"Ryuji, I need advice," spoke Makoto Itou to Ryuji Hasuma.

Ryuji blinked and then stared at Makoto oddly before cocking an eyebrow. "Excuse me?" he questioned.

Makoto had bumped into Ryuji while the Rider was on his morning jog. It was pretty convenient since Makoto really needed some advice from Ryuji himself.

What sort of advice? Love advice.

"You see, Sekai and I went on a date and well…" Makoto began, trailing off at the end.

"It sucked," Ryuji finished. It was an educated guess, really.

"She said I wasn't being a good boyfriend so she stormed off and hasn't spoken to me since."

Ryuji hissed. "So, the silent treatment, hm? Guess the date must've stunk."

"I know," Makoto nodded. "So, because your relationship with Kotonoha is going well, I want to know how you did it."

"Well, I don't cheat on my girlfriend," said Ryuji scornfully. Makoto groaned.

"You're still going to hold that over my head, aren't you?"

"Pretty much," Ryuji nodded. "So, why me, exactly?"

"Sometimes…Sekai compares me to you. I mean Kotonoha tells her stuff and she asks me why I can't be more like you," said Makoto.

"Well, there's no way you can be like me. I'm a Kamen Rider if you haven't noticed," said Ryuji.

"Yes, I get that, but I want to know how to be a good boyfriend to her," said Makoto, sadly.

"Well, you gave her some space, which is good. Women sometime want to be left alone when they sulk. But, since it's been days, it's time you should try to win back her heart."

"OK."

"Just tell me what happened on that date."

Makoto hesitated but reluctantly told Ryuji anyway, "We were at this restaurant and there was this REALLY attractive waitress. When she was walking away…Sekai caught me staring at her ass."

"Strike one," said Ryuji.

"And then when the drinks came, which was juice, I accidentally spilt some on Sekai's dress," continued Makoto.

"And that's strike two."

"Then when the waitress came as I was going get a napkin to help clean it up, I tripped, and my hand grabbed the waitress' top and…I ripped it off."

"Ouch, that's strike three."

"And my face ended up in her cleavage."

Ryuji gave Makoto a dry stare and said, "You know what, I don't know what to say except no wonder Sekai's pissed. You're so screwed."

"It was an accident!" Makoto tried to defend himself. "But…I guess she got upset anyway so it's too late for excuses." He then implored, "So, Ryuji, any advice for a man whose love life is in danger?"

Ryuji rolled his eyes and said, "Itou, the reason why Kotonoha and I have a good relationship is because I treat her with care. I treat her like she's my most precious possession, but I don't overdo it."

"So, what should I do?" Makoto asked.

"Be a man, go to your lady, and apologize," Ryuji urged. "Sometimes you need to surrender to achieve victory."

"I guess…" Makoto accepted. He then decided to ask, "Hey, is it okay if I ask a personal question?"

"Depends on how personal it is. Make it quick, though. I gotta get back for breakfast," he said.

"What would you have done if Kotonoha didn't return your feelings?" Makoto asked. Ryuji stood frozen and then stared at Makoto. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Makoto was afraid Ryuji was going to beat him up for asking such a question but Ryuji just remained standing there. "Huh?"

"I…" Ryuji began. What would he have done if Kotonoha didn't return his feelings? Would he simply revert back into a monster? Or would he just feel so dead inside and started going on a rampage? He was afraid to think of an answer since all his conclusions led to him becoming evil again. "I…don't know…"

"You…don't know?" Makoto parroted.

Ryuji elaborated, "Itou, you know what I am. I'm not human and never will be human again. Deep inside me there's a monster and the only thing holding it back is Koto-chan." He clenched his fists. "If I lose her…it gets loose and I won't be able to stop it."

"Ryuji, you're not evil as far as I can see," said Makoto.

"That's because you don't know me well enough, Itou. Time's up. I'll see you later." Ryuji then jogged off back to Kotonoha's home.

"BACK TO SCHOOL"

Both Neko and Kenzaki stood in front of the door of their new apartment. Sleeping in their stroller were their two children, Maya and Gou. Their apartment had already been fully furnished so now it was only a matter of officially moving in.

"Our own love nest," said Neko with a smile. She noted the frown Kenzaki had on his face. "What's wrong, Ken-kun?"

"Neko, as much as I love you I can't help but object to this arrangement," stated Kenzaki.

"Why?" she questioned.

"It's because we'll be living next door to your insane sister!" stated Kenzaki, pointing towards the apartment that was next to theirs.

"Ken-kun," began Neko, frowning, "I know that you and Nee-chan have had your differences but we're family now. Also, despite your distrust of her, who else do you know will risk her entire life to protect Gou-chan and Maya-chan?"

"I can name a few," muttered Kenzaki.

"Ken-kun, trust me," said Neko. "It's for the best."

Kenzaki frowned and took her hand, kissing it. She smiled as he said, "Fine, whatever you say, but I'm still not gonna leave her alone with the kids when we've got Kumiko to watch them for us."

Sand suddenly poured out from Neko's body and then reformed into Koneko, the Kitten Imagin. She said, cheerfully, "And don't forget me, Onee-chan and Onii-chan!"

"Yes, and you too," said Kenzaki. Despite his earlier distrust of Koneko when she first appeared, he'd grown fond of her and despite her being Kat's Imagin, he trusted her more than the former evil Zodiac Knight.

"OK, let's move in," said Neko. "Ken-kun, the key?"

"Right here," said Kenzaki as he held it in his hand. He then pushed it into the keyhole, gave it a twist, unlocked the door and pulled it open, only for…

"SURPRISE!" Kat shouted out as she leapt at Neko, hugging her. The twins, however, never stirred from all the noise.

