Disclaimer: I do not know anything by IS: Infinite Stratos or any other mentioned characters/merchandise. They belong to their respected owners. However, original characters all belong to me, Grayjedi-Productions...

April 22, 2022-IS Academy- Stadium Battlegrounds- 1530 Hours

(Main theme is Heaven's Divide from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker...Trust me, it'll make more sense as the fanfiction continues)

Kenneth stood with his back towards the launch pad, waiting for Cecilia and Rin to arrive. Another week had come and gone, and Kenneth's nightmares had become increasingly vivid.

He dreamt of a white beach, sincere and clear, without a trace of war. A heaven maybe, as a white angel had descended upon that world, waiting passively for him. As the angel hovered towards him, he saw that the wings were mechanical, mimicking of bird. Coming closer, he saw who it was; Angel Victoria Adrian. He saw sadness in her eyes, but she did not speak. Creeping closer together, Kenneth noticed that her right arm had become mimicked the SI implants. Just before they could embrace each other, Kenneth woke up, cursing for a wonderful dream to be broken by reality.

Kenneth shook his head. Perhaps for later. Back to the mission at hand.

As he promised earlier in the week, Kenneth was going to train Cecelia and Rin about their IS capabilities and a theoretical second shift for them. Kenneth reviewed the statistics over two cadet representatives. Even if they did second shift, they would still be no match for the STARIS members, no less then himself.

It's been a year now, Angel comes in my dreams once again. he continued thinking. But what does she want me to do?

Another thought lingered in his mind. Laura Bodewig. Second Lieutenant. Cunning pilot. And overall bitch.

Despite them being members of STARIS, Laura had inclined herself to virtual isolation. Kenneth did try to start a conversation with her, only receive a death glare from her, which was pretty understandable; all of STARIS knew of Kenneth a year ago. Although he also knew she was rather pissed at something about Chifuyu leaving Germany, he'd seen that type of rage before; Kenneth had used it before. A mental etching in the back of their mind, the desire to complete the mission, and to damn the consequences.

And then there was Charles. After Ichika and him learned that Charles as a girl, the three had a few awkward run-ins with each other, such as changing their clothes and whatnot. However Kenneth noticed one thing about Charles. Even thought she admitted to have been trying to steal information about the Scion Initiate Armor, "Shadow Dance" she barred no ill-will about being caught. In fact, Kenneth and Charles have been talking quite a lot since that reveal, usually about nothing. Once again in Kenneth's life, he felt a type of connection, someone that could understand. Certainly, him and Cecilia were talking, but it was mainly on how much Ichika was extremely dense.

Perhaps, but you know that you CAN'T be with her.

Kenneth frowned at his own thought and looked down at his left arm. On his ring finger was the ring that contained the information of the fallen comrades of the Scion Initiate Program...and the ring that Angel Adrian had got him a few weeks before Operation Zulu.

A promise ring, he remembered Angel saying. To the bitter end.

I just never expected that the end would be so near.

Kenneth felt that he was trying to fight back tears, remembering the days that he and Angel spent sparing and training together. Perfect little soldiers, he remembered what the instructors called them. It didn't matter to the couple. They had each other.

Kenneth's daydreaming was interrupted when he heard footsteps behind him, turning around he saw Cecilia and Rin arguing over who is a better pilot.

"...In a straight up fight, I will destroy you!" slyly said Rin.

"The weakest dog barks the loudest." rebuked Cecilia.

"I hope that I'm not interrupting anything." said Kenneth, crossing his arms, returning to his slightly stoic viewpoint.

"So what is this about anyways?" asked Rin.

Kenneth chuckled. "Well, I'm glad you asked. I too have heard about these 'rumors' of dating Ichika and myself. 'Who ever wins the Tournament gets to choose which one she wants to go out with.' if I recall. The runner-up goes with the other choice."

Kenneth rose an eyebrow. "I hope that you guys will already accept my rejection."

The two frowned at him. "Seriously?" remarked Cecilia. "That's all you brought us out here for? And I thought we were actually going to do some training."

"That will come in due time." waved Kenneth, deploying his SI armor. "Now, what do you girls know about a second shift?"

Rin and Cecilia quickly deployed their armors as well. "Besides it being a special upgrade from the first form, and it being unique to the armors themselves not much." admitted Rin.

"I thought that's pretty much the case." added Cecilia.

"In essence, yes." replied Kenneth, keeping a relative monotone. "While any of the students of the IS Academy can use an IS, what many fail to realize that the IS cores are less or more sentient AI, even for the mass-produced versions. Personal IS holders would understand better. The bond between these machines and their pilots are a lot more than simple calculations and charts. What the pilot and the IS have is a bond that keeps one alive, a piece of you remains in these machines. And a piece it of becomes a part of you."

