Ch2 - Getting Acquainted part 1

The Friend and The Zero

Gentarou woke up to his pants on fire.

Fortunately, his Fourze armor could protect him from up to fourth degree burns but it did not stop him from jumping around like a madman trying to put out the flames with his hands. After patting down the last of the fire on his legs, the high-school student took a quick look at his surroundings. Varying sizes and mounds of rubble of wall and what was once stone roof were one of the noticeable objects in the room. Fire was the second, but much of it has died due to not having anything to burn; charred remnants of the carpet and some black, malformed objects and splintered wood from what used to be tables being evidence of that.

The last and most noticeable thing was a fairly long and wide area of gouged stone ending in the blackened crater he was standing in. It was then that he remembered that he was the one who did all this damage.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!" Gentarou panicked. Sure he didn't mean to destroy a building with the predicament he was in, but it was still destruction of property. The owners were sure to be more than angry and demand compensation somehow.

But unlike any other man who would bolt out of there like Godzilla was on their tail, Gentarou stayed. He was still panicking, sure, but there was no way he was going to run from taking responsibility for what he did. If he does something wrong, he fixes it! That's just the kind of guy he was.

About a minute later, an entourage of confused/upset mages and one very afraid student burst through the door- okay, walked through what was left of the door- to see a man in strange white armor attempting to prop up a table with rocks and a broken table leg. All adult mages immediately pointed their wands and staves at the man who responded by putting his hands up in the air like he was a criminal caught in the middle of a crime.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to, I swear!" Gentarou yelled out. Unfortunately, Japanese was not a common language in Halkegenia, so to the mages all he did was scream incoherent gibberish.

"What did he say? Did anyone catch that?"

"Certainly not Halkegenian, that's for sure."

"Such a barbaric tongue!"

"Translation spell! Quickly!"

"Leave it to me," said a bespectacled, balding, middle aged man as he pointed the end of his staff at the armored man and muttered the words for the spell. "Can you understand us now?" the balding man asked.

Gentarou blinked in surprise, suddenly able to understand their words. He nodded slowly. "Yeah. I do now. What was that? No, wait, actually, before that!" He dropped to his knees and bowed his head to the floor. "I'm sorry! I'm really really really really sorry about this!"

The mages looked at each other then back to the prostrating man. Many of them, including the bespectacled man, took advantage of the moment to cast a discreet 'Detect Magic' spell on him. The telltale aura of magic emanated from the armored man in waves.

'A noble,' they all thought, blanching at the repercussions. Louise had summoned a noble. Barring the fact that the school's worst student summoned a person and a noble at that and that summoning a human was unheard of in Halkeginia's six thousand year long history, the consequences of summoning a noble would be immense, especially if the man was from a high ranking house.

They needed to act accordingly. First, they needed to apologize and explain the situation then hope to high hell that the man would understand and send him back to his country without incident. The bespectacled professor scratched the back of his head. "Well, um, that's quite all right, sir. It looked like you were having trouble when you came through."

Gentarou looked up. "Yeah! I overloaded the Switches with too much energy."

'Switches?' the more perceptive mages thought.

Gentarou continued. "Had to do it if I was gonna beat him... Wait!" The student stood up and looked around frantically. "The Chairman! Where is he!?"

"The Headmaster?" the professor asked. "He's on his way, why do you-?"

"Who? No, the Chairman! Chairman Gamou! He came through the portal with me!" At the odd looks he was receiving, he elaborated. "He's really tall, red armor, has horn thingies on his head?" He put his hands on his head and imitated horns to stress the point.

The professor shook his head. "I'm afraid that you were the only one to come through the portal."

"Really? Are you sure?" Their silence was his answer. "Oh no..." He slumped onto the floor as if a weight was suddenly placed on his shoulders. "We were so close too..." His voice was suddenly tired and weary as if he had lost all hope. "Everyone... Kengo..."

The mages looked at each other again, not sure what to do. The bespectacled professor's eyebrow knit together in an expression of sadness and understanding. He knew the white armored man's tone and gait well. He had seen it, after all, countless times on the fields of battle. He saw it in soldiers, men, women, children, of all classes a regretful past ago. In an effort to comfort the man, the professor placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Well that's fine!" Gentarou suddenly jumped up, his mood flipping right around. The professor stumbled in surprise and almost fell back. "If he got away, then I'll just have to find him again! That won't be too hard, hopefully. If I ended up here, then the Chairman must've too. We did go through the same portal." Never let it be said that Gentarou was a man who would let anything get him down for long.

