Icarus 14.2

Several days passed since Wyatt's and Ace's invasion of Phantom Task's hideout. While they couldn't rescue any of the child test subjects, the duo managed to successfully captured Talia Mesuell. Within hours of the capture, Wyatt had given information on the hideout and by noon The Comet twins along with Currier Luccukchefka have been captured as well.

As class ended for the day, Class 2-2's personal IS pilots were meeting to discuss current events.

Houki says "Look all I'm saying Wyatt has been acting fish for a while."

Cecilia says "True but him being apart of Phantom Task is ridiculous."

Kanazashi adds "Plus he dismantled the captured units and returned the cores to their respective countries."

Rolan says "Even so what about that attack at the temples, it's way too much of a coincidence."

Rin groans "It's likely they were followed, Wyatt did run into Autumn earlier that month."

Houki sighed "If that's the case, this should prove he's definitely not someone we can trust." She pulled out a tape recorder and pressed play

As she let the same conversation she heard a few months ago play, Houki saw looks of confusion on her friends faces.

Once Houki stopped the recording, she says "That should be enough proof."

As Rolan placed her hand on Houki's forehead , the Holland girl says "It doesn't seem like you have a fever."

Houki swats the hand away and asked "Why are you acting like you didn't just hear Wyatt plot to betray us?"

Cecilia answered "That's because the only thing I heard was static."

The rest of the girls nodded their heads as they left the classroom for their clubs and other after school activities.

Houki gritted her teeth and thought "Damn it, they're in on it too. What other diabolical are you up to Wyatt."

Meanwhile at a local park , several dozens of kids were gathered around a stage. Up on the stage was a female announcer who asked "Is everyone excited because we've got a treat for everyone. Several students from the IS academy have come here today to act out the play Little Red Riding Hood."

The crowd cheered in excitement as Madoka walked to the impromptu stage , she began to narrate in a dull tone "Once upon a time there was a very beautiful blond girl who lived in a village near the forest with her mother. One day her grandmother gave her a very nice red cloak. That is why everybody in the village called her Little Red Riding Hood. One day.…"

At that moment Laura walked onto the stage dressed in a red hooded cloak as Charlotte followed in a orange polka-dot maid outfit with a white apron.

In a stilted voice Laura asked "Why did you call me mother."

Charlotte responds in a cheerful voice "Grandma is very ill , so I packed her some snacks to help her get better. Can you deliver the basket to her?"

Somewhat by reflex , Laura gave a military salute and responds "Yes ma'am."

The audience chuckles at the gag as Charlotte adds "And remember don't go into the forest or talk to strangers. Head straight to grandma's house."

As Charlotte hands Laura the basket and goes off stage, Madoka states "Little Red Riding Hood went through the forest, with the little basket for her grandmother, who lived in a nearby village. Along the way, she saw many beautiful flowers in the forest."

Laura reached down to pretend to pick flowers and says "I'm sure grandma would love some flowers."

Madoka adds "Little Red dropped her picnic basket to pick some flowers until suddenly."

Wyatt struts onto the stage in a werewolf costume and greeted Laura "Why hello there little girl."

Laura says "Hello there mister wolf, what are you here for."

Wyatt says "I was just walking around and I happened to catch of whiff of that there picnic basket."

Laura says "Why yes , it's for my grandmother and has all of her favorite treats like honey, strawberries and cookies."

As Wyatt licked his chops , he states "If that's the case, you wouldn't mind sparing a few treats."

Laura replied "I'm sorry Mr. Wolf but they belong all to my grandmother."

Wyatt sighed as he says "Well looks like I'll have to do this the hard way." Wyatt pretends to go in and pounce but he was caught off guard as Laura brandished a knife.

Too scared to see if the knife was real or not, Wyatt lifts his hands up in the air while he slowly and silently walked backwards off the stage.

With that the scene had changed to the interior Little Red's grandmother's cottage.

Madoka says "After being intimidated by Little Red, the wolf came up with a new plan. He took a shortcut to the girl's grandmother's cottage.

