AN: Welcome back to Kamen Rider Mythos, along with Super Hero Time with Fantaji Sentai Questinger. Hope everyone enjoys and I'll see ya for the next one, which begins the two parter that will end with the debut of the secondary rider. Enjoy!
A dark room is seen and smoke rises from an unknown location. Suddenly, a bright light shines through to clear the smoke and reveal Kamen Rider Mythos and Fantaji Sentai Questinger
All: Super Hero Time! LET'S START THE MYTH!
Kamen Rider Mythos
Myth 4: A Friend in Need
The library, 30 minutes after Hikaru Kinami's last class…
Hikaru Kinami sighed in frustration as he sat at a table in the student section of the library. Normally he wouldn't be as frustrated as he seemed now, but he had a group project to do and he hated those. He didn't like being partnered with people he didn't know and he always felt awkward trying to talk to those he wasn't close to.
Thankfully, this was the one class he shared with Mizuki and she was in his group; however, it was a three person project. The two of them would be stuck with Ryo Taijin, a student who was a year younger than them but was the top of the class. Ryo, in the eyes of Hikaru, was rude, arrogant, and looked down on anyone who he didn't see as worthy of his time. Hikaru, unfortunately, was one of the people Ryo saw "as actually smart enough to be in his league".
Ryo considered Hikaru his rival since they were both studying history and were at the top of their class. The difference between them, though, was that Hikaru really had to work for the top and it came much easier to Ryo. Since Ryo saw him as a rival, Hikaru was sadly the person who Ryo often spoke to if he wanted to look down on or insult other people. His hypothetical list included Mizuki, who hadn't arrived at the library yet.
She had volunteered to get both Hikaru and herself some coffee so they could at least tolerate Ryo, but it had been 30 minutes since she'd left and Ryo was starting to get impatient.
"Kinami!" Ryo said quietly, though it felt louder than it was to Hikaru, "Where the hell did that stupid girl go? I'd like to get this project done and I prefer people in the group to at least contribute something, even her." Hikaru sighed.
"I have no idea, it usually doesn't take this long to get coffee." Ryo nodded.
"Clearly she can't even do that right," Ryo scoffed. "She also didn't ask me if I wanted anything." Hikaru laughed awkwardly.
"Yeah, haha…" Hikaru paused in silence before he spoke again and pointed elsewhere in the library. "I'm just... gonna go try calling her." He quickly got up and not-so-subtly ran from the table to get somewhere quiet. As he walked, Apollo appeared from his orb.
"So is it just me," Apollo said sassily, "Or is that guy a jerk?" Hikaru rolled his eyes at the comment.
"I'm glad even you can see that he's a bit of a jerk." Apollo glared in response.
"Hey what's that supposed to mean?" the god complained. Hikaru shushed him and took out his phone, dialing Mizuki. It seemed to ring forever, but just as he was about ready to hang up, Mizuki answered.
"Hikaru!" she called, "What's up?" Hikaru was relieved to hear her voice; that meant nothing bad had happened to her.
"What's up?" He asked a bit frustratedly. "Where are you? You left me with Taijin all alone." Mizuki laughed on the other line.
"Oh, sorry. I ran into Taiga at the coffee shop." Mizuki's voice seemed bubblier than normal. "He asked me to go see a movie, so that's where I am."
Hikaru didn't normally get angry at his best friend, but as of late, she'd been blowing him off for his brother and it was starting to get him annoyed.
"Mizuki," Hikaru said sternly, "we have a project to do that's 10% of our grade." He could hear Taiga say something in the background that caused Mizuki to laugh.
"
Hikaru, relax," Mikuzi seemed to tease. "You two geniuses can get most of it done, and I'll do whatever else you need me to do later." Hikaru wanted to tell her no and that she was really blowing him off for his brother and leaving him to do his work for her but the words didn't come.
"Mizuki, will you just come back here?" Hikaru was still a bit heated, but taking it easy. "You can't leave me with Taijin." Apparently, she didn't hear his plea.
"Alright, I gotta go! The movie is starting!" Mizuki hung up, leaving Hikaru to sigh and fall backward against the wall. Apollo appeared again and looked at him.
"Remind me why you're friends with her?" Apollo asked quizzically. Hikaru said nothing and began to walk back to the table to do the project. This wasn't the first time Mizuki had blown him off for Taiga as of late, and it wouldn't be the last. He just had to accept that she'd always pick Taiga over him.
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It had been a few hours since finishing up the project and Hikaru had gone home to eat. Taiga hadn't joined him and their mother, as he had been still out with Mizuki. Hikaru was still annoyed and, thankfully, he had something to take his feelings out on. Some Tartarans had been causing trouble in the city and Kamen Rider Mythos Ares Frame had arrived to deal with them. As he was dealing with the footsoldiers, he could feel himself getting angrier. He brought out his weapons, them calling out their name
"ARES KAIGUNTOU!"
