I was wondering whether to make the chapters for this story 3 or 6K, then decided it would be easier for me if I made them 3K. Of course, that then led to this, where instead of writing a 6k chapter, I've just written two 3k chapters, making the entire decision pointless. Well, let's continue on with the story. Anyway, here we go!
Super hero time!
Umber: Zelda, Princess of Hyrule... just how will you fare against poison?
Zelda: and how will you fare against your own school?
Umber: Hey, low blow! You don't even know why I was kicked out yet!
Zelda: As a princess, I cannot allow such a thing to occur twice! You better step up your game Mister Forest!
U + Z: Here we go! The hero has come!
"Umber Forest… I never expected to meet you once more in this manner." Ozpin remarked, seating himself on the opposite side of the table. Umber tried his best to hide his discomfort with the situation, but when Goodwitch was staring him down from the darkness, scroll in hand, it was somewhat difficult. The light flickered; for the briefest of moments, Umber thought he was faced with something completely different, a predator by all meanings, before the light flashed back on once more and there was only the headmaster of Beacon Academy again. "Tell me, just how did you end up in this situation?"
"Well you know how it is. Sometimes, you just inexplicably want to go out and get dust. Next thing you know, pow! Suddenly it's getting robbed. I'd be an idiot if I didn't help them out after that." Umber dismissed with a small wave. Act cool, and eventually you'll start to feel it too. At least, that was the advice he had been given by his parents before he left. Somehow, Umber didn't feel like the act was working though, not with the way that Ozpin was smiling at him and Goodwitch was busy typing away on her scroll.
"According to the security footage we've managed to acquire from the shopkeeper, it is very much a different story Mr Forest." The blonde teacher snapped back, turning her scroll to show the first few seconds of the battle, the camera panned out to show him passing by the door with a small smirk. "You purposely had been following them, even if it had been for only a short period of time. The only issue was, I thought we saw you off on a Bullhead to Menagerie from Beacon."
An awkward chuckle came from Umber as he opened his weapon once more, rummaging through the various cards held within to show one to the two teachers. Upon its face, several copies of the boy's armour's helmet were shown, the title saying it all.
"You fooled us with an illusion!?" Goodwitch's tone grew even more dangerous at that piece of knowledge, the rider crop in her hands looking perfectly primed to slap Umber around his head if it hadn't have been for Ozpin's cooling gaze to the side, the white haired man sipping from his cup casually. "You do understand that you forced us to pay for a ticket used by no one, yes? We can add that to your prior issues."
"I came to Beacon in order to see the world, of course I wouldn't go home immediately!" Umber defended himself, sliding the card back into the holder. "I was given this power for a specific reason, I'm not going to figure that out sitting in my bedroom twiddling my fingers! No one in Menagerie have ever heard of Kamen riders… unless I can explore the world, I may never find out the answer I'm looking for. I just never expected to get kicked out for the stupid reason you gave me."
"…You do realise that we cannot look past your actions, regardless of the intent behind them?" Ozpin said with a single raised eyebrow. "Such violence is better directed towards the monsters that plague our world, not your fellow students. You had received multiple warnings of your actions and yet you heeded not a single one."
"And what about them!? What about the people who can go around doing whatever the hell they want because they know as soon as they go home, they're going to be praised for it!?" Umber answered back, the boy pounding a fist against the table before them, Ozpin unmoving even as the wood trembled and the light above flickered. "They just get to discriminate against an entire species in what is meant to be the most elite establishment in Remnant, only to turn around and play the victim when things don't go their way!"
"You were the one who initiated each physical conflict. Such an approach to solving your issues is not what we encourage at Beacon, the sheer number of assaults cannot be ignored." Ozpin calmly explained. Damn it, when he was speaking like that, there was just no way of countering his words. "However, I do believe we can make an exception to it."
"…Sir?" well this wasn't in what Ozpin had discussed with Goodwitch. She had fully expected this simply to be another warning before they sent him back home to try and find another huntsman academy, though they would be more hesitant to take Umber on considering the fact he had now been expelled from a huntsman academy rather than simply failing out or the like. "We've already made an exception for Ruby Rose, we cannot afford to make anymore-!"
"Glynda. While he may be a little… rough around the edges, the boy we have here is one who holds incredible potential. After all, that 'driver' of yours allows for a great amount of variety." Ozpin spoke in response, Umber looking down to find he had already placed a hand protectively over the Decadriver. "Although to be honest, it may just be easier to take the driver itself from you Mr Forest and give it to a more suitable user."
"Never! I was the one who he gave it to, I was the one who he deemed worthy of it!" Umber protested. "If I lost it now… I'd never be able to face him again!"
