(Author's Note)
Hey guys, and welcome, to the... Shall we say start of the next major arc for Good Heavens, It's Rider Time!
I'll say this bluntly, the events of this arc have been thought over and over and over more than really necessary. If I had to point fingers at what's really been pushing me to writing this story out more and more, this section of time that we're encroaching on would be the primary, but not the only, reason.
I can't wait to show you guys more and what comes next, but that's for later, for now, I'll let you read what I do have for you this time.
After reviews of course!
To bigwavexs: The .5 chapters were great, and while I loved the pros they gave me, there were numerous things that tied into my decision to end them off on 10-5. That, and future events like the next arc, Volume 3, and the following volumes all have a more closely connected story, in such a way that it wouldn't really be easy to stuff a .5 in between said chapters.
To Beardonator: If you're paying attention, you'll find out this chapter what the fake name is. As for Team names... well, I'm still thinking it over, but they never really had an official reveal of it during the Vytal Festival, I think, so worse comes to worse I might just omit that specific detail if it gives me too much trouble.
To Taiman215: The Usage of Future Riders, ones like Aqua, Dark Drive and others in that nature, may have some appearances, but I don't have anything concrete to show yet. If they do, they'll most likely make an appearance after the main Future Rider Miride Watches have been collected, but as it currently stands I have no real plans for them as of yet. Though I do agree, having them appear would be pretty cool indeed. Fitting them into place that makes sense for the story overall though, does take precedence.
Okay, now with all that out of the way...
Onto the Story!
"Jesus… Look at all of 'em…" I said, looking out the dorm window at the different airships landing outside Beacon.
"The Vytal Festival is close upon us." Woz said, flipping through another page of his book before slamming it closed. He turned to look at me. "It would be best if you kept your guard up around the visiting students."
"They're fellow huntsmen, Woz. It's not like I'm going to be going all out during practice to show them everything at my disposal." I said, sighing as I moved away from the window.
"That was not what I was referring to." Woz said.
"Yeah, whatever." I scoffed, moving towards the door. "I have to go return a book. Remind Parado that he has an assignment due tomorrow and tell Momotaros to get started on the 6 he never handed in."
Woz sighed. "Very well, my lord."
I closed the door behind me with a click as I stood in the hallway. I let out a long sigh. "...I need to get over it…" I muttered, clenching my fist. "...I don't care that it was for my own good… I should've known I was able to give them their powers back…"
I let out a sigh as I shook my head, turning on my heel to walk down the hall as I idly pulled the Build Ride Watch out of my pocket.
"My lord, one thing however." Woz spoke up, stopping me in my tracks. "You must realize that Sento Kiryu must have known about this as well, since you let him study his own Ride Watch earlier. So why was it he let you keep it?"
I grit my teeth as I tossed the Ride Watch into the air, watching it spin in the air before it careened down and landed in my awaiting palm. "...It activated." I muttered, looking at the watch. "That's probably why the genius bottle reactivated… So why did you tell me to keep this?"
I shook my head once more, pocketing the watch as I picked up the pace. "I should just ignore it for now…" I muttered.
"Hm... All right... All right! Yang Xiao Long, prepare your kingdom for battle!"
"Bring it on!"
"I deploy the Atlesian Air Fleet!" Ruby shouted, slapping a card down on the library table as Yang's face morphed into one of mock shock. "Looks like I get to fly right over your Ursai and attack your walls directly!"
Ruby smirked, making noises like airplanes flying and bombing as she moved her hands together to make a poor rendition of a bird. Yang pointed her index finger at Ruby, a look of light anger on her face. "You fiend!"
"And since Atlas is part of Mantle, my repair time is only one turn." Ruby continued before she looked up in surprise as Yang began to laugh arrogantly.
"Pretty sneaky, sis, but you just activated my trap card!" Yang said, moving a card in front of her and flipping it around in her fingers to show the image to Ruby, who's face suddenly dropped in colour as the huntress in training staired in horror at the card.
"What!?"
"Giant Nevermore!" Yang said, slamming the card down on the table, shaking the table as she smirked. "If I roll a seven or higher, fatal feathers will slice your fleet in two!"
"But, if you roll a six or lower, the Nevermore will turn on your own forces!"
"That's just a chance I'm willing to take." Yang said, narrowing her eyes as I watched the scene before me.
"...Uh…" I blinked, watching as Yang rolled a d12 onto the table.
"No! My fearless soldiers!" Ruby cried out, looking down at the dice.
Yang shrugged. "Eh, most of them were probably androids."
"Goodbye my friends, you will be avenged." Ruby vowed, clenching her fist.
"Not until I draw my rewards! Which are doubled this round thanks to the Mistral Trade Route!" Yang said, smirking.
"Bah!"
"Oh, and what's this? The Smugglers of Wind Path?"
"Bah! Bah, I say!"
"I say, it looks like I'm taking two cards in my hand!" Yang said, drawing two cards.
"Have you no heart?" Ruby asked, before she collapsed onto the table with a groan. "No...!"
"Okay seriously, what are you guys even playing right now?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I moved next to the table beside Ruby.
"Oh, hey Bryce!" Yang said. "Remember 'Remnant: The Game'?"
"The weird Risk styled game?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yep!"
"Ah, yeah, that explains everything then. Which one of you have gone power hungry at this point?" I asked.
"Both of them." Weiss said, rolling her eyes.
"Well, Weiss, it's your turn." Yang said, turning to look at her.
"I have... absolutely no idea what's going on." Weiss said, looking down at her cards.
"Look, it's easy! You're playing as Vacuo which means that all Vacuo-based cards come with a bonus." Yang said, moving next to weiss as she rested her arm on the girl's shoulder.
"That sounds dumb."
"It's called the home field advantage." I said absentmindedly.
Yang began looking through Weiss' cards, pointing at a few as she spoke. "See, you've got Sandstorm, Desert Scavenge... Oh, oh!" Yang pulled out one card specifically, practically shoving it into the girl's face. "Resourceful Raider! See, now you can take Ruby's discarded Air Fleet-"
"No...!" Ruby cried out, extending her hands forward to no avail.
"-and put it in your hand!"
Weiss slowly nodded as she looked at her hand. "Okay."
"And since Vacuo warriors have an endurance against Natural-based hazards, you can use Sandstorm to disable my ground forces and simultaneously infiltrate my kingdom!" Yang continues, before she pointed her finger at Weiss. "Just know that I will not forget this declaration of war."
I let out a sigh as Yang sat back down. 'Yang, you do realize that you basically just cheated, right?' I thought, watching as the cogs began to turn in Weiss' head.
"And that means…" Weiss said, looking at her hand once more.
"You're just three moves away from conquering Remnant!" Ruby said, raising her head up.
Weiss surged up to a stand as what I swear sounded like a thunder clap boomed through the library as Weiss began to laugh almost psychotically. "Y-yes! Fear the almighty power of my forces! Cower as they pillage your homes and weep as they take your children from your very arms!"
"Okay, that's now 3 people that've gone mad with power playing this game." I said with a deadpan.
Yang lazily raised a card up. "Trap card…" She said, holding it in front of Weiss' face.
Weiss blinked. "Huh?"
Yang moved her hands and shuffled the pieces on the board, Weiss' pieces being quickly discarded as Yang spread her arms out over the board. "Your armies have been destroyed."
