Masked Rider Episode Two: "Wings of Fire".
The Wyoming wind, a constant presence in Cheyenne, whipped through Dan's hair. He and his father were attending a local kart race in Cheyenne, which was an annual championship. Adam cheered on Dan's speed and agility, even though these karts were slower than racecars.
"Good job drivin', Danny!" Adam cheered, even when Dan drove too far to hear him. Dan and the other contestants drove up and down small hills, u-turn roads, and over a pond, while dodging obstacles such as laid-down tires and dead ends.
Out of the blue, however, an ugly mutant bat-hominid secretly planned an assassination of Dan's college teacher, Ms. Smith. The humanoid was accompanied by a few Shocker footsoldiers, hiding inside of a hill.
"Strike er' down Batty," a footsoldier said. "Last time at Ms. Smith's birthday in February, your aim missed and she survived."
"Be real steady this time, won't you?" Another footsoldier asked Batty.
"She's on the rooster seats, and she always wears a green sweater," Batty replied. He target-locked his rifle, ready to shoot.
BAM!
Ms. Smith shrieked in hellish agony, dying on the scene. Adam was a few seats away from her, and Adam ran in fear, alongside the swarms of screaming and panicking crowds. Nobody else was hurt or killed, except Ms. Smith.
All the racers were evacuated as well, by staff members.
"Dan," Adam said, "Your college professor got killed by a stray bullet of unknown origin. We have to leave NOW!"
"Rodger!" Dan replied, holding onto his father's hand, fleeing from the championship due to the assassination. Dan and Adam rode their motorcycles back home to their cottage. Unknowingly, they were being watched and noted by Shockers as well as Batty.
"I'm disappointed by Dan's maturity," Batty spoke in a cave with Shocker members. "I wanted to see Dan and Adam weep and cry like babies! But that moment never arrived..."
"At least Dan will be burdened by grief alongside his loved ones' sorrows," a footsoldier replied. "Grief can wreck one from within, it just needs time."
Later on, Dan burst through the door of his family's modest cottage home, the scent of baking bread momentarily calming the storm within him. Dan always loved Mom's milk bread with cottage cheese. Helen, his mom, sat cradling their one-month-old daughter, Cathy, after Cathy had her diaper changed. Adam took a cold shower, trying to wash away the heat and adrenaline from his body.
"Helen, this story's hot off the press," Dan choked, his voice raw with grief. "The casualty was my teacher, Ms Smith. She got shot by somethin' and we don't know who did it!" He handed her the telegram newspaper, the paper fluttering in his trembling hand. He held back all his tears of anger and grief but one, sliding down his right cheek. Even though nobody in his family got hurt or killed, his college professor was shot dead.
Helen read the message, her face crumpling. Tears welled in her eyes, but she quickly brushed them aside with tissues. "Ms. Smith was the kindest teacher from London one could wish for. I hope she's in heaven... who killed her?"
" Nobody knows yet, Momma," Dan replied. "Nothin' was found. Nothin' was found in the championship's grounds, despite a big investigation by the cops."
"Can you watch Cathy for a sec?" Asked Helen, ready to pull out a loaf of homemade milk bread. "The bread's ready." Dan gently held Cathy in his arms, rocking softly on the chair.
Adam finished his shower, and his face was still cold from a wet washcloths moisture, which cleansed his face of dirt, adrenaline, oil and sweat. As they kept speaking, Adam also had few details.
"Nobody knows yet," Adam replied. "Authorities said it was a stray bullet of unknown origin..."
"I believe it was a Shocker plot," Dan replied, "and it's just startin' to show itself. Momma, poppa, Cathy, please pray that I won't be killed or kidnapped, cause I'm gonna take out those monsters one by one!" They bid Dan farewell, praying for Dan's defeat of the monsters, and for his safe return home.
As Dan stepped out onto the porch, he was ready to ride his motorcycle to find the culprits. As he used his superhuman senses, he sensed a Shocker residence and stopped his engine. His motorcycle screeched to a halt at the edge of town, near an abandoned warehouse district. This warehouse also had barrels of aging wine and Chinese-style plum vinegar from American plums.
