Episode 17: An Untimely Farewell
"Hold on, back up a moment," Cole said, "Did you say that you guys saw Sarah run off?"
"That's pretty much the jist of it," Alex stated.
"That's a good thing isn't it?" Tara asked, "I mean she can walk again, that means everything is fixed!"
Cole smacked Tara on the top of her head, "People don't recover from having their legs broken in one day. Obviously the problem is how she recovered."
"Oh..." Tara returned, "You don't think she could have...?"
"That's what I'm afraid of," Alex sighed, "But as much as I don't want to think about it, we can't ignore the possibility that Sarah is now a dopant."
"It's not possible!" Madison shouted, "I know Sarah, there's no way she would become one of those things. She just wouldn't!"
Alex placed his hand on Madison's shoulder, "It's a bit of a stretch... but at the moment it's the most likely explanation."
Madison leaned in to Alex and buried her face in his chest. He held her tightly in his arms.
Alex patted her gently on the back, "I know it's hard to believe, but try to hold on for the moment." He said looking Madison in the eye, "There's still a chance we're wrong."
Madison gulped and then slowly nodded.
Alex smiled back at her, "That's my girl."
"Now then," Cole said getting the discussion back on track, "How exactly do we go about figuring this out? I mean, do we even know where she is?"
"Tara, have Kree do a search of the school," Alex instructed.
"Already on it," Tara said releasing Kree into the air as he flew off into the sky above.
"Perfect," Alex returned, "Now then, everyone else. Split up and search the surrounding streets, she couldn't have gotten that far. Meet back here if you find any leads."
"Right, got it," Cole and Tara said before taking off in opposite directions.
Alex looked over to Madison who wore a gloomy look on her face. He took hold of her left hand with his right.
"Don't worry okay," He said to her calmly, "we'll find her."
Madison kept her head to the ground, "... I hope so."
{Insert Opening Credit Sequence}
Sarah walked slowly down an empty street looking down at the ground below her feet. As the wind rushed over her she heard the call of a bird, she looked up to see Kree flying over her. In a panic she ran down the road until she came to a corner that turned to the right.
She dashed down the corner to see Tara coming up the street towards her. She looked around her to find another route but found none. With no other options available she ran back down the way she came until she came to a bridge with a forested area off to one side. As Tara drew in closer to her she jumped off the road and ducked under the bridge.
Within a few short moments she heard the sound of footsteps over top of her that stopped at the top of the bridge as Sarah's heart began to pound rapidly. The sound over top of her shifted over to the right, then to the left. After a few seconds they turned back and walked off into the distance in the direction that they came from. Sarah let out a small sigh of relief. She poked her head out from under the bridge and looked over to either side to make sure that no one was there.
As she stepped out from under the bridge a flash of yellow flew in front of her causing her to jump. Once she regained her composure she realized that the flash was Tara who hung upside down from the branch of a tree.
Tara glared at Sarah with the eyes of an interrogator as if she was not looking at her, but instead through her, "You honestly expected that cheap trick to work?... Who the hell do you think we are?"
Sarah sighed, "Just leave me alone will you."
"Give me one good reason why we should," Tara demanded.
"Ugh, never mind," Sarah said as she pushed Tara aside a proceeded up the hill back to the road.
"I wouldn't expect someone like you to understand."
Tara swung herself around the branch and landed on the ground, "What makes you think we wouldn't understand?"
"You really want to know?" Sarah turned to Tara, "You never take anything seriously do you? Everything is just one big game to you isn't it? Well you know what there are some people that would kill to be in your position and yet you've thrown all of the things you've been given in life away like they were nothing."
"Is this about me throwing up in your gym locker that one time?" Tara asked.
"It's about everything you idiot!" Sarah shouted, "Do you know how much I've had to work just to get where I am now? How much pressure is put on me by my parents because of my siblings?" She balled her hands in tight fists as she began to cry, "Older sister? who graduated top of her class in every subject. Older brother? He has his own law firm... Where does that leave me? I'm just some worthless cripple that can't even tell the person they love how I feel..." a small smirk appeared on Sarah's face as she whipped her face, "But who am I kidding... I don't deserve someone like that."