Using the swords that became more and more engulfed in blue flames everytime he swung them, the tartarans soon began to fall one by one. Deciding to end it, he placed the Ares orb in one of the swords, the sword calling out a finisher.
"ARES FAVOR: KAIGUNTOU!"
Charging at the last couple of Tartarans, he slashed them and allowed them to fall to the ground, exploding with blue flames. With the battle finished, Hikaru was ready to go home and relax the rest of the night when he heard footsteps behind him. Turning around, he pointed the swords at a startled Mizuki's neck.
"Whoa Hikaru!" Mizuki exclaimed. "Calm down, it's me." Not bothering to unhenshin, Mythos simply looked at her.
"What are you doing here?" he said a bit bitterly. Mizuki glared back at him.
"I was walking home and I heard some commotion so I rushed over," she clarified frustratedly. "You know I don't like feeling useless while my best friend saves the world." In the back of his mind, he heard Ares growl.
"This girl shouldn't even know about what's going on," Ares said bitterly, still using his power for Mythos. Mythos began to walk back to the Machine Chariot.
"Because," Hikaru tried to explain calmly, letting a bit of frustration show, "It's dangerous and I'd rather you not get hurt again by trying to help me." Mizuki laughed at his comment.
"Oh, c'mon Hikaru," Mikuki said in jest. "You know I can take care of myself." Mizuki then changed the subject. "Why haven't you powered down? It's weird talking to you like this." Mythos ignored the second part of the comment as Ares began to influence his feelings.
"You shouldn't even know about this anyway," Hikaru almost yelled, "So you don't get to decide what I do." For the first time ever, Hikaru had raised his voice at her and Mizuki didn't like it.
"What's gotten you in such a mood?" Mizuki asked, not quite understanding the situation. Hikaru's anger began to rise more as his annoyance from earlier boiled over the surface.
"What's gotten me in such a mood?" Hikaru yelled at Mizuki. "Let's start with my 'supposed' best friend forcing me to do a project for her with someone I don't like, then coming here and yelling at me about letting her get involved in something dangerous that I don't even want her to be involved with! Finally, we haven't hung out in two weeks because you keep blowing me off to hangout with my brother! So tell me Mizuki, can you see why I'm a bit annoyed?!" Mizuki frowned and fought back the urge to cry.
"Hikaru, you don't mean that," Mizuki muttered. "Do you really have a problem with your brother and I being friends?"
Mythos said nothing as he got onto his bike and drove off into the night; he didn't want to deal with this right now. He didn't want to deal with a bad friend. Hikaru didn't look back as he left an upset Mizuki standing behind. He'd never gotten upset with her before, but if she kept being a terrible friend, then Hikaru could tell that it would be happening a lot more often.
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*The Opening theme begins, Colors by Flow*
Instrumentals begin as the city is first viewed before shooting upwards to reveal a floating city and Hikaru Kinami standing in front of a temple with a sun on it. The words Kamen Rider Mythos flashes on screen.
jibun wo sekai sae mo kaete shimaesou na shunkan wa itsu mo sugu soba ni
The camera flies through the city showing several temples and finally the sun before several flashes of monsters appear.
kakusenu iradachi to tachitsukusu jibun o mitsume
Hikaru is shown in several places looking withdrawn and upset in several locations including his mother's flower shop, his school and finally a busy street. Finally it flashes to him now as Mythos atop a building looking down on the city.
mayoinagara nayaminagara kuyaminagara kimereba ii sa
Taiga, Mizuki and Kiriko appear in the flower shop looking happy as Hikaru is withdrawn from them before the scene flashes to the city, Olympus with the gods flashing one by one before landing on Apollo and Ares holding their respective orbs.
kimi ga kureta kotoba hitotsu tomadoi wa kiesari
Hikaru is shown picking up the Mythos driver and placing it on himself
karappo datta boku no heya ni hikari ga sashita
Hikaru henshins as Apollo flies behind him flashing a golden light
miageta oozora ga aoku sumikitte iku
Mythos fully formed bursts into a group of foot soldiers fighting them off
tozashita mado wo hiraku koto wo kimeta
Mythos fights some monsters off as Apollo Frame before quickly changing into Ares Frame with Ares overlapping Mythos as he prepares a sword finisher.
jibun o sekai sae mo kaete shimaesou na
Mythos is shown riding his rider machine Machine Chariot
shunkan wa itsu mo sugu soba ni
Several flashes including Ares frame, one unknown Mythos form and Cronus's coffin appear before settling on Hikaru and Apollo standing together
The music ends with the Pantheon Driver and multiple Orbs scattered on the ground with a ray of light on them.
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An ordinary elementary school, 13 years ago…..
It was recess and 6-year-old Mizuki Ginko walked through the playground. The young girl wasn't sure why, but she hadn't felt like playing with anyone today and had opted to keep to herself. As she walked around the edge, she heard some crying coming from one of tunnels in the jungle gym. Deciding to see who or what it was, she walked over and began to climb up the jungle gym, moving to stick her head into the tunnel. She would find a black haired boy with glasses crying. He was small, smaller than most of the kids their age. She looked at him.
