Blazing sunlight spilled down from the sky, dispersing the chill around his body and bringing a gentle warmth.
When Sora ca back to his senses, he found himself already standing here.
A lush green garden, carved sculptures testifying to the presence of a park.
So, who exactly is the one lending power this ti…?
"Aaah~~ Damn you, Sento! Who the hell would co shopping outside on a day this hot!"
Just as Sora was puzzling over this, he heard soone loudly complaining in the distance.
Glancing in that direction, beneath the shadows of the trees, he saw a man tending to a small stall.
On the stall were various chanical objects, looking much like children's toys.
Unfortunately, no one else was around, leaving the stall utterly deserted.
"That guy's definitely relaxing with air conditioning in the lab right now. Screw this, I'm going back too!"
The man stood up, muttering complaints while gathering his things.
Thanks to this action, Sora found himself directly face-to-face with the man.
Seeing Sora, the man paused, uncertainly asking, "You here to buy sothing?"
He spread out his wares again, but this ti left only a few scattered items behind.
"Ah, forget it. Can't be bothered to sell these anymore. Just take 'em all."
Without warning, the man pushed all the items from the stall directly into Sora's arms.
The situation was so sudden and inexplicable that Sora didn't even have ti to react.
By the ti he did, the other party was already walking away, casually waving back at him.
"I'm sure you'll use those things to uphold love and peace or sothing."
"I'm not good with words, so I'll just say this: fight for those you believe in, and for those who believe in you."
Sora stared blankly at the pile of items shoved into his arms, then watched the retreating figure slowly disappear into the distance.
After a mont of silence, he finally spoke out sothing he'd noticed earlier:
"Um… Ryuga-san, your fly is open."
The distant figure instantly stumbled in shock.
Accompanied by a distant yelp of embarrassnt, Sora returned to the System Space.
Yet even as he returned, Sora's lips curled upward into a faint smile. The man's attempt to look cool while departing had really been way too forced.
But even so, Sora silently expressed gratitude from the bottom of his heart.
"Thank you, Banjo Ryuga."
[Congratulations, host: You've acquired the power of Kan Rider Cross-Z!]
Kan Rider Cross-Z was the second Rider from Kan Rider Build.
He was also notably the Rider who best exemplified the concept of heroes and villains sharing the sa origin in the past decade.
Bearing Evolto's genetic material, he was in a sense the "child" of the series' ultimate villain.
Of course, he was also known for another reason entirely:
Ever since teor punched out Fourze's main Rider in one hit, secondary Riders generally fell into an unfortunate spiral of getting thoroughly beaten.
Expressions of shock and disbelief quickly beca their standard look.
And this tradition reached an infamous climax with Banjo Ryuga himself—his record-setting fourteen-second knockout beca a legend of embarrassing defeats, only recently surpassed by soone else.
This also made his bold, confident transformation line, "Undefeated!", sowhat ironic.
The codic contrast had naturally beco a beloved among fans.
But, naturally, these were just playful fan jokes. Banjo Ryuga truly did embody the spirit of "undefeatable."
Perhaps in the show, he had fallen over and over again, mocked by many fans for repeatedly biting the dust.
Yet after every defeat, he'd always clench his fists once more, relentlessly throwing himself into battle!
No matter if his enemies were robotic sentries, evolved kaijin, rival Riders, or seemingly unbeatable alien beings…
No matter if his armor was the sturdy suit of a Rider, blazing-hot magma, or even just his fragile, human body—he never gave up.
The phrase "undefeated" was not simply about wins on paper.
Rather, it was about his courage to keep fighting, never yielding no matter how harsh the battle beca!
No matter how many tis he fell, he'd never truly lose. He'd always rise again, upholding that simple yet profound slogan:
"For love and peace!"
Love & Peace!
Sora's smile brightened further.
And now, it was finally ti for a certain villain disrupting love and peace to taste the iron fist of a dragon!
Of course…
There's no way he'd ever use the [Sclash Driver].
After all, everyone who used that seed to suffer an IQ debuff, famously known as the "Three Sclash Idiots."
Soone as clever as him would never use sothing that obviously ca loaded with debuffs.
Absolutely impossible!
...
"Seems like there aren't many people outside. You might wanna prepare yourself ntally," Unkyō quietly inford Robin, who was still backstage getting ready.
