Blood splattered around the battlefield. Blank, jet-black, armored bodies laid scattered on the ground, with a white rider standing strong amongst them. Many more of the jet-black armored men were still standing with their weapons out and preparing to charge at the rider. They didn't seem to care about the circumstances that led them to this moment, and at the very least, it was what they deserved for such an attempt. A deck of unique cards were holstered on his right hip, differing in color and corresponding with another rider. Though their expression couldn't be seen, emotions of sorrow and a will to survive radiated off them, only to dissipate not soon after.
Reinforcements soon came up in the form of mechanized robots that towered the armored men. They were loaded with all sorts of armaments and heavily defended. They remained stationary with their weapons drawn at the white rider, ready to fire at any given time without warning. They lacked any concern for the dangers of friendly-firing, willing to do anything to finally defeat the last rider.
"How kind of them to throw a celebratory welcome after all that hellish effort..." The rider joked. In their left hand, they held a dead body by the collar of their suit, gunshots riddled all throughout the man's chest. They nonchalantly tossed the body forward, as if to mock the armored men around them for how easy it had been to kill their leader. This provoked a reaction violent enough for them to charge forward with their weapons, firing at the rider with their weapons.
"That's all it took, huh? Well... bring it on then!" He beckoned the army with his left hand before using it to attach a barrel onto his pistol. Shots were fired from both sides as the rider charged directly into the middle of the battle, fighting wildly and carelessly with no regard for his own life. After all, you might as well go out with a bang. The skies above them darkened and were swallowed up by an obsidian throne above, with a faint silhouette of a figure resting on it and spectating the fight.
The rider's fate had already been sealed the moment he chose to fight.
Chapter 1: -Fight- A New Life
In the year 2036, mankind had advanced greatly to a new golden age of technology. An artificial material known as the 'Arklyse Element' was responsible for paving the way to the future. It had the ability to generate energy within a compressed form. A single capsule of the Arklyse Element would have the equivalent of enough electricity to power a city for three days, making it a highly sought-after product. The company responsible for creating the material, Repharim Genetics, had been sold to another company known as 'GAZAHOD Enterprise'.
With the material, the corporation used it to power their experimental technology in order to test out how much power it outputted. Unfortunately, it produced too much energy for their technology to handle, creating and releasing byproducts of the energy into the outside world. The byproducts polluted and diluted living organisms around it and transformed them into something grotesque and monstrous. To avoid causing too much damage and having news of it spread onto the media, GAZAHOD Enterprise created the 'Battle Royale'. An event which saw the termination and cleanup of these monsters with the help of the Kamen Riders.
People all around the world joined to participate in the Battle Royale, with some of the unlucky participants being given artificial cards that transformed them into the very same monsters they were meant to be exterminating. This didn't deter anyone from competing. Everyone there had joined for one thing and one thing only... for a small taste of the Ultimate Victory.
We begin in one of Itanayagi City's main districts, the Ryukoshima district.
Car horns blared throughout the streets repeatedly as a rather well-dressed young man took his time crossing the street. He could hear some of the drivers curse and yell at him for causing traffic, demanding him to go faster. The man ignored all of them and continued his slow walk to the other side. He had a noticeable smug look on his face, which ticked some of the drivers even more as they believed he was doing this on purpose. It was a half-truth, but the man was also busy watching an advertisement on his holographic smartphone. A woman could be seen on the screen giving a presentation of one of the GAZAHOD Enterprise's newest products, the Royale Driver.
"-with a new set of Ride Cards personally made for you!" She delightfully exclaimed. The spokeswoman took one of the black cards and handed them over to the tester, who took it out of her hands and slid them into the driver. Without any indication or warning, layers of armor built around the man's body starting from his waist, before stopping at both ends of his body. The armor was featureless, blank, and completely white. It must've been a mass production model.
SCAN ON.
