Okay, sorry for the wait, but I had a lot to say in this chapter. And I wasn't sure how to end it. So...yeah.

Thanks Pixeljam for being so patient. Now you're rewarded with a long chapter! ^^ I hope you enjoy it!

Ryo stretched his arms as he finally finished his handy work. "Done" he announced. He stared at Hitomi. "What's my time?" he asked.

Hitomi pressed a button on a stop watch. "One hour, thirty seven minutes and twelve seconds. You're growing old Ryo."

The mechanic grimaced. "Yeah. I've got some polishing to do." He stared at the Grand Titan which was now gleaming beautifully with the new plating armor of Lythanium. He crossed his arms. "Well I don't know about you, but I'm gonna catch some air. And see if there's anything else to do. I'm getting a little bored of repairing."

Hitomi stared at Ryo. "You…bored…of…building…" She placed a hand on his forehead. "Are you feeling okay Ryo? I think you should go to the infirmary."
Ryo grinned. "Well I did my job. And knowing the other mechanics, asking to help them would only find me beating them up in the practice center." He took off his dirty gloves. "Well I dunno about you, but I'm going to hit the cafeteria. I haven't eaten anything since yesterday evening. I'm starving."

Hitomi nodded. She tossed his raincoat. "I'll pass. I'm on a diet." She rolled her eyes at Ryo's pose, suggesting that he was analyzing her to prove the fact. "I want a quick word with Sensei. Do you know where he is?"

Ryo gave up his little game and shrugged. "How should I know? I've been in here for god-knows-how-long. But knowing him, he's probably in the control center, sitting in his favorite corner, checking out the Golden Towers documents. Why do you want to see him?"

"Secret advice." Hitomi answered. "I've been given a mission and I want some trusting dude capable of giving me advice."

Ryo raised an eyebrow. "And we're not trustworthy?"

"NOPE!" Hitomi yelled as she ran out the door, before diving back inside, soaking wet. "I forgot it was raining outside…"

Ryo laughed. "Hey Marcus!" he yelled at a mechanic. A teenager brunette looked up from his work and stared at Ryo, his head jerked in a position that meant 'what'. "Can I borrow your coat? I'm done here and you'll still be stuck till this evening."

"Go ahead." The techie answered before returning his attention to the Uplink he was busy upgrading the Lythanium on.

Ryo tossed the boy's coat at her. "Here. At least you'll be approximately 23% dry when you reach Sensei."

Hitomi caught the coat gratefully. "Where did those numbers come from?" she asked.

Ryo winked at her. "I've got my ways." He opened the door. "Your highness." He stated in a waiters voice.

Hitomi rolled her eyes and stepped out. "Bleh. I hate the rain." She muttered. "Well Ryo I'm going to-WHA!" she yelped when Ryo yanked the hood of the coat off her head, causing her hair and face to get successively wet. "RYO THISSERA GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!" she yelled as the techie ran away like hell. "Really…" Hitomi pouted playfully before throwing the hood back over her head. Realizing how wet she was, she decided against the idea of seeing her grandfather.

Instead, she headed towards the training center with the prototype battle machines. When she stepped in, she was instantly greeted with a roar of laughter. She stepped towards the group of pilots who were laughing to see what the whole commotion was about, when she heard someone calling her name. "Hitomi, you're soaking wet. You want a towel?"

Hitomi realized that her hair was dripping wet. "Yeah thanks Lucas." She said as she took off the borrowed coat and grabbed the presented towel.
The pilot smiled. "Just put it back on the counter when you're done with it." He quickly raced back to the group to watch the rest of what seemed to be a hilarious battle.

Hitomi ruffled her hair with the towel, and hurried to see the fun. "What's happening?" she asked a pilot.

The guy sniggered. "A battle between Hikaru, Takashi and Ha-Ya-To"

Hitomi couldn't suppress a grin. Whenever these three fought, something fun was about to happen.

"I SWEAR, IF I MISS THIS EVEN ONE MORE TIME, I'LL BLOW RYO'S COMPUTER UP!" Ha-Ya-To yelled in absolute frustration as the blasts fired by his Aero Booster were easily evaded by the extremely agile Dark Panther. He, Hikaru and Takashi had decided to gang up together against the most difficult level, and with its abilities pushed to its limits.

Because of that, the prototype Dark Panther was now a beam of light, and even Hikaru had trouble hitting it with his extremely talented sniping skills.

So while the Dark Panther was jumping all over the place to avoid getting hit, the three legendary pilots began to start arguing with one another, and the playful atmosphere was turning very quickly into a frustrated and homicidal one.

Ha-Ya-To fired again, only to hit the ground where the Dark Panther was standing mere seconds ago.

