Blaze: *Pulls the fork out of his head* Is it over?

Saki: *Dragging Anon away*

Anon: *Giant red welt on his head as he gets dragged away*

Ember: It's over... Good.

Raven: *Reading a magazine again* Now I can get back to this...

Chung: *Sweat drops* Well then... I guess I will take over now since Anon isn't here so lets get this story on!

The Strikers

Elsword's POV:

"Again Chung? We're seriously going have to do this again?" I said as I looked down at the mess of long blond hair under a blanket and just sighed.

"One more hour Els..." He said and I just face palmed before I thought of a very VERY stupid idea as I walked over to his shelf. On top sat his prized Pikachu plushy and he has this very weird attachment to any Pikachu objects... Though I guess it has to do something with his natural looking Pikachu ears... I was just ten feet away from his bed inching my finger towards the plushy. I glanced back to see him shift slightly in his bed and I looked back towards the plushy about an inch away from touching it when I felt some sharp cold metal against my neck.

'Ok, this was a HORRIBLE IDEA!' I screamed in my mind as I backed my hand off sweat dropping, when I turned around to meet Chung's animal like eyes. His eyes always changed like that from his soft round ones to a sharper, more cat like ones when he goes into "attack" mode... I'd rather call it the "scare the living shit out of you" mode instead if you'd ask me when he sighed and sheathed his knife again.

"You know what happens when someone touches Pikachu there Els..."

"And you're out of bed now! Now come one! Get ready!" I said rushingly as I gingerly got out of his room. My heart was racing as I made it down stairs and I could feel the sweat beading on my head.

'Why do I do such stupid things to get that guy out of bed?' I though as I sat down heavily at the kitchen table.

"Sweating, breathing much harder... You tried to touch Chung's Pikachu to get him out of bed right?" Elesis asked practically knowing the whole situation as if it was a sixth sense of hers and I nodded my head as I bit down on my toast.

"Next time, YOU'RE going to get him up! And he's damed scary when he wants to be! I mean, I'm 10 feet away from his bed and he's there right behind you with a knife to your throat with in a second and you don't hear a thing! I swear he's going to accidentally kill me one day..." I scarfed down the rest of my toast and rested my head backwards.

"Come on Els. You know he has the self control and accuracy to make sure he won't accidentally kill you. You mean to much to him to just let you go for that. He owes you to much for that so he wouldn't put your life at risk if he knew he couldn't handle it... Though the thought that he knows he can just push a millimeter more to slit our throats isn't settling at all..." She said almost ghostly and I shivered.

"Who slits who throats now? You're not talking about me are you two?" Well, speak of the devil, he's done as well. "I know when to stop... Even though it's literally a hair away form killing you... And you know how much I care for the two of you. If it weren't for you two, then I wouldn't have gotten out alive and Lazarus would still be operational and unknown to the public." He said as he grabbed the last piece of toast and bacon before we were off to school once more.

"Mom and Dad are both out on business trips to both Bethma and Altera so we'll be on our own at the house until they're done." Elesis informed us and I just groaned.

"You know, it kind of sucks not being able to see them as often..." I complained.

"Well they got enough food for us until then and they left enough money to order take out if needed or to go buy more food so that won't be a problem." She said.

"Wonder what they're doing..." Chung said quietly as he looked off out of the window. Ever since yesterdays encounter, he's been a bit off and distant from us but I didn't question him. He has always had his reasons and when he gets into this state, it's better to not butt into it all. When we got to school, Chung said that he needed to grab something from the car and both Elesis and I knew what he meant. I told him to meet me at the usual area in front of school before we go to the home room when Aisha came up to me.

"Elsword!" She seemed a bit out of breath as if she was just running or something and I looked at her a bit confused.

"His Aisha. You need something?" She had this small sense of desperation in her eyes as she pointe back from where I saw her run from.

