"Did you think you lucked into all that Kamen Rider power...?"
Blood Stalk shook his shoulders in mock laughter as he leaned casually against a nearby wall, enjoying Sento's stunned reaction.
"...The two of you were dosed with the gas, and somehow, you didn't turn into Smash..."
Blood Stalk raised his weapon and pointed it high into the air while shouting, "Which makes you extremely unique specimens!"
Sento blinked rapidly, sweat starting to pour down his face. Ryuga was also wincing in pain; he had been in and out of consciousness for the last few seconds but had heard what Blood Stalk just said.
Sento felt like he was going to throw up. He looked down at Ryuga and then at his own hands, muttering, "I'm just like a Smash...?"
He thought about all the monstrous threats he'd taken care of in the past and did not want to accept what he had just been told.
His confused, dejected face changed to anger and wrath in less than a second, his eyes locking onto Blood Stalk's lurking figure, hatred blazing in them.
"You're lying!"
Sento yelled at the top of his lungs, madly shaking two full bottles—faster than he had ever primed any bottle before.
The angry Sento shot up from the crouching position he had been in and slotted a red bottle. Less than a second later, a blue bottle was slotted right beside it.
RABBIT! TANK!
BEST MATCH!
"Arrrrgggghhhh!"
Sento didn't even bother waiting for his transformation to finish before dashing toward Blood Stalk.
He leapt into the air, shouting, white smoke and armor pieces surrounding him mid-air.
ARE YOU READY?!
In a dazzling flash of red and blue, the freshly transformed Kamen Rider Build summoned his Drill Crusher and slashed horizontally at the still-leaning Blood Stalk.
RABBITTANK!
At the very last moment, Blood Stalk rolled away and down from the slash toward the metal walkway nearby, ending up in a sitting position with his legs crossed comfortably.
Build's momentum carried him forward after missing the rage-fueled swing. He carved a large trench in the wall, causing sparks and concrete to shoot everywhere.
Screech!
Build turned back toward the still-sitting Blood Stalk, who simply tilted his head to taunt the angered Rider.
It was like a silent, 'Is that all?' had been spoken with his gesture.
"Arrgh!"
Build lunged toward Blood Stalk, this time bringing the Drill Crusher sweeping down for an overhead attack.
Bang!
More sparks flew as Build just missed once again, Blood Stalk always seeming a step ahead, making it look like dodging Build's attacks was easy.
"Eeek!"
The nearby test subjects strapped to gurneys squealed in fear as the two armored combatants danced around—Build chasing the ever-slippery Blood Stalk, growing more frustrated with each missed attack.
"Stop!" Ryuga finally mustered the strength to holler in Build's direction, wanting to snap him out of his frenzy.
"Don't screw with me!" the angry Kamen Rider yelled at the fleeing pink blur after missing yet another swing and stab combo, while totally ignoring Ryuga.
As the two flashed around the lab, creating sparks and noise, a black and orange object flew into the room and bee-lined straight for the poisoned Ryuga.
Without delay, it sank its tiny fangs into the blackened skin of Ryuga's neck.
"What are you doing...!?"
Ryuga grimaced as the poison was rapidly drawn out of his body by the small dragon shaped robot device Sento had created for him.
Having finished the job, the tiny machine hovered in front of Ryuga, flapping its wings.
Ryuga suddenly shot up from where he had been laying. His skin returned to its normal hue, and he felt as if he had never been poisoned at all.
"I'm all better?!"
Ryuga grinned, his eyes wide as he examined both of his arms. He couldn't find a single trace of the black that had covered him only moments ago.
He smiled at the machine floating in front of him and reached out to pet it. "Nice one, little dude!"
Bang!
Smash!
Bang!
Build repeatedly attacked Blood Stalk, finally knocking the weapon Blood Stalk was using to defend himself away; he dropped the Drill Crusher and grabbed Blood Stalk's shoulders with both hands, shoving him against the guard rail of a stair set.
"You bastard!" Build cursed, pushing him into the railing.
Build pulled the staggered Blood Stalk to the side of the stairs and punched him hard in the head, sending Blood Stalk flying backward into large cast pipes.
The pipes cracked, and steam immediately filled the area where Blood Stalk was laying on the ground. A shiny red gauntlet broke through the smoke, grabbed Blood Stalk by the collar, and threw him through the air.
Blood Stalk barely landed on the ground before Build hopped on top of him, firing anger fueled lefts and rights at Blood Stalk's helmet as soon as he had the chance.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
After a few seconds of bouncing Blood Stalk's head back and forth, Build stopped and screamed, "Who was it?! Who put that gas in me?!"
He paused for three seconds. When there was no answer, he slapped Blood Stalk with an open palm and then backhanded him.
Whap! Whap! Whap! Whap!
