[GAME] Kamen Rider Kiva: Rite of Succession

[Ziginz Zegell]

Eva dodged another swing of the Crab Fangire’s claw only to be struck back by a sword thrust from the Swordfish Fangire’s weapon. ”Eva! You need to retreat before you take any more damage! At this rate-“ Eva regained her composure as she spoke with her partner; it was clear Eva wouldn’t give up and run just yet. “I can’t…if I do they will just keep attacking people any time they feel it is their right. I can’t agree with what those people did to them and their neighbors, but I can’t let them use it as an excuse either! Those people didn't have to die; no one should die like that! People have to change; both human and fangire!” Eva’s words were soft, but full of passion even as she stood to continue her battle. As the two fangire prepared another round of attacks everyone present would sense a new presence. Turning, the combatants would see a red and black Kiva standing before them. Eva and Kivala both looked toward the man rather shocked by his sudden appearance. Kivala had told Eva of the royal family and the other Kivas, but she had not expected such a dark, imposing entity. Then the man spoke his words of peace; soft, kind words that rang true in Eva’s heart. The words did not ring so true to the crab fangire who was slowly entering a berserker rage. The beast charged Gram without a second thought even as the swordfish fangire reached out to try and stop her lover. The heavy fangire began swinging wildly but was hard pressed to find its mark. Eva, seeing the new Kiva at risk, stepped forward to give the kind worded warrior aid. The swordfish fangire stood in her way, however, and poised herself to attack as she spoke. ”I may not agree with this…or with everything he does…but that man is my beloved and I will follow him even to hell!” As the sword wielding fangire struck toward Eva, Kivala whistled a strange tune that Gram would recognize as the same sound produced by fuestles, though the tiny Kivat did not seem to be using one. The sound resonated around Eva as white particles from the female kiva’s body formed a sword. The ability seemed similar to that used by most fangire, but this version was different and the blade formed seemed stronger. Eva blocked a sword strike which caught her foe by surprise. Soon the two women were locked in a battle of blades; Eva swiftly gaining ground with her seemingly superior sword play. Still it was clear that Eva held reservations as she fought and did not strike a fatal blow when an opening became available.

Then, with one swift parry and sword strike, Eva shattered the swordfish’s rapier. The swordfish fangire was shocked by the outcome even as she looked toward her love who was too lost in his rage and lust for battle to even notice her predicament. Eva stood with her blade pointed at the swordfish, praying the woman would just back away. Eva could see it in the reflective shards of the swordfish’s form, however, and shook her head as if begging for the woman to stop. The fangire did not heed Eva’s gesture as she made a mad dash at the white and indigo kiva, claws posed to strike. Eva ducked the wide swing and raised her blade which the charging fangire ran into; the edge cutting deep into the woman’s abdomen. The swordfish let out a small gasp even as her form began to crystallize. Eva pulled her sword away and stepped back, shocked her blade at cut so deep. She had intended to simply deter her foe, but the swordfish fangire hadn’t stopped soon enough and Eva hadn’t given the blade enough slack. "I-I’m sorry…I didn’t mean…why didn’t you just give up!?” Eva’s words quivered and were full or dread as her foe stumbled back and let out a low, sorrow filled giggle. ”Because…I’m a proud fangire woman, and wife to a proud fangire man. If he can't live peacfully in this world without fighting and feeding...then neither...can..." With that the fangire woman shattered and her soul rose toward the sky. The crab heard the shattering and turned back to see his wife floating away. He let out a few veined utterances and reached for the soul, but lacked the knowledge or power to summon his beloved back. The fangire’s sorrow became rage, and he looked toward the one responsible for his beloved’s death. He let out a roar and charged toward Eva, who was still lost in regret toward what had just transpired. Another fangire had been felled by her hand; yet another willing to die rather then change. ”What am I…even supposed to do?”

 

[G.K.]

When the crab fangire charge Gram took a fighting stance, anticipating an overheard strike from the creatures claw. Both of his harms flew up to catch the monsters strike. When the enemies left arm flew in from the side Gram allowed his right arm to drop in time to catch the strike. Locking the creature in a inverse tug of war.

(will be spelling and grammar checked later. cause g.k. sleepy)

"Tell me friend, For what reason are you so enrag-"

Gram's inquiry was cut off by a knee to the stomach. As he began to double over both claws came down on this back like a hammer. The moment he made contact with the ground Gram instinctively rolled away from the enemy, Unconsciously avoiding a stomping attack aimed at his head. He jumped back to his feet ready to meet the enraged fangire head on. He ducked under a wild swipe of it's claw then fired a flurry of punches at it's torso. The creature didn't relent and swiped at Gram as it was being attacked. The hit sent the fangire prince flying backward a few feet.