"Whoa!" The woman gave a round of applause and gave an unnaturally cheerful expression in reaction to the demonstration, before turning to face the camera. "So! That's all we have for today, if you wish to get your own driver, good news! Ryukoshima's annual Battle Royale is about to start today! We'll be releasing a form online so you can sign up for a spot in the Battle Royale! Good luck and see you soon." She got closer to the camera and gave a bright smile before backing away and waving goodbye. The video ended after that.
"A spot, huh? Screw that." He smirked, putting away the phone in his pocket. The man raised his fist into the air and proclaimed, "I'll just have to buy my way in, then. Sounds simple enough, right?" He tilted his head back at an older man standing behind him.
"Yes, young master. I can assure you that your parents have more than enough for a single spot. If you wish, they could buy you the entire event entirely." The butler softly spoke to him with paper bags of luxurious items on both of his arms.
"No, that wouldn't slide with the guys running the event. Oh- actually, I think we're gonna be late for the announcement!" The man suddenly took off in a sprint, leaving the butler behind to catch up with him. Due to the amount of bags he'd been carrying for the past hour, he had grown a bit-tired resulting in some of the bags falling from his arms, with the contents spilling out onto the road. The blaring of the car horns just continued to grow louder and louder.
"That boy... honestly, why can't he learn some decent manners even after all our lessons?" The butler looked as the man continued to run along the sidewalk, disappearing around a corner. He let out a disappointed sigh before picking up the paper bags and placing the items back inside.
"Hey, big bro?" Two men rested on top of a building. One of them was sitting near the ledge with their legs freely dangling down, while the other looked around the city with a pair of binoculars. They were both dressed in a combination of dirtied rags and plain, dark jackets.
"Hm? What is it, Kaito?" He responded nonchalantly, keeping his eyes peeled with the binoculars.
"I've been thinkin'... a lot about the battle royale now. You really think the prize pool is possible? Like, all the money in the world?" This was enough to elicit a response from his older brother. The older man put away the binoculars and crouched down to meet his brother at the same level.
"Honestly, Kaito... I thought you'd be smarter. With all these announcements and publicity stunts, you'd think that its real at this point." He turned his head to face the rising sun. This left Kaito to think about everything. Maybe his skepticism and worry was all for nothing, wait... what was he getting worried for? His brother was there to reassure him after all!
The two basked in the sunlight, as the orange glow of the sun radiated onto Ryukoshima. Their moment of relaxation would be cut short when Kaito's phone began to buzz wildly. He was receiving a ton of notifications in a short amount of time, maybe this was it? It was finally here! Hurriedly rushing to check what the notifications were about, he was greeted with a message that warmed up his day better than the sun.
"Azuma & Kaito Haru, you have been selected for this year's Battle Royale. Congratulations to you two, we hope to see you there!"
"Note: Please arrive at GAZAHOD Enterprise at exactly 8:30-9:00 AM, don't be late!"
"Yes, yes, HELL. YEAH!" Kaito sprung up to his feet and pumped his fists into the air in excitement. Azuma cracked a smile at his younger brother's joy, something that was relatively rare. He awkwardly attempted to offer a hug to his younger brother but was cut short when his brother just did it himself without any worry. The two brothers celebrated their 'victory' perched on top of a building, enjoying bottles of cheap beer.
Loads of citizens from all over arrived at the grand unveiling of who the participants of the Battle Royale would be. They poured into GAZAHOD Enterprise's main building within an instant, not even the navigators and staff could stop them from pouring in. Eventually, they all started to calm down and dwindle in numbers, allowing the main conference to finally start after a long wait.
"Greetings everyone! I'm glad you could all come here to see the stuff we've prepared for all of you!" A hostess dressed in a black and white outfit, stood on a stage and overlooked the citizens below. She looked very happy... to a creepy extent that is. But nobody bothered to speak about it, unless they warranted getting kicked out of the building. "Oop! I see about six out of the nine remaining contestants, guess they overslept." She chuckled as the crowd was left confused, murmuring amongst each other about who those contestants were. Fortunately, their murmurs were cut short when the woman pulled out a deck of cards from her pockets, holding them out for the crowd to see.
