Foreword:
Okay, so before the story starts, I'd like to mention a few things, and it is fair to warn you:
1) I do not know much about Kamen Rider W except for the movies.
2) I have not read much of the Infinite Stratos LN so I am sorry if I get a few facts wrong.
NEVER Stratos
Darkness…
That is all the young child could see. His own labored breathing was the only sound he could hear in the enclosed metal room. The door was obviously locked from the outside, and there wasn't even a window to help illuminate the place, although it would be hard to tell due to the blindfold wrapped around his eyes. He had been kidnapped from his own home as he was watching television, and taken into an abandoned warehouse. But not before being knocked out cold, and brutally assaulted when he resisted.
Such is the misfortune of being the younger brother to one of the strongest IS users in the world: Chifuyu Orimura.
A 10 year old Ichika Orimura was bound to a metal pole with rope tied around his wrists and arms in an empty room being held hostage. His captors were from a corporation that did not wish for his sister to win this year's Mondo Grosso. Because of this, they chose to kidnap Chifuyu's little brother, and hold him for ransom in exchange for her to forfeit, or he will be killed. However, when she was sent the live video feed of the ransom, Ichika told his sister not to worry about him and just win the competition, much to his captors' rage.
"Man, what are the chances of this even happening?" he mused. His eye was black and throbbing from being punched in the eye courtesy of one of his captors. The metallic stench of blood filled his nostrils as another one of the thugs bruised it. A dull pain plagued his arms and legs as they were the receiving end of being beaten by a metal pipe and baseball bat. And another threw a knife near his leg to stop him from escaping when he saw a chance to run away earlier, nicking it in the process.
All in all, it was a pretty rough morning.
However, after getting beaten up and on the verge of losing consciousness, he managed to listen to some of the words his captor spoke to one of his goons.
"Alright, now that we have the brat, contact Orimura Chifuyu. Tell her that either she forfeits the Mondo Grosso, or we kill her little brother." The assumed leader ordered, gesturing to the beaten form of Ichika.
"Yes sir!" the man said as he left. Unable to retain consciousness any longer, Ichika went out like a light.
"I got to get out of here. Otherwise Chifuyu-nee will fall right into their hands." He grunted as he yanked the rope that bound his wrists. "There's gotta be something to get these things off me."
The 10 year old boy felt around him for anything, anything useful. His finger felt something cut him. By the feeling he was getting, it seemed to be broken piece of metal with the edge still sharp.
Wasn't that convenient?
He dragged the metal fragment closer to him with his fingers and slowly picked it up. This was no garbage…it was a tool. He silently used the metal fragment to cut the rope. The coarse edge of it also cut into his palm, but he just bit the inside of his mouth to suppress a yelp of pain. It took a while, but he managed to cut enough to break through the rope with strength alone.
He heard one man mentioned they must leave soon and he will prepare their car. He heard the sound of door closing as the first man left.
After few moments another man whispered he need to use the bath room and went outside.
Now it was the perfect chance. He can hear the last man letting out a cough as sound of the man sitting down on a couch was heard. He heard the sound of a TV being turned on. Now was truly the last chance.
Ichika slowly removed the rope from his arm with his bloody hand. He was taught how to fight from his sister and the Shinonono dojo with his childhood friend Houki. After she left he continued to train furiously and managed to beat several older kids in a different dojo, and secretly from his older sister, some bullies in the street.
He silently stood up, ignoring the screaming pain in his arms and legs, and undid the blindfold that kept his vision in the dark. Upon regaining his sight, he observed that he was in a rather spacious yet dimly lit room, about 25 feet by 20 feet, filled with old metal crates and pipes. He assumed this was just a storage room. As he looked up as he saw where the only source of light peeked through, he could see that there was a window right above him. He would've been able to escape through it, but it was too high up to reach. In his hand was a rather bloody and rusty, yet still sharp shard of metal. It was about 8 inches long and about 2 inches wide. He turned his head and saw the door, which had some light pouring from underneath it. And the sounds heard from the other side can be determined that a television set was on. He quietly opened the door and saw a man sitting on a couch with his back turned watching TV. He slowly approached the man from the back, treading lightly on the stone floor.