As Gram struggled to his feet a distinctive sound pulled him away from his opponent for an instant. Gram turned to see the figure in the white armor manifesting a sword. The curious sight became startling when he discovered that the sound wasn't coming from a fusstle but an unusually small kivat. Lost in the confusion it was only when his kivat called out to him that Gram remembered where he was. As he brought his arms up to defend himself Kivat bat the 4th jumped from it's perch the belt to attack the enraged fangire. While the attack did little to hurt it, the crab fangire's attention shifted to the kivat allowing Gram more to time to recover.

As the crab fangire swiped wildly at kivat bat the fourth Gram moved in swiftly with a side kick that pushed it a foot back. Gram played the battle defensively from there. Dodging what he couldn't intercept with an attack of his own and blocking what he couldn't dodge. In a small amount of time the creature began to noticeably slow, Burning through it's energy reserves with whiffed attacks and frantic movement. More and more of Grams attacks were staggering the creature but it never stopped. It wasn't until the swordfish fangire was run through.

Gram to froze dead in his tracks when he saw the woman mortally wounded. he looked to the figure in the white armor, who's body language seemed to indicate both guilt and horror. The words she whimpered couldn't be heard by gram but still managed to build on what Gram perceived. The final words of the swordfish fangire filled Gram with Dread and anger. Her sentiment was familiar to him. A sentiment shared by the many rebels he'd seen felled by those around him. Even if they'd harmed or wished ill on him it always saddened Gram to see them die. He noticeably jumped when her body shattered and turned away as the crab fangire ran towards her remains. Desperately reaching for the perceived soul that dissipated into the night sky. He looked towards the figure in the white armor, who mermered weakly to herself, made defenseless by guilt. Gram new what she was experiancing all to well moved entirely on instinct when the crab fangire let out it's primal, sorrow filled howl and charged.

"Wake up!" Kivat bat the fourth shouted as Gram charged feircely behind the crap fangire. The retstrains binding the blood red wings attacked to Grams leg exploded, allowing the fangire prince to use their power to propell himself forward at hightend speed. Gram then lept, sailing on the forward momentum towards the enraged fangire. With a sorrowful yell the fangire prince nearly kicked through the crab fangire killing it almost instantly. The resulting explosion took the shape of the kiva symbol for a second before disspaiting into the air leaving on debris and crystiline shards where the crab fangire once stood.

Gram remained motionless for a while afterword. Throughts swiming about in his mind, swelling, colliding and biting at his concience. Worried, kivat bat the fourth flew from his perch, dispelling the kiva armor into fragments of light that faded as quickly as they appeared.

"Gram? Hey hey Gram?! What's wrong? Asked his kivat partner. He reseaved no response. The kivat gritted his teeth angrily. He looked towards the figure in the white armor acusingly and flew towards her.

"And just who are you anyway?!"

"Enough." Gram interupted "Please dear friend. No more violence."

The kivat's sight shiftend frequently between it's partner and the woman. Eventually it's loyalty to Gram won out. Kivat bat the 4th paused long enough to stick it's tounge out at the woman in the white armor before flying towards Gram who'd already started to walk away.

 

[Ziginz Zegell]

Kivala flew from her perch on Eva’s belt causing the young woman’s body to return to normal. Eva stood in the moonlight; her dark hair and dress seemed to devour the lunar light even as her pale skin reflected it back. She looked almost like a ghost or phantom; her thin physique and saddened appearance only adding to the image. Still, she bore a strange, dark beauty in this moment that some would admire, while others would feel only dread. The tiny Kivat flew around and spoke with anger in her voice while making all manner of insulting gestures toward gram and Kivat. Eva was only trying to do what she felt was right, yet she was left with so much grief. ”How dare you speak to Eva that way! She only wanted to help those stupid humans and stupider fangire! It isn’t her fault they would rather die then-“ Eva whimpered and Kivala turned and flew over to her partner. Eva whipped away the tears from her eyes even as Kivala snuggled the girl’s neck, trying her best to comfort her. ”I’m sorry…” The words were just a whisper meant for not only the two fallen lovers, but also for Gram. Eva could sense this stranger with kiva’s power felt the same way she did. She could feel his sorrow as much as she felt her own, and it wrenched at her heart. Yet some strange sense of joy accompanied the pale girl’s sadness. This man who used Kiva, who sought peace even in the face of danger, he felt the same way she did. Eva had questioned if any fangire felt as she did, and she had come close to giving up on such a notion. Now it seemed there was at last one other person who sought peace. She wanted to thank him…but she knew she shouldn’t. Neither deserved thanks after not being able to save those two who had fallen; they deserved the misery that now covered their souls. For those that love life, that night had been a tragedy.

