In the last few days, Inves attacks had increased dramatically, forcing Fractured Infinity to have someone go out and try to curtail them. This time, Hiroto and Miu were the ones on patrol. While they found one, it wasn't a typical encounter. "Ani, something's different about this one."

"Right.", Hiroto nodded. "It looks like a collection of parts from different creatures, all grafted onto a robotic exoskeleton. This probably won't be easy." He flicked a switch on his Rocket Dagger, sending a slash towards their opponent. Mission 2! He sent a beam towards the creature, partially freezing its arm. But rather than futilely trying to smash the ice off, the creature simply stood still. "That's odd. It doesn't even act like a typical beast would."

"But of course." Both Hiroto and Miu were struck down in a single stroke of an unseen attacker who suddenly revealed themselves. It was Dr. Zora, though her appearance was drastically changed. She now prominently bore fangs, larger ears and ponytails, the latter of which had turned greyish blue, and thicker armour, which had a more organic texture. Her Zolbird had also evolved, with the cross guard now bearing spikes and the blades being sharper and more serrated. "I control this creature, Seth, and his will. Once he was a human, but I found that Dark Bo had made him into a creature not dissimilar to an Inves. And like an Inves, he can be commanded by an Overlord."

"That would explain your new appearance.", Miu commented. "Though I imagine you found some form of cheat to keep your brains, since normally turning into an Inves is a lot more of a zombie situation."

"Indeed.", Dr. Zora stated as she teleported over to her servant, cutting the ice off him. "I simply had the Helheim fruits liquified and injected into my body to induce the same mutation at a more controlled rate. Thus, I retain full control of my… of my…" Zora suddenly growled, before charging at Hiroto slashing at him relentlessly.

"Something's up.", Miu noted. "This level of violence doesn't seem like the same Dr. Zora we've been fighting for months." But she soon ignored this, heading to battle with the creature called Seth.

But what came out of his mouth caused her to stop. "Please!" His voice sounded almost… pitiable. "Let me… die! End my… suffering!"

Miu was shocked. "You… you're really a human under all that. And one who doesn't want to be there."

"Eternal agony!", Seth hissed. "You have to help me… end the pain!"

"I-I will.", Miu nodded as she flicked all the switches on her Rocket Dagger. Mission 6: Full Power! She then combined it with her Wing Trigger. "Attention!"

But before Miu could fire on Seth, Dr. Zora suddenly gasped back to reality, causing Seth to lose his lucidity and knock Miu down. "What am I doing here?", Dr. Zora asked. "You there. We're retreating." She walked over to the Chimera Inves, teleporting out with him.

With the fight over, Hiroto and Miu regrouped. "Ani, there's a man inside that creature. And he's in pain."

"I see.", Hiroto commented, as both reverted to normal. "And as long as Dr. Zora lives, he won't get that chance. We'll need to inform the others."

In an unknown location, Kaito came to, finding Reika doing likewise. "What happened?", he asked.

"I don't know.", Reika offered, as she went over to her computer to do an analysis. "I don't believe it. My plan worked. This world is now infested with Helheim."

"Though I doubt it will have progressed very far.", Kaito pointed out. "It barely covered Zawame City back in my world, and it took half a year to get that far."

"Oh that's no issue.", Reika assured him. "All I have to do is input a few coordinates and then Helheim will infest every major city at once. My reign over Earth is at hand."

But before she could finish pressing the button, Kaito threw one of his playing cards at her. "I'm sorry, but I'm not about to let you take people's choices away from them." He donned his Sengoku Driver and took out his Lockseed. "If you want to carry out your plan, you'll have to go through me. Henshin!" Banana! He then placed the Lockseed on his belt, cutting it open. Lock On! Come On! Banana Arms! Knight of Spear!

Reika merely chuckled at this. "You really think you can stand a chance against me?" She donned her own Driver, taking out her own Lockseed. Hells! "We're evenly matched in terms of power sets, meaning that you'll need spirit to beat me." She then placed the Lockseed in her belt, summoning Helheim vines from a crack. Lock On! "Henshin!" The vines wrapped around her as she initiated her transformation. Soiya! Hells Arms! Shinryaku no Kajutsu! "Let's go." Both Armoured Riders brandished their weapons, charging towards each other.

