Kamen Rider W NEVER Stratos: A New Mission, Shadow of Justice.

"So...why are we here again?" Shiro asked his surrogate brother. He and Katsumi were in the building's artillery room with a variety of basic combat weapons. Ranging from trench knives to combat knives, wakizashis, katanas, short swords, broadswords, rifles, machine guns, shotguns, pistols and more. But it only has conventional weapons.

"Right now, we are simply looking for a weapon that you are most suited for. How's this?" Katsumi handed the younger Necro-Over a Winchester rifle.

The boy weighed the firearm in his hands, but he just couldn't get a comfortable feel from it. The weapon's size was large than his small frame. As a result, he shook his head no.

"Then how about this crossbow?"

"Not quite. It feels awkward using it. Plus the reloading time takes too long." The boy declined with good reason.

"Well, maybe this?" Katsumi handed him a trench knife.

The undead boy felt the weight of the blade in his hands. While it was better than the last two, it still wasn't good enough. "Nope." He placed the knife back onto the table and chose to look around the remaining weapons. His eyes were trained on the chisa katana. The blade was shorter than the average katana, but the handle was the same size. Without thinking, he grasped the sword and lifted it up.

"I don't know why...but holding this feels...right." Shiro examined the Japanese style sword further. He pulled the blade out of its sheathe and made a few test swings off the sword. While it was the first time he remembered wielded such a weapon, using it felt more...natural than the rest.

After choosing a weapon, Katsumi brought Shiro into another room to test his combat. The younger Necro-Over thought he was going to practice with the sword, but what Katsumi did next confused him. He handed the boy a Glock and instructed him to shoot the targets on the far end of the room, which were adjusted to match Shiro's height. In a fluid motion, the boy picked up the gun and removed the safety. While most kids wouldn't even know about the safety, the child removed it as if it were common knowledge. This action piqued Katsumi's interest even more.

He had chosen this boy specifically as another member of the Necro-Over project. He had done some research on the boy using underground information brokers. Only one knew of the child's origins and passed the information onto Katsumi. The info dealer was tracked down and captured a week later. Apparently, she used to work as an attendant for one of the Clan's heirs. And by selling information, she was enacting treason against the household and was imprisoned until her judgment came.

They are a clan who plans for world domination. But recently they are partaking in underground operations starting when a new head on the leadership of the clan when the previous one fell ill. Unlike other clans, their existence is only known to a very few people. The information broker he met was most likely the only one in the world who knew of them.

'Based on his movement and actions, it just becomes more evidence that he was part of the Orimura clan.'

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

Katsumi smirked when he saw that Shiro was hitting the targets dead center. He was right after all. The boy had potential, and obviously had some training beforehand; but it's only a muscle memory now. Despite his shooting skills, The NEVER knew that the boy wasn't a killer despite his past life training, as he only aimed for the center and not the vital areas of the body.

"That's enough." Katsumi said. As told Shiro stopped shooting, replaced the safety on the Glock, and set it down.

"You have decent aim for a kid." He complimented the boy.

"Thank you." Shiro gave a shadow of a smile, acknowledging his new surrogate brother's compliment. He had no idea how, but when he was shooting the humanoid shaped targets, he felt some sort of nostalgia.

"Now for your next text in combat." Katsumi instructed Shiro to strike/cut down all the targets in the room using only his chisa katana, which he exchanged for the Glock in the boy's hands, in a set amount of time. Which was 5 minutes. There.

The boy stood by, sword in hand, as training dummies were positioned all around the room. He shifted into a sword stance and drew his chisa katana.

"Begin!"

In one fluid motion, Shiro rushed towards the nearest target and slashed it diagonally in half. He moved onto the second one and stabbed it through the stomach before bringing the blade down and tore through its lower half. The rest wen through the same process: cleave, stab, slash, rend, tear apart. These were the repeating actions Shiro executed as he struck down his targets. While his mind couldn't understand how he performed these feats, it just felt natural to him. While Katsumi was impressed of this feat, he noticed that the cuts were too clean, as if he subconsciously avoided the crippling vital areas, such as the joints.

With two minutes to spare, Shiro had sliced each training dummy into two pieces. With a soft click, he re-sheathed his weapon.

Katsumi clapped at the boy's skill. "Excellent. Your skill with a sword, I must say, is superior to your skill with firearms."

Shiro just nodded. As he was still confused on how he was able to do all of this. 'Just who was I in my past life?' But his thoughts were interrupted as Katsumi spoke.

"Now for your last combat test..." Shiro waited for him to continue, but Katsumi just pulled out a combat knife and readied it in his hands. "Actual combat."

The boy fell into a stance of his own with his sword drawn and rested on his shoulder. "Let's go."

Shiro made the first move as he closed the distance quickly and swung at Katsumi's extended arm. The Necro-Over parried it with his knife as he side stepped and rammed the but of his weapon into the boy's ribs. However, Shiro didn't even flinch as he stood his ground and twisted Katsumi's wrist, causing him the drop the knife. Shiro aimed for a downward slash at the unarmed man, but Katsumi dropped down and kicked Shiro's feet from underneath him and knocked him off balance. The older NEVER lunged for his fallen weapon and picked it up.

