ZK Chromedragozoid: First glimpse of the new Rider

After returning to Fang Manor, Devlin was welcomed by a hug from Danielle. She was still wearing the dress that he'd seen her for their date, which ended up a disaster with Chef Emmanuel exposing himself as a Fangire. However, despite their ruined lunch date, Danielle still looked beautiful to him.

"I saw everything on TV!" Danielle shouted out. "That dragon! Where did it come from?"

Devlin looked over his shoulder at Topper, who was smiling proudly. Fangula was perched on the enigmatic dragon-man's hat.

"That's him, right there," Devlin pointed at Topper. It took Danielle several seconds to make the connection.

She gasped and yelled out in shock, "You're a dragon!?" Danny had told her that he had a teammate named Jake Long who could also change into a dragon.

"The Great Dragoon, actually," Topper said, with a nod.

"Why didn't you tell me you were really a dragon?" Devlin asked.

"Well, you never asked, did you?" Topper responded with a chuckle. Devlin rolled his eye.

"And Fangula…?"

"Well, I wanted to surprise you," said Fangula. "You were, right?"

"Of course," Devlin nodded. "But a little more warning would've been nice."

Danielle's cell phone rang and she quickly dug into her purse to take it out. She saw whose name was on the screen and groaned. "Oh, no…"

"Daniel," Devlin guessed.

"You got that right," Danielle nodded, placing the phone against her ear. "Yeah, I saw it. Did dad shout 'ghost' again? He did? Oh, right, how Fang has a dragon?" She glanced at Devlin. "I really don't know. Danny! I told you I can't tell you who he is! I made a promise! Please, you have to-" She felt Devlin tap her shoulder. "Huh?"

"Let me talk to him," Devlin said. Danielle handed him her phone and Devlin spoke into it. "Hello, Daniel. If you want to know about Fang so much, come to Fang Manor. Bring your parents, your sister, and your friends. Well, if you want answers so much, I suggest you come for them yourself and get them from the source. Goodbye." He hung up and handed the phone back to Danielle.

"And there," Richard said as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. He was covered in grease and so were his clothes. "I'm done."

"Well, Rick," Becky said as she walked over. "You work really fast."

"Hey, my nickname is 'Ratchet' for a reason," Richard smiled back.

Richard was at El Diablo Customs. It sure beat his old job at the Nasty Burger. At least here he was allowed to work with his hands and tools. Fixing up cars was something Richard enjoyed doing.

Becky heard someone come into the garage and said, "Welcome to El Diablo. What can we do you for?"

"Actually, I came to see Richard," the girl at the entrance said. Richard looked to see that it was Seras.

"Oh, hey, Seras!" Richard greeted, wiping the grease off his hands with a rag.

"Richard, can we talk, in private?" Seras requested.

Becky decided that she should leave the two alone. "I'll be back later, Richard. If you need me, I'll be in the back." The girl turned to leave.

"OK, Seras, what's this about?" Richard asked. "If you want me to join the Slayers, the answer is still no." A few days ago, Tamashii and Seras had approached Richard after discovering that he was a member of the Belmont Family. They had asked him if he would want to join the Slayers, but Richard declined saying that he was part of the 'Fang Gang'. Tamashii didn't like the answer but accepted it nonetheless. It still perplexed him as why a fellow vampire hunter would join up with a vampire, even if it was Fang.

"Actually, I came to tell you something," Seras said, softly.

"Yeah?"

"I know Devlin is Fang."

Richard dropped the tools he was holding in his hands in shock.

The Fentons, Tucker and Sam all arrived at the gates of Fang Manor in the Fenton GAV/RV. The gates opened on their own to allow the vehicle entrance. As soon as they were parked inside, they exited the Fenton RV and approached the door.

Danny remembered the last time he had stepped foot at this house. It had been Halloween and he and Dash had a bet. Of course, Danny lost and well had to eat Dash's cups. That, and he'd accidentally set the Fright Knight free by stealing his sword. That had been one scary Halloween night. This time, Danny had other things on his mind.