Tara tilted her head, "Wait a minute, are you..."
"Like I said, you wouldn't understand," Sarah said turning her back to Tara, "so please... just forget I was ever here."
Tara said nothing as Sarah turned away and began to walk down the road.
Kree flew down and perched on Tara's shoulder, "You couldn't be more wrong."
Sarah stopped, she then turned back to Tara, "What was that?"
Tara let out a sigh, "nothing."
"As I thought," Sarah said turning her back to Tara. As she turned around, a small glare bounced off her back and into Tara's eye blinding her for a moment.
"AH!" Tara shouted. She looked back to Sarah and saw a small patch of silver scales on the back of the girl's neck. She rubbed her eyes and looked back to Sarah only to realize she had already left. She leaned back against a tree and turned to Kree, "Humans don't have scales... do they?"
---
Alex and Madison walked down along an empty street looking for Sarah. Within a few minutes they met up with Cole with a glum look on his face.
"Find anything?" Alex asked.
"Do you see her standing next to me?" Cole returned.
"Sorry, guess I should've figured that," Alex said hanging his head.
"It's alright, it's only natural I guess," Cole returned. He looked over to Madison, "How are you holding up?"
"I'll manage," Madison said avoiding eye contact with Cole, "I'm more concerned about Sarah."
At that moment the call of a bird filled the air overhead. The three looked to the air to see Kree swoop down to them and land on Cole's shoulder.
Cole blinked, "K-Kree?... But where's-"
Alex pointed over Cole's shoulder, "There."
Cole looked over his shoulder to see Tara running up behind him. As soon as she caught up to
Alex, Cole and Madison she hunched over and panted frantically.
"Any sign of her?" Alex asked.
"Yeah..." Tara panted, "I found her... but, then I lost her."
"I guess that means we're back to square one then," Cole sighed.
"Not exactly," Tara said standing up right, "We were able to uncover something."
"What would that be?" Alex asked
"Our suspicions were correct," Tara proclaimed, "Sarah at the moment, is a dopant."
"Well then that's perfect," Madison said, "Now we just need to get the memory away from her and our problems are solved right?"
Tara shook her head slowly, "I'm afraid it's not that simple."
"What do you mean it's not that simple?" Madison asked frantically grabbing Tara by her shoulders, "How much more simple could it be?"
"Kree and I did a scan of her to find out whether or not she had a memory on her," Tara explained, "and... well..."
"'Well' what?" Madison demanded.
"That's the complicated part," Tara proclaimed, "It seems that despite how they normally work Sarah's memory is different from the others. It's inside her and it seems to be growing the more mentally unstable she becomes."
Madison removed her hands from Tara's shoulders and let them drop to her side, "No... That can't be true, it just..."
Alex placed his hand of Madison's shoulder, "Madison, please ju-"
"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" Madison shouted slapping Alex's hand off of her shoulder. She looked Alex in the eye in shock of what she just did. Before either of them could say a word, Madison took off down the road as fast as her feet would carry her.
---
Vainglory stood behind his throne looking out a large window pane looking over the city.
"Were you able to retrieve it?" He asked to Rylee who knelt on the floor behind him.
"Yes my commander, the driver and memory have been safely returned, "though there were a few... complications."
Vainglory turned to face Rylee, "What sort of complications?"
"While we were able to retrieve the driver and memory, the host was... unrecoverable," Rylee said with sorrow in her voice.
"That is of little concern to me," Vainglory returned coldly, "Now that we have reclaimed the unit, all we must do is find a new, more durable host."
"I understand my commander," Rylee said getting up onto her feet, "I shall begin the search for one im-"
"There shall be no need for that, as I have already taken the liberty of selecting one myself," Vainglory explained, "and with all that has happened, I feel it would be best to keep this one within our bloodlines."
