Kamen Rider Chaldea
Chapter 05 : Insider Menace
Author's Note : Hey guys, it's been quite some time, huh? I started this story during Saber's run and now we're already 14+ episodes in with Revice, time sure flies. At this point, I gotta stop making excuses for my tardiness, it'll be the same thing over and over again.
Hope you like this, now if you'll excuse me, I've got Christmas lotto to farm.
Disclaimer : I (obviously) don't own the Kamen Rider series, the Fate series, and My Hero Academia. They belong to their respective owners.
"With my Command Spell, I order you...!" = Normal talking.
'I wonder what's for dinner?' = Inner thoughts.
["Senpai!"] = Talking through an earpiece/radio.
A massive tremor could be felt by the entrants who've just managed to enter the Exam Ground.
"W-What the?! D-Did you all felt that?"
"Y-Yeah! What the hell was that?!"
"No way! Could it be... a zero-pointer?!
"It can't be! We haven't even encountered a single robot yet!"
Those were the murmurs of the various participant of UA's entrance exam. Gudako were walking among them.
'If that's true... It must be targeting that boy who ran in by himself earlier.' Gudako turned her head towards the direction of the tremor. 'I wonder, how exactly are you going to survive that encounter?'
"BB, wait!" Ritsuka said as he dodged another earth shattering punch. "Can't we talk about this?!" He rolled out of the way to avoid another punch.
["This is just a little training, Senpai. As a helpless Kouhai who can only patiently wait for you to come back home safely, I have to make sure my Senpai can at the very least, dodge a slow but deadly attack like this."] She said as another punch failed to land its mark.
"It's a little excessive, don't you think?!" The robot this time tried a charging attack, which Ritsuka barely manage to dodge. The giant robot crashed into a nearby building, its armor undamaged from the impact.
["Not at all, sometimes you need some tough love to make sure your loved one could handle the harsh outside world."] The robot turned around once more to face the poor boy.
"But I'm in the middle of an important exam here, BB!"
["No worries, I will make sure you pass it. You could just be sitting around the starting area and 'somehow' you would ends up as one of the top scorer."] She cheerfully replied, while making the giant robot do a thumbs up. 'Not like you needed my help to pass this joke of an exam. I know what you're capable of, Senpai...'
"Huh? There's cameras all around us, right? How are you going to do that?"
["Duh, obviously I can turn it on and off whenever I want. In fact, I've already done it!"]
At the same time, the educators of UA were monitoring the exam through a certain room.
"Hmm? Something's wrong with the cameras located on Area C." A man wearing a helmet resembling the claw of an excavator announced. The cameras he mentioned only showed static on the screen.
"Was it a hacking attempt?" Asked another man wearing a cowboy costume.
"Not possible, our security system is one of the most advanced in the world. It's practically impossible to bypass it."
One of the camera on that room focused itself on the conversation. 'Maybe for you filthy humans it would be impossible. But for this Ultimate AI it wasn't even a challenge.'
"Give me a few minutes and I'll turn it back online."
'Good, that few minutes would be enough to hide the fact that one of the zero-pointer were deployed early...'
"Anyway, the exam went well for now, we have many entrant with promising potential to become great heroes on this year's batch."
"That's true, some showed astounding pure combat instinct." A blocky man made of stone said, watching a monitor where a certain explosive blonde-haired boy made short works of several robots.
"And some showed mindset befitting of a Hero, racking up Rescue Points higher than their Combat Points" A woman wearing an outfit reminiscent of a dominatrix chimed in, watching a footage of a certain green-haired boy saving his fellow students.
'As I suspected, this exam isn't all about destroying those junks. If I leave him alone long enough, Senpai would surely rescue more people than he can count, but where's the fun in that? Hehe.'
The zero pointer suddenly stopped pursuing Ritsuka, turning the other way and moving into the direction, leaving him alone.
"H-Huh? Is it over? Have you decided to let me take this exam in peace, BB?"
["Nope! It's boring when I can't hit you at all, Senpai. So I have decided to change things around a bit!"]
"No... You wouldn't...!"
["Heh, try me!]
Gudako cautiously watched the other participants battling the robots, noting any weaknesses she could exploit. 'I see, they may look well-armored and heavily armed, but in actuality their armor are nothing more than deadweight. It reduces their mobility significantly, allowing us to strike their weakpoint, which is the joint, for a quick victory.' She thought as she watched another robot crumble instantly from the attack of a frog-like girl. 'What's more, the gatling guns on the arms were either simply for intimidation purpose, or were temporarily disabled for this exam...'
