Chapter 15 : Beyond the Mirror
Disclaimer : I do not own both Kamen Rider and RWBY as they both belong to their respecgive owners. Except for my OC(s).
Months ago...
"Tell me about it."
Kyle gave Tsukasa his Scroll that displayed his mentor's data in front of his desk. It was said that he was previously a Dai-Shocker allegiance. How he managed to get on the ranks of the Kamen Riders, probably the highest at the time, was something that kept bugging him. He needed to know why and how.
As Tsukasa looked at his protege in the eye, the latter continued, "How did it all happened?"
"What happened?" the older Rider asked.
"Dai-Shocker. You were one of them. You changed. How?" Kyle demanded, mixed with confusion, wonder, and maybe a bit of an anger for knowing such fact.
Tsukasa gave a soft sigh, knowing that it was the most obvious reaction coming from him, "Okay, this... this is just too sudden. I'm not one of them anymore, okay? I know how horrible my deeds were back at the time."
Calming himself down, Kyle said, "Look, I appreciate your decision to send the Riders' data only to me. I know that you've been through a lot than the others. And somehow, despite who you are, the Riders had finally put their trusts in you. That's why I want to hear it all. All of it, as possible. From you."
"After you know all of it, what would you do?" Tsukasa asked, knowing the dread that Kyle felt.
"It... depends? See, Tsukasa, you gave me a purpose, a chance to do something good. That, I'll never forget. But, if we're going to build a long-term trust, I'm gonna need to know you better. That's my point here. I'm sorry that I startled you, okay? All I want... is your story."
Tsukasa took a deep breath. He knew that it would come to this, eventually. At the same time, he was glad that Kyle had become critical in thinking and voicing out his thoughts. As for the world traveller himself, it was a rather heavy subject to talk about. However, he also knew that Kyle was right about his point. Taking a temporary silence, he began his story.
"You're right about me being a Dai-Shocker subordinate, Kyle. I was recruited because they were interested in my ability to travel through worlds. They saw this as an opportunity to further their plans to take over the world, by taking on every Kamen Riders from different realities. Our mission was to gather them, so that we could destroy them all at once. I helped them in converging the first Heisei Rider worlds, making the other Kamen Riders met each other. But at the same time, Dai-Shocker grew stronger with the help of the Riders' enemies. Gurongis, Overlords, Orpenochs, you name it. Hence the name 'Dai' they had, for greatness."
"Go on." Kyle said.
"Among my ranks was a man named Narutaki, who was obsessed in my ability and wanted to make use of it so that he could be the next Great Leader of Dai-Shocker. And because of my great achievements, he grew jealous of me and did everything he could to overthrow me."
"That's creepy, I must say." Kyle commented.
"Oh, we're just getting into that part Kyle. There was a time when the Kamen Riders finally united themselves to take our fort down. At the last moment, Narutaki backstabbed me. He robbed me of my world-travelling powers, and it caused a shock that erased my memories. I didn't remember about my allegiance to Dai-Shocker and anything I had done for them."
"At that time, I only had a memory of me having a normal life. The Riders hid my Decadriver away in a rift between dimensions to avoid triggering my memories back. Until Natsumi found it."
"And during those times, you met your seniors without remembering who you were?" Kyle asked again.
"For a long time, yes. They fought me under the warnings of Narutaki that I'd come for them. Fortunately, I've gained the Riders' trust, until Narutaki spilled my forgotten past in front of me. I was horrified of it. He even said that he had been using me as his research subject. I doubted myself of everything I had done as a Kamen Rider. I was nothing but his tool of destruction." Tsukasa grimaced, clenching his fist for telling such fact.
"Tsukasa..."
"That's why I did everything I could to atone for it. The Showa Riders inspired me to continue down my path of righteousness. I swore to everyone, and to myself, to crush every single Dai-Shocker and villains alike I can find. Every single one of them. I won't reject my past anymore, Kyle. I hope you could forgive me for this matter."
Kyle himself noticed a guilt on his mentor's eyes. It was something that he could never be angry at. Tsukasa did his best to make things right, something he could relate to himself in some ways. He might had harmed some people, along the way.
"How could I hold this against you, Tsukasa? All you ever did was to make things right for yourself. That's something that I could never deny from anyone. Alright, Tsukasa. You have my trust, now." Kyle accepted.
"Thank you, Kyle. I won't let you down as a mentor." Tsukasa said.
"Do you think you're gonna tell this to my team yourself?"
"Only if the time comes, Kyle. Only if it is." the senior Rider assured.
Present...
Yang went to Tsukasa's residence as the continuation of her and Kyle's conversation. As Kyle had said to her before, she was wondering if the senior Riders really knew her mother's whereabouts. Tsukasa had also brought in a man, who was also one of his comrades. The other man was seen wearing an unbuttoned long-sleeved stripped white shirt over an orange T-shirt. He was also seen wearing grey jeans and a pair of black sneakers. The man identified himself as Shouichi 'Kamen Rider Agito' Tsugami. He said that he knew Taiyang Xiao Long, Yang's father well.
"Raven Branwen, eh?" Shouichi spoke.
"I told Kyle about this before. He said that you guys might know something about this. Especially, where she is now." Yang said.
"I understand. I'm sorry Yang, but we've been tracking her for years, too. And as much as I hate it, I gotta admit that she was a hard one to find. Hell, even our best connections had the same difficulty." Shouichi informed.
"I see..." Yang frowned, knowing the fact that the Riders had also no end to her whereabouts.
"You know, Raven was a strong woman. She was always the one who pushed us through whenever we found an obstacle. She didn't told us much about her own past, hence why we were very surprised when your dad told us that she just left. God, I can't imagine how messed up was that." Tsukasa let out a sigh.
"There isn't even a word from your uncle Qrow either about it. He said that it was all a family matter that he had to solve himself. I understand that they were twins, but it's still an itching issue to all of us. Maybe if it's you, he might want to tell you about it. " Shouichi confessed.
"Okay. Thanks for everything." Yang thanked.
"Yang, don't worry. We'll keep you informed of this matter. She's also a family to us. We won't let that fall apart." Tsukasa assured as Yang nodded in response.
"Still, I wonder if Tai got to meet her by chance." Shouichi rubbed his chin in wonder.
"Maybe he'll slap her so hard?" Tsukasa guessed. A slight grin was visible on his face.
"I think it'll end up with a loud bang, if you know what I mean."
"Ooh... I hear what you say, there."
"Guys, no." Yang said to them.
"Oh, right. Sorry." Shouichi apologized, knowing that their conversation was...
"' Cause I think... it'll end up with a YANG!"
