Hello everyone, Blueheartz here! Welcome to the first chapter Rabbit! Rose! BEST MATCH! I honestly had this idea in my head for a while now but never had the motivation to write it out, not to mention this was inspired by a similar crossover but with MHA instead of RWBY. But with some newfound motivation here it is! Enjoy the chapter everyone!
Chapter 1: Grimm Beginning/Are You Ready?
"Many years ago…" A voice began to narrate over a grim scene "Remnant was on the verge of its greatest breakthrough. Our first manned space probe to successfully reach space. On that day, Vale recorded the landing on the planet Mars. It was there that the artifact, Pandora's Box, was discovered" An astronaut was shown to be walking through the ruins of Mars, before grabbing said box. The box crumbled in his hands revealing a metallic layer under it that glowed with intricate symbols. "We thought that the energy the Box emitted could be a goldmine of energy forever forsaking the need for any further Dust…but that was only the beginning of the nightmare"
The scene then switched to a man in his mid-thirties with a dark gray uniform, slicked-back black hair, and a well-groomed facial hair combo with a mustache and goatee. "Not a day goes by where that nightmare doesn't play back in my head…"
The scene turned to reveal that he was speaking to a woman slightly younger than him in age with white hair and amber eyes. She was writing down what he was explaining before the two turned to look out the window, staring at a large wall reaching up to the sky in the distance.
The scene then changed to what looked to be the celebration of the return with Pandora's Box. From Atlas's Military General, James Ironwood, Headmaster of Haven Academy, Leonardo Lionheart, Theodore, Headmaster of Shade Academy, Mistral, and Atlas' Prime Ministers as well as many more of Remnant's significant figures. As the man at the stand continued to speak, standing partly behind him was the Headmaster of Beacon Academy, Ozpin.
"The mysteries hiding in space…The answers humanity has been dreaming of for countless years could possibly be hidden within. We of the Kiwami Project would like to announce our groundbreaking results for today, an artifact that can change the future of Remnant as we know it".
However, as the man continued to speak, suddenly a man with his hat drawn all the way down rushed onto the stage pushing the speaker out of the way. The Atlesian Guards tried to stop him as he made his way to Pandora's Box. Ozpin was trying to convince everyone not to panic while Ironwood held up his signature revolver, Due Process, and told the man to stand down. But the man had surprising strength, pushing past both human and robot Atlesian guards before he knocked the glass casing of the box over and finally laid his hand on the box.
At that moment, a bright yet sinister light was emitted from the box as the ground began to rumble all around them. And then, all hell broke loose. A large wall erupted from the ground that carried some unfortunate bystanders high into the air.
"Even for as young as I was, when I was working with my father alongside Ozpin I thought the most I had to fear was the Grimm. That day quickly proved me wrong. Proved all of us wrong" The scene then returned to the voice, the voice of Gentoku Himuro, son of Vale's Prime Minister Taizen Himuro.
"On that day, the Skywall divided Remnant even further than it already was. Though we make efforts to bring Vale, Mistral, Atlas, and Vacuo together, so long as the Skywall exists we are forever prevented from being united as one single land again" Gentoku then moved away from the window, with his assistant and the reporter following him, and stared down at a facility with a golden box in the middle. "We believe that solving the mystery of Pandora's Box will give us the key to bring down Skywall and reach that unification we desire"
"Oooooh!"
Gentoku blinked as suddenly another man in his early twenties with short black hair combed down, dressed in a long-sleeved white/blue shirt, blue jeans, mismatched red and blue sneakers, a brown coat, and red scarf, sped walked up to the large golden box in excitement, practically getting face-to-face with it. "So this is Pandora's Box?! I've never seen a material like this" He spoke to himself as he ruffled his hair in excitement, leading to an ahoge popping out of his hair.
He then approached one guard and asked "What's the composition?". Before said guard could answer, he walked over to another guard and repeated said question.
"Who is…" Gentoku began
"He came asking if we had any positions open for lab workers" His assistant, Nariaki Utsumi, clarified for him. "When I gave him our test to take…he got every question right"
"That really difficult test?" Gentoku asked, rubbing his beard in slight intrigue. "The same one Doctor Polendina aced?"
"The very same" Utsumi confirmed
"Hmmm, if possible recommend him in our circle of researchers. I would like to see how he works with others." Gentoku ordered.
"Yes sir" Utsumi bowed and walked off
"Ok, last question" The reporter from before walked up to Gentoku to finish their interview. "What are your thoughts on the Kamen Rider? There have been multiple incidents across Vale where citizens were attacked by unidentified life forms known as "Smash" and at every scene, the Kamen Rider is there to stop it. Recently, people have begun calling the Kamen Rider "Vale's Vigilante"." The reporter, Lisa Lavender, explained as Gentoku circled her.
"How intriguing," He says that but Gentoku did not appear to be paying attention as he gently wraps a hand around her shoulder. "Though unfortunately, the information on that is confidential. Perhaps we could have our own confidential meeting at a hotel? It would make digressing this information a lot easier" He whispered into her ear as he led her down the hall.
