Chapter Thirteen: Copied Foe

"So, what was it like in here?"

Ruby looked at the slate grey walls around her for the umpteenth time as she tried to imagine what it had been like in the Bunkers. The past two weeks had flown by without incident, though she still didn't know what they were doing here. Kenzaki had stated that they needed to go to her dad's place but he didn't seem to be in any real hurry to continue the journey. That said, it wasn't as though they were just sitting on their butts doing nothing as the Bunker had a surprisingly large gymnasium that still held traces of heavy usage. The once-polished floors were scuffed with the imprint of several million shoe marks, a scoreboard of some kind proclaimed that one side (The Ultra Players) had won over the other team (The Space Empire) in some sort of game and, if she tried hard enough, she could still smell faint traces of sweat in the air. Taking in the state of the room, the old Rider had shaken his head in dismay and had gone about methodically dismantling a few odd objects. Training was held in that room as the veteran ran them through a number of situations and battle simulations. The Kamen Rider had surprised everyone by producing a small device that projected solid-light holograms and even replicated some of the effects of any projectiles issued by the monsters.

The first few days had been fun but Jaune had brought up the question of what to do with their clothing. She hadn't really noticed at the time but living and sleeping in the same clothes for days on end wasn't really fun. Luckily, they had found a working washing machine and dryer, as well as a showering area that still dispensed clean and hot water. Centuries old MREs were not anyone's first choice of food but, they had to admit, it was reasonably edible and very well preserved. They had listened to stories by the older Rider as he had told them the advances that had come from the Grimm experiments and how they had 'revolutionised' the canning industry. When those tales had grown old quickly, they instead sat in silence and wonder as he spun tales of adventures from his life. Whether it was experiencing heartbreak and sadness over the loss of his parents or the overwhelming feeling of power and strength turning into a Joker Undead gave him, the new Riders and their friends were awestruck. However, the things that really stood out were the stories he told about his close friends and allies – even the strange Rider he had only met for a short time.

Blake, in particular, had been fascinated by the prospect of someone swooping in to save the day and vanishing just as quickly; something the Joker had to quickly correct as he could see links forming in her mind towards Yang. It had been during one of these tour/stories that they had stumbled upon the self-destruct mechanism for the Bunker – something that was only to be used if the safe haven was overrun by the Grimm progenitors. He had warned them, especially Nora, that there was no override button that could be pressed in case of accidental arming as, due to the aforementioned Grimm threat, there would need to be no surviving Grimm to terrorise the other Bunkers in the area. The mechanism was a simple fuel/air explosive that would funnel the destruction throughout the shelter in a single, cataclysmic, eruption. Everyone unlucky to be caught inside would be dead within sixty seconds; a sobering fate that had happened to several bunkers that were caught unawares during sudden storms. Kenzaki had personally witnesses three Bunkers destroyed in this fashion and had trouble sleeping some nights as he recalled the faint screams followed by a dull rumble.

"Here? Ruby, I never stayed here." Kenzaki shook his head. "This was Bunker 10, home of every great sports star up to the time of The Shattering. Through these hallowed halls strode Olympic medallists, shooting stars in their field and brand-name celebrities. Great names like Jane Winchester, Jeff Lark and, the rather unfortunately named, Heavy Duty lived, breathed, and died here. I was holed up in Bunker 86 and seen as a veritable god by everyone there. There was a radio that could communicate with other bunkers but after the Shattering, communication became very sparse."

Pausing in his cleaning of the Blay Blade, he looked up at the armoured ceiling and closed his eyes. While he was telling the truth to Ruby, he was omitting a large part of why communication between the Bunkers had tapered off. Soon after the continents had reformed, the surface of the healing Earth had become overrun with not only the precursors of the Grimm but with Hellheim plants. Ironically, the seeds of devoured fruits would lead to the creation of the Forever Fall Forest and the sweet red sap that flowed through the trees. Interestingly, the millennia of evolution had stripped the flowers, fruit and sap of the transformative qualities it once possessed. Of course, that did nothing to help the several hundred Invess that had been created but, well, that was a problem for another time.

