Pikatwig: I'll admit that I really like the chapter title. Not sure how I thought it up, but I honestly think it's really cool looking.
KKD: That is a clever one to be sure.
Pikatwig: Thank you. Anyway, something cool that happened prior to us beginning production is that I managed to find links to watch the episodes of the show. We will still be doing our own take on things and some episodes will be getting a heavy amount of revisions, but we actually can cross-reference the show proper now.
KKD: Feels like some episodes of Power Rangers making original plots while also cross-referencing Sentai.
Pikatwig: You could say that. Oh, and a magazine article revealed the synopsis for the 30th episode and… it ain't pretty. Should I go ahead and say it or wait? By the time this goes up, the description will already be out in the world, so…
KKD: I'm not sure, honestly.
Pikatwig: Alright, we'll wait.
KKD: Yea, good idea.
Pikatwig: Disclaimers.
Disclaimers: Neither Pikatwig nor KKD own the rights to either Kamen Rider or RWBY. They belong to their respective owners including BandaiNamco, Toei, Rooster Teeth, Shotaro Ishinomori, Monty Oum, etc. Any OCs featured will belong to their respective owners. There will be some uncensored cuss words, so reader discretion is advised.
A limo pulled up to Hiden Intelligence's main Vale office, with Ruby and Weiss exiting it and Weiss taking a good look at the exterior facility.
"Can't wait to introduce you to the staff," Ruby smiled, clearly excited as the duo approached the main entrance.
"Salutations. Hope your first day here will go well, Weiss-komon," Penny greeted as she walked towards the two.
"...komon?" Weiss blinked.
"It means advisor," Ruby informed, "Well, I guess there's still things I can teach you."
"...I guess so," Weiss shrugged while the three entered, "Still… I know you were adopted into the family and all, but you being in charge of a large corporation is still mind-blowing to me."
"You're not the only one to say that, trust me," Ruby told her, "Still, it's what the family wanted and there was a clause in the will that nobody else could be in charge until I stepped up, so… them's the breaks."
"How were you adopted into the family again?" Weiss inquired.
"Yang's dad couldn't afford to raise me after my mom died, so I eventually just got taken into the Hiden family. I think I was around five at the time," Ruby explained. She then gave a shaky exhale as she looked towards the memorial picture of her adoptive grandfather, "I know his will wanted me to be in charge, but I'm still worried about doing this well…"
"Don't worry, Ruby. Based on what I've seen, I'm sure you'll do great," Weiss smiled.
"Indeed, Ruby-shachō. If your grandfather trusts you with the company, then you should give it your best shot. And don't worry, Weiss and I are both here to help you out," Penny reminded her.
Ruby gave a relaxed expression towards her two friends and then put her game face on. Thus, the trio headed off towards an elevator. However, a short distance away, Fukuzoe and his HumaGear assistant slowly rose up from hiding and watched the three.
"She's no chairwoman…" Fukuzoe complained, "I'll pull that chair from underneath her!"
The three arrived at the executive elevator, with Ruby and Penny both being allowed forward, but Weiss was suddenly stopped by a virtual gate.
"...what the…?" Ruby muttered, walking along the pathway and not being impeded, "Um…?"
"Security?" Penny called out, "We're having an issue over here."
The security HumaGear approached the trio and then stood in front of Weiss, who looked a bit uneasy.
"I'm sorry, Penny. But must these guards always stare at you like this?" Weiss asked, the guard stepping aside for Weiss after a few seconds.
"...Good morning, Schnee Weiss-komon," the guard replied, bowing to the Dust Company head.
"Good morning to you as well," Weiss responded, respectfully bowing in response.
"Thank you for the help, Mamoru-san," Penny bowed.
Meanwhile, back over at Daybreak Town, Horobi and Jin were looking at a monitor in order to find a suitable target for their next plan, while Cinder and Roman were both simply standing idly nearby.
"We will find another one approaching Singularity…" Horobi stated to nobody in particular.
"Has he said to you what that means?" Roman whispered to Cinder.
"Not at all…" Cinder whispered back, "Any best guesses?"
"Not really. Even the dumbest answer I could give would be based on some TV show where the word was used to refer to a person who couldn't have their memories changed by timeline alterations…" Roman whispered, "Some show Neo watched."
"...what happened to her anyway?" Cinder questioned.
All Roman could do was shrug his shoulders as Jin walked over to Horobi, the man pulling out another small device.
"I have found one. Go on and gather data," Horobi commanded.
"Okay!" Jin beamed as he headed off.
"You two, remain on standby," Horobi told Roman and Cinder without looking at them.
"Got it," Cinder nodded.
Roman simply nodded his head in response.
Ruby removed her grandpa's nameplate from the desk as she set up her own, and then simply smiled at it, "There we go."
"You've been in charge almost a week now and you just got to doing that?" Weiss questioned.
"Not my fault this needed to get reprinted so it had both names I go by," Ruby explained, motioning to the nameplate saying 'Ruby Rose', 'Ruby Hiden', 'ルビー・ローズ', and 'ルビー 飛電'. She then brushed off the desk and took a seat at it, "Now then… do we have a board meeting to go to?"
"Not yet. Why?" Penny asked.
"I'd at least like the staff to be aware Weiss is my advisor so that she'll be informed about anything that she'll need to be informed about."
Penny nodded her head in response and then proceeded to send out some messages to the board of advisors to meet up via an online chat within the next ten minutes. Ruby, in the meantime, simply leaned into her seat with a relaxed expression.
"Ruby?" Weiss spoke up.
"Yeah?"
"How have you been feeling about all of this? This all kind of got put onto your lap and, well, I just want to know how you're holding up."
Ruby sat up and looked at Weiss, "Honestly? I'm still a bit surprised I was chosen for this. Yea, a Huntress is supposed to help people and that's the goal of the company, but I'm going to try my hardest at this. And… with you and Penny by my side, then I honestly don't have much to fear about this stuff."
Weiss couldn't help but faintly blush at the remark
"The other members of the board are able to meet," Penny informed the two. She then typed something onto the computer at the desk and the various members of the board appeared on the screen, "Salutations, board members."
Various greeting responses were sounded off at that.
"We won't be very long, but I just had to inform you all that, as of today, Weiss is now my official advisor here. She'll be authorized to know anything that I'm allowed to know and, in the event I'm not able to be around, she'll act as my stand-in," Ruby informed.
-How did you get one of the leading names in Dust production to be your advisor?!- one person asked.
"We went to Beacon together and she was willing to help out," Ruby told the board, "She has a confidant in charge of her company in Atlas at this time, and we agreed to a deal that will benefit both companies. I'll have Penny forward you all the information at the nearest possible convenience to her. With that, I have given you the new info you need to know. You may continue whatever it was you were doing."
The board members gave varied responses before they logged off. Thus, Ruby smiled a bit at a job well done.
"Nicely said," Penny told her, "Very president like."
"Thanks. Now then… what do we have to do today?" Ruby questioned.
"There's a meeting with a military group that Hiden Intelligence has helped to fund a little, but they said they want it at their base instead of our building because of… well… some extreme views some members have," Penny informed before she took out a briefcase, "Additionally, we are tasked with bringing them the contents of this briefcase."
Ruby looked it over a bit, "What's in it?"
"They didn't tell me. All I know is that they need it," Penny stated simply, "I would go myself, but… um… again, some people have extreme views…"
"Well, why don't you and I go do it?" Ruby offered.
"Wait a minute, Ruby," Weiss interrupted, realizing what Penny was hinting at, "Prejudice against HumaGears, right, Penny?"
"That is… one way to put it, Weiss…"
Ruby gave an annoyed exhale in response, "Well… I guess that's a point. Um… where are we going to take this to?"
"The base of the Artificial Intelligence Military Service."
"Oh, A.I.M.S.! Blake and Yang work there," Ruby beamed, "I think we should be okay with you going there if they'll be there."
"...well… Blake's name is mentioned on the delivery notes we were given…" Penny hesitantly stated. She nervously brushed her hair over her headphones, "I suppose it wouldn't be a big problem with Blake being there…"
"And, if it's an issue, I'll make sure you stay safe," Ruby told her, "You're my friend after all."
Penny's expression relaxed and she hugged Ruby, the duo smiling as Weiss sat nearby.
"What should I do in the meantime?" Weiss asked.
"Hold down the fort and relay any info to me if it's needed," Ruby told her, "I need to keep tabs on people who might cause trouble if I'm not around. Plus, it'll be a good way for the people who work here to get used to you."
