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.

23. Chapter 23 : Difficulty Issues

Chapter 23 : Difficulty Issues

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

---

After the Husks were contained thanks to the efforts of our heroes, the people of Vale were still restless as to when it would all end. The authorities were ordered to sweep the city alongside some of the Riders, especially the ones who were assigned to the precinct like Hikawa and Shinnosuke, in order to ensure that no Husk was left on the scene. The townsfolk were ordered to take a temporary shelter in Vale Hospital until the authorities could give any confirmation. The hospital's security was also tightened by the authorities and the citizens were tended by the doctors to see if they were still doing well.

So far, the Husks were known to only infect upon contact, which means that the people were safe for the time being. At least, Ozpin made sure of it as he monitored both the city of Vale and his very own Beacon Academy himself. He also took his time to secure the perimeter around the academy himself. The restlessness and panic from the freshmen were being handled by the professors Port and Oobleck, making sure that none of them acted rashly. Glynda also needed to compile the reports she received from the All Kamen Rider League and the students they recruited.

Both the Huntsmen Academy and the All Kamen Rider League had their hands equally full. All they could do is hope for the best. At least they'd been doing their best in keeping the townsfolks' safety.

---

Meanwhile, Kyle and team RWBY were instructed to be on standby in one of Genm Corporation building's lounge. They were the only ones who were present at the time as the others were either busy fending off the Husks or tending to the citizens who sought refuge in the city's safest spots. In the midst of the waiting, Yang approached Blake who was seen reading a book and started a conversation to break the silence.

"Hey." Yang said.

"Hey." Blake replied.

"Whatcha' reading?"

"Just romance novels as usual. This one's called Beauty and the Beast."

"Isn't that the one from children's tales?"

"Yeah, but this one's the… unabridged version of that. See, most of the stories that we've been told or read since we're kids are mostly abridged, meaning that the writers filtered the stories for the kids' consumption. Which means that the real narration here in this book is already appropriate for my legal age." Blake said.

"The real one, huh? Wonder how much difference it had."

"Do you read books like me, too?"

"I used to read stories for Ruby, back then. They're mostly our mom's adventures as a Huntress. She always liked it as much as she likes our mom. I mean, she's a real badass in the field, too!"

"Sounds like your mom's an interesting person."

"Oh she's more than just interesting; she's loveable!"

"That should be obvious, coming from one of the best graduates of Beacon academy." Weiss commented.

"And that's what we should be aiming for! Team RWBY: The Next Best Graduate of Beacon Academy! That'll be our news headline!" Ruby quipped.

"Yep! What she said!" Yang agreed. "And speaking of books, what do you think if someone wrote our biography?"

"That would be… great, I guess? I still can't imagine reading one, right now." Blake unsurely answered.

"Maybe that'll end up into romance novels." Weiss said.

"Wow, does my imagination really that wild?" Blake deadpanned.

As the others enjoyed their conversation, Ruby noticed Kyle's uneasiness as he leaned next to a window while standing up and his arms crossed. She decided to approach the young Rider at her utmost sincere.

"Are you okay?" Ruby's soothing voice caught his attention.

He smiled and replied to her. "Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry."

"I see… after all that's been going on, we can't just sit back and watch while Dai-Shocker's doing whatever they want." Ruby stated. "The thing is, I was kinda… worried about you."

"Really?" Kyle wondered.

"When you were fighting Gamedeus, I noticed your reaction when he showed his human form. Honestly, I'm still concerned about it, even now." she muttered. "Especially since that mission in the underground lab you told us about. I can tell that you're still thinking about that Hector guy, you know."

"Well… how do I put it?" he gave a thought about his feelings, tilting his head for a bit. "See, since I'm rather new to this whole monster-fighting stuff, sometimes I'm starting to feel the difference between you guys and me. You've all been taught to fight monsters ever since you're kids, but me? I know I've been fighting for some time since I arrived here, and yet I feel like I couldn't have done enough… even with the power I have, now."

Ruby sighed as she finally knew his concerns. "Well… you're not alone in that, you know."

"Kyle, even Huntsmen has their own limits, too." Yang said as she approached him. "I know that fighting monsters had been a part of our lives in Remnant, but not even I imagined that I'd also be dealing with some kind of organized crime this big. Makes me a bit worried if I'm ever gonna be enough to stop them, too. Though, I'm really thrilled in punching bad guys."

"And as far as I can tell, you've been holding onto yourself better than you thought. Still, you're not supposed to hide your complaints if that would hinder your performance in the field." Weiss quipped.

"See, now? We're a team, Kyle, and we're supposed to help out each other! So don't worry, we can always find a way! Just like the other Huntsmen before us." Ruby chirped.

"You're right. I just have to concern myself with what we need to do, now. Can't let it get in the line of duty." He said. "I just don't wanna mess this up, that's all."

"Believe me, Kyle. we're all the same." Weiss replied.

Blake could only sigh softly as she listened through the conversation. She knew that they could all agree on the fact that Dai-Shocker's plan to turn all of Vale's denizens into Husks clearly raised the stakes of their mission to ensure Remnant's peace, even though they were still Huntsmen in training. First there was Roman, and then her former splinter faction, White Fang all got roped into the dark agenda that had been unfolding one by one. On one hand, she was glad that she decided to bail out from the White Fang once she got the chance, but on the other hand, she regretted that she couldn't bring her fellow Faunus away from the dark path they walked into. The White Fang's original goal was to establish the Faunus rights through peace and equality, and from their impatience to reach that goal, came forth Dai-Shocker that also benefited from such upbringing.

And it could only mean one thing: that person must be involved, too; a certain someone that she knew well and turned away from.

A few moments later, Emu entered the lounge. Kyle was the first to ask about the situation.

"Doc, how's everything?"

"It's still as hectic as we know: the citizens are taking a temporary shelter in Vale Hospital until everything's clear, especially since this is all so sudden. Not to mention that there are probably more of the infected out there." He reported.

"And the others?" Ruby asked.

"Still handling the remaining Husks. They're much more widespread than we thought." He and the others then saw team CFVY and Sento walking in. "Ah speak of the devil…"

"You guys…! Is everything okay?" she asked again.

Coco answered. "Still in one piece and kickin'! we can still handle a few rounds, I guess." She then turned her glance towards Kyle. "And Kyle… we met your guy."

"Who?"

"Xiphon. That guy's totally no joke…"

---

Moments ago…

RABBIT! TANK! BEST MATCH!

In front of the face of a swarming menace, the genius physicist Sento Kiryu strapped on his Build Driver and cranked the lever once he inserted his red Rabbit and blue Tank Fullbottles into the belt's slots. The citizens had all cleared the area and thus, preventing the infestation from further spreading. He was assisted with another Huntsmen team by the name of CFVY. There were two other members on the fold along with the fashionable Coco Adel and the rabbit Faunus Velvet Scarlatina.

One had a dark skin and dark, messy copper hair that has a long fringe and a cowlick. He was seen wearing a sleeveless, muted orange zipper vest with black lining and a high collar, a pair of black jeans, and brown, laced shoes. His eyes were pure white, showing that he was physically blind. His arms were covered in scars, and he had a vertical scar on his lips. He also wore a pair of long black gloves and had several pouches attached to his belt.

The other was a tall and athletic-looking young man with shaved-short black hair and tanned skin, wearing mostly pale-green and brown attire. He had a long short-sleeved robe, which he wore on one shoulder over a black muscle shirt. The robe was fastened at the waist by a leather armored belt with two pouches on it. He also wore brown pants and black-and-green boots. His left arm bore a 5-layer sode armor plate which extends up past his shoulder. He was carrying a great sword that was affixed to his back with a padded brown strap slung over his shoulder. He also wore a pair of bracers as well as a pair of black gloves with green plates on the backs.

Fox Alistair and Yatsuhashi Daichi were still just as curious as the girls in the team about how much a single Rider like Build was capable of. Despite so, they tried their best to maintain their focus on the battle while observing their new genius friend. The two prepared their respective weapons along with the others, and Sento was ready to put on his armor. As he cranked the lever, a pair of plastic model-like gates was constructed in both his front and back. The respective red and blue-colored liquids ran through the gates, and formed a pair of separate armors. The physicist then went into a fighting stance and chanted the magic word of all kamen Riders.

ARE YOU READY?

"Henshin!"

HAGANE NO MOONSAULT! RABBIT TANK! YEAH!

The gates merged into Sento's body as the armor whirred and locked its parts in place, letting off a diagonal steam once it was done. The gates then collapsed and dematerialized, completing his transformation as kamen Rider Build. His armor was uniquely shaped in a diagonal-crossing pattern of red and blue plates, one that would remind of a vortex. The armor's notable traits were a white spring on the left red boot, a tank thread on the right blue shoe, a rabbit ear-like and tank muzzle-like ornaments located at the left side of the chest plate, and a pair of unique visors in a shape of a red rabbit head and a blue tank respectively.

The genius physicist was finally clad in his Kamen Rider Build Rabbit Tank armor, much to the Huntsmen team's amusement and wonder once again.

"Heheh, hell 'yeah', indeed." Coco mused, rhyming with the Build Driver's end jingle.

"Always the flashy one, aren't you, Sento?" Fox mused.

"Even in the face of apocalypse, one must maintain the flashy outlook to raise the morale." He replied. "It's always the tradition, people."

"We still have Dai-Shocker full on our plates, though. And on top of that, they're turning the citizens into these… clown zombies?" Yatsuhashi wondered.

"I get the feeling, Yatsu. But they're still people. If we can somehow free them…" Velvet said.

