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 6: Convergence
第六章：収束
Dai Rokushō: Shūsoku
(OST: EP 7 Score – The Emerald Forest, Pt. 2)
Jaune and Pyrrha stood in the middle of a dark cave; drawings tattered on the side involving armed men against gargantuan scorpions.
"Think this is it?" Jaune asked, as they entered the cave, Jaune having already lit a torch to guide their way somewhat.
"I'm not sure this is it." Pyrrha responded, to which Jaune retorted, "Pyrrha, I made the torch. Could you at least humor me for, like, five more feet?"
Suddenly and completely unexpectedly, Jaune would trip on the ground, the torch flying into a small puddle, extinguishing the flame so the two would only end up being cast in darkness with only their eyes visible. Continuing onward through the cave, they would then notice what appeared to be a large glowing point of gold right in front of them, as it illuminated Jaune's excited features.
"That's the relic!" Jaune exclaimed, as he reached out to get it. However, it moved away from his arms, as he reached out even more. "Hey! Bad relic!"
Trying to get it again, he jumped forwards, hanging onto it, as the relic raised him a little higher above the ground. "Gotcha!"
"…Jaune?" Pyrrha asked worriedly, as Jaune was lowered, as he dangled in front of what was a pair of eyes, blood-shot red in color.
And emerging from the cave entrance was a fleeing Pyrrha, as a gargantuan scorpion-like Grimm emerging from the cave, its red eyes glowing amongst the day sky, with Jaune still clinging onto its golden-encrusted tail.
As it roared and waved its claws at the Greek warrior, Jaune would call for help, screaming for his dear life, "Help! Whoa-ah-ah-ah-ah! Why?! Pyrrha! He-e-e-elp! Pyrrha, this is not the relic! It's not! Do something!"
Holding her spear to the creature, Pyrrha would scream towards Jaune, "Jaune! Whatever you do, don't let-"
However, her words were immediately cut off, as the gargantuan scorpion Grimm, the Death Stalker Grimm, would hurl its tail back and forth, sending a still-screaming Jaune across the forest, a look of dismay forming on Pyrrha's face.
"Right." Sighing embarrassedly, she would run away from the scorpion and in Jaune's direction, the gargantuan Grimm chasing after her.
(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 8 Score – Players and Pieces)
And their brief moment was suddenly interrupted by Ruby, Weiss and Kuen suddenly emerging from the forest, much to Yang's and Blake's surprise. The three of them looked a little worse for wear, having encountered multiple Beowulves and Ursai on their path into the clearing.
Yang barely managed to give Ruby a bear hug, worried and scared for her safety, almost.
And then Jaune somehow appeared, having been sent flying through the skies, crashing into the ground near the five of them.
As Jaune got up, very dizzy, Blake wondered, "Did that guy just fall from the sky?"
Yang almost answered with a confused, "I-"
And said parade was interrupted by a clusterfuck of noises coming from the forest from the same way that Kuen, Ruby and Weiss emerged from, as an Ursa emerged, preparing to charge at the six people present in the area.
Until a pink blast of energy would hit it in the back, causing it to crash on the ground, fading into dust and depositing its... rider?
"Yee-haw!"
Nora screamed, rolling off the creature's back, before lamenting at the state of the Grimm.
"Aww, it's broken..."
And Nora entered the temple, picking up a golden rook piece, humming to herself.
"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the-"
Ren screamed Nora's name, emerging from the forest as well, as the latter stopped dancing, grabbing the piece and rushing back to Ren, skipping towards him on a dilly-dally manner.
Blake could only comment confusedly, asking Yang, "Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?"
Yang exasperatedly tried replying, "I-"
Unfortunately, she would be interrupted once more as a screech would be heard from their right, with Pyrrha Nikos coming onto the scene as the gargantuan Death Stalker chased after her, uprooting every piece of foliage in its sight, chasing after her.
Pyrrha would barely be able to dodge and parry the relentless attacks, continuing to run to their location. And lucky for her, the Death Stalker seemed to be suddenly trapped by the increasing amount of foliage it had managed to catch on its claws.
"Jaune!"
"Pyrrha!"
The two partners called out to each other.
