Kazu stood before Great Leader with his arms tucked behind his back as he spoke, "My lord, we must build up our army more now than ever. Upon my return a few nights ago, I took a look at their forces. There were some missing Riders. I am certain that if they alone could devastate our numbers, more of them would completely annihilate us." Great Leader held his hand up at Kazu, "Enough. I hear what you are saying. However, this is perfect. While our numbers are dwindling and they think they have the upper hand, we can implement our trump card." Kazu looked up at him and said, "That? Is it ready, my liege?" Great Leader replied, "Preparations are set, we just need to set up the bases. Alert the others about the plan." Kazu bowed and spoke again, "My lord, I will take my leave after we have started the process." Great Leader leaned forward in his throne, "Oh?" Kazu looked back up at him and with a looming air about him, spoke, "There is something I must do…"

Hayabusa dodged sword attack after sword attack for three hours straight. Gokai Blue was being relentless on him, giving him no time to retaliate against him. Hayabusa jumped away from Gokai Blue to reformulate a plan, but Gokai Blue made it an effort to keep him on his toes. Hayabusa looked up to see Gokai Blue soaring at him, his Gokai Sabre ready. Hayabusa decided right then and there to drop his logical way of thinking and let his body move on its own. Gokai Blue's Sabre met the deck of the Gokai Galleon. Hayabusa managed to dodge Gokai Blue's attack a few inches shy of taking damage. Luka nodded and said, "Now you get it." Hayabusa looked at her and said, "So drop logic…" Marvelous finished, "… And act. Strategy is good, but only in tactical situations. We're not gonna test your tactical skills, we already know from the three hours of you trying to formulate a plan that you would prefer a logical way of winning." Hayabusa prepared to power down, but immediately took fire. The bullet just missed Hayabusa's face, judging from where it hit the deck. He looked back up to find Marvelous aiming his Gokai Gun at him. Gokai Blue turned to Marvelous and said, "Guns weren't part of the plan." Marvelous kept his gun trained on Hayabusa, "Now they are. Kengo, you will now dodge a bullet." The atmosphere took a turn for the worse before Marvelous dropped his arm and smirked as he said, "Joke." Luka and Hayabusa simultaneously exhaled and Gokai Blue shoved Marvelous, "What the hell, Marvelous?!" Marvelous smirked at Joe and said, "What, I can't have a laugh every now and then?" Luka walked up to her captain and said, "That was pretty dark, Marvelous." Kengo powered down and said, "Actually, I'm glad he's that way. It's good to know that he's not a soft captain. He's leading you guys well." Joe powered down and gave him a thumb up. Marvelous folded his arms and said, "Don't go gettin' soft already, Kengo. Training's not over yet."

The Riders split into different groups to begin the search for their friend. Haruto led one group, Gentaro led another group, Eiji led the third, Shotaro the fourth, Tsukasa the fifth, and Hiromu led the last. Miu set her mansion up as a headquarters for them to report back to if anything popped up. Yuki spent the most time engineering Powerdizer with Kengo, so she managed repairs. Koyomi, Hina, and Akiko did recon from the mansion while Rinko, Shunpei, Tomoko, and JK did mobile recon. Ryuusei and Goto were in Rabbit Hutch with Nago and Megumi, producing another Ixa Knuckle. Haruto's team consisted of Kosuke, Ichigo, Nigo, Black and Shadow Moon, and everyone from Agito and Blade's worlds. Gentaro's team was Nadeshiko, Stronger and Tackle, along with all of the ZECT Riders, Diend, Godai Kuuga, and Onodera Kuuga. Eiji's team was V3, Skyrider, Date, Ankh, Super-1, Faiz's world, and Kiva's world. Shotaro's team was formed of Ryu, Amazon, and the knight Riders of Ryuki's world. Tsukasa's team was Natsumi, X, and every oni Rider from Hibiki's world. Hiromu led his spec-ops team, the three pirates, Black RX, and Den-O and Zeronos, along with the Imagin. Altogether, the search and rescue team would total to 86 members.

