Kamen Rider Spirits Chapter 7: Sea of Destruction Part 1

Sea of Destuction (Part 1) is the seventh chapter of the manga Kamen Rider Spirits and the second story of the second tankobon. It introduces Kamen Rider X to the story and is the first part of the two part Sea of Destruction arc.

Synopsis
Taki and Anri head to Spain to investigate sightings of strange silver monsters and ghosts off the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. While investigating, they run into Keisuke Jin who is helping an old man on a fishing boat and is also looking into the mysterious attacks out on the sea.

Plot
The story opens out on the Mediterranean Sea near the coast of Spain, a fishing boat is out on the water on a foggy night. One of the crew is nervous about being out as he feels like a ghost is going to come out any second. The captain says during the colonial period many ships were sunk here in this part of the water. The crew observes a glowing light coming from the ocean and then a silver ghostly ship appears in front of them with ghoulish pirates on deck. The ghost ship rams into the fishing boat and almost all the crew perish, the boat sinking beneath the waves.

Later, a yacht is out on the sea, only to encounter the same strange glow appearing in the water and a giant silver orca leaps out and crushes the yacht.

In New York, Agent Taki is reading his newspaper about reports of strange things on the Mediterranean Sea causing the disappearances of vessels, with sole survivals ranting about something their ship that was silver in color. Bridget finds the idea of a story about ghost ships and silver killer whales "romantic". Kazuya tells her that this is a serious situation. Suspecting whatever organization was behind the vampire attacks in New York City to be involved, Kazuya wishes he could get in contact with Takeshi Hongo or Hayato Ichimonji for more details. A woman in a black trenchcoat arrives in the diner, whom Hopkins informs Kazuya is here for him. Kazuya thinks the woman is very beautiful, only to get hit in the head by a serving tray Bridget was holding as she's jealous and insulted by that comment.

Kazuya offers her coffee and then she introduces herself as Annrietta Birkin, agent of Interpol. She knows of agent Taki's reputation from his investigations of Shocker and Gel-Shocker, as well as his affiliations with the Kamen Riders. She then explains that after the fall of Gel-Shocker, a Hunter team was assembled to stop a new organization formed from Shocker: Destron. They used the data from Agent Taki's files to assist the Riders in stopping them, then goes on to explain about the Government Of Darkness, only to be interrupted by Kazuya. Kazuya says he knows nothing about what happened after that point, as after he reported back from Japan, his agency limited his investigative resources and his contacts for information have been cut down, saying he has no leads. He tells Annrietta that if she was looking for him for a job, all she had do is ask as he's bored anyway and agrees to go with her.

The two agents head on a boat to Spain, the owner named José says he can't blame people for being scared especially with the attacks of the silver whale, ghost ship and a silver tidal wave. He says that if nothing is done or whatever is causing this doesn't go away, fishing in this part of the region will dry up. José comments he's already ruined anyway and this is his second life, showing his scar and telling Agent Taki he used to be a matador until a bull gored his leg and he's been afraid of bulls ever since. Annrietta is surprised how well Kazuya gets along with people. The light in the water appears and a silver bull is lurking in the water underneath the boat.

An old man on another boat holding shotgun is yelling at the other fisherman to get out of the water and he told them not to bring the boat out. José panics as that is the boss, with Kazuya confused as to why a fisherman has a shotgun. Before matter that explains he used to be his boss, but he went insane and attacks people for going out into the water. The crew turns on the engines and speed away back to the coast, telling the old man, named Mr. Greco, that they won't do it again. Mr. Greco then shouts at Kazuya, "the stupid tourist", that if he comes back again to sea, he'll shoot him all the while wildly firing his shotgun in the air.

Mr. Greco says at the rate the boats are coming in, he'll never be able to keep watch. The light under the water then slowly fades away. A young man comes up on deck and asks Mr. Greco what's going on, as he heard gunshots. Mr. Greco grouchily explains that José brought more "lousy tourists" onto the water, the young man revealed to be Keisuke Jin.

