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She reaches her apartment and settles in, closing the curtains. Then she settles at her vanity, pulling her hair up, she sighs and looks in the mirror. She is startled. There is a strange white gauze around her neck. But it is only in her reflection. She doesn't know that, though, and touches her neck in confusion. Can she feel it? Perhaps. She pulls at it and the strands stick to her fingers. And at the bottom of the mirror, the reflection ripples. Deeply confused, she reaches out a clean hand to her reflection, whose fingers are draped in white threads. When she touches the mirror, it is not stiff and solid. When she pulls her hand back, white cord trails from her fingers into the mirror. "What is this stuff?" she wonders aloud. She begins pulling it. Her mirror ripples more strongly now. The thread seems to come straight from her reflected neck, but there is also a second line going off behind her reflection. As she pulls, a huge gold, silver and black spider steps up inside the reflected room. She finally sees it and whirls with a scream. There is nothing behind her, only the closed curtains of her windows. She stands frozen, back almost touching the mirror, the white cord she's been pulling on is piling up on the floor. She hesitantly leans forward, looking uncertainly about. And of course she doesn't see the huge claw coming out of the mirror behind her until it passes into her perpheral vision. She is so confused and stunned she can only pant in terror as it goes over her shoulder. Then another claw comes over her other shoulder and she is caught between them. Now she screams and struggles, but is too late. She knocks perfume and other little things off of her dressing table as she is dragged smoothly into the mirror.

Her scream is heard, echoing in the night, by two people walking. A young woman with short hair in a dull brown jacket and hat, and a young man dressed in black. They whirl, then exchange alarmed glances. Then the young man run towards a building. He stops in front of the windows, looking at his dark reflection. A sound pulse. The woman who was with him watches and we see his shadow suddenly sprout capes, turn batlike then sworl and disappear. The woman is not at all surprised, just seems very intent.

Daylight, and story one begins. A man answers the ringing of his cell phone while he waits for his train. It is the morning news sent from ORE Journal. A woman leaves the port for the subway, checking her cell-phone. Another woman bounces up beside her to wish her good morning and ask what she's looking at. Oh, it's the news, also from ORE Journal. And a man is reading, perhaps the article. He is quite pleased with it and smirks as he finishes. He is in the offices of ORE Journal. He is, in fact, reading what they just sent out on HIS cellphone. The article picks on the police for their inability to find the people who've gone missing. Delighted he praises it to the young lady stationed at the computer nearby. Business is good, and she tells him their internet homepage is also getting lovely traffic. He pops in to check and have a look at the page about the staff. When he sees his picture, he complains indignantly that it is impossible to see himself. It is horribly distorted! The girl goes into the system to look at the selection of pictures. The ones of him are all shirtless, as he was drunk and holding a beer. She is not at all happy with the choices. The phone rings and he wades through the papers on his desk until he finds it and picks it up. It is Reiko, who wrote this morning's excellent article and he tells her so happily. She thanks him. She is hanging out by her car and tells him there's been another disappearance. She stands in front of the local police precinct. There are police cars around, of course, and an officer stationed waiting by the entrance. She wants some backup, and gives him the address. He says he'll send Shinji! She reacts with an exasperated sigh. "Kido-kun? But all he ever does is get in the way." He scoldingly reminds her Shinji is his junior, I guess he owes it to the kid.

Speaking of whom, we meet Shinji getting punched out. He has a hapless expression of innocence that extends to his whole, defenseless posture. A motorcycle lies on its side. The boy is very indignant and gets back to his feet to confront the driver of the truck it had hit. They start arguing "Did too!" "Did not!" I'm a little uncertain of which is who. The man pulls his fist back to deck the boy again, when Shinji's keitai rings. Shinji immediately answers it, asking the man to hold off a minute. The driver glowers as the boy answers and says "Oh, good morning, Okubo-Senior." With quiet exasperation, his boss says, "Chief Editor." "Oh, right! Good morning, Chief Editor!" "What are you up to, still asleep?" "Oh, no. There was an accident. A bike and a truck." "WHAT? Are you all right?" the editor asks in upset and anger. Their web page editor looks up alertly. "Oh, no. It wasn't me." "Huh?" Shinji has his bike helmet under his arm and explains but his editor cuts him off. "So, you weren't involved in an accident?" "Right." At about that time, the neighborhood police officer arrives on his bicycle to take the statement and check the licenses of the two waiting men, the truck driver and the motorcyclist. The editor asks if he'd been involved in the accident at all, and the boy reluctantly says he hasn't BUT - "Shinji," the editor sighs. "Yes?" "You're an idiot!" "Huh?" The editor informs him he is to help Reiko, and has to go off to this address and it better be now. Shinji quickly drags out his notebook, and dashes over to his little motorbike, annoying again the truck driver. Then he annoys everyone by driving right between them and the cop, but he has a one-track mind and forgets those people completely. Which is probably good. His editor, thinking of him, is quietly hoping the boy will somehow learn to shine in this world.

Police parked outside a small apartment building. There are officers searching the room the woman vanished from last night. They don't see something red, like a shell, slowly slip out of the mirror and fall to the dresser top. It looks kind of like a piece of shed claw. The room is clean. Shinji arrives and bounds up the stairs, calling Reiko's name almost at the top of his lungs. "Where are you?" She is busy interviewing an older woman. Hearing her name called, she turns. When she sees him bound into view her reaction is predictable. "That idiot," she mutters. He sees her and bounds over to be helpfull, pausing in the face of her frustrated irritation. "Look, kid," she starts. But too late. Him barging in like a herd of elephants has attracted the police officers. The detective in charge comes out of the apartment first. He is familiar with Reiko and her business here, and tells her in no uncertain terms to stay out of it. This is police business. Reiko is unimpressed with the man's blustering and tells him quietly off. The police officer behind him steps forward threateningly, and she gives them the cold shoulder and pushes Shinji away with her, telling the lady she's sorry and will be back. The police head back into the apartment. Down the stairs, and Reiko pauses to look up. Shinji is impressed by how she kept her cool in the face of the officers' bullying. She can't say the same about him. She scolds him for forgetting to be quiet when coming on assignment, and lectures him on the number one rule of being a reporter. Namely, don't attract official attention until you're ready for it. Rather than being chagrined, he gazes at her in admiration, and tells her happily that he will study hard in order to be a great journalist just like her!

The police officers are about finished searching the room. The mirror ripples as they pass it. Below, the young man and woman from last night are watching them search. The man says quietly, "It's still in that room." The woman agrees firmly. "Yes, but we can't get in there now." Reiko walks towards them, for they are between her and her car. Shinji is on her heels, asking her questions. The men glance at each other as they pass. Though there is a sound and slowing down, I think it is only for dramatic effect. The two men really notice each other only in passing. Reiko is studiously ignoring Shinji.

Back at ORE Journal's office, Reiko has the blackboard out and is calmly listing the connections in this news story. People's names, where they disappeared. The other three are listening patiently, Chief Editor Okubo sometimes interjects question, though Shinji anxiously takes notes. These people were all taken while they were alone. The latest from her very bedroom. Shinji asks a question and Okubo scolds him down for interrupting. Reiko's been tracking these disappearances for half a year, now. They have not found enough connections, the cases are piling up. Shimada comments that these cases just remain open, but Shinji bounces to his feet, getting excited that they could solve this case before the police will! Reiko looks at him with bland patience. As he goes on she rubs the back of her head in irritation. Okubo gets up with a weary sigh as Shinji rhapsodizes. "Hey, Shinji." "Yes!" "You're stupid." "Eh?" This sets their webpage editor snorting with laughter. While Shinji meets his senior's eyes in dismay, he is pushed back down into his seat. "We are not police, you know?" Okubo scolds him and turns back to Reiko's report. Shinji agrees mournfully. Then he gets his spirit back. "I'll gather data!" He leaps up, but Reiko puts her hands firmly on his shoulders, makes him sit down again and sets him to looking at the list of those who've vanished like that girl from last night. She says it's too soon for him to start that part of his work. He must sit at the iMac and not get in her way. "Only that?" he asks, pouting. "Only that," she confirms firmly. She tells Okubo she's going to head off to interview the Ikazumi family. He acknowledges her statement as she leaves. Shinji, pouting, settles at the computer to do as he was told. Glancing through the list, one things catches his eyes. Sakakibara Koichi �匴�k��, male aged 28, who disappeared Sunday, December 2, 2001 at about 3pm, lived at a nearby apartement. As he mutters on the significance of that, he realizes both his editor and the web-page girl are watching him VERY suspiciously. He blinks, then stares around the desk quickly. "Oh!" He goes through the drawer, quickly through the cup of writing utensils. "Oh, why I don't have a mechanical pencil!" The suspicion does not fade from the others' faces. "I guess I have to go to the convenience store!" as he gathers his coat and leaves, his editor sighs and shakes his head.

Reiko gets into the apartment from last night. She walks through, eyes missing nothing. She passes in front of the mirror but nothing happens. Meanwhile, Shinji has made contact with the owner of the other apartment building, who is fretting that nothing was really done on this case. "Nothing's happened since two months ago?" Shinji asks. Nobody's gone into the apartment. The police haven't even been back. "Well, leave it to me." He'll figure out what happened. The man is happy to let Shinji into the apartment. Nothing has been disturbed since the man disappeared. But the thing is, the apartment is dark. Newspaper is taped everywhere. Over the tv, over small pictures on the wall, over the windows, even over a computer screen. Shinji feels strange coming into the apartment, and jumps slightly when the manager closes the door, leaving him alone in here. He stares around nervously. He hesitantly pulls some paper off of one case, but only reveals the glass doors sheltering a shelf full of little, innocuous things. But elsewhere in the darkness of another place, a red dragon flies like a ribbon and roars. Shinji blinks, unaware and puzzled over all this. "Why would someone do this?" He moves through the apartment and his shoeless foot kicks a small, metal black box. He picks it up and turns it over. There are some symbols, and he finds it is full of cards. He pulls one out. This one shows a funnel-like swirling cloud, purple and blue. "Seal" it says on the top. He turns it over, puzzling. Then he notices something. The glass doors in front of him. The slats of the vertical shades have been pushed apart as though something punched through them from the other side. The paper covering the window has been torn, opening a hole for light to beam through. He moves quickly forward and peers out through the hole, wondering, for the glass is undisturbed. And there is a strange sound. A swoosh of something flying. He looks about and then his eyes go wide. Across the street something is reflected in distant windows. A huge banner of red that curls and swerves. A reflection that has no source. He sees it doing swoops and hurriedly opens the shades to get a better view. In the meantimes, Reiko's search has turned up nothing. She gets to the mirrored vanity table and opens the top drawer to check inside. And the mirror in front of her ripples strongly. Shinji opens the sliding door and bounds onto the balcony. The banner-like dragon is not visible in the reflections anymore, but there is still a ripple to be seen, pooling out. Shinji stares at it intently. He is beginning to tremble, the hairs on his neck stand straight up. And suddenly the red ribbon appears in the far depths of the reflection. And the dragon comes out of the reflection, heading straight for him. Frightened, he cringes back and holds up the deck and card he's forgotten he has. When the dragon would strike, it is rebuffed by a barrier. It rears back and strikes again, angry. This time when it hits it then flies away, but Shinji is flung back through the glass doors, which shatter. He lands hard on his back, the wind nocked out of him. Gasping in pain, he slowly sits up, and stares at the empty doorway in front of him, the glass lying on the floor reflecting the afternoon sun.

