RWBY : DCD

by DCD10unite

Kyle Morgan was chosen to become the next Kamen Rider Decade, having survived his unpleasant childhood. He must prepare himself to combat the great darkness that will befall upon the World of Remnant, accompanied by his fellow Huntsmen, Huntresses and Riders. Entrusted with the power of the legends, he has to write his own and become one himself.

22. Chapter 22 : Trials of The Plague

Chapter 22 : Trials of The Plague

Disclaimer : I do not own both Kamen Rider and RWBY as they both belong to their respective owners, except for my OC(s).

---

The night sky was still poured by the moonlight as Tsukasa gazed towards the shattered moon from Genm Corp.'s landing pad. The company's building in Vale was just as tall as it was back in the Riderverse. Not only that, it was also a nice place to hangout, especially when you want to set up a camp. It was already 10 o'clock, 3 hours since he came to make sure all preparations were complete for tomorrow. He was then visited by a particular pediatrician.

"Still a ponderer as always huh, Tsukasa?" Emu greeted.

"Oh, hey doc." Tsukasa replied. "Just thinking about an old acquintance of mine."

"Who? Ozpin?"

"No. It's one of our greatest meme material. And it's not Kuroto."

"Oh, him." Emu sighed. "Down to the memory lane, I see. What about him?"

"I know he's already gone and all, but thinking back... I kept on reflecting on how far I've come to unite us Riders against a common threat. It all started with me losing my memories and my world-travelling powers, then had a target painted on my back by a particular someone who put his crimes on me. And that 'someone' was the one who messed up the reality in the first place."

"I know... Narutaki's one helluva jackass."

"And now I've become a foundation of a legacy of guardians who protected the world from the very ideal I used to fight for, back then. Sometimes just thinking about it makes me feel that God just gave me one big joke, and a funny one at best. It's called... destiny." Tsukasa said, stretching his arms slowly.

"That goes for all of us here in the League. And, yeah. That's what we get when we're all Kamen Riders." Emu commented. "Oh, and we Riders always have one thing in common with our very own creeps."

"You're right. I remember how he used to say that he wanted to reclaim the Kamen Rider name back to Dai-Shocker. A tough fight, but we won the copyright."

"So... what brought him up?"

"Hmm, about that..." Tsukasa rubbed his chin. "Whenever I thought about Xiphon, somehow his MO was similar like Narutaki's. From what I've known, he said something about the Kamen Riders being a wasted potential, and that he even wanted Kyle to join him at some point."

"Could it be that Xiphon's actually a knockoff clone of Narutaki? Or that he's just an idiot to think that we would ever join him?"

"Hmm, beats me." the senior Rider said. "But it's still just a theory. A-"

"Game theory?"

Tsukasa chuckled. "You got me there. Man, this is just as mysterious as how Remnant's moon got shattered in the first place."

"My God, you're still thinking about that, now? I mean, we've been searching for it in the Remnant's archives years back and there's nothing about it." Emu commented.

"I know, but I'll never get tired if it's about some ancient long-lost civillization. That's usually Yusuke's stuff too, right?"

"Ever the optimist." The doctor said. "Anyway, you should get some rest, too. You've helped us more than enough to arrange tomorrow's meeting. And I'm sure the others are gonna be grateful, too. Including Kuroto."

"Especially Kuroto. It'll be my condolences if they can't stand his antiques."

"Hahah, yeah right. I kinda missed his God complex phase, though."

---

The next day, the heroes used their time to recuperate from their last mission. As usual, Kyle woke up earlier for a daily exercise. The morning breeze was his best course of refreshments. The streets weren't crowded yet and most of the students were still sleeping. After all, he always preferred solitude when it comes to get his brain back working again after an exhausting daily routine as a Kamen Rider.

Kyle began to reflect on his thoughts of the past events that had been happening throughout his journey as the chosen next Decade, the recent ones in particular. He witnessed how the ones like Blake and even his own mentor, Tsukasa, came through from a rather rocky past. Although the way it turned out was radically different, they shared the same origin of working with the very malevolent forces that became their current enemies at the time. He wondered how it felt like for the ones that might had the similar experience in his old home. And then, there was Hector, a scientist turned insane after being experimented on Dai-Shocker, or so his colleague said, and had just been possessed by a reformed past Kaijin of the Ex-Aidverse. He was uncertain if things could get complicated from here on. At the very least, he still had his comrades to rely on.

And speaking of comrades, his mind began to shift into some old memories…

---

Years ago…

Young Kyle Morgan used to be a timid person who wanted nothing more than to make friends in his lifetime. His parents were well-known diplomats, peacekeepers of the world. It was surely obvious that he was always taught to make friends with people and bring happiness to the people around him. his earlier childhood was spent in playing with his neighbors, something that he'd always cherish in his life.

That is, until he got into kindergarten school. He began to experience alienation among his peers, mostly from his seniors who'd always steer the freshmen into their own needs. He was even confused as to why some of his classmates were accepted to their circle, and he wasn't.

"H-hey, uhh…"

"Hey look, it's the new kid!"

"Huh? What, kid?"

"I… I was wondering if this movie's so cool."

"That's none of your business kid. Now get lost."

"B-but..."

"I said get lost! Are you what, deaf!?"

"We don't need your opinion or anything else! Who asked you, anyway!?"

It was always more or less like this whenever he tried to interact with most people. When his friends play together, he would mostly seen alone either eating his snack or drawing something else because he had no one else to talk to. Yes, he really liked drawing, especially superheroes. They might be kid scribbles, but he was satisfied with his results nonetheless.

Until…

"Hey, nice drawing." A boy complimented.

"Umm… thank you?"

"Don't sweat it." He said. "Mind if I sit next to you? I'm kinda in the mood for drawing, anyway."

"Really? Sure, here you go."

The boy sat next to Kyle alongside his drawing utensils and a blank paper ready to be filled in. he then scratched his pencil towards the paper's surface. It was surprisingly neat for a kindergarten student to do. He was drawing a knight holding a sword. This was enough to pick young Kyle's interest.

"Wow, y-you're so good at this!"

"Thanks. Knights are so cool, so I like to draw them."

"Well… I like drawing superheroes."

"That's great! Hey, maybe you should draw armored superheroes! I'm sure they'll look tough!"

"Maybe you're right. I'll try it later." He happily replied. Then, he mentioned his own name to introduce himself. "Kyle…"

"Sorry, what?"

"My name's Kyle Morgan." He introduced. "What's yours?"

"I'm Nathan. Nathan Hamilton."

"Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, you too." He replied, shaking their hands together. "So, why you're not playing with the others?"

"W-well… they don't seem to like me. I don't know what did I do wrong to them, but… they keep pushing me away."

"I see. Then, you can play with me, if you want!"

"Really?"

"Yup! I know a little bit about superheroes too! So, I think we can talk a lot about it and we can draw together like this! Oh, and if those guys say anything nasty to you, just ignore them. You still have me on your side."

Young Kyle's eyes were finally brimmed with joy once more. "Thanks a lot!"

And thus, that shall be his first pleasant memory against the very rotten world he was in.

---

Although, come to think of it, he hadn't draw a thing or two during his time in Remnant. Maybe he should try doing it again after all the battles he fought as Kamen Rider Decade-Kai. Then again, he could use some of the references from his senior Riders for they are essentially the armored superheroes Nathan mentioned that time. He sure missed him a lot.

Many thoughts were spinning in his mind, all the way that he almost didn't realize that he had been jogging for more than half an hour. He could tell that time runs fast during his activity. Kyle chose to rest on a nearby bench until he was approached by Yang and Weiss who happened to be in their track suits.

"Yo!" Yang greeted.

"Morning, Kyle." Weiss followed.

"Oh, hey! Getting some excercise?"

"Sure we are. I mean, we all gotta keep our bodies fit all the time as Huntsmen, right? Although, I think I'm ripped enough to be called as fit." Yang said, flexing her right arm muscle.

"I don't think it's the most settling statement for you to make." Weiss commented.

"Hmph. After all, flexing makes us... flexible. Eh? Eh?"

"Oh not this again." Weiss facepalmed. "Anyway, I haven't got the chance to talk about this before, but... what do you think of Tsukasa?"

"What is it?"

"Well, uhh... he used to be a former Dai-Shocker general." Yang added.

"I knew that already."

The two were shocked upon the statement. "You knew!?"

"I'm the first one to ask him, actually. And I suggested him to tell it himself because I think it's the best option possible. Figured that he could give you some piece of honesty when the time comes."

"Oh, I... I see. still, in that case I want to know what do you think about him." Weiss said.

"Well, he might be the guy who left out some parts of his own history, but he's no evil. I looked up to his profile that was sent to my Scroll before, and when I found it out, I asked him right away. He might've figured it out that it'd come to this way eventually, so he must've wanted me, the closest one to his circle, to ease the tension a bit." Kyle explained.

"Is that what you really think? That you're the closest one to his circle?" Weiss wondered.

"Hmm, I guess? I think I asked it before you guys were told about the All-Kamen Rider League so yeah, that suffices a lot."

"Well, I think I kinda understand the 'leaving some parts out' thing. It's not like he's gonna step into a podium and say 'hey, I'm a former bad guy', though." Yang said.

"You got a point. Anything else that you know?" Weiss asked again.

The Rider continued. "He said that he was backstabbed by his partner when he was about to commence his grand plan. He went amnesiac, but ironically that was how he saw the errors of his way and decided to fight alongside the Riders. And now, he's like the Great Leader of the League. Crazy, I know. But hey, at least he's a powerful force of good in our side, right?"

"Hmm, point taken." Yang nodded. "With someone who's got that kind of ability like yours, I'm sure no one's dumb enough to make enemies with him. Well, except… a certain bunch of idiots who always lose from us."

"I think Dai-Shocker is anything but idiotic. Well, for some Kaijins that, is." Weiss said.

"See, after hearing his story, I can't blame him for going through that kind of pain. If he's trying to make things right by being a Kamen Rider, then it's best for us to stick together. We still have a long way to go. That's why we need to learn from the experts like him so that the same thing won't happen to us... or anyone else." The Rider finished.

"You're right. Then I guess it's safe to assume that Tsukasa Kadoya is not a shady person." Weiss stated.

"Oh right, that's the word. Say, where are the others?"

"Blake's trying to call her parents, Ruby's shopping with Pyrrha and the rest of team JNPR was helping the Riders out. That just left the two of us for morning exercise." Yang answered.

"After all, our health is the upmost importance in maintaining our performances in the field. Which is why I agree with Yang, here." Weiss said.

"Oh? Well, last time I checked you still wanna be a sleeping beauty." Yang teased.

"Hmph! Don't mention it!" the heiress pouted. She then turned to Kyle and asked, "So, mind if you go another lap with us?"

"You're on." Kyle smiled.

---

Blake was on the rooftop hangout spot all by herself. She was scrolling through her contacts to find the numbers she desired. She found two that were marked as important, her mother and father's numbers. There was a hesitation when Blake was about to call her parents. Despite what she said about her parents loving her, she left out some parts of her story because deep down, she knew that it wasn't the true one.

Her mind flashed back into the day where her father stepped down from the White Fang, allowing a new ruler to lead the new, violent way of the current White Fang that she knew until this day. At the time, she was upset at her father for giving up his ideals of peace. She yelled at him for being a coward and left her family to maintain her resolve to end the human oppression against the Faunus. It took her a long time to see the errors of her way and she received it in the harshest way possible. Her friends... brothers and sisters that she knew from the group had turned violent, unlike their past selves who still resolved to end the oppression in peace. It saddened her, especially when it concerned her special person from the group.

And her friends had no need to know about such details. At least for the time being.

However, she still resolved to call her parents, all in the attempt of just saying that she still loved them. She finally pressed her father's contact number. Unfortunately, the cat Faunus was unable to reach them due to bad signal. There was a disappointment deep from her, but then again, she knew that her parents live in an isolated area. Blake burried her desire once again, but not without hoping that she would be able to be in touch with them once again.

Exasperrated, she sat in the bench where Kyle mostly sat on. She recalled what the particular senior Rider told her about what he had been through. It turned out that she was never alone in escaping the clutches of the very evil she used to be a part of. She couldn't help but agree that the Kamen Riders are truly one of the best companions anyone could ever ask for.

---

Last night…

"I... I see."

"The thing is, you don't have to worry that you're all by yourself. Your actions are what made you the person you are. You knew how bad the White Fang could be, and so you resolved to escape that toxicity and rebuild your life. I commend you for that, Blake. That's also why we need people like you to work with us."

"Tsukasa..." Blake was touched by the Rider's words. "You're right. I'll do my best to keep people safe. And hopefully... I can atone my sins for that."

"We can work that out. I'm sure of it."

"Thanks."

"By the way, Kyle's still curious about that Ninjas of Love book, you know." He teased the last part by leaning on closer to the Faunus.

"Really now?" Blake deadpanned. "I mean, it's a teen literature for girls. I don't think the references in the book would suit him."

"You didn't even let Ruby read it. so what's the difference? He's not even underaged, anyway."

