(Author's Note)
Hey guys...
SO. It's been a bit more than a hot minute since I've updated this thing, huh?
I've been eating away at this thing for the last... Wow, okay I started this thing back in July.
College has been busy, stuff and things and the like, but it's been both a blessing, to... some extent at least.
For one, Zi-O wrapped, which means I know more about the power set and how to go about writing these kinds of things out. I also know how to go about things differently than I would've originally if I just kept up the pace of chapters at the start, so the break did me well.
Also, Zero-One is awesome and no one can tell me otherwise.
That said, I wanted to thank all of you guys for your continued support of this story, and I wanted to say to keep safe since, Covid and all that shit.
With this free time I have, and since I finally finished this mess of a chapter, I have some decent motivation to keep on writing so I'm gonna get started on that now. See you guys later, and enjoy the chapter!
"Damn that Zi-O…" Uhr said, plucking a throwing dart out of the air as he walked past a customer frozen in time.
"So much for your plan…" Ora said, sitting on one of the booth seats of the bar, a drink in her hand.
"Did yours work out any better?" Asked Uhr.
"We already had a solid candidate, but of course He needed to test out the mechanics of it all." Said Ora.
"Another Cross-Z did last longer than our options though." Said a male figure sitting at the bar, the most notable sight being the long purple coat he wore. "Though I suppose it is a matter of perspective…"
"Swartz…" Uhr said, narrowing his eyes at the older man sitting at the bar.
"Nevertheless, our newest addition is proving quite resourceful." Said Swartz.
"Speak of the Devil…" Ora said, watching as the door to the establishment opened and a man in a black leather coat with gold accents walked into the room.
"Funny." The man said, rolling his neck as he walked over to behind the bar and grabbed two glasses.
"Aren't you a bit young to be drinking?" Asked Uhr, as he gave a passing look over at the Newcomer.
"Hey, I'm 19. I'm of legal drinking age." The man said, as he poured a glass of top shelf liquor for himself before doing the same for Swartz. "I wanted to test something out, so you'll excuse me for being late."
"Oh? What might that have been?" Asked Swartz as the man placed the bottle back on the top shelf.
"I wanted to know what would happen if I gave the powers of an Another Rider to the original owners of the power? Would the power of the Another Rider jump up? What would happen?" The man said, taking a seat by the bar and taking a sip of his drink.
"You gave a rider their powers back? Isn't that something we don't want to do? Aren't they the good guys here?" Asked Uhr.
"Oh trust me, I know someone who fits our preferred criteria." The man said, leaning back into his seat. "We have nothing to worry about."
Uhr scoffed, before throwing the dart at the dart board. The newcomer raised his hand and stopped the dart's perception of time, as it began floating in the air.
"With that said, I have things to do and an Another Rider to watch over…" Said the man, walking over to the floating dart, before he nudged it a bit to the left.
"If that's what you wish to do then go right ahead." Said Swartz. "You've been a pleasant surprise to our cause…" Swartz stopped suddenly, before smirking. "Sougo Tokiwa."
Sougo smirked, before walking out the door. As soon as he did the hold on the dart vanished, sending it flying into the exact center of the dart board.
"This is the part where you lose." Cardin said, holding his mace over his shoulder. Jaune stood opposite from him, leaning against his sword in support, clearly exhausted.
Jaune stood up, gripping his sword. "Over my dead-!" Before the words could leave Jaune's mouth, a knee suddenly slammed into his gut, courtesy from Cardin. Jaune let out a breath of air as he dropped his sword and fell to the ground, pain clear on his face. Cardin raised his mace once more, poised to slam it down onto a clearly worried Jaune, but the sound of the arena buzzer cuts him off.
A moment passes as the lights shine back onto the surrounding bleachers as Glynda's voice rings out.
"Cardin, that's enough!" Glynda stated, as Cardin lowered his mace and walked away. Glynda walked back onto the stage, followed quickly by Banjou and the Great Cross-Z Dragon, before she tapped her tablet, the aura levels of both combatants flashing onto the projected screen under their portraits. "Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match."
Jaune laid back down onto the floor in defeat as Glynda turned her head to look at the losing warrior. Jaune pulled out his scroll, his aura level low and blinking red, compared to the full green bars of his team's aura levels next to his. "Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your Scroll during combat." Glynda chastised Jaune, who let out a sigh and nodded. "Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it's appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more... defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf, now, would we?"
"Speak for yourself..." Cardin muttered off to the side.
"What was that?" Asked Banjou as he crossed his arms, an action to which Cardin chose to remain quiet about.
I looked over to see the reactions of Team RWBY. Yang was punching the air in not so hidden anticipation. Weiss, who was now awake after her fight with Parado, was shaking her fists with an excited smile. And Ruby's body was practically shaking with enthusiastic energy while she squealed softly. I gave a look over at Parado, only to see him with his face glued once more to Tetris.
"Remember, everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away! It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing!" Said Glynda. "Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale!"
The bell began to ring, as the students around me stood up and started to leave. I looked over to my left, seeing the rest of Team JNPR standing up. My eyes locked onto the partner of the losing fighter in the arena, Pyrrha, whose face was locked into a sad frown, looking almost guilty to some extent. I stood up, but not before taking another glance at Jaune, who just sat where he was in disappointment most likely directed at himself.
"So! There we were, in the middle of the night..."
"It was day."
"We were surrounded by Ursai..."
"They were Beowolves."
