Agito Chapter

Count: 2

Once again, rewinding to the previous day, to pick up where we left this plot thread hanging…

A predatory snarl cut the evening quiet as Kino's corrupted Agito form grappled with Gills. A ridged tentacle snaked out from Ryou's wrist, tugging at Kino's arm, and he slapped it away—but withdrawing his arm let Gills twist out of his grip completely, rake clawed fingers across his grotesque face, and heel-kick him back into the van he'd arrived in, crumpling the bonnet and shattering the windshield.

Kino chuckled, pulling himself free of the now-wrecked vehicle. He wiped a finger along one of the shallow cuts on his face. "Is that all you're capable of?"

Gills shrieked, pouncing at him; he caught the grasping hands in mid-air, using the berserker's own momentum and shoving him on past, letting Gills tumble through a garden fence.

Kino marched over, stomping down every time Gills tried to stand until the creature stopped trying, shuddering as he lay in the clipped grass. "Either I've really beaten the fight out of you, or you're very good at playing—"

The latter was proved true as Ryou burst into motion, rising to one knee and throwing a punch into Kino's stomach. But the doctor moved faster, catching Ryou's wrist and bringing it to a halt just at the point of contact, suffering barely a tap. "Good effort, but you can't outfight me or out-think me. Understand?"

It was at this moment that Ryou extended his wrist-blade, the crude spike bursting through his skin just above his hand and piercing right through the left of Kino's abdomen.

Kino gasped, falling away, hand clamped to the exit wound on his back, black blood spilling through his fingers. "You…incomplete vermin, you…look what you…"

Gills reared up, giving a full-on roar and pouncing again. They both went down, clawing and grabbing at each other. Kino's head lunged forwards, faceplate retracting to reveal rows and rows of deadly pointed teeth. Ryou got his arm in the way just in time, the bite sinking into his natural armour; he bit back, enormous fangs tearing into Kino's shoulder.

He had to draw his head back as Kino's fist shot at him. Just as he thought he'd escaped, Kino opened his hand as it passed by, crushed-up pebbles he'd held in it showering into Gills' oversized eyes. Yowling, he rolled away, keeping his guard up until his vision returned.

He heard a slowly-building rushing noise, accompanied by a green glow, then something he still couldn't make out was coming straight at him—and Kino's imitation Rider Kick struck him right in the chest.

He hit the pavement hard, reverting to human and shuddering as a sickly feeling travelled through his body alongside the pain.

Kino lurched towards his defeated foe. You lasted far longer than I expected… Indeed, far too long for Kino's liking. He'd been so focused on his target, he hadn't noticed the sirens until now. A car accident and subsequent monster-brawl in a public road, even this late, was going to attract attention.

Police and ambulance. He could work with that. In the moments before they turned the corner, he returned to human form and lay down in a sprawled position. His and Ryou's wounds didn't look like they'd been caused by anything either of them were carrying, and the call had presumably mentioned 'monsters', so when he started babbling to the paramedics about "some horrible—bug thing—like those Unidentified Life-Forms from last year, and—it's on TV now, they're back, aren't they—", this did adequately, and Ryou was too out of it to realise they were being put in adjacent ambulances and taken to the same hospital.

Which suited Kino's purposes very nicely.

"Isn't room 3 clear yet?"

"Just a few more—"

The medical staff jumped back as Kino sat bolt upright. He felt a little delirious, so he punched himself right on the wound Gills had given him, pain keeping him focused on the material. He outmanoeuvred the nurses in a sort of trance, slipping into the operating room and locking it behind him—he hadn't even noticed himself take the key from one of them. He dragged a couple cabinets in front of the doors, took a moment to catch his breath, and turned away.

What he was in was labelled as two separate rooms, but it was essentially one with a dividing curtain in the middle. Tearing it away revealed that there were two patients in here.

He glanced down at the hastily-bandaged wound in his side, and recalculated. Three.

Stitching himself didn't take very long. He wasn't about to sue himself, so he didn't have to be as careful about it. Now: Both the man he knew to be Gills and the woman he'd never met would be out for some time. The woman was in more critical condition though. I must not lose sight of myself. I am in service of humanity.

It took only a few minutes to save her life, and then he was on to his other patient. Ashihara's breathing was shallow, his body slicked with sweat, but his condition wasn't life-threatening. Of course, the scalpel Kino now held over him would swiftly change that.

