Song: Dies irae - Animation OST: disce libens


Hana's expression was one of anxiety and trepidation. Then follows a soft biting of her lip. All the while, she was walking back and forth through the large, living room that had a large television and a few sofas. Not even a quick shower from earlier would help to calm her nerves.

Once upon a time, she would have been going all excited and wanted to explore the larger-than-life house that the Minami Family had. But considering the nightmare she had and the stakes that are involved, she's just a bit restless and doesn't know how to handle a situation that had been imposed upon her.

The nightmare of all of her comrades... all of her fellow PreCure... dead.

She could never get it out of her mind. Nor would some part of her fully accept that George Kurai was the man who ruled a dark dystopia of a future where the concepts of reality and fiction no longer mattered; an endless stream of potentialities and an apocalyptic all-future of order and chaos.

"There have been many futures within the current world you are in. A various number of them. One future was a world overrun by the greedy machinations of cold-hearted businessmen who, having abolished governments in favor of megacorporations, did not care much for the will of the people so much as their own iron-clad rule and their own application for visionary strides (*1). Another future was a world overrun by relentless machines that had been born out of the terrible thoughts of those who exploit the fear of the principle of usurpation within the boundaries of evolution, and a monopoly of resentment bordering on irrationality and discrimination, leading to neither man nor mutant winning a war, but brought about an Age of Machines (*2). Another was a relatively peaceful future that at times was subject to changes of its own, where a man with an unhealthy attachment and obsession, eventually turning into a spiteful lust for vengeance for a particular Scarlet Speedster, would try to seek ways to hurt the former, to subtle but terrible effect (*3). And yet another future where an interdimensional hostile extraterrestrial species had come from a large asteroid that dried up the oceans of the planet Earth, forcing starvation and anarchy upon the nations (*4). And the list of choices goes on to ad infinitum."

In the nightmarish dream, the mysterious Phantom Stranger explains to her that in the current world - Earth-616 - its future is not strictly set or concrete, and is always subject to changes, depending on the choices that one makes. She saw many futures, but not all, just more than enough to get an idea of the unique direction and temporal status of the current world.

"But now, the present as well as all of these futures, are threatened. The futures you see would all but disappear and subsumed into one single unified future that now sets itself as the cornerstone to stablize all emerging realities that come about from the next cosmic cycle."

"...Ohma Zi-O." Hana muttered softly, with a subtle tone of horror.

"That is correct, hence the need for Minami Jouji to become the Century King as one way to circumvent that future and transpose it to a new course of action."

"But!" Hana had reservations and slight objections. "Would this actually be a good thing for Jouji?! From what you've shown me, Jouji's just gonna suffer either way. A lot of people would still hunt him down even if he did not become Ohma Zi-O, just because they either would not want to risk a more dangerous Ohma Zi-O existing in the future, or just because there's no other way."

"Minami Jouji's fate and destiny have always gravitated to that of the path of a Kamen Rider," Stranger explained sadly. "As unfortunate as it is to say, he must become Zi-O. It is a central fixed point event that cannot be overturned by anything, not even me. If one tries to change it, terrible consequences would ensue for the multiverse and others will pay the price."

"...But," Hana's slight defiant expression would be interlaced with anxiety.

"There has already been a change, to bring some semblance of peace upon the assessment of this delicate situation," Stranger foretold. "You're arrival in the current world was not by sheer coincidence."

"...What do you know?" Hana asks, remembering that fact.

"...That is something I cannot say," Stranger spoke with caution.

And now, she wondered about how she would have to bring up the gloomy revelation to the same family that had given her care and hospitality. It left a bad taste in her mouth, not to mention a pinch of stress and fear on account of one particular young man, her biggest fan, Jouji Minami, who she now knew was someone that she would know, in another life at least.

George Kurai (*5). A future self from a different timeline than the one Hana Nono came from.

Her soul felt very heavy and torn, and it was not just because of what she had seen, the death of all futures, the ultimate fate of everything if she did not act accordingly. No, she was worried about George... Jouji...

