Rider Time Zi-O: Roze from Remnant
Chapter 116 – 2009: Invasion of Negatives
"Kamen Riders Aqua and New Den-O arrive from the future to warn Tokiwa Sougo of an impending calamity that will befall multiple worlds," Woz narrated as he was currently in his narrative void, sitting down as he flipped through the pages of his book rapidly, noting that a lot had been happening at around the same time previously, "Unfortunately however their arrival comes in the midst of a Dark Rider renaissance, the Time Jackers alongside the terrorist organization Down Fall receiving the aid of Dark Kamen Riders in order to launch numerous attacks at once."
He shut his book with a slam before getting up and walking off.
"Needless to say, in order to keep from being overwhelmed we'll need to regroup," Woz stated, "Most of our groups have been accounted for, though for our sake I hope Miss Rose can keep young Tsukuyomi out of Swartz's clutches…"
Earth – Early July 2019
Once Gentoku and those at the Japan Institute of Advanced Matter Physics were captured, Otoya had led Down Fall into fully taking over the main governmental residence of Tokyo. The residence's only form of defense had been the Guardians which were now under the control of Down Fall. With the Dark Riders support, the terrorist organization was quick to take over.
It didn't take long for Down Fall's forces to enter the main Prime Minister's room, all of them aiming their weapons at the staff alongside Prime Minister Taizan Himuro.
"What is the meaning of this?" Taizan questioned as he stayed where he was, his eyes widened however when he saw Otoya, mistaking him for one of his son's friends, "You…"
"Are not the guy you're thinking of," Otoya said in an almost bored tone, already starting to get fed up with the question, "We'll be taking over your central office today in order to proceed with our plans."
"I'm unsure how you all did this," Taizan said as he eyed the terrorists and controlled Guardians, "But… do you really think the heroes of his country will stand back and watch?"
"Oh you don't understand, that's exactly what I want," Otoya smiled as he turned and began to walk away, "Gather all the officials into one area, I have business to attend to."
Everyone could only stare in surprise as an Aurora Curtain formed for Otoya, the man walking through it as he vanished.
Kazumi and his three friends ended up managing to clean up, shave and get some new clothes before heading back to the Sawatari Farm to check in on everyone. Of course to their shock they saw several of their workers all sprawled near the main road, the four rushing over as fast as they could.
"Hey!" Kazumi called out as he quickly hurried over to one of the fallen workers, "What happened?"
"Boss… we were attacked… by a dark green monster…" the worker gasped out.
Kazumi was unsure of what dark green monster they could be referring to, until he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. A Down Fall member was currently leaning back on a tractor that was nearby.
"So you're Grease then?" the Down Fall grunt spoke in pure English, "I've been waiting for you."
"What's he on about?" Aoba asked as he hurried over with Akaba and Kiba.
"The heck are you saying?" Kazumi questioned as he stood up.
The Down Fall grunt said nothing but brought out a Metal Fullbottle, using it to transform himself into a Phantom Crusher.
Kazumi meanwhile prepared his Sclash Driver and Robot Sclashjelly, loading it in, "Henshin!"
[TSUBURERU! NAGARERU! AFUREDERU!]
Akaba, Kiba, and Aoba brought out the Castle, Owl, and Stag Lost Bottles respectively, the three jabbing themselves with them as they initiated their transformation into Lost Smash.
The Phantom Crusher chuckled as he brought out his hand, using his abilities to suck the Nebula Gas out of the four in order to leave them helpless.
[ROBOT IN GREASE! BURAA!]
Despite the ability seemingly visibly occurring… nothing had happened as Kazumi and his crew transformed into their Rider and Lost Smash forms.
"Hey," Owl remarked in a mocking tone as he tried out his own English, "Come on!"
"You're dead meat," Castle remarked.
"No!" The Phantom Crusher continued to speak in English, "How can you transform?!"
"We're in Japan y'know…" Grease spoke up before rushing forward with a yell and performing a drop kick against the Phantom Crusher, "So speak some freakin' Japanese!"
Owl and Stag quickly rushed forward, striking past the Phantom Crusher as Castle rushed in last, punching with both fists. The result was sparks flying as the Phantom Crusher was sent backwards.
[SCRAP FINISH!]
Grease quickly rushed forward, hopping off of Castle's back and initiating a quick finisher, his leg erupting in a burst of gold oil that struck against the Phantom Crusher as his kick connected.
"How did this happen?" the Phantom Crusher asked as he quickly extended his wings and grew stiff, smoke exiting the back of his body as he flew upwards and away into the sky.
"Hey! Get back here!" Grease shouted as he ran a couple of steps forward before sighing.
"Yeah, come back and take your beating like a man!" Castle shouted.
Grease and the trio of Lost Smash dismissed their transformations, Kiba and Aoba hurrying over to check on the workers while Akaba went to join Kazumi.
"Something's definitely up…" Akaba noted.
Kazumi silently agreed and turned away while pulling out his phone, calling up Gentoku who surprisingly answered, "Hey, mustache… my friends were attacked by a monster. Know anything about it?"
There was a bit of silence, but Gentoku soon answered.
"Yeah, I'll tell you the details when we meet up. Can you get to the research facility?"
"Got it," Kazumi said, "I'll be right there."
"Oh, and buy some protein for me along the way."
"Huh…?" Kazumi raised an eyebrow.
"I'm counting on you… Grease…"
Kazumi heard the line cut off a bit too quickly and stared at his phone, "He's been taken hostage…"
"What do you mean?" Akaba asked.
"He wouldn't call me Grease," Kazumi answered before mulling on the other key word he heard, "Protein…" he muttered, realizing just who he needed to pay a visit right now, "Let's move out."
Gentoku was currently tied up in an isolated warehouse, Otoya having decided to keep him away from key locations in case Gentoku tried anything rash.
"Code words," Otoya said as he walked away from Gentoku who, clearly not mad about the Rider's stunt, "Not bad."
"What's the purpose of this?" Gentoku questioned, "Why take over Down Fall? Why even still go along with their plans?"
"Simple, I need to take care of key annoyances while developing the strongest army of all time," Otoya said as he heard footsteps, soon watching as the Down Fall member that stole the White Pandora Panel arrived, "And the takeover of the Government Residence is a key to doing so."
"Here," the Down Fall member said as he held it out.
"The White Panel will help me greatly since it hold great dimensional energy," Otoya admitted as he took the panel before showing it to Gentoku. He looked it over however before frowning, letting it drop to the ground as a sickening crack was heard. He then stomped on it to shatter it, "This is a fake."
"What?" the Down Fall member was confused by this.
Otoya snapped his fingers, two beams of energy striking the Down Fall member in the chest from the shadows, killing him instantly. The Down Fall Member soon fell to the ground, the Hazard Trigger he stole clattering away.
"Thanks again Para-DX," Otoya said as Another Para-DX walked out of the shadows.
"He was just another weakling," Another Para-DX remarked.
Otoya got a phone call and went to answer it, "New boss speaking, what's up?" he asked before hearing the information being fed to him, growing a curious look, "Grease did? Sounds interesting… I think I'll go confront him myself then."
"Taking all the fun?" Another Para-DX asked.
"As a reminder, you're only on loan to me," Otoya said as he went to pick up the discarded Hazard Trigger, "Just make sure you're there to greet the others and tell them I'll be back a bit later than usual, then you can head back to your actual boss."
"Very well," Another Para-DX said before walking off.
"Speaking of our other members… they should be getting done soon," Otoya said absentmindedly to himself as he walked out, leaving Gentoku all by himself.
"On loan…?" Gentoku asked, curious as to why Another Para-DX wasn't a full part of Otoya's group, "Actual boss?"
Tsukuyomi gasped out as she was forced back by Dark Decade, losing both of her weapons in the process. She quickly swapped out Ridewatches upon realizing that Den-O wasn't helping her and went for Agito's Ridewatch.
