You're Human First

Author Note: A large part of this chapter including the title is heavily inspired by EinAr_17 's stories on Wattpad.

Kousuke and Knight's fight raged on, none of them caring at all what was happening around them.

Knight: " your bravery and resolve is sure to be commended, hadn't it been driven by the foolishness and blindness of mankind."

Kousuke: " foolishness?"

He snorted as Lucifer backed, surrounded by Charis bits.

Kousuke: " you don't understand that that's where the beauty of mankind lays. "

Knight frowned deeply at him.

Knight: " beauty of mankind? Don't make me laugh. Where's the beauty in a race that ruins everything they grasp? The future has no need for such beauty."

The bits circling Lucifer, preventing him escaping, span around as they charged their beams.

Charis: " I'll put you to rest!"

Lucifer: " you're dreaming!"

He flew up with high speed when all the beams converged on where he was standing, leaving nothing but a piece of charred ground.

Charis: " no you're not!"

With a wave of his hand, the bits chased after him.

Kousuke: " Hissatsu Function!"

" Attack Function: Seraphic Wing!"

The concentrated energy unleashed upon the bits destroyed them before Lucifer emerged from the smoke, swooping towards Charis and glowing brightly.

" Seraphic Mode!"

Kousuke: " show him your beauty! Lucifer!"

As he swayed down his sword, it was interrupted by Charis beam blades which shot out of his arm plates.

Charis: " there is no use!"

Lucifer: " I wonder!"

They started exchanging blows, and for a second Lucifer seemed to be pressing hard on the white LBX, giving him no time to retaliate.

Knight: " I'm not letting a foolish like you ruin what we worked hard for!"

Kousuke: " what Leviathan is planning isn't beautiful, thus it deserves to be ruined."

His eyes glistened with resolve as Lucifer managed to take the upper hand, with his increasing speed he was delivering well-pointed strikes at Charis who began staggering, unable to defend himself anymore.

Knight: " what... How! Charis can't be overrun!"

He attempted to unleash more bits to call forth a shield but they were all slashed at and sliced.

Kousuke: " Spec isn't all to an LBX Battle! Someone once managed to teach me that!"

Charis: " don't get ahead of yourself!"

" Charismatic Mode!"

The beam blades enlarged as Charis flew away of Lucifer's reach and swooped down for him again, slashing at him. It was his turn to press on with quick onslaughts that Lucifer used both shield and sword to parry.

Knight: " I'm not handing over this world to you!"

Charis brought both his blades down at once, cutting Lucifer's shield to two and he was forced to use his sword to block the next attack.

Kousuke: " it's time you've known your place, Unryuji Knight!"

Lucifer used his thrusters to push further against Charis who was knocked back, with a swift slash, Lucifer destroyed his left arm plate. Charis' wings enlarged as to hurriedly get away.

Knight: " I'm not handing the world to the humans who couldn't even use an app properly! Hissatsu Function!"

" Attack Function: Disaster Wham !"

Charis began creating his large energy sphere.

Kousuke: " an app? What nonsense are you talking about now?"

Knight: " of course... of course you would think it's nonsense. It means nothing to you, but for me it does!"

His narrowed filled with loath and hatred.

Knight: "... it was a simple app, it was meant to ease communication and help bring more people together. At first, everything went well. People loved it and I was beside myself to think that my app could connect people's hearts through thick and thin. However..."

His head fell a tad.

Knight: "... People started abusing it... They started using it to hurt each other, bearing no care whatsoever of the consequences of the words they wrote. It turned into a toxic community, and in the end, it was disposed of as if it was the reason of it all... But it wasn't... It wasn't my app's fault... It was the humans who couldn't use it properly!"

Kousuke's eyes narrowed slightly at that.

Charis: " begone!"

Lucifer held his arms in front of him to defend against the ball of energy, however.

Mirai: " Freedom Beam!"

Hiro: " Big Bang Slash!"

Ran: " Raijnken!"

The combined attack functions hit the ball and stopped it.

Kousuke: " I didn't need your help!"

Kousuke shouted at the trio who backed towards him.

Ran: " hai hai, sorry for taking your moment! We were here so we thought to offer you a hand!"

Mirai: " but I doubt we could do the same again!"

Her eyes darted to the Killer Gears that drove them away from their spot.

Hiro: " Kousuke-san, don't waste any more time! Finish him already!"

