As the first chapter implied, I follow Kamen Rider Decade's example, which the titular character can use all the arsenals in the first and second episodes and then the cards just fade away so he must do something to unlock them again. With this, you won't be seeing regular King Form, let alone 53 Rouze King Form, until semi-finale of this arc.
Normally, Blade can only become Joker after using King Form for like 10 times or more. But King Form made from 53 Undeads accelerates the process that, using the 100% gauge, it pushes the mutation rate up to 80% now. While using Base Form has little to no side-effect, the fact that his Blay Buckle, I will name it Zwei, has higher AP than usual means using just one Rouze card will increase the process by 1-2%. So yeah he will hesitate to fight even if he gets admitted to the Kagekidan and pilots a Koubu.
~Chapter 2~
Aoi Satan of the Kuronosukai watched the entire battle with excitement and a mild fear. Who knew such a destructive power existed. He thought of kidnapping that kid to experiment on but after the Kagekidan had arrived to bring him away, he relented as even if he went all out, he would still be in disadvantage, not to mention that he could not determine that the kid was truly unconscious or not. Even in his true form, one blast from that attack earlier could erase him from this world immediately. So Aoi Satan decided to follow his initiate plan and retreated.
Back in Kuronosuka's base, Tenkai was also fascinated by the Rider. He kept replaying the battle recorded through a Kouma's eyes and each time watching it, his desire to recruit Blade grew. The demonic general ordered Setsuna to closely monitor him, and when the opportunity came, recruit him regardless he was willing or not.
After arriving back at the Imperial Theater, Ogami carried the unconscious Kagami by himself to the Infirmary Room at the basement, guided by the shocked Tsubaki. He was then asked to stay outside as the doctor performed diagnosis. Maria stood nearby, eying the Blay Buckle Zwei she had picked up near the young man earlier. After checking it thoroughly, she decided to hang it to the Commander in hope that he could figure what to do with it.
In the War Room, Yoneda was deep in thought while replaying the explosion that nearly destroyed the entire city block around the Kuramae Bridge, for some reasons the latter still stood still but looked battered. Luckily there was no casualty as the civilians were evacuated. And then he turned to the camera screen of the infirmary.
"He doesn't look like an enemy but with that destructive power, we should not leave him free." Ayame commented. Right now she was reviewing the draft report for the Committee about the incident today. The military demanded that Yoneda explained the newest weapon of the Hanagumi and the latter, of course, had no saying in this.
"Tell the Kanzaki Industries to send some scientists and check on the kid. We need all the helps to win this war." Yoneda said simply. Ayame nodded as she went to the communicator and dialed. At the same time, Maria entered and saluted the two.
"Maria Tachibana, pardon my intrusion!"
"At ease Maria. Is there something wrong?"
The girl in question placed the device on the table, earning Yoneda's interest. He picked it up and examined. When he saw the flip trigger, he tried to pull it but it wouldn't budge. There was also a card inserted in its glass case. The old man slid it off and was slightly electrified by an unknown factor, causing him to drop it.
"Ouch! What the hell?!"
"Commander, what's wrong?"
"Ah nothing." Yoneda quickly assured. He picked up the card and reinserted it to the Buckle Zwei. He gave it a silent curse before looking at Maria.
"Tell the Kazegumi to prepare the spare room as fast as possible. I have a feeling that we need this young man in the future. No need to ask anything, Maria. Trust me."
Maria was about to argue but chose to stay silent and saluted the Shihainin one last time before exiting. The latter turned to Ayame.
"Looks like we have to execute the plan sooner than expected. Prepare the simulation for Ogami."
Kagami saw war, blood and death. The same place as the previous vision, but now there were Undeads, as in Undead from Kamen Rider Blade series. The lower Categories lost to the higher ones but all of them were swiftly defeated by the strongest, Joker. It spotted him and was about to run its dagger through his heart when a claymore cleaved the Undead clean in half.
"W-What the -?!"
Kagami exclaimed as he fell to his back in shock. The culprit was also a Joker-class Undead, but it had gold color rather than the usual Joker's green. On its hand was a copy of King Rouzer but with more demonic looking. Kagami widened his eyes in realization as it was the same Joker that urged him to use King Form.
"You listened to me. Heh, as expected of my other self." It spoke in the distorted version of his voice. Kagami did now realize that his own voice sounded so similar to that of Kenzaki Kazuma, the original Blade. The Joker, now dubbed as Gilded Joker, seemed to hear his thoughts and laughed.
