Kamen Rider Noble (Chapter 1: Coronation)

Kamen Rider Noble

Chapter 1: Coronation

by WhatAttackGoesBust and thetrans4master

Haru stared gloomily at his medicine bottles, sitting in the nurse's office as he was supposed to do every day when he was at school. This was, of course, the routine: just before lunchtime started at school, he had to go up to the nurse's office and exit class, and take his medicine, which would make him fall asleep for an hour. After that, he'd eat a light lunch, then go to his tutor, who would give him a one-on-one lesson, then go home early at one-thirty.

It was a routine he wished he didn't have to take, but it was something he HAD to do, since he suffered from a bad sickness that only the medicine given to him could help conquer. It often occured to him that perhaps it was this that didn't give him much chance to make many friends, but he also was aware of the fact he could be too quiet and shy around others and enjoyed being secluded in a library often. All the same, Haru Taylor wished that he didn't have to do this.

The fact of the matter was, if he didn't, he'd probably end up dying, or worse. For as long as Haru could remember, he'd been horribly sick, and had nearly died a day after he was born. It was only thanks to this medicine of his, prescribed by his doctors, that he had survived for thirteen years with only drowsiness and shyness to worry about. He wished he were big and strong and healthy, like Haruka, his older brother. Haruka was better than Haru in almost every way- he was likable, charismatic, athletic, strong, and outgoing. Compared to him, Haru just felt like a shadow- even his name was nothing more than Haruka's with one syllable taken out.

Resignedly, Haru popped the medicine bottles open and sighed, taking one after the other. Both were liquid, carefully measured so that he'd take a teaspoon of each, and as soon as he'd taken them, Haru barely had time to recork the bottles before he fell back on one of the sick beds, fast asleep.

After he was reawoken, the sleep worn off, Haru tried to focus on the lessons taught to him by his one-on-one teacher for the afternoon, and since the teacher knew that sometimes Haru struggled after the medicine was taken, she took her time with the lesson, for Haru to understand properly. This time he was learning mathematics, which he was relatively good at. He could even do Algebra to a degree, which was quite astonishing for a boy of his age. Unfortunately, Haru detested math. It was something that made him feel terrible about because it seemed the mathematics he learnt weren't at all useful in real life circumstances, which constantly frustrated him. Social studies were where he really excelled- he loved learning about past and current events and exchanging opinions with others. However, it was math he was learning today, and he was determined to learn as much as he could, even if he despised it.

It took up a good majority of the late morning for Haru, and by the time they finished it was 1: 20, ten minutes before Haru had to leave. Haru had been introduced to more aspects of algebra, and the typical 'find X and y' type mathematics as well. Mrs. Heather, the tutor, finished the lesson by giving Haru a bar of his favourite chocolate for good behaviour. She patted his back, gave him his homework, and sent him off.

Haru contemplated the homework with despair. More math- urgh. "Man, I hate this stuff," he muttered, stashing the paper in his backpack.

The bell rang only a few minutes after he left, and he started to walk back home, heading through the town he lived in to get to his home. The town was relatively big with many streets and some alley-ways he'd not been down before, but it was a good place to live. As Haru walked, he contemplated all the amazing stories of adventure he'd read in the past. However, something made him stop in his tracks. In an alleyway he hadn't gotten down before he noticed, for the first time, that there were people actually living there. This got his attention because, oddly enough, one of them was calling to him.

"Boy! Yes, you boy! With blue hair!" the old man hunched over in the alleyway yelled.

Haru raised an eyebrow and fidgeted with his light blue ponytail, before deciding to leave him alone. Who knew? This man could be some kind of criminal.

The preteen started to walk away, trying to ignore the man. He didn't want any trouble, so he just continued on at a quick place. "Wait please! Come back! You need to hear this, blue haired boy!" He could hear the voice of the man trying to catch up to him. Haru gulped and broke into a run, despite his sick body's painful protests.

Just as he'd been about to cross the street, though, Haru felt an old, gnarled hand grab the back of his shirt and stop him in his tracks. "H-hey! Let me go!" Haru shouted, struggling. The man pulled him away from the street at the same time that a car drove past right in front of Haru. He had been in such a rush he hadnt focused on road safety for a moment and the man had actually saved him. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry if I'm scaring you but I promise I'm not a criminal or a freak. I need your help, Haru." The man explained.