Ran: " then you can give us a hand here too!"

All three LBXs focused once again on the Killer Droids.

Achilles D9: " Hiro! It's time we used them!"

Hiro: " ah! WV mode!"

Ran: " Burning Mode!"

"WV Mode!"

"Burning Mode!"

Minerva Kai and Achilles D9 took the vanguard.

Mirai: " leave the back up to me!"

Strike: " Now that they're visible, sniping them would be easier!"

Kousuke's eyes flicked from them to Knight before him who was gritting his teeth in anger seeing how they managed to block his Hissatsu before he gave a sigh.

Kousuke: " I won't say that I know what you're feeling, because that's definitely impossible. But we've endured the same circumstances more or less."

Knight: " huh?"

Kousuke: " I've had something taken from me as well. Something I would do anything to restore back to its glory. So I understand what you went through."

Knight: " no you don't! Only Leviathan understood me! Only he offered me a hand when I fell down! This world needs Leviathan!"

Charis and Lucifer clashed again, their blades locked together.

Knight: " if it's what Leviathan wants, then it must have a meaning! He's the perfect AI worthy of leading us all! There's no need for us to fathom his logic!"

Kousuke: " disgusting ... "

Knight blinked twice at those strange words.

Kousuke: " you gave up. Even though you had the chance to start anew, you didn't. And you just let yourself get puppeteered by some AI!"

Knight: " what are you mumbling about!"

Charis unleashed the last of his bits to help him out with the attack. Lucifer dodged them all as he kept his retaliation against the white unit, giving him no opening to strike through.

Kousuke: " you're but a weak whimpering brat! Your app got banned? So what about it? It's not the end of the world now is it!"

Knight: " what do you know!"

Kousuke: " I do certainly know that my company was once crashed and taken from me because of the mistakes of my old man! Yet you're not seeing me bawling and trying to destroy the world! Do you!"

Lucifer shoved Charis away, knocking him with an incredulous speed that made him roll along the ground for a couple of times before standing up.

Kousuke: " those who just fall down after the first obstacle they face, it's not beautiful at all!"

His voice was laced with rage and disappointment.

Kousuke: " take back what you've been robbed of with your own hand! Struggle till you finally accomplish your ambitions, till you've shed tears and blood! Broken as you're, keep standing up and fighting! Now that's real beauty! Hissatsu Function!"

" Attack Function: Satan Soul!"

Lucifer's eyes glowed as he held his sword before him. Green energy swirled around him as it rose him afloat before taking the form of a larger version of the horned devil unit, its green eyes aglow. It let a blood curdling roar. The large green shadow of Lucifer swept down at Charis, mimicking the LBX as he thrust his sword aloft and impaled Charis' chest with it.

Charis gave a final roar before he exploded at once after being hit with the large green energy.

Knight's eyes went wide in disbelief at that, sinking to his knees as he looked back at the leftovers of his LBX.

Knight: " that can't be..."

Kousuke walked over to him and grabbed him by the collar roughly, glaring down at him.

Kousuke: " a word of advice, you who thinks everything could work the way you want it to be. You will fall down and roll in the dirt a hundred times before you could attain what you set your heart and mind on. There is no beauty in victory obtained with no sweat or effort."

And then he stood up, joining the rest of his team.

Mirai: " about time!"

Kousuke: " you know the saver always comes at the right time."

Ran: " enough talking!"

Minerva: " More smacking!"

Lucifer: " as you wish!"

And he joined in to take the last of the Killer Droids...

Ban clicked his tongue as he took a step backwards, Odin hardly containing the Killer Gears unleashing their onslaughts on him relentlessly.

Ban: " they just keep coming."

Odin: " and we'll stand to them!"

Despite his injuries, Odin was retaliating back, his slashes not stopping as they fell on the enemies.

Above them, Mizel and Leviathan were still holding their Godzilla fight.

Leviathan : " you think you could keep them all safe!"

He roared without stopping the rain of shots he issued.

Mizel: " try me!"

He replied defiantly as he held his lance aloft, concentrating. Three large energy ball manifested out of thin air and zoomed towards Leviathan's body, each raining beam shoots on it.

Ban clicked his tongue as he looked at the smoke and beams swimming and flying above them. Mizel wouldn't last long if that fight continued on.

He looked back at his LBX and his scowl deepened, neither was Odin able to hold any longer.

Leviathan: " I'll make of you an example for the whole world!"

