Well it has been far too long since I have updated this thing and I do feel pretty bad about it but I've been too focused on Kamen Rider OOO and Gokaiger. If you have no idea what those are you should probably look them up because they've been keeping me pumped all summer. I'm also happen to announce that my first nephew was born exactly a week ago and things have been loud ever since. Pray for my eardrums please. Now this chapter isn't as long as the previous two, but that is because isn't much action in it. Just the aftermath of the battle pretty much. Now I noticed that I had forgotten to acknowledge the one who reviewed in the first chapter so I'll do that now along with the ones that reviewed recently cause I like to show gratitude.

AnneAlysse: I'm not sure if I caught every punctuation error this time, but I hope I caught most of them. Just remember that nobody's perfect. Also, about Bethany's transformation, how would you feel about a guy that just saved you from being smashed to death by some monster? You better be damn grateful to him lol. To be honest though she will still have some of those "meangirl" tendencies towards Ryou at times, but just out of habit. Even bitchy girls can have a heart from time to time. I've seen it.

Dakegun: Thank you for the review and I don't think I acknowledged your first review so I apologize for that. I'll try to keep all my chapter as detailed as the first two and I hope you enjoy this one. And I also agree that guys like Ryou need to get more respect.

Sendo25: If you're seeing this, hope you're enjoying the story so far.

Ryuzen Zabiarov: If you're seeing this, I hope you're enjoying it too.

Also, to the general public, the term is BATED breath and not baited. You're not trying to catch a fish with your breath or something. Alysse pointed out that a lot of people get the words mixed up so I wanted to point that out too while it was on my mind. With all of that out of the way let's get this party started.

Disclaimer: I do now own Kamen Rider, but if I did OOO would be crossing over with Gokaiger right about now. SUBARASHI!

Blaze unlatched herself from the Rekka belt and flew a little over Ryou's head as the Rekka armor faded away in a shimmering burst of flame. Exhausted, Ryou suddenly fell to his knees and breathed heavily.

Blaze, for a moment, wanted to reprimand him for being weak when he suddenly collapsed, but remembered that he had just beaten a beast with a level of power he previously should not have been able to handle. So she gave him her own version of a compliment. "You almost didn't make it. Good thing your body's chemistry is strange for a human's."

To tired to retort, but wincing more than he should have at the word 'strange', Ryou strained himself as he got to his knees and began to walk in the direction that he had left Bethany in. "I have to see if Bethany is alright." He got as far as a couple steps before he dropped to his knees again and then fell face first into the dirt as he suddenly passed out.

Blaze sighed to herself and decided to take pity on the poor boy. Sirens were heard coming from nearby, no doubt coming in response to the monster, Mintauros, causing havoc on the college campus. She looked to a pile of rubble near Ryou and yet it aflame with a mild explosion, something that was sure to attract the human law enforcement and have them come that area to look for survivors. Surely they'd find Ryou. Then she flew a little ways to where the girl, Bethany, was and did the same thing to a pile of rubble that was near her. "They will both need the aid of human healers for their ordeals. I can tell the boy later of the job that is now his, for Mintauros will not be the last of the horrors that he must face." And with that she flew off and perched into a tree nearby that wasn't on fire until law enforcement came and discovered the two college students and some other survivors. As ambulances were called and students were rolled out to the hospital, she followed the one which held Ryou.

After a night of searching, students and faculty were still being pulled out of rubble, some alive and some not so lucky. The police were having quite a time trying to figure it all out. Lieutenant Stanford, the same man who was in charge of the warehouse investigation, transversed the scene of devastation with Cadet Dirk right behind him.

"The hell is going on in this city?" asked Dirk quietly to himself. "First that warehouse with all those dead bodies, and now this. Looks like a monster rampaged through here." He stopped as he noticed his Lieutenant staring at a wall that looked like a wrecking ball went through it.

"Cadet, I wouldn't be surprised at this point, especially looking at that. And all of this." He nodded towards all the bodies littering the ground. Some looked like they had been squeezed from the waist down. Others looked like they had been crushed by falling debris. Most looked like something had ripped them apart. Cadet Dirk gulped down some bile that had developed in his throat at the sight of the mangled bodies. He had only seen this kind of thing before in comics and video games before he joined the force. But to actually see it in real life was a different experience entirely.

