"As you come into this world, something else is also born. You begin your life, and it begins a journey towards you. It moves slowly, but it never stops. Wherever you go, whatever path you take, it will follow... never faster, never slower, always coming. You will run; it will walk. You will rest; it will not. One day, you will linger in the same place too long; you will sit too still or sleep too deep. And when, too late, you rise to go, you will notice a second shadow next to yours. Your life will then be over." Said Washio, reciting a passage from a book in front of the whole class who were transfixed by the tone he took during his narration.
"Well, Washio. That was a very good reading..." Said Mrs. Bustier before the bell rang indicating the end of class. "Good day kids, and don't forget there will be a new parents' day to make up for last time." She said as everyone put their things away..
Adrien tickeled at this announcement, he had forgotten that with all that was going on lately. But he was under no illusion that his father would come this time either.
He looked at Washio with a worried expression, the case of his friend was even more delicate than his own. But the latter did not seem to care.
Soon after in the room of the Agreste mansion where the chamber is located, Wrath stood quietly looking at it holding a Ridewatch with a white face with scary black eyes resembling Venom's.
"In your condition, you could be a great Another Rider." He said before tucking the Ridewatch into his coat. "But I have ethics. Soon the king will return. This town thinks there are only superheroes and super villains, but soon they'll find out just how wrong their binary view of things can make them." Said he before leaving thanks to the reflection of the windows.
He went out by a reflection in the living room where he found Nathalie sitting on an armchair, she seemed to him to be in a very weakened state.
"Are you okay?" He asked taking pity on one of his allies.
"Yes." Said she before being taken of a strong cough, betraying his lie.
"It is the Miraculous of the Peacock that makes you that?" He asked.
"Yes... it is damaged." Answered Natalie seeing that she couldn't lie to him about it.
"Then stop using it." Wrath advised as he sat down in the chair next to the secretary's.
"I can't. Gabirel is putting too much effort into his quest. He needs help to reach his goal and end all this." Nathalie replied.
"He puts so much effort into it that he doesn't see that it's more than dedication that you feel for him." Wrath retorted as a shocked expression appeared on Natalie's face. "I am more observant than your employer. Be very careful what you do next. One incident like Emily's is enough." Said he in a softer tone than usual, finally leaving her alone.
Meanwhile, Gabriel was in his office, doing some research on his computer, until he heard a knock on his door.
"Come in." He said.
The door opened and Adrien entered the office.
"Hello, Father... The school has decided to redo Parents' Day because of the attack that happened during this year's. And... I wanted to know if you could come this time, if you don't mind." He said hesitantly.
The door opened and Adrien entered the office.
"Hello, Father...
The school has decided to redo Parents' Day because of the attack that happened during this year's. And... I wanted to know if you could come this time, if you don't mind." He said hesitantly.
Gabriel was about to answer negatively to his son's question, but remembered Wrath's advice and decided to put his role as a father more prominently than before.
"Okay, I'll see, to free me all day tomorrow to go." He replied, surprising his son.
"Really!" Adrien asked, really surprised by his father's answer.
"Yes, it's about time I saw with my own eyes how things are going at your school." Gabriel answered.
Adrien thanked his father and left the office leaving his father to continue his work.
The next day, all the students came with their parents. Well... almost all of them, Washio was the only one who didn't come with one of his parents.
This made some people sad, but he didn't care. The course started and each parent presented again his job and what it consisted of. Gabriel watched each parent carefully.
Then came the turn of Chloe's father, the mayor of Paris. But then something unexpected happened. Kasshine entered the classroom through the window. He looked everywhere and finally stopped on Gabriel.
"Target found: Grabriel Agreste." Said he before finally advancing to the latter, the weapon in hand.
He was about to attack him, but at that moment Washio jumped out of his seat and grabbed the spear of Kasshine to block him.
The latter ended up pushing him against Adrien's desk before Washio got out of the way with a single kick.
Out of nowhere, a white object with black ends was placed at his waist, making a voice deeper than the BeyonDriver's one.
Ziku-Driver!
He then took out a golden Ridewatch with an orange dial showing a strange symbol and 0000 underneath. He turned the dial displaying a golden helmet with red katakana writing with two golden hands on top, and pressed the button towards it.
Barlckxs!
He placed the Ridewatch on the black end on the right side, causing a sort of digital ticking sound to echo through the classroom.
Washio pressed a button on top of the Ziku-Driver which made the buckle bend, he placed his left hand on the Ridewatch without taking his eyes off Kasshin.
"Henshin!" He said as he pulled violently on the Ridewatch with his left hand, causing the buckle to make a complete turn before being locked in its original position.
Rider Time! Kamen Rider Barlckxs!
He found himself wearing a black suit with a golden epaulette, a chest protector with a strap similar to a watch on it, and a helmet identical to the one on the Ridewatch with only the golden face, the rest was black. It gave him the height, and the size of an adult despite his normal size.
"... Barlckxs..." Kasshine said as she backed away in fear while everyone present was stunned, especially Adrien and Marinnette who knew about their friend's double identity.
Barlckxs made appear a sword with a golden guard and a red circle in its center before getting closer to Kasshine.
But he did not attack with his sword, he just kicked and punched with his free hand, using his sword only to disarm his opponent, until Kasshine was blocked by a wall. At that moment he gave him a sword blow that sliced the robot in two without any difficulty, making him fall into dust for a reason unknown to all witnesses of the fight.
He then removed the Ridewatch from the Ziku-Driver, making his armor and belt disappear, becoming Washio again.
"Congratulations." Said a voice from behind Washio, as everyone was frozen in time.
"Wrath..." Washio said, recognizing the voice.
