Hello, hello! The season 1 finale is here! Due note, I'm not the greatest with fight scenes, if you haven't noticed already. And this chapter is pretty packed with fighting. Anyways, let's get started!

"Talking"

"Thoughts"


The Gospel


Laura deployed her Schwarzer Regen and readied her railgun as she aimed for the Gospel. A few seconds later she shot the railgun and hit her mark, "First shot is a hit!"

"Fire!" Scott shouted as the smoke was clearing.

Cecilia and Charlotte fired their Blue Pierce and Vent, as Rin and Scott fired their Ryuhou and Blister.

As soon as the smoke cleared the shots fired hit their mark as well, knocking the Gospel around. The unmanned unit quickly regained it's bearings and dodged the rest of the incoming fire. The Gospel processed more data as the gang was firing at it.

Once it was finished, the Gospel started targeting Cecilia, Charlotte, and Rin with widespread explosive lasers, forcing the girls to dodge and weave as best as they could.

Laura started shooting her railgun again, missing her target as the Gospel was too fast for her, "It's faster than I expected!"

Meanwhile Scott was in the back of the fight, further out in the ocean, staying out of harms way for now, "Phoenix, can you tell me what systems are working?"

"Armour is eighty-five percent, shields are at a hundred percent. Ammo is full on all weapons, and most abilities are working," Phoenix listed.

"What do you mean most? I thought I fixed them all?"

"Yes, but it seems there was an error in the coding," Phoenix explained.

Scott groaned in annoyance as he started shooting the Gospel with Blister, "Well, what ability is offline?"

"Your One-Off ability."

"My One-! Can you try and fix it! I may need it!" Scott asked, more irritated.

"I can try," Phoenix answered.

Scott flew in closer so he could shoot the Gospel, as it targeted Laura. He fired two shots and one hit its mark, causing the Gospel to turn to him and fire.

Scott activated his thrusters and went higher to dodge the barrage of lasers, getting hit by one or two in the process.

Cecilia deployed her BIT's to try and hit the Gospel from multiple directions as Rin materialized her scimitars and charged her Ryuhou. The former was getting no where as the Gospel was too fast and the latter couldn't get a clear shot.

Their target charged at Cecilia shooting its lasers at the others to keep them at bay. The blonde girl tried evading the unmanned unit, but it caught up with her and fired at point blank range, damaging Cecilia's systems.

Charlotte materialized Garm and targeted the Gospel in an attempt to get the unit off Cecilia who was being shot at while trying to escape. Instead of going after her, it evaded the bullets and chased after Rin who threw her Souten Gagetsu at it.

Scott came up at point blank range with his Mustang and Sally, firing at the Gospel who put its arms up to try and deflect the bullets. This stunt acted as a distraction so Houki could come at the Gospel from behind and land a direct hit.

The unit sensed this and evaded the hit at the last second forcing Scott to put up his arms in defense to block Houki's direct attack, losing a portion of his shield energy in the process.

"Sorry," Houki called out after she got off him and continued to chase after the Gospel.

Scott grunted as he looked at his shields, which read seven-hundred and twelve out of eight hundred, "It's alright! Just try again!" He shouted back as he rematerialized Blister.

The Gospel was shooting at Laura as Houki chased the unit, while Laura was doing her best to weave through the salvo of lasers. Back in the distance Scott and Cecilia were firing their rifles while Charlotte and Rin waited for an opening to hit the Gospel.


The sky was blue, dotted with white clouds slowly floating across it. Waves could be heard washing up the shoreline gently. Ichika was currently standing at the shore with his pant legs rolled up to his shins. He was bare foot, holding his shoes in his hands, wearing his IS uniform.

"Is it summer?" He questioned himself.

The gentle waves continued to come up shore as they passed over Ichika's feet, and then back out. He felt the hot sand underneath his feet as he stared out into the ocean, "Where... am I?"

Far off in the distance he heard faint singing, and felt the urge to locate the source. Ichika walked along the shore as the waves continued.

Time passed and Ichika reached the source and found a small petite girl wearing a white one-piece sundress with a sunhat. She had silvery hair and was staring off into the distance as she sang softly.

The boy didn't feel like calling out to her, and instead found a nearby log to sit down on as he listened to the girl sing. Something about the whole thing felt nostalgic to him as he felt the cool breeze and listened to the calm music the girl sang.

After a while, the silver-haired girl stopped her singing, but continued to look at the sky.

Ichika waited a while before he got up from the log and moved towards her, "What's wrong?" He asked.