Reiko is headed back to her car when her cellphone rings. Caller ID allows her to know who it is, perhaps. "Kido-kun? What is it?" He stands with the rather annoyed looking apartment manager and says miserably, "Um, could you come for me, please?" "Well, where are you?" She listens patiently while he explains on the phone. She does not see her reflection in her rearview mirror, the cord of silk that twines itself about her neck. Does not see the watching woman who hears a strange sound. She hangs up the phone with exasperation and puts her car in gear, never noticing the two who watch behind her. They meet each others eyes in agreement and head off.

At the other apartment, Reiko meets her unenviable duty of apologizing for Shinji's stupidity and promising the company will pay for the broken glass doors. She bows and scrapes admirably, finally noticing Shinji's distracted state and nudging him to follow suit. The manager is willing to let it go for now, as long as they make good on their promise. When he leaves, Reiko straightens up and just looks at Shinji, with an expression of such irritation and disappointment that he hunches up and apologizes miserably. Then he gets excited. "But there was something really strange monster in that room..." he trails off in the face of her exasperation. She IS listening, but when he thinks of what he has to say.... "I think you'd better go home," she tells him coldly, and starts off herself. He starts after her, pulling the black box out of his pocket to show as some sort of proof. But as he holds it, he hears a strange piercing sound that hurts him and he hunches up to protect his ears. His eyes fall on a nearby mirror put up to make certain people see what's coming on a blind turn. And he sees the strange cord in the distorting reflection, trailing down to Reiko's neck. The sound finally cuts off and he shakes himself. He looks at her reflection again, but now he sees nothing. Deciding it was just his imagination, he turns to go back to his bike. But then the memory of the red dragon hurtling at him from inside a reflection stops him. "It was really weird." He races off after Reiko. She's gotten a good head start on him, though, and he finally sees her from the top of an overpass, she is heading for her car. He hurries to catch up. She gets in her car, but then engine won't start. Strange. She keeps trying. And across the street are those two people on a motorcycle, watching. They can see the reflection of her car in the next car, and it is covered in strands of spider silk. And there is the sound alerting them. "It's coming," says the woman. The man makes an agreeing noise. He draws a box like the one Shinji found from his pocket, only this one has a bat-shaped emblem on the side that is blank for the boy's. Shinji comes racing down the road into their line of sight. A strange sound stops him, and he looks around. Hesitantly, he lifts the box. The sound becomes piercing and he clutches his head defensively. The woman finally notices him there, and her eyes sharpen on him. He whispers to himself, "What is going on? What is it, I know I hear something." And suddenly he sees movement in the reflections on the vehicles around him. A reflection inside, like a spider, heading past him. He gazes at it in shock. The woman says in surprise, "He can see the monster." The man stiffens. He sees the box in the boy's hand. But the woman moves from her position on the back of his bike. "Why? It's gotta be..." "No time," comments the man and she looks at him. Reiko tries to start her engein again. Shinji starts determinedly towards her car. He makes it a few steps when that woman steps quickly in front of him. She places her gloved hands firmly on his biceps and stares deep into his eyes. "You are a Kamen Rider?" Confused, he stares back at her in total incomprehension. She searches his helpless bewilderment and sees it true. But he sees the spider pass into the next car and reach the reflecting surface of Reiko's. He leaps into action calling "Reiko-san, RUN!" but before he gets more than a step closer, the box in his hands glows brightly. He is overwhelmed and gasps, and then his body is sucked into its reflection in the car beside him. He is gone.

Shinji stands in silent blackness, a non-place echoing with emptiness. He looks frantically around. And then billions of shining surfaces appear and he is falling past his reflections, screaming and falling falling falling the white glow dances around him and finally goes into his body. And he becomes clad in dark armor, eyeholes red behind a mask, body clad in dark blue under the armor. He falls out of his reflection in the side of the car, sliding on cement almost into the next car. There is no one around, the streets are empty, the world is silent. No one, except for a gigantic, very startled spider who is no reflection. It turns to look at him, menacing. And perhaps with its attention turned, that is why Reiko is able to finally start her car. She sighs with relief, gives the wheel an annoyed whack calling it stupid, and heads off. Shinji gathers himself up, and it registers that he is now strangely dressed. He touches his new suit of armor and gasps in frightened confusion. There is a strange attachment on his wrist, and his mask covers his face yet he sees clearly. "This is crazy!" he says anxiously. Then he sees the sign ahead of him. Parking, it says. But it says this backwards. The kanji and kana are also reversed. Every sign around him is the same. He gapes and gasps, thinking he's lost his mind. And the giant spider stalking at him does nothing to make him feel otherwise. Like any logical person, he gets to his feet and runs for it with a cry of terror.

All this is being witnessed in the reflected surfaces on the cars, by the two people who can see. The woman watches intently as boy and spider race past her. She can hear his terrified gasps, in a strange sort of echo. Her companion has made a break for the reflecting windows of a nearby office building. He takes a quick look around, Then he moves into position, showing the bat side of his box to the window. It shows him back a belt, which whirls itself and bonds to his reflection's waist, and now has a physical reality in this world on his real waist. "TRANSFORM!" he cries, and puts his card-box into the spot provided. An orange glow, and a suit of armor whirls out from the reflection to engulf his body, a far more finished and fine suit than young Shinji has found himself wearing. Black, silver and golden, with a sweet blade in his hand, he steps into the reflection and before stepping out again, sheaths his blade and moves for the vehicle that waits for him between worlds. It closes over him and hurtles off. Shinji, meanwhile, is still on the run. The spider scitters up a wall and comes down in front of him, cutting the panting boy off. The man is still on his way in his vehicle. He calls, "Come, Dark Wing!" and behind him appears the reflected image of a great bat, which catches up with the hurtling vehicle and flies above him. Shinji is sent flying into a sign and slides down, bashing the letters off until he lands amid the remains. He is having trouble getting back up, but rescue is coming. The other Kamen Rider comes out from the reflections and drives for the scene of the battle. Shinji is crawling from the spider when it gets knocked away by the hurtling vehicle. It hits the wall hard. The vehicle slides to a halt. "What's that?" gasps Shinji. And with dramatic grace, the vehicle opens and its driver gets out to place himself between Shinji and the giant spider. He holds his handsome blade, and the bat flies overhead. He looks over his shoulder at Shinji. "I'm surprised that you've not contracted a monster yet." Shinji is quite confused, but no explanation is coming. His rescuer pulls a card out and places it in the holster. "Sword Vent," says a mechanical, male voice. The bat flies overhead and drops something hurtling down from the sky. It is a short lance. And the man runs into battle, knocking the angry spider back.

Shinji is not entirely an idiot. He slowly pulls a card from his belt holster. The sheath on his arm opens obediantly. He does what the other man did, and places the card inside. "Sword Vent," it says for him, and a slender, unadorned blade drops from the sky. Shinji pulls it out of the ground, and with utter delight says, "I don't really understand, but... ME TOO!" and he races into the battle. The other man is in mid-jump when the spider hits him, sending him flying back. He controls his fall and lands on his feet. To his surprise, the other young warrior goes racing past him with a battle cry. Shinji strikes, and his blade simply breaks in two. He is knocked flying towards the other, but that one simply uses his lance to turn the flying boy aside. Shinji hits the wall hard. "Stay out of the way!" snaps the man. He puts a card into the holster of his lance. "Advent" announces the voice, and the bat flies low overhead and attacks the spider, breaking a leg off. Its companion places another card in. "Final Vent," it says, and the bat joins him to become a cape on his back. He hurtles into attack, leaping high into the air and coming down, the cape wrapping around him so he's like a spike straight onto the spider, which explodes. Shinji shields his eyes and then lowers his arm and steps forward. "Did he do it?" he wonders. Yes, he did. For there he is, standing in a circle of flame. He turns and you feel the irritation despite not being able to see his expression. He starts walking away. Shinji comes quickly to him. "Hey, hey you're the same as me? You're a human, right?" he clutches the man's arm anxiously and pleads, "Wehre are we? What was that, how'd you do it, what's this armor?" he's packing in the questions, isn't he? The man finally stops and, glaring, snarls, "Stop yammering!" "Who's yammering?" Shinji gasps back and then the man suddenly shoves him away. The move is actually to save him, for fire rains down from the skies. Shinji rolls to his back, and when he looks up, sees the red dragon circling and coming towards them. "It's coming." "A dragon!" exclaims Shinji. But the other man is running as fast as he can. "Wait up!" cries Shinji, and runs after him. The dragon is raining firebolts on them as they race between parked cars. Shinji rapidly gains on the other, crying, "This is insane!" A powerful blast sends both men flying and the dragon is upon them.

Next ep, the Spider is back with a new shape attached, fighting the dark man again. And Shinji must claim his power and bind the dragon to him.

Shinji lands on his back, the impact having thrown them over a ledge. The other man lands tumbling but is on his feet quickly. "This is a big one," he says, looking up. He starts to put another card in his scabbard when he suddenly looks at his hand. His body is starting to fizz. So in Shinji's. The man grunts slightly and nods. "We're out of time." He starts off at a run past Shinji who, frantic, chases after him and cries, "Where are you going?" The man turns his head to answer, "We can only stay here a short time, hurry up and get out of here too, or you'll die." He vanishes inside a window. Shinji gasps, then turns seeing the dragon hurtling towards him. Quickly he leaps at the window, hits hard head first and cracks the glass. "What in..?!" He starts pounding on the glass. From inside comes a shout, "Go back the way you came in!" "The way I came in?!" But the dragon blasts him. He dives as the window he'd been standing at is destroyed. He runs through a row of cars crying, "I don't remember where I came in!!" But he pauses in running, for he's somewhere familiar. He turns and sees a car that just might be the very one he was sucked in here through. Sure of it, he leaps into the side of the car even as the dragon blasts the area all around him. He hits the cement tumbling. The two who've been watching race over to him, the man getting there first. Shinji rolls over onto his back, his armor vanishing. He's still gasping in pain. The man holds himself back, but the girl bends down to him. Shinji tries to lift his head and ask questions, but he loses the battle with unconsciousness and falls back. "Hey, you..?" the girl says worriedly. Her male companion leans against the car, irritated.