"Dozens of them!"
"Two of 'em."
"But they were no match... And in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!" Nora proclaimed proudly as I watched her tell her story with mild interest. Ren had cut in to correct some of… well, all of the details, of Nora's story as the girl went along.
"She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now." Ren said, as I let out a nod in understanding.
"Think it means anything?" I asked, shrugging. "Should look that up, could help."
Pyrrha looked over to her partner, who continued to poke at the food on his plate. "Jaune? Are you okay?"
Jaune blinked, as he returned to the conversation at hand from wherever his mind had wandered. "Huh? Oh, yeah! Why?"
"It's just that you seem a little... not okay..." Ruby said, poking her index fingers together.
Jaune let out a shaky laugh. "Guys, I'm fine. Seriously! Look!" He held up his thumb while laughing nervously.
"That doesn't convince anyone, you know that right?" Asked Parado, who was sitting next to me once more on my phone.
"I really need to get you an actual handheld." I said, looking over to him.
Pyrrha spoke up what all of us had been thinking for the past few weeks. "Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school!"
Jaune nervously looked to the side. "Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah... He just likes to mess around! You know, practical jokes!" He said.
Ruby narrowed her eyes as she crossed her arms. "He's a bully."
Jaune scoffed in false bravado. "Oh, please! Name one time he's 'bullied' me."
I paused, and looked up in mock thought, a finger resting against my right temple. "Well, let's see… There's the time he activated your shield when you were leaving the classroom and ended up getting you stuck in the doorway, making you late to Glynda's combat class. There are the numerous times he's tripped you, the times he's made you drop your books… need I say more?"
"That's not so bad-"
"There was also the time he pushed you into one of the rocket powered weapon lockers and set in random coordinates before sending you off to what might've been your death if it wasn't for our team who had to go out and rescue you." Said Parado, looking up from his game.
"I didn't land far from the school!" Jaune said jokingly.
"You were at the far edge of the emerald forest!" I said, before my face shifted into a glare. "And Ozpin made the two of us go after you!" I jabbed my thumb out at Parado before letting out a sigh of frustration. "Training my ass…"
Pyrrha gave a patient smile to her teammate. "Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can just ask." She said.
"Ooooh!" Nora stood up from the table with a grin that wouldn't look out of place on a physcopath, or Dan Kuruto. "We'll break his legs!"
"Guys, really, it's fine! Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone." Said Jaune as he raised his left hand.
"Just because you're correct, doesn't mean you're right." I said with a frown.
"Ow! That hurts!" I looked over to the other side of the cafeteria, finding Cardin and the rest of his team crowded around a brown haired girl with two brown rabbit ears poking out of the top of her head. One of said ears currently being tugged on by Cardin. "Please, stop..."
Cardin laughed loudly as he continued. "I told you it was real!"
"What a freak!" One of his teammates chortles back.
"Atrocious. I can't stand people like him." Said Pyrrha.
"He's not the only one..." Blake said, eyes hardened.
"It must be hard to be a Faunus." Said Yang, leaning her head against her hand.
"..." I glared daggers at the sight in front of me, my hand tightening around the empty can as it slowly compressed with a loud cracking sound.
"Bryce?" Asked Ruby, before I stood up.
"I'll be right back." I said, turning around to start walking over towards Cardin, only for a man in what appeared to be a whitish grey version of Beacon's teacher uniform. "Huh?"
"Excuse me! Sorry, but could someone tell me what's going on here?" Asked the man, as the group turned over to look at the man.
"What's it to you?" Asked Cardin, as the girls face lit up momentarily at the appearance of the man.
"Ah! Mr. Kisaragi!" Said the girl.
"Velvet! Good to see you! Where's the rest of your team if you don't mind me asking?" Asked Kisaragi.
"Different lunch periods…" the girl responded, her ear still held firmly in Cardin's grasp.
"Hey! I asked you a question!" Cardin stood up, gripping onto Velvet's ear tighter as he stood up, the rabbit faunus letting out a yelp of pain as she was dragged along.
"Oh! You must be one of the first years! I haven't had the time to introduce myself yet!" Said Kisaragi. "I'm Gentaro Kisaragi! The student councilor!"
"...Oh… that actually makes a bit of sense." I said, smiling as I sat back down.
"The student councilor?" Weiss asked. "And why are you sitting down?"
"Just watch." I said. "Gentaro has this covered."
"T-the student councilor!?" One of Cardin's teammates, Russell I believe, said as his face dropped in realization.
"Hey wait a second, why are you holding onto Velvet's left ear?" Asked Gentaro. "You realize that's painful for her right?"
"Of course I do!" Said Cardin.
"Hey Cardin, we should go." Said Russell.
"What the hell are you worried about?" Asked Cardin.
"Oh… Are they bullying you Velvet?" Asked Gentaro, as Velvet gave a strained nod. "Ah… What was it Glynda told me to do in this case… Oh yeah!"
The teacher reached into his pocket, before taking out four slips of paper and handing them to the four members of Team CRDL. "What the hell is this?" Asked Cardin.
"Detention!?" Sky said in shock, as the four of them looked up at Gentaro in shock, Cardin's hand slipping off Velvet's ear as she slipped by and stood next to Gentaro.
"Well, I'll leave it with that." Said Gentaro, before he turned to Velvet with his fist extended as they fist bumped. "Enjoy your lunch!"
