1.1

Hiryu gave an uncharacteristic sigh.

He was stuck in some sort of strange phenomenon where events kept on repeating over and over again in some kind of 'loop'.
The first few times this loops in time happened; he thought it was all some sort of trick played by Meio. And who could blame him, Meio had powers beyond of what normal humans could comprehend. One of the main reasons why he was adored as a god. But god or not, Meio would always fall before the Strider.

And that was disconcerted Hiryu.

If this was all some sort of trap or trick by Meio, why was it that only he remembered time resetting and not Meio himself? And why time only reset after he defeated Meio a second time 2000 years later and not the first time around?

No.

Whatever was causing these time Loop he found himself trapped in, it had nothing to do with the sometimes Dark God or sometimes Alien Wizard.

And that was another thing that worried him. Every time a loop happened, things would change. At first he thought it was because he remembered this wrong, again who could blame him? The loop only happens after 2000 years has passed; but that was not the case. Always something changed.

Sometimes was the infrastructure and buildings of Kazakh City, but other times his opponents would change. Solo, the "unmatched" bounty-hunter would wear a completely different armor and different weapons. Hiryu wondered if Solo was also aware of the time loop, but none of this mannerisms or usual speech pattern showed any indication if this been the case.

Other times the Four Winds would change. Specially a youngest member of the Three Sisters, Nang Pooh the South Wind. She would often change into Sai Pooh the West Wing. And other times there were Four Sisters which in turn would mean that Xi Wang Mu the Queen Mother of the West would be absent. Speaking of which, Xi Wang Mu would also alternate between being the Sisters' teacher to being also their mother.

It was all so confusing.

Still, no matter what changed, Hiryu would never forgo his duty to defeat Meio and prevent the destruction of the world under his hands.
Descending from the sky using his Glider, Hiryu arrived at the outskirts of Kazakh City to start his infiltration.

"Beginning Mission." Hiryu announced mostly to himself.

He was ready, he was completely prepared with all his gear, from his faithful Chypher, to Kunai and options and his ever reliable Climb Sickle.

Then before taking his first step towards his mission, Hiryu paused thoughtfully.

"I wonder…" He said looking at his Sickle. Could he complete the mission without using Chypher and instead used his climbing tool as a weapon the entire way?

"It would be challenging…" Not to mention incredibly reckless. But after so long, this mission was starting to become tedious. And after so long, he needed something to keep his skills sharp.

"I guess, I could try just this once."

And with that, Hiryu strapped his Chypher onto his bag, after paying his respects to his trusty weapon, and proceeded to infiltrate the place with his Sickle in hand.

1.2

Hiryu rarely showed emotion. A true mark that represented his worth as the top of the top in the Strider program.

Special A-Class.

He had been the youngest Strider to have ever achieved such honor and prestige. A unparallel prodigy he was called. And he had believed them.

The Strider Program made him what he was, saved his life and gave him purposed. Director Kuramoto, founder and chief of the Striders and who inducted him in program, was like a father to him.

Then why? Why did Hiryu always ended up hating the Strider program?

Everytime the 'loop' happened. Hiryu would end up distancing himself from it.

Sometimes, it was a coup by a high ranking member from the Strider program to seize power from Kuramoto and use the organization to his greedy ends.

But most of the times it's the mission Kuramoto always end up assigned to him. Search and Destroy of a renegade Strider who after a difficult assignment, lost her mind and massacred 17 young Striders in training, most of them kids.

Mariya. The first woman to ever achieve the rank of A-class Strider.

Also his elder sister.

Or sometimes sister. Hiryu couldn't exactly remember, if Mariya was his real sister or just a variation this Loops brought upon. Nevertheless, it was always Hiryu who would end up with the task of slaying her. Kuramoto always selected him since there was no one else who could stop his sister's rampaging madness. And every time it was a hard as the previous one.

Hiryu knew, after all this repeats that Mariya never went mad because of a traumatic experience. She had being brainwashed by an evil corporation known as Enterprise with a weapon under the codenamed ZAIN Project.

The ZAIN machine is a brainwashing weapon. Through a small radio transmitter implanted on the neck, the machine is able to manipulate the subject by sending a certain kind of electric wave into an area of the brain known as "Crocodile's Area", from where the most basic behaviors can be issued. In this way, ZAIN destroys the mind and forces the subject into acting out of instinct rather than reason.

One of the Subjects being Mariya.

Try as he might, he could never talk his sister out of such madness. A fight always ensued with the end result being the same. With his sister dying on his arms seconds after the brainwashing effects clears her mind for her to look at him in the eyes and ask.

"Why?"

Why indeed.

