On the other side of the same school, a young man sat in the back of a classroom with about seven or eight other students in it. Like the others, he was intent on his work. But unlike the others, he was not working on any type of schoolwork.
The eighteen year old senior was currently writing in a notebook. His brown, nearly black, hair was short and his hazel eyes were focused on the story developing in front of him. He was slowly writing out chapter two, for the seventh time. Changing some things around and adding and erasing constantly.
His face, though intent on the story, showed just a little bit of anger. His internet had gone out at home again, and this chapter had been accidentally deleted. He had a number of online friends who were expecting this chapter, and he was upset that he couldn't deliver as he had promised. Not to mention he had to deal with a few idiots in the last class he was in, which he was the TA, Teacher's Assistant, for.
So intent he was on his story that he didn't notice the teacher who had been standing there, and didn't look up until after she cleared her throat. He raised his eyes, looking slightly annoyed, though this was not the ? he asked reluctantly.
"I was told to deliver this to you." the teacher said, then handed him a note and walked back to her desk.
He took the note, which was written on an ordinary piece of notebook paper, folded in half. Without looking at it, he pulled it up his sleeve, making a mental note to read it at home. He then continued working on his story until study hall was over.
When the bell rang at the end of class, he walked slowly out of the room, making sure he was the last one out. As he left, his eyes flicked rapidly back and forth, taking snapshots of the surroundings, which were promptly memorized.
While walking, he scanned the crowd for people he knew, picking them out in seconds with a practiced eye. Seeing a friend, he muttered "Mark. Ally trajectory determined." Then, spotting an enemy, he said, "Mark. Danger detected. Initiating fall-back sequence." He quickly took one of three pre-planned alternate routes to the lunchroom.
On the 'new' route to the lunchroom, He heard a commotion. Something about a monster attacking students outside. He kept walking, occasionally flicking his eyes when reaching a new area, to memorize the new surroundings. He began looking for an area to observe the commotion, but encountered a problem along the way.
Seeing the girl he likes, who had rejected him, he said "Sheisa" under his breath, then follows her name with "I don't have time for this. Initiating callback procedures, stratcom-Exo-0-7a1-65." He then promptly pulls a 180, and heads outside, directly into the commotion.
As he walked into the commotion, he saw a familiar face: his counselor, Michael. Michael was acting oddly, appearing to sneak off into a bunch of trees, like he was trying to hide.
Pulling out a pencil and putting it up his left sleeve, he then remembered the note still in there and switched hands. He followed Michael while repeatedly scanning for enemies and occasionally glanced in the direction of the commotion. He gripped the pencil tighter, a bad feeling about whatever was happening beginning to come over him.
Before he was able to reach Michael, he happened to see Michael pull out what looked like a tuning fork, and put it in front of his forehead. After changing into an armor of some type, Michael ran off to battle the creature. As Michael finished changing, all five levels of the student's mind kicked into full gear.
Level 1: Pulling up all escape routes and fighting ability data, as well as plausible dialog, in case Michael noticed him.
Level 2: Wishing he could do that.
Level 3: Wondering if this means that aliens, psychics, etc, are real. Presenting self with arguments and counter-arguments.
Level 4: Determining relative probability of the situation occurring, and probability that it is for real.
Level 5: Wondering what Michael's transforming ability and the monster mean and what is going on.
After the battle, he watched as Michael changed back and walked into the building. He hears Michael muttering about 'checking out the box that 'it' came in, as it let me change like that.'
The student followed the counselor back into the building and to the main office. He watched from outside the office, as Michael entered his office and closes the door.
Remembering that Michael had an open door policy to all of his students, the observant student paused as he considered his options. He decided that it wouldn't matter if class was skipped, as the chances of something he didn't already know were whatever came right after zero. Seeing this as the chance of a lifetime, he walked slowly into Michael's office and closed the door behind him.
Michael was unaware of the student, as he was focused on pulling out an envelope from a box on his desk. That is, until the student spoke. "I saw you shift."
Michael looked up slowly. "Excuse me?" he queried, putting the envelope down.
"Shift, shapeshift, transform, transmogrify, translate, reconfigure, etc." the student clarified.
"I... I see." Michael replied. "What do you want to know?" He finished as he slowly picked up the tuning fork and put it in his pocket.
The student deftly pulled the note out of his sleeve and placed it in a pocket of his camo jacket which he habitually wore. "Anything. Better than the same old drudgery in class." Locking the door, he then continued. "No-one will be dropping in on us for a while and I know you could kill me easily, so I pose no threat."
"I don't believe you are a threat, Tobias." Michael replied, then gestured to one of the chairs across from him. "Please, sit down and I'll tell you the truth."
Tobias grinned. You are wise to realize I am more than no threat whatsoever, but it is quite obvious that I do not pose a sufficient threat to be of any concern. I will gladly listen to your tale." He then sat down in the offered chair.