"We will." Coco said as her gatling gun whirred. Knowing that the Husks were still yet to notice their presence, she asked the Rider for any advice. "So, what's the plan?"

"Simple. Since we still have no means of curing them, we need to round them up and incapacitate them for research. I've got a report that their injuries will disappear once we lift the virus off of them, so don't bother holding back. And let's hope we could find an end to this swarm before Dai-Shocker could do their worse. But for now, we need to what we can so that the Ex-Aidverse Riders can contain them from spreading any further."

"Got it. Fox, Yatsu, on the front line and help him out. Velvet, we'll back 'em up from here and make sure no Husks pass this point. And yes, you can use the box." Coco ordered.

The rabbit faunus' eyes were beaming with joy. "Yes!"

"Then I'll be your genius vanguard! We're a go!" Build said as he used his right rabbit boot to jump high, boosted by its white spring. In a short span of time, he was able to reach the Husks that were seen scouring the abandoned streets to look for more prey. He managed to take them by surprise and easily knocked them out cold with physical attacks. At some point, he would use his rabbit boot to kick the Husks away a few yards into a concrete and his right tank boot with a rotating thread shoe, dealing more damage to the Husks.

This immediately caught their attention towards the team, in which the latter welcomed with Yatsuhashi and Fox charging forward. With his Fulcrum greatsword, Yatsuhashi easily swept the enemies away and in a large number to top it off. Not even the Husks could hold him off due to his size and immense strength that he displayed. He also sent off a huge shockwave by pounding his sword to the ground and brought them all down to the ground.

Unlike Yatsuhashi, however, Fox relied on hit-and-run strikes which were complementary to his Sharp Retribution arm blades. His movements were agile and quick despite the fact that he was blind. It was all thanks to his pair of near-invisible earpieces dubbed as ADA, or Accessibility Dialogue Assistant, that he was able to navigate the battlefield and quickly swept the Husks out one by one.

Build was still securing the outer front area with the Drill Crusher weapon he summoned through the bottle gates. Its spinning drill was able to push through the oncoming Husks easily. Meanwhile, Fox and Yatsuhashi backed down to give the girls a way to push the Husks back. Coco prepared her Gianduja, a briefcase that could turn into a huge gatling gun, with Velvet using a blue solid light replica of Coco's weapon thanks to her camera box, Anesidora. And thus, there were two heavy gunners present to mow down the Husks. They did so without breaking a sweat.

While Build cleared out the remaining Husks, he couldn't help but wondering why this was all seemed too easy, yet he couldn't let the victims be empty-minded slaves for Dai-Shocker due to the fact that they were still infected with Shocker Virus. He then decided to regroup with the rest of the team once he was done, witnessing Coco and Velvet finishing their tasks.

"There we go, all set and done! Good job, team!" Coco said.

"Finally! But I gotta admit, this is all too easy." Velvet quipped.

"I know, sweeping zombies like this would be easy with two Giandujas. Is Dai-Shocker always this dumb?" the beret girl wondered.

"Not quite, considering how they've been operating lately. And I got a bad feeling about this, somehow." Build deduced.

Fox soon reported. "Guys, I'm picking up readings from my device. It's coming fa-urgh!"

Suddenly, the heroes were being struck down by an enemy moving in high speed. Even Yatsuhashi and Build could barely able to withstand it, let alone defending their comrades. Once the attack stopped and the heroes fell to the ground, a familiar face appeared before our heroes.

"So nice to finally meet you, Team CFVY, Kamen Rider Build."

"You…!" Build grunted.

"My name is Xiphon. Rightful heir of Dai-Shocker. Soon to be the Great Leader… of Remnant."

"So, he's our guy, then?" the green swordsman asked.

"The one and only." Build replied.

"Great Leader of Remnant? Yeah, keep dreamin', jackass!" Fox was clearly not buying Xiphon's declaration. he then decided to give the Dai-Shocker general his very own 'warm welcome'. But of course, he wouldn't be alone in this matter. He exchanged glances with his team to prepare their next counterattack.

"Hey Build, mind backing away for a bit?" Coco asked.

"I'll analyze him from the sidelines. Good luck, team CFVY."

"Velv, can you go to the frontlines?"

The rabbit Faunus checked on her camera to see if she had any stock photos for her to use. "I still got two more stocks for the go, but I'll make it count."

"Then let's get him." She grinned, gesturing Fox and Yatsuhashi to charge ahead.

Fox took the first strike by swinging his arm blades. Xiphon took several small steps to dodge it aside, only to find his body to be grazed by the pivoting blade. Xiphon was forced to block Fox's arm blades, letting his gauntlet being struck by the Huntsman. Fox then kicked him away and had Yatsuhashi to use the element of surprise by jumping high to deliver a heavy blow from his greatsword. Xiphon could barely stand his ground as he was being pressed by the sheer force of the attack, added with Yatsuhashi's own weight to add more pressure. Realizing that it wasn't enough, Coco channeled her Semblance to the Dust chamber of her Gianduja, powering it up as she fired her gun that spewed out differing effects, ranging from flames, cyclone, and ice that felt much powerful than Xiphon ever withstood. In the end of the assault, Velvet summoned a hard light construct of Nora's hammer, Magnhild. They were successful in pinning him down to the ground.

Build was amazed by team CFVY's teamwork as he grinned under his helmet. The four of them were one of Beacon's experienced upper-classmen, earning a place in Vale's top tier list. He remembered meeting them in a mission where they need to guide a travelling group through the dangerous parts of Remnant. It was also through him that they learned the existence of both Kamen Riders and Dai-Shocker. They were surprisingly more willing to be a part of their crusade, and their capabilities proved enough for them to be recruited for his cause.

Suddenly, his mind snapped back to reality when the seemingly downed Xiphon rose up once again and spoke,

"Oh well. Looks like I've seen it enough. My turn."

Xiphon took out his sword and attacked Yatsuhashi, who defended against it with his Fulcrum. Despite their difference in size, Xiphon was able to hold his ground against the Huntsman's sheer power. As the two traded blow, Yatsuhashi seemed to wave his hand in front of the Dai-Shocker general's face. Xiphon suddenly felt quite disoriented, in which the Huntsman used as a chance to deliver a heavy blow. However, Xiphon quickly gathered his mind together and dodged the strike by his own onstinct, ended with Xiphon delivering several punch barrage to his body and ended it with an energy blast from his palm that knocked Yatsuhashi away.

"Did you just do something to my mind? Nice try, but making me forget my next move doesn't take my reflex away. I'm much more built for a fight than you've ever known."

Fox was the next one to attack him. Xiphon quickly dodged The Huntsman's arm blade strikes with his nimble and fast reflexes. Fox also resorted to his kicking attack to immobilize Xiphon by tripping him down. Xiphon also began throwing a punch barrage against the Huntsman. The two began trading blows against one another, with Fox seemingly gaining the upper hand as opposed to the unarmed Xiphon. However, it was merely the Dai-Shocker general's ruse to further observe his very adversaries.

Knowing that Fox was an agile fighter, Xiphon attempted to tire him out by dodging every single of his attacks. He also saw how the Huntsman's sharp Retribution blades were able to pivot forward, which made Fox's attacks almost unpredictable. However, Xiphon saw through an opening from him as he staggered a bit from his exhaustive unsuccessful attacks. The Dai-Shocker general quickly caught Fox's right arm that was about to strike him down. He then slammed the Huntsman down to the ground, hitting him hard and locked the arm with his ground grapple technique.

"So you're actually blind, huh? Never thought that a disabled person like you would be this adept." Xiphon commented.

"So you noticed…"

Xiphon then rolled back to seemingly give Fox a chance to rise again. "Now, shall we?"

"Oh well, appreciated the chance!"

Xiphon decided to make his next move. As Fox rapidly struck him with his blades, Xiphon managed to cancel out his attacks by going for the dashing arm, in which he pushed it away to give him a room for an elbow strike to Fox's chin. Added with a few strikes to the Huntsman's torso and an uppercut, Xiphon finally took Fox down without a single dent on his armor.

"It's me who must be thankful for your performance, Huntsman."

"Fox!" Coco called out as she rushed towards her comrade.

"Dammit! He's making fun of me…!" Fox grunted from his pain.

"He's really toying with us… and somehow I got this nagging feeling that he's been holding something back. The question is what? And that's just as irritating as my days back then." Build muttered, rubbing his chin.

Velvet took her chance to summon her hard-light Fulcrum and clashed against the assailant. Despite her rather small stature compared to Xiphon, she was able to swing the greatsword copy with relative ease. She was even able to jump high as Xiphon tried to trip her, making her moves quite unpredictable compared to Yatsuhashi. Their weapons soon locked against each other, and the two opposing fighters were pushing themselves through the lock. As they both broke away, they continued to clash once again as Xiphon noticed that Coco had her gatling ready and aimed at him. Its muzzle barrels whirred and the Dust inside it were all fired up. He soon realized that it was definitely a pincer attack. Either he continue or stop, he would be struck down either way.

But not if he could handle it himself. And he only had seconds left before Coco reached to the trigger.

As soon as their swords came in contact once again Xiphon seemed to be pressed down, only for him to grab Velvet's sword tip and broke it. as the hard-light construct vanished, he dashed towards the rabbit Faunus and proceeded to use her as a meat shield against Coco's gatling gun as it started to lit up. Coco was forced to lift the Gianduja up to avoid firing at her teammate, in which she successfully did. However, it cost both of them to be taken down by the Dai-Shocker commander using his dash ability.

"A great sync between a heavy gunner and a weapons copycat. But that won't be enough to put me out just yet."

"What the hell…!?" Coco grunted.