Weiss slumped back into her chair, tears forming in her eyes as she whined. "I hate this game of emotions we play!"
I felt the wind blow past me lightly as Ruby jumped into Weiss' arms. "Stay strong, Weiss! We'll make it through this together!"
"Shut up!" Weiss cried, hugging Ruby. "Don't touch me!"
"...Yep, this is Remnant: The Game alright…" I muttered.
Yang placed her hands behind her head as she turned to look at Blake. "Alright Blake, you're up!"
Blake blinked, snapping back to attention as she looked at Yang. "Oh, um, sorry, what am I doing?"
"You're playing as Vale, trying to conquer the Kingdoms of Remnant!" Yang said, motioning to the board.
"Right…"
"Hey! Can I play?" Jaune asked, walking over to the table. I blinked, before tilting to the side to see the rest of team JNPR sitting at a table parallel to this one.
"Sorry Jaune, we've already got 4 people." Ruby said, suddenly back in her chair. I blinked looking over at her before back at Weiss.
"Besides, this game requires a certain level of tactical cunning that I seriously doubt that you possess." Weiss said, crossing her arms.
Yang raised an eyebrow. "Uhh, you attacked your own naval fleet 2 turns ago." Yang said, spurring on a strange sound from Weiss' throat.
"Bring it on, Ice Queen!" Jaune said, crossing his arms. "I'll have you know that I have been told that I am a natural born leader!"
"By who? Your mother?" Weiss asked.
"A-and Pyrrha!" Jaune said, motioning to his partner.
Pyrrha waved from her seat. "Hello again!"
"Afternoon." I said, raising one of my hands.
Jaune clasped both of his hands together as he begged Weiss. "Come on, let me play your hand for a turn!"
Weiss narrowed her eyes. "I'm not trusting you with the good citizens of Vacuo!"
Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Why not? You've trusted me with way more important stuff before. I mean, you told us all that Blake is secretly a Fa-"
In a display of speed that would impress Ruby, Pyrrha surged out of her seat and slapped her hand over Jaune's mouth. "-Fun-loving person, whom we all admire and respect." Pyrrha continued, slowly removing her hand from it's position as Jaune laughed nervously.
"Oh, smooth…" I noted sarcastically, glancing to see the annoyed face of Blake.
Jaune coughed into his hand. "Right. That. Ladies, enjoy your battle." Jaune said, bowing before he walked away with Pyrrha.
"...Would you trust me with the good citizens of Vacuo?" I asked Weiss after a moment of silence.
"Nuh uh, no way!" Yang said, standing up. "There's a reason we make you play with a handicap, Bryce."
"Oh come on, I'm sorry I'm good at the game?" I asked sarcastically.
"Good doesn't begin to describe the absolute monster you are on this battlefield…" Ruby said almost menacingly as she gained a fair away look in her eyes.
"Oh, because I don't get power hungry and cocky…?" I muttered to myself, looking off to the side before blinking as Sun and a guy with blue hair walked up to the table.
"'Sup losers." Sun said, holding up his fingers in a 'peace' sign.
"Hey Sun!" Ruby said, looking over at the blonde haired monkey.
"Ruby, Yang, Blake, Bryce... Ice Queen." Sun noted, looking over at Weiss.
"Why does everyone keep calling me that?" Weiss asked.
"Because the universe decided you needed a running gag?" I asked sarcastically with a shrug before I turned to look at the Blue Haired guy standing next to Sun. "Now are you gonna introduce your friend here or…?"
Sun glanced at me. "I was getting to that, you know. I never got a chance to formally introduce you to my old friend."
Sun's friend raised an eyebrow as he looked at all of us. "Uh, aren't libraries for reading?"
"Thank you!" Ren shouted from the other table, raising his arms into the air in exasperation.
Nora threw her head up. "Pancakes!"
"Shut up. Don't be a nerd." Sun said, looking over at his friend.
The 'Nerd' shook his finger in front of Sun's face. "Geh, geh, geh, geh! 'Intellectual', okay? Thank you." He waved at the group. "I'm Neptune."
"So Neptune, where are you from?" Weiss asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Haven." Neptune said, walking over next to Weiss. "And I don't believe I've caught your name, snow angel."
"Um, I'm Weiss."
Jaune turned to look back at his team. "Are you kidding me!?" He asked quietly.
"Pleasure to meet you." Neptune said, smiling.
Sun turned to look at Blake. "I never took you as the board game playing type."
"Right, well, I think I'm done playing actually." Blake said, standing up as she pushed Sun out of the way. I blinked as she walked away from the group. "I'll see you guys later."
There was a silence as we stared at the retreating Huntress before Nora finally spoke up with a shrug. "Women."
"...Well, this has been fun, but I have combat practice so… I'm gonna get moving." I said, clapping my hands together.
"I still don't understand why you keep getting special treatment." Weiss said, glancing at me.
"Trust me Weiss, I wish I knew." I shrugged. "Then I could ask Ozpin to stop doing as such. Banjou doesn't hold back…"
"Okay, I think that's enough for today." Banjou said, looking down at me as I laid on my back on the floor of the combat arena.
"...Ow…"
"Come on," Banjou moved over grabbing my arm as he helped me to a stand. "You're getting better."
"I don't… feel better right now." I muttered, rubbing my shoulder.
"Yeah… you might wanna take it easy the rest of the night." Banjou said, shrugging as he picked up a bottle of water off to the side. "...You were a bit distracted today. You good man?"
"Hm? Ah…" I paused, looking to the side. "Yeah, just… got a lot on my mind as of late."
Banjou raised an eyebrow before the doors to the arena opened up. I turned to the right to see Sento walking in, dressed in his usual attire as he looked over at Banjou. "Are you two done yet? We have that meeting with Ozpin in 15, remember?"
"I remember, I remember." Banjou said, rolling his neck as he walked over to Sento.
"...Hey Banjou!" I said, grabbing his attention before quickly throwing him the Cross-Z Ride Watch.
The boxer raised his hand up to grab it, the dial already twisted before I threw it. His hand grabbed the side, with his thumb pressing down on the activation button as he grabbed it. "Eh, what's this for-"
{CROSS-Z!}
The Ride Watch suddenly glowed a white-ish blue before it disappeared into blue particles. Banjou blinked as he patted himself down. "Oi, what was that?"
I turned to look at Sento, who glanced away from me when I let out a sigh. "Don't worry about it. Maybe try transforming again with the Magma Knuckle later. I gotta get going."
Banjou nodded dumbly as I walked out, grabbing my bag as I walked past Sento and left the room.
"What was that about?" Banjou asked.
Sento sighed. "This is the worst."
"Hah?"
"Don't worry about it. Come on, we have to go see Ozpin."
I let out a sigh as I looked out the window into the night sky from my dorm room. Parado, Momotaros and Woz were out in the library at the moment, the only real good time for them to go especially now that more students were coming in, and none of us really wanted to take another trip to Ozpin's office if another misunderstanding were to occur.
Though all things considered, Momotaros was gonna be at Combat Class in some fashion anyways, so we're bracing ourselves anyways.
"-You've been quiet, antisocial and moody!" I blinked, turning my head to the left as Weiss' voice emanated from the next door window, which was currently open at the moment.
"Uh, have you met Blake?" That was Yang...
