"Senpai! Mutsuki!"
Kazuma Kendate watched as his two comrades, tortured into unconsciousness, lay before him. He moved to rush to their side, but was immediately cut off by Hajime Shijyo.
The two locked in a fierce struggle, the momentum of their clash carrying them out of the building.
Meanwhile, inside, Yusuke Onodera was, as expected, lost in his usual daze. He took several heavy blows from Kamata, remaining stagnant even after the latter revealed his true form as the Paradoxa Undead. He didn't even seem to consider transforming into Kamen Rider Kuuga.
"President! Why are you doing this?!"
Outside, Kendate took another punishing hit. He simply couldn't fathom his superior's motives.
Shijyo looked down at him with icy indifference. "How could a low-level employee like you understand the burdens of a decision-maker?"
"The burdens of a decision-maker?"
"If the threat of the Undead ceases to exist, this company loses its reason for being," Shijyo stated, looming over the prone Kendate. "To secure budget appropriations from the state, we need the Undead to pose a greater threat than ever before."
"You mean... you're doing all of this just for money..."
Kendate scrambled to his feet, reaching out to grab Shijyo's collar, only to be shoved back down into the dirt.
"The lever that balances fear and security is mine to control."
Shijyo pulled out the Chalice Rouzer and slashed a card through the belt, initiating his transformation.
"I now possess the power of both a Kamen Rider and the ultimate Undead, the Joker!"
He then swiped the newly manufactured card. His silhouette flickered, shifting from Kamen Rider Chalice into the terrifying form of the Joker Undead.
"RAAGH—!"
With a feral roar, Shijyo lunged at Kendate, raining down a brutal barrage of strikes.
Just as the situation turned dire, Tsukasa Kadoya made his entrance. In the form of Kamen Rider Ryuki, he leaped through the window of a car parked at the curb, delivering a flying kick that sent Shijyo reeling back.
Tsukasa tossed the Blay Buckle, which he had just reclaimed from the laboratory, toward Kendate.
"Here's a gift for you."
"Leader!" Kendate caught the belt, his face lighting up with excitement.
"It's 'Chief'... don't get it wrong," Tsukasa corrected him dryly.
At that moment, Kamata, who had been attacking Yusuke in the lab, gave chase. He emerged from the building, intent on supporting Shijyo and eliminating Decade.
However, the moment he stepped through the door, his path was blocked by a towering figure.
The figure was clad in brilliant, "rich-man" gold armor, wielding a massive golden claymore.
It was Kamen Rider Blade King Form.
The man behind the mask was, of course, Raven.
"Blade? No... who are you?!" Kamata asked, sensing the clear resemblance to Kendate's Rider form yet feeling a completely different pressure.
"Forgotten me already?"
Raven leveled the King Rouzer at him.
"You again!"
Recognizing the voice and the distinct, high-spec belt, Kamata realized that this gilded knight was the same "Dark Decade" from before.
"I won't let you escape this time."
Raven swung the heavy blade. The sheer force of the impact sent Kamata flying, smashing through the laboratory wall.
CRASH!
Amidst a shower of rubble and masonry, Kamata tumbled out into the open courtyard.
"Incredible..."
Yusuke Onodera picked himself up from the floor, staring at Raven's display of power in awe. For some reason, he saw a familiar shadow in this Dark Decade, as if he somehow knew the man.
Raven turned his head slightly to look at Yusuke. He gave a slow, disappointed shake of his head.
"Do you even remember who you are?"
"Who I am?" Yusuke blinked, momentarily stunned by the question.
"Forget it. You're beyond help. Maybe you should just change your name to 'Booga' (forgetting the self) instead of Kuuga (Empty Self)."
Raven left him with that final biting remark and stepped through the hole in the wall.
"What do you mean 'Booga'? I'm Kuuga!"
The realization finally clicked in Yusuke's mind.
…
Outside the research facility.
Raven pursued the fleeing Kamata toward the battlefield where Shijyo was clashing with Tsukasa and Kendate.
"Shijyo, help me!"
Kamata scrambled toward his ally, desperately seeking aid from Shijyo, who was currently suppressing both Decade and Blade.
"It's that guy. Perfect timing!"
Filled with the overwhelming confidence of the Joker, Shijyo shoved Decade and Blade aside. He thrust his hand forward, discharging a wave of green kinetic energy toward Raven.
The shockwaves slammed into Raven's King Form armor, but they were utterly ineffective, not even a scratch marred the gold.
"What?" Shijyo froze.
"Don't be in such a hurry," Raven said calmly. "Once I've finished him, you're next."
Raven pulled a King Form Attack Ride card from his Booker. He prepared to unleash a finisher on the Paradoxa Undead.
[ROYAL STRAIGHT FLUSH]
Five translucent cards erupted from the reliefs on his armor, hovering in mid-air before being absorbed into the King Rouzer's blade.
"That form is..."
Kendate, who had just been knocked back alongside Tsukasa, stared at the golden Blade in envy.
"That's a Form Ride," Tsukasa explained. "He's using Blade's form, though it seems you're a long way off from transforming into that yourself."
Each Rider had a Final Form, and it seemed Raven always managed to get his hands on the corresponding cards one step ahead of him.
"Is that really what I'll look like in the future?" Kendate asked in disbelief, his eyes shining with newfound determination.
"The current you is nowhere near ready for that kind of power," Tsukasa lectured him in the tone of a seasoned senior.
Raven unleashed the power of the five cards, locking onto Kamata. He charged forward, the King Rouzer slicing through the card projections as it gathered energy. The final strike carved through the Paradoxa Undead's body.
BOOM!
With a single strike, Kamata's body erupted in a violent explosion. The so-called "immortality" of the Undead was nothing more than a joke in the face of Dark Decade's power.
"Damn it... he killed Kamata."
Seeing this, Shijyo took several involuntary steps back.
"No... there's no need to fear. I am the strongest Undead now! I am the Joker!" Shijyo shouted, trying to bolster his own courage.
"The strongest?"
Raven shifted his gaze toward him, his voice cold.
"People who say that usually don't end up with a very happy ending."
The power of the Joker was an essential component of the Rider/Kaijin ecosystem. Raven found himself very interested in it.
"RAAGH! Don't look down on me!"
Losing his composure, Shijyo charged at Raven in a fit of mad rage.