Disclaimer : Air Gear is not mine! Credits to Ogure Ito and his wonderful visions :)

The man couldn't sit. His custom made leather seat was getting uncomfortable. Everything was not going the way it usually does. The Boss always wins. But tonight, a high school girl was about to prove that theory wrong. "Why the FUCK aren't they calling?" He shouted angrily, throwing an ash tray towards his assistant. The man dodged and cringed, apologising. Even though the room was air-conditioned at 16°C, cold sweat was already breaking from both men's forehead. Just as The Boss was going to rip his assistant's throat, his cellphone rang.

"Shinoda Kenichi." His voice was surprisingly calm for someone who had his hands on a person's throat.

"I've got her. Get the money ready." The other man replied, sounding smug. He slowly let go of his assistant, grinning widely. "Great. 100 million it is then." He put down his phone, laughing. "Now we've got you bitch."

xxx

"Shit"

Given the situation , forgive them for a less creative choice of adjectives. The storm riders stood , mouth nearly hanging wide . A clang of wood hitting the ground could be heard , but it faded into the background. The scene unfolded , like a nightmare came to life before their very eyes. Very slowly , the metals screwed and unscrewed themselves into shape. As the thin layer of epidermis ripped off , a silver metal emerged from beneath . The rest of the body twisted and turned in a dangerous way , and more skin fell to the ground. Then , just when they though the robots couldn't be intimidating enough to make them piss in their pants , the plastic eyes of each robot suddenly switched to red. With a shrieking beep , the robots assembled and said in the monotone robots have "At your command" .

Percival laughed gleefully. He even did a mad little dance all by himself , flailing his long limbs . "HAHAHA Fuck you bastards! You're all gonna be dead! These babies have a melting point of 626 °F , and your stupid ATs won't be able to create flames that'll reach that heat without burning yourselves. Those metals? They are 375% stronger than the best high tensile steel. You fuckers can consider this battle done. " He walked haughtily to the front , remote in hand. "I could finish you off with just a touch of this button.."

Ikki clenched his fist. "Enough with the cock shit. Lets just get this done and over with." Ikki stared him down , eyes unflinching. This battle was going down nice and dirty. Just then , He heard Onigiri's voice from afar. The rest of the crowd distracted by the sudden interruption managed to recollect their thoughts and straightened up . The pig wasn't alone. He had at least 30 men behind him , and a cute girl by his side. Ikki let that pass. "Ikki , I've brought help!" He yelled , waving madly. Of all the bloody times , he chose this very moment to be embarrassing. I'll have his dick chopped by Rika herself once this is over

The men behind Onigiri looked menacing , and professional. Their leather jackets was beautifully polished , with an emblem of a gold dragon on the back. However , Ikki couldn't trust a group of strangers to invade his battle . Not when he hadn't a clue who they were in the first place. Not seeming to realise the direness of the situation , Onigiri ran towards Ikki , panting. "TheseguysarefromDr.M" pants "Itsalrightwecantrustthem" More pants. Ikki hit him on the back of the head "One more time ." Onigiri coughed , took a breather and said "They're Dr.M's men. I have a feeling they're trustworthy" "And what makes you think I should trust them?" Ikki stared at the group of men.

Luna stepped in front , ignoring Percival and his army of robots completely . "Doctor M , You've met him once." And just before Ikki could ask any further , she produced a paper plane and swiftly threw it into the air . The paper place took flight smoothly and finally landed on his feet. Then , as if a memory snapped in his mind , he remembered. Ikki nodded , shook his shoulders and said "Don't think I'll thank you for this". Luna smirked and looked towards Percival , who was fuming all alone for being utterly ignored. Dr.M's men joined with the rest of Ikki's men.

"You're idiots. All of you. I have an army of robots. You're just a mesh of human meat. I won't let you win" His expression suddenly grew serious and dark. Onigiri put his hand on Ikki's shoulder and squeezed it gently. "We can do this man. You need to save Ringo. She needs you." Onigiri spoke calmly. "And what ,abandon you? Don't be crazy." Ikki shrugged Onigiri's hand off his shoulders. "I mean it. If you don't get there in an hour , Ringo WILL be dead. The only joy Nike and that demented brother has is seeing you with that fallen expression on your face. I'll join you shortly." He had never sounded more serious in his entire life.

Bandou nodded his head "I agree with the pig." . Followed by Inuyama of Rez Boa Dogs "Justice , my friend. Leave it to us". Before he even realised it , the rest of them had agreed in unison . Aeon solemnly stood by Ikki's side , not saying a word. But he too , nodded.