"I'll now start calling out the contestants, if you hear your name, please come up on stage." The woman's finger hovered above the crowd, stopping and pointing at certain individuals.
"Reiji Koudai." A rather fancy-looking man was called up to the crowd, a smirk on his face as he casually walked through the crowd and up to the stage.
"Usagi Saori." Another one was called up, with her entire body covered up by a fluffy parka. She walked timidly through the crowd and sat down in a fetal position once she reached the stage.
"Fukui Makio." Surprisingly, someone from behind the stage appeared. Whispers about the man echoed through the room, though they were so faint nobody could make them out clearly.
The woman extended out her middle finger alongside her index, pointing at two men. "Haru Azuma, Haru Kaito." The brothers made their way up to the stage, with Kaito having a gleeful smile on his face all throughout the event.
"...aaand lastly, Chuichi Aiki!" The woman tossed the cards up into the air, cheerfully clapping her hands. People who took one of the cards to get a closer look found them to be completely blank, no writing, no text, nothing. Disappointed sighs were shared all throughout the room. A salaryman dressed in a gray suit walked up to the stage, taking off his glasses and wiping the fog off the lenses.
"That'll be it for the current contestants! But don't worry, the others will be announced soon enough, do't give up hope just yet!" That seemed to work, somewhat. People were still hopeful for a spot, but most of them just gave up. They were just waiting for the actual Battle Royale at this point.
While the hostess announced the details of the event, the contestants were moved to another room by the staff. They all looked at each other, with the exception of Saori, who kept to herself and only followed them around. Kaito just looked excited to be there while Azuma kept his eye on Reiji, something which the man noticed but decided to ignore anyways. Makio and Aiki seemed to be the only ones conversating to each other.
"Really..? You're just that bored? Man, you people are desperate.." Makio scoffed. His voice was strained, and his words had a noticeably tired tone to it.
"I intend to die somewhere that isn't an office space." Aiki straightened his tie and combed the back of his hair with his hands. It seemed like he wanted to look more uniform compared to the others.
The group were led into a lounge area where multiple people were already waiting inside. They were contestants like them, but the devices they'd been given weren't the rider gear demonstrated in the promotions. No, instead they were strange metallic braces that fit tightly onto their wrists with seemingly no way of removing them. They shared their concerns and worries about it to the concierge, who assured them that they'd be removed upon their defeat or if they passed through one of the borders. The room began to grow dimmer and dimmer as more people entered the room, eventually shutting off the lights when it had reached its 'max capacity'.
In the middle of the room was the concierge himself, dressed similarly to the hostess outside. A stage light shined on him, formally greeting the contestants and pulling out a deck of cards from his pocket. "Greetings, everyone. I am Mamoru, your concierge and one of the announcers for the Battle Royale. As you know, each and every one of you here were chosen through rigorous judging and personal worth. GAZAHOD Enterprise would like to inform you that despite some of you weren't chosen to be a Battle Rider, this does not mean you're not apart of the games."
The crowd remained quiet as Mamoru shuffled through the cards, continuing. "Seeing as how we're missing three of our Riders, stand-ins will take their place temporarily." Now whispers and murmurs grew loud again. Weren't they told there were only six riders in the building? Where did the other two come from exactly? Or, more importantly, who were the other two?
The hostess from earlier appeared from a backdoor behind Mamoru along with two other armored men carrying briefcases. He tilted his head to face her before looking back at the crowd. "Minstrel will now be handing out the Rider Gear to our chosen participants. Each briefcase is marked with your name and was modified to fit your strengths and weaknesses. Or at least, with what information you provided in the online form. Please step up to the stage, riders." Mamoru put away the deck of cards before walking over to Minstrel, waiting patiently with a blank stare.
Reiji was the first to walk up the stage. He had a curious look on his face, putting a hand on his chin as his eyes traced along the table for the briefcase meant for him. He eventually landed on a briefcase that had a noticeable gold color running along the sides. The others joined him not long after, after all, everyone just wanted the games to start at this point. They'd waited far too long just for some people to take their time deciding which case was theirs.