[ARMOR TIME! AGITO!]
The Den-O Armor dispersed as the Agito Armor was summoned and latched on. She wasted no time in bringing out the Storm Halberd and unleashing a powerful torrent of wind towards Dark Decade.
Dark Decade grunted as he braced against the wind, holstering his Ride Booker and drawing out a card before loading it in.
[ATTACK RIDE: GIGANT!]
Dark Decade brought out a shoulder-mounted missile launcher that held four large rocket-propelled missiles. He wasted no time in initiating his counter as he began to slide back from stopping his brace. In an instant the missiles launched outwards.
Tsukuyomi gasped out as she quickly pulled her arm back, stopping the torrent of wind and backpedaling only for it to be too late as the missiles impacted all around her.
KA-BOOM!
Everyone paused their fights to witness this, both Dark Ghost and Dark Kiva laughing as Tsukuyomi could be seen rolling out of the explosion, having reverted back to her base form.
"Tsuki!" Roze shouted.
"This isn't good!" Blake called out.
"Out of my way you damn spoiled Banana!" Geiz yelled out as he planted his foot in Black Baron's stomach before shoving the dark Rider away soon flipping the Revive Ridewatch, "I'll blitz you in a second, Swartz!"
[SPEED TIME! REVI-I-VE SHI-PPU! SHIPPU!]
"I'd like to see you try," Dark Decade called out as he drew out another card before slotting it in.
[ATTACK RIDE: CLOCK UP!]
Geiz and Dark Decade became blurs of blue and black, slamming into each other and speeding all around. They crashed into a few pillars while also tearing up the ground.
Tsukuyomi meanwhile gasped out as she drew out Kabuto's Ridewatch before initiating a new Armor Time.
[ARMOR TIME! CHANGE BEETLE! KABUTO!]
"I'm not out yet," Tsukuyomi managed to stand up as her armor latched on before she slapped the side of her belt, "Clock Up!"
[CLOCK UP!]
Tsukuyomi soon became a blur to everyone else, but to her alongside the other two speedsters, the world became bright and saturated. She rushed forward to help Geiz deal with Dark Decade, leaping forward and punching in time with Geiz who clawed forward, the two forcing Dark Decade back.
"Not bad… but I've still got tricks up my sleeve!" Dark Decade said as he quickly drew out another card and loaded it in, needing it to be initiated before his Clock Up wore off.
[ATTACK RIDE: INVISIBLE!]
Dark Decade laughed out as he vanished, his laughter suddenly echoing from all around as Tsukuyomi and Geiz began getting struck at from different angles. Just when they thought they had their opponent pegged, all they did was strike at thin air. Both gasped out as they were struck in the back simultaneously, turning to counter only to let out a low yelp as they checked themselves. The two withdrew their punches and backed away, only for Dark Decade to suddenly appear between them.
[FINAL ATTACK RIDE: D-D-D-DECADE!]
Final Attack Ride Card projections formed around Dark Decade in a ring before he spun and kicked outwards with his right leg, dark energy lashing outwards as the cards shattered.
Geiz and Tsukuyomi yelled out, the two being broken out of their speed states as they were slammed against the ground. Geiz had reverted back to his base form while Tsukuyomi had lost her transformation entirely.
Roze and Blake's eyes went wide as all they were able to see were their friends suddenly hitting the ground after being knocked out of their high speed battle.
"And now that you're out of your transformation…" Dark Decade held a hand forward only to see rose petals out of the corner of his eye. He quickly brought out his Ride Booker in its gun formation before shooting at Roze who was mid-Petal Burst.
The Petal Burst however split and avoided the shots, slipping past Dark Decade before reforming.
[FINAL WEAPON RIDE: K-K-K-KNIGHT! DARKVISORSWEI!]
"You're not doing anything to her!" Roze shouted as she quickly loaded in a card into the Darkvisorzwei which was now mounted to her left forearm.
[BLUST VENT!]
The Advent Card has brought the evolved form of Darkwing, Darkraider form a distance. The mechanical blue bat soon used the turbines on its wings to launch two tornados outwards the tore up the ground around the Dark Riders, kicking up heavy winds. The four Dark Riders could only gasp and grunt as they tried to force their way through only to stumble backwards due to the intense winds.
"Alright, and now for…" Roze immediately loaded in another card.
[TRICK VENT!]
Roze stood up and twirled as flat grey images warped and slid off of her, forming four copies of her. The four copied Rozes quickly rushed forward, drawing out their Darkvisorzwei's Darkblade.
Dark Decade was ready to move forward once Darkraider's winds died down only to gasp and dodge back against a slash from the Roze clone that targeted him. He looked around, noticing that Dark Ghost, Dark Kiva, and Black Baron were all being assaulted by other clones. He tried to move forward only to be forced to block a slash with his Ride Booker.
"You…!" Dark Decade hissed out.
"Blake, Geiz, we're pulling back!" Roze called out as she quickly hurried over to Tsukuyomi, "Tsuki, are you okay?"
"Could be better…" Tsukuyomi muttered with a groan as she tried to gain her bearings.
"This'll be a little rough but we can't let Swartz get you," Roze quickly lifted Tsukuyomi up in her arms before getting a running start, Petal Bursting into a display of red, white and gold petals towards the clearest space of the area.
Blake meanwhile hurried over to Geiz who had gotten up, "You going to be okay?"
"Yeah," Geiz nodded, "Let's get out of here."
The two looked around, watching as the copies of Roze were slowly but surely getting beaten back by the Dark Rider grouping. The two decided to not stick around, rushing off in the direction Roze left with Tsukuyomi in.
Dark Decade yelled out as he gathered energy in his left fist, punching through the Roze he was fighting and shattering her.
"Stupid clone," Dark Ghost managed to slice past the Roze clone and shatter her.
Dark Kiva meanwhile yelled out as she launched a Kiva sigil outwards, catching the Roze clone in it and using its power to shatter the clone.
"Not bad," Black Baron remarked as he pushed the Roze clone he was fighting into a stumble before stabbing forward, striking against its head and shattering it. He then looked around before lowering his weapon, "Looks like they fled."
"How annoying," Dark Decade remarked as he dismissed his transformation alongside the others.
"You say that but it's clear you had them on the ropes," Ora said as she crossed her arms.
"Yeah," Uhr chuckled before looking at Swartz, "While I still could care less about you joining us, you do put in good work."
"Of course I do," Swartz scoffed as he crossed his arms, "I will be getting my power back."
"And you'll be sharing it with us," Ora narrowed her eyes.
"Yes, yes," Swartz held up his hands, "That was the deal I had to agree on for Otoya to allow me into your group."
"Just don't forget it," Uhr pointed accusingly at Swartz.
"Are you three done?" Glasya asked, "We're probably needed back at our new base."
"Right…" Swartz trailed off as the other two nodded.
"Okay," Roze said as she stopped behind the corner of a building, setting Tsukuyomi down before dismissing her transformation.
Tsukuyomi meanwhile went to sit on her knees as she was set down, staring down at the ground.
"Tsuki," Ruby said as she knelt near her friend, putting a hand on the time traveler's back, "You okay?"
"I wasn't expecting Swartz to be that strong," Tsukuyomi admitted with a shaky breath, "And I can't use my powers over time to give me an edge…"
"We'll figure something out," Ruby said gently as she rubbed Tsukuyomi's back.
"Hey," Blake said as she rounded the corner with Geiz, "Thankfully they didn't follow us."
"Good trick," Geiz remarked as he walked over, having dismissed his transformation as well.
"We need to get into contact with the rest of our team," Ruby said, "And also my mom… I don't like that Swartz became a Dark Decade."
