"Welcome back to the Roze Gaiden Collection," Woz smiled as he stood in his narrative void, the same black clock in the background ticking away like usual. He went to open up his book before looking through the pages, "The story of Ruby Rose from Remnant who became Kamen Rider Roze has grown exponentially. So much that there are some stories worth telling beyond the usual chapters and interludes of the main story."
He then began to pace around as he put a hand to his chin.
"This is a peculiar story…" Woz admitted as he stared deeply into his book, flashes of Kamen Rider Odin appearing and fighting Roze and Zi-O who were in their base forms, "I had thought we were done with Odin and the Mirror Riders, however it would appear as though we're not… and that's not counting another unexpected visit."
Rider Time: Roze Gaiden Collection
"2019: Reflected Future Part 1"
(Placement: Between "2019: Lords of the Speed" and "2008: Wake Up, Queen's Descent")
Earth – Early June 2019
Yang yawned as she stretched her arms upwards, walking alongside Blake as they made their way through the busy streets of Tokyo.
"Man, am I hoping Kabuto's the last space related Rider we have to deal with," Yang admitted as she put her hands behind her head, "And if we have to deal with one again, they aren't bringing meteors."
"Agreed," Blake nodded, "Admittedly I'm kind of hoping the Time Jackers give us a break during this portion of the month."
"Oh yeah, it's still early enough for them to try something, huh?" Yang asked as she recalled the somewhat schedule that the Time Jackers operated on.
"Yes, and while they are running low, we don't know if they'll take breaks," Blake nodded, also recalling the schedule that had inadvertently occurred as a result of how the Time Jackers conducted their business.
The Time Jackers would usually space their Another Riders apart and most of the time do so three within a month. It was about every other week or so, though the most common pattern seen were attacks at the beginning, middle, and end of the months.
"Well there's like… two left right?" Yang asked, "Clearly we're due for a break."
"We can only hope," Blake said.
"Someone help!"
"Well crap…" Yang sighed after hearing someone's cry for help.
"I feel like we shouldn't talk about these issues on our days off," Blake suggested as she began to look around before spotting dozens of people running away from a pedestrian bridge that was connected to an arena, "Come on!"
"Right," Yang said as she took off after her partner.
Screams of terror suddenly being silenced could be heard as they got closer while pushing through the crowd. The two Huntresses stopped just outside the arena with wide eyes in shock at the sight before them.
Before them was Kamen Rider Odin who had just finished striking down several civilians. He wielded his Goldsabers, the blades coated in the blood of his victims. The blood didn't linger however as it flashed a bright gold before vanishing. At the same time a gold flash occurred within the cards of Odin's Deck.
"What the hell?" Yang questioned with wide eyes, "A Kamen Rider killing spree?"
"That looks like the Mirror Rider that Ruby described one time," Blake narrowed her eyes as she quickly pulled out her phone and sent a text to the group chat, "Kamen Rider Odin."
"You mean the mastermind behind the Another Ryuki plot?" Yang asked as she glanced at Blake before glaring towards Odin, "So he's back for seconds, huh?"
"Something doesn't seem right," Blake admitted, noticing how almost feral Odin's posture was, "Ruby described him as regal and in control but I just see a near mindless beast."
"Well how about we ask him?" Yang asked as she brought out the Magma and Blizzard Knuckles, "At least until the others get here."
"Given we can't let him keep doing this," Blake said as she brought out her Gashacon Sparrow before firing at Odin, "Of course."
Odin was ready to approach a cowering man when he was suddenly shot by several arrows, gasping out as sparks flew and he took a step back. He turned with a growl before he stepped back, watching as Yang rushed towards him.
"Take this!" Yang shouted as she punched with her Magma Knuckle, her weapon clashing against Odin's Goldsabers, the Rider having crossed them to block.
"Are you alright?" Blake asked as she hurried over to the cowering man who managed to regain enough sense to nod. She gave a reassuring smile while helping the man up, "Good, now get going."
"R-Right…" The man said as he fully picked himself up before running off.
"Jeez!" Yang called out as she was forced on the defensive, Odin swinging wildly with his large blades. While she was a close range combatant, the swords Odin had were wide enough when held flat to block her punches and big enough to keep her from getting too close.
Blake immediately took aim and began firing arrows at Odin, the golden Rider swinging his swords out in order to block and bat them away, "Yang, now!"
"On it," Yang summoned Ember Celica while activating her prosthetic, using her guns to propel her forward as she spun before kicking out.
Odin was quick to dismiss his swords, drawing out a staff and a new card before activating it.
[GUARD VENT!]
Odin brought out a long tail feather-like shield known as the Goldshield, blocking Yang's kick. The Huntress however managed to push her weight a bit further, forcing it to tilt before leaping off of it. Odin saw as Yang dropped down while punching, quickly stepping back and swinging his shield out.
Yang gave a light gasp as she braced at the last second, getting smacked away. She landed before forcing herself into a roll, just barely stopping in a crouched stance. In response, Blake began firing out more arrows at Odin who blocked with the Goldshield.
"Mindless beast or not… he's still pretty tough," Yang noted.
"Given that Sougo had to mess with time to deal with him, I'm not surprised," Blake agreed.
"Just get out of my way!" Odin shouted as he let out a growl, finally speaking before he stomped his foot, "No… this isn't cutting it. I had to power to go back and change it all… but this isn't working for me right now!"
"What… what is he rambling about?" Yang asked.
"I'm not sure," Blake shook her head.
"I'll have to use one of the others," Odin said as he brought out something that shocked both Huntresses. It was a Ridewatch, this one being purple at its base with a grey dial and button similar to Ryuki's. The helmet depicted on it was a silver masked and purple helmeted cobra themed Rider, "This should do the trick."
[RIDER SASU!]
[JU!]
