(Author's Note)
Hey guys, welcome back!
And hey, I didn't take forever this time! Well, I had this done in advance so it doesn't really count but hey, all the same, right?
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, I did a bit of perspective shifting this chapter so I hope it isn't too jarring or anything.
Right, onto reviews!
To Cross-Z Magma: You spelled the name right, don't worry. I have seen Zero Two, and honestly I've been digging it for a while now, that henshin jingle probably helped in that regard though.
A lot of the reviews this time were mainly speculation so I'll refrain from talking and let the story do that.
I'd also like to give a big thanks to a friend of mine who Beta'd this chapter for me.
And with all that done, let's get on with the story!
"Ozpin? Did you need me for something?" I asked, walking out of the elevator into the headmaster's office. I had been here a couple of times at this point, but the weird internal clocktower aesthetic was not doing anything for me.
"Ah, yes. Thank you for coming on such a short notice." Ozpin said, as he looked away from the other individual in the office. "I wanted to have a few words with you about something, but since you're here I believe it would be a good idea to introduce you to a friend of mine. I do believe this will be your, first, meeting together."
"Yo! Name's Kisaragi Gentaro!" Said Gentaro as he stood up from his chair and turned to face me. I blinked owlishly at the man who would befriend everyone as he walked up to me. "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-" Ozpin began.
"As the Student Guidance Counselor, I know, I've seen him… in the halls." I said, looking over at Ozpin with a look that both asked, 'What is going on?', and, 'Please tell me this isn't happening'. "Well it's… nice to meet you personally. I'm Bryce Bridged"
I extended my right hand out, and in perfect sync with Gentaro, did the best friend handshake with him. I had too much on my mind to have my brain shutdown from fanboying this time.
"Right. Well I'd love to stick around longer, but I have some things to go over, and I need to stop by Professor Kiryu's Classroom to ask him to come see me later." Gentaro said, nodding at Ozpin.
"Oh, I can let him know." I said. "I have to speak with him anyways at this point so I can take care of that for you."
Gentaro smiled at me. "Thanks! My schedule is pretty packed right now, and I have an appointment with a second year in a few minutes, so I gotta get going." He said, running past me towards the elevator. "I'll see you around!"
I waited before the elevator closed before turning back to Ozpin. "I take it… THAT, was what you wanted me to come here for?"
"Kamen Rider Fourze's history has been altered." Ozpin said, taking a sip from his coffee mug. "I believe we both know what must have caused such a change."
"An Another Rider… Great…" I said, shaking my head.
Ozpin tilted his head. "Speaking of, why didn't you give Gentaro a blank Ride Watch when he left?"
"...I don't know, nerves probably. Also, in case it wasn't obvious, I'm not exactly fond of ripping the powers of my idols out of their being..." I said, crossing my arms.
"That is a fair point, but I would get on that. While we have been unable to catch footage of the Another Rider itself, it is here at Beacon, so I believe all of us will feel safer with the Fourze Watch in your possession."
"Right, right… I'll ask Sen-er, Professor Kiryu to drop the Blank Ride Watch with Gentaro." I said.
"Very well. Now, onto the separate matter we have to discuss." Ozpin said, motioning to the chair opposite him. "Please, take a seat."
I sat down, sitting up straight as I listened to Ozpin. "I do not believe we've had a specific conversation surrounding you yourself."
"...I'm… sorry?"
"As you know, I'm making an exception for your acceptance here at Beacon." Ozpin said. "It is not the first time I've done so, I've made numerous others in earlier years and another this year, but yours is different."
"It's because I'm a Rider, correct?" I asked.
"Partially. The other is your origin." Ozpin continued. "Like Professor Kiryu and Banjou, the three of you are not of this world. I confirmed this from those two when Professor Kiryu provided proof in the form of his driver and footage of this 'Skywall', something I believe you are also aware of."
"It was the direct result of Pandora's Box's incomplete activation." I said, before blinking. "But, that's not exactly important with my background."
"I thought not, especially considering your overall knowledge of other Kamen Riders." Ozpin said, crossing his arms. "So that begs the question, who are you, Bryce Bridged. And jumping off that, where did you come from?"
"...You know, normally these questions would make someone feel very uncomfortable." I said bluntly.
"But you don't." Ozpin noted with a smile.
"I don't have much to hide, and the only reason I do hide that much is because no one would normally believe me." I said.
"Not even your teammates?"
"Woz and Parado already know, so it's not hard to really explain things to them."
"I wasn't referring to them." Ozpin said, as I blinked. "While your teammates apart of Team ZI-O are indeed your team, as I said earlier, until you have your final member of your team you and by extension the rest of your team are considering reserve members for Team RWBY."
"Okay, first, Team ZI-O?" I asked.
"It is a placeholder for the time being. I believe your teammate Woz suggested it." Ozpin noted.
"Which means that's probably what'll be when I do have a last team member, great." I said with a sigh. "Okay, as for the whole reserve member thing… Ruby and Yang are both aware, but I don't know Weiss or Blake well enough to really reveal everything to the two of them yet. Weiss probably won't believe me off the back, and Blake seems sceptical from what I've seen."
"Both understandable observations."
"I'll let them know, but now isn't the right time." I said.
"Very well. But, I do believe we've gotten off track." Ozpin said, taking another sip of his drink.
"Right, sorry…" I shook my head. "Well… To put it bluntly… I'm from a world where Kamen Riders are a work of fiction. But I should note I've never specifically seen this world specifically in any of those shows. It's possible this world might've also existed in some capacity in my world as well, but I never saw it specifically."
"...Interesting…" Ozpin noted, taking another sip. "You'll forgive me for being a bit sceptic however. Believing in Professor Kiryu was easier due to him having photo and video evidence to back him up."
I shook my head with a smile. "It's weird to see Decade seeing the idea of other worlds as far fetched…" I said aloud.
"That is a question I must ask. You speak as if you know me, but at the same time you say that Remnant wasn't one of these worlds you've seen in fiction on your planet. Who are you referring to then?" Ozpin asked.
"Well… On my world, Kamen Rider Decade was the 10th anniversary of Heisei Era Kamen Riders, so Kuuga onwards." I said, as Ozpin lowered his cup away from his face, his eyes locked onto me. "The Kamen Rider Decade I know is a man named 'Tsukasa Kadoya', he was a man who travelled through multiple different AR worlds, or alternate reality worlds."
"I see." Ozpin said. "So then in this instance it would be accurate to say that from your perspective I've obtained this 'Tsukasa's' power?"
"Well, you've obtained the Power of Decade, not exactly Tsukasa's power, since he had the ability to travel to different AR Worlds, a power separate to his Decade Abilities." I said. "But moving past that, I can show proof. Like the music I play to hype myself when transforming into a Legend Rider Armour, those are either the main openings to the show or insert songs. I can show-"
"No, it's fine. You've gone into a lot of detail for something like this. Plus, I've lived a long time, at some point you learn to tell when people are lying." Ozpin said, taking another sip from his cup. "Alright, I believe I've kept you long enough. I believe you have someone you need to meet."
"Right, I'll be off." I said, standing up.
"Mr. Bridged, one last thing." Ozpin began. "...No, it's nothing. Thank you for your time."