"She doesn't have a Faizphone X though," Blake reminded, "And she was supposed to be off world for a few days, remember?"
"Crap," Ruby hissed out, "Alright, we at least need to get into contact with everyone else."
"Do not worry," Woz said as he walked towards them from out of view, "We're somewhat aware of the situation already. We plan on meeting up with Sento and the others given his most recent call."
"Woz, thank goodness," Ruby sighed in relief, happy that they'd have Woz's fast travel before realizing their destination, "Wait…"
"What do you mean Sento?" Geiz asked, "Why him?"
"Sounds like something happened that involved him," Blake guessed.
"Indeed," Woz replied before sighing, "The situation has become… complex."
"Then let's get going," Geiz suggested.
"Think you can stand?" Ruby asked as she looked over at Tsukuyomi who nodded, the Huntress Rider standing while helping her friend stand, "Alright Woz, take it away."
Woz nodded, unfurling his scarf and allowing it to surround the five of them before they vanished without a trace.
It didn't take long for Woz and the others to appear outside of Sento's warehouse, everyone looking around before spotting Sougo nearby.
"There you guys are," Sougo said as he hurried over with a grimace, "What happened?"
"A lot," Ruby admitted before noticing her friend's expression, "I take it…"
"Jeez," Kazumi said as he walked over with Akaba, "Is Sento throwing a party?"
"I mean, there are enough people for one," Sougo said with a sheepsih chuckle before gesturing for everyone to follow him, "Come on."
Once everyone was inside, they were greeted by several familiar faces. Weiss, Penny and Yang were all around in various spots, with Ryuga currently taking the couch while having an arm over his face. The most noticeable aspect that Ruby noticed was the hole in the ceiling and the lack of a White Pandora Panel.
"Everyone, you are alright!" Penny called out in relief as she hurried over, "When you did not answer your phones we were worried."
"So… redecorating…?" Ruby asked the genius physicist Rider with a sheepish smile.
"If only," Sento chuckled before shaking his head, "Though you seemed to have had your own adventure."
"I take it lunch didn't go well?" Yang asked.
"Something like that," Blake scratched her cheek.
"I'm never eating oden again," Geiz crossed his arms with a huff.
"Plenty needs to be said, and there's not a lot of time to say it," Sento said as he crossed his arms, "So we need to figure out an order…"
"I'll start since there are two minor anecdotes," Sougo suggested as he looked around, "That purple Rider from Torkia and Mantle is back on the radar. And this weird Greeed Rider hybrid ended up with most of Eiji's Medals to try and defeat me."
"Obviously that didn't work," Weiss pointed out.
"Honestly, I'm surprised he didn't have the Super Tatoba Medals on him," Sougo admitted in surprise as he put a hand to his chin, "That would have maybe done something more to close the gap. Especially since they are temporally powerful due to being displaced…"
"Temporal…" Tsukuyomi muttered before her eyes widened, "That's it!"
"Huh?" Yang looked over, "What's it?"
"I couldn't use my time powers recently," Tsukuyomi explained, "They must've found a way to use the Super Medals to block my powers."
"Who are you talking about?" Kazumi asked.
"The Dark Riders," Geiz crossed his arms, "And they're full of familiar faces."
"How familiar are we talking?" Weiss asked.
"Swartz, Ora, and Uhr are all Dark Riders," Ruby explained before putting a hand to her chin, "But Swartz' is probably the weirdest and most concerning… he's a dark version of Decade."
"What, but how?" Sougo questioned in surprise.
"Think we can ask mom?" Yang asked.
"She's off world right now," Ruby shook her head, "But there seems to be a gathering of Dark Riders since we ran into Glasya who became a new Proto Baron…"
"He's seriously still at it?" Weiss raised an eyebrow.
"In this case he's likely a Black Baron," Geiz added.
"Given Sylphi's reappearance alongside Goda's short-lived debut, a Dark Rider gathering is likely upon us," Woz noted, "And of course, we've got a new issue popping up at the same time that I doubt is entirely unrelated…"
"That means you guys can have the floor," Sougo said as he pointed towards Sento, Kazumi and Akaba.
"First things first, Beardo's captured," Kazumi said as he walked over to the empty wall, "And it looks like they took the fake Panel away…"
"I take it you're here since you also lost your ability to transform," Sento noted.
"What?" Kazumi looked over, "What are you on? My boys and I transformed just fine."
"Wait, what?" Ruby asked as she looked over at Sento.
"This strange green monster that resembled a plane took away mine and Banjo's ability to transform," Sento explained before looking over at Kazumi, "How were you still able to transform? Did you do something to your body?"
"Nothing really," Kazumi replied as he walked past Sento, "Mii-tan dumped me, so I went on a heart-healing journey."
"Oh that's right," Sougo said as he hurried over to Weiss and leaned over, "That's what you were talking about, right?"
"More than likely," Weiss nodded, "Right Penny?"
"Affirmative, I saw him leaving with his friends a while back," Penny nodded with a salute of confirmation.
"Eh?" Sento looked over at Kazumi in surprise, "Misora dumped you?"
"Shut it!" Kazumi called out in near heartbreak as he quickly hurried over to another corner, "If you mention that again… I… I…"
"Got dumped by Misora?" Sento asked purposely causing Kazumi to cry out in pain.
"You can't say that!" Akaba called out as he came to his boss's defense, "When the boss hears her name, he starts crying!"
Sento held a devious smirk as he walked over to Kazumi and put a hand on the Rider's shoulder. He repeated Misora's name nearly 15 times before Kazumi let out a yell of distraught and collapsed.
"Dang…" Sougo whistled, "I didn't think there was a meaner way to take out a Rider but…"
"Trampling a broken heart is definitely effective," Weiss nodded.
"All right," Sento let out a soft chuckle as he clasped his hands together, "Let's get serious."
"Yeah," Yang let out a light snicker only to get elbowed by Blake, "How can you all transform still if Sento can't?"
"And can the same happen to us?" Ruby asked.
"Doubt it," Geiz replied, "This is likely a Build issue."
"It absolutely is, I know a Full Bottle transformation when I see one," Sento agreed before looking over at Akaba, "Did something happen during your trip?"
"Something…?" Akaba trailed before snapping his fingers, "Oh yeah, we soaked in a hot spring on an uninhabited island!"
"Wait, you guys actually did get somewhere?" Weiss asked.
"Fascinating," Penny said in awe, "I suppose if you put your mind to it, even with improper equipment, anything can happen."
"The hot spring suddenly welled up from below!" Akaba continued his story, "We ended up drinking the water as a result… and our bodies felt strange because of it. We had high fevers for a while… I thought we were gonna die."
"That's what you get for drinking something from an unknown island," Geiz replied.
"It's not like we had a choice," Akaba grumbled.
"A hot spring…" Sento mused before hearing his Build Phone ring, seeing the caller ID as Sawa he answered it, "Sawa? What's up?"
"It's been a while. I got this strange phone call from Gen…" Sawa answered, "There was this weird guy who sounded close to Kazumin, and he mentioned something about Phantom Liquid."
"Phantom Liquid…?" Sento asked, choosing to hone in on that detail.
"Yeah, I found something amazing when I investigated," Sawa replied before giving Sento a detailed explanation of her findings.
"So that's how it is?" Sento asked as things began to line up now, "Thanks. I'll be in touch."
"So… we've got a game plan?" Ruby asked.
"We have a chance restore our Build System Rider powers…" Sento replied, "Everything else… no real plan yet. But we're not safe here."
"True," Sougo said as she looked up at the hole in the ceiling, "Where should we go then?"
"None of our usual spots have enough room for everyone," Ruby added.
"Don't worry, I've got a place in mind," Sento said as he began drawing up a map with directions on a piece of paper, Woz walking over and staring at the address with curiosity, "But I need Kazumi and his crew to grab Misora and rendezvous with us here."