The two Riders silently stared at each other, and responsed in sync,
"Riiiiight..."
Elsewhere in Vale...
"Remind me why are we doing this, again?" Kyle asked.
"We need more suply for our needs, Kyle. A lot." Ruby reminded.
"Yeah, tons of them! For both of our teams." Nora continued.
"You should be grateful that we decided to buy yours, too. Now go carry those big bag of yours and stop complaining!" Weiss barked while waving her credit card.
"Yeah, not that I'm actually complaining, Weiss." Kyle countered.
It was such a coincidence that Kyle had just met up with the girls on a market. Unfortunately, he had to carry the heaviest luggage among the others, making his evening stroll a bit uncomfortable. Although, he had to thank Weiss for putting such concern to him. She took her friends' daily needs to her own account, and she was trying it at best. It seems that her accountability as a part of the Schnee family wasn't for nothing, at all.
"Say, how long have we been walking?" Nora asked.
"Come on, Nora, it's been only ten minutes. The dorms not even that far from here." Weiss said.
"You mean by vehicle, right?" Kyle remarked.
"How about you use yours? That'll make you carry those easier, right?" Ruby suggested.
"Well, I'm not leaving you guys like that. Besides, I don't know how I could carry you all on my bike. Let alone finding you guys a cab." Kyle pointed out.
"Kyle's right. besides, I don't want to waste our money just to get a cab. It's been getting expensive these days." Weiss said.
"Well, you're rich, right? that's supposed to be a piece of cake!" Nora bumped the heiress' shoulder.
"That's not how it's supposed to be!" Weiss barked.
Suddenly, they heard an audible 'ow' from a nearby alley. The four quickly rushed to see what had transpired inside the said place. They saw an elder man being beaten up by a couple of street punks. The punks were using metal bats and swung it on the helpless man, ignoring his pleas to stop. Boiled by their inhumane actions, Kyle put his luggage down nearby the girls and proceeded to take further actions.
"I got this." He assured as the girls silently nodded.
The Rider threw a rock pebble into a punk's head, catching him and his cronies' attention.
"Hey!"
"Had your parents ever taught you guys to respect your elders?" he ticked.
"Huh? Who do you think you are!? You got some nerve ruining our fun here!" one of the punks said.
"I just happen to pass through here, noticing you guys abusing a helpless man. And I don't like it. Consider this as your one and only warning. I'll give you guys ten seconds to go away." He warned.
"Like hell we would!"
A punk went behind him and swung his bat right to his head. It directly hit him. However, he didn't flinch from it as his Aura completely cushioned the hit. The Rider only felt being simply swatted to his cheek. He quickly pin the punk down and caused the latter to drop his bat.
"You know, I would simply thank you for swatting my cheek if I had a mosquito landing on it." he flatly stated.
"Why you...!"
"If you still wanna go on, then I'll gladly take you on... just with my bare hands." He challenged.
"Eeh!? Are you serious, Kyle? They're all carrying... whatever-kilograms heavy bats for each!" Nora wondered.
"They don't worth his time to use it. I know he doesn't need his sword just to discipline those thugs." Weiss stated.
"Oh? So you're not against him, now?" Ruby asked.
"I believe I don't have to remind him countless times about it all over again. I'll let him do as he pleases, as long as he doesn't stain the Huntsmen's honor by being a bully himself." She stated again.
There were seven puns in front of him. One was knocked out and unable to stand up again. Four of them went on with the challenge as the others stayed behind. Kyle easily countered their attacks by simply dodging them, letting their abrupt swings landed on each other. Once they were disoriented enough, he quickly took them down one by one with a relative ease. One of the other two punks went ahead. He gathered enough strength to strike one powerful swing to the Rider, only to be thrown into the wall behind the latter. The last one desperately fought back. Kyle quickly noticed a dropped bat on his right foot and softly rolled it to the punk. The bat tripped the last punk down and he fell abruptly.
"This... this isn't over, dude!"
The punks had finally scurry away, leaving the elder man behind. Kyle and the other girls went to check on the man as the former helped him to get up.
"Are you alright, sir?" he asked.
"Ah, thank you so much." The man spoke.
"We'll take you to the nearest infirmary." Ruby said.
"There's no need, young one. I have a flat nearby. I'll lead you the way, ow!" the man was still injured from the abuse, struggling to keep himself up. Fortunately, Weiss and Nora stepped in to help him.
"There, now. Kyle can you and Ruby carry our luggages?" Weiss asked.
"Will do. C'mon, Ruby." Kyle said as Ruby nodded in response.
Blake was investigating a Dai-Shocker outpost in the outskirts of Vale. She was accompanied by another Rider, Mitsuzane 'Kamen Rider Ryugen' Kureshima. The Rider was seen mostly in jeans, especially on his rolled-up sleeves jacket and pants. Underneath the jacket was a gray shirt. His Rider symbol, which resembled his helmet, was located on his jacket's back.
In the disclosed parts of it, they were having a briefing for the infiltration. Surprisingly, from the intels the Rider had gathered, they found something unexpected.
"Okay, that's all about everything I've got. Any questions before we go?" Mitsuzane asked.
"Knowing that the White Fang is present disturbs me. A lot." Blake said. If only she could bring Kyle along... no, she couldn't tell anyone about this.
"Mind telling me about it?" the Rider asked.
"It's just that... I know that they were used to be a peaceful Faunus party. What makes me feeling bitter is that they decided to become radical. I can't agree with their terms... even if it's for the sake of equality among ourselves."
Blake's tone became heavier the more she told it. Mitsuzane took notice of this, so he said to her, "I understand, Blake. Don't worry, we'll stop those bastards from wreaking havoc."
"Right. Thanks, Mitsu." she answered softly.
"Anytime. Now, let's roll."
With that being settled, Blake found herself hiding behind the craters. She moved from one crater to another, taking down several Combatants she could find. Everything seems to be normal with the sightings of the Combatants around, until she found an insignia of a red beast with claw marks. It was the White Fang's symbol, and there is no mistaking it. However, she didn't look surprised as when Mitsuzane informed her of this.
"Mitsu's right. The White Fang's working with Dai-Shocker. But why? And how?" she mumbled her questions.
Her thoughts were swept away once she noticed several uniformed guard that she knew all too well. Their grey and black clothes were accompanied by Grimm-like masks that they wore. They were indeed from the White Fang. Without further ado, she charged at the unnoticing guards, taking them out one by one with her Gambol Shroud. One of them almost triggered the alarm, but Blake managed to disable him shortly before he could do it.
"Wait, y-you're..."
The guard somehow recognized the Kunoichi Huntress. Her eyes widened upon knowing it. In her amazing reflex, she quickly knocked him out with her blade's rear end, preventing the guard from further recognizing his assailant.
