Plot Recap, I'm kinda lost...

[HaloKirby9]

I really like this but a little bit after bunny-gun-girl person (can't remember her name) got introduced, I got lost. Can anyone help? That whole part about those vices that led up to the guy with the vice who wants to fight vices was especially confusing.

[Sildraug]

Recap in progress.

As should be obvious in a recap thread, spoilers ahoy.

...As should be obvious in a non-conversational post by me, text wall ahoy.

-ahem-

LAST TIME, ON REVENANT BRAVES:

PROLOGUE

Kanzaki Kei is a heavy-thinking student attending the first day of classes in the new year. He has a halfhearted conversation with his best friend Serge, who seems eager to see what new women the school year will bring his way.

CHAPTER 1

Kei's snapped out of his funk by none other than Aoyama Fio, who, strangely, challenges him--to stop her suicide! He refuses at first, but she declares that his conscience will not let her kill herself--and sure enough, he dives in and saves her at the last moment!

This is enough for Fio to invite him to join the Brave Defenders, an organization (consisting of Fio and Kei) revolving around being a ragtag group of students with good hearts and unclear goals! Fio's impassioned salesmanship fails to win him over at first, but keeps lodged in his mind--he can't reconcile turning down such an altruistic invitation with his idea of himself as a good person. After the problem gives him a bout of insomnia, he decides he is going to join her organization after all!

Tracking her down at school, she informs him the Brave Defenders no longer exist--however, there is a slot open in the Aoyama Aces, an organization revolving around being a ragtag group of students with good hearts and unclear goals! Also, it has more military overtones. She insists he must pull himself to act on his gut more often, and not spend so much time thinking--no second guessing himself!

SO! Their next goal is resolving the logistics of their club--where shall they meet? It seems no rooms are left at the school, so they must find an alternative headquarters. Kei eventually solves their quandary by showing Fio his mother's café, the Satisfaction Café. Kanzaki Lilith suggests they settle in the storage room above the café, an idea Fio takes to with gusto! After establishing the storage room as their base of operations, they head their separate ways for the evening.

The following day during school, Fio tells Kei she has 'something to show him' at the café when they meet for their club. His mind afire with possibilities, he runs into Serge again, who demands to know what Kei has been up to with Fio--thinking Kei has been transformed overnight into some kind of ladykiller! He insists--to Serge's disbelief--that Fio simply roped him into joining her club, which intrigues Serge. Kei promises to act as Serge's scout and find out if the Aoyama Aces is the sort of club Serge would like to join...

Meeting up with Fio at the café, he finds out that the Aoyama Aces has been struck down--but, striding forth to take its place is the Pillars of Justice, an organization revolving around being a ragtag group of students with good hearts and unclear goals! ...Moving onto what she wanted to show him, she reveals... a rock. But not just an ordinary rock--according to her grandfather, the rock contains a noble spirit that can help her help people. Unfortunately, her grandfather passed away before he could tell her how to call it forth.

Lilith interrupts their meeting with some food while they think on how to call the spirit. Kei accidentally cuts Fio with the bread knife, and she heads off to clean her cut. Some of the blood drips on the rock, however, calling forth The Arbiter of the Just! The Arbiter sees Ken, and concludes that it must have been his blood--the blood of a just and noble spirit--that called him forth. He attempts to stall it long enough for Fio to return, but the Arbiter will have none of it--and binds himself to Kei, promising to aid him when he calls him forth! He vanishes into Kei just before Fio returns.

Kei falters in explaining what just happened to him, and decides not to mention anything... for now. Going their separate ways once again, Kei returns home to see a mysterious stranger with bird feet bound in strips of cloth in his room. He introduces himself as a Vice, a parasitical creature that has fed on Kei's willingness to help others for the last eight months. He wants back into Kei's spirit, but finds it occupado--by none other than the Arbiter of the Just! Kei calls on the Arbiter to help him defend himself. He succeeds, and finds he has more guts than ever before with the Arbiter's aid--he strikes down the Vice using a pair of katanas that materialized when he called to the Arbiter, aided by magical attacks he never knew he could perform! As his swords fade, he wonders at what just transpired...

CHAPTER 2

Unsure he can really believe what happened the night before, Kei invokes the Arbiter of the Just on the way to school, and the swords materialize in his hands. A mysterious man crouched in the bushes sees Kei's act of spontaneous magical arms mustering, and plots...

