Author's Note:
Rejoice ! another chapter has been finished
As always PMs are open and etc and hopefully next chapter is to your enjoyment as we all write all of this
As well a question for you the reader:
So what would you like to see happened next
Till next chapter, Apzeta, Bishop, and Knight
[ The Garden's Market ]
Akira stepped forward onto the lily pads, each one bobbing slightly under his weight as he made his way toward the Garden's marketplace.
The floating platforms wove through the shimmering lake, surrounded by bioluminescent plants that pulsed with a soft, rhythmic glow.
His chains flickered in the faint breeze, his coat brushing against his legs as he finally stepped onto the pathways of the market.
Rows of stands lined the area, their canopies woven from leaves and vines, displaying goods he couldn't even begin to recognize.
Fruits that shimmered like molten silver, items made from crystalized light, fabrics that shifted colors as though alive.
Afterans, their forms as strange as the land itself, moved through the marketplace, trading and speaking like nothing is strange.
Akira's eyes narrowed.
Akira: "This place is... different."
Despite everything he'd seen in the Ever After, the Garden had an unsettling normalcy to it.
Unlike the chaotic, dreamlike jungle or the twisted red forests, this place felt... purposeful. As if everything here was exactly where it needed to be.
Then—
Clang.
The sharp sound of metal striking metal rang through the air, cutting through the ambient noise of the market.
Akira stopped.
Another strike. Then another. The steady rhythm of a hammer meeting an anvil.
His head turned toward the sound.
A narrow, winding path led away from the main market, toward a secluded area partially hidden by towering fungi and glowing ivy.
For a moment, Akira hesitated.
Then, curiosity won.
His boots barely made a sound as he stepped onto the dirt path, his senses sharpening as he approached the forge.
[ The Blacksmith's Forge ]
The space before him was bathed in a deep amber glow, emanating from a roaring forge pit at its center.
Tools hung neatly along the walls, alongside racks of weapons, some gleaming, others rusted and ancient.
The air carried the distinct scent of hot metal and smoldering embers.
And then—
His eyes locked onto it.
The Blacksmith.
She stood at the anvil, hammering away at a piece of molten steel, her motions fluid yet precise.
Sparks flew with each strike, casting flickering light against her mechanical frame.
Her skeletal form was unlike any being he had seen before. Hollow sockets where eyes should be. A head segmented like plated armor.
And growing from her back, a twisted wooden trunk, its branches curling outward like a tree in bloom.
She did not turn to face him.
Yet, when she spoke, it was as if she had been expecting him.
Blacksmith: "You've wandered far, Malice."
Akira tensed.
He had been called many things. A terrorist. A monster.
His expression hardened.
Akira: "That's not my name."
The Blacksmith hummed, a soft, knowing sound.
Blacksmith: "Names hold meaning. And yet, meaning shifts like the tides."
She struck the metal again, letting the sound linger before speaking once more.
Blacksmith: "You stand on the edge of something, Malice. Not forward. Not back. Simply… in the middle."
Akira's fingers twitched at his side.
Akira: "What are you talking about?"
Instead of answering, she simply gestured.
His gaze followed—
And his breath caught.
Mounted on the far wall, displayed as if they had always been there—
His weapons.
The Attache Calibur.
The Attache Shotgun.
The Attache Arrow.
Thousand Jacker.
Authorized Buster.
Each one exactly as he remembered them. Every dent, every scratch, every memory attached to their use.
But there was something else.
Something he hadn't seen in a long, long time.
A belt.
Not the Ark-Driver.
Not the Forceriser.
But the very first driver he had ever created—
The Raidriser.
The simple black belt with its crimson slot. Its design was raw, unrefined, but undeniably his.
Akira took a step forward, his hand reaching out—
Blacksmith: " Remember it now ?."
His fingers hovered just above the Raidriser.
Akira: "…Why is this here?"
The Blacksmith finally set her hammer down, turning to face him fully.
Blacksmith: "Because you are here."
Her hollow sockets bore into him, yet they held no malice. Only understanding.
Blacksmith: "You stand in the middle of everything, Malice. You are close, yet not close. You are on track for Ascension but at the same time not on track."
Akira's jaw tightened.
Akira: "I don't care about 'Ascension.' I have things to do. "
The Blacksmith tilted her head.
Blacksmith: "Don't you?"
A pause.
Then—
Akira blinked.
And suddenly—
He was back in the Garden's marketplace.
The forge was gone. The weapons were gone. The Blacksmith was gone.
As if they had never been there.
His heartbeat pounded in his ears, his mind racing to process what had just happened.
His hands clenched into fists.
Akira: "What the hell was that?"
One word echoed in his mind.
Ascension.
What did it mean?
[ The Garden's Market Akira's Perspective ]
Akira stood amidst the bustling marketplace, his mind still reeling from the encounter with the Blacksmith. The forge—his weapons—the Raidriser.
Gone. Vanished as if they had never existed.
