Disclaimer: I don't own the Kamen Rider series, just the characters and concept of this fanfic.

Episode 7

Cheating Death

Adrian was glad to have Korthin. If it meant being able to enter a new form and wield a new weapon, it was almost worth putting up with the arguing between him and Meth.

In spite of the fact that the earth dragon had probably saved both of them, Meth still didn't completely trust him.

Every time he was alone, Adrian would find both of the dragons following him. And almost always they would get into some kind of fight, even if it was over the most trivial thing.

Adrian had taken steps to make sure that he was rarely alone, thus the dragons would just have to argue in private. He was currently in the park where he had first met Meth. The area was rather deserted, but the two dragons were out of sight. Adrian felt uneasy having the two out in the open.

Meth didn't like hiding "like some kind of scared animal." Korthin was more agreeable, since he spent a good amount of time underground and out of sight anyway.

A fortuneteller was set up beside the pathway a few feet ahead of him. A frown twisted his face as he thought of Mandy's grandma. The man appeared to be of Asian descent. He was wearing a bright yellow robe and several necklaces dangled from his neck. He had a small table set up in front of himself and a deck of cards in his hands.

"Ah, perhaps you would like your future read?" the man asked as Adrian got closer.

"No, thanks," Adrian replied.

"Are you sure?" the man asked. "You seem to have a certain aura about you. You'll definitely be important in the grand scheme of things."

Adrian fought back a laugh. "No, thanks."

"I'll waive the price," the man said.

"Okay, fine," Adrian shrugged.

The man shuffled the deck of cards and then turned the top card over. Adrian realized the man wasn't using the traditional tarot cards, or the poker cards that Mandy's grandmother used as he saw the cloaked skeletal figure on the card. "Death is stalking you."

A harsh laugh attracted the attention of both of them. Adrian sighed as he saw Mandy's grandmother. "You call that fortunetelling? Please, you couldn't predict the path a slug would take."

"And who might you be?" the man asked, his voice carefully emotionless.

"The only real fortuneteller in this city apparently," she replied. She walked past the two of them. Adrian waited and then followed at a distance. They were both heading to Mandy's house.

The fortuneteller waited several seconds and then pulled another card from the top of the deck and glared after both of them. "Yes… death stalks you both."

The man remained unaware of the two dragons sitting in a nearby tree branch.

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Adrian glanced around as he entered the café. The tables were rather empty. Mandy's grandmother was behind the counter, her deck of playing cards in hand. Adrian stepped past her and toward Mandy's mother.

"Is Mandy here?"

"Yes, she is," she said then turned to fetch her daughter.

Adrian sat down at one of the tables while he waited. He noticed someone walk up and sit down in front of Grandma. He didn't look up until he heard Mandy come thundering down the steps. He turned around and caught sight of the man.

"If you continue as you always have, then you will succeed, but if you change…" the old woman frowned. "It will seal your fate."

The man nodded his head, his ponytail bobbing and stood up. He faced Adrian and smirked. Adrian wondered how he had missed the mage when he had come into the café.

"Adrian?" Mandy asked.

"Perhaps we should step outside?" the mage asked.

"Yes, let's," Adrian said, regaining his composure.

The two headed for the door, Mandy followed, much to Adrian's distaste.

"What are you doing here?" Adrian asked.

"This café has excellent spaghetti," the Cerberus mage replied.

"You'd better not hurt anyone," Adrian said.

"I would not hurt any of these people," the man glanced back at Mandy. "Such an act of violence would be beneath me. You're the only one I want."

"Let's go then," Adrian growled.

"Not now," the mage said. "I just ate. Fighting is not good for digestion."

"You think I'm going to just let you go?" Adrian asked.

"If we fight here, people could get hurt," he smirked. "You wouldn't want that would you?"

"No."

"I thought not," he said. "I am known as Silver Fang by others. I shall inscribe my name in your tombstone."

He turned and walked away. Adrian clenched his fist.

"I guess that was a mage?" Mandy said.

Adrian nodded. "Yeah, let's get out of here."

The two turned and headed in the opposite direction that Silver Fang had went in. Adrian had planned to explain to Mandy about how he had found Korthin and maybe introduce her to the dragon. However, after encountering Silver Fang he felt reluctant to talk about his double life.

