Dragon Knight Kuniko Quest (A Fanfic of a Non-Existent Series)

Author's Note: I know, I know, you probably took one look at the title and said to yourselves "Really, another Quest about Shin Dragon-Slaying High School Diary Epsilon? Geez, like that anime hasn't already spawned like a bajillion Quests!". However, I do think this Quest should have a different enough take to, hopefully, make it stand out, though obviously it's gonna be hard for me to top SDSHSDE Quest: Last Breath, boy was that a Quest!

Back on topic, the catch here is that, rather than having Masahiro Onishi be the MC as in canon, this'll be a 'What If?' starring Kuniko Kubota as the lead, as I feel her character seriously doesn't get enough love in canon. But why stop there? This Quest will also be a re-write of the series' Starfallen Arc, since I know lots of fans felt that Arc could've gone a lot better than it did. Also hope you don't mind Souliver being genderbent into Soulivia. Alright, let's go!



Last time on Shin Dragon-Slaying High School Diary Epsilon, Ancalamence betrayed the Twinned Dragon Empires and made off with the Sphere of the In-Between. Sekiyama High's Dragon-Slayer Club fought their way across continents to the ice-castles of Scandinavia, where they faced down with the Twelve Lunar Eclipse Generals. But even then, in order to break through the Ancient Corruption that had now tainted the Source of All Breath, they needed to undergo the ultimate test to unlock Holy Battle Incarnation Mode, the only thing that could bypass the corruption.

Yet while Ancalamence may have been struck down, Fragments of a Dark Magic were able to escape into the In-Between, the world still not free of their twisting Spores. life may have returned to normal for Sekiyama High's Dragon-Slayer Club, but for how long?

It was impossible to tell if it was day or night, for pitch-black storm clouds had completely swallowed the sky. As the rain shot like arrows towards the earth, you, Kubota Kuniko, stood atop a wrecked building, and faced down a black-clad figure perched on the building across from you, a twenty-storey fall in between.

"S-Soulivia!" You screamed out at the top of your lungs, as you unsheathed your weapon and pointed it right over at your nemesis "Y-you and the Midnight Church have gone too far! I can't let you get away with this, after what you just-".

"Hah, you brought this on yourself, poor girl" Soulivia gave a cold laugh and stepped out of the shadows, the battle-nun's silvery-blonde hair glistening against the rain "Didn't I warn your little Club what it was in for, if it thought it could steal the powers of the very symbols of evil, against the Church's will?!".

"Yeah, you warned me every single time we met! But how, how could you ever dare kill-" You almost collapsed right there, your knees shaking and the rain pouring down hard on top of you.
But you immediately stood up straight and loudly roared "Henshin!", just as Soulivia called out that same word. You then both leaped over the abyss in between you, shining flames untouched by rain enveloping each of you-

"Huh? What the-".

Your weary eyes fluttered open, as that nightmare faded and your familiar cramped and cluttered, book-strewn, green-striped wallpapered bedroom slowly came into view. Your gaze wandered its way over to your bedside table, past your framed photograph of the headband-wearing, black-bobbed school idol Hatsue Hohki, and towards your beeping alarm clock.

"Kuniko!" You could hear your mother's shout from all the way on the other side of your house "What have I told you about being late for school?!".

"Ah, s-sorry Mum" Your comparatively feeble voice said back before you swiftly sprung out of bed. In a dizzying rush you promptly changed out of your pink pajamas and into the black-with-purple-lines Sekiyama High uniform, figuring you'd just shower in the evening, yanked your bag over, tied your dark blue hair into braids and sped off down the stairs. You didn't even stop to see whether your mother had made you breakfast or not, since you thought you could just get something from the school cafeteria.

Dashing along the crowded suburban streets of Ryuukawa City's residential district, you did have to chuckle to yourself about how your 'late start' reminded you of those seemingly long-ago days, back before you'd joined the Dragon Slaying Club and you were just some average schoolgirl who spent almost all her time in the library, face stuffed in fantasy books when you should've been studying.
Maybe things really were back to normal now that Ancalamence had been Slain, though would that mean that now, in Hatsue-sama's eyes, you'd go back to being just some commoner again?

"Ooof!" you and a familiar voice called out as you slammed right into someone while lost in your thoughts. As you stood back up, gulping at the thought of you possibly having collided with Okyoito, you sighed with relief to see it was only bespectacled fellow student Korekiyo, whose arms were rapidly flailing to keep his laptop from smashing on the pavement.

