Rider Time Zi-O: Roze from Remnant
Chapter 106 – 2019: Lords of the Speed
Woz was currently in 9-5-DO with Weiss, though the area was darkened and time had stopped moving aside from a singular spotlight on him. He opened up his book, watching as it showed Hyper Kabuto saving Roze before giving her the Kabuto Ridewatch.
"Thanks to an extreme case of luck by Miss Rose, there now only remain two Watches that Tokiwa Sougo must collect," Woz said as he looked up from his book, "However we still have unfinished business."
The pages of the book turned to show Another Kabuto and Kamen Rider PunchHopper, before the pages also turned again to show Zi-O in Fourze Armor dealing with a large meteor, only for an even larger one to approach.
"A colossal meteor is rapidly approaching Earth," Woz continued before he shut his book before bringing out his Faizphone X and making a call, "We'll need to act carefully and rapidly if we are to avoid a disastrous impact."
The spotlight shut off as the lights brightened up with time resuming once more.
Earth – Late May 2019
It didn't take long for Zi-O to answer Woz's call, "Hello, Woz?!"
"My Overlord, I advise you to retreat," Woz said as he stared at a bowl of instant ramen he had just started heating up, "We must reconsider our strategy."
"Alright," Zi-O said, "Where are we meeting up?"
"9-5-DO this time," Woz said before Zi-O hung up, "Now then…"
"Ruby's group should be here soon," Weiss said as she stared at her texts that were marked for a while ago, "Of all the luck though… to think they managed to get the Kabuto Watch."
"Quite fortunate that one issue is resolved even if it is a mystery as to how," Woz admitted.
Meanwhile in the kitchen, Junichiro was putting his rice cooker into overdrive as he prepared a bunch of Onigiri. While he wasn't exactly worried since he was sure Sougo and the others could handle it, he figured he'd give them a big feast when it came to the aftermath.
"There, that should be a good starter," Junichiro said as he stared at the plate of onigiri before him, "Weiss, Woz, do you know when Sougo and the others are dropping by again?"
"Ruby's group is coming soon," Weiss spoke up.
"As for my Overlord, he shall return shortly…" Woz said as he pointed upwards, "…from space."
"Eh?" Junichiro looked over in surprise, "He went all that way to deal with it?! You all are really going to be hungry after this…"
"Uh…" Weiss had a near deadpanned look at what she was witnessing, "Mr. Junichiro…"
"There's no way this'll be enough for you all!" Junichiro exclaimed as he immediately got into cooking mode, quickly picking up a large bag of rice, "Time for more rice!"
"Oh no…" Weiss hung her head before she realized something and turned towards Woz, "That's right… we were so busy that we didn't even check. What was even that hell note to begin with?"
"Oh right," Woz was already one step ahead of Weiss, having taken out the letter and began reading it, "Well…"
Geiz and Tsukuyomi meanwhile were looking around the warehouse area where the last fight with Another Kabuto and PunchHopper had happened. While the looming threat of a meteor wasn't exactly something they could just ignore, they knew they needed to find a lead on at least one of the Hell Brother duo.
"Were you just laughing at me…?"
The two looked down from a bridge they were on into a waterway to see Yaguruma trudging through the shin deep water without a care in the world.
"Yaguruma…?" Geiz asked in surprise.
"He really just stayed in the area?" Tsukuyomi questioned.
The two time traveler Riders hurried over to the ladder that led into the waterway, watching Yaguruma climb out before pulling himself onto the walkway.
"Yaguruma!" Geiz shouted as he saw the hell brother walking away, "Where are you going?"
"To find my brother…" Yaguruma stated as if it was obvious, "I will protect Kageyama."
"Wait!" Geiz called out as he rushed over to talk face to face, "The Kageyama you knew is gone…"
"I don't care if he's a Worm now," Yaguruma replied with a low growl as he turned to face Geiz, "He's still my precious little bro."
"He's so broken…" Tsukuyomi muttered in realization as she could only watch as Yaguruma walked away, Geiz trying to follow after him.
At 9-5-DO, while Junichiro was busy in the back, Team RWBY alongside Penny, Sougo and Woz were having a meeting regarding the next step in their plan.
"If we are to destroy the meteor, this is our only option," Woz said as he held up a sheet of paper, it had a drawing in what appeared to be marker, very proficiently as well.
The first part held the meteor, underneath it was an arrow pointing upwards with a chibi Woz Ginga Finaly holding onto a chibi Zi-O Fourze Armor. Those two had an arrow pointing to the side, showing Woz Ginga Taiyo exuding an insane amount of heat.
"Huh, Woz that's actually pretty good," Blake admitted as she saw the drawings.
"Thank you," Woz smiled before putting it down on the main table for everyone to see, the chronicler having already finished the instant Ramen while waiting for the others to arrive, "My Overlord will carry me to it, then with Ginga Finaly's Taiyo Form, I will destroy it from within."
"Sounds simple enough," Sougo said.
"Yes, simple," Weiss remarked in clear annoyance as she crossed her arms, huffing whenever Sougo tried to adress her.
"Uh…" Ruby trailed.
"She's uh… kind of made I ignored her concerns and went to go destroy the meteor," Sougo admitted with a sheepish smile.
"Ah…" Ruby nodded in understanding.
"It was an insane plan," Weiss replied, "Just like this one."
"Well do we even have a choice?" Blake asked, "Because otherwise we're going to see massive damage on a scale not thought possible."
"Besides, it's not like Sougo will do all the legwork in this case," Ruby reminded, "Woz is the one dealing with it."
"Will it be enough though?" Yang asked.
"Yes, that's the question," Weiss agreed, still skeptical despite the reassurances.
"If it gets down to it, we'll use Trinity to finish the job," Sougo reassured, "While I don't think Trinity is strong enough to deal with that meteor on its own, if its weakened from the inside then we might have a chance."
"Like with Monstra back on Remnant, right?" Ruby asked to which Sougo nodded.
"That… that could work if it gets that dire, yeah," Weiss realized before sighing as she accepted that their slapdash crazy plan was the only option, "Alright, I think I can accept this crazy plan just a bit more…"
"We also have the Kabuto Ridewatch," Penny said, "So either Ruby or Tsuki can take the lead when dealing with Another Kabuto."
"I still must admit, bravo on acquiring it," Woz admitted, "I suppose we won't need to use Arata Kagami to lead us to it this time."
"Speaking of which, where did he go to?" Sougo asked.
"Oh, oh right…" Weiss said as she had a realization, "I knew we were forgetting something…"
"Forgetting what?" Ruby asked.
"He appears to have been abducted," Woz finally answered Sougo's question in a nonchalant fashion. Everyone could only give remarks of disbelief at this, Woz holding out a letter that was contained in an envelope that had 'hell' written on it, "He was likely taken captive by Kageyama. There was a note indicating such."
"Hell?" Sougo questioned as he went to read the letter, "…"If you want Kagami Arata back"… oh jeez, they did capture him!"
Everyone else could only stare in shock at this confirmation.
"EHHH?!"
Despite Tsukuyomi's protests, Geiz continued to try and find some reason behind Yaguruma's actions as he chased after him.
"Why are you so obsessed with Kageyama, anyway?" Geiz asked.
"Go on, laugh…" Yaguruma remarked.
"Why do you think we want to laugh at you?" Tsukuyomi asked with some concern as she hurried over.
"If he ever needs to be put down… I'll be the one to do it," Yaguruma insisted as he began to circle around Geiz before walking a short distance away, his back facing the time traveling Riders, "Once again… by my own hands…"
"Goodbye, bro…"
"Partner…!"
Geiz and Tsukuyomi could only look in surprise when they heard this, Geiz recalling his promise to Sougo way back during the train crash to Argus. How he'd fully take Sougo out before the future king of time got as bad as Oma Zi-O.
Tsukuyomi heard her phone ring, taking it out, "Blake? Wait a minute, please slow down… Kagami actually got what…? And Kageyama sent it?"
"Kageyama…?" Yaguruma repeated before immediately rushing towards Tsukuyomi and kicking at her.
Geiz's eyes widened as he quickly got in the way, "Tsukuyo-gah!"
Yaguruma had ended up kicking Geiz in the gut, sending him tumbling into Tsukuyomi as the two fell back.
[KABUTO!]
Yaguruma transformed into Another Kabuto before turning away from the two before slapping the side of his belt strap.
ClockUp!
The two could only stare in surprise as they watched the Another Rider speed off.
