ALL RIGHT PEOPLE! CHAPTER 4 IS OUT! SORRY TO HAVE TAKEN A WHILE, BUT NOW WITH THE VACATION COMING UP, WE CAN ROCK N ROLL!

This chapter is mostly focused on the emotions of the characters. I hope you all enjoy it.

AND MAKE SURE TO VISIT PIXELJAM'S ACCOUNT! EPIC EXO-FORCE STORY BEING PUBLISHED! NOT KIDDING AT ALL! Seriosuly, just reading her thing made my day.

LET'S GET GOING!

Btw, I've got some computer problems. I publishing the chapter like this so it is easier to read. Punctuation problems. Sorry guys. I'll fix it up ASAP!

Keiken listened to the young pilot who was busy giving his report on the battle for the Shikara Outpost. Once the boy had finished speaking, Keiken gave the orders. "Start collecting all the Lythanium resources that remain in the mines and in the Outpost. Once that is done, send them all to the Golden City so we can change the Battle Machine's current armor. Tell the mechanics to start with the Grand Titans and the Stealth Hunters." Keiken thought for a moment. "Are you positive that there are no more robots around her?"e

The pilot nodded. "We've scanned three square miles. The sensors notice nothing out of the ordinary. And mines with some activity are under constant and heavy watch. At the very worst, if the robots attacked, we'll lose a Golden Guardian or three Stealth Hunters

"Hmm…" Keiken answered absently. Golden Guardian or Stealth Hunter, replacing it would prove to be extremely difficult. Gold and Zaylium were cheap and easily affordable, but the platinum and the construction of another magnetized oroniate and a titanium reinforced blast shield were going to be extremely expensive.

And with the economic crisis growing, and the current price of fuel, this would make things even more difficult.

However, it was out of the question to leave those robots unwatched

Keiken turned back to the pilot. "Very well. It appears we have no choice. Keep the area well protected and evacuate all villages that are in the perimeter of this Outpost. The robots will not have given up such an important place without a surge of revenge. Take three other pilots with you and take the inhabitants of the Karihito village to safety. You're in charge of this mission"

"Y-yes sir." The pilot beamed.

Keiken knew that he was a new pilot who was both ambitious and was eager to be the best of his team and if Exo-Force.

"Go. If there are any robots, warn us so we can call backup just in case."

The pilot made a salute and shot towards his battle machine and two of his friends like mad to spread the news.

Keiken turned and was about to walk away when he noticed Ha-Ya-To running towards him. "Ha-Ya-To! What are you doing here?"

The red-head stopped in front of him, paused a moment to catch her breath, before speaking. "Sensei, Ryo's waken up. He's a bit dizzy but he'll be alright." The pilot said. "And I wanted to ask…"

"Yes?"

"Can I go see the recruits? There's someone I want to meet…" Keiken stared at one of his best pupils.

"Does this have to do with trying to impress the teenagers, flirt with the girls or just a simple attempt to scare the whole center with a huge prank?" the elder asked. He had noticed that Ha-Ya-To had started visiting the recruits more and more frequently. Though the boy had denied doing anything wrong, Keiken was pretty sure that he had something planned up his sleeve.

Ha-Ya-To feigned hurt. "Me? Scare people? Does my own leader have any trust in me?"

"Around the recruits? No."

Ha-Ya-To thought that he was joking, but when he saw the deadpanned look on the leader's face, he realized how serious Keiken was actually taking the situation. "Uh…Sensei?"

"The answer is no. If you want to see the recruits, you'll do it when me or Takashi are present."

Ha-Ya-To was ready to protest but he instantly shut up when he remembered the punishment Rika went through for arguing. He, the legendary Exo-Force pilot, was NOT going to peel potatoes for three weeks straight. He sighed in disappointment. "Yes Sensei."

"Good. If you're bored than you can go on patrol. The surroundings of this base are probably full of robots ready to strike back. Now go."

Ha-Ya-To, knowing that the suggestion was more of an order, turned and walked towards his Aero Booster in disappointment.

Keiken watched him. "Good." He took out a talkie walkie. "Hikaru, do you read me?"

There was a moment of static, before the pilot answered back. "I read you Sensei."

"Hikaru take Takashi and Hitomi with you and get down to the Shikara Outpost. I want the ships carrying the Lythanium to be guarded, and I can't send any troops from here: our position is still vulnerable to attacks. How is our technician?"