Haruto looked to his team and said, "Alright. I'm not much of the 'leader' type, so I'm going to keep it really simple. As we search for Kengo, keep an eye out for any kaijin activity." Gentaro turned to his team and said, "Alright, guys…" Tsurugi stepped in front of Gentaro and cut him off, "My team, I shall lead us to victory!" Kagami scratched his head and said, "Uh, this isn't a competition though." Tsurugi grinned and said, "My friend, Ka-GA-mi is correct! This isn't a competition, for we are ALL winners!" Kagami looked around and said, "Can I be on another team?" Tendou pointed towards the sky and said, "Grandmother once said this. Don't frown because the beef is not cooked thoroughly. Simply cook it longer." Godai nodded and said, "He's right. If it's not how you choose to see your team, simply change your view." Yuusuke folded his arms and said, "I don't think I can change my view on the fact of two Kuugas." Gentaro jumped up and said, "Forget leadership, let's find Kengo!" Eiji smiled as he looked at Gentaro. He then turned to his team and said, "I'm not much of a leader myself, I just try to keep peace. So let's follow their lead." Date firmly placed his hand on Eiji's shoulder and said, "That's the best kind of leader, Eiji-kun. The one's that lead from the rear can see all." Shotaro spoke up, "What nonsense are you feeding him, Date? A real leader is hard-boiled, and leads with his troops." Ryu said to Shotaro, "For once, I can agree with you." Shotaro dusted his fedora off and said, "You should ALWAYS agree with me." Ryu finished his statement, "I'm not going to though. You're half-boiled, so you don't qualify as a leader." Shotaro stumbled and bickered with Ryu as his team laughed at the antics.

Tsukasa stood in front of his team with a stern look on his face. Before he could say anything, Natsumi immediately spoke up, "He wants to tell us to work together well, but he doesn't know how to." Tsukasa put his hand in Natsumi's face and said, "Incorrect, Natsumikan. I was coming up with a plan for the search." Hibiki stepped up and said, "Don't worry about it, Tsu-kun. We have perfect search equipment." Akira opened reinforced briefcases to reveal discs with different colored edges. The oni riders then activated their instrumental Rider systems and waved them over the disks. The sounds of the instruments made the discs take the shape of different animals. Hibiki spoke, "We're looking for a giant red pirate ship. If you get any leads, please report back" and waved them off. Gentaro's face lit up as the animals' colors spread across the area, "SUGOI! That's so cool!" Everyone looked at the animals as they took off. Hibiki nudged Ibuki and said, "Get's 'em every time." Hiromu looked at his team. Before he could get his words out, Ryuji spoke first, "No worries, Hiromu." Yoko smiled and tapped him on the shoulder, "You've led us for almost three years now. We know you can handle it." Hiromu looked at his team and nodded, "Thanks, guys." Just then, his Morphin' Brace began ringing. He answered it to hear commander Kuroki's voice, "If you need any help while you're gone, don't hesitate to call." Hiromu smiled and nodded, "Thanks, commander." Before Commander Kuroki could close out the transmission, a female's voice came in, "HOLD THAT CALL!"

