Fallen City
It was a beautiful evening.
The sky was bright with vibrant pinks and oranges, sharing its beauty with the buildings beneath it, shining its colors on their crumbling forms. The setting sun glared in the glass of windows both whole and shattered, obscuring their reflections with bright light. Normally, these streets would have been bustling at this time, people heading to and fro, heading out for late activities or returning to their homes to retire from a long day's work.
But now it was empty, no one to bask in the colors of evening. No one was gazing into the windows of shops, or weaving through crowds. Empty, vacant. The streets were quiet save for the soft, cool breeze and the scratching of a pencil on paper.
A young teen sat atop the damaged rubble of a collapsed building nestled behind a particularly large chunk of what was once a wall. Green eyes stared intently at the paper as his ink-stained hand glided along the sheet, sketching the intricate details of his subject. He was quiet, careful not to move too much or even make a peep. Any careless movement would surely mean his end, for his subjects were not the most benevolent.
Standing at the foot of the rubble hill were two creatures. They resembled zebras twisted into human forms. They stood upright, yet walked like animals. Black and white striped bodies glinted in the evening light as they moved.
They were staring each other down, snorting in rage. One's hoof pawed at the ground and the other slammed its massive arms together, its black head crest on full display as it bobbed its head in an aggressive manner. The boy was lucky to have caught them in the middle of this disagreement. It was dynamic, and it was the first time he had a clear enough sight of this particular creature. He finished the last details of his image then leaned back to fully marvel at his work, running a hand through messy, black hair.
Satisfied, he took one more glance at the two creatures, their altercation now a full on brawl, before turning to climb back down the rubble. The breeze had picked up in strength, making him shudder and huddle into his blue jacket. It was about time to head back. Feet first, he slowly made his way down the crumbling stone and debris, careful not to make any noise.
Not careful enough.
His foot was unfortunate enough to come down on a loose piece of rock. Unable to withstand the pressure of the step, it crumbled, sending the poor young man sliding down with it. He yelped, bumping against more of the ruined pile as he fell, sending more coming down in a mini avalanche of sorts. His rear hit the pavement hard and he hissed in pain before checking to see if anything was broken, relieved to find he was still in one piece.
A distorted snorting shattered his relief.
He turned to find that his fall was enough to catch the two brawling beasts' attention. They had broken off from each other and were now staring down the young man, sizing up their new prey. He couldn't move, their faces were blank save for dark lines running down to their snouts, but he could feel their hungry gaze pinning him in place. Long blades slid out from their hiding place in the zebras' forearms, ready to slice up their next meal. The zebras charged. Their target shouted and slammed his eyes shut, bracing himself for his painful end.
A screech pierced the air, the young man felt the rush of wind as something landed between him and the monsters.
He peeked at his savior. Its body was green, purple, and avian in nature, golden eye-like patterns accented its body, bringing to mind a peacock. The bird creature raised its arms in challenge, silver talons gleaming in the setting sunlight. The boy knew this creature well.
"Guldmirage?" He gasped, surprised by the bird creature's sudden appearance, "then that means…"
He felt another presence beside him. Another figure had appeared. He hadn't even heard them coming. Their body encased in green and purple armor, the golden accents flashing in the sun, one would almost think he and Guldmirage were the same species, but the way he moved was unmistakably human. The warrior strode past him, calmly regarding the two zebras as he twirled a staff in their hand, stopping at the bird's side. He knew this warrior's name as well, knew who it was from the sight of the belt around his waist, its buckle bearing the stylized image of a peacock.
He knew those creatures were in for a fight.
The beasts stomped and neighed, a chilling sound, angry at their new competition, yet also weary. They could sense the power coming off the new monster and its armored companion, and edged away from the pair, scanning over their new opponents.
Finally, the braver zebra charged forward, blades raised to slice into its new enemies. Guldmirage raced forward to meet it, talons crashing into blades with a mighty clang. The other beast, emboldened by its rival's charge, moved forward as well.
The peacock knight moved quickly, striking it in the chest before it could even attack. It stumbled back, clutching the place it had been hit. Slamming its forearms together in rage, the beast neighed again as it leapt into the air, aiming to bring its blades down on its target's head. Seeing no time to dodge the attack, the warrior instead brought his hand down to his belt, drawing a card from the deck hidden within. The peacock figure perched atop the staff spread its wings, revealing a space behind them. He slotted the card before pressing down on the peacock's head, the wings folding back over the card and it's ornate tail fanning out.
GUARD VENT
The zebra came down onto the peacock knight, only to reel in pain as its attack was painfully halted by the knight's arm, the blade vibrating violently from the impact. The warrior stood unharmed, his forearms now encased in large, golden gauntlets similar to Guldmirage's own. Taking advantage of the opening, he slammed his staff into the beast's stomach. Then, with practiced grace, he leapt, sending the monster flying backwards with a spinning kick.
