Infinite Stratos: Truth Be Told

A/N: Another chapter again! I've getting some good advice lately from the readers and I'm very thankful for that. Pointing out my mistakes is a very big help to me as an author!

Back to my story, I'm really excited to start with the battles of the second arc. All the repetitive watching of so many Gundam shows really paid off, I now have a clear idea of how the battle should progress from the beginning to the climatic finale, expect the battle to be a little bloody.

I've also a started to draft about the relationship arc after this, that arc will mostly center on Ichika and his intricate web of relationships to different women he is associated with. The additional OCs will make their appearance in that arc. I also planned ahead about the next arc following the relationship arc, where Ichika and the gang will be in their second year in the IS academy.

That enough rambling from me, on with the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Infinite Stratos (except for my OCs), it belongs to Izuru Yumizuru.

Chapter 50:

IS academy hospital, 7:34am.

Ichika now ate the breakfast that was delivered to him by the nurses.

"Hey did you guys eat already?" Ichika hesitated to start eating as he asked his friends if they already had their breakfast.

"We already did a bit too early at that too." Tatenashi smiled at Ichika. Ichika smiled at the girls as he started eating his breakfast.

"Ichika I haven't cooked you my dishes for a long time now…. I-If you want maybe I can cook something for you." Houki fidgeted and blushed as she told Ichika about her offer. Ichika couldn't help but tilt his head in confusion as he watched Houki fiddle with her fingers and looked down as she spoke.

"Are you feeling alright Houki?" Ichika worriedly asked his childhood friend. Houki quickly looked away as she attempted to hide her blushing face.

"Houki-san don't get ahead of yourself, don't think that you are the only one who can cook here. I Cecilia Alcott will also take part in coo-" Cecilia was immediately stopped by the girls from saying anything further.

"Ichika will surely die if he ate your cooking." Rin told Cecilia. Charlotte and Laura nodded agreeing with Rin; Kanzashi and Tatenashi just looked at Cecilia pityingly.

"Really what does everyone have against my cooking!?" Cecilia is now really confused, perhaps maybe she didn't know how her cooking really tasted.

"Cecilia-chan really should learn to the basics of cooking first." Tatenashi smiled at Cecilia and gave the confused British a pat on the back.

"If Cecilia finally learns how to cook, I'll gladly eat whatever she cooks for me." Ichika said with smile at Cecilia. The once dejected British teen regained her confidence when she received an encouragement from Ichika.

"Then I, Cecilia Alcott will devote my life to learning culinary for you Ichika-san!" Cecilia suddenly regained her composure and activated her ojou-sama mode.

"Ahahahahaha! Sure!" Ichika is a bit confused why would Cecilia want to learn cooking for him, if she wants someone to monitor her cooking while she learned the culinary arts, Ichika would be happy to.

"Ichika! You're not going to start playing favorites here again!" Charlotte closed in on Ichika as he and Cecilia seemed to be sharing a moment all to themselves. Houki, Laura, Rin even Kanzashi started to glare at the clueless boy.

"Now, now I'm sure Ichika-kun doesn't mean it, we should be forgiving as women should be." Tatenashi stepped in to dispel the growing quarrel.

"I guess that is true." Laura mumbled as she slowly turned away.

The girls calmed themselves down seeing that Ichika is still in no shape to be interrogated.

"Anyway what time will all of you proceed to the maintenance section again?" Ichika changed the topic as he started eating his breakfast again.

"8:55am oh look at that I guess we'll have to go." Tatenashi said as she looked at the watch on the room.

"Is it really? Ichika will you be okay here all by yourself." Houki said to Ichika after she peered at the time. The girls looked at him with very worried faces, their faces were almost saying that he can't be left alone here. Ichika couldn't help but feel like a kid who has a ton of mothers getting worried over him.

"Really guys I'll be alright here, I'm not that much injured now." Ichika smiled at the girls hoping to dispel their worried expression.

"But Ichika look at you, you're still in tatters. Our IS's repairs really isn't that required we can postpone it until tomorrow." Charlotte started to speak forcefully at Ichika, causing the bandaged boy to slightly flinch in surprise.

"As your husband it would be a very wrong act for me to leave you while you are this injured." Laura also joined in and passionately declared her intentions.

"Uh guys? Are you listening to me? I said that I'm better now. My wounds already healed and I'm already feeling much better that before. So there is no need to worry this much for me." Ichika once again tried to convince the girls that he is already fine. Ichika didn't really like the thought the he is becoming the cause of worry by his friends so he wanted to convince them to stop mulling over him.

"Ichika-kun, we are just trying to make sure that you're okay." Tatenashi now became a bit solemn as she spoke to Ichika.

"Yeah I am." Ichika smiled at them. The girls looked at him, reading his emotions for any hint of a lie and surprisingly they found no breaches in his expression. Normally Ichika was very easy to read, really easy, but now Ichika is really difficult to read, his emotions showed no clues of contrast to his words.

