Author's Notes: Kamen Rider is owned by Toei Productions. All original characters are owned by yours truly.
Ask anyone who lived through a world changing event. Your grandparents will tell you where they were when World War II ended. Your parents will tell you where they were when John F. Kennedy was shot. Your siblings will tell you where they were when terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center. And you will be able to tell your children about the day the world ended.
When the Demon King appeared.
It is the near future, and chaos has engulfed the Earth. In a single moment, Jerusalem was gone, erased off the face of the Earth. Suddenly America became an ocean of fire and destruction, like hell itself had come to Earth. Europe was next, crumbling before the Demon King's will, and becoming an ocean of blood. The Demon King then headed for Japan, his might ripping apart the once proud nation.
At a small airport, people are scrambling to board any plane that has remaining seats. Outside their windows, they could see him, the Demon King. He walked slowly, as if he didn't have a care in the world. As though this was simply a leisurely Sunday stroll down a beautiful spring path. The world he occupied was very different from the nightmarish hell the escaping civilians were occupying.
However, a man walked out to confront the Demon King. He wore a long black coat with black pants and a magenta turtleneck and had dirty blonde hair. Around his neck hung a pink and black blackbird camera, and around his waist was a white belt buckle that looked oddly reminiscent of a camera. As this man approached the Demon King, the demonic being stopped in his tracks. Not out of fear, but out of curiosity.
"The Destroyer of Worlds." the Demon King said, his voice deep, yet fatherly. A tone that donated curiosity, not something you'd expect from a genocidal demon. "Your allies have fallen. What could possibly make you think you can stop me on your own?" he said, flicking his right hand casually. Moments later, the planes the civilians thought so safe were gone, no more than ash and dust in the wind.
"I have to try." the man said, clenching his fist in rage at the casual lost of life and the Demon King's indifference towards his actions. The man pulled out a pink card and pulled on the outer part of his belt buckled, extending the sidepieces and rotating the middle piece. "Maybe a monster can stop a monster." he said, sliding the card into the middle piece.
KAMEN RIDE
The man pushed in the sides of his belt buckled, rotating the middle piece back to an up right position.
"Henshin" the man said.
DECADE
In the blink of an eye, the man was surrounded by a black suit of armor, seven pink cards hovering in front of him for a moment before entering his helmet, creating an almost crown like design and coloring the sides of his body pink and making the eyes in his helmet light up green.
The young man charged the Demon King, unsure if his efforts would be in vain or not. All he knew was that there was a plan. And hopefully, that plan would succeed. And hopefully he could buy the time they needed.
A young man is flown back in time as the last of humanity is wiped out before his very eyes. The rage and sorrow that fill this young man's heart was palpable. What lay before him as he traveled through time? Would he be able to change the future? What will await him?
MASKED RIDER ZI-O
CHAPTER 1
THE DAY THE DEVIL WAS BORN
The sun poured into a young man's room, slowly lighting up the darkened spaced. It was a room you'd expect from a 27-year-old living in an average quality apartment. The walls were white and lacking detail, but on the eastern wall across from the window was a wall scroll for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 3, the only thing breaking up the monotony of the bland wall. Up against the eastern wall was the young man's bed, a queen size bed with black sheets and a black pillow case. Next to it, on the adjacent northern wall was a large wooden desk that he and his father had put together when he entered college. On it was an old digital clock, a Mac desktop, a box of Kleenex, the router for the internet, several bottles of medication, a Bible with a leather cover and thin layer of dust, his cell phone, and an Xbox 360, which plugged into the near by TV up against the western wall with the window on it. The TV sat on top of the young man's dresser, which truth be told, wasn't really used much. Next to the dresser was a black stand that housed his DVDs, Blu-rays, and CDs. Next to it was a white, plastic dresser that was basically used to store junk. And finally, next to that, was a book shelf, housing several manga series and several novels on top. The final southern wall was almost entirely a closet, covered by two large wooden doors that you push to the side to open.