I watched as Gentaro walked out of the lunch room in complete silence. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Gentaro Kisaragi. The man who will befriend everyone." I said, as a comfortable volume returned to the cafeteria. I paused before pulling my phone out of Parado's hand. "Oh crap, gotta go. Combat practice!"
"How is it that you're getting more combat practice than anyone else we know?" Asked Weiss as I picked up my tray.
"I wish I knew, Weiss.." I said, before turning around and walking away from the table.
"So… Mind telling me why we're doing this?" I asked, cloth wrapped around my hands as Banjou stood opposite of me, pads over his hands.
"We can train all we want transformed, but there will be times you'll be without your armour. That's what we're going to be working on here." Said Banjou, holding the pads up.
"Understandable. So… Boxing then?" I asked, as Banjou nodded. "Who's idea? Sento's?"
"Oi! I am your combat teacher you know! I can see the flaws you have and can figure out how to improve them. I may not be the best at the science stuff, but when it comes to the physical stuff I'm sure as hell more suited than Sento is." Said Banjou. "But it was half of Sento's idea."
"What do you mean by that?" I asked.
"I have a theory." Said a voice as the doors to the arena opened up. Sento walked down to the bleachers and sat down, a tablet sized scroll in his hand. "I wanted to see if I was right on it."
"What's with the tablet?" I asked.
"Course material. Turns out Professor Peach is heading out on an administrative leave for personal reasons, so I'm filling in for her for what appears to be the rest of the year." Said Sento, before looking up. "As for my theory, I wanted to test your learning capabilities."
"My… Learning capabilities?" I asked.
Sento nodded, swiping across his scroll's screen. "You're ability to utilize the full potential of the Ride Watch's power. Your acclimating to it rather fast, and from what I heard from Yang, you're as fast of a learner out of the armour as you are in the armour."
"She did say I picked up close quarters rather quickly…" I said to myself.
"Right, so we're going to see how quickly you pick up Boxing from the gorilla and then go from there." Said Sento, looking up. "Also, can I borrow the Build Ride Watch for a bit. I noticed you were imitating my moves while transformed, so I wanted to see if the Ride Watch itself had anything to do with your heightened learning ability.
I pulled the red and blue watch out of my pocket before throwing it over the Sento. I turned back to Banjou with my arms raised. I let out a breath, before smirking. "Right, so… Shall we?"
Banjou smirked, holding the pads up once more. "Follow my instructions."
"Astounding…" Muttered Sento as I unwrapped the cloth from around my hands. I rolled my neck, a towel pressing against me as it soaked up the sweat from the back of my neck. "You're rate of improvement is a sight to behold." Sento shuddered for a moment. "It's like looking back at Banjou when he was first injected with Nebula Gas."
Banjou walked up next to me, handing me a water bottle which I immediately grabbed and drank from. I let out a breath as I lowered the bottle away from my mouth. "That's not a bad thing though, is it?"
"Currently, I can't see any reason why it would be." Said Sento, swiping along his tablet screen once more.
"I take it everything is going well then?" Asked a voice as the three of us turned to look towards the doors to the arena, Ozpin walking into the room with Gentaro in tow.
"From the looks of it." Said Sento, before he looked over to Ozpin's right. "Ah! You're!"
"Yo! Name's Kisaragi Gentaro!" Said Gentaro as he smiled. The man who would befriend everyone turned to look at all three of us. "I hope we become great friends!"
"This here is a good friend of mine. Gentaro has been working at beacon for a few years now." Said Ozpin.
"Uh, nice to meet you." Said Banjou, clearly confused. "Oi Sento, have we met this guy before? He seems oddly familiar."
"I don't think you ever met him outside of his suit, but we've met him before, or at least a different version of him." Said Sento, as Gentaro blinked.
"...Does the name Fourze mean anything to you?" I asked as Gentaro's eyes widened momentarily.
"Ah! Oz here said you'd be knowledgeable about things! Yeah, I was Kamen Rider Fourze." Said Gentaro.
"Was?" Asked Banjou.
Gentaro averted his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck, not elaborating. I widened my eyes before letting out a sigh of annoyance. "...You didn't." I said after a pause.
"Didn't what?" Asked Sento.
I let out a sigh, before shaking my head. "It's too late now, I can't yell at him about it…" I muttered to myself, before looking back up at Gentaro as I extended my right hand. "Well, it's nice to meet you!"
Gentaro nodded, before raising his hand and proceeded to do the one thing I should've realized he'd do when I extended my hand in the first place.
"...Is he okay?" Asked Gentaro as I stared blankly at my closed right hand.
"I think so…?" Sento said, crossing his arms. "He does this every now and then, but it's been a while since he did this last…"
"It's a little creepy honestly…" Banjou muttered, before knocking the back of my head with his knuckles. "Oi Bryce! You in there?"
"Ah- Uh, yeah… sorry." I said, before taking my scroll out of my pocket. I let in a breath of air, before turning to look at Banjou. "Ah shit! I gotta go!" I gave a quick wave as I grabbed my bag and ran out of the arena.
"...He seems nice." Gentaro said.
"Bryce!" Ruby yelled at me as I ran over to her. "You need to see this!"
"Need to see what?" I asked, only for her to drag me into her dorm regardless, where the rest of Team RWBY were sitting in front of the holographic TV screen in front of their window. "Hey guys, what's going on?"
"Take a look for yourself." Said Blake, motioning towards the TV with her head. I gave a shrug before sitting down in the middle of the four as a familiar news program came on screen.