Arriving at school, Kei receives another note demanding he be on the roof during lunch. Feeling an odd familiarity, he meets a fellow student on the roof, who challenges him--he assumes the student is another club recruiter, but narrowly dodges his blows! The student demands Kei show his powers, and Kei realizes he saw him draw the swords that morning!

The student wants to know where Kei got his powers, so that he, too, can become superpowered and join Kei in FIGHTING CRIME! Kei... escapes down the roof access. Running into Fio, it turns out she's been recruiting for the Aoyama Aces Organization for a Better World, an organization revolving around being a ragtag group of students with good hearts and unclear goals! Hitting the café, Kei meets Fio and the student who confronted him on the roof--Gensai Sol, the top student of the Domuska school of Sen Gokutsu Ryu!

Kei sees through Sol's passion for pure burning justice and identifies him as an Otaku! Sol turns the tables and reveals that Kei, too, is of a geekier inclination! Fio steps out for a moment to retrieve some cushions, and Sol makes it clear that, while he doesn't think Kei should hide his powers, he isn't about to break his masquerade. Kei brings Sol up to speed on how he obtained his powers, and Sol's otaku nature is gripped!

Fio returns with the Organization for a Better World's first client, a student by the name of Leo. Leo's best friend, Dalton, has been mysteriously giving him the cold shoulder, and Leo wants to know why. Fio declares the Organization for a Better World on the job!

Fio, Kei, and Sol head out to Dalton's house with the intent to find out what's going on, but the three have different methods in mind. Sol wants to beat the truth out of Dalton, Fio wants to spy on them, and Kei wants to just ask. Deciding the other two are out of their gourds, Kei decides to leave the two to their own devices and leaves.

As he heads home, he expresses how conflicted he is aloud, and is surprised when he is answered by none other than the Arbiter of the Just, Musashimaru-bushi! The Arbiter persuades Kei to intercept Fio and Sol and either aid or hinder them--but not remove himself from the situation, as he attempted. He must act in support of or against their choices, but he must act how he feels is just!

The Arbiter explains to Kei more about the pact between them--Kei, in fact, must act in the way he sees as just, or he risks injury to himself or breaking the pact, losing the Arbiter's powers and trapping the Arbiter in the spirit world once again, randomizing his keyhole stone among all the stones in the world and dooming him to be locked away for hundreds or thousands of years.

Kei realizes this is an extraordinarily rare opportunity, and one he must seize fully--if only so that Fio's lost opportunity is not a total loss. His resolve regained, Kei heads off in pursuit of Fio.

Meanwhile, in an abandoned warehouse in another part of town in the streets of the 'burbs on the way to Dalton's house, Sol and Fio are accosted by street toughs! Fio talks tough and seemingly provokes them, then throws a smoke bomb and Sol and Fio get the jump on the gang with a pair of flying strikes! They bypass them temporarily, but the street toughs give chase! Sol admits the three of them may be too much for him to deal with alone, but resolves to fight anyway--for Fio's ideals!

It is at this point that Kei catches back up to Fio and Sol, and while Sol is engaged in a brawl, Kei confesses to taking the Arbiter of the Just, Musashimaru-bushi from Fio's stone. Sol cleans house with the two flunkies, but the boss flattens Sol by punching him with a fist the size of Sol's torso! Kei steps in and tries to talk the boss down, and Fio backs him up.

Confronted with his selfish behavior, the boss briefly convulses, and the Arbiter of the Just, Musashimaru-bushi reveals that the boss is possessed by a vice! To free him from its influence, Musashi grants Kei the Quantum Slugger, a baseball bat capable of knocking a vice free of its host. He knocks the vice clear, and they square off...

The vice introduces itself as Violo the Corrupt, and shows a familiarity with the Revenant Braves (the caste of spirits to which Musashi belongs), including a familiarity with Musashi himself! Violo exhibits much more competence with fighting than the previous vice Kei defeated so soundly. The two duel, exchanging the upper hand several times. Sol starts to narrate the fight in standard form, but Fio quiets him. Violo strikes Kei a solid blow with a magical attack he calls the Corruption Cannon, an attack which surely will have no repercussions later whatsoever. Yep. -cough-.