The light gently kissed the young man's face and roused him from his slumber. He had had another late night, not really doing anything worthwhile, just staying up playing Dark Souls on his Switch in the living room while listening to a Youtuber named MauLer deconstruct Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The young man looked at his clock to see it say 10:34 am. Meaning he needed to be at work in less than an hour. Not enough time for a shower, he thought as he rolled onto his back and stretched. He turned to his desk and grabbed his phone, turning it on and then setting it on his chest, staring at his ceiling while waiting for it to boot up. After a few moments, he heard the whimsical chime of his phone's boot up, followed by several loud noises associated with an influx of text messages, emails, and Facebook messenger. The young man looked at his phone's lock screen, noticing the date.
"September 1st, huh." he said to himself.
The young man got up and went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, and then got dressed, throwing on a pink t-shirt, a black long sleeve over shirt, and black sweatpants, and white shoes. He put his glasses on, covering his blue eyes and raked his hand through his dirty blonde hair instead of combing it. He decided that he was going to go eat out before he had to go into his delivery job. As he neared the door, he looked at his stack of CDs to see what he would listen to. Piled up where numerous boxes of CDs from the Kamen Rider franchise. Faiz, W, Fourze, OOO, Gaim, Ghost, Decade. His right index finger ran along the boxes as he thought about which one he'd take. After a few moments, he grabbed the orange Fourze box, then put his wallet, phone, and keys into his pocket and opened the door to leave. However, to his surprise, there was a man standing before him.
He was dressed in a long dark green coat and wore a hood covering most of his face. He also had a long grey-ish scarf on, and a book under his left arm, his right arm up as he prepared to knock on the door. He looked surprised for a moment before composing himself, smiling earnestly at the young man. He took of his hood and his messy, shoulder length black hair spilled out.
"Eryk Cheba, I presume?" he said in a chipper voice. Eryk wanted nothing to do with this man, his right eye twitching.
"I don't want any." Eryk said, walking out of his apartment, closing the door, and then pushing past the man.
"I'm not selling anything." the man said, reaching out to grab Eryk's shoulder.
"Well, I need to go to work, so I don't have time to talk." Eryk said, moving quickly down the hall to head towards the parking lot.
"Even if its about your future?" the man said. Eryk stopped and turned to the man.
"What are you talking about?" Eryk asked.
"Well, I know that you are 27 years old, working a dead end job, anti-social with no girlfriend and a single friend, who you live with." the man said. "Not exactly a great position to be in."
"How the hell do you know all that, buddy?" Eryk said, walking up to the man.
"Why, its in this book." the man said, holding up the book under his arm. It was a plain looking book with brown leather binding. Imprinted on the leather was the name 'Twilight Chronicle'. Eryk snatched the book out of the man's hand and started flipping through the pages, but they were all blank.
"Is this some kind of joke?" Eryk asked. "The pages are blank." Eryk forced the book back into the man's hands. "Just who the hell are you?"
"My name is Woz, and I come from the future." he said, smiling and giving a small bow.
"Oh," Eryk chuckled to himself, "So you're a crazy person?" Eryk started laughing. "Great. An insane stalker." Eryk moved the CD box into his left hand and then punched Woz in the face with his right fist. Woz was immediately floored, looking up at Eryk while holding his left cheek, a look of shock on his face. "Stay the fuck away from me or I'm calling the police." Eryk said, turning and walking away.
"It is your destiny to become King!" Woz yelled out. "Heir to the power of the Kamen Riders! The Lord of Time and Space!" Woz stood up as he called out to Eryk, who stopped at the door when he heard Woz's comments. Eryk turned back to Woz, a stern look on his face.
"You need to get some serious help. Stay away from me." Eryk said before pushing the door open and walking out. Woz sighed and rubbed his cheek.
"Its alright." he said, opening his book and peering into it. "You weren't very receptive the first time this happened."
