Gargoyle stepped onto the subway. He had been in Japan for much longer than he would have liked, but had to admit that he didn’t want to go to Japan at all. According to Faery Fire, Japan had a very large problem. Some guy by the name of Ultimate Rider, a crime lord and super villain. The Sword Saint Sailors had been fighting Ultimate Rider and working to break up his crime rings, but it was always a losing battle. Ultimate Rider had more supers under his thumb, held more territory than what the Sailors could patrol, kept his drug running, protection rackets, and human trafficking rings off the book on countless legitimate business Ultimate Rider ran. It was getting so bad that Ultimate Rider didn’t just control entire islands, but citizens would call the Rider Gang in emergencies long before calling for police or an ambulance.
One night, Faery Fire had gotten a donation, and Gargoyle recognized the message Faery Fire read aloud as a signal from Stone Cutter. Gargoyle was no longer Gargoyle, Stone Cutter was moving on. That night, Gargoyle had finally taken the suit off, pulling on some clothes that Faery Fire ran out to buy him while Gargoyle took his first shower in what had to be at least a week. The water flowing over his dark skin felt nice. The hotel staff, who had started telling Gargoyle that the smell was bothering other customers, finally left him alone.
Now, Gargoyle wore sweatpants, a long sleeved sweatshirt, combat boots, gloves, a baseball cap, dark sunglasses, and a surgical mask. Faery Fire told him he looked like what she imagined soldiers in boot camp looked like, and Gargoyle told her she wasn’t far off. That had sparked Faery Fire’s interest, and she poked and prodded him with questions that Gargoyle ignored with trained disinterest.
Gargoyle had also been learning bits of Japanese, listening to the Sailors and Faery Fire talk to each other. It was quite an enlightening experience. Now, when Gargoyle picked a fight with one of Ultimate Rider’s thugs he knew what they were saying when the thugs swore at him.
Back when Gargoyle took the armor off, Faery Fire asked if he was returning to civilian life, but Gargoyle told her he was going to help the Sailors fight Ultimate Rider and didn’t know much about civilian life anyway. Gargoyle had been fighting for a long time, and didn’t intend to stop now.
Speaking of fights, Gargoyle heard a muffled squeal behind him. It was odd, being taller than nearly everyone around him. Back in The States, Gargoyle’s six-foot-six frame was tall, but nothing too unusual. Here it seemed like Gargoyle had nearly a foot on everyone. Gargoyle scanned the crowd from behind his sunglasses and saw an arrogant looking, blond haired man standing behind another woman. The man’s hair was swept back, and he scowled up at Gargoyle.
He wasn’t-
He was, Gargoyle realized. Subway drifted to a halt as it arrived at some station, and Gargoyle nodded towards the door, his eyes locked on the man. Gargoyle and the man parted the crowd as business men and highschoolers boarded the subway car. The station quickly emptied, leaving Gargoyle and the blond man staring each other down.
Gargoyle pulled up a translation app on his phone, typing as the man waited.
“Rider?” Gargoyle asked in rough, choppy japanese.
The man put a hand to his face, fingers spread out. He swiped his hand across his head, a face mark, styled like a lion, appearing in a flash of light. The man spun around and thrust a closed fist out with one hand with his other hand gripping his elbow, and bodysuit appeared in another flash of light. The man’s gauntleted arms ended in sharp claws that glowed orange, burning through the air as the man flourished them.
The man said a lot, and the part that Gargoyle recognized was the ending. “Lion Rider!”
Gargoyle tapped away at his phone, holding up a finger to silence the impatient Lion Rider.
“This is how much Japanese I can speak,” Gargoyle said.
Lion Rider rolled his eyes and growled, pointing a claw at Gargoyle before dragging his thumb across his throat. Gargoyle nodded, raising his fists.
Lion Rider leapt through the air, claws out and ready to tackle Gargoyle to the ground. Gargoyle ducked back, watching as Lion Rider’s claws cut through the concrete floor with ease. Lion Rider ripped his claws back up, snarling at Gargoyle as Gargoyle’s boot slammed into Lion Rider’s face. Lion Rider toppled against the floor, swiping with his claws as Gargoyle moved to straddle Lion Rider. Gargoyle backed off, letting Lion Rider get back to his feet, and Lion Rider advanced on Gargoyle with short jabs. Gargoyle ducked and weaved around Lion Rider, feigning a low kick against the villain. Lion Rider swung a claw low, covering Gargoyle’s kick, only for Gargoyle to hook his kick upward and land a roundhouse against Lion Rider’s head. The villain went sprawling once more, and once more Gargoyle watched Lion Rider hop back to his feet.
