Mage Bus C's doors opened, allowing dozens of new freshmen to spill out. Makoto Hyuga and Shigeru Aoba shuffled out of their seats and headed to the arched entryway. It was everyone's first time seeing the school in the flesh. As their group leaders led them through the archway, the students' attention was scattered.
The campus included state of the art buildings, lush grass, and shady trees. In the distance was a huge half-dome: the Fighter Den. It was where all freshmen would go to meet their companions. Still, nothing took quite as much focus as Angel Tower, pointing out in the middle of campus. That right there is the summit of the school, thought Makoto, and what a climb today will be.
"Alright, alright," said the tall, Fuyutsuki-haired sophomore boy leading the group, "Pay attention, everyone! That over there is Angel Tower, and which is where we will report for the King's opening speech."
"Just follow us!" shouted the brunette girl with him.
"Hey Aoba," Makoto nudged, "We're finally going to see the King and the Six Angels."
"Yes, Makoto, would you like to mention it a one-million-third time?"
"Alright, I'll keep my mouth shut until we get there."
"No, really it's alright." Shigeru told his friend, chuckling, "It's an exciting day. Did you want to head to the movie theatre some time, to celebrate our first week?"
"That's… indeterminate." said Makoto, looking towards the tower, "I feel like I'm going to be busy this week."
At the courtyard in front of Angel Tower, the students organized. The different bus groups gathered into standing rows.
Then came a loud screech, causing all the students to rub their ears. Microphone feedback. "Ah, yes, I see you're all here, how wonderful!" came a proud, somewhat mocking voice from the speakers. A video feed was then projected onto the walls of the buildings surrounding the quad. It showed the Angel Tower balcony far above. There stood the King, alongside eleven other students; the twelve called the Six Angels.
"For those of you who don't know, I am your King Gendo Rokubungi! With me of course are my partner Kozo Fuyutsuki and my beautiful Queen Keely Thompson."
The older students in the crowd cheered as did most of the freshmen. Aoba simply looked on bewildered as Makoto slowly clapped his hands. The excitement was a lot to take in.
"I could go on and introduce everyone to you, but we're the Six Angels. If you don't know who we all are now, you will know eventually. Now welcome, welcome one and all, to Hontori Training School, the finest in Japan! Getting into our Mage program makes you among the strongest in the nation! Being recruited as a Fighter is a privilege unmatched in the history of mankind!"
Then the whole audience was cheering, except for Makoto who maintained his slow clap. "Come on, man, you're the one who wanted to go here so badly!" said Shigeru, trying to encourage him. But all Makoto did was just clap… clap… clap…
CLAP! A sudden glow! "Where did he go?" he looked around, his friend nowhere on the ground to be seen. Suddenly there was an explosion up above, smoke covering the lens of the camera feed. When the smoke cleared from the balcony, the Six Angels looked okay. Up there with them though was another student. Shigeru's jaw dropped. "He did not just do what I think he did."
"Well ladies and gentlemen," said King Rokubungi, with a fake grin, "It looks like we've got a guest up here! And he better have a really good reason for interrupting my speech."
"I do, in fact." said Makoto, taking a defensive stance with his hands on fire. "Now give me the microphone."
Bemused, Gendo tossed the freshman the mic, and he unlit his right hand to catch it.
"Gendo Rokubungi, I'm here to liberate you from your throne!" he yelled, causing feedback to once again cover the courtyard to everyone's annoyance.
The King gave a slight chuckle, which built up to a laugh. "You seek to take my place as king of this school?"
"I don't care what I have to do, but I will make sure to get you somewhere far away from here." said Makoto, "And if you refuse to comply, I'll drag you out with my bare hands!"
The freshmen in the audience below entered a terrified silence. Who was this classmate, saying he planned on taking down their King? It looked like things were about to get violent on the balcony. Yet the Six Angels only laughed.
"You, defeat Gendo?" asked the Fuyutsuki haired girl in glasses, "You're way in over your head."
"Although Ryoko," said Gendo, "This could be interesting. Kid, what's your name?"
"My name is Makoto Hyuga!"