A set of energy shots launched forward, sparks flying from Odin as his hand was hit. This resulted in the Ridewatch he had flying off and towards the stadium, it falling through one of the gaps that led deeper into the stadium as a result.
"No!" Odin shouted before turning only to yell out as he was kicked in the chest and stomach.
The culprits were Roze and Zi-O who were in Silver Roze and Zi-O II respectively. Roze had Silver Crescent out with its Rider Face active while Zi-O had the Zikan Girade in its gun formation.
"Whoa, you guys got here quick!" Yang called out in surprise.
"I'm honestly surprised," Blake admitted, "But I guess they were nearby."
"Surprised the Ice Queen isn't with them though," Yang said as she looked around.
Roze and Zi-O both paused and glanced back at Blake and Yang before looking at each other. The two didn't say anything but simply let out some grunts as they rushed towards Odin, Zi-O switching his Zikan Girade back to its sword formation.
"Huh… the silent treatment..?" Yang tilted her head in confusion.
"Uh, guys?" Blake spoke up, wondering what was wrong, "Is everything okay?"
The two Riders were seemingly ignoring their friends, Zi-O going for some continuous swings against Odin's Goldshield to try and force it out of the Mirror Rider's hand. When that didn't work he tried to grab onto and rip it off only to get shoved back.
Roze quickly closed in while firing powered up blasts from Silver Crescent, forcing Odin into a defensive state of blocking. She then aimed at the ground, the shots impacting around Odin and tripping him up. In an instant she hunched over, Zi-O moving in close and leaping onto Roze's back while summoning his Saikyo Girade. He had used Roze as a springboard, dropping down and slashing at Odin from above.
[RIDER GIRI!]
Odin gasped out as he was sent rolling backwards, sparks flying.
"There you guys are!"
Blake and Yang froze when they heard Ruby's voice, the two turning and watching as Ruby ran over from the nearby bridge.
"What's going on, why did you stop…?" Ruby trailed off when she saw her friends look back at the fight, turning to see the fight before grasping her face in surprise, "EH?!"
Roze and Zi-O froze at the yell and turned slowly to see Ruby alongside Blake and Yang. The two looked at each other and quickly huddled up, gesturing towards each other as they seemingly were trying to find a solution towards some sort of argument occurring.
"Sorry we're late!"
Ruby, Blake and Yang turned to see Sougo and Weiss show up, Sougo having called out to them.
"So what's going…" Sougo slowed his greeting to a near crawl as he immediately turned upon seeing Roze and Zi-O silently arguing with each other, "On…"
Weiss could only glance back and forth between her friends and the two Riders that shouldn't be there right now but were.
"Sougo," Weiss said in a calm and reasonable tone, something which worried Sougo immensely, "What did you do?"
"I uh… didn't do anything…" Sougo said in a nervous fashion as he raised his hands. He was innocent, but his girlfriend's tone worried him greatly, "I promise."
"Now's my chance…" Odin let out a groan as he managed to pick himself up, stumbling over towards a nearby window.
"Huh, wait…" Ruby paused as she saw Odin's movement before finally catching sight of the golden Rider himself, "You two weren't joking… that really is Odin!"
"Eh?" Sougo asked as he looked over, "How is he back?!"
Roze and Zi-O both stopped silently arguing with each other and both turned towards Odin who had promptly entered the reflective surface of the window he was near. The two Riders could only groan out before their heads perked up, quickly turning towards the group and backing up further when they saw that Sougo and Weiss were now there as well.
Team RWBY and Sougo could only watch as both Roze and Zi-O tried to hide behind each other before the two Riders looked at each other nodded.
[ROZE SILVER!]
Roze immediately activated the Silver Face on her weapon and shot at the ground, unleashing a blinding blast of light that obscured Team RWBY's and Sougo's vision. By the time everyone was able to see again, both Riders were gone.
"This… was a weird start to the day," Ruby admitted, "Odin, and then copies of Roze and Zi-O?"
"Either that or evil clones," Yang suggested.
"They didn't seem to act that evil though," Blake replied, "In fact they seemed like they were panicking."
"Probably because they saw the real deals," Weiss said.
"Either that or they're from the future and didn't want us to interact with them," Sougo guessed.
"I think that's pretty farfetched," Ruby said, "I mean we know about time travel and such… would we really be that stupid about it?"
"Do you want the honest harsh truth?" Weiss asked with a deadpan stare.
"Oh come on, we haven't even time traveled that much," Ruby reminded in near offense, "The most we've used the Time Mazines for is world crossing lately and we've been getting good at that."
"I think the more pressing concern is whether or not we can trust them," Blake said.
"I can probably handle that," Sougo said, "I'll just try and use my Semblance on them the next time and if they read as allies then we'll be good."
"So what do we do now?" Weiss asked.
"We need to regroup," Ruby said, "Thankfully Penny's hanging out with Geiz and Tsuki today so that cuts down on calls. Meanwhile Woz will show up whenever he's needed."
"Where should we head back to?" Sougo asked.
"Probably the apartment," Yang said, "We're not that far from it."
The Ridewatch that had been shot out of Odin's hand continuously clattered, it having enough momentum and there being enough gaps/openings in the stadium for it to fall to the lowest level it could. Of course, it didn't take long for it to hit the floor and let out an echoing clang.
A disturbed grunt was heard from one of the corners of the area, and soon enough someone could be seen peaking out of a small indention in the wall. Said person had been hiding out in the stadium for a few weeks now, getting lucky to not get caught.
It was a man who appeared to be in his early 40's, having a goatee alongside having medium length dirty blonde-brown hair. He wore a loose black t-shirt with navy colored jeans and grey sneakers, all of them dirtied up. It was to the point where the jeans and sneakers were even discolored. Of course, if one were to look at him closely they'd recognize him as the low class but highly dangerous criminal Takeshi Asakura.
He grabbed what he was using as a blanket, a loose grey-green coat with a fur collar and slung it over his shoulder, looking around for the source of the disturbance.