Reflecting office building with their windows rippling and blurring. A tunnel full of reflections and he is falling, terrified. Now he is in the plain armor. A strange woman who grabs him and asks if he's a Kamen Rider. And Shinji wakes. He is lying on a couch beside a window. It is still day. Someone has drawn a blanket over him. A light is on overhead, there is a heavy wooden table. He sits up and pulls the blanket off. Uncertainly he gets to his feet and finds something of his has been draped over one chair. He scoops it up and tries the nearest door, but its locked. He finds the next door is open to a staircase and he hesitantly starts down it. Everything is silent when he steps through the door to the next floor. A table ahead with cloth, elegant simple chair. He walks carefully through the hall and finds himself in what looks like an empty cafe. The feeling of unreality abates when someone says with relief, "You're awake at last!" Startled, he turns. The girl is there, she's dressed differently now. She sits at a table with her male companion drinking tea, and she smiles at Shinji. Uncertainly he asks, "Who are you? Where am I?" Her smile broadens, though the man sips his drink as though to divorce himself from the proceedings. "It's all right. You're in the real world. Have a seat." She gets up and pulls out a stool for him from the island. Shinji still finds the silence around him unnerving, and he very shyly comes to sit. "Um...." She cuts him off gently. "I need to ask you something first." She draws the card deck from her pocket. "Where did you get this?" He answers her with all the honesty of his open heart. "I found it in the apartment of a guy who vanished two months ago. His name was Sakakibara." Troubled, she leans closer and looks deep into his eyes. "Do you know Shiro Kanzaki?" He blinks and repeats the name uncertainly, thinking. "No. Never heard of him." She studies him intently, then releases him from her gaze with a silent sigh. "I see." She sets the deck on the counter and gets up to move into the kitchen. Her companion watches her, then Shinji, alertly. Our boy takes the deck in his hands uncertainly while she goes to make tea. "What is this? Ever since I found it, I've felt something really strange." Pouring tea from a silver pot she answers him, "It's the card deck's fault. People who have those card decks can sense things." "What things?" he asks. She glances back at him. "The monsters in the mirror world." He repeats some of her words shakily, then starts to get indignant. "This is too much. You expect me to swallow that story --" The man speaks suddenly, his voice dripping contempt. "You saw it with your own eyes and you still don't believe?" Shinji startles, and points at him. "That voice! It was YOU, that time!" The man in black and silver telling Shinji, "I'm surprised you haven't contracted a monster yet." Looking slightly peeved that he'd involved himself, the man closes his eyes and avoids Shinji's gaze. The girl tells Shinji, "He is Kamen Rider Knight." Shinji uncertainly turns back to her. "Kamen Rider?" As she pours him a fresh cup of tea she indicates the deck he'd found. "You use the power of the card deck to become a Kamen Rider, or you can't get into the Mirror World." "Yui," the man identified as Knight says gravely and she looks at him, "you don't have to explain. We don't have to tell him anything. He'll forget all about it soon enough." He gets to his feet and comes over to where Shinji sits, closing his fingers on the deck he pulls it from the boy's loose hold and sets it on the counter. "Leave the deck here. You get out." He pulls Shinji to his feet and starts hustling the struggling boy towards the door. Yui watches, somewhat appalled and then says urgently, "Ren, did you forget? He's been targeted by the monster! It's after him!" Shinji, startled, whirls towards her. Continuing to hustle Shinji, Ren says back, "I'll stop it." Urgently she asks, "What if it happens like before? If you go alone, then you and I...." She stops, unsure how to continue. He turns to her, eyes light with indulgent laughter. "I understand. You don't have to get so excited." He lets Shinji loose. Himself, he goes out, closing the door behind him, still clearly amused.

Sitting at the counter again, Shinji stares after Ren. "I'm sorry," Yui says softly. Blinking, he turns to her and says in a small voice, "The monster... you mean that dragon, right?" They are unaware of Ren watching them circumspectly through the windows. Yui explains softly, "Once they've marked you, they won't give up until they get you. They're persistent. And they eat humans." Horrified he stares at her. "Eat people? And those people who vanished...." She lowers her gaze, refusing to clarify the obvious. Finally he whimpers, "Me, too?" She hastens to reassure him. "It's all right. As long as you have this card, they can't get you." She slips the Seal card from the deck and holds it out to him. He takes it between his trembling fingers. "So are you those who become Kamen Riders, and you stop the monsters?" She hesitates before answering him. "In a way, yes." Now she gets up and moves away to busy herself tidying up the dishes. "Wow," he whispers. But she's not finished. "So that's the end of the story. I don't want you to tell anyone about this. No one will believe you, anyway." She smiles at him as she says this, as though it's some sort of comfort. "Take care," she tells him.

He's been dismissed. He leaves, stepping out onto the bright streets, uncertain and very confused. He studies the building, the tea house covered in plants. The world here is still silent and he hasn't quite left that otherworldly feeling behind. He pulls aside some vines to reveal the sign on the house. It says Kanzaki, and he remember how she'd asked him if he knew Shiro Kanzaki. He does not notice Ren watching him and preparing to follow him.

None of them are aware of the mass of blackness that reassembles into a shape in another world. People blissfully stride by on the street, none with eyes capable of seeing the mass in the window's reflections. The spider is regenerating, and has changed. Now it has a humanoid torso where its head should be. It is snarling, furious and starving.

At ORE Journal's office Shinji is receiving a well-deserved scolding from Okubo. "You haven't contacted us since yesterday. Where did you go?" Shinji gazes numbly back and bows in chagrin. "I'm sorry. The batteries ran out in my cellphone." Okubo sighs. "Nothing to be done about it, I guess." He takes a paper from one of the stacks on his deck. "Have a look at this." Shinji uncertainly leans close to see it. The paper is an invoice, with two things marked oe for 12,500 yen, the other for 8,000 yen. "This is the bill from your misadventure yesterday. We're taking it out of your salary." Okubo sets the paper back in the pile. Shinji nearly bites his own tongue as he protests, "But I haven't paid the rent in ages!" Shimada smirks slightly, trying not to look as though she's listening. Okubo glowers. "It's none of my business. You just keep going through the list of vanished. That's YOUR job. Reiko said." "Yes, sir," Shinji says miserably and heads for his computer. He sits down, looks to Shimada for sympathy but she won't look his way. She's a little too busy trying to cut and paste a decent business suit onto her boss' photo for the homepage. Unhappily he turns to his screen only to have his very clear reflection meeting him as always. But now it has new meaning and he shies back, falling out of his chair with a gasp. Shimada, seeing him cringing, asks "What's with you?" "Oh, nothing," he squeaks, still hiding his face with his arm. He reaches out very carefully to click the mouse. The screen turns on so he can look at it without seeing his reflection so well. Shimada suddenly says with some amusement, "Shinji-kun, I'm thinking of changing the layout of our homepage. Lemme know if you're gonna get fired, so I can take your pictures and information out." Shinji sighs in exasperation.

A girl and her mother enter a department store. They whisper to each other, enjoying time together. There is a changing room, nice mirror inside to show the person trying on new clothes how they look. The mother affectionately tells her little girl to wait, and is responded cheerfully to while an indulgent salewoman looks on. The mother closes the curtain, her little girl goes to stand against the nearby wall. The mother takes off her coat, getting ready to try on the new black sweater she's thinking of purchasing, when the mirror ripples strongly. She hears the strange sound and straightens up, looking around the small room in puzzlement. And just when she's starting to relax, webbing engulfs her. She cries out as the spider snatches her away through the mirror.

ORE Journal, and the three are just sitting down to lunch. Okubo cheerfully is ready to eat. Reiko arrives just then. "I'm back." "Welcome back!" he boss tells her cheerfully. Shinji gets anxiously to his feet, eyes dark and troubled. "Um, Reiko-san." When she looks steadily at him he stumbles over his own tongue. "I'm really, really sorry about yesterday." She looks at him with exasperation and says as she sets her purse down, "I don't like it when people apologize repeatedly." Miserably he says, "Sorry." This gets Okubo to half-tease him. "What's with you today, Shinji? You're so depressed today. I know you're not gonna let yesterday get you down. This is not like you." Mustering up indignation Shinji snaps, "I'm not depressed! I'm normal." He sits down to start eating, his boss still affectionately teasing him.

And Reiko's cellphone rings. She answers it immediately. After a moment of listening and responding, she turns. "Editor, there's been another disappearance." In the middle of the day, yet. Shimada slurps her noodles loudly. "Another one?" gasps Okubo. "From the Global Plaza. I'm heading out there." He agrees firmly. Shinji bounds to his feet, "Oh, wait, please!" She looks half-surprised. "What for? Are you coming with?" He looks almost panicked, before he very quietly says to her, "No. Um, I think you should stop investigating." She stares incomprehendingly at him. "Why?" Uncertainly he struggles to say, "There've been so many disappearances recently, it's very dangerous, and there's so many other things you could get a scoop on which are not so dangerous!" He's starting to get his steam. She stares at him, glaring. Okubo, who listened, turns back to his lunch with a wry expression. Shimada watches while pretending to be blowing on her noodles. Reiko's expression turns deadly. Finally she sets the computer to printing, almost hissing, "I guess letting you see the data was all in vain." She whips back to him, eyes blazing. "You think this is about a scoop? I'm investigating this because people really want to know the truth!" The first page is out and she grabs it almost violently to hold up to his eyes. "What do you see when you look at this list? It's not just a list!" She taps the names with each point she makes. "It's parents, family and children! It's not just a list! How many people do you think are effected when one person disappears?! If you don't see THAT, all you care about is getting a scoop! And on top of that, you're saying don't do it because it's dangerous?! This is not a child's game! If you're afraid of being in danger, then QUIT, idiot!" And she tosses the paper at his chest and stalks away, leaving him in dull confused shock, helpless to tell her the truth. Okubo noisily sips his soup and then sets the bowl down on the table. "I can understand Reiko getting pissed off at you." He stands and comes over to Shinji. "She actually liked the way you just tackled any situation, you know. Even though you always end up going the wrong way." Startled by that, Shinji turns wide eyes to Okubo, who pats him on the shoulder and heads back to his desk.