Just as Percival was about to press the button , commencing the attack , Ikki knew what Onigiri said was only the truth. "Then , I'll leave this to you." Ikki gritted his teeth. "Kazu , Agito , Buccha , Emily , Kururu , Nakayama .. You guys follow me." He turned around and casually walked away from the battle ground. "Where do you think you're going?" Percival said , ludicrously. "I've somewhere important to go to. The only regret I have is not being able to crush your ugly face myself."

He continued walking , followed by the rest of his gang. He obviously wouldn't let Ikki get away so easily , but found that his path was blocked by Onigiri. "Your opponent is me." Percival hastily pressed the button , and the robots began moving forward. Aeon made a swift call just as the robots began marching "Hey man, Come here. I could use some of your flames right about.. now!" The robot missed his head by 2 inches "Bastard , this had better be good" The other male on the other line grunted.

As the jumble of mess began , Ikki broke into a run. Amidst the clanging and shouting of men ensued in hot blooded battle , All Ikki could think of was saving Ringo.

Just wait Ringo , I'll be there.

Rika paced back and forth in her bedroom. Ringo was missing, and she knew just who might have the solution to her problem. Sora had been rather dodgy lately. He was never one to speak in riddles, but nowadays, he hardly utters a single word. He had been a gentle soul , but somehow rather , that man she knew had left the room. Or was it that he had been that way all along , and her not noticing? Rika stood up at a sudden knock on the door. Maybe its Sora..

Mikan and Ume stood at the doorway , looking anxious. "We've got something to tell you." They refused to move , eyes darting back and forth between the floor and Rika's feet. " Spit it out." Why won't they come in? Ume nudged Mikan's elbow with a scowl on her face. With a grumble , Mikan scratched the back of her head , shoved her hands into her pocket , but took it out a moment later and left it by her side. It didn't take much for Rika to tell that her sister was on edge. "What is it?" That was unlikely of Mikan , being nervous.

Mikan lifted her head "Ringo.. She's in deep , deep shit." The expression on Mikan's face was grave enough to confirm that she wasn't pulling her leg. If she was , well , lets just say as a Japanese , meat selection wasn't confined to animals. "Shes blacklisted for the Yakuzas" She began , as calmly as she possibly could. "Is that it? All of us are , Mikan. Seriously now?" Rika sounded annoyed. "Yeah , except WE don't have a 100 million yen bounty on our head." This time Mikan looked Rika square in the eyes.

"What?" Rika yelled , walking towards Mikan. "You had better not be joking!" "Take a look at this." Ume flipped out a portable laptop from her bag. The page showed an online portal for AT users , and the title blinking in red read "Annihilation". "Whats going on?" Rika searched both her sister's faces desperately. "Just read it. You won't like it though.." Mikan replied , sighing. Rika took the laptop from Ume and started reading.

Nk05ax : Thorn Queens been captured by Sora! Daaamn man , there goes the bounty!

MAYL33: 100 million yen .SIGH There goes..

Dickface: Well , its not like WE could've done shit.. Its the Thorn Queen we're talking about here.

Underneath was a picture of Ringo ,the same that had been sent to Ikki. The girl looked as good as dead. Rika steadied herself , mind furiously spinning. She couldn't believe what she just saw . Why don't I know anything about this? Sora wouldn't do this to her, would he? Clearly , the live chat had proven otherwise. He had never mentioned of any annihilation before. Automatically , her head dropped into her hands. "Oh god , Ringo.."

Mikan rushed to her side , taking her hand and gently spoke "Listen, whatever it is those bastards planned.. He's dragged our sister into it. I won't let him get away with this." Ume nodded in agreement , brows furrowed . Rika bit her lower lip "And to think I trusted him.." her eyes began to prick with hot tears . "Fuck that piece of shit. I never liked him anyway. But right now , we need you to be strong." Rika stared at the wall, not responding. "This isn't your fault. How could you have known it?" Thats right , Love is blind. You never notice the flaws until you snap out of the dream.

Something inside cracked, like a glass mirror shattered into a thousand pieces. Rika knew then , there had been so many slip-ups , but she refused to believe her own instincts. Now, her own sister has to pay for it. The anger, hurt and frustration at Sora's betrayal was profound and deep , but she knew there was no turning back. Her eyes suddenly turned cold and steely "Leave that motherfucker to me."

After all , "Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned" (William Congreve)

xxxx

The night air felt wonderful . Kilik couldn't help but to take a smoke while looking down below . 3 sisters were out for revenge. Looks like theres going to be a party tonight. He was fully informed of Ringo's kidnapping as well as the 100 million yen bounty. Logically speaking, Kilik should be just as pissed. Strangely enough, he was sucking on his cigarette, chilling. Not a single care was given.

Kilik took another deep suck on his Nat Sherman and took out his phone , dialing a number. The number wasn't answered until the 5th dial , and there wasn't a sound until Kilik said the word

"Tits."

