Hello all you Boils and Ghouls! Welcome back to the story, and thank you all for the support. Let's start off things by addressing some of the newer reviews.
Raidentensho, thanks for putting that image into my head (no seriously, it was bugging the crap out of me where I had gotten the idea from in the first place. XD). You're also not that far off on when the first Union appears, but sadly Dichro will be absent for this one... Also, remember that he has two viruses inside him, not just one.
Demons Anarchy of Pride, you say that, but it's not going to be Dichro who turns into Chronus. XD
And finally, THEDestendGem... I think we've all wondered that at one point in our lives.
So now let's get on with the story!
Disclaimer: Kamen Rider and RWBY are the intellectual properties of their respective owners; please support the official release.
)-Legend-(
"Yo!" - Speaking
'Is he an idiot?' - Thinking
"Dearest love," - Reading
"Kaishin no Ippatsu!" - Specials
)-Earlier-(
)-Dichro's Dorm-(
)-First Person PoV-(
I listened to the sound of distant running water as I sat with my legs crossed, hands on my knees, and my eyes closed as I slowly breathed in and then out; allowing the air to expunge my stress and be able to finally calm myself to a considerable degree as I began thinking of my mantra.
'Calm yourself... Find your center... Let your mind and body be one...'
I have always repeated this mantra to myself in my head every time I meditate. Why? Because it's how I was taught. My coach during my time working on kickboxing had always told me a clear mind is the key to success. Because of this, he had given me an old meditation cassette to use whenever I needed to meditate until I could do it on the fly.
... Needless to say, he got pissed when he found out cassettes were a few decades outdated...
So instead, he pirated a copy onto a disk... I don't condone piracy, kids.
Back on topic, I had used it every time to meditate for... about a month... That was how long it took for me to be able to meditate on my own. Since I got to Remnant, it's been invaluable as I've been meditating nearly every night and morning as a way of keeping myself calm; and calmness was the enemy of the virus inside of me.
Sadly... This was one of THOSE nights...
"DAMNIT, YOU MADE ME GET SOAP IN MY EYE!" I could hear Yang shout from inside the bathroom. As I hear this, I sigh heavily in defeat and apologize to her while still trying to keep up my meditation. Unfortunately, no matter how much I try to explain the situation, she still swears up and down that she feels that 'vortex' of hers every time I meditate and that it's driving her nuts...
The sounds of the water stop abruptly with nothing save for a few drops here and there before I hear the door to the bathroom open along with wet footsteps. Has that girl never heard of bathroom slippers or something? Seriously, how hard is it to not notice the flip-flops I put in there specifically for her to use in situations like this?
I listened as she walked to what I could only assume was the dresser between our beds and opened it. The sound of ruffling clothing was heard, despite my attempt at blocking the sound out, until I could hear her voice once again, "Dichro, I'm just as concerned as you are, but this is not the time to just sit there and make me go nuts -"
"As hard as it may seem for you to believe, me just 'sitting here' is what's keeping me from turning into a vicious monstrosity ready to destroy all of mankind," I retorted a little bit colder than I should as I felt Yang's guilt build up inside. I felt her lay a hand on my shoulder for a moment as she said, "Dude, I don't think you have a mean bone in your body..."
"That's not what I meant, and you know it..." was all I said before I could hear her give a sigh in defeat as she, reluctantly from what I could tell, agreed with me. I could hear her walking away from the dresser, but I couldn't tell where she was heading. That was when I heard a knock at the door as well as her asking whoever it was to come in. The sounds of one door opening and the other closing caught me off guard as I finally opened my eyes up to see, lo and behold, ol' Dumbledore of Remnant again. Ozpin nodded at me as he walked inside and closed the door behind him while I got out of my seating position as I laid back on the bed. "Hey, boss," I greeted him as I gave him a quick two finger salute. I could hear him chuckle as he asked me how I was doing after earlier today. Unfortunately, I had to give him a straight answer...
"I'm worried..."
I could tell he could understand the implications of this as he replied with, "As we all are, Dichro..." I watched as he walked over and sat on Yang's bed before saying, "Before we speak more on that, however, I wish to personally congratulate you on your efforts in stopping a prejudice against Ms. Scarlatina." That got me to smile a bit as I thought back to earlier that day. So glad I did it, honestly. After I thanked him, Ozzie decided to ask if I knew anything on the condition of my own virus. 'So he's here for that, huh?' I asked myself as I sat upright and turned to him before saying, "The virus hasn't seemed to progress, but, because it can hibernate for years at a time without activating, I have no idea if it has. However, just after Blake left for your office, I felt a small pulse of pain rush through my entire body." He motioned for me to continue, and so I did. "I excused myself and came all the way here for a quick meditation exercise to try and keep myself calm; not only that, but I also wanted to feel out the situation with the virus. If my guess is right, then I'm afraid the virus is almost ready to come out..." He asked me how much time we had until it appeared, to which I replied, "I don't know exactly when or how it will, but it's very soon... That's all I can guarantee at this point..." He sighed sadly and thanked me for the warning before he stood up and left the room.