"And here's the psycho now," said Ken-kun, eyes narrowed. "What were you doing in MY apartment?"

Kat pouted and then grinned slyly before stating, "Well, I was just helping to check out the place."

"OK, but how did you get in?" Kenzaki questioned some more.

"That would be my fault, Ken-kun," said Neko sheepishly. "I gave her a copy of our house key."

Kenzaki grimaced. Now she could come in uninvited whenever she wanted. Heck, she could just teleport straight inside and so taking the key away would be a moot point.

Kat bent over and smiled at her niece and nephew. "Kawaii…" she purred as she gazed at their sleeping faces. They reminded her of when Cathy used to be so cute before puberty struck. "My little babies…"

"They're not yours," growled Kenzaki. "They're mine and Neko's. Get that through your crazed head."

Kat frowned and glared at Kenzaki and countered, "Well, it's still my DNA. Neko-chan and I do share the exact genetic makeup. So, they're like my kids."

"They also have some of my DNA," retorted Kenzaki. "They're just as much my kids as they are Neko's…NOT yours."

"Whatever you say," said Kat, unfazed. "Oh, and if you need help babysitting, don't be too shy to call." She gave her sister a pat on the shoulder before going back to her apartment. "You know my number."

Once Kat was back in her apartment Kenzaki asked Neko, "Is it too late to move to a different building?"

"Ken-kun…" Neko sighed.

It was a brand new day and an alarm clock rang as it tried to awaken its owner. Said owner was still fast asleep, but the constant ringing was slowly getting on his nerves. With a groan, he reached over to the alarm clock and tried to find the 'off' button. Unfortunately, he couldn't and so he decided to stop it using a more…effective manner.

SMASH!

The fist of the alarm clock's owner slammed down onto the alarm clock, smashing it to bits before it withdrew back into the covers. "Much better…" Ryuji murmured.

"Ryuji-kun, must you always break your alarms clocks?" asked Kotonoha as se yawned and rubbed her eyes. He rolled around to face her, opening his tired eyes.

"I'm just not a morning person," he yawned.

"But still, that's like the 10th one I've seen you break."

"It's OK. Loki keeps buying them in bulk anyway," he told her. He smiled and then kissed her softly. "Good morning."

"Yes, it is a good morning," she agreed as she returned the gesture. "Now, come on. We should get ready or we'll be late."

"Right…but I want to cuddle for 5 more minutes," he said with a purr.

"Ryuji-kun, we cuddled last night."

"We did more than cuddle," he said as he pinched her bare bottom.

"Eek!"

Ryuji snickered as she pouted adorable before she gave him another kiss.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you too," he replied.

Ryuji: Today was the first day of the new school term, and well there were some new faces. Basically new transfer students and today we were going to receive a new classmate. Why did that give me an odd foreboding feeling? Was I being too paranoid? Maybe…but I never ignored my instincts and wasn't going to start now. The day began as usual…

With Setsuna absent because she got unexpectedly ill, Kotonoha had to take over since she was the assistant class rep. Warren came in and she said, "Rise, Bow, Sit." Everybody followed her instruction.

Warren began as he stood at the front, placing down his record book and text book on the podium, "Alright class, today we have a new student joining us. Now, let him introduce himself."

The new kid came in. He had messy, shoulder length black hair and large glasses over his brown eyes. He had a very kind face and was dressed in the boy's uniform. He bowed politely.

"Greeting, everyone. My name is Malum...Malum Walters."

Ryuji: OK, when I look at him, I see someone that...well...I suddenly didn't like him. I couldn't explain it. I just...didn't like him.

"Alright, Walters, you can take the seat in the row next to Ms. Katsura's," said Warren.

"Thank you, sensei," said Malum politely before he went over to the desk, smiled at Kotonoha (Ryuji responded with grinding his teeth), before setting himself down.

"OK, now that we've all settled, it's time to begin our lesson…" Warren began. "Now, class, open your text books to page…"

Ryuji: As for Ryuushin, he enrolled in our school too but ended up in a different class than ours.

Meanwhile, in Rachel's class…

"My name's Ryuushin. Ryuushin Oba. Just stay outta my way and we'll get along just fine," stated Ryuushin as he stood at the front of the class.

Kat grinned. From what he heard this guy was a brawler and loved to fight. Whenever he got bored he could go look for a fight. Maybe when she had time she could go and challenge him to a fight.

Later, during the free time in between classes…

Kotonoha was welcoming the newest addition to their class, "As the assistant class rep, I wish to welcome you, Walters-san."

Malum nodded, "Thank you, Katsura-san. But please, call me Malum."

Kotonoha then introduced Ryuji, "Oh, and this is my boyfriend, Ryuji Hasuma."

Malum offered his hand, "It is nice to meet you."

Ryuji just stared at the hand dubiously. It took him ten seconds before he accepted the hand and they shook. "Yeah, likewise," Ryuji lied.

Ryuji: OK, ever had the feeling that you just touched something so horrible that you wanted to either scrub your hand with a wire brush until the skin got scraped off or you wanted to cut off your hand? That was what I was feeling while shaking Malum's hand.

Ryuji continued, "Nice to meet you too."

Ryuji: I didn't like this guy already, and I wasn't sure why. I just...didn't like him.

During lunch time, Ryuji was up on the roof, alone, and looking over the city. "I can't believe so much time has passed since I decided to stay here." The wind blew through his hair and it whipped into his face. He pulled his hair away from his face and spat, "Damn hair…"

"Maybe you should cut it," Kenzaki suggested as he stood next to Ryuji.

"No way!" Ryuji snapped. "Koto-chan loves my hair!"

"Well, you better manage it well then," said Kenzaki. "So, where's your other half?"

