CHAPTER 1

It was hot. There were flames all over the area. The flames were both beautiful and destructive and somewhere in between were small sparks of lightning, traveling across the flames before dispersing.

In the middle of it all was a strange creature in pain as it voiced its thoughts.

It's hot. Burning…My body, My throat…Burning!

Then, a female voice, gentle and caring, answered its cries.

It's alright now. Just relax.

The strange creature opened its eye, yellow and like that of a cat. Its pupil shrunk as it looked in bewilderment. It asked only one question.

Who are you?

Before the female voice could answer it, everything turned to black.

Raiden wakes up from his dream, with groggy eyes as he slowly sits up. Adjusting his vision, Raiden brings his head to his hands before his mouth and throat felt dry. He goes to get out of bed but not before he looks to his right and sees a near naked Houki Shinonono still sleeping with him, with only her bra and panties on.

It had already been two years since the two of them were officially together in the same room. Not to mention that their 3rd year at the IS Academy is also their last year. After Tatenashi moved out after the first year, Charlotte took over his room for the 2nd year as his occupant. Now it was Houki's turn.

Houki feels Raiden move from the bed as she too begins to wake up.

"Mmm…Bad dream again?" Houki asked.

"The same one." Raiden admitted as he sat on the edge of the bed, with Houki scooching up behind him.

"You're still a little stressed out, a little worried." Houki said as she took him into her arms.

It had been two years since Raiden and his friends had faced Phantom Task but in those two years, much of the world had changed. The tensions in the Korean Peninsula were increasing as both states were preparing their armies for a possible war. Terrorist activities have increased throughout Europe and America while East Asia remains unaffected.

Raiden also acquired a fully functional and working cybernetic left arm after going back to the CIA to be equipped and implanted with it, along with enhancing the rest of the cybernetic implants in his body, mainly on the lower spine, pelvis, fibula, tibia, tarsus, and sternum. All of that is thanks to Project Akuruka. His left arm was filled with state of the art, classified, cutting edge technology by the CIA to act as a real-life arm complete with a synthetic nerve system connected to the brain, CMT synthetic muscle fiber, adamantium metal bone structure, and synthetic plasma blood.

Along with sessions of physical therapy, Raiden needed time to adjust to his new arm and before long, it functioned like one. Many were surprised to see Raiden have one as they all know of his heroics during the battle with Phantom Task at Kyoto, but they did not know the damage extended that far on his body.

As for everyone else, they all made it to their third and last year at the IS Academy. Ichika had been improving and was at least better than the 1st year students, yet still struggled against the 2nd and 3rd year students. Much of the girls remained the same as ever but did improve on their training. But for their goal to get Ichika to love them and recognize their feelings, they all submitted to surrender.

Why?

With the boy too dense to even recognize their feelings considering that for the past two years they poured in their efforts for him to notice, they decided to call it quits and merely see him as a close friend. After all, when a woman tries for two years to get a man to notice her, yet he doesn't respond due to his denseness, it is usually time for her to surrender to reality and find someone else.

There was only one though who would not give up. A first year student named Ran Gotanda, who was Dan Gotanda's little sister. She has yet to gain a Personal IS for herself but is contempt with that as all she wants to herself is Ichika. When Cecilia, Laura, and Rin hear of this, they decide to place their support behind Ran and give her some tips on how to handle a dense boy like Ichika.

For Raiden though, he had yet to make his personal decision amongst the three girls that loved him so as he too loved them. But he could choose only one to be with, and yet he still has not decided. At least all three were patient with him and did not hog him all the time, each willing to share him.

As Houki caresses her white lion with her arms, Raiden's head was down as he shakes the dizziness in his head from feeling light-headed for a bit.

"I'm surprised you slept with everything going on, especially since we are together now in the same room." said Houki.

Raiden sighs, "Yeah. You're right. Just jitters, I guess."

Houki then offered some words of comfort. "It will be okay. Don't forget to come up for air every now and then. And not because we need you…but because I need you."

"Thanks." Raiden acknowledged as he kissed her briefly.

Houki could not help but smile as she watches Raiden get up and out of bed and into the shower.

As he went in, Houki brought one of her hands over to her stomach, as she felt a certain warmth from within, remembering a certain night of pleasure last night.

OP song: Suara – Musouka (For reference, look up on YouTube Utawarerumono Opening)

(Four loud bangs of metal are heard in four images in red. The first being the iron tessen, the second Cecilia, Rin, Laura, and Ichika, the third Tatenashi, Charlotte, and Houki, and the fourth being Raiden as he looks frontwards to the camera)

Kodomo no koro no yume wa iroasenai rakugaki de (Like the 1st opening of Infinite Stratos, it starts with the camera viewing the water as it moves forward before it views up to see the IS Academy until a flash of white)

Omou mama kakisuberasete egaku mirai e to tsunagaru (Ichika and the girls, in their IS, fly across the sky like the 1st opening before the scene changes to Raiden looking at the sky, viewing from the IS Academy campus as the camera zooms into him before zooming out, as the camera pans upwards with the leaves before it changes scene)