"I suppose you're right. Ok, Ruby. I will hold down the fort," Weiss told her.
"Great! Penny, let's make that delivery," Ruby cheered.
"HumaGears, androids equipped with artificial intelligence, offer direct job support in our day and age. A young president of a technology company specializing in A.I. technology fights to protect the dreams of others!"
(Cue Opening Theme: RealXEyes)
ZERO-ONE (X20) *Images of Ruby, Kamen Rider Zero-One, Kamen Rider Vulcan, Kamen Rider Valkyrie, Kamen Rider Jin, and Kamen Rider Horobi flashed on screen before showing the logo of the show appeared*
RWBY Rider Zero-One
Kōdaina ākaibu akusesu shite (Access the vast archives) *Ruby was seen scrambling through materials at her desk as president while Penny brought over some more binders for her to look over, only for them all to spill over the floor. Ruby simply sighed while Penny giggled*
Kensaku shitatte I don't think it's right. (Searching because I don't think it's right) *A quick scene of Weiss panicked at the Dust Company was shown, followed by Blake and Yang with ShotRisers at A.I.M.S., and it shows a shot of the vice president and his aid in front of his portrait, before it fell to show Ruby's and he gave an annoyed glare at it*
Dēta wa kako wādo wa sain (Data is past, words are signs) *Jin was seen firing his gun at someone followed by Horobi holding a purple Progrise Key in his hand. Roman simply gave a bit of a concerned look while Cinder just looked on in amazement*
Kotae wa 404 not found… (The answer is 404 not found.) *The A.I.M.S. soldiers prepared to attack as Ruby dashed forward, with Penny tailing behind her.*
ZERO ONE (x8) *During this, HumaGears were seen transforming into monsters and proceeded to charge forward, soon followed by a swarm of Grimm, only for the Grimm to be cut down by Ruby with Crescent Rose, with Ruby then preparing her Driver.*
REAL×EYES hajimari no aizu (REALxEYES, it's the signal of the beginning!) *After transforming into Zero-One, Ruby leaped up and attacked the HumaGear and Grimm with her kicks*
Atarashī jidai wo (A new era!) *Kamen Riders Vulcan and Valkyrie fought together against the HumaGear. It then switched over to Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Penny fighting off Grimm with their standard weapons.*
We gotta SUN×RISE Burning like the fires *Zero-One posed on her bike with Vulcan and Valkyrie before her many forms were showcased around her.*
Kiri hirake unmei wo (Cut through fate) *A shot of President Hiden was shown in front of the building of the company as his image faded to Summer Rose and then Ruby holding the Zero-One Driver and Crescent Rose.*
You wanna REAL×EYES egaita mirai (You wanna REALxEYES, the future has been drawn) *Ruby was then joined by Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Penny. Her friends all smiled at her and Ruby then looked confidently forward*
Buchi nuite Ikeru no wa (Pull the plug, what's cool is that) *The five posed proudly as they prepared their weapons, their shadows being a grasshopper, a polar bear, a cheetah, a wolf, and a rabbit respective, now ready to take on Roman, Cinder, Horobi, and Jin*
You're the only ONE! *The shots transitioned to the Riders fighting and then posing*
File 03: Shot Rise! The Dragon That Roars Like a Wolf!
Ruby lightly tapped the side of the door in the van that she and Penny were in. She simply watched the land drive by them with a bit of a bored look on her face, her eyes wandering down towards the cuff she had on one of her hands that was connected to the briefcase.
"You'd think we were bringing them some kind of a weapon with this amount of security…" Ruby muttered.
Penny didn't say anything in response before the van pulled to a stop. Mamoru stepped out of the front of the van and opened up the door for Ruby and Penny to exit out of.
"I will be remaining within the van until you return," Mamoru told the two.
"Ok," Ruby smiled.
Ruby and Penny then looked towards the base and saw that it looked rather well maintained for a building that didn't have much of anything else around it beyond a metal fence to keep intruders out. Penny nervously took Ruby's free hand as if out of fear, Ruby taking note of this as Penny realized what she just did.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Penny quickly apologized, pulling back, "That was improper a-"
"You can do that if you're scared. I don't mind," Ruby assured her.
Penny just sighed before taking Ruby's hand and nervously holding onto it a bit tightly.
Blake sat within Commander Yaiba's office with the two ShotRisers sitting on the desk. Blake exhaled a bit before she spoke, "And there's just some missing part in this thing. I don't know what it is, but there's something missing from it."
"You don't need to worry about that at this moment, Belladonna," Commander Yaiba stated.
"It's just concerning that there's something missing from this is all," Blake told her in concern.
The commander simply rolled her eyes in response before she turned towards Yang, who was standing in the corner of the room, "And why are you here exactly?"
"Because you wouldn't authorize mine and Blake's break and we're allowed at least two breaks every day…" Yang stated simply.
Before the commander could say anything, there was a buzz on her intercom. She tapped the button on it, "Go ahead."
"That delivery is finally here."
"Which one?"
"The authorized one from the Hiden girl."
"Send her in," Commander Yaiba stated.
After a moment, Ruby and Penny entered the room.
"Hello," Ruby greeted.
"Salutations…" Penny added.
"Ruby, it's been a long time!" Blake beamed, going over and quickly hugging Ruby.
"Belladonna…" Commander Yaiba complained.
"Blake, not now," Ruby whispered.
All Blake did was exhale in response before taking her seat. Yang simply gave a bit of a smile at her younger sister, only for her expression to turn to more of a neutral one when she saw Penny was there.
"Me and my friend here were sent to give you this briefcase," Ruby informed, placing it in front of the commander, "I have zero idea what is in this thing and nobody bothered to tell me."
"It's nothing for you to worry about, Hiden-san," Commander Yaiba stated bluntly as she uncuffed Ruby from the briefcase.
"Well… um… yeah, Hiden's my adoptive last name, but I also go by Ruby Rose," Ruby informed, "What's your name?"
The commander didn't say anything, but she could tell from looking at Ruby's expression that she wouldn't drop it without a response, "...Commander Yaiba. Yua Yaiba."
"Nice to meet you," Ruby told her with a smile.
"...why are you still here?" Yua questioned.
"Because Blake and Yang are my friends and I wanted to talk to them," Ruby explained.
Yua just gave an annoyed sigh at that, "Belladonna, Xiao Long, just go with her and keep her out of my hair."
Yang started to fume at her commander's dismissive attitude towards Ruby, but a look from Blake managed to get her to cool off.
"Plus, we had a meeting a-" Ruby started to speak.
"Belladonna can talk to you, she's second in command here," Yua stated in a very clearly annoyed and dismissive tone of voice, "Now go already."
With that, Ruby simply complied without saying anything else. Penny tailed her and she was then followed by Blake and Yang.
"So… you two have lunch yet?" Ruby inquired.
"I'm sorry to hear you lost your job at that farm," Yang stated, "Even more so since it was a HumaGear you lost it to a-"
"Yang…" Blake stated in a stern tone before motioning to Penny.
"Right, right. Sorry. It's just… you know how I get…" Yang exhaled.
"I get it. You did say back then I earned your trust…" Penny recalled.
Yang fired a blast towards a member of the White Fang with her Ember Celica, repeatedly shooting at the Faunus as much as she could. She took a moment to reload, but in that moment, the grunt took advantage of her stopping her attack and quickly launched a rocket towards her. Yang wasn't able to react quickly enough and it knocked her down, shattering her aura in the process, and launched her into a nearby wall.
"Dangit…" Yang muttered as she tried to get back up.
"Yang!"
"Oh guh-reat…" Yang mumbled as she saw Penny run towards her, "Back off you crazy bot! I don't need you to make this fight any worse!"
The White Fang member took the chance to load up another rocket and fire it towards Yang. Penny quickly got in the way, summoned her Floating Array, and spun it around defensively, Yang looking shocked that a HumaGear was defending her in spite of everything she had been yelling.
The battle eventually ended and Weiss and Blake had finished conversing about various things. Yang, meanwhile, was having her mechanical arm looked at by Ruby.
"It doesn't look like it sustained any heavy injuries, but I may need to send it back to Oiji-san to make sure I didn't miss anything," Ruby told Yang.
"Alright," Yang nodded before she noticed Penny was nearby. She gave a sharp exhale, then got up, "Hey. I wanna talk with you."