"I…! I'll only tell them the tidbits… I guess…" Blake took her face away in shame.

Tsukasa sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Good luck, you precious lovebirds."

---

The Faunus girl smiled as she looked up to the skies of Remnant, believing that everything will work out in the end. Like she said before, she was ready to fight back the White Fang more than ever. Perhaps a morning stroll would help clear her mind further.

Speaking of which…

---

Ruby was helping Pyrrha in buying the groceries for both of their respective teams. The hooded Huntress actually volunteered this time whereas Weiss was usually the one who did the shopping. The moment she knew that Pyrrha would be shopping too, she figured that it could be a chance for her to talk to the champion Huntress. However, much to her surprise...

"Hey, Ruby?" Pyrrha was the one who asked her first.

"Oh! What's wrong, Pyrrha?"

"Nothing. I was just wondering about... how you felt when you got accepted to Beacon and everything else that happened." She asked.

"Mmm, I had lots of fun! I mean, I was a bit awkward the first time I got to Beacon and all, but... well. You know." Ruby answered. "When the Riders asked for our help, I feel like I couldn't turn myself back from everything that's happened, here. Now that we know about Roman working with the likes of Dai-Shocker behind the scenes, I'm more convinced that people like us have to protect Remnant."

"Soo... does this mean that you've finally get to fulfill your dreams to become a superhero?"

"Hehe, more or less." Ruby sheepishly answered, rubbing the back of her head. "How about you, then? You're one of the famous Huntress champions who's currently having your own face on Pumpkin Pete's!"

"Well..."

Suddenly, a civillian took notice of their presence. "Hey look, It's Pyrrha Nikos!"

"Huh?"

And all of the sudden, the heroes were swarmed by lots of people, who appeared to be Pyrrha's fans. Lots of requests came from dozens of people who wanted to have a good time with her. The crowd was very massive, so much that Ruby was caught up in its wave having herself being constantly dragged and pushed away. The hooded Huntress must accept the fact that she was caught up in what appeared to be a vicious crowd wave.

"Can I ask for your autograph?"

"Can we have a selfie, please?"

"Ahahaha... thanks for the warm welcome! one request at a time, please!"

Ruby Rose bravely fought her way out of the swarm with every ounce of her strength. However, she was also aware that using her Semblance in the middle of a tight crowd would end up on a pretty bad note and she couldn't do it while crawling under them. Thankfully, she saw a lending hand from her cat Faunus friend who happened to be nearby. She quickly grabbed onto her and survived the vicious wave.

"Blake!" Ruby gleamed.

"You okay?"

"Aaahh, you're my hero! Can you believe what just happened here, Blake? I almost die from a swarm of Pyrrha's fans! You're a real life safer here, Blake!" the girl hugged the Faunus.

Blake sighed and patted her head. "Well, with all her reputation goes and the fanbase that built up throughout the years, it's no wonder she gets all of this recognition."

"All the more reason why I wanna be a Huntress. My, she's basically a celebrity, already." Ruby remarked.

"Well, you're not wrong, leader." The Faunus tucked Ruby's hood in and patted her, with the latter giggling all the way.

Suddenly, a little girl approached them. "E-excuse me, ma'am..."

"Oh, yes? Is there anything I can help you?" Ruby responded.

The girl offered them her notebook and her pen as she shyly requested, "Can I... ask for both of your autographs?"

Ruby was surprised and excited. "Mmm, sure!"

Blake chuckled. "Alright. Let's get this done."

The Huntresses fulfilled the girl's request and was replied by her gratitude. "Thank you so much!"

"Lisa, what are you doing over here?" a woman approached the girl.

"Asking for autographs, mom." She replied. The woman, who turned out to be her mom, looked at the Huntresses who gave her the auographs. And all of the sudden, the woman glared at Blake in disgust.

"Let's get out of here."

"But-"

"Just do what I say."

The woman forcefully dragging the girl away, all without any words to the Huntresses. The little girl however, turned back to the two and happily waved at them.

Ruby replied the wave and shouted. "That's very rude and uncivil for an adult like you, y'know!"

"Ruby, that's enough. She's not worth the time."

Ruby sighed. "Oh well. But still, the way that woman looked at you before..."

"Don't worry. I'm already proud of who I am, now. That's why I wear my bow this way." Blake assured, wiggling her cat ears with her black bow rested behind it.

Reality had always been a harsh place. despite everything Blake Belladonna had done to protect Remnant, some human's opinion towards the Faunus wouldn't change anytime soon. The Human-Faunus relation was always a long history, ranging from slavery to war. However, the only thing that could lessen her burden as of the moment was her friendship with her fellow teammates, students, and comrades of the war against Dai-Shocker's villainy. Furthermore, she didn't want to escalate the conflict by succumbing to her rage against such bigotry. Or else, he would end up like her brothers and her sisters that resorted to a more violent way from a once peaceful organization.

Ruby, as determined as ever, went close to Blake and assured her by grabbing her hand, "We'll make this world a better place, together. I promise."

"You're right."

---

After Pyrrha braved the massive wave of her fanbase and the other two finished giving their autographs, the three resumed their stroll back to Vale with their shopping bags thankfully still intact.

"So Blake, how's your call going?" Ruby asked.

"I've... tried to steel up my resolve and it turns out that I can't due to the bad signal."

The Faunus' answer caught a curiosity from her leader. "Bad signal? And what do you mean by resolve?"

"I-it's nothing much, really! It's just that it's been a long time, and... my hometown's currently having a bad signal reception to accept any calls from the outside. I don't know if I can make a call again or not from here on." Blake answered.

"I see..."

"That's unfortunate." Pyrrha sadly commented. "Still, you should try calling them again sometime later! I'm sure you'll find the comfort you need."

"You're right. say, how does it feel to be... famous?" Blake asked.

"Hmm?"

"I might not be an attention-seeking type, but seeing you, I'm beginning to wonder if my life's suddenly being turned around into yours. Kinda like a crazy dream, doesn't it?"

"Well, I think you'll have a lot of things that you want! Friends to talk to, time to pass by, any stuffs that you want to buy, you name it. I mean, who doesn't want such luxury?" Ruby chirped.

"Then again, we Huntresses don't need that much of luxury to slay monsters." Blake pointed out.

"Ah! you're right about that, though..."

"Luxury, huh?" Pyrrha muttered. She began to reminisce her past life. "Back in my hometown, Huntsmen were treated fairly by the townsfolk whenever they return from an exhaustive mission. It was almost like a VIP service where we get to have things that we want and we need, especially Dusts and rations. Added with the fact that you're an Olympic champion, that alone could raise up your status. Then again, the more you become famous... the more distant you'll be with people."

"Distant?" Blake wondered.

"Some... maybe most people have developed some kind of prefixed mindset about famous figures. Like, between people like me and the ordinary ones, our class are just different. People became more awkward and distancing themselves from me because they thought that they don't deserve to be together with a high-class Huntress like me. then, there were also people who became cynical of me and began cooking up prejudices, thinking that I'm arrogant." The Huntress clenched her hand at her bittersweet tale. "Truth is, I was bothered by that kind of thing too. I've been... lonely ever since I made my name up to the public. I haven't had many people who I could consider close friends. That's also why I applied to Beacon, so that I can like… start over and building the bonds I should've had a long time ago."

"So, even public figures could even become lonely just by fame alone, huh? Guess, that's no stretch from mine." Blake muttered.

"But, I don't think you should worry about that. We've gotten closer right now because we want to know each other, aside that we're currently students of the same academy. The more we get closer to even famous people, the more ordinary they seem to be. And even then, that what makes me respect you even more, Pyrrha!" Ruby said.

"Ruby..."

"I guess the same goes for me, too." Blake said. "I used to be distant from a lot of people in Vale because I don't want them to notice my Faunus heritage. After I've got that burden lightened, I think I can be more honest with what I am."

"But, you're genuinely happy when you're with us, aren't you?" Pyrrha asked.

"I am. Though, I still prefer to be the calm and collected book lover."

"Just say that you're a bookworm already." Ruby teased.

"Oh, you." Blake chuckled.

As the girls walked past an empty alley, a figure slowly crept out from there. It seemed like a normal pedestrian with everyday clothing, but something was off about the person's movements. It was uncomposed and slow as if it was a zombie. And the person's head... had an inhuman appearance.

And little did our heroes know what would happen next.

---

Meanwhile, the remainders of team JNPR were helping out a small clinic set up by a Rider League associate due to staff shortage, located not too far from Vale's shopping district. They were tasked with handing out boxes of tools needed for the examination. Thanks to them, the clinic was operating smoothly.

"Whew! How long until we need to go to Genm Corp, Ren?" Jaune asked as he put a box down.

"It won't be shortly, though. The higher-ups said that it'll be 3 o'clock, so we still got like, 7 hours before then. No need for us to rush, then." Ren said.

"Hmm, wonder what else we should do when we finished unpacking these boxes. Think we should, uhh... I dunno, hit the arcade with the others?" Nora asked.

"Nora, you of all people should know that we're currently low on money. I mean look, most of our fundings are now being allocated for our rations because of that." Jaune said.

"But, it's not an all-time gig!" Nora defended.

"Well, the price for arcade machines are currently skyrocketting in here. Should've saved some if you ever wanna play that again." Ren corrected.

"Oh, bummer..." Nora pouted. Accidentally, she knocked over a box beside her. "Ah, whoa!"

Thankfully, Taiga Hanaya arrived just in time to catch the falling box. "Hey, don't faze out just yet, will you? There are fragiles inside here."

"Taiga! Sorry..." she apologized. "So, you're done with your session?"

"Yep. Thanks to you guys, we could keep our pace steady with the patients. All that's left is the registration for the clinic's staffs. Hopefully we won't be underhanded for long." The doctor informed.

"Wow, looks like we did our weekly public service well!"

"That's good to hear." Ren said. "Guess it's Hiiro's shift, then."

Jaune sighed. "I hadn't even finished my exercise routine with him, yet."

"What's wrong?" Ren asked.

"It's just that I have this technique that I still don't quite master yet, and I wanna ask him right away. Guess with all the work he has right now, I won't be able to continue it." the blonde knight said.

"Don't worry about it."

A female voice called out from the storage's door. It came out from a girl who was about the same age as the Huntsmen in training appearance-wise. She was was seen wearing a stylish cap that covered the top section of her long black hair. On her body was a black short with rolled-up sleeves and some green accents. She also had a blue G-Shock type watch on her left wrist. On her bottom was a green skirt that covered her stockings and a pair of red shoes.

"Hiiro said to me that he'll be available for training sessions tomorrow. We know that you've been very eager since he showed you that technique during the last session, so don't worry! We got you covered for that." Nico explained. "Though, I wonder why you're really that enthusiastic about Hiiro's technique. Is it that you've just grown to like trainings a lot? Or it could be…"

"Wh-what?" Jaune chuckled.

"That you wanna put up a show to your redhead?" Nico teased.

"Ooh, I see! Now I know why Jaune's so worked up everytime he finished training with Pyrrha: he still got something to proof!" Nora said.

"Never knew you had it in you, Jaune." Ren mused.

"What? I-it's not like that! I just wanna make the trainings worthwhile! Nothing's peculiar, really!"

"But still, you can't keep a girl waiting on the tower alone. Someday, my fellow warrior, you gotta have to tell her how you feel." The girl said, patting on the Huntsman's shoulder.

"Well,. if you put it like that... Anyway, thanks for the info, Ms. Saiba." Jaune thanked.

"Oh please, Nico's fine." She said. "After all, it's not like I'm a granny or something."

"Pffttt... Granny..."

Nora's silent giggle was unfortunately being heard by the young manager. The latter went on squeezing the Huntress' head with her fists. And thus, a comical event ensued. "What was that about, young lady!?"

"Aaaaagghhhh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

"Just because I'm older than you doesn't mean you can go on calling me granny, you sweet dolt! Call me that again one time, and I'll make sure you'll be deprived of your beloved pancake!" Nico threatened.

"No, no, no, please! Have mercy! Have mercy!"

"Oh, God... granny..." Taiga was also visibly chuckling by the joke, although he tried to hide it by clearing his throat.

"I can hear you...!" the girl growled, sending chills down to the Rider's spine.

"W-well, I think we're done with the unpacking here, guys. I say we take a break for a moment." Ren tried to ease the tension.

"Huh? Now that you say it, you're right though. Guess time really flies fast when we're up to something, isn't it?" Jaune said. "Man, now my stomach's starting to feel empty."

"So, uhh... have you two been on a honeymoon, yet? You and Taiga seem to be really close to each other." Nora asked.

"H-honeymoon? Well, that's uhh..."

"I think working on our jobs together is more than enough." Taiga backed up.

"But that doesn't count as a date! How come you're getting close without a fancy dinner?"

"Eh, f-fancy dinner? Date?" Nico stuttered.

"Nora, that's enough." Ren stopped. "I think we should think about what we should eat for break time. Got any suggestions? Jaune? Taiga? Anyone?"

