"Onyx and Vampire"
Chapter 25: "Howling in the Shadows"
Disclaimer: Kamen Rider Dragon Knight and the Kamen Rider series my fan adaptations are based on belong to Ishinomori Productions, with KRDK specifically being the property of Adness Entertainment and Steve and Michael Wang. Rosario + Vampire belongs to Akihisa Ikeda and VIZ Media, while the character of "Silver Fang" is sourced from an independent series called GARO, created by Keita Amemiya. I make no money from the use of those properties or any of the characters associated with them, and this is done solely for personal entertainment.
Author's note: Things are getting quite heavy. Xaviax, through JTC, has stolen Eubulon's specs for future Rider tech, meaning he can create his own Kamen Riders. The good news, though, is that two of his Riders have been eliminated already – Depth Charge and Haze, although Depth Charge's sealing revealed an unsettling fact about the mysterious Kamen Rider Shadow Chalice's origins. The Riders may have another ally, one in wolf-modeled silver armor, but who is he and what does he want?
Fortunately, there's going to be a little bit of downtime for this chapter. After the high-octane action you guys have been getting, you deserve a break, and so do the characters! While our heroes are recuperating from their recent battles, their thoughts turn to romance, but that might not be any smoother a ride than their earlier battles. Enough talk, however; let's ride.
Eubulon looked at the two Advent Decks in Tobi's hands, one bronze with a gold eagle crest and the other magenta with a gold firebird crest. "You want me to unlock the Lacuna Deck?"
"Yes, Master Eubulon," Tobi replied. "For the mission you want me to go on, I will need at least one ally."
"Are you sure you will be able to find one?" Eubulon asked, his tone dripping with fatherly concern.
"I'm sure," Tobi answered confidently.
Eubulon took the Lacuna Deck from Tobi and focused his mental energy on it. It glowed for a moment, and then the glow dimmed as he passed it back to Tobi. "Done. I presume you intend to use the Haze Deck yourself now that your counterpart is no longer able to, am I right?"
"Yes," Tobi admitted, "although I still feel a little wary about it under the circumstances that allowed me to repossess it."
"Understandable," Eubulon comforted him. "Even a man like Kuyo does not deserve the Advent Void."
"If only we could convince Hunt that Adam doesn't deserve the Advent Void, either."
"It is possible that those two will resolve their differences, one way or another. Hopefully in a more peaceful manner than I'm expecting."
Speaking of Adam and Hunt, the two were currently squaring off in the combat exercise room, their uniform jackets removed and tossed to the side. "If this is what it takes . . ."
"You haven't even begun to make up for what you did to us," Hunt replied. "And just because I can't vent you doesn't mean I can't take my pound of flesh some other way."
Adam shifted into a fighting stance, as Hunt moved into his own combat stance. "Whenever you're ready . . ."
Hunt charged Adam with a fast jab that Adam barely deflected. As he spun backward to retaliate with a roundhouse kick, Hunt looped his arm around Adam's leg, locking his elbow and Adam's knee together and forcing Adam off balance. As the youngest Rider struggled to regain his footing, Hunt used his leverage to slam Adam into the mat, keeping his leg trapped all the while.
However, he had not quite anticipated Adam shooting up straight and slamming his cranium into Hunt's. This knocked the older Rider off balance long enough for Adam to slip his leg free and twist his hips for a low kick to his foe's solar plexus. Hunt staggered back, but quickly regained his balance just as Adam was about to press his advantage, catching Adam's fist and pulling him in to slam his elbow into Adam's ribcage.
Adam was the one staggering back this time, as Hunt was ready to press his advantage with a series of short, brutal kicks. Knocked to the ground, Adam struggled to catch his breath, his body shaking as though . . . he were laughing. "What's so funny?" Hunt asked.
"You're really angry, aren't you?" Adam replied. "I understand . . . more than you think. It's why I left Sarah in the first place. How could I look her in the eye and tell her I love her, knowing what I did to her, to her family? You think that doesn't weigh on me?"
"Spare me the sob story," Hunt snapped. "I'm getting sick of hearing it."
Adam looked up at Hunt, his eyes suddenly shimmering with an unnatural light. The next thing Hunt knew, he'd been punched in the stomach by Adam, hard enough to knock the breath out of him. Adam pressed his attack with a brutal knee to the solar plexus, this one hard enough to make him briefly airborne, but that didn't last long before Adam slammed his elbow into Hunt's back, knocking him flat on the ground. Hunt didn't even get a chance to get back up before Adam pinned him to the mat, twisting an arm behind his back.
"And I'm getting sick of hearing you yap about how I need to suffer for my crimes," Adam hissed in his ear. "You don't think I suffer already? You don't think I spend every minute of my life wishing I could take back what I did, or even die like I deserve? I'm trying, damn you . . . I know you'll never forgive me. I don't expect you to, I've gotten far more forgiveness than I'm worth already, and if there's anyone else who won't forgive me, it's me. So don't act like my pain is nothing."
Hunt angrily elbowed Adam in the face, hard enough to split his lip and loosen his grip so that Hunt could slip free and spring up for a brutal snap kick to his chest. "Like I said before, spare me the sob story."
Adam wiped his bloody lip, a deadly serene smile on his face. Some multiple flashes of pain later, Hunt was on the ground in a black-clad heap, with Adam standing above him tittering like a maniac. About thirty seconds later, that tittering had turned into full-throated insane laughter.
