Rider Time Zi-O: Roze from Remnant
Chapter 118 – 2009: Rebirth of a Destroyer
Woz was currently in the room that he and Geiz shared, sitting fully on the bed as he looked in his book, watching as footage of Grease Perfect Kingdom flashed through the pages.
"The Dark Rider rebellion has ceased thanks to the combined efforts of Build's Kamen Riders alongside my Overlord and their allies," Woz narrated as footage of Roze RWBY and Grand Zi-O defeating Legend Arc alongside Noble Tsukuyomi defeating Dark Decade played out, "Rejoice! For Tsukuyomi, Team RWBY and my Overlord have completely eradicated the Time Jackers!"
He however closed his book with a loud snap before he let his hand hang, staring out the window with a sense of melancholy.
"My Overlord has told the others of the calamity that Kamen Riders Aqua and New Den-O warned about," Woz said as his voice was less enthusiastic, "Because of such, Young Tsukuyomi has seen it fit to return to her world sooner than usual to both stabilize it and hopefully stall the collision of her world, ours and Remnant."
He heard a knock before hearing Geiz's voice.
"Woz what are you doing in there? Junichiro's already said his goodbyes so we need to meet up with the others now."
"Coming," Woz called out before looking away from the door, "I fear as though our ally leaving is an ill omen of things to come…"
World Unknown – Early July 2019
Summer let out a light groan as she began to wake up, wincing as she began to take in her surroundings. She seemed to be in a rather nice looking room, though her thoughts suddenly drifted back to…
"Summer, you're awake!" Onodera called out as he suddenly poked his head into view, relief filling his face, "Thank goodness…"
"Y-Yusuke…?" Summer blinked a few times before realizing something and quickly sitting up, Onodera just barely leaning back and away to avoid their heads from colliding, "What happened? Where's Tsukasa?"
"Don't worry he's fine," Onodera held up his hands, "He's just… uh… still unconscious is all?"
"Still unconscious…?" Summer asked before recalling what she had seen.
It was hazy due to how quick it had happened, but she had made it upstairs and discovered Tsukasa on the ground without his Rider Armor. Standing above him was Narutaki who was holding something, only for the enigma of a man to smile as dark wisps of energy surrounding him, her eyes widening as she didn't realize at the time what he had transformed into…
"Another Rider…" Summer muttered, "So he took Tsukasa's powers."
"Yeah, Sayo explained everything as best she could," Onodera nodded, "Don't worry, she and Tsukasa are in another room."
"Right…" Summer nodded as she began to sit towards the edge of the bed, "How long have I been out?"
"A couple of days," Onodera admitted, "Your Aura helped heal your wounds and they weren't too bad. But we were worried you wouldn't wake up."
"Thanks for taking care of me Yusuke," Summer smiled.
"How rude… he wasn't the only one."
Summer turned to see Daiki enter the room, wearing an apron over his usual clothes.
"Daiki…?" Summer asked.
"I've been hoping you'd wake up soon, it's been a bit boring just cooking for Sayo," Daiki replied as he walked over, "Granted I've been busy trying to get in touch with some friends but we can discuss that over food. Tsukasa hasn't woken up yet but you look like you could use a good meal."
"Sounds good to me," Summer nodded, "We have a lot to talk about."
Earth – Early July 2019
Team Zi-O, Team RWBY, Penny, and Futaros were all gathered together, the group of ten currently at a secluded warehouse district so that they wouldn't attract too much attention. While Sougo, Geiz, Penny, and Team RWBY were on one side, across from them was Tsukuyomi, Futaros, and Woz who was going to act as the transport Tsukuyomi's world.
Futaros held a suitcase, it housing all of Tsukuyomi's personal effects from her time at 9-5-DO. Thankfully it was only a single suitcases worth since Tsukuyomi was just 'renting' there alongside Geiz and Woz but the items held inside were important nonetheless.
"This feels unreal," Blake admitted as her ears flattened slightly, only perking up when Yang put an arm around her.
"It'll be fine," Yang said, "This should be temporary, right?"
"Yeah," Sougo said but still frowned, "I just wish we didn't have to split up like this."
"Its fine Sougo," Tsukuyomi reassured, "We'll always be connected and we'll still have the Faizphones just in case something comes up."
"We know," Ruby sighed as she looked to the side, "Still doesn't make it any easier…"
Penny stayed silent before putting a hand on Ruby's shoulder, giving a small smile when she saw Ruby's posture relax.
"I'm sorry everyone," Tsukuyomi frowned as she saw how the current mood was.
"Oh I can't handle how depressing this," Weiss huffed as she stomped her foot and marched over to Tsukuyomi while pointing at her, "You're calling Ruby or Sougo ever other day, got it?"
"W-Wait…" Tsukuyomi stammered in surprise, "What?"
"Don't make it seem like you're leaving forever and won't be able to visit or we won't be able to," Weiss held a firm stare as she crossed her arms, "Just make sure you call and let us know how everything's going, even if it's an absolutely boring day, got it?"
"Of course," Tsukuyomi said as she managed a smile, "Thank you."
"She's honestly right you all," Geiz nodded before raising a fist, "We need to figure out this whole world collision problem as soon as possible. That way we don't have to say goodbye forever."
"You are surprisingly pumped up about this," Blake admitted in surprise.
"I bet you Geiz cried the most when he found out," Yang whispered to Blake who snickered.
"Did you say something Xiao Long?" Geiz turned with a glare as he kept his fist raised.
"Nothing, nothing," Yang said as she waved her left arm haphazardly, "Just surprised is all."
"Well we've all grown… though Geiz has probably grown the most," Ruby said with a small smile before nodding as she rubbed her eyes slightly, "He's right though, we need to figure this out so we can all hang out again."
"Correct," Penny nodded before saluting, "I shall put 110% effort into assisting you all into finding a solution!"
"Thank you, again, each and every one of you," Tsukuyomi smiled but sniffled a bit as her eyes began to water, "It was wonderful meeting you all."
"Tsuki…" Ruby frowned before hurrying over and pulling her friend into a hug, blinking as tears began streaming down her cheeks, "You've got to stop talking like that, or else I'm just going to feel awful that you're leaving."
"Alright, alright Ruby," Tsukuyomi let out a choked laugh as she began to cry as well while hugging back, "Then let's not say goodbye."
Ruby pulled away with a smile despite her tears, "How about see you later?"
"That sounds great," Tsukuyomi chuckled as she pulled back before wiping her eyes.
"We'll meet again," Sougo smiled as he walked over, "And maybe by then I'll be the King and Kamen Rider I've dreamed of."
"I do hope you get to take hold of your dream soon Sougo," Tsukuyomi smiled, "I'm not sure how much I was able to influence… but I'm glad I made the choice to befriend you."
"You don't give yourself enough credit Tsukuyomi," Sougo said with a chuckle, "You and everyone else here… you all are my friends. And that's more than enough for me."
"Well said my Overlord," Woz replied.
"Aw man, now I'm tearing up," Futaros pulled out a handkerchief before blowing in it, "These tearful goodbyes are too painful!"
"Hey!" Geiz called out in annoyance causing Futaros to freeze, "It's see you later."
"R-Right…" Futaros nodded.
"Have a safe trip," Blake spoke up.
"Next time you come down or we come up, you should have some souvenirs for us," Yang suggested.
"You mean like the souvenirs we're supposed to have gotten for Nora?" Weiss asked jokingly.
"Oh right there was that huh?" Yang said in sudden realization.
"I pray that you have success on your world," Penny spoke up next, "And that it is able to prosper with your return."
"I appreciate it," Tsukuyomi smiled before backing away.
"Now then, this may take a while so don't wait up for me," Woz stated as he unfurled his scarf, it wrapping around himself, Tsukuyomi and Futaros, constricting before the three were warped away entirely.
Everyone stared in silence for a long while at the empty space before them. No one was sure of what to say, and while they reassured each other that this wasn't the end, it still was a heavy feeling to hold onto.
"Okay!" Yang shouted as she pumped her fists at her sides, "It's close to lunch right?!"
"I think it's barely about to be 10:30?" Weiss raised a brow, "What are you on about?"
"Brunch it is then!" Yang pointed forward, "I think we should stuff ourselves to lift our spirits!"
"I mean I am a bit hungry…" Ruby admitted, having not eaten a lot for breakfast.
"Food sounds good," Geiz agreed before looking over at Yang, "But you're overacting a bit too much."
"Just want to try and get us pumped is all," Yang shrugged.
"I think it worked nicely," Blake defended.
"Of course you'd say that," Geiz scoffed as he looked away.
"So where shall we go?" Penny asked.
