Catching her breath, Mira wiped her cheek, one hand still pressed against the wooden figure.
"What did they feed you?" she muttered. Her energy and stamina were starting to run low after using her clones earlier.
Hideo, watching from the sidelines, frowned. The newly emerged enemy was acting strangely. Mira was attacking without holding back, yet it simply stood there, letting her do as she pleased, like it had no idea how to respond and was quietly enduring everything thrown at it.
It showed signs of damage, small cracks spreading across its chest, but it practically ignored them.
The creature lifted its hand, turning it over as if examining it for the first time. Slowly, it clenched its fingers into a fist. Then, without warning, it raised its arm and brought it down in a vertical hammerfist.
Mira saw it coming. She executed a sharp backstep, chaining it into a series of fluid backflips until she landed where she had been moments before. Her body lowered into a guarded stance, right fist and knee pressed firmly against the ground.
She shook out her hand, feeling it go numb from the barrage of blows she had just delivered. She blew on it as she stood, stretching her arms forward before swiping her nose with her thumb. All she could do was watch as the cracks along its body slowly sealed, knitting themselves back to their original state.
"So much for that." She clicked her tongue. "That was practically meaningless."
Hideo shrugged.
"I wouldn't say that. You were at least able to damage it."
"Nice attitude, but flattery won't help right now, pal."
They turned their attention back to the wooden creature, observing its movements for a moment before glancing at each other again.
"You're in luck, Chief. I happen to have some experience defeating a Shuuki with a tough body like this," Hideo said with a chuckle. "Minus the regeneration, though."
Without even looking, a Core Medal was hurled toward him. He caught it in one hand. A gray medal rested in his palm. He examined it, then nodded in satisfaction.
The Gorilla Medal gleamed faintly.
He looked up at the sender and gave Isadora a thumbs-up. She fidgeted in place, returning the gesture with a thumbs-down. Hideo shook his head at that and silently thanked her.
He removed the Mantis Medal from the center and swapped it with the Gorilla, gripping the scanner as Mira began heating up beside him.
[πππ π]
[πΎπ π£ππππ]
[βππππ₯ππ]
As he transformed, his body turned a solid gray, massive gorilla-like arms forming to match the yellow of his head and legs. Hideo beat his chest like a challenger stepping into the ring. Beside him, Mira scraped her boots against the ground, steadying her stance. He slammed his fists together with force.
"This guy still doesn't have a name," Hideo said, pointing at it. "From now on, you're Rootshaker."
"You really have an interesting way of naming things," Mira snickered. Then her tone sharpened. "I'm using what's left of my strength for this fight, so no clones for now."
So it would just be the two of them.
"Sounds like a plan I can get behind," Hideo replied eagerly.
Mira felt her body growing steadily stronger. A wild grin spread across her face. She did not even need to look. She already knew Megumi was pushing her further, layering buff upon buff. The first exchange had only been a warm-up. Now her body roared like an engine pushed to its limit.
The wooden figure, now dubbed Rootshaker, stood still without even a twitch. Then it began punching the air, as if mimicking Mira's earlier movements.
They noticed the strange behavior but did not dwell on it. Hideo and Mira began walking forward, closing the distance before vanishing from their spots.
In the blink of an eye, they reappeared at Rootshaker's front and back.
Mira made the first move, breaking into a sprint before launching herself into the air. She came down hard, the impact fracturing the ground beneath her feet as dust burst outward. Without hesitation, she followed through with a triple-strike combo, each blow snapping with sharp precision. The motion flowed into a looping punch, then a solid body shot driven straight into its core.
This time, it worked.
Unlike before, the creature staggered, its body shifting under the force as it was knocked back.
Seeing Hideo closing in, Rootshaker clenched its hand into a fist and charged.
"Fast!"
The thought slipped through Hideo's mind, genuine surprise flickering across his expression as it rushed him.
It leapt into the air and slammed down, shattering the ground on impact. Hideo reacted in time, springing backward to avoid the blow. The moment his feet touched down, he bent his knees and launched himself forward again, swinging his right arm in a powerful arc.
Rootshaker met him head-on.
It drew back its own arm and struck to counter. Their fists collided with a thunderous impact, the shockwave tearing through the surrounding area. Even so, the creature was forced back several meters from the clash.
Mira appeared behind it in an instant.
