Chapter 24 : Our Faith

Disclaimer : I do not own Kamen Rider and RWBY as they both belong to their respective owners, except for my OC(s).

The Vale Hospital was still as crowded as ever since the Husk outbreak. Lots of citizens were taking shelter in the hospital's set-up camps that was also fortified by the defense of available Atlas Military at the time. some of the wounded during the incident were treated inside the building. All of them were waiting on the confirmation of whether Vale is already infection-free or not.

The Ex-Aidverse Riders were included in those who were treating the injured, along with team JNPR who took the assignment to help them out. Jaune was see unloading the rations for the camps, Nora tending the injured and ill ones with the doctors, Ren went back and forth to check on the camps and the fort, and Pyrrha was left to comfort the kids whose parents and guardians were infected into Husks. The kids also happened to be the ones who were with her back when the outbreak started.

Pyrrha had just brought them some food in a box. Some of the kids took the foods and some others preferred to eat them later. She then asked the kids, "Is there anything else I can help you with, here?"

"Is our teacher going to be okay?" a girl asked.

"What about mommy and daddy?" another girl also asked.

The olympian took a short silence, trying to find the right words to tell in the midst of her uncertainty. "Don't worry. They're all being tended by the doctors for any injuries or illness. I'm sure it won't take long."

"Doctors? But... Our teacher turned into a monster..." the first girl frowned.

"I..."

"Please, ma'am. Is she going to be okay? Is everyone going to be okay?" another girl asked.

Pyrrha was drowned by multitude of kids asking her the same thing. She couldn't find another word to comfort them. Even if she did, it wasn't enough to convince the kids that everything will be fine.

Soon, joining Pyrrha was the Bugster, Poppy Pipopapo on her nurse guise.

"Hi, everyone!"

"Oh, Poppy! Sorry, I almost didn't recognize you in that get-up."

"It's fine. This is my work uniform, by the way. can't have a cosplayer disrupt my credibility as a nurse, right?"

"I suppose so. By the way, what's your alias, again?"

"It's Asuna Karino, but I rarely use that name nowadays. Just go with Poppy." The nurse replied. She then turned to the kids and said, "Now, all of you, we all need to remain calm. What happened to the infected ones is caused by a big bad monster. But don't worry! The heroes of Remnant will win! And instead of just crying, you guys can help out, too!"

"But how?"

"By doing everything we can and pray for the best. Everything happens for a reason, and right now, all we can do is place our hope on those who have the power to make it happen. And most of all, never give up!"

"Never give up... isn't it?" Pyrrha muttered.

One of the boys then spoke up, "She's right! cheer up, guys! We all can make it!" and it was enough to keep the kids calm for the time being.

"Thanks for backing me up, Poppy." Pyrrha thanked.

"No biggie. Fact is, we should be the one who's thanking for you and your friends, too. Good job helping us out until now. We all really need it." she said.

Later, the two sat on the hospital's canteen after hours of tireless siege. They were eating a portion of curry for each.

Poppy then noticed a frown on the olympian's face. "Do you have something on your mind?"

"It's just that... I never thought in my life that we'd be facing a crisis this big. The days I spent in my early Huntsmen academy has mostly been fending off Grimms and winning olympics. To think that an organized crime could do something this drastic..." she questioned, recalling the outbreak where she witnessed someone getting infected, much to her horror.

Poppy sighed and answered, "I know. This kind of job can be very overwhelming at times. All this time, we've been fighting a threat in the shadows of Remnant's civilization. I know plenty of people and groups who managed to pull that off, but Dai-Shocker predates all of them; the mastermind of all masterminds, you could say."

"That's why, we're doing what we can to save the people, right?" Pyrrha said.

Poppy nodded and continued. "Still, it's not always about effort alone, Pyrrha. we need to have a faith, too. faith in ourselves and those who tried their best out there, along with the Almighty One, you could say. I'm sure every problems always have a solution, and we'll find a way out of this together!" Poppy advised.

"You'r right. I understand. There's no use in worrying any longer."

"No kidding."

The two soon finished their meals and went back to their respective jobs in the hospital with a renewed determination to help the people.

The fight continued on in the ruins of Forever Fall and the Mirror World. DK-Kuuga, Ruby, and Blake went toe-to-toe against the Dai-Shocker general himself who was still as strong as ever. The Rider exchanged his fiery fists with Xiphon's cold, hard gauntlets equipped with Dai-Shocker's special alloy. Their colliding fists sent out sparks that bursted as fierce as their might. DK-Kuuga then did a roundhouse kick, which Xiphon avoided by flipping backwards and returned it with a reverse bycicle kick. The Rider was thrown away and fell down.

"What's wrong? Tired, already?"

DK-Kuuga was breathing heavily inside his helmet, but it wasn't just out of exhaustion. His mind was still filled with the dread of his previous experience in the Mirror World. Not only that, he was a bit hesitant in going all-out due to the warnings Tsukasa and Sento had placed on him. But on the other hand, he couldn't afford to let Xiphon gain the upper hand against him and his friends. He had to push on, or else Xiphon would carry out his plans to infect the people of Remnant with the Shocker Virus.

DK-Kuuga decided to beat his armored chest while strengthening his resolve. "C'mon Kyle! Keep it together, dammit!"

Ruby took her turn next by swinging her Scythe at Xiphon, soon clashing against Xiphon's sword that he quickly took out. Despite how swift and heavy the Crescent Rose was, Xiphon's sword was durable enough to withstand its weight. Despite so, he was caught off guard when Ruby changed her weapon into shotgun mode in the middle of swinging it and fired its flame Dust round at him. The Dai-Shocker general was pushed back by the blast's sheer force and his sword was also knocked away. However, Xiphon quickly grabbed the Crescent Rose's hilt just in time when she swung it in scythe mode. He pulled the weapon along with Ruby who was still holding it and knocked her away with his elbow.

Blake threw her Gambol Shroud sickle at Xiphon's holding hand and pulled the Crescent Rose away from his grip. She charged at the enemy and delivered heavy blows from both the sickle and her weapon's bladed sheath. After a couple of sickle swings, Blake switched her Gambol Shroud to Katana mode and locked her weapon against Xiphon's.

"So, you decided to expose yourself." He commented on the Faunus' new ribbon setting, which revealed her cat ears.

"Like what you see?" Blake gloated with her expression remains unchanged.

"As a matter of fact, I do. Heck, you just made him proud!"

the two broke out from the lock, Blake put her katana into the bladed sheath, turning it into cleaver mode and delivered a heavier blow that managed to swipe Xiphon's sword away and push him back from his stand. This didn't stop Xiphon however, as he resorted to his unarmed combat. He managed to catch Blake off guard by kicking her abdomen as she was about to deliver another heavy slash.

"Got you!"

Ruby shouted as she had her Crescent Rose back and aimed at Xiphon. Following her was a mechanical beetle that Decade conjured from his armor.

FINAL FORM RIDE : KU-KU-KU-KUUGA!

Both weapons could easily cut off the general's head if it weren't for him holding the pincers and scythe with both of his hands. Said weapons almost reached his cheeks. He slowly tried to push the weapons away but in turn, it gave the time Blake needed to recuperate.

"Blake, now!" Decade-Kai called out.

The black Huntress focused all of her Aura's might into her weapon. she did a diagonal slash at Xiphon's torso. Despite the heavy slash, Blake and her teammate could only see their target still intact, with a visible fresh and hot slash mark on his torso.

"Do you honestly think you could beat me with that glorified kitchenware?" he gloated.

"What!?"

Xiphon kicked the Huntress away and threw both Ruby and the FFR Kuuga at her direction, in which the latter quickly dissolved into a gray blinking haze. The attack however, was still not over yet. Behind the Dai-Shocker general was his own archenemy clad in one of his other forms.

KAMEN RIDE :

"Henshin!"

GAIM!

The Rider took out both the Musou Saber and Daidaimaru to launch his attack. He managed to land a couple of hits at Xiphon as the latter was about to turn to his direction. Xiphon was pushed back, but he soon noticed his sword on the nearby ground and proceeded to take it, but not without kicking DK-Gaim's Musou Saber upwards and leaving the Rider only armed with the orange sword of Daidaimaru.