"This is Lisa Lavender reporting live from outside the property of the Dan Foundation. The Major Corporation has just declared its independence from the Kingdom of Vale. We will now show you Live footage of their ongoing press conference." Said the reporter, as the camera moved to face a man standing at the top of the building. He was wearing regal like clothes of rather japanese variety. It was his face that stopped the train of thought I was going through.
"WHAT!?" I exclaimed as I looked at the face of Dan Kuroto looking down at the crowd below him.
"You know him?" Asked Blake as she looked over at me.
"Not personally… but I have the worst feeling right now." I said, waving her off as I glued my eyes to the screen.
"I am Kuroto Dan, President of the Dan Foundation." Proclaimed Kuruto Dan. "Rather, formerily Kuroto Dan… For now I am Dan Kuroking!"
"...Well, at least it isn't a god complex…" I muttered with a sigh. "Though that doesn't exactly make the situation better…"
"Listen now my subjects, hear me well!" Shouted Dan Kuroking. "My company is now proclaiming its independence from the Kingdom of Vale! I will allow no objections! All property owned by me is now our own national territory! Here the laws of Vale do not apply!"
"Is he a lunatic?" Asked Weiss.
"...Uh… Yeah, pretty much." I answered.
"Do you seriously think we'll stand for such lunacy!?" The voice of a male reporter cut in from the crowd below, before the whole crowd began to cry out as well.
"Peon, you dare defy your king?" Asked Dan Kuroking, before he raised his right hand and snapped.
There was a moment of tense silence, before the reporter suddenly collapsed to his knees as an orange pixelated mist like substance began to pour out of him.
"Hey, doesn't that look like…!" Ruby said, pointing at the screen.
"Oh no…" I muttered, watching as the man's body transformed, his head turning a strange shade of orange while his body gained an almost skin tight black bodysuit. "It's the bugster mooks…"
"Mooks?" Asked Yang. "What's that mean?"
"It's a term used to describe the enemy cannon fodder a rider will have to fight to get to the main monster of the week." I said, looking back at the TV as more and more people transformed before breaking out of the trance to begin a rampage against the civilians around them.
"Behold, that man is now my loyal servant!" Dan Kuroking proclaimed. "And all who defy me will face the same punishment! HA HA HA HA! HA HA HA HA HA HA!"
"Shit, we need to go help them." I said, pushing off the ground as I turned to the dorm door.
"Woz!" I shouted, as the dorm room opened, my ever loyal servant with a pension for trolling walked in soon after.
"Waga Maou, you called for me?" Asked Woz, walking into the room.
"I need you to get me there as soon as possible. We need to hurry." I said, placing my Ziku Driver on my Waist.
[ZIKU DRIVER!]
"We're coming too!" Ruby said, as she walked up next to me with the rest of Team RWBY. "We need to help them!"
"Took the words right out of my mouth." Said Yang, punching her fist into her open palm.
"Very well… This might feel weird for first time fliers." Said Woz with a smirk as he grabbed onto his scarf and threw it towards us, the fabric stretching and twirling in an impossible manor before it closed in around us.
"Here we go!" I said, the fabric parting as we walked out into the battlefield of Bugsters and civilians.
"Ugh, I see what he meant now…" Weiss said as she stumbled for a step.
"Be careful, I don't know what you guys can do against the virus without causing harm to the host body, but I think I know someone who can help you guys." I said, taking out the Ex-Aid Ride Watch. I twisted the front plate of the ride watch before pressing in the activation button, the watch face coming to life as a rush of energy spread throughout my body.
{EX-AID!}
I rolled my shoulders as Parado formed back outside my body. "Parado, help Team RWBY. I'll go after Kuroto. They're going to need your help to separate the virus from the infected hosts."
"Hah… This will be a fun game then." Said Parado as he raised his arms into the air, as energy items spawned around the field. "We'll handle this, get going Bryce!"
"Got it!" I said, turning around as I charged towards the gate.
"Now then…" Parado began, as he looked at the now charging hoard of Bugsters. "Who's first?"
"Great, more bugsters!" I said, hopping over the stone wall on the west side of the property, as two bugster mooks stumbled towards two thoroughly terrified employees of the Dan Foundation. I cut in between the two and punched one of the bugsters back before kicking the second one off its feet. "Get moving, I'll hold them off!" I shouted, looking back at the two employees. They nodded before quickly getting the hell out of here.
I turned back to face my opponents as the two mooks stood back up. "Alright then, let's go." I said, taking the Zi-O Ride Watch off of the Holder. I twisted the face plate and pushed down on the button, watching as the Ride Watch activated before slotting it into the right slot of the driver.
{ZI-O!}
I raised my arms up as I got into position as the holographic clock formed behind me. "HENSHIN!" I shouted, swinging my left arm down as I spun the driver around. I raised my arms into an X before bringing them down as the henshin began.
[RIDER TIME!]
{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}
"Let's go!" I shouted, extending my open hand to the side as the Zikan Girade materialized next to me.
[ZIKAN GIRADE!]
[KEN!]
I closed my hand around my weapon as the two mooks got back to their feet. "This shouldn't take too long…" I said, slotting the Ex-Aid Ride Watch into the Zikan Girade. "Kimewaza…!"
[FINISH TIME!]
I grabbed the handle of the blade with my left hand, as I pulled the sword up two handed, sparks of green and pink energy forming around the blade. "Let's go!" I shouted, pulling down on the trigger as I swung out at the two bugsters, launching the built up energy at them in a wave.
