Danger

Little Red Riding Hood was a popular children's tale, but not a happy story.

It was a cautionary tale.

Oh how many young girls remembered the innocent and naive Little Red Riding Hood being fooled. The wolf, after having eaten her grandma, also devours her too.

However, that wasn't the only tale.

Different interpretations saw both tragic and happy endings for all involved.

A happy ending for Little Red Riding Hood was the modern interpretation.

After being gobbled up, a woodcutter would save Little Red and her grandma by cutting them out of its body. The laws of the universe bending to suit the people.

Those who escaped from the wolf's stomach were totally fine and whole.

Quite the insane tale…

But not as much as the madness that happened after Lex escaped the 'Little Red Riding Hood' Dark Muse. Not too long after that, a dark scene unfolded.

That special Named zombie found itself waking up in an abandoned building.

It barely remembered what happened.

'…?' There was a strangeness in the creature's eyes upon thinking this.

Mostly because this was a first to it.

Thinking…

Little Red Riding Hood was an instinctual creature. Lacking in intelligent thought.

'I…' This word, meaning 'self', suddenly appeared in the creature's dictionary.

It suddenly gained independent thought.

Able to think much more like a human in the span of a few moments of its 'birth'.

The creature remembered what occurred.

After having lost its prey, Little Red Riding Hood searched for more to kill.

Acting like a vague idea of a monster.

Its many spider-like scythe arms allowing it to cut apart any prey in its vicinity.

That was until it met 'that thing'.

It looked like a human, but was much more intelligent and powerful than one.

Breaking all her legs within a minute.

That abomination dragged her to a nearby building and altered her body.

The remains of what materials was used existed as a vile in front of Little Red.

The contents were empty.

Broken glass shards were next to it.

It couldn't remember who or what had altered her, only that 'it' gave her a simple task. The contents of it existing as two pictures next to the broken vial.

Pictures of two familiar girls.

'Bella Smith' and 'Tia Vulcan'.

"Bring them to me." There was a voice without a face in Little Red's memory.

But it felt a compulsion.

Some kind of force was moving it in a certain direction. Regardless of her will.

There was only one problem.

'I will not take orders.' The newly formed Dark Muse wanted to think for herself.

Right… 'Herself'…

Rather than being an amalgamation of vague stories, she had a concrete one.

She was a dark twist not on the 'Little Red Riding Hood' story, but the future of that character itself. A continuation of the story regarding that little girl.

Red possessed memories of it.

She didn't know her name, but she had vivid memories of such a strange story.

All the holes in the story weren't filled whatsoever, but she didn't feel lost.

"I'm real…" This wasn't a delusion. Little Red's feminine voice was full of life.

"I'M REAL…!" Little Red looked ecstatic at reaching a stage Dark Muse's dreamed.

If there was one regret, it was losing the story that gave her scythes to use.

The 'story' of that woman with strength that was beyond regular Named zombies.

If she had that power, then she'd likely wouldn't have been captured so easily.

'Wait…' If she thought about it, then being captured was a good thing for her.

The duality annoyed her.

She started to inspect her body instead of thinking about that issue any further.

As expected, she was humanoid in shape at this point… but what about her looks?

Red looked around for a mirror, and was able to find a compact one on the floor.

Likely having been dropped in the midst of an evacuation when zombies attacked.

Her eyes lit up.

Hoping that her appearance wouldn't be too disappointing for a humanoid Muse.

"…?" When she laid eyes on her own appearance, she was shocked still.

It was because she looked conventionally attractive. Not like a monster like before.

A wide smile grew on her face.

It looked like she was a 20 year old Little Red Riding Hood. Years after the ending.

She gained the skills of someone familiar with the woods. A hunter of her prey.

New memories assaulted her.

'This is my backstory?' She thought while remembering past her original tale.

Little Red Riding Hood was saved from the wolf, but she never overcame her trauma of the incident. As a way to cope with this, she started to wear the very wolf that devoured her to become strong.

Distrust became a paranoid mentality.

Hiding under the skin on her former enemy, and becoming wary of wolves.

It was an irony.

The fact that Red's paranoia towards strangers was what failed an experiment.

She was innately distrustful.

The fears and anxiety of this amusing dark tale becoming her real backstory.

Her red dress being altered into a hunter costume using wolf parts proved this.

What was her weapon now?

Just as she'd expected, it was the axe of the woodcutter that saved her grandma.

What would she use this axe for?

Maybe if she was less self-aware, she might have aided humanity in their efforts. However, the knowledge of what being a Dark Muse entailed felt natural.

She felt like her birth wasn't natural.

That there was some force above the little person that evolved her recently.

A force ruling over her entire existence.

She was a rebellious girl, but wasn't someone crazy enough to fight her God.

The ruler of Death Force.

'Kill them… I have to kill humans.' This thought became a law for her to follow.

Her eyes turned blood red.

A madness started to overcome the newly born Dark Muse of human features.

Instinctively heading towards where she believed there were a lot of humans.

The high school from earlier.

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"Do you still think badly of everyone? I think 'he' should be a good example of a kind person." Tia spoke towards her friend while hiding on the rooftop.

Pretending they were guarding it.

Bella was cleaning her two purple one-sided blades. They were both Ninjatō.

Weapons similar but straighter than katanas. They had no 'modern' feel…

The blades were perfectly created by a machine, but they were also just that.