"So much for Ryo's computer." Hikaru stated, flying past the howling red head's battle machine. He had grown so irritated that he had lost his playfulness and was now emotionless. In fact, he was so worried that he had lost his sniping skills-being unable to hit the incredibly fast target-that he fired a shot at Takashi. Needless to say, the ground born pilot had not been amused. "Anything else you feel like giving up? How about your guitar? I'm pretty sure an orphanage would-"

"WHY DON'T YOU MAKE YOURSELF USEFUL AND HELP US HIT THAT THING!" Takashi yelled.
"Why should I?" Hikaru asked. "The one who needs aiming practice is you. Not me."

"This coming from the guy who hasn't landed a single-"

"I've hit it. It's just resistant with its huge armor."

Takashi sighed in effort not to shoot the aerial pilot down from sky. "Oh wow! Impressive. You hit it once. Now how about lending us a hand o mighty one?"

The Dark Panther leaped stealthily into a tunnel.

The three Exo-Force pilots were about to follow it, when Ha-Ya-To flew back upwards. "I don't fit in there. I'll leave the rest to you. I'm afraid of dark places and-"

"Okay Ha-Ya-To, let's make a deal. You detach your Blue Falcon and come with us, and we don't blast you." Hikaru stated.

Ha-Ya-To muttered something about communists, but did as told. The pilots walked cautiously into the tunnel. Ha-Ya-To heard Takashi over the comm. System. "Hikaru, get your Canadian butt down here and quit trying to leave. You're a disgrace to the Exo-Force team."

The Sky Guardian reappeared at the entrance of the tunnel and started walking inside. "The Canadian answers that he at least has a brain, right Florence?"

Takashi spun around madly, firing his guns at the blue and white battle machine. Despite the small size of the tunnel, Hikaru managed to successfully evade the attack. "Don't you call me like that AGAIN!" he yelled, threatening to enter into his 'Savage' mode.

Ha-Ya-To turned the Blue Falcon around so he was facing Hikaru. "Wha-"

"DON'T EVEN BOTHER ASKING!" Takashi roared as he activated his bladed shield, threatening to pierce the pilot to shreds.

"Oookaaay." Ha-Ya-To answered. He stared back down the dark hallway. "Can anyone see anything?" he asked. "The Blue Falcon doesn't exactly the type that casts light."

"Then why don't you scout up ahead and become prey to the robot?" Takashi asked. "We'd like that."

"Um…I wouldn't?"

"Who said anything about your opinion?" Hikaru stated. "Youngest people are used for tests or suicidal missions here. And you're the youngest after me by three months."

Ha-Ya-To made a face. "This is child abuse. That's illegal!"

"So is underage drinking."
"I don't drink. I don't even like alcohol."
"I never said you did. And if you don't go, you'll suddenly become preoccupied about surviving our blasts." Hikaru snapped.
Ha-Ya-To looked at Takashi for help, but the boy seemed to like the idea of blasting the youngster down the tunnel. Shoulders slumped in defeat, Ha-Ya-To started his Blue Flacon down the tunnel.

The light becoming more and more dim, Ha-Ya-To wandered deeper till he finally came to a full stop. "Guys, this is as far as I can go. I can't see anything."

A green blast (fired most likely by Hikaru) lit the room and shot past him. "Move." Hikaru ordered.

Ha-Ya-To made a face. "Everyone hates me." He took a few steps further when he heard some clanking noises. Whimpering, he looked at the radar. He paled and looked back through the glass. "Mercy?"

In front of him, stood hundreds of robot battle machines, their weapons raised and preparing to shoot.

Hitomi burst out laughing along with the other pilots as the Blue Falcon spun around like made and run like hell towards the exit yelling: "HOLY LORD JESUS HELP ME!" She clutching her stomach, she looked through her watery eyes to see the rest of the fight.

Takashi and Hikaru noticed him coming and prepared their weapons. When the Blue Falcon dove behind the Grand Titan, the three of them noticed that none of the robots had moved or even fired.

"Errr…what are they waiting for?" Hikaru asked.

"Well I'm certainly not the one they're looking for. Maybe if someone else went…" Ha-Ya-To started.

"For once, I agree with you." Hikaru said. "Takashi, you go."
"WHAT? Why me and not you? Who says that they want me and not you?" Takashi answered in bewilderment.

"Says me. And are you going to be a man and face them, or are you going to cower in fear?"

Takashi looked ready to blast Hikaru down, but Ha-Ya-To interrupted his thoughts.
"I have plan. It consists of sending Takashi forward and we following while the robots are distracted."

"FINE!" Takashi snapped. "I'LL be the man. Unlike you cowards." With that he raised his guns and fired his guns. "All rockets fired." He said as he launched all his rockets.

The robots instantly dove at the humans.

