In the bustling town of Glistoria, the afternoon light bathed down upon the tall buildings and houses that were still in the midst of reconstruction and renovation. Standing as a constant reminder of the war between the human and Serpentium races, one could not look in any direction without seeing one out of the thousands of construction workers in the city, or even the numerous giant cranes that towered over many. Despite the war having ended long ago, the city had only started rebuilding in the past few years, and one of the very first things that had been erected was the Glistoria War Museum.

Built to showcase memories of the bloody war, the museum stood tall with over 8 floors tops, housing the remains of human and Serpentium war machines as thousands of biographies and documentaries of the war were put on display. With hundreds of tourists filling the halls of the building, among them was a group of middle-school students, accompanied by their teacher with a museum guide leading them through the crowded halls, all the while droning on about what had happened during the war. Already near the end of their school trip, the heavily-bored students were glad when they were finally brought back to the lobby to wait for their school bus.

They wasted no time gathering around the numerous benches to talk about anything but the museum itself, and far away from the groups of chattering children, sat a lone boy with unkempt, shaggy hair and a game console console in hand.

The constant chattering of hundreds of tourists and his classmates were drowned out by the headphones in his ears as Arvin Geld, having little to no interest in socializing, simply focused on continuing his play-through of the classic game, Taddle Fantasy. His eyes were practically glued to the screen until he felt the cell phone in his pockets start to vibrate. Pausing the game and plucking out his headsets, Arvin saw that the incoming call was from none other than his big brother, Reynard.

"Hey Arvin!" his brother's voice boomed from his speakers as soon as he answered it, causing Arvin to lower the volume immediately, "How'd your field trip go? You're not playing your games again, are you?"

Arvin looked back at his game console and gave an unconvincing chuckle, "Nope, I left my 4DS at home. The museum was alright, I guess," Arvin shrugged and looked back at the hundreds of people that crowded the lobby, "I would like it a bit more if it wasn't so full, and the field guide was boring, too. I just wanna go home already," he gave a groan before continuing his Taddle Fantasy play-through with one hand, "Shouldn't you be getting ready for your concert?"

"I know, I know! I just wanted to check on you, is all. Oh, and before I go, no snacking this afternoon, alright? Uncle Albert's treating us to dinner tonight!"

His brother's voice was full of energy usual, and all Arvin replied was a short, nonchalant, "M'kay."

"Alright, I gotta go. Can't keep the crowd waiting, after all! See you later!"

Closing his cell phone to continue playing his game console, Arvin was about to place his headphones back on when his ears picked up the chatter of his classmates behind him.

"Check it out, it's more news about that masked man!"

"Lemme see! Ah crud, the pictures are blurry again."

"I heard he stopped some bank robbers last night! It's like something out of a TV show!"

The latest news about the town's local vigilante piquing his interest, Arvin placed his headphones and game console in his pockets before getting up from his chair. He dusted his uniform and slowly went over to the circle of kids that his classmates had made on the benches. Hearing them chat nonstop about the local hero that had been the buzz of the town for the past few months, Arvin tried to approach them, only for his classmates to stop talking the very moment they had noticed him.

The boy halted in his steps, numerous eyes watching him as one of them hesitantly spoke up, "H-Hey Arvin, did you want something?"

Their talk screeching to an immediate halt at his presence, the boy simple sighed and shook his head, "No, it's nothing," he turned around and went back over to his chair.

As soon as he was at least a meter away, the circle of classmates continued their chat about the town's masked vigilante while Arvin sat back in his seat with his game console in hand. He was used to it at this point, having endured this ever since he entered school. Looking around the museum lobby, it's been years since the war had ended, but the discrimination and fear still held up, and for him, it was all just because his stepbrother just happened to be a Serpentium. He couldn't help but wonder just how his big brother could stay so friendly towards everyone he met, knowing the unease between the two races.

Meanwhile, sitting in the entertainment district of Glistoria among hundreds of bars, clubs and more, was the Galleria Music Hall. A combination of a diner and a concert hall, the place known for constantly changing to different genres depending on the day and time, and hosting numerous musicians from all over the city. On this sunny afternoon, the genre of the day, was none other that rock n'roll.

