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"About time you did." Reika blurted out when Arata told her that he had asked Yuno out. "And just when I was about to step in and help you guys too."
"But you have to promise that you won't tell anyone, especially Catherin." Arata warned her and took out his science text book. "Although I suppose I have to be grateful that you failed your math test so Yuko cancelled the movie marathon."
"Whatever." Reika rolled her eyes. "So what's this about that I heard about you receiving a fan mail from Atsuya's new girlfriend?" She spat the last words out in disgust.
"She asked me to meet her on the roof, but I left her high and dry, wondering why I didn't show up." Arata smirked which made Reika laugh.
"She deserved it." But she suddenly sobered up. "Do you think that she would do anything to Mia because of this?"
"What do you mean?" Arata frowned.
"You said last time at Tandem Harbor that one of Bandit's LBX's malice was directed directly at Mia. So I was thinking, who in the world would hate Mia so much to the extent that that's person's LBX emits his or hers aura?"
"A lot of people hate her and her brother." Arata thought grimly which was unfortunately true since Muraku was the Violet Devil who made hundreds of students LOST and Mia had a bad reputation outside of Jenock and Harness because of her hot temper.
"But I was thinking, what if it was never about War Time?" Reika said seriously. "What if all this time, Charlotte was the one who was behind that Bandit LBX and did all that because Atsuya and Mia were still together?"
Arata frowned as her words held some logic in his mind. "Then she must have been aiming to make Mia LOST at that time so that she would be expelled and she can have Atsuya."
"Which is why I'm worried that she'll do something to Mia since she may want to take out her frustration of you not appearing on the roof on the person she hates most." Reika said worriedly.
Arata sat silently in thought and said, "But on the other hand, if she really is the one behind that Bandit LBX, then do you know what this means?"
Reika stared at him in confusion until it dawned on her. "We have a lead to Bandit."
"Exactly." Arata nodded. "So, I don't really think that she would do anything to Mia now since someone is constantly by her side nowadays. And Mia can hold her own against her in War Time so for the time being, we don't need to worry about that. But on the other hand, we should check up more on Ezeldarm."
"Ezeldarm? Why?" Reika tilted her head.
"Think about it." Arata patiently explained. "They have a teacher who is strange and for some reason, during the assembly, I sensed some of the students who were picked emitting a recognition aura, which means, they know Seredy."
Reika nodded in understanding at that and turned her attention back to her books. "I suppose the study session is off then?" She asked hopefully.
"Sorry, but no." Arata smirked. "You're not getting away with it, especially since you have a test coming up soon."
Reika grumbled and began doing the exercise that her teacher gave her. Arata chuckled as he watched her and went through her notes. But he frowned when he sensed the umbrakineticist's aura nearby and lifted his head. However, he did not see anyone around the bench that he and Reika were sitting at so he brushed it aside and resumed looking through the notes.
Later that evening, Reika watched as the mechanics from Jenock, sans Kouta, and Takeru discuss about the lab usage for the next day. The platoon captains from Jenock, sans Rikuya, were also gathered there to oversee the meeting.
"What are you saying Sakuya?" Bunta said in confusion. "You want to borrow the lab for another day? Does this mean that you haven't finished repairing the first platoon's LBX?"
"More like I couldn't repair them." Sakuya corrected him. He exchanged nods with Takeru and continued, "Actually, Takeru-kun and I have been busy making another LBX."
Takeru then picked up for him, "We're making full use of both Jenock and Harness' labs. But we expect that manufacturing the unit will take all of tomorrow."
"Two whole days when you are already making full use of the labs?" Rinko said in amazement.
"We already have permission from our teachers and the platoon captains." Sakuya looked around and lowered his head. "Please, let me use the lab again tomorrow! This is all for Jenock and Harness…not, the entire Second World!"
"Go ahead."
Sakuya and the two girls gasped and glanced at Bunta who spoke. "If Sakuya's going this far to ask us, then it must be really important. This is for the entire Second World, right? Then we got to help out."
"Thank you so much!" Sakuya thanked him.
"Then, I'll take your LBXs and repair them for you." Bunta offered. At Sakuya's confuse look, Bunta continued, "All you got to do is focus on your lab work."
"Bunta…"
"Can I help out too then?" Kiyoka spoke up and picked up Dot Phasor. "I've always been interested in this unit."
"Kiyoka, thank you!" Sakuya thanked her this time.
This left Orvane with Rinko who did not seem to mind. She turned to Sakuya with a curious face and asked, "But what kind of LBX needs that much time to manufacture?"
"One that we have never made before." Takeru said grimly. "Units that can…"
"Oh, Arata, what brings you here?" Reika asked loudly when she spotted him so Takeru would not complete his sentence.
Arata halted in his tracks when he saw that the mechanics and the platoon captains were gathered in the room. "…Sorry, I was looking for Mia. Did I interrupt something?"
"Nope, not at all." Reika shook her head. Arata regarded her suspiciously for a moment and spotted his platoon's LBX on the table and realization dawned on his mind. But, he decided not to push it for now and left to find Mia.
"That was close." Sakuya sighed. "Thanks for the save Reika."
"No worries." Reika grinned as she settled back down on the couch. "Just remember not to say a word to Arata about the LBX manufacturing tomorrow and I'll handle the rest."
"Is Arata really that against the new LBX?" Rinko asked curiously.
"Not exactly, but he isn't looking towards it. It's best not to mention it around him." Reika sighed.
Once the meeting was over, Reika hung back with Takeru as he worked on the blueprints of the new LBX.
"What's it called?" She asked as she peaked over his shoulder.