"You gone insane or something?" Hunt growled.
"Insane . . . insane . . . insane . . ." Adam repeated, like a mantra. "Is that really all there is to it? No soul, no life, nothing . . . just me, this black heart, these fists, and a fresh victim to bleed . . ."
Hunt snapped up, just as Adam brutally kicked him in the stomach, knocking him onto his back as Hunt used the force of Adam's kick to roll onto his feet. Faster than even Hunt's trained reflexes could react to, Adam punched him in the face hard enough to split Hunt's lip this time. Adam pressed his advantage with another punch, and another, and when Hunt tried to counter, Adam caught his fist and squeezed hard. Hunt's expression quickly turned to horror when he saw Adam's eyes . . . they weren't just glittering with unnatural malice, they'd turned red with slit pupils, like a vampire's eyes.
"That bitch!" Hunt yelled. "She did this to you, didn't she?"
"You shut up about Moka," Adam hissed, his voice a whisper so low it was almost inaudible to the untrained ear. With a brutal backhanded fist, Adam knocked Hunt to the ground again while turning so that his side profile was facing him. He turned his head to look in Hunt's direction and extended his arm, palm up in a beckoning gesture. "Come on, you son of a bitch. You haven't gotten even half of your punishment today."
Enraged, Hunt charged at Adam, tackling Adam in a berserk rage and knocking him to the ground. Hunt began punching Adam in the face, but each punch felt like hitting solid rock or even steel, and Adam was laughing insanely the whole time even as he bled. To Hunt's horror, those wounds were healing at unnatural speed. . . .
"What the hell are you?" Hunt asked.
Adam just smirked cruelly at him. "Wouldn't you like to know?" And that was the moment he punched Hunt hard in the face, throwing Hunt off him and sending him crashing to the ground. Adam just rose to his feet and stalked toward him, like a predator to his prey. "No more doormat. No more feeling sorry for myself. I gave my life for Ventara and Earth, just like you. And I'm not going to let one moment of weakness be the only thing I'm remembered for."
"Adam!" a voice cut in, prompting both Adam and Hunt to look and see Tobi and Eubulon, along with Moka, Kurumu, Mizore, and Yukari, standing by the doorway.
"What's going on here?" Yukari asked concernedly. "Adam, what's wrong?"
"Hunt wanted a fight," Adam replied with unnatural calmness. "To even the score once and for all. I took him up on it . . . and then I got sick of playing his game, sick of letting my guilt eat away at my pride, my resolve. I'm done with that. Either he sucks it up and learns to deal . . ."
"Or you'll do what, Adam?" Eubulon asked. "Do you intend to beat him? Send him to the Advent Void? Kill him, even? All you'll do is prove him right, and make us all fools for letting you have a second chance."
"Third or fourth, actually, but who's counting?" Adam mocked.
"Adam, your eyes," Kurumu said. "They're red, red like Moka's eyes whenever she's unsealed!"
"So they are," Adam remarked nonchalantly. "You like?"
"Not if you're gonna go around beating people up like that!" Kurumu retorted. "Hunt may be acting like a jerk, but so are you right now!"
"Adam, get a hold of yourself," Eubulon admonished. "Your anger and frustration are understandable, but not if it drives you to confront a fellow Kamen Rider with intent to kill."
"Adam, please . . ." Moka whispered. "Stop this. It isn't like you to hurt people like that."
The red began to fade from Adam's eyes, shifting back to blue with round pupils. Adam slumped, breathing heavily as he looked at his hands, the wounds on them healed as though he'd never gotten into a fistfight with Hunt in the first place. "What's . . . what's wrong with me?"
Hunt staggered to his feet. "I don't know, but maybe I'm not the only one with rage issues here."
"Shut it, you," Mizore whispered coldly. "He wouldn't even be like this if you hadn't kept antagonizing him."
"Right, because he deserves to get away with what he's done," Hunt snapped back. "He can cry all he wants about how he's suffered, but he won't know a damned thing about it until he's had a taste of the Advent Void himself. Then he can come to me and say he's sorry."
"Enough," Eubulon cut in. "We will discuss this later, with the other Kamen Riders. For now, we must see the nature of whatever psychic or spiritual scarring has led Adam to behave this way."
"Fine," Hunt growled. "But we're far from finished."
"You are if you value your life," Tobi murmured.
"Is that a threat?" Hunt challenged.
"A warning," Tobi clarified. "Even if you got your way, it would only create more discord within the Kamen Riders, and these lovely ladies with us would seek your life."
Hunt glared sourly at the four Yokai Academy girls, Kurumu and Mizore looking back with equally hostile expressions . . . and claws starting to edge out from their hands. Hunt began to reach for his Advent Deck, anticipating another fight, only for Eubulon to transpose himself between them.
"Stop," he ordered. "Enough conflict has already happened. There is no need for more of it." He turned to Adam. "Come with me." Then he turned to Hunt. "You as well, Hunt. Your injuries need to be treated."
Inside the base Xaviax had made for himself on Witch's Knoll, the demonic warlord sifted through the data on the USB drive JTC had given him. Scrolling up and down the screen were schematics for new Kamen Rider armors, two based on the prototype Triad design, only one had red highlights and gold eyepieces and the other had yellow highlights and purple eyepieces. Another set of Kamen Rider armors seemed to be largely modeled on insects of one type or another – beetles, a wasp, a dragonfly, grasshoppers – except the scorpion, which Xaviax wasn't fool enough to mistake for an insect like so many idiot humans.