"Hello Kilik" The other man answered delightfully. Kilik smirked . The codeword certainly has an "interesting" ring to it. "Its going according to the plan. They're going after Sora." Kilik took that opportunity to take another suck . "Great, you have such a brilliant mind. Good man. Now keep an eye on them, tell me if anything else happens" The male voice sounded cheery and polite as he ended the conversation. Kilik kept the phone back in his pocket , cigarette in hand and looked at the city sprawled ahead of him.

There was someone who had been spying on him , and he knew it. He simple let him on just so that he could have the pleasure of trampling him later on. The little weasel. "Kanon , spying ain't cool." Kilik turned around to catch a blonde-headed boy fiercely glaring at him. His eyebrows were set together so closely they might have been mistaken for a monobrow from afar.

Kanon walked calmly towards him. His face betrayed none of his raging emotions . He stopped right in front of Kilik, trying hard not to punch him in the face. The expression on Kilik's face was so serene, as if nothing happened at all. "What the fuck was that about Kilik?" Kanon spat angrily. At first, Kilik's eyes were looking straight into his. The next moment, Kanon lost sight of him and a voice came from behind. He swallowed back his saliva, slowly.

"What you heard was exactly what you heard. But you don't even know who the hell he is. So the question is.. should I kill you?" Kilik's calm voice came from behind, and Kanon felt as if a wall of fear had built itself around him. This man is fast, and brilliant as well. Like a snake, dangerous and violent yet beautifully elegant. Kanon had to steady himself, not trusting his voice not to squeak . "Why.. are you doing this?" Kanon asked.

"It doesn't matter. I'm on the winning team anyway." Kilik inhaled on his cigarette. The night sky looked as beautiful as a dead corpse. Suddenly , Kanon felt the weight of the world on his chest . Ringo had specifically instructed him to report everything to her , even the tiniest detail. Even the things she didn't want to hear. "Ringo trusted you." Kanon said through gritted teeth. I did too

"Of course she did. That was the whole plan." Kilik sidestepped , standing next to him . From afar, they looked like good friends having a chat. The aerial view was better, because you couldn't hear the painful truth. There wasn't such thing as loyalty in the world , unless you're a dog ,of course. "Then what were you planning to do? Kill everyone? You were in this with Sora from the beginning weren't you?" A hint of disgust could be heard clearly. Kilik merely scoffed.

"With him? Hell naw. That bastards going down." Kanon blinked, and looked at Kilik . Confusion was an understatement. Kilik smirked "Curious? You shouldn't be." He clicked his tongue "Curiousity kills the cat" Well, thought Kanon 'Death wouldn't be so bad. I kissed Ringo already' Kilik was going for the kill when his phone rang again.

"Yes.. Alright. Will do." Kilik disengaged the conversation and turned towards Kanon. His expression didn't change. "You're one lucky kid. Ringo needs your can go" He sounded a little annoyed, obviously disappointed that his skills weren't allowed to be flexed tonight. Kanon turned around swiftly before a third call could ring " You're a fucking traitor." Kilik heard the whooshing of the air as Kanon jumped from the building to the building next to it.

His eyes strayed afar, cigarette in one hand . "Traitor, huh."

xxxxx

Ikki couldn't remember a single thing about his parents. Most children do, but not him. In truth , He rarely thought about the matter at all. But tonight, his mind wandered off in that uncovered track of his memories. Of all the times he thought about the topic, it had to be now. Somehow, running through the air in his ATs made him lose himself in the wind. The wind seemed to create a void in his mind and suck him into it. It didn't bother him. In fact, Ikki enjoyed the feeling of becoming one with the wind.

Who was these people who abandoned me? He thought, almost grudgingly.

Kazu who ran steadily alongside Ikki, noticed the blank look on his friend's face. He had seen that face far too many times to wonder what was on his mind. Life is hard , but it seemed to take a special preference towards Ikki. Normal human beings have responsibilities , but his seemed to weigh a 1000 times heavier than anyone elses'. His mind started to wander by itself, remembering one of the many painful occurrences. The one day Ikki hated above all else, Open Day.

Other kids dreaded the day , anticipating their parent's reaction to their results. Every child would wait patiently as their parents came in and took them home. Kazu remembered the look on Ikki's face everytime another one of his classmates beamed happily at their respective parents. The hurt, abandoned kid who lives with an unmarried 22 year old. He couldn't understand it then , but now he did. Ikki felt ashamed and regretful, not only for himself, but for Rika-Nee as well. He had imposed so much upon her, pained her, and yet, she would never turn her back towards him.

That was, until the Gram Scale tournament started. Everything started to fall apart.