He was just a foot behind the careless man. He was watching a IS tournament that his sister was at.
He quickly grabbed a medium sized piece of rubble that lay nearby and lifted it with all his strength. His body was burning in pain from its weight, but he did his best to ignore it and focus on the task at hand. In a few quiet steps, he slammed the broken concrete on top of the man's head, effectively knocking him out, along with some blood tricking down his face.
"That's one…" Ichika wasn't sure if the man was dead or not, so he just assumed that he only knocked him out. He then began to search the man for anything that would be useful. After rummaging through the man's coat, he found a semi-automatic pistol, a combat, and unusually, a metal baseball bat. Seeing as the latter two may be useful since he had no experience in using firearms, he carefully placed the knife concealed in its sheathe through a belt loop in his pants, and carried the bat on his shoulder, putting the pistol aside.
He heard the sound of toilet being flushed. It would take the second man about 30 seconds to be here. Ichika made the unconscious man look as if he was still awake watching TV. He even had time to draw eyes over the man's eyelids. In this dimly lit warehouse, it was hard to tell any way.
He ran back into the room that detained him, but only opened it by a crack to peer through. The second man walked in.
"Oi! The boss told us to get out. The ride's ready. Grab the brat too." The second man wasn't even looking at the guy on the couch. The man was looking at his phone as he walked. "This boring ass job for the bitch is over man. Let's go back already." He walked to the dead man. "You alright man?" In the midst of the man's distraction, he was ignorant of the 10 year old boy sneaking up behind him, metal bat raised above his head.
Crack!
A sickening crack echoed throughout the warehouse as the man fell face first onto the stone floor unconscious.
"Huff, huff, huff,…t…two…down…" he coughed and stood up. His body was still shaking like a leaf from both excitement and fear from the experience. A look of absolute terror was evident in his eyes. He also struggled to stop himself from vomiting. He looked at the open door of the warehouse.
"One left…" he muttered.
However, the sound of a knife being swung snapped to his attention.
"Gah!" screamed Ichika as he held his right side of his face, covering his cheek where the blade had struck. If Ichika hadn't reacted quick enough, he would've lost an eye.
"You killed my subordinates! I am fucking going to kill you for that brat!" The last man walked in with a bloody knife in hand.
He was taller than the other two. He was in a black suit as well, but he had a scar on his left eyes. His hair was black and short with a goatee with a handlebar mustache and his face had a frightening expression.
"Fuck order from the cold bitch! I am going to kill so slowly. So slowly that you wish you were dead. After this I am going ask for a job to get that sister of yours. I am going fuck'n rape her smug sexy ass and turn her into a common slut. Then I am going slice her to a million fuck'n pieces and feed her to the dogs!"
The moment he heard the man threaten his sister, his blood went cold. His pain and fear faded and was replaced with raging, utter fury. He muttered something
"Huh?...what you said you little shit." The mustache guy questioned, not really caring for the answer.
"I said…I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"
Ichika struggled like a berserk beast. With his bloody face and eyes he jumped on top of the man in a blur. He man fell down in surprise, but quickly tried to over-power the boy. Ichika's mind was filled with single thoughts "Hell…hell…"
His eye went wide. "GO TO HELL!"
His little body filled with rage and power he smashed his fingers into man's eye sockets.
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHGGGGGGHHHHHHHH…..!" he screamed.
"For threatening my sister, you are going to die!" shouted Ichika as he hoisted up the bat once more and proceeded to pound the man into the asphalt. The man struggled in an attempt to try and over-power Ichika, but the boy wouldn't budge, but instead just slammed the metal bat down harder, shattering the man's arms, shoulders, and ribs. The young Orimura then smacked the bat against the man's throat, crushing his windpipe. Still in a frenzied state, Ichika decided to end this. So he picked up the combat knife and stabbed the man right between the eyes, then yanked it back out ignoring the blood and gray matter, and sliced the man's throat clean through to the opposite side.