"Did… she just run all the way here with a Death Stalker on her tail?" Blake asked Yang confusedly.
Yang finally hit her boiling point, growling and erupting into a small burst of fire as her eyes began to flash red.
"I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!" She screamed.
And as Yang immediately calmed down afterwards, the nine took the chance to properly regroup, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Right, what the hell was that roar just now? That was clearly not a normal Nevermore!" Yang mentioned.
"We," Kuen pointed to Ruby and Weiss, "encountered the thing while making our way here... I can for sure say it wasn't a regular Grimm... there's a whole conspiracy thing going here I'll let you in later, but..."
Kuen could only sigh, clutching his head in frustration, "Pyrrha, Blake and Ruby sort of know what's going on. Regardless..."
Another roar would suddenly alert them to their senses. And instead of the Nevermore-like roar that had roared throughout the forest earlier, a giant hawk would suddenly take flight above them, much to their own shock. Especially as Weiss recognized what the beast that took flight was.
"A Nevermore?!"
Ruby, on instinct, would pull out her weapon, firing at the Nevermore, trying to get its attention; much to Yang's and Kuen's shock.
"Ruby!" Yang called out, rushing towards the former.
Their moment was cut short, as the Nevermore cawed from above, flapping its wings. Releasing rows of sharpened feathers as projectiles, Yang and Kuen would be forced to retreat back, as Ruby's cape would suddenly be trapped in the projectile storm.
"Ruby, get out of there!" Yang screamed.
"I'm trying, Yang!" Ruby retorted.
"Ruby!"
Her sister called out, as the Death Stalker would suddenly break free, approaching Ruby menacingly, raising its golden stinger above her, sending its stinger flying at her. And then. it was all blocked by… Weiss?
"You are so childish!" Weiss screamed, trapping the Death Stalker in a large formation of ice.
"Weiss…?"
"And dim-witted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style. And I suppose I can be a bit... difficult... but if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So if you quit trying to show off, I'll be... nicer."
"I'm not trying to show off. I want you to know I can do this."
"You're fine."
As Ruby got up, she would breathe a sigh of relief, closing her eyes and muttering to herself gratefully, "Normal knees…"
Running back to her sister, Yang and Ruby engaged in a very tight bear hug, before all nine of them would look upwards, seeing the Nevermore circling around them, high in the skies.
Jaune panicked, asking, "Guys? That thing's circling around us! What are we gonna do?!"
"Look, there's no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us." Weiss responded.
"She's right. Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the Cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things." Ruby continued.
"Run and live - that's an idea I can get behind." Jaune noted.
As the remaining people entered the temple, grabbing whatever was left, Ruby would grab a golden knight and Jaune would grab a golden rook. And all that was left was Kuen, who found… nothing.
"Right." Kuen could only clutch his head in frustration again, as the rest turned to see what had happened to Kuen. Unlike everyone else, who was already in pairs, he was clearly the odd one out. That and he had no relic to his name too.
"We should go." Kuen uttered, a tone of disdain in his voice.
Ruby seemed to understand. "We should."
However, as they began to head for the entrance of the forest, their moment was once again interrupted, this time by the exact roar that Kuen, Ruby and Weiss recognized. The Nevermore-like monster had managed to catch up with them. The monster roaring, the nine of them readied their weapons, preparing for a fight.
"No, no, no! This isn't a good idea... we have to get out of here!" Kuen screamed, as the rest of the group looked at him apprehensively.
"Doesn't matter right now, we have to scram! With two giant Grimm on our tail, we have no chance of fighting another beast like this!" Pointing to a set of ruins that laid in the distance, he then continued, "There! NOW!"
And so the nine took flight, knowing full well that Kuen meant serious shit.
As the nine would run out of the forest, they would run in the direction of the ruins; the Nevermore and Death Stalker Grimms would continue to chase after them, one crawling across the floor and the other taking flight, its shadow covering the ground beneath it. At the same time, however, the Nevermore-like monster would emerge as well, summoning a cluster of massive feathers.
The group forced to split into four smaller groups; they took cover behind the stone structures, looking at the set of ruins that towered over the abyss. The Nevermore perched on one of the columns, letting out a very loud scream that would not only catch the attention of the nine individuals hiding, but also multiple other individuals who happened to be in the forest at the same time, looking up to hear the commotion that was unfolding.