"You're doing pretty good so far." Katsumi complimented.

"Thank you."

"However, it's still not over." The elder Daido lunged forward and was bringing his knife down to cleave through Shiro's upper torso, but the boy brought up his chisa katana and blocked the smaller blade with the flat of the sword and pushed it away. Seeing this chance, Shiro rushed in as he prepared a slashing motion. The undead adult noticed this and readied his knife in anticipation of the upcoming attack. The boy swung his chisa katana, and Katsumi brought his combat knife up to block it. But just before Shiro could make contact, he vanished out of sight. The Necro-Over tried to get his bearings in order to detect where the child would strike next. But before he could think more, Shiro was already behind him. He turned around failed to react in time as Shiro sliced through Katsumi's torso, stretching from his right shoulder to his left hip, and left a rather deep wound. A large red line was left from the attack as blood continued to trickle from the cut.

'That sword movement...It's not a simple matter of swinging it around. It seems like part of an actual sword style.' Katsumi deduced.

However, Katsumi didn't even register the pain as he continued the fight. He stepped in, but evaded Shiro's attack as he moved around and slashed the boy across the back.

Shiro simply flinched at the sharp pain as he performed a backslash. Katsumi simply jumped back as he expected the upcoming move. Both adopted siblings faced one another, weapons at ready. However, Katsumi just dropped his stance saying, "I think that is enough for right now."

The undead child relaxed his form as well.

"Now Shiro, I want you to practice hand to hand combat." Katsumi said as they moved to a different part of the training room, this one with more open space.

"Okay." Shiro answered as he got into a fighting stance.

"Let's go." Katsumi started off with a spin back kick, which Shiro caught, but it knocked him back. Katsumi threw a hard punch top Shirou's head, dislocating his neck in the process. As the young boy fell down, Katsumi just stared at the body, knowing it wasn't going to kill him. And sure enough, Shiro began to move as he slowly stood up, grabbed his head with both hand, and proceeded to pop it back into place.

"Gah! Man, that was pretty uncomfortable." Shiro grunted as he rolled his neck.

"You get used to it after a while. Let's continue."

They charged in at one another to trade blows. Shiro went for a spinning back kick, but Katsumi just grabbed his leg and flipped him over. The young boy landed on his feet and as he jumped back up and threw out a right hook to the face. Again, Katsumi caught it, but Shiro followed up by headbutting him in the face, causing him to stagger as Shiro finished it with a strong side kick, sending the older Daido crashing into the wall.

The young Daido ran up to his surrogate brother as the battle ended. "Are you okay, Nii-san?"

"Yeah, that was a pretty good move otouto." Katsumi complimented as he stood up.

They continued another bout of sparring. But just as Shiro was about to land a punch, his head had begun to throb. He stopped his attack mid-swing and clutched his head in an attempted to dull the agony.

"Otouto, what's wrong?" Katsumi went by his surrogate brother's side.

Shiro however, couldn't hear his words as his mind drifted towards a different setting. His mind painted an image of what appeared to be a doctor, a young woman in her late teens or early twenties with long black hair. The presumed doctor and woman were having a conversation...

"I'd say your brother Ichika is steadily recovering, Orimura-san. However, he is suffering a big case of memory loss." The doctor explained.

"What do you mean?" Chifuyu questioned.

"He still remembers his friends, but has no recollection of anything before meeting them. It is most likely trauma induced amnesia. He must take this medicine to keep away the nightmares. The mental strain could be too much for him to handle if he doesn't." The doctor gave Chifuyu a bottle of yellow serum.

"This amount should last for a few months. When you run out, be sure to pick up a new supply here as soon as possible. Understand?"

"Of course doctor. Thank you." Chifuyu then picked up Ichika, who was sitting in a wheelchair due to him still recovering from his injuries, and left the hospital.

And with that, the image slowly faded to black.

"...ro. Oi! Shiro! Shiro! Are you okay?" Katsumi shook Shiro in an attempt to snap him out of the trance he is in.

"Y-yeah. I'm alright."

"What exactly happened?" Maria asked.

"I-I...don't know. For a moment there, I thought I was watching a different scene. But I don't know the people there. They said something about...medicine? It was for a boy that looked like me."

Both Katsumi and Maria were surprised. She was slightly troubled upon this revelation. "Could this be a side effect from the cloning process?" She muttered to herself. "I'll have to look into this further."

She then whispered to Katsumi her hypothesis, which Shiro couldn't overhear. The elder Necro-Over nodded upon her words.

"Alright mother. Otouto, that is enough for today. We will begin your official training regimen tomorrow.

"Yes."

"Hey Nii-san, what is this?" Shiro picked up a small wooden box on the desk after they entered the room.

"Oh, that? ...It was something I made when I was alive, but it's nothing to me anymore."