"Well, Makoto, I don't know how you managed to get into our school without knowing how we conduct combat here. Kozo!" Kozo Fuyutsuki came forward, next to Gendo, "Educate him."
"Battles at H Training High School are to be done in pairs. One Mage and one Fighter."
"Well I'm not interested in playing by your rules." said Makoto, "I-"
"You have trespassed onto our property!" the upperclassman girl named Ryoko snapped at him. "Rokubungi reserves the right to do with you as he wishes."
"Well said, well said," mused the King. "Students, as I reserve the right to do as I wish, you will bear witness to a rare, one-on-one battle. It will be between our new student Makoto Hyuga, and my Fighter Kozo Fuyutsuki. Perhaps if he wins, he can take me on next." The angelic laughter continued as the video feed shifted to the empty roof of Angel Tower.
Gendo opened up a door to a staircase, and Makoto followed them up the stairs to the rooftop arena. There was Kozo Fuyutsuki, the Fighter for King Gendo, standing alone in combat for the first time in a while.
"Rules of the brawl:", announced Gendo. "As always, weapons can only be used by Mages, not Fighters. The same obviously goes with magic. I take it Mr. Eisemann is a Mage?"
"I am. But I wanted to fight y-"
"How fantastic for you then. Tagging rules are not implemented, as this match is an exception to our regular rules. When a participant loses consciousness or decides to give up, their side loses. Kozo as Mr. Eisemann does not have a Fighter, you may hand over your ring." Kozo took a silver ring with a red gemstone off of his finger and handed it over to the King. "You'll all learn about these later today. They guarantee that our fights will not always be as savage as this one may turn out to be. After all, freshmen tend to refuse to give up. But let those who disregard the law be disregarded by the law. Are these rules understood?"
"Yes my lord!"
"Yes, Gendo!"
He sighed, "Begin!"
As Makoto was starting to think of spells to cast, Kozo charged straight towards him. There was the answer. He cast a line of electric mines on the ground between them, each triggering as Kozo stepped on them. The Angel though, outran the triggering mechanism on each one. He left smoke and destruction in his wake as he ran towards his opponent.
"Crap, crap, crap." said Makoto, and with a second to spare, he cast The Box. Kozo jumped around to Makoto's backside and gave a kick, but only met an invisible barrier.
"Heh, you think one little trick like that can work on me?" Kozo charged again, breaking the box. But when it broke, Makoto was no longer visible. Kozo shifted his position and looked around. The moment he saw Makoto on the other side of the arena he got an electric shock from the mine. "Nice placement, but your strength leaves something to be desired."
"Thanks for the review." said Makoto, weaving through the arena. Kozo ran towards him, enduring the pre-set electrical mines with ease, "You're definitely strong. Is the King even stronger? I really wanted to fight him instead. Sounds ridiculous now though."
"Definitely!" he said, his punch connecting with Makoto's face and knocking him into the ground, "You feel that?" He stomped on him with his left foot and kicked him away with the right. "The King's magic is even stronger than my blows, but yours doesn't even come close."
Makoto panted, getting up and dodging another punch. Conjuring a ring of flames to come out of his body towards Kozo, he cast another Box to protect himself. In response, Kozo lept to punch the ground. When he saw Makoto unaffected, he charged full strength at what appeared to be a moving image of the air. Breaking the hidden box, he knocked Makoto into the air, almost pushing him over the roof's edge.
"Wow, that's Kozo Fuyutsuki for you," said Makoto, hanging on the fence. "The physically strongest of the Angels for sure."
"Flattery won't get you anywhere freshman, but maybe things won't turn out so bad for you if you give up. You're not a bad addition to the class."
"No." said Makoto, "Freedom comes first. Now, electric stor-AAAAGHH!" Channeling electrical magic while hanging onto the metal fence was not a good idea. Perhaps he should've performed a fire jump. With that thought, heat poured into the fence and burned his hands, "Dammit!" he let go of the fence from the outside, about to plummet to his death.
"Really?" thought the Queen to herself out loud, "How pathetic."
