Alrightie! I did my best to work as quickly as possible on this as I could, and polish it off enough to make sure it was worthy of release! Hope you enjoy!
As of now, I just introduced the Golem III Units featured in Season 2 of the anime.
Disclaimer: I do not own Infinite Stratos.
A group of unknown IS-Units attack the IS Academy out-of-nowhere!
But what could their motives be?
Whatever the case, the Representative Candidates must work together to defend the Academy from the attack. And, for Thomas and Ichika, the latter is easier said than done!
However, the two of them quickly find themselves cut off from the others!
Can they bury the hatchet and work together?
It happened in an instant.
One moment, Ichika was running around the halls of the IS Academy, frantically searching for Kanzashi...
...The next, he heard a massive explosion as he looked out the window to see one of the Arenas had a trail of smoke emerging from it.
And that was all it took for Ichika to deploy the Byakushki and take flight for the scene.
Thomas was in the Workshop, trying to finish repairing the Revive from his fight against Laura, and had yet to hear the alarms.
Everyone else was either evacuating, or deploying to prepare for combat.
"Miss Orimura!" Called Ichika, "What's going on?!"
"We've got multiple contacts. They appear to be advanced versions of the IS that attacked the school before the summer. For now, we'll call them Golem Units. There are 15 of them, see what you can do to keep the situation from deteriorating. It would appear they're specifically targeting students with Personal IS Units, so you shouldn't have to worry about trying to get their attention." Said Chifuyu over the coms.
"Roger, Ma'am!" Ichika said.
"One more thing," Said Chifuyu, "Locate Scott if you can. He has the firepower to push them back, securing him is vital. Make sure the situation is contained, and bring him so he can assist."
"But-!"
"I already know about you two having a fight, it doesn't matter right now. Think of it this way," Interrupted Chifuyu, "If you don't find him, he'll come find you."
Ichika could only pray Chifuyu was right.
In Arena 1...
Lingyin was currently opening fire upon a Golem...
...Only to have shots blocked by a shield protruding from the Golem's wings.
"What's up with this thing?!" Lingyin muttered to herself.
"Lingyin!" Called Elias, "Allow me to deal with this one!"
Elias deployed his Barrier Shield as he tried to ram the Golem head-on.
The Golem suddenly jumped over Elias, and sent him on the ground as it dropped right on his head. The Golem leapt off of Elias as it paused, waiting for the next attack the students would send its way. Elias grunted and lay face down on the ground, writhing from the jarring blow to his head.
"Elias!" Cried Cecelia, before relentlessly opening fire upon the Golem.
"How dare you?!" She threatened, deploying her Optical Drones to further attack the enemy.
The Golem spun in place, and quickly skated as it flawlessly evaded the Optical Drones.
"That movement..." Observed Lingyin, "It's kinda familiar..."
An Optical Drone tried to blast the Golem from behind...
...Only to have the Golem jump and spin like an acrobat as it dodged.
The Golem landed on one foot, spun back around, and smashed the Optical Drone with its bigger fist.
"I've seen that before!" Realized Lingyin.
"What do you mean?!" Inquired Cecelia.
"It's copying Thomas!"
"Now that you mention it...It does seem to have adopted Thomas's...elastic movements."
"But how?"
"We'll focus on that later," Suggested Cecelia, "Right now, we need to help Elias!"
In Arena 2...
Laura and Charlotte were fairing no better.
"Get behind me, Laura!" Cried Charlotte as she deployed an Energy Barrier, narrowly being blown away by the Golem's blast.
"Charlotte?!" Cried Laura.
"We need to work together!"
"But-"
"Come, Laura, you can work with others!"
"...Jah!" Agreed Laura as she did her best not to distract Charlotte.
Laura activated both of her Beam Sabers, and rushed the Golem.
The Golem brought out a Wrist Blade, and single-handedly each of Laura's attacks.
Laura aimed for the Golem's head, only to have it vanish from her view.
The Golem stood up behind Laura, facing away from her.
It then brought its arm around her neck, and threw her to the floor as it clotheslined Laura.
Charlotte opened fire upon the Golem, trying to get its attention.
However, the Golem brought up its larger arm to block the oncoming barrage. The Golem grabbed Laura, and clobbered Charlotte with her body as it held her ankles, swinging her like a baseball bat.