"Ya know, the survivors have been sent to the hospital. I want you to go there and see if you can question some of the kids about what happened here," Lieutenant Stanford said to Cadet Dirk.

"Are you sure you want me to do that, sir?"

"Yes. We'll be able to handle things here. I want a full report on any information you find."

"Yes, sir." Cadet Dirk saluted and left for the nearby hospital. Stanford looked around at all the destruction.

"Again, this isn't really something his eyes should be seeing as a cadet." He took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it before putting it to his lips. "Whatever could do something like this is some kind of fucking demon."

...

Ryou's eyes fluttered open as he came to. The first thing he noticed was that he was in a hospital bed. The next thing he noticed was that Bethany was sitting in a chair beside his bed, wearing one of the hospital gowns.

"It's about time you woke up," she said with a slight smile.

He sat up in bed and winced slightly. "Itie. Um, are you alright?" he asked as he turned to her.

She gave a simple nod and smiled again. "I have some bruises here and there, and according to the nurse that came in here earlier, you were just suffering from a bit of exhaustion. But that's getting off extremely lucky, compared to some of the other people," she said sadly. Ryou looked away from her, frowning to himself.

"How many got hurt?"

She knew he would want to know, so she had the information ready. "Forty of us were injured, but more than thirty died. And from what I saw, their deaths weren't exactly painless. They're still finding bodies as we speak. That monster enjoyed causing carnage."

"Well he won't be hurting anyone else. I made sure of that." Bethany looked at Ryou questioningly but then thought back to the moment before she had passed out earlier in the night.

"Ryou, I want answers. And don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. You tried to trade your life for mine and when that monster wouldn't agree some bird thing attacked it. Before I passed out I saw you surrounded in fire and change into something else. Explain." Ryou exhaled and looked at her to speak, but his attention shifted to the door before he could get a word out.

"Nick," he said, looking in the doorway.

Bethany's head turned so fast she should have gotten whiplast. She was a split second away from squealing in her chair and tackling the college student, but in an amazing show of restraint she merely got out of her seat and turned to Ryou. "I'll come check on you later. He looks worried." She left the room but not before giving Nick a split second glance.

Nick nearly ran away, but the girl didn't look like she was going to attack him like she usually did. "Hey, Ryou, is she okay? Normally she tries to jump me whenever I'm in the vicinity."

"Yeah, she just has some bruises."

"Alright." He look skeptical, but shrugged his shoulders. "What about you?" he asked Ryou.

"I apparently passed out from exhaustion. You know, probably from running from that monster," Ryou said nervously. He didn't want Nick to know what really happened and that he had beaten the monster that had done all of that damage.

"So it really was a monster. That's pretty crazy to think about," he said with a slight chuckle. His face then got serious and he looked under the Ryou's bed.

"Uh, what are you looking for?" Ryou asked curiously.

"Just looking under the bed for monsters," he said when he came up. "Seems silly, but since we just found out that monsters exist you never know right?"

Ryou's face blanched. "Nick that's not funny. I'm gonna be afraid to go anywhere now." He then gave Nick a look as his friend began to chuckle to himself. "Glad you're finding so much amusement in this but I'm totally serious." he said with a whimper.

Nick finally managed to suppress his laughs and laid a bag on Ryou's bed. "There's a fresh set of clothes in there for when you get discharged. I kinda figured you'd need them after I found out you were in here."

Ryou nodded in understanding and put the bag in the chair beside his bed. "Thanks Nick. Are you going to stay long?"

"I can't unfortunately. Some of the guys from the basketball team got hurt too so I have to see how they're doing. I'll see you later Ryou." Nick gave a thumbs up then left the room to check on his teammates. Ryou sighed to himself and laid back against his pillow.

"I'm glad he wasn't hurt like some of the others were. But what happens now?"

...

Meanwhile, Bethany was attempting to get a drink out of the vending machine, but it took her money. She tried slapping the side of it with her palm, but when her drink still didn't come out she got angry and began to kick the machine. "Give me my drink you stupid machine! Ugh!" She gave it one last kick and gave up. "Guess I'll have to drink some of the fountain water then." She turned to head down the hallway, but suddenly jumped when someone tapped her on the shoulder. "Ah! Get away from me!" She instinctively turned around with her left arm outstretched and her palm open. A loud slapping sound rang through the room followed by completely silence. Then...

