13th of March, 2019 AD

"... You have got to be kidding me."

Not five minutes after he stepped out of his home, Ryuugamine Takeshi, in all of his own self-fulfilling prophecy, finds himself a witness to a scene the most bizarre in spectacle.

In the middle of his pre-established route towards school, he finds several wild-looking students with tattered uniforms accosting a much-younger student no older than a junior-high student. The former group had cornered the latter, who is on the verge of pissing himself out of sheer terror.

"It's way too early in the morning for this kind of crap..." Takeshi groaned as he began mentally weighing his options. "... Poor maintenance of their uniforms... hairdo and mannerisms straight out of Fist of the North Star... typical Hakai Academy goons."

As the auburn-haired boy let out a deep sigh, the Hakai Academy punks then pushed the younger boy down before the biggest and tallest among them snatched his bike and inspects it, revealing itself to be a Fuji-brand Conductor EVO 1.1+USA (Speed Ped), a really expensive import mode made for the American market, of which the bike's gleaming crimson finish gave way to Takeshi's knowledge.

"Check it, seems the shrimp got himself a sweet ride!" the large delinquent then smirked as he adjusted his pompadour with a switchblade-comb. "But the great me thinks that this beaut' suits me better. Ain't that right, boys?!"

"Hell yeah, bossman!" the punk with a small mohawk cheered while sticking out his long, pierced tongue. "As expected of the great Ryo-sama!"

"With that, the gals will be all over you!" a bald headed head and a set of loose bike chains hung around his right shoulder snickered. "That crimson sheen compliments your fiery soul!"

Takeshi sighs again while watching from afar, now slowly contemplating on calling the police or a truant officer, only to find himself hesitating to do so.

As the punks celebrated in their plunder, the younger boy rose back up and grabbed onto Ryo's coat before he could make off with his stolen bike.

"... Give... give it back," he tearfully spoke in both fear and pain. "... That's a gift... from my mom and dad..."

"Huh?!" the leader then turned his head with a threatening glare. "... You mind saying that again?"

Even if this threat display was in full purview, the young boy refused to relent.

"I said...!" the boy's voice trembled before raising his own fist. "... Give it back-!"

His little resistance was then cut off with a swift smack across his jaw, downing the much smaller boy back onto the ground.

"Whoa there!" the delinquent with the mohawk chortled. "Guess someone's a glutton for punishment!"

"You won't like when Ryo-sama gets mad!" the bald punk sneered. "His fists of fury are the stuff of legend! Hakai Academy trembles before it!"

Ryo then slaps on a pair of brass knuckles around his fingers as he approaches the downed junior-high schooler, the latter now legitimately fearing for his life as the much-larger delinquent's shadow begins to eclipse over his trembling little body.

"Let's see you how you'll ride a bike...!" the leader then raised his armored fist aimed towards the boy's knee, "... AFTER I BREAK YOUR LEGS-!"

"Rider...!"

Takeshi's body moved on its own before he could even notice, instinctively dropping his bag as his body tucked down with a wound-up fist, and his legs in their stride's climax.

"... Punch!"

In the next second, Takeshi's fist connected against Ryo's groin, instilling his whole body weight behind the impact, causing his fist to be burned wrist-deep into the balls before sending the much-larger punk flying off of his feet like a rocket and right onto his two wingmen, the three of them landing onto themselves in an undignified pile of limbs.

"... So," Takeshi then blows onto his fist, admittedly a little proud of what he'd accomplished, "who's got the fists of fury now?"

The two lesser punks tried to crawl out from underneath their leader.

"Ryo-sama!" the bald one cried out before locking his eyes towards Takeshi. "WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"

Their leader can do nothing but squeal like a struck pig, bending over himself into a perfect 7 not too dissimilar to TV TOKYO's Nanana the Banana.

"Some superhero-wannabe, that's what!" the mohawk punk growled out before eyeing Takeshi's uniform. "... A Kuoh Academy student, eh?! The fuck's a princess-breeding school producing killjoys ruining our bossman's fun, huh?!"

Takeshi clicks his tongue. "I need no reason to disclose my name to a bunch of no-name punks," he declared as he cracked his neck and shoulders, keeping full discretion of his own personal information. "We're too early in the morning to deal with this kind of crap, so why not just make it easy on all of us and give his bike back to him?"

The two delinquents blinked before becoming incensed with rage.

"IN YOUR FREAKING DREAMS!" The shaven-headed punk then tried to swing his bike chain towards Takeshi...

"Stop."

But the moment his brown eyes locked onto Takeshi's burning, amber eyes, all attempts of hostility were nullified.

"I won't repeat myself," Takeshi declared with an ice-cold candor and his irises slightly glowing like a pair of furnaces. "... Get lost, or else."

Everyone present then goes into a sense of primal fear, now perceiving Takeshi as the alpha threat present. Their animalistic instincts were telling them to run, further compounded by his recent power display of downing Ryo, a feared leader of Hakai Academy's conclave of delinquents as the "King of Fists," with one, critically-aimed blow to his nether regions.

"... We won't forget this!" The mohawk punk then backpedaled as his bald compatriot picked up Ryo by his shoulder before making their hasty retreat.

As they made their retreat, Takeshi then let out a sigh of relief at the fact that he chose to tame his little "predisposition" before moving to Kuoh. As much as he hated it, given how much of a trouble magnet he was becoming, he opted to not let a unique feature go to waste and learn to control it by turning it "on" and "off" like a light switch.

With the whole situation resolved, the boy then picks up his expensive-as-hell bike from off the pavement. "... Thank you."