She struck without warning, driving a sharp kick into its back. The moment the blow landed, Rootshaker twisted its body unnaturally to face her, launching a counterattack. Mira raised her guard, blocking the strike and flowing into a chained response, an elbow smash followed by a reverse punch.
For a brief second, everything stilled.
Rootshaker's green eyes locked onto hers.
Then, without warning, it moved.
It mirrored her exact motion.
The reverse punch came back at her with the same form, the same timing.
The hit landed clean.
"This son of a gun!" she grunted.
Mira staggered for a split second before forcing herself steady. She avoided a direct follow-up hit, shifting into motion as she began evading and parrying the barrage that came at her, each strike now carrying an unsettling familiarity.
"Don't forget I'm still here, dumbass!"
The voice rang out from above.
Rootshaker looked up, its attention snapping toward the source. Taking full advantage of the distraction, Mira disengaged and backpedaled, never taking her eyes off the creature.
Hideo came crashing down from the air, his fists clasped together as he drove them downward. Rootshaker reacted instantly. Drawing from what it had just observed, it raised its arms and blocked the strike head-on.
Its feet stayed planted, its body bending slightly under the force as it met Hideo in a raw contest of strength. For a brief moment, neither side gave way. Then Hideo dropped to the ground in front of it, landing firmly.
That was all the opening he needed.
He surged forward, unleashing a relentless barrage. Heavy blows rained down one after another, a storm of strikes crashing into Rootshaker without pause.
"ORA ORA ORA ORA!" Hideo shouted, driving each hit with greater force.
He kept the pressure on, not giving it a chance to recover. Then he leapt, spinning midair before slamming a kick into it. The moment his feet touched the ground again, he followed up with a sharp backfist, snapping its head aside, and drove a rising uppercut.
Its head snapped back down after being forced upward, and in the same motion, Rootshaker sprang forward. Its leg whipped out in a sharp kick that caught Hideo clean, sending him crashing to the ground and skidding across it with a rough scrape.
"Man⦠I've already lost count of how many times I've been sent flying today," Hideo groaned, pushing himself up with a wince as he regained his footing.
He was certain now. What had started as a suspicion before the fight had turned into something undeniable. Even without asking, he knew the Second Unit Chief had reached the same conclusion.
Mira came hurtling toward him a second later. He braced himself and caught her, though the impact forced him back a full meter, her boots dragging against the ground as she stabilized. Carefully, he eased her down as she regained her balance.
"This guy's more troublesome than we expected, Chief."
"So you realized it too, huh?"
The thing was adapting.
Not just adapting, but learning. Mirroring.
And most of what it copied came from Mira.
Rootshaker stood there, its body marked with visible damage, yet even as they watched, the cracks began to mend. The fractures closed, its form steadily returning to its original state as if the damage had never been there at all.
"That thing you did during the fight in Kofu," Mira said, her eyes narrowing as she remembered. "You know, the one where you jumped and used that explosive finisher on the Armored Shuuki."
Hideo tilted his head. A light seemed to go on in his mind as he realized what she meant.
"Do you have a plan for that?" he asked.
"Yeah." Mira nodded and motioned for him to lean in.
Hideo obeyed, listening as she laid everything out. The plan was simple: they would go on the full offensive, hammering the creature with everything they had. Once they created the opening, Hideo would use that finisher to finish the job.
"Think you can pull it off?" she asked.
"Hell yeah."
They came to an agreement and stood back-to-back. Strangely enough, Rootshaker remained still, just as it had before, repeating movements that were far too familiar, almost as though it were copying the two of them.
========
========
Meanwhile, Isadora lit up with excitement.
"Let's gooo!" she said, already raising her Samsank S67 Ultra Pro Max to record the fight.
The atmosphere between the two fighters was electric, and Isadora wished she had a snack to go with the spectacle she was about to witness.
Then her mood soured.
"β¦Tsk."
Her expression hardened as she turned toward a certain direction. Through her eye, she spotted a masked stranger in a black robe, hiding in plain sight.
=======
=======
Mira and Hideo began to circle Rootshaker, moving around it in slow, deliberate steps. At Mira's cue, Hideo's legs lit up yellow as he dashed to the side. Mira did the same.
They sprinted in and threw their hooks at the same time. Rootshaker raised its arm and caught both fists without the slightest trouble. The force of the collision tore up the ground beneath them, but even as they strained forward, the creature refused to give an inch.