Mitsuzane himself was also busy taking down the guards, too. Among them were also White Fang operatives. He happened to be almost in the same quadrant as Blake's. The two had planned to meet up in the control room's entrance, which they finally did after they checked up each of their surroundings.
"You okay?" Mitsuzane asked, noticing the insecurity Blake head on her face.
Brushing her feelings away, she replied, "I'm okay. I just wish I could get more answers from the White Fang."
"Truth is, we've been investigating it, too. Dai-Shocker had never been co-operating with another group like this before. Still, it makes sense if this is for the sake of their uprising against us after their last defeat." The Rider pointed out.
"Then that's another reason for us to stop both of them for good. Let's get going, then." Blake stated as Mitsuzane nodded in response.
The two had finally arrived in the control room. There was no one else sighted, at least yet. They looked around to see if the Dai-Shocker had more plans for the humanity. Until they suddenly heard a voice of a certain enemy commander.
"Oh, hello there. Looking out for another quest?"
"Xiphon!" Blake shouted.
"This is not the site you are looking for..." Xiphon chanted as if he was about to cast a spell. He knew it was all just a bluff to play around.
"Stop screwing around! We knew that you've been abducting people lately. Where did you take them?" Mitsuzane demanded.
"Uhh... somewhere?" he plainly answered, much to Mitsuzane's dissatisfaction.
"And how did you have the White Fang on your fold? What did you do to them!?" Blake furiously asked.
"Ah, the White Fang... you see, we had this professional negotiator that managed to convince them. They sure proved their worth as much as our underlings did. By the way, Blake Belladonna, I've heard so much of you from a certain Faunus, there. I must say I'm quite impressed." Xiphon grinned.
"W-what...?" she stuttered.
"He said that he adored you for your resilience and your loyalty. Yet... all you're good at... is running away."
The Faunus' eyes were widened furiously. She was ticked, period. The Huntress roared as she shot her Gambol Shroud at the commander. The latter, however, proved her gunshots readable with his evasive maneuvers. Blake was left open for the Combatants who charged into the room and pointed their guns at her. Mitsuzane managed to shot the two hostiles down with his Budou Ryuhou, accessed through his Sengoku Driver strapped on his waist.
"Blake! You're not gonna beat him like that!" Mitsuzane shouted.
His words were seemingly true as Xiphon managed to het in front of her and stabbed his sword through her chest, only to find his target was a mere shadow clone of Blake's Semblance. The real Blake was already behind Xiphon's back.
"Like hell I'm not!" she roared.
Their swords clashed against each other as sparks flew. The cat Faunus fought Xiphon from dual-wielding her blades to resorting to its cleaver mode. Xiphon could still hold his stand against her in ease. He could feel her attacks getting heavier, which must had came from her sheer rage. The clash lasted for a few seconds until the commander managed to hit her gut, causing her to roll away from their current position.
"Blake!" the Rider called out.
"I must admit; girls can be very scary. Especially when they're on their period. Not to mention that your outburst was... surprising, at best." Xiphon pointed out.
"You... don't you dare to make use of the White Fang...!" She growled.
"I wouldn't simply spoil the stuffs if the circumstances doesn't meet. Besides, I have my own standards of fun, you see."
Spoil the fun? What does he mean? Mitsuzane thought. Was there truly something more behind the Dai-Shocker and White Fang's co-operation? How did the likes of them had some leads of Blake Belladonna? What was her connection with them? Those questions were hard to unthink, especially after he saw her behavior at the time. she wasn't as calm and collected as she usually was.
"Oh, well. I must take my leave for now. Toodles."
He waved them his goodbye. But this time, he was seen entering a... mirror? This was rather unusual as he was always seen teleporting whenever he escapes. Where could he possibly headed by going through a mirror? This added more puzzles to Blake's head.
"He's going... through a mirror?"
"Yeah. There's no mistaking it. I had a pretty good idea of where he's heading; somewhere beyond the mirrors of Remnant." Mitsuzane said.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"The Mirror World. An empty, unpopulated dimension where everything is inverted. Except it for being upside down, that is. Until the Dai-Shocker recently let out some monsters to roam free in the said dimension. Among them are the Mirror Monsters that was said to have born from a deranged man's wildest imaginations. We've spotted some of them abducting people from here and there, as we spoke. Who knows what they'd did to them." Mitsuzane explained.
"I... I see..." she frowned.
Sighing, Mitsuzane relieved her, "Listen, I know that you must've had some relations to them. And as much as I understand your reluctance to talk, that doesn't sit well if you can't keep yor head cool. You'll lose your composure and you'll be left vulnerable. Don't ever give them a chance to mole through your blind spot."
"I understand. I won't let my emotions blind me again." She resolved.
"Great. Now, let's see if one of our technicians can handle this matter."
The Rider picked up his Scroll and searched through his contacts, until he found a certain person he wished to call.
"Shinji, we got a problem."
Meanwhile...
The man introduced himself as George Wilson. He was currently living with his wife, Maria Wilson, and both of them were working as florists. They had just moved to Vale a year ago and had opened their flower shop shortly after. You could say that they had been living a typical happy lif of florists.
"But one day, she went outside to look for more flower seeds... and she never came back. She had been missing for three days. I've already asked for the police's help, but they said that they couldn't find any concrete evidence of her leaving."
"I see..." Kyle said.
"Except that there was one thing that they thought was odd; there were traces of glass shards, all leaded into a mirror. It was like there was someone... or something that leaded them towards the mirror. However, the police didn't find anything from the said mirror, and they decided to put the investigation away until they could find more proof. The case was deemed as nonsensical, and illogical at best. I can't shake my feelings away of her whereabouts."
"Shattered mirrors? Odd." Weiss wondered. The word 'mirror' was the one that caught her attention the most.
"And then I just got unlucky by bumping up with those delinquents. Thanks to you all, my life won't become much worse, anymore." George finished.
"I think I have a pretty good idea what's this about..." Ruby whispered, particularly to Nora.
"Well, that's just too predictable." The latter remarked, knowing what her fellow Huntress meant.
"But what if it is?"
"It... could be!" Nora chirped.
"Do any of you perhaps have an idea of it?" George asked.
"We would like to believe that it's all according to our thoughts. However, I'd like to admit that our leads are still little. But don't worry, we'll help you find your wife." Weiss assured.
"I hope she's still alive by the time we find her. We're definitely not giving up on this." Kyle said.
"Thank you, again. All of you." The man thanked.
"Anytime, sir." Kyle replied.
"Still, shattered mirrors does sound like a pattern. Umm, are there any other people who are reported missing like that?" Nora asked.