"They're calling. You have to go now."

"Huh?" Ichika looked up at where she was looking then back at the girl, except the girl was no longer there. He looked around and only saw the ocean. The girl was gone.


The Gospel was flying across the ocean dodging and weaving through the firing while it chased Scott. Cecilia was doing her best to hit the Gospel as Rin was chasing the target with her Souten Gagetsu. She activated her Ryuhou and fired multiple shots, all of them missing their mark.

"Did you get it?" Cecilia shouted as she continued firing.

"No! Not yet," Rin answered.

"Phoenix, how is it going with fixing my One-Off ability?" Scott asked as he was being chased by the Gospel.

"I've almost got it fixed, just give me more time," Phoenix replied.

"How are the others doing?" Scott inquired.

"They seem to be fine. Lost shield energy, but fine," Phoenix answered.

"Well, that's good. Can you help coordinate them?" Scott asked as he weaved through the air, dodging the Gospel's fire.

"On it."


Ichika just stood in the ocean shore as he wondered what the girl meant, until he heard a woman call out to him from behind.

"Ichika, do you desire power?" She asked.

The boy turned around and saw a woman in an IS unit that looked like a white knight, she had a mask covering her eyes only revealing the lower half of her face. In front of her was a giant sword stuck in the ground as she held onto the pommel with one hand.


"If only we could get a clear hit," Scott thought to himself.

The Gospel was still on his tail as the gang was trying hit it. He dismissed Blister and materialized Crescent Moon, and glanced behind him. The Gospel was definitely fast, it was keeping a steady distance as it continued firing at him while dodging any attacks from the girls.

Scott reversed his thrusters and did a backflip over the Gospel as it passed him. While he was in the middle of his flip he threw his chain at the Gospel and managed to hit it, allowing the chain to wrap around it's target effectively restraining it momentarily.

"Now Houki!" Scott shouted.

Houki came in with her katanas in hand as Scott did his best to keep the Gospel from flying off. She was about to hit it when it kicked it's legs up to parry her attack, stopping her from hitting it. Houki quickly recovered as she activated he unfolding armour to unlock at her feet, she then did a frontflip axe kick, slicing off one of the wings of the Gospel, causing it to go limp.

Scott let the Gospel go as he dismissed Crescent Moon, and watched their target fall into the ocean.


"Ichika, do you desire power?" The woman reiterated.

The boy nodded his head in approval.

"Why do you desire power?" The woman inquired.

Ichika took a moment to think about before answering, "Uh, I want to protect my friends, I mean, my comrades. That's what I want."

"For your comrades?" She questioned.

"Yes, it's like there's so much in this world that you have to fight against. Do you understand what I'm saying. This world is consumed with irrational violence. I want to fight it and aid my comrades in that battle as much as I can. That's what I need the power for; to help them," Ichika explained with a serious tone.

"Yes, I see."

The next moment the woman in the IS unit disappeared and the silver-haired girl reappeared to his right, "It's your fate, you have to go," she said, slightly startling Ichika.

The girl then walked up to him as he watched, "Do you understand?" She asked as she took his hand into hers.


A green glow came out of the ocean as the Gospel rose above encased in it. It was curled up in the fetal position as it shifted form. The green plasma shell that encased it dispersed and the IS unfolded itself revealing a newer, bigger pair of wings made of plasma.

"Mein Gott, it shifted into secondary form!" Laura shouted in surprise. Everyone else had dumbstruck looks as well.

The Gospel turned to Houki while the gang was still in shock and charged a large plasma ball above it's head and fired it at her, effectively taking her out before anyone could react.

"Houki, no!" Cecilia cried as her friend fell from the sky.

The Gospel then turned to the British girl and charged it's cannon again. It fired at her before she could move as she braced herself for the attack. She heard the sound of the weapon going off but didn't feel anything.

She opened her eyes and saw Scott in front of her taking all the damage.

Wide eyed, she watched him take the hit, "But why?!" She asked.

"I said I'd protect you didn't I?" Scott grimaced as the Gospel finished firing at him.

He glanced at his shield energy and half of it was depleted from the attack.

Scott didn't have much time to react as the Gospel changed it's target to Charlotte who tried flying away, but was caught.

The Gospel quickly flew over to the poor girl and it's wings increased in size as it was about to engulf Charlotte.

She stared at the machine in horror as it's wings closed in on her before Scott appeared beside her out of nowhere and shoved her out of the way.

