Fenikkusumaru: Hey there everyone! It's your buddy Fen along with Serpentdragon, bringing you the latest chapter of Kamen Rider Kabuto: Days of Ruin!
Serpentdragon: What's up, everybody!? Well, we certainly have an exciting new chapter of Kabuto for you, including... The inclusion of our next Rider! The question is: Which one is it? AND who will be that Rider!?
Fen: They're gonna have to find out by reading, man. You know that.
SD: I know, I know. I'm just trying to get them excited for it!
Fen: But anyways, let's get to it! The next chapter of Kamen Rider Kabuto: Days of Ruin!
SD: Let's do it!
Disclaimer: Same thing.
The senior staff of the 12th Battalion all gathered in the briefing room, waiting for Brenner to give us the information for our next mission. Apparently, Recon Platoon from Bravo Company had found reports of another village of survivors not too far from our base. Brenner wanted to see if we could do something to help them.
"You found a village?" I asked.
"Surprising huh?" Koji said. "You'd think that we're the only ones here on this planet but the reports say otherwise."
Brenner gave a nod as he pointed to a red dot on the digital map on the monitor. "Yeah, see this spot on the map? That's our next destination. It's a small village."
"There's a village with actual people living there?" Will asked.
"That's right. The earthquakes and tidal waves destroyed most of the cities, but… in some places, survivors have begun banding together." Brenner said. "This village is one such area. Amidst the anarchy and chaos, they've come together to reestablish laws and government."
"Why do they have laws?" Will questioned. "The world's been destroyed. There's no one left to help them enforce their laws."
"That's why they're doing it on their own. They need some way to create order." Brenner explained. "No one forced them to do it. It's just natural to try to prevent murder and other crimes. You see, Will? Even in the most unexpected places, humanity shows its inherent virtue."
Lin sighed as she said, "Permission to disagree, Captain?" She asked. "It's not proof of virtue. It's simply a survival strategy. A society that doesn't punish murderers is a society where anyone can be murdered: A society of sleepless nights where people live in fear of everyone around them. When faced with that, it only makes sense to band together and agree to prohibit murder. People are motivated by their own interests. The meteors didn't change that at all."
Koji smirked slightly as he said, "Always the idealist, aren't you, LT?"
"They certainly didn't change you, did they Lin?" Brenner slightly frowned. "I see you still don't factor in human decency."
I looked to Lin and asked her, "What does the captain mean by that?"
Lin waved her hand dismissively as she said, "Don't worry about it."
Brenner then turned to Will, saying, "As for you, Will, you and the girl will be safe once we get you to the village. You're civilians, so they'll welcome you with open arms."
"Yeah, let's hope they would." Rika said. "The last thing we need is people getting hostile towards us."
Will looked surprised at this as he said, "W–Wait! You guys are trying to get rid of us!?"
"No, we didn't say that." Brenner said calmly.
"I think you're kinda jumping the gun Will." I said.
"I–I'm sorry." He sunk into his chair slightly as he said, "I… I just wanted to make sure that you guys aren't trying to get rid of us. I want to continue helping you guys."
"Well, that depends on the villagers there." I said. "I mean, Brenner's doing what's best for you and her, but it's your decision overall whether you want to stay here with us or not."
"I want to stay." Will said firmly, "I mean, I was going to the Academy, I was going to be an army officer."
Koji looked at him and said, "That's fine and all, kid, but… what about the girl? Does she want to stay?" Will flinches at that, "Haven't thought of that have ya?"
"Well… no…"
"Look, all I'm asking, Will, is that you talk to the girl first and see what she wants." Koji explained.
"Okay…" Will nodded.
"Alright then, let's head out to the village. Lin, I want all personnel to clear out the base and gather all our equipment and provisions. We're moving out." Brenner ordered.
"Yes sir." Lin saluted.
(Cue Theme D–Technolife by UVERworld)
(Ienai itami kanashimi de kizutsuita kimi yo) The scenery is a barren wasteland, with a sky that blotted out the sun. The camera pans slowly to the right as Kurogasa, with his back facing the camera, looks at the barren wasteland on top of a cliff.
(Kesenai kako mo seoiatteikou ikiru koto o nagedasanai de) The camera then suddenly changes to a close up of Kurogasa's face before it went around his head, the camera's view being blocked momentarily when it reached the back of his head and when the camera finally circles to the side of his face, it showed Kurogasa as Kamen Rider Kabuto, before panning out showing him in his full armor. Looking up at the sky, a ray of light suddenly burst through the clouds shining on Kabuto before the screen goes white.
([WHOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAHHHH] tsunaida kimi no te o) The title Kamen Rider Kabuto: Days of Ruin appears on the screen and just before the song enters the next phrase, the ZECTers flew, crawled, and hopped around the title from behind and jumped towards the screen before changing to the next scene.
(Itsuka ushinatte shimau no kana) Koji sits on the edge of his bed, sadly looking at his guitar on one side, his rifle on the other, as Gatack flew up and lands on his shoulder.
(Usurete yuku egao to kimi wo mamoritai kara) Rika was in the medical wing of the base, sighing and wiping sweat off her brow as she tries to organize her medical supplies, Sasword crawling around on a table while Brenner, Lin, Isabella, and Will were discussing plans for their next move.
(Hibiku~ boku wo yobu koe sae kare) Kurogasa was cooking and Kabuto watched on his shoulder before Kurogasa noticed something from afar on the horizon.
(Toki ni sou kaze ni kakikesaretatte) Drake and TheBee fly past him as we see what Kurogasa was looking out: a swarm of Salis Worms flanking Dr. Caulder with Admiral Greyfield, Waylon, showing up one end of the battlefield along with Tasha and Gage on another end and they sending out their troops alerting the 12th Platoon.