Rylee's eyes widened, "Sir, you don't mean-"
"As a matter of fact I do," Vainglory proclaimed, "This is something I can't simply give to just anyone, as I need them to have the same blood as someone I trust completely. That of course being your blood Spite," He sat down in his throne and put his hands together, giving his full attention to the woman who stood before him, "Rylee... I need Carter."
"Sir I..." Rylee said before hanging her head, "I understand... Commander."
A warm grin appeared on Vainglory's face, "Thank you... Spite."
"What about the others then?" Rylee asked.
"Fury is taking care of them," Vainglory returned, "It shouldn't be long now."
"You sent him in again?" Rylee said, baffled by the idea, "Didn't he fail the first time?"
"Indeed he did," Vainglory stated looking over to a pack of dogs in the corner of the room, "so much so that I was willing to feed to the wretched vermin that he calls dopants," he sighed, "however, he promised that he would return successfully this time. So I allowed him one last chance to prove his worth to me."
"You think he has any chance?" Rylee asked.
"Of course not, a fool like him never had any chance," Vainglory said coldly, "Though he claimed he had recently created something that would sway the odds in his favor...," he sighed once more, "For his sake, he better be correct."
---
Madison ran up the hill back to the school building as her legs would carry her. She came to a halt as she reached the top of the hill with a forested area behind her. She looked over to the gate that lead to the track field.
"Madison wait!" Alex shouted as he ran after her. Madison began to run over to the field as Alex caught up to her and grabbed her by her arm, "Just... wait a moment... will you," he panted.
"Let go of me!" Madison shouted trying to break free of Alex's grasp. She squirmed around frantically trying to get Alex to release her. In her panic, she ripped her arm out from Alex's grasp and slammed her foot down over the edge of the hill leading down into the forested area that surrounded the hill as the ground broke off from under her.
"Madison stop!" Alex shouted as he grabbed the girl's arm in an attempt to pull her back up only to be pulled down the hill along with her.
The two rolled down the hill as Alex wrapped Madison in his arms and used himself as a shield to break her fall. Within seconds the two smacked down hard into a bush at the the bottom of the hill.
"Ah," Alex said in agony trying to recover from the fall. He looked to Madison who he held tightly in his arms, "You alright there Madison?"
"HMMM!" Madison exclaimed with her face buried in Alex's chest. She pushed herself free and took in a big gulp of fresh air, "You're stronger than you look you know that?"
Alex blinked, "Huh?"
"You were squeezing me so tight that I couldn't breath," Madison explained. She then looked down, then back up to Alex, "Also," She said looking away from Alex, "I'm not sure if now is a good time to be coping a feel."
Alex looked down to see one of his hands placed on Madison's breast. He quickly removed his hand as his face turned bright red, "He he he, sorry about that."
"It's alright," Madison giggled, "just be sure to ask next time alright?"
"Yeah I got that," Alex said as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Oh please, get a room you two," A voice called out.
Alex and Madison turned to the source of the voice with their backs to the hill
Madison's eyes widened, "... Sarah?"
{End of Part A}
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
{Star of Part B}
Madison ran up to Sarah and wrapped her arms around her in a great big hug, Sarah quickly doing the same and wrapping her arms tightly around Madison.
"Thank god you're alright," Madison said in Sarah's embrace.
"You don't have to worry," Sarah said stroking Madison's long red hair, "I'm right here."
"Madison," Alex shouted walking over to Madison and Sarah, "Get away from her."
"Why?" Sarah asked, "do you suspect I'm going to hurt her or something?"
"Just let her go Sarah," Alex demanded.
"Give me one reason why I should," Sarah returned, tightening her hold on Madison.
"You're a dopant now right?" Alex asked, "With the power you now have, there's no telling what you could do." Alex extended his hand to the blond haired girl in front of him, "Sarah please.. just give me the memory... we can work through this."
Sarah slapped his hand, "No," She shouted, "The three of you all have them! Heck, you have six of them yourself. There shouldn't be a problem with me just having one now can there?"
