I'm shocked that I made one of my longest chapters yet last time, I wonder if I can set an even higher record!
Disclaimer: I do not own Infinite Stratos.
Thomas finds himself thrown from the frying pan and into the fire! Reiko Makigami reveals her true colors, and makes an attempt to abduct Thomas as the Cinderella play is in a state of confusion!
But Thomas finds his attacker's motives distracting, as he tries to deduce why she's targeting to abduct Thomas, rather than steal the data from his Rafale-Revive.
Can Thomas pull himself together and focus? Or will he find the answers to his questions the hard way?
"Y'know, cutie-pie," Cooed Reiko, "If you want to stop struggling, I'll be gentle~!"
"Fat chance!" Spat Thomas.
Reiko looked hurt.
"I...See. I guess I'll have to force you to come with me."
"Reiko Makigami's an alias. So, wanna tell me your real name? Or should we start with business cards."
Reiko currently caught Thomas unawares. The locker room lights were turned off, making it harder for Thomas to see the locker labels. His clothes, his watch, and his Revive pendant were in his locker.
He needed to bide for time.
Thomas had already mapped out the locker room, and since he was all disoriented, he needed time to deduce the exact location of his locker.
"Well," Swooned Reiko, "It would appear to you, that I'm a mysterious beauty-"
Her back began to bubble outwards, and a set of six metal spider legs burst out.
"-Disguised as a corporate business woman! Gosh, aren't you just a lucky boy~?"
"No, I am not." He cracked.
"Why haven't you deployed you Unit already?" Pondered Reiko, "Unless..."
He was now out of time to bide for.
"...You don't have it with you! Oh, how sad! Don't worry, since you're clearly unable to do anything for yourself, I'll bring you home, and become the mother you never had! When I've secured you, I'll help you find your lost IS Unit~!"
Thomas paused.
Reiko wasn't a businesswoman, most likely an underground criminal. It appeared that she had her own IS Unit, albeit spider-themed. But most importantly, she knew one detail that shouldn't be such common knowledge.
She knew about his family.
Sure, Thomas wasn't exactly secretive about the details, but there was no reason a complete stranger would know about such an exposing detail.
This encounter was a dangerous one, to be sure, but an insightful one.
The locker room was soundproofed. That meant that Thomas couldn't call for help. And, with the Cinderella play still going on, it's not like they'd actually hear him trying to call for help anyway.
One spider limb shot right for Thomas's head. The twisted his head right to avoid it.
"Don't worry...I promise not to hurt you too badly..." Taunted Reiko, "I'm only trying to make this quick, so we both don't have to deal with the consequences for dawdling! Seriously, that little shtick of yours is getting stale! I don't want to hurt you!"
"Great idea," Said Thomas, "We don't have to do any of this at all if you don't want to-?!
Suddenly, Reiko's clothes exploded off her body, as she was enveloped in a blinding light.
Thomas felt like a flashbang went off in his face.
The moment he could see again, he saw Reiko sitting in what appeared to be a custom IS Unit.
"Hang on..." He realized, "That's the Arachnae!"
"My, my!" Said Reiko, "I see you know your stuff."
"Supposedly, it's a 3rd-Gen prototype. However, it's completion should've been long ago! There's been questions on its development..."
It all made sense to him now.
"...But I guess now I know why there're no answers."
"Oh? This ol' rig? I've had it for a while now!"
"But," Said Thomas, as he began to try and get out of Reiko's sight, "It'd be nice to have a name I can call you!"
"Aw..." Cooed Reiko, "I suppose you've been sheltered all your life. So, let's have a quickie Q&A!"
Reiko's IS was too bulky to move with all the lockers around, making it easy for Thomas to slip into the shadows.
"To start with," She explained, "I'm from something of an evil organization..."
"Corporate tool!" Called Thomas, as he removed his shoes to move more quietly, "You sound like an insurance agent!"
"How harsh!" Cried Reiko, "I'm simply hurt! But...I'll forgive you. Since you're such a cutie, after all~!"
Reiko patrolled through the sets of lockers.
"Would it make you feel better if I said you can call me Autumn of Phantom Task? Has anyone ever told you about it?"
"I swear to God," Snarled Thomas, skimming through lockers to find his, "If you just made that up, it's not gonna be pretty!"
"Don't be like that!" Whined Autumn, "I'll let you in on a little secret: Phantom Task is the organization that kidnapped your best friend, Ichika Orimura, and ended Chifuyu Orimura's career in the process!"
Thomas blinked and paused.
The Second Mondo Grosso...Now he understood.
The truth behind what separated Thomas and Ichika all those years ago. What the adults and elders in the boys' lives were trying to cover up when they told them lies to keep them from talking to each other.
Why did everyone like to lie to Thomas about those sorts of things?
Autumn had caught onto Thomas's silence.
"I can see you're a bit shaken," Consoled Autumn, "But, if you come with me, I promise we'll tell you everything! The whole truth, and nothing besides it!"
Autumn had knocked over lockers with her IS, making it a bit harder for Thomas to narrow down where his was. His entire mental map of the room had been screwed over, since he had no distinctions to map things out from.
At best, he'd have half-a-minute to find his locker.
He needed a way to call for help.
