Opening song: DJ Paul - Torture Chambers Ft. Lord Infamous
Time: 6:50AM – Training Facility
Liu in his new IS, Nightmare walked inside the training facility with dimmed lights on the ceiling. On the obsidian black and midnight purple armor, two sharp like hands acted as pauldrons that had a razor-edged, menacing armor than the predecessor.
Liu activated Venom Slug, unaware the threat was coming in fast. His Rattler and Equalizer were removed in exchange for Heavenly Emperor, a two-handed, single-edged sword. A spark of electric shocked Liu in the head.
"Commencing Level One Training."
The automated machine echoed from the hidden speakers. Sirens blared as Phantom Task soldiers hiding in the shadows fire anti IS rounds. Liu barely dodged the heavy gunfire, blindly firing back.
A projectile chipped him in the left forearm, his energy shield dropped from 750 to 583.
"Don't disappoint me, Liu. You got new toys that weren't touched. Entertain me!"
Liu's blood froze hearing Three Dragons' voice over the intercom. Three Dragons watched Liu struggling to hit his targets that missed.
"What are you doing here?" Liu lashed out at his hated enemy.
"I could kill you right now, but it'll be a waste to throw away a life with potential. Give thanks to Tabane that gave you Nightmare."
"Fucker!"
Liu didn't give thanks to the crazy scientist. He evaded the projectiles while he shot back, and few soldiers took a hit, but didn't go down immediately. Thanks to their upgraded body armor, it required more than 3 hits to stop their tracks.
"The presents work perfectly all thanks to you. You're making a greater cause for Phantom Task. Why are you wasting your time at the loathsome boarding school? If you change your mind, come look for me! There's always room for one more." Three Dragons taunted.
Liu threw a middle finger in response to Three Dragons' proposal that was a lie. Three Dragons may think he has the plan error free, but that was not always the case. Even when he supplied Phantom Task with illegal weapons, along with extensive connections, there's always a weakness. Liu won't give up that easily to be tossed around like a rag doll in training, especially in front of his hated adversary.
"At the lowest of the food chain, you are easy targets for predators. You look them into their eye, saying you could devour them. What happens when your eyes give out?"
Lights flickered out of control Three Dragons anticipated to mess Liu mentally in psychological warfare.
"Can't beat the top, especially when you're the lowest life form of existence! Light isn't your best friend when it turns against you. Be one with the dark, it's your new home."
Liu struggled to keep focus at his target from the lights twitched that obstructed his vision. Three Dragons' nonstop talk to wear down Liu broke his temper that clouded his concentration. In a nutshell, Liu saw their hiding spots, and gunned down the soldiers with brute force.
One soldier fired a sabot round in last-ditch effort to kill Liu. He whipped out Heavenly Emperor as the dark blade sliced the missile in half, and shot the last soldier until his armor was destroyed.
"Why are you looking for the light? Embrace your inner darkness, release the beast locked within you."
"Commencing Level Two Training."
Lights turned back on, dozens of soldiers in battle formation and one IS pilot dubbed 'Director' in her modified Rafale-Revive Custom opened fire. Liu leaped and weaved through the gunfire, deflecting the projectiles. She rushed forward to intercept him, armed with dual katanas. Steel of blades clashed against each other and soldiers were careful not to shoot their leader.
"Give me more, you're making my guests very welcomed." Three Dragons gloated.
Director fired rounds from her assault rifle, multiple bullets with lightning speed that knocked Liu down. Liu slashed the IS pilot in the collarbone, reeling her back slightly.
"You fight admirable, but I like to see more out of you. Breathe while you can because very soon, your body breaks. When that is down, your mind will deteriorate, and finally, your soul will burn."
"Oh shut up already!"
Liu shot the intercom to not hear Three Dragons' voice again. It was one less to deal with an annoying chatterbox. Director got the better hand trading blows as Liu hurled fist after fist without stopping. Director leaped back to get better shooting distance, and he lurched forward firing his Venom Slug.