”Eva!”

The voice that called the woman’s name was all too familiar, but also a very welcomed sound. It was the concerned voice of Mao; the one who always called out her name. Even so it did little to change Eva’s mood as tears rolled down her cheeks. When her eyes met her three friends she felt her heart skip a beat. There they stood, hastily dressed in their hostess dresses, sweaty and bather in moonlight. Their hair was down from their normal styles, they were breathing heavily from running to find Eva, and they had a look of mixed peace but concern at finding their friend in her current state. The new dynamic of Mao, Molly, and Beatrice’s appearance caused dozens of rather steamy scenarios to run through the fatigued woman’s mind as she blushed heavily. True she was still filled with sorrow from the events that had just passed, but her curtness complex had a way of overriding her other emotions. ”T-Too C-C-Cute…Too Sexy and Cute!” Eva’s eyes rolled back again as she fell backward from “sexy cute” induced shock as the girl stumbled a bit. ”Oh my God, not again! I told you we should have worn our street clothes!” Mao commented as she and Molly ran forward to catch Eva. As they did, Molly noticed Eva’s injuries causing her to take an expression of mixed fear and concern. The injuries weren’t severe, but Molly tended to over reacted at even mild injuries to her friend. Mao noticed this as well and also noticed Gram walking away with Kivat bat the 4th hovering around him. ”Hey, you bastard!!! What did you do to our Eva!?!?” Mao screamed as she ran toward Gram in her sudden fury. Beatrice was taking pictures of the battle field and even of Eva, but did not try to stop Mao’s charge. Beatrice knew it was pointless to try to stop Mao when she was like this, and instead decided to document the entire event. It might seem like the Spectra was being cold, but she was actually doing exactly what needed to be done. In her current state, Molly wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings, but instead was giving all her attention to Eva.. That being the case Beatrice’s photos and videos would be needed by Molly later to determine what had actually transpired, if this stranger with a Kivat was responsible, and who exactly he was. Mao leaped with a cross kick aimed at Gram’s head, intending to take him down and keep him that way until he was cleared from any guilt toward injuring Eva. If it turned out he had attacked Eva, there would be hell to pay.

 

[G.K.]

When he couldn't run he hobbled, and when he couldn't hobble he he crawled, But not once did he ever stop moving. With great effort the fangire finally found himself in rebelion territory. With little warning he reverted to his fangire form scaring the few remaining humans out and about in the night hours. It wasn't long before a pair of fangires appeared. The larger of the two had a moose like form with shining crystline tusks protruding outward atop his head. The other was much smaller and had an appearance similar to a flying squirrel, with long flaps of leathery skin visibly connecting his arms to his torso

"nice job scaring away the food." shouted the squirrel fangire

"Are you with the rebellion?" Asked kakeru

In one, Likely practiced motion the moose fangire backhanded kakeru with an upwrd strike and took hold of his neck as he rose into the air. The moose fangire's grip was loose allowing kakeru to speak

"Who wants to know?" The squierl fangire replied

"I know where to find Gram Kurokawa. Theres a reward for his-" said kakeru

"Gan! let'em down." said the the squirl fangire

The moose fangire placed kakeru on the ground gently.

The squirrel fangire reverted to his human form, threw his arm over kakeru's shoulder, and gave the still shaking fangire a fake, toothy smile.

"Let's start over pall. The names Seki"

He then gestured to the moose fangire who also reverted to his human form

"And the big guy over there is Gan."

Gan mearly nodded.

"sorry for the rough welcome. Rebel territorys kinda harsh if ya get my mening. Best to have an escort through these parts.
Someone like Gan and me here.

Kakeru glanced between the two and paused. either unable to speak or unsure of what to say. Seki patted kakeru on the back in a
seemingly frienly manner. Though it only caused kakeru to glare at him.

"Dun worry kid. We won't charge ya. Brining them rebels someone with good information is more than enough ta put us in their good graces.

The three saunted through the darkned streets for close to an hour before sopping in front of a small slightly rundown shack cobbled together out of used lumber and situated under an bridge.

"knock knock" Seki said as he pantomined bancing on the wall of the shack.

A bearded man in a tattered trenchcoat stepped out slowly initally appearing bewildered and irritated, till he saw Seki.

"This one says he can tell us where to find one of kurokawa's pups" Said seki

"which one" The bearded man replied.

