Infinite Stratos: Hidden Trump

by Blackshadow999

My life was going the way I wanted, then the Bunny called me, to get her kicks by messing with my life again! Now, I'm going to the IS Academy, all my classmates are my age and females... This'll be some of the hardest challenge I've faced! That Rabbit will pay for making my life HELL and that's a promise I'll KEEP! No Ichika in this story. OC main.

3. Show of Confidence

A/n

Here is chapter 3 revised, the duel between Sai and Cecilia Alcott. Anyway, I don't own nothing of this anime, manga or lite novel of Infinite Stratos, only my own character(s) and ideas of musing for this story. On with the show!

Chapter 3: Show of Confidence

-Sai's pov-

The next week went by and was rather uneventful overall or rather it ran as I would have expected it to. There were classes on the IS in the morning, then after lunch was college lectures and my classmates and peers trying to take up my free time. So, it was pretty much what will likely be a normal week for this school semester going forward by what I can see. The major difficulty that I experienced was the first-year girls weren't giving me the choice with what I do with the little spare time I do have. Girls from my own class were insisting me for time more than the other first years, but the others were also 'wanting to spend time with me too'.

This was taking up the time I could be doing adjustments on my unit, as I was being pulled along to do activities with the girls. However, I'm partially at fault as I wasn't being firm like I should by refusing them and doing the work that I could. I was forced to resurrect the practice of going ghost at times and just disappearing without being noticed a majority of the time. I'd become very good at such a thing during the first year at Cornell University for a couple of reasons that I would rather not mention.

It was on the Saturday before the duel, which I was able to evade my pursuers and get the time to finish the work on my personal unit for it to be operational enough to be seamlessly enough to be acceptable. When rushing work, it increases the chances of problems occurring and mistakes get made. The bunny is good at rushing things and botching things, where I'm normally not and I hate dealing with that kind of thing! It's one of the differences that we have and on that I will not give on unless I'm forced to and even then I don't like it.

When the day of the duel came, it was a sunny Sunday and I had to say that I felt it would be a good day. For today, I would be teaching a stuck-up blonde female noble my own age no less, a valuable lesson. No, let me rephrase that, I would be in a duel against a blonde, but it's pretty much the same thing in the end. I have no issue whatsoever teaching lessons to stubborn idiots, in fact, I enjoy the idea somewhat, get that from Chifuyu. You would have to be blind and deaf not to see the ego that Miss Cecilia Alcott the British representative contender has, and it's just as outright annoying. If that wasn't enough, then her going out of her way to bore me to be numb certainly gave me the motivation to show her how wrong she is about me.

Honestly, I haven't had the displeasure of being around someone like the blonde that insists to be a freaking pain in the ass since last year while taking a mechanical engineering course. There'd been a female classmate who had an ego, been upfront and told me I was an idiot and a waste of space with the seat I occupied. Yet, in the end, I proved her wrong halfway through the course and that I could do exactly what I stated I could. I see this instance with Miss Alcott being no different and I would prove to the British girl and those watching, that males aren't as useless as females have come to assume that we are and do so proudly.

Granted, I would've loved to have more time to adjust my machine, six months would be nice as I'd originally planned for a bare minimum before doing full field testing. However, not what I get, I only have had the two Saturdays within the time that my unit got here and now to get my unit that I've spent nearly four years building and designing, to be usable for a duel. I did all I could to make the systems and equipment to work the best they could, but there wasn't the time to do more than I had done. Plus, in my defense, I'd done all the adjustments by myself and well, work goes slower because of that fact. The reason I did the work myself, I can't really ask anyone here at the academy to assist me. There would be far too many questions asked, which I refuse to answer for personal and non-personal reasons.

Let me break this issue of not being able to go to others about my IS down a bit. Point number one, were any of one especially a member of the academy staff to find out that my unit is equipped with what they would consider an 'unregistered core', then I would be in trouble. There would be demands made of me as to where I got the core first of all, and I won't tell the truth to anyone. However, if Chifuyu finds out that my IS's core is the rebuilt remains of the core zero, I don't want to think about what my sister will do to me and my unit. She hadn't been a fan of the Black Knight, nor the abilities it had that were unique to it, less so after the particular incident that happened before the parting of the ways of us three inventors. Plus, she destroyed the IS and had put the effort into doing so, that said, would rather not have to cross that bridge if I don't have to.

And then, hypothetically speaking, if a member of the academy staff did find out that I'd a custom-built core that wasn't registered, then I would unlikely see my work again. It would be confiscated by the academy and dissected or handed over to the government of Japan to undergo the same treatment. That was just the first part of this though point number two does relate to the first. If point number one is fulfilled, then I face the loss of all my personal freedoms and I seriously question as to whether I would get to have them ever again. It's the same as if I'm found out to be one of the three true inventors of the Infinite Stratos instead of the bunny is the only creator.

Whether I face the best or worst-case scenario, the part of point one that I wouldn't see my unit again would happen without a doubt, nor any of the equipment that can go with it. My machine would be stripped and all sorts of other stuff by any country that could claim hold of it. The lab that I've around Cornell University that I use for working on my IS would be ransacked, everything would be taken. I would be likely to be cohered into unlocking my files which I have encrypted to the point that not even the doll or bunny would get in without me knowing and that would be with extreme difficulty. Not only would I lose everything that I've worked for over the years, those who I know and/or are close to me would be affected as well and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.

If I'm lucky, then I would be allowed to live my life outside a prison cell though under strict surveillance for the rest of my life which is close to the same. In the worst-case scenario, I would never again have any freedoms that most enjoy returned to me and I would be stuck in prison for the rest of my life. Either outcome, I would first be locked up and interrogated until those questioning me get everything they want from me or to the day I die. What things I might have to look forward to if certain facts came to light about me… not pretty, isn't it great? But then, that's what awaits any of the three creators should any of us be caught by any government, country or organization in the world.

The only one in this place I can even remotely trust with the subject of Infinite Stratos that I truly know is Chifuyu. She's too wrapped up with teaching and managing the dorm to help me. The gang of friends who did help me before with my unit live in America and go to as you might have guessed, Cornell University like I'd planned to do earlier this year. Which brings me back to the damned purple-haired metal eared bi**h that shoved me into the mess! I can see her now, sitting in a chair in her lab watching what I go through here at the IS academy laughing her head off. It's infuriating how the bunny always somehow finds a way to make my life Hell when she decides that it would be fun to interfere with my life!