(Kimi wo mitsu–ke–da–su) Kurogasa grabs Kabuto and transforms into Kamen Rider Kabuto, before casting off his armor and charging towards Dr. Caulder.
(Ienai itami kanashimi de kizutsuita kimi mou) Dr. Caulder snaps his fingers and Kamen Rider Punch and Kick Hopper appeared out of nowhere and jumped towards Kabuto for an attack only for the latter to dodge before going to attack them.
(Waraenai nante, hito kirai nante kotoba sou iwanaide) Koji transforms into Kamen Rider Gatack and leads the Tech Platoon with their heavy weapons attacking some of the Salis Worms as Brenner transforms into Kamen Rider TheBee and he, Lin, and Will attack the rest of the forces.
(Mienai mirai ni okoru koto subete ni imi ga aru kara) Rika and David "Deadeye" Stevens transforms into Kamen Rider Sasword and Kamen Rider Drake respectively and attack some of the Salis Worms.
(Ima wa sono mama de ii, kitto kizukeru toki ga kuru darou [WHOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAHHHH]) As Kurogasa battles Punch Hopper and Kick Hopper, Caulder surprisingly joins in and transforms into Kamen Rider Caucasus, going to punch Kurogasa, only for the latter to dodge and he and Caluder stared each other down.
(You and Me, two have spoken.) The Hyper ZECTer appears from the distortion of time and Kurogasa grabs it to become Hyper Kabuto.
([WHOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAHHHH] Itsuka wakariaeru kara) Kurogasa then grabs the Perfect ZECTer and he and Caucasus leap at each other, their attack causing a huge flash of light. When the light fades, we see Kurogasa, Koji, Rika, Brenner, Will, Lin, Isabella, Tasha, Gage, and Stauffenburg looking out into the sunset, the ZECTers with them as well before the song ends.
Chapter 3: Freehaven
We loaded up a few Humvees and made our way over to the village. According to the makeshift sign, the name of the place was called Freehaven. "Hmmm… appropriate name for a place people are using to escape the devastation." Rika mused.
"Yeah, no kidding," I agreed. "Though for a rundown village, it looks to be in good condition: too good condition."
"Let's see why it's like that then." Brenner said as we made our way towards the village. As we did, a few people from the village started to come towards us, nervously carrying weapons.
"Hold it right there! Identify yourselves!" One of the civilians shouted.
"D–Don't try anything funny! We've got snipers watching you!" A youth added. Koji looked around and grunted in confirmation.
"He's right, they got snipers." Koji gritted.
"Easy now," Brenner replied. "I'm Captain Brenner, commanding officer of the 12th Battalion of the Rubinelle Army."
"What if you're with those raiders? What if you're here to attack us?" The civilian asked.
"What? They think we're raiders?" I asked confused.
"Yeah, I bet that's it! You came back to kill us all, didn't you?" The youth shouted.
"Actually, quite the opposite, we're here to see if we can help you." Koji stated.
Brenner then added, "Listen, we don't want trouble. Your mayor owes me his life. Tell him my name, and I'm sure he'll agree to see us."
Will then stepped forward saying, "C'mon guys! Help us out, will you?"
The civilian looked surprised seeing him, "Hey… You're too young to be one of them raiders. Maybe you're ok after all. Wait here! I'll go get the mayor." He said before running off.
"About time…" Brenner sighed.
"Nice job Will." I grinned, patting his shoulder.
"Thanks," Will said, sheepishly, scratching his cheek.
After he said that, we all took a seat on some of the benches made out of debris as we waited for the civilians to return with the mayor.
"Hmm…?" Dr. Stauffenburg said looking at some sort of hand held PDA he was carrying with him.
"What's wrong Doctor?" I asked.
"I'm picking up an interesting signal." Stauffenburg replied, getting up and walking a bit to try and get a signal. "I think it's one of the ZECTers!"
We all looked at him in surprise. "Are you sure?" Brenner asked.
"Oh yes, I'm positive! It's one of the ZECTers alright!" Dr. Stauffenburg cheered. "The only question is: Which one?"
Kabuto then popped out of my bag and said excitedly, "One of the other ZECTers is here!? Oh boy! It's one of my pals!"
"Yeah, but we don't know which one." I reminded.
Kabuto didn't seem deflated at all. "That's okay! The point is one of them is here! I just gotta find him!"
"I'll be the one doing the finding." Dr. Stauffenburg huffed. "You stay with Kurogasa. He might need you at a moment's notice."
Kabuto nodded before landing on my shoulder as he said, "Okay… Fair enough. I guess you're right, Doc."
"Hey, we have the mayor here!" The civilian shouted to us.
We all got up as the mayor approached us, smiling. "It's good to see you, Mr. Mayor," Brenner said. The mayor was a man in his late forties, slightly pudgy, with gray hair in a receding hairline, with a red button–up shirt, and gray pants. However, he was not happy to see Brenner.
"So it really is you. Your weapons and uniforms have my people scared half to death." The Mayor frowned. "What do you want, Brenner? We're trying to live in peace. We don't need your kind here."
"So it seems." Brenner narrowed as his smile turned into a frown. "Don't worry, we'll move out as soon as we finish what we came here for. We rescued some civilians a few clicks back, including an injured girl. I want you to take them."
The Mayor grunted at this. "I hope you're not marching in here and giving us orders. I truly don't. Things aren't that simple, friend. My village is barely getting by as is."
"No one's giving orders." Brenner retorted. "I'm asking for your help. They're just a couple of kids. They're not going to make it out there alone."
