Kamen Rider from the ancient times

On the lawn by a river.

A gentle breeze swept by, carrying a hint of coolness with the arrival of autumn. The soft sunlight shone through the sparse clouds onto the river, creating shimmering ripples.

"Is this so..."

Qian Qiao sat on the lawn with her knees bent, gazing into the distance at the river across the river. Her overly calm face made it impossible to tell what she was thinking.

Two motorcycles were parked on the road above the lawn. Tsukasa Kadoya leaned against Machine Decade and glanced at the person sitting on the grass.

"The distorted history has been restored, but according to what Narutaki said back then, even we shouldn't remember his existence, because the power of time and space erased him from the history of the Kamen Rider world," Tsukasa Kadoya said calmly.

“Although I’m not a singularity, my memories are fine,” said Yuto Sakurai, who was standing next to him, with his arms crossed.

"..."

Qian Qiao didn't speak. He lowered his head slightly and looked at his right hand, where a red signal motorcycle lay in his palm.

Yuto Sakurai then suddenly said, "The people in this world don't have the memory of being dominated by Shocker. Perhaps the history-changing machine really just copied this world into a parallel universe, or perhaps it's because we are all outsiders. — I haven't gone to find Drive and Mach yet, so I don't know what the situation is like on their end."

Just then, Tsukasa Kadoya, who had been looking at Takumi Inui, turned his head as if he had noticed something.

The bright red CETROC car, like a long rainbow, drifted in from the bend of the road, and then a solemn-looking Jinnosuke Bo opened the car door and stepped out.

"Huh?" Yuto Sakurai was somewhat surprised.

Qian Qiao also got up from the lawn and looked over.

Shinnosuke Tomari ran quickly to the group, stared wide-eyed at Tsukasa Kadoya and Yuuto Sakurai, then at Takumi Inui, looking bewildered as if he hadn't fully recovered yet.

"Shinnosuke?" Yuto Sakurai spoke first.

"You...you're all here?"

Then, as if testing the waters, Shinnosuke Tomari said...

Tsukasa Kadoya sized him up: "Looks like you still remember what happened in the time loop. As expected, that guy... knew from the beginning that you were all real, didn't he?"

"Actually, I don't know too much."

Shinnosuke Tomari shook his head and said, "After I woke up, I always felt like I'd forgotten something. That mechanical mutant number 102 seems to have been destroyed several times, but I just couldn't remember what happened. Later..."

"So you actually forgot too?" Yuto Sakurai raised an eyebrow slightly.

“That should be it. I only remembered everything after I saw the thing that Kawahara left behind—by the way, where is Kawahara? What exactly happened at the Shocker base back then?” Shinnosuke Tomari asked eagerly.

"he……"

Yuto Sakurai's gaze fell on Takumi Inui and Tsukasa Kadoya. As for what happened back then, he only knew it from their accounts.

Qian Qiao picked up the signal in his hand and said to Faiz, "He brought this out of the Shocker base for me."

"A signal motorcycle?" Shinnosuke Tomari asked in surprise.

"The Shocker leader used this thing to connect Takumi's thoughts with the time machine, and then strengthened the power of Kamen Rider 4 and the time machine by increasing the number of time loops," Tsukasa Kadoya said.

“When history first distorted, I think I saw this thing on Kiriko,” Shinnosuke Tomari said uncertainly.

"Ok?"

Upon hearing this, Tsukasa Kadoya suddenly looked at him, then, as if he had thought of something, he couldn't help but let out a sarcastic sneer.

"Is that so? I think I understand."

Now he realizes that admitting he's been cheated by Narutaki again doesn't seem like such a big deal.

It turns out that from the very beginning, using history to alter the machine and allow Shocker to dominate the world was not the ultimate goal of this event.

In the world of Kamen Rider Drive, besides Shinnosuke Tomari and Go Shijima, Kiriko Shijima is also a being with her own will.

Even when everyone else's memories were distorted, only Shijima Kiriko preserved her memories of the real world because the signal Faiz was hidden in her body. This was so that she could instruct Tomari Shinnosuke to awaken justice, then make contact with Kamen Rider 3, become an ally of Inui Takumi, and finally, together they would fight against Shocker!