"...What." When Lisa finally responded her eyes were just full of disbelief and disgust. And apparently…this appeared to be a normal occurrence.
"What are you doing?! Let me go, please! Stop!"
The pleas of one Ruby Rose fell on deaf ears as she was shoved in a box of green liquid, struggling against the grasp of scientists in white coats and gas masks. As they chained her down and placed a gas mask over her mouth, Ruby's silver eyes frantically darted all over the room, seeing others chained down and screaming for help just like she was.
"And you're *ure th*s is the one **pin was t**king *b*ut?" A garbled voice spoke out, prompting Ruby to gaze at three armored figures. All of them had armor with pipes jutting out of them or wrapped around them in theme design but each of them still had enough details to stand out. The first one, sitting on a really tacky chair, was black in color scheme with silver pipes and a yellow bat motif. The second one, leaning against the pillar, was red in color scheme with gray pipes and a green cobra motif. The last one, sitting on the stairs below the bat man with his arms crossed, was silver in color scheme with dark gray pipes(the pipes in particular also slightly jutting out like a mohawk) and a black and white zebra motif.
"The g*rl h*s si*v*r e*e*, you idiot. *ho *l*e wou*d *z*in be ***king *bou*?" Another garbled voice spoke
However, Ruby could barely hear the conversation any further than that as their voices were already a garbled mess as is and her consciousness was rapidly fading. The bat man seemed to notice her listening to their conversation as he began to let out a haunting laugh that echoed throughout the room. As the box containing her filled with her gas, the last thing she heard before losing consciousness was that same haunting laugh.
Ruby bolted up from her sleep in a cold sweat, pupils dilated as she struggled to catch her breath. "That dream again…" Ruby thought to herself, wiping her sweat. She looked beside her and noticed the bed her big sister, Yang Xiao Long, slept in was empty.
"Guess she left already…" Ruby thought as she removed her eye mask and went to take a shower. You'd think she'd be more excited. After all, in a few months, Initiation for Beacon Academy would begin. And thanks to a robbery she helped stop, the headmaster of Beacon Academy himself offered to let her attend two years early! However, a few days after that, Ruby had been declared missing in Vale for a few days before eventually being found by Vale's police force.
She could still remember just how worried and terrified Yang and her dad, Taiyang, were. The distraught looks on their faces when they finally found her was something she could never forget. And what's worse, she couldn't remember anything about what happened to her. She remembered her dad wanting to go on a warpath toward the people who did this and she couldn't even remember the perpetrators. All she had to go off of was that dream…with the bat man, the cobra man, and the zebra man.
As she was getting dressed, she heard the front door open, and in came the golden-haired appearance of one Yang Xiao Long, carrying a plate of cookies.
"Hey Rubes, glad to see you awake" Yang calmly approached as she placed the plate down on her bed. Ruby was silent as she donned her signature cape before sitting back on her bed. Yang was slightly nervous since Ruby had been less energetic since the day she was abducted. However, her worries became slightly abated when Ruby reached out and grabbed a cookie.
"How's Dad?" Ruby asked after a bit of silence
Yang leaned back slightly in thought. "Well, I'm pretty sure you gave him a few gray hairs by now" Yang joked, internally cheering when Ruby giggled a bit. "But he still thinks you should be back in Patch"
Ruby frowned which Yang quickly shared in. After another moment of silence, Yang spoke up "I have to agree with him. I was all for your dream of being a huntress but…when you disappeared…it was like that night" Yang's hands gripped the sheets of her bed and she slightly trembled. "I thought you were gone…forever. It'd be my fault because I wasn't there to help you"
"Yang…it's not your fault" Ruby tried to reassure her, albeit rather awkwardly by placing a hand on her knee. She stopped for a bit, trying to bring the words she was going to say to fruition but struggling with how to say them. She then took a deep breath and looked Yang in the eyes. "Yang, I still want to be a huntress. That will never change. I'm not gonna let some kidnapping end my dream"
"Ruby…" Yang sat there, speechless by the conviction in Ruby's eyes. The silence returned for a bit as Yang struggled to find her words before eventually sighing. "I still don't agree with this. Hell if I go through with this, you'll probably be giving me gray hairs next" Yang joked before placing her hand on Ruby's shoulder. "If you still intend to be a huntress Ruby, I won't stop you. Just know, that I've got your back"
Yang internally cheered when Ruby gave a big smile in appreciation. "Thanks, Yang."
After the two finished eating, Ruby and Yang took a moment to wander the streets of Vale. Yang was slightly on probation due to beating up an entire gang in a club without a Huntresses' license. So she couldn't take her signature bike, Bumblebee out on a joyride. And even then, the last thing she wanted to do at the moment was leave Ruby alone.
Though admittedly the walk was filled with awkward silence. Seems Ruby wasn't exactly in a mood to talk any further than this morning but even then Yang didn't feel comfortable leaving the entire walk in silence.