"Of course not, you shouldn't even have one in the first place!" Alex shouted back, "How exactly did you get it anyway?"
"I think I can help you out on that one," Another voice called out.
Alex looked over to his left to see Derek leaning against the trunk of a tree. He snarled, "...Fury."
"You see Alex Darwin," Derek said with a smirk, "All poor Sarah wants... is the power to protect the one she loves."
"Stop..." Sarah whispered.
"Wait... do you mean...," Alex whispered to himself.
"For you see dear child," Derek said with a mocking laugh, "the one that the poor girl's heart belongs to..." he pointed to Madison, "is her."
"Please stop..." Sarah whispered again, this time slightly louder.
"After you lot left her alone in her hospital room, the poor girl had been brought to tears," Derek explained, "She kept crying about how she was unable to save her beloved with her own hands, and the fact that the weapon she planned to rescue her princess had other plans." A sinister smirk emerged on Derek's face, "Face it kiddo, whatever happens from here is all on you-"
"SHUT UP!" Sarah shouted as she swung her arm over to Fury as five razor sharp projectiles fired out of her fingertips and into the tree the Derek leaned against.
Sarah looked over to Madison who cowered behind Alex staring right at her, both of them had their eyes wide open.
Derek smirked, "I see your new capabilities are coming in nicely... Reptilian."
Sarah turned back to Derek and lowered her arm as scales began to form on her hand where she fired the projectiles from, "What did you call me?"
Derek chuckled, "We had a deal... remember?"
"Bastard!" Alex shouted as he rose to his feet and standing Madison upright. "You think that people are just things to be toyed with?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out his Star and Runner memories as his driver materialized around his waist. "I will not allow you to hurt anyone else ever again!" He slammed the two memories into his driver and prepared to split the two slots apart, "HEN-"
As he readied his transformation, three sharp points pressed up against Alex's neck. He looked over to see Sarah who had three blade like weapons jutting out of her fingertips and into Alex's neck.
Sarah gulped, "Sorry Alex... a deal's a deal."
"Nothing in this world is free kid," Derek stated, "and this one paid a heavy price."
Alex looked Sarah in the eye, "What's he talking about?"
"The price I paid for the memory he gave me... was your driver," Sarah explained in a cold voice. "Now please... give it to me."
Alex looked over to Derek, "and if I refuse?"
"I kill all three of you right here and now," Derek returned, "The choice is yours."
"Rock! Maximum Drive!" The voice of a memory shouted as two green blades of light sliced through the trees in between Alex and Sarah before hurling towards Derek, Derek jumping out of the way as the tree behind was ripped apart.
Cole emerged from the trees and placed his hand on Alex's shoulder, "You guys alright?" He asked with his hammer in his other hand while Tara descended from above, both of them in their respective rider forms.
"Yeah..." Alex returned, looking over to the scale's on Sarah's arm, "mostly."
"We'll worry about that later," Tara exclaimed while cracking her knuckles, "right now we have bigger fish to fry."
"I was wondering when you two were going to show up," Derek proclaimed, "Gale... and Rock."
"Argh! You again?" Tara sighed, "Didn't we kick your ass hard enough the first time?"
"That defeat was… a minor set back," Derek said as he pulled his driver and slapped it onto his waist as two belt straps shot out of the sides and connected at the back, "but I guarantee that it shall not happen again."
"We defeated you once before Fury," Alex shouted, "and we'll defeat you again."
"Well, let's see if you can," Derek said with a smirk as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a deep, almost black, red gaia memory with an R marked on the label, "now that I have this." He cackled as he hit the button below the label.
"RUTHLESS!" The gaia memory in Derek's hand shouted as he rammed it into his driver, "RUTHLESS! FURY!" The driver shouted once again as Derek was engulfed in red fire which formed into a dark red suit of armor with a jagged black trim. The usual eyes on his shoulder armor being replaced with hungering mouths and the hood being switched out for a jagged helmet with two large horns that looked like they were on fire along with three similar looking adornment on his shoulder armour as well to match.
