Spoiler: Memory 1

A boy and girl of the same age made a promise as they stood in a park. The seven year old girl smiled at the boy while grasping his pinky with her own. Although he wore tattered clothes and looked like a stray dog, which was the complete opposite of her immaculate self, she really liked him. She happily told him to remember their promise, though pouted when it seemed like he wasn’t listening. She ruffled up her friend’s messy black hair and peered into his eyes of different color. The white one was really striking.

Don’t forget the promise.

That was what she said. The next day, her family moved to another city.

Panic and fear spread through the public as they watched the soldiers of the Knight Corps fall one by one. Sirens yelled as loud as they could, cars were abandoned and large TV screens on the buildings displayed the current battle situation. The monsters were too strong. They tore space apart and invaded through a rift in the sky in such large numbers that they bloated the sun. Those that fought to protect mankind from them, humans with supernatural powers, tried to hold the line, but failed. It was the biggest invasion in decades and it couldn’t be stopped. They weren’t prepared for it.

As the monsters broke through their defenses and reached the city, they began to unleash destruction. Buildings were crushed, set ablaze or razed to the ground. The tremors reached the underground bunkers that the civilians evacuated to. They screamed, fearing for their lives. Among them, the little girl and her parents were hugging each other.

The thought that she might die here popped into her mind.

Suddenly, the earth violently shook as a large hole was torn in the ceiling. The refugees looked up reflexively. A monster, similar to a purple giant lizard with insect wings, was watching them with its six eyes. More screams came as people scrambled to get away from the hole, pushing and shoving each other. The lizard opened its mouth as fire leaked from it. The weeping girl watched it all in the arms of her mother while her father stood in front of them.

She was going to die here.

Yet, the breath of flames never came for in the next moment, the lizard’s head was blown away by a blue beam. A second of tense silence fell upon the panic masses because of the too unexpected outcome. They looked up and peered through the hole. Entering their views was a man floating high in the sky. Clad in black clothes and a long overcoat that was seemingly made of smoke, he was surrounded by floating guns that shot down every monster in the vicinity.

He was human, yet didn’t look like one. His hair was replaced by white feathers and a black horn grew on the right side of his head. Everyone who saw him unanimously believed that he was one of their protectors: a Knight. They cheered or sighed in relief. Some limply fell to their knees because of the near-death experience. The young girl stared at him, still shivering in fright. The man, by coincidence or not, matched his gaze with hers. His dark brown and golden eyes made her lose her breath. Admiration, respect and awe budded in her chest, like all those present.

On this day, when her city avoided total annihilation, the legend of the Dark Knight was born. It inspired children like her to become proud Knights and defeat the invading monsters.

Spoiler: Memory 2

They were scared.

It was quite normal. They didn’t finish their training nor were they officially part of the army. Yet, they were sent to the frontlines. The high school students gritted their clattering teeth and held their ground. Out in the deserted, devastated field, they could see them coming from the horizon. The monsters that appeared from a hole in the sky were about to besiege them. These things numbered in the hundreds and were headed straight for the city, for the students standing before it.

Someone gulped loudly. Another accidentally leaked out a small, pathetic scream. But, when a man’s booming voice scolded them over their earpiece, they reflexively straightened their backs. They couldn’t run. These young men and women knew what they were getting themselves into when they enrolled in the Owl Cadet High School. It was a place where future Knights were brought up. They would have had to fight eventually and right now, there was no one but them who could.

The army protecting the city was lured away, battling a huge force of monsters. They were too far away and wouldn’t make it back in time no matter how fast they rushed. A signal was given by the man’s booming voice. The three hundred students activated their powers. Their appearance changed one by one, each varied in shapes and sizes. One guy was set ablaze while a girl suddenly wore armor. With their supernatural abilities now active, the crystal injected in their necks awoke, relaying everything they saw and heard to others.

Each student became mobile cameras and their battle would be broadcasted to both headquarters and the hiding civilians. It was no longer time to tremble in fright. The monsters closed the distance and those capable of long range attacks began their assault. The Cadets retaliated. The two forces clashed in the open field as monsters and aspiring Knights-to-be fell one by one.

Standing by inside the city, Ryner watched the battle on his terminal along with the other second years. The third years were deployed while the sophomores were the backup. The first years were in charge of protecting the civilians which meant that they wouldn’t be sent out. The other students of his age were all scared and nervous. Among them was a prominent couple. The top male and female students acted as the leaders and tried to calm and motivate them.

They were pretty brave, he thought as he carefreely watched them give a rousing speech which was followed by the students’ deafening roar. However, just as everyone got fired up, orders from above were relayed to them. It was time to move out and join the third years. Everyone’s courage fizzled out in a moment.

Ignoring the scared and panicking crowd, Ryner inspected his left prosthetic arm and rubbed the nape of his neck.

He only needed to win the game, and keep his promise.