The Dai-Shocker general succeeded in retrieving his sword and clashed against the Rider once more. Xiphon managed to swipe DK-Gaim's armed hand away and prepared to deliver a finishing blow. Fortunately, the Musou Saber managed to land in time and was caught by the Rider's free hand. He turned around to gain a momentum as he connected both of his weapons into naginata mode and blocked Xiphon's attack. He also pushed his enemy away with the sheer force of his weapon.

"You're an idiot if you think you can win this time, Decade-Kai."

"Says you!" the Rider growled.

"Hmph, you and your big mouth. Don't tell me that you have forgotten the mess you've brought upon yourself, here."

"It's all in the past, Xiphon! I won't fail again, this time!"

"Then let's see how you can best me with that!"

As the three heroes were still struggling against Xiphon inside the Mirror World, the four others were taking on four unmanned Jammer Mechs that were protecting the virus machine. They were divided into two groups; Weiss with Genm, and Yang with Ex-Aid, with each of them taking on two mechs at once.

Yang leapt towards one of the mechs and delivered a barrage of punches at its body. Her Ember Celica's Dust shells flew out from each of her attacks. The mech's body was durable enough to withstand Yang's blows, meaning that she needed to double her efforts to deal with the threat. She also had to jump away from the mech whenever it tried to pummel the brawler into the ground, and the mech was surprisingly agile enough to did it consecutively.

As Yang was busy with one mech, Ex-Aid dealt with the other one by delivering several slashes at its legs in hopes of slowing the Jammer Mech's movements. He also pressed his Gashacon Breaker's 'B' button several times to deliver a heavier blow at his target. The mech soon learned Ex-Aid's tactics, in whic it responded by kicking the Rider away. He managed to block the attack with his sword to prevent further damage to his boddy. Soon, Ex-Aid regrouped with Yang who just took a blow from the Jammer Mech's iron fist and caused her to roll back.

"Man, these things are tough! And smart too!" Ex-Aid said.

"Smart you say? Let's see how they outsmart this!"

Yang activated her Semblance, turning her eyes red and ignited her yellow hair. She charged forward once more, flailing her fiery fists at the mechanical gestalts. Yang managed to damage the Jammer Mech's right foot that Ex-Aid faced, causing it to be unable to hold its stand anymore. She then jumped towards another Jammer Mech, doing a backflip as she rose up and prepared her Ember Celica for one final blow, winking once she was about to drop down and deliver a heavy pound at the said mech. The latter tried to defend itself using its mechanical arms, but Yang's sheer brute force broke through them and eventually destroyed the Jammer Mech's torso.

"Whooo! Not bad at all!" Ex-Aid complimented as Yang pumped her fist to the air and grinned.

The Rider soon noticed the dismembered Jammer Mech standing up and used its remaining leg to leap towards Yang. As it was about to lunge at the unaware Huntress, Ex-Aid stepped forward to her aid.

"Yang, look out!"

GASHUN! GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!

MIGHTY CRITICAL FINISH!

The pink Rider delivered a jumping roundhouse kick at the mech. Once he landed to the ground, he jumped once again with consecutive Rider kicks, accompanied by its 'HIT!' effect. The Jammer Mech finally exploded.

"Whew! Thanks for the safe!"

"Try to be more aware with your surroundings next time, okay?" the Rider reminded. Yang could only scratch her head and sheepishly smiled.

Weiss rolled the Myrtenaster's roulette magazine and embedded her rapier into the ground. The Dust crystal inside it reacted and caused a huge chunk of iceberg to appear from the ground and froze the Jammer Mechs' feet. Genm used the opportunity to shoot the mechs with his Bugvisor gun after he powered it with the 'B' button. The blasts were strong enough to slowly crack the mechs' metal alloy. The two mechs then broke free from the iceberg.

GYU-IN!

Genm switched his Bugvisor into chainsaw mode and climbed into one of the mech's torso. He stabbed its spinning saw into its top, but soon noticed that he needed more force to penetrate its metal alloy. The Rider had to avoid its hands that were trying to grab or toss him away. The black Rider was caught off-guard when he landed on the mech's right arm and it quickly flailed it to shake Genm off of it and send him dragging through the ground. Genm managed to maintain his composure thanks to his armor, but he was cornered by both Jammer Mechs. However, as they were closing in on them, Weiss caught one of the mech's attention by firing her rapier's flame Dust.

"I'd like to have my own share of profit, please." Weiss playfully teased.

"Prove your worth as a Huntress, and I might consider sharing mine." Genm grinned.

"Can I?"

"You will!"

Genm rushed towards the mech's top once more. As the Jammer Mech's top alloy showed a sign of breaking, he delivered the final push with its 'A' button power-up and penetrated its central processor located right on the said spot. The Jammer Mech soon stopped moving and Genm used the chance to deliver his final blow.

GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!

MIGHTY CRTICAL STRIKE!

The black Rider jumped and flipped forward before delivering one heavy drop kick that shattered the Jammer Mech in two pieces. Its circuits flew out from the remains, along with sparks that soon caused the mech to explode.

Genm rubbed his chin and deduced, "As I thought... Weiss, try stabbing the central processor on its top! That should stop the Jammer Mech from moving!"

"You got it!"

Weiss casted her Haste Glyph to rapidly stab the mech's legs and managed to disrupt its balance. The mech finally fell into the ground, which Weiss had already casted with flame Glyph landmines that exploded as soon as it hit the ground, further damaging its body and internal systems before the flames engulfed it.

"Hmm, quite a crafty one, are you?"

"I'm here to make sure that none of them touched us."

"Well, you can say that again." Yang said, getting into the conversation. "I mean, you could've just told us about it sooner."

"Yeah, not like we both need it when we got enough muscle for that." Ex-Aid pointed out.

"Ayyy!" Yang and Ex-Aid shared a high-five.

"Seriously" Weiss sighed. "Sometimes, I just can't keep up with them."

"Everyone fights in their own way, Weiss. All we have to do is to appreciate them. besides, If we can't play hard, we play it smart." Genm said.

"So says the 'God of Kamen Riders'." Ex-Aid playfully presented with his deep voice. "You know you could've just end it with one single clean slate, right?"

"I know. But where's the fun in that?"

"Haha, yeah fair point."

"Play hard, play smart, huh? I'd better keep it in mind." Weiss noted.

Suddenly, the Jammer Mechs' remains soon gathered themselves into a floating black sphere that let out ominous red lightning sparks that shot out to the heroes' position, preventing them from coming closer.

"What? They're reforming themselves!" Weiss said.

"Guys, look!" Yang pointed at something that shone and floated in the middle of the sphere. It turned out to be four Dark Dust crystal shards that reassembled into one single crystal. As the sphere covered the crystal, it soon dissipated and revealed a newly-formed Jammer Mech.

Unlike its simple bipedal humanoid form, the Dark Jammer Mech was bigger in size. Its whole body was covered with ominous purple vein lights. The two pairs of arms it grew were armed with pairs of claws on the bottom pair and whirring drills on the top. On its torso were what appeared to be a pair of miniguns.

"Looks like Xiphon's been having fun with his class project." Ex-Aid remarked.

"No kidding." Yang clenched her fist. "But not if I beat it first!"

"Wha-Yang!" Weiss called out.

Ignoring her plea, Yang charged towards the evolved mech using her gauntlets as a boost with her Semblance still active. However, before she could land a punch, the Dark Jammer Mech already had its claw swung at her without the Brawler expecting it. the sheer speed and force from the attack was enough to quickly push her down into the ground. Soon, it was Yang who was pushed into defense by the Dark Jammer Mech's relentless attacks. She had to block and evade its claws and drills.

"It's too strong-!"

For a moment she saw and opening as it was about to strike her with all of its weapons at once. She charged towards the evolved mech's mid-section and aimed for its body. however, it responded by firing its miniguns at her, in which she didn't seem to foresee it herself. Yang was forced to dash backwards using her Ember Celica's boost, but some of its bullets grazed her body as she fell down. The mech delivered its blow using its right claw to press her further into the ground, injuring the brawler as her Aura started to crack. Next, it prepared its drill and thrust it into the defenseless blonde Huntress.