"Which I get is kind of your thing, but you've been doing it more than usual! Which quite frankly, is unacceptable! You made a promise to me, to all of us, that you would let us know if something was wrong!" Weiss continued. "So, Blake Belladonna, what is wrong!?"
"I just, I don't understand how everyone can be so calm." Blake said.
"You're still thinking about Torchwick?" Ruby asked.
"Torchwick, Geiz, the White Fang, all of it! Something big is happening and no one is doing anything about it!" Blake practically shouted out.
"Ozpin told us not to worry. Between the police and the Huntsmen, I'm sure they can handle it." Yang reasoned.
"Well I'm not! They don't know the White Fang like I do!" Blake continued.
"Okay, between blowing up nightclubs, stopping thieves, challenging literal monsters that distort the fabric of time and fighting for freedom, I'm sure the three of you think that you're all ready to go out and apprehend these ne'er-do-wells!" Weiss said.
"Uh, who?" Ruby asked.
"But let me once again be the voice of reason. We're students! We're not ready to handle this sort of situation!" Weiss continued.
"Well yeah, but…"
"We're not ready!"
"And we may never be ready! Our enemies aren't just going to sit around and wait for graduation day." Blake shouted. "They're out there, somewhere, planning their next move, and none of us know what it is, but it's coming! Whether we're ready or not!"
"Okay, all in favor of becoming the youngest Huntresses to single-handedly take down a corrupt organization conspiring against the Kingdom of Vale... say aye." Ruby said. I blinked, before looking down at the window once more before shrugging as I slowly began to lean out the window.
"Yes!" Yang said. "I love it when you're feisty!"
"Well, I suppose it could be fun." Weiss said.
Ruby sighed in disappointment. "None of you said aye…!"
I leaned out of the window a bit and shimmied over to the window of Team RWBY's dorm, knocking lightly on the window as I grabbed the four girl's attention. "Yeah, I don't know if I count under the Huntress moniker, but uh… Aye?."
"Bryce? What are you doing here? And… why are you hanging onto our window?" Weiss asked, looking at me as I peered into the room.
"...Because screw doors. Also the window was open and I heard the whole thing." I said, before narrowing my eyes at the four of them. "And in case you forget, I'm still a part of your whole team dynamic in some fashion, and I was there during the incident at the docks. I'm in this as much as the rest of you. Now… Can I come in because I don't know how much longer I can hold onto this thing for."
Weiss sighed before Yang waved me in. I leaned in and tripped, falling face first onto the dorm room floor. "...Ow…"
"Smooth…" Yang said sarcastically.
"For the future, try not to eavesdrop on us next time…" Blake said.
"Try not having these kinds of conversations with the figurative door open…" I muttered, pulling myself up to a stand as I dusted my pants off.
"All right then… we're in this together then." Blake said after a moment.
"Let's hatch a plan!" Ruby said, raising her arms slightly.
"Yeah!" Yang said, pointing finger guns at Ruby.
Ruby gasped, moving her hands close to her face in shock. "I left my board game in the library!"
I slapped a hand against my face as Weiss shook her head. "We're doomed." Weiss said, sighing.
"I'll be right back!" Ruby said, running out into the hall before there was a sudden light thud.
I blinked, turning to look at the doorway before 4 students in what appeared to be different uniforms walked by. One of the guys with short black hair turned his head to the side and our gaze locked for a moment before he quickly turned his head away from me and they disappeared from view.
I blinked before after a few moments Ruby returned with her board game, sending a gust of rose petals into my face as her speed suddenly slammed to a halt. "I'm back!"
It was decided, tomorrow would be the day of our investigation. I let out a sigh as I sat in Professor Port's class, completely zoned out as the huntsman prattled on about something I couldn't begin to find interesting. A few moments later the bell rang and the class was let out, much to my relief as I hurried off towards my dorm.
"Okay, so the key here is incognito…" I muttered, rifling through one of my drawers before pulling out a plain grey hoodie. "Which means clothing that won't immediately draw attention to myself…"
I stood up, moving over to my bed as I took off the Beacon Uniform. "Okay, then how does this look?" I asked, myself, slipping on the hoodie as I looked into the mirror in front of me. "Huh, not bad…"
I looked down to the Ride Watch holder lying on the bed to my right. "...No, that'll stick out a bit too much." I said, pulling the Zi-O Ride Watch off the holder and picking up the Ziku Driver. "This should hopefully be all I need out there…"
I slipped the Ride Watch into my pocket and slipped the driver into an internal pocket in the hoodie. I guess Woz must have done something to it, can't even tell it's there from the outside…
"Okay, now to meet up with the girls." I said, opening the door to my dorm before taking a step to the side and knocking on Team RWBY's door.
The door swung open, as Ruby quickly grabbed my arm and pulled me inside, slamming the door behind me as I stumbled into the center of the room. "Woah! Warn me next time…" I said, dusting my pants off. I looked up, looking over the group and their choice of wardrobe. "You guys… do understand the idea of 'Incognito' yeah?"
Yang rolled her eyes as Ruby walked up next to me. "Alright, everyone remember their roles?" Ruby asked, crossing her arms.
"You, Bryce and I will head to the CCT and check the Schnee records for any other Dust robberies or inconsistencies." Weiss said, before she flipped her hair with her hand. "Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem."
"The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders and recruit new members." Blake said, leaning back against the bed frame. "If I can get in, I can hopefully find out what they're planning."
"I have an old friend on the shady side of town that typically knows everything going on in Vale. Getting information out of him shouldn't be too hard…" Yang said, slamming her fist into her palm.
"And I was going to head over to the Narumi Detective Agency once Weiss had finished up at the CCT." I said, placing my hands in my pockets. "If we need information, I know someone there who literally has access to the entire world's knowledge… I hope at least. Worse case, he can't access anything, but at least we'll get some kind of information for us to use."
Ruby smiled. "Great! We'll meet up tonight near Yang to go over what we found." She said, pumping her fist in the air. "Let's do this!"
"Yeah!" I blinked, before looking to the right to see Sun hanging upside-down by his tail out the window.
"Sun!?" Blake asked, her eyes widening.
Yang raised an eyebrow. "How did you get up there?"
Sun shrugged. "Ah, it's easy; I do it all the time."
"You do what?!" Weiss asked, scowling.
Sun smiled. "I climb trees all the time!" He said, flipping into the room. "So, are we finally getting back at that Torchwick guy?"
"So… what was that about having these conversations with the metaphorical door open?" I asked sarcastically as Ruby elbowed me. "Ow!"
Blake stepped forward. "We are going to investigate the situation... as a team."
"Sorry, Sun. We don't want to get friends involved if we don't have to." Ruby said.
Sun waved his hand. "Psh! That's dumb! We should always get friends involved! That's why I brought Neptune!" He said, gesturing at the window with his thumb.
I blinked, watching as Team RWBY peered out the window and looked towards who I assumed was Neptune.
"Sup?"
Ah, yeah, that confirms it.
"How did you even get up here?" Ruby asked.
"I have my ways." Neptune said, before a hint of nervousness spoke through his next words. "Seriously, though, can I come in? We're like, really high up right now."
"Well, this is already going to plan." I said sarcastically with a sigh.
