Hector groaned in mild discomfort and pain.  Sure things might have taken a turn for the worse in terms of his current predicament, but the mere fact he was now sitting on a stool in an energy cage was just bad luck.  He was staring at the seven mares that, instead of smiling and trying to get to know him, were glaring at him like he was Frankenstein’s monster.  He had done nothing wrong and not only saved their lives but drove off that dickbag of a human.  He noticed that his OOO-Driver was still around his waist, but the medals that were supposed to still be there were currently on the desk beside the glaring mares.

The one Hector recognized as Twilight Sparkle approached him and spoke in a blunt tone, “How many of you are there?”

Hector raised an eyebrow, “In total or at the moment?”

“Don’t play games human,” Twilight stamped her hoof, “now answer the question!”

“I have a name miss plum bottom,” Hector scowled, “It’s Hector.”

Twilight was taken aback slightly by the nickname but regained her composure, “Well then, Hector, why were you brought here?  Is there a reason that you possess these abilities?  Did Vilacus actually-“

Hector raised a hand, “Wait…you actually believe that I’m with that lunatic?  Listen, I don’t want to call you blind or stupid,” he raised his hands, “far from it.  From what I’ve heard, you’re pretty bright.  But did you not see that I saved your collective asses?!”

Twilight narrowed her eyes, “Be that as it may-“

“No, there is no, ‘be that as it may,’” Hector interjected, “I saved you, your safe, so why am I locked up?”

Rainbow Dash was in front of the cage, “Because the last time a human showed up here, he attacked our homes and innocent ponies,” she snorted, “for no reason.”

Hector leaned back in his seat using the energy bars as back support, “Still doesn’t answer my question.”

“Perhaps I might offer some clarity.”

Hector and the mares turned.  Standing in the doorway was the highly skeptical looking Princess Celestia.  The Princess levitated the three Core Medals over to her and raised an eyebrow as she rotated them in the air.

“Fascinating,” she mumbled, “Now, I hope that we can avoid any unpleasantness Hector.  Therefore when I ask my questions,” she seated herself in front of the cage, “answer them truthfully and to the point.”

Hector nodded as Celestia pulled out a small scroll and unfurled it.

*

Vilacus was outraged and frightened.  He had been running this whole villain operation since he first arrived in Equestria and was doing a damn good job at it to.  He screwed over so many ponies and caused countless Bits worth of property damage.  Though the damage had been repaired, Vilacus did need to cement his rule somehow.  So he finally decided to go and kill the Elements of Harmony, then there was THAT asshole that popped in out of nowhere.  Unlike him though, he had come with a legitimate repertoire of abilities.  Despite that, he had to flee when Hector had turned into a goddamned Kamen Rider!  I mean of all the superheroes in the universe, it had to be a Kamen Rider.

Vilacus glanced around his dark citadel, long story, “And everything was going so well.”

That’s when he noticed one of his stain glass windows had been broken.  There was a hole the size of a small rock was present and let in a bit of afternoon light as well as small shards of glass that littered his carpet.  He stood up with a grumble and advanced toward the glass to clean it up…until he stopped and stared.  On the ground, there lay an object, an object that looked very familiar.  Bending down, he plucked it from the carpet and gazed at it in the light.  It looked exactly like one of those medals that Hector had used.  The only difference was that the medal, though rimmed with gold, was a lighter green and it had the depiction of a mantis on it.

“Hm,” he chuckled, “what have we here?”

Turning the medal over in his crystal encased hand he narrowed his eyes in slight intrigue, “I wonder…”

Raising his hand, the glass shards on the carpet levitated off the ground and shuddered for a moment.  In a blink of an eye, the shards disintegrated into sand and joined together before taking shape.  The sand then took on a humanoid shape of what could be described as a faceless human doll.  Titling his head, Vilacus pressed the medal into the doll’s forehead and stepped back.  He then raised his hands and sent a massive surge of black and indigo energy into the medal.  A force pushed back against his magic, but he felt the force give under his pressure and the magic surged into the medal.  Arcs of the magic blasted into the doll which began to shudder.  Vilacus noticed that some form of energy that was similar in color to that of the medals, was mingling with his magic.  Soon the doll was engulfed in a blast of the magical mixture.

When it faded, the creature that stood before Vilacus roared inhumanly.  The creature was humanoid and stood seven feet tall.  The only difference is that it wasn’t human.  Its skin was a dark green and hard looking like a shell, two bumps on either side of its head resembled the eyes of a praying mantis.  Its hands were three pronged claws made of a hard black substance.  Small spines covered its limbs and spine.  Two antennas protruded from the top of its head, but its insect features ended there.  A pair of shiny black blinking eyes stared at Vilacus, though it breathed, there was no nose or mouth, just smoothness.

“Master,” the mantis creature stated as it kneeled.

Vilacus clapped his hands, “Alright, this I can get behind,” he thought for a moment, “Though I think calling you creature would get redundant.  So you, and hopefully more of your brethren shall henceforth be known as…a VilaMax.”

The Mantis VilaMax nodded, “Of course master.”

Vilacus tapped his chin at the Mantis VilaMax, “Now, there’s something I want you to do for me.”

Next Chapter: 3 Estimated time remaining: 15 Minutes