Kei locks blades with Violo and pins him in place, finishing him off with the attack he employed to defeat the previous vice, Burning Soul Tempest! Fio and Sol run up to congratulate Kei on his victory, and Kei proudly grandstands for a moment before passing out...

CHAPTER 3
Kei comes to at home, with Fio, Sol and his mother keeping an eye on him. It seems his wounds from the previous evening have healed unusually quickly. It also seems that the Arbiter of the Just, Musashimaru-bushi has brought Fio and Sol both up to speed--and then some, in Fio's case. They quickly conclude that the rapid healing is due to the effects of the power of the Revenant Brave. And not that the Corruption Cannon's effects are more subversive in nature than overt. Nope.

Kei realizes that the street tough knows about the existence of the Revenant Braves now, but Fio reassures him that he remains just as clueless as before--tearing the Vice out of the gangster's soul caused a significant enough strain on his mind to knock him out and cause a minor bout of amnesia.

Reassured and up to speed, Kei begins getting up to get ready for school. As he moves to stand his body is momentarily wracked in pain! It passes as quickly as it came, however, and the trio head off for another day of school, completely unperturbed.

En route, Kei asks just what their organization revolving around being a ragtag group of students with good hearts and unclear goals is going to be called today, and it seems, surprisingly enough, that Fio has yet to devise new nomenclature! A few ideas are discussed before she latches onto the Revenant Braves--disregarding the fact that it already refers to mortals who have formed pacts with spirits of Musashi's caste! Musashi expresses his disagreement, but Fio has her mind set on using the moniker for their organization--and their organization now has a goal to match, exterminating the dreaded Vices from the physical plane!

Putting two and two together, Fio realizes that Dalton (the former friend who gave his former friend Leo the cold shoulder back in the middle of Ch. 2) must be possessed by a Vice--it matches Leo's account of the changes in Dalton's behavior perfectly! Sol (of course) agrees, but Kei is not so certain. He persuades her that they should talk to Dalton before striking him with the Quantum Slugger. She reluctantly agrees.

Kei and Musashi continue on their way to class, and discuss what Musashi will do while Kei is in class. Apparently Musashi wishes to invisibly accompany Kei to study modern culture. Musashi expresses concern that Kei may attempt to speak to him while the two of them are in class and cause Kei to appear insane to his classmates--Kei assures him it isn't going to happen.

Turning to Sol for a moment, Kei asks him how he cleared the roof for their confrontation. Sol reveals that he simply used the most single famous exemption from American Freedom of Speech laws and yelled "Fire!"

Rushing to get to his class on time, Kei's morning is fairly uneventful--with one notable exception, as he relates to Fio. Apparently Musashi caught an inaccurate snippet from the professor, and thought Kei ought to inform her of the error! Kei will have none of it, however, and lets Musashi know in no uncertain terms--which draws the attention and ire of the professor whose dignity Kei is partly attempting to preserve!

Fio, of course, finds this absolutely hilarious! This causes something of a 'moment' between the pair. Kei apologizes for snapping up Fio's superpowers since it was her blood that summons Musashi, and Fio actually thanks Kei for taking the powers, since it gives them the means to carry out their mission... then derails the moment by pointing out that as his superior officer, it's more like she has the power anyway!

Sol then meets up with the pair, giving Kei a hearty FALCON PUNCH ("A manly warrior's greeting!") and high-fiving Fio. Fio then introduces the actual reason for assembling where they had--at an obstructed shortcut to the second floor of the café much closer to the school proper! Fio orders Kei to cut a segment of the wall blocking them--he refuses, on the grounds that such an act is vandalism! Fio persuades him and he makes the cut using his katanas.

Suddenly, Kei is struck down by an intense burning pain! It passes relatively quickly, but leaves him winded. Musashi, feeling the draw on his power, speeds to Kei's side to find out what happened. Kei explains, and Musashi realizes the pain Kei felt must have been the Bite of Regret--the sign that Kei breached his contract with Musashi!

Fio points out that Kei had been convinced by her argument, but Musashi concludes there must have been a part of him that was not brought over by her argument! Kei argues that he had been almost sure, which is apparently why he was not punished even more severely by the Bite of Regret!

Kei, sensibly, concludes that he will have to be more careful in the future. Fio is torn up that she caused such a problem, not only inflicting pain on Kei but causing him to act contrary to his conscience, potentially causing him to lose his powers! Sol defuses the situation by prompting them to move forward and get the shortcut finished.

