Chapter 6: X-Rider VS. Horse Knight! Healers in Danger!

Hettie Cutburn, the head witch of the Healing Coven, was making her way towards the Healing Coven Hospital in Latissa. Little did she know that not too far away, a man in a gold robe was following her. They were both walking along one of the streets that was near the shore. The man had almost caught up with her when suddenly a hooded man with black hair intercepted him. This caused the man in the gold robe to back up in surprise.

"The name is Keisuke Jin," the man said, "I know you're the Priest of G.O.D., and if you want to get to that woman, you have to get through me."

The man in the gold robe clenched his teeth in anger. "Why you…" he sneered as he removed his robe. Purple smoke swirled around his body as a bright light shined within it. A moment later, the smoke disappeared, revealing his true form. The monster before Keisuke was an anthropomorphic black stallion, bearing white and gold knightly armor. In his right hand he wielded an incredibly sharp claymore sword, and in his left, he bore a shield with the Shocker Coven emblem embossed onto it. Of his silver mane poked through the helmet, creating a war plume, and flowing down his back was a pristine blue cape. This was Horse Knight.

"Human, you made the biggest mistake of your life this day!" Horse Knight stated.

Horse Knight galloped forward, his hooven feet clacking against the pavement as he swung his claymore at the human. Keisuke quickly jumped back, avoiding the initial slash of Horse Knight's sword. But such a move left the equine monster wide open, so Keisuke ran forward and kicked him in the upper torso. Horse Knight grunted a bit from the kick, but was not deterred as he slashed again, Keisuke narrowly dodged the slashes from such a big sword, but at last second, he jumped back to avoid a vertical slash. The blade struck the pavement in front of them, cracking it and making the blade put into it. Keisuke took this opportunity to attack, and drop-kicked Horse Knight's right hand, making him release his sword. The human spun around, and roundhouse kicked Horse Knight in the chest, pushing him away from his weapon, and allowing Keisuke to put some distance between him, Horse Knight, and the monster's weapon.

Once he was far enough away, a belt appeared out of thin air around his waist. The belt had a black leather strap that wrapped around his waist. The buckle was silver in color, with a red and black pinwheel in the center that was covered by a clear reinforced glass case. On the left side of that centerpiece was a red triangle turned on its left, and on the right was a red handle that was attached to the belt. Keisuke thrust his right arm across his chest, while keeping his left against his waist and balled into a fist before crossing both arms over the Driver on his waist.

"Set up!"

A field of aurora energy formed around Keisuke, donning him in a gray suit. He had black gloves and boots on, and upon his chest was a red armored chest plate that had an "X" pattern on it. Around his neck was a black scarf with yellow accents, and a red "X" on it. Keisuke reached with his hands to the sides of his belt, and in both of his hands he had two metal pieces. In the right hand was a silver round piece with red compound eyes, and in the left was a mouth plate. One half of the round piece disappeared and rematerialized over the left side of Keisuke's face, followed by the second half to form the helmet. Now that it was much larger, it was clear to see that the helmet sported a stylized red "V" between the eyes, and a black horn crest that was also in the shape of a "V". Keisuke placed the mouth plate against the helmet, and when he did, a bright light flashed, and dispersed the aurora field, revealing his form to Horse Knight. This was Kamen Rider X.

He then pulls out the red handle from his belt, revealing it to be some sort of fencing sword. The Rider then slashed the air with the weapon in a criss cross pattern, creating an "X" made of golden light in the air.

"X Rider!" he yelled.

To say that Horse Knight was furious would be an understatement.

"GET HIM!" Horse Knight yelled.

As soon as he gave the order, Hooded Followers wielding spears dropped down from the rooftops, surrounding X Rider.

X Rider held his Ridol Whip out and charged at the oncoming enemies. Two of the followers thrust with their lances, but X Rider slid under the incoming weapons, channeled his energy into the Ridol Whip, and slashed them across the chest as he slid by them. The two Hooded Followers fell over onto the ground just as he popped back up. A third Follower attacked with his lance, but X-Rider managed to get the weapon in a headlock with his left arm, snapping it in two, and then slashed that same Follower. Three others attacked him with their spears but he dodge rolled across the ground, avoiding the attacks. He rolled up next to another, slashing that one across the chest, and then spun around to kick the one behind him. Another of the Followers tried to catch him off guard, but X Rider made it known that he wasn't as he slashed the tip of the lance off, sending the blade flying into the air before it lodged itself into the wall of a building. X Rider rushed towards the Follower and reappeared behind him, a delayed reaction occurred before the Follower fell.

"X Slash!"