The warehouse was silent…besides the sound of sobbing.
The young Orimura had experienced his first kill at a young age of 10 years.
Ichika's body shook like leaf as the surge of adrenaline and strength he gained from rage slowly left him. He killed him…he killed a man…A living person.
He remembered when his sister taught him with a real sword. "It's heavy isn't? Ichika that is a weight of a weapon that can end a life. Remember it."
"You are wrong Neesan…weight of a life…is too light." The boy whispered somberly, his body still trembling from the experience. Tears of fear were pouring from his eyes like a waterfall. He soon doubled over as he pressed a hand against his mouth in a attempt to keep down the vomit, but he threw up anyway.
Tick tock! Tick tock! Tick tock! Tick tock! Tick tock!
He didn't realized how long he stood there all bloody, tired, and smelled like bile.
"I am so tired…pain…I can't feel it either…"
Ichika stared into blank space as he held a rather dull look in his eyes.
"Nee chan…Where are you?"
He wandered around the area, not paying attention to his surroundings.
"I…killed someone…I killed someone…Chifuyu-nee."
If Ichika hadn't still been shocked from his first kill, he would've noticed the thug he knocked out with the baseball bat reach into his coat pocket and pull out a device which looked to be a detonator. He pressed the button and activate a series of plastic explosives attached to the walls and support beams. The bombs activated, with a timer that started to count down from 1 minute. He then tried to escape the warehouse before the entire building went up in smoke, but not before killing the brat that killed his boss. So he slowly crept up to him, grabbing a metal pipe leaning against the wall, and raised it in an attempt to brain the boy. However, despite how quiet the man was, Ichika still heard him, as he picked up the gun that he had tossed away earlier, took the safety off, and made sure it was loaded. It was.
Just as the man was right above Ichika, he spun around, surprising the man as he aimed the pistol at the man's heart and pulled the trigger.
BANG! The bullet made impact, but the recoil from the firearm forced it away from its target. So Ichika fired again and again, ignoring the pain in his arms from each recoil. The man spasmed as his body was soon riddled with bullets, before he collapsed onto the ground bleeding.
Ichika killed for the second time.
In yet, another period of shock and horror as he threw the gun away, and curled up into a ball, rocking back and forth on the ground crying.
CRASH!
He heard a sound of wall falling as a feminine figure enters the warehouse through the recently made hole in the wall. "That shape…an IS?" mumbled Ichika.
"Ichika! Where are you!?" shouted his sister.
"I'm over here!" he cried, getting her attention as she turned toward him. Despite the fact he was covered in blood and holding bloody weapons, Chifuyu was just glad he was safe, she'll just have to chew him out for answers later.
Just as Ichika tried to run toward his sister, the C-4 explosives continued to reach down to zero, with only 4 seconds left on the timer.
00:03...
00:02...
00:01...
KA-BOOM!
The bombs set off all at once, unleashing a chain reaction of explosions.
The force of the explosion caused the ceiling and some sections of the walls to break apart and collapse. The young Orimura tried to outrun the falling debris, but he was too slow as a large section of the ceiling fell on top of him, burying him alive in rubble.
"ICHIKA!"
As the smoke subsided, the entire warehouse was in ruins. Chifuyu quickly moved away any rubble that might've collapsed onto Ichika. A few minutes of unearthing her brother, she could hear breathing, although it is very shallow. She pulled away the last piece of broken concrete, but the sight before her sank her spirits to despair and anguish.
