A/N: Hey guys, I'm back with another new chapter. Updates have been slow due to school starting to kick into high gear so I probably won't have time to post anytime soon (or write, for that matter. Damn exam period...).
Anyhow, episode 4's here and it's probably better than what I've been putting for my fillers so far. Fever and boredom combined give you very interesting ideas. This time, it's Keita taking the spotlight! Read on to see!
Ladies and gentlemen, 2 months in planning and production, Kamen Rider Gakuen 4.
Episode 4: Memories and Promises
A young, brown-haired girl sobbed softly as she buried her face into her knees, her body curled up in a ball in a corner of the playground.
Then a hand holding a blue handkerchief extended towards her. On contact with the fabric, the girl looked up, her eyes red, puffy and still streaming with tears.
"Why are you crying? " the owner of the handkerchief, revealed to be a black-haired boy of around 7 years old, asked.
The girl looked at him warily through her tears. "You're not running away from me?"
"Why would I run away? Come on, don't cry now," the boy now crouched down beside the girl, lightly nudging her arm with the handkerchief. Accepting it, the girl began wiping her eyes.
"My dad always said that a man shouldn't let girls cry, and a man needs to lend a shoulder for a girl if she does," the boy said, now sitting down cross-legged.
The girl gave a sniff, then giggled softly.
"You're smiling now!" the boy cheered. Then he looked at the girl closely. "You're pretty."
"R-Really?" the girl seemed both surprised and unused to such compliments.
"Yeah. And you seem nice. Can we be friends?" the boy continued.
"Friends?"
"Uh-huh. Friends. My name is Tachibana Keita," the boy, now known to actually be a young Keita, extended a hand to the girl.
The girl hesitated, then accepted the handshake. "My name is Kurenai Misaki," she said. The girl was actually a young Misaki
"That's a pretty name. Can I call you Misa-chan?" Keita asked.
Misaki nodded. "Then I'll call you Kei-chan," she half-whispered.
"Alright!" Keita called cheerfully. "We'll be best friends, Misa-chan. I just know it!"
Misaki stared at the young boy, who was grinning innocently at her, then gave a smile. "Okay," she nodded.
Keita stood up and offered a hand to Misaki. "Do you want to play on the swings? I'll push you," he offered.
Misaki nodded, then took Keita's offered hand. Pulling her up, Keita led her over to the swings. The two newly-formed friends laughed as Keita swung Misaki, lightly at first, but pushed progressively harder, their laughter resounding happily through the playground and park.
"Kei-chan!"
The call roused Keita from his reverie, nearly causing him to drop his cutlery from the jump. Misaki frowned at him from across the table, idly tapping her new transmitter given by Takuya.
"You alright? What were you thinking about?" she asked.
"When a man daydreams, it's either about money or girls," Takuya informed sagely as he cut into their conversation.
Misaki frowned. "Kei-chan's not like you, Takuya," she retorted.
Takuya gripped his chest like he was shot. "Right…in the ego…" he groaned.
Keita just chuckled at the two before answering his friend's question.
"It was nothing. Just remembering that first day at the playground," he smiled at Misaki.
"First day-oh, that," Misaki smiled nostalgically. "Why bring it up all of a sudden?"
"Just reminiscing. Plus, I think it was worth remembering," Keita smiled wider, causing Misaki's cheeks to become dusted with a shade of pink.
"Honestly, Kei-chan…"
Takuya glared jealously between the two as the conversation occurred, finally swinging his chopsticks between them and effectively ruining the two's moment.
"Wait up. Mind being a little more subtle in your flirting in front of your still single senior?" he emphasized the last part.
Keita realized what he had been doing. "Oh…sorry, Takuya-san. And I didn't mean anything else, Misa-chan, really," he apologized.
"Well, it's Takuya's fault that he's still single," Shinji pointed out as he ate another spoonful of rice.
"Okay, that's just hitting below the belt!" Takuya was about to stand up in an angry protest, but was interrupted by Shinji flicking his forehead painfully.
"Shut up. At least let me eat lunch in peace without chattering," he snapped.
"Then move somewhere else…" Takuya muttered begrudgingly under his breath, but he was smart enough to make sure Shinji didn't hear. He was the one who forced the stoic teen to sit with him during lunch regularly, after all.
"And you're being a jerk again, Shinji," Misaki pointed out.
Shinji just scooped up another spoonful and ate silently.
Takuya soon cooled down about the comment, however, and resumed the conversation.