Inside the Galleria Music Hall, the fact of whether you were human or Serpentium didn't matter. In this small, little haven from the outside world, all you could hear was the chanting of the audience, all cheering in unison as the singer's booming, hot-blooded voice reverberated off the walls of the Music Hall with enough energy to practically burst one's lungs. Backed up by the adrenaline-pumping wailing of an electric guitar, the chaotic, bombastic hammering of the drums, and the low, creamy beats of the bass guitar, all these sounds were weaved into one coherent symphony of rock that got the entire crowd screaming with joy. Simply entering the Hall meant being enveloped by a wave of sheer ecstasy that would sweep any of their feet within seconds.

Leading this chaotic concert as both its guitarist and singer was the Serpentium teenager, Reynard Geld. The scales on his neck, arms and tail dyed in gold to match his messy, blonde hair, the white leather he and his band-mates wore were torn, decorated with bright gold chains and several heart marks. His scaly, clawed fingers shredded his guitar with chaotic precision, his booming voice echoing through the halls with enough energy to get the crowd to sing along, and as their song slowly came to the end, the drummer hammered away at his instrument with his sticks as the bassist backed him up. All the while, Reynard picked up bottle of beer sitting by his feet, chugged it, held it in his mouth and flicked open a lighter in his pocket before spewing the alcohol through the flames, a burst of dragon-like fire spreading throughout air as the entire crowd went wild.

Wiping his mouth with his sleeves, Reynard and his band members all bowed down before exiting the stage as the crowd applauded at them, all three heading to the back to let the next batch of performers take over.

In the restroom, Reynard rinsed his face in the sink, washing away all the sweat that had gathered on his face before drying himself with a paper towel. Tossing the used towel into a nearby trashcan, the Serpentium teen looked at his reflection on the mirror and gave a sharp-toothed, cocky smirk, "All in day's work, Rey, all in a day's work," plucking out a bit of paper that had gotten stuck in one of the scales on his face, a gold, musical note-shaped earring hung on one of his pointed ears as the boy went out of the restroom and towards the locker rooms to meet up with his band members.

Barging through the doors with the grace of a rampaging rhino, Reynard was curious to see the locker room completely barren with only his drummer, Mishima, present in the room at all. Mishima practically jumped when the guitarist bulldozed his way in and let out a relieved sigh before pocketing the phone in his hand, "Oh, Rey, there you are."

"Sup!" Reynard closed the door behind him with a flick of his tail, "Where's Ikeda? Couldn't find him on the way here," his tail dragged over a plastic chair by the legs and the boy straddled it as he sat in front of the drummer. Looking back at Mishima, he was gonna ask something else when he noticed the sudden downcast expression on his friend's face, "Something wrong, Shima?" Reynard cautiously asked as he scratched a scale on his neck.

"Well... you see..." the drummer tapped his fingers on his shaking leg, the boy avoiding his friend's gaze. His leg still shaking, Mishima audibly gulped before giving a clear answer, "Ikeda's gone home early today. Both of us are a bit occupied lately, since he and I are... well... leaving town. Tomorrow."

Reynard's eyes widened, but the rest of his face remained unchanging. For a second he said nothing, before he scratched the back of his neck and gave his friend a small, understanding smile, "Ah, it's cause of the terror attacks, right? Yeah. Stuff's been pretty common lately," Reynard's tail flickering behind him, the guitarist gave a small dismissive wave of the hand, "It's alright. Stuff like that is pretty damn terrifying, after all. Can't blame you two for wanting to leave."

Mishima then stood up and gave a deep, apologetic bow that nearly threw him off his feet, "W-We wanted to tell you sooner. But you were so excited for this concert that-"

Reynard placed a hand on his shoulder and the Serpentium teen gave him a toothy grin, "It's fine! Really, it is," he got and up went over to his locker, opening it up to fetch two cans of beer. He tossed Mishima a can before Reynard popped open his own, "As long as you don't stop making people happy with your music, then it's fine. We could always text each other, too. So don't worry about me, alright?" Reynard leaned on his locker and chugged down his beer while Mishima slowly nodded.

"R-Right," Mishima's hand started to shake as he held his beer can in both hands. Turning away from the guitarist, the drummer picked up his bag from a nearby bench and walked towards the door, "I'll see you later then... Ciao."

"See you later, alligator," the Serpentium teen laughed, and when the drummer finally made his way out the door, the smile Reynard had held slightly dimmed down.

