Honor Among Thieves Prologue

This just in!

KUWAHAWI CITY, Kuw - Tragedy struck at the Kuwahawi National History Museum last night as a daring criminal group identifying itself as The Zeldoten Gang!!! launched a daring robbery against the beloved institution. Witnesses say that robbery began when a large armored vehicle fired an explosive projectile at the northern wall of the museum and drove into the building. Onlookers who attempted to see the crime in progress were attacked as twenty-eight to thirty-two masked gunmen opened fire, mostly in the air, to deter witnesses.

Police and fire crews responded immediately as the building began to be consumed by fires causing by the explosive entry into the museum, but the fire response was delayed until police could apprehend the armed thieves. The thieves were armed with more explosive devices however, throwing hand grenades at police vehicles, prompting a stand-off while nearby national guard units could be mobilized.

Before any arrests could be attempted though, two figures believed to the the gang's ringleaders, Zeldoten and Nibbles Renstim, were seen carrying valuable artwork to their vehicle. Upon loading their stolen goods into their vehicle, the gang members reboarded the truck and blasted their way through another way. Museum curators estimate the total cost of damages to the museum and its collection to be well into the tens of millions of krowns.

Arrest warrants have been issued for known members of The Zeldoten Gang!!! If you have information, please dial the authorities at...

~

Ibuki's Tour Bus

Zeldoten looked at the newspaper and then looked at Nibbles. Nibbles was enjoying toast with jam. Yum yum! She looked at the newspaper again, squinting to hide some hidden meaning to the article.

"We weren't in Kuwahawi City last night..."

Your Typical Day as a Planeswarden

Planeswarden Luxendarc Chapter, February 2017...

It was a quiet afternoon in Ringabel's office as he read the latest intelligence briefing. A few more potential threats in neighboring sectors neutralized, his own followers reporting in on investigations, and the latest council meeting minutes. Another discussion devoted to the Earth chapter? Duer was probably tearing his gravel out.

He'd send some encouragement later, maybe quietly ask Magus if there was more to the story. In any case, business could wait until after coffee. Dia, the lovely lass, had sent him some delightful new blends from this new hangout of the Earth Chapter, Kuwahawi. It smelled bold, yet relaxed. The beans had a nice color and had ground nicely. He got out his favorite mug and-

"Commander Ringabel, sir! Urgent!"

Blast. One of his newest recruits had just barged in, distress evident on his face.

"Settle down, Fenton," Ringabel said his usual cool. "Report."

"Yes, sir." The rookie took a moment to compose himself. "Interdimensional rift detected within the base. We've sealed the area, but..."

Ringabel nodded. "But what?"

Fenton gulped. "They're in your quarters, sir. We can't get in without your code."

Ah. Very interesting. Some enemy of the Planeswarden had found this base but went for his quarters instead of his office? The tactics we're as intriguing as they were bad. Very curious.

"And what is our invader doing?"

"As far as we can tell, they're... they're taking a shower."

Ringabel quirked an eyebrow as he activated his Dark Knight asterisk.

~

Sword in hand, Ringabel entered his quarters. The other Planeswarden flanked the entrance, armed but not moving without orders or a threat. He looked about: desk organized, clothing folded, not a thing out of place. Clearly the intruder had...

...cleaned his room?

He glanced at the only odity in the room: a pile of green armor. It looked familiar, somewhat. His ear perked at the sound of running water. Fenton had been correct; his intruder was using his shower. Or were they maliciously cleaning the tub? The fiend.

Still, Intruders were Intruders, so he kept his sword in hand as he knocked on the bathroom door.

"Just a minute!"

And so Ringabel waited patiently. Should he ready a Thundaga or was that too harsh before knowing who was there? Blizzara to freeze them in their tracks? He opted to go with Stop in case they weren't malicious. The door swung open...

"Ringabel!"

"Labrys?"

He certainly hadn't been expecting his robotic sweetheart to be here, let alone showering. With a towel wrapped around her hair and her torso, she leaned forward into a hug. Ringabel wanted to return it, but first he had a question.

"No offense intended - you know as well as anyone how much I appreciate finding a beautiful woman in my quarters - but how do I know you're the real Labrys?"

"Is Duer still folding your socks like I told him too?"

He answered by wrapping his arms around her waist and twirling her about with a kiss. Their embrace lasted both an eternity and a heartbeat as they ended up on his bed in a heap.

"No, seriously, is he? I paid him."

Ringabel blushed and stood. "Never mind that, my dear, we have other things to discuss."

Labrys got up too, realizing she was getting the bet wet. "Like what?"

Ringabel dropped to one knee and kissed her hand. "Like how my lovely lady returned to after months of missing!" He grew a bit more serious. "And why you're missing some fingers."

It was Labrys' turn to blush as she flexed her seven fingers awkwardly. "Alright, go grab a notepad. I'll tell you the entire story while I give myself a tune-up in your workshop."

~

Dracoplot 2017

I'm starting this blogpost off by issuing the following statement: I am keeping the self-deprecation to a minimum. If I seem negative, it's because I think things could have gone better and I'm tailoring my '18 plans to correct the issues I felt I had this year. That being said...

I'm not terribly happy with how the plots in general went even if I liked individual events.

We'll start with Zeldotenplot. My favorite event with Zeldotenplot was the Viking Tomb Raid. When I originally conceived of a plot centered around Zeldoten, I originally wanted something with mystery and adventure and NOT something so serious as what it ended up being.

Not sure how I let THAT happen. Probably enjoyed the idea of exploring DeMonde's background too much.

Probably my biggest mistake was letting the Brawl derail the plot so suddenly and harshly. I'd prepared scenarios for Zeldoten winning and Zeldoten dying, but I didn't think Nibbles would be so absolutely destroyed.

Why did I let the sidekick's death do so much damage? Because it felt so in-character for Zeldoten to despair over the loss of her best friend that she built to be her best friend. The mostly-unexplored background of Zeldoten is full of crabs and loneliness and crime and one of the things I am really happy to have gotten to do this year was explore some of her background.

Zeldoten's parents were actually originally planned for shortly after the Brawl, but...eh...went off the rails.

And, yes, I really would've ended Zeldotenplot then and there if it weren't for my tendency to read a lot of Pathfinder stuff I doubt I'll ever get a chance to use. Ryoko could've gone to have a showdown with Barubary, but otherwise I would've ended it all there.

Although it almost didn't happen and it was mostly improvised, I enjoyed doing the Bank Heist event and getting to shoehorn in more of my Pathfinder characters. Kobber the Tengu sorcerer was, of course, named for the Kobbers and was my original Pathfinder Society character. John Ambrose was a human gunslinger I made for Del's Infinicon game. Sven and Ole are from a campaign I'm currently a part of about Vikings. Several other Pathfinder characters were considered for a different sort of Zeldotenplot that I didn't feel good doing; they would've been cops from Zeldoten's world who went to Kuwahawi to arrest her only to get stonewalled trying to get an extradition agreement signed, culminating in a final battle between Coppers and Kobbers, and - sorry, JRM - nobody would be happy with a fight nobody wanted.

So the final event of Zeldotenplot had a few possible endings I'd planned. Zeldoten wins a second Brawl, gets trapped by Barubary, and DeMonde gets absorbed by Irys rescuing her. Zeldoten loses the Brawl and Barubary contacts DeMonde to let her know he has Diamond Dust she can use to revive her. Irys typically died in every scenario I'd planned. Then Nibbles died, I let the plot get derailed, and needed a scapegoat.

Enter Clownpiece, whose own backstory got hinted at a few times over the season before Barubary came out and said it. I'd been entertaining plans of her being an evil, willing spy for King Ghidorah, who would want to use Hecatia's power as Goddess of Hell for evil. I told this to Chao and he more-or-less said "Hecatia turning against herself and then having Clownpiece betray her would break her." Plus, nobody who hasn't seen Rebirth of Mothra 3 would get why King Ghidorah has an evil fairy. So Clownpiece got to be the Irys power supply with a tragic backstory and plenty of manipulation.

I've thoroughly enjoyed doing things with Zeldoten this year though and look forward to doing things with her in the off-season and next year.

On to the Parseeplot. I'd hinted at the end of Season 6 that Parsee was retiring, but I'd always intended to bring her to Kuwahawi somehow. Parseeplot was originally planned to be a lot bigger, but I frankly just never got around to doing enough build up for it. There was the Las Vegas fight that brought her over and the finale, but I'd originally planned to use the Deadly Six a lot more, as shown by my entering one of their members in my yearly "Newbie open challenge" that year. They'll get their chance to do stuff next year, probably.

While Parseeplot may have been shorter than I'd intended, I enjoyed doing both of the events. There were fun people still in Las Vegas who might not have cameoed otherwise.

Even though they all showed up in Kuwahawi for at least a short while.

And the second event of Parseeplot got to feature one of my favorite things: callbacks to previously unexplained stuff. Like Hyde the Hydra being that weird cloaked guy from Season 3, Suzie the Cool Spy got to be the girl Parsee hit with doors and stuff all the time in Season 5. I also got to do more Kamen Rider stuff, which is always a plus.

Another thing I really enjoyed was Parsee getting to do exciting adventure capitalist stuff, like taking over Azure Sea (thank you, Chao) and getting to field her own army against invading armies (thank you, Cornwind) and doing the other sorts of things you might expect a huge businesslady to do. Turning Azure Sea into Par Sea allows me to keep carrying on the legacy I started with Dra Co back in Season 1 with fresh faces and objectives. Anna, Commander Fox, and some other Par Sea employees will carry on the tradition of heavily-armed businesses supporting silly Kobber ventures.

I'll be honest: Parsee was going to retire for real this time, wiling away her time in Las Vegas. She was out of stories for the time being and needed a rest; she'd cameo around the Brawl or if the need arose. Then Harpy said Cian would be semi-active in Gonzyplot and I said to myself "This girl just spend four or five months living alone again. She wouldn't pass on a chance for a beach vacation with her family after not seeing them for so long." She may not show up in the bar every day to sass the newbies or tease the old folks, but she'll be there in the background and for as much of Gonzyplot as I can manage.

Finally, I'm happy to retire Yamame. She was a fun character and I enjoyed RPing her going on adventures and developing her from being a thug to being a professional baker and an unofficial Sugar Mage. She got what she wanted out of Kobbering: action, adventure, delicious bugs, and Gloria. She was fun to have around though and anywhere Gloria goes her spider won't be far behind.

Oh, and I'm sorry Rapping Scottie Dog didn't do much of anything. NOBODY RAPPED THOUGH.

October 2017 Ticker Quote Archive

When your sword doesn't fit in Starbucks @Clashmarsello

"They can not not not not not not not not not know the truth."