Well, back to looking at the positive side of things in this. The duel will serve as the first decent overall operational field test for my machine and I won't say no to that opportunity even if I'm not fully confident in my IS's performance, but that's what tests are for! To find the problems and mistakes in a safer environment, so that you don't have to find out about them when failures can harm you and perhaps kill you. I just hope that everything runs and goes fine during the duel. I may not be using all the systems and equipment that my machine has access to, but I'll take what I can get for the moment. There are pieces of my IS that I'm not fully confident will do what I envision it to do. I would rather not risk things going wrong and blowing up in my face this sunny Sunday. Plus, I get to whip an arrogant blonde and prove her view of me wrong, I feel alive during moments like that!

So, after waking up at around seven in the morning rather than six on Sundays and sometimes Saturdays, I sleep in an extra hour, it's nice. I went for my morning jog like I normally do and shower after getting back to the dorm room. I headed down to grab breakfast with my roommate Houki following closely behind me with a worried expression. She hadn't really left me alone since the last Monday, other than when I did my morning jog, the bathroom and afternoon lectures plus, a good portion of yesterday as I'd been working on my machine pretty much all day like I had the previous Saturday. Not that I exactly had a viable issue with her doing such, it's just I don't know the proper way to say it without sounding rude and insulting, it's weird. Never had a girl act this way around me, certainly I've had girls follow me and 'hover over' me, but not like this that I can remember.

Breakfast had started like it had every day for the last few weeks, I ate food while being stared at by the females here at this academy. Today's beginning meal, I was having two egg sandwiches, a couple of sausages, along with an apple and a good size glass of the cool white, wonderful goodness that comes from the animals that also provide beef, milk. Like always, I was hoping for a peaceful meal, but I have yet in the time I've been at the academy had that experience.

However, this morning's atmosphere was somewhat worse than the times previous. Between the stares from the girls in the cafeteria and the few girls that came up to ask me if I want help or if I'm going to be okay, coming over to the booth I was sitting at, made breakfast very hard to enjoy. There had been a number of second-years, a few third-year and even a fourth-year girl that had approached me. They had asked me if I wanted pointers for my upcoming duel during the week between the duel declaration and the day of the duel itself, it had been irritating.

It's not like I need pointers on how to use an IS, nor do I want them. Being one of the two original test pilots, I've good experience with how to pilot an IS and fight in one, not that any know that, nor did I mention the fact. To me, it was obvious that the girls were taking the opportunity to try to flirt with me in various ways, of course, I hadn't reacted to their advances. The thing I hadn't expected and was amused by when those times came up, I didn't get even the chance to answer in either the affirmative or negative way. Why? Because Houki would shut down those who came to offer me help that I didn't need. In my defense, it wasn't Houki shooing away older girls that were making me wonder. Yes, I've seen the signs that Houki Shinonono had an interest in me as a guy and as myself. Hell, she might be developing a crush on me, but I can't say with absolute surety at this time.

Actually, this Sunday morning's meal was going nicer than the previous days, even if it wasn't what you could call peaceful. That's until a certain blonde girl who is a classmate, came up to the table to ruin my first meal of the day, and made my mood dip. "My my, I am surprised you even had the courage to get out of bed this morning. I mean, it is clear what the outcome of the duel will be, it is easy to see for anyone here. The winner of the match will be me by an overwhelming amount," said Miss Alcott with a clear tone of pride, and she was trying to goad me.

The air in the room told me that the girls agreed with what Alcott said, they thought I would lose. This added to my growing annoyance and irritation which had been flaring up lately at being underestimated. It wasn't just the voice of Miss Alcott as much as it was what she said to me, and I say damn it, way too early for this sh*t! I will give her a B for confidence, but an F in the follow through with the bantering and intimidation she's going for.

Nonetheless, once again, this blonde was setting herself up for retort and that retort would be my pleasure to deliver. I took a swig of milk and another minute and a half to think of a fitting way to reply to the female that setup the lesson I would teach this blonde later today. I mean, there's just so many ways I could choose. Thankfully, I know how to start this retort and that's the best place to start, "You sound very confident Miss Alcott. So sure that you'll win the duel even before it starts," I asked with a calm voice. Yet, I was baiting her, and I seriously hoped she would take the bait! Honestly, I was praying that she would, and I don't really pray very often.

-Cecilia's pov-

The words that come from Sai Taichi's mouth are getting to the point that is sounded insulting. Yet, today I would put this boy in his place, and after the duel, if his manners still didn't improve then I would find a way to do so. Still as a lady, I covered my mouth with a hand to muffle the giggle that came out of me, "But of course, as I said, I will win against you. It is so easy to see the victory will be mine even a child could see that. Your chances are so minuscule, you should accept that I will win and save yourself the embarrassment that would come from me proving it," I stated.

The boy smiled a bit, "Is that so Miss Alcott? Well, we Americans have a saying for those who talk like you. 'It ain't over until the fat lady sings', so don't go collecting the winnings until the fight is over, you can end out with serious debt to pay back," he replied.

The response from Taichi was infuriating! For him to even suggest that he has any chance against me, it was laughable and ludicrous! "You really think you have any chance to even lasting more than a mere minute against me," I challenged.

The smirk the boy gained incensed me a great deal for it was smug. The feeling of disgust and anger filled me the longer I saw the smirk. "Oh, I'm fairly sure that I'll manage to do just fine blondie, you'll find that I'm full of surprises. However, if you're so sure of yourself Miss Alcott, then how about we make a wager, just between you and me that has nothing to do with being class rep. Since you're confident you'll win without restoring to underhanded methods, then the wager should work more in your favor than in mine, right," he mused calmly.

A wager? Why would he offer something like that when he will lose, it does not make much sense? But if he is foolish to make such offers, then how fitting for I would teach him his place in a way that he will not forget. In fact, I smiled at the idea, "Normally, I would not even consider giving someone like you the opportunity to have the good fortune of thinking you could have me do anything you say. But this is not an event that happens often, so what kind of wager did you have in mind, little boy," I posed.

Taichi simply kept smiled, "Well, how nice of you Miss Alcott. I've been thinking, since you don't believe I'll last more than a minute, then should I do just that, you apologize to me for all the names and attempted embarrassment you have been trying to do to me. Heck, I'm nice enough to give you the choice to do that away from the view of others thus not having to embarrass yourself, it will be your choice. However, should I win the match, then you have to do the same admittance, but it will be in front of all our classmates. During which, you'll say how you were wrong about me as a person and as a male you are, and it will be done while I'm listening. So then, what would you have me do should I not last more than a minute and if you win the duel?"

Words could not say the rage I felt as Sai Taichi daring to believe that he could get me to apologize for speaking the truth about him. I, a high-class lady of nobility would not take back what I said, not a boy that knows not his place! I will make this boy pay for such blatant insults directed at me in a way he will never forget. In fact, a wonderful thought came to mind on just how I could both teach Taichi what his position was and give him a well-deserved lesson in humility and respect towards his superiors. I smiled, "When I win, you will be my servant for the rest of the year! No, you will be less than a servant, you will be my slave," I stated firmly.