"Hmm… how about we try oden?" Sougo asked.
"Hell no, not after last time," Geiz turned with a glare, "Why'd you even suggest that?"
"Kind of wanted to mess with you a bit," Sougo said with a goofy smile.
"Also while I do enjoy a good soup… maybe nothing too soupy given the heat," Yang suggested.
"How about Sushi," Penny suggested.
"Yes please!" Blake said near instantly before shaking her head and recomposing herself, "I mean… yeah I think that'll work. I know a cheap place since there's a lot of us."
"Nice save there, sushi queen," Weiss smirked.
"Ooh, Sushi sounds good," Ruby admitted as she rubbed her stomach, Sougo nodding in agreement.
The group began to gather up in order to figure out the directions to the sushi place that Blake had in mind. Well that was until a sudden high pitched squealing sound was heard, a bright red light impacting in the center of them and exploding out as everyone yelled out, tumbling away from each other.
The result was Sougo, Geiz and Penny landing together while Team RWBY all landed together. Everyone winced and got up, quickly getting on guard as they saw two shapes land in the smoke from above.
"Okay seriously?!" Ruby shouted in annoyance as she brought out her Ziku Driver, "What's with these attacks and having the worst timing?!"
"Well you know what they say, some things just don't change…" a scarily familiar male voice spoke up as all of Team RWBY and Penny froze in response to it.
It didn't take long for the smoke to fully clear up, revealing that Neopolitan was standing before the split group. However with her was a man that no one from Remnant was ever expecting to see again. He was fairly tall and lanky in shape, having dark-green eyes alongside black eyeliner tracing his eyes and bright, long, orange hair with long bangs that covered his right eye. He was wore a red-lined white suit with long black pants and shoes, having a grey scarf around his neck alongside black gloves with buckled sleeves. Of course his signature was a black bowler hat with a small feather tucked into a red band on it, the exact same one that Neo had on.
"Hello Little Red, it's been a while," Roman had a grin as he held up his hand as if to wave, "How this Kamen Riding business treating ya?"
"R-Roman…?" Ruby managed to sputter out, her hand shaking as she quickly loaded her Roze Ridewatch into her Driver before placing it on her waist and loading in the Rose Ridewatch as well, "How?"
Neo couldn't help but smirk as she saw how unnerved Ruby as by Roman's presence, glad to see that she was able to find some kind of crack in Ruby.
Weiss, Blake and Yang quickly summoned their Rider Weapons, all of them getting in defensive stances as they awaited Roman and Neo's next move.
"Yeesh, no manners," Roman slumped a bit as he leaned on his cane slightly before smiling, "But hey, I suppose that's what I get for being a dead man you know?"
"Just what the hell is going on?" Geiz asked.
"Penny?" Sougo asked as he saw Penny was also in shock, "Penny who is he?"
"Roman Torchwick…" Penny trailed before glancing at Sougo, "But… he shouldn't be…"
"There is a reason for that."
Sougo, Geiz and Penny turned at the new voice, the three of them seeing Narutaki now next to them.
"Wait a minute," Geiz narrowed his eyes, "I remember you briefly from when Hiryu rewrote part of the world."
"Narutaki…?" Sougo asked, recalling the man from Summer's story of her beginnings as Kamen Rider Rose.
"I see you know of me," Narutaki smiled, "I suppose it's time we get to business."
"I take it the reason Neo went missing from our battle in Atlas and was nowhere to be seen has to do with you, right?" Ruby asked as she kept her transformation on standby but had a guarded stance.
"Something like that," Roman said as he began to pace around, soon resting his cane on his shoulders and grabbing onto it with both hands, "You see, Narutaki over there offered Neo here a ticket out of the hell that was her partnership with Cinder and in turn Salem. She basically became a part-timer, getting involved behind the scenes… very much had a place to run away from it all for a good while, do whatever she wanted with some help from Narutaki of course…"
Neo smiled before her smile turned into a fierce glare towards Ruby, the other members of Team RWBY tightening their grip on their weapons as they saw this.
"I offered that back to her on Remnant," Roman continued only to lower his head to where his hat shadowed his eyes as his tone grew more bitter, "But we all remember how that ended…"
"Is… is that seriously what this is all about?" Ruby asked in half disbelief and half anger, "You joined up with Cinder and now whatever group this is to get a shot at me, especially when you don't know the whole story?"
"Oh she knows plenty," Roman smiled as he aimed his cane at Ruby, the end of it opening up to reveal a gun barrel, "How you basically flung her away and left me alone with you… in which the ship we were battling on crashed down in a fiery blaze with only one of us still standing?"
Ruby quickly spun her Ziku Driver, her transformation taking place as Roman shot another combustible burst of energy towards her, "Henshin!"
[ARMOR TIME! KAMEN RIDE! YEAH! ROSE! ROSE! ROSE~!]
The blast impacted right as the transformation fully completed, the fire and smoke being blown away by Roze swinging the Roseiber.
"Oh dear, the big bad Kamen Rider Roze is here," Roman called out in fake distress as he held his hands near his face, "Whatever shall we do?" he asked before his fake distress shifted into that of a smug smile, lowering his hands and looking over, "Well Neo?"
Neo smiled as she brought out her own Ziku Driver, everyone growing silent at this new development. She placed it on her waist before bringing out a Blank Ridewatch, it shining like a mirror as it reflected Team RWBY within it before a pink clock projection appeared over it. The projection shimmered into the glass-like substance that would form from her Semblance, the shape of the temporal device shifting.
It had a brown base with a white dial and button, the date revealing itself as XXXX. Neo turned the dial before pressing down on the button.
[NEOROZE!]
"NeoRoze…?" Blake asked.
"What?" Roze asked in surprise.
"What's going on?" Geiz asked.
"You said it was time to get to business," Sougo looked over at Narutaki, "What exactly are you planning?"
"No, no," Narutaki shook his head, "Not yet, let us wait until the first part is set."
Neo placed the Ridewatch into the Rider Time slot, a digital beeping being heard as a circular mirror in a pink-gold frame appeared behind her. In its reflection was Kamen Rider Roze in her base form. Neo simply smirked as she removed her hat before rotating her Driver, pink katakana launching outwards.
[RIDER TIME!]
The mirror shattered into pink shards, washing over her before coating her body, slowly but surely shifting into a Rider-like shape. It didn't take long for the pink shards to shatter and reveal her new form.
Her main bodysuit was white in coloration, her legs holding no armor like Tsukuyomi only simple pink ankle bands with the rims of her boots being pink as well. Of course when getting to the upper body, things were a bit different, her Rider form having similar armoring to Wizard's upper armor/leather coat, having a black leather open coat that was fitted to her arms, covering them up alongside running underneath the Ziku Driver.
Her chest armor was that of a black high collar piece that ran down her back slightly while having three pink jewels that ran downwards and got smaller on each side, being lined with silver. Her shoulders similar to Wizard, being black with silver lining, oddly enough there were indentions to hold Ridewatches on the sides of her shoulders instead of the usual emblem. Down the center of her coat armor was her watch strap, it being similar to Geiz's and being colored in silver. On the back of her coat was the Rose family's Emblem inside of a circle, a tri-tipped Tomoe breaking it apart.
To further break up the coats coloration, it had a pink interior to it while her hands were still white, having pink armoring to them. Of course what also helped were the metallic pink Ridewatch holsters on each of her arms. Lastly her helmet was styled similarly to Roze's and Geiz's but with the visor shape of Roze, her helmet being white with a black forehead and mouth plate, having 'Kamen' in Katakana in pink on her forehead. The pink Katakana flew back and latched onto her visor, it reading 'Rider'. Oddly enough the upper portion of her helmet had two minor indentions on both sides.
Though it became clear as to why those were present as she carefully placed her bowler hat back on. She brought her weapon out, Hush, extending the blade in its closed umbrella form before stabbing it into the ground before soon giving a mock bow as she held her free arm out.
[KA~MEN RI~DER! NEOROZE~!]
"She became a Rider?" Blake asked.
"NeoRoze…?" Weiss questioned before holding out a hand, "She barely looks like Roze."
"It doesn't matter what she looks like," Roze said as she aimed her Roseiber forward, "I'm not about to lose to…"
SNAP!
NeoRoze snapped her finger, a wave of pink glass shooting through the area as if her Semblance was going off. Team RWBY was a bit confused by this before gasping as they felt their grip loosen as their weapons felt lighter. Looking down they could only stare in shock as their weapons began breaking apart into pink glass, the pink glass flying away from them and entering the empty Ridewatch holsters on the NeoRoze suit. Soon enough the glass gathered in the left shoulder alongside three of the Ridewatch holsters.