"….."

"….."

"….."

"….."

"….."

"….."

"….."

Houki, Cecilia, Rin, Charlotte, Laura, Tatenashi and Kanzashi looked at him for a few more seconds, staring Ichika with great focus. The girls are trying to make sure that he is really okay before they leave him.

"Umm guys?" Ichika sweatdropped when he felt the focused gazes of the girls that are being aimed at him. After a few more minutes, the girls finally exhaled at the same time.

"Alright Ichika then we'll go now." Houki sighed and smiled at Ichika but a hint of worry can still be seen in her face.

"Don't force yourself now Ichika, rest as much as you want and don't do any strenuous activities." Charlotte smiled at Ichika like a mother taking care of her son.

"Yes mom." Ichika jokingly said as he aimed a childish smile at Charlotte.

"AH!" Charlotte stepped back in surprise, this teasing from Ichika reminded her of the time when he turned to a cute 5 year old boy. The deep shade a red soon appeared on Charlotte's cheeks.

"Charlotte, are you alright." Kanzashi worriedly looked at Charlotte who was now looking from left to right while playing with her fingers.

"Charlotte-san stop trying to get ahead of us." Cecilia aimed a sharp stare at the blushing Charlotte, Houki, Rin and Laura soon followed.

"I-It's not like that!" Charlotte hurriedly tried to deny the accusation thrown at her.

Sensing another brewing quarrel Tatenashi quickly came in.

"Now, now let's go we'll be late if we quarrel here again." Tatenashi stopped the brewing tension between the girls. "Ichika-kun, we'll be going now." Tatenashi again smiled at Ichika, this time it was genuine.

Ichika looked at dazzled at the beautiful smile Tatenashi gave him which took him a few minutes before he can muster a reply.

"Uh, sure." Ichika returned the same brilliant smile at Tatenashi and to the girls. The girls briefly blushed before they hurriedly looked away and tried compose themselves. Soon the girls left, Tatenashi smiled at Ichika for the last time before she went out of the door, soon the girls followed one by one.

"See you Ichika." Charlotte smiled as she went out.

"Take care." Houki looked at Ichika with a slightly worried face before she left.

"Don't do anything reckless! Just wait for us here." Rin energetically left Ichika her farewell and skittered out of the door.

"T-Take care." Kanzashi left her shaky goodbye to Ichika and hurriedly ran out the door while trying to cover her blushing face.

"Ichika-san be careful now and don't try anything strenuous until you are really better." Cecilia went to Ichika and held Ichika's hands tenderly and gave Ichika one of her princess-like smiles.

"Ichika as a man you should be wise at using your body, so don't do anything that might put stress on you." Laura left Ichika her advice before she went out the room.

Ichika just scratched his head; he is starting to feel like some kid who is being choked with too much attention.

"I'm starting to think that they are treating me like a kid." Ichika just sighed as he lied back on his bed. Ichika is now alone inside the larger than usual hospital room.

"(Sigh), I'm really bored." Ichika sighed; he is really stricken with a serious case of boredom with him being stuck in this room with nothing but furniture and medical apparatuses to keep him company. With Ichika being left alone to himself, his mind started thinking, replaying all that happened in the past.

"A lot has happened….."

Ichika sighed as he started to ruminate about the happenings that occurred in the past. Ichika first went back to the time where he activated the IS in the examination center, first time he set foot in the IS academy, to when he met Houki once again and made some new friends, the IS tranings he went through all the trials and tribulations he faced and overcome.

"….."

Then the time where he faced the crimson IS that attacked him and his friends during their visit in the city, when he went face-to-face against flaming IS, the [Archangel], to when three powerful intruders infiltrated the academy and finally the recent assault in the academy by the [Crystal Dolls].

"Am I really strong enough the face all this?" Ichika questioned himself as he assessed how he handled those events back then. Ichika raised his right hand and looked at the white bracelet clinging to his wrist.

"[Byakushiki]…."

Ichika mumbled as he looked solemnly at his IS. Ichika wasn't able to feel [Byakushiki] ever since he first the first accident he had with his new IS ability, the [Hakuren]. Ichika now feels a different presence emanating from his IS, the feeling is very unnerving and almost terrifying in complete contrast to [Byakushiki]'s peaceful presence. Then Ichika's mind wandered to the vague memory in his mind, that black knight who he saw in the place where [Byakushiki] should be.

(She is completely similar yet also completely different from [Byakushiki]. Is she somewhat related to [Byakushiki]?)

Ichika's head started to hurt as he tried to remember more of the strange black knight that resembles [Byakushiki] so much.

"!"

Ichika suddenly stood up when he felt a very strong sense of danger that came out of nowhere, it was very strong and came from all directions, almost clouding the air with its malignant feeling.