Michael nodded his head, placed his feet on his desk and leaned back in the chair. "You know I am an avid fan of all Japanese things. That is why I founded the Nihon Society. What you saw me henshin into is known as Kamen Rider Hibiki, a fictional character from a series shown in Japan from 2005-2006.
Michael sighed before continuing. I believed the show to be only fiction. Then I received this box in the mail today. It came just before the attack happened. I picked this up," he continued, pulling out the fork from his pocket and showing it to the young man. "and was immediately covered in white light. After the light left, I had certain... knowledge... come to me. So, when the attack started, I didn't hesitate and immediately went to take care of it."
Michael looked at Tobias. "Anything else you'd like to know?" He asked, indicating that he had finished.
Hmmm..... since I know nothing about THIS particular Japanese series, I cannot think of anything and must therefore assume that you have told me the whole truth and that there is nothing more to say."
Tobias then pulled the note out of his pocket. "The Japanese are the best with technology and I always thought they were hiding something." He unfolded the note, and prepared to read. "I better read this, in case it has to do with school. I plan on going home. I have a lot to think about."
When the note was opened, Tobias read: "Come to the front office immediately. You are expected."
"You know the door is open to you still and I would hope you would not tell anyone about what I have just told you." Michael said, a little of his tension at being discovered leaking through his calm voice.
Tobias stood up and said, "You know me." Grinning evilly, he headed to the front office while thinking, Wiccan's going to love this...
Walking into the office, Tobias went straight to the secretary at the front desk. "I apologize for not arriving promptly. I was actually en-route when the commotion occurred and afterward, I went to see my counselor, Michael, to help me calm down." While talking, he scanned the office and pulled up the escape route files from the deep recesses of his brain.
The woman at the desk, having heard of the commotion, just nodded her head and motioned to the UPS delivery guy sitting in one of the chairs behind them.
The delivery man walked up to Tobias, a small box in one hand, a pad in the other. He handed Tobias the pad. "Would you please sign for this, Tobias Mysemar?" he asked politely.
He looked at him and said, "I was pulled from class... for a UPS delivery at school? This just keeps getting better and better." He then saw the box, and his mind (fast as it was) instantly made the connection with the one Michael had. Exhaling slowly, he took the box and signed the paper. Bidding the delivery man and the office aide goodbye, Tobias turned straight back to Michael.
As he returned to Michael's office, he remarked to himself that it was ironic that, just minutes ago, he had wished he could do what Michael did. He then considered where it would be best to test the phenomenon. "Not here.... Home would be much safer... Michael didn't have a choice... But I, I do."
He stopped at Michael's door, and said to himself "Like I said, this keeps getting better and better. Wiccan is SOOO going to love this. He then opened the door, walked in, then closed it behind himself. He showed the box to Michael and said "You don't have to worry. I got one, too."
Michael was reading a note when Tobias walked in, the envelope he had been holding earlier sitting on the desk, open. He eyed the package warily. "Would you mind opening it in front of me?" he asked.
"Sure, but I will not put it on here. You had no choice but to..... henshin, was it? In an public area. But I will not run the risk of someone seeing the transformation, as I saw yours. I have a choice." Tobias responded. He looked at Michael pointedly and opened the box, placing it on the desk between them.
Michael nodded his head and looked inside the box. Contained within was the Kamen Rider Faiz belt, beneath it an envelope much like the one which lay open on the desk. "Will you at least pick it up?" he asked.
"Oh, no you don't," Tobias said. "I remember that you said the change happened as soon as you picked it up. I will say it one more time: I will not run the risk."
Michael looked him straight in the eye. I didn't henshin until the time you saw me. All that happened when I picked up my fork was being covered in light. You will not henshin into Kamen Rider Faiz until you don the belt. All that will happen when you pick it up is you being covered in light. That is all." he explained. "I would just like to know if it is truly from the same person."
Tobias frowned and said "You didn't specify. Besides, there's another reason I'd like to wait. I have noticed that in all the series, as soon as the hero gets his power, the monsters start showing up. Apparently, you got this earlier today, or yesterday. Sure enough, a monster appeared, forcing you to henshin in a public place. No, I need time to plan."
Michael, knowing a bit about the student and how he worked, just nodded his head in understanding. He then takes out a business card and scribed something on the back, then handed it to Tobias. "Here's my home and cell number. Call me when you are finished planning and pick up the belt." Michael then let out a small smile. "I can also help you out with anything you need to know about the series as well. Kamen Rider Faiz."
"You know my number. If you need help, call. I'll come running. Much better than school." Tobias replied, then walked out of the office and the school, and towards home.
Once home, he descended to the basement (which he liked to call the 'Nerd Cave'), and logged on to Astro Empires, or AE for short. It was his favorite MMORTS. He let his friend WiccanSpirit, also known as SpiritPink on the Beta server of the browser game, know that he would be on their IRC channel, and that he had something interesting to tell her.