Ichika was in one piece, but that was the only good news. Each of his limbs were pinned down by broken support beams, effectively crushing them. Some broken glass and debris embedded themselves into his shoulder and ribcage, just missing his vital organs. However, there was a chance some of his internal organs had ruptured from the impact. There was a huge gash on his forehead from where a piece of rubble had struck, leaving him with a concussion. The only clue that showed he was still alive was his shallow breathing. It was a miracle he didn't die, but he was hanging on the edge.
"Ichika! Ichika! Are you alright?"
At the sound of her voice, the 10 year old boy stirred slightly in response, "…Ch-Chifuyu…nee?"
"Ichika! Don't worry; I'll get you to the hospital. Just hang on!" With that said, she pulled away the remaining rubble that pinned down her brother and carried him in her arms. She flew him to the nearest hospital as fast as her IS could allow. In short, they arrived in the hospital within 2 minutes.
It had been about a week since the event at the warehouse, and to say Chifuyu was worried would be an understatement.
Ichika had been strapped to life support and sent to the emergency room in an attempt to save his life. It had been a whole 8 hours during the time he was in the E.R.
While she may not show it, the eldest Orimura was extremely anxious about the fate of her younger brother. After she had left their parents and took him with her, he is the only family she has. Chifuyu had phoned her friend Shinonono Tabane, the genius who was the inventor of the IS, of the incident just yesterday, and she answered that she will arrive as fast as she could with something that will help.
Flashback
The moment the doctor came out of the emergency room a few minutes later. Chifuyu immediately walked up to the woman to get an answer.
"Doctor, is he going to be alright?" she asked with a calm persona, but her eyes showed a large amount of worry and anxiety.
"…I'm sorry. We did all we could, but we cannot be certain. His limbs were crushed to the point the bone fragments embedded themselves in the muscle tissue, and the same could be said for his internal organs. He had suffered blunt force trauma to the cranium, and if it were any harder, then he would've been dead for sure. It wouldn't be a surprise if he woke up with amnesia, or at least some memory loss."
"But there is a chance he'll be alright?" Chifuyu asked, her calm façade betrayed by the slight tone of desperation in her voice.
"There is. However, it is a low chance. I am sorry, but there is nothing more we can do at the moment. We can only hope he can regain consciousness. But it may not be for a few days." The doctor said solemnly as she walked away, leaving Chifuyu to her thoughts.
'Screw this! If there is even a chance of him surviving, then he'll make it. I just know he will.' Chifuyu thought. She was then told that the hospital would be closing soon, so she decided to leave.
When Chifuyu visited the next day, she immediately went up to her brother's hospital room. As soon as she opened the door, she took a sharp intake of breath in surprise. She merely stared as she saw her brother was induced with morphine and had wires crawling out of his body leading to various machines on his bedside.
After about half an hour, a woman walked inside the room. She was around in her mid thirties and her with along black hair tied up in a bun.
"Hello, I was assigned to be Ichika-san's nurse. I'll be watching over him for now. So please, don't worry." she politely replied.
Chifuyu merely nodded and said, "Arigatou." Deciding she needed some fresh air, Chifuyu excused herself from the room. Not long after, the nurse's cellphone begun to ring.
"Moshi moshi? Yes...I've been assigned to watch over him...yes. He may not survive given the extent of his injuries...Don't worry, I have the necessary materials. I just require the distraction, and then you can make the switch. Are you sure this is the one you want? Alright. Well get right on it...Katsumi."
Unknown POV
"Are you sure this is the one you want?" The voice from the phone asked.
"Yes. From what we've seen, he has the potential that we would need if we want to be accepted by Foundation X. With some training, we are bound to be accepted." I replied.
"Alright. Well get right on it...Katsumi."
"Bye Mom." I turned my cell phone off. I picked up the tote bag laying by my feet and slung it over my shoulder.
Chifuyu decided to go outside for some fresh air. She simply sat on the bench by the entrance and stared at the afternoon sky, the sun slowly descending on the horizon. She felt relatively calm in this moment of peace. She had been doing the same routine since yesterday since she had no control over the condition of her brother, all she could do was wait and hope for the best. The cool evening air brushed on her skin, slightly easing the tension that she had in mind.