"Ryo? He's fine. He's gotten over the acid a lot faster than we had anticipated. We…uh…rebooted his systems. Hitomi is keeping an eye on him. He doesn't want to stay in bed to rest…"

Keiken pictured his granddaughter tying the poor engineer to the bed. The thought of it made him smirk. "Very well, let him out of bed. Send him to his labs. I want him to-"

"THANK YOU SENSEI!"

Keiken closed his eyes to endure the pain that surged through his ear. Ryo seemed to be quite energetic after all. He allowed himself a moment of entertainment as he heard some shouting on the other side of the line, followed by a loud slam, and a girl shouting: "GO GET'IM BOYS AND BRING HIM BACK ALIVE!" and the door slamming once again.

An awkward silence fell over the line. "Umm…Sensei? You still there?"

"Yes I am Hikaru. I must say, I find you and your friends' actions quite amusing. I presume that this was my granddaughter?"

"Yeah…sorry about that."

"No need. Just deliver the orders. I want you three down here within an hour. And Hikaru?"

"Yes Sensei?"

"Tell Takashi to keep an eye on Ha-Ya-To. He seems to have grown a little too close the recruits for comfort."

"Yes Sensei."

Keiken ended the call and sighed. "I'm in charge of a bunch of children. And these children are what have been keeping the world safe." He looked up to see the Aero Booster playfully race two Stealth Hunters, before easily distancing them and disappearing behind the mountain.

The two pilots of the Stealth Hunters landed, laughing as they watched the area where Ha-Ya-To had disappeared.

Keiken smiled. At least the moral was high.


Ha-Ya-To pouted as he landed the Aero Booster in the city of Yellus. It was a small city, more of a town really, but it had proven to be useful at several moments such as an area for refuelling and reloading the battle machines' guns.

"Really...why can't I just go and see them? I mean, I'm not THAT evil. And I don't scare the recruits. Or at least I don't think I do..." He saw one of the mechanics approach him. Ha-Ya-To reached out in his pocket, and pulled out seven dollars. "Extra ten if you refuel her completely." He said.

The mechanic beamed. No one ever gave him that much as a tip. "Y-yes!" he instantly went to work, opening the fuel hatch and pouring the fuel in the gas compartment.

Ha-Ya-To leaned against one of the engines of the Aero Booster. "Oh well. At least I get to see the sights. And I get to sign a couple of autographs. No robots ever come around here. It's too deep in the mountain." He smiled as he noticed a bunch of children wearing Exo-Force uniform and robot costumes running in circles trying to catch one another.

"E-excuse me?"

Ha-Ya-To turned to the owner of the voice. It belonged to a girl who was staring at him with large brown eyes. She was attractive, about sixteen years old, brunette. Behind her stood two other girls who were giggling quietly to one another, taking quick peeks at him.

He focused back at the girl in front of him and decided to set his 'irresistibly sexy' mode to on. He gave her a grin. "Yes? Can I help you?"

The teen reddened slightly. "Yes...um..." she suddenly pushed a pen and pad in the pilot's hands. "CAN I HAVE AN AUTOGRAPH PLEASE?"

Ha-Ya-To laughed. "Of course." He quickly signed the pad and handed it to her. Before she could say something, he said "One cannot refuse such a simple offer from such a beautiful lady."

The comment was rewarded by the girl turning beet red. "Th-th-thank y-you." She stammered. She stared at the signature and gasped. "Ha...THE Ha-Ya-To?" she asked, her face becoming redder by the second.

Ha-Ya-To gave her a quick salute. "At your service." He gave her a wink, which caused her to squeal in both delight and surprise. She muttered something incoherent at the pilot, before turning around and racing back to her friends.

Ha-Ya-To leaned back against the battle machine. He continued to watch the children play. They chased one another in circles laughing and shouting to one another. Watching them made Ha-Ya-To feel a wave of nostalgia. He remembered the innocence he once had and the little concern he needed to show to the politics and economy. A weak sense of jealousy grew in the pit of his stomach, but he quickly dismissed it by staring at the blue, white and red battle machine that lay still. At least he could fly now; his dream from the start.

