Kamen Rider Alterum
Episode 4: Hope And Daylight
What was my dream back then?
"What's your dream? You are still young… Have a dream, chase after it, and maybe you'll have a meaning to live."
Unlike the stars and moon, the sun grants us more light, making the day for us. The sun is like a planetary clock for us. It also reminds us to rise and shine as the new day begins.
"... my dream is, I think I wanted to be a superhero."
"A superhero?" Old man repeated. "Yes," I replied confidently. "Not just a hero. A superhero."
"Eh, your dream is far bigger than mine then. Good luck, son."
"Please don't make fun of me!"
I mean, if something as ridiculous as a zombie virus is possible, superheroes should become a thing as well. I wasn't a religious child, nor would I ever believe in God. I had lost too much to worship one. But I did have one firm belief: that someone who would save us all from the disaster would come to exist. Maybe I was delusional, but I never stopped to believe that. I didn't believe in God, but I believed someone who was as good as God would come to exist.
My big dream, as well, was no less delusional than my belief in a savior. I wanted to be a superhero: someone who could stand next to said savior.
Though, my belief in the savior didn't just come out of nowhere. It's from… some weird bed stories conveyed by my other family.
"Maybe… you should start protecting someone," he said, laughing. But he wasn't particularly mocking me or anything. "Protecting someone needs power and strength. The power of your heart and the strength of your body make up the needs. In other words, determination and physical strength…"
As he said, I was imagining things in my head. Delusional conditions where I could be a superhero. I used to read superhero comics when I was young so I was much more imaginative than I thought I was. Would a random radioactive spider bite me all of a sudden? Will someone reveal to me that I am actually a child who came from the stars?
But there was only one problem with those fantasies. There was no way a radioactive spider would ever land on me. No matter how many times I imagined this scenario, none of them ended well. Superheroes were blessed with powers but cursed with their backstories. A tragic past unfortunately was something that powered most of them to move forward.
It got me to chuckle. I mean, I've also got a tragic past after all. What do I need to be a superhero? Nothing really. Not even an origin story. That was the first time I realized how ridiculous my dream was. And yet, I still held onto it. Even though I knew better.
"Grandpa, you said you know Kung Fu, right?"
"Yep. A little bit, but…"
"Teach me. Kung Fu."
And so I learned a few Kung Fu moves and basic martial arts from him. Though, he definitely lied to me when he said he knew only a little bit. The real-life martial arts aren't anything supernatural, but at least they let me punch the zombies harder.
[FLASHBLACK ENDS]
— — — —
Now back to the present.
Why did I do something embarrassing? Crying is one thing but… it was almost as weird as wiping my tears with her clothes. Eunice doesn't seem to care about that, but I feel embarrassed every time I recall the event.
"Tennyson Hirok-kun." "Y-yes…"
I shifted the gears and slowed down to hear what Eunice had to say.
"What do you have for breakfast?"
"Aren't you an artificial being who doesn't need to consume anything? Also, you eat too much."
"Yes, but tasting is different. My tongue is that of a human, so human food entertains me." Her wording is so weird it gives me shivers.
"Have you ever drunk milk?" I said, revving up the engine.
"You mean, like, cow's milk?"
"Yeah. Though, the milk I've got is goat milk."
On that note, I personally prefer goat milk.
"Never tasted it."
"Then…" I stopped the motorcycle. "Let's try some together."
"Huh?" She tilted her head in confusion. "Taste what?"
"Milk," I replied simply, holding a hand out to our as a gesture to receive something. "Give me my backpack."
"… okay," she snapped her fingers, opening a portal near us that placed my backpack (that had been stored in her whatever dimensional storage) on the ground. I took out two bottles from my backpack and then poured half a cup of the milk into a glass And held it near her mouth.
"Here, try it."
"Being forceful, are we?" She joked, grasping the cup and taking a sip of goat milk. On the other hand, I poured a glass of milk for myself.
"Wow, what an interesting taste… not so complex, but mildly sweet. Just enough sweetness… Cow milk and now goat milk… Hmm, biologically speaking, human females can also produce milk, right?"
Being taken by surprise, I almost spurted my precious drink.
"… cough, yeah…" I gulped down the entire cup of milk before speaking. "But you know the conditions, right?"
"I actually have mammary glands in my breasts," she nonchalantly said. "Though, they are practically useless because I won't be giving birth. I wonder what taste the human milk has."
It's either she is obsessed with the taste or I made a demon out of her by introducing goat milk. Again, I personally prefer goat milk to cow milk.
But something else clicked in my brain.
"Eunice, you have a human body, right?"
She even has mammary glands so for sure, she is a mammal at least. Not that I know biology much because the zombie apocalypse occurred during my middle school so I had to quit my education. I learned a few facts from Old man though.
"Mm-hm?"
"How can you change into a bracelet and a belt?"
"Oh, you are asking that?" She broke into laughter. "You've been transforming into a kamen rider all this time. It's pretty much the same technique. I can transform into a belt, or a bracelet— the same way the DNArmor suits you up."
Hmm, it's a little off from the answer I wanted… but she is someone who can open portals on a whim, and I am someone who transforms into a Kamen Rider. Like how Yamashita-san and Dae-Hyun can suit up in Kamen Rider armor. It is not weird enough now.
"Interesting…" I muttered to myself.
"Nani?"
"Nothing," I replied and raised the bottle. "Want more milk?"
After taking a rest, we proceeded with our journey— to another town. There were no survivors in Neo-Bangkok. Which was a tragedy, and the news couldn't be relayed to another town if not for wanderers like me. I should be on a vacation currently but just in case, I should check on other human towns.
Since I am now the Kamen Rider Alterum before being a wanderer, the safety of the people has become more of a concern for me. However, we don't know how long the battle ahead will be.
Speaking of checking on other towns, Yamashita-san gave me a military-related silver medal. He said it would be useful on my trip— I honestly don't know how. The medal seemed to be one of his awards.
"Tennyson Hiroki-kun," she rapped my name. "I detect life in this area."
"Eh, zombies?" This was my quick assumption since the nearest town was more than 20 miles away if I was right.
