Kamen Rider: Zero Hour

Episode 1: Shoshutto Spark

By: Ziginz

Tamiko could feel warmth washing over her lithe form and knew it was the sun beaming down upon her before she ever opened her eyes. At first she squinted as she looked up toward the sky, her deep blues eyes still being sensitive after her long nap. Wait…when had she fallen asleep, and why was she asleep outside on the ground in what she perceived to be the middle of nowhere? This sudden realization was enough for the drowsy girl to force herself into a sitting position as she looked around for any signs of where she was, how she had gotten there, or what exactly had happened to her.

All she saw was a wasteland of dust and debris, a few tattered, hollow buildings being all that remained of what had once been a city. Before long the confused youth began to realize she wasn't just sitting in the remains of any city, but her city. This was Osaka, the shopping district to be precise, or at least the hollowed out remains of it. She pushed strands of her long, red hair from her eyes in hopes that doing so would somehow change the scenery before her.

It didn't change at all, and she still couldn't process the desolation around her. She looked herself over, seemingly uninjured and still wearing the same jacket, T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers she had put on before leaving her apartment earlier that day. Assuming it was the same day…of course it was, it had to be. Standing to her feet, she started searching for any signs of life, but not crying out for it due to the shock of her situation.

As she wandered the ruins that had once been her home town, part of Tamiko was still waiting for her nightmare to end. The one thing that made the stark absence of people even slightly bearable was the lack of bodies, but the abundance of rats that scurried around in the dark alleyways was a mix of relief and disgust. At least something was still alive and thriving, though that thought caused her stomach to turn; what if rats were all that was left?

"This is crazy…this can't be real…"

A rustling sound snapped the girl back to reality as she dashed towards the direction from whence she believed it came. As she turned a corner down a shady alleyway, Tamiko felt both joy and relief surge up inside of her at what she saw. Standing there like a deer caught in the headlights was a weary looking man wearing equally worn out clothing with an opened can in one hand and a spoon in the other. He had to be at least forty years old, but the terrified man ran like someone half his age.

Wait, why was he running away?

"Hey wait! Wait!"

Tamiko practically took flight, running after that terrified man with all the speed she could muster. While it soon became clear that the younger of the two was also the faster and more agile, her elder had a better grasp on the terrain and was giving the poor girl hell trying to catch him. Every time Tamiko thought she had him he would turn down a barely visible passage or hop through a window into a building, exiting only when he thought the girl was gone or out of sight. When it seemed like the chase was leading nowhere fast, a disturbing sound echoed throughout the ruins causing both runners to stop in their tracks. It was an eerie combination of a groan and growl that was bestial in nature, yet tinged with something distinctly human…

It sounded mournful.

The man began to panic, obviously knowing more about the source of the moaning than his pursuer. Tamiko took the opportunity to try and speak to the easily spooked fellow, but while she had a thousand questions for him only one came to mind in that moment.

"What was that?"

"Inves…one's been roamin' round here lately. If you's a kaijin then you best worry 'bout it instead of tryin' kill me."

"Kaijin? I'm not…and what's an inves?"

The man looked toward Tamiko with a questioning expression, the very same sort she was giving to him in that instant. Neither one seemed to be making a whole lot of sense to the other until another growl echoed around them. Both looked toward the same direction and saw the very thing producing those odd noises, and neither was pleased with what was looking back at them.

Tamiko's mind couldn't quite comprehend the being. If she had to describe it she would probably say it was a blue man shaped spider with a feral look in its eyes and very prominent fangs stretching form its drooling maw. She and her new acquaintance both looked at each other before breaking into a full sprint in the opposite direction of the monster. Neither immediately looked back to see if they were being pursued, but neither would need to as the creature suddenly landed in there path.

Both slid to a stop as the creature stared at them, its fangs and claws at the ready as it slowly approached them. It was clear that trying to run from this inves thing was not going to be easy, but that didn't stop Tamiko's new acquaintance from trying. After all he didn't have to be faster than the inves to survive this. The man looked over his shoulder to see Tamiko not following his example and stopped running to watch as his one time pursuer stood her ground!

Had she snapped out of fear, or was she just so shocked that she couldn't move? Though he had been all too willing to abandon her moments before, now another set of instincts was prompting him to return to the girl's aid. When the monster lunged forward, its fangs presented with clear intent to take a bite out of the youth, it seemed that Tamiko's fate was already sealed. There was something neither the inves nor the fear filled man knew about the girl before them, however, and that was that Tamiko was pissed.

The furious girl balled her fist, gritted her teeth, and proceeded to punch the approaching inves in the face with all her strength! A normal punch wouldn't have hurt the creature much so it didn't even bother trying to dodge, but it immediately wished it had as the attack sent the creature stumbling back! If one thing became clear in that moment to both man and monster it was that Tamiko was no weak little girl! She was a tough as nails woman from Osaka with too many questions and not nearly enough answers to satisfy her growing fury!

"Okay you spider faced bastard! If you wanna dance than let's go!"

"Are you nuts!? That thing'll chew ya up and spit ya out kid!"

