The Strain

**The Strain** is the twenty-third episode of *Kamen Rider Slayer*.

## Plot

In
2000, Blain finds Cesar and fights him. Blain is getting beat up as Cesar
transforms. Blain continues fighting. Jem is able to free herself and sees the
Savior knuckle on the ground. She grabs it and punches Cesar with it. She
thinks about transforming but tosses it to Blain. Blain transforms and fights
Cesar. He punches Cesar in the head with the Savior knuckle and defeats Cesar.
Cesar holds his head with no memory of what happened. He gets up and apologizes
saying that something came over him. Blain doesn’t believe him, but Jem says
that she noticed that Cesar’s eyes where red were red, but they changed back to
normal. Cesar then thinks back to what Cyrus said. Jean did something to him to
cause his wolf form to go berserk. Cesar tries to call Leo, but just hears the
laugh of Jean and Cesar tells Blain to get Jem back into town. Cesar runs off
as Blain asks why. Cesar runs through the woods and is confronted by Jean.
Cesar tries to transform, but he can’t. Jean says that he injected him with
slash blood to trigger his berserk instinct on the first day of the year. He
then says that it will be a while before he could transform again. Cesar runs.
He makes it to a vacant parking lot in the city, but Jean is already there. He
transforms, but Cesar is saved by Blain. Blain tells Cesar to run, and Blain
confronts his father. Jean tells Blain that soon he’ll follow in his footsteps.
Blain says that he’ll never be like him and Jean smiles and leaves.

In 2019, Talia comes to Blain and tells him that
she has come back for one thing, to finally marry him. He says that he’ll marry
her under only one condition, she helps him kill the Slayer and the Savior and
helps him take over. She says that she already has a hand full of slashes
around the city. And if that doesn’t work, there is always a plan B. Josh
returns to GASH and Walker tells him that there has been a mysteriously
increasing amount of slash appearances. Josh says that he’ll kill them all.
Josh then feels a pain in his side and faints. He is taken to the hospital. Josh wakes up and Walker tells him that the strain
from the Shinning mode caused the pain. Josh says that he can still fight, but
Walker tells him to stay in bed. Josh brushes him off and leaves when one of the
GASH officers report a slash appearance. Josh takes the knuckle from Walker.
Blake fights the cicada slash in his Max Fusion form and defeats it. Blake
dimorphs and Destini sees him. She is shocked and Blake notices her. He tries
to explain himself. Destini asked him how long he has been the slayer and he
says since last year. She tells him that she will keep his secret, but only if
he lets her help him. He says that he doesn’t need a sidekick, but she
convinces him by annoying him. The horsefly slash hides from Mikal who gives up
his search and says that “he’ll” find her. The horsefly slash is fearful of who
“he” is. Josh fights the grizzly slash that was terrorizing the town and he
defeats it in his Shining mode. However, he has a bruise on his side and the
pain worsens. Blake
and Destini go to see Fredrick, but he’s gone. Fredrick sits near a pond and is
confronted by Cyrus. Cyrus is confused as to why Fredrick is still alive. Fredrick
tells him to have a seat. He says that he hopes that he dies, but no by the
hands of the Slayer. Cyrus says that he hopes that Fredrick doesn’t mean that
Dawn is going to kill him. He says that she is as weak as her mother. Fredrick
asks him why he killed Jem. Cyrus says that if he didn’t kill her, Talia
would’ve. Fredrick asks him if he just came to stab him again. Cyrus says no,
he doesn’t want to get his hands dirty. A rat slash comes from the bushes and
clones itself twice. Fredrick tries to fight them off, but all three of the
slashes slash his chest and he falls. Blake and Destini find Fredrick and are
saddened by his condition. Blake sees Cyrus smiling and transforms. He tries to
chase him but loses him. Fredrick dies.

## Notes

* As part of INTV Action, this episode aired alongside *Power Rangers Knights of Virtue* episode 24, A Rider's Arrival.

## See Also

* Request: Time-Altering Battle - Counterpart in *Kamen Rider Kiva*
* Shout: Targeted Brother - Counterpart in *Kamen Rider Kiva*
* Erlkönig: Mother and Child Reunion - Counterpart in *Kamen Rider Kiva*