"To think he's going this far for a copy of his brother…" Tsukuyomi said, "But…"
"I'm pretty sure the worm mimicking Kageyama needs to be put down instantly," Geiz replied, "Yaguruma's just too in denial and broken to see it…"
At a desolate quarry, the continued pseudo-eclipse tinted the entire area into a dark blue. Arata was currently chained up to a makeshift post made out of a thin and long enough tree log. Kageyama meanwhile was sitting on a rock as he waited patiently while Arata tried to break free of his binds.
"Kagami!"
Arata looked over to see Sougo and Weiss hurrying over, the two having the Fourze and Ginga Finaly Watches in their respective hands.
"Good," Kageyama smiled as the two he requested to come in the note had shown up, "You made sure the right people showed up."
"Let Kagami go," Weiss narrowed her eyes.
"First give me those space powers your group has," Kageyama said as he stepped forward, smiling further when he saw the two Watches lifted up to show him, "Now toss them to me."
Sougo and Weiss looked at each other, the two giving a nod as they tossed the Watches… to the far left of Kageyama.
Kageyama could only gasp out as he quickly ran towards them in an attempt to catch them. Unfortunately he gasped out as he was hit by a Gravity Glyph courtesy of Weiss, a Summon Glyph forming as the hand of the Arma Gigas reached out and caught the two space themed Watches.
"Alright," Sougo said, "Ruby, now!"
…
…
…
"Huh?" Sougo said as nothing was happening, "Ruby?"
Weiss quickly turned towards a nearby hill in the quarry, her eyes widening as she saw nothing, "Sougo, she's-"
"Looking for her…?" Yaguruma's voice could soon be heard as a red blur smashed its way through Sougo and Weiss, the two being thrown to the ground with Weiss' Glyphs disappearing. The Arma Gigas hand dissipated, thus dropping the Ridewatches once more.
Kageyama gasped as he managed to catch the falling Ridewatches before giving a grin, "Nice save, bro."
Another Kabuto had stopped moving, revealing a struggling Ruby who was being held by her neck with his right arm, the Another Rider having Crescent Rose in his other hand.
"Let… go…!" Ruby gasped as she tried to break free but the Another Rider had a firm grip on her from the start, giving her little breathing room to even attempt Petal Burst.
"I've always got my little bros back," Another Kabuto said.
"I'll meet you at our spot," Kageyama said before quickly running off with his spoils of war.
"Now then…" Another Kabuto said as he tightened his grip on Ruby, "How about I drag you to hell, that sounds fun right?"
"Yaguruma, leave them out of this!" Kagami shouted before giving a light gasp as he heard the sound of metal shattering, his chains falling limply to the ground. His eyes widened when he saw it wasn't the Gatack Zecter that had freed him, it was… "The Kabuto Zecter…?"
"Huh?" Another Kabuto tilted his head.
The Kabuto Zecter quickly flew around Kagami before settling inside his hand, "I'm not sure why you've come to me… but I won't let you down! Henshin!"
[HENSHIN!]
Sliding the Kabuto Zecter onto his belts main pad, red energy washed over Kagami and transformed him into Kabuto's Masked Form, the bodysuit being similar to most ZECT Riders, with bulky grey armor that held red accents and a singular blue visor.
"Cast Off!" Kabuto shouted as he flipped the Kabuto horn backwards.
[CHANGE BEETLE!]
The armor exploded off, striking Another Kabuto in the back and sending him stumbling forward, Crescent Rose being dismissed as Ruby used Petal Burst to slip out of Another Kabuto's grasp. She gasped as she quickly landed near Sougo and Weiss while crouching, breathing heavily as her friends knelt down to check on her.
Kabuto's Rider Form was fairly simplistic compared to the upgraded form that Ruby had seen before. It had simple red chest armoring, the helmet being pure red with a Kabuto beetle's horn splitting the mono-eye into two. The shoulders were red on the top with silver lined the bottoms.
"Clock Up!" Kabuto shouted as he became a red blur.
[CLOCK UP!]
Another Kabuto was ready to smack the side of his belt strap to initiate his Clock Up only to get slammed into several times by the red blur that was his true counterpart.
"Kabuto…" Another Kabuto hissed out in a shaky voice as his fingers began to twitch.
[1, 2, 3!]
Another Kabuto gasped as he turned, watching as Kabuto appeared behind him. He yelled out and punched at his true counterpart.
"Rider Kick!" Kabuto turned, avoiding the punch and striking Another Kabuto in the side with a roundhouse kick.
[RIDER KICK!]
Another Kabuto yelled out as he was sent rolling to the side before exploding. Yaguruma gasped as he was managed to stumble out of the explosion just barely, glaring at Kabuto. Of course, due to it being only Kabuto that defeated him, that meant that the Anotherwatch was still intact.
Kabuto began to move forward when he gasped, the area turning a green tinted coloration as glitch effects appeared around him, Ruby, Sougo, and Weiss.
"Time Jacker…" Weiss called out.
Yaguruma wasn't sure what had happened but shook his head, stumbling away in order to go meet with Kageyama again.
In the distance was Uhr who was standing on a hill that overlooked the quarry. He turned away and dismissed the time stop once Yaguruma was far enough away, "I was hoping that maybe a Legend Rider would work out well like Ryuga… but it seems that guy's barely going to make the cut…"
"That was it?" Ruby gasped out as the time stop was dismissed, "That was very hands off…"
"Yeah usually they'd gloat or taunt us but not this time," Weiss agreed.
"Are you kids alright?" Kabuto asked as he hurried over and dismissed his transformation.
"Wow, I didn't think you were Kabuto too," Sougo replied with wide eyes.
"I'm uh… usually not," Arata admitted as he held up the Kabuto Zecter, "I'm not sure why it even came to me…"
"Because an old friend sent it your way, it's as simple as that."
"Huh?" Arata looked up at the voice alongside Ruby, the female Rider recognizing it from earlier.
Approaching them was a man with a strong aura to him. He had bushy medium length hair and was simply wearing jeans with white shoes, a black t-shirt and a white long sleeved jacket.
"No way…" Arata stared in shock as the Kabuto Zecter flew out of his hand, the sentient Rider device flying over to the man who caught it.
"Um, who are you?" Sougo asked.
"That voice…" Ruby muttered, already recognizing this man as the same one who saved her earlier despite not having seen his face.
"My grandmother once said…" the man started to speak as he let the Kabuto Zecter go and pointed upwards while looking towards the obscured sun, "He who walks the path of heaven… will rule over everything. My name is… Tendou Souji, Kamen Rider Kabuto."
"Whoa," Sougo said as he clapped a few times before hurrying over and taking out a Blank Ridewatch, "Could you hold onto this?"
"Wait, Sougo-" Ruby tried to speak up but was cut off by Weiss, "What?"
"From how you and Penny described it, I think we should just let him hold onto it for now," Weiss suggested, realizing there was more to Kabuto showing up earlier than they knew.
"Of course, it is but the least I could do," Tendou said as he took the Blank Ridewatch and pocketed it.
"Tendou," Arata said as he walked over, "Why didn't you fight as Kabuto yourself?"
"It would have taken too long," Tendou answered, "The Gatack Zecter came to me and requested my help after you were captured. The easiest and safest option was to send the Kabuto Zecter in my stead to catch the opponent off guard."
"I suppose that makes sense," Arata sighed before ruffling his hair, "Also when were you going to tell me you got back into town?"
"Oh, so you missed me that much," Tendou remarked as he turned around with a smile, "I suppose some things never change. You always did like clinging to me back then."
"H-Hey that's not what I'm trying to say!" Arata shouted as he got a bit flustered.
Sougo couldn't help but snicker a bit, "Alright, I think we should probably meet back up with the others."
Uhr was currently walking through the eclipsed city, trying to figure out how to exactly turn the situation his way. He had thought that by using someone closely connected to Kabuto in some form would allow Another Kabuto to grow strong. Taking advantage of the meteor strikes that involved Kabuto's enemies also likely should have helped.
But all he got out of it was a man desperately grasping for a brother that wasn't even alive anymore, and a Worm that clearly didn't care about the Time Jackers goals in the slightest. Another Kabuto's growth was stagnating thanks to the Hell Brothers bond that Yaguruma shared with Kageyama, and the Worm Kageyama only seemed to think of the Another Rider as an asset.
Thankfully due to the panic caused by the meteor, no one was really out and about. Most were trying to evacuate while others were hunkering down to try and survive the impact. With no one around, Uhr was allowed to have his thoughts in peace.