At Dark Guild's base, Dr. Zora was admiring her new body once more. Her species had always been one of the physically weakest in the galaxy, valued more for their intelligence and ability to regenerate than their physical strength. But the power of Helheim had created a warrior that was more cunning than the Descal, more ferocious than the Bosquito and more adept at fighting than the Impactors. And now, while waiting between battles, she was creating clones of the hybrid creature under her control - she knew it had a name, but it seemed to have skipped her memory - taking inspiration from an incident where humans created an army from the corpse of a deceased Akelon. Though unlike that disaster, this would provide her with an unstoppable army. "So, as you can see, my plan is moving forward and I managed to force the Go-On Wings to the point of defeat. Perhaps you should simply acquiesce me to assume leadership."

"Perhaps.", Buldont commented. "But I'd like some more concrete proof that you know what you're doing. It didn't go so well for you last time."

"Indeed,", Malthiua nodded. "After all, you didn't seem to be totally in control there, given that you violently lashed out at Go-On Gold with little provocation."

"So she has a bloodlust to her, so what?", Mangetsu asked. "I'd still follow this woman if she managed to succeed. That part in particular impressed me."

"I-I'm afraid I don't know what you're… what you're…" Dr. Zora then started snarling again, before lashing out at Ariake, pushing her into the wall with her Zolbird.

"Zora-chan, it's me!", Ariake begged, her breath faltering. "Your ally."

"My… ally?", Zora growled, as she regained consciousness. "Where am I?", she asked. "Who are you people?"

"Oh, how very insulting.", Malthiua stated. "First you try to attack your own ally, and then you try to feign ignorance. A very cowardly move."

"In fact, I'm going to exile you from our ranks.", Buldont announced. "Be gone from this place. You and your experiments."

"My experiments?", Zora asked, before her memories reasserted themselves. "I-I don't know what's happening to me!", she blurted out as she left the room. "But if I'm going to forget everything and become a beast, then I can at least fulfil my goal in this world." She stabbed the Zolbird into a photograph of her nemesis. "Riser Gant. I will defeat you with my army, even if it's the last thing I consciously do."

At the Urobuchi Estate, Fractured Infinity were discussing the Wings' recent battle with Dr. Zora. "She claimed that she'd injected Helheim fruit into her body in liquified form.", Hiroto stated. "While she claims it staved off the usual brain death becoming an Inves induces, I have my doubts."

"I concur.", Yakumo nodded. "From what I've seen, even the greatest minds can't resist being reduced to a mindless Inves. Dr. Zora likely staved it off through her own method, but she won't avert her fate forever."

"Which means that we'll have to destroy her quickly.", Momo pointed out. "With how powerful Dr. Zora is on a good day, a creature with her strength, but filled with primal ferocity, would be nigh-impossible for us to defeat."

"In that case, I think it's time I use the Tachyon Recreation Generator.", Shinya insisted. "Dr. Zora is my enemy, and the fact I haven't made more of an effort to get rid of her so far is the cause of our current problems." He went over to pick the device up. "And given how powerful Dr. Zora was before, it's going to take the power of all three Justirisers in order to defeat her."

"That makes sense.", Miu replied. "And then the rest of us can focus on saving that poor man from his pain by granting him a merciful death."

It was then that they were interrupted by a phone call. It was from Naoto. "Everyone. Not sure if you're aware, but Dr. Zora has turned up in town, with a group of monsters I can't identify."

"We'll be there.", Hiroto answered, as he hung up. "Looks like it'll be a shorter wait than we expected."

Out in the city of Kyoto, a hooded figure approached a stone effigy, depicting a short looking creature with a beard. "Now, awaken. Kuro Dwende." The hooded figured hissed, waving a hand over the statue. The figure's appearance began to develop cracks in it, which shattered away. "Good, now we can begin."

Back in the city, Naoto was trying to fight off the cloned Chimera Inves, but found himself being overpowered handily. "You can't beat my invincible army.", Dr. Zora gloated, as she teleported closer to Naoto to slash him down.

"Naoto-san!" The other members of Fractured Infinity soon made their entrance. "Looks like we got here just in time.", Shinya noted.