Shiro opened it and turned the small handle at the side, as it played a small tune. "I like the melody."

"Hmph."

"It was very skilled of you to make this, Nii-san."

"Thanks, but like I said," Katsumi took the box and threw it over his shoulder. "It is nothing to me anymore."

Shiro just frowned. "Even if we will lose our pasts, and even if we don't need them to continue on, don't you think we should keep the reminders of how we used to be? Because unlike you, I have absolutely nothing from my past life."

Katsumi just stayed silent for a moment before answering, "That may be, but we shouldn't indulge too much into our pasts, as we have to create our own future. Don't worry. You were given this life for a reason."

Shiro remained quiet. Letting the words sink in. Then his eyes were trained onto another object on the table top: a harmonica.

"What is this?" He gently picked the instrument up.

"That is another piece of my past. For some reason, playing a certain tune on that calms me down." The older man explained.

"...Can I try?" The undead boy asked with curiosity.

"Knock yourself out."

Shiro pressed the instrument to his lips and slowly began to play.

Song Played- Always with you (from Spirited Away)

For the next two minutes, Katsumi listened with mild wonder from the melody that brought some ease to his heart. It gave him a sense of nostalgia, something he hasn't felt in years since his revival. It was a foreign, yet comforting feeling. He couldn't help but smile at his adopted brother's ability.

The sound carried throughout the rest of the building, allowing Maria Daido to hear the tune as well. The song reminded her of Katsumi before he became a Necro-Over, and how he loved playing the harmonica. The joyful memories made her shed a tear out of longing for those wonderful days.

The tempo of the music slowed, until it eventually stopped.

Song End.

"How was that?" Shiro asked.

"...It was a wonderful melody. I sense the free-spirited feeling from it. Do you remember learning to play it?"

"I'm...not sure. When I took the harmonica, my body was moving on its own. Maybe it was another muscle memory."

"Well, I'm sure you will be able to keep that song in mind. It's a precious piece of your lost it with you, and use it to direct yourself to your future." Katsumi advised.

After about a week, it was time for the two NEVERs to begin their presentation to have the NEVER project accepted by Foundation X. They arranged the order like this: Katsumi was to participate in each test first, then Shiro. This was done in order to prove that the NEVER project also works from children. Particularly to signal out the differences between someone who has been a NEVER for five years, and one who has been a NEVER for only one to two months, at most.

Test 1: Endurance.

Both Katsumi and Shiro stood in front of the Foundation X researchers to be tested on their abilities. Their first test was to determine if conventional weapons would have any affect on them. Katsumi went first.

The researchers retrieved what appeared to be a cannon from the far end of the room and aimed it at Katsumi. With a press of a button, a large weight was shot at the older Daido with enough force to shatter a man's rib cage.

"Urgh!" Upon impact, Katsumi's body crashed to the ground, and appeared to have lost consciousness. However, barely a moment later, his fingers moved as he opened his eyes. He then immediately stood up, not minding the fact his ribs were fragmented. The operator brought out a machine gun next as he begun to shoot Katsumi. However, despite the number of bullets embedding themselves into his flesh, he merely shrugged it off.

For the final test in weaponry, A young woman brought out what appeared to be a large suit of mechanical armor. It was black and had a katana-like weapon at its side; it also appeared to have wings. The entire piece of technology doesn't seem to cover the users entire body, but only parts of it.

Katsumi never expected to go up against an actual IS. But he soon smiled, deeming this to be interesting.

The same woman who brought out the IS proceeded to enter the cockpit and activate the machine. Some parts of the suit shifted as the wings and parts of the armor folded out.

Katsumi just stood his ground and said, "Let's do this."

The Uchigane model flew forward using its wings and boosters to propel itself while it raised its weapon. As soon as its target was within range, the woman swung her sword down in an attempt to cleave the NEVER in half. The attack struck, and the older NEVER was sent flying to the far side of the room. He hit the wall hard and crashed onto the floor. It was miracle his body was still in one piece after facing a super weapon like the IS. However, there was a large gash across his left collarbone all the way down past his right hip.

"NII-SAN!" Shiro cried as he saw his surrogate brother's current state. But to his relief, Katsumi had begun to move. He rolled over so that he was lying face down and pushed himself up, not minding the fact there was a large wound across his torso as it continued to bleed.

"Phew...He's fine." Shiro sighed in relief.

"Of course I am, otouto. We have immortal bodies remember?" Katsumi reminded as he walked towards his family.

"Yeah, but against a super weapon like the IS, I couldn't help but worry." he retorted.

"Don't worry, those gadgets can't kill us. Now, it's your turn."

The observers had begun to write down their findings as the younger walked up for his own test.

After Katsumi, a cannon was aimed and pointing straight at Shiro. The operator carefully took aim as the weapon's barrel was aligned with Shirou's torso, and fired.