"And that's not our fault!" The Mayor snapped. "We didn't make this world, but we have to live in it. That's reality."
Koji looked at the mayor in disbelief as he said, "Seriously? These people need help! You see the state the world is in and you're really gonna shove them away?"
"And as for reality, the reality is that there's nothing out there but cockroaches and corpses." Brenner growled. "These people survived. They're alive, and it's up to us to keep them that way."
"Maybe that was true before, but now? I don't think so." The Mayor said. "Millions and millions of people are dead. I don't think a couple more is such a tragedy. The more people we have living here, the more mouths we have to feed. We can't afford it."
"So you think they're not worth saving?!" I shouted.
Koji scoffed. "Typical… Darwin would be so proud, seeing survival of the fittest at work."
"That's not what I'm saying!" The Mayor shouted. "We don't want to see anyone die! But your captain here doesn't know what he's asking. We simply don't have the means to take them in. I'm sorry."
"I see." Brenner sighed, rubbing his temple.
The mayor then looked at us sadly as he said, "You're soldiers. You can use your weapons to take what you need. All we want is to be left in peace. Now do us a favor, and take your troubles elsewhere."
Rika just sighed as she rubbed her eyes and said, "Great… so much for that."
"You heard the mayor! Hit the road! We don't need warmongers in our lives! You read me?" The civilian shouted, raising his weapon at us.
Brenner raised his hands in a placating manner as he replied, "I read you." Then, turning to Will, he said, "Sorry, Will, but it looks like you're going to be traveling with us until we find another village."
"Don't worry, Captain." Will said. "That's fine with–"
"Head for cover, those raiders are back! Where's the mayor?!" A citizen shouted, interrupting Will.
Uh oh… Looking to Brenner, I said, "Think it's the Beast, Captain?"
"I sure hope not."
"Regardless, I think we should go deal with these guys, Captain." Koji said.
"You're right." Brenner nodded before turning to me, "Kurogasa, suit up. We're gonna be protecting these villagers."
"You got it, Captain!" I then looked to Kabuto who flew off my shoulder as I said, "Let's go, aibou!"
"You got it aibou!" Kabuto said before flying around me before I caught him in my hand.
"Let's do this!" I said before shouting, "Henshin!" and slid him onto the buckle.
HENSHIN!
The red hexagonal patterns began covering my body, putting me into my Masked Form armor. As I finished transforming, the rest of the soldiers began getting ready for combat. "Lin, I need our Humvees and tanks setting up a perimeter around the village." Brenner added. "Koji, you and your platoon do what you do best."
"You got it, Captain," Koji said as he got Tech Platoon together and, had them; head out to prepare for the enemy attack.
"Doc, you and Dr. Ryusaki find that ZECTer. We can't have it fall to the enemy's hand."
"You got it." Dr. Stauffenburg replied. Looking to Rika, he said, "I got a lock on the signal, off in that direction."
"Lead the way." Rika nodded.
Leading the charge towards the town, the Beast grinned evilly when he saw what was going on through his binoculars. "Perfect… Look at this, roaches! Soldier boy's visiting our village! Nothing, like a nice day of raiding, murder, and revenge, ha, ha, ha, ha!"
Brenner looked in the direction of the approaching force and sighed, "Looks like you were right, Sergeant Shinamori. It's the Beast's boys, alright."
"I thought so." Koji sighed too.
Grunting, Brenner said, "Alright, well let's give him all we got! Engage!"
"Ha, ha, it looks like I can get another chance at killing the guy that almost shot my head! Alright roaches, let 'em have it!" The Beast roared.
The mayor came rushing over to Brenner, Koji, Lin, and I and shouted, frightened, "Dear mother of mercy! Look at those savages! You've got to help us, Brenner! They've destroyed every village in the region, and now they've come for us!"
Koji scoffed. "Oh, of course… You rebuff our request for help yet as soon as you need us, you come crying."
"They have tanks! We have nothing but rocks and sticks! Please you have to help us!"
"Relax, we'll help you," Koji replied shortly.
"Easy, Staff Sergeant," Brenner replied. Looking to the mayor, he then said, "Leave them to us, Mr. Mayor. You get your people out of here. Start evacuating!"
"Right," The Mayor said, "In regards to payment…"
"There's no time for that now! Get moving!" Brenner urged.
As the civilians started to evacuate, Lin got our attention as she said, "Captain, the enemy has us at a disadvantage. They outnumber us 3:1."
"How bad are we talking here?" Brenner asked.
"Four tanks and two full infantry platoons, plus two Humvees loaded with heavy machine guns." Lin replied after getting a second look at the enemy through her binoculars.
"Great…" Brenner gritted.
"And there's no doubt The Beast is gonna try to go for your head Koji." I added.
"I'm used to it by now. It's a good thing he has crappy aim." Koji smirked. "Well, aibou, what do you say we go take Tech Platoon to even the odds?"
"You just read my mind." I smirked behind my mask. I then loaded the Kabuto Extender out of the back of one of the Humvees as Koji and his men loaded into another one. After that, I revved the engine and said "Okay guys, try and keep up!" before I sped off.
Koji hit the gas of the Humvee and followed after me as the rest of the battalion opened fire on the Beast's men.
"Ohhhhhhh, where is that ZECTer?" Stauffenburg said getting a bit impatient, as he and Rika kept walking around.
Rika sighed as she paused for a moment to catch her breath. "If it's moving, then maybe our best bet is to wait for it to start moving in our direction and go to catch it, rather than chasing it." She then heard the sounds of battle starting in the distance. "Oh no…"
"Yes, I hear it too. Another battle…" Stauffenburg sighed wearily. "We might as well get going before this place becomes a battlefield."