Suddenly, Makoto was standing on the air and gave a grin. "I'm okay everyone! I conjured a box right underneath me, so as long as I watch my step, I'm good." He jumped, fire spilling out of the soles of his shoes like jets, and landed back in the arena. I've really beat myself up, he thought to himself, and Kozo's been a big help to that. What was I thinking, I could just show up and fight Gendo? Aw well, he resigned himself, he made a choice, and now was the time to make it the correct choice. "Time for round 2!"
Kozo grinned, "I'm glad!"
"Your majesty, please!" said a new arrival to the rooftop, sounding out right before Kozo and Makoto were about to charge at each other. It was the boy who had led Bus C to Angel Tower! The other group leader was with him too. "Let it end!"
"What is the meaning of this?" asked the Queen, upon their entry. "Program Supervisors Ryoji Kaji and Sakura Suzuhara, you two wish this duel come to a close?"
"Your majesty King Gendo, esteemed Queen Keely," said Sakura. "There is no more to say. The King said it himself, this is not how we do things at the Training School. A one on one battle without a Fighter? No freshman is prepared for that and no student here is deserving of this kind of crude discipline. You know this well, and you tried to warn Mr. Hyuga of just as much."
"But," continued Sakura. "He did not wish to obey your rules, and he has clearly suffered the consequences! Look at his condition now." He indicated the scrawny, bruised boy on the battlefield, "This is the result of our failure." Kaji wasn't about to have someone else point that out later.
"How was it your failure?" ventured Gendo.
"He was a passenger on Mage Bus C. The group we were in put in charge of."
"And we apologize," said Sakura. "We know we must. We could not even stop one of our own from venturing off."
"Rest assured," continued Kaji. "We will learn from this mistake. We will enforce certain events with anti-magic wards in the future."
The King was silent for a moment. "So what?" He asked, "What is it, you suggest should happen now?"
"I'm willing to take any disciplinary action for my mistakes." said Kaji. "Aside from that, I wish to take him, and the rest of this year's freshman Mages, into the Fighter Den. He will meet his partner, and then you can decide how to deal with him. If he still wishes to duel, he can take responsibility for his actions, but in a real duel, two on two with rings. I say this in the bKozoef that it will uphold the values of this school."
"Permission granted." said the King, "Keely?"
"Attention students of the Hontori Training School!" the Queen blasted over the intercom. "If you stay curious about what will result from this disruption, stay here after school. You will be treated to a real match featuring one of our Six Angels. It will be far more interesting than this cheap imitation of a duel. Viewers will be… satisfied indeed."
"Well then, Mr. Kaji, Ms. Suzuhara, Mr. Hyuga." said the King, "As you were. And Mr. Hyuga, do please use the stairs this time."
With a snap of their fingers, the Supervisors bound Makoto's hands in golden thread. Anti-magic equipment. The three of them descended the stairs to the balcony. Then through the doorway there to the interior of Angel Tower. The first thing Makoto noticed, in front of the pearl white walls, was two girls sitting. One was on the floor, legs crossed and asleep. The other, a small purple haired girl, sat in a chair right next to her companion, looking blankly ahead.
As he walked with the supervisors, he turned his head back in time to look right into her bright blue eyes. As he walked down the stairs, those eyes stayed in his memory. They were a mix of skepticism and sadness, as if they were asking Makoto why he had come to this school in the first place. Perhaps Makoto was just asking himself the question when he saw her. Perhaps he projected his worries onto his interpretation of her thoughts. Then, while processing the strange girl's face in in his mind one more time, he remembered.
The Fighter Den was a massive complex containing many training rooms. They were accessible from two enormous common rooms: one for boys and one for girls. Presently in the boys' common room was a neat line of Fighters ready to meet up with the boys of Mage Group C. In the corner was a large cloth bag. "This," said Kaji, "Is where you will meet your partners for the next four years. You may have fought alongside others in your middle schools. To exceed here you will need to create new bonds to replace those."
Kaji pressed a button, allowing the projector to show the slides he made. Great, Makoto thought sarcastically, his hands still bound in the anti-magic restraints. Now he would hear lecture about the system. The Mages sat on the mats to watch, while the Fighters stayed standing at the back wall.
