Kamen Rider Chapra Chapter 1
Disclaimer: I don't own Kamen Rider or any of the associated trademarks. Kamen Rider Chapra, its characters and setting are my creations and may not be used without express written permission. If you do though, just ask.
"What will it be, Julia?"
The dagger-like tip of one of the creature's eight hairy appendages loomed half an inch in front of her face. Peter stood next to the thing, whatever it was, his arm still outstretched to shove her out of the way with his mouth frozen in a cry of alarm. A wisp of her own blazing red ponytail hung horizontally in the air. The world was covered in a blue haze that she didn't doubt was the cause of it all.
"I'm offering you the power to save yourself. Save your knight in shining armor there. Save other people from horrors like the one about to poke a hole through your skull."
"I heard you the first time," Julia said, fingering the silver box with a blue jewel on either side suddenly strapped to her waist.
It just didn't make any sense. Peter had invited her out, showed her a ring he'd probably be spending the next five years paying off. Then from out of nowhere, that thing had appeared. It looked like some kind of giant spider, she supposed now, with its rows of compound eyes, clicking mandibles and eight horrifying legs. Although her attention was only on one of them at the moment.
"I can't keep the stasis up very long, Miss White. This offer won't last. Then again, it is, as I said, an offer."
"This has gotta be a dream…"
"It isn't, and if you don't accept the power I'm giving you, you won't having anymore of those."
The blue haze covering everything around her started to flicker and the end of the spider-thing's leg slid closer to her face. Not needing anymore provocation Julia took the card she held in a trembling hand, on its face a white chess bishop, and slipped it into a slot on the belt buckle.
"Good girl. Say 'transform' and pull back on the input trigger."
"Transform!" Julia yelled and tugged as hard as she could on a switch on the buckle's side. The blue haze vanished and dazzling light burst from her belt. Peter went flying through the air from the force and knocked over another of the café's tables. He didn't move, and in a way Julia was grateful. She didn't feel like trying to explain this to her boyfriend. The spider was driven back also, but clacked its mandibles angrily. She had a feeling it wasn't done with her yet.
Julia caught a glimpse of herself in the café window and gasped at what she saw. She wore a blue bodysuit over which was arrayed thick silver armor. Her cheeks flushed as she noticed it formed around her breasts. Hiding her face was a smooth silver mask with two round red eyes. Then the spider hissed and scrambled toward her on its eight legs.
"Use the reliquary card next!" the voice of her unseen patron said. Quickly Julia rifled through the deck and a card with a short staff with a golden cross on the end, slammed it into her buckle and pulled the input trigger again. The staff appeared in one hand and almost without thinking she swung it at the monster's head. The spider was lifted clean off the ground and flew toward the side of a building. It landed nimbly then jumped at Julia.
"Defense now! The cloak!"
Again Julia checked the deck and found one depicting her, or at least someone in her new outfit, holding up one arm to show off a glistening white cape. She slapped it into the buckle and pulled the trigger. The cloak appeared hanging from her shoulders and she held it between herself and the spider, which ran into it at full speed and ricocheted off with a roar of energy.
She raised her staff and brought it down on the spider's head, raised and violently lowered her weapon again. The monster's hiss had weakened by the third knock, but suddenly it reared up and spat streams of white fibers that hit her on the elbows and pinned her arms to her sides. The spider then rushed forward and jabbed her repeatedly with its barbed feet.
"The power card! Load that!"
Julia gasped and fell, but in her hand was a card with the staff, the cross on the end replaced by a blazing ball of light. Holding in a yelp she shoved the card into her buckle and pulled the trigger with her thumb.
Indeed, the staff erupted in light, burning away the web. With her arms free Julia shoved the glowing end of her weapon into the spider's underside. It let out a hissing scream and smoke poured from the point of impact. It gave Julia a second to jump back and get enough room to use her weapon properly.