Ryuji grumbled, "She's showing the new kid, Malum, around. Damn it, I don't like him and I don't know why."

Kenzaki stated, "You don't like anything."

"There are exceptions," said Ryuji. "But this guy makes my skin crawl and I don't feel comfortable with Koto-chan spending time with him."

"I'm surprised you haven't gone and beat him up," said Kenzaki.

"It's tempting, but I don't want to come off as a jealous and possessive boyfriend…"

"Even though you are."

"Yeah, I'm possessive and jealous!" Ryuji yelled, "But I trust Koto-chan too! I'm not going to beat up a guy she wants to be friends with because of my stupid jealousy!"

Kenzaki blinked. "Wow…you have changed…"

"Maybe," Ryuji said as he turned around and leaned against the guard fence. "It's just…this world…there's something about it." He then asked, "So, where's your other half?"

"She's busy showing off pictures of our kids to the other girls," said Kenzaki. "Can't believe Nanami knows now too, huh?"

"Kat and Hikari blabbed," said Ryuji. "And well Kat had to prove it by using her 'Rinki Gaiso' technique."

"She really isn't subtle, is she?" Kenzaki asked.

"Hey, you know her like I do. When she came back she just tossed Ryuushin out and slammed the door in his face." He then asked, "So, how does it feel to be neighbors with Kat?"

Kenzaki frowned, "Ugh…she drops by unannounced so she can spend time with my kids. Sure, I trust her to protect them…but…"

"There are just still some issues between the two of you," Ryuji finished. "I know the feeling. Well, whether you wanna admit it or not, Kat's family."

"Don't remind me…" groaned Kenzaki. "Say, you wanna go down to the cafeteria to get something to eat?"

Ryuji pointed to the empty bento on the bench. He said, "I just ate."

"I thought Hasumas were ALWAYS hungry," said Kenzaki, remembering how much Neko ate before and after she got pregnant. It was hard to tell the difference.

"Maybe, but right now I can't think of food," he said. Ryuji looked at the sky. "I just have this odd feeling that something's going to happen."

Kenzaki gave his fellow Rider an odd look and said, "Well, whatever you say. Right now I gotta go see my wife. See ya later, Ryuji."

"Yeah, you too, Kenzaki."

"Well, Malum-san, what do you think of our school?" asked Kotonoha as she finished the tour.

"It's a great place, Ms. Katsura," said Malum. Kotonoha smiled and gasped after she checked her watch.

"Oh my!"

"What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, Malum-san," apologized Kotonoha as she bowed, "But I need to go! I promised to have lunch with Ryuji-kun!" She then ran off without another word.

It was the final bell and all the students were ready to head home after the day. Since it was the first day of the new term, club activities were postponed until next week. The students still needed to get used to the schedule again after enjoying their summer vacation.

The KLLA tried to attack Ryuji again but all he had to do was unleash his killing intent to get them to back down. It was at the gate that things were going to take a turn for the worse.

Kotonoha and Ryuji were almost out of school grounds when they saw a female figure leaning against the gate's entrance/exit. She wore a black tank top, blue jeans and combat boots. Though she had a figure supermodels would kill for, it was her face that was less than desirable. Of course, said face was covered up by a metal hockey mask. Her long dark hair fell down like a curtain. Through the eyeholes, a pair of soulless eyes stared at the frozen pair.

"Nice to see you again," the figure said.

Ryuji uttered one word, "Sauron…" right before the sky turned blood red and everything became bathed in red light.

"Party time," Sauron said as she whipped off her mask, revealing her terribly cracked and scarred face along with her black soulless eyes and demonic grin. Her shadow expanded and Horrors rose up one by one, twitching and clicking their jaws together hungrily. "Or should I say dinner time?" She let out an insane cackle as she watched her Horrors soar through the air.

"Dammit! Not even one day in!" Ryuji hissed as he drew out his Dyno Belt.

Inside the school were several flashes of light which indicated that the Riders in the building had already changed. Sounds of battle were already echoing in the building.

"You just don't know when to quit," Ryuji scowled as he wrapped his Dyno Belt around his waist. He then tapped the buttons one by one.

"I won't stop until I either control it all, or have destroyed it," Sauron laughed.

"Or I make you stop! Chou Henshin!" He slid the pass between the 'jaws' of his belt buckle.

"DYNO FORM!"

In the DynoLiner, Loki heard his signal. "Oh my! Ryuji needs help!" He then turned into an orb of light that flew out of the train.

Kishamoth, who was busy pumping weights, asked, "Hey, are you two guys up for some good old fashioned ass-kicking?"

"Sure, why not?" said Tirain. "Coming, brother?"

Cyrain put down his book and glasses before answering, "Lead the way."

The 3 Dyno Imagin then turned into orbs of light themselves before flying out of the train.

The GaroLiner Hunters were dealing with the Horrors that had forced their way into the school. Kenzaki had quickly become Garoh Lunar Form and Neko had become Ultimate Ryukendo. The two sword wielders were slicing the Horrors to ribbons, being sure to avoid any of their tainted blood.

Byakko was literally sending heads rolling as he knocked the Horrors around. Okami was using his scimitar to slice the dazed Horrors to ribbons, but his nose getting irritated by the rotting smell of their blood. Raion himself was spinning around with his naginata, running the Horror's through with ease. As for Buraki, he was using his favorite element of fire and burning the Horrors to a crisp. But the Horrors just kept coming.

The two Riders were forced back to back and Garoh chose this time to make some conversation.

"Brings back memories, huh?" asked Garoh.

"Not fond ones," said Ryukendo. "But it's good to be back in the suit."

"Ojou-sama, focus!" advised Gekiryuken.

