waved goodbye and shut the door.

Then Cleo heard the loud clash of someone tossing some trash cans around.

She peeked through the blinds to see Tango tossing the trash cans while Impulse and Skizz try to calm him down.

To the left, they could see the heads of a brown haired man wearing a blue cardigan and a brown haired girl wearing a blue coat.

The Nosey Neighbors, Scar dubbed them, BigB and Pearl Moon. No one really knows what BigB's real name is, not even Pearl and she's his roommate. Or maybe she does know and just refuses to tell. How bizarre.

Speaking of Scar, Cleo looked for the clock to see what time it was. She should be ready to pick her kids up.

Only...she faltered. Something about what Tango had said.

The news...what could be interesting about the news? She thought and turned on the cable tv.

She switched to the news channel which is one out of two channels that they could see without any interference.

The same reporter with ginger hair and blue overalls showed up and she looked like she was in a panic.

"Unbelievable! The RockBot, which was said to be locked up in a vault in Life Industries, is going through a rampage between Emperor and Empress Street! All the schools in that area has been on lock down and the police is trying their best to qualm the Bot but to no avail!" The reporter cried.

"Emperor and Empress Street? That's where Scar and Bdubs' school is!" Cleo cried.

She raced out of the house and hopped on her rusty blue bike. She peddled as hard and as fast as she could.

Meanwhile, in the same flying car, Skizz looked over at a now calm Tango.

"What do we do now?" He asked.

"We head to where the RockBot is," was all that Tango said.

This isn't going to go well, Skizz thought as he disagreed with Tango's methods on trying to do good out of a bad situation.

(Later)

Cleo arrived at the scene and saw how many people were being held back by the police.

"Let us get our kids!" Someone screamed.

"Madam, we're trying our best here," a police officer said.

"At least save the kids!" Another person shouted.

"We're trying but that thing isn't letting us," another police officer explained.

"Where's the military?" Another person asked but the answer fell on deaf ears.

Cleo and some of the other people (mostly parents) began to push through the crowd as the police held them back.

After a short while of doing this, someone's elbow went and hit Cleo on the side and she stumbled backwards.

Someone caught her and dragged her away from the crowd.

As they were struggling to say thank you or to be mad at them for dragging them away from the crowd, Cleo looked to see who dragged them away.

"Skizz? What are you doing here? I just saw you not too long ago," Cleo stated.

"Well...Tango's orders," Skizz admitted and he did not look too happy.

"Tango's orders...? Wait-," before Cleo could finish, both Tango and Impulse showed up, Impulse still holding onto the briefcase.

"You see what I meant by Arcana City being in danger?" Impulse asked.

Cleo looked at the briefcase that he was holding. It was the same one.

"Cleo, you're seeing what's going on. Nothing is working for the police and the RockBot is going to cause more problems. We need your help, he deemed you worthy to be the Proto-Rider. If it's not for the city, then do it for your kids," Tango explained.

Cleo glanced at the school where the RockBot was just one turn away from noticing. She wonders what Scar and Bdubs are doing to hide in the school.

Are their teachers keeping them safe? Are they hiding in a quiet classroom? If the RockBot does notice the school, will they evacuate? Is that even the best option to go with?

So many questions in her head and that worried her.

"...give me the Driver," Cleo said and Tango smirked at this. He nodded at Impulse who walked up to her.

"Make sure that no one else sees you. Here," he opened the briefcase and Cleo took the Driver and the Key.

"Place it on your waist like a belt. Hold the Key up and say 'Henshin.' Then place the Key in the middle," Impulse instructed.

Cleo nodded and placed the Driver on her waist. It made a click noise and she held up the Key.

"Henshin!"

She placed the Key in the middle and got surrounded by a beam of indigo light.

In that light, Cleo could see the outline of a person. The person appeared to be sitting on a couch of sorts.

Eventually, Cleo saw the person better and it was a woman with grass green hair in a bun while wearing an Indigo Chinese dress that was decorated with images of small praying mantises.

"Ah, so you finally got the Driver. I see, Etho told me it was only a matter of time," the woman said.

"Who are you?" Cleo asked, confused.

"You may call me Xiu Ai and I'm the first you're going to see. Now we don't have much time to explain as time has momentarily slowed down for you but will pick up again after 5 real world seconds. You're going to gather knowledge on how to fight from me and you will do it very elegantly," the woman explained.

"I guess that should be useful," Cleo murmured.

"As it should. Now let us begin with the basics. Art of the Mantis," Xiu stated and snapped her fingers.

"Huh-?" Cleo didn't get time to ask before a projector appeared and flashed its light onto her.

"You will be given basic instructions on how to fight like a movie. Once you have disposed of the RockBot, you will return to me to hone your skills before moving onto the next step. Good luck, you'll need it," Xiu stated and that was the last thing Cleo saw before she reappeared in the real world.

(Meanwhile)

In a classroom full of fourth graders, the teacher, a short purple haired woman by the name of Ms.Grape, was trying to calm the students down.

"D-don't worry, help is on the way. We'll be fine, don't worry," she said but some of the kids kept on crying.

A small boy wearing a dark green hoodie and had brown hair was hiding in a cubby as he stared at his class.

I hope Scar is ok, Bdubs thought.

In another class room full of sixth graders, a tall boy with scars on his face and had light brown hair was huddling by three other boys.

"It's still not safe out," a boy with blond hair, a black leather jacket and wore sunglasses on his face, said.

"We'll be fine as long as they don't find us," another boy with brown hair, a matching leather jacket over a red sweater and had his sunglasses on his head, assured them.

"Hopefully," the last boy who had brown hair and a green streak in it and wore a matching leather jacket, sighed.

Scar couldn't help but agree.

Outside the school, the RockBot continued to toss rocks at the police officers and one of them tried shooting it with a weak bullet.

It didn't do anything but it made the RockBot look around it's surroundings and finally noticed the school.

An idea formed in its head. Maybe if they take the school hostage or cause destruction there, maybe they'll understand that there's no way that these puny humans could take it down.

As the RockBot began to form a massive stone from its hand, something or someone jumped in the air and kicked it in the back of its head which made it stumble and the stone went rolling to a tree instead of the school.

The RockBot looked around to see who kicked it and then the RockBot saw who it was.

A tall feminine figure wearing green and indigo armor and had a helmet that was insect features. Almost like a praying mantis.

The RockBot tilted it's head in confusion like the RockBot wanted to ask who is that person but sadly didn't fuse with enough material to speak.

The police however, did ask.

"Who are you?" One of them asked.

"I'm the Rider who's going to take you down!" Cleo stated and jabbed her pointer finger in the direction of the RockBot.

The RockBot just stared at her before forming up more rocks and tossing them at her.

Cleo jumped out of the way in a roll movement before using her left hand to push herself into the air before twisting her body to once again kick the RockBot.

This took the bot by surprise and Cleo began to punch on the parts that weren't covered in rocks. She did a left hook and knocked the RockBot away.

The RockBot then extended its rocky arm to knock Cleo down. Cleo went flying and winced to herself.

I can see why these are the basics, she thought.

Cleo got up as the RockBot jumped in the air with its fists aiming towards her. Cleo moved swiftly out of the way of most of the RockBot's attacks before delivering some punches of her own.

She then kicked the sides of the RockBot before delivering another left hook on the RockBot which made it stumble back.

The RockBot then slammed its arms on the ground, creating what felt like an earthquake. Cleo heard the cries of the people around her.

If this keeps up, it's not going to look pretty, she thought.

"Use the Mantis Claw," a voice coming from her helmet yawned.

"Huh, Xiu? How am I hearing you?" Cleo asked.

"Through your Rider suit, obviously! Now call onto the Mantis Claws. It's a weapon that comes with this suit, I think it'll do well for this fight," Xiu explained.

"Huh...alright? Mantis Claws!" Cleo shouted and pressed the button on her belt. Her hands then gained two scythe like claws.

Cleo didn't get time to look at them further as the RockBot then raised its leg and slammed against her side.

Cleo however, slashed one of the claws at the RockBot which made it stumble and she saw electricity coming out of it.

"I guess these weapons are strong," Cleo murmured before raising the claws again. She slashed at the RockBot who continued to stumble as it couldn't fend off against the attacks.

The rocks on it began to crumble and as the RockBot raised one arm to slam against it to the ground, Cleo felt her thumbs press a button on the claws and felt an energy pulse through it.

Words began to form up as Cleo raised the claws again. "Time for the final attack!" The claws flowed green and she slashed both of them in the same direction and a green energy slash appeared out of them.

It slashed the RockBot who exploded after coming into contact with it.

Cleo turned away from the explosion so it happened behind her. Everyone was in awe or confused on what just happened.

(Later)

It was safe for the kids to come out and they all rushed to their parents and guardians.

"Mom! Mom!" Bdubs and Scar ran out and looked for Cleo who welcomed them with open arms.

"I'm so glad that you're ok," she said and hugged them tightly.

While this was happening, Tango was on a phone call with Toshino.

"Are you sure that you can make more Keys for the Proto-Rider?" Tango asked.

"Yep. Now that we have the Mantis Key, the other ones will be a piece of cake," Toshino replied, his head all bandaged up.

"I see. Well that's one problem down," Tango sighed.

"And another comes into question. Are you going to ask her about the job proposal?" Toshino asked.

"Maybe not now and besides, I don't think she would willingly join us. Seemingly the only reason that she even became the Proto-Rider was because of her kids being in danger. You think she'll do that for the rest of Arcana City?" Tango asked.

"Don't ask me, I don't really know her. Look what I can guarantee you is that I'll get the other Keys made. You have to do what your job tells you to do," Toshino pointed out.

"...if only it were that easy," Tango admitted.

Chapter Text

(3rd Person PoV)

Cleo was staring at the envelope in her hands. The bright red words of Final Notice seemingly glared at her as she held it.

She let out a sad sigh as her arms fell to her sides. It doesn’t feel real. Why did this have to happen?

She remembers begging for extra time every time the rent collector would come and only the first three times did that happen.

The other times she had to work extra hard and sell a couple of things in order to meet the deadline. This time though…

They brushed their hair back with their free hand, raising it from her sides and with the other hand, gripped onto the envelope tightly.

What am I going to say to Scar and Bdubs? They thought.

They then looked at the calendar where they had scratched out certain days like on the days that they’re working.

Maybe if I can get a shift today, I’ll be able to get some extra income. Payday isn’t until next week so maybe if I gather all the tips I can get, I’m able to making it in time, Cleo thought.

As she was thinking this, Scar had just turned the corner from the living room and into the kitchen where Cleo was in.

He grabbed an apple and tossed it into the air. Once he caught it, he was about to take a bite into it when he spotted his mom talking on the phone.

“Is it alright if I take the night shift today? Yeah I’m not terribly busy today. Yeah I can close. Thank you,” Cleo said and as soon as she hung up, Scar ducked away to the corner where he was.

Is the rent due? He thought as he remembered his mom doing something similar every time the rent was due.

Scar clutched onto the apple he was holding with his left hand, almost squeezing it. His right was laying on his side, not even moving.

“…” Scar went upstairs with his mind clouded with worrying thoughts. He passed Bdubs’ room, which he could tell he was watching Bob Ross, and went straight to his room.

He sat on his bed and pulled out his phone.

<>

Grain

Me:

Hey my mom is going to be taking the night shift can u come over so I’m not lonely with Bdubs

Grain:

Sure lemme ask my parents 

Me:

Tell them that my mom says it’s ok

Grain:

K

Yeah I can come over @ what time?

Me:

Like 6 or 6:30

Pick your choice

Grain:

👍

<>

Scar then decided to watch YouTube to keep his mind off of what he saw and suspected.

Opening music: https://youtu.be/V6Q-klKBkXw?si=fmR3zl69Fuzpdeo8

<>

“CLEO!! THESE PEOPLE NEED THEIR ORDER!”

Again, their boss was yelling at them so nothing new. Not like it was Cleo’s fault, they had to take this order to the people in the booth while their boss was yelling at them to get the order from the back table.

She scribbled down the remaining order, did the usual “is that everything,” and the people nodded quickly and looked in fear at the boss, and Cleo flipped the page in the notepad over and raced towards the back table.

In the corner of her eye, Cleo could see the boss fuming with anger, his nearly bald face starting to turn red. At this point, Cleo isn’t sure why the diner is still in business. 

“What can I get for you?” They turned their attention to the people with a fake smile on her face.

“I’ll have the chocolate chip pancakes and a Shirley Temple and a cherry pie,” the red haired young man said.

“For moi, I would like the chicken strips with the French Fries and an Oreo milkshake,” the silver haired young man said.

“Is that everything?” Cleo asked and they both nodded and Cleo scribbled the last of it down. As they were walking away, Cleo swore that they saw the red haired young man glare at the boss.

She handed both orders to the cooks and went to the back to take out the trash again. She could see it overflowing.

As soon as she touched it however, a co-worker shouted at her, “that’s my job!”

“Chill out, Ava. No need to be so hostile,” another coworker told her.

“Umm no, we have specific jobs that we’re supposed to do or else it’s chaos,” Ava told him.

“That literally doesn’t matter,” the other coworker rolled his eyes and Cleo added, “yeah, Kayden is right. If I don’t take the trash out now, it’ll fall over and stink this place up.”

“Yeah well, who’s going to take the orders?” Ava asked.

“Amara can do that just fine for the five seconds that I’m gone,” Cleo said and took the trash quickly. Ava huffed at this and looked around, most likely for the boss. Cleo didn’t stay long enough if she found him though as she sped walked out.

She tossed the trash and as soon as she walked towards the door, she spotted another worker, Margaret, scoffing at her and slammed the door.

“Hey, what the heck?” Cleo asked and banged her fist on the door. 

It didn’t budge no matter how much they would bang their fist on the door. Did no one hear them?

(Meanwhile)

The boss was listening intently to what Ava and Margaret were saying.

“And Cleo stole from the tip jar. I saw her with my very own eyes and Margaret can testify,” Ava said.

“Also, I asked them to give me a hand with getting a bottle of hot sauce down and they just rolled their eyes and said to get it myself,” Margaret added.

“I knew Cleo was up to no good. That story about her kids was just a sob story so that she can trick us,” the boss grumbled.

“So you’re really going to fire them?” Ava asked.

The boss stroked his beard as he thought about it. Cleo was dead weight in this diner and he frankly didn’t like her from the moment he interviewed her.

After all, the only reason I even hired her was because the last worker had quit, he thought but now that there’s a spot open for hire, he can afford to fire her.

“Get Cleo here immediately,” the boss said.

Margaret nodded and she was about to head out when two people stopped her.

“Excuse us but we couldn’t help but notice how you’re spreading lies to fire an innocent worker,” Skizz spoke up.

“L-lies? You’re mistaken, what we said is 100 percent true,” Margaret told him.

“Yes, so very true!” Ava nodded rapidly.

I wouldn’t give a crap if they’re lying or not, I just need an excuse to fire Cleo, the boss thought.

“Really? Then I guess you wouldn’t mind me pulling the security cameras up and seeing if Cleo really has done those things? And while we’re at it, let’s see if any of you have done less than appealing things like stealing or doing some under the table business,” Toshino grinned and held up a disc with two fingers.

“H-huh?! Where did you get that?” The boss asked.

Skizz gave Toshino the side eye as Toshino just slowly laughed. “You step down as the boss of this diner and give it to someone who’s more capable and I won’t leak this. If I leak this then your diner is finished which would be a shame considering that the food is great here, not at all what I was expecting from the dinky side of the city,” he explained.

“You dare to blackmail me?!” The boss shouted with both Ava and Margaret giving each other worried looks.

“Oh please, I’ve blackmailed more powerful people than you, more corrupt than you. Just give in and nothing of value will be lost, you can even retire and play golf or whatever, I don’t care,” Toshino shrugged.

I don’t agree with Toshino’s methods but his hacking skills are no joke and he knows how to push people’s buttons well. But I still wonder whether or not this will be the right way, Skizz thought.

“And if I refuse?” The boss asked, fuming with anger.

“Hehe,” Toshino pushed up his glasses, looking down at the floor before lifting his head while brushing his hair back, “you lose all of your money.”

“A-all of it?” The boss asked, his eyes widening.

“Did I f*cking stutter? With bad publicity, willing to turn a blind eye to stealing in your own diner, and some under the table dealings with some shady people, who knows if this diner will get shut down. Besides, you're easy pickings so you can’t bribe your way through, not with all the debt you’re in,” Toshino explained.

“Debt?” Ava and Margaret asked, confused.

“How do you know about that?” The boss asked.

“I have my ways. Now will you comply with not firing an innocent worker?” Toshino asked.

“…,” the boss thought about it. Here, this salad haired man was threatening him with blackmail on information that he has made sure to keep hidden. Especially those under the table dealings. How was he able to get it?

On the other hand, if it was true, there’s no way he’s risking that information being leaked. Maybe if he hired some people to do something about it.

“Wait, you’re thinking of firing me?”

Hold on! How was she here? The boss turned to look at Margaret who was just as confused as he was and then he looked back at Cleo who was glaring at him.

“We found her banging on the back door and no one seemed to be helping her. Some are busy but I feel like everyone else should have been paying attention,” the red haired young man explained.

“Thank you. You have done your job, you may leave now,” Skizz gave a bow to the two men and they left.

“Wh-what job?” The boss stuttered.

“Oh they were sent to keep an eye on her, for safety concerns,” Skizz explained.