The pink glass shattered revealing pink based and white accented Ridewatches that couldn't be turned, simply having the dial and button as a frame with images of Weiss', Blake's, and Yang's Rider weapons within the ones on the Ridewatch holsters, while the left shoulder revealed a similarly colored watch, holding a picture of the Roseiber.
"What?" Roze questioned before quickly bringing out Crescent Rose and taking aim, "She can take our Rider Weapons?"
"Bingo kid!" Roman called out as he pointed at Roze who aimed at him, "Hey, hey! You should be careful with that toy! I'm pretty sure Neo knows how to handle something as deadly as that better than you do."
SNAP!
To Roze's shock and horror she could only watch as Crescent Rose dispersed into pink glass shards, the shards gathering in the remaining slot of the Ridewatch holsters on NeoRoze's forearms, "But Crescent Rose is…"
"A Rider Weapon," Roman interrupted, "I mean it works with those Ridewatch things, right? So it's clearly a Rider Weapon."
"Well if it only works on Ride Weapons," Yang brought out Ember Celica, Blake and Weiss following suit by bring out Gambol Shroud and Myrtenaster respectively.
"Four on one still isn't fair though," Roman mused, "I think it's time for me to take center stage with my partner at last."
Neo nodded and gestured at Roman to continue, the thief giving a smile.
"Roman…" Roze shook her head at this, "Whoever you are… do not think that this is going to end well if you fight a Rider, even if you do try to focus on the others. I can't guarantee your safety."
"Oh please," Roman said before bringing out the Oblivian Vistamp, "I made sure to prepare for this, Little Red."
"Huh?" Roze shifted her head back at this, "What even…?"
[OBLIVIAN!]
He soon stamped it against himself, a red light shining as blue electricity and dark energy formed. He grunted as his body began to shift, becoming a monstrous blue, black and grey amalgamation of monsters.
"What the hell?" Geiz asked as he quickly began to prepare his transformation.
"Just what is that thing?" Sougo asked as he began to prepare Grand Zi-O.
"Scanning…" Penny's eyes lit up before she let out a gasp, "I am picking up Grongi, Orphnoch, Worm, Fangire, Dopant, Zodiarts, Inves, Roidmude and Smash signatures all coexisting within it."
"Yes, this is the demonic power that can dwell within all creatures," Narutaki chuckled as he began to walk forward, "Using the power of demons as well as 10 unique creatures which have ties to humanity one way or another, the ultimate monster has been born, Oblivian."
"Narutaki," Sougo turned towards the man as he narrowed his eyes, "Just what are you?"
"An excellent question…" Narutaki smiled before frowning, "However I think a change of scenery is needed to answer that."
"What do you mean?" Sougo asked before gasping as he saw Narutaki take out an Anotherwatch, "That's!"
[DECADE!]
NeoRoze and Oblivian glanced back as Team RWBY all stared in horror when they heard the Anotherwatch announcement take place.
Narutaki shoved the Anotherwatch against his waist as dark wisps surrounded him, sharpened jagged cards launching out before moving inwards. Soon enough Narutaki had taken a monstrous form of Decade, the Decadriver being similar to the original but now being kept within a mouth that held sharp teeth, various bead-like tassels descending from the belt strap that held the buckle in place. His form as Another Decade was rather bulky, also having batwing-like armoring on his right breast plate.
The head was a humanoid ogre-like creature with various horns sticking out horizontally, vertically, all curving and all having cards stuck between them alongside the face. The humanoid face had green markings to resemble the original visor. Finally the name and the date were on the batwing-like plate, being labeled as Decade and 2009 respectively.
"Now come with me," Another Decade said as he spread his arms out, an Aurora Curtain suddenly appearing behind him before sliding forward at high speeds. As a result, Another Decade alongside Sougo, Geiz, Penny, NeoRoze, Oblivian, and Team RWBY, were transported elsewhere.
World of Diend – Early July 2019
Onodera was one to usually be polite, though in this case he couldn't help but stare. Mostly because he was currently sitting at a dinner table with Summer and Daiki, Summer currently demolishing a bowl of steamed rice while grabbing some pieces of fish every now and again to add into the mix. Add in the fact that she had also been talking with Daiki and already had one bowl of rice prior, and this would be cause for staring in slight worry.
"As-mmm-always… Daiki," Summer said between bites as she set her bowl down before going to wash down her food by chugging her second glass of juice. She let out a sigh of relief, "Your cooking is always top notch."
"True but my baking is lacking," Daiki chuckled, clearly not bothered by Summer going all out at the table.
"Not giving up my recipes," Summer added as she went to pick on some vegetables, mixing them with what was left of her fish and rice.
"Yet you help Zi-O's uncle," Daiki pointed out.
"Because we parents need to stick together," Summer remarked before sighing, "Alright seriously though… the final piece of his plan is in place, huh?"
"There's a reason he attacked you and Tsukasa when he did I assume," Daiki replied, "Especially given the state you were in when Sayo brought you to us."
"Yeah, Another Decade…" Summer muttered, "No doubt Tsukasa hasn't immediately woken up yet because he's lost his Rider powers."
"That'll knock him out," Daiki agreed, "But like I said, I'm putting together a team but we'll need a solid leader and you know Yusuke and I are more cut out for heavy lifting."
"Plus you did used to be a Team Leader back on Remnant," Onodera added.
"If I'm going to do that I'm going to need to bring out the big guns," Summer said as she set her bowl down briefly in thought, "Which means I'm going to need to book a trip back home soon. Especially since I'm unsure what's going on with my daughters."
"So far they haven't run into anything but I haven't checked today," Daiki admitted, "Though apparently Tsukuyomi was supposed to leave for her world today I think."
Summer dropped her chopsticks at this, "…Crap."
"What?" Onodera tilted his head.
"If there's any time they're going to strike, it's going to be today," Summer said as she quickly grabbed her utensils once more before going to scarf down the rest of her food, "You-mmm-had a team-mmm-ready right?"
"Yep," Daiki nodded, "Pretty much have been gathering one since the attack on you and Tsukasa."
Summer slammed her bowl onto the table before grabbing a nearby glass of water and chugging it down before slamming it onto the tablet as well, "Then I need to get going."
Nexus of Worlds
Upon being transported by Another Decade via the Aurora Curtain, Team RWBY, Sougo, Geiz, and Penny all looked around in surprise and awe. They were currently standing on an enormous gold circular platform, it being suspended in the middle of what looked to be space of all things. However it wasn't specifically space as all around them were various different Earths floating and coexisting with each other.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Another Decade spoke up as he grabbed everyone's attention, NeoRoze and Oblivian standing at his sides, "All of these different worlds, where different stories exist, where different rules are present… and there are even more beyond this set that is exclusive to us."
"What are you even rambling about?" Geiz asked.
"Of course, these worlds need a ruler, and that ruler is me," Another Decade continued as he placed a hand on his chest, "After all, I started Dai-Shocker for that very reason."
"Dai-Shocker…?" Roze asked before giving a light gasp, "Wait, mom mentioned…"
"Dai-Shocker was a variation of Shocker that wished to take over as a multidimensional empire," Another Decade explained, "But we were unable to cross worlds with ease. Thankfully however we had found a family that could transcend dimensions. A name I'm sure you're all familiar with… the Kadoya Family."
"It's an interesting family history I tell ya," Oblivian remarked.
"The parents of Tsukasa and Sayo Kadoya were killed by us so that we could groom them to our liking and use them to grow our army and reach. Without immediate relatives, placing an emergency guardian to care for them was rather easy," Another Decade explained before hissing out as he gripped his fists tightly, "However once Tsukasa became old enough…"
"Sounds like he bit that hand that fed him," Geiz remarked.
"He ousted me from my position as Great Leader and journeyed in order to connect the Rider Worlds and start our conquest," Another Decade explained with a seething anger before he let out a deep breath, "I suppose I should be thankful for that fool Swartz messing around in 2009. Tsukasa's arrogance at the time was useful in his downfall when the two briefly confronted each other. Tsukasa's path as Dai-Shocker's Great Leader was fully derailed after that."
"Is there a point to this explanation?" Weiss asked as her eye began to twitch.
"I guess that explains his passionate anger against Tsukasa though," Blake admitted, recalling Narutaki's rant towards Summer from the flashback.
"I tried and failed so many times to bring Dai-Shocker back to its former glory, to initiate our plan to conquer all worlds with me as the leader," Another Decade continued despite the comments, "But then… Summer Rose briefly connected Remnant to the Main Rider World. And then Oma Zi-O took advantage of that… and I realized after doing some digging that now was my chance. So I've been biding my time, helping others via a façade, slowly building up my new army alongside obtaining the power of the one who took everything from me all those years ago!"