{EX-AID}
[GIRI GIRI SLASH!]
The two bugsters almost immediately exploded upon contact with the attack. I stood up to a stand and pulled the Ex-Aid Ride Watch out of my sword as the dust settled, showing two Employees of the Dan Foundation lying on the ground.
"Oh shit…" I muttered as I ran over to the two, pulling out the Zi-O Watch as my henshin deactivated. I placed my index finger under one of their chins, and was rewarded with the pulsation of a heartbeat. "Oh good, they're breathing…"
I stood up and looked at the main building in front of me. Having gotten a much better look up close it was probably the most japanese looking house in all of Vale, a style I found out earlier was derived from the style commonly used in Mistral.
"Well… I have a few options…" i said to myself aloud. "...Dumb idea, but I could go up and ask for a job from him…"
"You're interested in serving Dan Kuroking?" Asked a female voice.
"Huh?" I turned my head to look at the woman standing next to me. I blinked, before breaking out in shock as I backpedaled. "GAH! When did you get there!?"
"Oh, just now! What's your name?" She asked.
"...Bryce… Bryce Bridged…" I said, looking at the bugster standing opposite of me.
"It's nice to meet you! I'm Poppy Pipopapo!" Said Poppy, spinning around.
I blinked as I looked at her. On the outside, I was mildly confused. On the inside…
'HOW THE HELL ARE YOU HERE!?'
HOW? HOW IS SHE HERE!? DIDN'T SHE GET ERASED WITH THE REST OF EX-AID'S TIMELINE!? BETTER YET, WHY THE HELL ARE THERE BUGSTERS EVERYWHERE!?
"Um, hello?"
"Eh? Oh… uh, sorry… spaced out." I said, taking a step back as she hand leaned in a bit too close towards me. "Right, I don't suppose you'd be able to introduce me to your uh… boss? King? Whatever you refer to him by?"
"What is this commission?" Asked a voice as I leaned to the right to look past Poppy's shoulder. "It appears that there are those who would oppose my dominion."
"Dan Kuroking!" Poppy said as she turned around, looking at a figure clad in gold laced robes that was walking down the main staircase towards us. "This is Bryce, he says he wants to work for you!"
"So… You're Dan Kuroking?" I asked, keeping a level head as I looked at Kuroto.
"That is correct. I am Kuroto Dan, but upon gaining this newfound power, that name is merely an echo…" Dan Kuroking said, slumping his body forwards. "Now I have become…"
Dan Kuroking leaned his back up, his arms held out wide as he proclaimed his new name to the heavens. "DAN KUROKING!"
I felt a sudden chill run down my spine as Dan let a smile form on his face, before his body began to twitch with orange energy. "I AM THE KING!" He proclaimed, before the orange energy in his body began to turn to a dark purple, slowly engulfing him before releasing in a concentrated blast, forcing me to raise my arms to hold my ground.
I lowered my arms as I watched a rather familiar, yet distorted sight meet me, as a Purple Another Ex-Aid emerged from the smoke, the year 2016 displayed across his chest. "So… you wish to serve me? Then prove your worth!" Another Gemn called out, as he took a step towards me, with his hand outstretched. "Only those who have survived this have any right to serve me, all others are nothing more than simple peons!"
"Oh come on…" I muttered to myself, before Another Gemn's hand landed on my chest, and then, searing pain.
Wave after wave of what I saw to be different strains of the bugster virus rolled off my body, each one more painful than the last, before I felt my connection with Parado tug, and felt a red hot pain flare up through my body as the invading virus was cleansed and nullified. My eyes shone red for a moment, before a wave of air launched off my body, knocking back Another Gemn.
I stumbled as I regained my footing. I looked back up at Another Gemn, before a challenging smirk worked it's way onto my face. "So… Do I pass?"
"Note to self, ow…" I muttered, leaning up against a wall as I let out a breath. "Thanks for the assist, Parado…"
I let out a sigh as a mass of blue and red pixels flew out of my body, forming together in a matter of seconds as Parado leaned against the wall once he had materialized. "You really want to go through this plan?"
"I do." I answered, pushing off the wall. "It's the best way of figuring out everything, and I already got a decent plan on how to take him down."
"All right then." Parado said with a smirk, before he snapped his head to the side as he looked down the hall. "Someone's coming."
I pointed my fist towards Parado, who quickly bumped his knuckles against mine as he transformed into his virus state and merged with me. My eyes lit up red for a moment before dying down as I looked down the hall.
"Ah! There you are!" I blinked before turning around as Poppy ran up to me. "I need you to come with me quickly for a moment!"
"Huh?" I let out a breath, before the bugster grabbed my arm and pulled me along as she ran off down the hallway. "Woah!"
"I've brought him, Dan Kuroking!" Poppy said, pulling me forward by the arm as we walked up to the main balcony of the estate.
"Good." Kuroto said, turning to face me. "It appears an opportunity to prove your worth has arrived. Deal with them."
I walked up to the balcony, taking a look over the railing to see four very familiar blobs of red, white, black and yellow. "As you wish." I said, taking out the Zi-O Ride Watch as I hopped down from the balcony towards Team RWBY.
{ZI-O!}
"HENSHIN!" I shouted, slotting the Ride Watch and spinning the Ziku Driver around, activating the transformation as I continued my descent.