While at work, Eryk couldn't help but think about the encounter he had earlier. Who was that man? What was he talking about? Kamen Rider? Eryk was sitting in the parking lot of his job and looking at the Fourze CD box.
"What, like a Decade kind of thing?" he mused to himself. "That would be awesome." Eryk smiled to himself, thinking about being a Kamen Rider. His life was going nowhere, so the idea of becoming a Kamen Rider excited him. Eryk started to sway back and forth, getting more and more excited at the prospect. However, he quickly returned to reality when he remembered a key detail.
Kamen Rider was fictional.
In fact, Toei had recently cancelled the series due to low sales and Super Sentai's overwhelming popularity. The final season was Kamen Rider Build, Eryk's personal favorite, and Rider was now no more. Eryk cast aside the thought of becoming a Kamen Rider, and went into his job, noticing that a bag had been placed on the counter.
Eryk's job was at a local Chinese resturant. They paid him well and worked him to the bone, allowing him to keep tips. The only real down side was that he would get off work late in the evening and couldn't really keep hold of any kind of social life. The restaurant itself was small and quaint. The lobby was small, with three green tables on the right and two on the left, each having four black chairs for seating. On the right side was a row of black chairs for people to sit in while waiting for their orders, the final chair resting up against a large wooden counter where you would place your orders. Behind the counter you could see the kitchen and watch the hard working Chinese men cook your meal with speed and efficiency. To the right of the counter was a large cooler with both Coke and Pepsi products in it, Eryk's bosses getting all of the pop to allow for maximum customer satisfaction.
As Eryk walked in, he moved towards the bag on the counter. This is how his bosses would let him know there was a delivery. Eryk peered into the bag and checked the receipt. 515 10th St Apt.5 Eryk rolled his eyes. This apartment was infamous for being a pain. They would try to claim that something was wrong with the food, either a hair or meat being undercooked or something just being outright wrong or missing, and demand another order. Eryk's bosses had become wise to their antics, however, which just made them meaner and nastier to Eryk. And on top of that, they never tipped, either.
"Oh, Eryk." his boss said, an older Chinese man. "Its 1:30, so just do this delivery and then you can go on break. Just be back by 5:30." he said.
"Okay." Eryk said, grabbing the bag and turning back towards the door. Eryk got into his car, a red Volkswagen Passat, and placed the order on the passenger's seat. As he pulled out, he pressed the power button on his stereo, letting the music from Kamen Rider Fourze play through his speakers. As he drove to his destination, he continued to think about what Woz had said. Approaching a stop sign, Eryk sighed and looked out of his window, though not at anything in particular.
"Anything would be better than this..." he said in a melancholic tone.
A young man was sitting at a desk in a library. The library was part of the local university, the first floor being more of a study area than an area for gathering resources. The young man was of African decent and wore a jean jacket with a plain white hoodie under it, grey sweat pants and a pair of red shoes. He had black glasses framing his face with his curly black hair styled in a way so it would stand up. His posture was lax as he leaned on his left arm on the table and tapped his pencil on the advanced chemistry book he was reading with his left. Despite easily understanding the material, he was having difficulty retaining it, causing him stress and frustration. His phone buzzed next to him, the screen illuminated and showing "Mom" on the screen. He quickly hit the "Ignore" button, trying to get back to his work. However, the phone buzzed again, once again "Mom" trying to get a hold of him.
The young man was hitting his breaking point, but just as he was about to blow, a shrill noise cut through the air, followed by a loud booming sound. When the young man turned to see what caused the noise, he noticed that everyone was still, frozen in place. It was as if time itself had stopped moving for everyone but him. As he looked around, he noticed a peculiar sight; near the end of the room, where a large number of people had congregated, stood a person in deep purple armor.
It wasn't all that detailed, simply looking like regular knight armor you'd see at a museum, but purple. However, the helmet was quite intricate, with numbers going around the helmet in a circle, starting with a 12 at the top and then, moving clockwise, a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, like a clock. And the person had a long purple cape that came around and hid his arms while he was standing still. As the young man stared at this person, the knight started to move, walking towards the young man. Despite walking in a straight line with obstacles in the way, the knight seemed to just clip through the people and tables in his way, his armor rattling and clanking with each step.