"So, you've actually shown up, Justiriser.", Dr. Zora stated. "I've no idea who your friends are, but I'll beat them all the same."

"Oh that's nice.", Yakumo commented sarcastically. "We've been fighting you for months and you've forgotten about us? Are we that unremarkable?"

"We… fought before?", Dr. Zora said, her voice filled with confusion. Then she started clutching her head in confusion. "My head… what's happening to me?"

"It seems that the Helheim fruit is starting to affect her mind already.", Shinya noted. "Not to mention her vocabulary. We'll have to finish her off before she's completely gone." He held up the TRG, concentrating. "Shouta, Yuka, lend me your power." In a flash, copies of his allies appeared, both fully transformed and wearing cloaks. He then transformed into his own suit using his InLoader. "Souchaku!"

Now together, the three Justirisers proceeded with their introduction. "Justiriser! Glen, revealed!"

"Justiriser! Kageri, has arrived!"

"Justiriser! Gant, on stage!"

All three then threw their cloaks off, as the other assembled heroes proceeded with their transformations. "Shuriken Henge!"

"Let's Go-On!"

"Choriki Henshin!"

Now transformed, all of them commenced their introductions. "The Roaring Cloud, AoNinger!"

"Break the Limit, Go-On Gold!"

"Sparkling World, Go-On Silver!"

"Take off, Go-On Wings!"

"OhPink!"

"We are… Fractured Infinity!"

"We'll handle those creatures.", Miu insisted. "You and your team can have Dr. Zora, Shinya."

"That's what we were counting on.", Shouta replied. "Let's do this, Dr. Zora."

"Bad… break… go… work…" Dr. Zora, now barely holding together, threw out a pod to summon a group of Zargoal, who charged at the three Justirisers.

"This is just what we need.", Yuka sighed. "Kageri Dagger!" She summoned a blade from her gauntlet, the Kageri Striker, which she threw at the enemy robots, knocking a few of them down.

"Gant Slugger!", Shinya pointed his weapon and fired a pair of shots to take out more of the robots. He and the others then ran forward to fight the robots hand to hand, with himself and Yuka using hand to hand, while Shouta favoured his Glen Sword.

Elsewhere, Kaito's fight with Reika continued, with the former having shifted to his Mango Arms for greater defensive options, as his foe launched a kick towards him. Soiya! Hells Squash! As Kaito blocked this, he then countered with his own attack. Come On! Mango Au Lait! "Take this!"

As the giant mango made its way towards its target, she countered with her own attack to cut it in two. Soiya! Hells Sparking! Her Hells Cane still charged, Reika then moved to attack Kaito, who changed forms so he could protect himself with a shield. Ringo Arms! Desire Forbidden Fruits! "Not bad.", Reika commented as she dodged out of the way of the sword swing manoeuvre that followed. "But it won't be enough." She leapt over to the TRG and input a code, that caused a portal to open. "Now, I will call every Inves on this version of Earth here, in order to spread their infection worldwide." Sure enough, a few different types of Inves began appearing from the portal.

"I won't allow it.", Kaito growled as he shifted into his Overlord form, opening a crack in the centre of the portal. This ended up causing feedback, sending lightning everywhere and shocking everything.

"You fool, you've wrecked everything!", Reika growled. "I HATE YOU!" She then got pulled back by a strong wind, falling into the crack. "Curse you, Kaito Kumon! CURSE YOOOOOOUUUUUUUU!"

Both portals then closed quickly, leaving Kaito alone with the Inves that had been brought through. "Well, that's the last she'll pose a threat to this world. Though her plan to bring all the Inves here… it's not a bad one."

Back at the battlefield, the heroes were still battling with the three cloned Inves hybrids, with Miu singling one of them out. "That's him. The original."

"These guys all look alike.", Yakumo pointed out as he slashed his down. "How can you tell?"

"The scars.", Miu pointed out. "He's the only one who has them." She then took out her Rocket Dagger, flicking two switches. "Shooting Dagger!" Mission 5! The attack made contact with Seth, knocking him down. She then combined the dagger with her Wing Trigger once more. "Jetras, let's put that poor man out of his misery."

"Ok, let's go.", Jetras mentally nodded as his Engine Soul was inserted.

3, 2, 1, 0!