Just as they prepared to start walking, Rika paused. "Doc… do you hear that?"
*BZZZZ!*
"Yes, I do, but… where is it coming from?" Stauffenburg wondered.
Closing her eyes, Rika listened to the buzzing a little more. "It's from… over there, on our right!" The two turned to the right and soon enough, they spotted a mechanical wasp with yellow wings that has black eyes, a slender silver body, and is smaller than Kabuto.
"Doo–dee–doo–dee–doo, man, it's so cool getting to explore the world, now that I'm finally away from that stuffy scientist. Shame I only get to see it after it has been devastated." the wasp themed ZECTer said as it flew around.
"AHA! I found you!" Stauffenburg shouted, pointing at it.
"Uh–oh," The ZECTer said as it turned to them. "Guess Hide and Seek is over…"
"You are in big trouble TheBee!" Stauffenburg shouted, stomping over it. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you and the other ZECTers have caused me?!"
TheBee flew over to Stauffenburg and said, "Do you have any idea how boring it was for us, cooped up in your lab? Or how maybe we didn't like the ZECT agents you picked to partner up with us?"
"You ZECTers were perfectly compatible with those agents!"
"So you think," TheBee accused. "Just because biologically we matched, there's more to it than that to see if we and a human would make good partners."
"Oh is that what you think?!"
"Yeah, that's what I think!"
"Hai, hai, that's enough you two!" Rika said getting in between the two and pushing them back.
TheBee looked to Rika and flew over to her, examining her. "Hi there, I'm TheBee! What's your name?"
"I'm Rika. It's nice to meet you!" Rika smiled.
"It's nice to meet you, Rika!" TheBee replied happily. "Hmmm…" TheBee flew back from Rika, suddenly and looked in the direction of the battle in the distance. "I think I'm detecting a potential partner."
"Huh? You do?" Rika blinked.
"Mhmm," TheBee nodded. "I can sense them, and… oh no!"
"What's wrong?" Stauffenburg asked.
"I'm detecting a Worm near there, too!"
"There's a Worm?!" Rika gasped.
"Yep, I better get to it!" TheBee said before flying off to that direction.
"Wait!" Stauffenburg shouted but it was no use. "Good grief, if that potential partner is there, they're gonna need the Rider Brace in order for them to use TheBee!"
"Then let's get over there!" Rika shouted as she and Stauffenburg ran after TheBee.
Hidden amongst the Beast's men was one soldier who seemed to be like the others, except for the evil grin on his face as he slipped away from the front line. He had short cut red hair, blue-green eyes, tanned skin, several facial scars, a tan tank top, olive green combat pants, and tan desert boots. He licked his lips as he saw the village behind the Rubinelle forces. "Plenty of potential hosts for the rest of my species…"
And that was when the person morphed into a Salis Worm and started molting into its mature form.
When it completed its metamorphosis, the Worm was now a brown skinned monstrosity with black and gray markings all over its body. It had a long thorax extending from above its waist on the back with eight long, hairy arachnid legs coming from them as well. Instead of fingers, it had three pointy claws. Its head was very much like a tarantula, possessing eight glowing red eyes with long, hair jewels with black fangs extending from them. This was the Tarantula Worm.
After that, a ghost image stuck out of its head revealing his human form, "Now… it's time for me to feast." He said before the ghost image disappeared and the Tarantula Worm sped off in a blur.
Koji and I were making good pace towards the Beast's tanks. While I was in Masked Form, I was able to provide a good barrier for Tech Platoon, the majority of the bullets from his men were deflecting off my armor, even though they were pushing me back a bit as I fired at them with my Kunai Ax Gun. "Koji now would be a good time for you and your men to make their move!"
"Yeah, I gotcha," Koji said. "Alright men, move out! Kurogasa's got you covered! Go! Go! Go!"
Koji and Sgt. Rusk each led half of Tech Platoon off towards the tanks, shooting at the Beast's men while they made their way forward. 'Hopefully…' Koji thought to himself as he made his way over, 'The Beast is almost out of his supply of tanks.'
However, as I continued to fire lasers at the enemies, Kabuto piped up with, "Aibou, I'm detecting a Worm in the area, one stronger than the last two!"
"What? Are you sure?" I gasped as I stopped. "Where is it headed?"
"It… Oh no," Kabuto said worriedly. "It's already here!"
"WHAT?" I gawked.
"Aibou, abenai," Kabuto shouted.
I looked up just in time to see the Worm pile drive itself into me, sending me crashing into one of the two other Rubinelle Humvees and… Man, were these Worms getting uglier with each one!?
This Worm is brown skinned with black and gray markings all over its body. It had a long thorax extending from above its waist on the back with eight long, hairy arachnid legs coming from them. Instead of fingers, it had three pointy claws. Its head was tarantula like, possessing eight glowing red eyes with long, hair jewels with black fangs extending from them. This is the Tarantula Worm and its ugly!
"Ready to, Cast Off aibou?" Kabuto asked as I slowly got to my feet, seeing the Worm begin to attack both the Beast and the Rubinelle forces.
"You know it." I said before I flipped Kabuto's horn slightly. Electricity and steam went off as the heavy parts of my armor slightly spread out as I heard the charging sound. I then touched the horn and shouted, "Cast Off!" before flipping Kabuto's horn completely.
CAST OFF!
The heavy parts of my armor then shot out, with various parts hitting the Beast's soldiers before the horn came up and locked into place.
CHANGE: BEETLE!
"Ergh, What the–" The Beast shouted as he examined both the Worm and Rubinelle army. "Ugh… Shoot them both!" But as he shouted that, he heard the sound of explosions behind him, looking to see Tech Platoon coming charging out of the flames of his now blown up tanks and begin attacking his men from behind, "You again?!"