Fury cracked his neck once to the left and then to the right, "There, I think that evens things up a bit, don't you?"
"This isn't good," Alex said to himself.
"I'll say," Cole returned, "Any ideas?"
Alex nodded, "Tara!" He shouted, "get Sarah and Madison out of here."
"Got it," Tara returned changing Kree into her glider and strapping it to her back before grabbing Madison by her arm.
"Like hell I'm going with you," Sarah said in protest.
"Sorry, agreement not required," Tara said as she grabbed Sarah before pulling the two girls in close to her and shooting off into the sky.
Alex placed his hands over to the two slots on his driver. "Ready Cole?"
Cole nodded, "Always."
"Alright then, here goes nothing..." Alex said as he stared down Fury. He took in a deep breath, then exhaled. "HENSHIN!" He shouted as he split the two halves of his driver apart.
"Star! Runner!" Alex's driver shouted as the black and red armor of his Star Runner form materialized around him and formed over his body.
"We'll take him out here then see to the girls," Alex instructed.
"Got it," Cole returned.
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about them," Fury said smirking under the void of his helmet, "I'd worry about yourselves."
---
Tara flew down from the sky and touched down onto the track field, she quickly letting go of Sarah and Madison as they regained their footing on the ground.
"What the hell is wrong with you!" Sarah shouted, "Why would you just leave them there, we could've helped you know!"
Tara walked up to Sarah and slapped her hard across the face. She sighed, "Man you're a piece of work. You know that?"
Sarah stood gawking at Tara, "You're kidding right?"
"Oh I'm sorry, did you want to die?" Tara asked.
"Well, no," Sarah returned, "It's just that-"
"It's just what?" Tara asked tilting her head to the side, "Cole and Superstar can handle the big boy on their own and think about it, the two of you are safer here then you would be back there-" as Tara spoke, the growl and breath of rabid dogs filled the air. Tara turned around to see a pack of five black furred beast dopants with blood red eyes lurking behind her, "On second thought... maybe not that much safer."
---
Back in the forest, Cole and Alex dashed over to opposite sides of Fury. Alex landed on the ground a few feet to the left of Fury and kicked himself forward throwing a punch at him. Fury moved his hand over to a dial on the side of his belt until a blue S was at the top under a red arrow.
"Shift! Maximum Drive!" The dial shouted as Alex's fist connected to Fury but proceeded to phase through him, the rest of Alex following shortly.
Alex fell to the ground, "What?" He thought to himself as he saw Cole rush over to Fury, "Cole wait!"
As Cole charged towards him, Derek moved the dial once more until a violet M came up.
"Major! Maximum Drive!" The dial shouted as Fury extended his arm to Cole as a violet shield of light shot out of his hand knocking Cole into a tree before he fell to the ground.
"How is this... possible?" Alex said as he inched along the ground before Fury stepped down on his hand and twisting the heel of his foot.
"You honestly don't think I sent out all those memories for nothing did you?" Fury asked with a light cackle to his voice. "Each one that you have destroyed has been to further my own agenda. Now that I've tested it against you lot, I'm sure it will be more than enough to overthrow Vainglory."
"Like hell you will," Cole shouted, picking up his hammer and rising to his feet.
Cole ran over to Fury as Fury switched the dial to a silver S, "Shredder! Maximum Drive!" The dial shouted as three large blades formed on Fury's right arm.
Fury slashed Cole across the chest tearing into his armor knocking him back to the ground "Dear child... why would I tell you the details of my plan if there was any chance of you stopping me?"
"Monster," Cole grunted gripping his chest.
"Oh please. I'm not a monster, I only create them." Fury said kicking Cole in the head, "Speaking of, my guess is that Reptilian and those Rabids I sent after Gale should be done ripping her and that pretty little girlfriend of yours to pieces by now," He knelt down to Alex's eye level, "would you like to see?"
