Transform
(Original Airdate: February 6, 2000)
It's late at night, and a young woman is chatting on the phone on the way to her car, which is parked in a parking lot of a local church. Unfortunately for her, a member of the Gurongi tribe, Xu Gouma Gu, is using this church as a hideout. He looks down hungrily from the roof of the church, then swoops down on her, and as she screams, the opening credits begin.
Opening Credits
Next morning in a local diner Sakurako is reading the news on her laptop, which reports the incident at the dig site as a bomb disposal activity which has been interrupted by a bear. Across from her Yuusuke wakes up, having slept for eleven hours after his exhausting encounter with Xu Gumun Ba. "I've never spent so much energy at one time," he says. He's hungry, so he asks for a menu. Sakurako says she couldn’t sleep herself, but was kept up thinking about the video and that fact that Yuusuke had changed into the mysterious creature. She asks him if he is alright. "Well, I didn’t die at least." he remarks rather glibly. "You’re much too light-hearted about all this," she chides, saying she was worried he wouldn’t revert back to human form. He says he wasn't worried about changing, which he could do because he was motivated to fight, because as soon as the motivation was gone, he automatically changed back. "You don’t have to do that anymore?" she asks hopefully. He says no, and that he just wants to get back to being a regular adventurer. He adds that he really disliked how he felt when fighting.
Ichijou and Kameyama leave the police station to investigate the scene at the church parking lot. Ichijou says that the bomb disposal/bear story was a cover to prevent public panic. On the way to the church Ichijou sees Yuusuke and Sakurako in the diner, and has Kameyama pull over. He calls Yuusuke outside and questions him about his actions regarding the belt, and warns Yuusuke to stay out of police business. Yuusuke reminds him that he was the one who fought the spider-man, and warns that the creature is most likely still alive. "That was reckless, putting that belt on. For all you knew, you could have turned into one of those creatures," warns Ichijou. Yuusuke tells him that he felt the belt was calling to him. "Stay out of this. This is police business." Ichijou warns, then takes Yuusuke by the arm. "I’m taking you to get a physical examination." he says, but Yuusuke protests, saying he hasn’t bathed yet, and besides he just wants to get back to Tokyo. Kameyama approaches and tells Ichijou that they need to get to the crime scene or Inspector Ebisawa will be upset. Ichijou then gives Yuusuke a contact number in Tokyo to call when he arrives, a doctor Tsubaki Shuichi from the police medical dispensary.
Ichijou arrives on the crime scene, where Ebisawa is waiting with disturbing news. He tells Ichijou that there is something very odd about the victim, who had two bite marks on her neck, but no other wounds which would have caused a fatality. He also says that there were a total of 5 victims the previous night. Ichijou remarks that the shapes of the mouths of Numbers 1 & 2 are different from human mouths. Ebisawa wonder if they are sensitive to light as a drunk man who claimed to have been attacked by one of the creatures said that the creature fled when bright light hit it. "Don’t tell me this is Number 3," he says disbelievingly.
As the two are talking, a mother and her young daughter watch from the edge of the parking lot. "I hope Father Hose is okay," says the girl hopefully. "I don’t want him to be attacked by a bear."
Later in the day, Yuusuke stops by the church looking for clues. He enters the church through a side window. Once inside the church he meets a man, thinking it’s Father Hose, but curiously the priest shies away from the sunlight. This gets Yuusuke's attention, but he leaves without pursuing the matter. As he is leaving, the camera shows us what happened to the real priest.
Later Sakurako and Yuusuke are talking in a diner, and Sakurako says she's decided to attend the funeral services for Dr. Natsume, the murdered head of the archaeological site.