"Good work, JTC," Xaviax remarked. "You've really outdone yourself this time."
"Thank you, General," JTC answered humbly.
"And it seems Eubulon even wants to give the humans their own paramilitary force of Riders . . . or Rider emulators, as the case may be," Xaviax remarked, gesturing to the rows of identically armored troopers that seemed based on the Triad design as well. He also took stock of the black-armored troopers whose designs vaguely reminded him of bees, albeit with bladed weapons on their arms.
"What do you intend to do with them, General?" JTC inquired.
"What I do best," Xaviax replied coolly. "Put his technology to better use. And it helps that I have a little help."
"You mean . . ."
"Yes, but let's not talk about that right now. Right now, I'm thinking we need to bolster our numbers a bit. Depth Charge got taken down, and the Haze Deck is now back in the hands of its original user."
"What do you suggest?"
"I don't know . . . maybe we get to work on those new Riders?" The warlord's tone dripped with sarcasm.
"I'm sorry, General."
"Not as sorry as you will be if you don't find some people willing to strap on untested Kamen Rider armors."
"How hard can it be?" JTC asked. "You find some desperate idiots like the first time around, feed them a line about getting what they want if they work for you, and presto – instant loyalty."
"Doesn't always work like that, or have you forgotten about Drew Lansing, Brad Barrett, Chris Ramirez, and Danny Cho?" Instead of sarcasm, his tone was cold, his eyes hard with the remembrance of those failures. That was when JTC knew he had to back off, for the sake of his own health.
At the Riders' Ventaran base, Moka stood by Adam's bedside in the infirmary with Eubulon, Len, and Price, answering their questions to the best of her ability.
"His aura keeps changing," Price mentioned. "As though something dark is growing inside him, trying to take him over, and every time it happens, his fighting abilities increase dramatically, like he's being propelled by some supernatural force."
Moka looked at Adam's sleeping frame sadly. "It's my fault. When we were fighting Kuyo that first time, Adam threw himself in front of his foxfire to protect the rest of us, even knowing that it could burn through his armor. I . . . I couldn't let him die like that, so I gave him my blood to rejuvenate him."
"And from the data we recovered from seeing him in action afterward, it had the side effect of increasing his strength, speed, and fighting abilities," Len added, turning a hard gaze on her.
"It may not be entirely the fault of Moka's blood," Eubulon interjected. "Remember, Adam and Xaviax were in a long-term psychological and spiritual struggle for dominion over his body. And considering what Xaviax has become, it's not too hard to imagine that it left some kind of psychic residue that's been feeding off the power in Moka's blood and Adam's own emotional trauma to transform him into something utterly inhuman."
"What do we do?" Price asked. "We can't let him become a monster." He turned to Moka quickly. "No offense."
"I know what you mean by monster, Price," Moka responded. "It's ok."
Eubulon placed his hand on Adam's chest and pushed inward, his hand glowing with blue energy. "Unlike with the last time, this is Adam against his own demons. I cannot exorcise them for him. The most I can do is force the power bringing them to the forefront to retreat for a time." As he said those words, the blue energy surrounding Adam briefly darkened, as a black buckle with a perfectly circular blood-red crystal in its center appeared on his waist, only to disappear as the energy turned blue once again.
"What was that?" Moka asked.
I don't know, Inner Moka admitted. But it felt . . . like nothing else I've ever sensed before. Like evil itself was trying to claw its way out of him.
"I know what that is," Eubulon whispered. "The legends refer to this kind of thing as a 'soul evolution,' where a human ascends to a higher state of self in both body and spirit. With Moka's blood and Xaviax's psychic scarring combined, though, I fear it may very well be more devolution."
"Like the angels that fell from grace and became demons . . ." Price murmured.
"We can slow it down for now, but eventually it will progress beyond my capacity to impede it," Eubulon warned.
Elsewhere in the base, specifically the common room, the other Yokai Academy girls were worrying about Adam. "That look in his eyes . . ." Mizore murmured. "That wasn't Adam. I don't know what that was, but that wasn't him."
Yukari shivered. "He scared me . . . and he's never done that before."
"It's Moka's fault!" Kurumu exclaimed in frustrated concern. "If she hadn't given Adam her blood, he wouldn't be going insane like that!"
"Watch your mouth, boob brain!" Yukari snapped. "She did it to save his life! And if she hadn't, you wouldn't have someone to shove your tits into!"
"You little brat! You wouldn't understand a thing about it!"
"Oh, really?"
"Stop," Kase called to them. "Adam wouldn't want to see you fighting over him like this."
"Oh, sorry . . ." Kurumu murmured, although the anger hadn't left her eyes.
Kase smiled softly. "Whatever's happening to him now, he's going to need all of us by his side to help him through it. And speaking of helping him through it, I've got an idea." Her smile turned wicked, as her eyes twinkled with mischief.
"Do tell," Mizore mumbled.
Kase pulled out a bucket hat from behind her back with multiply colored strips of paper inside it. "There are 20 reds, 10 blues, 5 purples, and 2 grays. Whoever picks the rarest color gets to go out with Adam tonight, and then the others can try again for the next date. Does that sound fair?"