"Yang-"
"It's important," Yang told Ruby. Penny, very hesitantly, approached her. Yang gave another exhale and tried to think of what to say, "Look… um… I'm… sorry."
"...you're what now?" Ruby gawked.
"I'm… sorry for what I said…" Yang managed to say, "It… it's not easy for me to say this, but… with you… you… uh… I guess… earned my trust."
"...really?" Penny hesitantly asked.
"Really…" Yang nodded.
"I still have moments where I slip up, but I do at least try to get better about it…" Yang stated.
"Nobody's expecting perfection, Yang. All we hope is that you at least try not to be angry at HumaGears all the time," Blake told her.
"I at least have to put a bigger effort into it now since Ruby here is in charge of her old man's company…" Yang stated, "Still… sorry about gramps, Ruby. I wish I could've at least gone to the funeral…"
"It's alright. He's where mom is now…" Ruby said optimistically.
Yang could only smile at her younger sister, proud that she managed to still look optimistic.
The four eventually got food at a pizza place and were outside eating it. Yang kept her focus off of Ruby and Penny, and over to various other things, namely Blake and the various other businesses around the area. She gave a somewhat annoyed look when she saw a HumaGear working at a salon across the street from them, but quickly shook her head and tried to focus on the food she had.
"How have things been with you two? I haven't had time to speak with you face-to-face like this in a long time," Ruby asked, "I know you two at least live together since Yang told me that in a letter sometime back."
Yang perked up upon hearing the topic and focused her attention on her sister, "Well, you know, military stuff. Get up at the crack of dawn, hustle all day, train, and listen to the commander yap on and on like you're just something built to obey orders all day long."
"I'm assuming that's in reference to the person higher in the chain of command than Blake, right?" Penny asked.
"You better…" Blake muttered.
"Duh," Yang bluntly stated, "Commander Yaiba is such a pain sometimes. I'd much rather Blake be the only one in charge, but the people who founded A.I.M.S. don't want a Faunus to hold that much power."
"Even more so considering the fact I'm the only one in the group that doesn't view HumaGears as tools for mass murder. Everybody else thinks that and, heck, we had this one person who was so radically against machines that he didn't even use a gun. He just threw rocks at things," Blake remarked.
Ruby couldn't help but snicker about the latter half of that story while Penny giggled, Blake and Yang just smiling before Yang spoke again.
"But beyond that? Uh… we've gotten called out about our PDA more times than I can recall, I've still been seeing that therapist, and we recently had a mission down in Mistral," Yang stated, "There were these machine grunts that were roaming around the area that we stopped. We tried to find a commander or anything else leading it without any kind of success."
"...and you wonder why Commander Yaiba has issues trusting you apart from your temper…" Blake sighed.
"We were supposed to ask her if she knew anything in the first place," Yang reminded, "Plus, she's my sister. I don't want to risk her not knowing about something dangerous."
"Fair enough," Blake shrugged.
"...you wanted to ask me about stuff?" Ruby questioned.
"Basically, the people funding our group are thinking Hiden Intelligence either caused the attack or knows something about the attack in general. We don't think you caused any problems, but the chain of commands needs some kind of certainty or reasonable doubt," Blake informed, "Others are hoping that it lands key officials of the company in jail…"
Ruby simply lowered herself into her chair out of fear.
"Don't scare her like that," Yang told her.
"I'm not the one who wants that! The last thing I want is for Ruby to get into that kind of trouble," Blake told Yang.
"Let's all just calm down a moment," Penny advised.
"...You're the only HumaGear that can actually get success with me when you say that, Penny… sometimes I forget you're even a machine with how… natural you act," Yang admitted, taking a calming breath, "Alright, so you know about the attack in Mistral. And we know you were there that day because it was around when Gramps' funeral was."
"The higher-ups are thinking Hiden Intelligence is concealing evidence. Now, we don't believe you are, even more so considering you weren't even the acting president at the time, but we just need something that'll give them reasonable doubt so they'll stop thinking you're at fault," Blake added.
"...would it help if you had the locations of every important member of the company when the attack happened?" Ruby offered.
"It's at least a start in the right direction," Blake told her.
"Then I'll tell Weiss to get that info," Ruby smiled.
Blake and Yang both blinked for a moment at Ruby's comment.
"...what?" Ruby questioned.
"The Ice Queen is in town?" Yang inquired.
"I don't know much about business, so I figured getting somebody to help me deal with those details would be a smart idea," Ruby explained with a relaxed look, "Weiss is my advisor."
"How cute," Yang smiled, a teasing grin forming on her face.
"Don't you start, Yang!" Ruby nearly shouted.
"C'mon, we all know how you really feel about her. Why don't you go on and take a new step? Her family can't stop you now with you being in charge of a big company," Yang teased, "What'd you do to get her to come down here? Ask her out?"
Ruby blushed heavily and just hid her face in her hood as Yang let out a chuckle while Blake and Penny just watched the siblings interact.
"Good to see some things never change," Blake chuckled.
Meanwhile, over at the main building of Hiden Intelligence, a delivery HumaGear was hard at work putting some supplies away in a storage container. He was about to pull out of the area, but then heard somebody laughing.
"There you are," Jin smiled as he jumped down from atop the truck and pulled something out, "Now, we're friends!"
The device wrapped itself around the HumaGear's waist and made him fall to the ground in pain as red energy sparked off of him.
"Now, why don't you go ahead and smash up this building?" Jin asked the HumaGear with a wicked smirk.
"But… HumaGears are supposed to make people happy a-"
"Wrong. Your job is to make them extinct!" Jin shouted as the HumaGear's headphones glowed red, "There we go…"
A short while later, Weiss was in the main lobby of the Hiden Intelligence building as Ruby, Penny, Blake, and Yang all entered.
"Oh, Blake, Yang, what a surprise," Weiss smiled, "It's been a while."
"It's been too long, Weiss," Blake replied as she shook hands with Weiss.
"Heya," Yang greeted, "You and Ruby doing anything… spicy?"
"No!" Weiss shouted, "Ugh! What is it with you saying stuff like that?! It's like you're intentionally trying to get under our skin!"
"I missed this…" Ruby quietly admitted.
The rest of Team RWBY just exhaled and smiled at each-other a bit. Suddenly, people started screaming. Everybody turned to see that a HumaGear was tossing people around and screaming out of fury.
"You've gotta be kidding me…" Ruby muttered, putting her face into her palms.
"Looks like we'll have to talk more later," Blake remarked as she and Yang got in front of Ruby, Weiss, and Penny.
The HumaGear took out a red looking Key and activated it.
=KUEHNE!=
He then loaded it into the device and activated it.
=ZETSUME RISE!=
A flash of energy came off of the HumaGear's body as it roared in rage, the energy forcing it to transform into a monster that had a black undersuit with silver bands all over with red tubes connecting to the bits of red bat-like armor, and pink eyes. It held out two blades and flung them towards some humans that had yet to flee.
"We'll handle this," Yang told Ruby.
"Right," Blake nodded, both her and Yang getting out their ShotRisers and opening fire on the Magia.
Both continued to fire at it with their ShotRisers, managing to knock it back a little, but the Magia then jumped onto the wall and crawled along it. Yang was clearly getting pissed as she attempted to switch to fire with the Ember Celica, but her aim was off due to her other hand still holding the ShotRiser.
"Dammit! Can't use all three of these at once. Not like I can use my tongue to pull the trigger," Yang grumbled.
Hearing that caused Blake's concentration to stop dead in its tracks and made her sigh heavily. She and Yang then ducked for cover from the Magia tossing its swords like boomerangs that cut through the nearby walls. Yang saw a chance and rammed the Magia out of the building with her shoulder, then ran out to continue to fire on it, Blake soon following.
"We need to hurry up and evacuate!" the security HumaGear, Mamoru, told some of the staff members.
Ruby couldn't help but give a faint smile at that sight before seeing Penny give her a look, "What?"
"You need to transform and help them," Penny told her.
"Right," Ruby nodded.
=ZERO-ONE DRIVER!=
Blake and Yang continued to fire at the Magia as rapidly as they could with their ShotRisers, but the Magia wasn't slowed down by their firepower.
"Come on… how much punishment can one stupid HumaGear take?!" Yang yelled in frustration, her lavender eyes threatening to go red, "Grrr… I'm really getting pissed now. Somebody better take down this damn HumaGear before I go off the rails and really start scrappin' metal!"