With a single spin, the Golem threw Laura at the fallen Charlotte.
Laura crashed onto Charlotte, and the two of them grunted as their bodies hit each other.
In Arena 5...
Houki was currently attempting to somehow hack a Golem out of the air.
She moved all around the Golem, swinging wildly at it with her Katanas.
However, the Golem seemed to predict her every move, delivering a powerful counter to Houki each time she came in for an attack of her own.
Houki swung again, only to have the Golem jump over her and deliver a dropkick to her back.
"What the hell?!" Grunted Houki in confusion.
Houki turned back around to face the Golem, only to be put in an underarm headlock. She didn't have to escape, as the Golem sent her to the ground with a mighty uppercut from its free hand to her chin.
"Those moves...It's copying Thomas!" Houki realized.
"I got it! Take this!" Shouted Tatenashi as she jammed the Mysterious Lady's Lance right into the Golem.
The Golem didn't see Tatenashi coming, and was caught off-guard!
However, the most Tatenashi was able to do was simply give the Golem a love tap.
"Damn...This thing's really hard." She whined.
Tatenashi then got an idea.
"Houki!" She called, "Unfold your Rear Armor, and give me a push!"
"Right!"
The Akatsubaki's wings became thinner as they expanded, glowing with a pink energy. Houki flew in, grasping Tatenashi by her sides, and began to throttle the Akatsubaki as she pushed Tatenashi forward.
Together, they began to ram and push the Golem towards the Arena's dome.
The Golem was unable to push away.
With a mighty clang, the Golem was firmly trapped between Tatenashi's lance piercing its front, and the Arena's Dome against its back!
As much as it tried, the Golem couldn't push back against the power behind Tatenashi and Houki's combined attack.
"What now?!" Cried Houki.
"We need to bust right through this thing's armor!"
"What?!"
"Take this, you cheap Tommy Knock-Off!" Shouted Tatenashi as she fired away with the Lance's 4-Barrel Gatling gun.
Suddenly, the Mysterious Lady's water-wings vanished, as Tatenashi jammed four crystals into the Golem's torso.
"What're you doing now?!" Questioned Houki.
"Houki," Ordered Tatenashi, "Put everything the Akatsubaki's got into Defense, or you'll get hurt!"
Houki rerouted power into the Akatsubaki's shields, hoping Tatenashi knew what she was doing.
"Now what?"
"Pull away, or you'll get sucked in!"
"But you-"
"It's fine!" Tatenashi assured Houki, "I'm immortal, y'know!"
Houki began to fly away, only to realize why Tatenashi ordered her to do so.
What Tatenashi was doing, she generated a vortex, sucking in the air and anything nearby!
Houki gunned the Akatsubaki as hard as she could, slowly escaping the vortex.
"MISTILTEINN SPEAR!" Tatenashi boomed as she and the Golem were caught in a massive fireball explosion.
The Akatsubaki, carried by both its already high acceleration, and the shock of the explosion, was blown clear.
However, Houki was moving too fast, and made a very hard crash into the opposite wall of the Arena.
Tatenashi laid in the rubble, out of breath and utterly exhausted.
Houki laid in a heap in the Akatsubaki, concussed.
In the Arena 3 Pit...
Kanzashi cowered in fear.
A massive, 4-armed IS was towering over her.
"Please..." She sobbed, "Don't..."
The IS reached for her.
"Somebody! Please!"
The IS began to wrap its hands around Kanzashi.
"ORIMURA!" She screamed in desperation.
As if on cue, Ichika bust right through the Pit wall with the Yukihira Nagata, drawing the IS Unit's attention. Closing the distance, Ichika quickly placed himself between the IS and Kanzashi.
Kanzashi was enthralled. It was as though Ichika had become an anime hero, who'd dash in to save the day just when all hope seemed lost!
"C'mon!" Called Ichika, "Deploy your IS, I can't do this myself!"
"R-Right!" Kanzashi stuttered as she stood up.
"Uchigane Nishiki!"
In a flash of light, Kanzashi's Unit materialized.
As much as the sight was impressive, Ichika had other things to worry about.
"Damn...This thing's strong..." He grunted.
Kanzashi, despite her utter terror, finally gained the resolve to stand alongside Ichika!
"I..." She declared, "...Wish I had the strength to fight by your side!"
"Good to hear!" Responded Ichika, "Now help me out would'ya?"
