A Japanese man with dark brown curly hair opened his eyes to find himself and eight other people standing in a stage esc area that was darkened save for spotlights which were on all nine of them. This man wore a black t-shirt, dark grey jeans, and black shoes along with a watch on his right wrist.

The man tried to speak but found that nothing came out. He even tried coughing but he heard nothing. The man then looked down at his waist to see a large buckle device that had a large circle in the middle of it that looked like a closed eye.

The man looked up, seeing everyone else also had the buckle devices on their waist too. He then looked up as a modulated, robotic voice said throughout the room,"Synchronization complete. Nine avatars for nine aspects have been chosen."

The man looked down at his hand to see a stone talisman that had a black circle that had a white center and three black tear drops in the form of a triangle in the white portion. This talisman then turned into energy and went inside the buckle device, causing a button to appear on top of the buckle.

The man's iris flashed white then he and the other eight people were engulfed in a blinding light as the voice said,"Commencing enemy integration to world and arena integration."


The man opened his eyes to see that he was now sitting in Mizunohiroba Park. He looked around and then said,"What was that?"

The man then looked down to see the buckle device in his hand and he was startled by it. He examined the device, seeing that it was a pearl white color on the front while the back was a dull black color. He also saw an inscription on the front of the buckle above the eye portion.

"Spirit?"The man read out loud. "Why does this thing have spirit on it?"

The man then sighed and looked at his watch. He then stood up while saying,"Oh crap, I need to get to work." and running towards a bus stop.


Half an hour later, the man was running into a convenience store and he said,"I'm here. I'm here."

"And you made it with four minutes to spare. You're getting better at being on time Daiji.",An old Japanese man said as he came out of the back office. Daiji sighed with relief then he clocked in for his shift and put an apron on. He began restocking some shelves while saying,"Has it been busy today Sato-san?"

"No, not really. Probably won't be too busy until the children get out of school.",Sato said while putting on reading glasses. Daiji chuckled, continuing to stock the shelves. Once he finished, he began sweeping the store but briefly stopped when he felt a chill run up his spine. Daiji looked towards the door, then he shrugged and continued his work.


Not too far from the convenience store at a school, a teenage girl was eating lunch on the roof of the school by herself. This girl ate her lunch then she looked down towards the courtyard seeing a group of friends laughing and talking to one another. This girl scoffed then said,"Can't believe they waste their time with that stuff."

Behind the girl, a figure lifted up from her shadow and placed a hand on the back of her neck. The girl gasped then looked over her shoulder to see no one. The girl turned back around and shrugged before going back to eating and spying on the group of friends. On the back of her neck, a black spot appeared and her eyes became black with white iris'.


Back with Daiji, he was handing a customer their change and saying goodbye to them. Daiji sighed, then he pulled out his phone and began to look through his apps. He then gained a confused expression when he found an app with the same symbol that was on the talisman he had gained.

Daiji looked in the back, seeing Sato at a computer, then he looked down at his phone and pressed the app. The app opened to a black screen that then had white writing come on it and said in the modulated robotic voice,"Greetings, avatar of Spirit, you are the first to activate their Aspector buckle and there for shall be the first to test out their abilities."

"What the? What are you talking about? How'd this app get on my phone and what was that place I was in earlier?",Daiji asked, believing he wouldn't be heard.

"The space you and the eight other avatars were in was a simple meeting space. You all shall be called there if any announcements are to be made towards you all."The app said, typing out the words as it said them. Daiji's eyes widened then he looked at his phone and said,"You can hear me?"

"Yes. You are in direct dialog with me and I am able to observe you and the other avatars at all times.",The app said. Daiji blinked in surprise then he asked,"Why did I get put into that place?"

"Because you have been chosen to be the avatar of Spirit.",the app said.

Daiji sighed while stumbling a bit then he heard some screaming coming from outside. He walked towards the door then he shouted in surprise when a person crashed through the doors window. Sato came out of the office and said,"Daiji, what was that noise?"

