Kamen Rider Paradox City (RPG Thread, PG-15)

[storymasterb]

Characters:
Hiroko Shimizu (Kamen Rider Persephone) – Sengoku Driver – storymasterb
Samuel Ward (Kamen Rider Lambda) - Lambda Driver (555-style) - storymasterb
Kyle Mercer (Kamen Rider Komodo) - Drax Driver (Den-O style) - Solsabre
Miki Chihara (Kamen Rider Lucky) - OOO Driver - TheSequelReturns
Eleveno Five (Kamen Rider Amazon Delta) - Amazons Driver - Skeith

-

Hiroko's motorcycle roared through the streets of Paradox City. She had been riding now for a week, stopping only for short rests, quick meals, and to refuel the bike when she found a gas station. She wasn't afraid of the monsters crawling the streets, but dispatching all the ones she saw would take too long. If she were to reach the end of this seemingly-infinite city, she couldn't spend all her time fighting.

She brought the motorcycle to a halt, judging by the sun that it was roughly time for lunch. This street at least seemed empty, dusty as it was. The howls of monsters sounded in the distance, but for now it seemed safe to eat. Pulling off her helmet, she turned to recover some of her scavenged food from the bag attached to the cycle.

Three days of riding and the city still stretched out to the horizon, she mused as she devoured a sandwich. All the food she had was recovered from empty shops, whatever she could grab off the shelves. Part of her felt uneasy about just taking it, but no one ever came out to challenge her, and she needed it for the journey. If she was ever going to reach the end, it was obvious she needed to keep her strength up, not just for the riding, but for fighting those monsters she couldn't just ride past. As she ate, she looked around at the street. Store-fronts stared back, a hardware store here, a clothes store whose brand was identical to that of the one she'd taken her current outfit from after her old clothes had been ripped up in the struggle with that first monster. Before she had found the belt.

Finishing the sandwich, she took out the device in question. A plate of black metal with a silver fruit knife attached to the front, an indentation where she inserted her Lockseeds, and on the opposite side to the knife, a red and bronze panel featuring olive vines, with her armored form's helmet painted in a side-on view looking to the left. She hadn't heard of a belt like this when she'd heard the stories of the Kamen Riders, but this was hers. She had found it, and surely it had been meant for her to find it there, when she most needed it.

She devoured a second sandwich while staring at the Driver, before looking through her bag of supplies. Her food would still last her, but her water supplies were running low. For those three days of riding, the sun had shone down hot and bright, and she'd gone through the water faster than expected. With a sigh, she closed the bag and regarded the stores, trying to decide which might have a working tap from which to refill her bottles. In some places, the electricity and water just didn't work for no apparent reason, another strange detail of this very strange city.

But as she considered, the sounding of growling reached her ears, and she turned to see a monster stalking down the street towards her. It was a type she hadn't seen before, a humanoid tiger-like beast coated in bright green scales, its legs granite grey. Long, sharp claws adorned its right hand, and its red eyes glared at her hungrily.

Hiroko dismounted the bike and strode a few paces towards the monster, Driver in hand. She was smiling. Even if fighting distracted her from her journey, she relished the fights themselves and feeling the power of a Kamen Rider.

“Come to be my dessert?” she chuckled. The monster snarled, and she slapped the Driver to her waist, causing its yellow strap to quickly circle her body. Taking the first Lockseed from the holder on her hip, she held it up, savoring the moment before clicking it open.

“Olive!” it declared, causing the monster to halt. Hiroko slid the Lockseed into the Driver's slot and slammed down the lock, the belt announcing “Lock on!” for her and the monster to hear. Above her, a portal unzipped, an olive made of armored plates slowly floating through it. She took a deep breath of anticipation, the trumpet riff of her Driver ringing out as she spoke the word of a Kamen Rider.

“Henshin.”

She sliced the Driver's knife into the Lockseed, making it fall open. Her base armor instantly formed on her body, the bronze and red plates manifesting as the fruit above her fell onto her shoulders and unfurled.

“Come on! Olive Arms! Bright of Shield!” the belt sang as the plates aligned onto her body and snapped into place. Her sword and shield formed in her hand and on her wrist respectively, and she gazed out through her visor, smiling widely behind it.

Hiroko, or rather Kamen Rider Persephone strode forward, drawing back her sword ready to strike, raising her shield ready to defend. Probably cowed by her transformation, the monster had hung back, but now it came at her with claws ready. She met it on the dusty street, shield batting aside the claws, blade carving sparks across its chest.

Persephone punched the monster with her shield arm, her enhanced strength making it stagger back and enable a follow through stab of her sword that made a gout of sparks pour from its chest. A second thrust of the sword followed as she pressed the attack, a punch hammering the beast away.

And through it, she was still smiling beneath the helmet, alive with the thrill of combat and the power of her armor.

-

“Food's running low again,” Yuto reported glumly from across the room. He spoke Japanese, but everyone else understood him regardless. Language wasn't a barrier here. As always, the gazes turned to the corner where Samuel sat. It was always him who went to get food now. But he didn't mind, after all, only he could do it safely. All thanks to the belt that sat on the floor next to him.

“Okay,” he said, rising to his feet with the belt in his hand. “I'll see what I can find.” It was the least he could do for these people. They couldn't go out and gather safely. Not with all the monsters out there.

“Ah, can you see if you can get grandma some medicine?” Saheeli asked. “Her cough's getting worse, I'd like to nip it in the bud if I can.”

He nodded, avoiding their gazes as he crossed the room to retrieve his satchel. “Do we need anything else?”

“Nothing else for me,” Yuto said.