Charlotte made it out just in time as the Gospel's wings crushed Scott momentarily before they reopened and Scott came into view. His IS was damaged and he was unconscious as he fell from the sky and into the ocean.

"Scott!" She called out as she watched him fall to the ocean.

"Don't worry about him," Phoenix ordered in a serious tone.

"But... He just," Charlotte trailed off in shock.

"He just saved you," Phoenix said, "Now it's time to make sure his sacrifice from the battle does not go to waste."

"Aren't you worried?!" Charlotte asked.

"Yes," Phoenix answered, "But we can't waste our time worrying, I'm doing everything I can to keep him alive right now."

"But how did he reach me in time?" Charlotte questioned.

"He used his teleportation ability. For both you and Cecilia. I have no time to explain things, just believe me for the time being," Phoenix replied, causing Charlotte's eyes to widen.

"Right now, all of you need to find a way to take out the Gospel, otherwise it'll take you all out like it did with Houki and Scott," Phoenix explained.

Charlotte took a moment to regain her composure before continuing, "Alright, what will you have me do?"

"For now, just avoid being hit like Scott or Houki. It's all any of you can do for now, I need to analyze the targets new attacks and movements before we can do anything."

Charlotte grimaced, "Understood."

"I've already told the others the same thing, just hold out a little longer," Phoenix stated as Charlotte surveyed the battle.

The Gospel was currently trying to take out the others as they were all dodging its shots.


Back in the control room, Chifuyu and Miss Yamada were watching the entire thing unfold, unable to do anything but watch.

"Why haven't our transmissions gone back to normal yet?!" Miss Yamada asked in frustration.

"Because the kids probably shut it off themselves," Chifuyu answered.

The door to the control room slammed open, immediately after Chifuyu spoke, with three girls in the doorway, "Miss Orimura!"

"Just stay out! We're busy in here!" Chifuyu ordered in a stern tone, clearly not in a good mood.

"We understand that Ma'am, but..."

"Orimura is gone!"

Chifuyu's eyes widened in surprise and worry, "What?!"


Scott was underwater, slowly sinking to the bottom as his systems gave off warning alerts. His thrusters were stuttering underwater from the damage of the attack and the increasing water pressure as he continued to sink. His headpiece was intact and kept the water from entering his lungs, but that protection wouldn't last forever.

In Scott's mind he was dreaming.

A seven year old Scott was running down the hallway of a building and opened up one of the doors at the end of it and ran in.

"Mom, mom! Are you done yet?!" He asked in an excited and energetic voice.

His mother was wearing a lab coat and safety glasses. Her hair was long, straight black hair and she was fairly thin in size. Her eyes were chestnut brown like her son's and her face had the same glean too.

"Not yet sweetie, I'm almost done my work, then we can go home," she answered, patting the boys head gently.

"Awww, when are you gonna be done?" He asked.

"Very soon," his mother answered as she got back to work at her computer desk.

Scott watched the screen, but only saw a bunch of numbers scrolling up across it.

Uninterested in what his mother was doing, he turned around and opened up a door that led to a bigger room. One which had many wires and machines all over, scattered with machine parts and the sort.

It was dark and he couldn't see very well but while he walked around the dimly lit room, he found a big silvery machine that looked like a robot and had a bunch of wires hooked up to it.

It had arms and legs, and a portion of a body, but no head. And it was very large, nearly three times his size.

He was wide eyed as he looked at the machine. It looked cool to him and was about to touch it when he heard someone call out to him.

"Are you sure you're allowed to be in here kid?" A woman asked.

Scott turned around and saw a tall woman with black hair in front of him. She had a stern look, but didn't seem to be threatening in any way. Instead she gave off a somewhat friendly vibe. He'd seen and chatted with her a few times before.

"Uh, no," Scott answered meekly.

"Does your mother know you're in here?" She inquired.

Scott looked down at his feet as he twiddled his thumbs, "No," he answered.

She smiled at him, seeing his nervous nature and decided to give him a break, "It's cool isn't it?"

Scott quickly nodded his head as he looked up at her.

"Maybe you'll get one yourself one day," the woman said.

"I hope you're not putting any ideas in his head," Hugh said as he stood in the doorway Scott came from.

The woman grinned at Hugh, "No, just chatting with him like usual."

Hugh shook his head, not in a disapproving way but just shook it as he smiled, "Come on Scott, your mother's done her work, we can go home now."

"You're done with it?" The woman asked.

"Yeah, it was just a couple adjustments we had to do to the coding. It should work fine now," Hugh answered.

