An August Knight Cinematic Production.
Part one: Introduction
Fluorescent lights glimmered, the illumination providing a glimpse of a young man clothed in a lab coat peering down at a screen, his eyes intently studying the information scrolling before his shimmering blue eyes, eyes that held intense focus, a single minded determination on his work, work that had been his way of branching out from the Knight family name, namely his elder brother Oswald Knight.
The lights began to flicker as the sun set, the orange golden hue of the setting sun announcing the changing phase of the day. It wasn’t uncommon for August to work late into the night, his dedication to his work a guiding force that drove his each and every action.
Soft breaths whirled in the air a glimmer of fog tumbling about as if engaging in some formulaic and methodical dance.
Order. August preferred order in both his lab and outside of it. Order and routine was something that gave August comfort, a sense of peace in knowing what lay around the corner. In this way August was a stark contrast to his elder brother who reveled in chaos, in the unpredictable.
Two sides of the same coin, order and chaos. The Knight brothers.
Part Two: The Mind of August Knight
For a lack of a better word his mind was filled with thoughts, his mind running constantly, thinking up strategies, tactics, methods of achieving that which his mind was bent on. This strategic mindset had led to many advancements in the field of science, the thoughts born of his mind a wondrous and beautiful thing.
Then there was the downside, that being August spent so much time inside his own head, that along the way he had gained a reputation as flighty, as reclusive, a periphrastic soul who understood only academia not people.
The end result of his periphrastic soul had led to confusion, his words mind boggling and poetical, therefore becoming lost in the shuffle as he sought to remind everyone of his intelligence, his way of speaking his preferred form of trying to communicate his rich inner world that was stocked with so many ideas, a veritable salon of thoughts awe inspiring in their scope.
Closing his eyes for a brief moment, August could hear the sounds of breathing, the sounds of steps as if they were right outside his door, a visitor perhaps?. This was a true possibility save for the fact that August rarely entertained visitors not out of a dislike for them but rather he didn’t quite understand how their brains could function so slowly, operating on a single thought at a time.
August envied them that ability, to focus on one single thing, on not getting caught up in the vast recesses of their minds.
???” August, it’s late, you should be getting home. You know it’s not good form to remain in your lab this late. Regardless I have an offer for you, a new experiment if you will. Have I captured your attention?” whispered a soft spoken feminine voice, a voice that August could swear that he recognized.
August Knight: “Yelena? You always did know our tendency to become enthralled in work. You’ve captured my attention” August spoke as he opened the door enough to meet her sea green eyes, the form of his closest ally standing before him with a smile on her face, a newspaper unrolled in her hands.
Yelena: “So let's talk about this offer of mine.”
Part Three: The Offer
Yelena’s eyes took in the spartan appearing lab, noting the extreme cleanliness, understanding how such cleanliness was an indicator of an obsessive need for clarity in the physical realm, a affectation that it would seem was the opposite of August’s mind, a mind filled to the brim with countless thoughts.
As she unrolled the newspaper a headline bearing the words ‘Ronin Rumble, AAPW Versus UOW’ came into view, the pictures underneath representing the competitors of both companies, the leering taunting face of Oswald Knight standing out among other faces he didn’t yet know.
Yelena: “Your brother has reappeared above ground, this time competing in UOW. It seems he’s taken the name ‘Mr Penguin’. I must warn you not to lose focus of the bigger goal, of the endgame, testing your abilities. Oswald is a minor issue that will keep until later, from what I’ve heard he seems to have an obsession with unmasking and taking down another one of your opponents, Lightning Man.”
August listened intently, tracking the changes in her heartbeat, her pulse grew slightly erratic at the mention of Oswald Knight. A curious fact, August could guess that there was a story there. A story that explained why Yelena had kept an eye on Oswald.
August Knight: “What’s your interest in Oswald?”
Yelena: “He’s chaos, a force of ill intent. He must be stopped. I had hoped that someone else would put him down. But it seems that hope was for naught, that the task of putting him down falls once more to you. I had hoped, had thought that his name would have faded into nothingness in childhood, that you’d never need to fight him again. I was wrong. You need to survive this ronin rumble before you can even begin to hunt Oswald down.”
August Knight: “Tell me more about this Ronin Rumble, about the field of opponents I might need to battle.”
Yelena offered a composed smile as she pulled up the laid the news paper out flat, checking each name against the list of competitors she had been forwarded a few days prior by Dollia Trypp, a woman who she’d only spoken to on the phone once, merely to inquire if UOW had anyone who could take down Oswald Knight.