“Me neither,” Antonio reported from his perch by the window. Saheeli's grandmother was asleep in one of the bedrooms of this apartment they'd claimed, so no reply came from her. The four of them were here when he'd arrived and, grudgingly in Yuto's case, allowed him to stay with them, however uneasily. But that unease had faded once he found the belt, replaced by awe and happiness that someone could be trusted to get supplies and come back.

Yuto talked about the Kamen Riders and he never made them sound like errand boys.

Regardless, Samuel left, careful to shut the apartment door and hear it bolt behind him. It wouldn't help if a monster decided to get in, of course. It just provided a little peace of mind and might deter one. Most of the time, monsters never got to the door, he'd fight them on the stairs to keep them at bay. But he needed to get food for the group as well as protect the others, so they needed the small comfort of a locked door while he was gone.

The stairs were empty, as was the building's lobby. He wasn't sure how old the city was, because it seemed modern and still-functioning, yet everything seemed deserted apart from monsters and the odd person who appeared just as he had. He had the street to himself as he walked toward the street of stores where he usually foraged for food. He'd pick them clean eventually, and then he'd have to look further afield. That thought lingered at the back of his mind, the awareness that all they were doing was surviving, that sitting around and waiting to go home wasn't likely to get them anywhere. But he was too shy to begin that conversation with the others and they never seemed to approach that train of thought. If they did, they didn't talk about it.

The sounds of battle made him pause. A monster's roars. The sound of a blade tearing sparks from monstrous flesh. He'd heard rumors from those passing through that he wasn't the only Kamen Rider in the city. Could it be true?

He turned the corner cautiously, and there she was. Red, bronze and olive-green armor gleaming in the sunlight, a brilliant sword and shield in her hands. Her belt was different to his, radically so, but the silhouette of a Kamen Rider was unmistakable.

She sliced a knife on her belt down and the belt's voice sang out. “Come on! Olive Squash!” With a cry, the Rider lunged, and an olive made of energy engulfed her sword's blade as she stabbed it into the tiger-like monster she battled. The monster roared in pain before exploding, wisps of flame rushing around the Rider, who didn't react to them.

But as she straightened and her gaze passed over Samuel, he heard growling. From both ends of the street, monsters began to approach, a sizable number. On his side, a band of grey advanced, most of them identical bulbous creatures with flailing arms. But one stood out, an armored knight-like figure wielding a large trident. It turned its gaze to Samuel and hissed, brandishing its weapon.

Samuel shrugged off the satchel and slung his belt around his waist, locking it into place. Drawing the associated phone from his pocket, he flipped it open, seeing the reminder of the code printed beneath its screen.

9-1-1-Enter, he typed. Calling for the emergency services. Or, in this case, for a superhero.

“Standing by,” the phone announced. He took a breath, remembering what Yuto had said a few weeks ago.

“Oh, Kamen Riders have this word they say. Henshin.”

“Transform?” He heard the word in Japanese but understood its meaning via whatever magical property of the city let him understand the languages the others spoke.

Yuto shrugged. “It's just what they say. I guess it's like a symbol of being a Kamen Rider. They say 'henshin' before they transform.”

“Henshin!” he called, slotting the phone downward into the belt, then sliding it to a horizontal position.

“Complete.” Lines of blue light expanded outward from the belt, wrapping around his torso, running down his legs and arms, and running up his face. After a moment, the space between the lines was filled by armor, the black and silver of his suit covering him as the blue lines stopped glowing. Samuel stood transformed, Kamen Rider Lambda unveiled.

The monster snarled and rushed at him, but he didn't move until it was nearly upon him. Once it was, he dodged around the trident and began punching it in the chest repeatedly. Each blow hammered it back a step, and he advanced after it. After a few punches, he reached to his belt and pulled his blade from it, gripping it by the handle in his right hand.

Lambda slashed with the Edge, slicing a trail of sparks from the monster's chest. It drew back and the bulbous creatures pressed in towards him. The Rider struck at the first with his weapon while retrieving the phone from his belt, flipping it open and typing 1-0-6-Enter, then folding the top half of the phone sideways to form a pistol shape. Pressing the trigger on the side of the phone, he fired bolts of blue light from it, each burst striking one of the grey monsters and hurling it away in a spray of sparks.

He lunged forward, firing a few more bursts before laying into the monsters with the Lambda Edge. Each blow made one of the bulbous creatures explode, but when he struck the trident-wielder again, it only produced sparks. The creature snarled at him, stabbing with its trident, but he deflected it with a swing of his weapon. Striking past the creature, he whirled and past it he saw the red and bronze Rider fighting more monsters.

It was as though their presence was drawing the creatures in.

 

[Solsabre]

“YADAYADAYADAYADAYADA!”

A motorcycle engine roared in tandem with its Rider. An unzipped leather jacket flapped in the wind as its owner steered at unmentionable speeds through the deserted streets.

Asher, you dolt! How many times have I told you not to do that?!

“Ah, come on, spoilsport, you never let me drive, not unless I’m giving the smack down with unwelcome company.” The Rider whined seemly to himself within his helmet. The biker jumped a curb abruptly, when he failed to make a sharp left turn correctly. The Rider jerked the handle to straighten the front tire and land with both tires on the ground with a hard bounce.

Because I prefer to not wake up sore and covered in bruises tomorrow. The disembodied voice growled threateningly. The boy was starting to sound too much like himself, the Rider thought. Better let him-wait-

The Rider came to a sudden stop. The street took an explainable steep downward slope and at the bottom where the road leveled out was a tow truck. With its flatbed inclined perfectly to the ground. A perfect launch ramp.

Don’t eve-

The bike’s engine roared, tearing down the steep lane. The leather-clad Rider hunched forward in his seat, adrendile flooding his senses. Closer. Closer. Closer. Sweat slide down his face to the corner of his lips, sweet with anticipation. Seconds from impacting the inclined ramp, his right hand jerked the steering handle on its own accord.