The young man quickly put his book in his backpack, grabbed his phone, and attempted to run, the knight terrifying him beyond belief. However, once he started heading for the door, he was shocked to see that the knight was already in front of the door, blocking his way. The young man let out a sharp scream and turned to the right, but the knight was before him again. Before he could move, the knight closed the gap and reached out, grabbing the young man by the collar of his jacket. Now that his arm was out from behind his cape, you could see the his gauntlets were also a deep purple and had a spiraling design on it, again using numbers from 1 to 12. The gauntlet themselves also had pointed ends at the end of each finger and thumb like claws.
"What do you want!?" the young man exclaimed.
"Why, I simply wish to see you become King?" the knight said, his voice deep and a metallic, almost robotic effect added to his voice.
"King?" the young man said, trying to bat away the knight's hand. "What do you mean by 'King'?"
"A King to rule over time and space." the knight said, bringing the young man's face close to his helmet. "A King to usurp the Demon."
"I...I...I...I don't want to be King." the young man said. "I just want to pass this class."
"Don't you wish for more in your life?" the knight asked. "A way to become stable? A way to escape the life of a poor inner city boy and rise up to wealth and success?" The knight let go of the young man, dropping him to the floor, the young man's phone falling out of his pocket in the process. "Don't you want to make sure your future children will be able to know no poverty or starvation? Don't you want them to wish for nothing and live a life of contentment?" the knight knelt down and pulled out a stopwatch like device. It was black with a purple rim and a purple button on the top, however there seemed to be no design on the face of the stopwatch.
"What is that?" the young man asked, now more at ease due to the knight's lucrative offer.
" Your way to grasp at destiny." the knight said. He clicked the purple button on the top and the stopwatch released black smoke for a moment. Once the smoke dissipated, it revealed a twisted red and blue face that looked demonic.
BUILD
The young man reached for it, despite logic dictating that he should. He looked at the knight, and then back at the watch, and after a moment and a deep breath, he took the watch in his hand. However, the watch quickly merged inside of his body and black energy engulfed the young man. He screamed as his body was overtaken, but the energy went into his mouth, his left eye glowing blue and his right eye glowing red. After a moment, the energy completely engulfed him and all that remained was a monster.
His legs were black, but his right leg had blue stripes going around it while the left leg had red stripes, with the added design of a spring like device around his left shin. While his stomach was black, his torso was red on the right side, then blue in the middle, and then red again on the left side. His right arm was red while his left arm was blue. His head was also two toned, his mouth, nose, and left eye being red while his right eye and head were blue. A strange, clear blue piece was coming off his eye that was shaped like a tank, and a red clear piece came off his left eye in the shape of a rabbit. The word "Build" was tattooed on his right breast and around his waist was a strange belt like device. It was square, like a box, with a red and blue vial in it, but off centered, while the right side of the square had a circular fan like attachment, with a crank coming off of it.
The knight chuckled. "Yes. Now go and draw out that infernal Demon King." he said. The creature nodded and slowly walked away like a zombie. As he walked, he stepped on his phone, destroying it. However, he didn't seem to have the slightest sense of that even happening, as if he didn't have a care in the world.
There was no sign of Woz when Eryk returned. However, once he walked in, he noticed that his roommate, and best friend, Travis was sitting in the living room, having returned from his own job. Their living room was neatly arranged; a long brown couch that Travis sat on was up against the wall where the window was. Eryk sat on a white-ish two person couch that was up against the adjacent wall that was left behind by Eryk's previous roommate, Levon. There was also a ratty futon that was also left behind by Levon that was across from Travis' couch. On the last wall was their TV, which stood on a blue fold out table. Travis' PS4 was on the empty part of the table, hooked into the back of the TV. Underneath the table was a brown, wooden shelf, which housed Travis' silver Gamecube and beat up PS3, with the bottom shelf housing Travis' copious amounts of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. On either side of the TV were large brown shelves; on the left was Travis' shelf which had all of his Kamen Rider Wizard toys, the right shelf housing all of Eryk's Kamen Rider Fourze toys.