"Was it just a rat or something…?" Asakura asked before hearing a familiar ringing sound. He wasn't aware of where he had heard it before, but it felt like déjà vu to him. That was until he saw the Ridewatch that had fallen, "Oh…?" he moved closer, a curious but familiar sensation washing over him as he stared at it. He leaned over and grabbed it before looking it over, turning the dial and soon pressing the button, "A toy?"
[OUJA!]
A purple pulse occurred as Asakura gasped out, standing up as the Ridewatch vanished while various flat images of a Rider began spinning and overlapping on top of him. Glass shattered from his body as his armor fully formed, becoming the black suited and purple armored snake themed Rider, Ouja.
"This power… this feeling…" Ouja said as he looked himself over before letting loose a soft chuckle, "It feels like a hole's been filled in me… something I never had but was missing from my life."
The venomous Rider soon rolled his neck with a sigh of near bliss, making his way for the upper levels of the stadium to start his rampage.
It didn't take long for everyone to converge at Ruby's apartment, or rather everyone but Woz who still had yet to show up. The group of eight was currently all around the dining table as they got settled.
"So um… should we wait for him…?" Yang asked as she looked around.
"Nah," Geiz said as he leaned on the table from where he was sitting, "We can catch him up if he needs it."
"I'm just surprised he isn't here yet," Ruby admitted, "Even calling his name usually gets him to show up."
"I'm sure he's fine," Sougo reassured, "You know Woz."
"Then we can get started," Tsukuyomi said as she recalled what led them here, soon looking over at Blake, "So from what brief texts we got, you said you ran into Odin?"
"We did," Blake nodded.
"Odin… was he not defeated prior to now, during the Another Ryuki incident?" Penny asked as she was trying to recall the information she was given of Sougo's and Ruby's adventures, "Or am I mistaken?"
"No you've got it right," Ruby said, "Sougo literally had to go back and force him to become Another Ryuki in the past for us to get any chance at stopping him."
"Probably one of my best plans," Sougo chuckled.
"A risky one though given your fears at the time," Weiss reminded, "But it did work out so we can't exactly complain now."
"But how did he come back then?" Geiz asked, "Did the Mirror World become active again after Another Ryuga?"
"While elements from it have been active in some form…" Ruby trailed in thought as she thought back to both Shinji becoming Ryuki again alongside Kagami resurfacing, "I don't think this is its fully active again."
"You're right about that."
Everyone looked up in surprise when they heard the familiar voice of Ruby but distorted and farther away. It wasn't long before Kagami formed in the standing Mirror that Ruby had set up in the living room.
"Kagami…?" Penny asked.
"Oh hey," Ruby looked over, "You're sure that I'm right?"
"As your mirror self and a mirror being in general I can feel if that world is active again," Kagami replied, "And it's in a sort of passive state at the moment, not fully restored to where the Rider Fight can restart but not fully gone as at its base, it is a reflection of the world itself."
"But how did Odin escape then?" Sougo asked, "Isn't going into reflective objects going into the Mirror World?"
"It's acting as a fast travel point for the moment," Kagami replied, "He can't hide reflective surfaces because there is no solidified Mirror World to reside in. At best it spat him out somewhere else, allowing him an instant ticket out of the area."
"Then how exactly are you residing in that mirror right now?" Geiz asked.
"I'm mostly projecting myself through Ruby's reflection," Kagami replied, "I can't exactly move around a lot, just gesture and talk to you all like this."
"What I'm gathering from all of this is that Odin can't easily hide," Tsukuyomi said, "While he could feasibly hide in the real world, we won't have to scour two worlds to find him."
"There's also another issue," Weiss spoke up, "One that isn't Odin or Mirror Rider related."
"And what would that be?" Tsukuyomi asked.
"Well… there are what we think might be copies of Roze and Zi-O running around," Blake said, "And by copies I don't mean Another Riders."
"Wait, what?" Geiz asked.
"But only Ruby and Sougo are Roze and Zi-O," Penny said with a hint of curiosity in her voice, "How exactly does that work?"
"We're not sure but I know that I totally saw Zi-O II and Silver Roze when Weiss and I got there," Sougo replied before bringing out and placing the Zi-O II Ridewatch on the table, "And it's not like our stuff got stolen to make these duplicates."
"Yeah," Ruby said as she went to place her Silver Roze Ridewatch on the table.
"This is… unprecedented," Tsukuyomi said as she tried to figure out what was going on.
"We haven't ruled out the possibility of time travel," Weiss spoke up.
"We're really going with Sougo's on the spot theory?" Yang asked.
"I'd like to think Zi-O is smarter than messing up with time travel," Geiz tried to defend.
"This is Sougo we're talking about though," Kagami deadpanned from her standing mirror, "And if a future Ruby's in the mix then you know we're in trouble."
"Okay yeah, fine," Geiz relented as he let his head drop.
"Aw man… and here I thought I had Geiz of all people on my side!" Sougo groaned out as he gestured towards his friend.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence!" Ruby gave a thumbs-up as she spoke as sarcastically as she could.
"I mean, I'm you, you're me," Kagami replied with a shrug, "I'm welcome I guess."
"Okay, potential timeline shenanigans aside…" Ruby stood up as she held up a hand, "We need to stop Odin before he does something we'll all regret. If we run into the copy Roze or Zi-O, we'll have to wing it but hopefully they'll be on our side."
"Well they were attacking Odin so…" Yang trailed off.
"But was that because they were on our side or wanted Odin for something?" Weiss questioned.
"If anyone wants some solace in all of this, Odin seemed off," Blake said, "At least from the stories you all told about your fight with Another Ryuki."
"What do you mean?" Sougo asked.
"He was a lot rougher and feral in his movements than what you described," Blake explained, "There seemed to be a lot of anger in how he was acting… and that didn't seem like the in control and super powerful Rider you all fought before."
