Chapter 2: The Undead Rider, Kerberos
Disclaimer: I do not own Kamen rider but I do own my OC.
As Tsukasa and Natsumi approached the house of the artist, they were stopped by two men at the front gate.
"What business do you have with Fuyuki-sensei?" One of them asked.
Tsukasa walked up to him and spoke,"Me and my friend here wants to talk to the artist who lives here about the "hero" who saved him."
The other man rolled his eyes,"Figures. Are you one of those interviewers who wants to get a scoop about Kerberos?"
"Interviewers?" Natsumi repeated.
"Yes. Ever since Fuyuki-sensei was rescued by Kerberos a few months ago, news reporters and many more like them came to him just so they could get whatever information they can get about Kerberos." The first man said.
Tsukasa scratched his chin,"I see. What about Kerberos? Isn't that the name of an Undead?"
"Fuyuki-sensei says that Kerberos is the name that the hero goes by. The old man said that the hero spoke in a weird language when he fought the Kaijin who attacked him. But he heard the Kaijin call the hero "Kerberos" and that made Fuyuki-sensei take down notes about it."
"Do you think we could ask your sensei for the details?" Natsumi asked.
"It depends. Why do you two want to talk to Fuyuki-sensei? Tell me that you're not here for a scoop because Fuyuki-sensei forbids it."
Tsukasa shook his head,"No. We're merely here to learn more about this "Kerberos". After all, we are new here."
The two men looked at each other for a moment and then back at Tsukasa and Natsumi before they gave them nods of approval. One of them gestured the two to follow him while the other remained by the gate.
Once they were inside, the man escorted them down a narrow hallway as he gave them a briefing,"When you two enter Fuyuki-sensei's room, remember to show your respects to him. He won't talk unless you show him some respect."
"Why doesn't Fuyuki want to have any interviews? Won't it be nice if he could talk more about Kerberos just like how he gave the information of him in that book we read?" Tsukasa asked.
Sighing, the man replied,"That is the only book in this city that contains any information about the hero. The publisher of the book was the first person to interview Fuyuki-sensei about Kerberos. The old man agreed to give him some information but only if he kept it quiet. However..."
"He went ahead and published it anyway." Tsukasa finished, earning a nod from the man.
Soon, they reached the end of the hallway and the man spoke,"Here's Fuyuki-sensei's room. Remember what I told you to do and you'll be fine." Without another word, the two entered the room and they were greeted by a traditional Japanese room with paintings of Kerberos everywhere. In the middle of the room was a small table.
Behind the table was an elderly man. The elderly man wore a blue yukata with a paint brush in one hand and his other hand on the table.
Tsukasa and Natsumi approached the elderly man and they both bowed, earning a satisfied grunt from the elderly man."Fuyuki-sensei, I presume."
Nodding, Fuyuki set the paint brush down on the table and looked up at the two,"if you're here for an interview, I'm afraid you have wasted your time here. I will not reveal anymore information about Kerberos or anything he has told me. So I suggest you make your way out."
"Unfortunately, we're staying." Tsukasa replied."We're not news reporters or anyone like that. We're just here to learn about Kerberos. That's all we want."
Fuyuki scoffed,"That's what they all say. In the end, I'm the one who suffers because Kerberos stopped coming here to teach me more of what he knows. I promised him that I wouldn't tell anyone but look at what has happened, that nosy publisher just couldn't keep his mouth shut. What makes you think that I'll give you any information?"
"Because we're really not the type that exposes secrets. Please, Fuyuki-san, we want to know about Kerberos." Natsumi replied.
For a while, Fuyuki remained silent. Then, he heaved a sigh,"I guess I have no other choice since you two are this persistent. But I have to warn you, if you reveal any part of this conversation to the public, you will be sorry." The two nodded and Fuyuki began,"So, where do I start?"
"From the beginning, Fuyuki-san. We want to know about how Kerberos saved you." Natsumi replied.
Fuyuki sighed,"Oh, I remember that night very clearly. It began like this..."
As night fall, Fuyuki had gotten out of his home.
"Fuyuki-sensei, where are you going this late?"
Smiling, Fuyuki replied,"I'm heading to a friend's house. I'll be back in the morning. Make sure no one gets into the house while I'm away."
