The city was bustling—towering buildings loomed over busy streets, people hurried by, and endless traffic filled the roads. Amid this modern, featureless sprawl, Ryuga wandered aimlessly into a commercial plaza.
He stopped, bought a cup of coffee, and sat at an outdoor table, quietly observing the unfamiliar surroundings.
He still had no idea which world he'd landed in. Scanning the skyline, he saw no familiar landmarks—none of the iconic structures that would immediately identify a Rider world.
No Sky Wall from Build, no Wind Capital Tower from W, no World Tree from Gaim.
Still, one thing was certain: this was definitely a Kamen Rider world. The giant electronic screen in the plaza displayed the year—2018.
He was sure of this much because the white metal panel from Pandora's Box only connected parallel worlds, not unrelated alien ones.
So yes, this was a Rider world—not an Ultraman world.
Well... actually, that wasn't entirely impossible either. Ultramen did occasionally cross over, picking up jobs in Rider universes—or becoming villains.
Back to the year: 2018. That narrowed things down. It could either be the timeline where a certain little devil—Zi-O—was still in his main storyline, or it might be a Rider world where time had simply passed normally since its story ended.
Either way, he'd find out soon enough. Japan wasn't that big. It wouldn't take long to discover which Rider was active here.
As he was lost in thought, an odd surge of energy swept through the plaza—and suddenly, everything froze.
Pedestrians, traffic, even the flow of time itself came to a halt.
Except for Ryuga.
The moment the energy touched him, it was swallowed into his body like a black hole had consumed it. He remained unaffected and alert, silently observing two figures walk into the now-silent plaza.
A woman's voice rang out.
"Looks like it didn't work, Ur. So much for supporting Kamen Rider Build," said a beautiful girl in a silver-gray blouse and skirt, wearing black boots—Ora.
Ur, dressed in blue and every bit as androgynous as ever, scowled. "It's because someone got in the way!"
"Someone? Who?" Ora raised a brow.
"The King of Time."
"He came here on purpose? That nosy old man..." Ora sighed and leaned casually against a nearby bench. She grabbed a cup of coffee from a table and took a sip.
"...You're really something, you know that?" Ryuga said with a frown. "You freeze time, hijack my table, and drink my coffee? That's just plain rude."
He stared at her calmly as she used him as a backrest.
Just moments ago, he was wondering where he was. Now the answer had literally walked up to him.
Ora and Ur of the Time Jackers. Kamen Rider Zi-O. Mid-tier villains. Arguably the two prettiest characters in the show—well, if you count Ur's beauty as male. Technically that made Ora the most beautiful female in the series.
Ryuga couldn't believe his luck. One of his targets had walked right into his lap—almost literally.
Too bad he'd arrived a bit late. He might've met the Kiryu Sento of this world—Kamen Rider Build—but Sento wouldn't recognize him anyway.
Due to certain interventions, this world had fused all the Heisei Riders (except Decade and Diend) into one timeline. But each Rider was from their own parallel world, so the Build here wasn't his Build.
Still... since Ora had stolen his coffee, Ryuga didn't hold back.
He casually slipped his arm around her slender waist and pulled her into his embrace.
"Ah!" Ora yelped in surprise and instinctively grabbed a small device to hit him with.
Ryuga intercepted her swing and quickly locked her hands together in front of her chest, forming a loop with his right arm. With his left hand, he caught the coffee she'd just tossed and took a sip.
"If you're going to drink my coffee," he smirked, "you'd better be ready to pay me back with yourself."
"Let me go!" Ora's face turned crimson. Her arms were trapped, so she could only twist her body in protest.
But the more she moved, the more distracting the situation became for Ryuga.
"Hey—stop moving. One more twist and I won't be responsible for what happens next," he muttered.
Ora froze.
She felt the situation shift—literally and figuratively. Blushing furiously, she glanced at the stunned Ur, then buried her face in Ryuga's chest, too flustered to speak.
Ur, who had been slack-jawed this whole time, finally snapped out of it.
"You… who are you?! How are you moving while time is stopped?!"
Ryuga looked at him flatly. "Shouldn't I be the one asking that? I was just drinking coffee. Then time stops, and someone helps themselves to my drink. Are you guys robbing caffeine now?"
Ur: "..."
This guy knows too much.
"As for how I'm immune to time... well, ever heard of a black hole that obeys time?" Ryuga chuckled. "I mean, I don't get why Thor got electrocuted and why Zi-O lost his electricity either... but whatever. Time doesn't affect me. End of story."
Ur was speechless.
Ora, however, lifted her head. "How do you know who we are? And that we're Time Jackers?"
Ryuga grinned. "I don't just know that. I know your future. I came here looking for you. Didn't think you'd just walk up to me so conveniently."
Ur blinked. "You… know our future?"
Ora tilted her head. "You were looking for me? Why?"
See? Men and women think completely differently.
"I mean, you two are from the future—of course I know your future," Ryuga said to Ur. "As for you..." He looked Ora dead in the eyes. "Wife."
"Who's your wife!?" she screamed, swinging her fist at him again.
Ryuga just laughed, blocking her weak punches playfully.
Ur stood awkwardly to the side, hands half-raised. "I'm still a kid! What are you people doing?!"
Eventually, Ryuga released Ora. She collapsed weakly against his side, panting, her face flushed.
He turned back to Ur, now serious. "Before we continue... let me ask something. What's your goal?"
"To support a new king who can replace the Demon King."
"And why is that? Because the Demon King rules the world? You're not from that era. How do you even know if that's true?"
"Uh..." Ur hesitated.
"You don't. Let me guess—Swarz told you that, didn't he?"
Both Ur and Ora fell silent.
Bingo.