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 7: Mask
第七章：仮面
Dai Nanashō: Kamen
(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!
(BGM: Red Like Roses, Pt. 2)
Charging in the direction of the shadow-like monster, Kuen would use his copy of Crescent Rose, using it alongside the blaster he used to send out a barrage of bullets on the monster. Letting out a war cry of his own, Kuen unleashed a hailstorm of ammunition on the monster, sending it reeling from the attack.
The other eight students returned back into battle, now with renewed hope, charging at the two gargantuan Grimm that were circling around them.
The first team, consisting of Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang used their own weapons, sending out rains of hail onto the Nevermore Grimm. However, the Grimm seemed to tank all of the hits it'd been taking, as Weiss flinched a little.
"None of this is working!" Weiss angrily stated.
Ruby watched Blake and Yang, who were using their respective weapons to fire at the Nevermore, before she would then turn to Weiss. "I have a plan! Cover me!"
And she used her weapon, using the recoil from her gun to send her flying in the air. Weiss raised her blade, continuing to attack the Nevermore Grimm from afar.
The second team, consisting of Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren continued to attack the Death Stalker. The four students would then rush towards the gargantuan scorpion, as it tried to send its claws downwards towards Pyrrha. However, Pyrrha was able to deflect the monster's attacks, using her shield to tank its attack.
Continuing to summon her shield for defense, she then used her blade to attack the scorpion Grimm, sending it reeling from her rapid parries. The monster tried to swipe at Pyrrha with its other claw, though Jaune then jumped in, deflecting the attack with his shield.
Said block would send the Grimm reeling once more. Pyrrha then jumped onto the Grimm, using her blade to hack and slash at its face. The monster would then let out a screech of agony, much to the shock of the four students, before Ren then ran towards it, jumping onto its stinger as it tried to hit him.
The boy in green would use the advantage his smaller body had given him, to shoot at the Death Stalker's body, as Nora fired more grenades towards the Grimm's claws, damaging it immensely.
Pyrrha then took the next move, hurling her javelin into one of the Grimm's ten eyes, causing it to throw Ren onto the side. And as Ren crashed into the ground, Nora and Jaune rush to attack, as the latter called out to Pyrrha.
Noticing the Grimm's stinger hanging almost limply, Pyrrha nodded, as she would raise her shield, hurling it in a discus-styled attack; immediately slicing the stinger off and causing it to land on the Grimm's head with a heavy thud.
Immediately retrieving her shield as it boomeranged back into her grip, she would then hold it above her, as Nora jumped onto the shield, the Spartan sending the Valkyrie into the air. And twirling her hammer, she would slam it downwards, he body almost as fast as a blur for a brief moment, before she slammed the hammerhead into the stinger, driving it into the Death Stalker's head, also crushing the bridge beneath it.
Jaune and Pyrrha would then use their bladed weapons to get back onto the cliff side, as Nora would sent the Death Stalker flying to its abysmal doom.
Kuen continued to fire at the Nevermore-like shadow beast, continuing to send it reeling from his barrage of attacks. However, it would then prepare another cluster of the feather attacks it was known for, as Kuen turned Crescent Rose, hacking and slashing at the monster, preventing it from using its attack.
For a brief moment, Kuen felt astounded by the sheer power his attacks were doing on the shadow monster, compared to moments earlier when he was struggling to even faze the beast. However, focusing on the present moment, Kuen would slam the head of the weapon into the monster, sending it flying onto the other side of the ruins.
Using the weapon's recoil, Kuen would launch himself over the gap between the ruins and the mainland, pulling off Ruby's technique with almost shocking ease, much to the surprise of the girl in red herself. And landing on the other side, Kuen decided that now was going to be the best time to finish the monster.
The four students fighting the Nevermore Grimm would re-align their focus, focusing on the matter at hand. Yang stood atop on the stone ruins, readying herself. The avian Grimm would charge in her direction, as a grin formed on her face..