Why did she have to die? Why was he the only one who could stop her rampage? Why couldn't the loop start before his infiltration of Kazakh, just so he could save her before any of this could happen? Why did he felt this anger inside of him?

Whatever the case. Hiryu would never stay with the Striders long after that. A decision Kuramoto always objected and never could change. It wasn't like he could force him to stay, and the chief would never send any agent for him knowing there wasn't anyone who could stop him.

After his departure, Hiryu would travel the world as an hermit waiting for the inevitable return of Meio. Either by devoted cultists or by the hand of his friend/rival Strider Hien.
A borderline Special-A Strider, and another person who suffered changed thanks to the loops.

On these loops, Hien would be a childhood friend or an eternal rival, but always a brother-in-arms for various missions before the infiltration to Kazakh. Then he would either die at the hands of Meio only to be revived as a servant and secret agent, or he would join the Dark God on his own.
Either way when the time comes, he would cross blades with Hien, alongside the revived Four Winds, and Solo.

-
Hiryu opened his eyes after what must have been hours of deep meditation, and looked up to find the night sky adorned with countless stars. Such a serene and peaceful time he wished it could last. A foolish endeavor, since his world would always be on the verge of war between nations after Meio's demise.

Only 1990 years before Meio's return. 1990 years before he stopped him again and the whole thing happens again.

"Only 1990 years…" He whispered.

1.3

Hiryu 'Awoke' once more, his mind already preparing for the hardships that a new reset represented but then he was stuck cold in sudden realization.
He wasn't on his way down to the outskirts of Kazakh City for his infiltration. No. He was already inside the city and not only that, he was inside what it looked like a military room.

Hiryu didn't have much time to ponder upon his surroundings, when someone else entered the room.

"Oh Hiryu! I see you are here already!"came the voice of General Mikiel, a being more machine than man and military officer in Meio's Army. A few years after Meio's appearance on the world he seized control of Kazakh City's military, government and law enforcements all in the name of his god Meio.

It took all of Hiryu's self-control in order to not confront the cyborg right there and then. There were more important things to consider, like what was he doing already inside Kazakh City and why was the General in charge of Meio's army talking to him so nonchalantly?

It was that exact moment when he was hit with a sudden influx of new memories. Or was it old memories that didn't belong to him, or did they?
Hiryu seemed to recall the deaths of countless Striders by his own hand. Him, a traitor to his organization, a traitor to chief Kuramoto, and a traitor to Mariya. Not only that, he was Meio's top assassin and bounty hunter.

All of it made him sick.

"It seems there has been a breach into the city." Mikel informed to the silent Strider, who was still sorting through his new horrid memories. "According to the reports, it looks like we are being infiltrated by a radical group, probably to help those insurgents scum that hide through the city."

"…"

Hiryu remained silent while he processed this new information. Apparently the infiltration mission to Kazakh City was happening right now, except it wasn't him doing the infiltration since he was currently on the side of his enemies.

"Grandmaster ordered the extermination of this group. So I'm putting you in charge of this task."

But before Hiryu could even retorted to that request, a voice come from a large opened window.

"Hold it right there!"

Hiryu instantly recognized that raspy voice. It was his self-proclaimed 'Eternal Rival' in this new altered repeat, and if you think about it, in every other repeat too. Solo, the 'Unmatched' Bounty Hunter.

"What silent boy over there can do, I can do better!" Solo hovered from the outside into the room and landed with his arms crossed in front of him.

"Solo!" shouted Mikiel "This was a direct order from the Grandmaster! I will not tolerate such disresp…" but before he could finish, he was silenced by Hiryu lifting his open palm.

Strider didn't needed new memories to know how to deal with Solo. His 'Eternal Rival' has always been extremely prideful and overconfident.

"If you truly believe that, then do it!" Hiryu finally said, breaking his silence. "If you succeed, I would pay for your services myself!" Though he couldn't see his face due to the helmet the bounty hunter was wearing, the Last Strider could feel the smirk forming in Solo's face.

"So, mister Strider wants to have a bet, huh?" Solo answered back. "I'll make you regret underestimating me, Strider!"

"Talk is cheap."

"You know what isn't cheap? My contract's prize!" And with that he activated his armor, exited the window and flew away leaving Hiryu with the dumbfounded Mikiel.

"Do you think that was wise? Going after the Grandmaster's orders like that." Asked the cyborg General.

"Meio ordered for this group elimination, but he never specified when."

"Well immediately of course!" Mikiel was really taken back by the Strider's antagonistic behavior.

"I was waiting for the inevitable." Hiryu answered ominously.

"And what is that?"

