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Quote of the Chapter:
"Giving up halfway is worse than never trying at all."
— Misato Katsuragi. (Evangelion).
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[BBOOOOOOMMMM!!!]
A deafening crash echoed behind them as chunks of concrete exploded upward as Ox climbed back onto the ruined floor, dust cascading from the massive Orphnoch's armored frame.
[THUD.]
He rolled his shoulders once, the chains around his gauntlets clanking heavily as crimson eyes locked back onto the two clones, and afew seconds later, Mantis landed lightly beside him without even a faint sound.
His bladed arms hung loosely at his sides while his glowing insectoid eyes remained fixed on Victor. "...Persistent little pest," Mantis muttered.
[SKRRRRRRAAAAKKKK...]
Then, from the elevator shaft, long ivory claws dug into the concrete wall, and deep grooves were carved into the shaft as Lady Rose slowly pulled herself upward.
Her petal-like armor emerged from the darkness before she stepped back onto solid ground. Despite having an elevator dropped on her, there wasn't so much as a scratch on her bio-armor, and her glowing white eyes settled upon Lorenzo. "...You are becoming increasingly troublesome."
The five opponents filled the area with silence, with the three Orphnochs slowly spreading apart without exchanging a single word. Ox remained directly ahead, Mantis drifted toward Victor's left, and Lady Rose silently walked to Lorenzo's right; with this, the clones found themselves surrounded.
Victor slowly looked around. "...Well...running's off the table."
Lorenzo nodded in agreement and let out a groan. "...Yep, we're dead..." However, not too long after, his eyes suddenly lit up. "...WAIT!" He quickly reached down and grabbed one of the metallic briefcases that had fallen out of his grasp nearby during the collapse when he saved Victor. "Oh, right!" Without another word, he tossed it toward Victor. "...Catch!"
Victor instinctively caught it against his chest before immediately regretting it. "...OW!...my ribs..." He looked down at the heavy case, then up at Lorenzo. "So...what's this?"
Lorenzo's grin slowly spread despite the situation. "...Open it up and find out."
Victor blinked. "...Now, seriously?"
Lorenzo simply widened his grin and gave him a thumbs up before holding his own case. "...Just trust me, you'll love it."
[CLICK.]
Still confused, Victor undid the latches, and the case slowly opened, revealing a sleek metallic belt alongside several strange devices. But his eyes immediately locked onto the silver-and-black flip phone resting below it. "...No way..." His hand slowly reached inside and carefully lifted the phone as though it might disappear if he moved too quickly. "...Lorenzo...is this...real?"
Lorenzo couldn't stop himself from grinning. "...Oh, it's real." He held up his own briefcase and popped the latches open.
[CLICK.]
Lorenzo carefully lifted his Kaixa Phone from the case and showed it off. "...I call dibs on Kaixa."
Mantis's glowing crimson eyes immediately widened. "...No..." His gaze snapped between the Faiz Phone in Victor's hand and the Kaixa Phone Lorenzo had just lifted from the case. "...Impossible." His calm demeanor was shattered as he was filled with not only panic but rage. "THOSE ARE THE DRIVERS!" The insectoid Orphnoch took an involuntary step forward, his bladed arms flaring outward. "...Lady Rose!" He turned toward her, his voice filled with disbelief and contempt. "How did these defective clones obtain the Faiz and Kaixa Drivers?! They were supposed to be delivered directly to Ox and me!"
Lady Rose's expression never changed. "...Silence." Her emotionless gaze remained fixed on the two young men. "It no longer matters how they obtained them." She slowly raised one clawed hand, pointing directly at Victor and Lorenzo. "...Simply retrieve them from their corpses."
The words immediately snapped both Lorenzo and Victor back to reality as Victor slowly lowered the Faiz Phone. "...Oh, right, we were kind of in the middle of getting boxed in and murdered."
Lorenzo scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "...Yeah...got a little distracted."
The two exchanged a sheepish look before nodding simultaneously. "...Let's fix that." Without another word, both reached into their respective cases. Victor pulled out the sleek silver Faiz Driver and Lorenzo his Kaixa from their molded compartments.
[CLACK.]
In one smooth motion, both Victor and Lorenzo fastened their Drivers securely around their waists before they both flipped the Faiz and Kaixa Phones open in perfect synchronization.
Victor's thumb hovered over the Phone. "...Alright...here goes nothing." Lorenzo grinned from ear to ear. "...I've wanted to do this since I was a kid." Their fingers danced across the keypads.
Victor: [5-5-5]
Lorenzo: [9-1-3]
Then they hit the confirmation button at the same time
[BEEP! x2]
[STANDING BY. x2]
The mechanical voice echoed throughout the ruined corridor at almost the same moment before Mantis immediately lowered his stance and lunged forward without hesitation. "...Stop them!"
Lady Rose slowly raised one hand. "...Stand down." Mantis froze and whipped his head towards her in shock and confusion. "...Lady Rose?" She never took her eyes off the two clones. "...It is unnecessary."
