Rider Time Zi-O: Roze from Remnant
Chapter 21 – Roze to Remnant
Woz walked in front of the clock within the black void, reading his book. "As it is written in this book, average high schooler Tokiwa Sougo embarks on a path which leads him to become the overlord of time, Oma Zi-O."
Woz soon walked over, Oma Zi-O's empty throne a few feet away from the clock as he stared out into the vast void. "After being sent to the future by Kadoya Tsukasa, the destroyer, he is faced with the reality that he is, indeed, Oma Zi-O."
He then looked upwards, moonlight shimmering down upon him. "After trouncing Ms. Rose and removing her from play, Oma Zi-O allows his younger self and young Tsukuyomi to journey in order to follow her, with the tempting words of altering the future falling on deaf ears. That is all that is written as of this point…"
He closed his book before walking away, clearly not bothered by the events that were presented before him.
"Oh jeez...!" Sougo called out briefly as he exited the portal that Oma Zi-O had sent Ruby through. The portal was actually a few feet higher than ground level, causing him to fumble with his legs before he barely just managed to land. "Huh?" He then looked around.
Tsukuyomi quickly followed suit though she expected some sort of oddity with the portal so she managed to stick her landing better. She gave a disappointed look, "You know you almost left me behind." That was before she managed to catch a glimpse of her surroundings. "Wait…"
The two were in an alleyway of sorts, or at least, an enclosed area of a two large buildings next to a rock wall. Sougo couldn't help but find the buildings familiar though, noting the older Asian architecture design. There were also some old boxes and trash nearby along the walls of the buildings.
"Where are…" Sougo trailed before his eyes widened. "Wait!" He began looking around before he noticed Ruby at the end of the alleyway, noticing that she was already up and had looked around, now stopped several feet before reaching the main street, "Ruby!"
Ruby didn't seem to respond as both Sougo and Tsukuyomi quickly ran over to her. She was just staring up at the night sky.
"Ruby, are you okay?" Tsukuyomi asked.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Sougo asked.
Ruby blinked a bit when she heard the two up close, turning in surprise. "Sougo, Tsukuyomi?" She asked. "How did you…?"
"Oma Zi-O left the portal open long enough for us to rush through," Tsukuyomi answered. "But where we landed I have no idea."
"I do," Ruby admitted before looking and pointing up.
"Huh?" Sougo followed Ruby's finger before his eyes widened, "EH?!"
"What on Earth…" Tsukuyomi stared.
"Not Earth," Ruby said as she lowered her finger before she stared directly at the moon, except it was shattered from the side, the chunks only somewhat filling in the gap. "…Remnant."
"We're on Remnant?" Sougo asked before looking at his friend. "Your home…"
"Yeah… give me a second," Ruby admitted before he legs buckled and forced her to drop. Her friends were quick to grab and brace her up, gently setting her into a sitting position. "S-Sorry… it's just…"
"You never thought you'd see home again," Tsukuyomi nodded as she knelt down near Ruby. "Take all the time you need."
"Yeah I mean this is what you were wanting right?" Sougo asked as his worries about Oma Zi-O were being pushed down briefly as his friend came first. "To return home after you were taken."
"Just how long has it been?" Ruby asked, not bothering to check and see if her Scroll had returned as well and if it was properly synced to the world's time still, too in shock at the current series of events.
"Well let's let the shock die down first and then figure it out," Tsukuyomi said as she put a hand on the huntresses shoulder.
"Right," Sougo gave a nod, "We'll wait till whenever you're ready."
"Thanks," Ruby gave an appreciative nod.
Tsukuyomi though looked back at where the portal once was, giving a small grimace as she remembered that Geiz was all alone against Kasshine alongside the Dai Mazine's still being active. While Ruby was trying to recover the time traveler decided to walk off to the side to look through her tablet. She still had her archives and functions on it intact, which meant she would likely be able to call the Time Mazine's.
While she did hate the thought of possibly leaving Ruby on Remnant now that she was back, she didn't like the thought of just leaving things as they were on Earth in 2018. She could only hope that Geiz was having any of sort of luck when it came to his fight.
Earth – Decmember 22nd 2018
Despite Geiz's bravado, his lack of range in his melee attacks when it came to the Faiz Armor was starting to be his undoing.
Kasshine had managed to brace and defend against the close up assaults before easily swinging his trident to slam Geiz backwards. He then brought it up to easily block the energy shots from the Faizphone X. "What pitiful weaponry…"
"What did you say?" Geiz asked. "Do you forget who this came from?"
"Yes, it was but a child's toy to my Overlord," Kasshine declared before aiming his trident forward. "Allow me to show you." He said and began firing off energy shots towards Geiz.
Geiz tried to counter them with his gun but his shots proved ineffective as they were completely overwhelmed. The time traveler could only yell out as the attacks hit him. He took a few steps back but forced himself to keep standing, "I'm not losing…!" He then rushed in, trying to land a punch with his Faiz Shot.
"Does repeating that inspire confidence?" Kasshine asked as he approached, swinging his trident before Geiz could get close and striking the Rider diagonally across the chest. "Because it takes more than confidence to win!"
Geiz gasped as he fell to a knee, he gritted his teeth before grasping his holster. He was thankful that Sougo had started only carrying more recent watches, removing Ex-Aid's and activating it. "Alright, then I'll try this…!"
[ARMOR TIME! LEVEL UP! EX-AID!]
Geiz summoned the Ex-Aid Armor, it latching onto him as he readied himself. While he would have used Genm, he needed the extra range and power that Ex-Aid's hammer gauntlets would give.
Kasshine was undeterred, suddenly bringing out two sharp pointed arms from his back. Using the extra arms he launched himself upwards.
Geiz followed shortly after, the two bouncing off each other as they clashed briefly in mid-air. The two eventually slammed against each other, both flying back onto a walkway towards the top of the factory.
The future rider had ended up falling back, having lost the clash and landing against the rail, just barely keeping himself standing. Kasshine however had managed to land perfectly on his two feet, having won their clash.
To keep up the pressure the robotic vassal moved forward, bringing out the mechanical extra limbs once more. Both limbs struck with precision as they struck Geiz across the chest to keep the Rider from recovering. Kasshine then had them smack Geiz off of the railed walkway.