Scott looked back at the machine as he walked to the exit, watching the woman unhook the wires from the machine he found.

"One-Off ability is online. Activating now, then switching to Second Shift for precautionary action," Phoenix stated within Scott's headpiece, as Scott continued sinking, still unconscious.

On the screen his shield energy, which was at thirty, quickly began to rise. Once it reached full capacity, Scott's IS changed form as it rebuilt itself.

His wings grew in size and his IS was engulfed in flames. The metal feathers all fluttered and shifted positions so they were a few centimeters apart from each other as the wings outstretched. Once the wings adjusted, yellow plasma started emitting from the metal feathers and connected them all, filling in the gaps. The feathers also opened up slightly as they became miniature thrusters. His arm pieces grew blades along the back forearms that extended past his IS' hands, made of yellow plasma. His IS also started to rebuild itself, repairing any damaged equipment.

Scott slowly opened his eyes to see alerts on his screen as he blinked multiple times.

"Where am I?" Scott asked, dazed.

"Currently sinking in the ocean. I've fixed many things while you were out, and took some precautionary steps," Phoenix explained.

"Precautionary steps?"

"Yes, you're in Second shift right now, as your mindset was in the right condition for me to activate it. I also activated your One-Off ability since you had almost no shield energy left," Phoenix replied. "If I were you, I'd get out of the water now. I don't want to be stuck down here with a dead pilot."

Scott cleared his head and noticed that his IS was in second shift, he saw the plasma blades and the flames which seemed to burning underwater. He activated his thrusters and started 'flying' back to the top.

"I didn't know you could activate my secondary form for me," Scott commented.

"I didn't either. I was desperate to try and save you from drowning, so I searched through all the coding after I finished fixing the One-Off ability. I've been given access to many things now, though I still can't pilot the machine myself."

"How did you wake me?" Scott asked.

"I didn't. That was a stroke of luck," Phoenix replied.

"Oh."


Back at the control room on the big screen, Chifuyu and Miss Yamada could see Ichika in the battle fighting the Gospel in Byakushiki's second form with the help of Houki in her Akatsubaki after she recovered from her previous encounter.

"That's the Byakushiki's second form, Setsura," Miss Yamada said in surprise.

Ichika was clashing around the sky with the Gospel, trying to land a hit. The Gospel managed to put some distance between it and Ichika, then fired a barrage of lasers at the boy.

"Setsura, change to shield mode!" Ichika commanded as he put his arm up to defend him. The IS listened and a shield made of Ichika's Reiraku Byakuya appeared to deflect all the incoming lasers.

Houki was astonished by the Byakushiki's abilities as she watched Ichika fight, "That's a Reiraku Byakuya shield!"

Moments later she was hit by a salvo of lasers.

"Houki!" Ichika called out in worry.

Houki quickly evaded the next salvo, "I'm okay, don't worry about me."

"Houki, you'll need to help distract the Gospel with Scott, so Ichika may land a hit. The others will help support you two," Phoenix ordered through her earpiece.

"Scott, where is he?" Houki asked as she continued weaving through the Gospels attacks.

"Currently swimming to the surface of the ocean," Phoenix answered.

"The ocean?! What happened!"

"He protected the girls at the cost of his own shield energy and fell in. He was also rendered unconscious in the process," Phoenix explained. "I can explain it in detail later if you want, just know he'll reach the surface soon. Once he does you two will need to work together."

"Got it."


Scott finally reached the surface and flew towards Houki as he scanned the battlefield noticing the other girls were still alright as they met up with Ichika.

"Houki, you know what to do right?" Scott asked as he appeared beside her.

She looked at him and noticed his IS changed form, "Is that your secondary form?"

"Yes, it's why I named the IS Phoenix," Scott answered as he examined his secondary form in person for the first time.

"So you know the plan?" Scott asked again.

She quit staring at his new form and nodded her head.

"Good. Now let's go get some payback," Scott grinned as he materialized Blister and started firing at the Gospel.

"Scott, while you were unconscious I did some analyzing and noticed the Gospel can only focus on one target in second shift. This may be due to the increase in firepower, it must take more time to charge and fire than before causing the Gospel to focus more energy on one target. It also has increased mobility, which shouldn't be a problem for us now that we're in second shift too," Phoenix explained through his headpiece.

"Okay, so our earlier plans should be more effective is what you're saying."

"Precisely."

"Could you relay this information to the rest," Scott ordered.

"Already on it," Phoenix replied.