Danny was going to get his answers, one way or another. He went over to the door and rang the doorbell. As soon as he did, the door opened to reveal Francis.

"You rang?" Francis said, like a certain other Butler from a popular TV show.

"We're here to see Devlin," Danny said, not showing any fear towards the 6 foot tall butler.

"Very well," Francis spoke. "Please, wipe your feet while I announce you."

The guests did as told and followed Francis into the manor. Francis announced, "Mr. Jackson Fenton, Mrs. Madeline Fenton, Miss Jasmine Fenton, Mr. Daniel Fenton, Miss Samantha Manson and Mr. Tuckard Foley have arrived." The butler turned towards the guests, "The Lords are in the dining room. Please, come this way."

In the dining room were the rest of the residents, and Danielle. They were all seated at the table with a large cake in the centre. Each had a slice of cake served on a plate in front of them. Devlin was conversing with Danielle while having some of the cake with her.

Devlin turned to see the guests enter and stood up to greet them, "Welcome to Fang Manor, honored guests. Would you like some cake? It's chocolate."

"Ooh, cake!" Jack said gleefully.

Danny stepped forwards, eyes narrowed firmly, "We didn't come here for cake," he paused and glanced at his dad, "except for dad. You said you know something about Fang."

"Oh, I can tell you," Devlin said, standing up, "Or better yet, show you." He called, "Fangula, let's go!"

Richard was stunned by Seras' words before he asked in accusing tone, "So, are you going to hunt down your own friend?"

"I don't know," Seras said. "I'm confused. Sure, Tamashii keeps saying all vampires are bad, but Devlin can't be evil, and neither is Fang. They are both the same person and well…he saved my life."

"He isn't a vampire," Richard clarified. "He's only half vampire."

"What?" Seras questioned.

"Devlin's a dhampir. He's half human and half vampire. He told me when I asked him about it," Richard continued. "And I can say that he maybe a little arrogant, but he's not evil. I can vouch for that."

"Let's hope Tamashii can accept that, because I don't think he's in the mood to make peace with a vampire, half or not."

"What's his deal, anyway?"

"Let's just say that vampires slaughtered his entire family, and it made him hate them forever."

"Ouch."

"Wake Up!"

The assorted guests watched as the chains exploded from the belt before wrapping themselves around Devlin into a steel cocoon. His body started to change underneath the chains as his body expanded and even grew taller. Finally, the chains shattered to reveal Devlin, in his armored guise of Masked Rider Fang.

"I am Fang," Fang stated.

To say the collective guests were shocked was an understatement. Jack and Tucker's jaws both hit the ground, Maddie and Jazz's eyes went wide as dinner-plated, Sam was looking appreciative at the armor and Danny, well…

"Hah! I knew it!" Danny shouted out, triumphant, "When I saw Fangula on your belt I knew there was a connection."

"And now you know," Fang said before Fangula detached from the belt and the chains appeared again, wrapping around Fang's body and then unraveling again to reveal an unarmored Devlin, "So, now what?"

"Um…" Danny couldn't say. He hadn't really planned out on what he was going to do once he discovered Devlin's secret identity. He was actually still on the planning stages for trying to find out who Fang was. He never expected to just have the guy tell him. "Well…um…"

"Danny," Danielle spoke up, playing peacemaker, "Devlin here has a duty, like you. He was chosen to fight the Fangires."

"What are Fangires?" Maddie asked, interested.

"A demonic species of vampire," was Devlin's simple answer. He elaborated, "They feed on human life energy to survive and so that they can assume human form. Due to their nature, they are immune against all conventional vampire weaknesses."

"So the transparent bodies…?" Maddie began.

"Victims of Fangires," Devlin finished, frowning sadly. "They weren't killed by a ghost."

"And what about that big dragon? And those other forms?" Danny asked. The abilities that Fang brought to the table were pretty shocking. The dragon was nothing short of terrifying.

Devlin addressed his servants, "Lobo, Gillian, Francis and Topper…they are responsible for those."

"We're Fangires," Lobo answered but then gestured towards Topper, "Except for him."

"I was the dragon," Topper said, tipping his hat.