"Can't pummel Monoxide without speeps."

"What happened to bad guys like Halley who at least TRIED to look cute?"

“Yo, Earth to Miu, I wouldn’t be so sure they’d wanna let you get all up in their junk,”

"Can we please name it something else?" "NO!"

Make a spicy, spicy, spicy meal. One that will make her regret being born.

Talk about a slow start.

Mega Awesome, Great Inspector Chubby Kitsune

"Or we could fuckin' punch him"

“Fuck it, I’m takin’ a nap.”

u jerk

"U don't scare me, Slaystation and Sintendo."

"There's no time to explain. I broke in because I have to"

The Radical Goat actually did something this time

In this case, that's... Nitori throwing a cucumber down the trapdoor to see what happens.

well, let's not mince words - it is her face.

"my peepizzizz"

"Be careful, it's an important hand!"

Boom.

another fucking Bob Bifford clone

"YOU'RE DEAD?! Oh no!"

"puppy puppy puppy puppy puppyyyyy"

GO PACKERS

"RAAAAAAAAAAGH" cried a sledgehammer

no rules in this battle… save for the ones enforced by the referee

UNH UNH TEAM SKULL

"it's all dumb CGI and puppets now."

"S0rry. Did- were you painting me?"

chocolate candy artillery strike

“FIREPROOF ROOOOOOOOOOBE!”

September 2017 Ticker Quote Archive

"...Ha ha. Can I go back in and try again?"

bug enthusiasts

"Well... in for a penny, in for a Kuwahawi Local Currency Denomination."

TEAM JASPER ATTACK.

the brilliance of I. M. Meen

S L O W W E A T H E R J A M Z

"Laser boobs? That I'm not sure what she means."

It's Chiharu and Hecatia! The help Oboro didn't ask for!

Little Miss Welcome Heart Hell

teh corpaoration was her life

"Now go! Step into my glorious face!"

"I guess that makes anger her bad Habit."

"Aw, nuts. I hate being st-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!"

"The Spy was going to backstab a pair of pants today."

Yay, hospital.

"Well, listen here, bud - I'm the Ass Cop."

"Canada, oh Canada!"

'even I had chosen instead to lay down on a couch, pick my belly button, and watch Netflix all day, that's still "special"'

...a Grubbin?

"The fuck's a tongus? Sounds like some porno thing."

"...Ordinary people?"

"Now get out of here before YOU MAKE ME VOMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Skull Isle was never the same, not after the One Woman Army attacked.

Julius eats the pizza.

"What could possibly go wrong?" "Are you doing this on purpose?" "Yes!"

And then the murders began.

"Okay... first order of business, inspect Theodore."

cruising through the sky like a flying saucer that REALLY needs to go to a car wash.

"Well, if I gotta beat up a lady, I gotta beat up a lady!"

"I COMMAND THEE TO GROVEL BENEATH OUR PHAT BEATZ!"

August 2017 Ticker Quote Archive

"Oh, for- what do you want?" "You to go away!" "Deal."

"Does 'occasional glimpses of a murderous bear demon' count?"

"I don't know how turtles work!"

the Morgawr

“...oh. There's a Vince in this dimension, too.”

Sonia summons a paper bag

YOU WANNA GO? YOU WANNA GO, BRO? LET'S FUCKING DO THIS-Oh

"...I like the sewer."

"Agh! Value tongue GREATLY MUCHLY!"

Only ten hours remaining, too, the lousy sniper.

"Owen is interesting!"

Is penny forgery a lucrative venture?

"Yeah, hentai gauntlets"

"They were likely only trying to maim us."

"BATTLETOAAAADS!”

"Oh well... you've ruined everything again!"

"It's Jacob! Or Jake, if you wanna swing that way!"

"Was that science?"

"I'm not your snacks ho!"

The one error is that it matches her eyes and hair.

She looked like a cookie.

Monoxide? Halothane? Might as well name your villain Tralphium!

"Ah yes, reports of her death have been... well, not exaggerated, it did happen"

"HONK! BITCOINS ARE THE FUTURE!"

"...are we actually friends now?"

"I ONLY WATCH IT FOR THE WEATHER"

"And I think it's gonna make some amazing bank at the box office if we don't do something about it!"

The dream crew had gone to the mall.

"Horatio must live life inside plastic bagee from now on."

Well that got Gysel using a gun in a hurry.

"FOOLS! You bring me tribute and don't even think to invite me? This is . . . actually really rude of you."

July 2017 Ticker Quote Archive featuring The Best Brawl Quotes

HOLY SHIT I'M A PIG

"I didn't have to do anything sneaky or underhanded!"

"Don't shove bleach down my throat, please."

the United States is full of people just like Clownpiece.

"NOTHING MAKES SENSE ANYMORE, WHAT IS MY LIFE COMING TO"

he extricated himself from his own comeuppance.

for once in its' pathetic life, it stands and fights!

"C://////|@!!$!%"

"I'm [potato 3]"

"That looks completely ridiculous! I look like an action figure!"

I hope these aren't laser-lasers.

but like her panties, she gave them away freely.

"...AHA! SIEGFRIED AND ROY!"

Euryale frowned darkly at Garfield

he wasn't a cheetah and he wasn't used to it

"It will burn in the same dumpster chosen as my pyre."

"Hey Jack, how do we find a circus?"

"He uses it to yell a lot in the morning because his tummy gets rumbly because he needs food now."

"YET ANOTHER ENTIRE KINGDOM NOW FOLLOWS ME ON INSTAGRAM! MWAHHAHAHA!"

She puts her hands on her hips. So sassy!

"Twist my nipples and call me Superman."

“MEILING THERE ARE CHILDREN”

"LICKENS" says the voice on the other end.

"Please? Pretty please? I'll sacrifice myself to one of your fites laaater~"

He's the strongest of 100 orphans

den sumi and sorc kess lotses

"I'm your dancing demon, watch me twirl and hop and spin"

"BUT I'M SO COOL AND INTERESTING!"

O-Robo, however, cannot process love

"Jack, I can't just let her down..." "You will."

"I ate too much ice cream yesterday, do that doesn't help."

~

~Brawl Quotes~

Hopefully they didn’t see that bubble incident…

"You got to get in the selfie with me and the body!"

Her eyes bulge as she sees this, and suddenly she felt much less invincible.

"‘I get to be in charge just because my hair matches normal Hecatia’s hair color!’” “That was terrible.” “I know, but, I just can’t do her voice right!”

only to find himself face to face with an utterly colossal foe…Over three feet tall

“death by a thousand tiny flag stabs”

In a sad twist of fate, the Chuckster had been killed by being chucked.

John Freeman’s box had been rolling across the battlefield without a care

Yellow looking like she was ready to melt all over again.

“Are we really betraying ourself?"

Youmu had cut through the confusion.

“wow you didn’t forget I exist,”

"you ready to enact Plan Join Us in the Brawl?” “Wait, what plan was that again?” “…The one where you join us in the Brawl,"

“Wow, old games really were shit. Is it supposed to be an undead shoebox,”

"I’ll just have to swallow that spoiled salami,”

“A weapon…” SLAM! “Would be nice” SLAM! “Please…” SLAM!

“Why does it always come back to katana?”

 “Why are you doing that? It made me look badass,”

“Time to figure out who this slug really is!” Mario said, pulling his fingers apart only to see his hand coated in ooze.

“Did you forget your own Olympic Gold Medalist in Strength?” Zargeesh asks. “…Yeah, kind of,”

June 2017 Ticker Quote Archive

"You got it, but try not to make everything too steamy!"

"Hi is Na-mes!"

Night Light Space Guy

“No selfies in the courtroom!”

"It just looks like that crazy girl is splashing in dirty water."

Karin hurries off with a beaker fulla spit. There are some sentences I never thought I'd write.

"I DON'T FEEL CLEAAAN"

"The name of the elite genius that shall grind all of you...under their boot is none other then...GENERALISSIMO BLOODTHIRST."

The two stood in silence for a while, both looking at each other with somewhat angry faces

Byta dashes after the ball! He gets it! He brings it back! He's a good dog.

Nightmare isn't fussing. It's not doing anything at all, actually.

Find 'em, grab 'em, and chug 'em like it's the last drink he'll ever have.

"Iceland was a lie."

"YOU CAN'T JUST BUILD SOMEONE A GIRLFRIEND"

“The beer is rebelling against us!"

"There they go bleeding all over the place again. I'll go get the time space napkins

Well, that's mildly concerning.

"Ffffffknnninhhgggg ninjas where"

All she could do no was wail and wail and wail

"We will probably die. Statistically speaking."

4000 dongs

"I NEED A LARGE ROCK!"

"i love my head attached to my body."

"TAKE THAT, YOU OLD WRINKLY PICKLE GOBLIN"

"you bad at this, dawn."

she was bored over almost 200 years.

Having saved the world from her mothers, with the sign of her father, Dawn would be freeHaving saved the world from her mothers, with the sign of her father, Dawn would be free

heroine and savior of ice-creamless nerds everywhere!

"... Shit. He's wearing a bike. My one weakness."

“I think so! Don’t they, like, grow back, anyway? I dunno"

May 2017 Ticker Quote Archive

Robbie's t-shirt shifts again, and suddenly everything makes sense.

"Racing is a sport, so yes, I do play sports!"

“Hm... troubling lack of hot babes here..."

"Mammals are weird"

"Oi, put those down! Those are mine! Order your own damn crackers!"

Compliments, never!

"HEE HEE HEE HEE YOUR FACE."

"Work with me here, ocean monsters, work with me!"

A cruel, merciless killer - he eats nothing but meat!

"Please make the painsies go away."

"there's sort of a "no corpse" rule."

"I don't know! I'm a delinquent, I'm uncultured!"

"You suck at this, Grandma"

"Are you practising necromancy without a license?"

"Nah, bro, we just got uh... uhhhhh... Hand Tourettes. Yeah. Very unfortunate."

No skull is sexy enough to distract Effie!

"Get these dinosaurs out of my face! I want a giant gorilla instead!"

"Dolby is officially people"

"Right, off to another planet, love to your mom, bye."

She's too illi... ili...she can't read the darn thing.

Rifa is gasping for air, not gasping in surprise, due to gasping too much.

"he's been with me for years now and has learned everything I taught him"

"It'll be much more nice just to eat you and forget about the whole 'arrest' thing."

"Have you chilled blood on tap? I'll pay extra for a lime."

"Well, after the first round of screaming it wasn't so bad."

"YOU are FIZZISHIN."