Scott flew towards Orimura, "Ichika, we need to hit it with everything we got before it manages to take us out again."

"But how? I can't land a hit!"

"That's where the rest of us come in. We will make an opening for you to hit it, just make sure you don't miss," Scott said.

"Alright."

Scott diverted from Ichika and refocused his attention back to the Gospel.

He materialized Mustang and Sally then went for their target in his new form.


Houki stared at the battle waiting for an opening to attack the Gospel.

She watched as the Gospel was constantly switching target, trying to eliminate it's assailants.

Rin was evading shots as the unmanned unit attacked her, until Cecilia deployed her BIT's and targeted it. The Gospel started dodging the lasers and attempted to attack Cecilia before it was being shot at by Charlotte.

Houki watched it turn to Charlotte, then Scott appeared behind the Gospel and sliced at it with his blades. The Gospel was about to engulf him a second time when he teleported out of it.

Ichika then came in and started clashing with their target. He was flying all over the ocean, both attacking and evading.

Scott came in with his Crescent moon and tried restraining it. Both Ichika and Scott coordinated their attacks to try and weaken the Gospel as Houki continued watching.

"I want to fight alongside you. I want to have your back," Houki thought to herself. After saying those words with true resolve Houki's Akatsubaki started glowing and her energy levels recharged as pop-ups came on screen explaining the ability.

"What's going on?!..." Houki asked in surprise while looking at the glowing IS.

"This is the Kenran Buto. So this has to be the Akatsubaki's fourth gen special ability," she said to herself after reading the description.

"Houki tied her hair up and got ready, "Right... Let's do this Akatsubaki."

Back at the fight Ichika and Scott were still in a deadlock with the Gospel. The former was running low on shield energy while the latter couldn't land a hit with his chain.

Ichika engaged with the Gospel and tried holding it in a deadlock attack. He swung the Yukihira Nigata down on the Gospel who used it's wings to keep the sword at bay.

The two were pushing each other back and forth, but not really doing any damage to the other. Scott took the chance to try and restrain the Gospel as he threw the chain at the Gospel while it was distracted.

The unit was busy fending off Ichika as the chain came at it when it noticed the chain at the last second but was too late to avoid the attack.

"Ichika, I'm going to try something. I need you to be ready when I do!" Scott explained as he tried holding the Gospel in place with the chain. The thing was flying around dragging Scott with it.

"Ready for what? What are you going to do?!" Ichika inquired while watching the Gospel drag his friend.

"Something dangerous!" Scott shouted in frustration as he reversed his thrusters and pulled the chain, effectively stunning the Gospel momentarily. He then turned around and teleported a small distance away then turned back and teleported fifty meters to Ichika's left.

The process was essentially a U-turn and the chain's length followed the sudden change in course, swinging the Gospel around and back at Ichika.

Ichika just stood still for a second before he realized what was happening, "You- No, no no no!" He put his hands up in defense, instinctively.

"God damn it! Just hit it!" Scott shouted.

Ichika still had his hands up when he was shoved out of the way by Houki, who slashed at the Gospel. She then kicked it away and flew to Ichika.

The Gospel managed to slip out of the chains and chased after Scott.

"Ichika, take my hand," Houki said as she held her hand out to him.

He complied and the two started floating upwards as both were engulfed in light.

"Woah, what the hell! My energy has been recharged!" Ichika exclaimed in surprise.

"That's right. Now go and finish it off," Houki said with a determined, yet content tone.

"A little help would be nice!" Scott shouted to the group as he was busy fending off the Gospel.

"Right! Let's go!" Ichika ordered as they all flew towards Scott and their target.

Scott saw the group coming and teleported out, appearing beside Houki, "It's your turn."

Houki nodded and charged at the Gospel who was headed their way.

The two clashed for awhile as they flew all over the ocean near the island, neither of them landing a fatal blow.

The Gospel managed to put some distance between Houki and itself, and fired a salvo of lasers at the latter. She dodged them all and clashed with it a little longer before she managed to restrain it with one of her attacks, holding it between her blades, "Ichika, now!"

Ichika was flying towards the two with his Reiraku Byakuya activated and was about to hit the Gospel when it shot at Houki and then kicked itself away from her. Ichika had to deactivate his ability and refocus his attention as he started clashing with the Gospel.

The Gospel flew away as Ichika watched it's movements to see what it would do next when it fired another salvo at him. He dodged them all as it continued firing at him.

"Laura!" Ichika called out.