Immediately after, she would then jump into the avian Grimm's mouth, burning her ammo through the throat of the beast as she caught wind of Ruby's plan.
"I! Hope! You're! Hun~ gry!" She screamed, continuing to burn her ammo.
Jumping off the beast's mouth and landing on one of the many floating rock formations in the sky, it would then crash into a nearby ruin, before it got up, suddenly beginning to fly in Yang's direction.
Weiss attacked from the side, summoning her rapier as she would pin it to the nearby cliff, a large ice formation being released from the weapon, trapping it to the cliff-side.
And as Weiss jumped backwards from the attack, and dashed back to Ruby, Blake used her weapon, sending out a long ribbon which connected both halves of her weapon, the other end being grabbed by Yang as she impaled it into the rock formation she was standing on.
Blake would do the same, as it formed a slingshot-styled ribbon, something Ruby planned ahead for as she used her weapon to jump onto.
As she prepared to launch, Weiss would manipulate her hands a little, forming a black glyph that would pull Ruby towards it, as Weiss could only note, "Of course you would come up with this idea..."
"Think you can make the shot?" She retorted.
"Hmm... can I?" The former asked sarcastically.
An awkward silence formed for a few seconds. "Can't-"
"Of course I can!" She screamed.
Looking forward, Ruby prepared her weapon; immediately, Weiss manipulated her hands again, the glyph turning from black to red, as the slingshot released Ruby at such a speed. The recoil of her weapon, combined with the pure power of Weiss' glyph and the slingshot of Blake and Yang caused the ground behind them to crack, as she was sent flying, rose petals following in her wake. And she continued to fire, building up more and more recoil.
And getting closer and closer to the trapped Grimm, her scythe then caught on the Nevermore's neck, as Weiss would then raise her rapier, creating a series of white glyphs up the cliff side, as Ruby dashed upwards, continuing to burn through her ammo.
The other seven students would watch her continue running upwards, the bird in her grasp, before in the briefest of moments, Ruby reached the top of the cliff, as she would then use the recoil of her weapon, firing one more shot.
And so the Nevermore was defeated, its split head and body crashing onto the ground, before fading into dust.
"Finisher, it is." Kuen ultimately decided, as he slammed his copy of Crescent Rose's blade into the ground. Pulling out his firearm, he would pull on the crank once more, the barrel of the firearm beginning to charge with red energy.
Kuen noted this new change, as he continued to pull on the crank.
RYO! SHI! HITO! BLAZE!
猟！師！人！ブレイズ！
Ryō! Shi! Hito! Bureizu!
RIDER SHOOTING!
ライダーシューティング！
Raidā Shūtingu!
"Ruby Red Shooting!"
As Kuen pulled out Crescent Rose from the ground, he turned it into its shotgun mode, the barrel of the weapon beginning to charge with red energy as well. Kuen chuckled a little, aiming the two weapons at the shadow monster. Sending out two powerful rays of energy at the monster, it would pierce through the beast, causing it to let out a roar akin to that of a Nevermore, before it exploded, leaving Kuen standing.
Taking a deep breath, Kuen prepared to head to the rest of the group, before the area in a one-meter radius around where the monster previously was would suddenly be entrapped within a pillar of purple flame, much to the shock of the entire group that witnessed the event unfolding.
The area around the ruins would suddenly become trapped within a forcefield, as the ground beneath them began to shake, much to the shock of the nine students that were fighting. Suddenly, a copy of the area that was trapped in the force-field rose into the skies, inverting and landing around two hundred meters above them.
At the same time, the monster that Kuen had defeated would emerge from the dust storm that had formed, becoming larger in the process, much to the shock of Kuen in particular. The monster then let out a louder roar then before, as it began summoning clusters upon clusters of feathers, sending them raining down.
Once again, the two professors found themselves surprised by the ten combatants suddenly disappearing, the ruins disappearing into a plain clearing.
"I have to speak to Mr. Akegata about this..." Ozpin noted to himself, as Glynda could only sigh, sweat-dropping a little.