Alex growled at Fury, "You bastard."
Fury smirked under the void of his helmet, "I thought you might."
---
Back at the track, Tara threw one of the beast dopants into one of the benches causing it to shatter to pieces. Before she had a second to breath, two more jumped on her. She kicked one of them to the side and punched another in the face before she whipped out the flail on the back on her belt as all five of them recovered from Tara's attacks and circled around her.
"Crap damn..." she panted, "these things just won't give up."
"Well of course they won't," Fury called out emerging from nowhere behind Tara, "that's how I programmed them after all."
"Damn bastard," Tara shouted turning around flail in hand to face Fury.
"Now now," Fury said as Alex and Cole dropped from the shadow of Fury's cloak, "you wouldn't want anything to happen to these two would you?"
Tara gritted her teeth and tightened her grip on the chain of her weapon, "I'll kill you and smash you memory before you can."
Fury moved the dial on his belt to a red F, "Flame! Maximum Drive!" The dial shouted as a ball of fire ignited in each of Fury's hands, both pointed at either Alex or Cole.
"You sure you're quick enough?" Derek asked.
Tara growled for a moment, then lowered her flail, "Alright... you win."
Fury smirked, "As always."
Madison and Sarah watched helplessly on the other side of the beasts.
Sarah fell to her knees as she began to tremble, "This is all my fault."
Madison placed her hands on Sarah's shoulders and looked her in the eye, "Snap out of it Sarah, you had nothing to do with this. Fury's only trying to get into your head, don't let him!"
Sarah placed her hand over Madison's and shook her head, "I'm afraid it's too late for that." She said as a tear ran down her cheek, "You see... everything he's said... has been right. The thing is Madison... I," Sarah leaned in close to Madison and wrapped her arms around her before giving her a single passionate kiss on the lips. She held Madison in her embrace for a few seconds, then broke off and looked Madison in the eye, "I'm sorry."
At that moment, the scales growing on Sarah's body was fully engulfed her as her hands changed into the claws of a dragon. "AHH!" Sarah shouted as two large silver wings tore out of her back followed by a a tale as her human form morphed completely into that of a large dragon with silver scales and two angry golden eyes.
Madison sat on the ground in awe of that beast that was once her best friend only moments ago, "... Sarah?"
The beast snarled before flapping it's wings and flying over Madison and over the quarrel between Fury and the riders. It plowed through the black beasts and snatched one into it's jaws before landing on the ground and devouring it whole.
"Well Reptilian, you turned out better than I expected," Fury proclaimed. Reptilian turned it's attention to Fury and the riders a large swarm of voices filled the air. Fury turned to the main school building to see that a crowd of students and teachers had gathered outside the fence to the field, "An audience has gathered to witness your demise... how touching."
"This isn't good," Alex thought to himself.
Alex jumped to his feet as Reptilian charged towards him. Reptilian opened it's mouth and fired off five balls of blue fire four of which hit the four remaining beasts, burning them to an ash instantly, while the fifth smacked Alex square in his chest knocking him to the ground. Reptilian then hovered over Alex and wrapped it's jaws around his head before biting down hard on his helmet.
"Alex!" Cole and Tara shouted running to Alex's aid.
"I think my work is done here," Fury said as he turned his back to the battle that was unfolding in front of him and began to make his leave. As he proceeded to the gate at the other end of the track, he felt a small tug on the end of his cloak, "Huh?" He said as he turned to see a teary eyed Madison grabbing on to his cloak.
"Change her back," Madison cried.
"You're kidding right?" Fury laughed, "Just look at that thing, that is the fate of all that use gaia memory. Once a host reaches it's limit, the memory takes over and throws away all humanity the person once had until they are nothing more than what you see now, a shattered shell of something that you would never consider to be human," He smirked, "That is the shattered state, and once it is reached there is no going back."
"LIAR!" Madison shouted choking on her own tears.
