Pain was not something Kamen Rider Fifteen was unfamiliar with—but this was different.
He knelt within a fractured void between universes, crimson armor scorched and cracked, sparks of unstable energy flickering across his body. Yuriko's new form replayed in his mind again and again: the blinding light, the overwhelming presence, the feeling of being judged by something far older than himself.
"I was chosen by destiny…" Fifteen growled, gripping the lunar dust that still clung to his gauntlet. "I cannot fall here."
The Armada could no longer be trusted to fight at his side alone. The Rangers were growing stronger—too fast. And Yuriko… she was becoming something beyond calculation.
He needed an ally. No—he needed a monster.
The abandoned building stood in silence, floating within a collapsed universe long since devoured by war. Its walls were broken concrete and twisted steel, suspended in an endless black sky. This place had no future, no past—only remnants.
And within it stood a figure clad in black and silver.
Green eyes glowed faintly in the darkness.
Shadow Moon.
He stood unmoving, like a statue carved from hatred itself. The air around him felt heavy, as if the universe itself recoiled in fear. His armor bore the scars of countless battles, yet his posture was calm—confident.
Kamen Rider Fifteen stepped forward, suppressing the pain in his body.
"Shadow Moon," Fifteen said, his voice echoing through the ruin. "You are power incarnate. A king without a throne. Join me, and I will give you a universe to rule."
Shadow Moon slowly turned his head.
The glow of his green eyes intensified.
"Rule…?" Shadow Moon repeated, his voice cold and metallic. "I bow to no one."
Fifteen clenched his fist. "This is not a request. I command—"
The sentence never finished.
Shadow Moon moved.
In a blur faster than Fifteen could react, Shadow Moon struck him across the chest with a devastating blow. Armor shattered. Fifteen was hurled through three concrete walls, crashing violently into the remains of the building.
"You mistake me for a servant," Shadow Moon said calmly, walking forward. "I am judgment."
Fifteen tried to rise—but Shadow Moon was already there.
A kick crushed Fifteen back into the ground. Another blow sent shockwaves through the void itself. Every strike was precise, merciless, final.
Fifteen screamed as his systems failed one by one.
"I was chosen by Ohma Zi-O!" Fifteen shouted desperately. "I carry his will!"
Shadow Moon paused.
For a single moment.
Then his grip tightened around Fifteen's throat.
"Then you are nothing but a messenger," Shadow Moon said. "And messengers are disposable."
Shadow Moon raised his weapon, energy surging violently. The killing blow was seconds away.
Suddenly—
A bolt of dark crimson lightning tore through the void.
Shadow Moon leapt back as a familiar laugh echoed through the broken universe.
"That's quite enough."
A portal of twisted red energy opened, and Lord Zedd emerged, staff crackling with power. With a violent pull of dark magic, he dragged Kamen Rider Fifteen out of Shadow Moon's reach.
Fifteen collapsed beside Zedd, armor shattered, barely conscious.
Shadow Moon stood tall, unbothered.
"Run," Shadow Moon said coldly. "Next time, I will not stop."
Zedd glared, his staff glowing brighter. "You are powerful… but not today."
With a furious wave of his staff, Zedd opened another portal. He and Fifteen vanished in a storm of crimson lightning, leaving the ruined universe silent once more.
Elsewhere, aboard the Armada's hidden fortress, Kamen Rider Fifteen lay on a repair platform, restrained by cables and dark energy conduits. His breathing was ragged.
Lord Zedd loomed over him.
"You overestimated yourself," Zedd sneered. "And underestimated the monsters you seek to control."
Fifteen clenched his fists weakly.
"Yuriko… the Rangers… they are evolving," he rasped. "Shadow Moon… is not an ally."
Zedd laughed darkly.
"Then we will simply change our strategy."
He turned toward the stars, where Earth and the moon glimmered in the distance.
"If heroes are awakening… then so shall nightmares."
Kamen Rider Fifteen's green visor flickered as rage burned behind it—not defeated, not broken.
Only waiting.
Far away, in the silence of the void, Shadow Moon stood alone, unmoving.
And somewhere beyond time itself, unseen eyes watched it all.
The war was no longer about conquest.
It was about which legend would survive.