Fate: All Riders.
Chapter 6: Alive and Kicking.
Waver had never seen Rider so…. Driven before. Up until now everything seemed like a game to the Servant, a big old fight that he could have fun savouring. But now, something inside snapped, no that wasn't the right worded that implied he changed his behaviour to something unnatural. It was more accurate to say that something inside Rider clicked, this state of mind seemed so natural, it felt so right for the Heroic spirit.
Racing across the city on a bike Waver clung to the man who steered the vehicle. The lights flew past his vision, the sounds of the wind whistled through his ears, his blood pumped faster and faster!
"RIDER SLOW DOWN YOU'RE BREAKING THE SPEED LIMIT!" And several road rules, now that he thought about it he himself wasn't even wearing a helmet, this was crazy! Rider didn't reply, it seemed Waver's voice was drowned out by the roar of the engine.
"RIDER SLOW DOWN!" Waver tried again desperately clinging on for dear life.
"YOU SAY SOMETHING BACK THERE MASTER?" Rider replied.
"SLOW DOWN!" Waver yelled back.
Slowing his speech down Rider then replied.
"I SAAAAAAIID…YOOOOOUUUU SAAAAAAYY SOOOOOOMMMMETHIIIIING-"
"NO I MEANT STOP THE BIKE YOU IDIOT!" Skidding to a stop if it weren't for his fear placing an iron grip over Rider's waist Waver swore he would've been flung off into the distance.
"Why did you see something?" Despite the earlier misunderstanding about slowing down it was quickly forgotten, Rider was all business now. Ever since he met the Tosaka girl the Heroic spirit had become more serious, where was the boisterous Rider?
"No I didn't see anything!" He shouted back red faced, was his own Servant treating him like an idiot?
"Then why stop?" The innocent question implied that he didn't know he was doing anything wrong.
Taking a deep breath in Waver explained. "You're driving too fast, you're breaking the speed limits." Rider simply nodded as if in understanding. "The police would be attracted to us, it'll be a real hassle to hypnotise them to leave us alone.
"Ahhh I see your worry Master." Finally some sense from his block headed Servant. "Don't worry I can easily out race any policeman!" he boasted. "The cops will never catch us!... Wait that came out wrong." Waver could not help but apply the palm of his hands to his face.
"Rider I know you promised to stop Caster but driving around all crazy like that won't work."
"Yeah but you told me you couldn't track them since they don't seem to have a base of operations, if we're to find them then random searching will beat random evasion!" That made sense, why did his Servant make sense? Was he starting to go insane?
"Damn it Rider we need a plan! Besides we should go after Berserker first, you made a promise to he-" Rider had already walked away leaving his bike to fade into gold dust as something caught his attention.
"There's something over in the shopping district Master." So distracted with his servant Waver had missed the feeling of Prana in the air, something was nearby. Walking into the street filled with stores either side of the pair Waver could not help but feel that he was being watched.
Suddenly a flash of purple.
"Rider there's something inside that store!" Pointing at the window he swore he saw something pass through inside. Rider didn't say a word, he simply assumed a battle stance. Waver backed up, now that he thought about it he didn't really have any offensive spells to defend himself with. Oh sure he was quite decent at manipulating memories but against other Masters or Servants such skills were useless.
In short, his only chance of survival was the hero in front of him.
The area was surrounded by stores, boutiques for clothes mostly. Despite being night time the goods were on full display, the windows that revealed the contents littered the street as far as the eye could see. Looking around Waver wondered where the enemy was, he swore he saw one inside a small store to his left but that seemed to jump to the next store despite the fact that the two could not have been connected.
"Rider, do you see anything?" Once again he was answered by silence, his Servant stood at the ready. Suddenly a shout of battle!
"ELECTRO FIRE!" Raising his hand to the skies he then pushed his palm to the ground letting loose an eruption of lightning. Streaking across the street the pulse of energy collided against a window, behind it the shocked expression of a very large purple cobra. Blinding Waver he quickly rubbed his eyes and saw to his dismay that the corpse and body of the snake was nowhere to be seen.
The only thing in front of him was the ruined remains of the store and melted glass. Though he wasn't much of an optimist he hoped that his Heroic Spirit's attack had managed to completely obliterate the enemy. However there wasn't much chance of that.