"So..." Yang trailed off, trying to figure out what to talk about without upsetting Ruby. Then a figurative lightbulb lit up above her. "Is there any news about the Kamen Rider people are talking about? I know you like to search up news about him since you find his armor to be cool"
Ruby smiled a bit and took out her scroll. "Not exactly. It's pretty much the same stuff with people, especially the Atlas Military and Vale's media, questioning if the Kamen Rider is a good guy or not"
"I don't get that. I mean aside from the Smash, he's also going out of his way to stop robberies and other shady crimes. And even if he didn't do that, he's still taking down the Smash. I don't see any other Huntsman or Huntress going out of their way to do that" Yang crossed her arms
"I know right? The Kamen Rider is obviously going out of his way to do good and people are still villainizing him! It's so stupid!" Ruby pouted before remembering something and scrolling up on her scroll. "Although there was one good thing that came out of the news" Ruby then showed her a picture of the Kamen Rider but instead of his Red and Blue color scheme this time he was Red and a cyan green. "He used one of those new bottle thingys in his latest fight against the Smash!"
Yang stared confusingly at the picture. She looked at Ruby. Then she looked at the picture. She looked at Ruby's amazed smile. Then she looked back at the picture
"Ruby...that's a vacuum cleaner"
"He used a vacuum cleaner against the Smash Yang! It was so cool!"
"Ruby...it's still a vacuum cleaner"
"Anything can be a weapon when you really try Yang!"
"Oh really? What's next, he's gonna use a pencil? A car? Maybe he could pull out a comic and use that"
"Ooh, a pencil weapon. Just press down the eraser and it turns into a blade!"
Yang sweatdropped as Ruby thought of the ways to turn a pencil into a weapon. "Ruby you've watched way too many spy movies." Though she was happy that Ruby was back to her old weapon-loving self. But now, she needed to rip off the bandaid. Especially now that she got Ruby talking again
"Do you…" Yang honestly did not want to talk about it, but the more Ruby remembered, the better their chance of finding out what happened to her. "Do you remember anything else from that day?:
Ruby frowned and shook her head. "Nothing. I still have the same dream…but it's all foggy. All I can remember are those bat, cobra, and zebra men. And not like Faunus men but like armored superhero villain men"
"Gotcha…" Yang frowned.
"Sorry I can't remember anymore," Ruby said, lowering her head
"No, it's ok. Don't push yourself. I honestly wouldn't want to remember that experience if I were in your shoes" Yang reassured.
"But it sucks! I'm not the only one these masked people are abducting and I'm the only one who remembers anything about them! And I can't do anything to help more…" Ruby gripped her skirt in frustration.
Yang frowned upon seeing her little sister in distress. "Ruby I-"
Before she could even finish, however, the everyday chatter of the citizens in the area stopped as a gunshot rang out. Ruby and Yang looked around searching for the source, until a strange gaseous bullet collided with Yang's back sending her stumbling forward
"What the-." Gas erupted and surrounded her before she could finish
"Yang!" Normally Ruby wouldn't be worried, as their Aura would be enough to tank a normal gunshot, but this weird bullet was enveloping Yang in a strange gas
"What the hell is this stuff?!" Yang cried out, waving her arms trying to push away the gas. "Get it off me! Get it-." Yang's pleas would go unheard and would turn into growls as the gas dissipated to reveal something more monstrous in her place. Her body became a fusion of mechanical and beastial aspects. She had a furry mane and deformed feline snout. Her arms had morphed into furry claws and there was a chain-like tail present on her back. Feral grows emanated from her being as her crimson red eyes glowed in the sunlight.
"Yang...?" Ruby's eyes shrank to horrified pinpricks when Yang's only response was a monstrous roar.
"Just who does that asshole think he is, trying to butter me up like that?" Lisa grumbled to herself as she reviewed her interview notes with Gentoku. She hated how he tried to reserve a date with her like it was nothing but he had given her juicy details about Pandora's Box. 'At least this will make for the perfect news report'
Vale's News media had been hounding her on various other topics for her to report like the White Fang and the small Dust robberies, and now they wanted to report on Pandora's Box. It was just nothing but work, work, and more work
"At least the result will be worth it...and I don't get to see him again" Lisa really didn't appreciate how Gentoku was eyeing her at the end of their interview there.
"Now then..." Her thoughts were soon cut off by the sudden cacophony of screams coming from the street across from her. Running down the block, she turned and saw a large lion thing attacking civilians with a red and black little girl trying to get her to stop.
"Must be another one of the Smashes" Lisa deduced as she got out her scroll. As two professional Huntsmen came on the scene to try and stop it, as well as keep the girl out of harm's way, Lisa dialed for the police so they could get more huntsmen on the line. From the previous articles she read on the Smash, she knew that two Huntsmen alone would not be able to stop it. And the current situation wasn't exactly benefitting them. The little girl trying to stop the Smash meant that the huntsmen couldn't shoot it lest they shoot her.
And then the Smash themselves. The sheer amount of damage they can cause coupled with the mystery behind their existence made them walking Grimm magnets in Vale. People always feared what they didn't understand after all and that went double for the Smash.
'Come on pick up pick up...' Lisa thought frantically, especially as the Smash broke the aura of one of the Huntsmen and gave him a large wound on his chest. He'll live but he'll need to get to the hospital soon. And now on top of that, the little girl had offered to fight in her place! 'Idiots...just be useful for one and pick up!'