"What's wrong with you?" she said with typical young curiosity. The boy looked up to reveal tear-filled brown eyes, almost the color of chocolate.
"Who are you?" the boy seemed to stutter. Mizuki moved herself into the tunnel and slowly approached the boy.
"My name's MIzuki," she said. "Why are you here instead of playing with people?" The boy looked at Mizuki as he brushed tears from his eyes.
"Because I'm sad," he whimpered. She looked at him, confused.
"Why are you sad?"
"Because I lost my daddy," The boy responded. Mizuki frowned, not entirely understanding what he meant.
"Oh well, where'd he go?"
"He's not coming back!" The boy proceeded to cry again. Mizuki slowly began to realize what he meant.
"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that." A short bit of silence loomed before the girl spoke again. "Listen, you look like you need a friend so why don't I be your friend?" The boy looked up.
"You will?" The boy sniffled before continuing. "No one really wants to be my friend since I'm sad all the time." Mizuki smiled and nodded.
"Of course I will, because everyone needs a friend! What's your name?" Mizuki asked the boy. The boy rubbed the tears from his face and smiled slightly.
"Hikaru," the boy said. Mizuki sat down next to him. "Well, it's nice to meet you Hikaru! I'm excited to be friends!" Hikaru seemed to smile more at her as she sat next to him. From that day on, through thick and thin, the two would become inseparable.
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Zeus's temple, present day…..
There was a loud crash as Rhea, queen of the titans, held her loyal advisor Prometheus by the throat against the wall. Her eyes burned in anger as she growled at him.
"Mythos continues to best our army, you continue to fail, and my husband grows no closer to waking!" Rhea threw him across the room, passing Krios, who sat amused by the show, and all the way to in front of Kronus's coffin.
As she approached Prometheus to punish him further, he held up a hand.
"My queen, please wait!" he pleaded. "I may have a way to hasten the revival of our king!" Rhea stopped walking and folded her arms.
"This had better be good, Prometheus, for your sake." Prometheus nodded and conjured up an image of a fury.
"The life force of humans could possibly revive Kronus faster," he explained to his queen, "so why not give that ability to this creature so that it could collect what we require for us?" Rhea glared at him.
"How do you plan to do that?" Rhea scowled. Prometheus displayed an image of a vacuum cleaner.
"This tool," the titan explained, "is used by humans to remove animals of filth known as dust bunnies from their dwellings. By having a fury merge with and possess this item, and also adding in some titan energy, we can create the perfect monster." He proceeded to merge the two forms and created the monster, a winged creature with what seemed to be holes in its hands and armor that looked like the nozzle of a vacuum. "I shall call it Vacury!"
Rhea began to understand the plan a bit more, "This could actually work, but how do you plan to account for Mythos?" Prometheus smiled, "I shall accompany this monster myself in spectral form and make sure it flees before Mythos can arrive." Rhea nodded, "Hmmm this isn't a bad plan Prometheus, pull this off and consider your punishment delayed." Prometheus nodded, "Yes my queen, I won't fail you." Rhea nodded and as he exited smiled, "See that you don't." Krios laughed at the whole scene, "Let's hope he doesn't fail, I don't think he'd want another encounter with that eagle again." Rhea glared at him but went back to her throne, eager to see if the plan would work.
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Kinami Flower Shop, a few days since Hikaru and Mizuku's fight…
Hikaru found himself preparing some flowers to be ready to be sold in the store. He'd been helping out at the flower shop the past couple of days in order to avoid Mizuki. Not that she cared about searching for him anyway; he hadn't heard from her since the night he got angry at her. Clearly their friendship didn't mean much to her and, as Apollo had told him, "If she doesn't care about you then why should you care about her". He hummed quietly to himself, but was startled as Taiga suddenly barreled into the shop, seemingly annoyed. The good news was that the store was empty, so HIkaru raised an eyebrow to the scene his brother was making.
"Uh, Taiga?" Hikaru questioned. "Is everything ok? Please tell me that that one reporter didn't write another bad story about you." Taiga shook his head.
" hasn't written about me in days." Taiga seemed to have a bit of an edge in his voice today. "This is about you." Hikaru pointed to himself, a bit taken aback, but Taiga walked up to him, put his hands on his shoulders, and continued. "Why does Mizuki sound extremely angry and why is she ranting about you?" Hikaru shrugged upon realizing that it concerned his so-called "friend".
"Oh that," Hikaru responded. "She kept blowing me off to hang out with you and she ditched me when we had a project so I got mad at her."
Taiga responded, the edge in his voice now replaced with shock. "Wait really? You. You got upset? My little brother, who'd never hurt a fly, got mad at his best friend."
Hikaru nodded, "She caught me at a bad time, so I told her how I was feeling." Taiga frowned.
"This is my fault, isn't it?" Taiga said with the same shocked expression. Hikaru shook his head.
"No," he responded, "it's her fault for being a bad friend." Taiga shook his head vigorously.
