"I was wrong! Please have mercy!"
Long Wo panicked immediately as War Rabbit charged at him with burning eyes.
Behind them, reporter Sawa, who had just woken up from her Smash transformation, watched the scene unfold with a black question mark floating over her head.
Seriously? I just got kidnapped and turned into a monster, and these two are doing a chase drama?
Later that evening, under the dim light near the Sky Wall's reservoir, War Rabbit faced Night Rogue, narrowing his eyes.
"Are you really Rogue?"
Earlier, after bringing Sawa back to the coffee shop, she had given an emotional "confession" and claimed she was working undercover to expose Faust's links to Namba Heavy Industries and the Eastern Capital Government.
War Rabbit had believed her—sort of. But as luck would have it, the Eastern Capital Government, temporarily represented by Honest Man, coincidentally launched a large-scale operation to eliminate Faust.
War Rabbit, suspicious of the timing, joined the fight—not to aid the government, but to uncover the truth.
Then Night Rogue appeared and was easily defeated by War Rabbit using the Pirate-Train Best Match. But something was off.
"Inland Sea?" War Rabbit murmured.
Sure enough, the defeated Night Rogue turned out to be Uchikawa Narasaki, also known as Inland Sea—Honest Man's loyal secretary and one of the institute's top scientists. War Rabbit knew him well; cold-faced, robotic, and rigid, which earned him the nickname "The Robot."
Ironically, the man who was often mocked for being robotic… would eventually be turned into a literal robot by Evolto after being discarded by Honest Man.
As per the stage play being performed for the public eye, Inland Sea dramatically confessed to being the leader of Faust in front of a conveniently summoned press crowd—and, true to script, attempted suicide by diving off the dam.
But come on—it's Kamen Rider. Everyone knows knights don't die in water. He'd live. And sure enough, Long Wo pulled War Rabbit aside and they left quickly, knowing full well that E (Evolto) was probably already waiting downstream to recruit the fallen scientist.
Elsewhere…
Honest Man was at his wit's end.
His plans were unraveling, his lies exposed, and worst of all, Namba Jusaburo was growing impatient. Desperate, he sought out Stalk.
"Where is Pandora's Box?!" he demanded.
Stalk grinned. "Swear loyalty to me, and I'll tell you~"
"Damn you. I should've killed you long ago!" Honest Man snapped, pulling out his Smoke Gun and transforming into Night Rogue.
"You really think you can beat me?" Stalk tilted his head lazily.
"With the smoke system, your danger level's fixed—same as mine. That means we're equals!" Rogue said with twisted confidence.
Stalk stared at him, silent. Equal?
This clown really thinks we're equals?
Rogue charged.
Stalk didn't even lift a finger. He let Rogue land a few hits, tanking them like swatting flies. Just when Night Rogue thought he had the upper hand—standing over Stalk in arrogant triumph—Stalk snapped.
He slid out from under Rogue's foot like a snakeskin shedding, grabbed his Smoke Rifle, and in two precise shots, broke the transformation clean off Honest Man.
Result?
Honest Man GG'd.
Stalk crouched beside the man's crumpled form and "kindly" whispered:
"Don't take it too hard. Here's a free spoiler: Namba Heavy Industries' new partner… is me."
"W-What?!" Honest Man gasped, brain short-circuiting.
"Yep," Stalk smirked. "Which means I know exactly where Pandora's Box is hidden."
And just in case Honest Man's brain cells hadn't quite caught up, Stalk offered another "hint" before walking away:
"If you dispatch ZF soldiers, Beidu and Xidu will take it as an act of war. But if I do it—an 'independent party'—they won't be able to retaliate, now will they?"
Nascita Coffee Shop
"I'm back!" The café owner strolled in with his usual sunny grin.
"Back from... work?" War Rabbit asked, sitting in the sunset gloom.
"Yup. Same thing tomorrow." The boss rotated his shoulders, feigning exhaustion.
"I don't even know what counts as your 'justice' anymore," War Rabbit replied, half-joking.
"Gotta maintain this shop somehow," the boss said, eyes on the espresso machine. "This place is special to us, remember?"
The memory drifted in—War Rabbit, amnesiac and battered, being welcomed into the café. The first Smash defeated. The wounds, the awkward transformations, and the warmth of returning here.
"Since that day," the boss said softly, "this place has been your home."
"I like saying, 'Welcome back' to you after a fight. It makes this place feel like a family."
Behind the wall, Long Wo and Misora were eavesdropping.
Long Wo curled his lip. If I didn't know you were an emotionless alien freak, I'd actually be moved…
The "alien freak" in question was none other than Evolto, whose current form—the cheerful boss—hid a heart utterly devoid of emotion. At least for now.
Of the three listening, only Misora still believed in him.
War Rabbit had already learned the truth—from Nabeshima, who'd recovered his memories and revealed the boss's true identity as Stalk.
As Stalk had subtly suggested, the Honest Man went ahead with a plan to "use a civilian third party" to retrieve Pandora's Box, rather than dispatching government troops.
War Rabbit was already ahead of him.
He assigned Sawa to gather intel. She soon returned with results.
"Namba Heavy Industries has stored high-value assets in this building," she said, pointing at the schematics she laid on the table. "It's heavily guarded. But…"
She leaned in with a knowing look.
"If you're a spy, you should know what to do."
War Rabbit blinked. "...Wow. Thanks for rubbing in the betrayal again."
Sawa shrunk back, offended.
Misora tried not to laugh.
Long Wo smirked.
And the mission was now fully in motion.