"Okay," Ruby put a hand to her chin, "If he's not acting like usual then I think we can take a bit of a risk. We need to split up."
"That could work," Sougo nodded, "Us being in a single group means we can only search so much of the city."
"How exactly would we go about it?" Tsukuyomi asked, curious about what team compositions were had in mind.
"Hmm… we should split up into five 'teams'," Sougo said, putting a hand to his chin as he thought on the situation, "Geiz and I will be a team, Blake and Yang will be another team with Weiss and Tsukuyomi being our last team."
"Sounds good to me," Yang gave two thumbs-up as Blake nodded.
"I'm curious as to my team composition," Weiss admitted.
"I can only assume our skills are why," Tsukuyomi answered, "Right?"
"I'm guessing Weiss' summons and Tsukuyomi's time abilities would make a very tough team to get through," Ruby nodded, already figuring out Sougo's logic behind why he made the teams the way he did, "Blake and Yang work together well, the only reason Odin got away was because our copies caught all of us off guard."
"On that I can agree," Weiss nodded.
"That and your copies weren't as on the ball as they should've been," Yang added.
"Then with Sougo and Geiz, it's a versatile powerhouse team," Ruby continued, "Having three groups like this should give us good chances to end this pretty soon."
"Wait," Penny raised her hand, "Sougo mentioned five teams, but Ruby and I on a singular team would only make four."
"That's because you two will be our heavy searchers," Sougo explained, "Ruby's Petal Burst can get her across buildings pretty easily and she can use Crescent Rose to scope out close to the ground locales."
"Yep," Ruby said before looking over at Penny, "Which leaves you to fly through the sky and use your enhanced visual sensors to spot Odin or our copies."
"Very true," Penny said in realization before she saluted, "I will also be sure to contact our group as soon as I do."
"That goes for everyone else too," Sougo said as he looked around, "If anyone finds anything try to we everyone else know so we can converge back together."
"Of course, now let's get moving," Ruby suggested as she saw the others nod, "We don't know what Odin has planned, and how dangerous he'll be if we just leave him alone."
"And you're sure it fell here?"
"Pretty sure, at least from what I could tell before we saw uh… them."
The two conversing were none other than Zi-O and Roze in their base forms. Both had switched out of their upgrades to conserve energy. Of course the biggest surprise was that their voices were strikingly similar to Sougo and Ruby, albeit with a few slight differences. They were in the same lower area of the stadium where Asakura had gotten the Ouja Ridewatch.
"So this is going to be awkward for everyone involved, right?" Zi-O asked.
"Only if we make it awkward," Roze replied before sighing as she looked around, "It's not here, it should have been here."
"Too bad we can't sense it," Zi-O put a hand to his helmet's chin, "Or can we…?"
"Unless you managed to figure out how to," Roze remarked, "Which… you honestly should have by now all things considered."
"Hey, you're the one who set up everything to make it so I didn't have to search all the time," Zi-O said as he raised his hands up in defense, "Or did we forget?"
"Still doesn't excuse laziness mister," Roze sassed back before pausing as she tilted her head as if listening to someone, she placed a hand close to her helmets mouthpiece in realization, "No wait… you're right…"
"Wait, I'm right?" Zi-O asked.
"Not you," Roze shook her head before pointing towards Zi-O, "Remember, these are Mirror Rider Ridewatches."
"Yeah…" Zi-O nodded slowly.
"And reminder that yours truly has experience with mirror related shenanigans," Roze said as she took a deep breath, kneeling down and placing a palm on the ground. She stayed in place for what seemed like a few minutes only to give a shiver and lightly gasp, "Oh crap…"
"What?" Zi-O asked as he got closer, "Oh crap what?"
"We've got another issue and it involves that Ridewatch that fell down here," Roze said as she stood up in a hurry, "We'll need to split up and… as much as you're not going to like this, reveal ourselves to everyone here."
"Everyone means…" Zi-O said before giving an audible gulp.
"Yes, even her," Roze said before patting her friend's back before walking off, "Now come on, I'll point you in the right direction."
"Right, right," Zi-O sighed as he began to follow after Roze.
Odin gasped as he stumbled out of an abandoned building's window, yelling out as he pounded the ground as his transformation dismissed itself. A Ridewatch with a bronze base with a gold dial and button clattered near the owner who was currently wearing a hooded jacket that covered most of his features.
"This power isn't working out for me," the man said as he grabbed and pocketed the Ridewatch before bringing out another Ridewatch with a grey base alongside a green dial and button. This one had what seemed to be another mirror themed Rider on it, "Let's try you out…" he said before clicking the button.
[ZOLDA!]
The man let out a shout as he stood up, flat images spiraling over to him before overlapping and fully forming his new Rider form, Zolda. This was a Mirror Rider that also hadn't been seen like Ouja, having a bright green version of the standard bodysuit the others had with bulky silver armor alongside a boxy green helmet with a silver multi-slit visor. Despite his high tech appearance, it was the gold bull head symbol on his buckle that gave away that the animal theme for him was a bull.
"Hmm, this might work out better," Zolda said as he looked himself over before walking off, "Now then… just to find a way to go back further… I need to go back further so I can save her…"
Ruby was currently using Petal Burst to leap across the lower to the ground buildings, trying to use her vantage point, and occasionally Crescent Rose's scope, to search for Odin. She had landed near a set of warehouses and was mostly just stopping to try and figure out where Odin could be.
"Nothing so far," she said as she went to check her phone only to have no messages yet.
'Hold up,' Kagami's voice echoed as she caused Ruby to perk up, 'Something feels wrong…'
"Wrong?" Ruby asked, "What do you-"
CRASH!
"Come on! Show me a good time!"
Ruby immediately turned and saw a two men crash into barrels, her eyes widening when she saw Ouja step into view. She immediately recognized him as a Mirror Rider, even more so when she recalled Oscar's description of him when he was summoned by Diend.
