When Sougo and Tsukuyomi were let off the red dragon, what they found... was something they haven't expected.

They arrived at a temple that had a stone bench and table, with a shrine in the center.

An old man blinked before smiling sadly and welcoming them in. His eyes were covered by some cloth, but he walked around just fine.

The elder waved, "Come over, come over. That dragon will be getting your other friend to here."

Leading them over to sit, Geiz blinked as the dragon from earlier dropped him off at the table.

"Geiz!"

With practiced ease and nonchalance, the elder lit some essence and placed them by the shrine.

As the elder bowed before the shine and got up, Tsukuyomi asked as he poured some tea, "Who are you?"

The elder smiled hollowly and recited, "I am the world's most powerful, kindest demon king."

The elder then turned to Sougo and added, "My youthful self... you remember our dream. A world being destroyed, and a man telling us to be king."

The trio looked at them stunned as Geiz growled, "ZI-O...!"

Sougo demanded, "Why?! Why did you do this? How could you?!"

The older Sougo smiled sadly, "I did it... to save the world."

"No way!"

The elder sat down as Tsukiyomi demanded, "Where are we?"

He said nothing, before asking, "My younger, foolish self. Why did Tsukuyomi and Geiz travel to the past?"

Sougo answered with a shout, "To defeat you and make sure their suffering has ended!"

The elder nodded, "That's right: my actions caused them to try and stop me from being a cruel demon king. However, it's because of those actions that they traveled to my past and your era."

Geiz scowled, "And we will succeed!"

A shake of the head, "No... you will help my younger self become me."

"WHAT?!"

However, the younger Sougo was quiet, before muttering, "Hypocrites..."

The duo looked at him in confusion, while the elder looked on in sadness.

The younger Sougo spoke with a sad tone, asking, "Remember Another Gaim? My future self eventually got erased and helped us defeat the Another Rider. But Tsukuyomi, you yelled at me about causing a paradox..."

She nodded slowly, as he continued, "However... I met you guys, because of my 'evil' actions and rule. You guys went into the past to prevent my actions of becoming a Rider."

Geiz nodded, "Of course."

"However... if you change my future... if I die, or even don't become a demon king... You two wouldn't go back to stop me in the first place."

The situation finally sunk in, as their eyes widened in horror before turning to the elder.

The old, broken, Sougo smiled a sad smile, and explained, "I didn't become a king because I was born to. I became a king because I had to. I became an evil overlord so I would become one in the first place."

"No way..."

The fire that the trio had, the motivation to end the Demon King's life, has been permanently extinguished.

The elder went on, a nostalgic look on his face, "I remember the Another Riders. I remember every moment, every line. I even remember this conversation. This is my timeline, where I destroyed and rule the world, just to prevent a massive paradox from occurring."

The younger smiled sadly, "A king must looked after his subjects..."

The elder spoke hollowly, "A king must put his people first before him."

The younger's eyes were full of acceptance and acknowledgement, "That is why..."

Tsukuyomi and Geiz slowly walked to the rebel base.

One of the members demanded, "You were with that younger ZI-O, and his future! Why didn't you kill the past Oma ZI-O?!"

Geiz looked at his Ridewatch declaring bitterly, "Because it would kill everyone on this planet, no, existence."

Tsukuyomi explained, "Because of Oma ZI-O's cruelty and power, we thought by changing the past we would save everyone here. However, ZI-O's past leads up to our past and his future."

"He became a demon king to save all of us, to force Tsukuyomi and I into the past and stop his past self. We were a part of his ascent into being a King. Stopping him would mean destroying everyone and everything here up until now, and the future."

The rebels went silent at that, before everyone slowly sat down.

One of the other rebels looked to the memorial, a bitter smile on their face, "Looks like he was telling the truth. He really is..."

The past and future ZI-O still sat down at the table.

The younger nodded with a burdened acceptance, "I will become."

The elder looked at the sky, all alone at the shrine.

He slowly got up, and swept the dust away, revealing two names at the altar.

Geiz

Tsukuyomi

The elder smiled a false yet happy smile, knowing he saved everyone and everything.

"I am the greatest, kindest demon king."

This was swimming in my head, and the talk of 'paradoxes' made me realize how much of a hypocrite Tsukuyomi and Geiz are.

Changing the past means changing the present.

So how do you change the past enough to save everyone in the present? Every life, every needed death, every single moment?

The Answer:

You don't.

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