Okay, had another thought. Basically, whether I should start bringing my other guys in shortly. The heroes are on a transport ship and are should be a prime target for anyone working for Shocker, right? That a little inside help would be useful is pretty true.
Morty could do that and offer help; he'd want Quirin in his possession rather than Shocker's for various reasons, and Quirin is still a tad oblivious and would think he was someone they could trust. Mortimer would have plans to send the others into a trap most likely, and then kill a random worker guy who he could say was the traitor who helped them, while he captured the escaped Riders himself.
There could be a first meeting with Eel for somebody, Quirin could get his belt, and there could be a battle which creatures I have dubbed the Aiemfa-M, including:
Name: Derploom
Classification: Organic Rider M.Spirit-Series Failure
Subtype: Poltergeist
Base Material: Gasoline
Abilities: Replenish and replace own body by drooling; ignore damage to main body; explode; burn; fit into tight spaces
Weakness: Rest will run out sooner or later if tongue is removed.
Description: One of the first mature Aiemfa-M, he was presented as a finished prototype of a new monster soldier rather than a failure in creating a new type of Rider. Many other mature Aiemfa have been given to main branches of Shocker for this purpose, relieving suspicion from the work of Mortimer and his branch. Derploom himself was kept by his creators for further study and later to fulfill the role of guard and soldier for them. His sanity is considerably questionable, but his missions tend to consist of a target and freedom to destroy anything around it.
Name: Belsyre
Classification: Magical Rider M.Spirit-Series Failure
Subtype: Banshee
Base Material: Glass
Abilities: V1 - Multiple arms; sharp claws; mirror shields. V2 - Will scream and shatter the shields, after which shards attack
Weakness: Damage to main head without opening the eyes
Description: A rarity among the M-Series, she was not grown for her powers, but instead was a young lab assistant named Amy, who was modified. Because of the setting of 'Banshee', the subject needed to have brainwaves that fit 'despair'. These could be stimulated manually, but all attempts at growing fitting hosts led to Base-Aiemfa. The attempt was made to use mature subjects instead, who would more readily understand horrific tortured being used on them; she was the only one to survive the procedure.
Name: Mag-Rider Base Type 4
Classification: Magical Rider M.Spirit-Series Failure; Stage 1 incompatibility
Subtype: Tree-spirit
Base Material: Electricity
Abilities: Temporary floating; electric shocks with hands and antlers; standard punching/kicking
Weakness: Frail
Description: Aiemfa-M Base Types are Aiemfa-M that were rejected by their upgrades early-on in the creation process; they are largely human and often have the appearance of children; many are uncoordinated and even slimy from incubation vats. Few can understand much beyond a few simple commands.
The M-series, of course, tries to mix magical, biological, and technological aspects. However, the only cases of success have used technology as the main focus, that is in the Gossamer and Grease belts (projects which Mortimer didn't allow interference on at all). Aiemfa-M tend to be Magic or Biologically based, as a failed host for a technologically-based rider would not be given a belt and would have no powers of his own.
And I think that's...the idea.)