"We're baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!" Koji yelled, with a smug grin.
The Beast growled as he took a machine gun and began firing at Koji and his men. "You roaches crush the bug and kill the rest of the Rubinelle punks! This one is mine!"
"Return fire!" Koji shouted back. "Take out his men!"
Meanwhile, in the middle of all the cross fire, I was in battle with the Tarantula Worm, using my Kunai Ax Gun in Ax Mode to try and attack it, but unfortunately, as Kabuto said, this Worm was much stronger than expected.
CLOCK UP!
My whole world slowed down while the Tarantula Worm and I were at normal speed even though we're not. I charged at the Worm, but before I could hit it, it spat these toxic barbs at me that numbed my leg, allowing it to slash across my chest.
A ghost image of his human form stuck out as it said mockingly, while approaching me, "Heh, heh, heh… Can't handle my sting, can you, Kabuto?"
"Darn it. This just had to happen at the worst possible time!" I clenched in pain. Dang, this poison is really getting to me!
"Now that you're out of commission for a while, I can go deal with Phase II of my plan." And then, much to my surprise, he started burrowing into the ground and disappeared.
CLOCK OVER!
"Kabuto… Did you detect the Worm?" I asked as I returned to normal time.
"I can't detect him now! He's gone!" Kabuto said before detaching from my belt, returning to civilian form.
I looked around to double check and… much to my surprise, he was gone… Though unfortunately, the pain in my leg was not. "Ugh… I really hope this is only temporary."
As the battle continued on between the 12th Battalion and the Beast's raiders, the Beast and Koji were locked in a one-on-one fight, his men keeping any other soldiers from coming to Koji's aid. The two continued to fire at another, popping up from cover behind the debris of the Beast's tanks.
"I'm finally gonna kill you, roach! It's time to make you pay for trying to take my head off!"
"Che, you always say that." Koji scoffed. "And you failed every time!" Just then, Koji fired off a burst from his M–16 that hit the Beast right in the shoulder and arm with three bullets. "I, on the other hand, actually know how to aim!"
"GRAAAAAH," The Beast roared in pain. "YOU BASTARD, LOOK WHAT YOU DID!"
"Heh… I know. I'm rather proud of myself." Koji smirked.
"THAT'S IT!" The Beast shouted before he pulled from out of nowhere… 2 RPG–7's that were twice the size of a standard one! "YOU'RE DEAD!"
Koji suddenly went wide–eyed, "Me and my big mouth." Immediately, he broke cover and ran towards the Rubinelle forces.
The Beast roared, "DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!" before launching the two RPG's. Koji, went for a swan-dive into a huge pit, ironically enough, the one the Tarantula Worm came out of, just in time to avoid being blown to bits. Instead, the Beast wound up blowing up several of his own men, "YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEARGH!" The Beast's men wailed in pain.
As the smoke cleared, Koji slowly poked his head out of the hole and breathed a sigh of relief. "Man that was too close."
This only made the Beast even angrier, seeing the condition his men were left in due to his carelessness.
"Boss, we gotta pull back!" One of his men said. "The Rubinelle's are starting to surround us!"
"Grrrrrrrrrrrrr…!" The Beast growled. "Pull back roaches! We're heading back to base!"
At their boss's command, the soldiers began to go into full retreat.
"Phew… That's a relief," Koji said as he climbed out of the hole, walking back to his side's forces as they celebrated their victory.
"Gaaaaaaaah, darn you stupid poison!" I writhed in pain as I kept moving around in my makeshift bed holding my leg tight. I'm in sick bay and this poison's really getting annoying!
"Just hang in there, buddy," Koji said, sitting by my side, "Rika should be back soon. Good news is the nurse said the poison is starting to pass through your body. Hopefully, though, Rika can filter it all out quickly."
"Well she better get back quick…!" I winced, closing one eye while clenching my teeth tight.
"I'm here!" Rika shouted as she rushed inside. "Guys, you're not gonna believe this! Stauffenburg and I found the ZECTer!"
"Kabuto," Shouted a wasp–looking ZECTer as he flew in to the room and went over to Kabuto.
"TheBee, is that you?!" Kabuto asked surprised and delighted.
"Yeah, it's me!" TheBee replied, happily, as he flew around. "It's good to see you, buddy! But you better watch out… that stuff shirt Stauffenburg is here somewhere."
"Yeah, I know." Kabuto said before flying over to me. "Anyways, I want ya to meet my partner: Kurogasa!"
"Oooo, you found a partner already? Cool!" Not realizing the problem with my leg, TheBee landed on my bad leg and said, "Hey there, Kurogasa! The name's TheBee, how ya doin'!?"
"I want this poison out of me~." I groaned in pain.
TheBee asked confused, "Poison?"
"Oh no, TheBee, get off his leg!" Rika shouted as she rushed over, filling a hypodermic needle with some sort of fluid I assumed was something to counteract the poison.
"What happened to him?" TheBee asked Kabuto.
"Oh, yeah… This Worm we were fighting hit him with these poison barbs. They originally numbed his leg, but then it started to get enflamed and went into temporary paralysis." Kabuto explained.
"Yeouch…" TheBee winced.
Rika then put some rubbing alcohol on my leg and said, "Okay, Kurogasa, this'll sting, but it'll counteract the poison."
"Just get the poison out of me…" I sighed in pain.
"You don't have to be such a big baby about it." Rika deadpanned before sticking the needle in my leg.
I winced as I felt the injection, biting my lower lip to keep myself from groaning out loud.