"So, tell me again how you guys met?"
Keita scratched his head, pondering on how much to tell Takuya, before finally settling on "We met as kids in a playground."
"Just like that? C'mon, you're hiding something," Takuya probed. Keita inwardly sighed at his senior's persistence.
Just before Takuya could probe further, the bell rang for the next class.
"Saved by the bell. Come on, Misa-chan," Keita gulped down the rest of his tea and slipped off, Misaki following him with a mouth full of onigiri.
"Crap! I still gotta finish this!" Takuya realized that his lunch had gone mostly uneaten, and now frantically shoveled pork shogayaki and rice into his mouth.
Shinji just swallowed his last mouthful of food, said 'Gochisousama deshita', and walked off with his empty lunchbox, Takuya attempting to call him back to wait and swallow a mouthful of food at the same time, making him choke. Shinji sighed and slammed a palm at his back, unblocking Takuya's windpipe.
"Don't eat and talk at the same time…" Shinji muttered.
Meanwhile, a shadow walked into the depth of a cave.
"It's time for you to take action…" the shadow spoke with a calm tone.
In response, two figures landed from the roof and knelt in front of the shadow.
"Target this girl, and draw out Blade," the shadow commanded, flinging a piece of paper into the wet rocky ground. In the vague sunlight, the paper was revealed to be Misaki's photograph. The two figures rose and exited. Chuckling darkly, the shadow slowly walked off deeper into the cave, vanishing into the darkness.
After lessons, Misaki clicked the last clasp of her bag closed and leapt out of her seat, skipping off out of the classroom.
"Misa-chan! Aren't you going for club activities today?" Keita called, careful not to refer to the Kamen Rider Club directly.
"I've got something to do today. Could you help me explain to Shinji? Pleeeeeaaaaassssseeee?" Misaki pleaded with prayer hands and doe eyes.
"But-" Keita's protest was cut off by Misaki before he even had a chance to finish.
"Arigato, Kei-chan~ See you tomorrow~" And with that, Misaki was gone.
Keita stood there with his hand raised and his mouth opening and closing soundlessly. After a minute of that, he sighed in resignation.
"I'd better get something to eat before I go see Shinji-san…" he moaned and plodded out of the classroom, imagining Shinji's reaction to Misaki's absence.
Misaki walked quickly out of the school gates, then started to break into a slow jog. Her breathing became slightly heavier, her breath forming light vapor in the cool autumn air.
"Gotta get home, gotta get home," she sang to herself as she rounded a bend, passing an alley.
Without warning, several chains shot out of the dark gap, clinking as they wrapped around Misaki's wrists and ankles.
"What?" Misaki struggled against the metal bonds, but she was dragged into the alley with a withdrawal of the chains. Falling heavily on the ground, she found herself unable to see due to the sudden change in light. As her eyes adjusted, she heard a voice speak up.
"Well, wasn't that easy? This new Blade's not very good at protecting his girl, is he?" A male voice sounding to be belonging to that of a man in his early twenties rang out. A hoarse growl was the only sound afterwards.
"Right. Not a talker. Anyway, she should see us by now," the voice once again spoke. Misaki's eyes had also finally adjusted to the darkness, seeing two figures standing over her. In the little sunlight that penetrated gap between the roof of the buildings, Misaki made out one of the figures to be a humanoid bird. His body appeared to be all black, with clawed feet and hands with a long blade mounted on each arm. Skeletal wings extended out of its back, though Misaki doubted that it was simply for decoration.
The other figure was stranger. Its humanoid body was mostly black, but its chest was a blood red and similarly-colored muscles bulged under the black plating. Several red appendages resembling legs of an insect were mounted in its left shoulder, while a head that seemed like a centipede to Misaki was mounted in its right, in such a way that it seemed to be peeking out from behind it. In its right hand were several chains that connected to the ones that restrained Misaki.
The black bird humanoid crouched and held Misaki's face up by the chin.
"Hmm…I can see why Blade wants this girl. She is definitely a beauty. The Master picked good bait," The bird humanoid was now revealed to be the one talking all along. The other humanoid nodded silently.
Undead…he's after Kei-chan? Misaki's mind clicked as she was lifted by the bird monster, the chains loosening. Seeing this opening, Misaki took it.
She swung her arms, slipping her hands out from the chain cuffs. Raising a hand to the air, she opened her mouth.
"K-Mmph!" She barely had a chance to shout before the chains bound her once again, now gagging her as well.