It wasn't the first time he had to see friends leave town because of the rising crime rates and terrorist attacks. He'd seen plenty come and go throughout the years, so it was easy to let go at this point. Even though many crimes had been stopped by his run as the local masked hero, the people would never stop living in fear, and crime would never stop. Crumpling the empty beer can in his grip, Reynard tossed it into the trash before tapping both of his cheeks with his scale-covered hands to ease his mind. He glanced over to the small TV in the corner of the room and picked up the remote, switching it on to check the afternoon news.

While changing his rocker outfit into a pair of more modest clothing, Reynard listened to the afternoon reports.

"Good afternoon, folks, this is the Glistoria News Station and we have new reports about the town's 'masked hero'. Last night, several Serpentium men had attempted to rob the city bank and were fortunately stopped by the local hero, 'the White Mask'. This 'White Mask' had fled the scene after quickly detaining the robbers and the police are still unsure on how they feel about this masked vigilante. Is he really a hero? Or this is just a menace pretending to be one?"

Reynard stuffed his leather jacket in his locker and put on a simple t-shirt and jeans. But before he could switch the Television, he heard the newsman's tone suddenly change.

"Breaking news! The Glistoria War Museum is under attack by a group of pro-human insurgents. Numerous people are currently being held hostage and the police have surrounded the building. The insurgents have made several demands at this point, but the police are unable to comply."

The teen stared at the recording of the museum on the screen, and as he remembered where Arvin had gone to this afternoon, Reynard ran out of the locker room, his golden earring shimmering bright.

It was precisely around 4:30 PM when the Glistoria War Museum had been attacked by a group of pro-human insurgents. The entire ten-floor building now surrounded by a barricade of squad cars, the police couldn't do anything but stand by as the insurgents held their hostages at gunpoint. Reynard had raced there on his motorbike and parked it on the side-walk upon arrival. The War Museum was still a distance from here, but all traffic heading towards there had come to a dead halt, leaving the boy no other choice but to make the rest of the way on foot.

Reynard squeezed his way through the crowds of people that were wondering what was going on, his phone pressed to his ear as he slowly reached the barricade the police had set up. After several entire minutes of ringing, there was no answer from his little brother, and he could only assume that Arvin was somewhere in there as a hostage. Sweat trailing down the side of his face, Reynard finally reached the police barricade with bated breath. The building was just across the street, but there was no way pass the police.

Seeing this, the Serpentium teen ran into a small, cramped alley devoid of people, and after making sure that there was absolutely no one in sight, Reynard took in a deep breath, the musical note-shaped earring hanging on one of his pointed ears shimmering with gold.

"Hang in there, Arvin. Big bro's coming for you," Reynard snapped his fingers, and in a bright flash of light, a belt covered in chains and rusted metal materialized around his waist, fastening itself around him as the front of the belt bore a giant symbol in the shape of a violet Treble clef. A golden dome of light projecting itself around him like a protective shield, Reynard then held up his hands, right before slamming them onto two buttons on the sides of his belt.

The violet Treble clef at the front was then flooded golden energy, the light shining bright enough to flood the entire alleyway with gold as the chaotic strings of an electric guitar rang in the air.

Cracking his knuckles with a cocky smirk that showed off his sharp teeth, Reynard's tail flickered excitedly as he uttered the phrase he was taught long ago when this belt was passed onto him, "Henshin."

A thousand glowing musical notes swirling around his body like a snake enveloping its prey, Reynard's belt announced in a deep, throaty voice, "Axe: Soloist Form."

A white suit of armor begun to form around him to the hot-blooded shredding of an electric guitar, his armor resembling that of a rock n'roll performer with a leather trench-coat adorned with golden chains, several glowing lines of gold traveling around his white form, and two speaker-shaped jump rockets attached to his legs. A metal mask with a heart tattoo encasing his head, Reynard stared through two big, glowing compound eyes attached to lines that gave it the shape of a Quarter note, his pointed ears and reptilian tail also encased in a protective armored casing that matched his white armor.

The dome of light around him burst apart and sent the trash cans around him flying through the air as Kamen Rider Axe flicked his wrist and tail in unison, "Alright, let's rock'n roll!"

