"I'm going have to put you on hold Hibari." Kota ended the call and stuffed his phone in his pocket. The scout showed a short moment of silence and suddenly began yelling. "A Hannibal?! A freaking Hannibal of all aragami?!" Kota yelled with pure frustration in his voice. He held his beanie with his free hand and continued cursing in the air. Absolute despair and shock became clearly written on his face.

"Shut up already….." whispered Soma. "Tatsumi, get your phone and call backup! We need to drive this thing away from the area!"

"Got it!" Tatsumi pulled out his phone and dialed on it. He placed his phone to his ear, hearing the faint ringing. "Brendan, this is Tatsumi; we need your help with the Hannibal!"

"Understood!" replied Brendan.

He could hear Brendan hanging up on the earpiece, and ended the call.

As Kota watched Tatsumi, he sighed and slumped his shoulders. He looked at the far-off distance, seeing the Hannibal approaching. Kota breathed heavily, as he suddenly felt more exhausted. Never in the scout's life has his job become incredibly more difficult.

"Don't tell me you're already exhausted." Said Soma.

"M-me? No way. If I get exhausted here and now, everything's going to go downhill. We got to go all out from here on in."

Soma grinned at Kota's words. He could see a hint of fear in his eyes, but despite that, he wore a brave face. "Then, you know what to do. Like always." He showed his fist to Kota, and as the scout noticed the short gesture, Kota bumped it in return.

"Yeah, I'll back you up no problem!" he grinned.

"Don't forget, I'm joining the fray with you. And the others as well." Said Tatsumi, as he turned his attention to the other God Eaters.

"Right!" They pronounced in unison.

The boys looked at the far-off distance, and readied their God Arcs. The combatants stepped forward while the gunners leaped back. The God Eaters gripped on their God Arcs, readying their attacks. The white dragon's thunderous stomping came closer and closer, and before the team noticed, the Hannibal was now standing in front of them. The aragami and the God Eaters eyed daggers at each other for a few seconds. Its heavy breaths became audibly clear, accompanied with its low growls.

Soma inhaled for a few seconds. He then shouted the one command across the battlefield.

"ATTACK!"

In the next moment, all of them began to unleash their attacks at each other.

Brendan gazed at the battle from afar and placed his phone back in his pocket. He could faintly see a group of God Eaters fighting the white dragon. Guns blazed and with swords hitting flesh. Dust rose in the air with every step, every move, every crash. He turned his attention to Annette, who wore a singed jacket, and Kanon, who was dusted with sand. "Change of plans; our target is the Hannibal. We also need to back up the rest of our teammates. Let's get into the vehicle, and drive away the Hannibal as much as we can."

Both of the girls nodded and the trio made their way to the dune buggy. Annette and Kanon climbed into the back, and stood there with God Arc in hand. Brendan hastily grabbed his case and placed his God Arc inside. After dumping it in the back with the girls, he made his way to the driver's seat.

Brendan didn't bother putting on his seatbelt.

He injected the key and revved the engine, hearing it roar. Brendan then shifted the gear, and pushed the foot-pedal down. They speeded away, and were now riding across the deserted land. Sand and warm gusts of wind gently blew on their faces and hair. They could feel the slight bumps from vehicle; Annette and Kanon gripped on the railings of the buggy while Brendan clenched on the wheel. Brendan then switched gears trying to gain more speed. He began shouting to the girls, as he tried to make his voice audible over the noise.

"Remember! We need to chase the Hannibal away from the branch! We can't let this thing pass us no matter what! Commence an all-out attack on the Hannibal!"

"Right!"

Brendan slowed down and stopped near the area of the fight; while doing so, he turned the engine off. The God Eaters climbed out of the buggy, and Brendan brought out his God Arc. Soma was busy parrying the attacks; as Annette saw him do so, she switched to gun mode and fired away at the Hannibal. Meanwhile, Kanon and Brendan closed their distance at the Hannibal, engaging in close combat.