Ban&Mizel: " like hell that's happening!"

Ban's CCM was held high before him.

Ban: " stand up, Odin! We still can go on!"

The edges of his green eyes were slightly blurred by a purple glow. Odin leaned on his lance to step up again.

Ban: " we can't let down the feelings entrusted to us!"

Odin: " ah!"

He shouted facing the Killer Gears advancing on him, eventually glowing brightly.

Ban: " Forced Overload!"

Odin : " Armor Change!"

The LBX pounced at his enemies, cutting through the first line and emerging a whole other unit through the smoke as his armor shifted.

" O-Ligion!"

Mizel: " about time you unlocked it!"

He stated throwing his lance at the bottom of the Leviathan's body from Killer Gears were deployed, scathing it and stopping the flow of droids.

Mizel: " go on!"

O-Ligion sped through the enemies in his jet form, cutting through their armor and damaging them severely. Only when he was surrounded was he obliged to shape-shift back and embarked on attacking them. With his speed and power and Ban's Overload, there was little the Killer Gears could do against them.

Ban:" Hissatsu Function!"

"Attack Function: Thousand Javelin!"

O-Ligion threw his lance high up, it multiplied into a thousand light spears before it had befallen on the Killer Gears.

Ban& O-Ligion: " we're not giving our future to anyone!"

Kirito looked worriedly around as they hit the threshold of the control room. So far the lack of any kind of attack is gnawing at him.

Jin: " Kirito?"

Kirito: " ah, right. Sorry..."

He opened the door and stepped along with the rest of them. Elie shut it closed behind them just in case as the blond male took on a seat and started typing immediately.

Kirito: " set antenna's direction, done. Establishing connection..."

A long and unfathomable code began rolling before him as he nonchalantly typed on the keyboard, not even rising his head to check the screen. When the code stopped with a notification of 'Connection Established ', he looked back at Lilyan, still holding her CCM close to her chest.

Kirito: " all is left is to set the ping code and wait for the satellite to open connection with it. Set your CCM there."

He beckoned towards the scanner by her side. Lilyan looked down at it, her heart beating fast against her chest. She had made it that far and now she was laying down the most important brick for their plan.

Lilyan: " here we go, Unicorn."

Just as she lowered her CCM down, an alarm blared across the room.

Elie: " what the matter?"

Eva hurried by Kirito's side just as he started typing again, rather agitatedly. However, he could only click his tongue as the whole screen before him went red except for a single white phrase interposing it. ' Forceful Connection Shut Down '.

Evangeline : " what's the meaning of this?"

She asked him worriedly.

Kirito: " it means Leviathan was ahead of us. We should have thought that. He had the whole network in his grasp after all..."

Evangeline : " explain more, Kirito!"

Kirito: " Leviathan is blocking us using some kind of firewall! One that I can't penetrate from here!"

His fists shook furiously.

Kirito: " he knew... He knew we're attempting contact with Minerva and set the firewall across the whole network of Tokio City."

Elie: " then let's call Otacross and the others, they may be able of cancelling it. Tiny Orbit is using a private network, right."

Kirito: " it's impossible. We don't have time. Nor would they be able to cancel this level of security, even for Otacross and the Hackers of Akihabara."

Lilyan: " then what to do."

She looked at the time projected on the screen of her CCM, they hardly could afford losing any more. The satellite was almost upon them.

Jin: " we can't... do it?"

Kirito gave a nod, not wanting to look up at all.

Elie: " Onii-chan and the others... they're all depending on this... I don't know how much longer they could hold back..."

Lilyan: " even Mizel..."

She looked at the upper body of the huge robot on the horizon, getting attacked mercilessly.

Evangeline : " we can't penetrate it from here right?"

Kirito: " as I said we can-"

He retorted impatiently at her only for his eyes to widen mid-sentence as she marched on to the panel, a look of certainty in her eyes.

Evangeline : " then what about within?"

Kirito: " no! Absolutely no! You know exactly what will happen! The whole network is hacked by him!"

Their eyes was drawn to Eva, rather fearful as they heard Kirito shout, jumping to his feet.

Evangeline : " we don't have another choice."

She said calmly.

Elie: " Eva... you're not possibly thinking..."

Jin: " if you do that, he may take you as a hostage."

Twilight looked back at her but said nothing.

Evangeline : " then does anyone have a better idea?! Our time is running and our friends are in danger! If there is any brighter thought you have, may as well share it now!"

