NICS HQ Under Attack...


The trio were outside, fighting back the waves of LBXs with their partners. Soon, Achilles D9 and the rest caught up with them and engaged in the fight as well.

Hiro: " Ban-san!"

Hiro's face appeared on the screen of Ban's CCM. Kaios had ordered them to use the control pods inside the base since they were aware that those LBXs won't hestitat at aiming their weapons at humans.

Hiro: " Nee-chan and the others are on their way back here!"

Ban: " Yosh! We ought to stand our ground here!"

He told both men next to him while exchanging nods.

The LBXs had approached on their Riding Saucers. Zenon ducked under one of them before attacking the LBX on it from behind using his hammer, knocking it down before turning to the next one and doing the same.

Odin Mk2 flew between the LBXs, causing a serie of explosions as he sliced through them. Liu Bei had switched over to a gun so he can shoot them down easily and support both his friends. Achilles D9 and Achilles Deed raced through the opponent units as to see who can take down most of them...


Meanwhile, the girls were sprinting at full speed to get to the base.

Jessica: " who could have thought they would target us this soon!"

Runa: " wasn't it actually what Otacross-san said? That we have to expect their attack anytime soon."

Elie: " it seems they're focusing on the base this time. They went by the city but did nothing."

She pointed out, earning with that a stare from Jessica. The blonde breathed in as the gears within her head started to spin, trying to figure out what they were up to.

Jessica: " why are they after NICS?"

Momona tilted her head.

Momona: " because it's our base?"

Lilyan: " sounds convenient for me."

Jessica: " even though..."

Soon a car ran past them, knocking the trash bin in it's way away as it came to a halt. The door opened as if inviting them to get in.

" What are you waiting for?"

Jessica and the older members of NICS snapped at that familiar tone.

Elie: " Mangos-san!"

Mangos: " either you get in or I leave you behind!"

He said with his ever cold tone. The girls got as soon as they could, squeezing themselves in.

Mangos stepped on the accelerator as the back tires span on their spot for a second before the car rushed forward.

Mangos: " man, I've just came back from England and I was already given a task. Your father loves to tire his agents."

He told the brunette who shared a seat with Evangeline next to him. Elie had an awkward smile as she knew her father can get strict when things are related to his work. But this was a matter of life or death.

Jessica: " Mangos! Please hurry!"

Jessica's face popped from the gap between the front seats.

Mangos: " I'm on it!"

And he speeded up more on the way to the base...


NICS HQ...

Genesis: " isn't there an end for them!"

He complained while still slicing the LBXs coming at him.

Yuuta: " Hold on!"

Ranger had pulled a red energy arrow from his quiver as he pointed his bow up.

Ranger: " Master!"

Ken: " Hissatsu Function!"

" Attack Function: Flame torrent!"

The arrow flew up to the sky and split to many more, striking multiple LBXs at the same time and blowing them off.

Yuuya: " it's hard to keep up with them!"

" Attack Function: Hyper energy bomb!"

A pink bomb of energy flew right above their heads and exploded, taking down numerous LBXs with it.

Ban looked back with a wide smile as he saw his sister. Elie gave a smile of her own before she turned to her serious self as she looked back to the screen of the CCM. All the other girls followed after her as all the LBXs moved forward to defend their base.

The enemy's LBXs couldn't stand a chance against all of them. With their number and power, NICS were bound to win anyway. Touko and Jessica exchanged a high five as they delivered the final blow to the last LBX in the area.

Runa let out a sigh before looking down at all the parts littered down on the ground after their fight. They had destroyed a lot of LBXs during that one battle.

Runa: " they really send so much this time."

Mirai: " still I couldn't understand what's their motive of attacking us directly?"

" As I thought, those things can't stand up to you."

They all snapped when they heard that and their eyes widened as they saw a boy sitting down on a tree branch while looking down at them. He was holding a lollypop in his hand and his LBX was sitting on his shoulder.

Arata: " Itan Kyouji!"

Jin and Muraku had their eyes narrowed as they stared daggers at him.

