So with the massive hiatus this blog went through, I ended up dropping all of my old threads. It was just too long a break and I couldn’t continue... The problem was, three of the threads were rather plot heavy, and I left a bunch of my friends in the lurch with my decision... Hopefully this makes up for it some?
Mint’s appearance in his workroom was announced by a blast of icy wind and fog. Sharp eyes glanced around the room to ensure he was alone and then, only then, did he slump. His staff clattered to the floor, and a hand raised to his upper arm.
“...D-Damn that insufferable...” He hissed. That Kamen Rider... He’d underestimated him. For all the careful plotting and planning he’d done, Ryoutaro had managed to catch him off guard. Nothing about Gata’s interactions with the boy had suggested powers like he’d exhibited. If Mint weren’t so pissed about it, he might have admitted that it was his own fault for diving right in. People were different in social situations than they were in actual combat.
“And I still didn’t find out how they do it. Those Kamen Riders-” The wizard stopped short in his monolouge. His eyes flicked from one end of the room to another, taking everything in. Something was amiss.
His good hand was raised to his lips, cupping as if holding liquid in his palm, and he took in a breath. He blew, and a spray of snowdust spread across the room, filling it with a sparkling fog. There, the shadows of two people formed, one the size of a child, the other a grown man. He recognized them both.
“Ryo...and X-Rider?” Mint muttered, stumbling forward to inspect the pair. It was only the remains of their energy, left who knows how long before he’d returned home. But they’d been here, in his study, and not elsewhere, fighting to the death. Yet another plan that hadn’t gone as expected.
“Good for nothing Cyborg. He can’t even manage to punch on command; the ONE thing he’s good at!” He seethed. The fog dissipated, and the shadows with it. Taking their last location into mind, Mint looked around his workshop for a clue as to what they’d been looking for. His scrolls still lay haphazardly in a pile behind the desk. Not a single one had been upturned. The seemingly random knick-knacks that covered his desk remained in place. Perhaps they’d gone lower, towards his potion room-
“NO!” He roared, physically launching himself at his desk. Gloved hands gripped the sides of the wooden surface as he frantically scoured it’s every inch. “The Lockseed. It’s gone! It’s GONE!!!” He’d come so close to unlocking the power inside, but now! In rage, the wizard roared.His good arm pulled back to swipe at the tabletop, it’s contents scattering across the room.
Without the Lockseed, his entire investigation had been for nothing. His careful planning, and manipulating, for squat! All of his efforts... Mint moved his good hand against the wound on his arm once more, pressing his fingers into the gash and hissing in self-inflicted pain. He’d literally spilled blood for the secret of that bauble.
“These Riders have been a pain in my side from day one... ” Mint jerkily reached down into the mess he’d created and pulled out a vial. As he stomped his way towards the winding staircase that would lead him to the main floor, he grit his teeth and hissed, “No more playing around. Any secrets they can help me unlock, I’ll simply pick from their bones.” But before he took care of the Riders, he’d need to deal with of Ryo.
Even being two floors deeper, he’d heard the sound of Mint’s anguish. The crash made from the Wizard’s immature tantrum. The heavy footfalls of the angry bastard as he made his way back towards the surface. Back towards the Cafe and his siblings. As much as he wished it were different, he couldn’t afford to warn them now. They would have to deal with Mint on their own.
It was a close call, really. Mr. Kitty had told him he would have to act fast; stealing the Lockseed before Ryo and the Kamen Rider could discover it, but not before they’d made an appearance in Mint’s spellroom to throw him off the trail. It was a clever plan, but that was no surprise. Mr. Kitty was always coming up with good plans. Even if they hinged entirely on the convenient appearance of a random magical artifact.
Chris tightened his grip around the offending object in his hand. He wanted to just throw it away. He wanted to break it in half and watch the pieces scatter as they hit the marble floor beneath them. He wanted to take the remains and grind them into the finest of dusts remove any trace that it had ever existed in their world. But he couldn’t do that. Not yet. Soon.
The youngest Pierre leaned forwards from his seated position hugging his legs close to himself to hide his face in his knees. It was kinda sad, trying to find comfort in his own touch. But it was that or let his fear overtake him. If he wasn’t shaking so bad, he might have found the whole thing funnily ironic...
...that to save his family’s souls, he’d have to sacrifice his own.