And just in time, Ex-Aid picked her up with the help of Weiss' Haste Glyph and regrouped with the others. The Heiress also casted a black gravity Glyph in front of Genm with his Gashacon Bugvisor powered up and aimed at the Dark Jammer Mech. He also had his Gashat inserted to the Kimewaza Slot for extra firepower since the Bugvisor's weapon mode wasn't equipped with said function.

GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!

MIGHTY CRITICAL STRIKE!

Dark cartoonish lightning crawled from his arm towards the Bugvisor. Its red muzzle also lit up upon the command. In response, Weiss made a gesture to increase the gravity Glyph's effect. The Rider then fired his weapon, which after its blast went through the Glyph, went towards the mech in breackneck speed. Its sheer force was similar to that of an experimental railgun, enough to topple the Dark Jammer Mech down albeit only leaving a blast mark instead of tearing its exterior apart. This also gave the heroes enough time to recuperate, in return.

"Thanks for the boost, Weiss!" Ex-Aid thanked.

"This... this is as far as I can do for now..." She said in exhaustion.

"It appears that the mech's reaction time had increased significantly. And with its weapon setup, it, would prove to be bothersome." Genm deduced.

"You mean LETHALLY bothersome." Ex-Aid remarked. He then turned to check on Yang. "You know, when someone tells you to wait, you really oughta do it at some point, alright? You can't just charge in alone like that."

"Nah, this is fine-!"

Yang was visibly hurling from her injuries and she was low on her Aura, which Weiss took notice of with her Scroll. The brawler tried to get up, but her legs almost failed her. As she was about to lump into the ground, Weiss caught her arm and supported her composure.

"Yang, don't push yourself! We've had our fair share of using our Semblances already!" the Heiress reminded, in which she was exhausted, too.

"But Weiss, I can still-!"

"Nuh-uh! I'm not gonna put up with your tough act. We still have Xiphon to deal with. He might come out any second now, if bad becomes worse. Save your strength until then."

"I... okay. Guess I have to leave this freak to you guys." Yang said to the Riders, conceding to Weiss' orders.

"Don't worry, Yang. This is exactly the reason why you have us powerhouses, here. We all have to get this through if we want to save the others from Xiphon's clutches." Ex-Aid reminded.

"And it appears that the God of Kamen Riders and the genius gamer must step up the plate, this time. Ex-Aid, let's give that abomination a taste of our glorious comeback!"

"Oh yeah! Been waitin' for this time, baby!"

The two Riders stood in front of the Huntresses, ready to face the impending threat of the Dark Jammer Mech as it regained its stand.

Days before the second battle in the Mirror World, DK-Gaim made a silent vow that he would settle his score with Xiphon the next time they met. Fueled by his determination, the Rider faced the Dai-Shocker general bravely. he swung his naginata against Xiphon's sword, sending out sparks from both of their weapons' contact. At some point, DK-Gaim would separate his swords to deliver a heavy attack, which proved to be very effective in parrying Xiphon's powerful blows. He also resorted to use his Musou Saber's gun mode and fired it at Xiphon, who withstood the blast despite him grunting from the pain. DK-Gaim managed to press him on further until he was able to toss Xiphon's sword off of his hand. In return, Xiphon fired his energy ball at him as his sword got stabbed into the ground.

DK-Gaim jumped and flipped a few meters back from the energy, throwing away his Musou Saber and Daidaimaru in favor to his Ride Booker. Once he landed, he put his hand on top of the Ride Booker's unfolded handle. He then swung his sword and successfully sliced the incoming energy ball in half as they exploded behind him.

However, Xiphon quickly used this opportunity to dash towards the Rider and blast him with another energy blast in point blank range right into his gut. DK-Gaim got thrown away and dragged all the way into the ground. He began to experience a sharp sting amongst the exhaustion that began to overwhelm his body.

"Decade-Kai!" Blake called out.

"You sacrificed your weapons in favor of your sheathed one so that you can achieve a perfect form of stance to cut my energy blast. Not bad, I must say." Xiphon said. "Still... I doubt a loser like you could truly stand a chance against me."

"The hell you're calling a loser!?" DK-Gaim growled.

"The power of Kamen Riders, IF given enough time and effort, could dominate the entire world. But instead of being used by a man of ambition, it falls to a random person like you. I personally find that... very apalling." Xiphon sneered. "You know, sometimes I even wonder as to why you even came to this world in the first place."

"Y-you knew!?"

"Why of course. I have an ability to track Aura signatures, as well. As an outworlder of Remnant, yours went off the roof, a level that a mere Huntsman couldn't hope to reach on their own. Yet here you are, playing hero against someone with a grand ambition far exceeding your childish, wish-fulfilling life goal. No wonder why you're so easy to slip out that time, don't you think?"

Xiphon's words cut deep into the Rider's heart. despite all of his best efforts, he didn't stop making a mockery out of him. This suddenly brought him many childhood memories as to where all of his efforts and achievements were thrown out of a window by those who refuse to acknowledge him. All of his despair in his childhood slowly piled up and turned into a livelong grudge, added with the guilt of his previous failure in the Mirror World, one that he would always found very hard to forget.

Filled with such overflowing emotions and his unwillingness to give up in his quest, the young Rider decided to take the fight on the next level.

"I told you already, didn't I!?"

DK-Gaim took out another Kamen Ride card, one that he hoped would have the best chance against his archenemy.

"I won't fail... NO MATTER WHAT!"

KAMEN RIDE :

"Henshin!"

AGITO!

Once the shining armor formed around his body, DK-Agito clenched his fist and aimed it at his enemy. Xiphon attempted to block it with his right hand, but the attack's sheer force was too much for him to handle. True to its name, Agito's Ground Form imbued its user with the power of earth, thereby increasing DK-Agito's strength to the point that he could easily broke through Xiphon's defense with relative ease. Xiphon then decided to take on the offensive by firing his energy blasts. DK-Agito easily brushed it all off and landed numerous powerful punches. The Rider roared in rage as he kept on punching and kicking Xiphon with little-to-no room for openings. Each of the Rider's relentless attacks began to do a number on Xiphon's armor systems.

"Hahaha! That's it! show me your power!"

He had seemingly pushed back the Dai-Shocker general with his armor's tremendous strength. However, the form's system drawback occured once again, which electrocuted his own body and disoriented his composure.

"Dammit! Not now!"

Taking notice of it, Xiphon used this chance to slam his head to the ground and kick him away.

"What a waste. And here I thought you could amuse me further."

Xiphon's chest armor compartment opened up to reveal his newly-improved arc cannon, which also caused his gauntlets to glow in purple. He then raised both of his hands up to the sky, causing dozens of ominous purple particles to gather up above him to form a giant glowing purple energy ball. He then made another gesture by lowering his left arm, clenching his right hand, flailing it to the left and stretching it forward. This resulted in the guant energy ball to shoot out a hailfire of energy beams towards DK-Gaim as if he was about to be rained down by arrows.

"Oh, crap." The Rider gulped.

Soon, he found himself running from the energy blast barrage launched towards him. He saw Xiphon not moving a single inch from where he stood as if he turned himself into a living turret. Things soon became direr when the Dai-Shocker commander decided to target Ruby and Blake who stood in the sidelines and had them running away from the blasts, too.

Ruby screamed frantically as she ran. "Whoa! Time out! Time out!"

"I really wish I don't have to use this again, but...!" the Rider gritted his teeth and summoned an FFR for the Huntresses. "Guys, use this!"

FINAL FORM RIDE : A-A-A-AGITO!

The FFR Agito Tornador formed in front of him and flew towards the Huntresses. He could only hope that he could hold on himself from the Agito Totem's power usage.

"Blake, hold on me!"