Taichi's expression went blank as he gazed back at me, "Quite the difference in the prize value Alcott," he remarked. Yet, I didn't let this boy force me to back down. "Let me guess, you've always been pampered, your mommy and daddy have gotten you everything that you've ever wanted, right? Pity they never taught you what proper manners are as you've yet to show any good manners to anyone that I've seen."

Apparently, it isn't enough for him to insult me, he has to go and insult my family as well?! "How dare you! You ignorant and stupid, lowly boy," I growled angrily.

Taichi remained annoyingly calm as he looked at me steadily, "Still, the wager is fine as it has been stated on both sides. Let's shake on this so that we can make sure that the loser doesn't attempt to get out of doing what they've agreed to."

I was slightly surprised to hear that he agreed to the terms, but we shook on the agreement. I left the cafeteria with more spring in my step for I had in essence gotten myself a slave going forward from today. Thoughts of the methods that I would use to make sure the lesson of his status would properly sink in.

-Sai's pov-

Miss Alcott strutted, and yes, I've seen and watched strutting that proud people do. The blonde was doing just that out of the cafeteria and then the whispering among the rest of the girls in the room filled the air. It's a real shame though, Cecilia Alcott isn't bad at all in the looks department, she's pretty, I'll say that, not to her. If not for her attitude and personality that is influenced by her ego and pride, then she would be a decent girl to be around. But alas, she has chosen to be a girl whose actions drive away others from herself, a pity. I just shook my head, returned to my meal, yet kept an ear open listening to the stuff I the girls were whispering.

"Such a good-looking guy… wasted on such a spoiled blonde."

"Poor guy, he doesn't know what he's gotten into."

"This is his last day of freedom."

I got close to choking on my food, set down the utensils I'd been eating with, then I looked around the cafeteria seeing that most were whispering similar things. Yeah, the air in the room had given the impression of it, but they all really agree with Alcott's view of my chances? Sure, it stands to reason that with females being the only ones to be able to use the IS that their views of males have fallen a great deal. But DAMN for it to have degraded to this extent, it's just sad and it motivated me to do what it took to change it!

I looked over at the only girl at the same table as me, kind of hoping that I would at least have one other person other than Chifuyu having confidence in me. My sister would see no need to root as she knew the outcome. With Houki living in the same room as me for the last few weeks, she would have at least an amount of confidence in my performance. Yet, the hope for one girl to believe in me and would likely cheer for me from the stands was in vain as I saw the expression on her face. The look on Houki's face told me that she thought the same as the other girls here, I was going to lose without a doubt. What a vote of confidence or rather a complete lack of belief and faith in me, no?

"Sai, you should just apologize, then Cecilia might forgive you and you won't have to be her slave," said Houki in a pleading tone.

Really, talk about the final nail being sunk into the coffin as it were. If this doesn't motivate me to prove the girls here completely wrong come high noon today, then I don't know what will do a better job. And let's just say for a moment, I somehow do lose to Alcott as unlikely as that is. She won't be celebrating long as I'll make sure of that with my certified personal guarantee! First, I'll prove without a doubt that I can hold my own for a time and that won't be able to be denied when I'm done! The girl would still owe me an apology and she would give it or… well, it depends on what blondie would do.

Hypothetically speaking, should she treat me like dirt or less, then she better kisses her reputation and any chance of being on good terms with most others goodbye. Why? Because I'll destroy both to the point that none will question what a horrible person she is. I had learned how to do such things from the rabbit and doll during the time that I lived with them. Those two had ruined some people's high reputations, and I'd learn the art watching them do such things. If anything, the meaner she is to me, the more non-nice and illegal methods I would use to build the image I see of her. Knowing that, I doubt Alcott would keep me around for all that long with what I could do to her "reputation". It can't be anywhere near as horrible as being around the dumb bunny is for even a short period these days!

I gazed back at Houki's face and the worry that was there before I gave my reply, "Do you seriously think that she would actually forgive me? If she did, then do you honestly believe I would be willing to even consider the conditions that she would set for an apology? If the British blonde wants to duel me, then I'll give her just that, really I find your lack of faith disturbing. With you have seen some of the things I can do when I put my mind to work, watch the duel and see what happens, then judge for yourself if I'm as useless as girls here think I am," I said coolly.

The time for the duel approached, I headed to the IS bay where my unit had been moved to for the duel. There was no operator in the bay, not that I would need one. After getting my machine to unfold into active mode, I climbed in and settled myself into the frame. The restraint system activated and locked me into my unit, taking a deep breath saying what I needed for my IS to work for me; "System activate, user Michale, code 'I'm alpha and omega'."

Waiting for a few moments, the humming of my machine coming to life was heard followed by the response that I was expecting, "User information verified, security measures disarmament initiated, system on-line," came Corinthos. After two minutes, Corinthos spoke again, "Unit booting process completed, primary systems are all green, system settings running the previous configuration."

After confirming the setting, Corinthos went silent waiting for me to give instructions. I inhaled and exhaled steadily getting myself ready for combat. The fact that I haven't actually piloted an IS unit in a competition or anything equivalent came to the forefront of my mind. The longest I've piloted my unit in the last four years has been around four minutes for a test. It's been about eight years since I was the pilot of the Black Knight and that hadn't ended well. I let out a sigh, "Well Corinthos, the time for us to take things beyond just testing and do this for real and see what we can do has come, it's sooner than expected but that's how it goes. I can't say if everything will work as I had hoped, but there's no way I can back down from the one that will be our opponent."

I didn't foresee any response from Corinthos, I haven't given any instructions and that's what it was waiting for. And yet, Corinthos had surprised me a few times before, so I could possibly do so again. "Agreed," came Corinthos's voice, and once more Corinthos 'thinks' for itself, always is interesting when it does.

"It's time to show that we aren't some nobodies. Our opponent is a blonde girl that thinks I'm as low if not lower than dirt," I mused out loud.

I'm fairly sure that I can beat her if everything works, but still, I'm rusty in fighting skills and performance in this kind of thing. "No, we can defeat this opponent Sai," declared Corinthos.

I was taken aback for not just by Corinthos replying to me saying my name which it doesn't do often. And it's not that Corinthos doesn't know my name, it does but it just doesn't say it when answering me often, it's interesting. Yet, it was also what was said and the conviction that it was said in. This was a first, Corinthos not only saying a reply that a person would give, but also having the hint of emotional context put in. I felt a smile creep across my face at this unexpected development. I mean, I knew that Corinthos was changing in ways that were originally thought impossible, but this is much more than I'd predicted and sooner too! "You're right Corinthos. Right then, the dance floor is ready out there, so it's party time," I said with finality.

