Disclaimer: Kamen Rider belongs to Toei and Shotarou Ishinomori. Any original characters (while may reference either of the aforementioned property) are exceptions.

The sky today was the same on the day the world almost died. Then, Yoshi's ten-year-old self saw calm clouds covered in a red haze shining from a sun setting in the distance. The sight, though breathtaking, was cut short by the things running rampant through the streets of his hometown and broke into his home. Monsters. Kaijin. He recognized those words while inhuman claws grabbed his parent's throats, choking down their cries of "Run!" to the child Yoshi.

Now, the forty-year-old formerly known as Kamen Rider Nova stumbled out of a hall of shadows. Having fought with all Yoshi had, it took everything left in his legs to escape the monsters inside chasing him and the other Kamen Riders. He wasn't even sure where everyone else went after the flash of white stripped him of his armor. He was sure of his legs falling onto concrete minutes after he walked out of that door.

While Yoshi used them and his arms for support, breathing in as much air as his lungs would allow, he heard it. The sound of seagulls flying above, the splashing water against the cliff, the whirling wind passing over his body, and… footsteps?

"Some view, isn't it?" said the smug voice belonging to the footsteps.

Yoshi steeled himself and glared at the smirking white-clad man before him. "Shi… Shimamura," Yoshi growled at the leader of Foundation X, the very man whose base the Riders had infiltrated.

Shimamura's smugness glowed against the reddened sky. "Need any help?" he asked, raising a hand to Yoshi.

Yoshi swiped it away. "Do that again… and I'll break your arm!" he snapped.

"Highly unlikely, seeing how weak you are without your Rider powers," Shimamura said a-matter-of-factly. "If everything was according to plan, then it would happen all around. Any Rider can no longer hide."

After struggling to his feet, Yoshi swung his arms open to prove Shimamura wrong. "Hen… shin!" he cried as he crossed his arms over his stomach and awaited for the overflowing light of his pseudo-Kingstone to activate his armor.

Yoshi's body froze against the wind and seagulls, the only answers to his call. There was no light. No armor. No Rider.

Shock shook Yoshi's knees slightly, and anger flowed into his fists. "What… just what was that back there? What did you do?!" he demanded.

Shimamura smiled, and Yoshi wanted to punch him in his teeth. Both for Shimamura's silence and what he had said. Yoshi couldn't believe any of it. There was no way it was true. It couldn't be! It… it…

Yoshi suppressed his dread. "How long will this last?"

"It may be a week. Maybe a year… Who can say. However long it takes, it will be enough. The world will finish my business," Shimamura said. Everything about him-his tone, his posture, even his hands in his pockets-had been aloof, even when Yoshi looked at him in confusion. "You don't know? You and your Riders have made many enemies, Nova, especially in the world's governments. As you are now, they won't hesitate to take you in."

"That's… that's…"

Shimamura chuckled. "Impossible? Perhaps… but why don't you listen to this?" he 'suggested' and pulled out a holo-phone from his pocket.

Forced to lend his ear, Yoshi wished he hadn't when he first heard, "... Riders have been spotted… Intel was correct… orders, sir?"

"Arrest on sight," said another voice, one all too familiar.

Yoshi silently cursed the name of the Interpol agent and the man who responded to him, saying, "... Squadron ready…. Riders in by the end of the day."

Yoshi's glare went up to Shimamura. "Don't think it's over," Yoshi swore. "You must be stupid if you think I won't take you down with me!"

"And I'm not," said Shimamura, who pulled away the holo-phone. "By the time the agents arrive, any connection to my organization will be gone. I've made sure to keep my hands clean. Even if they do find anything, I am prepared for what will happen. The question is: are you?"

The question struck Yoshi. Would he be prepared for what was to come next? After all, he was powerless. And they would all come after him, like the monsters who had chased when he was a child. Not to mention, he didn't know where the other Riders were!

For the first time in many years, Yoshi felt hopeless. His knees quivered on that hopelessness. It only increased as Yoshi heard that blasted Shimamura go on.

"You and fellow Riders are wanted, Nova. Soon, there won't be a place for you all to hide. The governments have been waiting to take you in for decades to study your powers, and now they will..." Shimamura paused, looked to the great ocean, and continued, "... or they won't. Imagine what will happen when they find out you can't transform or when they can't replicate the process. I'm very interested to see what they will do with you and your Riders, then."

Despite all he heard, Yoshi's stubbornness kept his legs standing. It wasn't enough to ward the insidious thoughts from his mind. He knew Shimamura was right, and Shimamura knew that too. With nothing else, Yoshi looked out to the ocean and wondered just how bright it looked.

And the sky. Yoshi now knew why the image stuck to him for thirty years. It was the color of blood, as if warning him his parents were to die on that day. Yoshi would've died too if not for the Kamen Rider coming to save him. The Rider then had wielded his sword of light, slashing and stabbing at the monsters with all he had. Yoshi bore witness to that power, and moreso when the Kamen Rider unleashed a wave of light. In that light, the power had been seeded in Yoshi and would grow into the warrior known as Nova.

Yoshi's fist shook with anger from the memory. Now, there was no Kamen Rider to save him. No great light from the Rider to give him powers. Today would be the day the Riders died. Maybe not in body, but their title would. And Yoshi's armor had been stripped, leaving him figuratively bare against the new world.

No, there was no one to help… but he would survive. He had before. And he would do anything necessary to achieve that.

"Well?" Shimamura asked, smiling as he held out his hand again.

Yoshi accepted it with a snarl.

AN: Another little one-shot for the Kamen Rider story I mentioned in the last entry. Again, I'm not absolutely sure when (or even if) I can upload said story. Hopefully it will be good. This bit may not be much, but I do hope you also enjoy it. Take care.

Raika out.