However, the moment came to an end when a large object can be seen plummeting down from the sky right towards her. Taking the best course of action, she moved away from its direction of landing, avoiding being hit. The object crashed into the ground, kicking up dust and some pieces of concrete from the sidewalk. Upon closer examination, the metal object appeared to be a large metal carrot about 8 feet tall. And Chifuyu had a good idea who was inside. When it came to entrances like this, only one person came to mind.
"Chi-Chan!" A young woman jumped out of the carrot as it split open. She was wearing a frilly light blue dress, and a pair of mechanical bunny ears that seemed to match her violet colored hair. She made an attempt to hug Chifuyu, only to get a smack to the head.
"Mou~! Is that the greeting I get for not seeing you in so long?" she whined.
"Tabane, enough! We don't have time for this kind of nonsense. You said you would be able to help right?" Chifuyu demanded.
Tabane's usually cheerful expression was replaced by a completely serious one. "Hai, just lead me to where he is. I have something that may help." She answered, as she lifted metal briefcase that was the size of an office desk. It would've been heavy to carry, especially what was inside if it weren't for the wheels.
"So are you sure that this will help him?" she gestured to the case Tabane held.
"Of course! You are talking about the great genius Shinonono Tabane after all!" she smiled. She unlocked the case and opened it, revealing to be a chamber-like device that is able to hold small person. There were various wires and lights covering the outer layer of the device. There was what appeared to be a monitor on the side, designed to show a person's BMI, blood sugar levels, bone density, nutrition levels, heart rate, breathing, hydration levels, cell activity, brain activity, and level of injuries.
"...Alright, I give up. What exactly is it?"
"It is a Life Support Chamber. I designed it to be capable of recording a person's biological data and condition of health. It also stimulates the body's cells to become more active and accelerate the body's healing process. I've also added doses of adrenaline in case the patient's heart rate is reduced below regular activity. It is also air tight and waterproof so there is no risk of either it or the patient from being damaged. "
"That's...amazing. This will really help." Chifuyu was impressed.
"Of course. Although, the side affect of the cell stimulation is that it makes the body's hair and nails grow more rapidly due to their body tissues becoming more active than usual."
"Is that the only side effect?"
"Yep~!" Tabane grinned.
"Okay...but what if the patient needs to eat, drink, or even breathe if it's airtight?" she was now skeptical of the entire device.
"Duh...I'm not an idiot. There are oxygen tubes located inside the machine, as well as a liquid valve so he would still be able to drink anything from the outside. As for food, I made a hatch for that. There is also a hatch for him to use the bathroom."she explained with a grin, proud of her work.
"Okay...If that's the case, I see no other problem with it. Let's go." They were about to leave, until a single sound broke the quiet environment.
BOOM! The ground shook as an explosion erupted from the hospital. It originated from the 6th floor in the east wing.
'A terrorist attack? But wait...that floor and wing…That's where Ichika is!' Chifuyu realized.
"Tabane, come on!" Chifuyu ordered as she ran back inside the building.
"Hai!" Tabane immediately followed, dragging the metal case behind her. However, the sheer weight of it slowed her down drastically.
A few minutes ago, in a certain hospital room.
The white walls of the room's interior seemed to glow brighter from the fluorescent lights. The smell of disinfectant still lingered in the area, and the only sounds that can be heard were monitors and machines beeping, and a patient's breathing. The patient was strapped down onto a mechanical bed with numerous tubes and wires attached to him, in attempt to keep his condition stable. The patient had just regained consciousness a few moments ago.
The young Orimura was resting quietly on the bed. But his mind was racing in anxiety, as everyone fears death. He was just bandaged up gotten out from surgery. However, that does not mean it is guaranteed he will survive on account of his injuries. He had regained consciousness a few moments ago. But his eyes that used to have a glow of life, were now dark and hollow.
