Rider Time Zi-O: Roze from Remnant
Chapter 108.5 – Another Side
Woz was currently in his black void, looking through his book as he viewed the battle against Another Kiva. Of course he was going backwards before finally finding his meeting with Ruby in her apartment, carefully pinching the paper to reveal a hidden page between the meeting and Another Kiva's birth. Upon turning the page the footage being viewed was the Zi-O Unit arriving in Remnant and flying towards Atlas.
"There now remains just one Watch that Tokiwa Sougo must collect," Woz said as he stared at the pages, "However while not as high priority as our fight against Another Kiva, this interlude on Remnant is one that may come useful in both the short and long run."
Remnant – Atlas, Pietro's Lab
Pietro was currently looking over some data and statistics from his main desk, Sento nearby with Oscar as well, though due to his posture and stance, it was likely Ozpin in control.
On the other side of the desk were Ruby and Penny, the red hooded Huntress leaning on it as she stared at the hard working scientist while Penny simply bounced up and down in a slow rhythm with her hands behind her back.
"I must admit Ozpin," Pietro said, "Your insight into this process has been valuable."
"I suppose so," Ozpin spoke up as he leaned on his cane, "Even I'm truly unaware on how to exactly quantify magic, but instructing Ms. Polendina on various techniques and shortcuts she can use has definitely helped with gathering the data."
"Especially when adding in my tips and tricks to her given how she processes information," Sento nodded.
"Thank you Professor," Penny smiled.
"Please, there's no need to call me that all things considered," Ozpin chuckled, "Ozpin will do fine."
"Admittedly the quantifying magic issue shouldn't be too much of a problem," Sento admitted, "As you've more than likely guessed Doctor."
"Correct," Pietro chuckled, "You see, thanks to Penny being here and us being able to get an extensive read on her powers… we were able to get an energy signature of what raw magic looked like."
"And that's able to help?" Ruby asked.
"By figuring out what we can pick up on scanners we can vaguely figure out how much or how little is being used," Pietro replied, "While in depth analyzing of it is likely out of the question, it should give us an idea of what won't make the Bottles Sento brought break."
"Which is good, we need this to last," Sento replied before giving a hum, "That being said I might have to go for a bit of an outside source to help contain the energy if the readings are too strong."
"What do you mean?" Ozpin asked.
"The Genius Fullbottle," Sento replied as he brought out the device, "I might try and extract its essence to help contain the power, since we're looking to contain its power for the long term."
"If you think it will work," Ozpin said as he leaned further on his cane.
"Whatever it takes," Ruby nodded, "We need this crazy idea to work out in the end and this is the best way to keep the situation as controlled as possible."
"You can count on us Ruby," Pietro reassured.
"I'm sure Father will help Sento and Ozpin figure it out," Penny agreed.
"Of course, you don't need to stay here the entire time Miss Rose," Ozpin said, noting the Huntress Rider's slight boredom, "I'm sure we can handle it just fine on our own for now."
"Yeah, you should relax," Sento replied, "We're pretty much done with the testing phase for the time being until we can analyze the data."
"Well if you all insist," Ruby said with a soft chuckle as she fully stood up and stretched, "Maybe I'll see what Blake and Yang are up to."
"Also see if you can make sure Banjo's not getting himself in trouble," Sento added.
"Will do," Ruby held a serious expression and a salute before relaxing her posture and heading for the door, "Come on Penny."
"Of course," Penny smiled before looking back, "Then we will be off."
"Take care sweetie," Pietro smiled as he watched the two head out before looking towards the otherworldly genius physicist near him, "Thanks again for helping her out Sento."
"It's my pleasure," Sento said with a small smile, "I do have to thank you for providing the necessary materials however."
"Of course," Pietro nodded, "I'll also make sure to give you the necessary supplies to keep things up before you leave."
"Thank you," Sento replied.
"To think it's almost over for them," Oscar said as he took control again, his posture starting to relax, "They've only got a couple of Another Riders left from what Ruby said."
'True… hopefully their battle will end soon with our hard work,' Ozpin replied.
'Yeah, but something tells me it won't be easy,' Oscar thought back.
Remnant – Atlas Academy, Training Room
"Alright," Ryuga said as he continued to stretch, walking towards the center of the training room. He was currently wearing his Sclash Driver as he stared down both Blake and Yang who were standing across from him, "You sure you're ready to handle the Prince of Protein?"
