Chapter 3: Avengers


Tor and Julie vs Bun Bun: A Tenno's Dream by JT Music (Feat. FabvL)

Jason vs Bun Bun: Assassin's Creed Bloodline Rap by JT Music


Review Replies

Guest: If I am to give my honest opinion, I have to say this is far too close to canon for my comfort. Admittedly, it's only two chapters in so so much can still change, but reading Absolute Duo with a Warframe texture pack is not something I came here for. The main character is now a Tenno, with all the implications that entails. Where are the Void Beams? Where is the Tenno's signature compassion? Why is Tor-nno acting more like a moody tween than the century old warrior he is? I like the concept, but I don't have much of a positive opinion on the execution. Good luck regardless, author.

ThermalsniperN7: To be fair, Tor is trying to blend in as much as he can, and Tenno in general don't really talk much, so we aren't one hundred percent positive on how they'd act. Plus, if my memory serves me, they were all mostly kids that were in their early teens at best, so Tor still has some growing up to do.

Dragon Emperor0: That's more or less my thinking on this.

Guest: I mean, I get you don't want the harem nonsense to feel like cringe, but if you wanted that, you could've used the manga as a base instead. It's actually a ton better about that kinda thing than the anime and I personally enjoyed it more since everything feels much less forced

ThermalsniperN7: That is a good point, though I'm not a manga person.

Dragon Emperor0: I actually considered that, but I could never keep my attention focused on it for more than thirty seconds at a time.

Guest: ... you know what I just realized? Blazes aren't actually soul magic. They're canonically nanomachines (son). This Tenno Tor can literally just shift frames to Mag Prime and rip out an enemy's nanomachines, and thus their Blaze, from their bodies.

ThermalsniperN7: Thank you for giving us an idea to implement… and Senator Armstrong thanks you for the nod in his direction.

Dragon Emperor0: A little addendum there. Blazes are manifestations of the soul, but it's brought out via nanotech. Good idea nonetheless.

SomeGuyWithWi-Fi: The more I think about this, the more questions I have regarding the premise. Aren't viable candidates for receiving Lucifer (or Lukifur/Luciful depending on what translation you refer to) thoroughly evaluated before being injected with the Nanomachines that give the subject their respective Blaze? I'm confused as to how and why this version of Tooru is even in this school to begin with since he can't just lie about his "Blaze". Wouldn't his very presence raise eyebrows amongst the staff, especially the headmistress who's essentially using the school as a testing ground? Wouldn't she instantly know something's up with this guy and take him out as soon as possible? Why would he even come to this academy in the first place? He has Warframes. Why not just hack computers, perform espionage, and track down who he's looking for like every other Tenno worth their salt?

I'm just very confused. Maybe we're not there in the plot yet and I'm possibly being needlessly critical, but this kind of reads like it hasn't had a lot of thought put into it besides "You know what'd be cool? Having Warframes in Absolute Duo stomping everyone."

I wish you the best of luck with this, but if I'm being frank, I'm really on the fence with where I stand. I like the idea, but I don't know how to feel about the portrayal

ThermalsniperN7: You are admittedly overthinking a few things, but the Tenno Tor is looking for? He's in the wind, and he has no idea where to find him, so he's going to the academy to try and draw him out by using the gossip mill.

Dragon Emperor0: Not to mention he got absolutely f*cking bodied when he fought that guy the first time. He needs to improve. Or else.

SpartanCommander: Actually Stalker isn't a Tenno in his bio it says he was a Temple guard who tried to warn the Orokin of the Tenno's plans when he noticed that they were not interested in what everyone though was going to happen during the celebration of victory over the Sentients. He was not a tenno but someone who used Transference to permanently bind himself into a Warframe. He's not a Tenno he doesn't have his original body any more or real void powers to use

ThermalsniperN7: I know that much, but my co-author isn't that well versed in his lore. No offense, buddy.

Dragon Emperor0: Eh, I blame me dropping the game in favor of Destiny, Maneater, Cyberpunk, Ghost of Tsushima and Assassin's Creed on that whole dealy.