Director swore as she weaved through the projectiles. Her shots fired intercepting Liu's projectiles. She readied her assault rifle and fired multiple shots. The first damaged his energy shield to 356, and Heavenly Emperor deflected the second round.
He deflected the bullets in one motion sweep. Director flared up and she charged with her katana. Liu parried the stab, reared his head back, and headbutt to force her back avoiding the second swipe.
The aggressive, forceful thrust against the forehead injured their heads greatly. Soldiers took the opportunity to fire Liu clutching his head in pain. Bullets damaged his energy shield, Liu made quick work at the soldiers before turning his attention at Director. Now dangerously low to 100, Liu fired shots as Director activated her ignition booster and charged right at him.
Liu was not fast enough and he was thrown against the wall. Before she could finish him off, Liu leaped at significant boost of speed, and slammed her into the command booth.
"Damn, son…" Three Dragons said, leaping away in time.
Director rolled over and took control by bashing her fists at Liu's head. He blocked the execution blow, and delivered two hook punches to the face. Director was heavily damaged, swearing as she drooped against the collapsed concrete column. Liu was also torn up from the brutal training.
"Well done, well done, Liu. You see I was here. Unlike your friends and people at IS Academy, they seem to be stuck. Or sleeping six feet deep because you want to kill me so much you ignored them, right?"
Three Dragons smiled as he continued to break Liu mentally of losing someone dearly. He witnessed the power of Nightmare, the perfect weapon to steal it soon for Kaori.
"You twisted fuck! What did you do to them?!"
"I don't have the answers." Three Dragons shrugged his shoulders while maintaining his innocence.
"You won't be smiling when I put this gun to your mouth…"
Under the belief Three Dragons murdered Liu's friends and everyone at IS Academy, Liu attempted to strike Three Dragons. However, he pressed a button that opened a tunnel from the wall. Liu tried to fight through the strong vacuum pulling him away from Three Dragons. Eventually, Liu was sucked into the tunnel, and ejected out of the sky.
Three Dragons fired heat-seeking missiles at Liu to deter him from retaliation. Liu had no choice but to retreat until he eluded them.
"Wait until I get my hands to rip your ass apart!" Liu shouted.
Being detained by Tabane, Liu had a bad experience with the training that used live weapons, and the mental abuse Three Dragons attempted to break him down.
Three Dragons is lying, I know my friends, Ichika and his gang are alive. He just wants to fuck me up so he can carve me up easily. Liu encountered flashbacks of Three Dragons impaling words onto his brain. The worse of all, Tabane left him with Madoka and the soldiers. Liu tried to shake off the traumatic false reality, knocking his senses until he finally erased them. Descending towards the ground, Liu de-materialized Nightmare to search his crew. Soon enough, he found them waiting in their German grand-saloon.
"Welcome back to the living, Liu," said Xu, rewriting the plans on the paper. "There's a change of plans for you. I did recon; we can't get away scotch free with the security room. You'll have to sneak in, and hold the guards at gun-point."
Xu handed Liu a soundproof device. "Just in case anyone else heard the commotion. We stick to the plan as usual. We'll go in to pretend I'm picking up a car after Hong subdues the guards at the front door. I'll say 'I have the juice', then that's when Hong and I control the crowd. Zhang will assist you scoop up the money and weapons."
"Do this without firing a bullet is a plus," said Hong. "As long as they don't act up."
"Any questions? Good. Mask on, earpiece ready. Time to hit a lick."
Liu and his gang drove to Three Dragons' private car dealership that could be their last ride. First reason was to get money. Second, get payback for detaining Liu that tried to warp his mind. Lastly, weaken one of Three Dragons' income sources to draw him out.
They were fully armed wearing bulletproof vest, duffel bags filled with M26 grenades, ammunition, and business suits to draw unwanted attention. Underneath their faces were Noh theatre mask to bring out the intimidation factor. Xu, on the other hand wore a Hannya mask being the leader of the pack. On their hands were modified guns with nothing to lose.
