Remnant Chronicles: Kamen Rider Reiki
レムナント年代記：仮面ライダー霊気
Remunanto Nendai-ki: Kamen Raidā Reiki
Chapter 3: Dusk
第三章：夕闇
Dai Sanshō: Yūyami
(OP1: This Will Be the Day)
They see you as small and helpless!
They see you as just a child!
Surprise when they find out that a warrior will soon run wild!
Prepare for your greatest moments!
Prepare for your finest hour!
The dream that you've always dreamed is suddenly about to flower!
We are lightning!
Straying from the thunder!
Miracles of ancient wonder!
This will be the day we've waited for!
This will be the day we open up the door!
I don't wanna hear your absolution!
Hope you're ready for a revolution!
Welcome to a world of new solutions!
Welcome to a world of bloody evolution!
In time, your heart will open minds!
A story will be told!
And victory is in a simple soul!
(OST: EP 3 Score – The Shining Beacon, Pt. 2)
As night fell, Kuen found himself walking to the balcony of the room he was staying at. Staring at the stars almost hazily, he looked at the moon that was high in the air, a part of it cracked and split from the big chunk of moon floating up there.
"What is the backstory behind that broken moon anyways?" Kuen asked to himself some more, as he shrugged, deciding to forget about it, and maybe head to sleep.
He'd already done the usual night preparations; take a shower, brush his teeth and dress up in something more appropriate. Particularly, he was dressed in a red pair of pyjamas that could be reasonably confused as casual wear.
Heading back into the mess hall, he walked into the locker room, pulling out his sleeping bag from his pile of stuff he'd had on him.
Thinking back to what had happened after the whole Aura thing, he and Pyrrha had done sort of some sparring, mainly to get used to the Aura that was flooding his whole body. It felt... odd to him, mainly because he'd never felt such a power within him before. That and the fact he lasted thirty seconds as a newbie with a gun he barely knew how to fire against a learned and certified professional at sword-fighting.
Great? No.
Good enough for now? Yes.
And Kuen would head into the main room, noticing Ruby writing in the distance, and talking with Yang at the same time. Which meant that she was the prime choice to approach (not that he knew anyone else to begin with other than Jaune and Pyrrha, or Oum forbidden Weiss and that girl in black).
"It's like a big slumber party!" Yang exclaimed, much to the exasperation of her younger sister.
"I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys, though..." Ruby chuckled awkwardly, continuing to write.
"I know I do...!" Yang giggled, purring as she would take notice of several muscular and shirtless guys... until Jaune passed by, dressed in a weird pair of pyjamas and waving at her, much to her disdain.
"...what's that?" Yang then asked, taking notice of the thing that Ruby was currently writing on at the moment.
"A letter to the gang back at Signal. I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going."
"Aw, that's so cuuute!" Yang teased, before she was hit in the face by a pillow coming from Ruby.
And at that exact moment, Kuen happened to bump in, giving a short wave and a hello to the two sisters.
"What'cha doing, Ruby?" Kuen asked.
"Writing a letter to my friends back at Signal." Ruby replied back, continuing to write her letter.
"Oh, cool. That's cute as hell." Kuen said almost genuinely, before he also received a pillow to his face, much to his own surprise... and disdain.
"Shut up! I didn't get to take my friends with me to school! It's weird not knowing anyone here!" Ruby exclaimed.
"What about Jaune? He's… nice! And Kuen too! There you go! Plus two friends! Two hundred percent increase!" Yang claimed almost optimistically.
"Pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend. Back to one…" Ruby lamented.
Kuen then chimed in, "Well, there's no such things as negative friends… you made two friends and, uh… one enemy! Something like that!"
Yang then continued, "Look, it's only been one day. Trust me; you've got friends all around you! You just haven't met them yet!"
Kuen then noticed a small candle being lit, noticing a familiar figure sitting against the wall, reading a book from the likes of it.
"The girl from this morning..." Both Kuen and Ruby almost noted in unison, as Yang simply asked, "You know her?"
"Not really. She saw what happened this morning, but left before I could say anything." The girl in red then mentioned.
"Well, now's your chance!" Yang cheered.
And she would somehow manage to grab Ruby's arm, lifting her up as the latter struggled, as she dragged her to the girl in black's spot, as Kuen decided to trail along, also deciding that he'd only interrupt if it were absolutely necessary.
The girl in black looked at the two girls (and Kuen) with a deadpan expression in her face, as Yang then asked, in a sing-song voice, "Hel-looo! I believe you two may know each other?"