"The police also said something about similar incidents. Maybe it's some kind of kidnappings? Abductions? Well, that's how wild my imagination can get. The case was still rather new, though." George answered.
"Hmm... okay, is there anything else we could help?" Ruby asked.
"I'll be fine from here, thank you. I don't want to burden all of you, especially with those luggages of yours. I also fully appreciate your kindness towards me." The man said.
"Alright, we should be going then." Weiss said.
"See you!" Ruby said.
"Get well soon!" Nora waved.
"We'll keep you in touch once we get another lead. Please rest for now, sir." Kyle said.
"Very well."
After the four were away, the man took his medications, the good ones from doctor's recipe. He could only smile after he received such hospitality by them.
"At least my faith in the youngsters is restored." He mused.
It had been a busy day for the employee who had just finished her job. She was seen on her way home through a silent alley. Unbeknownst to her, a mysterious figure followed her from the mirrors of the nearby buildings. Once the preyed woman was stopping by to check on her Scroll, the figure... or rather a monster lunged at her. The creature was a crimson humanoid crab creature that had traces of mirror shards around its body. The Mirror Crab Kaijin ignored the woman's shrieks as it slowly dragged her towards the mirror where he jumped out from. Suddenly, another figure jumped out from the mirror and kicked the Kaijin away, releasing the woman from its grasp.
This time, the figure was another Kamen Rider. His armor was overall based on a dragon, seen mostly in red with some black and silver platings. The helmet had a pair of red round visors, covered in a helmet grill as usually seen in most european knight armors. Its top section emblazoned a silver emblem that resembled a dragon's head. He also had a silver chestplate, accompanied by his silver belt that also had the said emblem inside a black box.
Ryuki had currently been investigating the missing people case. Of course, he had no co-operation with Vale's cops. He marched towards the monster, throwing powerful hits that the Mirror Crab Kaijin could barely stand against. Once the monster was blown far enough, he turned to the employee behind him.
"This place's not save. Please make your way out of here." He said.
The woman nodded as she ran away. With that being done, he had no worries of going more all-out. He pulled a card from his belt, which doubled as a card deck. The card depicted a red curved sword, seemingly modeled after a dragon's tail. The Rider inserted the card into a dragon head-like device that he wore on his left hand after he sled open its top section.
SWORD VENT!
He gripped his hand to nothing in particular, which then revealed as mirror shards that formed into the said sword as soon as he pulled it out. Ryuki slashed the Mirror Crab Kaijin a couple of times, causing mirror shards to spark out from its body. The latter also attempted to fight back with its pincers. It also spew a stream of foams that blanketed the Rider. Ryuki slashed the foam away, only to find the Kaijin escaped through the mirror.
"Oh, well. One loss, one gain."
He had won the battle, for now, to save the assaulted employee. The monster may had gotten away, but he wasn't displeased. It turned out that he had placed a tracker device on its body during his weaponless fight. The tracker could lead him and his forces to their base, presumably located inside the mirror... or maybe not.
However, Ryuki's HUD detected something from inside the Mirror Crab Kaijin. There was a substance, something or someone that he couldn't afford to destroy, hence the reason why he decided to call it a day.
The night sky arrived as our story shifts to the heroes inside Beacon 's dorm. All of them were gathering inside team JNPR's room. Ren's pancake was the best dish after a long tiring day. As Ruby still brought her stockpiled cookies, Kyle also bought a guava juice from the cantine's beverage booth. The heroes discussed their activities, from one overwhelming resume task to scouting missions with a senior Kamen Rider. It was Blake's turn to tell her tale.
"Xiphon really got me boiled back there. I lost my focus that Mitsu had to take care the White Fang guards that came after me." she said.
"Well, we all know what he did to Kyle, right? it's always possible that his words are tempting and venomous. Even some warriors of the Great War did that." Pyrrha said.
"They did?" the Kunoichi wondered.
"It was one of the arts of war; psychological offense. A word from a skillful person could sway a warriors thoughts of the battlefield. Even causing them to turn against their own allies should they managed to get a leverage on someone." The Amazon continued.
"That's... dark." Kyle commented.
"Every war does, Kyle." Ren replied.
"Yeah, not my first time knowing things like that." The Rider said back.
"And what's stranger is that Xiphon got a way through a... mirror." Blake continued.
"Mirror, eh? I heard from someone that there had been mysterious cases involving mirrors. Some said that it's an abduction." Kyle pointed out.
"The person was a man that we helped after Kyle got rid of the bullies. He said that he had been looking for his wife, but she had never been found. Her traces always led the police to a mirror, which they hadn't even had the foggiest idea of." Weiss informed.
"Too bad the police decided to turn down the case, though. I wish we could help him more." Ruby said.
"Wait, kidnapping people to mirrors? That doesn't add up. What's even inside a mirror, anyway?" Jaune wondered.
"Think Dai-Shocker did this?" Yang asked.
"Well, what else could it be?" Jaune said back.
There was a but of a pause filling the room. Everyone had their minds full of what happened that day. Mirror was the only thing that they had in common. Then, Nora noticed Weiss looking through her mirror near her bed.
"Weiss, what's wrong?" she asked.
"Hmm?"
"You've been looking that mirror for about ages. Spacin' out isn't always good for you, you know." She commented.
"I'm not spacing out."
"Then, what're you thinking?" Ruby asked.
"It's just... I remember a wardrobe mirror that I used to look at in my home." Weiss told.
"Oh?"
"I kept looking at myself; a beautiful, talented, and well-mannered girl who had always been up to her father's expectations. But when I look at myself... there was no one who stood beside me."
"Sometimes, I drew a scribble of an imaginary friend. I grabbed the drawing's hand, always longing for a real one. I even want to think of having another rich friend in Atlas. But it seems... that my childhood had been wasted for nothing but fulfilling my father's expectations as an heiress. I never had a chance to truly express what I really wanted."
Her friends didn't need her to tell them outright that she was alone. Her words were enough to describe it. Their talks did involve mirrors, though. It could be what triggered this to her. Being rich doesn't mean you're happy. Money tends to corrupt. That had always been a principle that had been beset upon this very world.
Noticing her friend's sorrow, Ruby stood up to her and said, "Weiss, We'll get this done soon. I promise that you'll never be alone. We're a team now, right?"
"Ruby..." the reaper's dazzling smile caught her attention.
"You don't have to ponder it all over again. Just take a look at where you are now. You're with us." Ruby continued.
"Still, I don't get with that kind of parent in Atlas. How come that behavior of theirs is... I don't know, annoying?" Yang wondered.