Knowing that there was no way into the war museum through any conventional means, Axe gazed up at the walls of the alley he was in when a bright idea came to mind. Crouching down on one knee, Axe smacked the button on the left side of his belt and the speaker rockets around his legs emitted a low hum. Taking another deep breath, Axe jumped into the air like a rabbit on steroids, landing on the rooftop and cracking it under his weight upon landing. There, he could see the war museum just across the street, and from here, all it took was one more jump to get in there.

Rubbing his gloved hands together, Axe uttered a small prayer to God that this will work, rolled his shoulders, and with nothing to lose, Axe broke into a swift run. The Rider held his breath the closer he got to the edge of the roof, sweat pouring down his face, and as his foot dug into the edge of the rooftop, he smacked the button on the left side of his belt again, causing his legs' jump rockets to erupt and send him flying across the street as onlookers from below gazed at him in shock. Leaping across the street in a single bound, Axe curled up into a ball before smashing through the glass windows of the museum, tumbled across the floor and smacked face-first into a hard wall.

Letting out a small, pitiful groan, Axe slowly picked himself up from the floor and spotted a sign above that signified that he was on the 3rd floor, "That's convenient," Axe laughed to himself and dusted his trench-coat before making his way through the numerous displays of war documentaries that filled the hall. Each step pronounced by the jingling of the golden chains on his jacket, Axe's pointed ears then picked up a voice echoing through the building, one that upon further listening to, was most likely the voice of the human insurgents' leader.

It sounded like it was coming from the lobby, and when Axe spotted an emergency staircase in the corner, he wasted no time heading downstairs.

In the main hall of the Glistoria War Museum, Axe sneaked his way through the thousands of antique machinery and documentaries on display, following the voice of the insurgents' leader who was busy making demands to the police in exchange for the release of their hostages. Hearing nothing but stuff about how the public were, 'fools to be at peace with those that they had once fought against' and how, 'the Serpentium's mere presence are a danger to the human race', the Rider just tried to focus on saving the hostages and his brother.

Slowly opening up the door to a balcony overlooking the main lobby, Axe gingerly stepped out onto the balcony and looked down to see the insurgents, along with their Serpentium hostages still held at gunpoint while lined up against a wall. The built-in binocular vision in Axe's compound eyes zoomed in on the hostages and scanned their faces, but while he could see that they were mostly the staff of the museum and some tourists, he couldn't find his brother among them. 'But if Arvin wasn't being held hostage, then why wasn't he answering his phone?' was a thought that raced through his mind before Axe shook his head in an attempt to refocus.

He had to get the hostages out before taking care of the insurgents, and as he tried to make up a plan to even do this, he heard the insurgent leader speak up again.

"Fine! If you won't listen to our demands, then it looks like we have to show why you should take us seriously!"

Axe saw about 11 men in total, all armed with rifles and dressed in kevlar as they raised their guns at the hostages lined up against the wall. While the insurgent leader continued shouting into his megaphone, Axe could hear the hostages beginning to beg for their lives.

"If I don't see the hostages' ransom in 5 minutes, we'll be executing them altogether, you hear me?! We're not screwing around here!"

The Rider tightened up one hand into a shaking fist, the boy gritting his sharp teeth underneath his mask. His body was practically screaming at him to act. Even if he couldn't find his brother, he couldn't ignore the lives of innocents.

"3 minutes!"

His armored tail behind him started whipping about, the Rider slowly rising up and climbing onto the balcony railing.

"2 minutes!"

Gazing down upon the 11 armed men in the lobby below, Axe cracked his knuckles as golden musical notes swirled into his hands to form a pair of brass knuckles.

"1 minute!"

"It's showtime," jumping off the balcony, Axe descended upon the lobby, the tails of his trench-coat fluttering about, and in one devastating landing that shattered the marble floors below and echoed through the halls of the museum like a firework going off, the Rider's grand entrance had kicked up a cloud of smoke and dust that slowly began to settle.

The 11 armed men and their hostages froze with shock where they stood, the insurgents all aiming their guns at the withering cloud of smoke before gasping at the sight of none other than a Kamen Rider. The hostages now relieved to see the local vigilante finally arrive, the leader of the insurgents began shaking at the sight of the masked warrior, Axe's trench-coat fluttering in the wind as light reflected off the chains around his body.

"A K-Kamen Rider?" the insurgent leader threw away his megaphone and aimed his shaking gun at Axe, "But why?! You Kamen Riders are supposed to be heroes of us humans, aren't you?! Why are you protecting these monsters?!" then, the leader gasped when he saw the armored tail that was attached to Axe's armor, a tail that begun lashing about like a whip, "I see. So it's just about protecting your own kind, eh? Typical."

