GKC: What's up, everybody! GKC here bringing you a collaboration between me and Kamen Rider Chrome! I gotta say, I'm honored to have had a veteran of Kamen Rider want to work with me on this.
KRC: It was my pleasure, my good man. Hey, folks! Kamen Rider Chrome here.
GKC: We would like to go on a tangent right now just to keep things interesting but I'm sure all of you wanna just read the story. So, we'll do the disclaimer and get right on with the special. We do not own, except our OCs, Kamen Rider or RWBY. All rights belong to their respective owners.
KRC: Kamen Rider Showa belongs strictly to me while the Aura Kamen Riders belong to GKC and KRD while Koa/Kurai belongs to DragonKnightSR.
GKC: Enjoy the show, peeps! HENSHIN!
While Huntsmen dealt with the Creatures of Grimm, there was still a need for a mundane police force to deal with regular crime. The Vale Police Department was often kept busy, despite the presence of Beacon. After all, Huntsmen and Huntresses had no need to deal with burglaries, robberies, thefts, murders or missing person cases.
Detective Burns scowled as another missing person's case was put on his desk. A man in his forties, he had been working as a detective for the past ten years. He looked at the stack of files on his desk, all of them were missing person cases. Vale was experiencing a high number of missing person's cases. They had posters put up to help find these people, even offering a reward for any information, but they had not gotten any leads. It had been like this for the past 6 months and in half a year over 60 people had gone missing, humans and Faunus alike.
"Hey, Bernie," Det. Burns' partner, Det. Ramsey, said as he looked over his shoulder. "Another missing person's case?"
"Yeah," Det. Burns confirmed as he looked at the picture. The latest person to go missing was a male Faunus with leopard spots all over his face.
"Sure he didn't run off to the White Fang?"
"We've already gone over this, Geoff," Burns grumbled. "Not every Faunus who goes missing joins the White Fang. It's like all those other disappearances. They've gotta be connected but nobody's talking. Nobody's seen anything."
"Just another crazy day in the city of Vale…" Ramsey sighed. "You know, it's getting late. You gonna be heading home soon or are you gonna be pulling another all-nighter?"
"I've got some work to do before I go, Geoff," Burns answered.
"OK, goodnight then, Bernie." Ramsey gives a wave before heading out the front door.
It was well past midnight when Bernie finally finished his work for the night and decided to go back home to sleep. If he pulled another all-nighter, his wife would give him an earful. Their marriage had been strained a few years back due to his workaholic nature, but after some couple's counseling, they managed to come to a compromise. It saved their marriage and while his wife could be a pain in the ass, she was still the love of his life. He stepped out of the precinct and headed for his car. He dug his keys out of his pocket but accidentally dropped them.
"Shit!" he cursed as he bent over to pick them up. As he stood up, he did not notice the tall figure standing behind him.
Det. Bernie Burns never made it home that night. All they could find was his wallet, which held a photo of his wedding day.
LINE BREAK
It was another day in Beacon Academy and the young Hunters-in-training were suffering through another one of Professor Port's lectures.
"Uggggghh~" Groaned a familiar girl in a bright red hood, "This is sooo boring…"
"I think his stories are pretty interesting," Koa said innocently, sitting beside the silver-eyed girl.
"Are you serious, Koa?" asked a blonde boxer incredulously, "He talks forever!"
"Yang, before I came to Beacon, the closest thing I had to a teacher was a megalomaniac. I have never been to school before and Port's stories are not that bad. I mean, it's his life experience and he's been a Huntsman for years. Maybe we can learn from it, like Dr. Oobleck's class."
"- and that is how I managed to take down an Ursa with a fork and some rope I had on hand," Port said, regaling the class with his tales.
"Seriously?" Yang deadpanned to the secret Greeed.
That was when the bell rang, much to everyone - save for Koa's - relief.
"Oh, looks like that's the end of our class. Now, children, please remember that your essays are due next week. In my next class, I will tell you how I survived on a deserted island for weeks with nothing but my wits and a swiss army knife!"
The students were already tuning him out as they stepped out of class. Koa, however, appreciated the thought of his stories.
Unnoticed by the students, hanging from the ceiling was a strange spider-like robot with a saucer-like body and four spindly legs which it used to stick itself to the surface. It had a single red eye that rotated around its body, scanning the entire room. It was so silent, that nobody had noticed its presence or even looked up. It managed to scan all the students until it landed on Koa, as it detected her Core Energy.
While her back was turned, the machine shot out something that hit her backpack. It looked like a metallic silverfish that crawled into her backpack.
Once everyone was out and Port had its back turned, the spider-like machine made its way to the window and slipped out. It began to crawl up the surface of the wall until it reached the roof. Once on the rooftop, its legs retracted into its body and it took off like a flying saucer.
It was not the only one as several other saucer-like machines flew in the air.
XXX
"In today's news, Detective Bernard Burns of the VPD has gone missing," Lisa Lavender reported. "That makes him the latest victim in a string of disappearances that has gone on for the last six months. Police have no leads but are offering a reward to anyone who has any information. Det. Burns' wife, Margaret Burns, is devastated and is also offering a huge sum of lien to anyone who can help her find her husband."
A click on a remote turns the television off. On the blank TV screen is the calculative face of the leader of Team JOKR, Aaron Jaeger. He had been hearing about these disappearances for quite some time and him along with his friends have been trying to come up with various possibilities that might lead them to the culprits but no evidence turned up.
"This definitely doesn't sound like Azrael's usual M.O," he said to himself, rubbing his chin. "Definitely can't be the White Fang, they'd be sending a message to any that stood in their way and I've never seen any of those Faunus as members of the organization."
He glanced over to his unfinished upgrade item for his Aura Driver along with the other Aura Spheres that he and his teammates had collected from Azrael's Alters.
"Just what am I missing here?" Aaron wondered as he picked up the Crimson Wolf Aura Sphere, his personal transformation item.
XXX
It was night time and everyone was in bed. Koa was lying in her bed, snoring, surrounded by her cuddly toys. Meanwhile, the silverfish-like machine crawled out of her backpack and made its way toward her. It crawled up her bed then stuck itself to the side of her head. It beeped and then Koa's eyes opened as she sat up and got out of bed. She seemed to be sleepwalking as she opened the door and stepped out without changing out of her bedclothes.
She walked robotically through the halls, passing by the rooms that held her friends from Teams RWBY, JNPR, and JOKR. Eventually, after walking for a few minutes, she was outside of Beacon Academy and stood at the edge of the cliff that overlooked the Forever Fall forest.
Koa's eyes glowed briefly as she turned into her Greeed form and jumped off the cliff, landing straight down to the ground with no sound leaving her lips.
The mind-controlled Greeed traversed through the forest of crimson, ignoring any sounds or eyes that came to her as a threat. A black blur dropped down in front of her, revealing it to be a Beowolf that snarled and growled hungrily at her. Koa stared at the Grimm for a few seconds… then stabbed it right in the face with her entire hand. The Beowolf released a pitiful whimper before it vanished into a black mist while Koa continued her trek through the woods, undeterred and emotionless.
She walked for several minutes then paused as if waiting for something. She stood in the middle of an empty plain, not a trace of life or Grimm anywhere… until an opening beneath the earth emerged, revealing an elevator that the Greeed stepped inside of and allowed the device to transport her down, the opening above closing to the point that not a patch of grass or ground was out of place.
XXX
After the elevator descended to its destination, Koa stepped out in her human form and approached a figure that was waiting for her.
The figure that stood before her could only be best described as a silver humanoid robot resembling a man clad in silver plate armor that covered it from head to toe. There was a blue glowing circle on its chest and blasters attached to its forearms. Attached to its heads were handlebars that were connected to the ears. What unnerved them was the blank face with its only facial features being the black circular eyes and a single slit for the mouth.
"Were you followed?" the silver figure asked in a monotone, robotic voice.
Koa answered monotonously, "No."
"You will follow."
"I obey."
The two walked down a cold and eerie hallway which was lined with dozens of mechanical pods that contained humanoid figures but the most details on a few were the animal ears that were present on their heads. The robot and Koa continued down the hall, leaving the pods behind them until they came upon a large, metal door that opened for them. Once they stepped inside, the duo approached a figure that was working on several computer screens.
The man appeared Asian with red eyes and silver-white hair. His hair was cut short and parted in the middle with the bangs hanging over his eyes. A pair of antennae-like strands stuck out from the top. He wore a white lab coat over a black turtleneck and matching pants. He also had mechanical hands and his legs were mechanical up to his knees.
He was looking at multiple screens on his console which showed him a view of Vale fed to him via his drones.
He turned to see visitors in his lab.
"So, this is the girl, Unit 14?" the man said as he examined the Greeed. Oh, he knew the creature was female since one of his drones had been watching her.
"Yes," Unit 14 answered.
"Aren't you a beauty," he admired the female Greeed. "Show me your real form, my dear."
"Yes, sir," Koa answered robotically as she shifted from her human form to her Greeed form.
"Oh, marvelous!" he clapped. He had seen her human form but he found her true form even more attractive as he examined her. "Simply marvelous! Lucky you, you won't have to be converted!" He grabbed a chair and sat down. "Alright, please tell me about yourself!"
"My name is Koa. I am a Greeed created by my former master, Azrael. I was created to destroy the Kamen Riders." Koa answered. "After countless failures, Azrael abandoned me to die when one of the Kamen Riders found me."
"...Kamen Riders," the man growled. "Damn Kamen Riders." He said it with so much hatred that his crimson eyes glowed.
Unit 14 looked at its creator, "Creator, this unit has a suggestion. Memory extraction to determine the threat level of these Kamen Riders."
"Yes, good idea, Unit 14." The man wheeled himself over to his computer and his fingers danced across the keyboard. The eyes of the mechanical silverfish attached to Koa's head blinked as it sent over the data. The screens came to life, showing countless videos of the Riders in action. The man examined each one: Kurenai, Shiro, Azure, and Nero.
Knowledge was an important weapon in warfare. If he was going to conquer this miserable world, it was crucial that he knows everything about every possible obstacle and how to delete them. These Aura Riders were a threat and the most hated kind. He hated heroes, Kamen Riders most of all, so this was personal.
"Now, my dear, what do you think is the best strategy to destroy these Riders?" the creator asked.
"Alone they are strong. Together, they are invincible," Koa answered.
"Nothing is invincible. Everything has a weakness," he corrected.
"Their friends are their weakness," Koa added.
"Of course." He rolled his eyes. "They care too much for their fellow man. How cliche. Does that include a kaijin like you?"
"One of the Riders is in love with me," she answered.
"Interesting," he smiled and handed her a Scroll. "Call them for help, my dear and make it sound convincing. Unit 14, take her to the forest while I set up an ambush."
"I obey, creator," the metal man said as he put a fist to his chest. He and Koa marched out of the lab, leaving the creator alone.
He opened a door to another section of the lab to show a Beowolf that was in the middle of a conversion process. What he learned so far was that these Creatures of Grimm were not alive in the conventional sense. They were made of living darkness and when killed would return to the ether. Keeping them in captivity would only lead to them slowly dying. However, he eventually learned how to keep them alive through the conversion process as it was being covered in silver armor while it was reprogrammed to follow his commands.