Brendan leaped into the air, and smashed the Hannibal's head, stopping its assault on Soma. The Hannibal lost a bit of its balance by the sudden attack. He jumped back, and just as he did, Kanon followed up with a radial bullet. She continued her assault, endlessly firing radial bullets. Not wanting to get caught up in Kanon's blasting, Brendan brought back his God Arc, and a purple glow engulfed his buster blade. Charge complete!

Soma approached the Hannibal and did the same as well. "What an eyesore." He said. With the charge complete, they both brought down their swords on the Hannibal's head in unison.

The white dragon's head became unbound by the massive hit. It roared in pain, stepping back.

"It's unbound!" yelled Brendan.

"Alright!" cheered Kota.

Using this chance, the female short blade-user sprinted to the right arm. She unleashed a flurry of attacks on the arm, slicing it. The white dragon was about to bash the warrior with its shielded arm. "Look out!" yelled Tatsumi. As he sees the upcoming attack, he leaped to the short blade user. He tackled her, both barley avoiding the attack. The two rolled on the sand, getting themselves dusted by it.

The Hannibal back flipped, getting away from the God Eaters. All of a sudden, it puffed its chest. Soma and Brendan flinched as they saw it.

"Soma! Defensive maneuvers!" ordered Brendan.

"On it!"

Both of them grouped together, standing side-by-side. The Hannibal breathed out a giant orb of fire, unleashing it at the two. In the next moment, they deployed their tower shields, stopping the attack. Their feet skidded on the sand, as they were both pushed back by the force. The white dragon then leapt into the air and smashed its fist on the sand; as it did so, a cloud of sand got in the air, blocking their vision.

"Urgh!" grunted Brendan.

It then clenched its fists together and brought them up in the air, about to crush to them.

"Soma! Brendan! Kanon!" cried Kota.

*ROOOOOAAAAAR!*

All of sudden, the Hannibal ceased its attack. It felt a strong tug behind. The creature turned its attention to behind it; from there, it could see two God Eaters pulling on its tail with their predator form.

"As if we're going to let you!" yelled the female warrior.

"Don't ever let up!" roared Tatsumi.

The Hannibal gave an angered roar at the two God Eaters behind it. It then dug its claws on the sand, and twisted its body, almost as if it's about to-

"Oh crud….." breathed Tatsumi. This isn't good! If that thing does what I think it's going to do!

Making Tatsumi's suspicions come true, the Hannibal then rotated its entire body, pulling Tatsumi and the female God Eater.

"Oh no!" cried the God Eater.

The two were then forcibly pulled by the Hannibal's tail, as they both gripped on their God Arcs for dear life. While it whipped itself around, Brendan, Soma and Kanon got caught up in the attack as well, getting thrown off.

"Ugh!"

"Ow!"

"Damn it!"

Tatsumi and the God Eater clenched on their God Arcs hoping not to get thrown off, however, with the force being too sudden, their predator form released its grip on the tail, sending them flying.

"AAAAHHHHHH!"

"Guys!" yelled Kota.

"I'll help out!" called Annette.

Kota backed up a few steps and dropped his God Arc on the sand. He stretched his arms trying to catch Tatsumi, all the while keeping an eye on him. Annette ran up, doing the same with Kota, as she tried to catch the female God Eater. In the next moment, both of them crashed into the other, and buried themselves into the sand.

"Oof!" The scout picked lifted himself, wincing at the slight pain and could see Tatsumi on his lap. Kota looked beside him, seeing Annette and the female God Eater in the same position.

Amidst the cloud of sand, they could feel a tremor and heavy stomping. All too fast, and all too quickly, the Hannibal passed the group of God Eaters. They could see it heading straight towards to the outer ghetto.

"H-hey! The Hannibal!" bellowed one of the long-distance God Eaters.

