Novel: Kamen Rider Blade

, written by Junichi Miyashita, is part of a series of spin-off novel adaptations of the Heisei Era Kamen Rider Series.
This sequel to the TV series takes place 300 years following the television series finale, on a post-apocalyptic Earth where Kenzaki has become amnesiac, Hajime resides in a domed city taking care of residents, and apparent reincarnations of Tachibana and Mutsuki named Tachihara and Satsuki are led to become the new Garren and Leangle, as part of an even greater plan by forces beyond their control.
==Chapters ==
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==Plot Summary ==
On a post-apocalyptic Earth caused by global warming and the melting of the ice caps causing continents to sink, a high-tech Domed City was built as a refuge in Antarctica and was ruled over by the Admirals and their enforcers, the Guardians. It was an oppressive society where anyone seen as incompatible were reported and executed or sent to Prisoner Island. Long ago, citizens living in the Geothermal Conversion Device area, or “The Hole” that supplied power to the city led a revolt but it was quelled, and the 3rd Admiral opted to exile them on a passenger ship called the Ark rather than execute them. The Ark suffered from classism, particularly between the common people living in the Disposal Area and the rich, prideful people living in the Guest Cabin Area.
===The Ark===
The Brown Rat Gang, a group of orphaned children consisting of members Tougo, Rikiya, Ren, Takuho, Dai, and Mei, lived on the Ark and thrived on stealing food and other items. Tougo's parents died from illness when he was young while Rikiya's mother was raised on the Ark and killed herself by jumping overboard, trying to bring the young Rikiya with her. They were friends with Kojirou, an alcoholic who wrote a story detailing the battles of the Kamen Riders against the Undead. Kojirou claims he could write the story because “God” came to him.
One day, the Rat Gang is found out by Ark crew after a failed theft attempt, and the ship captain and his subordinates head to the Disposal Area to punish them and take back their stolen items. Kenzaki is then found floating in the ocean and taken aboard the Ark. He’s able to give his name but doesn’t remember anything else. Citizens of the Guest Cabin Area object to taking Kenzaki aboard. The adults argue as the Rat Gang tends to Kenzaki’s wounds, when hordes of Undead suddenly arrive and swarm the ship. Tougo is shocked that Kojirou’s story seems to be coming true, and Kenzaki transforms into Blade to battle the monsters. He attempts to seal them away however his cards don’t work and just return to him instead. Blade proceeds to destroy all of the Undead and becomes shocked at seeing Earth’s three moons.
The Ark stops at an island, where the Rat Gang and Kenzaki disembark on passenger boats. Kojirou talks about how the world is divided into threes, in particular the Earth having three moons; and hearts, diamonds, and clubs being the three suits in a deck of cards. Kenzaki questions him about these. Kojirou remembers that in his story the spade was the fourth suit and there was only one moon, and comes to the realization that someone else made him write that story.
The group reaches a village on the island that’s mysteriously abandoned, and then find the villagers cowering in a cave. Learning that the Undead kidnapped all of the village’s children, the group heads to a volcano to find an Undead nest where a giant Mother Undead is sleeping and keeping several children tied up, seemingly to analyze them and then give birth to new Undead that can kill humans more efficiently. The Rat Gang destroys the Undead eggs and free the children, and attempt to kill the Mother Undead however it wakes up. Kenzaki as Blade Jack Form swoops in to battle the Mother Undead in midair. The passenger boats try to leave the island without Kenzaki, however the Ark begins leaving without them. The passenger boats get a call and learn that the Guest Cabin Area staged a mutiny and took over the Ark. They manage to get back onto the Ark and discover that the Guest Cabin leaders have already been slaughtered, and that it was imposter Undeads that actually took over the Ark. They make it to the steering wheel of the Ark just as Blade and the Mother Undead’s battle is taken to the ship. Blade changes into King Form and battles the Mother Undead and its minions as the Rat Gang and crew members retreat to safety. The Mother Undead is slain, and the crew moves to repair the ship before a storm rolls in.
The Ark struggles to keep afloat in the storm. Rikiya begins panicking when his room starts flooding with seawater, and when Tougo tries to save him he realizes that for some reason Rikiya and Tougo believed the other’s past was theirs. Tougo determines there really is a great power manipulating everyone. Rikiya and Tougo avoid drowning, however the Ark begins capsizing. Kenzaki changes into Blade and attempts to reattach the snapped-off anchor, but to no avail. Tougo touches Kenzaki and sees some of his past, where Kenzaki was taken in by a fishing boat that also sank; he can’t remember anything past that, just like Kenzaki himself.
