In the smog-filled streets of downtown Glistoria, the nonstop rumbling of construction work, with the heavy groaning of trucks making their way through streets and giant machinery towering over the buildings around them, mixed with the honking of cars stuck in traffic. The moon hiding behind the drifting clouds, a small run-down diner sat in-between two tall buildings halfway to completion. Despite its moldy wooden exterior and the sour smell of piss in the air, the place was brimming with customers.

Everywhere you could look, one would see construction workers chugging down mugs of beer and bickering among one another, all the while the smell of sweat and beer invaded one's nose. Every one of the Serpentium workers nearly twice the size of the average man, their stout, muscular silhouettes were a result of nothing but hard labor. Among these customers, waitresses rushed between the tables with plates of thick meat served alongside boiled crickets, a favorite among Serpentium and more daring humans. A quiet atmosphere hanging in the air between the human and Serpentium workers alike, it was only soothed by a man with a harp playing in the corner.

Sitting at the far end of the restaurant, Akira finished up a modest dinner and pushed aside the plate to rest his elbows on the table. His violin casing sitting next to his feet, Akira rested his chin on his palm and started filtering out the noise of the customers to focus on one thing: Kamen Rider Axe.

Akira never entertained the thought that the reason for Axe's strange behavior was not because of a change of heart, but how the Symphony Gear had a different user entirely. He assumed that Axe simply had a son for this new wielder to bypass the Symphony Gear's Biometric scanners, but that only raised further questions: If Axe had planned for a successor, then how was this new Axe able to don the belt without undergoing the extensive genetic modification required to become a Rider in the first place?

Pinching his sore temples in frustration, Akira took out his cellphone and clicked open a notepad summarizing up all the information he had gathered from multiple interrogations last night. His newest lead was his target's base being around the Mayleaf district, but even that wasn't specific enough to narrow down his target's location exactly. Being new in town and all, it would take at least one more night for him to find where he needed to go.

Perhaps he was too hasty in eliminating those two men earlier, he thought, as Axe definitely didn't appreciate that, and it was also going to make any further attempts to talk to him harder now, too. But at the same time, Akira felt no remorse for what he did. After seeing the amount of men, women and children that had been kidnapped and locked up in cages for God-knows-what, executing those two men while they begged for mercy was almost merciful in comparison.

Putting away the device, Akira reached for his wallet to pay the bill when his ears picked up the other customers gossiping about his recent runs against Glistoria's underground crime. His lips pursed tightly with discomfort upon hearing their words.

"You hear how those crooks were hung from meat hooks when the police found 'em? That Black Mask is freaking intense."

"Serves those scum right. They got off easy, in my opinion."

"Honestly, I wish Black Mask did the same thing for those smaller criminals. Maybe people will be more hesitant to just start stealing stuff?"

"Hell yeah! If the police and White Mask can't do shit about these crooks, then maybe Black Mask will!"

Blocking out all these comments by stuffing a pair of headphones into his ears, Akira placed the cash on the table and the violinist wasted no time picking his instrument up to leave. He strolled past the large Serpentium men in the bar, a few of them glaring as he passed by, before he finally stepped through the large, open doorway. There, the smell of food and beer was replaced by car exhaust from the traffic-filled streets in front of him.

He leaned on a graffiti-laden wall while Mozart's Requiem in D minor played through his headphones, the thunderous symphony of the music giving him enough peace to remember that the previous cities Akira had made his runs through never reacted this way before. That is, if they had even taken notice of his actions at all. But what Akira wasn't surprised nor pleased to see, were the numerous people rooting for the deaths of criminals. Every time he would cast his justice across a city, the resulting cheers for more was always a bitter pill to swallow.

A slow exhale slipped from the violinist's lips and his hand reached for his phone to turn up the volume of his music, when it was cut short from someone calling him: Getrud.

Answering the call, he placed his violin casing next to his feet as human and Serpentium pedestrians ignored his presence while they walked by, "I'm guessing you've heard about what's happened?"

"You think I wouldn't?" Getrud scoffed, audibly puffing a cigarette, "I've been keeping in contact with Albert over there, and I hear you've been doing fine with your new job. Good on you for that. But I bet you didn't expect Glistoria to react to a brand new masked vigilante this intensely, huh?"

Akira gave a hollow chuckle, his hand running through his neat, purple hair, "I can't say I wasn't surprised. Nothing today had failed to do just that."

"Oh? Did you encounter that Axe girl you mentioned?"

Staring at the noisy traffic jam in front of him, Akira answered in a low voice, "Yes... and no. It turns out Axe had a son - or at least, that's what I'm guessing - and she's passed her mantle onto him. I still don't know what's happened to her, but all I guess is that the one that's been acting now is someone that took on her name. His methods are the complete opposite of hers, and I can't tell if this is his or her own influence."

"... And? What're you gonna do about this?"

"In the best case scenario, I'll just leave him be and resume my work," he answered while taking out his Musical Note-shaped earring from his pockets, "But I doubt this successor is just going to leave me be. Our first encounter didn't really give any good first impressions about myself, nor do my methods connect with his own. So anything that happens next is going to be complicated, to say the least."