"I think I saw a Kebab stand not too far from here. 10 Liens won't hurt our wallet that much." Taiga suggested.

"Ooh, Kebab!" Nora gleamed.

"Alright. It's settled, then." Nico nodded.

Suddenly, a man appeared in front of the storage room's door. He was seen wearing an orange janitor uniform with an orange cap. His head was strangely lumping down as he walked slowly to the group.

"Oh, I guess it's cleaning time now, right? let's move out." Jaune said.

"Well, that's odd. I don't remember ordering a janitor, here." Taiga muttered.

"Oh, excuse me! anything we could help you with?"

Suddenly, the moment Nico offered the man a help, he raised his head quickly with his eyes menacingly glowing red. His head changed into what appeared to be a monster head that resembled a larva-like virus. it had a white color with red markings and of course, a set of red eyes in the likeness of a Grimm.

"Nico, look out!" Taiga called out.

"I know!" Nico quickly roundhouse-kicked the person, who started to growl menacingly. With its mindless husk-like nature, the person moved erratically as if he was a mindless zombie.

However, Taiga and Nico were both familiar with the symptoms. And as usual, it was never a good one.

"Okay... that's just creepy." Nora commented.

"Wh-what's going on?" Jaune wondered.

"Bugster Virus? no... not just that. It's something more." Nico muttered.

"Think we can hold him up from here?" Ren asked.

Taiga halted. "No, wait! Don't tell me... this is..."

From behind the infected, a doctor went behind the infectee and pulled him away from the group. It was none other than Hiiro Kagami that was already in his Brave Level 1 armor. He soon ordered, "Everyone get out of here, now!"

"Right!"

The others complied as they made their way out from the infectee. They also witnessed several people being turned into whatever the Bugster-like infectee had become. They were already too late to check on any survivors from the virus. Some of them began to give them a chase by walking slowly in group towards them. The heroes made their way to the outside and in front of the clinic's entrance. Lots of people, ranging from the other staffs and the people who lined up on the clinic, had all become what they would refer to as Husks. They soon witnessed how their clinic had become infested with such threat.

"Brave, you know something about this?" Jaune asked.

"It's the Shocker Virus we've been researching on."

"Really!?"

"We're trying to find measures to counteract it should it ever be released by Dai-Shocker. But, I never thought it'll be this sudden or even being released like this." Brave explained as he cycled through the informations he got through his HUD.

"It's a zombie outbreak!" Nora squealed.

"Like a zombie outbreak, huh? Never thought it'd be this intense." Ren commented.

"So they've started using more civillians just to get on us? cheap shot." Nico muttered.

"Then we need to make sure that the infection won't spread further." Taiga said as he took out his gears. "Guys, let's wrap this up quick."

"Affirmative." Brave complied.

"My team's ready. Hope we can keep this away from Pyrrha and the others ourselves." Jaune said.

"You sure? I'm afraid that we won't work well without her." Ren asked.

"Ren, this is a plague we're talking about. There's no telling if we could even hold this up ourselves. And as much as I agree with you, our best hope is for Pyrrha and the others to live and tell the tale."

"Fine then." Ren complied. "Just don't push yourself to hard."

"Should I tell her about this, Jaune?"

"Well... okay. Just tell her to be careful."

"Okey-dokey!" she complied, taking out her Scroll and opened the messenger.

"Alrighty! Been a while since I played that Resident of Dead series, anyway." Nico grinned. She then took out a Bugvisor and attached it to her buckle, turning it into Buggle Driver. She also had a black and green Gashat that had an image of numerous Ex-Aidverse Kamen Rider silhouettes, the one that stood out in the middle however, had a more majestic looking design compared to the others.

BANG BANG SHOOTING!

KAMEN RIDER CHRONICLE!

"HENSHIN!"

GASHATTO!

LET'S GAME! METCHA GAME! MUTCHA GAME! WHAT'S YOUR NAME?

I'M A KAMEN RIDER!

BUGGLE UP!

TEN WO TSUKAME RIDER! KIZAME CHRONICLE! (GENOCIDE!) IMA KOSO TOKI WA SHIMAWARERI! (GRAAAH!)

As Taiga put on his Level 1 armor, a Gashat gate appeared in front of Nico and engulfed her with green mist. There were sparkles that it let out from inside the mist. Sounds of armor clanking and attaching were heard. From the gate, Nico's hand tore through it and completely shattered the gate, revealing her armored form. The armor had a black jumpsuit with silver circuitry line motifs in a similar manner of Ex-Aid's. It was also covered in lime exoskeleton enhancements, ranging from the right breastplate, shoulders, arms, and legs. The helmet had a stylish luminescent lime cap that sprout out backward-combed hair ornaments and a red google covered its visor.

"Kamen Rider Nico!"

"Whooaaa! I... I never thought you're one of the armored guys, Nico!" Nora said.

"Hehe, ever since Ex-Aidverse joined the All Kamen Rider League, I've been receiving extensive fit-and-proper trainings from the pros to become a Kamen Rider. It was my personal request too, anyway." Nico said. "And what about you guys? Ever thinking on becoming one?"

"Nah, we're already fine as Huntsmen. We got badass weapons and a good chunk of Aura to boot! Well... at least for now." Nora said.

"It's more like we need to prove your worth, though. And I believe we still want to do more." Ren added.

Nico chuckled. "I can see that. You guys are warriors already."

"Alright guys, here goes!" Brave said as he and Snipe pressed their Kimewaza slot's buttons together.

STAGE SELECT!

The command caused game pixel hazes to cover the entirety of the clinic's area thanks to the simultaneuos Stage Select by the said two Riders, bringing out all of the Husks in front of the heroes. The area changed into what appeared to be a post-apocalyptic setting, somewhat fitting for the outbreak that had been going on at the moment. Derelict buildings, vehicles, and the overwhelming atmosphere of the Husks were enough for the heroes to arm themselves to the teeth.

"A post-apocalyptic stage? Heh, can you guys really believe how fitting and scary this looks at the same time?" Jaune remarked.

"Yep. The feeling's mutual." Nora said. "Then let's start bashin' the heck outta them!"

"Wait, Nora. We can't just whack those guys like in the arcade machine. Remember, even if they became husks, they're still people inside. They're not Huntsmen like us and they don't have sufficient Auras to shield them."

"But, how are we supposed to keep them at bay, then?"

"Guys, is there any way we could remove the virus from them?" Ren asked the Riders.

"Believe me, we're trying to figure that out, too." Brave said.

"Our Level 1 form has the ability to remove Bugster Virus from any hosts. Hope the Shocker Virus works on that principle, too." Snipe explained.

"And don't worry about hitting them, once we removed the virus they won't feel any pain from our attacks to them. But we still need to be ready with anything. You guys up with this?" Nico readied her Bugvisor in gun mode.

"You can count on us! Alright team, here we go!" Jaune said. Both Ren and Nora nodded and the three pressed the 'Send Locker' command, causing their respective lockers to fly away from Beacon all the way to their location in an instant. Once the Lockers landed, they retrieved their respective weapons and prepared for combat in an instant.

"Commencing operation: remove the Shocker Virus from the victims." Brave said, readying his operation gesture.

"Mission start!" Snipe and Nico proclaimed.

The heroes waged their battle against the horde of Husks. Nora prepped her Magnhild in grenade launcher mode and launched several pink smoke grenades at them, blinding their sights and gave Nico a chance to strike them down. She wouldn't need her weapons for this task as she simply needed to use her takedown skills to subdue the Husks. Once the smoke dissipated, the Rider had already disabled 5 Husks, leaving several others out in the open for her and Nora to double team on. Even if they were being circled, they didn't waver from their resolve to rescue the infected citizens of Vale. Nico set her sights at two of them and delivered several barrages and palm punches to them. the armor reinforced her strength so much that she was able to throw the Husks away several meters from her ground despite her holding it back due to her armor's Level X factor. She then kicked another one behind her for Nora to bash them away with her hammer. She spun and swung it on quick succession, and completely knocked her targets down to the ground.

"They just keep coming, don't they?" Nico retorted.

"Y'know, you've got great moves for a gamer, Nico." Nora complimented.

"Thanks. Emu and the others taught me the basics and encouraged me to improve on my own. Got me where I am today." Nico said.

"Cool! Now, I wonder if the virus is contagious for us too, though."

"Don't worry, I've run my scans on them, too. We got stronger Auras and the infection won't get through warriors like us."

"Just like the red cloud, huh? This'll be a piece of cake!" the Huntress suddenly heard a hurl on her stomach. "Ugh, now I could really use a cake."

"Oh, have you tried Hiiro's?"

"Hmm... too sweet for my taste. But I don't care!"

The Rider facepalmed. "You and your apetite..."

---

Thanks to the Game Field's damage dampening effect when dealing with rogue civilians, Brave and Jaune could easily fend the Husks off with their swords. In the midst of the battle, Brave noticed how Jaune had developed over the time, evidenced by the latter's more composed movements.

"Well, there goes my daily cake time schedule." Brave muttered. Although, he couldn't ignore the improvements that the Huntsman had just made. "Looks like you've managed to keep your composure steady. I'm impressed."

"Thanks. I got Pyrrha to help me for that, mostly." Jaune said. "Oh, and Brave?"

"Yeah?"

"There's something I wanna ask you later once we're done with this mess. It's about that technique you taught me the other day."

"That? Oh well, think I've noticed much already. And I guess there's no need for the delay. Look closely."

GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!

TADDLE CRITICAL FINISH!

Brave dispelled his shield and prepared his single-handed sword stance. As the flames engulfed his Gashacon Sword, he began dashing towards a nearby Husk and slashed it. He then side-stepped to another Husk and disabled it before dashing to another Husk. It was so fast that Jaune had a bit of trouble in catching up with his movements. After a while, the blonde knight was able to faintly see the Rider's footwork on what positions the feet should make in order for the free-flow to succeed. It was also important to pay attention on the steps so that he wouldn't fail midway. And just in an instant, Kamen Rider Brave successfully took down all of the hostiles, leaving them unable to stand.

"Ooh! So that's how it is!" Jaune said.

"You understand it, now? Your footwork is the most deciding factor on whether this technique works or not. You'll be able to free-flow from one enemy to another without sacrificing your composure and navigate your way through the battlefield easily. You can also deal consecutive damages to a single enemy, although you might want to be extra careful when using it against the likes of Kaijins and Xiphon. Plus, you'll need an extra force when dashing to another ground on that regard." Brave explained.

"Hmm… I think I can see where that going. Thanks, Brave."

"Just be careful so that you won't slip, rookie."

"Got it. Although, it kinda reminds me of that old dancing arcade game Footloose Revolution." Jaune quipped.

"Footloose? Oh, what a coincidence. I was actually going to recommend you on playing that kind of game. It can help you train your reflex, just like how I am in my Beat Gamer armor."

"Whoa, really? Then, I guess I should really give it a shot, sometime!"

"Though actually, Genm Corp. is currently developing an advanced version of Doremifa Beat's machine. Ever heard of Motion Capture technology? They crew's working on that."

"Then sign me up for the test. I'll be sure to give it a testimony. Well… if I have enough money to pay for."

"Splendid. It's free of charge, by the way."

---

Snipe and Ren fired their respective weapons to every Husks they could find. The spray from both Gashacon Magnum and Stormflower might slowly pushed the enemies back, but it won't be enough without at least a physical hit or two. Ren did a roundhouse kick towards the approaching husk while also delivering Aura-charged palm strikes at the others. Benefitted by his fighting style, he was also an expertise in finding the weak spots from the enemy's joints, enabling him to easily take them down. Snipe however, decided to take a much bolder approach. He used his bulky armor to bash through the enemies and he also racked up an Energy Item to back him up further. Finally, he activated a finisher as a wrap-up.

SPEEDING-UP!

GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!

BANG BANG CRITICAL STRIKE!

Snipe jumped and spun mid-air to form a bullet construct. He ricocheted through several Husks in breakneck speed, knocking them all down effectively. With the Husks disabled, all they need to do is to remove the virus from its host. The Rider then proceeded to use the armor's virus separation function by simply touching one of the infected.

"Okay. That should be all of them."

"How's the healing?" Ren asked.

"Looks like this'll take a lot while. Good thing they move slow like any zombies are." Snipe commented. "Can you still go on, Ren?"

"Don't worry, I won't colapse in the next five seconds." The Huntsman replied.

"Say, have you been playing games, lately?"

"Not much. I spend most of my time training, meditating, and hanging out with the others."

"And studying?"

"And studying, yes."

"Favorite subject?"

"Miss Goodwitch's." He replied.

"Combat training? Never took you as the type, but... eh, hardworker's a hardworker." Snipe commented. "Kinda reminds me how I work myself up in the medics."

"You're not wrong on that." Ren said. "So... how does it feel?"

"About what?"

"Being a doctor and healing people... I never thought about how healers do their job back in my first day going to Huntsmen school. I've always been intent in killing Grimms, but... I feel like the need to be the one who keeps my friends stay in shape. Maybe not that much, but I think it's very important." Ren lamented.

