If there was anything Hiroki Nagase had ever truly felt happy about in his life, it had been his actions in taking Chihiro and Iyu out of this hellhole of a town.
After he found Chihiro and Iyu at the chapel, the poor kid a miserable crying mess. Nagase had only seen him like this before a handful of times back during their naive, glory days as Team Kiss. Thinking back on it now, Nagase was an asshole to Chihiro. Though he took him in, practically begging Owner to allow Chihiro to stay at the bar and use it from time to time, he never once thought of the kid as a friend. Just a meal ticket. He should have realized what kind of dangerous game they were playing when he first saw Chihiro fight an Amazon. What he felt at the sight back then was awe, amazement...and excitement. Something that was so abnormal, so freakish, so...different from that dull and boring life he led in high school.
It wasn't until Takumi turned into an Amazon right before his eyes, and watched as he ate Kenta's leg that he realized that he was playing a dangerous game. That was what it was to him. A game. A way to get away from his boring life...and now reality hit him in the face. If it weren't for Chihiro for all those times...they wouldn't even be alive. In fact, everytime they survived while hunting Amazons may as well have been dumb luck. At first, he was pissed beyond words and wanted to kill as many Amazons as he could get his hands on. Then he met Mamoru, an Amazon that used to be friends with Owner.
"We wanted nothing to do with humans...but they continue to hunt us! We didn't want anything to do with them anymore, and still they kill us! How is us hunting humans any different from what they've been doing, Shido-kun?!"
To this day, he could still hear those damn words echoing. In a way, that Amazon was right. It wasn't fair. When it came down to it, Nagase realized he was still a kid. A naive kid. When he found Chihiro again, and learned about Iyu, he wanted to try and make amends. The best way to do that was what Chihiro was trying to do...and that was get Iyu to be human again. From what he understood, 4C turned her into a living corpse, an Amazon without a will of her own. Yet Chihiro believed that it was possible to bring her back. Nagase remembered what she was like before; kind, cheerful, always smiling...if he were honest, the cold and apathetic face she always bore, expressionless and bland, had unsuited a girl of her looks. Really, she was stunningly beautiful, so he was willing to help Chihiro and try and make her human again.
Then...shit went to hell in a handbasket.
Chihiro...all of this time, he had been the point of origin. The reason why Takumi became an Amazon...why so many people were turning into Amazons and killing and eating people. He wasn't sure what to feel when he confronted the boy about this after he sneaked into 4C and saw what had been the result of his apparent rampage. Debris, carnage, destruction, death...it was all so focused, and Iyu stood in the middle of it uncaringly, staring blankly at a wall that had a photograph with her and Chihiro, the boy smiling. He should have been angry and pissed about Chihiro...but that face. That pathetic, sniveling face that wanted to live...to be with Iyu, the one person he could truly smile and be with, had all but want to make Nagase want to help him in any way he could.
So what if 4C wanted to kill him? So what if his own fucking father wanted to kill him? What right did they have? That Amazon...Mamoru was right. The humans were hunting Chihiro, an Amazon, who just wanted to live and be with Iyu. To stay by her side to try and save and protect her, to bring her back to normal, and yet still they hunted him. It wasn't fair...it wasn't fair at all! What right did they have?! Wouldn't they be the same if they were suddenly in Chihiro's shoes?! Being hunted simply because he was a monster?! For the first time, Nagase didn't see Amazons as the monsters, but instead humans themselves. When it came down to it, there was no crueler monster in the world than humanity itself.
At the chapel...Nagase found Chihiro again, surrounded by death and carnage once again, holding Iyu, face expressionless as always, weeping and holding onto her like a lifeline.
"Why...why can't we live in peace?!"
Nagase wished he could answer that. He half-expected Chihiro to try and convince 4C to stop whatever it was that they were doing to Iyu. He wasn't stupid. He saw what was happening to her arm, that disgusting and putrid burn on her arm that was slowly spreading. The armlet must have been what was causing it, and for a while, he was worried Chihiro's was like. Instead, though...the boy had a request. To keep Iyu safe while he tried to convince 4C to stop what they were doing to her.