Geiz cried out as his gauntlets were loosened from his arms, the weapons falling to the side as he slammed against a stack of pallets. He gave a groan as he rolled off and face planted onto the floor.
"In the name of Oma Zi-O, this is where you perish!" Kasshine announced as he kept his extra limbs out, gathering energy within them before launching out golden energy filled fangs.
Geiz could barely turn his head as he looked up, "This is how it ends…" He trailed before a familiar aurora curtain appeared in front of him. "Huh?"
The curtain acted as a defense for Geiz, the fangs passing through it. It then vanished before appearing right in front of Kasshine, the fangs launching out and striking Kasshine in the chest. The vassal yelled out as he was thrown backwards off the walkway and onto the ground floor.
"I can't have you dying on me yet," Tsukasa called out as he walked over. "The pieces are in place."
"Tsukasa Kadoya," Geiz managed to get out as he slowly got on his knees to push himself up. "Why are you here?"
"As the annoying man with the book said… I am simply acting as I see fit," Tsukasa answered as he prepared his Driver.
"All who oppose Oma Zi-O shall be destroyed," Kasshine called out as he used his trident to stand.
"Oh trust me when I say that the Overlord will probably love what we're about to do," Tsukasa answered.
Geiz blinked a few times, "We're?"
"Geiz…" A voice spoke to grab his attention, the time traveler looking up to see a woman on the walkway, due to the suns position it shined through one of the windows. As a result her entire upper body was obscured. "If you truly wish to change the future, you must go elsewhere." She spoke before holding her hand out, an aurora curtain appearing beside him.
Geiz stared at the curtain for a while before looking up at the woman, wincing as he tried to make out some kind of facial feature, "Just who are you guys?"
"Passing through Kamen Rider's," The woman answered with a light chuckle before waving her hand inwards.
Geiz barely had time to react as the aurora curtain suddenly shot towards him, swallowing him up before vanishing.
"What did you do?!" Kasshine questioned as he gripped his trident with both hands, rushing for Tsukasa.
"I will repeat, something that your Overlord will love," Tsukasa grinned as he drew out his personal card, "Henshin!"
"You won't get the chance!" Kasshine swung his Trident, planning on hitting Tsukasa before his armor could form.
Tsukasa simply raised his right arm, grey holograms forming along his forearm and easily blocking the trident as his forearm armor fully formed in its grey incomplete state.
[KAMEN RIDE: DECADE!]
Soon enough the holograms of his standard form shot in from the sides, enveloping him and fully forming and coloring his armor in an instant. Tsukasa pushed forward, knocking the trident away before slamming his arm into Kasshine's face to force the robotic servant back.
The mysterious woman could only smile a bit as she saw Tsukasa's transformation, "Show off…"
Remnant – Unknown Timeframe
"Okay, I think I'm good." Ruby said as she shakily stood, a few minutes having passed. "Yeah… it's sinking in but not overwhelming. I think I'm good."
"Are you sure?" Sougo asked, noticing Ruby trying to pep herself up. "We can…"
"I don't want to really waste anymore time," Ruby admitted as she looked around. "Yeah, I think we're in one of the mid-tier levels… close to low tier. But likely in one of the abandoned area's given no one's peaking in or really around." She spoke to herself mostly before turning back to Sougo. "There's a place I need to check to see, if I'm right this might make things easier."
"Speaking of, where are we?" Sougo asked.
"It's a layered city named Mistral, and the last place I was before I was taken." Ruby explained. "It's a long story but remember those monsters I told you about, about how there are four Kingdom's and Academy's that train us to fight them?"
Sougo gave a nod, "Yeah, it was one of the things you mentioned more in detail about when I first became Zi-O."
"Well we're in one of them," Ruby replied. "Mistral is home to Haven Academy, my friends and I came here to stop this place from falling."
"From… falling?" Sougo asked.
Ruby bit her lip given what came next this technically top secret information. But she knew she could trust Sougo and the others with it. Especially on the off chance that she missed her friends. "Someone is leading the Grimm alongside a group of followers, and they're trying to dismantle the Kingdom's and Academies. My home Kingdom, Vale alongside Beacon Academy already fell…"
"What about Mistral?" Sougo then asked. "Were you in the middle of trying to defend it?"
"Thankfully no, despite the losses suffered, Mistral and Haven Academy ended up getting better off," Ruby replied. "It was a few days after the big fight there when I got taken by Kasshine. But the plan was to keep to the city for two weeks before moving to the next Kingdom."
"So you're worried they might already be long gone depending on how long it's been," Sougo realized. "Even if they were, wouldn't you be able to contact them?"
"That's the hard part…" Ruby admitted, not wanting to look at her Scroll for that particular reason. "Only short range communication works right now. When Beacon fell, one of the CCT's did as well, they're communications towers. We aren't as advanced as Earth is in regards to communication, so all we have are the towers. And with one gone, global communications fall as well."
"That isn't good," Sougo grimaced.
"Considering the world is in a current state of panic and animosity after Beacon's fall was broadcasted… yeah," Ruby admitted. "Grimm attacks have been a lot worse, and I know we were planning on getting some work done here and there given despite saving it, Haven's in no condition to reopen super soon."
"I'm worried to ask… but why?" Sougo asked.
"The Headmaster was… he was a traitor and he ended up dying after retreating to his office," Ruby explained with a bit of a wince, remembering when they had found the body. "Not to mention most if not all the official Hunstmen and Huntresses were also all…"
"Oh no…" Sougo grimaced further.
"Dang it…!" Tsukuyomi called out frustrated, breaking the two Riders of their thoughts and getting them to look towards her. "Oh, sorry…" She gave a small embarrassed smile before clearing her throat and moving closer. "I was listening but also I was trying to see if I could bring the Time Mazine's over. No matter how many settings I try, I can't get a signal to them."
"So we're stranded here?" Sougo asked.
Ruby gave a sigh, "Sorry guy-"
There was a pause when suddenly nearby there was a sudden crash, the trio turning to see to all of their surprise, Geiz crashing into the trash and boxes that were at the end of the alleyway they were in. Just like Tsukuyomi, his attire had also reverted to his 2068 style.
"GEIZ?!"