"Why them specifically…?" Blake asked.
"They're our Wild Cards thanks to their ability to keep their transformations," Sento explained, "Meaning that they can catch the enemy off guard. The rest of us however have been targeted so to speak, so having a hidden location should give us an advantage for a counterattack."
"Hey, wait a minute…" Kazumi looked over at Sento who walked over and handed him a paper which he took.
"Bring Misora here," Sento said before walking over to the couch Ryuga was on and kicking the base of it, "Get up," he kicked a few more times, "Come on Musclebrain."
"Hey, I'm no musclebrain!" Ryuga called out as he shot up from where he was lying down in an instant, "I'm the Prince of Protein… Ryuga Banjo!"
"Still trying to coin that title, huh?" Blake asked with a chuckle while Yang snickered.
"Alright, let's get going," Sento said as he dragged Ryuga by the collar before he looked at the crowd before him as everyone but Akaba and Kazumi gathered around, "Though this is going to be quite the crowd walking through the streets…"
"Not to worry," Sougo snapped his fingers before looking over at his retainer, "Woz?"
"Of course my Overlord, I can get us to the address Sento provided," Woz smiled as he unfurled his scarf, it wrapping around the large group before him before it constricted and went inwards, soon vanishing alongside everyone else.
"Whoa…" Akaba said before slapping his face a few times to recompose himself, "C'mon Boss, let's go get Misora!"
"I'm not going…" Kazumi spoke up.
"What are you saying?" Akaba asked as he quickly knelt near his friend.
"I was dumped," Kazumi said dejectedly, "I'm not fit to see her."
"You're saying this now?!" Akaba questioned as he grabbed his friend by the jacket and began shaking him, "What if something happened to Mii-tan? You'd regret it for the rest of your life!"
Kazumi's only response was to force Akaba's arm off of him.
"I get it, then we'll go get her ourselves" Akaba said as he backed away as he let loose a light glare, before turning and walking off, he paused before he fully exited however, "I was wrong about you."
Misora herself was at a mobile version of Café Nascita that had recently taken off, Piccolo Nascita. She was the main person in charge, and while most days were busy, today was a rather slow day. So all she could do was lean on the counter while listening to the usual radio station that played.
"I'm so bored…" Misora trailed off in a dull tone.
"Breaking News: The terror organization Down Fall has occupied the governmental residence," The report called out as the station was interrupted by an emergency broadcast, "I repeat…"
"Misora Isurugi, correct…?"
"Grease…?" Misora called out in near disgust, recalling her falling out with the Kamen Rider due to a misunderstanding that had happened on his end. She looked up however only to see Otoya, "Huh? You uh…"
"Again, not him," Otoya frowned, only now just starting to regret his involvement in redirecting this particular event, "I'm Otoya Kurenai and I'm here to pick you up."
Misora's eyes could only widen before she turned at mechanical noises, soon seeing two Guardians standing in the way of her only exit from the van.
Woz's fast travel had allowed the main group to arrive at the location fairly quickly. It was an isolated building that was fairly out of the way and wasn't marked by any sign or real address. Upon arriving the group entered the main lobby of what appeared to be a personal lab of sorts.
"Ruby, Sougo, you're with me and Protein Prince," Sento said as he gestured with his head to follow.
Ruby and Sougo both gave nods, the remainder of the group deciding to lounge about and rest up some more while they followed the two lead Build Riders up a set of stairs.
"Where are we?" Ryuga finally asked.
"On Earth," Sento replied simply as he walked up the metal steps.
They were soon greeted by a young man who was sitting at a set of computers that was set up at the top of the staircase in a small room. He turned around, "Looks like I have some rare visitors."
"Takumi Katsuragi…" Ryuga said.
"Uh, who…?" Sougo tilted his head.
"Sento's original identity," Ruby whispered.
"Oh… so it's like that," Sougo nodded as he crossed his arms before tilting his head, "I still don't get it."
"I'll explain in detail later," Ruby patted her friend's shoulder.
"It's also a pleasure to meet with the two people Sento won't stop talking about," Takumi remarked with a smile, "Ruby Rose and Sougo Tokiwa, I presume?"
"That would be us," Sougo said as he bowed with Ruby.
"I was right on my hunch," Sento remarked, "Seems you've yet to make up with Dad."
"That doesn't concern you," Takumi answered coldly before his curiosity returned, "So what are you here for?"
"Well I've got near a dozen or so people tagging along with me that need to lay low for a bit," Sento replied, "So I figured that this out of the way lab would do the trick."
"Clever," Takumi noted, "Very well, I'll allow you all to make use of my facilities. After all you wouldn't be coming to me if this wasn't serious."
"Thank you for your hospitality," Ruby bowed before turning to go back to the others with Sougo. Though that was when a thought finally popped up, "Hey Sougo, did you let your Uncle know about this?"
"I told him we'd probably be away from the shop for safety reasons, yeah," Sougo nodded.
"And Futaros didn't rush over to Sento's in concern for Tsukuyomi…" Ruby trailed skeptically, "Because…?"
"Oh I told Uncle to distract him," Sougo said with a smile, "So considering he wasn't anywhere near there, I think its working."
"So like this?" Futaros asked he got in position.
"Yep, yep," Junichiro nodded as he patted the Imagin's back, "Now flip it!"
Futaros let out a mighty yell as he moved his arms with all of his might.
"That's it!" Junichiro called out while pumping a fist.
The two were currently watching as Futaros was flipping a pancake mostly made of cabbage that was on a portable griddle on 9-5-DO's dining room table. The result was them seeing how the cabbage had cooked and blended together into a solid shape, the looser side now being pressed against the heat of the griddle to get cooked in the same way.
"There you go," Junichiro encouraged, "You've definitely got a knack for this."
"You think so?" Futaros asked with a chuckle.
"Of course," Junichiro nodded, "Now all we need to do is let it cook a bit longer and then dig in!"
"Sounds good to me," Futaros nodded before realizing something, "Huh… I feel like I'm forgetting something though."
"No, no," Junichiro shook his head, inwardly panicking as he knew he had to ensure that the mission his nephew entrusted him with was seen through, "Just focus on the Okonomiyaki, or else it'll burn!"
"Ah, you're right!" Futaros called out as he quickly began focusing on the food, "There's nothing worse than burnt food!"
"A little char is nice but yes, we don't want it too charred," Junichiro nodded, inwardly sighing as he had managed to distract the Imagin.
"Stop, wait!" Misora shouted as she was dragged away from Piccolo Nascita by the two Guardian Robots that were following Otoya, "Let go! Can't you be gentler about this?!"
"Sorry but these things are not pristine machines," Otoya admitted as he was currently looking over the menu at Piccolo Nascita, "Huh, not bad prices honestly…"
"Ya'll terrorists don't know how to treat women, huh?" Akaba asked as he, Kiba and Aoba arrived on the scene.
Misora's eyes went wide, "The Hokuto Dumbos?!"
"Hokuto Trio, you mean," Kiba corrected with slight offense.
"Get your hands off our Mii-tan," Aoba added as he had his bottle out and ready to go.
The three prepared their Lost Bottles before transforming into the Castle, Owl, and Stag Lost Smash. They were all ready to rush forward only for Otoya to turn in an instant while rising, the three pausing and giving gasps.
"Just so you know," Otoya immediately spoke up as he prepared his Build Driver alongside the Hazard Trigger, "I'm not your boss, I'm his doppelganger of sorts."
[HAZARD ON!]
"D-Doppelganger…?" Owl asked.
"Like hell you are, a doppelganger of our boss wouldn't wear such a hideous looking suit," Castle remarked.
"Wait hold up," Aoba got past his shock at Otoya's appearance to notice what the man had set up, "How did you…?"
Otoya brought out two Metal Tank Fullbottles, slotting them in place.
