Disclaimer:

I do not own the Kamen Rider Franchise. Cameo Riders and characters from the main show that appears in this series belong to Toei. I do, however, own the creative FanFic work of 'Kamen Rider Zero', along with the original rider designs and story plot.

Kamen Rider Zero

Reading 1: The Fool

The surrounding feels so surreal. My vision distorts, my footing unstable and weak. A pile of wasteland under the stretch of dark skies. Fire dances wildly across the ruins and ground. No wind can be felt in this world of void. The smell of charred land disgusts me. Yes, I remember this place...I used to stay here a long time ago. As my eyes drifts towards the horizon, a towering, daunting hill stands prominently among the rest. At the foot of the hill of skulls stands an erected tower. The clouds swirl above it as though attracted to the huge entity.

That was the place I used to call 'home'.

Why am I here? This place is but a forgotten piece of memory, something that I have always wanted to bury away. But it seems that the more I keep it in, the more determined it was to haunt me.

I lift my hand and trail my fingers to the ancient stone worn around my neck. Two triangles lay on top of each other in an opposite manner; a pentacle with ancient scriptures. I remembered stealing this before I ran away. An ancient device that should never fall in the wrong hands. But at the same time, it is the only thing that can help me to achieve my goal...

Just as my hand clasps itself over the ancient stone, I hear the cries of a feminine voice not far away. This familiar voice...I turn to look, confirming with the voice in my head.

Her face was shadowed away but I can never mistake that physique; tall and slender with snow-white skin. The once white garb that covers her, now tattered and worn, gray with dirt and regrets. She was seating at the entrance of the tower, her hands reaching out for me, crying non-stop.

It's her, the woman that I have tried so hard to forget. The voice grew louder, overpowering me as I fall onto my knees, desperately covering my ears to drown out the cry.

"Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop!" I shouted, tears flowing down my cheeks. I don't want to hear them anymore! My heart feels heavy with regret, guilt and sin. It has always been like this from the start. Taking in a deep breath, I collected my thoughts and slowly push myself up.

"Just wait a little longer...I will set things right, okay?" I said, wiping the tears away from my eyes. Although the face of the lady was covered, I swear that she is smiling as though relieved.

And slowly, the voice begins to die down, softer and softer, until there is nothing left.

I open my eyes, only to shut them tight from the penetrating glare of the sun. Laying still in my position for a few more minutes, I move my arms to wipe the sleep off my face. The curtain flaps lightly along the direction of the wind. The chirping from the birds nearby echoes in the empty room of mine. Beneath the nature's morning call, the clock ticks slowly as another minute is wasted.

All that images, the hill, the surrounding, and her...it was all a dream after all. Pushing myself up, I stare at my feet and the parque floor beneath. Another day has passed along with a sleepless night. After stretching my body to loosen them up, I pull off my shirt and lay it on the chair beside my bed and head into the shower room.

'Shhahhh!'

I turn the handle to its limit as the water crashes down onto my body. I lift my face up against the water in the hopes to wash away the fatigue. After tightening the knob and the water ceased, I grab the towel hanging on the bar beside me and wipe my body dry. My other hand reach to open the mirror cabinet above the sink to pull out my toothbrush and paste. As I close it back, I was greeted with the reflection of a man with disheveled hazel hair and a circular flat piece of stone hanging around his neck. His brown, tired eyes was locked into mine as he opens his mouth to brush his teeth.

That man is me, Kureno Hiro.

Wearing a pair of denim jeans and donning my usual red jacket over my black tee shirt, I slip my feet into my black sneakers and push open the iron grill gate. I turn to take another peek into my small apartment. The atmosphere feels so cooling and serene as though it can never disturb anyone's sleep; although I find it funny that it has never happened to me before.

"See you tonight." I bid farewell to the empty room and then closes my gate with a pad lock across it.

The weather now in Tokyo metropolis is getting colder everyday with the approaching winter season. Rubbing my palms together to form some heat, I breathe onto them and stick them into the side pockets of my jacket as my eyes moves from side to side admiring the great city view. No matter how old I am, I guess I will never fail to amaze myself with the city scape of the capital of Japan. The streets, unsurprisingly, is filled with a massive crowd of civilians moving on with their daily routines. The chatter and voices of the crowd drones from one end of my ear to the other as I walked past them.

Standing before the traffic awaiting for my turn to cross the road, I bring my wrist in front of me to check my watch. It isn't an ordinary watch per say. On the surface, it shows the time and date similar to any other watches; which is 12pm now. But if you are to push the side button, the surface will fold itself into two and switches into a compass-like item called the 'Wand'.

No, I'm not lost in the city.

This compass is different. The magnetic needle never points to the north like it's supposed to. Instead, it will point itself to another source of energy, and it is those source of energy that I have been searching for during the past few years alone.

The needles points towards the west, slightly shaking. That means that I am still far from the target. Fastening my pace, I move swiftly through the numbers, carefully avoiding unnecessary collision with anyone.

In one of the back alleys of Tokyo where no one would traverse through was a group of terrified humans. Boys, men, girls and women alike; no gender and age were spared in the large group of around fifteen people. They were all tied with their arms stretched from one end to the other like the man in the bible who was crucified on the cross. Their eyes were all wide with fear and you could even see it forming all over their faces.

This was no surprise since they were all abducted suddenly from their daily lives without reasons. The culprit's intention was neither a ransom nor trade. All he wanted was to test the body limits of each of them, hoping to find the chosen one that they could use as their army for a new world.