"There has to be something…" Uhr said as he continued to search for the two Hell Brothers, there was also the possibility of needing to take the Fourze and Ginga Watches back to spoil Kageyama's plans.
"It sounds like someone isn't happy with their current plan."
"Huh?" Uhr turned to see Cinder leaning against the outer wall of a building, "What do you want?"
"Relax, Finis is doing her own thing and so I'm not tied to her at the moment," Cinder admitted as she stood up straight before walking over with crossed arms, "I figured I'd lend some help."
"You just want to fight Roze, right?" Uhr asked, "What use could that be for me?"
"Cutting down our opponents' numbers for one," Cinder said, "No doubt she'll want her full team and the puppet to face me. Plus they'll have to deal with the meteor sooner or later, I don't see their group leaving that unattended."
"So that means only a few Riders would be facing down Another Kabuto and that worm mimic…" Uhr said as he gained a look of realization, "Sounds good, that would give Another Kabuto the potential space to grow. But if he doesn't…"
"You'll step in?" Cinder asked.
"No," Uhr shook his head as he began to walk away, "He's too focused on a dead friend he called a brother, and if he doesn't grow before the next fight ends… well, he's done for."
"Just giving up, huh?" Cinder asked with an amused smirk.
"More like realizing this plan's backfired," Uhr admitted before he vanished.
"I suppose I should get ready," Cinder said before turning and walking off.
Everyone was currently regrouping at 9-5-DO, Geiz and Tsukuyomi finally joining the others as Weiss was helping heal Arata's minor injuries with the Chalice Arrow while Yang applied first aid for the bigger ones.
Despite Tendou joining them, he had actually been more fascinated by the smell of rice in the back kitchen which currently had its door shut. While everyone was busy having their meeting, he went to sneak into the dining room.
"The situation is now dire," Woz spoke up, "Without the Fourze and Ginga Watches, we can't get close to the meteor let alone destroy it. And attacking it too close to its impact point will cause even worse damage."
"So Tsuki freezing it close enough for us to get to but far enough to avoid damage is out of the table, huh?" Yang asked.
"A clever idea," Woz said, "However there are two problems with that. Close enough for us to travel to without the proper Watches is still close enough to cause untold damage. And two…"
"I know my powers have been growing stronger," Tsukuyomi interrupted as she held up her right hand and gently held it, "But I'm not sure if it's that strong…"
"Valid points," Yang said before sighing.
"Why did only three of you go for the rescue anyway?" Geiz questioned.
"Kageyama requested Weiss and I specifically," Sougo replied, "I also noted the location didn't have a lot of cover so most of us going wouldn't have been ideal. I figured Ruby as a sniper would've worked but well…"
"Yaguruma arrived too fast," Tsukuyomi continued before apologetically bowing, "That's partially my fault, we were trying to talk some sense into him when we get the call, as soon as he heard Kageyama's name he just attacked us and rushed off."
"I'm sorry, this is my fault," Arata apologized as well.
"Given your kind of Riders aren't really the most upgradable, how did you even lose to get captured anyway?" Yang asked, "Figured you would've been harder to beat if the playing field's more even."
Blake sighed, "Yang, really?"
"What?" Yang asked, "I'm just curious."
"Well there's age and the fact that this is the first time in a long while that I've fought," Arata admitted, "Add in the fact that Kageyama's in his prime and a Worm…"
"You're fine," Sougo reassured, "I'm not expecting every older Rider to be in tip top shape. The fact that you're fighting right now is pretty great."
"What are the Time Jackers even thinking?" Geiz asked, wanting to get back on track.
"It definitely felt weird being caught in time stop but none of them actually showing up," Weiss admitted, "It's like they're doing the bare minimum."
"Maybe they want the Worms to do something?" Ruby pondered.
"The Worms want dominance of the Earth," Woz explained, "While possible that they'd want to place Another Kabuto as the figurehead… the choice is odd to say the least."
"Especially if we count in the fact that Cinder already is their Queen," Sougo said, "And Swartz is holding onto Another Zi-O."
"Do you think he's going to try and bring back Hiryu?" Tsukuyomi asked.
"I'd like to hope that Hiryu's moved on admittedly," Sougo answered as he looked down at the floor, "Swartz might be trying to search for a new host while we're dealing with the remaining Another Riders."
"So this is all just a stall tactic, huh?" Geiz asked.
"The question is once we get all 20 Ridewatches… Sougo will likely get a new power, right?" Blake asked, "Could the Time Jackers even compete at that point?"
"Doubtful," Yang said, "Plus with how slow things are going without anything major happening on their side, we're likely to reach our goal before they hit theirs."
"For now we should probably focus on the meteor," Penny suggested.
"How do we even get the Watches back though?" Ruby asked.
[SEARCH HAWK! SAGASHI-TAKA, TAKA!]
The Taka Wathcroid flew into the front of the store, it flapping a few times before landing in Tsukuyomi's palm.
"We have our Ride Gadgets remember?" Tsukuyomi smiled before looking at the gadget, "Did you find it?"
The Taka Watchroid chirped a few times before lifting out of Tsukuyomi's hands and spiraling around her.
"Think we can leave it to you, Tsuki?" Ruby asked, already figuring Tsukuyomi's plan.
"Of course, I can easily get our Watches back without a fight," Tsukuyomi said before hurrying off after the Taka Watchroid.
"That's one side of the plan being taken care of," Geiz said, "What do we do now?"
"Oh, I never thought of it like that! What an incredible discovery!"
Everyone turned towards the closed dining room door as Tendou walked out with a smug smile, everyone briefly seeing Junichiro praising the heavens.
"What did you even do back there?" Sougo asked with a bit of a chuckle, surprised to see his uncle acting all pepped up.
"Gave him some advice for making rice," Tendou replied, "Grandmother once said this, no matter what condiment, what ingredient… there is something greater: the love of the person cooking."
"Whoa," Sougo muttered.
"Your uncle is a fine cook," Tendou said as he patted Sougo on the shoulder, "Now then, what's our next course of action?"
"Oh right," Yang said as she stood up, "Ruby said you were that Kabuto Rider, so um… thanks for helping us out earlier."
"Helping you out?" Tendou raised an eyebrow before realizing something and chuckling, "Ah yes, it was likely little issue to myself. But you should not underestimate the Worm, they are very dangerous."
"Thankfully all but one seemed to be wiped out for now," Blake said.
"I'm probably going to head out," Geiz said as he stood up from where he was leaning, a realization hitting him, "Something tells me that the Hell Brothers won't let Tsukuyomi rest easy once she takes the Watches back."
"I shall go with you then," Woz offered.
"Huh?" Geiz turned in surprise, "You want to willingly help Tsukuyomi?"
"Do not mistake my offer," Woz narrowed his eyes, "I simply want the precious power I obtained back in my hands."
"Whatever," Geiz said as he walked out without another word, Woz following after him.
Kageyama and Yaguruma had taken up residence in an abandoned building, sitting at the back of one of the entrances, the steel shutters raised all the way as they used some boxes, barrels and the architecture to sit and have a nice lunch. The two were waiting for some ramen to finish cooking after they had put boiling water in their respective instant bowls.
Near the ramen bowls were the Fourze and Ginga Watches.
"Kageyama," Yaguruma spoke up, "Are you trying to destroy the Earth?"
"Yeah, I wanna sink it even deeper into Hell," Kageyama replied with a smile before frowning, "You against that, bro?"
"No way," Yaguruma said in an almost delusional voice, "You're all I need."
"We'll be together forever," Kageyama said as he went to take his ramen alongside his Another Rider cohort, "Continuing to survive in this Hell."
"I honestly wasn't sure what to expect…"
Yaguruma didn't seem to react but Kageyama went to turn, seeing Tsukuyomi before both him and Yaguruma were caught within her time stop.
"But I wasn't expecting to come across such a sad scene," Tsukuyomi admitted as she held a look of pity specifically towards Yaguruma. She walked over and took the Fourze and Ginga Watches, the Taka Watchroid circling around her as she turned to walk off.
Once she was far enough away the time stop was dismissed, Kageyama jerking forward before he stood up. He held an intense glare as he realized that his enemies now had their tools to stop his invasion again.
"What is it, bro?" Yaguruma asked between bites of his ramen.
"That white clothed girl…" Kageyama said as his eye began to twitch, "She wants to ruin our Hell…"
"Well we can't have that," Yaguruma said, "But finish your ramen first so you can keep up your strength. We have all the time we need to go after her thanks to our speed."