"Er… Yeah…" I nodded, before walking towards the elevator, the doors closing behind me as Ozpin was left alone in his office.
Ozpin let out a sigh, looking down into the reflection of himself over his coffee. "I'm surprised to see you here so soon." Ozpin said, looking up to the right, at the small golden yellow bat flying next to him.
"It was quicker for me to stop by myself and give the update while my partner keeps watch." The bat said. "As of now, nothing seems to be of concern."
"That is good to know. And is there any news on-"
"Nothing yet, unfortunately. If we were to be in contact with her, we'd let you know." The bat said.
"Very well. Keep up the good work, Kivat. Relay that message to your partner as well." Ozpin said, watching as the bat flew out the window.
"...Okay, so we might have a problem." I started, opening the door to Sento's classroom, well, what would have normally been Professor Peach's classroom if it wasn't for a leave of absence from said professor.
"Hm?" Sento looked up from his desk. I blinked as I looked at what was in his hands, the Genius Full Bottle, in it's yellow and blue colouring…
"Uh… Wasn't that greyed out when you activated the white pandora panel?" I asked, pointing at the Full Bottle.
Sento nodded, twisting his final form upgrade in the air. "That's right, while I've been unable to transform, it seems I've been able to still utilize the Genius Bottle itself for it's other usage… Although, that's just from what I can gather."
"But… Why is it back to normal?" I asked.
Sento leaned forwards. "I'm not entirely sure." He said, placing it down on the table. "But I discovered it like this a small bit ago."
"And…?" I crossed my arms.
"I… Think it might have something to do with the Build Ride Watch." Sento said. I blinked, taking the item in question out. "I didn't notice until just recently, but I was tinkering with the Ride Watch near the Genius bottle… Perhaps that's what caused it to regain its power?"
"But you weren't able to transform with it?" I noted, putting away the watch.
"Which is what has me confused…" Sento said, standing up. "But anyways, what was it you needed from me?"
"Two things." I said. "First, wanted to confirm, you're coming with us for the Forever Fall trip, right?"
Sento nodded. "Yeah, it was on the list Professor Peach left for me. I know Goodwitch is supervising with me as well, since it is still a Grimm infested area."
"Good to know." I said, nodding. I let out a sigh before shaking my head. "Now the OTHER problem we have is… well… I think we might have a new Another Rider on our hands."
Sento narrowed his eyes. "What did you find that suggests this?"
"Well…" I began. "...I just made friends with Gentaro Kisaragi… Again… On THAT note, he is looking for you."
"Alright." Sento nodded, moving over to the door.
"Oh!" I raised my hand up slightly. "When you see him, give him this." I said, holding out a blank Ride Watch.
"A Ride Watch?" Sento asked, looking up at me.
"Look, I just met the guy, well, he just met me in this case, and I don't really feel comfortable asking him to hold onto that until it changes colour." I said, letting Sento take the Watch out of my hands. "So… Just tell him it's an experiment you're doing and that as soon as it changes colour he needs to give it back to you, so… you can then give it back to me…"
"...That sounds needlessly complicated." Sento said.
"Yes, it is." I nodded. "Right, you have places to be, I have lunch to go eat." I said, walking out of the door. "Talk later, K thanks Bye!"
"Did you really just dump that on him?" Parado asked as I sat down with my lunch. I gave a sigh as I looked over at the rest of the table, Teams RWBY and JNPR, minus the J were here.
"Look, he was heading Gentaro's way anyways." I noted, sighing.
"But you were with Mr. Kisaragi to begin with…" Blake pointed out, eyes glued to her book.
"...Stop derailing my argument with facts and logic, Blake." I said, looking over at the girl. I let out a sigh, before turning around to face the rest of Team JNPR. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask, where's Jaune been the last week or so?"
"Take a look over there." Nora said, tilting her head over to a table on the other side of the cafeteria.
"What…?" I blinked in confusion as I looked over at Jaune, sitting next to Cardin and the rest of Team CRDL. "Why is Jaune…?"
"Who knows, but he's been coming back late to the dorms these past couple days." Ren said, as I turned back to face him.
"He looks miserable." I noted.
Ren looked to the side and nodded slightly.
There was a sudden crash to the left, and I turned my head to see the blonde in question stumble against one of the caf tables. "He's… in a rush…" I muttered to myself, narrowing my eyes. He didn't look all that great. "...I'll be right back."
I stood up from the table, following after Jaune. "Where are you going…?" I asked myself quietly as I followed after the blonde leader of JNPR. He slowed to a stop finally after following him for about 3 minutes, just inside the locker room.
"Jaune?" I asked, as the guy suddenly jumped as he turned around to face me. "Wow, okay, you look… like shit."
"B-bryce?" Jaune asked with a grimace before he stumbled backwards.
My eyes widened in alarm as I took a step forward. "Hey, are you okay?"
"G-get back!" He shouted, taking another step back. I paused, as he looked up at me in worry. "I… I can't…"
He grimaced before turning to face one of the lockers. I followed his gaze, before the guy threw himself into one of them. My eyes widened as I ran over to the locker, only to stop as the locker suddenly took off, launching into the air.
"...That… that's not good…" I muttered, before taking my scroll out. "Ozpin gave me an app to use to track the last known positions of the rocket lockers last time Jaune got shot through one… There, alright."
I keyed one of the other lockers with the same coordinates, before opening the locker, stepping inside as I pushed a button on my phone. A stray thought occurred to me, these things weren't really made for people…
And I didn't have Aura…
"Oh this is gonna suuuuUUUUUU-"
"Ow…" I muttered, falling onto the grass of the forest as the locker door opened unceremoniously, the position of my rocket locker a few feet from Jaune's… The… Empty Locker that… Should've had Jaune in it…
"O-okay?" I pushed myself to a stand, taking my driver out and placing it against my waist. I didn't see Jaune anywhere, and this was still a forest FULL of Grimm.
[ZIKU DRIVER!]
"Alright, now, If I were a lovable blonde idiot where would I be?" I asked aloud, before I felt something impact by back, sending me onto my front. "Gah!"
I rolled onto my back, looking up to see a white humanoid monster, two orange zig zags traveling down its front, and the word 'Fourze' on it's shoulder.
"Oh… Found the Another Rider." I said, before rolling once more to the right as Another Fourze brought it's boot down on my previous location. "Hey, you wouldn't have happened to see my friend would you? Jaune? Yeah, his name's short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, apparently the ladies love it-WOAH!"
I jumped back as Another Fourze took another swing at me. I blinked, it's movements were surprisingly… slow, almost restrained somehow. "Right, I guess not." I said, taking out the Zi-O Ride Watch. "Guess that means it's fight time…"
{ZI-O!}
I slotted the Ride Watch into my driver, before pressing down on the release button, waving my arms into the air before I was in position. "Henshin!" I shouted, flicking my left hand before throwing my arm back, knocking the back of my hand into the driver, sending the main mechanism into a spin.
[RIDER TIME!]
{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}
"Can't do much against him right now, just need to get him to untransform. I can worry about dealing with the Another Watch when I have the Fourze Watch." I said to myself rolling my shoulders. I held my hand out to the side summoning the Zikan Girade.
[ZIKAN GIRADE!]
[KEN!]
I swung forwards, my blade scraping against the front of Another Fourze, sparks flew up, but the Another Rider barely flinched. "...This was a mistake." I noted, before the Another Rider grabbed onto my sword and disarmed me, knocking me back a few steps. "Hey, that's mine!"
Another Fourze ran forwards, swinging my sword at me. It was surprising, he was suddenly a lot faster now, and a lot more adept than with his fists…
"Alright then…" I muttered, jumping back as I pulled out the Build Ride Watch. "Let's try this!"
{BUILD!}
I slotted the Ride Watch, before quickly pressing down on the release and threw my arm to the right, spinning the driver around.
[RIDER TIME!]
{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}
[ARMOUR TIME!]
{BEST MATCH! BUILD!}
I adjusted my grip on the drill arm I had in my hand now. "You know, this feels kinda backwards!" I noted, swinging my sword against Another Fourze's front, sending sparks into the air and pushing the Another Rider back.
"Good heavens, would you look at the time." I muttered to myself, before pressing both activation buttons on the equipped Ride Watches.
{FINISH TIME!}
{BUILD!}
I slammed my left fist onto the top of the driver, before pulling the right slot to the left, forcing the driver into a spin as I jumped into the air.
{VORTECH!}
{TIME BREAK!}
I launched towards Another Fourze, energy gathering around my weapon, before I struck the Another Rider, sliding past him as he exploded behind me.
I turned around to look at the defeated Another Rider, before my eyes widened in shock. "Jaune!?"
I pulled both Ride Watches off my belt, reverting my transformation as I ran over to my friend. He struggled to a stand, before looking over at me. "B-bryce?"
"Hey, I got you…" I said, helping him up.
"I… I'm sorry…"
"It's fine… I figure that's what had you running out of the Caf earlier?" I asked, throwing one of his arms over my shoulder.
"Yeah… It's been… happening for the past week randomly… It's been a few days since the last… transformation…" Jaune said.
I looked over at my friend. "Hey… You should probably have Emu look over you…"
"I'm… I'm fine… I don't want to worry my teammates…" Jaune said, wincing slightly. I watched as he glowed, his aura quickly patching him up. "See?"
"No offence Jaune, but…" I began, as he took his arm off my shoulder. "You're doing a pretty crap job of not worrying your teammates already."
Jaune looked off to the side.
"Hey man, what's going on? With Cardin, I mean." I asked. "Just last week, you tolerated him, yeah, but now you're just accepting his bullying shit, and not to mention you're also hanging out with him practically 24/7-"
"It's none of your business!" Jaune practically shouted.
"I… Sorry, I'm just… Concerned." I said, letting out a sigh. "...How did… this happen, the Another Rider thing, not the Cardin thing?"
"...I was… Outside, when a man in a purple coat approached me." Jaune said, looking over at me. "He took out a black… Ride Watch, that's what you call them, right? He took one out of his coat and… it's inside me now, and it's transforming me at Random. I didn't want this, but I can't…"
"Look… I'm about to get something that I'll be able to use to fix… that." I said, motioning to Jaune. "So… for now, do your best to keep that power down… I won't say a word about what happened just now, alright?"
"...Thanks."
Yeah, it might've been the wrong decision to do so, but Jaune was my friend, and while part of my head was saying a true friend would get into their friend's business to help more…
I've had moments like what he's probably going through, since, you know, high school and middle school were a thing. I know the whole keeping everything bottled up approach.
It doesn't normally work, but trying to snip it this early isn't going to work either. I need to give him a bit of time, either for him to get out of this… funk, for lack of a better term, or for him to get a bit looser with the information so I can work it out with him.
Well, I can think about that later, I got the trip to Forever Fall tomorrow… I'm gonna need some sleep for that…
Jaune wandered the halls of Beacon Academy. He looked fine physically, but he looked like a man who decided to pull an all nighter before an exam. He let out a sigh as he slid down one of the nearby walls. "Hey, you okay?" A voice asked, drawing Jaune's attention upwards towards a man in a grey and white suit, his hair styled in a pompadour. "If you need a seat, I have one you can sit down on."
"Uh, N-no, I'm… fine." Jaune said, quickly scrambling up from his position. "I-I'm sorry, do I know you? I feel like I've seen you before."
"I'm Gentaro!" Gentaro said, slicking his hair back with one of his hands with a smile. "I'm Beacon Academy's Student Guidance Counselor!"
"Oh…" Jaune nodded.
Gentaro smiled, quickly grabbing Jaune by his shoulders as he led the blonde along. "Come on, I have drinks!"
"W-wait-!"
"..." Jaune looked down at the can of 'People like Grapes' sitting in front of him. He looked around, the room wasn't huge like the headmaster's office, but it wasn't too cramped. It was like a living room, or a decent main room of an apartment.
"So… What's eating you up?" Asked Gentaro.
"It's… it's nothing…" Jaune said, looking up towards Gentaro for a moment before looking back down at his drink with a faint glare.
"Come on… You're not doing a good job of hiding it." Gentaro said, leaning forwards with a deadpan look on his face. "My job is to help you guys through whatever it is you're going through."
"I just…" Jaune began, before shutting his mouth as he let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, I just…"
"..." Gentaro leaned back, huffing lightly before he looked up at Jaune with a smirk on his face. "Alright then. How about a deal. Nothing we discuss here will leave this room."
Jaune blinked as he looked up at the guidance counselor. "H-huh?"
Gentaro pulled out his scroll and pressed a button. Jaune heard the sounds of something powering down, and saw the light on the far corner camera turn off. "See? Just you and me."
"...I…"
Gentaro leaned forwards and picked up his own can of 'People like Grapes', cracking it open as he looked down at the can. "You guys are here to learn how to be this world's hope… But most of you are only just at the end of your teens. That's a lot of pressure to put on you kids, so… It's my job to make sure you don't crack under the pressure."
Gentaro took a sip of his drink before placing the can back down. He gave a grin towards Jaune. "When I accepted the job offer from Ozpin, I decided something then and there. I was going to befriend everyone here at this academy. Unlike your other professors, I'm not your teacher first, what I want to be is your friend, because you can only go so far on your own without help… I know this all too well."
Jaune took a deep breath in, before letting it out. "...Ever… ever since I was young, I wanted to be a hero. My father, my grandfather, and his father before him… they were all warriors. All of them were heroes… But…"
"...I was never good enough." Jaune continues, looking down. "And now I've pushed away the only person who held a hand out to me… Not to mention the other mess I'm in now…"
"...Do you know what I think?" Asked Gentaro, running a hand over his hair, smoothing the sides back as he leaned forwards. "I think that's a load of crap!"
"Huh?" Jaune looked up as Gentaro pointed at the blonde.
"You say you were never good enough but look at yourself." Gentaro said. "Leader of Team JNPR, yeah? Sure, maybe you feel like you aren't good enough, but I can tell you no one else believes that. You passed your initiation, so that must mean there was something there that proved you were everything you wanted to be!" Gentaro slapped the side of Jaune's shoulder.
"Most people think that they have to do something on their own to prove their worth." Gentaro said, smiling as he leaned back. "But that's wrong! You're only as strong as your bonds, because those will strengthen you beyond any force of power you could possibly imagine."
"But I…" Jaune began. "...I pushed my teammates away… I was… I was scared, that I wasn't living up to their expectations, that I wasn't good enough to lead them… And when my partner offered to help… I snapped… I thought she was pitying me, and I yelled at her. We… Haven't really spoken much since…"
"...Then make it up to her." Gentaro said. Jaune looked up at the Councilor as the man continued. "Hell, make it up to your TEAM! You messed up. Own up to that and make amends! You may think you're not good enough to lead them, but they wouldn't be offering to help if they didn't think YOU were good enough!"
Gentaro leaned over to Jaune, holding his hand out to Jaune. "Everyone needs a helping hand, and it's hard at first to accept that help, but once you do… You'll find yourself stronger for it!"
Jaune looked up at Gentaro, before holding his hand out. Gentaro smirked, before grabbing Jaune's hand, going through the motions of his personal handshake, much to the confusion of the blonde huntsman in training. "And with that, you have one more bond to help you get stronger!" Gentaro said, smiling as he stood up. "From now on, we're friends! If you need anything, ANYTHING at all, I'm here to help. Now come on, I think you have somewhere to go, yeah?"
"Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Kiryu has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and the two of us are here to make sure none of you die while doing so."
Sento fell in step with Professor Goodwitch, in his off hand was a large briefcase of some sort. His eyes scanned the perimeter, as if searching for something. I noticed the full jar he was holding in his other hand, filled with a substance similar to, if not some kind of red maple syrup, before my attention quickly turned to the sound of Jaune letting out a grunt. I turned to my blonde friend, a slightly worried expression on my face that quickly disappeared when I saw the large case he was holding in his arms. I blinked at the six empty glass jars sitting on top.
I had to stifle a laugh when Jaune bumped into Cardin's back. It was the little things in life that brought me joy.
"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap." Sento began, holding the full jar of sap up to everyone. "That said, you all know that this forest is full of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at 4 o'clock. Have fun and stay safe!"
I felt an elbow dig into my side, moving my line of sight over to Yang and Ruby, who were giving me smiles that were a little terrifying in hindsight. "Just because I said once my home was known for the stuff doesn't mean I know how to actually DO anything with making maple syrup, you know…" I muttered to Yang and Ruby, giving a quick look to see if Nora was out of earshot, noticing the girl and her stoic friend already walking off into the trees.
"My lord," I let out an audible shout as I heard Woz speak behind me. I quickly flipped around to see the serious look on his face. "I believe we had a battle plan set out already…"
"Ah, yeah…" I nodded.
Yang raised an eyebrow. "Battle plan, for sap?"
"It's a figure of speech, Yang." Parado said, walking up to my side. "Come on, we should hurry and get the sap over with now."
"Yeah yeah…" I gave a wave as my two teammates pulled me away from the two sisters. Once we were out of earshot of the two, I spoke up. "Alright, we all know the plan?"
"I'm to keep an eye on Jaune while he's performing his assignment." Woz stated. "I am not to intervene unless he suddenly transforms into Another Fourze. At that moment I am to hold him back until you arrive to, in your words, deal with things."
"Meanwhile Parado and I will be collecting the sap for all three of our assignments." I continued, as we walked further into the forest. I noticed Ren and Nora setting up nearby, quickly going through and tapping one of the nearby trees. "In the case of Jaune transforming, Parado, you'll be providing backup in the form of energy items. Your combos increased since the last time you've practiced?"
It turns out there were some limits to Parado's game field semblance. He could only freely control the energy items in the field for a limited amount of time before he needed to allow it to cooldown. A bit of a downgrade from his normal rider abilities, but his combo skills with said items normally allow him to finish a fight before that happens.
Parado smirked. "Have my combos disappointed you, Bryce?" He asked, a hint of sass in his voice.
I shook my head with a smirk. "No, not yet." I answered honestly, before straightening my features. "But in a fight against Another Fourze, we might be in for a battle of attrition. And I don't know how long you'll last being back up for that."
"I wouldn't worry too much, my lord." Woz said, bowing slightly, before standing up straight. "With that said and done, allow me to take my leave. While I would rather not play babysitter, I will perform this duty admirably."
Woz grabbed onto his scarf and threw it forwards, suddenly wrapping himself in the cloth before disappearing from sight.
"I will never understand the physics of that freaking scarf." I said aloud. "If it wasn't for wanting to get my hands on that book, I'd be focusing on figuring out how that scarf worked…"
"Hey, do you think if we brought extra jars of sap in, we'd get extra points?" Asked Parado, looking down at the jar in his hands.
"What, are you going for a high score or something?" I asked, before shaking my head as I looked out at the other teams collecting sap, my eyes stopping at Nora. "That said, I don't think we'll get any from Sen-Professor Kiryu… Maybe Nora, considering how she… just… how did she eat that much sap that quickly?"
I blinked in shock at the sight ahead of me, while Parado shook his head. "That girl is a definite glitch in this game…" Parado noted.
Jaune hit the ground, scattering leaves into the wind as he groaned, looking up at the sap-covered Cardin looming over him. Cardin reached down and grabbed Jaune by the front of his armour, pulling him off the ground. The sap covered huntsman in training grinned, before punching Jaune in the stomach, knocking the poor boy back onto the ground.
"You know that wasn't very smart, Jauney boy." Cardin states, picking the bruised Jaune up again while the rest of Team CRDL watched on from the side. "I'm gonna make sure they send you back to mommy in teeny tiny pieces."
'Ú̶̖̻͍͙͖̓̅̕͝s̴̛̼̥̗̩̠̫̻̀̀̑e̸̜͛͌̃͊̀͌͝͠ ̵͖̘̼͕͉̍̎͑͗͛̇̇͘m̸͎͎̯̮͕͙͑̅͑̆̕è̶̫̘̲̮̗̞̿̀̂.̵̡̪̞͕͋̇.̷̙͔̮͂̎͗ͅ.̶̪̹̤́̌'
Jaune's eyes widened as time seemed to slow for the boy. A voice echoed in his head, it was welcoming, but a layer of cold darkness could be felt just underneath. 'W-what the-?'
'Ÿ̵̥́͝o̵̗̾u̵̩̬̔̀ ̶͚͉̂d̶̮͂e̵̩̻͐š̵̨͈ḭ̷̒̍r̴̳̀ḙ̸͇͆ ̴̗͌ś̴̠̚t̸̻̳̔r̶̝͚̃͘é̴͇̥n̵̙͎͗g̵̣͖̋͠t̶͔̞̚h̸̹͝?̸̱͔͝ ̸̠̆L̸̨̂̕e̷̱̣̊t̸͙͎̍ ̸̘͋̚ư̴̢̈s̶̮͒ ̶̞̓b̶͖̅͝e̸͖͛c̵̘̠͑ȯ̵͎̥̅m̵̯̓̑e̴̺̐̉ ̸̹͗́ơ̷̜̿n̸̯̈́ě̴̼̯.̸̘̕.̸̣́.̴̖́͠ ̸̜̽̎J̵̙̑ò̸͖i̴̫͆̉n̷̢̅ ̶̹͂͌w̴̢̌̊i̶̇̓͜t̶̡̪͌͝h̶̹̉̔ ̴̛̩m̴͚̪̀͆ë̴̥́,̵̼̕ ̵͓̀ả̶̬̻n̶̻̼̊̚d̷̤͒ ̷̤̋ý̶̥o̵̮̞̓u̵̗̿͗ ̸̛̣͠c̷̢͙̆a̸̮̎̍n̵̥̙͑̕ ̸̱̀b̷̪̣͗̄ḛ̵͛ ̷͕͐ţ̵̕h̵̟̔e̷͇̺̐ ̵̦́h̷̢̍ḛ̵̱̈́͗r̶͖̀o̶̜̐ ̴̱͓͗y̷̠̼̑́ó̷͉͖͋ủ̶͍ͅ ̷̢̀̽ẅ̵̳͈́i̷̲̖̊s̸̡̢̒h̵͎͎̍ ̴͎̒t̷̳͋o̸͍͑͑ ̸̘̘̾ḇ̸̲͂̓e̸̛̻̱.̶̣̂ ̶͙̎Y̴̢͑͝ͅõ̵̮u̶̧͂'̴̦̈͌ͅl̸̜͗̋l̷͎̋ ̶̡͒̀b̸̹̽̎e̸̙̿ ̴͉͗s̷̡͂̽ͅt̴͆̃ͅr̵̡͒ơ̶̱̮͒n̸̩̹̚g̴̳̈́̀e̷̞̼͛r̸̙͝ ̷̺͆t̶̪̽̏h̸͓̜̒̾a̵̻̜̿̀n̵̰̓ ̴̡̗̐̒ạ̶̛̀n̴̢̺̔ỳ̶͎̆ö̴̥͍́ṋ̶̢̉̚ę̴̿͠ ̵̡̌͗c̵͎͙̐̚ő̶̹̪u̶̹̤̒̈́ḷ̴͘ḋ̶̛̤ ̷͓͝ȉ̴͍m̸̻̖̔à̴̗̋g̴̣̽̚ì̸͓̝n̵̲͐ë̵̘́̈́.̷̼̜̋.̷̻̘̀.̷͙̚ ̶̱͊'
Jaune's breathing increased as his mind raced, his mind flashing through all the different times he had fought alongside his team, how many times he dragged them down…
How he had turned Pyrrha's offer down…
'Y̸̳̤̑̔o̴̼̰͛u̷̺͂ ̶̨̺̋d̸̡̀ŏ̶̡̺͊n̴̗̪͐͝'̵̳̲̂t̵̞̼̉ ̶͚̐̂n̶̡͉̍̚ế̶̡ë̶̜́͝d̸̬̑̂ ̸̜̎ţ̵̈́h̴̳̎ê̵͔m̶̯͊.̷̖͇̍.̴̲̾̂.̶̖̓̓͜ ̵̢̛̅J̸̰̓ú̴̱̒s̷̙͕͛́t̴̟̊͠ ̴͎̥̃j̴̮̍o̸̰͝ḭ̶̮̉̌n̴͍̽ ̶̪̒͛w̶͔͔̾̆î̴̠̏t̵̨͕̐h̸̩̪̽͘ ̸̣̘̽̚m̴̢̟̎̎ě̷̜,̴͍̪͑ ̸̡̙̓a̸̼̪͑̋n̴͔̄̈d̴͕͐͑ ̵͈̅͠ͅy̷̲͎͝o̸̹̅u̶͎̼̚'̸̲͖̈́l̷̝͇̀̐l̶̜̓̚ ̴͕̅̽b̵͙͑̀ê̸͎̽͜ ̶̩̈́̾s̷͔̱̐t̸̡͊r̴̰͚̿̚o̷̪̅n̵̥̤͒g̵͈͝ͅe̷̲̿r̷̪̒̈́ ̵͔͂̀t̷̯͠͠h̵͈̚a̶̮̘͆n̷̢̩̅͐ ̷̤̍̌a̸̲͝n̵̤̖̆̂ÿ̸̙ ̵͙͋o̵̢̜͌f̴̙͙͋ ̸̡̚ẗ̶̤ḣ̷̭̦̚e̷͖̕͘m̴̻̊.̷͈̅͗.̶͖̂.̵̹͝'
'Y̵̤̌͛o̴̪͆u̴̯̒ ̴̰̂̐d̶̥̆̀ö̷͍n̵̢̈́̈'̴̳̺̋t̸̙̞͗̓ ̸̩͋n̴͓̍̇e̸͉͛ȅ̸̖d̶̥̒ ̶͖̻̐ă̷̦͘n̵̟̕͠y̴̳̜̏̚ ̴̘̖͆o̸̢̼̐̉f̷̣̭̄ ̷̜̑͆ṯ̷̋͊h̵̖͛ȇ̷̘ḿ̷̟̬.̸̱͂.̸̼̙̃̑.̷̟̾ ̵͕̼̽Ȁ̵̦l̵̩̮̃l̸̡͉̑͝ ̷̖̼̚y̵̥̿ơ̴̩u̵͇͘'̵̖̥̄d̴̠̀ ̴̣͈̊ņ̵̦͐͘ḙ̶̐͜͝e̶͍̐ḑ̷̮̄,̴͓̣̎̓ ̶̱̕ẅ̶͍̪́o̶̡̻͘ṵ̸̚l̸̻̪̀ḏ̷̋̔ ̷̪̇b̴͔͔̄é̵̫̱ ̵̠̼͐y̵̙̝͝ò̸̻u̶͙̩̎̈r̵̲͐s̴̨̯̍ḛ̸͆̕l̸̩͔̓̌f̵̣̪̎͐.̵̞̏̑.̴̙̾̂.̸̹̀̑'
'Most People think that they have to do something on their own to prove their worth. But that's wrong! You're only as strong as your bonds, because those will strengthen you beyond any force of power you could possibly imagine.'
Jaune's eyes widened as his mind flashed back to his meeting with Gentaro.
'You may think you're not good enough to lead them, but they wouldn't be offering to help if they didn't think YOU were good enough!'
'...He's right.' Jaune thought, narrowing his eyes. 'I have my team… I'm already strong enough for this… I don't need your help!'
'.̴̨̤̝̭̽̆̐̍̌.̶̡̩̳̳͓͐̊̃͝.̷̰͇̏̍̉͗͝'
Jaune grit his teeth as he looked up at Cardin, his perception of time returning to normal. "I don't care what you do to me..." His eyes lit up with a determined fury as he glared at the boy in front of him. "...but you are not messing with my team."
"What?" Cardin asked, his face betraying him for a moment as his shock came through before being squashed down. "You think talk like that makes you tough? You think you're a big strong man now?"
A smile fell onto Jaune's face. Cardin let out a roar as he raised his fist again, before throwing his punch forwards. There was a sudden flash of white light just as the punch connected, as a bright light burst forth from Jaune. As the light subsides, Cardin reels back, crying out in pain as he cradles his hand. Jaune lands back on the ground, looking at his hands in confusion as they faintly glowed white.
While he was distracted, Sky came up and kicked Jaune in the back, knocking the blonde onto his stomach. He quickly looks up, glaring at the approaching Cardin.
Cardin snarled at Jaune. "Let's see how much of a man you really are..." He said, before a low growl crept through the group, catching Cardin and the rest of his team off guard as CRDL turned around to see a large paw smash into the ground before them. Connected to the limb was a huge Ursa Major. The Grimm was littered with dozens of jagged spikes sticking out from its wide back.
The Ursa Major leaped forwards, landing before the terrified students on its hindlegs. The Ursa lifted it's head into the air, before it seemed to lock onto Cardin, or more specifically, the sap covering the Huntsman in Training's armour. It landed back onto its forelegs, roaring at Cardin while his teammates heroically fled the area.
"That's a big Ursa!" Russel shouted, running past Cardin.
Cardin was rooted to his spot on the ground as the Grimm raised its paw up and swung at Cardin with its claws, knocking him sideways, revealing Jaune behind the large teen, frozen in fear.
The Ursa sniffed the air again, before turning away from Jaune as it followed it's nose towards the sap covered Cardin. Jaune watched as it towered over Cardin, who's common sense finally decided to kick in as he pulled out his weapon, only for the Ursa to bat it aside, sending the weapon over by Jaune's feet.
Jaune looked down at the weapon, before looking back at Cardin. He grit his teeth as his options ran through his head, before he narrowed his eyes…
And grabbed his sword.
"Okay, that should be everything…" I nodded to myself, holding two jars of sap out. In Parado's hands were two more. "I don't think we really had to fill another entire jar though…"
"I'm going for the 101%." Parado said with a shrug.
"I don't think you can get that, but alright." I said, before my scroll began to ring. "One sec." I said, putting the two jars in a bag we brought to contain them. I pulled the scroll out of my pocket, before accepting the call. "Hello?"
"My lord, I have news." Woz began.
"Good or bad?" I asked, pulling my Ziku Driver out.
"Jaune has not transformed into Another Fourze," Woz said. "But due to his actions, I fear the oncoming Grimm might force the Ride Watch to activate itself."
"Shit, I'm on my way!" I said, hanging up. I turned to Parado, who was already holding the bag full of jars. "Change of plans, I need you to get Sento, we have a Grimm Problem, he might be able to help."
"Got it. Leave some for me." Parado said, a smile on his face I would've expected came from Yang if I didn't know the bugster personally.
I nodded, placing the driver against my waist.
[ZIKU DRIVER!]
I ran ahead, darting through the trees as I followed the gps on my scroll to Woz's location. I knew he'd stick to the same rough area Jaune would've been if there might've been trouble like this.
I closed in on the dot, before I felt someone grab my arm and pull me to the right. "Wha-!?"
I felt a hand close over my mouth as Ruby gave me a shush with her index finger. "...Hi? What's going on here?" I whispered, looking behind her to see Weiss and Pyrrha.
"Take a look." Pyrrha says, a proud smile on her face as Jaune was pushing a big Ursa back with his shield.
"Holy shit…" I blinked. "He's handling this pretty well. What are you feeding that kid Pyrrha?"
Pyrrha shakes her head slightly with a smile. "Same thing the cafeteria is giving the rest of us."
Jaune let out a grunt as he pulled his shield away from the Ursa's paw and slashed at its stomach, causing the Grimm to lash out and try to crush him with his mass. Jaune rolled out of the way, jumping over it's swipe at his feet. He let out a startled gasp as the Ursa launches one of it's claws at him, batting him away as he soars past a cowering Cardin.
"I kinda forgot Cardin was here to be honest." I said, watching as Jaune quickly recovered and passed Cardin once more, charging at the Ursa once more. Jaune leaped upwards, swinging his blade down at the Grimm, an attack which was quickly batted aside, sending the huntsman in training behind the Ursa. Jaune got to a stand, before looking down at his shield. His teeth grinded as he charged forwards once more, an action quickly followed by the Ursa.
My attention is pulled away from the two being fighting ahead of me to the sight of Pyrrha lifting her hand out, as dark red energy begins to form around her arm. I snap my head back in the direction of the fight, watching as at the last moment, Jaune's shield glows a similar crimson, quickly lifting up a bit as the Ursa's clawed paw bears down. Jaune's body lowers down, leaning against the ground and using the kinetic force of the impact to push his shield to the side, leaving the Ursa wide open to Jaune's sword, as he swings up and smoothly cleaves through the Ursa's neck. There's a large slam as the body crashes into the ground, the head bouncing to the side as the remains begin to evaporate.
I turned back towards Pyrrha, watching as her hand slowly stopped glowing, a smile slowly forming on her face. "Would… someone explain what just happened?"
"Uhhh... What?" Ruby blinked as she looked at Pyrrha.
Weiss looked over at the red headed girl in awe. "How did you...?"
Pyrrha turned to look at the three of us. "Well, Ruby has her speed... Weiss, you have your glyphs. My Semblance is polarity."
"Whoa, you can control poles..." Ruby said in an equal amount of awe that Weiss had on her face earlier.
Weiss turned to face her partner. "No, you dunce! It means she has control over magnetism!"
"Magnets are cool, too..." Ruby whispered to me, still impressed.
"Yeah…" I nodded, it was honestly an amazing semblance.
"Wait, where are you going?" Weiss asked, looking over at Pyrrha, who had begun to walk away.
"Yeah! We gotta tell them what happened!" Ruby said, looking over back at Jaune.
Pyrrha smiled to herself. "We could... Or perhaps we could keep it our little secret?" She said, turning around and walking away from the scene.
"I'm down for that." I said, standing up as I looked back at Jaune and Cardin. It was at this moment I noticed the sap covering the front of Cardin's armor. Jaune held his hand out towards Cardin, lifting the huntsman in training up. I looked back towards Ruby and Weiss, who had quickly begun to walk away from the scene, before looking back at Jaune and Cardin, slowly walking towards the duo.
"Holy crap, Jaune!" Cardin shouted, looking at Jaune in awe.
"Don't ever mess with my team - my friends - ever again." Jaune says, his voice threatening as he stared Cardin dead in the eye. "Got it?"
The intimidation on Cardin's face was clear, and if you looked closely, you might've been able to see some apologetic features on his face. With his order spoken, Jaune turned and walked away from a frozen Cardin, only to pause as I came into view. "B-bryce!?"
"Hey Jaune!" I said, holding a hand up. "Cardin's team barreled through saying something about Grimm… But it looks like you've taken care of all this…"
"Uh… Yeah." Jaune said, the serious look on his face melting slightly as he looked at me. "You know… I almost did it."
"Did what?" I asked, looking at Jaune. My eyes wandered to Cardin, who was making a quick retreat away from us.
"Allowed myself to use that… power, inside me." Jaune said, looking down at himself. "You know what I'm talking about…"
"The Another Fourze Ride Watch…"
"It was strange, it wasn't like the other times where it took over… It just… was like a suggestion." Jaune said, looking up at me.
I looked down at my empty hand. "But you didn't." I said, looking back up at Jaune.
"...Yeah…" Jaune said, his confidence from earlier coming back to the forefront. "I did."
I smiled, looking to the side. "Jaune… I don't know if this will mean anything to you but… You'd make a great Rider."
"Oh… Uh, thanks man…" Jaune said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Well, it looks like I'll have to actually get my hands dirty this time."
My eyes widened at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, as I turned back to face Jaune only for my body to freeze in place. "And here I was hoping something might've come from this confrontation, a shame, but not the worst one to happen…" I watched as a man in a long sleeveless purple coat walked into my field of view. My eyes locked onto the single purple feather hanging down the collar of his coat. "Wouldn't you agree, Zi-O?"
"...Time… Jacker!" I grunted out.
"I figured it'd be rude of me not to allow you to speak." The Time Jacker continued, walking over to Jaune, who was fully frozen in time. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Swartz, the leader of this little operation of mine. I believe you've met all of my subordinates, Uhr and Hora, and my newest addition, Sougo."
"Get… The hell… away from him!"
"I can tell you don't think highly of me." Swartz continues, walking up next to Jaune before thrusting his hand into Jaune's chest, his arm entering a strange purple energy before he pulled the Another Fourze watch out of the blonde huntsman. "However, I care not about your opinion, so I believe it best if I deal with this problem sooner rather than later."
He pushed down on the top of the Another Watch, as a familiar purple energy began to burst from the Ride Watch.
{FOURZE!}
"You…"
Swartz looked over at me with a condescending smirk, before placing the Another Watch back inside Jaune, as Jaune's body began to convulse, as purple energy began to pulse out. There was a large flash, before Another Fourze stood in Jaune's place.
"Goodbye, Zi-O…" Swartz said, as Another Fourze closed in on me.
I let out a grunt as I tried to move my body. There was a sudden twitch, before I felt time resume around me. I threw my arms up into the air, grabbing onto my quickly materialized sword as I blocked a swing from Another Fourze.
[ZIKAN GIRADE!]
[KEN!]
"What!?" Swartz looked at me in confusion, before looking off to the side, something in the trees catching his attention. "I see… I believe I'll leave you with this then, Zi-O."
"Get back here, Slick-back!" I shouted at Swartz, glaring at the back of his hair as he disappeared from view. "Dammit, Jaune wake up!"
Another Fourze let out a roar as It batted my sword to the side and kicked me away. I hit the ground, rolling to a stop as I stood up. "Dammit… Woz!"
"My lord…" Woz said, appearing next to me in a spiral of cloth.
"Right on time, get Sento and Parado…" I said, pulling out my Zi-O Ride Watch. "I'll keep Jaune occupied."
"I believe you have bigger problems." Woz said, as multiple pairs of glowing red eyes peered out from the trees. "It appears they were attracted to the negative emotions from the Another Watch… I believe we have our work cut out for us."
"Shit… Either way, get the others, I can hold these guys off until then." I said, looking as a small pack of Beowolves walked out into the open.
"I don't believe we'll need to do that." Woz said.
"Eh? Why's that?" I asked, looking over at Woz.
[FULLFULL MATCH DESU!]
[FULLFULL MATCH BREAK!]
I blinked as a blast of red energy soared past us, slamming into one of the beowolves, the grimm seemingly disintegrating upon contact with the attack. "That was…" I turned around to see Sento and Parado running over, in Sento's hands was a large red sword like weapon, the handle currently pointed downwards. "Fullbottle buster…"
"Sorry about the wait." Sento said, walking over to us as he pulled the FullFull RabbitTank Bottle out of the weapon. "Got here as fast as we could."
"Better late than never." I said, turning to face Another Fourze. "Leave the Another Rider to me, you guys keep the grimm off my back."
"Understood." Woz said, taking a step forward.
Parado smirked as a game field spread out around us. "I'll clear this game with no continues!"
"Bryce, you might want this." Sento said, holding out a white and orange Ride Watch. "We'll take care of things from here."
"Got it." I said, taking the Ride Watch out of Sento's hand before blinking as I looked down at some of the Fullbottles at Sento's side. "Those look… different."
Sento smirked, before he pulled two of the strange Full Bottles out. "Now then, shall we start the experiment?" He asked, shaking the two bottles before placing them inside of the Full Bottle Buster.
[FIRE!]
[GRAVITY!]
[JUST MATCH DESU!]
"The laws of victory have been set!" Sento shouted, lowering the barrel of his weapon at a fast approaching Beowolf as a strange mixture of black and red energy began to form at the front of his weapon.
[JUST MATCH BREAK!]
The ball of energy went flying, slamming into the grimm as it began to float in the air, as incendiary fire began to burn from the strange orb, before it suddenly exploded outwards, the beowulf turning into a fine pile of ash.
"...What was that?"
"I wanted to see how different types of dust would affect one another, so I made dust containers that were compatible with the Full Bottle Buster." Sento said, as he closed his weapon up into sword mode. "Now, get moving!"
"Got it!" I shouted, taking a step forward. "Jaune… I'm getting you out of there!"
I pulled my scroll out for a moment, before pressing a button on the screen. I quickly put the device away and pulled my Zi-O Ride Watch off the Ride Watch holder on my arm.
I threw my arms forwards, twisting the dials on my Zi-O and Fourze Ride Watches before pressing down on the activation buttons.
{ZI-O!}
{FOURZE!}
[Play COSMIC MIND - Astronauts]
I let out a smirk as the music began, before slotting both Ride Watches into the driver. I placed my left arm in front of the right side of my driver and began to mock the flipping of the switches on the fourze driver before doing the same on the left side with my right hand, before pushing down on the release button as part of the second switch flip, before waving my arms into my normal henshin pose.
I held my left hand up to my right, holding out three fingers, before pulling my ring back so I had two out, and then bringing my middle back so only one remained. I flicked my wrist and closed my hand into a fist, before I shouted. "Henshin!"
I threw my arm back to the left, knocking my hand into the right slot of the driver as I spun it around, activating my transformation. I rotated my right wrist before throwing my arm up into the air, as the transformation began.
[RIDER TIME!]
{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}
Watch bands formed around me, forming my Zi-O Armour around me. Off to the side, the Fourze armor formed, before it suddenly separated, as multiple parts began to fly around me, before attaching to me one at a time.
{ARMOUR TIME!}
{3! 2! 1! FOURZE!}
I threw my arm downwards, as the japanese characters for 'Fourze' slammed into my visor. I let out a breath, before sucking in some air and lowering down into a crouch. "Uchu…"
"KITA!" I shouted, throwing my arms up into the air, as my scream probably flew past the broken pieces of remnant's moon as I pulled my arms back. "Kamen Rider Zi-O! Jaune, let's settle this one-on-one!"
Off to the side, Woz, who was mid battle with a Beowolf, looked away from the grimm, who suddenly found itself wrapped up in Woz's scarf. "REJOICE!"
"Here we go again." Parado said, shaking his head as he sent a berserk power up towards a Beowolf, who quickly turned around and attacked one of it's brethren.
Woz paused, gripping the inside of his scarf before tightening, as the Grimm held captured was quickly squeezed until it died, as black ash began to fall from Woz's scarf. "Where was I… REJOICE! The one to inherit all Rider powers, the time king who will rule over the past and the future! His name is Kamen Rider Zi-O FourzeArmour!"
I took a moment to look down at Fourze's armour. It was Fourze inspired all right, but more rocket looking than the astronaut inspired suit of the original rider.
"Let's go… Jaune." I said, before rocketing forwards, taking off into the air as I charged at Another Fourze. "Woah!"
I stumbled to the right, as I flew forwards, trying to control my movements. I spun around in the air for a moment before I got a firm grip on the controls, turning around and flying back towards the Another Rider. Another Fourze pressed down on the rightmost switch on it's belt as I approached.
[ROCKET ON!]
Another Fourze brought it's right arm up, as the Rocket Module formed over his arm. He threw it upwards, sending it flying towards me, but I spun to the side out of the way before slamming into Another Fourze, kicking off him as I landed on the ground.
I charged forwards once more, throwing my arm out, slamming my rocket fist into his chest, before following up with my other arm. Another Fourze let out a growl, before slamming his right foot onto the ground, as the Launcher module formed over it's leg.
[LAUNCHER ON!]
"Oh come on!" I shouted, before jumping to the side, as 4 missiles flew out of the launcher, flying after me as I took off into the air. "Would you stop that!"
I flew down onto the ground, before the two rocket things on my arms flew off, flying into the different missiles and blowing them up. I raised my arms as the two rockets flew back on. "Alright, let's finish this."
I pressed down on the Zi-O Ride Watch's activation Button before quickly doing the same for the Fourze Watch.
{FINISH TIME!}
{FOURZE!}
I pressed down on the release button, taking a deep breath. "I'm coming Jaune…" I said, before spinning the driver around.
{LIMIT!}
{TIME BREAK!}
I took off into the air, before flying straight at the Another Rider. I kicked my leg out as I picked up speed, sending myself flying at Another Fourze. "Rider Rocket Kick!"
My foot slammed into Another Fourze, as time seemed to slow for me, before I flew past him, landing on my feet as I heard an explosion go off behind me. "Well, that sounds good." I said to myself as I turned around, watching as Jaune hit the ground, the Another Fourze Watch hitting the ground next to him, before shattering into a dozen different pieces.
I gave another passive look around me, watching as the rest of my team and Sento cleaned up the last of the Grimm. I walked over to Jaune, helping him to his feet. "You feeling okay?"
"Y-yeah…" Jaune said with a grimace. "I've… been worse."
I let out a sigh as I pulled off the Fourze Ride Watch, the armour dissipating as I was left in my Zi-O armour. "We should head back."
"Wouldn't we worry everyone?" Asked Jaune.
"Aura, Jaune..." I said, patting Jaune on the shoulder. "Come on, we should get moving."
"Yeah…"
"Game… cleared…" Parado sighed out as he sat down on one of the chairs in our dorm room.
"You finally finished that paper?" I asked, looking over at Parado.
Parado let out a louder sigh as he pulled out his scroll, loading up one of the games he had downloaded on there.
I shook my head as I crossed my arms. I felt my scroll go off suddenly, as I turned to pick it up. "A message? Hey Bryce, me and the rest of the team were thinking of heading off into Vale tomorrow to take a look at the Vytal Festival preparations, would you be interested in coming along?"
I paused, looking up from my scroll. "Vytal Festival?"
"It's a festival held in celebration of peace between the Kingdoms. Every two years, a Kingdom would be chosen to open its doors to the world, allowing citizens from every corner of Remnant to meet and indulge in one another's cultures." Woz said, reading through the book in his hands. "It's also when students from huntsmen academies meet together to compete in the tournament held during this time."
"Huh… Well, we're missing a member right now, yeah? Would we even be able to compete?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We do still have some time before the Festival begins to find our fourth member, My Lord." Woz said, looking up from his book.
"Fair enough… I think I'll follow along. What about you two?" I asked.
"I'm going to catch up on my backlog tomorrow." Parado said, fully engrossed in his game.
"I myself, will be on standby. Let me know if you need me for anything, but otherwise I'll be elsewhere." Woz said.
"Fair enough…" I said, lying back on my bed. "...Ugh, it's been a hell of a day…"
"Oh! Come in!" Gentaro shouted, looking up from a file of scattered pages.
The door slid open, followed shortly after by a familiar blond teen. Jaune waved at the Councilor hesitantly, the door sliding to a close behind him.
"Jaune!" Gentaro said, standing up as he walked over to the Huntsman in training. "It's good to see you! Are you feeling any better, man?"
"I uh… Yeah, I guess." Jaune said, looking over the room. "Can we um…"
"Hm? Oh, Yeah!" Gentaro nodded, moving over back to his seat at the table before pressing a button on his scroll. The camera in the corner turned off once more as Gentaro sat down. "Here!"
Gentaro picked up a can of 'People like Grapes' before tossing it over to the blonde knight. Jaune let out a quick shout as he caught the can out of the air. "Oh…! You might want to let that sit for a bit…" Gentaro said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Right, so what's on your mind?"
Jaune sat down as he looked at the can in his hands. "I just… I wanted to say thank you for… earlier. What you said earlier. It… really helped me."
"Oh, so you made up with your partner yet?" Gentaro asked.
"Well… No, I'm meeting with her in about an hour for… that." Jaune said, letting out a sigh. "But… If it wasn't for your help, I don't know if I'd have been able to though…"
Gentaro smirked. "Heh, I don't believe that at all!"
"Huh?" Jaune looked up at the Councilor in shock.
"Jaune, I KNOW you would've gotten to this point without my help anyways." Gentaro said, pounding his fist into his chest before pointing it at Jaune. "All I gave you was a push!"
"..." Jaune looked at the man in shock, before a smile formed on his face. "...You think so?"
"I know so!" Gentaro responded, standing up. "Now get going, you have a friend to apologize to!"
"W-wait! Now!?"
"No time like the present, get a move on!" Gentaro said, pulling Jaune off his seat as he pushed him towards the door. "I'll see you later! And Good luck!"
"Well, if it isn't my boss." Sougo said, leaning up against a wall on the roof of Beacon's dorms as Swartz walked into view. "You here about my little… what's to say, intrusion earlier?"
"...You set Zi-O free from my frozen time." Swartz stated.
"I did, but hey, don't look too bummed out. After all, I doubt you would've really killed him there. That'd be going against your 'Big Plan', wouldn't it?" Sougo asked, crossing his arms. "Don't worry, unlike the other two I wouldn't be concerned with the lack of finding a different king to fill Ohma Zi-O's place. I'm here for one thing, ridding this world of Ohma Zi-O, so I must thank you for allowing me this chance."
"And I believe you making yourself the scapegoat for my plan deserves some amount of thanks, so I believe we're even then." Swartz said, turning around. "That said, what do you have planned for the problem from the future?"
"Kamen Rider Geiz will be exactly what we need to push Zi-O further along the path of Ohma, we will reach our goal." Sougo said, before stepping forwards. "If that will be all?"
"You are dismissed." Swartz said, as Sougo walked off, jumping away onto another building before disappearing from view. "Interesting… It seems the playing field is getting much more crowded…"