"The brat" Said Seki.

"The least usefull of the three...Though I'm sure some of the troops would enjoy tortuing the punk. I'll Let Raido know you stopped by" Said the bearded man

"Please do" Seki replied with an eleabarte and disengenuous bow.

As Seki and Gan turned Kakeru felt a Jolt of electricity surge through his entire body. As he felt his conciousness slipping he caught out of the corner of his eye what he'd ssumed was the hobo's fangire form before he lost conciousness. The fangire in question Had an usual form, With a large number of crystiline spikes jutting out of 70% of it's body. Not unlike a porcupine. He picked up the unconious Kakeru and carried him down dusty path off the paved road. With each minute the path became more and more obscured by trees and shrubbery. Under the cover of night it would be nearly impossible to track the spiky fangire.

Eventually kakeru would be awoken by his captor inside of the military bunker which served s the rebelion HQ with no idea where he was and only the faintest of ideas as to how he got there. Kakeru was noticably paniced. He jumped to his feet, looking around franticly for an exit.

"I was told you had information for me" Said a voice in a darkned corner of the room.

Kakeru froze dead in his tracks when he heard the voice.

"Raido Tachibana?!" Kakeru said with an air of disbelief.

"well?" Raido said raising an eyebrow.

The thought of Raido angered cause Kakeru's pulse to quicken. He quickly blurted out the words as quickly as he could form them in his mind.

"Kurokawa, I mean Gram Kurokawa I know where he is, that is I know where he might be or at least the area he's in." he said taking a deep breath afterward

Is that all" Raido said . His expression completely unchanged.

"He's, He's Kiva!" Kakeru blurted out.

"...I see." Raido replied. So. How may I repay you?"

"Do you intend to kill him?" Kakeru asked.

"Perhaps" Raido replied. "What if I do?"

"Then I wish to witness it with my own eyes." Said kakeru coldly.

"To do that you will have to pledge yourself to the Rebellion." Said Raido

"So be it." Replied Kakeru.

"Gojiro!" Raido shouted suddenly. nearly a minute later a noticable haggared Gojiro came wandering in to the sparcly lit room
before he could say a word Raido continued.

"Add this fangire into the fold of the next operation. Be sure to have him pass down what he knows to one of our sovergnty agents."

Gojiro and Kakeru then left the room leaving Raido alone with his thoughts regarding present events and those yet to come.

____________________________________________________________


To say that Gram was caught off guard by Mao's ttack would erronously imply that he had some idea it was comming to begin with. Kivat however, caught wind of the attack in time to futily gurd agianst an attacker many times his own size. The kick sent him flying backward into hs fangire partner's head. Gram was knocked unconcious almost immediately. Kivat was left to dizzy to fly, decending into a slow spiral and then meeting the ground with a soft clunk. Kivat would warble incoherntly while stumbling towards Gram before eventually falling unconcious himself.

 

[Ziginz Zegell]

Mao stood over her felled foes triumphantly and laughed aloud like some great conqueror. Beatrice recorded the whole ordeal and scoffed at Mao’s actions and the ease at which the strange man and his kivat had fallen. “So what now miss “never look when I can leap”? Only one kind of person in Japan would have a Kivat right now other then us.” Beatrice’s words caused Mao to choke on her laugh as she turned pale and looked down at the unconscious Gram and Kivat Bat the 2nd. “You mean this weak ass guy is one of the royal heirs!? You got to be kidding me!” Mao sounded more disappointed then worried as she flipped the man over to strike him again in the face only to stop mid punch. Beatrice couldn’t tell why her fiery friend had stopped so suddenly, and walked over to behold the same sight with the same reaction. Both girls swooned where they stood at the hansom face of the young man unconscious before them. “W-What should we do B?” Mao asked with a slight stutter. Beatrice cleared her throat and blushed lightly as she diverted her eyes, though her phone was steadily taking pictures of Gram. “We should…take him back to our place until he recovers. That would be the right thing to do.” A devious smile crept across both girls’ faces as Mao threw Gram over her shoulder, completely forgetting about the dazed Kivat that fell to the ground. Molly was doing her best to help Eva regain consciousness, but to no avail. “Guess Eva is down for the count as well.” Beatrice stated to which Molly frowned and nodded her head. Beatrice sighed and helped the red head carry the dazzled young woman back toward their new home.