(Opening title is presented as Infinite Stratos)

Sumiwataru sora hateshinai hodo aoku (Raiden is viewed on the rooftop with some sake in hand)

Mujaki na kokoro ni mitasare hikareteku (Raiden is viewed closer before he turns to look at the camera with a smile)

(Houki is shown three times in three images, each image bringing her closer to the screen)

Yagate jiyuu ni tobimawareru hane o te ni irete (Tabane is shown with holographic butterfly wings as she flies to the moon and spreads her wings out, the glitter of light coming off as the camera pans outwards while her image turns to the camera with a smile)

Muku na hitomi wa motometeku (Miriam Walker is shown for a few seconds before the camera moves closer as it shows Akane Fujimoto's back behind her)

sora no mukou e ikitai na (Ichika flies across the sky as he comes down with Yukihira Nigata SCENE CHANGE Raiden is shown activating his IS Lion Heart in its 2nd Shift mode, Sovereign Spirit, as he points his gunblade to the camera as if giving the signal to charge)

Tomedonai negai kara (Houki slices a Vehicon and as she goes through the horde, slicing and dicing with her two katana swords)

hitotsu dake kanau no nara (Cecilia, with her Starlight sniper rifle, hits a Vehicon with a butt of her rifle before turning around and firing two shots to more incoming Vehicons chasing her)

Dare ni mo yuzuritaku wa nai (Rin slices a couple Vehicons in a spin before she fires another with her Shock Cannons SCENE CHANGE Tatenashi slams to the ground with her spear stabbed as a group of Vehicons are destroyed)

yume o tsukamitai to omou yo (Laura slices another Vehicon with her wrist blades as she grabs another with her cables and flings it up SCENE CHANGE Charlotte is seen prepping her sniper rifle, ready to fire at the Vehicon thrown to her before the scene changes to a brief white screen)

Kodomo no koro no yume wa (Raiden is shown at night viewing the IS Academy as the sakura blossoms flow gently in the wind)

iroasenai rakugaki de (Tatenashi and her little sister Kanzashi are shown underneath a cherry blossom tree looking upwards to the sakura blossoms while enjoying some sake)

Itsu made mo kakitsuzukerareta (Chifuyu, Yamada-sensei, and the rest of the IS Academy students are shown in front of their school as the camera moves right to left. SCENE CHANGE The villains of the story are shown as the camera moves from the lower left corner to its opposite side, mainly Phantom Task all the way up to the main villain whose image obscured in shadow)

negau mirai e to tsunagaru (In quick time montage scenes, Lion Heart, in its Akuruturuka is shown three times as the camera pans outwards with the quick time scenes in between as the creature roars with flames decorating the background. First quick time image shows Project Akuruka, the next ancient fossilized remains of a winged and spiked lion, the third the Eternal Throne from the Vault. The last scene ends with an image of GRIEVER unleashing the satellite weapon Amaterasu onto the Earth as all turns white)

(The camera moves upward to show Houki in her shrine maiden outfit with the iron fan in her hands as she dances with sakura petals falling as the scene fades to black with the petals still falling.)

The class was assembled out in the arena for training practice. With Chifuyu still as their homeroom teacher, things just seemed to be another ordinary day for everyone present.

Chifuyu takes front and center to address her crowd of students.

"Before we begin training, we will be having a 2nd year transfer student taking part in a demonstration."

Small chatter came among everyone, the Personal IS pilots included.

"A new student?" asked one of them.

"Demonstration?" asked another.

"I wonder who she is…?" asked a third.

To Raiden, he remained silent and composed, waiting for further instructions as Chifuyu quickly hushed the crowd and they went back to their positions.

"The pilot should be arriving right about…now." Chifuyu said as she checked her clock. Then, out of nowhere, something came from the sky. It flew across the arena as it soon gave the noise of a bird, a large screeching yet short noise.

As the unidentifiable object flew, it soared upwards in a spin right in front of the sun before the wings were shown in flaming colors, like it was on fire. This fire looked graceful, like something of a deity came down from the heavens. The object slowly descended as it then revealed what it was.

It was an IS, looking similar to Charlotte's Rafale Revive Custom-II as it was orange yet had a secondary color of dark red and was slightly bigger. Its wings looked like actual wings of a bird as they spread out wide. They had intricate pieces of metal forming the resemblance of actual feathers and the skeleton of the wings were painted dark red. The legs were encased inside, and the knees had a small spike protruding from each cap. The arms were like any other, as they formed around the forearm and extended out from the hands. The torso and abdomen were covered by the armor which formed in the shape of a V, protruding around the body. The helmet looked like the helm of a phoenix, it was round and had phoenix hair protruding from the back. The visor, which was the front of the helmet and looked like a Venetian mask, formed a T as metal feathers decorated the edge of it. The pilot's face was unrecognizable, cloaked in blackness by the glass visor.