"Have you heard of incarnation? You can say that you, and by extension, me, are the real life incarnation of original Kamen Rider Blade. Why? Don't you find it strange to have the surname Kenzaki? Your obsession with Blade too and you get to transform into him as well. They are too real to call them coincidences."
"Does that mean… You are my Undead form? And where are we?"
"The appropriate term for this place is Underworld, your inner world. And by that definition, I am technically your Phantom." The demonic jaw of Golden Joker spoke in eerie way. And then it smirked. "What makes me different is that I don't need to destroy your Underworld to escape. You are fusing with me by using that Blay Buckle Zwei."
Kagami was speechless. He had heard about the mutation of using the glitched King Form too many times but this was new. He imagined the scenario of him transforming into the dreaded Joker and massacred people around him before destroying the whole world. The mere thought of it drove him mad. Kagami screamed in terror while the Joker was laughing sinisterly in the background.
….
"AAAAAAAH!"
The scientists were startled by the sudden scream from the young man they were examining. But what made them more surprised was the rapidly increasing number on the 'Spiritual-Energy' Detector to the point that the machine almost exploded if it hadn't been for one scientist turning it off in time. Two soldiers were called in to restrain Kagami as the belts attached on his limbs were at their limits.
Outside the lab, all the members of the Teikoku Kagekidan, including Ogami, shuddered in fear, especially Iris. She was having visions of a vicious demonic-looking man calling out for her. Unable to take this anymore, she screamed.
"What's the matter, Iris?!" Sakura hugged the youngest girl in attempt to sooth her but the girl was shaking nonstop and still screaming. In that moment, the Blay Buckle Zwei Yoneda bringing along with him suddenly levitated out from his grip, shot itself into the glass wall and attached to the young man. And then, he seemed to calm down and lie there motionlessly. Iris also stopped screaming and fainted. The others just stared at what had happened and were unable to say anything.
Half an hour later, the scientists exited the infirmary and motioned Yoneda along with Ayame to have a secret conversation while the rest were allowed to visit. Soon, Kagami regained consciousness. The first thing he saw was the white ceiling, on the left was a familiar man with anime spiky hair while the opposite was a beautiful girl with brown hair and wearing what Kagami could see a purple kimono.
"So beautiful…"
He muttered, causing Sumire's face reddened in embarrassment. Ogami raised an eyebrow at the remark.
"S-See, Ensign, even he calls me that. You should learn that from him. Ohohoho!" Sumire let out her 'Ojou-sama' laugh. The laugh finally snapped Kagami from the dizziness as he jolted up from the bed.
"Where am I…? Who are you two?"
Ogami and Sumire introduced themselves to Kagami, who in turned gave them his name, but left the 'Hanagumi' part out. This further confirmed his theory that he had, for some supernatural reasons, traveled to the past but not his world's past, a parallel world's past.
"A world without World War I but instead, a Kouma War occurred? Are you kidding me?" Kagami asked but then relented. "I see. So this is what they call 'Isekai', eh?"
"You said something?" Ogami pondered but Kagami shook his head. "Nothing. Nothing at all."
"Oookay. Anyways, the Manager asked me and Sumire-kun to give you a tour around the theater. Let's go."
"Ah, Kenzaki-san, please remove that thing on your waist. You don't want any unneeded attention right?" She pointed at the Blay Buckle Zwei still on his body. Kagami gave her an 'OK' sign as he detached the Buckle and stood up.
"Sumire-san, just call me Kagami please. I'm not that older than you."
"Fufu, alright, Kagami-san."
Yoneda frowned after the talk with the Kanzaki Industries scientists. He read the statistics on the report, which showed an absurd spiritual rate and Koubu's compatibility of one Kagami Kenzaki. He learnt the name while eavesdropping the conversation of said boy with Ogami and Sumire earlier.
"Ayame, how's the report of Tsukigumi?"
"Sir, fast searching through the database showed no 'Kagami Kenzaki' but Kayama-kun asked for more time to recheck the folders." She replied and hung over the papers to the Commander.
"Hmm, tell them to postpone that and return to the original order. I don't mind an outside factor as long as he can help us in this war. Let's just hope he won't use that power when he turns on us."
"Huh, so Sumire-san is an actress, a Top Star, of this theater." Sumire laughed haughtily at the compliment. "And Ogami is ticket clipper eh. Such a life for a Navy."