The Rat Gang, Kenzaki, and civilians escape the sinking Ark on passenger boats as the sailors and captain stay behind, ultimately going down with it. The rough storm causes Dai and Mei to fall overboard, and Takuho dives in to save them. Kenzaki changes into Blade and dives in to rescue them, but is only successful in bringing back Dai and Mei and can’t find Takuho anywhere. The distraught Ren calls Takuho big brother, and Tougo remembers that the two of them actually were siblings in secret but seemed to have feelings beyond that that they couldn’t tell anyone. A laughing voice then rings out in Tougo and Kenzaki’s heads as the storm finally recedes. Three days after the sinking of the Ark, the Rat Gang’s boat still hasn’t found land. Ren lost her mind after losing Takuho, and would keep laughing like a little girl.
===The Domed City===
Meanwhile, Hajime had been living in the Domed City for 300 years and was working in a nursing home. Long ago, he left Amane when she was a teenager, fearing that eventually she would realize that he was immortal and was the monster that caused her so much sadness. When he returned to her decades later, she refused the idea of them living together again. Hajime then made a vow to live alongside people until the very end. An old man he was acquainted with passes away, and makes a last wish to have some of his ashes spread over the ocean. Hajime tries to sneak out of the city to spread the ashes when he encounters a woman Azumi being accosted by Guardians. Hajime helps her escape but winds up reported, and becomes a target of the Guardians. Azumi takes Hajime to the Hole to meet with an Anti-Admiral rebellion group.
Satsuki is a Domed City resident who grew up with Azumi in the Hole however he grew tired of life down there and snuck out, leading him to be arrested and taken in by the current Admiral as his servant, eventually becoming a captain of the Guardians. Satsuki is ordered by the Admiral to arrest Hajime; the Admiral is suffering from a malignant tumor and had less than a year left to live, and knows that Hajime’s lived in the city for 300 years and wants to know his secrets. Satsuki leads Guardians into the Hole to arrest Hajime, the latter noting that Satsuki has a similar appearance to Mutsuki and that Azumi resembles Nozomi. When they suddenly get attacked by Undead, Hajime turns into Chalice to destroy the monsters and is later knocked unconscious by Satsuki.
Hajime wakes up strapped to an operating table, where the Admiral plans to dissect him and learn his secret of immortality. Satsuki interrogates Azumi about her relation to Hajime. He returns to the Hole and is cornered by armed Anti-Admiral members, who demand Azumi’s release. More Guardians arrive and begin gunning down citizens, shocking Satsuki since he never ordered them to follow. Learning that the Admiral has ordered the eradication of the Anti-Admirals, Satsuki tries telling them to stand down but soon kills his subordinates. The Anti-Admirals launch their revolt against the Domed City, resulting in Hajime's dissection being halted. Azumi frees Hajime and they head to the Admiral's office to confront him, however Satsuki gets there first and is witness to the Admiral being slain by Undead.
Hajime and Satsuki agree to help Azumi overthrow the Domed City and head to the Guardians training facility to blow up the hangar and destroy their weapons and vehicles. Afterwards, the remaining Guardians panic at not having orders to follow, and engage with the Anti-Admirals when they arrive. Satsuki gets the Guardians to surrender after telling them the Admiral is dead. Just then, Undead invade the city and slaughter civilians, with some victims being temporarily revived as zombies. Chalice battles the Undead and even turns into his Joker form to further the fight.
The Undead invasion is quelled when the broken Domed City repairs itself using its nano-tech; Satsuki wonders why the repairs didn’t happen sooner, and Azumi says it must be divine providence. As the Domed City residents celebrate the downfall of the Admiral, Satsuki shows Hajime to a secret harbor containing a pair of speedboats. Hajime leaves in one of the speedboats despite Azumi’s protests. An old lady from the Hole appears and tells Azumi that they’ll need her help to run the city. Satsuki looks in the other speedboat and finds a briefcase containing the Leangle Buckle. A voice tells Satsuki to fight as Leangle, and then he sees the Sealing Stone. Satsuki impulsively gets into the speedboat and chases after Hajime.