“Huh? Why?” Cleo asked but Skizz shook his head at her.

‘Not here. Later,’ he mouthed and they crossed their arms.

“W-well…YOU’RE FIRED!” The boss shouted and Cleo shouted back, “I WAS GOING TO QUIT ANYWAYS!”

The boss stumbled back at this outburst and Cleo stormed out.

Skizz followed her and Toshino looked at the boss. “Welp, your loss,” he said, nonchalantly.

“W-wait…I’ll step down! I swear! Just don’t release that footage!” The boss begged.

“Sir, what did you do?” Ava asked but he didn’t answer.

Toshino then left. He no longer had business here.

He joined the other two outside, took his glasses off and wiped them on the side of his jacket.

“Hate guys like him. Remind me of my father,” he gagged at the wording. He placed his glasses back on and asked, “so Mrs. Clocker, what are you going to do now?”

“I…,” Cleo held onto her hands tightly and stared at the cracked ground, “I wasn’t thinking at that moment. I need the money, rent is almost due and I don’t have enough to cover it.”

They then turned to Skizz and asked, “also what was that all about?”

“Tango’s orders. Admittedly there’s one thing that we haven’t mentioned to you when you took the Driver. It has something to do with Life Industries,” Skizz explained, nervously.

“Go on,” Cleo raised an eyebrow.

“Those two men were there to check out your job to see if it’s really a good fit there for you. Clearly not especially with a boss like that. Food is good though,” Skizz explained.

“You’re tiptoeing around the answer, Skizzleman,” Toshino stated.

“Well ok! I don’t want to upset her!” Skizz shouted.

“Skizz, just cut to the chase,” Cleo said.

“Right! I got this! I can do this! So…taking that Driver also comes with the unofficial…oh god, Tango, why me? Ahem, sorry for not telling you sooner but it’s an unofficial application to work at Life Industries,” Skizz explained.

Cleo’s jaw dropped at this revelation. She looked at Toshino before looking back at Skizz.

“…are you kidding me?!”

“I know I know. Sounds bad to you but trust me, I really wanted to tell you when we gave you that Driver but Tango told me to wait. Listen, the Driver does belong to Life Industries and Tango says that it’s best to have you around so whenever there’s trouble with the suit or you need a new power up, it’ll be easy for you to access it. Toshino here, sorry for not introducing you to him earlier, he was Etho’s apprentice when he was calibrating the Driver and he knows how to make Keys, well now that it’s activated. Perks of being head scientist,” Skizz explained.

“Damn it, Tango. I knew he was up to more than at face value,” Cleo hissed.

“Now I know you’re m-mad but don’t worry, you can have an easy job there like custodian or tour guide or something, I don’t know!” Skizz said.

You’re not selling the idea to her, Toshino thought as Cleo looked like she was ready to strangle Skizz right there and then. What was one thing that she said? Rent is almost due for her? Hmmmm…

“Pays good,” Toshino said and she perked up.

“$20 dollars an hour for simple jobs like custodian,” he continued and Cleo was shaking with excitement as she thought about it.

“The more you move up the ranks, the more money you’ll make,” Toshino finished and Cleo declared, “I’ll do it!”

“Wow, you did a much better job than I did,” Skizz noted.

“You get to the root of the problem, money,” Toshino said and then he felt his phone buzz. He took it out, read the message and said, “sh*t.”

“What’s wrong?” Skizz asked.

“Emergency back at the lab. Another robot has gone berserk,” Toshino explained and pocketed his phone.

“Well what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Skizz shouted but then Cleo grabbed his shoulder.

“Don’t make me regret my decision,” they said and Skizz nodded.

“Not to worry,” Skizz assured them but the glare that Cleo was giving him was making him nervous. 

Ending music: https://youtu.be/a7gNYLeMetY?si=1HJxVbn3BRJvsag2

Chapter Text

(3rd Person PoV)

A young couple was hanging out in the park near LoversAvenue that had roses and violets alongside mahogany benches that had golden swirl carvings on them. The girl was hanging onto her boyfriend’s arm, laughing at a joke he said. “That was so funny! I love how you make me laugh,” she said. “And I love you, honey,” the boy said in a flirtatious tone.

As they were walking, a tiny grey orb robot was attending one of the gardens and it waved. The couple waved but then another tiny, blue orb stumbled onto the grey orb with its little legs. “WATCH IT!” A stubby hand came from the grey orb and it waved it as the blue orb began to malfunction. “MUST TRANSFORM…MUST DESTROY,” the blue robot glitched and fell onto the roses. It twitched as it rolled back and forth in the roses.

“THE ROSES,” the grey robot said sadly but the blue robot flashed purple and began to absorb the roses. Then vines appeared and began to trash the place and the girl screamed. From the vines came out a humanoid robot with a dark green body made of vines with the joints being roses. It then slammed a fist on the ground, conjuring up giant roses which trapped the young couple separate from each other. The grey robot hid but was recording the whole thing.

Opening Music: https://youtu.be/V6Q-klKBkXw?si=9-N7BzW-DCfwnTfq 

<>

“And that’s what we’re dealing with,” Tango said, pausing the video. He and the rest of them were watching the recording. “Hmm, how did it become berserk like that?” Cleo asked and everyone shrugged. “We collected the data from the malfunction robots, as much as we could without our limbs getting ripped off, but the memory files show nothing. It’s just them walking around or doing their jobs and then, nothing,” Skizz explained.

“Even I couldn’t get into the file. I had someone else try as well and nothing. If we can't get into it, then no one can,” Toshino added, looking up from cleaning his glasses. “We named this the Rosebot and we need you to dispose of it. After you’re done with that, we’ll send a team to collect what’s left and try to figure it out from there,” Tango said. “Well I can’t let this bot go rampant so I’ll do it,” Cleo nodded.

“Good and finish it up quickly because it’s getting late,” Tango said and before Cleo could leave, she then turned around quickly. “And next time, make sure you show me the fine print on taking the Driver!” She snapped before taking the briefcase from Skizz and then left. “…you told her, didn't you?” Tango asked. “It would be unfair not to,” Skizz defended himself. “Well she agreed to do it but I have a feeling she’ll make your life a nightmare,” Toshino said before placing his now clean glasses on. 

Cleo walked past Impulse’s desk but then stopped as he motioned her over. “Once you transform, double tap the belt and something will appear from it. It’s a vehicle of some kind so you can arrive there on time,” he explained. “Ok,” Cleo nodded before leaving.

She went outside and hid in a corner where it was empty. Cleo opened the suitcase up and placed the Driver around her waist. She then held the Key up.

“Henshin!”

She placed the Key in the middle and a voice came out of the Driver. 

“Newly formed Wishes shine again!”

A beam of indigo light came down, surrounding Cleo. Parts of green snaked up her and formed the base of the suit as Cleo had her arms outstretched to her side, her wrists making her hands point at a 90 degree angle. And then the indigo light dissipated into the missing parts of the suits, making the suit more mantis-like just like how the Key set it up to be.

Once there was no light, all that stood was Cleo in her Kamen Rider suit. Slowly, she took a step forward and took a deep breath. This was it, she thought, knowing she’ll get used to transforming like this. They then double tapped their belt and a green light appeared from it.

It formed up to be a green and indigo motorcycle. Huh…how nostalgic, she thought but she shook her head quickly. Now wasn’t the time to daydream about the past, they have a mission to do. They got on the motorcycle and revved it up. Cleo took off.

Meanwhile, the RoseBot was causing chaos with ensnaring people up with its vines and making thorny vine cages to capture them. Many people were screaming and running away in hopes of not getting captured by the vines.

A little boy was crying as the chaos around him was going on. “Mama, where are you?” He sobbed. The RoseBot spotted him and raised a fist to slam into the ground before a revved noise from behind it could be heard and a massive pain could be felt by the RoseBot on its back.

Cleo flew over it with her motorcycle and whirled around in it. She got off it and ran towards the little boy. “Are you alright?” She asked, concerned and he nodded. “Get to safety then, I promise that I’ll help you find your mom,” Cleo told him and pointed to a safe spot. “Ok miss,” the little boy sniffled and ran towards it.

Cleo then turned her attention to the RoseBot and shook a fist at the bot. “You’ll pay for making that kid cry,” they told it and the RoseBot tilted its head slightly as if it was trying to understand what they were trying to say. Clearly it then understood the gist of it and roared, slamming its fists onto the ground which caused multiple vines to come out.

Cleo did a front flip to avoid the vines and dashed towards the RoseBot. Anytime there were vines forming up from the ground beneath her, she would leap into the air before twisting her body around to avoid being captured.

“Mantis Claws!” She called out and her weapon appeared in her hands. She sliced the vines to make a clear path and dashed forward again, this time with her hands outstretched and jabbed them into the RoseBot’s chest, causing it to stumble back before Cleo raised her leg to kick it backwards.

“Y-YOU….,” the RoseBot tried saying, which took Cleo by surprise. Can it speak? She thought, confused. They made a mental note to tell Tango this later, they’re sure that he’d find it interesting.

The RoseBot had no time for chit chat though as it slammed its fists onto the ground and giant roses appeared again but they weren’t cages like when the bot captured the young couple. As roses came into contact with Cleo, they suddenly exploded and Cleo was shot back by the explosion.

“What was that?!” They cried out. “EX…explos-sion…s,” the RoseBot explained as it was obvious. “I didn’t need an answer for that question,” Cleo hissed and got into a fighting position, her arms curled up like a praying mantis and her fingers pointing down.

The RoseBot then ran up to her, flailing its arms around before summoning up a vine whip. It flailed the whip and aimed at Cleo who folded herself into a ball as she rolled out of the way but near the RoseBot. She bends her wrists to start jabbing the RoseBot before raising her leg to kick the RoseBot again.

“ACK!” The RoseBot stumbled backwards again and Cleo stood up straight. “Time to finish this!” She declared but then a beam of light shot down from the sky and an explosion appeared from underneath her feet, causing Cleo to go flying into the air.

“What?” She asked as she hit the ground but then a cloaked figure suddenly appeared. “Oh my, looks like they roughed you up a bit,” the figure said to the RoseBot. “WHO?” The RoseBot asked and the figure giggled. “I’ll tell you later. As for you, this is your first and only warning. Stay out of my way and maybe I’ll lessen the damage I’ll do to Arcana City,” the figure explained. “I’m afraid I won’t do that. I don’t know what you mean that you’ll do damage to this city but damage is damage no matter how much you lessen it,” Cleo told them.

“Tch! You’re going to be a pain in the neck then. Come along, Rosey, you no longer have business here for today,” the figure said and flicked their wrist towards the RoseBot and the same beam of light came up and the RoseBot was shot into the air before fizzling and disappearing. The figure shot one last look at Cleo before a second beam of light came through and the figure fizzled and disappeared.

“Huh?” Cleo asked before a new voice shrieked out. “Peter!” A woman with brown hair raced over to the little boy that Cleo had saved earlier. “Mama! That nice superhero saved my life!” The boy exclaimed, happily as the woman scooped her son into her arms. “Thank you! I wouldn’t live with myself if I lost him,” the woman bowed her head. “No problem,” Cleo said and was now suddenly self conscious of people coming out of the thorn cages and giant roses and looking at them.

Cleo slowly made her way to the motorcycle, revving it and raced off. “Who was that?” The woman asked.

Ending music: https://youtu.be/a7gNYLeMetY?si=f_uWIllqovFHRjft 

Chapter Text

(3rd Person PoV)

“Ok class, today we will be learning about the history of Arcana City,” the teacher said and pulled down a screen to project the slideshow that she was going to show. “Boooring!” Someone called out and the kids around them giggled.

“Now now, learning about our history is important. After all, those who fail History are doomed to repeat it,” the teacher explained.

“My mum told me that History doesn’t repeat itself, it rhymes,” Scar could hear Jimmy whisper to Joel who nodded. “We will begin with the founder, Allie Himawari,” the teacher started and some people took out their notebooks to write in their notes.

The teacher began to explain who Allie was (granddaughter of a street musician and idol) when Scar heard some people whispering behind him.

“Did you see that Masked lady on the news? She took down the RoseBot and Life Industries applauded her for that,” someone whispered. “Yeah and she rode away on a Motorcycle! How awesome is that?” Someone whispered back.

Scar was curious about the vigilante on the news that Grian showed him last night before his mom came into the house. People were calling her the Masked Lady although the more popular name was Masked Rider or Kamen Rider.

I wonder who she is? He thought and looked out the window.

(Opening music: https://youtu.be/V6Q-klKBkXw?si=RSMq-R3vb1i4jRvx )

<>

“Achoo!”

“Bless you,” Skizz told Cleo as she wiped her nose. “Thanks, must be the dust that’s gathering around,” they said and Skizz nodded.

“Sorry to make you do all of this,” Skizz apologized as Cleo was dusting some shelves. “Eh, it’s whatever. I mean, new job and everything,” she said, gesturing to the bright yellow cart in the corner of the room that carried buckets, a mop and a broom.

“Still, I feel bad for you. You risk your life to fight the Bots and yet here you are, at this mundane job?” Skizz sighed. “Eh, it’ll make do since this job pays well,” Cleo assured him.

It didn’t make him feel any better though. 

Cleo stacked up some boxes into a shelf before bending down to pick up a fallen piece of paper. “…hey Skizz?” She asked and he looked up from neatly placing some textbooks in alphabetical order. “What’s up?” He asked.

“Two things. One, you guys mostly use digital products and yet you continue to use paper like textbooks and paper files. Why?” Cleo asked.

“Life Industries was built with the forethought that we can have technology help us but it can’t do everything for us which is why we don’t have humanoid robots. But some people tend to forget that which is why a lot of those files have been here for a while and would be rotting if we didn’t have a custodian to tend to them,” Skizz explained and Cleo turned around.

“Ok…and two, why is there a treasure map here?” They asked, holding the paper up.

“Oh that’s ea-WAIT WHAT?!” Skizz cried out in shock.

(Later)

“…a treasure map?” Tango asked, resting his chin on his fist. He was sitting at his desk with Impulse next to him and both Cleo and Skizz standing in front of the desk. 

“Yeah, we found it or rather Cleo did. This map is of Arcana City or at least before it was Arcana City,” Skizz explained. “But why does the storage room have this treasure map?” Impulse asked and Tango shrugged.

“Dunno, probably some old employee left it there,” he said. “Mmm, doubt it. It’s faded but in the corner, it has the signature of Arcana City’s founder, Allie Himawari,” Cleo said and pointed to where she was talking about.

This perked Tango’s interest as he said, “Himawari? Well this makes sense considering the rumor.” Cleo tilted her head. “What rumor?” They asked.

“They say that Allie’s grandfather left behind some kind of memento for someone to find. A memento of power. No one knows what it was except his granddaughter but she kept it a close secret. Hoping that one day, someone worthy will come along and use the power similarly to her grandfather,” Tango explained.

“Huh, well in that case, we should probably not tell anyone about this or it will fall into the wrong hands,” Skizz said and everyone nodded. “I’ll have some people scout out the area though just in case. I’ll make up some excuse or whatever,” Tango sighed, waving his hand around.

“You can be a prick sometimes, you know that?” Cleo deadpanned, making Skizz and Impulse panic but Tango didn’t seem to care. “Oh by the way, how’s your training going?” Tango asked with a sly grin, making Cleo want to punch his teeth in.

“It’s…going,” Cleo replied, gritting her teeth.

(Flashback)

“Not elegant enough!” Xiu shouted and smacked Cleo’s elbow with a ruler. “Ow! Did you really have to hit me every time I get it wrong?” They snapped.

“Every time you get it wrong, there’s a chance that an enemy will take advantage of it! You must be prepared for anything. I am your teacher of the art of the Mantis and you must get it right,” Xiu explained.

“If I were to get it right, what would it look like?” Cleo challenged and Xiu merely smirked. She folded three fingers down, got into a fighting position before smacking Cleo multiple times with the tips of her palms before jumping in the air and slammed one of her legs into Cleo which they thankfully blocked with their arm.

 “Umm, ow!” Cleo complained before Xiu backflips away. “One of the greatest strengths of the Mantis style is speed which you need to work on. You can make a perfect plank but you’re bad with your speed. You need to work on it,” she explained, dusting her dress.

“Alright then, then show me,” Cleo placed her hand on her hips. “Here, you’ll need these,” Xiu tossed them a roll of something. Cleo looked at it and examined the yellow paper. 

“What’s this?” They asked with Xiu responding with, “Sticky Fly Traps.” Cleo nearly dropped the roll in surprise. “Excuse me?” She asked and Xiu plopped down on her couch.

“You heard me. Sticky Fly Traps. You wrap them around your fingers and you will try to catch flies with them. As everyone knows, catching flies with your bare hands is hard which is why people resort to using fly traps or fly swatters. You will train up your speed to try and catch all the flies using what you have learned,” she explained, tapping two fingers on the right side of her head.

“Ah, makes sense but uhhh,” Cleo looked around, “where are you going to get the flies from?” She asked and Xiu merely smirked. “I have my ways,” she said, mysteriously making Cleo sweat drop at this.

(Flashback over)

“And I have been hit with a ruler every time I fail speed training. It doesn’t leave bruises but it still hurts,” Cleo ranted to Skizz as they walked back to the storage room to continue sorting files.

“Yeah, Etho never told us much about the animal’s human personalities. You may get stuck with a couple of teachers like her,” Skizz admitted. Cleo sighed before wondering about what he just said.