Hearing another puff of cigarette from the other end of the line, Getrud audibly hummed to herself in thought before saying, "Just don't get into any pointless fights with him, alright? I hear the underground gangs of Glistoria are packing more than Fafnir did over here in Streilson. I don't have anything specific, but be careful about continuing to pick a fight with the gangs over there. Got it?"

A small smile crossed the violinist's face before he pocketed his earring, his voice taking a teasing turn, "Would you tear up if I got hurt?"

"I'd sooner cry over a spilled drink," Getrud replied in a deadpan tone before they both shared a small laugh, "Anyway, good night. Don't die."

"No promises," ending the call with a click of a button, Akira's music resumed from where it had left off and he began heading back to his apartment. His violin casing slung over one shoulder, the violinist couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen here on out. With everything he had found out about Axe tonight, and the questions he had for him, he wondered if his earlier encounter would end up leading to more severe situations.

With the rays of morning light blocked out by Reynard's curtains, the high-pitched whine of his alarm clock was silenced by the teen's fist shattering the device into several pieces that scattered all over the floor. The blonde poking his head and tail from out the blankets with a mild groan, Reynard nonchalantly glanced at the remains of his alarm clock before curling up underneath his warm blanket, cursing his Serpentium cold-blood for being unable to warm himself up without a heat source.

For several minutes, Reynard chose to simply hide in the warm comforts of his bed, but upon reminding himself that he had work, he dragged himself out and pulled his bedroom curtains aside to bathe his scales in the warm sunlight.

Taking a moment to raise his body temperature, Reynard picked up his phone from the beside drawer and started going through the morning news. There, his groggy awakening only grew more tiring to get pass through as he started reading through dozens of comments regarding the new Kamen Rider in town. With each swipe of his screen, he saw more and more people cheer for the deaths of criminals, some claiming that Glistoria needs someone who can make the streets safe through force, others saying that Reynard's own justice is not enough and that many do not deserve the mercy he gives out.

There was a light smack when Reynard's phone was tossed into the wall beside him before it landed back on a pillow. Sighing and ruffling his messy, blonde hair, the sunlight bathing on his scaly back was the only comfortable thing he felt as his tail lazily swayed around on the bed.

Ever since yesterday's encounter with that violet Rider, Reynard's mind had driven around in screeching circles. At first he thought it was just some nut-job trying to mirror his own vigilante acts with a sick twist on justice, but the fact it was another Kamen Rider doing all this did nothing but curl up his hands until his knuckles turned white. A Rider was supposed to be an icon of hope, or that is, what his mother always drilled into him. But even so, he had no right to play judge, jury and executioner in a town he had been helping for years already.

Even if the people clamored to him, the sight of those two men begging for their lives before being murdered replayed in his mind like a tape set on rewind.

Glancing at a framed picture of his parents as if asking for advice, Reynard sighed and lied down on his bed to let the sunlight warm the front of his scaly, toned body.

If he allowed this Rider's acts to continue, there was no telling how far he would go in enacting his justice. This brand of vigilantism was a slippery slope, and even if criminals and civilians alike continued to call him naive or even foolish for trying to save people, he had to confront him. He didn't care if this Rider could be some veteran of the One Year War or an inheritor of the Symphony Gear like him. It made no difference.

A few knocks on the door snapped him out of his thoughts and Reynard heard Arvin's voice from the other side, accompanied by the faint beeping of a small game console, "You awake in there? I got something for you."

"I'll be right there!" jumping off his bed, Reynard opened up his closet with his tail and started putting on some clothes, making sure he didn't step on the remains of his alarm clock before he opened up his door to see his brother. Pajamas all wrinkled, game console in one hand with the other behind his back, Arvin's hair was a complete mess like Reynard's, "Huh. Didn't know you wake up this early on school holidays."

Ignoring his sarcasm, Arvin pulled out his hidden hand from behind his back and revealed a small, colourful container in his palm, "I wanted to give this to you before you went out for work. You looked pretty down yesterday, so I thought this would cheer you up," he said with a hint of a smile.

Taking the small gift, Reynard saw the expectant gaze on his brother's face and started unwrapping the gift with the tip of his sharp fingers. After some struggling, he pulled the metal container open to see a small pile of simmering, boiled grasshoppers inside, all marinated with a powerful smell of soy sauce.

Reynard blinked before his eyes lit up with joy, "Oh, you couldn't have!"

"It was easy," Arvin casually remarked with his attention returning to his 4DS in hand, "A quick trip downtown was all it took."

Flicking a grasshopper into his mouth, Reynard's pointed ears and tail flickered with excitement as he savored the juicy taste of his favorite snack. But before he could make a comment on it, he heard his phone's alarm start to ring, telling him that he was going to be late if he didn't rush to work now, "Crap. Anyway, thanks for the snack!" he ruffled his little brother's hair while Arvin lightly laughed at how easy it was to cheer him up.

"Don't mention it, Big Bro'. It's just weird when you're not smiling, that's all."

While Arvin walked back to his room, Reynard closed the door and started getting ready for work. With haste, he combed his messy hair, cleaned up the scales around his body, face and tail, checked for any shedding and put on his usual work attire. Fetching his bike keys from a drawer, he opened up the door with his motorcycle helmet under his arm and looked back at the framed picture of his parents.