"It is." the Rider said. "You're already on the good track just by thinking like that. We might be Remnant's first and probably last line of defense against the likes of Grimm and Dai-Shocker, but deep inside we're not mere weapons. I mean, even our weapons need maintenance in order to keep operating in the most optimal condition possible. When you're being a doctor, the most important thing that you'll need to pay attention is the very life in front of you. Think about the ones who need the utmost help, approach them, and give them any support that you could provide."

"I see. But still, I'm no healer like you. I'm afraid that what I give won't be enough for the people."

Snipe patted the boy's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. We all have our own parts to play. That's why we need each other, because we're never meant to accomplish things alone."

"I understand. Thanks, Snipe." Ren thanked.

"No biggie. Now then…" Snipe checked on the nearby victim.

"Hey Jaune!" Nora called.

"Yeah?"

"Pyrrha's already on her way here, but she's got bad news, too. The same thing's happened on her place." she informed.

"Really!? Man, what's this town has gone into?"

Suddenly, Snipe got a massive reading on the fallen Husks. Despite his attempt to remove the virus, it did little to nothing in healing the victims. The virus was still stuck to its host like a power glue, meaning that they were dealing with a new type of virus unlike that of a Bugster Virus.

"What the hell's going on?!" Jaune muttered.

"Just like how zombies do." A familiar voice called out from beneath the horde, sending the chills to those who knew of him. "They'll just keep coming again… and again… and again…"

The ominous voice was immediately recognized by Nico. "Y-You're!"

"Just like old times, huh?" Snipe muttered.

"Gamedeus…!" Brave growled.

---

A few minutes ago...

As Ruby, Pyrrha and Blake walked out of the shopping district, they heard screamings came from behind. They saw several citizens fleeing from the Husks that had already reached enough number to spread panic. Not only that, the Husks also infected the citizens by forced physical contact to them. the virus spreaded form the Husks' bodies to the victims as they hold them back from running.

"What the!? Is this some kind of zombie apocalypse gig or something!?" Ruby shouted.

"At least we all know that we're not on a movie set." Blake commented.

"Alright, let's get our weapons here and prevent this... plague from spreading!" Ruby ordered.

"You got it!" Pyrrha complied. The three sent their weapons to their location. However, Pyrrha raised a suspicion of what the chaos could be. "You know, I wonder if this is the Shocker Virus that the Riders talked about."

"Shocker Virus? then... it's just like when we fought the giant before!" Ruby said.

"To think it could be used sporadically..." Blake muttered.

"Yeah, to think that it could be done, right?"

A voice came from the midst of the Husk horde. it was none other than the crime lord himself.

"Roman!? The heck this is all about!?" Ruby shouted.

Waving his Gashacon Bugvisor, Roman answered. "Just a demonstration of our newly developed Shocker Virus: a perfect way to get more labors since our Faunus employers become more... weary than ever."

Blake was ticked the moment he mentioned the Faunus. She quickly aimed her weapon at him. However, the Husks quickly stood in front of the crime boss, blocking the Faunus' line of fire. Seeing this, she was disgruntled and refrained from her intention.

"Nuh-uh! These are still townsfolks! One wrong move and they'll pay the price."

"Release the people! They have nothing to do with this!" she demanded.

"Oh they do, actually. I think you can recall how Xiphon wants to help people in voicing out their opinions. We're simply facilitating them with the solution to enact their own will." Roman said. "Not that it's already perfected, anyway."

"Facilitate!? All you did was having them act against their will!" Pyrrha protested.

"Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty in order to bring the very best of people's wisdom, champ. Now, get 'em!"

The Husks approached the Huntresses. The three were hesitant as to how they must deal with the Shocker Virus plague. They had their weapons ready, but was unsure if their attempts wouldn't hurt the infected civillians. Until revving bike voices came from behind the Huntresses. Kyle arrived with his Decadriver ready, and Yang with her Bumblebee and Weiss on its backseat. Weiss divided the Husks away using her gravity Glyph and encased them with ice Glyph, leaving Roman open to attacks in which Kyle used the opportunity.

KAMEN RIDE:

"Henshin!"

RYUKI!

The Rider skid his bike and sled towards the crime boss. Knowing that the latter could jump away from his position, D-Ryuki also jumped off from his bike and struck Roman with another attack.

ATTACK RIDE: STRIKE VENT!

The dragon head knuckle was already charged with a fireball, which exploded upon contact with Roman's body. However, Roman was revealed to also had landed a hit on the Rider's helmet with the help of his Bugvisor gun mode. This caused the two to be pushed away from one another due to its sheer force, skidding through the ground.

"Kyle!" the others called out.

"Okay… didn't see that coming, though." He grunted. Pyrrha then proceeded to help the Rider got up. "Thanks. You guys alright?"

"Yeah but seriously, do you always have to put up a stunt like that?" Pyrrha deadpanned.

"Well, I always wanted to hit a criminal like that. Gotta make some memories In case I graduate much earlier than the others." D-Ryuki said.

"Kyle, you know that in Huntsmen Academy, no one graduates earlier than the standard curriculum intended right? We graduate as a team whether we're associated with our batch or not. Plus, you're not even taking any pictures, here." The champion pointed out.

"Oh yeah. That kinda takes me back on how I graduated early from my college, actually. Hell, even I got a Cum Laude on my resume."

"You did?"

"Oh yeah, never told you about that, huh?"

"Nope. But, it's still good to know."

"You guys!" Ruby called out.

"We came as soon as we could. What's going on, here?" Weiss asked.

"I dunno. These guys just came out of nowhere like zombies."

"Zombies, huh? Then I guess it's time we use everything we've learned from zombie games!"

"Yang, do we really have to bring this up now?" Ruby deadpanned.

"But guys, don't forget: they're still people, too. We can't just swing our weapons around while ignoring the fact that we're harming people, too." Blake reminded.

"Oh, that? Don't worry, the doctors said that the damage won't affect their health, so might as well do whatever we can to hold them back from spreading." Yang informed. "And they're on their way here, too."

"But Blake still got a point. We still need to subdue the victims, somehow." D-Ryuki said,

"Hate to break it to you guys, but my ice won't hold them for long." Weiss informed.

Roman rose up from the ground, barely getting on to his composure after the blast. He coughed and said, "Great… Now that's just worse than my daily dose of cigarettes…"

"Stop smoking or get smoked, Roman. That's the law of this world." D-Ryuki retorted.

"Hahahah! Yeah, you got 'im right!" Yang cheered, but responded with a baffled stare by the rest of the girls. "What?"

"Don't even think that you could just get rid of me like that! I still have my Aura to boot, and this new toy of mine will teach you some respect to the elders!" Roman growled as he fired the Bugvisor to his enemies.

ATTACK RIDE : GUARD VENT!

D-Ryuki successfully defended his allies from the attack. However, the blast also freed the Husks from the ice restraint. The situation became direr as there were still uninfected citizens around the vicinity. Standing in front of the crime lord was a group of Dai-Shocker Combatants summoned from the Bugvisor.

"Blake, Decade, we'll hold Torchwick here. The rest of you, get the zombies away from people. Use as much ice prison as you could okay, Weiss?" Ruby ordered.

"You can count on me." Weiss nodded.

"Copy that. Let's roll, guys!" D-Ryuki said.

The others nodded and went on with their assignments. Yang and Weiss did their best in drawing the attention of the Husks, ranging from freezing them, pulling them away with gravity Glyphs, and even directly punching them right to their faces while Pyrrha checked through the street's nook and cranny for any civillians. She shot several Husk's heads as they were about to infect several kids and an adult that appeared to be a kindergarten teacher.

"I'll guide you all away from this place. Don't worry." She assured.

The amazon escorted the said citizens out from their hiding spot. However, the teacher got caught by one of the Husks on their way out. She desperately pleaded as her consciousness slipped away by the infection, "Please, Huntress! Please… protect them…!"

Pyrrha and the children witnessed it in horror. Though she didn't cry like how some of the children were, she couldn't shake away the fact that she failed to safe even a single soul. She had no time to mourn her loss. She still had more people to safe. As she pushed some of the husks away, Weiss quickly rushed to her side and froze the oncoming Husks. Though it might not do much damage, it was at the very least enough to keep them away from the infectious citizen-turned Dai-Shocker slave, one would assume.

Pyrrha approached the crying kids and said, "Don't worry. We'll find a way out of this. I promise."

"Y-you do?" a boy asked. She simply nodded and smiled to hide her sorrow.

"We won't fail you. Please, stay strong and believe in us, okay?"

Weiss noticed pretty much what happened on their way here without having to ask. As a Huntress she was, she must focus on the task at hand regardless of what's lost. "Anyone hurt?"

"The kids are fine. No sign of injuries or infection." Pyrrha reported. "Where's Yang?"

"Don't worry, she won't be long."

---

As Yang was busy scouring through the rampaging Husks, she found the Dust Shopkeeper defending his shop by swinging his broom to the Husks, to no avail. The brawler quickly traversed there by summoning her bike and rammed towards the nearby Husks. She also shot a few Dust rounds from her gauntlet, added with some touch of her heatseeker rounds.

"You good?" Yang asked the shopkeeper.

"U-uh-uh. At least." he said. "But the Dusts..."

"The important thing is to get you to safety. Hop on. I'll take you to a safer spot." She said.

Carrying the shopkeeper behind, Yang rode away from the shop. Several Husks closed in on them, and Yang shot them with her Ember Celica once she told the man to hold on tight. Not long after that, they rendezvoused with the other Huntresses with civilians on their watch. The Husks had also been taken down and had no signs of movements on their arrival.

"Is this everyone?" Yang asked.

"Hopefully. With most people had been turned into… whatever these are, we might be the only ones left here." Weiss said.

"Do you know somewhere else safe from here?" Pyrrha asked.

"We can take the people to a Bullhead Port nearby, but… I don't even know if it's safe there. Who knows if these zombies are already there." Yang said.

Pyrrha reminded. "Anyway, we should keep on moving."

Suddenly, the Husks woke up again as if they were unfazed by the damage they took. They crept closer and closer towards the fleeing group.

"H-how in the world…!?" Weiss widened her eyes in disbelief as much as the others did.

"These guys just don't give up do they?" Yang muttered.

Suddenly, a gunshot was heard from behind the horde. It caught some of their attention, only to be assaulted by two men as they turned behind. they turned out to be Emu Hojo and Kiriya Kujo who had just arrived on the scene, de-summoning their Bike Gamers and wielding their Gashacon Breaker and Gashacon Sparrow respectively.

"Well, holy smokes! Look what we just got here!" Kiriya said. "Hey, Emu! Your game just made it into reality!"

"Hmm, never thought AR games could be this good… I mean, not in a good way, I suppose." Emu replied.

"Emu! Kiriya!" Weiss called.

"You guys okay?" the pediatrician asked.

"Besides from the infected, we're the only ones left." Pyrrha said.

Emu sighed both in relief "Great… and just when I finished playing my remastered Resident of Dead 2... hope I could work on my skills, here."

Kiriya replied. "Too bad we won't have to loot things, though. That's the fun part of the game, isn't it?"

"We already got citizens on our fold, so we'd better make this work."

"Is there any way for us to turn them back to normal?" Weiss asked.

"I've got a few ideas, Weiss. Kiriya, we're gonna use anything that can remove virus. Try that Level 0 form and let's see which one of us has the stronger effect." Emu instructed.

"Got it. It's Shocker Virus we're talking about, here."

Emu prepared his pink Mighty Action X Gashat as Kiriya took out what appeared to be a black version of his Bakusou Bike Gashat, implying that it was its prototype version.

MIGHTY ACTION X!

BAKUSOU BIKE!

"Wait, Level 0?"

"Now then, Zero Gear…"

"HENSHIN!"

GASHATTO! / GACCHAN! LEVEL UP!

LET'S GAME! METCHA GAME! MUTCHA GAME! WHAT'S YOUR NAME!?

I'M A KAMEN RIDER!

BAKUSOU DOKUSOU GEKISOU BOUSOU BAKU~SOU~ BI~KE!

As Kiriya kicked his chosen Rider thumbnail, the Gashat gate went past through him and changed him into a sleeker and simpler version of his Rider Form. While keeping his original helmet and helmet-like backpack designs, his overall armor was what appeared to be a palette swap from Ex-Aid's. Except that his weapons indicator displayed his Sparrow modes, having a pair of yellow shoulder pads and shoes, and a jet black jumpsuit armor with electric magenta accents, silver circuitry lines, and several silver armor platings.

Along with Ex-Aid in his level 1 form, Lazer Turbo began their mission to disable the Husks in an attempt to cure them.

"Wow… I thought that's gonna be just like Ex-Aid's, uhh… clown suit?" Yang said, causing Lazer Turbo to slightly chuckle.

"I knew it, man! Clown suits for the win!" he said, patting his partner's shoulder.

"Well, you're not wrong about that." Ex-Aid deadpanned. "Great. Now you've just start giving me ideas…"

"I remember seeing your Level 2 in my Scroll's chat app but, uhh… isn't this just like that but without those… bike armors?." Weiss asked.