Her voice remained perfectly calm. "...They are incomplete clones with impure blood...the Faiz and Kaixa Gear rejects those without the proper qualifications." Her glowing eyes narrowed slightly. "...Even if they possess the Drivers...transformation is still impossible." She folded her hands behind her back. "...Allow them their futile hope."
Both Lorenzo and Victor tightened their grip on the phones in their hands before they both raised the phones simultaneously. "HENSHIN!"
[CLICK. x2]
Both phones slid cleanly into the slot at the center of the Drivers at the same moment
[COMPLETE. x2]
The electronic announcements echoed throughout the ruined corridor as the two lowered their arms to their sides.
For one heartbeat, nothing happened, and Lady Rose closed her eyes and spoke in a smug tone. "...As expected, a failure—."
[FWOOOOOOOOOSHHHHHH!!!]
A crimson flash and golden flash erupted from their respective Drivers, swallowing both young men completely.
Lady Rose's eyes snapped open. "...What?"
Photon Streams burst into existence around Victor, crimson lines racing across his body in geometric patterns before solidifying into black armor piece by piece.
Simultaneously, golden Photon Streams wrapped around Lorenzo, weaving together into angular black-and-gold armor as plates locked together with crisp metallic snaps.
The light faded, and standing where two battered clones had once been...where two Kamen Riders.
[For a better experience, start listening to ISSA - JustiFaiz while reading]
Both amber and violet coloured compound eyes burned to life on both the Faiz and Kaixa armour helmets, respectively. Photon Blood streams pulsed brilliantly as crimson and gold light flashed across their armor.
"...Impossible..." Lady Rose whispered, genuine disbelief finally appearing on her usually emotionless face. Both Mantis and Ox tensed in surprise at the fact that it worked without any problems, and Mantis quickly bent his knees and exploded forward
[BBOOOOOOMMMM!!!]
His insectoid body blurred through the corridor as both blades crossed toward Victor's neck, intent on ending this quickly before either Rider could move. As he approached, he noticed they still hadn't moved or shown any signs of reacting, and under the belief that while they succeeded, they were still too weak to react properly to his full speed, he confidently prepared to remove their heads from their bodies. Mantis's bladed arms cleaved through the air as they aimed directly for Victor's neck. "...Die!"
With a shout full of confidence and triumph, his blade arrived where Victor's neck should be; however, instead of seeing blood, it cut nothing, as all that remained was empty air. "...What?" Mantis's compound eyes widened in both shock and horror. 'Where did he go...?!?! I...I didn't even see him move...!!!`
Suddenly, a chill ran up Mantis's spine as a second earlier he heard the voice of the person he aimed to kill only seconds earlier. "...Too slow." Victor's calm voice echoed from directly behind him. Mantis instinctively twisted around, but Faiz had already begun to move as he quickly planted his foot firmly into the ground and drove a devastating reverse kick straight into the center of Mantis's back.
[BBOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!]
"...GUHHHKKK—!!" The impact folded Mantis forward as his feet left the ground entirely, his body hurtling through the corridor like a missile, straight toward Kaixa, who had already lowered his stance. "...Perfect." He dipped beneath the incoming body at the very last instant, rotating his hips as his fist tightened. "...HAAAH!!"
[BBOOOOOOMMMM!!!]
Kaixa's golden-armored fist buried itself directly into Mantis's abdomen, and the corridor detonated with noise as a shockwave blasted outward from the force of Victor's kick and Lorenzo's punch combined into one devastating impact.
"...GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!" Mantis's entire body arched violently before rocketing backward
[BANG!! x2]
But neither Rider intended to let him recover as they both disappeared simultaneously with great speed; to Mantis and the other Orphnoch, they looked as though they had begun to teleport.
Lady Rose's eyes were wide and trembled as she couldn't wrap her head around how they were doing this. As clones, they shouldn't be at this level; at best, they might match them, but that is unbelievable.
Victor appeared on Mantis's left and Lorenzo on his right. Both Riders pivoted in perfect synchronization and whipped their legs outward "...HAAAH!!"
[BBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!]
Two side kicks landed simultaneously against opposite sides of Mantis's body as air itself burst apart from the force compressed around him for a split second before detonating outward.
[CRAAAAAAAAAASSSSHHHHHHH!!!]
Mantis became nothing more than a blur as he was launched sideways, as he tore through a support pillar.
[BOOM!!]
Then another.
[CRASH!!]
Then smashed completely through the corridor wall, disappearing into the next hallway beneath an avalanche of concrete and twisted steel before dust slowly drifted through the ruined corridor.
Victor slowly lowered his leg. Lorenzo did the same; across from them, Ox and Lady Rose remained perfectly still as they were frozen with shock at their leap in strength and speed before slowly turning their heads to stare at the massive hole where Mantis had disappeared.
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To be continued in the next chapter of
RIDING THROUGH THE OMNIVERSE!
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