"Just how many things did you play a part in?" Yang asked.
"The Time Jackers were fun to play with," Another Decade admitted, "As was Salem for what little assistance I gave her."
"Wait," Sougo's eyes widened, "Then Evolt…"
"I must thank you for helping in his growth," Another Decade added, "The excess Cosmic Energy from Ginga's destruction alongside the Phantom Liquid we were able to acquire has definitely made him a star player in my eyes. Definitely worth hanging back and utilizing the Dark Rider subordinates I've built up."
"So then Sylphi was also a part of your schemes?" Geiz asked.
"Correct," Another Decade nodded, "I've very much been the third faction you all have only been having glimpses at. The third faction that is…" he soon spread out his arms, "Final-Shocker!"
"Pretty on the nose, wouldn't you say?" Yang asked.
"I can only guess the reason you confronted us now is you want to get rid of the strongest people that could stop your plans," Sougo said as he went to stand in front of Roze with Geiz, the other members of Team RWBY alongside Penny forming up as they prepared their Huntress weaponry.
"It's the only thing that makes sense," Geiz agreed, "Let's go Zi-O."
"On it," Sougo nodded as the two gripped their Ziku Drivers tightly.
"Henshin!"
[GRAND TIME! IWAE! KAMEN RIDER~! GRANDZI-O~!]
[SPEED TIME! REVI-I-VE SHI-PPU! SHIPPU!]
In flashes of gold and blue, the two Riders stood forward, Zi-O brandishing his Heiseiber while Geiz held his Jaclaw forward.
"You're not coming out of this confrontation with a victory," Another Decade said as he kept a relaxed posture.
"Sougo…" Roze muttered.
"We can do this," Zi-O glanced back and reassured his friend with a nod before looking back at the enemies before them.
Geiz yelled out as he launched forward only to be met by Oblivian's clawed hand, the monstrous chimera having his own speed boost.
"What?" Geiz questioned before wincing as electrical bolts were released from the claw, forcing him back.
"You forget I've got a lot of different monsters in me," Oblivian remarked as he held a hand forward, "So how about you entertain me? I've been dying to meet Little Red's other friends."
"Like I'll let that little trick of yours actually trip me up," Geiz scoffed as he sped forward, clashing with Oblivian again.
NeoRoze simply raised Hush forward before charging, Zi-O immediately intercepting and slashing at her. To his surprise but everyone else's expectation, NeoRoze had shattered into pink glass. It wasn't long before it was revealed she had run past ZI-O and towards Team RWBY.
"I may not have a weapon, but I won't quit fighting!" Roze shouted as she charged forward, "Come on team!"
Weiss, Blake and Yang all let out nods and shouted, the three quickly working on circling around NeoRoze so they could overwhelm her from all sides.
"Crap," Zi-O turned only to get grabbed by his collar, yelping as he was tossed to the ground and forced to roll thanks to Another Decade. He quickly looked up, "Penny, help out Team RWBY! I'll handle Narutaki!"
"Alright," Penny nodded as she rushed forward to help Team RWBY with NeoRoze.
Zi-O quickly began turning the dial on his Heiseiber.
[HEY! HIBIKI!]
The blade of the Heiseiber lit up brightly as Zi-O charged towards Another Decade and slashed. But in his haste he was barely aware of an Aurora Curtain forming from behind Another Decade.
[HIBKI! DUAL TIME BREAK!]
"For Hibiki…" suddenly a monstrous dirty-gold armored creature appeared in front of Another Decade, various Rider-like faces adorning the armor, one of the faces on his skirt flashing gold, "Hibiki Return!"
Zi-O let out a gasp as the armored creatures blew fire from its mouth, easily blocking his slash a burst of flames pierced through, staggering the future King of Riders.
"Zi-O, allow me to introduce you to what I'd consider my insurance against Grand," Another Decade chuckled as he gestured towards the dull gold monster, "This is NiJyumenki Yum Cimil, a Dai-Shocker monster I revived and modified."
"NiJyumenki…?" Zi-O questioned.
The dull gold monster before him had various Rider faces adorning its chest and skirt armor, its belt having miniature Rider faces adorning him alongside one being on its back, with the 'Rider' Katakana adorning its Decade-like face just like Zi-O and the others would have.
Before Zi-O could even respond he heard a shriek as Penny was sent tumbling towards the ground.
"Come on, make this fun," Another Para-DX said as he had been summoned via an Aurora Curtain as well, his Gashacon Visor Zwei in its chainsaw mode.
Roze had managed to grab onto Hush, forcing it down and NeoRoze into a lock to try and hold her in place for the others. When she heard the shriek she looked up in surprise, "Penny!"
NeoRoze smirked beneath her mask, forcing the distracted Roze's grip off of her before smacking the female Rider in the face to send Roze staggering back. She quickly unfolded Hush, the umbrella bracing against hard-light beams only for her to hear a yell.
Blake had managed to swing Yang around via Gambol Shroud, Yang yelling out and punching against NeoRoze only for her to shatter.
Yang quickly got into a roll and stopped, looking around, "Where is…?"
Neo Roze was in the center of Team RWBY yet again and brought out the Roseiber. Soon enough pink glass began shifting and forming as copies of NeoRoze, each holding a different Rider Weapon. The Gashacon Sparrow, Chalice Arrow, and Magma Knuckle were held respectively by each clone, however the copy NeoRozes began shifting further, becoming copies of Shinobi, Quiz, and Kikai as well.
"Oh she is absolutely mocking us," Weiss glared.
"Then we just need to knock her down a peg!" Yang called out as she charged forward.
"Yang, wait!" Blake called out only to quickly raise her blade, blocking Shinobi who had slashed out with its sickles.
Earth – Early July 2019
Gentoku was currently in a private meeting room at the governmental residence, having reached out to various organizations to gather a meeting of Riders on Sento's behest. Both were currently meeting with those that had managed to make it, whether it was in person or video call via a monitor that had a multi-camera chat on at the moment.
Representing the standard police divisions were Hikawa, Arata and Shinnosuke in person with Ryu on video call. Ryusei was representing Interpol while Mayu was representing Section Zero, both able to make it in person.
Kiriya was representing CR and had managed to make it, with Takatora representing himself alongside the other Armored Riders but could only make it through video call as well.
"Was Shintaro Goto not able to make it?" Sento asked as he looked around.
"He isn't," Shinnosuke shook his head, "Kougami needed him for testing a new upgrade for the Birth System."
"We reached out to others like Sakuya Tachibana and groups like Takeshi but they weren't able to make it or send a representative as well," Gentoku added, "But that's fine, there are enough of us here."
"So why exactly did you gather us all here today?" Ryu asked.
"Excellent question," Mayu said, "It must be important if you've gathered all of us Riders here."
"We're all aware of Sougo, Ruby and their friends alongside their fight against the Time Jackers which ended recently," Gentoku said as he took the lead, everyone else nodding in agreement, "However, there was something bugging me, mostly about the Dark Rider incident."
"Oh right, the whole Down Fall thing," Kiriya replied, "That was pretty hectic, right?"
"Very much so," Sento nodded, "However after Gentoku came to me and we discussed a few things, we realized that the Time Jackers likely weren't the only threat Sougo and Ruby were facing."
"If this is about Sylphi, they took care of her, or at least they told me they did," Takatora said, "Though her involvement in the Dark Rider incident definitely calls into question her motives."
"I don't think we should be looking at the Dark Riders as the threat behind the scenes," Shinnosuke suggested.
"I take it you have an idea then Tomari?" Ryu asked.
"I actually reviewed a few things with Tomari, Himuro, and a few others while we were waiting you and Kureshima to call in," Ryusei replied, "There are a lot of strange incidents and happenings that have occurred in the background of the Another Rider incidents."
"Pillars of Cosmic Energy not dispersing correctly, Henchmen suddenly going missing, space debris being less than calculated, data suddenly going missing off of private computers," Shinnosuke listed off, "Add in the incidents that Sento keyed me in that happened on... Remnant, was it?"
"Yes," Sento nodded as he clasped his hands behind his back and leaned forward, "Add in that Evolt's still around somewhere and Sylphi's presence on Remnant prior to the Battle of Atlas… alongside the Time Jackers apparently suddenly knowing of Remnant itself to even kick off Sougo and Ruby going back earlier than expected… and there are a lot of things that don't add up."
"It's why you're assuming there's a third threat, right?" Arata asked.
"I'd like to treat this as a very real possibility," Gentoku replied, "Whatever we're dealing with has likely been preparing behind the scenes for a long while."