[RIDER TIME!]
{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}
I slammed into the ground in a crouched position as the Zi-O armour formed around me, neutralizing the impact of the landing. I stood up, my visor lit up as it connected with my helmet. "So… Who's first?"
"Bryce? What are you doing?" Asked Weiss.
"It's too hard of a story to explain, so I won't bother. Come." I said, holding my hand out.
[ZIKAN GIRADE!]
[KEN!]
I spun my sword around in my hand as I stared at the four huntresses in training. I didn't really want to fight them, but I needed to keep up appearances for now.
I had one shot at this, and this was a needed step.
Before any of us could move, the sound of squealing tires screeched out a red sports car pulled into the main entrance.
"The Tridoron?" I asked, before my eyes widened behind my helmet. "Oh shit…"
The door was quickly opened as Shinnosuke stepped out. "Girls, Stand down! I'll be taking things from here. Belt-San!" Shinnosuke shouted, placing the Drive Driver on his waist.
"Okay! Start Your Engine!" Belt-San said, as Shinnosuke twisted the ignition.
"Shinnosuke, I'm afraid I can't allow you to pass." I said, taking out the Cross-Z Ride Watch.
Shinnosuke's eyes narrowed, before he pulled out the Type Speed shift car. "Then I don't have much of a choice then, do I?" He asked, before flicking the shift car and slotting it into the brace on his left arm. He ratcheted the shift car forwards as the Drive Driver lit up. "HENSHIN!"
[DRIVE! TYPE: SPEED!]
I won't lie when I say how much it took for me to now gap in awe at the transformations of past riders, it never gets old. I rolled my neck slowly, feeling several pops along the base of my skull. "Let's go." I said, twisting the Cross-Z Ride Watch before pushing down on the activation button.
{Cross-Z!}
I inserted the ride watch into the left side of the Ziku Driver, before quickly slamming down on the release button of the driver and spinning it around for a full 360.
[RIDER TIME!]
{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}
[ARMOUR TIME!]
{WAKE UP BURNING! CROSS-Z!}
I pulled the Zikan Girade up in front of me as the Cross-Z armour formed around me,
Drive responded in kind, gripping both sides of the handle-ken. I let out a breath before charging forwards, kicking off the ground in a burst of speed as I swung my sword to the side, my blade clashing against Drive's. "What's gotten into you!?" Drive asked, knocking my sword to the side before bringing his sword up, twisting the steering wheel once.
[Turn!]
Drive slammed his hand against the center of the wheel, as a car horn blared out from the blade.
[Drift Kaiten!]
I brought my sword up to block, but it was knocked to the side by Drive's initial strike, before he spun around, his blade connected with the Cross-Z armour multiple times, sending me flying back.
I landed on my back, before quickly rolling to a stand, by sword held at my side. "Alright, I guess we're not playing then…" I muttered, before quickly pulling the Cross-Z Ride Watch off my belt and placing it into the Zikan Girade.
[FINISH TIME!]
"Million slash…" I muttered to myself, pulling the trigger on the handle as my blade erupted into a wave of blue fire, which I quickly swung towards Drive.
{CROSS-Z!}
[GIRI! GIRI! SLASH!]
It was almost instantaneous, as Drive suddenly vanished from view, avoiding my attack entirely. I blinked behind my helmet as I stood up, before the sounds of Krim Steinbelt's voice rang out through the air.
[HISSATSU!]
[FULL THROTTLE!]
[SPEED!]
I felt a sudden force slam into my back, before multiple more kicks connected with my armour from all sides as Drive rebounded all around me before he flew towards me once more, slamming his boot into my chest as I was sent flying back, my armour disappearing as I hit the ground and rolled.
I let out a gasp as I struggled to my feet, before two hands grabbed onto the front of my shirt, pulling me up to see Drive's helmet. "Why? Why are you doing this?"
I let out a light chuckle, before giving a look to the side to see Kuroto looking over at me. I looked back at Drive, before pulling my face over to the side of his helmet. "I have a plan, I'm only faking it. Play along, I have this under control." I whispered, before pulling back. I raised my foot up and slammed it into Drive's tire, forcing his grip off me as I took a step back. "Wouldn't you like to know!" I shouted aloud, grinning as I pushed down on the Ex-Aid Ride Watch's activation button.
{Ex-Aid!}
My eyes glowed red, putting on quite a show for my temporary teammates. I blinked suddenly, before a crowd of bugster grunts ran past me, charging at the 5 present individuals.
"What the-!?" Weiss asked as she readied her rapier.
"Everyone, get back, we'll regroup later!" Drive shouted, giving me a subtle nod as he forced the four huntresses in training back.
I let out a breath as I turned to face an approaching Kuroto. "Thank you for the assist." I said, bowing slightly.
"I expected better from you, I wasn't expecting to face such resistance." Kuroto said, looking down at me.
I raised myself to a stand as I looked to the right. "Drive will be a problem… Enough of one that I think… You might have some trouble, even at your current level of power."
I held my ground as Kuroto glared at me fiercely, a look that protrayd every intent to murder me if I didn't explain myself right at this moment. "But… I might have a solution… Not here though, too… open, if you understand."
"Very well… show your king what it is you're referring too." Kuroto ordered.
"I believe I know a way to increase your powers." I said, kneeling in front of Kuroto. We had arrived in the throne room, and now was as good as time as any to get things rolling. "It involves one of these…"
I held out a blank Ride Watch towards him, taking some subtle notes from Woz as I held it out to him like a crown.