"Clearly," Yang said as she brought out the Blizzard Knuckle only, "But to be fair, I won't use your equipment."
Blake meanwhile summoned her Gashacon Sparrow, splitting it to wield it in its sickle mode.
"Alright then," Ryuga shouted as he loaded in his Dragon Sclashjelly before pressing down on the lever, "Henshin!"
[TSUBURERU! NAGARERU! AFUREDERU!]
Ryuga let his arms drop to their sides as a giant test container formed around him, filling up with blue liquid before the tube constricted. A quick splash formed the base of his Cross-Z Charge suit before his head began spewing out the necessary armor components for his chest, shoulders and helmet.
[DRAGON IN CROSS-Z CHARGE! BURAA!]
Cross-Z drew out the Beat Closer while also summoning his Twin Breaker, resting the sword on his shoulder, "Let's get started!"
"Thought you'd never ask," Yang chuckled as she used Ember Celica to launch herself forward, spinning and punching at Cross-Z who braced with his sword. He pushed her back before closing in and punching only for his Twin Breaker to get caught in the Gashacon Sparrow.
Blake had been following after Yang before using Shadow to close in, she grinned before forcing Ryuga's arm down, "Got you."
"Huh?" Cross-Z asked before giving a gasp as he was punched in the chest by Yang, Blake letting go of his weapon as he was now sent staggering back, "Not bad!"
"Let's keep it up!" Yang shouted as she charged forward.
"Right," Blake said as she began to slowly but surely run off to the side to circle around Cross-Z.
[HIPPARE! SMASH HIT!]
[BEAM MODE!]
Cross-Z had initiated his sword's special attack and swung forward, unleashing a blue fireball that impacted in front of Yang in order to stop her advance. He then aimed and fired at Blake who was forced to use Shadow to dodge to the side.
"You're going to have to do better than that," Cross-Z called out, "Because I get the feeling I can't lose!"
"Well now we have to win," Blake chuckled as she began to move back towards Yang.
"Yep," Yang nodded as she prepped her Blizzard Knuckle and a Fullbottle while moving towards Blake.
"Nice try, but you aren't doing anything together!" Cross-Z called out as he aimed and began shooting at the two with his Twin Breaker.
The two Huntresses smirked, splitting away from each other as they began to get on each side of Cross-Z. Blake made sure to dismiss her weapon however, instead bringing out Gambol Shroud in its gun mode and shooting at Cross-Z who raised his arms in defense.
"Nice try," Cross-Z said as he lowered his arms, "But that weapon's not going to-" he was cut off, yelping as he barely side-stepped Gambol Shroud being thrown at him via its cloth rope, "Ha! That was a miss!"
"Who said I wanted to hit you?" Blake asked.
"Huh?" Cross-Z perked up at a familiar announcement.
[DRAGON! GLACIAL KNUCKLE!]
"Eat ice sucker!" Yang shouted as she had grabbed Gambol Shroud, Blake pulling on it as Yang launched herself forward, closing in towards Cross-Z and punching forward.
"Crap!" Cross-Z shouted as he raised his arms, a dragon head of ice forming upon impact, the ice shattering as he was sent rolling away, "Ugh…"
"Hell yeah," Yang cheered as she raised her fist in victory.
"Even far apart we're pretty dangerous," Blake noted.
"Yeah, I'm not admitting defeat yet!" Cross-Z called out as he stood up near instantly, his helmet's eyes shining bright as he got his second wind.
Observing the fight at hand from the observation deck were both Clover and Winter. The two Council Members had pulled a few strings to let the Huntresses and Riders use the Training Rooms without issue.
"Thanks again for letting us use the Training Rooms for Ruby's tests," Winter said as she kept her eyes on the fight.
"Given the main reason is to stop Cinder, I figured it'd be alright," Clover said before giving a sly smile, "Though this doesn't seem to be related to that…"
"It should be alright," Winter reassured, "Besides, aren't you curious as to how the other Riders aside from Team Zi-O fight?"
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't," Clover agreed, "I suppose this is still good for Blake and Yang though, given they're currently on the front lines as it were."
"Alongside their team leader and my sister, yes," Winter nodded.
"Surprised she didn't come with the others," Clover admitted, "Feels weird seeing only 3/4th's of Team RWBY."
"I'm sure she had important business," Winter said though she cracked a smirk, given Sougo didn't join them, she was all but assured of the reason as to why Weiss stayed on Earth.