Ruby decided to use her speeding-up Semblance and ordered Blake to throw her weapon at her. Both of them rushed towards the FFR and managed to hop on it. Ruby commandeered the summoned vehicle once she put her feet on top of the foot saddle and executed evasive maneuvers while Blake shot the energy blasts to keep them from being hit.

"As for me...!"

KAMEN RIDE:

"Henshin!"

GAIM!

DK-Gaim summoned his Dandeliner to face Xiphon head-on. He shot the energy blasts coming at him and slowly got himself closer to his enemy. However, the Dandeliner began to show some static imagery throughout its whole body in the middle of the flight, which in turn, caused a strain in DK-Gaim's own body as well.

"No...! C'mon!"

He grunted from the pressure that was brought to him, all the while struggling to keep his eyes on the target. It seems that using the FFR Gaim wouldn't be plausible in this case. The Rider then decided to finish it quickly before his predicament could take the worst turn possible.

"I'd better end this quick!"

FINAL ATTACK RIDE: GA-GA-GA-GAIM!

The Dandeliner was empowered with a liquid orange energy that peeled itself and covered the vehicle along with the Rider. He dashed forward and went through the energy blasts as he had become impervious to them thanks to his finisher, but the strain in his body grew more painful as he kept on going.

Xiphon threw the giant energy sphere to DK-Gaim, which he responded by taking out his Musou Saber and Daidaimaru. He combined them into Naginata mode while roaring to relieve his pain for a bit and delivered a '+' slash, ending it with an 'X' slash in the end by detaching both of his swords. Because he wasn't using his FFR Gaim at the moment, he had to put an extra force in his grip to rival the giant energy sphere, which proven excrutiatingly painful to do if it weren't for his armor that could at least reduce it.

DK-Gaim successfully tore the giant energy sphere apart as it exploded behind him. However, he was met with Xiphon's left foot directed at him and kicked him off of his steed as it dematerialized into static imagery. The Rider struggled to get himself back up, trying to ignore all the pain of both the strain and the impact.

"No... not yet!"

Before DK-Gaim could gather himself, Xiphon kicked him from his left and stomped on his groin. The Huntresses saw this and quickly rushed to his aid as the FFR they rode vanished into a gray haze as soon as they landed.

"Kyle!" Ruby shouted.

"Get away from him!" Blake threatened the enemy.

Xiphon quickly shot his energy blasts from his left palm the moment they got close enough to him. The Huntresses fell down and groaned in pain. Both of their Auras started to flicker slightly.

"Guys!" DK-Gaim was stomped by Xiphon once more and got reverted to his regular Decade form. He soon witnessed his body being surrounded by static imageries. The magenta parts were also darkened. His HUD was also malfunctioning, displaying 'ERROR!' messages as his armor began to slowly lose its power. "Wh... what the hell!?"

"I gotta admit, though; doing that technique really took a lot out of me. you see, that was actually still experimental. A one-time use dark blast core, the precious fruit of my project with the Dark Dust crystals... and the Grimm's consumed negative energy." Xiphon explained. "Then there's this whole bravado that you just did. Wait... Oh I see! so that's what it is!"

"Huh?"

"No wonder why there was something off from you the moment you summoned your hover bike; your powers are leaking! And your immense power level had been tampering with your Rider systems!"

"Leaking...?"

"My guess is that your power levels had somehow gone through beyond what your Decadriver could comprehend. Who would've thought that you've been fighting with a scrapmetal this whole time? Perhaps you tampered with its system, somehow? Or hell, maybe even broke it? Sometimes, I even wonder as to how you were able to summon your hover bike without the need of your card's command, too."

"No way..."

Yes, he remembered the instances that could've been connected to his predicament. There was one time when he tried to hold on to his transformation even when he was already overpowered by Yang, and when he somehow tapped to the 'Clock Up' state that Sento and Tsukasa mentioned. THOSE could exactly be the case, perhaps with the not-so-new instance that Xiphon mentioned.

"Just when I thought you had finally reached the peak of your potential, yet it has become your undoing. That is why I keep telling you that you are INDEED a wasted potential, doomed to fail no matter how many times you tried."

Such words cut the Rider deep into his heart as it beat fast and made him hard to uphold his resolve. it was hard to believe that he would meet his end in such unfashionable way. even after his numerous fights with Xiphon, he had yet to truly destroy him. Xiphon's tenacity knows no end, and that he also grew stronger and stronger from their encounters much like how the Kamen Riders did, or it could even be more.

Was it true that Dai-Shocker had always been steps ahead this much?

Or was it because he was simply not cut out to 'play' as the hero he always wanted to be?

He couldn't find any words to deny it, nor the energy to stand up once more. He was exhausted, injured, and haunted by the dread of his failure in the Mirror World. He deeply admitted that Xiphon was cunning enough to plan this out. All he could do was to watch Xiphon stretching out his hand towards his sword, calling it back to him and proceeding to take the Rider out of his miserable fate.

"And the power of Kamen Riders... SHOULD BE MINE!"

However, the last thing that he expected was an ambush by the Huntresses. Blake led the first strike by clashing her Gambol Shroud cleaver against his sword. her weapon's heavy strikes were enough to make a small crack that shocked even the Dai-Shocker commander himself. The Faunus then backed away and Ruby continued by delivering an upward slash that he was almost too late to notice. He managed to flip away and maintain his composure, but his chestplate got cut deep enough to damage his Dark Blast Core and his sword's tip was cut off by the Crescent Rose's sheer force.

"How many times do I have to tell you... that you don't, and never will speak on his behalf!?" Ruby growled.

"Hmph." He scoffed, throwing away his broken sword's hilt.

"You always twist everything... all of the atrocities that you did, experimenting on lives, even swaying my Faunus brothers and sisters to do your bidding...!" Blake snarled. "And you have the gal to rule over the lives of Remnant!? As if we need someone like you to tell us what we have to do!"

"No matter who's going to threaten this world, we'll always find a way to stop you just like how the heroes before us always prevail! I believe in everyone's strength... the Huntsmen, the Kamen Riders, my teammates, Kyle... and even my own! We'll keep standing our ground against your villainy no matter how many times you take us down! And THAT is our FAITH!" Ruby stated.

"Ruby... Blake..."

"That's why... we won't lose to the Dai-Shocker!" Ruby declared as she twirled her scythe and aimed it at Xiphon.

"And we won't run away from you, either!" Blake continued and pointed her sword at Xiphon.

The two Huntresses stood firm and got in Xiphon's way of finishing his archnemesis off, and the word 'faith' that Ruby uttered had opened Decade's eyes. perhaps he had been too overwhelmed on his fear of failure so much that it took the word of faith to remind him of what had pushed him to come this far.

It was thanks to his Huntsmen friends that he could fight monsters and go on many crazy adventures he had never thought of having.

It was thanks to them that he had truly found a value of his fighting spirit.

It was thanks to them that he was able to fulfill his wildest fantasies and becoming a better person at the same time.

And he was grateful for all of it, nonetheless.

"You guys are the best."

Xiphon sneered. "Well, isn't this just sweetest thing ever? But fine... I'll take you all head on!"

"So, you feel like using it, right now?"

"I don't think so. I say we keep it for our fight against Gamedeus and go with our other advanced forms instead. Perhaps we could still overwhelm it in another way."

"Another way? hmm..." the pink Rider put his hand on his chin, giving a momentary deep tought. "Oh, I know! Try using your Zombie Gamer armor. I'll cook up something good."

"I expect good results coming from you."

"Believe me, we all do."

Ex-Aid and Genm were preparing their power-up devices. The former took out a bulkier Gashat in a mixed color setting of orange and cobalt, labelled as 'Mighty Brothers XX'. As for the latter, he took out a white Gashat labelled as 'Dangerous Zombie' and attached a black device on the bottom of his Bugvisor. He then detached his Gamer Driver and replaced it with his Bugvisor, using it as his new belt and dubbed as Buggle Driver.

MIGHTY BROTHERS XX!

GACHON!

DANGEROUS ZOMBIE!

Ex-Aid's visor displayed the Gashat's options to begin its function. He chose the one labelled as 'Double Action Gamer XX' that displayed two orange and blue figures respectively simply by looking at it. both he and Genm then chanted their magic words.