Hana knew that the villain from the future that she had fought in the past and the young man adopted by the Minamis were fundamentally different people, with their own unique experiences. Still, she could not help but worry as one memory came back to her, in a time after a certain crisis occurred where the PreCure were almost wiped out of existence (*6).

"...George's...my husband...and I'm your mama?" Hana muttered in shock, pointing at herself specifically.

"...That's...right..." The one who was speaking to her was a young woman with blonde hair, the baby Hugtan who had now grown up as Hagumi, otherwise known as Cure Tomorrow. She carried a saddened expression on her face when she thought of her father, and was also trepid when talking to her mother.

Both of them were seated on a bench, and somewhere a couple of meters away, their fellow PreCure, the Futari wa PreCure to the Hirogaru Sky! PreCure teams, were seen doing various activities, ranging from simple catching up to playing volleyball.

"...Before...Before you finally managed to convince him to stop what he's doing, he's...he hasn't been the same since my mother... since you died. He always drowned himself in his work and... he barely spends time with me like he used to. When I became a PreCure, I never thought that I would have to fight my father, when I eventually found out just what he had become. You already know at least what had happened with Harry's home back in the future," Hagumi said.

"Hmm," Hana nodded, making a troubled look. "Harry told me...But, where is he? Where's...George?"

"...I don't know," Hagumi's eyes were almost threatening to leak tears as she looked at Hana. "I haven't seen him ever since the final battle. I asked Traum (*7) for help to try to find him, but even with all of his inventions, he couldn't find him."

"...Jouji," Hana muttered softly, putting her hands to her heart.

Even now, she still worries. Now she knows that Jouji is the younger version of her former nemesis, but how would she try to interact with him now? She could at least tell that Jouji was a good person, at least from their interactions so far, and it was rather endearing for him to be shy and admit that he was her biggest fan and that she inspired him.

"Hana-chan."

Hana stops walking and looks at Reiko, who smiles at her.

"Tea's ready."

"Raft."

Stewart, the loyal family dog, barked, giving Hana a happy expression while wagging his tail.

"Eh-Ehm," Hana smiled, though the smile didn't reach her face.

She would head to the dining room and sit down to drink her teacup. Stewart was right by her side and was sitting on the floor, patiently waiting.

"Umm, Reiko-san," She spoke as she saw Reiko tending to the kitchen area which is just near the dining room. "Can you... Can you tell me everything about Jouji? How did...How did you and Kohtaro-san first come into contact with him?"

"Hmm," Reiko became a bit thoughtful as she would eventually walk towards the dining room and sit down. Her teacup on the table was already filled to the brim. "That question does take me back. He was about nine when we first adopted him. In the beginning, it was... difficult."

Her expression turns sad as her arms are crossed, making Hana pay attention. "Jouji was a very reserved person, so we couldn't really get him to talk most of the time except when we were alone. Most days, he'd quietly be in his room reading, or he'd be in the garden looking at the flowers, though he always seemed to be looking at something so far away. Kohtaro and I were very worried about him, so each of us took our turn to keep an eye on him despite both of us having jobs."

Then, Reiko smiled a little bit. "Well, things started to change when Kei-chan came to visit us from America."

"Kei-chan?" Hana asks.

"Akizuki Kei," Reiko said. "She was the niece of my sister-in-law, Akizuki Kyoko. Hmm, hold on."

Reiko would begin to stand up from her seat and head to a place in the house where she would get one of the old family photo albums and bring it to Hana.

"Here," she said, opening the album and pointing at the picture that showed a young, beautiful woman with silver hair and brown, sparkling eyes with silver glasses who was hugging a young Jouji Minami with a flashing, pure smile. Judging by the ages, she looked two years older than Jouji.

Hana looked at the picture and...well, she had a bit of mixed feelings about it. Most of them were positive because she was a bit relieved that someone had gotten Jouji out of his shell, though she could not help but feel something that was prickling in the back of her mind (or heart?) when she saw Jouji with another girl. She did not know what and...now knowing Jouji was George Kurai, she did not know how to express it.

I'm just being weird right now. This...I shouldn't feel this bad. We've just met. But...