"W-What is this feeling I'm having?" Ichika mumbled as he suddenly sat up from his bed. He doesn't know what is the reason for this really ominous feeling that suddenly plagued his mind, but he can certainly feel that another major happening will take place soon. It was just a feeling but it was really strong.

"…"

Ichika looked at his window and saw nothing but the dense mist obscuring everything.

"….." Ichika held the white bracelet on his right wrist. Ichika suddenly felt that he should get out of this soon.

(Scene Change)

"Geez what is it with this mist?"

Rin waved off the mist that covered her line of sight.

"It wasn't this thick just a while ago but now this is way too thick." Charlotte looked around and could barely see anything, the only thing she can see right now is the cobblestone road they are walking on anything else other than that is completely veiled by the eerie mist.

"Well the weather report said that we should expect unusual weather for this day and maybe this is it." Tatenashi also had a hard time in trying to see where she is going through this unusual mist.

"Brrrrrr! I know that this isn't helping our situation much but did anyone notice the drop in the temperature." Rin rubbed her shoulders as the frigid breeze slowly crept up in the air.

"Don't worry guys I'll take care of this troublesome mist." Tatenashi partially deployed her IS and materialized her lance. Tatenashi began to twirl the lance above her head and the mist slowly part from them and partially cleared the way.

"There, at least we know where we are going." Tatenashi stopped twirling her lance and dematerialized her lance. "Let's go or else we'll freeze in this cold." Tatenashi ushered the girls to run.

The girls now started to run as they hurried to their destination, the maintenance district of the IS academy. It location of the maintenance branch is a bit far from the hospital but it can be reach in just minutes if you run. But….

"How much longer, I feel like we've running for a while now." Cecilia started to complain when she noticed that they seem to be walking around in circles.

"Wait!" Houki called for them to stop running. The girls finally stop and rested as they ran for quite a time now. "Where are we going anyway? It feels like we are just going in circles when we started from the hospital." Houki's words seemed to have made the girls realized the peculiar situation they are in.

"I remember that we should just go straight and turn left when we reach the administration building but we ran for about 20 minutes now and found no trace of the admin building." Rin said with an anxious face.

"The admin building is not that far from the hospital so how come we haven't reached it yet?" Cecilia added.

"Allow me. I'll see things from the air."

Kanzashi summoned her IS [Uchigane Nishiki] and flew up to air to get an aerial view. But what Kanzashi saw was an opaque view still covered with the thick hand of the mist.

"So Kanzashi-chan? What do you see?"

Tatenashi asked her little sister through the communicator.

[Nee-chan I can't see anything, the mist is even thicker here.]

Kanzashi raised the level of her Hyper-sensor, the omniscient field of vision of the IS's Hyper-sensor should be able to provide Kanzashi a clearer view of the surroundings but….

(BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT)

Kanzashi Hyper-sensor is being jammed by something, a very strong interference seem to fill the air that Kanzashi's Hyper-sensor powered down minutes later due to massive jamming of the signal.

"What the…"

Kanzashi soon noticed that the slihoutte of the buildings she is seeing is very different compared to that of the academy. Kanzashi didn't know why but she felt that this isn't the academy anymore, those buildings she is seeing looked more like skyscrapers of a western city.

[Kanzashi…..bzzzzzzzzzzzzz…..what….bzzzzzzzzzzz…. do…..bzzzzzzzz…. you see now?]

Tatenashi's voice rang through the communicator again but this time it sounded very garbled and buzzing.

"Nee-san I can't see anything, I think I'll go down."

Kanzashi soon flew down and dematerialized her IS.

"…."

"…."

"…."

"…."

"…."

"…."

"…."

All seven of them started to become suspicious of this situation. It's almost like the space was being bent, the laws of physics being defied.

"What did you see there?" Laura asked Kanzashi, the German soldier now had a very uneasy expression on her face.

"I can't see anything, the Hyper-sensor was heavily jammed, and I can't even hear nee-chan's voice on the communicator." Kanzashi said with a worried face. The girls started to tense up, they know that this isn't something that would classify as an ordinary occurrence.

"I'll try contacting the IS academy command." Tatenashi activated her communicator and tried to contact the IS academy command. But the response that came was electronic buzzing. Soon the communicator gave a very disconcerting message.

[Location Unknown: Requesting new location codes to establish contact]

The girls widened their eyes. The communicator said that they are in an unknown location.

"What is this? This has to be a joke!"

Cecilia's voice started to raise its volume as the British girl started to panic.

"I'll check too." Charlotte opened up her IS communicator and tried to establish a contact with anything but she also had the same outcome as Tatenashi's.

[BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ]

Only electronic buzzing was what Charlotte achieved.

"Let me try!" Laura deployed right arm of her IS which has the beacon for contacting the satellite of the [Schwarzer Haze]. But Laura's attempt also went in vain as her beacon couldn't get a hold of the satellite signal.