The kidnapper was not human too. In fact, 'he's' an 'it'. It's body was green and scaled from the neck to the legs. It wore no garments; revealing its naked, monstrous build with pride. Its face resembled a reptile, its tongue sticking out with glee.

Under such circumstances, one would have screamed for help given the chance. But they were all masked with a tape over their mouth. A hope for help was close to futile and even if a passerby was to walk across the scene; they too, will miserably join the other victims.

"Don't be afraid. It's not like we're going to eat you or anything." The green lizard spoke in a low voice. Behind its back stood around eight other figures that resembled nothing like a normal human. They acted as the Lizard's henchmen, void of heart and emotion with their reason solely to comply to their leader's orders. Their skins were gray with a chest plate worn on their shoulder. They have no faces and each of them held onto a staff as their weapon of choice.

Without any commands from the Lizard-man, they stood silently like puppets. The Lizard walked towards the first crucified victim on the left. In its right claw held a curved dagger. The reptile moved its face close to the terrified man. It hissed into ear of the man as he struggled even harder to try and escape. But of course, it's useless to even try.

"Think of it as an...ant bitesss." The abductor said with glee and the next moment, a 'shhh' sound could be heard. It sounded like how a knife would dig into a piece of flesh. All the victims' eyes were on the unlucky man. His eyes widened, the pupils shrank.

And then, he just stayed that way as his body slowly turned into stone. Within seconds, the man was in a state of petrification. The Lizard backed away and observe the human stone. Shaking its head in disappointment, it pulls out the dagger that was stuck in the man's abdomen just moments ago. There was no trace of blood on the blade. It looked brand-new and without a scratch.

"Another failed being..." The inhumane creature said sadly. Playing with the dagger on its hand, the blade reflected the light of the gleaming sun onto the faces of the others. Seeing what it did to the man, some of them were shocked beyond control, breaking into an unconscious state. Others tried to shake violently to free themselves. Tears were rolling down their cheeks in a plead for forgiveness and mercy; although they were all just innocent people with no connections to the abductor.

But for the sadist reptile, it did not care for their feelings. All it wanted was to experiment.

"Oh well, how about you pretty little thing?" The lizard smiled and moved on to its next target.

"This is the place I guess." I said to myself as the needle shakes even more violently than before. No doubt, behind this stretch of dark alley is my prey. Not wasting another second, my leg starts to carry me forward as the alley echoes the sound of my light foot-steps.

As I travel further in, I can feel the slow change of atmosphere. The deeper I run, the more I can feel of the negative intent surrounding the narrow space. I can feel my heart thumping away excitedly in my chest as white vapor escapes my mouth with each breath. Turning right at the next junction, my eyes finally catches sight of my target.

The space here is even wider than the narrow, winding walkways. I can't say that it's a beautiful sight to behold right now because in front of my eyes are a group of innocent people tied to a cross of their own. At least half of the entire group are already in a state of petrification.

The culprit is the inhumane figure standing at the back. It resembles a reptile, a monster from myths. But as crazy as it sounds, they are real and living alongside us in this tiny world. The lizard must have caught my presence as it lifts its head up. The other victims catches a glimpse of me too and as though crying for help, their bodies tenses and shakes with all their strength.

"Hmmm? Are you here for a treatment too?" The Lizard-being hisses and diverts its attention from its victim to me.

"Yeah...I guess I'm suffering a relapse." I reply without a tone of humor, my left hand slowly reaches for the stone piece hanging on my neck. As soon as the Lizard sees my action, it jumps back with a look of bewilderment.

"That stone piece...the Pentacle?!" It shouts shakily. "That means that..."

"I'll show it to you if you want." Grabbing tightly to my necklace, I pull it out forcefully as the chains break and vanishes into thin air. Only the Pentacle rests on my palm. In a flashy pose of mine with the hand holding the Pentacle pushed down, facing the ground and my right hand over my face with fingers curled, I yell the words out with vigor.

"Henshin!"

A circle with the pentacle star lights up beneath my feet as a voice echoed in the air. It was a low, ancient and wise tone.

"Thou shalt summon...thy Fool!"

The light shines even brighter than before as the circle of light floats its way up and over my entire body. The body parts where the lights have crossed was donned with a leather black suit covered with metallic silver plates on my shoulder and chest; and bracers that resembled claws on my arms and legs. Metallic chains strapped themselves over my wrists.

The Pentacle emerges at my waist as a belt buckle with an ancient roman numeral '00' on the surface. My face is covered with a helmet bearing the motif of a wolf. The large red, oval shaped crystal eyes shines under the light. My chest plate flashes with radiance, donning a '00' as well on the center with a small chalice symbol slightly below it.

This is my job. To eradicate creatures like him off the face of the world.

With the ancient power that I carry with me, I swear to myself that as long as creatures like this exist, I will continue to fight.

I am-

"Kamen Rider, Zero..."

"-And your fate has been read."

Author's Note:

Hiya readers of FanFiction! I am E.T Novem, a writer on the sister site, FictionPress.

Having read so many interesting fanfics of my favorite anime, manga, tv shows and novels alike, I have finally decided to venture here with a story of original content! I hope that you will support me, along with the characters of my work as I aim to bring out an interesting, untold story of a certain 'fool'.

I swear that if I have a software to draw my character and his suit, I will!

But anyways, I hope that my style of story telling is able to intrigue you into reading more of it. Because Kamen Rider originates from Japan, I decided to follow the elements such as the iconic 'Henshin' and the setting of Japan (although I have never been to Japan before...but I hope to!) .

Do drop me a review or PM if my story excites you or bores you so that I can improve as a writer! Thank you!