Chapter 14: Doubts

Somehow, in spite of the wackiness that had suddenly taken over Sirius's life, there were certain things that he still needed to do, like taking a college entrance exam. As he failed both the ACET and the UPCAT (although, to be fair, neither was a walk in the park, as was fitting for the high-class colleges they were for), he was now to apply at San Beda College in Mendiola. It was the thought of transferring that he brooded on as he rode his motorbike, the Blood Fang, with Mizuna wrapping her arms around his waist.

Though Sirius kept both eyes on the road, in his mind he was cursing the circumstances that led him to this moment. See, it was only this year that he actually put effort into his studies; the past 3 years had him taking summer remedial classes which predictably didn't look too well on his record. And so, the price of slacking off for most of his high school life was separation from his comrades, most of whom did make it to Ateneo. Nice job breaking it, genius, thought Sirius bitterly. If only he'd taken his high school life a lot more seriously…

He thought of what Rock had said, that they'd be comrades no matter what happened. While it did ease his mind somewhat, it still rattled Sirius to be somewhere new. If all the stories he'd heard about people in the University Belt (which San Beda happened to be part of) were true, these guys would eat him alive. True, he was Kiva, but still, he shuddered at the thought.

"Sirius, we're here!"

Mizuna's voice recalled him to his surroundings. He looked to his left; yep, this is it, alright. The location of his possible new school, right in the middle of a noisy, air-polluted city, only served to dampen his spirits even more. He tried to shake these thoughts off as he approached the gate, managing a faint, brief smile as he turned to look at Mizuna for a moment. "Well, Mizuna, wish me luck, alright? Just hang around the area for a while," he said, giving her his wallet before entering. Following a mandatory inspection of his stuff, he was allowed through.

After a moment, though, Mizuna smiled as she pocketed the wallet, deciding to follow Sirius inside the campus. The guard's eyes were focused as she looked at him before passing; she didn't like showing strangers the contents of her handbag, and some idiot in a white uniform wasn't going to be an exception. See, as Princess of the Fangires' Mermaid Clan, she was gifted with psychic powers and control over water; the former, she milked for what it was worth. Don't worry Sirius, I'll be watching over you…

Two hours after Sirius and Mizuna entered, a young girl with pigtails attempted to enter. However, after taking one look at her outfit, the guard blocked her way. "Sorry, miss," he said, "But we have a dress code here." He pointed to a poster on the wall behind him: No miniskirts allowed. And unfortunately, the girl just happened to be wearing one. Nevertheless, she acted as though she hadn't heard, and continued on. "Wait –"

But as the guard tried to stop her, large fangs appeared and stabbed his shoulders, draining him dry. Shortly thereafter, two more girls entered, stepping over the glass-like corpse that lay on the floor in front of them. And after a moment, it shattered.

Meanwhile, at a nearby internet shop, Hilda was playing DotA; today was one of the rare breaks she had from hunting Fangires, and she welcomed it. When she wasn't on the hunt, she was just like any other young woman would be at her age – barring the shopping and the gossiping. Specifically, she liked to have fun, and treated herself as often as she could. With concentration akin to how doggedly she hunted down monsters, she pushed further and further into the enemy camp. But then –

Her phone rang; one look at it told her it was Rayne. "Fangire attack," she said as Hilda grumbled resentfully. "It's close to where you are now!" The phone went dead after that line.

They never take a break, dammit!

She paid for her rental fee as she sped out the door, cursing the situation. A Fangire attack, just when she was beginning to enjoy herself! She knew this was urgent and more important than her game, but still… Oh well, guess I'll have to take it out on the monster, then!

Inside San Beda, no sooner had the exams ended than Fangires begun appearing all over the place. People fled towards the exit in a panic, but the monsters still managed to catch a bare few stragglers in the waiting area just in front of the entrance, knocking them around the place like soccer balls. Mizuna, upon seeing this, brought both arms to her chest and crossed them as she closed her eyes. She didn't want to do it, but right now was a bit of an emergency, so…

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

She morphed from her human form into a naked, aqua-green skinned fishlike creature with finned arms and legs. When her metamorphosis was complete, a flood of water rushed towards Mizuna from behind. At a snap of her fingers, it solidified and formed itself into three humanoid figures with swords in their hands. With a low moan, they turned to their mistress for instructions.

"Get them!" ordered the Mermaid Princess, pointing at the Fangires. The water elementals then obeyed their summoner's command, leaping into the fray as they began to hack and slash at the supernatural creatures that were attacking.

A few seconds later, Sirius arrived on scene, horrified at the sight that greeted him. Most of the people had managed to escape, true, but there were an unlucky few who didn't, and lay bleeding all over the place. A fish-creature whom he recognized as Mizuna was managing to hold them off, but he didn't know how long it would last. Besides, it was unbecoming of a gentleman to leave a lady in a mess like this one – even if the lady in question happened to be a 120-year old Mermaid.

He raised his hand in front of him as Kivat sank his fangs in it. "Henshin!" Sirius shouted as the blood-red armor began to form itself around him once more.

Sirius, now clad in Kiva's armor, charged into battle just as Mizuna's summoned creatures managed to shatter one Fangire and were defeated by the other. He sent one of the Fangires flying with a punch to the right side of the head, then turned his attention to its fellow. A kick to the midsection, followed by an elbow strike to the head, sent it reeling; it yelped for mercy as Sirius continued stomping it into the ground. And when he felt that enough punishment had been meted out, he turned to Mizuna, who had reverted to her human form, and nodded.

Mizuna held out her palm. The next moment, she shot a high-pressure stream of water shot towards the Fangire, reducing it to its fragile state before she finished it off with a ball of water. Just then, though –

"Sirius, look out!" she screamed, seeing the other Fangire running at him from behind.

He turned around, but the Fangire never even got within striking distance as a blast of energy sent it flying into one of the support pillars, crushing it. It was that woman again, the same one who attempted to kill Rock! "You've got a lot to learn, kid," she said smugly as she punched the Ixa Knuckle into her right hand. "Ready," said a robotic voice. "Henshin!"

"Fist on." A bronze figure appeared and merged with her, completing her change into Ixa as she stared at Sirius. "Let's finish this little bugger first," she said, referring to the Fangire; he nodded in acknowledgement. "Then we'll talk."

The two armored fighters advanced on the Fangire, who turned tail and ran. However, Sirius leapt over him and blocked his path, greeting him with a side thrust kick and sending him towards the woman. She followed this up with a shot to the head, compounded with some more blows before tossing him back to Sirius. And then it began all over again.

Before long, the Fangire could barely put up even a token resistance before the combined might of the two Riders. As the woman took out her Knuckle Fuestle and inserted it in her belt, Sirius did the same with his Wake Up Fuestle. It was time to end this once and for all.

"Ixa Knuckle – Rise Up."

"WAKE UP!"

Sweeping back her right arm, the woman charged at the Fangire with a battle cry as Sirius leapt into the air and aligned himself downwards at the enemy. A second later, her fist and his right foot hit the same spot on the Fangire's chest, blowing it to bits. With the battle done, both of them disengaged their transformations. The woman then put her hand on Sirius's shoulder.

"Kid, we need to talk."

tbc