"Well I'm sick of running, and the way it looks we couldn't escape this thing anyway so I might as well teach it a thing or two! Maybe a black eye and a few bruises will get the message across."

It was madness, or so the man told himself as he watched this girl stand her ground against a creature that could easily kill her! Was she really that fearless, or was it all just bravado? In truth it was a bit of both, but Tamiko wasn't about to go down without a fight! She was going to kick this thing's ass, find out what had happened to her city, and then do everything in her power to make it right! She wasn't just going to survive this; she was going to win!

"Forget this, you wanna fight tha' thing than its your funeral, not mine!"

The man turned to run only for someone else to appear before him: someone he knew all too well. She was a young woman in her late twenties with long purple hair, green eyes, and wearing rustic looking clothing under a short poncho. She had a smile on her face, seeming unconcerned about the inves or the girl confronting it.

"Tsubaki! Ah thank ya Jesus, I thought I was dead!?"

"Sup' Kino. Make some new friends?"

"They ain't no friends of mine! Now get to rescuin' me already!"

"Well since you asked so nicely."

Tsubaki pulled a small, pad lock shaped device from her belt and began walking toward Tamiko and the spider inves. She raised the odd device, the face plate of which was shaped and colored like a strawberry, and pressed a button on its side. The lock opened as an electronic voice exclaimed the very name of the fruit represented upon it.

[Ichigo!]

Tamiko heard this and turned to see the other woman pull aside her poncho to reveal a rather large and odd looking belt buckle fastened across her waste. The buckle was glossy black with a silver outlining, hexagonal indent in the center, what looked like a knife shaped lever on the right side, and a plate with the picture of a helmet imprinted on it. It looked like some sort of toy, but what the woman did next quickly changed Tamiko's perception of the device.

The green eyed woman inserted the smaller gadget into the center of the belt and locked it into place as another digital voice cried out two words.

[Lock On!]

Horagai music began playing from the belt and at the same moment a giant metal strawberry materialized above its wearer's head! The girl pulled the lever on the device to "cut open" the fruit shaped face plate of the lock, revealing two images within it. One looked like the cut half of a strawberry, while the other on the "lid" side was of a strawberry adorned kunai! Again the belt spoke and as it did something unreal happened to the girl wearing it!

[Soiya! Ichigo Arms! Shushutto Spark!]

The pointed end of the strawberry opened and the whole object fell onto her head as an red suit materialized over the rest of her body. Armor also materialized over her fore arms and fore legs, all of which were orange with silver plating. The strawberry "unfolded", forming chest armor and pauldrons while also revealing Tsubaki's helmet. The back of the head gear was, unsurprisingly, strawberry themed, as was the interior of the helmet's visor which looked like a large pair of eyes! A shuriken shaped crest with a green crystal in its center rested upon the brow of the helmet, and a silver mouth protector completed the head gear.

"Akakagi Tsubaki! Kamen Rider Spark! Charging In!"

Tsubaki declared her title as two kunai appeared in her hands, the same as the ones depicted on the lock, and she wasted no time putting the weapons to work. Tamiko was just too stunned by what she had just witnessed to do or say anything as the armored woman ran past her, clearly not perceiving her as a threat. The spider inves, on the other hand, seemed well aware of the girl's intent to attack him and hissed loudly as he entered combat! Tsubaki was a dexterous fighter and was able to keep up with her arachnid like foe, easily getting through its defenses to land a few solid swipes with her blades while avoiding its attempted counter attacks!

Realizing it was outmatched; the spider leapt back and shot a ball of webbing from its mouth in hopes of disabling the attacking rider. Tsubaki wasn't so green as to be struck by the projectile, dodging the attack and throwing her weapons at the creature in exchange.

"Shushutto!"

Her two kunai struck true; the first stunning the inves while the second knocked it to the ground. As the spider fell prone, Spark pulled the leaver on her belt again causing energy to surge from the lock within it.

[Soiya! Ichigo Squash!]

A strawberry shaped mass of energy appeared between Spark and her foe as she leapt into the air before shifting into a flying kick! She first struck the construct, which began spinning rapidly, before impacting the inves and drilling straight through it! The creature exploded as Tsubaki landed behind its smoldering remains, looking back at the seared ground behind her with no real signs of satisfaction toward her victory.

"A'right Tsubaki! Ain't nobody as good at killin' Inves as you're!"

"Jiro, show some respect for the dead will ya?"

Jiro bit his tongue in response to Tsubaki's harsh tone, though he didn't exactly feel as remorseful as she did toward the Inves' death. The victor turned to look toward Tamiko who was standing a few feet away with a stupefied look on her face, speaking to the baffled girl with friendlily.

"I take it you're not from around here considering the condition of your clothes. I can't say I've ever seen jeans in such good shape before."

"S-Straw…Strawberry…"

"What?"

"You were wearing a strawberry! You had kunai! That-that-that thing exploded!"

Tsubaki was stunned by the other girl's sudden outburst and wasn't sure what, if anything, she should say to her. It was than that everything snapped together in her mind and she realized exactly what this seemingly out of place girl was. It had been several years since she had even heard of it happening, but it seemed another poor soul had fallen through time and found her way into this desolate future.