Granny Sine

"I'll go in there wearing a bikini and show 'em some fanservice"

"That- I- gggggg! You can't just- I mean it's not- That's not an easy question! I can't just- hrrrgh!"

"If you need things killed instead of kissed, feel free to come back, then?"

...Is it 5,000? I lost count at 16.

April 2017 RP Ticker Quote Archive

"God damn, you're right. We were so busy making nerd noises we forgot that sometimes we're going to have to go outside or get wet."

"We already have a shitload of girls and boys, anyway, so what’s one more to the pile?"

In short, it was pretty shit. But the Gorillaz and Stephen needed a place to stay

Gloria blushed and looked sternly at Rachel - but did not cease her wiggling.

"When you wish upon a star
I go off to drink at bars
Blinded by your false desires
It makes me speeew
Iiiif you haven't got a means"

"What happened to the sensible slacks and blouse? You look like the cover of a bad gothic romance novel."

“Be careful you don’t fall off!” Toinette fell off.

There were things Ruukoto knew, and things she didn't know. She wasn't sure where a random ranting man staggering up the beach fit into that binary

"Please, if it's food I'm after, I'd want characters more fleshed out than half the people there!"

"Wait. Dinner? What are you going to do?"

Ignoring the silly

Paradise at Ponderosa’s

Kamen Rider Hime Vol 13

That evening, Parsee stands on top of Satori Tower, enjoying the ebb and flow of jealousy through the city like a light breeze. She watches people walking by and cars zipping about, wondering what each person is envious for. Satori emerges and asks if Parsee is almost ready to go face the Queen. Parsees answers that she needs to get something from home first but otherwise yes. Satori then asks how Parsee plans to deal with the other Sins. Parsee shrugs and says she will probably just beat them up, but Satori admonishes her. Even if she's a Sin too, they still outnumber her four to one. Parsee rubs her chib, noting the legitimacy of that concern. Satori says that, fortunately, SHE at least is smart enough to consider these things. She returns inside, telling Parsee to be ready within the hour.

Satori walks downstairs to speak with Xavier. She asks if he has any way to contact the Queen. Xavier confirms that he can speak to her mentally if need be, which Satori tells him to do. Skeptical but willing, Xavier agrees and begins reaching out to the Queen. The moment a connection is made, Satori grabs Xavier by the neck.

"Gluttony, it shouldn't have taken you this long to dispose of a body. I should have just told you to eat her," the Queen growls.

"I'm sorry, but your Gluttony won't be eating anything again, Cassandra," Satori says, letting some smugness slip into her voice.

The Queen goes silent with shock. Anybody who knew THAT name should be dead or her servant. It doesn't take her long to realize who she's speaking to.

"ELISE?!"

Satori laughs. "Indeed. I've been hiding under your nose this entire time. It'd be hard to do considering how short you've always been, but your nose always was stuck up in the clouds, wasn't it? Anyway, I don't appreciate you killing my Kamen Rider, so I've decided to eliminate your Gluttony in exchange. Good bye."

Xavier's eyes bulge as Satori powers up a spell, trying to plead with her, but she refuses to listen as she sends a bright shaft of light through the Sin and...he is quite confused to find himself still alive. He asks for an explanation and Satori gives him one: she'd been researching a way to break the effects of the ritual and just used it. The Queen would no longer be able to track him and would certainly think he died. Xavier asks what the purpose is. Satori smiles and explains that he's now bait to draw the Sins away from their master. She then presents him with his armor, repainted to resemble Kamen Rider Pluto's colors. Satori explains that she has given Xavier his free will back...and that as he is still a Sage-in-training, he is now officially her apprentice.

As Xavier puts his armor on and practices with his sword, Satori heads downstairs to see her daughters putting on Riot Cop uniforms. Okuu explains that she and Orin want to help fight the Sins too even if they don't have super powers. Satori smiles and says she is proud of her daughters for standing up to evil, but then says they aren't going out in such meager protection. Orin stands up, getting caught in her half-donned armor and protests until Satori reaches behind her back, pulling out two Henshin Devices. She has negotiated a settlement with the recovering Amaterasu: it will lend them its power in the devices and continue to provide the city with power and in exchange Satori would encourage the citizens of Bridge City to say "Praise the sun!" in its honor or at least try to sneak the phrase into the city's vernacular so it would feel appreciated.

Back at Pandora, the Queen is busy ranting and raving at her remaining knights, demanding answers as to why none of them had any idea the her biggest rival was still alive and living right under their noses for so long. Wisely, none of them mention that the Queen couldn't detect Elise either. She paces back and forth, dark clouds forming above her head as she continues to lecture. Abruptly, she stops and turns.

"I know where Gluttony was when Elise killed him. Go there and kill her."

Pride protests sending all four of them, citing that if they are all gone, then who will protect her. She brushes aside his concern and commands them to go immediately. Reluctantly, all four leave the throne room and head to the portal to Bridge City. The moment they exit the portal, they see a large motorcycle approaching them.

"TURBO GRANNY RIDES FOR HER LIFE"

Palanquin Cycle, ridden by Kamen Rider Hime, plows through the assembled knights, scattering them on the ground as it drives into the portal. They scramble to their feet, but a massive heat ray scorches a line in the street as a green-and-white Kamen Rider interposes herself between the Sins and the portal.

"Kamen Rider Sol stands in your path!" she shouts, spreading black-armored wings.

"And Kamen Rider Pluto stands with her!" her sister shouts, also jumping in the way.

Xavier, clad in his own armor, stands with them. "I don't have anything cool to say, so I'll just ask you to stand down, my friends, before we do something we all regret."

Sloth, Lust, and Greed look hesitant to attack until Pride steps forward, loudly denouncing Gluttony as a traitor to the Queen of Sin. Xavier simply smiles and states that that is no longer his name, he was returned to being Xavier, just like Pride should go back to being his friend Alvin. Pride pauses for a moment, processing the idea, but ends up announcing the name means nothing to him now. Sadly, Xavier raises his sword and announces he won't let anyone reenter the portal.

Back at Pandora, Palanquin Cycle tears through the hallways, nobody to get in the way aside from zombie workers who either are in the way and are moved or weren't in the way to begin with as Kamen Rider Hime cruises towards the throne room.

The Queen is busy being bored and waiting for her knights to return when the doors to her throne room burst open.

"Excuse me, can Cassie come out and play?" Kamen Rider Hime says, revving her engine.

The Queen scowls and floats up from her throne, demanding to know who dares to burst into her chambers. Kamen Rider Hime stands up on Palaquin Cycle and bows, introducing herself as Envy, pleasure to make her acquaintance. The Queen clenches her teeth; the Rider is supposed to be dead. Hime laughs and remarks that she had Xavier wrapped around her finger; he intentionally avoided killing her. The Queen rages and hurls massive fireballs at Hime, who revs her cycle and begins riding on the walls, staying one step ahead of the Queen's blasts.

As Palanquin Cycle tears up the walls, Kamen Rider Hime leaps off, punches the Queen in the jaw, and then lands on her bike on the opposite side of the room, repeating this attack several times while taunting "Cassie" about how easy this fight has been so far. The walls suddenly erupt in bolts of lightning, knocking the Rider and her ride to the ground. The Queen cackles and asks what it just was that Hime was saying.

"I said, do you know any spells you haven't stolen from people smarter than you?" Kamen Rider Hime laughs as she gets up and throws an energy blast at the Queen.

The Queen deflects the blast easily and casts another spell, making spears of ice burst from the floor around Kamen Rider Hime. The Rider dodges as quickly as she can, narrowly avoiding all but one spike. She wipes her brow and uses the spikes as springboards, leaping off of them to deliver a kick to the Queen's chest. Hime follows up with one of her spell cards, raining flurries of energy upon the Queen.

"Something the matter, Cassie? I thought you WANTED me to become an Envy!" Kamen Rider Hime taunts.

"I wanted a loyal soldier, not a goofball on a motorcycle!" the Queen retorts, blasting Hime.

The Rider hits the ground...laughing. "You don't have any loyal soldiers now, why should I have been the first?"

"ALL of my Sins are completely loyal to me!" the Queen bellows.

"The original Envy wasn't. Gluttony wasn't. The rest would abandon you in a heartbeat without that spell on them," Hime counters defiantly. "In fact, the first thing I do once you're done for is get the last bit of that curse removed."

"NEVER!"

The room begins to quake as the Queen tries to bring the castle down around them. Chunks of ceiling fall from the sky, forcing Kamen Rider Hime to jump back on her Ride Machine to avoid being crushed. She begins wall riding again, going as quickly as she can to avoid chunks of debris that are being thrown at her. When a huge hole opens up in front of her, Hime leaps into the air, grabbing Palanquin Cycle and swinging it like a large club at the Queen, who manifests a long staff and blocks Hime's strike. The Queen parries and thrusts, breaking Hime's grip on her improvised weapon and then clubbing her in the face.

"Maybe now you'll shut up. I can't hear myself think around you!" the Queen says.

"I thought you'd welcome the chance to finally have something go through that empty head of yours," Hime counters. "LIKE MY FIST!"

A sickening CRACK rings through the chamber as Kamen Rider Hime lets the Queen have a taste of her Paru Paru Punch, leaving a dark charred circle in the middle of the Queen's face. Beautifying treatments like that normally cost thousands, Hime notes, but she'll do this one for free. The Queen sputters and rushes forward with her staff. Hime pulls a shield from behind her back and blocks the staff.

"Elise suggested I bring a sword, but I told her I didn't need it just for you, Cassandra," Kamen Rider Hime taunts.

The Queen of Sin howls and swings the staff like a berserker, pushing Kamen Rider Hime against the wall. Hime continues to block, but she is being pushed back hard enough to cause the wall to slowly crumble behind her.

Back in Bridge City, the Sins continue to fight viciously. Kamen Rider Sol is getting a rematch with Sloth and Lust, using massive heat blasts to keep them from coordinating their attacks and clubbing them with a huge cement boot when they get too close. Kamen Rider Pluto is much lighter on her feet than an injured Parsee and uses speed to keep Greed from landing a solid hit on her. Meanwhile, Xavier and Pride cross swords, sending sparks flying each time their blades hit. Pride angrily demands to know why Gluttony has betrayed the Sins and Xavier answers that he never owed Cassandra his loyalty to begin, none of them do after she enslaved them to her will. Xavier asks Pride to remember the days when he was Alvin, an intelligent man who was never afraid to boast of his accomplishments because he had the talent and intelligence to back up his claims. Xavier also asks his friend and enemy to remember when he also took pride in the accomplishments of others who worked hard to achieve things, whether Alvin had helped or not.