"Get off of me! Leave me alone! You're probably a pervert, or- or a pedophile or something! Leave me alone!" Haru tried to escape the man, but his grip was like iron.

"Please, you must listen to me! This is important! Haru, you're my only hope." Something occurred to Haru at that moment. How did this man know his name?!

"Who... are you?"

The man chuckled. "Keheheh. You might call me... the Former King. But that isn't important. Haru Taylor, I am to entrust you with a very important mission!"

Haru still felt a bit uneasy around this man, but, for some reason, he felt that he at least should listen to what the man had to say since he had just basically saved his life. "A-Alright, if you insist on this... what is this mission meant to be?"

"Take this." The man pressed a small thing made of plastic and metal into Haru's hand, as well as a pack of cards.

Haru took it reluctantly and looked at the object as well as the cards. "Um, okay, thanks? What am I supposed to do with these? Is this a game of some kind?" he asked, curiousity getting to him.

"In a way." The old man smiled. "The objective is to become 'king', and you do that by saving others. Do you understand? Your destiny is to become 'king' through becoming Kamen Rider!"

Haru considered this. "What would I have to do exactly? Can you teach me?" Curiosity was getting the better of Haru now and the man certainly didn't seem to want to hurt him or cause him any trouble. Maybe this man was kind after all.

"It's quite simple, really." The old man gestured to the plastic and metal thing, a rectangular device that looked like a card holder. "See that? That is your Command Gate. Put it on your waist."

Haru did as he was told and was quite surprised and happy to find that the 'Command Gate' fitted snugly on his waist. "Alright, then. What should I do now?" He was very fascinated now. It shone in his eager eyes.

"The golden button on the Command Gate will activate your Rider Belt." Haru pressed the golden, triangular button atop the Gate, and was surprised to see a series of pale blue panels unfold from the Command Gate, creating a belt. From behind one of the panels, a golden lever jutted out.

"Cool!" Haru said. He regarded the cards he had been given. "And what do I do with these?" he asked, showing the man the card pack, still wrapped in cellophane.

The man indicated the Gate and the lever. "Place all your cards in the Gate, trigger this lever here, and shout "Henshin!" and then something amazing will happen! Sound simple?"

Haru nodded. "Okay then, worth a go. Can I try one now?" he asked.

"By all means!" The man smiled.

Haru nodded. He unwrapped the pack (the cards were large and decorated in blue and gold, emblazoned with a "RIDER" insignia), and placed them in the Command Gate, through a slot on top. Then, he gripped the golden lever, and pushed it forward. Once triggered, the cards began to glow with golden light. "Okay... Henshin!"

A second later, he began to feel a powerful aura surrounding him as magical golden wisps of wind waved and curled around him, creating incredible new armour on him. First was a golden and blue helmet like a crown, which clunked softly on the back of Haru's head. Following that, a part slipped around the front of his eyes to become like a mask or visor. A pair of horns donned the top of the crown as the next addition was a long, flowing, soft cape that became attached to the new hooded jacket that appeared with it. Under the coat, he was clad in a one-piece blue suit with silver trim, the chestpiece emblazoned with a golden, silver, and white dragon head. A pair of silver boots and gloves covered his hands and feet, and Haru's change soon came to a close. He felt the wind slow down and eventually come to a close as he blinked and tried to look at his new self.

"Perfect!" The Former King clapped happily. "You have assumed the form of a great hero! Kamen Rider Noble!"

"Kamen Rider... Noble..." Haru looked at his gloved hands in awe. "Wow..."

Haru looked back at the man. "What exactly can I do with this awesome new form? It seems like it's very powerful," he asked, wondering also if he could remove his helmet while in this form.

The man laughed. "Keheheh. Your mission, in this guise, is to battle... those." He pointed into the distance, where there was something hanging off a traffic light.