Saori held up a black case in front of her. The briefcase was completely blank and didn't seem to feature any other designs compared to the others, not even a single shade of color. Her name was inscribed on the front, to which she smiled at. It seems like she shared the same excitement as the crowd, as she immediately left the room through the backdoor. Azuma followed suit not too long after, with Makio and Aiki right behind him.
Kaito was just about to follow the others until he noticed Reiji was closely inspecting his briefcase. Unlike the others, he was one of the only people to never look at the case's contents. He thought of asking what was wrong for a second before deciding that it was best that he'd let him be. People's problems weren't something he should mess with after all.
"And now! Without further ado, let us begin the Ryukoshima District's Battle Royale!" Mamoru announced from inside the commentary box. Loudspeakers blared through the arena, which had a similar appearance to the district itself. Issues were raised at the fact that some of the citizens could mistake it for the real city. This didn't deter GAZAHOD Enterprise, and they decided to go along with it despite the warnings. The familiar arena gave some of the contestants an advantage in terms of the city's layout, more notably Aiki and Kaito.
Once the Riders and Styres stepped foot inside the arena, neon borders covered up the entrance behind them and were placed in certain areas. They all received instructions regarding the transformation, and the thirty-second rule to make things fair. A virtual screen flashed to life with some text displayed on it. The text read as followed:
1. Walking through the borders will strip you of your gear and will be taken as a sign of forfeit.
2. Once you are forced out of your transformation, you will either leave the arena or rejoin as a Styre. Does not apply if you were already a Styre.
3. Anyone can take from everyone.
4. Rulebreakers will receive a timeout! If you break too many rules, you'll have to face our Enforcer.
5. Know the difference between a 'Player' and a true 'Styre'!
6. Do not attack those who are not transformed.
7. Have fun and enjoy the game!
The contestants immediately started running away from each other the moment they heard the countdown. Only some of them stayed with another, pairing up or forming a temporary partnership. Reiji looked around for anyone who wore the metallic braces, spotting a rather rough-looking man running away. Without a second thought, he tailed after the man with the briefcase in hand. He still hadn't opened it or glanced at any of the contents, for he already knew what they contained. The only question was: would they be to his exact design?
Reiji heard the countdown slowly tick down to 5. Quickly clicking the latches up and opening the briefcase, he was greeted with a black driver inscribed with the name of its rider: Prestige. It shined in an elegant gold color, alongside the unattached crest and deck of cards. A buzzer went off to indicate the end of the countdown, he had to hurry or else. He took occasional glances to the man on his left as he assembled the transformation belt, attaching the crest onto the driver before locking it into the buckle. Reiji attached the belt onto his waist and holstered the deck of cards on his left hip. By then, the man had already seen him assembling the transformation device and mocked him for taking so long.
The man clicked the brace on and immediately slid a gray card into the slot. The device derived energy from the card itself, as the tubes along the device's sides glowed the same color and announcing:
REVEL IN. TO THE BATTLEFIELD, Tyranno!
Gray lines sprouted out from the brace. They ran across the man's arm before covering his body and transforming him into the Tyranno Styre. It had a pair of jaws located on both of its forearms, and a monstrous face whose mouth was riddled with angular teeth. Spikes protruded from its spine and a tail-like ponytail grew on its head. Reiji scoffed at the sight of the man's transformation, taking out a gold punch card from the deck.
"It'll take you a hundred years before you're on my level. Henshin!" He proclaimed, sliding the card into the Royale Driver. Gold lines ran across his body, which began to materialize into physical armor. The empty gaps created by the lines were filled in by layers of jet-black armor, completing the transformation process.
SCAN ON. NOW, INTRODUCING... Prestige. TO BATTLE!