He couldn't fine the fire alarm, since he couldn't find it in this chaos.
Thomas was looking for help...
...When there was no-one there to give it.
The Strike Force Cinderella play had come to an end.
Since the Prince was unable to be found, it was assumed by the audience, the princesses, and the walk-in participants that he'd managed to escape to safety.
However, Tatenashi knew something was wrong.
Of course, Thomas was eventually going to be given an escape route, but not until after a while.
The people who were currently monitoring said escape route would've contacted the moment they'd managed to secure Thomas and pull him off stage. However, Thomas hadn't been seen for well over several minutes.
Either he'd found the perfect place to hide, or something far worse happened.
Tatenashi feared the worst.
"Where'd he go this time?!" Snapped Lingyin, impatiently.
"Well," Considered Houki, "You saw all those stunts he pulled. Maybe he's already long gone from the stage."
"Zhis ish all your fault!" Blamed Laura, "You tried to come between me and my target!"
"Laura's right, Charlotte!" Accused Cecelia, "None of this would've happened if you hadn't interfered!"
"Oh sure!" Charlotte snapped back, "Blame the French! It's not like the rest of the world cracks jokes at our expense!"
"Still though," Commented Houki, "He was a real tough customer, wasn't he?"
"I guess," Said Lingyin, "We all came at him, and he still managed to beat us!"
"I must say," Observed Cecelia, "I wonder what the outcome would be in an IS battle..."
"I bet he's laughing at us right now!" Piped up Lingyin.
"I bet he already went back to the Maid Cafe..." Confessed Houki.
"Why would he go there?"
"You'd be surprised at the things he'd do. There was time he walked through a heavy storm in shorts and a t-shirt, just to get a bottle of soda before the store closed. There was lightning, thunder, and the heaviest rain ever, but he just went through it like nothing was happening."
"What?!" Cried Charlotte, "Is he crazy?!"
"In light of all this," Said Cecelia, "The better question would be if he was ever sane to begin with."
The girls all agreed.
They then heard the emergency alarm.
Chifuyu and Miss Yamada were currently searching for Thomas.
He'd disappeared for a long time, and Chifuyu claimed she wanted him to accept his punishment to the fullest. In truth, she was secretly frightened that something awful had happened to him, but she didn't want anyone to figure that out.
They were rooting out all possible exits from the stage, and found nothing.
That is, until they looked into the security camera in the locker room.
What they saw was a unique IS Unit rampaging around, as though the pilot was looking for something.
It didn't take a genius to find out what.
"Damn..." Muttered Chifuyu, "I knew they'd attack the day of the festival, but I wasn't expecting just a single pilot."
"What do we do, ma'am?" Asked Miss Yamada.
"Seeing as Thomas hasn't dealt with the situation already," Order Chifuyu, "Evacuate the general students. Call Yin. And then, get the Representative Candidates to set up a defensive perimeter, just in case there are enemy reinforcements."
"Right away, ma'am!" Said Miss Yamada as she set about her task.
Thomas had managed to hold out for quite some time.
But survival wasn't enough.
Autumn wouldn't leave without Thomas, and knew there was no way for Thomas to fight back...
Wait! He might not be able to fight back...
He could still find his way out.
Thomas spied the exit from afar.
Moving quickly, he zipped from cover to cover, corner to corner, all to make sure he'd have a safe approach to the door. However, if he'd booked it now, he'd seriously risk getting caught.
He needed a distraction.
However, Cecelia shot his phone, his crown was somewhere in the locker room, his gloves were still on the stage, his shoes...
Wait! He still had his shoes!
He might just make this work.
Thomas quickly caught sight of Autumn. Currently, she was facing away from Thomas, and the exit was to her far-left.
This was almost too easy.
Thomas pulled back the shoe, and threw it like a knife with all his might. The shoe smashed against a locker on Autumn's far right, and echoed through the room. Autumn whipped to her right, and quickly made her way over to the sound.
"Caught you!" She proudly declared prematurely.
As her back was turned, Thomas quickly sprinted lightly to the exit.
He grabbed the doorknob...
...Only to find it was locked shut from the other side.
Autumn chuckled.
Thomas realized that Autumn had found him.
"I have to admit," She complimented, "You almost had me. Really! I mean it! You're so smart, only adding to your cuteness! However...I already knew how smart your are, so I've taken any possible precaution to make sure I get some bonding time with my new baby boy~!"
"I ain't yours just yet!" Declared Thomas, as he quickly took his other shoe, and threw it.
As Autumn destroyed the shoe, Thomas dropped out of sight.
"Wow, I thought that was all staged in the play...But you really are good at making disappearances!"
Thomas remained silent.
He may have been able to hide easier earlier, but now that there wasn't much of a distraction, Autumn would be able to determine where Thomas's voice was coming from. But what could he do now...
Thomas looked at himself.
At least he still followed his unofficial rule of being an IS Pilot...
Reiko looked around, Thomas's elusiveness was seriously becoming a bit of a pain.
"Sweetie!" She called, "Come on out! I'm not going to hurt you if you behave! This isn't funny!"
What weirded Thomas out the most is that Autumn seemed so backwards. Instead of trying to steal his IS data, she wanted to abduct him and...pamper him or something. She seemed so set on trying to coax Thomas to willingly surrender, rather than actually force him.