And this was not the only Grimm he was working on. He had done this to so many already. Pretty soon, he would have enough CyberGrimm to take this world. He just needed to test their combat capabilities and these Riders would provide him with a perfect opportunity.
LINE BREAK
The four Riders walked around Beacon, searching for their missing friend. Ever since Koa had gone missing, Orpheus was frantic about the girl he cared deeply for. Unfortunately, nobody had been able to find her.
"This is nuts. Where the heck could Koa have wandered off to?" Aaron wondered, rubbing his chin.
"Maybe she went looking for another toy to add to her stupid collection?" Kurogasa grumbled.
"Come on, guys," Orpheus interjected. "You all know that Koa wouldn't go out on her own without telling anybody, especially me."
"And she didn't change into any of her clothes," Orion added. The group kept searching around until Orpheus's Scroll began to ring.
"That must be her!" the auburn-haired musician exclaimed, taking out his Scroll and answering it. "Koa, is that you? Tell me where you are!"
{"O-Orpheus?! Is that you? Please help! I'm being- KYAAAAH!"}
"Koa!? KOA!" Orpheus shouts before the call is disconnected.
"I'm running a trace," Aaron said as he typed on his own Scroll then narrowed his eyes, "Got it. She's in the Forever Fall forest!"
"Come on!" Orpheus shouts as he dashed past the others. The others ran after him as they made their way towards the Forest, unaware of the dangerous trap that they were walking into.
LINE BREAK
Forever Fall was named because the leaves of the trees seemed to always be colored as if it was autumn. These trees were full of a sap which was used to make a delicious syrup. Nora enjoyed the syrup but she couldn't help but drink the sap raw whenever she had the chance.
Now the beautiful forest would become the site of another battle…
"Her Scroll's signal is just past these trees!" Aaron informed his teammates.
"Whoever took her is going to get his teeth kicked in!" Orpheus spat with rage.
"Easy, partner," Kurogasa told the musician. "We'll rescue her."
"And the S.O.B who took her is not walking away from this," Orion stated.
"There's the clearing!" Aaron told his friends as Team JOKR left the cover of the trees and came upon an open plain. They found Koa and she was held in the grasp of a man covered in metal. Koa winced as she struggled in his grasp.
"Koa!" Orpheus shouted.
"Orpheus! Help me!" Koa screamed.
"Who are you!?"
"I am designated as 'Cyberman Unit 14'. Are you the Kamen Riders designated as 'Kurenai', 'Shiro', 'Azure' and 'Nero'?"
"You know about us?" Aaron narrowed his eyes. "Why did you take her?"
"Surrender," the Cyberman demanded while pointing its arm blaster at Koa. "Or she will be deleted."
"Here's another option: I blast your damn head off and sell your remains for scrap!" Orpheus shouted with fury written all over his face. He did not wait as he charged straight for the Cyberman holding Koa.
"Begin the attack. Delete. Delete. Delete."
Howls were heard as a pack Beowolves came lunging out of the forest. However, these were not the usual Beowolves that the boys had faced before. Each of them was covered in silver cybernetic armor that revealed none of the black fur of their bodies. Their masks were also replaced by gunmetal gray metal masks with lifeless black eyes.
A CyberGrimm swiped at Orpheus as he came in close. He quickly came to a halt and jumped back to avoid its metallic claws.
"Shit! It's a freaking ambush!"
"Everyone, stay together and take them down!" Aaron ordered as he activated Blood Moon.
"Just when this day couldn't get any weirder…" Kurogasa remarked, unsheathing Kage Ryuujin.
Orion pulled out Lunar Divide, the massive white-blue blade glinting in the sunlight, "Hey, that's the life of being a Huntsman and a Kamen Rider."
"Let's just kick the crap out of these things and rescue Koa!" Orpheus said with Lyrical Relevance in its lyre form.
As the Riders were distracted by the CyberGrimm, Unit 14 gave Koa a nod to initiate the plan. Orpheus was in the middle of fighting a CyberGrimm with his weapon in its bladed bow form, slashing and cutting into the transformed monster's body before firing a Fire Dust-based arrow right in its skull, the body of the Grimm vanishing while the armor remained behind. Suddenly, the musician's instincts warned him of danger.
He gasped and jumped out of the way of a shot that would have pierced him in the head. He then turned to shoot the sniper, only to be taken by surprise by who it was that shot at him.
"Koa?"
Koa was holding a hi-tech laser rifle that was aimed at Orpheus. Her face showed no emotion but he noticed there was something stuck to the side of his head, with blinking red lights on it. Koa showed no emotion or hesitation as she fired many shots at him.
"Koa, what are you doing!?"
"You will be deleted. The creator commands it," Koa monotoned as she continued to fire at him. Orpheus used his weapon to block or deflect the lasers before diving for cover behind a tree.
"Koa, you have to stop! You're being brainwashed! Fight it!" Orpheus called out to the Greeed. Koa said nothing as she kept shooting, even aiming at the other Riders.
Aaron swung his fist, deflecting a laser bolt from his face. "Dammit! Someone needs to restrain her until we get her back to normal!"
"Delete Riders, Delete Riders!" Koa said as she opened fire on the Riders. Unit 14 watched the battle and contacted his master.
"Permission to use Cell Medal Drones?" Unit 14 asked his master.
{"Do it. I need more data on these Riders."}
Unit 14 pressed a few buttons, causing a large swarm of silverfish drones carrying Cell Medals to fly towards Koa. Koa began to groan as the creatures flowed around her body, turning her into Greeed form. The Riders stared in shock as her shadow showed her getting bigger and bigger.
"Holy shit…" The four young men said in unison. They were looking at a giant silverfish with parts of a cobra, turtle, and crocodile. It unleashed a roar that had Koa's screams mixed in with it.
"Now what do we do?" Kurogasa asked his leader.
"No choice… We have to transform!" Aaron answered. His teammates nodded before they focused their Aura around their waists until their Aura Drivers formed. They all pulled out their Aura Spheres and opened the mouths of their buckles.
"Henshin!" They all shouted in unison before slotting their respective Aura Spheres into their Drivers and closed them.
AURA SPHERE CONNECTED! WOLF/DRAGON/BEAR/FALCON!
Colorful energy projections of wolves, dragons, a bear, and a falcon enshroud the four young men and formed their armor.
KURENAI NO HUNTER! CRIMSON WOLF!
TENGOKU EMPEROR! WHITE DRAGON!
TOMORENAI WARRIOR! AZURE BEAR!
SHINOBI ONGAKU! SHADOW FALCON!
In the place of Team JOKR were the four Aura Riders…
Kamen Rider Kurenai.
Kamen Rider Shiro.
Kamen Rider Azure.
Kamen Rider Nero.
{"Ugh, the four of them look like a boy band, a Kamen Rider boy band. That's it, they deserve to die! Kill them all! Delete! Delete! DELETE!"}
Kurenai summoned his Fang Howler gunblade and pointed it at the transformed Koa, "Sorry about this, Koa. We'll try not to hurt you too much but you leave us no choice." Koa screamed and fired a destructive energy beam from her mouth at them.
The four Riders quickly leaped away from the blast as a massive explosion tore through the earth, revealing a jagged and broken piece of scorch earth. Shiro and Nero used their speed to sprint at the transformed monster. The white dragon summoned his katana while the dark falcon called forth two kunai. The duo slashed their blades along Koa's hide, sending sparks and Cell Medals out from her wounds.
Azure charged at Koa, grabbing her by the tail then used his superior strength to haul the transformed Greeed and slammed her down on the ground.
"Let's try and break her down!" Kurenai told his companions as he switched his weapon into its gun mode, firing energy bullets at the transformed Greeed. Sparks flew as Koa roared in anger, sending out arms with snakeheads attached to them at the Riders. The four warriors quickly rolled away from the attack and quickly retaliated.
Koa roared as the Aura Riders assaulted her. She tried to hit them but their small size made it difficult for her to land a successful hit.
{"My dear Koa, I think it's time to divide and conquer."}
The Greeed broke down into Cell Medals which divided into three clumps before they each formed into an individual monster. They each had an aspect of one of Koa's Core Medals, as they used their abilities to the fullest extent.
"Well, that's just perfect…" Azure sarcastically remarked. "Now what?"
"Four of them. Four of us. Split up and hold them back!" Kurenai ordered as he charged at Unit 14. Nero faced off against the Cobra monster, Azure battled the Kame monster, and Shiro fought the Wani monster.
Unit 14 quickly realized Kurenai was coming at it and started firing at the Rider with its arm-mounted blaster. The Rider dodged the shots as he closed in on his enemy before landing a punch across its face.
Unit 14 staggered and his Aura flared up as he took the blow.
"Aura?" Kurenai questioned, stunned. "But you're a robot! Robots can't have Aura! You need...a soul." The horrifying realization soon dawned on him when he remembered the CyberGrimm. "You're not a robot, are you? You're a cyborg."
"Correct," Unit 14 confirmed before he threw a punch which connected with Kurenai's jaw then threw a punch into his chest which preceded a blast that sent the Rider tumbling. "Kamen Rider Kurenai, you will be deleted."
Kurenai recovered from the punch and brought up his Fang Howler in sword mode, "Bring it on, Tin Man!" he shot back.
The Cyberman's chest panels opened up, revealing two rows of horizontal mini-missile launchers which it fired at Kurenai. The Rider deflected the missiles with his sword, sending them to explode behind him as he charged at the Cyberman. He swung his sword, landing a slash across its chest before delivering a kick to its midsection.
The three Riders took on the monsters that each possessed some of Koa's strengths and abilities.
Shiro and Azure were up against Wani and Kame as they were winning. Kame had Koa's sturdiness and childish demeanor as she giggled and rapidly punched Azure as the two were trading blows. Wani had her ferocious monster mind as she was attacking Shiro with everything she had.
Kurenai swung his sword again but the Cyberman caught his sword arm as it revealed a concealed blade that slid out of its wrist and hit Kurenai in the chest with it. Kurenai tore his arm free out of the cyborg's iron grip and punched it in the face. It retaliated by striking his face too. The two then began to exchange blows, clashing with their blades.
Making an opening, Kurenai drove his sword straight through the Cyberman's chest. It let out a scream of pain as Kurenai withdrew his sword and it collapsed, lifelessly. The light in the middle of its chest faded as it died at his feet.
Nero was facing off against Cobra, which was dancing and weaving through his attacks. What made this bothersome for Nero was that Cobra had Koa's mischievous nature as well as lustful attitude.
"Oh Nero~, won't you come and play with your little monster girl?" Cobra said in a lustful version of Koa's voice. Nero was trying desperately to not let the monster's voice get to him, but the way she was speaking to him was making him red as a tomato under his mask.
"Can we please focus on the fight!?" Nero exclaimed with hints of embarrassment.
It wasn't just her words that were getting to him, but the way she moved. Despite her inhuman appearance, Cobra still had curves and she moved with the grace of a belly dancer, which were similar to the dancing motions of a cobra under the sway of a snake charmer.