"Guragh!" Shirou cried from the impact equaling to be slammed by truck at full speed. The force of the impact also cracked his ribs. He crashed down to the floor. For a few seconds, he was lying there unmoving. However, his fingers began to twitch as his eyes snapped open. He propped himself up to stand quickly, as if he wasn't hurt in the first place. "Is that all there was?" he questioned casually.

Apparently, it wasn't over since the tester brought out a Gatling turret next.

"Oh...well, this may sting." Shiro mused. The weapon of mass destruction begun to rapidly shoot a barrage of bullets at the young NEVER. Every projectile made its mark as numerous holes leaking blood covered Shiro's body, but he was still able to move like normal due to his immortal body. While it had stung, Shiro felt no other pain besides that. Another weapon was rendered useless against the NEVER project. The observers scribbled down notes as the elderly man in a suit next to them seemed interested.

Now...it was time to face the IS. The same woman who used the weapon against Katsumi was using against Shiro as well. However, instead of using the IS's main weapon like with Katsumi, the woman is just using the suit's gauntlets. Shiro frowned from the fact that he was being underestimated. So he spoke up.

"Hey, instead of taking it easy on me just because I'm a kid, use that sword."

The woman was surprised at his instruction, so he glanced at the other researchers for help. They simply nodded as if confirming the decision. Rather reluctantly, she pulled out Uchigane's main weapon. She then entered the same stance she used earlier. A moment later, she lunged forward and slashed Shiro right across the chest, tearing through the flesh like a knife through butter.

The young NEVER was thrown back from the force of of the strike and slammed into the back wall of the room. The attack also exposed the ivory structure of his rib cage, which was dyed crimson from his own blood. He laid flat on the floor, as still as a corpse. The researchers were about to deem this subject to be a failure, but the NEVER begun to move. He slowly pushed himself up and shakily stood on his own feet. The skin on his chest was still cut open, and he appeared to be in major discomfort. However, he simply gritted his teeth and bared through the pain.

The Foundation X researchers were impressed he was still mobile, so they wrote their observations and data. Shiro made his way over to his adopted family. Unfortunately, as he made his way over the skin on some parts of his body, particularly his torso, were squirming and moving in an irregular fashion, as if they were becoming unstable. It meant that his cells were beginning to break down.

Shiro, Katsumi, and Maria took notice of this as he drew closer. "Mother, the serum." Katsumi said.

"Right." The professor took out the metal case and opened it, revealing several vials of the cell maintenance enzyme. She grabbed a single container and placed it into the injector. As Shiro stopped in front of them, Maria handed him the injector. Knowing what this meant, the young NEVER took the device and pressed it against his pectoral, where most of the damage was. He pulled the trigger and felt the soothing liquid flow into his system, repairing the damage that was done to his body as green lights danced around his flesh.

"Much better." Shiro said. "Nii-san, you should take some of this enzyme as well." He gestured to the elder NEVER's damaged body.

"Thanks." Katsumi said as he took his own dose of the enzyme.

The Foundation X researchers then took both NEVER subjects for the next test.

Next: Fighting prowess.

After discovering that conventional weapons were rendered useless against a NEVER, the researchers decided to test their physical ability.

Katsumi went up first. His opponents were two men that appeared to be wearing black skeletal masks. However, they were deemed to be Masquerade dopants. Katsumi was doing well in evading their attacks, as well as landing a few heavy hits.

"Come and get it." Katsumi taunted. Taking the bait, both men plunged their knives straight into Katsumi's body, right into the vital organs.

However, instead of dying, Katsumi just laughed. He then pushed his opponents off and smiled, that their attacks are useless. Aggravated, one of the dopants lashed out a spinning roundhouse kick right at Katsumi's neck, causing it to bend at a 90 degree angle to the left as the back of his head was touching the front of his right shoulder. Both men believed their opponent to be dead since his neck was snapped. But to their surprise and shock, Katsumi just grabbed his head with both hands and bent it back into place. Soon enough, the first trial had ended.

After Katsumi was finished, it was Shiro's turn to fight against the masked men. One charged in swinging his knife around while the other just shot a barrage of bullets with a machine gun. However, Shiro rushed in and grabbed the arm that held the knife and snapped it. With a cry, the dopant dropped the knife as his wrist was broken. Shiro wasn't finished as he grabbed the man's other arm and dislocated it before kicking him aside. "Come on, is that all you have?"

Enraged at this child's taunting, one of them lashed out a strong punch to Shiro's head, causing it to snap backwards to the point of his occipital lobe was touching his spine. He stood still for a moment, before grabbing his head, and pushing it back up into place with a series of pops and cracks.

"Let's continue." Shiro then picked up the knife from the ground and twirled it around in his fingers. He then ran forward towards the first masked man and struck him in the temple with the base of the knife. He followed up with an uppercut into the man's sternum, causing him to bend down in pain as Shiro elbowed him in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious. He turned around to face the other one, only to see him swing the machine gun like a club. The masked man struck the gun across Shiro's back quite heavily, as his spine was severed. Shiro toppled to the floor with a portion of his vertebrae jutting out quite awkwardly. Thinking that it was over, the man turned to leave, only to hear a small grunt behind him.