However, with the sound of pain coming from the Smash instead, Lisa picked her head up from her phone and gasped at what she saw...or rather, who she saw
"...Vale's Vigilante..."
"Yang stop!" Ruby yelled out, holding the Lion Smash by the waist as she tried to hold her back from further hurting the on-scene Huntsmen. She was honestly scared out of her mind toward what her sister had become but she knew Yang was still in there. The Smash refused to hurt her own sister after all. "Yang it's me! Please just listen to me!"
The Lion Smash roared and shook off Ruby's grip sending her to the ground. Oh, how she wished she hadn't left Crescent Rose at home. But it's Yang! She can't hurt her own sister!
The Lion Smash growled and slowly approached the cowering Huntsmen. The older male of the two cradled his injured partner, seemingly accepting his fate as Smash Yang raised her claw ready to finish the job.
"Yang don't!" Ruby screamed and morphed into a storm of rose petals, grabbing the two huntsmen and dragging them away as Yang's attack met the pavement below them, splintering and shattering it.
"Kid...you..." The unharmed huntsmen stopped, seeing how distraught and exhausted Ruby was as she physically trembled. Tears were marking the corners of her eyes as she looked up at the two of them. "Sorry...but you two need to run". The older huntsmen tried to speak up but Ruby rushed back to stand up to Smashified Yang. "Kid wait!"
Internally, Ruby was absolutely terrified. She was scared to fight Yang. She didn't want to hurt her and she didn't know how to turn her back to normal. but she couldn't allow her to hurt any more people. So Ruby slowly got into an awkward fighting stance and steeled her gaze ignoring the tears falling from her eyes. 'I'm sorry Yang...'
But then a blue boot struck the Lion Smash in the side of its head, sending it tumbling away
Ruby gasped and her arms fell to her sides as a familiar red and blue visage landed in her line of view
"Let's see...long claws, red eyes, furry-like mane...guess we can call you the Beast Smash" The center of the media's attention and "Vale's Vigilante", the Kamen Rider had appeared
"It's you...from the news..." Ruby muttered in a mix of awe, shock, and relief
"Who...who are you?" One of the huntsmen spoke up as he tried to stand.
"Build. Kamen Rider Build" The Kamen Rider introduced himself, tracing his finger over his antennae. "Build as in to shape, create, or form. That honestly goes really well together, I don't know why I didn't do that before" Build muttered to himself. Though he looked back to see one of the huntsmen trying to pick up his mace despite his injured arm. "You two sit this out. You don't have the technology needed to defeat Smashes. You did well to wear it down, I'll handle it from here"
"Wait!"
Build stopped and looked down at Ruby whose eyes were wrought with worry and was physically trembling. "Will...will Yang be ok?"
Build stepped up to Ruby and placed a hand on her head ruffling her hair reassuringly. "Is the victim here a relative of yours?"
"She's my sister..."
Behind his mask, Build had a small reassuring smile on his face but since he couldn't show it, he offered her a fist bump. "Don't worry. I'll save her"
Ruby looked down hesitantly at the fist before returning the fist bump. "Please..."
Build nodded and turned back to the Beast Smash who was staring Build down and growling angrily. "Huh...it's still staring at me. That's weird"
"I noticed...that when it was rampaging...it looked like it was mindless but I think it was trying to avoid hurting me" Ruby spoke up
That made Build's eyes widen behind his mask. "A new level of Smash sentience?". To test that theory, Build took a few steps to the left, placing himself out of Ruby's way. The Beast Smash's gaze followed him and lessened its growl. Build quickly stepped back in front of her and the growling intensified. "It must not like me putting you in harm's way. So in that case!" Build charged forward. "I'll bring the fight to you!"
The Beast Smash roared and charged as well throwing a claw swipe at Build. Build sidestepped out of the way and threw a punch at its back. The punch barely made the Beast Smash flinch as it smacked him away. It then charged bright golden energy in its maw before launching it at Build
"Uh oh," Build punched the energy ball into the air to avoid an explosion around innocent civilians. Build rushed back and threw a few more punches at the Beast Smash but they were barely doing any damage. Activating the spring on the bottom of his Rabbit halfbody, Build jumped high into the air before using the bottom of his Tank halfbody to unleash a grinding kick on the Beast Smash. All that did was anger the Beast Smash further as it roared, its golden mane glowing with power. Build barely had time to block before it clawed him a few times and then smacked him into a clothing store
"Build!" Ruby called out in worry as the Beast Smash angrily approached the clothing store, the people inside scrambling to get away from it. Build groaned as he pulled a torn dress off his face
"Ok...so, impervious to physical attacks and gets stronger with said physical attacks. Well isn't that just a Best Match" Build sarcastically recapped as he pulled out two new bottles. "Time to take advantage of that."
Harinezumi! Soujiki! Are You Ready?