"What's wrong Orphee~? Not liking the way I dance?" Cobra teased as she danced around Nero's attacks, some of his punches sliding off her snake-smooth curves.
"Dammit! I'm getting nowhere with this!" Nero cursed. He brought out two of his Falco Kunai daggers and threw them at the Cobra. She fluidly evaded them by flexing her hips, allowing them to fly past her, before she broke into a run and tackled Nero, wrapping her arms tightly around him like a boa constrictor. She also made sure to rub her thigh against his, looking deeply into his eyes.
Even under mind control, Koa still had not forgotten that she was attracted to Orpheus.
Nero struggled in her grasp, trying not to think about her soft curves that were being pressed against him. Looking at her, he noticed a red light blinking next to her head. Narrowing his eyes, he spotted the mechanical silverfish that was stuck there.
'That must be what's controlling her,' Nero realized. He freed his arm then grabbed hold of the silverfish. It resisted as it clung tightly to the Greeed's head but Nero managed to rip it off her.
All of a sudden, Cobra screamed and released Nero. At the same time, the Kame and Wani monsters also screamed as the Core Medals inside of them flew out and entered Cobra's body. Their bodies crumbled back into Cell Medals which flew into Cobra's back, allowing her to absorb them into her.
"Koa?" Nero asked as the Greeed reverted to human form and collapsed on top of him.
"Ugh..." Koa groaned. "Orphee...?"
Nero smiled, relieved, but then frowned as he looked at his clenched fist which held the mechanical silverfish. "So this must be what was controlling her…" He was half-tempted to crush it but reluctantly decided against it.
"We better take it back for analysis," Shiro suggested.
"What do we do with this then?" Kurenai asked, kicking the deactivated Cyberman.
"Better take that back too. We might get some answers from it," Orion answered.
LINE BREAK
Meanwhile, flying Cyberdrones watched the battle, recording everything and transmitting the live feed back to Unit 14's creator. Now, with this combat data, he could upgrade his Cybermen to make them even more powerful.
"I better activate a replacement," he muttered as Unit 14 died.
He pushed a button causing a new machine to activate. One of the pods opened with a hiss and a new Cyberman stepped out to join its creator in his lab.
"Unit 15, awaiting your commands, creator."
"Just stand by for further instructions," the creator commanded, his eyes still focused on the screens.
LINE BREAK
Day broke when the Aura Riders brought the Cyberman and silverfish, aka 'Cybermite', back to their base. The Cyberman was put down on a table while the Cybermite was put in a plastic box that prevented its escape. Aaron sat at the base's supercomputer, typing away at the keyboard as the analysis for both machines ran through the screen.
"Yeah, it's a cyborg," Aaron confirmed as the scan showed what was inside the Cyberman's mechanical shell. There was a human skeleton and an organic human brain. Everything else, like skin and organs, had been replaced with cybernetic parts. "Whatever this thing is made of, it's definitely not from this world. My guess is that the metals are extraterrestrial."
At the same time, Orpheus was sitting beside Koa, who was resting after being put through her mind-controlled state and the injuries she received from her forced battle with her Rider friends.
"Are you OK, Koa?" he asked.
"I'm fine," she answered, holding a pack of ice towards her head. "I just have a bit of a headache, that's all."
Orpheus smiled in relief, "I'm glad…" He overlapped his hand with hers. "I don't know what I would've done if I lost you."
Kurogasa was hovering over the Cyberman and he looked at the seam for the faceplate. He narrowed his eyes and went to touch it when Orion grabbed his hand.
"What are you doing?" Orion asked, eyes narrowed.
"I'm just curious to see what's under that mask," Kurogasa answered.
"I don't think that's a good idea. You heard what's under the hood."
"Yeah, but I'm still curious," The samurai stated.
The faceplate came loose, without much resistance. Kurogasa lifted up the faceplate, sweating with anticipation. What he saw made him drop it as his face paled.
Under the Cyberman's faceplate was a girl's face. She had wires and metal parts sticking to her face, and she looked dead.
"Wait, I think I've seen her before," Orion said and he remembered seeing her face on a missing person's poster.
"Millie Lilac," Aaron answered for his teammates. "One of several missing people in the past few weeks. Tissue samples and dental records confirm it all."
"If she's Unit 14, then there are at least thirteen more like her and maybe even more after that," Orion stated.
"I think I'm gonna be sick," Kurogasa gagged.
"What do we do? Do we tell Ozpin? The police?" Orpheus asked.
"Even if we did, we have no idea if the mastermind creating these cyborgs is still around or if they even managed to build up an army." Aaron pointed out. "At this point, we have to settle this matter ourselves."
Koa looked at Millie's face and felt a pang of sympathy. The poor girl, she was so young when her life was so cruelly taken from her. The one responsible for this also desecrated her body to make this mechanical thing.
All of a sudden, Millie's eyes snapped open and Koa screamed. The Cyberman's body then sat up, causing the Aura Riders to freak out as well. Millie's eyes flashed and projected a hologram, showing a man in a white lab coat with red eyes, sitting on a chair with his legs crossed. His hands were steepled as he looked at the Aura Riders.
{"Greetings and thank you for participating in my research. Due to your performance, I now have your combat data which I will now program into my Cybermen."}
"Who the hell are you?" Orpheus demanded.
{"Who am I? The name's White XIV. But one day, you'll be calling me 'master'."}
"You're gonna be a dead man when I get my hands on you!" Orpheus spat.
"Easy," Aaron told his teammate then glared at White XIV. "Why are you doing this?"
{"Human emotions. Did you know that every conflict in human history was always driven by irrational emotions? Like the Faunus War, for example. It was all because humans could not learn to live with the Faunus. They could not coexist because they were so different. But imagine what life would be like with every the same, with everyone upgraded into a Cyberman. When all of you are the same, when all of you join the Cybermen, then there will be peace. No more war, no more disease, no more death. It will be perfect."}
"You call this 'perfect'?" Orpheus pointed at Millie's cybernetically augmented body incredulously. "What you've done is murder an innocent girl!"
{"No, you killed her. She was very much alive before you put a sword through her chest."}
Aaron gave the obvious madman a growl, "What you call 'alive' was nothing more than a machine. I scanned her whole body. All of her organs were removed and replaced with cybernetic implants. The frontal lobe of her brain had been experimented on. All she was at this point was a walking corpse. She was dead long before she became one of your servants…" He said in morbid disgust. "You're a disrespectful monster."
{"I shouldn't be surprised that you'd oppose me. You Riders have always done your best to stop my plans. Just like him.}
"Him?" Kurogasa repeated in suspicion.
{"Forget it. I guess this is the part where I brag about my evil plan. Well, I plan to upgrade this whole planet, starting with Vale. Then I'll go on over to Mistral, Vacuo and finally Atlas."}
"We're not gonna let you do this!" Orpheus interjected.
{"Oh, there's no stopping me. Pretty soon, the Conquest of the Cybermen will begin and you will have front row seats to the end of mankind. It will be a beautiful, silver genesis!"}
The hologram vanished and Millie's body collapsed onto the table, inert.
"Well, shit…" Orion cursed. "Now what do we do?"
Aaron rubbed his chin, "We're going to need help for this. It's time we get RWBY and JNPR into the fray then we'll need to find a way to track Cybermen on the move…" His crimson eyes nearly dulled at having to bring the rest of their friends into a dangerous situation.
"Are you sure?" Kurogasa asked, glancing at Millie's body. He went and closed her eyes. "Because we might have to tell them about Millie. Also, what are we going to do with her body now?"
"I may have an idea on how we can track the Cybermen…" The JOKR team leader glanced at his comrades. "...but you're not gonna like it."
"I'll make the call…" Orion said, pulling out his Scroll and messaging Teams RWBY and JNPR to meet in the Rider Base.
LINE BREAK
White XIV was in his lab, putting final touches on his 'Cyber-Bomb'. It was a simple design: a silver cube containing nanomachines that were programmed to convert organic life into cyberform.
"And done," White XIV smiled. "Unit 15, put this with the others."
Unit 15 picked up the Cyber-Bomb and put it with a stack of similar Cyber-Bombs.
"A baker's dozen should be enough for this city," White XIV smiled. "But let's deal with Beacon first." Huntsmen and Huntresses being upgraded would be great. They would lose their humanity, but not their skill. He couldn't wait to add them to his army. Speaking of which, his army should be ready. "Alright, let's wake up the others, shall we?"
He went to his console and pushed a button that opened up the rest of the pods. The Cybermen within activated and stepped out of their individual chambers, awaiting further commands.
A total of 60 Cybermen filled the hallway.
{"GOOD MORNING, MY CYBERMEN!" White XIV yelled jubilantly, his voice blasting out of the speakers. "IT'S TIME FOR A BRAND NEW DAY, THE DAY OF THE CYBERMEN! NOW, COME AND PICK UP YOUR PRESENTS!"}
LINE BREAK
"Oh, my Oum…" Pyrrha gasped, covering her mouth in horror.
Teams RWBY and JNPR had arrived at the Rider Base where Aaron introduced them to the body of Millie Lilac then filled them in on the current situation. They were beyond horrified.
"So a psycho mad scientist wants to turn everyone on the planet into that?" Yang pointed at the body.
"That's the gist of it." Aaron answered.
Ruby could not look away from the body. She knew evil existed but this was beyond anything she could imagine. How could anyone be so cruel? She looked at Millie, a girl so young like her, who was taken from her family and put into this metal shell. Now her family would need to be told what had happened to her. They would be so devastated.
"We need to stop this," Ruby resolved.
"We've already figured out a way to track down any new Cybermen that show up," Aaron told them while glancing at Millie's body. He had to use her to develop the tracker. The less his friends knew, the better.
"Guys, I don't think we need to look far for these Cybermen," Jaune told his friends as he showed them his Scroll. "They're already in Vale."
LINE BREAK
Preparations for the Vytal Festival were underway when the citizens of Vale were treated to an interesting sight. They saw metal men marching down the street, some of them holding metal cubes.
"Are those Atlas' new robots?"
"Cool!"
"They look kinda creepy."
The metal men holding the metal cubes separated from the rest of the procession before launching themselves into the air. The crowd yelled, taking pictures with their scrolls as thirteen metal men flew off in different directions while the rest started to take their position along the street.
"Cybermen in position," Unit 15 stated. "Awaiting orders."
White XIV showed up. He had changed his wardrobe and was dressed in a white steampunk outfit. He wore shades over his eyes and had on a white top hat with goggles on it. His attire consisted of a white dress shirt with a matching tie and vest along with white pants. Finally, he had on a white overcoat over his ensemble with white leather belts wrapped around his waist. He still kept his mechanical hands and legs exposed.
"Ladies, and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Take a picture with the metal men! One lien for a picture! Three for five!" White XIV called out to the people of Vale, holding his hat out to accept payment.
The crowd were initially put off by the strange man before a few citizens took out their wallets to get a photo with the machine men.
LINE BREAK
"You have to be kidding," Weiss gaped as White XIV so blatantly showed off his Cybermen. It was like he had no subtlety at all to make a public spectacle like that. He was even taking lien from people who wanted to take pictures with them.