Ruby tilted her head as she tried to get a better look, "Is Daiki playing a prank or-?"
'No!' Kagami shouted near immediately.
"H-Huh…?" Ruby yelped as she nearly staggered off of her perched spot, "Kagami, what's wrong?"
'I can sense an intense aura of bloodlust from him…' Kagami explained as she calmed down, 'Ruby, if you face him then you should take him out quickly. If not, make the call and just wait.'
"You know I'm not about to do that with people's lives on the line," Ruby hissed out as she took aim and fired between Ouja and the fallen civilians, kicking up sparks and forcing him to step back, "Hey!"
"Huh?" Ouja turned before whistling and pointing towards Ruby, "Now that's something you don't see every day."
Ruby said nothing as she kicked off of her perched spot, dismissing Crescent Rose and using Petal Burst to launch forward, passing Ouja before sliding between him and the civilians.
"You aren't going any further," Ruby said as she brought out her Ziku Driver before preparing her Base Ridewatch alongside her Rose Ridewatch, "Henshin!"
The two civilians yelped as the transformation took place, using it as their chance to run and get away from the area and Ouja.
[RIDER TIME! KAMEN RIDER ROZE!]
"Oh… perfect," Ouja spread out his arms as he watched Ruby transform, "I was hoping I'd run into another armored fighter."
[ARMOR TIME! KAMEN RIDE! YEAH! ROSE! ROSE! ROSE~!]
Roze said nothing as the Rose Armor formed around her before closing in and latching on.
"Show me a good time!" Ouja called out as he ran forward before grabbing onto Roze, trying to grapple and force her to the ground.
Roze gave a grunt before kneeing Ouja in the gut, summoning the Roseiber and striking the Mirror Rider with it, sparks flying as Ouja was sent spinning back.
Ouja gasped out as he was sent rolling before coming to a halt, soon lying on his back.
Roze said nothing as she began to carefully approach, a bit surprised by how direct the Rider was.
'Do not let your guard down…' Kagami warned.
"Yes…" Ouja's body nearly jumped as it jolted slightly, the Rider chuckling, "This is the thrill I've been searching for…"
"Who… are you?" Roze questioned as she took a step back while keeping her blade forward.
"Someone who hasn't realized he's been missing something his entire life," Ouja said as he managed to sit up before bringing out his Venovisor. He drew out a card from his buckle and loaded it into the Venovisor.
[SWORD VENT!]
"That… did not answer my question," Roze admitted as she kept her Roseiber steady, not liking that Kagami was completely unnerved by this Rider.
Ouja soon gained a gold spiraled sword with a purple hilt, the Veno Saber, "Just show me a good time."
Roze could only brace as she watched Ouja rush towards her, gritting her teeth before yelling and charging forward as well.
"Damn, this is taking forever," Geiz said as he looked at his phone, still no messages, "There has to be an easier way."
"I mean I could try using my Semblance but I'm not sure if I'd be able to find him," Sougo suggested as he looked around, "Especially given how many people are in the city and how all over they can be."
"True," Geiz said, "But do you think you could try?"
"Let me see," Sougo said as he closed his eyes before opening them, trying to spot Odin but not finding anyone with that shape. Though he did notice a large blob of yellow acting erratically before spreading outwards to reveal the individual silhouettes of the civilians he had seen grouped up, "Huh?"
BOOM!
It wasn't long before loud projectiles whizzed past the direction that Sougo was looking in, explosions occurring as a result.
"I think something is going on over there," Sougo realized before quickly rushing towards that direction, "Geiz, let everyone know!"
"Already on it," Geiz said as he began to text rapidly while following.
It wouldn't take long before the two managed to push their way past the yelling crowds of people. They could only raise their brows as screams of pure anger were heard as they got closer. Once they arrived they saw the culprit, Kamen Rider Zolda, the Rider holding a massive missile launcher known as the Gigalauncher.
"Whoa," Sougo's eyes widened in surprise.
"What the hell?" Geiz asked as he recognized the base suit alongside the buckle, "Another Mirror Rider?"
Zolda yelled out as he fired off another shot, an explosive shell hitting the corner of a building and causing massive damage.
"Hey!" Geiz called out as he began preparing his transformation into Geiz Revive, "Cut that out!"
"Just what are you trying to do?!" Sougo questioned.
"Huh?" Zolda turned and dropped the Gigalauncher in near shock as he held a hand towards his face, his other hand starting to spasm as he kept it low, "You two… you two… you two… you two…"
"Uh…" Sougo was starting to prep Zi-O II only to stop, "Are you okay?"
"What the hell?" Geiz asked, caught off guard by the reaction.
"I remember that day still!" Zolda spat out as loud as he could, "The day you all arrived and ruined my chance to save her!"
Sougo and Geiz looked at each other in confusion before turning and seeing Zolda reach for his Magnuvisor. The two realized they couldn't waste any more time and quickly initiated their transformations.
Zolda only screamed out as he drew out a card and slotted it in.
[SHOOT VENT!]
"Henshin!"
Zolda gained two massive cannons mounted on his shoulders, giving another yell and launching two cannonballs at the two Riders. Geiz took the initiative and stepped in front of Sougo as their transformations completed.
[REVE-VI-I-VE GORETSU~! GORETSU!]
[KAMEN RIDER~! (RIDER~!) ZI-O! (ZI-O!) ZI-O~! II!]
Explosions occurred right in front of the two Riders only for the fire and smoke to be cut away by Geiz's Jaclaw. He had used Goretsu's enhanced durability and strength alongside the transformation itself to defend against the attacks.
"Jeez," Geiz said as he hunched forward, "That guy's packing too much firepower."
"Then we'll just overwhelm him," Zi-O said as he brought out his Zikan Girade in its gun mode and stepped forward to stand alongside his friend, "Let's go, Geiz!"