Unafraid of the 11 guns that were trained on him, Axe's arm cut through the air as he pointed a damning finger straight at the insurgent leader, "That's where you're wrong, scumbag! A Kamen Rider is a hero of justice, and as such, I don't give a damn if you're human or Serpentium! The only ones I take care of are those that have the gall to pick on the innocent," Axe ran his gaze over the 11 armed men and flicked his wrist and tail in unison, his grip on his brass knuckles tightening, "And from what I can see, you guys are exactly the kind of assholes I deal with."

A majority of the insurgents could be seen shaking where they stood, but their leader put on a brave face, "Let's see you try, brat. Men, unload on this damn clown!" with an overconfident grin, the insurgent leader and his men fired upon the Rider with their guns, blasting away on full automatic as their bullets simply bounced off his white trench-coat and gold chains like pebbles upon steel.

"Alright then! Time to make some music!" smashing one fist into an open palm, Axe let out an immense roar as he drove his fist into the floor below and erupted a shock-wave that blew the 11 men off their feet, "Run!" Axe shouted to the hostages who all broke for the nearest exit while the insurgents were still lying on the floor. Looking back at his enemies, Axe let out another roar as he then charged at them with his fists burning bright with gold.

"Shoot him down, dammit!" one of the insurgents shrieked, picking up his rifle a second too late as Axe's fist drove into his face like a bulldozer and sent the man tumbling into a bench that snapped upon impact.

The other insurgents now firing in a state of panic, their bullets continued to bounce off Axe's thick armor as he charged at them like a wild animal, his fists sending them flying across the lobby like rag-dolls single strikes as each blow sounded like a gun going off. One insurgent had reached into his pockets and drew out a thick knife at the Rider, only for Axe's tail to lash at him and smack the weapon from his hands before the Rider sent him flying with a powerful blow to the ribs. The man hit the wall behind him with a loud thud and collapsed onto the floor, barely able to move.

But as Axe rubbed his smoking brass knuckles, the Rider had not realized one thing, and that was the fact that during the fighting, the insurgent leader had sneaked away.

He was nowhere to be seen among the numerous groaning men lying on the floor, but Axe then heard a loud rumble begin to fill the room. Sounding like a heavy machine starting up, the Rider turned to the entrance of the museum's main hall and gazed at the double-doors in front of him, right before they were blown from their hinges by a powerful blast. As bits of wood and metal showered the Rider for a brief moment, Axe heard a loud whirring sound follow suit.

The insurgent leader reappeared, now donning an antique suit of power armor that had been used by the humans during the war. Towering at nearly twice the Rider's height, smoke billowed from exhaust pipes traveling around his body with the armor's helmet shaped like the bare skull of a human. The insurgent leader's laughter echoing through the armor's speakers, he smashed his giant, over-sized fists together as electricity hissed from the armor's rusting joints, "Come on, 'Kamen Rider', let's see what happens when you pick with someone your own size!"

Flicking his wrist and tail in unison, Axe smacked the button on the left side of his belt and the speaker rockets on his legs emitted their low hum, "Sure! I'm always in the mood for an encore!" leaping across the lobby in a single bound, Axe threw his fists straight at the armored man, only to bounce right off an energy shield forming around the power armor. Hitting floor with a small grunt, Axe looked up and saw the armored man's fists hovering over him, "Uh oh," the man's fists descending upon him, Axe attempted to hold back the man's attack with all four limbs, all of which began to slowly bend underneath the man's enhanced strength before his tail smacked his belt's left button again.

A low hum emitting from his speaker rockets, the insurgent leader's armored fists were then blown clean from arms as Axe's speaker rockets ripped the armor apart with ease, leaving his hands bare as the insurgent leader reeled backwards in shock, "W-What the Hell?!"

The Rider hopped back onto his feet and rolled his shoulders before smacking both buttons on the sides of his belt, the Treble Clef at the front glowing bright gold, "Ya mind if I axe you a question?" a hundred glowing musical notes swirled into his hands, and to the insurgent's leader shock, a two-handed battleaxe in the shape of an axe guitar solidified in the Rider's hands. The guitar's body was one gigantic blade with its neck being the handle, but what made it stranger was the fact that the head of the handle resembled the barrel of a cannon, "Axe-guitar Gun, pretty cool name, right?"