The civilians had no idea the Cybermen had originally been people like them. If they knew the truth, they'd be horrified.
"All those people that went missing," Aaron said. "That's what happened to them."
"Is there a way to reverse it?" Ruby asked hopefully. She wanted to save these Cybermen, maybe somehow turn them back to normal.
"I...I don't know," Aaron shook his head. These Cybermen reminded him of the Kaijin from the Showa Rider era. After being remodeled, there was no way of restoring their humanity.
"Hey, what are we waiting for? Let's head down to Vale and kick his ass!" Yang yelled.
"Shouldn't we inform Ozpin about this?" Weiss questioned.
"I don't think we have time for that, Weiss," Kurogasa argued. "This is likely our only chance to end this. We have to take it."
"Be careful," Orion warned. "The guy made CyberGrimm too."
"Grimm we can handle. Cyborgs are another thing…" Ren stated.
"Oh, relax! If they have bones then we just have to break their legs!" Nora said almost too enthusiastically.
As everyone left the base to confront White XIV, Ruby grabbed a sheet and put it over Millie's body before she left with the others.
LINE BREAK
White XIV had taken a seat outside a cafe, enjoying a latte. Meanwhile, the oblivious civilians took pictures with his Cybermen while filling his hat with lien.
"Humans, so ignorant of the danger they're in when you show them something shiny," he said with contempt while checking the time. Those Riders should know he was in town by now.
He did not have to wait long as he saw them coming thanks to his Cyberdrones. He finished his beverage and got up to greet them. Teams JOKR, RWBY and JNPR had arrived, armed and ready. Unfortunately for them, they would be no match for his Cyberman.
"So, you've finally decided to show up," White XIV said as he picked up his hat and counted all the lien he had earned. "Took you long enough."
"White XIV, we're here to take you down," Aaron threatened.
"119," White XIV replied.
"W-what?"
"Oh, don't mind me. Please continue."
"We won't allow you to hurt innocent people anymore."
"264."
"This ends today."
"Wow, 300."
"Alright, what in the name of Oum are you doing!?"
"My apologies. It's just I've heard these heroic shonen speeches so often that I've started compiling a mental list of certain lines."
"You're insane."
"101. Are you done? I guess it's my turn now. Men, present arms!" White XIV's Cybermen pointed their blasters at all the civilians, as well as Team JOKR, RWBY, and JNPR. "You're all outgunned and outnumbered. I've also got hostages. What do you say to that?"
"Pyrrha," Orpheus whispered to his cousin. "Think you can use your Semblance on them?"
"Don't bother using your Polarity Semblance, Ms. Nikos. Yes, I know who you are, Invincible Girl. Do you really think I'd make my Cybermen with a magnetic alloy? I already took that into account and removed every possible weakness when I upgraded them."
Kurogasa noticed how quiet the street was. The civilians were watching. It was when he noticed the blinking lights on their heads that he realized they had Cybermites on them.
"Hey!" Ruby shouted as she stepped forward. "Millie Lilac, do you remember her?"
"Millie Lilac. Oh, yes. Unit 14," White XIV recalled.
"How could you do something so terrible to her?" Ruby demanded.
"Terrible, you say? I improved her," White XIV countered. "Before I found her, she was weak and pathetic but I gave her power."
"You stripped her of her humanity!"
"No, I took away her weakness which is what I plan to do with all of mankind. I'm offering immortality, with a body of steel. Sure, I have to remove emotions but it'll be all worth it in the end. Of course, I may not convert all mankind. Maybe I'll keep some cute animal-eared Faunus girls as pets," White XIV smiled, leering at Blake.
"You're a monster," Blake hissed.
"164. My dear, I'm a revolutionary," he countered. "Speaking of Unit 14, did you dispose of her body?"
"No, we did not," Aaron answered.
"Oh, then what about the Cybermite I used on your dear friend Koa? Did you destroy that at least?" White XIV inquired.
"No," Aaron answered and felt dread as White XIV smiled.
"Oh, you stupid, stupid Riders. You should always destroy a Cyberman when you have the chance."
LINE BREAK
Koa had gone back to her room to rest, leaving Millie's body in the Rider Base. Meanwhile, the Cybermite fired a laser at its prison, cutting a hole open that allowed it to escape. It crawled down to the floor then went up to the table where Unit 14 lay. It crawled under the sheet and after a few moments, Unit 14 rose up and got off the table. It picked up its faceplate and covered its human face before it left the Rider Base.
LINE BREAK
"But enough about that. You're all here to know what my evil plan is," White XIV continued. "I've got a baker's dozen worth of Cyber-Bombs scattered all over this city. Once they detonate, the nanomachines I have programmed in them will spread throughout the city, blanketing it. Every man, woman and child will be converted. However, I'm a sporting man so I'll give you 20 minutes to stop them." This caused the group to stare in horror and shock. The man-in-white merely chuckled as he adjusted his coat. "And let's say if you can't stop me, it will be Game Over for you pathetic Riders."
"You crazy son of a bitch!" Kurogasa snarled, preparing his katana to take the madman's head.
"Forget him! He's not worth it right now. We need to find those bombs!" Aaron told his teammates. "We'll get him next time. For now, the city and the civilians come first."
"Tick-tock, heroes. The clock just started and time's running out," White XIV taunted.
Aaron glared at the white-haired man, "This isn't over. You'll get yours soon enough." He said before glancing at Team RWBY and Team JNPR. "You guys go and find those bombs."
"What about you guys?" Ruby asked.
"We're gonna take care of these cyber rejects."
"OK, how are we supposed to track down bombs in this whole city!?" Jaune panicked.
"Use this," Aaron tossed a scanner to Jaune, fumbled it at first but caught it. "I fashioned this together after scanning the Cyberman and the Cybermite. If these bombs have the same energy signature then the scanner will lead you right to them."
"Alright, be careful, you guys!" Jaune said as Team JNPR and Team RWBY ran off to find the Cyber-Bombs.
"Alright, boys…" Aaron activates the arm blades on his gauntlets. "Let's go to work!"
"Yeah!" Orion agreed, shouldering his massive sword with one hand.
Orpheus switched his weapon into its bladed bow form. "I'll play them a requiem of pain."
"That guy's head is mine." Kurogasa snarled.
"Oh, this I have to see," White XIV smiled. "Popcorn. I should get popcorn. Or nachos. Popcorn or nachos. Hm, what to get?"
LINE BREAK
"OK, there's a dozen bombs scattered all over the city," Jaune said as he held the tracker while the others huddled around him. The tracker showed a map of Vale with red blips on it, indicating the location of the bombs along with coordinates. "If we want to find them in time, we'll need to split up to cover more ground."
"I'll check the docks!" Ruby said as she chose her target.
"I'll go to the CCT," Weiss said.
"I've got downtown." Yang added.
"I'll check the residential areas." Blake stated.
The four girls nodded in unison and quickly set off to find the bombs in order to prevent a city-wide genocide, aka 'cybergeddon'.
"Well, guess Team RWBY has 1/3 of the bombs taken care of," Jaune said. "Alright, Team JNPR, let's find those bombs." He felt like he was in a Spruce Willis movie, except the stakes were real.
LINE BREAK
At the docks, Ruby searched for the Cyber-Bomb hidden around here. She scanned her surroundings and then found a Cyberman holding a cube.
"That must be it," Ruby assumed but there was a Cyberman guarding the bomb. She hesitated slightly, knowing that this Cyberman had originally been a person, but she needed to get to that bomb. She unfolded Crescent Rose, took a deep breath and resolved to fight it. She may not even have to kill it, him or her. She just needed to get the bomb.
LINE BREAK
Weiss was in front of the CCT and frowned. There was a Cyber-Bomb in the building. If it went off here, it could cripple the whole CCT network.
LINE BREAK
Blake reached the residential area and went to find the bomb. There was a lot more ground to cover here than she thought since there were apartment buildings all around here. The bomb was here somewhere, according to Jaune. She wished she had a tracker of her own but it looked like she needed to find it the old-fashioned way.
LINE BREAK
Yang went downtown and it did not take her long to find the Cyber-Bomb. It was out in plain sight with a Cyberman holding it while people took pictures of the thing. They looked like tourists who had come for the Vytal Festival.
The Cyberman was not doing anything but that would soon change once she tried to take the bomb from it.
LINE BREAK
"When you guys signed up to become Hunters, did you guys ever imagine disarming bombs?" Jaune asked as his team followed him while he followed the tracker.
"I mean… it crossed my mind once." Nora admitted.
"Nora, you signed on to smash Grimm with a hammer… and to blow things up." Ren pointed out.
"Found it!" Jaune said as they found a Cyberman guarding a Cyber-Bomb inside of an alley. It soon noticed their approach. It put down the Cyber-Bomb and was ready to protect it, using lethal force if necessary.
"Delete," the Cyberman raised its blaster but it was blasted by Nora's Magnhild. She screamed like a madwoman and charged at the Cyberman, knocking its head clean off with her war hammer. The head bounced off the wall before it fell to the ground. The Cyberman's neck stump sparked as its body twitched and spasmed before shutting down.
Nora grinned then looked at the Cyber-Bomb lying on the ground.
"OK, time to smash!" Nora raised Magnhild.
"NO!" Her teammates exclaimed, grabbing her arms to stop her.
"Nora, this has to be handled delicately. Not with brute force." Ren told his childhood friend as he knelt before the bomb. He examined it to find some sort of opening and soon found a seam. He dug his fingers in and pulled the panel on the side open. Team JNPR could see complicated machinery inside of the Cyber-Bomb but there did not seem to be any kind of payload inside.
"Guys, I think this is a dud," Ren said. "There's no payload."
"A what?" Pyrrha asked. "What do you mean?"
"He's saying this bomb's a decoy," Jaune clarified.
"It's a fake bomb? Why would he have a Cyberman guard a fake bomb?"
A screen popped out of the top of the Cyber-Bomb. It showed static for a moment before it displayed White XIV's face.
{"If you're watching this, it means you've found one of my bombs. Unfortunately, the one you've found is a decoy. Yes, a decoy. I made a dozen bombs but only one of them is real. That's right. Only one is real! So, you better hurry and find the real one!"}
"He's playing with us!" Jaune growled.
"Jaune," Pyrrha put a hand on his shoulder. "It's fine. Calm down. We just need to keep looking and we're bound to find the real one. Now, where should we go next?" Pyrrha asked.
"The next bomb is 5 blocks from here." Team JNPR followed Jaune as the tracker led them right in front of a lingerie shop. Jaune looked at the shop with a blush, then down at the tracker. "The bomb's in there."
"We should let the girls handle this." Ren told his leader.
"Yeah," Jaune agreed as he looked at Pyrrha and Nora. Unfortunately, since the lingerie shop was now on his mind, he momentarily imagined his female teammates in sexy little numbers and quickly looked away. "Um, Pyrrha! You and Nora go in and grab the bomb!"
"Are you sure, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked.
"Yeah, we'll be fine… out here… as backup!" The blonde boy said with Ren nodding rapidly in agreement. As the two girls walked into the shop, Jaune looked to Ren. "I swear, this White XIV guy is trolling us right now."