"No sweat," Takeshi grinned with a thumbs-up, putting on a good face for the frightened boy. "Now run along and be sure to steer clear of anyone looking as if they had their clothes run over by a speeding truck, got it?"

The boy nods before briskly pedaling off.

"Huh, he didn't ride off screaming like last time," Takeshi smiled before pulling out his phone before checking the time. "... Aw crap! I'm gonna be late!"

He then picks up his dropped bag before making a break for it.

One Urgent Running Later...

Running like a madman, Ryuugamine Takeshi then arrives before the first period's bell can be rung, maintaining his perfect attendance by a narrow margin.

Classes went by as usual, his usual notes were taken, meticulously and neatly, and once lunch came around, he bought his usual fare of yakisoba bun and milk from the school store before sitting back onto his desk.

And like every other day, before and after he came to Kuoh Town, he found himself eating lunch alone. But ever since he moved to Kuoh, a familiar conversation began playing out before his seat.

"I keep telling you, the actress in 'Big-Breasted Naked Sumo 2' had bouncier breasts compared to the one in the sequel!" a teenaged boy in Takeshi's age with semi-spiky brown hair shouted before he pulled out his phone. "See it and prove me wrong!"

Takeshi found himself an unintentional audience member to whatever obscene video that the boy sitting before him was showing at max volume, causing everyone in his first-year class, especially the girls, to vacate the whole classroom immediately.

"... Utter nonsense!" a teenage boy with a shaved head (not to be confused with the bald one with the bike chain earlier this morning) refuted as he and his bespectacled compatriot viewed the clip on the boy's phone. "You need to get your eyes checked, Issei! There's no way Rina-chan's breasts are less bouncy than Amane-chan's! Such a thought is heresy!"

"No way, Matsuda! Your eyes are the ones that need to get checked!" Issei rebutted. "Back me up here, Motohama!"

The bespectacled teen then adjusts his glasses with a noticeable glare on their lenses. "... Unfortunately, Issei's smartphone is too minuscule of a viewing tool for me to come up with a proper consensus," declared Matsuda. "So, I propose a compromise. I suggest a 'Big-Breasted Naked Sumo' DVD marathon for the coming weekend to settle our debate as civil gentlemen of culture. All in favor?"

"Aye!" all three degenerates raised their hands in agreement as Takeshi groaned, slowly losing his appetite just by watching them. He curses himself for being too slow to leave, but it was not his fault that the sunlight shining next to where he sat was so alluringly warm enough to take a nap under.

In front of him were Hyoudou Issei, Matsuda Eiji, and Motohama Naoto, the infamous triad of perverts and degenerates known throughout Kuoh Academy as the "Pervert Trio."

They all earned their infamous moniker after the three of them were found snooping around the Kendo Club's locker room (at max capacity) before getting caught and had their collective crud kicked out of them by said occupants. Since then, the three of them publicly watched and shared porn (at max volume), openly discussing "cultured" matters (read: more porn and eroge), or comparing the three sizes of the girls they ogle at ever since Motohama confoundedly developed an ability that he dubbed the "Three-Sizes Scouter" (to the horror of 99.9% of the female student body and staff; he doesn't discriminate).

It's nothing short of a miracle that the three of them weren't expelled on the (numerous) counts of sexual harassment. Or at least, got lynched by the female student body (again).

"... I'd say you guys are shameless, but given we've been stuck with each other since last April, it's an exercise in futility," Takeshi muttered under his breath before sighing in partial disgust. "... Nothing kills your enthusiasm for the carnal and lewd, doesn't it?"

"Why would it?" Matsuda answered with a sly grin. "We are truly blessed to commute in a school hosting beauties in all shapes and sizes, of which none of it will ever get stale."

"Today's winds were especially blessed today," Motohama's glasses shone as his lips curled into a lewd grin. "Many skirts danced with the breeze as many sacred territories were charted and glimpsed just this morning. Pity that you missed it."

"Putting lipstick on a pig..." grumbled Takeshi as he chugged the rest of his milk before his taste buds can continue dying off.

"It cannot be helped, Ryuugamine," Issei remarked as he put his hands behind his head. "After all, as young males surrounded by boobs, hips, and butts, it is sin to deny our own desires! And speaking of the proverbial pigs with lipsticks, need I remind you that we're on the same boat?"

As much as he liked to deny it, Issei's remark had a kernel of truth to them.

By some twist of fate, Takeshi's polarizing reputation from his time at Ishinomaki has come to be in accessory towards Kuoh Academy's infamous triad of perverts and degenerates, sharing in their infamy no matter how many times he'd tried to wash his hands of them.

It all began when during last year's Culture Festival, his class was doing a haunted house for their display, and Takeshi was in charge of operating as one of the scares.

However, during the festival, he got a little too into scaring onlookers, where it got to the point where he accidentally let his "predisposition" leak out, and ended up spooking more people than he'd like, including the younger children who were found crying outside of their display.

After the festival ended, Takeshi was later than outed as the prime suspect after his past was dug up (by an anonymous source), and ever since then, Kuoh's student body had labeled him as "Kuoh's Boogeyman," the sole "delinquent" student within Kuoh Academy's student body.

Of course, his grades and attendance records proved otherwise, but by then, the damage to Takeshi's reputation was done. Only the Pervert Trio had dared to talk, let alone, approach him, and the rest was history.

Takeshi stuffs what's left on his yakisoba bun into his mouth before he is tempted to gag Issei with it. "... Just because you're right," he spoke after swallowing his food, "... doesn't mean I have to like it."

"But man, our first year flew by!" Matsuda then switched topics to avoid the awkward conversation. "Next month, we'll be second-years! Meaning new transfers and new girls!"