The Magia then tossed its swords at the two again, but they were knocked off course by something being thrown at them. Blake and Yang looked to see it looked to be some kind of a briefcase when…
=RISING HOPPER~!=
Zero-One rolled out into view and picked up the briefcase, "Well… that worked."
The Magia gave an annoyed growl at Zero-One before the Rider charged on it and slashed at it at a bid of a rapid, yet sloppy, pace. Blake and Yang both stared at the Rider in a bit of confusion as she continued to attack the HumaGear.
"Oh, what new spawn of madness is this…?" Blake muttered.
"Said me when I first fought one of these things. Now you two stay back, I got this!" Zero-One told the two.
Both only continued to give a confused look at the Rider as she continued to fight off the Magia, but the Magia managed to jump away and out of Zero-One's reach. Zero-One was about to jump up, only to get shot at by Yang.
"Hey!"
"What the hell are YOU supposed to be?! Some kind of HumaGear sent in by a third party to clean up messes or something?!" Yang shouted, keeping her ShotRiser aimed at Zero-One's head, forcing Zero-One's hands into the air.
"Wait wait wait! Don't shoot at me!" Zero-One shouted.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't…" Yang growled.
Zero-One quickly removed the Progrise Key from her Driver and reverted back into Ruby, who quickly held her arms up to show she wasn't armed, "...does this count?"
Blake and Yang just stared at the detransformed Ruby for a minute before the ShotRiser fell right out of Yang's hands as she was shocked at the sight before her.
"Ruby…? But… how? ...why?" Yang stuttered out.
"Let it be known, you cannot keep a secret to save your life!" Penny stated to Ruby in frustration.
"Stuff it," Yang growled.
"Okay, stop you two!" Ruby shouted, getting the two completely silent.
"Yes, I am that hopper-hero you saw or heard of back from the Mistral attack. It's a company thing. And no, I'm not some freak who's half-cyborg or something. Yang, whatever happens, please don't give me any sort of crap just because I used something outside of my usual Huntress gear. I legit cannot fight those monsters without that armor and weaponry," Ruby shouted.
"...you mean you're a Kamen Rider?" Blake asked.
"...how do you know that title?"
"There was a Kamen Rider that defended Menagerie several years ago. He was some kind of beetle Faunus…" Blake explained, recalling the figure in question as a very faint memory, "I was really young the one time I did see him, so I can't really say much about him."
Yang gave an exhale, then turned towards Penny and Weiss, "How long have you two known about this?"
"My dad and I helped her grandfather make the Driver in the first place, so I've known the entire time," Penny stated.
"And I only found out a couple of days ago when Ruby and Penny came up to Atlas in search of refining Ruby's skills with a sword," Weiss added.
"When are we going to make that sword able to turn into a gun and/or a scythe?!" Ruby demanded to know.
"I'm still talking about it with my dad," Penny told Ruby.
"Oh, come on~!" Ruby groaned as Yang just stood there a bit.
"That monster… what do you know?" Yang questioned.
Ruby gave a sharp exhale in response, "Little. All we know is that they transform from HumaGears and there's no way to turn them back if it happens to them."
"I lost one good employee at the dust mines…" Weiss added.
"...you know, this really isn't helping your case very much, Ruby. I have a feeling SOMEBODY is going to spin this into you staging attacks in order to look like a hero or something," Blake remarked, "I mean… I know for sure you aren't. It's not you at all, but somebody who doesn't know you all that well could easily spin that…"
"...what case?" Weiss asked.
"Their higher-ups think Hiden Intelligence has something to do with the monster attacks for some reason…" Ruby exhaled, "That's why I asked you to get info about where everybody was during the attack on Mistral. They want some kind of proof that we aren't responsible."
"That makes a lot more sense now," Weiss admitted as she got onto the computer and got to work getting the info.
"...were you going to tell me that you're this… Karma Driver or whatever?" Yang asked.
"Kamen Rider, first off," Blake told her.
"Assuming Penny didn't try to stop me, yeah," Ruby told her, "You're my sister. I trust you more than anyone out there. The only one who could come close to the level of trust you're at is Weiss."
Weiss couldn't help but blush at that statement, but didn't say anything in response to that.
"Ruby… I appreciate you being honest with me and for trusting me, though I wish you could've told me sooner, but, hey, president stuff," Yang told her before turning her attention towards Penny, "...and Penny? Sorry that I told you to stuff it. Just… hearing you yell at Ruby annoyed me…"
"I'm sorry for yelling as well. Just… Ruby's really bad with secrets…" Penny remarked.
"At least I'm aware of that," Ruby shrugged.
"So where does that leave us now?" Blake asked, "We for fact have a Kamen Rider able to fight those things, but we still know very little about what they're after and who's commanding them."
"...actually..." Penny spoke up, "I think I might've seen a commander or something. He had to fight him off, but I might have seen something…"
"...why didn't you tell me this sooner?" Ruby asked.
"You were so busy focusing on Weiss that you kind of didn't give me a chance to…"
All Ruby did was exhale in response to that claim while Yang snickered a little.
"Well… it's some kind of proof that'll hopefully get our commander off your back," Blake figured.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WON'T ACCEPT THIS AS PROOF?!" Yang shouted.
"It came from a HumaGear. We have no reason to trust them," Commander Yaiba stated bluntly.
"With all due respect, Commander, this is coming from Hiden Intelligence, and the president is a close friend of ours, so I highly doubt we have anything to not trust about this," Blake stated.
"Belladonna… I'm starting to think you and your partner's feelings are clouding your judgment and forgetting the point of our organization. We are meant to-" Yua began when-
"SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY!" Yang snapped, slamming the table, "I've HAD it up to HERE *holds hand above her head* with your CRAP about me and Blake, but you have the audacity to insult and ignore my sister and friend, believing them to be untrustworthy just because one of them is a HumaGear?! Yea, I hate most HumaGears as well, but Polendina is different and has actually shown proof she can be trusted! And if that's coming from ME, of all people, then it's worth listening to!"
"...that Hiden girl is your sister?" Yua questioned.
"Yes, she is. My dad couldn't raise her, so she was brought in by the last president of Hiden Intelligence. She's got no reason to be causing any of this chaos that is clearly caused by forces beyond her control. It's not some malfunction via programming from her since she just joined a week ago when our grandpa died, so she can't be in any way responsible! But if I, the girl with anger management issues against HumaGear can see THIS as proof that she is not guilty and YOU can't… maybe I ended up picking the wrong group to join."
Yua just stared at Yang for a bit without saying anything before looking back over the report, "...the only thing I can reasonably say, since it was witnessed by Belladonna, is that Hiden Intelligence has a Kamen Rider. Therefore, we need to mobilize our own."
"...wait, what?" both Blake and Yang blinked.
"Did you two seriously think the ShotRisers were our maximum power output?" Yua questioned, "Belladonna was at least aware there was something missing from them. It is executable to allow one to transform into a Kamen Rider."
Yang's eyes widened as Blake looked to Yua with a shocked look.
"The suitcase the Hiden girl brought us has those executables and what's needed to transform with the ShotRisers," Yua explained, "However, with your recent performance, Belladonna, I'm questioning if you're worth trusting with that responsibility. Maybe I should be the Kamen Rider instead."
"Hell no…" Yang muttered.
"It is late, though. You two are dismissed for the evening. ...I'm still not even certain if that Hiden girl could be trusted considering her and her company's reliance on HumaGears, but I'll see if there's any merit to the footage. And Xiao Long… while I appreciate your honesty… you're starting to tread thin ice. So you had best keep a lid on that temper of yours, or you'd best start signing up for unemployment…"
Yang said nothing in response, her eyes now a fiery red, as Blake took the suitcase with the executable program for the ShotRisers. The duo eventually headed out without saying anything to any other employees of the group.
"...Yang?"
"I know what you're about to say. I need better control over my temper, I need to learn when to shut up, I need to let others speak and just listen, and I need to better not step out of line with authority... but I couldn't just let her walk all over my sister like that," Yang responded, growling slightly as she glared at the ground.
"...I wasn't going to say anything like that. I was just going to tell you that you had some good points in what you said…" Blake told her in a comforting tone, placing a hand on Yang's shoulder, much to the blonde's surprise, "I mean… you have the biggest amount of trauma related to HumaGears out of anybody in that building and for her to dismiss the trust that you give Penny in spite of that? ...don't tell anyone I said this, but the commander is an idiot for not believing you there."