And faster than you Mikiel could blink; Hiryu took out his Cypher and slashed General Mikiel with hot concentrated plasma, ending his life.

[x]

Hiryu was standing atop the tallest tower over the military compound pondering his next move.

Now that he has eliminated Mikiel earlier than ever, he couldn't fathom what can of consequences would that bring up. Not to mention this 'radical group' that was going up against Meio. Who were they? Were they a new variation that existed solely on this strange repeat of events? Or were they Striders?

That last one gave him a pause. He had been responsible for the extermination of the Striders. He couldn't believe to have ever done that, but these memories he now had told him he did.

Hiryu would never do that, no matter how angry he got with the organization after failing his sister and order him to kill her for them. But apparently he did. And for that exact same reason.

Apparently in this repeat, Mariya's brainwashing took place years before this mission against Meio was ever a thing instead of months after it. Because of this, he had been seduced by the dark powers Meio had to offer.

In exchange for eradicating the Striders and served as his top assassin, Meio would bring back his sister back to life, after his plans that he had been brewing in Kazakh City finally came to fruition.

And he remembered his did his duty with a small degree of glee and satisfaction.

All this conflicting memories made Hiryu doubt his sanity.

He knew how things were supposed to happen, but now he remembered worshiping Meio as a deity. And he could still part of that worship on the back of his mind.

What was real? What should he do?

[x]

Hiryu stood still trying to make sense of the mess that was his memories, until a big explosion on the distance caught his attention. It came from the Perimeter Wall, a wall that separated the civilian side of the city from the military complexes.

Moving purely out of instinct, Hiryu ran jumped from roof to roof and ran towards the explosion.

When he arrived, Hiryu found a scene that he wouldn't have believed in. The Three Sisters were fighting Solo in what it looked like a battle to the end.

The Sisters moved in magnificent dance-like movements but with lethal efficiency. He would know since he had been on the receiving end, but this has been the first time he had seen them from an outsider perspective. And to tell the truth, it was kind of enchanting to watch.

The fight didn't last much longer since the combined strength of the Sisters plus their impeccable teamwork meant that Solo didn't have a chance since the very beginning.

Once he knew he was done for, Solo tried to escape by flying away and fight another day; but before he could get too far, a Kunai came flying from behind of him and imbedded itself into his propulsion device that allowed him flight causing it to malfunction, sending Solo to his doom in a fiery explosion.

However, that last attack, didn't went unnoticed by one of the Sister, who quickly turned around towards the direction the Kunai flew down with her weapon ready.

"Who are you?!" said the youngest of the Sisters, Nang Pooh pointing her Fāng tiān jǐ (Sky Piercing Halberd) towards him. "Are you another one of Meio's assassins?" She asked in a cold accusatory manner.

"Well, at least this one is way cuter than that last one!" The Eldest sister, Pei Pooh, said in a carefree manner, but both of her Jizhaorui(Chicken Claw Piercers) were held tightly on her hands.

Ignoring what her sister's commentary Ton Pooh, middle sister and leader of the trio, stepped out and in front of her sisters taking the point position. "Tell us who you are and what you want or we will kill you!" She said showing that fiery temper she was known for while she prepared her single Lín jiǎo dāo (Unicorn's Horn Sword) to strike at moment's notice.

"No, I am not one of Meio's Assassins." Hiryu replied. "I am here to take him down. I assume you are here to do the same, aren't you?"

"Really? What a coincidence!" Pei visually relaxed only to be scolded by her little sister.

"Do not drop your guard; this could be some kind of trick." Nang kept her icy glare on the stranger before them watching every movement.

"I assure you, this is no trick."

"Prove it!" Ton once gain step forward anxiously ready to deliver the first blow.

Hiryu mentally sighed; he should have known trying to talk with the Winds would have resulted difficult. He only wanted to confirm if the Sisters were the so called radical group that was against Meio's tyrannical rule. And seeing their reactions and subtle body language he could tell they were that group.

Now that he knew, Hiryu pondered his next move.

He could simply leave and defeat Meio, like he always did but with the sisters running around the whole place, who knew what could happen. They could end up interfering with his fight and cause Meio to complete his plan of global scale genocide and get the four of them killed.

Eliminating them was out of the table, he couldn't bring himself to kill them despite them trying to kill him in previous repeats. He could try leaving them unconscious, but if he did that, they run a high chance of being spotted by some enemy drone and executed on the spot.

No. His only option was join forces. That way he could watch over them and make sure nothing bad happened to them and the mission.
The only problem was convincing them on his plan.

"Answer me!" Ton shouted after Hiryu's silence ticked on her nerves.