While picking himself up, Soma whipped his attention to where the Hannibal escaped. What the hell? Why's that thing not bothering with us? His thoughts were then interrupted by Kota's rattled voice.

"Shoot! Tatsumi quick, get up!" panicked Kota as he shook Tatsumi.

"Ow, ow, stop it. I got it, already." Tatsumi lifted himself off of Kota, and dusted off the sand on his clothes. He overlooked the God Eaters, as each were getting up on their feet from the attacks. He looked to where the Hannibal is running to, and gritted his teeth. The 2nd unit leader pulled out his phone, and dialed on it. As he heard the ringing from the earpiece, he could hear the receiver being picked up.

"Gina, sorry to distract you with this but-"

"Yeah, I see it." She replied grimly.

Tatsumi sighed dejectedly at her words.

"…..Look, the others and I are going to distract it from here on in. Until then, get everyone on your side to rush over here. Time is of the essence, Tatsumi."

As he heard Gina over the phone, he gripped on it. Tatsumi didn't dare point out the tone in her voice, with how bleak the situation is. Both knew how horrible the crisis, but both didn't dare to start any pessimism. It was rare to hear this kind of attitude from the calm, battle-addict sniper, as she almost never showed no fear. But with the way things are now, anyone would start to show their desire to survive.

The cornered rat, will do whatever it takes to bite the cat.

"Right; while we're on the phone, can you get Hibari to call the nearest copter for half of us? We can't get everybody on the buggy."

"Understood."

After hearing those last words, a beeping sound resounded through the earpiece. Tatsumi hung up, and placed his phone in his jacket. He saw Kota walking over to his God Arc and picking it up. As Tatsumi stared at him, the man turned his gaze back to the ghetto. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily, something he always did when faced with a difficult choice. Without turning around, he called out to his unit's sub-leader. "Brendan, how bad are your wounds from that attack?" he asked.

"Just feeling a few muscle sores after that heavy-duty smash. But, nothing too fatal." Answered Brendan. "Why do you ask?"

"I need you, Soma and Kota to chase after the Hannibal with the buggy. The rest of us will stay here until the nearest helicopter arrives; until then, we'll have to catch up with you later."

"What?" gasped Brendan, "Tatsumi, you do realize that if I bring only these two, most of our troops will be left behind just waiting for the helicopter. Shouldn't we at least have half of our soldiers here get on the buggy?" He argued.

"We don't have time, and I need you guys to rush over there. Kota and Soma are more than capable for this part. What we need to do is to gather our munitions, gather the first unit to at least push the Hannibal away. And we need that group now more than ever."

Everyone could only stare at Tatsumi, letting his counter-argument go into their heads. To everyone, it's the truth; almost all, be it God Eaters or employees, knew the difference of the First Unit's battle prowess; each individual all had skills and strengths unlike any other warrior, but it's not just that; it's the fact that they held an exceptional form of teamwork.

After all, the First Unit is renowned as the Far East's retaliation squad.

Brendan could only blink at Tatsumi, starting to understand Tatsumi's words. Both knew one thing; they didn't held the same level of power as the First Unit, but the least they can do is support their firepower. "Alright." He curtly responded. The sub-leader then turned his attention to Kota and Soma. Neither of them exchanged words; the look in each other's eyes were more than enough to tell.

Brendan made his way to the buggy and placed his God Arc in his case. As he dumped it in the back, Kota and Soma got on the back as well; they stood, having one hand grip on the railings, and one holstering their God Arc on the shoulder. Brendan sat down at the driver's seat; he injected the key turning on the buggy, while hearing the engine roar. The sub-leader gave one final glance to his captain. Tatsumi gave a short gesture, urging him to go.

In response, the buggy drove away, chasing after the Hannibal. Soma and Kota simply stared off in distance, their hair being blown by the wind, and their faces feeling the desert heat.

Kota whispered to Soma, "Soma, we don't have…"

"Don't." He curtly interrupted. "I know."