Haru wasn't aware at the time if the creature he saw was some weird hallucination bought on by something the man had possibly laced the cards with, or if it was something actually real, but when he saw the jet black, snarling, vicious lizard-like entity hanging from the traffic light, trying to search for helpless victims, a new emotion came over him. One of pure bravery. He wanted to fight this beast, to rid the world of its existence. He HAD to; it felt like the only answer to the situation.

Haru gripped the lever again. "I'll do it," he said in a low voice. "But... uh, how do I fight it? With my bare hands, or..."

"With these." The Former King smiled and tapped the belt, where Haru noticed that the panels now each had one of the cards from the pack behind it, with one depicting a sword in the Command Gate. "All you have to do is trigger the Shift Lever to select which cards you want to use, and press the triangle button on the Gate to activate them. Now go! Fight that creature before it takes an innocent life!"

Haru nodded, selected one that appeared to have a sword as the main feature on the card with the lever, and activated it with the traingle button. A digitized voice announced "RIGHTEOUS SWORD, EXCALIBLAZE!" and suddenly, a large, magnificent sword appeared in his hand. Haru knew nothing about swordfighting, but as he gripped the blade, knowledge suddenly flooded his mind, the knowledge of how to use a sword.

"Let's fight," he murmured. The newly-christened Kamen Rider jumped up and ran over to the creature at a breakneck speed, swinging the sword at it wildly and bravely. The lizard monster snarled again and whipped a sticky tongue out to try and catch Haru, but Haru dodged the attack and slashed at the tongue with Excaliblaze. It cut clean through, and the monster howled in pain, dropping from the streetlight and into the middle of an intersection as people in cars looked on.

"What IS that thing!?" one woman in a Chevy shrieked.

"I don't know, but look at that kid fighting it!" a man in a Ford shouted.

People crowded around, admiring Haru's bravery and for the first time he felt proud to be noticed. He felt honoured to have so many people look up to him instead of always being ignored. "You're welcome everyone!" He announced. A lady on a bike whom had stopped to see the fight called to him. "What's your name, kid?" Haru was going to tell them, but then he saw the look on the man's face that had given him the device. It seemed to say it would be best not to tell anyone.

However, that was the least of his worries, because the lizard was back for more. Haru, in the midst of being noticed, did not see it recover from having its tongue bisected, and as such, did not notice it rushing at him until it tackled him right on top of a Camaro.

A few people screamed and ran off to a safer distance. After a short period of dazed confusion, Haru struggled off the Camaro and landed on top of the creature, taking his sword out and trying to cut off the creatures head, the adrenaline taking over him completely. Unfortunetely, the creature got the upper hand at this point and used it's hind legs to push Haru off and wrapped its tail around his body.

"Shit!" Haru swore.

"Noble!" the Former King called. "Use one of your other Noble Drives!"

"Noble Drves?" Haru wondered, struggling in the lizard's grip. He noticed the man making a gesture like the pulling of a lever, and brightened. "Oh! The cards!" It was hard to get to the lever, but he managed, and triggered the lever, causing the cards to shift inside the belt so that a new one was in the Command Gate, one with a stylized flame emblem on it.

"FLAMING HEART, BEAST PYRO!" The same digitalized voice announced upon the appearance of the flame emblem and the pressing of the golden button.

A second later, the lizard was blown back and the asphalt street scorched by a flame bursting from around Haru in a glorious aura of gold and blue. Haru gaped at the fire as it faded, but picked Excaliblaze up from where it lay on the ground, and charged at the monster. He bull-rushed it and slashed at the monster's legs, but the creature tried to gnash at Haru in return. He jerked backwards just in time. However, this startling was all the monster needed to attack. It got on its haunches, opened its mouth... and a blizzard of razor-sharp spikes flew from its mouth, nearly impaling Haru! However, Haru had been extremely lucky, because something in him knew that the lizard was going to do that and reacted accordingly, dodging each spike in quick and precise movements. Haru was away from the beast at least 5 steps away now and tried to desperately think of something that could finish it off. Out of sheer nervousness, he began toggling the lever on his belt, causing the Noble Drives to switch around, until one that displayed an icon of his helmet's visor appeared, with golden lettering on it that read "MAXIMUM DRIVE".

Hoping for the best, he pressed it.