"She's... She's very beautiful," Hana would have to admit in defeat. Whoever the girl was, she was a lot more beautiful than Hana, that's what she thought. She looked kind and mature too judging by the photo. She'd loved to meet her at some point.

"Hmm," Reiko smiled meaningfully. If this were an anime, her expression would resemble that of an amused cat. "Though, Hana-chan, why do you look so defeated right now?"

"Eh?" Hana's attention was grabbed, especially when she felt Reiko touching her shoulders. "What do you mean?"

Reiko continued to smile in amusement as she shook her head. "Hmm, no, never mind." Then Reiko's expression turns soft. "Did you know, Hana-chan, that Jouji got introduced to PreCure because of Kei-chan?"

"Eh?" Hana became curious.

"That's right, like Jouji, Kei-chan was a PreCure fan," Reiko said. "I had thought that at some point, you would probably ask me about how Jouji became a fan. I'd assume he'd told you why he was a fan of yours and of all PreCure."

"Hmm, he did tell me," Hana nodded.

"Well, how he became one was due to Kei-chan. I remembered Kei-chan cosplaying as Cure White while introducing herself as an "Emissary of Light, Cure White"," Reiko made an action pose, with the accompanying tone, followed by a humorous smile. "Or so she says."

"Heeh, is that so?" Hana smiled a bit.

Reiko's expression would turn serious as she spoke. "Hana-chan," She gently grabbed Hana's hands. "I don't know why you wanted to call both my husband and Jouji home, but something tells me that it's very important they both hear what you have to say, isn't it?"

"Hmm," Hana nodded firmly. "They both need to be here, because I feel that they have a right to know... but..." Hana made a hesitant expression. "I don't think they're gonna like what they both have to hear, and neither would you, Reiko-san."

Reiko smiled softly yet kindly. "Hana-chan, nevertheless, I appreciate that you're being honest right now." Then she turns the conversation over to another subject. "You know, meeting you in person right now, I really wanted to thank you, Hana-chan."

"Eh?" Hana sported a curious look. "Why?"

"Well," Reiko said. "You are the first PreCure that Jouji fell in love with after all."

"Eh?" Hana blushed a bit. "Eh-Umm, what do-"

"Hmmm," Reiko giggled a bit, due to how easy Hana is. "Hana-chan, I was referring to the fact that Jouji watched your season first before the other seasons."

"Eh? O-Ohh, that's what you meant, ehehehe," Hana made an embarrassed look.

"Hana-chan," Reiko gave the girl a maternal prodding look. "Just what do you think I was referring to?"

"Eh? Uhm, well, I, umm, no-no-nothing," Hana simply looked sideways with a hesitant glance.

Hmm, she's quite fun to tease. I would not mind at all if Hana-chan were to be my daughter-in-law in the future. No doubt Kohtaro would think the same. Reiko mused in her thoughts.

Reiko shakes her head and smiles while sitting down on a nearby chair. "Well anyway, Kei-chan was also the one who introduced or recommended your season to Jouji, and thanks to that, I've seen him binge-watching your entire season for a couple of days. I took a peak or so now and then without him noticing and I could see how happy he was whenever he watched your show, or rather, he was happy whenever you showed up on the screen. Sometimes, I could hear him cheering you on when you were fighting a big bad. Other times, he got sad for your more sadder moments in the season. And other times, well, he got a bit mad sometimes. Since then, he has become a bit more open to other people. He's still quiet, but he can have an actual conversation with someone compared to before, no doubt Souta-kun helped with that."

"Souta-kun? He's Jouji's best friend, right? Mizushino Souta?" Hana asks.

"Hmm," Reiko nodded. "He met Souta in his first year of middle school. Since then, they were practically inseparable. They almost seem like.. hmm, brothers I suppose. That's right, they seem more like family than best friends, siblings not related by blood but may as well be by heart and everything in all but name, as I like to call it. Oh, listen to this, one time, Jouji and Souta-kun were having an adventure together and well..."

Looking back at it, Reiko made a troubled look.

"...Hmm, those two stumbled upon a Black Satan operation and it ended up with one of my husband's fellow Riders, Riderman, needing to bail them out."

"Riderman?" Hana asks.

