The white-haired woman gazed upon the dark silhouette of her hero as he stood in front of the blazing inferno. His helmet's glowing red eyes were the only proof of his existence to her.
She was... stunned at the sight of this rider hero and the things he had done. She couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. It felt surreal... like a dream. The things she had seen with her own two eyes defied the most logical sense of her mind.
She stared at the glowing red eyes of his helmet, feeling as if they were locked in an unspoken exchange. There was a moment of silence between them... before the rider hero turned around and looked back at the inferno behind him. The flames were slowly dying down, and his dark silhouette gradually diminished, revealing the back of his green-armored figure lit only by a nearby street lamps.
Soon enough, the bright inferno disappeared completely, leaving only scorch marks and debris from the explosion. But... the woman managed to see a faint, hazy dark aura lingering at the spot of the explosion...
It was the same dark aura that had enveloped the fog-villain before he became the fog-monster.
The fog-villain himself lay on the ground nearby, seemingly unconscious. She was confused, as she had thought that the fog-villain had already transformed completely into the fog-monster. But there he was, in human form, lying on the ground far from the place where his monstrous form was taken out by the hero.
Her rider hero had somehow "separated" the man from his "monster," as if they were different entities altogether. She had thought the man used his fog quirk as a means of body enhancement. But now, she wasn't even sure if the fog-villain was using a fog-like quirk at all.
The same could be said toward her hero. She had thought he had a metal-related quirk, as he initially showed by covering his whole body with metal and turning his hand into a giant metal fist... But then she had seen the holographic "pet" bug that came out from his belt apparatus.
From that point on, everything that happened became more surreal than the last.
She continued to watch her hero's actions and odd behavior from a distance, carefully gauging what he would do as he gazed upon the dark aura. Then... he held up his right hand, and the dark aura suddenly began to gather into it...!
"What...?" She muttered in shock, unable to comprehend why her hero was absorbing the dark aura that she had felt was full of malice...!
Why would a hero need something so malicious...? Her thoughts ran wild with questions and possible explanations, trying to rationalize his odd behavior. But... she couldn't find any answers. Again, everything that had happened tonight was the most bizarre event of her life.
The white-haired woman could only watch in silence as the hazy dark aura slowly disappeared into the hero's hand... and then it was completely gone without a trace...
But from a distance, she managed to catch a glimpse of something in his armored-gloved hand: a tube-like object, almost like a glass vial...! Inside the vial was a dark, almost purple substance. She soon realized... that her hero was collecting this dark, malicious aura...
He confirmed the vial in his hand... and then turned around toward her! He began to walk toward her position...!
She became frantic, unsure whether she should welcome her hero with wide-open arms, thanking him for saving her life like a princess welcoming her savior knight. The whole situation was so confusing that she could only watch in breathless anticipation as her hero drew closer and closer...
Only to pass right by her.
She blinked in confusion. She couldn't comprehend why her hero had just walked past her spot. She had expected him to stop and talk to her, or perhaps acknowledge her presence. Instead, he had just passed by her as if she didn't matter to him anymore.
She slowly looked back toward the hero who had passed by her... and realized: He was heading towards his motorcycle, conveniently parked near the lamp post that she had used as a safe spot.
It dawned on her then—she had completely misinterpreted his direction...
Feeling a tad embarrassed for her misunderstanding, she chuckled nervously to herself and tried to play it off as if she hadn't been waiting there to greet him... but then she quickly realized again: he was going to leave!
"Wait! Please wait!" She turned around and called out to her hero. Said hero, luckily, did stop in his tracks. He didn't turn his back to her, but only his green helmet turned toward her as he peered at her with his helmet's glowing red eyes...!
Even though she believed he meant no harm, his gaze upon her was still quite intimidating. Even so, she shook off her bewilderment from the hero's intense gaze and quickly approached him. She stopped just a few inches away from his back... and then...
"Thank you for saving me, hero!" She thanked him as she bowed her head in gratitude. She was still confused by the whole ordeal, from the villain turning into a monster to the existence of this green-armored hero himself.
But even so, this was something that needed to be said to the person who had saved her life... and thus, she showed her gratitude toward him.
There was a moment of silence between the hero and the woman, the latter still bowing her head in gratitude...
"No problem," the hero finally replied casually to her gratitude. She blinked in surprise again at his nonchalant demeanor. However, she quickly rationalized that maybe this was just his personality in general...
But then he looked back forward and resumed his advance toward his motorcycle...!
She hastily halted him again, calling out, "Wait, please wait!"
His helmeted head turned towards her once more, his glowing red eyes fixing upon her again, with the same unsettling presence that had intimidated her moments before. Quickly shaking off the feeling, she gathered her courage and asked.
"What was all that just now?"
She had asked the biggest question of her life. The thing she had witnessed was beyond anything she could imagine, even in a world filled with strange quirk abilities...
This single night of her life surpassed all those experiences... and she wanted... no, she NEEDED to know the explanation behind it all.
Her hero paused for a moment after hearing her question... but then he finally answered... cryptically.
"You're better off not knowing."
With that, he resumed his advance towards his motorcycle, leaving her stunned, bewildered, and more confused than ever.
He started to mount his motorcycle, the powerful engine roaring to life as he prepared to leave. Feeling a surge of urgency, the woman shouted out again and again to catch his attention, "Wait! Please wait! Just one more thing at least!"
The hero looked back toward her from his mounted position, seemingly allowing her to ask just one more question... and she seized the opportunity.
"At least tell me who you are!" she pleaded.
The rider hero paused, looking at her with his helmet's glowing red eyes...
"I'm just a passing by Kamen Rider," he finally answered.
"K-Kamen... Rider...?" She echoed the hero's name, confusion evident on her visage.
Before she could make sense of his hero's name, he revved up his motorcycle's powerful engine once more. The roar echoed in the quiet night as he sped away, his white scarf flowing backward in the wind... leaving her watching his figure slowly shrink away in the distance.
As the echoes of his motorcycle faded into the night... the distant wail of police sirens drew closer to her position.
<----------------------------------------------------->
Author Note (and shameless promotion):
The True Prologue opening arc is finally done! Hooray~!
Now, we are back toward the beginning of the series where the MHA story truly, truly began.
As usual~
Check out my P@treon(dot)com/demonkingakuma to see more concept art and other content I would include in the future for this fanfiction!
Of course, since I'm a shameless grifter, please also support me there as well!
And also, check out my current ongoing Original Novel too while you're at it~! See the misadventure of a supervillain's grunt in a world of superhero~!
Stay tuned for more~.