"Probably because the fact that Atlas' advanced tech guarranteed their security. That's why they don't need to worry about surviving, I guess. Maybe that's why they had become so greedy over these years." Kyle commented.
"Then it looks like they're gonna need a punch in the face." She remarked with a grin.
"Same here." He chuckled.
"Eyyy..." the two fist-bumped in agreement.
"Greedy's a strong word, Kyle." Weiss commented.
"Then what is it?"
"I... actually don't know how to describe it, too. It's just too complicated." She confessed.
"I know. Oh, and Weiss? How about if you go look at that mirror again?" Kyle requested.
"O... kay?" she complied.
"What do you see?"
"Umm, me?"
"What else?"
"I think I know where this is going." Nora joyfully whispered to Ren. The latter smiled in agreement.
"You guys..." She ponderingly answered.
"That's how you should picture your life in a mirror."
"What do you mean?"
"Whenever you look at yourself in a mirror, just think of us being right behind you. We got your back, Weiss. Your life belongs to you, and only to you. All of your choices are yours. Remember that." Kyle concluded.
Upon hearing those words, Weiss felt a warmth that flowed through her. She wasn't sure whether it was a woo or a genuine concern for a friend. She also knew that Kyle wasn't a player-type guy, so it was rather impossible if he did that just to win her heart. Weiss took a slight look at her friend's face, and there were no signs of teasing coming from it.
"W-well... that's... very nice of you..." she stuttered.
"Oooh, someone's falling for a guy." Yang teased.
"Wha-!? I-it's not that I'll fall for him or anything!" Weiss rejected.
"Here we go again..." Kyle sighed.
"Yang, enough with the teasing already." Blake said.
"What? It's normal for a girl to be swayed by those words, right?"
"Now that you said it, Yang, the way it's being said was... quite nice, I must say." Ren commented.
"No way! did you also-" Nora teased.
"No." He rejected as the Huntress giggled.
"That's quite deep, Kyle. If not that philosophical." Pyrrha commented.
"Seriously dude, how did you pull that off?" Jaune wondered.
"Uuh... literatures?"
"No way! they only taught you poems and grammars!"
"Well, technically poems are one of the most effective way of proposal. Even I would be tempted if I'm being presented by a really good one." Pyrrha said.
"I told you guys; I'm not falling for him!" Weiss yelled blushingly.
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that." Yang replied.
"But still, having a cold heart warmed up by swaying words is quite a sight to see." Ren commented.
"That sounds... fairy tale-ish." Blake commented.
"Oh, it is."
"It's still beautiful, don't you guys think?" Pyrrha smiled brightly.
"My blessings are for you, princess." Ruby teased as Nora made a gesture of throwing flower petals in front of the heiress.
"NOT! YOU GUYS! TOO!"
The others laughed and talked more as the night progressed. As for the pouting, flustering heiress... well, she was having a hard time keeping her composure in check after what happened. Kyle could only shook his head for it.
"Geez, why does everybody have to tease me like that?"
On the next day, the heroes had received a mission notif from the Rider League right after they finished the class. The ones that were assigned are Kyle, Weiss, Blake, and Pyrrha. And with that, the heroes found themselves in an empty alley with plenty building mirrors, which was a precarious place for the kidnappings to occur, according to the police reports. There, Mitsuzane had been waiting for them by sitting on a box.
"Oh hello, there!" the senior Rider greeted.
"Hey, Mitsu." Blake waved at him.
"Kamen Rider Ryugen, right?" Kyle asked.
"Pleasured to meet you, New Decade." The two Riders shook their hands as the former started to ponder on something.
"Ah right, my codename! Say, uhh... do you have an idea of having a distinctive codename for me? you know... just to differ myself with the original." Kyle asked.
"I thought New Decade was enough for you."
"Anything else?"
"Uhh... Decade the Second? I still have plenty ideas for that, though."
"Okay-okay. I think I'll sort it out, later." Kyle said as Mitsuzane agreed.
"Alright, Kyle. And you two must be Weiss Schnee and Pyrrha Nikos, two of the most well-known Huntress of Beacon." Mitsuzane greeted.
"Pleasured to meet you." Weiss greeted back.
"We already heard about your and Blake's mission. Is it true that Dai-Shocker can go through mirrors?" Pyrrha asked.
"And so do we." Another voice called out.
The voice came from a man who had a fair-cut short blonde hair. He was wearing a red shirt underneath a cremme jacket. On his bottom were brown cargo pants and white sneakers. His dragon head Rider symbol was located on his jacket's right shoulder.
"Where've you been?" Mitsuzane asked.
"Sorry, been a little held up with the authorities. Been having trouble finding Xiphon, too." The man said.
"Xiphon..." Kyle muttered.
"And you must be another Rider." Weiss remarked.
"Yup! Shinji Kido, Kamen Rider Ryuki, reporting for duty!" he saluted.
"Likewise. Anyway, you knew something more about the mirror?" Blake asked.
"Knew it? I've been fighting there for years, God-knows-how many." Shinji laughed.
"Eeh!?" Kyle and Weiss wondered.
"You see, the Mirror World was created by a wild imagination of a madman, who was said to have mysterious mystical powers. He created a world where monsters invested in it and became their king. To make things complicated, he created his own Rider system out of the magical mirror materials inside that world, and gave it to random people, including me, to start his own Rider War."
"Rider War?" Blake wondered.
"You mean that battle between the 13 Riders, each to fulfill their own wishes?" Kyle asked using his vision as a preference.
"Yup. After I learned how chaotic it was, by killing everyone for their own glory, I decided to team up with some of them in order to stop it. but, it's not without arguments of which one of our wishes to be granted. Long story short, my partners stepped down in order for me to go on, find the culprit, and put an end to it once and for all. I defeated the last boss, which was the maker, and the Rider War was stopped. That is, until now that our powers are needed, once again." Shinji finished his story.
"We assumed that Dai-Shocker had been building their defenses inside the Mirror World, and had been enacting abductions. This is the best time to strike them back." Mitsuzane continued.
"Let me guess; we're going there." Kyle guessed.
"Exactly. Oh, Huntsmen can go inside the Mirror World, too. Your Auras will calibrate its density so that you guys can go safely." Mitsuzane said.
"Safely? Is it that dangerous?" Pyrrha asked.
"Not really. It's just that for a normal person, it'd be exhausting." Shinji answered.
"Alright, we best be going. Hope we could get there sooner before they kidnap more people." Mitsuzane said.
"Right." Weiss said.
"And here goes another epic Henshin montage." Kyle remarked.
"You're enjoying this, don't you?" Pyrrha teased the Rider.
"Eh, why wouldn't I, Pyrrha? I feel like a total badass for that." Kyle answered jovially.
