The school's sports day. A day where students get to show off their athletic prowess and compete against their peers in various fun events and activities. Cheers, laughter, playful banter. All par for the course on this momentous day.

  Sitting under the canopies, Parents and guardians came to watch their children compete - a unique sort of pressure engulfed the school. It was as if they had become nothing but their eyes - eyes that expected greatness from these young students. As such, the athletes knew they had to give it their all... And Olivia was no exception.

  Like the years before, she had participated in literally every event. The long jump, baton race, tug of war, even the horse shoe throwing competition! It was almost ludicrous how dedicated she was. It had gotten to a point, where an urban legend started to form around the schooling - claiming that Olivia was some government experiment to create the perfect human being. Not only did it seem like she had the drive for anything, she also had the skills to back it up. She was the basketball team captain, baseball team captain, track and field star, football team captain, hell she was even the captain of the chess team. That brought up another point to Olivia's perfectness. Her intelligence. She would always top exams, somehow knew how to win every school debate, was spelling be champion since kindergarten, she was like a perfect student.

  Perfect student, perfect person. That was what others saw her as. No matter where she went, people put her on a pedestal too high for any person to comfortably stand on. A pedestal so high, others were forced to look up at her - with envy in her eyes. However she never asked for such a position.

  Doing some stretches under one of the many canopies - which she obviously helped the teachers set up earlier in the morning - Olivia noticed a figure approach her from the corner of her eyes. It was her friend, Irene! Yes her best friend who had been with her since kindergarten. Well one of them at least.

  "You okay, Lia? I mean, you've been running and jumping about since 7 o'clock!" Irene asked, throwing her a water bottle.

  She caught the water bottle without even looking, too focused on doing warm ups to even care to look up. Her warms up however... were more akin to an actual workout session than stretches. It honestly didn't surprise Irene - used to seeing such monstrous displays of "I'm better than you"-ness from her friend.

  Shrugging, Olivia lifted her leg high up - her toes going past her head.

  "Eh, it's fine. I only got the 100 meter left, then I can go back home and sleep..." Olivia said, finishing up her third rep.

  Irene chuckled before crossing her arms together. Watching her continue her abridged training montage, Irene couldn't help but feel a tad irritated. Despite being her friend for many years- actually no... because she has been her friend for many years, Irene had grown annoyed by Olivia. Giving her a smile, she rolled her eyes a bit before softly scoffing. Olivia had noticed this. It annoyed her.

  Approaching her, circled her a bit before stopping in front of her.

  "Whatever Ms. 'Perfect'... Just don't work yourself to the bone." Irene said, chuckling a bit afterwards.

  Olivia looked at her with a smirk, an innocent one that she used to humanise herself... but she could hear the jealousy beneath her friend's words. It was painful.

  "What's that supposed to mean?" She said, feigning ignorance.

  Irene's expression faltered a bit, clearly not expecting her reaction.

  "W- well... You know, you're like... The best at everything. You're basketball team captain, chess prodigy, swim team-" but before she finished her sentence, Olivia began pushing her out of the canopy.

  It wasn't an aggressive push, nor was it an annoyed one. It was a push of tiredness. Boredom after hearing such cliché words repeated back to her.

  "Yeah yeah I get it... Go go, I gotta finish my damn stretches ya damn dork" Olivia said, chuckling a bit.

  Despite her carefree demeanor, Olivia bit her inner cheek - as if trying to force herself to stay calm. Irene shrugged, turning her back on her friend. As she left, Olivia looked at her with slight annoyance before slapping herself.

  "Get it together, Olivia. Just focus. Focus. Don't falter..." Olivia said, squishing her face together.

  As she was squishing her cheeks, she suddenly heard a notification go off on her phone. She quickly stopped her tomfoolery, picking up the phone to see who messaged her. A slight smile formed on her lips, noticing it was from her aunt - however it subtly lowered as she read the message.

  "Good luck! Kill em like always!"

  Squeezing her palms against her phone, she pressed the top of the phone against her forehead - she nodded slightly. She looked at the shark tail charm dangling on her phone, looking at it with apprehension.

  "Just keep moving. If you don't keep swimming, you'll die"

  A thought that dug itself into her psyche.

  Her eyes glazed over. A look of disappointment and disillusionment filled her face. If it weren't for her brother pushing her away - Olivia would've been stuck in her memories, never to leave.

  Grabbing her shoulders he began yelling at her.

  "Hey! Hey! Wake up! Are you okay?!" Oliver yelled in panic.

  Biting her lips, she looked at him with sadness in her eyes. The look melted away any anger or fear in Oliver's heart. Only concern remained.