Kanzashi deployed her Unit's Naginata, and began to help Ichika push the Golem outside of the Pit and into the Arena.
By the time they got the Golem outside, 11 of the 15 Golems were waiting for them!
"Oh crap..." Ichika whimpered.
Nana was on the field, doing her best not to pass out again as she frantically opened fire upon the 11 Units.
"Help me, dammit!" She screamed.
"We have to get Nana out of there!" Said Ichika, as he and Kanzashi raced to Nana's aid.
"Where's Thomas?" Demanded Nana as Ichika and Kanzashi arrived.
"I don't know!"
"Fuck! That's bad! There could be a ton more of these things on him!"
"We need to focus on ourselves! We'll find Thomas as soon as we handle things here!"
"Aren't you the kind of guy that would do things to reverse?"
"We had a fight. Thomas might not be in the mood to see my face."
"Goddammit! What is it with Thomas and arguing with people from his childhood?!"
"Hell if I know!"
The Golems kept peppering the trio with ranged attacks. Nana and Kanzashi weren't very good at aiming, making them almost entirely helpless! The three students found themselves overwhelmed as the Golems closed in.
But what was taking Thomas so long to show up?
In the Workshop...
Thomas had finally finished repairing the damage Laura had done to the Revive.
His new Pilot Uniform still had all the damages, since Thomas really wasn't good at mending clothes.
Thomas took yet another look through his Weapons List on the Revive, still dubious about a certain weapon in his arsenal.
"Doesn't make sense..." He muttered, "When did that get there? And why didn't I see it before?"
He heard clattering behind him.
Thomas turned around...
...Only to find himself face-to-face with Tabane Shinonono.
"Tabane!?" He yelped as he stumbled back.
"That's ri~ight Tommy-Kun!" Cheered Tabane.
"What-How-Why-What the hell're you doing here?! How are you even here?!"
"Do I need an excuse to spend time with one of Houki Pouki's friends?"
"But..."
"So," Tabane cut right to the chase, "I see you finally figured out your Revive's third ability."
"I did?"
"So clueless! So cute!" Teased Tabane, "Why else would that be in your arsenal? To answer your other question, it only recently came up in the list since it's a 4th Generation item, so the Revive had to take longer to finish duplicating and assimilating the data."
"Oh..."
"By the way," Said Tabane, "You oughta pay more attention to your surroundings! I've been calling you like crazy for the last five minutes!"
"Why would you-"
"-Because 15 Golem III IS Units I built are currently attack the other 1st Year Representative Candidates."
"WHAT?!"
"You better get going."
"But why-"
"-Because I set them loose so I could get more data for some pet projects of mine."
Tabane suddenly turned around.
"Toodles!" She cheered before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
Thomas flinched.
He had absolutely no clue what just happened, other than he needed to find the others. Thomas put his Revive back in Standby Mode, and put the pendant around his neck as he raced out of the workshop.
Tabane didn't do things by halves.
He had a lot of explaining after everything was over.
In Arena 3...
"They're closing in!" Cried Kanzashi.
"This might be it for us, guys." Said Nana.
"We're not done yet!" Said Ichika, trying to reassure the other students.
"I wish I could told Thomas before..." Said Nana.
The Golems began to pile on top of the trio, restraining the children with sheer weight.
"Damn!" Cried Ichika, "These things're heavy!"
Things were bleak for the students.
Laura and Charlotte were pinned down.
Houki and Tatenashi were still reeling from the aftermath of their encounter.
Lingyin and Cecelia were trying to keep the Golem from taking them out with Elias.
And there was still 14 remaining Golems to deal with.
From the gaps in the Golems' pile-up, Ichika could see a silhouette casting a shadow over the Arena.
With a massive boom, the silhouette blew its way right through the Arena's dome, and entered.
Suddenly, the Golems all got up off the students.
"Primary Target Acquired." They boomed in unison.
One Golem raced up to the figure, only to be cleaved in two.
The figure finally moved out of the direct sunlight, revealing to be none other than Thomas...
...Holding the Yukihira Nagata.
"Thomas?!" Ichika cried in confusion.
"Sorry I'm late," Apologized Thomas, "Nobody told me we were doing a thing. Again. Seriously, why do you guys think it's okay to just not tell me when we go fight a bunch of robots? This is the second time, man! I wanna fight robots too!"
