And now we finally get to see the main villain and… He's honestly not as good as Great Leader. If only because Great Leader understood how dangerous the Kamen Riders are, while King Dark just keeps seeing them as inferior and not really doing anything. If he's so strong he should be wiping his enemies out. At least Great Leader knew he would be outmatched in a straight-fight, so he had good reason to stay hidden. Anyway, let's get on with the chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own Kamen Rider, Angel Beats, or any other referenced media.
*The four previous Riders, X, Angel, Life, and SSS, drive down the road. They part their formation to reveal a blue-armored warrior with eye symbols over his armor, driving a modified Suzuki TM250. This is the last of the Battlefront Riders, Kamen Rider Eyez on his Sapphire Storm.*
Kamen Rider X!
*With that declaration, the music begins as we get our title.*
X Beats
*The five Riders drive in a V formation with X in the center, a close-up of their helmets being shown.*
Set Up! Set Up! Set Up!
*With each declaration, we see first X, then Angel and SSS, and finally Life and Eyez leap up a hill on their Rider Machines.*
Behold! That silver helmet and that long black scarf
*We see Eyez and the Sapphire Storm from behind.*
That forehead of his just shines through, blazoned V and V
*The camera moves to show SSS and the Moth Wing from the side.*
Stop GOD and their deadly treachery
*Life and the Soul Rizer are shown from the other side.*
The sound of the waves can be heard in his father's screams
*Angel and her Wing Racer are seen from the front.*
Bring the fury of the Ridol, end his enemy
*There's a close-up of the front of the Cruiser with X riding on it.*
X Rider fighting all the way
*The five Riders are shown on their Rider Machines as they drift around a corner.*
Kamen Rider X! X! X!
*X is seen posing in front of the university, followed by Life and Eyes, and then Angel and SSS.*
The final Rider is Ayato Naoi, who's brother was killed in a car crash instigated by GOD, sending Ayato's life spiraling into depression.
*The five Riders reveal their human forms in turn.*
Reborn with the rest of the Kamen Rider Battlefront, Ayato joins Yuzuru, Kanade, Hideki, and Yuri, in the fight against GOD.
*They race across the screen in Rider form, passing by each other in midair.*
X, Angel, Life, SSS, and Eyez. Five Riders unite together to fight against GOD in the name of justice.
*The five Riders pose one after another before they're all shown in a group shot.*
Chapter 22: King Dark Appears
It was out near the rocky cliffs at the edge of the ocean, where a pair of siblings, a brother and sister, stumbled upon a group of brightly colored flowers. The man went to go pick them, only to slide off the cliff. The man called for his sister, Sanae, having found some kind of cave in the cliff. There were some sort of strange sounds coming from it, as if something was sleeping inside. Thinking it was just the wind coming from inside the cave, the man thought it might be a cave connected to Mount Fuji.
Taking a flashlight, the siblings entered the cave. However, they soon learned that it wasn't the wind, and the cave didn't extend to Mount Fuji. Instead, they found a giant gray robot with a horned helmet, slouching against a large rocky platform. Thinking it was just a statue, the two of them approached. When they got close enough, the robot opened its eyes. "Come closer!," it called out. It started sucking the man in as he told Sanae to run for it.
Sanae was able to get out of sight as the robot drew her brother into its mouth. She then noticed a group of humanoid monsters walking into the cave and promptly fainted, several Warfare Agents picking her up. The giant opened its eyes and looked at the group of monsters. The was the true leader of GOD, King Dark. "So, you have all arrived… Genghis Khandor!" The condor monster nodded. "Toad Goemon!" The toad monster saluted. "Scorpion Geronimo!" The scorpion monster raised its axe in confirmation. "Beetle Lupin!" The kabuto monster tipped its hat.
"Each of you has been born from the DNA of terrifying individuals," King Dark said, "The conqueror Genghis Khan, whose brutal campaigns slaughtered thousands. Genghis Khandor, that devilish spirit has been combined with the ferocity of the mighty condor to create you! You will now use that power to throw all of Japan into disarray!" "I'm all set with my Vampire Plan," Genghis Khandor replied, "All I need is one sacrifice to start." The woman Sanae had been laid at his feet.
"Wipe the Riders off the face of the Earth," King Dark said. The four Villain Monster nodded. "I'll see them destroyed with no troubles," Genghis Khandor declared, "Get the woman up." Beetle Lupin and Toad Goemon dragged Sanae to her feet before Genghis Khandor injected something into her neck. "One is where it all starts," he said, "And from there a disease can spread. Soon the Riders will unable to stop us!"
The Riders were pulling up to Tobei's coffee shop, where Malty was heading out with flowers. "Where is she going?," Kanade asked. "To see a student of hers," Tobei explained, "Seems her older brother disappeared suddenly." This was happening at the Yamagami Hospital, where Sanae was being treated for a broken wrist. She had somehow developed a strange aversion to being touched, which honestly concerned Malty, since Sanae had been so outgoing before the incident.
Malty was soon asked to leave by the attending physician, ostensibly to avoid Sanae falling back into shock. Once Malty was gone, the doctor undid the bandages on Sanae's wrist to reveal a terrible bite wound, which the doctor laughed at in a wicked manner. He bit into the wound, then revealed himself as Genghis Khandor. "Now, my loyal blood slave." Sanae suddenly grew large fangs. "Tell me about this teacher of yours," Genghis Khandor said. "She works part-time at the Coffee Shop SOL," Sanae said in a trance.
