Disclaimer: Don't own Kamen Rider, never have, never will. Ryu and its assorted characters belong to me though.

Episode 12

Eye of the Storm

Torinidus opened his mouth and a green dragon tongue shaped like his head hovered out. It landed in Adrian's hand and he pushed it into the element slot. He pulled the legs on the right side of his belt back and the dragon head extended out of the armor.

"Energize! Storm Form!" It released a ball of green light from its mouth, which swirled around Ryu. The ball stirred up a small gust of wind and the red color of his armor seemed to be blown aside and replaced with dark green. The gold bits changed silver as bolts of purple lightning crashed down around him. Flames moved over the lenses of his mask turning them purple. The electricity struck the dragon head on the back of his right hand. The bolt morphed the head into one more resembling the storm dragon's crocodilian head.

The mage charged at him, swinging its club around threateningly. Ryu raised his new weapon and pulled the trigger. A purple blast of energy shot from the gun barrel and struck the mage in the chest. He howled in pain as the blast exploded in a shower of sparks. Ryu stepped forward firing another shot. It struck the mage and he stumbled back. Adrian continued to advance, forcing the mage back with his shots.

Adrian spun around and slammed a kick into his chest. The blow wasn't particularly strong when compared with the power of Flame Form, but it was enough to knock the mage over the edge. He fell to the ground and landed with a soft thud.

Ryu leapt after him.

He prepared to spin around, but movement in the trees caught his attention. Hunter emerged from the forest, carrying his crossbow in one hand and the tail of Korthin's unconscious body in the other.

Adrian gasped in surprise. His fists shook with anger, almost so much that he didn't notice the shaking of his gun. It took his confused mind a moment to figure out why the transformed dragon might be shaking. Torinidus was scared.

Hunter raised his crossbow and Adrian followed suit, bringing up his gun… the Rider and mage fired, the blasts of magic shooting past each other and striking their targets. Adrian exclaimed loudly as he fell to the ground.

The archer mage hissed in annoyance and raised his bow. Ryu gasped and rolled backwards, a green arrow struck the ground behind him. He leapt to the side, avoiding another arrow. The jump carried him towards the top of a tree. Once again, he wasn't prepared for the extent of his jump and slammed into a branch. He quickly wrapped his arms around the tree limb and pulled himself onto it.

"Running away?" Hunter asked, approaching the tree's roots. He raised his crossbow and fired, but his target dropped backwards, hanging from the branch by his knees for a moment before letting go and flipping around to land facing him. Ryu squeezed the trigger and a flash of purple magic struck the mage in the chest.

The Sasquatch mage roared and flung its club at the Rider. Ryu moved his gun to the side and held down the trigger, a blast of wind shot from the gun barrel, blowing the club backwards. The weapon slammed into its owner's face.

"Hey, pay attention to both your enemies!" Meth shouted.

The warning came too late. As Adrian turned his attention back to the first mage, a barrage of green arrows sailed towards him. He screamed in pain as they slammed into his armor, creating a shower of sparks wherever they hit.

Hunter laughed and leapt toward him, swinging up a leg as he did. An armored foot struck Adrian in the side of the head and sent him flying to the side. He crashed into a boulder and dropped to the ground.

Ryu groaned and pushed himself up to his knees. The dragon in his right hand twitched and pulled free of his grip, transforming back into its normal form.

"Is that all you have?" Hunter advanced on the kneeling Rider, crossbow raised and aimed.

"Quit playing with them and finish it!" the Sasquatch mage called, rubbing his head.

Torinidus glanced between the two mages and Adrian. His tail flicked back and forth. "I'm sorry!" The storm dragon turned and leapt past the human, the green dragon tongue ejected from the Element Slot and the dragon snatched it up in his jaws before vanishing into the forest. Adrian groaned and slouched forward, suddenly his armor felt much heavier.

"Come back here you coward!" Meth exclaimed.

Adrian tapped the right side of his belt and a cloud of fire surrounded him. "Blaze on! Flame form!"

"Too slow!" Hunter exclaimed, firing his crossbow.

An engine roared and the Rider's red and gold bike flew out of the bushes. It hit the ground and swerved, coming to a stop in front of its owner. The arrow struck the side of it and bounced off.

"You've better retreat and get some rest," Meth said.

Adrian wanted to disagree, but that blow to the head had left him dazed. He stood up and swung a leg over the bike. The Sasquatch mage leapt at him, but the bike sped forward. Hunter fired a shot at the Rider, but Adrian ducked. The motorcycle disappeared over the top of a small hill. The archer leapt onto the top of the incline and fired after the retreating figure. The first couple missed, but then one connected with the Rider's shoulder and the bike wobbled for a few feet. Chuckling, the mage lined up a shot with the back of Ryu's head.