“Wait, just how many animals were there like Xiu?” She asked. “Hmm? Oh let me think,” Skizz hummed as he thought about the notes, records and research papers left behind by Etho.

“100.”

“Hmmm?” Cleo slowly turned their head at him, their eyes widening, “repeat that again?” They asked, looking like they wanted to burn something down. 

“100 animals but don’t worry, we actually have an idea on how much you’re going to take. You’re not really going to be trained by 100 animals,” Skizz explained. “…wait, just how is that possible in the first place?” Cleo asked.

“The Keys, technically. I’m no expert but it relies on science, fantasy and souls. Something like that and the Driver brings out the power. You can ask Toshino about it if you’re curious,” Skizz explained. “…souls huh? Damn it Etho, just what were you doing back then?” Cleo asked, exasperated.

(Meanwhile)

In a dark lair that smelled like cake, a cloaked figure was typing away at a computer. The RoseBot was sitting on a crate nearby and was fiddling with a spoon.

“When will I get back into action?” He asked, his speech getting better and better. “Soon but for now, you’ll be getting new companions. Can’t afford to lose you this early especially after I saved you,” the cloaked figure explained and the RoseBot crossed his arms.

“And how will I get new companions? Bots like me are formed when a Life Industry Bot malfunction,” he said. The cloaked figure stopped typing for a moment to look at him and glare. “I have my ways. Now sit tight as you’ll be getting one soon,” she explained. The RoseBot sighed, “better be good.” The cloaked figures laughed at this.

“Oh it will,” she said before looking back at her computer screen and seeing a message pop up in the corner. The corners of her mouth twitched into a smile.

(Later)

“I’m home!” Cleo called out as she entered her house. The two boys were in the kitchen together and were watching something on Scar’s phone. 

“Hi Mom,” Scar waved before looking back at the cracked phone screen. “Mom, I have something to show you,” Bdubs said and grabbed his backpack. He took out a wrinkled piece of paper and handed it to Cleo.

They sighed, “Bdubs, how many times do I have to tell you not to stick pieces of paper in your backpack or else they’re going to get messed up like this?” “Sorry but I was in a rush,” Bdubs explained and Cleo took a look at the paper.

“Oh, a field trip to the aquarium! How fun, I remember that Scar went on this field trip too. Right, Scar?” Cleo asked and he nodded. “We got to dissect a squid,” he said and Bdubs gasped loudly.

“Really?! Awesome!” He exclaimed, with stars in his eyes. Cleo chuckled and ruffled her youngest son’s hair. She went to grab a pen to sign the permission slip and returned to the kitchen to see both boys huddled in a corner again.

“What are you boys watching?” They asked. “The news,” Scar simply said. “Didn’t know that you watched the news now,” Cleo said, confused. “They’re talking about the Kamen Rider that fought the RoseBot! She’s so cool, of course I would watch the news!” Bdubs cheered, excitedly and Cleo almost choked on her own spit.

“Hu-wha?! K-Kamen Rider?” She coughed. “You don‘t know? She was also there when she fought the RockBot that was near our school. People have been calling her the Masked Lady, Masked Rider and/or Kamen Rider. I heard some of my classmates talking about her,” Scar explained.

“That’s…nice,” Cleo said with a strained smile. “She’s like a real life superhero! I want to meet her one day!” Bdubs cheered and Cleo awkwardly walked into the kitchen while saying, “I’m going to make you guys lunch now.”

She opened the fridge with shaking hands and immediately wanted to scream out loud. Maybe it was too much wishful thinking that her kids would have zero clue on what she's been doing. I mean, the chances of them hearing about it on the news are low! Maybe they would have heard about it from their classmates…good lord, I hope they never find out that it’s me, she thought.

They took out the bread and the cheese before closing the fridge. The stove was finally working so might as well use it to make grilled cheese sandwiches. Cleo, bregrungedly admitted that maybe it wouldn’t be too bad working for Life Industries like this.

Does…that make me selfish? She thought and glanced at her kids. Scar and Bdubs were now arguing over whether strawberries were better toppings on cake than sprinkles. Admittedly, they took up being a Rider mostly to protect their kids at first but had then gone out of their way to stop the RoseBot. Cleo finds this all confusing as they set the bread and cheese on the counter.

She then felt a buzz from her pocket and took out her phone. Tango had sent her a message.

Tango: Swing by tomorrow before your shift. We need to talk about some new Keys for you 

They merely sighed. 

(Much, much later)

A couple of Life Industries employees were walking around a beach with some having some kind of monitor on a rover. A small beige robot occupied them. 

“Ok, President Tango said that we should scout the area here. He said to bring back anything interesting,” one of them said. After he said this, an employee snorted and rolled his eyes. “You don’t suppose he means seashells or crabs?” He asked and everyone groaned around him.

“Knock it off. You know that President Tango doesn’t kid around with these sorts of things,” a third employee stated, placing her hands on her hips. “If he doesn’t kid around, then why did he send us here without a particular reason?” The second employee asked. A fourth one shrugged.

“I worked for this company ever since it got started and Mr.Tango wasn’t the first oddball that this company had as CEO’s,” he was an older employee and was close to retirement. “But still! Really, really suspicious and don’t get me started on the robots!” The second employee said and glared at the beige robot who was scanning the beach.

“Yeah, that’s one thing that I’ll agree with you. No one knows why some of our robots are malfunctioning. We even have some of the best mechanics and engineers and still have no clue as to why,” the first employee nodded. “Plus that Kamen Rider…where did she even come from?” The second employee sighed.

“Well standing around here chatting won’t answer any of our questions. Let’s just get our work done and over with,” the fourth employee said and the rest nodded. However, one employee (who was the fifth one there), stiffened up as she was staring at the beige robot who stopped in place and looked over at another robot who was on its side. 

The beige robot slowly approached the other robot and tapped its head with a claw hand. Then the other robot split open and began to absorb the sand around it. The beige robot screeched and began to roll away. The fifth employee fell and scooted away from where she fell. “Ms.Fujiwara?” The first employee asked, reaching to comfort his frightened co-worker when a large sandy shape appeared from where the broken robot once was.

The sandy robot, now more monstrous, reached its hand out, clenched its fist and summoned up a rope of sand that wrapped itself around the first employee’s neck, choking him.

The third employee screamed and the sandy robot slowly turned its head towards her, reached its other hand out, clenching that fist and summoned up another rope of sand that also wrapped itself around her neck.

Ms.Fujiwara’s eyes widened with terror and the other employees screamed out in fear.

Only one of them survived the encounter.

(Next day)

“Have a good day at school,” Cleo said as she quickly waved at her kids who were walking towards the entrance of their school. After they were out of her view, Cleo immediately ran back home.

Scar poked his head out of the doors as he saw his mom running. I wonder why she’s in a hurry? He thought before greeting the BadBoys.

Cleo, after returning home, hopped on her rusty bike and peddled all the way to Life Industries. There was already a crowd of people there so they pushed their way through it. After apologizing to the familiar orange haired reporter whom Cleo bumped into, they made it to the front of the crowd.

“Sorry, no unauthorized entry,” a security guard said and Cleo grabbed a name tag from her pocket. “I work here,” they simply said and another security guard whispered to the first one, “she’s the new worker.” The first security guard sighed before allowing Cleo inside the building.

Cleo raced up to Tango’s office where he, Impulse and Skizz were already in there. “Get straight to the point,” she said once the three of them saw her. “SandBot at the area where I sent five employees to investigate the area that we talked about yesterday. Only 1 survived,” he explained and Cleo winced at this. “We have given her the day off so she could recover but she fears that the SandBot will come after her. Thankfully, we know where the SandBot is,” Impulse added.

“Alright…so where is the SandBot?” Cleo asked and Skizz pulled up a screen from his watch. “At the beach. That’s where it was first spotted as well and hasn’t moved from there,” he explained. Cleo placed a finger on their cheek, confused. “You think that’s important to it?” They asked.

“That’s where the treasure map leads to. Whatever you do, don’t let the SandBot get to it. Defeat it,” Tango said and Impulse reached over to Tango’s desk. “Here,” he handed her a small cassette-like object like her Key but it was white and black with a picture of a crane on it. 

“New Key?” Cleo asked, tilting their head. “Toshino and another scientist, Brad Princeton, created two yesterday. The Crane one and the Monkey one. We’re giving you the Crane one as it may be the more useful one for this fight,” Tango explained. “We’ll be giving you the Monkey Key later though,” Impulse added.

“Alright…should I use it now or…?” Cleo asked and all three shook their heads. “Use it once you feel like it’s necessary for the fight. Try using your regular one before transforming into the Crane form,” Skizz suggested. Cleo clenched the Key before pocketing it.

“Ok, go fight the SandBot,” Tango started before pressing a button on his desk which opened a window, “and after transforming, be sure to quickly get your motorcycle out,” he said, slowly.

Cleo raised an eyebrow but said nothing. She took out the Driver and placed it on her waist. She took out her regular Key, held it up before saying,

“Henshin!”

They placed the Key in the middle and a voice came out of the Driver. 

“Newly formed Wishes shine again!”

A beam of indigo light came down, surrounding Cleo. Parts of green snaked up them and formed the base of the suit as Cleo had their arms outstretched to their side, their wrists making their hands point at a 90 degree angle. And then the indigo light dissipated into the missing parts of the suits, making the suit more mantis-like just like how the Key set it up to be.

Once there was no light, all that stood was Cleo in her Kamen Rider suit. 

“Alright, I’m ready!” Cleo pumped out her fist in the air. “Good!” Tango appeared behind her as he had walked towards her as she was transforming and placed his hands on her shoulders, scaring her. “This is a quicker way,” he then grabbed onto their shoulders and threw them out the window.

“TANGO!” Impulse shouted while Skizz’s jaw dropped in disbelief. Tango shrugged with a grin on his face. “She won’t die, I already told her to get the motorcycle out,” he explained, cheekily. Both Impulse and Skizz face palmed at this.

Meanwhile, Cleo was falling and she didn’t look all too happy. She quickly double tapped the belt where the motorcycle appeared. She got on it and revved it up, twisting it to aim at the side of the building so it would ride down smoothly before hitting the ground.

Once it did hit the ground, Cleo revved it up some more and drove away towards the beach, some of the people noticing them. “Kamen Rider!” One of them cried and they attempted a chase.

Later at the beach, the SandBot was digging up holes and giving up when it didn’t find what it wanted. It stepped over a crushed crab that the SandBot stepped on earlier and some dried blood from the employees that it killed in the night.

It dove down and began to dig once again, rapidly moving its arms around, flicking the sand into the air. After digging itself deep, it looked around before huffing in disappointment. It jumped out of the hole before moving on to the next spot.

As it started to dig, the SandBot heard noises coming towards it and coming in fast. It stood up and turned around to see Cleo riding towards it. They stopped their motorcycle, got off it and faced the SandBot.

The SandBot tilted its head and scratched its chin with a long, thin finger. It then pointed to Cleo as to ask who they are?

“I’m the Rider who’s going to take you down!” Cleo declared and got into a fighting position. The SandBot then snorted and spoke perfectly, “I’d like to see you try.” Looks like it masted speaking overnight, Cleo thought.

The SandBot then twirled its pointer fingers around and created a sand tornado from the tips and shot them at Cleo who promptly jumped out of the way but she fell front face though. The SandBot then held its left hand and clenched its fist, forming up a sand rope which had wrapped around Cleo’s ankle.

The SandBot grabbed the rope and raised it up in the air, taking Cleo with it before slamming her down to the ground. Cleo tried desperately to claw it off her but the sand dissolved in her hands and more replaced it. The SandBot then tossed Cleo towards it and punched them right in the face.

Cleo shouted in pain and rolled away from the SandBot. She stumbled to get up before the SandBot tugged at the rope hard, toppling her down as it was still connected to her ankle.

“I need to free myself from that rope,” they muttered before an idea popped into their mind. 

(Flashback)

“One of the most powerful attacks you can do is your Finisher. I didn’t show it to you last time because you were still new but I’ll tell you right now. It’s what we call a Rider Kick,” Xiu explained as Cleo was sitting on the floor, crisscrossed while removing the Sticky Fly Traps from her fingers.

“Rider Kick?” They asked and Xiu nodded. “It’s a kick attack, usually reserved for Finishers as it’s one of the most powerful. It takes a lot of energy to pull off though so I recommend doing that when you absolutely need to,” she explained and Cleo flicked a Sticky Fly Trap away.

“Hmmm, I’ll keep that in mind,” Cleo said.

(Flashback Over)

I guess I got to try, they thought as they felt themselves being lifted into the air by the SandBot. Cleo positioned themselves into a kicking position and twisted their body to aim at the SandBot as it brought the rope down.

As soon as Cleo came into contact with the SandBot, it split itself apart in order to avoid being destroyed by the kick. Cleo came crashing into the sand.

The SandBot merely shook its head with a smug expression on its face but then fell to its knees while clutching onto a solid piece of its side that wasn’t made out of sand.

“Hmmmph. First lesson that I learned was once you start to gloat that you’ve won, doesn’t matter if you say it or not, you already lost,” Cleo explained, getting up with more ease. She shook her leg to show that she was free from the rope.

“You dare make a mockery of me?!” The SandBot shouted and Cleo rolled her eyes behind her helmet. “Oh please, you’ve already done that yourself,” she said.

The SandBot roared in anger and slammed its fists onto the ground, creating ripples in the sand before tossing some of it in the air. That was followed by pillars of sand sprouting up. The SandBot flicked its wrists towards Cleo and the sand soon followed.

Cleo did a couple of backflips to dodge the sand which angered the SandBot. “Stop moving, you human filth!” It shouted. “No I don’t think I will!” Cleo shouted back before doing a cartwheel to avoid the sand.

This isn’t going anywhere. I think I have to use that now, she thought and tapped the edge of the Driver. It opened up and Cleo took out the Crane Key. She closed the Driver and placed the Key in the middle. The same voice came out of the Driver but said this,

“Quickly dashing through the Fluffy Clouds.”

A beam of white light came down, surrounding Cleo and making her vision go white. When they came to be, they saw a young girl with short black hair that was covering one eye and wore a pink sleeveless turtleneck over a white, feathery jacket. She had a pink, floppy hat as well.

The girl looked over and gasped, “you’re here!” She got up from her couch and walked around Cleo, excitedly. “You’re here, you’re finally here!” She repeated. “Umm, yeah…are you going to teach me new techniques?” Cleo asked, confused.

“Yep, don’t worry. I’m going to make sure you learn them all but first the basics. Oh, I’m Tsubasa by the way,” the girl explained. Cleo had just enough time to think that Tsubasa spoke rather fast when she snapped her fingers and once again, a light projected onto her and she started to learn the basics.

When they came to be, they were back to the beach with the SandBot. They looked down at their Rider Suit. “Whoa,” Cleo said.

The main parts were still green but the indigo parts were replaced with white parts with marks of black. Her gloves were more feathery and, looking closely, saw that she had wings now.

“So this is a new form. I’m calling this Crane form,” Cleo declared. “Crane form! A-maz-ing! I never thought of that one before!” Cleo could hear Tsubasa in her head. “Huh? Oh I guess I could have seen this one coming but what about Xiu?” Cleo asked, remembering her first teacher and no longer hearing her.

“Hmm, Xiu, Xiu, Xiu? Oh, she’s the mantis right? Yeah when you take a different form, you can only hear that form…is what I think because I don’t remember much of my creation. No one does, don’t worry,” Tsubasa explained.

Before Cleo could say anything else, the SandBot summoned more sand tornadoes and shot them at Cleo. Cleo skidded back, almost getting knocked off balance. “I forgot I was fighting. Oh well, time to get destroyed,” Cleo pointed towards the SandBot.

“Human filth, you are no match for me. In fact, I was holding back,” the SandBot explained. “Holding back? You called that holding back?” Cleo asked, surprised.

“Yes but you will not live long enough to see. I give it 5 seconds of life before I suffocate you with my sand,” the SandBot explained and clenched its fists and shook tremendously. It let out a yell before raising its hands up and the entire sand on the beach bursted up into the air.

Cleo got hit by the intense wind coming from that attack and spread her arms out to glide away using the wings. “Uh yeah, there’s no way I’m going to beat it if I keep dodging like this. I need to get closer,” Cleo murmured. “You can glide to dodge the sand and get close to it. Just a suggestion,” Tsubasa explained.

“Honestly, not a bad idea,” Cleo said before jumping into the air and spreading her wings out. The sand was shot at them so Cleo had to swerve out of the way.

“Damn it! Stop moving!” The SandBot shouted, sounding more and more frustrated. Cleo could tell due to even more sand getting in her direction, she was glad that she had a helmet on.

Then Cleo swooped down and slammed their head against the SandBot, toppling it over. She landed on her feet and whirled around to face the SandBot who immediately got up and began to shoot blows. Cleo flattened her hands and began to move them in circular motion to deflect most of the blows.

The SandBot raised a fist to smack Cleo but they raised an arm to block it. Cleo snaked that arm around the SandBot’s arm, twisting it down. The SandBot howled in pain and tried to claw Cleo’s arm off but then they jabbed their free hand at the SandBot’s face, causing it to lose its balance and fall towards the ground before Cleo kneed it in the face.

That’s where she finally let go and the SandBot went rolling away. Cleo chased after it and flew into the air. The SandBot managed to get up to its feet before a shadow flew over it. It looked up to see Cleo gliding down and they flapped their wings, dusting off the sand off it.