[TANK! TANK!]
Otoya began turning the crank to the Build Driver, the usual Hazard Standby tune playing out alongside the usual transformation effects.
[ARE YOU READY?]
"First time for everything," Otoya grinned as he held an open hand near his chest, "Henshin!"
[UNCONTROL SWITCH! BLACK HAZARD! YABEI!]
As the transformation completed, Build stood in front of the trio in Hazard Form, though this one had two black Tank eyes for the visor, blending in with the rest of the suit. He went to hold his hands behind his back as he chuckled.
Owl gasped out, "How is he…"
"…Build?" Castle questioned.
"I must admit, I had prepped for this moment since planning but it still feels great," the Build Rider remarked as he looked towards the three, "I'm Metal Build, and from what I've been told, it's further evolved from standard Hazard."
"You can't be serious…" Stag let out a shaky breath as he held up a fist, "That color of Build is the one I hate most in the world!"
Metal Build watched as Stag rushed forward with dual blades, easily raising his arms to block the swings before grabbing onto the blades and kicking Stag in the stomach.
The Lost Smash gasped out as he was sent rolling back towards Owl and Castle who hurried over.
"He's strong…" Stag gasped out.
"Let's attack together!" Castle suggested before yelling out and charging with his comrades, the three approaching Metal Build who kept a relaxed posture.
Kazumi was currently lost, near a lone building that was at the end of a long winding path. He had chosen not to go with Akaba and the others, deciding to follow after Sento and the others… only to be completely lost.
"Where am I?" Kazumi asked as he went to sit on a nearby bench, "It's no good… I got no clue… it's so easy to get lost without those guys around…" he pocketed the paper with the directions only to feel something. It didn't take long for him to draw out a dog tag, remembering Akaba's words.
'What if something happened to Mii-tan? You'd regret it for the rest of your life!'
"This sucks…" Kazumi muttered as he gripped the dog tag tightly before quickly getting off the bench and rushing off towards where he knew Piccolo Nascita was parked.
Back at Takumi Katsuragi's lab, Sawa had arrived not long after everyone else did. While Penny was interested in the concept of Phantom Liquid and how exactly that tied into the Build Rider System, most weren't.
Team Zi-O alongside Team RWBY and even Ryuga were all in a wide open room that Takumi had mostly used for testing. Though given there was no testing that needed to be done, Ryuga was using to it to train.
Of course when it came to training, Tsukuyomi was currently going at it with him. The two were sparring as Ryuga was teaching her how to better go about hand to hand combat.
"I've never seen her like this before," Sougo admitted as he watched how intensely focused Tsukuyomi was.
"She's definitely getting really into it," Weiss nodded.
"Did it really go that badly?" Yang asked.
"It did," Ruby nodded, "Swartz as Dark Decade was able to outpace her entirely."
"Even with my help," Geiz said before sighing, "And something tells me she's going to want to go it alone the next time they meet."
"If their next clash ends up being really soon…" Sougo muttered, "Is this training really going to help her?"
"It's better than sulking," Geiz shrugged, "She'll keep focused."
"Tsuki…" Ruby muttered as she sat.
"Hey, is it just me or are Kazumi and his friends taking a bit too long?" Blake asked suddenly, a bad feeling creeping up on her.
"Maybe they got lost?" Yang asked, "Or we're so deep in that we can't even hear them?"
"Given the current situation, it could be likely that they were overwhelmed," Woz pointed out nonchalantly as he held his book close.
"Hmm," Sougo thought for a second before looking over, "Woz, mind checking up on them?"
"If I must," Woz nodded as he went to walk out of the room.
"I think I'll take a walk around," Weiss said as she turned towards the door to head further into the lab, "I don't think I can watch much more of Tsuki trying to force herself like this."
"I'll see what I can do," Ruby said as she watched Weiss walk off before turning to see the sparring session at its final moments.
Ryuga yelled and punched at Tsukuyomi who braced by crossing her arms to defend against the punch. Even without his Hazard Level he was still able to knock Tsukuyomi off her feet, sending her down on her rear.
"Ouch…" Tsukuyomi winced before giving a determined stare, "Again!"
"Alright," Ryuga chuckled as he got in a fighting stance only to lower it when he saw Ruby walk between the two. He was ready to say something when Yang walked over, whispering to him before he nodded, the two deciding to have their own sparring match further away from the group.
"Tsuki, don't you think you should rest?" Ruby asked as she looked down at her friend.
"I can't rest," Tsukuyomi shook her head, "I need to get strong enough to beat Swartz."
"You're not going to beat him with the raw power Decade has," Sougo said bluntly as he walked over, "Training for this short amount of time is only going to get you so far."
"Then what do you suggest?" Tsukuyomi asked.
"Well…" Sougo thought about it for a bit, trying to figure out how Tsukuyomi could get on Swartz's level of power. But the thought of Swartz and power rung out to him in realization, recalling his own past with the former Time Jacker leader, "You still haven't taken all of Swartz's power."
Tsukuyomi stared in surprise, "Huh?"
"Wait, what?" Blake asked.
"What do you mean Zi-O?" Geiz questioned.
"Guys come on, remember?" Sougo asked as he looked around, "When the accident happened in 2009, Swartz put some of his power in me after he had seen my own power and he hasn't taken it back yet."
"Is that little bit of power even going to give me the edge?" Tsukuyomi asked.
"Well given it's been so close to my own power…" Sougo said in a thoughtful manner before smiling, "I'd say yes."
While Castle and Owl were trying and failing to get the drop on Metal Build, Stag quickly used his blades to deal with the Guardians near Misora before ushering for her to hide behind the corner of a building. Stag then rushed towards Metal Build, but even with him joining in on the action, Metal Build was able to easily outpace and force the Lost Smash trio backwards.
"I must admit I was unsure if I was going to adapt well to this new armor," Metal Build looked at his hands while gripping them tightly, "But it's a rather simple task all things considered."
"Quit gloating…" Stag growled out as he and his friends were facing the Dark Rider in a triangular formation.
"Yeah, we're not losing to you!" Castle shouted.
"Time for our big move then," Owl called out as he got in position alongside the others.
Castle, Owl, and Stag covered themselves in red, yellow, and blue auras respectively, launching towards Metal Build who braced as they closed in. The three slammed into Metal Build, explosions occurring as they all ran past each other and their opponent.
"We did it!" Owl cheered as he turned.
Castle raised his hand up, "Heck yea-"
"You shouldn't celebrate early," Metal Build remarked as the smoke from the explosion cleared to show that the Dark Rider had no scratches on him.
"No way…" Stag gasped.
[MAX HAZARD ON!]
Metal Build went to initiate his finisher, preparing the Hazard Trigger before turning his Build Driver's crank.
[READY, GO! HAZARD FINISH!]
Metal Build yelled and performed a roundhouse kick, a long tank track made of energy launching and snaking outwards. The result struck all three of the Lost Smash before causing them to explode in an instant not even a second after the hits connected.
Akaba, Kiba, and Aoba all limply fell to the ground as their transformations shattered, the three barely conscious as a result of how hard they were hit.
"Are you okay?!" Misora quickly hurried over to Akaba and began shaking him while looking all around, "Hey! Hey! You dumbos…!"
Metal Build turned towards Misora, walking over to her since he realized he'd have to grab her himself with the Guardians out of commission. Before he could get any closer however, a sudden yell and kick was sent his way, forcing him into a roll.
The assailant was Kamen Rider Grease, "Trying to have fun behind my back? C'mon."
"Grease…" Misora trailed in shock.
"Nice to finally meet my doppelganger at last," Metal Build remark, chuckling when he saw Grease tense up, "Don't worry, my name's Otoya Kurenai."