Bastard didn't even give him a chance to say no.
And so, here he sat, outside a small warehouse near the outskirts of the city limits, leaning against his motorbike while Iyu sat against the wall, her look as bland as always. He tried several ways to think of a conversation...but would it have mattered? He had tried before, and she didn't listen. How could she? She didn't have a will of her own. She was just a puppet that listened to orders. He sighed, scratching the back of his scalp while trying to find a way to stop whatever was happening to her arm. He tried everything. Ripping it off, a pocket knife, even a fucking crowbar...and NOTHING WORKED. What the hell was that strap made of?! Iron?! Or had it melted into her skin, preventing him from taking it off? Either way, this was a bad situation. If Iyu died...kami, he didn't want to think what this would do to Chihiro.
Speaking of that brat, it had been at least a few hours since the last time they spoke. He looked back at Iyu in worry, looking at his phone. Every second that passed, Nagase was growing more and more concerned. Where was he? What was taking him so long? As if to answer, his phone vibrated. Instantly, relief and panic both spread, seeing the caller ID. He picked it up immediately, and pressed it to his phone. "Chihiro?!"
"...gomen, Hiroki," Chihiro said on the other end in a pathetic voice. It sounded so defeated, it was enough to make him cringe. "I tried...Tachibana and Kurosaki...they..."
"Nevermind that!" he hissed. "Where are you?!"
"Near the city limits...I think I can smell them...tou-san...and him..."
Immediately, Nagase's heart dropped. His father was closing in again. Dammit, what the fuck was he?! A cockroach?! He would have thought the shotgun shell would have slowed him down, but apparently, it didn't do jack shit. He cursed, turning to his bike. "Do you know where exactly you are?!" he shouted. "L-look, just wait there! I'll come and-"
"Hiroki-kun." Chihiro's voice made him stop. There was something in his tone that made his body cease its movement. "It's fine...I'll be alright. How...is Iyu?"
He winced, looking at Iyu. Her head was lowered, so he couldn't get a good look on her face, but she still seemed motionless and unfazed. He looked at her arm. The disgusting patches of flesh were getting bigger. Spreading. "...it's bad."
"...she's not going to make it, is she?"
"Where are you, Chihiro?!" he shouted, finding the strength to make his body move again. His heart was thumping against his ribcage. "Listen, just tell me where you are! I can swing by and-"
"Nagase."
Once more, his body stopped, and this time, his eyes widened.
Chihiro...never called him by his family name.
"It's fine...everything is going to be fine."
No, it wasn't.
"Hey, do you remember...the first time we met? Hahahaha...it seems like it was so long ago."
No...no no no.
"I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused...looking back on it, I should have tried to stop you. Kenta, Takumi, you...we should have stopped. Maybe then, Takumi and Kenta would still be..."
He couldn't be doing this. He just couldn't. This...it had to be some kind of sick joke.
"Nagase...can I ask you a favor?"
"C-Chihiro?" Nagase whispered, realizing what kind of voice his friend had now. A cold, clammy sweat poured through his hands. "Don't tell me...you're planning on...?!"
"Stay with Iyu...for as long as you can."
"Chi-"
The line went dead. Nagase held the phone to his ear for several minutes before his brain registered what was happening at this very moment. When it caught up to him, he couldn't help but scream out of anger, grief and frustration as he threw his cell phone to the ground, smashing it into several pieces. He continued to scream still, yelling profanities and curses and swears while he kicked and punched at everything around him. Trashcans, poles, the wall, the litter on the ground. He had even thrown his bike to the ground, grabbing a nearby pipe and whacking it repeatedly. Throughout all of this, tears poured down his face, grief and rage pulling at his heart.
