Disclaimer: I don't own Kamen Rider, in any shape, or form, except for this work of fan fiction.

Episode 5

Gray Fang

Adrian reached down and flipped the segment of armor on the left side of his belt down and pulled up on the legs there, thrusting out the golden dragon head.

"Flare up!"

A stream of fire shot out of the dragon's mouth and down to Ryu's foot, streaming up around it and surrounding him in flames. He glared at Michael.

"Stop! I'll leave Mandy alone, I'll leave the city. You'll never see me again!" the mage pleaded.

"You're right, I won't," Adrian growled and then leapt. The flames streaming around him and a yellow dragon's head made of fire surrounded his foot. "Ryu rider kick!"

He slammed into the demon mage and sent him flying back into the same wall he had crashed into moments before, but this time he exploded in a ball of red flames on impact.

Ryu landed on the ground, crouching down and staring at the flames and debris.

"Wow, I didn't know you had it in you," Meth commented.

Adrian didn't answer, but turned and walked away.

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Several miles away, a small child ran. Rain was pouring down around him, making it even harder to see through the night. He yelped as he slipped on the mud and was sent sliding down a muddy slope, plants whipping at him as he went.

He reached the bottom of the hill without injury and continued running. He was so lost; he wasn't sure which direction his village was in.

"Hey, I think we lost them," the boy glanced down at the small scaly creature in his arms. "You better rest. You'll be able to find your way better in daylight anyway."

"Okay," the boy replied, glancing around for a suitable place to sleep.

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"Wow, I'm amazed how you drew out all of that power," Meth said, as he hovered in the air next to Adrian. It had been several days after their last fight. Adrian had been busy with school, so he hadn't talked much with Meth. The dragon hovered next to him as he walked down the sidewalk.

"Oh? Well, Michael made me mad, I guess it makes drawing out energy easier," Adrian shrugged.

"It shouldn't make it that much easier," Meth pausing in the air and appearing thoughtful. "Oh, well."

Adrian wanted to ask Meth what he meant, but before he could, he walked into someone. The two of them were thrown back from the impact.

He groaned as he pushed himself up. He glanced up at the sky, to see Meth gaining altitude. Adrian turned his attention to the person he had crashed into.

It was a young boy, about thirteen years old. His skin was tan. Adrian guessed him to be of native American descent. His hair was dark black and he was wearing a blue jacket.

A glint of yellow appeared at the edge of Adrian's vision and he refocused his sights on it. The creature rolled onto its feet. It was covered in yellow scales, a long tail stretched out behind it, it's only other limbs were its two feet, positioned near the front of its body. Its head was large and had two short brown horns sticking out of the back. Its eyes were a bright orange color.

"Meth!" Adrian shouted. His emotions were a strange mix of calmness and excitement.

The red dragon swooped down as the boy scooped the golden creature up and attempted to conceal it in his jacket. Meth stared at the yellow lizard for a few moments, before he growled and lunged forward. The impact knocked the boy over again.

Adrian gasped and jumped forward, grabbing the dragon and pulling him away from the yellow lizard, which he had been trying to claw and bite through the jacket. Meth beat his wings, trying to escape Adrian's grip and nearly succeeding. Adrian growled and pulled the dragon to his chest, wrapping both of his arms tightly around him. Meth continued to struggle, now raking his claws against Adrian's arms.

"Sorry," Adrian said to the boy and the lizard thing. His voice somewhat high from the pain Meth was inflicting on his arm. "He's not normally like this."

"Let go of me!" Meth demanded. "Let me at that filthy traitor."

"Who are you calling traitor?" the lizard asked. "I haven't even met you until now."

"Your whole kind are traitors," Meth growled. His speaking had distracted him from clawing Adrian's arms. "You and all the earth dragons!"

The earth dragon frowned in confusion. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Meth snorted and finally stopped struggling. "Of course not. Guess your kind didn't care to pass down the story of their betrayal."

"What are you talking about?" Adrian asked.

Meth glanced up at him. "The earth dragons were supposed to help us fight the mages, but instead they decided they would just hide throughout the world and forget about the rest of us."

Silence reigned for a moment and then the boy finally spoke. "You're bleeding."

Adrian glanced down to find that the cuts Meth had scratched in his arms were indeed dripping blood. He reluctantly let go of the fire dragon and examined the multiple slashes in his arm. He stared at the bloody mess for a moment and then fainted from a combination of shock and blood loss.

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He groaned as he pushed himself up. A rusted warehouse roof loomed above him. Examining the room farther, he recognized it as the same warehouse he had shown Meth.

His arms had been bandaged, Adrian noticed and he glanced over at the boy. He pointed at the bandages and the boy nodded.

"Thanks," Adrian said.

Meth and the earth dragon were perched on a stack of crates, both on opposite sides and both ignoring the other. Meth licked spots of Adrian's blood off of his scales.

"What's your name?" Adrian asked, as he stood up.

"Little Wolf," the boy replied.

"Okay, where did you find that dragon?" Adrian asked.

"At my village," Little Wolf replied. "He was trying to stop the monsters attacking it."

"Monsters?" Adrian repeated in surprise. Meth had stopped licking himself and raised his head to listen.

"Yeah, they keep showing up and attacking us," Little Wolf said. "They haven't hurt anyone yet, but they cause a lot of destruction."

"Mages," Meth growled.

"They're from the logging company," the earth dragon growled. "I stalked them for a while and saw them swift into their human forms."

"Why are they attacking the village?" Adrian asked.