"Right," Geiz nodded as he ran alongside Zi-O.
"I'll make you pay for ruining my chances to save her!" Zolda shouted further as he unleashed cannonball after cannonball from his shoulders.
Zi-O and Geiz didn't need any Future Sight warnings to dodge these, the two immediately splitting from each other as they went to circle around and draw his attention.
Zi-O immediately began firing with his Zikan Girade, managing to cause a few sparks to fly from Zolda who turned and immediately started blasting cannonballs at the Rider. Zi-O yelped as he quickly used Future Sight now that Zolda was solely focusing on him.
Geiz meanwhile went to circle around further to get in Zolda's blind spot, charging up his Jacklaw's saw as he closed in. He let out a mighty shout just as Zolda turned, punching forward.
[NOKO SETSUZAN!]
Penny was currently flying through the air, surveying the areas as best as she could to try and find Kamen Rider Odin. Of course she had managed to pick up Ruby's energy signature growing at first with her realizing that Ruby was likely fighting as Roze. But before she could call anyone she managed to see the distant explosions from Zolda's rampage. And before she could even say anything, she received a message from Geiz on the group chat. She paused in her flight, now hovering high in the air as she put a hand to her head and closed her eyes.
"Alright, initiating group call," Penny said, opening her eyes as she went to contact everyone else who likely wasn't engaged in combat.
"Penny?" Tsukuyomi asked once she picked up for her and Weiss.
"Yang here, Blake's with me," Yang answered.
"Is this about Geiz's text?" Weiss asked.
"Yes and no," Penny said, "While Sougo and Geiz are engaged in combat, energy signatures show that Ruby is also engaged in an unrelated battle."
"What? Do you know who they're fighting?" Blake asked.
"Negative," Penny replied, "But judging from our current positions, it would do well for Tsukuyomi and Weiss to converge on Ruby's location while Blake and Yang converge on Sougo and Geiz's."
"Sounds good," Tsukuyomi replied, "Can you send us their location information?"
"Of course," Penny complied as she began transmitting the location information seamlessly, "I will also be joining Ruby's fight as I am close enough."
"That sounds good to me," Yang said, "Just call if anything comes up."
"The same goes for you all," Weiss said.
"Affirmative," Penny nodded before cutting the transmission and flying off towards Ruby's location.
Roze and Ouja clashed blades, the two trying to overtake each other. Despite Roze being in one of her stronger forms, she had to admit that Ouja's strength was near monstrous for a baseline Rider.
"Come on!" Ouja shouted as he managed to kick Roze away before charging forward, "Keep it up!"
"I wouldn't push me," Roze hissed out as she quickly drew a card and slid it into her Roseiber.
[ATTACK RIDE: SHINE!]
Roze enhanced her blade with the element of light, easily parrying Ouja's next slash before stabbing and striking him in the stomach.
The result was Ouja stumbling back with a gasp as he dropped his weapon, "Not bad…"
"You're seriously giving me the creeps," Roze muttered before charging for Ouja.
Ouja brought out his Venovisor and drew out another card, chuckling as he saw it before loading it in.
[ADVENT!]
'There's something to the right!' Kagami warned.
"Huh?" Roze quickly turned before bracing as her eyes widened.
SMASH!
Tearing out of a warehouse was the grey bulky humanoid rhino themed Contract Monster, Metalgelas. It had broken through the wall in an instant and rammed directly into Roze, slamming her against the ground.
"What the…?" Roze asked as she was staring at a rhino and not a cobra, "That's shouldn't be your Contract Monster!"
"Hey I don't know what the deal is either," Ouja said as he drew another card and gave a chuckle, "But I finally feel complete and I bet these are why."
[ADVENT!]
"Another…?!" Roze questioned before she saw a pink blur rushing towards her. She quickly loaded in a card and stabbed her Roseiber into the ground while getting up.
[ATTACK RIDE: BARRIER!]
The blurring pink object bounced off the barrier, smacking directly into Metalgelas. But as a result, the pink blur was revealed to be a manta ray themed contract Monster, Evildiver.
'You need to either run or start getting an advantage,' Kagami hissed out, 'This Rider isn't like the other ones you've faced.'
"Now then," Ouja said as he went to pick up his sword, gripping it tightly before charging forward, "Let's keep this fight going!"
Evildiver and Metalgelas screeched out, the two Contract Monsters rushing forward as well.
"Alright, no more playing around," Roze said as she quickly brought out Birth's Ridewatch and loaded it in.
[FINAL WEAPON TIME: B-B-B-BIRTH!]
[DRILL ARM! SHOVEL ARM!]
Roze dismissed her sword before holding up her arms, the Drill Arm forming over her right forearm while the Shovel Arm formed over her left. She raised her Shovel Arm to block Ouja's swing before slamming her Drill Arm into Ouja's gut just as she activated the drill. The drill spun rapidly, sparks flying as Ouja was sent staggering back.
The Huntress Rider soon yelled out, raising her drill as it began to spin rapidly before slamming it into the ground, cracks forming and destabilizing Metalgelas to stop its current advances. She braced against a rushing strike from Evildiver with the Drill Arm before turning and slamming her Shovel Arm into it when it tried to strike again.
Ouja could only let out a laugh as he stood straight, "Now this is how a fight should be!"
Zolda gasped out as he was sent rolling back, his cannons having been completely torn apart by Geiz. He had attempted to retaliate but was forced to dodge out of the way, Zi-O shooting at him to keep him busy.
Zolda yelled out as he began shooting at Zi-O with his Magnuvisor, managing to force Zi-O into a defensive state and to back off. He began to back away and load in a new card.
[STRIKE VENT!]
This time he gained a gauntlet with gold horns, the Gigahorn, turning to attack only to be met face to face by Geiz.
"Alright buddy," Geiz called out as he managed to grab Zolda by the collar and lift him up, "I don't know why you're mad at us, but your rampage is stopping now."