She nodded and then ran her sword through a Horror. She concentrated and fired several bolts of lightning which electrocuted the Horrors, followed by a blast of flame and then a blizzard.

"Impressive," said Garoh. His wife beamed in response.

In another section of the building, Byakko no Gai, CopyKat, ALPHA and OMEGA were dealing with Horrors too. Byakko no Gai was tearing them to shreds with his claws as CopyKat sliced them to ribbon with her claws. OMEGA was slashing at them with her sword as ALPHA blasted at them.

"Man, and all on the first day!" said CopyKat. "Better switch! Rinki Gaiso!" In a flash of dark Rinki, her armor shifted into her Black Lioness form. "OK, now we're talking!" She then fired several orbs of dark energy from her hands, "Raigo Dan!"

"Kitty-Kat, behind you!" OMEGA alerted and the RinJyuKen artist ducked as a Horror lunged at her from behind. It got stabbed right through the face, courtesy of OMEGA.

"Thanks, Rosie-chan!" BL-Kat gave a thumbs up. "Bobby, my axes!"

"Gotcha, Big Sis!" Byakko no Gai answered before shooting the axes towards his partner. She caught them deftly in her hands and then started to hack and slash at Horror.

"Excel Charge!"

ALPHA's wings glowed brightly before she flew straight into the horde of several Horrors. Her energized wings cut right through them and killed them. She then landed and then began blasting again.

And yet in another section of the building a non-Rider pair was fighting Horrors. Ryuushin had assumed his Dragon Demon form as Benitora transformed into Rojotigre. The demon and Arrancar used whatever weapons or powers they had at their disposal to take down the hungry demons.

"Are you excited?" Rojotigre asked as he flexed his claws.

"Do you have to ask?" grinned Ryuushin with a feral gleam in his eyes.

"Well, I just hope Hikari-chan's okay," said Rojotigre.

"Don't be," said Ryuushin. "Rina and Siera are taking care of her and the others."

"You have a lot of confidence in them," said Rojotigre.

"Well, why shouldn't I be? Siera can use defensive spells but they are deadly on these demons, and Rina can back her up with offensive spells."

The Horrors descended on the two beings and with a united roar they attacked.

Back outside, Ifrit was in Dyno Form and fighting against Sauron. He had taken care of the Horrors as the other Riders were taking care of the Horrors which had gotten inside the building. Kotonoha had gone to take cover.

Sauron herself had transformed into her armor. It was the same Horror Form suit she'd donned before. It still looked ugly.

Her HorrorGasher and the Liner Cross-Rod both connected, causing sparks to fly. They fought violently, intent on killing one another.

"Why do you even care for this damn world? You weren't even born here!" Sauron shouted as they fought.

"Home is where the heart is, but you wouldn't know that since you have no heart!" he shot back as he jabbed his weapon forward. It managed to catch her in the shoulder, hard, and knock her backwards. He then followed up with a violent haymaker in the chest that sent her skidding backwards as her feet dragged along the ground.

"Looks like you've grown stronger," said Sauron, impressed, "But you'll always be weaker than me!"

"Keep on dreaming, bitch!" Ifrit spat as he kicked her in the stomach. He held the Liner-Cross Rod in his left hand as his right hand went down to the belt to punch in a sequence using the buttons. He pressed the following buttons: Blue, Black, Red and White.

"CHARGE AND UP!"

The Tricera-Buster slid along his arm to his fist and then he rushed at Sauron before smashing his weapon into her. She let out scream as she flew through the air and smashed right into the building.

Ifrit knew it wasn't over as he saw her dig herself out of the hole with dark energy radiating off her body. She glared at him with her demonic eyes and flew straight at him.

"Rargh!!" Sauron roared as she flew at him with the intent of killing him. Ifrit jumped up and met her in mid-air where their weapons crashed into each other before they landed on the ground.

"Your kung-fu is strong," quoted Sauron, "But mine is better!"

"As if!" Ifrit spat. They fought brutally. His Liner Cross-Rod cut into the eye on her chest armor and she let out a shriek. "Heh, you've gotten weaker, Katherine."

Sauron snarled as the eye in her chest armor glowed. "Oh…really?" She shot several dark energy blasts at him from the eye, forcing him to make a run for it to avoid. "Yes, run like a coward!" she laughed.

Ifrit hated being called a coward and so he quickly converted his Cross-Rod to Gun Mode and returned fire as he ran towards Sauron. The Living Gate herself conjured the Grimm Scythe and tossed it at Ifrit. He barely even saw it coming but was fortunate enough to duck at the last second. However, in doing so, he'd left himself open.

"FULL CHARGE!"

"Gotcha!" Her energized blade sliced through the air and was aiming for Ifrit's neck. However, a figure suddenly got in its path and caught it before it could do damage. The blade was then snapped in half and dropped to the ground. "Smith!"

"Warren?" Ifrit questioned as he saw Skull Rider Wraith standing at his side. "What are you doing? This is my fight!"

"Just keeping my promise to Kotonoha," said Wraith. He'd promised Kotonoha to look after Ifrit and he intended to keep that promise, "And, Ryuji, it's a sempai's job to help his kohai."

"I'll never acknowledge that!" Ifrit snapped.

"You don't have to," said Wraith as he drew his twin guns. "By the way, the students are all frozen like statues inside. I think there's some sort of stasis field keeping them frozen. Only those of us with powers or have active Imagin contracts aren't affected."

"Just like that big eye before summer vacation," added Ifrit. During the last day of school before summer vacation, a large demonic eye had suddenly appeared in the sky. The Riders had been able to destroy the air before it did any irreparable damage.

"Oh, you remembered," said Sauron, amused.