The boy hopped down and walked to them, placing his hands in his pockets.

Itan: " I think it was worth coming all this way to A Nation!"

He pulled out his CCM and pointed it at Ban with a mischievous smirk all over the face.

Itan: " Yamano Ban, I've been waiting for this since a long time now. I'll have to ask you to entertain me."

Ban narrowed his eyes as Odin Mk2 flew next to him, ready to defend him if Itan ever pulled a funny move on his player.

Yuuya: " you will have to fight us as well!"

He stepped forward, not intending to leave Ban to fight on his own.

Itan's smirk widened as he looked at another direction.

Itan: " your play mates had already come."

They followed Itan's gaze and Ruri nearly gasped in horror when she saw the things coming at them.

Ruri: " you've gotta be kidding me!"

Five of the new type Killer Droids were flying their way to them.

Ken: " right! Just what we needed!"

Ban bit his lip as he saw the Killer Droids. Ruri had already showed them the robot's data and records from their fight with it and so he knew they were not to underestimate those things.

Ban: " everyone! Listen up! Finish those Killer Droids, I will be taking care of Itan!"

Zenon: " But!"

Odin: " we will be fine."

He insisted.

Ban: " just go."

Jin clicked his tongue as he looked over at Yuuya.

Jin: " let's go!"

He said and he ran forward to block the robots way. Yuuya followed after him and so did the girls. Soon, the other LBXs went after them as they engaged into a fight with the metallic dragons.

Ban's attention then shifted to Itan whose smirk widened.

Itan: " shall we go! Gruxeon!"

Ban: " Odin MK2 !"

The scythe and Lance clashed with sparks flying off as metal brushed against metal.

They backed their weapons and clashed again, pushing each other with all their might.

Gruxen: " you're really strong!"

He span around and kicked Odin on the torso, knocking him back.

Gruxeon: " but you will never be that much to me!"

He said dashing to attack again. Odin rushed away in an attempt to put space between them but Gruxeon actually caught with him and they clashed multiple times while each trying to avoid the other by flying away.

Ban looked at the green and Crimson colored lines of lights created by the fast moves of their LBXs flying around and engaging into the battle.

Itan: " Yamano Ban! You're as rumors say a strong player! I can understand why Leviathan is interested in you and your friends!"

He typed on his CCM and Gruxeon soared high before spinning and zooming downward. Odin held his shield to defend against the scythe.

Ban was moving his fingers on the buttons as he gave Odin orders to dodge.

Itan: " you're really strong!"

He said bitting on his lollypop tightly, his eyes wide exotically.

Gruxeon pushed himself back and span round himself, gathering more power in his scythe. Odin's boosters activated as he propelled forward, ducking under the blade just by an inch and knocking the black unit from behind.

Ban: " when it comes to speed, you can't outstand Odin Mk2!"

Itan: " ne! Why can't we work together! With your power, changing this world is a piece of cake!"

Ban's eyes narrowed as he looked up at the boy in front of him.

Ban: " you're asking me to betray my friends and join you!?"

The smirk on Itan's lips widened.

Itan: " exactly."

Ban: " sorry to dash your hopes down, but I'm not that type of people who sells their friends."

Odin picked up speed as he started slashing at the other robot from all different directions. It was all Gruxeon could do to hold his ground and defend himself.

Itan narrowed his eyes as his smirk faltered.

Itan: " so you're the same. I hate those like you and Sena Arata, who treasure their friends more than anything. Well then, I'm looking forward to when your friends will betray you first."

Odin: " they won't!"

Gruxeon managed to hold Odin still as their weapon locked.

Gruxeon: " finally I've got you!"

On the other side, Ruri groaned in frustration when she saw that the joints of the Killer Droids were protected by a thick layer of special metal.

Valkyrie : " they've upgraded it!"

Touko: " they took off its weakness!"

Elie: " keep fighting! It should have another weakness!"

Jessica: " But it's tough! Does it even have one!"

Elie: " everything has a weakness! That's what dad always says!"

Mirai: " then let's try to figure out this!"