"You have to understand this, Ruby," he sighed, placing his hands behind his head, "the Bunkers were full of scared rich people. With the exception of four or five Bunkers, everyone inside had bought their place with money, drugs or their bodies. 86 was no different. Even though I saw descendants of those I had called my very good friends, they never acted like their ancestors and every third Friday of the month was a celebration that descended into a drunken and drug-fuelled orgy. Eventually, on the eve of the fourth anniversary of The Shattering, I voluntarily left that Bunker and began life on the outside. I did things that I'm not proud of, even now, but they were vital for my survival."

"You said you've seen hundreds of Riders over the centuries." Blake interrupted, cleaning Gambol Shroud with a tattered rag. She hoped it was a rag, at least. "What were they like and which ones were the most memorable?"

He was aware they knew which ones he thought were the most memorable but, as the only other topics of interest were the weather, 90's era pop music, and the mysterious inedible contents of one of the MRE boxes. He was also aware they had lingered too long at the Bunker but he had been determined to allow the Hunters, Huntresses and Qrow some small semblance of a normal life. Thanks to a message sent by Professor Oobleck back in Vale, Ruby had been cheered to know that Zwei have been recovered from their dorm and was in the company of the survivors of Beacon. The perennially caffeinated Professor had informed them that he would be sending the dog back to Taiyuan in a few weeks, though he would not be sent through the post again.

"The majority of the Riders I've seen were before The Shattering," he said. "They came in all manner of strange combinations. I saw fruit ninjas, vampires, video game system Riders and an Interdimensional Rider with utterly amazing and devastating powers. If he was here, I reckon he'd give the Bastion Protocol a run for its money."

The Bastion Protocol. Yang shivered unconsciously as she recalled the beast her sister had transformed into atop the Tower. Who could have designed such a powerful system and why had they deigned the best user was a girl barely into her teen years? She supposed they couldn't have known the user would be a girl and there had to be some other trigger that was the cause but she didn't know what it could have possibly been. Carefully replacing the cover on her Ember Celica, she pumped her arms a few times to ensure several of the new Dust-enhanced rounds were loaded into the chambers and nodded in satisfaction. Of course, unless there was an attack by Grimm, she wouldn't be able to see what effect it would have but she trusted Weiss' knowledge around Dust.

"Speaking of which," she wiped the sweat from her brow, "there's something I can't wrap my head around. Why would he put the Bastion Protocol inside Ruby's Belt? What made him think it would be a good thing to give to a fifteen year old girl?"

"From what I know about it," Ken began slowly, "it was supposed to be used as a last-ditch effort and by a highly trained and disciplined warrior. I'm not sure how she managed to activate it but I have a theory on it. However, since it deals with her lineage, I'd prefer not to speak of it just yet."

"I get that," Weiss nodded but she wasn't going to drop the subject so easily. "Although that would imply that you had some prior knowledge of what it was in the first place."

Kenzaki grimaced and nodded once. Stowing the Blay Blade in its subspace pocket, he stood up and motioned for all of them to follow him on a patrol of the area; even though he had always done the patrols alone. As they slowly gathered up their meagre belongings, he wondered why the urge to have the patrol now was so strong, though he didn't question the feeling for long. The millennia had changed his Undead senses and allowed him to be forewarned of things that would happen in the near future. However, the last time it had gone off this 'strongly' was when he had been working on the Colosseum and the Beowulves had attacked. He hoped nothing would happen to the Bunker in their absence but he doubted he would be so lucky. Opening the door to the stairwell, he suppressed a groan as he looked up the countless flights of stairs they would have to climb. Sighing in frustration at the stupidity of the planners, he grasped the cool metal railing and began to walk up. After around fifteen minutes, they finally made it to the surface but were too tired to look for the controls that opened the doors to the outside. Aware that Weiss hadn't forgotten about her question, he turned to her and opened his mouth.

"You have to understand," he began, "I had no idea the Bastion Protocol existed until much later. Jean never told me about it during our final meeting and he didn't dare say anything for fear Sarah would find out."