"YAOOOOUCH!" yelled a police officer as he clutched as his now aching cheek. Bethany realized what she had done and immediately started to apologize. The officer waved her off as he rubbed his cheek. "You don't have to apologize because I scared you, but boy do you pack a wallop."

"Um, thanks. But I still feel bad about slapping you. Is there something you wanted?"

The officer pulled out a pencil and pad from his pocket. "Actually yes. My name is Cadet Dirk and we're investigating incident that occurred on the college campus last night. We heard that survivors was sent to this hospital so I was sent out to see if I can get any eyewitness accounts of what exactly happened. You look college age so I assumed you were a student."

Bethany nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I'm a student, but I was knocked out so I hardly really remember anything," she lied. "Except for being nearly killed by a minotaur and seeing my new friend turn into a superhero to fight it." she thought to herself. "Sorry I can't be of more help."

"It's quite alright, miss? I didn't get your name."

"It's Aldridge. Bethany Aldridge. And I hope you can find somebody that can give you some information." She gave a slight bow and continued on down the hallway to Ryou's room as Cadet Dirk shrugged and looked around for more students.

Bethany rounded the corner and stepped into Ryou's doorway. "Hey, Ryou. Can we talk n-What are you doing?"

Ryou had just taken his shirt off when Bethany stepped in. He looked from Bethany to his bare chest then quickly hid under his was holding back a slight blush until she saw his slender arm reach out from under the blanket and grab the bag that was sitting in a nearby chair.

"Um, Bethany, could you give me a minute to change into my clothes?"

Bethany shook her head and turned around. "Geez, I didn't realize you were that shy. But I'm not leaving this room again until I get some answers so you'll just have to change under the covers or something." She looked over her shoulder and saw a lot of movement under the blankets. "Guess he's changing under there then."

A couple minutes later Ryou emerged from under the blanket, fully clothed but barefoot. He was only wearing a pair of jeans and a short sleeved shirt, a vast contrast to the tons of thick shirts and jackets he wore on a daily basis. Bethany couldn't help but notice that he was surprisingly fit.

"Hey, Ryou."

"Close the door," he suddenly said. Bethany figured that he didn't want to be overheard and closed the door. She then turned to him again and gave him a look.

"Answers. Now."

Ryou sighed and shifted his body so that his legs were hanging off the side of the bed. "Do you want to hear about what happened last night, or about what really happened at the warehouse?"

"Let me just ask the questions here buster. So what really happened that night?" Bethany asked.

"Well I found this belt on the upper floors of the warehouse and came back down when I heard you call my name. When I got there you were unconscious with Mintauros standing over you. That's the name of the monster. I managed to distract him and keep him from killing you, but then he came after me. When he was about to kill me this bird came out of nowhere and attacked him. Except it wasn't a mere bird. It kind of combined with me and the belt and equipped me with this ancient armor. I fought Mintauros off until the police started coming. It ran away and I carried you off to somewhere safe," he answered.

Bethany was quiet as she soaked all the info in. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to tell you because, well look at me. I'm not exactly the first person people picture when they want to be saved. And would you have believed me?"

"Not at first I guess. But I sure believe it now and it's good thing you killed it. It had killed a lot of people and even more would've died if you hadn't. Face it, you're a superhero."

"No I'm not. That was only a one time thing since he's dead."

"I fear that may not be the case human," came a voice from the window.

Bethany and Ryou peered at the open window as a small red bird, Blaze, flew through it and onto the bed. The small phoenix took note of the surroundings and sighed. "Do you humans really need all of this just to recover from injury?"

Ryou sighed while Bethany opened her mouth in shock of the talking bird that had just entered the room.

"D-d-did that bird just talk!" In a flash she had crossed the room and picked up the little bird in her hands, examining it closely. Now it was Ryou's turn to open his mouth in shock at Bethany's boldness, knowing full well what Blaze was capable of.

"Uh, Bethany I don't think you should do that." He could tell that Blaze was close to exploding from the pulsing vein the phoenix's forehead.