"And you're sure they're in here?"
"100% Positive, tracing their Scrolls leads here."
Clover and Winter looked back to see Ruby and Penny enter.
"Oh, hello Headmaster, General," Ruby said, a bit surprised to see that the two were observing the training room, "What are you…?"
"Its fine," Winter chuckled a bit, "You can use our names."
"Yeah," Clover nodded, "I'm not that big of a formal guy myself if I'm being honest."
"So what are you all doing here?" Ruby asked again before hearing the sounds of a fight, quickly moving forward to see what was going on, "Ah… that's where they are."
"Ooh, it seems as though Ryuga is giving it his all," Penny said as she walked forward to view the fight.
"They all wanted to blow off some steam so I allowed it," Clover said, "Figured there'd be no harm in it."
"Thanks for that," Ruby said.
"Plus it'd be rude if we didn't do something for you all given what you've done for not only Atlas but Remnant," Clover added.
"Oh please," Ruby let out a light blush of embarrassment as she waved the praise off, "You don't need to treat us that special. We just did what we thought was right."
"Even so," Winter said, "I do wish there was a way we could properly repay you."
"Trust me, you letting us do what we need to on this trip is enough," Ruby reassured, "It's a shame Weiss couldn't come with us though."
"I'm sure she had important matters to attend to," Winter replied, rewording her earlier words to Clover but kept a smile.
"Something along those lines," Ruby let out a light chuckle, instantly figuring out the meaning behind Winter's words.
"Alright, here we go!" Cross-Z shouted as he had discarded his Beat Closer, loading the Cross-Z Dragon into his Twin Breaker while initiating his Sclash Driver's finisher.
[CROSS-Z DRAGON! READY GO! LET'S BREAK!]
[ROSE! GLACIAL KNUCKLE!]
Cross-Z leapt forward just as Yang punched against the ground, vines of ice erupting outwards with Blake riding up them to counter Cross-Z.
To everyone's surprise however, Cross-Z had let himself drop down faster, the vines missing their mark as he punched against the ground near Yang, blue fire erupting from the impact.
[SCRAP BREAK!]
The shockwave and fires ended up flinging both Yang and Blake back with yells, the two of them hitting the edges of the arena and groaning as they fell against the floor.
Cross-Z raised his left fist up, "Hell yeah!"
"Okay…" Yang said as she managed to sit up but hung her head back, "I don't think I can go any further…"
"Agreed," Blake let out a groan as she went to lie on her side.
"You girls are pretty tough, but again, you're dealing with the Prince of Protein," Cross-Z pounded his chest, "Ryuga Banjo!"
"While those weapons do give you an advantage, the Riders definitely seem to have the edge," Winter noted.
"Yeah," Ruby said while she shrugged, "Even then, my team is still pretty capable so we haven't run into a brick wall just yet."
"Well so long as you girls keep up your training you should be good," Clover reassured while Winter seemed lost in thought.
Penny seemed to notice this, "Winter, is something wrong?"
"Hmm, oh it's nothing," Winter said as she tried to cover up her thoughts, "It's just my mind wandered to some council issues I'll need to likely look into."
"Ah right, I'm sure that's fun," Ruby remarked in a dry tone.
"But it is necessary," Penny pointed out.
"Very," Winter nodded, glad to see that the two had bought her slight lie, "I should probably be getting back to work. If anything comes up, please don't hesitate to reach out."
"Of course," Ruby nodded as Penny did the same.
A Couple of Days Later…
Remnant – Atlas Academy Docks
Ruby, Blake, Yang, Penny, Sento, and Ryuga were currently at the docking station they had left the Zi-O Unit Time Mazine at. Seeing them off of course were Pietro, Clover and Oscar.
"Thank you again for letting me leave with Ruby and the others," Penny was currently giving her father a hug before pulling away, "It has been so much fun."
"I'm just glad you're doing well sweetheart," Pietro smiled.
"Next time when I'm here, I will bring my guitar," Penny smiled back, "That way I can show you what I have learned from my wonderful teacher."
"That would be delightful," Pietro agreed.
"A Rider's work is never done, huh?" Oscar asked as he looked over at Ruby.
"Pretty much," Ruby chuckled, "Though something tells me we're reaching a turning point…"
"Not like it matters," Yang said before holding up a fist, "We can handle it."