  "I'm sorry... I failed you... As a sister." She cried.

  Oliver hugged her tightly, shaking his head.

  "No... No you haven't failed... There's still a bit of h-" but before he could finish his sentence, he felt an overwhelming amount of pressure standing beside him.

  In a flash, he was displaced five meters away from his original location. His back hit a tree. He swore he felt bones breaking.

  Coughing up blood - the investigator watched in horror as the creature who sent him flying approached his sister. The tall - almost human looking creature - towered over the woman. Its two sets of long bug-like arms reached the floor, while its human looking ones grabbed his sister's head - lifting it high up to meet it's almost faceless face. If it weren't for the long slot mouth that ran around his face - just stopping at its neck - the creature would have resemble more like a mannequin. He reached his hand out, in a desperate attempt to save his sister - however it would only be in vain.

  Tilting its head slightly - the once brimmed hat it wore now a crown made from various insects and plant life poking her skin - a tooth frown crept on its face.

  "Why must life make us fight? How cruel it must be... Life is beautiful and precious... That's why I must preserve it in its most elegant form. An untainted corpse. That, is preservation..." The fester said, its bug arms are now choking the girl.

  Olivia began gagging and desperately clawing at its arms for safety - however its thick exoskeleton was too tough for her to even make a dent. As her life slowly faded away... She made a split second decision. Using the pointy parts of its crown, she used it to cut off a good chunk of her hair. As expected the Fester began panicking, dropping her to hold its head in frustration.

  "NO! NO! NO! You tainted your form! You are sullied!" It yelled, twitching and screaming.

  Despite coughing and holding her neck, Olivia couldn't help but feel relieved that she was finally out of its grip.

  "Preservation... That's what this Fester became huh... So this is the power of an apocalypse... It's underwhelming..." She thought, trying her best to recover.

  Looking around, she analyzed the severity of the situation she was in. Sieg had retreated, Arlecchino had disappeared from sight, her brother was in critical condition and her sword was atleast a football field away. It was safe to say that she was absolutely fucked. Even still... She had to do something.

  Standing up... she braced herself. She was their only hope... the only person they had. She had to be the hero for them. She was- "Stop! Just stop! You aren't even helping!" a civilian cried out.

  Turning her head, her eyes fixed on the despair ridden civilians. Their faces had lost all hope.... And once humans give up on hope - All they have left is to blame others.

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  "Just leave!"

  "Go away!"

  "You couldn't even do your job properly!"

  "... Was this our so-called hope?"

  "I really thought she'd save us..."

  Looking at them. She felt nothing. She couldn't feel anything.... No, it's not that she didn't feel anything... It's just her rage drowned everything else out.

  "Why? Why are you looking at me like that? I know I failed okay? But I'm trying to help... I'm trying my best to be what you want me to be!" Was what she wanted to say... But fear got the better of her. What would they think if she said that? Would they be even more mad? Or would they shut up? She couldn't risk it.

  Lowering her head in defeat, the investigator began crying. Overwhelmed in defeat and emotion, her tears flowed out despite her best efforts. The sound of her cries forced the angry civilians to become silent - guilt forming in their hearts. They already knew pushing the blame onto her was wrong - but they couldn't help it. They needed something to blame for their misfortune. However, seeing the sobbing investigator, they could only feel shame.

  Almost poetically, rain began pouring down. It passed through the barrier covering Leighbourne town - the sound of the raindrops hitting the brick floor became deafening.

  Feeling the drops of water hit its body, the creature stretched out one of its arms to catch the water. As a puddle formed in its palms, the Fester attempted to absorb the water into itself - similar to a plant absorbing water from its roots - however, the nature of the Fester's body prevented the process. It had become something different. Something new. It was, preservation in its most literal sense.

  Clenching its fist, the creature looked up at the sky.

  "I must preserve this world... As is my right." The Fester said, its robe opening up into wings.

  The five individual wings spread upon, spanning two meters in length. Each of the wings had a closed eye in the center - the sight catching Oliver's interest.

  "O hollow world... Remain. Let not a single aspect be tainted. Preserve this moment, over and over. Territory..."

  As it uttered those hallowed words, the rain stopped in its tracks. The raindrops floated in the air, resembling prayer beads. However... they didn't truly stop moving. The raindrops had stopped, yes, but their momentum didn't. The act of falling still applied to the raindrops, however no end would come to that falling. The raindrops had essentially become bullets.... And with just a single flick - the Fester brought chaos. Ironic for a creature preaching preservation.