Taking the final steps forward, moving onto the platform that was a part of the launching catapult and settled into the stance for launching. "Remoting into catapult controls, accessing, control system connected, initiating launch sequence," voiced Corinthos.

My smile grew at the fact that Corinthos had already thought about taking control of the catapult as we didn't have an operator at the controls. Leaning forward slightly as the launch plate moved forward and quickly picked up speed. I raised my head as I saw the fast approaching light source, signaling the last fifteen meters of the catapult. My unit's thrusters ignited and increased my launching speed, the feeling of the increasing G's got my blood pumping faster. Readying myself to leave the platform, I leaped upward just before the platform hit the end of its track. As this would be the first view anyone here would see my IS, I might as well impress them. I climbed rapidly up to around seventy feet in the air, then I leveled out and faced my opponent, Cecilia Alcott, as she hovered fifty feet away from me in her unit.

-Chifuyu's pov-

With the duel set today, I would get to see what Sai has been doing with his time he has been away from Japan. He would have worked on something to do with Infinite Stratos, he is too fascinated by what he, Tabane and Alice created to give it up and leave it alone. Plus, I had wanted to teach Alcott that she isn't as great as she thinks she is, but I couldn't do that personally. However, Sai would be able to get that idea in her head, of that I was confident, and it will teach the girls that none are unbeatable.

Alcott launched out to the field first in her Blue Tears IS which I have seen before now. It was a few minutes later that Sai came out on a catapult and I got the first view of his IS unit. Sai's IS was quite different than other IS models that I've seen but with him building it, I hadn't expected it to be like others. However, the first sight of it brought back memories of the demonic IS the Black Knight which had been the other prototype IS with the White Knight. It wasn't the same, but there was some resemblance which made me think that Sai based some of his unit's frame on that machine.

The unit itself overall was grey in color mixed with parts that were red here and there. The red was on the middle section of the shoulders on the outside, then there was the rectangle of red over Sai's front pelvis area. There was a gem-shaped piece of red was over the forward section of the middle of both the forearms. The front restraint plate that was one thing other ISs normally didn't have, stuck out about half a foot at heart level had two vents set over the upper chest on either side, and there was also a stripe of red on the front plate restraint. Behind Sai was two dual-wing apparatuses though the wings were folded down at the moment. I could see no visible weapons anywhere on the unit though that meant nothing as Sai could be hiding his arsenal much like the demonic IS had a knack of doing.

Alcott and Sai faced each other looking over the other's personal IS unit. Both looked like they were going to fight more than a duel and with these two that might be what they are doing even if they aren't supposed to. "I applaud you for coming out here to face me with the chances you have. You have nerves, but that won't help you," called Alcott getting Sai's attention on to herself.

The girl has no idea who she is facing, Sai could give me a run and give me a workout, not that I'll tell Sai that. He would force me to use skills I don't normally when piloting an IS, more so with the Black Knight. Still, Sai didn't reply in kind to Alcott, "Thanks, I think."

"However, as I will defeat you completely, I will give you one more chance. Since I am so generous, and you are so lowly, I will let you have a chance to apologize by saying you were wrong in your insults. Do so and I will forgive you and let you leave without embarrassing yourself," said Miss Alcott.

And the day was here at last that one of the egotistical girls will understand that they are not all they say they are. It couldn't have come soon enough if you ask me, I curse how limited I am as a teacher and what I can do sometimes. "Intriguing an offer as that may be Miss Alcott, I'll have to refuse," he replied with a slight bow. "You see, I think it's time that females be shown that we males aren't inherently as useless as many have come to think we are, and I'm just the man to do it," Sai stated hitting his chest for emphases. "Plus, you're already trying to embarrass me and just have yet to succeed because I'm ignoring your derogatory insults. I mean, who would do what you say just because you say so, I'm no dog nor fool thank you very much. But hey, don't let me using common sense stop you from wasting the time on little old me. Whatever floats your boat and everything, if that's your way to get your kicks, go right ahead and go for it," he returned to her with firmness and a knowing smile.

To say Alcott didn't take Sai's reply well was an understatement, and it was hard not to smirk. No, Alcott's face shifted into anger at Sai's answer to her 'offer', "You horrible pig! I was showing you kindness but you refuse it. And you ignoring one superior to you," she almost bellowed at my little brother.

Sai's expression which had been that of an adult humoring a child changed to somewhat cold and calculating. It's nice to see he has learned better manners than he used to have which were terrible at best. Alice and Tabane hadn't been the best role models for him and it had taken time to undo the things that they had taught him. "Kindness my as-rear," Sai returned stumbling over his near curse. "Why don't you just say that you're taking as many opportunities to attempt publicly humiliating me and make me look like an idiot as you can get away with? Do get your story straight Cecilia Alcott instead of lying to make yourself appear better than others. Honesty is the best policy as said by Benjamin Franklin and I do agree with him," he stated in a tone that was a cross between coldness and monotone.

The blonde was incensed by Sai's comment. "Such rudeness… Fine! Then I will teach you a lesson that you will not forget!"

Sai smirked a bit at the reply from Alcott and it looked like the two were ready to begin the duel now. Both were twitching to move, Alcott itching to bring her rifle to bear on Sai and she was squeezing on the trigger ever so slightly while Sai appeared calm. "All right you two, remember this is a duel, not a fight to the death! Now, make yourselves ready," I yelled.

I felt the first sentence I stated was pointless as these two were going to fight each other hard as they can. At least Sai appeared to move into a good stance to act from by what I saw. The wings of his IS rose behind him and separated out into four separate wings on either side. The lower sections of the wings opened to a twenty-degree angle and separated from the upper parts. There were also signs of invisible colored flames accompanied by waves of heat from the wings too. The tension in the air was palpable and getting thicker with each second, "And begin," came Chifuyu's shout.

The second after hearing that, the two began with Alcott shooting at Sai, but he shot off to the right. Seeing Sai's reaction time was as good as it was before made me feel this fight wouldn't last for a very long time, but we'll see how things go.

-Sai's pov-

So, the blondie's IS unit was as I had read about in the info I had gotten my hands on before now. The United Kingdom's third-generation IS hadn't impressed me in the reports and what I saw hadn't change my opinion. There was no sign of improvements over what had come from the producers of the second generation from Britain. The main weapon the IS used was still a rifle meant for sniping at medium range to long-range. And while supposedly the rifle had a higher power output than previous models and was intended for piercing defense, power isn't everything. The standing flaw with the high-power output rifle and the beam they tend to put out stresses the gun and does damage the longer it's used.