He quickly turned around to see Shiro using his hands to push the jutting bone in his spine back into place. With a nauseating pop, the deed was done. The man then became quite fearful. Even though he appeared young, this child was a monster in his perspective. While seeing this moment of hesitation as an opening, the child charged in and sent a sweep kick to knock the man of balance before kicking him in the throat as he fell. Soon enough, both men were taken down by the young NEVER. He quietly walked up to his surrogate brother and mother as the elderly man walked past to give his presentation. His clothes were slightly battered, particularly his shirt being in shreds from being attacked with bullets and knives.

"Looks like we're going to win this," Katsumi said. Upon saying that, the elder man opened his briefcase to reveal numerous USB drives that had a rib cage casing and various letters of certain shapes engraved on. He took out a USB drive that had a 'T' that looked like a screaming face and pressed the button.

"TERROR!"

A mechanical voice yelled out. All three members of the Daido family turned around to see where it came from, and saw a horrifying monster. It had black skin and a gold skull with tentacles on its torso and wore a black and silver belt with an orange buckle and a red robe around its waist. It wore a mask that had a white eyepiece and a gold mouth piece. There was also a large blue headpiece with a yellow cape flowing from the back of it.

"What is that?" Shiro questioned.

"…GaiaMemory…" The monstrosity proclaimed. The observing staff seemed greatly intrigued by this phenomenon as they directed their full attention towards it.

"That is some tough competition." Shiro stated.

"But NEVER is far superior," Katsumi assured. "Don't worry otouto."

A few weeks later…

Katsumi and Shiro were walking towards the former's car, which was a sleek, blue convertible, after Shirou bought some ice cream. As soon as they were within a few feet of the vehicle, a woman wearing a white business outfit showed up folding a folder. They immediately realized they were from Foundation X since all of its workers wore all white.

The woman that held the folder walked up to Katsumi and handed it to him. He opened it up to see that it was the report on the NEVER project. Curious, Shiro also looked at it. However, he frowned at what he saw since across the front page are large, bright red, office print letters that said: REJECTION.

Unnerved by this, Katsumi tossed the file behind his back and grabbed the woman by the collar of her jacket.

"It's not over yet…" he said. He then pushed the woman aside as Shiro followed. Katsumi got into the driver's seat while Shiro sat in the passenger seat.

"The NEVERs' battle has only begun…" Katsumi started.

"And we don't plan on losing it either…" Shiro finished as he ate the last of his ice cream.

And with that note, they drove off and left the Foundation X worker standing there.

Months have passed since their rejection, and NEVER sought out to recruit more comrades for their ideals.

BANG!

A gunshot was made. And the sound of a body falling to the ground could be heard in the gas station.

"D-Damn brat! You got in the way!" The convict shouted. The target of the bullet was supposed to be the main gas tank in the station. The shooter aimed to kill everyone here since he was already surrounded and his hostage situation was useless. However, the young boy he had captive jumped in front of the bullet's trail to stop it. He had sacrificed his own life to save many more.

"Get him!" The police tackled the man to the ground, and twisted the gun out of him hands. The perpetrator didn't even react, as he was still spooked at the face of the one he shot. The smile and words of the ten year old boy continued to infest his mind. Even when he was dying of a fatal wound, he had the guts to give him a smile. But the facial expression was anything but positive. On the contrary, it was completely grim. As if it had belonged to the Reaper himself. The killer was unable to get the memory out of his head as the child's smile remained burned into his mind.

The police radioed an ambulance to take the body away as they shoved the culprit into the backseat of the car. As soon as they knew the man was secure, they started up the car and drove off, the siren blared loudly.

A few short moments later, an ambulance pulled up to the scene of the murder, and a single man got out from the driver seat. Many would think the man was an ordinary hospital worker, but the blue streak in his dark hair and knife holster attached to his hip made his identity quite obvious to some. Especially with the certain uniform the man was wearing.

He walked over to the child's corpse, taking in his open, empty eyes and grim smile on his face. As if promising the killer misfortune for the remainder of their lives.

"I gotta admit kid; I like that smile you have." Katsumi was able to read the true meaning behind that single facial expression. An unusual type of mindset for one so young. "Your profile was right. You are indeed interesting, Seth Tamonten. Looks like it was the right decision choosing you as our next member." Katsumi was about to pick up the corpse until someone interrupted.

"Hold it right there!" An arrogant female voice shouted.

Calmly, Katsumi turned around to the source of the sudden noise. Before him were 5 women dressed in similar uniforms. The sets of clothing are made up of a white shirt underneath a black blazer paired up with black combat shorts, followed up with black combat boots. Each article of clothing saves for the white shirt and boots had shades of gray lining the fabric. They all stood in a certain V-formation, with one who would be presumed as the leader, in the front.