"Then you gathered us all here today to rally us?" Takatora asked.
"Something like that," Sento replied, "It strikes me odd that a new group would take in the Time Jackers just as they lost… it's as if they wanted them to keep desperately clinging to a losing battle in order to completely clear them off the board."
"Sounds like a dangerous adversary in that case," Mayu replied as she crossed her arms, "So what do you propose we do?"
"It's more than likely the enemy is planning on making a big next move," Shinnosuke replied.
"How can we even prepare for something like that?" Arata asked.
"Use whatever connections you have to warn any Rider you can and have them do the same," Gentoku explained in a clear and calm manner, "While I doubt we can coordinate ourselves into a unified force with this short of notice, I'd like to hope that we can prepare ourselves for the coming storm."
"How long do you estimate?" Takatora asked.
"We likely don't have long," Ryusei replied, "That's why this meeting was called, right?"
"Right," Gentoku nodded, "They could even be in the final phases of preparation to launch an attack tomorrow or even later today."
"Then I take it you'll inform Sougo, Ruby and the others?" Ryu asked.
"Once this meeting ends we'll get into contact with them," Sento replied, "We just wanted to let everyone else know as soon as possible."
Nexus of Worlds
Kikai punched forward, Yang ducking underneath and performing a series of rapid jabs while firing with Ember Celica before quickly raising her arms to brace. Kikai managed to strike Yang with the Magma Knuckle, breaking her guard and forcing her to stagger back.
At the same time Shinobi was swiping at Blake with its sickles. The Huntress was dodging back, quickly slipping past the Rider. Shinobi turned and performed a cross slash only to be met by a fiery clone of Blake, the fire clone exploding out and forcing it to stumble back. This resulted in it hitting Kikai in the back and causing the mechanical Rider clone to lurch forward.
"And now," Yang shouted as she pumped her fists inwards while gripping her hands tightly. Soon enough rapid beeps were heard as Yang had stuck sticky ammo to Kikai.
BOOM!
The resulting explosion engulfed the two copied Riders, covering them in smoke.
"Did we…?" Blake trailed.
"I don't think so," Yang glared as she saw glowing red and yellow visors piercing through the smoke, "She can control the durability now?"
[BIO!]
Quiz scanned a Rouse Card on the Chalice Arrow before unleashing vines to lash out at Weiss who simply retaliated with a Summon. She brought out the Evolved Shika Inves in a smaller state, it letting the vines wrap around its arms before it flexed and snapped them.
The Evolved Shika Inves ran forward, leaping and punching at Quiz who backed away. The copied Rider rushed in to slash at the beast only for the Evolved Shika Inves to dismiss itself at the last minute. Quiz heard shimmering behind it and turned only to be greeted with the Swallowtail Fangire, it rising out of a Glyph with crossed arms before spreading them out and unleashing a spray of bright blue powder from its mouth.
Quiz braced only for sparks to fly all over its body, the attack damaging it heavily as the powder exploded upon contact.
"Perfect," Weiss smirked as while she didn't have her Rider Weapon, she still had her Monster Summons which she'd practiced with extensively.
Roze grunted as she used Rose Armor's heavier plating to brace against NeoRoze and her attacks with the Roseiber. Roze quickly managed to grab onto NeoRoze's arm again, struggling as NeoRoze tried to pull away before pulling away first.
NeoRoze staggered back and went to grip the Roseiber tightly in response only to realize it was missing.
"Got you back," Roze chuckled as she charged forward and slashed at NeoRoze… only for the Roseiber to shatter into pink glass particles, "Wha-"
NeoRoze immediately summoned the Roseiber again before stabbing forward. She managed to strike Roze in the gut, sending sparks flying as she tried to push the blade in deeper.
Roze gasped out as she grabbed the blade before forcing it away and staggering back. She ended up falling to one knee as she held her gut, "Damn it…"
NeoRoze merely twirled the Roseiber before drawing out an Attack Ride Card, loading it in.
[ATTACK RIDE: BURST!]
Forming a pink-silver rose projection she slashed against it and scattered the petals, the petals launching out into spiraling beams of light that homed in on Roze.
"Crap, I didn't want to use it but!" Roze immediately swapped out her Ridewatches for Silver Roze, "Chou-Henshin!"
BOOM!
[SILVER TIME!]
Leaping out of the explosion of silver energy was Silver Roze, the Huntress Rider launching towards NeoRoze as her forearms and fists shined brightly. NeoRoze stepped back but Roze was too quick, performing several powered up punches.
[KAMEN RIDER~! (RIDER~!) SILVER! (SILVER!) SILVER~! ROZE!]
NeoRoze struck at Roze with the Roseiber, sparks flying but Roze pushing through as she unleashed more light powered punches. Punching with both fists at once while releasing burst of light energy did the trick, sparks flying from NeoRoze as the silent Rider was sent rolling away.
"Ah," Oblivian gasped out, "Neo!"
"Pay attention!" Geiz called out as he smacked Oblivian in the face, to force the monster back. However to his surprise Oblivian immediately turned and spat webbing at him, the webbing striking his helmet and coating it to blind him, "Damn it!"
"So long as I don't bring Silver Crescent out, I'm good," Roze panted slightly as she raised her fists, "I'll just do it the old fashioned-"
SNAP!
Roze let out a light gasp as Silver Crescent was forcibly summoned from her belt before it dissolved away into pink glass particles, it being transformed into a specialized Ridewatch and stored in the empty slot on her shoulder.
"No way…" Yang called out as she was currently struggling to hold back Kikai who was trying to grapple with her.
"So long as she was in Silver Roze she could steal Silver Crescent?!" Blake questioned, dual wielding Gambol Shroud's blade and sheathe, bracing against Shinobi and keeping it in a clash.
"Not good…" Weiss muttered as she had the Swallowtail Fangire summon clash blades with Quiz.
Penny gasped, "Ruby!"
"Hey, eyes on me!" Another Para-DX called out as he swung his chainsaw, it being blocked by Floating Array before he was pushed back by it. He then let out a gasp as he was assaulted by fireball after fireball, the mechanical Maiden having immediately followed up with her magic.
Penny quickly shifted Floating Array into smaller funnel formations, unleashing beams of energy at Another Para-DX and causing smoke to kick up from the small explosions they caused. She let out a gasp however as Another Para-DX had shot out of the smoke with his weapon now in its gun formation, energy beams assaulting the ground around her and forcing her back.
"I must admit I never thought someone could hate a singular Rider as much as I did," Another Decade mused, "But dear Neo here proved me wrong."
"Yeah, soak it all in because this is ending now!" Zi-O called out as he tapped a statuette.
[GAIM!]
Gaim in Banana Arms launched towards NiJyumenki, planning on distracting him while Grand Zi-O charged straight towards Another Decade.
"For Gaim," NiJyumenki said as a face on his belt shined brightly before he unleashed a gold wave from his hand, "Gaim Return!"
The gold wave launched outwards and trapped Gaim in a gold orange projection, NiJyumenki giving a yell as he drew it towards him before performing a sweeping kick, dragging the projection before kicking further and launching it off.
The gold orange trapped Gaim however was launched directly at Zi-O who just barely turned in time, bracing before yelling out as the projection exploded on contact. Zi-O gasped as he skidded out of the explosion, letting his arms drop.
"Do not think I'll let you easily win!" NiJyumenki called out as he rushed towards Zi-O, Another Decade letting out a chuckle before charging forward as well.
Shinobi, Quiz, and Kikai suddenly froze, their weapons vanishing as they quickly leapt away from their opponents and near NeoRoze who was facing Roze.
[SILVER FINISH TIME!]
NeoRoze simply held a posture that radiated smugness, bringing out Crescent Rose alongside Silver Crescent and combining the two into Silver Crescent Rose. She aimed it forward as Kikai went to kneel in front of her, holding the barrel of the weapon steady while Shinobi and Quiz held onto NeoRoze's back while firming up their stances.
Roze let out a light gasp as she saw one of her strongest team attacks now used against her. She was ready to Petal Burst since they were in the middle of setup only to gasp as her arms and legs were suddenly bound together by webbing, giving a grunt as she fell flat on her face.
"Sorry Little Red," Oblivian remarked as he quickly landed between the finisher and the remainder of Team RWBY to keep them from interfering, "But your time in the limelight is up."
Weiss, Blake, and Yang all charged forward only to quickly back away and dodge as Oblivian launched out electrical energy towards them that caused small explosions on impact.
"Get out of the way Torchwick!" Yang called out as her eyes turned a bright red.
"Like I'll let you all get between her and her revenge," Oblivian scoffed bringing a hand to his mouth before yelling out, unleashing a sonic screech that forced the Huntresses to cover their ears as they were sent skidding backwards.