"I for one, cannot comprehend why we still don't have girlfriends," grumbled Motohama as he adjusted his glasses. "Being surrounded by girls is all well and good, but why is it that not one of us hasn't gotten picked out of the dating market?"

Takeshi utterly refuses to point out the obvious.

"I hear you, man..." sighed Issei. "Kuoh Academy is an Eden of girls for us bachelors, so I assumed that it was only a matter of time before I got some within this year. Life is just not fair..."

"Tell me something I don't know," Takeshi rolled his eyes. "... And for the record, not all girls are that desperate. Trust me, I have a relative who used to go to an all-girls school, and they're not as boy or girl-crazy as you would assume. With that said, I'm surprised that you three knuckleheads were proficient enough to pass the entrance exam."

"Screw you, Mister-ranked 1/434," Motohama rebuffed (ranked 234/434). "We bent our backs over backwards to reach this paradise! Don't make it sound like it was a cakewalk for you!"

"No one has ever said that reaching Eden was an easy endeavor," shrugged Matsuda (ranked 328/434). "But if it's for girls, then we'll tread through Hell and back for a mere silver of a chance of getting laid!"

"In short, never, ever underestimate a man with a mission," Issei huffed (ranked 394/434) before pointing his finger at Takeshi. "So what's your mission, Ryuugamine Takeshi? Why did you come here, if not for reaching paradise?!"

Takeshi moves Issei's finger away from his proximity. "You all may think that Kuoh's sole worth is in its formerly-all-female student body, but I for one see it as a way to rise to a higher standing," he answered with a flourish in his tone. "... 'Aim for nothing less than number one.' That is the Ryuugamine way. A good job and future awaits should I produce results during my time here."

"Uwa, typical answer for a good-looking scum," Issei frowned. "Well you already know my answer! I seek the world's biggest harem starting in this school! Grades mean jack shit when our lives are left sexless and alone!"

Matsuda and Motohama both clap their hands as Takeshi instinctively undoes his lock on his own "predisposition," trying to cope by imagining him throwing all three of them before Hakai Academy's gates and letting its populace of delinquents sort them out.

"Good for you," deadpanned Takeshi. "... I think burning every last bit of your porn is a good way to start."

"HELL NO!" all three of them cried out. "BEING A MAN MEANS TO BE PERVERTED-!"

"What's going on here?!"

But before the Pervert Trio can continue into their tirade aimed at Takeshi, the doors of their classroom swung open, revealing a princely young man with golden locks and cerulean blue eyes entered, followed in by the female members of Kuoh Academy's Disciplinary Committee and other miscellaneous female students. He was Kiba Yuuto, the "Prince of Kuoh" and voted as the "Most Desired Bachelor" by the Kuoh Academy's female student body.

"SAVE US, KIBA-KUN!" the students half-plead, half-fangirled at the princely young man.

"It's those three again, Kiba-kun!" one of the Disciplinary Committee members pointed at the trio with her baton before glancing at Takeshi. "... And of course he's here as well."

"I have a name, you know," Takeshi sighed. "... And for the record, they're in my spot."

The Perverted Trio paid no mind to his attempt to throw them under the bus as they were too busy visibly raging at Kiba Yuuto's mere presence.

"Drop dead, you handsome bastard..." the Pervert Trio collectively cursed the princely young man, all three of them grimacing.

The young man nervously chuckles before approaching Takeshi. "... I found the girls congesting the hallways leading to this classroom," he explained. "They just sort of... followed me in here."

"WELL GOOD FOR YOU, PRETTY BOY!" again, the Pervert Trio hissed at him, while their target of ire paid them no mind.

Takeshi sighs in exhaustion before getting up, activating his "predisposition" to get a pathway cleared for him in a sea of now-terrified girls. "Look, if you don't want me here, fine," he remarked. "I'll be upstairs. You'll know where to find me."

As he made his way upstairs, he passed by two girls that caught everyone's attention, both male and female alike.

The first was a tall and voluptuous girl with her raven-black hair tied up in a ponytail and her violet eyes striking as thunder. Her lips were bewitching, her smile turning the strongest of wills into clay that she could mold at her whim. Her demeanor was noble and elegant, the ideal personification of the Yamato Nadeshiko way of life.

The other was a European girl with striking crimson hair akin to fire, sapphire eyes akin to an unspoiled ocean, and a fair skin that surpassed royalty. Her shapely and balanced figure attracted the eyes of male and female students alike, her mannerisms being just as majestic as her assumed upbringing.

Everyone knew their names. Himejima Akeno and Rias Gremory, the two "Queens of Kuoh" that ruled the hearts and minds of Kuoh Academy's student body, and serial heartbreakers to the males who dared to aim too high and got shot down mercilessly.

It has become an unspoken rule among the Kuoh Academy's male student body (most of them): "Don't bother asking them out. They're too good for us plebs."

As Takeshi passed by the two (possibly) literal Queens of Kuoh, he toned down his "predisposition," not wanting to mar his reputation among his peers any further. "... Excuse me."

He then briskly walks past the two girls while the Pervert Trio watches the whole thing unfold.

"YOU LUCKY BASTARD!" The triad of degenerates flipped the bird towards Takeshi's back as the whole hallway descended into complete pandemonium via excess estrogen and testosterone triggered by the presence triggered by the gathering of school royalty.

As Takeshi walked upstairs, he couldn't shake off the fact that one of the Queens was acknowledging his existence as a person of interest.

"Tch, must've been the wind," he muttered to himself as he tried to spend the remainder of lunch in relative peace. "... As if that could ever happen."