"Now, the game's begun." Reiji beckoned the Styre. This was enough to aggravate the man, who charged towards him with no prior thought or plan in mind. Reiji unholstered the pistol on his right thigh and leapt over the Styre with a front flip. After landing and rolling behind the monster, he took no time in blasting at its exposed back with his pistol. Shots fired out from the gun and broke some of the man's dorsal spikes which sent him tumbling forwards.
While Reiji was certain of victory, it would be a mistake to underestimate anyone in battle. Without any warning or indication, the Tyranno Styre regrew its broken dorsal spikes and shot them out like bullets. He attempted to shield himself from the attack but proved to be of no effort. Each hit sent sparks flying out of his armor and slowly chipped off pieces, while he could do nothing but only groan in pain.
Relief arrived when the Tyranno Styre's volley had suddenly stopped. It seems like its spike attack had a cooldown and limit, allowing anyone to take the range advantage while it regenerated them. Reiji decided it would be best if he tested out one of his cards for a quick edge in the battle, gently pressing on the side of the deck and causing a card to pop up from the top. Unconventional for a card deck, but it was better than nothing. The card read 'DUAL: Prestige' on the front and the back displayed the same patterns featured on his suit, as well as a sigil that resembled his helmet.
"A special one, if you will." Reiji slid the card into his pistol, causing a second barrel to swing from the bottom near its magazine. He chuckled at the reveal before opening fire on the monster. The dual shots that were fired from the gun diverted from their intended path, until they suddenly flew back like a boomerang, and struck the Tyranno Styre by its heels! Which sweeped it off the ground and giving Reiji an opening for another attack.
He holstered the pistol back into his right thigh and performed a dropkick to the monster's face as it attempted to stand back up. He wasn't intent on allowing it to fight back and quickly grabbed it by its nape before dragging it along the pavement. He then proceeded to toss the Styre at a wall, performing a brutal heel kick near the wall and sending chunks of concrete into the monster's head until it was struck by the kick itself.
The crowd cheered on, chanting the rider's name as he pulled out another card from his deck. This one was unique compared to the others, colored white and featuring rainbow lines along the edges and face of it. Their voices grew louder and echoed throughout the arena, causing some of the contestants to pause and listen for a moment. Reiji put his ear out to entice some of the viewers, before putting the voices to a halt when he slid the white card into his driver.
FINALE IS!
The belt announced, blinking rapidly and flashing colors as it transitioned into the standby sound.
WAR! FIGHT! STRIFE!
"War! Fight! Strife!" The crowd cheered alongside the looping standby. It repeated until Reiji pressed on the driver's face, releasing a kaleidoscope of power, which scourged all throughout his body before being absorbed into his legs. With a jump to the sky, Kamen Rider Prestige performed a flying sidekick. Spectral energy and lightning boosted him from behind, pushing him forward with the Rider Kick and into the Tyranno Styre. His finisher was met with futile resistance, as the monster was the first to fall in the Battle Royale.
PRESTIGE FINISH!
The Styre cackled with electricity and shot sparks on areas where it had been damaged, before reverting the transformation and revealing the man to have sustained minor wounds and bruises. The brace on his wrist detached itself from him and fell onto the ground, along with his card. The man ran away in fear as Reiji slowly approached him, letting out a scoff before crouching down to grab the Tyranno card. Suddenly, an energy projection of a hand stopped him short and took it instead. It was Makio Fukui, one of the contestants from earlier.
"Hey, buddy. I got that card fair and square, hand it over." He demanded, receiving no response as Makio only gave him a smug look.
"The rules say 'Anyone can take from everyone'. Sorry, your loss." Makio slowly walked away from the scene, with Reiji pulling out his pistol and attempting to shoot at him. His gun only clicked every time he pressed on the trigger, causing Makio to respond one more time. "Rule number 6. Do not attack those who aren't transformed. I assumed a rich guy like you would play the rules at this point. Tsk, tsk." He gave a sarcastic wave to Reiji before disappearing around a corner.
"Hey! Don't you walk away- damn it..." He attempted to chase after him when a border suddenly appeared in front of him.