As he enters , Wyatt saw Kaitlynn in a prop bed wearing a pair of glasses and a bonnet over her hair.

Wyatt smirks as he says "You must be little red's grandma, I have to say you're lookin' good for your age."

Kaitlynn blushed as she says "Thanks I work out."

Madoka narrates "It was then the wolf moved in to swallow the grandmother in one bite."

But instead of following the script, Wyatt laid in bed next to Kaitlynn and said "Thanks for having me."

With a coy smile, Kaitlynn responds "At the very least you could've bought me dinner."

At that moment an off screen Charlotte threw a shoe at Wyatt as the American sighed and thought "I should probably not mess around."

Kaitlynn got out of the bed as she handed her bonnet and glasses to Wyatt.

Once she left the stage, Madoka says "Once the wolf ate the grandmother, he disguised himself as her and waited for Little Red to arrive.

As Laura enters the stage, she said "Guttentag Grossmutter." As Laura got closer she uttered the familiar phrase "Gee grandma, what big eyes you have."

In as high of a pitch he could manage to speak, Wyatt utters "That's a pretty insensitive thing to say."

Laura completely ignored the comment and says "And what big ears you have!"

Wyatt pretended to sulk "You know I'm really self-conscious about them. Thanks for bringing it up."

Laura finished the famous quote "And grandma, what big teeth you have!"

Wyatt gets out of bed and states "Okay, you're just a rude little brat. I'm gonna kill you."

Right as Wyatt was about to pounce on Laura , Madoka narrated "But before the wolf could gobble up the little girl, a woodsman entered."

Ichika walked onto the stage in a shinsengumi cosplay with a katana attached to his hip.

With a forced smile, Ichika states "That's enough wolf, you shan't touch a hair on her head."

Attempting not to explode in laughter , Wyatt narrates "Why, if it isn't Mr. Bushido , my life long rival."

Ichika smirks and states "Yeah that's right, I'm you're life long rival."

Laura thought "Didn't Wyatt already established that?"

Wyatt assumes a crouching position with his two hands up and his two fingers and thumb are pointed together while standing on his toes. He states "Let's end this feud right now."

Ichika unsheathed his prop sword and states "My feelings exactly."

The two charged at one another to mimic a one stroke battle from movie.

Ichika pretended to be hurt as he fell down onto one of his knees.

As for Wyatt he grins and says "Seems that's end of our battle, Mr Bushido." He immediately feel face first onto the ground as most of the crowd cheered for Ichika's victory.

Madoka announced "In a single strike , the wolf was stained by the woodsmen as he save Little Red."

The rest of the cast made their appearance on stage as Wyatt stood back up for the curtain call bow.

After getting changed and escaping the swarm of reporters and fans, the 6 IS students were making their way back to the academy on the monorail.

Slightly out of breath Charlotte says "That was kinda of funny don't you think."

Madoka asked "Still why did we have to put on a community play again?"

Wyatt responds "I thought it would've been a fun thing to do, plus it's some of us aren't going to be around for to much longer."

As the group focused their eyes at Kaitlynn and Charlotte, Laura says "I still can't believe you two will be in the Mondo Grosso."

Kaitlynn mentions "I mean we kinda of knew Italy was going to pick me when they gave me the Tempesta MK II."

Charlotte adds "True but my dad putting me in the running is completely out of left field."

Madoka responds "You've proven to have the best combat score out of last year freshmen class. Add in the fact you have the most advanced unit from your country , the choice is easy."

Wyatt pouts "It still sucks you two have to leave before the camping trip."

Laura mentions "But aren't you guys still waiting for your letters from Canada and Sweden?"

Ichika answered "Dr. Maxwell told us while we have a chance it's not definite."

Kaitlynn says "Don't worry about it, I've seen the work you've two did to apply. Plus I'm doubt any country would pass up the chance

Once the monorail reached the island, the group was greeted by Dr. Maxwell with two letters in his hand.

The doctor says "The time has come boys, time to see if the world is ready for you two." As the boys were handed the letters, they were frozen solid thinking how this moment will change not only their lives but that of the world.