Daiji put his fingers to the person's neck, trying to feel a pulse to no avail. He and Sato then heard a loud screech and Daiji ran outside while saying,"Sato-san, stay in here."

Daiji got outside and he looked down the road to see a gangly monster that had large clawed hands and feet, long graying hair and a school girls uniform on. This monster let out a screech like roar then it picked up a mailbox and chucked it towards Daiji. Daiji unexpectedly dropped to the ground and put the buckle device on, a black belt wrapping around his waist.

Daiji then quickly stood up and said,"Spirit change." while pressing the button on the buckle. This caused the eye on the buckle to open, revealing the symbol that Daiji held in it as the buckle announced,"GATE OPEN!"

A sphere of gray energy that had two black surging energy rings in the shape of a cross around it and two surging white rings in a shape of an X around it appeared around Daiji. The sphere then collided with Daiji, forming armor on him.

Daiji had black armor on his shoulders, elbows, forearms, tops of his hands, thighs, knees, and on his lower legs and boots. The ankles of the boots and wrists of the arm guards were white. On Daiji's torso was an armored dark gray sleeveless hoodie that had his symbol on the right pectoral. The hood of the hoodie was white and over Daiji's head, being connected to it and out of the way of Daiji's vision. Daiji had a white helmet on that had large black compound eyes as a visor and the lower portion of the mask was black making it appear like a bandana. This was all over a silver undersuit that extended into gloves.

"GO FORTH, AVATAR OF SPIRIT!",The buckle announced as Daiji's transformation was completed.

Spirit looked at himself and said in amazement,"Whoa, how'd I know to do that? How did I get this armor?"

Spirit then was grabbed by the monster and slammed into the ground. Spirit coughed in pain then he managed to roll out of the way of a punch. He then jumped to his feet before dodging two swipes of the monster's claws before flipping backwards. Spirit then ducked under a swipe of the monster's claws and punched it in the abdomen. Spirit punched the monster three times then spin kicked the monster in the chin, causing it to stumble back.

"Whoa, how am I doing this?!",Spirit asked with amazement while looking at himself. He then looked up and was slashed across the chest by the monster. He was slashed four more times then he was picked up and thrown across the street, crashing into a vending machine. Spirit fell to the ground and groaned then he stood up as the monster looked at him. The monster screeched at Spirit, readying itself to attack.

Spirit grunted then he pressed the button on his buckle two times causing the buckle to announce,"SPIRIT FINALE!"

Spirit had white, silver and black energy engulf his lower right leg. He then charged at the monster as it charged at him. The monster slashed at Spirit, who flipped over the slash and landed behind the monster. Spirit then hit the monster with a spinning roundhouse kick, hitting it in the face causing it to explode.

Spirit relaxed himself slightly then he turned around to see the schoolgirl laying on the ground, her hands and feet having scars on them while her socks, shoes, shirt sleeves, and lower skirt were frayed.

"A girl?",Spirit questioned. He then looked up as he heard the mechanical voice say,"Congratulations Spirit. You have defeated your first opponent and have been given five points."

"Points? What points? What is going on here?!",Spirit asked while looking around.

"You have been selected as the avatar of the aspect of Spirit. You, as well as the eight other avatars are now participants in the Ludus contumaciae. Which translates to ``game of the defiant.",the voice said casually.

"Game of the defiant; what does that mean? Why is this happening?",Spirit questioned.

"It is happening because it was called into play recently. Therefore, avatars were chosen as well as an arena. The area of Japan spanning from Tokyo, Okinawa, and Kyoto, the avatars being yourself and eight others. You shall meet them in due time.",The voice explained. Spirit groaned in frustration then he said,"Can you at least tell me how often these monsters will show up?"

"No. The appearance of your opponents is not dictated by anyone other than they who attack you. The monsters shall appear when they do and any avatar you encounter has potential to be either friend or foe. Now I must leave.",the voice said.

"Leave? Hey! Weird robot voice! Hey!",Spirit said while looking around. He then let out a frustrated yell before reverting into Daiji and kicking a mailbox. He then gripped his shin in pain while hopping on one leg.