"You can count on us, sensei." The two men replied as they opened the gate for Fuyuki.
When he was out, Fuyuki stopped by the road as a car stopped in front of him and the door to the passenger seat opened. Fuyuki stepped into the vehicle and closed the door. Then, the driver started the engine and made a U-turn.
"It's good to see you again, Fuyuki-san." The driver said with a smile.
Fuyuki nodded,"Taiga-kun, it's been a while since I've seen you. You almost look like your father now. How is he by the way? Is your father still doing well?"
Taiga gave the elderly man a nod,"My father's doing well. He had his ups and downs but his still all right. But what about you, Fuyuki-san? How's your paintings coming along?"
"I've lost the inspiration that I once had, Taiga-kun. Ever since my last painting, there isn't anything much for me to paint. It's like nothing in this city gives me anymore ideas for new paintings." Fuyuki admitted.
Taiga gave the elderly man a smile and replied,"Don't worry, Fuyuki-san. I'm sure you'll find something new to paint soon. I once..."
"Look out!" Fuyuki cried.
But it was too late. As Taiga looked back at the road, they both saw a dark figure standing in the middle of the road and the car they were in was heading straight at it. Taiga steered the car but it skidded of the road instead and they crashed into a fence.
Taiga got out of the car and he approached the dark figure,"What's the matter with you?! Don't you know where to walk?! Are you even listening to..."
He was soon silenced when the dark figure extended a hand out and grabbed the boy by his neck. The figure then stepped into the light to reveal that it was Category King of Diamonds. It began muttering in a strange language before it raised one of its swords and held it close to Taiga's neck. Then, it spoke,"Humans are fools for thinking that they are the one who rules this world. I will show you that I will not accept that."
Before Fuyuki knew it, the Undead had already swung his sword. He shielded his eyes, in hope of not being able to see the gruesome fate of his friend's son. However, no scream was heard but the sound of metal clashing could be. Fuyuki looked up and gasped at what he saw. Standing in between Taiga and the Category King was an Undead he has never seen before.
The unknown Undead had a curved dagger in his grip which was the weapon that stopped the Category King's attack. In his other hand, another curved dagger was still free. Then, the Undead swung his other dagger, landing a clear blow on the Category King. The unknown Undead then kicked the Category King off of him and turned towards Taiga, who was scared to death at that moment.
Picking up the frightened teen, the Undead carried him towards Fuyuki and placed him beside the elderly man. Then, he turned back towards the Category King and he placed a belt buckle in front of his own buckle before inserting a card into the side of the buckle.
Cards began to fly out of the buckle as they formed a belt strap around the Undead's waist as a deep toned chime started playing.
The Undead then held his arms up in an 'X' position before he brought his hands down, opening the buckle to reveal a symbol that resembles an "A".
- Open Up! -
Afterwards, a golden rectangular projection of a canine creature was shot out of the buckle and it slowly pass through the Undead, cladding him in a black bodysuit with bits of armor covering his helmet, shoulders, chest, wrists and ankles. His helmet was covered by a golden mask in the shape of an arrow with a giant diamond shaped visor in the middle of the mask. His armor around his chest was formed in an "A" shape while a halberd was strapped to his back and a crossbow at the side of his belt strap.
"Who do you think you are?!" Giraffa Undead cried as he stood back up and retrieve his weapons.
The Undead in armor slightly raised his head up and scoffed as he grabbed his halberd from his back. He placed his halberd firmly on the ground and spoke,"I am the answer to the prayers that people have asked for. I am the Undead created from the hopes of the humans. I am Kerberos, Kamen rider Kerberos! Now, prepare to meet your fate!"
"Kerberos?" Fuyuki repeated in disbelief. Was this the same Kerberos he has heard from the city's history? Was this really the Undead who protected humans? He didn't care at the moment. All he cared about now was to get Taiga to safety. He picked up the still unconscious teen and dragged him over to their car. Fuyuki then placed Taiga on the passenger seat while he went back out to get a closer look at the two Undeads.
"Kerberos?" Giraffa asked."If that's who you are, then I'll have to defeat you! I will be the victor of this Battle Fight and no one will stop me!" Giraffa raised both his swords and he advanced towards Kerberos with cautious steps.