"Believe or not, it really doesn't matter," Fury said as Madison's hand fell to the ground, "It won't bring her back, nothing will." Fury turned his back to Madison as he disappeared into the shadows cast by the morning sun.
Madison looked over to the battle between the riders and the beast that was once Sarah. She balled her hands into fists as tightly as she could, "I won't believe it."
On the other side of the field, Alex Cole and Tara held their ground against Reptilian, neither one of them wanting to do any harm to it for fear of hurting Sarah.
"Sarah!" Alex shouted as Reptilian struck him with the spines on it's tail, "Sarah, I know you're in there! Please Sarah, just listen to me!"
Reptilian whipped it's tail at Cole and Tara knocking them to the ground before forming the spines on it's tail it the shape of a blade and hurled it towards Alex. Alex, seeing he couldn't avoid it, shut his eyes and braced for the impact.
After a few seconds, Alex noticed that the blow he had anticipated had not come yet. He slowly opened his eyes and looked in front of him. Upon doing so his eyes shot open to the horror of Madison standing in between him and Reptilian with the lizard's tail jutting out her back covered in blood.
Alex stood frozen, "Madison..."
"Well Alex... was I finally of use to you?" Madison asked with a grin coughing up blood. Reptilian pulled it's tail out from Madison's gut as she stumbled towards the beast. Madison walked up to Reptilian and wrapped her arms around it, holding the beast tightly in her embrace, "Sarah, I know that... you're scared... but you don't have to be anymore... I'm here for you, so please... stop this..." She said as she collapsed in Reptilian's claws, losing consciousness as she did.
Reptilian closed it's eyes before a single tear ran down it's scales. "You always were an idiot... but I guess that's part of what I love about you," the beast said in Sarah's voice. Reptilian opened it's eyes as they changed from gold to the same blue as Sarah's eyes. "Alex... I think you know what to do."
"Are you sure?" Alex asked.
Reptilian nodded, "I think it's best... if I just disappear. Besides, I'm done for anyway, might as well be by your hand."
"Alright... I'll end... your rampage," Alex said as he removed the Star memory from it's slot on the driver and placed it in the maximum drive slot.
"Star! Maximum Drive!" Alex's driver shouted as a charge up sound erupted from the memory.
"Just promise me something..." Reptilian said "look after Madison for me, alright?"
Alex nodded "I will... always."
"Thank you..." Reptilian said closing it's eyes and it took in a deep breath, "Alex."
Alex hit the button on the side of the maximum drive slot before forming his right hand into a fist as it was engulfed with a light violet flame. Alex ran dashed over to Reptilian and threw a single punch as the giant lizard turned to dust leaving not a single sign that it was ever there.
Alex turned back to where the beast once stood and closed his driver, removed the memories from it and reverted back into his civilian form, Tara and Cole doing the same. He watched as the dust left by Reptilian was swept up into the air. "Goodbye... Sarah." Alex walked over to Madison and knelt down beside her, "Guys! Come over here!"
"What is it?" Tara asked as she and Cole rushed over to Alex.
"She's lost too much blood," Alex explained, "She'll die at this rate."
"Is there anything we can do to help her?" Cole asked.
"I don't know," Alex returned.
"Perhaps I can be of help," A voice called out.
The three of them turned to see a familiar face standing a few feet away from them, "... Joel." Tara and Alex said in a somewhat surprised voice.
"Who?" Cole asked.
"He's the guy I got your driver from Cole," Tara explained.
"Sorry, I guess this isn't a good place for proper introductions now is it?" Joel said scratching the back of his neck. "Looks like you have a serious issue on your hands there."
"Isn't there anything you can do to help her?" Alex pleaded.
"Well, there is one way," Joel said hanging his head, "but it comes at a price."
"Please just tell me! I'll give you anything just help her!" Alex demanded.
"This price isn't one that can be paid with physical property," Joel explained, "For you see, my gaia memory gives me the ability to take and give energy. However that energy must come from somewhere." He sighed, "In short, I can restore her to before she suffered her injuries using her body's physical memory ... but to do so I'll need to use up a portion of her mental memory."