Kenneth let his words hang for a second before continuing. "What the second shift is a link to fully synchronize that A.I. In theory, becoming one. It's not an easy task; trust must be established by both parties before anything else."

"I never knew that Tabane Shinonono had designed it to that extent." thought aloud Cecilia. Rin nodded in agreement.

"Only Shinonono-san would know the science behind this." said Kenneth. "So here we are today. I'll try to have you two find a trusting bond with the IS cores. Different cores have different ways of gaining trust."

"So you'll help us with that?" the girls asked in unison.

"I don't see why not." shrugged Kenneth. But this is a part which makes or breaks people. he thought.

Despite what Kenneth was true, the exact opposite can occur too, where the machine and pilot are completely out-of-synch, leading to insanity. However, other's have found ways to exploit where the human part is no more, just a cold-killing machine. This was the job of STARIS to safety guard for these types of things to occur.

"But first what do you know about your ISs? Anything abnormal that you can think of?" continued Kenneth.

"Not off the top of my head..." said Rin. Cecilia shrugged in response.

(Sigh) That was probably the case anyways. Each IS core had a different personality bond with their pilot. After the Surgery, Kenneth was able to choose what personality input he wanted with "Shadow Dance."

But who knew that this would be his downfall?

Desperately trying to keep a memory of Angel, Kenneth made her personality the core AI of the SI armor. Vowing for revenge, Kenneth and the Angel core didn't synchronize, leading to The Incident; The slaughter of over a hundred dead IS pilots, rogue or otherwise. All in lost in his own grief and sorrow for Angel.

"I'm guessing that you already know what your second shift is then, huh?" asked Rin.

"Yes." Kenneth lied. As a member of the Scion Initiates, there was only half-shifting using the Shadow Dancer, and full-shifting, the Phoenix Overdrive. But the mechanics behind the Phoenix Overdrive were close enough to second shifting.

"So then how will you help us second shift?"

Kenneth thought over it for a second, then said. "I could show you two what it could look like."

Rin looked confused. "What? How?"

Cecilia smiled. "It's the 'Shadow Dancer', isn't it?"

Kenneth grinned. "I'm glad that you remembered."

Rin started to look irritated. "Seriously? What's going on?"

"Kenneth and I had a duel before I fought Ichika for class representative." explained Cecilia. "He used the Shadow Dancer ability to look like a perfect clone of me."

Kenneth smiled. The drug really did delete their memories. "But I could always disguise myself. It's part of my augments."

"Oh really?" questioned Rin. "Prove it."

A bright orange light suddenly erupted from Kenneth. Rin and Cecilia shielded their eyes. As the light receded, Rin was looking at herself. A perfect clone of her body features incased in a new type of Shenlong. Instead of natural black and purple colors, this one had a forest green theme to it. The two orbs that housed the Dragon Cannons were replaced by two dragon heads, both facing the opposite directions. In this Rin's hands, an energy spear shimmered a dark purple.

"Now do you believe me?" asked the "Rin" clone, matching her tone of voice exactly. Rin simply stared dumbfounded. Cecelia giggled.

"I always name my second shifts." said "Rin" slowing fading back to Kenneth. "For Cece, 'Blue Sorrows' and for Rin, 'Lu Bu'."

"Do you always need the dramatic lighting for shifting though?" asked Rin.

"Nope. I usually use it for 'shock and awe'." Kenneth admitted.

"So how are we supposed to achieve an understanding with our ISs?" asked Cecilia.

Kenneth materialized his short katana and hachiwara. "Through battle."

1629 Hours- IS Academy- Stadium Battlegrounds.

Rin and Cecelia huffed and puffed bending over, while Kenneth stood there standing, still in a ready position.

"It's been a hour. How are you guys tired?" asked Kenneth.

"Damned exercise freak..." muttered Cecilia.

"Perhaps I did go abit too far." Kenneth's armor dematerialized, as he scratched his head. "I'll get some drinks for all three of us." he said walking towards the locker rooms.

Cecilia and Rin sat down on ground, still in their IS armors. "I didn't expect him to get that strong. He didn't even use the 'Shadow Dancer'." said Rin.

"And he's not the USA Cadet Representative? How weird..." added Cecilia.

"He likes to keep a low profile." said a voice behind them.

The girls turned around to see Laura Bodewig watching from afar, arms crossed in her IS armor.

"How long have you been watching us?" said Rin.

"Long enough." Laura shifted to a battle stance. "He's a fool to try and teach you two about a second shift." She floated towards them, arms testing their grip.

"I wonder what he would get out of teaching a representative who's country relies on numbers to support itself... Or a country that relies on old relics of the past as their redeeming quality."

"It looks like someone's asking for a beating..." evilly grinned Rin.

"A two on one should be just fine." agreed Cecelia.

"Los geht's!"

