Disclaimer: I do not know anything by IS: Infinite Stratos and/or Linkin Park's song "The Catalyst". They belong to their respected owners. However, original characters all belong to me, Grayjedi-Productions...
I want to say thanks to all the people putting this story in their story alerts and favorites!
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April 16, 2022-IS Academy- Stadium Battlegrounds- 0817 Hours
(Main theme is Heaven's Divide from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker...Trust me, it'll make more sense as the fanfiction continues)
"Ichika." said Kenneth, voice almost sounded distance. "Rin, Cecilia and Charles. Protect the class, and don't get involved with the fight. They're at a whole other level than you."
"What are you talking about?" they questioned.
Kenneth turned his head to the side, one eye spotting all of them. A piecing gaze of ice grey eyes shot at them. "Do not disobey a direct order..."
From the fog, a church organ played, scaling up and down, eerily playing. Three shadowed figures materialized from the fog. A drum beat steady picks up. The figures spawned metallic tentacle arms, grappling Kenneth.
"Stay back!" yelled Chifuyu, noticing the personal IS pilots moving forward. So this is the infamous Protocol WALTS...
A shower of sparks erupted from the figures in the fog, forcibly pushing it away. with the music having a scratching noise, like a DJ's disks being scratched. The figures were three pitch black IS machines, all poised on Kenneth. As soon as the sparks stopped on the figures, sparks flew out of Kenneth's machines. From Kenneth's view, a small window appeared. Protocol WALTS activated. Last stand mode initiated.
Kenneth mouthed the lyrics as a song began, yet his emotions reflected the weight of the words. The machine tentacle slowly reseeded as Kenneth chanted on. Soon after, the black ISs chanted along side him.
"It's a call to war..." whispered Cecilia.
...Where oceans bleed into the sky!
The four mech armors boosted into the air, creating a slight depression on the ground where they were. Kenneth quickly changed into Cecilia's IS form, firing multiple particle beams and missiles in all directions. The three IS pilots nimbly evaded the beams, cloaking and decloaking at every turn. One of the machines slammed into Kenneth's back, forcing him out of the Cecilia clone form.
Turning around, Kenneth switched to a Rin's IS. Wielding a spear, the Rin clone charged head-on to the three IS. Dodging the frontal assault, the machines quickly turned towards the clone, firing a pave load of particle beams. Rin's clone waved the spear, slapping away the beams, and retaliated with full powered Dragon Cannons.
The air was filled with explosions, on the ground and in the air... And yet, the music continued on, playing above the destruction, crystal clear to the entire class.
When we burn inside the fires of a thousands fun...Ooohhhhhh
Like memories in cold decay...Transmissions echoing away
Kenneth landed himself on the ground; the other IS followed suit. Glancing at his left arm, he saw the battery power at 35%. It's draining a lot faster than I thought.
The three black SI pilots knew so too. Gripping his left arm, Kenneth checked the status of Ichika's theoretical second shift for the FBM and the Emotion Driver. Full synchronization ready.
Kenneth raised his left arm, a bright blue glow engulfing him. As the light withdrew, the class stared in shock as Kenneth appearance changed to Ichika's Byakushiki, face and all. But instead of Ichika's usual aloof, care-free face, was replaced by rage. Wielding a black version of Yukihira, and a green energy claw, Kenneth renewed his charge at the mysterious IS machines.
Incredible...If he gone full out against Cecilia or anyone else... Though Ichika.
Within the maelstrom of attacks with the four IS, the Ichika-clone violently ripped one of the wings from the machines, whipping the destroyed part of the IS at another. Blocking the part with their bare hands, one IS cut the wing in half. The blinding attacks from each side created sonic booms in the air, hurting the ears of the class. The three IS machines flew in close in a triangle formation. Holding out their palms, six blue particle beams hit the clone, sending Kenneth hurling to the ground, crashing with crash.
"Kenneth!" yelled personal IS pilots.
Lift me uuupppp...Let me gggooooo...