"Well, I'm heading off. See ya," he whispered before rushing out of the house. Even though it felt like it was going to be a regular day like any other, he knew that with a new Rider in town, it was going to be anything but.

As a quiet morning shift slowly turned into a busy afternoon in the Galleria Music Hall, the immense, near-deafening beats of pop music reverberated off the Hall's walls to the cheering of the large crowd that had gathered today. All of them chanting in unison to the enchanting, almost overwhelming voice of an artist by the name of "Nana Mizuki", every single table was taken with flashing lights illuminating the dark lounge. Among the cheering crowd, both Reynard and Akira were serving out drinks and meals as best they could.

Frantically making their way through the patrons without spilling the orders in hand, the blaring pop music made it impossible for the two waiters to even hear the bartender in the corner that was yelling at them to take a break, until they actually turned around to see him. Noticing a few other waiters coming out to cover them, Reynard and Akira signaled the bartender an exhausted A-Okay signal before making their way to the break room in the far back.

After a minute of constant apologizing and exhausting pushing, the two workers finally stood in front of the break room's door, both of their uniforms drenched in sweat with their hands gripping their knees.

Glancing at each other, Akira politely gestured the younger worker to step inside first and Reynard gave a thankful, sharp-toothed grin.

The sight of an empty break room with several energy drinks sitting on the main table was a much-welcome sight. But much to their surprise, they were taken aback by the sight of something that could only be described as an old game cabinet that was now sitting in one corner of the room. As they closed the door behind them, the singing from outside was reduced to a low muffle, the two workers picking up their energy drinks as they curiously approached the arcade machine.

"What's this supposed to be?" Akira mused while he sat down on a chair and popped open his energy drink.

"Wait, you've never seen an arcade machine before?" Reynard raised a brow at the violinist who gave an almost rueful nod, "I mean, it's old and all, but how have you not heard of these things?" stepping up to the gaming cabinet, he ran his gaze on every side of the machine until he noticed a small note from Uncle Albert taped to the side of it.

'Bought this for you guys to have fun while on break. Don't break it,' it read, its sheer bluntness getting a bit of a laugh from the Serpentium.

"Admittedly, I'm not very familiar with this kind of stuff. Games and a lot of things that aren't related to music are pretty much out of my field," Akira said with a pitiful smile before he sipped his drink.

"Oh, well then," Reynard sat in front of the machine and popped open his energy drink. Wondering if he could take this as an opportunity to get to know the new worker better, he eagerly flashed a few quarters from his pocket, "Wanna play for a bit?" Akira tilted his head to one side at the sight of his coins, "It works like this: you put in a few quarters and you play until you lose. It's short, fun, and a good way to kill time. Sounds simple enough, right?" he added a sharp-toothed smile for good measure.

His curiosity peaked, Akira got up to the machine and sat down beside Reynard with a polite bow of the head, "I'm in your care then."

Taken aback by his overly-polite Japanese mannerisms, Reynard gave a nervous chuckle and popped the quarters into the arcade machine. The large screen immediately lit up to a cartoon display of a DJ player running his fingers through a musical keyboard, a colourful girl with pink hair singing behind him as the words "DoReMiFa BEAT" flashed across the screen. Reynard recognized the game since he played it a couple of times with Arvin, but Akira looked as though it was something completely foreign to him.

Selecting an average-difficulty song by the name of Excite, Reynard cracked his knuckles as the electronic pop song slowly began. Soon, button prompts began to fly across the interface and Reynard tapped the buttons to the beat of the song, cheerfully humming along to the catchy tune while his tail eagerly wagged. Beside him, Akira simply mimicked Reynard's actions, as if he didn't understand the concept of a Rhythm game, but despite this, the violinist's fingers were quick, managing to consistently hit the buttons albeit with various "Misses" in-between.

When the song came to an end, the results were laid out and while Reynard scored high, Akira's were completely average. Reynard assumed he never had much of a childhood outside of music.

"This was fun," Akira uttered with a modest chuckle.

"... You've seriously never played an arcade game before?" Reynard got a regretful shake of the head, "Well, wanna go another round?" getting a nod this time, he selected the next song, Just Live More, and as the two continued tapping away at the buttons, Reynard attempted to make some small talk, "So... that 'Black Mask' guy," he cleared his throat for emphasis, "He's pretty much been the talk of the town, huh?"

To Reynard's surprise, Akira gave an exasperated sigh, "He definitely has been. It's almost impossible to go anywhere without hearing anything about masked vigilantes."

"Oh, tell me about it," Reynard groaned before wincing at the sight of his Perfect Combo breaking from a single 'Miss', "But anyway, what're your thoughts on the guy? I mean, White Mask had been pretty much protecting this town for years already, and now people are all cheering for this new guy that goes around decapitating criminals as if it was going out of style. It kinda makes it sound like the police and White Mask haven't done anything to help, huh?"

With the next song coming to an end, Akira wrung his sore hands and brought a finger to his chin, "And what's your opinion on these masked vigilantes?" he countered with his own question as Reynard suddenly felt like he was being scanned from head to toe.