Kuen continued to dodge the feathers that were being sent his way. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be enough, as he took multiple hits from the feathers, the attacks sending him crashing into one of the many ruins that had landed on the mainland part of the clearing. Groaning in pain, Kuen got up, before holstering his firearm, pulling out Crescent Rose.
Running around the monster, Kuen then switched the weapon's mode into its scythe form, before firing away at the shadow-like monster multiple times, landing multiple powerful blows that would cause it to reel a little. The other eight would then jump into the fray, as Nora then fired multiple grenades at the monster.
She would then proceed to use her grenades to take into the skies, managing to get into the inverse world's field of gravity. Landing on the top side of the world, she continued firing her grenades at the monster, grinning madly in the process.
At the same time, Blake and Weiss jumped in, the former of the two hacking and slashing at the feet, while the latter of the two would use a similar attack to something she'd done earlier, attempting to freeze the monster's feet. Ruby then swung around the monster, continuing to fire away, as Yang would do the same, using the recoil of her weapon to take into the skies.
Jaune, Pyrrha and Ren did to the best of their abilities, the former of the three using his sword to hack and slash at the monster. Pyrrha and Ren, now on the inverse side as well, instead opted to fire away at the monster's face, using their attacks to distract it enough for the other students to land in their attacks. Kuen then managed to send multiple swings into the monster's face, as it would let out another powerful roar.
Readying himself for what was about to come, he fired away at the monster with Crescent Rose, joining Ruby in her assault. She flashed a grin in Kuen's direction as the two continued sending out hails of ammunition, much to the Rider's surprise. However, it allowed him to let out a soft chuckle, as he braced himself.
"Hey, you got any other ammunition types?" Kuen asked the girl in red.
Ruby would then pull out a magazine similar to the one on Crescent Rose, marked with the emblem of a lightning bolt, tossing it to Kuen. The Rider simply grinned underneath the mask, before loading it in the weapon, firing yellow-tipped bullets at the monster.
The ammunition colliding, they would let out multiple sparks and bolts of thunder that would briefly paralyze the monster, allowing Kuen to land on the ground, preparing a finisher once and for all. Ruby would land besides him, as an idea would materialize in Kuen's head.
"Hey, uhh, Rubes. Can I borrow your weapon for a bit?"
"Uhh, sure? Make sure you don't break it though!"
"I don't plan to."
As Ruby tossed her weapon to Kuen, he would unfurl both Crescent Roses into their scythe modes again, as he pulled out his firearm.
RYO! SHI! HITO! BLAZE!
猟！師！人！ブレイズ！
Ryō! Shi! Hito! Bureizu!
RIDER CUTTING!
ライダーカッティング！
Raidā Kattingu!
Preparing a finisher, Kuen proceeded to charge the weapon, before holstering it on his belt. Immediately, he would wield the two Crescent Roses almost like a pair of garden shears, as he rushed in Weiss' direction. The girl in white would immediately figure out what the Rider's plan was, as the latter shouted to the former.
"Hey! Could you push me up with your glyph things?!"
"I assumed so!"
Weiss would then summon a red glyph under Kuen's feet, launching him upwards into the skies, as he gripped on the weapons' handles, holding them around the monster's neck.
"Got you." Kuen stated, a grin under the mask. "Ruby Red Cutting!"
Sending the two blades into the monster's neck, he would push through with the attack, the blades cleanly slicing through the monster, as the body began to fall to the ground.
RYO! SHI! HITO! BLAZE!
猟！師！人！ブレイズ！
Ryō! Shi! Hito! Bureizu!
RIDER KICK!
ライダーカッティング！
Raidā Kattingu!
Charging up one last attack for good measure, Kuen readied himself. Letting his copy of Crescent Rose de-materialize, and sending Ruby's copy back at her, he stared down the monster's falling body, before executing a powerful Rider Kick. His feet charging up with red energy, his entire body would pierce through the monster, before landing on the other side, an explosion erupting in the process.