------------------------

When Gram would next awaken he would find himself tied to a bed in an old hotel room with two young women in Moe outfits looking over him deviously. Any other day this would be a sign that the previous night had been a total success. The only problem was, Gram’s last memory was of being struck in the back of the head by a screaming girl. “Looks like you’re finally awake Mr. Heir to the throne. We got questions that your pretty ass is going to answer honestly. Any questions before the fun starts?” The brown haired girl leaned in, showing off a fair amount of cleavage before producing a pair of pliers with a few quick snaps. A blonde haired girl in pig tails stood behind her with a camera and a similar devious grin. It was clear the situation was either very good, or very dire depending on who you asked. Suddenly, the sliding door to the room opened and a girl with long, red hair wearing a pair of shorts and a red hoodie looked at the two moe girls with fury in her eyes. Both girls gulped as the third pointed toward them both and then pointed down the hallway. Both Moe girls dashed out of the room laughing after getting a distance away from the door and the third girl looked toward gram with a smile. She stepped into the room and slid the door shut at which point her disposition changed completely. The weight of her aura was choking as she walked to the man, produced her cell phone, and typed a message which she then showed Gram. ~Did you hurt Eva?~ was all the message said. Upon answering, Molly would smile; she knew Gram wasn’t lying and then typed another question. ~Do you plan to?~ Another answer, another smile, and the unsheathing of a knife. Molly cut Gram loose and bowed to him before typing a third message and presenting it to him. ~Eva is eating breakfast, and you should join her. She is eager to meet you.~

At a kitchen table in what was once a public eating area, a lithe young woman sat eating a rice omelet. He black hair was combed neatly and she wore a black, long sleeve shirt, pleated skirt, and black pantyhose. She was surprised when Molly presented gram and shifted her eyes a bit looking for the words to say. “I…um…My name is Eva Alexandrova and I…well…I’m sorry about last night…” Molly fetched another omlete and sat it before gram with a smile. She signed to Eva that gram was safe for the time being but that she was ready to kill him if he tried anything. Eva signed back that it wouldn’t be necessary and Molly smiled before walking away. “As I said…I’m sorry we met under such circumstances. I’m not exatly...good with people…which that isn’t really an excuse for what my friends did to you, or for what I had to do…” Eva seemed to become disappointed again at the thought of the previous night and looked away from Gram. It was clear she was still upset about the battle, and was worried about how gram would react to the series of events that had lead him here to the table where they now sat.

 

[G.K.]

The fangire prince was only partially shocked by what he awoke to. His eyes darted in every direction, pausing for only the briefest of instances before shifting to another portion of the room. His search was brought to an abrupt halt when he caught sight of his would be captors. They where undeniably the cutest kidnappers he'd ever had the pleasure of being abducted by. The outfits only proved to further distract Gram from the inherent dangers of this scenario.

It was only when a third girl walked into the room, one with a knife on her person, that Gram truly the started to worry. As the first two left he tugged once at his restraints. He exhaled deeply and started looking around the room agian. As he franticly searched for some other means of escape The menacing figure punched a few keys rapid fire on a cell phone then held the screen up too him long enough for Gram to pause and read it.

"No..." Gram said with an air of confusion in his voice. Not even knowing who the question was referring to. He attempted to recall the events prior, eventually piecing together all that had happend the night before. As he thought "maybe the one in the white armor" Another question was posed to him and it was met with the same answer. The girl smiled and Gram sighed in relief as he was released from those restraints.

The girl addressed the now free fangire prince with a request. To meet with the girl he'd been asked not to harm for breakfast. While he'd been wrestling with the idea making a break for it his stomach answered for him.

He made his way downstairs to find Eva sitting alone and was completely floored by her beauty. Without saying a word Gram found himself drawn to her. She had a very gentle air about her that could instill comfort in others. Everything but his beating heart seemed to slow to an eventual halt as she turned to greet him. While she stumbled over her words Gram desperately probed his brain for a response. Before he could utter a word Molly placed another rice omelet in front of him. He sat down in front of the meal then smiled at her before looking down at it. He stared sadly at it momentarily and then, as the two girls signed to each other, pressed his hands together in a prayer like manner and mumbled a few words to himself before digging into the meal with reckless abandon.

By the time Eva started speaking to Gram again he'd already finished the omelet. He smiled genuinely as she apologized for how he'd ended up in her care, still entranced by her beauty and kindness. It wasn't until she turned away from him that he was pulled out of the tranced. His mind replayed the events occurring the night before. He specifically remembered the shakiness in her voice, The horror at the sight of her opponent fading away and then her resignation as the crab fangire charged towards her. It was all painfully familiar for the fangire prince. He stood up and moved towards Eva. He place a hand on her shoulder and attempted to smile through his own sadness.

"It wasn't your fault. I know it doesn't bring you much comfort to hear that but you must take it to heart."