"No, it's…"
"Rogues?" I didn't slow down the motorcycle but my eyes were quickly scanning the area for potential threats and enemies.
"No, but—"
A human?
I widened my eyes.
All of a sudden, a shiny figure jumped out of the bush onto the road right in front of my running bike, mumbling words I couldn't understand immediately.
"—... Augendae Meae Vires!" It was a woman!
"What?!"
I kicked and pulled the brakes, and the motorcycle quickly came to the stop— and rose upward consequently. I thought we were flying due to inertia, but I was wrong!
The woman in a shiny armor-like costume lifted my Harley Davidson by its wheel and tossed it to the side, much to my surprise. Before I could process what was going on, Eunice hugged my waist and pulled me off the flying bike, safely landing me on the road.
I gasped, almost getting a heart attack. I must be getting too fragile these days…
"What the hell?!" I yelled at the woman, half-furious and half-frightened, fearing that my motorcycle had been accidentally damaged!
"Are you… Humans?" Monotonous words escaped her lips.
I twitched my brow and nodded.
"Yeah…?" I affirmed we were humans, though Eunice wasn't, and it didn't matter anyway.
She stared down at me for a moment while I also checked her out— she was a gorgeous woman in her 20s, possessing pale skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair. The features that stood out were her pointy ears and scarily composed facial expression. That said, she was overall beautiful. Her armor was the color of steel, with a white star emblazoned on her chest. Her outfit, however, was in the style of a knight. She looked like one of those fantasy characters in anime. She also had a sheathed sword on her back.
"Bring me to your leader, humans," she said, in the same cold, monotonous voice.
"Huh?" I blinked at her in confusion, then redirected my gaze at Eunice. She wasn't mad but releasing a dangerous aura.
"Oi, don't you think it's rude to not introduce yourself first?" She said in an intimidating tone.
The knight woman was taller than her, especially with those metal boots that just added to her height.
"My sincerest apologies," replied the knight-woman in a monotonous voice again, now bowing at us. "Please allow me to introduce myself, humans. I am Roseanne Amamion, a proud knight of the Great Magical Kingdom and the trusted bodyguard of Princess Naia. I came from the Kingdom to the Grand Asian Union to exterminate the tyrannical leader of you humans, so I could end the war between humans and us otherworlders before it starts."
She seriously introduced herself! So long! In English! What the heck is the Great Magical Kingdom?! Are people devolving because of the virus? Who in the blue hell is Naia the Princess? What even is the Grand Asian Union? When did we get ourselves a tyrannical leader? What do you mean by otherworlders?
Eunice didn't have the questioning gaze I had. Which means I am the one who's seriously left in the dark.
"Oi, Eunice, what is she talking about?"
"Oh, I missed the crucial information you humans cared about," Roseanne continued, almost ignoring our presence. "I am an elf, my gender is female. I am one hundred and— oh, sorry, I heard that revealing your age as a human woman is rude. Sorry."
Elf? Female? I could see that… Wait, is she… doing that "cosplay" thing? I have never seen a "cosplay" thing myself— I saw it in some old Japanese magazines though.
"We refuse," Eunice said and walked to the bike, standing it up.
"Then I will threaten you to talk," Roseanne said and drew her sword from her back.
Taken aback, I stepped back and prepared myself to fight. As the knight-woman held her sword at Eunice, the latter shot a glare at the former and stomped the ground so hard that I thought it was a quake! The cracks in the asphalt road reached the spot where Roseanne was standing, causing her to fall over.
But the knight-woman quickly regained her strength and jumped back in a reflex, with her eyes widened in surprise. Yes, Roseanne, it isn't just you who is surprised.
"You are not a human, are you?" She questioned.
"Huh, I am 55% human," Eunice replied cheekily. It's a pretty low percentage.
"Uh, wait, Eunice, let me talk," I spoke up and intervened. It was clear that Eunice was overwhelming, and I am not sure if the knight's sword is a real one. It's better to stop before no one is injured.
I could see her finally calming down, so I turned my gaze to the female knight.
Roseanne Amamion was like a rock statue that could speak. Her expression didn't change much, and her confidence didn't falter. I quietly gulped before talking.
"So you are cosplaying an elf and roleplaying? Sorry, I don't know the script so…"
"I know roleplaying and I am not doing it right now. What is cosplaying?"
To be fair, I don't know much about it myself.
"Uh, well, wearing the costume of a character you like to play as that character… I guess."
"Oh, I'm not doing that as well. I am not playing any character."
I raised my brows and looked at Eunice who returned a nod to me.
"She's not lying," clarified Eunice. "She is an elf, a natural born pure one. Neither cosplaying nor roleplaying. She is talking the facts."
I deadpanned. Man did I think I was thrown into a sci-fi story but… am I in the Lord of the Rings instead? Her ears look real, to be honest. Her armor looks impressive too— this is coming from a man who transforms into a Kamen Rider.
"So why do you want us to bring you to our leader? Not that I know where they are though?" I inquired.
"In order to prevent the war between humans and our people," she answered calmly. "I will have to assassinate your leader."
"You are telling the truth, right?"
"I swear to the God of Time, Chronos, that I am telling the truth."
Great. Planned assassination, huh…
"Sorry to tell you this but we don't really know, honestly, where they are. I know there is a new government but it's the least of my concerns. Surviving in the wild is hard, I wouldn't bother knowing how those guys live in privilege."
Oops, my words went political. I waited for her response as she stayed silent for a moment.
"Understandable," she said.
I internally sighed. That said, I still want to know more about elves and stuff, and their nation, "Great Magical Kingdom." Eunice seems to know something so I can just ask her about that.
"... However, I think as a human, not knowing the location of their leader is stupid," she blatantly stated.
I blinked again. "Eh? Hold up, why would humans go to war with your people? In this condition no less…"
I doubt if there even is a stable army in Asia. And the newly formed Japanese army won't do something stupid like this as far as I know. I trust Yamashita-san in that case.
"Asian government is picking a fight with our kingdom, which is ridiculous," Roseanne bluntly said again. "If we fight in this condition, humans will lose and casualties will be inevitable. That's why I am trying to prevent the war."