"I can't establish a stable contact." Laura said with a grim face. The girls now started to feel the anxiety. Being lost when they are sure that they are here in the academy absolutely unnerved even terrified the seven personal IS pilots.

"Okay time to end this." Tatenashi summoned her lance once again and this time used her water manipulation ability to clear out this heavy fog.

(WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH)

The wind started to swirl around Tatenashi as she raised her lance; the beautiful and sparkling effect of Tatenashi's special ability activated slowly dispersed the mist around them.

"HA!"

Tatenashi then planted her lance on the ground which created a shockwave that blew away the mist.

(WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH)

The force of Tatenashi's lance hitting the ground did blew away the mist but it also made more obscuring effects as the smoke of the impact of her attack scattered another misty veil to appear.

""""""""Kyah!""""""""

The girls screamed lightly as the force of Tatenashi's attack rippled out strongly.

(Whoooooooooooooooosh)

Soon the mist die down.

"There." Tatenashi dematerialized her lance and looked only to find herself standing alone in the middle of the still misty surroundings.

"What the?"

Tatenashi looked around but saw no traces of her friends or her little sister.

"Kanzashi-chan!"

Tatenashi called out but she got no answer.

"Houki-chan! Laura-chan! Cecilia-chan! Rin-chan! Charlotte-chan!"

Tatenashi called out but got no answers, only the deafening silence of the misty surroundings.

(TAP) (TAP) (TAP)

Tatenashi heard some footsteps approaching her but she isn't sure from where.

"Oh? Can't even tell where I am?"

Tatenashi turned around when she heard an extremely mocking voice rang behind her.

"!"

But what Tatenashi saw wasn't what she expected at all.

"…."

There was a girl standing right behind her, the girl is dressed in an IS academy uniform that is identical to what Tatenashi is wearing, the girl is also holding a blue folding fan which is another similarity she has with Tatenashi and her face is very very similar to Tatenashi. The blue hair and the reddish eyes that carry a playful glance, it was like Tatenashi was staring at a mirror.

"Oh? What is this? Tongue-tied?"

Tatenashi froze on her place as the mist finally cleared and revealed the full and uncovered form of the girl that came out of nowhere, she completely looked like Tatenashi.

"!"

Also Tatenashi noticed something even more odd than this as the mist started to creep away from her and the other Tatenashi standing right in front of the original.

"Welcome back to your starting point daughter of the Sarashiki clan."

The fake Tatenashi said as she raised both her arms side to side as if to invite Tatenashi to look around her.

"This is….. My family's training ground."

Tatenashi found herself in a forest setting, the same forest where she trained herself. The training ground of the Sarashiki clan.

(FLASH)

The fake Tatenashi suddenly vanished and now appeared above Tatenashi.

"Heh!"

The fake Tatenashi deployed her lance, similar to the [Heavy Rain] lance that the real Tatenashi has.

"!"

Tatenashi jumped away from the point of impact and deployed her IS.

"[Mysterious Lady]"

Tatenashi deployed her lance and lunged forward at the crater where her opponent crashed.

(TRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRSH)

Tatenashi saw that her attack was blocked by the fake Tatenashi who also deployed its IS, the [Mysterious Lady].

"Hehehehehe…."

(CLANG)

The two identical IS backed away from each other and then lunged back and clashed furiously.

(Scene Change)

Cecilia who was knocked down earlier now slowly got to her feet and dusted her dirtied skirt.

"What was that all about?" Cecilia stood up straight as she finished patting off the dust from her uniform.

"Uh? Everyone!" Cecilia found herself alone in the middle of the mist-filled environment. Cecilia frantically looked around and searched for any signs of life but found not one stirring in the deathly silent surroundings.

"This isn't funny anymore! Jokes have their limits too!" Cecilia started to get irritated when she thought that she is just being made fun of by her friends. But the mist started to clear up by itself.

(WHOOOOOOOOOOSH)

An unearthly breeze slowly lifted the mist and revealed Cecilia to be in a different place now and not in the academy. Cecilia was now in a beautiful garden filled with beautiful flower beds of different colors and arrangements. This was the garden where she would often play when she was young when both her parents were still alive. She is in the garden of the Alcott estate.

"Why….. am I here?"

The place Cecilia found herself in the garden of her mansion in Britain but she was lost as to how she ended up here.

"Nostalgic isn't it?"

Cecilia turned around in an instant when she heard a feminine voice came from behind. Cecilia saw a blonde girl sitting at a chair while sipping tea, Cecilia couldn't see the girl's face because she is facing away from Cecilia. But the mysterious blonde slowly got up from her chair and placed the tea cup back on the table.

"Who…." Cecilia found herself really shocked when she saw who the girl is.

"Pretty shocked to see someone who has the same face as you?"

The girl had the same appearance as Cecilia, like a perfect reflection of Cecilia. The blonde hair, the blue eyes everything about Cecilia was also present in the girl standing in front of her.

"Who are you?"