That night when Ichijou arrives back at the church, several cops are being thrown around by Xu Gouma Gu. Yuusuke has followed Ichijou, and tries to help out, but Ichijou tries to send him away. "I told you this is police business! Now get lost!" Yuusuke ignores the detective and attacks the creature, getting thrown into a couple of walls and a pipe or two for his trouble. He calls for the belt, and transforms into Kuuga, but it's still only in Growing Form. Kuuga has trouble with Xu Gouma Gu, and is defeated, at which point he returns to Yuusuke. Ichijou fires a few rounds at Xu Gouma Gu, but the bullets have no effect, and Xu Gouma Gu shrugs them off. Just then backup police cars arrive, and the light from their headlights hits Xu Gouma Gu, causing him to cringe and then take flight.
Later, Ichijou checks himself out of the hospital against the wishes of the nurse, who fears he may have a broken arm. Yuusuke is there, too, and says he wants to help, but Ichijou chides him for interfering. Furious, Ichijou grabs Yuusuke and throws up against the wall. "You may have the fighting power, but you don't have the obligation. This is a police matter. Stay out if you're only into this half-hearted." Ichijou gets in the elevator.
Yuusuke goes to visit Sakurako again, and wonders why he only transforms to the white warrior (Growing Form), when in his visions he sees a red warrior (Kuuga's Mighty Form). With no sufficient answers, the two go the Dr. Natsume's funeral. Sakurako attends the service, and offers some incense for Dr. Natsume. As she is doing so a young girl who is at the service is overcome with grief, and she dashes outside. Yuusuke is pacing around outside when the girl appears, sobbing loudly. She slumps against the wall crying. This upsets Yuusuke, who hits his fist against the wall.
Shortly before dawn Ichijou is combing the neighborhood searching for the witness, a man named Oshima Masaru. He finds him at a late-night food cart. "You’re the one who saw the creature?" asks Ichijou. "You believe me?" replies the man, and then proceeds to tell Ichijou his story. All the evidence points to one location: San Marco church.
Ichijou returns once more to the church. He finds Xu Gouma Gu, who we see hanging from the ceiling in bat-like fashion, at which point he transforms from human to Gurongi form and attacks Ichijou. In the course of the fight (which consists almost entirely of Ichijou being tossed around like a rag-doll) some candles are knocked over, setting fire to the curtains. Suddenly, Yuusuke comes crashing through the door on his motorcycle, momentarily throwing Xu Gouma Gu off his guard. "Why are you here?" yells Ichijou. "I came to fight," replies Yuusuke. "I told you to stay away," replies Ichijou. Yuusuke says that he can't allow more people to suffer, and so he tells Ichijou, "Watch my transformation!" He calls for the belt, which appears around his waist. He begins attacking Xu Gouma Gu with conviction and ferocity, and shortly his body is covered with red armor; he has achieved Mighty Form. Xu Gouma Gu snarls something that ends with the word "Kuuga." "Kuuga? Is that my name?" wonders Yuusuke. He begins battling Xu Gouma Gu. He manages to get Ichijou outside, but is quickly followed by Xu Gouma Gu, and the two battle fiercely. The battle spills over into an indoor amusement park, with Kuuga and Xu Gouma Gu fighting on a rollercoaster track. Kuuga is knocked to the ground, following shortly by Xu Gouma Gu. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Xu Gumun Ba appears and joins the fray. In the course of the battle, a hole is knocked in another wall and daylight streams in, striking Xu Gouma Gu and sending him away to hide.
The fight continues between Kuuga and Xu Gumun Ba, eventually ending up on the roof of a building. It is now full daylight. After more hand-to-hand combat, Kuuga manages to land a powerful kick in Xu Gumun Ba's chest, at which point the creature is stopped in his tracks. He staggers back, cries out, and after spewing words of apparent disbelief, he explodes in a noisy ball of flame. Body parts go flying in all directions.
A short while later Ichijou wakes up to find himself propped against Yuusuke. "Good morning," says Yuusuke. "How did I get here?" asks Ichijou. Yuusuke tells him not to worry about it, and Ichijou’s suspicions that Yuusuke is actually Kuuga are confirmed.
End of episode
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