"There's an animal hurt behind the school! Please come!" She said and I looked back at the parking lot to see if Chung was coming out yet. Seeing no signs of blond hair, I reluctantly went along with Aisha to the back of the school. She stopped and held her hands close to her chest as she looked down slightly.

"I'm sorry..." She said quietly. I looked at her questionably when I felt a sharp pain come from my head. My body just froze up before I fell to the ground. I saw her turn around with some sorrow in her eyes before I blacked out completely.

Eve's POV:

"I'm sorry..." I heard Aisha say before Raven stepped out from cover bringing his fist down on the back of Elswords head, knocking him out cold. He hit the ground quite hard and Rena gave Raven a hard glare.

"Jeez, are you trying to give him a concussion or something?!" She hissed at him and he shook it off.

"The blow was appropriate for him. He's tougher than he looks Rena." I stepped forward to take part in searching his body as the two argued quietly when I found his phone.

"I don't like going into people's personal items, but if it means keeping us safe then that's justified." Aisha said as I tossed her his phone so she could go through the numbers on it. I tied up and gagged Elsword for when he woke up, he wouldn't make much of a fuss when Aisha found the correct number.

"Aha! Got it." She said victoriously. "Eve, you should take your position so I can send the text."

"Rule of engagement?"

"You know the drill. When I give the signal, take the shot."

"Of course." I said before I ran out to the little hide I set up 100 meters out in a bush along the tree line. I sat down on my mat and got my rifle ready when she made the text.

'Lets see how good you really are Lacher.'

Chung's POV:

Having everything I needed from the car, I got out and locked it with now my blue scarf around my neck since it was a bit chilly when my phone buzzed. I took it out to see that I got a text from Els.

'Strange...' I thought as I opened my phone to read it.

"Hey man, can you meet me in the back of the school? Got some new leads." I closed my phone and sighed.

'So they got Els? Damn it... Things just got more complicated... Looks like I'm going to need to confront them anyways... May the Lady El look upon me and wish me well...' I thought as I made my way towards the back of the school. Rounding the corner, I stepped into a heavily shadowed area where no one could easily see us easily and I sighed.

"I know this is a trap..." I said out loud when I reached into my bag fluently grabbing my two pistols from it, I dropped it and aimed one at the target in the shadows behind me and to the person in front of me. All this happened with in a second when i got a better look at my two targets I noticed they were both Rena and Raven. Rena wasn't armed Raven was a different story. "So you're one of them Raven?"

"Back at you Lacher... Or can I know your real name?" He asked and I hardened my glare at him.

"Where's Elsword?" I demanded when Aisha came out from behind Rena with Elsword in hand all tied up. She gave me a slight sad look but I returned with my glare when I glanced between the four of them. "If you're wondering, I'm not here to kill or hunt down any of you from Lazarus. That was never my intention and can you please call off Eve from that bush down there so we don't accidentally do something we will regret?" I said. Looking hard at Aisha she hesitated slightly before she got on her phone and texted her. I eased up on my own fire arms letting them rest at a low ready along with Raven when Els finally came too.

"Mmmmpppphhhh!" He yelled through his gag when Rena took it off and he gave a hard glare at Aisha. "What the hell was that for!?" He yelled at her and she seemed slightly hurt when Eve came up behind him.

"To use you as bait." She startled him by her sudden appearance when she had also cut away his restraints as well. With his wrists free, he rubbed them trying to loosen up some of the soreness in them when Eve sat down giving me the same blank stare Raven was giving me now. "Tell me, what is your true name? We all know that Lacher Seighart isn't your true name." I gave Elsword a questioning glance and he just nodded his head.

"Well... I just want to make it clear that I mean no harm to you what so ever so please bare with me when I say my name?" I looked at the group and they nodded their head slightly and I took a breath in before letting it out. "You want my real name? Then... My real name is... Chung Seiker..." I rushed my last name and it still tasted like poison to say my name when Raven jumped me. He had a knife inches my neck and he would have had it in it if it wasn't for my reflexes. Rena hauled Raven off before giving him a hard slap across his cheek settling him down.