The Rider quickly corrected the fauble, tires screeching loudly as he moved into a tight turn to kill his speed. His back tire rested inches from the abandoned flatbed truck.

“Shesh are you trying to get us killed? I had it under control.” The boisterous Rider exclaimed nonchalantly, removing his jet-black helmet. Burnt orange eyes surveyed the close call with little interest.

Says the idiot pretending to be Evel Knievel.

“Killjoy.” He mumbled, a thick brown pony-tail flopped down his back. A stray odd bit of burnt orange hair bangs jutted from his left temple and curved alongside his face. “What’s an evel knievel?”

Nevermind...and I heard that. Now OUT.

The Rider started to roll his eyes, until a strange change came over him. His bangs matched the rest of his hair and a brief shine in his eyes now revealed a vibrant green. The young man cracked and stretched his achy hands and arms. He’d been holding on to the handle bars with a powerful grip for a long time and he was feeling it. A small jolt of pain shot up his arm. Kyle flinched, gently massaging the pained hand.

Sorry. Kyle raised his eyebrows, rarely did he hear the Komodo Imagin apologetic. At least not since they first met.

“Just be more careful next time,” Kyle muttered awkwardly, waving it off.

Really?! The young man winced from the mental shout and exhaled a deep sigh. Ever since he’d met Asher a week ago, Kyle had been experiencing a lot of firsts. Add going deaf from a non-existent voice to that growing list. Getting used to a body-time share was at the top.

“Maybe,” Kyle said sternly, really the Imagin could take over whenever he wanted, but young man had quickly learned how to return the favor with an extra kick. Yea, that was unpleasant.

Oh, yes! The other fun aspect of their strange relationship. No privacy. Both could easily overhear each other’s surface thoughts.

How was I supposed to know? Asher grumbled. Kyle shook his head resigned. He put the helmet back on and started the Draxbike and continued down a side street at a more sedate pace.

Asher remained surprisingly quiet for the next two hours. Perhaps, Kyle should have been concerned, but he took the peace and quiet when he could. On and on the vast cityscape went, both searching for answers. Well, Kyle more so. Asher was just along for the ride and eager to help. Especially, when the pair ran into monsters, that was the Komodo’s specialty.

The young man slowed down to turn right. Kyle. Asher snarled low and deeply. Kyle abruptly stopped, the warning signs rolling through his body as the hairs on his arm stood on end. The imagin could sense the presence of monsters before they saw them. However, Asher was usually giddy with excitement at taking them on.

This was different. Asher was serious. Big trouble. “Where?”

Two blocks straight head and take a left through a narrow alleyway. Asher’s precision was uncanny, but he hadn’t been wrong yet. The imagin always surprised Kyle with his knowledge, however, the musclehead idiot could never recall how he knew.

Insult me about it later. Asher growled, catching Kyle’s stray thoughts on the Komodo Imagin’s supposed level of intelligent.

“Then we’d better avoid that area.” Kyle started for the opposite direction, ignoring the pitiful whine in the back of his head. What if there are helpless, hapless humans there? Monsters don’t gather like that unless it’s target rich.

Kyle released a frustrated groan. He might question Asher’s intelligence sometimes, but the imagin was quick to figured out how to push his buttons. “Fine.” Shouts of giddy were heard by no one but himself. The young man followed Asher's directions without further hesitation, darting through the mentioned streets with rapidly increasing speed.

As they approached their destination, sounds of a massive fight echoed through the dark alleyway. Monsters of similar appearance ran back and forth in their narrow field view. Screams of terror and pain filled the street ahead. Swords striking flesh and bodies crashing to the pavement. However, the biggest surprise came from the appearance of a figure adorned in black and silver armor with light blue lines striking at a monster. The armored figure then changed their blade to the form of a pistol and fired repeatedly at the creature. Sparks flew everywhere.

“Asher, you’re up!” Kyle shouted, his head spun in the nauseating sensation as he took a back seat in his own body. The Imagin, now in control of the Draxbike, sailed through the air with the front tire up. He crashed down on a new monster that appeared out of nowhere. The monster was scorpion-like and thrashed on the ground where it was pinned. Asher ducked into a roll to control his momentum and saved his host’s body from a painful impact with the ground.

Still wearing the bike helmet, Asher rose from the ground slowly. The Imagin stalked towards the scorpion monster, now getting back to its feet, and cracked his knuckles and arms quite deliberately.

“So, this is where all the fun is and you didn’t invite me?” Asher taunted the dazed monster. “Good thing, I invited myself to the party.”

Asher charged the monster as it swung a massive claw. He had intended to punch the creature in the juglar and slam him back to the ground. It usually worked. Instead, he got clotheslined in the chest. Hard. Asher saw stars spinning against the gray overcast sky as he laid sprawled out on the pavement.

Asher, you dolt! Transform us!

“Sorry, got caught up in moment.” Asher croaked as he rolled away from the same claw, slamming the pavement, where he’d been seconds before. Had he could, Kyle would have facepalmed. Gee, why does that not surprise me.

“Alright, you got your freebie, now it’s my turn.”

Asher shrugged off the leather jacket, tossing it aside. Seemingly out of thin air, he whipped on a simple black and silver with a scanning device as the buckle. He cinched the belt tight and extracted a train passport from the jean’s pocket. Rider pass in one hand, Asher pressed a single orange button on the belt’s scanner. A smirk spread wide over his face.

“Henshin.”