Guest: Hmm. Alright, I'll bite. Absolute Duo isn't a setting with a ton of lore or worldbuilding, but Warframe is a treasure trove of it. These two can balance each other out rather well and I'm pretty interested in seeing where this goes. However, I do have to agree with some of the other reviews. Stalker doesn't personally identify as a Tenno and (allegedly, according to Hunhow's super villain speech) doesn't even remember if they were ever anything but a Warframe. Plus, a Tenno's empathy and kindness is literally how a Warframe is piloted in the first place, so making one a strength worshiping murderer of innocents is kind of a moot point. I also agree that the current "vibes" of this story feel a bit awkward and forced. As in, like a few have already said, this Tooru is a Tenno. He's thousands of years old and has experienced lifetimes beyond anything Julie and her classmates ever could. Regardless of whether it was through a Warframe or not, the Tenno have established a warrior culture of honor. It feels a little off to have him shipped with Julie, flipping out at lewd jokes, so on so forth.

I don't want to tell you how to write because this is *your* story, not mine. You should only ever create a fanfic you would want to read. But, well, those are my opinions on this fic so far.

I hope you continue this, dude. Sorry if I sounded jerk-ish. I don't mean to, and I actually really do like this idea. I look forward to the next chapter

ThermalsniperN7: We already covered Stalker, so backread to that. And while Tenno empathy and kindness is what makes them into pilots for the Warframes along with the warrior culture of honor they have, they should still be able to be their own people outside of that. Hence Tor acting the way he does in this story. Plus, the Tenno don't have love lives as far as I'm aware, so that should help explain shipping him with Julie… And possibly other girls, if our plans are still on track. As for the Tenno that worships strength… Well, Void Madness is a thing, ain't it?

Dragon Emperor0: It's a confluence of things that fit together a certain way, so we're trying to work around them as best we can.


-Kouryou Academy-

In the Kouryou Academy home room, Tor was sitting next to his chosen Duo, Julie as class began to go back in session.

"Welcome back, class! I'm glad to see that you're all with your chosen Duos. From now on you'll be sitting with them too!" Bun Bun noted. "Though I see that many of you have chosen to stay with your original partner." She grinned.

Tor just shrugged silently. Julie was a great partner, and doubted he'd be able to work as well with anyone else as his duo.

"Ja, we fit really well together." Julie nodded, causing the Tenno to go rigid as everyone stared at them.

"As partners, you idiots! Don't go into the gutter!" The Tenno snapped, causing the rest of the class to look away since they had accidentally started thinking that.

"Well regardless, I hope you guys are ready, because this Friday you'll be undergoing your first Blaze battle. Your first Novgladius." The bunny woman explained.

"So soon?" Tor blinked before he glanced at the Scandinavian girl next to him. "Good thing we've been practicing." He whispered to her.

"In this little situation, all of you will have to fight–everyone else!" The woman cheered happily

Tor instantly started eyeing everyone else, trying to gauge how much of a fight they'd put up. He still had his Tenno instincts, and one doesn't establish a warrior culture without picking that up.

Though as he continued to look around the classroom, Julie was staring out the window, something catching her attention.

She had spotted a male teen leaning against a tree. He had caucasian skin and shaggy short black hair, but she couldn't make out his eye color due to being so far away. He was wearing a white eagle beaked hoodie with red lining over a black shirt, blue jeans, a red belt and black sneakers. He looked like an American, but he was too far away for her to know for sure.

Though notably she did see a tattoo on his left arm, one that had an oriental line art face tattoo that had an Egyptian eagle at the top and an A in between the eagle's wings that looked like it was,styled after an Eagle skull.

The boy looked at her for a moment or two before he started walking away, flipping the hood of his hoodie on and walking away, showing that he had a Swiss Tech sling pack slung on his back.

'Who was that?' She wondered. Shaking her head, she decided to focus on what was going on.


(Later)

Tor and Julie were now doing combat maneuvers a few days later, and so far they were tied, three wins for Julie and three wins for Tor.

Right now, the hidden Tenno was using Valkyr Prime to test Julie's ability to fight against a truly fierce opponent, and the girl was doing… moderately okay. She was able to stand up to the violent Warframe's attacks and fight back a bit, but the damage the clawed Warframe could dish out was absurd.

If it wasn't for the way Valkyr Prime performed, Julie was sure she'd be making a comment about Tor turning into a girl… Or something.

"And it looks like it's a checkmate." The Tenno said as he pinned the girl down by the throat, the female Warframe's high heels locking her arms down.

"Ngh… Ja." The white haired girl choked out as her partner got off of her throat and arms, allowing her to rub where her arms were pinned while coughing a bit. The female Warframe was no laughing matter in combat.