"What're you doing with the Yukihira?!"
"Oh yeah. About that: I found it in my Weapons List during my fight with Laura. Turns out my Revive's third ability is that it can duplicate stuff from other IS Units, apparently."
"That's amazing!" Said Ichika, completely forgetting their current predicament.
"Listen," Said Thomas, "I'm...Sorry for being a right pain in the ass."
"Don't waste your breath," Affirmed Ichika, "I stopped being mad at you a while ago."
"It's just...Everything in my life wasn't what I thought it was."
"I get it. It's hard, and it gets you mad, don't it?"
"Yeah-"
The boys were cut off as a bolt of energy flew right past them.
"Oh right," Said Thomas, "Almost forgot about those things. Fuck you, stupid drones! We were having a moment!"
"Good thing you came when you did! Have any ideas?"
"Just one."
"Nigerundayo?"
"Sort of. I felt it was best to lay off the Jojo References for a while, so let's call this...Running Interference."
"What're we doing?"
"If you wanna tag along, we're gonna draw those Units away from everyone else, and bring somewhere we can let loose."
"Arena 4!"
"What?"
"Arena 4's empty," Explained Ichika, "If we can lead them there, we'll be able to do whatever!"
"Good idea. Let's roll!"
Thomas and Ichika took off and flew the way Thomas came in.
This, in turn, drew the attention of the remaining Golem Units that weren't engaged with other Representative Candidates.
As Thomas and Ichika flew away, Thomas did his best to try and further patch things up.
"About all that nasty stuff...I said some things, and...Things've changed since then. I just wanted to say it, and mean that I'm sorry about all that stuff, about everything-"
"I said don't waste your breath." Said Ichika, "You n' I have been friends too long to need that sort of stuff. Besides, we were both pretty hotheaded that time, so we're both to blame, really."
"...Thanks."
"Jus' trying to be a good friend." Smiled Ichika, "Although, it'd certainly help if you were more open with everyone. I know you keep saying you know, but you seem to forget that you're not alone anymore."
"In that case," Said Thomas, "I'll tell you about it later, but I found a name that you might be interested in."
"Really? What name?"
"After, Ichika. Right now, let's finish up here."
The Golem Units were greatly lagging behind, but they were still chasing the boys.
"Good. We have enough time to set up shop." Observed Thomas.
Thomas opened up his Missile Racks, and blew a hole in Arena 4's dome.
"D'you really have to do that?" Complained Ichika.
"Well," Said Thomas, "Yes, but actually, no."
"Good to see you back to normal." Congratulated Ichika, "I was getting tired of the paranoid weenie!"
"I'll get you back when we're done here."
The boys laughed as they landed inside the Arena.
"Alright." Said Ichika, "Considering we have about 11 IS Units on us, I think it's best that you stand over there."
Ichika pointed to one end of the Arena.
"What?" Questioned Thomas, "Dude, I'm the frigging tank between us. I need to be in the center. You stand over there, and I'll draw fire while you whack 'em one-by-one."
"Wait. Those things're as tough as us, that'd take too long."
"You're right...Wait!"
"What?"
"Your Barrier Void!"
"What about it?"
Thomas suddenly began to interface with the Revive's systems, much to Ichika's confusion.
"If we can amplify it, we can shut down their all shields and just straight-up smash 'em!"
"What're you-"
"Just as I thought, it looks like the Revive borrowed more than the Yukihira," Thomas said, showing the interface to Ichika, "looks like it copied the Barrier Void too."
"What?!"
"I don't know what's going on either," Said Thomas, "But we're too busy to get confused and freak out about it now. We need to take this as it comes and work with it."
"Uh...Right."
"Hang on...Got it!" Thomas cheered as he finally disengaged the interface, "Short-range though, we'll need to get close for it to work."
"How close?"
"Very, very uncomfortably close."
Ichika looked out the dome.
"In a hot second," He said, pointing to the sky, "That's gonna cease to be a problem."
Sure enough, the Golems had finally caught up with the boys, as the Units all flooded through the hole Thomas blasted, and surrounded the boys.
Thomas and Ichika were back to back.
"Ready?" Said Ichika.
"Let's hope this works." Said Thomas.
Thomas activated the Barrier Void.
"Here goes everything!"