Cecilia said as the shock of this unexpected meeting froze Cecilia's body.

"What nitwit, of course I am you."

The fake Cecilia flicked back the hair covering her left ear and revealed the blue earing hanging on her ear.

"Heh!" Light suddenly enveloped the fake Cecilia and then revealed her already clad in her IS, [Blue Tears]. The real Cecilia was stunned that the fake her also had an IS and it is really identical to her [Blue Tears].

"Don't stand there and gawk at me, time let's dance."

The fake Cecilia aimed her [Starlight Mk. III] at Cecilia while only holding it with one arm.

(PIWWWWWWWWW)

(Scene Change)

Rin tirelessly ran around the mist as she tried to search for the others. When Tatenashi tried to do away with the mist, the force of Tatenashi's lance impacting the ground threw away Rin and now the Chinese girls is trying to locate her friends.

"Geez! Where are you guys! Answer if you can hear me!" Rin screamed on the top of her lungs. She had been running around for minutes now and hasn't found anything but more mist covering everything.

"Hey can any of you hear me!" Rin opened her communicator and tried to establish a contact with any of her comrades. But the only response she received was electronic buzzing.

"This isn't funny anymore!"

Rin now scowled in irritation, the stress of these events finally bottled up inside Rin. The Chinese representative deployed her IS [Shen Long] and fired her impact cannons at the ground to blow away the mist.

(BOOM) (BOOM) (BOOM) (BOOM)

The Rin's shot impacted the ground and create explosion, the mist began to clear allowing her to see where she is now, and she is not in the academy anymore.

"What the where am I?"

Rin began to look around frantically when she noticed that she is in a place that is not the academy. But as Rin started to notice, the place she is currently in right now is not that foreign to her eyes in fact this is the place where she grew up, it was her house here in Japan when her parents where still together.

"Wait? How did I get here?"

Rin started to back away in shock. She now found herself back in her old house here in Japan.

"Welcome home! Well that would been a correct greeting if this still was your real home."

Rin immediately turned around and saw a girl whose appearance perfectly resemble her walk up to her with a smug smile on her face.

"W-Who are you?" Rin aimed her [Ryuhou] at the strange girl, but the fake Rin just smiled despite being at the point of Rin's impact cannons.

"Do I need to explain everything? Sheeeesh! And you call yourself a representative candidate." The fake Rin revealed an evil smile and summoned her own IS in just a split of a second. The IS of the fake Rin is also [Shen Long].

"What the? Who are you!? How did you get that IS!?" Rin is now infuriated as she summoned her [Souten Gagetsu] and took a stance against her doppelganger.

"(Sigh), how hopeless can you be? Of course I am you and this is your IS."

The fake Rin made a cruel grin.

(FLASH)

The fake Rin suddenly vanished and appeared above Rin and performed a downward smash.

"GUH!"

Rin blocked the strike.

(CLANG)

(Scene Change)

"Uuhhhh….."

Charlotte slowly got to her feet after she tumbled around because of the shockwave of Tatenashi attempt to blow away the mist earlier.

"Guys are you alright?" Charlotte called out to her friends but found herself alone, standing all by herself in the middle of the thick mist.

"Laura! Houki! Tatenashi-san!" Charlotte ran forward hoping to find her friends there waiting for her. But she ran and ran and she found nothing but more mist covering her path.

"Rin, Cecilia, Kanzashi!" Charlotte once again tried to call out for her friends but something caught her attention, she noticed that she seemed to be in a grassland. Charlotte noticed that there are no grassland in the academy, so she tried touching the strange grass, which was later revealed as not grass but flowers, they were lavenders.

(WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH)

"Wait this is…"

The mist quickly cleared up and revealed to Charlotte where she really is right now.

"It can't be…." Charlotte found herself back on her home in France, standing in front of the house where she lived with her mother. "Why am I here?" Charlotte suddenly found this very nostalgic. A flood of memories of her and mother filled her mind. Tear were already threatening to fall but a sharp gust suddenly swept and caused Charlotte to tense up.

"Very touching, but also very pathetic. Crying when you just remembered some pathetic memories? Heh!" Charlotte turned around and saw an identical version of her looking at her insultingly. Charlotte widened her eyes as she was stunned at what she saw; it was like that the girl in front of her was a perfect mirror version of herself.

"W-Who are you?"

Charlotte asked the fake Charlotte as she started to ready herself for anything.

"You're hopeless… Still the worthless orphan." The fake Charlotte suddenly had an IS grade SMG on her hand, a [Desert Fox] same as Charlotte's and it is now aimed at her.

"Heh!"

The fake Charlotte fired her machine gun.

(BAM) (BAM) (BAM) (BAM) (BAM) (BAM) (BAM) (BAM) (BAM) (BAM) (BAM)

Charlotte jumped away from the line of fire. But the fake Charlotte pursued the real one with her gun.