Meanwhile, downstairs and away from the mob, Rias and Akeno exchanged the following as the two walked down the hallway undisturbed.

"... Akeno."

"Ara," the raven-haired girl remarked, "... you've noticed too?"

"We'll look into it when the time comes," the crimson-haired girl remarked. "Right now, we have more concerning issues to address."

After School...

"I'm home!"

Takeshi walks into his home and finds it empty.

It wasn't abnormal for Takeshi's parents to be home late due to all-nighters. His dad works for a construction firm contributing to this town's redevelopment, while his mom works afternoon shifts at a local supermarket, occasionally taking night shifts in case someone has to call in sick.

Tonight was one of those nights, with a cup noodle bowl on top of a note reading the following:

"Sorry that I won't be able to make dinner tonight," he read. "Someone called in sick and the boss asked me to take over for the night."

He then checks the clock on one of the walls, currently reading 3:29 PM.

"Might as well study first," he muttered before heading to the living room and settling himself up around the couch and coffee table.

After reviewing all of his notes that he took during today's lectures, he then heads over to the kitchen and proceeds to boil some water in a kettle.

However, this was no ordinary cup ramen. It was Buldak-style fire noodles. The very same brand that took over various YouTube challenge channels a year prior.

"Four-thousand four-hundred forty-four Scoville units all in a small cup," he recited as he separated the package of sauce from the noodles before pouring the hot water into the cup to let it soften. "And just for a good measure..."

Reaching into his fridge, he pulls out a small bottle labeled "Chaos Karma Dragon's Breath Habanero Sauce," the most spiciest brand of Japanese hot sauce measured at 10,000 Scoville units, advertised as "only the most brave are welcome to try this concoction."

"There's no such thing as too spicy," he smirked while he drained the noodles of their water before adding both the packaged and bottled sauce into it.

Once complete, Takeshi's eyes were then assaulted by a pure-red looking cup of noodles radiating nothing short of murder to the common taste buds, heaven of indulgence for one Ryuugamine Takeshi.

"If it were any redder, I swear to god, this thing would spontaneously combust like something out of Fire Force," Takeshi snickered to himself as he beheld his infernal concoction. "Itadakimasu!"

He slurps the cup until it is barren, letting the burning sensation of his tongue lull into comfort as he finishes his dinner in satisfaction. As Takeshi laid down, he couldn't help but look at the now-empty cup with a hint of lost innocence.

"... Look at you," he spoke to himself before looking up towards the ceiling. "... Once with a company debating over which combinations of cup ramen were the most ideal, now all by himself, stewing in isolation with no company to speak of like a deposed SHOCKER scientist... present company excluded."

Now downtrodden, he tries to turn on the TV to get his mind off of his own funk.

"We now report the Breaking News," the newscaster announced. "The murder that occurred this morning within Kuoh Town is still under investigation with the culprit still unknown but at large. The police advise that all residents of the town to remain indoors with all doors and windows locked after dark-"

Takeshi turns the TV off in disgust. "Guess they were right," he grumbled as he went upstairs. "The news is just depressing nowadays."

Upon opening the door, Takeshi flicks the switch on, illuminating his room to reveal a room full of Tokusatsu paraphilia (list includes various Super Sentai, Kamen Rider, Ultraman, and even the more obscure ones from Space Sheriff Gavan; both the original and the reboot, and even a whole DVD box set of the whole series Toei's 1970s' adaptation of Spider-Man), an 18x24 poster of Nana Mizuki (specifically, her Live Circus X Circus+ X Winter Festa 2014; he even has the admitted ticket to said event taped next to it), a small shrine dedicated to Symphogear's Kazanari Tsubasa (consisting of a figurine he won at the arcade back at 2015 when Symphogear GX was out, a few acrylic standees, and a poster of her various forms on the wall debuted up to XV behind it), and several video game consoles and handhelds next to his PC.

He then plops onto the bed, now ruminating on what to do next, the news he'd just dismissed still bothering him subconsciously.

"You know, if I wanted to marathon Kamen Rider Kuuga, I have a whole 50-episode DVD set in my room," he grumbled to himself as he checked on his phone. "Last I checked, I prefer my Gurongi behind a TV screen-"

His self-rant was interrupted by his foot touching something that laid on his bedroom floor. He lifts his head up towards where his foot was touching, and spots the "Sanada 10 Braves" DVD he'd rented over the weekend.

"... Well, no better reason to go outside and get some fresh air!"

Upon taking the DVD and changing out of his uniform and into an ensemble of a black leather biker jacket over his shirt, a red muffler, a pair of silver-white gloves, torn jeans, and a pair of boots, he then makes his way towards the family's garage and getting onto his 155cc Yamaha YZF-R15m motorcycle that his parents got for his sixteenth birthday and making it first on his admission into Kuoh Academy.

He then puts on his helmet and goggles before revving up his engine and taking off into the road.

"Damn! The evening air tastes good!" Takeshi chuckled to himself as he rode through Kuoh Town's streets within legal speed limits. "Alright, first order of business, head to the nearest branch of Tsutaya to return the movie and then enjoy the evening breeze on my way back home!"

As Takeshi rode his bike towards the setting sun, a cloaked figure can be seen standing atop of a utility pole that the teen had sped past.

At One of the Abandoned Warehouses...

"FUCK!" Ryo roared as he then kicked a rusty barrel across the dirt floor, knocking over several crates as it collided against the pile. "THAT REDHEAD MOTHERFUCKER!"

"RYO-SAMA, CALM DOWN!" the shaved head punk pleaded. "YOUR BALLS HAVEN'T HEALED JUST YET-!"