"Build Up!" The runners closed on Build, forming the Harinezumi(Hedgehog) and Soujiki(Vacuum) Halfbodies on top of the previous ones, creating the HarinezumiSoujiki Trial Form. Seeing that Build was back on his feet, the Beast Smash launched another ball of energy in its maw
"Hmm, let's put that energy to better use" Build taunted as he aimed the Long Range Cleaner forward and sucked in the ball of energy, storing it in the Trash Converter. "And now, return to sender!" Aiming the Long Range Cleaner at the Beast Smash, Build fired the energy right back at it, sending it flying out of the clothing store. Judging from how it took longer to get up, this time that did some real damage.
"So energy attacks do the trick huh?" Build noticed but quickly got back on guard as the Beast Smash rushed at him. It aimed a claw swipe but this time instead of striking Build, it only got a faceful of needles from the Spine Knuckle.
"The best defense is a good offense as they say" Build joked as he activated the suction of the Long Range Cleaner to draw the Beast Smash in before punching it in the gut numerous times
Ruby continued to watch from afar in a mix of awe at personally seeing Build in action and worry for Yang when it was all over. If it weren't for the stress of the situation Ruby probably would've giggled a bit from the numerous times Build said "Poke" every time he hit the Lion Smash. But she was also amazed at Build's strategy. She had also deduced earlier that Smash Yang had an immunity to physical attacks with her Semblance, Burn, weaponizing said immunity. It may have seemed redundant to constantly strike Yang with needles...
But Build was striking her stomach. The exact same spot where her reversed energy shot had impacted her. Build was capitalizing on a wound he made on her to bypass her immunity!
Back to Build, one more punch sent the Beast Smash tumbling to the ground as it clutched its stomach in pain. In desperation, the Beast Smash charged a large blast of golden energy in its maw. Build wasn't worried as he grabbed the Build Driver's Vortex Lever and cranked it, charging up for the finisher
"The law of victory is set!"
Ready? Go!
As the Beast Smash fired the energy blast, Build activated the suction of the Long Range Cleaner, absorbing the blast once more and pulling the Beast Smash toward him before he activated the blow feature, being careful not to release the excess energy as he kept the Lion Smash suspended in the air. With it trapped, Build brought the Spine Knuckle back, with each needle glowing with energy
Vortech Finish!
Build then threw the knuckle forward launching numerous needles at the Smash like homing missiles. Each needle hit its mark and soon the Lion Smash cried out in pain unable to defend itself as Build finally release the converted energy in a large blast engulfing the Beast Smash in an explosion and sending it tumbling to the ground. It struggled a bit but ultimately, this time, it did not get back up. With the Beast Smash defeated, Build pulls out an empty bottle and absorbs the Nebula Gas, finally freeing Yang from her Smashification.
"Yang!" Ruby wasted no time rushing over to Yang, enveloping her in a tight embrace, crying into her shoulder. The latter winced a bit but returned it nonetheless
"Ugh...what the heck happened to me?" Yang groaned as Ruby brought herself out of her shoulder and wiped her tears
"You mean you don't remember?"
"It's inevitable" Build spoke up. Ruby looked up to Build in confusion while Yang just stopped, realizing that Vale's Vigilante was right in front of them in the flesh
"What do you mean?"
"Smash victims experience short-term memory loss after their Smashification. If anything, I'm lucky we got to her before she lost core parts of her memory" Build explained, making Ruby and Yang pale at the thought of losing memories of their lives. But that made Ruby think
"Then why...why do I still remember...that bat man..." Ruby trailed off before muttering was just loud enough to make Build stop in shock
"You...you know the bat man?" Build gasped out in realization. Ruby's and Yang's eyes widened following his realization before the sound of cop sirens broke them out of their revelation. "Ah, this sucks. I forgot the cops don't take kindly to "Vale's Vigilante" around here" Build grumbled in annoyance before grabbing the Light Fullbottle and inserting it into his weirdly shaped scroll.
Build Change!
"Wait! You know those guys in the masks, don't you?! I need answers to what happened to me!" Ruby said as Build mounted his bike.
"Sorry, but we can't talk right now! I gotta go!" Build said before revving the engine and riding off.
"Wait-!" Ruby got up to use her Semblance to chase after him but Yang grabbed her arm. "Yang what are you doing?!"
Yang looked like she was about to tell her to stop but then she noticed the look in Ruby's eyes and sighed. "Look Ruby, I hate this. I hate that you want to involve yourself in this mess further when we nearly lost you" Ruby looked down in guilt. "But I'm not gonna lie and say that I don't want answers too. If Build knows those people that kidnapped you, then I want to kick their asses" Ruby looked back up and her expression brightened at seeing Yang's reassuring smile. "Go after him and call me when you find him. I'll catch up to you on my bike"
Ruby nodded gratefully and sped off with Petal Burst as Yang rushed back into a certain alleyway to grab her motorcycle, Bumblebee. "She's growing up real fast Dad..." She mumbled proudly to herself before speeding off after them
With Build, Ruby, and Yang finally gone and most of the public focusing on Build's departure, no one noticed a hand reach down to grab a matchbook of one cafe
Cafe Nascita.
"Knight, care to explain your intentions there?" The bat man from Ruby's dream stepped up to the same zebra man who had been the one to fire the bullet.