The rider pass swiped the rider pass over the belt scanner causing a chain reaction of flashing lights to rotate around his body. Jet-black Aura Skin encompassed his entire body tightly, but yet flexible for full range of motion. Various pieces of armor swirled around him before clamping onto his chest, shoulders, arms, and legs. The black and burnt arrogance armor was thick and textured, much like a reptile’s scaly skin. Yellow eye lens slid into place completing the transformation.

“Kamen Rider Komodo: Armored Form.” An electronic voice announced, the processed complete. Komodo pounded his studded gauntlets together with a resounding clang. The scorpion monster flinched from the intimidating display.

“Mind if I serve you a mouthful of fist?” Asher exclaimed, charging the scorpion monster and pummeling the creature with an undercut to the stomach. The monster keeled over and Komodo slammed on its back, both fists together. The creature was out cold. “Phooey, that was no fun.”

Asher..

Komodo glanced around. A dozen more scorpion monsters encircled him, each one moving with a threatening gesture. Asher shrugged and gave them a ‘come and get me’ motion. The monsters screamed angrily and dogpiled on the lone Rider, until he was no longer visible. They scrambled over one another, all vying for a piece of their prey.

Suddenly the living pile of bodies exploded outward. Bodies slammed in light poles, others through store windows. At the epicenter, Komodo stood his ground, his armor scratched and dented, but in his armored hands he easily swung a massive 4 ft long studded club made of metal. One of the scorpion creatures ran at him from the side, Asher lashed out with the club one-handed and struck the creature in the head, then swiftly kicked another one in the side from another direction.

“Come on, I do this all day.” he taunted, twirled his club in one hand as if he hadn’t broken a sweat yet. “YADA!”

Kamen Rider Komodo threw himself in the throng of monsters, smashing heads together, throwing bodies through the air. All the while, never questioning why there were so many monsters. Combat was second nature to the Imagin and perfectly normal. Why should this battle be any different aside from the numbers?

Kyle, on the other hand, paid attention to the sight beyond their current foes. The whole plaza was filled with monsters of various types. He couldn't decide what factor brought them all together in such a frenzy. Aside from him and Asher, there was the other armored figure in black, silver, and blue lines. What had Asher said they had both become? A Kamen Rider?

Hey, I think there maybe other Riders, aside from us. Does that sound familiar?

"Little busy here," the Imagin grunted, flinging another creature into a water fountain with a back handed swing. Seeing Asher's attention completely devoted to clobbering to those monsters in front of him, Kyle could only watch and wait.

 

[TheSequelReturns]

~ Miki Chihara (Kamen Rider Lucky) ~

The paper in her hands crinkled and rustled as Miki struggled to trace a new line of ink across its surface. It was hard enough to draw a straight line on a flat surface, much less the curved, slightly soft seat of a motorcycle. The slight breeze grasping at its edges didn't help anything either. She managed despite those factors though, completing a new city block in vibrant purple gel pen ink before studying her work on the map.

It was by no means a masterpiece. Assembled from assorted sheets of paper Miki had collected all stapled together with as much care as could be warranted, the map was the work of the past two weeks since she had decided to venture out of the mall that she had claimed as her home base. All in all, it consisted of four and a half sheets of paper and contained at least seventeen city blocks complete with landmarks and shortcuts. Impressive work for two short weeks of exploring, what with the random monsters roaming about. Compared to the rest of the city though, it was woefully incomplete.

Miki had tested that first. Once she had given up trying to get home via the Dressing Room of Destiny (tm), she had looked for the tallest building around and climbed all the way to the top. Thirty seven floors in the air, on the roof of a completely empty office building, she had scanned the horizon in all directions. She had been desperately hoping to figure out where in the world she was so that maybe she could find her way back home. On foot if she had to. To her everlasting bewilderment, the city stretched endlessly to the farthest reaches of the horizon in every direction. She cried for two hours on that rooftop.

That was nineteen days ago. Before she had discovered how to fully harness the wondrous belt she had found. Before she learned she was basically a superhero. Before she discovered that the belt and the powers also came with a motorcycle.

She drove around for a bit, always in a straight line. She was scared of getting lost and not being able to find her way back to the mall. The mall had been safe so far. Most monsters didn't go searching through the larger buildings. And even when one got curious enough to drop by, there were plenty of places to hide in the sprawling complex. Or places to ambush them. Either way, the mall was her home away from home. But now Miki was getting more and more worried by the day that if she didn't set out into the city then she would eventually run of supplies altogether.

Her stomach grumbled as if it had picked this moment to rub that fact in.

One more block to go and she would call it a day. Folding the homemade map carefully, Miki stowed it in the luggage pack her bike had thankfully come equipped with and climbed aboard. It probably wasn't safe to ride a motorcycle in fuzzy sweatpants and a baggy Hello Kitty t-shirt and no helmet to speak of, but there weren't any cops here to stop her. She had seen a fireman a few days ago, but he had ran off when she called out to him. The few people she had seen were all like that. As scared of her as she was of the monsters. Could the monsters disguise as people? That was a thought she quashed instantly. No more horror for today thank you.

Miki reached for the ignition to her bike and heard a vrooooooom. Bit it wasn't her bike that made that sound. No, it was off in the distance. She could still hear it, if she listened for it. It couldn't be more than a few blocks away, due east. Well, east as best as she could figure. That was where the sun rose up right? Or was that the west? Didn't matter.

Her cycle roared to life as she pressed the ignition button. She had to chase that sound before it got away. If that was another person with a belt... Then maybe they could work together to get out of this mess. To get home.

With a screech of rubber on asphalt, her bike tore off down the street all sense of caution thrown to the wind. She had to catch up to that other bike. She took a turn faster than she had ever done before. Her hair whipped around her head like she was flying through a hurricane and the wind was making her eyes water but she had to hurry.