The other issue the rifle has would be the closer the intended target is the harder that strain on the rifle due to the energy heating the barrel. That also throws off the targeting and accuracy given time and the pilot has to compensate. It's because the alloy the British tend to employ with construction in ISs and their weaponry from, has limits with its durability and they're still using the alloy. To my knowledge, British scientists still haven't overcome that particular flaw, or admit it exists at all according to my sources. Instead it's left to the pilots to make up for the problem, that's done by shooting their target and disabling them quickly, rather than enduring for long matches without getting time for maintenance.

Then there was the rest of Alcott's unit, most of it was pretty standard from what I could see. The only parts that weren't, are the shield-like shoulder apparatuses hanging over both sides.

Rumors of the British developing some type of working remote 'weapon bits' was one I'd heard, but I hadn't been able to confirm it. If they had made something like that, I applaud them, it isn't an easy thing to do. I have been toying around with the theory myself but haven't gotten the idea to work reliably yet, and that's not for lack of trying.

Then ranged combat is a give and take kind of scenario, you cover one range and you make yourself vulnerable to another. In essence, you don't plan something for each range, your opponent can and usually will exploit that. So Alcott has a risky strategy to depend on which is sniping me and likely the only one she had.

That's what I had taken in with the short view I got before the duel officially began. I prepared accordingly for what would come my way, my thrusters had been primed and ready before the blonde had opened her mouth. Chifuyu may have said that this fight wasn't to the death, but that doesn't change the fact that Alcott is out to do me harm and I'm not inclined to let her do that. The second after hearing that I shot off to the right, yet I still had enough time to see as I expected, Alcott siting me with the scope of her rifle. And I wasn't exactly taken by surprise when Alcott took a shot the moment after Chifuyu shouted go. The sight of a blue line passing through where I'd been told me she was a fair shot which info on her implied. This goes to prove to me that preparation is not just helpful but crucial for the fittest to survive.

There came a second shot shortly following the first, and like the previous one, it missed me. Information readouts appeared on the right side of the unit's display curtailing the power output of the rifle that Alcott had. The readings simply proved that the sniper rifle was high-powered and had lots of heat as the report had stated. No doubt that same heat it was generating is being transferred to the rifle barrel, and enough of the heat can do damage to the barrel throwing off the power and firing angle over time. Even as I glanced at the info being displayed, I made sure I never took my attention fully off my opponent.

So, I caught the expression on the teenage girl's face and it wasn't a happy one clearly. Alcott must have expected to hit me within the first few shots and not for me to be able to dodge her first attempts to nailing me. That's her fault for underestimating me, I'm no easy mark and I will not become one in the future. Adjusting her aim, she began a barrage of beams and I weaved in an out of the line of fire coming my way. The longer this continued, the more frustrated blondie became and that bettered my mood as I was having a blast. The feeling of proving another that they were wrong, especially about me is a hard feeling to beat! Before either of us knew it, two minutes went by which means she now owes me an apology of what she's said about me before now which I would make sure she makes.

Yet in this, the female blonde attempted to hide her emotions like most arrogant people in one of the ways they do by using bravado. "It is impressive that you have lasted this long against me and my Blue Tears. You are the first to go so long against my IS, but it will not continue!"

Alcott can tell herself that, but I've been proving her view about me completely wrong thus far, so until she can change that all she says is bravado and hot air as far as I'm concerned. The emotionally challenged female has yet to land a single solid hit on me or any hit really. The only energy my unit has used is for the thrusters for pinpoint movement, and that's unlikely to be anywhere near the energy consumption the sniper rifle Miss Alcott is using requires. With that in mind, if things go unchanged, then I'll with this by lasting the longest and blondie will be eating her words and I look forward to that.

Within almost three minutes elapsed time since the duel had begun, it was an undeniable fact that my opponent relied on nailing her target once and then quickly blasting away at said target after catching them off guard with the initial shot. That kind of game plan won't be effective against me as I do my research on my opponent and so get a clue as to their style and prepare for it. Then after that, she's got nothing else in mind when it comes to tactics for fighting and with her being unable to hit me as of yet, she's in trouble. That in mind, if blondie frustrated expression was anything to go by, then each dodge I was making would make my job easier in the end.

Another thirty seconds went by and nothing about Miss Alcott's tactics changed in the slightest since the signal to start. She was still trying unsuccessfully to shoot me with her sniper rifle and I, in turn, weaved out of the way. I don't know if I'm more surprised that she can't figure out that I will dance out of the path of her shots faster than she can site me with the scope of her gun or let down for the same reason. Hell, this was getting to be boring already and shifting to being tedious and so, becoming a waste of time. I had kind of hoped for a bit of a challenge and by what I had read on Cecilia Alcott, I had figured she would give me at least somewhat of a workout. I haven't piloted in anything close to competition in years, yet this "representative contender" is losing to me, the irony of it, no?

One thing was certain by this point, I'm done just evading in this match and it's time to get down to business! I've been giving the opportunity to blondie to do her thing, it's me being the gentleman and now I can check that off being dooly diligent. And I'm done letting Alcott pet and preen her ego and pride if you can call failing to hit your opponent once that, I wouldn't. So, it's time that Cecilia Alcott understands that I'm not an opponent that mostly talks like she is. I can do what I say I can and I do deliver on my word, so it's my turn to show her that combat isn't something to inflate one's pride but a serious matter.

A quick glance at my unit's vital readings, I noted that my shield energy was at full. I sent the command to transfer some of the shield energy to increase thruster output which dropped my shield by fifty points, but that's fine with me. Granted, you normal IS unit can't do what mine can like distribute energy to other systems. And I would guess it would against some kind of rules that someone came up with, but I don't see a reason to care about crap like that. What others don't know about my personal unit won't hurt them and I'm sticking to that justification.

My first task in this was to eliminate distance separating us since Alcott's rifle should be hard-pressed and ineffective use in close range. Yet, I'm no idiot for I am betting that she likely has some weapon that will work at close range just fine. As arrogant as this female teenager has shown herself to be, she wouldn't be so dumb to not cover all combat ranges. Her profile which I read made that clear she was somewhat experienced using an IS at least. So, I'll need to carefully but steadily approach Alcott keeping alert and vigilant for any change. Patience is key, rushing this could just give a chance for Blondie to hit me, 'good things come to he who waits'.

With that in mind, I began to gain forward headway as I kept evading the incoming shots as our classmates were cheering at the fight. Not to say that Miss Alcott didn't get close to nailing me with a few shots, however, as the saying goes 'close, yet so far'. Managing to rid fifteen feet of distance during the erratic firing spree the now angry blondie was throwing my way I kept making my way forward.

When there were around twenty yards separating us and it was at this point that Miss Alcott lowered her rifle. That got me to pause to take the time to observe what she would do as she was out to hit me. My wait paid off with the sight of the shoulder apparatuses detached the two of the outer wing sections on both sides. As I figured then, the shoulder parts act as docks for weapon bits while they aren't in use. The four bits dropped for almost ten feet before the leveled out and gained altitude and headed in my direction.