"The Battle Fight will end soon. But you won't be the victor, Giraffa Undead. You will serve alongside me as my comrade when I'm done with you." Kerberos lifted his halberd up and he drew three cards from the right side of his belt strap. Then, he swiped one of them across his halberd.
- Remote! -
As the Rouzed card was absorbed into the tip of Kerberos's halberd, he tossed the two other cards onto the ground and two beams of light shot out from the halberd and struck the two cards, causing them to change into larger projections of themselves before two Undeads emerged from them, pouncing on Giraffa when he was caught off-guard.
"Lizard and Jaguar. They're from the Spades. So you're the one who took out all the other Undeads except us Category King Undeads. I should have known." Giraffa spoke as he kicked the two Undeads off of him."What's your deal, Kerberos? Do you want the world to yourself?"
Kerberos shook his head,"No. I did not participate in the Battle Fight, Giraffa. But that does not mean that I will allow you and the other Category King Undeads to kill any humans! Ever since you Undeads joined Dai Shocker, I was created to answer the prayers of the humans. To do that, I had to recruit as many Undeads as I could find. Currently, all I need are the four Category King Undeads. Once I have all the Category King, all Undeads will be under my control and the humans will have the peace they deserve."
Giraffa rolled his eyes,"Open your eyes, Kerberos! The only purpose that we Undeads have is to eliminate our competition so we can create our own world."
"Perhaps you didn't get me, Giraffa." Kerberos replied."The world I desire is where humans are left alone from any threats. That is why I oppose you, Giraffa. You've lost the Battle Fight to Human Undead in the past. Now, he is sealed away by me because he wanted me to understand my purpose. The human race is in my hands as well as my own. Right now, my kind will assist me in defending the humans from the likes of you!"
"Do tell me, what is your kind? Every Undead represents their own species. What is yours?"
Kerberos snapped his fingers and before Giraffa knew it, they were soon surrounded by a small army of NatureRoaches."I represent nature. I am Nature Joker!" Then, he raised his halberd and pointed it at Giraffa, causing the NatureRoaches and the two unsealed Undeads to attack Giraffa.
As all the Kaijin piled up on Giraffa, the Category King Undead struggled to break free as he looked towards Kerberos,"How is this possible?! You can't summon these Roaches unless you are the victor of the Battle Fight!"
Kerberos laughed,"Do you think I would want to take part in such a game? The humans have won their rights to live and all Undeads should respect that once they've lost the battle. Your fate has already been decided the moment you lost in the Battle Fight!"
The Category King Undead growled as he broke free from the Undeads piled on top of him. He picked up his weapons from the ground and charged at Kerberos.
"I figured you would try that..." Kerberos muttered under his breath. As Giraffa advanced nearer, Kerberos swung his halberd, causing the two Undeads to clash. They soon separated and Kerberos tapped the ground with his halberd. Both Lizard Undead and Jaguar Undead rose to attention as they regrouped with the armored Undead.
"Using other Undeads to defend you isn't going to help!" Giraffa cried as he tackled Jaguar to the ground.
Kerberos drew a card from his belt strap and he swiped it over his halberd.
- Bio! -
Vines were then shot out of the halberd's tip and they immediately wrapped around Giraffa. Kerberos then raised the Undead off the ground and tossed him aside. The vines then retracted back into the halberd as Kerberos advanced towards the Undead with Lizard and Jaguar behind him.
As the three Undeads surrounded Giraffa, Lizard Undead was then coated in a cyan aura as he raised his blade up while Jaguar was coated with a blue aura as he crouched, preparing to sprint and Kerberos took out two cards and swiped them both over his halberd.
- Kick! -
- Thunder! -
- Lightning Blast! -
Both cards were soon absorbed into Kerberos's legs as he stabbed his halberd into the ground before he leaped into the air. As he did, Jaguar sprang into action by sprinting around Giraffa in a circle, creating a dust storm around him while Lizard charged into it, dealing Giraffa a blow to his arms before emerging on the other side of the dust storm. Giraffa dropped his weapons and looked up, only to see an electrified foot colliding with his face.