"Yo!" Travis said, looking up from his phone. Travis was of half Hispanic and half Native American descent, his skin a light brown because of it. He had short jet-black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing his Taco Bell uniform, making Eryk think he just got home moments ago.
"Hey." Eryk said, sitting on his couch. "The weirdest thing happened to me this morning." he said, rubbing his forehead.
"What happened?" Travis asked, tossing his phone onto his couch and leaning back.
"This guy in a green robe showed up and told me that I would become King of the Kamen Riders." Eryk said, looking at his Fourze collection. "And he knew a lot of details about my life."
"That's weird." Travis said. "Think I could be your secondary Rider?" he asked, chuckling to himself.
"Absolutely." Eryk laughed. "We'll beat up Shocker or whatever and get to be heroes."
"Know what would make us real heroes?" Travis said.
"What?" Eryk asked, looking over at Travis.
"Some food." Travis said in a stern voice.
"Sure." Eryk said. "But you're gonna need to get into clean clothes. I don't want my car smelling like grease."
"Oh, of course." Travis said, getting up and walking towards his room. "Anything, My King." he said, looking back at Eryk and smiling sheepishly.
"YES! The king demands that you not be a dirty slob!" Eryk said, pointing into the air with his right hand as he lay back on the couch.
"As you wish, My Lord!" Travis said, his voice rising as he went into his room to get clean clothes. Eryk brought his hand back down and rested his hand behind his head.
"What a weird ass day." he said, closing his eyes.
The strange "Build" creature stumbled towards the football stadium, scaring people as it walked by. However, once it got closer to the stadium, it bumped into a guardrail, causing a brief moment of lucidity. In that moment, the creature transformed back into the young man from earlier, who was startled and confused.
"What is happening?" He said to himself, looking at his hands.
I'll show them! A voice said in the young man's head. The young man looked around, trying to find the source of the voice, not realizing it came from within. They think they're so great? I'll take them down a peg.
"What are you talking about!?" the young man yelled. Suddenly, he turned to his right and noticed a building in the distance. It was a large building housing two different businesses. On the right was a Starbucks, while on the left was a Chipotle. The young man looked at the parking lot, his vision seemingly enhanced by his new found monster hood, and noticed several African American men walking into Chipotle. He recognized them as his classmates from his honors class. Compelled, the young man began to walk over to the Chipotle.
Eryk and Travis decided on getting food at Chipotle. Thankfully, despite its close proximity to the local university, they were generally slow around 2:00 pm. As they pulled in, Eryk noticed something in front of the Chipotle.
"Oh no." Eryk said as they came to a stop in the parking space.
"What is it?" Travis asked. Eryk pointed to a man sitting at the tables outside of the Chipotle.
"Its the weird guy I was telling you about." Eryk said. Sure enough, Woz was sitting at a table, seemingly enjoying the cool weather, a smile plastered on his face. He turned to see Eryk and Travis and waved.
"We can go somewhere else." Travis suggested.
"I'm not letting this creep get between me and my Chipotle." Eryk said, getting out of the car. "What do you want, Woz?" Eryk called out.
"My Lord!" Woz said, standing up and giving a small bow. Woz noticed Travis and gave him a slight bow as well. "And my lords most loyal confidant, Travis Edge." Woz said.
"Your stalker knows who I am." Travis said.
"What is your hang up with us?" Eryk said, approaching Woz.
"Like I said, I need to get you on the path to becoming the King of Space and Time," Woz said, making an elegant motion with his right arm, "Heir to the power of the Kamen Riders!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Eryk interrupted Woz, waving his hand back and forth. "So you're going to make me a Kamen Rider? Where is my belt?" Eryk asked, crossing his arms.
