"Uncle, where are they?" Gates asked, waking early to find himself alone in the house—except for his uncle, who was tinkering with a robot toy.
"Oh, Tsukuyomi went out to help me buy some things, and Sougo had to take a make-up exam," the uncle replied casually.
"Make-up exam?"
"Yes. At this rate, Sougo might not even graduate!"
"But he looked pretty confident earlier," Gates said skeptically. "Something about predicting the questions on the test..."
"Yeah, he said he could foresee the contents of the exam."
Gates fell silent for a moment, then exploded internally. You're using time powers to cheat on an exam?! Why am I the one studying seriously?!
Later that day, Sougo returned home with a devastated expression. "I'm going to study seriously and pass next time," he said dejectedly.
Apparently, his so-called "predictive dream" was completely off. The questions on the actual test were totally different. Once again, Sougo failed in spectacular fashion.
Realizing his foresight powers weren't reliable for academic purposes, Sougo begrudgingly sat down to study. But as soon as he opened his math book and saw a page full of cryptic formulas, he immediately dozed off.
In truth, his dreams did still hold glimpses of the future. Just like how he once foresaw Kamen Rider Shinobi, this time he had dreamt of the make-up exam—but the next one, not the one he just failed.
As Sougo drifted into slumber, his time-based precognitive abilities, tied to the power of the Demon King, began to activate once again.
Ten minutes later, his phone buzzed violently, snapping him out of sleep.
"Helloo...?" he mumbled, barely opening his eyes as he picked up the call.
"Are you planning to sleep through the apocalypse?!" Gates roared through the line. "Another another Rider just appeared! Get over here now!"
After defeating the another Ryuuga last time, Sougo had informed Gates that a third future Rider should exist. Since then, Gates had been constantly on the lookout, eager to obtain the last future Rider Watch. Especially after dying once and resurrecting, he was determined to acquire the "resurrection" power before fate struck again.
He finally encountered the third another Rider that day. At first, Gates was excited, charging in immediately. But after a few minutes of combat, it became clear—this one wasn't going down so easily. When brute force failed, he reluctantly called Sougo for backup.
When Sougo arrived, he caught a glimpse of the enemy's unique technique—something about its posture during a Rider Kick struck a chord. It looked oddly familiar. But before he could place it—
"Hey! What are you zoning out for?" Gates snapped.
"Ah, sorry!" Sougo transformed without another word. As Kamen Rider Zi-O, he launched a swift and decisive attack, quickly overpowering the another Rider.
But when the dust settled, something felt... off.
"Wait," Gates frowned, staring at the shattered remains of what looked like broken wood. "There's no one inside this Rider?"
"I think I know who—or what—it was," Sougo muttered, staring into the fragments. "That killing move... I've seen it before."
"What? Who was it? How do you know?"
"I... dreamt about it," Sougo said, smiling sheepishly.
"You and your dreams again! Can you even trust those anymore?"
"Well, this one looked exactly like Kamen Rider Kikai when it performed its finishing move. I can't be 100% sure, but I bet Ryuga will know."
And just like that, he turned around and bolted. "I've got studying to do!"
Yeah, sure, Gates thought. Studying equals sleeping, apparently.
As for asking Ryuga, Gates would have liked to—but no one actually knew where Ryuga lived. He always appeared through portals at random. For now, all they could do was wait. He usually showed up at mealtimes, anyway.
Neither Gates nor Sougo noticed the broken piece of wood twitch slightly. It twitched again—then suddenly sprang to life. Shaped vaguely like a beetle, it scurried away and leapt onto a tree.
And in that instant, the tree itself transformed—taking the shape of the same another machine they thought they'd just defeated. It vanished in a flash.
By noon, Ryuga arrived right on schedule for the group's routine meal. Gates seized the moment to ask him directly.
"Oh? Another another Rider?" Ryuga asked. "Yes, Sougo was right. That was an another Kikai."
"But there was no one inside," Gates said. "Just wood."
"That's because it hasn't found a contractor yet," Ryuga explained. "Its current form is most likely that wooden fragment you saw. I assume none of you inspected the remains thoroughly?"
Gates and Sougo exchanged awkward glances.
"Not really. Who goes rummaging through trash?"
"No matter," Ryuga chuckled. "It's actually better that you didn't fully destroy it. Since its power is unstable, you wouldn't have received a Ride Watch even if you had."
"So... how do we get it?"
"Next time you defeat it, Svoruze and the others will help you," Ryuga said.
Everyone at the table—including Ora—fell silent.
Time robbers who help us when needed? That's... actually kind of convenient.
"Gates, come with me," Ryuga said after the meal, gesturing for him to follow.
"Huh? Where to?" Gates asked.
"You'll see."
With a wave of his hand, Ryuga opened a portal shimmering like a field of stars. He stepped through. After a moment's hesitation, Gates followed—and immediately found himself speechless.
They were floating in space, protected by a field of energy. Beneath them was the Earth... or rather, what used to be Earth.
Gone was the blue and green beauty of the living planet. What lay below was a scorched, yellow wasteland—dry, lifeless, and ominous.
If not for the shape of the continents and the strange pull in his heart, Gates would never have recognized it.
"This... is Earth?" Gates said, his voice barely a whisper.
Ryuga said nothing at first. He guided Gates downward until they hovered above a ruined city.
Below them, a golden Kamen Rider stood between a group of children and a swarm of humanoid robots, fighting with all his strength to protect them.
"This is the year 2121," Ryuga finally said. "And that Rider down there... is Kamen Rider Kikai."
"The Earth has been overrun by machines. Humanity is nearly extinct—maybe a few thousand survivors remain. As for the source of the future Riders... well, now you understand."
Gates clenched his fists as his knees hit the air beneath him. Then, he laughed bitterly.
"So this... this is the 'savior' future?" he said, eyes gleaming with fury. "The normal timeline of the Demon King... a future where no new Riders emerge after 2018. Only after you destroyed that timeline, only then were the three future Riders born."
"Haha... hahahaha... Savior? This is what they call salvation?"