The woman in front was Japanese with black hair in a short bob cut and cold, calculating dark eyes. The first woman to her left looked to be Australian with long, light-brown hair and blue eyes. The one on the far left had artificial streaks of blue in her strawberry-blonde hair and red eyes; Katsumi assumed her nationality was Russian. The woman on the leader's right had a dark complexion, most likely a spray tan, with dark brown hair that reached her shoulders and dark eyes. Her background seemed to be American. Finally, the woman on the far right looked to be Hispanic with her black tied into a braid and dark eyes that seemed devoid of emotion.

"And who are you exactly?" Katsumi asked the women in black, not really caring who they are.

"It doesn't concern you. We are here for Seth Tamonten." The Japanese woman declared.

"Unfortunately, you arrived too late. He is dead." This statement perturbed the women since their orders were to take the child alive.

"However, I will be taking him with me." He replied as he hoisted the body onto his shoulder.

"Why? You said yourself he is dead. What use do you have for a corpse?" The American asked.

"That is a secret."

"Well, I am sorry, but we can't let you run free. So, we're going to kill you." The leader said as the other women behind her activated their own IS units. If they couldn't take Seth, then at least they could take their anger out by killing someone.

If only they knew that they would be facing Hell soon enough.

"Oh? So I take it that you are Phantom Task. I've been expecting you. You have some information that I need. And I apologize in advance, but you won't be killing me." Katsumi grinned as he placed Seth's body onto the ground.

"Don't get cocky you bastard." The impulsive strawberry-blonde pilot said as she flew in quickly and raised her arm to punch him. However, a mere moment before the point of impact, Katsumi just caught the punch. This feat shocked the grunt troops.

"What the Hell!? How are you able to do that?"

"Sorry, but these toys won't work on me." Katsumi then unsheathed his weapon, which appeared to be a mechanized knife. He pressed the button as the blade begun to whir with energy as it was activated. He was wielding an Anti-IS dagger. He managed to purchase one along with Shiro's Anti-IS sword. The weapons that both NEVERs possess were created to help men combat against the IS. Although there was more gun type weapons made then blade types since it was difficult to fight a super weapon at close range. However, close combat weapons were created just in case. Ironically, these weapons also had shield piercing abilities, meaning that they are able to harm the pilot even if they still have shield energy.

"Do you expect to defeat us with that puny dagger?" The Hispanic pilot mocked.

"Yes. Yes I do." Katsumi said as he charged in.

However, the tanned woman got behind him as she backhanded him straight into a building. Some pieces of debris fell from the wall as it collapsed onto Katsumi.

The Phantom Task operatives had deemed him dead. "Heh, so pathetic. Did he really think he would stand a chance against us?" The other women laughed, until sounds of shuffling were heard from the rubble. They drew their attention to the broken bricks as the NEVER stood up, only with his arm dislocated and bent in a reverse angle and his neck was rotated about 150 degrees.

The IS pilots were surprised. But that feeling grew to shock as they witnessed Katsumi twist his head back around with a single crack using his good arm. He then popped his shoulder back into place and fixed his elbow by bending it the other way.

"Wh-wh-wh-What the FUCK!?" The leader cried. All of them were astonished on how their opponent survived, and didn't die from having his neck snapped. It's safe to say, not even Tabane Shinonono's genetically enhanced body is able to survive through feats like that.

"Told you that you couldn't kill me." Katsumi took this chance in their hesitation to close in on the nearest pilot, which was the strawberry blonde. He jumped up to the point they were face to face….and stabbed his AIS(Anti-IS) Knife right between the eyes. He yanked it out then he jumped back as the corpse crashed to the ground.

"Next…"

"You bastard! You just killed my sex friend." The Australian girl who yelled charged in.

'So she's a lesbian?' Katsumi just jumped back and sidestepped her attack. He then moved behind her and switched his AIS knife to a backhand grip. He then pressed the blade against the pilot's neck and pulled his arm back. He watched the blood spurt from the headless body like a geyser as the head fell to the ground.

"Next…" Katsumi called out in a bored tone. The Hispanic woman, falling for the taunt, flew in with a spear whipped out to cleave Katsumi in two. However, as the weapon was about a foot away from him, the man just grabbed the weapon by its shaft, stopping the pilot's momentum.

The NEVER then spun the short blade in his hand once before hacking the woman's arm off at the elbow.

"Kyah!" The woman shrieked in pain, her eyes drawn to the bloody stump. However, her experience was short lived as Katsumi jumped onto her IS by the cockpit and rammed his AIS knife into the pilot's ribcage, straight into the heart. He yanked his arm up as his blade tore through the Hispanic woman's flesh. He jumped off the machine as it collapsed behind him.

Now all that was left was to deal with the leader and the American brunette, the latter of which sent out a barrage of bullets from a Gatling gun mounted on her IS's shoulder. A good number of them struck Katsumi, but the NEVER just ignored it. But it did catch his attention as Katsumi's target was now the American pilot.

He charged in, paying no mind to the hailstorm of bullets that was aimed towards him. As soon as he got within a few meters radius of her, the brunette had begun to panic.