"Are you kidding?!" Taiga sounded bewildered. "She's a great friend." Hikaru looked at his older brother, completely confused at the situation.
"Taiga," Hikaru tried to calmly say unsuccessfully, "what the hell are you talking about? Did you not just hear what I said?" Taiga sighed.
"Look," Taiga elaborated. "I wasn't supposed to say anything, but she's been hanging out with me to give you space. She knows you're feeling stressed right now and, for some reason, she won't tell me why. She's letting you have some alone time so you can relax. Admittedly, I did basically force her to go to the movies the other day." Hikaru frowned.
"Is that really the truth?" Hikaru said skeptically.
Taiga nodded. "Hikaru, that girl is so devoted to your friendship, even if she doesn't always show it. She wants you to be stronger and be the best you that you can be. Sometimes that means tough love and other times it means giving you space. During all the times we hung out, she never stopped mentioning you and Greek mythology for some reason. I think you're rubbing off on her." Hikaru stared at his older brother, astonished.
"Did…" Hikaru tried to not laugh. "Did you actually just say something deep and meaningful?"
Taiga pushed his brother gently. "Hey, I may not have gone to college but us models aren't all just a pretty face."
Hikaru smiled and hugged his brother. "Thanks, Taiga. I'm gonna go find Mizuki and apologize." Without further words he ran outside as Taiga stood in the same place. Moments later, the sound of a motorcycle could be heard as Hikaru rode off. Taiga laughed to himself.
"Those two are totally getting together one day." Taiga jumped as he received a response from out of nowhere.
"They better," a female voice proclaimed, "because I certainly don't see you giving me any grandchildren one day." Taiga frowned at his mother, who had assumedly been listening the whole time, while Kiriko Kinami simply began to laugh at her son's reaction.
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The scene across town was grim to say the least. At least 5 men could be seen dead on the street. Anyone who stopped to look for even a moment could see some kind of winged creature seemingly feasting on the bodies. The monster growled as the humans ran; what good was trying to enjoy a life force when your next courses were escaping before your eyes?. A ghostly Prometheus stood next to the monster, easily unseen by those who didn't have strong faith.
"Vacury," the titan said, "we should leave before Mythos arrives." Vacury nodded; as frustrated as she was about not getting more to eat, she would rather live another day over facing that dreaded hero. She turned to her creator and spoke her mind of exactly that.
Prometheus signed in response. "You furies all all the same. This would be faster if you just took the life force from everyone, rather than one mortal at a time." Before Vacury could respond, a woman appeared, catching her breath before looking up and staring straight at Vacury, frozen in fear looking into the eyes of the monster. Vacury growled, hesitant of the obvious snack. Prometheus laughed at the sight of the girl, turning to Vacury to chill her fears.
"She's a friend of Mythos." Prometheus thought for a second before smiling. "She could be of some use to us if we capture her. See to it." Vacury, bowed and turned her attention back to the woman.
"As much as I appreciate you thinking you can save the day," the monster mocked, "I have zero tolerance for those who play hero." The monster flapped her wings and took to the air; Mizuki quickly got into a fighting stance, ready to put her training in self-defense to use. Vacury dive-bombed the girl, and Mizuki was able to defend herself from this attack, but she wasn't strong enough to fully fight a monster. With a flap of her wings, Vacury sent Mizuki flying back into a wall and laughed at the pitiful sight before her.
"You foolish girl!" Vacury taunted. "Fighting me with no hopes of winning! Why even try at all?" Mizuki struggled to get up, but was able to defend her actions.
"Because I want to prove myself that I can be-" Vacury interrupted her by quickly landing a single kick to Mizuki's stomach, which both knocked the air out of Mizuki and knocked her out. Vacury could only laugh.
"It doesn't matter why you thought you stood a chance," Vacury scowled. "You shall be dead soon." She picked up the girl's limp body and flew away;Prometheus, however, decided to wait in hopes Mythos would show up. Soon enough, a motorcycle's engine could be heard, and Mythos Apollo Frame arrived on the scene. Prometheus smiled at the rider, smugly boasting as most villains do.
"So, you're the mighty Mythos," the titan mocked. "I should laugh since I expected better." Mythos was confused at the ghostly figure in front of him.
"Uh, who are you?" mythos would ask with characteristic mortal obliviousness. Ares appeared by his side.
"That's the titan Prometheus," Ares gruffly explained. "Seems he's allied himself with his kind."
Mythos turned to the war god. "Prometheus? Like the guy who stole fire and gave it to the humans? Wasn't he responsible for making humanity and freed by Heracles?" Prometheus nodded
"Finally, a mortal with some sense! I cared for humanity so much that I tricked Zeus twice; first by making it so that mortals could keep the best parts of their animals and tribute the worst, then stealing fire back from Zeus after he took it! And what did I get as thanks? Being stuck to a rock and having my intestines eaten by an eagle for thousands of years until Heracles freed me! Pandora was set on humanity because of me, and I became nothing but an afterthought!" The titan got angrier as he spoke about his punishment, clearly bitter over Zeus's actions. Ares glared at the titan.