===The Prison===
Tachihara was a former Domed City resident who snuck out and became a pirate, but was arrested and sent to Prisoner Island, an event that Tachihara felt was like something invisible guiding him. He has dreams of Garren fighting Undead and sealing them away, and confides these to the prison doctor Saeko. Tachihara and fellow prisoner Sumio attempt to escape the island by diving into the ocean and stealing a new prisoner intake ship, however they are found by guards due to a tracking device implanted in Sumio without his knowledge. Sumio is killed and Tachihara is sent to a solitary confinement cell. A disembodied voice tells Tachihara to become Garren and fight Blade. Saeko provides Tachihara with a metal file to help him escape. He successfully breaks out of his cell however hordes of Undead arrive and attack the prison. A swarm of large maroon beetles appear to assist Tachihara and kill several Undead as he makes his escape. Saeko helps Tachihara escape and brings him to a castle where she was born and shows him the Garren Buckle, which Saeko says suddenly appeared 100 years ago and was passed down through her family. The voice tells him to fight, and so Tachihara takes the belt and transforms into Garren.
After destroying the Undead, Tachihara and Saeko escape the castle and prepare to leave on a cable car, however they get cornered at gunpoint by some of Sumio’s underlings, who want to get some of Tachihara’s pirate treasure. Tachihara relents and takes off his shirt to reveal tattoos that serve as maps to his treasure. The Undead catch up to them and kill Sumio’s men. Tachihara and Saeko escape in the cable car but the Undead cause it to crash.
Tachihara and Saeko survive the crash and plan to escape the island by stealing a ship at the harbor. They get attacked by more Undead and Saeko sets off bombs that were in the castle. When they reach the harbor, Saeko is shot by waiting prison guards out of spite since there were also bombs that went off in the prison. Saeko dies in Tachihara’s arms, and he experiences Tachibana’s memories of Sayoko’s death. The enraged Tachihara destroys more Undead when they appear and buries Saeko’s corpse. He demands that the voice reveal himself, and then the Sealing Stone appears before him.
===Endgame===
Tougo looks at a map on a portable terminal and activates a radio, playing a broadcast from the South Pole telling people to come now that the city has fallen. The Rat Gang decides to follow the broadcast in the hopes they can cure Ren. However, the boat starts moving on its own towards Prisoner Island as Tougo and Kenzaki hear laughing, with Kenzaki seeing the Sealing Stone and calling it Master. Meanwhile Hajime arrives at the South Pole ocean and spreads the old man’s ashes. He also sees the Sealing Stone in his mind.
The Rat Gang’s boat finally makes it to Prisoner Island, where Kenzaki transforms and heads straight for the Sealing Stone. The Rat Gang follows. Hajime and Satsuki also arrive on the island. The voice tricks Satsuki into thinking he’s Mutsuki and orders him to defeat Chalice. Satsuki proceeds to transform into Leangle.
Kenzaki as Blade meets Garren at the Sealing Stone and thinks he’s Tachibana. Tachihara starts to believe he’s also Tachibana, and starts attacking Blade to avenge Sayoko. Blade defends himself in King Form and more maroon beetles are summoned by Garren to assist him. Meanwhile, Leangle attacks Chalice and is assisted by green spiders. The Sealing Stone laughs as it watches their battles. The Rat Gang finally arrives and sees that the Riders from Kojirou’s story are real. Blade pleads with Garren to stop, and changes into his Joker form that has a similar appearance to a Hercules beetle, and regresses into his beastlike instincts.
Chalice begins to also regain his beastly instincts and struggles to suppress them, and realizes that the Master planned to interfere with his and Kenzaki’s stalemate from 300 years ago by influencing the new Garren and Leangle to transform and fight. The Rat Gang try to call Blade Joker to his senses, and start throwing rocks at the Sealing Stone. Tachihara is forced out of his transformation and Blade continues beating him. Chalice defeats Leangle and forces him out of his transformation.
The Rat Gang and Riders are transported to a dilapidated underground shrine. Hajime reunites with Kenzaki and tries to jog his memory of their times with Tachibana and Mutsuki. Kenzaki panics and changes back into his Joker form, and attacks Hajime. Hajime as Wild Chalice tries to reason with him. Hordes of Undead then descend upon Blade Joker, and the still-living Mother Undead appears. Blade Joker proceeds to battle the other Undead, and Chalice comes to a realization and wonders if this place is even Earth.
