Kamen Rider is the Villain in Pretty Cure

The Super AI it was equipped with possessed a computational speed ten thousand times faster than the strongest computers of this era. Naturally, the intelligence derived from this wouldn't engage in thankless tasks like comparing physical strength with a Doomsday Monster, a product of idealistic thinking. It concluded, with virtually no calculation needed, that a missile barrage was demonstrably superior in both cost-effectiveness and damage. At such close range, even the most incompetent AI could accurately strike the enemy.

Missiles were less accurate but fast from seven paces away. Within seven paces, they were both accurate and fast.

Since the opponent had fallen, the next step was to press the advantage.

The collision of its hard alloy fangs and the resilient body of the Doomsday Monster sent molecular vibrations that continuously ravaged the monster's tissues. As the Doomsday Monster's screams grew louder, under the increasing tearing force and biting power of V-Rex, accompanied by a final, earth-shattering cry of "Doomsday Monster!", V-Rex temporarily ended the enemy's suffering. With dark energy erupting, V-Rex bit off and tore away the Doomsday Monster's entire right leg, then flung it far away with a shake of its head.

Deprived of its ability to stand, the Doomsday Monster struggled to flip over and crawl using its hands and remaining left leg. Born to instill fear in others, the Doomsday Monster today felt a fear hundreds of times deeper from V-Rex than it had ever inflicted on people. Regardless, at least for now, its meager intelligence only made it want to escape this terrifying enemy as quickly as possible.

However, its intention to flee was detected. The Doomsday Monster's body was pinned down by V-Rex's foot, and then, another round of agonizing screams signaled the beginning of a new "dismemberment."

"ROAR——————!"

The overwhelmingly majestic roar of a Tyrannosaurus Rex was V-REX's declaration of victory.

"Gulp..."

Unable to stop themselves from clutching their churning throats and mouths, Saya and the others, who were on the verge of vomiting, had never witnessed such a horrifying scene of behemoths devouring each other.

And while V-Rex was busy with its "Shang Yang art," the perspective shifted to Time Fire.

[Extra]Case File 18 Courage That Couldn't Be Summoned

The few survivors, having narrowly escaped death, took deep breaths of the fresh air of their reprieve.

"As expected, in the end, I was the one dragging everyone down..."

With a wry smile that couldn't quite hide the distress on her face, Homare's fingers, gripping the armrests, made a somewhat grating sound.

"I'm sorry, Rumi E. If you hadn't brought me, this burden, you definitely could have escaped."

After the Doomsday Monster fell, its massive shadow enveloped the two small, fragile figures. Even her short blonde hair lost its brilliant color in the darkness.

She wanted to move her legs. If she could move, she definitely could have grabbed Rumi E's hand and escaped together, instead of this. Now, even trying to [command] her legs to move made her body tremble uncontrollably, resulting in no reaction at all.

Just like before, on that day, after falling on the track, even though jumping up was easy for a body still possessing athletic qualities, her trembling heart would desperately shout, "Do you want to go through another tragedy?" to stop her.

It was the same this time. Even though her legs had regained sensation, even though her body had recovered to a normal state after rehabilitation, capable of standing up like a regular person.

Her body could be restored to its pre-accident state with the advancements of modern medicine, but her heart, wounded once more, was not something modern medicine could heal.

Thinking this, Kagayaki Homare closed her eyes as if accepting her fate.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, as if everything was already destined.

In the end, I couldn't even afford to lose a single battle...

"No... Don't say that!"

Responding to Homare's complex and dejected mood was the unwavering tone of Aisaki Emiru, a current university student.

"Asking me to abandon my friend and run away? That's what I can't do!"

Watching their interaction, Hana, who had been glancing over, withdrew her gaze. Her previously suppressed mood finally lifted slightly.

Perhaps none of them in this world were perfect yet, but this friendship alone would never fade!

"Hey, are you still alive?"

Ah, shoot, I forgot about this other guy. Ahhhhhh—————

Without realizing it, he had walked over to the side of the few women. Seeing the patient he was supposed to be looking after with an unconcealable look of panic on her face, Ash let out a slightly amused chuckle. The Vulcan Gun danced between his fingers, from his right hand to his left, then landed back on his left index finger before being smoothly tucked into its holster.

Hmm, what's going on with that Cure Yell this time? Why didn't she show up? Did she get stuck in traffic?

Ash speculated maliciously, while Nono Hana also felt an inexplicable chill.

"Hey, you over there, you're her friends, right? Find me a bottle of water."

Showing no sign of being an outsider, Ash unhesitatingly asked when others looked towards the flame-shaped goggles.

"Can it be mineral water?"

"Oh, thanks. Let me see, Evian..."