"Y-You goddamn punk! Quit fucking around!" barking like a mad dog, a machine gun built into his armor arose from the back of his suit and began spraying the entire room with bullets as his injured men crawled to find cover from their leader's own gunfire.

Axe just sighed as bullets continued to just bounce off his leather jacket, and as he flicked his tail and wrist in unison again, he aimed the head of his guitar straight at the armored man. Bullets still reflecting off his mask and leather jacket without nary a scratch, the brass knuckles Axe held reconstructed themselves into a single guitar pick held between his fingers as golden strings formed over the axe-guitar gun's surface, "If you wanna hear some real music, then listen to some of this! It's time for your curtain-call, pal!"

He smacked the button on the right side of his belt, causing Axe's compound eyes to shimmer with golden energy as the glowing lines traveling around his body following suit. In its deep, throaty voice, his belt announced, "Finale: REQUIEM," Axe dug his heels into the floor, the golden energy stored within the Treble Clef on his belt all traveling into his right arm as he wielded his guitar pick. Upon hearing armored man's machine gun now ring empty, Axe, in one powerful motion, struck the strings of his guitar, and in what could only be described as the sound of a thousand bombs going off, a hundred golden musical notes erupted from the head of his guitar as Axe himself slid backwards from the immense recoil.

Spiraling through the air like a swarm of missiles, the insurgent leader erected his energy shield in a panic, only for the golden projectiles to rain down upon him and break apart the field like fragile glass. The musical notes then pummeled man's armor over and over, tearing his suit apart like paper before sending the man crashing into the wall behind him.

Now buried underneath a pile of bricks and bits of broken wood, the insurgent leader had finally been taken out as Axe's weapon vanished into musical note-shaped particles.

The Rider ran up to the pile of debris that the man was buried under, and there, lying underneath the debris, the man was bleeding, but alive for sure. Buried up to his neck in the remains of his busted armor and broken rubble, the bloodied man looked up at the Rider as he silently stared down on him, "W-Why...?" the insurgent leader let out a sick cough, barely able to speak at this point, "Why... didn't you... kill me... my men...? You're... toying with me, aren't you? You damn... Serpentium..."

Axe then grabbed the man by his neck, before easily pulling him out of the rubble with his immense strength and dropping him onto the marble floor, still covered in bits of ash and debris, "It's not my right to take lives, bud," Axe dusted his trench-coat as the gold chains he wore jingled, his armored tail swaying left and right behind him, "Didn't you hear me? I'm a Kamen Rider. I save lives, all in the name of justice. Killing you would be easy, but that's not how I run. It's the police's job to judge you, not mine."

Staring at the Rider with a look of utter confusion, the insurgent leader simply chuckled and lied down on the floor, defeated, "What a load of shit."

"Call it whatever you want, pal. Cause I don't give a damn," Axe dusted his hands as he could hear the police start to arrive, "It's just how I do things," looking at up at the glass ceiling of the lobby, Axe smacked the left button on his belt and the speaker rockets in his legs emitted their low hum before the Rider leaped towards the ceiling. The glass ceiling shattered apart and shards fell onto the lobby floor as the police broke through the doors to the museum, finally arriving as Kamen Rider Axe took his leave.

The light of the setting sun stretching across the housing districts of Glistoria, the rumbling of Reynard's bike echoed through the neighborhood as he parked in front of his house. Kicking up his bike's stand, Reynard took off his helmet and rubbed his sore pointy ears. But while the thought of getting a new helmet that was actually comfortable for a Serpentium occupied his mind, the teen couldn't help but wonder just what had happened to his brother. Getting off his bike and stepping towards his house with his key in hand, Reynard wondered if the police had found him somewhere in the museum, as Arvin could've been hiding somewhere when the attack came.

Unlocking the front door, Reynard stepped inside, worried sick about his little brother, before the Serpentium teen collapsed onto the floor and started shivering to the point that his teeth were chattering nonstop. Being a Serpentium and all, Reynard possessed cold-blood, and upon entering the house, he had not noticed the fact that the entire household's temperature was possibly below 13 degrees Celsius, "W-Why is t-the AC t-t-turned on?!" Reynard crawled on the floor, attempting to find the AC controller while shaking nonstop, "A-A-Arvin, don't t-tell me y-y-you're in here?!"