"Oh, and his real name is Yuuki Jouji," Reiko answered with a smile, making Hana widen her eyes a bit. "That's right. There's one thing that Jouji may not have mentioned to you. Aside from a similar-sounding name change, he was named after Riderman, in honor of the former. Hmm," Reiko made a clap. "That's right. I may as well introduce you to the Seven Legendary Riders of the Showa Era while explaining about that."

"Hmm? And who would they be?" Hana asks.

Reiko smiled softly and meaningfully. "Aside from his father, the Seven Legendary Riders were his main inspiration and heroes."


Song: Aniki & Micchi - Tatakae! Shichinin Rider


Hana was seated on a comfortable sofa along with Reiko, and with Stewart on the floor, all watching something amazing.

Well, somewhere in the living room, she was currently watching an edited documentary. Well, she says that, but in fact, what she was looking at was a modified recorded Time Window, projected by a film camera on the back that had the words "Stark Industries".

That's right. She was literally watching the past of the current world that she ended up in.

The documentary was edited personally by someone called Tony Stark. When she asked who that was, Reiko explained that he was a famous billionaire, one of the greatest engineers in the world known for philanthropy work, and currently well-known as the superhero Iron Man. The documentary depicted seven superheroes that were, per se, his childhood heroes, due to his late father, Howard Stark, being an old ally who assisted these heroes and provided them with everything they needed in their crusade against the evils that plague humanity and the world.

It was the year 1976. In the breaking dawn of the morning.

The Seven Legendary Riders, seven Kamen Riders of the Showa period gifted with powerful cybernetics and abilities, would be seen in all of their glory fighting against dangerous enhanced super soldiers of a terrorist organization, which Reiko explained to her. But Hana knew who these people were due to the recent nightmare she had.

HYDRA...

She thought grimly.

In the jungles of the Soviet Union-controlled forests of Tselinoyarsk (*8), HYDRA was enacting what is now known in the history books as Operation Python, which consisted of a hidden series of operations that allowed for the development of walking nuclear deterrents, and the threat of nuclear annihilation was imminent, one that could have perhaps surpassed even the Cuban Missile Crisis.

She takes a good look at the soldiers, seen firing energy beams with a yellow-hollowed taint that devastated and burned some of the trees, making smoke arise. They were wearing what appeared to be cowl jumpsuits that had a snake-theme motif, green in primary color, with yellow being the secondary color, found on their sinister-looking snake eyes, the yellow "H" design on the front and back, with yellow hand gloves and boots.

"Let's go! Tow!"

She would see two men with black suits, a green chest plate, and white stripes on their sides, with a red iconic scarf surrounding their necks. Their belts were strangely large oval-shaped buckles that were powered by the winds, and their helmets were shaped like grasshoppers with large red eyes. There were a few differences; such as the color of their gloves and boots. The first one was white, the second was red.

With bursts of speed and the fierce movements of a grasshopper, they managed to send the soldiers flying in multiple directions. From head to foot, from shoulder to chest, each spot was marked and tagged. They were coordinated in their movements, acting as one, as they both made their respective poses. The first one raised his right arm toward the left while the second one raised both of his arms to the right.

They were Kamen Rider Ichigo (Hongou Takeshi) and Kamen Rider Nigo (Hayato Ichimonji).

On another side of the battle, there was a warrior with a red dragonfly-designed helmet with large green eyes, he wore a white scarf, and he also had an oval-shaped buckle on his belt. He had a similar manner of combatting his foes, making use of swift punches and kicks to the soldiers. Eventually, he would notice the large combat armored automatons that were about to open fire on him.

"Freezer Shot!"

From multiple directions, there were various bluish shots from the antenna part of his antenna, creating a sub-zero-like effect that would freeze the automatons on the spot. And with a rising jump, he would perform multiple acrobatic kicks that sent them exploding, before landing and making a pose, raising his right hand, with only two of his fingers open, and his left arm supporting his right elbow.

He was known as Kamen Rider V3 (Shirou Kazami).

On another side of the battle, there was another warrior who had a black suit, and his helmet was blue with large red eyes, but he had an open mouthpiece and wore a yellow scarf.