"That was you!?" Ifrit shouted.

"Who else could it be?" she said.

Ifrit growled angrily.

"Ryuji, shall we send this bitch to Hell?" Wraith asked as he cocked his guns.

With her HorrorGasher gone, Sauron telekinetically pulled the Grimm Scythe into her hand. She then twirled it around and gripped it tightly in her hands. "Let's see you two try!"

"That sounds like a challenge," spoke Tirain from the belt.

"Let's show her what we can do!" said Kishamoth.

"Ryuji, gambatte!" cheered Loki.

"Just finish this quick. I want to get back to my book," said Cyrain.

Wraith glanced at the belt and said to Ifrit, "That's going to take some getting used to."

"How do you think I feel?" Ifrit replied before charging at Sauron who charged right back.

Wraith shot at Sauron with his guns but she blasted the weapons out of his hands. Glaring. He sent shadows blasts flying at her which he deflected with her scythe. Once she got close, she prepared to slice his head off with the Grimm Scythe but unfortunately got blindsided and then Wraith performed a roundhouse kick that slammed into her helmet and cracked it. One horn got broken off. With a snarl, she grabbed him by the throat to snap his neck but a black aura engulfed her hand and wrenched it away.

"Leave my husband ALONE!" Raven shouted before he started to toss Sauron around like a rag doll. The Living Gate countered by firing a blood red energy blast from her hand that homed in on Raven. Wraith gasped.

"Raven! Move!" he shouted. The beam was flying for her and he was just about to move to save her when the beam was deflected by a familiar pair.

"Hey, is this a private party or can anybody crash it?" said Ryukendo.

Raven dropped Sauron onto the ground and she picked herself back up. Garoh's eyes narrowed hatefully at the Living Gate. "That bitch is here…" he snarled.

Black Lioness Kat, ALPHA, OMEGA, Ryuushin and Rojotigre soon showed up.

"What about the Horrors?" Wraith asked.

"They're all dead," said Ryuushin. "Now, who do we get to beat up next?" Everyone who knew of Sauron pointed directly at her. "Now this is gonna be fun!"

Sauron found herself surrounded by the Riders and their allies. She laughed, "Oh, this is too much! You people actually think you have a chance at beating me!"

"Unlike you, we're not alone!" shouted Ifrit.

"And there's no way we're going t let you destroy this world!" added BL-Kat.

"That's right! This is where it ends!" finished Ryukendo.

"I admit that a lot of you have grown stronger," said Sauron, "But don't forget that I am ETERNAL! I've proven that! You can kill me many times over, but I WILL ALWAYS COME BACK!"

"Then all we gotta do is beat you up and then seal you forever like we did Damien," said Wraith.

"You wouldn't dare!" she exclaimed

"Wouldn't we?" Wraith smirked. "Riders, let's take this witch down!"

The Riders, one Dragon Demon and an Arrancar charged straight for Sauron. Sauron made her move to attack, but then shadow chains burst out from the ground and then bound her in place. "NO!" she roared.

Sauron stood helplessly as Garoh and Ryukendo charged from both sides, their weapons energized to unleash their attacks.

"SHOKU GIRI!" Garoh called out.

"KYUUKYOUKU RYUOU GIRI!" Ryukendo called out.

SLASH!

SLASH!

"ARGHHHH!" Sauron screamed and flailed as dark blood gushed out from her wounds. The chains vanished.

Both Ryuushin and Rojotigre also attacked as they lunged at her and smashed their fists into her chest, sending her flying backwards.

"BATTER UP!" Ifrit called out as he slipped his Ifrit Pass into the Liner Cross-Rod.

"FULL POWER CHARGE!"

"HYAH!" Ifrit swung his weapon like a baseball bat and slammed Sauron into the air. OMEGA and ALPHA leapt up with their weapons energized too. The OMEGA Blade and ALPHA Wing Cutters slashed into the Living Gate, causing more blood to gush out from the new wounds of her body.

"GOYU SHODA!" Black Lioness Kat shouted as she dropped down and smashed a fist engulfed with Confrontation Ki directly into Sauron's stomach. The Living Gate smashed into the ground, hard, which then exploded.

The Riders regrouped and watched as Sauron forced herself back to her feet.

"You…damn…RIDERS!" She let out a roar and her shadow stretched out. As she did this, the eye in her chestplate let out an eerie glow. Horrors rose up and the Riders prepared to face the horde once more. However, Sauron hadn't summoned her Horrors to attack. Instead, she absorbed all her Horrors into herself right through the eye on her chest.

"She's reenergizing herself!" Gekiryuken warned. "We have to stop her!"

"Leave that to us," said Ifrit as he switched the Liner Cross-Rod into Gun Mode. "Get ready to finish this!" He aimed, focusing his Genki into the Cross-Rod. He called, "Gengi: GENKI HOU!" The beam of Mythical Ki slammed into Sauron. However, it hadn't harmed her. Instead, it splashed off her own demonic aura. "Crap!"

"You see how pathetic you are? You can only slow me down but I'll keep coming," Sauron declared, "I can't be stopped, I won't be stopped, and I shall not be stopped until I ERASE EVERYTHING!"

A large demonic eye formed in the sky and glowed bright red. It was staring down at the Riders evilly. Kotonoha, from where she'd taken cover, gasped when she saw it.

"Now…DISAPPEAR!" Sauron called as she snapped her fingers. The eye in the sky fired a devastating blast of energy which caused the targeted area to explode and sent all the Riders flying. Sauron stood in the middle of the devastation, unharmed, and cackled as she saw all the fallen Riders.

"Heh…too easy…" said Sauron. She then turned to walk away and continue her little 'Dance of Destruction' when she heard movement. She turned around to see four of the Riders struggling to stand back up. "Heh, up for more, it seems."