'Wh-where am I? I-I can't feel anything, not my arms, or my legs, I can't even move my head...Is this what dying feels like?'
Tears leaked from his eyes as he feared his possible end. The sounds from the monitor beside him steadily became slower.
'I...I don't want to die...Chifuyu-nee. Where are...you...?' he mentally cried. Unaware that his life was slipping away. 'So...is this it...? I-I'll never see...Rin...Dan...Ran...Tabane...or Houki...a...gain...' His eyelids became heavier as they slowly drooped more and more and his breathing became shallower. As this occurred, only one though passed through his mind 'Ev...ery...one...I'm... sorry.'
BOOM!
A loud explosion was heard nearby by all except for him, as the sound of his heart monitor was now reduced to a flat prolonged beep. With that, Ichika Orimura had already passed from this world.
Later…
"Ichika!" Chifuyu shouted as she ran up the stairs to her younger brother's room. The elevator was malfunctioning due to the explosion and it wasn't worth the risk to take. And she couldn't use her IS without destroying even more of the building. However, as they ascended up the stairs, more explosions, albeit smaller ones continued to shake the hospital.
"Chi-chan~! Hold on, this case is hard to carry up the stairs!" Tabane cried as she was lugging the large metal case behind her, while still climbing the stairs at slower pace.
"No time! Who knows what happened to Ichika? He could be dying right now! Just hurry up!"
"Hai!"
About several seconds later of running at full speed, or in Tabane's case moderately fast, both women finally reached the sixth floor. However, what they saw was a sorry sight.
The entire floor was broken apart and in flames. Smoke, dirt, and dust clouded the air, making it difficult to breathe. She ripped off a piece of cloth from the sleeve of her shirt and pressed it against her mouth to help filter the smoke. She then ran across the corridor until she was in front of her brother's room "Ichika!" she cried, only to get no response. Alarmed by the lack of an answer, she broke the door down, only to see a large portion of the room to be charred and broekn apart, and Ichika's body unhooked from the machines lying on the cold tile floor unmoving.
"I...Ichika...no...NO!" She dropped to the ground and cradled her younger brother's motionless body.
"Ikkun!" Tabane cried as she ran into the room and saw the young child's condition. Throwing the metal case aside, she knelt beside her friend. Tears pouring out from her eyes as she noticed Ichika was not moving, not even breathing.
"Is…is he…?"
"No! Ichika you better not die on me!...Not now dammit!" Chifuyu screamed her voice cracked slightly from emotion as she hugged her little brother's body. There was no pain worse than losing a loved one, especially the only family you have left.
A few moments passed, but nothing happened. Both women looked down in complete sorrow and despair, until a small movement in her arms snapped Chifuyu back into the world.
"...Chi...fuyu...nee?" the young boy attempted to speak as his eyes cracked open.
"I-Ichika? She stuttered, surprised by these turn of events, tears of joy running down her face.
"Ikkun! You're alive!" Tabane cried, now crying tears of joy as she wrapped her arms around the young Orimura in a suffocating death hug.
"N...nice to see you a-again T-Tabane-san...Can't... breathe!" He choked out.
"Tabane, get off of him! You're going to kill him."
"But I was just happy he was alive!" she retorted. In short, the two were locked in an argument, which made the younger Orimura to sweat drop in confusion.
However, unbeknownst to the two, the young Ichika had what appeared to be a serial code and an oddly shaped tattoo imprinted on the back of his neck, concealed by his hair.
A Few Minutes ago. Unknown POV
"Looks like the 'terrorist attack' was a success. Now where was that boy located? She said it was room 506." A voice mused to himself. His appearance was concealed by the uplifted smoke, but it was evident that he had a metal crate that was large enough to hold a child next to him. He opened the door to the boy's room and saw that the child's heart monitor was in a steady flat line and that his breathing had stopped. The child was already dead.