"He… he's too strong!" Velvet said.

"Very soon, the people of Remnant will open their hearts to the reality, one where they will realize that you're all not needed in this world. Especially the Kamen Riders." Xiphon declared.

"Not needed? Heh." Build scoffed as he just finished his analysis. "Just so you know, we don't even need your approval to exist in this world. After all, you're the one who brought this mess in the first place. And it's our job to clean that up no matter what world we're in right now."

The Rider took another Fullbottle that embellished a gray-colored gatling gun. He replaced the Tank Fullbottle with it and cranked the lever to activate its function.

"And once I start my experiment, I'll put you out of my equation."

GATLING!

ARE YOU READY?

"Build Up!"

A jingle came out of the Build Driver and it formed the building gates like his default transformation, only that there was a new armor part that formed behind him as it was the only one that would be changed. The gates merged and his blue Tank half dispersed into a blue energy that would soon be covered by the combining new armor parts. Once it was done, Build's armor let out a diagonal gush of steam.

His new gunmetal gray armor parts consisted of a gatling gun muzzle-shaped right visor, a bullet stock on his left chest that was being placed diagonally, a rigid, blocky armor plates on his left arm, and a new right leg parts of the said color.

"Oh boy, here it is…" Coco mused.

"Are we really talking about this again?" Velvet deadpanned.

"You guys go on standby. I'll try dealing with this guy." Build said as he took out his Drill Crusher that he changed into its gun mode by detaching its drill part and attached its tip on the grip's frontal slot. As he held it on his left hand, he flexed his right hand to form another weapon, which took an appearance of an orange and gray gatling rifle that had a motif of a green-eyed hawk.

HAWK GATLINGER!

The Rider charged towards the Dai-Shocker general by firing both of his guns. Xiphon defended himself by crossing his arms to deflect the barrage of blasts before firing his energy ball from his palms. The two soon engaged in a shootout. Xiphon's energy blasts were just as destructive as ever, destroying several structures as Build kept on avoiding the blasts by jumping using his rabbit spring boot. The Rider was able to keep his momentum of constantly leaping from one place to another and shot both of his weapons. This also seemed to trouble Xiphon whenever he tried to use his dash ability to catch him up. Everytime he did, a kick on his helmet would always be the result as if Build knew which points he and Xiphon would meet when he descended from his jumps. The Drill Crusher gun's single shot and Hawk Gatlinger's semi-rapid shots were efficient enough to keep the Dai-Shocker general at bay as the blasts hit against each other.

In the midst of the blast collisions, Build was able to get close to Xiphon, engaging in a mixed combat to try who could shoot who in the face first. Xiphon's techniques could draw Build's armed hands away from hitting his body. When Xiphon's chance arrived to shoot the Rider in the face, Build quickly tilted his head away as the blast blew up the car behind him, which could've happened to him if it weren't for his rabbit agility imprinted to his armor's joint motors.

The fight continued to trading kick blows, with Build hitting Xiphon with his rabbit boot first to also boost him up to the air before kicking him with his gunmetal gatling boot. Xiphon blocked the kick, but Build flipped back and delivered an uppercut with his left gatling gauntlet. He also added more and more rapid uppercuts with its respective function to launch the Dai-Shocker general up to the air. As Xiphon fell to the ground, Build had his right leg prepared for a heavy kicking blow. However, Xiphon quickly rolled mid-air to avoid it and shot his dark energy blast at Build, sending him hitting a concrete wall as sparks flew from his armor.

"Build!" Velvet called out.

Xiphon approached the Rider who was still lying on the ground and struggled to gain his stand. He stomped on his chest and pressed him down. "This is the new age of Dai-Shocker. Just like you Riders, the bigger the loss, the stronger we get. I admit, you lot may have such admirable traits. But under my fists… it shall be your downfall."

"Thanks for compliment, I guess…"

"You know I'm threatening you right now, don't you?"

"Oh, I doubt that."

Build grinned under his helmet, knowing that Yatsuhashi and Fox were already behind his enemy. Their weapons were ready to strike the latter down. Xiphon let go of his leg from Build's torso to avoid the attacks and push the Huntsmen back with his sword. The two began to adapt with Xiphon's unpredictable movements, if not perfectly. However, it was enough to buy time for Kamen Rider Build to unleash his another form.

"Now!" Fox shouted as he and Yatsuhashi managed to get their enemy occupied.

TAKA! BEST MATCH!

Cranking the belt's lever as he rushed towards Xiphon, the build gate it generated hit the latter and threw him off his feet. The general quickly maintained his stand, but he was too late to bring the Rider down this time.

ARE YOU READY?

"Build up!"

TENKUU NO ABARENBOU! HAWK GATLING! YEAH!

As soon as the orange armor parts replaced Build's Rabbit ones and the gate collapsed, the armor let out a diagonal steam. His left visor changed into a hawk's head, an orange wing ornament was attached on top of his torso's ammo carrier, his orange shoulder pad formed a sharp wing motif, and the most notable trait of it all, he gained a pair of bionic orange wings on the armor's back.

Clad in his Hawk Gatling form, Build soon conquered the skies as he took flight with his retracted wings. With both guns on his hand, he rained down his fury at Xiphon. The latter blocked the blasts with his blade, but he was soon forced to use his arms to do the said task as the attack gradually threw his sword off of his grip.

"The blasts become more powerful!?"

"This is it, guys! Back 'im up! Velv, wait for my signal." Coco gave the order, with the rabbit Faunus nodded at the last instruction.

The Rider flew down and kicked Xiphon on his chest. He flew again and shot him with both of his guns. Xiphon tried to maintain his stand by evading the shots with his dash ability, all the while shooting his energy blasts. as powerful as the blasts could get, they were all meaningless as Build swoftly dodged them all in the air. After all, flight agility and precision are Hawk Gatling's specialty.

As Xiphon was busy avoiding Build's gunshots, he was suddenly struck by Fox, who happened to have his Sharp Retribution swung at him. the former was able to dodge it first, but Yatsuhashi strick his blind spot and tripped him down. He fell down and his body was rolling and dragging along the concrete, although he could almos still maintain his bearing with his feet.

"Unh! But, how…?"

"We already know your movement patterns. There's no use zipping away like that!" Yatsuhashi said.

"You know what they say, you don't need to be fast to trip down runners. In some cases, anyway…" Fox boasted.

"That's just… clever. Yeah, I'll give you that." He praised as he prepared his chest cannon, charging his massive amount of dark energy to it. "But let's see if you can withstand this!"

Coco and Build nodded to each other as the latter flew down to her. Both answered,

"Oh it's on!" Coco gestured to Velvet to take out her last copy of hard-light Gianduja as she prepared hers.

"Just in time for the winning formula!" Build took out his Gatling Full bottle, inserting it to the Drill Crusher's slot and spun the Hawk Gatlinger's bullet-like disc.

10!/20!/30!/40!/50!/60!/70!/80!/90!

100! FULL BULLET!

READY, GO! VORTEX BREAK!

The three heroes fired their weapons against Xiphon's giant energy sphere. Hundreds, and maybe even thousands of bullets were spitted out to ward off their impending doom. The giant sphere would slowly brighten up the more energy and Dust bullets it contained. Xiphon knew that he wouldn't easily win this Rider-Huntsmen combo if it kept up like this. It was then that he came with a decision to retreat.

"Whelp, time for my exit."

As the giant sphere was about to explode in front of him, Xiphon quickly summoned his dark portal and made his way through it. the sphere soon exploded, leaving nothing in its wake. As the explosion settled down, they didn't find any sign of Xiphon in the field.

"Did we do it?" Velvet panted.

"I… I'm not sure…" Coco said. "I don't feel like there's a body that's being disintegrated with that giant ball."

"My sensors couldn't setect his presence or remains of him here, as well. He just slipped away in time." Build informed as his comms just rang. "Guys, I just got a call from the big boss. Said that we should go to Genm Corp. for a briefing."

"But what about the infected ones, there?"

"Don't worry. Our clean up service will be here shortly."

---

"Xiphon, huh?" Kyle muttered. "This just gets better and better. Anything else about him there?"

"Other than he fired a huge ball of energy and a speed dash? That's all about it. All that matters now is finding out what else they're hiding. As if unleashing a horde of zombies weren't enough for them." Coco said.

"Alright, then. At least you guys managed to push him back. Next time, we'll all be ready. We all have to."

"I'm with 'ya, kid." Coco patted the Rider's shoulder. "Oh, I think you and the others haven't met the boys in our team. C'mon you two! We got our juniors, here!"

After the leader of team CFVY motioned her male teammates to come forward, Yatsuhashi introduced himself first. "My name is Yatsuhashi Daichi. Pleasure to meet you all."

"Likewise." Kyle replied. "You're wearing an oriental garb? That's not the kind of clothing I get to see directly everyday back home."

"Oh, you knew about it, too?"

"Yep. In my home, it came from a country called Japan. It always left an impression the first time I saw it on a magazine. I assume it won't be any different in Remnant."

"Good to know." He nodded.

"The last time I saw an oriental garb is Blake's pajamas, by the way."

"Hey." The cat Faunus waved from behind the young man, in which he took notice of.

"Hi, guys! Fox Alistair, here!" As it was Fox' turn to introduce himself however, he was seen facing to a wall, which caused a deadpan from his teammates.

"Umm, Fox? We're right here." Velvet said.

"Eeh? B-but I'm sure you're all in front of me! Right?" he put his hand forward to check on the said wall, and it was true. "Oh."

"Yeah-yeah, blind jokes. We get it." the rabbit Faunus helped turn her friend to the right direction.