1634 Hours- IS Academy- Men's Locker Room

Kenneth picked up two Powerades from a vending machine. Casually looking at his synthetic arm, he saw that the battery power was needed to be charged again during the night. He sighed. A few more months and my heart should be just fine. he thought.

Three beeps radiated from his arm. Tapping a few hidden buttons on his arm, a small screen appeared before his eyes. Urgent Message from Sharks Division, it read. Looking around for anyone eavesdropping, he eyed the accept tab. A hologram of Mélissa Armén appeared before him.

"Midshipmen Kenneth Arthur Buyuu." the recording started. "If you are receiving this, we have a mission."

"At 0500 hours, PTZ, we received a transmission from one of our deep-cover agents in the Sharks, codename 'Zebra'. She had infiltrated one of Phantom Task's bases of operations, a medium-sized island in the Indian Ocean. However, the transmission itself was interrupted when a PT pilot cut her off."

She paused for a second. "Kenneth, if we pull this off, Phantom Task's operations against STARIS will be severely diminished. This is also a rescue mission. That's why I'm calling this mission a 'Bait Ball.'"

Bait Ball... THE most highest priority assignment. Kenneth quickly checked the recording list. He saw the mass list of different pilots, a majority of them being female, for the Shark's mission.

She's not kidding... Calling a Bait Ball would attract all member of the Sharks Division and other special tasks groups in STARIS.

"If you are willing to accept this mission, Kenneth, depart the IS Academy at 0500 Hours tomorrow morning. One of our helicopters will be picking you up. End transmission." With that, the hologram shorted out, only leaving a static background.

Kenneth grinned. "Mission Accepted." he said to the hologram static.

Response Sent

1636 Hours-IS Academy-Stadium Battlegrounds

Despite the two's best efforts, Laura was constantly faster and stronger than both of them, evading many attacks. Getting bored, Laura unleashed a large purple rope-like grapple at the girls, gripped around Cecilia's and Rin's necks, squeezing until they started to blackout.

Laura then closed in on Cecilia, violently shattering the armor on the wings of the armor. Wheeling around to Rin, she crushed her arm guards, tossing the shattered remains off to the side.

"Laura! Stop!" yelled Ichika, pounding on the shields to the arena. Houki and Charles searched around the arena for Kenneth, who was supposed to be with them. Laura, oblivious or simply ignoring, continued her brutality against the two.

Backing away from the shields, Ichika deployed Byakushiki.

"Ichika! What are you doing?" said Houki.

"I'm going to stop her..." growled Ichika, taking a mighty swing at the shield barriers, breaking them.

Ichika boosted towards Laura, sword ready when Laura, without ever looking at Ichika, rose her arm, halting him a strange barrier field.

"What the...? I can't move..." muttered Ichika.

Just like any other IS pilot... They think they're Super Soldiers... thought Laura. She then took out her a beam saber and slashed Ichika, removing a majority of his shields. This is why STARIS will forever be superior to IS.

"Ichika! Out of the way!" yelled Charles, diving bombing at Laura, firing her assault rifle.

Laura let go of Ichika in the AIC, and focused on Charles, as the two zoomed in the skies, returning fire at each other.

Ichika grabbed both Cecilia and Rin and took them off to the side. "You two alright?"

"Yeah... We'll be fine." struggled Cecilia.

"This is embarrassing..." mumbled Rin.

Ichika sighed, both were still conscience. Turning back to Charles and Laura, the two were still fighting.

Extending the purple grapple hook again, Laura caught on to Charles left arm. The hook started retracting, as Charles took out a submachine gun and fired. Laura charged in with her beam saber, slashing the submachine gun from Charles hand, and uppercutted Charles into the air.

Charles landed hard on the ground. Laura walked up to Charles, flipping her beam saber around.

"I will show you the fury of STA..." just as Laura was about to finish off Charles, Chifuyu appeared from nowhere, wielding an IS Katana, blocking Laura's attack.

"In...Instructor?" gasped Laura.

"It's fine to have mock battles." Chifuyu started. "But to the extent of destroying the barriers of the arena? You can finish this battle at the Division Tournament..."

Laura sighed. "As you wish..." Laura dematerialized her IS armor. Chifuyu brushed passed her.

"We will have a talk about using full-powers against IS pilots with STARIS Command..." growled Chifuyu to Laura. Laura rolled her eyes, and walked away.

Charles walked over to Ichika, along with Chifuyu. "You two fine?" asked Chifuyu.

"Yeah... I guess. I'm more considered with Cecilia and Rin though..." Medics from the IS Academy quickly hauled Rin and Cecilia away, with Charles and Ichika behind them.

After the group was sufficiently far enough, Chifuyu said. "Alright Midshipman, you're safe now."

Kenneth decloaked besides Chifuyu. "I should have intervened."

"If you did, you'd be pulling rank. She outranks you..."

"I know. I will be leaving tomorrow 0500 hours. Bait Ball mission."