Suddenly, the Arena was flooded with an expanding electrical field. The Golems went through a small seizure, whereas Thomas and Ichika deployed their weapons. Ichika deployed the Yukihira, and Thomas deployed both PDWs.
"Now! While they're stunned!" Shouted Thomas, "BLOW THE SUCKERS AWAY!
Thomas and Ichika went on the attack as the Golems recovered.
Ichika jumped into the air, and landed with one foot on Thomas's right fist.
Thomas threw a Right Hook, and sent Ichika right into an enemy Golem. Ichika impaled the IS, and threw it into another, and fired his Charged Particle Cannon into a third in one swift motion.
"11!" He called.
Thomas switched his left PDW for his Yukihira, and recalled his right PDW.
He then unleashed a devastating series of fatal attacks.
Thomas cleaved one Golem in two at its waist, and snagged the legs with his free hand. He then threw the legs into another Golem as he spun around and slashed the first Golem's head clean of its shoulders.
"10!"
Thomas and Ichika slashed right through a Golem from the back and front, making an X with its torso.
"9!" They called in unison.
Thomas dropkicked a Golem, sending it crashing into three more. He raced over to another, and delivered a kick that sent the Golem into the air.
Ichika lunged, and cleaved the Golem in two length-ways.
"8!"
Thomas deployed a PDW, and fired away into another Golem's head.
By the time he was done, the Golem dropped to its knees and fell flat on its holey face.
"7!"
Ichika found himself a little overwhelmed, and beginning to run low on power.
"We got a problem!"
"Just hold out!"
"I can't! I'm almost out!"
"Already?! Wait-Same!"
"WHAT?!"
"Hang on, I'm gonna pull an Overcharge!"
Thomas quickly made space for himself as he glowed, quickly restoring his power. Thomas zipped over to Ichika, and snatched his hand, allowing surplus energy to recharge the Byakushki as well.
Thomas then threw Ichika by his wrist, sending his partner into another Golem.
Ichika smashed the Golem to the floor, and stabbed it right through the head.
"6!"
The boys moved like no-one had ever seen.
In the Pit Control Room...
"Calm down, Alex." Affirmed Chifuyu.
"I can't take it, sitting on my hands like this."
"I know, but we both know how intervening now is going to end, and it won't be pretty. Those two boys can handle themselves."
Alex watched the monitor footage as he witnessed Thomas and Ichika fighting together with incredible teamwork.
"They remind me of Ellen and you back in the day..."
"Don't they? Even after they were in an argument."
"Just goes to show," Said Alex, "Those boys have a bond tougher than steel."
Back in Arena 4...
"5!" Thomas called.
Ichika chuckled.
This made for good sporting and bonding between the two boys, somehow.
Thomas quickly pulverized another Golem with a 4-Box combo to the body, and sent it towards Ichika with a standing kick.
Ichika jumped and rolled through the air.
He split the Golem down the middle as he rolled, and landed perfectly on the ground.
"4! Lemme return the favor!"
Ichika impaled one of the remaining Golems, and with a flick of his wrists and 180 spin, he sent the Golem flying towards Thomas.
Thomas impaled the Golem's head with his Shield Pierce, quickly disconnecting the weapon from its mount on his wrist, quickly snatching the Shield Pierce by a manual grip on the back.
Thomas began to spin around and around, like a helicopter, and clobbered one of the two remaining Golems with its teammate. Thomas let go as the blow connected, and quickly retrieved his Shield Pierce as the Golems hit the ground.
"2!"
Thomas pulled out his Yukihira Nagata, and cut down the trapped Golem.
"Scratch that," He said, "Make that 1!"
Thomas and Ichika both turned to see the final Golem staring them down.
They made very sinister and naughty smiles.
"You want this one?" Offered Thomas.
"You first," Returned Ichika, "I insist."
"Well," Suggested Thomas, "How about we take this one down together?"
"That'd be swell."
Thomas and Ichika prepared to charge the Golem head-on.
However, the Golem got the drop on them.
Quickly, it fired at them.
Thomas and Ichika easily dodged, but the Golem didn't seem to care.
The Golem suddenly spread its arms, and emitted a high-pitch screech as the other Golems began to vibrate and shake uncontrollably. Dismembered components and random pieces suddenly began to fly right for the last Golem like metal drawn to a magnet.
Thomas and Ichika pulled away as they watched the display.