The loudspeakers blared to life with Minstrel speaking through them. "Rulebreaker! Reiji Koudai has been punished for sixty seconds!" A whistle was blown to alert the contestants. Reiji quickly turned to his left and attempted to run, only to get blocked off by another border. He didn't even try to move another muscle as he watched two more appear at his left and back, boxing him in completely.
"Yeah, forgot about that." He was forced out of his transformation by one of the borders, with a virtual timer materializing right above him. It counted down a minute for the entire duration of his punishment.
Azuma and Kaito watched from afar, with Azuma letting out a scoff. "Serves the man right. All those flashy moves and he couldn't be bothered to remember a rule."
"Hey, ease off him. That dude just appeared out of nowhere and took his card. Although... that IS the rules, sucks for him." Kaito twirled his Ride Card through one of the holes. The punch card had a striped pattern colored in a dark shade of purple, with the words 'Highspeed' written on the front.
A set of footsteps could be heard making their way up the building, taking the brothers' attention and focusing on where it was coming from. A group of five Styres had finally caught up to them, holding bladed weapons in their hands. They all seemed to be apart of some gang that the brothers had troubled in the past, and took this fortunate chance as a way to get back at the two.
"Hey, hey... You assholes still haven't paid back your tabs." One of the Styres, resembling a snail, pointed at the two. He seemed to be in command as the others just stood in the back and waited for his command.
"Yeah, so why don't you pay us back then? We'll be gentle if you do..." A mammoth-like Styre spoke up from behind. He tapped his machete on the ground and snickered with the rest of his friends.
The brothers quickly got up from their relaxed positions and turned to face the group. In sync, the two slid their respective Ride Cards into their own Royale Driver, releasing a torrent of energy that surrounded the duo. Azuma's rider form resembled that of a knight and snake, while Kaito's rider form resembled a kamaitachi and a motorcycle. Twin blades sprouted from his forearms and a sword and shield appearing on Azuma's back.
SCAN ON. NOW INTRODUCING... Azamuku. TO BATTLE!
SCAN ON. NOW INTRODUCING... Kaisoku. TO BATTLE!
A moment of silence passed between the opposing groups until one of them finally charged forward. The brothers weren't far behind and charged in with their weapons drawn.
Seated around a table were men in suits, their identities shrouded by the shadows. They all appeared similar, with the only differences from each of them were their positions and voices. At the end of the table sat a rather aged man with life support attached to his chair. He was covered by a dark rag and had a man by his side to accompany him. The man seemed to be his voice and enforcer, with a stern expression on his face all throughout the meeting.
"So it's begun. The results better be worth it." One of the men spoke from the right side.
"Since when did you doubt GAZAHOD Enterprise, 05?"
"When they started to underdeliver. Many of us have been... disappointed with the latest projects." A man from the far left spoke.
"Gentlemen... I can assure you Ryukoshima is different than the others. Can't you feel the influx all around us?"
Many of the suited men remained quiet after that. A chilling atmosphere could be felt all throughout the room, enough to even scare the most hardened of men.
"The results do not matter... the participants do." The man at the end of the table finally spoke up. He weakly lifted a finger to silence the others. "We mustn't forget the game's purpose, after all." A crooked smile formed on his face.
End of Chapter 1.
Lobster's notes:
And that's it for the first chapter of Kamen Rider Prestige. This was hastily written over the span of three days thanks to writer's block, general laziness, and me running out of ideas for what to write. This fic is heavily inspired by things like Kamen Rider Ryuki and the upcoming Geats (excited for that).
I plan to write out things more slowly so I can let the characters develop along with the worldbuilding. Everyone will be equal (for the most part, true equality is a lie), and everyone is gonna get a powerup at some point. Do keep in mind these are one of my first fanfictions, considering most of the stuff I've written was scrapped lore for a game me and my buddies were developing.
Anyways, I'm really interested in what you guys think about it. Feel free to drop a review on things that could be improved, English isn't my main language and I'm still in high school.