The girl in black, currently almost laser-focused with the book that was in her hand then replied, "Aren't you… the girl that exploded?"
Ruby then nervously replied, "Uh, yeah! My name's Ruby! But you can just call me… actually, just call me Ruby."
The girl in black decided to get back to her book, but not before introducing herself as Blake Belladonna for the briefest of moments, as Kuen decided to wait the awkward silence out, but not before noticing the book that she had been reading.
"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?" Kuen asked, glossing at the cover, as Blake then turned to him, a look of intrigue in her eyes.
"I'm assuming it's also the one by Robert Louis Stevenson, right?" He asked further.
"Yep." The other responded, before going back to her book, something which Yang and Ruby both asked in unison, in a tone very similar to whispering, "How the heck are you used to this?"
Kuen only awkwardly grinned, responding in a monotonous voice, "Literature studies."
Ruby then decided to break the tension, mentioning, "I love books. Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters... They're one of the reasons I want to be a Huntress!"
Blake then chuckled softly, asking, "And why is that? Hoping you'll live happily ever after?"
"Well, I'm hoping we all will. As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books... Someone who fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn't protect themselves!"
"That's... very ambitious for a child. Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale." Blake mentioned, her smile turning in a frown.
"Well, that's why we're here! To make it better." Ruby smiled warmly.
Yang then immediately hugged her sister, holding her in the air as she then quipped, "Oh, I am so proud of my baby sister!"
Ruby responded, "Cut it out!"
And then fighting ensued between the two sisters, as Blake and Kuen chuckled softly.
"Sisters, am I right?" Kuen offhandedly mentioned, trying to make awkward talk in the meanwhile, as Blake responded with a very casual shrug.
And their brief moment was immediately interrupted by a familiar face. And it's Weiss Schnee. In her pajamas. With a very angry look on her face, as she stomped towards the four of them.
"What in the world is going on over here?! Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?" She exclaimed angrily.
And then she noticed Kuen, and Kuen also noticed her.
"Oh, not you again." Both of them said at the same time, except Weiss said it seriously, and Kuen was saying it sarcastically.
Ruby then made a shushing noise, before replying, "Guys, she's right! People are trying to sleep!"
"Oh, now you're on my side!" Weiss said in almost alarming levels of exasperation.
"I was always on your side!" Ruby replied in frustration.
Yang then chimed in, "Yeah, what's your problem with my sister? She's only trying to be nice!"
Weiss immediately responded, "She's a hazard to my health!"
And Kuen and Blake could only roll their eyes, as Blake would close her book, grabbing her candle, and blowing it out.
The four girls going to sleep, Kuen would walk back out onto the balcony, feeling a little more energetic from the usual. And he'd suspected it has something to do with the fact that he'd taken a shower about an hour or two earlier.
Yeah, he assumed it was probably that.
The quietness of it all felt very odd to the male, enough to make him get out of the mess hall, closing the doors behind him, though he would grab his blaster with him in the event that something went wrong. He would have said that nothing could go wrong, but he remembered what had happened the night before and how Professor Goodwitch mentioned that the white monster they'd fought classified as an unexpected presence.
Wandering through the hallways of Beacon, Kuen could definitely feel a difference in the air. It was much colder, which was to be expected. A little windier than he'd like, but that was what he'd come to expect out of night air. What he didn't expect too much was that Pyrrha still seemed to be in the classroom that she'd trained in hours earlier, much to his own surprise.
"How the?" Kuen wondered to himself, as he pushed the door open, surprising the Spartan who was once again going through the motions, this time in her pyjamas.
Kuen called out to the other, much to her surprise, before he awkwardly waved at her. "You still going through combat motions at this hour? Don't we have Initiation tomorrow or something?"
"Katas are... generally calming, for a lack of a better term."
"You do have a point there. I remember having a friend who does mixed martial arts, and they occasionally do something similar when they're free."
The Spartan would shrug, before Kuen would then wonder. "What time you heading to bed?"
"Well, in an hour. What about you?"
"I'm personally not sure, to be completely honest. Taking evening shower at this hour was pretty much a bad mistake, if I'm completely being honest with you. Because of it, I'm a little too energetic for the hour."
Pyrrha let out a light, yet hearty chuckle, before smiling. "I see..."
"Well, you wanna spar or something? I was hoping you could train me in your fighting style."
Fifteen minutes later, Kuen gasped for air, as he leaned against the wall for support. "I know aerobics can do this sort of sweating to me, but this is just combat motions. How?"
