GKC: What's up, everyone! This is GKC here bringing you another chapter of Remnant's Climax Heroes!
SR: And his trusty assistant DragoKnightSR. Boy talk about a chilling end to that last chapter, right? *chuckles*
GKC: *aims a bazooka* Wanna say that again?
SR: *Chuckles nervously* Nice weather we're having!
KRD: Anyways, it's time for mah boi to shine again!
SR: Dragons for life right?
GKC: Enough talk! Time for the disclaimer! We do not own, except our OCs, RWBY or Kamen Rider. All rights belong to their respective owners. Oh, and special thanks to SR for the new cover. If you want to see the full image then go on my DeviantArt, Leodin96. You'll find it in my Favorites.
SR: Right, thanks, buddy!
KRD: Let's just go…
Chapter 23: Frozen Conflict! Shiro's Chilling Battle!
"Phew… safe and sound…" Kurogasa said as he and Blake were the first ones to return to Beacon Academy, followed by Jaune and Pyrrha who had just finished their mission as well.
"Hey, guys," Jaune greeted his friends.
"Hey guys, you just got back?" Kurogasa asked.
Pyrrha nodded, "Yes. Our mission was difficult but we managed to overcome it."
"By the way, have Grimm Hybrids attacked you during your mission?" Blake asked.
"Yeah, one of them at least. It was really hard fighting it but, for some reason…" Jaune replied but paused. "...It just left."
"It left? What do you mean by that?" Kurogasa asked, confused.
"It was like it had something else to do. We fought for a while but it just up and left." Pyrrha answered. "You don't think it has something to do with Azrael, do you? He is the one taking control of the Grimm Hybrids."
"I…" Kurogasa got out before his eyes widened. "No, nononononono!" He said, before pulling out his Scroll and called a number. He waited for an answer, but no response. "C'mon, c'mon, pick up." He urged, but still no answer.
"Let me try," Jaune said as he dialed up Ren's scroll but he received no answer. "Something's definitely wrong. Ren's not picking up."
"Neither is Nora," Pyrrha added with her own scroll in her hand.
"Kuro…" Blake said worried as she saw Kurogasa's fist clenching tightly, added with clenching his teeth. But he shouldn't let his anger get to him. Because he remembered what Weiss had said to him that night.
"Even if I did turn into an Alter, I know that you'll come and save me."
"I have a lot of faith in you. Because I believe in you."
"Just… promise me you won't lose that faith if and when it happens."
Kurogasa then sighed and calmed down as he relaxed his hand unclenching his fist, "Guys, I'll need your help tracking down Weiss."
LINE BREAK
Aaron and Yang were heading back to Beacon when they came across Koa and Orpheus. However, seeing a Yummy acting as Koa's servant was rather confusing. "Why is there a Yummy out and acting like a butler for Koa?" Aaron questioned Orpheus.
"She's just having too much fun with her new toy. Let's just leave it at that." Orpheus deadpanned.
"I'm gonna make more servants!" Koa said with wicked glee.
"O-kay then…" Aaron replied with a confused expression.
"So where's everyone else?" Yang asked.
"I think some of them are still off on their own missions but I think a few are back." Orpheus answered. "Speaking of…" the musician frowned. "This was random but a bunch of Grimm Hybrids attacked us during our mission."
Aaron frowned back, "The same thing happened to us as well."
"You don't think…" Yang looked to Aaron.
*RIIIIIING! RIIIIIING! RIIIIIING! RIIIIIING!*
Aaron looked at his Scroll and picked it up when he saw that it was Kurogasa calling. "Hey man, what's up?"
["Bad news. Weiss is taken and turned into an Alter."]
Aaron was silent for a minute then replied, "Let me call ya back." He hung up then stared at the three people, who stared back at him. "Motherf-"
LINE BREAK
"Hahahahahahahahahaha! Oh yes! This Alter is a thing of beauty!" Azrael laughed examining his latest creation. To mimic Weiss's grace and beauty, her Alter form took on an appearance that resembled a Norse valkyrie. A silver full-face helmet with bird wings on the side that revealed her glowing blue eyes, a silver breastplate, silver gauntlets with wickedly sharp claws, a waist guard that was coated in frost and icicles, silver heeled boots, and life-like armor on her shoulders, elbows, knees, and neck. She also wielded a malformed version of Mrytnaster.
The newly created Valkyrie Alter looked at her new master in silence.
"Wow, you actually turned that Ice Queen into something." Roman commented.
"Was there any doubt?" Azrael pondered.
"No, just surprised is all." Roman said. "What are ya gonna do with her though?"
"Use her, obviously," The hooded villain stated. "I did tell her that I would pit her against her brother. So… that's what I'm doing."
"Not to be a downer, but the last time you did that, that didn't turn out so great." Roman reminded him. "So what's different this time?"
"That's none of your business. Go back to scheming with the little fire princess while I have my fun." Azrael shooed him away with one hand.
"Alright, alright." Roman raised his hands in defense before turning around to leave.
"Now then… what to do with you, my little heiress." Azrael pondered.
LINE BREAK
"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…" Ruby stretched herself out to loosen up as she and Orion just returned from their mission. That bandit raid from the other night took a lot out of them, even if all they had to do was knock them out and not kill them.
"Had a goodnight's sleep?" Orion asked.
"It was great." Ruby beamed happily.
"I'll say. After that bandit raid, that would have knocked anyone out." Orion said. "It's a good thing that some of the villagers were able to help with the bandit problem too."
"And not to mention playing with the kids too," Ruby added as she picked up her backpack.
"You always were a kid at heart…" Orion muttered under his breath.
"But hanging out with my hunky Kamen Rider was fun too. Despite all the awkwardness." Ruby said with a giggle.
"Well… that too."
As they neared the entrance, they saw Aaron, Yang, Orpheus, and Koa coming up towards them and they didn't look happy at all.
"What's wrong? And why is there a Yummy brushing Koa's hair?" Ruby asked, pointing to the Yummy wearing a bow tie.