"I'm... I'm sorry..." He said quietly and both Elsword and myself gave him a questionable look and then at Rena for an answer.

"So you're... Helputt's... Son... Even his son was in the program..." She said silently. "I'm sorry for Raven's actions... He has a... Touch past with Helputt and it isn't for the better either..." She said.

"So he even subjected his son to the same program?" Aisha said astonished. "That's just... He's such a monster..." She said quietly.

"Now it's my turn for a question. Tell me, what's the name of the unit you've been assigned to and your code name that you've been given during the project?" Both of them looked at me questionably and I continue to explain. "I didn't know anyone there specifically by name or look, but only by their code name, the rank that's associated with it along with the units name."

"If you want... I was from the Nemesis unit and been given the code name of Code Nemesis." She said and I nodded my head.

"I was part of the Veteran unit and I was given the Code name Veteran Commander." Raven said and I nodded my head.

"Only the best of the best get named after the unit they're based out of..." I said quietly. "That puts you at an SS rank..."

"So what unit, code name, and rank you were given?" Raven asked me curiously and I hesitated slightly eyeing him and Eve slightly. "To be honest, I've not seen you around at all... But you look like you belong to unit Paladin." I hesitated slightly before shaking my head.

"I wasn't part of unit Paladin... I was part of unit Chaser and code named the Deadly Chaser..."

"Unit Chaser? No such unit exists!" Eve argued and I put my hand up to silence her.

"That's because it's not a regular unit like yours was. Mine was one of a kind that my father had put in place for me and I've received special training from all branches. Much more than the regular courses." I said as my memories of my past start to surface.

"So what would your rank be compared to Eve's and Ravens?" Rena asked.

"SSS." I said in a monotone voice and kept a straight face as both Aisha and Rena gawked at me while Eve and Raven only reacted by raising an eye brow at me.

"Never heard of a person with that rank before." Raven objected.

"You've never seen a person like me before." I said and he only shook his head when Aisha face turned white as she realized something.

"Oh El, we're going to be late for class!" She yelled when I noticed something off in the parking lot. Placing my hand up, I edged myself towards the edge of the wall and peered around the corner to see a black van come speeding into the school grounds. As it came to a screeching halt, the side door opened up and armed gunmen filed out of it, shooting into the air causing some students to panic. I pulled back behind the corner as Elsword threw himself on top of Aisha while Raven dragged Rena to the wall with Eve behind him pressing against the wall again. With my enhanced vision, I peaked around the corner to see a very familiar patch on the side of the masked gunmen. I grit my teeth and tightened my fist as I saw the symbol for Project Lazarus on the gunmen's arm. My instincts started to take over as I grabbed my pistols, ready to rush out there to kill every single one of them when Raven grabbed my arm.

"What the hell do you think you're going!?" He hissed at me as the alarms went off.

"To deal with the problem. Those were Lazarus personnel out there Raven! They're here for us!"

"How do you know if they're not after just one of us?" Elsword asked as he helped Aisha, who was blushing beyond belief, to her feet when she gave some glances back to Raven and Rena and they shook their head.

"We've also been... On the run. They found us out when we were in Bethma so we ran to and we thought we threw them off our trail when we got to Velder but... I guess we missed something when we got here." She said as her voice trailer off when the one of the gunmen got onto a megaphone.

"Is this thing on? Testing! Testing! We know you're residing here Ms. Nemesis. Mr. Seiker would like to have a word with you so please come quietly. We've got hostages held up in the gym so try anything and they're all dead. The Cops also better not step a foot inside this school as well, or they're all dead as well. Turn yourself in, and all these students will be freed!" He demanded before his transmission was cut and I pulled the hammers back on both of my pistols.