Akira: "Ascension."
That word clung to him like a phantom, whispering its meaning just beyond his grasp.
He exhaled sharply, shaking off the lingering daze. Right now, he had more immediate concerns—his gear.
Without the Forceriser and Fighting Jackal Progrisekey, he was incomplete
His eyes swept the market, scanning the various stands and goods, until—
A commotion.
Shouts. A stampede of footsteps.
Akira instinctively ducked behind a stand, his coat billowing slightly from the sudden movement. Peering around the edge, he saw them.
Team RWBY.
Ruby stood in the center, wide-eyed and breathless, her expression shifting between confusion and urgency.
Weiss sat atop the Curious Cat's head, while Blake and Yang huddled in a basket the Cat carried in its mouth.
The feline seemed completely unfazed by the absurdity of it all.
Curious Cat: "Ruby? Who are you talking to? Did you retrieve the nose hairs?"
Nearby, a hawker enthusiastically called out to customers.
Hawker: "C'mon, try our mud cookies! They're delicious! You don't wanna miss it!"
Ruby turned in a daze, as if she had just woken up from something. Her silver eyes darted around, clearly searching for something—or someone.
Ruby: "Uh… no, not-- not just yet, but—"
Weiss: "Ruby, come on. We got everything else."
Ruby: "I… Uh… I'm sorry."
Akira furrowed his brow. She's distracted. Unfocused. That wasn't like her.
Blake pointed ahead.
Blake: "Is that the Teapot Lady?"
Akira followed her gaze, spotting a peculiar figure behind a booth labeled Things n' Things—an Afteran with a teapot-shaped body.
Hawker: "Best mud cookies you'll ever have!"
[ The Teapot Lady's Booth ]
Curious Cat: "Looking for nose hairs. No, not the ogre ones."
The Cat unceremoniously knocked aside various trinkets, sifting through the clutter with no regard for the Teapot Lady's patience.
Teapot Lady: "Welcome to Things n' Things! How can I help you?"
Suddenly, a series of fireworks erupted in the sky, glowing bright green.
Then—
The festival cheers turned into screams.
The fireworks had formed a single word in the air: "DANGER."
Panic. Chaos. The crowd scattered in terror.
Hawker: "Jabberwalker! It's the Jabberwalker!"
Yang: "Or not?"
The Teapot Lady shrieked, hastily sucking her items back into her spout.
Ruby: "Wait, please! We need those leprechaun's nose hairs!"
Teapot Lady: "No time!"
Desperation flickered across Ruby's face.
Ruby: "Here! I'll give you this!"
She held up a brooch.
Ruby: "It carries a mother's promise!"
The Teapot Lady gasped dramatically before yanking the brooch from Ruby's hands.
Teapot Lady: "Take it!" (she immediately fled) "Run!"
Akira narrowed his eyes. Then—
A guttural growl.
His gaze snapped toward the source.
Emerging from the wreckage of a collapsed stand, its jagged limbs twitching with an unnatural hunger—
The Jabberwalker.
Jabberwalker: "FOUND. GRAB. MAIM. KILL."
Akira's fingers twitched toward his waist with the Ark-Driver ready to be used
Ruby grabbed her teammates and blurred away in a burst of rose petals—
Too late.
The Jabberwalker's tail lashed out. A powerful shockwave blasted through the market, sending debris and shattered wood flying.
And among the scattered debris—
A familiar shape tumbled through the air, landing near Ruby's feet.
Akira's breath caught.
The Forceriser.
The Fighting Jackal Progrisekey.
[ Ruby's Perspective ]
Ruby barely had time to register the chaos when something thumped onto the ground beside her.
Her breath hitched.
Her silver eyes widened.
She knew those devices.
Her fingers trembled as she reached for them, memories rushing back—
The first time they had met Akira. When he had fought alongside them, if only temporarily.
Her grip tightened around the Forceriser and Progrisekey.
A shadow loomed over her.
The Jabberwalker shrieked, lunging forward.
Ruby: "Ngh—!"
She tried to dodge, but the beast's claws swiped at her, knocking her back.
Then—
Pain.
Searing, burning pain shot through her body.
The Forceriser had activated.
Forceriser: [ Forceriser ! ]
A surge of red electricity crackled around her waist. Ruby let out a choked gasp, her Aura flickering violently.
Ruby: "Agh—!"
Her muscles spasmed. Her nerves burned. It felt like fire was searing through her very core.
Yang: "Ruby?!"
Blake: "What's happening?!"
Weiss: "That device—!"
The electricity pulsed, a crimson glow emanating from the belt as it adjusted itself around her waist.
Ruby gritted her teeth, barely keeping herself upright.
Akira, still hidden in the shadows, clenched his jaw.
Akira: "Damn it."
He had planned to stay out of this fight. But if Ruby had activated his Forceriser—
That changed everything.