Geiz gave a grunt as he heard Oblivian taunting the others, managing to tear off the web from his helmet while turning only for his eyes to widen at what he was seeing.
[RYOSHI SASU SASU SHOOT!]
NeoRoze and her copied Mirai Riders all braced and winced as a giant beam of silver energy launched directly towards the bound Roze who was just barely managing to strain the webbing she was trapped in.
[POWERED TIME!]
In a blur of blue Geiz immediately slid in front of the path of the beam, his armor shifting instantly back into Gorestu formation as he loaded the Revive Ridewatch and punched forward.
Roze gasped, "GEIZ?!"
[ZIKAN JACK!]
"YOU AREN'T KILLING HER!" Geiz yelled out as he punched forward, his saw unleashing a hefty amount of energy as he clashed against the beam of energy and splitting it.
[GORETSU SUPER NOKO SETSUZAN!]
Geiz yelled out further as he stepped forward, slowly but surely making headway through the beam of energy.
NeoRoze glared beneath her helmet before carefully holding her weapon with only one hand, initiating her Driver's finisher.
[FINISH TIME!]
Soon enough pink energy began erupting from the barrel of Silver Crescent Roze and mixed with the silver energy, it spiraling together and growing stronger.
Geiz grunted as he began to slide back, his arm being pushed back despite the force he was putting into keeping it forward.
Roze could only stare in shock as she saw this, only to wince and close her eyes while turning away as an explosion occurred once enough time had passed.
[TIME SHATTER!]
Everyone winced and covered their eyes at the bright explosion, the light slowly fading as everyone began to try and figure out at what happened. The Riders and Huntresses present could only give a light gasp at what they were now seeing.
Geiz was now in his base form, his armor smoking as electricity crackled all over it. His visor was cracked, the cracks growing before shattering and causing a small break to form. Despite the attack, with him able to keep his Rider form like that just barely, he was still alive.
"Geiz…" Zi-O muttered as he shook from this.
Geiz tiredly let his arms drop as he staggered over to Roze, gripping the webbing and just barely managing to tear it.
Roze could only stare in horror as she saw Geiz's tired and beat up expression beneath his helmet thanks to the shattered visor.
"You alright…?" he asked.
"Geiz…" Roze muttered.
Geiz let out a tired chuckle as he began to pick himself up, unaware of the sudden shouting of his friends as all he could hear was ringing. He let out a grunt as he was smacked directly in the face, tumbling towards the edge of the platform they were on.
"You just had to ruin Neo's revenge, huh?" Oblivian asked as he had been the one to clock the Rider in the face. He walked over to the Rider and quickly grabbed him by the collar before hanging him over the edge, "I'm trying to help give her some closure, you know? Meaning you can't get in the way…"
"That's not going to… satisfy her…" Geiz gasped out as he grabbed onto Oblivian's arm, "It's why I couldn't let… Ruby…"
"Well you stalled it at least, I'll give you that," Oblivian remarked before unceremoniously shoving Geiz away, the Rider letting out one last raspy gasp as he was sent plummeting below the platform.
"Geiz!" Roze called out as she quickly ran over to the edge, watching as Geiz fell and fell before dispersing into white particles. She fell to her knees as she hung her head, "Geiz…?"
"Geiz…" Zi-O muttered before grunting, currently grappling with both NiJyumenki and Another Decade.
The rest of Team RWBY and Penny could only stare in shock, Another Para-DX stopping his assault briefly to give a scoff.
"Well, that certainly helped break her spirit a bit, huh?" Oblivian remarked to everyone present before looking over at NeoRoze, "I think you've got a good opportunity."
NeoRoze nodded, separating Silver Crescent Rose into its original forms before only keeping Crescent Rose. The Mirai Rider clones vanished as she focused on loading her Ridewatch and watching as white and pink energy began spiraling into the barrel to charge.
[FINISH TIME!]
"Ruby you need to run!" Yang shouted only to get no response, "Ruby!"
"Sayonara Little Red," Oblivian let out a small salute.
[NEOROZE SASU SASU SHOOT!]
A blast of pink and white energy hurtled towards Roze who was just barely turning her head. Her head however turned further when she saw a blur of yellow appear in front of her.
"RUBY!" Yang yelled out as she had launched towards the blast, bracing only to scream out as the blast pierced through her defense, her Aura shattering as she was blasted off of the platform.
Roze could only stare in shock as NeoRoze's hands began to shake in anger while Oblivian smacked his face with his hand. Weiss' eyes widened as Zi-O shuddered. Penny attempted to launch forward only to get blasted off of her feet, quickly turning and swinging out Floating Array to forced Another Para-DX away from her.
Blake was the only one fast enough on her feet as she had a clear thought on her mind: 'save Yang'. She got to the edge and quickly threw Gambol Shroud out while holding it by the end of its rope, hoping that Yang would be able to catch it and she'd pull her up in time.
Yang could only tiredly blink as her vision blurred, wanting to reach out for the weapon but she couldn't find the strength to as her body was in shock. She felt everything go limp as she blacked out.
Blake could only watch in horror as Yang's body disappeared into white particles upon reaching a certain depth, "YANG!"
"Yang…?" Roze began to breathe heavily before hearing footsteps. She quickly turned and dodged against NeoRoze who had stabbed forward with Hush. Roze quickly began dodging out of the way before batting the weapon to the side and unleashing a punch with a yell, striking NeoRoze who quickly dodged back and gestured for her to follow.
Weiss had been quick to act once she had heard Blake yell out, quickly hurrying over and grabbing onto Blake who was tearfully reaching out and dangerously close to falling off accidentally.
"Honestly, they were weaklings through and through if they only lasted this long" Another Para-DX scoffed, "But that's the rules of these worlds, only the strong-"
A fireball impacted against the Dark Riders face, Another Para-DX gasping out as his vision blurred.
"Do not talk about Geiz and Yang like that!" Penny glared as she gathered all of Floating Array up, charging up energy and speeding up the charge by loading them with extra electricity thanks to her magic. She threw her hands forward as she unleashed a beam of energy against Another Para-DX, the force of the beam strong enough to carry the Dark Rider off of the platform and send him flying outwards into the distance.
The result was him vanishing into white particles as well, showing that not only was it dangerous to fall, but it was dangerous to fly out too much from the platform.
Oblivian chuckled before perking up, watching as Blake ran towards the fight between Roze and NeoRoze with a dangerous glare. He turned and was ready to intercept only for the Bossroach summon to be formed in front of him, it smacking him back with its shield as he went to hop back further to gain distance.
"You are not hurting anymore of my friends," Weiss glared as she pointed Myrtenaster at Oblivian.
"Weiss," Penny called out as she flew over before landing on the other side of Oblivian, "I shall assist you!"
"Surprised you're not helping your boyfriend," Oblivian said with a light shrug, "That confident?"
"He can take whatever Narutaki can dish out," Weiss said, while it didn't look like Grand Zi-O was completely dominating from what little she was seeing, she had to have faith that her boyfriend would be able to handle Another Decade and NiJyumenki.
Remnant – Patch, Xiao Long Residence
In a forest on the island of Patch within the Kingdom of Vale, was a large two-story cabin that belonged to the Rose/Xiao Long family. Though as of late, aside from a couple of visits by Summer and Tsukasa, it had mostly been Taiyang holding down the fort as usual. His mood was a lot brighter however after having met with his daughters and thought to be dead wife after the Battle of Atlas. Of course the visits by Summer and Tsukasa alongside whatever friends would come by from the Beacon and Signal staff helped out a great deal too.
Taiyang was currently tending to the sunflowers that were at the front of the home as he heard a shimmer, raising an eyebrow at the familiar sound he turned.
An Aurora Curtain formed before sliding back to reveal Summer alongside Onodera who was looking around.
"Huh, this is a pretty nice place," Onodera complimented, "This is your home?"
"Yep," Summer nodded with a smile as she approached Taiyang, "Of course it helps that someone's here to take care of it."
"Well what kind of man would I be if I didn't give my family a home to come back to?" Taiyang shrugged with a smile before suddenly slapping himself, "Sorry, still not used to uh… you know."
"Yeah I figured," Summer chuckled, "Especially since I only visit so often."
"And this time without Tsukasa," Taiyang said, "It's a shame too since he's a real interesting guy to hang around."
"Interesting is certainly the word to use," Summer remarked as she crossed her arms.
"So I take it he's another one of your Rider friends?" Taiyang asked as he gestured towards Onodera.
"Ah yes, I'm Yusuke Onodera, it's a pleasure to meet you," Onodera smiled and bowed.