"Here we go, again." Blake sighed joyfully.
The three Riders prepared their Henshin Belts. As Kyle and Mitsuzane attached theirs, Shinji took out his Advent Deck and stretched his hand out to the front, causing a mirror to form in front of him before it shattered itself and circling around Shinji's waist. The shards formed the V-Buckle, a silver belt that had a slot for his Deck to transform. Finally, they went into their stances.
KAMEN RIDE: / BUDOU! LOCK ON!
"HENSHIN!"
DECADE!
HAI! BUDOU ARMS!
RYU! HOU! HA-HA-HA!
A grape-like armor part descended from a Crack above to Mitsuzane. As his Ride Wear was formed, his helmet was formed inside the armor and it attached its respective rear helmet part, making his visors turned into purple. The armor part then opened and arranged itself into a dragon-themed chinese warrior armor. With his visors lit, he became Kamen Rider Ryugen, an expert gunsman of the Helheim forest.
As for Shinji, he sled his Advent Deck into his Buckle. The little red orb above it lit up and grayscale shadows of his armor merged to him. The said shadows then exploded into mirror shards before they stuck to Shinji's body, forming an armor out of the glass. The gray armor he wore then started to give itself its trademark red an silver colors. After his red visors lit up, his Kamen Rider Ryuki armor was activated. He was also known as the pacifist warrior of the Rider War.
"Hey, you guys recording this?" Kyle turned to his friends.
"Umm, no." Blake answered.
"That's right, Blake. Why would we do that?" Weiss remarked.
"I did." Pyrrha said. She had been recording the entire transformation with her Scroll.
"Pyrrha!? since when-?" Weiss deadpanned. Both Ryugen and Ryuki could only laugh the whole scene out.
"Thanks, Pyrrha!" Kyle thanked, putting his thumb up as a big approval, with Pyrrha replying, "Anytime, Kyle!"
Meanwhile, George was busy opening his flower shop. He had been entrusting his wife to the younglings he met. They seemed to know this matter more than he and the police do. All he could do was to pray for the best they could ever do.
Suddenly, he heard a lod crash behind him. He was surprised to see a Mirror Monster in front of him. The Kaijin took a form of a blue locust, having red fiercing eyes to the likes of a Grimm. It screeched as it lunged the unlucky man. George desperately fought back, by throwing flower pots he could find. None of them fazed the Mirror Locust Kaijin to go after its prey. Before he could reach the back door, he was pulled by the Mirror Monster and being thrown to the outside. George could barely make his stand due to the pain. Just as he was cornered by the Kaijin, two men stepped in just in the nick of time.
The first man was seen with a black biker jacket over a white T-shirt. He was also seen wearing black pants black sneakers. On his jacket was a silver symbol pin which patterned like a bat. The other man wore a grey suit over a white shirt and a black tie, along with black leather shoes. He was seen wearing a bull-like pin on his vest.
"Kitaoka, get him somewhere save. I'll handle this thing." The man said.
"Very well. Can you get up, sir?" the other man named Kitaoka helped George regaining his stand.
"This world gets much stranger, nowadays." George lamented.
"It always is. Now, let's get away from here."
After the two went far away, Ren Akiyama took out his black Advent Deck, with his Rider Symbol emblazoned on it. He went to his stance after he summoned his V-Buckle.
"Henshin!"
After his transformation, in the same manner as Ryuki completed, he was now wearing a dark, navy blue and silver armor that took a motif of a bat, as evidenced by the horns on his helmet's grill. Inside the grill were a pair of sharp blue visors. The helmet's mouthpiece also resembled a sharp teeth. His torso armor also took a european knight approach. On his hand was a sword that had a grip guard in shape of his bat insignia, which can also be seen on his Advent Deck. With that being done, he became Kamen Rider Knight, known for his fierce skill and will in the Rider War.
"Kamen... Rider..." the monster growled.
"I'll make sure you perish before you could complete your conquest." Knight declared.
The Rider gallantly fought the monster using his Dark Visor sword. His agility and speed were enough to inflict damages on the monster. The Kaijin also used its razor-sharp claws to spark Knight's armor out. Fortunately, he could still withstand the pain. Things got more troublesome as the Mirror Locust Kaijin resorted to its wings, spreading it out for a flight. Knight's disadvantage was quickly solved as he used his Advent Card, depicting his bat Mirror Monster.
"Come forth, Darkwing!"
ADVENT!
Darkwing rose from a cracked mirror-like portal from below before it attached to Knight's back. The Rider now had his own set of wings, taking the fight to the air. The two clashed against each other. They even had to engage in a lock, which was ended by Knight kicking the Kaijin down to the ground. After the Rider detached from his partner, he took out another card that depicted the Darkwing emitting a sonic screech.
NASTY VENT!
As the card commanded, Darkwing screeched loudly to the Kaijin. It weakened the monster enough to reveal something unsettling. There was another sound; a scream, coming from inside the Kaijin. It was the same thing that Ryuki had detected. He widened his eyes in shock.
"What the hell?"
Decade and his team went through the mirror halls that they had arrived once they entered the nearby mirror. The three Riders were on their respective Rider Machines, with Ryugen on a Rose Attacker black dirt bike and Ryuki on a unique pod-like bike called Ride Shooter. As for the Huntresses, they were lent with Ride Shooters from Ryuki, which the latter copied using his Trick Vent card.
"This is awesome!" Pyrrha squealed.
"Wow, you started to sound like Ruby." Blake remarked, much to the other Huntress' giggle.
"For the record, I thought it'll be as hard as I thought. I've never ride a vehicle before." Weiss commented.
"So, are you gonna ride a fancy horse carriage next?" Decade joked.
"Ooh! As in Snow White? That'll be romantic!" Ryuki added.
"Yeah, very funny, guys." Weiss deadpanned.
"Alright, we're closing in to the entrance now. Get ready." Ryugen informed.
The heroes made their way towads the light of the mirror corridor's end. They entered a place that seems to be... Vale.
"Hey, isn't this still vale?" Weiss wondered.
"Not really. Look around, Weiss." Decade said.
The three Huntresses did what Decade also do. They looked around to see everything else being inverted. The building directions and its writings were all in reverse, from right to left, and vice versa. It seems that the Mirror World was essentially the 'mirror' of Remnant itself.
"That's... the buildings are all inverted!" Weiss exclaimed.
"And they're even made of glass." Blake commented.
"Hence why this is called the Mirror World." Ryugen said.
"You said that this place is populated with monsters." Pyrrha wondered.
"We're in a safe area where monsters are least likely to come. They only access these areas whenever they're ordered to." Ryugen said.