Kazu knew every single scar on him. He knew him better than Ikki knew himself. They were more than best friends, so every minor detail was never slipped between them both. Kazu suspected that there was something different about the way Ikki ran tonight. He wasn't sure of it minutes before , but if his calculations were correct , Ikki's speed had improved by 3.55 seconds per metre. Rage alone wouldn't have sufficed . It was something he had been born with , a talent only hidden in the genes. Or maybe, a slight change in his body structure..

They didn't..

Kazu's eyes widened . He glanced at Ikki who was still absorbed in his thoughts. "You lucky dog." He muttered .

They had been running for a while, following the direction on google maps. Just then , they saw the National Library 100 metres ahead of them. It was obvious that some sort of gathering was taking place on top of the building. Lights and bobs of heads could be seen. They were all marched together like a set of toy soldiers. Indeed, they were. Roughly , there would be 200 amateurs as the pawn. Only a handful would prove to be a challenge. However , the real threat would be those creepy looking girls and a couple of Sora and Nike's right-hand generals.

Even then , they were still outnumbered. There was only a handful of AT-riders and a couple of tuners. It would be a huge joke for them to attempt a frontal assault. Agito called out from behind "We can't go full throttle on them." All of them stopped running. Each person had the same look about them . A rage for revenge , clouded by a curtain of indecision and doubt. Agito turned to Ikki "Don't think I'm trying to hold you back. But honestly speaking, we'd be fucked even before we could reach the base" Ikki ran a thought calmly. Then he realized something didn't quite click together.

"Hey, The boss mentioned to me once ; Capture Ringo at all cost. Why? I figured that since shes the Thorn Queen that'd be reason enough for them to wring her out. But , Shouldn't Sleeping Forest be protecting her?" Ikki said. Then, Kururu said quietly "It was just a rumour.. but now I guess it must be true." Everyone turned to look at the messy,pinned-haired girl. She looked up in alarm and bit her lip. "The rumours were going around that Nike and Sora were planning an overthrow. A Change in leadership.. They want the Sky Regalia for themselves".

The 4 boys glanced at each other. "We heard about that too, actually" Kazu replied. "The guys were talking about it, something about the boss making a deal with someone .He makes deals all the time.. but only with certain people.Y'know, those he can actually make use of." He finished. Agito who had been looking over at the crowd of soldiers on the other side suddenly tensed up. "They're sending a welcoming party."

The girls crowded towards the back. Kazu and Agito stepped up front, readying themselves for the incoming onslaught. 45 seconds later , 2 girls appeared in front of them. One was bandaged , while the other was dressed in leather. Either way, they weren't the least bit attracted to the cute looking girls. "The master ordered us to welcome you lads." The first one said, smiling. Something about her smile gave off a disturbing vibe. They eyed both girls carefully. "We're here for Ringo. Where is she?" Ikki asked, getting straight to the point.

The second girl snickered cruelly. "You'll get to her.. if you get past us and those insects." She exchanged a look with the other. Then , both girls promptly lifted their hands and snapped their fingers thrice. They stood there smiling, like two anime dolls brought to life from the dead. The aura they were giving were nearly the same Kaito used to give him. A sharp, thin shredded line of disgust ripped through him.

The silence of the night was soon broken by the war cry of hundreds of AT riders. The signal had been given , the battle began. The amateur riders were pretty slow, but they were incredibly violent. Kazu looked at Ikki at the same moment the 2 girls made their move. Both nodded their head in unison and separated 50 metres to the opposite direction. Just as expected , each of the girl chased after each rider. Agito looked to the girls "If you're only going to get in the way, now is a good time to run." He turned back the other second to kick 10 riders off all at once. A couple of seconds later , he saw more riders swarm towards the scene. Kururu, Emily and Yayoi stood together , forming a circle together with Buccha. "Don't look down on us." Emily stated confidently. More riders fell to the ground.

xxxx

Rika , Ume and Mikan had been running from Sleeping Forests's base towards the National Library when they saw the fight. They could easily spot their allies, Kazu, Buccha, the girls as well as the Pledge Queen, Kururu. Worryingly, neither Kazu nor Ikki could be seen. "We need to find Ringo." Rika expressed. Mikan looked at the increasing number of riders swarming in onto the group. It certainly seemed that they might need a little help. "Hey Rika, I think I'm gonna go ahead and help those kids. You find Ringo." Splitting duties at this point seemed wise, especially since they were pressed for time. Rika nodded in agreement. Ume looked at both her sisters "What about me?" She asked. Rika looked at her and said "Find Kazu and Ikki. Then give them a slap each for making me worried. Be safe, alright." She couldn't help cautioning her, even though she fully knew that Ume was no ordinary girl. Shiraume was a weapon underneath her petite form. She smiled, then dashed off towards the National Library.