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"Woo~ woo~ woo~!"
The sharp wail of police sirens echoed as several cop cars surrounded the area.
Dan got out of the side door of his car and obediently raised both hands.
This was America, after all—land of the free, and also land of trigger-happy cops. Dan wasn't about to die in a hail of bullets before he even got to meet a superhero.
"Hands up! All of you!"
Soon enough, the three robbers were caught and taken down.
"Shit, can't believe we got taken down by some damn kid!"
"Damn it! Don't let me catch you again, punk!"
The robbers, now being shoved into the police cars, were cursing Dan out.
Dan just shrugged helplessly. Honestly, he hadn't wanted to get involved either. But Kurimu had asked, and he couldn't really say no.
"Thank you so much. We couldn't have caught those guys without your help."
A confident-looking female officer walked over, but stopped in surprise when she saw Dan.
"Whoa! You're a minor?! You're the one who helped us catch those guys?!"
"Uh, actually, officer, I just turned sixteen today. Legally speaking, I'm old enough to drive."
The officer chuckled.
"Don't worry, kid. I didn't mean anything by it. I'm Jimmy. Thanks for the help."
"Dan. My name's Dan."
"Dan? Asian?"
Dan instinctively corrected her, "Technically, Chinese-American."
"Well, either way, you really helped us out. But I still need you to come down to the station for a quick statement."
"Sure, but… can I drive my own car there?"
At the police station, after giving his statement, Dan walked out alone.
"How'd it go? They didn't give you a hard time, did they?"
Kurimu's voice came through the car's speaker. He sounded worried—after all, Dan had only gotten involved because of him. If it caused trouble, Kurimu would blame himself.
Dan shook his head and pulled out a fat wad of cash.
"All good. In fact, there was a surprise bonus—I got a reward for catching those guys. Didn't expect that."
"Nice. Let's head back."
Just as the car started up, a sharp alarm rang out from the police station, followed by a burst of gunfire.
Then, a cop came flying out of a window.
"Holy shit, what the hell?!"
Kurimu's voice turned serious.
"Dan, be careful. I'm picking up something… weird."
Dan looked confused. Seriously? Stark wasn't even Iron Man yet. There shouldn't be that many supervillains running around right now.
"You damn brat! I'm gonna kill you!"
A terrifying figure burst out of the station—a pale-skinned, muscle-bound man with a face twisted in rage. In one hand, he held a dead cop, whose neck had been torn open and was gushing blood.
"WTF! He's coming for me?! FLOOR IT!"
Dan slammed the pedal, and Doletron roared forward.
But the thing chased after them without missing a beat.
"What the hell is that thing? Some kind of monster?" Kurimu asked, baffled.
"How would I know?! This is the Marvel universe—monsters can pop outta nowhere anytime!"
Kurimu didn't say another word and quickly calculated a route.
"Whatever it is, we can't let that freak go rampaging through a crowded area. Dan, head where I'm guiding you."
"Got it!"
"You're not getting away!" the monster roared.
And somehow, it started running even faster than the car. Then, it went full-on absurd and started running on the walls.
"You've gotta be kidding me—are you Spider-Man or something?! Even Spidey doesn't run like that!!"
Eventually, the car and the monster made it out to the empty outskirts of town.
Just then, a huge truck came barreling straight toward them.
"Dan, watch out!"
"No time!"
To avoid a head-on crash, Dan yanked the steering wheel hard. Doletron flipped sideways and crashed into a big tree with a loud THUD.
"I've got you now! DIE!"
The monster caught up and yanked Dan right out of the driver's seat.
Still dazed from the crash, Dan hadn't even recovered his senses.
The monster bared two sharp fangs and lunged for Dan's throat.
"Dan!!"
Kurimu didn't hesitate anymore. He shot out from Doletron and latched onto Dan's waist. A bracelet flew onto Dan's wrist and zapped him with a small jolt of electricity.
"WTF?! Mr. Belt?!"
"Things are getting dangerous. Let me run with you this time!"
A mini version of Doletron zoomed into the bracelet.
Dan instantly understood what to do. He twisted the toy car and fired up the engine on the belt.
"Start your engines!"
[HENSHIN!]
"Drive! Type Speed!"
As Mr. Belt's low robotic voice echoed out, a thumping theme track kicked in. A blinding flash of light exploded from Dan, blasting the monster away.
"What the—?!"
Dan looked down at his hands, then at his whole body and the belt around his waist, completely stunned.
Now, Dan wore a black suit with red armor plating. A tire ran diagonally across his chest, and glowing headlights flashed from his mask-like eyes.
"I actually transformed?!"
"Yeah, even I didn't expect this. I thought only Shinnosuke could handle the Rider System, but looks like you can too. Anyway, no time to be amazed—he's coming back!"
The monster charged toward Dan again.
"You bastard! What the hell are you?!"
Dan cracked his knuckles.
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?!"
Then—BAM!—he threw a punch, the engine revving as it smashed right into the monster's chest.
"Dan, rev the engine!"
"On it!"
He twisted the dial on the belt, and the engine let out a roar.
"Take this!"
Dan threw punch after punch—his speed ramping up. A dashboard appeared in his vision, and the numbers started rising fast.
"This is the end!"
With one final punch, the monster went flying and hit the ground—out cold.
"Whew…"
Dan let out a breath and yanked the mini-car off the bracelet.
"Nice drive."
Mr. Belt, still attached to Dan's waist, looked down at the motionless monster.
"Is it over?"
"Seems like it. But seriously, what was that thing? I swear, I've watched a ton of Marvel stuff, but I don't remember anything like that guy."
"Wooo~ wooo~ wooo~!"
As the sound of police sirens blared, several police cars swarmed in.
Dan stepped out from the side door and obediently raised both his hands.
"Dan, I think this guy's one of those three robbers from before."
"What? I thought he was just a regular dude!"
Dan carefully turned the man's head to get a better look. Pale skin. Sharp fangs. But yeah… that face—Dan had definitely seen it before. He was one of the robbers.
"Ssshhh~!"
Dan sucked in a cold breath.
"This guy's… a vampire?!"
Not far away, a shadowy figure was watching in secret. Once it saw that the monster was dead, it silently left.
"....."