"….."

Without the leader, our strength is compromised. He didn't dare continue the conversation any further. "Just focus on the mission, Kota."

*sigh* "….Yeah….." The scout replied gloomily.

Darkness, light.

Darkness, light.

Darkness, light.

His mind and vision drifted in and out from being asleep and being awake. It made him feel dizzy at the constant changing. Where…am I? He thought. The man's nose twitched, and he could smell the scent of disinfectant. Am I…. in a hospital? My body…it feels stiff… Oh yeah…..that's right…..I got attacked by someone…..

Wa….up…

Huh? Who's there?

Wa…..up…you…..eed… up…..

What?

You need to get up. If you don't, he's going to die by the hands of those close to him. He needs your help now more than ever, Lindow. So wake up, and bring Drake home!

His eyes fluttered open, seeing white everywhere. Lindow's vision gradually became clear, as he blinked several times. With squinted eyes, the corporal let his gaze wander. The sick bay? He grunted with a grimaced look as he was greeted with a painful headache. Lindow held his head with his aragami hand, ruffling his black hair.

It felt even worse than his hangovers from occasional beer binging.

"Ow…." He mumbled.

Lindow brought his back hand in front of him, seeing the crystal, orange-colored core. His eyes widened, seeing it glow. He stared at it, and after a few seconds passed, the core stopped glowing. The corporal stayed silent for a bit, letting his head take in what just happened. "…" In the next moment, he forced himself up, ignoring the migraine and throwing off the blanket.

Lindow stood up from his bed, dressed in a hospital gown. His knees wobbled, as his body felt incredibly lethargic, but the corporal stood his ground, not wanting to faint at this crucial time. Lindow shakily walked to the green curtain behind him, and forcibly pushed it aside. He saw his clothes neatly folded on top of the metal cabinet.

He grabbed his clothing, hastily, but clumsily putting it on. As the corporal finished dressing, he held his head with his left hand, trying to endure the pain. His boots scuffed at the floor, as he sluggishly left the room. Lindow leaned on the wall, breathing heavily while doing so; he lifted his aragami arm, staring at the core. The corporal couldn't help but smile at it.

"Thanks Ren." Lindow lifted his head, trudging onwards to the elevator. "Hang on, Drake; I'm coming."

"Alisa! Federico!"

The two new-types turned their attention to the voice. There, they both see Sakuya coming down from one of the guard towers. She ran towards Alisa and Federico.

"Tatsumi ordered Soma, Kota and Brendan to get back here."

As Sakuya stated that, Alisa and Federico heeded her words. After a few seconds, they realized what Tatsumi was doing.

Alisa then turned her attention Federico. "The Hannibal is still too much for you to handle. For now, back us up with your lasers."

Federico wore a brave face to Alisa; he gave a nervous nod to her in return. "Okay." He left the two, heading towards to one of the barrier's watchtowers.

"Hey! You two!" called out a voice.

Alisa and Sakuya turned their attention to the source. Running up to them was Shun and Karel, leading a group of long blade God Eaters and assault gunners. "We've brought back up." Said Shun.

"Good; we need our long blade users against the Hannibal. The more there is, the more effective against it." Replied Alisa.

Sakuya stepped up to everyone, and began talking in a commanding-like voice. "We need everyone here to follow Alisa's orders and mine, because we know the Hannibal all too well, and we don't have much time; the first and fore-most thing about the Hannibal, is that we cannot by any means necessary, unbound its back. Doing that will only make it sprout its wings, and we can't risk it sending any fire pillars. So, do not attack it."

"So what do you suggest we do?" asked one of the God Eaters.

Alisa then spoke to them. "All of our combatants here are long-blade users. This is the best weapon against the Hannibal; all of the sword users just needs to slash at the hind legs. By doing this, it will collapse. We can't kill it, but if we constantly push it and make it stumble, we should be able to chase the Hannibal away."

