Welcome to create on WEBNOVEL

He can admit, he was a stubborn guy. But that was what made a lot of people warm up to him – he had a willingness to speak his mind under all possible circumstances, whether those around him wanted to hear it or not. And he'll also admit that the results to these…varied. Some resulted in angry glares, while others earned him thunderous applause. Still others even ended in him getting a nice and hard slap to his face for the trouble. But he was fine with that. That's just how he is. This led a lot of people to wonder why he was an aspiring actor, but it can't exactly be helped, he supposed.

So, when he declared his intention to break his 3-year streak of going as no one for Halloween, and instead going all out on this year's costume, his parents couldn't help but be intrigued.

Now, his parents had taught him plenty of things. How to cook, how to clean, and how to make 236 different cocktails, along with virgin substitutes (a story for another time), but he was also a self-taught man as well. He was well-versed in 3 different kinds of martial arts, as well as taking his first few steps into the art of gymnastics and traditional ballet, which he claims will help him fight more swiftly. Whether that statement is entirely true is up to you. However, one thing he WOULD need his parents help on was putting the finishing polishes on his Halloween costume for this year, none other than Rinzler from the 2010 Disney movie TRON: Legacy.

Zach wasn't a very Disney-y guy. He always preferred movies that stuck to real-world ideas, though crazy action fun was also up his alley. However, when a good friend of his recommended the movie to him, he decided to give it a chance. One rainy Saturday night, 2 tubs of popcorn, and 2 hours, 17 minutes, and 45 seconds of blasting the Daft Punk OST later, he was completely hooked. He bought the merch, watched the first film and the tv series, quoted them to his friends, gave it a five-star review on nearly every reviewing site he could make an account for, and of course, based his crowning achievement off it.

The costume was one of his proudest accomplishments. Working LED Lights, a fully wearable and transparent helmet, light-up Identity Discs, a Laser Staff and Sword, small pretend Light Grenades and Tasers, and a long, neon orange painted jump rope to simulate a Light Cable, among numerous other accessories and weapons from all corners of the TRON universe. It was perfect in every conceivable way. Except for one.

It wasn't very comfortable.

It felt like wearing 10 tons of metal strapped to the back, and at times it could be unbearably itchy. Zach spent days searching for ways that he could feel like he had human skin while wearing it. Luckily, he did find a very good solution to his predicament. After digging around in his closet for quite some time, he discovered an old ski suit from around 4 to 5 years ago from when he visited Lake Tahoe. It surprised him that it still fit despite his somewhat cut physique, but he wasn't complaining. After all, if the shoe, or in this case, ski suit, fits, wear it. After slipping on the suit, all the problems he had with the costume faded into nothingness. He finally felt like it was perfect.

"Hey, Mom!" he called, after donning it for the first time.

"Yeah?"

"I found a way to not make it itchy anymore!" he said, elation clearly detected in his voice.

"That's great! Did you find a way to not make it heavy?" she inquired.

"I think that was just a minor nitpick. I've worn heavier."

"Well, dinner's nearly ready. You should be coming down soon."

Zach bounded down the stairs in the costume. He wasn't really concerned about what it would look like wearing a high-tech looking suit at the dinner table. All he could think about was the food he was going to down today and the candy he was going to down tomorrow. After dinner with his family, Zach spent a lot of time chilling out and just relaxing in his room. He had been working hard basically the entire day to fine-tune his pride and joy, and he felt like he definitely needed some R&R after that. Suddenly, his phone chimed. It was a text from his girlfriend, Misako. He had met her when he went to Malaysia on vacation a few years ago, after she showed up at the door of his hotel room, mistakenly believing it to be hers. After Zach took her to her actual room, they found out they shared an interest in TRON. They hung out whenever their families had downtime, and then he found out she was going to be transferring to his high school. One thing led to another, and they finally shared a kiss at the school's annual Winter Ball. Zach smiled fondly remembering that moment. It was one of the best days of his life.

SakoInRealLife

hey zach! just wanted to check up on you and see how ur doing. ik youve been putting a lot of work into your costume and im so excited to see it tomorrow! I bet it kicks so much ass! i love you my tron!

Zach lit up like a bulb. His heart swelled at how much his half-Japanese/half-Singaporean girlfriend cared about him. When she proposed that she call him Tron and he call her Yori, as they were a couple like them, he was physically unable to give an answer other than yes. She was definitely the one for him. No doubt about it. He decided to shoot a quick text back.

MR. GAMECHANGER

Hey, Sako. Thanks for looking out for me. I'm a little tired, but I'm all done with my costume. I can't wait for you to see it. I love you, Yori.

He then decided to scroll back and read some old conversations. Before long, however, his eyes started to grow weary. He just couldn't keep them open no matter how hard he tried. Eventually, he looked at the time with what little energy he could continue to muster.

11:24 pm.

Maybe his body was on to something. Silently resigning himself to his fate, he let his eyes close, and the one thing he felt before falling into a peaceful, quiet slumber, was a slight rumbling under his body. Oh well. Probably just the washing machine.

It was bright.

Zach slowly but surely arched his back upwards, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. How come the bed feels different? Zach just chalked it up to him being dreadfully tired. After all, he did sleep a lot later then he usually does. His head was somewhat hurting as well. Come to think of it, his entire body felt like he just went through a time warp. Nearly every inch of his being was almost unnoticeably vibrating. Did something happen while he was asleep? Strange. After rubbing his eyes a bit more, he looks to the blinds next to them and attempts to close it.

Wait.

His room doesn't have blinds.

He quickly shot up, newly found energy surging through him. He looked at his arms. And what he saw nearly ripped his soul out of his body. His arms were animated. And by animated we mean animated. As in, lack of a third dimension animated. He looked around and his heart dropped further on realizing he was in an infirmary and that he was sleeping on a hospital bed. Quickly, he felt up his body to check if there were any major injuries, as that should be the only reason why he would be in an infirmary. He still had his phone, luckily. But in doing so, he realized something else.