"And if you can't you have the Heisei Riders to call on," Sento crossed his arms.
"Let's hope it doesn't get that insane," Blake replied.
"I don't know," Ryuga admitted, "I'm kind of itching for something new."
"Please do not jinx us," Blake sighed.
"I am surprised Winter was not able to see us off," Penny admitted as she walked back towards the others.
"She had some important business to take care of," Clover spoke up, "That being said, you all are welcome back anytime so don't be strangers."
"We won't," Ruby said, "Thanks for your help everyone."
"The pleasure is all ours," Ozpin said as he took over for Oscar again, "I do hope your plan works, Miss Rose."
"I hope so too," Ruby nodded.
With their farewells said, Ruby's group went to board the Time Mazine with Ruby sitting at the main controls. It didn't take long for the Zi-O Unit to lift off the platform before taking off into the sky.
Remnant – Atlas Military Compound
Winter was currently with some scientists, the grouping currently going over the footage that was Blake and Yang fighting Cross-Z. Of course there was also more footage popping up, some files dated a while back as it looked to be Team RWBY and Team Zi-O's time training in Atlas before everything with Salem and Ironwood kicked off.
There were also statistical data, it mostly being on Winter herself. More specifically it was the armored braces that had been converted into an exoskeleton that would power her up. Oddly enough the data had been recent, as in weeks ago recent. It was as if Winter had the equipment rebuilt and was testing it herself.
"So how are we looking?" Winter asked.
"Surprisingly well, at least from what you've suggested," one scientist mentioned, "It would take a lot of creative ingenuity and resources to replicate a full transformation."
"Thankfully you mentioned we wouldn't need to," a second scientist added.
"We've taken a look into various materials needed to advance the exoskeleton," a third scientist explained, "We'll likely have something soon enough."
"Good," Winter let out a sigh of relief before staring at the new statistics, specifically profiles and combat footage of Weiss, Blake and Yang specifically. She knew that Ruby mentioned that no one owed the team for what they did, but this was the least Winter felt she could do for Team RWBY let alone Team Zi-O after what happened, "Keep up the good work."
Remnant – Vale, Nightclub
Hei Xong, more popularly known as Junior was a simple guy when it came to living. He just wanted to run a successful business, and that was usually pretty easy when it came to being the head of his own syndicate. Calling it a syndicate was a bit of a stretch nowadays however, given his partnership with Roman and by extension Cinder, had ended up costing him a lot. He lost a lot of muscle in whatever his guys were needed for, and the resulting Fall of Beacon and Vale to the Grimm thanks to them had turned things on their head.
The infestation in the city had lasted a long while, though thankfully it seemed like Beacon was a bigger target to the Grimm. He had used his connections to get his sector of Vale cleared out and sent help first, deciding to lend whatever help he could since he wasn't about to let the near destruction of a Kingdom ruin his business. It was either try to salvage or run somewhere else to set up shop and all the other Kingdoms had their own underground to be wary of trying to place a foot into.
Cleanup seemed to get easier after global communications went back online alongside news of Salem's defeat. Of course he was able to get his club running in a more limited fashion though business was still slow. He was sure that business would pick up once things had calmed down further, especially with word that Beacon was going to start getting cleared soon.
But that finally brought him to his current setup at the moment, cleaning glasses at one end of his bar while looking down at the very end at the lone 'customer' for the evening. Said customer was someone he worked a few deals out with, which meant if no one visited his club, or his men were off for the night, she'd still show up.
Said someone was a person who he figured would never pay a visit to Vale and his establishment of all places. Though considering she was from Mistral and everything that happened there before Atlas, it made some sense. Of course he was staring at none other than the former leader of the Branwen Tribe, Raven Branwen.
Raven herself was simply lounging about as she was one to do these days. After arriving on Patch she had mostly avoided Taiyang and tried to survive on her own. That went well for a few weeks but she realized she needed a more permanent solution since she was cutting it close.
Eventually a chance came when helping out Junior with a few stray Grimm near his club. Once the situation was under control, she decided to work out a deal. She'd essentially work as his muscle when it came to unruly customers or the occasional Grimm that was still lurking. This resulted in her getting a place to rent and some money to get food. It was a rather alright deal, especially for Junior since trying to stay in Vale while worth it, definitely drained a lot of resources in terms of manpower.