"Of course." Woz said. He simply reached behind himself and pulled out a white belt with two ports sticking out of the side. Eryk and Travis were shocked.
"Where were you storing that?" Travis asked.
"That's not important." Woz said. Suddenly, Woz knelt down, holding the belt up to Eryk. "My Lord, I present you with the Ziku Driver. With this, you will become Kamen Rider ZI-O, the ultimate Kamen Rider!"
Eryk took the belt and examined it. "What goes in the sides?" Eryk asked, pointing to the right port.
"Of course!" Woz said. "The Ziku Driver uses Ridewatches that you slot into the sides." Woz said, pulling out a stopwatch like item. The base of the stopwatch was black and the dial was white. In the center was a logo and the numbers '2018'. These were separated by a middle piece that didn't seem to have any real design. "This is your own personal Ridewatch, the ZI-O Ridewatch." Woz explained.
"Its interesting." Eryk said. He never really had a personal attachment to watches, so, if this was his own personal Rider gimmick, he was confused as to why he would be associated with watches. Then again, characters were never really associated with their motifs in Rider, only on a few occasions. But, the idea of being a Kamen Rider was more exciting then trying to piece together why he was a watch.
"This is pretty cool." Travis said, looking at the Ridewatch in Eryk's hand. "Actual Rider gear."
"Well, we don't know if it truly works." Eryk said, giving Woz a quick look.
"My Lord," Woz said, holding up his book, "your ascension is documented in this book, and I can assure you those items you are holding are the genuine article." Woz stood up and brushed some of his hair out of his face. "And, as they are yours, you can keep them even if they are not to your liking."
"Great. Hear that, Travis? I can keep the Chinese knock off Rider belt if I don't like it." Eryk said sarcastically.
"You should try putting it on." Travis suggested. Eryk looked at the belt and watch again, hesitating for a moment. But, he finally let curiosity win and lifted up the belt in preparation to slap it on.
However, a person suddenly came screaming out of Chipotle.
"A monster!" she screamed, continuing to run away. Eryk, Travis, and Woz turned their attention to the Chipotle, which had people pouring out. Within the crowd came a twisted red and blue monster. Woz smirked seeing the creature, but was standing behind Eryk and Travis so they couldn't see. As it walked out, Travis noticed the writing on it's chest.
"It says 'Build' on its chest!" Travis said, pointing at the creature.
"Build?" Eryk replied. After a moment, he did recognize the similarities. The creature was a like a demonic version of Kamen Rider Build, the final season of Kamen Rider and Eryk's personal favorite season.
"That being is called an Another Rider." Woz said, Eryk and Travis turning to him. "Another Riders are based off of pre-existing Kamen Riders. But, since Kamen Riders are not natural to your world, they become mangled and distorted." Woz motioned towards the Another Rider, who now closed in on a person trying to run away. "There is a victim being controlled by Another Build. It is your duty to save your people, My Lord." Woz said.
"Woz, how does this thing work!?" Eryk shouted, putting the belt up to his waist, a belt forming around Eryk and securing the belt.
ZIKU DRIVER
"Turn the dial on the Ridewatch, My Lord." Woz said. Eryk rotated the white dial to the right, the strange designs now matching up with the image below it, making a face. Eryk pressed the button on the top of the stopwatch. The face projected a larger version of the face in light before him, before disappating a moment later.
ZI-O
However, before Eryk could transform, Another Build closed in on his victim, a well built African American man. In Another Build's right hand was a bottle, which he twisted the cap and held it out. The man begged, his left hand outstretched in a "Stop" gesture.
"Come on, man! Don't do this! We're friends! We've been friends for years! Please stop!" the man shouted. Another Build simply grunted as he held out the bottle. The victim turned into golden light and was sucked into the bottle in an instant. Eryk and Travis were shocked as Another Build closed the cap on the bottle and then shook it.