"Well, that's great!" Yang screamed annoyingly, as Jaune would then notice charging in their general direction.
"Ah, man, run!" Jaune screamed, as Ruby, Yang, Jaune and Pyrrha would flee from the Death Stalker Grimm. Nora and Ren would look at the Nevermore Grimm that was still letting out its loud caw.
"Nora, distract it!" Ren would scream at the other.
Nora would oblige, running out of cover, jumping through the feather-like projectiles being sent in her direction by the avian Grimm that had made her the target of its attention. Immediately, she would swing the hammer she was wielding around her, turning it into a missile launcher of some sorts, firing multiple heart-topped rocket shells from the weapon.
Said barrels of ammunition would crackle into pink electricity, colliding with the Nevermore, causing it to reel from the attack, taking off from the platform that it had been perched on. The Death Stalker Grimm would charge at the pink hammer-wielder, as she would turn around to see what was coming her way.
Ren and Blake would come to safety, striking at the scorpion Grimm and sending it backwards. Weiss and Kuen would also run in Nora's direction, the former of the two summoning a white glyph and getting the group to safety. All the while, the scorpion Grimm would continue to chase after Ren and Blake.
"Go! Go!" Pyrrha screamed, as she fired her weapon at the Grimm alongside Ren, the spear-wielder changing her spear into its rifle mode.
The Death Stalker Grimm would rush towards them, swiping at them and forcing them to flee from its attacks. The nine would continue to run, eventually running on the ruins that towered above the void. The shadow-like monster watching from afar would suddenly begin to attack, sending down its cluster of feathers, causing the path to shatter and crumble into the void, forcing Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Nora, Jaune, and the other closer to the central collection of columns.
Blake, Ren, and Pyrrha, left on the other side with the Death Stalker Grimm, continued to fire away at the scorpion Grimm, as Ruby would continue to unleash a barrage of bullets from what appeared to be her scythe's gunbarrel.
Jaune would run to the edge of the broken bridge, the gap between the two parties too big to make jumping any semblance of useful. Panicked, he stated, "Man, we gotta get over there! They need help!"
Nora would rush next to him, seeing the three members fighting the scorpion Grimm, screamed in pure and utter glee, "Let's do this!"
"Yeah, but, uhh... I can't make that jump." Jaune replied almost meekly, before a devilish smile on Nora's face, much to Jaune's confusion. She giggled a little, before knocking him backwards, turning her weapon from its missile launcher form back into its hammer form, jumping onto the edge of the bridge.
Jaune would unfortunately realize too late what Nora was planning, as he screamed in panicked tone, "Oh, wait-"
Nora would then slam the hammer into the bridge, launching Jaune towards the other side like a catapult, as he continued to scream out of panic and fear. The blonde swordsman sent flying across the abyss, Nora placed her feet on the weapon, firing it off the now-collapsing section of ruins.
The recoil from the weapon would launch her across the gap, as Jaune landed on the other side, groaning in pain. Nora, taking advantage of the gap that was now provided to her, swung her weapon into the Grimm, the hammerhead colliding with the Death Stalker's skull. The stinger on the scorpion Grimm attempting to strike downwards and onto her, a burst of pink electricity crackled from the hammerhead, as Nora let out a war cry.
Pulling the trigger on the weapon, a massive explosion would send her out of the Grimm's radius, another attack colliding with its body. However, as she crashed into Blake, sending her flying off the edge, the girl in black then noticed the gargantuan Nevermore circling the skies around them. Spinning around and getting ready, she switched her main sword into its pistol mode.
Launching a ribbon from the gun, she would let it hook around one of the pillars, the gun-blade sinking into its edge, as she would then use the weapon as a grappling hook, swinging around the centre section of pillars. Launching herself into the air, she then used the height advantage she now had to land onto the avian Grimm's back, before pulling out her sheath. Using both of her weapons, she hacked and slashed at the Nevermore Grimm, running down its wings and tail.
As it flew above the centre structure of ruins, Blake then landed on one of the pillars, next to Ruby who still had her weapon out. Immediately, she leapt from her position, landing next to Weiss, Yang and Kuen.