(BAM) (BAM) (BAM) (BAM) (BAM) (BAM) (BAM) (BAM) (BAM) (BAM) (BAM)

Charlotte barrel rolled away to eluded from the bullets.

"[Raphael-Revive]!" Charlotte screamed and her IS quickly deployed.

"Guh!"

Charlotte erected her energy barrier, the [Garden Curtain] and used it to deflect the bullets of the fake Charlotte.

"Heh!" The fake Charlotte used [Ignition Boost] and glided on the ground fast, she circled around and lunged at Charlotte from behind.

"Hmph!"

The fake Charlotte summoned her [Grey-Scale] and aimed it right at the real Charlotte's throat.

"Hiii!" Charlotte luckily blocked the shield piercer with her energy barrier. But the fake Charlotte smirked and activated the [Grey-Scale].

(BOOOOOOOOOM)

The force generated by the most powerful weapon of the second generation threw Charlotte off for quite a distance, tumbling a few on the ground before she recovered.

"What is happening?" Charlotte mumbled. But the fake Charlotte suddenly answered her question.

"What is happening? What is going to happen is that you are going to die, just like your mother." The fake Charlotte lunged towards the real one.

"Guh!" Charlotte summoned her shotgun and her SMG and took the challenge of her doppelganger.

(Scene Change)

"Uhhhhh…"

Laura slowly came to and slowly got up from the ground where she lay unconscious for a few minutes.

"I-Ichika…" Laura mumbled as her mind still lingered in her sleep. "What the!?" Laura finally noticed that she is now alone.

"Charlotte!" Laura tried to look for her best friend but found not a hint of presence from her French companion nor the others. Laura ran forward and braved through the mist.

"Where are they?"

Laura mumbled to herself. But she quickly tensed up when the mist started to clear up and revealed Laura's current location.

"It can't be…." Laura found herself standing in the middle of the [Schwarzer Haze] military base. Laura is outright lost as to how she managed to get here when she is miles away from Germany.

"Clarissa!" Laura immediately tried to call for her friend and second-in-command here in the base; the German was completely lost in her thoughts that she thought this was the real [Schwarzer Haze] base completely forgetting the very peculiar circumstances she is in.

"Everyone!"

But as Laura ran she noticed that the base was empty, not just empty but devoid of any presence of life, it was just an empty establishment. Laura finally grew tired with all the running she did.

"What is happening?"

Laura muttered as she began walking. The German girl looked around the empty buildings and training grounds.

"…"

Laura wandered around the empty base for minutes before she arrived at the place where she is most fond of, the IS training ground of the [Schwarzer Haze] base.

"I used to train with instructor here." Laura muttered as she started to reminiscence about her past.

(TICK)

Laura heard the first noise ever since she arrived in this place and turned around only to be greeted by a kick that landed on her stomach.

"GUH!"

Laura was thrown off and rolled on the ground while holding her stomach that took the powerful hit.

"How unbecoming, well I guess it is pointless to expect something from a doll." The mocking voice of her attacker made Laura stand up in anger.

"Who are you!?" Laura roared in rage as she stood up and drew two of her combat knives. But Laura was stunned when she saw the appearance of the attacker; it was very much indistinguishable from her appearance.

"What is this!?" Laura tightened her grip on her knives as she roared the question. The fake Laura just sneered at her.

"Pretty slow are we? I guess this is way you were called a defect in the first place!" The fake Laura lunged forward as she drew her combat knives. The real Laura stood her ground and engaged the fake one in a joust of knives.

(TSING) (TSING) (TSING) (TSING)

The real Laura and the fake Laura threw their attacks at each other furiously. Their gleaming knives created sparks every time they grind against each other.

"Heh!" The fake Laura once again landed a solid knee to Laura's stomach causing the German soldier to temporarily lose balance.

"Ha!" The fake Laura gave the real one another kick to the face as she staggered because of the knee she received earlier. Laura grimaced at hits she had been receiving. Laura reached for her eyepatch and removed it.

"…."

Laura stood up now without her eyepatch, her glowing left eye shone brightly in the gloomy atmosphere. But the fake Laura just smiled and laughed at the real one serious expression.

"So finally ready to fight for real." The fake Laura threw its taunt at the real Laura. The fake Laura sheathed back her combat knives and summoned her IS, [Schwarzer Regen].

"!" Laura was stunned when she saw that the fake her summoned an IS that is exactly like hers.

"Kuh!"

Laura also deployed her [Schwarzer Regen].

"…."

"…."

Two black IS stood face to face in the middle of the empty military base.

(WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH)

And then the two machines vanished and explosion rang across.

(Scene Change)

Kanzashi wandered around the mist for a while now, she had been screaming for her friends but all the response she received were the silence of the mist ridden land.

"Onee-chan….." Kanzashi started to mutter with a hint of fear. She isn't sure about where she is anymore; Kanzashi thinks that she is not in the academy right now. The slightly terrified Kanzashi agitatedly looked around for anything that would lessen the fear that slowly creeps on her mind.

(WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH)

The sharp wind blew, the mist started to clear up.

"What….."

Kanzashi was shocked when she found that she is not in the academy anymore but now she is in the riverbed. This is the same riverbed where Kanzashi would go whenever she felt bad when she was little. Kanzashi looked at her left and she saw the Sarashiki mansion, she can't have mistaken, Kanzashi is now in the Sarashiki estate instead of the IS academy.

"Still the same…" Kanzashi turned around when she heard a voice.

"!"

The youngest daughter of the Sarashiki froze when she came face to face with herself; it was like she was watching herself through a mirror.

"So you came here to mope over your pathetic life?"

The calm but absolutely insulting voice of the fake Kanzashi unnerved the real one.

"I guess you still a spineless coward."

The fake Kanzashi materialized the particle cannon of [Uchigane Nishiki] in her right hand and aimed it at the real Kanzashi.

"!" Kanzashi out of nervousness froze on her place. The fake one smirked when she saw the terrified expression in Kanzashi's face.

(ZIWWWWWWWW)

The particle cannon fired.

(Move! Move damn it move!)

Kanzashi repeatedly screamed at herself to move but her body is still too shocked to obey.

(BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM)

Kanzashi was thrown away by the force of the explosion when the beam exploded just a few steps to her right, luckily the beams was only aimed by the fake to rattle Kanzashi and not to actually finish her off.

"Guuuuh!" Kanzashi slowly got up but her mind is really down right now because she just a shockwave of an explosion in a fairly close range.

"Once a coward always a coward."

The mocking voice of the fake Kanzashi finally blow through the real one's patience. Being called weak and coward didn't go well with Kanzashi now. She now had the courage to fight for herself; she is not the same girl who was very weak and very insecure of the world. She now was strong and the new courage that she now possessed was given to her by Ichika, someone she greatly cares about. It would be an insult him if she remained on the ground and just take the insult.

"Don't call me a coward!"

Kanzashi stood up and summoned her IS. [Uchigane Nishiki] stood tall, but the fake Kanzashi also summoned her IS which is also a [Uchigane Nishiki].

"….."

"….."

The two IS then hovered above the ground and waited for each other to make the first move.

(WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH)

The wind blew.

(CLASH)

Then the two IS clashed, coloring the skies with explosions.

(Scene Change)

Houki like the other girls is also lost in the misty land. She had been walking, trying to look for her friends for a while now and so far her efforts were fruitless.

"Where are they?" Houki frantically looked around her. Houki started becoming nervous, the mist around her absolutely covered everything almost to the point where Houki started to doubt if she is still in the IS academy.

"Huh?"

Soon Houki's fear were confirmed when the Japanese girl came across a set of stairs that is not found in the academy, this stairs often resembled the entrance to shrines. Houki hesitated to go at first but after a few minutes of deliberation with herself she finally step up and climbed the stairs. It took Houki minutes before she reached the top.

"A temple?" Houki looked around and saw that she arrived in a temple as the mist started to disperse. But something in this temple seemed very familiar, very, very familiar.

"Wait a minute is this…." Houki looked around as she finally started to notice that she has been to this place before, in fact she was really infatuated with this place. Later Houki's thoughts were confirmed when she saw the big name from the shrine entrance, the Shinonono Shrine.

"Wait why am I here?"

Houki was shocked when she found herself in the shrine where she grew up and more importantly where she met Ichika.

"…."

Houki felt that someone was watching her, Houki froze for a while and didn't move. Later, a girl dressed in a hakama outfit stepped out of the mist in front of Houki. Houki was stunned when she saw the girl, it was her, or maybe it looked a lot like her.

"W-Who are you!?"

Houki asked the strange girl.

"…."

But the fake Houki didn't answer; it plainly stared at the real Houki.

"Answer me!" Houki who is now slowly losing her patience raised her voice, but the more Houki got agitated the fake Houki started to grin evilly.

"…. Still the same as before. A girl who has no control of herself still insist in her illusion that she now is different from before."

The fake Houki grinned at the real one.

"What did you say?" Houki summoned both her IS swords, the [Amatsuki] and [Karaware]. The fake Houki merely glanced at the battle-ready Houki and also summoned its swords which is also the [Amatsuki] and [Karaware].

"What!?"

Houki was shocked when the girl in front of her also possesses the same weapons as her.

"….."

"….."

The two glared at each other for a while before they summoned there IS units fully and lunged at each other.

(TRRRRRRRRRRRRRRSH)

The two grinded their twin swords against each other.

"Who are you?"

Houki asked the question again and the fake Houki just smiled cruelly.

"I am you."

The fake Houki pushed Houki away resulting to the Japanese girl being thrown off the shrine.

(Scene Change)

Chifuyu, Maya, Natasha, Natalia, Iris and Satella finally arrived in the IS academy underground where the special conference room was located.