"I am no mere bird! Now release me at once!" With strength that betrayed her small stature, she burst forth from Bethany's enclosed palms and hovered in the air, anger radiating from her body in waves. "If you dare to ever do that again, I will burn you to ash. A Mythic such as myself is a god compared to you." Just to emphasize her point she let out a small flame in front of Bethany's face, making the young girl fall backwards in fright.

"You're a phoenix. But they're not supposed to exist."

"This coming from the human that was attacked twice by a minotaur," Blaze simply stated. Realizing that Blaze had a point she got up slowly and bowed in fear.

"I'm sorry. Please don't kill me."

"Bethany's she's not going to kill you," Ryou suddenly said. "It's because of her that I was able to beat Mintauros. It was her power I used."

"Yes. So you would do well to mind your tongue. Or you will burn." Blaze let out a small amount of heat from her body in an outward burst, showing that she meant it.

"O-okay," Bethany said, shaking slightly. "But where do you and that other monster come from?"

"I come from an ancient race of beasts from when what you humans call the Medieval period. This was when our race was much more abundant and roamed freely along with the humans of that time. All of the creatures you have ever heard of from all over history are all of my race. We are called the Ancients."

"Ancients?" Ryou questioned. "But when Bethany was holding you, you called yourself a Mythic. At least I think that's what you said." Bethany nodded in agreement.

Blaze continued on with her story. "Yes, I did indeed say that. That is because we Ancients were divided into three classes. There were the Mythics, such as myself and Mintauros. We are the creatures of today's legends that most of your human adventure stories are based on. Next are the Mystics, magical creatures that were known to dwell in nature. And the third group, the Horrors. They were dark creatures that lurked in the night and were the stuff of nightmares, although there were some that befriended humans and members of the other tribes. The three tribes clashed very often and many humans died from our battles. That's where the Kamen Riders were put into play, to protect the humans from us."

"Kamen Riders?" Bethany asked. "Is that what Ryou is?"

"Yes. They were essentially knights and mercenaries, depending on who was wielding the power. They were each partnered with a member of my race. They would transmit their power to a human through use of special belts crafted by whatever Ancient they were partnered with. It wasn't a very popular occupation among humans though, as many Riders were killed in battle."

At that, Ryou got up and gathered the belongings he had on him when he was admitted.

"Ryou? Hey what's wrong with you?"

"I'm leaving. Bethany I'm not a 'Kamen Rider' or whatever she said. I only wore the suit and fought to protect you. Now that Mintauros is dead I don't have do that anymore. It's over."

"That is where you are wrong young human," came Blaze's voice from behind.

"Excuse me?" Ryou asked, turning to face her.

"There are others, many others and they're all migrating to this area. Like Mintauros, it seems they are being drawn to something in the area. More will come, some worse than Mintauros even."

"But it's not right for Ryou to put his life in danger like that. Just find somebody else to do it."

Ryou clenched his fist and walked out of the room before Blaze could tell Bethany had told him the day before. He didn't want to hear it again.

"Ryou? What's wrong with him?"

Blaze sighed and fluttered to the window, preparing to take to the sky. "He left because he knows nobody else can wear the belt and use my powers." And with that she took off, leaving Bethany in the room alone.

"Belt?" Hearing that word several times in the conversation seemed to spark something in her. "Oh my God the guy from the warehouse told me to protect a belt! Hey Ryou!" Bethany ran out of the room and caught up to Ryou who was standing in the lobby.

"Bethany? What is it?"

"There's something I need to tell you. That night at the warehouse there was a guy. He was being held captive by that monster and told me to find some belt. You and Blaze kept mentioning a belt so I think it might be the same one. Do you have it?"

"No. Blaze has it inside her body. It's like a part of her power so I guess she can do that. Wait, some random guy knew about it? What happened to him?"

Bethany's expression turned grim and she looked down to the floor. "He was killed." Her shoulder slowly heaved as she began to sob some, remembering what she had seen that night and how she had talked to that man just before he died. Ryou was not sure what to do. He was not sure to how to approach women when they were in this state, but Bethany needed support and he felt he would be a bad friend if he did not do something. He bit his lip and slowly approached.

"Ne, Bethany. Can-can I hug you?"

The girl looked up with tears in her eyes, then suddenly hugged Ryou and sobbed into his shirt. People around the hospital stopped what they were doing to watch to scene before them. Ryou blushed up a storm in embarrassment and hesitated in embracing her but managed to lightly pat her on the back as she sobbed.