Once people saw the IS, they awed at it as it descended next to Chifuyu, still in its flaming glory thanks to the wings. Though surprisingly, the flames did not bother Chifuyu despite their seemingly incredible heat before they dissipated into normal wings. Many of the girls commented on how beautiful and cool it was, even the Personal IS pilots were amazed.

All except one.

Raiden, for some reason, glared intently at the IS and its pilot behind the mask. No emotion was given off of his cold stare yet even so, he decided to get up close and personal. Disobeying orders from Yamada-sensei to get back in line, Raiden came face to face to the IS pilot who only stared back at him. At this point, the air was already tense as people held their breaths. Some shook with fear, thinking this was going to end badly. Others were merely curious as to see what Raiden was thinking.

Yet all Raiden can do is smirk a little for amusement.

"Why you slimy, double-crossing, no-good swindler. You got a lot of guts coming here, after what you pulled." Raiden said in perfect English with the perfect American accent.

The pilot deactivated his IS in a flash of light particles and met Raiden face to face. Appearance wise, he had dark brown hair and milk chocolate eyes. His IS suit was much like Ichika's in that it was colored black with silver and he wore a gold pendant resembling a phoenix around his neck. He was also a native, most likely from America.

"And you've got more scars on you than a pig that's been butchered for the barbeque. Don't tell me those ladies over there mauled you like lions in your sleep." The male retorted in perfect English, making Houki and Charlotte irk a little yet also blush out of embarrassment.

Silence followed between them as it filled the air. A few girls in the back were surprised to hear Raiden speak English very well, even the Personal IS pilots were surprised. But between Raiden and the male pilot, they stared intently, and then…

(CLAP)

The two caught each other's hands in a man-hug as they soon laughed together. Though for the crowd they were mostly confused as to what was going on. A few even suggested they were together, more than friends it seemed.

"How you doing, old buddy? So good to see you." The male said happily.

"Same to you." Raiden as he hugged back.

"Well, he seems very friendly." Charlotte whispered to Laura's ear.

"Yeah." Laura said sarcastically. "Very friendly."

The two of them continued their little heartfelt reunion.

"Unfortunately, I could use your help in tuning my IS when this is all over." said Raiden.

"What have you done with my IS?" asked the male pilot with a comical stoic face.

"Your IS?" Raiden asked back as he pointed a finger in a light manner. "Hey, remember you lost it to me fair and square."

Everyone but Chifuyu were now confused at the interaction, even Ichika was not so sure at what was going on. Speaking of Chifuyu though, Raiden could tell that she was getting a headache as she deemed this little reunion a waste of productive activity.

"Umm, Anisama…? What's going on here?" asked Ichika rubbing his head.

Raiden turns around to see the confusion. "Ah. Right. Well go on, introduce yourself, you ol' smuggler."

"Smuggler?" scoffs the male IS pilot before he gives a small smirk. "Yeah. Says the womanizer."

The male pilot then stands in front of the crowd as he properly introduces himself.

"Everyone, I'm Scott Stalker, but please, call me Scott. I am 2nd year student starting today, Canada's Representative Candidate, and a close friend to Raiden. And before you say it, yes…I am a male IS pilot."

The atmosphere, along with the entire class except Chifuyu and Raiden, were silent, like time had stopped had stopped in its tracks. After a few moments though, everyone yelled only one word.

"WHAT?!"

Everyone went into hysteria, even the personal IS pilots had similar reactions to one another. For another male that was an IS pilot of all people attend the Academy and just show up on a whim would consider either a miracle or even an unbelievable phenomenon. Even Ichika was surprised and shocked at this turn of events, like a huge wave of the ocean washed over him.

"Please tell me I am getting the same reactions you did when you first arrived here." Scott whispered over to Raiden.

"You have no idea." Raiden dodged the question, making Scott think that was a confirmation.

"That's enough, you brats!" Chifuyu ordered as everyone went back to full attention and Raiden went back to his spot.

"Stalker, Orimura. You two will be doing the demonstration fight. You'll have only five minutes for the match."

Ichika came forward and Scott stood face to face while everyone else backed away.

"So, you must be the little brother to Chifuyu." Scott remarked. "You don't look like much."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Ichika said although he kind of did not like the remark. "I won't go easy on you, just so you know."

"Neither will I." Scott said as he activated his IS Phoenix while Ichika did the same with Byakushiki while drawing out his sword. Scott brings out his kusarigama named Crescent Moon, a sickle attached with a long chain, as he holds the weapon in one hand and swings the chain around with the other.

With everyone off to the side to watch from a safe distance, many of them were curious as to how this new IS pilot will fare against Ichika.

"If that is your only weapon..." Ichika said before he said the next phrase with pride. "I am going to win!"

Ichika starts off the mock battle with an ignition boost to close the distance between him and Scott to use his blade Yukihira Nigata but Scott brings out his Crescent Moon and blocks the attack easily before spinning around him and wrapping the chain around his neck. Luckily for Ichika, he brings his blade up to not let the chain choke him before both break off the hold.