"Wait, did you say blind? Apologies for my ignorance, by the way." Kyle asked.

"No biggie. And yeah, I'm actually blind." Fox clarified. "But don't worry, I have this device to help me scan my surroundings with my ears. It's called ADA." He pointed at his earpieces.

"Ooh…"

"Lemme see! Lemme see!" Ruby squealed as Fox turned his ear to Ruby. The young Huntress inspected the device closely, discovering that it looked like a regular pair of earpieces. She then asked, "Do you always listen to songs with these, too?"

"Yup. No matter if you're normal or disabled, technology always rocks! It's all thanks to the developments Atlas Kingdom provided us. Industrial behemoths, that kingdom is." Fox said.

Ruby then turned to Weiss, who added his explanation. "Well, what can you say? Besides from that, Atlas is also a joint institution of a Huntsmen Academy and a military force. It's been that way long since."

"Still, we're really lucky to have someone as knowledgeable as you Weiss. Right, Ruby?" Fox said.

She nodded happily before turning to her white-haired teammate. "Hey, next time invite us over to there, okay? I haven't gotten out to other kingdoms that much."

"Yes. next time." Weiss accepted, although she tried her best to hide her bitter tone. It can't be helped since she had little to no fond memories there.

"Even this world has its way of keeping the disabled on the loop of life. Wish many people can be as lucky as you are in my world." Kyle said.

"We all have different circumstances and ways to solve it, Kyle. and yeah, me too."

"Hi, y'all!"

The next to arrive are team JNPR, who were being guided by a lively girl who was wearing a rather… colorful outfit, much to the others surprise except Emu. She was the one where the voice came from.

"Looks like the last batch just made it here." Emu grinned.

"I believe I haven't met some of you yet. My name's Poppy Pipopapo. Nice to meet you!" she introduced.

"She's a game navigator from DoReMiFa Beat, one of our Level 3 arsenals. And she's the first benevolent Bugster to exist during the virus' outbreak." Emu explained.

"We met her during the red mist incident back then. She's a really tough Rider, too." Jaune said.

"Ooh, a living game character! You know, I always wonder how would game characters get into real life." Ruby said to Poppy.

"Now you're seeing it." she smiled while twirling.

"So, everything good back there?" Yang asked.

"Piece of cake. Not even a Kaijin can stop us from saving the people." Jaune informed.

"Umm, you do realize how much trouble he gave us, right?" Pyrrha pointed out.

"T-trouble? Haha, nah! We're doing really fine!"

Kyle chuckled. "Guys seriously, what's going on?"

"We encountered Gamedeus back then." Nora explained. "And we won! Thanks to the Riders' help of course."

"Won? As in, completely-obliterated kind of winning?"

"Totally! And like I said, no trouble at all!" Jaune boasted. As he remembered Hiiro's words before they arrived.

"No matter how much the odds are against us, it's always important for the leader to keep their team morale's up."

Kyle and Yang glanced at each other, witnessing how much Jaune had been making a great deal about it. They can't help but smile in relief, knowing that their comrades turned up unscathed.

Velvet noticed how Pyrrha was still moping since she just arrived. The rabbit Faunus approached her and asked. "Pyrrha, is everything alright?"

"Oh! Uhh… yes. I hope." She said rather sheepishly.

"I can tell if there's something going on in the field, you know." She said.

"It's just that… it's been a long day. I think I'm just tired."

Velvet sighed. "I understand. But please, don't hold yourself back, next time. We all need as much support as possible." In which Pyrrha simply nodded at the notion.

"Alright, let's head to the upper floor, now! The others are waiting for us!" Poppy informed. "We're gonna have so much fun! Everyone's gonna be there and together… we are going to save the world."

Poppy mentioned the last part in the most serious way possible. Her voice was deepened and her face was sharpened, similar in the way we saw most western comic books. It took the others by surprise for a bit while, but suddenly her mood swinged back to her normal cheerful one, leaving the new recruits in bewilderment.

"Ain't that just the mood we need…" Kyle mused.

---

The heroes were guided through the halls of Genm Corp. it was full of the company's arcade game displays. Various merchandises, ranging from dolls, statues, to posters were displayed as neat as possible. Ruby couldn't help but gleaming over the games that she had played as a kid up until now. The fact that it was another base of operations for the All Kamen Rider League further increased her curiosity. She knew how much those warriors had practically been hiding in the plain sights of Remnant, but to think that a game corporation would serve such purpose to mankind's protection had never once passed her thoughts before. The heroes had finally arrived at the building's 5th floor, where the meeting hall was located. Emu and Poppy opened the doors to our heroes, revealing something that left them agape, especially Kyle.

"Okay guys, when you said meeting room… you didn't mention anything about a theatre!" the young Rider gawked. The room was surprisingly as huge as a theatrical stage could be back in his home, complete with a stage on the front. He knew that the briefing would be more or less an intel presentation, but he still found it quite unbelievable that the decorations would be on that level.

"The CEO got quite of a taste of things, you could say. I think it'd be better if we show you what he's like, but he's currently preparing himself in the backstage." Emu explained with a bit of a cringe in the end.

"What kind of meeting that requires a backstage anyway!?" Weiss ranted.

"Oh you'll see. Trust me, we get that feeling a lot."

"Speaking of "we", it looks like everyone's here." Ren pointed out.

Just exactly as he said, the hall was filled with lots of familiar faces. They were all the Riders that they had met before; Agitoverse, Ryukiverse, Gaimverse, Dri-verse, Ghostverse, and Ex-Aidverse Riders, including Yusuke, Natsumi, Sento, and even Akari. All of them were already on their seats. While waiting for the briefing, they were comparing notes of what had already transpired or simply having a talk after such long day. The young recruits could already tell how much of a big deal the Husk incident was. Although the threat had been contained, there would still be a lot to do with Dai-Shocker and their associates still at large.

Still, that doesn't mean there is no room for a little fun.

"Well, will you look at that… everyone's really here. At least the ones we'd met." Kyle muttered. "Guess we're really gonna get plenty, right now."

"Y'know what? I gotta admit, just seeing everyone's here thrilled me up." Nora said.

"Yeah, me too! Just look at them! I really want to talk to them all! But I don't know where to start…" Ruby squealed.

"Whoa slow down, sis. Love your enthusiasm, but we still got a situation, here. Keep your head on the game, will 'ya?" Yang reminded. "You're team RWBY's leader. Don't forget that."

"O-oh, right!"

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Weiss grinned, which Yang replied with a snarky wink.

"We'll be on the backstage to get some preparations set. If there's anything you need from us, just call right away." Emu said.

"In the meantime, have a seat and go take your time along with the Riders! Though they're the ones we could get to this briefing at the moment, make sure you guys get along with each other well! Toodles!" Poppy and Emu then walked past them to the backstage.

"Actually… I'm not really sure if we should all lay back like this." Blake hesitated.

"A lot has happened today, Blake. Remaining vigilant is a must, but we must know when it's time to cool down before going back to action again. the situation is already contained at this point, and we'll all be discussing our next move shortly. But until then… we hang out." Yatsuhashi said.

"I know… I just can't help it."

"Oh c'mon, you killjoys! I'll take the headstart, then!" the orangehead said as she rushed away from the group.

"Nora, hey!"Ren tried to stop her, but she was too fast for him to catch. He could only sigh at the sheer joy of his teammate. "She's at it again…"

"Guess that just means we need to lighten up. Gotta let out the pressure somehow, right?" Fox patted Ren's shoulder.

"Yeah… I guess."

Coco then instructed, "Anyway guys, let's take our own seats, too. I'm sure the briefing's gonna begin anytime soon." And the recruits complied.

"Good idea." Kyle said. He still wanted to hear more stories from his seniors. He read their files over and over again sure, but perhaps he could process them better when he talked to the others more.

---

While waiting for the briefing, our heroes took their time in talking with the senior Riders. Nora was the first one to dash her way through to Nico who then brushed her head playfully. Greeting her along were Go and Ryo. Ren, Taiga, and the other Ren, which is Akiyama, soon followed after. The latter Ryukiverse Rider even insisted to mention him with his last name to avoid confusions. Despite so, both Lie Ren and Ren Akiyama, along with Taiga Hanaya seemed to have grown into close friends in such a short time, with them sharing their calm and collected outlook which the others agreed with.

Ruby was still fawning over Shinnosuke, Ryu, and Kiriya's unique Rider systems that tied strongly to their vehicle themes as explained by Krim Steinbelt the belt. She began to develop a liking for automobiles, especially the ones that could be used as weapons since "It's also a gun" was her lifetime jargon. As Weiss was watching her over, she was greeted by Shinji who joined Ruby's group soon after, along with Hikawa and Makoto who both shared a fist bump when they met.

Blake and Yang enjoyed their talk with Shouichi, Takatora, and Mitsuzane. Surprisingly enough, Shouichi was able to follow Yang's puns, much to the cat Faunus' chagrin. Jaune and Hiiro were still reviewing their training. The doctor also asked Pyrrha as to how Jaune's improvements went along. She replied that Jaune's development was moderate, and that he still had many rooms to further develop. Takeru then jumped in and took the redheaded Huntress by surprise. They both laughed it off.

Team CFVY discussed their last mission with Sento and Akari, hoping that they could assess their encounter with Xiphon and any other stronger enemies better. Kouta, Kitaoka, Parado, Shinji, and Alan reviewed and compared notes from their assignments ranging from Dai-Shocker base raids, public service, to news coverage that was usually being handled by Shinji.

Amidst the crowd of Remnant's protectors, Kyle sat next to Natsumi and Yusuke. He asked them about their experiences with Tsukasa.