"In English?" Alex asked.
"If I use my power to restore her, the memory that she has gained between the last few months and today will be completely erased," Joel explained. "All that she has experienced, all that she has know from her last birthday to today shall be lost."
"You've done this before I take it?" Tara asked.
"A couple of times," Joel returned looking over to Tara, "One, wasn't so easy."
Cole placed his hand on Alex's shoulder, "Alex, that means-"
"I already know," Alex interrupted, "She'll forget all about the dopants, kamen riders, and me... but in the end... it's better that way. She deserves a normal life... away from all of this, and I'm going to give it to her." Alex turned to face Joel, "It might hurt me, but... I'll give her up," He said holding Madison tightly in his arms, "I won't let Madison die!"
"Alright then," Joel said pulling out a golden gaia memory, "let's begin."
He placed the memory into a similar looking driver to Fury's which he had around his waist, "Inertia!" The memory called out as pale white armor with blue accents and a skull shaped helmet with two large horns formed around him.
Joel sat down in front of Madison and placed one hand on her forehead and the other on the wound in her chest as a golden light spread from his hands and engulfed the unconscious red haired girl. Inertia took in a deep breath, then exhaled as the light faded from Madison as the wound in her chest began to slowly heal.
"Her mind is reworking itself," Joel said as he rose to his feet, "She'll live but it will be a while before she wakes up again."
"That's good enough for me," Alex said as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small silver ring with a violet gemstone, "I know you told me to keep it, but I think it'd be best if you had it," he said as he slipped the ring on Madison's finger before kissing her on the forehead, "So as long as you wear this, I'll always be with you... even though it might not seem like it." He placed his hand over Madison's, "I'll never forget you, Madison."
Alex rose to his feet and handed Madison over to Cole, "Cole... hold onto her please."
"Alright," Cole said taking Madison from Alex.
"And... these as well," Alex said as he placed something into Cole's hand as he began to walk off down the track.
Cole looked into his hand to see Alex's six gaia memories, "Wait, these are-"
"I will not allow anyone else to be harmed because of me," Alex said without turning around, "So I'll leave protecting this city up to you two. From this moment... I am no longer a Kamen Rider."
Tara jumped to her feet, "What! You can't just-"
Before she could finish, Joel placed his hand on Tara's shoulder. Tara looked to Joel who shook his head slightly at Tara.
"I didn't ask to be a hero, I just happened to become one by accident," Alex said tightening his fists and keeping his eyes shut. "So now, I'm going to quit being one on purpose."
Cole, Joel and Tara watched as Alex proceeded down the track and disappeared around the gate.
Tara turned around and slapped Joel, "Why did you stop me from talking him out of quitting!"
"It wasn't your decision to make... it was his," Joel sighed, "Some people just aren't cut out to be a hero. If you were Alex right now, I bet you would've done the same."
Tara looked over to the gate, "Well yeah but-"
"Just leave him," Cole said patting Tara on the head, "He just needs some time to himself... Maybe someday, you'll understand."
---
In a high rise condo overlooking the city, the front door opened as a girl with long navy blue hair walked through with a suitcase in her hand. She was accompanied by an older man who brought in three larger bags along with him.
"Alright, you should be all set," a man said turning on a light, "I'm right down the hall so you know, shout if you need anything."
"Alright, thank you for the assistance," the girl returned setting down the bag she held in her hand.
"Anytime," He said as he stepped out of the condo and closed the door behind him.
"Actually," The girl said turning back to her assistant, "would you mind getting me a copy of today's newspaper?"
"Of course," The man proclaimed, "I'll go get you mine."
"Thank you," The girl returned as the man closed door on his way out.
The girl then walked across the condo floor to the large glass door on the other side and ran her hand along the handle of the door. Her hand then dropped to her side.
"Looks like I have finally found you," She said balling her hand into a fist, "Your end draws near... Kamen Rider."
End of Act Two
{Insert Ending Credit Sequence}