"Ja voll!" Laura answered as she started firing her railgun. The Gospel dodged the shots and turned it's attention to her. Ichika took this chance to land a hit but the Gospel evaded the attack and flew closer to Laura before unleashing a barrage at her. Laura put her arms up in defense since she had no time to evade them.

Scott was nearby, so he teleported to her and took hold of Laura and flew away as fast as he could getting hit by a few of the laser as he shielded Laura and him with his wings.

While the Gospel was paying attention to Scott and Laura, Cecilia started shooting it with her BIT's from behind, "I'm right over here you monster!" She shouted as it looked at her.

It was then hit with Rin's Thermal Diffusion Impact Cannons, dodging the first shot but had to put it's arms up to deflect the second.

"Ichika, hit it one more time!"

The Gospel flew up higher and aimed at Rin, firing a large salvo of laser at the girl.

"Rin!" Charlotte cried out as she tackled the girl to move her out of the line of fire. She currently had her shield up to deflect the lasers being fired at the two, "Please hurry Ichika, we can't hold on!" Charlotte called out.

The entire ocean near the shore was covered in smoke from the Gospel's attack and the only one still standing was Scott who managed to evade the attack by teleporting past it.

He was thirty meters in front of the Gospel as they both stared at each other. Scott had his Crescent Moon in hand and the Gospel's Lascannons were ready.

"Scott, Ichika is going to hit it from behind I suggest you move out of the way," Phoenix advised as a pop screen appeared on the HUD, it showed a small silhouette in front of the sun slowly getting bigger and bigger.

"I'm fine," Scott replied.

"But you could be caught in the crossfire," Phoenix insisted.

"I won't."

Scott continued to stare at the Gospel, who surprisingly didn't make a move. Instead it seemed to be watching him, to see if he would try anything.

According to the machine's own data it collected he seemed to be dangerous.

In the distance behind the Gospel, Ichika's silhouette became visible to the naked eye as he had Reiraku activated, "You won't get away this time!" He shouted.

This caused the Gospel to turn around and look at the oncoming target. Scott took this chance and restrained the machine with his chains before it could evade the hit.

Ichika made contact with the Gospel and there was a loud bang like the sound of thunder from the hit and all three went flying towards the island.

"Jesus christ! I'm still here you know!" Scott shouted in slight annoyance as he was turned into a ragdoll from the impact for a few seconds.

Scott managed to regain his bearings before they hit the beach where Ichika was putting all his might into breaking the Gospel's armour. Ichika had one foot on the Gospel's chest and both hands on the sword.

Scott had one foot on the Gospel's right arm and still had the chain around the Gospel except one of it's arms that managed to slip out while Scott was being thrown around from Ichika's hit.

The Gospel lifted it's arm up from holding back the Yukihira and brought it to Ichika's neck and started squeezing.

Sparks were flying everywhere and Ichika was losing shield energy from the absolute defense protecting his throat and the huge sparks caused from the sword digging into the Gospel's armour. Scott was already low on shield energy but he wasn't taking any damage due to his AIC that engulfed him.

"Grrrrr! Arrrrrgh!.." Ichika was using all his strength to pierce the Gospel's armour while Scott kept a firm hold on his chains and restrained the Gospel's body and right arm.

"Just die already!" Scott shouted.

A few seconds later, the Yukihira Nigata finally pierced the Gospel's armour and it's systems shut off. The glowing plasma wings dissipated and the body went limp as Ichika and Scott got off of it.

Scott looked towards his friend as he dismissed his helmet, "Next time, warn me when you're going use that much force so I don't get thrown around like I did."

Ichika laughed, "I could say the same thing."

"What?! I did warn you, and you just stood there with your hands up!"

"I had no energy left to use my Reiraku. If I had known you were going to throw the Gospel at me I would've told you not to," Ichika explained.

"You could've said something, I would've redirected the Gospel," Scott said as he punched Ichika in the chest.

Houki came over and hovered a few meters above the ground near the two boys, "Is it over?" She asked.

"Yeah, it is," Ichika answered.

"Of course, that's to be expected when we work together," Scott joked as he pulled Ichika into a friendly hug with one arm that the latter tried getting out of.

"Hey quit it! I don't need a hug!"

Scott backed off with his hands up, "Fine, I'll just go find someone else who wants a hug," he feigned a disappointed and sad tone.

The rest of the girls came over and looked at the scene, seeing that the Gospel was finally defeated.

Scott walked over to them, still in his IS, "Do one of you girls want a hug, Ichika rejected me?" He asked in a joking matter with his arms wide open.