"Our Fighters are recruited from middle schools around the world. Then they are allowed to train here until they synch with a Mage. Then, they can attend classes with them." A slide showed with a picture of two of the Angels. "As in this photo, from last year's yearbook. The Mage, our Angel Natsuko is synchronizing with the Fighter Angel Maya."
The next slide was a chart detailing their schedule. "Like in other high schools, you will take academic classes. training schools like Hontori have you spend a period in here every day. You and your partner will train together to improve your skills for the future."
Right, the future. Having been in middle school as long as he had, Makoto knew what training schools realy were. They were a containment program for people society saw as a threat. The ability to do magic confined to certain parts of society able to deal with its consequences. When their time was done, the Training School would flush them out. Most would go into the military where they could pursue the government's interests.
Underneath the Angels' talk of prestige and unity was the destruction of freedom. With great power came great responsibility, he supposed. But he couldn't let the Six Angels continue running the system as they were. Kaji went through more pictures of the Angels, taking it upon himself to explain who everyone was. But Makoto had done his research before coming so he didn't need to know any of that. He just looked behind himself, inspecting the row of Fighters. He wondered who would be his partner.
From the desk of Misato Katsuragi, secretary for the Six Angels
Transcript of the meeting on Monday, 9/7.
Present at at the meeting:
The Angel of Knowledge
Natsuko Shinohara
Maya Ibuki
The Angel of Destiny
Ryoko Takahashi
Hikari Horaki
The Angel of Balance
Mana Kirishima
Rokko Inumuta
The Angel of Destruction
Mari Makinami
Naoko Akagi
King of All Angels
Gendo Rokubungi
Kozo Fuyutsuki
Queen
Keely Lorenz
Mayumi Yamagishi
The meeting proceeded as follows
Ryoko: Let's begin with the obvious. What a way to begin the school year.
Gendo: If the students are wise, what has taken place will only cement the extent of our power. Now it is up to my choice how we will dispose of Mr. Hyuga.
Mana: I've finished my research on him, Your Majesty. He was a student at Oak Crest Middle School for two years, and a local elementary school before that.
Gendo: Let me see that file, please.
Keely: Quite an interesting topic, isn't he my dear? Perhaps a bug you ought to squish yourself.
Gendo: Oh, darling, we mustn't be too hasty. If I were to crush him now, the students would surely wish to watch. And if they watch me work at the beginning of the year, they'll have nothing to look forward to for the rest of it.
Keely: You've got to think so highly of yourself, don't you?
Mari: Always with the flirting.
Natsuko: If we could move things along, Maya and I would be happy to take him off of your hands.
Kozo: You've got nothing to worry about. His technique is above average at best, and his power output is irrelevant.
Mayumi: It always is, to a man as strong as you.
Kozo: Ah, yes.
Hikari: Gross.
Gendo: A tempting offer indeed.
Keely: May we go on to the next order of business while you consider Natsuko's offer, Gendo?
Gendo: Indeed.
Keely: Second order of business: the fulfillment of the prophecy. Now that we have entered our third year, the omens should come to pass. Whether Mr. Hyuga survives today's ordeal should be an indicator.
Kozo: It's really something. The prophecy that took you to Diegueno three years ago finally pays off.
Naoko: I'm glad that we've come this far, Your Highness. It excites me to think that this year could be the coming of the legendary Seventh Angel.
Gendo: Ah yes, the Angel of Chaos could be a great resource if properly allied with us. But rash action will lead to instability. We might yet end up paying for the decision to invade middle schools those years back. Right now, we should merely observe. For all our action, we've never identified the watchers.
Rokko: Yet the third watcher might already be here!
Keely: The watcher is useless. What matters is bringing unity to the world. Collecting the strongest bonds between Fighters and Mages outweighs small details.
Gendo: It's decided then. An emphasis on synchronization for the training curriculum. And Natsuko, you and Maya may try at a fair fight with Mr. Hyuga. Or an execution. He's inconsequential for now, so do what satisfies you two, Angel of Knowledge.