"S-stay way!" she cried, desperate to flee from the immortal. But with a single leap, he was already in front of her.

"Too late." Katsumi smirked as her sliced the woman's head in half with a single stroke. The upper portion sliding off as the gray matter, which was the pilot's brain, splashed onto the concrete.

Another one down. One more left. The lead woman just scoffed in disappointment from the performance of her troops.

"Tch. Those weaklings. If you want something done right, do it yourself." She growled.

"Unfortunately, you are going to meet the same fate as them. But not before I get what I want from you." Katsumi stated as he twirled the hilt of his AIS Knife around.

"You think I'll submit to an inferior like you?" The leader roared as a thin blade on her forearm extended.

"No, but I will be the one taking you down." He smirked.

"Don't get cocky!" The Phantom Task operative roared, her rage blinding her took out her weapon which was an energy blade sword and starting hacking away like a berserker. Katsumi, easily evaded her attacks, which had become sloppy and unfocused. "Hold still!" Just as she was about to finish and overhead swing, the NEVER sidestepped and grabbed her weapon arm.

He rammed the blade of his AIS knife into a pressure point in her elbow, causing her to scream in agony and drop her weapon. As he let go, the now useless limb fell lifelessly at her side. Katsumi quickly closed in further and cut through the core of the IS, destroying it. He discovered the location of where the cores were located after doing some research with Shiro and his armor of the super weapon crumbled as a device that resembled a choker fell off the woman's neck. Said device was the IS's dormant form, which was destroyed when the core was destroyed.

"Now tell me…Where are you holding Ayano Kosaka?" Katsumi grabbed the fallen woman by the collar of her shirt.

"Kuh, what the hell do you want that brat for?"

"That's for me to know…"

"Well, you won't get anything out of me. I am not going to tell you that we are holding her captive in a safe house in a forest in Shinjuku." The Japanese woman grinned arrogantly, unaware of her verbal mistake.

"Thanks for the info you just blurted out."

"Oh crap! I was thinking out loud again!" The woman panicked. But it ceased when Katsumi stabbed his knife into the back of her skull. He let go of the body as it fell to the ground with a soft thud.

"Heh so weak, even with their super weapons." Katsumi said. He took notice that his cells were starting to break down again. So he injected another dose of the serum to repair his body. After the deed was done, he slung the body onto his shoulder, got back into the ambulance and drove off. And not a moment too soon; police cars, media, and other ambulances had appeared on the scene a bit later.

Seth Tamonten used to live a normal life going to school, hanging out with friends and playing video games with his free time. He was making a few friends that he knew he could trust and doing fine in school. He had plans for becoming a detective when he got older cleaning up the streets from scum that caused problems and crime.

But that dream ended with that one incident when he walked past a gas station and was grabbed by a man that was running out of the store. The man held a gun to his head while police wisely stayed back with their weapons trained on the deranged criminal.

Seth instead of crying or struggling like a child his age would, stayed calm think the police officers will do something about like any young child will think at first. But the situation deteriorated when the man pulled him closer to the gas pump threatening to shoot the gas pump to set it off killing anyone that was too close if the officers didn't let him go. Seth on the other noticed that the suspect's grip had loosened on him.

Taking that chance he quickly slipped out of the man's grip which set off the time bomb that was the deranged man. Seeing his only chance of escaping alive the man pointed the gun at the gas pump before depressing the trigger. Instead of an explosion there was the sound of a small body hitting the ground. Seth did what only heroes will do in a movie to save someone else, take the bullet himself or risk a gas explosion that killed or injured more lives. As he laid there on the ground bleeding from the wound that had pieced his heart, Seth gave the man a grim smile. A smile that would be burned into the mind of that man that had killed him as the officers dragged the deranged man away. All he heard was the sirens of the ambulance trying to get to the scene on time, before his vision faded to black and the sound stopped.

The next thing Seth realized was waking up in a strange room, unaware that there were other people present.

"What happened to me? I just took a bullet to the heart, I shouldn't even be alive." Indeed, the boy felt his heart beat slow down and stop. "Was I given life support in time?" he wondered.

"Why did you jump in front of the bullet instead of escaping when you had the chance?" a voice asked.

"Huh?" Seth turned to the source and saw Katsumi, Shiro, and Maria.

"Who are you guys?"

"Answer my question. Why did you choose to take the bullet?" Katsumi pressed.

"…Even if I managed to run, that psycho's bullet would've hit the gas tank creating an explosion that would've killed me anyways. But mostly because every other person that was there would've shared the same fate." Seth answered.

"What about your goal in life? Wouldn't that have mattered to you?" Shiro asked.

"My goal in life was taken away the moment I was shot. I would do anything to become the person that could clean up the streets even if it means I would have to become darkness itself to drag those bloodthirsty fiends into the black abyss to wander for eternity." Seth spoke with resolve.

Katsumi, upon hearing these words, smiled. "That is a good conviction you have, Tamonten. Especially for one so young."

