SHINJI

Shinji flew through the night with the blinding speed of an eagle. Or at least that was what it felt like.

In reality, he was tearing through the silent of the night on his trusty scooter. It had mysteriously appeared right at the gate of Atori when he was on his way out, fully functional. He had no idea how that happened; he had left it at an abandoned alley, broken, before a crazy man with a gun started shooting at him. Regardless, he hopped on it almost instantly, glad that he had a ride away from the café and its eccentric owner.

Taking a glimpse at how his life could've turned out differently wasn't quite the pleasant thrill. He saw, through Sanoko's eyes, battles he involuntarily fought in. What was it called again… ahh right. The Rider War. He was a different person, well, still as lame as ever but he had terrifying powers.

He was called a Kamen Rider, and the cool part was he saved the lives of innocents from monsters of the Mirror World. In fact, he made a contract with one of them, a red fire-breathing dragon, and gained the power of Ryuki. He had always wanted to do something great in his life and being a Rider gave him the opportunity.

The not-so-cool part, however, was where he had to fight to the death with other Riders, who for some reason, seemed to be more powerful than he was. He only got bits and pieces of those battles, but they're more than he could handle. He witnessed pains, sufferings and deaths, all for the sake of being the sole victor in which a single wish would be granted. Like Sanoko said, the war was a ploy by a man named Kanzaki Shiro, who had pit the Riders against each other for his own personal agenda.

But the worst part? His own death. He had refused to partake in the bloody war and held on to his ideal that Riders should fight for the sake of others and not for themselves. Ultimately, his belief helped brought an end to the war but it had cost him his own life. Granted, time was reversed and none of that ever took place to begin with, and he has lived for more than ten years without knowing how different things could have been. The horror of that realisation, however, was what sent him bolting through the doors of Atori,

Shinji wasn't the bravest man he ever known and he had long time made peace with that. He was a thirty years old bachelor living in a tiny apartment, working on the same job for over a decade and rode a scooter that broke down more than it got him anywhere. There were times where he dreamt of being a hero, upholding justice and made a difference in the world. He liked it when it was a dream but not so much as an alternate reality.

A strange aching sensation tugged at the corner of his heart as the thought of Yui came across his mind. He remembered her as a close friend, someone he cared for deeply, which was strange considering the fact that they have never met in this timeline. He had kept her picture close-by because he felt some sort of connection to her and now he knew why.

She had saved his life, befriended him and aided him in hopes of stopping her brother, Shiro. She was the reason behind the war, but that was against her will. She convinced him that her life alone was not worth the bloodshed, and all the killings would have made her a murderer as well. Shiro had honoured her dying wish at last and had that never happened, Shinji would have remained dead.

He shook his head hard, hoping it would somehow uncluttered the mess of thoughts and memories scattered across. He could no longer dismiss them as hallucinations, as much as he wanted to. Part of him wish he never knew, for now that he did, he could no longer return to his life as the same man he was before. Sanoko had only shown him fragments of that year but he felt as though he had lived through each and every battle once again, experiencing its horror. He could feel the weight of the saber in his hand as he sliced through the monsters, the heaviness of his armor, and the fragility of life as he watched the Riders perished one after another. Some had been his friends and allies while most have tried to kill him but still, losing one's life in a fight to the death was something he could never agree to.

Then there was Ren, another Rider whom he wasn't quite fond of in the beginning (he was an absolute bully!) but gradually (and grudgingly) came to respect. Ren had fought in the war to save someone dear to him as well, much like Shiro, but unlike him, never had quite the heart to take the lives of others. In the vision, Shinji entrusted him to stop Shiro right before he died, and he figured Ren must have been quite the friend for him to do that.

With most of the Riders revived, he wondered what happened to Ren. He couldn't recall if their paths ever crossed again, but hopefully the guy got his well-deserved happy ending. He pondered on that thought for a bit and hadn't noticed the black cat standing in the middle of road, its yellow eyes staring intensely at Shinji. He swerved his scooter to the left just in time and crashed into the dumpster, his face buried deep among rotten pepperoni pizzas. His ride had skittered to a stop just a few feet away and he heard the sound of broken mirrors and clanging metals. The foul stench of garbage bags infiltrated his nostrils, and he held his breath just to keep himself from gagging.