That phone call was Chihiro's goodbye. He had no intention of asking for help, nor receiving it. He was going to die...and he didn't want to let Nagase attend his funeral.
"DAMMIT! CHIHIRO!" Nagase screamed out, his throat burning. "YOU FUCKING SON OF A BITCH! BAKA! YOU STUPID IDIOT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT A~LL!"
When his anger and grief-fueled high reached its end, he slammed his kick next to Iyu. He panted, sweat pouring down his face, slowly removing his boot from the wall before he found himself leaning on it, pressing his head against his arm while letting the tears flow freely. Iyu barely moved at all during that whole time, staring at the ground while her arm trembled because of what was pumping through the systems in her arm.
Eventually, she spoke. "...Hiroki," she said, her tone low. "Where...is Chihiro?"
Slowly, he looked at her. Gritting his teeth, straining to keep himself standing, refusing to let himself fall like a pathetic child who threw out his pride, he told her, "Chihiro...he's leaving. And that fucking idiot...he's not coming back." He gave a bitter laugh that sounded more like a sob. "And the bastard...didn't even have the balls...to invite us to his own funeral. What...a fucking...prick..."
Once more, she fell silent. Had Nagase looked, he would have seen something flash through her eyes. A foreign thing. Though outside her body was composed and without action, inside her mind, the gears were moving and clicking away. Ever since the first moment when she lost all control of herself, her emotions resurfacing for the first time in so long since her death, a fact that still shook her, as well as her present state, and found herself reviewing the memories she had. She understood the memories of when she was alive up to the moment of her death at the hands of her father...or what was left of him. Her heart shuddered, sadness and horror surfacing before her mind began to look at the memories that came after death.
The memories of the boy known only as Chihiro.
In their first meeting, she found an individual who was an Amazon, yet not. She felt not bloodcurdling lust for flesh, only a human with the powers of an Amazon. However, her existence was like a ray of hope for this strange child, who claimed that he didn't feel the need to eat her as he touched her. Since then, he showed some sort of infatuation for her. She thought nothing of it, and deemed him dangerous whenever he allowed his Amazon instincts to rob him of his senses. Back then, he was a target. Then Kurosaki ordered her not to hunt him. That date was foreign and unknown to her, yet some part of her seemed to understand what it was that Chihiro was trying to show her. Even when he suddenly lost control of himself and attacked wildly, she thought nothing of him. Strangely, she did not feel the hunger of an Amazon from him at that time, but something else. In subsequent encounters, he didn't fight back at all. No, it was more like he refused to against her. Then, when she saw him being beaten and brutalized by Jin Takayama, his father...she understood. She remembered what he said to her when she met Haruka Misuzawa once again after the death of her father.
"Iyu...if I could feel your pain, I..."
From there, an unknown sensation entered her. A sensation that continued to build as she stayed by his side. When she reviewed the memories of her life with her parents and sister, and reached the memories of the day her father became an Amazon...she felt horror. Disgust. Fear. Without understanding what was happening, her emotions went wild and attacked aimlessly. It was only until she had accidentially injured Chihiro, who was trying to calm her down, that she realized what she had done, and found herself reliving the moment of her death.
Now, as she reviewed the memories she spent with Chihiro...a new sensation began to form in her. A sensation that felt so...warm. Comforting. That smile he showed her when they spent the day at the park, the way he laughed so awkwardly after he accidentally smashed a cake in her face...his attempts to not harm her when she attacked...all of it sparked something. Eventually, she remembered their last meeting, which came after her rampage. Suddenly, she found herself touching her fake eye, this sensation budding into something new and foreign, yet wonderful...and saddening.
Chihiro...was going to die.
Chihiro was...going to die.
Chihiro was going to die.
Chihiro was going to die.
He was going to die...and he was not coming back.