"Alright, Bryce and I will go with Weiss; Sun, you can go with Blake." Ruby said, pushing Neptune towards Yang. "And Neptune, you can go with Yang since she doesn't have a partner. Everyone good?"
Weiss spoke up. "Actually, Ruby, why don't you go with Yang? After all, she is your sister."
Ruby comes to a stop, leaving Neptune rocking back, stiff as a board. Yang lands a hand on the Blue haired guy's shoulder to stop his rocking. "But, Weiss, who would go with you, then?" Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well... I guess Neptune could come with me." Weiss said.
I looked over at Neptune with a raised eyebrow as a suave look formed on his face as he pointed at Weiss. There was a moment of silence before Ruby started laughing. "Hahaha, nah! Besides, Bryce is coming anyway, so it's not like changing our order around was going to do anything."
"But! But!" Weiss tried to reason as she thrust her arms out towards Neptune as Ruby dragged her out of the dorm by the back of her shirt.
"...I should run after them, huh?" I noted, pointing at the duo that had just walked out before running after them. I got maybe two feet out of the door before I slammed into someone, knocking us both onto our backs. "Ow…"
I shook my head and stood up. "Hey, sorry about that. Should've been paying more attention to my surroundings…" I said, reaching a hand out towards the guy I had knocked over.
"It's fine." He said, pushing himself up to a stand as he looked up at me. A pair of brown eyes staring into my own.
"So… You new around here?" I asked, looking at the uniform he was wearing. It wasn't Beacon's that was for sure, but I couldn't really place what academy it belonged to.
"Yeah, here for the tournament." He said. He looked calm, but his eyes had a strange intensity behind them. "Sorry, where are my manners. I'm Sougo. Sougo Tokiwa."
I blinked, before squinting at him. "Bryce… Bryce Bridged." I said, shaking his hand before he walked past me. "Uh… It was… Nice meeting you!"
I didn't get a response as Sougo walked past. "...Sougo? He looked nothing like how he looked in the show… and he… certainly wasn't the same height as that masked Sougo we ran into earlier… So who-?"
"Bryce, come on!" I heard Ruby shout as I turned my head to look at her.
"Ah, right! Sorry!" I shouted, running over to the pair as we made our way to the airships bound for Vale.
"Wow! I forget how big the Transmit tower looks up close!"
"Eh, I've seen bigger buildings…" I shrugged, looking up at the tower.
Weiss smiled. "You should see the one in Atlas!"
Ruby looked over at Weiss. "That was the first one, right?"
"Correct." Weiss nodded as we walked towards the tower. "Atlas developed the Cross Continental Transmit System to allow the four kingdoms to communicate with one another. It was their gift to the world after the Great War."
Ruby's voice raised a pitch as she flared her nose almost pompously. "Ooh, look at me! My name's Weiss! I know facts! I'm rich!" She said, before snorting into her hands at Weiss' annoyed face.
"Don't be a pest! Besides, the only reason we're here is because you like the tower so much! We could have just as easily made a call from the library!" Weiss said, crossing her arms.
"That, and it's on the way to the Detective Agency I'm headed to next…" I said, shrugging.
"I know, but it's so cool! Ooh, I'm going to take a picture!" Ruby said, pulling her scroll out to take a photo before she stumbles and practically sends it flying out of her hands. I have to give scrolls some credit, they're built like old Gameboys, or Nokia phones actually, that thing could bounce and be thrown from the top of a building and survive with nary a scratch.
I watched as the scroll bounced once more before it landed next to a pair of shoes that may have been attached to someone if the movement said person made to pick up said scroll was anything to go by. "Oh!" She blinked, picking up the scroll before extending the arm holding the device towards Ruby. My eyes widened as I stood next to Ruby as we looked at Penny, holding her scroll. "You dropped this."
Ruby blinked. "Penny?!"
Penny's eyes widened as she leaned back slightly. "Uh…"
Ruby took a step forward. "Where have you been? We haven't seen you since that night at the docks!"
"S-Sorry. I think you're confused." Penny stammered, hiccuping suddenly as she tossed the scroll into Ruby's hands. "Uh... I've got to go!"
I watched as the ginger haired girl ran off, leaving the three of us standing in confusion.
Weiss raised an eyebrow, before looking at Ruby. "What was that about?"
Ruby narrowed her eyes. "I don't know, but I'm going to find out." She said, as she started running after the girl. "You go make your call! I'll meet up with you guys later!"
Weiss blinked, before she reached her hand out towards Ruby. "Wha- Hey, Wait!" She shouted, before lowering her arm, letting out an annoyed sigh.
"Well, that just happened." I said, before looking at Weiss. "I'm gonna go after her. See what's up. That fine?"
"Yeah, sure, why not?" Weiss said, shaking her head.
"Great." I said, nodding as I turned around and ran after the two. I slowed to a stop, looking around the area in confusion. "They ran in this direction, so where the hell did they-?"
"Ah!" I blinked, turning my head to the left before I felt someone slam into my side, knocking the two of us onto the ground.
"Ow…" I grit my teeth, sitting up to see a man in a red hoodie with a black overcoat fitted overtop in front of me. "Wait, aren't you…?"
"Eh?" The man paused, looking up at me before his eyes widened in realization. "Oh! You're that guy from before!"
"Bryce, Bryce Bridged." I said, standing up as I lent him my hand.
"Aruto." He said as I helped him up. "Aruto Hiden."
"Fancy seeing you here again." I said, crossing my arms.
"Yeah." Aruto nodded. "Funnily enough, I'm looking for my friend again this time too."
"Really? Huh, same here." I said. "Though, different friend this time. She ran after an old acquaintance and I kinda lost her in the crowd and…"
"In that case, why don't we look together. She should be around here somewhere, so we'll no doubt run into them at some point." Aruto said, smiling.
"President!" I blinked, before looking over Aruto's shoulder as a girl in a white, green and black business dress walked over to us.
"Ah, Izu. Sorry about running off." Aruto said, turning to look at the girl. I blinked, noticing the two strange devices in place of where I imagined her ears would have been. "Oh, right. This is Bryce. Bryce, this is my assistant, Izu."
"Izu?" I blinked.
"Yes. My name is Izu, I'm a secretary-type Humagear in service of President Aruto." Izu said, bowing at the waist.
"...Ah…" I nodded slowly, looking at Aruto. "Huma...gear?"
Aruto nodded. "Ah. Humagears are synthetic androids developed by Hiden Intelligence." He said, smiling at Izu. "They're humanity's dream…"
I nodded to myself as I looked at Izu. "Well, it's nice to meet you."
Izu smiled, before looking to the side. "President, I've found Penny Polendina."
"Ha?" I blinked, before looking at Aruto. "You two know Penny?"
"Eh? I should be asking you that question!" Aruto said, turning to look at me. "How do you know her?"
"Well, she helped us out at the docks a bit ago, but we haven't exactly heard from her since… Actually, my friend I'm looking for ended up chasing after her when we saw each other a moment ago…" I said, rubbing the back of my head.
"President, she's made a break for that alley." Izu said, pointing towards a break between two buildings. I blinked, before noticing the red figure running into the alley. "And she's being chased by someone as well."
"Well, chased isn't exactly the right word here." I said, grabbing Aruto's attention. "That's my friend I was talking about."