Looking at the mineral water in his hand, which seemed to be a rather high-end brand, Ash hesitated for a moment.

Mineral water... I've only ever drunk Nongfu Three Fists and O Haha, what kind of brand is this? Looks like something ordinary people can't afford?

"Is it not okay? Mr. Time Fire, I also have a bottle of Yajia Spring and lluliaq here."

"That's enough, that's enough."

Then, amidst the gazes of others shifting from confusion to astonishment, Ash unscrewed the cap and poured the entire contents onto Homare's dazed head.

The clear, refreshing coolness physically helped to jolt Homare awake.

"Mmmph—" The icy spring water pouring from above activated Kagayaki Homare's consciousness. She opened her eyes, then quickly closed them again as the mineral water flowed into them. Instinctively, she pulled her hand, which was being pressed down, out to rub her eyes.

"Awake?"

The voice of the person before her made her hand movements pause.

The Crimson Warrior stood before Kagayaki Homare. The massive shadow of the Doomsday Monster had vanished. The sun, still high in the afternoon sky, cast its light upon the earth from which the shadows had been driven away, including Kagayaki Homare, who sat in her wheelchair amidst the ruins.

The red warrior, with his back to the sun, looked down and met Kagayaki Homare's gaze. The sunlight from behind blurred the image of Time Fire in Homare's eyes. Only his metallic lips emitted ruthless fluctuations, and on the faintly visible fiery goggles, her astonished eyes were reflected. It was like the cliché technique used in tokusatsu dramas or hot-blooded anime to depict powerful reinforcements descending from the heavens.

"Who are you?" The overwhelming light made Kagayaki Homare squint instinctively.

"Who I am isn't important, but you need to stand up now and go to the shelter with your companions. It's hard to guarantee your safety if you stay here."

"But, aren't all the enemies—"

Before Homare could finish speaking, Ash unceremoniously covered her mouth. She could only flail her limbs and let out frustrated puffs of air in protest.

Saying things Kagayaki Homare couldn't quite understand, the red warrior lowered his body and extended his hand towards the girl in the wheelchair.

"No, I can't stand up..."

"How will you know if you don't try?" The red warrior shrugged, speaking in a lighthearted tone.

"I just touched your legs. Your legs have normal sensation, healthy nerve reflexes, no injuries, and your muscles are fine. Walking normally is easy for you."

Ash, not sensing anything wrong, said things that turned the surrounding people to stone as he gradually revealed his conclusion.

"Huh... you touched my legs?"

Undoubtedly, it was harassment.

But looking at Time Fire, who was so matter-of-fact, Homare herself didn't know whether to scream and call him a pervert or blush in confusion.

"Yeah, speaking of which, they felt good, and your leg shape is quite okay. It seems you were an athlete or trained before."

Of course, Ash easily and naturally ignored the "Do you even know what you're saying?!" stares from everyone else.

"But... I've tried," Homare's expression looked a bit off. "For me now, it's not something I can do just by thinking about it."

"That's why I said we have to try."

"No... I can't do it!" The fingers gripping the armrest tightened even more. "I want to, but no matter what, I... I don't have the courage!"

"What I mean is... if you can't do it, then you only have willpower."

Suddenly grabbing the handles behind the wheelchair, Ash turned her to face the other direction and pushed her forward.

"So get the hell up, you useless woman!"

[Extra] Case File 19 The Self-Righteous Man

In the past, when Ash was still young and hadn't had the chance to be involved with or actually become some kind of "villain," although he had accidentally come into contact with the "Henshin Hero" series through some opportunities and was completely immersed in the "heroic charm" that didn't exist in reality, he wasn't just a tokusatsu otaku who only watched tokusatsu shows... well, at least he wasn't back then.

Occasionally, perhaps when he wanted to change his mood, even Ash would watch other anime. Besides the giant robots he particularly liked, what left the deepest impression on him were actually those "moe harem" anime.

Unlike ordinary people's focus, what attracted him wasn't the beautiful women with diverse personalities in the harem arousing his perverted desires. In fact, he generally didn't have any particular interest in women when watching shows. What actually left a deeper impression on him were the male protagonists, yes, those standard "moe" protagonists who were too cowardly compared to the various heroes.

The male protagonist in the show was living an ordinary, boring life. Occasionally being kind to others was more like being weak to everyone. At most, he was only slightly better than Ash himself, who was always gloomy when dealing with people.

But it was precisely these useless male protagonists who inexplicably had a bunch of women clinging to them, getting jealous of his relationships, and staging various romantic comedies with him. And every time a heroine explained the reason for liking him, it would always be the same cliché answer like "You're very kind." Honestly, it was to the point of being annoying, like getting something for nothing.