The zebra man shrugged and turned to his cohort. "Curiosity and experimentation. I wanted to test the long-range capabilities of the Nebula Gas when used by the Transteam Rifle. And obviously, it worked, so now we don't need to rely completely on the Nebula Chamber. You're welcome, Rogue" Knight explained sarcastically while waving the Transteam Rifle in his hand.
"We cannot use the Transteam Rifle recklessly. The Nebula Chamber is the most reliable way of testing Nebula Gas compatibility. Especially since the first target you used it on turned into a Smash." Rogue admonished
"Your being foolish Rogue. If we have more ways to administer Nebula Gas then we should use them." Knight said bluntly.
"You still never answered my question fully." Rogue crossed his arms, clearly not amused.
Knight rolled his eyes before stepping away from the edge of the roof and walking past Rogue. "That woman is the big sister of our little test subject. I was just experimenting to see if being compatible with Nebula Gas ran in the family. She must have somewhat of a tolerance since she retained enough sentience to avoid hurting her sister. Plus even if she did turn into a Smash she was useful enough to raise Rose's Hazard Level" Knight then looked back with his gray dual-eyed visors gleaming in the sunlight. "I don't get why you're so high-strung over this. Sure Rose and Banjo escaped but we can reclaim them anytime we wish, learn to calm down sometimes "leader"."
"Fine" It took a bit but Rogue finally conceded to Knight's point, making the aforementioned executive stop. "Lets move on to our next step. You have our next targets in mind right?"
"After you told us to steal that data under the Council's nose? No shit I do. Next time you wanna do something like that, take it up with just Stalk, so I don't have to sit still for a damn hour" Rogue could practically feel the annoyance in Knight's voice as well as see him roll his eyes behind his helmet as he waved the scroll in his other hand. Rogue walked up to his colleague and slapped his shoulder to knock him out of his complaining session. "Focus. Remember, this is all for the sake of the future. For Vale's future. You can afford to make a few sacrifices"
Knight let out a mocking scoff that Rogue didn't acknowledge as he finally left. But when he was gone, Knight scrolled the files he and Stalk stole focusing on one in particular, about a girl with cat ears on her head. And the moment he did, his grip on the scroll slightly tightened.
"Phew..." Build let out a sigh of relief as he dismounted his bike and returned it to its normal form as the Build Scroll. "Those cops are relentless..." He leaned back against the wall and prepared to de-transform.
"Found you!"
Oh. Oh...crap
Build's head whipped to his left as Ruby's form popped out of her corporeal petal burst and pointed right at him. "How did you..." Build stared at her in disbelief before throwing his head back and groaning loudly. "This sucks...Yes...you found me...you can stop pointing at me like I'm wanted criminal now" Build remarked dryly
"I mean...you technically are"
"Only because the media fears what they don't understand and the cops don't like that I'm doing their job better than them"
"Oh...I'm sorry?"
"Don't be. Today was tiring."
"Yeah, it was. I agree with that." Awkward silence ensued with the only sound coming from the two of them being Sento tapping his finger on his crossed arms.
"...Your being rather quiet. I'd assume you have questions for me, seeing as you went through the trouble of following me out here."
"I do" Ruby bounced on her heels awkwardly. "Buuuut I'm waiting for someone else to get here first"
"...What."
And then he heard the engine of another motorcycle. This day just got even more tiring
Build barely even batted a proverbial eyelash as he saw Yang approach them on Bumblebee. "Nice one Rubes. Didn't expect you to find him so quickly" Yang praised as she took off her helmet and approached them. "Ok buddy, we've got-"
"Ok, no, stop" Sento interrupted making Yang and Ruby falter a bit. "Quick question. How did you two catch me? I'm pretty sure I put some good distance ahead of you too"
Ruby pointed at the Light Fullbottle in his hands. "That bottle thingy on your bike kept lighting up every time you went faster. So I tracked that"
Yang then held up her scroll. "I was tracking her scroll to follow her. Our dad installed this tracking app to ensure that we'd always know each other's locations in case of emergencies"
Build looked at the Light Fullbottle and face-palmed. "Note to self, program the Build Change with a more covert Fullbottle," He thought to himself before pointing at Ruby. "Even then, that doesn't exactly explain how you caught up to me. You lack a bike like your big sister, so I can only deduce that it's due to your Semblance"
"Yup!" Ruby beamed and spun around a bit, her body turning into corporeal roses for a second before returning to normal. "Petal Burst has always helped me out when I need it"
So that's how she did it. Welp. He was caught. Nothing he can do now "Well, I guess I can't complain. I admittedly did want to talk to you more since you provided me with some interesting information."