Hearing Reynard's shouting, Arvin, dressed in his pajamas, stepped out of his bedroom with his game console in hand and noticed his big brother lying on the floor. The Serpentium's teen tail was frozen stiff as he was possibly on the brink of death, "Oh, there you are! Sorry about the AC. Forgot about it," rushing over to the AC controller on the couch, he increased the temperature and opened up a nearby closet to toss his brother an electric blanket, "Where were you anyway? I thought your concert ended hours ago."

Reynard draped himself in his blanket like a cocoon, switched it on and let out one big sigh of relief, before said relief turned back into frustration, "Where was 'I'?! Where were you?! I was- Wait a minute..." he gazed at the game console in Arvin's hand before the younger boy attempted to hide it behind his back, "Don't tell me... you were playing games all afternoon, and you didn't even check your phone to see if I called you?!"

Arvin gave an unconvincing chuckle and stuck his tongue out, "Woops."

Gritting his teeth, Reynard lied back on the floor and let out one, long frustrated groan to the point their neighbors probably heard them, all the while Arvin sat down on the living room couch, completely oblivious to everything that had happened this afternoon.

Sitting back upright after several minutes of even more groaning, Reynard ruffled his hair before letting out one last sigh, "Whatever! Just... Just go dress up, already. We're going out for dinner."

"Gotcha," Arvin gave a military-like salute and skipped over to his room, closing it behind him as Reynard got up from the floor.

The room's temperature now at a tolerable level, Reynard hung his electric blanket on a nearby chair and dropped himself on the couch, switching on the television for some background noise as Reynard found himself utterly exhausted from everything that had happened today. His band-mates were leaving town, he had to stop another terror attack, and now all that worrying about his brother turned out to be for naught in the end. Just thinking about all this made him frustrated until he tapped himself on the cheeks to ease his mind.

With a small groan, Reynard lied his head back on the sofa and looked up at the framed family portrait that hung above the television set. There, the sight of his Serpentium mother and human father brought a small smile back on his face. Upon hearing his brother coming back out of his room, Reynard reached for the gold earring he wore and tapped the device. The small piece of jewelry promptly ejecting itself from his ear, Reynard placed it on the table, thinking that just for this night alone, he wanted no more than to spend some quality time with Arvin.

Arriving in the Galleria Music Hall, the two brothers entered the concert hall/diner and found that tonight's genre was the smooth rhythm of classical music. Upon going through the double-doors to the diner area, Reynard and Arvin were greeted by the whimsical strings of a violin, a sound so pleasant that both of the two had to stop where they stood for a minute to listen to such a sound.

There, standing alone on the stage tonight was a single performer, his hand gently caressing the violin in his grip as he ran his bow across its strings. Reynard gazed at him with curiosity when the Music Hall's owner, Albert Arnest, approached the two from behind and clapped them both on the shoulders to get their attention.

"Evening, boys! It's good to see you two again! Your table's the same place as usual, so take a seat and relax!" being a large man with a deep, baritone voice and fancy suit that was modified to fit his hulking stature, the two boys were a few feet shorter than him as they beamed at his appearance.

"Who's that new guy over there?" Arvin couldn't help but ask while pointing to the performer on stage, "Don't think I've seen him around before."

"Him? Oh, he's from out of town," Albert explained while glancing at the violinist, "A friend of mine asked me a favor, so I hired him after he moved into town a few days ago. He's pretty good, I'll admit," then, the large man snapped his fingers upon remembering something and turned to Reynard, "Oh, Rey, your friends left something for you in the locker room. You should go check it out before you go eat."

Unsure what was this about, the Serpentium teen nodded as his brother went ahead to go wait for him at their table.

Stepping into the backstage of the Music Hall, Reynard opened up the door to the locker room, the place still empty as it was a few hours ago, and closed the door behind him. He could still hear the sound of the violin from outside seep into the room, the teen walking up to his locker and opening it up to find a small envelope sitting underneath a few beer cans and some of his belongings.

Tilting his head to one side, Reynard pulled out the letter and used the claws around his scaly fingers as a makeshift letter-opener. His tail slowly swayed behind him as Reynard pulled out a letter from within the envelope and begun reading its contents.