Part Four: Analysing the competition
Yelena: “Twenty eight people from UOW. Thirty people from AAPW. Excluding yourself and Oswald, here’s the rundown. Takuma Sato. Drake Nygma. Shingo Hara. Kami Nakada. Mikhail Mordorov. Svetlana Kazkakova. Lulu Biggs. Olga Pavlova. Viktor Zlovred. Gao Yun. Kenny Volcano. Kazuo Oni. Maki Nishimura. Mariko Fuijmoto. Katrielle Hale. Cassie Hurst. Lightning Man. Jeffrey James Roberts. Baz Berrycloth. Colton Hurst. Singsam Vagabond Tale. Phillip Morris Jr. Jon Kestrel. Riko Matsumoto. Dasha Ivanova. Elizabeth-Deveraux O’Rourke. Duc Huy Nguyen. Yume Kume Mei.”
Yelena took a deep breath as she finished rattling off the list of the competitors representing UOW.
Yelena: “Each one of these competitors from UOW presents an unknown challenge, both in terms of size and skill. You’ll need to be careful, reports suggest that each of your opponents presents a threat in one form or another. I’d caution you to act with care and self preservation around Jeffrey James Roberts, he is as cold and calculating as they come.”
Another breath was taken as she began listing the thirty entrants from AAPW.
Yelena: “Daichi Sasaki. Isao Kurosawa. Shinji Kobayashi. Yasuo Okada. Daiki Yamashita. Haruna Aoki. Tatsu Hime. Shinku Ryujin. Ryota Arokawa. Naoko Mori. Otakebi Fuji. Tsurugi Yama. Yamato Ikari. Hibiki Senshin. Yasha Goro. Enma Taisho. Guren Onimaru. Kogane No Hachi. Akane Watanabe. Asuka Ito. Yuriko Ikeda. Yoshinobu Kishimoto. Takeshi Nomura. Kyoki Piero. Sakura Ishikawa. Haruka Tanaka. Yuriko Tanaka. Yuka Kitamura. Kaito Nakahara. Sapentina.”
August remained quiet, his expression thoughtful as he began to speak. His voice a faint whisper, a sign of his quiet strength, a strength that was all the more deadly for not being worn openly.
August Knight: “What challenge do these competitors from AAPW offer?”
Yelena gulped, her throat tight as she murmured “They are either involved in the criminal underworld either willingly or not. If not involved in the criminal underworld, Their unsettling, chaotic, agents of chaos, like Oswald except on a far grander scale with who knows what pulling their strings.”
Silence held true, August processing this information, his eyes taking on a faint silvery glow, indicating that his enhanced mental faculties had been triggered. A whir of information flowed through his mind, the names of his opponents, their alignment, their fighting style, all of this information surged inside his mind, a roaring storm of information, catalogued and filed away as if August’s brain was more computer than human.
August Knight: “Information collected, assessment made. August Knight’s mind is ready.”
Yelena nodded approvingly, seeing the precise nature of August’s mental abilities presenting themselves.
Part Five: Training
Half an hour later August stood in a high tech gym, programmed with AI copies of his opponents for the Ronin Rumble. Dressed in a light colored singlet, loose grey leggings, his slender yet muscular form could be seen primed and ready to go.
Yelena: "Three… Two… One… GO!"
Without warning August moved faster, swiftly, like an arrow let loose from a bow, his movements clinical, fast paced, targeted. Exactly one hour later August stood calm and quiet, his breathing rapid as he sipped ice cold water.
Yelena: “You did well against these AI copies of your opponents, but the real ones will move more fluidly, and will hit harder. You need to hone both your body and mind, to fight this war on two fronts. Your photographic reflexes will come in handy, allowing you to replicate their fighting style. Once you’ve seen how someone fights, nothing save supernatural powers will provide a true challenge for you.”
A relaxed smile tipped August’s lips as he murmured one final statement.
August Knight: “I’ll train, I’ll hone my body and mind until I am functioning at 100% efficiency. This is my task. This is my set goal and nothing shall deter me from completing it.”
August Knight Voiceover: “My Mission is set. I’m fighting for survival. My survival requires the dispatching of foes. I’ll follow my code of ethics, introducing a new element of lawful order to this match.”
Yelena smiled once more as the camera faded to black, preparing for the next step in ensuring that August was ready for The Ronin Rumble.