"Don't remind me…But being able to serve under a man like Commander Yoneda is more than enough to me." Ogami tried to hide the overwhelming feeling of being the squad leader of the Assault Force that Yoneda founded. Kagami struggled; not his business but strange, he swore that he had heard these names before, back when he was still a kid playing a game on the Sega Saturn. He couldn't remember the name right but it was Sakura-something.
'Well, what's gone is gone. Tetsuya once dreamt about being an Isekai protagonist. Looks like I beat him to it.' Kagami mused, thinking about that one conversation with his fellow Japanese friend Tetsuya Oonotsuki.
[EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! LARGE NUMBER OF WAKIJIS SPOTTED IN UENO PARK! HANAGUMI, ASSEMBLE! I REPEAT!]
"Man we haven't shown you everything yet! Oh well, it can't be helped!"
"Kagami-san, please stay here until we return."
And with that, the two was gone. Kagami grimaced; he fully understood the warning but as a Kamen Rider, he could not abandon its duty to defeat evil. He looked at the Blay Buckle Zwei, hand shaking due to an unusual urge to fight stirring inside him. Must be that Joker.
"I didn't do anything. Your own nature drives you to fight, to kill, to destroy."
Kagami almost jumped at the image of Gilded Joker replacing his reflection in the mirror.
"Holy shit, what now? A Mirror Monster?!"
"Oh please, I am more intelligent than those animals. And don't worry, only you can see me…I guess. But that is not what I want to tell you."
It pointed at the Buckle.
"You are effectively a Joker now, but for some reasons, most of your Rouze Cards are being, eh, sealed? Faded? Locked? Anyway, you can only use the Spade Suit category ace to 10 along with some like the Fire, Tornado, Blizzard and Shuffle cards. Oh, and the Recover one as well. I don't know how to re-unseal the rest but maybe they will listen to you once you earn their respects, I guess."
Kagami brought his right hand to massage his chin, pondering in thoughts.
"What about Categories Jack, Queen and King?"
"Completely whited out as well. So yeah, the Rouze Absober is pretty much useless for now."
"Hmm, that's still okay. Now, I must go help the civilians."
Kagami took the Change Beetle card out of his pocket and inserted to the Buckle, which attached itself to his waist. Joker nodded at him before fading as Kagami posed himself and shouted.
"Henshin!" He pulled the trigger.
TURN UP.
This time, the projection automatically ran through him instead of him doing so. He ran to the lobby and found no one, even the cute shop girl. He mentally noted to apology to her later as he searched for a map on the counter.
"Ueno should be…this way. Heh, not that different to my era. Alright, no wasting time."
He scanned the rouze card with the image of a leopard with two jet-boosters on its back and legs to the Blade Rouzer.
MACH
The hologram of Mach Leopard got absorbed into Blade's chest armor as he began to run. Kagami almost tripped on his way due to the sheer speed of the card provided.
"Hoooooolyyyyyyy shiiiiiiiit! This surely makes Clock Up its bitch!"
Blade occasionally had to pull an emergency stop to check the map again then continued. Unknown to him, there was a gigantic zeppelin on the sky also heading toward Ueno.
….
The effect of Mach wore off the same time Blade arrived at Ueno Park, which was being rampaged by sinister-looking steamers.
"Must be the Wakijis." Blade muttered as he drew his blade. He saw a nearby one chasing a young boy so the Rider threw the sword at that machine and then delivered a flying kick, sending it flying away. He picked up the Rouzer and then went to the boy.
"Are you okay? Hurry, go to safer place!"
"T-Thank you, mister. But who are you?"
"Blade, Kamen Rider Blade. Now, go!"
The boy nodded and made a run toward the barricade formed by the polices. Blade made sure that he was out of range before turning back to the grouping Wakijis. He barely blocked a slash then a grab before countering with a punch and an upper slash.
"Damn it, sturdy eh?"
He chose the Lizard Rouze card and slid it on the Rouzer.
SLASH
The blade glowed as each strike was more effective. Two swings later and two Wakijis exploded.
From afar, Aoi Satan was watching the Rider closely and discovered a new piece of information.
'So he relies on cards to boost his performance. Interesting.'
His thought was interrupted by multiple gusts of wind that alerted him of new enemies. Turning around, Satan was greeted by four Koubus, who then proclaimed themselves as 'Teitoku Kagekidan'. He smirked.
"So this is the old man's new lap dogs. Very well, show me your power Kagekidan! Go forth, Wakiji lots!"