Pride falters for a moment, long enough for Xavier to tear off his helmet and look him right in the eye. Xavier pleads for Pride to remember his hopes and dreams, his plans to help build nations that came crashing down because they were all fooled by Cassandra into participating in that stupid ritual. Xavier throws down his sword and grabs Pride's shoulders, asking him to not be too proud to admit they've all been wrong these many centuries. Pride begins to falter, but his eyes harden, showing his resolve, to which Xavier rolls his eyes and headbutts Pride, knocking him out.

"Eh...Elise can sort him out later," Xavier remarks and grabs his sword.

Back in Pandora, Kamen Rider Hime and the Queen continue to tear the throne room apart with their duel. The roof and walls have mostly collapsed Neither woman is looking too good at the moment: the Queen is bloodied and bruised while numerous gaps have appeared in Hime's armor. The two pause for a moment to glare at each other, panting and gasping.

"Why won't you die? You were never this powerful the last time you were here," the Queen snarls.

Kamen Rider Hime crosses her arms and smiles. "It's all thanks to you, Cassandra. The one Sin you never needed was Envy because you have so much in the pit where your heart should be. You have so much Envy inside, over people being smarter than you, being more talented than you, getting more privileges than you. And Elise...wow...so much there! Is it because she's taller than you? Prettier than you? More popular than you? All of the above? All that and more, I imagine. And because of that, it doesn't matter how long we fight here for: you can never kill me because you give me strength!"

Kamen Rider Hime assumes a fighting stance as she continues speaking.

"Jealously guarding the bridge between life and death...

The envy of all hearts that yearn for justice...

When my gaze descends upon you, victory is mine...

I am the green-eyed defender of justice...

KAMEN RIDER HIME!"

Kamen Rider Hime charges forward as the Queen fires bolt after bolt of lighting. The Rider ignores the bolts, shrugging off their force as she delivers a crushing blow to the Queen, punching through her staff and into her face. Hime dances around the Queen's clumsy staff blows and endures flames, ice, and more as she continues to deliver a brutal flurry of blows, sending the Queen into the air with a fierce uppercut.

Bleeding and gasping, the Queen begins gathering her powers.

"Defender of justice? I spit on you! I am the Queen of Sin, the founder of evil in this world! You may THINK you know Sin, but I command it, bend it to my will! Now taste true Original Sin...

AND DIE, YOU USELESS WHELP!"

Kamen Rider Hime leaps up to deliver a finishing blow to the Queen, but it's too late as a dark, swirling blast erupts from the Queen's palms. The blast is immense, blasting through several floor of Pandora as the Queen maintains it, wanting once and for all to be rid of Kamen Rider Hime. The blast dissipates and, lying in a crater, lay the Rider. The Queen cackles and boasts that this outcome was inevitable as the body of Hime....disappears. Simply vanishes. All expect her helmet.

The Queen gapes, not quite expecting THAT. A clearing throat from above draw her attention.

Parsee, without her helmet, is grinning on the ceiling, admonishing Cassandra for killing a poor, helpless clone before powering up an attack and leaping towards her foe with a resounding...

"STARS...

ABOVE...

KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK"

The Queen screams and tries to throw up a magical barrier, but the concentrated magical force in the Rider Kick easily overcomes any attempt at deflecting it. Parsee, glaring with all the hatred in her heart, and Cassandra, overcome with fear for the first time in centuries, look each other in the eye as they plunge into the crater the blast earlier made until they hit the bottom. Defeated, the Queen explodes, shaking the foundations of Pandora, bringing the once-proud institution crumbling around them...

In Bridge City, the portal to Pandora begins to waver and the Sins simultaneously convulse as their connection to their mistress is broken. Kamen Riders Sol and Pluto look at each other and stick their heads in the portal. They immediately leap back out, Pluto remarking that whatever's on the other side is falling apart! Xavier begins to run into the portal, but both riders hold him back, telling him it's a death sentence to go in there. Xavier asks them what will happen to Hime then? Neither sister has an answer.

Back in Pandora, Parsee manages to pull herself out of the pit with one arm, the other having been crushed by falling debris. She looks about her situation and groans, knowing she's too injured to run to safety and too tired to fly.

Palanquin Cycle picks that moment to pull up next to her, the Rider swearing she can hear her mother saying she'll guide her to safety. With no time to argue with her hallucinations, Parsee climbs on, revs the engine, and Rides...

A month later...

The convenience store has reopened! Xavier is busy working the counter, helping the Shine Maidens and asking them not to cause too much trouble while Alvin is busy muttering and mopping the floor. Xavier teases his friend and tells him to put some pride into his work. Alvin looks up and tells Xavier to stop sneaking backs on gum while on the job. The two manage to have a chuckle and Alvin remarks how it seems like so long ago when they were trying to destroy the city and now they were back to being apprentice sages. Xavier laughs nervously and agrees at how odd it feels.

Xavier sighs and says he wishes Parsee were there with them.

Unfortunately for him, she picks that moment to appear. Store manager Parsee tells them they can chitchat when the floor is clean and she WILL be docking Xavier's pay if he keeps sneaking snacks. She claps her hands, telling them she expects things to be in tip-top shape when Julie (Lust) and Percival (Sloth) come in for their shift and they can have their turn at Sage School with Satori.

Then an explosion comes from outside and the Kappa Mob's van drives by. Parsee sighs and mutters something about Riders Gonna Ride and goes back into her office. A minute later, Kamen Rider Hime on a new Envy Driver zips by the store.

The final panel shows Kamen Rider Hime kicking a Grim Reaper, Ni's new moll, in the chest while the Kappas lay on the ground with large lumps on their heads.

THE END....?

Kamen RIder Hime Vol 12

Xavier fidgets. He's alone in a room with his old friend Elise, now known as Satori, and he can feel her mental fingers reaching into his head, trying to pluck out all of his secrets. A lifetime of hiding his thoughts makes it difficult for her though and this duel has been going on for well over an hour after Parsee was taken to surgery. The real challenge though is who will break first and actually say something.

The silence is broken when Parsee enters the room with a large bandage across her torso and yells out for them to just kiss already. Xavier and Satori turn to glare, only to have Parsee glaring back at them. Parsee shakes her head and asks the big question: "What now?"

Xavier states that without any good candidates for Sins in Bridge City, the Queen will move on to another city to terrorize until she has a full group of knights so she can begin actively trying to take over the world. Parsee clenches her teeth while Satori looks unconcerned, almost bored. Parsee calls her out on this but Satori answers that as long as she's not in Bridge City, Satori doesn't care. Xavier remarks that Satori has changed since the days she was called Elise, but Satori says the same thing about Xavier.

Suddenly, Satori finds herself being glared at by someone else: Okuu. The Hell Raven calmly asks why Satori is so eager to defer yet another big issue, casually strumming on her chest for emphasis. Mother and daughter hold each other's gaze for moments before Satori flinches and asks if Parsee has a plan.

Of course Parsee does: go back to their castle school and start punching people!

Even Okuu is appalled by that plan. Satori asks how Parsee plans to do that without powers.

Now Parsee is appalled too.

Xavier speaks up with an idea of how to get Parsee's powers back: since she was born with them, they'll recharge in a few years! Parsee says that the Queen will be long gone by then. Xavier then suggests something more drastic: turn Parsee into a new Envy.

Parsee immediately gets in Xavier's face, shaking her fist and growling that she just avoided that happening. Xavier tips his seat over trying to back up and explains: the ritual does bind the subject to the caster, which is why Parsee would need to perform the ritual on herself, making her her own master.

Parsee asks if that could work and Satori, mildly peeved, states that it COULD work, but it would still be incredibly dangerous. Parsee grins and agrees to do it.

In Satori's basement, the team is busy setting up for the ritual: Parsee is drawing runes on her skin, Xavier and Satori are writing down the instructions for performing the ritual, and Orin and Okuu are busy drawing magical circles on the floor. The result looks inelegant and sloppy, especially Parsee's self-tattoos, but Satori deems it all adequate. She begins herding everyone else out of the room, turning and telling Parsee her mother would never be this impetuous.

Parsee smirks and asks if Satori is still missing a tooth. Satori blushes and leaves.

Now alone, Parsee grabs the sheets of paper with an incantation and other instructions written on it. She paces about the room, reading everything out loud. As she recites the magic words, the marks on the floor and on her skin begin to glow in a pulsating pattern. The pulses grow quicker and quicker the more she reads until they are just constantly lit. A shrill ringing suddenly rages through Parsee's head, causing her to drop the notes as she clutches her skull.

In an instant, a memory of every time Parsee had been jealous or envious ripped through her mind. Jealousy that work kept her mother from being home. Envy that her mother was better at riding motorcycles. Jealousy whenever she saw a kid who had a nicer outfit or cooler toys. Envy whenever she saw a happy couple come into her store. After awhile, thoughts and memories that weren't even hers flooded into her mind, the envy and jealousy of everyone in Bridge City.

With a scream, Parsee begins to stand, struggling not to be overwhelmed. A trickle of blood leaks from her nose and her legs tremble. She growls that she's been jealous her entire life, she's never NOT felt envious of something, but through it all, she never let herself be controlled by it. She never let some petty feeling stop her from wishing people well or fighting for justice.

The trembling stops as she grits her teeth, boldly declaring that SHE is the one who controls envy, not the other way around. SHE is the one whom others should be envious of! SHE...IS...ENVY.

And in that moment, the voices stop and Parsees finds herself in a barrel chamber instead of Satori's basement. A mysterious light from above casts its glow where Parsee stands, but nowhere beyond a few feet. Footsteps echo through the room and a knight in blue-and-tan armor steps into the light. Parsee asks if the knight is Envy, but the knight shakes her head.

"I was once called Envy. It was a terrible time," the knight says. "But now I am no longer that person. You have claimed the power and title of Envy for yourself, granddaughter."

Parsee quirks and eyebrow, about to speak, but more footsteps echo through the room. The light expands to show dozens of Kamen Rider Himes surrounding the two. One steps forward, speaking with a voice familiar to Parsee.

"She is more than just Envy. She bears the title of Kamen Rider Hime, successor to a heritage of justice and self-determination."

The Rider removes her helmet, exposing the long purple-and-gold hair of Byakuren.

"And a daughter I could not be more proud of."

Parsee rushes forward and embraces her mother. Byakuren smiles and continues.

"Through hardship and heartbreak, you have never given in to despair, my daughter. Your devotion to justice is unbreakable, as is my love for you. The enemy you will face is the greatest you have ever seen, but you have the strength and will to survive."

The two step back from each other as the room begins to fade. Parsee is slowly shaking off the strange effects of the ritual and watches her mother fade away.

"And remember, the Rider must always ride..."