"PRINCE CORONATION! MAXIMUM DRIVE!" the belt announced. Suddenly, the wind began to swirl around Haru, causing his cream-colored cape to flutter in a gale. Excaliblaze started shining with bright blue light. Haru felt supercharged with courage and strength, and he leveled his sword at the monster.

"This ends now!" he declared loudly. The lizard looked confused, but soon, its confusion was replaced with horror as Haru vaulted high into the air, sword at the ready, and dived down. Haru felt the wind blasting against his face as he made the slashes that would end the lizard's life. He felt every muscle act accordingly in perfect chopping and slicing motions, and his passionate yell of "Rider SLAAAAAAAAASH!" continued throughout every moment battling the monstrosity. The lizard was helpless to defend itself against the onslaught, blades of shining steel and frigid wind tearing at its body, feeling like fire and poison and lightning on its skin. Eventually, after what most viewers of the scene later referred to as "the most brutal attack I've ever seen", Haru finally stopped and fell back to the ground on both feet like nothing happened, as the ashes of the lizard disappeared into the breeze.

"It's done," Haru panted. He heard the cheers of the crowd around him, but he barely registered them, because all of a sudden, he was feeling tired. He pitched forward, still wearing the armor of Kamen Rider Noble, and landed on the ground.

A man tried to help him up. "Thank you for destroying that monster before it hurt anyone, kid. What's your name?" he asked.

Haru knew that it would be best not to tell them his real name; it would be too risky. So instead, he replied. "You can call me Kamen Rider Noble. And I will protect you all, from this day forth, from any more monsters like that one. I vow this right now."

And like that, he fell unconscious.

Haru awoke in his bed at home, being tended to by his grandfather. "Haru-chan, are you alright?" Grandpa asked worriedly in his mother tongue of Japanese, mopping Haru's brow with a wet dish towel. "An old man brought you here, totally knocked out, and said that you'd been running away from bullies at school and passed out."

Haru tried to look around, seeing if the belt that the man gave him was there. He didn't want it stolen or for his family to find out about it yet. "I... I can't remember much. I guess I did pass out after all," Haru responded in Japanese as well. He stretched, trying to figure out what time it was. Had he been unconscious for a long time? Or was it a very short time ago? Checking the clock on his wall revealed that he'd only been out for an hour or so, not much longer than when he took his daily medicine. He felt thirsty, and asked his grandfather for some water. When Grandpa left, Haru pushed the blanket he was under back, to reveal that the Command Gate was clipped to his belt.

'So it really happened! I really did become that Kamen Rider guy! That was... amazing, but... am I really destined to be a fighter of those creatures? They seem really dangerous, and I'm not sure I could always be that brave! In fact... how did I become so brave with this Command Gate and those cards?' Haru thought carefully, trying to figure out what to do. "Maybe if I find that old man again, I'll learn more... but where could he-?"

Unfortunately for Haru, at that moment, Haru's grandfather came back in with a glass of water, causing Haru to yelp and hurriedly pull the blanket back up over his waist, hiding the Command Gate. Grandpa gave the water to Haru and sighed, rubbing his forehead thoughtfully. "You look worried, Haru-chan. Do you need any assistance with bullies?" he asked.

"N-no, I'm fine," Haru said. "I gave them the slip and made sure they wouldn't bother me again." Inwardly he cursed himself for lying.

He wanted to tell his grandfather what had truly happened. In fact, he wished he could tell everyone he knew, but he knew in his heart it would become too much to handle, and he had a big responsibility to bear. If any other monsters might surface, other monsters that had the potential to be even worse than the lizard he had defeated, he didn't want them to find out who he was related to and hurt those closest to him. Drinking his water slowly, he watched Grandpa leave the room, informing him that he would have school off tomorrow to recover. Haru sighed and thought about school. Would that be different, now that he had this amazing new ability? Would someone figure out his new identity? What would happen? He had no idea, and deep inside, it scared him a bit.

"Ah-hhhhh. I suppose this is the beginning. A new king has been crowned. Keheheh... but will he be a just king, or will he lose his throne? Or, perhaps... will he be a tyrant?"

"..."

"Keheheh... Long live the king."