"Fine," Kageyama muttered as he reluctantly went back to eating his ramen.
Ruby, Sougo, Penny, Tendou and Arata were currently wandering through the streets, having taken a bit after Geiz and Woz left to allow some element of surprise with their eventual arrival. Weiss, Blake and Yang had decided to stay behind, figuring Roze RWBY would be useful from the start.
Arata meanwhile was still mulling over the fact that he had gotten caught.
"Don't tell me you're still like this," Tendou sighed, "I thought you had gotten over these issues."
"I mean, I could never beat Kabuto," Arata admitted, "Neither you or that imitation. The only time I could was with the power of Kabuto, but even then I could only stall him."
"There is nothing wrong with imitating a person… as long as it's to find who you really are," Tendou spoke up, "Do you remember these words?"
"Huh?" Arata looked over at his friend, "Tendou…"
"I saw you fight as Kabuto, it definitely felt right to see you in that armor," Tendou admitted, "However this is a battle in which more than just Kabuto is needed, partner."
"He's right," Sougo finally spoke up, "You can beat Another Kabuto, but not alone. If we work together then we can win this."
"That is how it usually works," Penny admitted with a giggle.
"Yep, we're stronger together after all," Ruby agreed with a raised fist.
"You all…" Arata couldn't help but smile at that, "I suppose when you put it like that, I can't help but agree."
Everyone winced slightly when a bright blue light could be seen shining from Arata's pocket. The veteran Rider removing the Blank Ridewatch to reveal a grey Ridewatch with a bright blue dial and button, holding Gatack's face on it.
"This is…" Arata said as he stared at the Ridewatch.
"Oh sweet," Ruby said as she hurried over, "This'll be useful."
"What do you use these for anyway?" Arata asked as he handed it to the Huntress Rider.
"For me it's to expand my arsenal," Ruby admitted as she pocketed it, "Sougo though he wanted Kabuto's Watch because he wants to become a King and Kamen Rider."
"Yep," Sougo nodded to Ruby before walking over to Arata with a smile, "You're a powerful warrior. I think I'll appoint you to head of security when I become a King, so you can protect our people."
Arata stared at Sougo before he began to chuckle heavily, "Oh wow, a King…!" he called out in amusement before looking over at Tendou, "That's one boast you never made, huh?"
"I suppose you're right," Tendou smirked at this.
Sougo meanwhile was smiling at this, he could tell that he had caught Arata off guard and he did enjoy that about his proclamations. Though he had to admit Arata's genuine laugher seemed more like encouragement than mocking which felt like a nice change of pace.
Ruby couldn't help but chuckle before hearing her Faizphone X go off, soon answering it, "Hello?"
"Ruby!" Tsukuyomi shouted from the other line, "I've got the Watches but Kageyam and Yaguruma are starting their final attack! Geiz and Woz are here but we could use Sougo so we can start the plan!"
"Don't worry we'll be there as soon as possible," Ruby said.
"I also sent the Taka Watchroid, just follow it and you'll find us!" Tsukuyomi shouted before giving a grunt as she seemed to have dodged out of the way of something, "See you!"
"Alright, looks like that's our cue," Ruby said as she closed her Faizphone X and pocketed it.
[SEARCH HAWK!]
It wasn't long before the Taka Watchroid began to circle above the group before flying off.
"Let's get going," Sougo nodded as he ran after the Taka Watchroid with the others.
The Taka Watchroid continued to lead them forward before they all began to slow down, quickly stopping as the street they were running through now had someone blocking their path.
That someone was Cinder who had a grin on her face, her Maiden powers active as her eye held the usual amber flame over it.
"Someone wants to seem important," Tendou remarked.
"That's sure is a statement coming from you," Arata said as he glanced at his friend.
"Oh no…" Ruby muttered before holding out the Kabuto Ridewatch to Sougo, "Penny and I will handle her, get this to Tsuki."
"Got it," Sougo said as he took the Ridewatch, as he began to back up, "Birdie let's find an alternate route!"
The Taka Watchroid chirped a few times before flying in a different direction, Sougo giving a nod to both Tendou and Arata before running off after the Ride Gadget, the two veteran Riders doing the same.
"Why are you here?" Penny asked.
"I figured I'd cut you down by a lot if I did this," Cinder grinned, "Glad to see you all are as predictable as ever."
"You make it sound like that's a bad thing," Ruby said.
"On the contrary, I want you all to myself," Cinder replied, "You feel the same way, right? That's why your team isn't with you… they're somewhere else for that new form, right?"
"And if they are?" Ruby asked.
"Then I want you to bring out that form immediately so that I can crush it," Cinder said as she brought out the Roze Anotherwatch before activating it and placing it at her waist.
[HI-ROZE!]
Cinder shouted out as the Another Rider transformation kicked in, fully turning into Hi-Roze.
'Oh she's going to regret this…' Kagami's voice spoke within Ruby, 'She hasn't fought Roze RWBY yet…'
"If you think this is going to go the way you think it is, you're wrong," Ruby said as she prepared her base and Roze RWBY Ridewatches before getting in her transformation stance, "Henshin!"
[RIDER TIME! KAMEN RIDER ROZE!]
Penny stepped back and brought out Floating Array, slowly floating upwards, her eyes being surrounded by a green fiery glow while Ruby assumed the base form of Kamen Rider Roze. She then began to back up, figuring she'd play support for the time being.
[RWBY TIME! DANKETSU YOTTSU NO TAMASHI! KAMEN RIDER ROZE RW~BY~! RWBY!]
Roze stepped forward as the emblems for her team appeared, all of them sliding over her and giving her the armor to complete the transformation into Roze RWBY.
"Huh, wait what's going on?" Yang asked, "Where's Another Kabuto?"
"It looks like we're facing down Cinder," Blake said.
"Yeah, sorry about that girls," Roze said as she got in a fighting stance, "Change of plans."
"Let's try and finish this quickly then," Weiss suggested.
Hi-Roze chuckled before hopping forward, using her magic to launch her forward via a gust of wind. She then wrapped wind around herself as Penny split Floating Array into its miniature cannons, launching concentrated blasts of ice outwards. The wind and speed Cinder had managed to protect her, spires of ice forming all around her as she launched directly towards Roze.
Roze quickly brought up a multi-layered Glyph, forcing her Another Rider counterpart to slam against it as she stepped back. Her eyes widened however when Hi-Roze grabbed the center of the Glyph, electricity crackling from the Another Rider's fingers as the Glyph was torn apart.
Hi-Roze gasped as she was assaulted by several blasts of ice via Penny, being unable to dodge. The result was herd being frozen in a solid chunk, only for that chunk to crack and shatter. She attempted to move forward only to realize her legs and feet were still frozen.
"Now let her have it!" Yang called out as Roze brought out Ember Celica.
Roze then punched forward twice, managing to strike Hi-Roze before reeling her right arm back and performing an uppercut, releasing a blast from the gauntlet itself to heavily hit against the Another Rider.
Hi-Roze gasped as she was struck by the attacks, the impacts allowing her to easily break out of the ice but forcing her into a stagger. Despite this she quickly leapt backwards, doing a flip as she avoided more ice blasts from Penny.
Penny continued to fire ice blasts at Hi-Roze only to quickly recall Floating Array, bringing them into their blade formations and spinning them around her as she began dodging back. Hi-Roze had launched out two fireballs that split into dozens of smaller ones, forcing her to back off.
[FINISH TIME!]
Roze had loaded the Gatack Ridewatch into Crescent Rose before aiming forward, launching out a blue beam of energy from her weapon.
[GATACK SASU SASU SHOOT!]
The beam suddenly split into two stag beetle themed horns that spread out before pinching forward, aiming on stabbing into Hi-Roze on both sides. The Another Rider shouted as she formed ice shield barriers before the pincers got close, allowing those to shatter before bringing out blackened glass shields to brace against the slowed down attack.
"Like hell I'm letting you all win this," Hi-Roze growled out as she superheated the shields before causing them to explode outwards, dispersing the energy before reforming the shattered glass into twin scimitar.
Geiz, Tsukuyomi and Woz were currently on a rather spacious two-level rooftop, the trio fighting in their base forms against PunchHopper and Another Kabuto. While Woz was striking at PunchHopper with his Despear in sickle mode, Tsukuyomi was currently grappling with Another Kabuto while Geiz moved in to strike with his Zikan Zax.
"Why are you fighting?" Geiz questioned as he grabbed onto Another Kabuto, "The whole world is in danger!"