It skidded a few feet backwards before it went sprawling on its back, struggling to get back to its feet. It pulled itself up and neighed again, only to be greeted by its rival slamming into it, having been tossed by Guldmirage.
The knight watched them struggle to untangle themselves from their heap on the floor, before bringing his hand down to draw another card.
FINAL VENT
Guldmirage drew a ring-like weapon from its place on its back, tossing it toward the two monsters. The warrior raced after the flying weapon, leaping atop it and riding it as though it were some strange surfboard. The monsters only had seconds after getting to their feet to watch both weapon and warrior fly toward them, and then through both of them.
The peacock knight landed, the weapon returned to Guldmirage, the monsters split into halves.
And exploded in a violent ball of fire.
Guldmirage moved towards the spot the zebra monsters once stood, where two glowing orbs rose from the flames. The green warrior rose from his crouch, and whirled around to face the young man, arms crossed.
The young man winced. He could feel the pressure of a disapproving glare from behind the grill of the knight's silver visor. He was definitely in for it.
"Kiraru" The knight spoke, his voice dripped with irritation.
"Mr. Morimoto-" Kiraru started, but was quickly cut off by Mr. Morimoto's raised hands.
"Again?" He growled, "Really? Again? Just what exactly were you thinking this time?!"
"You know they can't see through the glare in the reflections, I thought that maybe I could catch one of them outside of the mirrors" Kiraru tried to explain.
"You were almost eaten by Zebraskulls!"
"They didn't see me the entire time, they only noticed me when I slipped!"
"Which would have ended far differently were I not able to get to you in time!" the knight snapped, then sighed and brought a hand to his helmet, "Why am I even bothering with this, you're just going to sneak out again."
Kiraru's stomach twisted with guilt. What had he been thinking? Mr. Morimoto had been protecting their settlement from the monsters for a long time now, fighting any who invaded the settlement or attacked scavenging parties. Kiraru knew that he had worried the man by sneaking out.
But they were just so fascinating! How they moved and acted, their unusual forms and vibrant colors. He just had to sketch it down, had to see it.
Had to know.
"Matori" a voice called out, both Kiraru and Mr. Morimoto turned to see an older man walk up to them.
"Mr. Akiyama," Matori Morimoto, greeted. Mr. Akiyama nodded, then turned toward Kiraru.
He shrunk back. Mr. Akiyama always had an intimidating air to him. While Mr. Morimoto protected the settlement, Mr. Akiyama was the one in charge. Kiraru didn't know him too well personally, but from what he had heard, he was pretty strict.
"I see you found him," Mr. Akiyama said to Matori, the peacock knight nodded.
"Wasn't the first one to" he huffed, "almost got himself eaten by Zebraskulls."
Mr. Akiyama nodded again, taking in the information. His stare had pierced into Kiraru for a long time as he thought.
Then he finally broke his gaze, shaking his head.
"This can be dealt with later" he finally spoke, looking to the sky. The sun had almost fully set, and the daylight was fading into dusk. "Let's not waste time in the open."
Both Kiraru and Matori nodded, following after the man through the barren streets. The calls of other beasts rang from the distance, driving away the silence that formerly held the evening. Kiraru looked up at Matori, who was surveying the area as they walked.
"Mr. Morimoto" he finally began, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you."
Matori sighed and looked down at Kiraru.
"We've had this discussion before Kiraru."
"I know. It's just that-"
"You're fascinated by them," the warrior in green took the words right from his mouth, "obsessed with them, curious about them."
Kiraru was silent. Matori shook his head and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder.
"You're young, you have every right to be curious," he began, "but those creatures are dangerous, do not follow them." He glanced behind them for a second before turning back, "I know you look at me and Guldmirage with that fascination, but aligning yourself with them holds far more consequences than you'd first think."
Kiraru nodded, Matori turned his attention to the road once more. A stoplight flickered the same color endlessly, lost without the traffic it once controlled.
"Promise me that you won't sneak out again." Matori finished, "At least go with one of the parties if you want to go out."
Kiraru sighed and nodded his head, "I promise."
He should have kept it.
Hello!
I think this is how you do an Author's note, I'm really not sure. But it's nice to be here!
I'm gonna start by apologizing for the inactivity, I wanted to post this parallel with the Story on AO3, but I also wanted to do visuals with the AO3 one, and I procrastinated.
Anyways, first time doing this. This whole thing kind of started as an "I want to make a set of fan riders and Mirror Monsters thing," and kind of grew its own existence from there. So here it is: Kamen Rider Rayza!
Please do leave comments, I'd love to know what people think, and constructive criticism is always welcome!