He stopped an inch from making the incision, staring at the arm he held the tiny blade in. It was a graft; a miracle of a transplant, a final gift from a departed brother. The same accident had robbed one sibling of his original arm, the other of his life.

Kino Kaoru was a man of science. He knew his brother was gone. But in that moment, poised to sever a life with the simplest slice, he felt the dead man's eyes on him.

Masato…is this something I would want you to see?

No, it doesn't matter. No matter how low I sink…what I become…this is all for your sake.

Still, he couldn't make the cut. He jerked back, slumping against the wall with a gasp. Don't be so weak! If I eliminate the other Agito, the Overlord…Masato, he can bring you back to me…be strong!

He ran a gloved hand over his face, then froze. The operating table was empty. There came a great crash from his left, the door splintered, and a hunched-over green figure lurched out through it.

Regaining his calm, Dr. Kino slid his sunglasses back on and marched out in pursuit.

Majima Koji, final survivor of the Akatsuki incident other than Dr. Kino, watched as hospital staff buzzed like a disturbed beehive, in and out the doors, angry yells carrying out onto the street.

Yup. Follow Dr. Kino, and you'll find trouble; so, you wanna find Kino, just look for the trouble.

That, in fact, was who he thought the now-panicked staff were talking about as they shouted about a 'monster' roaming the hospital. Until he caught the word 'green' a few times.

No way…that guy?

Sure enough, the 'monster' that came staggering out through the front entrance, the crowds fleeing in terror, was the 'imperfect Agito', Gills.

"Course it was you…" Koji saw Gills falter and rushed forwards to catch him as he reverted to Ryou's human form, helping march him off. "Hey, you're hurt pretty bad…"

"S'okay," Ryou slurred. "Lemme rest. Hospital's not safe anyway."

"Kino, I know."

"You don't have to help me…"

"You did save us before, uh…" Koji smiled awkwardly. "Before my friends all tried to kill you, and all. Sorry about that."

"You're the one that didn't. You're all right." Ryou sped up despite his injuries as the swinging front doors were thrown open behind them, the dark-clothed doctor emerging with his gaze already locked on them. "Hide," Ryou said, gripping Koji. "Gotta hide."

"Yeah, I gotcha. Lemme just…" He pulled them behind a cluster of passing salarymen, ducking into an alley. "If he didn't see us turn here, we can hide at the back." It was almost pitch-black at the far end this time of night, but it opened up a little at the end, and they were able to huddle against a boarded-up doorway just enough around the corner that they weren't visible from the road.

They let out a twin exhalation, relaxing. Above them, the buildings crowded in, a narrow box of stars high overhead the only portion of sky visible. They stared up in silence for a while before Koji spoke up.

"Is it always like this?"

"What?"

"Being an Agito? Or kind of one, anyway…no offence, man, but I haven't met you except on the brink of death. Your life seems kinda shitty."

"That's 'cause it is." Ryou felt in the dark for his hair, grunting when he found it flattened. He didn't like to make pretences, but he liked the spiked-up look. He looked boring without it, he'd always thought.

"So…what's your, like, goal? What do you wanna do with this power?"

"Do?" Ryou just laughed for a minute. "Buddy, I just react. Doing my best to stay alive, that's all I can manage to do. Well, that and lose friends, girlfriends—multiple—a promising career, and a good few pints of blood, all thanks to this thing inside me."

Koji nodded, thinking he understood. "So…you wish you didn't have it?"

"Ehhh." Ryou hung his head. "More people would be dead if I didn't. So. I guess it's better this way." He gave a grim smile. "Plus, once you've lost all that, what's the point in stopping? Got no further to fall. So, I guess I'll be a big ol' hero and keep fighting." He gave a weak attempt at a dramatic wave of his still-bloodied hand. "To the last breath.

"What's it to you, kid?"

Koji jumped. "Uh?"

"You got something you wanna do?"

"Ah…sounds stupid now." Koji kicked against the floor.

"Tell me, arright? Just asking what brought that on."

"Okay. Okay, so…I couldn't be what my family wanted to be, right? Just couldn't apply myself. Dumb kid, I know. Didn't have time. Medical school, man, it's years of your life. I just…wanted to show 'em I'm good for something. If I had powers like Agito, I'd be special, right?"

Ryou sighed. "You want my honest opinion?"

"Uh, okay—"

"That's dumb as shit."

"Yeah…" Koji sat back. "She said that, too."

"Mana?"

"Yeah."

"Good kid."

"She's gonna be Agito one day," Koji said. "Me too…and yeah, you guys are probably right. But then what do I do with it?"