"I made a new friend!" Koa said happily. "But we gots trouble though."
"Azrael struck. Kuro told us that Weiss turned into an Alter." Aaron said.
Ruby's face went paler than her skin. Her best friend turned into an Alter. "No… nonononono, tell me that's a bad joke!" She said, holding Aaron's shirt by the collar in desperation.
"Does it look like I'm joking right now, Ruby?" Aaron said with a look of complete, utter seriousness. Ruby's eyes began to water as she slid down onto her knees in disbelief.
"Weiss…" Ruby said, saddened and fearful as painful memories of being an Alter filled her mind.
"Rubes, easy," Orion said, as he held his girlfriend.
"But this is my partner we're talking about."
"I know, we're gonna find and get her back," Orion said, before looking to his leader. "How's Kuro?"
"He was… you know, that's the actual weird part. When he told me that Weiss turned into an Alter, he was actually calm about it."
"That… is really weird." Koa pointed out.
"I think he was expecting this to happen… or he's currently on a violent rampage that likely involves destroying non-essential things." Aaron said with a shrug.
"Well whatever the case, we gotta find her!" Yang pointed out.
"Right. Let's search for her at the docks." Aaron said. "After all, whenever something big happens, it's always at the warehouse district."
LINE BREAK
"Noraaaaaa!"
"Reeeeeen!"
"Weiiiiss! Where are you!?"
Kurogasa, Blake, Jaune, and Pyrrha have been searching for Nora and Ren along with Weiss for the past hour, but nothing turns up for them. There was even no sign of Weiss either.
"This is bad." Jaune said nervously, "We could be walking right into a trap."
"Trap or not, we have to bite at some point." Blake said.
As they kept walking, Pyrrha couldn't help but feel worried for Kurogasa as he was silent the whole way. She and Blake knew what it was like to be turned into something you're not and not having control over it. And she knew what must be going through his mind when he turned into Another Gaim.
"Are you okay?" Pyrrha asked the samurai.
"I'm fine…" He muttered.
"We will get her back, I promise." She places a hand on his shoulder.
"I know we will." Kurogasa nodded. "I'm not gonna give in to my dark side again… not now and ever. When I turned into Another Gaim, I knew that I couldn't go back to that darkness. And Weiss placed her faith in me. She believes in me. So I'm gonna prove her right by saving her and beating Azrael."
"And save our friends right?" Jaune asked.
"Without a doubt," Kurogasa said with finality before moving ahead. Neo was watching the four from her hiding spot and debated warning Azrael or having the four ruin his plans. Then again, Kurogasa did buy all that ice cream for her so~… she smiled, accidentally tossing a clue into Jaune's head.
"Ow!" Jaune yelled in pain rubbing his head.
"What's wrong?" Blake asked as the group stopped walking.
"Something just hit me on the head," Jaune replied, holding his head. The four looked down at a rock with a note tied to it.
"A note?" Pyrrha said as Kurogasa took the note from the rock and read it aloud to the others.
"'You will find Azrael and your Ice Queen friend in the industrial sector of Vale. They plan to cut power from the CCT. Good luck, N.'" Kurogasa read.
"The industrial sector?" Blake got out, before pulling out a map on her Scroll. "That's not far from us."
"What about Ren and Nora?" Jaune asked.
"We're here…" A voice grunted. Kurogasa, Blake, Jaune, and Pyrrha turned to see a disheveled Ren and Nora, the former holding onto the latter for support.
"Did anyone get the number of that Alter that froze us?" Nora groaned.
"Guys!" Jaune exclaimed as he and the other three ran over to them. "What happened?!"
"Kuro, I'm sorry." Ren apologized. "We tried to stop him but he…"
"No, it's not your fault." He shook his head. "I expected this to happen anyway…"
"After he turned Weiss, he had her attack us." Nora added. "We managed to escape but Kuro, she's wicked strong."
"Kuro, are you sure you can do this? It's your sister after all." Pyrrha worriedly said to Kuro who looks down in thought.
"I have to. Weiss is counting on me, on all of us to save her from that monster." Kuro said with clenched fists and a determined look.
"I'll bring Nora and Ren back to Beacon and inform the others." Blake said, helping Nora support Ren.
"Alright. Jaune, Pyrrha, with me." Kurogasa said, before running off.
"Hey, wait up!" Jaune called out, running after him, followed by Pyrrha.
LINE BREAK
Weiss slowly opened her eyes. Where was she? The last thing she remembered was acting defiant towards Azrael to the bitter end before sticking a tainted Aura Sphere in her. After he did, she blacked out. When she came to, she found herself in a dark void. "This is…" She murmured as she looked around. This must be what Kurogasa saw when he turned into Another Gaim. Black snow seemed to fall from a blackened sky as familiar memories appeared in the form of silhouettes.
"You are a Schnee, Weiss. I expect you to be better." A familiar figure said in a cold tone.
"That's…" Weiss said in shock. "Of course. This thing was created by my negative emotions. These must be my memories."
"You are of the elite, Weiss. Those people down below mean nothing."
"You're wrong." Weiss shook her head. "I will not turn into you, Father."
"But you already have. You still don't fully trust Blake, a Faunus, and a White Fang no less. And Koa is no different, a greedy abomination."
"That was then and this is now." Weiss said, "What I've done may have been reprehensible, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't try to understand."
The figure seemed to have lost their cool. "It's because of him, isn't it… it's because of that street rat that you call a brother! If it weren't for your mother, I would have let him freeze at our doorstep!"
Weiss backed away in fear as the figure grew in size, the calm snow becoming a ferocious black blizzard.
"But then you had the gall to fall in love with him. Just like your mother, you make idiotic decisions that shame the family."
Despite her fears, Weiss kept her defiant act. "It's you that shames the family!"
"Foolish girl. If I shame the family then you are born of that shame. You are, after all, born of my blood."
"You're the fool because you married into the family. Meaning you were never a Schnee to begin with!"
