"Impossible!" the bear monster's massive frame retreated a step, shaking his head in denial.
Yareli flexed her gloved hand experimentally. Much to her disappointment, her senses remained dead. Skeletons couldn't feel, hunger, or even sleep. Yet every movement—every twitch—contained a staggering amount of power. Despite her odd unlife condition, she felt alive.
Still, her transformation only raised more questions. Why had her pendant activated this strange belt? What did the scientist call it? The Rangadriver? Never mind, she'd answer those questions later from the data she'd stolen.
The bear monster snorted, drawing Yareli from her musings. "No clue why you possess an Uhyre Key, but you're dead, regardless." Despite his bravado, she detected the apprehension behind his voice.
With blinding speed, the creature slashed a paw toward her head. Fenrir slipped aside, astonished by the power a single step had given her—almost throwing herself into the nearest wall. Experimentally, she drove her claws into a nearby pillar. It shattered upon impact, concrete powder dripping from her clawed fingers. She started at the dust coating her hand, amazed.
Taking advantage of her distraction, the bear swung a tree-thick leg at her head. But Yareli dodged effortlessly, blocking the next blow with a knee. After regaining their senses from these recent, shocking developments, the Ymir guards raised their guns at her. The remaining Jotnar members yelped in fright and ducked down, hoping not to get caught in the crossfire. The bear monster raised a claw to stop them.
"No, I will handle this. We wanted combat data, remember? Record the fight for Dr. Nomikos and the other higher-ups."
"Yes, sir!" A guard pulled out their phone and pointed its camera at the two combatants.
"'Sides, I doubt your weapons would harm her anyway." The bear monster gave her a sideways glance. True, it wasn't like bullets had injured him.
"It's time to get serious, Fenrir. Dodge this." Despite his bulk, her opponent struck with remarkable speed, the blocked blow almost hurling Yareli off her feet.
She grunted as a paw broke through her defenses, slashing across her sternum. While Yareli couldn't feel pain, the impact rattled her bones. It tossed her aside like a rag doll, bouncing hard against a nearby wall. The creature charged again, but the Kamen Rider leaped away before the swinging claws connected.
While they fought, the gang members enacted their own plans. The Ymir guards ignored them, too enraptured by the fight. Johan pulled out his phone and desperately tapped at it.
"Rebecca, we need help now!" the gang member almost yelled into his phone. "It's all gone sideways!!"
"I'll need to clear a path for them," Yareli thought, grunting as another claw slashed across her armor, sparks flying from the impact. Thankfully, she caught herself before getting thrown into another wall. As they fought, she gained some understanding of her suit's abilities. The monster gasped in surprise as a fist caught one of his massive paws.
"Good, keep the van ready." Johan gave the guards blocking the exit a wary glance. "We'll find an escape somehow."
Enough playing around.
The bear monster's expression turned to panic as she deflected each of his blows. His movements seemed almost glacial as Fenrir went on the offensive. A grunt of pain echoed through the small hallway as her fist impacted the creature's thick, protective fur, pebbles of concrete raining from the impact into a nearby wall. Blinded by rage, he charged forward. But Yareli was already behind him, kicking him across the hallway. Guards scrambled away as the creature flew toward them. As she'd predicted, it offered the perfect opening for the gang members to escape.
"Go!" Yareli pointed toward the opening.
Johan trembled, awed by her power. But he nodded, fleeing toward the exit with his friends. A guard stretched a hand to grab him by the scruff of his coat, but Yareli caught the man's arm with ease. With a quick flick of her wrist, she tossed him aside. The other thugs watched her warily, realizing how useless they were against her.
"I'm not finished yet!" the bear monster said, fangs snarling. Much to her amazement, his body contorted, expanding to tower over her. His injuries seemed to vanish, his movements no longer pained. Behind his monstrous bear face, she detected a smug expression.
"What the…?" She gasped in shock as a meaty fist sent her flying, metal crumpled like tissue paper as she flew through a lab's thick door. With a flip, she leaped back to her feet in a crouch. The bear monster's massive arms pushed their way through the lab door's remains, reducing anything in his path to shrapnel.
Claws drove into her chest with astonishing power, hurling her through a lab station and shattering its contents. The creature's bombardment of slashes intensified, staggering from the devastating strikes. It amazed her that the monster's increased bulk hadn't decreased his speed in the slightest. Fenrir slipped through his wild attacks and slashed across the enormous beast's chest with her claws. But he only grunted, slapping her aside. The impact sent Fenrir flying through a wall into another lab, crumpling some expensive-looking equipment on impact.
"Damn, seems my claws can't cut it." Yareli grunted as she struggled to stand, but brightened when she noticed something protruding from her belt. What was this? It slipped from the buckle, appearing like the curved hilt of a sword. A rune-covered purple blade extended from the handle as it exited her belt. She whipped it around, testing its weight. The empty sockets of her skull sparkled when she noticed her new weapon had an open slot to insert her pendant.
Metal crumpled as the bear monster pushed himself through the hole in the wall blocking his path. Glass cracked as he approached, eyes glittering with menace.