Fumbling for the recessed control panel along the wall, his fingers found a cog-shaped button and pressed it. The screeching of badly oiled machinery filled the air and he saw everyone wince at the sound. After what seemed like an eternity, the doors opened enough for them to slip through. Maybe it had been silly of him not to bring anyone out previously but he was sure they had their own issues to deal with. However, what was more worrying to him was the fact that they hadn't really expressed any shock or strong reactions to the fact that most of them had become Kamen Riders and were stronger than any Huntress had any right to be. He paused as he looked at Jaune as he knew that wasn't right. The blonde Huntsman had been silently agonising over the sudden change that had happened and seemed conflicted about something. He had wanted to talk to Jaune but, in all his years, he still didn't know how to start a casual conversation with others. Catching his breath quickly, he looked at Weiss again and cracked a wry grin.

"I only found out about it in that small instruction book he left." The trees seemed still, the leaves not falling as regularly as they were supposed to. "I only found out about the booklet while I was dropping off the case at Bunker 2. Given that Bunkers 1 and 2 were so close to each other, I should have known that it would come into the possession of Ozpin but…we had other things on our minds at the time."

"Wait," Weiss held up a hand as her mind seized on that nugget of information. "You're telling us that Ozpin was alive when the Bunkers were sealed? You, I understand, because you're an immortal Rider but Ozpin is a normal human, isn't he?"

He swallowed hard and cursed under his breath as he realised he had let another bit of information slip. Jaune and Pyrrha hadn't asked about why he had called Ozpin by another name weeks earlier and he had, foolishly, thought that no one would question what came out of his mouth. Evidently, judging by the curious and amused stares he was receiving, that was the exception and not the rule. Wishing he could shut the foreboding feeling in his mind off, he shook he head slowly before answering as best as he could.

"Well, this is completely classified information but…" he trailed off as he heard a click from the side of the entrance, followed by a light tremor in the ground. "Oh fuck…this is not good."

He had felt a rumble like this several times and knew instantly what it meant. Whirling around, he only had enough time to open his mouth to shout before the open entrance literally crumbled away. Small gouts of fire burst up around them, causing him to activate the Metal Trilobite Rouse Card to form a protective shield of sorts. Within moments, the quaking became stronger and more violent. Kenzaki closed his eyes and started counting down from sixty but stopped when his count reached fifteen as the quaking was finally beginning to subside. Even though he had experienced several such events in the distant past, one never really forgot the feeling of utter helplessness upon seeing a sanctuary fall. Dropping his shield, he heard everyone around him pull out their weapons to scan the surrounding areas for intruders.

"What the hell just happened?" Qrow swung his blade around as the ground under his feet finally stopped shaking. "Did anyone touch anything?"

"I did."

Coming out of the red-leaved trees was a monster that made all the Huntress Riders unconsciously back away. It looked to be a humanoid wearing a bright orange bodysuit with crude flame designs running down its sides. The flames flickered and leapt as the humanoid moved slowly towards them. A broken armoured vest encased its upper chest and shoulders and its thin arms ended in stark-white claws that were dripping with what seemed to be fresh blood. A leathery belt was wrapped around its waist but its most defining feature was its head. Ruby didn't know where the head ended and the helmet began but realised, with a deeply unsettling start, that its helmet was its head. Whatever it was, it looked like an extremely detailed replica of a reptile's head, complete with bloodstained teeth and veined eyes. Pyrrha's fists balled unconsciously at her sides and she felt a deep wave of anger and revulsion go through her.

"What the hell is that thing?" Jaune stood in front of a shell-shocked Nora and Ren as they tried to process what they were seeing.

Ruby pulled out her Buckle and placed it on her waist, feeling the belt slide around her waist. Crescent Rose wouldn't scratch the Grimm Monster in front of them and she couldn't hope to hold that monster off by herself. Luckily, she had four friends behind her that were just as strong as her.