"You okay? You've been kind of distracted all day today. More than usual." The boy questioned as the two decided to take a break.

"I saw someone standing outside the academy earlier today. I couldn't tell what he looked like because he was so far away, but he looked American." The girl replied, causing her partner to raise an eyebrow as he turned back to normal.

"Odd. I don't remember hearing about an American transfer student arriving." He noted.

As he said this though, the two could feel the hair on their necks stand on end as an eerie tune whispered through the air–specifically in the form of a whistle. Then their instincts screamed at them, prompting them to quickly move out of the way just in time for the topic of their discussion to land where they just were.

"Damn. So close." He cursed as he removed his left hand from the ground, revealing a wrist-blade on it.

"Seriously? Nugladius doesn't start for a long while, pal." Tor told him as he got to his feet.

"They didn't say anything about head starts being against the rules." The would-be assassin shot back.

"Tor, I'm confused." Julie chimed in. "I thought Blazes couldn't create complex weapons?" She wondered aloud, whispering it to Tor.

"I wouldn't call a wrist blade complex, but it's definitely new to see one." He whispered back.

"Oi, quit whispering and fight already!" The teen exclaimed at them, his Blaze ready.

However, before the two could summon their Blazes…

"Hold it right there." A voice said, causing them to turn and see Bun Bun approaching them.

"Aw shit, here we go again." The hooded boy sighed.

"What exactly is going on here?" The woman questioned, looking at the three.

"Well, me and Julie were taking a break after practicing a few maneuvers for the Nugladius when this guy just attacked us out of nowhere." Tor replied, gesturing to his and Julie's assailant. "And if you're gonna ask for details on our practice sessions, don't bother." He added with a deadpan look on his face.

"Oh yes, the headmistress and I are quite familiar with this trouble maker." The woman said, folding her arms. "Jason Miles, a Lukifur candidate from Black Hills, South Dakota." She continued. "He's been a student here for only a couple weeks and he's already caused several incidents that have drawn some unwanted attention to the academy." She added.

"I'll be sure to watch my back." Tor sighed, Julie nodding in agreement.

"Nothing is true, meaning everything is permitted." The now named Jason countered as he rolled his eyes, which made Julie notice that they were two different colors, meaning he had heterochromia.

Specifically his right eye was yellow and his left eye was blue, and he also had a scar on the left side of his mouth.

"Shut up and start walking. You just earned yourself another detention, pal." Bun Bun told him as sternly as a bunny woman could.

The boy simply shrugged and just put his hood back on, but pointed his extended whist blade at the woman's face.

"Do I need to remind you about what happened to the last person who threatened me?" He told her, getting a growl in response, but the teacher relented. "Thought so." He said, before walking away.

"... Is he always like that?" Julie asked once the apparently assassin themed teen was out of earshot.

"From what I've seen and heard so far? Yes." The woman sighed in reply. "Kid's becoming more trouble than he's probably worth." She added, scratching the back of her head.

"We'll give him a good hit to the head if he tries coming after us again." Tor told her.

"That might be the only way to get him to listen at this rate…" The bunny themed teacher muttered as she walked off.

Julie seemed silent for a moment or two before she looked up at Tor. "He had two different colored eyes." She noted aloud.

"Think it was caused by his Lukifer?" The hidden Tenno asked as he looked back at her.

"Nigh, not really, but I don't really have any other ideas other than that." The girl replied, shaking her head.

"Well, I guess it doesn't really matter. I could be wrong, though." Tor mused before the two of them decided to head back to their dorm.


(Timeskip)

A few days later, it was now time for the Nugladius. Everyone was participating in this crazy free for all, so for Tor, it felt like his personal playground. Any Tenno would think this.

"Welcome to the Nugladius everyone! This will last until seven o'clock so you'll need to use your Blaze's special properties to pull ahead, so be careful!" Bun Bun chimed over loudspeakers.

"Ready?" Tor asked his Duo.

"Ready." Julie nodded in reply. With that, the short girl summoned her Blaze while Tor decided to become Excalibur Prime while having Nikana and Braton Prime as his weapons of choice.

The two then charged on to fight various Duos of opponents with varying weapons, coming out on top in each case, right until they reached the school portico.

As the two began to regroup, someone was watching them from atop the school building.

"Pft, amateurs." Jason scoffed as he kept an eye out for any opponents for himself to eliminate, summoning his Hidden Blade Blaze, which seemed to be manifesting from his tattoo.