"I'M STILL ALIVE!" Ha-Ya-To screamed as he piloted his Blue Flacon past the mess. A red beam shot past him and another one followed, hitting the Blue Falcon in the back, close to the shoulder.

The small battle machine almost tripped due to the hit, but regained balance and continued racing to the other side.

Hikaru made no sound. With even less emotion than ever, he kicked the left rudder of the Sky Guardian, and fired his guns, clearing a path. Without wasting a second, he shot through it, spinning his electric blade in arcs, destroying all the robot battle machines that dared to get close to the veteran pilot. He passed Ha-Ya-To and waited patiently for the other two pilots who were inside the tunnel to catch up.

The Blue Flacon arrived second, skidding to halt beside the blue and white battle machine.

Both aerial pilots looked back inside the tunnel to see Takashi in his Blade Titan, lumbering towards them. He leveled his guns and fired.

When he reached the two, he looked up. "No sign of that Dark Panther. It wasn't in there either."

"Well now that we're out of the cave, what do we do next?" Ha-Ya-To asked.

"Ask the Canadian idiot."

Hikaru turned the Sky Guardian so he was capable to look at Takashi directly. "Well Florence why don't we-" He instantly took off to dodge a beam of energy fired from the Bade Titan.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME LIKE THAT!"

Ha-Ya-To looked up at the flying battle machine that was rapidly gaining altitude. "I know this is the second time I'm asking but-" he instantly shut up when Takashi pointed his guns at him. "Um…Hikaru…why are you flying so high?" he asked.

The unofficial leader did not answer. Once he was several miles high, he stabilized the reactors. "Hey control guy? Gimme infinite amount of all the weapons in existence." he snapped. He heard an affirmative reply. "Hey Takashi? How about we make a deal? You wanna become my roommate? Ha-Ya-To's been a pain in the butt."

The pilot looked up at the distant Sky Guardian. "What do I gain in this? You know what, I honestly don't care. I'll pack after we beat the Dark Panther to bits."

At cue, the robot battle machine appeared next to them. Instantly, Takashi made a wild dive at the battle machine and Ha-Ya-To fired his Blue Falcon weapons: three rockets and one laser.

The Dark Panther twisted out of the way, making the rockets explode against the rocks and the Blade Titan miss the target.

"I got it guys."

Both pilots looked up at Hikaru who was miles high. "Launch 100 of them." he said

"CRAP NOT THE ATOMIC BOMBS! NOT THE ATOMIC BOMBS!" Ha-Ya-To screamed. Just when he yelled that, the entire sky went grey and a hundred nuclear bombs started falling.

"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Ha-Ya-To screamed, diving back into the tunnel, shrieking the whole way.

Takashi merely watched the events, his eyebrows raised. "Really Hikaru? I was expecting a little better from you."

"WE SHOULD'VE THOUGHT ABOUT THE INSURANCE" Ha-Ya-To continued to scream like a girl from deep inside the tunnel.

Hitomi burst in peals of laughter as the whole battlefield exploded. Even Hikaru wasn't spared from the ultimate atomic explosion.

The three pilots appeared from the prototypes. Ha-Ya-To was grinning hugely, his face flushed with both embarrassment and excitement.

Takashi had and irritated look on his face. He stormed past the group and outside the training center, not bothering to grab his coat.

Hikaru was the last one to come out, his features stone cold emotionless, but Hitomi swore she saw a tinge of satisfaction in his eyes.

She swung her arms around the shoulders of the two pilots. "You two…why in the world do you act like this?"

Ha-Ya-To gave her a sloppy boyish grin. "Releases tension."

Hitomi looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Then why the hell were you ready to murder one another only five minutes ago?"

Hikaru smiled. "We wanted to see who was the manliest between the three of us."

Hitomi rolled her eyes. "So you dropped a hundred atomic bombs. How manly is that? You know what, forget it. Why wasn't Ryo invited?"

"He was in his labs. And you were timing him. We didn't dare to interrupt." The older pilot replied casually.
Hitomi nodded understandingly. Throwing her borrowed coat on, she opened the door. "Look, Ryo was on his way to the cafeteria. I think you'll want to see him. You haven't spoken for a couple of days now."

"What about you?" Ha-Ya-To asked, putting on his back water-proof jacket.

"I'm off to see Sensei. I wanted to pass due to the rain, but I don't think he'll mind if I just go to him like this. Not that he actually cares."

Hikaru nodded. He threw the hood on. "Well I'll catch Ryo. What about you Ha-Ya-To?"

"Me? Are you crazy? I want to see how many desserts I can swipe this time." the red head answered gleefully. "See you there."

Ha-Ya-To stared at the bright red object in front of him so intently one could bet that his eyes were going to pop out any second. "Pl…please?" he asked.