Another turn, and then she rocketed straight down the next street. Thankfully, there weren't a lot of cars clogging up the road or this would be much more dangerous. The other bike's engine sound was lost to her now. Either it was much faster than she was or it had stopped. Miki hit the brakes a little too hard and skidded to a rough stop, thankful that this bike was hard to tip over. Of course, Miki didn't actually have a driver's license. What she had was several long weekends on the motocross racing game at her local arcade and it was close enough as far as she was concerned.

The other bike was silent now, its engine noise totally gone. Miki frowned. What now? Had she come this close just to lose that chance? She was about to give up and go back towards the mall when she heard a different sound altogether. It sounded like metal on metal, like crashes and shouts. It sounded like a fight.

A fight? And another bike?

Was it a monster?

Was it someone else with a belt like hers!?

Miki roared the engine to life again and followed the noise, slower this time, down a nearby alleyway. She emerged into a scene she wasn't entirely prepared for. It was monsters alright. Some looked like scorpions, others like some sort of strange lizard cats and others like alien blobs. And in middle of it all, three (THREE!!!) other Kamen Riders stood fighting them off.

Miki's heart nearly exploded out of her chest. She wasn't alone in all this after all! Well, it was time for her to steal the moment like the idol she was. These guys might be Kamen Riders, but she was one now too! And she wasn't going to fail her first impression. Time for Kamen Rider Lucky to take the stage.

Her hand was trembling with fear and excitement as she reached into her belt's medal pouch and drew out two medals, one white and one yellow. Rabbit and Firefly was a nice, flashy but safe combo for her first appearance.

She locked the first medal into its slot with a click. Her whole body was shaking now. It had been almost three weeks since she had properly taken the stage. The excitement was too much to bear. She reached to lock in the second medal when a strange white arm reached up and grabbed the front of her bike. Miki's nerves, already on edge, completely overloaded.

Miki screamed and fell of the bike as her Firefly medal went tumbling across the pavement. Because of course this would happen to her.

The strange creature pulled itself to its feet now, knocking her bike over in the process. The monster looked like a mummy. Like a straight up hollywood mummy, but in better shape. Like instead of spending two thousand years in a dusty tomb it had instead went to the spa for a few centuries. Its eyes, despite being empty sockets, locked onto her and its murmuring increased. As she watched, three more of the mummies appeared, crawling out of the woodwork now.

She had to do something. The first monster shambled over her bike and lunged for her, but Miki dove out of the way towards where her medal had fallen. Another creature was behind her now, trying to grab her hair. Miki's hand clasped around the Core Medal and, medal secured, she scrambled to her feet and away from the mummies. No time to waste.

The Firefly medal locked into place in the second slot of her driver with a click. The third medal was already in place, as it wouldn't come out anyway, and the driver started to hum as it charged with energy. Miki grabbed the O Scanner from its spot on the belt and twisted the driver into position. With the driver tilted and the medals locked, there was only one thing left to do. The booklet had said that when transforming, a special word needed to be called out. It was one Miki already knew. She brought the O Scanner down and slid it across the driver with a flourish as she shouted the word:

"Henshin!"

A star of brilliant light erupted into being on Miki's chest. Several smaller stars shot out from the large one, resting on her joints. Immediately, her base armor appeared with a flash of multi-colored light. The stars flashed through several colors before settling on silver, and as they did so the rest of Kamen Rider Lucky's armor began to form from the light.

"Usagi! Hotaru!" Her belt said aloud. "Usaru combination!"

First her chest armor appeared, colored a silvery white to match her Usagi medal. Then, the rabbit ears formed on her helmet followed by the light arm armor, back armor and leg armor plates. Then the enhanced armor of her Usagi medal appeared as the powerful boots that would give her speed and power. Not to be outdone, the Hotaru medal's armor was next, covering her back and chest in a second layer of golden armor and adding more golden armor to her arms and hands. Finally, the bunny tail appeared as a finishing touch.

"Synchronizing Star Power. Current output: 100%" her driver finally said. The lights on her armor flared up just a bit as her armor synced its two Core Medals with the strange Star Medal that was stuck in the third slot.

Show time.

"Hello Eveyone!" Miki shouted. She struck a true idol's pose, one finger held high in the air. "Kamen Rider Lucky is on the scene!"

The mummies murmured among themselves for a moment before continuing their attack. Figures. Well, time to show these other riders what she could do.

Lucky took aim at the nearest mummy and kicked it square in the chest. A burst of sparks erupted as the powerful boot connected with the monster and sent it flying into the side of a nearby building. Not bad not bad. But she could do better.

Another monster grabbed her by the shoulder and Lucky elbowed it in the face before turning and punching it with all the strength she could muster. The creature reeled in pain, but it didn't go down. These things could take a hit whatever they were.

She pushed the creature back with a swift kick to its chest as two more mummies approached from the side. No time to counter them both. Instead, Lucky utilized her Usagi power to leap high into the air, over one of the creatures, and landed hard on the second with a kick to its head. It crumpled like a sack of potatoes but surely enough it started to pull itself back up.

Miki frowned beneath her helmet. These things were stronger than the monster's she'd faced so far. One good kick had been enough to get rid of them. But these guys took hits like champs and kept coming back.

Lucky turned and swept the legs out from under the other nearby monster before leaping into the air again and landing a little closer to the other Kamen Riders. She might need their help to deal with these guys after all. But hopefully it wouldn't come to that. After all, how hard could four mummies be to beat?

 

[Skeith]

Deep within the confines of one of the many buildings the city, one of the last bastions of nature grew. A lone tree growing strong in spite of the lack light, sustained only by a lake of its own making, a burst water main. A symbol that many would consider inspiring if its sinister nature was unknown to them and one such man clutched one of its strange lock like fruits in his hand.