Nora and Pyrrha entered the empty lingerie shop. Nobody was around, not even the staff. Perhaps the Cyberman had frightened them off. There was no sign of a Cyberman, though.
"Hey, Pyrrha!" Nora pointed to a mannequin wearing a sexy set of red lace lingerie. "You think Jaune will like this?"
The redhead blushed brightly when she caught sight of the undergarments, "Um… let's worry about clothing after we save the world, okay?"
"Yeah," Nora agreed. "You know, we should all come here with the girls. It'll be fun!"
It was Pyrrha's turn to tease her friend.
"Oh, thinking of picking something to model for Ren?" Pyrrha asked.
Nora's face went red as she snorted.
"What!? No! It's not like that! You're silly, Pyrrha! We're not together-together like that! You're silly!"
Nora checked the changing room and was face-to-face with a Cyberman. The Cyber-Bomb was at its feet.
"Pyr-!" Nora shouted but the Cyberman punched her in the face, sending her flying.
"Nora!" Pyrrha went to help her friend.
Outside, Jaune and Ren waited. They heard the sound of fighting coming from inside.
"Do you think they'll need help?" Jaune asked. All of a sudden, the window shattered as Nora came flying through it. She shrugged it off, along with some pieces of glass on her, then screamed as she jumped back into the shop.
"Probably not…" Ren answered hesitantly.
With her Semblance, Pyrrha sent Milo flying like a harpoon and it pierced the Cyberman's chest. It staggered before Pyrrha threw Akouo and beheaded the Cyberman with her shield. Despite knowing it was originally human, she had to put it out of its misery.
"Hyaaa- awww, you already beat it?" Nora whined.
Pyrrha looked down at the Cyberman she had killed, wondering who it had been before White XIV turned them into this thing. She shook her head and focused on the task at hand. They were here to disarm the bomb to prevent others from sharing this poor person's fate.
"Pyrrha, Nora, are you alright in there?" Jaune called out from outside.
"We're fine, Jaune!" Pyrrha called back as Nora brought the bomb to her. She removed the panel to reveal it was another decoy bomb.
LINE BREAK
A Cyberman was frozen in a block of ice as Weiss retrieved the Cyber-Bomb. She used Myrtenaster to pry it open and check inside. That was when the screen popped from it to tell her that she had only found a decoy.
The same happened with the others. Ruby was forced to fight the Cyberman and managed to take its head off with Crescent Rose. She did not feel good about it but she focused on the bomb. She did not know anything about disarming bombs so she tried to open it like a box instead. She was surprised when a screen popped out of the top and White XIV gave her the same message.
Blake found the Cyber-Bomb in the residential area as well. As an ex-member of the White Fang, she knew about bombs and knew how to disarm them too. She opened it and it did not take her long to realize it was a dud.
Downtown, a Cyberman laid dead on the ground with a lock of blonde hair in its hand. Yang crushed the decoy bomb with her fist. The screen had popped up, mocking her for finding a dud. It made her so mad that she had destroyed it with her bare hands.
Her Scroll rang.
"Yeah?" Yang growled.
{"Yang, did you find the bomb?"} Ruby asked.
"Nah, it was a dud. What about you?"
{"Same here. Weiss and Blake said the same too. You think Jaune and the others found the real one?"}
"We better check in with them," Yang suggested. "Let's regroup and figure out our next move."
{"Let's rendezvous up in front of the CCT."} Ruby said.
LINE BREAK
Team RWBY regrouped in front of the CCT.
"How are we going to find the real one?" Weiss questioned.
"Uh, maybe if we call Jaune, he could tell us about the next location of a bomb?" Ruby answered a bit sheepishly.
"It's worth a try," Yang said with a shrug.
Ruby called Jaune on her Scroll and he answered, his face appearing on the screen
{"Ruby!?"} Jaune yelled as noise in the background drowned out his voice.
"Jaune, what's happening over there?" The young Reaper asked.
{"We're kinda busy here!"} An explosion went off behind him. Ruby saw Ren go flying behind Jaune before a Cyberman came into view with Nora putting it in a headlock.
"Well, can you send us any coordinates for the other bombs?" Ruby asked.
{"They're on the tracker! Hold on, I'll see what I can do-Yikes!"} The Cyberman barreled Jaune over.
"Jaune!" The girls exclaimed with worry for their friend.
A headless Cyberman was choking Jaune as his teammates tried to pry its hands off his throat. His Aura held, preventing his neck from getting snapped.
{"I'll *ack* call you back!"}
"Now what do we do?" Blake wondered.
"We'll have to try and look for the bombs ourselves until Jaune can send us the coordinates." Weiss answered. "We need to think like this madman. Normally, terrorists would set explosives in a populated area or a high priority target. I thought it was the CCT but the real bomb must be someplace else."
"A high priority target?" Ruby repeated. Her eyes narrowed in thought before widening in realization. "Beacon!"
"Huh?" Yang looked at her little sister.
"It must be Beacon! It's not just the top Huntress and Huntsmen academy in Vale, but our last line of defense against the Grimm in the kingdom! The real bomb must be in Beacon!" Ruby stated.
"Oh no, if we lose Beacon then it's all over!" Weiss exclaimed.
Team RWBY ran to catch the next Bullhead to Beacon. They were running out of time.
LINE BREAK
The bullhead landed at Beacon and Team RWBY quickly exited the vehicle. They had only five minutes to spare to find the real bomb if it was here.
"Split up!" Ruby ordered. "We'll cover more ground that way! If you find the bomb, call the others!"
"Right!"
The four members of Team RWBY split up to find the last bomb. They scoured the entire academy for the bomb that could turn everyone in Beacon into Cybermen.
Yang ran through each dorm whilst Blake went into every classroom. Weiss was having no luck as she checked the locker room.
Ruby ran down the hallway when she bumped into Koa.
"Hey, Ruby," Koa greeted. "Why are you in such a rush?"
"There's a bomb!" Ruby shouted, panicking.
"Wait, what? A bomb!?" Koa's eyes widened as she looked around. "Where!?"
"Here in Beacon! We're trying to look for it! Tell me, have you seen a Cyberman walking around?" Ruby asked.
"You mean that one?" Koa pointed behind Ruby and the girl turned to see a Cyberman standing on the other end of the hallway. It was not holding a bomb and there was something oddly familiar about it.
"Millie?" Ruby dared to ask. The Cyberman formerly known as Millie Lilac pointed to the ceiling. Ruby followed its finger and realized what it was trying to tell her. "The roof. The bombs on the roof!" Ruby was about to head up there then stopped to look at Unit 14. "Thank you." The Cyberman nodded as Ruby ran off, contacting her friends, "Guys! The bomb is on the roof!"
"Hey, wait for me!" Koa shouted as she chased after Ruby.
Upon the dormitory's roof stood a Cyberman. Sitting by its feet was the cube-shaped Cyber-Bomb. Team RWBY and Koa came running onto the roof.
"Do not interfere," the Cyberman threatened as it aimed its blaster at them. "You will be deleted!"
"Delete THIS!" Yang shouts as she gets ready to charge.
The Cyberman was about to fire when laser fire connected with its chest, sending it staggering. More and more lasers hit it, driving it toward the edge of the roof before finally throwing it over with one last blast.
Team RWBY and Koa looked and saw Unit 14 with its arm blaster raised before it lowered its arm. It then pointed to the bomb.
"Disarm."
"Did...did that thing just help us?" Weiss asked.
"She's not a thing. She's a person," Ruby corrected. "Millie, do you know how to disarm the bomb?"
Unit 14 went and knelt in front of the cube and easily tore off one of the side panels to reveal its inner workings. Unlike the decoys, there was a chamber full of nanomachines that swam inside of it, waiting to burst out. The chamber was connected to a timer. Once the timer counted down to zero, the bomb would go off and release the nanomachines.
"I'm guessing we need to cut wires," Yang sweatdropped as she saw the setup.
"Be careful. If we cut the wrong one, it could set it off," Blake warned.
"Thanks, Blake. As if I'm not stressed enough," Yang retorted.
"This is a delicate procedure, Yang," Weiss remarked.
Blake had experience with disarming explosives so she examined the device and looked at the wires. She drew Gambol Shroud and hesitated slightly as she chose the wire to cut. There were three colors, red, green and yellow.
She chose the red wire and cut it. That seemed to make the clock stop and Team RWBY sighed a breath of relief, but it did not last long as the timer flashed 10 seconds that was counting down.
"Wrong wire! Wrong wire!" Yang shouted.
"Control Alt Delete! Control Alt Delete!" Koa panicked.
Unit 14 shoved Blake aside and picked up the Cyber-Bomb. Rockets in its feet activated it and it took off high into the sky.
"Millie!" Ruby shouted as the Cyberman continued to fly higher and higher into the atmosphere.
"What's it doing!?" Weiss demanded.
All of a sudden, they saw a huge explosion light up the sky.
"OK, what just happened?" Yang wondered.
"It must've self-destructed and destroyed the bomb along with those nanomachines," Blake assumed.
"Millie saved us," Ruby said. "Aaron's never going to believe this."
LINE BREAK
Meanwhile, White XIV had somehow gotten himself a bowl of nachos. He checked the time and a frown appeared on his face. He could sense that nearly half of his bombs had been disarmed.
"Your friends are surprisingly competent but they've got less than five minutes and the real bomb is still out there," White XIV said.
"That won't stop them!" Aaron declared after slashing a Cyberman across the chest with Blood Moon. "Time limits mean nothing to those protecting their homes!"
"You know, you're right. Time limits don't matter, so how about I detonate those bombs now and be done with it?" White XIV grinned menacingly.
"That wouldn't be entertaining for you then, would it?" Aaron retorted. "A guy like you prefers to drag the game on until the very last second."
White XIV gritted his teeth then smiled.
"Yes, you're right. But then again, there's a lot more suspense if I sped up the clock a bit, wouldn't you say? But damn, I set the timers myself and there's nothing I can do. Well, let's see if your friends can find every single one of my bombs."
"We have faith that they will, ya crazy fruit loop!" Orion shouted while slapping away three Cybermen with his sword, Lunar Divide.
"They've never let us down before and they won't do it this time either!" Orpheus declared while firing several lightning arrows at the cyborg menace.
"So you better give up while you still have your dignity!" Kurogasa remarked while jabbing his katana into the chest of another Cyberman.
White XIV hated humanity but if there was one thing he admired about them, it was their determination in the face of adversity.
"Face it, White. We're not giving up. No matter what happens to us, we'll fight to protect our home as Huntsmen and Kamen Riders!" Aaron stated.
"Dear God," White XIV groaned. "The heroic speeches, one after another. Seriously, you guys are so cliche that it's tiring. Do you seriously think you kids can make a difference in this world? I mean, look at it! Look at how much territory belongs to the Grimm and how much is left for you humans! If I made you all into Cybermen, you can take back your world from the Grimm!"
"But we'd give up what makes us human in the first place. Our souls and free will. That's not a life that anyone would ever accept!"
"You know, there was once a race called the Mondasians who were going to die out because their world's atmosphere had become lethal for them," White XIV said. "They chose their survival over their humanity, logic over emotions. Shouldn't survival be your top priority?"