Ogami ordered Maria to take a safe position to provide support while he, Sakura and Sumire charged ahead. Even though having doubts about the Ensign, Maria reluctantly followed his strategy. Bringing her scope up, she shot down one Wakiji but then stopped at the sight of Blade fighting against a group of steam beasts.
"Taichou, is that?!"
Ogami brought down a Wakiji before looking at the direction Maria pointing at. Blade was here as well.
"Ensign, what is Kagami-san doing here?!" Sumire exclaimed over her Koubu. Maria was confused at the name but chose to say nothing and focused on her battle.
Back to Blade, he finally lured the Wakijis to a tight space. He pushed the button on his Rouzer to reveal the slots, chose two cards and then scanned them.
KICK
THUNDER
LIGHTNING BLAST
Lightning cackled on Blade's right leg and more force was added it as the result on two Rouze Cards. The Rider jumped to the air and performed a flip before aiming his kick toward the cornered Wakijis
"ORAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The first one to impact the kick exploded and the chain reaction cause the rest to burst into fireballs. He made a small 'YOSHA' shout before spotting the machines from yesterday also fighting against the Wakijis so he rushed to help them.
"Oryaaaaa!" Blade cried as he cut down the one was sneaking on Sumire. "Watch your back! They are very clever!"
"A-Ah! Thank you, Kagami-san!"
"This voice… Don't tell me, Sumire-san –"
He was cut off by a strong slash from a Wakiji, prompting Sumire to pay the debt by destroying it with a swing from her Koubu's large naginata. Maria moved her gun to shoot down any thing that near the two. Ogami and Sakura soon regrouped with them and proceeded to cut down the rest of Wakijis.
"Hmm, very interesting. Well then, I shall be your opponent!"
Aoi Satan jumped down and performed some kind of ritual.
"Such an evil aura! Ogami-san, be careful!" Sakura warned.
"Teikoku Kagekidan, behold, my Dark Sorcerous Armor, KAMUI!"
Behind him, a dark portal opened on the ground and from it, a larger and bulkier Wakiji rose. It had pitch black as main color theme and a sword strapped on its waist before drawing it. Satan too drew his own katana and turned to Blade.
"Feel free to play with those worthless machines, Kamui! Boy, you are mine!" Satan charged at Blade and clashed sword with him.
As its master commanded, Kamui advanced toward the Koubus. Sumire, angered by Satan's words, rushed into the Wakiji with her naginata. The demonic machine effortlessly deflected her strike and countered with a roundhouse kick, sending her away. Ogami joined with Sakura and Maria in tow. As they were able to attack, numerous smaller Wakijis rose up from the ground and circled around them.
…..
"What's wrong, boy? Is this your strength?" Aoi Satan taunted as he kept sending blows after blows to Blade, who had to both block and find an opening to counter. "Pathetic, you don't deserve such destructive force. Give that to me!"
"Never! A corrupted man like you cannot wear this! HAAAAAAH!"
Within the Rouzer, the Tackle Boar and Metal Trilobite cards automatically activated and got absorbed into Blade's armor. Suddenly feeling a surge of power, Kagami let Satan slash at him several times but could not leave a dent on him, let alone hurt him. As the man dropped his guard due to astonishment, Blade made a run into Satan and crashed him hard.
"Kuh!" Aoi Satan grunted, feeling that a large number of his chest bones were broken. Despite this, he still smirked. "That's it. Show me more of your power!"
"Damn it, are you a fucking masochist?" Blade checked his arsenal and saw that all but the Recover and Shuffle cards remained. He chose the Shuffle and scanned.
SHUFFLE
All the previously used Rouze Cards became projections and then fused into Blade, which also in turn reset the AP counter on the Rouzer. Opening his card pouch, he chose the Lightning Deer, Fire Fly, Tornado Hawk, Blizzard Polar and then the Slash Lizard ones and slid them on the sword.
SLASH
THUNDER
FIRE
TORNADO
BLIZZARD
"A showdown between swords, heh? Very well, come!" Satan said as he posed himself, the katana emitting dark aura. Five holograms of each card floated on the air and then got absorbed into the Blade Rouzer, infusing it with four kind of elements. Both warriors leveled their swords in firm stance, waiting for which one to strike first.
The Teikoku Kagekidan managed to annihilate the weaker Wakijis, only Kamui's left. They channeled their spiritual energy for the finishing strikes
"Rouko Mekkyuku…." "Haja Kensei…" "Kanzaki Fuujin Ryu…" "Rest in peace…"
ELEMENTAL SLASH
"HAAAAH!" Both Aoi Satan and Blade cried as they charged to each other and their swords clashed.