Time: 1:36PM – Assembly
It was late autumn at IS Academy as students gather around, watching Tatenashi preparing her routine speech. She cleared her throat to quiet down the chatter.
"Students, allow me to explain the school trip to Kyoto. Due to third party attacks on our Academy, I had to postpone the trip for good reasons. Safety is top priority, and I must ensure that it happens."
Silence described the students hearing the words 'third party attacks' as Tatenashi continued on. This time, she was serious, unlike her casual side.
"Orimura-sensei and Maya will lead the trip that includes personal IS users as protection."
Tatenashi returned to her laidback tone as students silently talked to each other about the personal IS users and the school trip.
"Here's an example of latest combat capabilities, our second and third year students-"
The words combat capabilities stirred the first year students. Tatenashi was used to crowd control. She snapped her fan that opened instantly, and the students stopped talking.
"Why must we bother playing bodyguards? Such an eyesore…"
"Ah, where did you get that source from?"
"My hometown Greece gave me the information…"
The lazy person with an unusual voice was Forte Sapphire, slouching on the sofa. Forte had light gray eyes, messy long black hair tied in a braid wrapped around her neck. Her body was petite similar to Laura, and slouching made her look even smaller. Forte wore a gold earring on her right ear. The Greece girl was close to snoozing, not wanting to keep up the boring speech.
"Student council president, the time has finally arrived, am I right?"
The young American adult with blue eyes leaning on the wall was Daryl Cayce. Her blonde ponytail was rather a man's hairstyle. Opposite to Forte's size and personality, Daryl's straight posture and ponytail made her look tall. Her arms crossed against her large breasts around F-cup. Daryl's IS uniform was rather loose, but Daryl couldn't care less.
"My IS, Hellhound was upgraded to Version 2.8," Daryl boasted. "I can repel those unwanted attacks."
"Very well then, dismissed!"
At the Tokyo station, while the Shinkansen was ready to depart soon, Laura stared intensively at the display case that had bento box. Next to the bento box was cake that caught her attention.
"I'll pay for those adorable cakes! I have money!"
Before Laura could complete her transaction, Ichika yanked her away to get inside the Shinkansen.
"Noooo! I want them!"
The Shinkansen beeped to indicate it was about to depart to Kyoto.
Time: 2:23PM
Inside the Shinkansen to Kyoto, Houki, Cecilia, and Laura were playing a card game. Like a high stakes game at Las Vegas casino, they were determined to win.
"The goddess of victory is truly smiling upon me."
"Nein! The victory shall belong to me, Alcott."
Laura readied her card, knowing she will win guarantee as Houki focused on the cards in her hands.
"I'm going to be in the same group with Ichika today. I can't lose to these psychos today…Buddha, help me!"
Laura with her 'You just activated my Trap Card' face waited for Houki to set her card. Laura couldn't stop hiding her smug, she revealed her triumph card, and Houki cried in defeat.
Ichika looked at his digital camera as Charlotte curiously leaned over.
"Oh, is that your camera?"
"Yup, I brought it from home so I can take some pictures for class memento-"
Someone threw a can of orange juice towards his face. Ichika caught it at the last second, not knowing who did it.
"Here you go, drink up."
Forte Sapphire, the second year student threw the gift. Ichika thanked the senior student while trying to open the lid, but something stopped his hand that felt cold and numb.
"What the-"
Was this a prank? Normally, the lid would open right away, but it was sealed shut. Ichika shake the can, which is normal to check there's juice inside, nothing happened. Inside the content, the juice was frozen solid like ice.
"Hahaha, you fell into her trap," said Daryl, sitting next to Forte with her legs crossed. "That's her IS, Cold Blood with a cool ability that can stop or slow down vibration of molecules."
Forte lack of energy said. "Don't ruin the spoiler, you're not suppose to reveal it."
Daryl laughed at her partner's phrase that was rather hilarious with her monotone.