Keely: That will be enough, Misato. Thank you.
End Transcript
Unity crawls toward the gemstone land,
Arriving at the dawn of the Angels' Third year,
When that which was fixed is finally fixed,
The brotherhood of souls will quake with fear.
"Hi, I'm Zach Lighton."
"Nothing. Next!"
"Joseph Swit."
"Moving on."
"Mark Berman."
"Sorry, Mark, maybe next time."
Kaji and Makoto had reached the end of the Fighter line, and not a single synch had been deemed successful. It was as if the forces of the universe conspired to force Makoto to take his journey alone. "Is that everyone?"
"Looks like it is," said Kaji, surprised, "Well, don't be too distressed. It happens sometimes. It happened to me last year, and now I'm a Project Supervisor."
Well played, Gendo, thought Makoto. What better way to defeat him than to make him a member of the bureaucracy? "At least I can make up my own class schedule, right?"
"It might have to wait until tomorrow, we spent a lot of time on this. It's a shame, I think you've got some talent for battle. But you'd also make my job a lot harder. I expected you to be matched up with someone as crazy as you are, but we don't really have anyone like that here…"
He made a look of realization. "Kaji, are you okay? Did you think of something?"
"Come with me, Makoto. We're crossing over."
Over at the girls' common room, Jetta sat in the corner. She watced the Fighters and Mages fill out their schedules and figure out classes. There were always more Fighters than there were Mages, but Jetta was the only remnant who wasn't new. It was her third year at the Training School, and that meant a third extra year she'd be stuck on the campus. She wanted the orientation to be over with so she could go back to training for next year.
It was then that the boys' Supervisor, Kaji came in with Makoto. Some of the freshman girls surprised, but Sakura shushed them. "Calm down everybody, nothing to see here. What'd he do this time Kaji?"
"None of the new Fighters synchronized with him." Kaji explained, "So I figured I'd bring him here."
"Why, you want one of ours?" Sakura crossed her arms. "Everybody knows that Fighters and Mages can't synchronize if they're a boy and a girl."
"We know it hasn't happened yet." said Kaji, "But just like I've got a no-syncher, you've got a no-syncher. It didn't work for either of us last year, but let's try one thing before I take him to administration."
Of course, thought Jetta. If a Mage can't synchronize they'll still be allowed to move through the ranks and graduate. If a Fighter can't synchronize, they weren't any good. Still, it looked like she'd get another test for the day, even if it was a long shot at this point.
"Jetta, get over here." said Sakura, prompting her to get up and walk over.
"Hi, I'm Makoto." said the strange boy, offering his hand.
"Hi Makoto." she said, finding him off-putting, but still meeting his hand with her own. As the two hands interacted, yellow sparks came off of them. The sparks spread all over the outlines of their bodies, before shooting off in a flash.
"Woah!" said Kaji, as the silence passed, "Now that's a synch."
"Well I'll be." said Sakura, "Makoto, it looks like I'll be your supervisor from now on."
"Wait, really?" asked Makoto.
"Yep. Supervisors are divided by Fighters, so you'll be doing training with the girls. Lucky boy. Or maybe not, I guess. I'll need to get to know you before I find out."
Makoto blushed, "Right. Is that it now? Are we able to sign up for classes?"
"No time today, the Fighters' first day training session is coming up. You two will have to meet together and sign up tomorrow morning." she turned to Jetta, "But now, we give you the ring."
She went to a cloth bag that was leaning against the wall, like the one in the boys' section. In it were many silver rings with red gemstones. She gave a ring to Jetta, who slid it onto her finger. "This is your Fighter Ring. When the gem on it glows, that means Jetta is severely injured. In a training match, the glow means an automatic loss. In combat, it means that your Fighter is reaching her limits, and it is now the Mage's turn to be the one to protect her. Congratulations, you two. I hope to see the school in a crater by next Monday."
There was an outburst of gasps in the room, "Please don't overreact, it was a joke." said Sakura, but they were not reacting to her statement. Natsuko Shinohara and Maya Ibuki, the Angel of Knowledge, had entered the building.