He was still wearing his costume. And it felt real.

Zach looked down at his costume…if he could even call it a costume anymore. Every centimeter of the suit was pristine and shiny where it needed to be but was otherwise rugged and fit for battle. The shiny orange T on his chest, the logo of his childhood hero shined back at him, albeit less bright due to the fact they were in a bright room already. Almost all the other LED lights now looked like they were genuinely running on pure Grid energy. He tapped a button on his neck, and it activated the helmet. Zach was nearly about to scream. He was wearing a full-on Grid helmet. He turned it off and reached to check his back and felt something. That something being two, orange-glowing, electrically-surging, Identity Discs. When he opened them, it showed one hologram per disc – one of himself, displaying all his information, talents, and abilities, an "IS Analysis Scan" (he'll have to check that one out later), a working version of the internet, and multiple storage files, and the second displayed a very strange yet badass looking machine that he had never seen in any of the movies. It was Rinzler's suit, but it looked extra reinforced with bigger boots, fists, and heavier armor. It also had wings that resembled the wings of a Light Jet, Light Ribbon and all. Zach had no idea what was happening. But he had a feeling he was going to like it.

He kept reading to find out that not only the discs and the suit, but nearly every weapon he had created from scratch seemed to have somehow transformed into the real thing. Through a few minutes of experimentation, he discovered his jump-rope had replaced itself with 6 glowing conduits that could apparently stick to anything, giving him the ability to summon a Light Cable either between them or from his hand to swing on it or pull it towards him depending on the might of his grip. His makeshift batons were now fully able to become a working Light Sword and Staff, and his two smaller sticks ended up becoming charged Rods. He was curious if his Light Charges, Tasers, and Grenades worked, but then again, Zach was not willing to blow up somewhere he's never seen. Getting himself in trouble was the last thing he needed right now. Zach was ecstatic, but also very confused. His first assumption was this was a lucid dream, but that took care of itself real quick. His next theory was that his parents made a fuckton of modifications to his suit while he was asleep and then slowly put the suit back on him, but he ruled that out shortly as well. His parents weren't poor, but they also weren't Musk or Bezos level-rich – there was no way they could buy this kind of equipment. It also doesn't explain why and how he got into the hospital.

Wait…why was he in a hospital?

He walked up to the bathroom and slowly opened the door. The bathroom looked like it was drawn straight out of a futuristic IKEA. He recognized the toilet as one of those tech toilets from Japan. It had a little touchpad next to it that had buttons for opening and closing the lid, 3 different flushing settings, water jets for cleaning…the nether regions, and a heat seat. Maybe that's where he was? In Japan? But then again, Zach had also seen these toilets in America a few times, and there was no way his family could've somehow gotten him all the way to Japan without him waking up during the journey. He then looked in the mirror and his jaw hit the floor.

He looked like an anime character.

Why did he look like some goddamn shoujo version of himself? Zach was very sure he was dreaming at that point. There was no other logical explanation as to why he's not only missing a third dimension, but also possesses a working version of nearly every weapon and gadget from one of his favorite media franchises. Either that, or this was a very, VERY, early birthday surprise. His mind then wandered to his girlfriend, and he suddenly started unknowingly drooling over his mental image of how Misako would look as an adorable moe girl.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps. Almost automatically, he ran back into his bed, threw the covers over him, and squinted his eyes, just so he could have a look at who was entering the room. Maybe they had answers as to why he's here. As he lay in his bed with bated breath, the person he was finally awaiting to enter arrived. However, he was not expecting a beautiful adult woman in her mid-20s with long black hair and a steely, stoic gaze that looked like she was about to blast some Kryptonian heat vision. She looked around the room for a minute and her eyes slightly widened in surprise when she noticed him there. The pit in Zach's stomach grew into a sinkhole with every step she took to his bed. Eventually, she was standing over him. Zach was nearly in a state of shock. She pulled the covers up over him and he instinctively recoiled. The woman's eyes filled up with surprise as she gazed at the very intricate technology of the suit.

"You don't have to fake it, you know. I'm not going to hurt you…yet." A very stern yet feminine voice echoed across the room. Zach slowly got up, and the serious look the woman had on her face pierced through Zach's very soul. This woman's mere presence demanded respect, and she was damn sure gonna get it from him.

"Now, let's start with who you are, and where you came from. We can sort out the rest after you tell me this." She spoke.

Zach thought very long and very hard about what to say next. He decided that he was going to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth…somewhat. After all, he was an aspiring actor. And in a place like this, where supposedly nobody knows who you are, this would be the perfect place to put on a performance. I mean, he was dressed like Rinzler. Why not go a bit further and use his name and identity as well?

"My name…is Zach. Zach Stray. But my codename is Rinzler. I'd prefer if you called me that." He said, in a very determined voice.

"Well, nice to meet you, Rinzler. My name is Chifuyu Orimura." Said the woman. Zach swore he could detect a chord in her voice that sounded friendly and warm, but it was overwhelmed by her air of superiority and stiffness.

"Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Orimura." He replied.

"Now, would you like to elaborate on why you have a codename?" She said, as she eyed him suspiciously again. Surely none of her enemies sent him. If they did, why would he just blurt out his full name and codename? And why would he sleep in the infirmary instead of stealing an IS or capturing a person of interest?

Zach was sure he had fucked himself here. Maybe she was assuming that he was some sort of spy? Oh, he would not be treated kindly then. But then he remembered that no one knew anything about him here, or so he would assume. So, he continued the story.