She wasn't wrong, not in the least— if humans and elves fight now, humans will definitely lose though I don't know about the power of their army.
"I see. If it were about preventing the war, I would gladly lend a hand, even if it means assassinating the leader. But I have no clue about this "leader" person… Hmm…" I turned to face Eunice. "You know about the Asian government, right?"
I am not 100% sure but I believe the Asian countries joined forces as an alliance to resist the apocalypse, at least to avoid the worst outcome. However, the government maintaining the entire continent is short of people… They couldn't even form a police force again and everything fell apart. People are pretty much living on their own. Despite that, the government still provides the people with food and supplies once in two months or so. Other than that, they are almost non-existent for a free spirit like me.
"It was formed 9 years ago to maintain the situation," answered Eunice. "Formed mainly with Chinese and Russian politicians. It's safe to say they are tyrannical and corrupted. Uh, I'm not trying to sound political. Their intentions are also unclear… They are now privileged bastards who care for nothing but ordering people around."
"O-oh, I can see that."
Just a few minutes in and I could see how similar Eunice and Roseanne were. On that note, Eunice might be a little blunter while the latter is more honest.
I turned toward the female knight again. "As she said. I presume your country is governed by a King?"
"Yes," she affirmed.
"Okay, ours isn't. It's governed by a group of politicians. A little more complex. Maybe you have to murder the entire cabinet if needed."
I didn't pull any brakes when I said that— in this apocalyptic era, I wouldn't give an F about the privileged politicians.
"It's okay with me," she nonchalantly replied.
"The headquarters is in Beijing," Eunice added.
"I haven't been there in two years." (me)
By Beijing, she must have meant Neo-Beijing, the city rebuilt in this era. It has a world surrounding the city and security is tight. As far as I know, it's also 100% free of zombies. Starting two years ago, it costs you a fortune to enter the city. That's also one reason why I didn't go back there.
"Thanks, humans," Roseanne said. "I will go to Beijing and assassinate the cabinet."
And so she walked past us— Hold up.
"Hold on, you are going in the wrong direction."
I looked back at Eunice calling for help. She rolled her eyes.
"Alright, we will give you a ride," she mumbled. "We haven't introduced ourselves. The young man here is Hiroki Tennyson-sama."
I awkwardly laughed at how she introduced myself first and held out a hand.
"Nice to meet you…"
But the knight-woman didn't know what to do with my hand, so I felt embarrassed and retracted it.
"... I am Eunice, his servant. As I said, I am 55% human."
What's with that seemingly scientific percentage?
She snapped her fingers, causing a portal to appear, and take my bike in, before leaving a sports car in its place and vanishing into thin air.
"Let's go."
Honestly, my jaw dropped at that moment.
— — — —
"It's… amazing."
And so Eunice got me a car. All of a sudden. I was so astonished I stared at it, speechlessly for a few good minutes.
It was black with a green color scheme that resembled my Kamen Rider bodysuit. It had an X-symbol on its hood and resembled a sports car. Honestly, I have never driven one in my entire life.
Vehicles are so rare nowadays, let alone driving a sports car. Thus, obviously, the responsible driver was Eunice. Roseanne insisted she sat next to the driver, stating that she used to drive a cart for her "Princess." She hadn't realized that a cart and a car are totally different. So I gave up the seat next to the driver and rested in the backseat like a boss.
"Are you also a magic user?" Roseanne asked Eunice. The latter yawned and muttered, "no, it's science."
"Um, Miss Amamion?" I said, sitting up in the backseat.
"Please call me Roseanne."
"Oh, is that fine?" I rubbed the back of my head. "Can you tell me about your country?"
I was certain that Eunice knew enough. But hearing it from a citizen themselves might give more info about a country.
Eunice took a glance at Roseanne before speaking: "humans don't know about the Kingdom. People of the Asian Faction even got it worse…"
"I understand. Then Hiroki Tennyson-sama… I will tell you about the Kingdom," Roseanne said.
I silently understood she misunderstood Eunice and probably didn't know about Japanese honorifics.
"My name is actually Hiroki Tennyson, uh, Roseanne. You don't need to add sama. Also, just call me Hiroki."
When Eunice shot a glare at me, the knight girl didn't seem to notice that. The bracelet girl probably had something to tell me: I am going on a first-name basis with a woman I just met when Eunice still addressed me by my full name. I mean, I never talked to her about that.
"Then Hiroki. As I said, we are from another world. The world with magic, unlike this world. There are a lot of races coexisting in our world, unlike this world that only had humans. We also had dragons, wyverns, and griffins, unlike this world."
It feels like our world is unnecessarily getting insulted, albeit not on purpose.
"Thus, overpopulation became a major problem… Ten years ago, a portal appeared somewhere in our world. It was lucky for the people… we found this world on the other side. We called the portal "the Gate." Back then, it was the start of the apocalypse so the regions around the Gate were wastelands filled with zombies. So the heroes from our world stepped into this world first, and cleaned up the regions. Then some of us decided to come over and settle in this world, since the lands were unoccupied. They founded the Great Magical Kingdom, now governed by Prince Sapientia, also known as King Arcturus. Princess Naia is his sister. Princess has an agricultural blessing which helped our lands grow rich and self-sufficient. That's also why she is living in this world."
"Ahem, Roseanne," I interrupted. "Don't you think you are giving away too much information to strangers?"
It's getting me worried that she would give away confidential info too easily.
"Are we strangers?" She asked with a clueless expression.
Of course we are! I internally screamed— we barely know each other after all.
"It's not that big of a secret," Eunice said. "I knew everything before she even said."
"I-I see…"
I leaned back in the seat and rested my head. Strangers… huh.
"What kind of relationship do you two have? Forgive me if it sounds rude," Roseanne asked.
I chuckled. "I guess… a symbiotic one? We are more like comrades than friends."
Hmm, now that I recall… I… CRIED INTO HER CHEST!
I gulped and closed my eyes, forcing myself to forget that event. I heard Eunice taking up the quest of explaining to Roseanne.