After a few moments, a slightly agitated Madoka asked "Are you going to open them sometime today?"

Wyatt took a deep breath and suggest "Trade letters?"

Ichika nodded his head as the two exchanged letters and opened them.

Almost as soon as he opens the letter, The American shouts in excitement "Holy shit, you're in!!" Wyatt grabbed Ichika tight as he spun his roommate around.

Ichika chuckles as he pleads "Come on Wy, put me down."

Wyatt complied , as he said "Dude this is a big deal. Sure it's not Japan, but Sweden is still a major country to fight for."

Ichika smiles as he began to read Wyatt's letter "That's funny coming from someone who's going to fight for Cana…da." The Japanese teen's cheerful demeanor disappeared as he looked at the letter.

Confused Wyatt says "Come on man, don't leave me hanging."

Struggling to put the words together, Ichika said "Wyatt… you didn't get in."

At that moment Wyatt's smile fell and took the letter to read for himself. Written as plain as day and clear English the only thing Wyatt's eyes could focus on was the sentence "Unfortunately we cannot accept your request at this time."

Everyone went silent as Kaitlynn asked "You okay Wyatt."

In a voice so silently that the group could barely hear, Wyatt said "Yeah I just need to be alone for a bit."

As Wyatt walked off, Charlotte attempts to follow but Dr. Maxwell stopped her. The doctor says "It's best for Wyatt to have a little space for now."

Two days later in the afternoon , the freshmen tag team match was in the middle of their last semifinal match . Caleb and Harrison were able to secure their place with ease but Trent and Yasmine were having trouble dealing with the combined threat of Airis and Ran.

As Yasmine was able to hold her own against Ran in an Uchigane, Trent found himself completely out matched against Airis.

No matter what attack he tried, Trent couldn't get past the girl's defense.

In one of the pit areas, Caleb and Harrison were watching the battle on one of the monitors.

Harrison comments "Just as Wyatt said, the princess defense is as tight as a clam."

The Greek teen looked to see Caleb's mouth was watering and asked "Is food the only thing you think about?"

As he snapped out his daze, Caleb apologized "Sorry it's just I remembered these great restaurants my parents took me years ago that had awesome clams."

After processing this information, Harrison mutters to himself "He's better than the other idiot."

Harrison refocused on the footage of their next opponents and explains "It seems Airis's main strategy is to take the center of the arena and fire at her opponents while she's shielded by her barrier."

Caleb's comments "So it's like an armored disco ball."

Harrison chuckles at the strange analogy and responds "If it helps with visualization, let's go with that. A clear pattern throughout the tournament is she's not a team player. At least once per duel, Ran is hit by friendly fire."

At that moment the two saw Trent getting shot down into the clashing Yasmine and Ran.

The announcer declared "Trent Gibson, Yasmine Rogers and Ran Gotanda have. been eliminated. Meaning the team of Airis Twilight Ruxezemburg and Ran Gotanda will be heading to the finals."

Caleb jumps up and says "I got it , we force Airis to shoot down her partner, then with her outnumbered, we take down the princess. Just like Ichika and Charlotte did last year against Laura."

Harrison smirks "You're thinking in the right direction but that's not our sole plan. You'll be keeping Ran busy on the ground, while I place all of Airis's attention in the air."

Caleb pouts "Come on why do you get to fight the strong one, while I go against the 3rd rate pilot."

Harrison answered "Because I have away around that Princess's perfect defense."

Caleb asked "And how exactly will you do that?"

Harrison smirk turned into a malicious smile as he replied "I told you, her defense is as tight as a clam. And the best way to open a clam is to steam them."Once the break in between the semi finals ended, the two boys got suited up and were face to face against their opponents.

Caleb focused his gaze at Ran and thought "She just uses an Uchigane, even though she ranked first out of the non personal unit students, she's still limited in her abilities."

The bell rang as Caleb and Ran charged at one another with their blades held high , while their partners took to the skies.