As he did, he soon took notice of a Duo heading right where he was standing above from, meaning he had the perfect opportunity to take them out via aerial assassination. Deploying his wrist blade, he jumped down on one and took them down outright.

His blade went into the second's chest, not killing her as this was a Blaze attack, but it did knock her unconscious.

"Now, onto greener pastures." He hummed, dusting himself off as he walked inside the building.


(Elsewhere)

Meanwhile, Tor and Julie were in the school already, and were currently in a Duo battle with Tomoe and Miyabi.

Tor was taking on Miyabi, who was wielding a giant lance but didn't look particularly fit to wield it. To him, it seemed to be like a representation of how top heavy the girl was. Still, he stood ready with Nikana Prime poised to strike.

The girl yelled as she charged at him, only for the boy to use his Warframe's agile frame to weave his Nikana under the Lance and use her momentum against her, sending the girl flying over him and into the next wall.

"Oof!" She grunted on impact as she got back to her feet, trying her best to keep her lance steady. "I'm not giving up!" She exclaimed.

"But there's no shame in knowing when you can't go on. You clearly can't, based on how you can barely hold your Blaze." Tor told her, noting how her arms were shaking from the effort she was putting up.

"Oooh.." The girl grunted as she fell on her butt, her lance disappearing. "It's no use, I'm just bringing Tomoe down…" She sighed.

"If you get stronger, then you won't do that for long." Tor said as he sheathed his blade like he would if he took a breath. A little something Excalibur Prime made clear.

Julie, meanwhile, was dancing around the room as she dodged and deflected the attacks Tomoe threw at her with her kusarigama Blaze. As the blade of the chain weapon came at her from behind, she instinctively turned and deflected it, mentally thanking Tor for using Ash Prime for practicing these sorts of attacks.

She then did a pirouette spin and slipped between Tomoe's defenses, pinning her with a blade to her throat.

"And that's checkmate." She stated.

"D-Did you really see that last attack from behind?" Tomoe asked with a light stutter.

"Yes. Tor used one of his many Warframes to practice all sorts of attacks from behind, so it was easy to spot yours." The short girl replied.

"That's… Quite impressive." The girl nodded before the four looked up to see Jason vaulting and running along the beams of the ceiling, and swinging from chandeliers, before sticking a superhero landing as he kept running.

Apparently, he was quite good at parkour.

"Show off." Tor scoffed.

"We should probably try to find more opponents before he does." Julie told him.

"Yeah, you're right–." The Tenno nodded before a scream interrupted them. "That sounded like Tora!" He gasped before running in the direction it came from.

Upon arriving, he and Julie found the bespectacled teen and his Duo on the ground, looking injured.

"Tora! What happened?!" The boy questioned as he knelt down next to his friend, dropping Excalibur Prime for the time being.

"It's… a trap…" Tora groaned.

"What do you mean?" Julie questioned.

"Behind you…" The bespectacled teen got out, causing Tor and his Duo to turn and see Tsukimi standing there.

"Oh dear, Mr. Kokonoe, what's happened here?" The woman questioned in an innocent tone. Tor, however, didn't get as far as he did in life by falling for deceptions.

"Don't act coy. Tora tells me that you basically injured him." The hidden Tenno stated, narrowing his eyes as he summoned Akvasto Prime. "And my instincts are telling me to defend myself from you." He added.

"Oh well whaddya know, so you aren't as dense as I first gave you credit for!" The bunny woman grinned maniacally as she swung a giant serrated sword at them, which they dodged. "Though I guess it is pretty obvious that I attacked these two cretons here!" She added with a wild expression.

"Oh goody. We have a psychopath in the school." Tor groaned before he fired several bullets at the apparently wild woman, who dodged all of them before she tried to attack him again, but he dodged that attack too.

"Tor, are you injured?" Julie questioned as they regrouped.

"Shouldn't be–Ah!" The boy replied before wincing as he held his side, seeing that it was bleeding. "The hell…?!" He hissed. He was sure he evaded in time, but this kind injury shouldn't be possible with a Blaze!

His own arsenal notwithstanding, of course…

Before Tsukimi could say anything, she felt a hand on her shoulder, prompting her to turn and see Jason poised to strike!

"Reqriescat in Pace, bitch." The American transfer student said with a grin as he thrusted his arm forward, his blade grazing the bunny teacher's cheek and cutting her as she dodged!

