"Something is wrong…"

Imagine the world around you, something you lived in every moment of your being, suddenly ceased. Things changed, and in the end you were nothing more than a short-lived memory of the past. You became a shadow, an ill-conceived creation that had no use in existence. What was the year? Where were you just then? What was your name exactly?

"It seems you are correct in that manner, my princess." A familiar voice called out, a smooth yet also annoying tone in their voice.

"Where are we, exactly, Woz? I'm having trouble recalling…"

"I am afraid I am unsure, my princess." Woz responded, their tome closing shut and their eyes narrowing. "It feels as though the timeline has shifted somewhat. Though this room…"

"It's definitively empty, almost like a void." The princess bent down and looked at the ground, a brilliant white, an emptiness that was unavoidable. "Why are we here? What exactly has changed, Woz?"

"I…" Woz opened their book once more, the Overlord's Advent Calendar, and began flipping through the pages. They look perturbed as they saw through all of the written word. "According to this book…"

The Day of Ohma

"You are of a foolish kind, Mara." Zi-O II said aloud, disarming the sword of power from her hands. "In a war such as this, power and sacrifice are needed for victory. And you are squandering it with such trifles."

"And what would someone from Gaia understand about war?" Mara responded, the current She-Ra rolling out of the way of a kick from the dual armed swordswoman.

"On my home, our species was well known to wage war amongst ourselves. We know war just as well as any other world does." Zi-O II combined the two swords into one, a mask on the hilt resembling her initial basic form.

"Etheria is not a weapon to be used. Not by Eternia and certainly not by the Horde. You should stay out of this battle." Mara picked up the sword, holding it up to the sky. "And I'll be the one to strike you down, for the Honor of Greyskull!"

A spark of energy shot out at Zi-O II, who quickly leaped out of the way to avoid the attack.

"It's no use fighting me, Mara." Zi-O II said, looking around in the dust cloud. "After all, I can see your every movement!"

The two clock hands on her helmet suddenly began to move in counter movements, allowing her to peek into the immediate future. The witnessed attack allowed her to quickly parry the sword that struck at her.

"You're quick, Mara, powerful to boot. We could be great comrades in arms if you simply gave up!" Zi-O II yelled, keeping tight hold of her own brilliant blade.

"I could say the same to you, your highness. But this world… The people and creatures on it?" She-Ra yelled loudly, managing to escape the stalemate and thrust her sparkling sword forward. The thrust attack sent sparks upon impact, causing the princess of time to fall backwards. "You're just like Eternia and the Horde! You want to use their power for your own reasons."

"The Horde must be defeated… How many others must suffer because of them? Earth was spared by the power of its heroes, stronger than any others in the universe… But the rest of reality doesn't have them!" Zi-O II yelled, separating the two swords and raising out a small pocketwatch like device from their wrist armor. "They don't have the heroes who saved me, so I'll have to save everyone myself."

"You're delusional. A messiah complex isn't something to be proud of."

"What would you know?!" Zi-O II yelled, moving the faceplate that simply read 2016 and clicking the button on top of the watch.

EX-AID

FINISH TIME!

EX-AID! GIRI, GIRI SLASH!

"I'll best you here and now, Mara! I'll prove to you my sense of justice is correct!" Zi-O II ran forward, the blade around the sword gaining what looked like a sentient mass of black-colored goop around it.

"Once more, must I conclude your own foolishness?"She-Ra's sword was sharper and far more deadly than the one that the little princess before her wielded. Etheria had become her home, and she would not lose it to her own people, the Horde, nor this upstart. For a moment, she choked, wondering if this would truly be for the best. She thought the Gaian had been her friend, another offworlder who found majesty and peace on Etheria.

Their swords clashed together, a bounding light of black and white fighting against one another for dominance, the sparks flying off threatening to light the grass ablaze.

"Foolish? I want to save everyone! Just like they've done!" She could just about cry in that moment. "No matter what, the heroes of my planet have to make hard choices! But they want to save everyone! And if I can harness even just a little of this planet's magic… I can save everyone from the Horde! Just like them… I'll find that winning formula! I'll clear the game with no continues! I'll make sure my life burns bright! And I'll keep my promise to save everyone just like a Rider should do!"

Their swords forced both of them back, Zi-O II breathing heavily as she knelt down, holding onto her sword.

"Ex-Aid's power isn't enough on its own…?" The princess was breathing heavily, feeling completely out of energy. "What… What do I do now?"

"The pages suddenly end there…" Woz closed the tome, looking over to their princess, who simply had a finger to her chin.

"So… That seems different from how I remember it." The princess said, looking around the room a bit more.

"Times have changed, it seems. Something has rebooted the timeline." Woz frowned, tapping the cover of the book. "I assume our minds have been left unaffected due to our statuses. I am from the future and you are a Kamen Rider."

"So what do you suppose we do exactly?" The princess cocked her head to the side, curious. "I guess this whole room is just us catching up with the timeline?"

"Most likely. Soon enough we'll wake up back in reality, now properly adjusted to the oncoming timeline." Woz touched the white walls around them, an invisible barrier truly keeping them contained. "Quite an oddity. What could have caused our timeline to shift this much?"

"Some other force besides ourselves?" The princess walked up behind the cloaked person. "Either way, does this mean our battle will begin yet again?"

"Unfortunately, it seems that way." Woz said, looking frustrated. "Regardless of how I feel on the manner, we have to do our best in eliminating the Horde, my princess."

"You're right, there's no using in wondering too hard about going back." The princess ran a hand through her short hair. "Still, it's been quite a while it feels like since I last transformed. I feel like last time there was some sort of definitive air to it."

"Sometimes that happens. We are but at the whims of fate, and fate has called us back to battle for the sake of Etheria." Woz noted something, looking into the white distance. "Additionally, my princess, it seems as though we're being called back now."

"Now? Now of all times? I guess better late than never. I wonder what will happen to us?"

"Whatever comes next, I am sure we will be able to overcome it. Even if it's far beyond anything we can understand ourselves." Woz opened up their book once more and looked into the pages, new words toward the end beginning to appear.

"According to this book, a soldier by the name of Chronera is destined to become the demonic overlord of time, Ohma Zi-O. Her story seemed to come to an end, her reality infiltrated by a horrific Rider of another timeline. Throughout all of her battles, she sought to reset time, creating a new world influenced by Kamen Rider Solomon. Despite that, it seems she and myself are being called back to a new version of our old world. It seems we still have the Ridewatches we retrieved from her Kamen Rider predecessors, but what world awaits us on the other side?"

To be continued in... Journey to the Future 2023

"So this is the little demonic princess?" A magenta armored Rider said, looking down from the white void itself. "We'll see how long she lasts." Pulling out a magenta-colored camera, the Rider leaned over and took a photograph. "This is Zi-O's World, huh? Interesting, guess I'll play along for now."

"You say that as if you understand what's to come, Tsukasa Kadoya." A different Rider responded, donning green, black, and gold armor with green-cow eye pieces. "This timeline has been blown up and destroyed. The Imagin are having a field day with it."

"Why do you think I'm playing along? It's not everyday that you visit an alien planet brimming with alterations by the Imagin, do you, Kamen Rider Zeronos?" He flicked his hand into the air, walking off into the white void. "Let's play the game all over again, 'kay?"