Scott swings the chain of his weapon and throws it to Ichika as he catches it. But that was Scott's plan as he used his strength to pull Ichika to him before ripping away the sword as it sticks to the ground. Once Scott dematerializes his kusarigama, he brings out one of his two handgun Colt pistols, Mustang, and fires consecutive shots from the hip.

All eight shots hit Ichika as he struggles back. Ichika then goes to retrieve his sword before he fires his Particle Cannon at Scott before the Phoenix IS jumped up into the sky to dodge the incoming fire. Scott then materialized a double-bladed polearm and came down onto Ichika, striking the ground like small meteor hit the ground, and pushing Byakushiki back.

Scott then brought out his other colt, Sally, in his other hand while holding Orthos Prime and fired the shots but Ichika dodged those with ease. Ichika was now getting desperate as he had to get in again and engage Scott in close combat. Already, his shield energy was about 50% thanks to those shots and the impact attack form the polearm. For Scott, he had to make sure not to let overconfidence get to him.

The two flew up to the air they decided to engage in melee combat. Scott's double-sided polearm, named Orthos Prime, was a double-bladed polearm measuring six feet in length with two identical blades on either side but both facing one way or the other. The blade had a silver linging tip while the base of it was black with a blue outlining drawn on it. (Author's note: For reference: it is Orthos from the game Warframe.)

Scott utilized some fancy moves with his polearm thanks to training with staffs before he engaged with Ichika as the blunette boy charged in. Their weapons were in a blade-lock as sparks flew.

"You're good." Scott complimented. "But you could be better."

"I am a slow learner." Ichika remarked as he went on the attack.

As the two boys fought, Houki and Charlotte came over to Raiden regarding their newcomer, both of the girls on either side of him.

"So, Raiden…" Houki said as she watched Scott and Ichika fight. "You know of him?"

"Scott and I are old friends. We work in the same company." Raiden explained.

"He said something regarding your IS." Charlotte said and paraphrased him. "Something about losing it to you fair and square?"

"Ah, that. Scott was actually the one behind the design and construction of Lion Heart." Raiden revealed, making the girls quite surprised.

"He built your IS?" asked a flabbergasted Houki.

"And he was originally supposed to pilot it, but our superiors saw fit to hand it to me."

"Why's that?" asked Charlotte.

"Two reasons mostly." said Raiden. "The man-made IS core you all witnessed. That's the main reason. But the other reason? Well…"

Raiden gave somewhat of a sheepish smile as the girls pressed in for answers. Raiden then decided to spill the beans.

"I won in a betting game against him."

"…You gambled?" Houki was not amused and gave her glare.

"Hey, it was just a one-time thing." Raiden justified himself. "Plus, when it comes to Scott, he doesn't build and sell things just right off the bat."

"Still doesn't make up the fact you gambled." Charlotte said as she continued watching.

As Ichika and Scott's blade traded blows, both of the boys were carefully studying each other's movements and attack patterns, looking for any flaws or holes in their defense. Scott noticed that while Ichika's attacks are frontwards and direct, they leave one too many potential holes that could easily be caught upon by his opponent. Ichika saw that despite Scott's incredible dodging skills, he would always sidestep wherever Ichika was, making the Orimura boy predict where Scott could dodge next.

Ichika then decided to activate Reiraku Byakuya in an attempt to finish the fight while he also clenched his left fist.

'So that is Reiraku Byakuya. One hit from that and I am done for.' Scott thought to himself. Scott pulled out his L1A1 assault rifle and began shooting at Ichika but the boy was able to dodge most of the shots. Almost out of ammo, Scott decided to bring out Orthos Prime and brace for the attack, but what he did not count upon was the fact that Ichika's attack was coming upwards.

Ichika closes in and swings his sword upwards and in a shard of sparks, he cuts Orthos Prime in half. Ichika smirked with pride as he believed to have won, thinking he managed to hit Scott dead on.

But it was in that moment that he was mistaken.

Scott threw his two weapons upwards and somehow disappeared in a flash of orange light before reappearing from on high and closed in on Ichika in an illusionary form of a phoenix. His blades struck Ichika in the back plummeting him down in an explosive of fire.

A lot of people were not surprised Scott would win but mostly because they were biased. Raiden however was surprised at the last move Scott did.

"Well, that was fun." Scott remarked as he descended to the ground, his wings folded inwards and outwards once he landed, the flames dying out.

Ichika was surprised though. "I…lost? I thought for sure I…"

"You almost did." Scott revealed as he deactivated his IS and held a hand to Ichika to which he took. "You only cut my polearm in half, but you came pretty close to hitting me."

"And that move you did…." Raiden said as he came by. "That's new."

"Warping." Scott said. "It's something I put into Phoenix. After I throw my weapons at a certain area, I can warp to that location and strike."

"How the hell did you even manage that?" Raiden asked.

"Heh. Wasn't easy." Scott chuckled before Chifuyu came in.

"Alright. Everyone will get into groups of 3-4 with the Personal IS pilots as their instructors. We will be working on combat tactics. Move out!"