"Final Purification," Julia said, swinging the reliquary straight down at the spider's head. It cleaved through the monster from stem to stern, which then disintegrated into tiny yellow particles that flowed into the tip of her weapon.
Shaking, Julia pulled out the card depicting the bishop and was relieved to see the armor peeling away, leaving her as she was before. The only thing proving she hadn't just dreamed everything that just happened was a handful of familiar cards.
"Bravo, Julia. I'll be in touch…"
She was about to call out, to demand to know what was going on, but she heard a groan in Peter's direction and the wail of police sirens up the street. It wouldn't do to be seen talking to thin air. And whoever that was did say they'd be in touch…
***
The boys from down at the station had spent an hour trying to get answers out of Peter for questions that didn't have any. At least, none that he was equipped to give them. Wanting to make sure Julia was all right, he eventually waved them off, promising to do his best to give a report at his next shift.
Julia sat across his kitchen table in silence, staring intently into her coffee and occasionally taking a tense sip of stale Columbian sludge. Peter clutched the box holding the ring he'd bought for Julia under the table, muttering to himself.
"Sorry that spider messed up your plans," Julia said, knowing it wouldn't help much.
"I wish I knew what happened to it. I mean, if it came after you before…"
"It probably won't. It's got a whole city of people to eat, right? You ever hear of spiders holding grudges?"
He managed a weak smile. "No, I guess not." It turned into a frown. "But that wasn't a regular spider…"
"You can say that again," Julia muttered into her cup.
Peter bit his lip and laid the box on the table. "I'm sorry…I wanted this to be special…"
She reached over and gently placed her hand over his. "It's okay, Pete. Who would've predicted a giant spider attacking us? We should probably be glad somebody from the FBI isn't grilling us about what happened."
"About the ring--"
"No offense Pete, but you don't really expect me to have an answer after that, do you?"
"I guess not."
She set down her coffee. "I'm gonna go use the lady's room."
"Yeah, go ahead."
Julia left the kitchen, giving herself a pinch as soon as Peter couldn't see her anymore. It didn't work. Peter's apartment was still there, and so were those weird cards tucked into her back pocket.
What the hell was going on? There was no such thing as spider monsters, time stopping or superheroes. And yet that afternoon she'd seen all three. She was interrupted when her cell phone rang. Shuffling through her purse, she finally found the squealing lump of plastic and pressed it to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Julia," said a calm voice on the other end. The same one that had directed her through her battle that afternoon. "Is this a bad time?"
"Who the hell are you?" she whispered. "What's going on?"
"If it suits you give me a name, Mr. Fortunes will do," the voice replied. "And I was calling to answer your second question."
"Well? Answer it."
"Ah, but I can't do that with your boyfriend just around the corner, capable of barging in on this conversation at any moment. Can I? Oh no, we're going to have to meet and have a good old-fashioned face-to-face conversation. Like the kind your parents told you about." "I've got a policy against dating people I meet online. I think this counts," Julia said, looking around to make sure Peter wasn't coming.
"Oh Julia, you're not fooling me, or yourself I imagine. You wouldn't be pushing your boss to put you in the crime report section, let alone dating a police detective if you weren't a risk taker. I'll be sending a new address to your GPS, and I'll be expecting you there in an hour and a half."
"How is that even possible?"
"You're still surprised after everything you saw today? Good, an open mind is vital in what I'm asking of you."
"Which is?" Julia pressed.
Dial tone was the only answer.
"Peter?"
"Yes?" he called back.
"That was the editor. Apparently that spider thing showed up again and they want me to talk to a witness. Right now."
"Maybe I should go with you--"
"Nah! Doesn't your shift start at six? The one where you're going to explain what happened this afternoon?"
"That's true…just be careful, okay?"
"I have a feeling it's already too late," Julia muttered.
***
Julia looked down at her phone, then up again at the squat, dark office building in front of her. There wasn't a lit window to be seen, and only a dim florescent bulb lighting the foyer in front of her.