"Like hell I'm going to turn myself in! They're just going to kill me to get rid of any loose ties to the project!" She yelled as when my phone buzzed again. It was from Elesis.

"Gunmen holding us in gym. With your friend Ara. Don't do something stupid." It said and I sighed as things got more complicated.

"They got Ara and Elesis..." I said quietly.

"What?" Aisha asked shocked and I looked up at her.

"They got Ara and my sister." I repeated louder before I reached into my bag again to change my pistol magazines for some non-lethal rounds. Instead of bullets, they had mini tranquilizer darts. Wracking the slides back to eject the bullets and chambering the new rounds, I started to think up a plan.

"I know we just met and tried to kill each other, but I need your cooperation if we're going to get everyone out of this alive."

"They got one of our friends so we're behind you 100%." Eve said in a monotone voice. "What's the plan?"

"Since they're in the gym, then we can attack them from the roof. You both got non-lethal rounds?" I pointed to the two and they both nodded before switching out their ammo as well. "Good. Eve, I want you as overwatch when both Raven and myself drop on them. Shoot anything that will pose as a problem." I peaked around the corner again when I heard police sirens echo off in the distance and I saw that most of the students had all ready evacuated the building that weren't trapped in the gym.

"Wait, how are we going to get down from the roof onto them from one of the sky lights?" Raven asked and I only smirked at him.

"It's only a two story drop. Landing on one of the gunmen should break our fall."

"What if one of the students gets a good look at us? Even if we save them all, they will look at us differently and we will have to move to a different school again." Eve said before I reached back into my bag again before pulling out a voice modulator mask that covered the lower part of my face before tossing them the two spares I carried.

"This should help with concealing our voices and for our eyes and hair... I know they handed out scarves matching your unit for the top 5 people in each group. You still have theirs?" Both Eve and Raven shook their head when Aisha and Rena gave each other guilty glances before reaching into their bags to produce the long scarves.

"You had them all this time? I thought I told you to throw it away Aisha!" Eve scolded Aisha as she looked at the silver fabric in her hands and Rena had a black scarf like fabric speckled with some red on her hands as well.

"I know it's just... I couldn't bring myself to throw it away... And you're damned lucky that I still have it for this situation." She shot back before handing it to her. Rena gave back Ravens and the two two of them placed the masks over their face before wrapping their heads and hair in the scarf. Tying my own hair back, I wrapped my own head leaving only my eyes before I slid some sun glasses over them.

"How do we look?" I asked the other three and they gave thumbs up.

"I can understand the glasses 'cause there are very few people here with cerulean blue eyes and I wouldn't know that you three were Raven, Rena and Lacher." Rena said before looking at me funny. "Or is it Chung? I don't know what to go with..." She shook her head, shaking the thought off. Turning on the voice modulators, I told both Aisha, Rena, and Elsword to get back to the crowd of other students behind the cops so they won't get caught and Raven, Eve, and myself scaled up the windows and walls before reaching the roof. I scowled as I saw that the sky lights were securely bolted to the steel frames in the roof. Sneaking over to look into one, I could make out 6 different targets. One was guarding the door that leads from the main hall way into the gym while another, who must have been the leader, was walked around away from the large group of students in the center. The other four were stationed around the students with their guns at the ready.

"Looks like we're going to need to break the sky lights in..." I said and I looked to see that two of the guys, including the leader, was standing basically underneath a sky light and both Raven and I took positions. Eve was kneeling on the ground with her rifle in hand before wracking the bolt chambering a new round. I flicked the safety off my pistols and nodded to Raven, giving us the signal to jump. Jumping through the skylights earned terrified screams from some of the students as glass shattered and scattered to the ground. I land hard on the back of the leader flattening him and I rolled off of him into a shooting position, bringing my guns up shooting down one of the gunmen. I glanced over to see Raven had done the same with his target but he rolled up into a run before delivering a flying kick into the chest of another gunmen taking out four in total. Above, I heard a silent "thump" noise from Eve's silenced rifle before she too jumped down onto the last gunmen that was sneaking up on me. Bringing down the butt of her rifle down on his head, she knocked in out when Raven kicked down the doors into the main hall.