"Hehe, we're not in a movie theater. You saw my underwear, what's the color?"
Daryl grinned as she stared at Ichika with interest. This was the time to look away before something lewd would happen. Before Ichika could respond, Daryl slightly pulled her skirt down that revealed her red underwear.
"Lewd boy~"
"You pulled your skirt down in public! Have you got no shame?" Ichika retorted.
Too late, Charlotte viciously glared at Ichika for his behavior, but truth be told, Daryl was at fault that started first. Daryl sat back and chuckled at Charlotte blushing at the same time.
"Listen to me, Daryl-"
"Ichika no ecchi!" Charlotte pouted.
Maya felt embarrassed at Daryl and Forte's uncouth behavior. They were supposed to be a role model for the first year students, not a bad influence. Maya turned her head at Chifuyu.
"I'm sure this is going to be a great trip."
"Yeah, sure." Chifuyu said slightly sarcastically, looking at the window, predicting something might interrupt their school trip.
"We are arriving at Kyoto station, please make sure you do not leave your belongings."
The Shinkansen made a complete stop as the first year students take their luggage. Daryl shoved Ichika behind before strolling with her partner.
"Perverted kid." Daryl taunted.
"I'm not!"
"Can't deny it when your eyeballs were ogling at my underwear. Hahaha, I'm right, you're wrong."
Ichika shook his head in disgust at Daryl and Forte. The students huddled up once again as Maya and Chifuyu prepare their announcements.
"Listen up, everyone! All of you will have free time with your groups."
"We're all scheduled to pay a visit to Kiyomizu-dera temple this evening. Be sure you get there on time, and don't be late. Understood?"
"Yes, madam!" The students said in unison.
"Dismissed!"
The students explored Kyoto, having a good time taking pictures at the beautiful structures filled with extensive history. Ichika took pictures he saw while dealing with the first class students that tag him along. So far, he managed to control the situation by making them take turns so they don't fight.
"Ichika, a piece of luggage was just delivered for you." Maya said.
Ichika didn't left it from the Shinkansen as he checked the luggage rather suspiciously that had the tag written 'Sender: Secret'.
"Is there something wrong?"
Kanzashi checked up on Ichika.
"This luggage was delivered for me, but I don't know who sent it."
Suddenly, the luggage moved by itself that startled Ichika and Kanzashi. Tatenashi popped out of the luggage like a magician, much to the dismay of Kanzashi.
"Tada! It's your student council president, Tatenashi!"
"T-Tatenashi?!"
"Big sister? You…!"
Kanzashi and Ichika shoved Tatenashi back in the luggage and threw her in a delivery truck. They took a breather, but the real Tatenashi leaned on the column, folding her arms giggling.
Autumn maple leaves scattered around Cecilia as she admired the colors and the beautiful nature.
"Dancing in the Autumn breeze, the season of love has arrived."
"Hey, Cecilia, mind if I take a picture? You look stunning."
Ichika readied his camera to take a picture of Cecilia. She held her cheeks while he took some pictures.
"I would like to see the pictures, they must be beautiful."
As Ichika scrolled through the pictures, Cecilia smiled on until the last picture ruined the quality. Apparently, a gust of wind obstructed Ichika that he accidentally took a picture of the maple tree.
"What on Earth is that last one suppose to be, Ichika?" Cecilia said.
"That was not supposed to happen! I can retake the picture-"
"Meow!"
A small white cat laid its eyes on Ichika and Cecilia with the "look at me" expression. Cecilia and Ichika had a look of bewilderment.
"There you are, Shiny."
A woman called out the cat strolling by, which was most likely, the name of the pet. Her appearance was out of the ordinary. She had long red hair, high heels, and tall slender body. Her right eye was an eyepatch, and her kimono was deliberately exposed to the shoulder to her big chest. There were burn scars near her missing right arm as the woman puffed out a smoke of on her pipe.
"…"
The cat leaped onto her shoulder, the red haired woman exhaled another puff of smoke, and left. Cecilia and Ichika were still lost at words of the woman and the cat before they took another photoshoot.
