Hector sat within his energy cell and stared at the mare known as Princess Celestia with boredom and mild annoyance.  The mare had been bombarding him with very predictable question after question for the last hour.  But like he agreed, he answered each honestly and to the point.  At the moment, Celestia was going over the notes she took and Twilight was staring at her mentor in awe.  Hector took note that Celestia was just as organized if not more so, than the purple alicorn.  

“So, can I be let out now,” all eyes turned to him, “I mean granted this cell is pretty comfortable.  But the novelty sort of wore off.”

Celestia stared somewhat evenly at the human for a moment before sighing lightly, “Twilight,” the pony in question straightened her stance, “please release the cage.”

Twilight sputtered, “But Princess!  He’s a human like Vilacus, how do we-“

“You do not,” Celestia stated as she rolled up her scroll, “But look at it this way Twilight.  If he had wished to do you harm, why did he save you?”

Rainbow snorted, “Probably some sort of human trick!  Lure us into a false sense of security then BLAMO!  He hits us with our pants down!”

Pinkie giggled, “But Dashie, we don’t wear pants.”

“It’s a figure of speech darling,” Rarity stated trying to contain her laughter.

Twilight looked to the side and then released the energy construct.

The second the cage came down, Hector leapt across the room and grabbed the three medals.  However, a gold aura engulfed his hands keeping them rooted in place.  Gritting his teeth, he stared at a neutral looking Celestia.  Hector tried his best to smile innocently, the Princess and the seven mares were not convinced.

Hector rolled his eyes, “Can you honestly blame me?  I mean you ponies didn’t really inspire much confidence.”

Celestia nodded in understanding, “True.  My little ponies can at times be,” she glanced at the mares, “passionate for their home protection.  Allow me to be the first to apologize Hector Graham, you must understand these past months of been quite the nightmare.”

Hector raised an eyebrow as his hands were released, “Just out of curiosity, what happened?”

Celestia gently eased the medals out of his grasp with her magic, “Well, allow me to give you the short version.”

Hector seated himself as Celestia began her tale, “Twilight was experimenting with some new magic and accidentally brought the human known as Vilacus here.  We are unsure what his real name is or for that matter, what he really looks like.  The reason is that when he arrived he was wearing a different mask than we you’ve seen and never took it off.  Soon he left and returned with an ancient and potentially deadly artifact that held a great reserve of magical power.  He eventually established a citadel to the south and has been periodically attacking my kingdom.”

Hector pursed his lips, “Damn.  I guess I can see now why I was treated with…a less than warm reception.”

Celestia nodded once more, “Yes.  But I am truly grateful to you for saving Ponyville.  I suspect that with your help, we might be able to rid ourselves of Vilacus.  That is, if you will come to our aid.”

Hector thought for a moment, “Sure.”

This surprised all present as rotated his neck, “Well simply put, Vilacus is giving humans a bad name here.  Plus the dude tried to impale me with a freaking statue,” smiling at the mares he then said, “Plus I’ve seen how you all are, you don’t deserve the crap he’s dishing out.”

Twilight titlted her head, “But why help us?”

Hector groaned but then stood up, “I’m a Kamen Rider,” he beat his heart with his fist then pointed at them with a smirk, “It’s my job to protect the smiles and dreams of others.”

Pinkie smiled, “I like this guy!”

Just then, a series of shrieks were heard.  Hector snapped his head around as Spike came running into the library waving his arms.

“TWILIGHT!  GIANT BUG THING!!!!”

Twilight blinked, “Giant bug thing?  Spike, we don’t have time for-“

The dragon turned her head to the window…and the alicorn shrieked in fright.

Outside, the Mantis VilaMax was attacking the town.  It was smashing benches, slicing through poles, and blasting homes with green energy slash projectiles.  Hector was the first out the door and gazed at the creature as it went about its havoc filled spree.  Hector turned his head and glimpsed a piece of broken wood.  Glancing at the Mantis creature, he visibly trembled.  Sure it was one thing to boast and defend one’s self, but this; this was a whole different ball game.  He then heard the screams, looking over to the Mantis; it loomed over a group of screaming fillies.  Narrowing his eyes, he grabbed the wood and rushed the Mantis.  He then smashed it over the head with the wood.  Taken by surprise, the creature turned around and back handed Hector to the ground.