"Wing Booster, Boost Up! Go-On!" Miu pointed and fired the weapon at Seth, creating the necessary energy bullet that fatally wounded him.

As he crackled with energy, Seth's human face appeared over him. "Thank you… for ending… my pain." And with that said, he collapsed and died, his body being incinerated by the energy it absorbed.

To the side, Hiroto and Naoto managed to take down the clone they were facing. Both then prepared their firearms and shot. "Wing Booster, Boost Up! Go-On!"

"DV Vulcan!" The two blasts hit one of the cloned Inves, destroying it.

Yakumo slashed at his opponent with his Ichibantou, before taking out the Gekiatsutou and placing his personal NinShuriken on it, pressing the first button. The Gekiatsu! "Gekiatsu Nin-Ryu-Zan!" He then spun the Shuriken three times. Chou Chou Gekiatsu! His sword charged with energy, Yakumo sent an energy wave towards his clone, destroying it.

Finally, Momo faced off against the last of the clones, managing to knock it back with her Battle Stick, before combining it with her King Blaster. "King Smasher!" She aimed and fired, weakening the creature, so she could launch a final attack. Senkou: Miracle Hikkoudan!" She charged all of her energy, before firing it at the cloned Chimera Inves, vaporising it. "That's all of them. It's up to you now, Justirisers."

And back with the Justirisers, they had finished fighting their way through the Zargoal and were now facing Zora, with Yuka's clone leaping forward to deliver a punch that knocked their foe back. "Her fighting style seems sloppier than before.", Yuka noted.

"It's probably a result of the Helheim formula.", Shinya surmised. "There's probably very little of her left. She's not a genius anymore, she's barely even a warrior."

"A warrior.", Zora hissed. "Yes… I am a warrior." She took out her Zolbird, gathering energy into it. "And you are… my enemy. I must… destroy you!"

"Everyone, let's hit her together.", Shouta suggested.

"Right.", both Shinya and Yuka nodded as everyone launched their attacks with their respective weapons.

"Raging Flame!"

"Phantom Crash!"

"Versus Cannon!"

The three attacks almost hit Dr. Zora, but she managed to deflect all of them through violently swinging her weapon. "It's not enough.", Shouta declared. "We need more power."

"That's easily taken care of.", Shinya responded, as he held up the Tachyon Recreation Generator once more, his time using it to create an astral copy of their ally Mio Tendo with her JustiCrystal.

"JustiSpark!" The astral Mio declared as energy flowed from her, Shinya and Yuka into Shouta, transforming him into a new figure, resembling a white knight.

"Justiriser! Shirogane!" The figure announced, as he summoned his weapon. "JustiArms!" Having summoned his weapon, Riser Shirogane then reconfigured it into the form of a sword. "JustiBlade!" He then charged the sword with energy, before bringing it down towards Dr. Zora. "JustiCrash!"

The force of the impact shattered Dr. Zora's Zolbird into two pieces, which she held in both of her hands. As Shirogane reverted back to Shinya, Dr. Zora mutated again, this time turning into a giant dragon creature, with a large maw where it's face should be, multiple tails sitting out of its back, and two scythe like blades in place of hands. "Looks like it's not over yet.", Yuka noted.

"Right. The real battle has just begun.", Shinya noted, before doing the appropriate pose. "Genshinjuu Riseross, summon!" From the copy of Shadestar, the Justrisers' storage bay for their robots which had been destroyed in their final battle, sent Riseross to Earth, with all three Justirisers entering it. "Dive In!"

On the ground, the rest of Fractured Infinity found themselves facing down a horde of Inves. "Looks like we're in for a challenge.", Yakumo commented, as everyone readied their weapons. But then there was a flash, after which the Inves had vanished. "Well, I'd call that easy, but it was barely even a challenge."

"They've been sent somewhere.", Hiroto noted. "But the question is, where?"