"You're all FANGIRES!?" Danny shouted out. They were just told about how bad these Fangires could be and Devlin had three of them hanging around his house?

"Sealed, like me," Fangula explained. "They no longer have the need to feed on humans nor can they assume their true forms. What they can do is provide my partner here with new weapons, abilities and forms."

That bit of information had calmed Danny down, but he was still suspicious. He had figured that the monster that pretended to be a baby was a Fangire and he didn't want to be caught off guard by another one. Jack and Maddie were paying rapt attention (Maddie on the story and Jack on the cake) while Tucker, Jazz, and Sam were showing deep interest in his story.

"Like my blue form with the sword and my green form with the gun," Devlin added. "Savage Form and Sniper Form." He rubbed his hands together, "So, now that we got all that out of the way, want to have some cake?"

"I'm game," Tucker grinned as he walked over to the table.

"Leave a large slice for me!" Jack exclaimed.

The others followed, except for Danny.

"And you, Daniel?" Devlin asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Danny sighed, "Fine." He at least got his answers, but they led to more questions. The doorbell rang again.

"I shall get it," Francis said as he went to the door.

"Charming fellow, that Francis," Walter stated.

At the door, Francis opened it up to see Seras and Richard. Seras gulped a little. She wasn't sure what she was going to do. If she told Devlin that she knew who he was, he was going to ask her if she was going to tell Tamashii afterwards. The fact that Tamashii wanted Fang dead was no mystery.

Francis looked at the two and then let them in. Francis then announced, "Miss Seras McDowell and Mr. Richard Belmont."

"We sure have a lot of guests, right, My Lord?" Gillian asked with a smile.

"Yes, we sure have," Devlin agreed. Richard was welcome but this would be Seras' first time. He then asked Walter, "Walter, I do believe we have some more cake in the kitchen, correct?"

"Yes, we do, sir," Walter nodded. He got up and went to the kitchen to pick up the other cake. Everyone all had already taken their seats on the long dining table, enjoying their slices.

"OK, this is really good cake," Jack said, still chewing his.

"Honey, don't talk with your mouth full," Maddie advised.

"Sorry, Maddie."

Danny was picking at his slice as he looked at Danielle, who looked really nervous. Well, she had good reason to. She had been keeping a big secret from him and he didn't like it. Of course, thinking back, he did keep his secret identity from his family so maybe it was just karma coming back to haunt him. Of course, he didn't have to like it.

Seras came to the table with Richard and her eyes were on the ground. "Take a seat, Seras," Devlin offered as Walter returned with more cake. "We have some more cake, if you'd like."

"Actually," Seras began, rubbing the tip of her shoe against the carpet. "I need to tell you that…"

"I'm Fang," Devlin admitted. Everyone looked at him with shock, especially Seras. "You were there, Seras. I know you saw me. I'm glad that you came to tell me, though."

"But…" Seras stuttered. She sighed, "And, I'd like to thank you for saving my life. I really can't count the times you've saved me."

"You're my friend, Seras," Devlin smiled. He then frowned, "Of course, what are you going to do now with this information?"

That was something Seras was not quite sure how to answer. Her loyalties lay with Tamashii first. But Fang/Devlin had saved her too and he was her friend. Her loyalties lay with him too.

"I don't know…" Seras said miserably. "I'm so confused."

"Take a seat and we can talk about it," Devlin offered. "And have some cake. You like chocolate, right?"

"Hell, yeah!" Richard shouted out, going over to the table and taking a seat. A slice of cake was already in front of him. "Yummy!"

"Seras?"

"No, thank you," she declined. She was trying to hide tears, and failing. Devlin could see the water form in the corners of her eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Tamashii…He saved me. Not from vampires or anything, but from myself. My family was killed by vampires. I lived on the streets of London for three years, fighting for survival. That's when I met Tamashii. I kind of attacked him… and he beat me easily." She blushed, "Right after that, he helped me get up and told me… that I had a great spirit." Her entire face turned a shade of pink. "At that moment I felt like I had been reborn. And now that I know you're Fang… I don't know what to think!"