"Why don't we start giving it the final lesson, Kamen Rider?" Mira said with a wild grin as she stared at Rootshaker.
"Roger," Hideo answered, smiling just as widely.
Both flung the wooden creature backward, sending it soaring through the air. Mira and Hideo surged after it, striking again and again in a relentless storm of blows.
When Rootshaker landed, it immediately moved to parry Mira's elbow strike and seiken attacks while also blocking Hideo's heavy punches.
"HAAAAA!"
Hideo slammed a hit into its chest.
The impact forced it to slide across the ground.
When it lowered its head and looked back at them, they were already above it. Mira formed a kick while Hideo brought down a hammerfist.
The strikes landed together.
Its arm cracked under the force.
They kept switching in tandem, Mira attacking, Hideo following up, then Mira again, then Hideo again, locking Rootshaker into a continuous cycle of synchronized pressure. The relentless assault left it stunned, unable to fully recover between their hits.
It managed to parry some of the blows, but most slipped through the gaps in its defense, overwhelmed by the relentless storm of fists and knees crashing into it in rapid succession. Moving in perfect sync, they unleashed a crushing one-two combination that sent their target hurtling skyward.
"Give me a boost," Mira said, eyes fixed above as she stepped back, setting her footing for a sprint.
Hideo planted himself firmly, pressing his elbows in and rotating his forearms as he lowered his center of gravity, turning his body into a stable platform. Like a volleyball player bracing for a receive, he held steady as Mira dashed forward. She leapt onto his hands, and the moment her weight settled, he launched her upward with explosive force, like a human catapult.
Midair, Mira twisted gracefully, drawing her leg back before snapping it downward in a devastating arc. Her heel crashed into Rootshaker, driving it toward the ground with crushing impact.
The creature twisted as it fell, landing near their feet and skidding backward. It planted both hands against the ground, dragging itself to bleed off the momentum. Even so, the damage it had taken was immediately apparent.
"Don't let it rest, we're getting close!" Mira shouted as she landed.
Rootshaker surged forward in response. They met it head-on, charging without hesitation. Bodies collided in a violent clash, their strikes slamming against its defenses. Already battered, it struggled to keep up, unable to adapt to the reckless, unrelenting tempo they now imposed.
It managed to land a blow on Hideo's stomach, forcing a grunt from him. But he seized the moment, catching its arm and locking it in place. Using his back as a springboard, Mira vaulted upward and drove her knee into its face again and again, each strike falling with merciless precision.
Staggering and weakening, its body was utterly devastated. Its wooden limbs were shattered beyond repair, and its face had been reduced to something unrecognizable. Only its lone green eye flickered, dim and fragile, like the last ember of a dying flame.
For the final push, Mira summoned a swarm of clones once more. They rushed in unison, pinning the weakened Rootshaker in place, locking down its legs, arms, neck, and every part they could seize.
"NOW!" Mira shouted urgently.
Like a bird cutting through the sky, Hideo leapt upward, his hand sweeping across his belt to initiate a change.
[ππππ]
[ππ π£π]
[πΉππ₯π₯π]
[ππ-ππ -πΉπ! πππ₯π ππ ππ-ππ -πΉπ!]
His form shifted into his base state, energy coursing through him as he scanned once more for the finishing strike.
[πβπΈββπβπΎ βπΌββπΈβπΎπΌ]
Three glowing circles, red, yellow, and green, materialized midair. A blazing aura shaped like wings erupted from his back, flaring wide as he descended. Power surged through his legs with each circle he passed, each layer amplifying the force gathering within him.
"FULL THROTTLE!!" Hideo roared as his foot came crashing down onto the exposed enemy.
The moment it connected, the cavern erupted. A violent explosion tore through the space, dust and debris bursting outward in a thunderous wave that swallowed everything in its wake.
_____________________
Author's Note:
Sike! No combo this time!
Also, DAMN!!! Fight scenes are the most annoying things to write!!! (Sincerely, from a moron like me who's complaining while literally writing an action focused fanfic.)
I can only say this because we're no strangers to love.Β
You know the rules and so do I.Β
A full commitment's what I'm thinking of.
You wouldn't get this from any other guy.
I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling.
Gotta make you understand.
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
We've known each other for so long
Your heart's been aching, but you're too shy to say it
Inside, we both know what's been going on
We know the game, and we're gonna play it.