The room changes back to Satori's basement and Parsee feels a severe case of motion sickness. She slowly stands up and wonders if that was actually helpful. Then she feels it...a whisper at first, but it slowly builds until she can hear the ebb and flow of envy in Bridge City, not a loud, uncontrolled roar, but a slow channel flowing into her, giving her strength. She grins, deciding to try something.

She reaches for her belt before remember she doesn't have the Henshin Device anymore, but she tries anyway.

"HENSHIN!"

The room crackles and shakes as the power of Envy flows through Parsee's body, the stream becoming a raging river as armor forms around her body.

Kamen Rider Hime is reborn.

Kamen Rider Hime Vol. 11

Hijiri Household, Bridge City, 20 years ago...

A woman with purple hair sits on her roof in the middle of a rainstorm. Byakuren Hijiri, member of the Bridge City council and single mother, takes a deep breath as she practices focusing with her mind, using meditation to remove the feeling of the rain from her skin. She chants gently as she expands her consciousness or something people do while meditating. Nearby, a young girl in a raincoat watches, waiting. After a few minutes, the girls walks over and opens an umbrella over Byakuren, surprising her out of her trance.

"Parsee, what are you doing up here? It's cold," she says, looking at raincoat girl.

"You'll catch cold if you sit in the rain, Mommy," young Parsee protests. "That's what you tell me when I put my coat on."

"This is different, sweetie. I'm training my mind to ignore the touch of the rain, to calm my thoughts."

"But you noticed as soon as I held the umbrella up."

Byakuren smiles and nods. "You're right. Mommy needs more practice. Later though; would it be smarter if we went in and had some chocolate milk?"

Young Parsee's eyes light up as she practically drags her mother inside for a glass of her favorite treat.

Hijiri Household, Bridge City, 17 years ago...

Byakuren and Parsee are busy in their dojo practicing martial arts. Byakuren slowly goes through her routine so her daughter can follow. The elder keeps up an encouraging rapport even as some of the moves are too difficult for a young girl to pull off. The training continues for another half hour until the door opens, admitting one of Byakuren's aides.

"Ma'am, a call from city hall. The mayor wants to convene a special session of the council tonight to vote on the highway expansion."

Byakuren sighs and begins toweling off. "Damn. It's not the mayor calling for this, it's Satori. Nobody else would insist on relocating so many people just to expand a few blocks of road. Tell them I'll be there, of course."

Parsee grabs her mother's gi and tugs on it. "You'll be back tonight, right, Mommy?"

Byakuren smiles and tussles Parsee's hair. "It'll only be a couple of hours. Keep practicing, because I AM going to test you tonight."

"Can I listen to my music too?"

Byakuren nods. "You can, and if you need anything, just ask Puddington."

Parsee cheers and hugs her mother's legs before turning on some cheerful music to continue her punch and kick routine. Byakuren sighs happily before ordering someone to warm up her motorcycle while she gets changed.

Hijiri Household, Bridge City, 13 years ago...

Byakuren sighs as she returns home. What a day...nothing but trying to keep the council focuses on working for the benefit on the city, trying to keep taxes from being cut in the wrong places, and another attempt by Satori to get her to advocate an expansion for the nuclear power plant. The thing produced enough power as is; why did it need to be bigger?

For now though, she had to prepare for tomorrow. She thought she'd gotten the agriculture debate settled ages ago, but someone read a stupid magazine and wanted to reopen the subject immediately. She begins walking to her office when she hears music. Parsee was training again, going through her routines again and again.

Byakuren heads downstairs and watches her daughter, drenched in sweat, go through the motions of attack again and again before turning off the music.

"How was work, Mom?" Parsee asks, chugging down some water.

"Bah...more of the usual," Byakuren says. "Every time I get them straightened up, they get bent out of shape again."

Parsee shrugs and sits down. "We're still going Riding tomorrow though, right?"

Riding. Capital R Riding. Byakuren bites her lip, remembering that she promised to finally start showing Parsee some of the family secrets, like the Henshin Device and her Ride Machine. Her daughter knew she was Kamen Rider, but Byakuren was careful never to actually transform near home for fear of drawing attention.

She nods. "Yes, we're still going riding. There's a special session of the council tomorrow, but I'll tell Ichirin to take my place."

Parsee whoops and cheers. "Finally! You're finally going to teach me the awesome stuff!"

Mother and daughter share a laugh before training together.

Downtown Bridge City, 8 years ago...

Kamen Rider Hime groans as she sits up. Too much time spent working on the city council, not enough time training herself or Parsee to continue being the Rider. Now she might not ever get the chance to finish what she started. She gets to her feet and watches the towering purple-skinned dinosaur man stomp towards her. It bellows in a strange tongue, waving its meaty fists angrily. A strange blue sphere hovered nearby but did little else. Hime gets to her feet and begins to strategize: frontal attack was no good, its hide was too strong, and it was surprisingly difficult to trick. The only soft spots the monster seemed to have were in its mouth and its eyes.

Kamen Rider Hime rolls to the side as the dinosaur man throws a car where she'd been standing, but she's hit when another car is thrown at her. She throws a pair of energy blasts that stagger the dinosaur man back long enough for her to mount her Ride Machine. She weaves back and forth as she is bombarded with concrete chunks and debris, but she continues gaining speed until...

"Highway Turbo Air Turn!"

Her Ride Machine, Palanquin Cycle, glows with energy as it crashes head-first into the dinosaur man. To the Rider's surprise though, the purple monster is able to withstand the attack, though he is slowly pushed back and his stomach begins to smolder. Two meaty fists smash the bike from both sides, crumpling the front end of the bike as Kamen Rider Hime takes the opportunity to deliver crushing punches to his face, snapping off some teeth but doing little actual damage.

Undeterred, Kamen Rider Hime jumps back and begins charging up another attack.

"Heaven Sign: Brilliance of Mahava-!"

She is interrupted as she is lifted into the air by the purple monster and has her midsection bitten down on. Strangely, despite being in great pain, she seems pleased to be in this position.

"Brilliance of Mahavairocana!"

Kamen Rider Hime's body glows like a miniature sun as she finishes her spell. The monster tries to drop her, but it is too late as massive beams of light erupt from the Rider's body...and right into his soft mouth. He howls in pain and fury as Hime wraps her arms around his jaws, forcing him to literally eat death as beam after beam fries his vulnerable mouth and up into his brain.

The beast manages one last strange utterance before dying: "Vacio..."

Kamen Rider Hime manages to get back on her bike and drive home.

The moment she arrived home, Byakuren announced her intention to step down from the city council. She managed to cover up her injuries as being caught up in the fight between the creature the news called Pteron and Kamen Rider. She spends a week recovering, hiring the best physicians to treat her wounds. Her training sessions with Parsee intensify, becoming more about being Kamen Rider than just focusing on martial arts. Philosophy, tactics, creating spell cards and a Ride Machine...Byakuren holds nothing back and Parsee passes every test.

Hijiri Household, Bridge City, 6 years ago...

Byakuren smiles as she takes a handful of painkillers, grateful for the privacy as she watches a news report about Kamen Rider Hime fighting a local gang of thugs. Her heart swells with pride as the Rider rescues several hostages and drives off before she can give an interviews.

The former Kamen Rider Hime begins making her way downstairs to pour two glasses of chocolate milk. However much some things changed, there would always be something that stayed the same and Parsee would no doubt want to chat all night about how her first mission went...

Hijiri Household, Bridge City, 5 years ago...

Parsee dries her eyes for the hundredth time since the funeral. Byakuren had looked peaceful as they sealed her coffin and lowered it into the ground. Having long been a popular and respected city council member, her colleagues insisted on paying the expenses and hosting a grand event. It hadn't mattered to Parsee, who still felt numb.

She looks at some papers labeled "autopsy" and mutters that she finally understands why her mother had insisted on intensifying her training. Pteron had left deep, lasting wounds despite the Rider's armor. Byakuren had seen the best surgeons in the city; it had been a matter of when, not if. Parsee cries as she remembers how Byakuren had insisted on the training, clearly wanting to spend her last years with her daughter to prepare her to be the best Kamen Rider she could be.

And that was the legacy Parsee chooses to honor: defending the city as Kamen Rider, not trying to take up her mother's other kind of civil service. That night, she takes her mother's things to the basement - including Palanquin Cycle, which Parsee has replaced with her own Envy Driver.

Parsee changes her name the next day to distance herself from Byakuren's council dealings. Parsee Hijiri is gone; Parsee Mizuhashi is here.

Satori Tower, Bridge City, present day...

Parsee awakens.

Kamen Rider Hime Volume 11 totaly legit this time 420 smoke it

Kamen Rider Hime Volume 11 Totally Legit Not SPonsored At all

Jumpropeman: *places ear up to it* "I'm thinking.... Arby's"

Kamen Rider Hime Vol. 10

Kamen Rider Hime slips in and out of consciousness as she is carried to the Queen of Sin. To her surprise, the halls of her enemy's home are not the grim corridors of a castle or fortress, but almost artistic hallways carved of lightly-colored stone with frequent torches lighting the way. The only people she sees though appear like walking corpses, skin faded to the color of ash and the color on any of them were bright red cuts or puncture wounds, that go about cleaning tasks with barely any signs of acknowledging the world around them. These, Gluttony explains, are the dead who walk. The Queen of Sin needed her palace to be maintained, but she would never deign to workself nor would she ordered her Sins to do the work of commoners, so she used her magic to revive everyone they'd killed in the building to continue doing the drudgery they performed in life.

Hime shudders.

The walk seems to take an eternity as they pass through an entire university of undead maintenance staff and immaculate, identical halls. Finally, they reach a set of large double-doors that a couple of servants are opening. Gluttony sighs inwardly, having entered these doors hundreds of times, but never regretting it so much as this time. Seated on her throne in the old school headmaster's office was the Queen of Sin herself, Pride standing respectfully close. Kamen Rider Hime looked at her, amazed that her greatest enemy was such a small-looking person who, on fairy wings, immediately flew over to examine the defeated rider.

The Queen began to cackle and boast, declaring how easy it had been to trap the Rider. Kamen Rider Hime counters by asking the little girl if she was lost and needed help finding her mommy. The Queen shrieks, countering by placing a hand on Hime's chest to begin draining her Sin power from her. After a minute, Kamen Rider Hime is turned back into Parsee. The Queen cackles boastfully and taunts the Rider, explaining that there will be no more Kamen Rider after today; just another Envy. She scurries off, ordering Gluttony and Greed to prepare her for "The Ritual."