One of his arms had what appeared to be a mini-gun that he used to open fire on the enemy soldiers who numbered about one hundred men. Eventually, his arm would transform into what appeared to be an advanced rocket launcher that would be used to tag multiple attack drones that were about to open fire at him. Then he noticed that multiple soldiers were surrounding him, carrying electric metal shockers that they would try to use against him.

"Rope Arm!"

His arm changes to that of a metal hook as he begins to parry the weapons of the soldiers and knocks them down, one by one. With quick reflexes, he makes use of the enemy's bodies against them and forces the soldiers to shock their comrades or shock themselves in the process.

He was known as Riderman (Jouji Yuuki). One of the origins behind the namesake of Jouji Minami.

On another side of the battle, there was another warrior who wore a black scarf, and the helmet was designed to look like a water bug that had red eyes. On his person, there was a metal staff that he used to perform impossible acrobatic movements across the air and perform multiple kicks and hits among the soldiers who were trying to tag him with their weapons, but to no avail. He would make use of his staff to slam it to the ground, causing ground-shaking local quakes that send the soldiers and the automatons in disarray. After hitting two soldiers away with his stick, he would pose, with his left hand raised forward and his stick on his right arm.

He was known as X-Rider (Keisuke Jin).

"Ke! Ke! Ke!"

On another side of the battle, in the deeper parts of the jungle, there was another warrior whose suit was different from the others, more natural and organic compared to the rest. He had mostly green skin with red lines going around it, had sharp fins on his back, and wore a white scarf. His arms and legs had razor-sharp blades, which he used to terrible effect against the enemy soldiers who, to no avail, tried to fire their weapons at him, only to get slashed brutally, making Hana wince a bit and at times try to cover her eyes a bit as she realized that the fighting style of this warrior was much more raw and brutal compared to the rest.

His helmet looked like that of a lizard, with large red eyes and sharp teeth which he used to bite his opponents, and was even sharp enough to sabotage some of the automatons that tried to tag him, forcing their weapons to fire on each other, destroying themselves in the process. After destroying the last automaton with his sharp-razored claws, he would pose as he raised his arms, with one up and the other down in a slightly repeatable fashion.

He was known as Kamen Rider Amazon (Daisuke Yamamoto).

And finally, on another side of the battle, someone was standing on a hill, making a thundering speech as the sun's rays shone on his back. His right arm was raised high, with three fingers open and the other two in a slant position.

"The heavens call to me, the Earth calls to me, the people call to me. They call upon me to protect them from evil. Listen, you evildoers! I am the warrior of justice! Kamen Rider Stronger!"

This warrior wore He wore a white scarf wore a black suit, with a much bulkier red body armor, the buckle of his belt is somewhat strange as well, designed like a star, and he also has a white scarf. His helmet is much different from the others, his is a bit larger, it is designed like a Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle, and his eyes are green and much larger.

He was known as Kamen Rider Stronger (Shigeru Jou).

And he would now jump forward while launching lighting with his own two hands, destroying the automatons that were present and causing a tremendous amount of explosions that shook the area.

"...Wow."

It was all Hana could say.

"Hmm," Hana would glance at Reiko, seeing the former giggle a bit. "That's exactly what Jouji's response was when he first saw this. When he first watched this, he was alongside his father, who had been teaching him a lesson of what it meant to be a Kamen Rider. What better to teach a lesson than actually showing what had happened before."

"Raft!" Stewart replied as he was also enjoying the show.


Song: Cynthia Harrell - Snake Eater (Lyrics)


Hana could only look back at the Time Window and see the legendary seven heroes fight against the various soldiers and advanced weaponry that were thrown against them. After storming through the imposing mighty fortress, destroying every tank and aircraft, taking out all of the enemy soldiers that stood in their path, and dismantling all of the nukes found within the complex, they make their way to the inner chamber to confront their Great Enemy among the sinister ranks of HYDRA.

"Your dastardly scheme of nuclear annihilation is over, Gray Skull!" Ichigo exclaims as he and the other Showa Riders make their respective battle stances and poses.

The aforementioned Gray Skull (*9).