Ryo took the item and place on the other side of the table out of the pilot's reach. "No. Now stop it, you're getting on my nerves."

The aerial pilot pouted and lay back against the back of his seat, still eyeing his target wearily.

Ryo looked back at Hikaru who was busy eating a slice of steak. "So what did I miss? I hope you guys didn't do much without me."

The unofficial leader shrugged. "Nothing special. Just blasted own a small army of robots which was trying to destroy the city of Yellus. Then me, Ha-Ya-To" (Hikaru noted that Ha-Ya-To was slowly inching his way towards his prize. Ryo noticed this and grabbed the bright red item and held it in his hand, glaring at the red head) "and Takashi had a training match. Which reminds me: you're rooming with Ha-Ya-To from now on."

Ryo shrugged. "No problems with that." Turning back to Ha-Ya-To, he asked: "Do you snore?"

Ha-Ya-To did not answer, still mesmerized by his treasured prize which was still being cradled in Ryo's palm. "It looks so sad there…" he sighed sadly.

Ryo rolled his eyes. "Fine" he surrendered, tossing the apple.

Ha-Ya-To made a squeal and caught his prize. "To answer your question, nope." he said.

Ryo looked back at Hikaru was now attacking his spaghetti, his fork spinning in his hand, tangling up the food. "So are the rumors true?" he asked.

Hikaru looked up at him. "What rumors?" he asked.

"That you freaked out when Rika got caught in the wreckage of the Mobile Devastator?"

"You bet he was." Ha-Ya-To answered gleefully. "If it weren't for my incredible flying skills your sister would be Michael Jackson singing thriller. And Hikaru would be dying of depression in the corner, allowing everyone to draw dogs on his Sky Guardian-which he is terribly afraid of I might add-and judging by your look Idon'tthinkthiswastherightthingto SAAAAY!" Ha-Ya-To finished yelling out of the cafeteria, followed by a furious Hikaru who stomped after him, before turning around and slumping back against his seat. He scooped up his fork and continued eating. "No these rumors are not true. I was just a little worried when she couldn't escape the area before the Mobile Devastator exploded. That's all. Why who started that?"

Ryo shrugged. "I think it was Rika. She's the one who told me about it in the first place."

Hikaru stopped at mid chew and looked up at him. "What? Why?"

Ryo shrugged. "You know my sister. She's just like that." He stretched. "Well just for the different roommates, I Ha-Ya-To moving to my quarters, or should I go to his?"

"No, he'll be coming to yours. And do you have an alarm clock?"

"Yes, why?"

"Break it. Unless you want to find yourself awake in the middle of the night with Lieutenant Flutz Wuz pointing a gun at you."

Ryo smiled as he thought of what Hikaru must've gone through. Lieutenant Flutz Wuz was a small teddy bear that someone had brought to the Sentai Fortress a couple of months before the attack of the Striking Venom. It was quite famous, especially when it scared a pilot out of his wits when someone had managed to stick a blaster in its paw and putting it the pilot's Stealth Hunter.

"I'll keep an eye for that." he looked back at his hands. "Hey Hikaru, I have a question. Do you know…" Ryo paused for a moment, lost in thought.

Hikaru pushed his now empty plate away. "Go on."

The techie shook his head. "Never min." he said. He got up. "I'm going to pack my stuff. Wanna come? Some company would be nice. Can't spend ten minutes with Rika without having her yell at me. And Hitomi…I've been working with her for hours. A difference would be nice."

Hikaru got up. "Why not? Lead the way." he grabbed his tray. "Just give sec, the time to put this away…"

"You don't have to pack all your things. It's not like we're going to stay in our rooms forever." Hikaru said. "You spend more time in your labs and Cyclone Defender than here."

"I know." Ryo answered. He placed his bag on the ground and tried the door. "It's locked. Do you have the key?"

"Uh, yeah sure. Gimme a sec…" Hikaru fumbled his pockets until he pulled out a key with a silvery chain. "There." he placed the key inside the lock. He twisted it till he heard a click. He opened the door and allowed Ryo in. "Well here it is. Catch." he tossed the key at the engineer who caught with a swift of his hand.

Ryo entered the room. "Thanks now do y-"

"GO SEXY DYNAMIC ENTRY!"

Hikaru spun around just in time to see a flash of gold and white fall from the ceiling and crash into Ryo who fell over with a shout of surprise. Grabbing his blaster on his waist, he prepared to come to his friend's aid. "R-"

"GET OFF ME HA-YA-TO!"

Hikaru rolled his eyes and lowered his weapon. He watched as Ha-Ya-To climbed back to his feet and began brushing the dust of his uniform. "How'd you like my warm welcome?"

Ryo glared up at the pilot. "What was that for?"