“You,” Mantis stated, “You are the one my master has requested me to terminate.”

Hector got back up and his hand went to his C-Scanner, but he then remembered he had no medals primed.  Grasping a broken metal frame piece, he brandished it like a sword.

Mantis cackled, “Pathetic,” it raised its hands and they glowed green and transitioned into black mantis blades, “let us see if you can truly stand against me.”

Hector slashed at the creature, only for it to slash through the metal like it was paper.  Hector was knocked from his feet from the attack as the Mantis closed the distance and pressed it’s blades to his neck.  Narrowing it’s human like eyes, the Mantis’s wrists twitched.  Hector glanced to the side, then booted the thing in the stomach as hard as her could.  He cried out in mild pain as his foot cracked.  The Mantis backed off for a moment giving Hector enough time to stand.

“MR GRAHAM!”

Glancing to his side, Princess Celestia levitated the three medals, “Do not make me regret this decision!”

She then threw all three medals to the human as he grasped them in mid-air.  Quickly, he snapped them into the Driver, just dodging underneath an oncoming attack to insert the last one.

Quickly, he swiped the C-Scanner over the medals.

"Henshin!"

O’s stood at the ready as he pained foot felt…better.  Giving an experimental kicking motion, he surged forward as the Tora claws snapped forward.  Bringing both down, green sparks flew from the creature.  The Mantis VilaMax swiped at O’s as he dodged underneath the attack and slashed in a one two punch before coming around behind the Mantis.  Once behind it, he delivered a swift kick to its back.  When the kick made contact, green pulses went along the legs as the Mantis was sent reeling.  Striking a fighting stance, O’s waited for his adversary to rise.  The Mantis stood up, shakily, its body seeming to flicker for a moment.  The Taka head’s eyes glowed for a moment as O’s noticed something shining at the Mantis’s center.  He recognized the shape straight away.

“A medal,” O’s grabbed the C-Scanner and swiped it over his primed medals, “SCANNING CHARGE!”

O’s bent his legs as they converted to their grasshopper appearance from the knees down.  Giving a mighty leap, the energy rings appeared and aligned themselves with the Mantis.  Giving a mighty yell, O’s propelled himself at the Mantis who prepared to counter.

“SEIYA!!”

O’s blasted straight through the creature, its body exploding in a mass of green fire.  Landing, O’s stood tall as he unprimed the Driver, reverting back to Hector.  Turning his head back to the Mantis, Hector kneeled down and sifted through a small pile of sand and produced the Kamakiri medal.

“Well I’ll be damned,“ Hector chuckled, “I wonder how many more of you are out there.”

Celestia was already beside him gazing at the medal, “What do you make of this?”

Hector clicked his tongue, “In my opinion?  I think Vilacus somehow found a way to tap into these Core Medals and convert them into his own little band of his monsters.”

Twilight over heard this comment, “Should we be worried.”

Hector flipped the medal then caught, “If what I’m thinking is correct, then Vilacus will have a LOT of minions to make in the coming days.”

Celestia blinked, “What?”

Hector turned to the princess, “These medals come in a set of three,” he held up the Batta and Kamakiri, “three of each, which means there are two more Batta’s out there as well as two Kamakiri’s.”

Rarity raised a hoof, “What of the other three?  You said they came in a set of three, should there not be three more separate green medals?”

Hector nodded, “The Kuwagata medals.  Man I hope I find that one at some point,” he gazed at the two greens he now possessed, “Then I’ll have a full set.”

Celestia gazed to the side in thought, “Hm.  This is indeed distressing news.  I must return to Canterlot to devise proper countermeasures.  If any of my guards or allies finds one of these Core Medals, rest assured, you shall be the first to know.  But until then, I think it prudent that you are given a place to stay.”

Hector remained silent.

Celestia smiled, “Which is why Ms. Lulamoon will be assigned as your keeper.”

Trixie and Hector then both yelled, “WHAT?!”

Next Chapter: 4 Estimated time remaining: 8 Minutes