Hana would take a really good look at him.

His face looked terrible, and Hana could not help but feel some kind of empathy seeing the scorched face. That had been in a sense, a living embodiment of a scar that plagued this individual, one borne out of the flames of war. Facial scars, burns, and discolorations of his skin were that mark, along with a Glasgow smile that etches permanently on his face. A smile of tragedy, of a victim of human victories.

The man wore a black fedora hat, a dark business suit with a silver necktie, black gloves that covered his scarred hands, and silver shoes.

The man had been one of the Heads of HYDRA active during the Cold War, fully responsible for many of HYDRA's machinations during this period, and was one of the leading influencing powers behind the infamous Scale Scare (*10).

"Fools," Gray Skull muttered softly. He did not raise his voice, but his tone felt controlled, cold as ice, which shivered Hana's spine. What remained of him was simply static, revealing that the Gray Skull they confronted was merely a Life Model Decoy, which houses a nuclear bomb on its chest that would blow up in less than one minute.

With no time to waste, all of the Riders would scatter with a burst of speed as they began to exit the complex.

Then the timer ends.

The factory blows up and with it, the entire base, with only a dark mushroom cloud forming as the Riders look on grimly within their helmets.

"Apparently," Reiko made a calculating look, which Hana noted. "By the time the Seven Riders showed up, Gray Skull managed to flee the base and go somewhere else. Among HYDRA's leaders, he was one of the hardest to keep track of because he is very, very good at covering them. Not even espionage organizations like SHIELD can do much of anything either. You just don't know where to permanently pin him down because he could be anywhere around the globe. Sightings of him being two or three different places at once seem to give him this reputation of being some kind of mystic or prophet."

"What...What had happened to him after that?" Hana asks.

"Well..." Reiko said. "There were other battles against him. There's too long to list. The very last time he tried anything, from what Kohtaro told me and from what I managed to uncover in my spare time, was during the year 1989, when all of the Showa Riders at the time, barring my husband of course since he's busy back in Japan dealing with Crisis Empire, made one final stand against Gray Skull, on the war-torn fields of Afghanistan. This was during the final days of the Soviet-Afghan War and Gray Skull planned to try to unleash HYDRA's ultimate weapon that had been developed in that country."

Reiko grimaced. "They call it the Sahelanthropus Dreadnought, a state-of-the-art nuclear-armed bipedal tank, tall as a 24-meter building, powered by stolen technology from Stark Industries and further fleshed out by HYDRA's AIM Division. It led to a messy fight where Ichigo and Nigo had to grow in size to try to take it down before it did any more kind of damage, and that's...honestly the last time the world heard of him. He just disappeared without a trace once again. Even now, he still couldn't be found by anyone."

Hana definitely appreciated the history lessons, not to mention at least getting to know a bit about Reiko and her hobby of journalism. With Reiko's connections, Hana could maybe find out more about how this world would work. It's a start at least. After all, she may need to know a lot of things if she's going to help Jouji. Being on the sidelines just cheering him on would not be enough this time. The fate of everybody, especially the ones she cared about, depended on it.

And maybe...

Maybe I can save you this time. Hana thought. Maybe you can take my hand this time, unlike before (*11).


It was a quiet trip.

It was just Acrobatter, Jouji, and Hagumi heading toward the Minami suburban family home. And nobody was talking.

Jouji glances at his left side to find Hagumi holding on to his left arm as if her life seems to depend on it. Despite how grown up she looked, Jouji was looking at somebody who seemed to be like a child... being led by her father.

He really doesn't know what to do. There was just... There were just too many things going on. A part of him was troubled by this situation. Like, Jouji knows who Hagumi is. She was the PreCure from a future that ended in tragedy, the one who along with a certain fairy hamster, went back in time to prevent what had happened in her time from happening in the present timeline, but in the process, got turned into an infant known as Hugtan.

What was she doing here? Why was she here? And why call me- No, but... why me? Why call me papa?

Though Jouji could not bring himself to reject it, because of the state of the young woman who was clinging to him for dear life.

"Jouji."

Acrobatter's voice would draw his attention.

"Someone's here, at your front."