"What can I say?" chuckled Ifrit. "We're stubborn that way." He asked his sisters, "Right, girls?" They nodded.

"And even if we fall, we get right back up," said Garoh.

"You're all fools," said Sauron. "I'll just do myself a favor and erase you all for good!"

"Don't think so," said Ifrit as his golden Mugenki flared up.

"I've got friends here I want to protect," added BL-Kat as her Dorinki flared up as well.

"And our precious children are here too," said Ryukendo as a silver Kageki aura flared out from her.

"So, there's no way you're taking us down," said Garoh as his own Violet Kageki manifested.

"How touching," said Sauron. "Looks like I'll destroy you four first. Pity, really…" Her eyes fell upon Ryuji and Kat, "Some of you had a lot of potential in becoming part of my army."

"Save it, bitch!" snarled BL-Kat, "I still got a bone to pick with you for what you tried to do to Rosie-chan!" She was talking about how Katherine had nearly raped the woman she loved.

"And I'm not interested in being anyone's lapdog!" said Ifrit.

"You people don't give up, do you?" Sauron questioned.

"Hey, we're heroes," said Wraith as he removed his cracked helmet, "It's what we do."

"Well…THEN DIE AS HEROES!" The eye in her chest armor glowed. After several seconds of charging up she finally fired a blast of demonic energy at the group of heroes. However, at the very last second, Wraith erected an energy barrier.

"NOW!" Wraith shouted. The three Hasuma siblings and Garoh then charged for Sauron.

"KAGEKI…" both Ryukendo and Garoh began.

"DORINKI…" BL-Kat added.

"MUGENKI…" Ifrit continued.

"…PUNCH!" they finished together before smashing their fists into Sauron at the same time. The force of the combo shattered her armor completely and cut off her beam. She was sent tumbling along the ground.

"Damn it…" Sauron groaned and when she looked up she found herself surrounded by three JyuKen artists. "Oh…fuck."

They ran her through with their preferred weapons without mercy. Sauron disappeared afterwards and then the sky turned back to normal. The Riders and their allies reverted back to normal and watched as life returned to the school. Since the 'normies' had been frozen by the strange energy field, none of them had noticed anything out of the ordinary.

The group relocated to the roof to have a talk about what had occurred.

"So, any casualties?" Neko asked.

"Surprisingly, with all the Horrors and all the people frozen up there weren't any, and all the damages just…disappeared," said Kat. There wasn't any evidence that a fight had taken place at all.

"It must've been that energy that Sauron used that turn the sky red and made everyone freeze," said Kat.

"I've heard of such things," said Warren. "They're called Stasis Fields."

"Well, at least Sauron's gone for now," said Kenzaki, relieved.

"That wasn't the real Sauron," said Warren, bluntly.

"WHAT!?" everyone else shouted.

"I didn't tell you coz then you'd get distracted if I did," explained Warren, "but that wasn't the real Sauron. It was just a decoy."

"So, we fought a fake?" Neko questioned.

"Should've known it was too easy to beat her," said Kenzaki.

"You called that easy?" Ryuji gawked.

"Compared to the first time?" Kenzaki reminded.

"Good point."

"But why would she send a fake?" asked Kotonoha.

"She wanted to gauge our abilities," answered Kat. Everyone looked towards her as she continued, "It's what I would've done. I would send a decoy to see how strong my enemies were and then make up a counter-strategy."

"Damn, so she knows what we're capable of," muttered Ryuji.

"Well, she knows what most of us were capable of since she's seen us fight," said Kat, "Or has fought us at one point." She regarded Siera, Rina, Ryuushin and Benitora, "What she didn't know about were our friends here."

"So, not only is Sauron still out there, but she has information that can help her beat us," said Ryuji depressingly. "Oh…that's just great."

"Um, excuse me?" spoke up Rina. "But…who's Sauron?"

"And what were those things?" asked Siera.

"It's a long story," said Warren, "But I guess I should tell it anyway. Sauron is the Living Gate, a demonic entity that is a living gateway to the Horror World. She's dangerous and has collected a lot of power through the devouring of people and worlds."

"Devouring…worlds?" Siera uttered fearfully.

"How dangerous is she?" asked Benitora.

"She could make Aizen look like a pansy," said Warren.

"Really?" Benitora blinked.

"The Eraser, Devourer of Worlds, the Horror Queen…" listed Warren, "Those are among the names she has earned. Not to mention she has a time train of her own called the HorrorLiner that is capable of erasing worlds."

"OK, so why haven't you guys killed her yet?" asked Ryuushin.

"We did, a few years back," Neko answered, "but she can't be killed. She's pure darkness, a force of nature…" She was trembling. Kenzaki placed a comforting hand on his wife's shoulder, comforting her.

"It's okay…" he said soothingly.

"So, can we at least take the fight to her?" asked Ryuushin.

"We could if we knew where she set up her base," said Warren.

"I've been trying to look for her but I haven't found any leads," said Kenzaki.

"That does not make me feel any better," muttered Ryuji.

"I know it doesn't, but it's the truth," said Kenzaki.

"Man, what a day," said Ryuji as he leaned backwards against his seat in the DynoLiner. He was sitting at a booth with Kotonoha across from him. Sitting around were three of the DynoLiner Imagin as Loki was at his usual station making drinks. He would go into the kitchen to prepare food if ordered too.

"It was rather tiring," agreed Kotonoha. She noted that Ryuji seemed depressed and in a bad mood. Again, she knew it was because she'd gone to show Malum around the school and had missed eating lunch with him on the roof. They hadn't talked about it, but she knew it was bothering him, even if it was small compared to what had occurred after school.