"That didn't stop your grandfather nor your mother for being my bed mate. I thought my children would be suitable heirs for the fortune but so far your sister proved to be a disappointment when she joined Ironwood's little army then you had to run off with a dream to be a Huntress. At least, your brother Whitley had the decency to accept his place as a member of the Schnee family."
Weiss clenched her fists in anger, "You twisted his way of thinking so he would be nothing more than your puppet!"
"And I will keep doing so because he will be a better Heir than a soldier and a weakling like you."
"That's exactly where you're wrong." Weiss said. "You think that you're better than anyone at everything and you think you have me at the palm of your hands. I almost fell into that trap hole. But Kurogasa saved me from falling in. He changed me for who I am! And for the better! So don't think for one second that I would stoop down to your level. Because my faith in Kurogasa will never shatter and it certainly won't shatter mine!"
"I wonder if that determination will still stand once he dies by your own hand."
"It won't come to that." Weiss said before she manifested Myrtenaster. "Because I'll make sure of it."
"Foolish girl! Do you know who you're dealing with!?" The figure said before the darkness beneath suddenly flashed, and it became akin to that of a Dive to the Heart where there was a stained glass of Weiss leaning against the edge of the circle with eyes closed while holding Myrtenaster, the background showing the Kingdom of Atlas and the border was a mandala of the Schnee symbol. The figure then enlarged itself into a dark version of the Armed Gigas.
Weiss instinctively entered her fighting stance as the darkened suit of armor hefted its massive sword for battle.
"It seems that I'll have to teach you manners!"
LINE BREAK
Kurogasa, Pyrrha, and Jaune had finally arrived at the industrial sector of Vale. According to the note, it said that they planned to cut off power from the CCT, so going by that, it would be at the main power plant. Unfortunately for them, the place was populated with workers, meaning there was bound to be security. And with a few Huntsman in training like themselves, they can't exactly waltz in there.
"Ok, we need a plan to get inside," Kurogasa said as the two huddled up.
"What if we find a way to distract the guards letting the others sneak in?" Jaune offered.
"We can't wait that long. The others are ten minutes out." Kurogasa said.
"Then we could probably go through the ice-shaped hole then." Pyrrha said.
"Ice-shaped hole?" Kurogasa and Jaune blinked before she pointed to the said hole that was randomly there.
"How the-" Jaune got out.
"They're inside already." Kurogasa drew his sword. Jaune gulped as the trio walked inside. When they went through, there was machinery, but there was no one in sight. But there were people working at the power plant. How comes there's no one at this part of the facility? "Something's wrong…"
"Right. No one is here…" Pyrrha said.
"Wrong again, child." The three look up, seeing Azrael leaning against a scaffolding.
"Azrael…" Kurogasa seethed with anger. "Where is Weiss…?"
"Closer than you think." Azrael said with a cruel smile.
The trio felt a cold chill as parts of the facility began to freeze. The three turned to see the Valkyrie Alter walking towards them with each step bringing an icy frost.
"Weiss…" Kurogasa gripped his blade tightly. "I swear I'll save you!" He then flared his Aura, summoning his Driver and Sphere. "Henshin!"
TENGOKU EMPEROR! WHITE DRAGON!
"Ikuzo!" Shiro shouted, brandishing Kage Ryuujin and RyuuKoutei before charging in at the Valkyrie Alter. The Alter smirked as a pillar of ice rose up and broke into a female knight's arm holding a rapier that blocked Shirō's blades. "Won't work with me!" He said, before breaking off the deadlock and pressed a symbol on his Elemental Glove.
HII!
"Kurae!" he shouted, swinging the RyuuKoutei and a crescent wave of fire burst out. It melted the knight's arm and he proceeded to slash that arm as well before moving in towards the Valkyrie Alter, but the latter managed to block with the corrupt Myrtenaster. "C'mon Weiss, I know you're in there fighting within yourself!" The corrupt weapon's chamber twirled until it clicked on red, blasting Shiro away in a fiery explosion. The explosion also caused the ice to turn into a steamy smokescreen. Jaune and Pyrrha moved in as they were to attack but saw the Myrenaster poking out of the smoke and the pair caught it with the edges of their respective shields. Pyrrha changed her spear to rifle mode and rested it on the top of the shield before firing several rounds.
However, when they managed to land solid blows upon the Alter, it fell apart into chunks of ice.
"A double?" Pyrrha said confused and surprised.
"Oh no…" Jaune paled as Pyrrha and Shirō looked up to see a bunch of Alter copies that were forming from the ice and snow.
"Which one is the real one?!" Jaune exclaimed looking around.
"I think we need to take down all of them." Pyrrha said, adjusting her shield and spear. "Except I don't think we'll be able to hold out with these odds."
"Don't worry," Shiro said, as he got up to his feet. "We can do this. I know we will. We just gotta hold out till the others get here." With his fire glyph still active he spun around, waving a circle of fire towards the Valkyrie Alter copies, destroying all of them, but the real one wasn't there. "Tch, she's not among the copies…"
But suddenly the trio was slowly encased in ice, the Rider's flames being doused and frozen.
"OH GODS THAT'S COLD!" Pyrrha and Jaune exclaimed.
"Not… on my watch…" He gritted as he managed to open up the dragon jaw on his Aura Driver and had it chomp on his Aura Sphere.
BITE! DRAGONIC FANG!
Flames surrounded his body and with a yell he sent the flames outwards, exploding and melting the ice.
"Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! My butt's on fire!" Jaune exclaimed running around before sitting on a puddle of water from the melted ice. "Ahhhhh…"
"Sorry," Shiro apologized. He then turned only to get slashed across the chest by the real Alter. "GAH!" He shouted as he was sent tumbling to the ground.
"Kuro!" Pyrrha called out but then gasped when the Valkyrie Alter was suddenly in front of her. Pyrrha quickly attacks the Kaijin, but all the water and ice was proving to affect her stance a bit.