"I'm a security program. It's my job to keep the world safe and free, and to fight for the users." He said, somewhat nonchalantly. Every bit of his being was screaming. Some out of elation for finally being able to use the most popular line in TRON outside of conventional means like a reference, and some out of utter horror as he realized he never thought to check whether TRON even still existed.

"Program, you said?"

"Yeah. I'm…well…I used to be human. Sort of still am. But then something happened."

"What was that?"

"The Grid was invented. It was a revolution in technology at the time. A digital utopia where humans can enter themselves into and convert their bodies into pure data. A place where humans could live beyond the restrictions of a flesh body. We could still die, of course, but all the usual stuff humans were weak to, such as diseases? Eradicated completely. It was a completely electronic world, like living in a video game."

"Interesting. And pray tell, why haven't I ever heard of this "Grid" before? It certainly would have made international headlines. In fact, I would be in it right now if I knew. What's the reason for that?" Chifuyu inquired. That's when Zach realized something so awful, so horrible, and yet so awesome at the same time. He wasn't dreaming, he wasn't on a different part of Earth. He wasn't even on his Earth.

"Wait…this place doesn't have The Grid…which means…"

"You're from a completely different dimension. A whole other plane of existence." Chifuyu finished.

"Yeah…oh God…"

By now, the pit in Zach's stomach had practically become a black hole. He was in a completely different universe. One unbreakable multiversal barrier stood between him and every place, person, and thing that he knew and loved. Except it wasn't unbreakable. He had somehow breached it, and he wanted to know how and why. Chifuyu only stared at him with a look that resembled a blend of incredulity, confusion, disbelief, and suspicion. She then gave Zach a look that scared him a little, but also told him without any verbal indication that she had made up her mind on whether she believed him or not.

"Rinzler, before I say anything, I would like you to let it sink in just how lucky of a situation you have found yourself in."

"All clear, Ms. Orimura." Zach said out of pure relief.

"If I were any other person, and I mean any at all, I would have either laughed in your face, thrown you into an insane asylum, or killed you out of suspicion and safekeeping. Or a combination of the 3. However, luckily for both of us, I am me. I have seen the world change in ways that I had never even begun to imagine. I've even become close to seeing it burn. The existence of a multiverse means nothing to me more than an extremely plausible scientific theory being confirmed. That, and the circumstances of your mysterious appearance, the fact we have absolutely no records on you whatsoever, and the fact that you seem to possess technology unseen before in any part of this world, all points to an accidental dimensional breach being the only logical conclusion as to how you got here."

If relief made a person light up, Zach might as well have been logged in to the Wikipedia list of stars. He shuddered to think of what could possibly have happened if Chifuyu DIDN'T believe him. And he did not want to get into the nitty gritty of a scenario as precarious as that one.

"I am relieved to hear you say that Ms. Orimura." said Zach. "What must I do now?"

Chifuyu beckoned for him to stand up. He did so.

"Follow me."

She led Zach out the infirmary and down a very unnaturally long hallway. He felt like he was in The Overlook Hotel from The Shining. Half of him was telling him not to go near an elevator, lest a giant tsunami of blood would erupt from it. It might seem a little unreasonable at first but being ass-thrown into a whole 'nother universe with 0 control over getting back will do that to you.

"Now, as you do not hail from this world, there are a lot of things you have missed out on. So, it's time for a brief little history lesson with your brand-new teacher."

Zach was caught a little off guard by this. "What do you mean, 'brand-new teacher', Ms. Orimura?"

"Seeing as you have no other place to go, we will enroll you into IS Academy for the time being. You will not be present on any forms of marketing or public affairs involving ISA for the time being as well, until the authorities decide on an efficient and affective cover story. This also means you will be forbidden from participating in things like ISA Tournaments until your technology is thoroughly examined to determine whether it can be classified as an IS. Now it's time you learn what an IS exactly is."

The next few minutes were an extremely interesting few. Zach was astonished at how fast this universe had progressed in just a few short years, although he did find more then a few things confusing. How exactly did women come to be the domineering gender of society if there was only 467 total IS cores and no way of duplicating them? If he were to insert the number of women that existed on his Earth with the amount of IS Cores there were, it'd come out to 467/3,944,122,815, or 1/1.18404021e-7, meaning the ratio from women to IS Cores is vast. Of course, he wasn't considering whether some women shared their IS, or the prospect of intersex people or genetic defects, but for a rough estimation, the numbers were a bit too bleak for him to truly believe that women were now the rulers of human civilization.

After Chifuyu finished explaining everything, Zach took a big breath and stepped in front of her, indignation and confusion painted all over his face.

"So what you're telling me is that a one lone human simultaneously developed a wide variety of once thought to be impossible concepts in the present day, vastly improved a slew of existing tech relating to both robotics and computer-centric machinery, integrated them into a mech which completely outclasses all previously invented military hardware, prevented any of the aforementioned technology from being reverse-engineered or tampered with in any conceivable way, somehow not noticing that only one of the two genders save for one guy, who is your little brother, had the ability to pilot it, not caring when she did notice it, then proceeded to draw the undivided focus of most of the civilized world so that the technology can only exist exclusively for use in her own creations, flawlessly orchestrate and avert an international crisis as a big fuck you to the combined accomplishments of the entirety of the human race and made modern society her own personal bitch?"

Chifuyu stared at Zach with a very taken aback look on her face. She was not expecting someone from another universe to grasp the entirety of her world's history so fast, much less summarize it in what would have been a paragraph or two. She regained her tiny loss of composure and looked ahead again.

"That's the long and short of it, yes."

Zach just facepalmed and shook his head. "Oh, for Christ's sake…" he muttered. Chifuyu couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of sympathy for the young security program. He was thrust into a world where no one knows him and where society is being chokeheld by a bunch of giant metal mechs that only women can pilot. If she were in his situation, she'd be as if not more mentally exhausted then he currently looked to be.