"Umber, take it. You may very well need it in the future. Take my name. The name Kamen rider Decade…"
"Then we find ourselves at an impasse. If you are unwilling to give it up, then the only other potion we have is for Umber to re-join his fellow huntsmen in training at Beacon. Of course, there will be several restrictions put in place in order to ensure the appropriate behaviour, but you will be able to continue on with your dream. Is that suitable?" Goodwitch already seemed resigned to the idea, turning away and strutting off before the answer could be given.
"Well, I won't say no, I just want to know what these restrictions are." Umber declared, a small grin appearing on the headmaster's face as he heard the response. Umber couldn't help but gulp.
Just what had he let himself in for?
This was utterly embarrassing. Umber couldn't help it, he curled into himself, unable to properly comprehend what was actually happening to him. How did he get talked into it? Well, he did say he wanted to come back Beacon… but seriously, was this necessary? They were treating him like an animal, this was exactly what they said they were against! Umber looked out of the window; perhaps he would find something in the passing land beneath them that would draw his attention away from the small tracker attached to his leg, watching his every move. He had already tried to use the illusion card, only to find it didn't duplicate and no attacks the green haired boy had attempted proved capable of breaking it.
"The robbery was led by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you, Lisa." The news had been playing throughout the entire trip and really, it didn't seem all that necessary – it wasn't even accurate half the time anyway. Where was the mention of him, or the girl he had been with, Ruby? At least then, he could've gotten some street cred for fighting toe to toe with a renowned criminal.
"Thank you, Cyril. In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization has now disrupted..." Thank god Goodwitch's hologram interrupted the newsfeed, for Umber might've tried to break something if it had carried on. He had heard enough about the White Fang to last a lifetime now, he didn't need to hear about the stupid organisation any more.
"Hey, it's you!" a sudden recognisable voice broke Umber out of his thoughts, the boy unfurling himself to greet Ruby and the rather buxom blonde haired girl she was with. "You, with the incredibly armour that became entirely different in a split second and all that crazy stuff you were able to pull off out of no-!"
"Whoa Ruby, calm down." The other called out, turning to Umber with a brief flirty wink. "Hey, name's Yang, I'm this one's big sister. Says she knows you from a little mess she got into before."
"That's one way of putting it. Umber Forest, pleasure to meet you. I would be your senior, but… well, let's not talk about that." Umber muttered with an awkward chuckle, raising his hat. "Ruby Rose. The kind of girl who sees a robbery happening and jumps right into the fray. Never lose that sense of justice, it'll serve you well in the future."
"Hey!" Ruby protested as Umber began to rub the top of her head, pushing it off with a small pout. "I didn't know you were coming to Beacon though, I thought you said that you got kicked out?"
"Well, that's why I've got this thing on me." Umber pointed out, looking down to the tracker attached to his leg. "It's keeping an eye on me in case… things, happen again. Call it a second chance with a few restrictions."
"Fair enough." Ah, Yang didn't seem too impressed with that news. It made sense seeing as she was Ruby's older sister. Having someone who had managed to do something bad enough to get kicked out of Beacon certainly wasn't going to be the best of influences for people and Ruby did look a little younger than the others. Maybe that was just her height though. "Oh, hey! The bullhead's landing. Let's go Ruby!"
"O-okay! See you later sometime Umber!" and then they were gone, Umber letting a little sad smile appear on his face.
"You wouldn't be the first to leave like that…"
I'll... keep this brief. You have travelled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."
The words echoed in his head – they weren't the same as when Umber first went through the initiation, they were far less welcoming, far more blunt in their tone; he had heard people in the higher years talk about how the speech Umber heard the first time he was there had been the same consistently, why had Ozpin chosen to change it now?
"Do you mind if I light a candle here?" a sudden voice cut through his internal monologue, Umber looking up from where he had been absently playing with his cards to see a rather pretty looking black haired girl dressed in a dark purple kimono and a black bow on her head. As soon as their eyes met though, Umber couldn't supress the small gasp that escaped his mouth, the girl's eyebrow raising as Umber immediately moved to make sense. "Are... you okay?"
"Sorry, I guess you wouldn't recognise me. Umber Forest, of the Forest family; we're the ones who were raised to assist the chief family – your family." Umber rushed to explain, lifting off the nightcap he was wearing for a little longer than any other time, just enough so that the girl could take a look at the wolf ears hidden beneath the mess of hair before he placed it back down, her eyes widening at the sight. "Blake Belladonna, it's an absolute honour to serve one of the kindest families of fau-"
"Stop!" a hand over Umber's mouth caused the boy to look to Blake in confusion, the girl blushing lightly before retracting her hand apologetically. "Right here, I'm not a faunus. I'm not the daughter of a previous White Fang leader. I'm just Blake Belladonna, alright?"