"So what? Pandora has nothing to do with this! You're just mad that helping humans got you imprisoned and forgotten, so you want to wipe them out now." Prometheus shook his head.
"No, not at all, my dear war god," the titan seemed to muse. "Did you not understand what I just said? It was Zeus who inflicted Pandora onto humanity, not us. We titans just want to rule humans as we once did. The gods are simply in the way." Mythos summoned his bow, hesitant to believe Prometheus despite the stories.
"It doesn't matter if the titans want to rule again," Mythos explained]. "The gods rule now, and will as long as Typhon stays under Mount Etna. The titans no longer have a claim, and we'll make sure to keep it that way, starting with you." Prometheus wagged his fingers, as if telling a child they were being naughty.
"You won't do anything right now, child," Prometheus explained. "We have a friend of yours." The titan gestured to the bodies of the five men. "If you do not want her to end up like these poor fellows on the ground, then you'll surrender to us." Mythos looked at the ground, finally noticing the dead bodies. Apollo became enraged.
"What did you do to them?" Prometheus smiled.
"The titans require human life force to revive our king." Prometheus then pointed to Mythos, now making his rumored forethought evident. "Hikaru Kinami, you will surrender to us within the next three hours, or your friend Mizuki Ginko will die." Mythos drew back the bowstring of his weapon and prepared an arrow.
"What did you do to Mizuki?" Mythos seemed to angrily growl. Prometheus, a curious smile on his face at this show of anger outside of the influence of the war god, shrugged.
"We have done nothing yet," the titan explained. "But if you try to stop us then whatever happens to her will be on you." Mythos lowered his weapon in a huff, fury behind his helmet and Prometheus laughed.
"Good boy. I have places to be. Remember, within three hours, you will surrender." His ghostly form vanished, leaving Mythos to fall to his knees.
"Dammit!" Mythos yelled as he punched the ground. "This can't be happening. She got captured because I said she had to stay out of this!" Ares sighed.
"Poor girl probably wanted to prove herself and tried to fight the monster." Ares shook his head, as if just disapproving of Mizuki's bravado rather than being empathetic towards Hikaru's frustration.
"She's going to die, Ares!" Hikaru screamed in response. "I can't do anything about that, and more people are going to die and I can't do anything about that either!" As Hikaru was nearly brought to tears, he heard a voice.
"Hikaru!...Hikaru!...HIKARU!" Hikaru jumped slightly, acknowledging that he knew the voice.
"Apollo, what is it?" Hikaru asked. Apollo growled in the back of Hikaru's mind.
"Are you really going to let this bastard win?" Apollo explained. "Would Mizuki want you to give up like this?" A short amount of time occurred before Hikaru stood up and confidently exclaimed.
"Hell no she wouldn't! Let's go find her! Wait..." Hikaru stopped before shaking his head. "How do you suppose we do that?"
Apollo stuttered for a moment. "Uhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Apollo quickly redirected the idea to his brother. "Ares, any ideas?"
Ares shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe we could go find some of their henchmen and beat them up until they tell us where Prometheus is?"
Apollo sighed. "I guess that's a start, though I thought you'd have something better. You up for that, Hikaru?" Hikaru, feeling an anger he hadn't felt before, nodded in affirmation.
"Yeah. Alright, Apollo, Ares… Let's go get Mizuki back." He got on the Machine Chariot and rode off, determined to find his friend.
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After riding around for nearly an hour and finding nothing, the trio finally found a group of Tartarans in the mountains that were trying to find humans. Not hesitating at seeing them, Mythos jumped off his bike (which parked itself to remain upright) and began to fight the mooks, eliminating 4 out of the 5 of them with a speed, effectiveness, and ruthlessness that neither Apollo nor Ares had ever seen before. Approaching the final mook, he practically hissed at it.
"Prometheus," Mythos demanded. "Where is he?"
The Tartaran replied back in a deep gravelly voice, "I tell nothing, Mythos." Mythos smiled under the helmet and cracked his knuckles.
"Fine then, Tartaran. I'll make you tell me." Mythos charged at the Tartaran and began to punch and kick the being more savagely than the normal elegant and precise fighting style that Apollo Frame was known for.
Ares looked on, impressed at the show, making passing comments. "You know," he would openly say, "I'd almost be proud of how ferocious he's being if he wasn't acting so weird about that girl." Mythos beat the Tartaran right to the ground with ease, yelling as he continued to toss blows at it.
"Where! Is! Prometheus!" Mythos raged. The Tartaran stopped moving as he continued beating it. "TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!" He kept punching until he felt Apollo stopping his actions.
"Hikaru," Apollo said with a stern voice, unheard by Hikaru before. "That is enough. It's dead."
Hikaru looked down to see the Tartaran dissolving into black dust, and collapsed. "Apollo," he said, "I messed up, that was our only chance."