The sensation that burned, and eventually, overwhelmed her, made her, for some explainable reason, cause her subdued and otherwise non-existent Amazon self known as Sigma manifest. Her right hand changed, becoming raven black with feathers protruding out from what appeared to be an exo-skeletal bracer and sharp claws meant to rip through flesh. The action caused Nagase to look at her, startled. Then, he saw her face, and gasped.
Tears poured down her face, her breath in a chaotic pant before she raised her arm, letting out a scream before swinging it down. In the next moment, liquid splattered against Nagase's horrified face.
'So this is where...I'm going to die...'
Strangely, there was no panic or anger in this thought. Rather, it was only acceptance and relief. His body hurt like hell. Gashes and deep cuts were engraved right into his skin, regardless of the armor that his Amazon Neo form provided. Chihiro could only pant as he saw on his knee, cradling his left arm while pieces of his helm fell to the ground, revealing his face partially. Locks of black hair fell out, sticking to sweaty and red-stained skin while blood leaked down the side of his face, barely coming close to his eye. His left eye was solemn and subdued, so tired from the constant fighting that he found no strength in being able to stand. Haruka Misuzawa and his father both knew that, as they stood across from him, readying themselves for the final blow.
Jin's mind was a mess. His son was kneeling on the ground, helpless and defenseless, choosing to go down fighting for dear life rather than a peaceful one. He wanted nothing more than to end the suffering Chihiro was going through. Contrary to what others would have thought, he actually cared about Chihiro. Had he not loved Nanaha...Chihiro would have been born as someone else's son, living a happy life with Nanaha if she ever found a man to settle with. He would have had the happy life he deserved...instead, he got a shitty excuse for a father who wanted to kill the Amazons. And look at the end result. Ordinary people were becoming Amazons because of him falling in love with Nanaha and getting her pregnant, and he turned his own son into an Amazon. Worse...he turned Nanaha into an Amazon. All of this was not Chihiro's fault. This was his own fault. Even now, he felt his hands shaking. In a few seconds, this would all be over. He tried to steady himself, but found it impossible. How could he be calm in a situation like this? This wasn't some Amazon he was about to kill...it was his child. His flesh and blood. Even still...the least he could do was send him to his mother. At lest then, he would be at peace.
Haruka, meanwhile, was conflicted. Ever since the day he embraced his Amazon self, choosing to protect those who had not awakened to their instincts and feed upon humans, he wondered if he made the right choice, choosing to remain as a monster than as a human. And now, this very decision was placed upon Chihiro, the child he had chosen to protect from Jin for four years. Even now, it was hard to imagine that the boy was Jin's son at all. He had observed him a little, an found him to be a little like himself. Naive, yet gentle in his own way. He had even tried to bring Iyu's humanity back. As much as he wanted to believe that the boy could do it...he knew that it was a pipe dream at best. Even if he could do it, what was there for Iyu? To live in a world without her parents and sister that she loved so dearly? To live as...what? A corpse? As much as he would hate it, he would have to kill her, and have be at peace with her family, waiting for her in heaven. He would do the same to Chihiro soon enough. The boy knew he was dangerous...but he wanted to live. At this very moment, he was...and in the next moment, he would be dead. As much as he wanted to stop Jin, he knew the man wanted to be the one to end his son's suffering. How much hell has this child had to endure, being the one who turned his own mother into an Amazon just by being conceived in her womb and also the cause behind humans turning into Amazons? Had there been any other way...Haruka would have wanted him to live, but he knew Chihiro would be unable to live with himself, hence why the three stood here now.
As the two men stared at the young child before them, they once again made up their resolutions. They saw the look of resignation and acceptance reflected in his clear eyes, and they knew that this last moment would be the end of his suffering. At the very least...he would be with Iyu and Nanaha...and perhaps Jin would be with them shortly after. He had stated his desire to end his own life when everything was said and done. Perhaps...when this was over, Haruka would follow his example.
After all, when everything was said and done...this was going to live a bitter aftertaste in his mouth. An aftertaste that he doesn't think he could live with.