Emerging from the newly formed crater, Kenneth stumbled to his feet, gripping his right arm. Large gashes covered Kenneth's armor. Kenneth switched to an pop-up window, checking on the remaining battery power left.
"15% left?" he muttered. "The final part of the WALTS... Phoenix Overdrive..."
The rest of class helpless watched as Kenneth struggled. Suddenly Kenneth was lifted into the air, wielding the katana and hachiwara in hands. The black color of the machine faded to a bright red-orange. The wings on the back spread into two separate pairs, fire igniting between them. The three black IS spread their wings, following Kenneth's lead. The four machines disappeared from view, yet the music and clanging sound of metal on metal continued, increasing in intensity as the music began to swell. With every clash, a faint silhouette of the machines appeared and quickly disappeared from view.
"THIS ENDS NOW!" roared Kenneth, suddenly appearing as his machine hit supersonic. He crashed right into the leader of the black IS, engaging in a pure fist fight. The two other machines dog piled on the two, bring the mess of metal slamming into the ground, dirt kicked into the air.
(Kenneth's Point of View)
As the dust cloud cleared, I saw a pike blade and a hammer at my neck. An arm was grabbed around my waist, restricting my movement. From the Phoenix Overdrive, I was physically and mentally exhausted; By all human capabilities, I should have been dead, let alone kneeling before the SI soldiers.
"Light's out Midshipman... First time since basic isn't it?" the voice behind me growled.
A sudden burst of pressure hit my head, as darkness started swelling in my eyes. A small screen appeared next to my eyes. "Cyanide tooth activated... Nanomachines overwhelmed in 2 minutes..."
(Standard Point of View)
-The three black IS pilots stared at the motionless body of Kenneth, now out of the armor. The bulkier of the three crouched down, attaching a small wire to the left arm of Kenneth.
"We have you surrounded." announced Ichika, holding Yukihira in a ready stance.
The black machines looked up, observing their surroundings. Indeed, they were surrounded, the entire class holding out their blades. Chifuyu and Yamada stayed back. The three machines showed no hint of worry. The leader one, the "Black Knight" nodded towards another machine, one looking like a G Fighter Gundam.
In an instant, the pilot withdrew and threw two boomerang weapons, knocking back the class, and firing a beam attack at the non-personal IS holders, besides Houki. The class was knocked out, and the machines went back to looking at Kenneth.
"You monsters!" yelled Ichika, charging the pilots with Reiraku Byakuya. The "Black Knight" materialized an energy halberd, and blocked Ichika's swing.
"Pathetic..." it said in a low tone. With a lazy flick of a wrist, the "black knight" disarmed Ichika, and punched Ichika square in the chest, launching him several yards away.
"Ichika!" the girls screamed, dashing to his side.
"You ok?" asked Rin.
"Yeah...I'm fine..." grunted Ichika. He checked on his energy gauge; it was at 1 unit. Just who the hell are these guys?
Charles stayed in place, staring at the situation. Tearing a bit, he charged at the IS units, wielding a piledriver-like weapon. The bulky one, retracting the wire from Kenneth's arm, grabbed Charles' arm mid-swing, and manhandled him. A tiny light scanned Charles head from the helmet of the machine.
"Boy..." the machine said, yelling into Charles' face. "Do you think that just because you're in an Infinite Stratos armor that you're some type of SUPER SOLDIER?" The machine tossed Charles with the rest of the personal IS pilots.
The helmets of the machines slowly pulled back, revealing the faces of three middle aged women. The leader had a visible scar from the upper part of her forehead to the bottom of her lip, a military-shaven head. The women in the bulky mech had a purple lining in her black hair. The last one had a blonde shag cut. If anything, the women all looked beautiful if it wasn't for the burning hatred in their eyes.
"We were the original super soldiers before the IS was even announced. Projects long-forgotten now." the blonde one said.
"We did our mission, we should leave." mentioned the black haired one. The three pilots started floating away from Kenneth's body. Ichika, Charles and the girls rushed to Kenneth's motionless body.