Shaking her head, she pushed a glass door open and wandered in, half expecting the doors to slam and lock the instant she was clear. That didn't happen, but once she was inside she noticed a security booth where a balding guard sat watching a collection of monitors.
"Um, excuse me?" Julia spoke up. "I'm here to meet with Mr. Fortunes?"
The guard didn't turn to face her, he just pressed a black button on a console underneath the monitors. There was a mechanical whirring and Julia jumped back in surprise as part of the wall next to the booth retracted, revealing a long, well-lit hallway. A bit anxiously, Julia started down the hall, and had barely gone six steps before the door slid shut again behind her. She shook her head and kept going, reminding herself she had the buckle if anything happened. Then again, this Mr. Fortunes had given it to her, and could probably keep her from using it against him if he wanted.
She shivered involuntarily and hurried along.
After a few turns the hall ended at a pair of double doors, one of which was propped open. On the other side was a large room with a square table in the middle. Three of its sides were occupied. One by a bald man with bulging biceps who looked to be in his late 30's, a black-haired woman about Julia's age with a bored glower dominating her face, and the third by a young man with straw blonde hair with his arms fold over his chest. She couldn't read his expression, and for a second she almost thought he was meditating as he waited. As Julia approached all three looked up.
"Miss White, you're here," said a voice she recognized as the one that had guided her through her fight with the spider and invited her over.
"It sure looks that way. Is the last seat for me?"
"Of course. Please be seated."
Julia did, palming the cards as she set her purse on the floor just in case. A door opened in the opposite wall and into the room sauntered an elderly man in a suit that probably cost a couple thousand dollars. He had thick white hair and walked with a silver-tipped cane, but his green eyes darted back and forth, sizing the four of them up. Julia was tempted to say the cane was just an affectation.
"Mr. Fortunes, I presume?" the other woman asked.
The elderly man smiled and bowed to them. "Indeed, and you are a remarkable group of people indeed. Although I suspect you are here in search of answers at what has happened to you recently. That is what I will attempt to provide."
Julia clenched the cards tighter and felt a tingling around her waist like when the buckle had appeared before. She wasn't the only one? Somehow, she wasn't surprised, but that news didn't do much to put her at ease.
"First, introductions are in order. You've already been in contact with me, but to my right," Fortunes indicated the burly man, "is Randy Morgan, or Tor. Excellent work against the Fly Taint."
"Thanks," Randy said impassively.
"Beside him, Kelly Grier, or Legion."
The black-haired woman shrugged.
"Next, Kevin Williams, Krysaider. Truly your talent with a blade is something to behold."
"You knew about that before you gave me this," the blonde-haired man said and held up a buckle like Julia's, but with green jewels on the sides instead of blue.
"Indeed I did," Fortunes smiled. "And last not but least, Chapra, Julia White. Slayer of the Spider Taint."
"What are you talking about? Those monsters have names?" Julia asked. "And what's with those weird names you're calling us?"
"As I said, I will try to explain," Fortunes replied. "It begins not long ago when a man, Isaac Locus by name, was on an expedition to the South Pole. He became separated from his compatriots one night and stumbled into a cave. There, he found something entombed in the ice. Black, formless…but definitely alive.
"The first thing Locus did was to call off the expedition and have scientists in his employ collect the thing he'd found for study. Before long they'd discovered the life form was some kind of parasite, but its genetic structure was forever shifting. They attempted to graft its essence to a variety of different animals, but that was their fatal error.
"The animals evolved at a horrifying rate. Within days they had become monstrous beings of terrible power and ferocity. They easily escaped confinement and tore down the compound where they were being studied. Ever since, they've been stalking through cities and fields, killing anyone they can isolate and attack."
"I wasn't exactly isolated when that spider thing attacked me," Julia reminded him.
"Indeed, and that proves that now more than ever, something must be done about the Taint."