"I see now." Announced Rider. "The beast does not live in the physical world, it hides in mirrors." Hearing a hissing sound behind him Waver froze. Why didn't he realize it sooner? The pink Manta Ray had been thrown into a mirror, he originally thought that it was some sort of teleportation spell. However it appeared that these monsters could travel from the real world to the ones within mirrors.
Waver had never heard of beasts such as these before.
"MASTER BEHIND YOU!" Still frozen in fear Waver couldn't move a muscle. With speeds that exceeded human limits Rider managed to summon his bike within a split second before grabbing his master and driving out of the way. The Cobra leaped out of the mirror with fangs bared only to find the ground before its face. Somewhat stunned by the ordeal the monster shook itself before finding its vision covered by a white boot.
Sent flying by the impact the beast sailed into the air and right into another glass window. However instead of shattering it simply was sucked through, this was a troublesome enemy indeed.
"Rider we have to get out of here, there's too many reflective surfaces!" It wasn't just streaks of purple anymore, there was pink and grey now. Swirling around the Master, Servant Duo the monsters watched for an opening.
Revving his bike Rider considered retreating, his master was in great peril. Then the temperature in the air dropped, Waver began to sweat more profusely then before. He was terrified, if he stayed here he would die, it was certain.
"Rider…" The air had become heavier, the presence of another Heroic Spirit was here. The sheer killing intent he exuded was felt before he was seen. So powerful was this aura that even Rider could tell that this Servant was a murderer.
"Oh? You're Rider? How Vexing." The voice came from all around. "I was hoping for a Rider that looked like a bull, a bat or even a dragon, I don't think I've ever seen a green eyed bug faced Rider before." Taking a step forwards the Servant finally revealed himself.
"I'm Servant Caster and you're outnumbered." The monsters in the mirrors surrounding them began to depart their respective glasses. Despite the dread he felt Waver's mind was still intact enough to wonder where Caster's master was. In a fight where your Servant was outmatched it was simply easier to take out the supporting Magus. However Knowing Rider even if said Master was out in the open he'd probably never resort to such methods.
Adjusting his gloves Rider chuckled at some private joke.
"Outnumbered huh? Well then." Standing straight he clenched his fist once more.
"I'm here to tell you that you're outmatched!" That was one way to say quality over quantity but that didn't put him at ease at all. The main fact was that he, Rider's Master was out in the open surrounded on all sides by monsters.
"What a Vexing idiot." That was one thing Waver could agree on, Rider was dumb at least in his opinion. "Leave the boy, I want the fight to last awhile." No wait, Caster was just as dumb.
Rider seemed to think fighting was fun because of the act itself. While Waver got the impression that Caster liked to fight just because he liked hurting people, either way it made himself slightly safer. Backing off the three monsters continued to surround them as Caster came forwards creating an improvised fighting ring of sorts.
Intimidated by the purple Servant Waver also took a step back.
"You better find some cover Master." Even Rider seemed to support the retreat. It was naïve but even Waver believed that Caster's familiars would leave him alone as long as he did nothing to provoke them. The whimsies of the purple servant hopefully would last long enough to keep him safe. However considering that he could've ended the fight by having his three monsters and himself dog pile the pair it was safe to assume that Waver really wasn't a target at all!
Thinking about such things hurt his already terrified brain so all Waver did was dash for the nearest cover. Running around and jumping into the smashed remains of a store Waver peeked over the edge to witness his Servant battle.
This was going to be the first time he would see Rider fight. The earlier scuffle with the pink manta ray hardly counted since it only lasted for one attack. Here he expected things to drag on for slightly longer.
Now that his Master was safe Rider felt that he could go all out. As Caster took a step forwards he himself jumped away to a nearby roof top. Thinking that his opponent was trying to gain the high ground for an assault Caster braced himself. However instead of anything physical he was instead battered with Rider's words.
"The heavens cry out!" Raising his finger he pointed to the sky.
"The earth cries out!" The glint from his helmet could be seen from the ground.
"The people cry out!" Waver was nowhere in sight.
"They cry out for me to destroy evil!" The three monsters growled in response.
"Listen up, evildoers...I am the warrior of justice, Kamen Rider Stronger!" A wind passes by flicking the white scarf he wore behind him in a dramatic fashion.
Scoffing at the performance Caster rolled his neck again.
"Wow you're a loud mouth, why don't I shut you up hey?" Grabbing a card from his belt buckle he then inserted it into a staff that he materialized from the air.