"You're just trying to justify the monstrous actions you've done to innocent people!" Orpheus spat.
"Exactly! But you have to admit that every sapient species in this universe - no this Multiverse - would choose survival over death. It's only logical," White XIV argued.
"You're talking like you're some sort of god. Well, you are not! You're just a madman who can't handle the differences of other people and wants to make his own little perfect utopia." Aaron coldly said. "You don't really care at all what happens to the world. You just want to make more of your mindless cyborgs."
"Yeah, honestly, I don't really care about humanity or its survival. I just want an empire to rule," White XIV admitted nonchalantly. He sensed the real bomb and smiled. "Oh, and it seems your friends found the real bomb and tried to tamper with it. They've got like ten seconds before it goes off."
White XIV expected the chamber to burst and release the nanomachines but then they all heard an explosion and looked up at Beacon to see a fireball go off high in the sky above it. White XIV's eyes widened as he stood in shock.
Aaron's Scroll rang and he answered.
"Ruby?"
{"We found the bomb!"}
"We know but what happened?"
{"It was Millie. Millie took the bomb and sacrificed herself to save us. She saved all of us."}
White XIV could not believe what he was hearing. He was surprised to hear that Unit 14 had taken the Cyber-Bomb and self-destructed to destroy it high in the atmosphere. He had not expected this. The Cybermite should've fully repaired Unit 14 but it clearly hadn't. The emotional inhibitor must have been compromised somehow, restoring her human memories and emotions.
"How...?" White XIV trembled with rage. "How is this possible!? HOW!? I designed my Cybermen to be perfect without human emotions! How could Unit 14 betray me!?"
"Heh, guess even you can't get rid of a person's flaws so easily," Kurogasa remarked with a smirk.
"It goes to show that you can't stop a person's heart no matter what form of enhancements you give them. Millie Lilac… she gave it her all to protect Vale and she's now the reason your plan has failed!" Aaron told the madman.
White XIV wanted to explode, to scream, but he composed himself. Throwing a tantrum right now would just be so pathetically human. It was not the end of his plans. Just a minor inconvenience.
"Then I guess I should prepare Plan B," White XIV sneered as his eyes flashed and blinked. His plan with the Cyber-Bomb had failed but he still had a backup plan.
LINE BREAK
Back in Forever Fall, something was happening to White XIV's bunker as the ground above it started to swell. The true form of his bunker was soon revealed as a giant Cyberman head emerged from the ground, gradually rising up along with an equally gigantic body. It was a huge robot, resembling a giant Cyberman and its eyes glowed as it started to follow its master command to head straight to Vale. The thrusters on its feet lit up and it blasted into the sky.
The CyberKing was on the move.
LINE BREAK
"What did you do?!" Kurogasa demanded.
"I just summoned my Plan B," White XIV shrugged. "At its current speed, it should be here pretty soon." He looked up and smiled. "And there it is!"
Team JOKR looked up and gawked at the sight of the giant robot as it descended onto Vale. Its landing made the ground shake and tremble as it stood tall. White XIV couldn't help but go on over and stand before the giant. It was as big as Kamen Rider J in his Jumbo Formation.
"Bow before your CYBERKING!" White XIV laughed as the CyberKing fired a tractor beam which lifted him up into the cockpit which was in the robot's mouthpiece. He sat down in his chair and a helmet came down to sit on his head, which connected him to the CyberKing, allowing him to control it as if it were his own body. "NOW, I'VE UPGRADED!"
The four Kamen Riders looked at their powered up foe with caution.
"Well, shit…" Orion cursed.
"I don't know why but I feel uneasy." Orpheus said.
"How are we supposed to beat that!?" Kurogasa yelled.
"Like every other Rider before us… Kicking the living hell out of it!" Aaron declared as he summoned his Aura Driver. His friends followed their leader's action, calling forth their own Drivers to combat the CyberKing.
Team JNPR and Team RWBY were not far away as they were on their way to rejoin their Team JOKR friends when they saw the CyberKing land in Vale.
"What in the world is that!?" Weiss shrieked.
"It's a giant robot!" Nora yelled.
"That would be so awesome if it wasn't so terrifying right now!" Jaune exclaimed in fear.
Ruby gulped, "I don't think we have a big enough gun for that…"
"This isn't your fight anymore, guys," Aaron spoke, drawing the two teams' attention onto them. "This thing is beyond you right now. We're going to take it down ourselves."
"But it's ginormous! You're gonna get yourselves killed!" Yang argued.
"We have no choice. If that thing runs amok, the whole city will be destroyed." Kurogasa stated. "You guys need to get the civilians to safety! Get the Cybermites off them and get them to run!"
"But Kuro-" Weiss tried to argue with her boyfriend.
"Weiss!" The samurai interjected, stopping the heiress. His tone became soft, "We have to do this…This is our duty, as Kamen Riders."
LINE BREAK
The CyberKing looked at the closest building and raised its foot to flatten it, crushing it into rubble. It then raised its right arm which was armed with a giant fusion cannon and had it aimed at Beacon. Its barrel glowed as it began to charge up a blast.
White XIV's CyberKing was the greatest weapon in his arsenal. A dreadnought-class battleship, it was armed to the teeth while containing a cyber-conversion factory in its chest to convert the survivors en masse.
"SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR PRECIOUS SCHOOL!" White XIV shouted.
ULTRA CRIMSON FANG!
"HYAAAAAAAA!" A voice cried out before a crimson streak rammed its way through the fusion cannon. The sudden attack caused a chain reaction within the weapon as small explosions began to rip and tear the construct to pieces, forcing the CyberKing to purge it.
SUPER DRACONIC SLASH!
"SEIYAAAAAAH!" A white blur came in, slashing at the giant robot's chest repeatedly as a projection of an eastern dragon appeared with a mighty roar.
URSINE CLAW!
"ORRRRAAAAAAA!" A blue blip on the ground suddenly punched the left leg of the giant robot with enough force to send the massive machine tumbling down on its face.
ULTRA SHADOW TALON!
A flying purple figure soared overhead before diving towards the CyberKing, spinning around like a shuriken before hitting the machine in the back of the head. Though it didn't damage the metal, it did give White XIV a jarring headache.
The white-haired man manages to lift himself up and glare at the pests that got in his way. Standing before his precious CyberKing were the four Kamen Riders of Remnant: Kurenai, Shiro, Azure, and Nero.
"YOU DAMN PESTS!"
"Hm, guess we're doing our job right then," Azure remarked.
"Let's see if your oversized toaster oven can stand up to four Kamen Riders, White!" Kurenai declared.
The CyberKing opened its left palm and shot out giant bursts of flame at the Riders.
"Ice-Style: Freezing Coffin!" Nero said after performing some hand signs then slammed his palm to the ground, summoning a giant glacier that took the spout of flames for them. White XIV growled and raised the CyberKing's fists to smash them. The Riders jumped out of the way as they saw the giant launch a swarm of missiles. Kurenai switched his Fang Howler to the gun mode and fired several at the missiles.
The missiles all exploded which began to irritate White XIV.
"RELEASE THE HOUNDS!"
LINE BREAK
Meanwhile, Koa, Team RWBY and Team JNPR were going to get the civilians away so they would not be harmed in the crossfire and become collateral damage.
"OK, just take these things off," Ruby said as she went to remove a Cybermite off the side of a man's head.
All of a sudden, the man grabbed Ruby's hand in a vice-like grip, hurting her, his eyes glowing red before he punched her in the stomach. Ruby doubled over, the wind knocked out of her, when Yang came to her aid and punched the man in the face. He released Ruby as he was knocked to the ground.
"Ruby, are you okay?" Yang asked.
"I'm *gasp* fine, Yang!"
"Guys, I think we might be in trouble," Jaune alerted them as the rest of the civilians on the street advanced on them with glowing red eyes.
"Zombies!" Nora cried.
"No, not zombies," Weiss denied. "Those bugs must be controlling them."
"Nora, no leg-breaking," Ren told his childhood friend who groaned.
The man Yang had punched stood back up, his nose broken, but he did not seem to register any pain.
"Does this mean we have to fight them?" Blake asked as she saw they were surrounded.
"We can't! They're civilians!" Pyrrha protested.
"Wait, if we target those things on their heads, we could stop them!" Jaune said as he held up his sword and shield.
"Easier said than done, Jaune!" Weiss retorted. "They're too small to hit without harming their hosts!"
The Cyber-slaves went on the attack, forcing Team RWBY and Team JNPR to respond.
"Try not to hurt them!" Ruby shouted as she ducked under a punch and used Crescent Rose to shove a Cyber-slave away. "They're not in their right minds!"
This would be a difficult fight for them since they were trained to fight against Grimm and Aura-enhanced individuals, not civilians who were under mind control. Their weapons could do actual damage on these people who did not possess Aura to protect them from injury.
Fortunately, most of them were trained to fight unarmed.
Ren had put Stormflower away and was using his martial arts to subdue the Cyber-slaves. Unfortunately, they kept getting back up to resume their attack. Nora did her best to fight without resorting to any leg-breaking moves. As for Yang, she was forced to hold back on her punches as she did not want to permanently hurt anyone.
Weiss seemed to be doing alright as she used her glyphs to repel the Cyber-slaves while Blake also used martial arts to take them down. Sadly, these Cyber-slaves were persistent. It did not seem to matter if they were injured or not, they were relentless.
"Crap! Crap! Crap!" Jaune's shield was being bashed by Cyber-slaves. Since he could not use his sword, his sword arm was just useless.
Pyrrha looked around for anything that might help and spotted a few trash cans nearby. Using her Semblance, she lifted them up and turned them upside down, spilling their contents before she put them over some of the Cyber-slaves, blinding them. They slammed into each other and fell.
"Thanks, Pyrrha," Jaune gave the redhead a thumbs-up.
Still, they were outnumbered and being forced to hold back prevented them from subduing the Cyber-slaves. It didn't seem like there was any way out of this.
The Cybermites were the cause of this. If only there was a way to get them off without hurting the Cyber-slaves.
Yang lifted up one of the Cyber-slaves and tossed them into a bunch of them, causing them to topple over each other into a pile.
"High score!" Yang cheered. She then turned to see a bunch more glaring at her. "Oh… Ah heh heh… I'll be running now."
She ran off with Cyber-slaves in hot pursuit.
"We can't keep this up!" Koa shouted as she ducked under a Cyber-slaves punch. "Doesn't anybody have a time-stopping Semblance or anything?"
"Don't look at me!" Weiss shouts, "Mine doesn't affect a crowd this large!"
"We could really use a deus ex machina right now," Blake remarked.
"This is no time for Atlesian food!" Koa shouts as she has two Cyber-slaves in a headlock.
"Excuse me, but could you all please hold that pose?" an indigo-haired man with a camera asked as he started taking pictures.
"Oh sure, take my good side." Koa said with a smile, before blinking in realization.
"Sir, what are you doing!?" Ruby cried. "It's dangerous!"