Blake then briefly commented on the sheer durability of the Nevermore Grimm, "It's tougher than it looks!"
Yang would ready her weapons, as the group of five observed the Nevermore that was circling the skies. Yang then exclaimed, in a very determined tone, "Then let's hit it with everything we got!"
SAT! SU! EI! SHOOTING!
撮影！シューティング！
Satsuei! Shūtingu!
The avian Grimm would roar loudly, as the five individuals readied their weapons, furiously staring down the Nevermore in anticipation. Immediately, they unloaded a furious barrage of bullets, streaks of ammunition and white rays of energy decorating the skies and colliding with the Nevermore.
Immediately, the Grimm charged towards the five individuals firing at it, as the shadow-like figure properly emerged from the forest, walking ominously in the direction of the conflict that was unfolding, readying another cluster of gargantuan feathers in the sky. Kuen, unfortunately, noticed this all too late, as the two attacks collided with the group of five.
Crashing through the columns, the Nevermore destroyed a good chunk of the ruins, as the feathers rained downwards, breaking apart any remaining semblance of the pillars, causing the five individuals to fall into the abyss.
The four females ran off one of the broken pillars, as they leapt off, each taking their own methods to head back to higher ground. Ruby jumped from debris to debris, using the recoil from her bullets to send her higher; Weiss took into the air, firing more of her white snowflake-patterned glyphs, using them to get to higher ground.
Blake also jump from debris to debris, similar to Ruby, before landing on the main pillar, running upwards, while Yang leapt upwards, using her gauntlets to smash the debris under her, also using the recoil to send her upwards.
However, Kuen was unable to do much, his gun's recoil not enough to take him into the skies, as he began falling into the abyss, much to Ruby's own shock. Immediately, she turned around, chasing after him, much to Yang's further shock.
"Ruby, no!" Yang screamed at Ruby, as she would use the scythe in her hand to fire behind her, its recoil allowing her to Kuen's hand, launching the two individuals up.
Suddenly, however, a silver pillar of light emerged from the skies, as Ruby's entire body began to glow, much to everyone's shock. This was definitely unheard of, as even Kuen's weapon only produced white rays of energy in its special move.
Another ray of light, red in colour, would emerge, the two pillars of light merging together almost like DNA. Ruby and Kuen landed on the ruins, as Weiss, Blake and Yang, would also land on different points of the remaining ruins, confused as to the situation that was unfolding. Ruby would look at herself in shock, as the two pillars of light would turn into a smaller orb that would fly into Kuen's hands.
As he opened his clenched fist, another gear materialized from the light, its black middle decorated with Ruby's logo and a stylized 'R', alongside a red rim. Kuen's eyes would widen in shock, as Ruby would look at the gear as well.
"That's what this was about?" Kuen muttered to himself, looking at the gear-like slot on the weapon, for which he originally had no clue of its function. But now… he knew.
Stepping forwards, he stared down the shadow-like figure that jumped from its position, landing on the edge of the ruins. Letting out a deep breath, he stood in front of Ruby. "You four handle the Nevermore. I'll… handle this thing."
Ruby looked at the other, and nodded, stating, "You got this… Kuen."
Kuen chuckled nervously, before he held the gear in one hand and the blaster in another, slotting the gear onto the allocated location neatly. Immediately, the blaster would echo out a hollow-sounding standby announcement.
HUNTSMAN POWER! SOKUDO~ RUBY ROSE!
ハンツマンパワー！速度！ルビー・ローズ！
Hantsuman Pawā! Sokudo! Rubī Rōzu!
Kuen looked at the blaster in his hand, confused at its sudden announcement, before he awkwardly giggled a little, wondering if it was more appropriate to use a Rider or a Sentai transformation announcement for whatever was going on at the moment. Remembering the way the Donbrothers transformed, he rotated the crank attached to the weapon, as the gear in the slot would turn, continuing its announcement.
KAMEN! FIGHTER! RIDER!
仮面！ファイター！ライダー！
Kamen! Faitā! Raidā!
"So… Kamen Rider, huh?" Kuen muttered to himself, before he would aim the weapon into the skies.