'Sword Vent' A disembodied voice announced.
From behind him a flash of light revealed a blur that travelled quickly into his hand showing a spiral sword.
Shaking his head in disbelief Rider spoke up once more.
"Is it me or does every Hero in this war have a talking belt or something?"
"SHUT UP AND FIGHT!" Leaping from the ground Rider quickly found himself avoiging sword strikes from every angle. Backing up and dodging he grabbed Caster's sword hand before punching the man with his free hand.
Staggering away Caster cursed before lunging back with renewed vigor, his attacks faster and stronger than before. Dodging and parrying the blade with his hand Rider studied his opponent, waiting for an opening. He then grabbed the weapon with his two hands.
A foot came up to meet his stomach as Caster tried to kick him away. Grunting in pain Rider kept holding on before his body began to cackle with energy. Sparks began to fly from Caster's armour as the voltage began to rise. His hands spasmed around the handle leaving him unarmed as he dropped his sword.
It was an involuntary action that Rider soon took advantage of. Kicking the discarded weapon at Caster who was already off balance from the earlier attack Rider quickly leapt forwards to deliver a punch sending his foe into the ground. Following up with a flurry of strikes the battle was obviously in Stronger's favour however the victory was postponed as something struck his back sending him backwards.
Leaping to his feet Rider took a defensive pose, in front of Caster was his three monsters. Which one had attacked him was unimportant; all that he knew was that the fight was now much more even. Summoning his cobra staff once more Caster used it to steady himself as he stood back up.
"You're pretty fun to fight." He said in a low his almost affectionately. "Looks like I'll have to get serious." Pulling another card from his belt he quickly inserted it into his staff once more.
'Unite Vent' The disembodied voice announced once more.
The three monsters were pulled together until they were merged into something that resembled all three. Something with the cobra taking up the neck, head and tail, rhino parts took up the majority of the body with its horn on the snake's head while the Manta Ray appeared mostly on the back imitating wings.
Rolling his neck once more he gave the command. "Get him." Running forwards Caster and Monster met Rider head on. Dodging the initial strike, a tail swipe from the large beast Rider jumped before kicking away the fist of an angry Caster. Landing back down he quickly rolled backwards out of the way of snake's horn. Or was it a rhino? It didn't matter.
"So this is your trump card huh?" Though it was hard to tell Caster got the impression that Rider was smirking. "Not bad but I'm better." Lunging forwards he threw a punch at Caster who side stepped to avoid the attack. A large shadow was casted over Rider and before he could avoid it he was thrown to the side by a massive claw.
However it seemed that the attack did little damage as seconds later he twisted in mid-air before landing, palm on the ground. "Electro FIRE!" An arc of lightning burst out from the ground blasting the area away.
As the smoke began to clear the creature's tail flicked to the side revealing that it had not been harmed. Caster was nowhere to be seen.
'Final Vent' the voice announced once more.
A black hole appeared inside the monster's belly. Turning behind him Rider had enough warning time to duck avoiding the kick altogether. Rolling to a stop Caster watched his enemy.
Rider raised both hands to the sky in annoyance. "No really, why does everyone have talking belts?" He asked. "Is everyone too lazy to call their own attacks these days or something?" It seemed that he completely missed the point. The topic seemed to have concerned Rider more than it should have.
Caster rolled his head once more, this was fun and all but it was taking too long for his liking. His three contract monsters split back into their original forms, it seemed that the purple Servant decided that perhaps quantity would beat quality this time around.
"Hey Ryuunosuke!" He called out. "Help me out would you?" Asking for help from a master? Stronger tensed. He expected that the enemy Master was a Magus, someone who could enhance his servant with prana to enforce their powers perhaps. Maybe he was just going to get healed by the Magus or perhaps he wanted his Master to use a command seal to empower his next attack.
What came next was unexpected, a gnawing feeling at the back of his head electrified him.
"My Master is in Danger!" The realization hit him hard, the link between him and Waver was strong but as soon as Caster asked for help something had gone wrong.
"Oi Caster, I got him!" Appearing from the rubble of one of the stores the orange haired kidnapper from earlier appeared. Stronger berated himself mentally, he almost forgot that the guy wasn't even capable of using magic.
In his arms was Waver, with a knife to his neck.