"A game of chance," Yukari remarked. "Perfectly fair."
"I'll win for sure!" Kurumu shouted.
"Like hell, bazooka girl," Mizore demurred.
"Says you, stalker girl!" Kurumu retorted.
Kase cleared her throat softly.
When Adam woke up, he found a folded paper by his bedside. He turned to pick it up and unfolded it, revealing a short letter in Kase's flaring penmanship. "Adam, take your bike and go to the amusement park. One of your girls will be waiting for you there, and I'm not gonna tell you which one. Why spoil the surprise? Have fun. –Yours truly, Kase."
Adam got out of the infirmary, going to change out of his uniform and into more-or-less regular clothes. Settling on his usual leather jacket over a charcoal gray shirt with silver designs and black pants, Adam dressed himself before going to find his motorcycle. He avoided Hunt this time, not wanting another fight . . . not because he was afraid he'd lose, but because he was afraid of what he'd do if he won. That unbelievable rage and hate that had come from inside him – it honestly terrified him, terrified him more than being under Xaviax's thumb had.
What am I becoming?
Straddling his motorcycle, Adam returned to the other side of the mirrors, riding to the amusement park. Wonder which one of them it is, he thought to himself, smiling a little behind his helmet.
After parking his motorcycle in the nearby lot, Adam took his keys out of the bike and slipped them into his jacket pocket while leaving his helmet in its bike-mounted cubby hole. As he walked toward the entrance to the amusement park, he found Moka waiting for him, wearing a dark red blouse, a black miniskirt pleated like a tennis uniform skirt, and an eager smile.
"Hi, Moka. I guess you're my mystery date."
"Luck of the draw," the pink-haired vampire replied.
Adam offered his arm to her, and she wrapped hers around it, linking them together. "Let's go."
Inside the No-Men's base, Michelle Walsh stared down Eubulon with an inscrutable expression. "What do you mean, 'your Rider specs were stolen'?"
"Exactly what you just said, Michelle," the Advent Master confirmed. "JTC used the attack on our base by his fellow Riders on Xaviax's side to keep my Riders distracted while he downloaded the specs for future Riders. No doubt he gave them to Xaviax."
Michelle's hard stare didn't change in intensity. "Then we'll have to accelerate the Kamen Rider Program here on Earth."
"We will," Eubulon acknowledged.
"What have you been able to find out about these Orphans?" Michelle asked, shifting subjects.
"They were not the products of natural evolution, but experiments carried out by Xaviax during the time he held Ventara captive and tried to capture Earth as well," Eubulon replied. "As far as my friends in Smart Brain have been able to ascertain, it was some kind of viral mutation designed to spread with each human 'killed' by an Orphan – like zombies or vampires or even werewolves according to most myths."
"That son of a bitch," Michelle snapped. "He was thinking that even if your Riders somehow managed to beat him, he'd still have a weapon to use against Earth and Ventara . . . their own people, turned into monsters!"
"Essentially," Eubulon confirmed grimly. "That's just Xaviax's style. Since he couldn't have Earth, he's decided he'd rather destroy the entire human race, and this is a rather insidious way of doing it."
"You speak from experience, don't you?" Michelle mused aloud.
"Yes," Eubulon admitted shamefully. "I saw him do it to other worlds, our own included. And as you know, I aided and abetted him in doing so."
Michelle's expression softened when she saw Eubulon's regretful expression and she placed a hand on his arm. Eubulon looked at her and his rueful stare lightened into a curious expression. "I didn't think you were the kind to give succor to others so easily."
"Not in most cases, no."
Eubulon raised his eyebrow. "Does that make me a special case?"
Michelle's stare hardened again, but there was no real hostility in it this time. "Don't push your luck."
In the amusement park, Adam and Moka were walking about taking in the sights. There was a Ferris wheel in the distance, perfect for a couple to quietly contemplate and bask in each other's company. Fun games littered the amusement park, along with even more exciting rides. "Which one do you want to try first?" Adam asked Moka.
Moka pointed at the ring toss. "Why not that one?"
"Sure," Adam replied, smiling slightly.
As soon as they got to the ring toss, the guy manning it spotted them. "Now don't you two make a cute couple?"
Moka blushed, while Adam composed himself. "How much to play?"
"One dollar for three rings," the man replied.
Adam fished out a somewhat wrinkled dollar bill and handed it to the man, who exchanged it for three rings that he gave to Adam, who in turn gave them to Moka. The man chuckled. "Wanna let your girl try it out? Nice of you."
"How do I win?" Moka asked.
"Get all three looped into that stand, and you get any prize you want," the man replied.
"Ok," Moka said, seeming to understand. To the guy's surprise, she got all three looped around the short pole with absolute accuracy.
"Pretty good for a beginner," he said, trying to pass off like he'd seen it all. "So what do you want?"
Moka looked at the stand where the stuffed toys were held and she saw one she adored, a stuffed Kamen Rider Dragon Knight. "That's it, huh? That's a real popular book these days, and I hear the author's gonna be trying for a sequel sometime soon."
"Really?" Adam uttered. Didn't know Maya wanted to make another book out of our adventures.
"And guess what? They're even making it into a movie."
Adam attempted to feign disinterest. "Wonder who they'll get to play the Riders."
While that exchange was going on, the guy had taken the Dragon Knight plush toy from the stand and handed it to Moka. "For the lovely lady. Nice hair. Did you dye it?"