As planned , Airis immediately positioned herself at the center of the arena as Harrison fired a bullet from his rifle. But the shot didn't connect as it bounced off the princess's barrier.

Harrison smirks as he enters Shooter Flow in Circle Rondo formation. He continued to circle around his opponent while firing shell after shel from his gun.

Seeing this attempt caused Airis to chuckle as she exclaimed "Many have tried but my gravity shield can't be broken!"

At that moment the princess extended her hands towards her opponent and shouts "Graviton Cluster"

Harrison narrowly escaped the attack by getting out of the girl's eyesight and noticed the wall in front of her hand had seemingly gained a large hand shaped crater.

The girl continued to attack as Harrison managed to dodge until he tricked the princess into striking her own teammate in the back.

Ran grits her teeth in pain as Caleb takes the opportunity to deal the first major blow of the two's duel.

As Airis continued firing Graviton Cluster after Graviton Cluster,

Harrison kept barely avoiding them with him every now and then forcing Ran to take some friendly fire.

Then after dodging seemingly the 18th Graviton Cluster of the match , Harrison fired his gun and to everyone's surprise, the bullet managed to deal a direct hit.

Airis was stunned as she thought "How is this possible, Seventh Princess's Gravity Shield can't be broken."

Harrison looked at the distrust on the girl's face and thought "Time to end this."

The Greek teen fired all of his missiles at the girl but due to the princess's gravity shield, none of them landed a direct hit.

Harrison says "If that's the case how's about a little of this." His hip mounted cannons unfolded and fired a stream of cold energy at the barrier.

Airis scoffs as she says "You might've gotten a single hit in, but that's all you'll ever get."

After a minute of Harrison firing from his cannons , a teacher announced "Due to the loss of shield energy, Airis has been eliminated."

Airis' jaw dropped as she noticed her once full shield energy had been reduced to zero. She shouts "How the hell, my shield energy was full."

While flying around the girl, Harrison taunts "Seems someone skipped the lessons on basic IS safety mechanisms."

Furious Airis asked "And what does that have to do with anything?"

Harrison explains "The IS was made to protect its user from even the most dangerous conditions. One such condition is extreme temperatures in which the IS would regulate to protect its user. But this process really eats up shield energy."

Airis couldn't believe it, to be defeated by such an underhanded trick in front of the whole world.

Back on the ground, Caleb was managing to overwhelm Ran as Harrison began to fire at the redhead girl.

Due to their overwhelming combined might, the boys managed to achieve the win.

As Harrison was flying back to the ground, Caleb grinned and shouted "That was awesome."

Harrison chuckles at his partner's enthusiasm "Yeah, you did good at leading Ran into Airis's line of fire."

While the two boys were getting changed after the match of their lives, Trent tackled the boys shouting "That was so mambochiwambo, you showed that princess what's for."

Caleb and Harrison struggled to get out of Trent's hold as the Kenyan boy asks "Let go man, you're breaking our ribs."

Trent loosened his grip as he apologized "Sorry, I tend to lose control of my strength when I got excited."

Harrison smirks "You do have a point, I think we did something even Ichika and Wyatt haven't done. Win a tournament."

Caleb argued "Well how many times have they've been in a tournament that hasn't been crashed."

Harrison shrugged his shoulders "It still counts as us surpassing them."

Trent asked "Speaking of Wyatt, have you two seen him today?"

Caleb answered "No I'm sure he would've ran down onto the field to congratulate us on our win."

Harrison assured his fellow males "I'm sure he'll tackle us like this lanky bastard any minute now."

Meanwhile at the break of dawn in Spain, a tanned girl with Neon blue hair and matching blue eyes was equipped in an orange IS unit with black detail and blue gems highlighting the limbs along with two floating knuckles devices.

Standing across from her was a very impatient Wyatt. The American says "Come on Griffin, let's set this right now."

Griffin chuckles "Always the impatient one Joseph, but I won't let you win. I need this spot."

Wyatt responds "So do I , but this battle will show who wants it more."

From the loud speaker, an official announced "All clear for combat. You may begin in 3..2..1!"