Waver was terrified at this point. Being captured by a master was bad enough but being captured by one without magic? This had to be the lowest point in his life. The murderer had come up behind him, years of practise made his approach unnoticeable. The battle between servants simply distracted Waver and before he could do anything a knife was at his throat.
"If only I could face him." Waver thought. If he could just look him in the eye he could hypnotise the man but the weapon pressing against his neck made him too afraid to try anything.
"Me and you are going to make a great portrait together!" The mad man announced. Despite the seemingly innocent statement it had made Waver even more uncomfortable.
"Rider help!" His Servant didn't move and instead of helping his let his arms fall to his sides.
Caster laughed. "Giving up already? Good, now that I've got your master you're going to do everything I want you to do!" Nodding Rider gave no signs that he would retaliate.
To everyone else Rider had given up already, but the subservient act was just that, an act. Waver could feel his prana draining away faster than normal; he knew that Rider was planning to do something and if the drain in Prana was anything to go by then he was about to see his Servant's Noble Phantasm.
Silently he cheered even with a knife to his throat.
Everything was going better than planned. Originally Caster had his Master hide out in the buildings to catch the other Master off guard in case things had gone south so that he could finish off Rider. However since then the plan had changed, instead of holding the man hostage to kill his opponent he would now use the kid as blackmail.
The idea of having Rider fighting other heroes was an appetising one. The nostalgia made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside, it took him back to the days when the battles were endless.
"Best day ever." He murmured before turning his attention back on Rider.
"First things first, I'm gonna have you fight Saber." Caster had never seen Saber but assumed that the Servant would be his biggest threat. Having a magic resistance meant that he would be resistant if not completely immune to some of his abilities. Though Caster had little in the way of magic attacks he had enough to make it noticeable.
"Then I'm gonna have you go after Assassin." The only person who was allowed to be sneaky was him damn it!
"Then you'll fight Archer!" This left him with Berserker and Lancer, the fun up close classes to fight.
Rider however did not once reply. Caster began to tap his foot in impatience.
"So you should probably get on that before your Master gets cut.
Suddenly the world exploded, the white light blinded everyone in a large radius around Rider. The explosion was so loud that Caster thought he imagined the words that his foe had shouted.
"THE LEGENDARY SEVEN RIDERS!"
As his vision cleared Caster found himself in an open field of gravel, the horizon was littered with hills and mountains of the stuff.
Looking around in confusion he pointed at Rider. "GET HIM!" His three contract monsters however were interrupted.
"RIDER KICK!" The Cobra found itself sailing through the air sent tumbling to the ground.
"RIDER PUNCH!" The Rhino had its spine punched leaving its face in the dust.
"ROPE ARM!" The pink manta ray was tangled with rope flailing around before it was sent crashing into the dirt.
The three new additions retreated next to Rider. Two of them were identical both sporting black jumpsuits with a green chest, bug like helmets with red eyes and a red scarf around their necks. Subtle differences however separated the two, the most obvious being the colour of their gloves, one of which was red and the other white.
The third newcomer had a blue helmet that showed the wearers mouth and nose, his right arm was a large peanut shaped device with a hook attached.
"Damnit Ryuunosuke just kill his Master!" Caster intended to cut off Rider's source of prana ending whatever he was doing to summon all these other Servants.
"Don't worry Caster I'm on it!" The orange haired serial killer announced. Wait a second. Why was the black haired master in that grey bug mans arms?
The man with a stylized 'X' on his head then lowered Waver behind Stronger.
If the black haired master was over there then who was he holding? Looking down instead of seeing a terrified black haired boy he was faced with a red and white helmet with green eyes.
"V THREE!" It yelled before grabbing him and throwing him to the ground. Doing a flip he joined the rest of his companions.
"DAMN YOU ALL!" Caster yelled. Taking a card he inserted it.
'Strike Vent' the voice announced once more.
However as the weapon descended from above another green blur intercepted it battering the blade away before it could reach its master. Landing on the ground with his friends the new arrival brandished its claws.
"AMAZON!" It announced yelling its name.
It seemed that Caster was now outnumbered.
Waver was shocked, a reality marble of all things? This was nuts! If his Servant was capable of pulling something like this then perhaps his wish would come true as well? The surprises didn't end there either, his Servant had summoned six other Heroic Spirits! SIX! The Grail could only manage seven but Rider could summon SIX! That was insane! The only thing more ridiculous was if he could summon an army of them! The thought was sobering.