"You taking on Build's form left a bad taste in my mouth…" Grease muttered as he gripped his fists tightly, "But your voice… and what you said…" he brought out his Twin Breaker before charging forward, "You're going to pay for looking like me and doing this to them!"
Metal Build allowed Grease to slam the Twin Breaker into his chest, the attack doing nothing.
Grease gasped, "What?!"
"This is nothing personal," Metal Build said as he punched Grease in the gut before going for a quick assault of punches, even pulling Grease back up to keep the Sclash Driver Rider from falling down, "I just need a civilian with enough weight to make the right people show up after I made sure to make them aware of my Dark Army's invasion."
Grease gasped as he was thrown away, switching his weapon to its beam mode before loading in the Lock Bottle, taking aim and firing chains out of the Twin Breaker to bind Metal Build.
Metal Build grunted before easily breaking out of the chains, initiating his finisher once more. He performed a side kick, a tank track launching outwards and striking Grease who braced.
[READY, GO! HAZARD FINISH!]
An explosion occurred as Grease lost his transformation, rolling along the ground before stopping.
"Grease!" Misora gasped as she quickly hurried over only for Metal Build to grab onto her, "Let me go! I said let me go!"
"Mii-tan…" Kazumi gasped out as he reached outwards only for his arm to fall.
"It's nothing personal like I said," Metal Build remarked as he began to drag Misora off, an Aurora Curtain forming as they entered it, "But if you want this girl back, bring both the White Panel and Kamen Rider Tsukuyomi to the governmental residence."
Kazumi could only stare as he watched the Aurora Curtain vanish, frustration and anger welling up inside of him as the once beautiful sunny day had become cloudy and dark. Rain began to fall as he could only look on at the sight before him, Misora was gone and his crew were all beaten unconscious while he was left him shambles. All he could do was let out a scream of frustration as the rain soon drowned that out.
"Oh dear," Woz said as he had a clear umbrella that was shielding him, having arrived too late, "I suppose we should get you all back."
"Okay," Sawa said as she looked around the empty main lab room of Takumi's lab, "I get that not everyone's interested, but where's Banjo again?"
"He wasn't going to keep up so he's training with the others in another room," Sento said simply as he looked at the notes before him, handing one to Penny.
"I know Tsukuyomi wishes to train hard too given what occurred," Penny said as she scanned over the documents she was given rather quickly, "Fascinating."
"Phantom Liquid is the result of Nebula Gas condensing into a highly concentrated liquid when our Old World collided with this main Rider World," Takumi explained as he drew up the calculations and charts on a white board before showing it to the three that were with him.
"So the hot spring Kazumi and the others bathed in on the island was Phantom Liquid," Sento deduced.
"Because they bathed in the more-concentrated substance…" Takumi trailed off.
"Kazumi and his friends were able to transform even with the original Nebula Gas removed," Penny finished, "Correct?"
"Indeed," Takumi nodded.
"With that theory, we should be able to return to our former states," Sento realized.
"But even if you did, you won't beat the higher performance of Phantom Liquid," Takumi warned, "And that's not counting all the other Dark Rider issues you've mentioned."
"I am sure that my allies and I can handle the Dark Riders," Penny reassured.
"The main grunts shouldn't be too much of an issue if we go all out," Sento admitted, "But given I suspect our mastermind is using the Hazard Trigger… I'll have to make an upgrade that can utilize Phantom Liquid."
"Then make it for me…"
Everyone turned when they heard Kazumi's voice at the bottom of the stairs, the Rider having his arm slung around Woz who was helping him stand.
"Oh dear," Penny gasped.
"Mii-tan was kidnapped," Kazumi spoke up again.
Misora let out a scared grunt as she was tossed into the main office of the governmental residence, her arms and wrists being tied behind her back. She looked around, seeing multiple people in the room. One was Sylphi who was against the wall off to the side of the main desk. Sitting at the chairs in front of the main desk were Swartz, Uhr, and Ora, the trio barely even glancing in Misora's direction. The only one who took notice of her was Glasya who was simply pacing around and glanced her way, but stayed silent.
"A hostage," Swartz remarked, "Really?"
"She's necessary if we're going to get your sister here," Otoya said as he walked over.
"So the message has been sent then?" Sylphi asked.
"Yes, I doubt Grease is going to ignore it either," Otoya nodded.
"Hey," Ora spoke up, "Why exactly are you going through all this trouble?"
"Yeah, what good is Down Fall to you?" Uhr asked.
"They'll help expand my forces as I work on making up for my failure a decade ago," Otoya replied as he gripped his fist tightly, "There once was an organization that threatened all worlds, Dai-Shocker. Their leader went on a journey and went missing… but they moved on without him. It was a shame too as he was the most beautiful evil Rider to exist… so I sought to win him to my side despite his amnesia. I had even stolen technology from Dai-Shocker in order to do so but it was taken from me and given to the one I desired to win to my side. Except when I found him, he was a fool who had chosen to fight for justice instead…"
"So I take it he said no when you found him again?" Uhr asked while Ora snickered slightly at Uhr's remark.
"Sounds like a strong guy," Glasya remarked.
"He completely eradicated my forces," Otoya sneered, "It's taken me around a decade to finally come back from that crushing defeat after just barely escaping. But I'm almost ready to finish what he started, and Down Fall is just the first of the pieces I need. The next is the Time Jackers regaining their powers."
"Given our Another Riders have failed, I suppose working with you is our best option," Swartz relented.
"And I do expect you to hold your end of our agreement," Otoya continued, clearly not willing to take chances with Swartz, "Your group can do incredible things when working together, which I plan on making use of."
"That's a laugh," Ora remarked.
"Yeah, he pulled us and the others out of different time periods all so he could have disposable tools," Uhr let out a cruel laugh before giving a firm glare towards Otoya, "Just make sure you keep your eyes on him."
"Oh there is no need to worry about that," Otoya let out an almost too pleasant smile as he looked towards Swartz, "Right, Swartz?"
"Of course," Swartz nodded, though inwardly he knew he wasn't about to let this happen. Once he took back his powers he would deal with his former followers alongside Otoya while taking control of the Dark Riders for himself.
Weiss was currently hard at work, having just walked in on Woz bringing Kazumi and his trio of friends back to Takumi Katsuragi's lab. Upon making sure they were all placed in beds to relax, she immediately worked on utilizing her Chalice Arrow to heal them.
[RECOVERY!]
Weiss had figured in the passing months that channeling the healing effects of the Recovery Rouse Card via a Glyph would allow her to enhance its effect on the target. But even then, the amount of damage the three had taken was disturbing. She couldn't believe a Dark Rider based on Build's mid-tier form could do this much damage.
Of course there was also Kazumi who was just staring at the three, having kept Weiss from using Recovery on him to focus on his friends.
"Alright, that's the best I can do," Weiss sighed as she lowered the Chalice Arrow.
"You've done more than enough," Kazumi reassured quietly as he went to sit down on the edge of Aoba's bed, "It's my fault they're like this…"
"Here's the upgrade for Grease!" Sento shouted as he quickly barged into the room, Penny sticking her head from outside as she had been following him. Sento quickly hurried in and held up the new transformation item, "And its name is… Perfect Kingdom!"
Sento held up an adapter that was similar to the Cross-Z Dragon, the main body being that of a red castle while the sides held a yellow owl and a blue stag beetle emerging from the castle.
"It's amazing, right? It's the best, right?" Sento asked as he began to fawn over his work, "Its genius, righ…" he trailed off when he saw the quiet mood of the room before clearing his throat, "Just kidding… it's not completed yet. We still need a large amount of Phantom Liquid essence to complete it."
Penny meanwhile slowly entered the room, silently closing the door as she went to stand near Weiss.
"Then just extract it from me," Kazumi answered.