"Pyrrha! I'm coming!" Jaune exclaiming, running over to kick the Alter in the face. But the Alter managed to stop his kicking foot before pushing it away and did a wicked elbow jab to the face. Even with his Aura, Jaune felt his nose break from the hit as blood dripped down his nostrils. Pyrrha tried to use her semblance to push back the Valkyrie, but she proved to be heavier than most metals. Instead, the Valkyrie used her glyphs that had lightning dust to induce time dilation and used to speed towards the three and slash them all over, with Shiro taking the brunt of most of them, as sparks flew all off of his armor. Shiro grunted in pain as the Alter pushed him down and prepared to end it, as Azrael clapped at the performance.
"Yes! Yes! Do it! Kill him! Kill your own brother!" Azrael laughed.
"I don't think so!"
CHO BITE! URSINE CLAW!
EXCEED CRIMSON FANG!
Kurenai and Azure charged at Azrael and the Alter in a Rider kick. While Kurenai missed, Azure was able to kick the monstrous Valkyrie Alter away.
"Kuro!" Ruby called out as the rest of RWBY and JOKR arrived.
"You okay?" Yang asked, offering a hand.
"Could've been worse…" Kurogasa groaned as he took said hand and Yang pulled him up. "Thanks for the backup."
"Azrael, looks like your evil plans are going down the gutter… again!" Koa declares with determination.
"On the contrary… I was counting on your arrival." Azrael said with an evil grin.
"What are you talking about?" Kurenai growled.
"I was using this opportunity to gather more battle data for my latest Alter. So far, she's performing excellently. But now that you're here…" Azrael pulled out his own dark Aura Sphere. "…I can kill you myself."
"Tch…"
"Now then, let the true battle begin!" Azrael laughed as he stuck his Aura Sphere in his chest, and then turned into his Alter Form.
"Bring it, wise-ass!" Kurenai said as he rushed towards Azrael. This left the rest of them to deal with the Valkyrie Alter.
"Blake! Ladybug!" Ruby shouted.
The cat Faunus nodded as she and Ruby took off in a burst of speed towards their transformed friend. They then both attacked the Valkyrie Alter from opposite sides in alternating sliding maneuvers. However, the Valkyrie Alter managed to block their attacks and used the corrupted Myrtenaster to parry and block their strikes before striking back, causing them to back off.
"Yang, heads up!" Blake shouted, throwing her Gambol Shroud at the buxom blonde.
The brawler caught it and Blake then swung Yang around to create momentum for Yang's punch at the Valkyrie Alter whilst firing Ember Celica. The buxom blonde released a battle cry as she used her increased momentum to punch the Alter right in the face while discharging a shotgun blast in point-blank range.
"Charge~!" Koa yells charging at Azrael, "Pyrrha, boost me!"
"Here you go!" The redhead says, dropping on one knee with her shield raised over her head. Koa jumped onto the shield and boosted up high into the air and flew at Azrael. She then transformed into her Greeed form and threw a punch only to be blocked by Azrael.
"Hahahahahahahaha! You still don't learn, do you!" Azrael mocked. But suddenly a bunch of snakes wrapped around his neck, allowing Jaune to slice his arm off.
"Nope! But I've been getting better!" Kurai said happily.
Azrael looked at his stump… then it began to regenerate at a break-neck pace. "Interesting," He said, flexing his repaired arm. "Show me how much." The arm began to bulge with muscles.
"Oh, fudge…" Kurai paled.
"You've gotta be kidding me," Kurenai said as Azrael's arm finally regenerated. "Tell me that's not a Grimm arm…" He muttered, remembering how Cinder's arm was replaced. Kurai was then punched by Azrael, sending the Greeed flying through the ceiling. "Welp, I'm not gonna look forward to that food fight later on…" He muttered. "Alright, let's try this again." He said, charging at Azrael. But then all of a sudden, he used his blinding speed in hopes to disorient Azrael like last time. But when he threw a punch… Azrael caught it!? "What!?"
"Hmhmhmhmhahahahahahahaha! Did you seriously think I would fall for the same trick twice?" Azrael chuckled as he pushed Kurenai back little by little. "You know how the saying goes, 'Fooled once, shame on you. Fooled twice, shame on me?' Well, it's quite the opposite now, and I won't be fooled a second time." He then grabbed Kurenai and sent him flying to a brick wall, with Kurenai slamming his back against it. "Unlike you, I learn and adapt to your tactics!"
"Damn!" Kurenai cursed as he broke free from his hold and dashed around. However, the energy from the Exceed Mask was affecting his body once more. Sparks erupted from his Driver and caused him spasms of pain. "Aaaaahhhhh! I'm… at my limit… already!?"
"Looks like someone didn't fine-tune their little toy."Azrael chuckled in amusement.
"Dammit… not now…!" Kurenai gritted. "Just… a little longer…"
"Kurenai pull back!" Yang exclaims, "You can't go against the limit!"
"It's time to die now, Rider," Azrael said in a dark tone.
"Come on, body… just a little… more…" Kurenai gritted his teeth as he fought through the pain and slowly tried to reach for his Driver.
"Yang! Freezerburn!" Kurogasa shouted.
SUI! FU!
MAZARU! KOORI!
Combining the elements of water and wind, he stuck his RyuuKoutei into the ground and ice spiked up from the ground up. Yang jumps into the air and proceeds to punch the frozen ground whilst firing Ember Celica. The evaporation then creates a mist. Azrael scoffs and waves the mist away.
"GOTCHA!"
*STAB!*
"GAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Azrael yelled. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAA~AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Nani?" Kurogasa gasped as he now saw the RyuuKoutei didn't do anything to him.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm afraid you won't be able to kill me so easily." Azrael mocked. The villain grasped Shiro's sword arm and started squeezing his wrist. "Let's see how much of a swordsman you are… without an arm to wield a sword!"
"Hey! Asshole!"
AURA SPHERE CONNECTED! ROSE!
"Hm?" Azrael said as he looked to see Azure changing form into his reaper form.
RED LIKE ROSES! SPEEDY SHINIGAMI!
"EHHHHH!?" Kurenai cried out in shock.
"What in-" Jaune got out.
"NO~ not my baby~!" Ruby cried out as Crescent Rose flew towards Azure to which he caught.