The bespectacled professor stared at the man as he fixed his posture. "Y-yes, well, it's good that you aren't too upset by it."

A short but mirthful laugh was the student's response. "Weird things like this happen to me almost every week! But I have to admit this one is kind of new." He crossed his arms and tilted his head in contemplation. "I mean, hearing a voice telling me to answer to its guidance or something then having a weird portal pop up in front of my final attack, and then getting thrown out into this place just came outta nowhere!"

"Final attack? You mean that light and the strange appendages on your limbs?"

Gentarou sighed. "Yeah, my Rider Rocket Drill Kick. It actually would have ended things right there if... well..."

The gathered mages gave Louise a look. The girl seemed to shrink into herself.

"Why were you fighting this Chairman, if you do not mind me asking?" The bespectacled man asked. It was a simple question, but the answer would reveal far more than what he was asking. What warranted the use of such power that was able to destroy wards and enchantments that have stood fast for centuries like paper for use against one man?

The armored man stared for a moment before sighing heavily. "Chairman Gamou... he ran my high school and also turned out to be the leader of an evil group called the Zodiarts. Me and my friends have been fighting against them for uh... for almost a year."

"Evil you say...?" the professor asked with trepidation.

"Yeah," was the melancholic reply, "well, actually, I wouldn't call it evil, just misguided. He turned his own students into monsters so he could evolve past humanity or whatever, and if we didn't stop him, he would have destroyed the entire country and maybe even the world."

Many of the assembled mages had looks of incredulity on their faces. Surely he was exaggerating! Only the Founder Brimir could boast the power he was suggesting this Chairman had. But... the power he displayed earlier, even the densest of them had to admit that whoever this Chairman was, fighting him required power on par with a Square Class mage if the ease with which he broke the wards was any indication.

"A lot of my friends were hurt because of him." He added solemnly.

The professor had a pained look on his face, realizing what the summoning had taken this man away from. "You were in a decisive battle against the enemy's leader... and we took you away from it." He gave the only student in the group of teachers a discreet look. The other teachers however, were not so discreet with their stares.

Louise shrank even further.

But to their surprise, the knight just laughed again. "Nah, don't feel too bad. You probably didn't know that the portal would get me. When that voice said that it was looking for a 'familiar somewhere in the universe', it probably didn't know that the universe is a HUGE place, trust me! And like I said before, I can just find the Chairman and kick his butt again."

The bespectacled man stared at him with a strange look. "You're not worried about him getting away?"

The Kamen Rider shrugged. "Well, it's true that I gotta find him quick, but I don't even know where to start. Heck, I don't even know where I am. The good thing is that the Chairman should still be pretty weak from our fight, so I'm not too worried about him starting anything too soon, but I'm sure he's already planning to get the Zodiarts up and running again. But I've learned to take stuff as they come. If I get worried, then my friends get worried, and that's the last thing I want."

"I... see, I think." The professor furrowed his brow. The armored man was very strange. He was just about to defeat his mortal enemy and end a long battle only to have the finishing blow taken away from him and he just laughs it off and doesn't blame them? There were no lies or malice in his tone either; it wasn't hard to see how honest the man was. What an unbelievably magnanimous individual. The professor doubted anyone else could be as generous and kind.

"Y-You're not angry?" All eyes turned to the littlest Valliere, a confused and ashamed look in her eyes. She had hoped to summon something beautiful, sacred, and powerful, and she got her wish. But as if the Founder was against her, she summoned not a magical beast, but a human! And what's worse was that it was a man clad in magical white armor like the noble heroes of literary fantasies in what was supposed to be the end of a yearlong battle with his mortal enemy! What had she done? She had taken away his and his allies' victory and gave his enemy the chance to regroup and renew whatever it is the enemy was doing! By all rights the man should be angry! But he was just dismissing it? Just like that? If it were her in his shoes, she would have exploded figuratively and literally.

Despite the helmet covering his entire head Louise felt that the man was giving her a confused look. "Of course not. I just said that, didn't I?"

But Louise couldn't accept it. "But you, I mean... you were just in an important battle, right?! You were about to beat someone who you said made many people suffer but-"

"Ah!" The knight yelled suddenly, startling everyone in the room. The man's arm jutted forward, his finger pointing dramatically at the girl. "Your voice! You're the voice I heard in my head! The one that was calling me!"

Louise felt her stomach fall.