Ha-Ya-To looked at him in confusion. "I do this all the time. Especially to newcomers." he suddenly said in an Oracle's voice, "Welcome to my domain little one." He then grabbed Ryo's stuff. "But no seriously, thanks for coming over. Hikaru's a real party pooper. I'm using the bed close to the window. I'll put your stuff away kay?"

Ryo got up and shook his head. "Thanks. Hey Ha-Ya-To?"

"Yeah buddy?"

"Never do that again. I nearly died." rubbing his arm, he looked at the two pilots in his room. "So next rotation is in two months right?"

"Right." Hikaru replied. "Hurry up with the bag Ha-Ya-To I'd like to pack too." He said to the aerial pilot who was busy putting Ryo's stuff in several drawers. After hearing the demand, Ha-Ya-Ya-To took the bag by the corners and unceremoniously dumped out all of its contents onto this roommates bed. He then tossed it the leader. "Here. What are going to take? Just your uniform?"

Hikaru nodded as he threw in his extra electric-blue uniform. "Pass me the timer."

Ryo looked at his friend in surprise, but gave it to him nevertheless. "What for?"

Hikaru looked at him weirdly. "Me and Takashi are going to do as many push ups in limited time." he replied as though the answer was obvious.

Ha-Ya-To finished putting his friend's stuff away. Staring at the closed drawer, he spoke. "I feel a bit down. Any suggestions to make me feel batter?"

Ryo got up from his chair. "Wanna spar?"

Ha-Ya-To grinned. "You are SO on."

Keiken sighed as he typed away on his computer. He had forgotten how much work it was to keep the Exo-Force running. Confirmation for the armor patches, the payment for the weapons, and the test results of the recruits.
Sitting back on his chair, he thought carefully. He was tired. His thoughts somehow ended up on Hitomi. Keiken looked at the floor. It had been weeks since the two of them managed to spend some time together. She would enjoy it. Yes, she definitely would.

"Grandfather?"

'Talk about the devil' Keiken looked up from his documents and smiled when he saw Hitomi. "Come in Hitomi. What do you want?"

Hitomi shuffled nervously. "Grandfather, I wanted to ask if I could take the day off tomorrow."

Keiken narrowed his eyes. "What day are we today?"

"Thursday 23rd of September." Hitomi silently replied.

"Of course. Go." Keiken practically ordered. "Unless something happens, I'll go with you."

Hitomi smiled gently. "Thanks Grandfather." She turned to leave when Keiken's voice stopped her.

"Hitomi, I wanted to ask, do you want us to spend an evening together. I know a small restaurant in Tyono. It's a small village not too far from here."

Hitomi spun around, her eyes huge. "But, what about the leading?" she asked

"Hikaru can take over for a night. He's decent leader. He won't let us down." Keiken answered calmly.

Hitomi was almost bowing. "Yes please! We no longer spend any time together with all the work!"

Keiken couldn't help but smile. "Very well. I'll take care of booking our table. Now go." He watched as Hitomi raced out of the office.

Light.

Blinding white light.

It came from everywhere and yet from nowhere.

Ryo stood still in this huge area, where even the horizon was blinded in the light. "Where am I…?"

There was a ripple in the light. A thin line of darkness coming his way…

Suddenly, pain exploded through his body. Ryo screamed and doubled over in agony. What was happening? What was this? Where was here?

"Come…" a voice whispered.

Ryo looked up. He saw something. In this whiteness, he saw a tiny black figure in the distance. He tried to stand, only to collapsed back on his knees in pain. He opened his mouth, but the voice spoke to him again.

"Live as it was meant to be…"

Ryo felt fear surge through him amplifying his pain. Fear blinded his mind. "NO!"

"Then fall…" the figure began to move closer. Ryo squinted to see what it was.

Its movements were accelerated. It was coming faster. Waving its limbs in all directions, it ran faster. So fast that Ryo knew that if he didn't move NOW he wouldn't make it.

He tried moving, but his body felt like zaylium-reinforced steel.

The figure was only a few feet away. It ran faster.

And faster.

It was only a few feet away. Ryo braced himself.

Then the figure opened its mouth.

It gave the most painful and loudest blood thirstiest shriek ever.

Ryo screamed as the figure rammed into him just as everything went dark.

Ryo sat bolt upright on his bed, drenched in cold sweat, his heart hammering painfully against his ribs.

"Are you okay?"

Ryo slowly became aware of Ha-Ya-To, who was kneeling newt to his bed, a worried look on his face.

The engineer nodded. "Just…just a nightmare." he whispered.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?"

Ryo nodded. "I think." He lay back down on his bed, grateful of his friend's loyalty. Lying back on his bed, he slowly drifted back to a dreamless sleep.

Breath in, breath out.

Takashi grunted as he placed the heavy loads back on the metal shelves. Sitting back up, he dumped the remains of his water bottle on his head.

