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"What do we do now? That guy's a total monster!"
The surviving vampires were freaking out after seeing the power of Erik's last attack. They knew they stood no chance.
"We've got no choice. We have to activate that if we want any hope of turning this around!"
"But it's not ready yet! If it fails, HQ will kill us!"
"If we don't activate it, we'll die right now!"
After a brief moment of hesitation, the vampires gritted their teeth and made a run for the underground lab.
"Huh? Still a few rats left."
Ixa instantly marked the survivors. Erik didn't hesitate—he grabbed his weapon and headed toward the basement. Thanks to Dan's upgrades, Ixa no longer had a time limit, and its performance had jumped to a whole new level.
"Kamen Rider!"
Meanwhile, the green monster let out a high-pitched screech that pierced even through Drive's armor, making Dan's head throb.
Dan clicked his tongue.
"Hey, hey, could you not make so much noise? It's annoying."
He spun the dial on his belt, and the engine roared to life. Then he activated the gear shifter on his wrist.
"Drive Type: Speed! Speed! Speed!"
The tire across Dan's chest began spinning at high speed.
"Die, Kamen Rider!"
The monster lunged, claws first, moving so fast that only a green blur could be seen.
"Oh? Speed, huh? Bad luck for you—you picked the worst guy to go up against."
Just as the monster closed in, the spinning tire abruptly stopped. Dan charged straight in to meet him.
Red and green blurs clashed in midair.
Thud!
Fist and claw collided. Dan punched the monster square in the chest, while the monster's claw raked across Dan's armor.
The impact forced both of them to stagger back a few steps.
Dan looked down at the scratch on his chest plate, startled.
"Those claws are nasty… If I didn't have this Drive armor, I'd be shredded for sure."
"Dan, don't space out! He's coming in again!"
Just as Dan was thinking to himself, the monster launched another attack.
"Handle-Ken!"
Dan reached out, and the sword flew back into his hand. The fight entered its next round.
The monster's strikes came faster and harder, every claw aimed at a vital spot.
Eventually, Dan's inexperience began to show—he was starting to fall behind.
"Dan, spin the steering wheel and press the horn!"
Seeing Dan in trouble, Krim called out again.
"Don't monologue in the middle of a fight!"
The monster mocked as he leaped into the air, claws aiming for Dan's heart.
Dan didn't hesitate—he spun the wheel and hit the horn.
"Drive Turn: Drift!"
With Krim's voice announcing the move, the tire on Dan's chest spun rapidly again, whipping his body into a sharp drift that narrowly dodged the deadly attack.
Right after, he twisted midair into an odd spin, sword in hand, and slashed out at a wild angle.
"Shing~!"
A burst of sparks flew up, along with shattered scales.
"Ahhh~!"
The monster howled in pain, its face twisting even more grotesquely.
"I'm gonna tear you apart!"
It turned its head and blasted out a sonic boom.
Dan, who hadn't even steadied himself yet, took the full hit head-on.
"Boom~!"
He was instantly sent flying, crashing hard into a concrete pillar.
Cough cough cough! "Damn, this is not looking good..."
"You okay, Dan? Looks like you still can't handle that diagonal slash from the Steering Sword in your base form."
Dan looked down at the Steering Sword in his hand, a look of frustration on his face. It reminded him of something… specifically, the first time Go used the Steering Sword. He remembered laughing for a long time when he first saw it—but now it was his turn.
"Heh… looked cooler in theory. Not doing that again."
Seeing Dan was still in one piece, the monster launched another attack.
"Die already!"
Another sonic boom came flying.
Dan yanked himself off the concrete pillar just in time, and the pillar exploded a second later.
"That was close… way too close. Mr. Belt, got any plans?"
Crouching behind the broken pillar, Dan asked Krim with a glimmer of hope.
"A plan? Not really. This guy's defense is off the charts. Your Speed Type power isn't strong enough to beat him. Unless… you can use the Wild Charger."
"The Wild Charger?"
Hearing the name, Dan immediately thought of Drive's black form. That mode was all about construction vehicles—pure raw power.
"Guess I don't have a choice. Let's give it a shot!"
Dan clenched his teeth and decided to go for it.
"If you're set on this, then do it! Come on—Wild Charger!"
"Beep beep beep~!"
The honk of a car echoed as a black shift car flew in from outside the factory.
Dan stood up and caught it in his hand.
"Start your engines!"
He twisted the dial on his belt, removed the Speed Type, and slotted in the Wild Charger.
[Hen shin!]
"Drive! Type Wild!"
A pillar of light surrounded Dan, forming a new armor around him. A tire spun around his body as part of the transformation.
"You think I'm just gonna stand here and let you do that?!"
The monster roared furiously and launched another sonic boom with its gaping mouth.
"Boom~!"
The light slammed down. The tire locked into place.
From the explosion walked out a black-armored figure. His armor was thick and heavy, with a chestplate shaped like an off-road vehicle. His underlayer was silver-white, and a spare tire hung from his right shoulder.
"It worked!"
Dan was fired up. This was his first successful form switch. If he could pull off this transformation, maybe he could do the others too. Just thinking about switching reminded him of the shameless Formula form—the one everyone said never got humiliated… unless it got one-shotted.
"Dan, to control the Wild Type, you need a burning heart. Show me your passion!"
"Oh, I've got passion alright—my heart's practically erupting like a volcano."
Right as he said that, Dan's mouth twitched. He had just accidentally quoted that disaster-prone lunatic.
"No, no—it'll be fine. I just got this new form; I'm still in noob protection mode. I should be safe for now…"
He reassured himself while grabbing the Steering Sword.
"Alright, let's get started on lap two!"
"....."