"Oh shit." Travis said.
"Travis, get back!" Eryk commanded, waving with his left arm for Travis to move away. "Help people get to safety."
"Okay." Travis said.
"I think I got the gist of it now." Eryk said, looking at the Ridewatch while facing the monster. Eryk slid the Ridewatch onto the right port on the belt. A standby noise began to play once the Ridewatch was inserted that sounded like a metronome moving back and forth. "Hey!" Eryk shouted, getting the monster's attention. As it turned to him, Eryk noticed more of the detailing of Another Build. It disgusted Eryk, seeing his favorite hero warped into a monster.
Eryk's right arm extended across his body, while his left hand hovered over the belt around his waist. "Rider..." Eryk said calmly. He then flicked his wrist, hitting the button on the top of the belt and causing it to unlock, tilting down to the right slightly. "HENSHIN!" Eryk yelled, spreading his arms out and bringing this right arm down to his side, hand in a fist and parallel to his waist, while his left hand came down under then belt and flicked the left side of it, causing the belt to spin, and bringing his left hand up, his index finger extended up and his thumb extended to the side making an L shape.
RIDER TIME!
KAMEN RIIIIDER...ZI-O!
Purple and silver rings appeared around Eryk, detailed like a watch chain, while four pink pieces flew out of the belt. As the rings circled Eryk, they covered his body in a black suit with several pink marks on his body and silver detailing. Down his chest was another silver watch chain like piece that started at his neck and went down, stopping at his crotch. His face was a pearl white and two antennas were sticking out in the style of clock hands, one pointing to the 10:00 position and the other at the 0:10 position. The four pink pieces flew back and solidified themselves against Eryk's face, forming Japanese kanji across the eyes of the helmet. Woz stood next to Eryk and opened his book, gesturing towards Eryk with his right hand.
"Rejoice!" Woz began. "He is heir to the power of all Riders! The lord of time, traveling beyond time and space to reign over past and future...His name is Kamen Rider ZI-O, and you have born witness to the dawn of his advent!" Woz declared. He then closed his book, bowed to Eryk, and moved out of the way. Travis was in shock witnessing his best friend become a Kamen Rider right before his very eyes. Eryk reached up to the side of his helmet and tapped the side, where the crown of a watch would be.
"All set." he said. "Your time is up." Eryk dashed towards the Another Build, who roared at him and charged Eryk. As they reached each other, Another Build threw a punch, but Eryk ducked down and clenched his right hand into a fist. Eryk pivoted and threw his weight behind his punch, striking Another Build in the jaw and knocking Another Build backwards, staggering slightly, and then falling over. Eryk stood up and looked at his fist. "Whoa, that was a pretty hard hit." he said, looking at Another Build struggling to get up. Before Another Build could get fully composed, Eryk ran up to him and struck Another Build in the jaw with a flying knee strike, landing behind Another Build who had fallen over again. Eryk turned and grabbed Another Build under his right arm and collar and lifted him up into the air and then back down, bringing Another Build crashing down onto the hood of a car.
Another Build was stunned, but Eryk would not relent, his grip still firm. Eryk threw Another Build off of the car and into another car headfirst. Another Build twitched and lay limp for a moment before starting to collect itself.
"Eryk is vicious." Travis said, his mouth agape.
"Yes." Woz said, holding his book with both hands and smiling. "In the future he is truly ruthless. All for the sake of the people." Travis looked at Woz for a moment and then back to the fight.
Eryk was advancing on Another Build, who had managed to stand back up. Another Build threw a punch with his left fist, but Eryk ducked under it and delivered a quick jab to Another Build's throat with his right hand. However, this did not seem to hinder Another Build's breathing, as he just staggered backwards a bit. Another Build quickly recovered and threw a second punch, this time with his right hand, but Eryk brought his left arm up, blocking the strike with his left forearm and then quickly countering with his right hand, hitting Another Build squarely in the face.