"You're right. Level 2 was originally made to separate Bugster Virus from its host, but this one's made to nullify it right away… considering Dai-Shocker's worked with the same principle." Lazer Turbo said.

"He's usually stuck with his bike form in Level 2, but we ended up getting all of our gears tuned up during our first great battle against Dai-Shocker in Remnant. That's one of the effects." Ex-Aid informed.

"It's my personal request, by the way!" Lazer Turbo added. "So, ready to rev it up, partner?"

"No continues needed for that as always."

Nodding to each other, the two Riders quickly jumped across the buildings to pick up several yellow Energy Items each with an image of a taunting Rider. They also used it on each of them once they returned.

INSTIGATE!

The Energy Item's effect immediately turned the Husks towards the Riders who stood a few meters away from the group, effectively drawing them away from the remaining citizens.

Lazer then instructed, "We need at least two people to back us up! Anyone willing to?"

"You guys go. I'll guide the people away from here." Weiss said. The two nodded as Weiss did her job. "Come on people, this way."

"Alright. Pyrrha, you're up for this?" there was no response from the Huntress champion who seemed to be spacing out. It must have been from her failure to safe the children's teacher. "Pyrrha?"

"Oh, right! sorry, I'm just... tired. I think."

The brawler could immediately tell that something must had hit her hard along the way. she then proceeded to give her the best encouragement she could afford. "Pyrrha, we're gonna win this day. We won't let Dai-Shocker endanger anyone again, and we're gonna turn the people back to normal. Keep your head up, will 'ya?"

"You're right. the Riders must've known how to solve this."

The two then nodded to each other and rushed towards the Riders. "Hey guys, the area's clear! We're in!"

"Use these Energy Items! You'll be able to take them down easily! And don't worry about holding back! The damage will only amplified to the Shocker Virus, so the people are gonna be okay!" Ex-Aid and Lazer Turbo threw another two Instigate Item to the Huntresses, immedately putting them in the item's effect.

INSTIGATE!

"Ready, partner?"

"Let's rev it up, then!"

STAGE SELECT!

The Ex-Aidverse Riders used their Stage Select ability to cage the entire area and prevent the Husks from fleeing. The environment then changed into ruins, which was surprisingly fitting for the predicament they were in at the moment. the Heroes immediately charged up against the Husks, mowing them down one by one.

"A zombie apocalypse setting, huh? Can't say I'm surprised." Yang mused. A Husk was closing in on her and she knocked it out with her Gauntlets.

"You play zombie games, too?" Lazer asked.

"Yeah, lots of 'em. Zombie Rising's my all time favorite."

"Oh, that wacky one? man, I've always liked it too! I mean, the items always caught my eyes. especially the vehicles and the Exo-Suit."

"Say, your powers are based on games, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Then... is there anyone who's using zombie game powers?"

"Oh, there is one."

"Really!?"

"And he's the one you're supposed to be meeting, now. But since this is our hectic morning, I guess you'll have to wait for that." Lazer Turbo said.

"Great! Now I'm really fired up!"

"Ex-Aid, is the virus also contageus to us, too?" Pyrrha asked.

"Don't worry, Pyrrha. People enhanced with Auras like us won't be infected even if they try. But still, we can't let them spread further." He informed.

"Guess the last thing we ever wanted is for the whole world to turn into Dai-Shocker slaves. Alright, I'll take the left, you take the right."

"Roger that!"

---

D-Ryuki and Blake paved a way through for Ruby to engage Roman herself. As she sped through the summoned Combatants, Blake swung her Gambol Shroud sickle around, hitting the surrounding enemies. Thanks to her agile maneuvers and shadow clone Semblance, the Faunus was able to dodge any incoming shots from the Combatants' rifles. She also shot their hands to disarm them before kicking them all out.

D-Ryuki swung his Drag Knuckle to the Combatants and shot them with its breath. When engaging them in close combat, he would occasionally charge up a fireball and detonated it when he came onto a contact with one of them, blowing their bodies to dust. suddenly, a Combatant shot him with a Dust launcher.

ATTACK RIDE : GUARD VENT!

He was barely able to defend himself with the Drag Shield. The blast launched him several feet away and sent him dragging the ground.

"Okay... now you've done it!"

The Rider ran towards the shooter and made his way through the Combatants by charging at them like a rugby player and stopped right after he bashed away the said enemy. D-Ryuki then grabbed the Combatant's head and crushed it with the Drag Knuckle's maw.

Surrounded by the remaining Combatants, Blake regrouped with the Rider for one last finisher after the latter discarded all of his Attack Ride Weapons.

"Hey Blake, wanna trade weapons for a moment?"

"Not sure if I could use it as good as you." She said.

"Don't worry, it's simple enough for you to use. I think."

"Well, I don't see why we shouldn't."

"Great!"

ATTACK RIDE : SWORD VENT!

ATTACK RIDE : CROSSATTACK!

D-Ryuki sent the Drag Saber and threw the Ride Booker to Blake as the Faunus handed him her Gambol Shroud in turn. He used both the sword and the cleaver sheath in the same manner as Gaim and Ghost Musashi's Nitoryu/dual wielding style, while Blake held the Drag Saber on her left hand in reversed grip with the Ride Booker on the opposite, resembling her original fighting stance. The Dust round inside the weapon reacted with Crossattack's effect, causing the weapon's edge to be engulfed in flames generated from his gauntlets. He easily tore the enemies apart as they exploded and burned into ashes. Next, Blake shot the enemies with the Ride Booker gun before slicing them with the Drag Saber. She had little to no trouble in using the Rider's armaments due to them having a similar type with her Gambol Shroud. The command also ignited the flames from the Drag Saber and all she had to do was constantly switching the Ride Booker between its gun and sword mode for maximum damage.

The Rider then used the weapon's giant cleaver mode and delivered a powerful flaming slash, effectively taking down six Combatants at once. Noticing the super strong and elastic ribbon on her weapon, D-Ryuki held onto it and started swinging the weapon wildly. The attack range also greatly increased as it tore the Combatants apart. The Faunus' eyes widened as to how she'd never thought to use it that way, as she was always doing it in its sickle mode.

"What the-whoa!"

However, after seconds of swinging around, the sheath was accidentally thrown out from the sword, but it luckily landed on the last Combatant's chest, much to Blake's surprise.

"Whew! Okay, I... didn't see that coming."

"That... is why I always flail my Gambol Shroud in sickle mode, Kyle. The magnetic lock gets weaker the faster you swing it like that." Blake corrected. "Then again... I think you just gave me some ideas for my new technique."

"Really?"

"Honestly, I never thought you'd use it that way. maybe I'll install a feature to further strengthen the sheath's lock the next time I'm doing it. throwing the sheath's also cool but next time, you'd better be careful when you're using someone else's weapon." she flicked the Rider's helmet.

"Yeah... my bad, though. I'll be careful, next time."

---

Ruby Rose was finally granted a rematch against her first nemesis: the very own crime boss himself. Having drawn away from the ensuing chaos, the two could fight with no holds barred. Ruby surely had a bigger weapon that backed up by her powerful swings, but Roman turned out to be much clever and agile to dodge her attacks. He could read her attack patterns like a book, waiting for the right moment to shoot his brand new Gashacon Bugvisor. He finally had his chance to shoot it right at her face, in which she quickly crouched down to avoid. It almost hit her chin that could probably hurt like getting hit by Cardin's mace despite the Aura protection. Then again, pain is the only proof of a living Huntsman.

"Not using your cane anymore, Roman? Or did someone just break it in half?" Ruby taunted.

"Hey, I just got this new doohickey and I don't want my precious cane to be the first one to break, you know? Besides, sometimes I need to follow the mode just to entertain myself." Roman said.

"That doesn't make you any fancier, anyway." She retorted.

"Then, how about this!?"

GYU IN!

Roman switched his weapon to its chainsaw mode and swung it against the Huntress' scythe. Its whirring saw gave the crime boss more power so much that he could easily swipe his enemy's weapon away. Not only that, Roman began combining his fighting techniques with his cane, putting Ruby in a disadvantage. When Roman found an opening, he used his cane to trip her down and grounded her with his Bugvisor. She defended against it using the Crescent Rose's grip. However, she quickly broke out from it and rolled away from him as soon as she noticed how close the chainsaw was into her fingers.

CHU DON!

After she was able to trip Roman down with her right foot, she quickly shot a fire Dust round. Roman retaliated by firing his Bugvisor gun, resulting in an explosion that blew them both away. Ruby skidded through the ground to keep her composure on as Roman rolled away. He found out that the Bugvisor was temporarily disabled due to the explosion, much to his dismay. Knowing that the Bugvisor was still essential top his plans, the crime boss quickly resorted to his own trusty cane, throwing dozens of red flame Dust crystals at the charging Huntress. It caught her off guard for a moment, but she quickly tossed it aside and reached the enemy enough to hit him with the Crescent Rose's blunt end. Roman however, used this chance to shoot right at her face once again. She quickly leant back as he fired it, rolling back only to find Roman nowhere in front of her.

Ruby huffed, feeling that the battle felt like it was… half-assed, for the lack of better word. "Is that all you got!? I thought you're scarier than this, you know!"

Shortly after, Blake and D-Ryuki caught up with her, having finished off all of the Combatants.

"Where's Torchwick?" D-Ryuki asked.

"Gone. Never thought he'd back away in the middle of a fight like this." Ruby said.

"That's odd. He must've up to something else other than keeping us in bay. Then again, we still have the zombie gig going on around Vale." Blake pointed out.

"We've already checked through every corner we could find. the town's emptied pretty much, already." D-Ryuki reported.

"Good. Let's go check on the others, then." Ruby ordered.

---

GAME CLEAR!

Inside the Game Field, the heroes were able to take down the Husks one by one. Considering that this might be a field test, the Husks' only threatening feature was that they were contagious to ordinary civilians. Quarantine should be enough to contain them from ever spreading, but the heroes still needed to cure them so that they wouldn't worry the victims' families.

And the heroes were just about to be done once they had disabled all of the Husks. One problem still remained at hand, though…

"Okay… this is all of them, guys." Pyrrha said.

"Alright! Then you guys can cure 'em!" Yang cheered.

"Let's see if this works, then." Ex-Aid touched one of the husk's bodies and checked the progress through his HUD. The Shocker Virus, indicated by their infamous Remnant globe-holding eagle logo, seemed to be dissipating slightly. However, it wasn't enough to separate the virus, let alone completely curing the victim. "It's no good. Lazer, you're up."

"That hard, eh? Got it." The Mohawk Rider complied, kneeling down to the Husk and proceeded to cure the virus.

"Dai-Shocker… I've never seen anyone who'd go with such length like this." Pyrrha lamented.

"Yeah and even worse, Roman's with 'em, too." Yang said. "The only thing is, why would someone like Roman Torchwick work with the likes of those guys?"

"Because they paid him well?" the champion guessed.

"From what I know, a small-time criminal like him would prefer to work independently. Even with some of his hired men, he should've been skeptical on working with some sort of… underground big wigs like Dai-Shocker and maybe even White Fang." Yang deduced.

"That White Fang part still bothers me, though…" Pyrrha said. "But I gotta say, you sure got some experiences in that, Yang."

"I've been to many places with my Bumblebee. Some of them are from comic books, by the way." the brawler sheepishly said the last part.

"I think it's about rise of power, guys." Ex-Aid replied. "See, Dai-Shocker is usually comprised of various enemies from our world's timeline. They've managed to acquire their data and resurrect them to do their bidding. Sometimes, they even allied themselves with another evil organization for the same goal we've always known."

Lazer Turbo also added while busy in his curing process, "Our guess is that the current Dai-Shocker has lesser members that are able to recruit the likes of White Fang and Roman, which means that they could be used as pawns for a greater plan."

"So we could say that our enemies are united. That'll be the scariest thing I've ever heard." Pyrrha said.

"Guess life's not always a comic book fantasy." Yang said.

After a thorough diagnosis, the Riders finally came to a conclusion, which they'd inform the girls, right away.

"So, how're the victims? Are they gonna be okay?" Pyrrha asked.

"Let's talk about it more outside." Lazer Turbo said as he pressed the Kimewaza Slot's button.

STAGE SELECT!

He chose an option 'Quarantine', causing red warning lines to surround the area as the heroes went back to the real world, leaving the Husks behind. The Game Field was effectively turned into a quarrantine zone. This of course, caught the concern of both Yang and Pyrrha.

"Wh-what just happened?" Yang asked.

Ex-Aid reluctantly answered. "We... can't turn the citizens back to normal right now."

"But, why?"

"Turns out Dai-Shocker has a totally new strain of virus, meaning that our conventional curing abilities are unable to cure them this instant." The chibi Rider regretfully explained.

"I'm the one who supposed to have a stronger effect on neutralizing Bugster or any other Virus, but this one..." Lazer stopped. "Sorry but, we're gonna have to quarantine them for the time being. That means we still need to study them for a stronger cure."