Pain shot through his side and the mage's shot went wild. He glanced down to find Korthin awake with his mouth clamped down on his gut. He growled and slammed an elbow down on the dragon, knocking him loose. The earth dragon landed on his back and rolled over, the mage's foot pressed down on him.

"Looks they escaped," the Sasquatch mage noted, walking up behind his companion.

"Shut up, idiot!" Hunter backhanded the mage and sent him rolling down the hill. "They'll come back to rescue their ally and then we'll-."

The mage's leg collapsed into the ground. He groaned and pulled his leg free of the hole. He glanced around, looking for some sign of the burrowing earth dragon.

"Damn it!" Hunter exclaimed, blasting a rock with his crossbow. "Find that earth dragon, I don't care if you have to steal a backhoe to do it, but find that dragon!"

Adrian groaned as he dismounted the bike. Meth unclipped from his waist and retracted into his dragon form. The human collapsed to one knee while the dragon clung to the trunk of a nearby tree.

"Can you make it back to the city?" Meth asked.

"We can't leave without Korthin," Adrian said.

"You won't be any help to him if you're dead," the fire dragon huffed. He leapt off the tree and glided forwards. "Follow me."

Sighing, Adrian grabbed the bike's handlebars and pushed it after the dragon. Meth glanced back to make sure he followed then flew onward.

"Where are we going?" Adrian asked.

The dragon ignored his question and continued flying. Both of them kept glancing around for signs of either the mages or Torinidus.

"Here we are," Meth said, landing on a small ledge jutting out of the mountainside. Adrian glanced around, expecting to see a cave opening somewhere in the rock. He was about to say something when a scraping sound reached his ears. The lower half of the cliff in front of him slid to the side, leaving an opening big enough for a human to crawl through.

Meth dropped to the ground and walked through the opening. Adrian ducked down and followed him. He felt around inside, expecting to find himself in a tunnel, but his hands instead found nothing. He felt for a ceiling and found none so he slowly pushed himself up, finding the room big enough to stand in.

He heard a rush of flames and a moment later, fire began spreading through a raised platform that ran around the room. The flickering light blinded Adrian and it took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust.

After they did, he glanced around the room. Rock formed the walls while the floor was soft earth. Lying on the ground was an assortment of nests made from what he guessed was animal fur of some kind. A set of red dragon-shaped armor stood in the center of the room.

"Meth, what is this place?" Adrian asked.

"A fallout shelter," he replied. "A place we could retreat to if the mages attacked the village."

The place looked undisturbed, as if no one had ever used it.

"It had some other uses, too," Meth continued. He flew towards a square indentation in the wall, upon which rested several books, human-sized books. "We knew the mages were trying to wipe out all traces of us, so we've left records of our existence here. I'm not quite sure why the elders cared to leave behind proof of our existence when they spent so much time keeping it secret."

"What's the armor for?" Adrian asked, eyeing the ornate suit.

Meth shrugged. "Just some useless decoration. Dragons don't really need armor you know."

Adrian glanced back at the shelf. "Anything else there, or is just history?"

"No, there's some stuff on magic that we might find useful," the dragon replied with a smirk.

The mage muttered angrily as he stalked through the forest. His sense of smell couldn't pick up anything from a burrowing earth dragon; his only hope was to listen for the sounds of burrowing.

Wishing he didn't have that arrogant archer bossing him around, the mage sat on a stump and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Taking a break?" a voice asked.

He glanced to the side and grunted in elation when he spotted the yellow head of an earth dragon peering out of the ground. A dark brown glow surrounded him as he transformed into the Sasquatch mage. Raising its massive club, the mage growled and slammed it down.

Korthin ducked back into the hole and burrowed forward, going under the mage and getting behind him. He shot out of the ground and flew at the creature's back. The mage spun around, swinging his weapon. Korthin twisted around, placing his feet against the club and pushing off. Inhaling, the earth dragon spat three balls of yellow magic at the mage, striking its head and shoulders.

A green arrow flew out of the trees and struck the dragon, it pierced his chest and struck a tree, pinning Korthin to it. He pulled at the arrow, only to grunt in pain when it didn't budge.

"Perfect," Hunter chuckled as he raised his crossbow and slung it over his shoulder. "I knew a brash earth dragon wouldn't be able to pass up such an easy target."