"Guess you never forget the basics." Eryk said, remarking on the fight. Eryk used to practice martial arts, but hadn't done so in nearly ten years. However, muscle memory seemed to be taking over and allowing him to perform at the level he needed to be. It also helped that Another Build clearly had no idea what it was doing, probably having never been in a fight before.
Another Build threw another punch with his right arm, but Eryk turned, allowing his right side to face Another Build. With his left hand, he grabbed Another Build's wrist, gaining control over his arm, and with his right hand, Eryk delivered a swift and powerful blow to Another Build's solar plexus. Another Build doubled over, clutching its solar plexus with his left hand, though his right arm was still in Eryk's grasp. Eryk pivoted and reeled back his right arm and then quickly pivoted once more while bringing his right fist down on the back of Another Build's head, causing Another Build to fall to the ground and go limp.
"Holy shit!" Travis exclaimed, watching Eryk casual let go of Another Build's arm.
"Very good, My Lord!" Woz said. "You're a natural!" Eryk looked down at Another Build, who was now struggling to get back up, making noises as it did. Eryk couldn't be certain, but it almost sounded like it was crying. "My Lord," Woz exclaimed, "to do a finisher, simply press the top of the Ridewatch and then spin the belt again!"
Eryk took a few steps back, assuming that his finisher would be the standard Rider Kick. He pressed the top of the Ridewatch on the belt.
FINISH TIME
Eryk pressed the button on the top of the belt to release the belt, and then twisted it.
TIME BREAK
Suddenly, pink kanji appeared in the sky and formed a line from Another Build up to a random spot several meters in the air. Eryk jumped up to the start of the line of kanji and then extended his right foot. A force then propelled him forward, the kanji lining up with his foot. While Eryk couldn't see, Travis noticed that the kanji were literally entering his foot, as though Eryk had the kanji on the bottom of his shoe. As Another Build finally stood up and composed himself, Eryk came rocketing down and connected with Another Build's chest with his foot, a pink light expelling out of the point of contact. After a few moments, Eryk pushed slightly with his right foot and blasted Another Build away, who flew back and landed on the ground, rolling away as he did. Eryk landed and stood up, watching as Another Build got up onto his knees, electricity flowing around his body from the point of impact where Eryk kicked him. Another Build howled in pain and, in a moment, exploded in true Kamen Rider fashion. An excitable Eryk clenched his fist and made a motion with it while saying "Yes" under his breath. Eryk had defeated a monster. Eryk had become a Kamen Rider.
"That was awesome!" Travis said, running up to Eryk and patting him on the back. Woz was also making his way over, his face glowing with happiness.
"Wasn't even that hard." Eryk said, looking back and forth between Travis, Woz, and then dissipating explosion. Woz had mention that there was a victim who was turned into Another Build, so Eryk was waiting to go over and help him once the smoke had cleared. However, the smoke cleared away almost instantly and a man in purple knight armor was before them. Woz looked shocked and Eryk moved to position himself in front of Travis.
"Well done, ZI-O." the knight said. "However, it won't be that easy to beat my Another Rider."
"Who are you?" Eryk asked.
"Why don't you ask your friend there." the knight said, motioning towards Woz. The knight then turned and reached down, Eryk now noticing the young man lying on the ground. The knight reached into the young man and pulled out a Ridewatch and then clicked it.
BUILD
The knight then put the Ridewatch back into the young man, who screamed in pain as he did so. After a few moments, the young man was once again transformed into Another Build. Eryk was stunned. However, the knight slowly looked back at Eryk and then turn and disappeared, vanishing without a trace. Another Build slowly stood back up and roared at Eryk, now reinvigorated.
Next time on Masked Rider ZI-O
As Another Build continues to rampage, Eryk is told that he must discover more about Another Build's host. For only then will he be able to truly defeat Another Build and inherit the power of Kamen Rider Build.
Chapter 2: Understanding the Best Match
Rejoice! For the New King has been Born!