I anticipated the beams that came from the bits twisting out of the way of the first and the second beams just fine. The third beam was a closer shave though it didn't hit me as I flipped backward to dodge it. Although, I saw the blue line of the energy beam passing over my left shoulder. My head was pointed downward at the ground when the fourth beam came my way. I caught sight of where Alcott was generally aiming and barely had the time to spread my legs before the beam passed through the V of my spread legs. From the slight heat of the beam felt, said beam had come close to hitting me though my shield would protect me. Yet still, the beam had passed slightly above where my crotch was situated implying what the blonde was really aiming to nail. All that I know was the shot was much TOO close for any comfort to be felt by me nor the area I wouldn't doubt the blonde was aiming for.

Let me pause for just a moment to iterate something about me, the view that everyone is entitled to their opinion is one that I concur with for it's the right of any person. BUT there's a limit and line drawn where that opinion must stay behind and that is transitioning from opinion to action. As much as Cecilia Alcott disdains me for being a man or in whatever way you want to put it, it's another thing acting on such an opinion. The blonde's actions crossed the line that shouldn't be approached for several reasons. When she commits the act of shooting at my… well, what makes me a man and allows me to have and make a legacy in the future, it's just plain wrong!

Not only is it wrong, but it also's unacceptable and I won't take that, nor will I let her target me in such a place without having to face consequences not of her choosing. It told me that it was time to respond properly to being shot at by four different sources and more specifically nearly getting my balls blasted off. It is time I stop being nice and tolerant and the first point to be addressed is the need to get rid of those weapon bits pronto! In order to protect my future children, whenever that event shall come into my life, those things have to disappear! I'll move on from there and go however far is necessary for me to get the point across to Alcott that there are things you don't do.

The first step I took was to have two rifles on the outsides of my legs to appear in holster-like clamps that were on my hips ready for use. I lower my hands to the backsides of the rifles and handles snapped out which I grabbed before bringing out the rifles. Next, I switched my unit's targeting system over from normal seeking mode to active-tracking mode which allows tracking of my enemy's movement far better. Doing so accurately enough that I could know just how much their unit's thrusters put out to keep my opponent hovering where they were.

I admit that such a system is probably against some rule or would be if it was public knowledge. But I no longer care at this point and justify my decision as desperate times call for desperate measures. NO ONE aims at the junk around my trunk, let alone actually tries to nail the family jewels believing they can get away with it and I not respond properly! Rules can go to hell when my manhood is put on the line and are at risk of being damaged or worse. I would say the same to Chifuyu and she knows that, and I would remind her as needed.

-Cecilia's pov-

Why is it?! Why can I not hit this boy?! I should have taken him down with the first shot if not the following few yet, I have not made contact with his unit's shield even once! Then, when I moved on to using the Blue Tears' optical drones. The first two misses completely, the third got close to hitting Taichi, but like the shots before didn't strike him at all, nor his shield which only frustrated me. The fourth got even closer than the other three, yet the beam passed between the boy's legs which if it had hit, it just might have broken him of his disrespect losing his manhood but that did not occur.

I sent the input to have the drones attack again after missing for I would win this and teach this unruly boy to learn not to insult his betters! However, before they could fire two of them disappeared in explosions. When I focused forward, I saw that Taichi had two rifles that he hadn't before, one in each hand and aiming where the destroyed drones had been. It was the first sign of weapons for his IS, which frustrated me more since that said he hadn't seen a reason to use them against me. It was like he was taunting me with his actions along with his words and it had gone beyond being nerve grating.

The other two drones fired their beams at the boy, but he dodged upward and then he went diagonally downward. Seeing that just shooting at him as I had been wouldn't work, I sent the hold command to the drones and then took aim at the one that had been irking me so. I pulled the trigger of my rifle and at last my shot made contact with his IS's shield. Then I had the drone return to me as I smiled as I had finally hit Taichi.

Taichi simply gazed back at me after being hit with an expressionless face which was a tad unsettling looking at. The boy had shown himself to be prone to foolishness often enough, but I couldn't say what it was with Taichi. There was a mystery to him, boorish as he was, and I would admit that he had somewhat handsome looks. If not for his manners, then he could go far I would imagine. However, the face Taichi had right now directed towards me sent a chill down my spine which I had never had before.

He put the two rifles on his unit's upper legs, and they attached there before he zoomed forward towards me. If the boy is dumb enough to think I have nothing for close-range combat, then he will be shown the error of his assumption. He kept getting closer while I shot at him twice more, the boy reached for something on the back of his waist as he approached. Just before the boy closed the distance between us, I could not stop the smile that came to me as I prepared to bring out the Blue Tears' two missile pods. "I see you fell for my ruse," I said loud enough for the boy to hear me, "So sorry there is more!"

The missile pods swung out and pointed forward and fired missiles that would do a good deal of damage to my opponent. It would be the preamble of the finishing blow, if not the blow that would bring my victory against this irritating male. Yet, the next sight I registered, I saw Taichi's face in front of mine though it was upside down. Somehow, the missiles had missed their target, and I gained an incredulous look at realizing that. "Firing missiles at such close-range blondie," questioned Taichi in his frustratingly calm manner. "Did you consider how that puts you within the radius of the pressure wave and the influence of the blast just as much as me? Or were you too focused on me to think about that point?"

The boy had put away what had appeared to be small tubes or rods that he had gotten from the back of his hips. Taichi continued to smile at me defying every expectation and angering me more. I couldn't figure out how this boy could have known or even guessed the missiles were going to be fired at him?! Then how has he been evading nearly every attack I have made against him as it should not have been possible! Yet, I would still beat him yet, no matter the cost I would see this boy brought low.

-Sai's pov-

The missile tubes returned back to being behind Miss Alcott and I observed the two weapon bits that I hadn't destroyed earlier launched once more. It was at seeing those that an epiphany came to me that I found awesome and amazing both with a capital A when they work out as I envision! The trick I've got in mind will make Alcott look stupid and then she can understand how it feels to be wrong and stupid. It would do good for the girl I wouldn't doubt, I can't see much of a way it couldn't help the girl's personality.

So, to start my idea, I maneuvered around turning over to be right side up so that I ended out directly behind Alcott. Both her weapon bits came to a stop around twenty feet in front of my view and pointing at me as I expected. My wings moved to point the thrusters upward before I clicked my tongue in sight consternation to complete the act that would bring about the event that had come to mind. It would incense her, and I would enjoy seeing this play out that's for sure and I doubt I would be the only one that would enjoy it.