He took a deep intake of breath before he pushed the cylinder deeper into the Neo Amazonz Driver while Jin, with a slight trembling hand, twisted the nozzle of his own belt. Two voices, one deep and one electronic, rung out from their respective belts, and felt increased strength flow through certain limbs. For Jin, it was his leg, which began to burn with steam, and for Haruka, it was his own claws, which shook with strength, veins bulging underneath the armor and steam rising.
[VIOLENT STRIKE]
[A-M-A-Z-O-N B-R-E-A-K]
'Just wait a little while longer, Chihiro...' Jin thought somberly. He was lucky the armor covered his face, otherwise both the brat and the kid would have seen him crying. 'You'll be with Nanaha-chan soon.'
Haruka closed his eyes. 'Gomensai, Chihiro-kun...I promise, this will be quick.'
Chihiro saw the two readying their finishing attacks, and exhaled a heavy breath, closing his eyes and awaiting the end. He heard them release a battle cry, lunging into the air with their respective limbs ready to strike. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, as he thought back on his life these four years...to eating his mother to meeting Nagase to meeting Iyu...and now, to this moment. Had his life actually meant anything at all? When he thought about it...was he really living? Until he meet Iyu a few months ago...he wasn't sure of anything. He struggled to accept that he was an Amazon when the truth was staring him dead in the face. If there was a regret he had, it was that he never got the chance to see her smile.
"Back in school...she was always smiling. Baking cakes for everyone without a reason. I don't think there was a single day in my life that I never once saw her without that damn smile."
Iyu...ah, if only he had one last chance to see her again. To hold her in his arms, to tell her just how much he meant to her. Hah, now that he looks back on this whole situation...it reminded him of that one story his mother told him. Romeo and Juliet. Was this how Romeo felt, when he thought that he would never see Juliet ever again when he died, choosing to end his life by her side? Oh, if only...
'Iyu,' Chihiro thought warmly, a small smile forming on his face. Time was resuming back to present, and the two loomed closer to ending him. 'I'll...see you on the other side...'
Just as acceptance and resignation fully set in, and awaited Jin and Haruka to bring an end to his life, a metallic clang echoed throughout the air, followed by a new voice.
=ATTACK RIDE: SLASH!=
"Nani?!"
"Tch!"
Chihiro's eyes snapped open, and looked up. Jin and Haruka's attack was interrupted, barred by a single blade before its owner forced them back, throwing them back a ways before landing on the ground. Astounded and amazed, he gazed at his apparent savior. The figure, male going by physique alone, was garbed in a strange suit of armor, the main color of which was a fair shade of magenta with white and black highlights. Tesla bands adorning his wrists and ankles. His helmet was adorned with several barcode-like stripes, two of which rose in the simulation of horns, with a smaller one between them, and a yellow gem at it's top. Large, bug-like green lenses, no doubt acting as the eyes, sat on either side of the helmet. Around his waist was a belt with a peculiar white buckle, and in his hand rested the blade that forced the two Amazons back, strangely resembling a book.
"Yare yare daze," the figure groaned, rubbing the back of his neck. "I thought I would be dealing with Shocker, but instead, I got in between a threesome between a bunch of Riders. Looks like I lost another bet." The figure sighed, drooping his head. "Man, when I get back, I'm gonna be in the doghouse now."
"You..." The figure craned his head, giving the red-clad Amazon Alpha a sideways glance. "Who the hell are you?!"
The figure chuckled, twirling his bizarre weapon around in his hand before allowing it to sit on his shoulder. "Who, me?" he asked jokingly. "I'm just a Kamen Rider passing through. Remember that." He then turned to Chihiro, who suddenly realized that the figure was the reason why he was still breathing at this very moment. "By the way, kid...you might wanna take a few steps back. Your ride's here."
"W-what?"