"So you even forgot me…" Zolda hissed out as he struck at Geiz's armored chest a few times to no avail. He then tried to strike at Geiz's head, but the Rider was holding him so far apart that he couldn't reach him.
"That's not going to work," Geiz said in a bored manner as he held up his Jaclaw, the saw-based weapon spinning rapidly.
"Who said I was going to hit you with it?" Zolda asked as he kept his aim, the Gigahorn also having a gold tipped barrel near his wrist. The Gigahorn began firing off smaller shots of energy, striking Geiz in the face several times.
Geiz yelled out as he shoved Zolda away, holding his face while staggering back before falling to a knee.
"Geiz!" Zi-O shouted as he quickly shot at Zolda to force the Mirror Rider back.
Zolda quickly hopped back, holding up his Gigahorn to brace against some of the shots as he quickly went to draw out more cards.
"Geiz," Zi-O said as he knelt down, "Are you alright?"
"Don't worry about me," Geiz gasped as he began to shakily stand up, his vision slightly blurry from the shots against his face, "We need to keep him from trying anything-"
[ADVENT!]
It wasn't long before a stiff mechanical green humanoid bull with silver accents soon rose out of the ground in front of Zolda. This was Magnugiga, Zolda's heavy artillery now making sense given its design compared to other Contract Monsters.
[FINAL VENT!]
"Huh?" Zi-O turned to see Zolda slotting the Magnuvisor into Magnugiga's back. He squinted as he decided to peak into the future before gasping and tugging at Geiz, "Geiz we need to run!"
"What?" Geiz asked as he was tugged, trying to resist as Zi-O began to run towards the side, "Zi-O!"
"We need to run now from that attack!" Zi-O called out, "Use Shippu!"
Geiz turned back towards Zolda and Magnugiga, his eyes widening once his vision cleared.
Magnugiga's body began to unfold and position itself to reveal that it was indeed a literal walking artillery unit. Energy rapidly built up within several spots as Zolda kept his hand steady on the Magnuvisor.
Wasting no time, Geiz flipped the hourglass of Revive, his armor unfolding as the transformation announcement went off.
[SPEED TIME! REVI-I-VE SHI-PPU! SHIPPU!]
Zolda shouted as he pressed the trigger, "BURN IN HELL!"
Magnugiga unleashed all of its artillery in a constant and single instant. Bullets of different calibers, missiles of different sizes, and constant beams of energy were all launched out.
Geiz yelled out as he sped forward, grabbing Zi-O who had looked back in horror while he tried to use Shippu's speed to get them far enough away.
Of course as soon as the missiles and beams began impacting, numerous large explosions began to be unleashed, the explosions growing in size and numbers as both Zi-O and Geiz yelled out. While the attacks hitting had only lasted for a few seconds, the explosions occurring and spreading rapidly had lasted for several more.
The two Riders could only gasp out as they reached the edge of the explosions radius, tumbling across the ground and losing their transformations.
"Ugh…" Sougo groaned, "Just… that felt like the end of the world for a second there…"
"That Rider's packing so much firepower it'd make Atlas blush," Geiz grunted as he began to get up, trying to see through the smoke that Zolda's Final Vent had caused, "We need to get out of here."
"But we can't let him go any further," Sougo said as he began to stand up, "I don't know where Woz is but maybe I can wrestle him over here with Trinity. We'll use that to overpower him."
"You really think that'll work?" Geiz asked.
"I mean, Trinitiy is our ace in the hole," Sougo replied as he hunched over.
Zolda meanwhile let out a breath of relief as he removed his Magnuvisor, Magnugiga sinking back into the ground. He patted his gun against his palm and was ready to check on the two Riders to finish them off only to get shot several times in the back. He gasped and rolled forward before turning and aiming only to stare in confusion.
"Wait…" Zolda tilted his head before gesturing towards the smoke behind him, "But I caught you in that blast!"
Sougo and Geiz heard what Zolda yelled out and quickly moved forward through the clearing smoke, both coming to a stop as their eyes widened.
Standing before the two them alongside Zolda was… Sougo, though he was a bit different than usual. For starters, this one was in his Huntsman attire from Atlas, but he also seemed a bit taller and older even if it wasn't by that much.
"Not quite…" the older Sougo said with a chuckle as he had the Zikan Girade in its gun formation resting against his shoulder. He then used his free hand to point past Zolda, "You caught the past me in that blast…"
"Huh?" Zolda turned before giving a gasp as he saw the present Sougo and Geiz. He looked back towards the older Sougo only to go back and forth constantly, "What…?"
"Don't worry, I'll end this quickly," the older Sougo smiled as he dismissed his weapon, bringing out his Ziku Driver and loading in the Zi-O and Decade Ridewatches, "Henshin!"
[RIDER TIME! KAMEN RIDER ZI-O!]
The older Sougo rushed forward with a yell, a gold flash occurring as he transformed into the base form of Zi-O. Soon enough the Decade Armor formed around him before latching on as he ran forward.
[ARMOR TIME! KAMENRIDE! WOW! DECADE! DECADE! DECA~DE!]
Zi-O yelled out as he brought out the Heisaber, rushing towards Zolda who could only step back in surprise.
Zolda gripped his hand tightly before yelling and shooting at Zi-O.
Sougo and Geiz meanwhile could only stare at the scene before them.
"I… was right?" Sougo asked, having caught the words his older self had used.
"Things got a lot more complicated… haven't they?" Geiz asked.
Ouja yelled out as he slashed at Ruby who blocked with her Claw and Drill Arms, forcing Ouja back before bracing against attacks from Metalgelas and Evildiver.
"Not bad, but it's time we end this," Ouja said as he brought out his Venovisor again, drawing out and loading in another card.
[ADVENT!]
Hissing could be heard as the large purple cobra-like Contract Monster suddenly slithered into view, Venosnaker. It hissed out further before launching acid spit out towards Roze.