A loud clunk snapped him out of his reverie. "The tank's full." Ha-Ya-To pulled out the promised ten dollars and handed them to him.
"Thanks buddy." He said, climbing into the Blue Falcon and preparing to take off. He pressed the green button on the right side of the control board. The battle machine hummed to life and the heavy metal protection bars began to close around the pilot's chest and waist. All the lights in the battle machine went on.

"Ready to fly?" Ha-Ya-To asked himself.

He grabbed the small joystick that was hanging on the side wall of the cockpit, and pushed it forward. The engines roared to life and the boosters began to lighten the weight on the Blue Falcon.

Just when Ha-Ya-To was about to close the cockpit, did he feel someone knocking him gently on the head. He turned to see an engineer yelling in order to be heard over the noise. "Something's coming from the west. And there are a lot of them!"

Ha-Ya-To nodded. "On my way!" he yelled. Once the engineer had jumped off the battle machine, Ha-Ya-To piloted the Aero Booster up in the air and into the skies.

"So the west is…" he remembered his awful sense of orientation, and decided to play it safe by checking the maps in the computers. "This way." He said. He veered the Aero Booster to the left. He gave the city one last glance. Seeing the children he had been watching waving and cheering, he decided to give them a quick little show.

Ha-Ya-To made the engines roar, and made a huge, impressive barrel roll. Waving at the children, he pulled up and shot towards into the distance.*

"That's the last of them." Takashi said, as he watched the last ship carry the Lythanium into the Golden City. "Now what?" He looked up at his Blade Titan, then back at Hikaru.

The blue haired pilot pressed a couple of buttons on the Sky Guardian's control board. "Ryo should start adding the Lythanium to the battle machines' armor. I guess we're free to either return to the Shikara Outpost or remain here."


Hitomi stretched her arms. "Well I'm gonna stay here. The mechanics need as much help as possible. See ya!" She walked away towards the labs.

Hikaru looked at Takashi. "I was going to return to the Shikara Outpost. Wanna come? Ryo and Hitomi are capable to deal with the robots if there's an attack. And there's Rika who we keep underestimating."

The ground-born pilot shrugged. "Race you." He said, as he activated his red battle machine and raced down the mountain towards the fortress, followed by the white and blue battle machine.

"Hey Ryo, you there?"

The emerald-eyed pilot entered the lab in the search of the legendary engineer. She saw the Cyclone Defender that rested its engines off and its arms still, and the open cockpit was so still, as though contemplating the new battle machine that was still under construction.

Hitomi turned to see her favorite pilot screwing and connecting wires in all directions. She had rarely seen him so happy. "Hey Ryo?"

The mechanic didn't hear her: he was wearing his pair of headphones, his head bobbing with the beat. "It's time to power up! It's time to blow them up! Yeah this is our life…"

Hitomi could barely contain her laughter. Looks like some things didn't change. Not to mention that this time, Ryo was wearing his goggles, making him look as though he was some sort of super star.

Hitomi walked behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders. The boy stopped what he was doing, and became very still. He, very slowly, raised his head and stared into the smiling face of the girl who took off his headphones.

"You did it again Ryo." She answered gently, though the smile on her face was still present.

Ryo blushed fiercely. "How do you even manage to enter this place?" he asked

"Through the front door." Hitomi answered in manner of fact. She sat down next to where Ryo was kneeling. "How's the building going?"

Ryo smiled. "Ohhh, just great! I've got both the reactors connected, so now this girl is ready to fly! And the legs are almost completely finished. The problem that remains is what kind of skin and agility I'm gonna give her. I don't know!"

Hitomi tilted her head sideways. "Well why not get inspired by the Blazing Falcon? You can put it apart again for a little while. I don't mind using-"

Ryo's face became a picture of pure horror. "NO!" he screamed. "I won't put her apart! I mean, what if...how will…"

Hitomi reddened slightly. "Aw don't be so worried about me Ryo. I can fight without a battle machine." She patted the boy on the back.

"Okay but…what about Blazing Falcon? What if I never put her back the way she used to be? She'll hate me! A-and what if I never put her back together again? I'LL BE A MURDERER! GAAAAAAAHHHHH!" He screamed, clutching his head in his hands and resting his forehead against the metal of the currently-being-built battle machine.

Hitomi felt a pang of jealousy grow in the pit of her stomach. "Ryo, for the umpteenth time-"

"I can't do it Hitomi. Blazing Falcon…she's a beauty too. I can't harm such a beauty…"

Hitomi face palmed. This was really getting ridiculous. "Right…ANYWAY, the Lythanium has been sent to the labs. I wanted to ask if you…"

Ryo gave her a boyish grin. "If I could be your right wing? The other guys are giving you a hard time?"