Sure enough, Jouji could see what appeared to be a young beautiful woman with a white dress and neckline. She almost seems like an Asian Snow White, but with longer hair.

"...Who are you?" Jouji sported a cautious look.

The young woman made a conflicted expression. There was silence for a minute or two. Then the woman would slowly walk towards them. Jouji could feel the protective hands of Hagumi clenching his shoulder, with an expression of unsureness, letting Jouji know that she didn't recognize this woman either.

"Minami...Jouji...right?" The young woman spoke softly.

"...Yes?" Jouji asks.

"I know this seems out of the blue, but... I need to show you something," The young woman looks at Hagumi meaningfully. "Both of you."

"Who are you?" Hagumi asks.

"My name is Tsukuyomi," The young woman introduced herself. "And...well, I'm honestly just as confused as you both probably are."


"Hmph, so you finally showed up, Tsukuyomi."

Heinz Myoukouin sported a knowing look on his face.

Things are at least making a bit of sense now in this chaos. I should try to...

"Hmm!"

He felt a light touch on his shoulder as he turned around.

"KAH!"

The last thing he felt was something punching his face, knocking him to unconsciousness as he hit the floor.

...

...

...

"Sorry about that, Geiz."

There was a young man with black hair and amber-brown eyes. He had a dark blue blazer with a uniform that had the same logo of Teitan High School, and a bandolier strapped to his chest and wrapped around the shoulder.

"I can't let you interfere this time with that boy becoming Zi-O. There's far too much at stake here than just the threat of Ohma Zi-O."


Trivia For Chapter:

(*1) - Reference to this would be the timeline of Spider-Man 2099 (Marvel).

(*2) - Reference to this would be the timeline of Days of Future Past (Marvel).

(*3) - Reference to this would be the timeline of Eobard Thawne/Reverse Flash/Professor Zoom (DC), which would be right around the 25th Century.

(*4) - Reference to this would be the timeline of Kamen Rider Kabuto: God Speed Love.

(*5) - From Pretty Cure Wiki - George Kurai (ジョージ・クライ?), also known as President Kurai (プレジデント・クライ?), is the main antagonist of HUGtto! Pretty Cure and the head of the Criasu Corporation. George dreams of creating a world where everyone is eternally happy. To achieve his goal, George sends out his subordinates to get the Mirai Crystals.

(*6) - The events that Hana was thinking of were the aftermath of the events of the movie: Pretty Cure All Stars F.

(*7) - From Pretty Cure Wiki - Doctor Traum (ドクター·トラウム Dokutā Toraumu?) is a former villain who appears in HUGtto! Pretty Cure. He is an old man who was a senior from the Criasu Corporation to end the Cures. His catchphrase is "This week's surprise dondon mecha" (「こんしゅうのびっくりロンドンめか〜」 "Konshū no bikkuri dondon me~ka~"?).

(*8) - A fictional location in the Metal Gear franchise. And no, this does not mean that Metal Gear takes place in the World of Kamen Rider. Rather, the Metal Gear franchise is considered as in-universe fiction in the former. The events of 1976, in context, would serve as one of the inspirations for the World of Kamen Rider's Hideo Kojima to develop the in-universe video game that would eventually be known as Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, first released in the year 2004.

(*9) - In the World of Kamen Rider, the Metal Gear character known as Skull Face was based on the in-universe villain and enemy of the Kamen Riders known as Gray Skull (an original character).

(*10) - In the World of Kamen Rider, during the Cold War, there existed a parallel and concurrent form of global moral panic called the Scale Scare, a term used to denote something provoked by fear of the rise, supposed or real, of ideologies that are affiliated or connected with the organization HYDRA. There had been a preoccupied perception within the minds of the higher-ups of both the United States and the Soviet Union that HYDRA had been secretly infiltrating or subverting both superpowered nations. The United Nations' sanctioned international peacekeeping, law enforcement, and counter-terrorism agency SHIELD was primarily responsible for combating and addressing this delicate issue.

(*11) - Hana was referring to the events of HUGtto! Pretty Cure Episode 48 - I Can Do Anything! I Can Be Anything! Hooray, Hooray Me!