"You can say we are travelling buddies," she said, winking my way. I realized she decided to keep the Kamen Rider thing a secret. I mean, you have already shown how you can open portals!
"Tenny— Hiroki-kun doesn't have family or friends, so I am accompanying him."
Oi, you are making me look like a pathetic loner! Though, it's true.
It seems I also have to keep the secret as well.
"Oi, Eunice, how did you get this car anyway?" I asked, finding the cushion of the backseat comfortable and luxurious. Heck, I haven't rested my back in such a luxury in a long time.
"It fits your taste, right? Fufufu," she giggled and looked at my reflection in the rearview mirror where our eyes met. She nodded her chin, saying—
"There is a refrigerator behind the backseat. You can put the milk bottles in there."
"Thanks, I'll do that later." I decided to laze around for now.
"Forgive me for not knowing," Roseanne spoke up. "What is a refrigerator?"
"Hmm, it's, uh, a box where can store stuff and freeze them so you can keep them longer. You can put food and drinks, vegetables and meat in a refrigerator. You need electricity or energy to run one."
"I see. It's similar to a freezer."
So she knows about freezers but not refrigerators? They are rare electrical appliances in this era, though.
"She is talking about freezers made with magic ice, Tennyson Hiroki-kun," Eunice said.
"Er…"
"We are approaching a town, by the way."
I looked out the windshield at the "town" mentioned but it was just a tall wall I usually passed by.
"Oh, this wall… I don't know what is inside but it's pretty tall," I said, seeing graffiti on the wall that read "HOPE" with a sun painted next.
"It's a town inside," answered Eunice.
"A town? Behind this wall?!" I exclaimed.
"Yep… it's an isolated town," she explained. "The wall was built during the first zombie outbreak to isolate the infected and observe them. Specifically…"
"Yeah?"
"... hybrids."
Hybrids— half-zombie humans. So people isolated the hybrids and observed them before. It sounds terrifying, and also explains why I never met a hybrid before: because they were gathered and isolated in this place.
"Hey, can we stop there?"
"Why?" In response, Eunice looked at me in the rearview mirror.
"I just wanna pay a visit."
Eunice drove us to the gate that was on the other side. It only took a few minutes to drive, but it was quite a hassle to go out of our way. Roseanne didn't object to it…
I saw two people atop the wall. They were two middle-aged men with weapons. Probably guards of the town. The wall was at least 8 meters tall.
As the car stopped in front of the gate, Eunice also got out of the car with me.
"What?"
"I will come with you," she said. "Roseanne is an elf, so we can't scare the people. I will leave her in the car."
"Don't you think you should keep an eye on her?" I said, buttoning up my jacket.
"It's not like she'll do anything. I know when someone lies," Eunice replied. "I think there might be a bigger problem beyond these walls. Your decision to visit the town was right."
"Is that so?"
I should be counting on the analytic skills of an artificial human, right?
When we walked toward the gate, one of the men atop the wall shouted while they raised their weapons at us. Of course, the weapons weren't guns: they seemed to be custom-made crossbows. Short description: one man had gray hair, and the other was bald.
"Stop right there and put your hands up!"
Eunice didn't stop walking— I realized she was going to ignite some trouble so I grabbed her hands from behind and forcefully held them up in the air.
"Oi, what are you doing?"
"Just do what they ask," I whispered.
"It's unusual to see humans here," the bald man said. "What are you two doing here? Travelers? You also had a car. Are you sent by the government?"
I could see their pale skin in the sunlight. The bald guy seemed to be a caucasian while the other appeared to be an Asian.
Considering the government treated them as lab rats, I wouldn't expect them to trust me right away. I am overall suspicious, just a random kid that appeared out of nowhere— in their eyes.
So I must give them an excuse to allow me to enter the town. Or maybe, just hearing if they are okay or not is enough.
"We are harmless!" I yelled back. "We came from Neo-Bangkok!"
Oh, yeah, I have that medal Yamashita-san gave me. I quickly took it out of my jacket and held it up— though they couldn't see it at this distance anyway.
"I am with the Japanese army. I am here to check up on you guys!" I said, half-lying.
"Japanese army…" the bald man looked back at the grey-haired who nodded at him. "He's with those people who provided us with rations…"
"But we can't just let the strangers inside," the grey-haired man said. "Sorry but—"
At that moment, three helicopters flew over our heads and went into the town.
"Uh, I think you guys just let strangers inside," I said in a deadpan voice.
"Shit!" The bald man exclaimed. "Those mercenaries…"
Eunice finally retracted her hands and sighed, "there are a few mercenary groups in the Asian Faction. I can't say which one for sure, but most likely the Evil Wizard group acquainted with the government."
The two guards had already climbed down to the other side of the world. Eunice snapped her fingers, which started the engine of our car. It then drove away by itself automatically.
"We can't let her see what we're gonna do, right?" She said with a smirk.
"Yeah…"
She then transformed herself into the Unitrix bracelet that then fused with the Omnitrix to form the Alterum belt.
"ALTERUM SYSTEM ACTIVATED."
— Activation Announcement.
"Use Tenn-Speed. We will ride up the wall," she suggested.
Sounds like a ridiculous idea but I love it. "Roger," I replied and activated the Tenn-Speed data key, which simultaneously summoned my bike modified as a green sci-fi bike.
"Vroom!"
On second thought, the wall is too steep— I mean, it's 90° steep!
"Oi, Eunice," I said, repositioning the helmet on my head. "I-is it really okay?"
"Just leave it to me…" "If you say so…"
I shifted gears and released the brakes. The motorcycle rumbled loudly as it rocked before the front wheel began to rise from the ground. I am not sure what is going on!
"We are flying!" I shouted in horror as the bike, after performing a wheelie, ran up the wall as if it were flying. It was a matter of seconds before we reached the top— and then jumped over the wall again before falling to the other side. "Holy fricking shit!"
Then the bike safely landed on the road and came to a stop as I pulled the brakes with all my might.
"Argh, I'm alive…" however, unfortunately, I couldn't just rest easy. "What the hell…"
I saw a world of disaster.