"I knew that Kashinn would only be an appetizer for you. But don't worry, I have a better opponent for you." Said Wrath while taking out the Ridewatch he was holding in what he called "Gabriel's secret garden".
He slowly approached Juleka who like everyone else could not move. Once close enough to her, he activated the Ridewatch.
Ghost!
He was about to enter the Ridewatch into the teenager's body, when suddenly Washio managed to move again. And to save his friend, he placed himself in front of her, the Ridewatch entering his body instead of Juleka's.
"This is unexpected, I wonder how it will turn out." Said Wrath as he withdrew his hand from Washio's body leaving the Ridewatch there.
As he suffered from the effects of the Ridewatch, he threw his Ziku-Driver and two Ridewatches in Adrien's direction.
But after that, the transformation into Another Rider took place. He now had a black monstrous appearance, his body was now full grown, a red iris eye was on his torso which was covered by a kind of leather coat, his face was identical to the one on the Ridewatch, his head was covered by a hood, white hair sticking out on the sides.
"Welcome, Another Ghost." Said Wrath.
In response, Another Ghost brushed him off with a wave of his hand before turning to Juleka. But he didn't seem to be acting normally, his movements gave the impression that there was no life in his body. He then put his hands together and saw a movement that made Juleka faint as an orb left his body and entered Another Ghost's eye.
Another Ghost took Juleka's unconscious body in his arms and left the college through a window, which was blown into the room by a force while levitating.
Wrath didn't say anything, only entering the reflections of a glass shard present on the floor after Another Ghost's escape.
Once Wrath was gone, everyone could move again.
Adrien looked at what Washio sent him, he wondered at first why he gave him this. But he understood what he had allowed him to do when he saw the second Ridewatch he had sent him.
It was black with an orange dial and button, it seemed to represent at the symbol an eye whose pupil was inflamed.
He got up from his seat and was about to leave the classroom when his father called out to him.
"Where are you going, Adrien?" He asked.
"I'm going to save a friend." Adrien replied calmly.
"But, have you seen what he can do?" Gabriel asked without waiting for an answer before putting a reassuring hand on his son's shoulder. "I know that he saved us, but imagine if you were victim of the same thing as your comrade?" He said, hoping to dissuade Adrien.
"I know, Father. But by revealing himself to us like that. He put his anonymity at risk. He endangered himself... Please, Father. Of all the people in this room, he sent them to me... Let me show him that he didn't make the wrong choice." Said Adrien, surprising his father.
Everyone was surprised by what Adrien said, Marinette had a dreamy expression that she tried so hard to hide. Even Chloe's father, Mayor Bourgeois, couldn't say anything in front of everything that happened during these last minutes. Everyone was waiting for Gabriel's answer.
"... Okay... But please, take care of yourself." Said he in a resigned and concerned tone.
"I promise, father." Said Adrien before leaving through the door of the room.
Of all the adults in the room, Mrs. Bustier seemed to be the most shocked by the situation. She couldn't do anything to protect her students, one of whom had sacrificed himself to protect another... she had failed in her duty as a teacher to protect the students under her responsibility.
"We can't stay here!" Alya said, drawing all eyes to her. "We can't just stand here and do nothing, while people are in danger. We have to do something!" She said.
"But what can we do, young lady?" Asked Gabriel in a defeatist tone.
He wanted to step in as Hawkmoth to help his son, finding a justification would be easy. But there were too many people for his absence to go unnoticed. He just had to hope that Ladybug, Cat Noir, and Kamen Rider Woz would save him and bring his son's friend back to normal.
"I don't know we could..." Began Alya before Chloe cut her off.
"There's nothing we can do. I could help him, but Ladybug would have to give me my Miraculous." She said.
Marinette lowered her head, she was stuck here, Ladybug couldn't help Adrien, or even give him his Miraculous to get help. Only Black Cat could help Adrian. And she prayed that would happen.
Not far from the school, on a road that was now empty, Another Ghost having frightened all those present, making them flee, he delicately put Juleka's body on the ground, delicately spreading the teenager's bangs.
Adrien easily managed to find his trace, going in the opposite direction of those who fled. Another Ghost turned to him.
"What's happening to you, Washio?" Adrien shouted, trying to reason with his friend.
Another Ghost just grunted while looking at one of the two heroes of Paris in civilian.
Adrien understood that he couldn't resist him, the power of the Ridewatch was influencing him too much.
He took out the Ziku-Driver and placed it at his waist.
Ziku-Driver!
He then took out the Ridewatch that Washio threw to him, holding the one with the eye as a symbol in his left hand and the second one in his right hand. The second Ridewatch was black with a white frame, it had the same symbol as the one that turned Washio into Kamen Rider Barlckxs but the year was "2018".
He turned the two frames, revealing for the orange Ridewatch an orange helmet with round black eyes, and for the white one a helmet similar to a watch with pink katakana writing and two hands that seemed to indicate 10:10.
Once this was done, he pressed the buttons.
Zi-O!
Ghost!
Adrien placed the Zi-O Ridewatch on the right end and the Ghost Ridewatch on the left end triggering the Standby sound. He then pressed the button which made the loop bend over.
"Henshin!" He shouted as he turned the Ziku-Driver violently before locking it in its original position.
Rider Time! Kamen Rider Zi-O! Armor Time! Kaigan! Ghost!
Adrien was now wearing a full body armor with an eye pattern on his chest, his helmet looked like the Ghost Ridewatch's but with a different pink katakana writing than the Zi-O Ridewatch's at the eyes. On his shoulders were some big objects that he couldn't identify. He became Kamen Rider Zi-O Ghost Armor.
"Washio... you want to save our future... and today, I will save yours." Said Zi-O before running in the direction of Another Ghost.