Yang's eyes slowly reverted back into lilac and smiled, letting out a slight giggle while Blake ran her hand down Yang's human arm.
"This was just a security drill," one security detail HumaGear told various employees.
"A security drill? Who in their right mind would believe that excuse?!" Ruby shouted from a distance away, "I mean, seriously. A security drill wouldn't include actual collateral damage that could've gotten people sent to the hospital!"
"Guess the old saying rings true. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree," Penny remarked, "If you get angry, you're about as passionate as Yang could get."
"...I guess so," Ruby figured. She then noticed Mamoru was walking around nearby and quickly approached him, "Oh, hey. Good job protecting everybody earlier. I appreciate what you did."
Mamoru turned towards Ruby and smiled, "Ruby-shachō, it is my job to protect the employees of this company. No thanks are needed."
"Still… I want to thank you. So, thanks," Ruby told him, "I guess you could say that you truly are a mamoru!"
Weiss, who had overheard that, just gave a confused tilt of her head in response.
"The word 'mamoru' can mean 'to protect', or 'protector', and he protected ev-" Penny began to explain.
"Don't explain it!" Ruby told her.
"...I don't know the language, so she'd kind of have to…" Weiss stated.
Ruby just exhaled a bit before turning to Mamoru and seeing one of his arms had been injured. She looked around for a moment before seeing some cloth that had been left by somebody and quickly wrapped it around the injury, "Make sure you get yourself repaired in the morning."
"...thank you," Mamoru responded.
Later that evening, Blake and Yang returned to their apartment and both sighed about the events that had transpired that day.
"Well… Kamen Riders are a thing that are now truly not myths…" Blake remarked.
"What was the Kamen Rider from your land like?" Yang inquired as she approached the couch.
"Not much is left recorded other than that he was a Faunus and that the monsters he fought were set to bring about some kind of an ultimate darkness," Blake explained, "Not much else known other than he was constantly trying to get others to smile."
Yang nodded a little in response before she set herself onto the couch to try and unwind.
Back over at Hiden Intelligence, Fukuzoe and some other employees were trying to get the media to go away so that employees could get back home. Eventually, Fukuzoe got up to Ruby's office and saw her simply getting ready to head out.
"The media is all over the place. What do you plan to do about it, Miss President?" Fukuzoe questioned Ruby, "Do you actually plan to DO anything or just want to spend time with your girlfriend all day long?"
"First off, Weiss is not my girlfriend, she is my advisor. Second off, what are you expecting me to do about this?" Ruby retorted.
"It's the job of a president to clean up messes the company has to clean up. What do you think would happen if we got bad media press for an attack happening at the company? Or, even worse, you're in romantic relations with another girl."
"Again, Weiss is not my girlfriend. Get it through your head already!" Ruby glared, "I'm trying to figure something out and you putting pressure on me is not helping!"
"It's my job to put pressure on you a-"
"Security!" Ruby shouted, with Mamoru quickly appearing, "Take him out of my office."
Mamoru nodded and dragged Fukuzoe out of the room.
"...Mamoru, Fukuzoe, Korenosuke… this land that didn't form has some weird sounding names…" Weiss remarked.
"There's only so many names you can base off of color," Penny guessed.
"Thank you for your help, Mamoru," Ruby thanked as she got out her phone, "I'm going to go make a call real quick before I head out for the evening."
Yang's scroll began to buzz and she picked it up, "Yellow?"
"Hi Yang. Sorry I haven't called in a while," Ruby told her, "How'd it go with your boss and the footage we gave?"
"Horribly. Commander's still skeptical due to… prejudices, and she still thinks you're suspect because of you simply having Hiden as your legal last name…" Yang stated.
"One of the many reasons I'm happy that I found a way that 'Rose' is still accepted as a last name in legal work…" Ruby remarked, then she sighed, "...how are you holding up?"
"If you're asking about my arm, then I'm due for a check in about a week. If you're asking about my mental state… I don't know…" Yang exhaled, "I'm trying… I really am. I just… can't fully get over what happened back at Daybreak…"
"I get it. Just… keep doing your best, ok?"
"Ok. Hey, tell me if anything happens with Weiss!"
"...goodnight, Yang."
Yang sighed as Ruby hung up and left her to her thoughts. Yang looked towards a framed photo of herself, Ruby, and Summer with the HumaGear headphones. She set it down before her arm began to tremble a little bit, "Dammit… stop it…"
Yang recalled a large blast that had leveled most of Daybreak Town. When she had managed to get back up, her right arm was pinned underneath a large boulder and she was underneath a large amount of other debris, but she could still see outside. She saw swarms upon swarms of HumaGears attack humans and Faunus alike with no discrimination and she couldn't do a thing with her arm crushed. She gave a fearful gasp as one seemed to notice her and she tried to pull herself free from the boulder pinning her arm down…
The area then went white…
"We found her! I repeat, we found her!" a human's voice shouted, with Yang herself nearly completely out of it and only narrowly able to hear the person. She could faintly hear stuff about blood loss and needing to remove something fast, but the only face she could distinctly recall seeing was an unconscious Ruby's.
"Ru… by…" Yang muttered…
Yang managed to shove her arm to the ground and the trembling finally ceased. She tried to calm her breathing down, struggling to do so until she felt a little bit calmer.
"Dammit… and damn those HumaGears…" Yang muttered, tears forming up in her eyes. She was about to say something else, but then felt a hand grip her own, "Huh?"
"I saw what was happening…" Blake told her, "I know this is hard for you to deal with, but I promise that you don't have to deal with it alone. I'm always here for you."
The blonde just hugged Blake with her mechanical arm, tears falling as she held onto her girlfriend, "...I love you, Blake. You're the only one who really gets me…"
"I love you too," Blake told her in a calm and comforting tone.
Meanwhile, Yua was on the phone with one of the people who funded A.I.M.S. and going over candidates to be Riders.
"The only one I can truly say for sure is Belladonna gets to be one of them," Yua told her superior.
"About that… are you sure we can trust her? I don't mean just because she's a Faunus, but she was also a member of the White Fang…"
"As if being a member of something that bad is a determinant to you," Yua snarkily stated.
"Touche. Alright, what of her partner? I hear she's the most anti-HumaGear person in the group, so she could be useful."
"Xiao Long? She's the most unstable, emotional, reckless, anger driven person I think I've ever met! I told you she was the worst person to even be CONSIDERED a Kamen Rider candidate! I told her that if she steps out of line again, then she's likely going to be fired."
"Fair enough… so, what of Hiden's Rider?"
"Don't know enough to say anything…"
Her superior just sighed heavily, "Get me information when you can. We need to be 1000% better than that Rider…"
"Got it…" Yua told her superior.
Morning eventually arrived and Yang gave an exhausted yawn as she walked out of bed. She looked to see that Blake had just finished using some welding equipment and was putting it away.
"Mornin'..." Yang greeted.
"Well… I finally managed to get those chips into the ShotRisers, so whoever is chosen to be a Rider is capable of doing it," Blake informed
"Well, that's good for us, I think. But, honestly, I need some breakfast. If I don't, I'll break something fast."
"...I can't tell who's worse at the puns, you, your dad, or Ruby…" Blake stated with a sigh.
"Sorry. Too early for jokes?" Yang asked, only getting a thumbs up in response, "Alright, alright. Still, I do want something to eat."
Blake nodded a little as she let Yang go before getting ready to start work on something for them to eat.
Ruby gave an exhausted yawn as she walked out of her room and into the living room.
"Salutations," Penny greeted.
"Morning…"
"I have good news for you," Penny informed.
"What?"
"My dad just finished making something for you," Penny stated, taking out what looked to be a cellphone, "Tada~."
"...a new scroll?" Ruby blinked as she looked it over, noticing the back-end had a similar back to the Progrise Keys.
"Sort of. He called it the 'Hiden RisePhone' and it contains some kind of secret if you scan it along the Driver," Penny explained, "He didn't tell me what it was, but he said something would happen."
Ruby nodded her head in response, tucking the Hiden RisePhone into one of her pockets, before Weiss walked over, "Good morning, Weiss."
"Morning, Ruby. What seems to be going on?" Weiss asked.
"Not much," Ruby told her with a calm smile, "How are you?"
"Just woke up to some messages about tabloids spreading rumors about the two of us, but nothing out of the ordinary," Weiss informed.
