"Ha!" Virgil threw a slew of punches into the black vinyl, rocking the bag on it's protective chain. "Ha! Ha! Ha!" A right hook, then a left, then a right! He took a step forward and thrusted into his next punch, the bag flew back from the shock and came right back at him. He jumped into the air and spun, kicking the bag back again. As the bag rebounded back to him, he steadied his body, thrusted forward and kicked the bag right in the center, pushing it off the chain completely. As the training object hit the ground, the black vinyl split apart and spilled sand across the hardwood floor.
He seethed with adrenaline, his body heaving and rising with strength and heat; it was a glorious feeling. The training he had been doing for the last few weeks had toned his body to an amazing level; one that he never dreamed of having a few months ago. Under current circumstances, he'd still be a bit lankier than usual, but now, now his muscles began to bulge beneath his shirt and he was liking it.
"Damn, looking good Virgil." He admired his new physique in the mirror, flexing his muscles to and fro just to flaunt his new found body; conceited incarnate. But as he shifted deeper into the dimly lit gym, Virgil was hit with the mind crushing headache that announced a Dobatsu attack, and it wasn't far away. He considered going but fought against the urge. Conflicting feelings fluttered about in his mind as he found the image of Isabella, Lily's daughter, lying dead in her arms. While many Dobatsu had risen and been subsequently vanquished between now and then, Virgil always found his mind's eye replaying that specific reel.
It was haunting, to say the least.
Virgil however took comfort in the fact that because of Isabella's death, Lily ascended into a Rider. 'The butterfly with a bow' he liked to call her, as her patron insect resembled a species from the Papillion line. However, like Gunther, Lily stressed the need to kill every Dobatsu that fell into her warpath. While he shared the same sentiment, he didn't hunt them down like her, track them, wait for their every moment to be telegraphed telepathically. In fact, ever since Isabella's death, Lespid existed no more because Virgil failed to save her.
"Enough." He told himself aloud, hoping that the branching echo convinced him to let go of the guilt he still possessed. Only he could be so diligent in relenting to his guilt, at least he tried. He threw himself so far into training and bettering himself that he forgot Lespid even existed for weeks on end. He forgot the trials and turmoil that came with being a Rider, and soon only viewed himself as a normal person fighting the demon that...
"Enough!" He shook his head and sighed. Forgiving one's self was a long road; he had known the trials before and only found solace in the fact that forgiveness could be reached... But only in due time.
"Shit!" The Crab Dobatsu's claw dug into the side of her armor and flung her deeper into the street, her body crumpling as it hit the ground. Lily quickly reclaimed her bow and brought herself to her knee, drawing the light purple weapon's string back. As a purple arrow formed in the space between, the Crab demon nearly doubled its speed, sending another attack that knocked the weapon yet again from her grasp. As Lily tried yet again to reclaim her bow, the Crab Dobatsu wrapped it's claw around her throat and hoisted her high into the air.
She began to kick and punch at the armored claw containing her, but it was no use. Her exhausted state was nowhere strong enough to keep battling a monster that could shrug off her attacks. The once elegant light purple armor, brandishing the beauty of a butterfly in flight, it's curves magnificently accentuated by the light that always seemed to find it, was hanging by a thread, frothing with spent sparks and dark smoke.
"They told me about you," the Crab demon muttered, foamy filth leaking from it's oddly shaped mouth. "They saw me fit to hunt you down and take you out. They want that little insect on your wrist for my trouble. They want to make sure I get the job done. You've seen what I can do, butterfly, were they right?"
'No, you piece of shit, I won't let you!' She screamed in her mind, the only part of her that could keep going when her body failed her. She wouldn't talk, she wouldn't let the demon about to end her life have the satisfaction of hearing her scream or give up. No, her death would be silent... 'I'm coming Isabella...'
"Let her go."
The voice was stern and loud, a deafening roar in the silent street that stood as the butterfly Rider's battleground. Lily had lost all hope for she knew that voice. That voice had once brought her comfort, safety, joy, but now it only brought thoughts of death and despair, the loss of hope. Virgil Cross had crawled out of his hole and decided to become a hero again. The Crab Dobatsu was none the wiser, another Rider had entered the battlefield.
"They said some humans exhibit courage beyond their years, foolish courage. Would you prove them right, little man?" The Dobatsu swung Lily around in an attempt to break her silence, to let her know that she was about to witness the death of an innocent, one that she could not save from the claw around her neck. He liked it when humans suffered, but Riders provided the best enjoyment.