Nora, Pyrrha and Ren suddenly materialized on the normal side of the two worlds, as the body of the shadow-like monster began to dissipate, leaving behind the bodies of the two students that had become targets for the creation of the monster.
Kuen landed on the ground as well, as he let out a deep sigh of relief that had been forming in his mouth. His transformation dissipating, he almost collapsed onto the ground, before Ruby was able to catch him just him time.
"Thanks…" He was barely able to get his words out, the two students chuckling in the process.
"Come on, kiss already!" Yang teased, as Ruby's face went a bit redder, as she tried to hit her, though Kuen was able to get on his feet by then.
As Kuen chuckled, seeing what was going on, Jaune would look on in awe, replying with a simple, "Woah..."
Kuen was trying to figure out what Jaune meant, until he saw the world around them suddenly unravel, the nine making their way out of the forest safely, bringing the two fainted students with them. At the same time, the inverse world would dissipate into dust, the force-field that had formed also beginning to disappear.
(OST: EP 8 Score – Players and Pieces)
Hours later, the students assembled at the amphitheatre, watching the team formation events going on.
"Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark."
The screen would display their profiles, as the four members of this team stepped onto the stage.
"The four of you have retrieved the two black bishop pieces. Hence, from this day forwards, you will work together as Team CRDL, led by… Cardin Winchester."
Another round of ovation emerged as Team CRDL stepped off the stage, as four girls walked onto stage, the first two of which were the targets who had created the Nevermore-like shadow monster.
"Aoi Mizuki. Remely Soyokaze. Miyumi Nagisa. Kanade Shigure."
"The four of you have retrieved the two golden bishop pieces. Hence, from this day forwards, you will work together as team MARK, led by… Miyumi Nagisa."
A small smile formed on Miyumi's face, as Kanade would hug her partner. Aoi and Remely would both chuckle, accompanying them off the stage, as Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren would proceed to step on stage. Their profiles appearing on the holographic screen, Ozpin then continued.
"Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie."
"The four of you have retrieved the two golden rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR. Led by… Jaune Arc."
And as Nora and Ren smiled, the two hugging each other in a platonic hug, Jaune would blink in disbelief, as a grinning Pyrrha gave a friendly shoulder bump.
The four stepping off, Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang took their places instead, their profiles appearing on the screen.
"Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long."
"The four of you have retrieved the two golden knight pieces. From this day onwards, you will work together as Team RWBY, led by… Ruby Rose."
Ruby would blink in shock, with Weiss looking surprised, as Yang would hug her sister tightly, stating, "I'm so proud of you!"
Blake simply smiled, as the four girls stepped off the stage.
And as the ovation stopped, Ozpin would cough a little, gaining everyone's attention, as he continued with the final… team. "And lastly. Kuen Akegata."
Kuen walked onto the stage, obviously knowing that everyone's eyes were on him, for he was… alone in this. He knew he didn't have a partner, so he wasn't sure what was going to happen next. "As you know, you were unable to find a relic at the temple. But, that mistake isn't on you, but on us."
His eyes almost widened, as he turned to Ozpin, the latter nodding a little, as the former smiled, a small glimmer of hope shining as a tear fell from his eyes.
Ozpin then stated, "So, in regards to that, due to your impressive battle statistics earlier, you will be recognized as both the fifth member of Team RWBY… and the fifth member of Team JNPR."
Another round of standing ovation followed, as Kuen bowed to Ozpin, with a small, "Thank you…"
The latter simply responded, "Congratulations, young man."
Yang rushed towards Kuen and scooped him into a hug, much to his surprise, as he could only let out a pained, "Too tight! Too tight!"
Ozpin, amidst the last round of cheers, could only laugh, thinking to himself, "It looks like things are shaping up to be a… interesting year."
In the base of the three generals that created the shadow monsters, Kiyou could only sigh. Yuki simply chuckled, as he took the effort to smoke another cigar.
"Gotta say, even if your monster was defeated, it took nine people to properly defeat it."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Continue to shower your compliments on me, Yuki." Kiyou pointed her tongue at the boy clad in white.