"Everyone! Through here!" He yelled, his voice heavily modulated by the modulator and the group started to rush out through the open doors. I saw Elesis as she ran by with Ara right next to her and she gave me a glance with a small smirk as she ran past me. I gave both Raven and Eve a glance before the three of us bolted out of the door in the back as the cops started to rush in. They hadn't seen us escape and we made it back to the spot we were hiding in, stuffing the scarves we had into out bags along with the modulators and snuck our way into the crowd. We both met up with Aisha, Rena, Elsword, Elesis, and Ara and Ara was ecstatic about what had happened with everyone else.

"Lacher! Eve! Raven! Where were you two!? Never mind, you heard what just happened!?" She asked enthusiastically.

"Uuuhh... No, we don't. What's with all this chatter?" I asked looking around.

"Three unknown students just saved us from those gunmen!"

"Are you sure they were students from this school?" Raven asked skeptically and Ara nodded her head quickly.

"Of course! The two males and single female wore undoubtedly the schools uniform!" Ara continued on about the tale as I listened in on conversation with other students. They all were talking about what happened when the principle announced that school was dismissed until the investigation was done. I said my good byes to Eve, Raven, and the others before I got into Embers car.

"Nice going there Chung." Ember said as she pulled out of the parking lot and looked at me in the rear view mirror. "You did good getting the others to help you as well."

"Yeah man! That was freaking awesome!" Elsword joined in and I shook my head as I ran hand through my hair.

"I just couldn't stand around and do anything..."

"And it looks like you've also found a way to use those skill you've learned in the project, and use them for good intentions." He added.

"Though my father knows there's at least one target here, the rumors that will spread after today will say that there's three of us here and knowing him, he will do nothing till we're all dead..."

"Still, we beat him today so lets focus on that. And as a reward for the hero in the back of the car, dinner and lunch will be your choice." Elesis announced and I smirked widely.

"Phoru's Pizza it is for today!" I announced happily in the back of the car.

The Next Day

I'd expected that there would be some hype about the defense from yesterday, but I didn't expect the hype to be this large. In the schools paper, there some adds to join some clubs to be expected, but it was basically filled with things about yesterdays attack. The were ecstatic about everything to a point where they even gave a name for us. In the papers, Eve, Raven, and myself were referred to as, "The Strikers," for how quickly we took down the six enemies and released them.

"We've made quite the name for ourselves." I said quietly to both Raven and Eve.

"I know, you three are practically pop star famous." Rena said. I gave the paper for the other to read as I laid back in my chair and looked out the window.

'This is great and all but... How will my father react to this? When will he attack...'

Helputt's POV:

"Sir, the capture unit you've sent out has been captured and are in for questioning." One of my servants said and I furrowed my brow.

"Nemeis is resisting?"

"She is sir but..."

"But what?" I demanded.

"It looked like she had help..." He said before walking over to me with a paper in hand.

"'The three Strikers saved hostage students... Any idea who the other two are?"

"We know that the Veteran Commander is working with Code Nemesis but... The third one is unknown..."

"I see..."

"Further orders, sir?"

"Wait now. I want more recon on the area. Identify the last "Striker" and then report back to me."

"Of course sir." I furrowed my brow as I looked at the magazine before throwing it into a fire I had in front of me.

"These three will be taken care of. I won't let any of Lazarus's subjects live. As log as they exist, then my life is in jeopardy... Even if it means I have to destroy Velder High, so be it..." I sat back down in my chair plotting up my next plan when my mind crossed onto the unknown person.

'Just who are you exactly...'

And here's chapter two! And wow, this is doing much better than I thought this story would go! Thank you all for reviewing and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!