"Now, now. The game won't be fun anymore if you do this," the bird monster teased. "Bad girls need a time out."
And with a strike across her face, Misaki's vision went black.
Keita stuffed the last of his sandwich into his mouth, washing it down with the remaining of his bottle of iced tea. Sighing, he stood up and began to head for the Rider Hatch.
"It's either I get hit by Shinji-san or scolded by Takuya-san. Or Misa-chan gets angry at me," Keita sighed. "Man…"
Keita took a deep breath, then walked off to the Rider Hatch.
As he crossed the field in the school grounds, heading to the old school building. Just as he stepped into the grass, he felt a presence behind him and dived out of the way just as a figure swooped down on him.
"What-" Keita could hardly recover when a blade swung down at him, the silver edge glinting dangerously in the sunlight. With a yelp, he rolled out of the way, into the range of a chain that whipped him across the face. Keita felt his cheek burn red-hot at the cut and the fresh warm blood flowing from the gash. Quickly picking himself up, he grabbed the chain that came at him again. He now got a good view of his attackers. The chain-wielder was a humanoid with black plating on its red-muscled body. Its head had no facial features, instead having a spiked silver band running vertically around its barbed head. Two red mandibles extended out of where its mouth would be. Its chest was a bright blood red, with black trimmings tracing out contours of pectoral and abdominal muscles. Four red centipede legs extended out of its left shoulder while a black centipede's head with red mandibles was mounted on its right shoulder. It had a black belt with a spiked oval buckle positioned diagonally. Its right leg was black and had silver braces that connected his knee and ankle through a thin silver wire while its left leg was red with black whirls. Red spikes extended and curved out its left foot.
The other attacker landed and folded its skeletal wings. It was a bird humanoid. It had an eagle's head that was pitch black. Its black armor was elaborate and had silver studs all over it. Its right chest and upper arm was wound with dull gold, as was its right thigh. Each of its lower arms had clunky braces that mounted long, wickedly sharp blades to them. The right brace was black and larger, featuring a larger black blade. The left was sleeker, but had a sharper blade. Its knees were capped with skull designs and dull gold spikes extended and curved out of its ankles and feet.
"Blade," the bird humanoid greeted with an air of someone meeting an old friend.
"Undead…" Keita grunted, recognizing the two. "A Category 10 and Jack at the same time?"
"Oh, I'm sure you're more than capable of handling us," the Eagle Undead, also known as the Jack of Spades, replied amicably. Then a dangerous edge cut into his tone. "So we're giving you a handicap for us."
The Eagle Undead signaled and the Centipede Undead, known as the 10 of Hearts, immediately dragged Keita towards him, spitting a green slime at his face. Screaming in pain, Keita fell to the floor, instantly feeling his whole body heat up.
"Fever poison's surprisingly useful if you know how to have fun with it," the Category Jack commented. Then he knelt down beside Keita's writhing body. "We don't want to kill you. The Master doesn't want that. So I'll give you a proposal," he chuckled as he pulled out a clear holographic notebook. Opening it, he brought up a page that featured Keita and the information of him as Blade.
Keita's eyes widened at the sight of the notebook. "That's-!"
"Correct. We have your little girlfriend. I must admit, she gave us quite some trouble. Oh, don't worry, she's alive, but I can't guarantee she'll stay that way," the Eagle Undead explained.
Keita felt his blood boil, for reasons other than his rapidly rising temperature. "You…"
"So I propose one thing: a game," the Undead continued, standing up. "This poison in your body is also in your friend, and will kill you within the next three hours. So you have exactly that time to find us and save your girl, and then retrieve the antidote. Of course, you'll have to defeat both me and Centipede here to do it. If you were to fail, both you and the girl die. So it's a fight to the death," the Category Jack finished with an air of vindictive glee.
Keita tightened his fist, glaring venomously up at the pair of Undead.
"I'll take your silence as consent. Remember, your three hours start now," the Undead dropped the notebook in front of Keita and stood up, turning to leave. The Centipede Undead stared down at the boy for a moment longer, then followed his partner.
Keita tried to get up, but the fever had weakened him too much. He reached out a hand in a desperate attempt to grab the Undead.
"Misa…chan…" he managed to groan before his mind went blank.
Keita awoke to find himself staring at a gray concrete ceiling. Groaning, he tried to sit up, but the burning ache that wracked his body made him crash into the bed.
"You're awake?" Keita turned his head in the direction of a sudden voice and saw Shinji and Takuya beside his bed. Takuya was sitting beside him while Shinji leaned against a wall.