It just didn't make any sense.
And now, Thomas had yet another problem.
He was running out of room. Autumn had began throwing things around in her efforts to locate him, and in the process exposing any hiding spots he had. Although there were a few places left, he had nowhere to go.
He needed the Revive, but it was lost in all of this mess.
Autumn scanned as closely as she could.
And then, she saw it.
Sock fabric was exposed from hiding closely behind a locker.
"Come on out, sweetie." She cooed as she got closer, "There's only so many places you can run."
She lunged around the corner...
...Only to find a heap of removed clothing on the floor.
Thomas's rule for IS Pilots was to always wear the uniform.
One could never know when they'd need it.
For Thomas, when it came to surviving in the IS Academy, always followed that one rule. Normally, people left their pilot uniforms in their lockers, and always went to retrieve them from there.
Thomas always had his uniform on under whatever clothes he was wearing.
More often than not, such a rule had saved his hide.
But what good could it do him now, other than buy him a few seconds?
He couldn't just open lockers to check for his belongings. Not without attracting Autumn's attention, at least. However, now that Thomas had gotten sight of the exit...He could find his locker!
Thomas sneaked his way back to the exit, and quickly began to retrace his steps.
Autumn may have knocked down a lot of lockers, but Thomas still had a chance to find his. If he couldn't find the label, he'd map out the distance from the exit to his locker, and find it that way.
It didn't take long for him to do so.
Now, all he needed was a plan to distract Autumn while he unlocked the locker.
What could he do? He was all out of...
...Wait!
Thomas spied a fire extinguisher on the wall.
It might cost him everything he'd worked for, but it was his only shot.
Thomas quietly picked up the canister, searching for a way to bust it open. The fire extinguisher had a pressurized containment, right? If he could break it open somehow, he'd pour the contents into the air, and mask himself.
However, the only thing in the room capable of breaking the extinguisher open in such a manner was the Arachnae.
He'd have to do something so crazy, it just might work.
"Oi!" He called.
Autumn whipped around, seeing Thomas with the extinguisher in-hand.
"I admire you're courage," Swooned Autumn, "But this is ridiculous, even for you!"
Autumn's mechanical claw snapped at Thomas, only to have met with the fire extinguisher.
The extinguisher exploded as it was pierced the the Arachnae's clawed fingertips, emptying its contents into Autumn's face.
Autumn jolted in surprise.
Thomas seized the moment, using his photographic memory to locate his locker masked by the mist in the air. He quickly opened it up, and threw out his belongings, quickly rummaging for his Revive.
Where was it?! He couldn't see it in all of the hazy mist. Thomas grabbed a random object.
Autumn finally seized the moment, and sprayed webbing at Thomas.
She webbed him by his joints, quickly binding him and suspending him in the air. However, despite the fact that his Revive wasn't around his neck, he didn't seem the least bit in panic.
He looked quite calm.
"And now," Cooed Autumn as she drew closer, "I can finally have some bonding time with my new son-?!"
Suddenly, a bullet streaked across Autumn's helmet, knocking her head off-balance.
"Not while I'm still breathing!"
Thomas and Autumn turned to see a Yin, with a gleaming red visor and mask over her face. In her arms she held a smoking heavy caliber rifle.
"Okay, okay," Said Thomas, "Can everyone just fucking chill?! Honestly, if I'd known I'd have company, I'd have stocked up on snacks! It would've been perfectly fine by me if one of you had just called ahead!"
"Don't worry, sweetie~!" Cooed Autumn, "I'll take care of this quickly, and then we'll get back to some family bonding!"
"Family my ass!" Retorted Yin, "Where is she?! I know you bastards took her, tell me where she is!"
"Sorry," Apologized Autumn, "But she's mine now."
"YOU'RE DEAD!" Roared Yin as she opened fire.
Thomas could tell they had personal business. However, judging from the new woman's voice, she was emotional over what sounded like a kidnapping of some girl close to her, presumably a lover or child.
Her head was clouded. She'd most likely be a liability.
Autumn leapt around the locker room with unexpected agility, Yin ran and placed herself in front of Thomas as a means of putting a defense between Autumn and Thomas. Thomas could see she had snow white hair, tied into a ponytail.
Who was she?
"Get out of my way!" Snapped Autumn.
"You're not taking him anywhere!" Affirmed Yin.
Suddenly, Yin's gun clicked, and stopped firing.
"Shit." She mumbled, quickly trying to figure out another strategy.
Autumn sprayed webbing, only to have Yin narrowly evade the spread attack. Yin dropped her gun, and quickly began to close the distance between her and Autumn, and began to attack it directly at close-range.
Autumn used several spider legs to attack Yin, only to quickly find herself tangled in her own IS.
Yin seized the moment, and leapt upon Autumn from behind.
She began to tear in...
...Only to have been snagged by a spider leg she didn't see coming from behind.
Yin was thrown into a wall, several lockers, and finally tossed up into the air, and was bound and suspended in midair by a web Autumn had tangled her in.
"I'll have my fun with you later..." Autumn sneered, turning back to Thomas, "Since we've been rudely interrupted, I'll just bring you back home and introduce you to the family and your new mommy~!"