"If we leave, then the logging company has all the permission it needs to move in and clear out everything," Little Wolf said.

"Why are you here?" Meth asked.

"When the monsters injured him," he nodded his head at the earth dragon. "I grabbed him and ran for it. They chased me, but I lost them. However, I couldn't find my way back to the village. I wandered for a bit before we came here."

"Well, don't worry," Adrian said. "I'll get you back home and then…"

He paused and glanced at the wall. He leapt forward and pushed Little Wolf and himself behind a pillar, as the wall exploded inward, sending fragments of concrete flying.

Adrian glanced around the pillar to see a large creature enter the room. It was covered in gray hair. Its head was doglike with a collar of spikes wrapped around its neck. Two more heads emerged from its shoulders facing to the sides. It wore a black lion cloth.

"Run," Adrian whispered before he stepped out from behind the pillar.

The mage turned its blood red eyes on him and Adrian felt a chill run up his spine. "Where's the boy? I can smell him."

"Meth," the dragon leapt off the stack of crates and glided over to him, separating into the Ryu belt and wrapping around Adrian's waist. Adrian pushed Meth's horns together, his mouth opening and a cloud of fire emerging and attaching to Adrian's back forming into large flaming wings. A flaming dragon head raised itself above his own.

"Henshin!"

He pushed the button above the belt, the wings wrapped around him, forming into the Ryu suit, while the dragon head covered his own, forming his helmet. The suit glowed red hot for a moment before cooling.

Little Wolf emerged from behind the pillar and ran for the small crack in the small, sliding out of it. The mage glanced at him for a moment, but made no move to pursue, instead it turned back to Kamen Rider Ryu.

"Let's play, shall we?"

"Mess with me and you're going to get burnt," Adrian replied, before he leapt into the air and extended his foot. The kick collided with the mage's muscular chest and caused him to stumbled back.

Ryu threw a punch at the mage's shoulder, hitting the head there. He was surprised to hear the head yelp in pain. The mage took advantage of his distraction to knee him in the stomach. Then it grabbed his arm and squeezed. Adrian cried out in pain as the scratches on his arm throbbed in pain.

"Thought I didn't notice your arm?" the canine smirked.

Adrian tried to throw a punch, but the mage batted his arm away and then punched him in the chest. The air was knocked from his lungs as the blow sent him flying through the air. Adrian rolled as he landed and stood up, raising his fists.

The mage approached, it groaned as a yellow projectile slammed into its chest. It glanced up at the earth dragon, who spat several more yellow balls of energy at it. The blasts slammed into the mage's chest with surprising force. He roared in rage and grabbed a nearby crate, hurling it at the dragon with ease.

The dragon leapt out of the way, seeming to almost float through the air. He landed at Ryu's feet and looked up at him. "I can help."

The dragon leapt up, as Adrian extended his hand. Just before the dragon reached Adrian's hand, a blast of fire shot from his palm and sent the earth dragon flying away. Ryu gasped in surprised. He hadn't done that.

"We don't need your help," Meth growled.

Adrian looked up in time to see the mage slam its hand into his chest, its dull claws drawing sparks. It grabbed Adrian's arm and slammed its free hand against it. Adrian howled in pain.

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Little Wolf gasped as he ran from the warehouse. He whipped his head around, unsure which direction he should run in.

He spotted a man walking toward him and was about to ask him for help, when he recognized him.

A brown glow covered the man's form as he morphed into a light brown creature. His skin was covered in raised bands. His head grew massive and lost its eyes, a large circular maw the only feature. Claws extended from its arms and its left hand was larger then the other.

Little Wolf screamed as it charged at him.

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Adrian gasped as he heard the scream. The mage had twisted him around and now had its arm wrapped around his neck. Ryu was beginning to black out from lack of oxygen.

He reached up and slowly pried the monster's arm away from his neck. He spun around and attempted to connect with a punch, but the mage dodged and threw a punch of its own.

Ryu was sent flying from the blow. He back-flipped in the air, flipping down the segment on the left side his belt. He kicked off of a pillar, flipping back toward the mage, as he pulled the lever-like legs of the belt.

"Flare up!"

A stream of fire traveled down Ryu's leg to his foot and formed into a flaming dragon head. The mage gasped just before Ryu's burning foot slammed into him. He howled in pain as the blow sent him flying through the air. He collided with a stack of boxes, sparks and flames flying from the force.

Adrian gasped and leaned over, taking a moment to catch his breath. He glanced up and saw the mage stumbled to his feet, before it turned and ran.

Ryu turned and headed for the warehouse's exit. He gasped as he saw the mage, who has holding onto an unconscious Little Wolf. The mage turned its head toward him and hissed. Adrian charged at him, but the worm mage sank into the ground, avoiding the rider's kick.

A pile of chewed up macadam and freshly turned earth was the only evidence that the mage and Little Wolf had been there. Adrian growled and kicked a large chunk of macadam sending it flying across the ground.

Meth unwrapped himself from around Adrian's waist, the Ryu suit vanishing in a cloud of flames as he did. "Come on, let's go find them."

"I'll go find them," Adrian said, his tone growling. "After your last performance, I'm not interested in continuing my partnership with you."

"What?" Meth sounded hurt.

"You heard me," Adrian said. "Get out of here."

Meth sighed and opened his wings, flapping them and soaring into the sky.

Adrian glanced back at the warehouse. He crawled back in and made his way over to the unconscious earth dragon. He carefully picked the dragon up and placed it in his backpack.