"…Fine." It was odd. After all, for every member of the Chief family of Menagerie, there had always been a vassal to support them; with Ghira Belladonna's position as the chief with a family of three, there should've been three members of the Forest family at their side. It was only the fact that the two youngest members of their families were entering schooling in different areas that prevented them from meeting properly. "To be honest, I was led to believe that we wouldn't meet until I returned home to start my vassal training."
"I've been trying to avoid it. Having a servant's kind of weird." Blake muttered as a small amount of dust brought the candles to life, the girl sinking into one of the mattresses that had been brought into the ballroom and pulling out a book. "Not an insult to you or anything, but I'm not really looking for someone to follow me around."
"None taken." And then, peaceful silence. Umber continued to mess about with his cards, sorting them into the appropriate piles depending on the image upon the back. Blake probably thought she was being sneaky with the way she was peeking over the top of her own book, only to shrink back down when the boy purposely made eye contact with her. "Interested Miss Belladonna?"
"Kind of. Never seen anything like them."
"I don't really understand them myself." Umber admitted without hesitation, holding up the card that had allowed his to attain his first armour – the Decade rider card. "There are legendary heroes with abilities that could produce miracles, clad in armour, all names save for their titles lost in time. So many different powers, all used in order to protect the innocent in the name of justice and honour; they belong to those who call themselves 'Kamen riders'. Their powers have been condensed down to these cards and those cards have been gifted to me. I don't know why, or why there isn't any known information on Kamen riders, so I was hoping that coming here would allow me to explore the world and potentially learn more."
One was causally flicked in Blake's direction, the girl immediately snapping her hand out and catching it between her fingers. On the front, a helmet looked back blankly at her, dark round shadows where the eyes were meant to be and a face of glowing orange complete with a horn upon his forehead. Turning it around revealed the odd eye like logo, the name written clear to see.
"Ghost…"
"Pretty simple to understand; his powers allowed him to do all sorts of things associated with ghosts – disappearing from sight, becoming incorporeal, flight, you name it." Umber explained, taking it back into his hands and putting it back onto the pile sharing the same symbol, each card holding a different coloured coat wearing Ghost upon them. "When I first received them, I had first thought it was the actions of their semblances but… I learnt more, and it can't possibly be so. These other cards, the form ride cards, they allow me to access the other forms his armour had, forms that did crazy things. Apparently, Ghost was able to call upon the spirits of other legendary warriors and channel their powers."
That was just… that couldn't be possible. Something that allowed a person to copy another's semblances, that was questionable already. Being able to then access the power of people who had passed away? That was simply impossible to believe for Blake. And there were far more cards than simply those, more than she could count in one glance. Were all of them meant to call upon such strange powers?
"Don't worry if you don't believe me. I'll show you what they can do tomorrow. If the initiation is the same at least, then you'll be pretty surprised by what I can do." Umber promised with a small salute before all of the cards found their way back into his weapon. Blake didn't respond at first, simply returning to her book until she heard the lightest of snores escaping the boy before sneaking over the card holder, sliding it open once more as soon as she was certain that there was no traps or the like on it.
She wouldn't have done it for any other weapon, it wasn't even because it was the weapon that belonged to the boy who would technically be her vassal until her family was replaced as the chief family of menagerie. No, the reason why Blake began to fumble through the cards, their slick forms sliding effortlessly under her fingertips? Something was calling out to her; somehow, there was something in those cards that was practically screaming her name, begging her to find it.
It turned out to be a blank card. Absolutely nothing was displayed upon its face, yet there was a simple instinct to hold it close, as if her heart was singing in tune with the card. Bringing it closer to her face, Blake covered her eyes as an odd wind began to build up around it, the small area suddenly shrouded in darkness as the candles were blown out. With a hurried motion, Blake managed to find her dust once more, the candles returning to their burning glory to reveal something very odd about the card.
No more was the front of it blank, a purple helmeted rider taking place on the front just like all of the other cards. How was it possible, just what was so special about her that caused a card of all things to do that in her presence? Even now, it seemed almost sentient, content in her hands as Blake read out the name shown.
"Kamen rider… Shinobi."
Dare ja? Ore ja! Ninja! Shinobi, kenzan! Yup, this decadriver also has access to alternate future kamen riders! I feel like this way of unlocking powers is a nice way of doing it, so naturally I'll be keeping it in. Next time comes the intitation exam and I feel like I have some interesting plans for what will come. Want to find out what they are? Review and read on!
Super hero time! See you next time!