"Regardless, as least we have more targets… for the beasts we're about to create. We are the Aku no Kemono, after all…"
As the Initiation finally came to an end, the last rounds of ovation came to a finish, before everyone was allowed to depart. Heading to their respective dorm rooms, Kuen was surprised to find out that he had gotten his own room, mostly because he was a special case in the teams system.
As he entered his room, admiring the sheer amount of space in the room, he continued to unpack his stuff in his small corner of the room, placing his firearm and gears to the side. Looking at the picture in his wallet, he could only chuckle a little bit.
"I wonder what you'd feel if you saw me like this…"
Finishing his unpacking, he noticed his phone ringing, an unknown number popping up in his dialer, as he would answer the call, holding the phone to his ear.
"Yes? Kuen Akegata speaking?"
"I would like to request an audience with you in my office, to talk about some things."
"Ozpin?" Kuen almost blinked in surprise. "How the heck did you get my number?"
"I have my ways."
"Right... I'll meet you in a bit."
And ending the call, he quickly headed out, making up an excuse to the rest of the girls. He did, however, stumble upon Ren, who happened to be walking through the hallways, much to his own surprise.
"What brings you here, Ren?"
"The rest of our team are asleep already, and I thought it'd be nice to take a walk."
"You mean the three of them are asleep?"
"Yes," Ren stated bluntly.
"Like, asleep asleep?"
"Yes."
"Anyways, you wanna follow? I have to meet Ozpin for some reason... and I figured I could invite."
"Sure," Ren shrugged.
The two walked to Ozpin's office, as they arrived at the elevator, waiting for the lift to arrive. And a few seconds later, they would arrive at the main office. Kuen did take the moment to wonder just what the hell exactly was the design that the headmaster was even inspired by.
Cogs decorated the walls, and the floors, and the ceilings. It was basically all cogs, for some reason.
"I see you've arrived, Mr. Akegata. And I see you've also brought Mr. Lie with you too," Ozpin stated, as he waited at the main desk in his office, taking a sip of his drink.
"Cocoa or coffee?" Kuen asked.
"Cocoa," Ozpin responded, taking another sip of his drink.
Ren only blinked awkwardly, wondering how the two could even have a casual conversation, as Ozpin then stood up, displaying footage of the Initiation. However, the footage seemed to be corrupted in a few minor spots, though thankfully not as much as the latter had hoped.
"Your doing?" He pointed to the force-field.
"Not this time. After we defeated the monster, it suddenly grew larger and made that force-field thingy."
"That's… interesting."
"You sound like you know something of that monster…" Ren eyed suspiciously.
"I have my doubts, but there is an old story that I feel is related." Ozpin muttered.
"Old story?" Kuen wondered.
"There was the story of a mad scientist who experimented on the Grimm to make them stronger. More powerful. Part of me believes that it has to do with that scientist. Even though he's dead."
"Right…"
Ozpin would then focus on the footage of the fight between Kuen and the Nevermore-like shadow monster.
"I believe there's more of this type of monster coming our way?"
"Seems so… there were the colour-themed monsters from the past two nights, and now the Grimm-themed monsters…" Kuen sighed, rubbing his temples from the sheer worry.
"I mean, there should be classes, and I'm sparring with Pyrrha now and then, so wouldn't that be enough?" Kuen wondered.
"Wait, you're training with Pyrrha?" Ren asked.
"Yes," Ozpin responded. "I've seen camera footage of him and Ms. Nikos sparring."
"Why am I not surprised you have cameras basically everywhere in the academy?" Kuen chuckled a little. Then again, it did make sense that there'd be cameras everywhere, since it was an academy after all...
"In that case, the both of you will be dismissed. I'll be looking forward to your progress... Reiki." Ozpin stated.
The two students nodded, leaving the office, but Kuen couldn't help but wonder about the last part of Ozpin's sentence...
'How'd he know my Rider name?'
(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!