Around that time was when the bathroom door opened, revealing Yang with a towel around her hair walking out as she asked, "You really think it'll be coming soon?" I could only nod as I turned away from her and laid on my side with my back facing her. I didn't need to feel her concern through the bond to know that she had it in her voice. I simply told her that it would still be some time before it appeared; that it wouldn't be the next day, hopefully. I could tell she could see through the lie, but she seemed to accept it nonetheless because it gave her the same thing it gave me saying it...
It gave some form of comfort.
As I start to drift into unconsciousness, thoughts of what would happen if the Union of my virus was to form began to pervade my mind and I became even more concerned... Scared, even... 'This isn't some TV show or video game,' I thought to myself, 'This is real... And I'm... I'm responsible for everyone here... If I fall..'
I couldn't finish my thoughts as I felt the bed shift before a pair of strong, yet slender arms wrapped themselves around me in a secure hug. "Dichro..." I heard Yang call out to me, "I'm scared, too, but believe me when I say things have a way of working out. I mean look at what happened at Initiation. If it hadn't been for you being in the Emerald Forest, I might have lost not only my sister but my entire team and my friends... I never would have met you and found out that me having a soulbond was possible. I know things are getting complicated, but part of what makes it okay is the fact that even if I'm bound to you, I'm still able to be 'punny' ol' me." She chuckles at her own joke, which brought a smile to my own face as I agree with her. "Besides," she continued, "I know that we have at least one way of fighting back... Isn't that right, Quartz?"
When we heard nothing, she called for the Bugster again. Instead, we get the loudest snore to have ever been heard. "Way to ruin the mood, Quartz..." I muttered to myself, but not enough that Yang wouldn't hear as she hugged tighter and laughed. "I guess we were being a bit of a 'Snooze'fest." I felt her bare chest against my clothed back as I sighed and agreed before suggesting we take my partner's example and get some sleep ourselves. I actually expected her to simply let go and move off the bed... Guess that's what I get for having expectations...
Instead, she lifts a hand up and snaps her fingers hard and loud; allowing the sound-sensitive lights to turn off before started to cuddle into me further...
'Whelp,' I thought to myself with a smile as I closed my eyes, 'I guess a perk to being so short is... I'll always be her teddy.'
)-The Next Day-(
)-Forever Fall Forest-(
"Man... I didn't get the chance to see this place when I first came here, but it's beautiful..." I muttered to myself as I looked around at the ruby red leaves of the trees and grass of the forest, taken in awe at the sight of it against the morning sky. I didn't really bother trying to hide my wonder, as did none of the other students, before our escort, Goodwitch, interrupted our thoughts by saying, "Yes, students, the Forever Fall Forest is, indeed, beautiful; but we are not here to sight see..." I looked back to make sure Jaune was still at least trying to keep up whilst paying attention. Unfortunately, he bumped into Yatsu's back who then turned around abruptly and almost caught the cases and jars in the blond's arms; almost because Jaune had hopped back in time to avoid the gentle giant's hand muttering something I couldn't quite catch. I could hear Quartz and Pyrrha giggle nearby before turning my attention back to our speaker.
"Professor Peach has asked a favor on this field trip; each of you, except for the members of Team SYAN, are to collect a jar, each, of Red Tree Sap from the trees in this forest," she instructed us as we walked, "And my job, as well as Team SYAN's, is to make sure none of you die in the process." This caught the attention of a few students as they turned towards the professor in what I assume was rapt attention. She turned back to us as she continued to explain, "Due to the events of the past month, Grimm activity here has been at an all time high which resulted in the formation of a temporary search-and-destroy team. As such, their survival depends on your efforts and how swiftly you can gather the sap. The quicker we complete our task, the sooner we can all leave in one piece." Most of the students nodded at this, which caused Glynda to call myself, Yang, Coco, and Nora to follow her in order to form a perimeter. After walking far enough away that she deemed appropriate, she told us to stop as she turned to us and said, "We should be far enough that no one can see you, Dichro."
I nodded as I turned to Yang and Nora, the latter of whom was smiling as she voiced her agreement, but I soon heard Coco ask why that mattered since everyone has seen me fight. "Because there is a secret that Mr. Spectrum possesses which requires your full confidentiality, Ms. Adel," Glynda explained as she turned to me and nodded. I nodded in return as I dug into my jacket for the GGD and pulled it out before turning the dial to its Perfect Puzzle position; causing it to trigger its confirmation sounds.