Thomas smirked with his eyes closed.
It was the sign of a confident trickster.
"Tempting offer..."
His eyes shot open.
"...But I think I'll keep my current arrangement-DEPLOY!"
Suddenly, Thomas's Revive materialized out of thin air, snapping the webbing that held him and freeing him completely!
"What the-?! But how'd you-?!"
"I'm shocked," Thomas said calmly, "You act like you've never seen a magician before."
But how did Thomas deploy his Revive? The pendant wasn't hanging from his neck!
In truth, Thomas had managed to locate his Revive in all of the mist. He'd put in on and turned the pendant so that it'd hang behind him. With the poor lighting, Autumn was unable to see the string around Thomas's neck.
Thomas had been fooling her the entire time she thought she had him!
"Now that I've got what I was looking for," He locked eyes with Autumn, "I think I'll finally turn my undivided attention to you. Gosh..."
Despite the Arachnae's helmet masking her face, Autumn's heart was struck with fear as Thomas seemingly stared right into her eyes.
"...Aren't you lucky?"
"B-But-!"
"I'm sick to death of your little, 'mommy' shtick. The only person I'll ever call my mom was the one who gave birth to me!"
Yin gasped and stared at Thomas, as though she'd been entranced.
"I see..." Confirmed Autumn, "Even if you won't call me your mother, I'll never stop trying to make you my son."
"Sounds like a 'you' problem."
Suddenly, Thomas vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.
"Wha-?! Where'd you go?!"
"What's wrong, Autumn? Scared?" Thomas's voice echoed through the room, and was untraceable.
Suddenly, the two women heard sudden gunshots, and the locker room's emergency lights came on.
"Come out right now!" Cried Autumn, "This isn't funny!"
Suddenly, the room became filled with exhaust smoke.
"It's hard, isn't it?" Whispered Thomas, "Hard to predict the future, when it's so full of smoke."
Autumn's heart began to race.
Without warning, she used the Arachnae's legs to quickly flap away the vapor. Her breathing was heavy and wild with anxiety. Thomas must've been using some sort of optical camouflage.
She then felt something smack her face.
Moments after, she then felt a brutal onslaught drill all over her body.
Who...What was happening?! Was Thomas beating her senseless?
Suddenly, Autumn was sent flying onto the ground, and Yin fell into some sort of invisible cradle. She focused her eyes, and saw the outline of an IS Unit amidst the darkened locker room.
"Is...That you?"
Suddenly, Thomas deactivated his optical camouflage.
The Revive was in Stealth Shift, meaning the Unit was black in color. Along with this, the Unit had extra plating on its shoulders, wings, and hips, which were decorated in hexagonal patterns, no doubt serving as the Unit's camouflage.
"Mind telling me your name?" He asked, reverting to the Primary Shift.
"I'm...My name's Yin. I'm part of the staff at the IS Academy."
Thomas set Yin down gently.
"Y'know..." She said, "I never thought I'd get the chance to meet you, let alone be rescued by you."
"Hm." Said Thomas.
"Is something amiss?"
"You have snow-white hair...You reminded me of my mom."
"I do?! I mean...It's nice to know that I'm seen as a maternal figure."
"And?"
"It...means that I can raise a child."
"I see."
Something about the woman seemed so familiar to Thomas, but he couldn't figure what. For starters, he swore he'd heard that voice somewhere before. However, the odds of his suspicions actually being correct was fatally low.
Yin was internally panicking.
Only David and Chifuyu actually knew that Yin was Thomas's biological mother. Keeping up such an act was dangerous, since she'd already practically abandoned him, and lied to him all of his life.
It just wasn't the time to waltz back into his life.
She was very gracious she wore a mask and visor over her face.
That way, Thomas wouldn't figure out the truth right then and there.
Outside the Arena...
Lingyin and Cecelia were setting up a perimeter around the Academy's airspace.
"Right flank, clear." Reported Lingyin.
"Nothing to report, either." Said Cecelia.
Suddenly, an alert popped up on their HUDs.
"There's an IS approaching your position at high speed!" Said Miss Yamada, "Intercept and apprehend it!"
"Be careful," Cautioned Chifuyu, "You can't let your guard down."
"Right!" Answered the girls.
A twinkle streaked across the sky as their unknown combatant raced right for them.
Cecelia gasped, and froze with fear.
"But that's...Impossible!" She cried in dismay, "BT-2 Silent Zephyrs?!"
It was impossible! Why would the Silent Zephyrs be here?! It was in England!
"What's the matter, Cecelia?!" Snapped Lingyin, "Open fire already!"
"Uh...Right!"
Lingyin and Cecelia began to open fire upon the Silent Zephyrs. Silent Zephyrs suddenly stopped in its tracks, and used an energy shield to block each and every blast bolt that came its way.
"What the hell?!" Cried Lingyin.
"Try this, then!" Challenged Cecelia, as she opened up with her Rocket Pods, and fired twin rockets at the target.
Suddenly, Silent Zephyrs deployed two Optical Drones, and shot the missiles out of the sky.