"And I thought the first day of school was supposed to be relaxing," sighed Ryuji. Kotonoha moved from her place to sit next to Ryuji before she leaned against him. He didn't protest and slowly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

"Ryuji-kun, you have nothing to worry about Malum-san, he's just a friend," said Kotonoha.

It was like she could read his mind and he answered, "It's okay. You were just doing your job."

"Sorry for missing our lunch together," said Kotonoha.

"There's always tomorrow, and we had breakfast and dinner together every day," he told her.

Kotonoha paused for a second before she spoke, "Ryuji-kun, will the fighting ever stop?"

"I don't know, Koto-chan…I just don't know…"

Sauron's reappearance had greatly affected Neko. She was still a bit shaken at seeing that demonic bitch again after all these years. She was scared, plain and simple, and she had every reason to be.

After dropping her off at the apartment, Kenzaki went towards the King's Terminal to get some answers. This left her with Gekiryuken.

"Ojou-sama, you're shaking," pointed out Gekiryuken and indeed she was. She was trembling, inside and out.

"I can't help it…" she told Gekiryuken. "I mean…I never expected to see…to see her again after all this time. Why can't she leave us alone?"

"She's evil, Ojou-sama," said Gekiryuken. "Plain and simple. She lives to cause pain."

She heard crying and raced towards the room she and Kenzaki were sharing. Shiori would be the one watching Maya and Gou when they were away.

When she went to the twin's crib, she was amazed to see Gou still sleeping soundly but Maya was throwing a fit. The young woman gently lifted up her daughter and cradled the baby in her arms.

"Hush now, it's okay," said Neko. "Mama's here." That seemed to calm Maya down as she stopped crying and looked up at her mother. She reached up to her mother's face and Neko leaned her head down so that her daughter could place her tiny digits against her mother's cheeks.

"Geki-chan, I'm not going to be afraid anymore," Neko resolved as she went over to the bed and sat down, rocking her young daughter gently. "I have to protect my babies and I have to be strong."

"You are strong, Ojou-sama…"

Kenzaki was making his way back to the GaroLiner. Again, all his investigations toward Sauron came up dry. Oh well, at least he could look forward to being with his beloved family tonight. He knew he couldn't allow himself to become obsessed with Sauron like he once was.

He had to help defeat her, that much was certain. But more importantly, he had responsibilities as a father now. Nothing else mattered in comparison to that. He had stayed with Neko and her family on her world for most of summer, and then some. Though only a couple months had passed on the world Ryuji now called home, nearly a year had passed on Neko's home world.

During this time, Neko had gone through her pregnancy, and she and Kenzaki prepared for the life of parenthood. Kenzaki spent most of the day hunting down high class bounties. Though he would spend up to a week on an average hunt, only hours would pass for Neko. This was to make sure his family was financially secure, while keeping up on repairs for the GaroLiner and food for everyone.

Kenzaki loved being a father, and loved playing with his kids. He was actually a little sad whenever they were asleep, because that meant he couldn't play with them. He never would wake them though. He did it by mistake once and well…Neko had rolled up a newspaper and started whacking him with it, calling him a bad dog. It didn't hurt but it was certainly annoying.

Well, maybe luck would smile on him and one of the babies would be awake. If not, Neko and him could always find a way to pass the time…

In the living room, where three fourths of the family was sitting, the sounds of something getting beaten up echoed.

"How long has she been in there?" Bobby asked.

"2 hours, and counting," said Rose.

"I guess seeing Sauron again upset her," said Cathy, "Even if it was a decoy."

"Cathy, that…thing used her. Anyone would be upset," said Rose.

"Yeah, but she has to stop soon," said Bobby, "And I didn't know there was someone Big Sis hated more than Kenzaki."

"Sauron is in a list of her own," said Rose.

Warren sat alone in his office. After a battle, especially after one like today, Warren preferred to be alone with his thoughts. Except it wasn't Sauron he was worried about. He knew that if push came to shove, he could take Sauron. Despite Sauron's power, she was nothing compared to some of the other threats he faced in the past.

Speaking of which, he was getting a strange feeling from the new student, Malum. It was familiar, and not in the good way. Warren suddenly grasped his head as pain overtook his senses. Images flashed through his mind. He collapsed to the ground, panting and eyes wide with fear.

"It…it can't be him…" wheezed Warren as he tried to compose himself. He looked up when he heard a knock on the door. "Yes?"

"Daddy! Mommy says dinner's ready!" said Tessa from the other side of the door.

Warren took a deep breath. "Coming, sweetie!" called Warren.

After getting kicked out of the apartment he'd been given, Siera had immediately taken advantage of the situation and offered Ryuushin a place to stay in her home. Ar first he'd been reluctant to accept her invitation, but Siera managed to persuade him using herfeminine charms.

Fighting the Horrors and cutting loose had been fun, but nothing in comparison to fighting with that Sauron decoy. If the decoy was this powerful, there was no telling how much stronger the real deal was.

Ryuushin would train hard and when the time came he would fight Sauron. Nothing got his blood pumping more than a good fight.

He heard his phone ring and picked it up. "Hello? Oh, hey, Siera. Dinner at your place? What time? I'll be there. Bye."

Well, training could wait.

Benitora was once again at Hikari's family's shop, eating some pastries that Hikari had offered him, on the house. Still, she would have to pay out of her own wages but it was worth it. He even offered to pay but she declined.

He'd been worried for her safety the whole time. When she'd suddenly gone frozen, he panicked, and then those…Horrors came and started to go on the attack. He'd acted on instinct and executed his release state before fighting with them. Ryuushin had joined him and together they managed to slay the Horrors.