"Oh, you little troublemaker!" The woman growled as she stood across from the three teens.

"Thanks for the save." Tor nodded as he got up and summoned Nikana Prime.

"Don't get used to it." Jason told him, his blade still deployed.

"Let's just take this psycho down." The hidden Tenno said as he charged Julie following suit.

"Fine by me." The assassin Blaze user shrugged as he held his hand out, and a click was heard as his blade retracted. "Hey teach, you speak any Italian?" He questioned with a smirk.

"Why the hell would I bother learning Italian?" She asked in reply, sounding a little confused about the question.

"Just wondering if you knew what Armo di fuoco meant." The boy said. "Cuz I do." He added before he pulled his ring finger back, causing a loud boom to be heard as his arm blew back and a projectile of some sort nailed the teacher in the shoulder. "It means firearm." He smirked as he pulled his arm back.

"Motherfucker, that hurts!" Tsukimi hissed as she held her now bleeding shoulder. Tor used this opportunity to summon Braton Prime and started shooting at her, forcing her into cover.

"So you can injure and kill people with blazes if you have the intent." Tor mused. "Good to know." He added.

"Not like it'll do you any good if you can't hit me! And when the hell are you gonna run out of ammo for that thing?!" The psychotic woman questioned as a bullet whizzed by her head. "Ah!" She yelped as the brown haired Tenno chuckled.

"Infinite ammo, bitch." He quipped as he kept firing.

"Oh that's bullshit!" Tsukimi groaned before the shooting stopped… And Excalibur Prime was suddenly in her face! "What the–?!" She gasped as she was hit with a slash to the torso, sending her flying through several walls and tearing up a classroom, before Tor raised his blade into the air and caused a blinding light.

Blinded, Tsukimi staggered around which allowed Tor to swap to Vauban Prime and bounce into the air, activating a suspension sphere when he landed. Now the mad rabbit woman was suspended in the air. This left her vulnerable to a double kick to her torso that sent her flying.

Then he switched to Harrow and used Covenant when she recovered and tried to attack him, the invincibility window protecting him. A beat later, he swapped to Inaros Prime and trapped her with a sand snare, which let him smack her aside.

"You little fucker!" She growled as she tried to attack him again, only for Tor to swap to Loki Prime and leave a Decoy in his place, allowing him to strike her while he was invisible.

Once more, Tor swapped to another frame, that being Equinox Prime and used the Rest ability of her night half to put Tsukimi to sleep on her feet for a moment.

One swap later and he was now Ash Prime and teleported behind her before kicking her away, forcing her to wake up just in time for the ninja Warframe to teleport in front of her and swap to Ember Prime. Then the fire Warframe stomped her foot on the ground and unleashed a fire shockwave, causing Tsukimi to cry out as she felt herself get burned.

"Damn it, that hurts!" She exclaimed even as Tor swapped to Volt Prime.

"You brought this on yourself." He told her as he sent a lightning blast at her, causing her to scream in pain as she got electrocuted. Then he swapped to Limbo Prime and used Cataclysm to create a Rift bubble around them and when the woman tried to attack, she found herself frozen in the air after a gesture from the rift walker.

Then he used a rapier to jab a few times at various points on her body before he dispelled the Cataclysm bubble, causing her to simply drop to the ground with a groan. Then Tor swapped to Banshee Prime and sent out a massive shockwave of pure sound, causing her to go flying.

'I'm starting to think I overstepped myself…' Tsukimi thought, seeing that Tor was putting up a shockingly serious fight. Though as she recovered, she tried to attack him only for him to swap to Rhino Prime and use Iron Skin to protect himself.

Then he forced her back and swapped to Nekros Prime before using Terrify, scaring the bunny woman stiff.

'... Yep, definitely overstepped!' She thought, a bead of sweat going down the side of her head as she shook.

Her scared state allowed the brown haired boy to swap to the pirate themed Warframe Hydroid Prime, and used Tidal Surge to sweep her away and send her tumbling to the ground in a heap.

Growling in frustration, she tried once more to attack him, only for her target to swap to the living mountain, Atlas Prime, and created a stonewall to block her. Acting quick, Tor turned the wall into a boulder and sent it rolling.

As Tsukimi cried out at the unexpected boulder, the Tenno quickly swapped to Chroma Prime and created an Elemental Ward of electricity. When the woman tried to attack him, she found herself getting shocked in the literal sense upon getting close to him.