The frog girl used her enhanced legs to proper herself all around the places, avoiding the attack of an one-pointer robots, and then using the same powerful legs to bounce off a wall to deliver a kick to the joint. Ending the fight as quickly as it begun. "Kero, this makes 16 points..." She muttered to herself, before leaving the area with a powerful leapt.
Gudako wordlessly emerged from her hiding spot, walking over to the remains of the one-pointer. She picked the shield-like arm from the decommissioned machine. 'This could work nicely as a durable shield. It's sufficient both as a weapon and protection. Come to think of it, that masked guy used a shield, didn't he?' She recalled seeing him carrying one the last time they met. 'Hmm, should be worth trying out.' She thought to herself.
She didn't have to wait for long, because as soon as the thought left her. Another one-pointer approached her. "DETECTING TARGET, PROCEEDING WITH ELIMINATION!" It announced monotonously.
She chuckled at the instant opportunity to try her new equipment out. "Well, no time like the present! Come at me then, tin can!" She taunted. As if responding to her taunt, the machine rushed to face its new adversary. 'Predictable attack pattern, as soon as it detected an attack target, it will blindly charge at them.' Gudako stood her ground, still as calm as ever. The machine came ever closer by the second, and she still stood there, shield held with both of her arms. She planted her foot firmly and pulled her arms beside her right side, as if she were a batter about to take a swing at a ball. Said 'ball' only about 30 feet away from her, and she's not about to let herself get hit, with one quick motion she sprung into action, she rotated her hips to helps create momentum for the swing, and with all her might, she poured all her energy into that one swing.
KLANG!
Metal meets metal in one quick decisive strike, turning the machine into mere scrap heap on the aftermath. "Heh, that showed 'em..." She gave a satisfied nod at her first point of the day. "Just gotta do this a few dozen times and I could call it a day." Her confidence rose significantly after securing a way to combat the bots.
Meanwhile, on Area B, Izuku Midoriya is currently in a battle with a single one-pointer. Thanks to his training, he easily dodged the strike from the drone and quickly dispatched it using a blow from a flick enhanced with the power of his new One for All Quirk.
"Alright! This makes for 14 points!" He excitedly raised his fist on the air. He couldn't believe that someone like him could go toe to toe with machines specifically designed to be a hindrance for Heroes in training. He only received his Quirk about a week ago after all, so being able to make steady progress on the exam like this felt like a dream, maybe it really is a dream...
He quickly shook his head to remove the negative thoughts. "No... I can't think like that anymore! Fujimaru-kun and All Might believed in me, so I have to show them that I can meet their expectation!"
He ran after several one pointer chasing a group of students. 'Okay, stay calm and remember Izuku, eggs and microwave... eggs and microwave...' Remembering that trigger word, he slowly gathered energy on the tip of his finger, preparing another One for All enhanced blow.
Toshinori Yagi, better known as his alter ego, All Might, the current number 1 hero and symbol of peace sat on the monitor room alongside the other teachers. He intently watched the progress of his pupil. So far so good, no complication on that end. With that taken care off he briefly reminisced about the last few days, where he guided the boy to harness his newfound power.
All Might admitted that he wasn't expecting Izuku to finish cleaning the beach early, he expected Izuku to finish cleaning all the trash on the beach one or two days before the exam. But Izuku managed to subvert that expectation. So after transferring the Quirk (which involved eating a single strand of All Might's hair), All Might have decided that it's now time to move on to the next phase, which was learning how to use and control the Quirk, the boy's sudden rise in progress convinced All Might to do so.
The boy was humble, kind, and has a great sense of justice, but far too timid for his liking, so Toshinori weren't 100% sure if the boy were a good choice to inherit his power. But seeing the determination on the boy's eyes convinced him to take that bet.
One day, that fiery determination suddenly multiplied a dozen times over. The boy simply said that a new friend he made supported his dream. He didn't exactly elaborate about it, but that alone shows that the support of others can help shapes what kind of person you could turns out to be. As a result, the boy worked harder than ever, but not to the extent of overworking himself out, to the point that he surpassed the current expectation that All Might had set for him. It was a pleasant surprise.