"Let me guess," Kelly interrupted. "You're this Locus guy and you're trying to fix the problem you made."
Fortunes laughed and shook his head. "I don't blame you for thinking that, but no. I represent an organization aware of the Taint, as we've dubbed them, but determined to help humans protect themselves against the threat they represent. The four of you represent our ultimate achievement.
"That is what the names I gave you mean, each is the name of the set of amplification gear you were given. They will enable you to hunt down and eliminate the Taint when they appear.
"But there is more. As you destroy the Taint and absorb their energy you will also be collecting bounties. The more powerful the Taint, the greater the bounty. Once you've collected enough bounties, you will be rewarded with new abilities."
"And what's the thinking behind that, if you want us to save the world from these…Taints?" Kevin asked in a deep, almost hypnotic voice. "Shouldn't we all be getting the same benefits?"
"Should you? Competition would keep you on your toes, and those of you who prove most capable of hunting Taint will be able to do so more effectively. Lives are at stake, Mr. Williams. We didn't develop your powers and bring you together to hold your hands and tell you're doing a good job when you aren't."
"So if we're being graded, where does everyone stand right now?" asked Randy as he leaned an elbow on the table to look Mr. Fortunes in the eye.
"At this point in time each of you has defeated one Taint of relatively equal threat, but because you were each guided through the use of your abilities no bounty was collected. If you accept the equipment you will be on your own from here on out. Does anyone wish to back out?"
"Naw, this sounds like fun," Kelly replied, a smirk breaking the bland expression she'd had through the entire meeting.
"I'm in. This is way too far to go for a joke," Randy said, rubbing his shoulder.
Kevin said nothing. He merely nodded at the question.
"Miss White?" Fortunes asked, and all eyes were on Julia.
"Sure, why not," she said after a moment of deliberation. "If anymore of those monsters come after me I'd like to be able to defend myself."
"As good a reason as any," Fortunes smiled. He rapped the tip of his cane on the floor and the door he'd entered through opened again. A woman carrying a briefcase walked through, then set the case on the table and opened it. Inside were four small devices that looked like flat cellular phones, but based on everything else that had happened Julia guessed there was more to them than that.
"These will alert you when a Taint has been detected and tell you where to find them," Fortunes explained. "By tomorrow morning you'll have each received a final gift. Happy hunting."
With that, Fortunes and the aide walked back through the door which closed heavily behind them. The others each palmed one of the devices, and still feeling a bit overwhelmed, Julia did too.
"So, which monster did you fight?" she asked Kelly.
"Don't try to make friends with me. This is a contest, remember?"
"So why don't you get out there and bag your next Taint if you're so into this contest?" Kevin said, putting a firm hand on Kelly shoulder and hustling her out the door. Kelly shot him a dirt look over her shoulder, but kept going once she reached the door. Randy shook his head with a weary smirk on his face, then followed her.
"What about you?" Julia tried again with Kevin, hoping to make a good impression with at least one of these people.
"The Owl Taint," he said simply.
"Was it tough?"
"Kind of. Was yours?"
"I guess. I haven't had to fight anyone for a while. Never a giant spider," Julia explained.
"I hope I'll get to see you in action sometime," Kevin said. Then before Julia could get out another word, he slipped the tracking gadget into his pocket and sauntered out too.
***
A muttered curse escaped Peter's lips as he noticed a ribbon of blood on his razor. He didn't even notice the dark circles under his eyes from laying in bed all night staring at the ceiling. Julia hadn't called, hadn't answered her phone, hadn't come back after going off to do her interview.
The interview. Right. He had one of his own to face once he got to the precinct, didn't he? He got his uniform off its hanger and shined his badge before pinning it on. He had to put his problems with his girlfriend out of his mind for the moment. There'd be time to hear her story after his shift was over. With a sigh he descended the stairs and a minute later had pulled into the street on his way to the 32nd.