Ryo smacks his subordinate across his face with the back of his hand. "TO HELL WITH MY BALLS!" he roared before heading over to his mohawk subordinate. "DID YOU FIND A NAME YET?!"

"Nah boss," he shook his head while scrolling through this phone. "Although the name 'Ryuugamine' has been floating around when I mentioned the color 'auburn'. Heard he stirred up some shit back when he was at Ishinomaki, to the point where his house got graffitied and vandalized. With the whole... 'predisposition' that he had-"

"I DON'T GIVE A FUCK WHO HE WAS, YAMADA!" Ryo's tirade continued full-blast. "WHERE DOES THAT BASTARD LIVE RIGHT NOW?!"

"No clue so far," Yamada replied as he then texted his guys to find out where this "Ryuugamine" is at. "... Wait, I got a hit! One of our guys saw him at Tsutaya last weekend renting a DVD!"

Upon hearing the news, Ryo's lips curl into a sinister grin. "... Good," he then turned his attention towards his subordinate with a shaved head. "KUROYA! GET THE REST OF THE GANG READY! WE'RE GONNA PAY THAT MOTHERFUCKER A VISIT!"

"Ye-YES SIR!" Kuroya then pulls out his phone to text all of his contacts of the following deployment order.

Ryo then walks towards one corner of the warehouse to retrieve his lead pipe wrapped in barbed wire he named "Lucy."

"Mark my words, Ryuugaamine..." he sneered with anticipation. "Once I get my hands on you...!"

With an offhand swing, he then shatters a window next to him to hype himself for his upcoming meeting.

"... It'll be the last thing you'll ever do to the great me!"

"Bossman!" Kuroya cried out. "The whole gang's ready to meet up at the Redevelopment Area!"

"THEN LET'S HIT THE ROAD, BOYS!" Ryo cackled as all three of them got onto their stolen Mitsubishi Minicab kei truck before riding off.

As soon as the warehouse was emptied of its occupants, a monstrous presence slithered from the rafters above their heads, unknown to the warehouse's prior occupants until just now.

"Well well well," the monster hissed with elation as it came down, revealing a woman with dirty blond hair in a torn black dress hanging from a large, dark-green serpentine end from the waist down. "... Art thou my earsss burning? A gathering of thossse warm-blooded humansss?"

The beautiful woman's smile curls up into a sneer so chthonic that it betrayed her prior, otherworldly allure, her fangs and forked tongue slithering out of her devilish lips as her eyes revealed themselves as reptilian slits.

"... Well, who am I to ignore an invitation to an all-you-can-eat buffet?!" she snickered to herself before looking out at the window, now the sun setting deep into the horizon. "... It is now time. Tonight, the great Ssselia the Lamia joins the hunt!"

As night settled in, the Lamia slithers into the streets and follows her nose and ears where the delinquents were gathering to conduct their petty revenge.

At an Undisclosed Building...

"... Contact," a voice spoke in a dimly-lit room.

"Is it as we suspected?" asked a voice by the candlelight, revealing herself to be Rias Gremory.

"Yep," the same taciturn voice replied. "... A Stray. And a brazen one at that."

"Then it's likely that she's part of a hypothesized Cluster, then," spoke a young man's voice, revealing himself to be Kiba Yuuto. "This week's victims' deaths all have a pattern to them: bodily constriction followed up by their innards being gutted out. It's likely that this is their recent alteration after this month's earlier victims on a weekly basis, with this one having the highest body count publicly recorded. Shall I invoice a request for assistance to Sitri's Peerage?"

"Get ready to make that call once we have concrete evidence of their exact numbers," Rias replied. "Running in blind as a group will get us both killed. We'll have to be measured in our next actions. That said, the number of victims is beginning to rise towards unacceptable rates."

"The authorities will become suspicious, indeed," a motherly voice remarked, revealing herself as Himejima Akeno. "Everyone, get yourselves ready."

A glowing magic circle then opens up at the center of the dimly-lit room where they were occupied.

"The deadline is the end of this week," Rias confirmed as she led the others into the sigil. "Occult Research Club, move out!"

At Kuoh Town's Commercial District...

"Thank you for your continued patronage!" the cashier remarked as Takeshi walked out of the video rental store and towards his parked bike.

He then pulled out his phone from his zipper pocket and the clock read as 5:58 PM. "Shit, it's getting late."

He then hastily gets back onto his bike before riding back home.

As the pavement sped past him, he then passed by Kuoh's Redevelopment Area. Once a bustling part of Kuoh Town before allegedly, a ruptured gas pipe caused an explosion that destroyed said part of town in a great fire, now with his dad's workplace being brought on board to contribute to this construction projection.

He briefly reminisced his circumstances on whether he was blessed or cursed to have come here because of it, but ultimately, Takeshi resolved himself to try not get too attached to where he was at in his life right now.

After all, once the reconstruction is completed, we're probably gonna move to another part of Japan to repeat the same cycle, he bemused as he rode his motorbike through the night road. Of course, by then, I'll probably have graduated college and got myself a degree for a good job. And after that, a normal, conflict-free life awaits...

But as he was about to lose himself in thought, a blur of an incomplete human being passed by him, snapping him out as he then executed the Akira-bike slide to get a better look.

"Oi!" Takeshi then got off of his bike and ran towards the figure he'd passed by. "You okay-?!"

Upon the figure turning around, a sense of dread and nausea overwhelmed the teenager.

It was Ryo from Hakai Academy, but now with his lower jaw ripped from his head and both of his arms now mangled and twisted facsimiles of their former selves, stumbling around the dimly-lit streets like a zombie.