Geiz gave a groan as he shook his head, "When I…" He trailed before reacting late to his name getting called, soon looking up and seeing the three of them. "…You three?" He asked before suddenly realizing his surroundings and looking around before looking up and staring at the shattered moon. "This isn't 2068… what's going on?"
"Geiz, this is my home." Ruby explained. "This is Remnant."
Geiz pinched the bridge of his nose before looking over at them, "Tsukasa Kadoya sent you to 2068 not Remnant."
Sougo's body trembled as he gave a nod, recalling the encounter. "But we did go to 2068 and you're right… I am Oma Zi-O…" He looked down at those words.
"So you finally admit it," Geiz remarked, but he was admittedly a bit surprised at Sougo's current mood. The fact that Sougo himself seemed afraid at the moment, but that thought had to wait.
Screams began to fill the night sky as snarls and the sounds of fighting were heard nearby. The group could soon see three large black figures flying over them, flapping their wings and flying towards a certain area of the city.
"What the hell were those?" Geiz questioned.
"Ruby… those things that flew over…?" Sougo started as he looked in the direction they went.
"Grimm…" Ruby confirmed before shaking her head before rushing off. "We need to go!"
Sougo gave a nod and immediately rushed off after his friend, forcing his troubles down once more as he prioritized helping others yet again, "Right!"
"Grimm?" Geiz asked before seeing the two run off, "Hey!"
"Ah jeez," Tsukuyomi huffed as she went to follow them. "We need to stick together!"
"Will you all stop for just a second," Geiz called out as he ran after everyone last. "Tell me what's going on!"
Earth – Decmember 22nd 2018
Tsukasa dodged underneath a swing from Kasshine's trident, punching forward and striking the machine in the gut. He then drew his sword, barely blocking from a counter swing that the machine had taken. He gave a grunt as he forced the machine's weapon back before stepping away.
"Cease this drivel," Kasshine said and took aim, firing various energy blasts from the tips of his trident.
Tsukasa spun away, batting a few that got too close as the rest impacted in front of him. Explosions formed and to his surprise Kasshine had run through the volatile fire to stab at him. Tsukasa barely raised his weapon in time, getting the blade caught between the trident's points as he was forced to step back.
"Rampant machine that doesn't know what's good for it," Tsukasa mused as he drew a card and slotted it in, kicking Kasshine away.
[KAMEN RIDE: DRIVE!]
A red tube formed around him, creating a black bodysuit with white stripes and red sports car-like armor, a black tire with a red stripe bouncing in and attaching to his chest diagonally, "Let me take you for a spin."
"Highly unlikely," Kasshine called as he began firing off energy blasts.
[SP-SP-SPEED!]
By pumping his Shift Lever the Rider became a blur of red as his eyes lit up, speeding away from each blast in a blur of red.
Kasshine yelled out in frustration as he brought out his extra limbs, charging them and his trident with energy before launching all three attacks at once.
Tsukasa gave a gasp as the blasts impacted all around him, blowing him backwards.
"Fine then, let's test my luck," Tsukasa said but instead of inserting a card he swapped out the car's in his shift brace.
[TIRE KOUKAN: DREAM VEGAS!]
From behind a three wheel thick gold topped drum slammed into Kasshine to knock him down. The drum soon split into three wheels, all holding roulette aesthetics as one replaced the tire sash while the other two were held like shields.
"Just why do you stand in my Overlord's way?" Kasshine questioned as he began to force himself to stand. He then aimed with his trident and extra limbs, sending the tri-pronged blast out once more.
Tsukasa however blocked with both shields, skidding backwards from the force but otherwise managing to handle it this time.
"Because I wish to see what the future holds," Tsukasa remarked as he tossed the shields away, swapping out cars once more.
[TIRE KOUKAN: RUMBLE DUMP!]
A heavy duty yellow tire with a drill attachment dug into the ground near Tsukasa before splitting and launching onto the Rider. The tire replacing the sash while Tsukasa gained the drill as an arm mounted weapon. Despite the heavy duty nature of the weapon, Tsukasa himself was able to handle it without issue.
"Let's finish this," Tsukasa took out a card before slotting it in.
[FINAL ATTACK RIDE: D-D-D-DRIVE!]
Tsukasa's drill attachment began spinning rapidly as a yellow drill-like energy formed around it. He began to move forward, using the energy and his weapon to act as a shield against Kasshine's constant blasts.
Kasshine let out a gasp as he saw his attacks either being blocked fully or spun into different directions as miniature explosions showered the area around them. Despite using his tri-pronged energy blast he was unable to break through. Thinking quickly he retracted his extra limbs and braced by holding his trident out, gripping it tightly with both arms.
Tsukasa gave a chuckle as he reeled his arm back and slammed the drill into the weapon. His assault managed to force the machine servant to step back by a few inches. "Let me show you the difference in power…" He said before giving a yell, thrusting forward and unleashing the yellow energy against Kasshine.
The mechanical vassal yelled out as he was thrown on the floor, sliding across it a bit as he lost his weapon. He began to get up, soon noticing that the woman who was watching had come down to the ground level floor. Running a scan on her to figure out who she was he gave a light gasp, "Wait... you are…"
The woman drew out what appeared to be a sword, its blade a shimmering clean silver as it reflected the light from nearby. This caused a flash that blinded Kasshine and forced the vassal into a more prone state.
[FINAL ATTACK RIDE: D-D-D-DECADE!]
Holographic Final Attack cards holding the Decade Symbol formed near Kasshine before the ones behind the first began to rise up slightly, creating a diagonal line of cards. Jumping high up into the air to line up with the highest card was Tsukasa in his standard Decade Form. Tsukasa yelled out, performing a flying side kick as he passed through each of the cards.
Kasshine was barely able to react in time, raising his arms only to get struck in the chest by the kick. The mechanical servant yelled as sparks flew from his body, one push from Tsukasa sending him skidding backwards into a series of crates.
"Well that was a tough one," Tsukasa admitted, having landed on a knee before standing up.
"What about the machines outside?" The woman asked.
"Give me a break, something tells me that those things won't be much of a problem for longer," Tsukasa explained in exasperation before becoming more serious as he dismissed his transformation. "What matters is that those four are out of this world for now."
"That's true," The woman admitted as she walked over. "We've done what we needed to, right?"
"Oh yeah," Tsukasa gave a nod.