"Hold on there pal," Yang stepped protectively in front of Ruby when Build approached them. "I'm grateful to you for saving my life. I really appreciate it. But we've got questions of our own that we need answers to. I don't exactly trust a man hiding behind a mask"
Build stopped and thought for a second. "Not exactly hiding but that makes sense. If your little sister is a victim of him then it makes sense that you wouldn't trust armored men..." He mumbled to himself as he turned away from them. Ruby and Yang exchanged a glance towards each other as Build continued to mumble to himself
"Fine then. We'll do an information exchange. I'll answer what you want to know and vice-versa. So let's start on a better note" Build then removed the Rabbit and Tank Fullbottles from the Build Driver, letting the transformation dissipate and revealing the man behind the armor. "My name is Sento Kiryu. Genius Physicist at your service" He held out his hand for a proper handshake
Yang was still a bit wary. But any hesitation was soon thrown out of the window when Ruby took the handshake for her. "Ruby Rose. Nice to meet you Sento"
Yang sighed at Ruby's behavior. She was glad the incident didn't change her too much but she could do with a little less naivete. "Yang Xiao Long"
Sento nodded, satisfied before motioning them to follow him. "It's not exactly safe for us to talk about this in the open." They followed Sento through the dark alleyway before coming across a line of buildings that were illuminated by the bright sun. Sento had stopped in a bright-colored building in particular
"Cafe Nascita?" Ruby eyed in confusion
"You taking us out for a drink man?"
Sento gave Yang a blank unamused look before walking inside.
Ruby and Yang exchanged another glance with Ruby shrugging before they followed him inside.
"Owner! I'm back! And I brought some people with me!" Sento called out
Out from behind the counter stepped a pale-skinned girl with curly orange hair and a small cowlick, a pink bow, bright green eyes, and freckles. What's most interesting about her current appearance is the golden bangle around her left wrist. She was currently dressed in casual sleepwear but didn't appear to be tired at all as she greeted Sento and his new guests with an energetic smile.
"Salutations guests! It is a pleasure seeing you return Mr. Kiryu" The girl greeted
"Please Penny, I told you already, you can just call me Sento" Sento told her before turning back to the two girls behind her. "Girls, this is Penny Polendina, the daughter of Cafe Nascita's owner"
"Hi, it's a pleasure to meet you" Ruby greeted
"Sup" Yang smiled
"Salutations and greetings! It is nice to see Sento has found some new friends!" Penny smiled
"Oh no, Penny it's not like that. They're just here for business partners. Which is why we need to talk to Owner too. Do you know where he is?" Sento asked
As if he was summoned, a voice that sounded under them spoke out. "Sento? I hear more than just two voices. Do we actually have customers?"
To Ruby and Yang's confusion, Sento deadpanned at the refrigerator in response. "Owner, if they're customers, why is Penny out here right now? You told me the cafe was closed today"
"Fair point..." The voice responded and then, to Ruby and Yang's shock, the refrigerator door opened to reveal not groceries, but a tall bespectacled man as he stepped out to greet them. "Sento who did you get caught up in your shenanigans this time?"
"...For the record that was an accident"
"I had to pay for the damages you made when trying to build that drill sword!"
"Still an accident-"
"Drill sword?!" Sento flinched back as Ruby suddenly popped into his face. "Show me show me show me, please! What speed does it run? How strong is it? What type of gun does it turn into? Please give me the details!"
"It appears our new friend here is quite the weapons enthusiast" Penny smiled
"Oh great more bundles of energy. I can only handle 2 and one of them is a mad scientist!" Soichi lamented but no one really acknowledged him
Yang raised an eyebrow at Penny. "Why is she talking like that?"
Sento gently placed a hand over Ruby's face and pushed her out of his personal bubble. "Maybe later." Ruby pouted but she accepted that answer for the time being.
With Ruby calmed down, the owner decided to address the two elephants in the room. "So Sento, who are the guests you decided to bring in? And why are they here?"
Sento sighed before pointing to his left. "That's Ruby Rose" The black and red-haired girl offered an energetic "Hello!". Sento then pointed farther. "That's her older sister, Yang Xiao Long" Yang simply waved with a hand on her hip. "Why else would they be here owner? They may hold a key to my memories. Especially since this one" Sento pointed at Ruby. "Remembers the bat man in my dream"
Ruby gasped in shock. "Wait you have that dream too?!"
The owner and Penny's eyes widened. Penny instinctively put her hand over the bangle on her right arm and her positive demeanor seemed to shrink. The owner then sighed and placed a comforting hand on Penny's shoulder. "It seems we all have a lot to talk about. My name is Soichi Isurugi. And until we determine how further you two plan to get involved in this, you will only know me as Penny's father" Soichi noticed Yang's scrutinizing gaze. "Don't take it personally. Just a precaution"
Yang narrowed her eyes at him for a bit but relented. "I guess that's fair"
Soichi then led them over to the seats near the counter as he went behind it to prepare them some coffee. Sento sat next to Ruby and Yang before turning towards the former. "So let's start. We obviously both remember the bat man so it's safe to say we both remember our experimentation" Sento clenched his fist at the thought of Ruby being tortured by those bastards while Yang frowned in displeasure at that memory. "Is there anything else you remember?"
"Well...there wasn't just the bat man...there was a cobra and zebra man in my dream too" Ruby explained as she cupped her hands on her lap
"I see...so that's who those other two figures were. I saw them too but they were blurry in my dream so I couldn't make out their shape" Sento said
"Why do you even want to know about those guys so badly? I personally want to kick their asses since they hurt my sister but if it was any other situation I would avoid them like the plague" Yang said as she eyed Sento. "So what's your story?"