“Gliding Rider Kick!” She shouted and positioned herself into a kicking position. Her foot went through and Cleo skidded away from the SandBot.

An explosion could be heard and Cleo turned around to see that the SandBot had blown up. “You did it, hurray! I knew we could count on you!” Tsubasa cheered. “We?” Cleo asked. “Me and Xiu. I think she’ll be happy to hear that you defeated that Bot,” Tsubasa explained. Cleo rolled her wrists around, hearing a satisfying pop from them. “If she doesn’t smack me with a ruler,” they said and went towards their motorcycle that somehow survived the fight.

Before they could get on it though, a small brown, sharp corner that was sticking out caught their eye. Cleo tilted their head at this.

(Timeskip)

“Well first of all, good job on defeating the SandBot,” Tango started and Cleo leaned back on their chair. “A Tango compliant. How rare,” she said with a smile. “Sure, sure,” Tango waved her off and didn’t catch her rolling her eyes at him. Skizz snickered behind his hand and Impulse just sighed.

“Second of all, you think this is what the SandBot was looking for?” Tango asked and tapped the treasure chest that Cleo brought back with a pen. “Considering it was digging around and causing holes everywhere, it’s more than likely especially since the map was marked at that beach,” they explained.

“Alright, we’ll have our best scientists examine it,” Tango said and nodded at Impulse who placed on rubber gloves. “I’m letting him know that he has more on his plate,” Cleo could hear him murmur as he took the chest and left.

Cleo tapped Tango’s desk and gave him a Cheshire Cat worthy grin. “You think I can skip out of work for an hour so I can rest?” She asked as she was already feeling very sore from the fighting.

Tango let out a humorless laugh. “Yeah, no. There’s been a spill on the eighth floor. Skizz, go show her the way,” he said.

“Oh what the fu-!”

[Ending music: https://youtu.be/a7gNYLeMetY?si=s_HlHUlDR4qnOeiK ]

Chapter Text

(3rd Person PoV)

It was late at night and Tango was still up with his eyes taking in a lot of blue light as he typed in his laptop. He hummed to himself as he looked through the files of interns before looking back at the screen.

The door opened and he glanced up to see Impulse with two coffee mugs. “Still working?” He asked and he nodded.

“Yeah, interns are coming in and leaving at the drop of a hat so I’m staying up late to finish up,” Tango explained, tugging at the black suit that he’s wearing. He honestly hated that suit but wore it out of respect for today.

“Ah, well be sure to finish up so you can get some rest. Remember last time you stayed up? Skizz and I had to run the company and it did not go well,” Impulse chuckled as he handed Tango a mug. He took a sip out of it before setting it down, away from the files though.

“Relax, I just got 5 more to go. It’ll be quick, I promise,” Tango waved him off. “If you say so,” Impulse said, raising an eyebrow. He then noticed a wet paper towel next to Tango.

“…need more ice?” He asked and pointed to the fresh bruise on Tango’s cheek. Tango rubbed it while sheepishly replying, “yes please.” 

Impulse left and after a couple of minutes, came back with a bag of ice. He gave it to Tango who placed it on his cheek. “That’s better,” Tango sighed in relief while Impulse gave him a disappointing shake of his head.

“Maybe next time, don’t throw Cleo off the window,” he advised him. “Eh, it was the fastest way and I did warn them to get their motorcycle out quickly,” Tango waved him off again and Impulse rolled his eyes.

“That type of attitude is going to get you in trouble one day,” he warned his friend. “Like it hasn’t happened,” Tango murmured under breath. Impulse didn’t say anything about it.

“Well, good night. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Impulse said and they waved goodbye to each other. Tango took another sip of his coffee and looked at the current file that he was on.

Martyn Littlewood 

(Opening Song: https://youtu.be/V6Q-klKBkXw?si=d7S0oG9008i9Z1eM )

*bonk*

“Seriously? That’s the third time something fell on my head today. I must have bad luck today,” Cleo sighed as she picked up a dusty, red rubber ball from the floor.

It was the next day and Cleo was pushing the custodian cart as they were looking around to clean. There was no luck.

She turned the corner and nearly ran into Skizz. “Ah, sorry about that,” they immediately apologized. “You’re fine,” he assured her. That’s when Cleo noticed that there were three people who were following Skizz.

They all wore a name tag around their necks and were holding onto files of papers. Cleo turned to Skizz and asked, “interns?” He nodded.

“Yeah, first day here. I’ve been showing them around…speaking of which, follow me!” Skizz called out and the interns all said, “yes sir!”

Before he left though, Skizz leaned closer to Cleo and whispered, “oh by the way, Toshino has been asking for you. He has the Key for you.” Cleo hummed at this before pushing the cart towards the direction of where the scientists worked.

They left the cart in a corner before opening the door. Surprisingly, it was empty with only one scientist being there. Cleo thinks that his name is Brad Princeton.

He had his legs up on the table while playing a game on his phone. Didn’t seem responsible enough but Cleo already knows how shady Life Industries can be with how Tango acts most of the time. She then walked up to him and cleared her throat.

Brad looked up before swinging his legs down and sitting up straight. “Oh, you’re here. Kay, Mr Toshino is in the bathroom, changing. He’ll be here in a sec,” he said, rather quickly. Cleo tilted her head.

“Changing?” They asked and Brad made an ‘oh’ with his mouth. “Right, you don’t know yet. Well he might tell you, might not, depending on how much he likes you and how you don’t annoy him,” he said.

Cleo was confused but before she could say anything else, the door to the men’s restroom opened and Toshino walked out. He stretched out his arms before noticing that Cleo was there and lowering them.

“So you got my message, good,” he said and nodded to Brad who got up from his chair. “Skizz said that you have the Key for me,” Cleo told him, getting right to business.

“I do. Brad is bringing it right about…,” Toshino trailed off and Brad brought two things. One was a brown Key with a picture of a monkey. The other was a red Driver.

Looking at Cleo’s confused look, Toshino began to explain. “The treasure chest you brought in. Old blueprints for Kamen Rider Drivers. We built it similar to yours but this one is different. Less guesswork on the design and whatever the hell Senpai did.”

“But why would the treasure chest have that?” Cleo asked and Toshino shrugged. “Fuck if I know. Anyway, I’m just going to calibrate it as we don’t have anyone in mind on who will be the next Rider. Don’t get your hopes up on getting a partner anytime soon,” he explained.

“Right. So this Key, I’m going to assume that a monkey is next,” they said and held it up. “The art of the monkey if I remember correctly. Yeah, a lot of the animals that you’re getting or are going to get are based around martial arts like the mantis style,” Toshino explained.

“That would honestly explain a lot. So should I test it out now or?” Cleo asked and Toshino nodded. He then pulled out his phone and flicked a finger across the touch screen, projecting something on it. “There’s a secret training room if you take a left here. The passcode 1987…don’t judge,” he said.

“Ok, thanks,” Cleo gave him a nod and Brad piped up, “oh, you should be careful though. Mr Dennis Chiko is here and around that corner. He has curly brown hair so avoid that.” 

“Who?” They asked and Toshino groaned at this. “Some annoying guy with a gun. Do not let anything slip to him. He already hates us regarding the Bots,” he replied.

“Right…well good luck on that Driver, I’ll let you know the results of the Monkey Key,” Cleo assured them. “Better be good. Had to pull an all nighter with the data. Worried my boyfriend might scold me for it…again,” Toshino sighed.

“Yeesh, get some sleep after you’re done,” Cleo told him and he waved them off. Cleo then left the area and went upstairs.

Sure enough, there were some people in military uniforms patrolling the area. Cleo bowed their head and pushed the custodian cart through. “Excuse me,” they muttered and they let them through. Dennis, though, looked at them suspiciously.

Too bad he really couldn’t do anything about it. I mean, they’re just a custodian. I doubt they have anything to do with all the shady stuff that Life Industries has been doing, he thought.

I hope that he isn’t thinking that I have nothing to do with this company. As much as I don’t want to admit it, I’m very much into deep now, she thought and felt her Driver from her pockets.

Once arriving at an empty hallway, Cleo looked around to make sure that no one had wandered in before pushing the cart next to a potted plant that was sticking out in the otherwise empty hallway. They pushed it aside and saw a keypad.

Well that’s a genius idea, they thought, sarcastically. They pressed the numbers and the walls to the left broke apart, leaving a gap and they walked through.

As soon as they went through, the wall reconstructed itself back, leaving Cleo in total darkness…for a total of five seconds.

On the walls, mini lanterns lit up and Cleo walked through the hallway. She stopped at a door, tapped the doorknob to see if it was unlocked, realized that it was before turning it and pushed forward to open the door.

The room that it led to was as big as a college lecture hall without the seats. In place of seats were gym equipment and some punching bags. There were some pictures on the wall but they were mostly there for show, as Cleo took a longer look at them and realized that they were just children's drawings of animals.

Where did they get them? Cleo makes a mental note to ask Tango about it. They know that Skizz has a couple of nieces but that’s about it.

“So…I guess I should start,” Cleo murmured before grabbing her Driver and the Monkey Key. She placed the Driver around her waist, held up the new key before saying,

“Henshin!”

They were then blinded by a brown light and the next thing they knew, Cleo could see an older man wearing a yellow linen shirt and long, brown pants. He honestly looked like Jackie Chan.

He was sitting on a couch, criss cross while eating some almond cookies. He looked up to see Cleo standing there.

“Ah, so you’re the one I have to train. Interesting,” he said. “So what’s your name?” Cleo asked.

“Shen, nice to meet you,” he said and Cleo looked around. “So will the basics go into my head or…?” They asked and Shen nodded.

“Basics, yes but since we have some time, I will get started on your training outside of your head. It should make things easier for you in your next fight,” he explained.

“Ok…let’s get started then,” Cleo gave him a nod and he snapped his fingers.

Information started to flood Cleo’s mind and once they came around, they were back in the training room. They then looked at themselves and the new suit that they were wearing.

The indigo parts were replaced with brown and yellow parts. On top of their head was a tuft of brown hair and they now have a monkey’s tail behind them.

“A tail now?” Cleo asked, concerned before hearing Shen’s voice in her head. “It’ll be easier to hold onto your Bo staff,” he explained.

“Staff? Oh right!” Cleo was about to press her Driver when Shen spoke up again, “not yet. You must master some techniques such as the monkey walk.”

“Monkey walk?” Cleo asked. “The monkey is playful yet very good at guarding. The monkey walk allows you to go low and move around at a relatively quick pace. You should practice the movements before you begin to fight,” Shen explained.

“Well it’s not like I have much to do right now, it’s a slow workday and no Bots have appeared yet so might as well practice like you said,” Cleo said. “Excellent, you understand well. Now listen carefully as I will instruct you the best I can,” Shen explained and Cleo nodded.

(Meanwhile)

Skizz had let the interns go to shadow an employee of the company. He read off the names of the interns and the employees that they were shadowing.

“Ok now Sherbet Inoue, you will be shadowing Nori Naegi. And let’s see who’s next…,” Skizz said before looking at the screen that he had pulled up from his phone.

“Martyn Littlewood…huh, that’s weird. I wasn’t expecting Toshino to be up for someone shadowing…oh! Uh…you will be shadowing Toshino Yu,” Skizz said.

A boy with blond hair and wearing a green high school boy uniform gave him a nod and pulled up a screen from his phone.

“Alright! Now we agreed to meet at a vending machine…which one?” Martyn asked with a friendly expression on his face.

He wandered around and asked for directions to the vending machines. When asked why, he would reply with, “oh I’m shadowing a ‘Mr. Toshino Yu,” and some would have different answers.

“Ah, he does that sometimes.”

“Last week, we had a meeting at a vending machine that was just full of Reese Pieces.”

“And I still wonder why he’s the head scientist.”

“If I recall, the Reese Pieces vending machine is on the second floor near the offices.”

Some answers are more helpful than others.

“Ok so the vending machine should be around…here,” Martyn turned the corner and saw Toshino who was leaning against a wall with his arms crossed and his head tipped down.

“Excuse me!” Martyn called out but Toshino didn’t reply at first. He got closer and noticed that his eyes were closed and his movements were very slow.

What’s with this unprofessionalism? Martyn thought, unamused before raising his voice. “Hello?? Excuse me!” 

Toshino then stood up straight, opening his eyes before looking at Martyn. “Oh you’re here. Great,” he murmured while taking his glasses off and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“Umm, you are Toshino Yu right? Nice to meet you, I’m Martyn Littlewood,” Martyn said and bowed politely. “Yeah yeah, just follow me, listen to what goes around you and try not to touch anything,” Toshino said.

“You got it, Mr. Yu!” Martyn smiled but that caused Toshino to scowl. “Oh and one thing. Never call me Mr. Yu. If you have to call me Mr, you can use my first name. That is all,” he said but that didn’t shrink Martyn’s enthusiasm.

“You got it!” He gave him a thumbs up.

He led him to the lab where Brad was still at. Once he saw them coming, Brad immediately covered the blueprints up with a couple of binders that he had lying around.

“Oh is he the intern that’s shadowing you?” Brad asked, getting up from his seat. Toshino nodded and Martyn held his hand out.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Martyn Littlewood,” he said and Brad shook his hand. “Brad Princeton,” he said.

As they were shaking hands, Martyn got a glimpse of the blueprints and his friendly demeanor shook a bit as he frowned.

He immediately started to smile again as Toshino spoke up, “there’s not much to do today so we’re just going to be sorting paperwork. It’s all going to be in alphabetical order as that’s easier for us.”

“Ok!” Martyn gave him a thumbs up. Too friendly, Toshino thought but didn’t think much of it for now.

They walked towards a corner of the lab where there were boxes full of paper and Toshino handed one to Brad. He handed another to Martyn before taking a third box.

“These are mostly blueprints for the Bots that are created here. Others are reports of those said Bots,” he explained and Martyn perked up. “Are there any reports of any Bots that have malfunctioned?” He asked but Brad shook his head.

“Not on paper at least. Now that’s more of a pain to organize as it’s new,” he explained and Martyn frowned again. “I see…,” he muttered, disappointingly.

Bzzz

Bzzz

“I need to take this,” Toshino said as he took out his phone. He stepped away before holding the phone up to his ear.

“Yeah?”

(Meanwhile)

“Hold your hands out to block.”

“Now lean back.”

“Twist your arms around the object you are blocking.”

“Let go and…,” Shen trailed off as Cleo did all of that before falling to their side, ragdoll style before rolling away.

They got up to their feet and crouched into a fight position with their arms bent in front.

“Good, you are getting much faster,” Shen praised and Cleo stood up. “Tsubasa has been teaching me speed so I’m a little bit faster than I was before I became a Kamen Rider,” they explained.

“Tsubasa…that’s the crane, correct?” Shen asked and Cleo nodded. “So have you never seen Xiu and Tsubasa?” They asked and Shen could be heard humming.

“I know of the mantis and crane but never their names. We never met face to face which is unfortunate,” he explained and Cleo looked down.

“Huh…I’m going to de-transform now, I need a break,” they said and Shen hummed again. “You deserve one,” was the last thing he said before Cleo de-transformed.

They stretched out their arms before turning to leave the training room. They walked out the door and grabbed onto the custodian cart that they left near the potted plant.

They pushed it and walked out of the hallway. She went back to the hallway where the soldiers were at and saw that they were panicking. Dennis was barking orders to them.

Cleo bowed her head and said, “excuse me.” Dennis turned to look at her but let her through. Before Cleo left though, he spoke up. “You should get to safety. Apparently a Bot is loose.”

A Bot? Cleo perked up before lowering their head. They sped walked away and once they couldn’t see the soldiers, immediately placed the cart away before running to look for Skizz, Impulse or Tango.

Thankfully, she saw Impulse leading people away to a safe room. “Impulse!” She called out and he waved her over. 

“First floor courtyard. One malfunction here and is causing mayhem,” he explained and she nodded. “Got it. Stay safe,” Cleo told him. “You too,” he added and she left.

As she was running downstairs, she pulled out her Driver and when she saw that no one was around, placed it around her waist. She held the Monkey Key up and shouted,

“Henshin!”

Cleo placed the Key in the middle and a voice came out of the Driver.

“Patience is a virtue, treasure it.”

A beam of brown light came down onto Cleo and once they resurfaced from it, they were in their Rider suit, monkey form.

At the courtyard, a large robot that had large leaves decorated on its arms and legs and had its face covered by a large dry leaf, was tormenting some of the workers.

A man screamed in fear as the newly named LeafBot was crackling and scratched the cheek of the man. There was a woman who was knocked unconscious and had thin scratches on her face.

The LeafBot crackled once again and raised its hand up to knock the man out too when it got tackled by Cleo!

“Run!” They shouted at the man who nodded and carried the woman away.

The LeafBot tilted its head at her and Cleo pointed at it. “I’m the Rider who’s going to take you down!” “Bah!” The LeafBot then said before looking at its hands curiously. Looks like it was it’s first time speaking.

It then decided to raise a hand and slam it against Cleo. They went flying into a wall, knocking some debris on the ground. The LeafBot tiptoed over and moved some debris away.

“What?” It asked before they heard a noise.

Tp

Tp

It turned around to see Cleo walk towards them, Bo staff in hand. “How?” It asked. “I did get hurt but thankfully I got this out quickly,” they explained, gesturing to the staff.