"PERFECT PUZZLE! What's the next stage?"
I saw the look of confusion as Coco stared at the game screen behind me as well as the Power-ups that filled the immediate area. Before she could ask or say anything, I called out "Henshin!" as I pressed the button on the device; starting up the henshin sequence.
"DUAL UP! GET THE GLORY IN THE CHAIN! PERFECT PUZZLE!"
As the armor screen passed over me, I could feel myself stretching once more to Para-DX's full height as the armor covered me. When it was finished, I looked towards Coco only to see her confusion replaced with her eyes and mouth wide open and her shades completely off-kilter as if they were about to fall off one side. Walking up to her slowly, I brought my hand up in front of her and waved it to try and get her attention before she shook her head. Meanwhile, Goodwitch was trying to explain the situation. "As you can see, Ms. Adel," she began to clarify, "Young Dichro, here, holds an incredible device called 'the Gashat Gear Dual' or 'GGD' for short. It allows him to assume the current form you now see before you."
"Ohhh..." was all Coco said as realization dawned on her face but it soon returned to being neutral as she adjusted her shades and walked up to my now taller form. Once she got within reach, she popped my chest with the back of her hand and said, "I get that you had to hide your secret and all, but we REALLY need to work on your self-esteem..."
I could only look at her in confusion and ask what she meant by that when Glynda offered up, "She is correct, Mr. Spectrum... You do underestimate and even undermine yourself at times." I sighed as I nodded before she turned back to Coco and said, "With the device, Dichro can assume one of two forms. This particular form is Para-DX..."
"Puzzle Gamer Form, Level..." I started to finish for her, but then noticed I was level 50 with only three Power-up chain slots. "Fifty... Ah, crapbaskets - Quartz is too nearby! The Armor is in Debug Mode!"
This caught the rest of the group's attention as Nora exclaimed that it shouldn't have to be so far away for it to not trigger while Yang suggested that she'd have Quartz and Ruby go out a bit further so I could return to normal. The only one still at a loss was Coco as she looked even more confused than before. She eventually gave in and asked why Quartz being so close was so bad when we heard something in the distance; the sound of a moaning roar, if I had to guess. I turned to the source's direction as I said, "Talk later... Right now, we have a job to do."
"Mr. Spectrum is quite right; we need to move out now," Goodwitch agreed. I quickly flicked my hand towards me which caused one of the medals to fly into my body and shatter upon contact.
"SPEEDING UP!"
With that, I soon ran in the direction of the sounds and noticed that I was now out of Debug Mode; my level was back to being 21 and my four slots were available, but my speed boost now had its timer back. "I'll deal with that, somehow," I said to myself as I continued to run. However, my distraction caused me to trip over something... And straight through a tree or two...
I barely had any time to react as I had rolled out of the way of a pair of fireballs aimed at me. As soon as I had recovered from that, something large slammed into my back and sent me flying several feet away. 'What in the hell is going on?!' I asked myself as I tried to stand up before crying out in pain as I felt a heavy weight slam me into the ground before wrapping itself around my arms and chest. All of a sudden, I find myself being flung almost a mile into the air where I finally catch a glimpse of whatever it was that was beating me to a pulp.
From a distance, I would have sworn that the creature was just an oversized Beowolf; it had the same lithe figure as one as well as the arms, claws and spikes on its forearms, but that's where the similarities ended. Its hind legs, which it was standing entirely on, had white, cleft hooves instead of paws and were unnaturally bent between the hoof and the lower knee. The tail resembled a Taijitu King with a frilled, white dorsal fin with black spines going down the backbone of the snake-tail... thing... along with a frilled fin each going down the sides; all 3 ending at the mouth with the side frills giving it a king cobra look, and a white underbelly that the rest of the body shared as well as white coverings with red tribal patterns spattered over the top of its head. The only thing that it shared in common with the Kings was its blood-red eyes. Going up the chest, I noticed it had a head similar in shape to one of those weird African goats with the tall horns... What were they called again?
Springbok! That's it!
The head on the chest was similar in shape to a springbok yet the horns, which were white, grew out and over the shoulders of the creature. Just like the Beowolf, it had a white mask over the top half of its head; unlike the Beowolf, however, the red patterns only encircled its angry orange and red eyes as well as where its nose would be. The most menacing part, however, has to be what I assumed was the primary head on top of its shoulders. The head was very clearly that of a lion, yet it had saborteeth fangs that were long enough to be the length of the springbok head. Like the underbody, the entirety of the head with the exception of the mane was white and tribal patterns went down the center of its face and along its cheeks as the glowing read eyes with orange slits glared angrily at me. Its lion head pulled back a little ways before opening its mouth in what I initially thought was a roar, but soon found out that it was spitting more of those fireballs at me.