"Rey, even though it's only been a few months since we got together as a band, Ikeda and I are grateful for what you've done to help us pull through. At first, we didn't think that we could do it, but your persistence got us through times that we thought would've stopped our dream as a band right then and there. I know we should've told you earlier that we were moving, but we didn't want to ruin your expectations for the concert. We didn't want you to sing, knowing that it was going to be the last time we would ever play together. Ikeda and I are in no position to ask for your forgiveness, but, just know that no matter what, we always saw you as a friend, first and foremost. We don't care if you're a Serpentium or whatever. To us, you were the best band-mate we've ever met. Take care, Rey, and rock on like you always do."

Reynard's lips pursed, his sharp fingers tightening around the edge of the letter as a single teardrop fell onto the paper.

Wiping his eyes with the sleeves of his shirt, Reynard took in a deep breath as he felt his throat go dry. Pocketing the letter, the boy closed the locker and leaned on the hard metal, a small smile growing on his face while his tail slowly swayed left and right.

Staring at his feet in silence, Reynard wondered why - even though he had seen it happen so many times until now - did stuff like this always get this kind of reaction out of him.

Then, the door opened up and the boy wiped away the remaining tears in his eyes as someone else stepped into the room.

Looking back up, Reynard now found himself exchanged surprised glances with the violinist that had been playing on the stage earlier. The violinist took a step back when he noticed Reynard, giving a small bow of apology while he held his violin under one arm, "Apologies for not knocking. I didn't think anyone was in here."

"Nah, i-it's fine. I wasn't doing much anyway," Reynard chuckled, scratching a scale on his neck as the violinist took his gesture to come in and sat down on one of the numerous chairs in the room for a short break. Now that he got a good look of him, he couldn't help but notice just how... formal, the violinist was. With neatly-kept hair that was a dark shade of purple, a cultivated style of speaking and an odd mysterious aura underneath that polite smile of his, Reynard couldn't help but ask, "So, uh, you're the new guy, right? What's your name?"

"Akira," the violinist politely answered, sipping the bottle of water in his sweaty hands before wiping them with a handkerchief, "Murasaki Akira."

The violinist looked only slightly older than him, but he still wasn't sure if he was supposed to refer to him by last or first name. Still, with his tail nervously flickering behind him, Reynard replied, "Well, then the name's Reynard. Reynard Geld," he added a sharp-toothed grin that got an amused chuckle out of the violinist.

"A pleasure to meet you," Akira replied with a small bow of the head.

Giving another small grin, Reynard then remembered that his brother was still waiting for him at their table and he had a dinner to get to, "R-Right! Anyway, I gotta go. Ciao!" exchanging a small goodbye gesture with the violinist, Reynard quickly stepped out of the locker room, smiling to himself as his pointed ears twitched ever so slightly.

No matter how many people he had to see leave this town, Reynard knew he had to continue fighting. No matter how many crimes popped up in this town, no matter how many sleepless nights he had to spend patrolling the entire city, he had to continue to uphold his inherited duty as a Kamen Rider. Even if he had to keep it a secret from his brother, even if he would never find any recognition from the public other than being called a 'masked vigilante', he would never hesitate to save any lives when he could. It was his duty... as a hero of justice.

Rider Parameters (Ranging from A-D)

Kamen Rider Axe - Soloist Form

Destructive Power: A

Speed: D

Durability: A

Weapons: The Axe-guitar Gun and Pick Knuckles. The pick knuckles are Axe's favorite weapon due to his no-kill policy and only resorts to the Axe-guitar Gun on specific occasions. As the name implies, it functions as both a battleaxe and a gun with varying degrees of power, depending on how Axe strums his guitar.

Abilities: Due to Axe's low mobility from his armor's weight, pressing the button on the left side of the belt will activate Axe's speaker rockets, which gives him an immense help in catching up to faster targets or covering large distances in one jump. Pressing on the right side of the belt will instead activate his Finishers: an Rider Dropkick, along with a Rider Blast and Rider Smash with the Axe-guitar Gun.

Welp, so much for one-shot, right? Although I really did plan this to be a one-time thing, my brain ended up creating 3 other Riders against my will and creating an overarching story to bring all four into one story. I hate myself sometimes. Oh well, creating the concept of the other Riders and making them foils was immensely fun. Guess I'll be continuing this and renaming the story while I'm at it.