"Yeah?" the Sasquatch growled. "Why don't you try being the bait next time?"

The archer just laughed, his good spirits restored. "Don't worry; now that we got our bait back, all you have to do is keep your ears open."

His eyes wondered over to a bush. Torinidus ducked into the leaves and waited for the mage to look away before turning and flying away. He glanced around and sniffed the air, picking up the scent of dragon magic. The strong scent led him through the trees to its source. He paused and examined the cliff. He could sense the power coming from the rocks, almost feel it crackling over his scales. Suddenly the sensation faded and Torinidus blinked in confusion.

The stone in front of him slid to the side and he leapt back as Meth stepped out of the open tunnel. Adrian came crawling after him.

"Oh, so you're back now?" Meth glared at the storm dragon.

Torinidus glanced at the ground; words failed him for a moment. "I'm sorry, but the situation was hopeless. I thought Hunter would kill us all."

"Yet we all got away," Meth mused.

"He wiped out my entire village while I was helpless to do anything!" the dragon growled. "You don't know what it's like…"

For a few seconds the only sounds came from Adrian as he pulled himself the rest of the way out of the hole. Then Meth launched himself at Torinidus, the two dragons hit the ground, clawing and biting at each other.

"I don't know what it's like?" Meth asked as he clawed his opponent's belly. "Have you seen any other fire dragons around here? Huh?"

"Whoa! That's enough," Adrian said, grabbing the dragons and pulling them apart. He held both of them off the ground, Meth continued struggling and trying to get his claws on the storm dragon. "Meth, have you ever met a dragon you didn't attack?"

Meth didn't reply. Instead, he stared at Adrian's shoe. The human sighed and let go of Torinidus, who flew up and landed on a tree branch.

"Sorry about him," Adrian said. "He's very single-minded."

The fire dragon snorted. "Are we doing to go rescue dust butt or what?"

"You mean that earth dragon?"

"Yes," Adrian said, setting Meth down on his shoulder.

"He's over in that direction," Torinidus nodded his head. "But both of the mages are there."

"Well, we better get moving then," Adrian said, he stepped towards his bike and paused to glance back up at the dragon. "Are you coming?"

"It's too dangerous," Torinidus said, glancing away.

Meth scoffed. "It's thanks to him that you're even free now. You could at least return to the favor."

Adrian sighed. "Leave him alone, Meth. His mind's made up."

Torinidus gazed at the sky as he heard the bike's engine start and shoot off into the distance.

An arrow exploded beside the bike's front tire. Adrian gasped and swerved to the side just in time to dodge another projectile.

"That bastard's not wasting any time," Meth said, leaping off Adrian's shoulder and flying in front of the bike. He dropped back and unfolded into the Ryu belt, clipping around Adrian's waist as more arrows shot towards them. Adrian raised an arm in front of his chest.

"Henshin!"

He pushed the dragon's horns together and two flaming wings erupted from his back, lowering over the front of the bike and incinerating a barrage of arrows. Adrian tapped the button on top of the belt buckle and the wings pulled back, wrapping his form in flames.

Hunter gasped as he saw the motorcycle closing the distance. He leapt to the side, dodging the vehicle. The bike skidded to a stop, the flames around Ryu blowing out to reveal his armor. The Kamen Rider dismounted his bike and faced the mage. "Mess with my friends and you're going to get burnt."

Leaping out of the bushes, the Sasquatch mage roared and swung its club. Ryu ducked under it and kicked the mage in the back, knocking him over. He spun to face Hunter and an arrow slammed into his chest. Adrian groaned and rolled over the seat of his bike, avoiding another arrow.

"Adrian!" Korthin exclaimed.

His gaze locked onto the source of the sound, finding the earth dragon pinned to a tree by a glowing green arrow. He started toward him, only for the Sasquatch mage to slide into his way. Adrian ducked under a club swing and punched the mage in the gut. He grunted and doubled over.

"Take this!" Hunter exclaimed, firing a barrage of green magic from his crossbow. At the same moment, the other mage recovered and lunged. Ryu leapt over the Sasquatch mage, the barrage of arrows slammed into its brown fur.

"You idiot, get out of my way!" the archer mage snapped.

Whining in pain, the Sasquatch mage raised its head and clenched its fists before charging at Hunter.

"What are you doing?" Hunter asked as he approached. He raised his crossbow, but the mage batted it to the side and slammed a fist into his shoulder, knocking him back.

Adrian scurried over to Korthin and knelt over the dragon. He carefully reached toward the arrow. "What do we do? Is it safe to pull it out?"

