Chapter 39
“Henshin!” Ace pulled the handle of the blay buckle to transform.
[TURN UP]
A blue door made of light appeared in front of Ace and slowly moved towards him. Ace emerged from the light and transformed into Kamen Rider Blade. His suit, a striking combination of black and silver, gleamed in the sunlight. He held the Blay Rouzer, his primary weapon, and assumed a battle-ready stance.
“Oh~ new form? What do you call this one?” asked Gwen
“Blade, Kamen Rider Blade. Let’s defeat him quickly before more people get harmed.” replied Ace
|Kamen Rider Blade uses the power of Rouse cards. Each Rouse card contains a sealed Undead, immortal creatures whose only purpose is to fight. Blade can use the powers of these Undead to manifest different abilities or gain power.|
*Insert Kamen Rider Blade OST Kakusei*
Gwen and Peter nodded at each other and launched themselves at the Lizard. With calculated precision, Gwen and Peter targeted the sides of the menacing creature while Blade fearlessly engaged its front. As Gwen and Peter shot their webs toward the Lizard, it swiftly evaded their attacks and retaliated by hurling a nearby bench at Peter. With remarkable agility, Peter leaped over the bench and promptly webbed it, redirecting it back at the Lizard.
Gwen took advantage of the distraction and swiftly moved behind the Lizard, seizing the opportunity to wrap her arms around its neck. Meanwhile, Blade lunged forward and made deep, slashing cuts across the Lizard's front, causing substantial damage to its body.
“ROAR”
Blade opened the Blay Rouser cardholder and took out the Beat Lion Rouse card. He then scanned it with the Blay Rouser.
[BEAT]
|Beat Lion: Increases the power of punches of Blade|
Blade unleashes a flurry of lightning-fast punches on the Lizard, each strike resonating with bone-crushing force. The Lizard grimaces in agony as the impact of each blow reverberates through his body, causing deep bruises and internal trauma. Despite the rising taste of blood in his mouth, the Lizard relies on his regenerative abilities to endure the punishment. In a desperate move, he seizes Gwen and hurls her at Blade, the force of the collision sending both tumbling to the ground.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
They both landed on top of each other, and Gwen blushed under her mask.
“Hey! I need some help over here!”
Peter called out, and Blade and Gwen looked at what he was doing.
Peter is battling the Lizard, using his webs to restrain him. He tries to wrap the Lizard in webs by crawling all over his body, but the Lizard breaks free and attacks Peter with his sharp nails. Although the nails don't pierce Peter's suit, he is sent crashing into a pole.
Blade and Gwen get up and attack the Lizard again. Blade picks up the Slash Lizard Rouze card and scans it.
[SLASH]
|Slash Lizard: Increases the power of the Blay Rouzer|
Blade swiftly swings his sword at the Lizard, who skillfully defends himself by using his sharp claws to deflect the attack. Meanwhile, Gwen works in perfect sync with Blade, landing a powerful punch on the Lizard every time Blade creates an opening with his slashes. As the Lizard attempts to retaliate against Gwen, Blade steps in to intercept, ensuring that the Lizard remains engaged with him.
“Your opponent is me!” Blade said, slashing at the Lizard.
“Grrr~ Annoying pest!”
Peter sneaks up behind the Lizard, grabs its tail, and pulls it back.
“I got him!”
The Lizard stumbles back a bit, giving Blade a few strikes in
“GRAGH”
The lizard detaches its tail, which Peter did not expect. He saw the tail wiggling while holding it in his hands.
“Ew, gross.”
“Spider-Man! Help me grab him.” said Blade
Blade and Peter grabbed the arms of the Lizard to stop him from moving.
“Spider-Woman, do it now!” said Peter
Gwen jumped on the Lizard’s head, holding its jaw open. She had a test tube filled with the gene cleanser.
“Stay still, Dr. Connors. A good person needs to take their medicine.”
As Blade and Peter struggled to restrain the Lizard, his frantic attempts to thwart Gwen's administration of the cure grew increasingly intense. In desperation, he used his powers to command the zoo's ferocious crocodiles to launch a vicious assault on Blade and Peter.
“Hey, stop it!” said Ace trying to shoo away the crocodiles
“What has gotten into these guys?” asked Peter, confused as to why the crocodiles were attacking them.
In a split second of distraction, the Lizard managed to break free, snatch Gwen, and hurl her into Blade and Peter, sending them all crashing to the ground.
“He just doesn’t know when to quit.” said Gwen
“The crocodiles are going to be a problem. You two get them back to their enclosure. I’ll deal with the Lizard.” said Blade
They all went to their task, and Blade confronted the Lizard alone.
Blade and Lizard clashed with their swords and claws, each determined to gain the upper hand. Despite their fierce exchange, neither seemed able to gain an advantage, leading to a tense stalemate.