"That was the same flexible weapons system as Blue Tears!" Cried Cecelia, "But I'm supposed to be the one with the most BT-compatible rating amongst the current pilots! How can she possibly...?"
Silent Zephyrs deployed eight Optical Drones, easily, it was a superior design to the Blue Tears's four Optical Drones.
"Get outta there!" Cried Lingyin, as she moved away.
Cecelia barely regained her senses in time to evade the Optical Drones.
They needed to get the others to take down the Silent Zephyrs.
As the girls were distracted, Silent Zephyrs simply flew right by without so much as a care to the wind.
Autumn had gotten back up, and finally engaged Thomas.
"If you're planning on fighting me," She said, "Then I guess I'll have to hurt you a little!"
"Oh, stuff a sock in it!" Retorted Thomas.
Autumn opened fire with pulse blasts from he Unit's palms. Thomas brought up his Left Shield, quickly deploying his Combat Knife and Particle Cannon.
He moved his Shield, allowing him to open fire with the Particle Cannon from behind it. Thomas was currently placing himself around Yin, serving as her own personal barrier against Autumn's onslaught.
Thomas took potshots at the Arachnae's feet, purposely missing to help force it into position.
Autumn was currently airborne, the Arachnae was roughly around an access hatch to the arena above them.
Just as planned.
Thomas burst forward, with his Shield in one arm, and Yin with her arms wrapped around him in his other. Thomas gunned the Revive, and smashed right into Autumn. He now had the Arachnae strung up on his Shield like a bug on a windshield.
"Y'know what's been bugging me?" He asked, "It's really dark in here, and as much as I like the dark-"
He pushed the Revive at maximum speed as he rammed Autumn straight through the ceiling.
"-I think it's time we turned all the lights on!"
Autumn was brought up into the air, as gravity carried her off the Shield, and she crashed painfully to the floor.
"'Course," Thomas said, "No pun intended, since spiders aren't bugs."
Autumn stifled her breath as she slowly got back on her feet.
"But seriously?!" Criticized Thomas, as he set down Yin, "Purple and Yellow?! Really?! If you went with red and blue, I'd be insulted! Nobody ruins Spider-Man for me! I'm shocked the Webhead himself didn't come down from Heaven to sue you already!"
Thomas tried to rush Autumn, only to be stopped short by a pulse beam.
Thomas looked to the sky, only to find the Arena's dome had been blasted open like a bubble, and a very peculiar IS Unit hovering over the hole. The Unit seemed to remind Thomas of Blue Tears.
"I came to get you, Autumn." Spoke the pilot.
"Address me with respect, M!" Snapped Autumn.
Thomas wasted no time.
The Arachnae, despite it's high agility, was pitiful when it came to flight. Statistically, it was much more of a tank, tougher, but slower. If he went to take down the unknown Unit, he'd still have a chance to catch Autumn.
Thomas raced up to meet the latecomer.
"Tsk tsk!" He taunted, "That's a tardy slip for you! Class is in session, and your friend was just getting schooled!"
"Ugh! Why is everyone so damn obsessed with you?!" Snarled "M," as she deployed 8 Optical Drones aimed right for Thomas.
Thomas quickly calculated the velocity and trajectory of each drone, and moved to meet them head-on.
Drones in things like video games were usually meant as a means of distraction. They were to overwhelm the player with attacks that did minimal to moderate damage.
However, the Optical Drones were meant to actively blow things up in single shots.
Thomas brought up his Shield, recalled his Combat Knife, and deployed his other Particle Cannon.
The Drones were flying in a circular formation. Thomas quickly deduced that they'd fire something close to a laser-grid attack to finish him quickly if he flew right through the center.
Thomas opened up his missile racks, and quickly fired at the Optical Drones.
He fired eight missiles, one for each drone.
They hit their marks without a cinch.
Thomas brought up his comm.
"Guys! Anyone?"
"Thomas?! Where the hell have you been?!" Cried Ichika.
"Tell you later. Right now, I got a giant friggin' butterfly with lasers on me!"
"What?! We're on our way!" Responded Houki.
"Belay that!"
"Why?!"
"I need you guys all down at the Arena, we got a shitty Spider-Man cosplayer that puts Peni Parker to shame!"
"I see..."
"Ichika, Cecelia, Lingyin, link up with me. Charlotte, Laura, Houki, take care of our guest on the stage!"
Cecelia and Lingyin were silent.
"Dammit..." Muttered Thomas.
The two girls were most likely already taken care of by Silent Zephyrs. He'd find them later, but he needed to stay alive long enough for him to do so.
"Hey! Scott!" Snapped M.
"Scott's my dad," Said Thomas, "I'm Thomas."
"Whatever!" She snarled, right before regaining composure, "As I was saying...You can stop this whole thing, right here, right now if you wanted to."
"Don't have to," He said, "You can just leave your buddy and run..."
"All I'm asking is that you come with us. No tricks, no tails. Just hand yourself over and we'll leave your friends out of the issue."
Thomas looked around, trying to find something he could work with. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Ichika flying at top speed, aiming for Silent Zephyr's back. If they timed it right, they might be able to take down the butterfly in a single move.
Thomas slowly hovered closer.
He needed to get within striking distance.