Kenzaki slowly starts coming back to his senses, and Tougo goes to him. The Sealing Stone then merges with Kenzaki and Tougo to transform into a giant black Undead. Inside the Undead, Tougo keeps holding on to Kenzaki’s hand and urging him to remember. Chalice relents in attacking the giant black Undead, knowing that it would be the same as attacking Kenzaki like the Master wanted. The Rat Gang asks Chalice to save Kenzaki as the giant black Undead disappears and flies to the Domed City just as the Ark lifeboats have arrived, and begins attacking the people. This scene is displayed to the others in the shrine. Chalice is enraged as another object resembling the Sealing Stone but crimson red appears and calls itself the Destroyer, the opposite of the Master. The group compares them to God and the Devil. Chalice merges with the Destroyer to become a giant crimson Undead, and heads out to defeat the black Undead.
Chalice defends the Domed City from Blade’s attack and tells Kenzaki that he really did miss him since they shared suffering and feels it a weakness, and wants to be punished for his sin. Kenzaki roars with sadness, and finally regains his memory. For 300 years, Kenzaki wandered the world and felt the suffering of not being able to die. He’d purposefully get himself attacked by violent criminals and take on life-threatening jobs, but would never die. He eventually became a war photographer and took pictures of gruesome sights. One time he encountered a child soldier in a country embroiled in civil war that held him at gunpoint. Kenzaki embraced him, but the child died from insanity. Eventually, Kenzaki’s mind faded, until he was picked up by the Ark.
Kenzaki finally comes to his senses and reverts back to his human form. He and Hajime reunite, and get acquainted with Tachihara and Satsuki. The group and the Rat Gang begin to explain what’s going on, but they realize that Tougo is still missing. They get sent to a pitch-black dimension where the Master and the Destroyer appear and explain that this is where they were first created. The Master and Destroyer grew impatient from Kenzaki and Hajime refusing to fight 300 years ago, and so the Master sent all of humanity to another planet with three moons, altered everyone’s memories, and created a new species of Undead to renew the Battle Fight. The Rider Systems created on Earth couldn't seal away the Undead of another planet. Every single event that happened thus far, from the old man Hajime took care of dying to Kenzaki’s ship being wrecked, was all a plan to make the two Jokers fight each other. The spiders and beetles helped Satsuki and Tachihara since they weren’t naturally born as the chosen ones, and they were put through similar situations as Mutsuki and Tachibana to further their goals.
The Master and Destroyer merge into a giant two-headed black and red Undead and attack the group, who hear Tougo’s voice from within the monster. Tougo tells the Riders to fight and manages to distract the Master and Destroyer by grabbing their tails. The Riders proclaim that they’ll create their own fate, and change into their strongest forms: Blade into King Form, Chalice into Wild Form, and Garren and Leangle into undescribed super forms. They successfully destroy the beast with a Quadruple Royal Straight Flush. A giant white stone slab with silver chains around it seals away the defeated Master and Destroyer, and disappears. Tougo is freed.
When the group leaves the underground shrine, they find themselves back on Earth with a single moon. Takuho is revealed to have survived and washes ashore to reunite with Ren. Seven years later, humanity has rebuilt on Earth, but Kenzaki disappeared again. Tougo and his friends built a new Ark and sailed to other islands to bring their inhabitants to the New Domed City. Azumi became leader of the South Pole and Satsuki became a backup observer while Tachihara became a pirate of justice, fighting other evil pirates at sea. Kojirou began writing books about Tougo’s exploits.
Hajime and Kenzaki made a new promise to meet on the beach once a year, to confirm the safety of each other and the planet. They would leave again after their meeting, but they knew they were heading towards hope.
==Characters==
===Kamen Riders===
Kamen Rider Blade 	Kazuma Kenzaki
Kamen Rider Chalice	Hajime Aikawa
Kamen Rider Garren 	Tachihara
Kamen Rider Leangle	Satsuki
===Allies===
*Tougo
*Takuho
*Rikiya
*Ren
*Dai
*Mei
*Saeko
*Azumi
===Villains===
*Master
*Destroyer
==References==
Category:Kamen Rider Blade
Category:Kamen Rider Manga & Books
Category:Novels