Yareli darted forward, using the creature's arm as a springboard. Her opponent recoiled in pain, holding one eye with a clawed hand. She landed behind the bear monster and pulled her pendant from her belt. Fenrir's blade sparked as she inserted her key into the sword's slot. Its runes glowed, mist forming around the blade.
"Torrent Fang!" A tide of water flew from her sword as she slashed at the creature's back. Each droplet shattered whatever it touched upon impact, the torrent throwing the monster across the room. The room rumbled as he crashed, like it had suffered a minor earthquake. The creature groaned in pain, his armband snapping off and exploding. His key slid across the floor, blackened but otherwise unharmed.
The bear monster's body contorted before returning to its normal human form. Much to Yareli's relief, the man was still breathing—if shallowly. While his right eye was a bloody mess, his injuries didn't seem too severe. Yareli sighed, relieved she hadn't killed him.
Still, what were these armbands? She glanced down at her belt. A pang of worry struck her, fearing what other horrors Ymir might unleash against her.
"I'll deal with them later." Yareli darted toward the lab's exit. Though hesitant, none of Ymir's thugs dared to stop her. As she ran through the tunnel, Yareli scooped up her discarded helmet. Thankfully, the gang members she'd rescued were long gone. She prayed Ymir hadn't chased after them.
It didn't take long to reach her motorcycle. She untransformed by removing her pendant and returned the helmet over her skeletal head. After revving the engine, she sped away from the scene. Satisfied no one was following her, Yareli rode toward her hideout. Hopefully, Gramps could make some sense of these files. They might finally provide a vital link to her mysterious past.
---
"Hurry, get in!" Rebecca waved from a beat-up van parked across the street.
Johan and Samuel fled toward the vehicle, almost tearing the side door off in their haste to escape. They dove inside, the door slamming shut behind them.
"Wait, where's the Boss and Randell?" Rebecca eyed them in concern.
"We'll explain later—drive!" Johan waved his hand wildly, urging her to escape while they still could.
Rebecca bit her lip but nodded and drove off. She peppered them with questions, but her friends didn't reply, too relieved by their narrow escape. After parking in the garage of their hideout, she stomped her foot and demanded answers.
Johan's voice cracked with pent-up emotion as he spoke. "They're dead."
"What?!" Rebecca's eyes widened in shock and disbelief. "Ymir won't…"
"He's right," Samuel snarled, slamming his fist against the van's door. "They slaughtered them!"
"What happened?!" Rebecca glared at them with hard eyes.
"They used some sort of bioweapon." Johan couldn't provide any better answers. Anything else sounded crazy. Part of him remained convinced he'd only imagined the whole escapade. How else could he explain bear monsters and talking, living skeletons?
"Like a virus?" Rebecca scooted away from her friends.
"No, it's complicated," Samuel replied. "They used something like the belt to transform into a monster."
"Sorry?" Rebecca leaned forward, unsure she'd heard that right.
Johan threw his hands up. "I don't know. The whole thing is crazy."
"And you didn't get the belt either." Rebecca studied her fellow Jotnars. "Start from the top. Don't worry if it sounds completely insane."
Johan did his best trying to explain what had happened. Rebecca crossed her arms, listening patiently. It took several moments to absorb the entire tale, but she believed them—much to Johan's amazement.
"The belt had special properties, according to the hacked files I discovered. And it created special armor?"
"And now it's in that skeleton chick's paws." Samuel scowled. Their rescuer had ruined any chance of completing their mission.
"Are you sure she wasn't wearing a mask?" Rebecca raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe?" Was his memory playing tricks on him? His eyes widened in horror at the implication that they'd lost the belt.
"Ymir will kill to protect the secret of the belt! We need to skip town now! Our employer might also kill to keep their secrets!" Heck, they should abandon their hideout too. Too many people knew about it.
"No way," Samuel shook his head. "We can't allow Ymir to get away with killing Randel and the Boss!"
"Are you crazy?!" Johan shot back. "They'll kill us!"
"No, Samuel is right," Rebecca said. "If Ymir is doing something illegal, we need to stop them."
Johan stared at his friends like they were insane. Why couldn't they understand the dangers?
A cough caught their attention. Johan's blood turned cold when he noticed the sleek black car blocking the garage's exit. It was the same people who'd tasked them with stealing the belt. A heavyset man approached—more muscle than man—his black tailored suit barely containing his massive frame.
"We're dead! So dead!" Johan thought.
"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation," another man said. Johan gasped in surprise, recognizing the man from the news. It was Sten Simensen, the president of Ophion Industries.
Samuel lowered his hand to his weapon but groaned when he found his holster empty. He'd dropped it during the chaos in the lab. Everyone froze. Simensen's bodyguard had already drawn his sidearm, keeping it trained on the Jotnar. Sweat beaded down Johan's forehead, realizing how screwed they were. Much to their relief, Simensen raised a hand, belaying any violence.
"Please, I'm not here to enact any punishment for the failed op." The president gave them a genial smile. "In fact, I request for your further assistance."
Though relieved they weren't dead, suspicion crept into Johan's voice. "Why?"
