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"Drive Turn Drift!"
In his Wild form, Dan gripped the Steering Sword, spun the wheel, and honked the horn.
The engine roared. He surged forward like an off-road beast, slashing his blade in smooth arcs through the air, then landed a heavy blow straight onto the monster's body. A blood-curdling scream echoed through the factory.
"Nice Drive! Time to finish this guy!"
That Wild-style strike had smashed through the monster's armor, completely flipping the situation.
"Exactly. Sunrise is coming soon. This mess ends now."
Dan pressed his hand to the Driver, ready to trigger his finisher—but then—
"BOOM~!"
Suddenly, the ground beneath them exploded, blasting a giant hole open. A figure flew out of it, landing with a crash.
"What the hell?!"
Dan froze. The figure who'd just been sent flying was none other than Ixa in Burst Mode. But Dan had already dealt with the vampire in the factory… so who the hell was strong enough to wreck an upgraded Ixa like this?
"Ixa, are you alright?!"
Dan ignored the monster for a second and ran over to check on him.
Erik struggled to his feet, a huge fist-shaped dent in his chestplate.
"Drive…?"
He looked at Dan, now in Wild form, stunned for a second before recognizing him.
"Not great… I didn't expect another monster down there. Drive, they're making something… a monster. A really strong one."
He'd chased the vampires down into the basement—just in time to see them open a tank in the lab. That's when he saw what they'd really been working on: a creature stitched together from multiple vampire bodies.
As he spoke—
"BOOM!"
Another explosion. A figure smashed up through the floor and landed on their level.
"He's here!"
Through the compound lenses of his helmet, Dan saw it clearly: a short, stocky purple giant was sizing up everyone in the room.
The green monster wiped the blood from his mouth and grinned when he saw the newcomer.
"Hahaha! They actually let you out! Fine by me—sure, the experiment's not fully done, but this'll do. Go, Dega! Rip them apart!"
With a roar, the purple giant charged toward them.
Erik gritted his teeth and stood up, raising his Cross Gunblade to launch another finisher.
"Let me handle this."
Before Erik could act, Dan stepped in front of him, pulling out a yellow construction-type shift car.
"Tire Koukan! Rumble Dump!"
He shoved the shift car into his belt, swapping the tire.
A big yellow dump-truck-style tire flew in and replaced the black one. A small round shield with a drill appeared on Dan's left arm.
Dan braced himself, throwing a punch to meet Dega head-on.
"CLANG~!"
They collided, and Dan was shoved back hard. His boots carved deep skid marks into the concrete floor.
"I'm not done yet! I'm not backing down here!"
He twisted the dial with his right hand, and Krim's engine roar responded.
"Drive Type Wild! Rumble Dump!"
The drill on his arm started spinning faster and faster, sparks flying everywhere.
"Get outta my way!"
Dan roared and blasted Dega back with a punch.
"No way! Dega's packed with all kinds of new powers—how could you push him back?!"
"There's no such thing as impossible. Your little evil scheme ends now!"
His words hit like a final verdict. The sun rose, its golden rays piercing through the broken windows of the factory and lighting up the battlefield.
Erik stepped up beside Dan, holding his Cross Gunblade. His whistle was already in hand.
The green monster saw them standing tall and knew the tide had turned. If this dragged on, things would only get worse.
"Damn you Kamen Riders! I won't let you off that easy!"
Grabbing Dega, he turned and ran.
Erik was about to give chase, but the factory suddenly started to explode—the self-destruct protocol had been triggered.
"Forget it! Let them go!"
Dan raised his hand, but before he could say more, everything went black—and he passed out.
"Where… am I?"
When he came to, Dan found himself in a strange place—lavish, majestic, like an ancient European king's palace. He was sitting on a throne, overlooking everything. It felt dreamlike… unreal.
"Why, you're in your castle, of course, my king."
A man with short wine-red hair and a gentle smile bowed slightly toward him.
"You're—!!"
Dan's heart skipped. He tried to say the man's name, but… he couldn't. It was like something had erased it from his memory. No matter how hard he tried, the man's face grew more and more blurred.
"Not yet, my king."
The man smiled softly. As the sound of a violin played in the distance, he slowly disappeared from view.
"Who… are you…"
Dan jolted awake.
No throne. No castle.
Just his base. Erik was there.
"You alright? Nightmare?"
Erik walked in after hearing the noise.
Dan shook his head.
"I… I don't know."
He desperately tried to recall what he'd just seen—but it was gone. Like a dream you know you had, but couldn't remember the details.
Seeing Dan's expression, Erik sighed.
"You've been pushing yourself too hard lately—upgrading Ixa, fighting vampires… none of this should be your burden. You're still a kid. You should be enjoying summer break, hanging out at school, not doing this."
Erik was giving his usual lecture again—he'd never stopped trying to get Dan to walk away from all this. And Dan had never stopped bearing the weight that came with wearing the belt.
"Enough, Erik. You don't need to say it again."
Dan gave a bitter smile.
"You really think I can go back to school like nothing's happened? With what we're up against and what little power we have… we're way out of our depth."
Erik fell silent. He knew Dan was right.
"Besides… it's summer vacation. I've got the right to do what I want, don't I?"
Seeing the serious look on Erik's face, Dan gave him a reassuring smile.
"But I believe we'll figure it out eventually. Once we deal with the vampire problem, I can finally head back to campus in peace."
"....."