"Pri…scilla…"
All eyes locked onto her. Amiya's body tensed—everyone's did. Despite Priscilla's previous clashes ending in less-than-victorious outcomes, her knack for stirring chaos was unmatched. Enough so that the entire Lungmen command had learned to stay on high alert whenever she appeared.
The frozen tumor still looming over Lungmen's slums—the aftermath of the Blood Demon incident—was a direct result of her meddling. The casualty list from that disaster still sat on Wei Yenwu's desk.
And now, she'd dragged in one-twelfth of a colossal beast.
"Long time no see, little Amiya. What's with that look? Are you really that unhappy to see me?"
Priscilla feigned heartbreak, but the expression vanished behind a smile just as quickly.
"I suppose the Doctor gave you my name directly? Tch—so much for mystery. But don't look at me like that. Sure, I'm not Theresa herself, but I have her memories. I've seen her life, lived her moments. Didn't I walk beside you those years, just the same?"
She smiled gently, but her words only stoked the fury in Amiya's eyes.
"Why?" Priscilla sighed. "We look the same. Our emotions—those could be the same too. Yes, the real Theresa is dead… but I can be the new one. I can be exactly like the Theresa in your memorie—"
"Shut up!!"
Boom!
A golden-red Rider Watch roared to life, unleashing a torrent of energy directly at Priscilla. She only smiled, raising her hand slightly—an invisible shield caught the blast, condensing it into a flaming orb that she effortlessly snuffed between her fingers.
"Really now, little Amiya. This is a populated area. What if someone got hurt? That's not the kind of child Theresa raised, was it?"
Her eyes darkened.
So we're beyond talking, then. Good. This'll be easier for both of us.
"Don't you dare speak to me in her voice!"
Amiya's eyes flashed gold, that destructive impulse from the last encounter with the Aspected Beast flaring once more. And Priscilla—calm, poised Priscilla—suddenly frowned. Something primal had locked onto her. Something dangerous.
But she ignored the threat and instead turned toward Talulah, eyes catching the faint purple glow of the salted fish she held.
"So that's how you found me so quickly. I had a hunch you'd come, but not this fast. That little trinket… dark magic, hmm? Even more fascinating than Sarkaz witchcraft."
Priscilla mused for a moment, then plucked a paperweight from a nearby art stall, turning it over in her hands.
And in the heart of the plaza, a monstrous lion-headed creature materialized.
"AHHHHHH!"
Screams rang out as the crowd scattered. A two-meter tall beast had just manifested out of thin air. But Lungmen had endured too many of these incidents to panic. Years of chaos had taught its people how to evacuate efficiently. Civilians streamed toward the designated safety corridors while nearby Shumagia androids activated emergency protocols and began ushering everyone out.
Within minutes, the square was deserted save for Amiya's team and Priscilla.
"See?" Priscilla gestured with a smug smile. "My messes do have benefits. The people of Lungmen have become quite skilled at surviving."
Shameless.
Everyone present silently pinned that label to her.
"Enough nonsense," said Nian-Popo, perched on Amiya's head, waving tiny paws furiously. "You're the one who messed with my silly sister and made her do all this, right? Where is Xi? Bring her out!"
Well… maybe if she were full-sized Nian, she'd be intimidating. But in Popo mode?
Adorable.
Even her own side couldn't help thinking it.
"A powerless proxy of a great beast, reduced to this?" Priscilla smirked. "Honestly, if all twelve of you siblings looked this cute, perhaps humans would treat you a bit more kindly."
The comment made Nian bristle. Her spines flared, heat radiating off her tiny body until the very air shimmered around Amiya.
Even at a fraction of her strength, a beast is still a beast.
"Angry now? You're even cuter when you're puffed up. Makes me want to adopt one of you. I really should've, back then…"
Priscilla muttered, then retrieved a scroll from beneath her.
"You want Xi? Fine. She's right here."
The heat around Nian vanished instantly. Her instincts screamed—whatever was inside that scroll, it was bad.
"And one correction, Nian," Priscilla said with unsettling calm. "I didn't manipulate Xi. Everything she's done… came from her own mind. As for me—"
Fwoosh!
She unfurled the scroll. A shattered ink-painting landscape spilled out: ruined blossoms, dead rivers, and in its center—the same Aspected Beast they'd seen once before.
Ink bled like a sea. Shadowy beasts—ink demons and corrupted spirits—writhed through the scroll. Then it tore.