Kuroki, Nakamura, and Morishita all sighed in unison as a girl ran into central command. Nick stood up and yelled, "Who let her in?!" Gorisaki pointed his fist at her, "There's nothing here for you!" Usada's arms flailed about as he followed up, "You're not welcome, go home!" The girl winked at the Buddyroids and said, "I let myself in, of course. It's not a party without me. And I'm not here for you guys anyway." She turned to the com screen and said, "I'm here for YOU!" Hiromu's eyes widened as he looked at his Morphin' Brace. Ryuji looked from Hiromu's opposite side and said, "Oh, it's her." Yoko looked from Hiromu's right and said, "Her again!" Jin leaned in between Hiromu and Yoko and said, "Hey, it's your girlfriend!" Hiromu shoved Jin away, "It's not like that!" He looked back at his Brace and said, "Reika, not today. We're kinda trying to save the world here." Yoko grinned at Hiromu, "Ohhh, her name is Reika?" Hiromu pointed at Yoko and said, "Hush!" Reika placed her hands on her waist and said, "Well I'll help." She turned to Kuroki and said, "Kurorin, I want a Morphin' Brace." Kuroki put his hand on his forehead and said, "Jin, why would you bestow that nickname onto me?" Jin spoke up, "Go ahead with it, Kurorin. This might be fun!" Ryuji followed up, "Yeah, if she was able to elude US…" Hiromu sighed and said, "She IS skilled in combat." Yoko jumped in, "It'd be nice to not be the only girl on the team." Nakamura's voice rung out from out of the com screen's vision, "HEY, WHAT ABOUT ME?!" Yoko apologized, "Sorry, Nakamura! I meant on the fighting team." Nakamura looked at Kuroki and said, "Still, it WOULD be nice to have more feminine members around." Kuroki thought for a second, and spoke, "Fine. I'll deploy Pink Buster when preparations are complete." Everyone cheered as Reika looked at Hiromu from the com screen and blew him a kiss. Everyone on Hiromu's end began to whoop for him, even though he kept telling them they weren't dating. Kotaro walked up to Hiromu and said, "Since you will be gaining a new member, I'm going to join Fourze's team. He's the most understaffed." Hiromu nodded and said, "Alright. Thanks for the help, RX-san." Now that the teams were set up, everyone dispatched in different directions of their respective team leaders.

Gamel moped about in his bed. "Mezool…", he groaned as he drew circles on the floor with his finger. Uva lied back in his bunk and stared up at the ceiling, "It's been almost a week since they last said anything to us." Dr. Maki continued to dress his doll while Lost Ankh sat on his bunk, playing with a yoyo. "I say we go look for them", said Uva as he sat up and placed an arm on his knee. Lost Ankh retracted the yoyo and looked at Uva, "If we went after them, it'd be no different than when THEY left. We'd be hunted next." Uva stood up, "This is bullshit! We need to find them!" A voice sounded off, "And I agree with you." The four Greeed turned their attention to the door, where Kazu stepped in from. Uva was the first to respond, "See? Even Kazu agrees!" He stopped his train of thought and looked back at the man, "Why do you agree? You WANTED them dead." Kazu looked at Uva and said, "Even if I DO want them dead, Great Leader has different plans for them. They can't survive on their own. I propose you go find them and convince them to come back to base." The room was deathly silent upon hearing Kazu's request. Kazu looked at the small window, the afternoon sunlight radiating in from the outside. "Without Great Leader's permission, I can't lay a hand on them. They will be fine unless Great Leader has different plans for them, which I highly doubt. We need all of the forces we can gather, so I see no reason why he would cast them aside like that." Gamel sat up in his bed, "We can find Mezool?" Kazu smirked and nodded, "Yes, you can find Mezool." Gamel jumped out of his bunk and happily grabbed Uva's arm, "We can find them, Uva!" Lost Ankh looked at Kazu with a stern expression, "You won't lay a finger on them?" Kazu veered his attention to Lost Ankh, "I promise."