"What's going on?!" Ichika cried in confusion.
"I think..." Started Thomas.
The Golem was encased in the parts of its fellow Units, and began to shift and form into one, massive Golem.
"...It just went Gattai Mega-Golem on our asses."
The massive Golem began to break in its new form, and glared down upon the two boys with its faceless visor.
"Why do I hear boss music playing?" Whimpered Ichika.
With a single swing, the "Mega-Golem" sent Thomas and Ichika flying into the Arena wall with a mighty slap.
"That's not fair..." Grunted Ichika.
"Aw shit," Groaned Thomas, "Here we go again."
In Arena 3...
Thomas and Ichika drew away all but one of the Golem Units.
"C'mon, Kanzashi!" Commanded Nana, "On your feet!"
"What happened to you being scared?"
"There's a time to be scared and a time to fight because people are at risk! Damn straight I'm scared, but I can't let it get to me now!"
"R...Right!" Kanzashi agreed as she tried to be as old and brave as Nana was currently.
The only thing keeping Nana from wetting herself again was the thought of Thomas in danger.
Nana deployed her Gauss Cannon, and blasted right through the Golem's shield.
However, the Golem was still able to fight!
The Golem ripped the Gauss Cannon right out of Nana's hands, and threw it aside as it mercilessly tore into her. The IS began to pummel her senseless with techniques and movements only Thomas would use.
"When did this thing start copying Thomas?" She tried to recompose herself as she tried to jump out of range.
The Golem's shoulder-mounted weapon charged up as Nana jumped back.
Nana saw it as an opening.
She deployed her Barrier Shield's Pile Bunker, and jammed it right into the weapon's barrel before it went off. This resulted in an explosion that blew apart the Pile Bunker, and the Golem's arm.
Nana grunted and writhed as the flare of heat blew into her face.
Kanzashi opened up with her Particle Cannons, pushing back the disabled Golem. Kanzashi then pulled out her Naginata, and hacked away at the Golem in the hopes of somehow breaking it apart with sheer brute force.
However, the Golem still had one good arm left.
The Golem snatched her Naginata, and used it to support itself as it swung over the weapon and kicked Kanzashi right in the head.
Kanzashi fell like a brick, hitting the ground hard.
Nana finally recovered from her self-destructive attack, and pulled out her Vulcan Cannon.
She opened fire, pelting the Golem as she began to chew through its armor plating. The Golem recoiled, unable to withstand the impact of all the bullets blowing the Unit away.
"I got an idea!" Said Nana, "If we can hit the Core, we can shut this fucker down!"
"Right!"
Nana began to jerk her wrist, trailing her line of fire all over the Golem's body in an attempt to narrow down the Golem's Core.
By sheer chance, Nana shredded the armor plating concealing the Golem's Core.
"Hit it," Ordered Nana, "Now!"
Kanzashi thrust her Naginata at the Core...
...Only to have the Golem quickly wrap its arm around the weapon, and flip Kanzashi overhead and right onto the ground.
Nana quickly skated and picked up Kanzashi as they pulled back.
"Damn," Said Nana, "This things smarter than it looks!"
"If it picked up Scott's combat skill," Suggested Kanzashi, "Perhaps its programmed to not only move like him, but compute and think like him as well."
"Well crap." Groaned Nana.
"But," Perked up Kanzashi, "Maybe we can test just how good this thing is at a no-win situation."
"Like what?"
"Well," Kanzashi concluded, "Let's see how much it can process at once."
Nana finally caught on, and nodded with a grin.
Kanzashi and Nana split up.
Kanzashi readied her Missile Launchers.
Nana opened up her Missile Pods.
When the two of them were on opposite sides of the Golem, they fired all of their missiles in one, big burst. The Golem was unable to counter an attack from all sides, and was caught right in the center of the missile barrage.
When the smoke cleared, the only thing left was a crippled, beaten, and almost destroyed IS Unit.
However, the Golem wasn't beaten yet.
The Golem slowly and weakly began to get up off of the ground...
...Only to be stabbed right through the Core by Kanzashi's Naginata.
The Golem dropped right back to the ground, dead in the water.
Nana and Kanzashi laughed cheerfully, and high-fived.
In Arena 1...
Cecelia pelted the Golem with her Optical Drones, and pushed the Unit backwards.
Lingyin popped up behind it, and fired away into the Golem's back, sending back towards Cecelia.