Eleveno munched on the fruit, oblivious to its effects. Aside from a strange fever dream from his first, over ripe he assumed, these fruits had served as a good source of food for the past couple of days yet there was still a part of his hunger that it couldn’t sate. Glancing down he looked upon the last wrapper of a jerky snack that had only been consumed hours before.

“Jumping Jerky…” He muttered, still surprised that he could read it. The wording on the side was clearly in Arabic, he only knew basic Japanese and yet he could clearly understand every langue be it written or spoken. At times he would catch himself breaking the illusion and catching this anomaly. At first it surprised, even scared him but now it was as second nature as switching on a light switch. He would not have even noticed the act, had he not purposefully focused on it to distract himself from the growing hunger. Sadly it did little to help.

He needed meat.

Human Meat.

The thought still disgusted him. He was not a cannibal. He had never tasted human flesh and yet he desired it with the same desire of growing need of water on a hot day. The jerky had helped to stave off the need but his supplies had run dry and soon he would need more. The sweet tearing of flesh, the juices of blood-

“AH.” A sharp pain, teeth missing fruit and finding his finger, Eleveno tossed the fruit aside and kissed his finger. It was time. He had avoided going up for as long as he could but the longer he waited, the less control he would retain. Better to emerge as a starving man, then a savage beast. At least for now he was still repulsed by the idea.

Collecting himself, a few fruits and bottles of water Eleveno headed to the stairwell and ascended out of the basement, through the building and out into the sunlight. The bright light blinded him as it would anyone emerging from a dark place, so he paused for moment as his adjusted keeping an ear out for any sounds. It wouldn’t do to run into a person, less so one of the many beasts that roamed this city. Nothing to out of the ordinary, a few sounds of movement in the distance but nothing that would be greeting him anytime soon. He breathed a slight sigh of relief. For the moment he could be at ease and get his bearings.

“Right so, Main Street… 5thAv… this way” He muttered to himself heading off in an unfamiliar direction. He had scavenged what little had been left in the near by stores a while back but given how this city seemed to work, he was confident that it wouldn’t be too long before he would discover some convenience store where he could set up shop for a while. At least until whatever processed meat ran out anyway, the lure of food would attract more people and that was a kettle of fish he didn’t want to deal with. Monsters? He could dispose them by transforming. Humans however had a habit of sticking around or competing for a food source. He wasn’t the best at diplomacy at the best of times but when his carvings started to flare up… well it wouldn’t do to dwell on that possibility.

Well would it?

Drool left his mouth, it took a second for him to notice but he swiftly wiped it away. His thoughts were starting to circle round to his demons, a distraction was needed and fortunately the shop displays provided a frequent distraction to his thoughts. A clothes store was first to cross his vision with a unique display of mannequin, rather than the typical at ease pose most store used to show there outfits this mannequin was displayed with its arms stretched out like claws in a weird crouch pose.

“Get that TATOBA style!”
“Outfits that make you go OOO”
“Clothing that gets the MEDAL”

These phrases adorned the window in bright primary colours. It was loud and eye catching yet not in quite the way a store like this would usually advertise. In some regard it seemed idolising or mocking something but what Eleveno was unsure. He had seen other bizarre themes at some of the stores he had past and was starting to suspect there was more to them than met the eye but whether he had been in they had just been typical stores, save for the occasional evidence of ransacking. Still he couldn’t shake the feeling there was some message behind them. A riddle that could keep him occupied until the next distraction that was quickly forth coming.

The sound of unzipping filled the air.

Eleveno snapped out of his thoughts and glanced around. That was something he had not heard in this city before, not at that volume. He raised his guard as he hunted for the source of the sound. Was it a monster? Had something snuck up on his while he was lost in thought? He was unnerved and locating the source didn’t he ease his concerns.

There was a hole in the sky.

That… wasn’t right. In this city of monsters, he thought he had seen everything yet it once again had proven him wrong. A metallic object resembling an olive descended from it descending towards the ground at a pace much slower than an object of that size should have. Eleveno just stared at it dumb founded until it lowered behind a building and out of sight. His mind racing with thoughts as to what he had just witnessed. A new arrival, the birth of monster, ALIENS?!? There were some many answers that didn’t solve the question of what he just saw.

The sounds of battle rising from where it landed did little to shed light on this mystery. Curiosity getting the better of him, Eleveno ran towards the location. His answer was clad in the armour of the sky egg, doing battle with a strange lion like monster.

A rider.

His heart skipped a beat, more so as others seemed to join in on this battle turned brawl. There were four in all. All clad in different style of armor, all using different methods to transform but all clearly sharing the same mantle.

Kamen Rider.

The few locals he had spent time with, had spoken of them as legend. A hero to come to your aid and save your from your plight. Eleveno stood back watching, hoping to see one of them use something in answer to his plight. One of them to save a creature and turn it back into the human it once was. Something to bring him hope.

These weren’t the first he had seen. There was the doctor. A rider clad in the armour of a video game. They had saved others. They had turned them back to human. One of these… one of these had to do the same for him. The doctor had tired. The doctor had failed. The doctor had only made things worse.

He stared at the battle unaware of the hand on his belt. The desire to join was rising within him but he wouldn’t allow himself to transform. He didn’t trust the beast he became to not turn at a moments notice. He just stood on the sidelines staring at the last bastions of this city. Watching and hoping that they would be the ones he needed to save him from himself.

 

[storymasterb]

Hiroko saw them through the crowd. A young man and a young woman emerged from side streets and donned their own armor. More Kamen Riders had joined this brawl, along with the blue, black and silver one she'd already glimpsed. Beneath her visor, she smiled. Being a Kamen Rider was a dream come true. But to fight alongside others as well...