Ichika took some time on his own to take pictures for himself, admiring the peaceful afternoon. At the Jishu Shrine, Rin held a small brown cup written in 'love' filled with water.
It's not like I asked the favor of the gods, but since the shrine is so famous for its successful relationships, my prayers might be answered, right?
Rin prayed one last time to make her wish come true.
Please, will you make that notice how I feel about it, even if it's just a little?
Just as Rin turned her back, she unexpectedly ran into Cecilia who also had the same intention as her. Cecilia had a good match prayer tablet on her hands, and Rin knew she was up to something.
"What a coincidence," said Rin, hiding her hands on her back. "So, uh, this shrine is famous for something I might not heard of? I saw the shrine to see what's up, so here I am."
"Oh, I just happen to be in the same area, so I want to check it out as well!"
Cecilia and Rin laugh uncomfortably before they glared at each other like old rivals. Laura made her wish no one would dare to ask for.
"I wish to be blessed with many children."
Dumbstruck by Laura's insane to have many kids, which would be the appropriate time to zip her mouth immediately.
"Laura! What did you-"
"Just say?"
"Beg you pardon? Is this not the place to make your wishes come true?"
Rin and Cecilia sigh at Laura she did not have common sense at all. Firing her Lieutenant, Clarissa was the best choice to detoxify her mind against the anime fictional facts.
At the Fushimi Inari-taisha, Maya and Chifuyu walked past the red torii that stretched almost endlessly.
"Excuse me, Miss. Orimura? Is there something that's bothering you at this moment?" Maya questioned.
"Definitely, our Academy and students have already been targeted by constant third party assaults. We need to keep our eyes on everything, and make sure that our students are actually enjoying the trip."
Chifuyu want to take the chance for the students to have fun on their own, but ensuring safety upon them. If it weren't for her, who would look out after them?
"That will be 300 yen."
The store clerk gave Ichika two dango served on a skewer covered with sesame seed paste. Ichika placed the money to the clerk, giving thanks. Ichika enjoyed the Japanese dumpling and sweet mixed together, and the seed paste made it even better. The store clerk smiled at Ichika before they parted away.
"Hey there, Orimu!" Nohonon in her dark green kimono exclaimed, hopping like a jiangshi.
"Umm, Nohonon?"
"Help me, I'm being chased by Kan-chan~!"
"W-wait up, please!" Kanzashi panted from keeping up with Nohonon.
"Kanzashi, what's up with the pink kimono?"
"Ichika?" Kanzashi blushed. "Umm, it wasn't my idea, I got it because everyone else said I should try something wearing fancy. I didn't want to do it, but you know."
Ichika smiled at her adorable appearance. "You look absolutely beautiful, Kanzashi."
"You think so?"
"Of course!"
Thonk! A combat knife threw past his eyes, Ichika knew right away who the perpetrator was.
"My bride is locked."
"What were you saying, Mr. Orimura?" Charlotte growled.
"Spill it!" Rin exclaimed.
"Unforgiving!" said Cecilia.
Thinking fast, Ichika grabbed Kanzashi to run away as they give chase to pay him back for not understanding their feelings.
"Get back here!" Rin, Cecilia, Charlotte, and Laura yelled.
Ichika ran as fast as he could, holding Kanzashi for dear life. His pursuers were hot on his tail. Running like a zebra away from a pack of savage lions, Ichika did not notice he was about to run in front of a rickshaw, and Boom! The rickshaw collapsed, and a metal wheel came off, flying down the stairs.
To make things worse, Houki happened to sit in the rickshaw, and saw Ichika holding Kanzashi.
"Unh, what happened? Hey! What's going on?"
By the time Ichika woke up, Houki became enraged, blushing at the same time her childhood friend was 'dating' another girl. Another misunderstanding, if she gave Ichika the time to explain, Houki would calm down, not letting her emotions run wild.
"Why you little shit…WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"