Devlin could see that Seras was in distress. Having your entire world view being changed was not an easy transition. Still, she needed something or someone to lean on at the moment. Never let it be said that Devlin would let a girl cry.

"Seras," Devlin spoke up. The young model looked to him, trying not to break down further than she already had. "Richard told you what I was, right?"

"Yes," Seras nodded. "Dhampir; half human and half vampire."

"Right," Devlin smiled slightly. "My father is a real vampire and ever since I was born, he and my mother tried to keep me on the right path so I can do my best. True, they couldn't always be there, but they always tried to make time. Can you honestly say that a being of evil could do that? I mean, most vampires see humans as food so they wouldn't get married to one or have kids, would they? I mean, my father hasn't fed on a human for so long I don't think he remembers how to do it anymore."

"No," Seras whispered. Devlin's point was becoming very clear. Devlin's father was a vampire, but he had married a human woman, the natural prey of vampires, and had someone who was as unique as Devlin. Still, she felt her bad feelings grow worse. How many vampires like Devlin's father were hunted by people like her because of what they were? How many were killed because of people like her and Tamashii?

Were they really so different?

"I wish I met you a long time ago," Seras sniffled, trying her hardest to keep from breaking down completely.

"Why?" asked Devlin curiously.

"Because I would have stopped hating people who didn't deserve it sooner!" Seras bawled as she finally broke down and began to cry.

Devlin went over and took her into a hug while trying to give her some comfort. Danielle might have been jealous, but Devlin was trying to help her and she really needed someone to hold at the moment. The young model could only keep crying and give muffled 'I'm sorry' over and over. They knew what she was apologizing for. She was apologizing for persecuting people like Devlin who were part vampire and were helping others.

"You have nothing to apologize for," Devlin said. "You were only doing what you thought was right." He was trying to reassure her.

"But, I need to know…" Seras began, "Why do you fight? Why even bother?"

Devlin was unsure how to answer that. "Well, I became Fang because my father sent me the means, but the reason I fight is because…" he glanced at Danielle. "I guess it's because I want to protect the precious people I have around me." Devlin had learnt about human compassion from his mother and knew that, despite humans being, well…His brother hated humans for awhile, since he saw them as corruptible creatures. Devlin, however, didn't see them as such. He just saw them as misguided with the potential for good, if they allowed themselves to be.

"Protecting precious people…" Seras wiped her tears. "I guess that does make sense."

"Are you going to tell Tamashii?" Devlin asked. He remembered that Tamashii had promised to kill him even after rescuing Seras and Chiaki.

"I don't know," Seras said, confused. "He sees you as a vampire, even if you've saved a lot of people, and that you may turn into a possible future threat."

"I know the feeling," Danny muttered.

"That may happen, true, but he should know that he can't pass judgment so easily," Devlin said with a frown. He was going to confront Tamashii and make him see the error of his ways, one way or another. "So, about my offer…You still want cake?"

"Sure," said Seras, the smile returning to her face. Danielle walked over to the two.

"Seras, can I talk to you for a sec?" asked Danielle. "In private?"

"Sure," said Seras. Devlin went back to the table to give both girls a little bit of privacy.

Danielle and Seras stood back in the entryway, so no one could hear them. Danielle took in a deep breath and asked, "Seras, I'm sorry if this makes you uncomfortable or anything, but…do you like Devlin?"

Seras blinked at the bluntness of Danielle's question. She smiled and replied, "Don't worry, Danielle. My relationship with Devlin is purely plutonic. I kinda have my eye on someone else…" she trailed off.

"Is it Tamashii?" asked Danielle. Seras' face turned a bright pink from the blush.

"Y… Yes…" she stuttered.

'Time for some matchmaking. I may need some help for this one though…' thought Danielle. She smiled, "OK, glad we could clear this up. Now let's go get some cake." Danielle added, "It's really good cake."

Seras went over and took a seat next to Richard. "So, what do you think?" Richard asked.

"I guess I understand why you decided to side with Fang…I mean Devlin," Seras said. "But, Tamashii is not going to be easy to talk to about this."