Then, suddenly, a sound echoed through the area. Thanks to his enhanced senses, partially due to his Amazon genetics, Chihiro was able to identify it as the sound of a car engine. Turning his head, he found a truck barreling its way down upon the four. However, his eyes went wide when he saw who was in the driver seat. "H-Hiroki?!" he cried in shock. Suddenly, panic and worry overcame him. What was he doing here?! How in the hell did he even manage to find him?! What the hell was he thinking?! He was going to get himself killed if he got involved! It was why he kept him away from all of this! Just before he could open his mouth again, telling him to run, his eyes caught sight of who was in the bed of the truck, sticking out her hand towards him.
Whatever words that he had managed to form in his throat fell silent as his heart skipped a beat, seeing a beautiful face bearing a look that betrayed the otherwise apathetic and emotionless gaze she always had while her hand was stretching out towards him.
"CHIHIRO!"
In that one moment, Chihiro's earlier desires and sentiments were shattered, and his Amazon instinct flared in full force. On impulse by these instincts, his hand stretched out towards her, moving to grab it. As the truck grew near, the two Amazons tried to move in, but found themselves once again blocked by the magenta-armored stranger, kicking Haruka away with a roundhouse to the solar plexus and countering Jin's left jab with the flat end of the blade. The truck went straight past them, and Chihiro grasped her hand. With impressive strength, she pulled him unto the bed of the truck. Nagase, seeing the target of his rescue now in his possession, turned the wheel around and made the truck do a semi-u turn, proceeding to slam his foot as hard as possible on the gas pedal, and drove like a bat out of hell. The figure evaded with a sweep from Haruka, hopping over it while twisting his body and slashing at his exposed back, causing New Omega to cry out in pain, sent to the ground before the stranger ducked his head to avoid a elbow strike from Alpha, blocking another strike and parrying it, ramming his knee into his stomach and delivering a solid heel strike to the face while he was stunned. As a result, Jin was flung back, landing next to Haruka.
"Dammit," Haruka groaned as he and his temporary partner got up to their feet. They would have moved to go after the truck, but the self-proclaimed Kamen Rider stood in their way, aiming the tip of his bizarre weapon at them threateningly. The purpose behind the gesture was clear. If they wanted at Chihiro...they would have to go through him. However, as they stared him down, the two felt their Amazon instincts go wild, and made them realize something that startled both veterans to the very core. "Who...no, what ARE you?!"
For the first time, both of their Amazon sides were telling the two men to RUN.
"To be perfectly frank," the figure ignored their question at first, chuckling a bit. "I've always wanted to see what you Amazon Riders were capable of. Now, to answer your question...I'm just..."
"...a Destroyer of Worlds."
Chapter 0 - Divine Intervention: END
Nope. Nope nope nope. Nu-uh. No way. No fucking how. Not happening. Absolutely fucking not. Oh no. Hell no! OH HELL TO THE FUCKING NO! Excuse me, sir, BUT NO GODDAMN WAY!
Miia: ...is he gonna be okay?
Rachnera: Oh, he'll be fine. He's just pissed with the way Kamen Rider Amazons, Season 2 ended.
Mero: Really? I, for one, think the ending was wonderful! Ah, how tragic~ To think, two lovers would be separated in life and only reunited in death...!
Cera: And there she goes again...hold a moment. This story is a crossover, correct? Then why is our series not mentioned at all?! For heaven's sake, we are only featured in this author's note!
Papi: Isn't this like the pilot episode of those soap operas Mero watches sometimes?
Rachnera: I think the author mentioned it was world building and setting up a reasonable explanation how the two lovebirds are alive. Actually, did they say when this crossover takes place in our series?
Cera: I believe it is around the time you are introduced.
Rachnera: Oho~ You don't say~?
Miia: ...I don't like the look in her eye.
Mero: Next Time, on Daily Life with Amazons! Chapter 1 - Second Chances, Part I! Ooh, I can hardly wait!
Suu and Papi: Please Review~
Kurusu: A-and no bad reviews about Chihiro-kun! Give the guy some slack!