"Thank you Ryou," she said after letting all of her tears out. "That was really nice of you. I don't like to let people see me cry but I feel like I can in front of you."

"And everybody else," he mumbled in response.

"Wha?" she looked around and noticed everyone staring at the two of them. Temples throbbing in frustration, she let out her fury. "ALL OF YOU GO ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS AND STOP BEING NOSEY!" Everybody jumped from the sheer volume of her voice and continued what they were doing.

"Wow Bethany. I didn't know you could do that."

"Eh, me and my sister used to fight a lot so my voice gradually got louder as we grew up. Now I'm gonna get checked out of here and leave with you. We have some research to do."

"Nani?" Bethany grabbed his arm and ran off to the receptionist to get her freedom from the hospital.

...

After Bethany had checked with a nurse and gotten checked out, the two college students had gone to the library to do "research" as Bethany had said. She walked through the aisles carrying a pile of books in her arms that threatened to crush her if she fell from the weight of them. She dropped the books on the table with a large thump, making Ryou jump from his seat.

"Bethany, what's with all the books?" Ryou asked quietly. Bethany took one of the book and opened it up for Ryou to see. He quirked an eyebrow when he read the title. "Mythical Creature Encyclopedia?"

"Yup," Bethany responded with a smile. "Since we're having to deal with these things now I think it would be best to do research."

"Bethany, I already said I can't do this. I can't fight something like that again. I'm sure if something like that shows up again the police can handle it."

Bethany was becoming confused. Ryou had already shown that he was capable of defeating monsters with the armor of Rekka, but his insecurities were still strong for some reason. Where was the hero she had recently thought him out to be? "Ryou, I don't get it. Why won't you fight? That phoenix said more were coming and that you were the only one that could use that armor. What's the problem?"

"I'm fighting monsters bethany!" he said in a frustrated whisper. "Do you have any idea what that does to somebody like me? I'm the guy that until recently you and everybody else picked on, and now I'm thrown into something I shouldn't be in in the first place! The only reason I put on the suit in the first place was because I thought Mintauros was going to kill us both and that I didn't have anything to lose. And that was before I knew what was gonna happen if I put on the suit!"

"Wait, what's gonna happen if you put on the suit?"

"The suit is a conduit for Blaze's power to be used by humans, but the human body isn't made to use that kind of power and can only hold so much. Eventually the suit will hold more power than my body can handle and it'll destroy me!"

Bethany gasped and held a hand to her mouth. "Did you know that when you put the suit on last night?" Ryou nodded and looked down at the books before laying his face in his hands and giving a large sigh. "Ryou, why can't she get somebody else to wear the suit? " He shook his head.

"According to Blaze the suit is now bonded to me and nobody else can use it unless I somehow die. Can we please not talk about this now?"

Bethany frowned but nodded before taking a seat beside Ryou. "Hey, we'll figure something out." She reached over and squeezed his shoulder. "Come on, I have to look up something."

Ryou looked up and gave Bethany a look. "I thought you just said-"

"It's not about mythical creatures," she said suddenly. "I want to see if I can find anything on that guy who I met in the warehouse. He knew about the belt so maybe we can find something to help you if we find out who he is, or was."

"Do you really think that we can find something to get me out of this mess?" She nodded and dragged him over to a computer. Ryou wondered how they would look up anything on him with literally no information, but never let it be said that Bethany was one to let something like that stop her. She was far too stubborn. So when the two emerged from the library half an hour later at closing time she swore to herself that she would try again tomorrow when they had more time.

"I never knew you were so determined Bethany. But it's understandable that we didn't find anything since we don't even know where to start looking. I don't even see how he could know about it, considering it's supposed to be Blaze's." At the mention of the small bird Bethany's eyes lit up and she grabbed Ryou's arm, dragging him down the snowy sidewalk. "Oi! Where are we going!"

"To find your feathery friend! Now start a' lookin!"