Hitomi couldn't help but smile at his reaction. "Yeah. And I want someone decent to be around so I don't kill myself."

"Go o, I'll catch up. Just the time to take those off and straighten by banda-HEY!" he yelped as Hitomi covered his eyes with his bandana.

"There. Now I can go through all your computers while you start struggling to save the remains of your eyesight"

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ANYTHING!"


Rika peeled the goggles off her face and sighed. Though they had a numerous amount of Lythanium, and that they were placing it on the old battle machines, the work was still tiring and was slowly but surely, sapping the strength of the mechanics.

She stared at her oily gloves. She was still in the middle of perfecting her third Gate Defender. The battle machine had been stripped of its original metal skin of Intractium, showing the wires coiled around the skeleton like a bunch of excited snakes. The feet and the upper parts of the legs had been covered with the Lythanium.

Rika began to realize that there was more of a reason to why the robots used Lythanium non-stop: the Lythanium may be an extremely light, solid and effective but if it was misplaced, even by a fraction of a millimetre, it became completely useless.

Rika had too keep a constant and strong concentration in order to place the new metal skins properly.

She didn't want her work to end up like the two Stealth Hunters that were destroyed by another groups' efforts in trying to replace a metal plate.

"Hey Rika?" The girl turned to see another engineer walk towards her. "Go get some rest. You're exhausted. I'll take over."

"I'm fine." Rika snapped at him. "I don't need your help." Suddenly, a piece of Lythanium that she misplaced on the Gate Guardian got torn off and collapsed on the floor with a loud bang.

Rika groaned. "Fine." She tossed the wrench at the pilot and stormed out of the lab.

She walked out of the building and stepped into the rainy streets of the Golden City. Rika sighed. Rain. It kept the robots away, but Rika hated getting wet.

She took a deep breath and raced into the streets. She nearly slipped on a puddle, but finally reached the control center of the Golden City.

Rika took a quick second to attempt to get all the water out of her hair and uniform. Tilting her head sideways, she wrinkled her black hair, she gritted her teeth in annoyance.

"Need a towel?" a boy asked. He passed her a green towel lying on the radiator.

"Thanks." she started ruffling her hair with the fabric. "Is Hitomi here?"

The pilot shook his head. "I don't think so. If she is, then I've missed her. Sorry."

Rika shrugged and placed the towel back over the radiator. "Whatever." she shuffled past him and looked around. Failing to see her friend, she decided to see the pilots and control members. She walked briskly to one of the only one she knew she could trust. "Hey Swift. You got a sec?"

The black-haired teen whirled his chair around and grinned at her. "Hey Rika! What's up?"

"I wanted to see if there was anything to know about."

Swift rolled his eyes. "Can't stand being inactive for a second right? You're no better than your brother."

"Haha. Ryo's eccentric. I'm just active." Rika fired right back him. "Did you see that dork or Hitomi?"

"They're both in the labs trying to upgrade the battle machines. At last that's the last I've heard of them." Swift answered.

"Who is?"
Both people turned to face Hikaru who was walking towards them. "I decided to let Takashi win the race. Since there's nothing to do down there, I went to see if there's anything to keep me busy here." he explained emotionlessly.

Swift nodded. "Well your outta luck. Rika was just asking me the same question. Unless you've got some mechanic skills-which obviously don't-there's nothing to do."

Rika stared at Hikaru. "Hey Hikaru? I was wondering if you were-"

"Oh god no." Swift complained, leaning back in his chair. "Don't get mushy on one another. all but that. Not the right time or area." his comment was responsible of the double death glare sent by the two pilots. "No really," he said as his little joke was about to get him beaten up, "I don't want to know what you two are going to do. Cause it's obviously more fun than being stuck here, and...uh...I might lose my cool if I hear it?" Rika's glare softened a little, but Hikaru still shot him the stone-cold emotionless stare.

He was saved by a beeping. Spinning around and pulling his headphones on, he answered. "Is that you Ha-Ya-To? I read you, go ahead."

Hikaru and Rika leaned over his shoulder, curious as to know the problem.