"I see what you mean." Thomas said, "Really! I get it! But I'm sorry, I've been sheltered for a good chunk of my life, so I don't know much about other people. So, if you don't mind me asking, d'you have a name I can call you?"
"M."
"I see...I see. Keepin' it simple, yeh?"
"Quit stalling."
"What?"
"You're stalling for time. What're you trying to hide from me?"
Thomas pointed behind her, "He did it!"
M turned around, only to find that Ichika was about to smash her with an Energy Claw to her face.
It was at this moment, M knew...she fucked up.
Thomas quickly shifted his Shield to Shield Pierce, and closed the gap between him and her.
Ichika delivered a haymaker to M's belly, Thomas delivered a haymaker to M's back.
The two of them struck at different angles, a technique that would've sent M spiraling to the ground.
Or so they thought.
Instead of taking her out of commission, their combo attack only gave M enough range to grab hold of the both of them by their wrists. M then deployed her Optical Drones, and relentlessly tore into both of the boys as she held them.
When she felt the boys were on their last legs, She smiled.
"This was almost too easy." She mumbled.
M spun around, building up enough momentum to send Ichika crashing hard into the ground. She then threw Ichika back into the Arena, making him crash into a tower of the palace.
"I'll deal with you next!" She shouted to Ichika as he crashed.
He was down, and too weary to continue.
"And now, to deal with you..." M turned to Thomas.
Thomas was writhing from the pain of the Drones blasting him a new one.
M then grabbed Thomas by his sides, like holding up a teddy bear.
Suddenly, Thomas recalled his IS.
M was confused, thinking that Thomas would've tried to fight back with the IS Unit.
But, him being obedient was a pleasant surprise.
"So, you finally gave up, huh?" M smirked.
"I still got a few tricks up my sleeve." Retorted Thomas.
However, what M didn't understand, was that Thomas was actually using a crazy strategy. Having recalled the Revive, Thomas had a small window of time to align himself in a position where he could break free of M.
Without warning, Thomas slipped right out of M's hands, slipped behind her, and began to tear into her Unit with his Compact Shift's arms.
He'd brought out the Combat Knife, poking and prodding into M's back.
M tried to reach for Thomas, only to realize the Silent Zephyrs had a serious flaw! It's blind spot was right behind it, where the Unit's wings were too big for it to reach behind itself! And, by using the Compact Shift, he was able to deploy some of his weapons, and take her out of the air!
However, M was still able to counter.
M spun around, shaking Thomas off, and causing him to fall from the sky!
Thomas deployed the rest of the Compact Shift, and guided himself into a controlled crash on the ground near the other students.
Charlotte, Laura, and Houki had Autumn by the balls.
For a moment, they were distracted as Thomas crash-landed right next to them.
The next, they were blasted by Silent Zephyrs.
Laura was still standing, her AIC being the only thing that held Autumn.
"Vha?!" She cried.
M landed, and with the stroke of an energy blade, cut right through the AIC's barrier field as though it were cheap fabric.
"Is that the best you got?" Sneered M, "German Uber Soldier?"
"How do you know of zhat?!"
"Irrelevant. Out of my way, Scott's coming with us."
"Vhy do you vant him?!"
"I'll explain that." Cooed Autumn, regaining her composure, "You see...Our leader has quite the connection the Thomas, and developed quite a fondness for the boy. You could say we're trying to bring him into the family! And besides..."
Autumn's face became twisted.
"He's much more valuable to us alive than his Unit's data. As long as we keep him, we can get more data."
"Now," Commanded M, "Out of the way."
"Never! I'll never abandon my comrade!" Refused Laura.
"Your choice." Said M, taking aim. She blasted Laura, and sent her to the floor.
Suddenly, a blue bolt struck her across the face.
Thomas, who'd secretly gotten up, switched to Primary Shift, and brought out a rifle he'd never seen before and shot M.
"Honestly." He taunted, "You should go back and tell your boss I only like her as a friend!"
"Don't be that way, sweetie~!" Cooed Autumn.
"Ugh! Gimme a break!" Hacked M.
"Show some respect, girl!" Snapped Autumn.
The two paused, as though they were getting a call.
"Understood, Squall." Said M.
"Squall, huh?" Thought Thomas, "I'll keep that in mind."
"It's time to go. They have too many combat-ready Units. We have to go, you took too long this time. But...We'll have other chances." Said M.
"If this is the way it has to be..." Whined Autumn.
M jumped into the air, and used the cannons from her Optical Drones to make sure the girls and Thomas stayed down.
Thomas quickly countered, bringing out his Shield moments before M blasted him.
Autumn disengaged The Arachnae, and jumped out. She grabbed a glowing orb, and set the armaments to explode. She then pressed buttons, and ran off. Suddenly, the Arachnae began to move on its own, and made its way towards the girls.
It made a distinct chirp every second or so.
Thomas saw this, and knew what was about to happen.
Autumn jumped into M's arms, and the two took to the air, putting distance between them and the students. They'd turned the Arachnae into a walking bomb! And as it drew nearer, the countdown sped up!
The girls were still disoriented. They wouldn't get away in time.
Thomas suddenly pulled into Hypervelocity Shift, and sprang into action!
But why did Thomas do what he did? Even he had no idea! It was almost as though his body was moving on its own, and yet it required his mind to do the thinking and calculating for each move he made!