A bizarre monster like a serpentine dragon-man with skin of jade lunged through the horde of monsters. She slashed with her blade, but the edge couldn't penetrate the beast's armored hide, and its flailing blows dragged claws across her chest. She staggered back in a spray of sparks as the creature hissed and pressed its attack. Her shield blocked its frenzied swipes, the claws shrieking on its metal edge, and she shoved the monster back with a blow to the chest. Clearly this form wasn't suited to this enemy.

Driving the lesser monsters back with threatening slashes of her blade, she took the second Lockseed from the holder on her hip. Releasing her sword, she unlocked the Olive Lockseed on her belt, prompting it to announce "Lock off!", simultaneously unlocking the new Lockseed.

"Cherry!" it declared. She heard the portal unzip above her, and felt the armored fruit fly down and slam into something behind her. Obviously one of the monsters had tried to strike from behind. only to be repelled by the fruit.

"Lock on!" her belt announced as she locked the Lockseed into place, immediately slicing it open. "Come on! Cherry Arms! Might of Axxxe~!"

Her olive armor evaporated as the cherry crashed down, unfurling onto her body. Shoulder plates, her chestplate and greaves took shape, cherry red, green cables running down her arms to her gauntlets. Her visor became that same rich red, and as she spread her arms wide, two axes formed in them, each loosely shaped like a cherry. The cables on her arms detached from the gauntlets, connecting to the hilts of her weapons.

The dragon-creature had recoiled from her transformation, but it pressed its attack once again after a moment. As it charged, Hiroko surged at it with a war cry, slamming an axe into its belly. The armor fractured as the blow struck home, sparks flying as the monster snarled. Without relent, Hiroko continued, using one axe to slice through one of the bulbous grey creatures, the other to hammer at the dragon again. A monster clawed at her armored back and she spun around, cutting sparks from its body with a sweep of the axe. Hissing, the creatures all pressed in as the dragon drew back for a moment.

Glaring through her visor at the retreating beast, Hiroko slammed the knife on her belt down. "Come on! Cherry Squash!" Letting go of the axes, she began to spin, cherry-red energy burning around the axes as they whipped around. All of the bulbous creatures were sliced through and collapsed, exploding simultaneously as she stopped spinning and turned to face the now isolated dragon. Taking hold of her weapons again, Hiroko roared as she charged at it. Seeing no option presumably, it raced back in, flames licking at its throat as it snarled.

She ducked around one flailing swing of the claws and an axe rammed into its face, staggering it with a plume of sparks. She followed up with more wild slashes of her weapons, each blow producing more sparks on impact. The creature breathed a stream of flame with a roar and she was forced back, sparks erupting from her armor as she skidded to a halt. The creature pressed towards her, but she quickly sliced her Driver's knife twice. "Come on! Cherry Au Lait!"

With a roar, Hiroko jumped at the creature, drawing back both axes. The red energy collected around them, forming two gigantic cherry constructs around the weapons. The monster stopped in its tracks, recognizing the danger for but an instant before she struck. The cherries slammed down, smashing the dragon's armored hide and hammering it to the ground as Hiroko landed heavily. It exploded, wrapping her in flames for a moment as she shakily rose, the energy gone from her axes. Strong as her armor made her and fit as she was, a more prolonged battle like this was still tiring.

She looked over at the other Riders, and as her gaze wandered, she caught sight of someone in the shadows. He was brown-haired, his clothing an odd assortment of styles and something dark on his bare arm. One hand rested on something at his belt. Or was that on a belt? Before she could call out or try to discern more, several of the grey bulbous creatures advanced on her and she was forced back into the battle.

-

Samuel slotted the phone back into his Driver as he forced one of the bulbous creatures back, sliding the chip marked with his symbol off of it and slotting it into his weapon. The blade ignited with electric blue energy, and now as he slashed, the creature fell and exploded. The trident-wielding knight charged at him and he parried its thrust with his charged weapon, knocking the trident aside and delivering a jab to the monster's stomach. It was knocked back in a spray of sparks and he cautiously pressed the attack, delivering two slashes that further repelled the monster.

Its bulbous allies swarmed in as though to protect it, but blows from the charged blade knocked them away and he quickly opened the phone on his belt, tapping the Enter key and sliding the phone closed again. "Exceed Charge," the Driver's voice announced, blue light running along the channels in his armor from the belt to the blade in his hand. He skated forward fast enough to leave electric blue afterimages, in front of the bulbous monsters one second, behind them the next. As one, the Lambda symbol flashed in electric blue across their bodies where he had struck and the creatures exploded.

With a snarl, the knight attacked once more, but Lambda was prepared. This time he ducked under the trident and punched the monster with the Edge in the same motion, hurling it back. Continuing, he surged into the knight, kicking the trident aside as it tried a low thrust at him, slashing twice across its chest. Before it could recover, he was already striking the Enter key on the phone again.

"Exceed Charge." The blue energy flowed through his armor and he carved two slashes across its chest, the glowing blue cuts forming his symbol. The creature wailed in pain as he turned away, collapsing into dust behind him.

He was given a moment's reprieve to see the two Riders who had joined them, one orange and black with a yellow visor, wielding a large club, the other more graceful, silvery white and gold. He considered which to help, before he noticed someone in the shadows in a tattered trench coat. The young man was just watching, odd enough, but he was also resting a hand on what looked to be a belt. Another Rider? If so, why was he just watching?

As Samuel looked on, puzzled, he caught sight of a monster approaching the young man. It was a bulbous creature, different from the strange weak beings he had cut down just a little while before, covered in cream fur with dark stripes, its claws a blood red and its eyes the same. Its ribcage was picked out in dull silver on its chest. Lambda couldn't tell if the young man had seen the monster, and so he began sprinting over.

