"Congratulations Mrs. Cross, it's a boy!" The doctor handed the winded woman her beautiful baby boy, crying for his mother. Cradling him softly, her husband walked over and kissed her on the forehead so tenderly. Together they stared at the boy's crying form, together they had created him, together they had just made their family complete.

"I know the perfect name for him," said the mother, holding him ever so gently.

"Oh," asked the father.

"We'll name him Virgil, Virgil Cross."

"Ok son, put your left foot back like this, and then put your right foot forward like this. Now, make sure your stable," Virgil's father gave him a slight push, assuring that he wouldn't fall over. "See, you're nice and stable." His son laughed, and it warmed his heart. At four, the boy had begged and pleaded to learn the martial arts that made his father seem like a superhero. While Spiderman or Superman, he was not, he would be the hero his son always wanted.

"Ok dad, now what?"

"Are you paying attention Virgil?" His son nodded diligently. "I want you to extend your right arm outward, and keep your left arm inward, like this." Pushing his arm forward, Virgil's father extended a powerful punch, exhausting a breath of air. "Now you try."

Following his father's motions, Virgil extended his right fist. "Yah!"

"See son, you're getting it!"

"I couldn't help but see that you're reading Yu Yu Hakusho. Hiei is the best."

"Yea right, Kurama is way cooler than Hiei could ever be. And besides, Yoko Kurama is sooo dreamy."

"I'm Virgil."

"Akumu."

Their exhausted and sweaty bodies collapsed next to each other. Holding hands, they turned to face one another, fiery passion burning in their eyes.

"I love you," uttered Virgil, planting a kiss on Akumu's bare shoulder.

"I love you too," she smiled."

"I don't ever want to be apart from you. I want to get married, and have a family, and do all the things that couples do, but not here. Too much nothing to do." Akumu chuckled, kissing his lips softly.

"I want all of that too Virgil, you're my one and only. Always and forever."

"Always and forever," he repeated. "Always and forever."

"Virgil, you just need to ca-"

"No Akumu! This is all bullshit! Complete and utter bullshit. I bust my ass just to work and I get treated like shit under the tutelage of a perfectionist! I can't take this!" Anger seeped from his voice like smoke from a corncob voice. Had he known the extent of his next actions, Virgil Cross would've grinned and bore his so called 'shit' job.

"Please just calm down."

"No!" He swung his arm out, smacking her against the face. He looked down and found her crying in the corner, intent on staying as far away from Virgil as possible. What had he done? He crumpled to his knees, repeating the word 'No' over and over again as if it were a sacred mantra. His anger had got the best of him.

"Are you ever gonna come back Virgil?" Tears began to stream down Valerie's face, a sight that Virgil had never wanted to see, nor cause. He couldn't give her a straight answer for he didn't know himself. It was time to move on from here, for good. What he had done was just too hard to face here, and no matter who he had helping him, he was going to sink into the abyss instead of staying afloat and swimming.

"I don't know Val, I really don't."

"Just promise to call every now and then, even if you don't want to talk to me, talk to Gunther. He's gonna miss you the most."

"I know Val, I know." They both embraced, not knowing it would be the last hug for five years.

"I hate it when you see me like this," said the long, brown haired girl, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"You always look beautiful to me Val, you know that." Virgil rose from his seat, walking towards the podium where Valerie stood. It had been too long. Their last visit involved a tearful goodbye that neither wanted to ever think about saying. A warm embraced quickly quelled those feelings.

"Look at you, you're so grown up. I'm even taller than you now." Too long indeed.

"That's because I've been eating my vegetables." Virgil grinned widely. He had missed this contact between the two, their conversations, the way they looked at each other. It was good just to be back.

"I'm really glad you came," whispered Valerie, planting a kiss on Virgil's cheek, "Gunther's been wanting to see you too."

Apparently, everything about death was true. Your life's most important moments would flash in front of your eyes, and you would be dead soon after. A cruel retelling of what could've been done differently, yet couldn't be changed at all. Virgil was about to breathe his last breath, cursing the life choices he had made over the twenty one years of existence. It was a sad and somber way to go out, being choked to death by a giant rabbit. However, luck was to be on his side.

As he flailed around in a last ditch attempt to set himself free, his left arm had knocked the horn of the beetle forward, the result of which had sent white bolts of electricity to the top parts of his armor. As the bolts crossed each part of bulky armor, steam released itself from the cracks as the armor itself rose up.

"What the hell?" The Rabbit demon scoured in fear. His grip began to tighten more, reaffirming his strength against the Rider.