Now, Sauron was definitely close to Aizen's level of power, if not higher. The decoy was weaker in comparison if what he heard was true. It was only a matter of time before Sauron, the real Sauron, herself came.

"Beni-kun, is something wrong?" asked a concerned Hikari.

"No, nothing's wrong," he told her. It was a lie but the truth would just distress her.

Sauron sat on her thrown, witnessing what her decoy had gone through during her little test on the Riders. She was rather surprised to find that they had grown in strength. She wasn't expecting an Arrancar, a demoness, a Dragon Demon and a goddess to be helping them. Well, that was what the decoy was for. She had to be sure what she was up against before she went conquer/erase that world.

Grimm then appeared before her and knelt down. "Mistress," he said as he bowed his head in respect and reverence.

"Are the Nytemares prepared?" asked Sauron.

"Ready and awaiting your orders," said Grimm.

"Excellent," Sauron grinned. She then rose up from her throne and made her way to the door, walking past Grimm. He rose up and turned to face his mistress' back.

"Mistress, are you off to check on your Nytemares?" asked Grimm.

"Not tonight. Tonight I wish to have dinner with my family. It's been awhile since it's only been us together."

"I shall inform the kitchen staff to prepare your feast," said Grimm.

"You do that, and don't forget the wine."

"I won't, mistress."

Sauron went to the bottom levels of the castle where her most secret of secrets were kept. This was where she conducted her experiment with Horrors, fusing them with animals and beasts to create horrendously disfigured beasts. They were kept in cages in a special zoo, but their main purpose was to serve as her army of rabid attack dogs.

It was also in these levels that the HorrorLiner slept. It was her own personal vehicle which allowed her to travel between worlds. It was discouraging when she realized that her ability to travel between worlds had been limited after she no longer possessed Neko and Kat's united body, but at least this train compensated for that.

Her hand ran across the surface of the demonic train. She'd created it from the remains of another train and she'd modified it to suit her. It was indeed a horribly magnificent vehicle and she had no interests in changing it anytime soon.

It had been destroyed many, many times, but as long as she lived, so would it. It would keep coming back since they were connected.

The HorrorLiner was hungry but it had to wait. There was one world she wanted to erase so badly that it hurt but she wanted to savor that victory when it came. Her targets were on that world and she wanted them to suffer directly at her hands before she erased that world completely. It was more satisfying that way.

"Soon…very soon…very, very soon…" she said insanely. "Their world will…disappear…"

She then let loose a maniacal laughter that chilled people to the bone. It was just that unsettling to be in her presence. After all, she was a demon and one of the most powerful.

"Geez, what a drag," said Ryuji as he sat at the edge of a tall building. He had a cigarette in his mouth. It was late at night and Ryuji just wanted to be alone.

"Does Kaa-chan know you smoke?" Tatsu asked as he landed on the rooftop.

"She doesn't need too, and besides she'll never find them. I stashed them in the DynoLiner," said Ryuji as he took out the cigarette and put it out against his hand. "So, how was your first day at school?"

"It wasn't like the Shinigami Academy, I can tell you that," said Tatsu as he went over and set himself down next to his father. "So, when you both came back home you were awfully quiet. Care to shed some light on the subject, Oyaji?"

Ryuji sighed and answered, "An old enemy just reared its ugly head."

"So, beat them like you always do," said Tatsu.

"It's not that simple, Tatsu-bozu," Ryuji told his son. "This enemy…she's almost as powerful as Warren."

That made Tatsu gulp. As far as he knew there wasn't anybody who could match Warren.

"So, how can I help?" Tatsu offered.

Ryuji frowned. He'd lost his son once and wasn't going to let it happen. However, Tatsu was like himself; headstrong and stubborn, so there would be no way to persuade him otherwise. Still, Tatsu was a Shinigami and trained to fight and being a member of that psycho Zaraki's squad meant that he was a tough-as-nails fighter like the rest of them. "Just…take care of your mom and aunt Kokoro."

"OK, Oyaji!" agreed Tatsu. Ryuji affectionately gave his son a pat on the head, messing up his hair. "HEY!" Tatsu snapped as he slapped his father's hand away, "Watch the hair!" Ryuji chuckled in amusement before he looked out at the city.

Ryuji: No way am I going to let Sauron erase this world. It's my home and I have friends and family here. In my mind's eye, I could see the faces of the people I have become close to. Kotonoha's face was the most prominent among them. If Sauron's going to erase this place, then she has to go through me first to do it.

'And us too,' said Loki.

'That's right, Ryuji-sama,' said Tirain.

'We will be behind you all the way,' said Cyrain.

'Let nothing stand in our way!' said Kishamoth.

Ryuji rolled his eyes.

Ryuji: Were my thoughts no longer private anymore…?

Three figures sat in a darkened room. The only light was the light from a flickering screen which depicted Sauron. "So, that's Sauron?" asked the skinny figure.

"Doesn't look too tough to me," grunted the large, muscular figure. "Then again, neither did our little brother and look where that got us. What do you think, Brother Malice?" The third figure was silent. "Well? Can we use her or not!?"

"All in due time dear brothers…All in due time," stated the final figure.

ZK Chromedragozoid: Only the first day of school and look what happens. Look like our heroes have their work cut out for them. Sauron's back and she wants to get even with the Riders. Of course, the Riders aren't going to go down without a fight. Well, let's see what will happen next, shall we?

Shadow Element 13: Yikes, Sauron's back and that's never a good thing. Looks like we're in for one hell of a fic when Sauron shows up. What'll happen next I wonder?

Ten-Faced Paladin: Well, the fic is just beginning and an epic fight breaks out. This is just a regular day for the DynoLiner crew and company. Expect more fun things in the future.