Spoiler: Memory 3

A new instructor was called in to train the students of Owl Cadet High School. He was a Knight that fought on the frontlines. However, his personality was horrible. If not for his strength, he would have been dismissed.

Under his watch, the students went through his abuse-like training. He unreasonably pushed them beyond their limits and if they complained, he would mercilessly strike them. Those that defied him were made an example of as he beat them down in a one-on-one match to show his dominance.

Someone else questioned his methods. It was a girl, the best and the most popular Cadet in their year among the female students. He yelled at her, told her not to talk back to her superior and ordered her to step forward. She would be made an example as well. Her boyfriend, who was equally capable and popular, also went against him, fearing for her safety.

The instructor ignored him for now. First, he would deal with the girl. That was why he told her to attack him and tossed her a knife while pulling out his own. Just like with everyone else, he would disarm her, beat her down and leave a scar on her body. It was an effective way to make them remember who was in charge.

However, the sharp weapon was caught mid-air by some other student. It was a guy with black hair and dark brown eyes. No, his right eye was white as if it was blinded. The instructor glared at his sleepy-looking face, yelling loudly not to interfere. The student simply tilted his head at his angry outburst and asked him if he was afraid. There was a moment of silence, followed by murmurs and finally a loud roar.

That was how an experienced Knight ended up fighting a Cadet in a one-on-one duel to teach him a painful lesson.

Afterwards, a different instructor was called in since the old one nearly died from multiple stab wounds.

Spoiler: Memory 4

They were watching.

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Thanks to the small crystal injected in their neck, they could see and hear whatever they did. That was how they kept track of those that were born with powers that regular humans didn’t possess. Moreover, in the case of the Knights, it was broadcasted to the public for everyone to see. Those hiding in their home could, from the television in their lounge, follow the course of their many battles.

They watched from the point of view of the Knights fighting off the monsters, preventing them from reaching their city. To raise morale, the administration made sure to switch the broadcast to those who were doing well in battle. If a Knight fell, his last moments wouldn’t be sent to every television. Only the viewpoint of the strong was shown.

However, sometimes, they had to show the desperate situation of others, even their last moments. The people wanted to know. And that was exactly what was happening as everyone watched the screen of their televisions while holding their breath. Unlucky Cadets who were called in to help were now stuck behind enemy lines. They were surrounded by monsters with no one to come save them.  Their last moments would be shown to their friends, their family and to the world.

At least, that was what would have happened if an unknown Cadet with a white eye didn’t burst into the scene.

Spoiler: Memory 5

Ryner wondered why they were doing this. The world was in a war against extradimensional creatures and yet, they had time to hold tournaments between schools. Lying on the grass-covered ground, he stared at the clear blue sky while cheers filled the air. The spectators in the stands were making a racket after the hair-raising battle.

It was a simple game of Capture the flag with two teams of three students. The boys and girls played separately. The girls finished their game and Ryner’s team was the only one left. Needless to say, they were losing. His two teammates were unconscious and he himself was down, battered.

Their opponents were from the Lion Cadet School, the best school in the rankings. It was known for churning out strong students that would later on become powerful Knights. Their best man, who was known as the strongest, was leading his team and currently basking in cheers.

Ryner stared at the sky for a second before slowly getting up. The crystal in his neck was monitoring his condition and sending whatever he saw and heard to the tournament’s huge screens. Everyone knew he was still conscious, so he couldn’t play dead.

The opposing team, though confident in their victory, still cautiously approached him even though it was three against one. They didn’t go for the flag and chose to defeat their opponents in a head-on battle.

They were an annoying bunch to deal with.

Spoiler: Memory 6

Inside the infirmary that rivalled any hospital with high-tech medical facilities, students were waiting for their turn in several lines. They were about thirty or so, all in their second year of high school. They talked to their friends, giggled and laughed.

The medical checkup wasn’t anything serious. It was just to see if they were healthy, if their powers were working properly and if the crystal in their neck didn’t have any problems.

It was a medical checkup that only humans born with supernatural powers would receive.

The strongest sophomores simply went through the motion.

Among them was Ryner who was sitting on a chair with his left prosthetic arm missing. It was lying on the table and plugged to a computer. The person in charge of his medical checkup was fiddling with his prosthetic arm, poking it with various tools and checking the data on the computer’s screen.

Once the maintenance was done, Ryner got it back and raised his left stump. His flesh above his elbow had become mechanical. He hooked his arm back in place and flexed his fingers to confirm that nothing was wrong.

The person asked him if he wanted to order the newest model of prosthetic, one that was sturdier, harder and stronger. Although the price was great enough to drop anyone’s jaw, they would readily outfit him with one for free. After all, he was a Cadet that would one day become a Knight. Weapons, gears and support would be given to him so long as he fought for humanity.

Ryner accepted the offer and thought internally that he would have to make some modifications later on.