"The whole world or whatever else, it's all Hell to me!" Another Kabuto answered as he shoved both Geiz and Tsukuyomi away, "Let's finish this, partner!"
"Right," PunchHopper called out as he kicked Woz away before moving towards the Another Rider.
"Geiz, Woz," Tsukuyomi spoke up, "We need to combine our powers."
"So we're pulling out that tactic huh?" Geiz asked, "Guess now's the best chance we have!"
"Let us go," Woz said as he stepped forward with Geiz, the two initiating their weapon's special attacks.
[ICHIGEKI KAMAN!]
[GIWA GIWA UCHI!]
The two gathered energy in their weapons, Another Kabuto and PunchHopper charging their finishers before rushing forward. Geiz and Woz reeled back before spinning and slashing towards Tsukuyomi while backing out of their opponents' path.
Tsukuyomi quickly held out her hands, catching the energy slashes and forming them into spheres that she combined into a golden one while spinning. She then pushed forward, launching it towards the Rider and Another Rider.
PunchHopper punched out while Another Kabuto performed a roundhouse kick, their attacks clashing against the sphere. Geiz and Woz yelled out, the two moving in and striking the sphere, pushing it further and causing an explosion that forced the two future Riders back and out of their transformations.
The result had managed to send both PunchHopper and Another Kabuto tumbling backwards and out of their transformations.
Tsukuyomi hurried over to the two, quickly getting in front of them since she still had her Rider Form and didn't want the Hell Brothers to try any dirty tricks.
"No matter what you do you can't win!" Kageyama called out as he stood up defiantly, "There's an army of my kind inside that meteor! This whole planet will belong to us!"
"Snap out of it, Yaguruma!" Geiz called out, "This thing is using Kageyama to trick you!"
"That's fine," Yaguruma answered, still deluded, "As long as I've got my partner back."
"This isn't going to go well for you," Tsukuyomi said, "You need to let go!"
"No one's making me let go anytime soon," Yaguruma glared at the Riders, "I'll trash anyone who does!"
"Guys!"
It wasn't long before Sougo, Arata and Tendou hurried over onto the rooftop, the three turning to face the Hell Brothers.
"Yaguruma…" Tendou muttered as he saw the man before him.
"You… Tendou…" Yaguruma let out a disturbing smile as he saw his old acquaintance.
"Perfect, now that my Overlord is here…" Woz spoke up.
"You all can get to your part of the plan," Tsukuyomi said as she drew out the Fourze and Ginga Watches, handing them to Sougo and Woz respectively, "Get moving."
"Right, but first you'll need this," Sougo said as he handed Tsukuyomi the Kabuto Ridewatch.
"I'll put it to good use," Tsukuyomi nodded.
"See to it that you do," Woz remarked as he prepared Ginga Finaly.
"Tendou, Kagami, you can handle things here, right?" Sougo asked as he prepped his personal and Fourze Watches.
"You bet I can," Arata nodded as he readied his Gatack Zecter, "Your highness!"
Tendou chuckled as he called the Kabuto Zecter to him, "Of course."
"Alright then, let's go," Geiz said as he prepped his personal and Revive Ridewatches, "There's no time to waste!"
Instead of immediately transforming into Another Kabuto, Yaguruma brought out his Hopper Zecter, preparing it alongside Kageyama preparing his own as everyone finally uttered the word to kick off the battle.
"Henshin!"
[HENSHIN!]
[ARMOR TIME! 3, 2. 1! FOURZE!]
[WOZGINGAFINALY! FINALY!]
[REVE-VI-I-VE GORETSU~! GORETSU!]
[CHANGE KICK HOPPER!]
[CHANGE PUNCH HOPPER!]
Everyone changed into their various forms and for Kabuto and Gatack that meant starting off in their Masked Forms. That wasn't an issue though as the two immediately shifted the horns on their Zecters to shift into their signature forms.
"Cast Off!"
[CAST OFF!]
[CHANGE BEETLE!]
[CHANGE STAG BEETLE!]
"You won't stop that meteor!" PunchHopper called out.
"You two get to deal with us!" Geiz called out as he rushed to intercept PunchHopper with Tsukuyomi while Gatack rushed in to fight KickHopper, Kabuto making his way towards the two at a fair pace.
"It's time…" Zi-O crouched down as he prepared himself as Woz grabbed onto his arm.
"…FOR SPACE!"
The two shouted the second half in tandem as Zi-O launched upwards, transforming into his rocket form as Woz held onto it from below, the future king of time taking off into space with his retainer in tow.
Zi-O and Woz eventually made it back into space, the two reaching the gigantic meteor as Woz let go, Zi-O shifting out of his rocket form.
"Now we must head inside, My Overlord," Woz said.
"Leave it to me," Zi-O said as he loaded in the Decade Ridewatch, slotting Build's into it as well.
[KAMEN RIDE! WOW! DE~CADE! FINAL FORM TIME! B-B-B-BUILD!]
Zi-O jettisoned the Fourze Armor as the Decade Armor formed and latched onto him. His body, legs and arms flashed before transforming into the RabbitTank Sparkling bodysuit. He gripped the Drill Crusher Crusher tightly as he pressed down on the Decade Ridewatch once more.
"Alright," Zi-O held up his drill as it began to spin rapidly, "Let's do this!"
[B-B-B-BUILD! FINAL ATTACK TIME BREAK!]
Zi-O launched forward with Woz following after. A large energy projection of the Drill Crusher Crusher formed as he rammed into the meteor, the drill clashing against the hard rock before it finally began to dig before fully piercing through.
The drilling seemed to take minutes on end, at least to Zi-O due to how strenuous it was. Eventually he had hit a hollow portion of the meteor, giving a yelp as he fell into it alongside Woz.
"My Overlord…!" Woz called out as he hurried over, noticing Zi-O was hunched over.
"I used Decade Armor for a boost and that still hurt!" Zi-O whined as he rubbed his arm.
"Leave me to handle the matter from here on," Woz placed a hand on his chest before he went to initiate his form change.
[HEY-YO! TAIYO! GINGATAIYO!]
A burst of heat occurred as Woz was surrounded by a miniature sun, it shrinking as his visor changed and as a result his power-set.
"Whoa, whoa," Zi-O stepped back at the heat Woz was emitting, "Very hot!"
"Now then…" Woz saw that several Salis Worms had noticed their intrusion, lumbering towards him and Zi-O. He opened and closed his Driver's lever to initiate the finisher, "Let us commence the main portion of the plan."
[FINALLY BEYOND THE TIME! BURNING SUN EXPLOSION!]
Woz held his hands close together, forming a ball of heat within them before splitting that ball apart and spreading his hands forward. The result was two massive waves of fire exiting his palms as he completely eviscerated any Salis Worm that attempted to get near him.
Roze and Hi-Roze rushed at each other, the Rider drawing out the Gashacon Sparrow in its sickle mode and striking at the Another Rider who held her twin glass scimitar in defense. Roze shouted and performed a cross slash, shattering the glass scimitars.
Hi-Roze growled as the black glass gathered around her arms, forming more and creating black claws. She then lunged forward, grabbing onto Roze's arm and neck with both of her claws as she tried to force the Rider down to the ground.
Roze gasped out as she was forced to one knee before dropping the sickle in her free arm, bringing out Gambol Shroud and stabbing, managing to press it against Hi-Roze's stomach.
"Not bad," Hi-Roze coughed out as she kept her hold on Roze, "But I'm not giving up that easily!"
"Everyone," Penny gave a gasp as she landed quickly aiming her Floating Array in their funnel formations.
"Try and hit me and you might hit them too!" Hi-Roze spoke up as she glanced at Penny, "Can you really afford that mistake?!"
"Don't worry about us Penny," Roze called out calmly as she stayed where she was, "We'll be fine."
"But…" Penny said as she stayed where she was.
"So this is the form that beat Salem?" Hi-Roze asked, "A bit underwhelming if you ask me."
"You say that but we've been on a pretty good roll," Yang remarked.
"Speaking of Salem…" Weiss spoke up, "I still don't get it."
"Get what?" Hi-Roze questioned.
"Why are you doing this?" Blake asked, "We assumed you just followed Salem's beck and call and what she wanted but here you are just doing things on your own. What do you even get out of causing trouble for everyone else?"
"I just want more power, always have," Hi-Roze answered, "If hanging around the Time Jackers gives me more then I'll gladly take it."
"More power… really?" Roze asked with a hint of annoyance, "That's seriously all you want? You caused so much destruction in our world for that?!"