"Aw man, why do these things keep happening to me? Oh hey Kuniko, didn't see you there" he picked himself up off of the steps leading up to Sekigawa High, and brushed his shaggy, dull green hair out of his face "I tell ya, never thought I'd be glad to be back at school again, what with all that stuff with the Dragon Empires and the Sphere," he then promptly clamped his hand over his mouth lest any of the other students heard him "But yeah, can't believe you were the one who snagged Ancalamence's powers, doubt Okyoito's gonna be happy about that".

"Ah that? Yeah, you got a point Kiyo. But hey, on the bright side I bet me now being able to pull all the shit Ancalamence did's gonna really impress Hatsue!" you gave a beaming grin at Korekiyo.

"More like it's gonna scare her outta her mind, especially after all the grief that overgrown lizard gave us. Plus Hatsue's still a Princess, rocky as her family life is, so do you really wanna risk spooking her?" Korekiyo's flustered face could only say back.

"Hey come on, after all we've been through, I'm sure Hatsue-sama can trust me with his powers, right?" you made your attempt at reassurance.

You entered the looming, red-brick building that was Sekiyama High, and from there much of the day played itself out as a series of interchangeable classes in stuffy brown schoolrooms, livened up only when a teacher tried throwing a chalkboard eraser your way.

At lunch you tried heading down to the silver benches in the leaf-sprinkled courtyard outside the cafeteria, but you were unable to attract Hatsue's attention as her table was swamped by admiring students and even a few bodyguards, your eyes could make out concealed shuriken glinting under their suits.

You settled for eating in the dull grey corridor outside the library, sharing a bench with Korekiyo, who'd long since wolfed down his lunch and was now spending his remaining time with his eyes glued to his laptop. "I tell ya Kuniko, the only dragon I ever want to encounter again is in a RPG," he sighed "let alone anything like those Oozes or those Giant Spiders".

"Oh hey, Kuniko and Kiyo, just where I guessed you two'd be" came a sprightly voice, as you looked over to see fellow Dragon Club member Tami Aoki coming your way, her hair a brighter shade of blue than yours and styled in a pixie-cut. "Hey, you two weren't gonna finish lunch without me, were you? Huh, well going to a Ren Fair's never gonna look at the same after all we'd been through, am I right?" she smiled at you, but you weren't in the mood to say anything.
"Come on, you're not still hung up on Hatsue are you? I mean she's a cool Club President, but she is a Princess, we've seen first-hand all the baggage that comes with that title. Trust me Kuniko, I seriously don't think she lives in the sort of world you'd want a thing to do with" Tami lifted your cheek, but you just shrugged her off. "Well er, speaking of that Ren Fair, I was working all last night on designing a new medieval peasant gown-".

You then laughed and cut her off. "Oh please, Tami, I've researched medieval costuming, and your dresses have always been as historically accurate as a dinosaur in caveman times".

Tami couldn't help but briefly fume at your words, but she then gave a cocky smile and proclaimed "Really Kuniko, I believe you'll find it's called 'artistic license'". The two of you then couldn't help but laugh at each other, until a shadow fell upon you as you looked around to see crimson-haired Okyoito staring your way.

"Oi, Kubota, Aoki, Shigemitsu, make sure you're at Club this afternoon, our Princess says it's something serious" he intoned "The Screaming Egg's homed in on a major disturbance in Breath of the World, a real 'choking hazard' you could say. Hey, I don't like being called back into action this quick either, but you don't exactly see any other Dragon-Slaying Clubs around. Well, see you three there" Okyoito just as suddenly turned away.

"Huh, what'd he just say- Aw man" Korekiyo moaned as he glanced up from his computer.

"Boy, Okyoito's personality is one thing I'd be happy to not have 'gone back to normal'" Tami simply crossed her arms. "But still, what could be so urgent? Are some of Ancalamence's minions still loose, is there a new Dragon or Archslime or Geist going around, or has another Aberration made its way out of the In-Between, you think?".

"And right when I was really starting to enjoy 'normality' again" Korekiyo buried his face in his hands. "Well hey Kuniko, since you're hauling 'round Ancalamence's blood, guess we at least have a new ace up our sleeve".

"Oh yeah, that, ah ha" you tried to smile, but it was one thing to talk about having that dragon's powers, on top of all the powers from slain dragons you'd already taken, and another thing entirely to picture yourself wielding the same dark force he used...

