The hunt for the blueprints continues, and King Dark is planning another wicked scheme in an effort to take them all, whilst the Kamen Riders search for anymore people who may have received them. This feels like it's gonna last until the very end of the series. 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 29: The GOD Rider
Deep within his lair, King Dark opened his eyes as he sensed something. "Is that you, Chameleon Phantom? Step forward and show yourself." Within the darkness, a humanoid chameleon monster appeared. "I am here, King Dark. The one who inherits the ruthless criminal spirit of the mysterious Fantomas!" "And just in time," King Dark replied, "I've received some rather interesting information. This job will require the mastery of the art of disguise that you have inherited." "Most certainly," Chameleon Phantom said, "You may await word of my inevitable success."
Later at AB Communications Inc, a man was getting on the elevator when it stopped on the eleventh floor going down. "Did it malfunction?," the man wondered. He tried to contact maintenance, but there was no response on the telephone. He then heard a sinister laughing. "Ando!" The elevator started going back up, then back down again. When it finally stopped, Ando was shocked to see a perfect copy of himself staring him in the face.
"Who are you!?," Ando said in shock. "Why I'm Ando, the chief of AB Communications' Tokyo Division," the copy said with a smirk, "Or at least a convincing facsimile of such! But of course we can't have two versions of the same man running around. I'm afraid you'll have to disappear." The copy revealed himself as Chameleon Phantom. He grabbed Ando and dragged him into the elevator. After killing him by choking him out, the Villain Monster resumed his disguise as Ando.
Meanwhile, the Riders were at the Coffee Shop COL, discussing possible locations of the remaining RS Device blueprints. They had tracked down lead to a ballerina named Akiko Kikuchi, who was returning from Germany. "Her school is in the Setagaya Ward," Yurippe noted, "Maejima Block 3." "I can't believe a ballet dancer of all things has one of the blueprint pieces," Hideki said.
The fake Ando was arriving at the Kikuchi Ballet. Several girls were already practicing their dancing skills. Akiko was the school mistress there, and Ando was an old friend of the family. "So what are you doing here?," Akiko asked. "Oh, just came to see someone else who's been waiting for your return," the fake said, "A young man named Yuzuru Otonashi." Akiko looked confused. "I don't anyone by that name."
"You haven't heard of him?," the fake asked. Akiko nodded. She then noticed something in the mirror, an image of Chameleon Phantom sitting right where Ando should be. "Everything alright?," the Villain Monster asked, not yet aware that Akiko was practically on to him. He soon caught on, however, and scoffed. "It seems you've seen too much!" He revealed himself in full, Warfare Agents appearing to grab Akiko. "Why is Yuzuru Otonashi looking for you?," Chameleon Phantom asked.
The Riders were already heading for the ballet house, knowing that GOD may have already seen the news. Chameleon Phantom was trying to get Akiko to talk about something she had no idea about, refusing to believe she would have no information. Just as Chameleon Phantom was about to try literally squeezing the information out of her, Yuzuru and his Rider team showed up, taking out the Warfare Agents.
"So you arrived," Chameleon Phantom said, "Not exactly a pretty sight." "Well beauty is in the eye of beholder," Yuzuru quipped, "Because I think you're a downright ugly bastard!" The monster scoffed. "You face Chameleon Phantom of GOD's Villain Army! Interfere with me and die!" "Do you know how many monsters have that would happen?," Yurippe said as she helped Akiko to her feet, "None of them have succeeded so far."
The altercation quickly moved outside, as Akiko was handed off to several Battlefront members. The Riders battled Chameleon Phantom, who used his elongated tongue in an effort to strangle them. Yuzuru soon shook him off. "Let's give this guy a real disappearing act!" The other Riders nodded as they activated their devices. "Henshin!" "Dai Setup!" They leapt into the air, transforming into X, Angel, Life, SSS, and Eyez. The five Riders quickly stared laying into Chameleon Phantom.
He quickly stared using his disguise power, changing into a Warfare Agent when he hit the ground. He then disappeared when the Riders had their backs turned, only to attack them once more. His tricks quickly made up for his lack of physical power. However, he was still getting worn down by the assault from the Riders, and he was running out of Warfare Agents. He quickly disappeared one last time. "I'll finish you some other time!," he called out.
King Dark was not pleased with the recent turn of events. "You fool! You underestimated the strength of the Riders!" "Forgive my bluntness, King Dark," Chameleon Phantom said, "But I have yet to reveal the full extent of my abilities. I ask that you give our next clash your full attention." "Very well," King Dark said, "But do not forget that Kamen Rider X has recently been powered up beyond what we expected." "I'm well aware," Chameleon Phantom assured him.
Akiko was taken to a general hospital with Tobei. Luckily she hadn't sustained any real injuries, and had simply fainted from shock. She woke up just as the Riders entered. "Good to see you're awake," Yuzuru said, "I'm Yuzuru Otonashi. This is Kanade Tachibana, Hideki Hinata, Yuri Nakamura, and Ayato Naoi." "Yes, that monster said you were looking for me," Akiko said. "There's a reason for that," Yurippe explained, "Tell me, did you meet a researcher named Labique while in West Germany?"
"Yes, actually," Akiko admitted, "He attended my performance in Munich." "Did he happen to give you anything?," Yuzuru asked. "Not really," Akiko said. "That doesn't match with what we learned," Ayato noted, "He said himself that he-" "Actually," Akiko interrupted, "He did buy me a present. He enjoyed my dancing so much that he wanted to buy me something." She revealed a heart-shaped locket.