In fact, even now, Ash quite disliked those confusing plots involving entanglements with the opposite sex. It was the same in reality. If he had that much free time, wouldn't it be better to watch a couple more anime episodes?

So when he first encountered it, Ash really couldn't understand what this "kindness" was. Even a genius like him couldn't analyze what principle it was that allowed someone to easily fall in love with another person who wasn't a good match.

Later, Ash gradually understood. Because the protagonists in the "moe harem" anime he watched were set up as weaklings. The so-called "You're very kind" meant that the male lead had no other characteristics besides being kind to others, so the only thing he could say was "kindness."

So from then on, Ash, who considered himself a genius and implicitly looked down on everyone around him, vowed that he would be a "kind" person in the future!

Ash is not a weakling, Ash is a genius!

Ash is not kind, Ash has absolutely no connection to kindness!

Therefore, when faced with Homare's situation, where her legs were perfectly fine but she couldn't move them solely due to psychological issues, the red warrior couldn't help but feel disdain.

So, if he had the inclination to help her, Ash wouldn't choose such a "gentle" method to help her build her self-confidence and then slowly stand up, as that would be inefficient.

Ash's choice was very simple and clear: he casually picked up a helmet, put it on her head, and then pushed her.

Yes, literally—pushed her.

Ash stood at the entrance of the downhill road, as if he hadn't seen the blonde woman's terrified and pleading expression. He aimed at the wheelchair behind her and gently poked the back of it with his index finger.

It was just a gentle push.

"Ahhhh—Stop, I can't stop!"

The blonde woman's expression turned to one of pure terror. She tried to grab the wheelchair that had started rolling down rapidly, but the two wheels, which were accelerating downhill, were not something that could be easily stopped. After her hands were scratched from trying to pull it back in vain, Homare could only watch as she continuously accelerated, hurtling down the slope, the chaotic wind blowing past her face. She wanted to escape but was powerless.

Stop, someone make all this stop!

The girl was bound to this wheelchair, which Ash had deliberately turned into an instrument of torture, by her own legs... no, by her own heart. And the only thing she could do was—

"Homare—!"

"What are you doing—"

"Stop it!" It wasn't just one person whose jaw dropped in shock at Ash's sudden move. Emiru, who reacted a little faster, tried to grab the wheelchair, but her fingertips brushed past the armrest as it began to slide, and she could only watch as it went down.

Those who wanted to follow and catch Homare in advance were blocked by Ash, who put up a hand in front of them. "No entry here!"

"You, you, you—what did you do!?"

Aren't you—aren't you the hero who just defeated the Doomsday Monster? Why are you doing this now? Do you want to kill her?!

"Her legs have long been healed. The reason she still can't stand up is simply because she can't face her own inner weakness."

It's probably some kind of past psychological trauma, right? Well, weaklings who can't overcome or let go of their own hearts are just like that!

In front of everyone else's stunned faces, Ash revealed the truth Homare had been trying to hide in just a few words.

"If she's too weak and lacks the courage to stand up, then I'll lend her my courage. As the saying goes, the truth is revealed in the face of great terror."

"You—all for this?! Is this your method?!" Saya's eyes blazed with anger, dumbfounded by Ash's reckless reasoning for betraying his friend. "How dare you make such a judgment when you know nothing!"

"Nonsense." Ash not only denied Saya's furious words, which were practically spitting on his goggles, but also calmly wagged his index finger. "Because I do know. Because—"

"I'm a genius."

That's why I can see right through her with just one glance and a touch.

"You—!" Emiru, equally shocked by Ash's shamelessness and at a loss for what to do, looked at Homare, who was moving faster and faster, and was about to cry from anxiety. "There are better ways! If we, as her friends, work together, Homare will surely be able to stand up again with everyone's encouragement—"

"Too naive."

Ash frowned slightly at the piercing screams in his ears. "What good will your gentle approach do? A serious illness requires strong medicine. In fact, if you ask me, this should have been done a long time ago!"

"You're too arrogant to say such things!"

"It's not arrogance, it's just how capable I am." Ash, unashamed and even proud, patted the flame patterns on his battle suit's chest, making them ring out boastfully as they bristled with anger.

"Capable people need to be greater than ordinary people. I'm sorry, but that's just my personality."

[Extra] Case File 20 Unwilling Courage

"What's with that attitude, acting so high and mighty!"

"Sorry, that's my privilege."

Unlike the three women who were angrily denouncing Time Fire for the excessive treatment of their friend and his arrogant attitude, Nono Hana, who was subconsciously considered in need of protection, was shielded by them. However, in a line of sight no one noticed, the Light Heart, taken out at some point, was clutched in her hand, creaking from the excessive force.