The bonds between Kamen Riders may be easy to form, but they are often very deep.

Because they fought side by side, shared the same ideal of protecting the world and humanity, and were equally fearless, it is beyond doubt that they will become inseparable comrades.

Finally, all that's needed is to sacrifice one more person, and Qian Qiao's longing will be enough to get the time machine running.

"sorry."

"I'm sorry..." Two voices suddenly rang out one after the other.

Shijima, who had also found this place at some point, was panting as he stood on the edge of the road. He looked at Tomari Shinnosuke and the others, and then at Inui Takumi standing on the lawn below.

"this is not your fault."

Qian Qiao, who was the first to apologize, looked at him and said, "It's because I couldn't accept death."

Shi Dao Gang lowered his head, speechless.

He apologized because he felt that his death in Shocker City was the trigger for the whole incident, and if he had been more careful, perhaps everything would have ended in Shocker City.

Leaning lazily against his motorcycle, Tsukasa Kadoya said, "If I really want to apologize, this isn't all your fault, because it's my fault..."

Because he was always easily deceived by Narutaki.

Upon hearing this, Shinnosuke Tomari couldn't help but ask again, "This kind of question isn't important. Since the time-altering machine has been destroyed, Shocker's conspiracy should have been completely foiled, right? Where's Kawahara? Why haven't we seen him?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the room fell silent.

Yuto Sakurai glanced at the two silent people on his left and right, and could only helplessly speak up himself: "When the time-altering machine was destroyed, an incredible spacetime storm was artificially triggered, and that person... may have disappeared from the history of Kamen Rider because of it."

Upon hearing this, Tomari Shinnosuke was stunned: "What?"

Shi Dao Gang stepped forward in even greater astonishment and asked, "What does this mean? What has disappeared into history?"

"He did this to help me get the signal Faiz." Qian Qiao looked down at the signal motorcycle in his hand.

“No, it’s because of my power,” Tsukasa Kadoya retorted.

“But he didn’t have to do that, did he?” Takumi Inui looked earnestly at Tsukasa Kadoya, who was standing above him.

"He couldn't possibly not do it! He gave you his last chance so that you could live a good life in this world. That was his goal, so you shouldn't carry any more guilt! Because you are Kamen Rider Faiz!"

As Tsukasa Kadoya spoke, he became increasingly agitated. Suddenly, he stepped onto the lawn, grabbed Takumi Inui's collar, and almost gritted his teeth as he finished speaking his last words.

The people around them looked at them with some surprise, but Qian Qiao, who was being confronted by him, remained very calm.

Looking at Inui Takumi like this, Tsukasa Kadoya suddenly had a sense of déjà vu.

He then let go of the other person, turned his head and whispered, "Because I am also Kamen Rider Decade, I know that no matter what, he will definitely want you to live. If you treat him with a guilty feeling, that is definitely not what that guy wants to see."

That guy had a special feeling for Kamen Rider, which is why he didn't hesitate to hand over the Signal Faiz to him at that time.

Tsukasa Kadoya understood.

"And what about you?" Qian Qiao suddenly asked.

"What?" Tsukasa Kadoya paused.

Qian Qiao looked at him and said, "You believe that your power was used by the enemy, which led to your original being erased from the history of the knights by the time-altering machine. Is that correct?"

Tsukasa Kadoya paused, looking at him speechlessly for a moment before awkwardly saying, "This is..."

"That is indeed the truth."

Takumi Inui spoke up again, "But we don't think it's your fault. Your power is not wrong, and your existence is not wrong. It's just that the enemy used it in the wrong place, just like Kamen Rider was born from a 'mistake' in the beginning."

But do people think that the existence of "Kamen Rider" is wrong?

No, the original Kamen Riders were also born from Shocker's power, but they chose a completely different path from Shocker.

They are fighting for the freedom and future of humanity.

The same is true of the power of the world's destroyers.

A peaceful and serene smile appeared on Qian Qiao's face as always: "So, of course I will continue to live a good life in this world, because this is the dream he asked me to protect."

His dream is someone else's dream.

It has always been like this—

"how about you?"

...(End of chapter)