"I don't know," Meth replied. Korthin gave the red dragon a panicked look.

"If you touch it, it'll explode," Ryu glanced up as Torinidus swooped down and land beside him.

"Can you get it out?" Adrian asked.

Torinidus crept forward and sniffed at the arrow. "I think so…"

The mage roared as he swung his club, Hunter ducked and dodged around the blows, barely managing to avoid them before one hit him in the chest and knocked him back. He hit the ground and rolled across it, coming up on one knee. Raising his bow, he fired several arrows at the Sasquatch, which it only swatted to the side with its club.

"Damn it," Hunter hissed as he stepped back. His form shimmered before fading from sight.

The berserk mage roared and spun around, looking for his tormentor. It spotted Ryu, crouched over Korthin and watching as Torinidus carefully drew out the arrow. It raised his club and lumbered towards them.

"Uh-oh," Ryu said glancing back.

"Keep him busy!" Torinidus said, his wings wrapped around the arrow shaft and pulling on it. "I can't stop now."

Adrian stood up and spun around, grabbing Meth's tail and wings. He assembled them into dagger mode and twisted the Flare Valve on the left side of his belt up. He pushed the legs on it, pushing out a golden dragon head that released a ball of fire.

"Flare Up!"

The Sasquatch swung its club down as Ryu raised his dagger. The blade stabbed into the wood and stuck there. The mage grunted and twisted around, trying to dislodge the weapon, while Adrian hung onto it. The ball of fire hovered up to the dagger's base and flames shot over the blade. Ryu yanked it loose, slicing through the club. The mage swung his club again, but Ryu blocked, his dagger setting the weapon ablaze. He swung the dagger through the club, which exploded into fragments of charred, flaming wood.

Torinidus sighed and inhaled deeply, the arrow was almost out, but this next part was the trickiest. Opening his mouth, he released a small green tornado of wind magic, it swirled around the arrow as the storm dragon made on last tug on it. Korthin roared in pain as the arrow came free. The tornado sent it spinning several feet away before it exploded. Torinidus sighed as the earth dragon slumped back against the tree.

Ryu ducked under a punch, but a second fist slammed into his chest, several more blows hit him before a kick knocked him into the air. He hit the ground and rolled back towards the two dragons.

"Is he all right?" Adrian asked, staring at an unmoving Korthin.

The storm dragon nodded. "He's just unconscious. I don't suppose you need some help?"

"No, we're fine," Meth snapped.

"Maybe a little bit of help," Adrian said. He placed a hand over his belt buckle, muffling Meth's protests.

Torinidus opened his mouth and dropped the Storm Tongue into Adrian's hand. The Rider rolled over and stood up, facing the mage. He slammed the jewel into the Element Slot and pulled the legs back.

"Energize! Storm Form!"

A ball of green light circled around Ryu, kicking up a small twister around him. The red color of his armor swept aside, replaced with dark green as bolts of purple lightning crashed around him. Flames moved across the lenses of his mask turning them purple.

Ryu jumped and flew over his opponent's head. He hit the ground in a roll and spun around, raising his arm. Torinidus dropped into his hand, converting into Gun mode. He raised the weapon and fired, the projectiles struck the mage, releasing a small shower of sparks.

"Let me try aiming," Torinidus' voice sounded from the Ryu belt.

"You try?" Adrian repeated in confusion.

The mage roared and charged forward. Ryu gasped as the gun in his hands tugged forward and leveled itself at the mage. Adrian pulled the trigger and the blast of purple magic struck the mage in the neck, creating a massive explosion of sparks. The gun moved again, aiming at the mage's feet. Adrian pulled the trigger and blasted the mage's leg causing it to crash face first into the ground a few feet from him.

"Let's finish it," Adrian said, hitting the leg-like levers on the Flare Valve.

"Flare Up!" the belt announced.

Ryu pulled the hammer on the Storm Pistol back, opening the dragon mouth at the end of the gun barrel. A ball of fire shot from the Flare Valve and dropped into the pistol's open mouth.

The Sasquatch slowly stood up and lumbered forward. Ryu lowered his gun, a purple glow shining from the dragon's maw. The mage charged, nearly reaching the Rider before a massive blast of wind sent him flying. The mage flailed its limbs as the gust carried it back. Ryu pulled the trigger and a purple lightning bolt shot from the gun, the front of it took the shape of a dragon's head as it flew toward the flailing mage. The blast struck, flying through the target's chest. The creature hung suspended by the wind for a moment before it exploded into a brown fireball.