"Considering you look like this is your first time fighting, you picked up some of my techniques rather well." Pyrrha noted, as she offered her hand to Kuen, the latter of which would grab it, getting up.
Suddenly, however, the two would hear the sounds of an explosion going off in the distance, much to their own shock.
"That's... not normal, right?" Kuen asked, immediately trying to wrap his head around what the hell was even happening.
"I don't... think so." Pyrrha noted, as they immediately dashed out of the room.
As Saki emerged from one of the many alleyways in the city streets nearby Beacon Academy, she put on a mask akin to that worn at purely fancy dinner parties and the such; enough to cover her general facial structure, but felt mostly like fancy and unnecessary glasses.
Walking through Beacon Academy's compound, she would spot the receptionist walking out of the building, looking at her Scroll with a rather distressed expression. A small giggle would form on Saki's face, as Yuki and Kiyou would observe the moment that Saki was having, much to the male's concern.
"You think she's going to be Saki-chan's next target?"
"I mean, she's practically lurking behind her at this point."
Saki hidd behind the shrubbery, as the receptionist would walk in front of her. Immediately, she jumped into action, pulling out a pipette-like device akin to that held by Yuki the night before, before jamming it into the receptionist's throat.
As the latter immediately collapse onto the ground, Saki would use her hand to cover the woman's mouth, preventing her from screaming.
"Misery ending soon." Saki muttered, in a tone very much not like her usual. Much deeper in tone, but just as quiet as she usually was, regardless.
The woman began to scream loudly, though Saki continued to gag her mouth, white sparks of light beginning to manifest around the receptionist. Said sparks would turn into rings, before they would coat her in jagged metal of some sorts, a figure emerging from the painful transformation.
SHIRO! CORRUPTION MIX!
白！腐敗合わせる！
Shiro! Fuhai Awaseru!
"Attack." Saki muttered quietly, letting the figure roam free, as she would then disappear into the shadows once more like she had done earlier...
As Kuen and Pyrrha would arrive on the scene, the former of the two gasping for air, he would suddenly be taken by surprise by the white figure that was charging towards him. Unable to dodge the white blur that was charging in his direction, he was sent flying by the monster's tackle, crashing into the nearby shrubbery.
Pyrrha immediately took charge of the situation, unsheathing her weapon, and converting it into its shield mode. Aiming at the monster that was reeling from the attack it had just caused, she threw the shield at the monster, sending it reeling from said attack, as the shield would then rebound into her hands.
Kuen would barely manage to get up, before he then pulled out his blaster, very much grateful that he had it on him to begin with. Readying the firearm, he would fire at the monster from afar, as it tanked the bullets. Suddenly, however, the monster would summon a holographic shield of some sorts, proceeding to block the bullets that Kuen and Pyrrha were sending in its direction.
Pyrrha would then convert the rifle she was wielding back into its sword mode, beginning her process of striking at the monster. Kuen continued to provide coverage, sending an almost-infinite amount of bullets flying at the monster. Part of him remained grateful that the whole battlefield right now was quiet enough that it wouldn't wake everyone in the mess hall from their sleep.
He was also horribly frightened that they might cause enough noise to attract attention. The city centre was loud and bustling, sure, but it wasn't loud enough that it could cover the sounds of their fight. At the same time, because of Kuen's thought process, he would become briefly oblivious to the monster that was charging in his direction, the boy in red barely able to block its attacks.
As he regrouped near Pyrrha, Kuen then muttered the plan he had. "I do know I can defeat those things with my blaster. However, we need to weaken it enough that my finishing shot will be able to properly defeat the thing."
"Got it." Pyrrha flashed a 'thumbs up' in Kuen's direction, before he would then mention, "Was thinking of something as well. We need to make sure we're silent enough this fight that nobody in the mess hall is going to suddenly wake up from the shockwaves. Because, uhh, imagine what would happen if that happens."
Pyrrha nodded, before the two would charge back into battle. Suddenly, however, they were interrupted by the sights of a black blur dashing in front of the monster, causing it to reel in surprise. As Kuen and Pyrrha briefly paused, the former of the two was able to make out the figure causing the black blur...
"Belladonna? How the heck were you able to hear the whole fight?"
Blake landed near the two fighters, muttering softly, "Noticed a fight going on in the courtyard. I'm assuming the white figure over there is our enemy this time?"
"Yep."
"Got it." Blake would then unsheathe her weapon, using it to strike at the white monster. Pyrrha did the same, using her sword to send an attack at the monster, her shield holstered on her left arm in the process.