They went back and forth, and took sport from it.
"Man, this thing's nowhere near Thomas's level!" Sneered Lingyin, "Don't know why we were so worried!"
"I do say," Teased Cecelia, "This makes for good fun, like how commoner boys play catch!"
"Ooh!" Suggested Lingyin, "Elias, wanna dust this off for us?"
"It would be my utmost pleasure, dear Lingyin!" Elias said, deploying his Thermal Claymore.
"Sweet Elias!" Called Cecelia, "Have a go!"
Lingyin sent the Golem to Cecelia.
Cecelia unleashed a powerful counter-clockwise Standing Kick to the Golem's head, and sent it tumbling over to Elias.
Elias smiled.
The Golem was face-to-face with Elias, as though it were looking to Elias for mercy.
Elias simply swung upward, using his entire upper-body strength as he grasped the Claymore with both hands.
And with a mighty swing, Elias cleaved the Golem in two!
"Nice one!" Congratulated Lingyin.
"How knightly!" Cheered Cecelia, racing up to Elias and pulling him into a hug, "You're my wonderful knightly prince!"
Elias was too flustered by Cecelia's boldness to respond, his cheeks flushed red. Cecelia nuzzled against Elias's chest, further flustering Elias like a doting mother pampering a child.
Lingyin wanted to, but couldn't find it within her to break them up.
The sight was simply too adorable to interrupt.
In Arena 2...
"Now!" Charlotte shouted, smashing the Golem right in the head with a Uppercut.
The Golem stumbled back...
...Falling right into Laura's crosshairs.
"DIE!" Shouted Laura as she fired both of her Railguns, blasting and sending the Golem flying.
The Golem rolled into a heap.
Suddenly, it rolled right back onto its feet!
The Golem peppered Laura with light shots, and quickly zipped over to Charlotte.
It reached for Charlotte...
...Only to be stopped in its tracks by Laura's Wire Daggers!
Charlotte smirked, and fired missiles into the Golem at point-blank. The Unit was sent flying back, and fell into range of Laura's AIC. Laura sneered as she once again fired both of her Railguns into the Golem.
Charlotte brought out her Combat Knife, and Laura brought out her Beam Saber.
Charlotte stabbed the Golem in the head, and Laura impaled it through the back.
The attack ripped the top of the Golem's head off, and Laura drove the Golem right into the floor.
The two finally noticed that the Golem's Core was exposed.
The Golem was still struggling.
The girls thought it was utterly pitiful to watch, and decided to put the unmanned IS Unit out of its misery.
Charlotte rammed her Shield Pierce with all of her might into the Golem's exposed Core, and deactivated it. She disconnected the Shield Pierce from her arm, letting it rest with its head buried firmly into the Golem.
The girls chuckled, and exchanged a high-five in victory.
In Arena 4...
Ichika and Thomas weren't as lucky as the other Representative Candidates.
The Mega-Golem had them cornered.
Something was blocking their ability to call for help, making retreat or reinforcements impossible.
"We got bad news, dude." Panicked Thomas, "I'm outta guns, ammo, and ideas!"
"Crap..." Ichika muttered.
The Mega-Golem charged up multiple Particle Cannons, and fired away.
Thomas brought up his Barrier Shields and did his best to cover himself and Ichika as the Mega-Golem fired away. However, the sheer size and power of the attack overwhelmed Thomas, and the two boys yet again crashed hard into the Arena wall.
Ichika recovered first, quickly flying around the Mega-Golem and firing away with his Charged-Particle Cannon in the hopes of hitting a weak or blind spot.
However, the Golem retaliated by snatching Ichika right out of the air, and throwing him around like a child playing with a doll.
Ichika hit the ground headfirst, and slid to a stop face-down.
Thomas got back up, and drew the Mega-Golem's attention away from Ichika.
Thomas fired away with both PDWs, knowing the bullets had no effect whatsoever on the massive mechanical behemoth.
"We need to blow it apar-?!" Thomas was cut short as he took another swing from the Mega-Golem.
"How're we gonna do that?!" Cried Ichika, "I've got nothing, you've got nothing-we're fucked, man!"
Thomas began to think quickly.
What did they have left? Thomas was all out of any explosive weaponry, and Ichika didn't have any explosive weapons.
"The only thing we could possibly do is-Wait..." Thomas thought.