"Help!" As I heard a woman scream, I turned my gaze to where the voice came from. In a bazaar-like street, a few people were running as a military guy hunted them with a gun. The "bang" noises were all over the place.
"The usual, huh…"
Without a second thought, I restarted the engine. I revved up the motorcycle, causing it to leap into the air before crashing into the group of mercenaries who were trying to shoot the townspeople.
"Argh!" Finally, some nice screams I could be glad to hear. I got off the bike and…
"Just pass out— already!" I personally kicked their butts.
"What are you doing?!" I decided to scold the hybrid people who looked pale and scared. Heck, they were taken aback by my grumbling. "Stop staring at me and smash the crap out of these"
Coming back to their senses, they stopped spacing out and quickly armed themselves with rusty pipes and wooden planks to beat the crap out of their bullies. As a side-effect, it was scary.
"Oi, don't get… too harsh with them. Don't kill them, okay?"
People blankly looked back at me. It was awkward… Then they picked up the weapons of the mercenaries, which I hoped were to p.
"Now where are the others?" I muttered to myself.
"Behind you!" A child shouted at me. When I looked back, I was introduced to a baton of a military guy going to strike me. However, something unexpected happened.
Two individuals suddenly jumped down the roof of a nearby building. I recognized them as the gray-haired man and the other guy from earlier.
"Hey!" I called out, and they turned their heads.
"You are that kid from earlier—" before the bald guy could finish, the gray-haired man grabbed my collar.
"Why are you here?" He pulled back his fist with a scowl. "Did you bring those mercenary bastards?!"
"No, I didn't!" I denied, with my hands up. "I am just helping out."
He released my jacket, though not entirely calming down. "You better be. Let's go, Ethan."
"Oh, okay, sorry, kid," Ethan, the bald one, answered and waved an apology at me before running after the grayhead.
Come to think of it, they are calling me "kid." Do I really look that young? Argh, forget it! I need to save the other people.
Getting on the bike again, I headed to the center of the town, where the flames and smoke were rising to the sky.
"A motorcycle... here in Hope? Interesting," I heard a man's voice so I stopped the bike and looked back. It was a caucasian man in a uniform similar to other mercenaries. He had a scar across his face. "You are not from here, right?"
"Yeah, does that matter to you?" I said in the same tone he spoke. I got off the bike and stuffed my hands into the pockets of my pants.
"We are an organization of mercenaries," he stared at my motorcycle. "Someone hired us to obliterate this town. There is no survivor here, anyway. But you are a human, right?"
"These people are still living, they are not even undead. Why would someone..." (me)
"Whatever… I don't care. Just don't interfere with us," he said and walked away. "Or else, you will regret it."
That "someone" might be the government itself. If I link the dots, the government has experimented on the hybrid people, and now they are trying to eliminate them when New Japan found out about the town. Or so that is what I theorized.
"As if I would let you…" I mumbled under my breath.
"Huh?"
I dashed at him and kicked him in the back, sending him flying. Before he could process what was going on, I dropped a kick on his back.
"Argh! You son of…" the man groaned and tried to take something out of his vest.
Overcome with emotions, I repeatedly kicked him until I saw a pistol in his hand, which was now aimed at me. He quickly cocked his pistol.
"Die!" He cried out.
Before he could pull the trigger, I kicked his wrist, making him drop the pistol, and punched him in the face. Then I picked up the pistol…
"Bang!"
And I shot the ground next to his leg. Seeing him curl up in fear for his life, I sighed and tried to remove all the rounds from the pistol. I didn't know how to, so I just stuffed the gun into my pocket.
"Stay here. I won't kill you," I said and walked back to my bike. When I looked back, I knew he didn't listen to my warning.
"You are underestimating me, brat..." he hastily pulled something out of his vest again. It wasn't another gun. Better if it was.
It was a belt-like device with an oversized buckle. Wait... don't tell me, is it a Zedgear belt?
"Stop that!"
He took out a red card with a black key attachment and slid the key into the keyhole on the side of the buckle. "I'm not listening to some brat," he pushed the key down. "Henshin!"
Consequently, he was engulfed in black fog.
"SUIT UP! EVIL WIZARD!
ZA-ZA-ZA-ZARDO~
I AM A KAMEN RIDER."
— Transformation Announcement.
Evil Wizard? What kind of name is that? I thought the Zedgear Data Keys only contained Animal data…
His armor was mainly black and dark red. His helmet had but one red eye on the right, with a crack on the left side where a visor eye should be. On the sides were several lines of red and blue and two black horns. There were three red crystals on his torso armor.
"With the power of Zedgear... I am invincible!" he declared. "I will f(censored)ing massacre you!"
Hmm, Zedgear Drivers are only distributed to the chosen individuals in the Japanese army, right?
"How did you obtain that driver?" I asked with a serious face.
"This? Do you mean Zedgear? I got one from the black market. It was pricey but worth it— I can see you are already trembling."
"I am not trembling," I calmly said and unbuttoned my jacket to reveal the Alterum belt. "Also, you missed one crucial thing."
"Wha— this brat," he quickly produced a dark orb of energy in his hand and threw it at me.
I rolled to the side and inserted the Kickin Hawk key into the Driver.
"RECOGNIZED."
— Data Access Announcement.
Kamen Rider Evil Wizard fired another orb at me again. However, the holographic sculpture of Kickin Hawk projected by the belt suddenly moved toward the flying orb and defended me.
This is going to be the first time I fight a human as a Kamen Rider— the first time I have to fight a self-proclaimed rider as well.
"Thanks, Hawk guy," I said, satisfied to see the troubled reaction of the Evil Wizard. "Name is Alterum. I don't care about your purpose here. If you intentionally hurt innocent people, it means you deserve some nice a**kicking. Henshin."
"KICKIN HAWK."
— Transformation Announcement.
As the key was tilted, the sculpture transformed into the Kickin Hawk rider armor formed on my bodysuit.
"You are also a rider?" He gasped.
"No, actually I am the only Kamen Rider here," I cracked my knuckles, preparing to jump. "You are just some lucky bastard who got his hands on a Driver."