"Foolish courage sounds about right. It's been a while since I've done this. Not even sure it still works, but I'm ready to try again. What about you, do you think you're ready to chance this?" Virgil aimed the question to Lily, hoping she was still alive in there. His grand entrance was a little late, sure, but seeing her in this state was beginning to drive him mad. He had to do something, and that hope for a distraction was something that had to pay off. While the Crab answered his question diligently, he could feel Lily behind her visor, her eyes cutting away from him. "I understand."
Virgil held out his arm to the sky, unsure if anything was going to happen at all. He was mostly sure that once this endeavor didn't pay off, the Crab would either snap Lily's neck, or cut her head completely off, maybe even in that order. But he had one thing that Lily had given up on as soon as he entered the fray, hope.
And hope answered his call.
He closed his eyes as he heard that familiar buzzing, the sound that reassured him to his core; Lespid had come. As he grabbed the white beetle, he felt his waist get tighter as the silver belt materialized for the first time in a long while. Before he slid the beetle into place, he opened his eyes and cut the demon a powerful glare.
"Henshin!"
HENSHIN!
Sliding into the belt with a resounding click, black, techno organic material shot across Virgil's frame, nuzzling his body with the soft, yet protective undercoating. As it stretched across his frame, the white Rider tightened up his muscles, feeling invigorated with power. Silver and white armor began to form upon his legs, chest, forearms, and finally his head. The small visor upon his faceplate flashed a violent red once the transformation was complete.
"They said there'd only be one! They never lie!" The Crab demon tossed Lily to the side effortlessly as it charged at Virgil's heavily armored form, eager to play with the seemingly impossible lie. As the white Rider began to lay waste to the Crab demon, a feat that seemed too easy to be true, Lily watched the fight with bewilderment. Virgil had finally come out of his fighting coma only to save her... How romantic. There was a time she considered him to be her white knight, but this was no longer a facet of their relationship. Their rapport now was nothing more than old friends who needed nothing to do with each other. And she surely favored it that way.
Virgil pulled his fists together and swung heavily, knocking the Crab off balance. He followed up with a knee to the monster's gut, pushing it down to the ground. As it tried to get back up, he sent a forward kick into it's chest, further confining it to the earth below. The monster took it's mighty claw and swung wide, actually catching Virgil in a shower of spark which sent him sprawling to the ground. As the monster rose back to a standing position, the white Rider took a knee; his fingers found the horn of the beetle and pulled it outwards, bright white bolts of electricity began arcing through his armor, slightly raising the heavier bits off of him.
"Cast off!" He announced, replacing the horn to the right side of the beetle. In a flurry of metal and electricity, the heavier parts of his armor flew off in all directions, some parts striking the Crab demon.
CAST OFF!
The whiter parts of his armor caught the furious sunlight and glowed magnificently. He stood tall as the horn of his helmet connected between his compound eyes, the six horns above them shot out glistened in the light. When his eyes yet again flashed a violent red, his transformation had been complete. Standing here, for the first time in months, Lespid was born again.
CHANGE LESPID BEETLE!
"Clock up!"
Virgil reached down and slapped a pad on the side of his belt.
CLOCK UP!
Another feature of his system that seemingly came to him one day, 'clock up' provided the Riders with the ability to rend time to their liking. Everything stood still outside of their suits, wind would stop breathing mid breath, rain would freeze seemingly in the air, and the hustle and bustle of city streets came to an eerie stop as the Riders gained free reign through the time they froze. While one could give this as an advantage to the Riders over their Dobatsu enemy, some demons could manipulate time to their liking as well, adding an even more dangerous edge to their enemies. Thankfully, the Crab demon could not.
Virgil launched forward as time stood still around him. He whirled his leg around and struck the demon in the face, lifting it off the ground and causing it to hover in the air. He extended his right arm outward, palm open, and watched as a white portal opened up in the sky, sending forth his katana into the palm of his hand. He twisted and twirled the blade with lightning speed, causing several visible lacerations on the demon's body, and watched as time allowed sparks to slowly form against the steel skinned monster.
Virgil brought the end of the katana hard into his left hand, causing white energy to surge from the hilt, up his arm to the tip of his main horn, then back down to engulf the blade in white hot power.
"Rider Slash!"
RIDER SLASH!
The white Rider positioned the blade for a powerful upswing, but first slapped the pad on his belt again.
CLOCK OVER!
As time restored to its rightful spot, violent sparks erupted from the demon's steel body as it began to plummet to the ground. But, before steel could meet pavement, Virgil brought the sword up and cleaved the demon in twain; explosions destroyed what little remained.