"Shinji-san…Takuya-san…" Keita spoke up, but his throat felt like it was wrapped in sandpaper after swallowing cinnamon.
"Don't talk. You'll just waste energy," Takuya advised.
"What happened? We found you like this after we detected a signal in the school," Shinji demanded.
Then the memories of what had happened prior came crashing back down on Keita. "They've got Misa-chan!" he shouted.
That got Takuya and Shinji's alarm bells ringing. "Who?" Shinji asked.
Keita swallowed to soothe his parched throat, then continued, "Undead. Category Jack and Category 10. They have Misa-chan."
Shinji signaled to Takuya, who darted out of the hospital bay. Meanwhile, Shinji himself stepped over to Keita.
"Rest now. That fever of yours is getting worse," he said, staring down at his still struggling junior.
"No, you guys don't get it. The Undead, they poisoned me and they have Misa-chan hostage. They'll kill her in three hours," Keita protested anxiously.
Shinji stared down at the boy for a second. "We heard you the first time. But given your condition, you can't fight even if you went. Just rest," he replied.
"But-" Keita was cut off by Shinji shoving him back to bed and walking out the door.
"Got anything?" Shinji asked Takuya, who was squinting at the screen.
"Hold up. I'm scanning for Misaki-chan's transmitter and we'll get a hit in about…now," Takuya grinned as a spot indicated in the screen pulsed, pointing out a concentration of Undead energy. "Point F95, that old warehouse a kilometer from here."
"Alright. Continue scans and I'll go investigate-" Shinji was cut off by the sound of a door slamming. Whirling around, he just managed to see Keita grab the Blay Buckle and charge out the door of the Hatch.
"Keita!" Shinji yelled as he ran for the door.
"That kid…" Takuya sighed as he also grabbed his Driver, preparing to go, but a beep from the computer stopped him. "Whoa, hold up," he called to Shinji as he saw what was on the monitor. Shinji went over and cursed at the information displayed.
"Great. Now what do we do?"
The first thing Misaki noticed was that she was having a fever. Her body was hot, and it hurt to open her eyes. Her mouth was dry and her throat parched. She tried lifting her head, only to find it bound to a pillar by a chain that wound around her jaw, effectively gagging her as well. Shifting her arms and legs, she found her entire body bound by a liberal length of chain, a near cocoon that covered her entire torso and clasped her to the pillar. Misaki's mind slowly clicked back to the events prior.
Undead…she thought to herself.
"Ah…awake already?"
The cool male voice made Misaki's head snap back up, the restraining chain cutting into the corners of her mouth and drawing blood. The Eagle Undead chuckled at the gasp of pain from the girl, walking up to her.
"Now, is that chain really necessary? A gag would serve just as well," he said, addressing his partner. The Centipede Undead rumbled and nodded slightly. Taking that as a signal, the Category Jack sliced the chain right off. Just as Misaki opened her mouth to shout, a wad of cloth was stuffed inside, gagging her again.
"Now, now. Just be a good little princess and wait for your prince's rescue. He's still got two hours left," the Eagle Undead chided playfully. Misaki turned her face away from him in disgust, her line of sight instead falling on the Centipede Undead. What she saw made her eyes widen in realization.
Kei-chan…you can't come… Misaki thought to herself as she clenched her eyes shut to block out the sight of the two Undeads.
Keita dashed behind the building and into the forest, crashing through the undergrowth as he struggled to focus his eyesight. Finally, the trees cleared and revealed a hidden building amongst them. Pushing open the door, Keita poured light into the garage, running over to a particular vehicle covered by a navy blue tarp and yanking it off, revealing a silver and blue motorcycle. The windshield was blue and shaped in the spades symbol, with a red seat and yellow headlights. Quickly mounting the motorcycle and putting on a blue helmet, Keita revved the engine and pulled out of the garage.
"Misa-chan…Wait for me!"
Shinji and Takuya took the same path behind the building and rushed into the garage, only to find the blue tarp in a heap on the floor.
"Tsk…" Shinji ran a hand through his hair, gritting his teeth.
"We better head out," Takuya quickly said, tossing a red helmet to Shinji and putting on a black one of his own. Shinji followed him and both pulled off tarps of the matching color, revealing the Machine Tornader and the Auto Vajin. Mounting their bikes, the two pulled out of the garage too.
"You got a lock on the location?" Shinji shouted.