"And what exactly will this do?" He asked, picking the item up.
"To put it bluntly, when you… synchronize with it, the Ride Watch will unleash a new kind of power inside of you." I said, looking up at Kuroto.
"Is that so?" Kuroto asked, looking at the Watch. "...I see no reason to believe what you are saying, in fact I have half the mind to execute you after your performance earlier."
"My lord, allow me to ask you one question then?" I said, bowing once more. Here we go. "If you do this, you'll be able to embrace the power on the same scale as the gods."
I looked up with a slight smirk. "And what exactly is a king to a god?"
There was a brief moment of silence, before a bright purple light shone from the Ride Watch, as Kuroto looked down on the now formed Gemn Ride Watch. "From this moment on… I am no longer Dan Kuroking! I am Shin Dan Kuruto Da!"
That… was my cue.
I kicked off the ground as I swung my left leg up, swinging it into the back of Kuroto's hand as he let go of the Ride Watch with a startled cry of pain. I looked up and raised my hand up, grabbing the fallen Ride Watch in my left hand. "Oh… there we go…" I said, twisting the Ride Watch in my hand. "You would not BELIEVE how long it took to set that up."
"You insolent-!" Kuroto growled out. "You dare defy a GOD!?"
"Well, at least that's back to normal…" I muttered, placing the Gemn Ride Watch onto the Holder. I brought my Zi-O Ride Watch up to my side, twisting the dial. "Let's get this over with."
Before I could push the button down, Kuroto suddenly froze, as a glitchy field appeared around me, a sight I had seen before. "Time jacker!" I shouted, turning around to find a hooded figure standing behind me, giving me a very sarcastic slow clap.
"I must say, that was a very pleasant surprise you had in store there." The hooded figure said, his voice seemingly filtered through some kind of voice modifier or changer. He lifted his head up, showing off a mask of white and pink, eerily similar to Zi-O's helmet, the three Japanese Characters for Rider clear as day on the front. "Using Kuroto's madness against him, not bad Zi-O."
"Who are you!" I asked, keeping my eyes on him.
"Who? Me?" He asked, tilting his head. "Right, introductions… Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sougo Tokiwa. It's a pleasure to meet you."
I felt myself pause as I took the name in. "Sougo? Why are you working with the Time Jackers?" I asked.
"Oh, simple story really, I was bored back home and Swartz came along and gave me an opportunity to… well do all this." Sougo motioned around him with his arms. "That said, it also lets me focus on my true goals, aside from Swartz' goals of course."
"And those are?" I asked, placing a hand against my driver on my waist.
"...The destruction of Oma Zi-O, of course." He said, as I felt a glare so intense suddenly land down on me. "And there's really only one way to beat him… And I feel like, I have the best shot at that."
I let out a grunt as I pushed down on the Zi-O Ride Watch's activation button.
{ZI-O!}
"Ooh, did I scare you there? Don't worry, Zi-O, you're not my problem yet. You keep doing what you're doing, and I'll see you around later. Until then, Chao!" Sougo flicked his right hand out beside his head, before I felt time stop suddenly for me as well, as he suddenly disappeared from view.
"Dammit!" I shouted, gritting my teeth.
{GEMN!}
I blinked as I turned around, the form of Another Gemn standing behind me. "Oh… Right, you." I said, slotting the Zi-O Ride Watch into the driver, pushing down on the release button as the holographic clock formed behind me. "HENSHIN!" I shouted, pulling the left side of the driver to the right, as the driver sounded out a bell as Gemn crashed against the watch bands that formed around me, morphing my armour onto me, and sending him back.
[RIDER TIME!]
{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}
"Alright, let's fell a god then." I said, charging at Another Gemn, grabbing onto him as I pulled him into the air, sending the both of us through the nearby window as we soared down towards the courtyard. I let go and flipped myself right side up, landing on the ground upright as Another Gemn crashed down onto the ground.
"Huh, Bryce!?" I heard a familiar voice ask to my right, as I turned to see Ruby and the rest of her team off to the side.
"Hey guys, real quick, keep those Bugsters off me if any show up!" I shouted over to them, before turning back to Another Gemn just in time to see him throw one of his fists at my face. "Woah!" I leaned back, falling onto my back, narrowly avoiding the attack before I quickly rolled over myself back onto my feet. "Alright then, let's do this."
I pulled the Gemn Ride Watch off the holder, before I twisted the dial and activated the dark Ride Watch.
{GEMN!}
"You dare use God's power against him!?" Another Gemn roared out.
"Yeah, get used to it." I said, slapping the Ride Watch into the left side of the driver. "Grade 0, Henshin."
I slammed down on the release button and spun the driver around, watching as the Gemn Armour formed on my left.
[RIDER TIME!]
{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}
The armour split apart, flying into the air before quickly latching onto the Zi-O armour, forming over it as I walked forwards. Purple Japanese characters slammed into the armoured helmet of the Gemn Armour, forming the word Gemn over the visor.
[ARMOUR TIME!]
{LEVEL UP! GEMN!}
I rolled my neck, throwing my arms out to the side before getting into a combat stance. "I'll clear this game even if I have to use continues." I quoted, looking at Another Gemn standing opposite me.
(Play Kamen Rider Zi-O Battle Theme [REJOICE!])