"W-Well," Reynard coughed into a fist and avoided the older musician's gaze, "I think White Mask did a pretty good job in trying to protect this town, and although I think Black Mask killing all those criminals is borderline unforgivable... I was just wondering what kind of justice do the folks of this town really want?"

Akira wordlessly stared at him for a couple of a seconds with eyes that made the Serpentium begin to sweat, before he diverted them back to the arcade machine in front of them. Akira's score was once again in the average range, albeit lower than the previous one, "It's interesting, for sure. Though they may have a point that some criminals just do not deserve even the the slightest bit of mercy, I also don't think they should be so quick to abandon White Mask's own attempts to help either. It's a complicated dilemma, really. The thought of sentencing a criminal to death isn't something that can be quickly labelled a 'good' or 'bad', and the same can be said for the opposite."

Blinking a couple of times, Reynard opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out except for another nervous chuckle, "Wow. That... kinda got a bit deep there, didn't it?"

"Oh, my bad," Akira laughed, giving an apologetic bow of the head, "If anything, I think both masked vigilantes have a point in their methods, no matter how you look at it. But that's a topic for another time," he tapped a finger on the wristwatch he was wearing, "Break time's over, so we should get going."

"Gotcha," Reynard gave another toothy grin, "I'll admit: It's actually pretty nice to talk to you. For a second there, I thought you were going to be super hard to approach and everything I said was gonna end up making you think I was a weirdo, or something. Actually, forget about that last part. Or maybe all of it."

Laughing again at the younger musician's ramblings, Akira got up from his seat and gave a polite bow, "The feeling is mutual," grabbing his energy drink and finishing what remained, the young man then headed back out into the noisy music hall ahead of Reynard, ready to brave the immense crowd again.

All the while, Reynard took out his container to flick a grasshopper into his mouth and washed it all down with his drink, his pointed ears twitching at its tangy flavor.

Since his shift was going to be over in an hour or two, Reynard went up to his locker and started packing up his stuff, the Serpentium teen wondering if he should head back home and clean up the house afterwards, or continue on his daily patrol as the town's vigilante as always. The latter would probably end up with him running into that violet Rider at some point, something that felt all too difficult to pass up on.

With the orange light of the late-afternoon washing over Glistoria, the sound of fire trucks and police cars could be heard rushing towards a block not too far away from the Galleria Music Hall. There, rescue vehicles gathered around a small apartment block engulfed in flames and attempted to douse the fire, Serpentium and human firemen alike rushing into the building to rescue those inside. But despite their efforts, the flames continued to surge, the screams of people still inside continuing to echo through the smoky air. As the situation grew worse, the rescue workers below suddenly heard the hot-blooded strumming of an electric guitar.

Within moments, a figure clad in gold and white soared above their heads, jumping from an opposing building to the one on fire in a single bound and crashing through one of the windows on the middle floor.

Raking the floor with his claws and screeching to a complete halt, the respirator within Axe's mask filtered out the smoke as his mask's compound eyes scanned his fiery surroundings for any signs of life. Standing amidst what could only be described as a hallway now turned into a burning domain of hell itself, Axe's sensors detected multiple life-signs on the floor below him and he smacked his belt's twin buttons to summon his Axe-guitar Gun into hand.

In one mighty swing, Axe's weapon carved an enormous hole into the wooden floor, the Rider jumping through it and landing in a hallway with both ends blocked out by debris. Several civilians sitting along the walls with rags covering their mouths and noses, the very moment they saw the chain-covered Rider standing among the flames, their panic quickly turned into cries of relief.

"I'm getting you guys out of here, so stay calm and follow me!" turning to the wall on his left, Axe's sensors could detect the apartment's back entrance lying in this direction with 4-6 thick walls standing in-between. It was going to be a risky maneuver, but as the flames continued to spread across the corridor, he raised his weapon once more in both hands and smacked the button on the right side of his belt with his tail, causing his compound eyes to shimmer with the golden lines around his body.

"Finale: REQUIEM," his belt roared as golden musical notes swirled around the head of his battle-axe, encasing it with a glow that matched the burning fires around them.

With a loud battle-cry, Axe swung his weapon at the wall and tore it down like a hot knife through wet paper. Charging forth through the rubble, the flames did little to sear his trench-coat as he continued cutting down every single wall that stood between him and the apartment's back entrance with repeated swings of his weapon. The men and women following him through burning rooms and halls alike, the last wall that stood in their path was quickly bulldozed down to the meaty beats of an electric guitar, Axe flicking his wrist and tail as the back entrance was finally in sight.

Firemen rushed in to help escort the escaping survivors, but Axe's sensors alerted him to another life-sign located on the upper floors. His weapon vanishing into musical notes, Axe's pick knuckles formed over his fists and he smacked the left button on his belt. The speaker-shaped rockets around his legs emitted a low hum and the Rider was immediately propelled through the floors above him, Axe breaking through several floors like a missile before landing on the top floor where he spotted a child lying underneath some rubble.