“Why stop me? I just want to be better, to be whole. I am the next stage of humanity!” said the LIzard
“That doesn’t mean you can harm people! Many people are killed because of you. I don’t care if you are the next evolution or whatever. You are going down!”
Blade takes out the Tackle Boar Rouze card and scans it.
[TACKLE]
|Tackle Boar: Increases the power of tackles of Blade|
Blade tackles the Lizard, sending him flying and tumbling on the ground. The police arrive and start shooting the LIzard, but due to his regeneration, the shots are ineffective. This annoyed him, and he attacked the police officers.
“No!” Blade tried to stop the Lizard but was too far to stop him. Two webs were shot and hit the Lizard’s legs.
“Sorry, Doc. Police aren’t on the menu.” Peter and Gwen are back after returning the runaway reptiles to their enclosure.
“Stop him from moving. I’ll finish this.” said Blade
Peter and Gwen teamed up to web the Lizard, using their webs to secure him to the surroundings and prevent him from escaping.
“No!” said the LIzard, struggling to break free
Blade takes down the Kick Locust and Thunder Deer. He then scans them with the Blay Rouzer to deliver the finishing move, causing the cards to be absorbed into Blade.
[KICK]
[THUNDER]
|Kick Locust: Increases the power of flying side kicks
Thunder Deer: Supplements the next attack with electricity
Combining the two cards will result in a rider kick|
Blade raises the Blay Rouser and stabs it into the ground. He then jumps into the air and kicks toward the Lizard with his leg covered in electricity.
[LIGHTING BLAST]
Blade's kick lands on the Lizard, sending him flying back with electricity coursing through his body.
“AGH!”
The Lizard is experiencing intense pain, and his regeneration is not healing his wounds quickly enough. He lies on the ground, convulsing from the electrical shock.
*End OST*
“No, this can’t be. I can’t lose now.”
“Give it up, Doc. It’s over.” said Peter
The Lizard felt angry about his loss, but he had one trick up his sleeve. While he was making a batch of the lizard serum, he managed to create an airborne version. He threw two canisters at Blade and the spiders while the other went to the police.
Peter and Gwen sensed the danger from those canisters and warned everyone.
“Everyone! Run!”
Smoke billowed out of the canisters and started to spread. Blade, Peter, and Gwen escaped the smoke, but the police officers weren't as fortunate. Upon exposure to the serum, they began coughing violently and collapsed to the ground. Their skin started developing green scales, and their tongues transformed to resemble those of lizards.
“We need to get them out of the range of the smoke!” said Blade
The three of them worked together to carry as many officers as possible out of the smoke-filled area. The Lizard took advantage of the smoke as a smokescreen to make his escape. He went to the sewers and then returned to his laboratory. Having obtained what he was after, he no longer felt compelled to engage in further combat. Additionally, he was nursing injuries, making it foolish for him to exert himself.
“Spider-Man, Spider-Woman! Give the ones affected the cure.” said Blade
“We don’t have enough for all of them.” replied Gwen
“Don’t worry, more are coming. Prioritize the ones who are most affected.”
Ace contacted Izu to create more batches of the gene cleanser as fast as possible and deliver it here.
“How do you know there will be more?” asked Gwen
“The lab is making more and will be delivered here.”
“The lab? The only one who we know who has a lab is…!” said Peter
Ace noticed Gwen and Peter making connections but didn't have time to explain.
“I know this is a surprise, but I will explain later. We need to save as many people as possible right now.”
Peter and Gwen snapped out of their surprise and began distributing the cure they had to the affected. A little while later, the Tridoron arrived with new batches of the gene cleanser.
“Thank you, Belt-san.”
“Don’t mind, Ace-kun. Saving these people is important.”
With Peter and Gwen's help, Ace gave the gene cleanser to the affected. Soon after, everyone was okay and thanked Ace, Peter, and Gwen.
Since the Lizard got away again, they left the zoo and regrouped. When they were alone, Gwen was the one who asked first.
“Ace, is that you?”
Ace was going to reveal himself to the two of them sooner or later, but he did not expect to reveal it like this.
“*sigh* Yes, it is me.”
“Seriously, dude! You were the Kamen Rider the whole time! You must have thought it was really funny when you knew who we were. You even trained us, man.” said Peter, shocked by the revelation
“Shh, your voice is too loud. Let us get back to the mansion. I’ll explain the rest there.”
The two agreed, and they went back to the mansion. While on their way back, Gwen was still processing Ace's identity as the Kamen Rider.
‘Ace is the Kamen Rider…’
She then remembers all her embarrassing moments with him as Kamen Rider and couldn’t help but scream internally.
‘AAAH! It is so embarrassing!’
She then blushed and wished he would let her hit him at least once.