"So, how did you guys met Tsukasa?"

"Our first time with him? Hmm, let's see…" Natsumi gave a thought. "I found him lying in front of my old photo studio and took care of him for 4 months. That's before we began our journey to prevent the collision of 9 Rider Worlds."

"A photo studio?" Kyle wondered. "So you guys took pictures and got paid for it, then?"

"Yeah. It's been a long while since we did it. we had been shifting our focus to defending Remnant the first time we arrived here. See, Tsukasa used to have this pink Blackbird camera, but it broke in the previous fight and he's been saving money to buy another one." She told.

"Also, I don't think he ever mentioned this before, but he admitted that he's really good at many, many things. Except for taking a photo." Yusuke said as he took out one of the said taken photos. It had a picture of Beacon academy, but there were some distortions in it.

The young Rider rubbed his chin in a deep thought as he was inspecting the photo. "Is it always like this?" he asked.

"No matter how many times he did, this is how his photos ended up into." The man said as he added another query. "Notice something?"

"Aside that this photo isn't out of focus? I mean, I don't really know much about photography, but… wait, isn't there like, a Decade armor in here?"

"Exactly" Kiva-la rose out from Natsumi's pocket. "This is because of what he called as 'looking through another lens of the world'. Like us, he's been travelling through the Rider Worlds before he merged them, along with Remnant as of today. Usually, his photos depicted many things that had come before and will come after the moment it was taken."

"Which means… he knew that this moment will come. He knew that I'd be his successor defending Remnant. No wonder he entrusted me with the new Decadriver right away."

"Although I have to tell you, his way of doing things can be so peculiar at times. It's good that he's still being honest with you, you know." The little bat said.

"Uh-huh... And what about you, Yusuke?"

"Do you believe me if I told you that I met him as a different person?"

"Uhh, I don't follow."

"He meant it literally, Kyle." Natsumi explained. "His body and soul was separated during the world collision incident."

"Eh? Seriously!? O-okay… what then?"

"My soul was thrown into my old homeworld and formed a body of my own. I took the name of Yusuke Onodera without knowing who I really am throughout my journey with Natsumi and Tsukasa. And once I found out about it, I discovered that my body had become an empty shell that Dai-Shocker's first Great Leader used for his world conquest, along with the hunt for our heads."

"That's crazy… like, that's just the only way I could describe it."

"I know, right?" Yusuke chuckled. "Imagine fighting your own body that had like 3 times of your own power? I even had to fight my Ultimate Form while I was stuck all the way with my lesser forms!"

"Sounds like hell."

"You tell me. If it weren't for my friends, I wouldn't be here on my own. By the by, regaining my body back also came with a bundled extra in it."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see soon enough." Yusuke winked.

"We used to be a bunch of happy-go-lucky world-travelling people back then. Or at least, that's how I always refer it." Natsumi added. "Me, Tsukasa, Yusuke, Daiki… the four of us helped the Riders save the Rider Worlds by safely fusing them into a singular big universe, one where our histories, journeys, and hearts are connected to one another."

"And that is how the All Kamen Rider League is born." Yusuke smiled.

"That's so cool! So uhh, now that you mention it, who and what's this Daiki guy like, by the way?"

Before he could get the answers of his last question, suddenly the lights were turned off as the Huntsmen and the others got on their seats with the formers sat next to Kyle. he figured that this might not be the best time to discuss it further. And so, Kyle decided to shift his focus back to the task at hand.

"Whoa!"

"What's going on?" Pyrrha wondered.

"Does this even necessary?" Weiss said.

"Guys, look!" Jaune said.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you all for your attendance at today's All-Kamen Rider League meeting. For our comrades who are unable to attend, may God's blessing protect them in their journey, and for all of you who are present, said GOD will host today's meeting with grace!"

"Okay… what's this God thing all about, anyway?" Kyle muttered.

"Just see." Yusuke said.

"Standing in front of you is the guardian, savior of the entire Riderverse. The greatest God of the game world and Kamen Riders in existence. The one and only… KUROTO DAN!"

Kuroto laughed menacingly, a trademark well-known by the inhabitants of the Riderverse. The CEO of Genm Corporation didn't hold back when he expressed his self-proclaimed admiration. The Riders, all of which who knew him well, could only shook their heads and be dumbfounded by how absurd this particular man's behavior was. As for their new recruits, only Kyle, Ruby, Yang, and Nora who gave his theatrics their uninterested clapping and a monotonous "yay". But of course, everyone would react that way.

"Wuh-whaaa…?" Weiss jawdropped.

"Well, this is… much more welcoming than I expected." Jaune uttered.

"Wow, he's fun!" Nora commented.

"R-right?" Ruby and Yang half-heartedly agreed.

"I never knew he is this eccentric…" Pyrrha sweatdropped.

"He's been laughing for 20 seconds straight and hasn't even stopped yet." Ren commented.

"Yeah… Imma' give that 7 out of 10 stars." Kyle said.

"But why, though?" Blake sweatdropped.

"I heard that! Now that's how you give a God praise, folks!"

"BUT WHY, THOUGH!?" the new recruits deadpanned, this time.

"Well that's gotta leave them quite an impression." Coco commented as her teammates could only sweatdrop.

"In this moment, we have once again stepped into the World of Remnant once again ever since the first time we've defended this world. We owe everything to the honorable Huntsmen of this world. and now, we shall give our warmest welcome to our Huntsmen recruits over there! Thank you for coming today!" he said, followed by clappings from the League members.

"Huh. I gotta say, he's pretty good at giving speeches." Yang halfly mused.

"For years, Dai-Shocker has been a thorn in our side. Tyrants who sought over total world domination, robbing free will out from the people. But we are here to stop that! We are Kamen Riders, the greatest advocates of freedom fighters! We have kept the world safe for more than a decade! We have purged thousands of evil and faced many trials and errors until we can stand tall as of today! Myself included."

"That's pretty much explanatory for everyone, I guess." Kyle muttered.

"You'll be surprised when you hear more stories about him, though." Kiva-la flew out from Natsumi's pocket to her shoulder.

"And now, with the Dai-Shocker launching their strike, we shall fight back with every might we could muster! The mission shall commence! We shall purge them! SMITE them! Burn them to ashes! And-!"

Tsukasa rose from the curtains and cut the CEO off, sending a chop to his right shoulder. "Alright, showtime's over, man."

"Could you please… NOT chop me that hard!?"

"Hey-hey, chill out man, chill out. We've already have our levels high, remember? That's why we gotta act more civilized. Pretty please? For our recruits?" Emu followed, patting the man's shoulder.

"Ah… that's right. My apologies. And here I thought I was cured from my insanity." Kuroto said as he snapped away from such demeanor.

"It's fine. we all gotta start somewhere. Tsukasa, let's take it over from here."

"Splendid. Ahem! One moment..."

Tsukasa dusted his hands before clapping them and stretched them both out to reveal several holographic screens that floated on the stage, which took some of the Huntsmen recruits in awe. Even Kyle couldn't help but gaze his eyes towards such existing advanced technology that his world's civilization has yet to develop in such level.

"Finally, the briefing." Taiga scoffed.

"Yeah, I feel you." Ren patted the radiologist's shoulder, which he nodded to knowing how Nora's hyperactivity was almost comparable to.

Tsukasa allowed Emu to begin their briefing. "Doc, your moment, please."

"As we all know, Dai-Shocker has already made another big move by infecting Vale citizens with the newly weaponized Shocker Virus, an upgraded version of the previously known Bugster Virus. According to the field records, the Husks, as we called them, have the ability to infect people to become one of their own, thereby multiplying their numbers as of this moment. We have currently contained them inside the Game Field's containment zone. But as of this moment, we have yet to completely develop its countermeasure due to the virus' rapid genetic developments since we researched its first sample."

Tsukasa continued. "On the other hand, our intel has discovered a Dai-Shocker facility which we believe as the Virus' main production source, located in this area."

As the Rider pointed at the screen, Weiss realized where the coordinates was. "That's the Forever Fall Forest!"

"Correct. It was first known to have hidden a Dust mining site operated by our well-known archenemy. However this time, they set up a small base inside a small ruin located inside the forest." Tsukasa said.

"Our scout team also reported that there are four jammer mechs in the area. However, they don't seem to turn its jammer function on, this time." Emu continued.

"They sure set up HQ's really fast" Kyle pointed out. "But I still find that odd, actually. It's like they're inviting us there."

"You think so?" Weiss asked.

"Well, why else would they set up four jammer mechs if they're not going to cover their tracks this time?"

"Four mechs, huh? Now that's a treat." Yang cracked her fists.

"You're really enjoying this aren't you?" Ruby and Blake sweatdropped.

Kuroto then continued, adjusting his manner into a more composed one. "Now then, we'll be assigning Kyle Morgan and Team RWBY to infiltrate the base. You five will be accompanied by Emu and your glorious champion, ME." He emphasized his own mention, catching the mentioned recruits in surprise.

"Eeeeh!?"

"E-excuse me, but are you really sure we're gonna be enough?" Ruby asked.

"Why wouldn't we?" the CEO snarkily replied.

"Don't worry, we always have countermeasures in case things go south. Besides, some of us really just wanna stretch up with our Rider gears. Though hopefully, we could keep it that way." Emu explained with a bit of uncertainty.

"So that means the rest will watch over the refugees and patrol the city, then?" Kyle asked.

"Exactly!" Kuroto answered. He then continued in his assuring tone. "We shall become the League's vanguards in disposing the Shocker Virus, and we'll emerge victorious. I assure you all it is."

Emu sighed, "Ever the try-hard game master… but he's right, people. We can't afford to lose against those scrubs."

