AN:Oh god this is my first fanfic/story in general in two years, and also my first Kamen Rider fic. I'm sure this could have been a lot better, but hey! I write for fun so... whatever. :( I still hope this isn't too terrible. Also, yes, the title comes from "Time Judged All."

Disclaimer:I don't own Kamen Rider. Baw.

Eiji winced and stumbled back as Ankh's clawed hand connected with his jaw. The Rider knew this was their final fight. He took every punch, kick, and swipe without any complaints. There was no way he was going to survive this: he would not fight the Greeed.

Right now, Ankh needed to retrieve what cores Eiji still possessed. He needed them to survive.

He had taken his want for a complete form too far, though. Not surprisingly, Ankh was quite cocky at the beginning, agreeing to "lose control" if Maki helped him obtain Cazali, Gamel, and Mezul's medals. He told himself he was more than strong enough to handle multiple cores entering his body at once. He believed he could harness their power right away – no repercussions – and use the power to take those strange, purple medals.

He would be whole again, with or without his own missing medals.

But something bothered Ankh. He didn't realize Eiji's refusal to give up the purple medals – no matter how much they were destroying him from the inside out – would not be what pissed him off the most. Instead, he found himself far more irritated by Eiji's refusal to fight back.

Did he want to die?

No. Eiji was too stubborn to die. He was a pushover and incredibly reckless during all the wrong times, but something inside him would not let him go down so easily, even if he was mostly human.

Ankh's fist slammed against Eiji's jaw again, knocking the human off balance enough for his legs to give out from under him. "Why aren't you fighting back?" he screamed, eyes wide in annoyance. When his question didn't even draw eye contact, irritation took over and he sent a ball of fire at Eiji, forcing him to his back. He was beyond frustrated now.

"And where are those purple medals?"

There was the slightest hint of confusion in Ankh's voice. The purple cores should have surfaced by now. Eiji should have transformed. He didn't believe the idiot could have found the desire that would suppress the cores' influence.

For the most part, the bird Greeed was correct. Eiji's desire was not enough to keep the the cores down. He was ignoring his surroundings as much as possible, willing the cores to stay where they were. He almost didn't realize it was doing more harm than good to his body, seeing as he was even shutting out the pain he felt, if only temporarily.

Lying on his back, Eiji stared up at the sky through thick bunches of leaves. He clutched at his chest with one hand, his body shuddering as he tried to continue breathing normally. It was difficult for him to keep the medals inside. They wanted to escape, and it hurt. He could feel – even hear – them thudding in his chest. It was almost rhythmic.

Eiji realized the medals were moving with Ankh's footsteps. The Greeed was approaching him again. But he remained on his back, trying desperately to control what was inside of him. For the moment, everything grew much louder. The crunch of twigs and leaves under Ankh's boots, the wind, the thudding of unstable medals, his own shaky breath. All the loud sounds were quickly dulled again; Ankh had grabbed him by the collar and yanked him to his feet.

Eiji's head lolled until he could focus enough to meet Ankh's eyes. There was so much anger behind them, but he noticed something more. Something... different.

Ankh's hand tightened in the cloth as he kept the other on his feet. He ground his teeth together, perspiration dotted his forehead. He was readying his other hand for another hit, but something forced his body back, causing him to drop Eiji on the ground. Stumbling back, confused, he glanced down at the human.

The medals had surfaced. Ankh lunged forward in an attempt to grab them, but they had already slid themselves into the driver. Though weakened, Eiji managed to scan the medals. Once the transformation was complete, he got to his feet. He stalked toward Ankh slowly, head bowed; he wasn't in complete control of his body and he knew it.

Stepping over the Greeed, Eiji's hand clamped around the man's neck and lifted him up. Part of him was close to rampaging, ready to tear apart anyone who was in his way. The other part wanted everything – the fighting, the destruction, the tears, the pain – to stop. That part continued to hesitate and fought to keep his body under control. But as his hand squeezed Ankh's throat, he realized control was probably the last thing he could accomplish.

His body jerked when he saw it: that something behind all the rage in Ankh's eyes. Despite the realization, he pushed Ankh back down, pinning him to the ground. His other hand slammed into the earth and removed the Medagaburyu, then positioned it high above his head.

The level-headed part of Eiji was panicking now, struggling against the mostly uncontrollable half. Ankh would not be able to stop him, no matter how much Eiji wanted to believe he could.

"Eiji," Ankh gasped out quietly as he glared up at the Rider. "You always were a fool."

As if triggered by the insult, Eiji's body sliced down with the axe. A flash of red and purple momentarily surrounded them. When he could see again, Eiji noticed the missing body beneath him. Instead, there was a pile of cell medals, Ankh's remaining core medals, a mess of curly, red feathers... and the detective's body.

The red medals shattered quickly, startling Eiji. His own medals removed themselves from his driver and he collapsed on the ground, out of breath. He hardly paid attention to Shingo, who was stirring from his spot. He was starting to notice how much his entire body ached, but once again he ignored it. He rolled onto his side and reached out with a shaky hand to grasp a single feather, staring at it in his hand.

A laugh escaped his lips and he squeezed his eyes shut.

I saved you this time.