Tears to Shed
Note: Takes place during I Revenge of "Horseshoes and Hand-grenades"
III: 2-5-20-18-1-25-1-12
"Is it possible to succeed with any act of betrayal?"
-Jean Renoir
Gentaro opened his eyes, seeing the harsh fluorescent lights of the Rabbit Hatch illuminating his surroundings. He slowly sat up, his mind trying to recollect what happened hours ago. There was a warehouse, and he was there fighting Aries Zodiarts as Kamen Rider Fourze in his Magnets States. Just as he was about to land the final blow and end the Zodiarts' tyrannical reign over Subaruboshi High, he was attacked.
That, unfortunately, was the hazy part. He recalled a blue and gold blur standing in-between him and Aries Zodiarts, wielding a staff. The blur was swift, swifter than he was, and it mercilessly attacked him with everything it had. The brawl eventually ended with a fist just an inch away from his heart, hesitating as if it did not want to kill him, and it connected. Gentaro collapsed onto the ground, feeling his heartbeat slow down, unable to let his human body continue. As he was lying on the ground, he remembered saying something...something important.
"I think it's the first time you've ever been honest with me. I had the chance to face you head on and helped you out. I'm glad...even if it...killed me..."
"Kisa...Gentaro," said a voice, snapping him from his thoughts. "You're alive. You're here..."
Gentaro slowly turned his gaze to the person who spoke his name. This person was around the same age as him, with short brown hair and dressed in a school uniform of a blue blazer and plaid pants. The person had a look of relief and utmost joy on his face, but Gentaro didn't understand why.
"Gentaro," the person repeated. "Are you alright? Can you hear me?"
Gentaro tilted his head in curiosity. His mind was so foggy; he could barely remember anything else prior to the warehouse and those words. Why was he here in the first place? In fact, who was the one who killed him?
His thoughts were interrupted when he was hugged by an older man dressed in khaki pants, a blue striped buttoned blouse and suspenders. This man began to cry tears of joy as he ran a hand through Gentaro's hair.
"Kisaragi!" said the man, sobbing on his shoulder. "You're alive! Ryusei Sakuta didn't kill you! You're here and-"
Ryusei Sakuta...that name rang a bell in his mind. His eyes widened with realization. Images flashed through his head...images of a teenage boy with brown hair and dressed in a tan school uniform. Images of a Kamen Rider with a staff and dressed in blue and gold. Images of the Kamen Rider's fist punching his heart and causing him to die. They all lead to the same thing...they were the images of his killer.
"Now you remember, don't you?" A sibilant voice whispered in his head. "This is why you have been revived...to enact revenge on the person who damned you. Ryusei Sakuta..."
"Sakuta..." Gentaro repeated, the word leaving his lips. That's when everything dawned on him. Ryusei Sakuta was the cause of all of this suffering. He was the cause of all of his pain and tears.
"That's right, Serpent-bearer. Ryusei Sakuta instigated this madness because he wanted to see you die. He hated you with every fiber of his being. He will never be a candidate for your friendship. He has only earned your hatred for him. Ryusei Sakuta must die."
"Where is Ryusei Sakuta?" asked Gentaro, staring into the eyes of the teenager. No, if memory served him right, this teenager had a name. Their name was...Kengo Utahoshi. With that revelation, images of other people appeared in his head, people who were smiling and laughing and playing with him. They were his friends...
Friends...No, they weren't his friends at all. They left him to fend for himself while they watched the spectacle without a care in the world. They all deceived him in the end. That made him angry inside...he befriended them all and for what? To let himself die by a fatal punch to the heart? To have him pour out how happy he was to die so someone else could be happy?
He curled his hands into fists as he asked Kengo, "Where is he? And where are the others?"
"I don't know," Kengo ansered, shaking his head in reply. "The last time I saw Sakuta, he was still with the Aries Zodiarts and the other members of the Kamen Rider Club. I was the only one who actually managed to escape. Gentaro, are you..."
"Leave me be," Gentaro interrupted. "I have to do this on my own."
He gave both Kengo and Ohsugi- the name of the older man who hugged him earlier -an evil glare to entrap them. The three kept at their staring contest for a few more seconds while Gentaro saw his opponents' eyes slowly dimmed and their heads drooped. Gentaro blinked and noticed what he had done. A look of confusion and curiosity was on his face before he heard the hissing voice in his mind.
"They are temporarily under my command," said the voice. "Now is the time to give them their commands. What do you have in store for these two?"
Gentaro stared into the eyes of his entranced victims before smiling. He had so many ideas on how he could kill the people that betrayed him. Those people who he called friends would all pay with their fucking lives.
However, another thought came into his mind. Killing their bodies and leaving them alone in the empty void of space was too swift, too messy and too...boring. If he wanted to have a little more fun with them, perhaps attacking them mentally would give him a little game to play.
Raising a hand into the air, Gentaro commanded, "Close your eyes and forget what you have seen."
When he lowered his hand, both Ohsugi and Kengo fell into slumber. Gentaro felt the voice in his head chuckle as he continued to speak.
"In your eyes, I have died by the hands of both Ryusei Sakuta and the Aries Zodiarts," he said. My corpse is lying down on the bench you see before you, and the Cosmic Switch failed to revive me. No matter what you try, I will never be revived. There was nothing that you could do to do. Do you understand?"
"Yes, master." Hearing those voices reply to him in that way filled Gentaro with excitement. This was definitely better than slowly torturing them to death. The possibilities with having people under his control were endless, and so were the puppets that he could amass in such a short time.
Unfortunately, Gentaro could not take pleasure in what he had done. He had to find where Ryusei and the rest of his back-stabbing friends were and command them to forget all about him.
Pulling the Cosmic Switch out of the Fourzer Driver and into Kengo's hands, Gentaro inserted and replaced some of the Astroswitches on the driver before snapping his fingers.
While Kengo and Ohsugi sobbed over an invisible corpse, Gentaro Kisaragi approached the door that would let him leave the Rabbit Hatch. He flipped the tabs of the Fourze Driver down, waiting for the Driver to initiate its countdown.
"Henshin," Gentaro whispered, pulling onto the Driver's lever.
0-0-0-0-0-
"Gen-chan!" cried Yuki Jojima as she saw Kamen Rider Fourze obliterating the Dustards with the Launcher and Gatling modules on his legs. "You're alive!"
Fourze made a slow descent onto the ground, as the Rocket on his right hand and the Gatling Gun and Rocket Launcher on his legs faded away. He turned around and stared into the eyes of the relied members of the Kamen Rider Club, narrowing his eyes in disgust. These people, the people he befriended and saved from numerous Zodiarts attacks, were happy to see him. He wasn't.
He turned his gaze back at both Aries Zodiarts and Ryusei, saying, "I'm not alive. I'm still dead."
Hearing the gasps and statements of disbelief from the tied-up members of the Kamen Rider Club, Fourze observed Yamada Tatsumori screaming at how Ryusei was supposed to 'kill Fourze'. Ryusei also held a look of disbelief, as if he was seeing a ghost.
"I died by the hands of Ryusei Sakuta," said Fourze. "But I came back thanks to a voice. In return, all I have to do is one little thing."
"And what, if I may ask, is that?" asked Aries Zodiarts.
"Kill you."
Fourze pulled out the N/S Magphone and split in half. Inserting both Switch 30-N Magnet and Switch 31-S Magnet into the far right and left slots of the Fourze Driver, he pressed onto the tops of the switches and felt himself transform into his Magnet States.
N/S Magnet On
Beams of magnetic energy radiated across his body as his white Fourze armor became a dull silver and two cannons mounted on his shoulders. Rectangular magnets were attached to his arm—a red one for the right, and a blue one for the left. However, unlike the clean and shiny States that usually saw battle, due to Ryusei's assault on him just a few hours ago, bits and pieces of wire and metal stuck out, as if reflecting Gentaro Kisaragi's damaged soul.
"Your plan in having me killed was very clever, Yamada," Fourze noted. "But in the end, you were just so very, very close in killing me. You know what they say, 'Close only counts in Horseshoes and Hand-grenades.'"
Yamada Tatsumori took a good look at his opponent before shaking his head. Fourze didn't reply, but rather tightened his grip on the N/S Magnet Switches.
"Your form is inferior to mine in every possible way!" the Zodiarts exclaimed. "How will you be able to defeat the King of Subaruboshi High? Why, with just a wave of my hand, I can place you into a never-ending sleep before taking the pleasure in killing you and your so-called 'friends'!"
Fourze didn't reply. Rather, he felt the voice in his head speak to him once more.
"Master Ophiuchus," He said in his mind. "What shall we do? How do we enact our revenge on this heartless bastard?"
"I have a suggestion," Ophiuchus chuckled. "Concentrate on your emotions. Feel them building up inside you, making you overflow with anger and hatred. That is your new power...the power to summon me into the real world so we can eradicate the monsters that have caused you to suffer! Unleash your power and let me LIVE!"
Everyone paid attention to how Fourze stayed silent. The Kamen Rider bowed his head as if resigning to his fate. Aries Zodiarts just laughed.
"That's what I thought," He said. "Now it's time to-"
Fourze suddenly lifted his head as a geyser of Cosmic Energy burst forth from the cracks of the Magnet States' armor. It rushed toward Aries Zodiarts, coiling around him in a serpentine body.
"W-what's going on?" Yamada screamed. "How dare you attack me like that!" Raising his Coppelius scepter into the air, he readied the mist that made him rise into his title as king. However, unlike the other successful attempts into making his lackeys and subjects fall into slumber, there was no mist that caused the Cosmic Energy to release its grip on him. "W-what?! No! My powers! What...are you?!"
The energy that wrapped around Yamada's body soon shifted to reveal a serpent's head and tail. It let out a hiss as it opened its eyes, revealing two large pools of light. At the same time, Fourze also felt the energy fusing with him, possessing him, making him feel as if he was at peace with himself.
Then he spoke, and he heard the voice of his master mixed with his own.
"We are Ophiuchus," both Fourze and Ophiuchus hissed. "And we are your grand finale!"
The Cosmic Energy serpent opened its mouth, revealing a set of fangs glowing like stars. Yamada began to beg and plead for his freedom, but it was all in vain. Ophiuchus lunged toward his prey and swallowed him whole. The Zodiarts let out a cry of pain as it exploded, its Zodiarts Switch flown toward Fourze. The Kamen Rider caught it and tossed it onto the ground, stomping it with his foot. When it made contact with his heel, Cosmic Energy escaped. The Kamen Rider felt the energy flow into the cracks of his armor, filling him with renewed strength.
"We have done it, Master." Fourze thought to himself. "Yamada Tatsumori may Rest in Peace now."
Flipping the tabs of the Fourze Driver up, a pillar of light encased Fourze. When it died down, there was only Gentaro Kisaragi.
"I'm so sorry..." Ryusei whispered, inching toward Gentaro. "Gentaro..."
Gentaro looked into Ryusei's eyes, countless thoughts racing in his mind. Killing Ryusei with his own hands would be fun, but forcing him to kill himself with a gun to the temple was much more fun.
"Ignore him for now." Ophiuchus whispered into Gentaro's ear. "That's an order."
Gentaro nodded his head before turning heel. As he began to walk away, he heard the voice his old friend Yuki Jojima catching his attention. An idea formed in his mind.
"Gen-chan!" cried Yuki, struggling to escape the ropes. "What's going on? Why are you-"
"I'm not here," Gentaro interrupted, setting his gaze upon the five pairs of eyes in front of him. The Kamen Rider Club gasped as they saw their friend's eyes glow red. Gentaro smirked as he added, "I am dead. Yamada was defeated by a blast of Cosmic Energy and nothing more. Break this to my grandfather and get on with your lives. Live on for my sake."
"And then I'll go and have some more fun with you while you're all still sobbing your eyes out," Gentaro thought in his mind.
"Gentaro!" screamed Miu. "What do you think you're doing? We're your friends! You can't do this!"
"No they aren't." Ophiuchus hissed. "If they truly were your friends, would they have left you to die? Would they have stood there and let Ryusei complete his deal with that wooly devil? No, they wouldn't. Therefore, they aren't your friends."
Gentaro snarled as he recalled seeing the Kamen Rider Club see him fight all by himself. They just stood there, being witnesses to his death, never rushing toward his side to save him from his fate. Tears fell down his face as he gnashed his teeth.
"I can and I will make you forget about me," Gentaro hissed. "You were the Club Chairman, Miu. Why didn't you tell the Club Members to save me? You didn't care for me at all. After all," he narrowed his eyes. "You called me, 'Trashiest of Trash'."
"Miu does care!" said Shun. "She cares for you and the Club! And-"
"As for you, Daimonji," Gentaro sneered. "You stood there while you were in the Power Dizer. You could've charged in and saved me from Meteor Storm's attacks! No! You stood there like an idiot!
"And as for JK," Gentaro turned to the whimpering gossip broker. "Why didn't you look up on Ryusei's profile? You said you knew every student in Amanogawa High, and Ryusei was a fellow student! You lazy, good-for-nothing back stabber..." He let out a low hiss.
"I couldn't find anything!" JK wailed. "Honest!"
"What about you, Tomoko?" said Gentaro, turning his attention to Tomoko. The goth girl was shivering with fear. "Where was that 'sixth sense' that you were so well known for? Oh and what about your precious 'Kamen Riders'? Where are they now, huh?! Oh that's right, they're gone! They don't care about weirdos and people who don't actively follow hunches. You knew that Ryusei was evil, and yet you never told us!"
"I'm sorry!" Tomoko sobbed. "Gentaro, please don't erase my mind!"
"'Gentaro, please don't erase my mind!' HAH!" Gentaro growled. "You should've thought of that before you started using your heart to guide you."
"Gen-chan!" Yuki screamed. "Why are you saying nasty words to your friends! We've always supported you! We've been there for you! We'd never leave you! So please, stop this madness! Stop it!"
For a moment, Gentaro's eyes were no longer red. He stayed silent as he recalled Yuki saying those exact same words prior to the killing blow. It was that last futile attempt to prevent Ryusei from enacting a terrible mistake. It failed. He clenched his fists as darkness flared around him.
"She tells you to stop it, but she didn't act on her words!" Ophiuchus boomed in Genaro's ear. "Action speaks louder than words, Serpent-bearer and her actions showed that she didn't care for you at all. Ryusei's actions spoke louder and they told you that he wished to see you die! So tell me, whose actions meant more to your well-being? Hers or Ryusei's?"
"Gen-chan!" Yuki repeated. "Please stop it...don't do this to your friends!"
"You...you ARE NOT MY FRIENDS!" Gentaro screamed. "You are all my enemy! And all I want is for you to FORGET ALL ABOUT ME!"
The darkness around Gentaro rose into the air, transforming into the serpent that devoured the Aries Zodiarts minutes ago. It opened its mouth, revealing its pearly white fangs.
"Master," Gentaro hissed, pointing at the tied Kamen Rider Club Members. "Devour their memories! Make them forget that I even came to save their sorry asses."
"As you command," Ophiuchus laughed, flying toward them. The Kamen Rider Club members looked in horror as Ophiuchus swallowed them whole, their screams muffled by Gentaro laughing in absolute glee. Ryusei wanted to say something, tell Gentaro to stop what he was doing, but his body was too weak. He could only watch as the heads of the Kamen Rider Club members dropped as the serpent returned to Gentaro's side before dissipating into a cloud of Cosmic Energy. Gentaro licked his fingers in delight before he spoke.
"And as for you," he said, turning to the former Kamen Rider Meteor. "I suggest that you get this memorized: You killed me. I'm never going to come back to life. I'm dead, and no amount of science or magic can undo your actions. I am not allowed to rest until my my mission is complete."
Ryusei stayed quiet as Gentaro chose his next choice of words carefully. He wanted to see the expression of fear on Ryusei's face as he spoke. Gentaro lowered his head as he continued.
"If you have any sanity, you go to your friend, tell him you were forgiven and then you hide. You are no longer the Kamen Rider that saved me and the 'Kamen Rider Club', and you have no other means to fight me. You are my target for my anger and my vengeance, but...I shall spare you. After all," Gentaro glared as he added with a sneer, "We're friends."
He saw Ryusei's look of disbelief and horror and smiled. With his work done, Gentaro Kisaragi disappeared in a cloud of Cosmic Energy, feeling satisfied with what he accomplished.
Next time: What is good and what is evil? Does being a Kamen Rider automatically means that someone is good? People become heroes for all different reasons, but are all reasons good reasons?
Tears to Shed 4-Henshin