"While the long blades are focusing on the hind legs, the gunners will need to pierce the Hannibal's head, so that long-blade users will have a chance to attack." added Sakuya.

All of them nodded in return.

"Get into battle positions!" They shouted in unison.

All of them scattered throughout breached wall, readying themselves.

Shun could only watch at the girls commands. He gripped his God Arc, feeling envious at their leadership. Those two are pretty much of leader caliber. Wish I had that much strength; color me jealous. Shun thought bitterly.

"Look alive, Shun." Said Karel.

"Huh?" Shun could only responded with a dumbfounded look.

"Keep this up, and I'll steal your pay on this mission's bounty."

"Hell no! You are not stealing any of those rewards!" he growled.

"Watch me." Challenged Karel.

"Don't need to." snapped Shun.

The God Eaters watched the Hannibal approach in angst, and with baited breath, they raised their weapons. Gunners twitched their finger on the trigger, blade users faintly gripped the handles on their God Arcs.

Sakuya and Alisa warily observed the Hannibal.

Not yet…not yet….. Thought Alisa.

Just a little more…. Thought Sakuya.

Stomping gradually became audible to the ears. Tremors slightly shook their bodies. The two continued watching the Hannibal approach, and as they did, Sakuya flinched.

Now! "GUNNERS! FIRE!"

Guns suddenly went ablaze together. Oracle bullets flew at the white dragon, piercing the head. The Hannibal skidded on the sand, stopping on its tracks. It instinctively lifted its arm with the shield, blocking the attacks.

Now's our chance! "BLADE USERS, ATTACK!" yelled Alisa.

The combatants sprinted to the Hannibal, swinging their blades at the dragon with a roaring battle cry. Their swords sliced the Hannibal's hind legs, sharp blades hitting its flesh. The Hannibal jumped back from the assault, getting away from the attacks. It then lifted its head, and puffed its chest, showing the glowing ribcage.

Alisa gritted her teeth, realizing what it was about to do. She switched to gun form, and fired at the Hannibal's head. Sakuya took notice of the attack as well; she started bombarding her laser bullets at the Hannibal's face, while the gunners followed her aim as well. Becoming overwhelmed by the torrent of oracle bullets, the Hannibal roared and released its flame breath, incomplete in releasing its attack. The flames became weaker, but the giant serpent didn't dare want to lose its counterattack.

It clumsily powered its flames, making it enough to damage its opponents. Just as it was about to aim it at the God Eaters, Alisa cried her next command.

"Disperse!"

As she yelled that single word, everyone made an immediate evacuation from the Hannibal, avoiding the blazing flames. The Hannibal's flame breath flared at the sand, singing the grains.

"Yeow! Hot-hot-hot-hot!" yelled Shun, as he barely avoided the fire.

Everyone warily kept their distance from the fire; the Hannibal then stopped its fiery breath. It wiped its mouth with its gigantic hand, wiping any blood that trailed down.

Alisa switched her gun form to sword; she closed the distance between her and the Hannibal, slashing at the hind legs once more. The others joined the fray as well, slashing the arm or the legs. Refusing to be outdone, the giant serpent twisted its body, while placing its tail close to itself.

"Deploy shields!" yelled the new-type.

The combatants deployed their shields, and in return, the Hannibal swept its tail, backing everyone off. The God Eaters stood firm, as they were pushed back by the force. The Hannibal opened one of its hands, flames blazing in its palm. It gave a deafening roar, making everyone cringe at the sound. They lowered themselves, defenseless and vulnerable from the earth-shattering roar.

"Urgh! Not good!" Winced Shun, as he held onto his ear.

Using this chance, the white dragon slammed its fist on the sand, flames blazing. Heat started to form beneath Shun's feet. Crud! The maroon-haired man desperately rolled away from the area; just as he did so, a pillar of fire shot up from where he stood. Barely avoiding the blaze, Shun got his leg partially near it.