"Holy shit..." Takeshi panicked as he tried to comprehend what was happening right now.

The mutilated Ryo tried to speak, but all he could gargle out were incoherent babble and gasps before expiring before Takeshi's feet, landing face-down onto the pavement in the pool of his own blood.

"Oh fuck...!" in panic, Takeshi tried to call for an ambulance on his phone, only for his phone to not have any signal bars. "ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME-!?"

Several more bloodcurdling screams were heard from further down the street corner that Takeshi was about to pass by. Beyond it, he can easily go home and forget that it all happened, but then, another thought occurred.

... What if the perpetrators already knew where he lived?

"... GODDAMMIT!" revving up his bike once more, he then rides into the street corner leading towards the Redevelopment Area.

As he rode further in, Takeshi spots an upturned kei truck lying on its side, with wisps of smoke coming out where its engine was located.

"What the Hell is going on here?!" he panicked as he kept riding towards the center of the panic.

If this was truly the serial killer, then whoever was still alive was running out of time. With that in mind, he resolved to take his next action as he sped up on his motorbike.

Upon reaching a lit clearing, Takeshi's eyes spot something utterly bizarre and horrifying in equal measure. "WHAT THE FUCK?!"

The Lamia, Selia, was manhandling several of Hakai Academy delinquents, with several of them already gutted bare and one more being constricted around her serpentine tail, breaking his bones one after another. Those who were spared were utterly paralyzed in fear, with Yamada and Kuroya pissing themselves while their compatriots were slowly being killed off one by one by this monstrous vixen.

"Today isss a good day!" Selia chortled as her tail then broke her victim in two. "A veritable buffet of warm, human, flesssh!"

*SPURCH*

She then sinks her hand into the victim's jaw, ripping it and the entire frontal layer of meat connected to it off of his body as if she were peeling a banana, exposing his organs as they spilled out of his bodily cavity.

Her mouth then unhinged itself open into a gaping maw, swallowing the still-beating heart and lungs whole as they fell in like raindrops.

As Takeshi rode towards her, he could smell the blood as he rode towards her. He wanted to turn back, but even he knew that in good conscience, he can't turn back now.

"Now then..." the Lamia hissed as she moved onto her next potential victims after finishing her meal. "Who ssshould I have for desssssert-?"

"ORYAAAAH!"

Cranking the handlebar to its limit, Takeshi's motorbike sped towards the monstrous vixen before slamming its wheel into her face, sending her crashing into a vending machine, slightly shocking her upon collision.

*WHAM!*

*CRACKLE*

"WHAT ARE YOU MORONS STANDING AROUND HERE FOR?!" Takeshi cried out as he stopped his bike between them and the monster. "RUN YOU FUCKS!"

Snapping out of their collective stupor, the remaining delinquents all run as if their lives depended on it, leaving Takeshi to stare in horror at the carnage that the monster had left in her wake.

"... It's like the murders on the news!" he remarked out loud before hearing a pained groan coming from the wrecked box. "... What the hell did I get myself into?!"

"Aren't you a lively one...?" the Lamia hissed as she lifted herself up from the wrecked vending machine before cracking a can open before pouring warm oshiruko drink over her head to warm herself up. "... I love food that fightsss back... SSSHOW ME A GOOD TIME, MORTAL!"

Using her tail, she then rips what was left of the machine out of the ground before chucking towards Takeshi. He dodges by ducking under it, but he saw that the Lamia was already springing her tail to pounce onto him.

"... Adrenaline and 200 consecutive hours of Mario Kart 8, don't fail me now!"

He then revs up his bike past its legal limit before speeding off from her right as the Lamia then gave chase.

"GODDAMMIT! I REALLY SHOULD'VE STAYED HOME TODAY!" Takeshi cursed out loud as he dared not to look back at his pursuer, focusing solely on getting out of the Redevelopment Area and to a place where there's actual reception.

However, Selia proved far more cunning than the teen could anticipate.

Rather than simply slither at equal footing, she instead opted to slither from the phone lines and power cables, snaking around the insulated lengths from above as she kept a bird's eye view on her next prey.

Run asss much asss you want, you cannot essscape me, Selia hissed in her thoughts. Asss long as I sssee you, I can catch you.

Taking advantage of the fact that Takeshi's eyes were solely locked onto what's in front of him, the Lamia then pounces from an elevated position before landing in Takeshi's way.

Before he can even register on how she'd managed to outpace him, Selia then whips her massive tail into the front wheel of Takeshi's motorbike, wrecking it mid-ride as the rider was sent flying over the Lamia's head, tumbling hard and rolling across the pavement behind her in a broken mess.

"Well that wasss a good warm-up," the monster sneered as she slithered towards Takeshi lying on the road. "... Normally, I'd kill you like the ressst, but my tail is a bit sssore from being run over."

Takeshi lets out a low chuckle. "... So what?" he heaved out. "... Ya gonna let me go?"

"Of courssse not," the Lamia's tail then constricts his whole body. "It meansss that you're going to die ssslower."

Takeshi's whole body began being crushed from all directions as the monster's tail bound him tighter and tighter.

... Guess this is it, he thought bitterly as he took his final breaths. ... Just what was I thinking, a mere human facing down a monster all by myself?

However, from atop one of the utility poles, a cloaked figure who has kept watch over Takeshi since he'd left his house then took out a tally counter.

"... It's time."

It then clicked to "001."

Then a surge of unknown power radiates from within Lamia's mortal embrace, searing her scales and hide as she was forced to let go of Takeshi, dropping him like a hot potato as he landed onto his feet.

