Disclaimer: I don't own the Kamen Rider franchise-it belongs to Toei and Ishinomori Shotaro! Only the OCs and OC Riders are original as well as the plot!
AN: Like the title says, this a preview for Kamen Rider Malik, a fic I plan to write in the future.
The continent of Europe was once engulfed in an age simply named the Dark Ages. It was a time of continuous warfare amongst different nations as monarchs tried to expand their land as much as possible. The people under them locked in what seemed to be an eternal system that prevented any social mobility. Fortunately, periods of knowledge and intellect, such as the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, brought an end to that period. The people were taken out of that feudal system, allowing them to experience economic prosperity and political freedom.
However, in this world, the countries of the world continue their medieval ways of ruling separate their separate kingdoms and fighting over dominance. Technology has become incorporated into such conflicts, giving armies the weapons, such as laser rifles and cannons to eliminate more of their foes. Though the feudal system was removed, the people do not experience that much social mobility and still are forced to follow their rulers. Interestingly enough, there is one country that is different from rest: Spain.
Spain, like the other European countries, does have its continuous medieval warfare, but there are some differences that set it apart from the others. In the north of Spain lies the Castillian Empire, while in the south was Moorish kingdom of the Tariqun Caliphate. Both are warring empire seeking to expand its territories, but they also allow more social and political mobility than the other nations. Still, it would seem that there was another about to rise from the shadows of the past...
The Tariqun Caliphate stretched from its capital city of Granada all the way up to the border, where it met with the Castillian Empire. Though there would be conflicts at the border, the two kingdoms managed to retain some form peace between one another, though it wasn't always like this. At first, the Tariqun Caliphate was a small kingdom, but after a few decades, it expanded into a large empire as it took some lands from the Castillian Empire. All of the land within southern Spain was under the rule of the Caliph, save for the lone city of Seville.
Since Seville was the only city not apart of the Caliph's kingdom, many attempts were made to conquer it only to meet with failures. Generals upon generals would return to Granada to report their failure to the Caliph, who would then employ someone else to besieged the city. For over five decades, the Caliph's forces have failed over and over again to reach their goal and within a few weeks, Seville was under the rule of the Caliph.
Seville's walls once stood tall and proud, but were now battered from the days of being bombarded by blasts from laser cannons and blaster rifles. Fortunately, it was being reconstructed by both the Caliph's soldiers as well as the soldiers of Seville. If anyone would see this, they would be shocked and confused at the sight of this. Two forces that were once enemies were now working together in fixing the city's walls.
The soldiers of the Caliph wore the usual bronze domed-shaped helmet as well as a black breastplate over the green pants and shirt. Each one carried a blaster rifle along with a sword meant for close combat, like the knights of Seville. Seville's knights wore the typical gray armor of knights with round helmets over their heads. The ones directing the reconstruction were the nobles of Seville as well as the commanders of the Caliph soldiers, and supervising them was none other than the king of Seville, Henry.
Though he was in his early fifties, one could tell Henry was well built, despite the red robe covering his yellow shirt. He also wore yellow pants that were held up by a white sash around his waist, where his sheathed sword hung from. Henry had green eyes and dirty blond hair that went down to his neck, touching his fair skin.
Henry stood there with his hands clasped behind his back as he watched his soldiers help the Caliph's soldiers in rebuilding the wall of the city he ruled. The king of Seville was happy at the sight of the wall being rebuilt, but he was also shocked. At first, these soldiers were trying to kill each other, but now they were helping each other, something which rarely happens. Seville was conquered by the Moorsish of the Tariqun Caliphate, but they did not harm any of the civilians, like other rulers would. And that was just a few weeks ago.
The king of Seville couldn't help but let out a lightly chuckle at that thought. 'I can't believe it's only been a few weeks,' he thought to himself. 'It still feels like yesterday...'
(Flashback)
As Seville's walls were attacked by the forces of the Caliph, inside was the city of Seville itself with its citizens inside shelters to be protected from the cannons and blasters. The soldiers, on the other hand, were on the walls trying to keep the Caliph's forces from entering the walls as they fired their own blasters and cannons at their opponents. Among the soldiers was Henry, who wore his usual robes, but he also wore gray gauntlets and boots on his forearms and legs as well as a gray breastplate on his chest. "Hold your ground men!" he encouraged them to keep up morale. "We can't let them get passed this wall!"
One of the nobles, who wore a brown cape over his gray armor, approached the king. "My king!" the nobleman bowed his head in respect.
Turning his head towards the nobleman, the King of Seville immediately demanded, "What is it?"
"Your majesty, a division of the invading forces have turned towards from our walls!" the nobleman reported with a hint of urgency in his tone.
Henry grinned as he felt a hint of pride overcome him. "Good! That means we have them on the run!"
Before the king could continue his boast, the nobleman interrupted, "But my king, our forces that we sent out are being attacked by that division!"
Henry's grin left his face as it was filled with shock and surprise. "Are you sure?" Henry demanded.
"Yes," the nobleman confirmed. "The remaining forces have retreated back to the walls before they could be captured."
Seville's king let out a sigh of frustration before ordering, "Tell them to go to the healers. They'll need to regain their strength."
The nobleman nodded as he left the king, but before Henry could resume keeping his soldiers in check, a gray-armored knight called out, "My king, someone is attacking the eastern wall!"
Henry's head whipped towards the soldier. "What? Who's attacking us?" Henry demanded.
Before anyone could answer, a part of the eastern wall of Seville exploded as bricks of stone went flying into the air and striking some of the King's knights. The king and some of the nobles turned their attention towards the eastern wall to see a large hole in the lower bit of the wall with smoke coming out of it. "Send what remaining knights we have to defend that area!" the king immediately ordered as ran down the steps in hopes of reaching the eastern wall. "We can't afford anyone to get in!"
As if on cue, a group of gray armored knights immediately arrived at the eastern wall with their swords and pikes out, ready to fight whoever was coming through. While the king ran across the grounds, he noticed smoke came out of the hole and covered the entire area, which made it hard for the knight already there to see their enemies. Much to Henry's shock, he saw his knights were being eliminated, one by one, by a figure, whose form was blurred by the smoke. Henry fastened his pace in hopes of arriving there sooner, but he was already too late for the knights at the eastern wall were already lying on the ground, either unconscious or wounded.
Upon arriving the eastern wall, Henry tried to get a good look of the person responsible for this, and though the smoke blurred his vision, the King of Seville could see a figure standing in the center of the defeated knights. Henry could see the figure wearing black armor and had green eyes with a curved sword in his hands. The rest of his features were hidden by the smoke coming from hole in the eastern wall as well as the blasters and cannons nearby. 'Who is he?' Henry wondered.
Some of the king's knights that had arrived with Henry charged at the unknown figure only to be struck down by a shining blade or by the figure's fists. Done with the knights, the figure turned his attention towards the king of Seville, which made Henry draw his sword out his scabbard. Henry charged at the black armored figure and swung his sword at him, but the smoke worsen the King's vision as his sword only hit the air around him instead of his opponent. The figure dodged the attack before he swung his sword at Henry, who brought his sword up in time to block it. Their blades were locked against one another with the king trying to overcome his opponent by putting more pressure on his blade.
However, the king of Seville would not have any luck as the figure arced his curved blade upward, sending Henry's sword into the sky. Before he could react, Henry found the figure's sword at his throat while his sword landed on the ground with a 'clank.' Henry stared into the green eyes, which he now realized were actual compound lenses, as the figure kept his sword against Henry's throat. "Do you yield?" the figure asked.
The King of Seville sighed in defeat and spoke the words he never thought would be spoken. "I yield."
(Flashback end)
"My king!" a voice called out.
Henry's trance was broken as he turned around see one of his knights approaching him. The knight was in his late twenties with fair skin, brown hair, and blue eyes. He wore the usual attire of a brown shirt and pants with a black belt around his waist along with the usual gray gauntlets and boots. "My king!" the knight bowed his head in respect.
Turning his head towards the knight, the King of Seville immediately demanded, "What is it?"
"Your majesty, he is coming!" the nobleman reported with a hint of urgency in his tone.
The king of Seville knew he was; the conqueror of Seville, the one who bested him in combat. Henry questioned, "Did he say when?"
"He should be arriving very shortly, sire," the knight answered. "He wanted me to let you know in advance."
When the knight said that, Henry noticed a familiar figure walking towards his direction, which made the king smirk at that. "I believe he's already here," Henry stated.
The knight and the king saw the figure came close to them, revealing itself to be a young man about twenty with light tanned skin, short dark brown hair, and blue eyes. On his body, the young man wore a green shirt and pants that were held up by a black sash. 'Sal,' Seville's king recognized. 'The conqueror of Seville.'
Henry turned towards his knight and spoke, "Thank you. You may resume your duties."
After the knight left, Henry's attention went back towards the young man named Sal, who greeted, "Greetings, my king."
Henry could not help but smile at Sal as he held out his hand towards the young man. "Just call me Henry, Sal," Seville's king insisted. "It's the least I can do for someone who still lets me rule over my kingdom, unlike other conquerors."
"I'm afraid I can't, especially in front of your soldiers," Sal argued.
"We're no longer enemies, and besides, you let me call you Sal."
"That's because I'm only a soldier, not a king," Sal chuckled as he grasped Henry's hand.
The king of Seville chuckled at that as well. "True, true."
Once releasing his grip from Henry's hand, Sal asked, "So, how's the reconstruction of the wall coming along?"
"Pretty well," he answered. "So far, we have over half of the wall rebuilt. Within a few more weeks, the entire wall will be as good as new!"
A wave of irony came over the two when they both heard a loud explosion, which made both Sal and Henry whip their heads around to see a loud cloud of smoke arising from a section of the rebuilt wall. Immediately, the conqueror of Seville and its king ran towards the cloud of smoke, and as they did, they noticed some soldiers were running away from the source of the explosion. Those that did not run away were lying on the ground, only injured from the explosion. When they arrived at the large cloud of smoke, they noticed a large chunk of the wall was missing with bricks piled on top of one another. Standing on top of the large rubble was the source of the explosion.
The source of the explosion was a masculine figure who wore a black bodysuit underneath his purple armor. The figure had black lines etched onto his purple chest plate, gauntlets, boots, and round shoulder guards. His round helmet had a silver mouth guard and a pair of antennae protruding above the black eye lenses. Around his waist was a white belt with a purple gem in the center of his silver, hexagonal buckle, and hanging from the left side of his belt was a scabbard that held a sword with a curved blade and a white handle.
"What is that?" Henry exclaimed.
Everyone else wondered the same thing as they stared at the figure, save for Sal, who ordered, "Henry, get everyone far away here."
The king of Seville nodded as he ran towards those injured and help them retreat a safe distance from the area. When Henry left, Sal's attention was turned back towards the armored figure who looked back at the young man. "So, you finally showed yourself," the armored figure stated.
"I'm here," Sal nodded, "and I want answers!"
The figure smirked underneath his helmet. "Well, you're going to have to fight me to get them."
Sal let out a groan of frustration before a belt suddenly materialized around his waist. The belt was similar to the figure's, except it was colored in golden, the gem was green, and the sword had a black scabbard and handle. "Henshin!" Sal exclaimed as his right hand grasped the buckle.
Henry, who was attending to some of the injured workers, heard the cry and turned to see a green light emerged from Sal's buckle and engulfed the young man's human form. It blinded everyone in the vicinity, and once the flash of green light retreat back into Sal's buckle, another armored figure stood in Sal's place. "My lord, look!" one of the king's announced, making Henry look at Sal's form.
Sal now wore a golden bodysuit underneath his golden chest armor that had two black plates on it. He wore black gauntlets and boots, and his box-shaped shoulder guards had golden trimmings on them. His black helmet was round with a pair of antennae protruding from the forehead and plates on his silver mouth guard that made it look like mandibles. His green lenses flashed with emerald energy.
As to who he was, Henry identified 'Sal' in one word: "Malik."
AN (EDIT: 10/30/2017): Yet another my strange ideas from my first few years on this site, back when I was a more... opinionated teenager. And this definitely shows. Hopefully, it doesn't leave a horrible taste in everyone's mouth.
Raika out.