The creature burst from the parchment, dragging an ocean of black ink with it. The flood crashed down onto the plaza—but didn't spread. Instead, it churned inward, forming a swirling tower of blackened ink.
"It's here!"
Amiya shouted, belt already buckled in place. As monsters erupted from the flood, she spun her Rider Watch.
"Zi-O!"
"Rider Time! Kamen Rider Zi-O!"
She transformed mid-leap, sword drawn in an instant. She cleaved through one ink spirit, then spin-kicked another that lunged from behind.
Above her, Nian-Popo unleashed a blast of fire at a whirling monstrosity, incinerating it on the spot.
Talulah and Ch'en also transformed, weapons blazing.
"Amiya! We'll handle the minions! Go after the Aspected Beast!"
Talulah sliced down a serpent-like ink demon with her Time Saber, then swept flames to cleanse the ground. Amiya nodded and surged forward—only to find a wall of creatures blocking her path.
"This is endless! Bunny, give me that watch!"
"Huh? Are you sure you can—"
"NOW!"
With no time to argue, Amiya handed over a white-and-red Rider Watch. Lacking a proper belt, Nian-Popo simply pawed at the mechanism and forced it to activate.
"Nian!"
The device chimed grandly. Nian-Popo grinned and swallowed it whole.
"She ATE it?!"
Ch'en slashed through more monsters in disbelief.
"I can feel it! The power's rushing back—!"
Her round body began to swell. From small-dog size, she inflated like a balloon until she was as large as a food cart.
"HA! Power restored! Wait, why do I still look like THIS?!"
Still a Popo, just… a big one.
"Oh, whatever! Let's do this! RAAAAAH!"
She curled into a ball, flames igniting across her body. Like an ancient siege engine from Yan, she launched herself forward, flattening and burning everything in her path.
"Clear the way! This heat'll melt steel! Let's go, Bunny!"
Amiya followed close behind as Nian rolled through the flood of monsters. But then—
"ROAR!!"
The Aspected Beast lunged from behind, spinning like a drill midair. It crashed into Nian-Popo from above.
WHUMP!
Like a balloon squeezed too hard, she compressed and was sent flying, bouncing across the plaza before collapsing. She coughed violently, the Rider Watch popping out of her mouth in a puff of smoke.
Flat on her back, her eyes swirled like spirals.
"Little sis… you went full madlad..."
"Nian!"
Ch'en saw ink creatures closing in on the fallen Nian. She sheathed her blade and growled:
"Cloudsplit!"
A single swing of her sword cleaved the flood in two. Ink spirits, beasts, and even foreign matter hidden among them—all reduced to ash. A dragon's roar echoed faintly from her armor.
She leapt atop a wave of ink like a surfer, snatched up Nian, and skated back to safety.
But the flood only grew. Talulah's dragonfire couldn't even evaporate it anymore.
Amiya battled the Aspected Beast directly—but it was colossal, her Goliath armor barely able to hold its ground.
CRASH!
She was struck down, swallowed briefly by the inky tide. The tower of ink rose higher, twisting upward like a monstrous spire, while the Beast circled within like a shark leading its horde, ramming Amiya again and again until she was flung out.
"It's drawing power from the ink," Nian groaned, watching from Ch'en's arms. "Xi's getting stronger every second..."
"But isn't all this ink her creation?" Talulah gasped, shooting down another creature. "Why would it contain extra energy?"
"I don't know, but—wait. That's… originite?!"
Nian's eyes locked onto a crystal spike poking through the plaza floor.
A terrifying realization hit them all.
She's siphoning energy directly from Lungmen's originite core.
Amiya, wincing from pain, pulled out a concentration meter.
"0.21μm³… This is bad. Atmospheric originite density is rising fast. That's enough to make ordinary people sick already."
And it was still climbing.
"We can't let her keep absorbing power."
Amiya rose, removed a brown Rider Watch from her arm, and locked it into the belt.
"Sui!"
She twisted the dial—
"Rider Time! Kamen… Ka…men Rid…Rider… ⸺error⸺error⸺"
"Huh?"
White-violet sparks erupted from the belt. Static surged, flashing erratically—
"Error Occurred!"
BOOM!
A sudden explosion flung Amiya back. She hit the ground hard, de-transformed on impact, face twisted in pain.
"Zi-O. Access Denied."
The Sui Watch landed beside her, its final judgment cold and merciless.
"W…why?"