Sitting at her desk in the new apartment, Sandra was checking her AE Beta account, building more fleet for her next attack. Once the screen refreshed, she noticed she had a message. Opening it, she saw it is from her friend Jarnakel, asking her to get on their IRC channel. Grinning broadly, she opened up IceChat and logged onto the chat channel they had made. Seeing him online, she typed out Greetings, Handsome!
He groaned and typed the normal response. I am NOT handsome. How many times do I have to tell you that? Ach, at least it wasn't huggles. Anyway.... You will never believe what happened to me today. But first, a question: You're a major Anime/Japanese fan, right? Do you know anything about the Kamen Riders?
Sandra giggled in real life. So he got the belt. she thought, then typed out: I am a very big fan of the Kamen Rider genre. Why you ask? You wanna start watching it? *looks at him hopefully*
Good, Tobias responded, ignoring her plea, Because I only know what I learned today. You will NEVER believe this. He typed, then got straight to the point. My counselor at school is apparently Kamen Rider Hibiki. I saw him henshin today due to an attack at our school. I talked to him afterward.
Sandra sat for a moment. He saw Michael henshin? Good thing he wasn't just a bystander. She thought before typing You have got to be kidding me. That series is fictional. You're playing with me, aren't you?
Have I ever lied to you before? Seriously! But that's not all! Apparently, I was Chosen to be Rider Faiz. I have not even picked up the belt yet, because I have notice that in all the series, as soon as the hero gets his power, the monsters start showing up. I need time to plan.
Sandra then typed, *shakes her head at what he tells her* Ok, I'll go along with it. Have you thought of a plan? She was trying so hard not to squeal or let her emotions or actions show that she knew more.
Well, first I am going to try on the equipment in the privacy of my own home, Then I will try to locate the other Riders, as I assume there are more than two.
Sandra debated with herself, not sure how to proceed. She wanted to help him so much, but couldn't reveal her identity. Not until he asked her if she had sent the belt. Yes, there are more than two Riders. In the current era, there are ten, including the current series, Kamen Rider Decade. she finally typed.
Wow, you must know everything about these guys. Good thing I told you! I will call YOU first if I need help. Don't know when I'll be back on. See ya. He then logged off and went do do some random stuff on his computer, including running virus scans and such. (He was slightly paranoid, but had reason to be. He had very important information on the computer and when living with his grandmother, had fought with the less than tech savvy adults, who seemed to think that no security was good security and necessary programs such as JAVA were malware)
An hour later, he went back to the box. He opened it and stepping away from the computer, not wanting to break it on accident and donned the belt.
Once Tobias had donned the belt, it started to glow white and the change began to occur. New instincts told him to press '555 enter' on the phone included with the belt and then place the phone in the belt buckle. He followed the instinct.
Once done, the belt glowed even more, and the white glow encompassed his entire body. The glow soon disappeared, and Kamen Rider Faiz was standing where he had been.
"That's a nice trick" Tobias said, then soon realized that this was not 'just a trick' when another self emerged within him. It felt like a wolf, but more powerful. This wolf tried to control him, to go out and find some evil so he could practice.
What the- I talked to the two people who would know the most about this and neither told me this would happen! Oh, no you don't bastard! This is my mind!
The Wolf didn't like this resistance and insisted the need for practice, for when a real battle came. As it did this, it continued to force Tobias to the backround.
Of course I need to practice! But not while being controlled! Then he thought deep within himself It's a good thing I played Sunflashes RPG as a mind mage and I'm obsessed with psychics. I understand how mental combat works.
Tobias then started closing off sections of his mind, preventing the Wolf from taking over the whole thing. He reinforced the barriers and put mental spikes on them. Finally, he let go of his physical self and became a being of pure thought in his own mind.
The Wolf, who was no ordinary wolf, didn't like having a cage penned up around him and so fast. But it was content to wait for the time being. At least until a battle, then it would show its true strength.
Back in Florida, Sandra was not in her apartment, but at her store. They had asked her to come in for a few hours to take care of some ordering that the other associates couldn't handle as it was extremely busy due to spring break.
She was in the freezer counting when she was given a flash of knowing. She saw Jarn, as she called him, henshin into Faiz. She grinned broadly, then went back to work. "Welcome to the party, handsome." she said to herself as she counted another case of Pepsi.
Seeing the wolf submit, Tobias carefully expanded the barriers, slowly taking control back. Only when he had regained his entire mind did he relax. After that, he began to do some training for a while.
After he de-henshined some time later, he fell to the ground, reaching for the computer and failing. "Haven't had a challenge like that for a while.... Ah, Wiccan can wait. Ow. Ow. She's...... gonna love..... mfvfu..." And fell asleep right on the floor.
To Be Continued...