Then the question reappeared to his mind how as he still alive."Alright, I have questions. How am I alive? Who are you guys? And what did you inject into my arm?"

"No, you are not alive. You definitely died." Shiro stated.

"What do you mean I died? If I died, when how come I'm still alive?" Seth retorted frustratingly.

"You're not exactly alive, more like undead."

"What do you mean?" Seth asked again, the curiosity was just killing him. He just wanted to know the answer.

"We mean that you were already dead when we found you. But we took you back here and resurrected you by injecting this serum into your arm. And if you don't take this cell maintenance enzyme regularly, you will go back to being a corpse." Katsumi explained as he held up a small vial of the liquid. Seth gazed at it with wide eyes.

'A liquid like that is capable of reviving the dead?' he wondered in amazement.

"You have a choice: either go back to being dead, or join us as a member of NEVER. With us, your goal will be completed." Katsumi held up the black and red jacket out to the ten year old.

"…" The newly revived NEVER was silent as he took a few moments to process this. Before the offer was made to Seth about his position right now, without the injections he will just become a corpse again. He was given a second chance at life after he selflessly sacrificed his own life just before awaking again. The only question that remained in his head when accepted the offer was, what was there to lose?

"I accept." He answered without hesitation. They all smiled as professor Maria placed a set of clothes for Seth since he was only in his underwear at the moment.

"Welcome to the team. We should get you a weapon you are most suitable first mission is very soon." Katsumi replied as he and Shiro moved over to a weapons rack on the far wall of the room.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…what do mean soon? Shouldn't we get to training first?"

"No time. We have someone to save from Phantom Task. Our mission is to retrieve her from a safe house in Shinjuku." Shiro answered.

"Phantom Task? You mean that rumored underground organization? We're up against them?" Seth was astonished.

"Yep. Now's your chance to fulfill your goal. Or is your resolve beginning to waver?" Katsumi said.

"Don't be ridiculous. I won't let an evil organization such as Phantom Task to exist." Seth claimed with conviction.

"Glad to hear that. Now which weapon would you like?" Shiro gestured to the dozens of weapon on hand. Seth's attention was drawn toward a set of twin semi-automatic pistols, firearms and explosives on the wall.

"I'll go with those." Shiro looked to where Seth was looking and smiled as he retrieved the weapons.

"Any particular reason?" Katsumi inquired.

"I'm pretty good with them at the Fair stands." Seth answered.

"Well, you made an excellent choice. Explosives are always awesome. And you've chosen good firearms: Semi-automatic pistols, machine guns, and an Anti-IS assault rifle. Against a group like Phantom Task, you'll need weapons like these." Shiro said as he had begun packing the weapons away.

Seth had finished getting dressed in black military pants, a t-shirt, and the NEVER Jacket. "Thanks. But could you fill me in more about this mission?"

"I'll explain on the way." Shiro answered.

"How do we get there exactly?" The newest NEVER inquired, slinging the duffel bag over his shoulder.

"I'll get transport ready. Be sure to grab a parachute, goggles, and a good amount of serum with you." Maria said as she had begun to call the pilot.

"Yes Mother." Shiro said. He grabbed his own NEVER jacket and slipped it on. He also retrieved his Anti-IS sword that leaned against the wall and placed in in a sheathe on his back. The high-tech weapon was about the size of a normal wakizashi, but the blade portion of the sword was was blunt and split down the center, as if both halves were to pull away to reveal a new weapon. The AIS sword's outward appearance was made up of black and silver mechanical casing, and the handle had a trigger at the base of the rectangular guard, sort of like an activation switch.

The young NEVER soldiers got into the plane and took off. In about an hour, the aircraft was over the relative area of the Phantom Task base. Shiro scanned the area, and eventually found a patch of gray in the dense green forest.

"Over there." Shiro instructed the pilot as he pointed in the right direction.

The pilot nodded as he completed the request.

"Is that the safe house?" Seth inquired as he got the equipment ready.

"Yeah. Grab a parachute." Both NEVER children grabbed the items and were on standby at the door.

"Let's do this." Seth said pumped up.

When they were exactly over the building, Shiro and Seth jumped out and opened their parachutes when they were halfway down their descent.

To Be Continued…

Authors Notes:

And for those who would've thought that the IS would've completely destroyed Katsumi and Shirou...They have immortal bodies and can't die from conventional weapons. Even super weapons like the IS. However, they would need to take more of the serum to recover if that would be the case.

Here is the updated list for the Rider Worlds:

Kuuga:Senki Zessho Symphogear

Agito: Strike the Blood

Ryuki: Sekirei

Faiz: Rosario Vampire

Blade: Card Captor Sakura

Hibiki: K-ON!

Kabuto: Freezing

Den-O: Date A Live

Kiva: Highschool DxD

Decade: Sword Art Online

W: Infinite Stratos

OOO: School Days

Fourze: Persona 4

Wizard: Maburaho

Gaim: RWBY

Next Time: Phantom's foreshadow, Harsh Reality, and Begins' Night.