"Hopefully nothing like this."

Kino, having wandered the streets for hours, turned to head for home. Then he blinked, and the Overlord was there.

"I've looked. I can't find—"

"You saw where they went."

"I…"

"There's no need to apologise." The Overlord placed his hands on Kino's—the one that was still his. "I understand human weakness well. It is natural to you to seek an escape." His expression was deepest sympathy. "It must be very painful for you to do this."

Kino drew himself up. "I do what I must. This is how humanity survives."

"I would do it, if I could. I've tried. But…my children…I can't." He was gone.

Both of them, Kino. Steel yourself, said his voice in the doctor's mind.

Kino nodded firmly, did an about-face and marched towards the alleyway where he knew his quarry were hiding.

Ryou and Koji froze when they heard the footsteps; slow, methodical, unmistakeable. It was almost dawn, and they could just about make out his silhouette against the alley entrance.

Ryou heaved halfway to his feet, ignoring Koji's attempts to keep him hidden—it was clear they'd been found. "This it, then?"

"I derive no pleasure in this," Kino said, transforming without haste.

"Well I sure as hell don't," Ryou grumbled, raising his hands. "Tra—aungh"

When he'd tried to transform, the dull pain lurking at the back of his mind surged to the foreground, his battered body unable to handle the stress of becoming Gills. He collapsed, cuts widening as he twisted up on the ground. Koji ran over, shaking him.

"Hey, man, get up! C'mon! Ryou…you gotta…"

"This makes things simpler," Kino said. "If there is anything you would like to say, Koji, please do so now."

"Hey…Ryou…this it?" Koji whispered. "This your 'last breath'?" He slumped over his companion. "I sorta get it now…you don't really want the power, but you need it…'cause a guy like you could get up and fight, time like this. Don't think I could…what's the point of me becoming Agito, huh? I don't want it…you're the one who should—"

Mid-sentence, his body convulsed, and something ethereal and softly glowing emerged from his chest, drifting down and passing into the passed-out man below him.

Ryou's eyes opened. Gently pushing Koji back, he stood. The gentle light filled him for a moment, radiating off his body, his wounds healing. Feeling an intense heat at his chest, he tugged open his button-up, revealing the ugly blackened spot where Kino's kick had impacted him earlier was fading too.

Kino took a step back. "Koji…your Agito Seed…"

"Didn't know I could do that, but I'm happy to be rid of it," Koji said, keeping his distance too. "It's better with him."

Ryou still hadn't spoken. He hunched forwards slightly, then threw his head back and howled. His voice deepened as his body warped, until it was Gills' savage roar. But even after transforming, he kept changing. The spiked crests on his head and ankles lengthened with a lurch, and more bladed protrusions sprung out of his arms, legs, shoulders.

Kino tried to rush him before this further evolution was complete, but was too late. A pair of tentacles sprung from Gills' wrists, seizing his waist and tossing him into the air.

He twisted in mid-air, bringing his leg around and rapidly focusing his power down it, angling to land his kick again, but Gills swayed aside, snapping a bladed arm out and catching him a nasty blow across the head as he passed.

Kino rolled back down the alley, scrabbling for the wall. He must be as strong as me now—and so fast—! The thing was upon him again, three quick slashes gouging deep gashes into his leathery hide, before a hard blow put him right through the wall, bricks raining down around him, half-burying him, the fallen doctor lying still.

Gills stood over him for a minute, shoulders heaving, fingers twitching, growling constantly, before he managed to regain enough self-control to become Ashihara Ryou again.

He extended a hand to Koji, leading him out of the alley. "Was a good thing you did."

"Is he, uh, dead?"

"Dunno. Wasn't really thinking. Kinda hope so." They turned onto the main street, emerging into the rising sun.

"Man…" Koji said, blinking in the light. "What do I do now? I was really holding on hope for those powers. Stupid, I know, but I got nothing else."

"You kidding? You got everything, kid. Nobody's gonna come after you anymore, without that seed. You got time, you got the world."

"Hey now, it's not so easy for this generation, y'know."

"Yeah, I happen to be part of it. But there's something out there you're good at, or love doing, or if you're very lucky, both. Go find it."

"It'd be nice. And you? What are you gonna do?"

"What I gotta. This ain't over."

"To the last breath?"

"To the end. I think…that's what we used to call a Kamen Rider."

And next chapter, the final instalment of this weird time-jumping look at these two days, in which we check on the police and the G3 unit!