  It happened in less than the blink of an eye, however in that incredibly short span of time, all the rain in the 10km radius of the territory had disappeared. The rain that exceeded the territory's range still fell, though the moment it entered its range - it was as if the concept of rain had been erased. However the ground still became wet.

  It was such a miraculous and terrifying feat... Yet the victims of this disaster weren't able to even notice such horror. The only thing they could feel was excruciating pain. It felt as if millions of tiny bullets shot at them at high speeds, going through them like paper. They could feel holes riddling their bodies... But no such wound existed. Their bodies were preserved, yet the pain they would've experienced still persisted.

  This, it was preservation. In its most twisted sense.

  As the shock from the instant pain faded away... Soon the cries and screaming came. It was horrible. Even a broken piano that was set on fire would sound like Beethoven compared to the horrific sounds of torture produced by the civilians. The screams of men, the wailing of women and the cries of children mixed together to form one musical piece of discord. If it weren't for the twin investigators' already ruined mental state, they would be joining in the despondent melody.

  Looking at the Fester, Olivia had given up. She had no more resolve to give. No more fight left in her. The only thing she could do was pass out. It was as if her body was protecting itself from even more despair.

  Seeing his sister collapse, Oliver tried to call out to Olivia - but his body was too ruined to even speak a single word. He grit his teeth, before crying. He couldn't do anything. He promised himself that he wouldn't be weak anymore. That he'd protect everyone he loved. However he couldn't even do anything... No he could do something. He was just scared.

  "I get why Sieg and the other high ranking investigators didn't help earlier... I'm no different. I'm weak... I'm a coward... I can't do anything..." Oliver thought to himself.

  He was too weak to physically speak out his self deprecating rantings... Which forced him to focus on things other than himself for once. Behind the screams and cries, he could hear a different kind of cry. A desperate cry. A cry that somehow - despite everything - still had hope.

  "Please... Please let this be a fairytale... Please save me Riderman!" a boy said, holding his toy tightly.

  Hearing that... Oliver was reminded of Ella. Clenching his fist, he bit his lip. He bit it so hard, it began bleeding. That pain... Was enough to make him forget the fear that festered in his heart. Slowly standing up, Oliver's arms dangled at his sides weakly.

  It was stupid. Such simple words made him lose any fear, or self-preservation he had in his body.

  "I think I'm an idiot- No I really am an idiot... Something that small... Something so small as that... No, even if it's that small. Even if it's so small that it'll slip through my fingers... It'll grab it. I'll protect it with everything I have... Because that's what heroes do. And I can't disappoint my biggest fan..." Oliver thought to himself, before running towards the Fester.

  Despite the horrible pain running through his body. Despite the unnatural sounds his broken bones were making as they shifted around. Despite knowing that if he doesn't die fighting the Fester, he'll be a lab rat for the rest of his life. Oliver moved forward. He didn't want to be like those jaded investigators who had lost all meaning in their lives. He didn't want to be like those high ranking investigators who trembled at punishment. He didn't want to be the weak coward he used to be anymore!

  "Even if I have to die, I wanna die a hero damnit!" Oliver said, balling up his fist.

  As the investigator ran, he could feel the eyes of the civilians locking on to him. They watched him with hesitation - too scared of disappointment to put any more hope into anything - but seeing the determined look on his face... They cheered.

  "Go! Please save us!"

  "Go go!"

  "Go get 'em!"

  "Just do your job properly this time!"

  "Please, you're our last hope..."

  "I know... He'll save us!"

  A smile slowly crept up on Oliver's face. An involuntary grin of satisfaction. He felt relieved.

  Not stopping even as he reached the Fester, Oliver almost lunged at the creature with his balled up fist. The fist practically flew at the fester, a cracking noise was heard as it made contact.

  It fucking hurt.

  Gritting his teeth, Oliver tried his best to not scream out in pain. The civilians looked at him with an almost pitying glare - however disappointment began creeping into their hearts as well.

  With an unimpressed expression - well the best it could do with no face - the Fester looked down at Oliver.

  "You didn't even make a dent... How foolish. You are a lifeform undeserving of preservation. Your kind is the type to make a fool of themselves, all for the sake of something as worthless as "the right thing". In other words. A being who goes against self-preservation." The Fester raised its arm up. "For that reason, you must die." Its hand now enveloped in descent energy.

  It chopped its hand down - however stopped momentarily as it heard the sound of screaming. Not a scream of terror. Nor a scream of pain. It was a scream of determination.

  "Do it! Mr. Hero!" The little boy from before yelled.

  The Fester scoffed before chopping anyway.