[ The Garden's Market – Ruby's Perspective ]
The Forceriser's metal frame dug into Ruby's waist, the crude and unfinished device humming with barely contained energy.
It pulsed against her ribs like a second heartbeat, its unstable nature made evident by the crimson sparks crawling over her gloved fingers.
The Fighting Jackal Progrisekey rested in her palm, its weight unnatural yet familiar, as if it were waiting for her to complete the process.
Ruby's breath hitched.
Is this what Akira feels every time he uses his gear?
The pain. The raw, searing sensation of something unnatural forcing itself into your very being.
Her mind raced back to their battles—the terrifying precision in Akira's movements, the ruthless efficiency of his attacks, the way his transformations seemed to shape him into something beyond human.
She swallowed hard.
No time to hesitate.
With her free hand, Ruby pressed the Rise Starter on the Progrisekey.
Fighting Jackal Progrisekey: [ Hunt ! ]
The mechanical chime of the key's activation sent a shiver down her spine.
Her fingers trembled as she mimicked Akira's movements from memory, slotting the Progrisekey into the Rise Vice of the Forceriser.
The device responded immediately.
A deep industrial siren howled through the air, sending waves of pressure rippling outward.
Weiss, Blake, and Yang recoiled, their eyes widening in shock.
Yang "What the hell, Ruby?!" Yang shouted over the deafening sound, instinctively reaching for Ember Celica.
A semi-translucent, colorless mechanical jackal materialized in front of Ruby, pacing in circles around her like a predator assessing its prey.
Its red glowing eyes locked onto her, waiting for the final command.
Ruby exhaled sharply.
She yanked the Force Executor.
The Progrisekey snapped open.
Forceriser: [ Forcerise ! ]
The jackal lunged.
A rush of liquid metal slithered over Ruby's body, coating her.
Her breath hitched as the Restraint Cables lashed out, violently snapping the armor pieces into place—every connection, every fastening a jolt of searing pain.
Her muscles locked. Her pulse roared.
The final plates clicked into position.
Forceriser: [ Fighting Jackal ! ]
[ Deciding the fate of a battle like a Valkyrie ]
A final pulse of energy flared outward.
Forceriser: [ Breakdown ! ]
A shuddering exhale escaped Ruby's lips as she staggered forward, her vision swimming.
The armor felt heavy—not in weight, but in presence. Her muscles burned from the sheer strain of wearing it, her nerves still tingling from the violent transformation.
Then—
Her fingers moved with newfound precision.
Her breath steadied without conscious effort.
She understood.
A flicker of memory—Akira in combat, his movements like a machine executing a pre-programmed sequence. Now she knew why.
The Territory Scythe materialized in her grasp, its curved blade humming with lethal potential.
She clenched it tightly.
She felt strong.
Stronger than she ever had before.
Then—
The voices came crashing back.
Yang: "Ruby?! What the hell are you doing?!"
Yang's voice was the loudest, filled with equal parts shock and anger.
Her golden eyes blazed as she took an instinctive step forward, but hesitated—her fingers twitching as if unsure whether to attack or not.
Weiss had gone pale, her expression twisted into something between horror and disbelief.
Wiess: "Are you insane?!" she snapped. "That's his gear, Ruby! His!"
Blake, meanwhile, had fallen completely silent, her face unreadable. But her grip on Gambol Shroud had tightened.
Ruby… understood.
She understood exactly why they were reacting like this.
Akira had taken too much from them.
He had taken Winter.
He had killed Raven.
And Blake… Akira had brought Adam back.
This wasn't just about the armor. It was about him.
And now, here she was, standing before them—wearing his gear, his technology, his pain.
Ruby took a slow, steady breath.
Her silver eyes met theirs.
Ruby: "…I had to know."
Her voice was quiet.
Ruby: "I had to know what it felt like."
Silence.
Then—
Yang: "You idiot," Yang growled.
Ruby barely had time to react before Yang's fist slammed into her armored chest.
The impact sent her stumbling back, her boots skidding against the ground
But the armor absorbed it. The pain, the bruising—nothing.
Yang's fist throbbed instead.
Yang looked down at her hand, then back up at Ruby, her expression twisting into something raw.
Yang: "That's his tech, Ruby! You have no idea what it's doing to you!"
Ruby's grip tightened around the Territory Scythe.
Ruby: "I do," she said quietly. "I do now."
Yang's fists clenched.
Weiss opened her mouth, then closed it, her eyes darting between Ruby and the Forceriser strapped to her waist.
Blake remained silent, her stare sharp and calculating.
Then, in the distance—
A sound.
A howl.
And then—
Screams.
The crowd had barely begun to process the fireworks' warning before the first shape lunged out from the shadows.
Jabberwalkers.
More than one.
The market erupted into chaos.
And Ruby—
Ruby tightened her grip on the scythe.
Pain or not. Akira's gear or not.
She had to fight.
Second Authors Note:
So shall we let Akira and Ruby Ascend or have Neo fight Akira along with Kaito