Shinji slowly got to his feet and checked for bruises. Except that he now smelled as bad as the sewer, he was pretty much unscathed. His poor scooter, on the other hand, had a different story. It was mostly intact, but its rear mirror was smashed to pieces during the impact and the front wheel was bent at an awkward angle.

Great. Just great. Shinji sighed and cursed silently under his breath. He felt as though his luck had worked extra hard against him and took pleasure in his misery. He hauled the wreckage and slowly made his way home on foot. It was a starless night, the trees still and the streets empty. Soon he lost track of time, drowned in his own troubled thoughts as he recalled the words spoken to him by the mysterious man in black.

'Soon, the Mirror World will be reopened. And it will come for you. Be ready then, if you don't want to die,' he had said. It didn't make any sense to Shinji back then but now that he knew about his altered past, he wondered what did the guy meant about the reopening of the Mirror World.

It's not possible, he told himself. He absently placed his hand inside his pocket and felt a solid object. His hand shivered uncontrollably as he pulled out the black rectangular cardholder he had found earlier in his apartment. He had forgotten all about it in the ensuing chaos but now, staring at it, he knew exactly what it was.

Each of the Riders had one. It contained the source of their powers, and losing it meant certain death. He forced his trembling fingers to get it together, and slowly, he slipped out the first card in the Advent Deck. The CONTRACT card. He closed his eyes and images of him, a younger him, wielding the same card to acquire the power of the Red Dragon surfaced in his mind.

If the Rider War truly was over and his life rewritten, then how did these came to be? It shouldn't have exist, perished along with that reality. Heck, he wasn't even supposed to remember any of it. He was supposed to live an ordinary life, free of monsters and anything supernatural. Instead, bunch of crazies rained down on him and washed away the bliss of ignorance like a sick practical joke.

He inhaled deeply and continued on his journey home. He needed a good night's sleep more than anything. His body was at the brink of exhaustion, his eyelids heavy and his footsteps sluggish. He thought about the girl who rescued him, Natsumi. She too was a Kamen Rider, there was no mistaking it. But how? She too had mentioned about some great upcoming danger but conveniently left out any further explanation. He wished he had heard from her, but after leaving him at the doorsteps of Atori she had vanished without trace. He never even got to say thank you for saving his life. He thought about her eyes and how much sadness it carried. Whatever her story was, it can't be good.

Later that night, after what seemed like endless hours of marching through the streets, he was comfortably tucked in his bed, eager to rest away his fatigue. He stared up the ceiling; his gaze followed the movements of the shadows from the trees swinging in the breeze outside his window. As he dozed off, he fell right into another nightmare.

#####

Shinji stood at the very edge of a wide chasm, its bottom pitch black. He was in the middle of a barren wasteland; no signs of living things were in proximity. Rocks covered in sands formed the body of the terrain, and large, jagged stone mountains encircled the four corners. The moon shone brightly in the night sky, yet it failed to the lit up the dark pit. From the looks of it, he guessed the bottom must be several thousand feet below the earth and he was only a step away from the most epic fall of the century. He quickly took several steps backward, away the opening, when a voice spoke.

'We meet at last, Kido Shinji.'

It sounded like a thousand hissing snakes, each trying to go a pitch higher than the others. He imagined a giant nest of serpents waiting underneath, eager to strike at the unfortunate fool who dared to take a peek. The hair in his back stood straight up as the voice echoed through the walls of the chasm, like amplified subwoofers.

'He.. hello? Who's there?' he shouted, trying to sound brave but his voice cracked with fear. Luckily no one else was around to his face turned pale white.

'You have heard of me, I believe that much. My son is eager to make your world another offering to me, as I rise to bring an end to life and existence itself.'

Shinji gulped. He pictured each word spoken was dripping with venom, as it pierces him it poisoned his body and soul. 'Erm.. you have to be a little more specific. I'm not good at recognising voices.'