"Da~i Henshin!"

GASHATTO! GACHAN! DOUBLE UP!

ORE GA OMAE DE! OMAE GA ORE DE! (WE ARE!) MIGHTY MIGHTY BROTHERS (HEY!) XX!

As soon as he chose a new thumbnail in front of him, Ex-Aid's armor was covered in orange and cobalt pixel haze and generated some static imagery around it. the haze soon gathered into his right and left side of his body respectively. the Gashat gate soon went past through him and separated his body into two figures.

The Rider was literally split apart into two individuals. Both of their armors had a complimenting color mixture of orange and cobalt that went to their jumpsuit parts and accents. The right orange one had the faceplate half on his right shoulder and the left cobalt side of his hair part was seemingly combed back as opposed to his right orange one. the left cobalt one was simply a palette swap of the former, with the faceplate half on his left shoulder and the right orange side of his hair was the one that was combed back.

"Grade X-0!"

BUGGLE UP!

DANGER DANGE~R! (GENOCIDE!) DEATH THE CRISIS! DANGEROUS ZOMBIE! (GRAAAA!)

After his belt's command activation, Genm displayed a zombie-like behavior in which he leaned backward as soon as he was covered in an ominous black mist. The mist soon altered his jumpsuit-like armor and formed several new armor parts around his body. the Gashat gate was formed in front of him and once his armor was completely formed inside the mist, the Rider broke the gate aand the mist dissipated to reveal him in his new form.

The Rider's black armor was added with several white exoskeleton and his jumpsuit was also covered in white torn fabrics. His chestplate's right breast was covered in the said armor part, leaving the left one with his health bar open but cracked. Below the left breast was a ribcage-like armor part. Genm's left shoulder was covered in a bulky, spiky shoulder plate and his left arm sported a metallic silver armor plates with a spiky one on his lower arm and a silver knuckle on his left glove. He was also seen sporting a clawed right glove. His helmet was also covered in the said armor parts with the left side of its spiky black hair replaced by a white armor plate and a white gas mask with a tube on its right cheek. Both of its emotive eyes were blue, but there was a red cracked visor that only covered its right emotive eye which made him somewhat looked bichromatic.

Both Riders had completed their transformation into Ex-Aid Double Action Gamer Level XX and Genm Zombie Gamer Level X-0 respectively.

"Wh-whoa! Did he just... split into two guys!?" Yang gawked.

"Just as crazy as someone who turned himself into a zombie, I guess." Weiss commented. She was just as surprised as her teammate.

"But how? Why? I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!"

"Hey, don't look at me!"

"Ah, figures..." Ex-Aid R muttered. "Well, let's just say that I'm him..."

"...And he's me! See?" Ex-Aid L, along with his brother unit, struck their signature pose in front of the girls.

"I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!" Yang repeated her exclaim.

"Again!?" Weiss shouted.

Genm then explained in his somewhat crooked voice due to the armor's side effect. "Ex-Aid's cerebral system is improved thanks to his natural Bugster antibody. In this form, he can possess one of the bodies and control the other remotely. He's also free to move his... soul from one body to another, to put it on layman's terms."

"Creepy..." the girls muttered on Genm's sudden change in his voice.

"By the way, wasn't your armor labelled as 'Level X'?" Ex-Aid L asked his fellow Rider.

"Oh, I did some tinkering a few weeks ago. I've transferred the combat data from Mighty Action X Origin Gashat to the Buggle Driver and I used its Level 0 suit as the undersuit for my final form, as well. Feels so much convenient to simply use my Buggle Driver for this, isn't it?"

"I get that a lot." Ex-Aid L answered. "The current XX Gashat's function proved the same for me, thanks to you."

"Well then! We'd better get things done by now. You guys ready?" Ex-Aid R asked.

"Sure do, bro! Let's keep an eye on the Energy Items out here, too!" his cobalt 'brother' unit replied.

"You got it!"

As the brothers Ex-Aid charged forward, Genm instructed the girls before he did the same. "You two will be on standby. Be ready for anything."

"Understood." Weiss complied as Yang nodded.

GASHACON KEYSLASHER!

ZU-ZU-ZU-KYUUN!

GASHACON BREAKER!

JA-KIN!

GYU-IN!

The three Riders took out their weapons and set them into their respective modes; Ex-Aid L pressing the weapon's four yellow buttons to access its gun portion, Ex-Aid R taking out the Gashacon Breaker sword, and Genm setting his Bugvisor into its chainsaw mode.

They bravely charged forward led by the cobalt-colored Ex-Aid and were welcomed by a hail of gunfire from the Dark Jammer Mech's miniguns. Ex-Aid L set his half faceplate-like right shoulder guard into an energy shield, defending his two companions and gave them the chance to jump towards the enemy.

Ex-Aid R and Genm pressed their weapons' respective power-up buttons and landed the first hit at the mech. They went from its torso to both of its legs in an attempt to destabilize it. the Dark Jammer Mech then attacked them with its drills, forcing the two Riders to cancel their strike at some point. Ex-Aid L backed them up with his 'run-n-gun' tactic, keeping the mech's mounted guns away from them which also helped him in searching for suitable Energy Items for them to use.

Because of the Dark Jammer Mech's increased agility, it was able to push against the Riders' attacks. Its drills were fast enough to reach them that they had to either avoid or parry them with their weapons. the mech managed to get one of its claws on Genm while he was avoiding the drill mid-air.

"Nrgh! Let... go...!"

The zombie-like Rider struggled to pry open the claw, unable to use his Bugvisor due to it also being grabbed and got stuck inside. He was about to be pierced by the mech's drill.

"Genm!" Ex-Aid R stepped in with his Gashacon Breaker already powered up with his red Gekitotsu Robots Gashat.

GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!

GEKITOTSU CRITICAL FINISH!

A red construct of a huge robot gauntlet appeared in front of the orange Rider. He swung his weapon to launch the construct towards the Dark Jammer Mech, which pushed it away and loosened its claw's grip on Genm. The latter then powered up his chainsaw and along with Ex-Aid R's powered up sword, they cut down the mech's claw.

"Candygram!"

SPEEDING-UP!

Ex-Aid L came in time with three Speeding-Up Energy Items; one he used for himself, and the other two for his teammates. They powered up their weapons once more to tear down the Dark Jammer Mech limb by limb, dashing from one place to another. Its reflexes weren't fast enough to follow their enhanced speed, let alone reaching them. The mech was finally down to its last knee with its arms and guns disabled, falling into the ground as it was unable to sustain its own weight.

"You good, buddy?" Ex-Aid R asked as they backed away.

"There's no need for you to worry... FOR I AM A GOD OF KAMEN RIDERS!" Genm declared and laughed maniacally. The former could only shake his head upon seeing such erratic behavior.

"Lo and behold: Here we go again." Ex-Aid L deadpanned. He then turned to the girls who gave off the same reaction as well. "So uhh, he's been through a lot of things that he had to undergo some procedures of psychotherapy. You guys try to bear with him for me, alright?"

Yang sheepishly laughed. "Well, it's not like he's gonna be our typical villain of the week, right?"

Weiss sighed in exasperation. She then turned her attention to the downed mech, in which she noticed something not right. "Guys, look alive. It seems that this is still far from over."

The heroes suddenly witnessed the Dark Jammer Mech reattach its missing limbs and repaired its cracks. It regained its stand once more and had its weapons ready, including its miniguns that it shot towards the heroes and forced them to take cover in nearby debris.

"Huh... I'm not even surprised that it doesn't know how to quit." Ex-Aid R quipped.

"This must be the power of the Dark Dust crystal it was embedded with." Weiss said.

"I should've expected that, coming from Dai-Shocker." Genm muttered. "Very well, brothers Ex-Aid. If you have any ideas, this is the time."

"Okay. Let's see..." Ex-Aid L rubbed his chin in thought. "Yang, Weiss, think you guys charged up enough for one last blow?"

Yang nodded with Weiss and said, "Yeah, We're all good, now. And I think I have a good idea on how to take the big bot down, too."