"Whatever it is," she began, "we can't let it past us! Girls are you…"

"You…" Kenzaki's eyes flashed gold as he placed his Blay Buckle on his waist. From her vantage point, Blake could see the ornate golden King Form Rouse Card already inserted. "You have no right to wear that form. Today, you will die for your transgression."

"Henshin!"

Without even waiting for the King Form armour to form over his body, he raced at the Grimm Monster. As his right fist connected with its head, he brought up his left leg to strike at its chest as it fell back before delivering a powerful elbow strike to the back of its head. The Joker in his mind was cheering at the violence but was also snarling in anger and rage at the perversion of justice in front of it. Flames covered his fists as the enraged Rider slammed them repeatedly into the Grimm Monster's bulbous head, sending strange cracks running over the skin…almost as if it were a helmet of sorts. Flipping away as the King Form helmet wrapped around his head, Kenzaki hefted the King Rouser into the air and slammed it down to create a fire and lightning filled shockwave that blasted the monster away. As the Grimm moved to pull a blade out from its back, the ancient Rider jerked his hand up and somehow snagged the metallic weapon before it was fully out of its sheath. Pyrrha's mouth dropped open as she felt her Semblance reacting to the magnetic power on display. A scream of rage and pain issued from the monster as its weapon pierced its side, causing red and blue blood to spurt from the wound.

A flash of light later and Kenzaki was close to the monster again, fists and feet slamming into its chest to produce sickening cracking sounds. Another flash later and the Undead was running at the creature with full speed, slamming an armoured shoulder pad into its solar plexus and throwing the creature up into the air. With a muted grunt of exertion, Kenzaki leapt into the air to deliver a lightning-infused kick to the chest of the monster, never once releasing his foot until the duo crashed into the ground moments later.

"What just…" Everyone blinked in shock as the Undead Rider stepped away unscathed.

Pulling itself up, the Grimm Monster looked at the golden Rider in front of it and chuckled. Auric had sent it out several days ago to look for the children and instil fear into them by slowly and brutally murdering the adults. Of course, its Master had informed him that Blade was to be seemingly killed but kept alive in a suspended state. As cold as he could be, Auric definitely didn't want to doom the world to extinction. It wasn't a fool. It knew its fate had been sealed the moment the scientists chose this form for it but it would be comforted by the fact that there was nowhere for the Riders to run now. Everywhere they went, they would be hounded by the Beowulves that had been coated with a strange metallic dust and his brethren, the remaining Grimm Monsters, would find them easily.

"Does this form cause you fear?" It hissed with an echo of a chuckle. "I guarantee; you will fear me even more…"

"Shut up." A golden aura began to build around the King Rouser, the wispy tongues of steam slowly coalescing into an enlarged energy blade. "Now, burn in Hell, you pathetic copy."

A holographic line of cards formed in front of Kenzaki as he tightened his grip on the King Rouser. A small part of his mind was amused at the prospect of having another interesting anecdote to tell but he was grateful the monster in front of him hadn't chosen to copy one of his later forms. He didn't think he could fight it otherwise. With a mighty yell, he brought the blade down to activate the Royal Straight Flush finisher. As the energy ripped into the monster, he turned away from the resulting explosion and looked around at the destruction with a sigh. Deactivating his transformation, he looked at the stunned faces of the Huntresses and Huntsmen and allowed a faint smile to cross over his face. There was no denying that this was the sign he was waiting for to continue their journey but he had to make a stopover at one place in particular – a place that would change the way Pyrrha looked at her family history. Of course, he didn't have all the details himself; just a vague sense of foreboding and a tremor of upheaval.

"We can't stay here anymore." His voice held a faint tinge of amusement. "I suppose we've rested here long enough, though we will be making another quick stopover before we reach Taiyuan's house, It's only a few kilometres from here though."

"Another rest house?" Qrow's voice held more than a faint tinge of annoyance at the thought of staying in another centuries-old building.

He shook his head. They wouldn't understand why he had chosen it but it was somewhere they needed to see.

"Hardly but it is a place where all heroes of old gather." His voice was oddly sombre.

"The Rider Graveyard."

TBC…