"Yup," Takuya tapped the dashboard of the Auto Vajin, bringing up a screen showing a red pulsing dot and two arrows colored red and gold representing the two.
"Then let's go. That idiot had better not get himself killed now…" Shinji turned to face the front and accelerated.
The Eagle Undead idly kicked a barrel aside as he strolled restlessly around the warehouse. "Blade's not being very punctual, eh? Or did he go belly-up from the poison already?" he wondered aloud for Misaki to hear. The girl just swallowed her response and continued to strain against her metal bindings.
"Forget it. Centipede's chains won't break so easily. Unless, of course, you're a Rider…" the Eagle Undead placed his face near to Misaki, making her cringe from the proximity.
"The Master will be pleased, won't he, Centipede? Blade will die today," the Category Jack continued, the Centipede Undead growling in agreement.
"You really like to listen to yourself talk, huh?"
The Eagle Undead stopped at that and turned to the door. Keita stood at the open door, leaning against the frame. Misaki gasped and screamed for him to run, but all that came out were muffled sounds.
"Ah, Blade," the Undead spread out his arms. "You're later than I expected, was the handicap for our game too much?"
"Far from it. Now let Misa-chan go. I can take you and your partner," Keita growled as he stepped forward, nearly stumbling from the effort.
"Interesting proposition, but you've already lost the game," the Category Jack replied smoothly.
"What?" Keita turned his attention to the rest of the room. His eyes fell on Misaki, who was shaking her head, wide-eyed, despite her fever. Then he noticed the Centipede Undead. The sight made his blood freeze.
The Centipede Undead that stood in the warehouse was a hologram, a mere 3-D projection of light.
"You-!" Keita whirled to the Eagle Undead, who was now laughing maniacally.
"What did I tell you? Game over, Blade. Even if you beat me and save the girl, you won't find Centipede in time," the Undead gloated.
Gritting his teeth, Keita brought out the Blay Buckle and slotted in the Change Beetle Card.
"In that case…" Keita prepared his transformation. "I'll defeat you right here! Misa-chan, give me ten minutes!"
The Category Jack watched, amused, as Keita made the proclamation. At the same time, Keita himself flipped over the panel on the Buckle.
=TURN UP=
"Henshin!" Charging through the hologram, Blade immediately engaged the bird humanoid, but all his strikes were easily parried by the Undead's own speedy attacks with his arm blades.
"Ten minutes? Confident of our abilities, aren't we?" The Undead stabbed the Rider with his left blade, but was blocked. Making use of the opening, he swung his right blade overhead, slashing into Blade's shoulder. With a pained shout, Blade staggered back and the Undead followed up with a series of fast slashes and stabs, sending the Rider flying. Landing with a thud, Blade slowly struggled back to his feet, using his sword to prop himself up.
"You're making this boring, Blade. You can hardly stand," the Undead complained. Keita gritted his teeth and shook his head to clear his blurring vision.
"One hour left," the Undead announced as he resumed his attacks. "Ten minutes are nearly up. Is it too much for you?"
Blade just gritted his teeth under his helmet and parries the oncoming strikes, barely having the energy to move. He desperately ducked beneath the Undead's blow and rolled. His eyes fell on Misaki, who was screaming into her gag, obviously weakening.
The moment's distraction allowed the Eagle Undead to take the upper hand, launching a kick at Blade's stomach, making the Rider double over and collapse in pain.
The Undead continued to attack, sending a volley of kicks and an occasional slash on Blade's body.
"That's it…you finally broke. As expected from a weak-willed brat who couldn't even protect his friends," the Undead spat out the last word with disgust in his tone.
"It's surprising how you managed to seal so many of us," the Category Jack continued, aiming another few more kicks at Blade's chest. "But I guess you don't actually have any skill. You just hide behind those friends of yours, don't you?"
Turning to Misaki, the Undead walked over and crouched down, grabbing her chin. "Birds of a feather flock together, you humans say. So you joined up with Blade since you're a weakling too, huh?" he chuckled at Misaki's grimace.
"Are you quite finished?"
Blade's tone, which had suddenly changed to one of cold anger, stopped the Undead in his speech.
"What?"
"I said…" Blade suddenly got up and pulled out a new card from his case. "That's enough!"
The card featured a black camel with orange, steam-engine-like humps on a pink background under a green lock. The word RECOVER was written on the side along with a hearts symbol and a number 9.
Swiping the card through, the blue hologram of the card entered Blade's chest armor.