It was as though his very mind was acting of its own accord subconsciously!
Thomas zipped up to the Arachnae, he could tell he'd only have a maximum of 5 seconds to act!
Thomas smirked.
5 seconds? The attackers were amateurs!
Thomas snagged the Arachnae by its legs with both hands, and took off after M and Autumn.
4 seconds...
The chirping sped up, and was now beeping 5 times per second.
3 seconds...
Thomas had just cleared the arena.
2...
"Hey!" He called, "I think you dropped this! You can have it back!"
Thomas spun around, and threw the Arachnae at the two pilots with all his might.
1...
"Give Squall my regards!"
0...
The bomb went off, and Thomas discovered the minimum safe distance.
Or better yet, lack thereof.
Thomas was sent flying back into the Arena, disabled and unable to recover in time. He'd seriously damage something if he connected with the ground at this speed! Everything happened so fast, Thomas couldn't process it! He passed out for a mere second.
Only a second.
The next thing he knew, some sort of extremely soft, pillow-like substance was pressed deeply against his face.
He could smell ozone, an indication that it was about to storm.
He felt like he was contained in a vacuum-sealed environment.
Thomas opened his eyes to see why.
Tatenashi was on all fours over Thomas. She'd created a barrier of water around them.
Thomas tried to recreate what happened.
As he was blown back, Tatenashi must've caught him midair with her own IS. And, using her Unit's special ability, generated a bubble of water around them to shield them from the impact.
However...
"Are they gone?" Whispered Thomas.
"Yes. It looks like you sent them packing." Tatenashi whispered back, "But what about you? Are you okay? Nothing hurt or broken?"
"M'fine...It looks like they only made the armaments explode."
"Good. What do you think they were attacking for?"
"They were after me, for some reason. Can't figure out why exactly, but I think I know."
"Can you tell me?"
"Depends," He retorted, "Can your get you chest out of my face?"
Tatenashi's bosom was a little too big for comfort. As she crouched over Thomas, her breasts draped over his face like the softest curtain ever made.
"Gee!" Tatenashi's voice returned to normal, boisterous volume, "You're a pervert behind that cute face of yours, aren't you?"
"Are. You. Fucking. Serious?!" Snapped Thomas.
Thomas had been put through a great deal of stress. And, judging from the sun and the sky, it was still around noon. In that short time, Thomas had nearly been mauled by hordes of lecherous teenage girls, nearly killed, pushed to the brink, lost his phone, shot, nearly shot, nearly stabbed, electrocuted, nearly abducted, put in a position of conflict, and pulled right back into a mystery he wanted to get away from.
If Thomas had to deal with anything else, he lay the smack on someone.
"Since we're in this position," Said Tatenashi, "Whaddaya think of my boobs?"
"What?"
"My chest, silly!" She teased, "Give me your honest opinion!"
"Well..." Thomas described, "They're...soft. And, they're even, bountiful, and...perky?"
"Tommy?"
"Yeah?"
"Pervert~!" Cooed Tatenashi.
Thomas's face turned from flustered and blushing, to absolutely pissed.
Thomas grabbed Tatenashi's wrists, and pushed himself up.
The moment he was on his feet, he delivered a powerful right hook, and sent Tatenashi flying.
"NOW YOU LISTEN HERE, YOU FUCKING THOT!" He roared, "I am MAXED OUT on handling YOUR shit! In the span of A COUPLE OF HOURS! I've been nearly kidnapped, adopted against my will, mauled, electrocuted, forced to fight for my fucking life, and whatever else I'm missing!"
The water bubble dissipated, and the girls and Ichika could hear Thomas scream as they recovered.
"Sheesh..." Muttered Ichika.
"Wow...It's been a while since he went over the edge like that..." Observed Houki.
"Sacre Bleu..." Mumbled Charlotte, stunned by how angry Thomas could get.
"Vhat ish happening?" Asked Laura, genuinely confused.
When Thomas finished releasing his pent-up negativity, he quickly went to recover Lingyin and Cecelia. Right after, he went immediately back to the Maid Cafe, and continued his work as a butler.
Ichika followed a few minutes after, and the two got back to performing skits together.
Chifuyu eventually paid a visit, even giving a genuine smile to the boys.
Yin vanished during the chaos, and didn't even say goodbye to Thomas.
Despite how much was heavy in Thomas's head, he did his best to hide his confusion until everything was over. The patrons all fell in love with Thomas the butler, and the distraction was enough to keep Thomas occupied and temporarily forget about the stranger parts of the day.
As more and more patrons discovered the incident, more and more began to order the 'Treat your Butler' Special for Thomas.
When the day finally drew to a close, and the last patron left, Class 1 quickly began to restore the classroom.
As they finished, Thomas took both Ichika's samurai costume, and his own knight costume, and put them in the closet of their dorm room.
But not before the two of them took a picture of themselves in costume.
Ichika would send it to Thomas when he replaced his phone. Ichika quickly went to sleep peacefully that night.
Thomas, on the other hand, stayed up for quite some time.
After he put on his pajamas, he went to the balcony, to the desk, and back, and simply stared into the night sky.