"That bad, huh?" Yang sighed at the upsetting news. However, she and Pyrrha fully understood that cases like this would always need a lot of time to figure out. "Dammit... I just hope we could get this over with and kick some Dai-Shocker ass, right now."

"The feeling's mutual, Yang. I can't stand how they're involving innocents, either." Pyrrha said. Suddenly, her Scroll rang. It showed a text message from her team about another outbreak that occured. She then quickly pocketed her Scroll and informed her friends. "I just got a word from my team. The outbreak's also happening on the clinic they're helping out. I need to go there." she said.

"Got it. I'll get you there, then." Yang offered. However, Lazer Turbo halted her from doing so.

"Nah, I'll do it, Yang."

"You sure?"

The coroner sighed. "It's fine. Right now, I'm sure team RWBY needs you the most here. I mean, you're not the only one with wheels now, aren't you?"

"We still need to tend to the citizens until the authorities come to pick them up. Who knows what else's still in here." Ex-Aid added.

"Got it." Yang accepted. "Then, I guess you'd better hurry, you two."

"Alright! Pyrrha, get ready." Kiriya said, replied by her nod as he prepared his trusty gears: the Gamer Driver and his Bakusou Bike Gashat.

BAKUSOU BIKE!

"2nd Gear, Henshin!"

GASHATTO! GACCHAN! LEVEL UP!

BAKUSOU DOKUSOU GEKISOU BOUSOU BAKUSOU BIKE!

The Rider directly transformed to his bike form, being one of the most unconventional Rider system in the history of the Riderverse. "Ever been on a bike, before?"

As Pyrrha got on the Rider, Pyrrha said, "Well... I remember playing a bike arcade game when I was little, so… I guess this isn't any different?"

"You're basing this on a game?" Lazer deadpanned for a moment, although he dismissed it due to the reasons regarding on his own Rider motif. "Nevermind, hope you could hang tight for a bit. Let's roll!"

"I'll see you guys in a minute." She said as she rode with the Rider to their next destination, where a greater danger awaits.

---

Present…

The heroes continued their battle against the crazed Kaijin. Brave, Snipe, and Nora faced the Gamedeus Kaijin as the others drew away the Husks from the battle with the help of 'Instigate' Energy Item that Nico handed. The former Riders immediately went with their Level 3 forms, with Brave scratching the discs to fire powerful melodic sonic blasts and Snipe firing his gatling guns. They were providing a cover fire for Nora to close in on him and strike a heavy blow, only for Gamedeus to easily block it with his shield. Brave backed the hammer girl up by swinging his Gashacon Sword ice mode against Gamedeus' sword. The ice property broke upon contact that let out cold gasses, revealing it to be a dry ice used to cover his and Nora's tracks as they backed away. Snipe shot his gatling guns

The Huntress quickly spun her hammer towards his leg in an attempt to trip him, boosted by the blast of Magnhild's grenade launcher thrust. The monster managed to jump it out using his wings, but he got hit on his right leg that temporarily broke his posture. Using this chance, the two Riders attacked him. Snipe fired his Gashacon Magnum after he pressed its 'B' button with his right gatling gun being controlled by the Gamer armor's sentry unit, and Brave doing the same to his Gashacon Sword and slashed the Kaijin's abdomen, sending sparks flying off from it. Suddenly, Nora swung her Magnhild upwards with the launcher's boost and hit Gamedeus' pelvis hard, sending him a few feet high before falling down. The Riders' sturdy helmets couldn't hide their cringing eyes, letting out small 'ouches'.

"Wow, did… did I just touch the nerve?" Nora wondered.

"More than just a nerve, I suppose." Brave said. "It's the nerve of all nerves of men."

"Yeah, you don't have to further elaborate it, Brave." Snipe said.

"It's the balls." He nonchalantly said.

"Okay, hold it right there!" Snipe interrupted.

"Ooh? And I thought men are stronger." The hammer girl teased.

"We are tough, alright! But, we're also sensitive." He replied.

"That's right! Coming from a guy who's afraid of Ghosts!" Nico shouted from afar as she was done taking down the Husks once again.

"Oh, knock it off!" Snipe shouted back.

"Alright-alright… Gamedeus, huh? Never thought the god of Game World couldn't stand that kinda hurdle." Nora boasted.

"YOU FOUL BRAT!" Gamedeus growled as he rose up from the ground. "Have you know no such thing as common courtesy!? Even if you are aiming for a one hit K.O. that is by no means, you could hit my pelvis! That is not how we fight, here!"

"Says the one who lacks grace in the first place." Brave mocked.

"Yeah! Dai-Shocker doesn't even have courtesy like, at all!" Nora added.

"Grrrh…" the Kaijin growled, knowing that he couldn't further counter their argument but with the only thing he still had. "Then you left me no choice. For hurting my will and pride, I shall present you with my greatest form. Now behold, and tremble in fear!"

Gamedeus rose his arms high and began gathering a malicious dark energy. It was harvested from the fallen Husks which made their bodies a bit skinnier and weaker, much to the heroes' shock. The Kaijin laughed maniacally as he grew bigger and his body became more and more monstrous. The dark energy that surrounded his body soon dispersed and revealed his said form. The monster's body resembled a '+' cross, with the left and right sides became a pair of dragon heads and the bottom became a huge blade. His upper body and wings also grew bigger. Not only that, his Grimm-like design didn't even make him any less terrifying.

"I can't believe it… he's absorbing the energy from the Husks!" Ren said as the heroes regrouped.

"So, he's gone all draconian, huh?" Nico muttered.

"I was gonna say something about his 'willie', but nevermind…" Nora muttered.

"Heh, nice one." The Rider replied, understanding the reference.

"But… if this keeps up, the victims could die from the sudden lack of stamina!" Jaune informed.

"That is true!" Gamedeus boasted. "I will say this to you once; you will never be strong enough to beat me in time!"

"Did someone say 'beat him in time'?" a voice called out from behind the heroes.

Another one also came. "Sorry to keep you guys waiting!"

"Pyrrha! Lazer!"

"Wow, never knew you could ride a bike! You look cool!" Nora complimented.

"R-really?" the Amazon said as she got off the Rider.

"Just gotta add some leather jacket, though." She replied.

"You guys good?" Lazer approached his fellow Riders in his bike form.

"Yeah, but not the victims, though." Snipe replied. "The creep's using their life energy to buff him up."

"And if we don't beat him up soon, I'm afraid it'll be too late for them." Jaune informed. "Got something up for that?"

"I got an idea in particular though." Lazer said as he switched to his humanoid Rider mode by flipping his Gamer Driver cover back and forth. "Hey, Gamedeus! If it's time attack that you want, then it's a beatdown that you'll get!"

"Oh? Now I wonder how far will your cockiness get!"

Lazer took out a black Gashat from his holder. It had a picture of a samurai with 'Giri Giri Chambara' printed on it.

GIRI GIRI CHAMBARA!

As the game title screen appeared behind him, a black and gold samurai-like sentry drone emerged from it and circled around the Rider. He then inserted the Gashat to the belt's second slot and flipped the cover back and forth.

"Gear Three!"

GASHATTO! GACCHAN! LEVEL UP!

BAKUSOU DOKUSOU GEKISOU BOUSOU BAKUSOU BIKE! AGACHA! GIRI-GIRI-GIRI-GIRI CHAMBARA!

As the said games' Gashat gates went through the Rider, the drone separated its limbs and attached itself to Lazer's armor, granting him a bulkier and Japanese oriental-looking appearance. The drone's feet became his shoulder and arm guards, while its arms became his leg armors with evident hand-like ornaments on the back. Lazer's helmet was also covered by the drone's head, which turned it into a samurai mask with golden flame-like horns and mouthpiece along with a pair of black side horns.

With Kamen Rider Lazer Chambara Bike Gamer Level 3, the heroes were ready to even the odds and save the lives of the Husk victims, at the very least working on how to cure them.

"Alright! Now we're revvin' it up!" Lazer said.

"This is it, guys! Hit 'im with all we've got!" Jaune ordered.

"You are welcome to try!"

Team JNPR and the Ex-Aidverse Riders began their assault towards the evolved Kaijin as the Game Field's skies slowly became as red as blood itself, signifying the strength that Gamedeus had which sent the heroes chills as they charged forward. The Riders felt it more than the Huntsmen team, but regardless, they jumped towards Gamedeus to deliver the first strike.

GASHACON SPARROW!

Brave and Lazer clashed their respective weapons against the dragon heads as Snipe fired his gatling guns while avoiding Gamedeus' energy roars at the same time. just like how the monster was in the Ex-Aidverse, Gamedeus' attacks were nearly precise that landing a hit on him would require lots of effort in dodging his oncoming attacks. On the ground, team JNPR was waiting for the right time to strike, which came as soon as Brave and Lazer landed in front of them and offered them a lift. Nora and Ren were the first ones who took the chance. They were being thrown by the two Riders towards the evolved Kaijin. not only the Huntsmen struck a hit, but they also fired their weapons in point-blank range.

Gamedeus however, was not always about going all-out at the get-go. He was obviously conserving his energy, waiting for the right time to move his entire body as he would always rely on his dragon-head arms for minimum stamina output. Just like that, he succeeded in shooting down Snipe as he was finally tired out from dodging and spun himself to get rid of Nora and Ren.

CHU-DON!

"Finally, someone for me to knock the hell out with! Jaune, Pyrrha, lend me a hand, here!"

"You got it." Jaune said. He and Pyrrha nodded to each other as they proceeded.

Next, Nico showed her skills with her Bugvisor gun. She ran around the monster and shot him as she dodged his dragon arms. She was then assisted by Pyrrha, who shot her Akouo rifle right to Gamedeus' head., in which Nico did the same. It might not be enough to pierce his head, but it disoriented his sight to give Jaune time to charge up his Aura and slashed one of the dragon arms. Gamedeus then flung Jaune and Pyrrha away with his still intact dragon arm. Nico then countered it by shooting her Bugvisor right into the dragon head's eyes, temporarily blinding it as she switched her weapon to its other mode.

GYU-IN!

Nico grazed the dragon arms at the same time. She then jumped and ran through on of it and delivered a blow on the monster's head. However, Gamedeus quickly spun himself to swing his blade at her. She could barely defend herself with her Bugvisor that popped out its hard light shield. The attack knocked her away, but Snipe caught her in time.

"Hey there, tiger." Nico exhaustedly greeted.

"Well, that was a close call." He said.

"Not my worst. Believe me."

"Any ideas, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked.

"There's something I wanna try with that bottom blade of his. I'll see what I can do." Jaune informed. His team nodded in agreement.

"You sure about this, rookie?" Lazer asked.

"I think I could see how this would go. Let him do his thing." Brave said.

"Hey, you!"

"Hrrmm?"

"I'm actually curious if that bottom blade of yours is really that sharp, or if it's just a deco to make you look cooler." Jaune goaded.

"And what of it?"

"Let's see which one's sharper; mine or yours?"

"Pfft... hehahahahah! You, a mere weakling, challenging my great sword!? I am very certain of the answer boy, for I Gamedeus shall prove it to you!"

Gamedeus immediately flew high to gain an altitude and drop himself towards the heroes in high speed. Jaune simply smiled as he knew that his plan succeeded, partially laughed at how easily provoked the Kaijin was. He exchanged glances with his fellow warriors, who instinctively agreed on how to play this one out. Just as Gamedeus was about to come crashing down, the heroes already cleared away from their position. The drop created a huge crater that let out dark flames. The power itself seemed enough to decimate an entire force of military corps.

"Just when I thought you had another ace up in your sleeves…" Gamedeus sighed, knowing that the heroes were nowhere to be found. "I am very disappointed in you, puny Huntsma-urgh!"

However, he suddenly felt a strong force pulling him deep to the ground

"Wh-what sorcery is this!?"

"Our sorcery, Gamedeus." Jaune said from behind the monster as he and his comrades rose out from the remaining trees, with Brave beside him revealing a turquoise Energy Item depicting a Rider telepathically lifting two apples in opposing vertical directions.

GRAVITY-MANIPULATION!

"An Energy… Item!? Argh!" Gamedeus groaned as he was slowly being pulled into the ground. "So… this is what you're after…!"

"I figured out that your bottom blade stands out too much, so I've goaded you to stab it right where you're gonna have a hard time pulling it out." Jaune explained.

"And soil is the best answer. Just like stabbing Excalibur back to the stone it belongs." Brave added.

"King Arthur and the Knights of Round Table?"

"Precisely. I almost forgot that we shared some similarities in pop culture and fairy tales in a certain degree."

"No worries here… master."

"Okay, now you're flattering me."

"Gotta say your leader's got one helluva brain. This tactic's simple, but like super effective." Nico commented.

"That's Jaune for 'ya." Nora replied. "He might not have the raw power like we do, but he's got the brains to make up for it. and when he did his thing, that's where we come in."

"More like team JNPR's brain and brawns. Though, we're not that much of a brawn, I tell you." Ren added, much to Nora and Nico's amusement.

"Then all that's left is taking him down." Pyrrha said as she and the others prepped their weapon for one final assault.