The Gokai Galleon sailed through the night sky as Kengo leaned off the baluster of the lookout point, staring up at the moon. "Here, it's hot, so be careful." Kengo turned to see Luka holding two mugs, each with steaming tea in them. "Thanks", he said as he grabbed a mug from her. She leaned against the lookout point with him. A second of silence passed before Kengo spoke, "You know that's awfully nice of a pirate to bring me tea just because." Luka smirked, "Hey! Even though I'm a pirate, I still take in count that I'm a girl first." Kengo joked, "Are you now?" Luka jabbed him in the arm for the gesture. They shared a laugh before Luka continued, "Besides, you're a pirate too." Kengo smirked as he blew steam off of the surface of his cup. Luka looked at him and said, "Talk to me." Kengo looked up at her and said, "You came up HERE. You talk to me." Luka replied, "Tell me about this Shade Switch States you're trying to avoid." Kengo corrected her, "Just Shade States." She leaned back against the lookout point and said, "Whatever, just fill me in." Kengo scoffed and said, "Well, it started from an Astroswitch Miu and I were constructing. This voice came out of nowhere a couple of weeks back and said it'll restore what was temporarily out of our reach. It sent this Switch towards me, so I assumed it was completed. Unfortunately, there were some nasty side effects. One night, everyone accused me of working with the enemy. I guess the anxiety of the moment fueled the Switch to automatically activate itself. Since then, I've been infected with negative cosmic energy since then. You already know the rest of the details."

She stared out into the open sky for a moment before asking him, "What do you want?" Kengo paused to look at her, "Huh?" Luka replied, "What do you want right now?" Kengo thought for a second and said, "I want Miu." Luka exhaled and said, "No, not her." Kengo tilted his head out of confusion. Luka clarified herself, "Forget everything you have right now. Tell me what you want right now." Kengo, even more confused, said, "… You?" She hit him in the shoulder, "Don't give me an answer I'm looking for, give me an answer YOU want." Kengo sighed and said, "Well, I DO want to use Shade States with my own free will. It's pretty powerful, so it'd be good to…" Luka cut him off, "THERE we go! Now we have a feasible answer." Kengo nodded and said, "There's no point in having a form I can't use." Luka slapped him on the back, "Right. Have your cake AND eat it!" Kengo looked at her and asked, "So what do YOU want?" Luka immediately changed the subject, "This isn't about me right now, and we have to get your situation settled first." Kengo nodded and sipped from his cup. Luka winked at him and said, "Besides, that's a woman's secret." Kengo donned a sarcastic expression and said, "Of course it its. But since you wanted to know, what's the next step towards controlling Shade States?" She pointed at him as she finished her cup of tea. Marvelous's voice came from behind them, "That's the answer right there. Control. You need to control IT, don't let it control you." Kengo looked back at him with a bit of understanding, and then it dawned on him. He scratched his head, "Why didn't I think of it that way before?" Marvelous folded his arms and said, "You're the type of person dream big with small steps. If you wanna fight, you have to get used to dreaming big in a basic way." Luka smiled and looked at Kengo. "Basically, dream big basically…"

Haruto's team arrived at an abandoned factory. Before they split up, Haruto said, "So Miu said that there is activity going on in this general area. Spread out and search for anything out of place. No need to report back if you can handle it." Kosuke spoke up, "If you come across any Phantoms, let me know! I must defeat them to restore Chimera's mana." The Riders spread out into smaller groups. Haruto thought out loud, "An abandoned factory? Gonna be pretty tough to find something here." Meanwhile with Gentaro's team, they all arrived around Amanogawa High School. It was still late, so the gate was closed. Kagami spoke up, "Hey, it's closed. Is this really okay?" Gentaro turned to him and grinned, "No worries. At least we won't have to worry about any annoying teachers trying to stop us." Daiki joked, "Yeah, we DO look like a band of misfits." Gentaro continued, "We're just going in to have a look around. Plus, this is the only way I can get you all to Rabbit Hutch at once." Tsurugi interjected, "I stand at the top of investigating!" Kagami quickly wrapped his hand around Tsurugi's mouth to keep him quiet. Everyone turned back to the gate to find Tendou already across it and walking towards the school. Gentaro whispered to Tendou, "Wait for us!" Tendou continued to walk, "It's nothing I can't handle." Kagami let go of Tsurugi and exhaled, "That guy is a handful…" Everyone hopped the front gate to catch up with Tendou. While this was going on, Eiji's team arrived at a wooded area. They stopped near the edge of the clearing as Eiji answered his phone. "Oh, Hina-chan. What's up?" Hina spoke, "Eiji-kun, remember that as the leader of the team, you have to keep your energy up. I sent some candroids with bento boxes after you guys. They're surprisingly useful!" Eiji scoffed and replied, "I got it. Thanks, Hina-chan." Before he could close his phone, she interjected, "Eiji-kun!" He pulled the phone back to his ear, "What's wrong?" She hesitated for a moment before shaking her head, "It's nothing. I'll talk to you later." Eiji nodded, "Okay", and closed his phone. He turned to his team and Wataru had just closed his phone as well, "Nago-san-tachi will be ready soon. I told them to meet us here." Eiji nodded and looked at his team, "Alright, guys, there's a lot of area around here, so we'll spread out. Hina-chan sent bento boxes this way so we can keep our strength up."