"What the heck...?!" he looked down on his waist, now seeing a plain-looking chrome-silver belt with a blank-black gem embedded at the center of the large buckle. "... My brain cannot keep up with this crap!"

Meanwhile, as Takeshi was wondering what was going on, the Lamia was blowing on her seared tail to cool it down before redirecting her attention back to him.

"Who... the are you?!" the Lamia hissed. "... AND WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH A SSSACRED GEAR?!"

Takeshi's fear then turned into elation as he instinctively felt like he knew what to do.

"... You know, it's a funny feeling," he smirked as he stood back up straight. "Suddenly... I got the feeling that I can't lose!"

He then places both of his hands around the belt's buckle.

"Henshin!"

The black gem resonates, its black lightning crackling against his whole body before a set of armor forms around himself.

From atop of their perch, the cloaked figure watches Takeshi, nodding in approval.

Now Playing: "A Boundless Life" by Hiroshi Kitadani (from Kamen Rider Ryuki)

The light around the teen dies down, now in his place, an armored warrior with a basic black and silver dragon-themed armor with a grill-visor mask over his helmet.

"Holy shit!" Takeshi exclaimed as he checked himself. "I really thought that wasn't going to work-!"

*WHAP*

*CRASH!*

The Lamia then whips her tail across Takeshi, knocking him into a building before the whole thing crumbles atop of him.

"Cocky bassstard," taunted the Lamia. "Sssacred Gear or no Sssacred Gear, if you don't don't know how to ussse it, then you're ssstill weak-!"

The armored Takeshi emerges from the rubble completely unharmed.

"Guess the armor isn't just for show, good to know," he grumbled as he then shifted into a fighting posture. "Now it's my turn!"

Takeshi then runs towards the Lamia with a wound-up punch, but Selia evades the coming strike, which instead wrecks the upturned kei truck into bits of scrap.

"Well what do you know?" Takeshi let out a cocky cackle while admiring his fist. "Put that on my data card!"

"Oh pleassse, anyone can do that!" Selia remarked. "You're nothing ssspecial!"

The Lamia then springs back towards Takeshi as the two's blows then collide.

Takeshi's punch was met with Selia's own, both evenly matched in terms of physical strength and prowess. After the greeting, the two began exchanging blows, beating each other to a pulp through whatever means necessary.

Takeshi's punches and kicks dented the Lamia's fair skin and armor-like scales, even managing to grab a hold of her before throwing her into another building to return the favor from earlier.

"Thank God no one's living there..."

Selia meanwhile used her abnormal physiology to her advantage, her elevated height providing a vantage point for her to rain down heavier blows, her superior musculature adding more weight to her punches, and her tail, thick as a tree, elastic as rubber, and flexible as cloth, was an ideal weapon and third appendage.

Their fight continued throughout the Redevelopment Area as night completely fell upon Kuoh Town's empty lot, and violence between the two abnormal combatants pressed on without interruption.

Several unfinished buildings were rammed through, few fire hydrants were ripped from their pipes, and both combatants swung their limbs at each other with reckless abandon, striking each other at random places in hopes of bringing the other down through whatever means necessary.

"COME ON YOU BITCH! SHOW ME THOSE TEETH OF YOURS!" Takeshi then stomps down on the tip of Selia's tail before delivering a reverse-roundhouse kick into the Lamia's mouth, breaking off teeth from her gums upon collision. After which, he then followed up with a dropkick that sent her flying into a utility pole.

The Lamia then spits out blood before tapping into her rage to raise herself back up. "YOU FUCKING PESSST!"

In shock and rage, the Lamia then sprouts a fair of bat-like wings from her lower back before taking off into the air.

"Bat wings and a snake tail," deadpanned Takeshi. "... Someone's had a lot of fun modifying you. Or this is your true form."

"I WILL NOT BE BROUGHT LOW BY SSSOME UPSSSTART!" Selia's body then begins radiating with great power, within her chest being a bright silhouette shaped akin to a horse's head. "MY SPEED SHALL BE YOUR DEMISE!"

"Finishing this, aren't we?" Takeshi confidently remarked. "Then come on!"

As the two combatants readied to end this song and dance once and for all, an errant thought occurred in Takeshi's mind after his adrenaline wore itself down.

... Do I even know that this thing has a finisher move?

He then inspects his belt, trying to push the various buttons to see what worked before coming to a horrifying conclusion.

"... I don't have a finisher move."

*CRACK*

In a blink, Selia divebombs back down and buries her envenomated fist into Takeshi's gut, breaching through his armor and sending him flying through several buildings before landing onto a pavement fence.

A heavy sense of pain racked throughout the teen's body, his armor failing to protect him from the monster's full might. His vision was blurry and fading, once fearing death, now close approaching it.

"... How vexing," hissed Selia as she descended towards where Takeshi had landed, withdrawing her chiropetrous wings into her lower back before slithering herself towards him. "I broke my own rule. I wasss forced to ussse my venom when I wasssn't sssupposed to. Guessss that disssqualifies me."

"... So all... those lives..." Takeshi's voice coughed out underneath his helmet, now smelling like bile and blood on the inside, "... were just nothing... but a game?!"

"Alasss..." the Lamia snickers as she then raises her hand glowing bright purple. "... You have no one but yourssself to blame-!"

"That's enough."

The Lamia then torques her head towards where the voice had come from, with both the monster and the delirious Takeshi spotting the brilliantly crimson-haired Rias Gremory making herself known to both of them.

In spite of this horrible scene displayed before her, she exuded unflappable confidence, radiating an awesome power that beguiled Takeshi and frightened Selia.