She proceeded to hand Ruby her scroll and some of the tabloid websites said something along the line of "Hiden Intelligence and Schnee Dust Company Presidents Dating?", "Two Female Presidents In Love", "The Two Richest Companies Planning a Merger in More Ways Than One", amongst others. Ruby gave a bit of an annoyed exhale, clearly irritated by this string of gossip that was playing on sensitive matters between the two.
"Yikes… that's a lot…" Penny muttered.
"I know. It was bad enough when it was school gossip," Ruby sighed.
"Well, it's time we get to work…" Weiss remarked, "If we just focus on our jobs and less on the gossip, then things will be fine."
Thus, Weiss headed out first. Ruby simply looked back at the gossip articles and saw one speculating if she and Weiss had been intimate, causing her to blush a bright red, even more embarrassed than before.
Blake opened up the briefcase that Ruby had brought and pulled out what looked to be some sort of a belt strap with a port capable of locking the ShotRiser in place. She slotted the one that belonged to Yang into position to make sure that it would fit, hearing it make a loud snap before making sure that was proper behavior for the device. She did it three more times to make sure it was normal before Yang walked over and looked at the briefcase.
"So… what are these?" Yang questioned, taking out a blue Progrise Key that depicted a wolf on it.
"The notes said that is a Progrise Key and you need to use it in the ShotRiser to transform," Blake informed.
"Alright…" Yang nodded. She then tried to pull it open, but it refused to budge, with Yang struggling to open it up, "Come on… open up, dammit!"
"Yeah, uh, you need to be authorized to open those up…" Blake informed.
"Authorise me then!" Yang growled.
"I can't. Commander Yaiba has to do that…"
"Grr… FORGET THE COMMANDER! She doesn't give any crap about me and you! You should be in charge of the group, not her!" Yang shouted.
All Blake did was exhale and watch Yang continue to try to pull the key open. The Faunus couldn't help but try not to sicker at her girlfriend as she continued to try, but eventually just stopped due to her human hand being tired.
"Damn the commander! She's got no right to be so rude to us!" Yang growled.
Ruby, Weiss, and Penny eventually arrived just across the street from the main Hiden Intelligence building, but they then noticed the Magia roaming around.
"Of course…" Ruby sighed as she got out her Driver, "Time to go to work… already…"
"Shachō!" Mamoru shouted out, making her turn to see he was trying to get somebody away from the entrance, "Run!"
"Eh?" Ruby blinked.
"That's the figure I saw back in Atlas…" Penny whispered to Weiss.
"Get away from our boss!" another member of the HumaGear security team yelled, running towards Jin and knocking him away from Mamoru, but ended up getting the corruption device knocked onto him, "Eh?!"
"Well… not what I was expecting, but I'll take it…" Jin muttered.
Ruby then dashed over and shoved Jin away from the security team, "Who the heck are you?!"
Jin got himself up, unaware that Weiss was recording this with her scroll, and gave an irritated look towards Ruby, "Me? I'm the pioneer of a new world… I guess. An old friend of yours told me a lot about you, little red."
"Wait… how do you know that na-... Oh no…" Ruby shouted when realization hit her, "How do you know who Torchwick is?!"
"He's going to be the survivor of us getting rid of all other life on this planet… what the will of the Ark says… is what Metsubojinrai-Dotto-Netto strives for…" Jin declared, "And you are in our way…"
The corrupted member of the HumaGear security team approached Ruby with red eyes. Jin then handed him what looked to be a Progrise Key.
"How do you have the Progrise Keys?!"
"Progrise Keys? These aren't your little Progrise Keys… I suppose you could call them Zetsumerise Keys…" Jin figured.
"That doesn't sound good," Ruby noted.
=EKAL!=
The security HumaGear then loaded it into the device and activated it.
=ZETSUME RISE!=
The HumaGear erupted with brown energy as he screamed with rage and power before erupting into a new form. This one having the black undersuit with silver straps and pads along with copper details and wires and a yellow faceplate.
Jin then laughed a bit before he headed away with the red Magia in tow.
"This is not good…" Ruby muttered as she got out her Driver.
=ZERO-ONE DRIVER!=
Meanwhile, over with Blake and Yang, they were on their way to the A.I.M.S. building, but then Blake's scroll went off.
"Yeah?" Blake asked.
"A rogue HumaGear has been detected near your vicinity. Apprehend it as fast as you can," Yua told Blake.
"On it," Blake nodded, quickly hanging up.
"What's the commander want?" Yang questioned.
"There's an enemy nearby and we gotta deal with it," Blake explained.
Yang smirked a little, cracking her knuckles before following Blake out.
=JUMP!=
Ruby ducked out of the way of the brown Magia as quickly as she could and managed to scan her Progrise Key by the Driver.
=AUTHORISE!=
The Magia charged towards her, but was impeded by the arrival of the energy grasshopper spawning in front of Ruby.
"Henshin!"
=PROGRISE!=
=TO-BIA GA RISE! RISING HOPPER~!=
=A jump to the sky turns to a Rider Kick.=
Zero-One quickly summoned her sword and charged at the Magia.
"All life on this planet must be…" the Magia began to speak…
"Eliminated!" the red Magia shouted, only for it to get blasted at by Blake's ShotRiser.
"The only one being eliminated here is you!" Blake told the Magia before opening fire on it.
The Magia was knocked back a bit by the fire, yet wasn't deterred from charging towards Blake, but was then knocked farther back by a more powerful blast. Blake quickly turned to see the shot had been fired from the Ember Celica on Yang's human hand.
"I'll turn this HumaGear into scrap…" Yang growled, walking forward and showing she was wearing the belt. She then loaded the ShotRiser into it.
=SHOTRISER!=
"Wait, Yang, you're not authorized to use that!" Blake shouted.
"Screw the commander and what she says!" Yang shouted back. She then took out the blue Progrise Key and began to attempt to pry it open, "The HumaGears are going to pay… it's all because of them that I'm the way I am..."
Zero-One slashed at the Magia and kicked it back, "...it's all because of the HumaGears that I'm still here today. HumaGears… are not killing machines!"
She then continued the attack on the Magia before speaking again, "They're this world's dreams!"
"HumaGears are a threat! They're this world's enemies…" Yang growled as she continued to try to force the Progrise Key open, "And I'll scrap EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM!"
Yang then let out a powerful roar, her eyes turning red, as she managed to forcibly open the Progrise Key up with her human hand.
"Wait… what?!" Blake gasped.
Yang simply smirked as she held the Progrise Key with her robotic hand.
=BULLET!=
Yang growled as she slammed the Progrise Key into the ShotRiser.
=AUTHORISE!=
=KAMEN... RIDER!=
With this on repeat, Yang pulled out the ShotRiser with her robotic hand, aiming the gun at the red Magia, growling as her eyes were completely red, and a confident smirk formed on her face
"TRANSFORM!" she shouted as she pulled the trigger.
=SHOTRISE!=
A bullet fired from the weapon as Blake watched it go. The Magia dodged the attack, but the bullet circled back to Yang, the shell of the bullet splitting as Yang punched it with her left, human hand, causing armor to form on her with white forming over her left side, blue wolf-like armor attaching to her right leg, arm, and torso while white and blue parts over her head, all adorned with red accents.
=SHOOTING WO~LF~!=
The helmet attached on as steam vented off her body and the Magia simply stared in confusion at the sight before it.
=The elevation increases as the bullet is fired.=
The now Rider Yang then charged towards the Magia at full speed, roaring out of rage before kicking at the red monster, splitting it up with blasts from the ShotRiser.
Blake then got out her scroll and began to record the fight, "While not what I think any of us were expecting… Kamen Rider Vulcan has been deployed…"
Zero-One continued to fight against the brown Magia, kicking and slashing at it with her weapon before it was knocked to the outside parking lot. The Magia quickly noticed something, got up, grabbed a motorcycle, and took off.
"Hey! That's not cool!" Zero-One shouted, "How am I supposed to keep up with that?"
"Good question…" Penny muttered.
Zero-One then took out the Hiden RisePhone and looked it over, "Let's hope it can help me here…"
With that said, she scanned the Hiden RisePhone against the Zero-One Driver.
=Changing to motorcycle mode.=
The Hiden RisePhone then began to glow, with Zero-One tossing it in front of her, and it then transformed into a large motorcycle.
=MOTORISE, RISE HOPPER!=
"WHOA~! Ok, Penny's dad. You're a lot craftier than I gave you credit for," Zero-One noted as she got on, "Let's do this thing!"