Shinji gathers up the papers that have fallen on the floor. Arai, Sachie. Ikeda, Naoto. Ishizaki, Koutarou. Each name tolls like a bell. Shinji's lips part slightly as he reads. His eyes travelling the list he reads the name Kanzaki, but not as one of the missing, as a family member. The name it is linked with is Takami, Shirou. This is one of the first people to have vanished. And he remembers again how the girl, Yui, had asked him if he knew Shiro Kanzaki. Shimada leans towards him before she heads out with the dishes to clean them, "Shinji, what are we going to do on the staff introductions page?" Startled, he looks up at her. Suddenly he is on his feet. "Mr. Editor!" he calls, and Okubo looks at him. "I'm going to go investigate, too!" Okubo gives him an indulgent nod of approval. Off Shinji goes, past the rather startled Shimada, who looks at her boss. Okubo sighs with relief and some pride. The boy is past a hump.

On his way to the plaza, he doesn't seem to see the man in black following behind him. Nor does he particularly notice the long ribbon of red which also trails him. A police car rolls towards the plaza, siren wailing. It can be heard distantly up on the roof, where a hard-hatted man catches the eye of the hungry spider. Shinji drives up a side road and finally stops his motorcycle, for there is only so long you can go without noticing a man clad in black leather behind you on a honking big motorcycle. He turns and glares as the other man pulls up behind him and takes off his helmet. Shinji grumbles, "Why are you here? What are you following me for?" "I'm following you because the dragon is following you." This causes a frightened whimper to escape Shinji's lips, for he'd thought it was over. And suddenly the other man's cellphone rings. He answers it. "Yui?" "Ren, where are you? I hope you're not chasing the dragon..." Ren grins and gives Shinji, who really cannot hear the other side of the conversation, an amused look. "No, I wouldn't do that." "Well, you have to come to the Global Plaza. There's a monster here." That news wipes the smile from his face. "Got it." And he closes the cellphone, puts his helmet back on and gets ready to go. "No loss if you're eaten by the dragon, but stay out of my way," he tells a startled Shinji. He drives off, and Shinji sputters in indignation. "What is WITH that guy?"

The spider stalks, closing on its prey. The startled maintenance worker suddenly finds himself twined in white silk. He struggles as he's pulled inexorably towards the window ahead of him. But just in time a black blur tackles him. Still twined in webbing, he coughs and loses consciousness as the stranger tries to make sure he'll live. Ren, of course. Yui reaches the scene. She'll take care of the man. He'll be all right if Ren can stop the spider, and he changes into his armor, heads into the reflection.

Shinji arrives at Global Plaza, stares up at the hundreds of windows, possibly imagining all the places a monster could come out of. He races inside, not seeing the dragon flying through the reflections in the office building behind him. Knight arrives in the Mirror World, Darkwing with him screeching. They will start their battle on the rooftop. He utters a surprised grunt when he takes in the spider's new appearance.

Shinji goes dashing inside the Plaza. There is a policeman, the saleslady, possibly Reiko is also around but I'm not sure. These people are all opening the curtain and staring into the room the lady had disappeared from. But what stands out most for Shinji is the weeping little girl whose mother has been taken. He swallows and tightens his lips with determination.

Yui is watching Ren battle the spider through the reflection on the window. He has leaped atop it, behind the humanoid torso sticking up. She watches the battle anxiously, afraid for him. A sound behind her and she whirls to see Shinji racing towards her. "You?" she says, startled. He stops and stares at the same battle she'd been watching. "Yeah, well it's a monster..." he says heavily. "Do you know what they are?" he asks her. She shakes her head unhappily and tells him, "I'm trying to find out." "It's your brother, right?" "Huh?" she asks, startled by the sudden change of subject. He nods to himself. "Yeah, it must be." Miserable, she nods. "It's true. I want to find out everything. I need to find out why people are just vanishing.... It's so terrible. That's the reason!" He sees her distress, sees the battle in the reflection, and steps forward. "Can I fight like him?" She is understandably astonished and he clarifies," If I become a Kamen Rider again." She frowns at him. "Don't do it. Once you've made a contract with a monster, you can't come back. You have to keep fighting." They can hear the dragon roaring, and then he pulls out the Seal card and after a moment, he tears it in two. When the pieces land on the cement between his feet, they disintegrate. Horrified, she stares at him. "Why'd you DO that? The dragon'll get you now!" He looks strangely as though he's been freed of a great weight. He smiles. "I'm the type of guy who has to get involved." They can hear the coming mirror-breach, the whistling, musical sound. She gazes into his serious eyes and he smiles at her. Firming her lips she pulls out the deck and takes out another card. "Make a contract with the dragon." She hands both card and deck to him. He takes it, stares at the card which says "Contract" over a window onto white mist.

Knight fights the giant spider as best he can. It catches him and tosses him away. He lands on his feet and has to avoid the spears it flings at him. He leaps into the air and it hits him with a claw, sending him over the edge of the building and falling fast towards the ground many stories below. Darkwing flies down and catches him quickly. The spider races down the side of the building, firing spear-bolts like machinegun bullets after the flying man.

Shinji holds the card, then turns it grimly towards the reflecting windows in front of him. And when the dragon flies out of the windows, it flies straight inside the card. Shinji is engulfed in a bright light that drives Yui to cover her face. Now he stands in darkness, that nowhere place again. He opens his eyes in surprise to find the dragon flying around him, smaller now. It hovers and stares him in the eye, making him gasp and then encircles him, wrapping him in its coils. It gives its energy to him and his black clothing takes on new color and some new brilliant refining of the design. The flaring light fades so Yui can look. She hurries quickly to the nearest window. There he stands in the reflection, the card in his hand now showing the image of the dragon. He looks quite good. Dragredder, says the card.

And in the Mirror World, the Spider fires on a swooping night, then lets out a stream of webbing from its spinner at the backside. The webbing twines like chains around Knight and his cape, pinning him and sending him crasing to the ground. The spikder pursues to get him quickly. He sruggles, unable to get loose fast enough as it starts firing on him again. But suddenly there is someone new there, between Knight and the spider Someone in red and black who deflects the spears. And the dragon is there, too, twining around its rider. "It's him! And that dragon!" gasps Knight. The first thing Shinji does is call for his Sword Vent. The blade that comes to him is defined by the Dragon, a scimitar. He holds it with sudden confidence, attacking the spider and cutting it badly before calling for his Final Vent. Yui has made her way to ground level and found a window where she can see the battle. The spider snarls at Shinji, whose dragon comes in. He leaps into the sky while Knight, freed of the webbing, watches. The dragon pools its power around Shinji. It pushes him down in a ball of fire meant for him, and the spider is burst by both Shinji's kick and the dragon's fire. Knight and Yui both watch in rather shocked amazement. Shaken, but standing, Shinji watches in surprise as a glowing ball of light rises into the sky. His dragon flies at it quickly and consumes it. "What was that?" Footsteps behind him, and Knight says calmly, "The winning monster takes the energy of the dead monster. The stronger the better." Knight is approaching rapidly in long strides. "That's why I'm after your dragon." "Eh?!" "I guess you're Ryuuki. Better to destroy it now." Before Shinji quite gets what's going on, Knight attacks. A punch and he is staggered. Yui's eyes go wide and she screams, "Ren! STOP!" as she watches him slash his blade at his confused opponent. Shinji manages to evade the worst of the strikes, but falls on his back. "Stop it!" he cries. But there is no stopping.

Next: Ryuuki faces multiple Knights and it getting beaten. A man appears in the depths of a reflection and says, "So you're Ryuuki. You have to fight the other Riders." A horned monster stalks a little girl. Shinji says, "I only became a Rider to fight the monsters. My whole reason is to protect everyone, that's IT."

Knocked to the ground, Ryuuki gets angry and pulls out and uses his Sword Vent card. Knight uses a card as well, but it's a new one - the Trick Vent. Knight's Shadow Illusion goes into effect, and suddenly Ryuuki is facing twins, one of whom knocks him in the face with the hilt of his Darkvisor. A moment later, the twins become triplets, confusing Ryuuki even further. All three Knights take a shot at Ryuuki, before becoming four - and then eight. Our hero finds himself surrounded by a fast-moving crowd of duplicate Riders and assailed by their overlapping attacks. Two Knights strike Ryuuki at once and we crash into the opening credits.

Back to the fight, where Ryuuki is sent flying by a kick. As he rolls to a stop, Knight pulls out his own Sword Vent and pops it into the Darkvisor, causing Darkwing to fly overhead and drop the Winglancer blade into his waiting hand. Ryuuki uses the opportunity to go charging at his opponent, but clumsily, and Knight sends him sprawling with a simple trip. Ryuuki's getting frustrated, while Knight simply seems smug. Charging into the fray again, Ryuuki and Knight match blades, but Shinji is obviously outclassed by Ren, simply because he has no fighting experience, and he ends up disarmed, his sword flying high into the air. He is unable to block the strong attack that follows, which drops him to his knees.

Back in the real world, Yui is watching the fight in a store window, shouting for Ren to stop. The pedestrians walk by her with quizzical looks - why is this crazy lady shouting at the storefront? What they can't see, but Yui and the audience can, is Knight walking up to a nearly defeated Ryuuki. With one last burst of anger-fueled strength, Shinji throws a punch, which Ren easily catches. "Is that the best you can do?" A few more swift blows and Ryuuki is down for the count. Helpless, Yui can only watch as Knight plants a foot in Ryuuki's back and grinds him into the ground - but is she really helpless? She looks around desperately and runs to grab a heavy sign as Knight prepares to load his Final Vent and the defeated Ryuuki hisses "Why are you doing this?"

At the last minute, Yui's voice is heard, screaming Ren's name, as the glass in a nearby window shatters. Yui has thrown the sign into the window, breaking the mirror-world version as well. Having finally gotten the boys' attention, Yui sternly lets Ren know that if he doesn't stop, she will never speak to him again (as she lectures, the passersby goggle at this obviously insane young woman). Ren pauses, thinking...then closes the Darkvisor without using the card, prompting Ryuuki (and Yui) to sigh with relief.