While she was stunned, Tor swapped to Oberon Prime and used Reckoning to repeat what he did when he arrived at the Academy, pancaking the mad bunny woman. Then he swapped to Octavia Prime, which honestly confused his assailant.

"... What's the point of this one?" She asked. She got her answer when Tor sent out a Roller drone that emitted a captivating beat she was unable to ignore and threw out an orb that emitted a similar beat, which the drone picked up. Tsukimi couldn't stop herself as she chased the drone against her will, and felt her body take some damage somehow.

When it ended, she set her angry gaze on Tor, who had swapped to Mirage Prime again and made four more duplicates of the jester themed Warframe while she wasn't looking. Unable to tell which was real, she attacked a random one with her Blaze, only for her blade to go right through it and get a kick to the ribs for her efforts.

As she was sent tumbling to the ground, Tor pulled yet another swap and became the avian Warframe, Zephyr Prime. When Tsukimi tried to attack, her target simply flew into the air and dive bombed her, sending her flying to the ground once more.

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous!" She grunted as she got back to her feet.

"Tell it to someone who cares." Tor snapped at her as he swapped to Frost Prime. Then he sent a wave of ice at her, and she was fortunate to dodge it even in her battered state.

The bunny woman tried yet again to attack, but Tor assumed the form of Gara Prime and trapped her in a rotating circle of glass mirrors. While she was distracted and trying to figure out what to do, the boy swapped to Mag Prime and yanked her out of the circle.

While she was flying through the air, he quickly swapped to Wukong and used his Iron Staff on her midsection, causing her to gag from the force as she was sent flying. As Tsukimi struggled to her feet, Tor was already on her and used Nova Prime to send an antimatter bomb her way, causing her to yelp and run away.

"Seriously, how the hell is any of what you're doing a BLAAAAAZE?!" She yelled as the bomb hit the ground and sent her flying.

Saying nothing but having a hidden smirk on his face, Tor swapped to Valkyr Prime and attacked his practice dum– I mean, psychotic teacher. Tsukimi let out frightened shrieks as she dodged slash after slash from the violent Warframe's claws, only to find herself on the receiving end of a kick from her.

For his final Warframe, Tor swapped to Saryn Prime and poisoned the woman, causing her to collapse with a groan. It wasn't fatal, but she was in great pain.

"Ugh… Okay…. I give up… I can't fight anymore…" She groaned, her Blaze falling to the ground.

"Good. But let's make sure it stays that way." The Tenno said as he picked up the woman's Blaze. "Julie, Ie!" He called, the girl nodding as she recognized the prompt in her native tongue as she bounced around the room while the boy hurled the sword into the air.

The girl then slashed at the older woman's Blaze, shattering it and causing her to let out a pained scream before falling unconscious.

As all of this happened, Jason watched with a stunned look on his face. He had never encountered anyone who could do what Tor can, and it made him feel suspicious of his true nature. As far as he knew, Tor was an enigma that needed to be solved.

'What are you hiding?' He thought, looking at the brown haired boy analytically.


(The next day)

In the morning, Tor and Julie were in their dorm celebrating their victory in the Nugladius. Tsukimi had been apprehended after it was all over, and the two of them felt pretty good right now.

Albeit they were quite exhausted from the escapade that they'd just undergone, so they decided to unwind the best way they knew how, that being having a mug of caffeine–or three.

"Oh man, this hits the spot." Tor sighed as he drank some coffee.

"Yeah. We definitely earned this." Julie nodded in agreement as they clinked their mugs together. "So, what do you think comes next after what just happened?" She wondered.

"All I know is that if I had my way, I'd be taking a long nap." The Tenno sighed, wanting to do nothing more than sleep right now.

"Same." Julie yawned before the two sat on the girl's bed and simply cuddled. As they relaxed, they heard a knock at the door.

"It's open!" The boy called, not wanting to get up. A moment later, Tomoe and Miyabi walked in.

"Hey, guys. We heard about the insane fight you guys put up in the Nugladius, so we–" Tomoe started to say before noticing the two were cuddling. She would've gone on a tangent had Tor not stopped her with a glare.

"We're only cuddling because both of us feel tired. Nothing more." He told the two visiting girls firmly.

"R-Right." Miyabi nodded with a stutter.