As his vision began to cloud, something began to take over Virgil's mind, and his body soon began to go limp. In one last act of desperation, his left hand quickly reached toward the beetles horn, pushing it completely to the right.

CAST OFF!

Like before, the beetle had announced the next change the armor would take, this time the raised up armor shot off of Virgil's suit, most of the pieces colliding with the Rabbit demon, effectively releasing Virgil from it's death grip. This 'CAST OFF' process had traded the more bulky armor, for that of a sleek form. To complete the transformation, a majestic horn rose and bisected the red eyes of the suit. Once in place, three smaller horns shot out from the left and right sides of the horn, accentuating the helmet. The eyes began to glow a crimson red, with the belt announcing one last thing to make the transformation complete.

CHANGE LESPID BEETLE!

Virgil grabbed at his throat, somehow awake from his previous encounter. He began to breathe harsh, shallow breaths in an effort to not damage his throat any further. Looking up, he saw the Rabbit demon behind his mask, the look of horror began to excite him. It was time to make the rabbit pay.

Lunging forward, the demon launched a lightning fast punch, confident that Virgil wouldn't be able to catch it. However as quick as the demon launched the assault, Virgil was already on his person, grabbing his arm and contorting it to his will.

"Who's got the advantage now?" He twisted the demon's arm into himself, causing the rabbit to howl in excruciating pain. As much as the rabbit tried to twist and contort his way out of Virgil's grip, there was no way he was letting go. "Ironic, huh?"

"Let me go!" Virgil smiled behind his mask.

"Sure." Gripping the demon's arm with all of his force, he twisted the creature around and with enough momentum and swung the rabbit on to a brick wall in front of them, causing an indent in the shape of the creature. "Satisfied?" Bursting into a full run, Virgil had the intention of kicking the rabbit through the brick wall, full force, but the Rabbit demon had other plans. Luckily, it had moved out of the way just in time, making Virgil to put his foot through the wall. The Rabbit howled in laughter, ready to take another strike at his disadvantaged opponent. But try as he might, Virgil couldn't shake his foot from it's brick confines.

The Rabbit reared his left foot back, moved his right, and got into a tackling stance, an action that would surely cause Virgil's leg to snap like a twig. Pulling back with all of his might, Virgil dislodged his foot, moving out of the way of the Rabbit's assault just in time. Regaining his composure, he pointed at the demon, fire burning in his eyes.

"This ends now!" Virgil boasted, moving his right arm down to the white beetle responsible for his armor. The demon exhaled sharply exuding no response, only it's tired breath. As it prepared for another tackle towards Virgil, Virgil's hand danced upon the beetle, pressed a button on the top.

ONE!

The demon's feet shuffled quickly across the pavement, closing the distance between him and his opponent. Virgil pressed the next button in sequence.

TWO!

The Rabbit demon's stride became interrupted as it tripped over a rock, it's clumsy nature attributed to it's previous beat down, and numerous tackle attempts. At using his speed against his opponent, the Rabbit had exhausted itself, a fatal mistake in the end. Virgil pressed the third, and final button.

THREE!
Virgil slid the beetle's horn back onto the right side of it's body, then quickly replaced it back to the left.

RIDER KICK!

The belt announced itself in it's metallic glory, the final attack. A burst of white lighting found it's way up to the top of the helmet's horn, then crackled it's way down to Virgil's right foot. As the Rabbit finally reached his adversary, Virgil rose his foot up high into the air, and then brought it down without mercy upon the Rabbit's head. His foot crashed all the way to the ground, almost as if it had split the demon in half. The Rabbit quickly fell, exploding upon impact once hitting the ground beneath him. Virgil had won. The explosion of course did not damage Virgil, his suit had protected him from the fire and remnants of his opponent.

Once the fire had begun to die down, the beetle detached itself from the belt, leaving the belt itself behind. Virgil knew this was something he had to keep with him from now on, for the drawings that Gunther had shown him were real, and if his friend was right, this wasn't the only one. Turning back to face Valerie, he found her with a warm embrace.

"You're safe! And you saved me!"

"All in a day's work ma'am." He jested. He held her tight as they watched the fire's remaining moments. What a reunion.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the long delay guys. I've been doing a bunch of nothing, and this fan fiction was definitely on the something list. This chapter was going to be a bit longer, and have a whole different ending and even a different battle scene, but it didn't sit right with me. I'm much more proud of this one, and as soon as I get some concept art for the next Rider, yes, next Rider, I'll start working on Chapter 2, which has yet to be named. So for all of those who've been patiently waiting for this, thanks so much for sticking by! Hope you enjoy it and the ones to come!