True Prologue (4) | Rider Kick

Multiple streams of solid-like fog had crushed and piled upon the hero at the spot where he stood his ground. But... he withstood them all, standing tall, confident, and unbothered, as if they were merely soft cushions against his body.

When the dust cleared, it became even more apparent that something had happened to the hero's full armor. He was covered from the tips of his antennas to the tips of his leg armor with a gray-like coloring... as if he was gilded with metal over his entire body!

"Is that all you've got?" the rider hero taunted the fog monster, who was still hiding inside the fog-wall it had created.

"DAMN YOU...! DAMN YOU...!! DAMN YOU...!!!" The fog-monster's curses echoed loudly around the fog arena it had created. Then, soon after, it continued to send more and more streams of fog attacks toward the rider hero, who was still standing in the same spot!

But... it was futile.

The rider hero took all of those attacks without even flinching. Not a single bit. Every fog attack that the fog-monster sent at the hero did not have any effect on him, and he still stood his ground confidently... seemingly taunting the fog-monster even more...

"Incredible..." The white-haired woman watching from a safe spot was not only relieved to see her hero safe from harm... but also in awe of his feat of endurance, taking all of the fog-monster's attacks head on...!

She had figured that her hero excelled purely in agility and strength, but somehow, he had opted for a complete defense that not even the fog-monster could harm him... She noticed he had done something to his hero gear apparatus just before the attack, making her wonder if it had contributed to his defensive ability... no, was it his defensive quirk?

"Is this all from his quirk...?" she wondered in awe at her hero, especially at the quirk-like ability he had shown her.

However, the same could not be said for the fog-monster currently hiding in the fog-wall.

"DAMN YOU!!!" The fog-monster suddenly cursed out loudly and then... it finally emerged from its hiding place inside the fog-wall! It came out from behind the rider hero, raising its fist into the air, ready to deliver a devastating, rage-filled smash that might actually harm the hero...!

However, it was all just a ruse.

"Gotcha~," the rider hero announced confidently, before quickly pushing the same protruding plug-like object on his belt apparatus, triggering the same activation sound as before!

[METAL. IMAGI ACCESS.]

But then, instead of pushing it again, he quickly pressed the trigger switch on the top left corner of his apparatus—right on top of the previous plug-like object's position, triggering another different activation sound!

[ACCESS GRANTED. METAL GREAT STRIKE.]

The entire metal covering that had enveloped the hero's full armor shifted quickly towards his armored-gloved left hand, which suddenly transformed into a large metallic fist in the form of a knuckle!

Before the fog-monster could land its smashing attack, the rider hero swiftly turned around towards the fog-monster...!

"Metal Knuckle!" the rider hero declared, delivering a powerful punch with his transformed left hand to the fog monster's bulging abdomen!

"GAH!!!" It bellowed in pain from the punch it received, and was pushed back and sent flying like a ragdoll!

In the midst of the chaos, the white-haired woman watching from a safe spot gasped in astonishment. She couldn't believe the sheer force of the hero's blow, which sent the monstrous fog-monster hurtling backward.

The fog-monster crashed into the ground, skidding and tumbling before finally coming to a stop. It struggled to get back on its feet, the impact of the rider hero's brutal onslaught and his earlier devastating punch clearly having taken its toll.

Breathing heavily, the fog-monster looked back in hatred toward the rider hero and anticipated another brutal assault from him... but the rider hero only stood his ground. He remained silent, not saying a single word, but the fog monster could feel it... even the woman hiding in safety could also feel it from afar.

The rider hero was asserting his dominance over the fog monster.

This... enraged it even more than anything it had experienced before...!

It was angered when this hero had disturbed its attempt on the woman. It was angered when this hero had dodged its relentless assault. It was angered when the hero countered back with a brutal assault... and now, it was angered when the hero seemed to act above him...

As if it was never a threat to him in the first place.

"Grr... aaaaaAAAAGGHHHHH!!!" The fog monster let out a loud roar that shook the whole street around them. It was loud enough that it might be heard from all across town. More fog came out from its body, enveloping it, bulking and enlarging its already large body to an even more monstrous size.

Slowly rising from its downed state, the fog monster lumbered forward, charging at the rider hero in a last desperate attempt to take him down once and for all...!

But...

"It's over," the rider hero calmly announced. He then... pushed the protruding green-colored part of his belt apparatus device, triggering another different activation sound directly from it...!

[GRASS HOPPER. IMAGI ACCESS.]

He immediately followed by pressing the trigger switch just above the protruding right part of his device—two times in a quick succession—and triggered another activation sound!

[ACCESS GRANTED. GRASS HOPPER GRAND FINISH.]

Suddenly, something emerged from his belt device: a large hologram of a mechanical grasshopper the size of a dog! It appeared beside the rider hero's right side—just beside his right armored leg. It seemed quite lively as it announced its presence to everyone there.

"SHRIEK," it shrieked in excitement. The hero looked down at his holographic "pet" bug, seemingly in an endearing way.

"Let's go," he said to his "pet" bug, which responded by shrieking in excitement again. It then slowly dispersed its holographic body... and entered his armored right leg, illuminating said leg with a powerful green energy...! The rider hero pulled back his right leg and prepared himself into a lower stance...

As if he was preparing for an attack himself...!

The enlarged fog monster charged toward the rider hero in a fit of blind rage, not noticing or caring about whatever the rider hero had been planning. It just wanted to destroy the "bug" that had been disturbing its "duty" as the "savior," but then...

"Rider..."

The rider hero announced, before also charging forward... and he jumped high!

"... Kick!"

He leaped into the air toward the large fog monster... and delivered a powerful flying side kick to the charging fog monster's torso! The impact of his kick created a tremendous shockwave that cleared out the rest of the fog from the street, returning the street to its former fog-less condition!

But, he wasn't done! The hero's 'Rider Kick' didn't stop there...! With a final push, he sent the large fog monster flying backward... and separated the fog monster's real human body from its monstrous form!

As the hero's devastating kick connected, the fog-monster's real human body, the fog-villain, was forcibly expelled from the monstrous form. The unconscious man's body plummeted heavily to the asphalt street.

Meanwhile, the hero seemed to phase through the human "host," his momentum unbroken, as he continued to drive the monstrous form backward. The fog-monster, now detached from its host, was lifted off the ground, carried along by the hero's relentless kick. The sheer force of the attack propelled the fog-monster through the air, as if it was being driven by an unstoppable force.

The hero's powerful kick propelled the fog-monster further and further away, the force of the impact sending ripples through the air, clearing any lingering fog and restoring clarity to the street.

As the fog-monster and the rider hero clashed with titanic force... their collision culminated in a sudden, massive explosion that rocked the entire street!

The deafening blast sent shockwaves through the air, rattling windows and shaking the ground beneath their feet. The woman, watching in horror from a safe distance, could only stare wide-eyed as flames and smoke billowed into the sky, obscuring her view.

Fear gripped her heart as she frantically scanned the chaos from a distance, her mind racing with worry. Had something gone horribly wrong? She had never expected her hero to explode alongside the monstrous fog-monster.

Dread crept into her heart, but... amidst the chaos... a faint hope flickered.

The smoke slowly began to clear, revealing the aftermath of the fiery explosion. She spotted a lone figure standing amidst the blaze in the distance. A dark silhouette emerged from the flames, backlit by the raging fire, its presence both eerie and commanding.

It was him. The rider hero himself.

He stood in front of the inferno... with his helmet's glowing red eyes as the only beacon of his presence.

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Author Note (and shameless promotion):

The iconic rider kick is here! 

As usual~

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