Sento stayed silent for a bit as Soichi placed down a cup of coffee for him. "It's simple really. I'm an amnesiac"
Ruby and Yang's eyes widened. "Seriously?" Ruby breathed out
"It's true" Ruby looked to see Soichi with a sad expression as he handed her a cup of coffee and gave one to Yang. "I found him outside of the cafe one day. Poor guy had no memories of who he was any more"
"And the only clue to my identity is the same dream that you keep having," Sento said as he eyed Ruby seriously. "We have reason to believe that those guys in our dreams hold the keys to my memories but I had no clue on who they truly were...until I met you, a fellow experimentation victim who avoided Smashification and retained her memories"
Ruby shifted a bit in her seat and twiddled her thumbs. "Sorry Sento...but I don't remember much of what happened. Same as you, all I have to remember is that dream"
Oh. Oh god damn it. Guess he jumped the gun.
Sento blinked in disbelief before putting his head in his hands. "This sucks. Just when I thought we had a genuine lead"
"So? We'll make our own then"
Sento perked back up at Yang who was giving him her own serious look. "And whose this we?"
Yang gestured to herself, then to Ruby, and then to Sento
Sento blinked, confused.
Wait a minute.
Oh no.
No no no.
"Absolutely not, I'm not involving you two any further than this" Sento narrowed his eyes
"My sister was experimented on by those guys and they turned me into one of those Smash monsters. I already feel like we're plenty involved" Yang said
Sento pinched the bridge of his nose. "This isn't a game Yang, these guys could kill you-"
"Sento" Sento stopped and stared at Ruby who no longer looked downtrodden or like a nervous wreck. She was staring at him with a resolute determination he had yet to see from her before. "I understand that you want to keep us out of this conflict. But we're training to be Huntresses. We're already accepting lives that don't have guaranteed tomorrows. And on top of that, I'm one of the only people who remembers being experimented on. And we know they don't plan on stopping soon. You can't just tell me to sit by and do nothing with what I know when I can help to stop these guys from hurting more people!"
Sento sat speechless at Ruby's determination while Yang stared at her with a proud gaze.
"I think it's worth keeping them in our vicinity Sento" Penny added. "It would be nice to have more company around the Cafe"
"Well Sento, it's up to you," Soichi said. Sento stayed silent, staring down at the cup of coffee as he thought long and hard on his decision. On one hand, it'd be useful to have other fighters with him to wear down Smashes, even if they couldn't directly extract the essence as he could. But on the other hand, even if they are training to be Huntresses, Ruby, and Yang haven't even reached adulthood yet. It would leave a bad taste in his mouth to have children fight with him, even more so if said children get hurt. But ultimately one factor won out for him
"You can just tell me to sit by and do nothing with what I know when I can help to stop these guys from hurting more people"
Like him, they had a personal stake in this too. And Ruby didn't want anyone else to be hurt...
Not to mention, knowing these two, they'll probably investigate this without him if he says no.
"This sucks" Sento threw his head back and groaned. "Fine. You two can help me" Ruby and Yang smiled but Sento held up a finger halting their excitement. "If and whenever things get too dangerous for you two to handle, I want you both to get the hell out of dodge and let me handle it, understood?"
"Yup!" Ruby nodded eagerly
"I doubt that'll ever happen" Sento frowned so Yang quickly switched up her tune "But I hear you crystal clear Sento" Yang saluted
Sento let a smirk fall on his face with Penny beaming at the idea of new friends and Soichi looking on with a proud smile. Sento then grabbed his cup of coffee and lifted it for a toast. "To a beautiful partnership"
Ruby and Yang followed, leading them all to toast their coffee. "To a beautiful partnership!" Ruby and Yang then took a big sip and looked over in confusion when Sento didn't do the same
Sento didn't even blink when Ruby's entire face turned green, covering her mouth and gagging while Yang spit her coffee out making Soichi panic at the mess. Looks like Cafe Nascita was gonna get a lot more colorful.
'...Probably going to have to stock up on extra canned coffee'
And with that, the chapter is officially finished. I'm sorry it took so long for me to post a chapter in general. Life just sucks and Ima leave it at that. I hope this one came out well since I'm pretty sure my writing skills have been dulled since I've been away for nearly a year. Not to mention, Ruby and Yang were a bit of a struggle to write. Especially Yang since I still wanted her to have her carefree teasing personality but also be a bit more reserved due to what happened to Ruby.
But again I have no plans ever to quit writing and no matter how long they may take, I'll always have these stories around for you all to read. Thank you all for reading this chapter. Reviews are appreciated.
Now Next Time on Rabbit! Rose! BEST MATCH!:
Ozpin: The Kamen Rider is an interesting specimen
Ryuga: For the last time, I didn't kill anyone!
Ruby: I feel like that's something only a murderer would say
Sento: You two are the best matches to recover my memory
Gentoku: The Kamen Rider is now a wanted fugitive
Chapter 2: The Newest Key/Runaway Dragon