Kamen Rider Spirits Chapter 4: Pride of the Hot Sand Part 1

**Pride of the Hot Sand (Part One)** (熱砂のプライド・前編, *Nessa no Puraido Zenpen*) is the fourth chapter and first part of Pride of the Hot Sand story arc in manga Kamen Rider Spirits. It introduces readers to Kamen Rider V3.

## Synopsis

Kamen Rider V3 battles an army of undead cyborg mummies in Cairo, Egypt and is forced to use his Double Reverse Typhoon to protect a thief who knows of a treasure being researched by an archeological excavation team. Shiro came to this land to investigate a phenomenon known as the "Curse of Anubis", where a Black Pyramid is spotted and those who see it never return. What happens next could be the fight for Shiro's very life...

## Plot

The story opens on strange corpse-like figures emerging from the hot desert sands, who leap out to attack a figure standing in the desert. This figure is revealed to be Kamen Rider V3, who fights them off using a V3 Punch and a series of kicks. Despite his best efforts, V3 is unable to take down the undead mummies due to thier regeneration ability. Completely surrounded, he decides to use his Double Reverse Typhoon to protect the survivor of the excavation team, blowing away the undead mummies into dust. As the powerful gust of wind subsides, V3 reverts back into Shiro Kazami, unable to transform for the next three hours. The man he rescued, Vega, emerges from the capsized Jeep he was hiding in, impressed by Shiro's power.

A flashback occurs to three days ago, where news reports of strange activity in the desert are occurring in Cairo, Egypt. Shiro is asking around in the town market about the strange disappearances of archaeologists and of the sole survivors. A town merchant takes him to where one of the survivors is being housed. The merchant tells him that there have always been unexplained disappearances in the region of the excavation. They discovered only one survivor, who made it back after fleeing from whatever took the archaeologists. Shiro tries to interrogate the survivor who only utters two sets of words: "Anubis Curse... Black Pyramid." Shiro recognizes the word means the god Anubis for the Egyptian Myth. He sees a shadow peering from the door and chases after it. As the merchant sees him leave, the survivor gets up and rambles that: *"They are calling me.... the dead are calling me... I need to go."*

Shiro catches up with the figure, who is revealed to be a thief named Vega. Vega tries to punch him, but Shiro uses his cyborg superstrength to block his attack. Before he can go on interrogating for information about the black pyramid, the survivor of the excavation gets hit by an oncoming truck and run over. The truck driver says he couldn't believe what he saw, the man was running out into the street screaming : *"I am a pharaoh!"*. Flashback to the present, and the two finally reach where the archaeological team was last seen. Shiro asks Vega what he's after, only to have the ground shake beneath them, revealing the black pyramid. Vega says that is what he is after, noting that V3's tornado must have unsettled the sand revealing the pyramid. Shiro said asks if he saw him in his Rider form, only for Vega to respond that when someone's that flashy it's hard not to notice them.

Vega gets excited and rushes ahead despite Shiro's warning, excited at the treasure that's inside. Shiro realizes that he still has less than three hours before he can transform into V3 again as his Double Typhoon is not yet fully charged. As they walk into the pyramid, Vega gives his backstory saying he's from a village of thieves who partake in grave robbing. The legend of the black pyramid is known from ancient hieroglyphs, noting that it is bigger than the one in Giza and that it must contain a very big treasure. Vegas says that if he finds the treasure he and his family will be set for life. Vega asks if Shiro has a family, but the man stays silent. Vega tells him that the treasure is one coveted by the pharaohs, the power of spells of immortality to resurrect the dead. The knowledge of this causes Shiro temporarily freeze in shock, Vega laughs saying how can Shiro not be interested in a treasure like that.

He offers a partnership with Shiro to get the treasure and split it. Shiro pushes him aside as he takes the hit of a spiked spear thrown by a mummy, which goes through his torso and caused him to cough up blood. They then see that there are a group of mummies heading towards them, Vega panicking asking Shiro to do something despite being skewered. Shiro notes that he still has only two hours left before he can change into V3 again. He removes the spear from his torso and tells Vega to run and then go home. Vega says this is insane and says to think of his family, Shiro responds that he has no family as he couldn't protect his and that he should protect his own. As Vega runs, Shiro is cornered and grabbed by the neck by a mummy about to be choked to death, only for a mysterious voice to tell the mummies to cease the attack. A floating black ship appears, carrying what appears to be Anubis who flashes her eyes at Shiro.

Shiro finds himself in a white space and the voice tells him: *"Open your heart and give your soul to the underworld...  reunite with the dead".* As he descends into the white space he sees a familiar sight, which shocks him. Back on the boat, "Anubis" reveals itself to be a female priestess, who observes Shiro in a tomb, catatonic and crying tears of sadness while Vega observes from a distance.