"What is this!?" Azrael demanded, befuddled by the new transformation.
"Sorry again, I'll be right back!" Azure clapped his hands at her in apology, before Petal Bursting towards Azrael.
"Okay, since when can Orion use Ruby's Semblance!?" Jaune exclaimed in shock.
"The Aura Sphere!"Azrael said in realization just before he was struck several times by a red blur that sent him flying and crashing through a wall and into a clearing of the power plant outside while simultaneously releasing his hold on Shiro's sword arm. The workers noticed this and suddenly ran for it.
"Goddamn! How can Ruby be this hyper!? It's like I'm on a sugar high whenever I use the speed." Azure comments after skidding on his boots across the asphalt.
"Sugar rush? More like on steroids!" Shiro cried out.
"It seems you're becoming more and more of the vile annoyances I recall you to be,"Azrael muttered in a dark tone. "That is truly vexing…"
"That's Ouja's line! Get your own!" Azure snapped before having the Aura Driver chomp on the Rose Aura Sphere.
BITE! SHINIGAMI SLASH!
"How's this then? The void awaits all of you!" Azrael said as Azure leaped high into the air with a huge silver blade that came down, only to be gripped by Azrael's claws. The blade began to be covered in black liquid.
"What the what?!" Azure said dumbfounded.
"Okay~ that's new." Jaune gulped.
The black liquid got into Azure's eyes, causing him to drop Crescent Rose and scream in intense pain. The liquid was clearly having his pain receptors stimulating to the max.
"ORION!" Ruby cried out.
"KISAMA!" Shiro shouted, rushing towards him, only to be blocked by the Valkyrie Alter. "Sorry Weiss, but you gotta move!" He said, before smacking her away with her weapon. "Leave him alone!" He shouted before jumping up and somersaulting down towards Azrael, sword in hand, like certain father/daughter Fire Emblem lords.
"Hmph, pathetic!" Azrael said as he grabbed the blade and his neck. The others tried to go to him, but the Alter stood in between them. Kurai crashed back into the ground, groaning as she got up.
"Oh, this is gonna end badly." Yang muttered
"Face it, mortals! You can't win against me!"
BITE! SHADOW TALON!
"ORYAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" A familiar purple armored shinobi came landing towards Azrael who kicked Azrael in the face, causing him to slide back while letting go of Shiro.
"Heh… what kept you?" Kurai groaned.
"Traffic. Those Grimm Hybrids wouldn't leave me alone."
"Orion!" Shiro said, rushing over to Azure. "Hang on, I got ya!"
SUI!
He just used his water element to clean off and purify whatever was blinding his eyes. "You good? How many fingers am I holding?"
"Three?" Azure said, confused.
"I think he's fine."
"Hang tight guys, I got this." Nero said, getting into his stance.
"What makes you think you would make a difference in this fight? You'll all fall in the end!" Azrael taunted.
"Because I'm helping out." Kurai said walking up to her love. "Ikuzou, Orphee-kun!"
"Orphee janai! Orpheus da!" Nero exclaimed in comical anger.
LINE BREAK
"I'm going back out there." Nora said as the three were in the Beacon's infirmary.
"Nora, no." Ren denied.
"You two are still injured," Blake said, concerned.
"Just watch me." Nora said as she tried to walk, only for Blake to catch her when she stumbled.
"Please just lay back down." Blake said sternly.
"That Azrael guy turned Weiss into some fallen angel kinda thing!" Nora exclaimed. "You can't expect me to lay back after what he pulled on us!"
"Our friends will bring her back, Nora. I promise." Blake told her.
Nora merely huffed and laid back down. Ren looked at her before taking her hand.
'Please everyone… bring her home.' Blake thought to herself.
LINE BREAK
Meanwhile, back in Weiss's mind…
Weiss rolled across the ground in pain. She struggled to her feet as the Armored Gigas stared down at her.
"Where's your confidence now!?"
"Right… here!" Weiss declares, getting up and darts forward, getting a hit on her enemy before twirling into a landing. The Giant Armor swings again, but she dashes away and lands several spinning slashes on the creature. It retaliates when she uppercuts into the air, arcing its sword around and hitting Weiss' rapier, which she brings up just in time to merely knock her back. When she slows down, Weiss looks up to see the Giant Armor leaping into the air and hurling the sword down on her, then swinging it back up in an effort to get its fast-moving target. It finally hits her blade again, and she is knocked away until she rolls back on her feet.
"Impudent girl!"
With white energy now gathered on her fingertips, Weiss motions to the ground beneath her, and a snowflake symbol appears that propels her forward at extreme speeds. Despite the Giant Armor's attempts to slash at her, Weiss disappears and reappears all around it, leaping through the air using her glyphs and landing a blow with each pass.
After a slash to the face, the Giant Armor aims at Weiss' feet, who leaps over it and gets an undefended fist to her head. Weiss is launched yet again.
"You're nothing without me!"
She stands back up, eyeing the Giant Armor with blood trailing down the left side of her face, and holds out her sword, spinning the revolver in the hilt until red energy appears over the blade. The Giant Armor runs up and drops its sword on her, but it meets her rapier and is deflected off.
"Wrong."
Weiss switches it up and spins, a cyan light now creating a wave of ice when she strikes it into the ground that freezes the Giant Armor in place. It swings again, but Weiss runs ahead and jumps on the sword. Myrtenaster is now glowing yellow, and she rolls on the broadsword and slashes at her foe, destroying the ice crystals in shards of purple but impaling its weapon into the ground. She rotates the hilt again and a snowflake circle spins under her when the Giant Armor tries to hammer its fist down on her, but she rolls out of the way and activates the glyph, launching the warrior up into the air and becoming trapped by Weiss' beams of blue energy.
"I will never be nothing because!"
With one final leap into the air, Myrtenaster glows with the white markings on its blade and Weiss descends onto the Giant Armor. When her attack is done and she lands in a crouch, the black hollows of the enemy light up and crashed into the ground in a shower of ice and snow behind her.