"Now I'm really curious to see how those two roll!" Ruby said.

"Very well, it's all settled then. We'll begin preparations for the infiltration tomorrow. We've had our hands already full in here as of today. Take the time you need, and we'll strengthen our defense here. Remember everyone, the fate of Remnant is in your hands. And to quote a good friend of ours, we are Remnant's last hope. Dismissed."

---

With Tsukasa delivering the closing statement, the heroes went on to their duties and continued their jobs. The Huntsmen recruits exchanged their goodbyes.

"Well, that was some presentation, back there." Ruby said. "Gosh, I just can't wait to kick some Dai-Shocker butt, tomorrow!"

"I'm with 'ya, sis! This is starting to feel like our extracurricular lessons. Well, 'cept that it's a field work." Yang winked.

"Though I have to say, what we're doing here is an unofficial assignment. Except for team CFVY, we're actually yet to be allowed to pick up a mission on our own as underclassmen. We're lucky that Ozpin and the rest of the teachers understand our upbringing in this matter, or else Ms. Goodwitch will keep on scolding us for unauthorized Huntsmen business." Weiss pointed out.

"So long as we're allowed to help people, I don't see why we shouldn't be doing this. 'Sides, I get to go on more adventures!" the blonde Huntress said as she thrust her fist forward.

"You're really just in for the thrills aren't you?" Blake commented, causing Yang to grin and giggle.

"Sometimes I wish I was taught monster-hunting since day one." Kyle remarked before he turned to the expert Huntsmen team. "So, you guys are gonna help our seniors in the field?"

"On the city patrol, yeah. We just need to catch a few breath and we're good to go." Fox replied.

"Yeah, we're all gonna get really busy, soon." Velvet replied. "By the way, mind if I take pictures of your weapons first?" Velvet asked her friends.

"Oh, okay. Go on, take mine first!" Ruby took out her Crescent Rose as Velvet used her camera to get her job done. "So, do you like weapons, too?"

"More than just that. I need those weapon pictures on my camera so I can have more hard light Dust copies."

"Copies? As in… OUR weapon copies?" Weiss asked.

"Yup." The rabbit Faunus nodded as she kept on taking pictures of her friends' weapons. "I've known for some time that Atlesian techs also heavily relied on that. Even if it's mentioned as 'hard', it's actually quite flexible to be turned into all sorts of stuff, including barriers."

"You're right about that. Ten stars for you."

Upon hearing Velvet's description, Ruby was struck in awe as usual. "That's just SO COOL! It's like, you can use all of our weapons at once! You're like the Kamen Rider Decade of Remnant weapons!"

"Aawww, that's sweet." Velvet smiled, mixed with a small giggle.

"A weapons summoner? That's awesome, I gotta say." Kyle commented.

"Thing is, I also need to maintain the number of my hard-light copies at the same time. It's just like eating one snack at a time. Can't use them really often. That's why I need to take pictures, too."

Concerned, he asked the Faunus. "Isn't that a bit… I dunno, inconvenient?"

"That's where my team come in. besides, I still have my fair share of martial arts to hold on my own. Though I gotta say, it must be nice having that kind of tech, right? Back in my days at Mantle, I had several… difficulties to maintain my weapon's hard light supplies. It used to be hard to obtain even a shard of it." she said while taking several more pictures.

"I see…" the heiress nodded.

"There! All done!" Velvet finished. "That's a bunch of cool gears I've got here. Thanks a lot, all of you!"

"About weapons anyway, have you ever tried the ones from the Kamen Riders?" Kyle asked. "I mean, they all work in the same principle of 'it's also a gun' thing, right?"

"Ooh! What about their armors? Can you also copy them? That'd be awesome!" Nora asked.

"I… don't think my box could replicate something as complex as a power armor. Not with the way it is, right now. Aside from that, I think I might give their weapons a try, now that I have Kyle's. what's it called, anyway?" she asked the young man.

"Ride Booker. Perfect for BOOKING the villains' trip to daycare."

"Ayyy…" Yang cheered by giving him finger guns, which he also returned.

"You done, Velv?"

"Coming! See you guys around!" Velvet waved at the others as she left along with her team.

"Bye, guys!" Ruby said. She turned to team JNPR and asked, "So, what are you guys up to after this?"

"I think we'll go with the doctors to the hospital. There are still people who need our help. I can only imagine how traumatizing this is for them." Jaune said. "We can take turns in attending the refugees too, though."

"I say we get some snacks first." Pyrrha said.

"Good idea."

"Alright, we're off then, guys! You're all gonna need a rest too, right?" Nora said. "And Kyle, say hi to Xiphon for me! Oh, and break his leg, too!"

"I'll keep that in mind. Though, I really have to squeeze my brain back and forth if I'm really going for it." He joked.

"Maybe having a few jellies will help you out." She remarked.

"I don't think it works that way, Nora." Ren ponted out.

"Well, see you all later, then!" Ruby bid her farewell, followed by her assigned teammates.

---

After the heroes went on to their separate ways, Kyle was expected by Sento and Tsukasa who were standing in a corner of the corridor.

"Kyle, a minute please?" Sento asked.

Kyle complied and approached them. "What's going on?"

"Kyle, there's something you should know." Tsukasa reminded. "Remember that when you tried to save a child inside a mall? Did you feel something unusual when you're rushing to her?"

"Umm, maybe?"

"How about this; when you were rushing to save the child, you felt like everything around you was slowing down and there's this… rush of confidence that you're fast enough to reach her. Is that about right?" Sento evaluated.

"Wait, I think that's it! I felt a bit wobbly after that, but it wasn't much of a big deal." Kyle answered. "Let me guess, does this have anything to do with my Rider powers?"

Sento and Tsukasa exchanged their glances and nodded to each other, confirming their suspicions. Sento was the first to give him the heads up. "Exactly, Kyle. we believe that you have triggered what we called as 'Clock Up'. It's an ability owned by the Riders of Kabutoverse that enables them to slow down the flow of time for a few seconds. And you did it without obtaining the Kabuto Totem firsthand."

"So, is that suppose to be a good thing?"

"We don't know for sure. On the other hand however, I discovered some sort of strange readings from our last check-up. I've been looking up to it and we suspect that this 'anomaly' must be related to what happened to you back then."

"My guess is that your power is at risk of growing unstable, Kyle." Tsukasa warned. "That's why I need you to be careful. We might have built that new Decadriver from scratch, but there's still a lot we don't know about the orb relic it was built from. I won't stop you from doing your mission, but I implore you to not overexert your strength unnecessarily. Is that clear?"

Kyle sighed. "Yes, sir. Although, when you said unstable… does this have anything to do with what I did before? Back when I had a sparring session with Yang?" he recalled.

"We're still trying to figure it out. But I hope that it doesn't get any much worse. You should take a breather for now. There'll be so much to do after this." Sento advised before they parted ways.

---

Hours passed by and everyone did what they were assigned to. Team JNPR was helping people out in the hospital, team CFVY was patrolling on the streets and finally, team RWBY and Kyle were resting on the dorms. Alone in his room, the young Rider reminisced on his past fights. kept ensuring himself that he wouldn't allow anymore lives lost on his watch.

Just as he was still lost in his thought, he heard a knock on his door. He opened it to see Yang on her pajamas.

"Oh, hi Yang." He smiled as he kept his weary eyes open.

"Still up late?" she grinned.

"Says you." He gestured the blonde Huntress to enter his room while the door was still open. She took a chair near the room's desk and sat on it as Kyle sat on his bed. "What's going on?"

"Just checking up on you. I mean, we're all gonna need to prepare for the next mission, I know that, but… I just can't help myself because I haven't seen you left your room ever since we got back from Genm Corp. that usually doesn't sit well with me."

"Wow, am I really THAT misleading?" Kyle widened his eyes, then proceeded to explain things as casual as possible. "Well, if you're really that curious, I got nothing peculiar to hide. I was just taking a nap and I woke up a bit later than usual. I still have some food stocks on my shelf. That, and I need to prepare for tomorrow, too."

"I see."

"Oh, by the way, how's your end on Raven Branwen?"

"Eh, the usual. Either she moves REALLY fast or she REALLY doesn't wanna be found. So yeah; still a dead end." She answered with a bit of a frown.

"You might wanna say 'dead end square' because moving really fast and not wanting to be found fits the equation. That's like, a double whammy for us."

Her frown was quickly uplifted by the remark. "Pfft, math jokes. Wow, I really should learn more from you."

"Hey, I only say things that comes outta my head when it comes to that. Can't really teach you the exact think-tank of it, though. Other than that, it's more or less of what you've been doing."

She laughed. "Okay-okay, hold that thought for a moment." The girl sighed and went back to the main topic. "So, after this whole 'searching for Raven' gig, I still like to think that she's really out there, protecting Remnant in her own ways, you know? I mean, my mom - Summer Rose – used to tell us stories about many Huntsmen and how they protect Remnant, something that I also did when she's not there for Ruby. And even until today… I'd like to think that it's also true for Raven, too."

Kyle could only imagine how complicated her childhood was. She wasn't even sure which she should refer to as her true mother; Summer Rose or Raven Branwen. But despite her uncertainty, she still moved forward and looked out for her little sister, Ruby Rose. In conclusion, he couldn't be any more proud than to have Yang Xiao Long as his caring friend.

"So enough about me, let's get back to you." Yang then asked, "I'll ask this again; you sure you're good?"

Kyle answered while letting out a soft sigh. "I'm sure, Yang. Don't worry. I won't fail, WE won't fail, no matter what." He said to himself, pridefully clenching his fist as Yang threw her gaze upon the determined young Rider.