"As draining it may be to learn the history of our world, it is a necessary precaution if you want to survive for the amount of time you're going to be here, whether that be 2 weeks or 2 years." Chifuyu stated matter-of-factly. Zach couldn't help but agree. If he let slip that he had no idea what was going on, people would stare at him like he had a third eye. He couldn't let his non-existent reputation begin by being known as a complete moron.

"Well, now that I know the history of the IS, what do I have to do now?" Zach, or rather Rinzler asked intently. As much as he'd rather derez himself then admit it, he was a tad excited to be stuck here. He'd always loved traveling to other states, countries, and continents, but a new universe was something else entirely. And he was dead set on exploring every crack and crevice he could before it was time to go home.

"Well," Chifuyu began. "Class is about to start soon. I've got to head to the classroom a bit early, so I can't take you there. You're going to have to find Class 1-1 on your own. I texted you the map of the academy."

Rinzler quickly pulled out his phone and realized she was telling the truth. Her number was already on his text messaging app, and the map was right there. A sudden wave of guilt crashed on him when he saw Misako's name right under Chifuyu's. Zach hoped she was doing ok. He could only imagine what her and his parents were going through right now. Determination surged through him. No matter what it takes he was gonna get ho- hold on.

"Wait, how the fuck did you get on my pho- "

But Chifuyu was already long gone before Rinzler even began speaking.

"Oh sure, NOW you Batman me." He muttered irritably. With Chifuyu gone, the only guide he had to this completely unknown school was this map that she had texted him. He took a quick look at it and immediately closed it. The last thing he needed was yet another piece of info that made this place look like the labyrinth of the Minotaur. It shouldn't be that hard to find his way around here, where everything is white…and a bit of blue…and white…and white…and more white…and some red…and even more white. Shit.

Usually, Zach worked best whenever he was left to his own devices, even when it came to the people he cared about like his parents and Misako. However, Rinzler, on the other hand, was struggling. He wasn't informed that when you get forced into a place where not a single person, place, or thing is familiar to you in any way, shape, or form, you tend to start questioning the pre-conceived notions you initially had about yourself as well. He eventually just ended up wandering around, lost in thought, completely oblivious to the very confused, curious, and wondrous stares that he was receiving from the girls in the academy he walked by. He then suddenly began to think about them and how they could help him. Maybe they knew where to go? Perhaps he should ask if they could give him directi-

"Uff!" squeaked a small voice, with a hint of Russian accent.

A light bump snapped Rinzler out of his musings and he suddenly looked around. He then saw in his peripheral vision a small tuft of very, very light green hair, and it seemed to be right below him. Rinzler looked down and his face quickly shifted into that of confusion. Here was a small, petite girl who looked no older then 13, grasping a teddy bear tightly to her chest and staring at him with an equally confused look…or that's what Rinzler was assuming, at least. Just looking into her hazy eyes had him mentally scratching his head at whether this girl had either just woken up or hadn't slept a wink the previous night.

"Oooohhh…" the girl said dreamily, as her body swayed silently back and forth. Rinzler had next to no idea what was happening right now. Was this some sort of intimidation tactic or something? Yeah, it sounds dumb, but in a whole-ass new world, you never know. This could be some sort of custom or traditional greeting here.

"Look, Puu-chan! Look, Ruu-chan! A boy…a boy…is here! And he's really…handsome…" she mumbled.

Wait, what the fuck? Puu-chan and Ruu-chan? Was she talking to herself AND her teddy bear? This girl was something else. Rinzler had never seen anything like her…if he was even correctly calling her her. Perhaps she had some sort of mental condition? If so, Rinzler could sympathize, but then again, he had no idea what kind of mental illnesses existed here. For all he knew, there could be a condition here where people obsessively believe they're a TV and attempt to plug themselves into a wall only to get zapped to death.

He looked down to her chest (with no ulterior intent, of course), and spotted a small little nametag on her left. Why she had a nametag, Rinzler had no idea. He squinted at it a little to help him see what it said.

Yeah, no.

"Uh…hello…girl whose name I'm not even gonna bother attempting to pronounce! Um…nice teddy bear…you're hugging him, right? Right…you go do that, ok?" Rinzler stammered. He then very quickly speed-walked away from his previous position, leaving the now-enamored girl standing by herself, with only her little teddy bear to keep her company. She cracked a smile and looked down at her fluffy friend.

"He's nice…I think he likes you, Puu-chan!" She said, squeezing the stuffed animal close to her nametag.

Luccukchefka

So much for not looking like a complete moron.

After searching for about 10 or so minutes since his encounter with Teddy Bear Girl, he was met with a very unflattering surprise – a large plaque over a door that read out none other than CLASS 1-1. He felt like deflating. Yeah, he wasn't in the most familiar place right now, but he was pretty sure that in ALL worlds, a giant plate spelling out the name of a classroom over a door probably means that said classroom was going to be there. Before he stepped inside, he took a quick check to make sure he was in the right room. His heart started beating again after he saw Chifuyu putting away some papers. She then decided to turn and talk to another teacher with…green hair. Right. Anime world. Can't forget that. She had abnormally large breasts and equally abnormally large glasses. Once again, anime world. Christ, what was happening to him? Chifuyu finished packing her things and walked out the door. She shot a quick glance to Rinzler, who was still loitering outside the door. She whispered something Rinzler could barely make out, something along the lines of "get inside or-". Unfortunately, or fortunately, he couldn't tell which one, he never got to hear what she was going to say next.

Well, here goes nothing. They say you need to bite the bullet, but Rinzler felt like he was about to take a big old chomp out of an active nuke. He took a deep breath, cracked his neck, and stepped into the door.

The second he did, every single person in the room averted their gaze to his body. He could feel about 20 or so pairs of eyes on him. Well, there was one girl with an eyepatch…for some reason. So maybe about 19 and a half?