"Kinda, yeah . . ." Moka admitted, insofar as white was Moka's true hair color.
"It looks good on you," the guy said.
"Thanks," Moka replied, blushing.
"No prob," the man replied. "Have fun, you two."
Adam and Moka walked through the amusement park, one of Moka's arms entwined with Adam's as her other arm held on tightly to the plush Dragon Knight. "Why that one?" he asked.
"Because you were the original Dragon Knight," she whispered with a slight blush. "And I think you'd look good in red."
"Yeah," Adam murmured somewhat ruefully. "I did."
Trying to distract Adam from the funk he was slowly beginning to sink into again, Moka turned to the music stand. "That looks like fun!"
Adam brightened up. "You sing?"
"Yeah, a little . . ." Moka admitted shyly.
"That's cool," Adam answered. "Maybe I'll give it a try after you're done."
When they reached the stand, Moka offered up some coins to the machine, which consisted of a microphone, two big speakers with a heavy-looking subwoofer, and three screens. One screen was like a computer monitor and designed for the purpose of song selection, while the second was in front of her for the purpose of helping her remember the lyrics. The third was the largest and was designed to stand behind a singer facing outward, like a Jumbotron projecting his or her image to the crowd.
Once her song was selected, Moka picked up the microphone and turned to face Adam. Music began to play, starting out with the sound of a violin playing before a Japanese pop beat superseded it, and Moka began to sing.
[The silver flames engulf the sky / Though my heart may be torn asunder / I want to give myself only to you / Please accept my true self that is this cross.]
[The unsleeping velvet moon / Adorns this secret room / The two of us are alone; I quietly lock the door / Let's dance and lose ourselves in this playful moment.]
Adam understood that Moka was singing in Japanese, yet he could understand the lyrics perfectly. He blushed at some of the lyrics, not least of all because of their possible double meanings, although a little voice in his head told him that "give myself only to you" had a pretty obvious implication. As if that wasn't enough, there was, "The two of us are alone; I quietly lock the door."
Whatever could that possibly mean? Adam's inner thoughts asked him in that "you're an idiot if you can't guess" tone.
[Like a candle lit by a gentle flame / I let my heart be softened by you / Pledge me your eternity.]
[No one can break the chains of love / Cast a sweet, bewitching charm on me / Only you can accept my primal instincts / My forbidden melodies / Now they, too, can soar free / Hurry . . . Catch me.]
Those next two verses reminded Adam of the "Inner" Moka he had come to know and love with every bit of the same passion as he loved her Outer self. It was somewhat different between them, though; the Outer Moka provoked intense feelings of protectiveness from him, while the Inner Moka was like unto a war goddess whose every agile, graceful movement and poetically brutal strike intoxicated him. (And it didn't hurt that he could see her panties if he was at the right angle, although it wasn't like he tried; there were more important things to do in the midst of combat, like winning the fight, and he wasn't a total lecher like Gin.)
Shaking him out of his musings was the audience he noticed Moka's singing had attracted. Many of them were male, ranging from young boys to teenagers to college men to older professionals unwinding, but there were a lot of females, too, around the same ages as their male counterparts. Some of the older boys and men were almost openly drooling, which made something in Adam want to reach out and tear them all apart for daring to ogle what was his, only for Adam to catch himself and hold back. He did notice some of the girls looking at Moka a little oddly, too, not in jealousy, but . . .
[In the night that has forgotten to end / A fountain of stars lies trapped / It is alone, silently as if it's praying / For a dream it doesn't need to awake from.]
[Find me in the darkness that binds me / Oh, this sweet scent is driving me crazy / Please let me embrace it, right now.]
That last verse brought back memories, Adam found, of every time Moka had sucked his blood. Sometimes, he found himself wishing he had the courage to kiss her after she'd drunk his blood, taste those beautiful, soft lips (he was sure they'd be soft) for the first time . . . and maybe see how different Moka's lips tasted from Kurumu's. A flush of shame came over him as he remembered Kurumu's kiss, her tongue wiggling in his mouth as he sucked it in to deepen the kiss . . . for those few glorious moments of grief and heartbreak before the succubus had encouraged him to fight for who he truly wanted.
And now I'm not even sure who I truly want anymore, he thought. Kurumu, Mizore . . . Moka . . .
[The silver flames dance in the sky / Even if they swallow up and erase everything / I ask only for you to be here / This throbbing heartbeat just won't stop / Our entwined souls / Will someday produce a miracle.]
Yes, Adam could hear his heartbeat in his own ears, echoing in tune with someone else's . . . Moka's. He could hear her heart beating in his ears, like a steady metronome that yet excited him, that boiled his blood with desire, desire for this bewitching vampire in front of him, so utterly innocently seducing him.
Mine, a voice whispered from the edges of the darkness of his mind. Mine. All mine. Kill anyone that tries to take her away. Make her mine, body and soul.
Adam shook himself in horror at the thoughts in his own brain. They'd sounded so animalistic, so savage, so utterly feral that it was alien to his still-human sensibilities. Was it the same thing that had tried to make him kill Hunt? No . . .
[Is fate predetermined? / Even if it can't be changed, I can surely breathe new life into it.]
[No one can break the chains of love / Cast a sweet, bewitching charm on me / Only you can accept my primal instincts / My forbidden melodies / Now they, too, can soar free / Hurry . . . Catch me, I am here.]