"I've learned to have faith in my family and friends!" Weiss said as the ice and snow blew by her.
Suddenly the stained glass stage she was on shattered into bits and pieces as the glass shards now surrounded in a cyclone, but then all of them gathered into one clump of glass that all melted and compressed itself before getting smaller and smaller until it was the size of a golf ball. When the light faded, it showed that it formed into the tainted Aura Sphere that Azrael put inside of her, but now the darkness was expelled, leaving the blank Aura Sphere behind, now floating in front of her. Weiss walked towards the sphere in awe, when she heard the Riders fighting outside.
"Kuro…" She then turned to the Sphere and knew what must be done. She grabbed the Aura Sphere and poured all of her Aura into it. As her Aura was transferred to the sphere, it glowed a bright light as it was being powered by her Aura. A snowflake formed in the middle as Sphere turned a snowy blue.
"USE MY POWER!"
When she was finished she looked out towards the sound of conflict and sent it flying into the air. The Sphere began to move like a comet, breaking through the void, leaving Weiss to pray to Kurogasa to save her once again.
LINE BREAK
Azrael stood atop a pile of injured, but conscious heroes, Kurogasa being the last of them struggling to stand up. "Weiss…" He gritted. "I'm not… giving up on you…"
"He bores me… finish him, my Alter." Azrael said in a bored tone. The Valkyrie said nothing before walking towards him slowly.
"Weiss… I know you can hear me in there…" Kurogasa said. "Remember the promise I made to you?"
The Alter kept walking towards him emotionlessly.
"I promised you… that I wouldn't lose faith if you turned into an Alter. Even now, I haven't lost it yet. Because you believed in me!"
The Alter still approaches.
"That's why… I won't give up on you! You didn't give up on me, so it's only fair I do the same!"
The Valkyrie Alter kept walking as she had her weapon at the ready.
"I know you're fighting in there! Don't give up on me! WEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISS!"
With his cry, The Valkyrie Alter thrust her Myrtenaster forward, but she stopped just inches away from his throat. He then looked up to see the Alter dropping the Myrenaster, going back to its original form and then gripping its head in pain as its body began to glitch.
"What?!" Azrael exclaims in shock and anger. "No, No, NO!"
The Valkyrie Alter continued to writhe in pain as its form cracked little by little, becoming a web of cracks. Like last time, light seeped through those cracks. And after a moment longer, the Valkyrie Alter shattered, produced a bright light before it faded revealing the heiress.
"WEISS!" They cried out in surprise.
"Weiss…" Shiro a said, as the Aura Sphere that was inside of her came out, being purified from the darkness it was tainted with and instead, had a white-bluish light, and Weiss held it in her hands. She opened her eyes and a smile graced her face.
"Kuro…"
"Weiss… you did it…" Shiro said, amazed.
"Because I remembered my faith." Weiss said with a weak smile.
"No, no, no, no, NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Azrael roared in anger. "How can this be!? How were you able to reverse the effects of being an Alter on your own!?"
"You don't get it, do you? Our fates are not for someone like you to decide!" Weiss shouts. "And we will keep fighting against you! Kuro, catch!" she said, throwing the Aura Sphere towards her brother. Kurogasa quickly caught it and saw it was Weiss's Aura Sphere.
"Got it. Ok, let's do it!" Kurogasa stood back up and opened his Driver's mouth, inserting the Sphere into the mouth.
AURA SPHERE CONNECTED! SNOWFLAKE!
A new tune began to play. One that sounded eerily similar to Mirror, Mirror. A white glow erupted from the Aura Driver as a white silhouette that looked similar to Weiss appeared behind Shiro. The white armor of the White Dragon disappeared, leaving him in only a black bodysuit and helmet.
"Soul Switch!" He declared before closing his Driver's mouth over the new Aura Sphere as the eyes of the dragon flashed an icy blue.
MIRROR, MIRROR! FROSTY DUELIST!
The silhouette clambers onto the Rider, forming a white glow that began to coat him in what looked like ice. The Aura dragon flew around before roaring and causing the ice to crack until it shattered. Shiro now stood in new armor with a small chest plate made of ice that covered his pectorals, a white trench coat with icicles tipped at the tails, icy blue gauntlets, white knee guards with ice spikes, white boots with frost gathered at the ankles like bracelets, a single angular shoulder guard on his left shoulder shaped like a dragon's head made of ice, and a silver necklace with Weiss's symbol hanging around his neck. His black helmet was now covered with ice that formed into the helmet of a medieval knight and bore a resemblance to the Arma Gigas' own helmet with glowing icy blue eyes.
Everyone looked at Kurogasa's new form with wide eyes. "Okay, now that's cool. Legit, no pun intended." Yang said, to which Koa giggled.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Ruby squealed in delight.
"Go get him, Kuro!" Weiss said with a smile. Shiro gave a thumbs up before walking towards Azrael.
"No~! I won't be stopped here!" Azrael shouted as his Aura flared. "DIE KAMEN RIDERS!" He then charged at Shiro. But Shiro gracefully dodged and skated by him. "WHAT?!"
Shiro was skating upon his own ice as he slashed Azrael repeatedly with his RyuuKoutei. "Sis, gonna need to borrow this." He said, reaching out and the Myrtenaster suddenly towards his hand, catching the handle. "I promise to give it back." Weiss nods as Shiro gets into a fencing pose. Waving the rapier he summoned a few glyphs and turning the revolver, he shot an element into each, turning into fire, water, wind, earth, and lightning, all shot towards Azrael.
Azrael held up his arms as each shot pushed him back. The blasts eventually sent him skidding back into the ground.
"DAMN YOU. DAMN YOU, KAMEN RIDER!"Azrael growled. "You cursed Kamen Riders are ALWAYS getting in my way!"
"And we'll keep on doing it until you decide to leave us alone. Because heroes always win!" Shiro shouted, before he opened up the jaw and had it chomped on Weiss's Aura Sphere thrice.
ULTRA BITE! ULTRA GLYPH BLIZZARD!
