"If you smash your belt, you won't be able to transform again!" Hase twirled his spear and advanced on Kaito.
Just as his spear was about to pierce her Driver, a large orange Lockseed flew in and intercepted the blow.
"Hey! What are you doing? That was the perfect chance to finish off Baron!" Jounouchi shouted at Ryuga.
Ryuga smirked. "You think I need help from someone as dirty as you to defeat him? Besides... wasn't it me who beat him just now? Why are you trying to steal the credit?"
"Mitchy, go!" he ordered.
"Yes, Brother Ryuga!"
At his command, Mitchy charged forward. Together, they overwhelmed the already weakened second-riders, Jounouchi and Hase. Both were forcibly returned to their base forms, their Drivers clattering to the ground beside them.
The Lockseed chains, recognizing the victors, detached themselves and flew into Ryuga and Mitchy's hands.
"We'll be back, just you wait!" the defeated two shouted, fleeing in humiliation.
Ryuga chuckled, dropping his transformation. "See that? That's what happens when you trust the wrong people."
"Hmph. They were just pawns. I never expected anything from them," Kaito responded coldly.
"And don't think I'll thank you for saving me," she added, limping away stubbornly.
Following the betrayal of Jounouchi and Hase, the alliance Kaito had assembled collapsed. Most of the teams disbanded and withdrew. Naturally, none returned the Lockseeds they'd once acquired under her command.
The hip-hop battleground reverted to the chaotic "Warring States" era — team against team. The only difference: the Lockseeds distributed by Kaito had vastly increased everyone's power levels.
Elsewhere, the last experimental Sengoku Driver developed by the World Tree had finally found its user — an outsider entirely unrelated to the hip-hop scene. The battlefield was about to expand.
One afternoon, while Jounouchi and Hase were training on a desolate wasteland in an effort to redeem themselves, they noticed an unusual crowd gathering nearby.
"What's going on? Why are all these people here?" Jounouchi asked, bewildered.
"Didn't you hear? An Inves Game is starting here!" someone in the crowd shouted.
"Oh yeah? Who said that? Why didn't we know about it?!" Hase growled.
"That would be me." A flamboyantly dressed man stepped out from behind the crowd.
"Who the hell are you?" Jounouchi demanded.
"I'm the one reviving this boring game for all of you. Name's Pierre Alfonso Oren," the man announced.
Jounouchi turned to Hase. "You know this guy?"
Hase replied bluntly, "Hell no."
Oren rolled his eyes at their exchange and pulled out a Durian Lockseed and a Sengoku Driver.
"Wait! Isn't that the leader of the RedHot Team's... umm... what's-his-name... whatever, it was his gear!" Jounouchi exclaimed.
Oren scoffed. "That loudmouth disrupted my pastry shop with his yelling, disturbing my customers. After I gave him a good beating, he practically handed these over to me to spare his miserable life. Logical enough for you?"
In truth, Oren — a former mercenary who'd once fought in brutal battlefields — had always found the sight of immature hip-hop dancers misusing high-powered tech like the Sengoku Driver utterly offensive. The RedHot team leader had simply picked the wrong time to annoy him.
"Transform," Oren muttered dispassionately.
[Durian! Lock On!]
A massive durian Lockseed descended from the sky.
[Durian Arms! Mr. Dangerous!]
Kamen Rider Bravo had arrived — flashy transformation aside, he lacked the dramatic flair of other Riders. His armor was a pale green base with spiked dark green plating on his chest, shoulders, and helmet. A crimson comb adorned his helmet like a cockscomb.
Truth be told, his appearance was... questionable.
Red and green? Ugh. Fashion disaster.
Still, his combat performance was anything but laughable. Compared to the bland Gridon and Kurokage, Bravo was unforgettable.
And unlike them, Oren had real combat experience. Among "normal" Riders, only Kureshima Takatora (Zangetsu) could rival him.
Ironically, Oren's goal in becoming a mercenary had simply been to gain French citizenship and pursue his true passion: being a pastry chef.
Despite his sarcasm and indifference, he held back no punches. With overwhelming ease, he humiliated Jounouchi and Hase again in front of the crowd, stealing their Lockseeds as they fled once more.
His flashy dominance quickly earned him a fanbase of over-impressed, under-discerning teenagers.
In the days that followed, Oren hunted down several other low-ranking hip-hop teams, gaining more Lockseeds — and more fans — with each victory.
News of this disruption soon reached Kureshima Takatora's ears.
At the heart of Zawame City stood the towering World Tree skyscraper — headquarters of the World Tree Consortium.
Inside a secure meeting room, Sid presented a report to Takatora.
"Oren — real name Gennosuke Oren. Fifteen years ago, he traveled to France to become a pastry chef. To obtain citizenship, he enlisted in the military, was deployed to several African conflict zones, and completed his tour."
"After his discharge, he changed his name to Pierre Alfonso Oren and returned home as a certified master pâtissier."
"A former elite special forces soldier with battlefield experience? How the hell did someone like him get a Driver?" Takatora snapped.
"No idea," Sid replied nonchalantly. "Just because someone holds a Driver now doesn't mean they were the original intended user. These things change hands."
Takatora's eyes narrowed. "Then how do you plan to take responsibility?"
Sid sipped his tea. "Why should I? Accidents happen."
Takatora was about to lash out, but a new voice cut him off.
"Now, now... no need to play the blame game." A projector flickered on, revealing a middle-aged man in eccentric sportswear — DJ Sagara.
"It's poor form to scold your subordinates so harshly, Director Kureshima," he said with a casual smile.
DJ Sagara, the charismatic host of Zawame City's hip-hop radio station, was more than just a media figure. Outwardly working for the World Tree, he was in truth an avatar of the Helheim Forest itself — its conscious will. He observed the Riders to determine who would inherit the Golden Fruit.
And also — conveniently — served as a part-time plot device for handing out power-ups.
"This is too dangerous. We can't let a man like that run wild. The Driver must be retrieved," Takatora insisted.
"Why?" Sagara shrugged. "Thanks to him, my ratings have never been better."
"DJ Sagara! Your job is to facilitate intelligence-gathering in Zawame, not play god!" Takatora growled.
Sagara mockingly raised his hands. "Ooo, I'm so scared."
Sid, half-smiling, added, "Professor Ryoma is pleased too. He's collecting unprecedented data."
"Indeed," came another voice — unseen this time.
"Despite the chaos, things remain within acceptable limits. Let's observe how this plays out."
Although it sounded like a suggestion, the tone left no room for disagreement.
Only one figure in the Zawame branch could speak to Takatora like that.