"Same," Taiyang smiled.
"Admittedly we're not here on a normal visit," Summer sighed as she glanced to the side, "Our girls are in danger."
"I mean given what you said about what they do…" Taiyang trailed.
"I mean serious danger," Summer replied as she looked back towards Taiyang before sighing, "Someone who's been pulling the strings all this time is finally acting and I'm going to need more than my current equipment if I'm going to help them out."
"Wait a minute…" Taiyang trailed in shock, "You don't mean…"
"Yes," Summer nodded as her expression showed she was dead serious, "I need Sundered Rose."
Nexus of Worlds
NeoRoze had discarded Crescent Rose for the time being, this time going in up close and personal with the Blizzard Knuckle since Roze was forced to fight hand-to-hand. She quickly braced however, a few bullets striking her hand before she saw a black projectile approaching. She smacked it away only for it to be revealed as Gambol Shroud's cleaver sheathe.
Roze realized what was going on and quickly grabbed onto it before slashing forward, forcing NeoRoze to block with the Blizzard Knuckle.
Blake yelled out as she continued to charge forward, shooting at NeoRoze's stomach and forcing the evil Rider to wince. She then slid before using Shadow to dash further, getting on NeoRoze's other side before turning and slashing with her sword.
Sparks managed to fly as Roze pushed further, NeoRoze staggering back as a result of their combination attacks.
"You're not taking away anymore of my friends!" Blake glared.
"Blake," Roze muttered before gripping Gambol Shroud's cleaver sheath tightly, "Let's go."
Oblivian gave a few grunts as he was forced onto the defensive, the Bossroach summon bashing with its shield while thrusting with its sword. Before he could even attempt to counter it leaned forward, Penny rushing in and flipping, sliding across its back while swinging with Floating Array, managing to force Oblivian back further.
Weiss wasted no time in adding further damage in, bringing out a Hard-Light Glyph to launch multiple blasts of energy that homed in on Oblivian.
Oblivian braced against the blasts before fire gathered in his clawed hand, he swung forward, unleashing a wave of fire that impacted against the ground near Weiss, the Bossroach and Penny, an explosive burst occurring as Weiss and Penny were sent stumbling back while the Bossroach Summon was destroyed.
"It won't be that easy to take me down," Oblivian said as he held his clawed arm up.
[W!]
Zi-O brought W's Bickershield, blocking a punch from Another Decade while also summoning the Trigger Magnum, he took aim and began shooting curving bullets at Another Decade to force him back.
"W return!" NiJyumenki called out as it threw a hand forward as another face on its belt lit up, a tornado of green wind being unleashed against Zi-O.
The result was both of the summoned W weapons being flung out of Zi-O's grip and sent flying off the platform.
"Let's see how you like this," Zi-O quickly caught a punch from Another Decade before shoving the Another Rider away and tapping a statuette.
[BUILD!]
A gateway appeared high in the air, Build's base finisher in RabbitTank occurring as NiJyumenki was trapped within the equation chart.
"Hah," NiJyumenki called out as he spun to break out of the equation chart and kicked forward. Energy tank treads formed on his foot as he clashed with Build in order to counter, "Build Return!"
[KUUGA!]
Kuuga came flipping through a gateway from right behind the counter monster, kicking out and striking NiJyumenki in the back while it was distracted with countering build. The monster could only gasp out as he faltered in his counter, Build slipping through and striking him alongside Kuuga.
"Clever," Another Decade remarked, "But do you really think you can keep this up?"
"Of course I can," Zi-O argued as he took a step forward, gripping his fists tightly, "For Geiz and Yang's sake."
Despite the surprise from Blake's addition to the fight, NeoRoze managed to bounce back rather well. She had brought out Silver Crescent in its spear formation and was currently using it to help dance around both Blake and Roze.
Blake and Roze were pushed back but continued their assault, Blake using Shadow and her gun to cover Roze who would close in to slash. Of course the two weren't expecting NeoRoze to stab Silver Crescent into the ground to release a burst of bright light and briefly blind them.
Blake winced as she tried to use her hearing and stuck close to Roze only to gasp as she quickly shoved Roze away with her shoulder, shifting her weapon to its sword mode as she blocked a strike from NeoRoze who now had the Gashacon Sparrow in its sickle formation. She pushed further only for it to shatter and before she or Roze could do anything, NeoRoze was already behind her slashing.
Roze watched as Blake cried out, seeing her friend's Aura break as NeoRoze hopped away before tossing the Gashacon Sparrow away.
"Blake!" Roze quickly hurried over to her friend who was hunched over, "Are you-?"
"I'll be fine!" Blake insisted despite the pain.
[FINISH TIME!]
NeoRoze loudly stomped her foot as she slid it back only to snap her fingers as clones of Shinobi, Quiz and Kikai formed while kicking out.
Roze quickly grabbed Blake and had her back face the clones, crying out as they all struck one after another, bursting into pink glass.
"Ruby!" Blake called out as she tried to shove Roze away only for Roze to not let go, "I'm fine! You need to-"
"I'm not losing you too!" Roze shouted in a strained voice.
NeoRoze moved forward, performing a cartwheel before transitioning into a spinning jump, flipping before kicking out and striking Roze in the back as an explosion of pink glass occurred.
[TIME SHATTER!]
Roze cried out as she and Blake were launched away from NeoRoze, the two flying off the platform as the Huntress Rider lost her transformation.
Blake's eyes could only widen as she felt Ruby's grip slip, quickly holding onto her, "Ruby!"
"I'm not…" Ruby muttered as her eyes were barely open, "Losing you... too…"
Blake could only hold on tightly as she realized they were too far for her to try and throw Gambol Shroud, the two simply falling further before the vanishing into white particles upon reaching a certain point in the space.
Penny held her hands in front of her mouth as she felt her heart sink, "No…"
"They're both…" Weiss' hand began to shake at this, "They're all…"
"Well, I suppose I should send you on your way too," Oblivian said as he began to walk forward, "Have a fun-"
[WIZARD!]
Wizard in Water Dragon was formed on Oblivian's side, having a large mechanical tail that he swung forward and smacked the chimera monster with.
Oblivian yelled out as he was sent tumbling, heading straight for the edge only for NeoRoze to get in the way and grab him to keep him from falling off.
"Thanks," Oblivian said as he got helped up, "You're a lifesaver Neo."
NeoRoze simply nodded before looking over.
"I'm not about to let him take you guys either," Zi-O said as he hurried over, standing next to Penny and Weiss before facing their enemies, "We can do this."
"Right," Weiss nodded, "For them."
"For them," Penny nodded as she began to float upwards into the air, Floating Array primed and ready.
Zi-O meanwhile began tapping what statuettes he could as he figured he needed to give his friends an advantage.
[BLADE! OOO! FOURZE! BUILD!]
Zi-O equipped himself with Fourze's Shield Module and Blade's King Rouzer, Penny had Sagohzo's Goirbagoon gauntlets to help her on close range, while Weiss was dual wielding Myrtenaster and Build DragonLock Hazard's Beat Closer.
"Utilize everything you have, but it won't be enough," Another Decade said as Oblivian and NeoRoze began to walk over to join him and NiJyumenki.
Oblivian chuckled as mechanical-like bat wings erupted from his back, soon launching towards Weiss while reeling his claw back.
Zi-O saw this and quickly turned into gold particles, utilizing Ghost Mugen's quick travel. He reappeared in front of Oblivian, blocking the claw before slashing into him with the King Rouzer, sparks flying.
NeoRoze quickly brought out Crescent Rose and took aim, shooting at Zi-O only for Penny to get in the way, bracing with her Goribagoons. She then gathered fire over them before launching forward and spinning, Floating Array lashing out as she forced NeoRoze into a stagger.
NeoRoze quickly extended out Crescent Rose into its scythe form, twirling it as she began to counter and block Penny's swings, using the recoil to push further only for her weapon to clang against the elemental enhanced Goribagoons. She was forced to misstep and back away as Penny swung her arms outwards before slamming them down and unleashing a pillar of fire.
"Blade and Fourze," NiJyuMenki remarked as he began to move towards Zi-O and Oblivian's fight, "Very well, then I know what I can-" he paused abruptly as he felt gravity weighing down on him, turning to see Weiss was the cause, "You…"
"You're not doing anything to him!" Weiss called out as she formed a Time Dialation Glyph beneath her before forming numerous Glyphs around her opponent. She sped forward at incredible speeds, striking past NiJyumenki and landing on a Glyph before bouncing off of it. She began to pinball off Glyphs, slashing, piercing, anything she could do as she managed to stagger NiJyumenki. Eventually she landed on one floating behind him as she began pumping the Beat Closer three times.