"That won't be enough," Sento said as he hated what he needed to say next, "We need at least three people's worth. But if we extract it from them when they're in this state…"
"You can't," Weiss let out a light gasp at what Sento was suggesting, "Even with what I've healed…"
"I know, I couldn't guarantee their lives," Sento admitted.
"So we'll have to sacrifice them?!" Kazumi questioned as he stood up and grabbed Sento by the coat, "There's no way I can do that…" he pulled away before moving towards the door, "These three… are idiots through and through. They always want me to live on even if it's at the cost of their lives… they idiotically put others before themselves. But y'know… a future without them… it's not one I'd like to imagine."
"Where are you going?" Sento asked.
"Going back home," Kazumi answered, "It's not like we can go fight and win right now."
Sento, Penny, and Weiss stayed silent as they watched Kazumi walk out of the room.
"As always…" Kiba spoke up with a laugh as he forced himself to sit, "The boss… is such a bad liar…"
"He can't do anything… without us…" Aoba spoke up as he began to force himself to sit.
Akaba shot up from his bed, grabbing Sento's hand that was holding the Perfect Kingdom adapter.
"If we give our lives…" he trailed in a tired fashion, "Will the upgrade become usable?"
"Are you three insane?!" Weiss called out, "You really want to-"
"Weiss, Penny!" Blake shouted as she quickly barged into the room, "We've got a problem!"
Weiss and Penny looked over at Blake in surprise.
"What do you mean?" Penny asked.
"Jeez, this is too bright!" Ryuga shouted as he shielded his eyes with his arms.
"Guys, I think we should stop!" Ruby shouted.
"Yeah, this is getting ridiculous!" Yang called out.
"Zi-O, Tsukuyomi, they're right!" Geiz called out, "This isn't working how you intended, back off!"
"Do not underestimate my Overlord's strength!" Woz called out in offense before holding out his hand, "If anyone can do it, it's him!"
The group was still in the makeshift training room, Sougo and Tsukuyomi having attempted to try and perform a power transfer. However Sougo's latent power over time and space was giving Tsukuyomi several issues when she tried to extract Swartz's power. The result was a bright gold energy backlash that forced everyone near the walls and doors of the area as the room shook.
"I'm not giving up!" Tsukuyomi shouted with a wince before letting out a light scream as the backlash started to grow stronger.
"If the raw power won't work…" Sougo gritted his teeth as he brought out a Blank Ridewatch and held it out, "Then we'll give it a physical form! Tsukuyomi!"
"Right," Tsukuyomi nodded before yelling out as she grabbed Sougo's hand with both of hers, trying to concentrate her energy transfer through the Ridewatch now. Despite this there was still a backlash as both Riders winced.
Weiss soon entered, her eyes widening, "What is going on?!"
"They're trying to draw out Swartz's powers from Sougo," Blake explained as she entered with Penny, "But Sougo's latent powers are making the process too difficult, they're rejecting Tsukuyomi and treating her as an enemy."
"I think we can do this…!" Sougo called out with a wince.
"Both of you stop this right now!" Weiss glared as she quickly brought out Glyph after Glyph, bracing against the backlash as she moved forward and grabbed onto Sougo's and Tsukuyomi's hands. Just as she was about to try and pull them apart, something noticeable happened as the backlash that was occurring had lessened.
"W-What…?" Weiss asked with a wince though her Aura became visible alongside Sougo's and Tsukuyomi's now.
"Backlash down by 10%," Penny calculated.
"How did she…?" Ruby muttered before watching as Penny ran over, "Penny, wait a minute!"
Penny grabbed onto Sougo's and Tsukuyomi's hands next, the backlash lessening further as her Aura became visible, "Backlash down by another 10%!"
"Wait, what?" Ruby asked.
"Wait… is Weiss and Penny's presence lessening the backlash?" Yang realized as everyone looked over at her, "Because if so that means…"
Without another word, Ruby, Blake, Yang, and Geiz all rushed forward, the group managing to force their way through the backlash and grab onto the center where everyone's hands were. The result was their Auras appearing as well alongside the backlash decreasing significantly.
"Whoa," Ryuga said as he blinked a few times.
"Backlash down by 90% in total!" Penny called out, "We just need one more push!"
"Woz!" Sougo shouted as he looked over at his retainer, "Mind helping us out?!"
"It would be my honor," Woz bowed briefly before hurrying over and grabbing everyone's hands. Despite not having an Aura, a grey-ish green aura-like coating appeared over his body as the backlash had stopped.
Everyone was surprised at how the backlash was now non-existent. At least until a gold shockwave occurred and slammed everyone away from each other. The Ridewatch soon fell on the ground, clattering as it gained a new shape.
It was a somewhat thinner and less bulky pearl white variant of the GrandZi-O Ridewatch, it having an altered version of Tsukuyomi's rider face on it. The front of her helmet was a pearlescent white now, the black crescent backing for her katakana remaining the same though the katakana was now lined with white.
[NOBLETSUKUYOMI!]
"Whoa…" Sougo muttered with a grin as he saw this, "I think we did it!"
"We did?" Ruby asked with a wince.
"What did you all even do?" Ryuga asked as he walked over to help everyone up one by one.
"We gave Tsukuyomi her chance to win," Geiz grunted as he sat up, "That's what we did."
"Okay, but what did we even do to make that happen?" Yang asked as she stressed Ryuga's question.
"Our Auras appeared to have all merged into a singular source to help stabilize the transfer," Penny said as she began pulling up Aura Levels for everyone and saw that they were lower than normal, "It is likely that it has some effect on the Ridewatch produced."
"You really think so?" Weiss asked.
"There's only one way to find out," Blake said before looking over at Tsukuyomi, "Right?"
"Right," Tsukuyomi nodded as she was helped up by Ryuga, stumbling a bit but managing to make her way to the Ridewatch with little issue. She picked it up and as a result the sides opened up. It was indeed a thinner variant of the GrandZi-O Ridewatch as only two extra side plates popped out, each having four Rider faces on each side.
Zi-O, Geiz, Woz, and Roze were on the right side, while Shinobi, Quiz, Kikai and Penny's redecorated Kikai, Kikai II, were on the left side.
"Whoa," Ruby said as she and the others had moved over to Tsukuyomi when she opened it up, seeing all the Rider faces, "It's all of us."
"Huh, her new form is all the friends she made along the way?" Yang asked with a light grin.
"As cheesy as that is, I suppose it works," Weiss smiled.
"I suppose so," Tsukuyomi nodded, "We all help build each other up unlike my brother who uses others for his own gain."
"Ahem."
Everyone let out a light yelp as they turned to see Takumi standing at the doorway with a tablet.
"Am I interrupting something?" Takumi asked, "Aside from the sudden burst of temporal energy that occurred in this facility a mere moment ago?"
"Not really," Sougo said sheepishly.
"Please, my Overlord enacted a miracle," Woz called out as he raised a hand, "Rejoice!"
"It was all of us you idiot," Geiz said as he shoved Woz away before looking back at Takumi, "What did you need?"
"Well, you all are temporally inclined so I thought I'd share this with you all," Takumi said as he held up the tablet that showed a map of the city. Everyone however noticed three points that were releasing pulsations that together were sending an invisible pulsation towards the center of the city, the pulsations enhancing each other, "There are time and space pulsations being sent out, though I'm unsure how."
"That must be how they're utilizing the power of the Super Tatoba Medals," Tsukuyomi realized as everything began to line up.
"They are temporally displaced and allowed Eiji to not be affected by the Time Jackers powers," Sougo mused as he thought about this, "I guess they wanted to keep Tsukuyomi from breaking things too hard."
"Especially because Swartz is targeting me now," Tsukuyomi realized, "They're trying to even the playing field so he can have a chance at winning against me."
"Then it's likely that the Dark Riders you're facing are using Down Fall to guard them," Takumi added, "So they should be considered as important attack targets for our next move."