"Do you even know how to ride a motorcycle?" Weiss questioned.
"Yang taught me, I'm good," Zero-One smirked as she kicked the kickstand back and quickly took off on the bike, chasing after the Magia.
The Magia zoomed down the roads without any concern in the world when he turned back to see Zero-One driving after him. She managed to jump over some cars and catch up to the Magia, but it attempted to knock her off. Zero-One managed to evade it, then counterstruck with her own punches, knocking the Magia clean off of the motorcycle.
"I've had enough of this. I don't want to do this to a HumaGear, but I don't have a choice…" Zero-One muttered before skidding to a stop in a stylish way. She then got off of her motorcycle and pulled out her sword when, suddenly, somebody ran over and managed to pin down the Magia, "Eh?!"
"Shachō, finish it off!" Mamoru shouted, keeping the Magia pinned down.
"EH?! What about you?!" Zero-One shouted.
"It's my job to keep everybody safe and if I have to sacrifice myself to do that, then so be it!" Mamoru told her, "Just finish it off!"
Zero-One looked towards the security guard and began to sniffle a bit, but pulled out her Progrise Key and loaded it into the sword.
=PROGRISE KEY CONFIRMED! READY TO UTILIZE!=
=Grasshopper's Ability!=
The Magia managed to get back up, but Mamoru grabbed it and held it in place via a full nelson. Zero-One then jumped up into the air and screamed, tears in her eyes as she shot down and slashed at both of the machines in front of her.
ラ
イ
ジ
ン
グ
カ
バ
ン
ス
ト
ラ
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シ
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"...I'm sorry…" Zero-One muttered as she took one last swing to make sure the job was done.
ラ
イ
ジ
ン
グ カバンストラッシュ
=RISING KABAN STRASH!=
The Magia exploded, leaving nothing but the Zetsume RIse Key behind, but Mamoru somewhat endured the explosion. He was clearly going to be a goner soon, yet was able to look at Zero-One with a bit of a comfortable look.
"Mamoru…"
"I hope that I helped you, shachō…" Mamoru managed to utter, earning a nod from Zero-One, before he shut off.
Zero-One just stood there before reverting back and trying her best to not cry.
Meanwhile, over with Vulcan, the blue Rider roared as she punched the red Magia a few times with her free hand, and then taking other chances to shoot at it with the ShotRiser. Blake kept a safe distance, yet was able to continue to record Vulcan fighting.
Vulcan then did a punching motion, but nothing happened. She then just punched the Magia right to the ground and blasted it with a barrage of shots. With it knocked against the ground, Vulcan readied her gun for a finisher, "...you're scrap."
=BULLET!=
A techno standby tune began to play from the gun as Vulcan took aim at the Magia's head before pulling the trigger, launching spectral wolf heads to pin the Magia in one spot. She continued to let the ShotRiser charge up as the real finisher was set for impact.
シ
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ー
テ
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グ
ブ
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The shots all landed on the Magia at once as one giant blue fireball was sent rocketing towards forward from the ShotRiser. The blast sped up before colliding right with the Magia.
シ
ュ
ー
テ
ィ
ン
グ ブラースト
=SHOOTING BLAST!=
The Magia screamed before it exploded from the blast with the explosion melting away a crate that it had been near. The melted crate then allowed Vulcan to see Ruby standing nearby.
"...hey…" Vulcan greeted, proceeding to slide the ShotRiser back into the belt and then pull out the Progrise Key, making her revert back into Yang.
"...hey…" Ruby waved.
Yang then noticed the offline HumaGear near Ruby, gave off a sharp exhale, and then approached.
"Did he try to…?" Yang began, Ruby just walked over to her and hugged her.
"He sacrificed himself so I could stop the bad guy…"
"Look… this isn't easy for me to say, but he did the right thing. He was… a hero for helping you…" Yang told her in a comforting, almost motherly, tone, Ruby trying to smile in response as Yang tried to return the hug… only to need to do it with one arm since her human arm began to wince in pain.
Later that day, the press had gathered at the main Hiden Intelligence building to ask about the attacks that had occured. Ruby had not yet shown up, which was of concern to Blake, Yang, and Yua.
"Is it true that no less than four HumaGears have gone out of control over the past week?" one reporter asked Fukuzoe, who was currently at the stand.
"I'm afraid that, at this time, I cannot offer any comments," Fukuzoe spoke.
"Yeah, that's going to make you look good," Yua muttered.
"You have to tell us something!" one press member shouted.
"It's true," Ruby's voice stated.
Everybody turned to see Ruby was at the room's entrance, now decked out in a fancy business woman suit, glasses on her face, and her expression simply reading that she was ready. Weiss and Penny stood nearby her before Ruby headed up to the front of the room.
"Wow…" Blake muttered, "That's Ruby…"
"What happened that made her look so serious?" Yua questioned.
Ruby then motioned for Weiss to step up to her side. Weiss complied and then, via a tablet, had a monitor play out the footage that she had captured earlier of their encounter with Jin.
"These various attacks have been caused by a terrorist group known as Metsubojinrai-Dotto-Netto. From what we can gather, they have hacked into HumaGears and corrupted them into monsters. Why they are doing this is mostly unknown, beyond this member mentioning something known as the Ark. For this reason…" Ruby spoke, turning her attention over to the now rebuilt Mamoru and the other members of the security team, "We must not blame the HumaGears. This is a result of outside attackers. I ask that you all have faith in not only the HumaGears, but also in the heroes who will act to stop the corruption… the Kamen Riders…"
Footage of Zero-One and Vulcan both appeared on the monitor, making Yua gasp in shock at the latter, while Yang just smirked a little.
"I ask that you all be willing to trust us in these troubling times going forward," Ruby requested.
"Um… who are you, exactly?" one reporter inquired.
"I am the recently appointed Chief Executive Officer and President of Hiden Intelligence, Ruby Hiden. I also go by Ruby Rose. And this is my advisor, the CEO and President of the Schnee Dust Company, Weiss Schnee," Ruby informed.
"A pair of huntresses like you in charge of two major companies?" another reporter questioned.
"This is not the time to be questioning such matters. What matters now is that you put your trust in us," Weiss told them.
Ruby then gave a motion for people to stop talking as she stepped forward, "I can assure you all that, no matter what, we will be able to ensure happiness… and we certainly have rose to the occasion in the past!"
The entire room fell silent at the pun. After a moment, though, Yang broke out laughing at the joke, holding her side in pain with her mechanical arm.
"That's my little sister!" Yang shouted out gleefully.
"When did she start using Yang puns?" Blake, feigning ignorance, muttered.
Yua just gave an annoyed sigh and slapped the arm that Yang had in a cast, making her wince in pain before giving the commander a very angered glare.
Ruby just stared at this for a moment before she cleared her throat and smiled, "Hai, Ruby ja~... naito! (Yeah, and that's how... you know it's Ruby!)"
"Um…?" one reporter muttered.
"Foreign," another reporter informed.
"Don't explain that one in full, Penny," Ruby requested.
"Gotcha," Penny nodded simply.
PROGRISE KEY RECAP CORNER
"Salutations everyone, and welcome back to the Progrise Key Recap Corner!" Penny gleefully greeted, "Today, we're here to discuss this story's secondary Rider and the very first character who had their position decided upon."
"Originally, the writers were debating if me or Weiss should be Zero-One, but I was chosen because they felt I was the better personality match for Aruto," Ruby explained.
"I guess that makes sense," Weiss stated simply.
"Now then, presenting, Kamen Rider Vulcan, Yang Xiao Long!" Penny gleefully announced as Yang walked over.
"Was it because of my temper that I got chosen?" Yang inquired.
"Pretty much," Ruby stated.
Yang just exhaled a little in response to that, "Well… I guess it makes sense."
"Anyway, Yang here uses the A.I.M.S. ShotRiser in order to transform into Kamen Rider Vulcan. It's a rather different device from the Zero-One Driver," Penny began to explain as Yang held the blue gun up.
"It's also a gun," Ruby chimed in.
"That part is pretty obvious, Ruby," Weiss noted.
"I know. I just wanted to say that," Ruby beamed.
Yang couldn't help but giggle before she showed off the Shooting Wolf Progrise Key. She then stared at it for a moment, then simply exhaled, "Is there a reason I'm a wolf and not a dragon?"
"There's no dragon Progrise Key in canon… yet, at least," Penny explained.