They all looked at him and then turned back to Ichika.

"Ouch. No one wants a victory hug?" Scott asked as he put his arms down.

"Houki?" Scott asked with his arms open.

"I'll pass," she answered while giggling a little from his childish behaviour.

"Come on! Next time I'm not saving anyone's ass," Scott said as he rematerialized his helmet.


It was midday now and the gang was currently standing in front of the resort hotel with their IS suits still on.

They were standing at attention with Chifuyu and Miss Yamada in front of them. The former had her hands behind her back and a stern look on her face while the latter was holding a notepad.

"Mission accomplished. Well, that's what I'd like to say, but the fact is you committed a very grave offense here," Chifuyu stated.

"Yes Ma'am," all the students said in unison.

"When you get home I want you all to write an essay on what you did wrong. And in the meantime, I have some especially grueling training for you as punishment."

This caught Miss Yamada's attention as she looked at Chifuyu in surprise, "Uh, excuse me Miss Orimura, but shouldn't we call it a day now? I'm sure everyone is very tired."

Chifuyu took a moment to think before she turned back to the gang and a small blush of embarrassment appeared on her face, "But in spite of all the screw ups; you did a good job..." Her statement shocked everyone, considering how harsh she normally is. "And I'm glad you all made it back alright. So, um... Take the rest of the day off."


Back in the resort hotel's dining hall Charlotte, Rin, Cecilia and Laura were all having dinner at one table, or at least trying to.

They were surrounded by some of the other girls who were questioning them about the Gospel mission.

"So um, like hey. Just what happened out there? What really made the Gospel run wild?" One of the girls asked.

"Is it true there was no one inside it?!" Another one asked.

"Weren't you afraid when you were fighting? Wasn't it scary?" Nohohon inquired excitedly.

Tokatsuki leaned in between Cecilia and Charlotte as she looked at them, "Come on you guys, tell us. The teachers aren't saying anything to anybody."

"So sorry. The officials labelled the whole thing top secret," Charlotte answered as she held her tea in both hands.

"No kidding, even we haven't been told all the particulars yet," Rin chimed in.

"I understand. You are curious about the situation, but if you knew more they would place restrictions on you as well, okay," Laura explained to the girls around them.

"Um, no. I don't think I would like that," the first girl said.

"I wouldn't want to be spied on or anything," the second girl replied.

Cecilia looked around and noticed something, "Hold on. Just where have Ichika and Houki wandered off to?"

The other girls noticed their absence as well after Cecilia pointed it out.


It was dark out as the moon shone down on the resort hotel while Scott was walking back to his room. When he turned the corner he saw Houki standing outside Ichika's, which was the room next Scott's.

He walked up to her as he put the towel around his neck, "Ichika not there?"

Houki was in her own little world until Scott startled her, "Oh, what? N-no I-I w-wasn't..." She dropped her head and quit stuttering.

Scott chuckled at her behaviour, "It's no big deal really. Nothing to be ashamed of."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Houki replied, head still down.

"Oh," Scott raised an eyebrow. "Then I guess I won't tell you that I saw a certain someone down by the ocean."

This perked Houki's ears and she stood there for a few more seconds before she turned around and quickly walked away, earning another laugh from Scott as he watched.

Scott then opened his door and went in, "Now it's time to find Miss Orimura."


Tabane was sitting on the edge of a cliff near the ocean as she analyzed the data collected from the Gospel battle, "Ah, the Byakushiki sure is surprising isn't it? Phoenix is also interesting. Both have regenerative abilities, just like-"

"Just like the Shirokishi. Core number zero-zero-one, which you poured your blood sweat and tears into. The original IS unit," Chifuyu cut in. The tall woman was leaning against a dead tree as she glanced towards Tabane who still had her back to Chifuyu.

"What's up Chi-chan?" Tabane asked as she dismissed the holos.

"I'd like to speak hypothetically. Let's say that a certain genius could have an IS planted at a certain location on the day of a certain boys highschool entrance exam. The genius makes sure that's the only time this IS ever moves. That way it would look like a boy, who can't operate an IS, actually made it move."

Tabane turned back to the sky and looked up at the moon, "Hmm, then that would've been the only time it moved wouldn't it," she then laughed a bit in embarrassment, "But to be honest with you, even I don't know why exactly the Byakushiki moves. It's really a mystery."