Turns out, Cleo managed to take out her Bo Staff as soon as she hit the wall before using it to propel herself away from the majority of the debris damage.

The LeafBot tilted its head again before jumping in the air, twisting its body and slamming a leg against Cleo.

They raised their free hand to capture the leg, twisted their arm around it, set the Bo Staff firmly on the ground before jumping on the edge of it and using all of their body weight to pull the LeafBot down with them.

After leaving a crack on the ground, Cleo then rolled away, using their legs to push the Bo staff towards them.

She then picked herself off the ground, tossing the staff in the air using her foot before catching it with her hand.

The LeafBot stood up before cracking its neck. There were smudges on it but other than that, it seemed fine.

“What? There should have been more damage,” Cleo murmured, gripping onto the staff. The LeafBot then squatted down, holding its hands out in a claw motion. It made a ‘come here,’ motion with one hand and made a crackling laugh.

This is the oldest trick in the book! The LeafBot is trying to provoke me into attacking it but I need to destroy it before it causes more damage, Cleo thought.

It made another ‘come here’ motion and Cleo just sighed angrily.

“You leave me with no choice,” they said and pressed the sides of their Driver. It opened to reveal the two other Keys and Cleo took out the Crane one.

They placed it in the middle and a voice came out of the Driver.

“Quickly dashing through the Fluffy Clouds.”

A white light came down onto Cleo and when she emerged from it, she was in Crane form.

She spread her arms out and jumped in the air. A small breeze caught her and she glided towards the LeafBot.

Cleo then extended out her arms in front of her, making her hands flat and attempting to jab it, sort of in a beak motion.

The LeafBot grabbed her arms before turning her over and slamming her against the ground.

Pop!

The LeafBot jumped back as Cleo staggered to get up. They clutched onto their arm and winced behind their helmet. They looked up to see that the LeafBot was gone.

“What?” They looked around the messed up courtyard but no sign of the Bot. “That’s super weird!” They heard Tsubasa gasp. “…I need to go and tell Tango,” Cleo concluded.

They ran off in the opposite direction of where they were facing, unaware of the person who was supposed to be in hiding but was instead watching them.

“So that the Kamen Rider?”

[Ending Song: https://youtu.be/a7gNYLeMetY?si=GO4VDrS4OpZWwDxo ]

Chapter Text

(3rd Person PoV)

“The LeafBot got away, damn!” Tango hissed as Impulse handed an ice pack over to Cleo who placed it on their shoulder.

“I think the fact that it got into Life Industries should be more concerning,” Skizz pointed out and Tango balled up his fist.

“I know! I know…now the media is all over us,” Tango pulled up a screen to show crowds of news reporters outside the building.

Cleo looked over and narrowed their eyes. “Don’t they have anything better to do?” They asked, disgruntled.

“Unfortunately no. Cleo, how’s your shoulder?” Impulse asked and Cleo moved it around. “Fine now. I think that attack popped it though,” she explained.

Impulse gave her a smile and Tango grabbed his phone. “I think it’s about time,” he said and the three of them looked at him, raising an eyebrow each.

“Time? Time for what?” Skizz asked but Tango didn’t answer at first. He held his phone up to his ear, waiting for a bit before speaking.

“Toshino? Is the Driver ready yet? …get it done by tomorrow,” he said before hanging up.

“Wait, Tango! Tomorrow?! You want that new Driver by tomorrow?” Skizz gasped and Tango nodded.

“A second Kamen Rider? So since I lost the LeafBot, I’m not good enough for you now?” Cleo asked, crossing their arms but Tango waved her off.

“You already gained three forms. Use them correctly this time. There isn’t time to make a fourth one, not when the LeafBot is running around so a new Rider is the next best option. Don’t worry, we won’t make them take your spotlight. Figured you needed some help,” he explained but Cleo still didn’t buy it.

“But gosh, we don’t have anyone in mind yet. You’re not giving us enough time for this,” Skizz scolded. “Well there’s not much time with the LeafBot running around. Especially when it comes to saving face. We just need to get a push in the right direction,” Tango explained.

Cleo rolled their eyes before taking out their phone. They looked at the time before standing up. “I need to pick up Scar and Bdubs from school. Tell me once you solve this damn thing,” they told him before walking away.

The rest of them stayed in silence as Cleo slammed the door behind them.

“…”

“…”

“…you think they’re mad?” Impulse asked and Tango banged his head on the table.

[Opening song here: https://youtu.be/V6Q-klKBkXw?si=IzcZjKkgXOj7_8_W ]

“Mom! Mom! People are saying that the Kamen Rider failed to take down the LeafBot!” Was the first thing Bdubs said as Cleo picked him up from school. Scar was right behind them.

“Is that so?” Cleo asked and Bdubs nodded. “They are saying that she’s a fraud but I don’t believe them! I believe that the Kamen Rider will save Arcana City!” He cheered.

“Well, let’s hope they do,” Cleo assured him and ruffled his hair. “There was a fight today,” Scar spoke up and Cleo snapped their head towards him.

“What?” She asked and Scar shrugged.

“These seventh graders were making fun of the Kamen Rider and we overheard them. Joel and Jimmy immediately jumped them and Grian egged them on. Then other kids from our grade decided to help Joel and Jimmy…I might have cheered them on too,” he explained.

All this over me? Cleo thought, confused. “And no before you ask, I was not involved in the fighting and neither was Bdubs,” Scar assured them. 

“Well it’s no wonder I didn’t get a call today,” Cleo said. “Still, it’s not like anybody else is taking care of those Bots. They’re trying their best so they shouldn’t be made fun of,” Scar huffed angrily.

“…,” all Cleo did was ruffle his hair. She was oddly touched by this sentiment. She probably shouldn’t let that show because no one else knows her identity.

One of the unspoken rules of being a superhero of kinds, don’t say your identity or else your loved ones will be in danger.

Now some people do know but they’re all part of a company that made the Driver so eh, some lines are blurred there. Not here though.

“Stay out of trouble, you two,” Cleo warned and Scar laughed humorously at this. “I know. I know. No need to tell me,” he told her and Cleo gave him a warm smile.

(Later)

Martyn was putting some boxes away when Toshino stormed in. He immediately hid behind some racks as Toshino grabbed some blueprints.

“Geez, another all nighter huh? I got the Driver ready but still got to calibrate the Key,” he muttered and Martyn tilted his head.

I knew it. They are making Drivers here, he thought and made a fist. Toshino then left and Martyn walked away from the racks. He pulled out a necklace from under his shirt and rubbed the piece of coral that was at the end of it with his thumb.

This will all be worth it, he thought.

Toshino made it his way towards Tango’s office and knocked on the door.

“Come in!”

He entered and held up the blueprints. “I got the Driver ready but the Key needs to be calibrated. I’m returning the blueprints to you again,” he explained.

“Good. Now all we need to do is choose who will be the next Kamen Rider,” Tango murmured. “Did Senpai leave any clues?” Toshino asked and Tango shook his head.

“Just Cleo was mentioned but no one else. I don’t think Etho was counting on multiple,” he sighed. “There’s a lot of things that Senpai didn’t count on,” Toshino pointed out.

“Well keep working on it. I’ll try to find someone, I’ll update you on it once I do,” Tango assured him. “Kay…,” Toshino pushed up his glasses and left.

He went back to the lab, looked around before heading towards his office. He pulled up his laptop, grabbed a mini screwdriver and then the Key. He connected his laptop to the Key and began to type.

“Ok so if I could decipher the code, I would be able to unlock the Key’s potential. Let’s see what kind of power you have,” Toshino muttered.

Unbeknownst to him, he was aware that he was not alone in his office. He kept typing away though in hopes to calibrate the Key as soon as he could.

(The next day)

Once morning came up, Cleo walked out of her bedroom, yawning. She didn’t have a good sleep last night (and doesn’t help that Tango kept blowing up her phone with updates and suggestions on a new Kamen Rider) and she is glad that it’s the weekend.

They walked into the kitchen to make themselves a cup of coffee when they suddenly heard Scar and Bdubs gasp.

“What’s wrong?” Cleo asked, her tiredness going away. “Look! Look!” Bdubs pointed to Scar’s phone and they peered over their shoulders.

The same news reporter appeared and she looked like water was dumped on her.

“We’re here reporting live to the aftermath of another Bot incident. The PipeBot awoke in the night and was terrorizing late night food stands. It was then heading towards the hospital when a mysterious figure showed up and defeated it. We have video footage from our reliable source,” she said.

The footage was shaky but it did the job well. The PipeBot was a large, metal robot that seemed heavy but by raising its hands up, it could form chunks of metal and shoot them at unfortunate bystanders.

Many of those fell with blood running down their bodies. It was censored…mostly but Cleo did wince and covered their kids’ eyes.

They let go once the PipeBot reached the hospital. It raises its hand up before getting shot by a burst of water. In the shadows, stepped out a red rider with blue, slick armor. It stared at the PipeBot before making a fist, running towards it and punching it.

The PipeBot stepped back, not expecting that punch before raising its hand up to form more chunks of metal. 

The Rider then lifted its own hands up in a waving motion to its right and the gloves began to glow. As soon as the PipeBot shot the chunks, the Rider clenched its fists for a second before letting go and a splash of water came out and smacked the chunks away into a nearby tree, denting it.

The PipeBot took a step back, its body tensing up. The Rider took a step forward, the eyes on its helmet seemingly glowing in the darkness.

The PipeBot turned to run when suddenly, the Rider jumped in the air, twisted around and held its leg down towards the PipeBot and kicked right through it.

It landed with a wobble in its step as the PipeBot exploded behind it. The video cut off there.

“Is that a new Kamen Rider?” Bdubs asked and Cleo immediately went to grab their phone. “Maybe, he looks more like a guy to me instead of the Kamen Rider that we know,” Scar added and Cleo dialed Tango’s number.

She ducked away to the living room with her phone held to her ear as she heard the phone ring. They tapped their foot impatiently as they waited.

“Hello?”

“I saw the news on the new Kamen Rider, explain,” Cleo demanded. There was a pause at the end of the line and Cleo tapped their foot faster. They glanced over at Bdubs and Scar who were still glued to the phone while eating cereal for breakfast.

“Don’t know.”

“What?” Cleo perked up in surprise as Tango responded.

“We don‘t know who it is. The Driver was taken right from under our noses. Someone knocked out Toshino while he was working on it,” he explained. Cleo rubbed her eyes at this.

“So you’re meaning to tell me that a random person whom you have no clue about is using the Driver that has a powerful kick equal to a bomb and has water powers?” She asked through gritted teeth. Tango could be heard sighing behind the phone.

“Look, just get over here and we’ll figure things out. Give an excuse to your kids or something,” he muttered and hung up. Cleo lowered their head and groaned at this.

She would then go to the Nosy Neighbors and ask them to babysit Scar and Bdubs, much to those two’s dismay.

“But it’s the weekend!” Bdubs complained as he clung onto his brother. “I know but I have something to do today. We’ll get pizza later as me saying sorry to you,” Cleo compromised.

“Pizza and a movie!” Scar pointed out while patting Bdubs’ head. “…pizza and a movie, sure,” Cleo sighed.

“We’ll take care of them, don’t worry,” BigB assured her. “Thank you,” Cleo bowed nervously.

She hopped on her bike, gave one last goodbye to her kids and neighbors and peddled away towards Life Industries. 

When they arrived there, it was surprisingly normal. Just some people on edge but looking closely, Cleo could see the aftermath of letting go of the LeafBot as the people glared at innocent Bots just doing their jobs and chilling.

That means that Tango hadn’t said anything about the stolen Driver, Cleo thought. In hindsight, it makes sense. Very, very few people know about the Drivers and not many people know about the connections between the Kamen Rider and Life Industries.

They arrived at Tango’s office which was a mess. Skizz was running around like a chicken with its head cut off, Impulse was trying to calm Tango down as he was flicking a lighter on and off and Toshino was in the corner, sulking. He had a couple of bandages wrapped around his head.

“The hell?” Was the first thing Cleo said when they entered the office. Everyone immediately stopped to turn to look at her.

“Cleo! You’re here! Oh thank goodness,” Skizz fell to his knees in relief. Tango placed the lighter down (off thankfully) and got up from his seat. 

“Anything new?” Cleo asked and he shook his head. “We’ve tracked down the area where the Rider has been spotted but nothing came up. We think he has a connection to the hospital though but it’s more a speculation if anything,” Tango explained.

“The hospital?” Cleo asked. “We think that because he didn’t appear when the PipeBot appeared at the other places and only showed up at the hospital, he might have a connection to it,” Impulse replied.

“And that we checked whoever was checked into the hospital isn’t one because they were overflowing with people who were injured during the attacks and previous attacks. Hardly anyone was checked out that day,” Tango explained.

Cleo placed a hand over her chin in a thinking position. Someone connected to the hospital but isn’t checked in or out. Speaking of which…

“How did the Driver get stolen?” They asked and Toshino slowly turned his head towards her with an unamused look on his face.

“No signs of being broken in that’s for sure. I was busy calibrating it when something hit me in the back of my head and knocked me out!” He spat with venom in his voice, his brown eyes flaring up with fury.

They all took a step back away from him, not necessarily out of fear but to be out of range in case he throws something out of anger. Cleo then asked, “so now what?”

All Tango did was sigh before taking out his phone and swiped his screen up. “All we can do is stake out at the hospital and hope that he comes by again. Security footage here is a no go as well as Toshino’s office is one of the few places here that doesn’t have cameras,” he explained.

Before Cleo asked about the obvious security risk of that, Skizz spoke up, “we don’t even have a guarantee that it’s that specific hospital. Maybe this Rider wants to protect all hospitals in Arcana City.” 

“We split up then. We all go to the hospitals in the city and stake out there. If we find the Rider, we’ll try to garner peace. If the Rider attacks one of us, then Cleo, you’ll have to step in assuming you’re not busy with another Bot problem or the Rider attacks you first,” Impulse suggested.

Cleo nodded at this. That was the plan. Wasn’t a good one but better than no plan at all.

(Later)

Cleo was sitting on a bench, bored. They were staking out at the hospital where the Rider first showed up. They suspect that’s where the Rider will actually hit instead of another hospital in the city but one can’t be too sure.

The day was peaceful enough. Some elementary kids were hunting for bugs while two high school girls were chatting about their grades nearby. There was a young man that was painting the scenery of the buildings, including the hospital.

Cleo had her eye on that young man, wondering if that painting was a give away or if she was just overthinking it. Well whatever the case, she had to be vigilant for many things. The Rider and whatever Bot comes by.

They hope the LeafBot came by again so they could actually beat it this time. They curled up their fist at the thought. 

“No fair. You got the biggest bug last time,” one of the elementary kids complained to his friend. “Well suck it! It’s finders keepers,” that elementary kid stuck his tongue out. “You always do this!” The third elementary kid whined and the last one just shook her head.

The second elementary kid then waved the bug case above his head. “I'm the king of the bug hunters! Of course I’m going to get the biggest bug!” He bragged and the fourth elementary kid kicked him in the shin, making him drop the case and have it bounce away somewhere.

“Owww! Why would you do that?” He cried and she rolled her eyes. “Because you were being mean! And mean people get karma,” she scolded. “I’ll show you karma!” He shouted and grabbed the collar of her shirt.

“Hey back off!” The first elementary kid got in between them to stop the fighting. Cleo themselves were just standing to break up the fight and lecture the kids when the third kid screamed.

Apparently the bug case hit a malfunctioning Bot, transforming it into a plastic like monster. It towered over the kids and two of them fell backwards while others ran away. One of the high school girls screamed as well and everyone else immediately evacuated.

The PlasticBot leaned towards the two fallen kids to grab them when Cleo swooped in and grabbed the two kids before kicking off the PlasticBot. She ran with the two kids in her arms before placing them down at the bench where she was previously at.

“Are you ok? Anything hurt?” She asked and the two kids shook their heads while grabbing onto each other for dear life and looking like deers at a headlights. “Run as far away as you can!” Cleo instructed and the kids nodded.

As soon as they ran off, Cleo turned their attention to the PlasticBot who was destroying the painting that the young man was painting previously. He seemed to have run off scared. Maybe they really were overthinking it before.

Well whatever. Now isn’t the time to think about that. Cleo pulled out their Driver and placed it around their waist. They held up the Monkey Key and shouted,

“Henshin!”

Cleo placed the Key in the middle and a voice came out of the Driver.

“Patience is a virtue, treasure it.”

A beam of brown light came down onto Cleo and once they resurfaced from it, they were in their Rider suit, monkey form.

They immediately pounced on the PlasticBot and grabbed its arms. They leaned back and used their weight to pull the PlasticBot down, slamming it onto the ground.

Cleo then pushed themselves off and got into a fighting position, their arms bent at the front. The PlasticBot struggled to get up and seemed like a turtle on its back.

It laid limp for a second before using one of its legs to spin itself around, Beyblade style before turning upside to get up. It wobbled a bit before bringing its fist up, shooting out shards of glass from it.

Cleo covered her face to shield her from the worst of it but she still fell back from the blow of the shards. “Wow! Glass huh? Wasn’t expecting that but you were made from a bug case,” she huffed, getting up.

The PlasticBot tilted its head before lifting a fist up and making a punching motion with it. 

It did this a couple of times and Cleo had no idea what it was trying to do. Can’t let it do anything dangerous, she thought and tapped her Belt two times, summoning up her Bo staff.