Of course she was currently staring at her drink, mostly pondering something she had been dealing with lately, and something that's been growing more concerning to her. It was her Semblance, Kindred Link, which allowed her to form a portal to someone she formed a connection with. Of course the downside to all of this is that she had to form an actual connection with the person, and if something happened to said person… she'd easily tell that the link is severed.
It happened with Summer all those years ago, but what was weird was it started to seemingly act up recently after she fled from Haven. She was unable to feel her connection to Yang anymore, and she questioned Taiyang about it to no avail. Then Yang's connection reappeared but also Summer's at near the same time as well, which confused her. She was tempted to check and yet… was too scared to, scared of a million different possibilities that she just stayed where she was.
Then the news of Team RWBY defeating Salem broke and she was in shock, surprised that Salem's defeat could even actually happen. By the time she had mustered up the courage to use Kindred Link, both Summer's and Yang's connections were cut again. She had attempted to question Qrow, though he responded with his usual sarcasm and bite, but also a surprising remark.
"Hey listen, it'll be best if you see it for yourself instead of me trying to explain it to you. I'm sure you'll get the chance soon."
There seemed to be a chance, what with her feeling her connection to Yang suddenly restored. And yet she was still cowering in some fashion as she was simply sitting down in some nightclub while staring at some alcohol instead of actually taking action. Of course she suddenly shivered, gripping her glass tightly when she felt her connection to Yang fade yet again.
"Another missed chance I guess…" she muttered before shivering again as she felt her connection to Summer return, "What the hell is going on…?"
"Hey," Junior spoke up, "You alright?"
"Just fine," Raven said through gritted teeth only to perk up at the sound of footsteps approaching, "Huh, looks like you have a customer."
"Finally," Junior smiled as he went to fix up his suit while moving closer to the center of the bar. His smile began to drop when he saw a white cloaked figure enter, "What the…"
"Huh?" Raven looked over before freezing in place, the grip on her glass tightening as a result.
The cloaked figure simply walked over and sat a few stools away from Raven, leaning her arms on the counter as she looked over at Junior who stared at her warily.
"Strawberry Sunrise, light ice, oh and do you have one of those little umbrellas too to liven it up?"
"Uh yeah, sure," Junior said as he turned to make the order, a bit surprised given the woman's mysterious air, but he wasn't about to-
SLAM!
Raven had downed her drink and slammed it in an instant, thankfully not cracking the glass though she was glaring towards the cloaked figure.
"Who are you?" Raven glared as deep red fire formed over her eyes as a result of activating her magic.
"Hey, careful with that," Junior called out in annoyance only to yelp and hold up his hands when he saw Raven glare at him, "Just saying, I only have so many!"
"I feel like you should know given my voice," the hooded individual spoke again, Raven faltering at the voice. The individual then removed her hood, revealing herself as Summer Rose.
"Y-You…" Raven paled as she quickly stood up and backed away slightly.
"It's been a while hasn't it, Raven?" Summer smiled as she kept leaning on the counter.
"Impossible…" Raven's eyes shook, "Y-You…"
"You two… know each other?" Junior asked, a bit confused by Raven's reactions.
"Oh absolutely," Summer said as she kept her smile up, "We were on the same team back during our Beacon days after all."
"Huh…" Junior trailed with a slow nod at Summer's pep.
"That being said," Summer said before looking over at Junior, "I hope she hasn't been giving you too much trouble."
"She's been a big help actually," Junior admitted.
"Huh, Raven being a productive member of society… well, that might be a stretch given where we are," Summer remarked as her smile began to fade as she grew serious, "Raven, we need to have a legitimate talk, which involves a lot of catch up."
"Y-You're damn right we do…" Raven trailed as she tried to muster up some bite only to quickly lean on the counter and quickly sit down, "Junior, I need another drink, stat."
"Coming right up," Junior said as he went to multitask on two different drinks, finishing up Summer's order while working on Raven's.
Standing near doorway and out of sight was Woz who could only smile.
"Not only have things progressed in Atlas, but it seems as though Summer Rose has made some small progress on her own," Woz mused, "I suppose we'll just have to see where all of this leads eventually."
To Be Continued…
Next Time: Chapter 109 – 2007: DenLiner has Arrived!
Author's Note: So yeah, this chapter was mostly to give a peak into what Ruby and the others were doing with their trip in Atlas. As well as do a bit of setup for later events given a few things this chapter that don't involve the main reason they took their trip. Not much to say here so with that, thanks for reading and I'll see you all next time.