Aruto looked back ahead. "Right, come on, before we lose 'em!" He said, running ahead, followed quickly by Izu who ran surprisingly fast for someone in that kind of dress. I broke into a sprint, running to keep up as the three of us arrived outside the alleyway, where Penny stood alone with two Athlesian guards, with no sight of Ruby.
"Why were you running? And what happened to the other girl?" I slowed to a stop outside the alley alongside Aruto and Izu as one of the guards spoke up.
"What girl? I've been by myself all day!" Penny said, before hiccupping so loudly that I could hear it from down the alley.
The first soldier let out a sigh. "You shouldn't cause such a scene."
"Are you okay?" The second one asked, looking at Penny.
Penny moved her arms towards the guards. "Just a scratch."
"Penny, your father isn't going to be happy about this." The first soldier continued.
"Please, just come with us." The second one said.
"That won't be necessary!" Aruto spoke up, grabbing the three's attention as he walked into the alley, dragging me along with him and Izu.
"You're-!" The first guard spoke up.
"Sorry for letting her out of my sight!" Aruto said, bowing quickly before he ran up towards Penny. "Penny, you gotta stop doing that!"
"I'm sorry." She said, nodding.
Aruto laid a hand on the girl's shoulder as I walked up with Izu towards the two guards. "We'll take it from here officers."
"If you're sure sir…" One of the guards said, looking towards me before the two of them walked out of the alley.
"Well, they seemed nice." I said absentmindedly, before turning back to look at Penny. "Good to see you again, Penny! Did you happen to see where Ruby went to?"
"Um, nope." Penny said, before hiccupping once more.
"Uh…" I blinked, looking over at Aruto who sighed.
"President, i'm detecting a heat signature from that garbage dumpster." Izu said, walking over to the nearby Garbage Dumpster as Penny's eyes widened in panic. I had to give it to the girl, for a robot of her size, she was apparently built to bench three times her weight or something as she easily lifted the lid with one hand.
"Uh… Hi?" I heard Ruby's voice emerge from the trash as I walked up next to Izu, looking inside to see Ruby looking up nervously.
"Ruby… what are you…?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"...Please don't tell Yang."
"I don't have a choice in the matter if she threatens me." I said, helping the red hooded girl out of the trash.
"Ah, so this is your friend then?" Aruto asked, looking over at Ruby.
"Ah, yeah. Aruto, this is Ruby. Ruby, this is-"
"You're Zero One!" Ruby suddenly shouted, blurring in front of Aruto in a flurry of rose petals. "Ooh, you're so cool! Can I have your autograph?"
"Uh… Ruby, what are you doing?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at my friend, before she suddenly charged towards me, glaring at me. "What?"
"Why didn't you tell me you knew Kamen Rider Zero One!?" She said, lightly slapping my arm.
"Eh?" I blinked, looking at Ruby, before looking over at Aruto who was sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "EH!? You're a…!?"
I blinked, before my face scrunched up. "Wait, Zero One?" I said, looking at Ruby. "Since when was there a rider with that name?"
"Well, he's only been around for a month at this point…" Ruby trailed off.
"Really's only been a month, huh?" Aruto said, crossing his arms. "Yeah, I'm Zero One. I take it your friend is a fan?"
"We're both Kamen Rider fans, I'm just… surprised there's a new one." I said, looking at him. "...Can I see your driver actually?"
Penny tilted her head as she looked at me. Aruto smiled, taking out the Zero One driver. I blinked, looking at the device that I had almost mistaken for a GPU a moment prior. I smirked, before unzipping my hoodie and pulling out my Ziku Driver. "Then I guess this makes me your senior. I'm Kamen Rider Zi-O. It's nice to meet you, Zero One."
"Eh?" Aruto blinked, before looking at the driver in my hand. "No way…"
"Aruto, I believe we should depart." Izu said, stepping up next to him. "You have a meeting soon with General Ironwood."
"Ah right…" Aruto said, putting away his driver as he smiled at me. "It was nice meeting you two! I guess I'll see you around!"
I gave a wave as the three of them left, leaving Ruby and I in the alleyway. "So, he seems nice." Ruby said, looking over at me.
I let out a sigh before shaking my head. "Come on, we should meet back up with Weiss at this point." I said, patting her on the back as we started walking out of the alleyway, the sky turning to evening above us. "... A new rider, huh? Never heard of a 'Zero One' before… so then does that make him the next rider after Zi-O?"
I shook my head. "God, now I want to see his transformation… Ugh, I'll be up all night thinking of that now…" I muttered idly to myself as we walked.
"This is it." Blake notes, running her fingers along three scratch marks on the wall next to her.
Sun raised an eyebrow at her. "You sure?" Blake turned around and glared at the monkey faunus. Sun raised his hands up in surrender. "Y'know, I'm just gonna take your word for it."
Blake turned the corner and moved ahead, walking towards the entrance to the nearby building as she unfastened her bow. The two walked inside the building, moving down a hallway filled with different cases and crates. Further down a man in a white fang uniform was motioning two other faunus further into the building. "New recruits, keep to the right!"
Sun pulled out the White Fang mask he had been given. "I don't get it. If you believe what you're doing is right, why hide who you are?"
Blake looked down at her mask. "The masks are a symbol. Humanity wanted to make monsters out of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters." She said, looking back up at Sun.
"Grimm masks... That's kind of dark." Sun noted.
"So was the guy who started it." Blake said as she put her mask on.
Sun rolled his eyes as Blake walked ahead. "Always sunshine and rainbows with you…" He muttered, placing his mask on as he followed after her.
The new recruits to the White Fang were moved along towards the side of the stage, a mere few dozen compared to the large number of White Fang members littering the hall. Hundreds of white-vested, black-hooded soldiers stood to their left and watched up above from the balconies. Blake and Sun slowed to a stop and looked around, as a fully-masked man with tattoos walked up and began speaking in front of the large black backdrop, emblazoned with the White Fang's logo in a piercing red.
"Thank you all for coming. For those of you who are joining us for the first time tonight, allow me to introduce a very special comrade of ours!" The White Fang member began. "I can assure you, he is the key to obtaining what we have fought for for so long!"
The sound of a cane tapping against metal reverberated out, as Roman Torchwick walked onstage. There was a wave of anger that washed over the audience as they began yelling and throwing things at the man.
"Thank you, thank you!" Roman said, waving half heartedly as he came to a stop. Behind him, a girl in a white suit with Neapolitan coloured hair walked out from behind the backdrop. "Please, hold your applause!"
A faunus standing in front of Blake and sun pointed their finger at Roman accusingly. "What's a human doing here?!"
Roman smirked. "I'm glad you asked, 'Deerie'!" Roman said, clapping his hands together as he walked towards center stage. "Now, I'll be the first to admit, humans... are the worst. Case in point. So, I understand why you would like to see us all locked away, or, better yet, killed!"
Sun leaned over to Blake. "So, is he going somewhere with this?"
Roman snapped his fingers. "But, before the claws come out, I'd like to mention the fact that you and I all have a common enemy: the ones in control, the people pulling the strings, the dirty, rotten humans that run our kingdoms!" Roman continued, as the crowd around them began to slowly start nodding along with the man's words. "Government, military, even the schools: they're all to blame for your lot in life! And they're all pests that need to be dealt with! Fortunately, I'm the best exterminator around... No offense to any rodents in the room."