"Oh if only you knew how rotten our world really is," Hi-Roze hissed out, "The truth is that only the strong can survive and if I want to make sure that I'm not trampled on like I was before Salem found me then I need to be the strongest."
"While I get not wanting to be pushed around… what you've done…" Blake spoke up with a hiss.
"Yeah, feeling powerless sucks," Yang admitted, "But…"
"Trying to destroy our homes," Weiss continued, "Allowing Salem to get dangerously close to destroying our world…"
"We're not about to sit here and say you weren't wronged," Roze said through gritted teeth as she managed to force herself up, forcing her arm to move despite the Another Rider's grip, "But we're not about to let you just trample all over another world for your own misguided attempts for more power!"
Suddenly a Summon Glyph was formed underneath the two, the Arma Gigas' sword launching out and striking the Another Rider in the chest, sparks flying as she was thrown backwards.
"Penny!" Roze shouted as she stood up straight and started to pant, "We need to use the thing you've been practicing with your magic!"
"Wait, you mean right now?" Penny asked.
"Yeah," Roze nodded as she ran forward, "We're ending this today, so… spark!"
"Roger!" Penny held out her hands and concentrated, forming a bubble of yellow electrical energy in front of Roze.
Roze rushed through the electrical orb as her eyes flashed brightly, suddenly launching forward at high speeds and striking past Hi-Roze who had just managed to recover.
"What?" Hi-Roze gasped as she turned, feeling a small jolt from the tackle.
"Frost, now!" Roze quickly began skidding to a stop as a deep blue bubble of ice energy formed behind her. She slid towards the bubble and summoned Crescent Rose before slamming the weapon against the elemental bubble. The weapon gained an icy blue aura as she took aim and fired high impact bursts of ice at the Another Rider.
Hi-Roze braced against the blasts but was surprised to see her glass claws completely frosted over. She turned when she saw something out of the corner of her eye, backing up and raising her arms defensively as Penny came in, Floating Array coated in fire and swinging forward.
Penny yelled out as she shattered Hi-Roze's claws before spinning back and forming crystal copies of her blades while coating them in electricity. She watched as Hi-Roze brought out a shield of blackened and bolstered glass, her blades bouncing off of it due to the thickness of it. She quickly flipped backwards, using her boosters to dash to the side once Hi-Roze threw the glass shield at her.
"You want to get in my way, puppet?" Hi-Roze questioned as she gathered fire in her hands before slamming them down into the ground, unleashing spires of flame towards Penny.
"Penny, Aqua Spark!"
Penny heard Ruby's code words and formed two bubbles, a light blue one of water energy and another electrical yellow one. Roze launched forward with Petal Burst, reforming right as she hit the electrical one before her speed was boosted, launching through the water bubble.
The Rider landed near instantly in front of Penny and brought out Myrtenaster, stabbing it into the ground and unleashing pressurized spires of water that countered the spires of flame.
Hi-Roze growled out before running towards the two, creating a burning glass sword that grew in size as she raised it up high.
"I need a tornado and some footholds," Roze said as she got in a defensive stance.
"Affirmative," Penny nodded as she stabbed Floating Array into the ground and placed her hands on the concrete.
Hi-Roze shouted and brought down her blade against Roze who blocked only to get cut through by the sword. Or at least she would have had she not used Shadow, the clone fading as Roze had used it to dash to the side.
Penny pressed her palms against the ground, conjuring a powerful cyclone of wind that erupted right where the Another Rider was. Hi-Roze could only yell out as she was caught off guard, being spun around within the tornado itself.
Roze meanwhile leapt up, following the wind of the tornado to rise higher and higher before she landed on a piece of black crystal with green grid-like lines, using a Glyph to keep her in place. These crystal platforms had formed all around the tornado as they were the second part of Penny's setup.
[FINISH TIME! RUBY! WEISS! BLAKE! YANG!]
Roze initiated her finisher, utilizing a Time Dilation Glyph as a gold aura began outlining her body while multiple glyphs formed on the platforms all around. She then launched towards Hi-Roze, striking past her and landing on another crystal platform. She then launched off it again to strike past the Another Rider, landing on another crystal platform all the same. She continued to do this, becoming a blurring red pinball of energy with a gold outline as she continually struck Hi-Roze before launching high up and out of the tornado.
Hi-Roze gasped out, watching as her Rider counterpart launched downwards at her.
Roze yelled out, Weiss, Blake and Yang's yells being heard as well as they kicked downwards, striking the Another Rider directly in the gut.
[RWBY TIME BLAST!]
An explosion occurred as Roze launched out of it, landing on the ground and rolling before stopping on one knee.
Cinder gasped out as she was thrown out of the explosion, landing nearby as her Roze Anotherwatch became cracked, the cracks glowing with a bright orange.
"Incredible work you all," Penny said as she hurried over.
"Hey, it was thanks to you too," Roze said as she gave a thumbs-up and stood up, "You're getting a hang of that magic."
"Only thanks to you and Sento," Penny said before looking over, "Speaking of magic though…"
"That's right," Roze turned before she stepped forward slightly, "The Anotherwatch is still intact?"
"I'm not going down that easily," Cinder gasped out as she grasped her Anotherwatch with her prosthetic before superheating her right hand, slamming it into the ground and breaking the concrete to dig into it.
Suddenly cracks began to form, launching towards Roze and Penny before a large amount of steam alongside fire was suddenly released. The two backed away but before they could do anything, the steam and fire faded to reveal that Cinder had fled.
"She is gone," Penny said.
"She won't give up either," Roze sighed, "Especially as long as she has access to magic…"
"As much as I'd love to mull over this situation, we should probably concern ourselves with the more pressing issues," Weiss spoke up as she took control of Roze to point upwards, Roze herself moving her head up.
"Right," Roze said, "The others should hopefully be on it by now. I'll call on you three if needed though."
"Just stay safe," Blake said.
"Yeah," Yang agreed.
"Of course," Roze said before dismissing her transformation, "Now on how to get to the others fast enough…"
"I have located Geiz and Tsukuyomi's signals," Penny said as she had been scanning once Weiss had brought up the meteor, "And I have a way to do so easily."
"What way would that be?" Ruby asked before yelping as she was suddenly lifted up, being carried bridal style, "P-Penny?!"
"This is the most efficient course of action," Penny explained before launching off into the air with her boosters.
'Yeah she's a keeper…' Kagami remarked.
'Shut it mirror half!' Ruby thought back with a blush as she buried her face with her hands.
The battle against the Hell Brothers was going surprisingly well. PunchHopper was unable to truly get past Geiz Revive Goretsu's heavy defense, which allowed the future Rider to counter with ease. That meant Tsukuyomi could easily come in and force the hopper Rider away with a quick punch and kick.
KickHopper meanwhile was having trouble against the duo of Kabuto and Gatack. When fighting them alone he'd maybe be able to overtake Gatack and fight even with Kabuto, but together they were pushing him back.
KickHopper quickly spun back, readying his finisher.
[RIDER JUMP!]
That was until energy blasts hit all around him, tripping him up and forcing him to stagger back.
The attack was done by Kabuto who had his signature weapon the Kunaigun out, "Yaguruma, we're ending this farce today."
"What did you say?" KickHopper hissed out.
[RIDER CUTTING!]
Gatack had drawn out his blades, attaching them together in a scissors-like formation as electricity crackled off of them. He then yelled out as he charged towards KickHopper, catching the Rider within his pincer blades.
KickHopper could only yell out as the electrically charged pincers soon exploded in energy, launching him backwards. His Rider form crackled as he lay on his back, slowly but surely getting up, "I could never beat you two like this…"
[KABUTO!]
Soon enough his Another Rider transformation overtook him, fully transforming him into Another Kabuto as he rushed towards Gatack. He began throwing punch after punch, managing to force back a surprised Gatack whose attempts at slashing at him were quickly batted away.
Kabuto quickly rushed in, drawing out his the Kunai form of his Kunaigun and slashing to block the Another Rider's next attack. He then kicked Another Kabuto back before getting in a defensive stance.
Another Kabuto began to hiss as electricity began gathering on his body, traveling from his belt to his horn as his right leg charged with energy. He then spun and kicked out, electrical sparks flying out and striking the ground near Kabuto and Gatack, forcing the two Riders to step back.
ClockUp!
Before the two could even counter, Another Kabuto sped forward, striking both Kabuto and Gatack before performing a spin kick, the two yelling out as they were thrown backwards.
"I must admit for a fake he has incredible power," Kabuto dusted off his chest.