"You got that right!" Nico said as she pressed both of her Buggle Driver's buttons before pressing 'A'. "Finishers ready!"

GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!

GIRI GIRI / JET / DOREMIFA CRITICAL FINISH!

CRITICAL END!

"Lift-up service's open. 2 people capacity only."

"We're in. let's go, Jaune." Pyrrha invited.

"Wait, really?"

"You said that you've always wanted to make an epic finisher, right?" she teased. "We just have to focus on our Auras to deal a heavy blow. Just like how you did in Emerald Forest."

"That really takes me back." Jaune muttered as he and Pyrrha grabbed the handles that the Jet Gamer armor generated below the gatling guns.

"Hang on!" Snipe said as he carried the two Huntsmen up in the air.

Brave held his sword in a similar manner to a flute player as its edge generated various musical notes, Lazer prepared his stance with his golden flame-generated sickles, and the Huntsmen, Nora and Ren, went first by jumping towards the downed Gamedeus once they charged up their Auras. Nora smashed the monster's head a couple of times with her Magnhild as Ren tore through his body and fired at its wounds. Next, Brave swung his weapon and spreaded out several music notes in the air. He jumped toward Gamedeus' chest and stabbed it. the music notes soon followed the stabbing before exploding and sent sparks off of it. Lazer then charged forward and seemingly disappeared in thin air as he swung his sickles, only for him to appear past the monster and caused several phantom slashes to injure Gamedeus. Finally, Nico had her charged up Bugvisor to generate a huge energy chainsaw and struck Gamedeus with it, creating a mortal wound that let out pixel sparks.

From above, Snipe flew around the area to gain a momentum for throwing Jaune and Pyrrha forward. As soon as he succeeded, he fired his Gashacon Magnum in its rifle mode while the gatling guns were autonomously controlled by the Jet Gamer armor. he also fired several homing missiles targetted at Gamedeus. Charged up with their Auras, Jaune and Pyrrha stabbed the monster once they landed and delivered a heavy slash before the missiles hit him. The heroes stood behind the exploding monster alongside each other. The threat had finally been neutralized.

However, the yellow samurai-clad Rider noticed something fishy.

"Heheheh…"

The heroes were shocked to see how Gamedeus still survived the finisher. Lazer, who remained calm, asked. "Still alive, eh? Something funny?"

"Even more than that, Rider… you just activated my trump card!"

The Game Field's ground began to crumble as Gamedeus covered himself with dark energy-imbued mist. His body became faintly bigger and wider, covering the entire crater. The mist soon dissipated, revealing his body to become some sort of a living fortress embedded into the ground. In his new form, Gamedeus' humanoid body grew from his humungous one, growing a pair of arms to hold his sword and shield. The huge dragon arms also moved again. He was also able to spawn Combatants and Grimms on his stead, ready to stand against their nemesis.

"You may have pulled me deep into the ground to the point where I cannot free myself, but you forget about one thing: I am the God, the final boss of the Game World. I can grow my powers however I like, and so I claim this ground as mine for the taking!"

"Uhh, guys…?" Nora said.

"This again…" Snipe muttered. His HUD detected Dark Dust energy emitting from the further empowered kaijin.

"Dai-Shocker and their Dark Dusts…" Jaune muttered. "Can you guys still move?"

"We still got lots of juice. But we need another trick for this one." Pyrrha said.

"Yeah, basically that Gamedeus guy just become an irony of my master plan." Jaune said.

"Seriously, though?" Ren deadpanned.

"We still have another one for this, anyway." Lazer said.

"Really!?" Nora asked.

"Yeah, but we need another Kamen Rider for that. It's using a joint power from a special Gashat of ours." The yellow Rider explained. "The thing is, our pediatrician's not here. We need four Gamer Driver users to make this work."

"Then allow me to fill in that position."

Another familiar savant voice came from behind the heroes. The man was none other than the self-proclaimed true God of the Game world Kuroto Dan, complete with his own Gamer Driver and a dark purple, prototype variant of Mighty Action X Gashat.

"Hoo, boy…" Lazer mused.

"Well, well…" Nico said. "Speak of the devil…"

"The prodigal CEO arrives." Snipe added.

"Kuroto." Brave greeted

"People." He greeted back. "To quote Tsukasa, I've already get the gist of what has transpired here. I shall lend you my hand for as long as I keep passing through the odds as a God of Kamen Rider would always do."

"Still quoting our Great Leader as usual, huh?" Lazer said.

"Have you prepared the Gashat?"

"Uh-huh. Ready to roll anytime." Lazer presented a yellowish gold Gashat. It had a uniquely-designed dragon head ornament below the handle, imprinted with a dragon picture and a text 'Drago Knight Hunter Z'.

"Splendid."

"Uhh, did he just claimed himself as a… God?" Ren wondered.

"Don't worry, that's just one of his quips. You'll get used to it." Nico said. "Just add him to your another-world-saving-weirdo list."

"Yeah… okay."

"At least we have another party member on the list, though." Nora quipped.

"I assume you four must be team JNPR." Kuroto turned to the Huntsmen team.

Jaune was the first to respond. "Huh? Oh yeah, umm… yes, we are! Nice to meet you, Mr…"

"Please, there's no need to be awkward." Kuroto said. "My name is Kuroto Dan. I hope we can further co-operate, all of you."

"I think it goes without saying that we'll save further introductions for later." Pyrrha quipped.

"You catch up on quick, Ms. Nikos. As expected of you." Kuroto said. "Very well. Shall we proceed, then?"

"We're ready." Snipe confirmed.

"Lazer, hit it." Brave ordered.

"One exotic reptile, coming up!"

DRAGO KNIGHT HUNTER Z!

As the game screen appeared, a robot sentry rose out from it. It was a black mechanical dragon that had a bigger size than the Level 3 sentries. Some of its body was covered with silver armor plates and had several markings on its body; pink lines on the right breast and stars on the left, blue lines on the right shoulder, and yellow scorch lines on the left one. The right arm was armed with a blade, and the left arm mounted a rail gun.

The Gashat then emitted a golden light that materialized three more copies of it for the others to use. They then pressed the button again to execute another command.

BLADE!

GUN!

CLAW!

FANG!

"Skill level 5."

"Tactics level 5."

"5th gear."

"Grade 5, Henshin!"

GASHATTO! GACCHAN! LEVEL UP!

TADORU MEGURU! TADORU MEGURU! TADDLE QUEST~!

BA-BA-BANG! BA-BA-BANG! (YOW!) BANG BAG SHOOTING!

BAKUSOU, GEKISOU, DEKISOU, BOUSOU, BAKUSOU BIKE!

MIGHTY JUMP! MIGHTY KICK! MIGHTY ACTIO~N! X!

AGACHA! DO-DO-DRAGO KNI-KNI-KNI-KNIGHT! DRA! DRA! DRAGO KNIGHT HUNTER! LAZER! / BRAVE! / SNIPE! / GENM!

As the others got off of their Level 3 forms, Kuroto transformed into his Rider form. Once the Gashat gate went through him, a dark pixel stream began to cover his body. Clanking voices were heard as he put on his dark armor. The appearance, to the Huntsmen, was surprisingly similar to Ex-Aid, except that he was all black with purple accents and several carbonite armor platings. His eyes were as red as a Grimm could be with white pupils, though it was less sinister considering his allegiance to the All-Kamen Rider League.

Next, the Hunter Gamer sentry separated its limbs to become sets of armor for each of the four Riders to use; Lazer put on both of the arm and leg armors with the latter had its clawed feet as his own, Brave with the copy of the right ones, Snipe with the copy of the left ones, and finally Genm putting on the torso armor, complete with its wings, tail, and head crest from the dragon's maw. With the augments of Hunter Gamer Level 5, the Ex-Aidverse Riders were ready to take on the boss fight. Only this time, Genm took place of the particular pink Rider who wasn't present in the arena.

"Whoa… they're wearing dragon skins, now!"

"That's Hunter Gamer Level 5. It's based on multiplayer games, so their stats are equally improved. They're specifically made for team boss fights like this."

"Shared power up, huh? I wonder…" Jaune pondered.

"I am Kamen Rider Genm. And it has been a long time since we've met… Gamedeus." He introduced.

"The false God! Yes, I've always recognized that stench of yours…"

"Please, you wound me, Bugster." Genm said. "After all, you are the greatest mistake that I've unleashed upon the world. And with my Godly talents, I shall rectify my wrongdoings once and for all! To me, my warriors of justice!"

"Now you've just figured out how to make a show. Let's rev up the gear once more!" Lazer acknowledged.

"Proceed with operation… remove Gamedeus from the face of Remnant." Brave said as he brandished his blade.

"Mission… start!" Snipe commenced.

"Challenging me once again? Very well. Minions, attack!"

Gamedeus summoned the Dai-Shocker Combatants and several Beowolves, knowing that he would need to keep the Rider League at bay as he was embedded to the Game Field's ground itself. The battle shall be for the one who survived first as how it went with the previous evolved Cobra Kaijin. Not only that, the heroes saw how the sudden escalation further weakened the condition of the civilians who was still under the Husk influence as the Riders' HUD presented.

"The victims' life signs are critical! If we don't take him out soon…!" Brave grunted.

"So, you increased your numbers by further leeching over their life force, huh? How underhanded, you are." Genm mocked.

"Says the man of great treachery himself!"

"Believe me, I am far beyond that now."

"Then we need to hurry. Genm, can we leave Gamedeus to you and the others?" Jaune asked.

"This Level 5 will do us just fine. In that case, you have to keep the grunts away from the main fight." Genm said.

"Got it. ready, team?" Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora replied with a nod.

"I'll stick with you guys in beating up the bozos. After all, I'm pretty good at mopping the likes of them in clean slate." Nico offered.

"Please do." Pyrrha answered.

"Here we go!" Lazer shouted.

The heroes began their assault against the looming evil force. Team JNPR and Nico cleared the path for the Level 5-augmented Riders to get through to Gamedeus. Once they went through them, it was up to them to hold down the fort. Jaune knocked over several Combatants with his shield and slashed the surrounding ones with his Crocea Mors sword. As a Beowolf lunged towards him, Ren quickly leapt from behind him and sliced its arms. He then shot the Grimm's back as it perished.

GASHACON SWORD!

GASHACON BREAKER!

Nico summoned her own bladed weapons, dual-wielding it against the seemingly endless wave of enemies. The Rider fearlessly slashed through them all with ease, and she proved how her 'clean slate' ability reduced a great number of them. Be it Combatants or Beowolves, they couldn't withstand the wrath of a game prodigy. Once she beheaded a Beowolf, Nora smashed its still-intact body with her hammer towards the unsuspecting Combatants, knocking them out to give Ren a chance to rain them with Stormflower's Dust bullets and for her to end it all with her grenade launcher.

Pyrrha then found herself back-to-back with both Jaune and Nico, surrounded by the horde of enemies. The Rider then activated her finisher to free them all from the predicament.

"Guys, charge up your Auras and follow my lead!" Nico ordered.

"Okay!"

KIMEWAZA!

CRITICAL END!

With the assistances of Jaune's sword and Pyrrha's Xiphos blade, Nico swung her swords and sliced the enemies apart. Her weapons were dancing with a mix of dark and green energy drawn from both her Buggle Driver and Kamen Rider Chronicle Gashat respectively. Said energy also empowered the two Huntsmen's weapons as well. Those who were hit by it slowly decaying into dusts, having their limbs corroded until they couldn't stand anymore. Even the Beowolves who were torn apart were inflicted by the fear as they barely moved away, only to be met by the tips of their weapons in the end.

GASHACON MAGNUM!

GASHACON SPARROW!

Summoning her next set of weapons, Nico went on to assist Nora and Ren in fending off the Beowolves. It turned out that an Alpha was leading them, in which Nico quickly jumped towards and fired her weapons. She circled it around as she avoided its claw attacks. Nora caught its attention by swinging her hammer at it. the Grimm quickly blocked it with its arms, but that didn't stop her from giving more hits. On the other side, Ren was about to be done with the lesser Beowolves. He delivered a spinning slash and shot them while doing it, hitting the Grimms both nearby and afar. He joined Nico in providing a cover fire for Nora to back away temporarily.

ZU PAN!

Desummoning her Gashacon Magnum, Nico changed the Sparrow to its sickle mode, matching with Ren's Stormflower in order to execute hit-and-run combo attacks. The Alpha Beowolf could barely keep up with their speed, getting consecutively hit in many places before kneeling down due to its wounds. Both of them threw their sickle-based weapons at each of its arms, kicking them to deepen the cut before slicing its arms off. Nico prepared her finisher once again along with Ren and Nora. This time, she pressed the 'B' button. She also resummoned her Gashacon Magnum and combined her Gashacon Sparrow into Arrow mode.

ZU DON!

KIMEWAZA!

CRITICAL DEATH!

A huge shadow casted below the Alpha Beowolf. From there, several green energy constructs of Ride Players emerged and pulled the monster into the ground. Nico and the others then fired their weapons at it, resulting in a large explosion that also hit nearby Grimms.