Moka's song finished to thunderous applause by the crowd, applause Adam enthusiastically added to as if it could somehow drown out the voice of his own inner lust for her. Managing to push through the crowd as Moka stepped down to find him, both of them easily tracking each other by scent and heartbeat, Adam embraced her. "Moka, you were great."
"Thank you, Adam," she whispered. "You really think so?"
"I know so," he whispered back. "Moka, I . . ."
"I could hear your heart, Adam. You don't have to say anymore."
Summoning up the embers of his courage, Adam kissed Moka gently, chastely on the lips. Moka was surprised, her face crimson with the evidence of her embarrassment . . . but then her eyes closed slowly as she relaxed in his arms, letting him kiss her as one of his hands threaded into her luxurious pink hair.
Inner Moka would not admit it out loud, but Adam was a very good kisser. She supposed he had plenty of practice, with that Ventaran girl Sarah that he'd betrayed his fellow Riders for and later with the succubus Kurumu. Internally, she bristled with jealousy from the memory of Kurumu's lingering scent on him when he'd come to save her from that vampire impostor who'd tried to seduce her. She appreciated him for that, for all the times he'd fought by and for her – not that she'd say it out loud; love only made one weak, after all, and Adam's history with that Ventaran girl only reminded her of that cold hard truth.
Adam was the first to break the kiss, as Outer Moka smiled warmly at him, still blushing. "Would you like to try it now?" she asked.
"Sure," Adam replied, and went up to the stage to select his own song after feeding the machine some coins. Once that was done, he turned to face his audience as the music began, letting the English-spoken monologue go through before he sang.
(A night sky full of cries / Hearts filled with lies / The contract – is it worth the price? / A soul pledged to the darkness / Now I've lost it, I know I can kill / The truth exists beyond the Gate.)
[Tears streamed from my squeezed-shut eyelids / My reason and the fragments of my blood are repeatedly undermined.]
[I don't want anything anymore / (My exposed feelings go around and turn around) / I don't feel the same way as before / (Gang bang, son of a gun.)]
[In the crack between two entwined chests / This parched body that only desires will –]
[Imbue itself into the night with filthy fingertips / And wrench you open until you're torn to shreds / And its peeling emotions will creak in a shallow sleep / If it can erase just about everything entirely right now.]
[The sun will rise, so close your eyes / Downfallen! (Fallen!) Falling! / Hold inside / Just HOWLING in the shadows . . .]
Adam didn't notice some of the other Riders coming in, so caught up he was in the song he was singing, as though with every word he sang he came closer to exorcising his inner demons. He hadn't thought his contract with the dragon was worth the price he'd paid, so he pledged himself to the darkness . . . to Xaviax . . . and knew he would spend the rest of his lifetime paying for it. Hunt's scorn and his own guilt were proof of that.
Speaking of those Riders, Len and Kase had come over, technically on a date of their own, but Kase had wanted to see for herself how things went between Adam and Moka without using the mirrors to spy on them. It hadn't been easy getting Kurumu and Mizore to accept the terms of the arrangement when Moka had won the first date, but the assurance that they'd have their own chances with Adam pacified them somewhat.
"Is that Adam?" Len asked, looking up at the Jumbotron-like outdoor screen projecting the dark dragon Rider's image as he sang.
Kase smiled affectionately. "Look at him go."
[While struck by the incessantly pouring rain / I dug my claws deep into your clinging back.]
[I don't need anything anymore / (No one else can take my place) / I don't see the same way as before / (I've been lost without a trace.)]
[As if to interrupt the continuation of / Someone's touching my dream, my locked-away heart will –]
[Embrace you many times over with filthy fingertips / And aimlessly reel you in close / And its fleeting memories will blur with the remaining pain / Even if everything it has obtained is a mistake.]
[With power that awakens each time I lose something, I will –]
[Imbue myself into the night with these filthy wings / And wrench you open until you're torn to shreds / And my peeling emotions will creak in my shallow sleep / If I can erase just about everything entirely right now.]
"He used to practice a lot, when we were starting out," Len remarked quietly to Kase. "But he did it less and less, as the war got harder to cope with. I guess he felt like he didn't have time for it anymore."
"We never asked him what he'd wanted to be before he became a Rider," Kase mused regretfully. "Then again, I don't think any of us really talked about our old lives."
Len looked up at Adam, noticing to his amusement that there were plenty of girls in the audience who liked the sound of his voice, if their reactions were anything to go by. A sad sigh escaped his lips at hearing the pain-laced energy in Adam's voice. He'd known Adam felt bad, but he didn't know how bad he really felt until seeing him sing.
"Music helps us express things we can't put in words, Len," Kase whispered, leaning softly against his shoulder as her lips brushed his ear.
[The sun will rise, so close your eyes / Downfallen! (Fallen!) Falling! / Give me sight to see inside! / I'm calling . . . / Take a bite, night by night! / Downfallen! (Fallen!) Falling! / Hold inside / Just HOWLING in the shadows . . .]
As Adam finished singing, the music took close to a minute to wrap up, Adam thumping his foot in tune with the beat until it stopped. The audience applauded enthusiastically, with Moka cheering the loudest before she came up to the stage and embraced Adam tightly. "You were great!" she exclaimed.
"Thanks," Adam whispered. "I'm glad you think so."