"... HOW?!" the Lamia hissed. "I THOUGHT I HAD ELUDED YOU, GREMORY BRAT!"

Rias smirks. "I own this town, Stray," she boldly declared. "You shit in my backyard, kill my people for sport, and you dare to assume that you can elude me? Hardly."

Selia growls as she tries to put up a token resistance, but instead finds herself slithering backwards.

"Now then," Rias then clapped her hands as her presence began radiating even more power, "we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Tell me where your fellow Strays are gathering at, and I shall see to it that you are all only sentenced for life. Otherwise, I cannot guarantee any of your safety."

Selia's snarl of fear then turns into that of spurred rage. "DROP DEAD, GREMORY BITCH-!"

*FWHOOM*

But before a clash of titans could erupt before Takeshi's eyes, a crimson formation akin to a spiderweb was then spun around the Lamia into a crimson cocoon before she was whisked away before their eyes.

"Damn it," Rias clicked her tongue before pulling out her smartphone. "It's me. The Stray got away due to outside interference. What of the surrounding area?"

"More bodies than we initially anticipated," Yuuto's voice said. "I've already called members of Sitri's Peerage to assist us in damage control."

"The survivors are secured," a taciturn voice replied. "... I also spotted paw prints leading into the local forest."

"Ara, so now they've begun to show themselves," Akeno's voice replied. "Guess that means now our foes are aware of us."

"Recall all of our familiars and set them on different routes throughout the town," she ordered as she then picked up the translucent thread off of the ground before gleaning over it. "... I found a lead. We'll reconvene back at the clubroom with what information we've gathered."

"Of course," Yuuto's voice replied.

"Take care, everyone," Akeno then hung up as Rias then approached the armored fighter slumped against the fence.

"Now then..." she remarked before crouching down towards Takeshi's eye level and inspecting his wound. "... Poison. Nothing I can't fix."

She then places her hand over his wound, expelling the venom swimming through his veins with a warm green glow, and closing the wound breached into his stomach.

"That should do for first aid," Rias remarked with a sigh before picking him up by his shoulder. "Now then, we'll take a better look at you before deciding on what we'll do with you-"

Suddenly, the armor around Takeshi's body shone before it was dematerialized, revealing himself fully before Rias.

"... Hi Gremory-senpai," Takeshi sheepishly greeted.

"I knew it," Rias muttered to herself. "Well, that saves me the trouble of deciding what to do with you, Ryuugamine-kun."

Takeshi tried to protest, but a wave of drowsiness overwhelmed him before he was then lulled into unconsciousness.

Rias smiles that he's well enough to sleep soundly.

From afar, a mysterious cloaked figure stood atop of the telephone pole, watching the two ever vigilantly under the night sky.

Rias instinctively looks back, only for her to see nothing in particular.

Ride 1: Re:Awakening

So, this is the reboot's "Chapter 1," and I made some changes on my own compared to the original.

One, I made Takeshi's "predisposition" more under his control rather than be a random occurrence, since for me personally, I think it's more clever to have him learn to control it if he were to remain functional as he is in the original run. That and well, if he's gonna be a "punk magnet," he might as well learn how to defend himself to avoid being a "paper tiger," and as a result, his shifted personality here is that he's a bit punkish himself, albeit kinda like Yusuke from Yu Yu Hakusho. As much as he wants to live a normal life, he has a sense of justice that he cannot ignore.

Two, I'm giving Takeshi's Sacred Gear a "Base Form" (based off Kamen Rider Ryuki's "Blank Form" and its helmet design coming from Kamen Rider Knight) to at least make him look as if he gained some power, rather than just a simple parameter boost. That and our mysterious man's tampering back at Ride 0 wasn't for naught. That will be important.

Three, Ryo's a bit more expanded here as a "starter villain wannabe," right down to killing him off to show Takeshi a taste of what's to come. That and while I did plan Hakai Academy (formerly Destroy High School in the original fic) to serve an important role later on, Ryo's not a part of it, so them's the breaks. Speaking of deaths, I'm moving up Selia's death for the sake of drama and for the coming thematic squadron-idea I had in mind for the Cluster.

And four, I'm shortening the chapter compared to the original's Chapter 1, just so that it can flow better, and I kinda had Kamen Rider Kuuga Episode 1 in mind, where the episode ends after the first fight. That and I don't want to be too derivative of the original fic out of respect of the original author's hard work. While it would be easy to just copy the fic one for one, the coinciding setting update/calendar system is my self-check while acting as my control measure.

With all that said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. See you in the next one.

Here are a few Toku references that I added in for fun:

- Hakai Academy is named after the Japanese word for "destroy" and the classic Toku villain, Hakaider from Kikaider.

- Elements of Issei's (and the rest of the Pervert Trio) speech was (very) loosely inspired by Kamen Rider Eden's thematic motifs for pure comedy.

- Takeshi's biker ensemble is thematically inspired by Showa-Era Kamen Riders, specifically Ichigo.

- The Cluster that Selia belongs to operates like the Gurongi from Kamen Rider Kuuga, in that they only kill their victims through self-imposed "rules"/methodologies and restrictions.

* Sidenote/not a Toku reference: the "Chaos Karma Dragon's Breath Habanero Sauce" is a nod to dvdryms' first fanfic, Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V: The Fifth Factor. If you read it, you know.

OC Fancast:

Ryo: Kōichi Yamadera (JPN), Keith Silverstein (ENG)

Yamada: Tsubasa Yonaga (JPN), Aaron Campbell (ENG)

Kuroya: Shintarō Asanuma (JPN), Greg Cote (ENG)

Selia: Shizuka Itō (JPN), Kari Wahlgren (ENG)