"I know," he smiled as he took his hands off his camera, leaving it hanging from his neck by a strap, and reached into his black leather jacket to take out what looked like a remote control with a dial on it and two metal prongs on top. "You kids seem to have a bug problem. Allow me to help."
He turned the device's dial and it began to emit strong frequency which soon affected the Cyber-slaves, causing them to stop attacking the Beacon students.
"H-how did you do that?" Ruby asked in amazement.
"Cyber-Tech Scrambler. It's not a Sonic Screwdriver but it does the trick. Never leave home without one," he grinned, showing off the device. The group looked at the strange man in awe.
"Who are you?" Yang questioned suspiciously.
"Just a friend," he claimed as he went and examined the Cybermite on one of the disabled Cyber-slaves. "Looks like a more advanced form of Cybermat. I'm guessing a Cybermite, right? Try and tamper with it, and they'll fry the host's brain. I'd be impressed if it weren't being used for evil. Luckily, for you all, you have a technopath on your side. He went and tapped the Cybermite. All at once, the Cybermites fell from their hosts and died. "There."
The Cyber-slaves were now free from the Cybermites' control. Once they saw the giant killer robot, they screamed as they fled for their lives.
"How did you do that?" Ruby gasped as she witnessed how easily he disabled the Cybermites.
"Just one of my many talents," he claimed as he looked at the CyberKing and grimaced. "A CyberKing. I think your friends could use some help."
"Can't you use that device to stop it?" Pyrrha asked.
"It's too big. I'll only give something that size a minor headache. No, we need to get in close and personal."
He summoned a metal belt with a round crystal gem in the center. He then took a deep breath as he threw his right arm straight across his chest with his left fist pressed against his hip. He then swiftly changed his pose, pulling his right arm back to rest against his hip while his left fist was raised to eye level.
"Henshin!"
The crystal in his belt flashed with rainbow-colored light, manifesting puzzle pieces that converged on his body and formed a suit of monotone armor. Green compound eye-pieces flashed as his transformation was complete.
Ruby and her friends gasped as a new Rider stood before them. He wore a white bodysuit under his black armor which had a white chestplate as white spaulders protected his shoulders with an 'XIII' etched on the right shoulder and '13' stamped on the left shoulder. He had armor plating covering the outside of his arms and legs. White gauntlets and black greaves protected his limbs. Finally, his black helmet had a silver faceplate that resembled a cicada's face with green compound eyes and a V-shaped antenna. In the centre of his forehead was a green gem and a white strip of metal ran down the center of his faceplate. Similar to the Showa Riders of old, he wore a white scarf
"Who...who are you...?" Ruby dared to ask.
"It's Showa," the Rider introduced himself. "Kamen Rider Showa. Now, how about we go help your friends?"
LINE BREAK
The CyberKing's chest opened and a pack of Beowolf CyberGrimm came lunging out. Nero distracted them with a few kunai before Shiro performed a swordsman's rapid slashing maneuver before slowly sheathing his blade, causing the claws and teeth on them to be severed.
Azure stepped forward, cracking his knuckles as he grabbed two CyberGrimm by their necks then slammed them into each other.
Akouo came flying out of nowhere and slammed into the head of a CyberGrimm. The shield ricocheted, guided by a mysterious force, as it bounced all over the place, hitting the CyberGrimm and distracting them before Pyrrha jumped in to finish them.
"HYAH!" Yang shouted as she threw an explosive punch into a CyberGrimm, sending it flying.
"Glad you guys could show up!" Azure greeted their friends with a nod. He spotted a new addition to their group, a Rider in black and white armor.
"Rider Punch!" Showa shouted as he sent a CyberGrimm flying with a powerful haymaker, causing it to explode. Seeing more of the metallic beasts coming at him, he summoned a ball of emerald plasma which shot lasers that lanced through them, putting them down.
A CyberGrimm tried to bite Jaune's head off but he managed to catch its jaws with his shield. He struggled for a bit but was rescued when Showa came to his aid and kicked the CyberGrimm away.
"Are you OK?" Showa asked Jaune.
"I'm fine," Jaune said through gasps for breath.
"Aim for the soft parts in the joints," Showa advised before he went to fight more of the CyberGrimm.
"The joints, target the joints," Jaune recited as CyberGrimm came at him. He yelled and swung his sword. The blade found the vulnerable parts between the armor plating of its neck and It collapsed as soon as it met its end.
"Not so different from regular Grimm. They're just in armor," Jaune said, breathing heavily.
Blake used her cat-like reflexes to leap over a CyberGrimm and stab it in the head with her Gambol Shroud.
Ren came in to assist the cat Faunus, slashing with the blades of Stormflower into the flesh of another CyberGrimm that tried to take a swipe at Blake. The cybernetic beast growled before Ren delivered a swift flying kick that threw the CyberGrimm into a car.
Meanwhile, White XIV spotted Showa and could only yell in anger but then a glyph appeared under CyberKing's left foot and froze its leg up to its knee. This caused it to trip and fall onto one knee.
"WHAT!?"
White XIV soon found himself bombarded by Dust grenades as Nora cackled, firing one after another at him. Growling, White XIV was about to activate his CyberKing's optical lasers when a bullet nearly pierced his skull.
"THE HELL WAS THAT!?"
Ruby was up on a roof, with Crescent Rose, aiming her sniper rifle at White XIV. It would require one precise shot to take him out. It was what he deserved.
"This is for Millie," Ruby whispered as she pulled the trigger to fire another round. It hit the control helmet, stunning White XIV. He soon caught sight of her.
"LITTLE RED PEST!"
He fired his missiles at Ruby, who used her Semblance to sprint away at high-speed while leaving rose petals behind.
The fight was causing huge collateral damage. The longer they drew it out, the more of the city could be destroyed by the CyberKing as it tried to kill them.
"We need to take this bastard down now!" Kurenai shouted.
"We have to use an all-out finisher then," Nero said. "Something so powerful that it will take him out for good."
Kurenai rubbed the chin section of his helmet in thought then a flash of inspiration hit him. "I got it!" He brought out his Scroll and tapped a button on the device. The Riders and their allies looked towards the sky as a flying rocket locker came down towards the crimson Rider. Once it landed, Kurenai opened it to reveal the device that he had been working on two days ago. He took it out then brought it over to his teammates. "Guys, we have to transfer our powers into this."
"What is it?" Shiro asked.
"It's something that can make a Rider hold the power of all four Aura Riders. I call it the JOKR Soul Drive." Kurenai answered. "Unfortunately, I never had the chance to finish it but I know we can make this possible."
"Hey, it's worth a shot." Azure shrugged.
"All else fails, we become mindless cyborgs for the rest of our lives." Nero said.
"We're with you all the way." Shiro nodded.
Kurenai looked at his friends with a smile beneath his helmet. He held out the device with one hand as Shiro, Azure, and Nero placed one hand over the device then started to transfer their energy into it. The JOKR Soul Drive began to glow in four different colors from red, white, blue, and purple until it solidified to resemble a stopwatch that had the logos, colors and insignias of Team JOKR.
"Here we go…" Kurenai said before he pressed the button on top.
JOKR TIME!
Suddenly, Shiro, Azure, and Nero began to glow their respective armor colors before they turned into little balls of light that flew straight into the Soul Drive. Kurenai removes the wolf head of his Driver and replaces it with the stopwatch. A crimson wolf, a white dragon, a blue bear, and a purple falcon emerge from behind the Rider, who crosses his arms in front of him then shouts out, "Gattai Henshin!" He slams his palm onto the button of the JOKR Soul Drive.
GATTAI!
The Kamen Rider holds out his arms to the side as the four ethereal animals clambered onto his body, replacing his armor with a new set. An electronic rock song began to play from the stopwatch.
KURENAI, SHIRO, AZURE, NERO! COURAGE, RESOLVE, WISDOM, COMPASSION! UNITE~! UNITE~! TEAM JOKR UNITE!
The Rider stood in place as his armor finished completing. He still wore his black bodysuit but he now had a white chest plate that had Shiro's mask on it as a decoration complete with blue eyes. On his left shoulder was Azure's mask and running down his left arm was blue armor that formed a bear claw. On his right shoulder was Nero's mask and running down his right arm was purple armor that resembled falcon wings. He also had golden bracelets with four gemstones that were red, blue, white, and purple. He had the same golden bracelets on his ankles. On his feet were black boots that resembled the claws of a beast. He wore a black helmet with Kurenai's mask but it was split in half to reveal a new mask that looked more humanoid with a pair of red eyes and a golden mouthpiece.
"Impossible…" White XIV said in shock. Suddenly his mech began to rumble as something grabbed a hold of its leg. It was Koa in Greeed form as she was using her strength to topple the mech.
"This is the end for you, you bastard!" Kurai shouted angrily as she ripped the leg off of its joint.
"NO!" White XIV yelled as he quickly moved his CyberKing to balance itself on its hands. "ACCURSED LITTLE BITCH!" He fired the eye lasers at the Greeed, knocking the wounded Kaijin into a wall.
"Hey!" The Kamen Rider called out in Aaron's voice. "It's not nice to pick on little girls."
"DAMN YOU!" The madman boomed. "DAMN EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU IMPERFECT HUMANS! WHO THE HELL DO YOU FOOLS THINK YOU ARE!"
"Ore-tachi wa… Kamen Rider Kurenai… JOKR Soul." The Rider declared while gesturing towards himself with his thumb. The eyes/visor of all the masks on his armor flashed as silhouettes of the four Aura Riders appeared behind him before uniting to form a symbol that had all four of the animals based on the Riders gathered together.
"I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE! YOU AND THIS FUCKING FLAWED WORLD CAN BURN!" White XIV shouted as he moved the CyberKing to try and smash them with its giant robo fist.
The united Rider pressed the button on the Soul Drive as the clock hand spun before landing on the blue space with the letter 'O'.
AZURE TIME!
The mask of Azure flashed on the Rider's left shoulder as a blue aura surrounded his fist that he used to punch back at the giant robot's own fist. The force of the punch turned the fist into scrap metal, the feedback causing White XIV to scream in agony.
Kurenai pressed the button on the Soul Drive again. This time the clock hand spun and stopped on a white space with the letter 'K'.
SHIRO TIME!
The Rider summoned the RyuuKoutei and the Fang Howler into both his hands as the mask of Shiro flashed on his chest. Sprouting from his back were a pair of dragon wings that he used to fly straight at the CyberKing. White energy filled the blades he wielded in his palms and slashed them both against the machine's chest. The damage was severe as massive sparks burst upon impact.
"RRAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH! JUST DIE ALREADY!" White XIV yelled as the CyberKing fired its eye lasers at the armored warrior.
The Rider pressed the button again as the clock hand landed on a purple space with the letter 'R'.
NERO TIME!
The mask of Nero shined as purple energy feathers erupted from the Rider's right arm that he used to swipe around his body, becoming a defensive shroud that blocked the lasers from hurting him. When the energy shroud dispersed, Kurenai faked a yawn and looked at the giant robot. "Is that the best you've got?"
There was an energy cannon mounted between the handlebar crests of the CyberKing. With a roar of rage, he fired the charged energy cannon at the fusion Rider.
"WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIIIIIIIIIE!?"