A blade without functions.

Bella didn't mind though. It was actually nicer to have a more simpler weapon.

The material they used to create the Ninjatō, 'Purple Steel', was just a power source of sorts. Able to exude Lightning Mana she could direct through her body.

Acting like a magic generator.

Tia had chosen a simpler weapon by modern terms. Also known as a gun.

Her favourite ones to use.

Even now, she was maintaining the specs.

Using high tech tools for maintenance.

Ready for any situation.

"…" They were silent after Tia had started their conversation with that argument.

Truthfully, both of them were worried about that 'Hero' that saved the school.

Without help, how could he even survive?

Without help, he'd die in extreme agony.

They should be helping him.

So why were they here?

Tia wanted to protect Bella, and Bella couldn't make her decision on what to do.

"I know you want to go out there and save him. Why are you here?" Bella finally asked the gun girl. There was a serious look in the normally cheerful girl.

"Because you're still here." Only the one listening knew what Tia meant by this.

Why she kept an eye on this foolish girl.

Bella had no way to retort to that. She sheathed her blades after cleaning.

Looking out to the mostly destroyed city.

There was an explosion everyone heard recently. A skyscraper brought down.

However, the school was taking their time discussing before sending investigators.

The average rank was too low right now.

Most students were mere Cadets. They were at the bottom of the totem poll.

There were different career paths in life that included being an 'Investigator'.

Some thought of this as a Sub Class.

Similar to how Warrior Class individuals could become good Gunners in practice.

How you used your talents was your own choice. Classes didn't define a future.

In the military itself, there were War Medics, Combat Engineers, Dragoons, Investigators, and Executioners. The last being what most students strived for.

However, this didn't change the fact that they were still budding at this point.

Cadet Ranks with a copper badge were barely able to take out a common zombie.

This talking of their strength inside a zone filled with Miasma, like right now.

Cadets couldn't break protocol and had the least right to go AWOL on missions.

Military discipline was harsh…

It made one wonder if they were Heroes or soldiers sent to protect regular people.

Most didn't care about the difference.

Only these two strange girls really cared.

They couldn't forget about him.

And truthfully, there wasn't one person in the school who didn't feel responsible.

Even if only a little.

The door to the school's roof was opened suddenly. A familiar teacher walked in.

He was the same man who was giving Lex his documentation of his Tier increasing.

"Sir." Both of them saluted.

They were well-aware of this middle-aged man's true identity in Harmonic Theory. He was quite a high-ranking officer that had retired as an Executioner.

The strongest of Heroes.

"At ease, you two… I've come to give you a task that has been agreed upon by the rest of the school. You'll be given the best equipment to succeed in this." A voice lacking in emotion spoke to them.

They stopped their salute to listen intently to what his next words would be.

Becoming shocked at the answer.

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"Rin won't like this."

"Do I care what Rin would like?"

"Don't blame me if she starts yelling at you. It isn't the first time." Two people arguing caused the unconscious youth to groggily wake up. He looked real tired.

Lex looked at the two silhouettes that said something like 'You awake?' after.

He wasn't paying attention.

Unconsciously moving towards the bathroom to- Wait, this wasn't his house.

His eyes started to brighten.

The sleepiness from not being a morning person. It was simply how his body worked. The bluriness from just waking up made looking around real difficult.

They were trying to talk to him.

'Gotta wake up properly.' There was a better way to get himself fully awake.

He quickly acted upon the thought.

Black lines formed atop of his palms as if written by ink. Turning into a runic shape.

The power of water flowed through it.

SPLASH!

He threw the cold water on his face and shivered. Shaking it off like a wet dog.

When his eyes cleared up, he could see two faces looking at him strangely.

One of them was a red-eyed girl with brown hair. Both ordinary and exotic.

A tiny AI companion in a chibi form on her shoulder. Looking at him emotionlessly.

The other person seemed much stronger and straightforward. His blonde hair and deep gold eyes made his appearance sharp, but his personality was different.

He was the first to speak to him:

"The heck was that?!" The young man with gold eyes openly grabbed his hand.

Even if it was invading personal space.

"Erm… It's a family secret." Lex spoke.

"You say it like this is a family recipe. I can't believe you're holding out on me here!" The youth seemed to act childish when it came to the things he wanted.

"You are?" Lex ignored the youth's cries.

"Oh yeah! My name is Ryan Rayleigh! The girl over there is Betty Black. Thank you for saving her!!!" His voice was like a loudspeaker. It was hurting his ears.

SMACK!

"Ouch!" Ryan squirmed after having a great slap hit his back with such force.

He felt a red hand print on his back.

"Sorry about my companion. He's a little excited about seeing new people. Thank you for saving me." The girl, Betty, had a voice that was still a bit too formal and distant… but he decided to accept it.

Not trying to act too inappropriate himself. Believing this was necessary.

"No problem. Anyway…" Lex looked at their base and saw MagiTech simply laying around. This was either gathered by illegal trade… or something similar.

It made him wonder why they saved him.

Rather than waiting for him to gather his thoughts, the girl decided to speak:

"Can you help us out?" Such straight shooters like them were his weakness.

The moment Betty sincerely asked for his help, Lex decided to patiently listen.

Believing he could decide later.

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[Ryan Rayleigh and Betty Black Gallery]