"Just how is this even possible?" Swartz asked as he paced across the rooftop. "They just… vanished?"
Uhr began to skip a bit in boredom. "It seems like that Tsukasa Kadoya guy is responsible."
"He seems to be causing more complications than giving us a solution," Ora admitted as she crossed her legs while sitting on the edge of the roof.
"Because he is not aligned to us," Finis replied as they stared intently at the Dai Mazine that was still just standing. "However, perhaps his interference could be a good thing. We'll just have to wait and see."
"For now we should step back and reanalyze what needs to be done," Swartz suggested. "After all, we only have so many Another Riders left, and their real counterparts are still active."
"I'm actually kind of surprised none of them are doing anything yet." Ora noted. "You'd think they'd jump on this."
"Just what the hell is that?" Ryuga asked as he begun to climb a ladder.
"Just hurry up and get to the rope up there!" Sento called out as he was right behind him. "I need a better view of that machine!"
The two were trying to climb to the top of their storage house via a makeshift ladder and some rope hanging down via a grappling hook that Ryuga had managed to throw to latch onto something.
"And why can't we just go to the tallest building?!" Ryuga called out as he managed to grab onto the rope, gripping it firmly as he planted himself and began scaling the wall.
"Huh… good idea…" Sento said before quickly hurrying down the ladder and knocking it over in a hurry.
[BUILD CHANGE!]
"Huh?" Ryuga looked down and gasped to see the ladder on the floor alongside Sento riding off, "Hey no fair!"
Emu was staring out at the Dai Mazine from Seito University Hospital's helipad, having rushed up to see it while the hospital was getting calls and having to send out ambulances due to the emergence of the Dai Mazine's.
"Just what are those things?" Parad asked.
"I'm not sure… but I think they're related to Sougo and Ruby," Emu admitted, it was just a hunch but with the Another Riders popping up, and now these…
"I hope she's alright," Parad said as he held his arm a bit.
"They'll be fine," Emu put a hand on his partners shoulder to reassure him.
"Jeez, just what are you kids getting into now?" Takumi asked, having had to change his route for delivering any dry cleaning he needed to due to all the traffic and closed roads thanks to the Dai Mazine. The thought on his mind though was how this connected to Sougo and Ruby. "Little Red… you better be alright."
"Happy Birthday to you~ Happy Birthday to you~"
"Happy Birthday"
"Happy Birthday"
Kougami smiled as he was busy making a cake despite the alarms in building going off due to the close proximity of where the Dai Mazine was. "Happy birthday to you…!"
"Seven huge objects have appeared in Tokyo, Shangai, London and other major cities. Multiple countries are putting investigations underway to determine the cause and intention of these giants."
"How thrilling…" Philip was currently in the main garage of the Narumi Detective Agency, listening to the radio as he was in the middle of trying to figure out what to research. That was until the news had caught his attention. "You two definitely seem to be onto something here…"
Godai was currently in Nagano on a personal visit when he had heard the news, overhearing some people and taking a glance at someone who was staring at their phone with the report on it.
"Hmm…" He made a mental note to take a trip to Tokyo given what had happened prior. Especially given that he could just feel that it related to both Sougo and Ruby. "Stay safe you two."
Remnant – Unknown Timeframe
Ruby had managed to regain some composure and slowed down to let the group catch up to her more easily. Plus the fact that there were plenty of people trying to run away from the area, as much as she wanted to help she needed to keep the group together. That was when she noticed Sougo was trying to go faster, quickly grabbing him by his collar and managed to yank him back.
"Whoa!" Sougo called.
"Careful," Ruby called out as she began to slow down. "This city is layered remember?" She said before approaching the ledge they were near. Thankfully it had a guard rail but that wouldn't stop people from falling over it if they just ran straight into it.
The four had stopped right at the railing, looking up to notice three giant black feathered avian creatures resembling a cross between condors and ravens. Its distinct features being sharp white talons and a white mask-like bone structure overlaying the upper front of its head with two piercing yellow eyes on each side.
"Nevermore's… about medium sized thankfully," Ruby noted causing Geiz and Tsukuyomi to stare at her in surprise while Sougo had a look of awe on his face.
"They can get bigger?" Sougo asked.
"Yep," Ruby then looked down and pointed. "Those are Beowolves."
Down below there was an abandoned plaza near another edge that lead into the forest below. There were dozens of muscular almost werewolf-like creatures with pitch black fur and bone-like spines protruding from their arms, back and knees, their hands tipped with long, sharp, white claws. They had a bestial and angular wolf bone-like mask with piercing yellow eyes that seemed to leave slight red trails whenever they moved.
Geiz stared at a Beowolf before looking at Ruby and her hood and looking back, blinking a few times. "What the…"
"Now then we should-" Ruby soon noticed that a few people had just broken through one of the side ranks of the Grimm and quickly got in the center. She gave a light gasp, eyes watering slightly as she held her hands close to her mouth, a small smile forming, "Not too late…"
Of course fighting them to Ruby's surprise and delight were her own teammates, Weiss, Blake and Yang. It seemed like the trio were trying their own attempts at thinning the herd in order to keep up with the amount of Beowolves coming in. And they didn't seem to be looking too different from when she had last seen them too. This gave several options to her but she couldn't really care about the specifics at the moment, she was just glad that they were still around.
"Ruby, is something wrong?" Tsukuyomi asked.
"Sorry guys, but I've got my Team to help out, I'll see you down there," Ruby said as she readied her Ziku Driver and Ridewatch, "Henshin!"
[RIDER TIME! KAMEN RIDER ROZE!]
Ruby transformed into her base form and launched onto a nearby roof with Petal Burst, leaping onto a higher vantage point before launching herself at a Nevermore to land on top of it, managing to successfully land. She yelped a bit as the beast began to move away from its circle to try and throw her off.
Managing to firm her stand while also grabbing onto the feathers to keep her stabled with her right hand. Instead of drawing out her weapon though she brought out the Tajador Ridewatch, slotting it in and initiating her Weapon Time.
[TAJADOR COMBO!]
[WEAPON TIME! TAJA SPINNER!]
Ruby held out her left arm, the Taja Spinner forming and attaching to Ruby's arm as she gripped the handle tightly. She then aimed and began letting loose fireballs against the other two Nevermore's when she had the chance.