"How's the lifting?"

Takashi looked up at Ryo who had just entered the gym. "I can do better. I'm a little off track. Probably because of the push up contest I did last night with Hikaru.'

Ryo nodded. "Who won?"

"Normally I did, but Hikaru's a cheat. He skipped two, eleven and fifteen. I did forty-seven in two minutes. One hand. Hey pass me the towel please."

Ryo looked at the machinery and grabbed the white towel which he tossed at Takashi who caught and began rubbing his head with. "Keiken will be out tonight. Hikaru will take over for the while he's gone. I wanted to ask if you wanted to go on patrol with me later today. I want some company."

Takashi placed the towel on the ground. "Yeah sure why not." He looked up at Ryo's face. "Are you okay? You look a little weird."

Ryo ran a hand through his face. "Just tired. Didn't sleep very well last night. And also because of your hair."

Takashi looked confused. "What's with my hair?"

"The green dye is coming out. I'm not used to seeing its original color."

Takashi looked a mirror against the wall. Indeed, his chocolate brown hair was now appearing. "I'll deal with it later. I'm going to the training center." he said as he threw on a spare T-shirt. "Joining me?"

Ryo shrugged. "Why not." The two of them left the gym. "I heard we got a whole new bunch of recruits. Apparently the destruction of Meca One really boosted the civilians. Know anyone who is there?"

Takashi shook his head. "I rarely go to see them. No the real thing that interests me is the robots. They somehow seemed to have acquired a new leader."

Ryo thought. "Probably. Some of their attacks have been chosen carefully and not at random. Yellus was a good target." he stayed silent before squaring his shoulders. "Well the importance is that we stop them, leaderless or not. And I think we've done better than anyone had expected right?"

Takashi grinned. "You bet. We've done awesome. But I still feel a bit bad."

Ryo looked at him as he opened the door to the training room. "Why?"

Takashi entered. "Well so many pilots and mechanics died just to keep the robots away. And we never really got to give them proper good byes or burials."

Ryo looked sadly down. "Yeah…but at least they died as heroes. But I'm more curious about Sensei. He's experienced and all, but we never see him in action. How strong do you think he is?"

Takashi looked through the stimulator window. His eyes went wide.

Ryo noticed his features. "Um…Takashi?"

"I think we are about to find out."

Ryo looked through the window and gasped.

One Stealth Hunter was standing patiently in the middle of the battlefield, surrounded by hundreds of robot battle machines, from sentries to Dark Panthers.

Keiken was standing in it, his eyes shut as though meditating.

Takashi checked the computer. His mouth dropped open. "Is he mad? The prototype Stealth Hunter isn't equipped with Lythanium and the level of power of all robot battle machines is at maximum. There's no way he can make it."

Ryo stared at the old battle machine. "What is going on in his mind right now?"

Keiken stood calmly in the deactivated prototype Stealth Hunter in the training simulator. He looked at the control board. Seeing a speck of dust, he wiped it away, before staring at the huge army of robots, patiently.

In the corner of his eyes, he noticed Ryo and Takashi who were staring wild-eyed at him, clearly shocked and confused.

Keiken looked at the robot army again. His calm gaze turned into a glare filled with concentration, experience and invincibility. He activated his Stealth Hunter. The battle machine hummed to life.

The simulated robots began to move slowly.

A small smile grew on Keiken's lips. It was a long time since he was capable of fighting with all his strength. This was why he was here: to fight with all his might, skills, and abilities.

And he was going to get his wish. "Time to Power up." he whispered.

Just as he said that, he slammed the controls of the stealth Hunter forward. The white battle machine shot forward with all its original agility and speed.
The robots dove to meet their single enemy. They fired all their weapons at point blank range, their swords gleaming in the light, threatening to cut the lone human to pieces.

But just when they were about to connect, Keiken took off. Spinning the electro-magnet, he fired at the sole weak points of the battle machines.

Three Dark Panthers lunged at him. But the man saw them coming before they even got the time to jump. Spinning the double-bladed sword in a complete circle, the black and purple battle machines shattered in pieces.

But that was not all. Before the pieces of the Dark Panthers touched the ground, the Stealth Hunter spun its left leg around, activating its reactors. The robots that dared to come too close where either burned or heavily damaged and thrown off balance.

Keiken kicked the pedals of the Stealth Hunter. The oldest battle machine flew skywards into the air and towards one Iron Condor and two Fire Vultures.

He fired two shots. The first one blasted the robot piloting the flying battle machine to pieces and the second one hit the wing, unbalancing the machine.

Without a pilot and with a damaged wing, the Iron Condor began to fall, but Keiken caught it ad, without pausing a second, spun his battle machine in circles and threw the battle machine at the other two.