'This thing's... a nightmare!' I mentally cried out as I tried to twist my body around trying to avoid the fireballs on my way down, but was caught just before hitting the ground by the cobra tail and suddenly slammed into the ground.
I grunted in pain as I was repeatedly slammed into the dirt over and over before the creature had had enough and simply flung me in its path and then charged heads-first into me; causing me to fly into some more trees. "Damnit..." I cursed as I looked at my health, which was around fifty percent remaining, "I can't even make a move against it." I noticed some medals nearby, but couldn't quite tell what they were because the creature was already dashing towards me on all fours.
I decided to trust fate, at that point, and called them all at once to me as I thrust my hand out to them and pulled it in to my chest. All four medals soon raced to me faster than the creature could run and crashed into me. My thoughts as this happened were, 'If this works...'
"LIQUEFACTION!"
"IRON BODY!"
"STRETCH!"
"SPEEDING-UP!"
'I MIGHT just stand a chance.'
)-Meanwhile-(
)-Third Person PoV-(
Watching her bondmate speed off as fast as he did still put Yang on edge; she was not used to seeing anyone out-speed her little sister, but she put it off with a shrug and said, "Whelp, we're not catching up to him anytime soon." She turned to the others who all agreed with her before the professor suggested they actually form that perimeter she mentioned earlier. Coco still had her doubts, but nonetheless obeyed as she started to walk in the opposite direction as Dichro had ran to but stopped as she heard something. The noise was soft, almost like a barely audible clicking, which could have gone unheard had she not been her partner's friend since last year; she needed to have sensitive hearing to talk to the initially closed-in girl and it was paying off. Looking around, she had asked the others, "Did any of you hear that just now?" Yang was the first to reply as Nora held a hand behind her ear and moved her head around trying to find what it was Coco heard.
"Not sure, Coco," the blonde brawler answered honestly as she, too, looked around, "What DID you hear?"
"Oooh, I hope we didn't happen to find a Rapier Wasp nest..." Nora prayed as she continued to try and listen to her surroundings, "They always stole my syrup growing up..."
Coco had warned them that it was not a buzzing sound she heard; that it was actually a clicking kind of noise. She brought her purse to her hands and transformed it into her minigun as she aimed it in front of her. Glynda closed her eyes and tilted her head in one direction or another as she tried to feel out the situation before replying, "Actually, I believe I do hear it as well, Ms. Adel..." Indeed, she could hear something unusual in the woods to their left... And behind them...
"Uh oh..." Yang called out, "I saw a bunch of things just now... I think we're surrounded."
Sure enough, several dozen strange heads peeked out from behind the trees and glared angrily at the group of four with their glowing red and orange eyes. These creatures where unlike anything the four had ever seen; they stood not a head shorter than the average Beowolf, but had the length of one from the snout to the tail. Their heads were reptilian in shape, mouths filled with razor sharp teeth, and had white boney W shaped crests that jutted up and back; each tip coated in the same red color of a normal Grimm's patterns. Their arms were shorter than most; not fully reaching to the hips like most, but were armed with dangerous looking claws. Their bodies, while black and coated in feathers save for the feet, claws and undersides, were also laced with boney structures shaped like ribs and spines running down their backs and sides all the way to their tails. Their most distinct feature, however, were the legs that bent in two places, similar to a bird's, and ended with feet armed with large, vicious looking curled talons. All in all, the creatures were formidable predators on their own, but in a pack they were truly intimidating.
"What in the world?" Coco called out as she eyed the creatures. They were without a doubt Creatures of Grimm, but they were nothing like she'd ever seen or heard. Nora cheered as she hoisted Magnhild over her shoulders in a swinging pose and cried out, "Fresh meat!"
"Be careful, students, these are an entirely new breed of Grimm!" Goodwitch warned as she brought her crop out while Yang merely smirked as she activated Ember Celica and got into her fighting pose. "All the same," she said, "They're going down, either way."
With that, one of the creatures let out several croaking noises; almost like it was attempting to caw like a raven; and sent the rest of its pack into a frenzy as they dashed towards the group. In retaliation, Yang launched herself using the full force of her Ember Celica at the oncoming enemies, Nora swung Magnhild upward until it was over her head and brought it down full force onto the ground in front of her targets, Glynda brought her crop out to the side and swiped it horizontally to bring up platforms from the ground that slammed onto the unsuspecting creatures, while Coco merely opened fire as she mowed down the Grimm in front of her. None of them knew if they would be able to handle these intruders, but they understood one thing.
This was not going to be easy.
)-xXx-(
Cliffhanger!
Sorry, guys, but I had to end this one to keep updates as regular as I can. Hope you enjoy it all the same!
As always, until next time...
See you next game!