"Well, I guess this saves the trouble of retrieving your corpse. It's hard to believe that children as young as you are taken by death." He mused. He unhooked the body from the numerous machines that crawled from the machines and lifted the boy from the bed.
"Now to leave this here." He said as he opened the metal crate, revealing a young boy with messy black hair that looked to be around 10 years old. If he had opened his eyes, dark brown irises would've been seen. In short, it was an exact replica of the recently deceased Ichika Orimura. He laid the replica onto the floor and set a small plastic device on the far end of the room. Setting the time for 5 minutes and activating it. As the timer counted down, he placed the body of the original Ichika into the crate, closing the lid and locking it, and pulled it out of the room. Seeing as he was pressed for time, he decided to go through the express route. Making sure there were no witnesses, he opened one of the windows that faced the backside of the hospital as the police would most likely be towards the front.
He did something that no sane man would do when they are on the sixth floor of a building. He jumped while the holding the metal case with him. a loud explosion sounded behind him, signifying the bomb timer counted to zero.
As soon as he hit the ground, a sickening crunch echoed through the area, signifying the bones in the man's legs were now fragmented and popped out of place. He metal crate made a loud CLANG as it impacted on the concrete. Although, it was remarkable that the casing was undamaged except for a small scratch. However, even though the man's legs were supposedly broken, dislocated, and bent at an odd angle, he appeared to be in no pain or agony.
What happened next would've been shocking if there witnesses; he bent his legs back into place without even a single grunt of pain. He also then relocated his knees back in place as a revulsive pop echoed through the area, and stood up despite his bones being cracked. It was as if his legs were never damaged at all. He causally grabbed the crate and made his way over to a blue convertible car that was parked behind a few storage crates. He opened up the trunk and placed the crate holding the boy's body inside. He then walked over to the driver seat, started the car, and drove off.
Later, in an Unknown Location.
A young man in in his late teens or early twenties wearing a black and red outfit. His long messy hair and blue highlights. walked into the room, carrying a young, bandaged, black haired boy over his shoulders. He carefully set the child down on the table. "I got him. Now, let's start."
"Right." The woman replied as she placed a vial of liquid in a serum injector and placed the needle inside the corpse's arm. With a click, the liquid from the vial flowed into the dead body, causing what appeared to be glowing lights to crawl across the boy's skin. The woman took out the needle after completely injecting the green liquid. A few seconds after the procedure, the child's eyes began to move, then flicker. Eventually, he fully opened his eyes, signifying that he was awake.
"N-nani...? I-is this the afterlife?" The child then begun to observe his surroundings, his attention turned toward the other two people in the room.
"Who are you guys?" Ichika questioned, confused by his current situation.
"My apologies, let us introduce ourselves. My name is Maria Daido, and the young man over there his my son, Katsumi."
"What happened to me? I thought I died back there, how am I alive?" the youth questioned.
"You're not exactly alive."
"What?"
"What I mean is, you are a Necro Over, or NEVER, like myself. We are just living corpses."
"So…like a zombie?"
"Not exactly. We still act like living human beings, but we are far superior. Our bodies are immortal."
"So, we can't die?"
"That is not entirely true." The older woman spoke as she held up a vial with green liquid. "If you do not take this cell maintenance enzyme regularly, you will return to being a corpse."
"…Really?"
"Yes."
"B-but, why go through the trouble of doing this for me? I'm just a little brother of a Mondo Grosso champion. Other than that, I'm pretty much average."
"Heh, if you ask me, you are not as average as you thought."
"Nani?"
"We saw what you did in that warehouse. Even though you were mostly paralyzed with fear, you still managed to knock out a couple of those thugs, and kill their leader. Not bad if I do say so myself. Besides, you are the younger brother of Brunhilde, Chifuyu Orimura."
"But what about my sister? I'm pretty sure she'll be upset that my body, that was in critical condition and was on the verge of death, to be missing." Ichika replied.
"I wouldn't worry about that. Right now, she is probably relieved that you managed to survive, albeit with some memory loss. Nevertheless, she most likely will not suspect anything.