Apollo sighed. "Hikaru, listen to me. You need to calm down. This isn't like you at all." Hikaru shook his head in response.
"This is my fault," Hikaru elaborated. "She did this because I told her that she shouldn't be involved in this." Apollo continued to speak sternly in his mind.
"Hikaru," the god of the sun explained, "you and I both know that girl is stubborn and annoying and wasn't going to stop no matter what you said."
Ares nodded in agreement, adding, "He's right, kid. As much as I'd like to say that it'd be better off to let her die so no one knows about us, she keeps you balanced. Better to keep the woman around." Mythos glared at Ares for the comment as Apollo continued to think.
Suddenly, Apollo spoke. "Hey Ares, life force is light, right?" Ares shrugged in response.
"I'll be completely honest," Ares said. "I never listened to our father's explanation about it but I would think so. Why do you ask?"
Apollo continued. "Well, maybe…" The god yanked Hikaru's body into an upright posture and continued with his explanation. "If Hikaru and I focused enough, we could possibly sense where Mizuki is. Given how headstrong she is, that must mean she has a lot of life force, which should make her easy to locate."
Ares nodded in approval. "I don't know a lot about tactics, but it seems to be worth a try. Likely, you two would need to be absolutely calm and in sync."
Apollo smiled within Hikaru's mind, commenting to Ares, "That should be no problem. Are you up for this, partner?" Hikaru nodded in response.
"What do I have to do?"
Apollo thought for a second before speaking. "Just concentrate. Focus on me, my thoughts, and on light."
Hikaru nodded. "Alright, let's do it."
Hikaru closed his eyes within the Mythos suit and began to concentrate deeply. Soon enough, he could hear Apollo's thoughts and feel the god's feelings, despite how alien they seemed to him. To Hikaru, both felt warm and inviting. He felt happiness and light as a feather as the two continued to concentrate as one. Mythos began to glow as the two began to feel something. Hikaru could see Apollo's memories now; he saw Apollo and Artemis shortly after she helped their mother birth him, looking about ten years old due to their godly nature. He saw Apollo receiving his bow from Zeus, messing with his sister Artemis, and (unfortunately) his many, many lovers and their fates. Suddenly, a massive light appeared in his vision. It appeared to be somewhere in the city, though it looked like an old and abandoned warehouse. Hikaru could think of only one.
Hikaru's eyes shot open and he smiled. "Got it. I know where she is."
Ares nodded. "Then what are we waiting for? We should not go as Mythos so he doesn't sense us coming, but if we know where the woman is, let's save her!"
Hikaru unhenshined and walked to his motorcycle. "No time to waste, let's go!" He revved the engine as Apollo appeared besides him.
"So, I don't know what you saw for me," Apollo began, "but I saw your memories of her. I can see why you like her so much."
Hikaru frowned as he rode on. "I'd rather not mention what I saw of your memories." Apollo laughed in response.
"I take it so my many lovers?"
Hikaru nodded, "Like I said," he explained, I'd rather not talk about it." Apollo laughed as Hikaru rode on, now resolved to rescue Mizuki.
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Prometheus sat in the abandoned warehouse that humans once used to conduct business, with Vacury high in the rafters above. He observed a chained up Mizuki who struggled to get free.
"Struggling is useless," Prometheus boasted. "You are strong, but you are also a human who pales in comparison to your creator." The girl, Mizuki, stared daggers back at him and gave a sly smile in response.
"Mythos is so gonna kick your ass when he gets here," she mocked with a shit-eating grin.
Prometheus laughed at the statement. "I have observed that boy for a while. Deep down, he is a coward; the only reason he will come is to save you, as is one of the things I loved about humanity before the Box was opened. He will surrender knowing that you will be safe." Mizuki continued to smile her grin.
"He's far from the coward you take him for. Hikaru doesn't give up that easily. Besides, that idiot Apollo is probably giving him a pep talk, and Ares would actively want to fight you."
Prometheus frowned and motioned for Vacury, who had simply been watching. "Her mouth annoys me," the titan said, "so make sure she will not talk back anymore." Vacury growled at him.
"I'm not going to kill her," the monster replied. Prometheus shook his head in response.
"My creation, I don't want you to kill her," the titan mused. "Just make her feel pain." Vacury was more than happy to oblige to this and flew down from the rafters, landing and approaching towards the still struggling Mizuki.
Before Mizuki could scream, however, all the temporary tenants of the warehouse paused as the sound of a motorcycle could be heard. Prometheus smiled as the Machine Chariot burst through the entrance and landed carrying a very pissed off and determined Hikaru Kinami.
Prometheus spread out his arms in greeting. "Welcome, Hikaru Kinami! It is nearly three hours past; have you come to surrender and retrieve your loved one back?"
Hikaru simply got off the bike and glared at Vacury, shouting out loud and confirming what Prometheus didn't want to hear: denial.
"Let her go!" Hikaru yelled.
Prometheus couldn't help but frown. "I see. Mortals aren't like the heroes of old any more. I was really hoping you wouldn't be this stupid and would have taken my deal. A shame."