Soon enough, a lot of the girls pair up to Scott who was getting overwhelmed immediately. Yamada-sensei try to bring order but Chifuyu then stepped in with her loud voice, which made things easier on Scott. Though suffice to say he was a bit shaken up from the voice.

"Is she always like that?" asked Scott to Raiden.

"You have no idea." Raiden said with a sheepish smile while shaking his head.

With the rest of class over after the usual day off, everyone went to grab some grub, the gang included. Everyone was now free to do as they please whether it be for studying, practicing in there is, mock battles, or even going about and shopping. But now the Newspaper Club had a brand new topic on their front page which was distributed almost immediately upon the revelation of a new IS pilot in the Academy and another man. The girls and Ichika were in another spot, spying on the two boys while also eating their lunch. Even though Ichika assured them Scott was a nice guy, that was not enough to convince them.

But there were two guys who were sitting by themselves eating their food and catching up, along with a bottle of 47 Thessia Red wine that Scott had managed to snuck in.

"It's been a long time. How've you been?" asked Raiden as he took a bite of his Bento set that Houki made for him.

"Good. I've been fortunate." Scott answered. "After you went to the IS Academy, I decided to continue my personal project. It was only about last year that I managed to finish making my IS and install PHOENIX into it."

"So you've basically been tinkering around in your lab these whole two years?" Raiden asked with a bit of a scoff.

"Hey, it wasn't always like that. I got sent on other missions, too." said Scott. "And I have been pretty busy."

"It's no wonder people have called you the Tony Stark of the world." Raiden added. "Next you'll tell me you've made the first Arc reactor."

"Quite correct indeed." A familiar British voice spoke up as a bird figure materialized and rested on Scott's left shoulder. Some of the eyewitnesses got shocked and surprised, especially Honne, who looked at the bird like a child wanting that new toy.

"PHOENIX. Good to see you again." Raiden said.

"Yours as well, good sir." PHOENIX answered back as the bird AI bowed its head.

"Seems as if you brought more than just your AI and your IS." quipped Raiden.

"A few things were necessary." Scott said. "Otherwise, I don't know where I'd be without them."

"Last time I saw PHOENIX though, wasn't he just a hatchling?" smirked Raiden.

PHOENIX was a little annoyed. "That would not be the word I would describe myself, thank you very much."

Scott chuckled at the remark. "Right. PHOENIX was, as you say a hatchling, by the time you left. But he's been growing up and evolving as an AI and has been of great help to me. Now he's a full-grown bird."

"Although last time you had a small memory box of him. Now how are you able to get him to project himself?"

"Wasn't easy." Scott said before he whispered in Raiden's ear. "Had to get a few illegal parts to finish making him."

"Oh. Right." Raiden was a bit surprised to see his good friend go through some illegal hoops and dealings just to get parts. Even he would not go that far but that does not necessarily mean Raiden is a by the book kind of person. Then again, neither is Scott though on some account.

"Any other projects you have been working on?" Raiden asked as he took a bite.

"Only a few. But they're highly secretive." Scott whispered that last part of his sentence to Raiden's ear, making the blind pilot back off and move on in acknowledgement.

In that moment though, all six of the girls came over, brave enough to confront Raiden's new friend. Cecilia was the one up front about it though, likely that she led the pact.

"So is it true that you can pilot an IS as a guy?" Cecilia asked as she crossed her arms.

Scott raised one eyebrow in confusion. "Um, yes? I mean, I wouldn't be here if I couldn't, now would I?"

"That's not the point!" Rin said as she crossed her arms.

"The point being?" asked Scott, still confused. Laura then began to clarify what they wanted.

"We're curious to see if you really are IS pilot material. And by that, we mean if you can really fight against another pilot, isn't that correct?"

Laura looked to the rest of the girls as they all nodded their heads in agreement. Despite the demonstration earlier today, they were not convinced.

Scott was now utterly confused and turned to Raiden, who merely chuckled.

"I think they are wondering if you can live up to your name as an IS pilot of Phoenix." Raiden said. "I doubt the demonstration earlier this morning convinced them."

"Oh." Scott now understood before Cecilia slammed her hands on the table, nearly knocking over the almost empty red wine bottle before Raiden caught it.

"So! Are you or are you not a boy?!"

"Calm down there. I can assure you that I am one hundred percent male…" Scott raised his hands in defense. "And I can fight."

"Then prove it!" Cecilia said. "From what Aniki said, all I have heard is that you build things, and from what I have seen, you've been slacking off even though you two are catching up."

That did not sit well with Scott as Raiden was armed himself with his iron fan to calm things down should hot oil be put onto the fire. PHOENIX too was ready as the bird AI was ready to disable any IS that became active.

"Really, now?" asked Scott as he stood up. "I can say the same for you Brits! All of you acting mighty high and noble when you keep getting your asses kicked in two major wars in American history."

That did not settle with Cecilia so well. And just like her déjà vu moment with Ichika, Cecilia declared one thing.

"That is it! I challenge you to a mock duel after school!"

"Fine." Scott answered back. "Better than arguing during lunch."