Tossing the heavy rubble off the boy with ease, Axe carried him in his arms and turned to the hole he had made earlier when he suddenly heard the ceiling above him begin to crumble. His eyes widening at the growing cracks above him, his sensors saw through the smoke and detected a window on the far end of the hall, "Alright, kid, this is gonna be a tough one!" sprinting towards the window as fast as his heavy armor would allow him, cracks continued to spread across the ceiling and floors, everything around him now on the verge of collapsing entirely as the floor below crumbled beneath his feet.

As Axe jumped into the air and hurled his fist through the glass window, the entire apartment finally began to break apart, the small building crumbling and breaking apart into a large pile of debris as the resulting cloud of ash spread across the entire block.

The concrete street cracked underneath Axe's legs with a thundering rumble, the child still breathing in his arms as glass, ash and rubble covered the Rider's chain-covered trench-coat. Panting underneath his mask, Axe saw the apartment block behind him now more than a large gathering of burnt rubble, smoke billowing into the afternoon sky as the Rider handed the child to a paramedic rushing over to him.

Looking at all the rescued civilians that were now getting medical treatment and entering various ambulances, Axe smiled underneath his mask and reached for the motorbike baton on the back of his belt strap, "Hold it right there!" he heard a voice call to him and turned around to see several approaching police officers. The one at front had a stern look on his face as he flashed his badge, "White Mask, apologies, but you'll have to come with us. We have a few questions to ask about the so-called 'Black Mask'."

Axe glanced at the other officers and a few of them were already sweating, reaching for their holstered guns while the others clearly did not want to pick a fight with a town vigilante, "And what if I don't want to come along nicely?" Axe's tail wrapped around the baton on the back of his belt strap and the officers immediately drew their pistols on him. Axe just sighed, "You guys do know I'm bulletproof, right?"

"We know you've been playing 'hero' for a while now, long before the public even acknowledged your vigilantism, but Black Mask's actions - whether or not you're affiliated with him - warrants questioning from whoever that may actually know something about him," there was a click when the officer switched off the safety of his weapon, "Come along quietly and things won't have to get ugly."

Axe gazed at all the paramedics, firemen and civilians around them and they quickly noticed the officers' actions. But even so, not a single one chose to do any more than give questioning looks at the men's actions in front of them. A few others simply took out their phones and started taking pictures, while others were pointing at what was practically the first time the police ever confronted Axe in person. Seeing as it was all on him to escape, Axe sighed underneath his mask and raised up his hands in the air.

Right before the chains around his trench-coat ejected from his body and suddenly lashed out at the police's guns like frenzied snakes. Shots immediately went off and the civilians around them panicked as Axe turned on his heel and leaped into the air, baton in hand. He snapped apart the baton into a pair of motorcycle grips, golden musical notes gathering underneath his body and solidifying into the Gold Presley mere seconds before the tires even kissed the concrete.

Immediately speeding through the unmoving traffic jam on the streets, Axe's armored bike darted past cars and trucks alike for anywhere that wasn't here, hoping that the police were too busy with his gold chains to actually start pursuing him, "Damn it. Now I got the police breathing down my neck," Axe groaned as the golden chains around his trench-coat slowly manifested around his body again, his bike speeding towards the edge of town for a breather.

While he drove through the streets, he could see the townsfolk all shouting in surprise at being able to get a glance at the local vigilante. Or at least, one of the local vigilantes. Axe never really gave a thought to how people reacted to his work. Just helping people itself gave him a sense of satisfaction that few other things could. But for once, he could almost feel a sense of envy deep inside of him at how the town reacted to this new, merciless Kamen Rider. He had been keeping an eye out for him in case he would run into him again, but there had been nothing so far. Now that the police was on his literal tail because of his blood-filled crusade, he wondered if he should've seek him out even sooner.

Soon, Axe's armored bike came to a halt on the empty roads of the Glistorian outskirts and there, Axe kicked up the bike-stand for a moment to think.

Looking around, there was nothing interesting in sight, just abandoned buildings and run-down shops as always, but when he took a second to stretch his arms, his gaze ran over to the street's name and his eyes went wide under his mask: "Mayleaf District".

He remembered the two men from yesterday who mistook him for that violet Rider, one of them shouting this very district's name. If that Rider had been chasing them for the location of a criminal base, then this district was exactlywhere that Rider would be hanging around to find them.

Releasing the bike-stand, Axe revved the engine and quickly began driving around the empty streets for any sign of a criminal base and/or the violet Rider himself, the scanners in his compound eyes darting left and right at maximum settings for any vague signs. It was at this point that Axe's body started to move all on its own. Driven solely by his purpose to continue his role as a hero of justice, the guitar-like hum of the Gold Presley's engine would echo through the Mayleaf District for hours on end, the gold Rider completely focused on finding his targets as the light of the sun slowly turned into the soft glow of moonlight.

The holographic UI within Axe's mask signalling to him that it was now a quarter past 7, Axe's trench-coat fluttered from a passing gust of wind. He stood on the rooftop of a building overlooking several smaller ones on the opposite side of the road, the moon behind his back. It was odd, as even though Axe's sensors couldn't pick up any signs of life in any of these buildings, he could see faint signs of light and even movement through the windows. This was the first time he's seen something that could evade his sensors as the Rider continued scanning the sides of the building with his binocular vision.