Nonetheless, I'm too much a gentleman at heart through and through, meaning that I feel the need to try and warn her of the danger to her actions. I hope she ignores me like she normally does, yet we'll see. "Cecilia Alcott, I would highly recommend you take a moment to think about your next action in the context of where we're both positioned currently," I said flatly, all while keeping a straight face which was difficult.

I heard a huff in response before hearing the blonde speaking, "You think I would listen to my opponent!"

YES, thank you blondie, let the comical obscenities begin! Glancing at the weapon bits, I smirked before I shot downward out of the line of fire as the bits shot their beams in the span of a moment. I shifted my orientation so that I got to see what I termed the 'comical obscenities' in their glory. And I was most certainly not disappointed as the two blue beams slamming into Alcott's back as I'd known they would. Sure, her energy shield prevented harm from coming to her, but comical obscenities don't need to involve harm to another to still be funny as hell to watch.

It took a couple of moments for blondie to right herself after taking the beams, yet I'll applaud the attempt to gracefully recover, not successful though. When Alcott had, she sent an angry glare my way below her while I just gazed back at her and shrugged. "I did try to warn you, so don't blame me for what happened." Miss Alcott's fury intensified, and she started shaking with it in my reply. My expression became a deadpanned look, "You really expect me to stay put and take those shots for you? I may be a gentleman, but even I have my limits as to what I'll do for another."

"You… you" was what I heard from blondie in a tone of rage.

Hmm, I'm not liking the tone or the emotions that were coming from this unstable teenager, nope, not at all. My intuition which serves me well says baaaad things are coming my way and so, I do believe it would be good for me to heed my wise intuition. Methinks it would be best for my safety to make distance from this ticking time bomb that was threatening to explode. I had observed a couple of girls lose their temper before now and none of those had looked or gone nicely. So, I've learned that it is better to be unavailable for said temper to be unleashed upon, it is safer.

I had my unit's wings shifted to be pointing forward pushing me backward, building distance between my opponent and me. As I observed the worrisome lack of control growing in the teenager fighting me, the feelings of danger to my person rose, which got me to speed up my distance gaining motion. Witnessing the visible flash of rage on Miss Alcott's face, I knew that an unleashed storm was imminent. Throwing all caution to the winds, I stepped on the gas when it came to my thrusters and flew away at decent speed from Alcott. I have no interest in being her object to vent on, she brought the situation on herself so I'm not going to shoulder her crap.

Blondie tore after me in response, to which I increased the burn that my wing thrusters were putting out. Blue beams started zipping past me forcing me to twist and barrel roll out of the way. I've said it at times before and I'll say it again, girls become nuts when they overreact, and Alcott is a prime example of the point. This is reminded me of my first date in the end, I should've just declined that woman from the beginning and saved myself the trouble of what followed the marginally okay date at first, but then the woman turned out to be a really bi**h!

However, back to the present, as the beams kept shooting past me, I was brought back to my current dilemma since the crazy female teen was gaining! The girl was totally out of control and I need a way to disable her quickly. That can be said without reservation as half her shots were coming near me and the rest was going dangerously close towards the stands and two even struck the arena's barrier shield was forced to block.

The sound of the voice of Chifuyu yelling for us to stop and that the match was over, came to my ears. Yet, my survival instinct had now taken control in the copilot seat with my logical sense in the pilot seat determining that listening to my sister isn't going to help right now. I glanced back and noted that Miss Alcott wasn't in any way stopping or even slowing down, hell she was speeding up if my sight wasn't deceiving me.

As much as I would like to end this now, unfortunately, Alcott in the state she's in, she would be unlikely to agree until she got to give me a beating of some sort bare minimum. Hitting her enough to have her shield go to zero would take time that there just isn't available. I have got a plan B in mind, but it was risky on my end, it would put a strain on me like most wouldn't believe! Yet, looking around at the stands, I saw the scared faces of my classmates along with their screams as they were attempting to get to safety from where blondie's shots were landing, my decision was made. Time to get plan B going, I took a deep breath before putting my plan into action, "Corinthos, switch over to DCC Interface."

The Direct Cerebral Connection interface or DCC was the experimental interface that I had invented and have been working on improving as it doesn't work smoothly. The principle that the interface works on is fairly simple. The standard IS command interface receives commands from through the input that's read from the frontal lobe of the brain and the controls that are with the hands and legs. In the system, there are filters built into the interface to prevent random and stray thoughts that run through the mind from being translated into orders for the IS to follow. The DCC reads signals from the brain stem which can be translated faster as they are more understandable and don't need a lot of alterations for the machine to comprehend. Also, it can bypass the controls from the hands and legs which have slow reaction time. The downside to the interface I invented is that there are no filters so, I need to concentrate and watch what goes through my head when using this interface. I really shouldn't use the idea as the last time I did, it had put me in an intermittent coma for a few days. But I can't think of anything better that would have a chance of working at this time.

"That is not recommended, with respiration support system disabled, switching over to it would go against safety protocol," came Corinthos's voice with its response.

I knew that Corinthos was absolutely right, using the interface was crazy as it hadn't been stabilized yet. Nonetheless, these were desperate circumstances and that required more extreme measures. "I'm aware of that Corinthos, but this needs to end quickly. So, switch over and prepare to speed up," I stated.

This wasn't going to be pretty on blondie or me, yet Miss Alcott brought this on herself, "Acknowledged, switching over to Direct Cerebral Connection interface," Corinthos replied. A pressure registered on the back of my neck as the receiver that was used to establish the interface connected to where my brain stem was. Corinthos continued, "Activating interface."

The second the interface activated, it felt like I took a punch in the back of my head hard, kind of like receiving Chifuyu's full strength punch when I think about it. Pain definitely burst throughout my skull, and at the same time, it also felt like my head was being squeezed in a vice! The level of pain lessened a margin and became manageable over ten seconds which was good timing as I was entering a turn after I focused back on flying. The inside of my skull and my brain still hurt, but I could ignore it enough to keep going. I pulled into a hard bank as the turn approached and the response of my unit came pretty much instantly. That was difference between the standard interface ISs use and what I came up with is it has notably faster response. While in the turn I set the command to my unit's wings to open up more so that the thrusters could have a much more effective burn and so more force to push me forward.

As I came out of the turn, I was low to the ground yet still, I could tell that Alcott was behind me, yet she had to slow down when she performed the turn and not plow into the wall. I quickly did a flip and changed my flightpath to going upward creating a sizable dust cloud that blinded my opponent for a little bit. Then I shot up to around four-hundred-yards, and as I passed the four-hundred-yard marker, I cut my thrusters, yet I kept going upward. I continued up entering a short period of free-fall as I slowed down. As I was in free-fall, I spun around before I started falling back down towards the ground. As I descended, I shifted myself so that I would have the least amount of drag and began a deep dive racing downward gaining speed with every second. Spotting the blue spot that marked where my target was, and I homed in on the spot.