"Those are her friends?" Sougo asked himself before giving a nod, readying his gear. "Alright, we need to help out!"
Geiz glanced at Sougo in surprise, he was sure he had seen how shaken Sougo was earlier. So he wondered just how Sougo was able to even push through. Even then, part of him figured this was also a way to just distract from the truth.
"Fine then," Geiz said as he readied his gear as well.
"Henshin!"
[RIDER TIME!]
[KAMEN RIDER ZI-O!]
[KAMEN RIDER GEIZ!]
"Let's go!" Sougo was quick to grab the railing and jump down much to Geiz and Tsukuyomi's surprise.
"Just how is he able to keep going?" Geiz asked.
"I think he's trying to distract himself," Tsukuyomi admitted as she had also noticed Sougo's erratic behavior. "He's putting Ruby's mission first as a result."
"Seems like he'll have a lot to sort out huh?" Geiz asked before jumping down after Sougo.
Tsukuyomi could only stare at the situation, not because of how fast Ruby and Sougo reacted or how Geiz was seemingly cooperative. There was the fact that she had absolutely no idea of how to get down to that plaza from where she was.
Tsukuyomi ruffled her hair before quickly looking around, "Seriously?!"
"Just how many are there?!" Yang growled out as she ducked and elbowed an incoming Beowolf before sending an uppercut with her left fist, releasing a shotgun blast from her gauntlet that forced it to stagger. She then spun and swung her right robotic arm into the creature's stomach, releasing a blast from her forearm gun and piercing through its gut. The Grimm soon fell backwards and began to dissolve.
"We probably haven't been helping given what happened immediately after Haven," Blake mused as she was struck by a Beowolf only to vanish into shadows, soon appearing above the Grimm and slicing through its neck to decapitate it.
"Please don't remind me," Weiss called, giving a glare towards a Beowolf as she parried it's strike, quickly summoning snowflake styled glyphs and launching out sharp pointed ice crystals. They struck the Beowolf dead center, it falling over and disintegrating.
"It's just a pain because of how many of these little attacks just popped up at once tonight," Yang admitted as she dodged out of the way of Beowolf, blocking a swipe with her robotic arm, peppering its stomach with a few punches before kicking it away.
"True," Weiss admitted. "We've had to split our group pretty thin, but we've got our job and we need to do it."
Of course it wasn't long before the trio saw orange flashes above. The girls were able to see the Nevermore's flying erratically and attacking each other as fireballs could be seen flying past or hitting them.
"What even…?" Weiss raised an eyebrow before suddenly turning towards the side as a yell was heard.
Sougo yelled out as he dropped, bringing out the Zikan Girade in its sword formation and landing on a Beowolf, stabbing it through the back in one clean swoop as he forced it onto the ground from his fall.
"Whoa!" Sougo called out as he soon landed on his butt once the Beowolf faded away from underneath. "Ow…" He rubbed his butt before getting up. "Didn't know they did that…"
"Who… who are you?" Weiss asked as Blake and Yang joined up with her.
"Another armored freak showed up?" Yang asked with a slight glare, blinking as her eyes changed from their lilac coloration to bright red.
"I'm not sure he's with the other one," Blake admitted as she noticed Sougo's posture and reactions.
"Ah, sorry about jumping in, but I'm here to help!" Sougo called out as he raised his weapon, soon rushing for the first Beowolf he saw. He quickly held up an arm defending against a grab before stabbing his sword into the creature's chest and slicing downwards. Not missing a beat he dodged a swipe from another before flipping his sword into its gun state, firing at the back of the Beowolf that missed him.
"So you're saying the weird armored guy with the letter face isn't a part of this trend?" Weiss raised an eyebrow towards the cat Faunus.
"No, not that part, I mean his posture, everything about his personality right now," Blake replied. "He's connected but not in the way we think."
"Do you think he can lead us to Ruby?" Yang asked.
"Well we can always question him later," Weiss suggested before sliding her hand across her rapier, turning and stabbing as she summoned a glyph, forcing a wall of ice to rise behind the three and keeping Beowolf's from attacking them immediately.
"Incredible, you can use magic too?" Geiz soon dropped in, sliding down as he brought out his Zikan Zax in its bow mode, sending arrows to strike directly at the Beowolf's heads to stun and send them stumbling back.
"Wait, another one?" Blake blinked.
"And how do you know about magic?" Yang asked.
"That isn't magic?" Geiz asked before shaking his head. "Whatever, I'm here to help out or something. Don't get in my way and I won't get in yours. I'm still trying to take this whole thing in." He said loading his Wizard Watch into his weapon.
[WIZARD GIWA GIWA SHOOT!]
Icy wind began forming around the tip as he pulled back his weapon. He them released an arrow of ice that shot through a line of Beowolves, the arrow freezing most of their bodies over. Fire then began forming at the tip as he pulled back again before sending a fire arrow that pierced and broke through the ice, shattering the Grimm.
"…What even is that weapon?" Weiss questioned. "It's clearly a bow but… that shape and those loud noises?"
"Okay that's two people to question, but let's not let them do all the cleaning up girls," Yang cracked her knuckles before turning and jumping over the ice wall that Weiss formed, jumping and kicking a Beowolf back as she landed.
"They're thinning out faster now," Blake admitted as she moved forward to confront two Beowolves. She gripped her weapon by the ribbon, transforming Gambol Shroud into its sickle formation and spinning while swinging and slashing at the Beowolves to force them back.
This agitated the Grimm and so they charged in, slamming into nothing as Blake's semblance activated. Her shadow clone took the hit as she landed on top of their heads before jumping off and away. She landed and perked up as two shots whizzed past her to strike the Beowolves in the heads, killing them.
Blake had immediately stood up with a turn, aiming her weapon before lowering it with a sigh.
"Ah, sorry," Sougo called out when he realized he might have fired too close, holding his hands up.
"Just try and warn me next time," Blake suggested.
"Roger," Sougo called as he saluted.
Geiz and Weiss meanwhile ended up back to back, as the last four Beowolves had tried to corner them.
"Can you hold them back?" Geiz asked.
"Who do you think you're talking to," Weiss scoffed as she held her weapon at the ready. "Just tell me what you plan to do."
[TIME CHARGE!]
