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....?