Currently, the boy could use about 1% of One for All's power. Carefully trained so he would not use more than necessary, because finding a way to heal him from all those injuries would be difficult. If he managed to enter UA, enlisting the help of Recovery Girl could become an option, but for now...
He glanced at the monitor in front of him once more, it shows Izuku with the remains of 5 one-pointer drones, the tips of his finger briefly glowed with power. Toshinori smiled at the sight. 'I believe he could pass this exam without too much trouble.'
All Might looked at another monitor, showing the footage of Area C. 'Now, what exactly is going on down there?' He thought, remembering the conversation from a few minutes ago.
"Hm? Principal, it seems there is an unexpected development on Area C." The Excavation Hero, Power Loader announced.
The principal, a short mouse-like creature raised his eyebrows at the query. "Oh? What kind of development?"
"One of the zero pointer robot went rogue. We haven't deployed it yet, but it's already rampaging on the area, it ignored all orders sent to it."
"Any other erratic behavior from it?"
"It ignored everything else to focus an assault on one particular student." He pressed a button to display an image of the poor victim. A certain black-haired boy. "Entrant number 6323, Ritsuka Fujimaru. Should we send someone to intervene?" The monitor showed the boy running for his life, dodging every strike from the giant drone, leaving craters on its wake.
"Impressive..."
"Principal?"
"Oh, it seems there is no need for us to do that yet. He seems quite capable of taking care of the situation. I'm actually more curious about the reason of that zero-pointer going rogue. Was it because of hacking?"
"I doubt it, as I've said before, UA's security system is difficult to bypass."
"Difficult, but not impossible, yes?" Power Loader didn't say anything back, silently conceding to the principal. "Run a system check to verify its status. We have to stop it without alerting any of the participants."
"Understood..." But before he could do that, the monitor showed that the machine has stopped pursuing Fujimaru. "Principal! It has changed it course, it seems no longer interested with that Fujimaru kid!"
The principal cupped his chins, formulating several plans to solve this problem. "Hmm, Aizawa, I trust you can handle this?"
A sleepy looking man with long scruffy hair stood up. This is Shota Aizawa, also known as the Underground Hero, Eraserhead.
"I'll see what I can do."
Back in Area C, Ritsuka were running as fast as he can to stop BB from doing whatever the hell she is planning right now. His breath ragged and sweat poured all over his body, yet he forced his body to move. "BB! Stop right this instant!"
Inside the zero-pointer, BB were trying her hardest to ignore him. 'Ghh, don't yell my name so passionately like that, Senpai. If you keep doing it, I might unconsciously obey you...' She knocked some building behind her to impede his movements, allowing the machine to gain some distance away from the boy. Luckily for her, after searching for a while she finally found some victims. Three participants who were just about done defeating the robots in the area.
'Ah, finally! Some unlucky schmucks! Sorry~ but I'll be using you guys to cultivate my Senpai's growth. It's for the sake of this world, so I'm sure you won't mind~'
"O-Oh crap! A zero-pointer?!"
"It's too huge! How are we supposed to defeat it?!
"We're not supposed to, you idiot!"
The mechanical giant stood there unmoving, as if it were scanning them. None of the three dared to make any sudden movement.
"M-Maybe if we're not moving, it'll ignore us!"
"I hope to god that you're right..."
"Yeah, THAT's a good thing to say..."
'Ah, found the speaker function. Gotta make it feel authentic after all.'
"TARGETS FOUND! COMMENCING IMMEDIATE EXTERMINATION!"
"That doesn't sound good..."
"I-it's coming right for us! Run for it!"
"Ah hell, this is SO not my day!"
The machine started chasing them, but at a slower pace than what its actually capable of. 'I'm waiting for a certain line to make an appearance...'
One of the three unlucky entrants looked behind him as he ran.
"H-Hey, that thing is slower than expected!"
"Thank god! That means we're not dead yet!"
"Don't say stuff like that you dumbass! you'll-"
Before he could finish, the zero-pointer momentarily stopped. 'And that's my cue! Thank you for playing along~' The machine started shaking violently, steam coming out from all over its body.
"-jinx... us..."
With a speed previously unseen from any of its fellow robots, its continued to give chase with renewed vigor. Some smaller robots also tried giving chase but unfortunately for them, anything that stood between the behemoth and its prey didn't last long. All of them got crushed under its massive weight.
"Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap!"
"Less talking, more running!"