As the two started to call out the phoenix's name, said phoenix was perched in a nearby tree watching to two closely. She had originally thought of the boy Ryou to be a typical human male, albeit very withdrawn and timid, but after yesterday's battle she was thinking differently. When humans used the belt to draw on her power there was a certain level that each one could attain. Each human had a limit as to how much of her power they could hold and once that limit was met. If anymore power were to be taken in, that power would backlash and that human would be burned to a crisp. That was what had happened to the last human that used the belt. But last night was different. Ryou, being of smaller build and strength, had a much smaller limit than most of her previous users and last night that limit was met. But instead of burning to death like the others had his body somehow adjusted to the overflow of power and he was even able to perform one of the armor's more advanced techniques: the Phoenix Funnel Drop. There was obviously something strange about the human boy and she wanted to know what it was, so she would force him to wear the armor if she had to. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that, but he was showing reluctance now that Mintauros was gone and that he knew that more monsters like him would be coming.

Blaze knew how humans feared things much stronger than them. It was in their nature and one could not fight what was in their DNA. Still, seeing such cowardice nearly sickened her. She suppressed the urge to torch the kid as she watched him slip on a patch of ice and fall to his backside. "So ungraceful. How was it that he fought like such a warrior yesterday?" She turned to fly away and took off into the chilly sky, her fiery nature keeping her from feeling winter's fury. She looked down at the people as she soared the sky, taking notice of a particular pretty girl that was walking down the sidewalk. She moved her head to keep an eye on the sky in front of her, but her keen ears picked up on a muffled scream below. Looking back down she noticed that the girl she had just seen was nowhere to be found. "It seems that something is amiss." She flew down to where she had seen the girl a second before and noticed a single yellow feather that was as big as her body. She glared at the feather with familiarity. "Looks like Mintauros was not killing humans all by his lonesome. So she is here too." She took to the skies again to find Ryou. The time to fight had come again.

...

The girl grunted in slight pain as she was dropped on her fanny in a alley. It was the middle of the day, but the sky was covered in snowy clouds which blocked a lot of the sunlight making it seem almost like night in that already dark alley. She was confused and very afraid. One second she had been walking down the sidewalk to go home, and the next she saw a blur slam into her and take to the sky with her in tow. Now she was here. That wasn't even the worst part. She could feel something in the alley with her. Her fears were confirmed when a pair of yellow, catlike eyes seemed to fade into existence right in front of her face. She gasped as she felt something wet glide across her cheek. "Is that a tongue?" The girl could only stare into the glowing, slitted eyes as the wet object removed itself from her cheek and disappeared into the darkness.

"Hello human female. I want to ask you a riddle."

She began to grow more afraid, as she had thought that it might have some sort of wild animal and had not expected it to speak. Whatever the thing was though, it moved in the darkness. What little light there was in the alley illuminated the figure slightly. She had calmed down for an instant when she made out a human face, and raised an eyebrow when she made out a pair of bare breasts, but suddenly got back into coward mode as noticed it was attached to a body that didn't look human. It was beast-like and a pair of wings could faintly be seen in the darkness. She did not want the thing to attack her, whatever it was, so she decided to go along with it as scared as she was. "A riddle? W-w-why?"

The figure smiled in the darkness and dragged a clawed finger slowly across the girl's jawline. It drew no blood, but was enough to get the point across. "It's kind of what I do. Just answer it."

"O-okay," she said in growing fear.

"I am something that all humans fear, something that is unavoidable. I can be drawn out and painful, or quick painless. I am the ultimate absolute. What am I?"

The girl cowered in fear and confusion as the monstrous figured towered over her in the dark alley. "Um, please give me a minute." Her thick mascara began to run and tears ran down her once pretty face.

"Answer the riddle." The figure said sweetly. It was that sickingly sweet kind of voice that obviously was not real, but used to intimidate people and it was definitely serving its intended purpose.

The girl's breathing became deep and frenzied as she began to sob harder. She could not think of anything under the pressure and said the only thing that came to mind in a small voice. "I don't know,"

"Too bad. The answer is..." A faint gasp was heard from the girl as she felt something sharp enter her gut. She looked down and saw a pool of blood forming at her knees. The source? The large, bloody hole in her stomach where her intestines used to be. The girl fell face first to the concrete, limp and lifeless. The shadowy form took the girl's bloody innards and began to extract the bodily fluids surrounding them with its tongue before slurping them up greedily. "Death."

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and all will be answered in the next one. Later.