Kamen Rider Zero Hour Ep. 5

Kamen Rider: Zero Hour

Episode 5: White/Black

By: Ziginz

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The morning light shined through an open window and upon the sleeping girl’s face, the notion of a new day filling her with excitement. Tamiko sat up and stretched, but as the haze of sleep left her she began remembering the events that had transpired. She felt the hard ground beneath her and the soreness from her battle the night before, not initially wanting to accept it all as reality. At last she opened her eyes and felt her heart sink as she looked around the abandoned house in which she now sat. Sleeping a few feet away was her new friend Tsubaki who was still nursing a broken arm and looked extremely restless due to it.

Sorrow at her situation and guilt over Tsubaki’s injury both tried to creep up on her once again, but she shook her head in refusal. She wouldn’t let such thoughts enter her mind, and wouldn’t let them hold her back. Instead she thanked God for another day, asked for the strength to make the most of it, and that Tsubaki would recover quickly. Anything was possible, anything could change, so she wasn’t going to just sit around and let the day pass her by. She stood to her feet and decided to go outside to look around, only then noticing that Kino wasn’t present. For that matter neither was his pack or any of his supplies…

“Kino?”

“He left a couple of hours ago.”

Tsubaki sat up from where she lay, being unable to sleep for more than a few minutes at a time, but her words did little to ease Tamiko’s mind.

“Where did he go? To check the other houses or something?”

“Probably not. More than likely he decided to cut his losses. Wouldn’t be the first time.”

“But why?”

Tsubaki shrugged her shoulders but immediately regretted doing so as the gesture had triggered a surge of pain. Tamiko saw her flinch and knelt down next to her, intending to check her bandages but instead noticed something troubling. Tsubaki’s complexion had become extremely pale and she was shaking a bit, yet instead of being cold her skin was warm to the touch. She had a fever, but whether it was simply her body reacting to the break or infection trying to set up was unclear. The concerned youth looked over at Tsubaki’s cantina and thought to wet a rag for her but was stopped before she could.

“No Tamiko…we can’t afford to waste any.”

“There has to be something I can do. Are there any doctors near by that could help?”

“Doctor? Hmph, as if. The closest thing we have to a doctor around here is the Professor, and even he isn’t what you would call a trained physician.”

“He might have medicine though, and that’s more than what we have now.”

“Maybe…if I could just-“

Tsubaki tried to stand, but no sooner than she had was she hit by dizziness and a sickly feeling in her stomach. Fortunately her friend was able to catch her before she could fall, but it was clear the sick woman wasn’t fit for travel in her current state. This left them with few options other than for Tamiko to try and find help, but with no knowledge of the surrounding area or its inhabitants she would likely fail. All they could do for now was hope and pray that something would change, but neither woman expected the solution to just waltz into camp they way it did. Or rather that it would kick in the door…

Tamiko sprang to her feet and prepared herself for anything, only to see an albino girl walk in with hood raised and a plain expression on her face. The pale youth turned and stared at the other two girls for a few moments before speaking with a monotone voice. What she had to say didn’t make a lot of sense, but the question she asked after her spiel was a bit disconcerting.

“Residual bio-energy signatures confirmed. Scanning now…scan complete. Both targets confirmed as human. Detecting presence of Sengoku Driver and Lock Seeds. Original assumption confirmed. Am I to assume you both have utilized such a device recently?”

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Tamiko finally nodded to the stranger who returned the gesture before taking a harder look at Tsubaki. She began to approach the girl when Tamiko stepped between them, not certain yet what this girl was or what she was up to. The pale youth tilted her head, not immediately realizing how aggressive her actions must have seemed. She was far from the subtle sort, or so she had been told several times by her comrades.

“I apologize if I startled you with my actions, but your companion is badly injured and in need of medical attention.”

“Wait, you can help Tsubaki!?”

“Her arm is broken and she is suffering from a fever. I will need to examine her more closely before knowing whether it is within my abilities to treat her.”

“H-How do I know I can trust you?”

The girl tilted her head once again, clearly not having an answer for the question, but this somehow made her less threatening. Tamiko slapped on the Sengoku Driver as a precaution, but was surprised when this didn’t incite an immediate reaction from the unknown girl. This further helped to ease her mind, but not by much, not after what she had seen in the last twenty four hours.

“No funny stuff alright?”

“Funny stuff? I do not see how this event would facilitate a humorous response.”

“I…never mind. Just do what you can for her, please.”

The strange girl nodded and walked over to a prone Tsubaki who was trying to be ready for anything. At first the girl didn’t do anything other than stare but then reached out to touch the other woman’s broken limb. Tsubaki almost jerked back in reaction but was shocked by just how gentle the girl’s touch was, wondering for a moment if she wasn’t just a hallucination brought on by her fever. A few seconds later the odd girl stood up and quickly walked towards the door, speaking to Tamiko with a less urgent tone than her stride might suggest was warranted.

“The bone is properly aligned but there are indeed traces of infection. Her fever has worsened in response and she will need to be treated immediately.”

“Oh God…what do we do?”