"I should've stayed in bed all day today, dammit!"
'Heheh, don't worry. I'm not gonna kill you guys. Senpai would hate me if I do that, and that's something I can't allow.' The mechanical monstrosity raised one of its arm. 'If my calculations were correct, he should be here in right... about..' The machine launched its fist like a battering ram, ready to crush anything in its path.
Before it could do so, a figure sprinted between the giant and the three students, carrying something that vaguely resembling a shield.
KLANG!
Is the sound that reverberated around the streets of Area C that day, the cause of that sound were instantly launched into a nearby wall, leaving a human-shaped crater on it. The shield he used were revealed to be parts of a destroyed one-pointer, its forms reduced into an unrecognizable mess.
'Right on time.' The zero-pointer stopped its pursuit and turned its head towards the meddling figure.
The three students also stopped to look at what just saved them : a black-haired boy with blue eyes in a white and black uniform.
"N-No way! He blocked it?!"
"I-Is he gonna be okay?"
"Are you daft?! Of course not! We should check up on..."
"Run... away..." The black-haired boy weakly said, still sprawled on the floor.
"Huh? But what about you?"
"You can't be serious!"
"This is no time to play hero!"
"Shut up and listen! That thing's attention is now focused on me! Now's your chance! Leave now if you don't wanna get hurt!
"Eek! Y-you heard the man!"
"R-right! Let's book it!"
The first two students immediately ran away at full speed. The third one can only grit his teeth at the cowardly display.
"Oi! Where the fuck do you think you're going?! We can't just leave him!" His words went unanswered, his two companions either couldn't hear him anymore, or were just pretending that they couldn't to save themselves.
"Just go! I'll... be fine." To try to prove his point, he weakly tried standing, using the broken shield as a support.
Still hesitating for a bit, the third student balled his hand into a fist. "Shit! Fine! Don't die out here, you hear?"
"S-sure..."
He reluctantly left the wounded boy. A pang of regret visible on his eyes as he picked up the pace.
'Ahhh~ you looked so radiant now, Senpai! I got to hear that serious commanding voice that you rarely used too, you really know how to make a Kouhai's heart skip a beat, huh?' As this went on, a surviving one-pointer tried sneaking up on the wounded boy, but before it could do anything, a giant fist slammed into it, instantly reducing it into scraps. 'Poor Senpai, I'm having seconds thoughts right now, but I'm too far gone to stop this now... That famous UA nurse better be as good as they say or there's gonna be trouble!'
"Ghh, a-are you satisfied now, BB? Can I finally take my exam in peace?"
["I'm very tempted to say yes to that, Senpai. But you know what? Because it's practically impossible for you to destroy this thing, I'll make it easier for you instead."]
"Easy? You never make things easy."
["Oof, I'm hurt by how little faith you had in little ol' me. But oh well, can't be helped. Now, pay close attention to what I'm about to say..."]
"Just make it quick."
["Heh, you see these 8 red orbs on this junk's face? Destroy it all and I'll self-destruct this thing for your trouble. Clear enough?"]
"Crystal." Not even a second after she finished explaining, 5 small bursts of dark energy were fired at the robot's face, immediately destroying 5 of the red orbs. Realizing what was happening, BB quickly covered the face with the robot's arms, shielding it from any further shot.
["Hey! That's cheating, Senpai!"]
His hand were pointed at the giant mech. 'Who knew that one time when Shishou forced me to train with a gun on Luluhawa would improve my aim? Not me, that's for sure!' Ritsuka gritted his teeth at his failure to destroy them all instantly. "Sorry BB, but I gotta finish this quick. Time is running out and I still haven't racked enough points to pass!"
["You got me good there, Senpai. But now that I'm taking this seriously, you will have to work your butts off to destroy the rest!"]
'I can't transform to face this one, so I'll just have to make do with with what I have...' He gave out a long sigh while briefly closing his eyes. 'Let's see, I gotta pick the right thing to say at a time like this...' Having made a decision, he opened his eyes and strikes up the signature pose of a certain wizard. "Now, It's showtime!"
Several months of waiting and all we got is a chapter no longer than usual? Outrageous, I know. Sorry, but I simply didn't have the time to make longer ones.
I feel like this series haven't had much Rider stuff lately, it's a shame, but that's how it's gonna be for a little while, so please bear with it.
Now then, how long until the next chapter got released?
I'll see you next time.