A moment later, all three are in the real world, scuffling in front of the department store. Yui struggles gamely to keep the furious Shinji and the icily angry Ren separated. When she asks Ren "What were you thinking?" he calmly replies that she knows the answer - Riders can't coexist. She thinks that's ridiculous, while Shinji is simply confused - can't coexist? Why? Yui looks away, pained, and Ren starts to stalk off. Refusing to give up, Shinji grabs him. "Wait a second - I thought you fought only with monsters, that's why I became a Rider! Are you saying I have to fight you as well?" Yui, conscious of the crowd of onlookers, scolds him for talking too loud. At that very moment, a group of security guards arrive and restrain the boys. Yui is asked why she broke the glass - a window like that costs around 30,000 yen - and Shinji pulls free for long enough to offer the lame excuse that Yui saw (and smashed) a bug on the window. He then offers to pay the 30,000 yen for a replacement window, but his wallet is empty. Ren, obviously thinking "What a loser," pulls out his own wallet and pays for the window. The trio is released after they promise not to cause trouble again. Ren dismisses Shinji with a haughty "Stay out of things that are none of your business" and calls the apologetic Yui to leave. Shinji catches up to them at Ren's motorcycle, where Ren holds out a hand and demands Shinji's business card - he intends to send Shinji an invoice for the thirty thousand, since Yui broke the window to save him. Shinji gets a "well, I suppose that's fair" look and digs out a card, although he has some trouble forcing himself to let go of it. Ren and the mortified Yui ride off, while Shinji stands there looking like he's about to cry (poor guy, as if he wasn't broke already!) and complains about what a miser Ren is.

ORE Journal office. Okubo is doing crosswords under his desk, much to Shimada's amusement. As they wrestle over the book and Okubo insists "It's for work!" Shinji attempts to sneak in. No such luck - Okubo snarks at him for blowing off his assignment with Reiko earlier. Shinji insists he did go, prompting Reiko to sarcastically ask if she went to the wrong place. "I didn't mean that!" he protests as he trips over a chair. Reiko gives him the Look of Death. Defensive, Shinji insists that he has his own way of investigating reports, different from Reiko's way. As he returns to his desk, his three co-workers surround him and ask him to explain his methods. Shinji is speechless.

Atori Teahouse. Ren is dropping off Yui, who insists that he promise he won't attack Shinji again. "Okay" says Ren nonchalantly, but Yui sees right through him. She points out that Shinji only became a Rider to fight monsters. Ren points out that that wasn't very bright. Shinji is in his way, and must be removed. Ren rides off, leaving Yui frustrated and worried.

Late afternoon and classes are letting out at a school. Several children playfully tease their classmate about being afraid of the dark and tell a ghost story about the school's past, and all are startled when their teacher, Mr Nakamura, shows up and tells them to head on home. The kids cheerfully leave while Nakamura closes up and shuts off the lights. He doesn't notice the mirror behind him warping.

ORE Journal. All four of the staff members are working late, babbling at once about how to meet their deadline, just eight hours away. Shimada unhelpfully counts down the time. Okubo decides to send Shinji out for snacks and caffeine, dumping a pocketful of change into his hand. "Seven hours and fifty-nine minutes," Shimada intones.

Outside, Shinji experiences the painful screech of a Mirror World breakthrough. He is startled when a voice addresses him from the mirror behind him: "You're Ryuuki, aren't you?" Spinning around, Shinji is stunned to see a man there, dressed in a shabby trenchcoat and with unkempt hair. The apparition fades in and out of the surrounding reflective surfaces, keeping Shinji disoriented, as he explains that the Riders must fight to the death until only one is left. "Defeat the other Kamen Riders. You must fight." The strange man disappears as quickly as he appeared.

The teacher, Nakamura, is walking down the street nearby, blissfully unaware of his peril and carrying a potted plant. He is taken completely by surprise when a gazelle monster comes out of the office building windows above him and drags him up and away. All that is left behind are his briefcase and the broken potted flower.

Still chasing the fleeing mirror-man, Shinji rounds the corner and finds Nakamura's belongings on the sidewalk. Looking around for the owner, he eventually spies black-clad Ren lurking in the shadows and looking *very* busted. "What are you doing here?" Shinji asks. "I can't believe I ran into you here," is Ren's non-answer. Shinji asks if Ren has seen a man run by, but Ren, dismissive, shrugs him off and rides away on his bike. Shinji, trying to figure out what's going on, hears Darkwing's screech and sees the giant bat fly by in the office building's windows. Shinji starts putting two and two together (and coming up with five), and remembers the strange man's orders: defeat the other Kamen Riders. Fight.

Atori teahouse, the next day. Shinji visits Yui, who makes tea and cookies, and tells Shinji not to be shy - he can hang out at the teahouse until her aunt, who actually owns the place, gets back into town. Yui lives with her aunt because her parents died when she was just a little girl. Remembering her comments when they first met, he asks if her brother also lives with them. She explains that her brother, Shiro, went to America to live with their mother's relatives, and she didn't get to see him often. As she talks she pulls down a framed photo of herself with her brother - and to Shinji's shock, Shiro Kanzaki is the man he saw last night, in the mirror. Yui is thrilled to hear that someone has seen her beloved brother, but crestfallen when told that he immediately disappeared again. Shinji, feeling awkward, explains that Shiro had commanded him to kill the other Riders. Yui uncomfortably admits that her brother was responsible for the creation of the Vent Cards. She couldn't believe it when Ren told her, but now knows it must be the truth.

Flashback. Young Yui is being teased by neighborhood kids, who call her a liar - she claims to see and hear monsters in the mirror. Young Shiro turns up and asks if she's all right. He believes her stories, and vows to protect her from the monsters. In a voiceover, Yui talks about how safe her brother made her feel, even when the monsters were around. Jumping forward, she remembers how Shiro fought with their America-based uncle, insisting that he had to stay in Japan to protect her - but in the end they forced him to go, physically wrestling him into the taxi.

Atori. Yui finishes her story as Shinji listens, unsure what to say. Her brother has always seemed close in her heart, even when they were separated by so much distance, but now she is confused and hurt. Why would her brother want people to fight and kill each other? She just can't reconcile it with the loving, protective brother she remembers. Could Shiro actually be sending the monsters to attack people? She has to see him - to know the truth once and for all. Shinji wonders "Why do you have to be so negative? Maybe he has a good reason for all this. Maybe he made the cards to protect people from the monsters. It could be true, couldn't it?" Yui wants to believe, but insists that they have no proof. Shinji declares that *he'll* be the proof.

Outside the school. Ren rides up, just in time to hear a mirror breach. Inside, kids go about their daily routines, but in the mirror world, three different gazelle monsters leap about on the roof at high speed, waiting for their next victims. Back at Atori, Shinji hears the breach as well, and takes off on his scooter. As he heads for the source of the disturbance, he remembers his promise to Yui - his promise to transform only to protect people - and her expression of growing belief and faith.

At the school, one of the students is taking a sack of garbage outside. As the monster closes in on her, she can hear the mirror-breach. It is near enough to stir the bushes but being in the other world, she cannot see it. She decides it's just the wind and continues on to the dumpster - then screams as one of the monsters attacks. Shinji, arriving at the scene, knocks the Gigazelle back into the window it jumped out of, then sends the child running. "Transform!" and he's pursuing the beast into the Mirror World on his Rideshooter cycle. Stepping off the cycle, he's attacked by the monster. He struggles to pull a card out of his V-Buckle as the monster jabs at him with a forklike polearm. In the school, another child is carrying a bucket of water, not knowing she's been targeted by another Gigazelle.

Back in the mirror version of the playground, Ryuuki is taking a beating, but finally manages to pull out his Sword Vent. With Dragsaber in hand, he goes on the offensive, but the monster manages to disarm him, sending the sword into the air. Flashing back to when Ren had used the same maneuver, Ryuuki leaps up, using the Gigazelle's shoulder for a boost, and grabs the Dragsaber in the air. Coming down hard, he destroys the monster's weapon and deals it a mighty blow. While it staggers, he pulls out another card - the Strike Vent. In the next moment his right hand is encased in the Dragclaw - a gauntlet in the shape of Dragreder's head.

As the monster recovers and lunges for him, Dragreder appears and circles Ryuuki. Punching with the Dragclaw, he performs the Ascending Dragon Break attack - Dragreder goes flying into the enemy with a burst of fire, destroying it utterly. The mighty dragon eats the monster's floating ball of "soul energy" and flies off, leaving Ryuuki to stare at his new weapon in amazement. His "whoa" moment is shortlived, though, for he hears a young girl screaming back in the real world.

Running into the real-world school, the now unarmored Shinji stumbles into a stairwell where he finds a terrified child huddling on the stairs - and Ren. "What are you doing to her?" Hearing a screech, Shinji looks up - and there is Darkwing, hovering over the girl...and looking hungry.

Leaping to the child's defense, Shinji looks up and finds that Darkwing has vanished into the mirror on the stairwell wall. After making sure the little girl is all right, Shinji accuses Ren of sending his monster to attack people. "You've gotta be kidding," Ren replies. Before they can go any further, footsteps are heard approaching from upstairs. Ren ducks out, and Shinji follows suit, leaving the child to be discovered by her teachers and classmates.

Outside, Shinji presses the retreating Ren for answers. "I don't have to explain myself to you," he replies, while Shinji continues to accuse him of sneaking around and being lurky. While they argue, Yui arrives in a taxi, and jumps into the conversation as soon as she leaves the cab. "What's going on? Where's the monster?" "It got away," Ren answers, prompting Shinji to insist that *he* destroyed the monster. Yui wonders if there might have been more than one, and Ren says that he definitely saw one get away. Shinji is silent, suspicious - he thinks Ren is lying. Smash! Opening credits.

Reiko pulls into the school's lot in her stubby little car and walks up to the entrance, where she is surprised to run into Shinji. "You got here awfully quickly." Shinji tries to compliment her on how fast she made it to the scene, but she's not having any of it. "What do you know about the case?" He replies that it won't be a big story - the little girls didn't get hurt - prompting a quizzical Reiko to ask what he's talking about. She's here investigating the disappearance of the teacher, Nakamura. Shinji flashes back to finding Nakamura's things on the sidewalk last night - and seeing Ren and Darkwing at the scene of the crime. "It was him," he breathes. Reiko is now more interested in what happened to the girls, but Shinji runs off without explaining, leaving Reiko alone and irked.

Out on the street, Shinji, on his scooter, catches up to Ren, on his motorcycle. He makes a spectacle of himself, yelling at Ren to get his attention, but he's forgotten Ren's name and so repeatedly calls him "Ron." Ren finally pulls over and gives Shinji the evil eye. "That's not my name." "Oh. What is your name?" "You are so irritating."