Meanwhile, Shotaro's team arrived downtown. Philip lightly stroked his chin and said, "There's a lot of movement at night." Shotaro placed his hands on his waist and said, "That's true. Luckily, Ryuki and the other Riders can search through the mirrors. The rest will be left to us. Philip and I will check low, Ryu and Daisuke-san will check high." Shinji nodded and said, "You heard the man. Let's go, guys." Ren spoke up, "Last time I checked, I won the Rider War." Shinji groaned, "Seriously? That means nothing in this situation!" Shotaro interrupted, "Oi! Go!" The Riders spread out and jumped into reflective objects. Shotaro sighed and said, "What a handful." Tsukasa's team arrived in the mountain area and stopped near a river. Natsumi sat down on a small boulder and exhaled, "Finally! Tsukasa-kun, you walk too much." Tsukasa knelt down next to her and whispered to her, "I'm hurting too. I'm just keeping a strong face because I don't wanna be shown up by the oni Riders." Hibiki knelt down by the river and splashed water on his face. He turned to Tsukasa and said, "So what now, leader? Our friends are still searching, so I say we take a break." Tsukasa quickly stood up, "Is that your way of saying you're tired? Well if that's the case, I can't overwork my team. Let's take a break here." Hibiki smiled and said, "Oh, no. I'm trained. I can keep going. You just look like you're about to collapse." Hibiki saw right through Tsukasa's front. Unfortunately for Tsukasa, he DID stand up too fast. He stumbled backwards and tripped over a rock, ultimately dropping him on his back. Natsumi immediately got up and helped him up, "Are you alright, Tsukasa-kun?" Tsukasa sat up and said, "He's good."