The Rider pressed down on the Soul Drive again. The clock hand spins and stops on the red space with the letter 'J'.
KURENAI TIME!
Red energy flowed around the Kamen Rider's body as the mask of Kurenai flashed. He jumped in the air and performed a spinning reverse roundhouse kick that hit the energy blast. The sudden clash of energies created a distorted flux of space but Kurenai released a brief exclamation as his kick pushed the energy blast right back at the CyberKing, destroying the robot's cannon.
"Yeah! Go, Aaron! Or Kuro… or… wait, who actually is that anyways?" Ruby wondered in confusion. The others shrugged, sharing in the confusion.
White XIV screamed from the feedback. No! He would not be destroyed by another Kamen Rider! Never again!
Kurenai JOKR Soul pressed down on the Soul Drive four times, causing the clock hand to make a full rotation.
JOKR FINAL TIME!
Kurenai entered a stance as the Aura Animals of Team JOKR appeared around him and converged on him, fueling him with power.
"Here comes the finale!" The Rider said in four different voices. The unified Rider leaped into the air as four astral projections of Kurenai, Shiro, Azure, and Nero appeared beside the Rider. All of them performed flying kick maneuvers as they descended towards the CyberKing. When the five-pronged attack made contact with White XIV's mechanical monstrosity, there was an initial struggle as the united Team JOKR tried to push against the CyberKing.
In a desperate attempt to survive, White XIV went to activate a shield to absorb the Rider's finisher when he was suddenly frozen in time.
Standing on a nearby rooftop was Showa. His eyes glowed as a projection of a frozen clock appeared in his outstretched hand, with an identical projection appearing under the CyberKing.
"FINISH HIM OFF, TEAM JOKR!" Showa shouted.
Kurenai shouted as he blasted through the CyberKing with the Rider projections. Each projection releasing battle cries with the voices of the rest of Team JOKR. The Riders kept pushing forward through the robot until they drilled all the way towards the other side.
"...Not again," White XIV groaned in despair as his CyberKing exploded, engulfing him in its flames.
The united Kamen Rider landed away from the explosion then struck a pose by holding out his left arm and struck a thumbs-down gesture, "Jokes on you, pal."
Pieces of the CyberKing littered the ground and there was a huge crater in the middle of the street. Lying deep in the bottom of the crater was White XIV who managed to survive despite being in ground zero of the explosion.
He gritted his teeth as he picked himself up, growling. His plan to Cyber-convert Vale was ruined but it was not a complete loss. No, he could still start over again. He just needed to get away and hide, rebuild a new army of Cybermen to replace the one he had lost, and try again. Maybe he could start over in Mistral or Vacuo. He may even try in Atlas and use their technology so he could create a stronger kind of Cyberman.
Humanity's days would soon be over.
However, he was not ready to leave just yet, not until he got his revenge on these meddling kids who got in his way.
"Kamen Riders..." he growled furiously. "It's always, always, always Kamen Riders who get in my way!"
He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a black and purple device that resembled a pocket watch. The face of the device displayed a monstrous version of Kamen Rider Showa's face.
"Kamen Riders...I'LL KILL YOU ALL!"
SHOWA!
He clicked the button and he became covered in dark puzzle pieces that enveloped him. The Another Ridewatch also floated from his hand and buried itself into the center of his waist, forming a belt.
Meanwhile, Team JOKR had turned back to normal and was with both Team RWBY and Team JNPR when a new threat emerged. Koa staggered out of the building she was blasted into but froze, sensing an unfamiliar and frightening power spike. They looked at the crater and saw a figure rise up from it before it touched down on the street.
It was an Another Rider, Another Showa.
Another Showa looked like a monstrous parody of Kamen Rider Showa. He sported the same black-and-white color scheme but the white seemed a bit greyish while the bodysuit was in black, white and grey camo. In addition, the armor seemed chitinous in appearance with a pair of insect-like wings hanging from the back. It wore a belt with a green crystal core. On the shoulders were clock-like designs. Finally, the helmet had cracked green compound eyes and an exposed mouth full of sharp teeth that were bisected by a strip of metal.
SHOWA was written on its right thigh while the year 1984 was written on its left thigh.
"An Another Rider!" Aaron cried out. "Guys, we have to-"
What he had to say was cut off as an energy wave swept over them, causing them to slow down like video footage that was going in slow motion.
"You're all going to pay for humiliating me and forcing me to use this power," Another Showa threatened. "Now, who do I kill first?" He scanned the group and found his first target, the girl with the silver eyes.
As he approached them, he was suddenly thrown to the ground by a punch. With his concentration broken, the Beacon students were moving at normal speed again.
"The Hell?" Orpheus gasped.
"You!" Another Showa spat as Kamen Rider Showa looked down at him.
"Have you already forgotten about me?" Showa mocked his counterpart. "And look at you now. I thought you were over trying to become me."
"You son of a bitch! I'm going to kill you first!" Green energy blades shot out of his wrists and he attacked Showa who countered by punching him in the face, sending him staggering back. He then knocked him back down to the ground with a roundhouse.
"Hey!" Showa called out to the Beacon students. "You've already done enough to save this city. Can you sit this one out and leave this to me?"
"...Sure," Aaron answered.
"Thanks," Showa smiled. "Now, time to show you all something cool! LEGACY RIDE: SHOWA!"
A golden gate emerged from behind Showa as the Legendary Showa Riders appeared to stand alongside him. Ichigo to Stronger stood to his right while Skyrider to J stood to his left. The gate had Showa's face in the middle and surrounded by locks representing the Showa Riders. The gate opened to release a bright radiance that chased away the darkness.
At the same time, Showa's Spark Core began to shine as his body was bathed in the gate's light. His body began to glow as the black parts of his suit turned to gold while the white parts turned silver. Finally, the Showa Riders overlapped his body to manifest his ultimate form.
His torso was covered in golden armor with broad, wing-shaped, triple-layered spaulders while golden faulds hung from his belt to provide reinforced protection for his crotch, hips, and thighs. Mounted on his back was a cicada-shaped backpack. What was most distinct about this suit was the chestplate which held the face of his default form in the center while being surrounded by miniature faces of the Showa Riders whose powers he possessed.
This was his true Ultimate Form: Kamen Rider Showa Legacy.
Another Showa was in awe of Showa Legacy but it soon turned to fury as his counterpart once showed him how wide the gap between them was.
Another Showa charged at Showa Legacy and slashed him repeatedly across the chest. The golden Rider did not register any pain. In fact, Another Showa's attacks had no effect on him.
"Ascalon!" Showa Legacy called as he summoned his dragon-slaying sword, the legendary sword Ascalon. He deflected Another Showa's slashes and struck him across the chest, sending him reeling. He continued his attack, slashing Another Showa horizontally, then vertically, before jabbing him in the centre of his chest, sending him tumbling on the ground.
"Let's end this, Shiro Juuyon," Showa Legacy declared. "Legacy Rider Slash!"
On his chest, the faces of X, Amazon, Black RX, and Biorider flashed and he summoned the Riders by his side. The Riders each attacked with their weapons as Amazon struck with his claws. Finally, it came to Showa Legacy's turn to land the finishing blow.
Showa Legacy landed a diagonal slash across Another Showa's body and he screamed as he exploded. The Another Ridewatch shattered once its host was destroyed.
"Who are you?" Aaron asked as he looked at Showa Legacy.
"Just here to take care of this son of a bitch for you," he said as he opened up a multicolored corridor behind him.
"Wait! Just who are you?" Aaron repeated.
Showa's armor vanished and he smiled at them, revealing his slight resemblance to White XIV.
"Shinichi Banabara," he introduced himself. "Kamen Rider Showa." He gave them a wave and stepped through the corridor which closed behind him.
Koa commented as the corridor closed, "Anyone else getting Decade vibes from that corridor?"
"So, we just met another Rider from another world," Ruby said. "Just how many worlds are there?"
"A lot." The Riders deadpanned.
XXX
Team RWBY, Team JOKR, and Team JNPR held a memorial for Millie Lilac. They may not have known her but her sacrifice deserved to be remembered. Koa slowly placed a flower in front of a small grave they built in memory for the girl.
"The poor girl had been stripped of her humanity and turned into a cybernetic abomination. Yet, she managed to regain her humanity in her final moments to save Vale. She had died a true hero," Koa said in a somber tone as she stood up and gave a salute.
"In the end, she got her humanity back and saved us all," Ruby added with tears in her eyes.
"So what are we going to tell Ozpin?"
"We'll tell him the truth." Aaron answered. "These people were victims of a madman… their families deserve to know what happened to them."
The young huntsmen and huntresses in training all agreed with the crimson-eyed brawler. For now, the battle with evil was over...
XXX
Team JOKR returned to their Rider Base to find that they had a visitor.
"Hello," Shinichi greeted them as they came in.
"How did you get into-" Aaron paused then realized who he was dealing with. "Teleportation, of course."
"So why are you here?" Orion asked.
"I was told to bring you this," Shinichi said as he handed over an Aura Sphere to Aaron.
Aaron took it and examined it.
"What's this?" Aaron asked.
"You guys can literally access the powers of the Heisei Line. This little thing will give you access to the Showa Line."
"Huh, awesome." Aaron said to himself. "Why are you giving this to me in the first place?"
Shinichi grinned, "Let's just say I had to keep a promise." He gave the boys a two-fingered salute, "See ya around." With nothing left to say, he opened a dimensional corridor and leaped right into it, leaving the four Aura Riders to watch their latest ally take his leave.
"Kamen Rider Showa…" Aaron muttered as he gripped the Aura Sphere given to him in his hand, "...hope to meet him again one day."
XXX
James Ironwood was going over the report he had in his hands. Vale was being threatened. Just recently, it had been attacked by a giant mech. It was only with the help of the mysterious "Kamen Riders" that Vale was saved.
However, this just made Ironwood more aware of the new threats that were out there. And he knows that he must make necessary preparations for the good of mankind.
Ironwood studied the four Kamen Riders that had made Vale their home and resolved to either get them into the Atlas Military… or create Riders of his own.
Luckily for him, he knew one of the Riders as well…
"Time to pay Vale a visit." Ironwood said to himself as he began the necessary preparations to bring the Atlas fleet to Vale.
A/N: And that's the end of the crossover special! Big thanks to Kamen Rider Chrome for collaborating with me on this project. And thanks to KR Duelist and DragonKnightSR for assisting in the co-writing.
And before anybody asks me this: No, I did not make Kurenai JOKR Soul be similar to Kamen Rider Zi-O even though his attacks are sorta similar. He does not have time-based powers. He's sorta like… Den-O Climax Form but he has to press the button on the JOKR Soul Drive in order to use different abilities.
As for the timeframe, this took place before Volume 2 began so... before after Chapter 21 and before Chapter 22 in the story.
There are more future projects like this later on and, hopefully, future collaborations with other Kamen Rider enthusiasts like KR Chrome. In fact, I'd welcome any collab from other writers on here or even ideas from my readers.
Don't forget to check out Kamen Rider Chrome's web page and his own stories. I wouldn't have been able to make something like this without his assistance.
Peace out, everyone!