With the strong leg power provided by the armor, I leaped high into the air— then aimed the kick at the Evil Wizard.
"KICKIN HAWK ENHANCED."
— Power-up Announcement.
He accumulated energy in his hands and created another orb of energy. I quickly kicked it away with my enhanced rider kick and magically flew toward him, slamming my boot on his torso armor. The impact successfully sent him flying into a nearby building.
Um, sorry about the collateral damage.
"Dammit!" He cursed and weakly got out of the building.
"Feel like giving up already?" I teased him.
"I won't yield," he growled and charged at me.
"Well, it will otherwise make this fight boring."
This time, he was the one blindly throwing fists and kicks at me, instead of his usual energy orbs. I deflected them all with my rapid kicks— Kickin Hawk armor granted me such useful flexibility and agility which isn't too much or low. Combined with martial arts, his attacks weren't penetrating my defense.
He jumped back, dodging a kick from me, and panted heavily after wasting too much energy unnecessarily.
"Don't hate me for this," I chuckled and replaced the Kickin Hawk key with the Fasttrack key, activating the latter. "Henshin!"
"RECOGNIZED. FASTTRACK."
— Transformation announcement.
"Die!" As he cried out and fired another orb of dark energy, I disappeared from his sight as a black blur. The values in the speedometer rose up as I dashed around the area, dodging all the ranged attacks of the Evil Wizard, before I finally collected enough momentum and landed a kick on Evil Wizard, sending him flying yet again.
"C… r… a… p…" I heard him curse as he was thrown away.
"Eunice, is it safe to do that?" I asked. "Yeah, totally. I don't think normal attacks will force him out of his transformation," she assured.
"Noted," I took out the Fasttrack key without stopping my movement, and scanned it with the core of the Alterum Driver. "Finisher!"
"RECOGNIZED. FINISHING MOVE! FASTTRACK…
ONE, TWO, THREE, READY!"
— Finisher Announcement.
I thought I was going to catch on fire! My speed went up like crazy, like, I couldn't even stop myself. With the enlarged blades on my forearms, I slashed the Evil Wizard over and over again as I passed by, then ran around the entire town in the streets and on the walls before getting to him, only to slash him with the blades again. I repeated the process multiple times in the span of a few seconds before I finally stopped— I stood there, posing like a superhero as my sense of time returned to normal.
"Arghhhh!"
The man screamed in pain as his armor exploded, forcing him out of the transformation. He just lay there on the ground, groaning in pain, and probably wouldn't be able to get up for a while. I couldn't care less: he should just be grateful that I didn't kill him.
Uh, shit, the burden of the armor is finally getting to me… I could barely stand due to exhaustion, but I suppose I somehow gained enough oxygen during the run. The finishing move affects differently on my body: my leg muscles were going numb as they had been pushed beyond their limits. I can say the same for my arms. I feel like they are going to fall off…
"Are you okay, Hiroki-kun?" Eunice asked.
I was flustered because she suddenly called me by my first name. It's not the time… I need to help other townspeople.
"I'm fine. Let's move on…"
We were interrupted by a new masculine voice.
"Stop right there. Are you the one who killed the Wolf?"
Damn, talk about bad timing. From the looks of it, it is another rogue who wanna pick a fight with me, right?
I turned around to face the source of that voice— who was walking the street toward me, with an ugly silver sword in his hand. His skin was pale like other rogues, but his eyes were serious, and his face was composed. The way he carried his sword was also unique— and he also had a dangerous aura around him.
For no reason, the wind blew his mud-soaked black long coat, revealing that his footwear was actually white sneakers soaked with mud. His hair was also actually black— it was painted brown by the mud again.
WTF, man, I don't wanna know what he went through.
"Who are you…"
He raised his sword. "I am the Overseer of Rogues, the Rogueguard!"
He swung the blade in the air a few times like a pro swordsman— not that I knew sword arts. I am more of a brawler.
And then the sword finally pointed at me.
"I challenge you to duel me…"
"Why should I duel you?" I calmly responded, choosing my words carefully.
All rogues are dangerous for humans after all. If I refuse his challenge, he might probably harm the people to threaten me— oh, don't give him that idea.
"The leaders of the Asian batch said you were pretty strong. I want to know it myself… As the overseer of the rogues, I want to test if you are worthy of being our enemy."
Hmm… his reasoning was weirdly sane for a rogue.
"Also," he continued. "You wanted to prove our ideals wrong, right? Then fight. As you have always done… fight us and prove it!"
"Very well." I felt a little tired but maybe some more sweats might wash my tiredness away. Who knows.
I inserted the Proto-tool key into the object slot and rotated it, thus summoning the proto-tool. I quickly switched the weapon to sword mode.
"CHANGE: 005."
— Weapon Mode-Change Announcement.
"I'm ready." (me)
"Using a sword against me… Is not a wise move," he said.
Yeah, I understood that well. But my stubborn ass would want to improvise.
He charged at me, like a Samurai I had seen in the old films. I dashed to the side, attempting to get behind him. The speedometer went up as I dashed, as if I teleported. But just before my sword made contact with his back, he suddenly spun around at an impressive speed and blocked my slash with his sword. His eyes were burning purple.
"Okay, that's for sure not a wise move," I murmured, panting as the speedometer went down again. I jumped back to take a short break, also to not show the enemy that I was already exhausted.
"Don't expect to defeat me using cheap moves, Kamen Rider," he repositioned his sword in an elegant manner.
"Sorry but I don't have such pride."
I rotated the Fasttrack key to strengthen the armor power.
"FASTTRACK ENHANCED."
— Power-up Announcement.
I disappeared in a black blur, dashing around to look for an opening in his stance. He just stood there, calmly with his sword up, but I knew his defensive stance was almost perfect. For a sword novice like me, I can't know how perfect it was.
So I finally broke the pattern and charged at Rogueguard behind him. "Raghhh!"
Again, he spun around like a samurai and deflected my sword before rapidly thrusting another blow at me. His movements were sonic-fast— if I were in any other armor than Fasttrack, I wouldn't be able to see. I forced my numb muscles to keep up with the speed and struck his sword away before jumping back and disappeared from his sight to attack him from behind again.
