In the glare of the soaring flames, Frank heard the faint roar coming from within the fire and his brow furrowed slightly.
He's not dead yet. What's the deal with this gang leader? Bio-engineered? How can he possess such power?
Previously, Frank, seeing that bullets and grenades could not cause effective damage, chose to turn and run, leading Raul to the warehouse storing weapons and ammunition, and then detonated it using the devices he had set up beforehand.
He hadn't expected that the power of the entire warehouse's ammunition exploding simultaneously would still fail to instantly kill the monster.
After taking one last look at the flames engulfing the ammunition depot, Frank turned and left the Beast Gang's warehouse factory.
In Frank's judgment, this monster possessed extremely strong regenerative abilities. If the explosion didn't kill him immediately, it would be very difficult to kill him later. He might rush out of the sea of fire very soon.
Frank only had two pistols and a submachine gun on him now. If that monster burst out now, he truly wouldn't have a way to cope.
So Frank immediately distanced himself from the gang's factory and moved to a pre-set sniping position, raising his Barrett sniper rifle to observe the movement in the sea of fire.
Frank had set up this sniping position only out of caution, to be prepared. He originally thought it was just an ordinary gang that could be easily infiltrated and eliminated, and the sniper rifle wouldn't be necessary at all.
He never expected to encounter such an out-of-the-ordinary monster.
"As expected, he's not dead." Frank watched through the scope as Raul pushed aside the collapsed ruins and charged out of the fire, a sharp glint in his eyes.
"Damn Punisher! I will tear you to shreds," Raul, transformed into the Beast Dopant, roared.
With the powerful regeneration of the Beast, all his injuries healed in a short time.
However, Raul now utterly hated Frank. Not only had Frank slaughtered almost all his subordinates, but he had also used his own commercial weapons against him. Now that all the weapons in the warehouse had been burned to ashes, his loss was unprecedentedly huge.
Frank saw Raul's exasperated look, curled his lip slightly, and pulled the trigger.
Bang
The bullet, powerful enough to shatter a person or penetrate the armor plating of a medium-to-light tank, hit Raul's body. Raul was subjected to a huge impact force and recoiled several meters.
"Damn it, that hurts." Raul picked the bullet out of his chest and threw it to the ground.
"It didn't penetrate? The body's strength can actually withstand a Barrett bullet?!" The Punisher stared in shock as the circular wound on Raul's chest healed rapidly.
Raul sniffed the residual scent in the air like a wild animal and charged toward the direction the bullet came from.
Frank watched Raul accurately approach him and muttered to himself, "It looks like he can also track enemies by smelling the lingering scent in the air, just like a beast?!"
At the same time, the Barrett fired continuously, aiming directly at Raul's eyes. Since he couldn't penetrate the body directly, he would shoot at the body's weak points.
However, Raul, in his Beast Dopant form, ran extremely fast and possessed a beast-like instinct for danger. Although Frank's marksmanship was incredibly accurate, Raul was able to repeatedly evade the vital spots.
Although the Barrett bullets could momentarily halt Raul's steps, Raul was getting closer and closer to Frank.
Seeing Raul's injuries quickly healing while he ran, Frank took a deep breath, held it, and fired three quick shots in succession. One shot hit the leg, and one hit the chest, but both were only meant to affect Raul's movement, allowing the third bullet to hit its mark.
"Solved?" Frank sighed in relief as he watched Raul clutch his eyes and fall, muttering to himself.
"The Beast is not that easy to deal with."
Frank reflexively sprang up, drew the pistol from his waist, and aimed it at the direction of the voice.
"Who are you?" Frank asked guardedly, looking at Dan who was transformed into Kamen Rider Eternal.
"This guy used a Gaia Memory to gain power, possessing powerful self-healing abilities. If you can't destroy the Gaia Memory inside his body, he will quickly recover completely," Dan said to the wary Frank, pointing toward Raul.
"Gaia Memory?" Frank squinted: "That's the source of this guy's transformation and powerful strength?"
"Why do you know so clearly?" he questioned with suspicion.
Dan smiled faintly: "Because the Gaia Memories were distributed by us to find suitable users."
"So you plan to help that monster deal with me?" Frank glanced at Raul, who was standing up again in the distance, and asked.
Shaking his head, Dan pulled out the Accel Driver and Memory and threw them to Frank: "Actually, I'm here to help you, to give you the power to fight a Dopant."