"You should not be standing up when you hear the loud noises from my weapon," Geiz said simply, having switched his weapon to its axe mode and initiated the countdown.
The Beowolves snarled before the four jumped towards the two, planning on dog piling them.
[5… 4… 3… 2… 1…]
"Get ready," Weiss said as she waited before kneeling and stabbing her weapon into the ground as a glyph formed, four glyphs appearing as barriers to block the Beowolves. "Now," Weiss called as the glyphs disappeared, the Grimm staggering back from their charges being interrupted.
[ZERO TIME! ZAKKURI WARI!]
Weiss ducked and slumped further down as Geiz spun around while slashing twice, red energy slashes forming from his blade and striking the Beowolves. The growling creatures soon went mute as they dissipated into black ashes.
"Just who are you?" Weiss asked as she took the hand Geiz offered to help herself up.
"…Geiz, Kamen Rider Geiz," Geiz answered.
"Kamen Rider?" Weiss asked.
"Looks like you two cleaned up house," Yang remarked as she walked over, Blake and Sougo doing the same. It wasn't long before Yang sent a stern look both Riders' way. "Listen, we appreciate the help, but we need answers and we need them now."
"Oh uh, well…" Sougo wasn't sure if he should even mention Ruby since he didn't want to ruin the moment. It wasn't long before a loud cawing was heard, two of the three Nevermores being shot down in mid-air, disintegrating as they fell.
[GIGA SCAN TIME BLAST!]
Ruby jumped off of the last Nevermore she was on, the red wings of the Tajador Combo forming on her back before she shot towards the Grimm. With the Taja Spinner aimed forward she turned into a fiery phoenix that lit up the night sky, slamming into the Nevermore and sending it hurtling to the ground. The creature of Grimm slamming into the area in front of the Riders and Huntresses, burning and disintegrating away as Ruby landed gracefully via her wings.
Ruby stayed silent as her hands shook, staring at her friends as she tried to say something only for no words to come.
Yang's eyes widened however, "Hey, behind you!"
Ruby turned, her eyes widening behind her mask as she saw it before quickly turning back towards the others.
Suddenly out of the flames a large shape suddenly shot through them, the force of its appearance spreading them out and revealing the shape. A large black skinned gorilla-like Grimm appeared, having the standard bone-like plating and white mask. It raised both hands, clasping them together before slamming down.
In a flash of holographic rose petals Ruby shot toward and past her friends. The petals caused the three Huntresses eyes to widen in shock as they started to slowly look back.
[FINISH TIME!]
Geiz and Sougo turned before Geiz grabbed both Yang and Blake, moving them back, Sougo doing the same with Weiss as they split away from each other.
[ROZE SASU SASU SHOOT!]
Ruby had skidded to a stop and took aim with her weapon. Rose petals spiraled around the barrel of Crescent Rose before she unleashed an explosive blast of red energy. The energy hurtled between the split group and shot towards the ape-like Grimm before slamming straight into it, an explosion ensuing.
Weiss, Blake and Yang turned in surprise at seeing the blast of energy, only for their hearts to skip a beat once they saw Crescent Rose.
"What was that?!" Geiz asked.
"That…" Ruby finally found her voice as she stood up and lowered her weapon, "That was a Beringel."
Upon hearing Ruby's voice the three girls stared further in shock, despite the slight filter the rider armor gave, they were still able to immediately recognize it. Ruby knew this and began to walk forward, holstering her weapon behind her and slowly but surely before stopping.
Yang's eyes wavered slightly as she gingerly held her right arm forward, "Ru…Ruby?"
Ruby took a deep breath as her voice shuddered, gripping her Driver before removing it. She allowed her transformation to drop as she gave a big smile with shimmering eyes. Her arms were spread open as tears started to drop from her eyes, "I'm home…"
Yang gave a light glare as she marched over before her expression softened, quickly embracing her sister in a hug, "Do you have any idea how much we were worried?! We spent these past four days searching with not even a single clue to where you were!"
"Four days…" Ruby muttered, realizing that she knew they couldn't have stayed in Mistral for a year, but also just to realize how much time had passed for her specifically. She hugged back, "I love you…"
"I love you too," Yang kept a semi-tight grip on her sister as tears began to form.
Ruby could only give a nod as the two sisters kept their embrace for a while. Ruby eventually managed shifted Yang to her side and held her free arm out. She looked over at her remaining teammates, "Come on you two."
"You had us so worried," Blake managed to get out as her ears drooped slightly. "I thought that… that…"
"After everything we've been through… you… you just had to worry us, you dolt!" Weiss called out as she started to tear up, quickly hurrying over, Blake not saying another word as the girls entered a team hug.
It wasn't long before the four eventually formed a ring as they just let their heads drop, all of them smiling as they continue to tear up, eventually laughing in relief.
"I'm glad for her," Sougo admitted with a smile as he let his transformation fade away.
"I can't imagine what it would have been like for her… an entire year and just four days for them," Geiz crossed his arms as his transformation faded. "They got off luckier."
"Yeah, but it still hurts just as much," Sougo replied. "They thought they might never see her again."
"Sougo, Geiz," Tsukuyomi quickly rushed over, having found a way down. She was ready to call Ruby's name when she saw the team hugging it out. She gave a soft smile, "This is nice."
"It is," Sougo said with a smile before looking down at the Ziku Driver in his hand, noticing it was shaking. His worries were coming back but he shook his head, he didn't want to ruin Ruby's reunion. "I… I want to say here and help Ruby. She's done so much already, I want to repay her."
"Maybe its better this way," Geiz admitted, wondering if keeping Sougo from Earth would be good. "But still… I can't just abandon the Earth."
"Unfortunately neither Time Mazine is here, I can't make a connection either." Tsukuyomi said as she pulled out her tablet. "There is no way to get back at the moment."
"What about W-" Geiz's mouth was quickly covered by Sougo's hand. He gave a glare before removing the hand. "What was that for?"
"I… I'd rather not call on him," Sougo admitted.
Geiz and Tsukuyomi could only stare at Sougo a bit before looking at each other, clearly something was wrong here.
Earth – Decmember 22nd 2018
Each and every Dai Mazine suddenly lost their red glowing coloration, slowly but surely sinking into the earth as a result, the damage from their descents and arrival being reversed as all traces of them having been in the area had vanished.