Before anyone could respond, the knight walked past the mages and stopped in front of Louise, his imposing form staring down at her. The scared girl could only stare up at those large orange eyes that seemed to scrutinize her whole being. Some of the mages who were still unsure if the armored man was a threat or not, prepared spells under their lips. The bespectacled professor himself slipped in to a small fighting stance. Had he judged the man too soon?

Gentarou raised a hand. Louise flinched and shut her eyes. The teachers finished their casting and were ready to throw their spells.

And then nothing.

A long silence past before Louise slowly opened her eyes and saw the man just standing with his hand held out to her.

"Well c'mon!" The armored man exclaimed, breaking the silence. "You too!"

Louise looked at the man's expecting eyes and back to his hand. Did he want to shake her hand? She gulped, raising her own shaking hand to clasp his. But before she could react, the man took her hand into his own and went into a short series of movements the Louise had trouble following, but recognized.

'A... a secret handshake?' she thought, recalling her childhood days with Henrietta and the handshake they made for themselves as a sign of their eternal friendship.

With one final bump of his fist atop hers, he put his hands on his hips in triumph. "Yosh! From now on you're my friend, uh... what was your name again?"

"L-Louise. Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere," she answered tentatively. "Wait, what do you mean by 'friend'?"

"Well, you summoned me right? To be your familiar?" he replied. "Now, I don't exactly what that is, but I heard Tomoko talking about them. They're supposed to be like animal friends right? I'm not an animal myself but, I'll be happy to be your friend! And even better, you're the first friend I made outside of Japan! This is awesome!"

The other occupants stared at him with incredulous eyes. This man's personality was nothing like they've ever encountered before.

"Anyway, Louise, I should introduce myself properly. Gimme a sec."

Everyone watched as the armored man flipped four red switches on his belt, each one giving off a strange sound. A red light shined from the center of his belt and a strange, circular thing appeared and rose above his head followed by colored lights and expelling mist which covered the room, forcing the mages to cover their eyes, Louise having to step back a little from the pressure. But just as quickly as the lights and mist appeared, they were gone. They lowered their arms and their eyes widened in surprise.

Standing in place of the knight was a young man. He was quite tall, towering most of the mages at about six feet. He wore pure black pants, shoes and a jacket that appeared too small for him over a red shirt, clothes that a commoner would wear. His hair was completely black, an unusual color in Halkeginia, and done up in a ridiculous style they were unfamiliar with, appearing to be unruly, likely due to his battle. Blood and bruises covered his face, but did nothing to diminish the brilliant smile on his face.

"My name's Kisaragi Gentarou. The man who's gonna become friends with everyone in Amanogawa High School and... wherever this place is!" He declared, pumping a fist to his chest.

Open mouthed stares were the response he got. They expected a seasoned warrior under that armor not a young man! He looked like he was barely into his twenties!

"Excuse me, young man, but how old are you?" The bespectacled man asked. He just had to know.

Gentarou turned around to face the man. "I'm eighteen years old! Third year of high school." he said with a smile.

The teachers were surprised yet again, Louise even more so. Gentarou was only a year older than her and he was already more powerful than most of her classmates! Did that mean that as his summoner she was powerful too?

The professor himself was highly impressed. Barely into adulthood and the teen was already quite strong. It was a shame that he was introduced to war at such a young age. Not like he could talk; he started his military career at the age of fifteen.

"By the way, you were the first one to talk to me but I never got your name," The Gentarou asked.

The professor smiled a bit embarrassedly. "It's Colbert. Jean Colbert."

The knight flashed him a smile. "Awesome! Nice to meet you Col-"

"MY TOWER!"

Everyone turned to see a wet old man in a bath robe carrying a long wooden staff staring in disbelief at the ruined treasury. Disbelief turned to anger as he caught sight of Gentarou.

"Headmaster!" Colbert exclaimed. "You're finally here now we-"

The elder man ignored the professor. "Did you do this!?" he screamed, pointing his staff at the high school student.

Gentarou gulped nervously. "Um, yes, I'm really-!"

That was all the old man needed as he closed the distance between them with surprising speed and an outraged yell, ignoring the yells from the teachers for him to stop. With rage in his eyes, the old man raised his staff and brought it down on the young man's head who could only yell in panic and fear.

Gentarou teetered humorously for a few seconds, muttering something about galaxies, before falling flat on the floor unconscious.

"That'll teach you to destroy my treasures you little punk!" the headmaster huffed in triumph. He looked up to see everyone staring at him with horror on their faces. "What? Did I do something wrong?"

Okay. I do apologize for making you all wait so long and for such a small part. I did say I would update slowly. As always, please leave some comments or critiques.