As he stopped for a red light he couldn't help asking himself if it was his fault things with Julia had cooled of late. She'd wanted to spend more time on her work, show her editor she could handle a more lucrative beat. Namely, the crime reports. Peter had warned her to look for something else because of the kind of attention she might attract, and she'd jut gotten up and gone home without a word.
Peter had hoped if he'd popped the question, showed Julia what she really meant to him, she'd understand his intentions. Julia had agreed to meet him the day before, surely that meant something…
A blaring car horn seized his attention and to his consternation Peter realized he was sitting two car lengths in front of a green light. He pressed the gas and his car rolled onward. This was exactly why they told him to leave his problems at home.
After a minute the familiar sight of the 32nd precinct came into sight, but it only took an instant to realize something was wrong. The east wall had been smashed in and the roof on that side had collapsed. Standing atop a flaming pile of patrol cars was a creature with dull red skin and bat-like wings. A high-pitched shrieking sound that almost seemed like a laugh reached Peter's ears right before his windshield shattered from the noise. The car's hood crumpled in as it came to rest against the side the precinct.
***
Julia felt a blazing heat digging into her eyes and thought for sure one of those, what were they called, Taints had found her for a second then realized it was just he sun streaming through her bedroom window. That only happened late in the morning, though…
Groggily she threw herself onto her side and fumbled from the alarm clock on her night stand. It took a minute for the digits to come into focus but by the time they did she could make out 10:34 AM.
"Oh great…," she said and flopped onto her back again. She practiced a phlegm-y cough, hoping her boss would buy it when she called in a bit later. She stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom where she found a brush and started untangling her red locks. She didn't even look in the mirror. She half-expected to see some monster's face there if she looked before she was ready.
All at once she heard a harsh, blaring beep started to sound from the kitchen. Julia sighed and a pit formed in her stomach. It was her boss calling to find out where the hell she was, no doubt. She listened for another second, however, and realized it wasn't either of her phones. It was louder, more urgent. Julia scrambled into the kitchen and realized it was the tracking device Mr. Fortunes had given her. Even though its screen had been black since she got home, now she could see a map of the city. A blue dot marked her apartment building and a red dot appeared a mile or so away.
Already…?
She scooped up the tracker off the table as well as her buckle and cards, but then spotted something that hadn't been there the night before. A set of keys, like for a motorcycle she thought. On a hunch she walked to the window overlooking the building's parking lot, and out there was a bright blue motorcycle she'd never seen before, but had a feeling she knew who it belonged to.
***
Within minutes Julia was zooming along the motorcycle, something she hadn't done since college. A thrill traveled up her body, like the first time she'd gone riding with Marco out to one of those insane parties of his. She wondered what he'd say if he could see what she did next.
Julia slapped the buckle against her waist, and immediately a belt shot from one end, curled around her waist and fastened to the other. She slid the bishop card into its slot and flipped pulled the loading trigger. "Transform!" There was a flash and she had assumed her superhuman form again. Chapra, hadn't he called it?
She weaved through traffic, hearing more than a few squealing tires as she sped by surprised drivers. As she rounded a bend she forget all about them. Smoke was rising from the street surrounding a police station. The one where Peter reported…
As she got closer she could see what had caused it. It was a bat, with heavy wings and jutting fangs in its furry face, but as tall as a man. It flew back and forth, emitting an ear-shattering wail every now and then, punching a new hole in the wall of the police station each time. When she screeched to a halt on the curb the Bat Taint, which was obviously what it was, hovered in place and regarded her for silently, but she had no doubt it was sizing up what kind of threat she presented.
Chapra withdrew the card for her reliquary and slipped it into her belt buckle, but as she was about to pull the load trigger Bat Taint swooped at her. It rammed into Chapra, stunning her for a second, and in that second it clamped its claws into one shoulder and the connected forearm and hoisted her into the air. The one she used to pull the load trigger. Bat Taint let out a triumphant shriek…