"Argh!" he screamed.

"Shun!" yelled Alisa.

Shun tumbled on the sand, its grains dusting his clothes and hair. He winced at the pain on his leg, looked at it. From there, he could see multiple red marks surrounding the leg. Shun tried to move it, only to be greeted with an incredible sting. "Damn….." The Hannibal roared at him; Shun whipped his attention to the dragon. "Double damn….."

*BANG* *BANG* BANG* *BANG*

A sudden torrent of ice bullets exploded on the Hannibal's eyes, blocking its vision. The giant serpent held its eyes and roared at the pain.

"Wha-"gasped Alisa.

"Wait, who- "Shun darted around him to where the bullets came from.

The God Eaters turned their attention to who shot the bullets.

"We got your back!" yelled Kota.

The others saw Soma crouched on top of the car's hood, as Brendan continued driving. Soma then leaped in the air and twirled, arriving in front of the Hannibal's head.

"Haaaaaaaah!" With full might, Soma clobbered his buster blade on the dragon's head, smashing it down.

The white serpent roared and crashed on the sand, overwhelmed by the sheer strength. As Soma landed, grains of sand arose in the air and the God Eaters felt the incredible tremor from the crash. They shielded their faces with their arms from the stray sand grains.

Brendan stared in amazement by Soma's follow-up, as did a few of the other God Eaters. They've seen the strength from the first unit multiple times, but they couldn't help but be amazed by each member's battle prowess.

*whistle* "Wow, Soma…" breathed Kota.

The Hannibal twitched its eyes at Soma and clenched its claws, growling at the man. Soma flinched at the aragami's short gestures, and jumped back. "Get back! Spread out!" he yelled.

Sakuya aimed her gun at Shun and fired a recovery laser. "Shun! Here!" she shouted. As the laser homed in on the man, he could feel the pain in his leg easing up.

"Thanks!" The maroon haired youth then rolled backwards, as he scrambled to get up.

The God Eaters followed Soma's orders and as each got away from the fire breathing serpent, it then slammed both of its claws on the sand, and spun around, massively shading their vision with sand. Everyone suddenly became blinded, shielding their faces.

"Gah! Not again!" complained Kota.

This isn't good! We can't fight this thing in the dark! Thought Alisa. "All blade users! Deploy shields! Defend the gunners!" She could faintly hear the sounds of the shields being deployed.

Amongst the chaos, tremors were suddenly felt, and the sound of stomping claws were heard. Soma then heard something whiffing nearby to him. He lowered his defensive stance, preparing for an attack, and just as he predicted, a sudden force came onto his shield. Being pushed back, he grunted. The veteran jumped back, still feeling the incredible tremors. Soma suddenly caught onto something.

It sounds like it's rampaging over there…..but why make so much noise if it wants to hide? Soma, being the cautious man he is, gave an order to everyone. "Back away further from the Hannibal!" he shouted. As the God Eaters kept their distance from the area, the dust began to clear in the air. All gazed at the enemy, but as they did, all did not expect what they began to see. Their eyes bulged at the scene, and their jaws dropped, shock fully written on their faces.

"W-what the?!" shouted Alisa.

"What the hell is this?!" Barked Soma, as he gritted his teeth.

"Holy crap…." Whispered Kota.

"What in the world?" breathed Sakuya.

There, they see the Hannibal growling viciously, but as they stared at the aragami, a pair of gigantic arms in which that did not belong to the Hannibal was spotted. There, they saw not one dragon, but another, with an entire different colored body. Scales of a shining deep blue were shown, and both of its arms with blades attached held the Hannibal's waist. The blue dragon seized the Hannibal, detaining it. In return, the Hannibal roared and thrashed at its apprehender, trying to get out.

Everyone could still not believe what they began to witness, because a blue Hannibal was holding onto its white counterpart.

End of Chapter 17: Hell Freezing Over