X Rider charged straight for another of the followers and launched the X Slash at Follower, sending him flying against a building where he made a body shaped impression into it. X Rider jumped into the air as two more of the Followers came in and tried to impale him from two different directions. The Kamen Rider jumped into the air at the last second, having both of his opponents stop just before they nearly skewered each other. X Rider landed behind the left Follower and struck him in the head with the butt of his Ridol Whip. Once that one was up, X Rider charged for the other and struck him with multiple roundhouse kicks before throwing one more, sending him into a spin before hitting the ground.

"Accursed X Rider," Horse Knight sneered, "I'll send you to the afterlife!"

Horse Knight dismissed his claymore sword and summoned a lance with a jagged blade. He threw his spear at X Rider, who jumped out of the way just in time. X Rider then pressed the "S" button on Ridol.

"Ridol Stick!" he yelled as his weapon turned into a boa staff. Horse Knight resummoned his claymore sword and charged at X Rider. The two warriors clashed with their weapons, showering the area with sparks with each contact made. They continued to clash until Horse Knight slashed with an overhand swing causing X Rider to hold his Ridol Stick horizontally to block the attack. Upon contact, Horse Knight's sword broke in two, shocking the equine monster. X Rider noticed that there were four more Hooded Followers left, so he kicked Horse Knight away and decided to take them out before they got the bright idea to go after Hettie Cutburn while he was busy with Horse Knight.

X Rider used the Ridol Stick to strike the first Hooded Follower in their sides, and across the face, effectively knocking them out. The second met the same fate as they both now laid on the ground. The last two were about to attack him from the sides, but X Rider twirled his Ridol Stick then pressed the "L" button.

"Long Pole!" he yelled as his weapon extended to the length of fifteen feet. Both ends of the Long Pole rapidly extended to the sides and struck both in the gut, he twirled the weapon around and dragged them along for the ride. Using the momentum, he tossed both Hooded Followers off the ends of the Long Pole and into the side of another building.

"Damn you, Rider!" Horse Knight sneered as X Rider reverted his weapon back to the Ridol Stick.

Horse Knight jumped into the air and fell from the air to try and stomp on him. X Rider managed to evade the attack, rolling close to the pier. Horse Knight smiled as he thought about X Rider's position. He began using his powerful legs to throw kicks at Rider, forcing X Rider to block them with his Ridol Stick, but unfortunately, not noticing how it was pushing him closer and closer to the edge of the pier. Horse Knight seized the moment and charged at X Rider, shield bashing the hero straight into the Boiling Sea behind him. The equine monster watched as X Rider yelled for a moment before he splashed into the water, silencing his cries. Horse Knight panted but smiled wickedly.

"Since when were there four Kamen Riders on the Boiling Isles?!" He asked himself, "No matter. At least he's now fried. Now back to my target."

However, as he started to make his way back to his task, a huge splash came from the water. Horse Knight turned around just in time to watch as X Rider exploded out of the Boiling Sea and on his motorcycle, Cruiser, coming to a screeching halt a few feet from the equine monster. Needless to say, Horse Knight was furious, it didn't make sense, there was no way this was possible.

"How are you even alive?!" he asked, "That water is hot enough to melt the flesh off anyone in mere seconds!"

"As a Kaizorg, I am able to survive and move freely thirty thousand meters below sea level. Not to mention I can withstand extreme temperatures." X Rider explained.

"Why you…make a fool outta me…" Horse Knight remarked, "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

X Rider took out his Ridol Stick and jumped towards Horse Knight. X Rider used the Ridol Stick to slash Horse Knight a few times across the chest, spraying the air with sparks from each hit. Horse Knight raised his shield and tried to smash it into X Rider, but the Kamen Rider jumped up at the last second and roundhouse kicked him in the head, making Horse Knight back away as he stumbled in a daze. Time to end this, he thought.

X Rider tossed the Ridol Stick into the air, where it remained suspended in the air. The gray Rider ran and jumped high into the air, grabbing onto the Ridol Stick like a gymnastics high bar. He used the Ridol Stick to spin around and around, building up momentum and energy as he spun once more, launching himself higher into the air as he formed an "X" pattern with his body. The energy he gathered focused itself into his right foot as he extended it forward and descended onto Horse Knight.

"X Kick!"

A glowing white "X" appeared at the end of his boot just as X Rider kicked the center of Horse Knight's chest, sending him skidding on his hooves backwards before the hero landed on the ground. Horse Knight grunted as he tried to fight it, but the glowing "X's" energy spread through his body, and within seconds, he exploded, ending the existence of the equine monster. With the Hooded Follower defeated and Horse Knight destroyed, X Rider hurried around the building and watched as the Head of the Healing Coven managed to enter the Healing Coven hospital without any further incident.

"Hettie Cutburn," he said to himself, "you were lucky to not to be involved in this. From one doctor to another, you're welcome."

He then mounted his motorcycle and drove away.