The dragon heads stood against the oncoming Riders, who were preparing their attacks and fired at them. In return, Genm fired his fire dragon breath as Snipe fired his railgun, each clashing against the blast. Lazer and Brave rushed past the blast to aim at the dragons' necks. The two swung their bladed weapons at them, slitting the dragons' throats that stopped the blast, enabling Genm and Lazer to disable the dragon heads. They then ran through the dragons and launched another attack at Gamedeus' main body.

Brave went against Gamedeus' sword. Using his Dragon Blade, he delivered multiple stabs that got him through to pierce the monster's body. At some point, he also required the help of his Gashacon Sword to block Gamedeus' unrelenting attacks. On the other side, Lazer attempted to break through his shield with its retractable claw that stood in his way. As the claw went towards him, he jumped and stomped on it. the Rider was able to make a shallow cut at the claw, but he would need more effort to completely cut it off. Ignoring it for a while, Lazer jumped at Gamedeus and delivered a kick barrage at his head. He would continuously attack him with both the Dragon Blade and Gun he was armed with. However, Gamedeus' shield claw managed to flail the Rider away, only to be completely cut off by Brave in the end and had his hand alongside his sword incinerated by Lazer's Dragon Gun.

All that was left is to penetrate Gamedeus' shield. Lazer and Snipe fired their Dragon Guns at the said target as the monster raised his shield, charged up with enhanced plasma energy output in tandem with each other's rail guns. Enhancing his defense, Gamedeus used the last of his dragon head's energy to form an energy barrier surrounding his whole body. It would surely take more than just a blast to take it out.

"I am the ultimate boss of the Game World! Don't even think this puny attack will stop me!"

"Man, this guy's tough!" Lazer grunted.

"Little help, here!" Snipe asked.

"Taking on Gamedeus wouldn't work with little help, don't you think?" Brave asked.

"Then we'll make it bigger. In the meantime, you and the others wait for my signal." Genm flew using his dragon wings and summoned a giant energy dragon jaw to maul and pry open the barrier as Brave regrouped with the others, waiting for the right time to strike the monster down.

"Copy."

"So, Gamedeus decided to go on defense, this time?" Jaune asked.

"Correct. But on the other hand…" Brave checked on the Husk's life sign, which became gradually weaker. "This could be our last shot at saving them."

"I got something that I wanna try." Jaune said. "But we need to lower that barrier first."

"Working on it."

With the combined attack of Genm's giant maw and the rail guns of Lazer and Snipe, the barrier finally cracked open, giving them a chance to unleash their finisher.

"Wait for it…" Nico eagerly muttered.

"Now!"

GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!

DRAGO KNIGHT CRITICAL STRIKE!

CRITICAL END!

"Follow my lead!"

The assault began with team JNPR attacking the monster all at once. Jaune and Pyrrha left a deep cut on Gamedeus' waist as Nora smashed a dragon head, electrocute it with her Semblance and blew it up with her Grenade launcher, with Ren stabbing his weapon to the other head and left several bullet holes on his wake. He then charged up his Aura to his palm and executed an Aura burst that crushed the said head. Jaune nodded to Pyrrha, instructing her to use her Semblance to levitate Crocea Mors, Milo, and Akouo respectively. She made them spun around Gamedeus' main body to gain enough momentum and severed the monster's upper half from the aforementioned deep cut. Nora and Nico then delivered a heavy rising bash with their respective hammer weapons that launched him high. Ren also shot the weakened Kaijin and enabling the Riders to initiate their all out attack.

Lazer and Snipe fired another powerful energy beam as Genm shot a huge fireball that encased the monster in a fiery bubble and exploded upon contact. The yellow Rider also assisted Brave in delivering a huge energy slash that tore away its remaining limbs. Nico then jumped and executed an infinite roundhouse Rider kick energized with a dark and violet clockwork projection. Once it hit Gamedeus, his body was slowly decaying into pixel bits before exploding.

However, his last words made the heroes remained oblivious. "This isn't over in a long shot, Riders and Huntsmen! My smallest remains will keep me alive, and I will never stop until I consume Remnant! Hail Dai-Shocker!"

And thus, the fight ended with the heroes' triumph.

---

"Did we do it?" Ren asked to make sure.

"Not sure. Considering what he said is true, we need to expect more. Especially if Dai-Shocker's planning another thing." Brave answered.

"But, we saw him exploded!" Nora quipped.

"Maybe, but I have a feeling that this is just an icing on the cake."

From the explosion, orange sprinkles rose out from the ashes and was being absorbed by Genm's Bugvisor with a press of its red button. He then sprayed it into the Husks, restoring their vital signs to normal. This had Nora a bit worried.

"Umm, isn't that just like giving them more energy to get up again?" Nora asked.

Genm opened his helmet with his neural command, causing the emotive eyes to disappear and completely opened his faceplate with the goggles went up to the helmet's a bit leaned-back hair. The rest of the Riders also did the same. "Worry not. I've mixed the energy with sedatives. They won't be awake for a while."

"Well, that's great anyway. But, we still don't know how to completely cure 'em." She said.

"Our Level 1 form couldn't eradicate the Shocker Virus inside their bodies. What about your Level 0, then?" Taiga turned to Kiriya.

"Nada. If anything, Level 0's ability decomposed it faster than Level 1. But, it's nowhere near curing them." The latter informed.

"Which means only one thing, regrettably…" Hiiro sighed. "We have to quarantine them in here."

"Quarantine? How?" Jaune asked.

"With this…"

STAGE SELECT!

Genm pressed the button on his Kimewaza Slot. By choosing the option 'quarantine', the Game Field emitted a surrounding red warning signs until the heroes went back to the clinic, where it was already devoid of patients who were fleeing earlier. All of the Husks were left behind in the Game Field, thus preventing the infestation from spreading.

"Wait, so you mean that we're leaving them behind in the Game Field?" Jaune asked.

"Correct." Hiiro explained. "We can't let them roam free in the city until we find the cure for their predicament. It's the only way to keep the infection from spreading."

"The special Quarantine Field function is made for this purpose. It's as tight as a nuclear bunker could be. I've built it with special codes that can keep the likes of Gamedeus from ever breaching it. rest assured, we will have enough time to do some research." Kuroto added, showing his Bugvisor that had already taken a sample of the Shocker Virus.

"I… I see."

"Guess it's the most reasonable way to do in our situation." Pyrrha said.

"Say, your codename is Genm, right?" Jaune asked the Rider.

"Yes?"

"Isn't that the name of a game corporation who makes arcade games?"

"Well, I am the CEO of Genm Corporation." Kuroto nonchalantly answered. "And I made those games, yes."

"Oh… wait, what!?"

"He's the guy!? Like… how?" Nora flabbergasted. "Now I'm starting to think that Remnant's actually infested with buck-tons of Riders, instead!"

"Nora, it's more like they've been deeply integrated to our society." Ren said.

"Well, I think we all know that part, already. I mean, we have the doctors over there as Riders, too." Pyrrha quipped.

"We got doctors, cops, explorers, gamers, reporters, and what else? Teachers? Oh, I think I'd like the last one, too!" Nora squealed.

"A teacher, huh? Maybe it could be a good thing since we can take the Dai-Shocker matters further. Especially, if the Rider could be our homeroom teacher." Jaune said.

"Right!? That would be totes awesome!" Nora smiled.

Suddenly, Kuroto's communicator rang. He put on his goggles to receive a video transmission, coming from Tsukasa Kadoya himself.

"Kuroto here."

"I've just received several calls from the other Riders. They all said about infected people caused by the Shocker Virus. I'd like to conduct an emergency meeting with the currently available ones. Can you bring everyone to Genm Corp.?"

"An emergency, you say? Along with the other Riders?"

"Yup. We're going major on this one. The others are also working on their own ways to quarantine the Husks, I'd like to call them, in several spots. We can't ignore this matter further since this is about Shocker Virus. Who knows if Dai-Shocker could further weaponize it in any other way."

Kuroto nodded. "Very well. I shall look forward to it. And yes, I have people with me. Among them is team JNPR."

"Great, I'll be waiting for you. I'll inform Kyle and the rest right away. Tsukasa out."

Dismissing the call, Kuroto informed the others, "I believe you've all been informed about the meeting we will have today, right?"

"We did." Jaune answered. "What happened?"

"I'm afraid that we need to postpone it for a while." He said. "Since this is an emergency situation we are currently facing, we would need to rearrange the meeting for this matter. It will be attended by the Riders you've probably met before. The situation has become direr as we know."

"I see. So it won't be just in here, anymore."

"These people are innocent, guys. And yet…" Pyrrha muttered.

"Hey, I get that a lot. I'm used to be a local citizen like anyone else, nut now I've granted with the power to protect them. We'll all get through this. I'm sure of it." Nico assured

"She's right. We all need to be cautious as ever." The blonde knight affirmed.

"Anything else we should know?" Taiga asked.

"Tsukasa shall be the one to conduct the meeting, and as usual he had crucial intels to share with us. In the meantime, I'd like you all to recollect yourselves in Genm Corp.'s lounge. Your classmates will also attend there, as well."

"So, a well-earned rest, then." Jaune said. "Let's go guys."

And with that, the heroes head into where the corporate building stood.

---

Roman retreated to an empty alley, where a certain Dai-Shocker general had been expecting him. Xiphon displayed his unmasked smug, knowing that Roman couldn't keep up his breath after the usage of the advanced Riderverse weapon.

"You've lost the bet, Roman."

"I know, I know… this thingamabob's never my aesthetic, anyway." The crime lord said as he threw the said weapon for Xiphon to catch. "But I gotta say, the red hood just keeps getting better than before. Even this weapon didn't faze her, for a bit."

Xiphon sighed. "Of course not, Torchick. People use sword-gun combo gears these days. And compared to this newly-assembled Bugvisor, that's not even close to archaic."

"It's Torchwick! But, uhh… guess you're right." He said. Suddenly, the Bugvisor's screen lit up as it received a certain strain of virus that survived Remnant's harsh environment. "What's that?"

"It means that our exotic reptile has done his job well." Xiphon pressed the Bugvisor's red button in its pad mode. The muzzle blew out dark particles that reformed the big bad monster that our heroes previously defeated, the demented Gamedeus himself.

"Have you received the Game Field's code?"

"Yes, commander. Even if it wasn't that much, I have an information on how they could keep the virus from spreading. A smart move from the false God, but I shall savor this chance with our kin's survival."

"False God?"

"There was a warrior from the Ex-Aidverse who claimed himself as a God during his times as a Dark Rider. We shall prove his false Godhood by sending down the chaos that he had been overlooking this whole time. After all…" Xiphon displayed a holographic projection of the Husks that were laid dormant inside the quarantine Game Field. "We're gonna free the birds."

"Okay… now I get what we're trying to do. A fun one at that." Roman grinned as he got the gist of the plan.

"Yes, Roman. We'll have ourselves a break in."

---

(A/N)

Whewieee! Finally! After months of struggling with college, I have conquered my time table once again! And here's the 22nd chapter of RWBY : DCD, everyone! and a much longer one at that!

Now, I know a lot has been going on with the past few months, the end of Heisei and the beginning of Reiwa Era, lots of Zi-O's beautiful mess (look, Zi-O might not be a masterpiece, but it did its purpose as an anniversary season and its enjoyable by far, okay?), and still hoping for more Decade and Diend content in Zi-O because I'm a total sucker for Legend Rider form aesthetics. Also, I can't wait for Kamen Rider Zero-one's scans to surface, even though it might still be a few months away.

Onto the discussions; I've explained on how Lazer's humanoid Level 2 and Level 0 differ from each other, and that's because I think it's more believable if his Level 0 uses a Proto Gashat instead. Nico being a proper Kamen Rider is also a part on how the Riderverse characters developed over the course of time, because I'm a firm believer of "good Riders always (re)arm themselves with the best of their gears all the time." As for Kamen Rider Nico, I might be using that idea for another story of mine, so please look forward to it! Now, some of you might be wondering on why Nico didn't use her Rider form as in Ex-Aid's final stage. Well that's because personally, I believe she's a more adept fighter when using Kamen Rider Chronicle Gashat during her time as a Rider Player. So, I'm using my liberty of creativity to create a brand-new Rider form for her by having the said Gashat used on the old Bugvisor instead, a well-deserved upgrade for her IMO as you can see on her performance in the battlefield. I'd also like to give her Rider form her own personality instead of just straight-up using Bang-Bang Shooting. Oh, and I finally made the debut for our loveable Kamen Rider Genm, so let's expect more of his Godly talents in the future!

With the new threat emerged in the face of Remnant, will our heroes be able to prevail? How will the united front of All-Kamen Rider League solve the situation? And just what Xiphon meant of "breaking in"?

As always, please leave your comments below and remember, BE CONSTRUCTIVE.

Oh and please TRY to differentiate between constructive and destructive, because our mentioned fella' can't seem to do that. He didn't even bother to point things out from my story that left his details so vague, hence the "not very smart" review he wrote. Poor hooman.

Until next time.