---

On the other side of the dorm, Ruby decided to head out towards Kyle's usual hang out spot; a lonely bench sitting on the dorm's rooftop under Remnant's starry sky. Only this time, she found Glynda Goodwitch sitting on it.

"Evening, Ms. Rose." She said.

"Oh, I… didn't expect you to be here, professor."

"Taking care of the recent outbreak report is surely exhausting. I was simply following Ozpin's advice to find a way to relax, even though I don't feel like relaxing, right now."

"That bad, huh?" She sat next to his teacher. "But, aren't you just pushing yourself too much?"

"I know. That's why I find this place to be comfortable. Since we're in the rooftop, the wind here is very soothing. I have to say, you children are really good at finding a place to procrastinate on your own." She said.

"Some of us just happened to be someone with a lot of time to think, Ms. Goodwitch. And I think I'm no exception to that."

The woman giggled upon hearing Ruby's remark. She then offered him a bag of donuts that she happened to buy during her way back to Beacon.

"Do you fancy some donuts, Ms. Rose?"

"Is it okay?"

"After an exhaustive hour of work, I happened to buy a lot of donuts on my way back to Beacon. Would you like some?"

"It won't hurt to try." She took the vanilla-flavored one and ate it, letting out a big smile as she savored upon the taste of the donut, which Glynda also took the happiness upon her, as well. The young Huntress then asked again, "So… how was Beacon while we're away?"

"It's plenty as usual." She began. "We're trying to ensure that none of the first years act brash and leave Beacon without our permission."

"Really? I thought you're all going to let them roam free just so they could kill Grimms." Ruby raised her eyebrows.

"As much as we'd like acknowledge that, we need to ensure them that we're dealing with an entirely different threat, one that we couldn't solve normally. Especially, since it involves an infectious substance." She explained.

"I can see that. Even though we Huntsmen are immune to the effects of the virus, we can't guarantee that the other Huntsmen could deal with the fact that they're dealing with infected innocents."

"Exactly. Not to mention, there are some students whose trainings are still inadequate, even after they passed the initiation. We couldn't risk losing more students in this matter." Glynda continued.

"I… I understand."

"Do you have something on your mind?"

"How do I put it?" she sighed. "Of all the missions I got assigned to, I've never been this nervous before."

"Oh really? And here I thought you are a confident team leader." The professor teased.

"I-I AM confident!" Ruby flustered. "It's just that… Somehow I feel like things are going to get much heavier than I used to think it'd be with the whole 'humanity's fate rests on our shoulders', thing. And then there's the whole Mirror World mess. I might not be the one to see that myself, but still… I can't afford to lose anyone else ever again."

Being a seasoned Huntress herself, Glynda knew how much of a burden her students had to carry since the past experience in the Mirror World, especially Kyle himself. The fear of failure to save a single life is unavoidable, and it is up to Glynda to ensure that her students can still carry out his duty to protect innocents.

"Ruby." she began by addressing the girl's first name, meaning that she was very serious. "I understand how heavy it is the price of a single human soul, but you mustn't let the fear control your actions. Whatever happened in the past is in the past. You just need to face whatever is happening in front of you."

"But how can I guarantee that it's not happening again?"

"You can't. Not by your efforts alone." She advised. "We all need to have faith in ourselves, faith that we can accomplish even the most impossible things in this world, faith… that everything will work out in the end. Just like how I still have faith in Ozpin until this very day."

"A faith, huh?" she muttered.

"And if there's anything else you can talk to me as your teacher. Even if my and the teacher's routine is to teach you in the class, we are willing to listen to everything that you hold back in your chest. I entrust you to relay this message to your friends, Ruby. Especially Kyle since I believe that he needs it the most."

"I understand, ma'am"

And with that, the night passed.

---

Inside a newly-fortified base In the ruins of Forever Fall, the unarmored Xiphon took another dose of his syringe-packed medicinal fluid as he began his day by working on his portable computer, compiling one file to another that contained mostly records of the previous fights. He was accompanied by none, although he had his goons handle the base lookout.

None, except Roman Torchwick in the video call.

"You sure lay back more than I could remember, this time." Roman said through the video call.

"I've finished all the preparations I've need for my 'grand scheme'. Though I have to admit, taking a quiet stroll in the forest is quite refreshing."

"See what I mean, now?" Roman sighed. "But fine. I'll assume you have everything in order for your own ends."

"You don't need to assume anything, partner. It's all according to my calculations. And speak of the devil… here they come."

Xiphon put his armor on as his scanners detected the presence of his nemesis. He turned off the video call as he headed outside to greet his guests.

The heroes finally arrived on the base's fortified gate, with Kyle and Ruby riding the Machine Decader, Emu and Weiss on the Bike Gamer with the same type of bike being used by Kuroto, and Yang and Blake on the Bumblebee. Awaiting them were the Combatants, all armed to the teeth. The Huntress team prepared their weapons and The Riders quickly put on their respective Driver belts and activated them.

KAMEN RIDE :

MIGHTY ACTION X!

"HENSHIN!"

DECADE!

GASHATTO!

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

I'M A KAMEN RIDER!

GASHACON BREAKER!

GASHACON BUGVISOR!

Ruby, Weiss, and Blake jumped out of their rides to engage the Combatants, followed by Ex-Aid and Genm in their chubby Level 1 Forms as they de-summoned their bikes. Ruby twirled her Crescent Rose and Weiss summoned her Glyph to defend themselves against the oncoming blasts. Blake jumped above the two and threw her Gambol Shroud sickle to the enemies, flailing them from one to another. She also pulled one of the Combatants and kicked it to its group. She also avoided a launcher by leaving her shadow clone behind before going behind the launcher user and decapitated it. Ruby then swung her scythe to nearby Combatants, using its gun portion to help reduce the enemy numbers. Weiss thrust her rapier several times to a Combatant in front of her, reducing it to dust and froze the ones behind her with ice Glyphs before turning it to flame Glyphs and blow them all up.

Ex-Aid followed suit by throwing his hammer and knock the Combatants out with his physical attacks. He relied on his wrestling moves that involved slamming them down and bashing them away with his bulky suit. Genm also fired his gauntlet gun as he walked casually towards the firing Combatants. None of their Dust rifles could stop the Rider in his tracks. While keeping his reserved composure, he threw several punches and kicks, along with some point-blank shots for extra damage, a style that was contrast to Ex-Aid's energetic moves.

As they were ready to finish the enemies off, Ruby rushed to Ex-Aid's side with Weiss and Blake to Genm's side. The Riders also activated their finisher command on their devices.

GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!

MIGHTY CRITICAL FINISH!

"Ruby!" Ex-Aid threw his hammer upwards, continued by ruby jumping high with her Crescent Rose's gun blast. She knocked the Gashacon Breaker with her weapon's blunt end and sent it towards the Combatants below, causing a huge explosion upon contact. The two shared a high-five and shouted, "Yay!"

GYU-IN!

Genm switched the Gashacon Bugvisor to its chainsaw mode and pressed his weapon's 'A' button to power it up. Blake dual-wielded her weapon's portions.

"Mind if I take the lead?" Weiss proposed as she went on her stance.

"Sure thing." Blake replied.

"Much obliged." Genm accepted.

The heiress casted two of her Haste Glyphs beneath the two warriors. It enhanced their speed as they sliced through the Combatants. Blake jumped using Genm's head as her ramp and flailed her Gambol Shroud sickle, continued by Genm spinning around as he swung his Bugvisor chainsaw to the enemies. Once he was done, he skidded and stopped right in front of Weiss.

"Mind if you give me a lift?" He asked.

Weiss grinned and summoned a gravity Glyph beneath the Rider, reversing its effect once Genm set his stance to jump high. He flipped forward as he rose up to the sky and fired his empowered Bugvisor, with Weiss using her flame Dust from the Myrtenaster's cartridge to send off a powerful flaming slash. The combined attacks caused an explosion that completely wiped out the last of the Combatants in the area.

"This is why I could NEVER get bored seeing those clown suits in their glory." Ruby said. "They're just amazing!"

"Oh please. How about YOU try it on for yourself?" Weiss retorted.

"I bet kids would love it." Blake smiled.

"W-well…"

Upon hearing it, Genm rubbed his huge helmet's chin part. "Clown suits, hmm? Now that gives me an idea…"

"I know what you're thinking, dude." Ex-Aid patted his companion's shoulder, exchanging their glances as they chuckled.

"Anyhoo, I get with the Genm name, but why using it instead of, I dunno, Black Ex-Aid?" Ruby asked.

"Simple; because it's cheesy. The name 'Dark Ex-Aid' won't help it either. I might what you consider as a dark variant of Ex-Aid here, but I have my own style, as well. That is the one of the most important substance of being a Kamen Rider." The black Rider explained.

"Right back at ya', buddy!" Ex-Aid threw his finger guns in agreement.

---

Meanwhile, Decade-Kai and Yang charged through the enemies with their bikes, quickly turning them into dust. As they were closing in to the gate that was closed shut, the Rider took out his card.

"Yang, with me!"

"You got it!"

ATTACK RIDE : CROSSATTACK!

The two bikes were empowered with magenta and yellow energy that acted as their battering ram. They successfully broke through the gate and were ambushed by a pair of Uber Ursai. Decade-Kai activated his bike's weapons and fired at them as Yang skid her bike to trip one off before grinding the enhanced Grimm with Bumblebee's rear wheel. She then got off of her bike and rapid-punched the monster in its face while avoiding its claws. The Rider kept on shooting the Uber Ursa until it clawed the Rider off of his bike and tumbled into the ground.

