Infinite Evolution of Kamen Rider

Interestingly, whenever the another Ex-Aid launched an attack, colorful comic-style "Hit!" effects appeared—just like in a video game.

Thanks to the agile jumping abilities inherited from Ex-Aid, the another effortlessly dodged Gates and Zhuang Wu's attacks, retaliating from time to time and landing some solid blows.

"If you keep this up, I'll kill both of you!" Gates snapped, glaring at his struggling comrade. He angrily drew out a Rider Watch from behind his belt.

[Drive!]

It was the Drive Armor—specifically, the one based on Kamen Rider Drive's final form from Kamen Rider Zi-O.

[Rider Time!]

[Kamen Rider Geiz!]

[Armor Time!]

[Drive!]

Gates pressed the activation button on the Drive Ridewatch and inserted it into the left slot of his Ziku-Driver. With a twist of the belt, red and black armor reminiscent of Kamen Rider Drive enveloped him.

"Fine, I'll join too!" Zhuang Wu responded, producing a Rider Watch of his own and activating it to summon Build Armor.

[Build!]

[Armor Time!]

[Best Match!]

[Build!]

As the clunky armored forms assembled around them, Ryuga frowned.

"How ugly," he muttered under his breath. "They should've just transformed like Decade."

He glanced at the translucent Full Bottle in his hand, and in that moment, a decision crystallized in his mind.

Despite the design flaws, the upgraded armor was significantly more powerful than their base forms. Gates and Zhuang Wu managed to overpower the another Ex-Aid, sending it crashing to the ground. They then triggered their finishing moves.

[Finish Time!] ×2

Each of them pressed their Ridewatches and the corresponding armor buttons, twisting the belt in unison. After the usual elaborate transformation sequence...

[Drive!]

[Finisher! Time Burst!]

[Build!]

[Vortex Time Break!]

In a blaze of special effects and fireworks, the another Ex-Aid was forced out of its corrupted transformation and collapsed to the floor.

Before they could react, a young man in a white lab coat casually stepped out from the shadows, standing before them.

"I didn't think anyone else could enter the Game World," he remarked. "Wait… did you read the sticky notes I left?"

"Sticky note?" Zhuang Wu blinked in confusion. At that moment, Yuedu—who had been watching from the theater—stepped forward and read the ID tag on the man's coat.

"Baōsōji Emu… 'Genius Gamer M'?!"

Indeed, it was Emu Hojo—a pediatrician and genius gamer who once became Kamen Rider Ex-Aid.

Without hesitation, Emu drew his Gamer Driver belt and placed it against his waist.

"Sorry… but I can't let you go any further."

This kind of misunderstanding could've been cleared up with a few words, but for some reason, it escalated instantly into combat. Emu wasn't the type to fight first—but clearly, the script needed some action.

[Mighty Action X!]

"Transform!"

Emu inserted the Gashat into the Gamer Driver, pulled the lever—

[Gashat!]

[Gachan!]

[Level Up!]

[Mighty Jump! Mighty Kick! Mighty-Mighty Action X!]

And transformed into the familiar pink-armored Rider—Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, Action Gamer Lv.2!

"What's going on?" Ora asked, visibly confused as she watched the bizarre standoff. "Why is Ex-Aid suddenly fighting Zhuang Wu and Gates?"

"No idea." Ryuga shrugged. "Anyway, you can go restart the another Ex-Aid watch now."

Ora nodded, casually tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, then stopped midway and made her way forward.

She effortlessly brushed aside the floating "Hit!" letters and stepped into the middle of the slowed-down battlefield, calmly walking between Zhuang Wu, Gates, and Emu.

"Time Jacker!" Gates growled, his body barely able to twitch as he spoke.

Ryuga raised a brow at the oddity. "Wait, they can still move and speak? Shouldn't time be completely stopped?"

Whether it was because Ora's time powers were weak, or Zhuang Wu and Gates' resistance was strong, Ryuga wasn't sure. But this half-frozen effect resembled something closer to Heavy Acceleration from Kamen Rider Drive, rather than total time-stop.

Regardless, Ryuga took the chance to move at high speed, slipping behind Emu and the others, retrieving something unseen, then returning to his original spot—all in the blink of an eye.

"So annoying. Guess I'll reset it again," Ora said flatly. She ignored Gates entirely and walked up to the fallen contractor. Reaching into his jacket, she retrieved the corrupted Ridewatch and pressed its activation button.

[Ex-Aid!]

Once restarted, she reinserted the watch and nodded.

"Well, see you~" she teased, waving to the others before leaving the Game World with Ryuga in tow.

At that moment, the time-freeze lifted, and the another Ex-Aid re-emerged, snarling. The unstable Game World collapsed instantly, forcibly ejecting the remaining Riders back to reality.

Back on the hospital rooftop, Emu stood dazed, mumbling to himself, clearly suffering from memory loss.

"Ex-Aid's memory is gone, right?" Ryuga asked casually. "But how was he still able to transform?"

"The emergence of a Hetero-Knight partially replaces the history of the original," Ora explained after a moment's thought. "If the replacement isn't complete, the original Rider can still transform… temporarily."

She added, "That's what Swartz said anyway. Can't confirm if it's true."

Ryuga rolled his eyes. "So you blindly follow his orders despite not understanding anything? No wonder you got betrayed so badly."

"Hmph!" Ora turned away in a huff.

"Let's go. No need to stick around. They'll finish off the another Ex-Aid and recover the Ridewatch soon enough," Ryuga said, grinning. He tugged at Ora's arm, eager to check his spoils.

Even villains need sleep. At night, the Time Jackers scattered across the city to rest—though it was more like they just stopped wherever they pleased.

Ryuga, homeless and broke, shamelessly tagged along with Ora to her high-end apartment.

As for her wealth? Ur and Swartz's sources were unclear. Ora, on the other hand, simply conjured her funds using a high-tech tablet.

That same tablet could also generate currency for any era, heal injuries, and pull up historical records with ease. Gates and Yuedu had one too.

So apparently, by the year 2068, tech had advanced to near-magic levels.