She then tossed it up in the air like a javelin and after doing that, she rolled towards the Bot and once she got close enough, Cleo leaped into the air and caught her Bo staff. 

She brought it down and whacked the PlasticBot who was charging up an attack. It died down a bit but some of the plastic shards were shot at a tree, bringing it down.

It was a blink and you’ll miss it moment but Cleo could have sworn they saw a person duck down immediately. Cleo then slammed a fist against the PlasticBot’s chest which staggered it.

This gave enough time for Cleo to run towards the tree and call out, “get out! It’s not safe here!” They went over there to see a teenager who, upon seeing her, stood up straighter and didn’t fully face her.

“I know,” was all he said and then turned around. Around his waist, was something unexpected.

“That’s…did you steal the Driver?” Cleo demanded and the teenager just chuckled at this. “Wouldn’t say stealing per se. Just borrowing it…until I’m done with my mission. Of course, I wasn’t expecting the janitor to be the Kamen Rider but should have known something was fishy once Life Industries gained a new employee,” he explained.

Cleo didn’t visibly flinch but behind her mask, her eyes widened. “Who are you?” She asked and the teenager brushed aside his blond hair.

“Martyn Littlewood, new intern at Life Industries. Well if you don’t blab to them at least. Now step aside,” he said and turned away from her and towards the PlasticBot.

“Absolutely not! You are taking that Driver off and we’re heading back to Life Industries after I beat this Bot,” Cleo scolded. “No way! That bot…is my new target!” Martyn pointed with a smirk on his face.

He then held his hand out and placed his other hand on his hips. “Aqua, permission to transform?” He asked and a ghostly figure of a girl wearing a blue hoodie, materialized beside him. Cleo took a step back at this.

“Permission granted,” Aqua said to Martyn’s ears only. His smirk grew wider and she turned into a blue key with a picture of a dolphin on it.

He held it up and said,

“Henshin!”

Martyn placed the Key in the middle and a voice came out of the Driver.

“Water creates life and destroys life.”

A beam of blue light appeared and came upon Martyn. Once it disappeared, the same Rider from the news showed. The blue parts of the suits resemble a dolphin with the rest of the suit being crimson red to contrast the bright red Driver.

He punched his fist against his palm before pointing dramatically at the PlasticBot. “You’re going down, whether you like it or not!” He declared. All the PlasticBot did was tilt its head at this declaration.

It then proceeded to bring its fist up again, shooting out glass shards. Martyn flicked his wrist around before clenching his fist in the direction of where the shards were coming from. He let go and a sphere of water shot out, catching the glass sharps in it.

He then thrusted his fist forward and it splashed onto the PlasticBot, causing it to fall backwards. “You…,” it began and Martyn took a step back.

“They speak now?! I guess it wasn’t my imagination last time,” he muttered. “What?” Cleo asked but there was no time to chat.

The PlasticBot leaped towards them and grabbed Martyn. They tumbled away and Martyn got to his feet, uncertainly. The PlasticBot then jabbed a fist at his side, causing to go flying back.

Martyn held onto his side before clenching his other fist which the PlasticBot immediately grabbed. It twisted Martyn’s arm around and landed a kick on his back. 

He yelped in pain before slowly lifting his arm in the general direction of the Bot and let go, releasing another sphere of water which splashed against it. The PlasticBot let go and Martyn leaped away.

He moved his arm around to make sure it wasn’t broken and huffed under his breath. Looks like this was harder to beat than the PipeBot from last night.

Cleo had enough of this and pressed the sides of her Driver, revealing the other Keys. Quickly grabbing the Mantis one, she placed it in the middle and a voice came out of it saying, 

“Newly formed Wishes shine again!”

Cleo ran towards the PlasticBot as the beam of indigo light came over her. As soon as it disappeared, Cleo landed a punch on the PlasticBot’s face.

It jabbed at her stomach, making her stumble back and massaging where it hit her. “You’re a tough one to beat. But I’m not letting another one go!” She shouted and pressed the middle of her Driver.

Mantis claws appeared on her arms and she used them to slash at it. The PlasticBot was ready for this and was motioning some punches in their direction before doing one ultimate punch, letting go of some plastic shards.

The shards came into contact with the slashes, causing a massive explosion that covered both Cleo and Martyn away from the PlasticBot’s view.

Thinking it destroyed the two, the PlasticBot huffed smugly and turned its back against them. It started to walk away when it heard a battle cry.

As soon as it turned around, Cleo went through it with a massive kick aimed at its chest. The PlasticBot writhed its body around and fell to its knees, exploding behind Cleo.

They turned around to see bits of it fall down to the ground. They were huffing as it took a long time to beat it. Guess there’s now time to deal with another problem at hand.

“Oh come on! You can’t just take someone’s victory like that! I had it! The Bot was in the palm of my hand!” Martyn complained and sat on the ground, crisscrossed and placed his fist against his chest.

“More like it twisted away from your palm. Anyway, give the Driver back. It isn’t yours and you technically stole it so pray that Tango doesn’t try to call the police on you,” Cleo scolded.

“Why? The Drivers are practically a secret. There wouldn’t be so much secrecy if they weren’t! Besides, I have a mission to do and being a Kamen Rider makes my mission easier,” Martyn explained, cheekily.

“Why you-! Well I’m not going to be responsible with what Tango does. Life Industries tends to do some shady stuff so I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re hauled off to jail…wait no, you look high school age, off to juvie! Under ‘mysterious’ charges,” Cleo explained and Martyn just laughed.

“Been there, done that. They would looooove to welcome me back…not,” he muttered which raised levels of concern there. 

Before Cleo could say anything though, a new voice spoke up.

“Ara? What’s this, two Riders?”

That voice…could it be? Cleo turned around to see a cloaked figure was walking towards them with the RoseBot and LeafBot behind them. Martyn stood up immediately and held his fists up.

“My old nemesis…Rider,” the RoseBot grumbled while the LeafBot giggled. “You…you’re the RoseBot and you picked it up from when I fought it!” Cleo shouted and the cloaked figure giggled.

“Indeed. I warned you to get out of my way but considering that you nearly defeated Leafy here and destroyed what could have been my new bodyguard, I consider you now…my enemy,” the cloaked figures lowered her hood.

She had pure white hair with red speckles on it that was curly at the ends. She wore a cupcake hat and had piercing red eyes and pink lipstick.

“Who are you, lady?” Martyn demanded. 

“I am someone and nobody at the same time. My name is Tarta, now…goodbye!” She waved and in a flash, she immediately went over to Martyn and jabbed him in the place where the PlasticBot hit him before going over to Cleo and jabbing them in the place where the PlasticBot hit them.

Both of them fell front forth. Cleo held onto her stomach but didn’t de-transform. All they did was wheeze in pain though. Martyn wasn’t so lucky though.

He de-transformed and hit the ground, his face feeling the cool grass.

“Wow, is that all you could do? This will be an easy victory for me!” Tarta cheered. Cleo slowly looked up, one eye closed due to pain and gritted their teeth.

Her power…it was just a jab but it felt more than that! Just…what is this? She thought.

[Ending song here: https://youtu.be/a7gNYLeMetY?si=SPogqSEw69Dm4UcP ]

Chapter Text

(3rd Person PoV)

“Well, go on. Get up and defeat me,” Tarta taunted and the two Bots next to her got into a fighting position.

Cleo staggered to get up, still holding onto their side. Tarta leered at her with a sadistic grin on her face.

“Ara? So you did get up. You might just interest me,” she said before pouting at Martyn’s fallen body. “Unlike him,” her sickeningly sweet voice turned into a sour growl.

She held out one hand and from her fingernails, a white flash came out of it. Cleo sprung into action, jumping in between the flash and Martyn, shielding the teen from it.

“Watch out!” They cried out and the white flash hit her.

A flaring heat shot up in her body and she collapsed onto the ground, de-transforming. She tried lifting herself up but her arms were too shaky to hold her weight.

“Oh, that’s not fun. Well it’s your lucky day! I’m not going to kill you juuuuust yet. But my goodness, you wish you’d be,” Tarta snickered and pulled out a syringe. She marched over to Cleo and forcibly grabbed their right wrist. She injected the syringe into it and Cleo howled in pain.

Tarta dropped them and Cleo held onto their wrist, and noticed some black writing making its way onto their skin. That writing turned into numbers.

8760 525600 31536000

The third part of the numbers were slowly going down.

“There! Now you’ll have plenty of time to play with me before you bite the dust!” Tarta cheered and clapped her hands. Cleo glared up at her.

“What did you do to me?” She hissed. “Oh a little bit of tomfoolery. Nothing toooo bad,” Tarta said in a sing-song tone.

“Now,” her eyes turned into slits and her smile turned wider, “time to play!” She held her hands into the air, almost like a conductor and the two bots were about to pounce.

Just as they were about to, a couple of flashes were shot at them and they fell backwards. “Hey! Who did that!” Tarta whined and a Jeep appeared.

A young woman with purple pigtails was in the driver’s seat, wielding two pistols while a younger man with pink dyed hair was driving it.

He swerved off towards Cleo and Martyn. The young woman jumped off and landed next to Cleo. “Come on!” She said and grabbed Cleo. She tossed them onto the back of the Jeep before grabbing Martyn, who was still unconscious.

“Don’t just stand there! Get them!” Tarta shrieked and the LeafBot jumped in the air towards them. The young woman held up one of her pistols and shot at the LeafBot.

It didn’t do much but it was enough of a distraction for her to toss Martyn in the back of the Jeep before jumping in herself.

The pink haired man stepped on the gas and drove them out of there. The LeafBot shook itself and the RoseBot punched the ground angrily.

“They escaped!” He snapped but Tarta didn’t seem too concerned as her face snapped back to a sadistic grin.

“Oh they’ll come back. And when they do, we’ll be ready for them,” she said and walked away, laughing.

[Opening song here: https://youtu.be/V6Q-klKBkXw?si=UMoBVMzW7Oqf-2i_ 

<>

Toshino was busy calibrating a Key when the door busted open.

“Niisan!! We have an emergency!” The pigtailed woman called out and dragged Cleo towards him.

“Ichigo, what is it now?” He grumbled before seeing the state that both Cleo and Martyn were in, the latter being dragged by the pink dyed hair man.

He took one look at them before pulling out his phone. “I’m calling Tango and Uyeda,” he said, choosing to call Tango first.

‘Who’s that?’ Was what Cleo wanted to ask but couldn’t find the words to say it. Her expression must have shown off her confusion because Ichigo pipped up, “Uyeda Shun is the doctor that Life Industries employs for these kinds of things.”

“How many people are employed here?” They muttered and Ichigo shrugged. “A couple,” she replied.

She set them on a chair and the pink dyed hair man set Martyn flat on the floor. Toshino then set his phone in his pocket.

“They’ve been called. Now…care to explain why he has the belt?” He asked and gestured to Martyn. Ichigo stared at Cleo who bowed their head.

“…well-,” they started but then a couple of voices spoke up.

“Cleo!”

“You found the Driver!”

“What happened?”

Skizz, Tango and Impulse showed up. “I just called Tango. Why did you two show up?” Toshino deadpanned but got swiped in the back of the head by Ichigo.

“Niisan, be nice!” She snapped and he rubbed the area where she swiped. “Geez,” he muttered. Tango made his way to Cleo.

“Well did you?” He asked and she gestured to Martyn. “He’s knocked out so don’t go doing anything crazy,” Cleo told him and Tango sighed.

He turned to Toshino and asked, “You called Uyeda right?” The head scientist nodded and Tango sighed once again.

“We’ll have him check over the kid and then we take the belt. We can’t let it fall on inexperienced hands again,” he said.

Cleo did kind of doubt that Martyn was an inexperienced hand but he’s young. There was no need for a high schooler to risk his life being a Rider.*

Everyone else nodded. Tango then turned back to Cleo. “Oh right, introductions. Cleo, this is Ichigo Hina. She’s a field agent for Life Industries. She’s out and about a lot,” he pointed to Ichigo, who waved, before pointing to the pink dyed haired man. “And that’s Ringo Iruma. He’s also a field agent but mostly a driver. You may recognize him if you follow race car racing,” he explained.

“Uhhhh…no?” Cleo said and Ringo took a sigh of relief. “Thank god. I don’t like being recognized,” he said. Is he a famous race car driver or…? Cleo asked before someone could be heard clearing their throat behind them.

“Ahem. I heard that my assistance is required here?” A young man around Toshino and Ichigo’s age appeared. He was wearing a white doctor’s coat and had a dark blue mask on.

“And that’s Uyeda Shun. He’s a doctor employed by us,” Tango explained. “A pleasure. Now who needs medical assistance first?” Uyeda asked and Cleo pointed to Martyn.

“Treat him first. I need to talk with Tango,” she told him and Uyeda snapped his fingers to Ringo and Ichigo.

“Pick him up carefully and follow me,” he told them and they did what he said. The three walked out and Skizz sighed to himself.

“To think an intern stole something precious from under our noses,” he said and Toshino made a sour face at this. 

“Ok, Cleo. Discuss. What happened?” Tango asked, getting straight to business.

Cleo proceeded to explain to them what happened. How a Bot came in and attacked the people near the hospital, how Martyn transformed and that mysterious woman who arrived on the scene.

“She attacked us twice. She knocked Martyn out of his Rider form and tried to attack him again but I got in the way to shield him from her. After I de-transformed, she injected…something into me. And then these numbers appeared and I don’t know what they mean,” they explained and held up their wrist.

“Are those…numbers?” Impulse asked, concerned. “They seem to be counting down,” Skizz said and Tango waved a hand at Toshino.

“Search those numbers up now,” he ordered and Toshino nodded. 

He left to grab a spare laptop and Tango leaned in closer. “Did she say anything else?” He asked.

“She…she said that her name is Tarta. Ring any bells?” Cleo asked. The three of them stayed quiet and were thinking about it for a bit.

They shook their heads and Cleo deflated. For once, they didn’t know anything.

“Well whoever she is, it’s clear that she’s dangerous and we can’t let her walk free. We need to tighten up security and we need to do it fast,” Impulse stated.

“Dibble Dots is right. We have to nip this in the bud now or else we’re in trouble. Do you think the next Key will be done?” Skizz asked and Tango glanced at the Key that Toshino was calibrating earlier.

“Not soon enough by the looks of things,” he said, sadly. Everyone’s shoulders sank.

Tango then waved his hand towards Cleo. “Go home for now. We’ll call you up once we have more answers,” he said but they stayed put, crossing their arms.

“Cleo?” Impulse asked, tilting his head.

“I’m not going anywhere until we get answers. I don’t want anyone to worry nor do I want myself getting worried. I’m staying put until we get answers,” Cleo explained, stubbornly.

A red tick mark appeared at the edge of Tango’s head but before he could say anything, Toshino appeared again.

“Did you find anything?” Skizz asked and he pushed up his glasses. “Just a theory but it took me a while to figure it out,” he explained.

“Spill,” Tango rolled out his palm.

“So I tried seeing if it was a code of some kind so I ran through some programs and nothing came about it. I ran a couple of ciphers and nothing. Then I thought that maybe it was a location so I tried that and I got a couple of results but they all lead to nowhere. And I mean really nowhere, Old Vegas nowhere,” Toshino explained.

Old Vegas was originally Arcana City’s neighbor before it got completely destroyed by an earthquake way before any of them were born. No one knows much about it.

“So what’s the theory?” Impulse asked. “I was getting there,” Toshino muttered and pressed a key on the laptop. He pulled up Google and went to an already open window.

“I realized that I was looking in the wrong direction once I remembered that it was counting down so I thought to myself that maybe it was the number of days that’s on their wrist. I typed in the numbers and I got the estimation of 1 year. Meaning that it’s a countdown to a year,” Toshino explained.

Cleo looked at their wrist, the black numbers counting down before their eyes. She then remembered what Tarta had said to her.

(Flashback)

“There! Now you’ll have plenty of time to play with me before you bite the dust!” Tarta cheered and clapped her hands. Cleo glared up at her.

“What did you do to me?” She hissed. “Oh a little bit of tomfoolery. Nothing toooo bad,” Tarta said in a sing-song tone.

(End of flashback)

“Hey…”

“Hmmm?” They all turned to her and she bowed her head. Feeling her nails digging into the palm of her hand, she struggled with the right thing to say. What should she say?

“Cleo? Cleburt?” Skizz asked, concerned. It’s been forever since he used that nickname for them, Cleo realized. They took a long deep breath.

“What if it’s a countdown to my death?” They asked.

“…”

“WHAT?!” Tango, Skizz and Impulse yelled. Toshino didn’t say anything but his jaw dropped.

“Tarta said…she said something about having plenty of time before I “bite the dust,” as she puts it. Normally when people say that, they mean that someone will die. So…what if it’s a countdown to my death,” Cleo explained, her voice lowering to a whisper.

“But-but that’s impossible! Morbid, even. Cleo, that can’t be it! There…there has to be another explanation. Maybe it is a countdown but instead of death, maybe a new power-up?” Skizz suggested frantically. He placed his hands on Cleo’s shoulders while doing this and she could feel him shaking.

“…I dunno. They could have a point,” Tango said and Skizz snapped his head towards him. His normally calm and comforting blue eyes now blazed in a blue fire.

“Tango! Have more faith!” He hissed but Cleo just patted him on the arm and gently pushed his hands off their shoulders. “Skizz, it’s fine. Tango’s right for once,” they told him.

