What's this? An update to the 'Unmade' series after a two-year-and-then-some absence? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am (somewhat) back. I have not finished writing this, and will not be updating this on any set schedule, so don't hang around expecting anything anytime soon.

For those who are new to the series, this is an AU where Chase is a cyborg rather than a Roidmude, as that was my theory early on in the series run. So that means that he was human while operating as Proto-Drive, and has a human family that is missing him. There are three fics in this series besides this one: 'The Secret Origin of Machin Chaser', 'Mockery', and 'Prodigal', which is set after Episode 30.

I typically try to avoid having more than one work in progress at once, and 'The Cold Factor' is still unfinished. But since it's on hiatus, and will be for some time, I'm trying to see how far I can go with this before I can get back to that other fic.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Kamen Rider Drive or any of its characters.

WORD COUNT: 654

"Have you ever had someone take your brain and play? Pull you out, stuff something else in? You know what it's like to be unmade?"
- Clint 'Hawkeye' Barton, 'Marvel's The Avengers'

Wednesday, April 1st, 2015

Rain pounded on the street, soaking the pavement and creating small rivers in the gutters. The few people who had no choice but to go outside huddled under umbrellas and rushed to their destinations, paying little attention to what was going on around them in favour of getting out of the dismal weather as soon as possible.

So the bare few among them walking down a particular road mostly didn't notice the young man slumped, half-hidden, behind a pillar. His purple leather clothes were torn and burned and bloody, but he did not call out for help when someone did pass by. He just watched, not sure what to do. His mind was clearer than it had been in months, and what he remembered of that time horrified him.

He'd hurt humans. It was strange, how much that bothered him, but it bothered him nonetheless. The lingering memory of the voice telling him to protect humans... it was important to him. Whether he understood it or not, it was important, and he'd failed at it.

He remembered the mental mantra: Obey Medic. Serve Medic. Do whatever she asks. His own choices and beliefs, whatever they were, had suddenly meant nothing to him. Why had that change happened? Why had his thoughts, his very desires, suddenly altered?

Medic. She'd done something to him, to his mind. She'd reached in and changed his priorities, his desires, to suit her needs.

Was he really so changeable? So easily molded? Had that even been him? He remembered it, though. He remembered the chaos and fear that he'd caused to draw out and kill the humans' protector. Wasn't he supposed to be their protector?

Another set of footsteps approached. These were not as hurried, the walker too lost in her thoughts and emotions.

He recognised her face. A fuzzy memory of another rainy night resurfaced, of her looking up at him in awe and gratitude. Her voice, crying: "You're the Kamen Rider who saved my life!"

Kamen Rider. He was a Kamen Rider. Or he had been, once. A Kamen Rider wouldn't turn his weapon on someone he'd previously saved. He certainly wasn't worthy of that title anymore. And he definitely didn't deserve to show his face to her.

He tried to move further behind the pillar that supported him, but his injuries pained him. He was no longer healing as quickly as he used to. The gasp of pain somehow caught her attention, even over the sound of the falling rain.

She stared at him for a moment, shock and disbelief forming on her face as she recognised his. He didn't blame her; he shouldn't have survived that battle. He shouldn't be sitting there and staring back at her. "Chase," she gasped.

Chase. Not Kamen Rider. That person was no longer him. Her saviour from that night no longer existed.

So why was she running towards him, tossing her umbrella away and letting the rain soak her as she knelt by his side? "You're alive," she whispered, "Thank goodness." Even with the rain running down her face, he could distinguish the tears falling from her eyes. It wasn't until he saw the small smile on her lips that he realised that they were tears of joy.

Why? Why was she not angered by his survival, that he still lived after endangering all those lives? He didn't understand.

The world began to blur around him. He was cold, wet, in pain, and utterly exhausted. The last thing he heard was her voice, the words too muffled to understand, before he succumbed to darkness.

As I've said already, I don't know when the next update will be. Each chapter following this will be based on two episodes. This chapter, obviously, is only the end of Episode 22, so Chapter 2 will cover Ep 23/24, Ch 3 will cover Ep 25/26, etc., and there will be 5 chapters in total. Chapter 2 is close to finished, and a bit on the short side due to Chase spending most of those episodes out of the action. But please bear with me, as I do wish to get this finished.