"W-wait, what do you mean survived? I thought I died back there."
"You did die, and we managed to revive you here."
"B-but, how?"
"We replaced your corpse at the hospital with an exact clone of you."
"We are working on a project to be funded by Corporation X. It is called Necro-Over, or abbreviated as NEVER. Katsumi here is the first subject after dying in a traffic accident. We have also used the same process to revive you."
"...Ehhhhh!?"
"We've taken the liberty of cloning you using various DNA samples."
"Wait what?"
"We took some DNA samples when you did not notice. We had a small reconnaissance device no larger than the average house fly obtaining certain tissues necessary for the cloning process." Maria stated as she showed him a small camera-like object with wings.
"You don't have to worry. We've taken the liberty of replacing your dying body with a fully healthy clone thanks to the technology we were given as an award from one of our clients." The woman explained.
"A clone? Wouldn't that be impossible?"
"Normally, yes. But the technology we received was compatible with our Necro Over research, so we found a way to stabilize the clone's genetic structure so it would be healthy and age normally like the original. However, as well all know, cloning is not perfect, so the clone needs to take regular doses of this serum that is similar to the cell maintenance enzyme, or its genetic makeup will become unstable and it will break down and die." she explained, holding up a greenish yellow liquid in a small glass vial.
"Fortunately, we were able to prescribe the stabilizer as a form of medicine for after your operation before you got here. Also, this cloning technology is rather revolutionary. For every clone it makes can unconsciously relay memories back to the original being. However, we have yet to discover if it functions for NEVERs like yourself, so we are using you for a test. If you see images or gain memories that suddenly pop into your head, then we know that you are receiving memories from your clone. Now if you excuse me, I have some papers to finish." with that explanation, Maria excused herself from the room.
"Also, since you have a clone currently taking your place as 'Ichika Orimura', you are going to need a different name. However, my mother is currently filling out forms to verify you adoption, so you would have the surname of Daido now.
"…I understand. How about... Daido Shirou?" Ichika asked after giving it some thought.
"Why Shirou?"
"Because I kind of like the color white." he stated simply.
"If that is what you want, then fine by me."
"Arigatou...Nii-san."
"Nii-san?"
"Yeah, since I'm being adopted by your mother, that would make you my older brother right?" the young boy asked, memories of his former older sibling slowly being buried.
"Hmmm Very well then…otouto. Now..." Katsumi then handed Ichika a black and red uniform. "Orimura Ichika…or should I say, Daido Shirou…Welcome to NEVER. We will begin your training soon."
To Be Continued…
Author's Notes: I've had the idea for this story for a while, and decided it was a good time to write it to improve my skills in and skills as a writer. Also, my Highschool DxD story is NOT dead. I just have writer's block at the moment, thinking about how to make it better.
I apologize if I made any of the characters OOC, but you have to understand that Chifuyu thought her brother just died in front of her eyes and in her arms. And just to warn you, Ichika(The real one), will become more and more OOC as the story progresses. And I apologize if the ending to the prologue sucked. And I'm sorry if Katsumi is OOC, but that is because it has only been a few years since he was a NEVER, so he has very few fragments of human compassion.
And if you guys think that cloning with is cliche and impossible, need I remind you that this world had futuristic military weapons used only by women, technology that can bring the dead back to life, and devices that utilize the power of Earth's memories. And the cloning memory function, it acts the same as shadow clones memories from Naruto if the explanation sounded confusing.
I am also accepting OCs for members of NEVER. However, they must be around Ichika's age. Send submissions via review or PM.
Here is the Profile
Name:
Age when died(Also when taken in by NEVER):
Current Age:
Appearance:
History:
Personality:
Weapon of Choice:
Gaia Memory(Can be Original Gaia Memory or from the Series):
Fighting Style:
Kamen Rider or Dopant(Please give appearance of this form as well):
Anything else I should know:
