Watching Takaba straighten himself out, Gen rushed forward, clenched his fist, dropped his center of gravity, and drove a straight punch into Takaba’s stomach.
Takaba’s body shot into the sky, then turned into a shooting star in Gen’s field of vision.
“I’m pretty sure I didn’t hit him in that direction.”
Gen raised a hand to shade his eyes and looked toward the direction Takaba had flown.
“But no matter which direction you hit someone from, the person who gets hit always flies into the sky, right?”
“True.
Standard cartoon logic.”
As he said that, Gen turned and slapped his palm against Takaba.
The slash instantly cut Takaba to pieces.
Or did it?
The Cursed Energy had definitely acted on him, but…
the instant it entered his body, his own Cursed Energy redirected it.
What a strange feeling.
Takaba’s clothes instantly tore into scraps, while Takaba himself struck the pose of a bashful girl, covering his sensitive areas.
Assuming one ignored the cursed-character mosaics that had appeared over those sensitive areas.
“What the hell!
You jerk!”
“Hey, hey.
What are you, some shy maiden?”
“This is a hero costume!
Who attacks a hero’s costume right away?”
“If Superman actually existed, I might try a special attack on his red underwear.”
“You really are nasty.”
Gen stepped back lightly.
The clothes on Takaba had already reappeared, and after touching Takaba’s body three times, Gen had finally analyzed the man’s Cursed Technique.
His Innate Technique was similar to Construction Technique, a technique that could create things from nothing.
On top of that, the man before him had an unimaginable source of Cursed Energy.
Unlike Construction Technique, his Cursed Technique had no limits.
Maybe his body was spontaneously constructing “Cursed Energy” on its own.
The slash just now had been aimed at his Cursed Energy core, but being bisected had not instantly killed Takaba.
His Cursed Technique was clearly still activating normally.
Although he did not know the exact effects of “Cleave” and “Dismantle,” perhaps through Cursed Technique reinforcement, he was able to catch the trajectory of the slash.
As Gen thought that, strange formulas began passing over his head one after another, while Takaba stared at him with total focus.
And this too…
Gen grabbed one of the formulas and hurled it hard at Takaba.
The instant the attack hit him, Takaba smacked it right back.
Bang!
Gen rushed left and swung the badminton racket in his hand, sending the formula flying back with a fierce strike.
Takaba refused to be outdone.
He immediately stepped forward, lifted the formula that had already turned into a shuttlecock, then leapt high and smashed it down hard at Gen.
“I won’t let you score!”
Gen grinned, stepped in to block the smash, then returned a smash of his own.
But the net suddenly rose higher.
The shuttlecock filled with Cursed Energy rebounded hard off the net and slammed into Gen’s face, knocking him backward.
“Are you okay?”
Takaba hurried over in a few quick steps and leaned over beside Gen in concern.
“Ah, of course I’m fine.
But that was cheating!”
Only then did Gen realize he had been caught in Takaba’s Cursed Technique.
He paused, then looked at Takaba.
“It’s only natural that you can’t beat him, right?
He’s the ‘Shuttle King,’ after all!”
“That kind of awful pun isn’t funny.”
Gen sprang up, and the badminton racket in his hand swung hard toward Takaba.
Gen’s body spun through the air as he hit the shuttlecock back.
The shuttlecock, mixed with Gen’s Cursed Energy, tore the net to shreds.
Then Takaba rushed forward and hugged Gen in excitement.
“You did it!
You really defeated the ‘Shuttle King’!”
“A pun gets even less funny when you use it twice!”
Gen broke free and knocked Takaba back with an elbow strike.
The badminton court around them melted away like snow.
Gen looked at Takaba lying motionless on the ground and fell into thought again.
This guy’s Cursed Technique also came with “jokes.” Anyone dragged into it would resonate with him for a certain amount of time.
Just like a moment ago.
Gen had clearly meant to attack him, but instead ended up playing a badminton match with him, and did not even score.
That badminton court was like an expanded Domain…
No, although the principle was the same, destroying something like that would not send his Cursed Technique into burnout.
…But it did have a sure-hit effect.
He wondered whether Mahoraga could adapt to this Cursed Technique…
He had never tried it before.
Why had there been no movement for so long?
Gen walked forward a few steps, crouched down, and turned “Takaba” over.
It was a crudely made cloth dummy.
Honestly, he should have been able to tell the moment it was standing there.
“Sir, please look this way!”
Gen raised his head.
A tank had appeared in front of him, its cannon barrel pointed straight at his face.
“I’m supposed to say cheese now, right?”
“It’s not funny if the audience says it for me!”
Boom!
Gen’s figure shot into the air like lightning, while the cannon he had dodged exploded like a party popper, spraying out a shower of colorful paper.
Takaba appeared beside the barrel.
“Oh no!
I swapped it out for a confetti cannon yesterday for my friend’s birthday!”
“That would be awful on an actual battlefield, wouldn’t it?”
“You’re right!”
“If people set off party poppers on the battlefield, maybe the war would end because of it.”
Several bolts of lightning burst from Gen’s body, instantly covering the ground where Takaba stood and blowing the “tank” into a cloud of Cursed Energy.
Gen immediately beat his wings and dived down hard.
Bzzzt, bzzzt, bzzzt, bzzzt, bzzzt, bzzzt!
Gen, who had nearly turned into lightning itself, was dragged aside by a powerful pull as he crashed downward.
The lightning around him was drawn to the lightning rod beside Takaba, and Gen himself landed on the ground as if he had slammed on the brakes.
Did my Cursed Technique disappear?
No…
was it only temporarily sealed?
Because I’m restricted by the lightning rod, I can’t use lightning?
“Did you know?
The record for the number of times a human has been struck by lightning in a row without dying has just been broken!”
Takaba’s voice came from within the dust that had not yet cleared.
Gen immediately switched to searching with his Cursed Energy senses.
Unfortunately, the dust was also part of the “Superman” Cursed Technique.
“That record was broken right under my nose just now, wasn’t it?”
“Y-yes!
And the one who broke it was none other than me, Takaba Fumihiko!”
As Takaba spoke, the dust cleared, revealing Takaba himself, completely blackened from head to toe, with his hair blown out into an afro.
“You don’t exactly look fine.”
“I never said I was fine, did I?”
“The previous record holder must be devastated right now.
Some guy cheated with a lightning rod and broke his record.
Hmm, who was the previous record holder again?”
“Yusuke Godai!”
With a red light suddenly appearing at his waist, Takaba instantly transformed into black Kuuga.
He raised his hand, and a burst of fire instantly ignited on Gen’s left shoulder.
“That’s copyright infringement!
If this showed up on a variety show, Toei would shut it down with a lawsuit!”
As Takaba transformed, Gen also raised his hand.
At some point, his palm had become covered in white armor, and the surrounding area turned into a snowy mountain as heavy snow began to fall.
“That’s something to worry about after the show ends!”
Takaba shook himself, scattered the flames, and charged at Gen.
“Don’t act all noble while throwing caution to the wind!
And if you’re going to be a Kamen Rider, at least put your mask on properly!”
Gen also shook himself, following Takaba’s movement, then charged straight at him.