“…Cleo,” Skizz bowed his head, defeated. Impulse was looking at this back and forth and went to place a hand on Skizz’s shoulder. “H-hey, lighten up. It can’t all be bad. Something tells me that we’re going to see this Tarta again and once we do, Cleo can capture her and see what we can do about this countdown. Hopefully, we’ll have more firepower then,” he assured him.

“Hmmm yes…speaking about that, we need to get that new Key working and find another Rider to use the one the intern stole. You think you can get it done in time?” Tango asked, turning to Toshino.

“At this rate, nah. Me being knocked out and the Belt being stolen stole significant time from working on it,” Toshino explained and Cleo tilted their head, finally noticing the dark circles under his eyes.

“Have you been sleeping well?” They asked, concerned and Toshino scoffed.

“Who needs sleep in this work?” He asked and Cleo slowly turned their head towards Tango. Tango took one look at them before coughing into his fist, nervous sweat rolling down his forehead.

“Toshino, you’re getting a work buddy from now on,” he said and he raised an eyebrow.

“Who could possibly be crazy enough to help calibrate the Keys? I’m not going to add more work on the pile for Brad, by the way,” Toshino told him but Tango shook his head.

“Not Brad. I’m talking about him,” Tango stated and rolled out his palm. He then made a swirly motion with his pointer finger above his head which made Toshino pale.

“No. Absolutely not! I refuse to let him work on this,” Toshino shook his head.

“Toshino, I’m your boss, follow my orders,” Tango sighed and he grumbled.

“You’re honestly lucky that we share a common goal to protect people from the malfunctioning Bots or else I would have quit out of spite,” Toshino said and closed the laptop. He then pulled out his phone and walked out.

Cleo raised an eyebrow and asked, “uhh who?” “Kuro Tamashi. He worked in a similar branch to Toshino except he creates code instead of hacking it,” Impulse explained. Cleo set their hands on their lap in frustration.

“And I assume he knows about all of this?” They made a grand gesture to the room.

“Don’t worry, he’s the last one that knows. We only tell very specific people about this whole operation. Ichigo technically is not supposed to know but Toshino literally can’t keep secrets from her so we’re dealing with that,” Tango explained.

Cleo rested her fist on her chin and sighed. Somehow, someway, she has a feeling that they’re all just digging themselves more and more deeper into the situation.

(Meanwhile)

The same artist from earlier was struggling to get his canvas up. He lost a couple of paint brushes and acrylic paints from the last attack so he wasn’t in the best of moods.

“Stupid Bots! Stupid Life Industries,” he cursed. It was because of them, the city has been in decline and he lost precious time to just paint.

He gripped a little too hard onto the canvas, leaving some marks on it. This was the last straw as he picked it up and slammed it against his knee.

He then shoved the stand down and threw a bunch of brushes in the air.

One of the brushes hit an innocent gardening Bot and its face planted the dirt. “Ow,” it said. The artist then grabbed a bigger brush and began to stab the Bot repeatedly with it out of frustration.

“Stupid! Effing! Bots!” He hissed and the Bot whined. “Action not understood. Why must attack me?” It asked.

Somewhere, in a basement of some kind, a mysterious cloaked figure pressed a button on an old computer and with the Bot, electricity shot out of it.

“No. Don’t want to,” the Bot said before corrupting covered its eyes. 

“Must. Destroy.” It said but in a deeper voice, surprising the artist. “What the-?” He didn’t finish the sentence as the Bot absorbed the paint brush and a blast appeared from it, pushing him back.

His head hit the concrete floor and he blacked out.

Meanwhile, the squad received word that a Bot was on the loose and Cleo took off quickly. As they were running, they took out the Mantis Key and the Driver. They placed it on their waist before holding up the key.

“Henshin!”

They shouted and placed the Key in the middle. A voice came out of it.

“Newly formed Wishes shine again!”

A beam of green light came upon them and once they re-emerged, Cleo had transformed into their Kamen Rider form. 

They pressed the middle of their belt to summon the motorcycle. They got on it and drove away.

The PaintbrushBot was terrorizing some people when Cleo arrived. She cursed under her breath and leaped towards it, slamming the wheel of the motorcycle into it, causing it to fall down.

“It’s the Kamen Rider!” A person cheered. Cleo swerved the motorcycle, Akira style and got off it. They pointed to the PaintbrushBot and declared, “I’m the Rider who’s going to take you down!”

“Well about time,” a voice said in Cleo’s head. “Xiu?” They asked, confused.

“Don’t mind me. Go beat that Bot and use those new moves that I showed you,” Xiu demanded. “New moves? I thought you’d never ask,” Cleo grinned behind their mask. 

Just before they could make the first move, the PaintbrushBot raced up towards them and slammed its fists against their gut, causing them to skid backwards.

Cleo caught themselves in time and the PaintbrushBot pulled its fist back and slammed it towards Cleo.

Cleo managed to catch it in time though and wrapped an arm around it. She used force to slam the PaintbrushBot onto the ground and began to punch it in the chest.

After the fourth punch, the PaintbrushBot jabbed a brush onto the wound that Cleo received from Tarta. She let go and fell backwards, holding onto her side with a wince.

The PaintbrushBot then leapt towards her and wrapped its hands around her neck, slowly choking her. 

Cleo grabbed onto the hands in an attempt to pull it away from them. Her legs began to kick at the Bot but to no avail.

“Need some advice?” Cleo could hear Xiu ask from inside her head. She couldn’t reply but merely bobbed her head up and down.

“Use both legs to kick. Don’t do it one at a time,” Xiu explained. How was that going to help? Cleo thought as the PaintbrushBot squeezed its hands harder onto her neck.

Well there was no better time than the present to try this out. Cleo held onto the PaintbrushBot’s hands and pulled her legs down. She felt something burning inside and when she did a full on kick with her legs, power emerged from it and pushed the PaintbrushBot high into the air.

Cleo rolled out of the way and did a quick spin to get up. She looked up to see that the PaintbrushBot was now falling rapidly.

They jumped high in the air and raised one leg up. Once the Bot reached where they were, Cleo brought her leg down, slamming it harder against the ground, having it shattered into pieces.

Cleo landed on top of it, panting heavily. She could feel Xiu humming with both satisfaction and a little bit of disappointment. “Didn’t use all the moves I taught you but got the job done,” she could hear her mutter.

Before Cleo could ask, there was a sudden outburst of cheers and Cleo took a look at their surroundings. A bunch of people had arrived and were clapping and cheering for her. They all looked like they were hiding somewhere before the attack but they seemed safe.

One bystander caught Cleo’s eyes though…

BigB?! What’s he doing here? Cleo thought, concerned before seeing the grocery bags that he was holding. Cleo gave him a quick nod, much to his confusion, before turning away and getting on the motorcycle.

She soon left after.

They arrived back at Life Industries, exhausted. Tango and Impulse were waiting for them. Cleo de-transformed in front of them and nearly fell to one knee.

“Are you ok?” Impulse asked, concerned. Cleo merely nodded before noticing the grim expressions on their faces.

“Wha-,” Cleo cleared their throat as they’re still feeling the effects of their neck being nearly crushed. “What happened?” They eventually asked.

Impulse glanced at Tango who went over to Cleo and grabbed their wrist firmly. “We have done some digging and well, there have been multiple reports from the past about this sort of thing. Before our world became…you know, our world. That sort of past,” Tango explained and Cleo raised an eyebrow.

“Ok? If we know about it now, shouldn’t there be a cure?” They asked but they shook their heads. “No one could find a cure and they all died in their respective times. No, what we’re really grim about is this,” Tango pointed to the countdown. 

A whole day went by on it even though it’s been a couple of hours. How did that happen?

Cleo looked up at Tango who let go of her wrist. “It seems like fighting…makes the countdown go faster,” he explained.

“WHAT?!” Cleo cried and Impulse flinched. “Yeah…we weren’t…well we weren’t happy to hear about that,” he admitted and Cleo nearly sank to her knees.

I was protecting those people…and I’m getting punished for that? What kind of unfairness is this? They thought, their face pale. It seems like this was turned more grave.

Chapter Text

(3rd Person PoV)

Cleo was laying their head on the counter, their hands crunching a piece of leftover popcorn from last night. They kept their promise to their kids to watch a movie when they came back from work.

They tried, they really did, but they couldn’t find it in themselves to enjoy that time. Especially since their time was being counted down to their death.

Bdubs didn’t notice as he was just happy that Cleo was with them and that they were all watching a movie together but Cleo just couldn’t read Scar’s face when she assured them that she was fine.

The NosyNeighbors though, oh they 100% noticed as Pearl could be seen whispering to BigB when they went back to their house. Cleo guesses that she really can’t assure them that she was fine.

“…this sucks,” they murmured and rolled up their sleeve to stare at the countdown. They then looked around to make sure that Scar and Bdubs wouldn’t walk in. It may be Sunday and all but still.

As they were staring, the numbers went down before their eyes and sighed.

“I can’t let anyone else know about this. Especially not the kids,” She said and was about to roll down her sleeve. And that’s when Pearl and Big B came in.

“Cleo, we got you some apple pi-is that a tattoo?!” Big B cried and immediately, Cleo rolled down her sleeve.

“Nope!” They exclaimed. “But we just saw something on your wrist,” Pearl pointed out.

“I accidentally spilled some ink on it. Nothing to be suspicious about!” Cleo explained. “But that’s literally what a tattoo is. Ink on your skin. Cleo, you know that having a tattoo is illegal in Arcana City,” Big B told them.

“It’s not a tattoo!” Cleo hissed and immediately walked past them and out the door.

“Where are you going?” Pearl asked, lowering the pie with an eyebrow raised.

“Work! Tango just asked me to come in and I need that paycheck, ok bye!” Cleo raced out.

The Nosy Neighbors just stood there, confused. They then looked at each other and Pearl held up the pie. Big B just rubbed his temples.

“Ok something is up. Cleo is never that enthusiastic about going to work. Just yesterday they asked us to babysit Scar and Bdubs out of the blue. She’s hiding something and I want to know what it is,” he said.

“I agree. Maybe it’s not a tattoo but there’s definitely something,” Pearl agreed. “I sure hope it isn’t because it’s dangerous to have that,” Big B said.

“What’s dangerous to have?” Bdubs appeared from behind them. The two of them jumped and Pearl nearly dropped the pie.

“And then I said to Betty that having a bike without chains is dangerous! And she said that her son brought that bike to her!” Big B stated loudly and quickly.

“I agree. How dangerous,” Pearl stated as well.

Bdubs gave them the side eye. “Don’t you two have something better to do than to gossip,” he deadpanned.

“Run along Bdubs,” Big B told him and he rolled his eyes. 

“Goodbye Nosy Neighbors,” he waved and went to his room.

The two of them looked at each other as soon as he left. “B?” Pearl asked, cautiously.

“Let’s pretend to drop it for today but let’s start digging in a couple of days. I worry for Cleo sometimes. First the shotgun wedding with Etho, then his death and now this, it’s too much for one person to handle. It’ll be helping them if we do this,” BigB explained.

“Hmmmm…I guess you’re right. She’s our friend and that’s what friends do, they help each other out,” Pearl added.

She went to put the pie down, leaving BigB with his thoughts.

Cleo…I hope that it really is nothing, he thought.

[Opening song here:https://youtu.be/V6Q-klKBkXw?si=AFJtdKG9iYcR-heH ]

<>

“They’re suspicious of you, you know?” Xiu asked, sprawled across her couch as Cleo caught a couple of flies with the sticky fly traps that she wrapped around her fingers.

“You think I don’t know that? Just another thing on my plate, dammit,” they hissed and swiped the air quickly.

“Just how close are you with those people anyway?” Xiu asked, tapping the side of her head with two fingers. Cleo grumbled to themselves before jabbing a finger behind her, catching a fly midair.

“Since high school. I would have gone to college with Pearl but…plans changed,” she admitted. Xiu didn’t push for more although she was curious about what she meant by that.

“Anyway…it seems like you’re improving on your speed. You should have no troubles with fighting more quickly than before,” Xiu said, changing the subject.

“…thanks…anything else I should do for training?” Cleo asked and took off the fly traps. She dumped them in the trash as Xiu straightened herself up.

“No, that’s all for today. Ask Tsubasa or Shen to train you later though if you still feel like training,” Xiu told her. Cleo gave her a nod.

“Alright, I’m waking up now. If you need anything…wait,” they instructed and Xiu nodded.

In a blink, she was gone and Cleo was back in the training room with her arms feeling rather sore. She stretched and got off the floor. She placed the Mantis Key in her pocket and walked out.

They turned on the sink in the restroom and washed their hands before splashing water on their face. They felt a single strand of hair on their face and brushed it aside.

Cleo found herself staring at herself in the mirror. Her lip curled up in a scowl and pointed at the mirror. “You need to stop thinking about the inevitable. Everyone dies so stop worrying about it,” she told herself. Her reflection said nothing to this.

And I’m talking to myself…great, they thought and turned the sink off. They then dried their hands and face off with paper towels.

They walked out, only to be met by Impulse. Before they could say anything, he spoke up quickly, “Bot at Chariot Street, near the hair salon.”

“Right,” Cleo said with a quick nod and ran off. Something about their response didn’t sit well with Impulse. It was like they had something on their mind.

Cleo…I hope that you’re alright, he thought, remembering their reaction from yesterday when he and Tango broke the news to them.

(Meanwhile)

In a white room that smells of hand sanitizer, Martyn’s eyes fluttered open and he noticed that he was not in his room but instead, a hospital-like room.

He sat up immediately and tossed off the white sheets. He slipped off the bed before feeling a pang of pain coming from his side and held a hand to it.

“God…what happened?” He asked before realizing that he didn’t have the Driver on him.

“Huh? Oh no, did they take it?” He asked and went searching around the room. Martyn tossed up some papers in the air, hoping to see if they had hidden the Driver underneath something.

He then looked on the bed and tossed the sheets on the floor. Martyn felt around the bed before standing on it to search around the tops of the room. He spotted a shelf and got down from the bed.

He then got up on a chair and felt around the shelf. He muttered a curse under his breath and called out, “Aqua?”

“Yes?” She appeared beside him and Martyn sighed in relief. “Good, you’re still here with me,” he said and she crossed her arms.

“Rude! I’m a part of you, they can’t take me away from you…unlike the Belt,” she said, bitterly and Martyn rolled out his palm.

“Explain.”

“Yes, they patched you up because you were badly hurt. Then they took the Belt from you and I don’t know where they put it. What I think they would do is put it back in the lab where you took it. I think they still have things to do with it considering…you know…,” Aqua then went quiet and looked away.

“Yeah…damn then. I guess I got to take it back somehow. I can’t stand around here,” Martyn said and Aqua nodded.

“But be careful. I really doubt that they’ll let you off the hook after you stole from them once,” Aqua told him.

“Don’t worry, I have a plan,” Martyn assured her with a mischievous glint in his eyes. I hope you do, Aqua thought, sweatdropping.

(Later)

A large Bot with a hair dryer shaped face was tearing up lampposts and using it to break the windows of the shops.

It then tossed a lamppost in the air where it hit a flying car and it crashed into a nearby building. 

Cleo, who had just arrived on scene, immediately ducked and used her hands to shield from the falling rubble.

“It’s already this bad?” They muttered and grabbed the Driver. They placed it around their waist and held up the Mantis Key.

“Henshin!”

They shouted and placed the Key in the middle. A voice came out of it.

“Newly formed Wishes shine again!”

A beam of green light came upon them and once they re-emerged, Cleo had transformed into their Kamen Rider form. 

They rushed in and grabbed the HairDryerBot, flipping it over their shoulder. It hit the ground with a groan.

Cleo got into a fighting position, their arms bent into a mantis-like position with two of their fingers pointing down.

The HairDryerBot got up immediately and switched a button on their head. Hot air immediately came out of it and pushed Cleo back.

She hit a brick wall and slid down. That’s new, she thought as the Bot aimed its head towards her again and this time, she jumped out of the way.

She then slid towards the Bot and kicked its shin, which made it almost trip forward before Cleo whacked its chin with her palm.

The HairDryerBot though, then used its own arm and grabbed Cleo’s wrist. In a panic, Cleo remembered that it was the wrist with the countdown and flailed around to get themselves out of the Bot’s grip.

The HairDryerBot then raised Cleo into the air and slammed them right on the ground before raising a foot to stomp on their stomach.

Cleo yelped in pain as she got stomped two times and before the third stomp, she grabbed its ankle and using whatever was left of her strength, tossed off the Bot.

She sat up, wincing in pain. She then held onto the wrist that was grabbed and brushed her thumb against it.

Before Cleo could do anything else, hot air hit her and tossed her in the air. Cleo hit a lamppost that hasn’t been uprooted yet and the HairDryerBot rushed over and slammed a fist against her face which was thankfully mostly protected by her helmet.

It didn’t stop from hitting the lamppost with the back of their head due to the punch. The HairDryerBot then grabbed Cleo up before tossing them away towards the same area where Cleo was previously.

They were losing, Cleo realized, and badly.

The Bot then switched on the hot air again and pushed Cleo back onto a brick wall again. This time, it was more fierce than usual.

As Cleo hit the ground, she de-transformed and felt iron in her mouth. She wiped her lips and noticed that there was something red on her hand.

Blood…

Before Cleo could do anything else, the Bot picked them up by the throat and held them up. Cleo weakly punched the Bot’s hand but it only made it squeeze their neck.