"Geez did anyone noticed the sudden dropped in the temperature?"

Iris started to shiver as the cold drop of temperature was felt even in the depths of the underground.

"The weather said that it might get pretty cold today due to the approaching of December." Maya answered Iris.

"Still this is very peculiar even for a weather approaching December, even American is not this cold during winter." Natasha also shivered a little.

"Everyone we should be careful not to catch colds."

Natalia smiled and reminded her colleagues to be careful of their health.

"Well that applies to everyone except Chifuyu."

Satella patted Chifuyu's shoulders when she noticed that the elder Orimura has been very quiet ever since they left the hospital.

"..."

Chifuyu just continued to think deeply instead of replying to Satella.

"Miss Orimura?" Maya now peered over to look at Chifuyu. She saw the expression of worry and anxiety on Chifuyu's face.

"Hey, Chifuyu are you alright?"

Natasha tugged Chifuyu's shoulders causing the daze Orimura to snap out.

"What is it?" Chifuyu who finally snapped out of her stupor faced her worried colleagues.

"You've been very ever since we left the hospital, don't worry I'm sure that Ichika is okay there." Natalia tried to ease Chifuyu's worry.

"What makes you think that?" Chifuyu raised her eyebrow when Natalia implied that the reason of her worry is her little brother.

"Because only Ichika-san can make you worry like this."

Satella said with a smile. Chifuyu upon hearing that just blushed and turned around and hurriedly walked on. Natasha, Natalia, Maya, Iris and Satella looked at each other with knowing smiles.

"Guess she is too shy to admit it."

Satella grinned.

Soon the teachers arrived in front of the conference room, but what they saw shocked them beyond belief. The door leading to the conference room was destroyed completely, leaving a gaping hole in its place.

"What the!?"

Iris exclaimed when she saw the huge hole in the place of the door to the conference room.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Natasha, Iris and Maya readied themselves to deployed their IS at any sign of danger.

"..."

Chifuyu looked closely at the damage done, she noticed that the edge of the hole had ice on them, as if showing that the wall was broken through by the huge ball of ice. Chifuyu walked towards the damaged wall and looked at the destroyed wall.

"Wait is that ice?"

Natalia who followed Chifuyu said with a confused face.

"Let's get out of here." Chifuyu suddenly said. But it was too late for that now.

(HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA)

Ten [Crystal Dolls] slipped through the walls of the underground and surrounded the teachers of the IS academy.

"Well this is a strange welcoming committee." Satella tensed up.

Chifuyu, Satella, Natasha, Natalia, Maya and Iris are now surrounded by ten [Crystal Dolls].

"Guess we better show our guest our hospitality."

Iris suddenly smirked.

(FLASH)

(FLASH)

(FLASH)

Natasha, Satella and Maya deployed their IS and engaged the [Crystal Dolls].

"Three of you go we'll handle this clowns."

Iris screamed at Chifuyu, Satella and Natalia who don't have IS.

"Contact the command and warn the rest of the academy!" Natasha added.

"Let's go!"

Chifuyu, Satella and Natalia ran away from the battle.

"Where are we going?"

Natalia asked Chifuyu about their destination.

"To the master center of the academy." Chifuyu said as she ran.

"How were they able to slipped through the energy barrier of the academy?" Satella asked her question to Chifuyu.

"Don't ask how they got in, ask about what are we going to do now that they are in." Chifuyu's voice turned very grim.

The academy is once again attacked and this time by an enemy that bypassed its impenetrable defenses, this thought weighed heavy on Chifuyu again but the thing that made her all the more worried is her little brother. Ichika is left alone in the hospital.

(I'm such an idiot!)

Chifuyu cursed herself in her mind as she together with Satella and Natalia ran towards to depths of the IS academy underground.

(Scene Change)

Ichika tried sleeping but he couldn't the feeling of intense danger was too strong for him to even blink his eyes.

"This is funny anymore." Ichika muttered as he grew restless. The overpowering sense of danger was so intense that Ichika felt a blade is being stuck to his throat.

"...That's it!"

Ichika can't take it anymore. He sat up from his bed and removed the bandages on his body.

"..."

Ichika removed all the bandages that covered his body, his body that was heavily damaged because of [Hakuren] has somewhat recovered now though he knew that his injuries still hasn't completely healed. Lastly Ichika unwrapped the bandage covering his right eye.

"..."

Ichika opened his right eye.

"Good it's all healed now." Ichika touched his right eye.

Ichika then picked up the clothes his sister left him and wore it. After he got dressed Ichika went out of his hospital room.

"What the..."

Ichika found the hallway empty and oddly enough it was infested with a thick mist.

"This weird. I better go look for Houki and the others."

Ichika ran towards the stairs.

(Scene Change)

(He is finally awake, now we can begin the game.)

The Crystal Being from above the academy expanded her wings.

The game of survival has begun