Gluttony begins strapping Parsee to a chair while Greed begins to draw a ritual circle around it. The entire time, Parsee glares at the knight she once thought was her friend, berating him for betraying her, for using her. Eventually, Gluttony tries defending his action and Greed tells him to stop arguing with the prisoner. Parsee tells him to mind his own business and Greed complies, finishing up the ritual circle.

In the hours leading up to the ritual, Parsee struggled with the straps holding her in place. She tries talking to the servants, hoping to convince one to let her go, but she goes completely ignored. What else is new, she wonders as she continues her efforts.

Preparations for The Ritual are complete. The Queen is now ready to turn Parsee into her new Envy and bring her elite troops one step closer to full. The knights stand respectfully outside of the circle as the Queen begins her incantation. Towards the height of the ritual, she stands in front of Parsee, smirking arrogantly. To her surprise, she finds herself being punched in the face. Parsee has managed to free one of her arms, her wrist covered in blood from wiggling it so much. She quickly undoes the other restraint and punches the Queen again before running out of the circle.

The Queen howls, firing off a spell that hits Parsee in the back. She staggers, a massive wound in her side weeping, but gets up and keeps running. The Queen howls for her knights to stop her and they draw their swords. Parsee is almost to the door when she finds a sword suddenly coming out of her chest. She mutters something akin to "just like in the movies" as Gluttony removes his blade and grabs her by the shoulders.

The Queen is on him in an instant, berating him for killing her new Envy. Gluttony quickly kneels and begins explaining that he was mistaken, that Parsee was a poor choice, that she was disrespectful to her rightful queen, and that he should be punished for being so mistaken. Placated, the Queen agrees; he shall be punished with no food for a month and he shall go dump the body back in Bridge City. She sighs and orders Pride to begin looking for more potential Sins while she goes and naps. Gluttony continues kneeling as the other Sins pass him by scowling as he remains kneeling.

With a stiff gait, Gluttony carries the dying Parsee back to Bridge City and begins to wander aimlessly. He tries desperately to remember things he and Parsee had spoken about, reliving their times together as he searches for the other Kamen Rider, the one who helped her against him in their first fight. Looking up, he sees a familiar tower, one he had sent Crabmelt to attack. He walks in its direction, loudly shouting out for Kamen Rider.

Unsurprisingly, not a single Kamen Rider shows up. Instead, Kamen Rider Pluto's motorcycle shows up with a pink-haired passenger. Satori gets off the bike and confronts Gluttony. To her surprise though, he instead takes off his helmet and, with reasonable urgency, steps forward. Satori and Gluttony look at each other with surprise for a moment before each saying a single word.

Satori: "Xavier?!"

Gluttony: "Elise?!"

Satori knocks Gluttony out with a spell and loads him onto the back of the bike and looks at Parsee.

"So...Byakuren's daughter is the Rider. Interesting."

She drives the two back to her tower. Okuu and Orin strip Gluttony of his armor and lock it awhile while Parsee is taken to surgery. Satori looks at the Sin fondly and waits for him to awaken.

Kamen Rider Hime Vol. 9

As heartwarming as Satori and Okuu's reunion is, it has left Kamen Rider Pluto - revealed to be Orin, Satori's other daughter - powerless. It falls once more to Kamen Rider Hime alone to defend Bridge City against enemies. The next week after the plan to turn Okuu into the new Wrath failed, monster attacks intensified, sometimes with two Sins appearing in one day. Abruptly though, the monster attacks completely cease. After several monster-free days, Parsee finally gets more than four hours of sleep.

Kamen Rider Hime, now using Kamen Rider Pluto's motorcycle, patrols the city for danger and, when things are peaceful, places with "Help Wanted" signs in the window. Only the usual rabble like the Kappa Mob and the Shine Maidens were still appearing. Hime shakes her head and shrugs before heading to see Satori for some insight.

Back at the castle of the Sins, now shown to be their old academy of Pandora, the Queen is busy debriefing Sloth and Lust for failing to capture her new Wrath. A debriefing that involves lightning and shrieking. Gluttony and Pride wait outside, listening to the combination lecture/torture continue until, finally, the Queen stops and shouts for Gluttony to enter the chamber and Pride to drag the crispy-but-alive Sloth and Lust out of her sight.

With a loud sigh, Pride complies. Gluttony steps forward and kneels. The Queen paces back and forth, raving about how many resources have gone to waste because of the two failures she just had ejected. Gluttony nods at the right places until she stops. She announces that at least one Sin hadn't failed her, precious Gluttony who discovered a new Envy. She also decides that it was Kamen Rider's fault for foiling her plan to obtain a new Wrath, so she would need to die too at some point.

She tasks Gluttony with both of these tasks and orders him to get started. Gluttony bows and leaves.

The Queen calls in another knight, 15 feet tall and armored head-to-toe in ornate gold, and states she wants him, Greed, to follow Gluttony and make sure he fulfills his mission. She has been getting a strange feeling from him and wants his loyalty assured. Greed nods and vanishes into thin air.

Back in Bridge City, Gluttony resumes being Xavier and gets out a cell phone to call Parsee to arrange a day. After a short conversation that leaves him a bit flushed, he heads off to find potential candidates to turn into Sin beasts. That evening, he and Parsee have dinner at a small Chinese place.

Day 2: Kamen Rider Hime fights a ninja that uses kitchen utensils for weapons. That night, Xavier and Parsee visit a Teppan grill.

Day 3: Kamen Rider Hime fight a huge plate that splits into several "Side Dishes". A few hours and some makeup to cover her bruises, Parsee meets Xavier for dinner and a show. She doesn't completely conceal a black eye though and Xavier grows concerned.

Day 4: Kamen Rider Hime and Crabmelt, Gluttony's large crab made of slime, get a rematch that almost results in a draw, but Hime manages to lure Crabmelt into a construction site to contaminate the monster with bag of cement, making the monster solid enough to be destroyed with a Stars Above Kick. Parsee cancels dinner that night to get her foot fixed by Satori. Xavier, dejected, begins planning an even better monster.

Day 5: No monster appears as Gluttony is busy preparing two excellent monsters to finish the Rider off for good, but cheers up when Parsee is able to meet him for pizza. The dinner goes well, with copious amount of smalltalk, until the pizza is actually brought out and a towering golden hulk enters the pizzeria.

Greed accuses Gluttony of not taking his mission seriously as he draws a sword. Parsee looks at Xavier in disbelief. She doesn't sit still though, running for the back door on her injured foot as Greed cleaves the table in half. He shoots the shocked Xavier a look of disdain before also heading out the back. Fortunately, Parsee doesn't need her foot too much to climb up a fire escape and heads for the roof. Greed grabs the fire escape at the bottom and pulls it down just a moment after Parsee reaches the roof.

Parsee limps towards the other side, somewhat content that she's escaping until Greed leaps up and onto the roof in a single bound and takes a swing that, were he not intent on her capture, would've taken her head off. Instead, she is sent rolling across the roof, but lands on her feet. She transforms into Kamen Rider Hime and throws an energy ball.

The resulting battle is not exactly one sided, but Kamen Rider Hime can barely go toe-to-toe with an Original Sin even when she can put her best foot forward. Fighting with an injured foot toes the line a bit too much and she gets a kick to the teeth. Greed is about to lift the beaten Rider when Gluttony, back in his armor, intercedes. The two Sins stare at each other for a tense moment before Gluttony bows and says credit for the capture belong to Greed, offering to carry the prize so that Greed need not sully his hands.

For a moment, Greed could almost be Pride and accepts, opening a portal back to Pandora. Kamen Rider Hime looks up at Gluttony. The next panel dramatically styles the shot as Xavier holding a battered, wounded, still-defiant Parsee, glaring at him with the intensity as she says but a single word.

"Why?"

Staff Meeting

Staff Room, King of Beasts, Kuwahawi Island

Borodan looked at the clock once more as he shuffled his stack of papers about. This was to be the first official meeting of the King of Beasts' facilities department and the members on staff were already making more of a mess than they were going to clean up. The seconds passed agonizingly slow for the hunter-turned-administrator until, at long last, he could call this meeting into order.

"Lady and gentlebots, thank you for coming on short notice," he announced, clapping his hands together. "Let's do a quick roll call even though I know we're all here. Halfshell?"

"Yarr!"

"Scylla?"

"Here, darling."

"Coelagon?"

"Eh? Speak up!"

"Good enough. Terrormander?"

"Gimme a minute. A Lapras just popped up."

"Oh, really? I mean, er, Sea Phantom."

"I'm ready to go, boss!"

Borodan nodded. "Very well. As part of our...ahem...'rehabilitation' we have been assigned to work here at the King of Beasts for one of their seasons, after which our parole officer, Groundbreaker, will decide if we are free to go or if we need to work here another year.

I'll be fulfilling the role of Assistant Manager during the night shift while you five will be acting as groundskeepers and, if need be, maintenance staff since the last repairman retired and went to work with Kawashiro. Any questions?"

A shark with legs, Sea Phantom, stood up. "Aye! Will we be fightin' anyone? The Kobbers are always fightin', right?"

Borodan nodded. "In addition to our hotel duties, we are allowed - in an extremely limited capacity - to do security functions. Basically, if you see two guests getting into a fight, you may break it up - GENTLY - if no full-time security staff are on hand.

But we will not be allowed our swords or laser pistols without permission from Groundbreaker."

Halfshell, a big turtle, stood up. "But what about God Neptune, matey? Can we be formin' him?"

Borodan shook his head. "Not unless our parole officer permits it. We need to play this EXTREMELY straight, do what we're told, and get out of here."

The hunter perked up though, having an idea.

"My previous duty, enforcing the Brandes Accord, is technically still in effect. I shall petition to allow you to join me on my hunts if rogue Decepticons come to the planet. Then you shall be allowed to fight and make some possible bonuses in the process. Sound good?"

A round of hardy "Aye aye"s answered his question.

"Very well then. We will meet again tomorrow to discuss more specific duties, work schedules, and the like. Dismissed."

Borodan stood and left the office in just shy of a rush. He had to meet with the other hotel managers and then with Groundbreaker to discuss his proposal. Back in the staff room, the Seacons huddle around and began to weep tears of joy.

"This is the break we've been waiting for, mateys!" Halfshell cheered. "We'll work hard, get our ship back, and then find all kinds of treasure in this world's seas!"

"Why wait that long, boss?" the squidlike Scylla asked. "An island chain like this will likely have many wrecks we can plunder to build our fortune."

"Aye! As long as there aren't handsome sea folks for ye to woo, lass," Sea Phantom noted, only to get slapped with a tentacle.

"I don't know about treasure, but at least we can get our ship back and get in some scraps," the manta ray, Terrormander, added.