=RECOVER=
As the AP cost counted down, Blade's armor started repairing, the dents and scratches returning to their original undamaged state. Under the armor, Keita's wounds slowly closed up, leaving him completely recovered with only the fever poison still in his system.
After the recovery, the effect of the card continued. Blade slowly turned his Rouzer towards the Undead for him to see the AP counter on the Rouzer. The AP cache, which had decreased considerably, was rapidly rising back up.
"B-bakana!" the Undead exclaimed in shock. "The Recover Camel can't renew the AP cost!"
Blade kept silent and took a centered stance. Charging forward, he quickly launched into a series of slashes, stabs and hacks, the sheer speed turning him into an indigo hurricane of swords.
The Undead felt himself getting slowly pushed back by the raw force. Even the strikes that didn't reach him sent a strong gust that sent him inching back.
"Don't you DARE insult my friends! Your fight's with me, but you brought HER into this!" Blade started screaming at his opponent, his attacks steadily increasing in ferocity.
"What's going on? He's…getting stronger?" the Undead muttered to himself as he crossed his arms to block the strikes from the Rider.
"UNFORGIVABLE!" With a mighty yell, Blade delivered a slash that sent the Category Jack flying.
"Damn…" the Undead grunted as he struggled to his feet.
"Finally," Blade announced as he flipped open his Rouzer's card holder and pulled out the Thunder Deer card, then closed the holder and opened the case on his belt, pulling out three other cards.
"That…don't tell me…" the Eagle Undead was now utterly shocked at Blade's hand.
One of the cards featured a brown-bird-of-prey with orange armor and a silver beak along with wickedly sharp claws in a red background under a green lock. The word TORNADO was written under a number 6 and a gold hearts symbol.
The second card had a red insect which resembled a cross between a ladybug and lighter. The body was red, but a silver gear ran down its back and its tail end was on fire. The background of the picture was also red and also featured a green lock. The word FIRE was under the diamonds symbol and a red 6.
The last card bore the picture of an ice-blue bear standing in its hind legs. Black studded pads covered its limbs and black cuffs encircled its wrists, ankles and neck. Its blue fur hung stiffly downwards like icicles. The background it was on was also colored an icy blue and bore a green lock. The word BLIZZARD was emblazoned under the clubs symbol and a number 6.
"Tornado Hawk…" Blade muttered as he swiped the 6 of Hearts through his Rouzer.
=TORNADO=
"Fire Fly…" He repeated the motion with the 6 of Diamonds.
=FIRE=
"Blizzard Polar…"
=BLIZZARD=
"And lastly…" Blade lifted the last card slowly. "Thunder Deer…"
=THUNDER=
As Blade lowered his stance, the Rouzer gave a new announcement as the renewed AP cost plummeted.
=EXTREME SHOT=
Blade delivered a downward slash, which conjured an arc, before quickly following up with a fiery upward slash, a diagonal slash that conjured an arc of ice, forming a six-pointed asterisk before Blade. Finally, the Blay Rouzer crackled with electricity as Blade pulled back his sword, thrusting it forward to imbue the strike with lightning and sending the attack straight for the Undead. The asterisk grew as it approached the monster and finally struck it with a magnificent explosion.
The Eagle Undead, having taken the Extreme Shot, now stood completely defeated, his armor in shambles and wings broken and hanging off his back. Falling backwards, the belt buckle on his waist opened up to reveal a bright red J and two similarly-colored spades symbols.
"Time for the sealing," Blade announced as he pulled out an empty card from his Rouzer. Tossing it at his fallen opponent, the card stabbed into the buckle and proceeded to absorb the Undead in a brilliant flash of green light. The card flew back into Blade's hands and the Rider stared at his newly-acquired addition to his Suit. The card now had a picture of a golden eagle with its wings high above its head, forming a vague spades symbol with its body. The background was sky blue, with an eagle colored light blue blending in. The lock was bronze and the gate ran diagonally behind the eagle. The word FUSION was written in red-lined gold under a gold-lined blue spades symbol and red J.
"Fusion Eagle…" Blade quickly stowed the card raced towards Misaki, cutting open her chains.
"Are you alright, Misa-chan?" Blade asked. Misaki nodded mutely. Blade nodded and immediately collapsed, reverting to Keita.
"Kei-chan!" Misaki shouted in alarm. Crouching down, she felt her friend's forehead and had to withdraw her hand from the heat.
"Guess using a combo like Extreme Shot…isn't very smart…" Keita grunted.