"Kyle!" Yang called out.

The brawler's attention was drawn off from the Grimm as it was sending its claw right towards her. She managed to block the strike with her right arm. She winced a bit from the Uber Ursa's sheer force in order to maintain her focus on its other claw. Before it could reach her, Yang used her left gauntlet blast to strike it down once more in its head, effectively downing the Grimm.

"One down, one to go. And you've done it, pal."

Decade-Kai quickly regained his stand and charged towards the Uber Ursa. The monster swung its claw to the Rider, which he managed to dodge quickly. He then took out his sword to graze its arm, causing it to roar in pain. Decade-Kai took this chance by kicking its groin all the way down and took out his card.

ATTACK RIDE : ILLUSION!

He summoned four copies, with each of them cutting off the monster's limbs with their enhanced swords.

ATTACK RIDE : SLASH!

And for the final touch, Decade-Kai stepped on the dismembered torso of the enhanced Grimm. He took out another card from the Ride Booker to finish it off.

FINAL ATTACK RIDE : DE-DE-DE-DECADE!

With the Ride Booker gun in his hand, Decade-Kai aimed it at the monster's head in point blank as it roared for the last time. The Rider pulled the trigger and his gun spit out a beam that passed through the small card gates in front of the muzzle. The blast incinerated the Grimm's head and chest. He then jumped off from its remains, walking a few inches away as it exploded.

"Your meal, Ms. Xiao Long." He bowed down playfully.

"Haha, eww no." she giggled. She then said, "I'm a beauty, not a barbarian." While doing a pose of a princess by holding her side skirts up.

"Yep. No one wants to eat a black powder, anyway."

"That's why you don't say 'powder' without a 'pow'! eh?"

"Heh" the Rider chuckled under his helmet.

"How original." Weiss pointed out as she and the others were done with their part.

"Aww c'mon! that hit the spot, too! I think…"

"We should go, guys. Who knows what else is still inside this ruins." Ruby said. "Somehow, I got a bad feeling about this."

"Feeling's mutual, Rubes." Decade-Kai replied.

The heroes finally entered the ruins and they witnessed what appeared to be a machine of sorts. It had a huge glass tube that housed a bloody red chemical liquid, suggesting that it could be the improved Shocker Virus they were looking upon. The machine was still functioning as shown by its whirring mechanical noises. What was more unsettling is that it was quiet inside the facility.

"I see… they must've completed it." Genm said as he analyzed the substance through his visors. "Sneaky bastards…"

"Think this is what we're looking for?" Decade-Kai asked.

"From the looks of it, I have a hunch that it's true. This virus could cause a great reaction to a human body. And I'm afraid with that much of dose, neither Aura or Rider Armors could protect us, this time."

"S-so that means… we could be turned into those zombies?" Weiss shivered upon hearing the statements.

"I'm afraid so. Although without the proper item to contain or spread it, the virus would just float into the air and vanish." Ex-Aid said.

"In other words, let's get rid of those things!" Yang readied her gauntlets.

"There was a saying in my world: simpler problems require simpler solutions. Looks like this is it." Decade-Kai said as he dusted his hands.

"I should make a note for that." Blake commented.

"I'm afraid that won't be a SIMPLE task for you… protectors of Remnant."

They encountered Xiphon, who uttered the last words in a mocking tone and quickly went on to their stances.

"Xiphon…" Decade-Kai muttered.

"You guys are just in time to be here for a treat! The show's about to start soon, and I'm just in a mood for a brawl. It's kinda lonely to be in here, you know?"

"Oh really? Roman Bailed you out, already?" Yang gloated.

"More like I need him for another job, actually. Can't send all your assets at once when you're setting up things in motion, is it not? Now here's the real kicker; all you've been doing is just delaying the inevitable. Our plan has been set in motion before you lot arrived here, and I will see to it getting fulfilled myself."

Without long thoughts, the Riders went on to access their more advanced forms.

KAMEN RIDE :

"We'll see about that. Henshin!"

"Grade 2!"

"Dai-Henshin!"

KUUGA! / GACCHAN! LEVEL UP!

MIGHTY JUMP! MIGHTY KICK! MIGHTY, MIGHTY ACTION X!

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

A pink holographic gate appeard in front of him. It went through the Rider that caused several pink pixels to engulf his armor. The bulky deformed armor exploded its parts away, sans its head that turned itself to Ex-Aid's back. The pixels revealed him in his Level 2 form, which was his default real-type humanoid form. Much like the Riders that came from the Ex-Aidverse, he had a HUD-like silver chestpiece with a lime collar and a fuschia jumpsuit-like armor that went from his entire body to his upper arms and legs. It had black circuit lines that went from his armor to the bottom of the jumpsuit. His gloves and his shoes were a combination of fuschia and lime, giving him an impression of retro color combos. Finally, his helmet also looked similar to the bulky one that went to his back, only that the latter's goggles turned black and exchanged to the former, opening its yellow eyes as his armor activated to complete his transformation as the true warrior of the game world.

"Whew, finally got to rock on this look! Now let's clear this with no continues!" Ex-Aid said his catchphrase.

"And I shall clear this, even WITH continues." Genm followed with a variant of his own.

"Okay… Oh, this might just work." D-Kuuga thought to himself of his own team's arrangements. "Well, Xiphon? Two users of Mighty Action X variants, a passing-through Kamen Rider in his Kuuga Mighty Form, and one of the mightiest Huntress team on Remnant here to smite your so-called 'grand plan'. These are your odds, pal. What do you say?"

"Mighty? Aww, that's sweet!" Ruby chirped.

"Well said, young Decade." Genm complimented.

"I say… this!"

Xiphon gestured his right hand, commanding four jammer mechs out from their hiding and sent down a huge piece of mirror to his position. The mirror swallowed him along with D-Kuuga, who quickly covered Ruby and Blake as the mirror fell to the ground, leaving the rest to deal with the four jammer mechs.

"Guys!" Ex-Aid called out, but he soon had to jump back from one of the mech's fist and regrouped with the others. "Dangit! So this is what he's after!"

Yang took her first strike at one of the mechs by throwing a powerful jab as he jumped in front of its cockpit. The other mech landed a punch at her right side as the former mech stumbled back. She quickly blocked it, but the sheer force caused her to roll back. She quickly regained her stand and reminded the others of what they should do.

"Guys, we can think about it later, but right now, let's kick their sorry asses!" The blonde brawler said as she cocked her gauntlets.

"You're right, Yang. Unless we clear this boss stage, we won't be able to retrieve them." Ex-Aid agreed. He switched his weapon to sword mode.

JA-KIIN!

"Agreed. Four Jammer Mechs for each of us. The odds are already even, at this point." Genm followed as he prepared his Gashacon Bugvisor. "Are you up for the task, Ms. Schnee?"

"I've faced a bigger one than these mechs. And thank Oum, I never get rusty." She responded while brandishing her rapier softly.

The heroes went on their stances as they faced the adversary in front of them. It was up to them to quickly get their other comrades out of their predicament.

"You guys okay?" D-Kuuga released his friends from his cover. He also took some of his time to inspect where they had just been taken to.

"Yeah. Don't worry about us." Ruby said. "Wait, wasn't there a huge mirror that crashed on top of us?"

"Did you say a mirror?" Blake asked.

"Umm, yeah. Wait, if this is what happened, then-!"

"You're right, Ruby. This is the Mirror World." Blake said.

"No way…"

The Rider then turned to see his archenemy standing a few inches behind him. the Huntresses also went onto their stances. "This won't make any difference before, Xiphon. We'll stop you like we always do."

"I'd like to see you try, then. Although I believe, you DO recognize where we really are, don't you?"

The Rider went on to check what appeared to be a derelict facility. He began to recognize its structure, along with the skies that turned red unlike the last time he came. He could feel his heart racing, and his breathing got much heavier. He knew the place much well than the others, the one where he received a haunting, dreadful experience.

"Well, I'll be damned…"

"Exactly. This is where you failed to save a soul, Kyle Morgan."

---

(A/N)

Hey there, people! I'm back with the 23rd chapter of RWBY : DCD and Happy New Year of 2020, everyone! Which means it's also safe to say, Happy New Decade!

There's been so much going on in the past year, from the ending of Zi-O, the beginning of Reiwa and Zero-One, and we also have ourselves some good chunk of RWBY Volume 7! Also, I believe that the Ex-Aid arc will be a much longer arc than the previous ones because there's just so much going on in this arc, So I'm just gonna end this chapter here. I hope I can give a good conclusion for the Volume 1 arc too, and also write out the next ones, as well.

Moving onto discussions, here's the debut of the entire team CFVY on the field! I've always wanted to do a team-up between team CFVY and Build, especially with the gatling combos, as well! It was really fun to write that part.

Yusuke's story is also part of my Decade story retcon in this fanfic, as well. I took the inspiration from Kingdom Hearts' case of Roxas' existence from Sora's soul that formed another individual on its own. I really like to explore such idea and implement it as to how Yusuke Onodera came to existence from Yusuke Godai's separated soul. Kinda makes them pretty much the same individual now that they merged into a single being in this story, isn't it?

As for Kuroto's behavior, I'd like to picture him to be already well-developed since the events of Another Ending. He might still have his maniacal style, but he's been trying to hold it back more often since he's also trying to maintain his civilized outlook, now that he's part of the Rider League.

The battle to ensure Vale's survival is on! How will our heroes be able to fight against the odds now that they are separated? Will they succeed or fail? What dangers await the city of Vale?

Feel free to leave your comments below and remember, BE CONTRUCTIVE.

Until next time.