Chifuyu looked surprised. "A Bait Ball? It hasn't been called since..."

"Your time as Don of Sharks Division. I'm aware. I will be going now, ma'am." Kenneth saluted and walked away.

April 17, 2021- 0458 Hours-IS Academy- Room 1044- Charles Dorm Room.

Charles woke up to a ruffling sound outside her room. Quietly getting up, Charles opened her door very slightly, seeing Kenneth, in full military uniform, gathering his things. He was carrying a large backpack. Kenneth continued to the door, and left the room.

Sensing that something was wrong, Charles quickly got her Smartphone and texted Cecilia, as she was the only closest to the their room. After the fight yesterday, Cecilia was sent back to her room, luckily only getting a broken arm.

CharCustomII: Wake up Cecilia.

The 1 and Only: What the hell? It's like 5 o'clock in the morning...ZZZ

CharCustomII: I know, but Kenneth suddenly got all of his stuff and left. I think he's leaving the Academy.

The 1 and Only: Wait what? Ok, so where do you want to meet up and find him?

CharCustomII: Main hallway, he's probably going that way anyways.

The 1 and Only: Ok, meet up with you there.

Charles got some light clothing on, and silently got opened the main door. To her surprise, Kenneth was going from hallway camera to hallway camera, pointing his left arm at it, and then walking away. He then turned around a corner.

Charles immediately followed, seeing Kenneth continue with the same activity. He wrapped around another corner, towards the main doors. Charles then spotted Cecilia's blonde hair creeping around a different corner.

As Kenneth continued towards the main hallway, Charles and Cecilia met up.

"What the heck is Kenny doing?" grunted Cecilia, also noticing Kenneth's behavior. After the fight against Laura, she was still in bandages.

Oops, shouldn't have gotten her... "I haven't clue... We'll talk with him before he reaches the main door." said Charles, as the two tailed behind Kenneth.

Kenneth walked around another corner; this one leading directly to the front entrance. Charles and Cecilia continued around the corner, only to find that Kenneth was gone.

"Huh? Where did he go?" said Cecilia.

A mysterious force shoved both Cecilia and Charles against the wall, pinning them. A figure started materializing behind them. It was Kenneth.

"What are you two doing?" he snarled. Both girls looked back at Kenneth. His eyes were an ice grey.

"I saw you gathering your stuff. Are you leaving?" grunted Charles, as Kenneth still pinned them.

"OW-OW-OW-OW!" whimpered Cecilia; her wounds have not yet healed.

Kenneth shook his head, releasing both of them, and continued to the front door. "Yes, and what if I am?" he said, opening the main door.

Charles and Cecilia rushed after him. "Wait! Where are you going?" asked Cecilia.

"My home."

"The United States?"

"No. The Battlefield." He continued to walk away.

"I thought you were an experiment by the US..." Charles and Cecilia said. Something was snagging at them in the back of their heads, like a mosquito buzzing around.

Kenneth turned around, stopping. "True. But I am a soldier. And have been recalled to my home. Now leave."

Cecilia and Charles looked at each other. The nagging feeling in the back of their heads became stronger.

"...Will you come back though?" they asked.

Kenneth looked at the sky. "Can't say. If I don't come back, the media will stay that I died of a heart attack. I am a soldier you two, and I will continue leaving until all wars end. Now..."

Kenneth raised his left arm, and a bright light emerged from it, blinding both girls. As the light disappeared, Kenneth was gone as well.

Cecilia and Charles were stunned. Sudden memories were restored in a torrent of emotion from Tuesday.

"...the Hitokiri of STARIS... Kenneth Arthur Buyuu."

"...To spread my sorrow to the ones that created it... The Infinite Stratos."

"I'm a soldier, and I will fight until the day..."

Images of the pictures that the Three STARIS members scrolled through Charles and Cecilia's mind. At first, both felt fear at Kenneth, he had slaughtered over a 100 IS pilots in the US alone. But as the memories slowed down, Charles and Cecilia saw that in every picture, he was constantly crying, tears rolling down his face for every IS pilot dead.

And finally, the last image of Kenneth cradling a young woman in his arms, screaming at the top of his lungs as a factory burned before him, surrounded by death.

Charles and Cecilia woke from their memory restoration on the grass, heavily gasping for air. They both looked each, and they both knew: they were drugged and had their memories removed, along with the rest of the class.

"Who... who was that woman?" asked Charles.

"Kenneth's love from a year ago... Angel or something like that..." sighed Cecilia.

"I can't believe it..." muttered Charles. The two sat silently on the grass for some time.

"Do you think we should tell the class?" asked Cecilia.

"NO!...no... If we do, then he might have to enforce that rule." mumbled Charles.

"So do we confront him after he comes back?"

"...Yes. Hopefully we'll be fine."

Charles and Cecilia got up and walk back into the Academy,