After what felt like half an hour of waiting, Axe's suspicions were finally confirmed when a man armed with a rifle and kevlar came out from one of the buildings to light a cigarette. The man wearing a set of casual clothes despite his equipment, Axe quickly summoned his Axe-guitar Gun into his hands, ready to strike the base while he had the element of surprise. He felt a tinge of pride at managing to find the base before that other Rider could, even if he wanted to confront him, but arresting criminals took priority first and foremost.

Taking in a deep breath, Axe uttered the usual words of encouragement to get himself psyched up and block out that sense of dread he felt whenever he got into a fight, "Let's rock n'roll," Axe flicked his wrist and tail in unison, taking a step towards the edge of the rooftop.

He heard a blood-curling shriek echo from inside one of the buildings, and before he could react, the buildings on the opposing block suddenly erupted in bright, fiery explosions as Axe shielded his eyes in reflex. Almost in pure rhythmic fashion, the buildings exploded one-by-one, immediately killing anything that was even nearby as Axe watched in silent horror at the sight of several buildings now engulfed in raging flames. That shock though, quickly turned into anger, as jumping from out of the flames and landing on the streets below with an accompanying violin-like tire screech, was a sleek motorcycle ridden by none other than the violet Rider himself.

Axe tightened one hand into a fist as the violet vehicle quickly rode off into the distance, and as the gold Rider gritted his sharp teeth, the Rider jumped from the rooftops and descended the building with his motorcycle baton snapping in half. The Gold Presley manifested under his body and its tires hit the ground running with a loud screech, the landing nearly having thrown off its Rider had he not hold on tight.

Quickly pursuing the violet Rider's path in the Gold Presley, Axe glanced at the burning buildings behind him in his rear-view mirror and knew that whatever intentions this Rider had, Axe couldn't sit by any longer and let him do as he pleased. His justice ended today, either through diplomacy, or by force.

As the soft glow of the moon reflected off the glossy, amethyst surface of the Violet Bach, the sleek, lightly-armored motorcycle sped through the deserted streets with the glow of flames in the growing distance. The roar of its engine sounding almost entirely like the whimsical strings of a violin being played, Viola's fingers tapped on a map display sitting where a bike's fuel tank would typically be, the holographic screen showing a path towards another area of the outskirts entirely. But before Viola could speed towards his next destination, he heard the guitar-like bellow of a bike engine.

Clicking his tongue under his mask, he glanced behind and spotted a dim light closing in from the distance, the compound eyes of Viola's mask zooming in to spot none other than Axe pursuing him on his own Rider Machine.

There was no time to waste, he thought, as even if he wanted a chance to talk to Axe, he had an objective to get to. Clutching the grips of his bike, Viola leaned his body forward and held back a grunt as his bike zipped through the streets at top speeds. The muscles in his legs gripping onto the Violet Bach tight, the immense amount of wind pressure blew against Viola's armored mask as his Rider Machine made a sudden, screeching turn into a street filled with abandoned buildings in an attempt to break with his pursuer.

His heart beating rapidly despite his steady breath, Viola drove through the run-down doors and crumbled walls of dark buildings as he could hear Axe's Rider Machine somewhere around him. He didn't know the city like Axe did, but relying solely on his instincts alone, he jumped through multiple broken windows and took tight turns into tight roads, attempting to head in any direction that made the sound of Axe's Rider Machine grow more distant.

Shattering a glass plane in front of him, shards scattered across the streets and Viola gasped as he found himself suddenly faced with a dead-end.

He squeezed the brakes of his bike, the back tire screeching with smoke and drift marks carving into the concrete. Holding his breath, the Violet Bach skid across the alleyway and came to a sudden stop mere centimeters from the wall in front of him, the Rider grunting under his mask, and with that, Viola let out a sigh of relief.

Hearing the rumble of a motorbike engine, Viola glanced at the entrance of the alley-way he had driven himself into and spotted Axe staring at him while still on his bike. The gold Rider kicking up his bike-stand, Axe got off his Rider Machine and deactivated the vehicle, bringing it back to its simple baton state as Viola mirrored the action. Both of them attaching the batons onto the back of their belt straps, the jingling of the gold chains around Axe's body echoed through the alley, the Serpentium Rider approaching Viola until they stood mere 20 meters from each other.

Axe's tail swayed left and right, Viola's gloved hands brushing the chin of his mask as the dead-end they were in was around the size of a large room. There was only one way in and out of here, the buildings surrounding him far too high for even Viola to jump onto as moonlight reflected off several puddles of water on the concrete ground. In the distance, one could hear the rumbling of thunder.

"I can tell you know this city well," Viola chuckled with his voice modulator switched on, "I didn't expect that you would lure me into a dead-end like this. Especially on a slower Rider Machine."

His hand curling into a tight, shaking fist, Axe's tail started whipping about, "Why?" he uttered in a low tone, his voice modulator activated as well, before he stomped one foot onto the ground and cracked the concrete like it was glass, "Why did you kill all those people in those buildings? All those criminals from yesterday? Just what are you even trying to do?!" he demanded as he pointed a damning finger straight at Viola.