The famous pilot's voice answered. "SWIFT! GET HELP! YELLUS! IT'S UNDER ATTACK! THERE'S A-GAH! SWIFT! DEVASTATOR! YOU HEAR ME? DEVASTA-GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" The comm. System fell silent, but Hikaru instantly jumped into action. "Swift, tell Takashi to get to Yellus city quickly! Warn Sensei too! Have the Shikara outpost prepare for a possible attack!" He spun around. "I'm going in!" he yelled, racing out the room, followed by Rika.

Hikaru clambered into his Sky Guardian, realizing that he was still dripping wet only when the safety bar closed around his chest. He shook his head like a dog after swim to keep the water from trickling into his eyes.

He was about to close the cockpit when he noticed Rika climbing in her Golden Guardian. He clicked the comm. system on. "Rika, what are you doing?"

"It's called joining you, dork. I'm going whether you like it or not."

"Now listen here woman. Ha-Ya-To's in trouble. I'm off to save him, which means that there's only Ryo and Hitomi and two squadrons left to defend the city. You're staying here." Hikaru's glare was cold and conveyed one message: not disobedience.

However, Rika was probably the only one to be unaffected by it. "Don't 'woman' me Hikaru! Someone has to cover you!" Without wasting a minute, she kicked her Golden Guardian on, and raced out before taking off into the raining night.

Hikaru groaned. "Ryo's going to kill me." He muttered. He pressed the 'on' switch. He felt comfortable shaking of the Sky Guardian as it started, the engines humming to life. The reactors roared. "Hang on Ha-Ya-To. I'm coming!" he announced as he ran out of the labs, and took off in the dark and wet skies.


Ha-Ya-To twisted the joystick to the left, sending the Aero-Booster in a wild dive. "YAAAAAAARRRRRRR!" he yelled as the Mobile Devastator fired read beams of destruction at the Exo-Force pilot.

"SLALOM BABY! SLALOM!" he shouted, as he made a barrel roll, all the beams missing completely. Ha-Ya-To slammed his fist on the left button on the side of the control board. The left arms fired greens beams, pulverising Iron Condors that dared to face the legendary pilot.

Ha-Ya-To cheered. He didn't know why, but moments ago, he was in complete panic, but the adrenaline had kicked in, making him lose all sense of danger. Now, Ha-Ya-To was longer afraid. He was excited like hell. He even wondered why the hell he even called the Golden City.

There was a huge explosion. Ha-Ya-To grinned. "All guns fired." He ordered to himself.

The three guns of the Aero Booster roared to life, and numerous greenish beams screamed across the sky, before slamming against one of the dozen Shadow Crawlers that were beginning to enter the city.

The battle machine in question ceased to exist completely, as it erupted in a ball of fire, taking two Claw Crushers with it. "Who's next?!"

He felt the battle machine shake violently: a Thunder Fury had hit him. Ha-Ya-To shot the offending robot a death glare-which was more comical than threatening due to his huge grin. "You want some? Well here you go!" he shouted as he fired the right gun this time. The twin blasters tore through the older battle machine like paper. Ha-Ya-To flew victoriously over it. "Made specifically in Japan and shipped to here! Hope you appreciated our business! NEXT COSTUMER!"

He made a sharp turn, taking notice of the numerous Iron Drones that were pouring out of the Mobile Devastator. "Open Fire" he heard them say. Their bazookas blasted, chasing the smoke of the battle away and dishing out a new definition of destruction.

The beams hit the Aero Booster, which shuddered violently. One of the robots screamed in its metallic voice: "Aero Booster defeated. Victory Assured"

Ha-Ya-To gritted his teeth. "Do you really think my Aero Booster, the Exo-Force's ultimate battle machine, will be defeated so easily? Think again." He pulled the yellow button. "ALL ROCKETS FIRED!"

The Blue Falcon was engulfed by a blinding light, and three yellow rockets blazed before hitting the robot rank with a deafening explosion. Pieces of iron and steel were thrown high in the air, as the entire legion of Iron Drones were entirely wiped out.

The devastator stared at the Aero Booster from his seat in the Mobile Devastator. "Aero Booster. Pilot Ha-Ya-To. Scans report: destroyed 33.6% robot force and rising. Aero Booster: damage 4.1%. Capable of stopping mission. Conclusion: Destruction recommended." It stated. It pressed a couple of commands on the control board. Soon, the all the guns of the Mobile Devastator were alive and shooting in the direction of the Aero Booster.