"Was that all you wanted to talk to us about?" Blake asked.
"Yes," Takumi nodded before heading off, "Feel free to relax however you see fit until Sento and the others decide their next plan of attack."
"Well I think I'll go bug Sento if he's not busy," Ryuga admitted as he decided to head off as well, "Hope that power-up ends up working out for you."
"Thank you again for sparring with me," Tsukuyomi bowed, to which Ryuga simply waved as he walked out of the room.
"Alright," Weiss crossed her arms, "I think we need to discuss how we're going to approach this next battle. Because while Sento and the others will wait until they can transform again… there's someone who won't."
"I was in the area riight before Metal Build left," Woz replied, "I know what exactly they want."
The Next Morning…
Kazumi had gotten enough rest and an early start, immediately going to where he knew Sento had stashed the White Pandora Panel alongside snagging his Blizzard Knuckle back at the warehouse. Of course the hard part was trying to convince Tsukuyomi to come along with him, since Otoya had also asked for her. Though on his way to try and find her, to his surprise she was in his path already.
"Kazumi," Tsukuyomi said, "I know that they want the White Panel and for me to come with you."
"Are you going to make this hard then?" Kazumi asked.
"No, I'll go with you," Tsukuyomi said as she walked forward, "But we're going with backup."
"Huh?" Kazumi raised an eyebrow.
"Your plan's pretty reckless," Ruby said as she walked out from around a corner, "But we like reckless."
"Plus our enemies won't expect two of us to join you all," Sougo added as he walked out from around another corner, "So I think this will work."
"Well if you aren't stopping me then let's get going," Kazumi let loose a grin before walking forward and past the three, "Just don't slow me down."
"Please like we'd ever," Ruby scoffed as she waved the notion off before going to follow with the others, "We won't get in your way either, consider us paying back the fact we didn't choose you the last time."
"Well that's appreciative," Kazumi admitted, "Because I was seriously ticked off at that."
"Sorry," Sougo clasped his hands, "It's just that we didn't want to take too many of you away and we were already pretty full on Build Riders."
"Forget it," Kazumi held up a hand, "I get it. And as much as I enjoy the spotlight… this is personal for me."
"Just know we have your back," Tsukuyomi reassured.
"I appreciate it," Kazumi said more genuinely this time.
"Hold on a moment."
Everyone paused as both Kotaro and Michal walked into view, the two standing in their way. Ruby, Tsukuyomi and Kazumi were all confused while Sougo didn't seem that surprised.
"Uh…" Ruby tilted her head, "You are…"
"Kotaro Nogami and Michal Minato," Sougo introduced, "They're Kamen Riders New Den-O and Aqua respectively and are from the future."
"Ooh," Ruby's eyes sparkled at the idea of more future riders before tilting her head, "Wait, Sougo… how do you know them?"
"I met up with them before this whole thing started," Sougo replied, "They gave me a warning about our future and I thought they were heading back to their own time to let us handle it."
"What kind of warning?" Tsukuyomi asked.
"It's nothing to worry about right now," Sougo said, "We should focus on our current fight."
"Speaking of said fight, we figured we could give you some help," Kotaro replied.
"After all we kind of got off on the wrong foot," Michal added.
"Sure," Sougo replied, "Meet up with Sento and the others, I'm sure once they realize Kazumi's gone they'll start mobilizing and they'll likely have a good idea of where you're going to need to be."
"Alright," Michal nodded.
"Good luck then," Kotaro said as he crossed his arms, "You're going to need it."
The two stayed where they were as the New DenLiner shot out from a time portal, zooming forward and carrying the two away.
"So um, what exactly was getting off on the wrong foot?" Ruby asked, a bit curious as to what happened aside from the meeting.
"Eh, it's nothing too big to talk about right now," Sougo reassured, wanting to keep everyone on the current objective, "Right now we need to worry about our Dark Rider problem."
"Sougo's right," Tsukuyomi replied, "Whatever it is, it can wait for at least a day."
"Then let's not waste anymore time," Kazumi said as he walked forward, the others following after him, "Let's show them what we Riders are made of."
Sento could only stare regrettably at the scene before him and Takumi as he watched Akaba, Kiba, and Aoba all writhe in pain. They all had gas masks hooked up to them as their Phantom Liquid was being extracted. This was connected through various tubes that led outside the room and into a makeshift computer setup where the Grease Perfect Kingdom adapter was.
Even with Weiss having healed the three again before she, Blake, and Yang had vanished suddenly, the process was still taking its toll on the Lost Smash trio.
"Sento, you were right to have me check your place," Sawa called out as she hurried over, "The White Panel's gone alongside the Blizzard Knuckle!"
"Must be Kazumi…" Sento realized as he went to sit down.
"If he uses that Knuckle, he'll lose his life again…" Sawa recalled.
"No," Sento shook his head, "If you take the Phantom Liquid essence into account, I doubt he'll die after using it. Still that doesn't change the fact that it's dangerous."
"Do not worry," Penny walked over to the three, "Sougo, Ruby and Tsukuyomi are accompanying him since they knew this would happen."
"Well that's some relief," Sento admitted before realizing the timing of everyone leaving, "So is that why the rest of Ruby's team vanished?"
"Correct," Penny nodded, "They'll be utilizing Roze RWBY from the start."
"I'm surprised you didn't go with them," Sento admitted.
"I was told to stay behind and assist you all with your assault," Penny saluted.
Takumi however looked over at the room the Lost Smash trio was in, "Will they survive?"
"Their chances… even with Weiss' help… are low," Sento said, "Not as low as they could be but…" he looked over at the Perfect Kingdom adapter, "We can't complete this upgrade… without those three."
Takumi and Sawa looked over towards Sento who was clearly torn up about this process. Penny meanwhile went to scan the vitals of Akaba, Kiba, and Aoba, her eyes widening when she saw what was going on.
"Excuse us…"
Everyone but Penny looked over to see Teddy alongside Kotaro and Michal, the three standing at the end of the hallway. Sawa and Takumi were a bit surprised by Teddy while Sento raised an eyebrow at the trio.
"We were told to come here by Sougo and tell you all we're willing to help out," Kotaro said.
"Whatever you need us to do, we'll do it," Michal added.
"Well there's at least a little bit of a distraction," Sento admitted softly before smiling, "I've got a game plan brewing so I'll let you all in on it."
Penny meanwhile continued to stare intently at Akaba, Kiba, and Aoba, "This is…"
To Be Continued…
Next Time:
"Farewell, Time Jackers…"
"Don't look down on us Kamen Riders."
"You don't have any say in this…!"
"It's the power of everyone who supports me!"
"This is only the prelude to your nightmare…"
Chapter 117: 2017: Riders Perfect Triumph
Author's Note: We've now reached the mid-point of this little Arc. Everyone's grouped up and has a game plan now as we head into our big confrontation next chapter. Of course there are a few wrinkles as usual, such as Otoya's place in all of this alongside Sougo's idea resulting in something useful for Tsukuyomi. Speaking of, there's a new Ridewatch out and about, which means a new form is on the horizon. Did you really think I was going to leave Tsukuyomi out of the power-up game?
I should mention that the way I structured that Ridewatch in particular is my reason for a last minute change earlier in the story. If you'll recall, Penny's brief stint as a redecorated Rider named Kikai II was a last minute decision. That was because it happened after I had worked on this chapter once I fully figured out how I wanted Tsukuyomi's form to function. Keeping both Yang's and Penny's Rider identities separate ended up working better than just having it be two Kikai but with different colored eyes.
As a reminder, I do have a writing Twitter alongside a Discord Server, with more info on those on my profiles. Roze from Remnant also has a TV Tropes page, feel free to check it out and help with the edits. With that said, once again thanks for reading and I'll see you next time.