"Which is why you need to keep Devlin's identity a secret."

"I can try," Seras spoke. 'But Tamashii is gonna find out eventually. That Ryuugan of his hasn't failed him yet.'

Tamashii sat alone in his room, in front of him was a box. On the box was a simple label that simply read SB. He opened the box, only to see two things. One was a black hi-tech looking belt with what appeared to be circuitry on the buckle. The other was a knuckle-duster that had a similar appearance to the belt buckle. Attached to it was a note which said:

To complete the mission…

Tamashii nodded in understanding. He stood up, placing the belt and knuckle-duster in a pouch. He then grabbed his gun and twin swords. Now it was time…

Fang would fall…

A sick slurping noise echoed through the night at one of the old warehouses that littered the docks. Inside one of the older ones that were there, a Fangire was feasting on one of the security guards that had been patrolling.

This Fangire looked very similar to the Spider Fangire that Devlin had destroyed some time ago. However, the body shape was more feminine with red markings over the arms and legs. A red hourglass marking was on the small of this Fangire's back as well. It was a Black Widow Fangire.

As the guard's body became as clear as glass, she dropped the body to the ground. Licking her mandibles, she preened and basked in the afterglow of a good feeding. Men tasted so good and feeding on the life force of them was almost an orgasmic experience to this Fangire.

As this Fangire was digesting her meal, she didn't notice several men in painfully white outfits sneaking among the containers, hoping for their target to appear.

Inside Fang Manor, everyone began to hear a long low tone which sounded almost like a violin echoing through the room. The Fentons and the other guests turned to see Devlin's violin, the Blood Rose, began to tremble as the strings vibrated.

"You'll have to forgive me," Devlin frowned as he stood up. "But a Fangire is active and I have a job to do."

"So this is how you knew where they were," Seras blinked. "Bob was going nuts trying to figure out how you knew."

"Well, now you know," Devlin grinned. "Fangula!"

"Right!" the mechanical bat nodded as he swopped down and landed on Devlin's shoulder. "Let's go!"

Devlin dashed out the door to get to his Blood Fang. He would have to move quickly if he wanted to find the Fangire.

The Black Widow Fangire heaved one last happy sigh before she began walking away from the corpse of her last meal. She didn't think there was anything left to do so she began to leave. However, from the entrance of the warehouse, a motorcycle roared into the building. On top was a figure donned in red and black armor with a pair of blood red eyes.

"Hmmm?" The Black Widow Fangire purred. "You look scrumptious. Mind if I have a little taste?"

"No," Fang answered sternly as he dismounted from his bike. "Besides, I'm taken."

"Too bad," The Black Widow Fangire sighed. "I'll have to steal you away then. "

The Black Widow Fangire charged and tried to use a haymaker punch on her armored opponent. Fang ducked underneath the punch and used a punching combo which dug into the Fangire's abdomen. The female creature cried in pain as she stumbled away. It confused Fang a little that a Fangire would react so wildly to pain. Was this one not used to fighting or something?

"You brute!" the Black Widow Fangire cried. "How dare you strike a lady?!"

"You gave up the title of a lady when you became a Fangire," Fang growled before he charged again.

The Black Widow Fangire spat out wads of green goo that Fang easily dodged. The gobs melted through the concrete floor easily. Sidestepping the blasts of goo, Fang unleashed a powerful uppercut that launched the female Fangire several feet away before landing on her back.

Seeing that she was disabled for the moment, Fang kicked his chained boot into the air, "Release the Chains!"

The chains surrounding the leg shattered, letting the armor open into red wings that were the color of blood. He leaped straight up into the air before he repositioned himself with his foot aimed at the downed Fangire.

"DARK MOON BREAK!!" Fang roared before he was propelled by an invisible force.

He cut through the air like a knife before he slammed into the Black Widow Fangire, creating in imprint of his emblem on the concrete floor. As his emblem glowed on her body, the Fangire screamed in pain before her body shattered like glass. The soul attempted to flee, but Fangula was prepared. He launched himself off Fang's belt and gobbled down the fleeing soul. Holding it in his mouth, he spat the now crystallized soul into Fang's awaiting hand.