"What?" he joked. "Do I have something on my face? No…yeah, looks fine to me." He ironically looked at his phone as a mirror and combed his hair with his hands a little.

Everyone just continued to gawk at him like some exotic zoo animal. Rinzler couldn't help but notice how there was only one, singular male among the massive class. He knew only women could pilot the IS, so why the hell was there a guy here? Was he transgender? Or was he really a she, just a very dedicated tomboy? He didn't have much time to analyze, though, as his thoughts were spurred by the green-haired teacher he saw earlier beginning to speak.

"Uh…c-class, it appears we have a new student..today..do you think you can introduce yourself to the class?"

Rinzler decided to play it cool. Make some jokes, make some references, be a nerd. It was the only way he knew how to make friends. Luckily, it's worked every single time.

"What's up, doc. Name's Rinzler, but you can call me King Rinzler, God-King Rinzler, Lord-God-King Rinzler, Progenitor God of Ruptured Heaven Rinzler, American Dragon Rinzler, Macho Man Rinzler, or really any name you come up with that has "Rinzler" and a positive connotation attached to it. How's everyone doing?"

Silence.

Man, he really WAS in another univer-

Rinzler was forced to take a very large step back from the ear-piercing screams that violently assaulted his ears. He was about to activate his helmet, but he decided against it until he was able to fully enter badass Rinzler mode. Now was definitely not the time to scare some people off. Nonetheless, he found himself shielding his ears from the cries of elation that came from the class.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! ANOTHER BOY!"

"LOOK AT HIS SHINY HAIR!"

"HIS JAWLINE IS SO CHISELED!"

"MAKE ME YOUR QUEEN, GOD-KING RINZLER!"

Ok, number one, his jawline wasn't THAT good-looking. Number two, now that his attention was drawn to it, he couldn't help but notice how oily his hair was. Yeesh. Maybe that's why it's so shiny. He made a mental note to shower if he ever managed to find a high-security bunker with a bathroom in it. Number three, he had to congratulate the girls for paying even a lick of attention to what he was saying. They remembered his name and joke nicknames. At least this place wasn't totally awful.

Hey, wait, hold on. Why were they so eager to get with him? He only just met them. He had a very, very bad feeling about this. Just how long were these girls starved of male attention, save for that one guy(?) he spotted earlier? He himself was completely unfamiliar as to what lack of the female presence does to a man like him, thanks to Misako, his mom, and his other female friends. He was far from willing to find out the vice versa, especially now that he was about to be on the receiving end. He decided that if he was going to set up the electric fence, he was going to do it now. Better safe than sorry, right?

"ENOUGH!" He yelled, with just enough force to shut everyone in the room up but not enough to make everyone think he's a raging beast monster. The cheering and squealing stopped harder than a braking car. Rinzler took a lot of satisfaction in the fact he was able to supposedly control an entire classroom of girls with one little raise in his vocal cords.

"Look, as exciting as it is to have…another boy here, and I can tell how exciting it is for you thanks to the very warm reception I was given, thank you for that by the way, I want to remind all of you one VERY important thing." He stated, with clear determination in his voice. He spotted the lone male arch his back a little and sit up straight, as if to insinuate he was paying attention. A little more confidence dripped into Rinzler seeing this.

"I am NOT a toy truck a bunch of toddlers can fight over. I am NOT a prize or a trophy or a medal you can compete for and win. I am a HUMAN BEING. I am capable of thought, emotion, and feeling. I have limits. I have boundaries. And if ANY of them are breached, I will not hesitate-"

Now was the time to put his helmet on. It's all in the details, baby.

"-to derez each and every single of you. Is that understood?" he growled. He knew he had made the right decision when his voice came out nearly unrecognizable. It was one of the most threatening sounds he had ever heard, and goddamn was he glad it belonged entirely to him. He looked around through his surprisingly transparent helmet and saw looks of fear, distress, and nervousness scattered across the room. The helmet did its job, and it did its job well. He heard a few small mutters of "yes…" bounce around the class. All of the students in the room clearly had no idea what derez meant, but they were not willing to give themselves up for the sake of experimentation.

Time to put the final nail in the coffin.

"I WANT TO HEAR IT FROM EVERYONE! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?" He shouted. Suddenly, the room erupted into frightened cries of "YES!" and "OF COURSE!". Rinzler could see the most hardened faces in the room flinch a little at his new voice, including eyepatch girl. He looked to the side to see even the teacher cowering slightly. Yeah, he was fairly certain everyone got the point now. He quickly switched off his helmet and flashed a grin at the shivering audience.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, I think we're going to all get along quite swimmingly." He said as if the previous events never happened. He casually walked to the nearest empty desk and sat down, soaking in all of the disbelieving stares. The only empty seat was next to the other male, which Rinzler was quite happy about. He was looking forward to seeing what makes this guy tick. How long has he even been here? Spending nearly a year of your life around next to no one of the same gender has gotta fucking suck. Or so Rinzler assumed. Who knows, maybe this dude was a complete sexual deviant and was hiding it expertly. It wouldn't surprise him in the least. After all, if you're stuck in a place with a bunch of girls thirsting for you, you would jump the chance to take advantage of it for your own benefit somehow. He stuck out his hand in an attempt to make friends.

"Hey. Ichika, right? Orimura?" Rinzler inquired, remembering his name from what Chifuyu told him. Ichika seemed to blanch at the fact that someone who just threatened the whole class knew his name. Rinzler felt a bit of guilt, but it was a necessary evil. He wasn't gonna allow himself to be treated like a plaything and get constantly hounded by girls he wasn't even interested in anyway. Cheating on Misako in another universe with no way for her to know and the near-impossible chances of her obtaining evidence to prove it looming above him would be one of the scummiest and lowliest things he could ever do. He'd rather take a punch to the head from 20 tons of steel before doing something so awful.