"Ouch… are you alright, bro?" Koji asked with a grunt of sympathy pain.
After Rika injected the antidote, I winced in pain as he got the needle out of me. "I'll live… somehow…"
Rika rolled her eyes and said, "You're a wimp…"
TheBee then flew over to the middle of the room and said, "Alright, well, I need to find my partner. I know he's here somewhere."
"You haven't found a partner yet?" Kabuto asked.
"Yes and no." TheBee said, setting down on a table of medical supplies. "I tracked my partner to this base. I just don't know for sure who it is."
"There you guys are." Lin's voice said as we all turned to see her and Brenner entering the sick bay tent.
"How you feeling, Kid?" Brenner asked me as he took a seat.
"I'm okay now. Rika just injected an antidote on my leg." I sighed as I lied down on my bed. "Now my leg feels numb."
"Hopefully you'll be back on your feet, soon." Lin said, "Since that Worm is still out there."
Just then, TheBee flew over to Brenner and started observing him closely. "Hmm…?" Brenner said. "Hey, aren't you–"
"My name's TheBee!" The ZECTer replied as he landed on Brenner's shoulder. "What's your name?"
"I'm… Captain Brenner, commander of the 12th Battalion of the Rubinelle Army." Brenner blinked.
TheBee then flew very close to Brenner's head, getting close up in his face and then nodded. "Yep, it's you! You're the one I've been looking for! So hello… aibou,"
Brenner stared at TheBee blankly before saying, "Huh?"
Stauffenburg then came rushing into sick bay and said, panting, "There you… are, TheBee… hou can't… keep running off… like that… phew!"
TheBee turned around and groaned, "Aw mou~ leave me alone already!" He flew around Brenner's head as he said, "Besides, I've found my new partner!"
"What?" Stauffenburg gasped. "You mean–"
"Can someone tell me what's going on here?" Brenner asked.
"You're gonna be a Kamen Rider like me Captain." I said.
Everyone looked to Brenner and me in disbelief as the captain said, "I–I'm gonna be… a Kamen Rider?"
"Tha~t's right Cappy! Kamen Rider TheBee to be exact!" TheBee chirped. "Ha, ha, get it?!" He laughed at his joke making all of us sweat drop.
Kabuto shook his body from side to side indicating that he was shaking his head before whispering to Koji, Rika, and I, "Sorry… TheBee tells not so great jokes. You get used to it after a while."
TheBee looked over to Kabuto and asked, "You say something, buddy?"
"Nope, didn't say anything!" Kabuto said quickly.
Real smooth Kabuto, re~al smooth…
That night, as the people of Freehaven went about their business, a familiar soldier was lurking the streets. It was the one from the Beast's forces who was actually the Tarantula Worm. "Heh, heh… Perfect. That human army is gone… which means, that my brethren now can acquire their hosts." He then threw a glow stick down a hole he climbed out of. A few seconds later, a swarm of Salis Worms came crawling out.
"It's time to feast my brethren!" The soldier said before changing form into the Tarantula Worm.
The Salis Worms all began to screech as they then ran about, attacking the homes of people, causing the entire town to awaken in fright, as they sought to acquire hosts.
"…Look, TheBee," Brenner said, hesitantly, "I don't know if I can be your partner. I mean, I have a whole battalion of men and women to lead."
"That's just it!" TheBee perked. "The kind of partner I'm looking for is someone who's good at leading people! You can still do that, you're just gonna be in a super soldier bug armor!"
Brenner looked really unsure of himself than I had ever seen him since joining up with the 12th Battalion. "I, um–"
However, suddenly, a private with a radio came rushing in. "Captain!" After stopping to salute, he said, "Sir, Freehaven is under attack! The Worm from before is attacking the village with several Salis Worms!"
"What?" Brenner asked shocked.
"Uh–oh, that's not good!" TheBee cringed.
"And Kurogasa is still out of commission for the time being." Brenner said to himself, thinking of what he should do next.
Koji sighed for a moment before saying, "Captain, permission to speak freely?"
"Granted,"
"Sir… I think you should join up with TheBee," Koji stated. "You're our commanding officer and we look to you for leadership and guidance, but you've trained us all well enough that we can handle things. And I know you'd make just as good a Kamen Rider as Kurogasa."
"Are you sure?" Brenner asked.
"I'm positive." Koji nodded firmly. "Rika will take care of Kurogasa while we take out those Worms."
Lin nodded in agreement. "I can handle leading the Wolves in battle, sir, as we clear out those Salis Worms so you can focus on the Tarantula Worm."
Brenner thought about this for a while longer until I said, "You can do it Captain. We believe in ya."
Kabuto then piped in with, "Yeah! You can do it, Cap! You and TheBee will be a great team!"
Brenner looked a bit stunned at us as his supporters for a while before chuckling saying, "Alright, you win. Let's exterminate those Worms!"
"Yippee!" TheBee shouted happily as he flew around Brenner's head three times. "We'll be great together, aibou!"
"Then you're gonna need this." Stauffenburg said as he took a device similar to a wristwatch out of his pocket.
"What is it?" Brenner asked as Stauffenburg threw the said device to him and Brenner caught it.
"It's the Rider Brace. You're gonna need that in order to transform." Stauffenburg said. "Just put it on your wrist and then when TheBee latches on, you'll transform."
Brenner nodded as he latched the device onto his left wrist. "Okay then." Looking to Lin and Koji, he then said, "Alright, Lieutenant, Staff Sergeant, let's move out!"
"Yes sir!" They nodded.