"But we can't give up!" Gatack shouted as he stood up straight, "We're warriors!"
"For the sake of the future, we cannot fall here," Kabuto agreed.
(Insert: LORD OF THE SPEED by Yuki Sato, Rider Chips)
Space began to warp between the two, and soon enough two Hyper Zecters suddenly appeared in front of them.
"The Hyper Zecter…" Gatack gasped as he took the device alongside Kabuto before looking at his partner, "This is…?"
"A gift from the future to ensure our present continues," Kabuto nodded.
The two quickly loaded the Hyper Zecters onto the left side of their belt straps before pumping the horn of them once.
"Hyper Cast Off!"
[HYPER CAST OFF!]
Electricity began to crackle over their armored bodies, Kabuto changing into his Hyper Kabuto form while Gatack changed into Hyper Gatack. Despite most of his armor not changing like Kabuto, Hyper Gatack's horns grew larger and gained gold lining, alongside gaining a thicker chest plate with a red center.
[CHANGE HYPER BEETLE!]
[CHANGE HYPER STAG BEETLE!]
"Kabuto… Gatack…" Another Kabuto shakily spoke up before hearing a yell, turning as PunchHopper was sent tumbling towards him. He quickly hurried over to help PunchHopper up and looked around, watching Geiz and Tsukuyomi approach, "You aren't overwhelming us…"
"Tsukuyomi, let's go," Geiz said as he grasped the Revive Ridewatch.
"Of course," Tsukuyomi said as she held up the Kabuto Ridewatch, activating it before loading it onto her Driver, "Armor Time!"
Geiz's Armor began to open up as the Kabuto Armor formed in front of Tsukuyomi, it exploded outwards as if Cast Off had initiated before launching back and attaching to her.
[SPEED TIME! REVI-I-VE SHI-PPU! SHIPPU!]
[ARMOR TIME! CHANGE BEETLE! KABUTO!]
The armor time was in her usual style, gaining the usual gold armor on her shins, boots, left forearm and hand with a gold breastplate that emulated Kabuto's chest on the top window. Her shoulder armor was the upper half of the Kabuto Zecter with the armor pushing back her cape like usual. The bottom and top of her helmet resembled Kabuto's, the beetle horn sticking out as her crescent visor held a blue coloration similar to Kabuto's eyes. On top was the yellow katakana with the word 'Kabuto' written on it.
As the two groups stared each other down, those that needed to immediately went to slap the right side of their belts.
"Clock Up!"
[CLOCK UP!]
ClockUp!
In an instant, to the ordinary eye, they were all speeding around and ramming into each other. But to everyone, even Geiz, the world had turned bright as time slowed down around them.
Gatack and Tsukuyomi immediately rushed for Another Kabuto, the two managing to slowly overwhelm him despite just now working together.
Geiz meanwhile got in PunchHopper's way when the latter attempted to go help Another Kabuto. He began easily batting away the hopper Rider's attacks as Kabuto casually waltzed in. PunchHopper attempted to strike at Kabuto only for his attempts to be easily blocked and countered.
Gatack yelled out, slamming Another Kabuto against a railing before pushing further, sending both him and the Another Rider down towards a lower section of the multilayered roof they were on. Tsukuyomi quickly hopped after him and it wasn't long before Geiz, Kabuto and PunchHopper leapt down too.
Despite another brief skirmish, both Another Kabuto and PunchHopper yelled out as they were thrown away from their opponents, the two struggling to get up.
"Yaguruma…" Geiz spoke up, "You said if it came to that, you'd take Kageyama down, didn't you?"
"The two of us are going to wander Hell together, forever!" Another Kabuto called out in his near delusional state yet again.
"I see…" Geiz said as he initiated his finisher alongside Tsukuyomi, the two already realizing that Yaguruma wasn't going to commit to what he said.
[FINISH TIME! REVIVE!]
Another Kabuto shouted out as he managed to stand up, attempting to run towards Geiz when Tsukuyomi immediately got in his way while initiating her finisher.
[FINISH TIME! KABUTO!]
Tsukuyomi immediately turned away from Another Kabuto as he ran towards her, electricity crackling in her right leg, "Rider Kick!"
Kabuto and Gatack glanced at each other, sharing a nod before slapping the main pad on their Hyper Zecters, "Hyper Clock Up…"
[HYPER CLOCK UP!]
Kabuto entered Hyper Clock Up Form, his armor opening up as energy wings spread out from his back. Gatack's was much simpler, the red on his chest turning a bright yellow.
The two insect Riders watched as time slowed down further for them, the two preparing their finishers as they watched Geiz and Tsukuyomi perform theirs slowly within the Hyper Clock Up zone.
[MAXIMUM RIDER POWER!]
[1, 2, 3!]
Despite readying their finishers, the two kept waiting it out, wanting to get the timing down perfectly.
Kabuto positioned himself to where he was behind Geiz, "Hyper Kick…"
Gatack meanwhile got a running start as he rushed forward towards Another Kabuto's back, "Hyper Kick!"
[HYAKURETSU TIME BURST!]
[RIDER KICK!]
Geiz gathered bright blue energy in his Jaclaw, launching forward at high speeds as he stabbed with it. Kabuto had leapt up and kicked out, the punch and kick striking PunchHopper at the same time as an explosion occurred, forcing the mimic Rider to roll along the ground and lose his transformation.
Another Kabuto yelled at this, "KAGEYAMA!"
[CLOCK TIME JACK!]
[RIDER KICK!]
Tsukuyomi immediately turned around, performing a spinning roundhouse kick that struck Another Kabuto directly in the cheek. Just as she did, Gatack had leapt in, performing a sweeping aerial kick against the Another Rider's back.
Another Kabuto could only yell out as he slid against their combined kicks, staggering to the side before exploding.
Yaguruma hit his back on the floor as he lost his transformation, the Kabuto Anotherwatch rolling across the rooftop before shattering.
[HYPER CLOCK OVER!]
[CLOCK OVER!]
(Insert End)
"We did it…" Gatack began to breathe heavily.
"We can't celebrate just yet," Kabuto said before pointing upwards as the area began to shake.
Geiz and Tsukuyomi looked up, watching as the meteor grew closer and closer without sign of it being torn apart by Woz.
"Is he seriously slacking off?" Geiz asked.
"No I don't think he has enough raw power to make it in time," Tsukuyomi realized, trying to figure out something that could help them.
"So Tsuki freezing it close enough for us to get to but far enough to avoid damage is out of the table, huh?"
"I know my powers have been growing stronger. But I'm not sure if it's that strong…"
"I need to do something," Tsukuyomi clasped her hands in prayer as she tried gathering as much energy as she could, "Please… I need to give them a little more time…!"
The female Rider quickly threw out her hand, unleashing a multi-colored wave of energy outwards. The result however had caused her to gasp and fall to her knees as she lost her transformation.
Back in space, the meteor was still hurtling towards Earth when the multi-colored pulse that Tsukuyomi had unleashed hit it. The result was it being pushed backwards and also halting its movements after that, the familiar glitch effects of the Time Jackers all over it.
Zi-O could only stare in awe as he had switched back to Fourze Armor and flown out to survey the situation, "The meteor stopped moving…? Wait… did Tsukuyomi…?"
[FINALLY BEYOND THE TIME! BURNING SUN EXPLOSION!]
Within the meteor itself Woz had initiated his finisher once more as he increased his maximum output, unleashing wave upon wave of fire to burn the meteor from within. The result was starting to show as the red meteor gained orange heat markings while also cracking and tearing itself apart.
"Alright… not part of the plan but it should be destabilized enough!" Zi-O shouted as he swapped out Fourze's Ridewatch for Trinity, initiating his form change as Regulus shined brightly. Despite the distance and locations as to where everyone was, both Geiz and Woz were warped away by the star.
The two appeared in their watchstrap forms, attaching to Zi-O's armor after he purged the Fourze Armor, the gold bands circled around before latching on and completing the transformation.
[TRINITY TIME! MITTSU NO CHIKARA! KAMEN RIDER ZI-O! GEIZ! WOZ! T-RIN-I-TY~! TRINITY!]
"Geiz, Woz… let's make sure Tsukuyomi's help doesn't go to waste," Zi-O said as each shoulder replied in agreement before he initiated the finisher.
[FINISH TIME! ZI-O! GEIZ! WOZ!]
Zi-O kicked out, launching towards the damaged and paused meteor as projections of his base form, Geiz and Woz overlapped on top of him. Soon enough Zi-O's body shined with a bright light, becoming a beam of light that embedded itself in the meteor.
