Shinnosuke and Chase fight. But Chase appears to be much stronger. Shinnosuke blocks shots aimed at Kiriko as Chase continues knocking him around.
Belt-san wonders who this guy could be. Kiriko calls over to Shinnosuke to fight back.
“Easy for you to say!”
Vegas appears and Shinnosuke uses Vegas’ shields to block a silent Chase’s shots. Tridoron speeds in and scoops both Kiriko and Shinnosuke in so they can drive away.
Paint aka Asaya, is happy Mashin Chaser is keeping the Kamen Rider busy.
Back at the Pit, they go over what they know about the case so far. But Kiriko wants to know why Shinnosuke didn’t go on the offensive more against Mashin Chaser. Shinnosuke says the guy was strong. But more importantly, the painting with someone trapped inside was nearby. And he’s still a policeman, after all.
Shinnosuke leaves. Kiriko realizes and Belt-san agrees that Shinnosuke was fighting while trying to protect her and the painting. He prioritized her safety.
Anyway, Belt-san calls someone to check up on a new weapon for Drive.
Paint meets with Heart, Brain and another Roidmude. Brain reminds him that they will need a specific number of evolved types. Heart says it doesn’t matter if Paint rampages, as long as he manages to awaken new powers. Brain says they must operate within the shadows. Those who do not will have to deal with the Grim Reaper.
Paint laughs that he will not make any mistakes. Brain tells Chase to keep an eye on him.
Shinnosuke and Otta hurry to the atelier, but all the paintings are gone. Asaya walks in and laughs. Looks like he was robbed. Shinnosuke glares at him before he looks around and sees an outlet full of connections.
Shinnosuke fixes his tie and he and Otta take Asaya to the station.
Asaya boldly laughs at the idea of a monster who can paint humans to trap them into paintings. But he’d be jealous of one if it existed. If he was that monster, he says he would remind the cops that the women are basically his hostages. So they better not come after him.
Shinnosuke gets into Asaya’s face and tells him to remember his. He will bring those who torment women for their own satisfaction to justice.
Kiriko watches from the exchange from the other room.
Back at the SID office, Rinna walks in from her leave with Kiriko who has asked her to analyze the painting. Rinna has found that the canvas isn’t cloth, but a special compound that allows the perp to paint with human data. But to do it, the perp would need a large source of electricity.
Shinnosuke’s mind goes racing and remembers that outlet full of connections earlier. Kyu gets his electrical maniac friend to help narrow their search. Kiriko tells Shinnosuke to follow Asaya.
While staking out Asaya’s home, Belt-san tells Shinnosuke that they’ve narrowed down the area to the storage district by the bay.
Shinnosuke notices Vegas is also staking out. Belt-san explains that while Vegas is helping Kiriko, he is also doing this for personal reasons. Vegas’s best friend and partner Dimension Cab was injured that night of the Global Freeze while saving Kiriko. Vegas wants to end this guy for his friend who’s still recovering. That’s why Vegas isn’t his usual jokester-self.
Shinnosuke gets out of the car with an umbrella and covers Vegas from the rain. He tells Vegas that he can relate with his feeling right now.
Asaya sees Shinnosuke waiting outside, but Chase is also nearby.
Shinnosuke sees Asaya in his Roidmude form and he quickly runs back to Tridoron to henshin and chase after him.
Mashin Chaser shoots at Tridoron. Shinnosuke stops and gets out of the car, allowing Paint to run off. Shinnosuke and Chase fight again.
Chase says he cannot let Shinnosuke destroy the Roidmude Cores.
Shinnosuke takes cover behind a tree. Belt-san says it’s time for a new weapon. From Tridoron pops out a new, still untitled sword made exclusively for Drive. Since it’s attached to a steering wheel, Shinnosuke names it a Handle Sword/Handle-Ken.
Shinnosuke gets the hang of the Handle Sword and manages to finally go toe-to-toe with Mashin Chaser.
Ryu and Rinna are searching the area for Gravity Shifts while Kiriko enters an old warehouse. That’s where she finds Asaya. She now knows he is 010. He just laughs and says that before he can leave the country, he wants to first turn Kiriko into a painting.
He says in the last six months, there hasn’t been a single woman who could match the beautiful fear on Kiriko’s face from the night of the Global Freeze. Kiriko pulls out her gun. Asaya laughs at her.
“I lost my smile on that day 6 months ago,” Kiriko says. “I was truly scared. And I’m still scared now. But… That’s why I became a detective… why I help Drive. I don’t want other people to experience the same thing I did.”
She shoots at him and he transforms into his Roidmude form before knocking the Shift Car off of Kiriko’s holster. She is now affected by the Heaviness and Paint starts grabbing her data.
Shinnosuke feels the Gravity Shift and Belt-san tells him where it is coming from. Chase pins Shinnosuke against a tree, but suddenly, Dimension Cab arrives. He has recovered!
Vegas and Dimension Cab share a happy reunion.
Shinnosuke hops into Tridoron and speeds off to the warehouse as Chase chases after him on his bike. Shinnosuke calls Flare, Spike and Monster to help distract Chase from following any further.
While Kiriko’s data is being taken, Paint opens up his storage locker to find all his paintings are gone! Shinnosuke arrives and punches Paint. He hurries over to Kiriko who now has a Shift Car and can deal with the Heaviness. He tells her all the paintings are in Tridoron.
Shinnosuke explains to Paint that Kiriko intentionally provoked him to use a Gravity Shift so their location could be tracked by Belt-san. Kiriko says she believed in Shinnosuke, that’s why she was able to do this.
Belt-san is envious of the new bond Shinnosuke and Kiriko have formed.
Shinnosuke henshins.
They fight.
Shinnosuke uses Dimension Cab to help explain how they were able to take the paintings. Dimension Cab allows Shinnosuke’s head and right arm to pop off and get through to any surface anywhere. That’s how they were able to grab the paintings from the locked storage room.
Shinnosuke calls for Handle Sword which Tridoron comes to deliver. Vegas arrives and tells Shinnosuke (with Belt-san’s translation) that he can probably get a 777 in the reels for a good finisher. Using the Vegas Shift Car, Shinnosuke does roll three 7s and after inserting Vegas into Handle Sword, they finish off Paint Roidmude.
Shinnosuke de-henshns. He tells Kiriko it is over and she smiles
Kiriko denies it.
Alone in the Pit, Belt-san thinks about there being only 101 left after defeating another two today.
Across town, Heart, Brain and Chase are talking about the pesky Kamen Rider. The large man Roidmude from the meeting earlier comes and says he can take care of the Kamen Rider himself.
Brain is annoyed by all these disorderly and rude Roidmudes.
Meanwhile, back at the office, a woman walks in after hours. It is Rinna! And she grabs Dimension Cab from the table with a suspicious smirk on her face.
Episode Thoughts
Lots of interesting stuff in this episode!
It was great to see more of Kiriko’s story and seeing more personality from her character. Also great to see and learn more about the Roidmudes, their dynamic and a little taste of their plan.
In addition to the endless number of Shift Cars, it looks like weapons can come out of nowhere as well. hehe
That closing scene of Rinna is very intriguing though. I have no idea what to expect!
Solid episode moving the story forward. So far so good.