Kase smiled as she looked up at the embracing Adam and Moka. "I guess it all turned out perfectly, after all."
While Len, Kase, Adam, and Moka were enjoying themselves, a leather-suited female figure on a silver Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle with neon-blue accents gazed coldly at Adam and Moka from a safe distance. She lifted the visor of her helmet, revealing bright blue eyes aglitter with malice before pulling out a black case with a golden wasp crest in its center. One card slipped from the case, bearing the symbol of a humanoid silver wasp with blue eyes.
"You're dead, Kamen Rider."
She shut her visor over her face and rode away, right into the rippling surface of a mirror portal . . . that nobody ever saw, and if they had – so much for them.
Next: Knight of Black Dreams
Endnotes: How'd everybody like Adam's date with Moka? If you did, guess what; there's more dates for Adam! He'll be out with Kurumu, Mizore, and Yukari . . . separately, of course, and with Yukari it's not really a "date" so much as two friends on an outing. Really, people, lolicon is not my thing . . . and it looks like Adam isn't the only one getting some romance. Who knew Michelle Walsh had a soft side –and for Eubulon, no less?
There is trouble brewing, though. Adam is slowly transforming into something horrible, and he fears himself helpless to stop these changes within him, never mind what he'll do to his comrades . . . or to the girls he loves. Another of Xaviax's Riders awaits the right moment to strike against Eubulon's Riders on behalf of her dark master, but does she serve another as well?
For the record, the songs sung by Moka and Adam are, respectively, "Dancing in the Velvet Moon" by Moka's VA Nana Mizuki, the ending theme for the anime of Rosario + Vampire, and "HOWLING" by Abingdon Boy School, the opening theme of Darker Than BLACK. The first I thought would be a nice shout-out to the R+V anime, and the second was just for fun . . . and both were surprisingly apt for describing what's going on behind our favorite lovebirds' eyes. In case you can't guess, the italicized lyrics are in translated Japanese and the ones in standard font are English to begin with.
Rider Fashion Check!
Hosted by Kurumu Kurono and Yukari Sendo
"Welcome to a new edition of Rider Fashion Check!" Kurumu announced. "I'm your sensational and sexy host, Kurumu Kurono!"
"And I'm her much smarter, much cuter co-host Yukari Sendo!" the witch girl beside her declared, earning her a glare from Kurumu.
"I still have the bigger boobs," Kurumu remarked snidely.
"Whatever," Yukari scoffed. "Right now, we're here to discuss the Kamen Rider that began it all . . . the one the story revolves around – we introduce to you, Kamen Rider Dragon Knight!"
The screen behind Kurumu and Yukari flashed to life with the image of a red-suited figure with black-and-silver armor covering his chest, shoulders, elbows, knees, forearms, and shins, and a grilled silver visor covering his face. "Adam was the first Kamen Rider Dragon Knight," Kurumu explained, "one of Master Eubulon's original 12 recruits when he needed a fighting force to defend the mirror world of Ventara from the evil of Xaviax!"
"And he was the best!" Yukari piped up.
"Yeah, but when Eubulon disappeared after their last confrontation with Xaviax, the Riders were trapped in the life they had chosen," Kurumu further explained. "Most of them learned to cope, but Adam took it the hardest, probably because he was still so young. One day, he fell in love with a girl . . . and because of that love, Xaviax tricked him into betraying his fellow Riders, all under the promise that he'd be free to live in happiness with that girl."
"And his twin from Earth, Kit Taylor, was unwittingly recruited by Xaviax to become his Dragon Knight – but thanks to his friendship with Kamen Riders Wing Knight and Siren, he resisted Xaviax's tricks," Yukari added. "When Kit was taken down, Xaviax took back the Dragon Deck and forced Adam back into the role by threatening to let Sarah know just where she really was and just who was responsible for it."
"I'll admit, Kit's a good Dragon Knight, but he's no match for Adam!" Kurumu interjected. "Especially since the Onyx Deck is an upgraded version of the Dragon Deck and thus even stronger!"
"Yeah, but they have the exact same moves," Yukari commented. "The Visor on his left arm is where he slots his Advent Cards, just like with the Onyx Armor. He even has the same weapons . . . it's just that Dragon Knight's are colored red – and so is his Advent Beast – and Onyx's are colored black, and again, so is his Advent Beast."
"But what about this?" Kurumu offered, pressing a button, and Dragon Knight's image changed, his armor turning bright red with gold accents while the suit underneath turned black. His grilled visor changed somewhat, becoming more ornate as the insect-like red eyes underneath became more prominent . . . and a pair of gold antennae protruded from the center of that visor. His Drag-Visor changed, too, transforming from a gauntlet brace into a dragon-like gun.
"Survive Mode!" Yukari exclaimed. "Awesome!"
"Uh-huh," Kurumu agreed with a wide grin. "With Survive Mode, he has new moves like Shoot Vent and Strange Vent. Shoot Vent allows him to direct Dragranzer's fire, while Strange Vent enables him to copy the next card his opponent intends to use . . . like so." The image shifted to Survive Mode Dragon Knight versus Survive Mode Wing Knight, with Dragon Knight slotting his own Trick Vent.
"What's he doing?" Yukari asked.
"This is from when Xaviax had his hooks in Adam," Kurumu replied. "He psyched him out by tricking him into thinking that Eubulon and all the other Riders hated him to get him to take Len down."