Hiromu led his team to the other side of the downtown area from where Shotaro was and said, "Alright, this is our search area. Everyone keep sharp eyes on everything." He looked at Yoko, who was smiling back at him. "What?" She shook her head and said, "Nothing. You just really stand out as a leader. That's all." Hiromu sheepishly nodded and said, "Oh, okay. So anyway, we're gonna split up into smaller teams and spread out. Ryuji, Yoko and I will take the main roads… Yoko, you're kind of creeping me out right now." She snapped out of her trance, "Oh! Sorry." Ryuji looked at her and said, "Yoko-chan, are you alright? You look a little red." She waved her hand at Ryuji and said, "I'm fine, Ryuji. I just need to eat some sweets." While the three spoke, Jin grinned as he loomed over Yoko's shoulder. She turned around and dropped her snack when she saw his face, "What's with you, Jin-san?!" Jin smoothly said, "You know he has a girlfriend right?" Yoko muttered, "Don't remind me…" Hiromu, Ryuji, the Imagin, and the pirates let shock fall on their face. Ryotaro looked around and said, "What's wrong?" Urataros waved his hand and said, "She just semi-confessed." Ryotaro let shock fall on his face as well. Momotaros spoke up, "You're pretty dense, Ryotaro." Ryuuta joked, "I think he gets it from you." Momotaros chased Ryuuta around shouting, "Get back here, Brat!" Yoko's face reddened by a few more shades upon realizing what she said, "N-NO! We're teammates, and that's inappropriate!" Ahim smiled and said, "You can't let rules dictate your heart." Jin followed up, "I agree with her. I say you fight Pink Buster for Hiromu." Yoko stepped back, "Ehh?" J put his hand on Yoko's shoulder and said, "Don't worry; my money is on you, Yoko." Yuuto immediately stepped in, "Can we get this done? I could be doing something more important to me." Deneb stepped behind Yuuto and said, "Yuuto, these are emotions we're dealing with right now. You can't step in with this kind of situation." Yuuto spun around and kicked Deneb in the chest, knocking him over. He then put Deneb in a headlock and yelled, "DENEB! THIS ISN'T THE TIME FOR YOUR PROVERBS!" J pointed at the submission and said, "That looks familiar…" Jin quickly spun around and slapped J in the head, "This is why it's familiar!" J raised his hand and said, "Oh yeah! It's familiar because I've seen my kuwagata clamping on a twig! My kuwagata is awesome…" Jin put J in a headlock and said, "SHUT UP, J!" Hiromu looked back at Yoko and said, "Yoko, what are you trying to say?" She fiddled with the snack wrapper she held in her hand for a second. Before she could say anything, Reiko's voice rung out, "I'M HERE!" Everyone stopped and looked at the silhouette on top of a building. She jumped down and landed next to the group. She then wrapped her arms around Hiromu and pressed her lips on his cheek. Yoko's nervousness quickly flipped into anger. Ryuji stepped away from Yoko and said, "Kinda glad she doesn't have my split personality right now." Hiromu wriggled out of Reiko's grip and said, "Look, we have to find Kengo. Let's settle this later." Everyone, except Yoko, agreed. She tightened her fist around the empty wrapper.

Meanwhile, on the moonlit Gokai Galleon, Gokai Red and Hayabusa stood back to back, each with a Gokai Gun in their hands. They both took ten paces in opposite directions. As they spun, they drew their weapons and fired. Gokai Red dodged to his left while Hayabusa dodged to his right. Two seconds passed before they continued firing and dodging. This showdown carried on for a few minutes before Gokai Red dropped his Gokai Gun and drew his Gokai Sabre. Luka tossed her Gokai Sabre to Hayabusa, but Gokai Red wouldn't allow it. He immediately charged towards the sword and grabbed it just short of Hayabusa's reach. He then tossed Luka's weapon to the side and said, "Just guns for you." Hayabusa looked at Luka and Joe, who shrugged, and then back at Gokai Red, who had wound his arm back for an attack. Hayabusa rolled out of the way as Gokai Red brought his sword down on the deck. Gokai Red turned to Hayabusa and rushed his way. Hayabusa ducked and dodged every attack, but couldn't get a clear shot towards Gokai Red. He stepped on Gokai Red's shoulder and jumped off, putting distance between them. Now with enough space, he was able to aim and shoot. Unfortunately, Gokai Red wasn't letting this happen either. Every shot fired at Gokai Red was deflected. Gokai Red proceeded to slowly move towards Hayabusa, deflecting every bullet thrown his way. Hayabusa took a step back and let his heel hit Gokai Red's gun. Gokai Red lunged at Hayabusa, who had finally decided to let his pirate instincts kick in. He immediately dropped to the deck and tossed Gokai Red with his feet. Gokai Red quickly caught himself and spun around to find two Gokai Guns aimed at him. He folded his arms and scoffed as he powered down. "Now you get it. Now, not only do you have strategy, you also have instincts." Joe clapped and Luka cheered as they walked toward the two. Kengo powered down and handed the weapons back to their respective owners, "Thanks, guys." Marvelous got serious, "We're not done yet. You still have one more task at hand. You're gonna learn how to use that Shade States to your advantage." Kengo spoke up, "If I use that States again, I can possibly die…" Luka looked at Marvelous, who asked, "And you're ready to take that leap?" Kengo looked Marvelous in the eyes and confidently said, "Of course." Joe and Luka smirked as Marvelous grinned and said, "Then let's do this."