Koji and Lin had the Wolves load up the Humvees as quick as they could and rushed back to Freehaven. While they lost no tanks in their battle with the Beast, they did, unfortunately, take some damage that would keep them out of commission in the battle to come. Koji drove the lead Humvee with Lin and Brenner. When they arrived at Freehaven, they found the citizens were rounded up by Salis Worms and the Tarantula Worm whom was busy trying to decide which humans would become hosts for the Salis Worms.
"Hmmm… which of you humans would make the best hosts for my brethren…?" The Tarantula Worm mocked menacingly, his human face appearing beside him as he paced back and forth in front of the terrified humans.
"Let's get the jump on them Captain!" Koji urged.
"Right," Brenner shouted as Koji brought the Humvee to a stop, signaling the rest of them to stop as the soldiers began hopping out of the Humvees. Brenner stepped to the front of his men and pointed at the Tarantula Worm. "I'm only going to give you one chance, ugly: Surrender and withdraw from Freehaven, or my men and I will destroy you and your little friends."
"Huh?" The Tarantula Worm said, turning to him. "Who are you?"
The name's Brenner, Captain Alex Brenner, commanding officer of the 12th Rubinelle Infantry Battalion. And these are my Wolves," Brenner replied with a smirk, nodding his head over his shoulder. However, he then jabbed his thumb at himself. "But you can just call me your worst nightmare. Are you ready, TheBee!?"
"I'm ready!" TheBee said before flying around his hand and attached to the Rider Brace slanted.
Showing the brace, Brenner slanted TheBee so that he was lined with the brace and shouted, "Henshin!"
HENSHIN!
Yellow hexagons of energy came out from the Rider Brace and enveloped him until he completely donned in his armor.
It follows the black bodysuit custom. The torso armor is just as blocky like Kabuto's, but the center is decorated with several black hexagons much like a honeycomb. His shoulder armor is silver and sticks outward over his shoulders like insect wings, but the rest of his shoulder is yellow and rounded with vents on the sides. Both shoulders sport black disks, the left one decorated with a bee symbol. His arms are covered with more segmented steel, looking more like a hindrance than a held. Mounted on his left wrist his ZECTer, looking like a bee ready to fly up and sting someone. His helmet is like the others, silver steel but his faceplate is dominated by a black visor shaped like several hexagons put together with a pair of horns or antennae rising up from the top.
The Tarantula Worm gasped in disbelief. "Impossible! There're two of them now!"
"You got that right!" Koji smirked.
"Wolves, open fire on those Worms," Brenner ordered.
Immediately, the soldiers began firing on the Salis Worms as they turned their attention towards the army as the Tarantula Worm and Brenner, or now, Kamen Rider TheBee, charged towards each other. The Tarantula Worm gave a slash with the claws on its hand, but Brenner blocked them with his left arm and then punched the Worm square in the chest, knocking it backwards. "Whoa, the power I'm feeling is incredible!"
The Worm growled over the sound of gunfire and the screeching of the Salis Worms. "Peh, not bad for a start, but you'll soon go down, just like the other one!" And digging incredibly fast, he suddenly had dug underground.
"Not good…" Brenner grimaced. As he kept looking around the ground, trying to see if he could see where Tarantula was going to come up, he asked TheBee, "I don't suppose I have a special weapon like Kurogasa does as Kabuto?"
"Unfortunately, no…" TheBee said a bit sad.
"Of course," Brenner sighed as he continued to look around, until– "GAHHHH!"
The Worm attacked from right below him, sending him flying up into the air.
A moment later, he fell back on the ground. "Are you okay?" TheBee asked worriedly.
"Ugh… Yeah… just gaining a new understanding for how a soccer ball feels after being kicked around." Brenner replied.
"Looks like you're gonna have to cast off the armor."
"How do I do that?" Brenner asked as he defended himself from the Tarantula Worm's assault as it viciously pummeled at the new Rider.
"Flip my wings over me so that I see them facing me and then turn me around while shouting Cast Off!"
"Um, alright," Brenner said as he finally managed to knee the Worm, forcing it back as he finally got enough room and time to do as TheBee told him. Flipping the wings over, the gears on Brenner's outer armor began turning, loosening up the pieces. "Cast Off!" He then shouted as he turned TheBee around.
CAST OFF!
The pieces then shot off, hitting the Salis Worms in numerous explosions of green flames. Meanwhile, Koji and Lin looked to see Brenner in his Rider Form.
CHANGE: WASP!
BGM: Full Force by Ricky feat. RIDER CHIPS
In Rider form, TheBee was smaller, having discarded the bulky outer armor. The torso armor looked much like a bee's abdomen and the shoulder plates looked like white insect wings. His arms and legs sported thin armor, but nowhere near the grade of protection the previous suit hand. On his left wrist, his ZECTer had extended its stinger, looking like a wrist–mounted harpoon. His helmet was striped yellow and black, the yellow pieces resembling the face of a hornet or wasp with a large pair of black eyes. From the forehead rose, a pair of antennae and in the center of the forehead was three red stones in a triangle position.
"Heh heh… Not bad," Brenner thought as he looked himself over once or twice, causing the Tarantula Worm to sneer.
"Nice new threads, Captain!" Koji shouted before firing again at a Salis Worm he and three other soldiers were battling.
"Grrrr…" The Tarantula Worm growled, his ghost image of his human form appearing, "It'll take more just than just looks to beat me!" When his human image disappeared, he went into Clock Up mode.
"Dang…" Brenner grunted as he watched the Worm suddenly accelerate. "TheBee, how do I do the Clock Up thing?"
"There should be a Clock Up pad on the sides of your belt!"
Brenner looked down and saw the pad and quickly hit it.
CLOCK UP!