"Because the situation is more complicated than I expected. My spies among Ymir's guards told me alarming news. My sources informed me about the Rangadriver—but not these armbands that transform people into monsters."
While it didn't surprise Johan that Ophion's president owned an inside man in Ymir, it annoyed him that Simensen hadn't used them to steal the belt. He supposed they were more expendable.
"So the monsters are real," Rebecca breathed. "But we can't fight them!"
"True, but you are friendly with the Rangadriver's wielder," Simensen replied. "The young lady who's a skeleton beneath her biker outfit? Kamen Rider Fenrir, was it? It was a terrible shock to me too. I saw her when she fled from the warehouse."
"And?"
"And I want you to befriend her." Simensen gave them a warm, encouraging smile. "She saved your lives, after all."
Samuel's eyes lit with understanding. "And steal the belt back."
Simensen shook his head. "No, copy data from it. Fenrir can keep the belt. After all, only she can wield its power."
"I don't understand." Johan shook his head, confused.
"It's simple. Only Fenrir is powerful enough to defeat Ymir's monsters. That's a useful asset I wish to cultivate. How about it? I promise the pay will be good. This is a unique opportunity."
"Well?" Samuel eyed Johan with a questioning glance, wondering if this offer was real.
"It would be better if we skipped town!" Johan thought.
But his friends had a fierce determination to get revenge against Ymir. Johan supposed it wouldn't hurt to ally themselves with Yareli. Her Kamen Rider powers had protected them from Ymir's wrath. Still, Johan wasn't stupid. This slimy president was plotting something. But the pay—and his burning curiosity about Yareli—were too tempting. The Jotnar exchanged a nod.
"Fine, we'll help you," Johan said to Ophion's president.
"Fantastic!" Simensen said. "Glad to have you aboard!"
While overjoyed he wasn't about to die, Johan felt guilty that he planned to lie to Yareli to gain her trust. She'd risked her life to save them. It seemed so dishonest to earn her friendship this way. Johan discarded his concerns. This was about survival and revenge. A little white lie wouldn't hurt anyone.
---
"She gave me a real beating, I tell you." Dino shook his head, chagrined.
The action sent fresh waves of pain through his body. A thick bandage covered the eye the skeleton girl had hit. The doctors were uncertain if he'd regain sight in that eye again. He currently stood in President Wilson's office, the various heads of Ymir taking turns to berate him.
"I don't understand how she used the Rangadriver. It should be impossible!" Chadwick Smith, head of weapon development, wasn't a handsome man—his scowl made him appear devilish.
"Her unique body might allow her to bypass human limitation," Jessica Lauper, Chief Strategy Officer, replied, sounding bemused. Drawn from an exercise session for this emergency meeting, she still wore her sweats. It didn't detract from her attractiveness; her middle years had aged her to perfection. Her emerald eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"Is she one of yours?" scowled Arend Visscher, head of media, giving Smith a questioning glance. "Where'd she come from?"
"I'm investigating the matter," Smith replied. "We have many special projects, but nothing like that. Nothing about her body makes sense. She shouldn't be capable of moving without muscles!"
"And she possessed an Uhyre Key," Dino added, piping in. He hated being ignored. "It hung around her motorcycle suit."
Smith's scowl deepened. "We're looking into that too. I don't recall a wolf key being put into development."
"What danger do you believe this Kamen Rider Fenrir poses to Operation: Ragnarök?" President Wilson finally spoke, steepling his fingers on his desk.
The president of the multitrillion-euro company was a burly man with the body of a prizefighter. His features were unusual from his mixed birth. His father had been a New York stockbroker, and his mother a Japanese businesswoman. They'd met during a random encounter on a plane. Mark Wilson was a dangerous man. He'd built Ymir from nothing and wouldn't tolerate any interruptions to his plans. Everyone froze as he spoke, understanding the severity of the situation.
"She stole data from the secret lab," Visscher said, his tone careful. "Why, we aren't certain."
"That answer isn't acceptable." While Wilson's words were calm, they made everyone flinch. "Learn why. Track her down and recover the Rangadriver and her key. Alive, dead—I don't care."
"Yes, sir!"
"What's with this mood?" Reine slipped into Wilson's office, unperturbed by the room's tension.
Wilson's face broke into an amiable smile. The president of Ymir had a soft spot for its premiere idol. "Just a disagreement, Reine. Nothing that needs to bother you."
While Reine sounded unconvinced, she didn't press the issue. "Well, okay. Dinner with the mayor begins in half an hour. I came to ensure you weren't late. You're so bad at keeping track of time, president!"
Wilson nodded. "I'll be along soon. I have a slight matter that needs dealing with."
"Okay." Reine waved, leaving her boss's office.
"Find Fenrir." Wilson's expression turned dangerous once the idol had left. "Eliminate whatever threat she poses."
"Don't worry, I'll find her," a new person said. In his hand was the Uhyre Key, which he tossed into the air before catching it. It bore the symbol of a spider. "You'll help, right, Dino?"
"Of course, Eirik." While pleased he wasn't on the chopping block, Dino doubted his friend would allow him to forget his failure. But whatever—he was eager to get some payback on Fenrir. Next time, she wouldn't be so lucky.