As the cloud of dust cleared below, Alcott glared around searching for me. She found me diving at her within twelve seconds and she flew upward towards me. When she had, I steeled myself for what I was about to do as this was going to hurt, no other way to say it. I was already plummeting with great speed, but I stretched out my right arm to be in front of me in the formation that the classic comic hero 'Superman' does when he flies as I dove. "Corinthos, go supersonic NOW!"

Half a second later, a great amount of force threw me forward at a speed that was faster than the speed of sound as there was the sound of a sonic boom behind me. The next thing that blondie knew, she blinked, and my right fist slammed into her energy shield with so much force that she was in a serious daze. Another blink, there was an extremely loud crash as we both impacted into the ground of the arena creating a good size crater with Cecilia Alcott in the center of it.

That was the end of the match for blondie however, it wasn't the same for me just yet. I shot off blondie just before she hit the ground making the crater, and now was moving at a high rate of speed towards the far side of the arena with the remaining momentum and inertia. It took me a few seconds to get my feet to connect with the ground and began carving a trench as I kept going along the ground trying to stop! Heck, keeping my balance was a very difficult challenge, but knew if I didn't hit the brakes and stop in the next thirty seconds or less, then I would find myself kissing the arena wall hard and I would like to avoid that.

Leaning forward more to get my center of gravity back to where it was on the regular basis and keep upright, I don't want to make things worse for me by tumbling and rolling at these speeds! Snapping my machine's wings to be horizontally positioned, parallel to the ground, the thrusters pointing forward igniting. Orange plumes of fire that measured between three and a half to four feet in length provided countering force to momentum. The action slowed me down a little, but the momentum still had more power than the forward thrust. Yet, I could tell that I need more power NOW, so I spun around to have my back facing the quickly approaching wall and had the wings also point in that direction. Compartments in the back of my machine's legs opened and two thrusters on each leg began to add to the force I was using to stop myself. Focusing hard, I managed to quell my rising panic of the prospect of crashing into a wall. I've already stated the idea with the interface I'm using, stray thoughts can do random and dangerous things.

I got all my suit's thrusters to go as hard as I could without having them go out in a short period. That's what happens to obtain supersonic speed, hard short burn from the thrusters for acceleration. The flame from the thrusters had been almost four feet in length, now became nearly eight feet. Feeling the G-force pushing against me as the backward momentum fought against the forward thrust being generated was incredible and strenuous at the same time. Nevertheless, the outcome was inevitable between the two opposing forces and I was thankful it happened in the time I needed. It took another ten seconds for me to come to decelerate and my forward thrust cut out, to which I exhaled in relief. I looked behind me and found the outer wall of the arena was mere feet from me and there were clear black charring marks from my thrusters on that wall. A shiver went through me seeing how close I'd gotten to getting to know the wall very intimately and possibly doing harm to myself.

However, I didn't get long to think about the thwarted situation as pain surge in strength through my head regaining my full and immediate attention. I grabbed my head, "Corinthos, shut off the interface and switch back-GAH, damn it! Switch back to standard-ARG, then start full system diagnostics," I nearly shouted with pain in my voice from the increasing strain that was building in my head.

"Understood, interface deactivated and switched, beginning system diagnostics," was the reply from Corinthos.

When I heard that from Corinthos, the pressure in my head started to lessen, still leaving me with a serious headache. I also had a burning sensation on the upper section of my neck around the base of my skull, it felt like a horrible sunburn. Glancing over at where the crater was on the other side of the arena that I'd slammed Miss Alcott down into and saw nothing. I took that to say blondie was down and wouldn't be getting up for a time. Her energy shield would have saved her from the blunt force of the impact when it comes to injury at least, it's how I designed it. And I would know that as I was involved in that, the girl would still have felt the hit and would have been shaken by the impact, but the price of that would be the shield would fall to zero. Meaning the IS would forcibly disengage due to the mandatory unlock component. She should thank me and the doll for designing the system to work even under the most grueling circumstances. The Bunny had been of the mind of it being sort of a waste of time, but I had convinced the doll which isn't easy to do to side with me with the Energy Shield.

Seeing something out of the corner of my vision, I focused on the movement and saw females pouring onto the arena grounds. Medical personnel followed them towards Miss Alcott, I would probably need them soon enough as well. I already felt parts of my mind getting fuzzy like the last time I'd used the DCC interface. "Corinthos, what's the damage thus far," I asked ignoring the throbbing pain in my head. I kind of wished not to know, but at the same time not knowing it wouldn't get any better avoiding the information.

"Stabilizer functions and alignment has been compromised. The current damage of stabilizers overall is estimated to be class 'D'. That is all until further system diagnostics are completed," was the dreaded report from Corinthos.

Class 'D', great, that'll take an amount of fixing later, if they can be repaired after the beating they just took that is. However, right now I'm dealing with a horrendous splitting headache from that experimental interface along with burning pain on the back of my neck. Knew I shouldn't have used it, with what it could do to me but what can you do I suppose. So, fixing the suit can wait till I get over this headache and the other aches and pains I have.

My unit began to glow and then disappeared, going back to the IS bay to wait for repairs. Upon landing on the ground, I stumbled a little before regaining a part of my balance while wading through the disorientation I now experienced. The pounding in my head surging in strength for a moment before I got any more of my balance back. I was still clutching my head in pain as exhaustion from this duel and using a system I hadn't planned on using in this duel in the first place. Some of the adults began heading in my direction by this time though I was having trouble staying on my feet. A grey tunnel appeared on the edge of my vision and began closing in on me. My consciousness was fading quickly, I'd enough time to see that Chifuyu was in front of those approaching me. That's before the grey tunnel drew me in before going from grey to black and I fell forward into blackness, unable to stay awake or capable any longer.

Chapter end

A/n

I know this is leaving the story off on a cliffhanger, but I have to admit it's kind of fun! Please keep reading my stories, it is you readers that help me keep writing what I do. Take the time to write a review to say what you thought or ask questions about what you read. If you want to ask something that you don't want others to see, you can PM me and I answer the question the best I can and no one else will know. Until the next time!

xXgabeXx

hoped you enjoyed.

LabMember009Isaac

Well, in my view Ichika is a horrible example of an 'average guy's' knowledge of girls. I'm not saying that there aren't guys who are that dense, but as anime and TV do so often, they like to play things up more than they actually are. And as to the anime, I like it… but come on, there is some many different things that can be done with one male in a place full of girls. So, I say why not think outside of the box! I hope you liked the chapter.

Ricktor705

Thank you for the compliment.