The rest of the world slowed down as Brenner accelerated to faster–than–light speed. And just in time for him, because he then had just enough time to dodge the attack from the Tarantula Worm who flew over Brenner as he dropped to the ground.
"Nice job, now let's beat him!" TheBee cheered.
"Right," Brenner shouted as he charged towards the Worm.
"Not this time, human!" Tarantula Worm shouted as he spat the same poisonous barbs at Brenner that he had Kurogasa.
"That's my line." Brenner said before he easily dodged the barbs.
"Haha, nice job, buddy!" TheBee shouted excitedly as Brenner charged towards the Worm as he continued to spit the barbs at him.
The Tarantula yelled, "Bakana, Bakana, Bakana, how can you do this?!"
"That's easy." Brenner smirked behind his mask. "I'm too fast for you." When he closed in, Brenner then stabbed the stinger of TheBee into the Worm, making sparks fly off its chest as it went flying backwards.
CLOCK OVER!
The whole world returned to normal and the Tarantula Worm was lying on the ground. "Alright, it's time for the finisher!" TheBee said.
"I agree," Brenner said with a nod. Lifting his left arm slightly to speak directly to his ZECTer, he said, "Alright, TheBee, let's set up for that Rider Kick technique Kurogasa uses."
"Sorry, but mine's different." TheBee said.
"Oh?" Brenner replied a little surprised. "What do we do, then?"
"Remember when you punched him with my stinger poking him?" TheBee asked which Brenner nodded at. "That's the finishing move. We just need to power it up more. There's a button just above my abdomen. Press it to perform Rider Sting."
"Alright, you got it." Brenner said, before finding the said button and Brenner said before pressing it, "Rider Sting!"
RIDER STING!
Green electricity began flowing up Brenner's left arm as he pulled it back for a punch. "It's time to squash this bug! AIIIl–YAHHHH," Brenner shouted as he ran towards the Worm.
"No! No! NOOOO," The Tarantula Worm shouted as he tried to escape by digging, but it was too late.
Brenner dived down the hole the Worm dug and stabbed TheBee's stinger into him, driving him underground before popping up from underneath with the Tarantula Worm on his stinger.
And then…
*BOOOOOOOOOOOM!*
The Worm exploded in green flames as Brenner turned away, retracting TheBee's stinger. "And that's that…"
End BGM
"Whoa…" Koji said in awe.
Lin, too, stopped fighting, leaving the last two or three Salis Worms to be destroyed by the rest of their soldiers. "Incredible… The captain really was meant to be partnered with that ZECTer…"
"Yeah, no kidding," Koji said before Brenner turned TheBee around and flipped his wings back. TheBee then detached from the brace and the armor glowed and broke into energy hexagons, being absorbed into the bracer.
Both Lin and Koji saluted Brenner, Brenner returning the salutes. "Nice work out there, Boss. It looks like you really were born to be one of these Kamen Riders." Koji said.
"Thanks, Staff Sergeant." Brenner said.
"So whaddya think?" TheBee asked, flying in front of Brenner's face. "Is being a Kamen Rider awesome or awesome?"
Brenner chuckled as he replied, "Definitely the latter, my little friend."
"Yippee!" TheBee cheered, flying around Brenner's head.
"Alright, Kurogasa, how does the leg feel now?" Rika asked as she came to check on me again.
"It feels better." I said. "I'm starting to get feeling back in my leg."
She smiled at me as she checked a few things off on her clipboard. "Good."
Just then, Koji, Lin, and Brenner came back into the room. "Guess who is back with a victory under their belt!?"
"Oh you're back!" Rika noticed.
"Yep," TheBee shouted happily as he flew off Brenner's head and over to Rika. "And Alex and I kicked that Worm's butt!"
"You did?" I asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, you should've seen it man!" Koji said excited. "It was so far outta sight!"
I looked to Koji in surprise as Lin and Brenner looked to him confused. "Koji… did you just speak… disco?"
"Huh?" Koji blinked before he realized what he said, "Oh uh…" he said embarrassed, laughing nervously while rubbing the back of his neck.
Lin and Brenner looked to one another before going back to Koji, "Disco?" Lin asked.
"Like, the music from the 1970's?" Brenner then added for clarification.
"Uh–huh," I nodded. "He was quite the ladies' man back when the world was all green and full of life.
"And he was always dressed in that style back then: bellbottoms, platform shoes, newsboy caps or fedora and this gold male sign medallion," Rika said with a smirk. "He's always dancing up to the girls, showing off his moves for them."
"O–Oi, you two…" Koji sweat dropped.
"Is that right?" Brenner smirked.
"Oh, I'm gonna have a field day making jokes about you." Lin smirked too.
"Aw man, not you guys too!" Koji whined before all of us laughed.
Fenikkusumaru: There you have it guys! Our newest Kamen Rider is none other than Captain Brenner as Kamen Rider TheBee!
Serpentdragon: And he has a first name now! XD
Fen: Yep. Alexander Brenner.
SD: Yeah, we realized they never gave him a first name in the game, so we made one up!
Fen: Are we gonna give names for the other cannon characters too?
SD: It would make sense. Lin lacks a first name and Will has no last name.
Fen: True, true. Well, we'll think of something for them eventually.
SD: Right. Anyway, that covers it for this chapter of Kabuto, but I wanna take a moment to let you guys know that on my page, there are three other Kamen Rider stories Fen and I working on: "Kamen Rider W: Ace Attorney/Detective," a crossover of W and Phoenix Wright, as well as two original stories: "Kamen Rider Funk & Soul" and "Kamen Rider Access."
Fen: Yeah, go ahead and read them if you get the chance.
SD: Well, that about covers it. So, until next time, guys!
Fen: Review, and have a good day!