[TRINITY TIME BREAK BURST EXPLOSION!]
The respective katakana and hiragana for kick for the trio of Riders all spiraled around the meteor as miniature explosions began occurring all inside of it. Soon enough Zi-O launched out of the other side, the gigantic meteor shattering into smaller pieces as green bursts of flames could be seen from the various worms dying out.
Once Zi-O dismissed Trinity form, Geiz was brought back down to Earth in his civilian form. Nearby were Arata and Tendou who had dismissed their Rider Forms and were currently seeing if Tsukuyomi was alright.
"We did it, Geiz," Tsukuyomi smiled.
"Of course we did," Geiz called out as he held up a fist. Despite this he lowered it as he turned, realizing there were still some issues to be dealt with.
"My kin…!" Kageyama gasped out as he reached towards the sky, staring at the shattered meteor. He soon hunched over as he sulked in his defeat.
"Kageyama…" Yaguruma called out in desperation as he managed to crawl over, "Come on, call me bro again, please…"
"I'm not Kageyama," the human disguise faded to reveal a Salis Worm that began to burn up as green fire consumed its form, "And you're not my brother!"
Kageyama could only stare as the Salis Worm fully burned away before standing up. He went to walk past everyone, "Go ahead and laugh," he said as he began to stagger off, "Someone, laugh at me…"
"Yaguruma…" Geiz muttered as he watched the remaining Hell Brother walk off, "I'm sorry."
"How could anyone laugh at you…?" Tsukuyomi muttered.
"Some people need to learn to move on," Tendou spoke up, "But sometimes it's hard for them to do so…"
It wasn't long before Penny suddenly came into view, landing and setting a flustered Ruby down.
"Please warn me next time," Ruby said as stepped forward a bit to get her bearings straight.
"Understood though it looked like you were enjoying it," Penny noted.
"Not now!" Ruby called out with a light blush before she turned away.
Tsukuyomi couldn't help but snicker a bit at this while Geiz merely sighed. It wasn't long before Woz suddenly appeared via his teleporting scarf, having Sougo with him.
"Looks like we did it," Sougo said as he walked over, "I take it everything went well?"
"With Cinder it went as well as you could expect," Ruby admitted, "But we field tested that thing I told you about with Penny, worked like a charm."
"Oh right, that element sharing thing," Geiz recalled, "No side effects?"
"None this time," Ruby said.
"I appear to have managed to tweak it just enough for practical use," Penny nodded.
"Also, it looks like Another Kabuto is taken care of," Sougo noted.
"Kageyama is also gone," Geiz said, "And Yaguruma's taking it as well as you can imagine…"
"I see…" Sougo said before realizing something, "Oh hey, this is the first time in a while where we had to just use the Armor Time to beat the Another Rider."
"Given how stretched thin we were it makes sense," Ruby pointed out.
"She did well utilizing my powers," Tendou spoke up, "Which I don't consider an easy feat."
"There you go with your boasting," Arata sighed with a chuckle.
At that moment however a bright red light began to shine, Tendou taking out the Blank Ridewatch to reveal… it had transformed into the Kabuto Ridewatch.
"Huh?" Tsukuyomi quickly took out hers, "How?"
"Two can exist at once?" Geiz asked.
"How did you come across the first one?" Tendou immediately asked.
"Oh well, we were fighting a Worm and losing pretty badly," Ruby explained, "But then you showed up out of nowhere and beat the Worm before giving it to us and vanishing."
"Oh I see now," Tendou chuckled as he stepped away from everyone as he readied the Kabuto Zecter again while the Hyper Zecter reformed, "I suppose this is farewell for now, I have some business to attend to."
[HYPER CAST OFF!]
Hyper Kabuto stood before everyone as he had taken that form in a near instant before slapping the main pad of the Hyper Zecter, "Hyper Clock Up…"
[HYPER CLOCK UP!]
Soon enough green waves of energy began converging upon Kabuto before he vanished into thin air.
"Detecting temporal anomalies… the same that I detected when he first showed up," Penny noted as she was scanning immediately once Tendou had transformed, "Current Theory: Tendou traveled back in time from this point utilizing Hyper Kabuto to give us the Ridewatch. This in turn would allow us to use it and trigger the Blank Watch turning into the Kabuto Ridewatch. Tendou would then be given enough information to infer what happened and utilize Hyper Kabuto to travel back in time."
"I'm not sure I understand…" Sougo tilted his head.
"Do not worry my Overlord," Woz reassured, "It simply means you are but 2 Watches away from your end goal."
"Well you needed that to become a king, right?" Arata asked as everyone looked at him, "And well no matter how you've got it, you've got it now. So I think that's all that matters."
"True," Sougo smiled before giving a bow, "Thanks again."
"Just helping out wherever I can," Arata nodded before turning to walk off while giving a wave.
"We should probably head back to 9-5-DO," Ruby suggested, "Pick up Blake and Yang before we head home."
"Sounds good to me," Sougo nodded.
As everyone began to walk off, no one paid attention to the strange ball of light that was peeking out from around the corner.
"It has to be you… there's only one girl who could wield that much power…"
It took a while but it wasn't long before everyone returned to 9-5-DO. However they were a bit caught off guard by the current worried expressions that Weiss, Blake and Yang were giving off.
"Uh… what happened?" Ruby asked.
"Kitchen…" Yang gestured behind her.
"It's uh…" Weiss wasn't sure how to word it.
"Huh? Is something the matter with Uncle?" Sougo asked as he walked past everyone to enter the kitchen.
"Okay guys," Geiz sighed, "What the hell is going on?"
"You all seem rather nervous," Penny noted.
"EHHH?!"
Sougo's loud shout caused the remainder of Team Zi-O, Ruby, and Penny to quickly stampede into the kitchen, the rest of Team RWBY sighing as they slowly followed after.
"Oh, welcome home everyone!" Junichiro smiled as before him on the kitchen table were mountains of onigiri stacked high on several plates, "I'm sure stopping a meteor is very hard work, so I figured you all could use a hearty meal after all that."
"How did you make this all…?" Ruby asked as she nearly fell, Penny immediately grabbing her without looking.
"Why so many…?" Geiz stared in near shock.
"Oh that Souji Tendou guy is very inspiring so I cooked up as many as my heart desired," Junichiro admitted with a smile, "Thankfully it's not a lot with all of Team RWBY here. Just make sure you take about…" he paused as he began to count, "Like… 10 each."
"Out of the frying pan and into the fire…" Woz muttered.
"I'm sort of glad we had to pick up your team now Ruby…" Tsukuyomi spoke up.
"Ten each…" Sougo asked with a smile in disbelief, as if it was a dream come true that he got to eat that much onigiri.
"Something tells me we'll need to take leftovers," Yang admitted.
"Yeah…" Blake nodded.
"Don't worry… I think we can do this…" Weiss muttered before hanging her head, "Maybe…"
In all the shock and commotion, Woz had vanished and was now standing on top of 9-5-DO's roof. As the sun began to set he turned towards the moon that began to rise, seeing it between the buildings as a dragon's roar could be heard echoing out.
"With the impending calamity halted, my Overlord can fully celebrate in claiming another Ridewatch," Woz said as he opened up his book, the sounds of chains shattering being heard from it, "Now only two remain… as for the next one…?"
He said nothing as whistles and violins began to be heard from his book, simply closing it before turning away.
To Be Continued…
Next Time:
"By all means… drown in the sorrow she'll cause you all."
"It does feel weird without the four of them though."
"I felt something was off..."
"She might have the answers we need."
"For the sake of the Fangire, she must be eliminated!"
Chapter 107: 2008: Wake Up, Queen's Descent!
Author's Note: When it came to getting the Ridewatch I wasn't sure how I wanted to handle it since Tendou would be arriving rather late in the story upon first drafts. That's when I got the idea to pull a Kabuto and well, Hyper Kabuto my problem by bringing the Ridewatch first before everyone properly met Tendou. The structure of the chapter is relatively the same as the episode it's based on, but there are various minor additions I was able to add.
On the RWBY side we've got our first big rematch against Roze and Hi-Roze, no distractions with trying to claim powers, just the two going at each other with all they've got. Of course Roze RWBY plus Penny ended up overwhelming Cinder in the end, which left her Ridewatch in an interesting state… though we'll get to that later of course.
With that out of the way we've got an interlude coming up at the usual time of course so look forward to that. Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll see you all next time.