Kamen Rider Kabuto Episode #43

It's the episode you've been waiting for: the lines have been drawn, all the pieces are in place, the end game is about to begin, and all Hell is about to break loose. So with that in mind, look out, because it's a Spoiler Warning!

Having apparently come out victorious last episode, Tendô is left to contemplate on the whereabouts of Hiyori and her new best friend, the dude who looks exactly like him and turns into Dark Kabuto.

As this is going on, who should happen to walk into the Bistro (on more Tsurugi/Renge/Kagami antics) than...

Tendô! After sampling Renge's cooking and describing it as "delicious", he casually asks where the "other me" is, and states that he's here to "erase" this other Tendô.

Oh snap! Our heroes realize that the unthinkable has happened, and a Worm is running around impersonating Tendô because, hey, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Kagami chases after the Tendô clone (hereafter referred to as EVIL! Tendô) and runs into the real deal, who confirms his originality with his trademark phrase....

...only to be quickly cut off by Kagami. This may just become one of my favorite moments in the series. Kagami informs Tendô of EVIL! Tendô's appearance, and before long the mysterious double himself drops in for a little trash talkin'.

Ah yes. A few weeks ago, Dark Kabuto's alter-ego was little more than a sloppy, socially-inept version of Tendô who speaks in fragments (being locked up for 7 years will do that to a guy) but here he speaks perfect Japanese and carries himself with a gleeful malevolence. He's sort of like a totally stone-cold crazy version of Tendô, not overtly sinister, but he's obviously a few cards short of a full deck. He states that Hiyori no longer wants to return to this world, nor see the real Tendô again. And he has traversed the barriers of time & space with one goal in mind:

Kick Tendô's ass!

The Tendô twins Henshin and proceed to start knocking each other around silly. Kagami prepares to join the fray, but Kabuto (the real one) tells him stay back. As the fight escalates, Dark Kabuto continues to taunt him, stating that no matter the outcome of this battle, he still won't be able to find the place where Hiyori is. These words hit Kabuto hard, and he allows Dark Kabuto (now in Rider Form) to beat the stuffing out of him. Only a quick save by Gatack keeps Kabuto from suffering a ripoff-induced demise.

Tendô later reveals to Kagami that Dark Kabuto is the only one who knows the way to get to where Hiyori is, and thus he cannot defeat him or risk losing Hiyori forever.

Elsewhere, a virtual army of Worms are engaged in an all-out battle royale with ZECT. The Zectroopers are doing their best to hold back the onslaught, but in a move that should surprise no one, are soon overwhelmed by both legions of Worm grunts and nifty tri-split screen technology! Gatack quickly arrives on the scene to help turn the tide, and as if in response, Nogi (who turned out to be alive and well at the end of the previous episode) chooses this time to show up an reveal his new, more powerful form of Cassisworm Gladius.

If you thought Nogi was bad news before, he's even worse now. He takes two of his own Worm cronies and drains their power for himself, disgusting even Gatack. When our hero hits him with a Rider Kick, he absorbs the energy and responds in kind with his own evil Rider Kick!

Gatack is down for the count and soon winds up in the hospital. Nogi and his forces continue the assualt. As Misaki and Tadokoro attempt to figure out what the Worms are after, Nogi jumps the frontlines and attacks them directly. Tadokoro attempts to fight him, but is overpowered, and things look pretty grim until Tsurugi shows up, vowing still to destroy all Worms. Nogi responds that he will destroy all Riders.

Renge meets with Kagami in the hospital, but is soon led away by Tendô. Sasword gets his butt kicked by Cassisworm Gladius, who steals his Rider Slash and uses it against him. As if things couldn't get any worse, he gets another yelling-at by Misaki, telling him to face "reality".

Tendô and Renge meet on the hospital roof. Tendô has determined that only after defeating him will EVIL! Tendô return to the other dimension where Hiyori is, and when that time comes, he wants Renge to find the entrance to the other dimension. Basically, Tendô is going to lose on purpose, and leave the safety of Hiyori (and the world) in Renge's hands.

In other words, Tendô's probably been putting some "extra special" ingredient in his Miso soup lately.

Understandably, Renge does not approve of this plan, but is told to keep quite about it and not tell Kagami. The next morning, as Tendô spends his last hours with Juka, EVIL! Tendô looks at one of Hiyori's drawings, musing happily before tearing it in two.

Renge meets with Kagami, now back on his feet, and spills the beans like you probably thought she would. Tendô meets with EVIL! Tendô and they transform to do battle once again.

(Watch Dark Kabuto closely during the above scene, you'll see him do a familiar gesture often associated with another Rider.)

Meanwhile, Misaki and Tadokoro continue to monitor the Worm assault, and discover that they're heading for Area Z- the place where the Masked Rider System was first developed. Tadokoro also notices two other familiar faces in the vicinity.

The Riders duke it out, with Kabuto still planning to let Dark Kabuto defeat him. However, Gatack intervenes, and yells at Tendô for coming up with such a ridiculous plan. Shocked to his senses by the other man's words, Tendô regains his fighting spirit and vows to beat Dark Kabuto and bring back Hiyori.

Misaki and Tadokoro meet with Yaguruma and Kageyama, asking for their help in the massive battle drawing ever closer. Offering them a return to SHADOW and even TheBee brace, they are flatly rejected when Yaguruma kicks the suitcase containing the brace away. As he leaves, laughing, Kageyama eyes the brace longingly.

With a renewed sense of justice, Kabuto fights Dark Kabuto to a standstill. When even their Rider Kicks fail to break the other, he ups the ante by going into Hyper Form. Now it's time to kick some butt, right?

Right?

Not quite. Cornering his impersonator, Hyper Kabuto demands to be taken to Hiyori, but Hiyori shows up just then to shield Dark Kabuto and announce:

"I've already decided. I will not return to this world again."

Hiyori transforms into her Worm state as Hyper Kabuto and Gatack look on.

To be continued...