Hiryu's response was to slowly lift his right hand towards a hidden button on his facemask around where his ear was. After a small click, his facemask receded exposing his lower face and neck.

Pei showed a small smirk and whispered not so inconspicuously towards his youngest sister. "See. I told you he was a cutie."Only for Nang to glare at her with an annoyed look that said. "Really? Right now?"

Both Hiryu and Ton ignored that exchange, as Hiryu stepped closer Ton and him.

"Hey, don't step any closer or I'll kill you. I'm serious." Ton warned.

Then in a blink of an eye, Hiryu appeared directly in front Ton, as if he just suddenly teleported. And before she could even move to react, Hiryu brought the edge of her sword to his exposed neck.

"Here, now I'm at your mercy. Now look into my eyes and see if I'm lying or not." Hiryu said without a hint of fear on his voice.

Ton, not having fully recovered from the initial surprised, moved in auto-pilot and did just that. She didn't notice it before, but the color of the eyes, of the man with her sword up his neck, were a piercing red. Never before had she seen such an exotic eye color. It was mesmerizing to see. She kept staring until she heard the voice of one of her sisters.

"Ton, how much longer are you going to keep staring?" Pei complained causing her little sister to finally snap out of her spell.

Ton tried her hardest to prevent a blush from forming on her face. She couldn't believe she was stood staring like she did.

"He's not lying!" She finally said while lowering her sword, and then she turned her head away from the red eyed man to look at her sister.

"Are you sure? He could've used some sort of spell." Asked the overly cautious Nang.

"I'm sure." Despite getting lost on his eyes, Ton didn't feel any sort of deception or evil intent from the man.

"Ok, you are the leader; it is your call if we can trust this man."

"I said that he is not lying, but I never said we could trust him!" Ton then turned back and positioned her sword back up to the neck of an unmoving Hiryu. "Tell us what is it that you want from us?"

"I came here to propose an alliance; to join forces and put a stop to Meio's rule." Hiryu answered still not intimidated in the slightest.

Hiryu then proceeded to explain to them Meio's plan of Global annihilation in order to have a 'blank slate' to create he so called new and perfect humanity that were only loyal to him, and how he had find out such info.

Of course he couldn't tell them about their world repeating over and over again the same events, so he just vague explanations and half truths for them to believe him. Hiryu, being the trained Strider that he was, never faltered under the scrutinizing eyes of the Sisters.

"If half of what you said is true, then this mission is more dangerous than we initially thought." Pei said unnerved at the prospect of facing a literal god in combat. She always thought that the stories about Meio were exaggerated tales in order to keep the population under his control.

"Yes, but if we retreat now, the whole world would come to an end and humanity will become extinct." Nang tried to keep her emotion under control, but fear kept crawling into her voice.

"So, we are hopeless then." Ton continued where her sisters left off and admitted defeat.

"No!"

That is until Hiryu shouted and snapped them out of their stupor.

"We can still fight, and bring Meio down. But only if we do this together." Well, technically he could do it all on his own, but he could risk on an unknown outcome if he left the three of them at their own devices.

"How can you be so sure?" Ton asked barely clinging into hope for the future.

"Because…I am a Strider!"

That caused all of the Sisters to gasp in surprised.

"I thought they were eradicated by Meio!" Nang pointed out cynically almost making Hiryu wince.

"No. He ordered his forces to eliminate the Strider, because he was afraid of them stopping him before he could achieve his goal." Hiryu lied. But it was necessary, he needed them to be focused and not fall into despair. "I was there when it happened, and now I'm the last of the Striders."

And truth to be told, Hiryu could see light returning into their eyes. He just needed to give them another push.

"I can defeat Meio and bring his era of tyranny down, but I need all the help I can get. Let us join forces to put a stop to this mad man."
Then Hiryu finished with something his sister Miraya would say to him.

"I believe in you."

In an instant he could feel the fire in their eyes burn brighter with determination.

"Yes, let's!" Ton declared with power. "God or not we will put an end to Meio once and for all!" Then she felt the hand of her sister Nang rest on her shoulder.

"If you go to battle, I shall follow you." Nang said. "You are our leader, but more importantly you are my sister."

Not to be left out, Pei also spoke her piece. "Don't count me out. I will not let my litter sisters out there with her big sister with them."

And with that the tree sister shared the moment with a smile.

Hiryu not being one for such scenes, especially when they involved his enemies who he had caused their death many times before, activated his face mask once more.

"Come! Let us not waste more time." Hiryu turned around from the scene and prepared to leave.

"Wait a second Strider!" Ton stopped him. "You haven't told us your name."

The Strider remained silent for a few seconds and said.

"Hiryu. Special-A Class Strider Hiryu."