Roman snapped, and the backdrop falls to the ground behind him, revealing a large mech standing tall behind him, the Atlesian Paladin-290. The faunus in attendance began to applaud, cheering for the man.
Sun's eyes widened behind the mask. "Whoa, that's a big robot…"
"How did he get that?" Blake hissed out.
"As some of you may have heard, this right here…" Roman begins, tapping the mech with his cane. "...is Atlas' newest defense against all the scary things in the world. And thanks to my "employer", we've managed to snag a few before they, uh, "hit the shelves". Now, many of your brothers have already moved down to our new operation in the southeast. If you'd rather stay within the city, that's fine... But if you're truly ready to fight for what you believe in, this is the arsenal I can provide you. Any questions?"
There's a sudden round of cheering that fills the auditorium as Blake and Sun stop and look at each other, before a distorted voice cuts through the crowd.
"Yeah, one actually!"
The audience's cheers suddenly die down, as a masked man walks onto the stage, the word 'Rider' displayed over the eyes in japanese characters as Sougo steps up towards Roman.
"What the-!?" The White Fang member who started the meeting speaks up, running at the Masked man before he's suddenly frozen, as Sougo idly raises his hand and freezes him in place. There's a sudden blade pointed at Sougo's neck, courtesy of the Neapolitan haired girl's umbrella. Sougo raised his hands up in the air non threateningly as he turned his head towards Roman.
"Sorry about that. I must say though, excellent speech, really brings the point home." Sougo said, nodding at Roman, before looking over at the crowd on the other side. "And honestly, I'm inclined to agree."
"I'm sorry, who are you exactly?" Roman asked, looking at the masked man.
"Sougo." He said, waving a hand towards Roman. "I'm a big fan of the way you do your business and… I'd like to offer both my help, and the help of my group."
Roman looked over at Neo and nodded, the blade quickly moving away from his throat as Sougo walked over to the center of the stage.
Sougo turns towards the Audience as he pulls out a scroll. "I assume most of you are aware of the recent monster attacks within city walls. These guys right here?" Sougo presses a button on his scroll and pulls up a hologram, displaying Another Den-O, Another Ex-Aid, and Another Gemn. "See, I'm what we call a 'Time Jacker'. We mess with the flow of time by introducing what we call, Another Riders into play. We're responsible for those things and we… would like to offer the White Fang our services in this matter."
"This can't be good…" Sun noted, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face.
"The world is changing! And you all, are not currently on the winning side!" Sougo continued, walking over to the mech. "Sucks, I know! The world's doing it's best to keep the status quo, as seen by this thing right here, but even with this thing, it's not going to be enough for you all to change your side to the one that's winning. What this can do, a single Kamen Rider can do a hundred times over. Which is exactly what we're offering you."
"I'd love to sit down and talk the deets with you Roman. Would that work with you?" Sougo asked, tilting his head.
Roman paused, before stroking his chin. "Sure, I don't see why not. Though you might wanna let him go now." Roman said, pointing at the White Fang member Sougo had frozen in time.
"Ah, yeah, one sec." Sougo said, snapping his fingers as time resumed, sending the White Fang member stumbling as he turned around to see Sougo.
"Good news, he's here to offer us even more tricks for all of you!" Roman said, patting Sougo on the shoulder. "So... I guess I should rephrase my previous point. THIS," Roman stepped to the side and motioned to both Sougo and the Paladin. "Is the arsenal I can provide! Are there any other questions!"
Blake hurriedly turned to look at Sun. "We should get out of here."
The White Fang member that Sougo froze stepped up, looking out at the crowd. "Will all new recruits, please come forward!"
Blake and Sun were suddenly pushed forward as the line they were in began to move towards the stage. "Welp!"
The White Fang in the audience cheered loudly as the recruits were marched towards the stage. Sun leaned towards Blake. "What are we going to do?!" He whispered.
Blake narrowed her eyes behind her mask. "I'm thinking…"
Sun looked over towards Roman, who was currently talking with Sougo. The bowler hat wearing thug turned around, holding his still smoking cigar in his hand as his eyes zeroed on the two of them. "He sees us…" Sun said, smiling lightly and waving.
Sougo's head turned to see the waving Sun and shook his head in what looked like exasperation as Blake's eyes landed on the Junction box beside him. "He can't see in the dark." She said, pulling out Gamble Shroud in it's gun formation as she fired a hole through the box, shutting the power down as the lights in the room shut down, plunging everyone into darkness.
"Don't let them get away!" Roman immediately shouted.
"Sun! The window!"
"Stop them!"
There's the sound of turning gears and electricity running as the Atlesian Paladin begins to activate, as the two Huntsmen in training crash through a window and begin running along the rooftops.
There's a sudden crash as the building they were in bursts open as Roman follows in hot pursuit, piloting the Paladin. The Paladin follows beside them on the street as Blake and Sun run and jump from rooftop to rooftop.
Sun vaults over one of the buildings, before he begins jumping from one roof to the next, flipping as he runs. "So you wouldn't happen to have... oh, I don't know... some form of backup?!"
"On it!" Blake said, pulling her scroll out of her pocket.
"Oh, great. Closed. Of course they are right now…" I muttered, standing in front of the Narumi Detective Agency with Ruby.
"It was worth a shot…" Ruby said, patting me on the back before her scroll began ringing. "Hm?"
"Everyone! If you can hear me, we need back-" Blake's voice came through the speaker before she was suddenly cut off by Sun.
"HEEEELLLP!"
"Well, that sounds good." I said, looking over at Ruby.
"Big robot! And it's big! Really big!" Sun continued through the scroll.
"What, did they get a Megazord or something?" I asked, blinking at the scroll in Ruby's hands.
"Oh, I'm NOT missing this!" Ruby said, before she grabbed onto the back of my neck.
"What are you doing?" I asked her.
"Keeping you from getting Whiplash." She said, before I had my first taste of something marginally close to the speeds of Clock Up.
"Okay… Please… don't ever do that again unless absolutely necessary…" I muttered, standing near the edge of the highway as Ruby stood next to me.
"Oh come on, where's the big robot…!" Ruby said, looking over at the highway before her eyes lit up. "Oh! There it is!"
"Eh?" I blinked, turning my head to see the giant robot tearing through traffic off in the distance. "Meh, it's no Megazord…"
"You really need to explain that term to me later." Ruby said.
"Ohma Zi-O!"
"Ugh, now of all times…?" I muttered as Ruby and I turned around to see the hooded figure of Geiz walk towards us. "Look, there's a big robot coming and that's kind of more important here."
"I beg to disagree." Geiz said, pulling his Ride Watch off his holder before he twisted the dial and activated it.
{GEIZ!}
He swung his arm and slotted it into his driver. He slammed his fist onto the release button, activating the holographic clock behind him as he thrust his arms forward before spinning them around, laying his hands over both sides of the driver.
"Henshin!" Geiz shouted, throwing his arms to the side as the driver fully rotated.
[RIDER TIME!]
{KAMEN RIDER~ GEIZ!}
"Ah… That's so cool!" Ruby said, jumping slightly as I turned to look at her.
Ruby looked at me for a moment before I caved and nodded. "Yeah…" I said, looking back at Geiz as I pulled out my Ziku Driver. "You take care of the mech heading our way. I got this guy to deal with."
[ZIKU DRIVER]
"Got it!" Ruby shouted, vaulting over the side of the highway leaving me with Geiz.
"...You really wanna do this?" I asked, pulling the Zi-O Ride Watch out of my pocket.
"Your reign of tyranny ends here, Ohma Zi-O!" Geiz shouted, summoning his Zikan Zax.
[ZIKAN ZAX!]
[OH NO!]
"Fine then." I said, twisting the dial on the Zi-O Ride Watch before pressing my thumb over the activation button. I slotted the Ride Watch into my belt, before clenching my fist as I slammed it on the release button. I let out a breath as I grabbed the left side of the driver with my right hand and pulled to the side, throwing the driver into a full rotation.
[RIDER TIME!]
"Henshin." I said, rolling my shoulders back as the transformation began.
{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}
I felt my visor slam onto my helmet as I held my hand out, summoning the Zikan Girade into my hand.
[ZIKAN GIRADE!]
[KEN!]
"...Let's go." I said, narrowing my eyes as Geiz charged me with his axe. I brought my sword up in front of me as Geiz swung wide, sending sparks flying as the curved blade of his axe slid along the edge of my sword.
I grit my teeth, pushing my sword towards his as I swung down at his chest. Geiz easily dodged back and slapped my swing at his right to the side with his axe before he pulled the blade of his axe down and transferred it into it's bow mode.
[YOU! ME!]
I jumped back, pressing down on the release button on my sword as I turned it into its gun mode as Geiz pulled back on his box.
[ZYU!]
I pulled the trigger three times, firing three shots at Geiz as he released his grip on the back of his weapon, sending a shot that smashed through my own. The energy slammed into my chest, sending me tumbling off the side of the highway as I slammed onto the hard ground below as the sounds of Team RWBY fighting the mech echoed to my left. "Ow…" I muttered, pulling myself to a stand as Geiz dropped down in front of me. "Okay… Seriously… How are your knees okay after that?"
Geiz didn't answer that, not that I was really expecting him to. He just silently pulled the Geiz Ride Watch off his belt and slotted it into his weapon.
[FINISH TIME!]
"Oh come on." I said, slamming my fist onto the Time Charge button on my gun.
[TIME CHARGE!]
[5...4...3...2...1… ZERO TIME!]
I let out a grunt as I pulled the trigger, sending a blast of energy at Geiz. Geiz scoffed behind his helmet before firing his shot in retaliation.
[ZURE! ZURE! UCHI!]
{GEIZ!}
[GIWA GIWA SHOOT!]
Once again, Geiz's shot blew past mine, forcing me to throw my body to the side to avoid the attack. I hit the ground and rolled over onto my front, standing up as the leftover energy from Geiz's attack hit the ground and exploded a bit behind me.
"I could've been fighting a mech right now… but instead, I'm stuck fighting you." I said, standing up as I rolled my neck.
"Sucks to be you." Geiz said sarcastically, pulling back on his bow as I ran to the side, firing round after round at him.
"Gah! What I wouldn't do for Parado! Or Momotaros… Or hell, I'd take Woz's help at this point!" I shouted, before one of Geiz's shots finally connected to my chest, sending me spiraling towards the ground. "Guh!" I felt the air leave my lungs as I laid on the ground.
"Hm. I guess I'll need to do more than this." Geiz said, dropping his Zikan Zax as he pulled out the Gemn Ride Watch.
{GEMN!}
"Oh, great… what a time to forget my other Ride Watches…" I muttered, standing up. "No, wait, I purposefully left them back at the dorm, like an idiot…"
Geiz slotted the Ride Watch onto his belt and spun it, activating the armour time as the Gemn Armour formed in front of him.
[RIDER TIME!]
{KAMEN RIDER~ GEIZ!}
[ARMOUR TIME!]
{LEVEL UP! GEMN!}
I let out a heavy sigh as Geiz walked towards me, the Gemn armour quickly attaching itself to his suit. "Okay… here we go." I said, charging right at him, tossing my weapon to the side as I pulled my arms up into a boxing stance. I ducked to the side, avoiding a punch from Geiz before I slammed my fist into his armoured stomach, knocking him back ever so slightly as I continued to duck and weave through his attacks, retaliating whenever I had a decent chance to do so.
If there was one thing that I learned from Banjou, besides what it feels like to have your ass handed to you by an actual boxer, is how to avoid getting punched in the face…
And how to dish it back out.
"Why won't you die!?" Geiz shouted, throwing another punch that skid across the side of my helmet as I threw a right hook at his own helmet, sending his stumbling back as I shook my hand.
"I'm tempted to say Nanomachines… But that'd be lying so… No." I said, shrugging as I took in another deep breath. There was a sudden sound of an explosion from behind me as I turned around to see Team RWBY and the destroyed mech, a rather undamaged Roman alongside the wreckage. "Huh, that went well."
"Where do you think you're looking!" I heard Geiz shout, before I felt his fist slam into the back of my head, sending me tumbling to the ground. I grit my teeth and rolled to a stand, ducking back from another attack from Geiz and then another, and another and so on until I finally had the chance to punch this guy in the face.
I threw my left arm back, leaning my head to the side to avoid another punch as I swung my left fist at his helmet, sending him tumbling back as we both breathed heavily.
"What… the hell is your problem with me? The hell have I even done!?" I asked, yelling at the time traveler.
"You…" Geiz began, standing up as his fists clenched into tight balls. "I will not allow you to destroy the future…!"
I raised my hands up once more, bringing my arms up into a stance before a sudden cry of pain grabbed both Geiz's and my own attention as we turned to see Ruby hit the ground and roll back. "Ruby!" Yang shouted, before she ran at a figure in silver and red that stood in front of where Ruby was once standing.
"Wait… that's…" I began, my eyes widening as I noticed the suit the guy was wearing. "SHIT!"
"Hey, wait!" Geiz shouted as I ran towards Team RWBY. Geiz paused, looking at the scene before he turned around, leaving me to whoever just showed up.
Roman dusted his suit off, clicking his tongue as he looked down at himself. "Just got this thing cleaned…"
He looked up towards Team RWBY, just in time to see Yang still very much on fire, shoot a single round at the now defenseless thief. Just before the blast connects, a small figure drops in front of Roman, opening up her umbrella moments before the round connected with her, deflecting it up into the air. She smirked, laying the weapon over her shoulder as Roman let out a quick sigh as he walked up next to her.
"Ladies," Roman began, before looking over at Weiss and giving a tip of his hat. "Ice Queen…"
"Hey!"
Roman smirked. "Always a pleasure! Neo, if you would…"
Neo smiled, giving a brief bow as Yang charged forward, her fist poised to strike as she punched right through Neo. Unfortunately, as the broken glass fell around Yang, she looked up to see a bullhead with the two individuals she had just punched fly up into the air. Yang narrowed her eyes as the bullhead began to fly off as the rest of Team RWBY ran up to Yang.
"So I guess he got a new henchman…" Yang said, crossing her arms.
"Yeah, I guess she really made our plans... fall apart!" Weiss said, looking at the rest of her team as they gave her various looks of contempt.
"No… Just, no…" Yang said.
"Agreed, that was terrible."
The entirety of Team RWBY's eyes shot open as they turned to look behind them before a silver and red foot planted itself onto Ruby's face, kicking her back as a man in silver and red armour stood before them.
"Ruby!" Yang shouted, before glaring at the figure. "What was that for!?"
Ruby groaned, looking up at the figure. "Wait… Faiz?"
The figure wearing the Faiz suit scoffed, before ducking to the side as Yang flew at him. He ducked to the side, before landing a solid punch into Yang's stomach before following it up with two more punches to her chest and face, sending her flying back towards Weiss and Blake.
"Who…?" Blake began to ask, before an armoured boot slammed into the side of Faiz's head, knocking him back. "Wha-Bryce!?"
"Wha-Bryce!?" Blake asked as I landed on the ground, glaring at the figure wearing Faiz's armour.
"Guys get back, you can't take this guy!" I shouted, glaring at Faiz.
"What!?" Weiss asked, looking over at Faiz as he righted himself up.
"Who the hell even are you?" Asked Yang, glaring at Faiz.
Faiz shook his head, turning around to look directly at me. My eyes traveled down, before widening at this sight of the belt attached to his waist.
"Just a passing through Kamen Rider…" He said, opening the white book-like object attached to his belt before he drew a card and held it out in front of him. "Remember that." He flipped the card in his hand and slotted it into the pink Decadriver attached to his waist before slapping his driver closed.
[FORM RIDE]
[FAIZ: AXEL!]
The Faiz suit on his person opened up, transforming itself into its Axel form, the Axel Watch appearing on the figure's left arm.
"Shit, everyone get back!" I shouted, charging at the rider as he pressed a button on the watch.
[START UP]
It all happened so fast, as I felt numerous punches and kicks slam into my body from all angles, before it suddenly stopped as I flew to the side, letting out a cry of pain as I rolled to a stop.
[TIME OUT]
I pushed myself to a stand as Faiz returned to his normal form. "You…" I said, glaring at the rider in front of me before I looked past him to see all of Team RWBY in similar positions to me. "Who are you?"
"Oi, Oi… Are you hard of hearing?" Faiz asked, before he pulled out another card. "I'm just a passing through Kamen Rider…" He flipped the card in his hand before quickly flicking it into his driver.
[KAMEN RIDE]
Faiz slapped his hands over his driver, closing it up as a red holographic image popped up over the front of the driver.
[DECADE!]
I took a step back as I watched numerous red card-like objects form in the air before all of them slammed into the helmet of the man standing before me, as the magenta colours of his suit shone in the moonlight.
"What…? But I thought that…" Ruby began, looking at Decade in confusion.
I felt my breath catch in my throat as I looked at Decade. "...You're… Tsukasa… Aren't you?" I asked, a feeling of dread running down my spine.
"Ah." Decade nodded, dusting his hands off as he tilted his head. "Tsukasa Kadoya, Kamen Rider Decade…"
"...The destroyer of worlds." He finished, drawing his sword as he charged me.
"Shit!" I shouted, ducking to the side as I summoned the Zikan Girade to my hand.
[ZIKAN GIRADE!]
[KEN!]
I brought my sword up to block as his weapon slammed into mine. I let out a grunt of pain as he easily began to overpower me. "What… What the hell are you doing here!?"
"What part of passing through don't you understand?" Decade asked, before swinging his sword to the side, sending me wide open as he slashed upwards, slicing across my armoured chest as sparks flew up.
I stumbled back, gripping my sword as I tried to come to grips with what was going on. "Your driver...! Since when was the Decadriver Pink!?"
"It's not pink!" Decade shouted, swinging his sword across my chest once more, sending more sparks flying. "It's Ma-" Another swing, more sparks. "Gen-" Another swing. "Ta!" I let out a grunt as Decade's elbow slammed into my stomach, sending me stumbling back. "This'll end it." Decade continued, taking out a gold card from his sword before pulling the side of his driver out. Decade idly flipped the card in his hand before flicking it down into his driver, quickly swiping his hands over his driver to close it.
[FINAL ATTACK RIDE]
[De-De-De-DECADE!]
I looked up in a mix of amazement and horror as Decade leapt into the air, 20 gold cards forming between me and him as he slammed through each before his kick collided with my chest, sending my flying back as my transformation deactivated.
"Gah!" I let out a gasp as I rolled to a stop.
"Bryce!" I heard Ruby shout as I looked over at Decade as he idly approached me.
"So… You're going to be this world's Ohma, hm?" Decade asked, pulling out a long Magenta Ride Watch, before he flipped it in his hand, revealing the Decade styled face on the front. "At least the one you're pretending to be understood what he was getting himself into."
I grit my teeth as I pulled myself to a stand. "That… Ride Watch… How are you…?" I blinked, staring at confusion at Decade before I glared at him. "...No… No, I don't even care about that right now… I won't… I won't become who you seem to think I will…!"
"Oh? You really think so?" Decade asked, putting away the Decade Ride Watch as he held his hand up towards me. I blinked in confusion, looking over at Team RWBY who were only now pulling themselves back up to a stand. "Then why not see for yourself!?"
I snapped my head back towards Decade as he flicked his wrist, a sudden wall of energy appeared next to me that quickly flew past me, my surroundings suddenly changing in a matter of moments as I found myself in a sandy ruin that resembled the Vale Highway area I was standing in moments earlier.
"...What… What just… Happened?" I asked myself, looking down at the belt on my waist. "Was that… the Aurora Curtain…"
"Then why not see for yourself!?" Decade asked, flicking his hand as he sent Bryce to the year 2068.
"Bryce!" Ruby shouted, coming up to a stand as the Aurora Curtain vanished. "No…!"
"You bastard… What did you do to him!?" Yang asked, running up next to Ruby.
"I've sent him to the future. To see just what he'll become." Decade said, turning to look at Team RWBY. "Until later." He said, taking another card out and slotting it into his driver.
[ATTACK RIDE]
"Oh no you don't!" Yang shouted, running towards Decade once more, her weapons armed and ready as Decade closed his driver back up.
[INVISIBLE!]
And just as Yang's fist passed through were Decade was once standing, the destroyer of worlds suddenly vanished from sight, leaving Team RWBY alone in front of the destroyed Atlesian Paladin.
"...What… What just happened?" Blake asked as the team looked at each other.
"...I don't know." Weiss said after a moment, before a strange sound caught their attention, as a strange portal of black and gold clocks suddenly formed in front of the four of them. There was a moment of silence before Bryce walked out of the portal, his attire completely different, if the brown cloak he was now wearing was to be believed.
His eyes traveled up to look at Team RWBY and almost faraway look in his eyes as the portal closed behind him. His breathing came out shaky as he suddenly fell to his knees, the look in his eyes turning into something more haunting as he started hyperventilating.
"Bryce?" Ruby asked, snapping his attention to the girl as tears began to leak from the corner of his eyes as his eyes widened in recognition, before finally he collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious. "Bryce!"
"Shit, what the hell was that!?" Yang asked, as the rest of Team RWBY ran over to him.
"We need to get him back to Beacon." Weiss said, pulling out her scroll. "He's injured!"
The girl's observations were right, numerous cuts and wounds littered his body, alongside a thin layer of what seemed to be dust that coated most of the exposed parts of his skin.
"Come on, help me pick him up." Blake said, as Yang and her picked up the unconscious rider as Ruby looked on in concern.