Lion Rider swore at Gargoyle, a new one that he didn’t understand, and went back to jabbing at Gargoyle. Gargoyle shifted one side toward Lion Rider, and snapped out with a punch that connected squarely with Lion Rider’s nose. Surprise washed across Lion Rider’s face, only for Gargoyle to weave another punch through Lion Rider’s defense. As Lion Rider let loose with a wild swing, Gargoyle leaned in and brought a fist up for another heavy punch. Lion Rider jumped back in shock, sweeping one claw through the air. Gargoyle dashed in, hooking one arm under Lion Rider’s swing, grabbing Lion Rider by the wrist and twisting. Lion Rider howled in pain as Gargoyle bent his hand the wrong way, and Gargoyle landed an overhead punch on Lion Rider. Lion Rider swung with his free claw, hoping to ward off Gargoyle, but Gargoyle snapped a hand out to send Lion Rider’s swing high, ducked under it, and spiked Lion Rider’s arm down, locking both claws in place. Gargoyle slammed his elbow across Lion Rider’s jaw and followed up with a backhand before a shout of “Stop!” A word that Gargoyle could actually understand.
Five police officers descended the stairs to the subway. Four of them looked to the officer in the middle, and the leading officer waved the four off. The officer swiped a hand across his face, conjuring a thick, angular mask with white lenses over the eyes, before stretching his hands up palms first and shouting “Protect and Serve! Detective Rider!” A beam of light rose up out of the officer, and Gargoyle watched the silhouette of Detective Rider grow in the beam of light. By the time the light dissipated, Detective Rider stood shoulder to shoulder with Gargoyle.
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Detective Rider stomped down the subway stairs, tan trench coat billowing the wind, and drew a handgun so big it was almost comical. Gargoyle sprung to the side, diving away as Detective Rider unloaded the overgrown revolver. Taking a quick peek back, Gargoyle saw the revolver leave fist sized holes in the ground and shred aluminum guardrails. Gargoyle dove for the dazed Lion Rider, hauling the lion themed villain up and driving a fist into Lion Rider’s ear. Gargoyle ducked to the side as Detective Rider fired once more, struggling to shoot around Lion Rider. Gargoyle spun with the motion and flung Lion Rider towards Detective Rider.
Detective Rider slammed Lion Rider out of the air and leveled the revolver, only to see that Gargoyle didn’t leap through the air after Lion Rider, but instead kept low. Gargoyle tackled Detective Rider, driving into the villain’s legs, but the large man wrapped one hand around a staircase railing to keep his balance and brought a heavy fist down onto Gargoyle’s back. Gargoyle buckled with the strike but wasted no time retaliating. Gargoyle slid up and punched the hand Detective Rider held onto the railing with, hard enough to snap the metal pipe out of it’s bearings. The close quarters blocked Detective Rider from getting a clear shot with his revolver, so his freed hand pulled out a heavy, black police baton. Gargoyle caught the wild downswing of the baton with a practised motion, pulling Detective Rider’s arm straight landing a heavy elbow against Detective Rider’s arm. Gargoyle charged into the strike, pressing his weight into Detective Rider’s elbow. Detective Rider’s elbow broke free of its socket, and the villain let out a howl of pain, screaming furiously at Lion Rider.
Lion Rider leapt onto Gargoyle’s back, struggling to dig his claws into Gargoyle as the hero brought his arms up and wrapped them around Lion Rider's claws. Gargoyle bent forward, lifting the smaller villain off his feet before charging backwards towards a wall. Gargoyle’s hands grabbed onto Lion Rider’s wrists as the villain fought to get free, and when Gargoyle slammed into the hard concrete it knocked the wind out of Lion Rider. Gargoyle launched an elbow backwards, bouncing Lion Rider’s head against the hard stone once more before shoving the villain off him. Gargoyle planted a kick to Lion Rider’s knee, feeling bones snap and crack under Gargoyle’s boot, before whipping around to land a spinning jump kick on Lion Rider’s face. Lion Rider’s head slammed against the concrete wall, leaving cracks in the stone. Gargoyle turned on Detective Rider as Lion Rider collapsed to the ground in a heap, strands of blood stretching from Lion Rider as he fell to the ground.