"Y-yeah…that's me…" he stuttered. Rinzler felt another pang of guilt from the clear nervousness he could detect in Ichika's voice.

"Relax, man. I'm not gonna kill you. Unless you try to kill me first, that is." Rinzler said bluntly. Ichika could only make a 'yeah, that's fair' face and continue speaking.

"Honestly? I'm just really glad another guy is finally here. As great as it can be living with exclusively girls, it can get really exhausting." Ichika chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. Rinzler couldn't help but feel bad. He was a boy stuck in a boarding school full of hormonally enraged teenage girls whose horniness was practically the only thing keeping their lungs breathing. Not to mention the fact they were learning how to use literal war machines. He mentally resolved to assist his new friend in whatever way possible.

"Well, I hope you're ok. I'm sure being stuck in a place full of very thirsty and immature girls can take a toll on somebody." Rinzler assured the blue-haired boy sympathetically. Ichika only gave him a half-smile.

"Well, it's not as bad as it seems. You kind of just get used to it after a while." He admitted, as a somber look swept his face. Now Rinzler was even more worried. Just what has this poor fucker been through? Whatever it was, Rinzler was gonna personally see to it that Ichika knows he's got a guy to lean on.

"Hey." Rinzler said in a slightly louder voice, catching Ichika's attention. "Whatever it is you need help with, I got your back. Bros gotta stick together, yeah?" He held his fist out to try and get a bump from him. Ichika gave the young warrior a genuine smile and laughed.

"Thanks, Rinzler. Ditto." He then obliged to Rinzler's non-verbal request and the two lightly bumped fists, the sign of a new friendship.

"Alright, everybody. Settle down. I know we're all very excited for our surprise arrival, but we still have some things to get through! The first half of today's class will be a brief explanation on how the IS has impacted our modern culture, as well as foreign relations." Stated the green-haired professor, who Rinzler learned was named Maya Yamada. He was very into pop culture, so he was interested in what she had to say on how this new device impacted it. It was exactly what he expected. Ever since the IS released, the number of media based on mechs, robots, and giant machines in general, as well as popularity in pre-existing media revolving around them, increased by tenfold. Franchises like Transformers, Super Sentai/Power Rangers, Pacific Rim, and Voltron were in their heyday. The Iron Giant was cemented as a animated cinematic masterpiece. Mechagodzilla became Toho's most famous Kaiju, even over his organic counterpart. Anime like Gundam, Evangelion, and Gurren Lagann became household names and Japan as a whole entered a new cultural renaissance.

However, none could be compared to the effect it had on a very particular genius billionaire playboy philanthropist. Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, skyrocketed in popularity near instantly, with many considering the armor to be the precursor to what would eventually become the Infinite Stratos. He quickly surpassed Batman, Superman, and even his fellow Marvel hero Spider-Man to become the most popular superhero in the world, and even became the second highest grossing franchise in history. The first, of course, was still Pokemon, who were also undergoing a slightly less rampant yet similar surge in popularity for their numerous Metal-type creatures. The saying really was true – the more things change the more things stay the same. He was a little disappointed to find out that TRON didn't exist here, but he didn't really mind it that much because if it did, his alibi would be completely fucked. Sacrifices must be made, he guessed.

After a while, Ms. Yamada decided to move on to how the IS impacted foreign relations between other countries. Rinzler was very curious about this topic as well, daresay more then how it impacted pop culture and media. He was very much aware of the infamous Alaska Treaty thanks to Chifuyu, but a lot of the smaller details were still lost on him. He narrowed his eyes and let the info soak into his brain.

"Due to ISA being the only school in the world authorized to educate future pilots about the IS, as Japan is the country with the most IS cores at their disposal, countries around the globe send in top students chosen to represent their countries as an IS pilot. These are called Representative Cadets. Multiple aspiring pilots can apply for this position, making them Representative Contenders. They are those chosen to be a potential Representative by the government of the country. Acquiring a personal IS unit is considered as the utmost honor for any IS pilot due to harsh requirements and sheer rate of scarcity and competition."

Wait…wait…wait.

WHAT?!

After what happened earlier when he introduced himself, Rinzler was in no shortage of complete disbelief. Was he really the only one concerned about the fact that the countries of the world looked at immature and emotionally unstable teenagers, who weren't even allowed to drink yet, and decided to hand out potentially world-ending weapons to them on a silver platter? Had this world really had grown so stupid to put reputations that needed to be upheld, relationships that needed to be maintained, and wars that needed to be prevented on the shoulders of people who cry their eyes out over low-budget Netflix K-Dramas? Ichika looked to his left at his new friend, and a look of concern grew on his face after glancing at Rinzler's own. He slightly tapped his new buddy's shoulder in an attempt to snap him out of his trance.

"Hey, Rinzler? You alright there?" He said concerningly. Rinzler had his elbows on the desk and his head in his hands. He bore an extremely incredulous look on his face.

"Oh, nothing. Just fearing for the future of humanity is all!" He deadpanned sarcastically. "It has nothing to do with you, it's just…I really need confirmation on something." Ichika nodded and then raised his hand.

"Ms. Yamada?" Ichika asked.

"Yes?" replied the professor. Ichika pointed to Rinzler, who was still looking extremely distressed.

"Oh, Rinzler? Did you have a question?"

Rinzler sat up and nodded.

"I just need a bit of clarification." He told her.

"Well, as your teacher, it is my job to answer any lingering questions you may have, especially because you're extremely new here." Ms. Yamada assured him. Rinzler couldn't help but notice that she put a lot of emphasis on extremely. He took that as a sign that Chifuyu had informed her of his true origins.