Dusting a piece of dirt off his tuxedo-like armor, Viola looked straight at Axe, his tone losing its smug vibe, "You don't know what they were doing, do you? What has been going on right under your nose all these years?" his question visibly caused the gold Rider to flinch, "Every single person I've hunted down so far have been involved in trafficking both human and Serpentium alike - Men; women; children - all to anyone with the cash for it. Those buildings were supposed to be their main base, but it turns out they had moved before I arrived. So to be frank, I'd rather head to their new base now before they can relocate again."

"... Is that so?" Axe hissed under his mask, the chains around his trench-coat shimmering as his entire body began to fume with anger, "Still... all those people. All the men you've killed..." the compound eyes of his mask flashed with gold as Viola took a step backwards, "How many are you planning to kill before you stop, huh?! How much blood are you going to spill until you're satisfied?!"

Thinking about his question, Viola lifted one hand from his side and silently stared into his gloved palm. He gave a hollow chuckle and looked back at Axe with a tone of complete calm, "Their deaths were necessary."

"Try telling that to the piles of bodies you've left behind," Axe scoffed with a shake of his head, "For god's sake, they could've been spared!"

"And what would that lead to?!" Viola shot back with his hand cutting through the air, Axe hissing back at him. He then gasped at his own outburst, before taking in a deep breath to recollect himself, "Axe, I understand why you would want to spare these men and have them face justice in court, but reality isn't so simple. While some may repent, others - as soon as they are released from prison - are just going to continue doing the very same acts with little-to-no regret. No matter how many times you beat them down, they'll never learn."

Axe's tail stopped moving, the gold Rider's hands ceasing their shaking as well, "And so you just put them in the ground for good, huh? Not even gonna give a single one of them a chance to start over?"

"I do what must be done," Viola answered once more with utter calm, "No matter my own feelings on the matter, until Glistoria has been cleansed of the underground crime that's thrived for years, I will not stop. Even if you stand in my way."

As the exchange of words came to a complete halt, one could hear a drop of water fall onto a puddle nearby, the rumbling of thunder growing in the distance as streaks of lightning flashed across the dark skies. Soon, rain began to drizzle on the violet and gold Riders in the alley, the coat-tails on Axe's trench-coat and the split-ends on Viola's tuxedo-like armor fluttering from a passing breeze. Without any words, Axe smacked the buttons on the sides of his belt and Viola hesitated before doing the same. Their weapons manifesting into their arms, rain began to pour on them as both Kamen Riders raised their weapons.

They both knew words were useless at this point. There was no way out of this alley without one of them getting beaten into the ground. Both Riders wielding their ideals and weapons with no intention of letting go, flashes of lightning illuminated the two masked warriors as they slowly approached one another.

The rough soles of their boots made it impossible to slip on the wet concrete. Their sensors saw through the rain as if it was clear as day. Their weapons were wielded without hesitation.

"Shall the concert..."

"Let's rock..."

Thunder crackled through the rainy skies as two warriors charged at each other and sparks flew when a guitar-shaped battleaxe swung into a violin-shaped shield with an accompanying 'crunch'.

"... Begin?"

"... n'Roll!"

Digging his heels into the wet concrete from Axe's immense strength, Viola leaped back and ejected his shield from his forearm as it was cut clean in two. Skidding to a halt, Viola manifested another shield as Axe charged through the falling rain with his battleaxe raised overhead, "Not bad," Viola sharply stepped aside and a golden axe swung past his face to smash into pavement, "But power means nothing if you can't even hit your target."

Stepping backwards as Axe's weapon swung at him again, the violet Rider calmly dashed left and right, evading Axe's clumsy swings with ease as his weapon tore into the concrete and left small craters in the wet floors with each strike. Countering his offenses, Viola ducked underneath a horizontal swing that cut a pole behind him in half and slashed Axe across the chest, accompanying sparks showering his mask while the gold Rider reeled back with a hand gripping his chest.

But due to Axe's powerful defense, only a mere scratch was visible on his armor as Axe spun his weapon around and aimed the barrel of his Axe-guitar Gun straight at Viola, a pick manifesting between his fingers.

Smacking the left button on his belt, Viola raised his shield just Axe as struck the strings of his guitar, a barrage of gold musical notes spiraling through the air from the barrel of his Axe-guitar Gun and showering upon the violet musical notes that spiraled over Viola's shield. Axe's fingers striking his strings with immense strength, the light of his weapon's muzzle flash lit the alley-way while Viola, even with his heels digging into the pavement, was slowly pushed backwards from the machine gun-like barrage.

Viola then twirled his Bow Cutlass in his other hand and leaped to the side, the violet Rider running horizontally along the walls as Axe's machine-gun fire tore the walls into bits of rubble.

Kicking himself off the wall and into the air, Viola's threw his weapon at Axe, the Bow Cutlass spinning through the air and grazing past Axe's face, right before the Bow Cutlass ricocheted off the wall behind him and sliced off the barrel of his Axe-guitar Gun clean.

Tossing away his weapon, Axe manifested his Pick Knuckles and Viola dove underneath a burning fist of flames, smacking the edge of his Violin Shield straight into the Axe's face with a loud 'clang' that combined with the rumbling thunder. But as adrenaline began to pump in, Axe's tail seized Viola by the neck and the gold Rider, with his hands grasping Viola's head, drove his knee straight into the opposing Rider's abdomen, knocking the wind out of him in an instant as Viola flew backwards.

