A factory worker finds what looks to be a dimensional rip location in the basement and is tempted/hypnotized by the delicious looking fruits.
Team Gaim is at the Garage looking at stories of a thief wreaking havoc around the city. But photos of the places hit definitely don’t look like it was a human so they figure it must be Inves that have become trapped in their world. Since they can’t go to the police with this, they must take care of it themselves, seeing as the Beat Riders are the only ones who can defeat the Inves.
Kota suggests they go to the other teams to ask them to help.
First stop is Team Baron and Kaito wastes no time in saying no. If these things are causing trouble for the #1 team, then why would Baron try and stop them. Kota and Mitch say innocent people are getting attacked by the Inves, but Kaito replies that those people are not their concern either.
If Gaim wants to save the people, he’s not going to stop them. But Kaito says none of the other teams are going to want to help either, especially since Gaim is now at the top.
Across town, Bando is picking a shipment of fresh fruits. But he gets attacked by an Inves on his way back to Drupers, causing him to crash his truck.
Kaito and Mai are walking along having just gotten turned down by Raid Wild and Invitto as well when they hear Bando cry out of help. They hurry over and watch the Inves go through the fruit, but seemingly no wanting to eat any of it.
Kota quickly henshins and tries to fight off the Inves while Mai takes Bando to safety. Kota switches to Strawberry Arms, but the Inves manages to fly away.
That night, Mitch arrives home. He sees the Watermelon Lockseed has regained its color. Inside, his brother meets him at the stairs and tells him to be careful since a thief broke into their manse the other night. And he knows just who it could be… those Beat Riders and those good-for-nothing kids who dance in the streets.
Mitch turns from Takatora who asks what he believes those punk kids must be thinking about by pointlessly dancing around. I have no idea, Mitch says at first. But after some prodding by Takatora, Mitch says those kids are just unsure about their futures. Instead of becoming mindless yes-men, they try to find their paths by doing what they enjoy. Like dancing.
Mitch turns his smile on as he turns back to his Niisan who says Mitch has nothing to worry about when it comes to his future. He is a Kureshima and his place and worth is all set. That’s why Mitch must remember he is on a different level than those lowlifes.
Next day, Gaim strategizes on how to stop the Inves. They split up and ask the locals about possibly seeing anything. If they find something, immediately call Kota or Mitch.
Mai walks along, having found nothing when she hears a grandma screaming “Monster!” Mai hurries over and finds it’s just Kota, already henshined and nicely asking the woman if she’s seen the Inves. Mai drags him away and they head to Drupers to meet up with Mitch.
They realize what kind of fire they were playing with in the Inves game, but they also try to figure out just what the Inves attacking people are really after. Plus, what’s up with that strange forest. And what in the world are their belts?
Just when they need him, Sid is not in his usual booth.
Kota asks Bando if he remembers anything from the attack that could be of help. Bando remembers the Inves had gone directly for the fruit. Kota remembers the Inves ended up not eating the fruit and then going crazy. Maybe the Inves can only eat the fruit from the strange forest. Once they’re trapped in this world, they have nothing to eat.
Mitch has a plan. He and Kota head into the forest hoping to grab a Lockseed fruit to use as bait in their world. Kota mentions how the fruit immediately ripens into a Lockseed when they touch it. But Mitch says it’s only when they’re henshined. So he de-henshins, picks a fruit and puts in a Ziploc bag to hand to Kota. It stays a fruit.
They bring it back to their dimension and tie it on a string outside the Garage as part of their stake out.
Rica, Chucky and Mitch hide behind the trellis while Kota, Mai and Rat hide in trash cans. Rat and Kota think the fruit looks really delicious, but Mai knocks them back into the trash as they wait.
Someone approaches and Kota immediately jumps out to attack, but it’s just the old woman from earlier. She scolds Kota.
Next, a group of kids come playing with the fruit until a flock of birds come to attack Kota.
Suddenly, the Inves finally appears and Kota charges. The Inves lets out a deafening sonic wave. Mitch jumps in and manages to attach his cell phone onto the Inves’ back before it grabs the fruit and flies away.
Mitch uses the GPS on the phone to track the Inves so he and Kota hurry after it.
They follow it into the factory basement where they find fruit vines growing near a stairwell. Seeds or spores must have made their way through a tear here before it closed. They find the worker’s helmet covered in vines when the Inves attacks from behind.
The Inves knocks them both around before they manage to henshin.
Kota and Mitch tag-team to finish it off.
They de-henshin and notice the fruit and vines have quickly propagated through the basement. They see three young Inves feasting on fruit when suddenly the white Rider Kota faced in the forest walks in. He swiftly defeats the three Inves and the same hazmat suited men from the forest come in to burn all the fruit and shrubbery that’s grown.
Mitch is upset the evidence is being destroyed and figures they’ve done this before. They must know what’s going on. Mitch turns back to look at the white Rider and…
He recognizes the belt and Lockseed as the same ones he found in his brother’s suitcase.
Later that night at Yggdrasill, Takatora meets with Ryoma and tells him about the cracks appearing more often now. Ryoma says Helheim Forest is finally activating.
Takatora doesn’t like Ryoma’s easygoing attitude about this all, especially since they could soon lose control of the situation with the amount of resources they have now. He asks about the new invention and Ryoma says he’ll speed up development.
He asks who will be the first test subject and Takatora says it’ll be him. Ryoma wants Takatora to be sure since this could be very dangerous and more volatile. Ryoma suggests using someone else, but Takatora says he will not give up on his responsibilities in this project.
Ryoma is intrigued by Takatora’s dedication. But Takatora says the fate of the world is in Yggdrasill’s hands.
Episode Thoughts
Okay, so yeah we knew Mitch’s Niisan was the white Rider. But more importantly, did they just kill that factory worker fellow?! And not even know it!? That’s crazy!
But actually, the Inves appeared at the end of last week’s episode. So we don’t really know what’s happened to that worker. But he’s probably not a worker, let alone human, anymore. They’ve posed a new question in the What effects does the Lockseed fruit have on humans? Especially as it seems to have a kind of forbidden fruit quality to it.
Do humans turn into Inves? That will be interesting to see. It’s not a new concept in toku. But the added fact that apparently, Kaito nor the others care about human casualties should be very interesting to watch. Of course, they wouldn’t willingly watch someone die or worse, kill them themselves.
I enjoyed Team Gaim working together like amateur sleuths. I do hate how the other members of the group disappear though. So sub-clique-ish.
Mitch is quickly becoming my favorite character I think. He really continues to be so scarily devious. Like, what is going through his head?!
I am getting more and more excited because the show can go so many ways this season. It’s crazy! And I love it!