Kamen Rider Den-O Episode #2 "Ride On Time"

Spoiler Warning Sanjou!

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After a brief recap of the previous episode, Ryôtarô and Hana board the Den-Liner. Naomi asks for drink orders, and they end up going with the Den-Liner original coffee.

"Me too." A voice calls out. Sand pours to the ground, forming into Momotaros, and the shocked Ryôtarô falls unconcious. As he awakens, Momotaros complains of his contract partner being far too weak. Ryôtarô and Hana make formal introductions, and Hana explains that Momotaros is an Imagin (the name that "we call them"), beings from the future. Ryôtarô asks if all people from the future will look like that. Momotaros states that it's Ryôtarô's fault he looks like he does. When Imagin come from the future, they bring no body, and must create one using a person from the past. Momotaros is disappointed that he doesn't "look cooler". Ryôtarô explains how the whole thing reminds him of Momotaro, his childhood hero, much to Hana's amusement and Momotaros' chagrin. As this is going on, Bat Imagin reforms himself by drawing energy from Tetsuo. He then goes on a hunt for keychains, murdering innocents to find the right one.

Hana explains that the Imagin will grant any wish of their contract person so they may then enter the person's past and change history. Momotaros remembers that he has a contract with Ryôtarô, but Hana warns him to not tell his wish. As long as he does not officially enter into a contract, Momotaros can do no damage, and is simply stuck in his current position. This upsets Momotaros, but Hana just beats him up. Ryôtarô breaks up the fight, but the combined stress of such amazing revelations and being on a train has made him sick. As he stumbles outside, he looks up to see the multi-colored sky, and is amazed. Hana explains that they are in the middle of time, between past, present and future, and it is "our" job to protect the flow of time from the Imagin. Ryôtarô is uneasy at the use of "our".

Bat Imagin returns to Tetsuo, but he has not yet found the right keychain, and is growing impatient. Back in the world between time, Hana drops the keychain, and Ryôtarô recognizes it. He remembers that the possessed Tetsuo was looking for it, and decides to return it properly.

After first stopping by the Milk Dipper to see his sister, he finds Tetsuo's gang, who are now all afraid of him and politely accede to his questions. He also bumps into one of the regular guys who's been hitting on his sister, running around with a different girl. He mentions rumors about a monster looking for a keychain, which sets off the Momotaros part of Ryôtarô, and he turns into ANGRY! Ryôtarô. Upset that the Bat Imagin is still alive, he causes a little mayhem before Ryôtarô regains control and resolves to return the keychain before things get worse.

Bat Imagin dumps several keychains in front of Tetsuo, but none of them are the right one. Growing ever more impatient, he is interrupted by Ryôtarô appearing before them. He throws the correct keychain to Bat Imagin.

"Contract completed" he says as literally he enters into Tetsuo's body, and into his past. Hana appears, and by holding a card to Tetsuo's body, learns that Bat Imagin has travelled back to December 24th, 2004. She tries to get information from the zombie-like Tetsuo, who recalls that it was the day his mother died, and that he was too late to see her one last time before she passed away. The keychain was her Christmas present to Tetsuo. As Hana explains Bat Imagin's intention to Ryôtarô, in the past, the Kaijin enters Tetsuo's body and begins raising Hell. Destruction from the past is shown to affect the future (with nifty split-screen technology!) and Ryôtarô realizes he once must again become Den-O, like it or not. But seeing Tetsuo's tears awakens a deeper sense of justice in him, and the wimpy, shivering Ryôtarô from last episode has suddenly grown up into something else. Sliding the Rider Ticket card into his Rider Pass, he summons his Henshin Belt.

"Henshin."

Transforming from Plat Form into Sword Form, Ryôtarô lets Momotaros' fighting spirit take over again, and Kamen Rider Den-O boards the Den-Liner. Entering a room with his motorcycle, he places the Rider Pass into it, and using his bike as the controls for the entire train, travels back to the past.

In 2004, the Den-Liner appears and engages the possessed Tetsuo. We get a little bike action as Den-O saves a girl from the oncoming Den-Liner. All the while, a mysterious man watches from a window, polishing a pocket watch.

Bat Imagin leaves Tetsuo's body, and battles Den-O. Using his kiling technique, the Rider destroys the Kaijin yet again, but this time, Bat Imagin revives once more and transforms into the giant Gigandeath. Boarding the train yet again, Den-O uses the Den-Liner's vast array of weaponry to finish off the giant monster for good. Reverting back to Ryôtarô, Den-O has saved the past, and thus the future, which is actually the present. Well, you know what I mean.

Ryôtarô does make one little change to the past himself, allowing Tetsuo to see his dying mother one last time, and receive the keychain from her personally in a touching scene.

"I'm still not sure what's going on, but maybe I can do this." Ryôtarô muses aboard the Den-Liner. Momotaros asks if he has decided his wish yet, to which Ryôtarô replies "I've decided. My wish is..." before changing his mind to "I need to think about it a little longer." As the assembled good guys laugh at Momotaros' frustration, Naomi finally finishes the coffee.

Den-O's battle has only just begun.

To Be Continued...