[HIPPARE! HIPPARE! HIPPARE!]
She launched directly towards NiJyumenki's blind spot as she slashed forward.
[MEGA HIT!]
The slash didn't connected however as a sudden wave of grey appeared in front of her. The next thing she knew she was high up near the edge of the platform. She yelped as she quickly formed a Glyph to land on, giving a light sigh of relief before turning and freezing as Another Decade had his hand out.
"Goodbye," Another Decade said as he unleashed a burst of energy from his palm.
Weiss screamed out as she was launched backwards, flying far enough to disappear into white particles.
Another Decade had weaponized the Aurora Curtain, using it to transport Weiss a short distance before he got the drop on her.
Zi-O gave a light gasp as he heard Weiss' scream, his arms dropping as he turned just in time to see her vanish into white particles, "Weiss…?"
"Weiss…. No…" Penny muttered in distress before very quickly blocking and leaping back from a swing by NeoRoze. She let out a glare as she quickly froze NeoRoze's legs to the ground by utilizing her magic. Wasting no time she launched the Goribagoons at the stuck NeoRoze only to gasp when NeoRoze shattered upon them impacting.
[NEOROZE KAMA KAMA CUTTING!]
Penny gasped out as she was cut into the back by Crescent Roze, white and pink energy erupting from it as it shattered her Aura while launching her away. She was unable to correct herself as the sneak attack had stunned her too much, only able to let out a light groan as she was launched far enough to disperse into white particles.
"Penny…?" Zi-O turned when he heard the attack announcement, but he was still too in shock over Weiss to have tried to counter and help Penny.
"Well, looks like you're all alone kid," Oblivian remarked before punching towards Zi-O. To his surprise Zi-O had dismissed both of his summoned weapons, blocking with just an arm before Oblivian got his face punched by Zi-O's other fist, the chimera monster being slammed against the ground as Zi-O pushed further, "W-What?!"
"You made a big mistake," Zi-O held a dangerous tone as he raised his free fist, slamming it down again on Oblivian only for the chimera monster to shatter. He looked up to see NeoRoze holding onto Oblivian with NiJyumenki joining them.
"This is it Zi-O," Another Decade said as he was on the other side.
"If you think I'm backing down," Zi-O said as he immediately initiated his finisher, "I'm not."
[FINISH TIME! GRANDZI-O!]
19 Gateways opened up all around as the Heisei Riders in their base forms all launched downwards while kicking at Another Decade's trio of helpers, Zi-O wanting to deal with them first.
"Let's go," Zi-O leapt upwards before kicking out at the three, gold energy erupting from his right leg.
"Don't underestimate us!" NiJyumenki called out as he got in the center of the kicks. All of the faces and markings on his body shined brightly as he yelled out, "All Rider Reverse!"
20 gold bursts of light erupted from NiJyumenki, striking the 19 Heisei Riders before Zi-O in their guts and hitting them with enough force to knock them out of their kicks and cause them to vanish.
Zi-O however met the burst directed at him and easily dispersed it, yelling out as he kicked at NiJyumenki.
[ALL 20 TIME BREAK!]
Another Decade could only chuckle, glad to see that the tactic of getting Zi-O to lose focus had managed to work in the end. He crossed his arms briefly in front of his buckle, it releasing a red/blue ring of energy as he vanished in an Aurora Curtain.
Zi-O shouted as he closed in on NiJyumenki only for his head to shoot up when he saw an Aurora Curtain appear right in front of him. Another Decade kicked out of it, dark energy spiraling out from his leg as he struck Zi-O directly against the Driver.
"Such a foolish boy you are," Another Decade remarked before yelling out, "It's over!"
Zi-O could only let out a surprised scream as he was launched backwards by Another Decade. The force from the Another Rider's attack, while not harming him too much, had enough force to send him flying back. The result was Zi-O hurtling further and further before vanishing into white particles.
"Well that went better than expected," Oblivian remarked as he watched Another Decade land before looking over at NeoRoze, "Good job Neo, pretty much nipped Little Red in the bud with your new power."
NeoRoze simply gave a polite curtsey in response, pleased by the praise.
NiJyumenki meanwhile gave a groan, falling to his hands and knees, "That took a lot out of me…"
"You did excellent work however," Another Decade said as he walked over and squatted down while putting a hand on the monsters shoulder.
"So… mission accomplished?" Oblivian asked as his transformation reverted while NeoRoze's transformation dismissed itself.
"They're scattered for the most part," Another Decade said as he reverted back to normal as well, before smiling, "However the next part will be fun for you three once you get a quick breather."
"Oh?" Roman raised an eyebrow as he leaned on Melodic Cudgel.
"You'll be going hunting," Narutaki continued.
Neo couldn't help but give a grin at that, clearly enjoying the prospect.
"We've got a lot of ground to cover though," Roman remarked as he looked around.
"Luckily you'll have help," Narutaki said as an Aurora Curtain appeared, "Evolt's time in Remnant came with a rather fun side-effect when it came to his genes."
Four Nova Shocker Combatmen appeared out of the Aurora Curtain, this variation of the Combatmen being Final-Shocker's go to foot soldier for their main army. Of course they didn't have their usual buckles on, all four instead holding up familiar white plated buckles that had a red circular window. The four placed the buckles on their waists, bone-white segmented belt straps forming to lock the buckles in place.
"Henshin…"
[GRIMM RIDE]
Pools of black liquid formed underneath their feet before black vines with red markings exploded outwards and constricted over their bodies. The pained grunts of the Combatmen could be heard alongside the snapping and crunching of certain body parts…
[BRIAR ROSE!]
The vines broke apart, four copies of the Grimm Rider that Evolt had helped create back on Remnant now standing before the group. These copies of Briar Rose though didn't seem to retain the same level of intelligence, nor did they seemingly retain any of the traits of the Combatmen who were likely just fuel to get the powers to manifest.
"Ooh, nasty…" Roman remarked as he let out a disgusted wince.
Neo scrunched her face up slightly at what had occurred before shaking her head and simply looking to the side while crossing her arms.
Narutaki turned away from the group, hands behind his back, "I suppose all I can say now is happy hunting."
Earth – Early July 2019
At 9-5-DO, Junichiro was none the wiser of what was going on. He simply hummed as he was dusting off the counter that held the Ridewatch Daizer. While he was upset and saddened by Tsukuyomi leaving, he managed to get through it by focusing on what work he could do. And part of that was making sure the Ridewatches were as clean as could be. It wasn't like he could work on them since well… they weren't broken.
"Hmm, I wonder if they're done by now," Junichiro mused to himself as he put a hand to his chin in thought, "Maybe I should give them a fun dinner tonight to help the mood."
His thoughts were interrupted by sudden crackling below him. He looked down only for his eyes to widen in surprise. Glowing blue cracks forming on the Build Ridewatch before soft shattering was heard, the color completely fading away as the entirety of the watch aside from the printed face was now grey and cracked, adopting an almost broken stone-like appearance.
"That…" Junichiro trailed with a frown, "Is not a good omen…"
To Be Continued…
Next Time:
"You saw how my fights go, right?"
"Wait, you know what Roidmudes are?"
"Bujin…?"
"Sherry's rather nice, or how about a cocktail?"
"Welcome to a parallel world!"
Chapter 119: 20XX: Lost within Worlds
Author's Note: What? You thought that I'd look at Volume 8's final two episodes and not be severely tempted to try something similar? It's just I had to go for an entirely different scenario given what I already had planned for the Saga that took place in Atlas. And of course that scenario is a bunch of debuts, one of which is Narutaki as Another Decade for this story.
Of course there's also 'Roman' who shows up as Oblivian and I should note that Oblivian is the only thing you should expect me to pull from Revice in the main story. The idea of a monster that's an amalgam of 10 other monsters, 9 of which are from the Heisei Era was too good to pass up. Plus it gives a unique antagonist to fight against everyone instead of me making a second Dark Rider.
Because speaking of Dark Riders, we have the debut of our next original Roze from Remnant Rider, NeoRoze. In addition to strengthening her Semblance, she's also able to pull a Gold Drive and steal nearly all of Team RWBY's arsenal. Thankfully Roze RWBY's an option given the Huntress Weapons are intact, but will that even be enough in the end? When it comes to figuring that out however, it's the last thing on our heroes' minds after this battle. With that said, thanks for reading and I'll see you next time.
Edit: So it appears as though email alerts just do not work again. While I do have a schedule on my account, if you want updates about when this story is posted I do have a twitter account (at ZeroEnchiladas under the name Zero's Workshop) and there's even a link to a Community Discord that I also post updates on.