"Fight fire with fire," the on-screen Wing Knight snarled after being unable to hit any of the Dragon Knights created by Adam's imitation of the Darkness Illusion, at which point he unveiled the original Trick Vent and split into three himself to fight Dragon Knight.
Yukari stared at the screen in sadness and horror as she watched what very well could have been the total disintegration of Adam and Len's friendship. She clenched her fists with anger, not at Adam or Len, but at Xaviax for screwing Adam up so badly that he didn't even know who his real friends were anymore.
"Anyway . . ." Kurumu interrupted, changing the image on the screen to Dragon Knight and Wing Knight, in Survive Mode again, but working together this time. "This is what happens when Dragon Knight unleashes his Final Vent while in Survive Mode!"
The image shown was that of Dragon Knight jumping on Dragranzer's back and riding it into battle as Dragranzer transformed into a dragon-designed motorcycle, racing through Mirror Monsters that hadn't been taken down already by the dragon's fireballs. "Awesome!" Yukari cheered. "Is this from the final battle?"
"Yeah," Kurumu confirmed with a smile. "Pretty cool."
"Hey, what's going on?" a familiar voice asked, and Kurumu and Yukari turned to see Kit Taylor, the current Dragon Knight, in their midst. "Oh, hey, Kurumu. Hey, Yukari." It was not impossible to tell that Kit was blushing when he saw Kurumu.
"Oh, hey, Kit," Kurumu greeted. "We were just talking about Dragon Knight!"
"Me?" Kit wondered.
"You and Adam," Kurumu amended. "How does it feel for both of you to have been Dragon Knight and Onyx?"
"Symmetry, kinda," Kit replied sheepishly. "I've been getting used to it. Being in Ventara isn't so different from Earth, but history kinda played out differently on Ventara from what I remember of history on Earth, so there're still some things I'm confused by. Like, the current Japanese Prime Minister in Ventara is a guy called Takeshi Hongo, and I think he was some kind of super-soldier in the JSDF before he went into politics."
"Super-soldier?" Yukari repeated.
"Yeah, I think," Kit answered. "Something to do with special ops or whatever." He looked at the screen and smiled. "I remember that fight. Almost didn't think we were going to make it, but hey . . . we did. And Ventara's been getting back on its feet since."
"Oh, Kit . . ." Kurumu swooned, prompting Yukari to snicker.
"Hey, if you want him so badly, take him," the young witch remarked. "Means Adam gets to stay with me and Moka and not have to worry about being suffocated by your big boobs all the time!"
Kit blushed redder, while Kurumu flushed with jealous anger. "Why, you –!"
That was when Kit stepped in front of the camera. "I don't know what this is, but I gotta do something before those two kill each other, or Adam will never let me hear the end of it." He paused, contemplating the camera before him. "Maybe I should tell Master Eubulon about this thing. He ought to know what it is." Then he heard an alert. "Hey, girls! There's some kind of transmission coming in!"
"You get it!" Kurumu shouted.
"Ok . . ." Kit murmured. "Trent gave me a few pointers, so it shouldn't be this hard . . ." He went fiddling with the keyboard, and then the transmission came in loud and clear:
A Kamen Rider on a heavily modified magenta Honda Fireblade lunges out of a mirrored glass panel, startling the molting larval monsters about to capture an innocent young girl. This Kamen Rider is also garbed in magenta armor over a black bio-sheath and wields a broadsword as his default weapon. Wasting no time, he slashes through the larval monsters in a haze of flame and then vanishes, leaving behind the girl . . . and a certain werewolf-in-disguise with a camera in his hands.
"Who is this guy?" an average-looking teenage boy in the standard uniform of Yokai Academy asks, looking through the pictures of the Kamen Rider.
"He's the Kamen [Masked] Rider of Yokai Academy, that's who!" the werewolf-in-disguise, Ginei Morioka, replies. "This is big news! We got a vigilante biker riding around in high-tech armor of some kind kicking the crap out of monsters trying to kidnap innocent girls so they can rape them!"
A beautiful young girl in a yellow sweater vest that looks as though it can hardly hold in her large chest is about to be captured by a monstrous spider creature in the mirror when a very familiar-looking man steps in and yanks her away. "Kuyo!" the girl shouts in terror.
This man has long blond hair, golden eyes, and strange markings on his otherwise handsome face, and is dressed in a black uniform. But he is not who this girl seems to believe he is . . . and he proves it when he defends her swiftly and decisively from the monsters coming at her.
"I'm a friend . . . and I'm going to deal with them." He pulls out a magenta card case with a gold firebird crest, and thrusts it at the mirror. "Stay here. I don't want you getting hurt."
The average-looking boy stares at the bronze card case in his hands, marked by the golden crest of an eagle. "I'll fight this time. I won't let my friends suffer as they fight for me." Determination grows in his gentle brown eyes as he raises the card case to the mirror. "No . . . I'll fight for them now."
"Do you understand, Tsukune?" the unearthly blond man inquires ruefully. "You're a Kamen Rider now. Kamen Rider Lacuna."
"And that makes you . . ."
"Your sempai, Kamen Rider Haze. You and I are all that stands between this world and Xaviax's wrath."
"Then I'll fight with you, Haze-sempai, to protect my friends, to protect everyone."
". . . Together, we'll be stronger . . ."