Four phantom apparitions of Ruby then materialized around him, fending off the attacks of the Nevermore Grimm and the Nevermore-like monster, much to the surprise of Ruby herself, who was continuing to fire away at the Nevermore Grimm alongside Weiss, Blake and Yang.
"Let's do this…" Kuen muttered to himself.
"Henshin!"
変身！
Kuen would then pull on the trigger, as the shots fired would form into a giant manifestation of the Sokudo gear that would appear over his head, descending over him, as red metallic armour began to manifest around him. As the projection of the gear would travel through Kuen, it would split into more metallic pieces, combining with the existing armour pieces that had materialized, before forming the suit that manifested around Kuen.
ADVENT, REIKI! AKA! COLOR MIX!
出現、霊気！赤！カラーミックス！
Shutsugen, Reiki! Aka! Karā Mikkusu!
Briefly, a figure very akin to Kuen, dressed in casual clothing, would overlay itself over the boy in red, much to the surprise of the rest of the group. Immediately after, a light covered Kuen's silhouette, as the eight other students were forced to shield their eyes. The blinding light also caused the three monsters to reel in pain, the Nevermore taking back into the skies, the Death Stalker crawling backwards and the shadow-like figure letting out a groan of pain.
And as the light died down, an armoured figure emerged, beginning to rapidly fire a barrage of bullets, now very similar to Ruby's weapon's bullets, at the shadow figure, causing it to reel from the attack.
Ruby looked at the new warrior in awe, as the rest would react in a mixture of surprise, confusion and shock. Kuen, however, continued to rain fire upon the monster.
"I am… Kamen Rider Reiki! The… Hero of Colour!"
俺は... 仮面ライダー霊気！色の... 英雄！
Ore wa... Kamen Raidā Reiki! Iro no... Eiyū!
Kamen Rider Reiki has emerged.
As Kuen would then take out the red gear from the weapon, he placed it in the usual slot he used with the blank gear for his special move, as he felt the suit he'd transformed into providing him with information on how it worked. Pulling the crank, red and silver light manifested from the gunbarrel, as Kuen readied himself.
BUKI! JUKI! WEAPONRY!
武器！銃器！ウェポンリー！
Buki! Jūki! U~eponrī!
CRESCENT ROSE!
クレセント・ローズ！
Kuresento Rōzu!
Firing the weapon, phantom apparitions of Crescent Rose's parts began to manifest, combining together in an alignment very akin to how Ruby worked when building her weapon, much to Ruby's, Weiss', Blake's and Yang's joint surprise. As the parts clicked together, aligning into Crescent Rose's design, the phantom apparitions would become real, before Kuen would wield Crescent Rose, swinging it around him like how Ruby usually had.
A grin formed beneath the mask, as Kuen charged into battle, pumped with adrenaline. Though a thought lingered at the back of his head, wondering how he felt so energetic.
As Ozpin and Glynda finally managed to get the live video feed of the battle from their tablet, their drone going online once again, the former would take a sip of his coffee, commenting on the situation that had been unfolding with a very simple, "Now this... is interesting. Something I haven't seen... in a long while..."
Glynda turned to Ozpin, a worried look on her face, as she asked the latter, "A long while... are you hiding something from the rest of us?"
(ED3: Red Like Roses, Pt. 2)
I couldn't take it, couldn't stand another minute!
Couldn't bear another day without you in it!
All of the joy that I had known for all my life!
Was stripped away from me the minute that you died!
To have you in my life was all I ever wanted!
But now without you I'm a soul forever haunted!
Can't help but feel that I had taken you for granted!
No way in hell that I can ever comprehend this!
I wasn't dreaming when they told me you were gone!
I was wide awake and feeling that they had to be wrong!
How could you leave me when you swore that you would stay?
Now I'm trapped inside a nightmare every single f'ing day!
It's like a movie, but there's not a happy ending!
Every scene fades black, and there's no pretending!
This little fairy tale doesn't seem to end well!
There's no knight in shining armour who will wake me from the spell!
I know you didn't plan this!
You tried to do what's right!
But in the middle of this madness!
I'm the one you left to win this fight!
Red like roses fills my head with dreams and finds me!
Always closer
To the emptiness and sadness!
That has come to take the place of you!