It clanged against the first Fire Vulture which, unable to carry the extra and sudden load, plummeted towards the ground, where is crashed.
Keiken did not take the time to admire his handiwork. He slashed the energy cord of the second Fire Vulture which caused to deactivate and fall like a rock.

Keiken, still in the air, deactivated his Stealth Hunter's reactors. It landed on the ground with a heavy bang. He watched as all the robot battle machines lunged at him.

Keiken smiled gently. He, with his electro-blade, stabbed the gas container of the downed Fire Vulture.

A huge explosion took place, spreading in all directions at uncontrollable speed. Igniting the gas and munitions from the other battle machines, the fireball became larger and larger, engulfing all the battle machines, before going out.

Keiken, in his burnt and damaged but functional Stealth Hunter, stood back up and left the simulator, not bothering to see the remains of the robots army he had just destroyed.

Ryo stared at the remains of the battle. Keiken, all by himself, in an extremely old battle machine, had devastated an entire army of robots. Ryo didn't know whether he should be shocked, amazed, whether he should laugh, cheer or just remain silent. He settled by leaving his mouth wide open, his eyes wide.

And judging by the lack of reaction of the pilot next to him, he guessed that Takashi had come to the same conclusion as well.

"Close your mouth boys or you will swallow flies."

Both of them became acutely aware of their leader who was giving them an amused glance. "Takashi, I'd like you to remain at the Shikara Outpost tonight. As for you Ryo, give the order to Ha-Ya-To take a legion of Grand Titans and to go to the Jaikuto Bridge. I've received a report earlier about a few robot sightings up there."

Both boys nodded, still stunned by the performance. Satisfied, Keiken turned and left the training center.

Hitomi unstrapped her armor and placed it on the bed. She then opened her drawer and started taking out a couple of clothes, before blowing a strand of hair out of her face.

Rika stepped out of the bathroom, tying her hair in a ponytail. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know what I must wear. This is a really important day and…well…I don't know…" Hitomi stared at the few clothes she had.

Rika tilted her head. "What's so important about today?"

Hitomi grabbed a hoodie and a pair of jeans. She threw them on the floor and collapsed on the bed. "It's today that my parents died." she simply replied.

Rika's brown eyes went wide. She sat on the bed and gave her roommate a hug. "I'm sorry." she whispered. "If you want someone to talk to, I'm here."

Hitomi smiled. "I'm fine. A little upset but fine. I didn't really get to know them. I was so young." She got up. "I'm going to go to the graveyard. But I could go there in my uniform. No the reason why I want to change is because grandfather is inviting me to spend the evening with him." Her sad smile turned into a happy one. "This is the first time we get to interact in weeks! Hikaru's gonna take the leading for tonight."

Rika's eyes narrowed slightly. "Wait, when will he be gone?"

Hitomi gave her a surprised look. "About eight or something. Why?"

Rika grinned. "He wants to show me something. We'll be out all afternoon."

Hitomi took her uniform off. "Is this a date? I've noticed you two have grown closer a lot faster."

Rika blushed slightly. "Maybe. What do you think he wants to show me?"

Hitomi threw on her hoodie. "I dunno. Might be the sights. He knows some pretty impressive places."

"Oh, how do you know that?"

"Well I was going on patrol with him and Ryo. He led us to a huge waterfall that gave a view of the ocean around the mountain with the setting sun. It was beautiful."

Rika pictured the scene. "It must've been. How does he know the mountain so well?"

Hitomi pulled her jeans on. "He was testing some battle machines. So, ready to make a move on him? It'd be too bad if you mss the opportunity."

Rika rolled her eyes. "Puh-lease. This coming from the same girl whose eying Ryo or the past three months."

Hitomi took her pillow and threw it at the pilot. "Don't even start. Grandfather is insisting that I get married soon. It's getting irritating."

Rika laughed as she caught t. "You're nineteen. He's got a point. In a couple of years you'll be old and wrinkly."

Hitomi threw another one at her. "It's just one of his crazy schemes to keep me 'safe'. I wish he weren't so darn overprotective. Now stop it and go on your dumb date."

Rika ducked to avoid it. "Fine. While I'll be the arms of prince charming, you'll be busy scrubbing the floor."

Hitomi rolled her eyes in exasperation. Still grinning hugely, she grabbed one of the pillows still lying on the ground, and threatened to throw it. "Want some more?"

Rika raised her hands. "Okay, okay. I'm off. I'll see you later." she was about to step out of the room, before she ran back in and grabbed Hitomi by the shoulders. "Do I look good?"

The emerald-eyed girl gave her an are-you-serious look. "You're in your usual uniform minus the armor plating. Why would you look bad?"

"I don't care! How do I look?"

"Fine. Honestly. Why are you suddenly so worried? Think that Hikaru will find you unattractive?"