"Have heart, lad! We'll have all that and more by the time we're done here!" Halfshell said. "Ain't that right, Coelagon?.......Coelagon?!"

The eldest of the Seacons sat in the corner, snoring gently. Halfshell bristled. "WAKE UP, MATEY!"

The fish monster Deceptacon awoke with a start. "Oh, is it time to eat?"

Halfshell thought about it for a moment. "Aye, it be a good time to eat. And then...THEN...we be gettin' to work! Learn the lay of the land, go visit that library lass Koakuma to start findin' some leads, and then...er...then..."

"Then we go to the beach!" Scylla added.

"Aye, then we can go to the beach," Halfshell agreed, nodding.

March 2017 RP Ticker Quote Archive

Within her World Progress Alliance base on Kuwahawi's main island (really basically just a clubhouse)

Penny whispered, as if her not knowing the fish would offend it.

"A giant salamander...?" "SHOOT IT!"

He was playing against himself. He never invited her to play.

Even with their combined powers, though, it surely isn’t enough to stop 100+ bears from shoplifting $500 dollars’ worth of merchandise!

"we can at least look into the validity of the claims, right?" "By throwing yourself into a trap?" "...Yes?"

Death sat in a small glade

April Fool's

Gloria's Apartment

Another Saturday morning, another day of work to look forward to. Gloria began running the day's schedule through her head as she woke up: story time in the morning, a movie in the community room in the afternoon, an SAT prep class after that...thank goodness she'd hired some help to take care of those things. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she got out of bed...

Or rather, she tried to do those things, but found herself unable to move. She look to her right to see if Yamame was snuggled up against her again, but oddly the spider girl was gone. She'd left behind a stick web for some reason though, one that wrapped around the bed and trapped Gloria in place. She struggled, annoyed that Yamame was probably having nesting urges again.

"This isn't funny, Yamame. Let me up so I can go to work."

A sinister snickering came from above as Yamame, in her true spider form, watched from the ceiling.

"Hee hee hee...no can do, 'Cookie'."

Yamame lowered herself onto Gloria and began to drool.

"You see, the jig's up. My little ruse is at an end. You've been so eagerly eating up everything I've baked for you and then some that you've made this all too easy for me."

Yamame crawled off and gently caressed a large, spherical web in the corner.

"And your sisters were so trusting too! 'Come over for breakfast! Gloria's made a reservation for a swank restaurant and a show!' The moment they were in the door, web web web!"

The spider cackled as turned back to Gloria.

"And now? Now I get the feast of a lifetime!"

Yamame swung back and forth, trying to decide between several large bundles before landing back on top of Gloria, knocking the wind out of the librarian. She looked up, pleading with Yamame to end this as the spider leaned in close.

"April Fool's!"

Gloria gaped as Yamame changed into her human form and began undoing the webs, then began laughing hysterically before giving her girlfriend a big kiss.

~

Back in reality...

"...and then we'll go get real breakfast!"

Yamame smiled broadly at her cleverness. Her best friend Parsee simply stared for a few moments before shaking her head.

"That seems....excessive," Parsee said. "Maybe you could just web her down with her favorite book just out of reach?"

Yamame suddenly looked serious and nervous.

"Oh, no, that's sounds mean. Gloria wouldn't like that," Yamame replied.

Parsee sighed and ordered another mimosa. "Alright, we'll need to work on this prank then..."

Kamen Rider Hime Vol. 8

Two hundred years ago, a younger Satori was walking through a forest towards a cave, carrying a jug of water and a small bag of food. She had heard legends of some kind of spider creature living inside, waylaying travelers with riddles, devouring the ones who guessed incorrectly. She herself knew not what she intended to do if the rumors were true and she met such a creature, but that was on secondary concern.

What was of primary concern was the young-sounding scream from her destination. Satori continued walking at her own pace though, watching with interest as the sight of a massive spider - far larger than an ox-drawn cart for sure - towering over two children became more and more clear. The monster laughs and drools as one of the children - a youkai with cat ears - hisses and protects the other from harm, swiping with tiny claws whenever the spider reaches in.

She stops approximately ten feet away from the scene, crossing her arms judgmentally.

"Can I help you?" the spider asks.

"No. I need competent assistance." Satori answers.

The spider's attention is drawn away from the children. It towers over the pink-haired wanderer.

"Watch your tone, Miss. I'm the Tsuchigumo of Kurodani and-!"

Mid-sentence, the spider is blasted away. Satori turns to leave when she feels a tugging on her dress. She looks down to see the children, - the other clearly had wings now that she wasn't hiding - grabbing her and looking on in awe.

"Can we come with you?" Cat-Ears says.

"No." Satori answers.

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeease?" the two children press.

"......okay. But you're walking yourselves." Satori agrees.

Two hours later, Satori returns home, burdened by the weight of two sleepy children.

~

In the present, Kamen Rider Hime continues to shout insults and throw beams at the raging Okuu, swerving back and forth as the raging Hell Raven tries to gun her down. The two continue to exchange barrages until Hime hits a pothole, causing her to spin out of control and right into one of Okuu's blasts. Envy Driver explodes as Hime leaps into the air. She's quickly tackled and slammed into the road below. She quickly rolls as a heavy cement boot buries itself a foot into the street where Hime's head had been, allowing the Rider to stand and elbow the bird in the gut, followed by an uppercut.

Okuu staggers a bit, foot still trapped, but she swings her cannon wildly, stunning Kamen Rider Hime long enough to free her foot. Hime manages to stay one step ahead, avoiding powerful-but-slow blows while continuing to get her own jabs in, verbal and physical. Okuu's eyes, all three of them, fill with fire as she unleashes a wave of flames all around her.

~

Cat-ears and Wings, now Orin and Okuu, are bust doing chores around Satori's house, cleaning up in anticipation of their mother returning home from a trip to a mountain to verify the existence of rumored creatures called Kappa. A loud pounding comes from the door and Orin walks over to open it. A dark-haired woman in battered, colorful European-style armor stands before her and bows. Orin returns the bow and asks her business. The knight begins to introduce herself, stumbling between two names, before finally calling herself Vanessa. She asks if the lady of the house is home, but Orin shakes her head. Vanessa sighs and says she will wait for her, sitting down outside the home with her eyes shut.

Hours later, Satori returns home, shocked at the visitor. Satori and Vanessa stare at each other, something going unsaid. Satori eventually orders Vanessa to follow her into the house and into her private study, telling her daughters to prepare four places at the table. The two talk for hours, rarely raises their voices loud enough to be heard outside despite Orin and Okuu's best efforts. They eventually emerge for dinner.

At the meal's end, Vanessa asks where a forge might be. Satori leads her and her daughters to the nearest blacksmith shop. Vanessa produces a generous sum of gold in exchange for the use of a forge. She asks for a fire, which Okuu generously provides, sticking her arm in the forge and causing it to erupt with flames. For hour, Vanessa works with the forge, melting down her armor until it's unrecognizable, at which point she removes it and begins to force the massive glob of metal into a new shape: a metallic belt with the word envy on it: 羨望.

~

That same belt is wrapped around Kamen Rider Hime's waist as she manages to force Okuu back with a headbutt. She lets off a sick burn that buys her a moment, but she can feel herself tiring quickly. Every hit, even her own, hurts and she's quickly running slow on strength. She gestures arrogantly and assumes a fighting stance. Hime is sent flying as Okuu plants her cement boot firmly in the Rider's chest. Hime gasps for air, throwing a danmaku as she stumbles.

~

Vanessa leaves as soon as the belt is finished, telling Satori only that she's turned her power into something she can hide but still have when needed. She looks over her shoulder one last time before recommending Satori do the same. She then says "Good bye, old friend." and the two never see each other again. That night, Satori announces to Orin and Okuu that they will be moving. The two daughters question leaving their fine home and community, but Satori answers that they are no longer safe on the surface and they will build a new home underground. Confused but obedient, they begin packing. As much as they can carry is loaded onto a spider-drawn cart and the three make their way underground.

Though there is no natural light underground, young Okuu is able to produce enough for the family to see as they cross a massive underground bridge. Satori shivers a bit, reminded of stories from her youth about a bridge to Hell. She mutters to herself that her situation seems to warrant such an analogy. Eventually, they reach a massive cavern. Large enough at least to build their new home. Satori releases the spider from her service and gets to work, channeling ancient magics that she had almost forgotten.

~

Present-day Satori glowers at Kamen Rider Pluto for being at her tower instead of at the power plant, but once the situation is explained, she orders her Rider to take her to Okuu at once. The two hop on Pluto's motorcycle and race off for the edge of town.

Kamen Rider Hime briefly wishes she weren't wearing a helmet so she could spit out the tooth Okuu's last punched knocked loose. She manages to land a few strong punches and a chop on Okuu, but the Hell Raven seems unphased and clobbers Hime with her cannon. Hime lashes out, kicking at Okuu's knee, but Okuu grabs the Rider's leg and slams her to the ground, raising her cannon.

~

Twenty years after moving underground, Satori has managed to build a small community around her as she began to tame the wild underground, bringing peace to the youkai who bickered and battled constantly. She smiled, watching workers set up some magical lights so they could see better. She felt content for the the first time in years, but it wasn't enough. More youkai were beginning to hear about the new Bridge City and were flocking towards it. Resource production wouldn't be able to keep up and quite possibly the peace would break. She sighs and tells herself to stop talking to herself. She shakes her head and gets back to work, but not before Okuu and Orin overhear.

The two discuss the issue throughout the day, trying to come up with ideas on how to provide for everyone. A voice from behind them makes a suggestion: on the surface, there is a god who can provide them with sunlight they can bring underground so they can grow food. The sisters turn, greeting the purple-haired speaker. Orin dismisses the woman as a quack and goes back to her own chores, but Okuu stays to listen.

"Amaterasu," the woman says. "Seek him out and devour him. Then the power of light and life will be yours."

Okuu asks who the woman is and she remarks that she is simply an out of work goddess who still tries to do something good from time to time before she is gone. Okuu considers the goddess' words and leaves for the surface immediately. She is not missed until lunch when she doesn't show. Satori idly wonders if she's gone off looking for angels again when Orin mentions the purple-haired woman.

Satori stiffens, demanding details before heading off to the surface herself.

It's the dead of night when Okuu arrives at the mountain where Amaterasu is said to be. She begins to search, finally coming across a strange, giant eye in the midst of slumber. She wonders if this is Amaterasu, but remembers the goddess' words and simply swallows the thing whole, its eye opening before it can save itself. Okuu stumbles to the ground, clutching her stomach and passing out. Satori manages to find her later, muttering that she should have brought Orin as she begins to carry Okuu back to Bridge City.