However, my attempt failed yet again when he just spun around to keep blocking my attacks. This time, I dashed back, since I couldn't endure the burden of the armor anymore. So I stood a distance from Rogueguard, inhaling and exhaling as quietly as I could.
"Why, you are not attacking me?"
Suddenly, I heard the helicopters flying over us. Now that I notice it, that Evil Wizard bastard is gone, too. Damn… Anyway, if they are retreating, the town is safe—
"BOOOOMM!"
An explosion… I was stunned to hear that noise. Clouds of flames covered the center of the town.
"I see," Rogueguard said, looking at the helicopters. "They set up bombs in the town."
Bombs…
Dammit…
"You think you beat me? Alterum," I heard Evil Wizard's voice, amplified through a loudspeaker. "In the end, you didn't protect anyone! You didn't defend the town! You didn't defeat me! Hahaha! Do it!"
It seemed someone on the helicopter used a grenade launcher to throw explosives into the town. They didn't just set up bombs…
"BOOOMM!" Another explosion. I have to do something…
I grit my teeth and inserted the Ripjaws key into the Proto-tool, also switching it to blaster mode.
"INSERT: RIPJAWS. CHANGE: 001."
— Insertion & Weapon Mode-change Announcements.
"What are you doing?!" (Eunice)
"I am giving them what they deserve…," I whispered and replaced the Fasttrack Key with the Diamondhead Key, activating it.
"RECOGNIZED. DIAMONDHEAD."
— Transformation Announcement.
As soon as I assumed the Diamondhead Armor, crystal chunks emerged out of the ground and joined with my armor, keeping me in place.
"Use this." (Eunice)
"CHANGE: 008."
— Weapon Mode-change Announcement.
The proto-tool transformed into a sniper rifle-like weapon with a scope attached on it.
I thought Eunice was going to oppose my decision. Anyway, it seems we've got no time. That bastards on the helicopter are preparing another grenade…
I aimed the rifle at one of the helicopters and pulled the trigger. I resisted the recoil better, thanks to the Diamond armor— the barrel unleashed a shiny white bullet that created an illusory hologram of giant Ripjaws devouring the target before exploding the helicopter.
Another helicopter appeared in the scope, albeit trying to fly away, so I quickly blasted another shot, obliterating it.
I couldn't shoot down the last helicopter which had already disappeared from my sight. But they wouldn't dare do that anymore— as long as they don't do it anymore, it's more than enough.
"Were you holding back when you fought me?"
Rogueguard… Crap, I totally forgot about him. It sounds like you're giving up, right? I would be grateful if he just got intimidated by my shots and retreated.
"CHANGE: 005."
— Weapon Mode-change Announcement.
I reverted the proto-tool to its sword mode.
When I looked at the guy, he didn't seem to give any time soon. He had a serious face on.
"Then I shall fight you seriously as well," he said, while engulfed in bright purple rays. "Don't hold back with me."
I wasn't holding back. I am barely keeping myself together…
When the purple rays had disappeared, his body was covered in a black insectoid exoskeleton, with anthropoid limbs growing out of his back, two of which curved over his shoulders to connect with the torso. Another pair of anthropoid legs were making contact with the ground, acting like a spare pair of legs. His eyes were purple bright, almost terrifying. Black jagged tattoos magically appeared on his face as well.
"What is going on…" I subconsciously muttered.
"It's hyper metamorphosis," Eunice answered. "You can call him a level-3 hyper rogue. If a rogue transforms into a high rogue containing their sapience, they can keep the transformation under control— and it gives them this kind of form."
"Ah…" I tilted my head, half-comprehending what she meant. "I see."
"Grr!" He growled at the sky before charging at me. With a quick decision, I punched the ground, summoning a tall crystal wall in front of me— however, Hyper Rogueguard jumped over it and swung his sword at me. Fortunately, I blocked it in time, with my hardened forearms. He produced hard webbing from his hand, like a spider-man, to bind me. However, I quickly stepped back and transformed my left hand into a crystal blade, cutting the hard thick webbings right away before he could attack me again.
That said, doing it before he could launch another attack was impossible.
Hmm, he is also moving faster than he did as a normal rogue. While I couldn't keep up with his speed, the Diamondhead armor was tough enough to resist his slashes. But I was slow, so I didn't manage to land a single attack on Hyper Rogueguard. And the webbings are also concerning.
Heck, I could barely hold out as my crystal-blade left hand and the sword-form proto-tool clashed with his sword— like a famous swordplay scene in the medieval-based films.
"Hey, Eunice, how does Ripjaws work?" I said constantly deflecting his attacks.
"It bites and cuts metals… But do you wanna use that?"
Bites and cuts through metals? Hmm, so cutting webbings is this guy's job huh…
"Yep," I jumped back, reverting my left hand to normal. "This is going nowhere."
"Be careful."
When Rogueguard tried to jump at me, my bike autonomously moved without a rider and struck him with its front wheel, pushing him back. The bike would probably keep him occupied for a while.
I took a heavy breath and withdrew the Diamondhead key from the belt. But then I remembered it having three keyholes, if the fourth keyhole which was solely for the bike and weapons wasn't included. Hmm, but if Eunice didn't talk to me about them, they are probably for something else.
Let's just use the Ripjaws key.
"RECOGNIZED."
— Data Access Announcement.
With the announcement, the belt projected a holographic sculpture of a white humanoid creature, whose head was similar to an anglerfish, with its scary fangs sticking out and a rod-like fin ray on its forehead. It had green fins at the end of its elbows and claws on its fingers. It also had webbed toes that made his feet look like those of a duck.
I wonder if he is aquatic…
"Henshin…"
"RIPJAWS."
— Transformation Announcement.
The DNArmor formed on the bodysuit this time was mostly white, also having a few fin-like structures that the creature had. I was pretty sure the helmet got a dangling thing as well.
Unlike the heavy Diamondhead armor, this one was sleeker and didn't really have much to it. Though, I didn't feel hot anymore.