She had just peeked outside. To be frank, the turnout was dismal.
When the planet's administrators initially set up the venue, they had aid for grand scale and spectacle, expecting a huge crowd.
After all, it had been so long since Robin had perford; naturally, they wanted it to be heavily promoted.
Yet now, the seats filled didn't even reach one-tenth of capacity.
Forget one-tenth—just filling the seats nearest the stage was already difficult.
Hearing this, Robin's hand paused slightly in the middle of applying her makeup.
Quietly, she moved towards the curtain and glanced outside.
The empty seats stretched out endlessly. That emptiness was chilling to look at, especially since it absolutely should not have been the sight at a Robin concert.
Under normal circumstances, her concerts always sold out. Tickets often got scalped at sky-high prices. Were it not for IPC's incredibly strong anti-scalping asures, many could easily have made a fortune off reselling her tickets.
The striking contrast between those past packed venues and today's deserted audience was precisely why Unkyō felt compelled to give Robin a gentle heads-up.
After all, she'd recently learned about Robin's stellar career trajectory.
From the mont she'd debuted, it had been nothing but one constant rise upward.
She really didn't want Robin feeling psychologically hurt by this situation.
Yet Robin herself didn't care at all. She quietly ignored the empty seats, her attention fixed firmly upon those few lively little figures.
Those children showed no sign of illness at this mont. Each excitedly waved their cheering sticks, happily chatting with one another.
Nearby, the patients who had been transferred here and couldn't evacuate in ti had also co out in support.
After their harrowing experience on Zieltworth, Spider's looming threat no longer seed so imdiate.
Thus, everyone attending this concert now were basically the elderly, the weak, or the sick.
Truly, this would beco the humblest, emptiest concert Robin had ever held.
Yet strangely, she felt herself relax deeply inside…
"This is more than enough. My intended audience is already here, aren't they?"
She returned calmly to finishing her final makeup touches.
"By the way, aren't you all going to head out soon?"
Robin glanced questioningly toward Unkyō and the other Iron Cavalry girls still standing behind her.
Sora and the others had already gone out into space, leaving only Unkyō's group here.
"We believe in him," Unkyō adjusted her glasses—nobody knew where she'd suddenly found them—"Besides, we have an even more important job to do."
Robin blinked in confusion. More important?
"What do you think we've been busy preparing all this ti?"
Unkyō's lips curled up into a confident smirk.
"Leave the concert's opening ceremony to us!"
...
In the boundless expanse of space, a massive figure slowly advanced.
Its body was a grotesque fusion of biological flesh and cold machinery, countless jointed limbs weaving constantly as it crawled forward.
Behind it, a transparent, illusory spider web drifted silently in the vacuum.
Wherever the web passed, cosmic magnetic fields twisted chaotically.
This was the Galactic Pirate, codena: Spider.
Throughout the galaxy, it had committed countless atrocious cris, with innurable lives lost at its claws.
Now, using such tactics, Spider sought to lure out the one who'd annihilated its entire crew.
So had attempted to intercept it, yet the chaotic magnetic web made approaching with spacecraft far too dangerous.
Thus, it continued unchallenged, spreading its vast web far and wide.
Yet suddenly, Spider halted abruptly.
A single spaceship calmly drifted forward, unaffected by the disturbed magnetic fields.
That silvery-white brilliance cast away the surrounding darkness. Spider instantly recognized the ship's unmistakable hull.
This belonged to the one known as Kan Rider.
Which ant its enemy—the Kan Rider himself—was aboard!
The ship opened, and a single figure stepped out, facing Spider directly.
"Are you here seeking death?" Spider mocked coldly. "Even if you die, my actions won't stop."
Its losses must be repaid. Even killing Kan Rider wouldn't halt its rampage.
Yet facing the colossal Spider, Sora said nothing, calmly inserting the [Fullbottle] into the dragon-shaped device:
'[WAKE UP!]'
'[CROSS-Z DRAGON!]'
Spinning the handle forcefully, energetic music echoed as armor materialized around him.
[ARE YOU READY?]
"I've been ready for ages," for love and peace!
'[WAKE UP BURNING!]'
Armor snapped firmly into place, blazing sparks erupting brilliantly.
'[GET CROSS-Z DRAGON!]'
'[YEAH!]'
"Get the hell out of this world!"
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