"Rejoice!" I let out a sigh with a smile on my face as Woz stepped up to my right. "The one to inherit all Rider Powers… The one and ONLY king, who will rule over the past and the future. And his name is Kamen Rider Zi-O, Gemn Armour. This is the moment he will strike down the usurper!"
"You… have been waiting for that, haven't you?" I asked, tilting my head to look at Woz.
"My lord, I wish you luck." Woz said, stepping back.
"Sure, ignore my question." I muttered, shaking my head.
Unbeknownst to me, the Time Jacker Sougo stood off to the side, watching over the fight. "Well then, let's see how this turns out…" Sougo said to himself, before pulling out a scroll and pushing down on the play button.
(Play Wish In The Dark - Hiroyuki Takami)
I blinked as the familiar inset song rang through the air. "I didn't… Eh, whatever." I said, smiling under my helmet as I charged forwards, bringing my fist up to my side before throwing a fist into Another Gemn's chest, an exclamation mark of 'Hit!' appearing immediately after.
I brought my other arm up and did the same, electing another 'Hit' marker before continuing my barrage, sending punch after punch into Another Gemn's body.
"Enough of this!" Another Gemn shouted, before he threw his arm out, spawning a large group of Bugster mooks. "Get him!"
"Gonna have to do better than that!" I shouted, holding my arm out to the side as my sword formed in my hand.
[ZIKAN GIRADE!]
[KEN!]
I swung my blade through each Bugster that came at me, quickly dispatching one after another. Unfortunately, for every one I took down, another seemed to appear in its place. I let out a grunt as I hopped back away from the onslaught of Bugsters, before two dropped in front of me suddenly, an action accompanied by the sounds of rifle shots flying through the air.
"What the-!?" I snapped my head to the side to see Ruby pulling the slide back on Crescent Rose, loading another bullet into the chamber. Weiss and Blake ran up next to her, readying their weapons.
"We got these guys!" Ruby shouted, as a yellow streak passed by me, before the sound of a shotgun blast went off to my left.
"Come get some!" Yang shouted, slamming her knuckles together as she punched one of the other Bugsters in the crowd.
"Thanks for the assist!" I shouted, running past the crowd of mooks towards Another Gemn. The Another Rider let out a roar as it posed dramatically, before it followed suit, charging at me. I ducked to the right, slamming my fist down on the top button of the Zikan Girade.
[TIME CHARGE! 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… ZERO TIME!]
I tensed my muscles, gripping my sword tighter as the countdown ticked on. I brought the sword to my side before pulling the trigger, swinging the blade upwards, striking hard against Another Gemn's torso, knocking him back.
[GIRI! GIRI! GIRI!]
I rolled my neck as I tossed the sword aside. "Alright, let's end this." I said, pushing down on the activation buttons on both Ride Watches slotted into my driver.
{FINISH TIME!}
{GEMN!}
I slammed my fist down on the release button, before grabbing both sides of the driver and pulling, spinning the driver around as I crouched down.
{CRITICAL!}
{TIME BREAK!}
I had to stiffle a laugh as a purple pipe with the word: Continue, on it appeared before me. I jumped forwards, landing inside of the pipe, before reappearing behind Another Gemn, flying out of another formed pipe as my foot slammed into it's back. I passed by, before another pipe formed and the process repeated.
I slid to a stop behind Another Gemn, before slowly standing up, the sounds of hit markers and explosions behind me made for a decent sound all things considered.
I turned around, watching as Another Gemn fell to the ground, glowing bright before Kuroto returned back to normal. "No… I can't lose… I am… I am a god…!" He shouted, reaching out towards the Another Gemn Watch that sat in front of him. His hand grazed the edge of it, before it suddenly shattered, breaking into a million pieces. Kuroto looked on in shock, before his injuries finally caught up to him and he passed out.
I let out a sigh as I pulled the Gemn Ride Watch and the Zi-O Ride watch off my belt. I placed the Zi-O Ride Watch back onto the holder, before flipping the Gemn Ride Watch up into the air. "Well, that ended pretty good, all things considered."
There was a sudden flash of red, before I felt something heavy crash into me, knocking me onto the ground. "Ugh! What the…" I blinked looking up at Ruby. "Ruby?"
"Are you okay? You're not evil anymore are you? Don't worry, I'll beat the red eyes out of you Bryce!" Ruby shouted, raising one of her arms up.
"I was faking! Don't punch me please!" I shouted, raising my empty hands up in surrender.
"Oh…" Ruby nodded, before quickly moving up to a stand in a flurry of rose petals.
I let out a sigh as I stood up, dusting my clothes down as I looked over at the rest of Team RWBY. "Huh, you guys made short work of those guys, huh?"
"Yep, though a few did kinda go poof when you took this guy down." Ruby said, lightly kicking Kuroto in the side.
"Yeah, I figured as much there." I said, rolling my neck. "Right… We should… probably call Shinnosuke to come take this guy in…"
The courtyard was empty, marked with fresh police tape around the perimeter saying: Keep out.
There, off to the side, unnoticed by everyone, was the Gemn Ride Watch, discarded and forgotten during the cleanup. A hand of red and yellow suddenly reached down and grabbed it, pulling the Ride Watch off the ground.
"I finally found you..." The male voice said, clenching down on the Ride Watch. "For the sake of the future, I will destroy you, Ohma Zi-O..."
Off to the side, Sougo stood, watching the man in red armour walk off. "And here you are at last. I was wondering where you were, Geiz…"