"Another one for the collection," Fang nodded. "Topper will be pleased anyway. Time to make my exit."

"FREEZE, GHOST SCUM!!" a voice boomed.

From the containers which were around the warehouse and the major doorway, men in white outfits leaped out of the woodwork. All of them had various weapons which looked rather intimidating, but Fang knew that they only affected ghosts while being mildly threatening to living beings.

"The Guys in White," Fang sighed. "What do you bigots want?"

"You're coming with us, you ectoplasmic goon," one of the agents growled. "Come quietly and we'll make your second death quick."

Fang snorted and unleashed a chuckle, "You fools think I'm a ghost? Oh that is rich! You bigots are so quick to blame ghosts for all the odd things that happen around here that you don't even consider what else it might be? Some government agents you guys are."

"That's it!" an agent growled. Coincidentally, he was the same agent that Fang had brought down in the plane. "Blast the ghost!"

Before any of the agents could try their equipment on Fang, another roaring engine interrupted the action. Several agents had to leap out of the way as another motorcyclist drove into the building. Fang easily recognized him as Tamashii even with the helmet on. He probably got wind of the Fangire and came running.

"Get out of the way!" one of the GIW agents cried. "We're handling this ghost!"

"This is no ghost," Tamashii frowned. "He's something different, and possibly worse."

Fang remained silent. Even though most people he met wouldn't recognize his voice as Fang, Tamashii wasn't stupid. He would be able to figure out who Fang was by voice since he had met both Fang and Devlin. The second motorcyclist kept his eyes trained on Fang as he pulled a strange belt out of a pouch on the side of his motorcycle.

Tamashii ignored the demands of the GIW and swiftly swung the belt around his waist and snapped the buckle on securely. The belt was hi-tech in appearance with a black buckle that had a golden circuitry pattern and a red circular gem in the centre. Tamashii then took out a knuckle-duster with a similar pattern to his belt buckle from the inside of the same pouch before strapping it on his right fist. He slammed the knuckle-duster against his left palm.

"READY!" a computerized spoke from the hi-tech knuckle-duster, which also had the same circuitry pattern that was on the belt buckle.

"Henshin!" Tamashii called out before snapping the knuckle duster onto the belt buckle, completing the circuit.

"FIST ON!" a computerized voice spoke from the belt before it projected a holographic golden cross. The cross floated in front of Tamashii's face before it generated a holographic suit of armor over his body and head. When the glow died down as the armor solidified, standing in Tamashii's place was a new Rider.

His armor was mainly an ivory white color with a golden cross in the centre of his chest. The shoulders were broad. White gauntlets covered his forearms as white boots did the same for his lower legs. Flaps of armor also hung from the sides of the belt. Trimming sections of the armor was a blue material. A black bodysuit was worn under the armor, acting as flexible body armor that would still provide maximum protection without obstructing his movements. A white helmet covered his head with the golden cross acting as a faceplate.

"Now, you're mine," the armored Slayer spoke as the faceplate opened in four sections, revealing a pair of cold blue eyes. A pair of glowing white angel wings also spread out from his back, sending out waves of energy. The energy discharge was so immense that it sent the assorted GIW agents flying. Fang dug his heels into the ground so that he wouldn't be pushed back from the powerful aura Tamashii was generating from his suit. After a few seconds, the energy discharge died down.

In appearance, the armor resembled a combination of a samurai, an angel and a paladin. However, he was none of those.

He was a Slayer.

OK, we'll be seeing a climatic battle. Anyway, here's data on the Slayer system:

The Slayer system was developed by the same organization that funded the Slayers. It is a hi-tech belt which generates a highly sophisticated suit of advanced battle armor. The suit has two modes: Save Mode and Burst Mode. In Burst Mode, the armor's power is at its peak and it comes with a pair of retractable angelic wings. Burst Mode also releases high amounts of energy which can destroy anything standing too close. The transformation device is the Slayer Knuckle which when connected to the buckle activates the transformation