"Hey, speaking of monsters, I've fought one that I think is... odd." Ryuki recalled.
"What do you mean?" the green Rider wondered.
"Like, there was something inside it. Something... human."
"What?"
"Uhh, guys? Hate to interrupt, but I think we've got company." Decade informed.
He was right. Beyond the cracked mirror-like portal in front of them was a horde of several Mirror Kaijins. They looked like Dai-Shocker Combatants, except that their appearances were twisted; their arms became glass razors that were ready to splatter any flesh. The Mirror Combatants were all standing in their way, and the heroes had to made their way through them.
"This is it! it's the distortion! We're closing in to Dai-Shocker's stronghold!" Ryuki informed.
"And we're gonna have to break through these freaks of nature." Ryugen stated.
"That many!?" Blake shocked.
"Oh yeah, guys, this is a Rider Machine. It has weapon systems installed on it. Let's put 'em to use." Ryuki informed.
"You mean this green button on the left handle?" Pyrrha asked.
"Yup!"
"Alright, time to see what my mod can do." Decade muttered.
The magenta Rider pressed the said button. It made his bike suddenly opened some of its parts, revealing a pair of plasma blasters and the machineries inside by splitting its front body, as well as its front wheel and turning itself into a trike. The bike's handle also reconfigured itself into a more futuristic styling. The wheels also set into rotary, which enabled the bike to strafe at any directions.
Decade started shooting to every Mirror Combatant on his sight. He pulled the trigger on his grips and aimed with his helmet's HUD with quick succession. Ryuki and the Huntresses' Ride Shooters also revealed its gun portions and fired them. As for Ryugen's Rose Attacker, it let out green thorn whips at the hostiles as he either jumped with it or spun his bike.
"Wow, this thing's surprisingly easy to use." Blake mused.
"Think we'll get Ruby to try this someday?" Pyrrha asked.
"I... think she'll treat it as an arcade game." The Faunus said.
"The gate's right in front of us! I can see it!" Weiss said.
"Copy that, Weiss. Ryuki, Decade, execute Rider Break formation." Ryugen commanded.
"Roger." Ryuki answered.
"Alright. We're goin' hot." Decade uttered.
With the command, Decade, Ryugen, and Ryuki formed a ramming formation, with the Huntresses following behind them. The gate was seemingly sturdy enough to hold a normal weapon strike. Decade then pulled his card in response.
FINAL ATTACK RIDE : DE-DE-DE-DECADE!
The magenta Rider empowered his bike with a series of phantom card gates and went on full speed ahead. The energy from the command went to the bike's battering ram. It also energized the other Rider Machines as well, protecting them from the impact. The heroes had finally succeeded in breaking in to the fort, with the three Huntresses jumped out from their machines as the latter turned into mirror shards before they disappeared. They battled their way through the defenses, with the Riders backing the Huntresses up with their bikes' weapon systems.
Setting his bike to autopilot mode, Decade jumped out from his bike and changed his form.
KAMEN RIDE :
"Henshin!"
GAIM!
He slashed his way through the Mirror Combatants that surrounded the area. He didn't quite mind about one of them scratching his armor. Blake also joined his stand. Both of them quickly changed their weapons from one mode to another. The Kunoichi swung her Kusarigama as D-Gaim threw his Daidaimaru right into a Mirror Kaijin's head. They fired their gun portions to keep their distances far away from the monsters' reach. However, it wouldn't be enough if it weren't for Gambol Shroud's cleaver and Musou Saber's Naginata that helped them destroy larger quantities of the enemies.
D-Gaim then jumped on his bike as soon as it reached him. He shot some of the Mirror Kaijins before he changed again to another form.
FORM RIDE : KUUGA DRAGON!
A body of water appeared on D-Gaim's body, slowly changing its form to the likeness of the said armor of Kuuga's. As always, it also left the parts other than its helmet and torso armor intact and merely changing its colors.
The form that D-Kuuga took was the lightest and swiftest armor that Kuuga had in his arsenal. It only consisted of a blue torso armor, with his shoulder guard being black that made it seemingly exposed the said parts. He was also seen wearing blue gauntlets with golden trimmings and shackles. In complementary to this form, his visors also turned blue. Kuuga Dragon form was also armed with the Dragon Rod, which he summoned by taking it out from nowhere in the air.
Weiss was soon joined by both D-Kuuga and Ryugen. The Heiress swung her Myrtenaster, both for striking her enemies and summon her various Glyphs, ranging from fire, back-to-back with Ryugen who fired his Budou Ryuhou's grape bullets, to her normal white ice after D-Kuuga slammed his Dragon Rod, which caused a huge water splash that was soon frozen by Weiss, engulfing the Mirror Combatants and tore them apart. The blue Rider kept swinging his weapon, which then caused the ground below the monsters to be too slippery for them to walk around. It also shoved them away with water waves that went accordingly to D-Kuuga's swinging direction.
Intending to shift to Pyrrha and Ryuki, D-Kuuga jumped high and changed his form once again.
FORM RIDE : GHOST BENKEI!
A white, muscular monk-like Parka Ghost rose out from the Decadriver, bashing through the monsters without flinching from his composure. The parka then descended towards the Rider, who also had arisen from the black smokes that formed his Transient armor. Its faceplate also depicted dozens of weapons that formed a mask pattern. He now possessed the power of Benkei Musashibo, a loyal warrior monk who had won 99 battles.
D-Ghost quickly summoned his Gan Gun Saber hammer mode, with the hammer portion being formed by a spider sentry drone, Kumo Lantern. As soon as the portion lit up, he slammed it to the ground, causing a huge tremor that broke through the Mirror Combatants. Pyrrha backed the Rider up by swinging her Xiphos to an oncoming hostile's chest, impaling it as D-Ghost bashed its corpse into the others.
STRIKE VENT!
From Ryuki's said Advent Card, came a dragon head that acted as his knuckle glove. It emitted fire as he swung it from one enemy to another. At a few times, Ryuki blasted a fireball if the Combatant was far from his reach. Both him and the younger Rider also managed to bash a combatant from both sides, crushing its body to bits as they went for another.
"Pyrrha, get your shield up!" D-Ghost commanded.
"Uhh... okay?"
ATTACK RIDE : CROSSATTACK!
As D-Ghost's warhammer and Pyrrha's shield being empowered, Pyrrha did as the Rider commanded. D-Ghost then jumped high before he swung his weapon to her shield, causing it to emit a powerful sonic wave that shattered the majority of Mirror Combatants around the heroes. The audible ringing was loud enough that it caught a certain person's attention from inside the base. The area was finally clear enough for the heroes to catch their breaths.