At a local Cantina, the agents stop for a drink, only for Kazuya to be outraged at the fact one drink costs 10,000. The bartender says now that the fishing has stopped, food and drink are more expensive; especially fish. The curtain opens on stage and the crowd cheers as a beautiful flamenco dancing senorita allures the crowd while the band plays. The bartender says its Rosa's flamenco show, a dancer who recently came into town makes the men merry and happy to forget their troubles and gambling debts. The sound of broken glass disrupts the music and Mr. Greco is standing in front of Rosa holding a broken beer bottle. He tells Rosa that she doesn't fool him, and demands to know why she came back and what she's planning in a hostile manner. The patrons of the cantina are upset by Mr. Greco's wild accusations, to which he begins wildly throwing around his broken beer bottle. Mr. Greco then says to the patrons that it is odd that the strange events at sea begin happening when she arrived. The men do not care and believe Mr. Greco to be a superstitious fool and believe Rosa has nothing to do with what is going on at sea. Mr. Greco gets angry shouting about something that happened 40 years ago and then throws the contents of a wine bottle he was holding onto Rosa's dress, upsetting the dancer.

The bar patrons form an angry mob, but Kazuya stops them, as he believes Mr. Greco to be nothing but a harmless decrepit old man who is drunk. One of the drunk men of the mob still wants to fight, with Kazuya ready to take him on. Keisuke walks through the door and tells the man to punch him instead, with Annrietta recognizing him and Kazuya puzzled as to how she knows him. Annrietta vaguely explains that Keisuke is simply "someone he has to meet ". The angry drunk accepts Keisuke's challenge and punches him in the face, only to break his hand on his jaw and collapse in pain. Keisuke receives a bloody nose and a slightly bruised eye from the punch, but is otherwise fine and is still standing. Keisuke picks up Mr. Greco and carries him away, only for Rosa to stop them and say she is sorry as she must remind him of an unfaithful woman he met in the past, which enrages Mr. Greco. She examines Keisuke's face out of concern, but Keisuke says he has a surprisingly tough body and is fine. He carries off Mr. Greco as Rosa buys drinks on the house for the whole cantina, much to the joy of the patrons.

Annrietta and Kazuya stop Keisuke on his way back and introduce themselves, Kazuya back slaps Keisuke and hurts his hand, joking that the guy must have "great abs" to be able to take a hit like the punch from the drunk in the bar. Keisuke offers them a place to stay on Mr. Greco's boat, as they don't seem to have a room for the night. The next morning, Keisuke does work for Mr. Greco while Annrietta observes him. She later inquires as to why he's on a fishing boat helping an old man, thinking he feels sympathy for someone who lost their loved one at sea like his father. Keisuke says he's heard of who he is from Riderman and he is investigating the accidents out at sea, that is the only reason he is helping Mr. Greco. As the two agents try to find a lead, their investigation has only stories of a light in the waves and various silver objects that destroy ships. One oddity of the investigation is one of the survivors, who claimed to have seen a sea witch floating on the surface of the water, holding a silver skull. The man died soon afterward and everyone in the town thought he was crazy, only Mr. Greco believed him and still talks about it. They also add the fact that Mr. Greco seems to be obsessed with Rosa, implying there might be a possible connection.

José is in an alley blocked off by Rosa, who wants to punish him for bringing "those two foreigners" on a boat out to sea. José is paralyzed with fear, as a silver blob forms into a giant bull, with Rosa cruelly mocking him and asking if this is what he is afraid of.

Keisuke comes back into the cabin where Anri and Kazuya were staying only to find anote on the bed from Kazyua telling him that he won't burden him anymore. Kazuya has a misunderstanding about who Keisuke is as a person given his comments on how he's only using Mr. Greco earlier. The two then hear a scream and rush to the source, only to witness José being impaled to death by a silver bull. Rosa then silently commands the bull to attack "the foreigners". Kazuya tries to use his gun on the bull, only for the bullets to deflect off of it. The two struggle to run away from the bull, only for a motorcycle to appear in front of them when they turn into another alley; the Cruiser. A voice tells them to get on the bike and use it, with Kazuya recognizing the voice. They get on the bike as the bull chases after them, only to be surprised that it is driving on its own and the incredible speed on the motorcycle is threatening to throw them off of it. Anri lobs three grenades at the bull to slow it down, but it has little effect...

Allies

 * Kazuya Taki
 * Annrietta Birkin
 * Bridget
 * Hopkins

Enemies

 * Rosa