  "How annoying... Humans truly are not deserving of preservation. You all fight against your instincts to continue to suffer. However, I must not falter. I must sacrifice my own prejudice for the sake of said preservation..." The Fester looked down to Oliver. "However a cancer like you who's hubris sways the masses... must be cut out-" but before it could finish its sentence, the creature noticed its arm was not lodged inside Oliver... But instead his arm was longed inside his mouth. With a hard bite using all of his force, he bit off and ate a chunk of its flesh.

  Feeling the horrible sensation in his mouth... Oliver's suspicions had been confirmed.

  "You taste really bad... But familiar. That horrible taste of burnt tires and vomit... You're not an apocalypse... You're just a disaster that failed to evolve!" Oliver yelled

  Gritting its teeth, the Fester regenerated its flesh before summoning a lance made from its body matter.

  "You dare taunt me after tainting my form?! You truly are a cancer to this world!" It yelled trying to stab Oliver.

  Suddenly... An ominous wind blew through the town square.

  Lifting up his arm, Oliver Rand caught the lance with his bare hands... Well, armoured hands if you wanted to be nitpicky. The Fester's frown turned into an angered row of grit teeth as it saw the armour grow. In response Oliver stuck out his tongue - making a ridiculous face.

  "Too bad! I'm not gonna die. Cause I really really hate death. Especially the death of others. So I'll protect them... And my life too while I'm at it too." Oliver said, his armour slowly forming around his body.

  As the last bit of his helmet finally formed, Oliver focused all his attention on coating his hand in descent energy. With a throw, his fist landed on the Fester's face again - but this time with much better results.

  The Fester was flung backwards, too stunned to even have time to counter Oliver's attack. Pulling back his arm, Oliver starred the Fester down - his scarf fluttering in the wind. He felt really fucking cool! It was almost torture to try and hide the giddiness he was feeling after such an awesome entrance.

  "Whose awesome? Me? Yeah duh! Oh yeah I'm so fucking cool" Oliver thought, resisting the urge to do a victory dance.

  Turning around with confidence brimming from him - it immediately broke as he saw the terrified look on the civilians faces.

  "Crap... I forgot I'm a wanted criminal..." Oliver froze.

  The civilians murmured to each other, the sheer volume of people would usually make eavesdropping difficult - however they were all saying the same thing to each other.

  "Isn't he that monster?"

  Oliver wasn't going to lie and say that part of him lost some will to fight. Even though he did so much without asking for anything in return, he was still a monster. It hurt... but he quickly brushed it off. He wasn't going to let petty emotions like that cloud him. He was going to change for the better.

  Turning his back to the civilians, he began approaching the Fester. He felt nothing but the duty to protect others. However as he took one more step, he heard it. He heard the sound of praise. He heard what he was hoping to hear.

  "Do it, Mr. hero!"

  With that, a grin stretched across Oliver's face. He was finally satisfied. However he wasn't the only one who was happy.

  [Unknown area, F.A.T.E headquarters]

  Looking at the live replay of the events in Leighburne town, a mysterious individual looked pleased.

  "So we found another transformer huh?" The shadowy figure said, stroking his chin.

  Another figure beside him smacked his head with a clipboard, causing him to yelp.

  "Ouchie..." The shadowy figure blurted out.

  The figure holding a clipboard huffed before looking through the clipboard in one quick motion.

  "They're not called transformers (I think that's copyrighted). The term is Path Strider." She said, placing the clipboard down in front of him.

  The shadowy figure looked at the first piece of paper in the stack, reading the words "Vanguard initiative".

  Spinning his chair around, he stopped the momentum right as he met his window. Peaking out, a more serious expression fell on his face.

  "A new path walker... So that's how she wants to play it. Fine. It's our duty to follow her whims after all. Liael... Release this footage to every investigator in F.A.T.E" the shadowy figure said, a dark expression on his face.

  She nodded, bowing slightly before standing up straight - putting her hands right on her belly.

  "Understood, Director Branford..." The woman said before leaving.

  As he heard the door close, Branford chuckled slightly before leaning back into his chair. It was amusing to him. In the past 10 years, no new Pathstrider had shown themselves to the world. However, now a man who could transform without a title nor miracle has suddenly appeared? It only meant one thing.

  The peaceful era of humanity had ended. He only hoped that he had prepared enough.

  As if reminiscing about the past, a soft smile crept up his face.

  "So that time is coming back huh? I'm kinda excited... I wonder who this era's Mitsuzane will be..." The man mumbled to himself.

  Spinning back around, he looked at the wide screen in front of him - focusing his attention on the young man clad in turquoise and silver armour. Lacing his fingers together, the man leaned forward - resting his elbows on the ebony wood desk.

  "Oliver Liam Rand.... Your life will never be the same.”