Frank caught the Driver and Memory, looked at the Lost Driver and Eternal Memory on Dan's waist: "So these two items can let me put on an armor like you? And 'Dopant' refers to the monster that the gang leader turned into?"
"That's right. A monster like him, created by using a Gaia Memory, is a Dopant. And if you use the Accel Memory and Driver, to be precise, you'll transform into Kamen Rider Accel," Dan nodded and added.
"Kamen Rider?" Frank was a bit confused.
"Exactly. By using the Accel Memory and Driver to transform into Kamen Rider Accel, you will be able to destroy this guy's Gaia Memory and return him to his original state."
"Who exactly are you? What is your purpose?" Frank asked, his expression shifting between doubt and thought.
"You can call me by the codename of the Gaia Memory I use, Eternal. As for the purpose, it is naturally to select the most suitable users of the Gaia Memories, allowing the Gaia Memories to gain stronger enhancement and breakthroughs."
"So, you've distributed many Gaia Memories like the one in this guy's hand, all for the sake of so-called Gaia Memory research. Giving me this Gaia Memory is the same thing, treating us all as experimental guinea pigs?" Frank raised an eyebrow.
Dan was slightly speechless: "Indeed, quite a few Gaia Memories have been released onto the market. Of course, you can understand yourself as an experimental subject, but someone who can use a Driver to transform and is not affected by the Gaia Memory toxins is definitely a precious and rare experimental subject."
"Memory Toxin? Is that the side effect?" Frank asked, guessing at the meaning as he looked at Raul, who was now behaving completely like a beast and charging toward them on all fours.
"Correct. If the Memory is inserted directly into the body, there will be strong toxins. When the user has intense negative emotions like anger or hatred, it reacts with the toxins, causing the user to lose control."
Dan shook his head, looking at Raul: "A user with insufficient aptitude, unable to withstand the Gaia Memory toxins, has fallen into a state of mental loss of control? As expected, he is not the right candidate to evolve the Memory."
"Make your choice. The Beast will be here soon. Of course, you can choose to give up the power of the Accel Memory. But then you probably won't be able to handle the Beast Dopant."
Frank pressed the Accel Memory, his gaze deep, seemingly contemplating.
"ACCEL."
He felt the surging power in the Memory calling to him.
Frank's eyes narrowed. He brought the Driver to his waist, and the Driver automatically extended a belt to secure itself. Following the mysterious call, he inserted the Memory, and the roar of an engine immediately sounded, with crimson flames igniting around him.
Kamen Rider Accel made his appearance.
"Excellent," Dan clapped his hands with a smile: "You are indeed a suitable user for Accel. The flame in your heart can perfectly unleash Accel's power."
Before Dan could finish speaking, he reached out and blocked a punch Frank launched at him, then lightly pushed Frank a few meters away.
Laughing heartily: "You're too early to challenge me. You need to become stronger first. But now you can fully use Accel's power to draw a desperate final line for evil. This is the weapon equipped for you, the Engine Blade."
He tossed the Engine Blade in front of Frank and then instantly vanished.
Frank picked up the Engine Blade and glanced at the spot where Dan had disappeared. Then he turned to face the Beast Dopant that had arrived.
"Who are you? Where is that bastard Punisher?" Raul angrily questioned the person in the red armor before him.
Frank spoke to himself instead: "Although that guy is quite annoying, one thing he said is true. I will draw a desperate final line for all evil."
"So, are you ready to face the desperate end?" Frank turned his head and asked Raul.
"Bastard! I'll tear you to shreds!" Although Raul was confused at first, he understood the latter half of the sentence meant this person was going to deal with him, so he charged directly at Frank.
"This is impossible!" Raul, transformed into the Beast Dopant, half-knelt on the ground, staring incredulously at the un-healing wound on his body, which was burning with a red aura.
Frank merely laughed coldly. Following the Memory's guidance, he twisted the motorcycle-like throttle on the Driver and activated the Maximum Drive.
The roar of an engine rang out.
"ACCEL"
"MAXIMUM DRIVE"
"Despair is your final destination!"
Frank delivered a sweeping leg kick, and the Beast Memory popped out, shattering as it hit the ground. The battle was over.
Author's Note:
(I actually considered having the Punisher use the Skull Memory, and having Gwen's father, George Stacy, use the Accel Memory. However, the hatred for his family's murder and the pursuit and punishment of evil makes Frank a perfect match for Ryu's character arc.)
(End of this chapter)