He felt conflicted, confused. So confused to the point where he just couldn't even figure out what he was doing anymore.
Who was Squall? Who was M? Who was Autumn? What was Phantom Task? Who was Yin? What made him so damn special all of the sudden? Ichika was the one with the next-gen IS Unit, so why did Phantom Task take such an interest in Thomas?
IT may have been an exaggeration, but sometimes, it felt as though Thomas's life was on the verge of breaking to pieces.
Thomas fell asleep sitting at the desk.
Maybe someday...
Maybe someday, he'd finally have his questions answered.
Elsewhere...
"I didn't ask for your help, brat!" Snarled Autumn, as she collared M.
M was unresponsive, as a means of silently taunting Autumn.
"Stop getting in my way, dammit! Your interfering with my life! We may have accepted you as family, but you're such a fucking brat, you little shit!"
She shoved M against a window.
"Say something!" Threatened Autumn, "Say something, you stinking little brat!"
M simply locked eyes with Autumn, and gave her sly grin.
"Why you..." Growled Autumn, as she reached behind herself to pull out a knife.
"Now, now Autumn," Cooed a soothing woman's voice, "That's no way to treat our adopted daughter."
Autumn turned around, her wrathful, venomous face turning back to a normal, passive look of awe.
"You're making too much noise," Cooed Squall, as she walked out of the bathroom, with a bathrobe and slippers on.
"S-Squall!" Piped up Autumn joyously, her face blushing.
"You need to keep calm," Consoled Squall, "All that anger will give you wrinkles, and ruin your beautiful face."
Autumn's blush became deeper.
Suddenly, a snow-white streak dashed across Autumn's vision.
"Mama!" Cheered Kana, as the girl zipped up and wrapped her arms around Autumn.
"Hello, sweetie~!" Cooed Autumn, as she returned the hug.
"Did you?" Asked Kana, "Did you see him? Didja? Didja? Didja-!"
"I did, sweetie! He was so cute!"
"Yay!"
"While I was there," Said Autumn, pulling out a strip of photos, "I managed to get pictures of Tommy!"
She gave the photos to Kana, who hugged them like a fluffy teddy bear.
"It's been so long!" She swooned, "I never knew how awful it was to be without him until I finally met him! Now it's like I can't live without his essence!"
M grunted, and walked off.
"Aww..." Cooed Kana, "Admit it, you like him too~!"
"I don't!" Snarled M, whipping around angrily, "That idiot was a total dick! He's such a frigging chore to deal with! And he was so damn annoying! I just wish I could clock him and knock him out cold so he'd shut up! Why the hell're you so obsessed with him?! I just can't understand it!"
"You know you like him~!" Teased Kana.
"I! Do! Not!" Affirmed M.
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
The two young girls stared into each others' eyes, waiting for the slightest flinch in their stare-down.
M clenched her teeth, her cheeks turned red, and she finally looked away in shame.
"He's...I guess he's a little cute..."
"I knew it~!" Cheered Kana.
"Only a little! A LITTLE!"
"You're just jealous because I got to meet him first!"
"Hell no!"
Suddenly, Kana gave M a warm hug.
"It's Okay," Kana cooed, "We can share Tommy when we finally bring him home~!"
"You make it sound so wrong! You're disgusting!"
M was absolutely embarrassed.
"I can't deal with this right now!" She snapped and stomped off.
"M?" Called Squall, "I'd like for you to return Silent Zephyrs to maintenance when you get the chance. From my understanding, Thomas was able to outsmart you and take advantage of the Unit's weaknesses. It sounds like it needs some adjustments."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Aw~!" Cooed Squall, "You don't have to be so formal, you can call me Mama~!"
M grunted in embarrassment, blushed, and promptly stomped off a lot louder than before.
When M reached her room, she shut the door.
"Soon...Very soon..." She mumbled.
She pulled out a locket.
"I'll get my revenge...And then I'll finally meet you...Big sister..."
She opened up the locket, revealing a picture of Chifuyu's face inside.
"And for once..." She hissed, "We'll all be one happy family..."
It wouldn't be long now...
A/N: At last! It's done! Kana's true history has mostly been revealed! I finally feel like I accomplished something good! Not only did I set a new record for longest chapter last time, but I finally feel confident in myself when I write this story!
Although...There is something of backstory I did leave out. I won't say, until the time comes.
Thanks to everyone who's been following and supporting this story! This is actually one of those stories I thought of, but never really had much confidence in, since it's just an idea that's been done to death. Honestly I felt really embarrassed when I started, since I felt that it wasn't going to do too well at all, but I am so glad I was wrong about that.
But all the overwhelmingly positive feedback, the sheer amount of people who actually read this story is something I never expected. Since there was so much of it, I decided to make this story my main focus.
So, thank you, reader, whoever you may be.
Enough with the mushy stuff, I'm embarrassing myself.
Next time: Oh, Love me Mister.
As classes continue, Everyone's introduced to a new girl!
Or rather, an old one...
Thomas's childhood crush, Nana suddenly transfers out of nowhere! Thomas and Ichika are thrilled, but the girls aren't! Nana acts suspicious to the girls, and they decide to get to the bottom of it!
Leave a review, they're much appreciated and show that you care!