"Really?"

"We just need to make sure that it can't move around. Which means, we gotta take care of its limbs..." She explained.

"...And pry open its Dark Dust core! That's what I'm actually thinking, too! Good to know that we're on the same page, here!" the cobalt Ex-Aid then received a wide grin and a giggle from the blonde brawler.

"But, won't it just heal up again?" the orange Ex-Aid R asked.

"Leave it to me. I think I still remember a thing or two on how to put giants in their place." Weiss answered and presented her small glyph proudly. "And I hope I could still manage to hold out much longer for this."

"Then all that's left is to get past its defenses, which I'm going to need the cobalt one's help, here." Genm patted his said comrade's shoulder and both nodded in agreement.

The Dark Jammer Mech went closer to the debris and smashed them, only to find the heroes nowehere to be seen until it spotted Ex-Aid L running around and started shooting its miniguns. The Rider kept on evading the shots and as it was about to close in on him, its attention was drawn into Yang, who fired her gauntlet's shotgun portion.

"Hey! Over here!"

Yang taunted the Jammer Mech to direct its minigun blasts on her and traded bullets with one another. She was soon backed up by Ex-Aid R who was armed with his Gashacon Keyslasher and fired it at the mech.

While the Dark Jammer Mech was drawn towards Ex-Aid R, she rushed up close under the mech's back and shot her Ember Celica to its leg joints. It wasn't enough to topple the mech down as it quickly turned itself to her by twisting its upper body and opened its claw to her. Ex-Aid R stepped up and activated his weapon's axe mode.

ZU-ZU-ZUPAAN!

The Rider blocked the claw from reaching Yang, which enabled her to get away safely.

"Thanks!" she said.

"No problem! Good thing I traded with him for this." He replied as he inserted his Mighty Brothers XX Gashat into his weapon's slot.

DOUBLE GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!

MIGHTY BROTHERS CRITICAL FINISH!

The orange Rider sliced the mech's claw in one fell swoop.

"Weiss, now!"

The heiress casted her glyph on the mech's broken arm and locked it in its place, which left it open for the next attacks. However, it still had its miniguns intact and fired them at Ex-Aid L. Weiss soon froze the guns using her glyphs, just in time as the Rider caught a new Energy Item. Its color was magenta, depicting a Rider 2 body doubles behind it.

"Here goes!"

SEPARATION!

Upon activating the Energy Item, Ex-Aid L multiplied into 6 copies, each moved in the same motion as the Rider did. He also powered up his Gashacon Breaker sword with one of his Gashat.

GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!

MIGHTY CRITICAL FINISH!

Thanks to the copies he made, the sword's power also multiplied 6 times stronger than normal. It was able to cut both the mech's right arms and left it only with its left drill arm. As Weiss casted more glyphs to lock the 2 broken arms, Genm jumped in and climbed the mech to reach its still-intact drill arm. He avoided the drill's attack by going under it and activating his finisher by pressing both of his Bugle Driver's buttons and finally pressing the 'A' button.

CRITICAL END!

Genm jumped towards the drill arm's joint and delivered a rolling kick that enhanced his foot with dark cartoonish lightnings in a similar manner of a buzzsaw. He successfully cut down the drill and Weiss casted another glyph at the aforementioned part. however, it began to put a strain on her body.

"Guys... hurry!" she grunted.

"Let's finish this once and for all!" Yang said.

"Roger that!" everyone agreed.

CRITICAL DEATH!

GACCHON! KIMEWAZA!

GACCHAN! MIGHTY BROTHERS CRITICAL STRIKE!

Genm summoned several dark specters of him that surrounded the Dark Jammer Mech's feet. The specters melted and locked the mech's leg and feet joints. The Brothers Ex-Aid delivered consecutive Rider Kicks powered up with cartoonish lightnings as well.

They also merged into his singular Level X form, which was similar to his Level 1 form but with heterochromic hairs and eyes made from both Ex-Aid's faceplate halves in their respective orange and cobalt colors, along with the respective forms' chesplate as well. He stretched his hands and feet in mid-air resembling an 'X' letter that fired a powerful orange/cobalt beam with the said shape. The Level X armor soon turned back into the Brothers XX forms and delivered one powerful double Rider Kick that cracked its torso open and pushed it all the way to the virus machine behind it and crushed it as the mech fell.

Standing in front of the damaged mech was Yang, who had been waiting for the right time to strike it with her Semblance while focusing her Aura to her fists. She soon opened her eyes that had just turned red, along with flames engulfing her hair as the result of her Semblance's activation. Both her fists were clenched and her gauntlets were ready. As the Brothers Ex-Aid jumped back, they lent their hands for Yang to use as jumping jacks. While she was in mid-air, Weiss made a hand gesture that turned her glyphs red.

Yang then shot her gauntlets to speed up towards her target and delivered one powerful punch that successfully pierced the Dark Jammer Mech's torso all the way to its Dark Dust crystal. After she landed, she grinned and broke the crystal by clenching it hardly as the mech exploded behind her due to the fire Glyphs and the molten specters, engulfing the virus machine along with it.

"Alright! One pile of junk, down for the count!" Yang cheered as she retracted her arms to reload her Ember Celica.

"Now, Dai-Shocker won't be able to create their virus anymore." Weiss stated.

"Oh yeah! We rock-huh?" Ex-Aid R cheered, but Genm soon butted in.

"DID YOU SEE THAT, XIPHON!? THIS IS THE MIGHT OF REMNANT'S PROTECTORS! And with the Guidance of the God of Kamen Riders, WE ARE INVINCIBLE! MUHAHAHAHAHA!"

The zombie-like Rider cackled maniacally as he boasted his victory, even if the person in question wouldn't show up in any minute soon, nor batting an eye for this matter. The other Riders could only sigh and shook their heads as they had gotten used to his antics.

"I guess we should merge, for now." Ex-Aid L said to his 'brother' unit.

"Got it."

GACHON! GACHAN! LEVEL UP!

MIGHTY BROTHERS! FUTARI DE HITORI! MIGHTY BROTHERS! FUTARI THE VICTORY! X!

"Whoa, you guys... merged?" Yang widened her eye as the brothers Ex-Aid merged into their singular chibi armor. "I thought it was like, for finisher only!"

"This is an actual form, Yang. Right now I'm Level X, as in 20 divided by 10." Ex-Aid explained.

"O-oh..." However, Weiss soon walked towards the overly satisfied, cackling CEO of Genm Corp, and Yang was curious about it. "Uh.. Weiss?"

The Heiress had her rapier ready and thrusted it into the Rider's bottom, causing him to comically launch himself into the air and loudly shriek in pain. He then ran throughout the area before croaking in the ground in hopes of easing off his pain.

"Wow, that's bold." Yang chuckled.

"No kidding." Ex-Aid agreed.

"I'll have the honors of snapping him back, thank you very much. Which I just did." Weiss dusted her hands once she sheathed her weapon. the Genm Corp CEO soon managed to calm himself down a little. "Now then, how long will you keep cackling like that exactly, Mr. CEO?"

"Urgh... you're right. my apologies, it always happens almost everytime that I used this form, even though I couldn't cast my eyes away from its combat potential." Genm apologized, putting up his more composed manner even though his voice was still crooky.

"I suppose it can't be helped." The white-haired girl sheathed her weapon. "But seriously, can't you do something about it?"

"I'm afraid not. It's a long-lasting effect from the exposure to this Prototype Gashat I'm using here in the earlier days." Genm presented his purple Proto Mighty Action X Gashat. "Ever since my psyche was cured – or rather, mostly cured - I've lowered the Proto Gashats' outputs so that they can be used safely."

"Which means that you won't experience the same side effect when in use."

"Correct. It's all for the sake of rectifying my undoings." Genm confirmed. Weiss was a bit curious with the last part, but she decided to make a pass for it for the time being.

"Well, looks like we could only wait for them here. Let's hope that they could hold on their own there, too." Yang said, knowing that their friends hadn't emerged from the Mirror World yet.