Smacking into a burning, wet wall behind him, Viola heaved underneath his mask and crouched before Axe's fists burned into the concrete behind him. Grimacing under his mask, Viola curled up his hands into fists and started swerving left and right past Axe's burning punches, appearing almost as a blur to the gold Rider until Viola's own fists suddenly pummeled Axe's face in a rapid rush of attacks, causing the Serpentium to reel back and grasp his aching head in pain.

The rain continuing to pour down on the two as they fought, Axe felt like his head was going to split in two while Viola felt one of his organs bleeding from within. Smoke from the debris billowed into the dark skies and several craters were torn into the concrete beneath their feet. Panting underneath their cracked masks and armor, Axe and Viola rose up to their feet and stood up straight, their bodies shaking and their hands moving to their belt straps. Mirroring each other, they smacked the button on the right sides of their belts, their gold and violet compound eyes flashing with the lines traveling around their body.

"Finale: REQUIEM," their belts echoed in unison, musical notes swirling around both Riders and encasing them in a fiery glow of flames, all to the clashing rhythm of an electric guitar and a violin.

Taking in a deep breath, Axe charged through the falling rain, the burning glow of gold around his legs burning brighter and brighter, each heavy step on the wet, bruised concrete sounding like the chaotic strings of an electric guitar. Viola instead curled one hand into a fist, all of the violet energy instead gathering around his right hand until a cyclone of glowing musical notes violently spiraled around his fists, the falling rain around his arm evaporating into steam within in a specific radius as the whimsical strings of a violin rang.

"Time for your swansong!"

"Time for your curtain-call!"

Axe jumped into the air, the coat-tails and chains of his trench-coat fluttering, and as his burning legs dove towards Viola like a speeding missile, Viola threw his fiery fist straight into his attack head-on.

A deafening rumble akin to a powerful bomb going off echoed through the Glistorian outskirts when their attacks collided, sparks showering the floor around them and burning holes into the concrete with streaks of electricity surging through both Riders. Axe bellowed a battle-cry and Viola remained silent, as right after an ear-piercing whine that deafened both fighters, an explosion erupted from their clashing attacks and engulfed the entire alleyway in immense flames of violet and gold, smoke now billowing into the rainy skies.

After a few minutes of nothing but the sound of rain falling upon smoking concrete, the cloud of smoke that covered the entire area finally settled, revealing both Viola and Axe standing on opposing ends of the alley-way, coughing and heaving underneath their crackling masks. Even Axe, with his powerful defenses, was covered in cracks like Viola, sparks hissing from the damage on their bruised armor as their visors were shattered apart.

But overall, Viola was on a much worse end, as due to his light armor having taken the full brunt of two clashing 'Finales', the violet Rider fell onto one knee and grasped his right arm in pain. The Treble Clef symbol at the front of his ornate belt now emitting a high-pitched alarm, the armor around Viola begun to break apart into shattered musical notes, cracking apart ever so slowly until Akira's bruised face, with blood trailing down the corner of his mouth and his hair a complete mess, was in clear view of Axe.

The gold Rider drew in a sharp, shaky breath, "Wha-?" he took a faltering step towards Akira, before falling onto one knee as well and grasping his aching head. His breath heavy, his tail completely unmoving, Axe stared straight into the tired, defeated eyes of his unmasked opponent and with his voice modulator switched off, uttered, "A.. kira...?"

The violinist's eyes widened at that name. Despite the rumbling of the thunder and the rain falling down all around them, Akira faintly recognized that voice. A voice that made him wonder if this was all some horrible joke that God was playing on him. Grimacing, Akira clutched his abdomen and coughed out some blood onto the wet concrete, giving a hollow chuckle at the situation they were now in.

But before Axe could say any further, the Treble Clef symbol at the front of his chain-covered belt strap emitted a similar high-pitched alarm and the armor around Axe immediately begun to break apart. This time, right as his armored, chain-covered trench-coat shattered apart into broken musical notes and revealed the Serpentium teenager underneath, Reynard fell onto both knees and dropped face-first onto the wet pavement, his consciousness already out.

As small pools of blood and rainwater begun to gather around the two Riders, Akira could hear the sounds of police sirens in the distance, attracted by the explosion from the trafficking ring nearby and the one that had just occurred. Not wanting to know what entailed for them if they were brought in like this, Akira looked at the unconscious Serpentium in front of him and knew that with his cold-blood, Reynard was was going to be in a much worse state than he was from hypothermia if he didn't do anything.

With his left hand still clutching his abdomen, the violinist dragged himself over to Reynard and ripped off the motorcycle baton from Reynard's belt. Pulling out his own baton, he snapped the two in half at the same time and tossed them at the entrance of the alley, musical notes gathering around the two batons to form a violet motorcycle with a golden side-car attached. The tires hit the concrete with a small screech and Akira dragged the unconscious Serpentium by the arms, pulling him into the side-car's seat before starting the bike's engine.

The police sirens getting closer and closer with each second, Akira revved the engine and sped off into distance with the unconscious Serpentium, streaks of lightning flashing across the skies.