Kuen would then ready his finisher, pulling out the blank gear from his pocket, before shoving it into one of the two slots on the weapon. Pulling a crank on the weapon, the barrel of the firearm began to charge with white energy.
"You'd think I would have realized that it was better to prepare the weapon immediately. Regardless, let's hope it causes the monster to just disintegrate and not explode like last time... that and the assumption that it'll be weak enough for this to destroy it…" Kuen muttered to himself, as he continued to pull the crank.
Suddenly, however, the monster broke free from Blake's and Pyrrha's onslaught, charging towards Kuen, much to his shock. His finisher charging would be broken, as he dodged the monster barely, using the firearm to fire multiple rounds of bullets into the monster's eyes, sending him reeling from the unexpected attack.
At the same time, Kuen finished charging the weapon, aiming the firearm point blank into the monster's chest.
SAT! SU! EI! SHOOTING!
撮影！シューティング！
Satsuei! Shūtingu!
Firing a white ray of energy point blank, Kuen hoped it would pierce through. However, the monster barely managed to summon another shield, tanking the attack full-on, much to Kuen's shock.
The monster would then send Kuen flying into another three, as he groaned, feeling the Aura in his body begin to weaken ever so slightly. Maybe half of what he originally had, he wasn't sure.
Pyrrha realized what was going on, before changing her sword's mode, converting it into a javelin that she would use to pierce through the monster, sending it reeling. As it would then redirect its attention onto the Spartan, she threw her shield once again at the monster, sending it into a bunch of shrubbery, as both of her weapons would rebound into her hand.
Blake then pulled out her weapon's sheath from her back, before wielding it alongside her main weapon (the katana). Charging at the monster which was also now charging at her, she sent out multiple slashes at it, the monster easily tanking the onslaught that Blake was dashing out. However, as Blake continued in her attacks, almost relentless to an extent, the monster then began to take more damage, unable to summon its shields for support.
Immediately, Blake would then convert her main weapon, into its gun mode, before firing at the monster, sending it reeling. Both Blake and Pyrrha would then look at Kuen, the latter nodding.
Pulling the crank on the weapon again, the gear still in it, the barrel charged up with white energy once again, as Kuen readied himself in the event of a similar situation like what happened earlier. The block came to his surprise, but now he was prepared for something like it.
SAT! SU! EI! SHOOTING!
撮影！シューティング！
Satsuei! Shūtingu!
Aiming the firearm at the monster, Kuen sent out a powerful ray of white energy. Said ray pierced through the monster, sending it collapsing onto the ground, before it began disintegrating into dust, much to Kuen's relief. However, as the armour surrounding the monster disintegrated, it would reveal the receptionist that handled the registrations, much to Kuen's shock.
The three fighters regrouped, as Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch walked towards the three, stepping out from the confines of the building. Kuen would notice the two professors approaching them, as he would quickly check on the condition of the receptionist.
"How the hell? Last time it was apparently that shopkeeper, now the receptionist?" Kuen wondered to himself, as Professor Goodwitch gave a stern look to the three fighters.
"Do you know how bad an idea it is to be outdoors at this hour?" The professor began to complain, "However, I'll allow it because of the circumstances of it."
"What's going on?" Pyrrha muttered in confusion.
As the two professors explained to Blake and Pyrrha the circumstances of what was going on, Kuen would arrive, having brought the receptionist to the infirmary. Part of him was surprised that the infirmary was still even operational at this hour, but then again, he should have chalked it up to a school simply providing 24/7 emergency services, to some extent.
"She seems to be mostly alright, from what I've gathered from the doctor. Though he did mention that there was a pipette wound from her neck." Kuen noted.
"Like what happened to the shopkeeper managing 'From Dust Till Dawn' the previous night." Professor Goodwitch then added, remembering the analysis done to the on the shopkeep after they brought him to the nearby hospital.
"Maybe the same person is behind it?" Pyrrha then wondered briefly.
"You do have a point there," Kuen replied. "The two monsters are practically similar, just having different abilities. The one made from the shopkeeper was able to send out Dust crystal bombs; this one was able to make hologram shields."
"Maybe their abilities are related to the person they were made from. The shopkeeper manned a Dust shop after all." Blake then retorted.
"Maybe, but what about the receptionist? My only best guess here is that since she uses a lot of technology, it might have something to do with that?" Kuen wondered. "Like I said, my best guess."
"That seems to be the best guess we can go for." Ozpin would then respond.
"To think they're suddenly starting up very close to Initiation…" Pyrrha and Kuen both muttered.