"Makoto Hyuga!" Natsuko called out.
"Yeah that's me. Wait. How did you know I'd be here? This is girls' section!"
"How wouldn't I know? I'm the Angel of Knowledge after all."
"Is that how we got here?" the Fighter teased, "I thought we were just making a wrong turn. Wait, what are you doing here?"
"No need to worry about that, Maya. All that matters is Makoto knows this. We will be waiting for you at the battle arena next to the school's soccer field. Your punishment for today's disruption will be a battle against yours' truly. Meet us at 2:00 PM, and bring your Fighter."
"Okay, I'll come." said Jetta. She wouldn't mind giving the Angels a good beating after school. She didn't know what could have happened at the Mages' assembly to get Makoto in trouble though.
There was a pause. "Huh." said Maya, "Interesting."
"Now we must be off!" Natsuko excitedly exited, and Maya followed.
Shigeru Aoba stayed after school to watch Makoto's punishment unfold. He knew that whatever his friend was going through, he needed moral support.
"Think he's going to show up?" asked the red-haired Fighter sitting in the arena seat next to him.
"I don't know, Trident," he said to his partner, "But I'm pretty sure they'll expel him if he doesn't."
"Hello Hontori Training School!" Mari took to the stage, greeting the crowd. "I am the Angel of Destruction, Mari Makinami here to deliver the King's announcement. Makoto Hyuga will be fighting today. His opponent will be our own Angels of Knowledge, Natsuko and Maya!"
Cheers erupted as the Angel duo entered the arena. "Angels are going to kick some ass today!" cheered Trident, "You know what I'm talking about Maya."
Aoba laughed the tension off, he sure knew how to pick a Fighter.
"Now, Makoto and his Fighter, Jetta, will join us."
Makoto was joined into the fray by a stout young woman. They passed the front row where the Angels sat, and she glared at the King. Seemed like Makoto had found the perfect match.
There was an uproar in the audience at the sight of a male Mage and female Fighter. "Yes, I know," said Mari, "A near-impossibility has occurred, a male-female team! This is sure to be interesting isn't it? A unity of the sexes.
"Now you will all bear witness to the function of the rings. Should either Jetta or Maya's ring glow during the battle, the fighting will end. The glowing side will be declared the losing side. Begin!"
Sparks erupted in the audience, signaling audience members who had tried to teleport. Kaji took note of the names. He wouldn't inform them automatically, but if any of them caused problems in the future he'd know.
When? Where? Who? Which?
The battle began with Makoto and Natsuko running towards each other. Makoto took a sharp left turn, casting lightning in her direction. Natsuko hardly reacted to the attack, and countered with a wind move to draw Makoto back to her. Shigeru thought he saw Makoto cast a box, but Natsuko effortlessly knocked him down.
When? Where? Who? Which?
Maya was tagged in. By the time she could connect, Makoto had been able to put up a box. but everywhere he went she would follow until she knocked him down again. "You need some help?" asked Jetta.
kioku no iri no chi no nagare
"No, I'm fine!" he said, a blast of energy erupting after the next hit. It knocked Maya back, and Makoto was free, but damaged. He had implanted an electric mine within his own body. If he kept it up, Maya's attacks would be self-hurting, but not nearly as much as they'd hurt Makoto.
sennen shifuku no yurikago no
Maya tagged back Natsuko, who created a small tornado to trap Makoto. "Really, that's your idea of a battle? I've had more impressive prom dates."
watashi wa haiyuu tatoete eikyuu
"If you have time for banter, you're not trying nearly hard enough." yelled Makoto, jumping out of the hurricane.
sabaku no fuyu no sphinx phinx
So Natsuko made action to match her words, crashing the hurricane down on Makoto. At this point his clothes were tearing and he seemed exhausted. Of course, thought Shigeru, what could he do after that fight with Kozo?
tanjou shibou no nikutai no kanashiki kaze wo kimi shiru ya
"Makoto, it's my turn, come on!"