HOURS LATER…

Raiden and Scott were in the locker room as they were waiting in their seats by a table for the appropriate time for the mock duel. Scott was attired in the same IS suit that Ichika wore except his was red for the main color and orange for the secondary color. Scott did not look too worried for his mock duel though as he was looking over the schematics for both his IS and Cecilia's to see if he can come up with any plans.

Scott closed the holograms after coming up with some plans in his head.

"Man, this life you have." Scott said as he relaxed back in his chair. "I've half a mind to leave everything I own behind and keep going."

"I've half a mind to come with you." Raiden said.

"What do you say, just you and me on the slopes of Mount Koya, IS at our side, couple of onsen baths to experience." Scott asked.

"You should've asked me years four years ago, back when we were still military." Raiden said as Scott gave a small chuckle.

"We had a small war to fight, girls to be with. We never did have the chance to be young."

"I recall a few chances." Raiden jested as he brought rubbed his chin, which made both of the boys smile and laugh for all the good memories that cropped up.

"There was that one girl…" Scott said. "Crap, what was her name? That girl you slept with. Becca, with those eyes as white as a pearl that you could stare at all day."

"Betty. She was one of yours." Raiden clarified which made Scott correct his assumption.

"Right. Betty. Thank god for Betty. Man, was she a good-looking one."

Both the boys laughed as Raiden nodded. The girl Betty was indeed one of Raiden's favorites to have slept with. But when Scott came into the picture, boy were things really turned up at that time.

"Yours was, eh…Aaliya? No. You told me once. Er…Mona? The girl from Bangladesh?"

"Niasa." Raiden said as he looked away for a bit and sighed a bit.

"Ah there we go. She must've been a rare girl for someone like you. You never told me what she looked like."

"Nor will I." Raiden said with melancholy. Scott took notice of it though, remembering what Raiden had lost.

"We were at war." Scott said with comfort. "None of us ever knew if we were gonna go back home again. You're too hard on yourself. You always have been."

Raiden could only reflect. Not only was Niasa a good friend to Raiden who had provided her valuable intelligence to him and Scott during their time in Bangladesh years ago, but also of how closely intimate she was to Raiden, so close that they shared a night together. Unfortunately, Niasa was unwittingly killed in an ambush by the enemy, drowned and executed in the nearby river. Her death left something of a reminder of Raiden of how fragile life is and how mortality can often be used in the wrong way.

"I swear if I weren't your best friend, you would've hit me already." Scott said.

"The worst thing about your promotion last summer, I'd never get to hit you again." said Raiden as the two had a chuckle.

"Trust me, that's not the worst thing." Scott said before he then pulled out a note to hand to Raiden.

"This came to me a couple days ago." Scott said. Raiden unfolds the note to see what was written. After viewing, Raiden scowls a little bit as he puts it away in his pocket.

"Damn it. We still haven't been able to find him?"

"It's already been five months since he left. I am getting worried." Scott said.

"What about his squad? Do they know where he has been?" Raiden asked.

Scott shook his head in denial. "No. Even they haven't been able to locate him. Last I heard though, he was heading into the bad side of town."

"He knows how to take care of himself." Raiden said. "I'm sure he has gotten everything under control."

"Maybe." Scott said with unease. "But with him gone for that long on whatever mission was assigned to him…that doesn't make me feel any better."

Raiden then decided to change the subject.

"Hey, Scott…" Raiden said. "About the rumors of your dad. Is he…?"

"They're true." Scott confirmed. "Dad passed away about a month ago from his cancer. I was there by his side…saying my goodbyes."

Scott's face turned melancholic, almost like he was ready to give into tears. Raiden could relate given that Scott lost his mother at a young age from a car accident and now his dad passed away from cancer. Raiden decided to sit and rested his hand on his best friend's shoulder in care.

"I'm sorry, Scott." Raiden assured.

"It's all right." Scott said. "At least both he and mom are together now. I've already shed my tears."

"Sir, it is time." PHOENIX popped up.

"Right on schedule." Scott said as he and Raiden walked over to the arena. The latter was a little concerned for his best friend, for Scott may be a trooper but even the toughest of troopers can be reduced to tears.

Cecilia was already high in the skies waiting for her opponent to show up. She still maintained her belief that Scott was not what he had seemed to be despite the demonstration given earlier today. Furthermore, she did not see him as a man. His talk with Raiden during lunch made her doubt him greatly, much like how she doubted Ichika. Though with Ichika, it was in a different situation as this duel was not so much about choosing a class representative but rather one about proving to be a man.

Scott looks at Cecilia from the screen back in the hangar. Accompanying him were Raiden, Houki, and Ichika while the rest of the girls were in the stands sitting and waiting for the fight to start. Chifuyu and Yamada-sensei monitored from above in the hangar.

"Let me guess. You're gonna use your warping for the most of it?" Raiden asked.

"The problem with my warp is that it uses my shield energy quite a lot. I cannot use it too much or this will be a short fight." said Scott.

"So what's your plan?" asked Ichika.

"My main concern are her BITS." Scott shows the BIT units on screen. "If I get bogged down and distracted, she can take me out easily. Get rid of them first, and I got a shot on her."