The voice chuckled, a deep laughter like the sounds of boiling acid. 'You are an interesting one. Such a shame the world you lived in will come to an end, and along with it so will you. Otherwise, you would make for an entertaining pet.'

'Uhmm, no thanks. So, who are you again?'

'Do you not know my name?'

'I wouldn't unless you tell me.' Shinji was really starting to get annoyed. On with it already!

'I am Armageddon, God of Eternal Darkness.'

'Oh.'

'Oh? Just oh?' Armageddon seemed to be taken aback. 'Shouldn't you cower in fear of my presence?'

'Well… for one thing, I can't see you. Maybe if you show yourself.'

Truth was, Shinji was scared down to his bones. He remembered the dreadful dream he had the night before. The two strange men he saw by the beach had mentioned that very same name. So did the loon Kaito and Natsumi. It took everything he got to push aside a nervous breakdown.

'I have yet to possess a physical form but it's only a matter of time. It matters not to you, for you won't live to see it.'

Shinji racked his brain for a witty comeback. Something told him that the moment he let the conversation be in favour of Armageddon, he would sank in despair. 'Well, good for you. Let me know if you need any help. I'll be on my way now. See ya!' He turned to make a move but his legs wouldn't budge. He tugged at them but they were heavy as lead. Panic rose within him. He shut his eyes and willed himself to wake up from slumber. It didn't work.

The god bellowed with laughter that sounded like the rumbling of volcano. 'There is no escaping me. When I fully wake, all life and existence shall perish. I am eager to know as to how a petty Rider such as yourself is going to make a difference.'

Shinji could feel the earth began to tilt beneath his feet. He opened his eyes and saw the sky began to shift clockwise. He felt a tug and soon realised that he was being sucked into the pool of blackness. He struggled to resist, but the more he tried the stronger the pull became.

'You cannot win, Kido Shinji. Regardless of the choice you make, you cannot save this world, let alone yourself.' Armageddon released another dose of laughter, each malevolent boom rattled deep into Shinji's bones. He felt as though his skin would fall right off him, leaving his skeletal frame to quiver in fear. He turned and saw that again, he was at the very edge of the empty void and in mere seconds it would swallow him whole.

'I don't know what you're talking about! Leave me out of this!' he screamed, desperate. As he fell, he could no longer see anything but darkness.

#####

Shinji jolted upright, his body covered in sweat. He was back in his room but he could still hear Armageddon's evil laughter ringing at the back of his ears. He kicked aside his warm blanket, rushed to the bathroom and vomited his lungs out. He hadn't eaten anything since lunch and his stomach twist and turn with each hurl. When he was finally done, he sprayed his face with icy cool water until the nightmare was completely washed off.

Minutes later, he sank into the couch on his cramped living room. He thought of the things the God of Eternal Darkness said to him. It had promised him certain death and he could tell it wasn't just for jokes. His life had become a complete mess in just a day. Visions – memories? – of a different life, Kamen Riders, monsters and crazies trying to kill him, threats from a demon god. It was a miracle he hadn't completely lost it yet.

He took out the picture of Yui and gave it a long, hard stare. Her smile, framed eternally, was pure and innocent. His heart ached when he thought about her fate, and the fact that he wouldn't be able to see her again. When the photo first came into his possession, he immediately felt the connection with her, like he knew her somehow. Turned out he was right. He had hoped that one day, they would meet for real.

He set the picture aside and took out the Advent Deck. The more he looked at it, the angrier he got. His life went chaotic the moment that thing reappeared. He was tempted to open the windows and threw it far away. Perhaps then the normalcy of his everyday life would return.

But deep inside, Shinji knew that not to be true. If this Armageddon was for real, then the world would be in danger. He sighed and shook his head. It doesn't matter. The god was right – there was nothing he could do. Who could he tell? Who would even believed him?

He gripped the sides of the Advent Deck so hard his hand throbbed. His heart skipped a beat when he saw a slight movement at the corner of his eyes. He turned and found his own reflection staring right at him from a wall mirror to his right. He raised his fingers and the reflection did the same. He stuck out his tongue and so did it. Relieved, Shinji stood up and was about to enter his room when a man spoke from behind.

'Found you at last, Kamen Rider.'