Fio orders Sol to knock down the cut section of wall with his best kick, which he happily provides--an INAZUMA KICK! The wall segment falls and lands on the windowsill on the other side, surprisingly not snapping the sill like a thin piece of wood and instead forming a bridge right to the window!

Kei realizes the resulting structure is dangerous, and such danger might frighten their intended clientele away! They agree to reinforce it and make it a passable walkway--later! For now, they needed to finish the school day!

Fio burns rubber on her way out of the classroom just as the bell rings ending the final class period! Kei, meanwhile, packs his bags and meets up with Sol at the new bridge--with, perplexingly, no sign of Fio...

...Until they look below and notice Fio standing at the café's front door! The trio realizes the disconnection in communication and have a brief chuckle before heading out to Dalton's house.

Suspecting Dalton to be possessed by a Vice thanks to Leo's information, Fio decides to advance cautiously--settling on a doorbell dash to defuse the danger of the anticipated chainsaw attack! Impressing Sol with her foresight (not to mention her heroic guffaw), Fio rings the doorbell then dashes back to Sol and Kei, who both still stand in the road!

The trio brim with anticipation--the tension is palpable! What deadly, devious danger does the door hide? What bastardization of human form, what corrupted wretch--

Suddenly the door is wrenched open by a welcoming, oddly perky Dalton! He invites them in for tea, much to Kei's and Fio's well-concealed chagrin, but Sol's suspicions are not so easily thrown off! He demands to know whether or not Dalton is possessed by a demonic evil spirit!

Not wanting to tip their hand this early in the game, Kei and Fio quickly recover and redirect it to a general question about Dalton's temper. Fio scolds Sol for nearly causing the jig to be up, and admits to Dalton that they're there on Leo's behalf! She asks to know why he gave Leo the cold shoulder when they met back up after summer's end!

Dalton explains that that wasn't what happened at all--in fact, the reverse was true! Dalton had attempted to seek out Leo after the break, and Leo had given Dalton the cold shoulder!

Confused by the convocation of chilled clavicles, Fio wonders what Leo's motivations for lying to the Revenant Braves might be! In full view of Dalton, Sol asks what makes her think Leo is the one who's lying--Fio explains that Dalton's mention of seeking to reconvene at school is what made sense to her, and she wonders why Leo made no such attempt if he was so anxious to find out what had changed Dalton so completely!

Fio decides the most likely story is that Leo wanted to ensure the Revenant Braves provided no aid to Dalton, and so came to contact them first--with his internally inconsistent story! Sol makes a tea simile complimenting her deductive reasoning, and the trio plan to confront Leo!

Dalton says he wants to come, too, and Fio is just about to stop him when Kei interrupts her--taking full advantage of selective NPC hearing, he explains that Dalton may still be lying to them, and that if there is a Vice in him, then it would definitely be suspicious after Sol's demand earlier (to say nothing of his exposition now!)! Fio agrees, and Kei compliments her leadership skills--causing quite a reaction on Fio's part!

Determined to confront Leo with Dalton at their side, the quartet set out to find him--but realize they have no clue as to where Leo may be! They decide to head back to the club room for now... On the return leg, Sol informs Kei that his geekish quote during the battle with Violo--apparently a line from Stories of Philharmonia--was inaccurate! Kei is embarrassed that he was caught quoting a video game in a serious context, but Sol reassures him that he won't rat out all of his nerdly tendencies to Fio--after all, "shouting cool lines is a man's romance!"

current page of summary

[Kristof]

Wow, awesome! I was gonna write this myself, but you're doing a bang up job, Sild.

Also holy-motivation to post more pages, Batman!

[HaloKirby9]

Thanks a lot. But, Corruption Cannon? Hmmm...

[Vuanaunt]

!!!

Sild remember when I was talking about how spirits are banished back to the spirit world place, not destroyed, and I couldn't think of a CRB example?!


Panel two.

Not that I like arguing, but I was skimming looking for the corruption cannon, and stumbled upon it.

[christine]

woah! good job on the major recap!

[Kristof]

I just realized that this was updated at some point. Good work, Sild!

[Sildraug]

Yeah, I've been adding a page or two's worth of plot here or there when I've got the time.