The Category King Undead was knocked back onto the streets. He tried to move his hands but failed to overcome the pain that Lizard Undead had dealt to his hands. He was defenseless against his opponent. At that moment, his buckle split open, signalling that he has been defeated.
"It's time that you discover your fate." Kerberos added as he drew a card from his belt strap. He advanced towards the downed Undead and dropped the card.
The card gently floated down onto the Undead's chest and a green aura coated the Undead's body before he was slowly absorbed into the card. It hovered in the air for a brief moment before it shot up towards Kerberos's hand.
Kerberos successfully caught the card and he placed it with all his other Rouze Cards. He turned towards his other two Undeads and gave them a nod,"Thanks for your assistance." He tossed two of his blank Rouze Cards at the Undeads, sealing them off before placing them back as well. Then, Kerberos placed his halberd back on his back and he closed his belt's buckle, causing a golden screen to emerge from the buckle before passing through Kerberos's body.
Once his transformation was undone, Kerberos turned towards the two humans he had saved and approached them.
Fuyuki stumbled onto the ground as he back away from the Undead."P-please! We don't want any trouble! We're just heading home!"
The Undead remained silent. He turned and walked off into the night. The moonlight reflected upon him, creating a shadow that looked completely different from Kerberos. But Fuyuki knew what Undead had that kind of shadow.
"Kerberos Undead..." Fuyuki muttered under his breath as the Undead that saved him vanished into the forest outside of the gates.
"And it's because of what Kerberos did that night, I am still here to give you this talk." Fuyuki finished off. He looked towards one of the room's wall and smiled at the painting hung on it."I will never forget that night. It was at that time, I thought that Humanity may have a chance to live peacefully without any kind of attacks from the other Undeads."
"That was a wonderful story, Fuyuki-san." Natsumi replied as she started clapping her hands.
Tsukasa, on the other hand, was still unsatisfied with it. In his heart, he still thinks that Kerberos couldn't be trusted, even if there were evidence of him helping Humanity.
"Tsukasa? Is something wrong?" Natsumi asked.
Shaking his head, Tsukasa spoke,"No. Everything's all right. Fuyuki-san, do you know any other things about Kerberos? We'll be delighted to here them."
Fuyuki smiled,"As long as you don't tell anyone else, I'm fine with telling you what Kerberos has taught me so far."
Daigo sighed as he got off his bike and removed his helmet.
A moment ago, he had caught sight of a figure running away from him and he chased it, in hopes of it being an Undead. Then, he lost it. Could this night get any worst? Daigo thought to himself as he kept walking on foot.
Ten minutes passed by and Daigo soon gave up searching. He knew it would have been a waste of time if he continued to look for whatever the figure could have been. In his mind, he thought that he had seen an Undead but it could have been a bear or a dog.
However, as he turned to head back, he heard a twig snapping.
Daigo halted, his hands in both his pockets. He took a deep breath and carefully pulled out a device similar to what Adam had used to transform from his pocket. He gently placed it on his waist and pulled out a card that had a green canine beast depicted on it. Daigo slowly inserted the card into the device and cards started flying out from one side of the device. The cards wrapped around Daigo's waist and a deep toned chime began playing.
"Henshin!"
Daigo pulled one side of the buckle opened and it revealed an 'A' before it started glowing.
- Open up! -
Similar to Adam's transformation, a screen in the color of green emerged from the buckle and it passed through Daigo without a problem, cladding him in a bodysuit with armor similar to Adam's design but only green. In his hand, a lance shone under the moonlight.
"I know you're here, Undead! Show yourself!" Daigo cried as he held his lance in a defensive manner.
Then, the same figure that Daigo had been chasing appeared in front of him. The figure stumbled into the moonlight, revealing itself to be King of Clubs, Tarantula Undead. He looked towards Daigo and extended a hand,"H-help me...human...I must find...Kerberos..."
"What do you want with my boss?" Daigo asked, not lowering his guard.
The Undead coughed as he fell to his knees. Green blood slowly dripped from a wound on his left leg."I'm...hunted...Spades..." Tarantula muttered before he collapsed onto the ground.
"Spades?" Daigo repeated."Looks like King of Spades is behind this. But why would he attack Tarantula if all the Category King Undeads were working together to take down Adam-sempai? Unless..."