"Alright then, let's talk about something different. A certain genius decides she wants to debut her precious younger sister with a big bang. So for her sister she prepares a personal unit. And then when an incident occurs, she's drops her sister's new state-of-the-art unit into the mix. Quite a debut for little sis, don't you think?" Chifuyu said.

"That really would be a super genius, huh?"

"Mhm, a true super genius. A super genius who's already managed to hack into the military computers of at least twenty countries."

"Say, Chi-chan? Does the world seem like a fun place to you?" Tabane inquired.

"Fun? More or less I suppose," Chifuyu answered.

"I agree."

Moments went by and it was quiet, which caught Chifuyu's attention and she noticed Tabane disappeared without her noticing.

The next moment Scott spoke up, "Ahem. So my record of seven countries I've managed to hack means nothing?"

Chifuyu looked around the other side of the tree and found Scott leaning on it.

"You're awfully quiet now," Scott commented.

"How come you're not afraid of me," Chifuyu asked.

"I don't know. You don't scare me. End of story," Scott answered nonchalant.

He walked over to Chifuyu and stood beside her, "I came here to see you, but you seem to be alright."

"Why would you worry?"

"Am I not allowed to care for those around me, even if they're my teacher?" Scott inquired. "Nevermind that, the second reason I'm here is because of that," Scott pointed down at the ocean shore.

Chifuyu followed his gaze and saw Ichika and Houki sitting together. They seemed to be chatting with one another, until Houki got in Ichika's face.

"Why are you doing this?" Chifuyu asked.

Scott looked to the other side of him then back at Chifuyu with a confused look as he pointed a finger at himself, "Who me? I didn't do this," he tried keeping a straight face, "Believe me."

A small smile appeared on Chifuyu's face as she looked down at the two teens near the shore. Houki and Ichika both leaned closer to each other until Ichika hit something with his head.

"I think you might want to do something about that," Chifuyu stated as Scott looked back at the scene below. The other four girls, Charlotte, Rin, Cecilia and Laura were all in their IS' with weapons ready as they threatened Ichika.

"Oh come on!" Scott said before he disappeared and reappeared in front of his friends, defending Houki and Ichika.

"That kid never follows the rules does he?" Chifuyu said herself as she watched Scott fail at calming the other girls down. They were all shooting at him as he deployed his IS and used the wing to shield the two would-be love birds as he picked them up and flew away.

Chifuyu's phone rang and she picked it up as she watched Scott, Ichika and Houki be chased by the girls.

"Chifuyu Orimura speaking."

"Oh thank god, I've been trying to reach you for a while now," the other person said in a relieved tone.

"May I ask who this is?" Chifuyu inquired.

"Yes, it's Susan Smith, Scott's agent."

"Oh, what's the matter? You seem worried."

"It's Hugh, he's been kidnapped," Susan replied.

Chifuyu's face hardened, "By who?!"

"That's the thing, we don't know. We can't figure out who took him," Susan explained. "We're worried that whoever took Hugh might try to take Scott as well."

"I see. So keep an eye out for anyone who might seem suspicious," Chifuyu said to herself.

"Correct. We are currently trying to track Hugh via satellite but have had no luck. We'll keep you updated and notify you if we find his location."

"Alright, I'll keep a close eye on Scott for the time being. Let me be the one to inform him of the situation," Chifuyu suggested.

"I understand. I'll do everything I can on my side. Be careful though, these guys know how to move around undetected."

Chifuyu then hung up and looked at where Scott used to be down at the shore and grit her teeth, "Poor kid. How am I going to break the news to him?"


And scene!

That, for me, was tough to write. But I did enjoy it. Hope you all enjoyed reading it!

Stratos263 - Thanks. Charlotte is my favourite out of them all.

Guest - Who knows? You'll have to read to find out. By the looks of it she's going after both.

TalonAlpha3, PearlTapioca - I don't know, Scott's harem doesn't really take off until the beginning of season 2. The emotion is what I was trying to get at and the title "Unease" should've helped explain. And about SAM from Mass Effect, yeah... I can see how you see Phoenix as SAM, but he originates from JARVIS. Then Scott I guess is a younger, less stuck up Tony Stark.

Kerlonggsj Evert Orlejov - As I said above, his harem doesn't really start until season 2. David is really fun to work with, considering how sadistic he is and such, and I also love Phoenix; he adds a nice element to the story.

Don't really have much to say other than we're reaching the, I hope, comedic part of the story. Of course the dark, painful scenes will continue. I think it will be interesting to write both dark scenes and comedic scenes together.

Fav, follow, review if you wish. Peace!