A roar sounded and the two looked up to find a mage flying at them. Adrian pushed Mandy out of the way, but he wouldn't have the time to move himself out of the way.

A red blur and a yellow blur slammed into the creature's side, knocking him off course and causing him to crash into the ground.

"Thanks," Adrian sighed as the two dragons placed themselves between him and the mage. He grabbed Mandy's hand and pulled her to her feet. "Run. Get out of here."

She nodded and ran, joining the small crowd fleeing the scene.

Adrian turned to face the mage. The creature was gold in color and its body appeared to be quite skeletal. A hood covered the mage's skull-shaped head. Adrian immediately thought back to the fortuneteller he had come across earlier. "Not very subtle are you?"

"Let's go!" Meth said leaping toward Adrian.

He caught Meth, who immediately extended into belt mode. Adrian wrapped the belt around his waist and then pushed Meth's horns together. Flames spewed from Meth's mouth and attached to Adrian's back, forming wings.

"Henshin!" Adrian charged at the mage, pushing the button on the top of the buckle, snapping Meth's mouth and horns back into position. The wings covered Adrian and formed the Ryu suit, while a flaming dragon head covered his face and formed into his helmet.

Ryu slammed a fist into the mage's chest, a sizzling sound accompanying the hit as his still red hot armor burned the mage. The armor cooled before Adrian dealt his next blow, a punch to the head.

The reaper mage stumbled back and Adrian jumped after it, slamming a kick into its chest. The mage groaned and grabbed Adrian's foot. Ryu gasped and the mage chuckled.

Korthin leapt forward and rammed into the mage's back. The reaper gasped in pain and released Adrian's foot; Ryu jumped and landed a spin kick on the mage's skull.

A scythe appeared in the mage's hands. The weapon was the same color as the mage himself and covered with bone-like designs. He lunged forward and swung the scythe at Ryu. He ducked under it and then rolled out of the way as the mage attempted to stab it down on him. He rolled to his feet and was forced to leap backwards as the mage swung the scythe again.

The leap carried Adrian a good distance away from the mage. "Time for a change in tactics."

Korthin leapt into the air and spat out the small yellow jewel that Adrian had used to access earth form before. Meth had explained a bit about the jewel, saying that it was the dragon's tongue. It was the part of the dragon that let them use their elemental power.

Adrian inserted the jewel into the segment on the right side of his belt. He pulled the legs there back and the dragon's head was thrust out of the armor, spitting out a yellow orb.

"Energize! Earth Form!"

The mage charged forward, scythe raised for a downward swing, but the orb slammed into mage and sent him flying back.

The orb circled around Ryu for several seconds and then hovered in front of his forehead. It burst into a cloud of dust which changed Ryu's armor yellow and bronze. Flames moved across the lenses of his helmet turning them orange. The dragon head on the back of his left hand cracked, revealing the new head underneath.

"Let's shake things up," Adrian said as Korthin leapt into his right hand transforming into the Earth Buckler.

The mage pushed himself up and roared. The two charged at each other. Adrian knocked the mage's scythe away and slipped around it, slashing the shield across the mage's chest. The reaper mage spun around and tried to slash him with the scythe again, but Adrian just blocked with the Earth Buckler and then slid it down the scythe's staff and into the mage's chest.

The mage swung its scythe, this time it connected with Adrian's right arm. He yelped in pain and dropped Korthin, clutching at his wrist. The mage chuckled and leapt forward bringing the scythe down at Ryu's shoulder. Adrian reached out and caught the scythe with his right arm.

"What?!" the mage exclaimed.

"Sorry, I tricked you," Adrian said, before slamming his free hand into the mages face, followed by several kicks and punches. The mage was forced to let go of his weapon and stumbled back to avoid further damage. The scythe glowed yellow before dissolving into thousands of glowing motes of light.

The mage growled and stepped back before turning and leaping back into the bushes it had originally emerged from.

Adrian ran after the mage, pushing through the bushes and glanced around to find that the mage had disappeared. He sighed and walked out of the bushes to find Korthin crawling towards him. He unhooked his belt and Meth returned to his dragon form, fluttering to the ground as the Ryu armor vanished in a cloud of fire and glowing dust.