The fight in the Mirror World continued with the Huntresses Ruby and Blake fought against the unarmed Xiphon. Ruby's twirling scythe and Blake's dancing swords worked harmoniously with each other in fending off the Dai-Shocker general. The latter mostly dodged their attacks, along with blocking them with his armor's gauntlets. Besides unarmed combat, he also resorted on firing his glove-generated dark energy spheres both afar and when he's close enough to his enemies.

The Huntresses also took turns in both offense and support. Ruby used her Crescent Rose shotgun mode to ward off Xiphon's blasts while Blake directly went towards Xiphon and swung her weapons to him, grazing his armor and sent sparks out from it. She would also use the Gambol Shroud's sickle mode while maintaining her distance from him. Xiphon soon caught her weapon and pulled her close so that he could strike her, only to find his target being a shadow clone that vanished once he punched it. the real Blake soon emerged from behind and had her weapon's cleaver mode swung at him. It successfully hit Xiphon's back, but he retaliated by kicking her away. She managed to block it by crossing her arms, but its sheer force was too painful for the kunoichi to hold off.

Next, Ruby took her turn in the offense. She quickly switched her weapon to its scythe mode and struck Xiphon with her consecutive slashes. At first, Xiphon could manage blocking and avoiding her attacks on his own, but he began to exhaust himself the longer the fight dragged on. Not to mention, he had Blake to beware of once she recovered and shot him with her weapon. it broke off his concentration, which allowed one or two hits successfully landed at him. Ruby also used her super-speed Semblance to avoid Xiphon's energy blasts and strike him in quick succession.

Xiphon got hit many times more than blocked or avoided their attacks. His armor's durability began to dwindle the longer he took the Huntresses on. He even checked on their Auras in the middle of the fight. Both Ruby and Blake's were also dwindling down due to the attacks he landed on them, but they still stood their ground bravely and made use of his blind spots effectively to land their attacks on. Finally, the two Huntresses were able to damage his armor's gauntlets, which left him unable to generate energy spheres.

"Looks like the special alloy reached its limit..." Xiphon grunted as he was too exhausted to move swiftly.

"Ruby, focus on your Aura! We're finishing this!" Blake said.

"You got it, Blake! I'll let you take the lead!" Ruby replied.

Once their Auras were charged up, Blake quickly speed up towards the weakened Xiphon and delivered a flurry of dual-wield slashes that damaged his armor further. She also launched a single blow with her Gambol Shroud cleaver landed on Xiphon's abdomen. And finally, Ruby prepped her Crescent Rose and delivered a consecutive spinning slash that left rose petals in her wake. She was able to damage the Dai-Shocker's chesptplate before he fell down.

Despite all the damages and bruises he took, Xiphon could only lift his head up ahead and laughed it all off as if he was enjoyed the fight.

"You're Huntresses are strong, I'll give you that! Sometimes, I even forgot that Remnant's warriors could be on par with those of the Riderverse's given enough training. And I can clearly see that from the students of Beacon." He parched. "But Soon, your strength shall be insignificant to Dai-Shocker's might once the completed Shocker Virus is released!"

"You'd better not look down on us...!" Ruby threatened.

"And that's why... I shall seize this glory, as well!"

Xiphon quickly took out what appeared to be a Gashacon Bugvisor with a Mighty Action X Gashat inserted to its slot, which means that it was the Ex-Aid Totem that the heroes had been looking for. He then fired its powerful dark energy beam that contained a lethal amount of Shocker Virus in it. the blast was so fast that Ruby and Blake barely had any time to dodge it.

Until Decade-Kai stepped in and blocked the blast with his very own body, despite the fact that his armor was malfunctioning. By gathering an amount of strength he had left, he unconciously activated the Clock Up once more, slowing down everything around him and jumped into Xiphon's blast range, which deactivated the said ability.

"Kyle!?" Ruby and Blake heard the young Rider screaming in pain of both the blast and the virus that started to eat away his body.

"What are you doing!?" Blake cried out.

"Hey,hey... do you seriously wanna die that bad!?"

"Thanks, guys-ugh!" the Rider winced from his pain, but he held it to get his words out. "I understand it now... the faith that we put in ourselves... and the faith that you guys put in me... I'm very grateful that I have you guys at my side! It's all thanks to you... Kamen Riders and Huntsmen... that I can be a better version of myself! And that's why... I BELIEVE IN MY STRENGTH! I won't let anyone die on my watch, and I'll keep on fighting until my blood runs out dry!"

FINAL ATTACK RIDE : DE-DE-DE-DECADE!

"Kyle..." Ruby muttered as Decade-Kai activated his finisher.

"Guh, fine...! HAVE IT YOUR WAY!"

Xiphon kept on showering his enemy with the Bugvisor's lethal attack. Decade-Kai's armor began to emit a colorful glow as he pushed on against the blast. Several card-like spectral gates phased through him. The armor began leaking its tremendous energy like how it did back then during his sparring with Yang, and his own body also began to tire out. Deep down, he knew that he had ignored the warnings that both his senior Riders had given to him. Perhaps he was just careless, or that the situation demanded him to do so.

Even so, what choice does he have here?

He was not about to let his weakness overwhelm him to the point that he would let anyone die. He must not let his past mistake stop him from taking an action. He had no time worrying about his own being. All he cared about was that his friends are safe, and he let it push him to carry on this decision.

The Rider kept on pushing against Xiphon's line of fire until he could reach his Gashacon Bugvisor. He pulled out the Ex-Aid Totem from its slot with his left hand which cancelled the blast and punched him in the face with his powered-up glove, flinging the enemy away to the point that he dropped his Bugvisor. Decade-Kai then crushed the Bugvisor by stomping on it before he reverted to his civillian form, parching and slowly lumping into the ground as the pain from the virus began to eat away his body.

The punch was able to break a small portion of Xiphon's helmet. It revealed some of his left face with a visible yellow eye. He sharpened his eyes as he grunted in pain from both of his body and pride.

"Why you...!"

Xiphon gathered an ounce of energy he had left to speed up and punch the weakened Kyle in his gut before he could recover, which quickly knocked him out cold. The Huntresses were about to take him on once more, but he easily overwhelmed them with the said technique. A sharp sting suddenly entered his head.

"I'm at my limit, already?" He decided to stop his attack. "Very well. Consider yourselves lucky for now. But mind you, that you've all came here for nothing. The virus had already been complete, and the second outbreak will begin soon. I doubt you will all live long enough to see your inevitable doom."

"No you won't, Xiphon... I'm sure that my friends have destroyed your machine, back there. We'll complete a cure for the Shocker Virus... It's gonna be our win." Ruby firmed as she was still wincing from her pain.

"Oh please. Do you honestly think that it's the only container with the completed virus?"

"Eh?"

"Although I'll be fair with you: it's true that the virus machine is the onle one that we have in our reserve. But here's the real kicker, Ruby Rose: Gamedeus is a virus carrier. The first outbreak was just a field test to see if it works on a large scale, and the Shocker Virus had already reached its final phase, long since. Not even your Aura protection will save you from it."

"Gamedeus? But, we've destroyed him!"

"Not by a long shot. We already know where you held the infected Husks, and I'll leave the rest to your imagination." Xiphon grinned under his helmet.

"Then that means... oh no." Blake deduced. The dread began to overwhelm her.

"What is it?" Ruby asked.

"He's planning to begin the second outbreak from the Game Field's quarantine zone. And we don't even know where and when Gamedeus will open it."

"Correct. Now if you excuse me, I have other matters to attend, and I assure you: we serve people well."

Xiphon then opened a portal to his HQ. Ruby and Blake both struggled to get back on their feet with the former reaching to the unconcious Kyle to carry him along. However, Xiphon closed the portal after he was already a few inches away from the Mirror World's soil, leaving the heroes stranded in the Mirror World with no way out.

"You're no different than him...!" Blake growled quetly as she winced in pain.

"Kyle!" Ruby rushed towards Kyle.

"Kyle! Are you okay!? Kyle!" Blake shook the young man's body. He was still unconscious, exhausted and battered from both the fight and the seizure of his leaking power. his body emitted several purple static haze, a sign of the lethal Shocker Virus starting to eat away his body.