After all, his current mechanical arm was his strongest weapon.

Spoiler: Memory 7

The drugs were running through Ryner’s system, muddying his thoughts. He didn’t know what they injected him with, but one thing was for sure, he wasn’t immune to them.

A small, crooked smile hung on his lips as he walked while swaying from side to side.

The huge room he was trapped in was dim. It was a manmade labyrinth with walls placed here and there to make corridors that one was forced to follow. Cameras were installed at every corner.

He didn’t know why someone built this place or why he was wearing goggles. They were like sunglasses that had an adjustable strap. In the lower right corner of his vision, the words “Live Broadcast” were displayed in red. In the lower left corner were the numbers of hunters and rabbits left.

Seeing these words in white reminded him that a voice on the speaker did tell him that they were in the middle of playing a game.

A game of tag where the hunters were the man’s friends while the rabbits were those who had supernatural powers.

It wasn’t really fair.

Ryner leisurely thought since, in his hazy memories, he remembered that the hunters all possessed guns, knives, night vision and other fun toys. On the other hand, the rabbits were given plenty of bitter medicine to swallow, scary injections in their bloodstream and a thick metallic collar that was attached to some weird backpack strapped to them.

The gear they were forcefully gifted couldn’t be removed, was bulky, heavy and out of fashion. Ryner really wanted to remove it, but he needed a keycard to do so. In all honesty, instead of a rabbit, he looked like a turtle with a fancy shell made of steel, wires and blinking lights.

As he stalked through the corridors that were barely wide enough for three people to walk side by side, he heard footsteps coming from further ahead. A man in a flak jacket showed up at the corner and noticed him in a second. It wasn’t hard considering that he had night vision goggles.

Grinning smugly, he aimed his submachine gun at his head and pulled the trigger.

A deluge of bullets flew at Ryner, but none hit him. He was dangerously dodging them by tilting, swaying and tripping over his feet, all the while looking like an idiot. Smiling, giggling, mumbling, he made his way to the armed man as if he was drunk and collided with his body. The attacker, wide-eyed, managed to push him away and point his weapon at him a second time.

Unfortunately, he didn’t notice that the grinning and dazed high schooler he was trying to kill had stolen his handgun from the holster on his belt.

Spoiler: Memory 8

The whole class stood in front of their respective desks with a large, opened case on top. Neatly stored inside were various parts of body armor. The instructor at the front spoke in a loud voice and told them that they shouldn’t be sitting while studying the standard protective armor of the army.

Armor that they would be wearing very soon.

He spent some time telling them about its defensive capabilities, the exoskeleton that supported the wearer’s movements and the boosters that gave their jumps an extra reach. He explained how to wear it, how to power it up, where the battery cell was and what they shouldn’t do to avoid a stupid death.

Of course, since they all had different powers that manifested differently, their gear and equipment would be tailored to them. In Ryner’s case, he couldn’t have any boosters on the back because of his power.

The instructor warned the high schoolers that although their armor was state of the art and that it could stop bullets and knives, it often wouldn’t do much good against their monstrous enemies. Some had teeth harder than steel and jaws strong enough to crunch through armored vehicles. Others were as big as mammoths and could easily trample them to death. The nastier ones spit acid or possessed tentacles that could tear people to pieces.

The creatures that came from another dimension were powerful. Their assault was relentless and their numbers unending. Science couldn’t beat them. But, that was why kids born with supernatural powers were sent to schools specialized for them. So that they could be taught to fight at an early age and enroll in the army right after high school.

Human weapon.

It was another name that some called them by.

Otherwise, they were also known as freaks.

Spoiler: Memory 9

They were basically VIPs.

They were brought to the school to boost the students’ morale and help them better themselves. The strategy was to spur the students to become the best soldiers that they could be by having them meet “celebrities”. The plan came from someone in the higher ups, so the VIPs couldn’t complain and had to do what they were told.

Frankly, it was frustrating to some. They were the best of the Knight Corps, yet they had to do something akin to babysitting. Others smiled and waved, enjoying the attention and popularity they were getting. Those who weren’t in either camps just followed their orders and watched over the students in the training field. The Knights would give these Cadets some pointers and even spar with them. Needless to say, all of the matches always ended in their overwhelming victory. Mere Cadets didn’t stand a chance against them.

Things were going as expected. The guys stared at the strongest Knights with glittering eyes while the girls sighed in admiration. When they could, they would bombard the veterans with various questions about their battles or about their personal lives. The most popular thing that was asked though was the infamous battle ten years ago.

Were you there when it happened?

What was the swarm of monsters like?

Although it was an old event, nobody had forgotten about it. However, the reason wasn’t because of the tragedies that it produced, but the tragedies that were avoided.

Tragedies avoided thanks to an individual, still unknown ten years later.

That was why that question was asked over and over again.

Do you know who the Dark Knight is?