Detective Rider tried to steady his gun, but mounting injuries kept his aim unsteady. Gargoyle strode towards Detective Rider, smirking as the hammer of the revolver issued a ‘click!’ when Detective Rider pulled the trigger. A haymaker from Gargoyle floored the villain, and Gargoyle wasted no time straddling Detective Rider, one hand clenched around Detective Rider’s neck as Gargoyle’s other hand ripped the large revolver from Detective Rider’s hand. Gargoyle smashed the revolver against Detective Rider’s head and face, raining hammer blows down onto the villain. Detective Rider’s teeth cracked under Gargoyle’s onslaught, blood pooled in his mouth and ran down from his eyebrows. Detective Rider pushed and scrapped at Gargoyle, but Gargoyle ignored the villain’s desperate attempts to get free, focusing only landing blow after blow against Detective Rider. Detective Rider’s struggles got weaker with each hit from Gargoyle, until finally Detective Rider’s arms lay limp at his side, occasionally twitching when Gargoyle continued to beat him.
Finally, Gargoyle ended the onslaught, thinking that Detective Rider was either dead or hoping to be, with all the damage Gargoyle had inflicted. Rooting through Detective Rider’s pockets produced a box of ammo, and Gargoyle wasted no time reloading the giant gun.
Gargoyle unloaded six shots into Lion Rider, then another six into Detective Rider before finally making his way up the stairs. Of four officers Detective Rider had come in with, only one remained. A timid, nervous looking man who watched in a mix of bewilderment and fear as Gargoyle ascended the stairs. Gargoyle roughly grabbed the man with one hand and dragged him down into the subway station. The young cop looked at the grizzly scene, unsure of what to do. Dispatch had told him to stay out of Rider business, that Ultimate Rider would come down hard on them if the police interfered. Gargoyle left the cop to his musings, the young man had just started to raise his radio when Gargoyle stepped onto the street, stuffing the revolver into the waistband of his pants and the ammo into the pocket of his sweatshirt.
It was a busy day, probably a weekend. Gargoyle watched as families milled about with business men. Neon and brightly lit signs covered the space above the streets, done up with overly cute mascots. Someone, somewhere, was selling street food. Gargoyle was never one for cuisine, and found the salty, greasy, meaty smell building an appetite in him.
People were staring at him, Gargoyle noticed. He looked down at his gray sweatshirt. It was stained with flecks of blood and nicked where Lion Rider’s claws got a bit too close. But the bystanders weren’t looking at him in panic or worry. They knew what had gone down in the subway station.
“Pacederme with perfect memory! Elephant Rider!” a man shouted, transforming into a tall, burly and barrel chested man with thick, leathery skin and an elephant’s head. If he was anything like Lion Rider, Gargoyle thought, he shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Gargoyle only needed to be wary of goring strikes from the sharp tusks, and-
“Caring and supportive! Mama Rider!” a woman shouted, clad in the same black, angular mask as Detective Rider and a bodysuit styled like a sweater and jeans with heavy gloves and boots.
Two would definitely be an issue, Gargoyle knew. But still the terrain favored him. There were plenty of nooks and crannies that Gargoyle and lure the enemies into and fight them one on one. Elephant Rider would still be dangerous, since-
“Too cute for this Earth! Little Sister Rider!”
How many of them-
“Studious and diligent! Big Bro Rider!”
-could there possibly-
“The hard working family man! Dad Rider!”
Gargoyle turned.
“Nyan! Elegant and playful! Cat-girl Maid Rider!”
And Gargoyle fled.
He didn’t know where he was going. Faery Fire had given Gargoyle directions for which subway station to go to now that they had officially rebased to the Sensational Sword Saint Sailors hideout, but that would be quite a ways on foot. All Gargoyle focused on was putting as much distance, and as many corners, between him and the Rider Gang. Gargoyle was lost, and he knew he was lost. The whole place was unfamiliar, yet the overload of advertisements and signage meant the whole place looked the same.
Gargoyle twisted around a corner at a dead sprint, bowling over a man. Gargoyle quickly doubled back, checking to make sure the blond man was unhurt. To Gargoyle’s relief, the blond man was wearing a bright Hawaiian shirt with jean shorts and carried a heavy camera. The universal uniform of a tourist, and with any luck one that spoke English.
“Very sorry about that,” Gargoyle said, reaching down to help the man up, “Could you point me to the nearest subway station? I’m a bit lost, but don’t worry this blood isn’t mine. I suppose I could use a change of clothes as well.”
“How do you do and where’s the bathroom?” the man asked, taking Gargoyle’s arm in a steely grip.
“What?” Gargoyle muttered.
“Tourist Rider!”