Woz looked onwards at this from the tallest building in Tokyo, giving a hum as he looked back, "I take it that he satisfied you?"
He was suddenly staring at what almost seemed to be a multitude of mirrors, there were eight others dressed like him, six in similar attired to him with grey scarves. All of them had their own distinct facial structures and hairstyles. There were two at the very front, both having black striped additions to their outfits alongside brown scarves. The first was fairly thin with brown hair swept to the side. The second was a more burly man with black curly hair and a beard.
"Not him, but his decisions," The thin brown haired man remarked before glancing to his side. "Isn't that right Kagen?"
The other man gave a nod, "You're right about that, Jogen. This kid could be what we need in the end."
"Or he could be wasted potential," Jogen answered. "What matters is that Woz here proved to us that he's onto something."
"I can hardly take all the credit as it was my Overlord's decision to seemingly alter things by bringing in Ms. Rose," Woz explained.
"That barren wasteland is sure to become something different by the end of it all," Kagen remarked. "But… with history intact well… that's where things start to get messy."
"Too messy if you ask me," Jogen replied. "But we will stay our hands for now. Follow your Overlord, Woz. And make sure that he continues to grow by collecting the Kamen Rider's powers."
"Right, it shall be done," Woz called with a bow before he flung his scarf out, it wrapping around him like a tornado before retracting, Woz having vanished.
"One without a protector, the other a land of nothingness, and even one prospering still points towards a mess," Jogen admitted in a cold tone once he was sure Woz's presence had vanished.
"Then what can we do?" Kagen asked.
"Simple, we must see what other Era's await us," Jogen replied.
"You know we've tried that before, it didn't work," Kagen reminded. "What makes you believe we can do it now?"
"Before yes, but Woz has shown us an interesting possibility, one only available through his care and attention," Jogen said before taking out a strangely shaped blank Ridewatch, it pulsating a green-like coloration. "Thus we must take a different approach at viewing new Era's."
"Then let's get started, we'll need this up and running even before they come back," Kagen said as he began to walk off.
"Yes, let us get started," Jogen grinned as he walked after his ally, the six silent members turning and following after them.
Remnant – Mistral, Four Days after Kasshine's kidnapping:
As the four members of Team RWBY began to calm down from their emotional reunion, something began to gnaw at Weiss the more she glanced at Ruby. With the shock managing to die down she began to pull away before putting a hand to her chin.
"Ruby… why do you seem, different?" Weiss asked.
"It's the hair, it's styled differently," Blake pointed out as she pulled away.
"Okay, now that's weird." Yang put her hands on her hips. "It's only been four days and you style your hair after getting kidnapped?"
"Uh… it's a lot more than the hair," Ruby admitted with a nervous chuckle as she rubbed her neck. "I'm a… um… where I've been, a whole year has passed."
Weiss, Blake and Yang all stared at their leader for a good long minute before their eyes widened, "A YEAR?!"
"And there's the shock," Geiz noted.
"Understandable though," Tsukuyomi pointed out.
"I was wondering how long it would take for them to notice," Sougo admitted. "Even with only a year difference and having just met her I still noticed she started to look a bit different at the start of September."
"I mean given she did just turn 18 that does make sense," Tsukuyomi realized.
"Wait, you mean she's 18 now?!" Yang turned back with a worried expression as she began to hurry over. "She just turned 17 four days ago though!" She pointed back towards Ruby who gave a wave.
"Uh I know it's hard to believe but it's been a year… and a month actually," Sougo realized before looking at Geiz and Tsukuyomi. "We celebrated her birthday like a month and a half ago right?"
"You guys did, I just gave her a present," Geiz replied.
"Yeah, where we were at was December 22nd," Tsukuyomi confirmed. "So a month and 22 days ago would be our timeframe."
"Ah, good times, the cake was good." Sougo admitted before smiling at Yang. "Don't worry I know it's hard to believe but-"
He was suddenly grabbed by Yang and shaken back and forth in a melodramatic fashion, "You don't understand I'm her sister and she's growing up without me?!"
"I mean technically if I didn't get enrolled into Beacon two years early you would have grown up without me," Ruby reminded.
"I think she's just trying to cope with this knowledge by being the overprotective sister," Weiss figured before looking Ruby over. "Admittedly, I do sort of believe you. There's not a big difference, but you definitely have… what's the word?"
"She has more of an air of maturity to her," Blake added, "Even more so than previously."
"Yeah that's it," Weiss snapped her fingers.
"Yeah it's a bit weird and hard to believe but well… yeah I've been gone a whole year," Ruby got out as best she could. "To be honest, showing up here in this timeframe wasn't even my plan. It just happened that way."
Yang took a deep breath and calmed down, letting go of Sougo, "Sorry."
"Its fine," Sougo waved it off.
"Okay but how did a year pass for her but only four days for us?" Yang asked.
"Uh… Time Travel, probably," Ruby realized.
"Now this is where I get skeptical…" Weiss trailed with a bored look. "That sounds like something out of your comics."
"But can we really rule out the possibility?" Blake asked.
"Okay, but wait if you were gone a year and came back then does that mean you saw the future?" Yang asked.
"Oh uh… right," Ruby realized she left out an important detail. "I was sort of not on Remnant for that whole year either, I ended up going to this place called Earth, more specifically Tokyo, Japan."
Her three teammates could only stare at her in surprise as she exposited this information fairly casually. For her this was semi-normal to her already, to them this was completely alien.
"So wait are you saying not only time travel was involved but also you went to an entirely different world than Remnant?" Blake asked.
"That is… okay this is getting weirder and weirder," Weiss admitted.
"I'm still trying to make sense of all of this," Yang admitted as she rubbed the back of her neck with her prosthetic hand.
"It's pretty easy to explain actually if you choose to believe it, it's time manipulation." Geiz answered as he took a few steps forward. "Ruby left Remnant four days ago with whatever happened, then when she arrived on Earth she spent about a year there before getting sent back here, at a timeframe of only four days later. Whatever it was that manipulated time to send her away, made it to where she'd only be gone a few days in her world, even if that wasn't the case for her."
"I think I get it…" Yang started.
"Okay but that doesn't explain the armor," Weiss pointed out. "What even was that? And since when did Crescent Rose have the power to obliterate a Beringel in one shot?"
