"No! Kenzaki!" Aikawa Hajime shouted, alarmed, as he saw Kenzaki charging forward with his sword.
But Kenzaki, overwhelmed by rage, ignored him completely. He swung his sword mercilessly, slashing left and right, clearly out of control. With a pained expression, he swiped three cards in rapid succession.
[Kick – Flying Locust Kick!]
[Thunder – Thunder Deer!]
[Mach – Mach Jaguar!]
[Lightning Sonic – Lightning-Speed Strike!]
Aikawa Hajime, recognizing the familiar sensation of being overwhelmed—just as Sougo had felt earlier—instinctively rolled away from the oncoming blast.
But the most unfortunate weren't Hajime. It was Sougo and the Another Blade, who had somehow ended up entangled in the chaos again.
They were positioned directly behind Hajime. When he was knocked away, Kenzaki, still mid-charge, either couldn't or didn't bother to stop. He kept kicking forward—and crashed into both of them.
The result?
The real target walked away with minor injuries.
Sougo and the unlucky Another Blade were both blasted out of their Rider forms and ended up squatting helplessly on the ground.
The younger Rider—Little Zi-O—was forced back into a lower form. It was... frankly humiliating.
"Tenon-chan!" Hajime cried out when he saw the woman transform into a Another Blade.
"Tenon-chan?!" Kenzaki echoed in disbelief, quickly turning his gaze in that direction.
But Kurihara Tenon, the girl in question, was unharmed. She stood up swiftly and ran toward Hajime. Seemingly unwilling to face her, Hajime fled the scene as soon as he confirmed she was okay.
"Hajime! Wait!"
Kurihara Tenon shouted and chased after him, leaving behind a speechless Kenzaki and a dazed Sougo still sitting in the dirt.
Oh, and let's not forget Tsukuyomi, casually watching the mess unfold from the sidelines like she was catching up on a drama series...
"Jokers attract each other," Tsukuyomi said, narrating like a seasoned analyst. "And when they meet, they must fight."
"When only one Joker remains, the world begins to collapse."
"Another Blade, Kurihara Tenon is someone Kamen Rider Chalice once protected as a child," Woz added.
Back at the Time Maw Hall, after dragging Kenzaki home, Sougo and the others finally pieced together the full story behind this incident.
"So if something happens to Tenon, Chalice will show up—and that will draw Blade into the fight," Tsukuyomi deduced. "Their battle would determine the sole Joker... and trigger the world's end. That's Swartz's plan, isn't it?"
"We have to stop the fight between Blade and Chalice!" Gates declared.
Sougo clenched his fists. "They've both been trying to avoid fighting. This was the enemy's scheme—targeting Kurihara Tenon's weakness."
"Kurihara still clings to her childhood memories of Chalice," Woz sighed. "Being emotionally vulnerable is such a liability."
Sougo raised an eyebrow. "Woz, didn't you and Gates do the same? I already know your past."
Woz and Gates both froze and looked at Tsukuyomi with suspicion.
"There's a traitor among us."
Stare...
"..."
Tsukuyomi just smiled slyly and returned Sougo's gaze.
"But to you, it's the past. To me, it's the future," Sougo said. "If it's the future, we can still change it—starting now."
Neither Woz nor Gates responded. Instead, both quietly reflected on his words.
Still, there was no time for reflection. They had to find Aikawa Hajime and Kurihara Tenon before it was too late.
Elsewhere, Ryuga were... let's say "trading favors" with Daiki Kaito.
With Sougo's group preoccupied by the alien Blade situation, they hadn't had time to recover their missing Rider Watches.
Apart from a basic Gates Watch that Gates and Woz forcibly reclaimed from Daiki, two critical watches—Zi-O's Second Tier and Resurrected Gates—remained in Daiki's possession.
Unbeknownst to them, those two watches were the key to defeating their next enemy.
Rather than get involved directly, Ryuga opened a dimensional portal to Daiki and negotiated the retrieval ourselves.
In exchange for the watches, we offered him White Woz's future notebook. Frankly, Ora was done with it—it was useless to her now that she spent most of her time homebound.
As for Daiki? Trading two watches he couldn't use for a magic book that could "manipulate" the future? A total win.
Both parties were pleased with the deal. Then, using insider intel—courtesy of a certain chatty time traveler—we returned to find Sougo and his group.
And yes, that "insider" was Tsukuyomi. So when Gates called her a "traitor" earlier... well, he wasn't wrong.
Tsukuyomi's trick was simple. While chatting with Ora, she'd casually "leak" Sougo's whereabouts when things got dangerous. She couldn't fight—but she could tip the scales.
Smart girl.
When Ryuga arrived, the scene was grim.
Sougo, Gates, and Woz were getting absolutely bodied by the new Another Blade.
Yes, the same one who used to be weak was now more powerful than all three of them combined. The second-tier Zi-O and Resurrected Gates forms were useless.
Meanwhile, Kenzaki and Hajime just sat on the sidelines... watching.
Why?
Because the alien Blade had absorbed both of their powers. They were no longer Undead. Their wounds bled red, not green. They were... human again.
With only one Joker left in the world, the destruction had begun.
Dark clouds covered the sky. Above the alien Blade floated a grotesque statue teeming with Undead. If it shattered, the monsters within would unleash chaos across the world.
This, it seemed, was the true reason why the world would end when only one Joker remained.
While the three Riders struggled in battle...
"Gates," Woz muttered, stumbling from a blow. "I know you still haven't forgiven me..."
"This isn't the time!" Gates snapped.
But Woz clearly wasn't going to help just yet—he needed to catch his breath. So the two stood to the side... talking.
Sougo: Seriously?! What the hell, you two!? Woz, do you even want to fight?!
Woz: "If the world ends, I won't have a chance to say this again."
Gates: "Fine, I'll tell you—I hate your guts!"
Woz gave a dry smile. "Expected as much."
"But I also hate my past self—always stuck in regret. So maybe... creating a new future with Zi-O isn't such a bad idea."
"I like that future too," Woz nodded.
"But right now, we have to stop the alien Blade!" Gates said, clenching his fists.
"Then let's go together!"
Just as the two were about to rejoin the battle, Sougo collapsed at their feet.
"..."
They helped him up—and just as they were about to reengage, Ryuga stopped them.
"These are for you," he said. "As thanks, I'm asking Uncle to cook us a feast tonight!"
He tossed the Zi-O Second Tier and Resurrected Gates watches to them.
"Thank you, Brother Ryuga!" the three Riders said in unison.
Their gratitude was genuine. A gift like this, in their darkest moment, was truly a lifesaver.
Pink, blue, and green lights radiated from them, connecting in a perfect triangle. At the center, a new Rider Watch began to form.
[Trinity!]