“You will stay here and keep her cool and hydrated while I search the surrounding area for medical supplies or other potential treatment methods. I will return shortly.”

“Wait, what’s your name!?”

This questioned stopped the girl in her tracks, almost as if Tamiko’s words had taken her by surprise. For a moment every other thought vanished except for that singular question, but nothing came in response to it. It was one of many things that she couldn’t recall, but at the moment it was less pressing than the task at hand. What mattered was helping the girl called Tsubaki survive, and to do so within her allotted operation time. She needed to hurry…but…

“I do not remember, so you may call me whatever you wish.”

“What? W-Well I’m Tamiko, and this is Tsubaki. Anyway, thank you for your help.”

“Your gratitude is unnecessary as helping humans is why I exist. But, I thank you for your kindness, Tamiko.”

The girl walked out and left a confused Tamiko with more questions than answers, but for now she needed to focus on caring for Tsubaki. She just hoped she could find some way to repay the girl for helping them, and something to call her other than just “girl”. It was than that a name came to mind that she felt was perfect for the snow white but seemingly gentle youth, and it ironically brought a warm feeling to her heart as she said it aloud.

“Yuki. Yeah.”

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“Captain…run…”

The injured man’s words never reached the ears of the man for whom they were intended, not that he would have heeded them if they had. The old soldier stood with his target set firmly in his rifle’s crosshairs, though he knew at this point the bullets would have no effect. The monster before him was unsettlingly calm, looking like a man clad in black armor with bone like shapes rising from its form. It carried a black sword that was of a similar material as that of its body, but the weapon wasn’t nearly as menacing as the beings fanged grimace. In a way he looked like a knight, but in another he looked like a beast.

“Why attack me if this is all you’re capable of?”

The creature’s voice matched his appearance, being somehow noble yet also ferocious as he asked a single question. The soldier seemed infuriated by its words, however, and simply screamed as he began firing his weapon. The flashes from the rifle revealed the surrounding area, an old drainage tunnel that was as confined as it was dark. On the ground around the black kaijin were the old soldier’s fellows, all seemingly dead but in truth they were still clinging to life. Unfortunately the rifle wielding warrior wasn’t aware of this and just kept unloading everything he had left in his arsenal. The monster didn’t seem at all interested in avoiding the bullets and simply let the man do as he pleased, wondering if his opponent would somehow prove a challenge.

Alas the rifle jammed and the man resorted to using his pistol which was unsurprisingly just as useless as the former firearm. The beast seemed legitimately disappointed by this and simply turned to walk away, knowing well something like this would not be enough to test his strength. Whatever fear the man once had vanished and was replaced by blind rage as he pulled out his last resort and activated it. It was an implosion grenade that would crush anyone within a thirty foot radius and likely cause the tunnel to collapse around them! The beeping sound caught the kaijin’s ear and he turned back, surprised the man would go to such extremes before knowing for certain whether his comrades were still alive or not.

“I’ll avenge them you monster! Now die!!!”

The soldier threw the weapon but not before its intended target vanished from sight, leaving only a streak of gossamer behind. The kaijin kicked the grenade further down the tunnel before landing and stabbing his sword into the ground. A burst of blue light erupted from the softball sized object before shrinking into a black sphere that began pulling in and crushing everything around it. Fortunately the pull wasn’t strong enough to pull the four prone fighters very far, but the same could not be said for their leader. The man was trying to cling on to anything he could to keep from being dragged in but nothing was substantial enough to work! Than he felt a hand grab his and thought at first that one of his allies had survived, but when he looked upon his rescuer he was left with only confusion.

The black kaijin…was it really trying to…

The implosion ended but the damage to the surrounding area had been done, the tunnel ceiling cracking up above them. It seemed they would all be buried alive until the group was enwrapped in a shadowy veil that whisked them down the tunnel and back outside. The dark mass released the four injured hunters and their commander before reforming into the kaijin that they had so desperately tried to destroy. The monster let out a sigh of anger before turning to the leader of the hunters, marching over to him with sword in hand. At first the commander thought the creature was finally showing its true colors, but when it spoke he was left speechless.

“Next time you want to avenge your comrades, make sure they’re actually dead idiot!”

The commander didn’t understand what the creature before him meant until he looked over to see his fellows moving a bit and even struggling to stand. He was at first grateful but then horrified by what he had almost done, his expression saying as much at least. The kaijin just scoffed before dashing away, leaving his would be assailants to lick their wounds. It kept moving until it reached the remains of an old bridge where it had a decent view of the city, looking back from whence it came with mixed feelings of disgust and regret.

It seemed there were no foes left in this city that could be called a challenge, not anymore.

The creature reached up to its waste where a large silver buckle rested, the golden node in its center glowing in response. The node reformed into a small memory stick like device as its wielder’s body returned to its natural state,  that of an athletic young man with messy brown hair, hazel eyes, and mix matched clothing. This was Hayate, a warrior with no cause other than to fight worthy foes and whose weapon of choice was a Gaia Memory containing the data on a single word. It was a word that reflected his feelings toward most of his opponents, though in a way it was also something he sought to conquer through glorious battle.

Grim.