"Jetta this is my fight." he said, as an inner mine gave out, only hurting him and not his opponent. "If you join here today, you are committing to me as my Fighter, and telling me that from now on-"
seinaru haiyuu tatoete eikyuu naraku e ochita aninkou margineaux
"From now on, I'll meet your goals for you. No matter how stupid they are, I know. That's the rule of Fighters, and I'll follow it until I finally get out of here. Now tag me in or so help me, anything they do to you I'll compound three-fold!"
"Wow," said Trident, "They're really bad for each other."
"At least they have their priorities straight." said Aoba, as Makoto tagged Jetta in.
hikare moe yo
"Are you as weak as your Mage i-" Natsuko was interrupted by a swift punch to the face. She flew across the arena, but narrowly stayed in the confines, "Evidently not."
samete utae
Whether wind, fire, electricity, earth, or dimensional, Jetta dodged it. Nothing Natsuko threw could hit. After a while, Natsuko made a grin, and brought her hands together while standing still. Jetta took this as an opportunity.
sekai ni tanjou
Before her fist could connect again, Jetta was stopped by a vine. On the ground around Natsuko, a mini-orchard of small trees and long vines was growing. "Organic magic," said Natsuko, "A use of it inspired by your new friend's electric mines." Jetta glared at her, "Struggle all you want, but this is the end for you."
sono kurikaeshi
The vine around Jetta was joined by a bunch of others, tying her onto one of the trees. Natsuko jumped out of the orchard, letting the trees and vines close in on her. At this rate, she was to be crushed to death.
"The Angel of Knowledge is brutal." said Aoba, as thought King Gendo and virtually everyone else there at the moment. Makoto could only watch as the vines took his partner out of sight. "Jetta… how do I…" He brought his head down. If there was a red light, no one would be able to see it.
"Absolute constriction in 3...2… 1…"
The vines tore to shreds, and the bark of the trees was chopped into pieces. Emerging from underneath was Jetta, undamaged.
"What did you do!?" asked Natsuko, tagging Maya into the arena in fear, "How did you break my vines?"
"Put something under enough stress and eventually it will break. Those vines weren't sturdy enough to strangle me. You should've put the scrawny one in that while you could."
"That's impossible! Those vines are supposed to be even harder than steel!"
Jetta smirked, "I do the impossible." In a flash, she dKozovered a kick to Maya's stomach. She flew off of the arena, and all the way onto the grass of the soccer field. In such distance, all the audience could see of her was a red light.
Cheers and gasps filled the stadium. Gendo and Keely looked at each other with weary gazes. This year was about to go really well or really badly. Possibly both.
Shigeru Aoba and Trident met Makoto and Jetta at the archway.
"Makoto, that was some great spellwork."
"Oh come on," said Makoto, "I hardly did anything."
"You're okay," said Trident, "But Jetta! You kicked Angel ass out there! Oh and I'm Trident by the way."
"I'm Shigeru Aoba."
"Yeah whatever." said Jetta, "It's nice to meet you two. I gotta head out the other way though." She marched off, mumbling to herself. "I finally get a partner, and he's completely useless."
"You know guys," said Trident, "I'd love to be awesome, but I really need to go that way too, I'll see you later."
"Bye Trident." said Makoto.
"Bye. Hey Makoto," Aoba said to his friend, "Status on the movie?"
"Let's see it today." He looked away from Shigeru, "I've got a heavy course load coming this year, and I need to do things fast."
"I understand," he said, and so they went.
Shinji took a deep breath. "So this is Instrumentality." Above him was an orange sky, and below him he could see a building that looked like a school. "It sure is lonely. I don't know if I'll see my friends ever again."
He was in a world all his own. No words he spoke made a difference because he would be the only one there to hear them. But they broke the silence as he reflected on the events that led him here. He tried to move around, but could not.
He closed his eyes, and instead of seeing merely black, was surrounded by stars. He was different now, something had changed him. In the void of space, with his eyes closed, he found himself moving, and descending onto the Earth.
When he finally opened his eyes, the role he had to play was becoming clear to him. "So that's the game life has decided to play with me. But it still leaves one major question." his face grew disturbed and serious, "Just what has become of my friend Kaworu Nagisa?"