Ruby further checked on his vitals by putting her fingers into Kyle's right hand vein. "He's still breathing, but if we don't treat him soon..."

"How are we going to do that?" Blake asked. "We don't have a way out of here yet!"

"Then I'll search around this area. There might be something inside this ruins. Blake, can I leave Kyle to you?"

"Sure thing..."

"Hey, Blake." Ruby approached her Faunus teammate and assured her, "We'll find a way out of here and get Kyle healed. I'm sure of it!"

"You're right." Blake nodded and smiled as she set her eyes into the young Rider, who was still unconscious. "Please... hang in there, Kyle."

With his internal systems still intact, Xiphon snapped his fingers to activate several small cannons that had been hidden inside the base's walls for the whole time. The small cannons sprayed purple gasses that surrounded the entire facility along with the heroes inside, which in turn weakening them. they also began to experience immense headache.

"A gas? No..." Ex-Aid realized. His visor's HUD warned him about the imminent danger they were facing.

WARNING! A FOREIGN SUBSTANCE HAS BEEN INJECTED

IDENTIFYING: SHOCKER VIRUS

SOLUTION: UNKNOWN

"It's the Shocker Virus!"

"What? But... we've destroyed the machine!" Yang said.

"That would be me, thank you very much." Xiphon emerged from the shadows with his battered armor.

"Xiphon!?" Weiss shouted. She began to shiver upon her assumption. "That means..."

"What have you done to them-ack!" Yang was about to charge towards the Dai-Shocker general, but was soon weakened by the effects of the gas. She couldn't even activate her Semblance. Not even she nor the others could lift their hands against him.

Ignoring such claims, Xiphon continued as he strolled towards the gassed room. "You will all become humble servants of Dai-Shocker. The power of Kamen Riders, Huntsmen and soon the world, shall be ours."

"But you'll be infected, as well!" Ex-Aid asked.

"Oh this? Well fortunately... I've built an immunity for myself!"

The revelation shook the heroes as Xiphon strolled around them.

"What? Do you really think that I'm stupid enough to let myself be infected? I've done several tests of the Shocker Virus while perfecting it including to my own body! So when this happens..." Xiphon moved to the machine. "I'll be perfectly fine! See?"

"But how!? None could survive and stay sane with that amount of experiment!" Genm growled.

"That is a secret for another time. but for now, I must thank you for giving us an inspiration with your Bugster Virus... Kuroto Dan."

The Huntresses widened their eyes upon his statement that the Riders frowned upon since they knew what exactly happened about it, especially Genm. He began to feel his past sins crushing upon him, and the fact that the Shocker Virus began to eat away his mind didn't help things at all.

"So you knew...!" Genm growled.

"Enjoy your last moments of your fruitless attempt to take us down. Adieu." Xiphon said as he vanished into a portal that he created once more.

"Genm..." Weiss muttered.

"Believe me... I wish I could tell you all about it. But I'm starting to-ugh...!" Genm then screamed in agony as he began to feel his consciousness slowly slipping away, much to the horror of others who also felt the same.

Xiphon returned to his main HQ in a remote island of Remnant, parching from his exhaustion and his pain. As his headache began to worsen, he sat on the corner of the room, took out his medical vial and injected it himself just in time.

His pain relieved as he muttered, "Everything will be in your hands...Gamedeus."

Tsukasa accidentally spilled some of his coffee as he sipped it. He admitted to himself that the city watch that he and his friends enacted can be pretty much taxing, even when he was simply watching Vale's camera feeds and awaiting reports in the basement of his residence. His hand slightly trembled as a mysterious uneasiness slowly overwhelmed him.

As he pondered in his thoughts, his friends Yusuke Godai and Ozpin approached him while he was cleaning the spilled coffee with a tissue nearby.

"Ah, Yusuke. And Ozpin?" Tsukasa was particularly confused at the headmaster's arrival during the situation at the time. "What brings the headmaster of Beacon Academy here?"

"I figured I could use a fresh air and a stroll after tireless hours of reading and handing out reports in the office. I assure you, Glynda is very suitable with paperwork despite her exhaustion in these days." Ozpin nonchalantly said.

"Carefree as ever." Yusuke remarked. "Though, I figured that you're not here simply for a small talk, right?"

"Precisely."

"Then let's hear it. How are the conditions outside?" Tsukasa asked.

"The remaining students of Beacon are safe inside the academy's complex as they are our top priority. Should things become worse, we've prepared the teachers and senior classmen to fortify the academy." Ozpin reported.

"So far, there had been no signs of infection in the city. We believe that the entirety of the Husks had been contained in the Quarantine Zone. Should I call off the patrol squad in the city?" Yusuke asked.

"Not yet, I'm afraid. We're still yet to receive a confirmation on the virus factory's extermination. I suggest we keep our guards up until then." He instructed. "What about the refugees?"

"Still holding up until now. There are no problems present, at this moment." Yusuke finished.

"Then if I may ask, Tsukasa, how are my students doing in your... extracurricular activities?" Ozpin asked.

"So far so good. They've been pretty much enthusiastic when they meet us and witness our abilities. Not only that, Kyle's developed so much since the first time he came here." Tsukasa took a sip of his coffee before he continued. "We've just sent them to do various jobs as we speak."

"Then I believe that the ones in Emerald Forest had done their mission well and are about to return here anytime soon. Is that about right?" Ozpin asked.

"Isn't that like, too much early to make that guess?"

"It's called having faith in my successors, Yusuke."

"Ah, that's right." Yusuke happily nodded.

"Well... you could say that." Tsukasa began to frown upon that notion.

"Is something wrong?"

"Somehow, I got a bad feeling about this... and it's annoyingly very nagging."

The Game Field's 'Quarantine Zone' function was built by Kuroto Dan as a containment measure against anything that could be considered dangerous if left roaming free in the real world and are considered indestructible, not meant to be destroyed, or contagious. It was also used if the Riders are yet to find a solution to such matter. For the Ex-Aidverse Riders, it has been years since they fought against a sporadic outbreak of zombie-like infestation and yet, they had managed to devise this strategy should another outbreak happened. The Quarantine Zone was claimed to be very secure that only the Ex-Aidverse Riders who possessed the 'Stage Select' function could access it.

Until this moment.

Standing in front of the chained Husks was Gamedeus Kaijin, a monster of the Riderverse's history, spawned using the negative energy that Grimms possess. He was ready to enact his plan at anytime soon. Only time will tell if the results would be catastrophic... or if our heroes would somehow turn the tables around.

"Now... let the purge begin."

(A/N)

And there you go folks! The 24th chapter of RWBY : DCD wraps up here!

I'd like to remind you all regarding the current situation; I implore you readers to stay safe inside your homes and keep you and your families clean all the time. The selfless efforts that the doctors and researchers to cure the people makes me feel like CR is spearheading the worldwide vaccination using Kamen Rider technology. And somehow, I wish Toei would release a special Ex-Aid episode about fighting the pandemic in the usual Riders VS Monsters format someday. :P

On a serious note, by the way, stay safe, stay healthy, and if you're sick, I wish you could get well soon. Let's hope that we all can get through this crisis in the future.

Anyways, onto the discussion.

Here we have Ex-Aid Double Action Gamer and Genm Zombie Gamer in their glory! In case you haven't noticed yet, I'd like to state that I am fully aware to what happened to those forms in the canon TV series, but in this fanfic, I want to show that those forms, and possibly some others in the future, had been tweaked at some point before this story started to optimize each of the Riders' functionalities, so that they can access most of their forms, if not all of them, however they desire.

As for Decade-Kai's inability to use the Agito Totem properly, it will be further explored in the future chapters. It will also become one of the staples of obtaining the rest of the Rider Totems and using its powers. Then again, that's the main gimmick of this fanfic.

Another crisis is just in the horizon! And our heroes are facing theirs tmeselves? Will they prevail in the end? Or will the Shocker Virus overwhelm them all?

As always, please leave your comments in the section below and remember, BE CONTRSUCTIVE.

Until next time.