"Your fever's getting worse. We have to-" Misaki stopped mid-sentence as she felt her body temperature shoot up, the shock making her collapse too.
"Damn it…" Keita grunted and gnashed his teeth, but he was struggling to even move.
So this is it? Keita thought as his vision started to blur and darken. As his consciousness slipped away, he saw Misaki struggling to reach his hand, and he instinctively reached for hers too. A loud ringing sounded in his ears and he heard someone calling his name just as his vision faded.
"…ta! …eita! Keita!"
Keita opened his eyes and saw Takuya's face frowning down on him. As his mind started to recall what had happened, he realized one thing: he was still alive.
"Wha…the poison…" he started stammering.
"We got the antidote," Shinji's voice came from behind Keita and he turned to see the second-year helping Misaki to her feet. In Shinji's hands was a small test-tube
"But…how did-" Shinji cut Keita off quickly.
"We got notification just after you left," he began.
[FLASHBACK]
Takuya was about to run after Keita when the computer beeped. "Whoa, wait up," he told Shinji. Shinji went over and saw what was on the screen: two different Undead signals. One was with Misaki's transmitter signal and another, slightly weaker one was in a nearby cave.
"Great, what now?" Shinji growled.
"The weaker signal must be the Category 10," Takuya deduced.
"Noisy Girl said something about that thing having the antidote for its poison," Shinji recalled the recent lecture that Misaki had tried to give them.
"Then it's a trap," Takuya stated.
"Let's go. We need to get the antidote if Keita's gone off to save Noisy Girl," Shinji said before moving off. Takuya followed with a "Gotcha".
[END FLASHBACK]
"So we made it to the cave and found the Undead," Takuya continued the story.
[FLASHBACK]
Shinji and Takuya stopped their bikes and dismounted, facing the cave where the Undead signal originated.
"Stand by," Shinji commanded as he prepared the Alter Ring. Takuya also keyed in the code into the Faiz Phone.
=STANDING BY=
The two dashed into the cave as they transformed, Shinji's armor materializing in a flash of light while Takuya slotted the Faiz Phone into the Driver.
=COMPLETE=
The two Riders continued running until chains shot from the depths of the cave, narrowly missing them and smashing into the rocks. The Centipede Undead slowly emerged, gripping onto the chains.
"Looks like we have a hit," Agito stated.
"Let's hurry and get the antidote," Faiz replied. He removed the Phone and shifted it into the gun. "I'll distract him to give you an opening. Slice off that centipede head or whatever," he told his friend. Agito nodded as Faiz charged towards the Undead.
=SINGLE MODE=
The red tachyon lasers lit up the cave as the shots struck the Undead, allowing both Riders to gauge the monster's position. Agito slammed the left side of his belt, shifting to Storm Form in a flash of blue light. Summoning the Storm Halberd, Agito readied the blade while Faiz started grappling with the Undead.
"Hold him still!" Agito shouted.
"You try fighting him!" Faiz retorted as he dodged another chain whipping towards his face.
Faiz ducked under a chain aiming for his chest, then leapt up to avoid a low sweep by the Undead. Quickly leaping up, Faiz used his momentum to run along the cave wall and get behind the Undead, snatching his chains to bind the monster's arms.
"Do it!" he shouted to Agito.
Agito held the Storm Halberd before him and the blades unfolded. Running at the Undead, Agito aimed a strike at the shoulder, the attack severing the centipede head on the Undead's shoulder with a crunch and squelch.
The head plopped to the ground as the Undead staggered, whitish-green slime dripping viscously from the wound in large globs.
"Ew," Faiz commented as he grabbed the head and reverted to his human form. Takuya reached to his belt and pulled out two test tubes with caps on them. Flipping open the caps with his thumb, he held the mouth of the centipede head over them and pressed on a spot below the jaw. An ice-blue liquid flowed into the tubes, filling them up. Replacing the caps, Takuya put the test tubes back to the holder on his belt and tossed the centipede head aside.
"Gross," he complained as he wiped the slime from his hands onto the rocks.
"Man up. Now let's get that Undead so Keita can se-where'd he go?" Agito turned around to face the fallen Undead, but saw nothing where the Undead once was.
"He escaped, I guess. Let's go, we'll deal with that later," Takuya prompted.
Agito nodded as they both exited the cave and made their way to Keita's location.
[END FLASHBACK]
"And that brings us to present time," Takuya finished.