"Get outta my way!" Rogueguard shouted, attempting to slash my bike, which actually moved out of his way. It caused him to stumble and accidentally cut through the asphalt of the road.
On second thought, Diamondhead isn't a bad choice at all!
"No more cowardly attack!" He yelled and advanced toward me. This isn't a duel anymore. If I was not this tired, I would probably use Fasttrack's Finisher on him and call it a day. But with his expert sword use, agility, and sharp senses, I can't guarantee that Fasttrack will cut through his defense, probably will be overwhelmed by his unnaturally high speed!
His hand… It's making the stance when it's going to shoot silk webbings.
"How do I—"
Bite! I have to bite them right!
No sooner did he unleashed the webbing than I leaned forward, almost at the same time, and my monitor went dark. I thought I had been covered by the sticky silk— but I was wrong. It was like I was in the creature's mouth— and the two jaws full with white fangs split open, the monitor showing the outside again.
"It's fking awesome!"
"You actually bit them off!" Rogueguard had his eyes widened in astonishment. Taking that opportunity, I swung my sword at him, which he shielded with the handle of his sword. I hurled myself at him, with my helmet turning into a mouth again to grasp his blade.
Turned out his sword was tougher than metal, and my teeth couldn't cut through it. I quickly released it and jumped back again to figure out how to take him down.
Come to think of it, I have two other unused keys: while dodging Rogueguard's attacks, I brought out the Bullfrag key.
"Hey, what are you gonna do?!" Eunice questioned in a worried tone.
"Just a little experiment…"
"You can't withstand the power of two keys in this condition…"
So I can actually use two keys at once. I wonder what it would be like. Ripjaws armor had weirdly cooled me down and reduced my tiredness. My muscles were still numb but I could use them for some time.
Hmm… now that I notice it, there is no fires in the town anymore. I even forgot about that in the heat of the fight, but… they did put them out really fast.
This fight has been going on for so long. I even forgot how tiring fighting was.
"You can't say that for sure," I said, inserting the Bullfrag key into the rightmost slot with a mischievous grin.
"RECOGNIZED."
— Data Access Announcement.
This time, the armor parts flew away from my body first and reformed the Ripjaws sculpture while the belt projected an holographic statue of a tall humanoid in a black suit. Heck, he even wore some kind of shades and looked stylish, despite how his face appeared to be.
Rogueguard was stunned to see the sculptures suddenly appear in front of him and then charge in, but cringed away when the two holograms suddenly moved as if to attack him.
"Henshin!" I called out and activated the Bullfrag key.
"RIPJAWS, BULLFRAG. STACK UP!"
— Bi-Omni Transformation Announcement.
The two sculptures broke down and formed a new armor on my bodysuit— my forearm armor was now green, and a red whip-like metallic rope were sticking out of a device on my right forehand. Hmm, it seemed the armor on my shins had also changed colors and shape: it turned black and became thicker.
"I see… this is how it is," I chuckled and thrust my hand toward Rogueguard. When I did so, the rope flew out and struck him. Despite doing no great damage to tough Rogueguard, it must be annoying af for the enemy and it is also ranged. I don't know how long it would be…
"See? Eunice… I am doing fine."
"…" she didn't reply.
I swung my whip at him again, which he tried to block with his sword. Instead, my whip wrapped around his blade without being cut. Seeing his troubled reaction, I grinned and charged at him, slashing him with my sword, sparks flying from the attacks.
He attempted to swing his sword but with my whip around it, he couldn't attack me normally. He was full of openings now, so I kept on attacking him as kicked him in his torso, bringing him to the ground.
I withdrew the Bullfrag key and scanned it for a finisher.
"RECOGNIZED. FINISHING MOVE! BULLFRAG…
ONE, TWO, THREE, READY…"
— Finisher Announcement.
My whip flew toward him and bound him on the ground, effectively immobilizing him. I jumped into the air, really high, possibly due to Bullfrag's leg armor attachments.
"Rider kick…"
Then I landed a kick on his torso, followed by a large explosion in the place.
"Arghhhhhh!"
When I moved away from the spot, I saw the flames were still burning brightly there.
"Crap, I need to put it out," I mumbled, feeling dumbfounded.
"Take out the Bullfrag key and use Water Hazard," Eunice suggested.
"Hmm…"
When I did as she said, a red humanoid creature wearing a hood appeared alongside the Ripjaws sculpture.
"RECOGNIZED. RIPJAWS, WATERHAZARD. STACK UP!"
— Transformation Announcement.
My forearm armor turned red, with green portholes (?). I don't know what to do with them. Anyway, apparently, I had a hood over my helmet as well, and pores in the palms of my gloves.
I suppose water will come out of these holes?
So I held my palms out at the flames… and water actually came out of my palms! I don't know how it came out but, like, seriously, are you kidding me?
Anyway, we seemed to have gotten rid of the fire but… Rogueguard wasn't there anymore. There was a large mess of sticky silk. I couldn't find his rogue core, too
"It seemed he escaped…"
"CANCELLED."
— Cancellation Announcement.
"Tennyson Hiroki…"
"Hai?"
Eunice looked mad for some reason.
"You prioritized the fight over helping others."
Hearing those words, I was stunned…
"... it's not like you," she said.
"S-sorry… I will—"
"Forget it," she nudged my shoulder. "I sent Roseanne to help people. She probably used magic to protect them and put out the fires."
"Really?"
A portal appeared, taking my bike in, before vanishing. Just after that, our sports-car arrived in front of us with a rumble. One weird thing was…
Roseanne was sitting on the roof of the car instead of sitting inside.
"Are you two okay?" Roseanne questioned in a monotonous voice, with her usual expressionless face. "This car is possessed by a devil. It imprisoned me inside and moved without a driver. Then it transported me into this town. I got to help people though."
I internally sighed, thinking that she didn't at least find out our secret.
"Those zombie-humans were pretty surprised to know that elves are real."
"... we are safe," I said quietly.
Eunice nodded. "If everything's fine then, why not proceed with our journey?"
Oh yeah, our journey to Beijing…
"Yeah…"
End of Episode 4.
Christopher Paradox Chronos