Weeks pass and Satori spends much time examining Okuu for side-effects to eating the Amaterasu. She radiates heat and she has a shorter temper, but seems no worse for wear. Satori begins looking into ways to harness Okuu's energy.

Weeks pass, Okuu's energy grows, and Satori finds a way to turn that into fuel for an artificial sun, allowing the youkai to begin establishing farms to feed themselves. All is well.

At least, all is well until Okuu blows up a house after the owner accidentally bumps into her. She rages at the youkai until Orin drags her off. Satori sees the incident and grows concerned.

Okuu's temper flares with violent results over the course of weeks. Complaints about her behavior pile up and Satori is stuck between a rock and a hard place as she tries to find the cause of Okuu's increasing rage and power. She finally links it to the god she ate, still living furiously within her and causing her to lash out at the world.

Events come to a head as Okuu's fury threatens to destroy Bridge City. Okuu is in the middle of a field, ranting and raving about getting the respect she deserves for bringing light and heat to the underground. Satori tries to calm her down, demonstrating that many of the people do in fact hold her in high regard for her contributions. Okuu snarls, raising her hand as a massive cannon forms around it and a ferociously red eye appears on her chest. Okuu fires searing heat into the middle of a field. Satori is frozen in place, shocked into inaction until Okuu's fury seems to turn upon Orin.

~

Kamen Rider Pluto remarks at how hot it's beginning to get as she drives past the ruined power plant. Satori grits her teeth, trying to steel herself for what she must do to bring an end to the threat her daughter poses. Flashes of light and explosions come from the distance, the wreckage of Envy Driver still smoldering. Pluto stops her bike and rushes forward in time to stop Okuu from vaporizing Kamen Rider Hime and begins to plead with the Hell Raven to cease her attack, to remember who she is. Okuu backhands Pluto and turns her fury on the other Rider, relentlessly thrashing and trading blows, slowly whittling away at a Rider who hesitates to fight back.

The beating continues until Satori says a single word.

"Stop."

~

"Stop."

With a single word, Satori brings Okuu's rampage in old Bridge City to a halt, prompting daughter to turn on mother with a blast. Satori deflects it with a magical barrier and begins throwing rings around the rampaging raven's limbs, attempting to bind her but Okuu manages to break out of each one, though it takes more and more effort with each consecutive ring. She continues spewing vitriol and fire though, causing massive destruction even as Satori is slowly bringing her under control.

Finally, Okuu falls asleep, her strength expended even as Satori continues binding her. Orin tearfully rushes over to comfort her sister, but Satori halts her with a gesture.

"She is not the Okuu you once knew," Satori says. "The god inside her has corrupted her into a vile kind of demon, a Hell Raven."

"What can we do?" Orin asks.

Satori looks down sadly and shakes her head. "She must sleep until I can find a cure."

That evening, Satori and Orin construct a chamber covered in runes to contain the beast within. Satori looked at the community, already beginning to rebuild and muttering grateful praises to Satori for stop the rampaging beast and sealing her away. Satori glares, angry that nobody but Orin seems to understand what this "victory" has personally cost her. She begins building her tower the next day, growing it ever larger as the chamber becomes the Reiuji Power Plant and Bridge City grows into the bustling community it is today. Shortly after Okuu is contained, Orin begins walking around with a new belt.

~

In the present, Satori and Okuu stare at each other. The air flickers as it suddenly grows hotter. The concrete begins to melt and nearby vegetation erupts in flames as the Hell Raven begins walking towards her mother. Satori stands her ground, eyes not leaving Okuu's gaze even to blink. The two are soon next to each other as Okuu looks down at Satori, berating her for locking her away and using her like a tool for centuries. Satori nods and agrees. The taller woman snarls and lifts her cannon, preparing to vaporize Satori "like she should have done centuries ago", but Kamen Rider Hime intervenes, tackling Satori out of the way..

"Weakness. Now." Kamen Rider Hime demands.

"I won't help you kill my daughter," Satori counters.

"Then give me another way!" Hime says. "Something! Anything!"

After a moment, Satori sighs. "The third eye. It is the source of her power."

Kamen Rider Hime cracks her knuckles and rushes forward again, rain punches upon the bright red eye that burn her even through her armor, though Okuu is visibly staggered. The Hell Raven clubs Hime and prepares to blast her when a SECOND Hime grabs her from behind. The first Hime remarks how much she hates cloning herself in a fight, but what is she going to do?

She's going to leap into the air, that's what, and, while Okuu breaks free and destroys the second Hime, deliver her Stars Above Kick to Okuu's third eye, causing huge cracks to form in it. Okuu immediately drops to her knees, gasping for breath as she clutches the bright red eye. The air immediately cools as Satori walks over.

Okuu looks up at her mother, tears in her eyes, begging not to be sealed away again. Satori kneels and wraps her arms around her daughter. Nobody will be sealed away, she says. She knows better now, chanting an incantation and plucking the broken third eye from Okuu's chest and sealing it away. Kamen Rider Pluto stumbles over, remarking that with the Amaterasu's Wrath sealed away, the power of Pluto is fading, leaving only Orin behind.

For the first time in centuries, the family is reunited in a loving embrace. Kamen Rider Hime shrugs and begins walking back to Bridge City, more than a bit envious at their love.

Kamen Rider Hime Vol. 7

This volume begins in the heat of battle with Kamen Riders Hime and Pluto fighting what looks like a combination of a Shiba Inu and a pistol named Doggunnit. Although the Riders are winning, they constantly cuss each out as they manage to get in each other's way. Doggunnit proposes postponing the fight until they work out their issues, but the two Riders shut him up with a double Rider Kick that destroys the beast. Hime sighs, looking at the charred and broken monster and remarking that they've got a long way to go. Pluto simply rides off, leaving Hime alone with her thoughts before she too rides off.

Cut to Parsee standing outside the ruins of the convenience store, which are being ruined even further as a bulldozer flattens the site and she's handed one last paycheck by her boss with a generous bonus from the insurance money. She sighs as someone walks up next to her and whistles at the sight, the handsome food critic Xavier. He remarks at how tough she's got it and is glad he doesn't work near monster-infest places. Her eyes briefly glow green with envy and she storms off. He follows, apologizing for his remark and offers to buy her lunch. She gladly accepts.

The next day, the Riders are battling another strange monster, Fistibuffs, a giant ball of muscled arms. The two Riders begin to work together, coordinating their attacks until Kamen Rider Hime slices it in half with her Envy Driver sword. This time, the two makes plans to practice fighting together at Satori's place. Hime looks at her wrist and begins leaving, announcing she has plans.

It turns out to be a simple date with Xavier at the movies, the two picking out a film and heckling it the entire time to the ire of the other moviegoers. They follow it up with Chinese food before Parsee drops Xavier off at his home. At soon as she's out of sight though, he walks away from the building and into a swirling violet portal.

Moments later, he arrives in the castle in his armor as Gluttony. All that is missing is his helmet, which he quickly places on his head before entering the throne room. Two knights, one in black armor with white and pink highlights and the second in navy, are reporting on their plan to seize the new Wrath they found in bridge city as he enters. The queen holds up a hand and orders Gluttony to give a quick report. He falls to one knee and announces his own finding.

A new Envy in Bridge City.

The queen cackles and claps her hands with glee. A most delightful finding, so fortuitous! She orders that Gluttony begin planning to capture this new Envy. All other efforts must go towards obtaining a new Wrath. All three knights finish their reports and exit. Gluttony turns to the other two, Sloth and Lust, and asks if they need anything from him. Only, Sloth answers, the use of his portal to Bridge City. He nods and opens it for them, admitting the two into Bridge City.

The next week continues much the same: Kamen Rider Hime, Pluto, or both would fight a monster by day while Parsee went out across the city with Xavier at night. Kamen Rider Hime even foiled one the Kappa Mob's capers. Despite the deadly specter of the Sins lingering over Bridge City, life seems to be stabilizing for Parsee until she receives a called from Kamen Rider Pluto: a massive turtle was trudging towards the Reiuji Power Plant. Parsee immediately transforms and rides, looking for a massive creature...and finding it rather easily.

The monster begins spitting fire at the egg-shaped power plant as Kamen Rider Pluto begins slashing its neck with claws. Pluto points to the entrance and shouts that two Sins have entered the building. Kamen Rider Hime nods and runs in, searching the facility until she sees Lust and Sloth performing some kind of ritual on a thick metal door. Lust orders Sloth to open the door while she prepares to bind the new Wrath. Hime rushes forward and Lust draws her sword. The door suddenly is thrown off its frame, slamming Sloth into the wall. Lust and Hime turn to see the cause as a six foot tall bird made of fire emerges from a massive chamber.

The view pans outside where Kamen Rider Pluto is evading the turtle's attacks, getting in several claw slashes of her own when she can when the side of the power plant explodes in a pillar of flame. The firebird rises from the hole and looks at the fight. The turtle turns and spits a gout of flame, an impressive burst that could melt Satori's tower.

The firebird is unharmed though and shoots back, vaporizing the turtle in one blast. Lust emerges from the building, carrying Sloth with one arm and fending off Kamen Rider Hime with the other. She sees the bird and quickly drops Sloth, attempting to complete her binding ritual, but Hime cuts her off with a Paru Paru Punch to the faceplate, staggering her. The knight picks up her comrade and begins to retreat, remarking that the Queen was going to throw a fit over this, but at least both Kamen Riders would die today.

Kamen Rider Hime scoffs as the knights flee. She looks to Kamen Rider Pluto and nods, making a joke about yet another monster to beat. Pluto falls to one knee and begins to shake, stating that Hime would have to do this one alone. When asked why, Pluto answers...

"She's my sister."

Kamen Rider Hime groans as the flames fade away, leaving a black haired girl with wings and a massive, glowing red eye on her chest. Hime cracks her knuckles ruefully and slugs the girl, growling that it felt like hitting a concrete wall. The girl punches Hime back, tearing a chunk out of Hime's helmet before slamming her in the face with a massive orange cannon. Pluto rushes forward and grabs the girl's arm, calling her Okuu, and pleading with her to stop her rampage. Okuu snarls and blasts Pluto, sending the Rider flying. Hime rolls in and begins punching Okuu as quickly as she can, dodging a bludgeoning strike from the cannon and managing to block a kick strong enough to crushed a car.

Okuu fires more blasts at the evasive Kamen Rider Hime, who gets ordered by Kamen Rider Pluto to distract "the Hell Raven" while Pluto goes for help. Hime questions who could possibly help, but Pluto is already gone. Hime summons Envy Driver and races away, firing danmaku at Okuu and taunting her into a pursuit to the outskirts of the city.