Roze braced while rolling out of the way, both Metalgelas and Evildiver moving away from Roze as a result of the acid. Roze herself got up only to give a gasp as she saw her armaments dissolve away.
"What?" She asked, ready to switch Ridewatches when she heard the explosions from Zolda's Final Vent go off, managing to catch the distant rising smoke, "Oh no…"
Ouja looked towards the smoke before quickly turning towards Roze, drawing out and loading in another card into his Venovisor as he saw she was distracted.
[FINAL VENT!]
'Pay attention you idiot!' Kagami shouted.
"Huh?" Roze quickly turned towards Ouja only for it to be too late.
Ouja flipped up into the air, spinning with both his legs together as Venosnaker rose up. The Contract Monster spat out venom that coated Ouja's legs as he spun further and kicked out. The venom launched him directly at Roze, performing a bicycle kick against the Huntress Rider.
Roze yelled out as she was launched backwards once Ouja had kicked enough, the acid eating against her armor as a small explosive burst occurred. The result was her slamming and rolling against the ground, giving a gasp as she reverted back to her base form.
"Wow," Ouja said as had landed in a crouch before standing, "You really took it well… but I'm bored with you so let's end it."
"I'm not finished yet…" Roze gasped as she began to push herself up.
"Yes, there we go… that desperation…" Ouja chuckled as he drew out yet another card before slotting it into his Venovisor.
[UNITE VENT!]
"Unite… what?!" Roze questioned with a gasp as she began to stand up.
Metalgelas stepped forward, Venosnaker slithering behind it as Evildiver got behind Venosnaker. The three then began to press against each other, a bright flash occurring as they all fused together.
The body of Metalgelas was the base, Venosnaker fused to its back as a long neck and tail with the rhino Contract Monster's face and horn on Venosnakers head. Evildiver meanwhile was strapped to the back of the creature, the front edges of its wings springing up to form an 'X' shape. This monstrous amalgamation of three Contract Monsters was known as Genocider.
"Go," Ouja flicked his fingers forward.
Genocider roared out while launching venomous bursts forward, striking the ground around and in front of Roze.
Roze had barely just managed to stand to try and bring out a new Ridewatch, only to scream out as the venomous bursts impacted all around her. She was soon forced out of her transformation, rolling along the ground.
"Not bad kid…" Ouja said as he began to approach Ruby, "But I'll be the one who survives till the end."
"Ruby!"
"Huh?" Ouja heard the voice and turned.
Penny had landed nearby and quickly brought out Floating Array, splitting them up to take aim at both Ouja and Genocider, "Get away from her!"
"And who are you supposed to be?" Ouja asked as Genocider turned towards Penny.
"P-Penny…?" Ruby groaned as she started to lift herself up, though her eyes widened when she saw Genocider still in play, "Penny, don't get near that Contract Monster!"
"Oh?" Ouja glanced at Ruby when he heard her reaction, "I think I know my next target then… especially if she puts up as much of a fight as you did."
"I will not run Ruby!" Penny glared at Ouja and Genocider, green fire overlapping her eyes as she began feeding electricity into Floating Array to strengthen the blasts while charging them up.
"So be it," Ouja said as he began to raise his hand, "Let's-"
Genocider suddenly let out a growl as it felt something near it only to be blinded by red rose petals. It could only howl out as it was suddenly tossed and slammed into a nearby warehouse, crashing through the walls.
(Insert Start: Go! Now! ~Alive A life neo~ by Rica Matsumoto)
"Huh?" Ouja turned in surprise, "What was-"
[SILVER HENKEI!]
Ouja felt a chill as red rose petals surrounded him, only seeing the tip of a blade made of light heading straight for his face. The venomous Rider could only yell out as the swing had enough force behind it to send him crashing into several nearby boxes.
Penny lowered her arms as she dismissed her magic, Floating Array now floating idly near her as she stared at the scene in genuine surprise.
"Ruby, Penny!"
Weiss and Tsukuyomi had quickly run into view, the two having heard the sounds of an intense fight and picking up their pace. However both had paused when they saw the scene before them, their eyes widening in shock.
Ruby had winced when she saw the red rose petals and was confused since it felt similar in aesthetics to Petal Burst. Before she could even question what had happened, she had her answer standing right in front of her.
Standing in plain view in front of everyone could only be described as an older Ruby Rose. She also seemed a bit taller and a couple of years older just like the older Sougo. Her hair was less choppy and more neatly combed as well as being longer in general. The sides of her hair curled more towards the bottom now, while the back of her hair was tied up into a short ponytail.
Of course her outfit was entirely different, a suit of black components with a bright red button up long sleeve underneath. She had black gloves and black dress shoes, though the surprising part was her face. Her left eye… held an eye patch, her family emblem being emblazoned on it in white. She was currently holding Silver Crescent in its spear mode, twirling it around before she slammed the pole end of it against the ground.
"Alright buddy…" the older Ruby glared with her one eye, "I'm not about to let you play around with myself and my friends!"
Ruby could only manage to get one word out in this scenario…
"…What?"
To Be Continued…
Author's Note: Fun fact, this is probably one of the more recent Gaiden ideas I thought up in regards to this first batch that's slowly released since December. Though that was mostly because inspiration struck and I knew I had to roll with it. But yes, this is quite the interesting content to release, huh? We've got what appear to be older versions of Ruby and Sougo in play alongside fully formed Ridewatches that have yet to be collected. Now I'd ask who expected this, but I don't think anyone was figuring this would be something I'd do.
That said, in terms of placement this does go before Kiva which makes sense given I put the Kiva chapters in mid-June instead of early-June. Either way this was a fun one to write, mostly for some interactions regarding Ouja making a guest appearance, but the real fun comes next time. Speaking of next time don't worry, the next part will be up a day from this part's upload. Thanks for reading and I'll see you all soon.