"Handsonic: Version Two" Angel declared. She stepped back as the thin lance sprouted from her form, taking shape in the shadows of their cell. With one definite movement, she plunged forward, wedging the slender blade in the fine crack between the door, and the wall.

"It worked," Mike observed eagerly. "Now, see if you can…"

But Angel was way ahead of him. "Version: three." The blade began to expand. As it widened, it sent cracks racing along the walls. "Version: Four." The blade burned white, and exploded outward. Mike fell back as the door burst outward. It flew down the hallway, eventually slamming to a stop against a wall. The fragments of the wall rained down on them. An alarm began to sound shrilly, attacking their ears. Jumping to his feet, they leapt out of the room, and stood, dazed, in the hallway, momentarily soaking in the feeling of freedom.

They had to go. "Come on," Mike urged, taking his companion's hand as he pulled her along.

They left the school by the cafeteria, and dashed out onto the plaza. Gasping, Mike came to a stop at the top of the winding path that led down to the fields.

A towering, mechanical structure had been set up on the field. Deployed around it was a versatile army of students, most of which wore the black uniforms of the student council. The army was in the process of storming a heavily battered fortification on the slopes leading down to the soccer field, apparently made of hastily moved bleachers. He could see-

"Hey! Morons! Get out of the open, before you give away our position," a voice hissed from the bushes to their left. Before Mike and Angel could react, a shadowy form leapt out, caught them by the shoulders, and had dragged them back into the brambles.

Hannah set them down on the prickly ground, and then moved to gaze back out through the leaves. She did a double take. "Wha… Mike, why in the hell is Angel with you?" She glared at the offender menacingly. Angel glazed back steadily.

"Hannah, what, what's going on?" Mike gasped.

"Basically, Albert's trying to kill all of us," a scared voice from beside them whispered. Luke crawled up to be closer to them. "They set up that cannon, and just started besieging us. We tried to organize against them but… they just have too much firepower, and too many people. We, we're getting swarmed…"

"But, those are NPC's! They're normal high school students! Why are they attacking us?"

"Lecher…" Hannah replied darkly. "He is no normal NPC. He may be something worse. He's… changed something. The NPC's are following him blindly. I suspect an alteration in the programming."

"No," Angel replied immediately. They turned to her in shock. "The programming for this world's NPC's is very complicated. I doubt anyone would know enough to be able to alter it. Certainly not Mr. Lecher. "

Angel gazed off through the brush, at the blood being shed below her. "Lecher is a human. And he is not familiar with programming."

"And why should we trust you?" Hannah hissed. "I trust you least of all, angel of the Lord. And besides, that cannon was obviously made through programming. It's made of the same metal as our guns, as your blade."

Hannah withdrew her knife, and casually weighted it in her palm. "I am going to bring death on this enemy. I won't wait for you all to keep up."

Mike panted, sprinting to keep up with Hannah. They ran along the riverbank without speaking. This was wrong; he knew that unless they pooled their strengths, they wouldn't be able to thwart-

Hannah abruptly came to a stop. Mike reached her side, gasping. Within moments, Angel was with them, her face flushed. "What…what is this," she asked. Her voice cracked.

Strewn across the path was a scene of jarring horror. As the river rushed along beside them, they walked around bloody, unmoving bodies. Battlefront members lay in unnatural positions, their life leaking out through a hundred holes. The members of GirlDeMo had fallen together by the shore. Leonard was lying on his back, TK right next to him, as if they had been back-to-back.

Luke finally caught up, fighting for breath. "Hey, there's no need to go so fast, I, I… Oh, my…"

Hannah had slumped, her face gone slack at the sight of her friends. "This… how could this…"

Stepping forward, Mike swallowed. "We have to end this. This Student Body President is out of control, I don't think he'll stop. "Mike looked around. "If we all strike him when he isn't expecting it, we have a chance. Ang-, uh, Miss Robinson, will you help us?"

Angel nodded simply.

"The cannon. We have to take it down," Hannah spoke thickly.

Mike clenched his fists, and gazed up at the hill to his left, at the fields. "Right. We'll keep cutting around, and then strike. Me, Luke, and Hannah will try to make our way through the NPC's, we can't kill them… but we'll think of something. Miss Robinson, we're relying on you to take down the cannon."

They all looked at Mike with dazed, but strengthening expressions. Then, they began to run.