Back in the sky, Riseross engaged in battle with the creature that was once Dr. Zora. "Seross Cannon!" Shouta had the robot launch blasts of energy from its shoulder cannons, which barely harmed the creature, as it charged forward to deliver slashes to the mecha. "We need some more power. Seishinjuu Enoh!" He called upon his personal mecha, a red Phoenix that transformed into a head, a pair of arms and a chest plate, that connected with Riseross as its head and arms retracted, while its legs folded the claws up and rotated 180 degrees, forming a humanoid warrior. "Genseishin, KenRiser!" The new combination then engaged in wrestling with the creature, managing to beat it back before drawing its own weapon. "Riser Saber!" Using its twin swords, KenRiser managed to knock the creature's own blades back, before delivering a slash to it. "Target: Lock On!" KenRiser then combined its two swords, preparing to attack. "Mega Heat Slash!"

The attack was blocked by the creature, which then fired a beam of heat from its mouth that knocked it back. "We're too slow to avoid its shots.", Yuka realised, as she decided to call upon her own Seishinjuu. "Seishinjuu Ranga!" A blue Roger appeared, which reconfigured itself into the form of an upper torso, which took Enoh's place in combining with Riseross. In the cockpit, Yuka took Shouta's place in the centre of the control array. "Genseishin, NinRiser!" Using its speed, NinRiser ran up to the beast, throwing a rapid flurry of punches. "Riser Striker!" The robot then deployed a pair of blades from its paws, which it used to continue with more slashes. "Howling Burst!" A flurry of further energy attacks managed to buffer the creature, before Yuka moved to finish it. "Target: Lock On! Typhoon Slicer!" NinRiser charged its blades with energy, before generating a tornado to suck the creature into its grip.

But the creature used its multiple tails to keep itself stuck to the ground until the wind dissipated. "Crush… Justirisers…", the creature growled, speaking with Zora's voice, before firing another beam that managed to separate Ranga and Riseross. "Die… Justirisers…"

"Is that thing… showing some kind of thought?", Shouta asked.

"Probably more than you've ever shown.", Shinya commented. "Now then, I think it'll be better if we hit this thing from afar. Seishinjuu Kouki!" His own Seishinjuu appeared, forming its usual combination with Riseross. "Genseishin, JuuRiser! Riser Buster!" The mecha unleashed its cannons against the beast, managing to cause some harm to it. "Target: Lock On! Thunder Burst!" JuuRiser then channelled all its energy before aiming at the creature, firing its full load. A flame appeared, surrounding the beast. "Did we do it?"

But soon enough, the creature emerged, still hissing. "Justiriser… crush…" Lightning was fired from all 8 of its tails, managing to paralyse the mecha.

"We can't beat her with our individual power.", Shinya realised. "We'll need Shirogane's power again."

"But can we even call upon it from inside Riseross?", Yuka asked.

"There's only one way to try.", Shouta stated as he took the TRG from Shinya, concentrating on the JustiSpark once more, transforming into Shirogane, with the other two merging into him physically. "Seishinjuu Ryuto!" Using his power, Riser Shirogane called up a giant, white two-headed dragon that split into two and transformed, creating a combination with a more hunched pair of legs, and a single humanoid head as opposed to the two dragon heads. "JustiKaiser!" The creature tried attacking again, but JustiKaiser deflected the shots as it walked toward the beast, grabbing onto it and throwing it back, before unleashing several bolts of energy from the cannons on its shoulders. "JustiNova!" The robot charged up its chest plate with energy, which it then unleashed upon the creature. What was left of Dr. Zora was surrounded by flames, vanishing from view once they had cleared. "It's over.", Riser Shirogane stated.

Back at Dark Guild's headquarters, Mangetsu and Ariake faced down Buldont and Malthiua. "So, it's come down to this.", Mangetsu stated. "Two of us, and two of you. Frankly, I don't even know why we still need to work together at this point, with our level of power."

"My sentiments exactly.", Buldont nodded as he stood up from the chair he was sat on. "It's time that one of our two factions were eliminated, along with this farce of a leadership competition." He Drew his sword and went over to engage in a sword fight with Mangetsu.

Malthiua then approached Ariake, transforming her bow into a sword. "I'm sorry about this, Aria-kun. But right now, it seems that the two of us are enemies." She then leapt forward with her transformed weapon.

It locked with the Gangataikaku that Ariake had taken from her husband. "I understand. And all I can say is that you shouldn't hold back." Ariake then knocked her opponent back, before commencing an energy attack. "Garyu-do: Ashura!" She summoned several energy claws, that were launched at Malthiua, who managed to knock some of them to the side, enough to weaken the eventual blow.