Shinji begins his interrogation, circling Ren's bike. What were Ren and Darkwing doing at the scene of the monster attack last night? How does he explain Darkwing's attack on the little girl today? Ren gets off the bike and begins circling opposite Shinji. He snarks about Shinji playing detective - "You have too much free time." Shinji simply replies that he's a journalist - or at least a cub reporter. And Ren is avoiding the question. "Are you an idiot or something?" Ren asks. "Why would I do these things?" Shinji thinks that perhaps Ren is feeding people to Darkwing to make his monster more powerful. He knows, since making his contract with Dragreder, that the tamed monsters still desire to attack and devour humans. "I'm glad you realize that, but you're wrong," Ren insists. "Now leave me alone." Shinji keeps demanding explanations, but Ren refuses - he doesn't owe Shinji anything. As a matter of fact - Shinji owes Ren. Thirty thousand yen, to be exact. Shinji, embarrassed, promises to pay him back soon. At that moment, his cell phone begins to ring - it's his landlord. While the flustered Shinji attempts to explain that he still has no money to pay rent, Ren rides off.

Back at the school, in the nurse's office, Reiko interviews the two girls who were attacked. She wonders if what happened to them had anything to do with their teacher's disappearance, but they are too freaked out to be very helpful - they think the school is haunted. Reiko closes her notebook and thanks them, sympathetic but disbelieving.

ORE Journal. Okubo is asleep at his desk, snoring loudly and mumbling about deadlines. Reiko stands across the desk from him, giving him the Look of Death. He wakes up, startled to see Reiko standing there, and pretends he was simply deep in thought. He asks about her progress and picks up a magazine. She replies that the students think the school is haunted - there were no clues about the missing persons cases. She also points out that he's holding his magazine upside-down. Trying to be encouraging, he points out that if the story were so easy to crack, all the newspapers would have reported on it by now. "Keep up the great work!" he says, and she agrees that she will as she hangs up her coat.

Shinji comes staggering in, weighed down by luggage. He seems to be carrying everything he owns. When they ask why he's carrying all this stuff, he informs them that he's been kicked out of his apartment for not paying rent. He plans to stay in the office until he can find a new place. Reiko snaps that this is a place of business, not some friend's house, and certainly not a place to store all his personal stuff. Flinching, Okubo quickly hides away several toys and personal items (including a pair of boxer shorts) in his desk so that he can sternly agree with Reiko. At that moment, Shimada comes wandering in with a huge terrarium containing a lizard. "This is your home from now on," she tells the lizard, as the other three watch, stunned. Reiko tries to continue her tirade, but just can't match her previous fury, while Shimada takes some photos of her little green buddy.

Late in the afternoon, Shinji goes riding around looking for Ren. Unknown to him, Ren is seemingly stalking the two little girls from earlier, trailed by his monstrous companion Darkwing.

Night outside Atori teahouse. Shinji pulls up on his scooter, and for a moment looks into the window to watch Yui, drinking tea and staring wistfully at her brother's photgraph. Going in, he expresses his concerns to her. Yui is indignant - there is no way she'll believe Ren and Darkwing are attacking people. Shinji admits he finds it strange as well, but Ren *did* only seem interested in making his monster stronger - that was why he had attacked Shinji. Yui still isn't buying it, even when Shinji insists he's just worried about her. "I don't think you can trust that guy." She glares at him for a moment, then turns away, clearly upset by his allegations. "You don't know him like I do." She has seen Ren fighting for months, has seen him come away from fights with monsters sorely wounded and helpless. She remembers being horrified by his pain.

It has begun to snow outside. "Ren has a bad temper. He can be mean. He's miserly and he doesn't communicate well. I never know what he's thinking. But I believe he's fighting for a reason. You'll understand someday, if you see him fight. I believe in him." She stares at Shinji evenly, and he stares back, chastened. Meanwhile, Ren waits outside in the snowy night, watching the houses where the two little girls sleep.

ORE Journal. It's the next morning, and Okubo pours Reiko a fresh cup of coffee. She's at a standstill with her investigation, so she's rechecking the list of missing people, looking for possible connections. Okubo goes on to pour some coffee for Shimada, who's taking pictures of Shinji's clothes, hanging in a corner of the office, and his bedroll, stuffed under a table.

The school. Ren lurks outside on his motorcycle as the two girls head in. Shinji pulls up on his scooter and announces he knew he'd find Ren here. "You are so annoying!" Ren snarks disgustedly. "Quit following me." Shinji still doesn't trust Ren, even though Yui said he should. Ren points out once more that Shinji is irritating. "So are you," Shinji replies.

In the school, the two girls are happily horsing around, but in the mirror world, the two remaining Gigazelles are growing restless. Finally the girls are near a mirror! The warping effect begins.

Nearby, Ren and Shinji are having it out. Ren punches Shinji in the face and orders him to stay out of his way. "Why? So you can attack people? I'll get in your way even if it kills me!" Shinji retorts. "This is none of your business," Ren says. "Yes it is," comes the reply - "I became a Rider to protect people." Ren wonders if Shinji thinks he's some kind of superhero. "Fine. We're going to fight sooner or later, so let's get it over with now." He punches Shinji in the gut, doubling him over. He follows up with several punches to the face, as, in the Mirror World, the monsters approach the school.

"You're too innocent to be a Rider," Ren proclaims as he tries to leave. The bruised Shinji refuses to let him go, though, much to Ren's annoyance. "What's the matter?" Shinji taunts. "Are you running away because you're afraid of me? When I get mad I'm tough." To prove his point he throws a punch, knocking Ren for a loop and accidentally pulling off the chain around his neck. Ren, stunned, gets an anxious, terrified look on his face when he sees the broken chain in Shinji's hand. The look briefly becomes one of deep emotional pain, jarring Shinji and prompting him to look at what he's holding. A pair of gold rings are looped onto the chain. "What is this?" Ren, still looking pained and afraid, snatches the chain back as Shinji notes that the rings are sized and styled for a woman. "It's none of your business!"

"Yui told me you were fighting for something..." Shinji ventures, but he's quickly cut off. "Stay away from me. Go back to being a reporter and leave me alone. Do you understand?" Shinji refuses to back down. He will keep his promise and become a Rider to protect humans from monsters, no matter what. Ren coldly tells him he won't last long with that attitude, and that Yui understands. "I will do *anything* to reach my goal. Even kill you right here, if I have to. What are you fighting for?" Thinking quickly, Shinji responds "My debt." Ren goggles and wonders what the heck Shinji is talking about now. "I owe you thirty thousand yen," Shinji reminds him, "and I refuse to die until I can pay you back." "You are such an idiot," Ren says, clearly struggling to keep from smiling. Shinji does smile, and the two seem to have reached a certain understanding.

ORE Journal. Reiko has made a breakthrough! Four of the missing people were antique collectors. Maybe it's coincidence, but they don't have any other leads...Okubo is enthused and encourages her to follow up on this angle. She heads out, as Shimada asks her to be careful.

Back at the school, the two girls are running late for class and run through the hallway. As they run, the sound of a mirror breach fills the hall and all the glass windows shatter explosively. Nearby, Ren and Shinji hear the screeching sound and rush into the school, dragging the girls out of harm's way as the students and teachers erupt into chaos. Shinji can't figure out where the monster went, but Ren explains that it moves incredibly quickly. Shinji flashes back to the stairwell scene and realizes what happened - a Gigazelle came out of the mirror and attacked the child; Darkwing came out of the mirror to protect her, and the monster ran away at super-speed before Shinji saw it. He humbly apologizes to Ren for suspecting him. "It doesn't matter now," Ren states. "Get ready, it's here." They both transform and leap into the mirror.

The Riders leap into battle, attacking the two gazelle monsters. Knight claims the one on the right - it was this monster that attacked Mr Nakamura, much too quickly for Knight to save him. "It's a matter of pride," he explains. Knight chases his monster into the school, while Ryuuki's leaps onto the roof. Leaping up after it, both combatants fall through the ceiling into a classroom, leading to a chase through the school. Meanwhile, Knight pursues his target up several flights of stairs and is caught unawares by a kick, sending him tumbling down the steps. Catching up, he reaches the rooftop and engages the enemy.

Ryuuki and his opponent burst out of the school and into the playground. Both Riders fight their enemies hand-to-hand, with Knight faring somewhat better than Ryuuki until he gets knocked over the edge of the roof, falling several stories to the pavement below. He pulls out his Advent card, summoning Darkwing. Ryuuki, nearby, sees and finally remembers he has cards too. He follows Knight's lead, using his Advent card to call Dragreder. Both of the Riders' monsters strike, knocking the Gigazelles to the ground together. The Riders pull their Final Vent cards, and attack simultaneously, Ryuuki smashing his opponent with the Dragon Rider Kick, and Knight drilling through his with the Flyinglancer. Dragreder and Darkwing devour the freed soul-energy that results. Knight turns to stare at Ryuuki ominously. Will he attack again?

Atori teahouse, later. Yui watches in silent bemusement as Ren and Shinji squeeze through the door together, each unwilling to let the other go in first. They reach for the same barstool, give each other a look, and then take seats at tables on opposite sides of the room. They simultaneously ask Yui for tea, then turn and give each other goofy glares. Yui looks back and forth between them, absorbing this latest development in their relationship.

The highway. Reiko is still in her stubby little car, driving to the coastal town where several of the missing people had shopped at a particular antique store. The neighborhood around the store abounds with "Have You Seen Me?" flyers and posters, and inside the store itself, the painful sound of a mirror breach can be heard.

As we crash into the end of the episode, a man in the store, seen only from the waist down, reaches into his pocket and pulls out a black V-Buckle, embossed with a golden crest in the shape of a crab.

We open in the midst of an action sequence. Ryuuki hits one monster with his Dragon Rider Kick while Knight destroys another with his Flyinglancer attack. As the monsters blow up, the scene shifts to an antique store, Tin's Collection, where a mysterious figure in dark clothes, gloves, and sunglasses is holding a Vent Deck marked with a crab crest. The mystery man pulls out an Advent card - Volcancer - and holds it up to a mirror. In the mirror world, the crab-monster looks back out at its partner.

In a flashback, Shiro Kanzaki reassures his sister that she shouldn't worry about him, even if he were to disappear. "I will live on eternally to protect you." Then he leaves the teahouse, and we can assume that this was the last time Yui ever saw her brother. We return to the present, where Yui is explaining to Shinji that her brother disappeared soon after, with the special cards he had made. Shinji remembers his own recent encounter with the ghostly Shiro, who had explained that the Kamen Riders must fight each other to the death until only one survives.

Yui wonders why the Riders must battle, and Shinji jokingly suggests that the winner will get an award. Yui suggests that Ren might know something - otherwise why does he keep fighting? Shinji remembers his earlier scuffle with Ren and the rings Ren wears on a chain around his neck. Could they be related to the reason why Ren fights? At any rate, Shinji refuses to believe that the Riders must kill each other, and states that he only wants to fight monsters, not humans. Yui thanks him for his help, and he promises to find her brother as he heads out for his "home" at the office.