Well, your thoughts were then cut off by the bell anyway.

Hours later, the five of you, Korekiyo, Tama, Okyoito, Hatsue and yourself, were all sitting at the table in the Dragon-Slayers' Club Room. The dark brown room was decorated with ancient maps and drawings, old musty bookcases and various artifacts housed in glass jars on shelves. They contained everything from ancient fangs and scales, tightly-wrapped scrolls, bronze talismans and amulets studded with murky jewels, dented swords, chained-together tablets and a mummified rabbit.

Hatsue kept running her hands over a gleaming pearl, until she opened her eyes and muttered "I'm truly sorry to have called you back here so soon. The matter of which I wish to speak with you concerns a threat we have already faced before, so I hope things will not be as the Screaming Egg has made it out to be".
"You'll recall we once faced off against a lone giant robot pilot, who called himself a 'Starfallen'? Well, recent findings would indicate he was not as much of a lone wolf as we thought he was. Still, even I feel uncomfortable stepping back into battle so soon after Ancalamence, so I can understand if you do not wish to head back aboard the Airship and would rather leave the fighting till another day".

[ ] "No it's okay, never felt better in fact. Let's get back on the Airship and check out these 'Starfallen', I mean that first guy was hardly that tough, am I right?".
[ ] "Yeah, I'm sorry too, I-I apologise too, Hatsue-sama. That last fight really did take a lot out of me, I'm not so ready to get back into the ring".
[ ] "I know, how 'bout we try getting back into the swing of things first, by practicing with our Dragon's Blood powers?"
[ ] Write-in.

Author's Note: I won't be including a character sheet, since I kinda think it would go against the concept of this Quest, so feel free to post right away!

Paging @ColdGoldLazarus @mCooperative @bdun140 and @James Birdsong who've all expressed some interest in this Quest Idea.

"I know, how 'bout we try getting back into the swing of things first, by practicing our Dragon powers?" your hand shot up.

Hatsue raised a slender finger to her chin, before she said "Ah, that would indeed be a cautious decision. You have just gained what was once Ancalamence's, so it'd be wise to test such... ferocity in a controlled environment". She gave you nod, which couldn't fail to make you face go pink and your heart flutter as her silken gaze met yours.

"But the slower we can take it, the more time we give our enemy to carry out whatever the hell it is they've got up their sleeves" Okyoito crossed his arms, slumped back and hissed.

"Oh come on Okyo, weren't you the one saying that you didn't like being called back so soon either, huh?" Tami bent over the table and raised her voice at him, before she sat back down and returned her expression to normal. "Anyway, personally I'd rather just rush these guys, whoever they are, deal with them ASAP, but I'm still cool with rehearsing over our powers before just charging in" she continued and gave a smile at the end "It's good to hear you say that, Kuni, no offence but, yeah, I couldn't ever imagine you saying that when you first joined".

You bit your lip at that statement. Oh come on, I mean was I really that bad?, the thought crossed your mind. You're making me look bad in front of Hatsue-sama, ya know?

"Let me remind you that we just struck down Ancalamence, of all lizards. I'm failing to see what more 'practice' we need" Okyoito's mocking tone snapped you out of your internal monologue. Tami didn't seem to have a response to that.

"Sheesh, really? You know I was really looking forward a day off, maybe catch up on my games, that sort of thing. Like who do you think I am, my Dad?" Korekiyo sighed as he collapsed into a heap. "Fine, fine, majority rule, I get ya, I surrender," He raised both his hands "Good grief".

"Squii-squi-squi!" came the interrupting voice of a squirrel coloured green, with bright, blooming pink flowerbuds in place of its cheeks, as it shot up from underneath the clubroom table.

"Tulip!" a blushing Hatsue couldn't help but laugh at this little intrusion. "We appreciate the company, but um, could you please remain in your hat for now, we are discussing quite serious matters at the moment".

"Squiiii" Tulip the squirrel chirped in a deflated manner, as it scurried back under as soon as it's arrived, leaving things to return to normal.

"Good. Well in that case, I hereby relocate club activities to the Colosseum for the rest of the afternoon" Hatsue promptly stood up and smiled. "It is quite a trek there anyway, so it'll likely take us that long anyway" she tried giving a grin. You didn't hesitate beam back, everyone else not so much.