"Bravo beetle boy, I'm definitely surprised to see you roused from such a stigmatic condition. Too bad I didn't need your help." Lily, equipped with her bow, walked past Virgil with a slight limp in her step, an injury no doubt caused from the battle with the Crab. He turned and watched as she began to walk away, noting her posture was off, and the grip on her bow was vapid. She was exhausted and tried hard not to show him; she didn't want to seem weak.
"Sure didn't look like it."
His statement had awoken a sleeping giant.
Lily spun deftly on her heels and brought her bow up to fire. She pulled the string back far and released a purple arrow aimed directly at Virgil's helmet. The white Rider anticipated the attack and quickly deflected the projectile with his sword. She pulled the string back yet again to fire, but stopped once Virgil had his sword pointed at her midsection. In the span of a second, Virgil had closed the gap between the two with his arm flexed and ready to drive the blade into her gut.
What had he been doing these past few months?
Lily certainly remembered his last condition, in fact, it was burned into her mind. She remembered how fast he was, how strong he was, how many hits he could take, and certainly how well he fought. She was privy to the fact he had entered clock up because she had heard his system announce it, and even though it lasted a no more than a millisecond in her mind, she knew when it would end. She saw the precise cuts that plagued the demon's body, she remembered the amount of sparks that erupted from it's frightened frame. Virgil had gotten better.
"Your next arrow will miss, my blade won't." Virgil uttered with confidence.
She felt the sincerity behind his voice, it was as sharp as the blade that prodded her gut; just like her, that day changed Virgil forever. She dropped the bow and placed it onto her back, backing away from the sword as Virgil withdrew the blade. She attempted to say something, something to rouse his emotions to only make her feel better, but her tongue could not find the words to speak. She was too exhausted to be dealing with Virgil, let alone a Dobatsu in the first place.
But she somehow found the words.
"What changed, Virgil? Why are you Lespid again?"
"Hope and determination..." Virgil unlocked the white beetle from it's resting position and began walking as the armor left with his metallic ally. As he reached Lily, he moved his head to the side and looked away from her, pain welling in his eyes. "Don't die, Lily."
A twinge of heartache rocked her unsteady frame, but she held still. She said nothing as Virgil continued his stride after his words of encouragement. Her pride kept her from looking back, from saying something in return. While she was sour with him, angry to the point of almost wanting to destroy him, Lily knew that Virgil only wanted what was best, she needed to get some rest.
"Squad A, surround the target and wait for my order to follow!" The crackling over the loudspeaker was loud and clear. The ten men and women in black suits of combat gear filtered throughout the dark, dingy room and surrounded the poor man bound in chains to the ceiling and floor. With assault rifles trained on the man's bare chest, the soldiers stood still, fingers heavy on the trigger for the order to fire.
"Excellent," the voice came over the speaker again, his tone exuberant with jubilee. The lights from the room containing the voice equipment was dark, leading to the brooding atmosphere that would help his commandos execute their specific order, to kill. He clicked the button once more, placed his mouth against the speaker and spoke calmly. "Fire."
The dungeon like room erupted into bright muzzles flashes, an inaudible atmosphere thanks to the rattling of bullets firing from the gun, as well as the soft clanking of shell casings crashing across the floor. Their target howled and cackled in laughter as the bullets seemed to only tickle his exposed flesh. Raising his bruised face, the soldiers stopped firing and moved their guns into a relaxed state.
"You'll never pierce our flesh with your human weaponry!" The man began to shift in his chains, pulling at the links with immense strength. Given more time, the links themselves would begin to bend and crack, causing this man to be free.
"Sir, the bullets seemed to have no effect. What do we do now?"
A sour frown crept across the man in the dark room's face. Angrily, he unsheathed a handgun from it's holster and exited the room. Following a dimly lit corridor, he opened a door and entered into the dungeon. Kicking aside spent shells and moving past his soldiers, the white haired man raised his handgun to the captured man's head.
"We test the other ones."
Pulling the trigger, the bullet sped quickly through the chamber, into the man's forehead, and out the back of the skull, stopping densely in the wall behind him. The once lively prisoner slumped against his chains, the life sucked completely out of him. As blood dripped from the wound, the soldiers watched in awe as the man shed his human image for a steel body with the shape of an animal head they could not quite make out.
Ejecting the clip from his handgun, the white haired man, Greene, handed it to a soldier and patted his shoulder.
"Make many more. We might have just won this war."
Author's Note:
Ho ho! A little short, but I feel that this is all this chapter deserved. A time skip, I felt, was what was best for Lespid because I felt like I was losing interest in the series. But fear not faithful readers, I have my passion back for it, and I think you'll like what these changes have spawned!
Also, if you're truly digging the series, why not give me a review? I think that'd be nice! :)