Originally, I thought the fight was over too quickly—so quick that Ryuga wouldn't bother making another move. But I didn't expect that idiot to pick a fight even after the match ended. It'd be a shame if I didn't return the favor properly.
You have to understand—while a Lockseed isn't that large, roughly the size of a tennis ball, having one smash straight through your palm? That hand's finished.
And without his hand, his dance ability would naturally take a nosedive. Not to mention the unspoken law of the Baron team: survival of the fittest. Worse, he had violated the unwritten rules—sneak attacks and tampering with Lockseeds were forbidden.
After all, Baron had always carried himself with a sense of pride and fairness. Strong was strong, weak was weak. He never relied on underhanded tactics. If there weren't bigger problems at hand, he would've personally dealt with that fool for tarnishing his reputation.
But there was a bigger problem.
Once a Lockseed's integrity is broken, the Inves it controls breaks free, shattering the virtual battle arena and manifesting in the real world.
And once an Inves becomes real, it does what monsters do best: attack everything in sight.
A lesser Inves could be taken down easily by Ring Fighters or even regular teams. But this one was a high-class Inves—Mai's, no less. Ordinary humans were no match. We had to evacuate.
After calming Mai, who was blaming himself for losing control of his Inves, Ryuga stepped forward and transformed without hesitation, ready to engage.
In the original timeline, this Inves evolved after swallowing loose Lockseeds on the ground. But here? The Lockseeds shattered under Ryuga's kick—powdered into dust. One had even pierced a man's palm earlier.
There would be no evolution. And even if it had, it wouldn't have stood a chance.
Once the Inves was neutralized, Ryuga left the scene amid thunderous cheers from the Gaim team. Of course, he didn't forget to snatch the reward—a grade-A Pineapple Lockseed—from the stunned Ring Fighter still frozen by the spectacle of Ryuga's transformation.
With that victory and several high-level Lockseeds under their belt, Mai's Gaim team shot up the rankings, landing among the top three—despite only accepting challenges passively rather than actively hunting stages.
The prize money from their wins was substantial, enough to bring Ryuga back to the good life—big meals, rich dishes, and daily indulgences. Naturally, he still lived at Mai's place; all the money was going into food, after all. Moving out? Unthinkable.
One of Ryuga's favorite hangouts was Drupers, a popular fruit dessert café in Zawame City. It was also the prime hangout spot for the city's street dancers. When he wasn't performing with the team, he'd lounge at Drupers, eating desserts and watching dramas on his tablet. Uncle Bando, the café's warm-hearted manager, had become so fond of Ryuga that he ensured the boy's table never went empty—refilling fruit plates and juice glasses like clockwork.
One day, as Uncle Bando was bringing over another round of juice, Kumon Kaito, stormed into the shop with heavy steps and a grim face.
"I'm taking a break!" the waitress muttered, ghosting out of the shop like smoke before a storm.
"Hey, Kaito, this isn't an Inves Game battleground," Uncle Bando warned with a frown.
"Relax, I'm not here to fight." Kaito's eyes locked on Ryuga. "Leader of the Gaim team—I have a question for you."
Ryuga didn't even lift his eyes from the tablet. "Speak."
"You've spent the entire week accepting challenges but never sought out a single team to battle. You've avoided claiming any stages. Why?"
"First off, I'm not the one making those decisions. Mai handles that. Ask him."
"Second... well, if your team can't even beat us in a dance-off and instead turns to Inves battles to settle scores, you're not worth our time. Let's be honest—most of your teams are garbage."
Ryuga took a bite of cake before smirking. "Just sitting here is enough. Sooner or later, some idiot will walk up and ask for a beating. Like now, for example."
"You bastard!" Kaito's temper flared. He rolled up his sleeves, ready to throw hands—but then a mental image of Ryuga casually kicking a Lockseed through a human hand flickered through his mind. He hesitated. He redirected his raised hand, awkwardly clutching his waist instead.
"Fine. Then you better be ready to fight!" he snapped, suppressing his embarrassment.
"Anytime. Just let me finish this episode first." Ryuga's eyes didn't move from the tablet.
"Argh!" Kaito stormed out, clutching the secret weapon tucked in his coat. He swore to himself that next time, he would make Ryuga pay.
Later that day, Kaito and his team marched to the Gaim stage. Word of their rematch spread like wildfire. Spectators surrounded the stage in anticipation.
But they waited... and waited. Over an hour passed before Ryuga finally arrived, casually pacing with his hands in his pockets.
"You're late!" Kaito barked. "We've been waiting forever!"
"And that's my problem because...?" Ryuga raised an eyebrow. "I told you—I'd come after the movie. If you showed up early, that's on you."
"You son of—!" Kaito clenched his fists, but Ryuga waved a hand dismissively.
"Save it. I want to finish this fast and get back to my show. You got the Sengoku Driver from Sid, right? Let's see it."
"How do you know that?" Kaito's eyes widened in shock.
"Does it matter? Just transform already."
Ryuga drew his belt.
"Transform!"
[Orange!]
[Lock On!]
[Soiya! Orange Arms!]
[Ikebana — On Stage!]
In response, Kaito took out his new belt—the Sengoku Driver—and clicked it into place.
"Transform!"
[Banana!]
[Lock On!]
[Come On! Banana Arms!]
[Knight of Spear!]
A massive banana-shaped armor dropped from the sky and locked into place on his body. His teammate Zack exclaimed, "Banana?!"
"It's Baron," Kaito corrected, wielding a spear-like weapon in his new armored form.
Back with the Gaim team, Wu Dao Guangshi looked panicked. "Sister Wu! Baron has an Armed Rider too!"
In this world, no one used the term "Kamen Rider." The transformed fighters were simply called Armed Riders.
"Don't worry," Mai said calmly. "Just leave it to Ryuga."
"Now I'll show you my real power!" Kaito sneered—but a commanding voice suddenly interrupted.
"Stop."
The crowd turned.
Sid had arrived.
The infamous "Mountain Guardian," and secret distributor of Lockseeds and Sengoku Drivers.
"Are you getting involved, Sid?" Kaito asked warily.