All Yang did was nod in response before she got to work trying to force the Progrise Key open again. She let out some frustrated growls as she tried to do so, yet the Progrise Key was refusing to budge. Ruby and the others simply watched Yang's struggle a bit before they heard somebody snickering.
"Huh?" Ruby muttered.
"That'll teach her to not listen to orders… I reinforced the lock…" a female voice muttered.
Ruby then dashed over to reveal the source of the voice was Yua, "Not cool!"
Yua just giggled a bit to herself before Ruby knocked the phone she was recording Yang's display with out of her hands.
At that moment, though, Yang managed to force the Progrise Key open, "GOTCHA!"
"...note to self, reinforce it more…" Yua muttered.
"That's… not how you're supposed to open it, Yang…" Blake muttered.
Yang either didn't hear her or didn't pay what she said any mind before loading the Progrise Key into the ShotRiser and firing the gun off.
=SHOTRISE!=
=SHOOTING WO~LF~!=
=The elevation increases as the bullet is fired.=
Yang stared at the ShotRiser for a moment before she exhaled, "What is up with the text to speech stuff? It sounds so forced…"
"I wish I knew…" Ruby admitted.
"It just is and we accept it," Penny stated simply.
Yang gave a nod of her head while shrugging before she took the ShotRiser and set it aside.
"Well, that's all the time we have for today. See you next time for the next episode of the story and the next Progrise Key Recap Corner! Bye-bye~!"
"See ya. Next time, you'll see me… bark-on!" Yang punned.
"I get it!" Ruby beamed before she laughed.
All Penny did was sigh in response to that joke.
Jikai, RWBY Rider Zero-One
Ruby: How angry is your commander that Yang became a Kamen Rider?
Blake: Very.
A.I.M.S. Member: How did somebody like YOU get to be a commander?!
Blake: You don't need to know.
Yang: I won't let you hurt Blake… ever! *fires her ShotRiser*
Blake: I got this Yang… I got this…
File 04: From Shadows! The Third Kamen Rider Dashes Forward!
*Zero-One, Vulcan, and Valkyrie were then shown standing ready for battle before they charged forward. The scene then quickly shifted to show Ruby waking up and her eventually walking around in confusion*
Ruby: Why are we fleeing from Atlas? When did we get on this plane? And… what is up with my hair…?
Jaune: Are you feeling okay, Ruby?
The world has been changed...
Ruby: Who or what is this Salem person?
Penny: She's some kind of Grimm Queen…
Yang: Oh, what new spawn of madness is this…?
And enemies can lurk around every corner...
Horobi and Jin: Henshin…
Ruby: Wait, why can they still transform?!
Penny: I don't know!
*Ruby was then shown defending herself from somebody that was running around at lightning pace*
Ruby: What do you want with me?!
?: For you to be arrested!
Yang: Did the other versions of us have a knack for pissing people off or something?! *fires a shot from the Ember Celica*
Blake: I'm really starting to think so…
*A swarm of locusts was then shown flying around Ruby before she, Weiss, and Penny were all standing before a monster version of Zero-One*
Ruby: What… is that…?
A monster unlike any they've seen before...
Kaijin Zero-One: You don't deserve to call yourself a Kamen Rider!
Ruby: Gah! *gets tossed to the ground*
A new Rider emerges...
Penny: Kamen Rider… Proto Zero-One…
*Proto Zero-One punched Kaijin Zero-One before the scene showed a teal Kamen Rider.*
Penny: Is that… no… it can't be…
?: Kamen Rider… Ichigata…
Ruby: I know that voice… mom?
*Ichigata then reverted back to normal and revealed Summer Rose… with the HumaGear headphones. She was then standing in front of Kaijin Zero-One without any kind of fear*
HumaGear Summer: I won't let this fake ruin the peace that I fought for when I was human…
*The scene then showed Ruby in tears, hugging the HumaGear version of her mother, who simply hugged her back*
?: This world… is not how the world in which I last saw Zero-One looked like…
*The scene shifted over to reveal a new figure*
Ruby: Who are you? Somebody we should know?
?: Let's just say I'm the prophet of one who united nations and saved reality in the past.
Ruby: I… meant your name…
?: Just call me Woz...
Kamen Rider: The Next Generation
Late 2020...
*Ruby was shown defending herself against some monsters, when…*
=TIME BREAK!=
*Zi-O stood before Ruby and her friends when…*
=TIME BURST!=
=TIME STRIKE!=
=TIME JUDGEMENT!=
=TIME CRASH!=
*Four more Riders then appeared and struck the last of the monsters around the group*
Yang: Ruby… what do their helmets say…?
Ruby: *looks closely at the first two* The one with pink symbols and the one with yellow symbols both say 'Kamen Rider'. *the first two were Zi-O and Geiz. The focus then went to the remaining three Riders, one red, one blue, and one yellow. Ruby stared at the symbols on their helmets for a bit before she read them out* Slifer… Obelisk… and Ra.
Blake: What kind of names are those?
Ruby: You say when my Rider name is just 'Zero-One'...
*Zi-O then giggled a bit, the voice behind the helmet clearly being female…*
Pikatwig: Well well well… seems like this Zi-O is a girl and she's being joined by three new faces. How interesting… *simply smiles*
KKD: That'd be spoiler turf, but hopefully, I can get something posted on my end that may or may not explain that situation.
Pikatwig: Yeah. Anyway… Yang is now Vulcan. Also, to explain the pun she made, the Japanese rendering of the work 'Vulcan' is more like 'Barkan'. Wolves bark.
KKD: ...ha!
Pikatwig: Also, you'll see that Yua is here, yet the next chapter title paints the picture she isn't Valkyrie. No offense to anyone who likes her, but Yua has slowly been trying my patience and I wanted to try something new here. You'll see more when we reach the next chapter.
KKD: I think I know where you're going with this, but we'll see.
Pikatwig: Yeah. Also, do expect a ton of plotline alterations in the future given how, jumping ahead to the episode that aired today, Thouser managed to get Hiden Intelligence. That plotline is… ick. Plus, both of us hate Thouser pretty hard-core. If karma doesn't hit him in the show soon, then it'll hit in this story for sure.
KKD: If I'm not mistaken, everyone from the fans, to the characters, and even the staff hate Thouser with a passion!
Pikatwig: Yup. All we can do is wait to see if Aruto and the others can do something to wipe that smirk off of his face, but that's neither here nor there for this story. I'll admit that I had fun writing this, but we did need a break to make sure we had Yang's characterization nailed down. And I did need to explain how Yang lost her arm in this storyline a bit early to KKD since I guess I didn't make it clear enough prior to production on this chapter she lost it in the Daybreak Town Incident.
KKD: I'm not going to spoil that one for you guys, though, I promise.
Pikatwig: Anyway… your thoughts on the chapter?
KKD: I thought it was enjoyable, showing a nice balance between the two different plots being shown.
Pikatwig: If I had to name a favorite part… it was the scene with Yang yelling at Yua. The way you wrote the way that Yang blew up was really cool and something I don't know if i would've been able to think of myself.
KKD: Yea, that was my favorite too. Seeing how Yua was treating Yang, I felt she couldn't take that kind of nonsense and just had to burst out of rage like she did. In a way, I felt it was a bit cathartic for both Yang and myself. You're not the problem buddy, it was Yua in how she was so distrustful of Yang.
Pikatwig: Thanks for clarifying that latter point. But, yeah, I can see why that would be. And I will say this much… throw out a lot of how Yua acts in canon cause she'll be a pretty different character here given the different circumstances.
KKD: Yea, basically. She is still in a high position, but she's not gonna be the same in-show character.
Pikatwig: One more thing before we wrap up today… me, KKD, and Muk worked on a Digimon fanfic that was posted earlier today at the time this was posted. If you got the time, give it a read. Yeah, shameless plug, we worked hard on that one.
KKD: Hey, if I worked hard on something, I'd be willing to drop a shameless plug, too.
Pikatwig: And, fun fact, that story was planned to be in a Super Hero Time like relationship with this one, but I scrapped it out of fear of it not being able to work out with the schedule of the two fics. In fact, you can even see one character in the Digimon story saying "Oh, what new spawn of madness is this?" as a little nod to that scrapped dynamic.
KKD: I guess that's going to be our own little running gag we'll be using now and again.
Pikatwig: We'll see about that. Anyway, I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter.
KKD: Until the next one, please make sure to follow this channel for more to come.
Pikatwig: Just Live More.
KKD: Jaa ne.