"Don't forget her missile launchers. They will be her last resort." Houki advised.

Scott took notice to that as he deployed his IS and went out to meet the British blonde. He swung by a few times before he flew up in the air with folded wings before he spread them out and showed that familiar majestic fire. He then descended to Cecilia's level.

"I was starting to think you were not going to show up." Cecilia said.

"What makes you say that?" Scott asked out of curiosity.

Cecilia smirked with confidence. "Because it would have been a disgrace if you fled. I will give you one chance though."

This peaked Scott's interest. "And that is?" he asked.

"Obviously I am a third year student and you are a second year, which means I am more than a match for you. I will give you one chance to stand down and apologize for insulting me and my country."

Scott was not amused, more or less annoyed. After all, Cecilia did insult him on his talents and made presumptions about who he is. Perhaps a lot of nobles and high-class society people were like that wherever he went, Britain being nonexceptional.

"Only if you apologize first. You started it after all." Scott countered back.

"Not a chance." Cecilia said as she brought out her rifle and pointed at Scott. "Now, dance to the waltz of Blue Tears!"

Scott takes the dodge before he pulls out his L1A1 assault rifle and, with a mounted scope, begins to fire back. Cecilia easily dodges as the shots were not that difficult to see, plus she gathered that Scott had a bit of a hard time with the rifle.

Because Cecilia has better aim than Scott, he had a bit trouble dodging most of her shots that for the most part grazed him. Scott warped all over the place to dodge a few shots but once the BITS came into the fray, things were already getting messy.

"Here. Have my BITS drones at your leisure." Cecilia cries after she gets to a safe distance and deploys all four of her drones that began to fire on Scott. Scott pulls out Crescent Moon and utilizes both the chain and the sickle as range weapons for him to slice the drone BITS. Unlike Ichika who had to get in close and personal, Scott could take them out in a distance.

As Scott warps, he looks and analyzes for the perfect opening.

'It looks like the BITS have to stop for a split second to fire before they move. And they can only move at her command.'

Back at the bunker, everyone looks on screen at the fight.

"Scott is so good." Houki commented. "His warping is incredible."

"How is he able to pull those off though?" asked Ichika.

"Given that his warping uses his shield energy, my best guess is that he uses that energy as a means to travel and trick his opponents depending on how far of a distance he has to get to." Raiden said.

But Chifuyu looks at the status of Scott's shield energy and notes that it is draining fast thanks to him dodging most of the time of the BITS. Already his shields were at 68% and draining while Alcott's was still at 100%.

"Orimura-sensei," Yamada-sensei said. "At this point, Stalker-san will be out of shield energy."

"True." Chifuyu agreed with a nod. "But I doubt he is that reckless and dependent on it. He is only using it to counter Alcott's BIT drones, but they do take quite an amount of energy."

Pulling out his Colt pistols, Sally and Mustang, Scott fires at the BITS at the precise moment they stop for that split second as he fires his shots before warping and using his kusarigama to destroy the drones.

Scott warps and fires three shots at one drone before he warps to another location while the bullets at the same time hit the drone before Scott comes in and swipes it clean in half. He does the same to another one before he uses the chain of his kusarigama and throws it to catch one of the drones to stop it from moving before he used his strength to sever the drone in half just by the chain alone.

Cecilia recalls her last drone to her as she goes back on the offensive and tries to snap at Scott. Scott warps away before he pulls out his assault rifle, along with his colt Mustang, as he trades fire. Unfortunately, his assault rifle was only firing random shots but at least he was more accurate with a pistol and decided to use the rifle as a distraction while carefully aiming his pistol to hit Cecilia.

One bullet managed to graze her leg and sent her on a spiral before she recovered in a spin. She used her last drone to call forth as Scott put away his assault rifle that was now empty. Scott warps to combat the BIT as he dodges the shot before he unloads all the rounds into it, destroying it.

Cecilia however pulled out her last card, as Scott had anticipated.

"Naïve!"

Cecilia pulls out her two missile pods and fires at Scott. The Canadian Representative could only look in a face of bitterness as the missiles closed in on him and explode.

"Scott!" Ichika cried while Houki could only accept what was in front of her, believing the fight to be concluded. Raiden could only scoff at the situation, catching her attention.

"Raiden?" asked Houki.

"Relax." Raiden said with a smile, to everyone's confusion. "If there is one thing about the phoenix, it is that they never die."

Cecilia thought she had won. No one, not even someone like this transfer student could escape her missiles that easily. Ichika got lucky last time because his IS had saved him and shifted from default to 1st shift but that was different. For Scott, he was left defenseless because his L1A1 assault rifle was out of ammo, his Crescent Moon blown out of his hands, both of his colt pistols spent, and his energy shield was down by 10%. Little did she know that she was wrong.

A familiar eerie noise of a bird, like a phoenix, was heard across the sky. Before Cecilia turned as the sun was in her eyes and covered herself from the brightness. But from that brightness, came a familiar object coming down on her, like a ball of fire, and with the polearm Orthos Prime in his hand. It was Scott, and he was executing a high jump tactic with the sun as his main useful tool, his blade bearing down.