"Tachibana's coffee shop?," Genghis Khan asked, "So, she's allied with the Kamen Riders…" He headed to the park in an effort to attack her, but only ran into the Riders, who had been told that something was wrong with Sanae. "Looks like we have a new Villain Monster," Ayato noted. "I am the might Genghis Khandor!," the monster replied. "Now see," Hideki said, "Genghis Khan is much more debatable as a villain. Sure he slaughtered lots of people, but he was ultimately an exceptional ruler."
Genghis Khandor scoffed. "All that matters is that I am here for your lives!" He made to attack. "Genghis Khan Fire!" He launched what seemed to be automatic fireworks from his mouth, causing the Riders to scatter as flames erupted. "Go, mini condors!" The small winged pests flew at the riders, only to get knocked out of the air. "Time to pluck this overgrown turkey!," Yurippe called out as she unfolded her Metamorpher.
The others all activated their own transformation devices. "Henshin!" "Set Up!" They transformed into Kamen Riders X, Angel, Life, SSS, and Eyez. They then proceeded to lay into the big buzzard. He got tossed into the air, and decided to fly off. "I'll retreat for now!," he called out, "But next time you die!" "So what was that all about?," SSS said, "He didn't seem like a GOD monster." "We don't know that for sure," Life pointed out, "He fit the same pattern as the previous two GOD monsters, being modeled using the DNA of a historical figure." "Now I'm concerned about what really happened to Sanae and her brother," Angel said.
'I find it rather peculiar that this new monster has no identifying belt,' Keitaro said, 'That makes it difficult to pin down his allegiance, to GOD or anyone else. And there's the fact that we don't know the identity of this new King Dark who announced himself after the death of Apollogeist.' "Moreover," Yuzuru replied, "There's the matter of Genghis Khandor's motives. He seemed to be searching in the park for something."
"Come to think about it," Hideki said, "We were supposed to be meeting Malty there, but she had to take an emergency class. And we know that Sanae is one of Malty's students at the university. Could Genghis Khandor have been trying to get her?" 'If so, that speaks volumes about what might have happened to Sanae,' Keitaro noted, 'Malty is a cautious woman by nature due to her previous encounters with Shocker, but we know next to nothing about this new monster.'
Sanae had been sent to the hotel room that Malty was staying at. Malty was a little surprised to see her. "How did you know where I was?" "Oh, Mister Tachibana told me," Sanae said. Malty raised an eyebrow. "I hope you won't mind if I call him to confirm that." She roped off the door and went to the phone, just as Sanae suddenly berserk, trying to force open the door.
"It'll take more than just you to break it down!," Genghis Khandor said as he appeared, "Go an infect others in the hotel! Come to think of it, at that point we won't need her. Just have them spread out and infect the city!" Sanae nodded. Malty had heard everything. "So that's what he's after." She relayed the information to Tobei. 'Okay, I'll contact the Riders. But if Genghis Khandor is already infecting other people, it may spread throughout the city in no time!'
Already the news report was talking about the strange virus spreading throughout the city. It was mostly affecting young woman, who seemed to be taking on the appearance and mannerisms of vampires. The Riders knew they had to hurry and find out where Genghis Khandor, the one spreading the virus, was hiding. They caught a lucky break when the stopped one vampire from infecting another young woman.
"Thank you," the woman said, "She was biting into my wrist." Yurippe checked the wound. "It's not deep. She didn't have enough time to inject the virus. You should be fine." Just then, they got jumped by several vampires, who bit into each of their wrists. Once they went down, the vampires surrounded them. "Let's take them to the master," one suggested, "He will want to know what we were able to accomplish." The others nodded, as they started to pick up the quintet and carry them off.
Genghis Khandor was in his human disguise at the hospital when he heard the report. "Good work, my slaves. To think we can turn the Kamen Riders into loyal vampire servants." He threw off the covers, only to find the Riders fully transformed and laughing. They got up off the beds. "Our bodies' physiology is far too different from human genetics to be affected by your virus," X said. Genghis Khandor growled. "You… You tricked my slaves into bringing you right to me! Curse you, Riders!"
He transformed into his true form, grappling with the Riders for a bit before sicking his vampire slaves on them. "Don't leave a single drop of blood in his body!," he said as he ran out. However, the vampires were quickly knocked out before they even get one drop, let alone all of them. Outside, Genghis Khandor flew off. "Foolish Riders, I haven't lost yet!" "But you're about to!," Angel called out, flying in with her Grand Wing, SSS flying right behind her.
Genghis Khandor tried to fire on them, but they were far more mobile. Eventually SSS leapt up off of Angel's back, Mothrang in hand. She easily cut through Genghis Khandor's wings, sending him plummeting to the ground where the other three Riders were waiting. Warfare Agents moved in to attack as the Kamen Rider Battlefront also arrived. Genghis Khandor came flying at the Riders with his battle spear in hand. X and Eyez leapt in with their own weapons. "Ridol Stick!" "Eye-Beam!"
They clashed against the buzzard for a bit before he launched his Genghis Khan Fire, trying to keep them at bay. X leapt in and plugged up Genghis Khandor's mouth with his Ridol Stick. Eyez then stepped in for a point-blank blast. "Thousand Eyes!" The numerous laser blasts sent Genghis Khandor flying away before exploding. Without him to sustain the vampire virus, it disappeared, returning everyone to normal. The Riders had won, but King Dark was only beginning his assault.
To be continued…
Given what we know about King Dark later in the series, I'm suddenly wondering what really happened to Sanae's brother. Let me know what you guys think. Read and review.