"That was quite smart of you... Decade." Pyrrha complimented, winking at ther Rider as she called his codename.
"Mirrors are prone to be broken by immense sonic waves. A few science stuff that I learned back home." D-Ghost explained.
"You know, I never thought my shield would be that loud if it's being hit." She said.
"Remember, it's also empowered by my Driver belt. I don't think a simple bash would ring that loud." He remarked.
"For the record, Kyle... I thought the same, too." Pyrrha commented.
"I think we're already clear enough to enter the base. It's gonna be a few minutes before the Combatants outside swarmed this area again." Weiss said.
"I've already checked the doorways to the base. Judging from Weiss' words, we're definitely gonna need a time to open its lock." Ryuki informed.
"I beg to differ, Ryuki." D-Ghost said, marching towards the front door and readying his Gan Gun Hammer to bash it through.
"Kyle, wait-"
Weiss' warning had fallen on deaf ears as D-Ghost let out a roar on his strike. Sudenly, the door opened itself to reveal Xiphon, who had just opened it without expecting the Rider right in front of his very eyes. The latter quickly shielded himself with his hand in response, displeased by the Rider's rude greeting.
"Wha-what power...!" Benkei grunted.
"Why must you knock me open, even after you had ring the bell yourself?" he spat.
"Because, I feel like it." D-Ghost growled, mustering his strength to his hammer.
"For a warrior, you have quite less of a manner of making a guest." Xiphon remarked.
"Says the one who tortured my mind!"
The Rider broke his tie with the commander, blasting a few laser rounds from his Ride Booker gun as he backed away. Using the lower sharp end of his Gan Gun Hammer, he clashed against Xiphon's sword that the latter currently dual-wield on. In response, D-Ghost also detached both of his weapon's hammer and lower blade section, making both of the heroes evenly matched. The Rider could also swing his hammer swiftly due to its weight being reduced by the said removal. Due to Benkei's status as the polar opposite of Kuuga Dragon, D-Ghost could brush off a few hits from Xiphon and attacked him without flinching.
"Master Kyle, I am somehow having a bad feeling of this fight. I couldn't tell you exactly what it is, but it is much worse than the very enemy in front of us." Benkei informed.
"You spirits always feel like that?" D-Ghost wondered.
"Other than the fact that we were far more experienced in the past, we also possess high sense of intuition as spirits we are, now. Though, I cannot say that it is an equivalent to that of a clairvoyance." The spirit said.
"One way to find out, then."
As D-Ghost charged towards Xiphon, a Kaijin suddenly showed up and stood in the Rider's way. It blocked his attack and pushed him away. The Kaijin was the same Mirror Crab Kaijin that Ryuki encountered before, which made the said Rider widened his eyes as he saw it.
"About time." Xiphon muttered.
"That's the Kaijin that escaped from me!" Ryuki shocked.
"How convenient. Well, now that she's here, it's time I show you all the magnificence of Dai-Shocker's latest invention."
"She?" Weiss wondered.
"Say hello to subject number one."
Xiphon snapped his fingers, ordering the monster to open its mirror shell. It revealed a young woman, who was seemingly weakened inside the Mirror Crab Kaijin. The heroes witnessed what happened in horror. This was truly an unbelievable and horrendous sight for every normal person.
"H... help..." the woman slowly cried.
"I-is that... a woman?" Pyrrha shocked.
"It can't be..." Blake gritted her teeth.
"That's... that's the first victim of the abductions! There's no mistaking it!" Ryugen said.
"You've been abducting people and experimenting on them!? How dare you!" Ryuki growled.
"That's the point! One of our goals is to arm people with necessary equipments to voice out their disdain towards you Kamen Riders. This is their right to become one of ours, even if it means costing them their own humanity!" Xiphon pridefully declared.
"How... how could they conduct such inhuman experiment!?" Weiss was infuriated.
"Don't you dare putting your own dispute to innocents! They got nothing to do with this!" Blake yelled.
"Such monstrosity! All of this... is for their own grandeurism!" Benkei growled.
"Dammit, Xiphon! Let her go, now!" Kyle roared at the commander.
"Then defeat her, and she's yours to save, heroes. Attack!"
As per Xiphon's order, the Mirror Crab Kaijin covered the woman again with its body, as if it was holding her hostage. The heroes all prepared their arms as the Mirror Combatants started to swarm around the area. They divided their focus in between the said hostiles. However, one question remains from D-Ghost;
"Just how are we really gonna save her!?"
(A/N)
Heya! And welcome to the 15th Chapter of RWBY : DCD!
So, Kamen Rider Cross-Z had finally made his debut! And the reunion of the whole team RWBY is drawing near! Man, good thing that it's worth the waiting and exhaustion I had in college. Not that I'm complaining, though. You see, I'm grateful that I still had enough time to continue this fanfic, despite the business I had, in order to satisfy my wild imaginations and to please you readers in the most productive way possible. Plus, I get to train my own handwritings too, seeing that my college also requires such skill to write portfolios of resumes *sigh*.
Anyways, there are also things that I'd like to point out from this chapter, and I think it's an important one to avoid confusions from you readers; first, I made Tsukasa's background story rather different from its original canon. As the time goes on, and after looking back on KR Decade's TV serie, I'm starting to have thoughts on how to make it better, even if it's just described in a slightest storytelling from Tsukasa. And thus, it also gave more reason of Narutaki being so determined to take Tsukasa down. It was also in order to provide Tsukasa some character development during his earlier times. Him being scared after finding out who he was is the most logical one, I think. The story was also told in a flashback set in between chapter 9 and 10, in order to provide Kyle a bit of a conflict after knowing what his mentor used to be.
Then, the convergence also resulting in some of the Riders, such as from the Ryukiverse as the cameos here, regaining their powers due to the convergence creating some sort of a continuity that would later affect the second-gen Heisei Kamen Rider events, such as Movie Wars. In regards of the said Riderverse, we also knew that Ryuki's ending varying from its serie to its movie. Well, I must say it was because the concept of universe continuity hadn't existed at the time. If you'd like me to, maybe I'll try to provide some background story explanations regarding on the first-gen Heisei Riders post-convergence. Oh, and there's a bike fight montage that I wrote here, too.
More stories coming up from this chapter! And our heroes are already having their fair share of troubles! Also, Dai-Shocker had been conducting Kaijin experiments on humans! How will our heroes solve it? can they save the woman? And what could cause Blake's anger towards Xiphon's words on her earlier mission, other than the fact that White Fang sided with Dai-Shocker? Tune in for more chapters!
As always, feel free to leave your comments below, and remember, BE CONSTRUCTIVE!
Until next time.