"The Blade and the Rider."

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Bullets rained down like a storm, tearing through the vampires. In just a few seconds, half of them were wiped out.

"Erik! You've got some nerve showing your face again, loser!"

Collins was caught off guard—he didn't expect Erik to show up here again. Without hesitation, he charged straight at him through the hail of gunfire.

Erik's muscles tensed as he raised both guns and unloaded on Collins. But the silver bullets, deadly to vampires, didn't do jack. They couldn't even break his skin.

"You're dead, Blade!"

With a roar, Collins transformed—his whole body turned into a prism of colorful stained glass. Then with a loud shatter, a monstrous humanoid bat burst out, knocking Erik's guns flying. One of its massive claws came slashing right at Erik's face.

But Erik wasn't some pushover. He flipped his wrist, pulled out a silver longsword, and swung down hard.

CLANG!

The blade hit Collins' claws, producing a loud metallic clash.

"Heh, with a dull blade like that, you think you can hurt me? Keep dreaming."

Collins knocked Erik back with one blow, took a deep breath—and then let out an ear-piercing sonic screech.

"Shit!"

The screech was brutal. Erik, whose hearing was already heightened like a vampire's, winced in agony.

Gritting his teeth, Erik jammed a finger into his ear and burst his own eardrum to stop the pain.

He spun his sword in his hand, creating a silver arc in the air, and charged the bat-like Collins again.

"It's useless, Blade! You're no match for me!"

Collins met him head-on and slammed a claw into his chest.

The next moment, it felt like Erik had been hit by a truck. His whole body was sent flying and smashed into the wall hard.

"Wooo! Lord Collins is invincible!"

"Hahaha! Blade, this is your end!"

The vampires were hyped. Watching Collins manhandle Blade like that had them all cheering.

Collins soaked in the applause, feeling damn good.

"It's over, Erik. From now on, the world's got no place for a vampire hunter like you!"

Step by step, Collins walked toward the fallen Blade.

Erik struggled to get up, but that last hit had broken multiple ribs. Even with vampire-like healing, he wasn't getting up fast anytime soon.

"Die!"

Collins raised his claw and swiped down.

BANG BANG BANG!

Gunshots rang out—several light bullets struck Collins square in the face, stopping him in his tracks.

"Who's there?!"

Collins looked toward the attacker. Two glowing eyes like headlights lit up the dark. A figure stepped forward, wearing a red and black armored suit. In his hand was a gun shaped like a car door.

"I'm just a passing Kamen Rider. Remember that name."

With that, Dan charged at Collins and opened fire, suppressing him with a barrage of bullets.

"Damn you, Kamen Rider!"

Collins roared and ran straight through the gunfire.

"Dan, go for the charged shot!"

"Got it!"

Dan twisted the dial on his belt—an engine roared to life.

He opened and slammed shut the side door on his car-door gun.

At the pull of the trigger, a powerful beam shot out of the barrel.

BOOM!

Even with his thick skin, Collins got blasted off his feet.

"You okay?" Dan asked, his voice modulated by Krim's tuning.

Erik nodded. "I'll live. Just a few broken bones. I'll heal."

He pulled out a few blood serum capsules and swallowed them—his emergency supply.

He still didn't know who this armored weirdo was, but from the looks of it, the guy was on his side.

"Alright then, I'll leave the other vamps to you. This monster's mine."

Dan holstered the car-door gun and pulled out the Handle-Ken, a sword shaped like a steering wheel.

"You bastard, Kamen Rider! I'll kill you!"

Collins got back up and charged again.

"Heh, we'll see if you've got what it takes. Belt-san, let's take a lap!"

"Ohhh!"

Another dial twist—engine revving.

His compound eyes glowed like headlights.

In the blink of an eye, Dan became a red blur and shot forward—way too fast for Collins to keep up.

"Slash!"

One clean swing—he sliced deep into Collins' chest.

The bat monster screamed and tried to chase Dan, but Drive was all about speed. No way this cheap knockoff vampire with no speed tricks was gonna catch him.

It was a total beatdown—just moments ago Collins had been destroying Blade, and now he was the one being thrashed by Drive.

Seeing how things were going, the vampires started trying to flee.

"Where do you think you're going?"

A tall figure blocked their path—it was Erik, back in action.

"Damn you, Blade!"

"I'm taking you down with me!"

One of the vamps lunged at Erik out of desperation.

Bad move.

One swing of the longsword, and the vamp was dead. Erik may not have been able to take on Collins, but for regular vampires, he was still more than enough.

Meanwhile, Collins was getting wrecked by Dan. He was exhausted and on the edge of a breakdown.

"ARGH! Damn you, Kamen Rider! If you've got the guts, fight me head-on! Quit zipping around like some damn clown!"

He screamed and flailed at Dan's afterimages.

And this time… he hit something.

Or so he thought.

Dan had caught his attack—on purpose.

Under the helmet, Dan gave a cold laugh.

"Sure, head-on. But can you take it?"

He grabbed Collins' claw—and smashed a fist into his face.

Collins went flying. Drive's 6T punch? Not something just anyone can take.

"It's over! Belt-san!"

"Roger that!"

Dan triggered the Shift Car on his wrist and twisted the dial again.

A tire-shaped energy ring appeared, trapping Collins in the center.

Dan leapt into the air, using the energy walls as a springboard, and launched into a flying kick.

His red armor blurred and twisted through the air.

Krim's robotic voice echoed out:

"Finishing Move: SpeeDrop!"

BOOM!

A huge explosion rocked the room. The bat monster blew up on the spot.

At the same time, Blade tossed his throwing blade, finishing off the last vampire in the bar.

Blade looked toward Dan standing at the center of the wreckage.

Dan turned his head, noticed Erik looking at him, and slowly gave him a thumbs-up.

"....."