Strike Freedom shot his Lazer at the dragon's head. It didn't cause any visible damage, only driving the giant robot crazier.

Runa: " it seems you pissed it off!"

Zenon: " more importantly!"

He yelled as he barely dodged the claws of another Killer Droid.

Zenon: " their pattern changed from the last time we've battled it!"

Nightmare: " how!"

Jessica narrowed her eyes in thoughts.

Jessica: " could it be that they gathered information from your battle with it?"

Mirai: " not just them..."

Lilyan narrowed her eyes at the blunette's declaration.

Lilyan: " they're easily dodging our attacks and they seem to know our weakness very well. They've gathered information about us all!"

Asuka: " no way!"

Kirito: " but when!"

Jin's eyes narrowed as the gears within his mind span. The virus inserted in the second world... The LBXs that they kept sending after them and that exploded on their own... The old man's words...

His eyes widened as realization downed on him.

Jin: " for all this time, we've been just giving them what they were looking for."

Yuuya looked at the man next to him as his grip of his CCM loosened.

Yuuya: " what do you mean, Jin-kun?"

From his position, Itan let out a chuckle.

Itan: " your friend had realized it already."

Ban's eyes were narrowed as he glared at the boy in front of him.

Itan: " for all this time, without noticing it, you've provided Leviathan with the best battle data ever. The thing he needs to create stronger and more powerful weapons. All those LBXs you've defeated served to gather your data."

Ban clicked his tongue upon hearing that.

Odin: " you were using us!"

Itan: " we didn't use you, you were the ones eager to give your data away by jumping to battle."

Jin bit his lip as he looked down. Asuka was rumbling in anger, swearing to make them pay for taking her brother's precious LBX's data.

Runa had worried eyes as she looked back at everyone.

Runa: " doesn't that mean we can't defeat them?"

Evangeline : " theoretically..."

Everyone looked down as the fact that they won't be able to defeat the Killer Droids customized solely for the purpose of outstanding them sank in.

Arata: " don't lose hope yet!"

Dot Blastriser sped forward as he cleaved at the dragon's armor, but it hardly left much of a nicker.

Arata: " we're not the same as yesterday!"

The white and red LBX swooped for another attack.

Arata: " we grow more with each battle! We gain more experience with each day! We're all trying to overcome ourselves!"

His partner kept swiping his sword across the different parts of the robot's armor.

Arata: " even if they had gathered our data! Even if they had made their preparation to bring us down! We will only overcome them time and time again! For we don't stop growing stronger!"

Everyone's eyes widened as finally Dot Blastriser's blades scratched the thick armor of the Killer Droid.

Muraku: " we don't stop growing stronger..."

Momona was squealing for she was touched by Arata's speech.

Momona: " senpai is amazing!"

Hiro: " nice way to go, Arata-san!"

His LBX flew over to support Arata's. Soon, the others quickly regained their hope, they dashed to fight again with determined looks over their faces.

Ruri on the other hand stood still as her mind was doing some calculations. Ken was surprised by that.

Ken: " what's wrong, Ruri!"

Ruri: " everything has a weakness... No matter how strong the metal is, if you hit with enough force, it's bound to bend... No matter..."

Her eyes widened as she ran off to Mirai.

Ruri: " Mirai-san! I think I figured a way to defeat them!"

Everyone had their heads cocked in her direction.

Ruri: " can I borrow your CCM?"

The blunette blinked before handing the blue device to the young woman.

Ruri quickly swiped through the parameters and sittings of the LBX before finally finding what she was looking for.

Ruri: " as I thought."

Evangeline: " what's your plan?"

Ruri: " for now, we have to focus on holding them still. Mirai-san, I've raised the output of your Laser rifle. With this, you should be able to pierce through their armors."

Strike Freedom flew to her.

Strike: " are you sure about this?!"

Ruri nodded.

Ruri: " but there is a problem..."

Evangeline frowned as she figured it out.

Evangeline : " how long will the rifle hold while using the maximum output."

Yuuya: " eh?"

Ruri nodded her head at Eva's point.