His stomach growled. "I feel hungry out of the blue," Dan thought. "I have some money to buy snacks if I need them..."
Dan quietly crept into the warehouse, scented by the fermentation of wine and plum vinegar, as well as old cinder and cedarwood materials. It had a cold, light-gray concrete floor. Dan thought he heard a bat-like noise and Shockers laughing, but dismissed these noises as byproducts of anxiety. Near a dusty windowpane, the noises became louder, and Dan tried to understand the conversation these figures had behind the windowpane. He used his Super Cision abilities to see through the walls.
"Oh my goodness," Dan thought, "I'm startin' to know what they're sayin' bout' us all. They took out Ms. Smith to tug on our heartstrings... these baddies are gonna kill me and my family if I don't stop em'!"
Dan's mind stumbled onto a new conclusion... He may not have known who killed his British professor, but these abominable figures were clearly involved in another assassination plot. As Dan peeked through the walls, he saw what appeared to be Batty drinking an instant claw-regeneration potion, from the hands of a Shocker.
"This bat-like monster can regrow his claws instantly now," Dan noted. "And it has sharp teeth, red eyes, and prefers the flesh of young female humans."
Just then, a voice boomed from the shadows behind him, "Rawr!!!"
Dan spun around to find himself face-to-face with that exact same bat-like monster, Batty.
"Who are you?" the man growled, his eyes narrowed.
Dan hesitated, his mind racing. Should he reveal what he had seen? Could he trust this stranger?
"My name is Dan," Dan said. "Reveal who you are!"
"NYEAAAAH!!!" Batty yelled, ready to fight. Dan quickly morphed into Masked Rider, wrestling Batty and throwing a heavy vinegar barrel at the monster. However, Batty survived, throwing the barrel back at Dan. Batty also flew over Dan at times, trying to drop bombs on him. Dan dodged each one, as they exploded near his proximity.
Dan used his red eyes and antennae to locate and hunt down the army of ravenous Shockers that were attacking him. Dan punched, kicked, and knocked down about a dozen Shockers, while also dodging from - and attacking - Batty.
"Rider Kick!" Dan shouted, kicking Batty in the chest, but it was no use. Batty tried to scratch and bite Dan several times, until Dan had an idea.
"Bats prefer dark environments lacking sunlight," Dan spoke to himself. He found a lantern with oil and a box of matches, hiding in the warehouse. "I'll ignite this lamp with the oil and matches, and I'll ignite the monster into flames!"
And that's exactly what he did. Dan ignited Batty into a bush of flames, with the monster screaming in pain from the lanterns light. Dan rushed out of the warehouse, as not only did Batty explode, so did the entire warehouse (the Shockers implanted several bombs there beforehand).
Dan ran outside, wrestling and knocking out even more Shockers that threw grenades at him. Dan survived the attack, taking out every Shocker in sight.
Suddenly, Dan noticed a green wine bottle with a letter inside of it - enclosed by a cork - and he picked it up, rushing back home on his motorcycle.
At home, Helen was cleaning the cottage's interiors and dusting. Adam took care of baby Caththerine, reading to her a baby book.
"Momma and poppa, look what I've got," Dan said, back in his human-like appearance. "This is a letter in a bottle that I found near a ruptured warehouse..."
"Wait a minute," Helen replied. "A ruptured warehouse?"
"A letter in a bottle?" Adam asked, preventing baby Catherine from sliding off his lap, as she giggled and cooed.
"Yep," Dan replied. "I defeated a bat-like hominid monster. I set him on fire with hot lamp oil and flaming matches. I knocked out a whole bunch of Shocker footsoldiers. But I had to flee the warehouse. The footsoldiers planted a lotta bombs there and it blew up in flames."
"That's one wild west tale," Helen replied.
"I heard the Shockers talking, they threatened to kill me and all of us," Dan added. "Shocker Enterprises assassinated my British professor and they almost put us on their chopping block."
"Good job defeating those monsters," Adam complimented.
"You saved our lives from Shocker!" Helen smiled. "I found this old toy baby rattle. When you were a baby, this rattle was yours, Danny."
"Give it to baby Cathy," Dan replied, smiling warmly. "She'll love it."
End of episode two.