"That's it!" He cheered.
"What's it?"
"Remember? Back in our first practice after summer vacation?"
"Yeah?"
"We connected our Particle Cannons, and that implosion happened?"
"What're we gonna-Oh I get it!"
"Take its right, I got the left!"
Thomas and Ichika took their positions, doing whatever they could to keep a lock on each other while evading the Mega-Golem's devastating attacks.
They charged their Particle Cannons to maximum output, and fired.
It was one in a million that they hit their target.
The Particle Cannon beams connected with each other, right in front of the Mega-Golem's chest.
With a massive boom, the Mega-Golem blew apart like shattered glass, exposing the last Golem Unit.
"Look!" Pointed Ichika.
"You know what to do!" Thomas said, deploying his Yukihira Nagata.
"I like the way you think!" Complimented Ichika, doing the same.
Suddenly, the boys began to glow with a golden aura.
"Double Reiraku Byakuya!" They shouted in unison.
The boys flew right for the last Golem...
...And phased right through each other unharmed as they slashed the Golem in one, decisive, all-out attack.
The amalgamation of Golem Units crumbled apart into a pile.
Thomas and Ichika both slumped and took a knee.
The two boys turned to look at each other, and began to laugh victoriously.
In the Pit Control Room...
Alex sighed with relief.
"See?" Said Chifuyu, "They handled it."
"Doesn't stop me from worrying though."
"Although," Observed Maya, "I'm concerned. It seems that somehow the Revive was able to duplicate the Byakushki's Yukihira Nagata, as well as the Byakushki's abilities, and use them itself."
"The Revive's third ability..." Muttered Chifuyu.
"But what happened at the end there?" Pointed Alex, "Something was off about that double-attack they did."
"We'll figure it out later," Concluded Chifuyu, "Right now, I think the students have deserved a little rest."
Later that night...
"Totally forgot about the Boys' Bath..." Thomas sighed as he sat in the steamy water.
"Quite the place to relax..." Sighed Elias.
"That," Agreed Ichika, "And we're able to let loose without the girls around."
"Beef jerky for the win, boys!" Thomas cheered.
Very confused by the statement, the boys laughed at Thomas's random words.
"Although," Elias's face sobered, "We should talk about what happened today."
"With Thomas having the Yukihira? Or the IS Units?" Inquired Ichika.
"Either works for me."
"Well," Theorized Thomas, "Tabane's behind it."
"WHAT?!" The other boys cried in unison.
"In fact, Tabane came and told me about it."
"She did?!"
"I'll tell Chifuyu when he head back, but for now..."
Thomas slumped and made a relaxed sigh.
"...Let's take a chill pill."
Elsewhere...
Tabane sat down, looking at a holographic screen as she watched the footage of Thomas and Ichika.
"Interesting..." She giggled, "I always wondered what would happen if two Reiraku Byakuyas went off at the same time and place."
She paused the footage at the moment Thomas and Ichika slashed through the last Golem.
"I wonder what happened there...I know! I'll just get them to do it again somehow!"
Tabane then began to brainstorm.
"How am I going to get them to do it again? Eh, I think of it later!"
Tabane stopped.
"Well," She sighed to herself, "Opportunities for this sort of stuff have a tendency to magically appear..."
It would only be a matter of time before a chance would present itself.
A/N: Done! At first, I was struggling to draw out the length of the chapter, but as time went on, it was actually quite easy to make the chapter a normal-length chapter.
Although I was planning on revealing it later, I just hinted at something that will come back up again in the next few chapters...Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
I'm still trying to draft Kana's IS Unit, so I'll confirm what it is later.
In other news, I'm drafting up a concept for a Gundam story, let me know what you think!
But, with all the stuff that's been happening, I think it's time I took a small break on this story. After all, in 1 or 2 more chapters, it'll be the end of "Season 1" of American Idiot, essentially.
But all of that comes later, here's what's next!
Next Time: Doot Doot.
It's Halloween! The time for spooks, scares, and Trick-Or-Treating! And best of all, the IS Academy is participating in a day-long celebration with a Halloween party!
For some of the girls, it'll be their very first time! With all kinds of costumes and activities, the Halloween Party is sure to be good, spooky fun for the gang as they play the day away!
However...Something's wrong.
Leave a review, they're much appreciated, and show that you care!