"Watch out!" he cried.

-

The buildings beside the street were dark and empty. The sounds of battle echoed into them, with only a single person to hear them. They stood in shadows on the second floor of a building, unconcerned by the monsters outside for reasons besides the Riders engaging them. For the moment, they just observed, taking in the fighting from a window. If one of the Riders looked up, they might have just glimpsed the shadowed figure.

As they watched, Persephone destroyed the dragon-creature, then Lambda destroyed the silvery-grey knight he fought. The figure held up a boxy silver and black pistol in their left hand, taking a strange bottle in their right. They twisted the bottle's cap and then slid it into place beneath the pistol's barrel.

"Spider!" the pistol announced.

"Jouketsu." As the pistol's trigger was pulled, the shadows veiling the person became darker, filled by a cloud of pitch-dark steam.

"Mist Match! Spider! Sp-Spider!" Lights bled through the haze of steam and shadows, a menacing blood red glow that stained the walls. "Fire!" As the steam began to disperse, sparks ignited around the now bulkier figure, the sound of exploding fireworks echoing through the room.

 

[Skeith]

Eleveno stood transfixed on the fights before him. His actions painting him as awe struck bystander, watching all the battles with an intense stare, hoping to see a change. There were four riders in all each fighting with a unique style yet each one came to the same outcome. A beast downed in a flurry of sparks, there was no saviour to be found here, not yet at least. Still hope remained for Eleveno, they didn’t have just one style, even now one switched there sword and shield to twin axes. Maybe this would yield a different result, maybe…


“Watch out!”

He turned to towards the cry and was greeted by the visage of a beast. A cream striped creature encased with a silver ribcage, blood red claws and a grimacing maw all features pertaining to the danger that it posed and yet Eleveno found himself staring at the eyes. Blood red and fixed upon him, a focus he recognised himself wielding whenever he caught himself in a mirror. Hunger. He stood there, a deer in the headlights. Transfixed by the familiarity, he made no move to get away until the beast raised one of its claws to swipe at him.

“Oh.” He clumsily evaded, falling backwards narrowly avoiding getting hit. He had spent too long focusing upon the familiarity of the creatures motive to recognise his role in this scene. He was the prey. An unfamiliar position for him and one this creature would soon learn he was ill suited for. He scrambled into a crouched position as the creature readied for another strike. A battle cry erupted from his lips.

“AMAZON!” A twist of the handle and a light engulfed him. Where the boy had once crouched there was now a blue armoured warrior. Less human and more alien in nature, sliver claws now donned his arms and legs, a tail sprouted from his backside and, most striking of all, the lizard like helmet stared down the creature before him trying to deter it from its current action. The beast didn’t heed this warning and struck the amazon clean across the face.


There was a notable pause. Neither creature moved for a good few seconds.

A silver claw flared, raising swiftly upwards and connecting with the creatures face. The rest of Eleveno followed flowing up with the motion, toppling the creature and slamming it into the wall behind, leaving an impact. The rider held it there as he coldly stared at it.

“I’m your prey?” He asked rhetorically, adrenaline flowing. He was certain that has was in control of this situation and failed to realise that he had caught the creature off guard. His punishment was a swipe to the chest, sending him reeling backwards. He clutched his chest and looked back as the creature gathered itself ready to strike again.

“Wrong answer.” He charged the creature, driving it back into the wall and through it into the darkness on the other side.

 

[Solsabre]

Asher was having the time of his life, thoroughly enjoying a chance to burn some energy. Normally a few punches and kick for good measure dealt out to the occasional monster was sufficient. Here the Komodo Imagin could have a bit more fun with an audience to boot. The whole previous week proved tedious with his host as both of them always argued the merits of avoiding trouble vs dishing out a smack down.

The mob of scorpion monsters kept coming at him. For every creature he knocked down, two more took it's place. Asher charged into another one, grabbing it around the waist in his head long rush until they collided with a wall. The scorpion imagin didn't get up. Kamen Rider Komodo whirled around and skillfully slugged two more with his studded club. For a brief moment Asher had some breathing room, until another monster jumped onto his back. Asher reached over his back and grabbed the imagin by the head and shoulder and pulled it over his shoulder into the ground. Komodo grabbed it again by the back of its neck and threw the scorpian imagin with a mighty heave!

Right into the backside of two mummy-like monsters ganging up on a gold and silver Kamen Rider.

Asher gave his fellow rider a cheesy salute, before turning around with a roundhouse kick to a gray bulbous creature that had wandered his way from a different scuffle. The bulbous monster sputtered as the air was knocked from its lungs and left sprawling on the pavement. The Komodo Imagin glanced about realizing he'd finished off his opponents with a frown. He was just getting warmed up!

Kyle piped up. I think we've done enough, let's get out of here while we ca-

The Imagine ignored his partner and charged to where the bulbous creature had wandered over from. His heavy metal boots thudded loudly across the pavement. He abruptly knocked aside another such monster sneaking up on the Cherry-hued Rider with a back sweep of his arm. Asher swung his club in a circle intimidatingly, creating a whirling sound that split the air.

“Ya-Da! Looks like you're having a little trouble. Allow me!” Asher materialized the Rider Pass and swiped it over his belt's scanner, triggering the activation words, “Full Charge!”

His studded club crackled with energy, rapidly enlarging several times in size and length. Asher raised the massive club in both hands and pounded it into the ground with a roar. “IRON ROCK CRUSH!”

The club's impact sent shockwaves through the air, pulverizing the remaining bulbous creatures and devastating the surrounding street and buildings.

Sh*t! Kyle swore from his back row seat, completely taken off guard. He'd never seen Asher used that kind of power in their previous battles. He couldn't help but wonder what other secrets his Imagin might hold.