"Just like with Rie!," Kanade realized. She held out the locket, only for it to get snatched by Tobei. Only it wasn't really Tobei, as the Riders quickly surmised. "Chameleon Phantom!," Yuzuru called out. "Indeed!," the Villain Monster admitted, "This is the power I inherited from the faceless Fantomas, master of disguise!" He took on his true form. "This pendant shall serve as a trophy of my victory!" He immediately disappeared.
Ayato pulled back the curtains to reveal the real Tobei, having been knocked out earlier. He woke up rubbing his head with a groan. "Blasted GOD monster…" "Well what do you expect?," Yurippe said, "Unlike Arsene Lupin, Fantomas never had a code of honor. In fact, it's only because of Lupin that Fantomas was finally defeated." Tobei nodded. "We need to do something about him, and fast."
"You have done well, Chameleon Phantom!," King Dark said, "You truly live up to your namesake… Is what I would say if you weren't such an impatient idiot! Did you really think the blueprint would be inside that pendant!?" Chameleon Phantom was confused, but when he opened the locket he was shocked to find out it was already empty. "It can't be! Those blasted Riders actually outsmarted me!?"
Indeed, the entire thing had been an elaborate setup. While the original Fantomas could strike terror in the hearts of all of Paris by being unpredictable in who or where he could be, Chameleon Phantom was far easier to predict, since the Riders knew he was after the blueprint piece and would likely disguise himself as Tobei to get close to Akiko. Akiko had actually given the pendant to the Battlefront on the way to the hospital, and they removed the blueprint piece before giving it back.
"The real Fantomas would be rolling in his grave if he knew his inheritor got tricked so badly," Ayato noted, "We had him completely over a barrel." Yuzuru nodded. "Credit to Beetle Lupin, he at least managed to steal one of the blueprint pieces from us." "By now some of the rest of Nanbara's colleagues know he wanted us to use the RS Device for good," Hideki said, "Labique, his colleague in West Germany, contacted us about the pendant after he hid the blueprint piece inside it."
Akiko nodded. "And he in turn told me about the Kamen Rider Battlefront and how you intend to protect the blueprints, telling me to take the pendant to you." "But trying to get to us directly would only have gotten you caught," Kanade said, "So you contacted us ahead of time and then we set this whole plan up." "Chameleon Phantom never even realized that Ando's body had been spotted by our Rider Scouts," Tobei said. "By the way," Akiko said, "I'll be starring a ballet performance of Sleeping Beauty tonight. You're all invited if you'd like."
There was a huge turnout for the ballet. The Riders had decided to take Akiko up on her offer, especially since Chameleon Phantom had yet to be dealt with, and would likely be turning up hoping to get the blueprint piece from her. Indeed, her sudden screams, altered the Riders that the Villain Monster was already attacking. Chameleon Phantom already had Akiko in a car waiting for them. "If you want her back, then bring the blueprint piece to Hell Valley!" The car drove off immediately.
The Riders headed after him, transforming on the way. Seeing the empty car, they headed on to where Chameleon Phantom had Akiko held captive. X held up a paper. "Here's what you want. Now let her go." Chameleon Phantom tried to grab for the paper, but X pulled it away. "Not until she goes free!" Chameleon Phantom nodded. "Fine then. Release her!" Akiko was set free as X handed over the paper. Akiko was placed on the Cruiser and X sent it off.
"Now that that's established," Eyez said, "It's time to get that blueprint back!" The Warfare Agents quickly made to attack, only to get easily taken out as the Riders fought back. As they fought, Chameleon Phantom disappeared. "I don't think so," X said, "Eyez!" Eyez nodded. His helmet was equipped with various scanners that gave him enhanced eyesight. These normally can into play when using his Bullseye kick, which allowed to target a vital area to strike.
But here, it revealed that Chameleon Phantom had actually gone invisible and was trying to escape through the mountains. "Got you! Thousand Eyes!" Chameleon Phantom was caught off-guard as the numerous lasers blasts struck him, negating his invisibility. He his turned a bright shade of red as he launched his tongue, getting it around Angel's wrist. "Hand Sonic!" She sliced off the tongue, and Chameleon Phantom disappeared. When he reappeared again, he had disguised himself as X.
"Oh that's just wrong!," the real X called out, "Guys, hang back! I'll take of this one personally!" X made sure his fellow Riders could keep track of him by summoning Noda's halberd, since Chameleon Phantom could only copy his appearance, not his Synchro Drive. A few good strikes and the Villain Monster kept getting knocked out of his disguise, making tracking him even easier.
Finally, he was hit so hard that he reeled back as he dropped his disguise. "There's only one real Kamen Rider X!," X called out as he spun the halberd, "Synchro Spiral Axe!" Instead of simply throwing the halberd, X was able to call on Noda's dexterity with the weapon, spinning it in hand at high speed to deliver far more damage, completely shredding Chameleon Phantom. He practically fell to pieces before exploding.
Akiko was returned to the ballet for her performance. With the Riders having reclaimed the blueprints, GOD was still stuck at only one out of six found. And because of the delay, the Riders were able to see Akiko's amazing performance in Sleeping Beauty. "I do think it's weird that they're using Disney music for this," Yurippe admitted. "Hey, it makes a good backdrop," Hideki pointed out. They were grateful for moments like these. It helped remind just why they were fighting against GOD, and why they would continue to do so.
To be continued…
Interestingly, Fantomas in the comics was far closer in nature to Arsene Lupin. Also in this universe both Lupin and Fantomas were real. Huh… Read and review.