The titan turned to Vacury. "Kill her."
Hikaru glared at the titan and monster. "The only one dying is that fury." Hikaru placed the Pantheon Driver on himself, with the belt announcing itself as always.
"PANTHEON DRIVER!"
He held up one of the orbs.
"Ares, lend me your power," Hikaru said coldly. Ares appeared behind him, pissed and looking for a fight.
"I would've preferred to punch the titan," Ares scoffed, "but a fury will do just nicely!" Hikaru scanned the orb as the driver accepted it.
"ARES ORB!"
The driver began a familiar chant that almost seemed to make Prometheus recoil, if even for a hint of a second.
"What's beyond the chains?! Break freeeee!"
"What's beyond the chains?! Break freeeee!"
Hikaru made a fighting stance and punched the air twice as Ares repeated his actions. Hikaru then pressed the button on the driver.
"Henshin!" Hikaru called out. The undersuit enveloped him in a blue fire as a war chariot came out and crashed into him.
"Fight Hard! Defend your glory! (The War God!) Ares Frameeeee! Yeah!"
Ares framed around Mythos as he brought out his weapons.
"ARES KAIGUNTOU!" He proceeded to point directly at Vacury.
"I'm Kamen Rider Mythos," Hikaru shouted under the helmet. " I am the Rider chosen by the gods. You will pay for taking my friend!" He charged at Vacury, who flew directly at him. Rather than clashing with the monster, Mythos slid under her, moving hastily to slash at the chains holding Mizuki.
"Get out of here, now!" Mythos yelled. Mizuki hesitated for a moment as Mythos went back to fighting Vacury. The two exchanged blow-for-blow as the Kaiguntou burned with blue fire, Vacury using vacuum-like forces to pull away oxygen from the fire.
Soon, Vacury took to the air and began an assault on Mythos from her vantage point by blowing heavy amounts of air at him, which caused him to fly back. Mizuki watched, knowing she needed to do something to help, or else her friend would lose. She picked up an empty cardboard box on the ground and threw it at Vacury. Vacury avoided it easily and turned to Mizuki, anger burning in the monster's eyes.
"Don't deny me my prey, girl!" the fury cried. Vacury swooped towards Mizuki, who had nowhere to run. Mythos, helpless, watched on in horror. Apollo quickly appeared next to him.
"Hikaru," the sun god called. "Tag me in, we need speed over strength!"
Nodding, Mythos took out the Apollo orb.
"Apollo," Mythos called, "lend me your power!" Apollo began to shine.
"Alright, let's do this! Come on, partner!" the god responded. Mythos quickly scanned the orb, the driver registering it.
"APOLLO ORB!"
The driver began to chant its usual chant.
"What's beyond the chains?! Break freeeee!"
"What's beyond the chains?! Break freeeee!"
Mythos pushed down the button and yelled, "Shine over!" The belt promptly responded.
"Ride on! Power of the sun! (The golden god!) Apollo Frameeeee! Yeah!"
As Mythos Apollo Frame formed, Vacury was able to grab Mizuki by the neck and proceeded to lift her from the ground.
"As much as I can say I hate doing this," the fury mused, "that would be a lie. You've been too annoying." Vacury activated the vacuums in her hands and slowly began to suck out Mizuki's life force. Mizuki could only struggle to breath as her life was drained from her and she began to feel colder.
Thankfully, an arrow hit Vacury and she turned around to see Mythos in a form foreign to her.
"Hey, lady!" Mythos taunted. "Forget about me?" Vacury growled and dropped Mizuki. The fury then charged at Mythos, who was able to dodge her easier thanks to the speed of Apollo. Mythos shot a few arrows into the monster, causing her to fly higher into the air. Mythos scanned the Apollo orb on the driver.
"Fine, you want to fly?" he scoffed. "Let's finish this, then." The driver lit up.
"APOLLO FAVOR: KICK!" Mythos began to glow and jumped high into the air, but just below Vacury.
"Let's give the gods a proper tribute!" Mythos called out. He flew forward and hit Vacury; while he passed right through her, landing on the ground, the monster flew higher upwards due to the force of the kick. Mythos didn't bother to watch as Vacury exploded into black dust high in the sky.
Mythos stood back up and turned to Prometheus. "You want to be next?" Mythos snapped.
Prometheus could only applaud with a frown of his face. "Well, you may have stopped my monster, but at least I got a consolation prize. I see humanity hasn't changed a bit, but you'll regret taking the side of that sleazy lightning rod you call a head god. Farewell, Mythos; we will meet again." His ghostly form would vanish once more, leaving Mythos and Mizuki behind.
Mythos rushed over to the seemingly lifeless Mizuki on the ground, no longer caring about the escaping titan. He rested a hand on her forehead. Mizuki was cold to the touch.
"Apollo," he pleaded, "tell me we can help her." Apollo nodded within his mind in response.