"There must be a reason they're doing that, right?" Kuen then wondered. "I do suppose we do have to worry about them attacking during Initiation."
Ozpin wondered for a bit as well as to what to do, before he would make his decision. "It has been decided then. We will keep charge, looking out for any suspicious monsters that aren't Grimm during Initiation. You'll obviously be doing Initiation like the usual, but watch out in case something happens."
Kuen nodded, noting the fact, before turning to Blake and Pyrrha, who reacted in agreement.
"There's two more people in this conspiracy that's unfolding now, isn't there?" Kuen wondered to himself, letting out a chuckle in the process.
As the three soon-to-be-students were dismissed, Kuen would walk back to the mess hall, before he thened pull out the gear he'd used to channel his finishing moves. Looking at it, he then noted that the colour of it had changed a little. He was pretty sure that the main inside part of it was dark grey, but now it was a little lighter in colour. Not to mention the fact that it had specks of white in it too.
It left Kuen to wonder multiple questions, most of which unrelated to the gear at hand.
What was going to happen at Initiation?
Why did Professor Ozpin mention the Grimm? Was he going to have to fight the Grimm? Well, he did know the answer to that, but he still was unsure.
Who are the ones behind the monster attacks? Why did they choose to attack very close to Initiation? And do the pipette wounds have something to do with their method of monster creation?
And why was his gear changing? Did it have something to do with the monsters they defeated? Was his gear absorbing the auras from the monsters he destroyed?
There were so many questions that were still left unanswered, and many new questions with answers that Kuen would have to look for. Entering the mess hall and seeing most of the people asleep, with the exception of a Blake Belladonna who still seemed to be awake somehow, Kuen headed to the locker room, finding his locker and dialling the passcode.
Taking out a small notebook from his locker, he walked onto the balcony like he had done earlier, finding a spot to sit down. Slowly, Kuen would begin writing the questions that were plaguing his brain, making a diary entry in the book. Taking glimpses at the past three days' worth of entries, he would make note of the people he'd met today.
Weiss Schnee, though he wasn't sure what to make of her other than her being a stuck-up cunt.
Blake Belladonna, definitely an interesting person somewhat.
Yang Xiao Long, Ruby's older sister and girl he probably wouldn't want to offend out of fear of how far his arse would be up his throat if he'd done such a thing.
Jaune Arc, weird person overall (though not as weird as Kuen felt he was anyways).
Pyrrha Nikos, also very interesting person, he'd probably have to read up on her since she felt like the kind of person who would be in the news for at least something.
Tomorrow was going to be a very long day. Kuen knew that. Closing his diary, he'd head back in, finally going to sleep from sheer exhaustion from the fight earlier.
As Yuki, Saki and Kiyou would regroup in their small base, Saki would continue to browse through her tablet, looking at the statistics of the monster she'd created earlier.
"Thank god you didn't use all of our dark energy reserves to create the monster, but did you have to create the monster is such a quiet way?" Yuki wondered, piercing a glare in Saki's direction.
Kiyou would then retort, "Well, like last time, she probably has some reason for what she's doing! Don'tcha, Saki-chan?"
Saki would remain quiet, continuing to dodge the question, before Yuki would then point out.
"Imagine if we'd made the monster loud. Think of the chaos we could have created!"
"Kiyou. Tomorrow in charge?" Saki then finally muttered, peeking from her tablet.
"Of course! They won't know what hit them!" Kiyou stated darkly, a spark of fire in her eyes. Yuki would note the spark, as he chuckled in the process.
"Finally! We get to create some chaos that could benefit us!" Yuki then turned to Saki. "Your methods of creating monsters weren't creating any dark energy from the surroundings, ya know. I get you have a hidden agenda. We probably all do, to be completely honest with you. But, like. Don't drain out reserves for your agenda."
"No worry. I won't kill us." Saki responded quietly, before she would proceed to go back with her thing.
Yuki could only sigh in response.
(ED2: Gold)
Dream of anything, I'll make it all come true!
Everything you need is all I have for you.
I'm forever always by your side.
Whenever you need a friend, never far behind.
If the stars all fall,
When there's no more light,,
And the moon should crumble,
It will be alright.
Don't you worry about the dark!
I will light up the night with the love in my heart!
I will burn like the sun!
I will keep you safe and warm!
Like the smell of a rose on a summer's day!
I will be there to take all your fears away!
With a touch of my hand!
I will turn your life to gold!
With a touch of my hand!
I'll turn your life to gold!