Cleo wanted to cry out in pain but her voice failed her. She struggled and kicked at the Bot but it didn’t seem to be doing anything.

The HairDryerBot then slowly raised them higher before, in a flash, was bringing them down to hit the ground.

However, a white flash shot at the Bot, causing it to flinch and drop Cleo. Like yesterday, Ringo and Ichigo came to the rescue. 

Ringo slammed the Jeep straight into the HairDryerBot which made it go flying away.

This distraction made Ichigo jump off the Jeep and grabbed Cleo by the arm. “Come on, let’s go,” she told her. Cleo wanted to protest but the worried look on Ichigo’s face made the protest die in her throat.

She helped them up into the Jeep. “Step on it,” she told Ringo who nodded. He slammed the accelerator and the Jeep lunged forward, almost making Cleo fall back and Ichigo face planted the back of the passenger seat.

“Not that hard!” She snapped, rubbing her forehead. Ringo didn’t respond and kept his eyes on the road.

Cleo rubbed their throat before glancing back at the destruction that was left behind.

“What-,” she paused as her throat was dry and cleared it before continuing, “what’s going to happen to that Bot now? It’s going to make more destruction.”

“Prez is already sending a distraction. It’ll hold it off until you recover,” Ichigo explained before a buzzing noise came from her skirt pocket. She fished out a phone with a squishy, purple phone case and swiped it up.

“Speak to me,” she said and Tango’s voice could be heard from it. “Is Cleo there with you?” He asked.

“Yep, they’re here,” Ichigo confirmed and Tango could be heard sighing with relief from the other side.

“Well that’s one bit of good news,” he said and Cleo tilted their head.

“What do you mean by that?” They asked and Tango went quiet. Ichigo nervously glanced at Cleo to see what they would do now.

“Tango, what happened while I was fighting the Bot?” Cleo asked, gritting their teeth. “…ok so you know the kid right?” Tango asked.

“The other Kamen Rider? Yeah…oh geez, what did he do? He didn’t steal the Driver again, did he?” Cleo asked, face palming. All Tango did was make a noise at this.

Why does that kid want the Driver anyway? Cleo tried to remember what he said to her.

(Flashback)

“…It isn’t yours and you technically stole it so pray that Tango doesn’t try to call the police on you,” Cleo scolded.

“Why? The Drivers are practically a secret. There wouldn’t be so much secrecy if they weren’t! Besides, I have a mission to do and being a Kamen Rider makes my mission easier,” Martyn explained, cheekily.

(Flashback over)

“Mission…what mission?” Cleo muttered. Tango’s voice could be heard again from Ichigo’s phone. “A mission?” He asked and Cleo shook her head.

“It’s nothing. So what are we going to do now?” They asked.

“You go and rest up. I’ll buy you some time,” Tango explained and hung up. Ichigo pocketed her phone and Cleo reached over to Ringo and tapped his shoulder.

“I need to head to a place. The hospital area where you picked me up yesterday,” they told him. Ringo merely grunted and switched directions. Now that Cleo noticed, the Jeep appeared to be very old and doesn’t have a flying option on it.

“Hey. Hey. Why do you need to head to the hospital?” Ichigo asked, snapping them out of their thoughts. Cleo just gazed over at the road.

“………well let’s just say that I have a hunch,” they murmured.

It took them a bit to get there but once they did, Cleo told Ichigo and Ringo to wait outside. They both seemed confused but complied.

Cleo walked in and went straight to the front desk where a bored nurse and a nurse bot were sitting.

“Excuse me but has a boy with blond hair come by recently?” Cleo asked and the nurse looked up. 

“Yep. It’s visiting hours…poor kid,” she said which made Cleo raise an eyebrow at this.

“Is it alright if you could point me in the direction where he went? I’m his supervisor and wanted to know where he went,” Cleo asked, quickly coming up with a lie to convince the nurse to let her through.

The nurse stared at her before shrugging. “Eh, things have been slow at this hospital. As long as you don’t make a mess or disturb any of the patients, you can go on ahead. The kid usually heads over to the left over there and goes to room 104. You’ll find it if you look at the number plagues on the doors,” she explained.

Cleo nodded and bowed her head in appreciation. She went in the direction where the nurse pointed and looked at the number plagues on the doors.

It didn’t take that long where she found the room but also found Martyn. The door was open askew so they could hear the conversation that was going on.

“Hey, Scott. I’m back,” Martyn said and sounded like he was out of breath. There was no response and as much as they were curious, Cleo didn’t want to peek through as eavesdropping was bad enough.

“…I miss you. I got the Driver back, so good news at least. I swear to avenge you and once I do…you got to wake up…please,” Martyn said with a tremble in his voice, almost pleading.

Avenge…, Cleo thought and turned away to walk out from the hospital. This wasn’t a conversation that she should be eavesdropping.

Yeah that didn’t work as Martyn called out, “yeah, I know you’re there! Don’t try to hide it!” Cleo winced as he poked his head out, his arms crossed.

“Well, at least it’s just you…I think. The President isn’t here, is he?” Martyn asked, looking around but Cleo shook their head.

“It’s just me here,” they assured him. Martyn raised an eyebrow before beckoning her to come on in. Cleo did so cautiously and her jaw slightly dropped at the sight.

On the hospital bed, connected to a bunch of cables and barely moving, only his chest moving up and down to show that he was breathing, was a boy with choppy and short cyan hair. He appeared to be Martyn’s age and due to the withering roses in the vase on the table next to the bed, it seemed like he’d been there a while.

“Well Mx. Janitor, meet Scott Smajor. He would normally be greeting you but as you could see,” Martyn gestured to him half heartedly, “can’t really say hello here.”

“Kid…what…what…,” Cleo couldn’t quite get the words out as her shock overtook her. Martyn brushed a finger across a piece of coral that was at the end of a necklace that he was wearing.

“It happened around a month or so ago, I think. It’s…a long story,” he muttered. Cleo then turned her full attention to him.

“Is he the reason why you’re doing this? Is avenging him your mission?” They asked and Martyn let out a humorless laugh.

“Been paying attention huh? I guess you could say that I want to make the world a bit safer for when he wakes up,” he explained. He didn’t seem ready to share what happened to his…friend…? Cleo wasn’t sure what their relationship was but based on the fond and sad look on his face, they could tell that this boy was special to Martyn.

“…I feel you. I also want to make the world a bit safer for two people important to me,” Cleo admitted and Martyn glanced at them.

“Do you now? Is that why you looked beaten up?” He asked and Cleo brushed their neck with their thumb.

“I dunno what you’re talking about,” they muttered and Martyn rolled his eyes.

“You may have hid it well from the nurse up front but I can see it. Your limp, the red marks on your neck, the dried blood on your face. You were in a fight. A fight that didn’t go well,” he explained and lifted his pointer finger at her.

Something about his voice tells her that he was being serious. Almost as if he had experience.

Actually now that she thinks about it, Martyn did fight pretty well against the Bots that he went up against, better than your average civilian, even if it was scrappy and not very well put together. Plus he mentioned juvie. 

No wonder he could see through their facade.

“Why are you here by the way?” Martyn asked and Cleo just looked out the window.

“…admittedly there was a call from Tango that you once again stole the Driver. After he hung up, I put two and two together and suspected that you would head here again,” they explained and Martyn hummed.

“And you were going to do what exactly?” He asked, an accusative tone creeping into his voice.

Cleo then surprised him with a shrug. “Didn’t really think that far once I would have found you here. I guess I just wanted answers to why you’re risking your life to be a Kamen Rider,” they explained and turned their attention back to Scott.

Martyn followed their example. “Why are you risking your life to be a Kamen Rider?” He asked.

Cleo responded in a heartbeat, “same reason as you. Just for two people instead of one.”

Martyn said nothing and silence filled the room.

A singular rose petal fell from the rose and Martyn took out the Driver. He tossed it in the air and caught it.

“I don’t plan on giving this back. Not until I avenge him. So if you’re going to get in my way-,” he started but Cleo just snorted.

“After seeing this,” she gestured to Scott, “you think I’m going to stop you?” She asked.

Martyn held the Driver close to his chest and narrowed his eyes at her. His lips thinned before asking, “what do you plan on doing now?”

Cleo didn’t immediately respond but she also took out her own Driver. She traced a finger across the lines in the middle.

She glanced at the arm where the timer was at. They paused and gripped onto the Driver.

Martyn was still watching them so they placed their Driver away.

“I guess I should finish what I started. Can’t back down now,” they admitted before gesturing to the door.

Martyn raised an eyebrow and Cleo huffed. “Oh please, it’s an invitation to fight alongside me. I’m not going to turn you in to the police or Tango,” they explained but Martyn was still skeptical.

Cleo sighed and walked out. Before she was out of sight though, she turned her head slightly towards him.

“If you’re serious about this, then I’ll be waiting outside,” they told him before leaving.

Martyn nearly collapsed on the chair next to the hospital bed. He let the Driver fall onto his lap as he looked up at Scott.

“…”

“Martyn run!”

He could still hear Scott’s horrified scream from that day after telling him to run.

He buried his face into his hands and took a long deep breath. Was he truly serious about this?

Martyn could feel Aqua appearing in front of him and staring at him with a worried expression on her face.

He didn’t lift his head up to look at her.

Cleo at this point had walked out of the hospital and towards the Jeep. Both Ichigo and Ringo perked up when they saw her.

“Are you all better now or did you do what you needed to do?” Ichigo asked but all Cleo did was shrug.

“Give me five minutes or so,” they said, leaning against the Jeep. Ringo wrinkled his nose at this.

“We don’t have five minutes. The distraction isn’t going to last that long,” he told them but Cleo didn’t respond.

They merely looked up to see Martyn running towards them. He stopped in front of the Jeep and looked over at Cleo.

“…so?” She asked and Martyn placed his hands in his pockets. “…you really aren’t going to tell?” He asked, meekly and Cleo couldn’t help but hold back some laughter.

“Of course. Now, you coming or what?” They asked and Martyn rolled his eyes. “Might as well finish what I started,” he said and held up his Driver.

That’s all that Cleo needed to hear before motioning to Ringo. He let out a deep sigh. “You better tell Tango to give me a pay raise,” he grumbled and turned the key.

Both Cleo and Martyn hopped on as soon as Ringo turned on the Jeep and drove off immediately.

Back on the scene, a couple of Bots mainly used for combat training were trying to subdue the HairDryerBot but to no avail.

It kept blowing hot air and tossing the Bots up into the air. Now the Bots were pretty tough so they aren’t being destroyed but some cracks were starting to appear on them.

The HairDryerBot had enough so it picked up one of the Bots with one hand and slammed it against its knee, destroying it. The rest of the Bots backed off.

“Well? Does anyone else want to fight me?” The HairDryerBot asked, slyly. The Bots looked at each other with seemingly concerned looks on their faces.

The HairDryerBot was about to lunge at the Bots when it suddenly noticed the Jeep coming in fast.

Both Cleo and Martyn hopped off it. The HairDryerBot snorted when it saw them.

“So you returned? Do you think one other person will make a difference?” The Bot asked and Martyn took a step back.

“Did the Bot speak when you were fighting it?” He asked and Cleo shook their head. “It seems like they’re learning a lot quicker now,” they said and placed the Driver on their waist.

“Tch! Well, looks like there’s no going back now. Aqua?” Martyn asked and she appeared beside him.

“No need to ask,” she told him and transformed into a blue Key. It landed on his hand and Cleo took out the Crane Key.

They both held the Keys up and said,

“Henshin!”

From Cleo’s Driver, a voice said, 

“Quickly dashing through the Fluffy Clouds.”

From Martyn’s Driver, a voice said, 

“Water creates life and destroys life.”

Two light beams, one white and one blue, suddenly came down upon them. 

Both of them raced towards the HairDryerBot as soon as the light disappeared. Martyn clenched his right fist before unclenching it to shoot out a splash of water towards it.

The water smacked its face, confusing it. The HairDryerBot shook its head before Cleo slammed her hands onto its torso in a beak-like motion.

It fell backwards before sweeping its feet around to smack the two of them in the face with that motion.

It spun up before pressing a button on the side of its head. “Oh no!” Cleo hissed as they felt hot air blast from the Bot and at them.

They spread out their wings to ride the wind long enough for it to stop. Martyn wasn’t so lucky.

He went flying back and smacked an old mailbox. He scrambled to hold onto it.

“It wasn’t that strong before! Are the Bots…learning?” Cleo muttered before gliding down.

They got into a fighting position before they felt something tap their leg. They looked down to see a purple and white Bot with a pink bow tie around its neck. In a clawed hand, it held up an orange Key with a picture of a snake on it.

“This is…did Toshino send you or Tango?” Cleo asked. The Bot nodded which didn’t really tell Cleo much.

Then she felt hot air coming towards them and shoved the Bot away before rolling away from the attack.

She landed near Martyn who let go of the mailbox.

“What’s the plan now?” He asked, not very amused. Cleo paused and looked at the HairDryerBot who was still spitting out hot air.

“We can’t get near it once it’s spitting out hot air like that. We have to block that somehow,” Cleo muttered before looking at the new Key that she received.

She then looked at Martyn and an idea started to form in her mind. “You can summon up water right?” Cleo asked and Martyn snorted.

“Nooooo…what do you think?” He deadpanned. Cleo snapped her fingers in the direction of the HairDryerBot.

“Hold off the hot air with your water as much as you can. I’ll see if I can get close to the Bot with new power,” they explained.

“You think that’ll work?” Martyn asked. 

“Just do it!” Cleo hissed and behind his helmet, Martyn rolled his eyes.

“Oi! Over here!” He called out and raced towards the HairDryerBot. It slowly moved its head towards him, bringing in the hot air. Martyn was ready though.

He had his fists clenched and as soon the Bot looked at him with the hot air, he unclenched them, shooting out a large wave of water, almost like a shield.

As soon as he did this, Cleo held the Key over their Driver. A new voice came out of it saying,

“Daylights bring alongside a new power.”

An orange light came upon her. When she came to be, Cleo noticed that she was in a room with a woman with spiky pink hair and wearing a puffy orange party dress.

“Oh, lookssssss like I’m finally up. Amazing, issssn’t!” She said and Cleo could have sworn that they saw a snake tongue flicker in her mouth.

“Teach me the basics so I can get back to fighting. I left a kid out there, fighting,” Cleo stated and the woman nodded.

“Alright. I’m Evelyn and I will be your teacher,” she said and snapped her fingers. Once again, a light projected onto Cleo and she started to learn the basics.

When she came to be, she was back where she started. Cleo looked at their suit and pumped up their fist.

The main parts were still green but the white parts were replaced with a scaly orange part. Instead of feathers, just scales were on them. Cleo could even feel tiny fangs on their mask.

Immediately, they propelled themselves towards the HairDryerBot who was still shooting out hot air at Martyn. He was skidding back but held his ground.

Cleo grabbed onto the Bot and shoved it to the side. The Bot hissed in annoyance and raised a fist to slam against Cleo but they quickly bent their knees down into a stance before raising one arm softly to block the punch.

As quick as a flash, their other arm struck out and their hand jabbed at the HairDryerBot. The Bot growled angrily and tried to push Cleo away so it could wiggle room to push the button on their head again but Cleo used that other arm to softly block the push before swiftly following it up with another jab using the first arm that they used to block.

This caused the HairDryerBot to stumble back. Cleo then got into a stance before leaping into the air.

Meanwhile, Martyn was charging up a water attack behind the Bot. It noticed him too late as it raised a hand towards the button.

Martyn shot out a large water sphere. It slammed against the Bot, causing sparks to come out of it as it flailed around.

It then looked up as soon as Cleo came down upon it, kicking through it. She skidded away as the HairDryerBot exploded, leaving behind not much. Just some circuits and a chip.

Ichigo, who was hiding in the Jeep alongside Ringo, hopped out and grabbed the chip. She went back to the Jeep and told Ringo, “we should go now.” 

No need to tell him twice as he hit the accelerator and drove off.

Martyn then walked up to Cleo, hands on his hips.

“Some plan, huh?” He huffed, leaning in. Cleo flicked his mask and scowled behind hers. “Kid, quit with the sarcasm,” she grumbled.

“Whatever, Mother,” Martyn stated, sarcasm dripping in his words.

Too can play it that way, Cleo thought, a red tick mark appearing on the side of her head. “Sure thing, Son,” she hissed.

This turned out to be a mistake as suddenly, a news car came driving in and it was recording them.

“You heard that? We finally got names for our mysterious heroes!” The same orange hair reporter from the last couple of times said and held onto a microphone.

Cleo immediately froze. Martyn whispered to her, “you think they saw us transform?”

The orange haired reporter unknowingly answered his question with, “we were just heading towards the original area where the Bot was at when we saw flashes of bright lights here and by the time we arrived, the battle was starting. And now we finally caught names for our heroes. Kamen Rider Mother and Kamen Rider Son!”

“W-Wait, that isn’t-,” Cleo started before hearing Evelyn’s voice in their head. “Jusssssst leave before they assssssssk any other questionsssssss,” she told them.

Cleo then grabbed the Mantis Key and quickly swapped forms. They then pressed the middle of their Belt and summoned up their motorcycle.

“Come on,” they grabbed Martyn’s arm and  set him down behind her as they sat on the motorcycle.

“Wait! We still have questions!” The reporter called out but Cleo had already driven away.

Ending song here: https://youtu.be/a7gNYLeMetY?si=vS3MErrXdr6zW0yM