"Not trying to offend anyone here, but isn't it just a tad irresponsible for countries to make a bunch of teens who can barely drink caffeine shoulder their entire reputations and relationships with each other?" Rinzler asked. This question seemed to get a lot of the class' attention. Many turned to look at him in curiosity and slight offense.

"What exactly might that mean?" Ms. Yamada asked. She had never gotten a question like this before. It made sense to her though. Where Rinzler came from, life was entirely different in ways Maya couldn't even begin to imagine. So, she was quite intrigued on where he was going with this.

"All I'm saying is, I'm a little worried this is gonna backfire. Can you imagine World War III starting just because, oh, I don't know, the RepCons for…hmm, Germany, the UK, and Russia were all in love with the same guy or some stupid shit like that?" He said with a slight chuckle, only being half-serious when it came to the analogy, naming the countries that started World War I. He put himself in the shoes of a soldier fighting on the frontlines and risking his life just because the RepCon of his home country was in a harem. Jesus. He shuddered a little thinking about the pointlessness of it. However, his eyes widened in surprise to see eyepatch girl, along with another girl with blond hair, violently twitch in their seats. He decided to ignore them. After all, he did say no offense. Ms. Yamada gave a nervous chuckle before answering.

"I appreciate your concern, Rinzler, but representative contenders don't have as much power as they look. Unless it's a really really dire situation, I don't think they have the authority to start World War III by any means." She replied. Rinzler only nodded in relief and leaned back heavily his chair. Ichika, however, started getting a little antsy after seeing something Rinzler wasn't- a certain British girl rising from her chair with a thoroughly pissed off expression on her face.

"JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE PLAYING AT HERE?" screeched Cecilia Alcott, the fair-skinned, haughty, pilot of the Blue Tears. Rinzler nearly covered his ears at how high her voice went. He turned around to search for the source of the noise and was met with a very red-faced and very angry British girl.

"Uh…who are you?" Rinzler asked. Cecilia looked more offended than ever before. Ichika simply shook his head in exasperation. I guess she really hasn't changed that much, huh? He thought.

"I AM CECILIA ALCOTT, REPRESENTATIVE CANDIDATE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM! NOW EXPLAIN YOUR MOTIVATIONS FOR WHAT YOU JUST SAID!" she demanded, slamming her fist on Rinzler's table. Rinzler's eyes narrowed. It made sense why she would get a little offended, but here this girl was acting like he just poisoned her dog or something! He took a glance at Ichika and suddenly, everything started falling into place. Ms. Yamada attempted to diffuse the situation.

"Ms. Alcott, maybe could you go back to your-"

"Hold on, dude. You know this person?" Rinzler asked his blue-haired friend. Ichika simply nodded and gestured for Rinzler to turn around.

"Look, lady. I was only kidding around. I'm sorry if I offended you. You clearly sound like you already have someone, so again, sorry if l struck a nerve there." Rinzler shrugged. Unfortunately, his apology had the opposite effect of what he was expecting. She suddenly started blushing even further and turned around, still trying to muster some class. Her anger had nearly evaporated and was replacing itself with embarrassment.

"I..don't have anyone at the moment!" She choked out. Rinzler could sense a strange tone in her voice…wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, waaaaaaaait a goddamn minute.

"No fucking way." Rinzler gaped, turning to Ichika. The boy simply shrugged and shook his head in confusion. The security program simply stared in awe at his new friend, then looked back to see the now-extremely flustered British girl still quivering, attempting to look as elegant as she could in her current state.

"Are you unironically telling me that what I just said was accurate?" Rinzler said in utter shock. Floored was an understatement. What the hell were the chances? Was he Nostradamus 2?

"That was the worst joke I made all day! And it's true?! Hold it, if it's 100% true then where are the Ger- "

His question was very hastily answered by eyepatch girl suddenly standing up and marching over to his desk. She looked like some sort of super soldier. There was no way her hair was organically silver…unless she was an albino? Her eye is red after all. Rinzler couldn't help but find himself contemplating on how she supposedly lost her other eye. Why else would she need an eyepatch then? He was once again snapped out of his speculation trance by two more hands slamming on her desk. Rinzler looked up to see a very stern glare from eyepatch girl. He suddenly began noticing how similar it was to Chifuyu's stare from earlier. She really taught her class well, he supposed.

"I don't know who you are or where you came from," snapped the ticked-off captain of the Schwarzer Haze, Laura Bodewig, in a strong German accent. Rinzler stifled a chuckle at how strangely stereotypical her accent sounded. "but if you speak about myself or my bride in such a manner again, I will see to it that you won't be able to speak at all!"

Rinzler was a little confused. Bride? What was she talking about?

"Hey, look. I'm all in favor for gay rights, ok? Love who you want, it doesn't matter to me." He said aptly. Laura only shifted into an even more offended face, with just a dash of confusion.

"How dare you assume such degrading things about me! Ichika, as my wife, it is your duty to defend me in these sorts of situations!" She demanded, turning her head to the trembling teen boy. At this point, Rinzler was convinced this was some big elaborate prank. He massaged his temples and looked at Ichika with a face of utter perplexity.

"Laura, wai-" Ichika began.

"Woah, woah, woah! Back the fuck up!" Rinzler yelled. Ichika flinched at his raise in tone and volume. He quickly threw up his hands in defense. "She calls you her wife?"

"Rinzler, it's not what you-"

"What kind of dumbass calls a man the wife?" Rinzler asked, bewildered. Ichika was relieved that he didn't automatically assume something perverted and was instead more indignant at Laura's obvious ignorance of traditional marriage. Maybe another guy was just the thing he needed to keep him sane. "Is it Opposite Day or am I just stuck in the goddamn Twilight Zone?"