Rika blushed. "This is my first date. And with Hikaru! How can I not be worried?"

Hitomi gave her friend a huge hug. "Just go. And if he's mean, just shoot him somewhere painful."

Rika grinned. "Will do. Wish me good luck!" she said as she ran out the door.

"Hikaru where are we going?"

Hikaru grinned as he piloted the Sky Guardian up the mountain. "Somewhere special." he answered.

Rika shifted her grip on his shoulders. Peering out the cockpit, she was startle by what she saw. "Um Hikaru…we're nearing the very top of the mountain." Indeed, they were flying over the snowy plains of the giant rock that rose from the sea and into the sky.

Hikaru looked down. "We're almost there." He said. "Oh and Rika, can you loosen the grip, you're hurting me."

Rika tugged his hair. "Stop being a crybaby. Now where's 'there?" Her question was answered when she felt her stomach rise to her throat.

"We're here!" Hikaru announced proudly. He deactivated the Sky Guardian and opened the cockpit. "Welcome to the peak of the Sentai Mountain!"

Rika climbed out of the blue and white battle machine and looked around. She gasped.

Snow covered the plains. Past those plains was the view of the ocean that spreaded to the infinity. The sun's rays bounced off the waters turning the bluish liquid into a golden sea of light. The cloudless sky seemed to lifting the sun and allowing it to shine with all its light.

"It's beautiful" Rika whispered. "How come you're the only one who knows about this place?"

"Well there are two reasons. First, it's one of my areas. No one is allowed to come here unless I say so."

"And second?" Rika asked. She yelled as she got hit in the back of the head by a snowball. Glaring playfully at the aerial pilot, she placed her arms on her hips. "Explain."

Hikaru tossed another snowball up and down in his hand. "That's reason two. Private snowball fights." he threw his second snowball.

Rika yelped as she spun, causing the snow to hit her shoulder. She knelt on the ground. "You're going down!" she yelled. She started making a snowball but suddenly winced.

Hikaru noticed it. "What's wrong?"

"It's cold god dang it! How do you manage without gloves!"

Hikaru winked. "I'm Canadian." he answered as though this explained everything. He dodged a snowball thrown at him. "You're too slow."

Rika scooped up some more snow. "Oh yeah? Dodge this!" She threw another snowball at hm.

Hikaru merely stepped out of the way. "You really have a bad throw. How ab-WOAH!" he yelled as Rika tackled him in attempt to throw him off his feet. He staggered backwards but managed to stay upright.

"Dang it!" Rika said as she started shaking him, trying unbalance him.

Hikaru was laughing. "You're really bad at this are you?" With a swift movement, he picked her right up in bridal style.

Rika yelped and clung on to him tightly. "Hikaru! Put me down!"

"All right." Hikaru dropped her. What he wasn't expecting was Rika to pull him down with her. The next thing he knew was that he was on top of her, their faces inches apart. "Got any good plans?" he teased.

Rika blushed. "Get off."

"You don't want that."

"Oh, you can mind read now? Fine what do I wan-" She instantly shut up when Hikaru's lips crashed on hers.

Hikaru caught a glimpse of her widening eyes before he lost in the sweetness of her lips. He felt her arms snake around his neck and pull him closer, trying to deepen the kiss, which he obliged.

After what felt like forever, they broke the kiss for air.

Rika, her face beet-red held him close and closed her eyes when she felt him starting to kiss her neck. Gasping for air, she ran her hands through his hair. "H…Hikaru…" she whispered.

However, the moment was ruined by the beeping of a talkie walkie.

Hikaru groaned as he reached out for his comm. System. Refusing to break their current position he spoke. "Hikaru here. I read you what's up?"

"Hey Hikaru? Did you see my sister? I can't find her anywhere." Ryo answered from the other side of the line.

Hikaru looked at the grinning Rika under him. "No idea where she is. Sorry buddy."

"Dang. Well if you find her tell her I have some papers for her. And Hikaru? You sound out-of-breath? What's wrong?"

"I'm on the top of the mountain. Not as much air up here."

"Okay…well see ya."

Hikaru flipped the talkie walkie off and tossed it a small distance away. He then pressed his forehead against Rika's. "Where were we before your brother rudely interrupted us?"

Rika laughed. She pulled him back closer and kissed him deeply again.

Ha-Ya-To happily snapped another picture of the couple underneath. He sure was glad Hitomi had let him borrow the Blazing Falcon. Now he could spy on his friends while they had their 'alone-time'.

Ooooh! Hikaru's kissing her neck. Gotta catch this! The pilot snapped another picture, before looking at his camera gleefully. "Man now I'm ready to face the city!" he announced. "Now I've got the perfect blackmail material."

With that, he piloted the Blazing Falcon away.