Taking a step forwards the electric hero shouted.
"After I'm done destroying you I'm going after Berserker! I'm going to make you both wish that you were never summoned!" Caster simply laughed, the sound seemed to make Rider hesitate.
"This is great, I get to fight something like this, to die doing what I love doing best! It's the greatest!" He knew he was going to lose but he didn't care.
Taking one last card from his belt everyone tensed.
'Final Vent'
Jumping high in the sky he flipped backwards, his cobra reared its head to deliver the attack.
Engulfed in acid Caster came raining down on his foe.
Scattering the heroes all jumped aside to avoid the strike, every hero except one.
"MASTER!" That's right, he was in the path of the attack. Taking the full force of Caster's kick who leapt away Rider then fell to the ground as the acid began to eat away at his body.
"IDIOT!" Waver began to cry over his Servant's fallen form. "YOU COULD'VE GRABBED ME THEN DODGED!" Why couldn't his servant understand common sense, were all heroes this self-sacrificing? Fading away into golden dust Rider's helmet dissolved to reveal a smile.
However it wasn't a normal smile at all.
It was the kind of smile one would have when they were about to pull off the biggest prank in history.
As he completely faded away Waver stared dumbfounded at the ground. Maybe this was his way of coping with lose, perhaps he just imagined the way Rider was smiling. Maybe he misinterpreted the smile, whatever the case Rider was clearly dead.
Yet the reality marble remained and so did the other six heroes.
"The heavens cry out!" A voice thundered from everywhere.
"The earth cries out!" The person who announced this was directly in front of the sun.
"The people cry out!" Waver raised his head in shock unsure what to believe.
"They cry out for me to destroy evil!" Caster growled.
"Listen up, evildoers...I am the warrior of justice, Kamen Rider Stronger!" A wind passes by flicking the white scarf he wore behind him in a dramatic fashion.
Caster had enough surprises for one day.
"Didn't I just kill you!?" He cried as if this was against the rules. Though considering it was a reality marble the whole situation was against the rules of Gaia anyways.
"People who are killed should be dead!" He complained.
"As long as Riders are needed, we will never die!" It wasn't just his Servant that yelled that, every other Heroic spirit besides Caster had shouted the phrase.
It wasn't a boast, it was a statement!
"STRONGER LIGHTNING KICK!" Glowing he leapt towards Caster. The light was blinding. Staggering backwards the purple Servant tried to shield his eyes from the light before finding himself in the most pain he had ever felt. With electricity flowing through his body concentrated at the foot Rider delivered his attack before leaping away.
Caster was still standing but was obviously in bad shape.
"How vexing." He muttered before falling to his knees and exploding.
Fading away the world around Waver quickly disappeared.
"Rider! You're alive!" Receiving a flick to his face his Servant looked as if he was in a better mood.
"Of course I am, you still need me idiot." Rubbing his nose Waver wasn't sure whether he should be relieved or insulted. "All we have to do now is find Berserker and beat him! With Caster out of the way the murders should stop!"
Looking around at the ruined shopping district Waver rubbed the back of his neck.
"Hey Rider does it feel like we've forgotten about something?"
Running away Uryuu Ryuunosuke sighed. The loss of a friend was depressing, sure the whole fight was exciting and fun but in the end Caster had lost.
"Man I'm sure going to miss having a demon around." He murmured slowing down. Coming across a house an old habit compelled him to look inside for a victim to cheer himself up. However it seemed that this family had pulled the curtains closed. All he could see was his own reflection.
Looking at his down trodden face he paused. "Wow I look pathetic." Laughing he cheered himself up. "Nothing lasts forever." He said remembering all the pictures he and Caster had made within all those mirrors. "You just have to appreciate the image while it lasts." All traces of depression soon faded away.
Now that his mind was off such matters he began thinking about other things.
Remembering the fight Caster had he recalled an interesting piece of information that green eyed bug hero had revealed.
"After I'm done destroying you I'm going after Berserker! I'm going to make you both wish that you were never summoned!"
That was what the bug man had said if Ryuunosuke remembered correctly. It sounded like Caster wasn't the only demon around, this Berserker judging by those words was also summoned.
"I'm going to make a new friend!" He decided. Maybe he'd meet the guy who summoned that Berserker demon as well and maybe they could be friends together! Walking off into the night an Orange haired man smiled.