Out of nowhere, a blade was swung and it slashed Daigo's back, knocking him to the ground.
Daigo turned around and a wrist blade was held close to his neck. A chill went down his spine. Daigo took a glance at the blade and he knew who it belonged to, Paradoxa Undead, King of Hearts.
"Hello again, human. Are you here for another round?" Paradoxa spoke.
In his mind, Daigo was cursing at himself for not realizing this sooner. Paradoxa had defeated him once and Daigo almost died from that battle. Now, he was smart enough to avoid contact with the Undead. But now, it seemed that the Undead had found him.
"Paradoxa...you did this to Tarantula?" Daigo demanded.
The Undead pinned the human with a foot and laughed,"Of course I did that to him! Tarantula Undead has always been too kind to everyone. Caucasus says that all Category King are to work together to destroy Joker. However, our plan didn't go so well. Giraffa went solo and was eliminated and Tarantula wanted to be sealed away since he knew he has lost the Battle Fight. So Caucasus had me eliminate the traitor."
"If you want to kill Tarantula, you're too late!" Daigo cried as he tossed a Blank Card at Tarantula.
A green aura coated Tarantula's body and he was soon absorbed into the card. As he was, he looked up at Daigo and smiled,"Thank...you..." Once the Category King Undead was sealed in the card, Daigo retrieved it and he started running back to his bike. He knew if he stayed and fight, he would be as good as dead.
"Oh? I thought you were more brave than that. How you have grown soft, human." Paradoxa taunted as he gave chase to the fleeing human.
Daigo turned and saw the Undead catching up to him. He quickly removed a card from his belt strap and swiped it over his lance.
- Mach! -
The card was immediately absorbed into Daigo's leg and he started picking up speed. Soon, he was far ahead of Paradoxa.
Once Daigo was on his bike, he turned the vehicle back and drove off back towards the city.
Minutes later, Daigo was out of the forest. He didn't stop, he was too afraid of Paradoxa to even think of stopping outside of the city. Why did I even agreed to be a Kamen rider in the first place? If it meant I had to fight Undeads like Paradoxa, I would have said no to Adam-sempai! Thought Daigo as he neared the gates.
As soon as he was a meter away from it, relief took over Daigo as he started slowing down. Bad mistake...
Paradoxa jumped and knocked Daigo off of the bike."Where do you think you're going, human?"
Daigo got up and took out his lance in a defensive stance. His instincts told him to fight back while his heart was telling him to run. Daigo took the second to think about his decision and he chose to follow his heart. Daigo made a dash towards the gate but unfortunately for him, Paradoxa anticipated it and grabbed his foot, causing Daigo to fall face first onto the ground.
"You have a battle, human. There's no where to run once you start a fight with me!"
Daigo lunged forward and thrust his lance, hoping to deal the first hit. Instead, Paradoxa dodged the lance and advanced forward, tackling Daigo as he dropped his lance. The Undead then raised one of his wrist blade up and swung it down. Daigo rolled over to his right and he picked up his lance. He quickly turned around only to see Paradoxa trying out another swing.
The human's fear rose as Paradoxa came closer to him. Daigo drew two cards and he swiped them over his lance.
- Screw! -
- Blizzard! -
- Blizzard Gale! -
Daigo extended a hand out as the two cards were absorbed into it. Then, a gush of ice-cold air shot out from his hand. freezing Paradoxa."That should do it." Daigo muttered as he turned and ran back towards the gate.
But then, he felt a sharp pain in below his chest. Daigo fell to his knees as he looked down only to see blood gushing out from a wound that just appeared.
A laughter was heard and Daigo turned to see Caucasus, King of Spades, standing before him with his blade coated in Daigo's blood."How Joker made you his warrior, I would not understand. But all I know is that I have lowered the number of threats."
Daigo's eyes started closing. He felt himself getting lighter than his usual self. So this is how death feels like...Thought the human as the pain grew stronger. He slowly shifted his head, only to see Caucasus freeing Paradoxa from his frozen body."I'm...sorry, Adam-sempai. I've failed you..." Daigo whispered to the air as his pain-filled body soon became motionless.