Back at the antique store, Reiko has arrived, searching for leads in the missing persons case. She peers into the dark store, her eye covered by a white patch (I still haven't figured out what's up with the eyepatch). A woman taking her dog out for an evening walk stops to let her know that no-one is in the store - the owner, Mr Kaga, hasn't been seen for weeks. As Reiko questions the woman, the mystery man from earlier watches from inside the store.

Reiko tries the front door and discovers that it's unlocked, so she heads in cautiously, calling out a greeting. "Is anyone there?" Suddenly, a bag is thrown over her head from behind. She tries to fight back, her screams muffled, and manages to smash a large mirror. That alerts the lady with the dog outside, who rushes in to see what's wrong. Reiko has the wind knocked out of her by her assailant, who rushes out the back door. The woman bolts out front to call for help, and a young man in a suit rushes up to see what's wrong. He goes into the store and finds Reiko lying unconscious amidst shards of broken mirror.

The next morning, Nanako Shimada awakens Shinji in his "bed" under the desk by making buzzing noises through a rolled-up paper. Shinji wonders where Reiko is - it's strange for her to be late for work. Okubo explains that she's out researching a lead - several of the missing persons were known to have been customers at a particular antique store. When Shinji demands more information, Okubo, using two water bottles as dumbbells, shuts him down. "I don't have to tell you anything, I'm the boss." The phone rings and Shimada answers it. She informs the others that Reiko is in the hospital.

At the hospital, Shinji rushes into Reiko's room, where she is talking to the young man from the night before. It turns out that he is a police detective, Masashi Sudou, and he is taking her statement about the attack. Leaving, he asks Reiko to leave the investigating to the police. "Of course," she responds. "I have great faith in the police." After he goes out, Reiko immediately pulls out her notebook and asks Shinji to start looking into the background of the missing antique shop owner - although she's less than confident in his ability to get it right.

In another part of the city, Volcancer, the crab-monster, watches from a mirrored window as a young woman walks down a flight of stairs. Shinji, on his way to the shop, hears the painful sound of a mirror breach and follows it. As the woman walks down into a tunnel, she notices something odd about the mirror up on the wall - just before the crab leaps out at her. Arriving just in time, Shinji grabs her as Volcancer disappears into the mirror. "Transform!" Ryuuki follows the monster into the Mirror World.

A short Rideshooter trip and Ryuuki leaps into action against the monster. Using his Sword Vent, he summons the Dragsaber and starts whacking, but the crab's shell is tough and the blows simply bounce off. Taking the offensive, Volcancer sends him flying with a claw strike. Then, unexpectedly, Ryuuki hears the sound of an approaching Rideshooter - but the man who steps out has orange armor, not the blue he expected to see. "Another Kamen Rider?" The new Rider walks toward Ryuuki, a clawlike gauntlet attached to his left hand. As Ryuuki gets up to greet him, the newcomer savagely attacks.

As Ryuuki reels, the Rider and Volcancer step forward together, and it's obvious that they are contract-partners. Ryuuki is attacked again by the pair, as he tries to explain that he doesn't want to fight another Rider. A strong blow is deflected at the last minute - Knight has arrived, and as usual he's not happy with Ryuuki. "Why are you so slow?" He introduces the man in orange as Kamen Rider Scissors, and it's apparent that they have fought in the past. Scissors seems startled - "So you have a partner now?" He runs off, unwilling to fight two Riders at once.

Back in the real world, Ren rides off in a huff on his motorcycle, followed by Shinji on his scooter. They meet up outside the antique store, which Ren suspects is Scissors' lair. Sure enough, they hear a mirror breach from inside. Ren, who has been doing some research, theorizes that Scissors is the reclusive store owner, Mr Kaga. Apparently Shiro Kanzaki used to shop at this store too. Ren, surprisingly friendly, suggests that it'd be better for them to spy on the location and determine Scissors' true identity before taking any action. Shinji is irritated by Ren's willingness to fight another human, and heads into the store - "I'm going to stop the fighting." Ren, disgusted, calls him an idiot. Inside the store, Shinji calls for Mr Kaga, and hears the mirror breach again. He explains that he's here to talk, not to fight, and suggests that the Riders can work together to defeat monsters. The sound fades as Detective Sudou storms in the front door, wondering what Shinji is doing in a restricted area. "Didn't I tell you people to let the police handle this?" Shinji apologizes, and on his way out leaves his business card.

Under an overpass, Ren catches up to Shinji and throws some insults. Shinji admonishes him to think of Yui's feelings - if he knows anything about her brother, he should tell her. Ren assures him that if they keep fighting, Shiro will show up soon enough. Shinji complains that this is stupid, but Ren counters - one can't be a Rider without doing this stupid thing. "We must fight in order to survive. This isn't some club. If you don't fight you'll get killed." With that he rides off, leaving Shinji disturbed and unsure.

The full moon hangs in the sky as the mystery man walks around in the otherwise empty antique shop. He finds Shinji's business card. At the ORE office, Shinji is just getting his bedroll out when his cell phone rings. It's Scissors, who asks if Shinji was serious about not fighting. Shinji responds enthusiastically and says he'd like to ask some questions about Shiro Kanzaki, because his sister is looking for him. "Yui Kanzaki," the mystery man repeats. "Can I trust you?" In order to gain the other Rider's trust, Shinji tells him about himself, about Yui, and about Ren. The two make plans to meet the next morning, and Scissors promises to bring information about Shiro. As he hangs up, he looks toward the broken mirror, where Volcancer waits hungrily.

The next day, Shinji and Ren both set off separately - Shinji for his meeting, Ren to check out the shop again. On the road, Ren is attacked by Volcancer and is nearly reduced to a smear on the pavement when his motorcycle is hit by a truck. In pain, he wonders how Scissors could have known his civilian identity. Meanwhile, Shinji is waiting at an old warehouse for the other Rider, and is nearly killed by a falling crate.

Ren arrives at Tin's Collection and begins to search around, while Scissors arrives at the Mirror World version of the warehouse. He assumes Shinji is dead, but Ryuuki walks out of a corner - he managed to jump into a reflective piece of metal at the last instant. "Why?" Ryuuki asks. "Don't you trust me?" Scissors answers by pulling out a Strike Vent card and summoning the Scissors Pinch, a huge claw worn on his right hand. Reeling from the sudden flurry of attacks which follow, Ryuuki is barely able to get a card out - it's the Guard Vent, and he uses the Dragshield to repel Scissors' strike. "Stop this! I don't want to fight with you!" His opponent ignores his pleas and presses the attack, knocking the shield away and getting a solid hit in.

Back at the store, Ren notices that the wall behind the broken mirror is cracked and sealed. He pulls the mirror down and starts to chip away at the poorly-repaired wall with a nearby fireplace poker. Among the chunks of falling plaster, he discovers a pair of eyeglasses. Attacking the wall with renewed energy, he soon uncovers a hand - the hand of Mr Kaga, the owner of the store, killed and walled up inside his own shop. But if he is dead - who is Scissors?

In the Mirror World, Scissors prepares to finish off our hero.

Shinji flashes back to his encounter with the spectral Shiro Kanzaki, who urged him to defeat all the other Riders. He then remembers his recent conversation with Ren, who warned him that he would never make it as a Rider if he didn't understand this simple fact: the Riders must fight to survive. Ryuuki pushes himself to his feet as the screen shatters into the opening credits.

Tin's Collection Antique Shop. Ren is still reeling from the discovery of the store's owner, killed and sealed into the wall. He realizes that his assumptions about Scissors' identity were completely wrong, and determines to find the killer Rider and solve the mystery.

Back in the Mirror World warehouse, Scissors sends Ryuuki sailing again, but this time he recovers quickly and pulls out his Strike Vent card. Scissors, seeing the Dragclaw appear, pulls out a card of his own, a Guard Vent, and pops it into his gauntlet Visor, summoning the Shell Defense (a shield made from the armor plating on Volcancer's back) just in time to block Ryuuki's Ascending Dragon Break. As it is, he is still knocked back into the wall and takes a hard fall. In the brief moment of quiet that follows, Scissors notices that his armor is starting to pixelate - he's been in the Mirror World for too long. Perhaps a little panicked, he leaps over his opponent and quickly disappears, heading back to the real world and leaving Ryuuki disappointed and confused - "What's the point of all this fighting?"

Tin's Collection. Ren is about to leave the shop when something on an antique table catches his eye - it's a notepad, and written on the top sheet of paper is a name: Yui Kanzaki. Ren's eyes go wide with alarm and suspicion as he realizes that Yui is probably Scissors' next target. He tears out of the store toward his bike, still in pain from his earlier monster-caused accident, and leaves at once to find Yui.

Elsewhere. The mystery man who is Scissors walks to a white car and gets inside, his face hidden by hat, glasses, and the glare of the sun. As he starts the car, he looks at himself in his rearview mirror and mutters "Yui Kanzaki?"

Tin's Collection. Shinji pulls up on his scooter into a scene of mayhem. The police are going in and out of the shop, and a crowd has gathered to gawk and speculate. Shinji, confused, asks an onlooker what's going on and is informed that the body of the owner, Mr Kaga, has been discovered inside. Apparently the man has been dead for quite some time. Shinji is flabbergasted - he had been sure Kaga was Scissors. "What does this mean?"

Reiko's hospital room. The intrepid reporter, who still has the bandage over one eye, is being visited by two police detectives, and they inform her that the owner of the shop she had her accident in has been found dead. "Accident?" She counters. "I was attacked!" The detectives are skeptical - "Most people would call the police if they were attacked." "But a policeman was there," she says. "Didn't he report it?"

Atori Teahouse. Detective Masashi Sudou walks in, receiving a smiling welcome from Yui, who mistakes him for a customer. "Table for one?" He pulls out his ID and asks her if she is Yui Kanzaki. Her smile dropping off her face, she confirms her identity. He then proceeds to tell her that Shiro Kanzaki's car has been discovered, and he needs her to come to the police station to positively identify it as belonging to her brother. The excited Yui, desperate for clues about her brother, agrees instantly. She sets her apron on the counter and looks at her brother's photo, remembering his promise to protect her always.

Out on the streets, Ren is still speeding back to Atori, but Yui and Sudou have left, heading for the detective's white car in a nearby lot. Sudou opens a door for Yui and asks her to sit in the back seat. When Yui asks if she can call her friends to tell them where she's going, the smiling cop says "Sure," but as she gets out her cell phone, his expression becomes sinister. Without warning he grabs her and covers her face with a handkerchief soaked in chloroform. Smiling a predator's smile he shuts the door and gets into the driver's seat. On the seat beside him rest the sunglasses, gloves, and hat worn by the mystery man. He is Kamen Rider Scissors.