"Well, I-" Ichika began, but he quickly jolted back when a knife jams into the desk beside him. Laura had stabbed Rinzler's desk in anger over his insult. Instead of being threatened, he simply eyed the knife in front of him and recognized it as an Eickhorn Kampfmesser 2000, the traditional combat knife of the German army. Rinzler mentally congratulated himself for being right in assuming that she was a super soldier.

"Hey, woah! That's school property!" Rinzler joked. Ichika's mouth hung open. He was unaware that in Rinzler's old school, he was notorious for being able to keep his cool in times of great pressure. A confrontation with an extremely angry Laura would kill a normal man, but Ichika could sense from the ironically exaggerated reactions and tonal shifts in his voice that Rinzler was very intentionally playing around with her. It blew him away just how relaxed Rinzler was about the whole situation, and he silently thanked the gods he was on his side.

"Damn…" Rinzler said in mock awe, as he looked up again at the irate German. "Nice KM2000 you got there…you butter your morning toast with that?"

Laura was thrust out of her anger by her surprise at Rinzler correctly identifying the type of knife she used to provoke him. She was startled by his threatening introduction, but not intimidated. After all, women dominated the world, and if a man was gonna talk shit, he was going to have to back it up, lest he be met with a couple hundred grade-a missiles to his face. Maybe this man wasn't as artificial as he seemed. But she then remembered that he also insulted her knife, replacing her surprise with even more annoyance.

"YOU…YOU…YOU!" She roared as she yanked her knife out of his desk and quickly went for a stab. But Rinzler saw it coming (it's not like she was really trying to hide her murderous intent anyway), sidestepped her, grabbed her knife arm, chopped the knife out of her hand and onto the floor, then jumped on the desk still holding her arm, then flipped behind her and held her arm behind her back. For good measure, he used his other arm to take his Identity Disc off his back and hold it to her neck. Light ignited across the circular weapon. Many turned in both horror and awe. Laura was staring at the new technology with a half-mystified expression. No one had ever seen this sort of technology before. Just what kind of IS did this guy have?

"Look, Hitlerina. I don't want to have to hurt you. Ok, maybe I do, but I digress. I apologize again for making a joke that I'll admit was in bad taste, but you're only proving the point I previously made. If you were willing to stab someone over a joke, maybe you shouldn't be trusted with a robot that can kill a whole city's worth of people." He stated coolly. Laura's face only contorted into even more rage than before. The other girls around him soaked in his words like a wet sponge. Were they really that unworthy of their machines?

"Now, since you're clearly itching for a fight, your old pal Rinzler will offer you a compromise. Later today, let's spar a little. You pick the time and place, since I'm not very familiar with this school yet. No holds barred, no rewards, no handicaps. Deal?" He asked, as he continued to inch his Disc closer to Laura's neck. He could hear an audible growl come from the soldier. He awaited her answer as she began to open her mouth.

"Very well then. Tomorrow, Arena 5. You are going to eat your words for dinner." Laura spat out. Rinzler merely smiled, deactivated his disc, and allowed her to retrieve her knife and go back to her desk. Most of the girls and Ichika looked extremely shaken at this whole ordeal. He noticed that the Brit from earlier, along with two other girls, one who looked somewhat like a French girl and another with extremely long, brown hair seemed to be paying the most attention to him. Maybe they were Laura's friends. Whatever. As long as he had some spectators to watch him kick the crap out of the temperamental silver-haired girl, he didn't care who it was. Ms. Yamada was relieved to finally be able to start class again, and another holographic screen appeared.

"Well, now that…that's done, it's time to move on to the second part of class! We will be joining Class 1-2 for a joint training session using only Partial Deployment! It's extremely important that you learn how to fight without summoning your entire IS!" she stated.

An echo of "Yes, ma'am!" sounded throughout the room. Soon, everyone began standing up from their desks and marching out the room. Ichika and Rinzler were the last to leave.

"Hey..uh, Rinzler?" asked a concerned Ichika. "You know what you just got yourself into, right?" Ichika was not a stranger to how ruthless Laura could be in a fight, especially against someone she REALLY didn't like. He knew what killing intent looked like when it was spelled out on her face, and the blue-haired boy hadn't seen that much since when the two of them first met.

"Oh, relax. Our little confrontation today told me everything I need to know about her. After all, the mech is nothing without the pilot, if you know what I mean." Rinzler replied. Ichika flinched. Was he going to kill her? No, right? He looked awfully close to killing her with that strange glowing disc. Ichika shuddered to think what other crazy weapons and gadgets his new friend had up his sleeve. Half of him was afraid on Laura's behalf.

"Dude, I'm not gonna try and kill her pre-match or anything like that." Rinzler began, as if he had read Ichika's mind. Ichika was a little frightened at how he was able to guess his interpretation with scary accuracy, but it was mostly overwhelmed by relief that Rinzler was not planning to murder his friend. "All I'm trying to say is that her emotional state will be her biggest flaw. Did I ever tell you what my favorite rule of war was? Anything, and I mean anything at all, that negatively affects your opponent can be used in your favor. Physical, mental, emotional, everything."

Ichika slowly let the words sink in. Laura did have an ego…and she was majorly impulsive, a trait shared among the majority of his friends. Was he planning on using that to his advantage?

Rinzler merely smiled and strutted to the arena with his new friend at his side.

Zachary Stray was a man of principle.

However, Zach was a firm believer that the people, places, and things that he loved are what made him, and now that he's here, all of that is gone. He was going to have to take a backseat until he got home, where he could truly find himself again.

Rinzler, on the other hand, was just getting started.

After all, the game has changed.

And Rinzler was going to change with it.

Next time on End of Line: Assessing Malware!

After challenging an extremely irate Laura to a one-on-one IS Match, Rinzler first has to get through training, lunch, new living arrangements, and just how truly unfamiliar he is to his new abilities. Meanwhile, Ichika decides to search for information about his newest friend through the one way he knows how - his sister! What he hears might not be what he expects...