"KAITOU RANMA!" "OUKA HOUSHIN!" "KOUCHOU NO MAI!" "SNEGUROCHKA!"
….
Kagami panted as he emerged victorious and Satan dropped to his knees, having withstood the strike empowered with thunder, fire, wind and ice. At the same time, Kamui almost reached the critical level after four Ougis hit it.
"Well…done…" Satan weakly complimented as he limply walked to his machine. The bleeding hole on his chest made it too hard for him to get inside Kamui to continue.
"Look like… I have gravely underestimated you clowns…" Satan said, summoning a portal below him and Kamui. "Today was enough. At any rate, we'll finish this later. Boy, give me your name!"
"Blade, Kamen Rider Blade." Kagami curtly answered, not wanting to give away his real name. Aoi Satan laughed. "Kamen Rider Blade, Teikoku Kagekidan, the next time we meet will be your last!"
"Can't you say anything that less cliché?" Kagami commented.
"Wait, who are you?!" Ogami asked but the man and his machine disappeared into the portal. Blade stepped out and did the deed. "It's Aoi Satan of the Kuronosukai. Don't ask how I know, it just pops out in my head."
RECOVER
A warm light flowed into Blade and the Koubus, treating their injures and restoring their stamina. Kagami de-transformed and while he looked fine, there was green blood under the clothes. The Hanagumi got out of their machines and greeted Kagami.
"This is the first time I saw your guys in these ridiculous attires and yet, I feel like I have seen this before…" Kagami wondered aloud. "Nah just my imagination."
He was about to walk away when Sumire called out for him.
"Where are you going, Kagami-san?"
"Where? Back to the Theater, duh."
"That won't do at all." She grabbed his arm. Kagami was slightly flustered by her chest touching him. At the same time, Sakura did the same to Ogami. The two males were confused.
"We, the Kagekidan, have a victory celebrating ritual. Now, Kagami-san, follow my lead."
"Victory Pose…!" At this moment, Kagami's brain got a light bulb. "Oh shit I remember it now, I am in Sakura Taisen –"
"GO!"
Kagami's shout was muted by the announcement from the girls. In addition, they were posing while he and Ogami just stared dumbfounded. And then Kagami remembered more, that in the Koubu's 'eye', there was a camera installed to capture a 'Victory Pose' like this.
"Mou, Ogami-san, you should practice a pose next time!"
"Kagami-san, if you want, I can teach you some poses to do next time."
"Uhhhh…"
Kagami was persuaded by the old man, Yoneda Ikki if he remembered right, to join a party in the same Ueno Park, which now had the trees blooming for some reasons. Ogami, in particular, was dragged to here by Sakura and the youngest girl in the Kagekidan, Iris.
"Ahem!" Yoneda coughed loudly to get attention. "This party is to celebrate the first victory of us Teikoku Kagekidan. Also, congratulate Ogami for performing as the Taichou splendidly."
He raised the sake cup to Ogami, who nervously returned the same. The old man then turned to bewildered Kagami. "At last, welcome Kagami Kenzaki to the Hanagumi!"
"Wait what?! I didn't decide on this!" Kagami argued. Sumire quickly faked tears. "Why not, Kagami-san? If you refuse, I will hate you for life."
'W-What is wrong with this girl?!'
"U-Um, I, eh…." Kagami was clearly nervous now. "Argh! Alright, I join. There, you satisfied?"
Seeing Sumire laugh at his attics, he could only twitch his left eye in annoyance. Then he thought of something mischief.
"But this doesn't look like a welcome party at all! I demand a proper one!"
"Bah, you lousy kid!" Yoneda yelled back, causing the others to laugh. There were talking and laughing between the girls while the men, mostly Yoneda, were drinking. Kagami laughed at how Sumire mistook Ogami as him after taking alcohol and then he looked at the sky.
'Well, this is actually not bad. My dream as a police officer, it somehow comes true but in my preferred way.' He glanced at Sumire. 'Not to mention, I get to see my childhood anime crush. Take that, my younger self!'
Unknown to him, inside the Blay Buckle Zwei, there was a counter of 0% to 100% with the word 'JOKER'. It showed '82%' now.
There, the second chapter of Sakura Rider: Blade and the conclusion of Episode 1 in Sakura Taisen 1. Please tell me your opinions via reviews!