Weiss's glyph appeared below his feet before it rose and suddenly multiplied itself before it became a wall of glyphs in the air by the hundreds. Just slowly coming out of said glyphs were crystalized weapons of each and every weapon of every Kamen Rider.
"Gate. Of. Babylon…" Shiro muttered.
"THE HELL DID HE JUST SAY!?" The three Aura Riders all exclaimed in absolute comical shock.
"Oh…" Ruby began as her eye twitched with a slack jaw.
"Dear…" Weiss added with wide eyes.
"Gods…" Yang looked absolutely flabbergasted.
"Super cool," Koa said, impressed.
"Oh, Oum…" Jaune looked absolutely shocked at the weapons that were being displayed.
"So many weapons…" Pyrrha said in awe.
Without a word, the weapons and blasters all rained down upon him like it was the freakin' apocalypse, explosions ringing everywhere in Shiro's line of fire. Azrael roared as he saw his demise as a large explosion followed.
*KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*
"YEAH!" The group cheered as Shiro stood there, watching the explosion before going back to his civilian form.
From the fire, Azrael staggered to his feet as his breathing became ragged, parts of his cloak had begun to burn away. Of course, said flames became so intense that he had to discard them away. And boy was everyone in for a surprise when they saw Azrael's true form for the first time.
"Holy-!"
"What?!"
"OH"
"MY"
"OUM!"
The hooded villain that they've been fighting the entire time had the same face…
...as AARON JAEGER!?
"You're… Me?!" Aaron said in disbelief.
Azrael scoffed in disgust. Though his face was similar to Aaron's, his eyes were yellow instead of red and his hair was stark grey. "Not like I enjoy this bothersome form. Let's just say that when I came to this world… I didn't have a choice in the matter." The villain spat. "But yes, I am Aaron Jaeger. Or rather, I'm the version of you that valued power over pitiful friendship. In other words… I'm the true Aaron Jaeger of the TRUE REALITY!"
"You're a looney." Koa deadpanned. Azrael turned towards Koa, "The true Aaron will always put his friends before himself!"
"Oh? That's the same speech I heard from you before… right before you died." Azrael smirked. "By my own hands."
Koa's eyes widened, in disbelief and shock.
"H-Hold on, you can't be…!" Aaron said in denial.
"Oh believe it. I am you. If you still don't believe me, then let me reveal all of your stupid deaths before you four were reincarnated to this world." Azrael said as he held up a hand causing the four Riders' eyes to glow.
"Guys?" Koa said, concerned. Koa then turned to Azrael in anger. "Why you!"
She charged towards Azrael, roaring as she prepared to punch him. However, her eyes flickered and glitched, and she ducked down as Azrael almost stabbed her with a blade. "W-what was that?!" Koa said, scrambling back fearfully.
"Hoh~?" Azrael raised a brow in surprise and interest. "You managed to dodge that at the last second? Impressive. I thought you would've died the same way as before."
"Wait, guys? What does he mean by… stupid deaths?" Ruby asked.
The four Riders collapsed gasping heavily.
"Allow me to explain. The four of them died in ways that would be rather humorous but the fact of the matter is…" Azrael's eyes glowed maliciously. "Those were all lies."
The group gasped in disbelief and shock.
"Wait, what?" Orpheus got out.
"What do you mean?" Orion questioned.
"Oh, it's all simple really. You see, you guys are actually copies of the originals that had died already." Azrael stated. "Did you ever think as to why you could become Kamen Riders in the first place?"
"You… mean…" Kurogaso started with a horrifying realization.
"That's right, you four Riders…"
"Are nothing but artificial humans!"
"No… LIAR!" Ruby said getting up. "There's no way you could be telling the truth!"
"A liar, am I?" Azrael looked at the reaper with a cold smirk. "I'm many things, little Rose. Unfortunately, this is the complete, honest truth. In fact…" He patted his chest with one hand. "This is the original Aaron Jaeger's body!"
"We're… not real…?" Orpheus looked as if the whole world had ended for him.
"But… how could…?!" Aaron pondered, wanting a desperate answer.
"Well, to answer that question. The Aura Kamen Riders existed once before and the four of you, or should I say, I and the other originals were once the protectors of Remnant." Azrael explained. "Monty Oum asked for our help to fight the Dark Queen and we agreed to do so but we asked for the power to fight her. In fact, the Semblances you're all so proud of once belonged to us including the Aura Rider Powers."
"Dark Queen?" Ruby got out.
"Oopsie, I revealed a little too much now, didn't I?" Azrael said mockingly. Koa's fist clenched, and her teeth ground.
"You bastard… Why would you even kill me just to make me a monster?!" Koa screamed. "What was I even to you?!"
"Before I became this? You never existed but… as I developed my Semblance, I discovered that I could adapt my powers however I wished and then I created you, the first Reptile Greeed. Over time, you clung to me like a child. It was endearing at first and, I admit, fun." Azrael said with a reminiscent smile before it soured. "However, we were betrayed by someone who should've been our ally and because of that… our Rider Powers were stolen from us and we were left powerless. You can imagine our anger and rage back then but it would've been enough to engulf this whole planet in Grimm."
"Someone… betrayed you…" Aaron got out before his eyes widened. "No way… don't tell me…"
"Yes… that man. That arrogant piece of work had always been jealous of our power. He wanted it for himself. To cultivate it and utilize it for the common good." Azrael spat with venom. "But then I remembered my little creation. I no longer possessed my Rider powers but I still had a willing pawn who would do anything to please her creator. So I ordered her to burn everything that man built to the ground. Let me tell you… it was the best feeling I ever experienced. The look of horror and despair I witnessed from him was as sweet as a piece of cake. My teammates and I then decided that if the world wanted to betray us then we would destroy it. But my friends… my comrades did not have my vision. They even turned my creation against me."
"So that's why…" Orion got out.
"That's right. That's why I decided that you four must never change the events of this world ever again. I want this world to burn as it did before. I want these people to suffer the pain and agony that I had to go through. So in a sense of irony, Aaron, you ended up like Adam and every Rider villain. And the big shocker is… that it has happened for over a hundred years." He smiled crazily.