"Oh that was a more recent addition, like 4 months before I came back," Ruby admitted. "But also it's a very long story…"
"Probably better discussed over the dinner table," Blake added. "The others aren't going to believe this, that's for sure."
"That doesn't sound half bad, I am a bit hungry given I think it's been a while since breakfast," Ruby admitted as she rubbed her stomach. "As for the explanation well… I think I have an easy way to show you guys." She glanced at Tsukuyomi, remembering the tablet she had.
"I suppose that's the most I'm going to get out of you right now," Weiss sighed before giving a small smile. "I'm glad your back."
"Glad to be back," Ruby smiled.
"We should probably let the others know," Yang pulled out her scroll.
"Hey what's going on over here?" A voice called as a man with graying black, spiked hair and vermillion eyes came into view. He was wearing a grey dress shirt with a long tail, black dress pants and shoes alongside a red tattered cloak.
"Huh," Geiz looked over. "Who's he?"
"Oh, perfect timing," Yang admitted before making sure she was in front of Ruby, "Hey Uncle Qrow."
"I just saw two Nevermore explode into fire and another one just get hit by a gigantic firebird," Qrow replied. "You guys alright?" He then noticed Sougo, Geiz and Tsukuyomi. "And who are these three?"
"Well to answer your first question," Yang said before stepping aside to reveal Ruby. "That was all her doing."
"Hey Uncle Qrow," Ruby gave a wave.
"Kiddo…" Qrow's eyes widened as he quickly hurried over, completely unconcerned with what Yang implied. "Thank goodness you're okay! When we weren't getting anywhere today I was starting to worry the worst had happened. Just what went on with that kidnapping?"
"It's uh… a very long story," Ruby admitted.
"I'm sure we've got… wait did Yang just say you were the reason those Nevermore's lit up the night sky?" Qrow asked as what his niece had said finally hit him. "How is that even… did you?"
"No, no Maiden stuff," Ruby shook her head before holding out her Driver and Ridewatch. "Like I said, long story but, I'm what you can call a Kamen Rider." She then looked over at her friends. "Those three are my friends I met during that whole crazy adventure and two of them are Riders too."
"Kamen Rider…?" Qrow raised an eyebrow before giving a sigh and smiling. "Well for what it's worth, welcome back kiddo, we can catch up over some food with everyone else."
"Food sounds great!" Sougo called out.
"Sougo!" Tsukuyomi chided before giving a bow. "Sorry about that, he's just a little eager to eat is all."
"We haven't eaten since breakfast," Sougo whined. "And we only ate half of it…"
"We really shouldn't be imposing on them," Geiz admitted.
"I mean I dragged you guys into coming here, plus Sougo's Uncle did help me out of a tight bind," Ruby admitted. "You're my guests, so I think its fine so long as everyone else is cool with it."
"I mean if they helped you out, it would be rude of us to just turn them away," Blake mentioned.
"We do have some extra space for at least three more people too if you all don't mind sharing some rooms." Qrow added, figuring to add to Ruby's hospitality.
"Yay!" Sougo called out as Geiz and Tuskuyomi sighed.
"Things sure got a lot more interesting around here," Yang admitted.
"You can say that again," Weiss agreed.
Earth – Decmember 22nd 2018
Without the Dai Mazine's active, everyone began to fall back in routine like usual. Even Tsukasa and his friend had left once Tsukasa had confirmed that Kasshine was defeated. Or at least he pretended to anyway, admittedly he had left the mechanized servant in a heavy state of disrepair to try and coax others out of hiding. Of course he wasn't going to tell his friend that since she'd have his head if she found out.
Kasshine was completely still, a few stray sparks coming from his body but otherwise relatively still in decent shape. The force from the attack had ended up deactivating and damaging his memory unit at most. Of course there was one person who had their eyes on him.
The figure limped through the empty factory, wearing a black tattered coat with a hood covering his face.
"Zi-O… Roze…" The man muttered as he stumbled forward a bit, just barely catching himself. "Hate…" He growled out as he managed to make his way over to Kasshine. He slowed before stopping, staring down at the fallen mechanical body. Squatting down he poked the head with his right index finger, a purple glow forming as his finger sunk into it. Golden waves began pulsating from the glow. He then removed his finger as Kasshine's visor lit up.
It lit up blue at first before shifting to a red, suddenly sitting before standing and holding out its hand, the trident it had coming back to it as it said nothing. It then tilted its head to look at the man that had reactivated it.
The hooded man gave a grin as he saw this, "Find them…"
To Be Continued…
Roze from Remnant: Lost Huntress 2018 Arc – END
"The Heisei Riders have begun passing their power towards the future! When the lost king wanders to a new world to help his friend, a new path to the future will form. Rejoice, for the birth of two new eras!"
Roze from Remnant: Rising Riders of Remnant Arc – START
Next Time:
"I can help you in your vengeance, in righting the wrongs done to you."
"I want them to fully know what they're getting into."
"Ruby I'm scared..."
"You've just become a walking arsenal haven't you?"
"I'm sure we can handle whatever's thrown at us."
Chapter 22: A Roze's Homecoming
Author's Note: And with Chapter 21 in the books, we're done with the Lost Huntress 2018 Arc. Yes there are Arc names, and I felt like revealing this one specifically would have given more people suspicions before we got to 2068. So I figured I'd leave it as a secret until the end. Because I'm glad to see I caught quite a few of you off guard with the sudden transition. But now that we're in Remnant with Team RWBY reunited, and only four days after the kidnapping, we're just in time for Volume 6.
Of course first we've got a bit of a breather chapter as a transition, and surprisingly it's not an interlude! Mostly because this next chapter is still the length of what I'd consider a standard chapter. Also, I wouldn't expect too many interludes to pop up for the time being just because of the freer flowing form of RWBY's pacing. This is especially true when compared to Zi-O's two part tribute formula where I could easily insert an interlude between tributes. But yes, most of Team Zi-O is in Remnant, and the seeds of the Quartzers have been set. When I said I'd be trying to use everything Zi-O I meant everything.
As said before, my previous statement from the prior Author Note's is still in effect, if you have any questions involving Arc 1 of Roze from Remnant which has now just concluded, feel free to ask, the deadline is the 24th of July.