Ruri: " Eva-san is right. I don't know for how long or how many time you will be able to shoot."

Mirai's brows knitted but her eyes glinted.

Mirai: " it's alright, I'll work with it somehow."

Ruri's look then went to Jessica.

Ruri: " would you mind shifting to your Luminous Shooters? We should be able to pull the same trick with it. Kazu-san as well."

Kazu nodded and both LBXs switched their weapons.

Ruri: " Elie-san, your Beargguy's beam sword can do the same thing as well. But it may overheat the arm."

Elie: " understood!"

Ruri: " Jin-san! Yuuya-san! Please hold off the other Killer Droid until we finish those four!"

Yuuya: " leave it to us!"

While Yuuya was resolved to fight, the other man just had a downcast look, something that made Zenon worried.

Zenon: " Jin..."

He didn't move a muscle. He didn't even lift up his CCM. Zenon had to move on his own to fullfil his duty of protecting his partner.

Ruri: " let's go!"

All the LBXs attacked at once, trying to push back the dragons.

Mirai, Kazu and Jessica's LBXs moved back as they waited for a chance to shoot. Beargguy zoomed forward as to get as much closer to the Killer Droid to deliver a fatal blow.

Jeanne D: " Come on..."

She was waiting until her target stood still for a second.

Jessica: " now!"

Her eyes snapped wide open at that and the beam of energy was shot, cutting its way through the dragon's head that soon exploded.

Achilles Deed: " gotcha!"

His beam went through the scruff, actually chopping it.

Strike: " I'll finish you!"

The Lazer beam pierced through the other dragon's chest, blowing it in a matter of seconds.

Beargguy: " begone!"

He formed his beam sword as he thrusted it in the middle of the monster's chest. Though the heat in his arm was rising as a result of him using the beam blade to its maximum level, still he pushed it further, assuring with that the Droid's destruction.

Ruri: " now to the other-"

Her eyes widened as she saw all four players having a worried look. Both Luminous Shooters and Strike's rifle stopped functioning. Beargguy's arm was actually overheating as fume rose out of it.

Valkyrie : " the outcome of setting the weapons to their maximum output."

Twilight : " tsk, they only had one chance."

Kazu: " we can't continue like this!"

Elie: " I can go!"

She said firmly.

Beargguy flung his other arm as he dashed for Liu Bei and Zenon's help.

Beargguy: " I still have another arm!"

But the other Killer Droid's eyes blinked as it pushed away the LBXs surrounding it and flew up.

Twilight : " no you won't!"

The flying LBXs tried to knock it down but it brushed them off easily and pointed its tail beam gun at the humans. The first target being Jin.

Evangeline: " Jin!"

Yuuya: " watch out, Jin-kun!"

Elie: " move away!"

She made an attempt to get to him, but she was late. The male snapped and looked up just when the beam was shot.

Before his mind even managed to process it, the beam was blocked midway by the body of a certain purple and black LBX.

Just as the red pupils narrowed in realization of what had happened, there was an explosion.

Humans looked with wide eyes as the parts of the robot fell down through the smoke. Even Ban and Odin who came to a halt since they heard the voices calling out to warn Jin couldn't find their tongues to speak.

Elie: " Zeno...n..."

Her hands flew to her mouth as her eyes widened in fear.

Jin trudged over to the leftover of his LBX before kneeling down, holding what was left of his chest and head, the light in his eyes had already been off.

Vampire Cat: " how dare you!"

He jumped up to thrust the dragon but it let a loud a roar. The LBXs stopped moving all of a sudden and fell to the ground.

Yuuya: " what's-"

Dot Phasor: " I can't move!"

Kirito bit his lip when the control of their units was impossible having guessed the reason.

Kirito: " some kind of electromagnetic waves..."

Evangeline: " something like the stunning grenade!"

The dragon pointed its tail rifle at the humans again as if knowing that this time no one can save them. The gun shifted to the man holding his broken LBX tightly.

" Pathetic."

A voice uttered and the Killer Droid was smashed to pieces...