Atori. Ren, in a panic, bursts in calling for Yui, but only finds her apron. Sensing that something terrible is happening, he storms out, determined to find his friend. Riding on his cycle, something - luck or intuition - leads him to turn into a lane behind Sudou's car. Soon he notices something that arouses his suspicion - a piece of clothing is shut into the door, flapping in the wind. Ren pulls up alongside the car and sees Yui, lying unconscious in the back seat. His eyes go wide with recognition and he draws up further to the driver's window, shouting for him to stop the car. Sudou, with a look of boredom and disgust, instead steps on the gas and pulls ahead.

Honking his horn and weaving erratically, Ren keeps trying to get the car to stop. On the other side of the road, Shinji rides up on his scooter, returning from his trip. Upon seeing Ren chasing the car, he immediately turns and follows them as best he can. More car chasing ensues, until Ren is forced to stop when a large vehicle pulls out in front of him. He sees the white car turn off ahead, and follows Sudou into a dock area with warehouses and such. The corrupt cop takes a tight corner at high speed, and smirkingly watches the rearview mirror as Ren misses the turn and keeps going straight.

Believing he has won, Sudou is shocked when Ren comes riding out of an alley right in front of him, and slams on the brakes, twisting the wheel hard and nearly driving off the pier into the water. Ren stops right beside him and glares, getting only a mildly irritated "oh well" look in return from Sudou. The furious Ren runs over to look into the back of the car and check on Yui, who's still unconscious. He then angrily demands that Sudou open the door. The detective simply sits, impassively. Ren tries again: "Are you Scissors? Did you kill Kaga?" That sparks some interest from Sudou, who casually replies that it's too bad Ren didn't die in the "accident" he had arranged. He smiles at Ren and steps out of the car.

Ren insists that he let Yui go. "She's not a Rider." "But isn't she Shiro Kanzaki's sister? I might be able to use her to win the battle," Sudou explains. "Isn't that why you're with her?" Ren taunts the other man, asking if he's too cowardly to fight face-to-face, and raises his V-Buckle in challenge. "I was just waiting for the right time," Sudou says sardonically, showing his own V-Buckle in response. The two stare daggers at each other for a bit until the moment is broken by Shinji's arrival on his scooter. "What's going on? Why's that policeman here?" Shinji asks innocently. Then he sees Yui, still passed out in the car, and darts suscpicious glances at both of the other men. Sudou refuses to fight two Riders at once and declines Ren's challenge. He gives the boys another sickly smile, turns and kicks his car, then walks off.

Shinji is still bewildered, until Ren gives him the lowdown: Sudou is Scissors. "You're kidding!" Shinji interjects. Ren turns on him in a rage: "He knew about Yui and me - did he find out from you? It had to have been you! Didn't I tell you this wasn't some kind of club? You could have gotten Yui and me killed!" Shinji looks away in shame and embarrassment, seeing Yui as she sleeps, defenseless. "Do you understand now? The Riders will fight until only one is left. We must fight in order to survive." Ren gets Yui out of the car, preparing to take her home. He gives Shinji a half-angry, half-pitying glare. "If you refuse to fight, if you want to get yourself killed, you'd better do it alone. Don't take Yui and me with you." Shinji is speechless and devastated as Ren leaves with Yui.

Reiko's hospital room. Detective Sudou comes in - apparently Reiko has left him the message that she needed to talk to him. "They found Mr Kaga's body," she informs him. "Yes, they did," he replies. "I was just wondering why you didn't make a report about my being attacked in the store," she asks evenly. He insists that she's mistaken, but she continues, pointing out that it was quite a coincidence that he happened to be nearby when she was assaulted. "What are you implying?" he demands. She was just thinking, she says. Thinking that if he was the perpetrator, everything would make sense. Does he have a better explanation? Sudou is starting to get a look of cold anger, but Reiko simply stares at him with a one-eyed version of her Look of Death. He stands up, lip twitching, but before he can act, the two cops from earlier come striding into the room. They'd like to talk to him. He pauses - and then bolts, escaping with the two other officers in hot pursuit. Reiko sighs with relief and wonders what Shinji is up to.

Outside, the officers continue the hunt, running past Shinji, who has just arrived to visit Reiko. The chase continues until Sudou, looking panicked, is cornered in a dead end next to a wall of mirrored windows. "Give up," one cop orders, but the homicidal detective (had to use that phrase, Jill!) changes his expression from one of fear to a crafty smile and then a psychotic stare. The sound of a mirror breach permeates the air, and Volcancer reaches out of the mirrors to grab the helpless police, dragging them into the Mirror World to devour them. Sudou smiles in triumph, but quickly scowls when he sees Shinji come running around the corner. The two glare at each other for a moment, then slowly step forward.

Atori. Ren tenderly places Yui on a window seat and covers her with a blanket, then is surprised to see a tear rolling down her face. He stands up, unsure of what to say or how to help. Yui opens her eyes and looks slightly guilty, admitting that he's discovered her secret - sometimes she pretends to be asleep in order to hide from her problems. She sits up and explains to the silent but sympathetic Ren how Sudou had tricked her with lies about her brother. "Is he a Rider too?" she asks. "Are you going to fight him?" Ren can't bring himself to answer, and turns to leave. "Ren!" she calls. He turns to look at her and puts on a falsely reassuring smile. "No." He leaves, as the teary-eyed Yui watches, knowing the truth he doesn't want to tell her. Outside, Ren takes off, intending to end Scissors' evil once and for all, while Yui sits inside alone, numb.

Elsewhere. Shinji asks Sudou why he would do these things. "You mean Kaga?" the detective asks. "We had a disagreement. We had been working together, but he got greedy. That made me angry." He remembers walling up the old man after murdering him - and remembers Shiro Kanzaki showing up in the mirror. Remembers being given the Vent Cards so he could become a Kamen Rider. Disgusted, Shinji asks why Sudou has been attacking innocent people. "If there were lots of missing persons cases, Kaga would seem like just one more," the man explains. "Besides, it made my monster stronger. If I want to live, I have to defeat all the Riders - and you." Sudou goes on to threaten to kill everyone who knows about him, including Reiko.

"I became a Rider to protect people," Shinji begins. "I will do that forever if I have to." "Yeah, that's great," Sudou sarcastically interrupts. Shinji continues: "I don't have a choice. I can't let you keep killing people. I have to fight you." He pulls out his dragon-crested V-Buckle to issue the challenge, looking grimly determined.

"You can't do that," comes another voice. They turn, surprised, to see Ren walking sternly toward them. "You can't fight just because of what he's done. You have to fight just because you're a Kamen Rider, and that's what we do." Sudou insists that he will only fight one Rider, not both, and after a brief staredown he and Ren pull out their V-Buckles. They run to the nearby reflective wall and transform, entering the Mirror World and leaving Shinji behind.

The Mirror World (interestingly I remember this location from several episodes of Megaranger). Knight and Scissors begin their fight, clashing Sword-to-Cestus. Scissors quickly establishes dominance and gets Knight into a headlock, but Knight pulls out and uses his Nasty Vent. Darkwing flies overhead, screeching the disorienting Sonicbreaker attack, and Scissors is stunned for a moment, overcome by the high-pitched waves. The two Riders size each other up and then leap back to the attack.

In the real world, Shinji watches the fight while the voice of Shiro Kanzaki echoes through his mind. "Fight. Fight! FIGHT!" He looks at his card deck hesitantly. Back in the Mirror World, Knight uses his Sword Vent and goes on the offensive with the Winglancer. He gets in a strong hit that throws Scissors back into the wall, but the orange-armored villain responds by using his Strike Vent card and arming himself with the gigantic Scissors Pinch claw, and the brutal combat continues. Scissors gains the advantage after knocking Knight down to one knee, and catches the dark hero's head in his claw. "I win," he says with finality, but Knight is able to knock him back with a quick swipe of the Darkvisor.

Knight pulls his Final Vent, Scissors does the same. As Knight starts his flying, drilling attack, Volcancer the crab-monster appears behind Scissors. Scissors jumps into the air, and Volcancer whacks him into a spinning "cannonball" attack with its huge pincers. Knight's Flyinglancer meets the enemy's Scissors Attack explosively, and both Riders hit to the ground. Knight crumples, and it seems as though Scissors has won at last. "One less enemy for me," he boasts.

And then his V-Buckle shatters. His armor almost immediately begins to pixelate away, and Volcancer looms over him. Scissors' Contract card has been destroyed. The crab-beast is his partner no longer. And the crab-beast is hungry. "I can't die!" Scissors cries pitifully as Volcancer grabs him. His armor finally dissipates completely, leaving only unprotected human flesh - which Volcancer devours as Knight turns away in horror.

Boosted by the additional power, Volcancer quickly disarms and staggers Knight, and steps in for the kill - but at the last moment Ryuuki appears, wearing matching Dragshields on each shoulder, to block the attack. Ryuuki sees the fragments that are all that remains of Scissors' V-Buckle, and determinedly loads his Final Vent card. The Dragon Rider Kick succeeds in penetrating the crab monster's shell, and it dies in a fiery blast. Its soul-energy rises upward, and Dragreder swoops in to devour it, but Shinji orders the dragon away - contained in that ball of energy are the souls of all the humans Volcancer devoured, including Masashi Sudou. "What are you playing at?" asks the now-recovered Knight. "Power is power." Darkwing flies in and snatches the soul-energy, to Ryuuki's dismay. "This is a war," Knight says. "There were thirteen decks of cards. That means I have to defeat eleven more people. Including you." Ryuuki stares at him in shock. "I must be the final Rider," Knight states.

Night-time at Atori. Shinji and Ren pull up on their bikes, and Ren asks Shinji not to tell Yui what has happened between them. She doesn't need any extra stress. Shinji, more uncertain of Ren than ever, watches him go in. Inside, Yui greets Ren, who announces that Shinji is here with him as the other man enters. Yui watches them curiously. "Do you have anything to eat?" Ren asks. Shinji smiles encouragingly and adds that he's starving. Yui smiles at her friends and agrees, while Ren claps Shinji on the shoulder in a friendly manner and takes a seat. On the surface, all seems well.

Elsewhere. Someone is holding a green V-Buckle with a golden crest in the shape of a bull's head. It is a new Kamen Rider, dressed in green with mechanical, boxy armor, walking through a misty corridor. The Rider is confronted by a zebra-monster, which attacks with reckless fury. The Rider defends himself, leaping onto a nearby stack of crates, and pulls out a large gun that matches his armor. He fires several shots at the monster, knocking it back as the screen breaks and the episode ends.