"...Why? Why this?" asked Cecelia.
"It's our mission to evaluate the super soldiers of our group... This was expected, and inevitable... even for the class combat Valedictorian."
"What?" The surviving classmates said.
The leader chuckled. "Of course. He never told you of his past... We should wake him up for this." She tossed over a small syringe to Charles.
"I'd hurry about injecting that if I were you. Cyanide does horrible things to the body."
Widening his eyes, Charles stabbed the needle to Kenneth's right arm.
A second past. And another...
"WWAAAHHHHH!" Kenneth jumping to his feet and ran behind the foreign trio.
Catching his breathe, he checked his left arm, revealing that it was a synthetic arm to the Personal IS Holders and Houki.
"Wha...? What is that...?" pointed out Ichika.
Kenneth completely ignored Ichika's question. "What the hell...?" Kenneth gasped. "Cutting it a bit close isn't it?"
The classmates simply started at Kenneth, as he was rather familiar with the foreign pilots.
"Welcome back to the land of the living." said the black-haired one, lightly punching Kenneth on the shoulder.
"Kenneth. Do you know these people?" cautiously asked Rin.
"Of course he does. He was, no is, our greatest pupil. The Combat Protégé , the Hitokiri of STARIS, The Son of the Three, Invierno Muertos... Kenneth Arthur Buyuu."
Kenneth looked down. "Don't say my middle name."
"An assassin?" questioned Ichika.
The three pilots grinned. Holding out their arms. they created a video projection of Kenneth's actions. Through the multiple images, it shown Kenneth brutally taking down multiple IS pilots at once, sniping others, and destroying military bases.
Kenneth's eyes started watering. The remaining class watched in horror. The video stopped with Kenneth gripping a dead girl's body, screaming on top of a field of snow, a burning factory in the background.
"Does coming to the IS Academy have a second meaning? Like redemption? After you lost your love during Operation Zulu, you went on a mission rampage, slaughtering over a hundred IS pilots in a single month, and that's only the USA... The greatest shame that STARIS ever had; a berserk STARIS pilot. " asked the black-haired one.
"Redemption?" Kenneth scoffed, stifling a tear. "No, the curses of my past will haunt me forever, that I cannot and will not erase. What I want is someone to understand. And so far, no-one ever will."
"What made you stop?" asked the leader.
"A dream. And once I did stop, I saw what extremes I did to finish the missions. All overly extreme takedowns, leaving no survivors. I did what I had to do... To spread my sorrow to the ones that created it... The Infinite Stratos." Kenneth's face harden. Dead silence hung between the two groups.
"And you never wanted any of us to know?" asked Rin, finally speaking out. Kenneth looked at her, she was fearful of him.
"...Yes; some people can't handle truths behind people, and their faces. I'm a soldier, and I will fight until the day that we no longer need weapons like myself."
"Well said, Kenneth. Now, we must enforce our creed. If you please?"
Kenneth looked at his friends in sorrow. "Those that lay their eyes on a member of STARIS...Shall be silenced." Ichika, Charles and the girls all suddenly collapsed.
"Experimental U0126 drug isn't it?" asked Kenneth, a tear trickling down his face.
"A short term memory loss drug. They will forget we were here. All that you need to do is fill in the blanks."
"Fascinating tid-bit if you ask me." said a voice behind the four standing. Chifuyu and Yamada walked towards them, arms crossed.
"Well, well, well." said the leader. "Chifuyu Orimura, Agent of the Defense Intelligence Division of STARIS."
Chifuyu nodded. "Mélissa Armén." the leader nodded, "Sarah Campbell." the black-haired girl chuckled. "And Emily Smith." the blonde giggled.
"Sharks division of STARIS, right?" questioned Yamada, thought it sounded more assertive.
"Ha, yup." answered Armén.
"Don, GW and Double H. My retainers during those days." said Kenneth.
"Of course...Mako." laughed Campbell.