"A hundred years!?" Yang repeated in horror.
"Oh, right. You're still a bunch of small-minded fools. You see, as I am the original, I can only exist on Remnant but over time I acquired even greater power that allowed me to travel through alternate versions of this world. Unfortunately, Oum caught on to my plan and since he couldn't risk sending other people from Earth, he decided to make copies of Team JOKR. They would be granted the same abilities as the originals once had and they would be set against me. However, since I knew about the copies' abilities, I used that to my advantage… and killed them! But Oum kept sending more and more copies. In fact, you lot are the one-hundredth set of incarnations that stand before me."
"One hundred?!" Koa said in disbelief.
"All this time…" Kurogasa muttered.
"All of your lives have been nothing but lies and a big game," Azrael said. "In fact, each of the incarnations followed the same path that led to this moment. Granted, some of them died a bit earlier than I wanted but, hey, no skin off my back. It never gets old when I have to kill each version of you with my bare hands. And in all of the previous versions of the Remnants you tried to protect, I burned each one to ash."
"Bastard… You're nothing but a monster!"
"I was made into a monster by this vermin-infested planet!" Azrael retorted in anger. "My heart was once filled with hope and justice… but…" His yellow eyes glowed menacingly. "These mongrels all decided it was best to take a power that never belonged to them and use it for their own ends while we were cast aside like trash! Because of that, I felt nothing but bitterness and hate for all these insects! You haven't felt it yet… the pain of betrayal… the loss of that which you tried to gain for so long. My own brothers in arms betrayed me to protect the same fools who betrayed us! I'll kill anyone who gets in the way of my vengeance. And I will not stop until all of Remnant DIES!"
"...So what?" A voice spoke.
"Hm?" Azrael raised a brow.
Aaron, whose hair covered his eyes, continued, "So what if something like that happened? You could've still been a hero. Instead, you turned your back on the world because people did the same to you." He glared directly at the original version of him. "Even if that were the case, that I'm nothing but a copy… I'm still… I'm still Aaron Jaeger! AND I'M KAMEN RIDER KURENAI!"
Azrael looked at the copy in surprise before snarling, "Regardless of what you say, it will not change this planet's fate. You may have won this battle… but the war has yet to end." With that said, the former hero vanished into shadow, leaving the Riders and their friends on their own.
LINE BREAK
Koa was watching her friends from the infirmary with a hard glare as her mind raced. All this time, she's not only been a failure but her entire existence was created from that failure. Countless times only to be reset, it made her furious. And there's one person she wanted to take it out on...
"Ozpin, we need to talk…" Koa said in a dark tone as she transitions from the infirmary to the Headmaster's office. The man in question raised a brow as well as his mug to his mouth.
"Yes?"
"I think you're hiding something from us." Koa gave him a hard glare. "In fact, I know so…"
Ozpin kept a calm expression on her. "And why do you think that?"
"Your desire… talks of some woman."
Ozpin flinched.
"In fact." Koa leaned in closer. "You want to stop this woman but want nobody to know about it."
Ozpin was speechless. Koa kept staring at her until Glynda suddenly walked in.
"Koa, what are you doing here?" Glynda asked the girl.
"Oh sorry, Professor. We're just chatting about a game of chess." Koa said innocently before turning to leave. "Let's talk again Headmaster! Bye bye~!"
When she left, Ozpin dropped his mug on the ground as he rubbed his eyes. "That girl is going to one day be the end of me, I know it." Ozpin muttered with a sigh.
LINE BREAK
*KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK*
"Kuro…?" Weiss asked as she opened the door to JOKR's room to reveal Kurogasa sitting on his bed looking at the window, looking with a despondent look on his face.
"I'm so confused…" Kurogasa whispered as he looked at his trembling hand that clenched into a fist. "All this time, I'm just some copy…"
"Kuro…"
"Everything we did… was it all for nothing?"
"No, it's not for nothing," Weiss said. "It doesn't matter if you're a copy or not. What matters at all is that you are Kurogasa, a Kamen Rider and my brother whom I really care about."
"Weiss…" Kurogasa muttered, looking at her before she pulled him in for a hug, placing his head on her chest.
"Listen… I don't care what Azrael says. The fact of the matter is that you're still in the here and now. He's trying to divide us, but we're not going to let him do that. You know that better than anyone else."
"I…"
"What I feel for you isn't a lie… your life isn't a lie. All of it is real. Our love is real. Don't ever forget that…"
"You… really mean that…?" Kurogasa asked as tears welled up in his eyes.
"Every word of it." Weiss said with a kind smile as the two continued to hug. The others, meanwhile, were outside listening and some silently sobbing at those meaningful words.
"Damn," Orion muttered, wiping her eyes. "Weiss really has a way with words."
"Amen." The others added
"This is going in my book…" Blake sniffled.
Aaron looked to be the most inspired by Weiss's speech. "Despite what we might be, we will still protect our friends and this world. That's why we are Kamen Riders." He said with his usual gusto. The others nodded, knowing that he was right.
KRD: Wow, okay! That was a total shocker!
SR: Yeah I'm pretty sure everyone wasn't expecting such a plot twist.
GKC: Indeed! Azrael's true identity has been revealed as the original Aaron Jeager!
SR: And our heroes are merely another iteration in a long line of copies. But for now, we move onto the main storyline, right? Or am I jumping the gun- or in this case, your Bazooka?
KRD: Well, we do want an explanation as to how you even came up with this crazy idea in the first place.
GKC: Yes, yes, we'll get right back to the mains storyline.
SR: I'm sure he'll explain in time. For now, Roll that clip!
Announcer: Jikai! Remnant's Climax Heroes!
Ruby: Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful! It will be… delicious!
Sun: I told you these guys were cool.
Orion: Medic! I need… a medic!
Kurogasa: General Ironwood, sir!
Next Time: Best Day Ever!
Aaron: Let loose the hot dogs of war!
GKC: Ah, that's the end. Peace out, everybody!