To the side, Mangetsu and Buldont managed to release their blades from being locked together, enough for the former to launch his own attack. "Garyu-do: Mangetsu Zan!" The blades of energy flew towards Buldont, managing to knock him back. "What the matter? That too much for you?"

"They're too powerful for us individually.", Malthiua pointed out. "Bulpie…"

"Right.", Buldont nodded as the two joined hands, generating a heart made of energy. "Love Love Pair Attack!" They then fired their attack.

"Hey, you old bag.", Mangetsu said as he grabbed Ariake and pulled her in front of him. "Be my shield!" Ariake barely had time to protest, before the attack made contact, with her being the one to take the brunt of the attack. Ariake quickly collapsed.

"You'd use your own ally as a shield?", Buldont declared, genuinely shocked. "You're despicable."

"Oh, this ain't just my ally, she's my mother.", Mangetsu commented incredibly casually.

"Why you!", Malthiua growled, as she took out her bow, firing an arrow that managed to wound Mangetsu, before Buldont took him out with a slash attack. "Both of you get out of here, now. Neither of you are welcome here anymore."

Elsewhere, Miu had created an empty grave for Seth, to honour his memory. While she was praying for his soul, Momo and Yakumo were discussing the future. "All we have left to deal with from Dark Guild is our enemies.", Yakumo pointed out. "And then, we have to find and deal with Kaito before he does something he shouldn't."

"That's easier said than done.", Momo pointed out. "After all, who knows where Kaito ended up. Or what happened to those Inves that disappeared in front of us earlier."

In Reika's former base, Kaito observed the large amount of Inves he had gathered and subsequently cordoned off. "Only the strong can create a new world.", he stated. "I'll have these fight each other until only the strongest are left. And then, we'll destroy this world to create a perfect one."

Only 4 pages left until the end of the world!

Epilogue!

When Reika Sawaki came to, she found herself in a street covered in graffiti. "I must have ended up somewhere else.", she noted, checking her scanning equipment, which she had held onto, even with it having a limited charge remaining. "According to this, I've ended up in the World of Gaim, not long after Kouta Kazuraba took Helheim away, roughly 8 years in my past. But 8 years is a long time… time enough to plan."

As if on cue, she walked out of the alleyway she had appeared in, bumping into a woman wearing a white tank top, white blazer jacket, white shorts, and white thigh-high heel boots. Even more odd than her fashion sense was that this woman was her exact lookalike, presumably she was the source of the DNA sample from which Reika had been randomised. "Eh, I'm sorry.", the other woman said, lowering her head. "I wasn't looking."

"It's okay, you can make it up to me.", Reika stated, using the last of the scanning tool's power to read this woman's memories. She was a part of a Beat Rider group known as Team Pop Up, an all girls unit who dressed identically. And she got details of where she lived and all of her important passports, but the machine ran out before it could get the crucial details: her name. A problem easily rectified. "I just need to know your name."

"Oh, my name?", the other woman reacted with shock. "Well, I suppose there's no harm in introducing myself to you, in case you run into me again. I'm Masako Suzuka."

"I was Reika Sawaki.", the former second in command of the Black Bohdi Tree responded as she took out a gun, shooting her doppelgänger in the head. "And I doubt we'll be seeing each other again."

Some time later, another member of Team Pop Up appeared to find her friend Masako, who was in the process of pulling on her blazer. "Hey, Masako-chan, did you hear? The evacuation board said we can start going back to Zawame. Isn't that great?"

"It certainly is.", Masako nodded. "Now then, we should get around to packing." The other girl was confused by her friend's strange aloof demeanour, but simply dismissed it. They had all been through a lot in the last few months, some changes in their nature weren't unexpected. So the two girls walked back, neither of them paying attention to the limp hand sticking out of the nearby skip, nor the discarded pile of black clothes.

Cut off from the resources they've been granted before now, the Kibaoni Clan unite with the final Eastern Youkai, Kuro Dwende. Together, they set off in search of an artefact that will allow them to conquer the Earth without a fight. Can Fractured Infinity prevent this? Next time, Fractured Infinity Chapter 39: "The Legendary Spear".