Turns out Scott executed a warp at an improbably distance to get away from the missiles when they hit him at the last minute. Using the explosion and the smoke as a ruse to fool his opponent, Scott used about 8% of his remaining shield energy to warp after he threw his double-bladed polearm up very high and warp to that location.

Cecilia had no time to react thanks to the sun and was soon brought down low by the incoming Phoenix. Like a meteor that descended, Cecilia and Scott hit the ground in a small explosion, creating a spectacular show for the most part. But a few of them were shaken, fearing that Cecilia might be injured if the Absolute Defense System was not activated in time. Even Ichika and the others were a bit worried. Raiden was not however as he trusted Scott's judgement and skill. He was never one to do collateral damage.

From the smoke, Scott walked out in his IS while carrying Cecilia bridal style. Cecilia looked to see the helmet of the Phoenix that was damaged, with one of Scott's eyes showing. She was instantly enraptured by the eye as Scott was announced the winner, along with the feeling of being safe in his arms.

Once Scott returned to the hangar, he set Cecilia down as the girl watched him rejoin Raiden and deactivate his IS.

"You and your warping, man…" Raiden said. "As I recall, phoenixes do not warp."

"This one does." Scott says as he warps again to pull out his colt Sally from behind his head at point blank range and be up close and personal.

Raiden was amused. "Still trying to catch me off guard?"

"You did steal my IS that I built. It's not like I built it for you." Scott smirked.

"True to that. But then again…"

Scott feels something by his stomach as he looks down with his eyes to see Raiden's gunblade pointed at him, much to his amusement. Scott then stands down as he and Raiden put away their weapons.

"Now about the tuning of my IS…?" Raiden asked.

"It's my IS that I designed." Scott ranted.

"And it's my IS that I piloted." Raiden countered.

The two boys laughed as they went on inside along with Ichika and Houki who joined along to meet up with the others.

For Cecilia though, she could not help but feel something in her heart. Something eerily similar to what she felt towards Ichika. This however was purer, brighter, more beautiful. It was something that had ignited her heart on fire when she saw Scott's care and kindness after her defeat. Him carrying her bridal style back to the hangar made her see her not just a man but something more.

After her injuries were treated, which were nothing more than minor burns and bruises, she returned to her room and took a shower. A déjà vu moment from two years ago swept through her again and once more was she mesmerized by it. Her heart pounding a bit faster than usual as she remembered the phoenix boy.

Those bright wings with that gentle fire, the eerie screeching noise of a bird as he soared across the sky. It left her in a wonder of awe and appreciation.

As she felt the warm feeling pass through her, the image of Scott laid onto her mind. The image of the ideal and determined man that would make anyone faint over out of love.

"Scott…"

Author's Note

Hi y'all,

So here we have the sequel to Lion Heart: Vengeance of a God that takes place two years after the events of that said story. Looking back on it, there are a few things I regret writing or not writing given that some parts of it could be better but given that this was my first story, they are only minor details. But a major one for me would be the inclusion of the other characters and dialogue for while I have established story, I did not include the others well enough as I should like Ichika or Rin or Laura. Rest assured however, I intend to fix that for this sequel.

Cecilia was the first person I needed to resolve considering her lack of screen time in my prequel and the fact that she needed more. Do not worry, this chapter will not be the only one about her mostly.

I know that a lot of you have many questions regarding Raiden and while I cannot promise any solid answers to your liking, that does not mean I will not answer them to the best I can. There are a lot of references I put for last story and while I intend to do the same, I will use them as influence mostly. You will see Raiden's Akuruturuka form again, I guarantee that.

About his IS though for the sequel,

IS: Sovereign Spirit (2nd Shift form of Lion Heart)

Generation: 2.5 (Prototype)

Battle Type: Prototype Close Quarters Combat - Long Range Combat

Armaments: Gunblade (Overture from FFXIII-2), Velvet Nightmares (TF Prime ion blasters), Lascannons

2nd Shift Armaments

Pride Cubs: six BIT units like Cecilia's that are attached to the ends of Sovereign Spirit's wings. Designed to act as both offense and defense and are armed with ion lasers and equipped with a sharp edge high carbon steel blade for close combat.

Repulsor: Built into the chest of the IS to act as stabilization and a weapon in the form of a blue aqua-like gem, the repulsor generates a long, radiated, intense blue heat beam with concussive pressure produced to keep it steady, able to incinerate anything in its path. It is very similar to the repulsor weapon on Iron Man's chest.

As for what it looks like physically, go to Google Images and type in the search bar Wing Gundam vicsteer. That is what the IS looks like but the helmet is a lion helmet with a built in visor and faceplate that acts as protection.

NOTE: I also want to give a shout out to Erosdeath for allowing me the use of his OC, Scott Stalker. Go check out his story This Means War! featuring the said OC. All rights to his OC are his alone as I asked permission from him to use it.

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