Build started shaking Blood Stalk hard and tried a different question.
"Who took my memories!?"
Bang!
Build punched Blood Stalk in the middle of his helmet's forehead, causing his head to bounce violently off the floor, catching him by the throat as he rebounded from the ground.
Build shook him some more.
"Was it you?! Was it Rogue...? You piece of shit!"
Whap!
A blue gauntlet swung down, smashing Blood Stalk with fury.
"Answer me!"
"Ha... Ha ha... Hahahaha!"
Blood Stalk simply started laughing beneath the Kamen Rider who was beating him from above, like he didn't care at all.
Build paused for a moment, his red hand still in the air, caught off guard by the sudden laughter.
It angered Build even further.
"What's so funny...?! BASTARD!"
BANG!
He brought his balled fist down onto Blood Stalk's still-laughing face, followed by a few more savage lefts and rights.
"Give me my body back!"
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Give me my memories back!"
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Even though he was seemingly getting thrashed by the furious Kamen Rider, Blood Stalk's voice remained calm and level, "So, you lose control the second you get a tiny lead on your memories?"
Without Build noticing, Blood Stalk pressed a few buttons on the weapon he had been dragging around the whole time.
BANG!
The weapon changed shape in Blood Stalk's hand, exposing a barrel now pointing at Build's chest and stomach. He fired the weapon point-blank, blasting Build and sending him rocketing upward as sparks flew everywhere.
"Ugh!"
Crash!
Build landed on one of the nearby gurneys—luckily an empty one with no test subjects strapped to it.
As he rolled off, clutching his midsection where the blast had hit him, his transformation canceled, and he returned to being Sento.
He panted, clutching his stomach and gasping from the pain.
Blood Stalk slowly rose, turning to look at the downed Sento. "Frankly, you've disappointed me!"
He pointed his newly made handgun-sized blaster at Sento, who was now glaring at Blood Stalk while hanging onto the edge of the gurney for support.
"I suppose the party's over..." Blood Stalk mumbled, preparing to pull the trigger.
He suddenly laughed and adjusted his aim upward, releasing a blast of energy with a squeeze of the trigger.
Bang!
The ceiling immediately shattered where it had been shot, raining down large chunks of concrete and steel.
Blood Stalk turned away from Sento, shrugging his shoulders, the gun still smoking in his hand as he walked away.
"Thanks for the fun..."
The guardian bots he had brought with him rushed forward to untie and secure the remaining test subjects while their master strolled up to Ryuga.
Blood Stalk paused beside the stunned young man and placed his pink glove on Ryuga's shoulder in an extremely cocky manner. "...See ya, buddy..."
Ryuga recoiled in disgust and raised his hands defensively.
Blood Stalk chuckled, flicking his hand dismissively at Ryuga as he sauntered away.
"Wait!"
Sento's eyes suddenly flashed with desperate anger. He leapt to his feet and dashed toward his departing antagonist.
"Get back here!" Sento was nearly a blur to the naked eye, even without the Build system activated. His hair flew backward as he rushed ahead.
Whap!
"Ouch!"
Ryuga had reached out just in time to stop Sento's mad dash. He nearly spun around from halting Sento's momentum.
"Let me go!"
Sento glared at Ryuga for restraining him, then whipped his head back toward Blood Stalk and screamed at the top of his lungs, struggling to break free.
"I'm not letting you get away!"
Ryuga fought to keep Sento in a wrestling hold, shocked at how much physical power Sento was displaying. "What about the hostages?! Please, stop, Sento... We haven't even found Tatsuya yet either..."
As soon as the words left Ryuga's mouth, Sento calmed down slightly, only fighting Ryuga's control half as hard.
He had a pained look on his face but still voiced his protest. He looked like he would take off if Ryuga let him go. "Shut up, man... This is the only chance I've got... Let go, dammit!"
Ryuga lost patience and pushed Sento against a walkway railing, shouting in his face, "Snap out of it!"
Sento stopped moving and just stared at Ryuga, shocked by the outburst.
Ryuga's angry face softened, as did his tone. He grasped Sento's shoulders gently and shook him.
"Did you already forget? When I asked if you cared more about your memories or helping people as Kamen Rider Build..."
Ryuga paused and started grinning at the still-stunned Sento.
"...When you said 'Build' without hesitation, I'd never been jealous like that before... I knew you had me beat."
Suddenly, Ryuga dropped the smile and looked serious again, moving his hands from Sento's shoulders to his chest, lightly pushing him to sit on the nearby stairs where Blood Stalk had disappeared earlier.
The boxer crouched down, looking his friend in the eyes with a piercing, almost searching gaze.
"What about now, though?"
He reached out and poked Sento in the chest twice with his index finger.
"Your memories or Build... What's it gonna be?"