"Hikaru, relax. I'm the god of healing, but I may not have that kind of power after that fight. Since we were in sync not too long ago, though, you could access more of my healing abilities. Help me out again." Hikaru nodded in response and began to concentrate as Apollo guided him.
"Just focus on healing her," the god explained. "I know you want her to be better; let the light from us go into her." Mythos decided to ignore that last part, as he wasn't sure if Apollo was joking or not. Mythos elected to continue his focus. Very shortly after starting, he began to glow as he did before, but this time he transferred the glow to Mizuki.
It was only a few seconds, but Hikaru quickly felt tired and unhenshined, once again feeling Mizuki's forehead, now warmed back up. Slowly Mizuki opened her eyes.
"Hikaru, please tell me you won," Mizuki pleaded.
Hikaru nodded. "Yeah, we won."
Mizuki sighed in relief, "Good, because I would've kicked your ass if you lost." Hikaru nodded and helped her up, putting her arm around his neck and leaning down to meet her.
"C'mon, let's go get some ice cream. My treat," Hikaru recommended. Mizuki nodded and Hikaru helped her get onto Machine Chariot.
"You know," she said with a hint of awe, "it was kind of cool seeing you all badass and determined."
Hikaru frowned and joked back while climbing onto Machine Chariod himself. "Yeah, I don't know what came over me." The two rode off, Mizuki hugging him from behind, happy that her friend rescued her.
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The two sat at a table near their favorite ice cream place. It had always been a tradition that the two went there at least once a week; even now with everything going on, that hadn't changed. Hikaru always got vanilla, and Mizuki always made fun of him for getting such a plain flavor. Currently, the two sat there in silence before Mizuki broke the silence.
"Hikaru, listen," Mizuki said apologetically. "I am so sorry for blowing you off these last few weeks and leaving you with Taijin alone. I wasn't being a good friend." Hikaru smiled back at her.
"I know," he replied. "Taiga told me what you were doing. I appreciate you trying to give me space, but I'd also appreciate having a friend nearby, especially around that know-it-all."
Mizuki nodded. "I know, I'm sorry. I guess my ideas on how to help you aren't always the best."
Hikaru laughed. "I guess not, but I'm also sorry for getting jealous. It's just that you're my only real friend. I shouldn't question our friendship, even when you're blowing me off from my brother." Mizuki glared at him and punched him playfully in response.
"We've been friends for 13 years; you shouldn't be questioning that."
"Sorry, won't happen again," Hikaru replied sheepishly.
"Yeah right," Mizuki joked.
While the two continued to talk, Apollo and Ares watched them. Ares frowned slightly at watching the two interact.
"I still think it'd be better to not have her around," the war god proclaimed.
Apollo shrugged. "Relax, little bro. She's harmless and she's hot; why shouldn't we keep her around?" Mizuki suddenly turned her head at them.
"Excuse me?" she accused. "I heard that, sunbeam." Hikaru seemed shocked.
"Wait, Mizuki," he asked. "You can hear and see them now?"
Mizuki shrugged. "I guess I can." She turned her attention to Apollo and pointed a blaming finger. "No more making comments, you lazy god."
Apollo frowned. "Great, I guess Hikaru healing her gave her enough belief to see us."
Ares shrugged. "Honestly, I'd be more shocked if she couldn't after all that." Hikaru smiled awkwardly as Mizuki began to yell at Apollo for the comments he'd made towards her, but lamented that things were going to be even more loud from now on.
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Mount Olympus, The Temple of Zeus…
Prometheus was thrown across the room by a very angry Rhea.
"You failed, Prometheus!" Rhea screamed. "No excuses this time!"
Krios tried getting in front of her. "Wait, my queen," he began, "let's just all calm down and-." Before Krios could finish his sentence, he was thrown aside by Rhea. She approached Prometheus and picked him up by his neck.
"I'm sure the eagle has missed you, but don't worry," Rhea threatened. "You'll be meeting him again soon."
Prometheus cowered in fear by her threats before they heard a booming but weak voice.
"R-Rhea..."
The titans who were gathered all turned to the coffin that contained Kronus, which was glowing dimly. Rhea went over to it first.
"Kronus, my love... Are you there?" she pleaded. Unfortunately, there was no reply. Prometheus was able to catch his breath.
"It seems," he croaked, "that the gathered life force worked, but it was only enough for him to speak briefly."
Rhea looked at him. "So, the revival has begun?"
Prometheus nodded. "Yes, but... Due to the nature of this process, he will require a human host when he awakes." Rhea smiled in response to this.
"I'm sure that will not be a problem, Prometheus? You may have just saved yourself. For now."
Prometheus nodded and the three titans stared at the coffin. One day, sooner or later, their king would indeed be revived.
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To be continued!
Next Time on Kamen Rider Mythos!:
Taiga is speaking to Hikaru
"Look now that I know about the rider, I gotta meet him."
A monster stands before a struggling Mythos
"Fool you are powerless as I am invincible!"
Finally a shocked Taiga
"HIkaru, you, you're the Kamen Rider?"