"Dot Blastrizer." Takeru said proudly. "It is based on Dot Phasor with a few changes and a new feature called Ragnarok Phase which allows it to withstand the Overload's strain." He frowned and turned to her. "But what would Arata say when he has to use it?"
"Don't worry, he already agreed to it so he'll use if even if it is reluctantly." Reika reassured him. "But just in case, I got a recording of him agreeing to it so he won't have any excuse to not use it."
"I wonder what goes on in the both of your heads sometimes." Takeru chuckled.
"You wouldn't want to know." Reika giggled. "But I know that he is actually looking forward to having a new LBX. It's the reason behind obtaining it that irks him."
"But why is he against using the Overload?" Takeru frowned in confusion. "If I were a player and had the Overload, I would definitely want to use it."
"It's not that he's against it, he's afraid of using it." Reika sighed.
"Afraid? Why would he be afraid of it?"
"It's just his personality." Reika shrugged. But she knew that he was only afraid because it reminded him of the freaks that they were to everyone when they were little.
"So basically I have to sit in my control pod and do nothing." Arata clarified the next day during the briefing at what Mito-sensei told him to do.
"Yeah." Haruki nodded. "Hikaru and I will be using DC Offencers while Mia will use Phantom Blaze since it's still usable."
Arata instantly felt suspicious and turned to Sakuya. "So I'm not going to use any units today?"
"Nope." Sakuya shook his head. "Just do what you are told to."
Arata raised his eyebrow but did not say anything about it. "Fine then."
But secretly, he knew what they were actually going to do and why they were not telling him. 'Then again, it is my fault for being so touchy with the subject.' He inwardly grimaced as he went to his control pod.
On Reika's side, she flexed her fingers as she got ready to defend the lab while Takeru and Sakuya worked on Dot Blastrizer.
"Reika, is everything clear at your side?" Inui asked her.
"Clear." She answered back.
"Defending the lab sure is boring." Suzunne complained after a while.
"Takeru is busy making a very important LBX. Be responsible and protect him." Inui chided her.
"Fine…" She sighed. Inui inwardly wondered if she'll ever learn to be responsible and stop being hot headed.
Reika had a wry smile as she had to agree with the both of them. While defending the lab was boring, protecting the lab was their first priority. Not to mention, they were counting on the new LBX to help Arata overcome his fears of using the Overload.
"A very important LBX." Suzunne said wishfully. "I wonder what kind of…" Instantly her words became gibberish as the transmission noise that Bandit always use sounded.
"Not now!" Reika gritted her teeth when she realized what it was. Several Gordons and Calipers then emerged from the foliage and attacked Inui and Suzunne's LBX. Sirena instantly came to their rescue and kicked away one of the Gordons and slashed at the other with her tessens. The hair at the back of Reika's neck pricked when she sensed not only the umbrakinetcist's LBX but also three Night Lurkers entering their dimension but she could not tell where.
"All units! Protect the lab at all cost!" Jin ordered them.
'Mia, where are the Night Lurkers attacking this time?' Reika thought but got no reply. She then remembered that Mia and Arata have yet to repair the telepathic network so she and Daimen could not reach them. But since there were not Night Lurkers appearing in her area, she decided that they must be at another part of the Second World so she placed all of her attention on Bandit.
But as Harness fought off Bandit, they were quickly overwhelmed and one by one, their LBXs were being defeated. Even Reika was being pushed back even though she was the only one in Harness who had a higher leveled LBX.
"There's no end to them." Reika gritted her teeth as she fought a Caliper with her Jazz Kung Fu. "At this rate…" She gripped her controls tightly as she tried her best to defeat Bandit but Sirena was slowly taking heavy damage from them. Several more Bandit units jumped out of nowhere with grenade in their hands and threw them right at the lab.
"No!" Reika gasped. "Takeru, can you still continue making the LBX?"
"I can't." Takeru said grimly. "There's just too much damage!"
Reika's grip on the control pod joystick tightened to the point where her hands were shaking. "I am not going to get mad. I am going to teach them a lesson!"
Her whole demure changed that she began using her original style of fighting instead of her Jazz Kung Fu. Ignoring Inui's order to regroup, she charged at the closest Gordon and began fighting it as though she would to a normal person.
In Harness' briefing room, Jin was wondering if this was the same Reika who he had mentored for the past few months. She always followed his and Inui's orders and now it was almost as though she had underwent a split personality change. Not only did she refuse to listen to Inui's orders, she was taking his order to defend the lab a little too seriously now.
Over with Arata, he sighed as he watched Reika fight. "They won't be able to get her to listen to them in this state."
"Arata, what's going on with Reika?" Haruki asked bewilderedly.
"All I can guess is that she lost control of her emotions…again." Arata sighed. "And in the worst case scenario, it can lead to disastrous results, which I have to step in…again." He muttered the last part under his breath.
"This is bad." Mia muttered in her control pod after her original form returned to her body when it had finished off the Night Lurkers that appeared near to Jenock's lab. "Arata, I think we better think of a plan B before Reika really unleashes her dark side."
"And what sort of plan B should I use when I don't have a unit to use?"
"I have the new LBX being made in our lab now!" Sakuya suddenly told him. "Be ready to head out!"
"You mean Dot Blastrizer?" He said in surprise.
"Yeah." Sakuya then began to muttering things that he did not quite understand while manufacturing the LBX. In the end, Sakuya managed to finish the LBX and synched it with his CCM.
Arata narrowed his eyes determinately and flew Dot Blastrize out towards Harness' lab. 'Just hold on Reika, I'm coming.'