"You know, aside from that… You two actually look cute together." Tomoe admitted with a small smile.

Julie blushed as she buried her face in her Duo's chest in embarrassment while Tor looked away to hide his own blush, much to the two girls' amusement.

Well, then, it would seem that the most eventful day of their first few weeks of school, was finally over.


(Later)

Later that night, Tor had been awakened by the same dream that'd been bothering him ever since he arrived at Kouryou Academy, that being of his sister's death–and his violent rampage with a Warframe that he swore he'd never use again.

Julie was quick to press the issue as she felt that Duos shouldn't have secrets–but when the Tenno refused–she did something he wasn't expecting, and unbuttoned her shirt, letting it fall off and revealing several sword slash scars–which had long since faded–going along her otherwise gorgeously porcelain skin.

"Wh… What happened to you?" The boy gasped, unable to not feel flustered and was focused exclusively on the scars. There were so many of them…

"I'm the same as you, Tor. I'm an Avenger." The girl told her Duo, her usually sweetly beautiful pink eyes, now deathly cold.

"... I lost my sister to someone who is similar to me. He went insane and killed her along with everyone at the dojo we stayed at." Tor sighed after a moment, realizing that now was the time to trust his partner. "But… it goes so much deeper than that. Julie…" He trailed off, looking into her eyes. "Do you believe in the idea of other dimensions?" He questioned.

"In Scandinavian folklore there's the nine realms that are entangled on the branches of the World Tree, Yggdrasil." Julie responded, head tilting.

"Well I'm telling you that other dimensions do exist, and I'm from one." Tor told her, causing her eyes to widen. "Except the idea of trans-dimensional travel in my old dimension was something made possible by one thing: The Void." He added, holding up his hand as it glowed with the ethereal energy of the Void.

"Now everything makes sense; the weapons and Warframes you have, they aren't really Blazes. They never were." Julie said in realization. "What kind of person are you?" She questioned.

"I'm a Tenno, a member of a warrior culture bound by honor, and bred for war. I have been alive for well over a thousand years." Tor sighed in reply, shocking her further. "Yet in spite of that… I've never found anyone to truly love. I never had any chances to be someone outside of a fellow Tenno." He added sadly. "I had just finished bringing an end to a war, but ended up causing a rift that brought me and my sister here. I never got the chance to be someone more than a warrior." He continued, wishing he found someone he could've loved back in the Origin System after the New War ended and live as someone besides a Tenno.

Julie couldn't help but feel sad by his plight. Thousands of years living as he has, and he never got to live beyond his culture as a person or find someone to love and spend his life with, and never got the chance because of a rift in reality. It was heartbreaking.

Approaching her Duo, Julie wrapped her tiny arms around him and held him close to her, her face laid on his chest.

"It's okay, Tor. You can start with me, if you want." She told him. "I wouldn't mind." She added.

"... Thanks… Partner." Tor sighed as he held her close, giving her a peck on the cheek that made her blush a little.

And on the clock tower of the school, a familiar hooded teen watched from the highest spire with a pair of binoculars, as a helicopter landed near the campus grounds.

"Well well well." Jason mused as he saw a blonde girl who looked to be British steps from the aircraft. "The surprises never cease, do they?" He questioned, before he let himself fall into a pile of leaves below.

Life was about to get more interesting…


Dragon Emperor0: Sorry for the long wait, guys. This story's been on the back burner for awhile now due to several different factors making things draw out.

ThermalsniperN7: Including but not limited to: Other stories, planning things out, forgetting details to things for the story, etc. This kind of stuff can really hold chapters back.

Dragon Emperor0: That aside, just to get this out of the way because I know people are gonna mention it in the reviews or ask me in the PMs–Tor will have a harem, but it will consist of just Julie, Tomoe and Miyabi. And that's it, no one else, no exceptions. Do not bother making suggestions.

ThermalsniperN7: Sorry, people, but that's the end of that topic. Anyway, onto other topics; Yes, we're aware of how OP we made Tor in the fight against his now ex-teacher, but the kid is still a part of a warrior culture, basically, so he was bound to have the upper hand.

Dragon Emperor0: Plus, Normal human with a superpowered weapon vs a Tenno with every weapon and Prime Warframe, is it really that big of a surprise that the Tenno curbstomps the former?

ThermalsniperN7: Exactly. That kind of matchup was a no brainer. Anyway, see you guys next time.