Chifuyu sighed. "You just had to choose now, didn't you?"
"We asked the Dean." shrugged Smith. "She didn't seem to mind."
"What are we going to tell the rest of the class when they wake up?" asked Yamada.
"Simple. They all challenged Kenneth... And got their asses handed to them."
Yamada rose an eyebrow, but the other's disregarded her.
"But there is another reason why we came." pointed out Campbell, turning to Kenneth.
"A member of the German Schwarzer Hase is coming to the Academy. Along with guarding Ichika, you are assigned to evaluate this person first hand."
Kenneth snapped to attention. "Yes, ma'am. Sorry about the wing Double H."
"It's nothing but a short fix." she reassured.
The three started to boast upwards. "Kenneth remember. U0126 has a downside, certain words will trigger recall. I can trust you will be careful?" Kenneth nodded.
The three faded from the visible spectrum and flew off in a dust cloud.
"Uuuhhhh..." grunted Cecelia.
"We better help them up." said Kenneth.
April 16, 2022- IS Academy-Room 1-1 - 1300 Hours
"I still can't wrap my head around the fact that you beat us all." wondered Cecilia.
Kenneth waved his hand. "What did expect? I'm that good." While the entire class didn't want to believe him, they still didn't want to challenge that.
"Alright everyone settle down." said Yamada. "Kenneth you have an announcement."
Kenneth stood up, walking to the front of the room. "Under the declaration of the Dean of the Academy, I will not be participating in the Inter-class Tournament."
The class started muttering the around, some questioned why, others wondered if it was because Kenneth defeated all of them.
"However... I will be holding special training classes for those that wish to participate the tournament, starting Saturday at 0905 hours. The first 40 students will be attending. The sign-up is outside this door. Rin, Cece, Ich (A/N: Pronounced ee-ch), and Charles, I have already signed up guys up."
The four looked at each other, wondering how they got roped in his plans.
"And now we have another student in the class! Please come in!"
The door slid open. A young women with grey hair marched in, her uniform baggy around her hips. An eye patch around her left eye.
So she must be from Schwarzer Hase. thought Kenneth, sitting down.
"I am Laura Bodewig!" she said with authority to the class.
Everyone stared in confusion, as Chifuyu walked it with her clipboard. "Instructor." Laura saluted.
"It's no longer 'Instructor' Bodewig. It's Orimura-sensei for now on. Please take your seat."
"Yes ma'am."
Laura then walked over to Ichika. "So it's you..."
"Wha...?" Just before Ichika could finish, Laura violently smacked Ichika in the face.
"How could you be her brother? So weak... I will never accept it!"
1830 Hours- IS Academy- Cafeteria
Ichika, Charles, Kenneth, Cecilia, Rin and Houki all sat at one table, happily munching on their food. After Laura had slapped Ichika in front of the entire class, most of the posse group that followed the boys disappeared, probably in fear of Laura. Kenneth reviewed the information that he got from her.
Laura Bodewig
IS Cadet Representative of Germany
IS: Schwarzer Regen... Special Ability: Active Inertia Canceller
Kenneth knew that she was a member of STARIS, but he wondered if she knew he was as well, which was more than likely... and probably Kenneth's Incident.
"Hey, Earth to Kenneth... You still there?" asked Charles.
"Yeah... I'm still here." answered Kenneth.
The girls, Charles and Ichika stared awkwardly at Kenneth. "Did something happen today?" asked Cecilia.
"No, no. I'm fine."
Liar. Kenneth thought.
In actually, Kenneth was mentally and physically drained. The Phoenix Overdrive unlocks the darkest emotions of the human heart; fear, anger, apathy and hatred. In reality, Kenneth should be in the infirmary, but as the duty of Ichika's guardian, he must continue. It was what the Three called "The Spirit of a Soldier", the drive to continue no matter the cost of the body...
Kenneth got up. "I think I'll be going to bed soon..." he said, acting sleepily.
"Alrighty then, night Kenneth." said Ichika.