The large blue and white battle machine twisted left and right, made wild dives and jerky rises. "Jeez you guys can't ask politely can you? Or is it that our production is so appreciated you just can't wait for half a second?" Ha-Ya-To asked. "Well I'm not surprised. Japanese products are much better quality than the Americans and Chinese." His eyes went wide as a huge beam narrowly missed him, grazing the left arm of the Blue Falcon and chipping away a piece of the metal. "That was close…" he muttered. He aimed the right twin canons at the Mobile Devastator's neck. But quickly changed the aim. "The last time in the Golden City, the neck was unbreakable. Maybe if I aim for the cockpit…" He fired. The blasts cracked the-how-do-you-break-this-freaking-glass, but failed to penetrate it.

Ha-Ya-To felt his stomach twist in a knot when he saw the other robot battle machines units to take him down. He knew that Aero Booster had rough armor, but it would not withstand the impact of all those canons.

He braced himself for the explosion and intense heat of the explosion. It never came.

"GET OUTTA THE WAY!"

A dozen of green beams shot past the Aero Booster, each of them destroying one robot battle machine.

Ha-Ya-To twisted to see a soaked Golden Guardian and Sky Guardian followed by a legion of Stealth Hunters fly towards the city. A huge wave of happiness crashed onto him. "RIKA! HIKARU! YOU'RE HERE!"
The Sky Guardian, being faster than all the other battle machines, reached the battlefield first. "You alright Ha-Ya-To?" Hikaru asked, flying protectively over the Aero Booster.

"Well since you're all here, you bet I am! Come on! Let's finish this together!" the red head cheered.

The green eyed pilot flew in front of the Sky Guardian, catching Hikaru's cobalt blue eyes. He gave him the thumbs up. The Sky Guardian raised its sword. "You've never seen the changes made to the Stealth Hunters. Time to show you! STEALTH HUNTER GROUP! ATTAAAAACK!"

There was a loud cheer, and the seven pilots in the Stealth Hunters charged into battle, their electro-swords spinning in circles and guns firing at point blank range.

The robots countered, firing their weapons back. The Shadow Crawlers fired their canons at the Stealth Hunters. The Thunder Furies charged, their swords raised.

But the Lythanium had increased the agility of the Stealth Hunters, even these old battle machines could easily stand up to the more recent and developed ones. The white Exo-Force battle machines moved with such agility that even the fast the Dark Panthers could barely cope. Their blades spun in circles, slicing armor and stabbing the battle machines, inflicting more damage than before.

Ha-Ya-To gapped. "Oh my freaking GOD! THIS IS GREATER THAN EVER!" He fired the upper canon. The blast smashed against a damaged Shadow Crawler, blowing it to pieces. Flying over the Mobile Devastator, he fired his twin canons. "I TOLD YOU!" he shouted at the devastator. "JAPANESE PRODUCTS ARE WAY BETTER THAN AMERICAN!" The green beams chipped the armor.

Hikaru glared at Ha-Ya-To. "Is this the moment?" he asked. He brought his sword crashing down on a Shadow Crawler, electricity surging uncontrollably around the black battle machine. Without missing a beat, he fired his particle beam rifle, blowing a Claw Crusher off its feet and into the gorge behind it. He noticed Rika's Golden Guardian blasting a Thunder Fury, before being assaulted by three Shadow Crawlers.

Rika yelped in surprise as the thee robot battle machines dragged the Golden Guardian down, and began to climb over it in attempt to tear its pilot out of the cockpit.

"RIKA!" Hikaru yelled.

A Stealth Hunter saw the trouble and fired at one of the offending battle machines. Hikaru was about to aid his friend, when Ha-Ya-To fired all his guns, pulverizing the Shadow Crawlers. "You okay Rika?" he asked. "Cause I don't want to be part of Ryo's target practice. Acting as the target."

"I'm fine." Rika answered. "A bit toasty but fine. Not much damage. Now does anyone know how to take the Mobile Devastator? Cause I have an idea."

Hikaru looked at her. "What is it?"

"WHATEVER IT IS, DO IT NOW! CAUSE THINGS ARE GOING SKYWARD!" a pilot yelled as his Stealth Hunter was blasted clear off the ground, before ramming into a house, sending a column of smoke in the air.