Misaki, who had recovered somewhat, was staring wide-eyed in awe. "Wow…"
"But the bad news is that we still have an Undead on the loose. We need to track it down," Shinji pointed out.
"Oh yeah…on it," Takuya was about to initiate a remote scan, but a thump was heard from the door of the warehouse.
The four turned to see two figures at the doorway. But it seemed as if one was limp and held by his companion by the neck. The mystery figure flung his companion into the warehouse. Out of the glare, the Centipede Undead's unconscious body came into view.
"The heck?!" Takuya yelped while Misaki gasped in shock.
"Blade," the silhouette standing at the doorway spoke up, pointing at Keita. "You may seal him now."
"Wha…" Keita inspected what he could see of the mystery helper through the glare of the setting sunlight streaming in. The figure was obviously not human, as seen from the antennae from its head. Its right arm and leg also had many spikes protruding out of them, along with clawed hands.
"Who are you?" Keita demanded, feeling a chill run down his spine.
"Hey, Shinji," Takuya whispered. Shinji turned his ear towards his friend, but kept his eyes on the mystery figure.
"That thing's not normal. I'm detecting major Undead energy levels from him," Takuya informed, showing Shinji the screen of his Faiz Phone, which listed the diagnostics of the figure.
"A Royal Club avenging the Eagle Undead?" Shinji asked, but Takuya shook his head.
"His energy levels are higher than that. I don't know what can give such crazy levels," he replied.
Meanwhile, the figure was replying to Keita's question. "All you need to know is that I'm someone who wants the Undead sealed," he said.
Keita narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but opened the card case on his still-equipped belt anyway. Pulling out an empty Rouze card, he flung it at the open seal of the immobile Centipede Undead. The Undead was instantly absorbed into the card.
Catching the card that shot back towards him, Keita stowed it without bothering a glance, keeping a firm gaze on the mystery figure.
"Time for me to go. I can assure you this won't be the last time we meet," the figure spoke up, turning around. With a leap, he vanished among the buildings.
"Wait!" Keita charged out of the warehouse, but the figure was long gone. The other three followed him out of the building.
"He escaped," Keita let out a 'Tsk'.
"Any idea what that was, Noisy Girl?" Shinji asked.
Misaki didn't even bother with correcting Shinji this time. "No idea. I need to look up on this," she replied, shaking her head.
Takuya stretched his hands above his head. "Well, that's a problem for another day. We'll look into this next time, but you guys need to go back home and rest," he said, referring to Misaki and Keita.
"Right." Although he received the antidote, Keita was still acutely aware of his fatigue.
"Let's head back to the school to pick up our stuff," Shinji said.
"Before that," Misaki interrupted. She turned and grabbed Keita, pulling his arm to her chest. Keita blushed at the feeling of Misaki's body against his arm.
"Wait…Misa-chan…" Keita stammered. Misaki just smiled up at him. Going on tiptoes, she planted a kiss on his cheek.
"As thanks for saving me," Misaki said after pulling away, giving her usual grin and a wink. Keita felt his temperature rise again and stars pop out in front of his eyes.
Takuya, meanwhile, had a contorted expression like he had constipation. "Hold it! Why don't Shinji and I get something too?" he protested.
"Because it's Takuya," Misaki stated simply.
"I don't want her doing that," Shinji added.
"W-Wait! What-" Takuya sputtered in protest. Ignoring him, Shinji walked towards the Machine Tornader while Misaki dragged Keita off to the Blue Spader.
"Hurry up or we'll leave you behind," Shinji called.
Takuya just sighed and plodded towards the Auto Vajin, his head hung weakly.
As the Kamen Rider Club rode off, mysteries remain unsolved, and questions remain unanswered. Who sent the Undead? Who is the mysterious person helping Blade? And how is he connected to Blade? For now, the Riders will continue fighting, in search of these answers.
A/N: And that concludes episode 4! Now, to sum up here:
-Keita's real protective of his friends, especially Misaki *hint hint*
-The Undead are working under the orders of someone else, just like the Orphnoch. But no, they are not affiliated in any way...yet
-A mysteriously powerful Undead's offering help to the KRC. Care to guess who? (Trust me, you'll never get it)
And this last part is a preview of what's gonna happen!
Next time on Kamen Rider Gakuen:
The KRC encounter a new threat in the form of the Imagin. But who is this new girl they find? And what is her connection to the mysterious Den-Liner?
Episode 5: The Time-travelling Train
Keep a lookout of episode 5 coming soon!