"SHOU!" Hikaru yelled.
"Ow…I…ow…I think…ugh…" came the weak reply. Another pilot flew into the smoke and pulled out a heavily damaged Stealth Hunter, its pilot unconscious-or at least that's what Hikaru hoped.

Rika pushed past Hikaru's Sky Guardian and took off. When she was hovering just above the Mobile Devastator. "All right." She said. "Time to go haywire." She deactivated her Golden Guardian's reactors.

The red and white fell like a rock. Rika felt her stomach reach her throat as the speed began to pick up. She heard the wind screaming at her to stop, but she paid no notice. She pointed the canon towards the growing target. She fired.

The blast, followed by the collision, caused the armor of the deadly battle machine to collapse entirely, and the Golden Guardian to rip through it, destroying all the circuits and machinery inside.

The Mobile Devastator sparked dangerously. Rika tried to get the Golden Guardian out of the wreckage, but the battle machine was trapped, the numerous wires and damaged metal lodged into the metal plates, keeping it from leaving.

Hikaru felt his blood turn cold and his face pale. "RIKA!" he screamed

Rika pressed the eject button. She felt something soft, yet hard hit her in the gut as her seat was blasted clear out of the Golden Guardian and into the sky, before being caught by a damaged Stealth Hunter.

Not a second later, the Mobile Devastator exploded like a supernova, sending beams of destruction in all directions, and melted metal everywhere.


Keiken watched the battle machines land in the Golden City. He noticed that Rika was missing a battle machine, and one of the Stealth Hunters being carried by another.

He waited for Hikaru to walk towards him. "Mission complete."

"Report." Keiken merely said.

"We've lost a Golden Guardian and a Stealth Hunter." Hikaru stated. His face was emotionless and stone cold. "The Lythanium has done a brilliant job: the Stealth Hunters were nightmares to the robots. But they're all relatively damaged. Even the Aero Booster is dented."

Keiken smiled. "Is the city safe? Any injured?"

Hikaru nodded. "The city was evacuated in time. In was badly damaged, but no one has been killed. But Shou has taken a concussion. He didn't wake up yet."

Keiken nodded. "Get some sleep. I'll deal with the rest"

Ha-Ya-To turned and began to walk away, muttering something incoherent about a shower and Taylor Swift, followed by some of the pilots.

"Hey Hikaru!" The dyed blue haired pilot turned to see Rika walk briskly towards him. "So, was I really that useless? I saved Yellus."

Hikaru rolled his eyes. "Rika, it's not that I want to disagree with you, but I'm exhausted. I'm going to get some sleep. Rub it in my face tomorrow okay?"

Rika smiled. "All right." She stood on tippy-toe and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Enjoy your last night with your pride intact." And she ran towards her own room.

HIkaru stared at her shrinking figure, before bringing his fingers to his lips. He stared at his hand, trying to fully register what happened.

He stayed in a complete state of shock and confusion till he slipped in his sleeping clothes and climbed into his bed.

Ha-Ya-To noticed his odd behavior. "Is something wrong?"

Hikaru shook his head. "I'm fine thanks." He stared at the pilot who was curling up in his own bed. "You still haven't explained why you still sleep with PJs."

"Some things are better off told unexplained." The pilot answered. He gave a huge yawn. "You look preoccupied. You sure you're alright?"

"Yeah. Night." Hikaru said as he turned over in his cool sheets. Just when he managed to get some shut-eye, he heard something that shook right awake.

"OMG THAT DID NOT HAPPEN!"

Hikaru sat bolt upright in his bed and stared at Ha-Ya-To's shocked face. "Robots?"

The red head pointed at him. "Did Ryo go intimate with you?"

Hikaru stared at him, dumbfounded, before rolling over, not bothering to answer the disturbing question.

"Or was it Rika? They look so alike…" Hearing no answer, Ha-Ya-To grabbed one of his pillows and threw it at Hikaru. "HEY I'M TALKING TO YOU!"

"SHUT UP HA-YA-TO AND GO TO SLEEP!"

"Or else?"

Hikaru sat up again and gave his room-mate the deadiest, coldest glare he could muster. "You really want to know?" he asked extremely coldly and dangerously.

Ha-Ya-To flopped over. "I'm changing roommate. You're no fun. You'll sleep with Takashi."

Hikaru was so tired he didn't bother answering. "Whatever…" he muttered before finally drifting to a peaceful sleep.