They all stared at her, but never spoke. Eva then gave a sigh and composed herself again.

[ ~Insert Song: Ryuusei]

Evangeline : " I must do it... please understand..."

Jin stepped forward, his eyes leveling with hers.

Jin: " are you sure of this?"

Eva gave a nod, her eyes glinting with all the confidence she could ever master.

Evangeline : " it's I who should be doing this now."

She looked down at her hand as a purple glow appeared.

Evangeline : " I've cursed this ability for a long time, I thought it was because of it that I had missed on a lot in this world, and even lost precious memories."

She looked back at Jin. Her eyes closed and her hand, enclosed into a fist, rested on her chest.

Evangeline : " if I can't use it now to help those most dear to me, then what's the meaning of having it? Please, let me help you all!"

Elie: " Eva..."

Kirito took one more glance at her red eyes before finally taking his seat.

Kirito: " I'll open a path for you."

Evangeline : " Kirito."

Kirito: " just... Be careful... don't let him have you."

They snapped when the door behind them gave a loud thunk, they could see it denting inwards as something hit it from the outside.

Jin: " Zenon!"

Elie: " Beargguy !"

Both took out their CCMs as they faced the door.

Elie: " we'll protect you!"

Jin: " do what you ought to do, Eva!"

They both started knocking back the LBXs that pried the door open and leaped in. Fenrir joined in on the fray.

Fenrir: " go now!"

Evangeline : " Jin, Elie. Everyone."

She smiled and nodded at them before pivoting around, placing her hands on the panel, her eyes glowing brightly and her hair floating all around her.

Evangeline : " you know, maybe I might appreciate this ability more. For letting me meet all of you, for letting me fight for you all, I'm grateful."

Twilight : " you're not alone in this."

Eva blinked as Twilight landed on the back of her hand, placing both hands on it.

Twilight : " I'm your partner, I will follow you where ever you go."

Eva gave her a thankful smile before inhaling.

Evangeline : " Safety Off!"

The whole room was bathed in a bright radiant lavender light. Eva felt herself get pulled through the screen of the panel, though it was only her mind that was pulled along with Twilight's AI.

As they had been phasing through the layers of digits, something most intriguing happened. Both player and LBX, holding hands as they zoomed past numbers and data, fused together. Then standing there was none other than Eva in Twilight's armor.

What they didn't expect, was that Kirito and the ones back at Tiny Orbit were watching what was happening inside, for Leviathan switched from those fighting out there and focused on her.

Jun'ichirou: " a synchro?"

Rina: " but how? She isn't an overload user?"

William stared at the screen for a moment before it hit him.

William: " the image..."

" Image?"

Everyone looked over at him, expecting an explanation.

William: " she is diving, in there, what she is depends on her self image, if she thinks of herself as the god of the infinity net she could be. That's the power of diving. She must have been in perfect synchronization with her partner that their images formed a synchro."

She flew through the tunnel of data, aiming at its very end where she knew she would find the said firewall.

Evangeline : " hurry up... hurry up... everyone is depending on me now!"

Then, suddenly, the walls of the tunnel were ruptured as something broke through. Eva's eyes widened when she saw the red body of a Chinese dragon blocking her path.

Kirito: " Leviathan!"

He shouted, jumping to his feet as he saw it.

The dragon's red eyes were fixed upon Eva.

Evangeline: " tsk... I won't be held here!"

She said grabbing her swords tightly and dashing at the dragon. Just as he evaded her onslaught, her speed increased, much to his surprise, as she darted forward.

Evangeline: " I told you, I can't lose time here fighting you!"

She attempted to overrun him towards the light, not wanting to waste any more of their left precious time. However, she was apprehend when the red dragon wrung his great tail around her. His eyes glowed bright yellow as he held closer, facing him.

Leviathan : " don't be foolish, Evangeline Mech, like those you follow, like your corrupted brother Mizel. You're one of the people whom I desire by my side."

Evangeline struggled into his grasp but couldn't wring herself free of his tight knot.

Leviathan : " now let me purify you. Let me help you find salvation."

Everyone's hearts skipped a beat seeing her form morphing slightly into data, bits and codes.

Kirito: " he is rewriting her!"

He attempted to reach her body and force her out but stopped his hand inches from his shoulder. If he did that, there is no tell if she could come back to her body again. He bit his lip, regretting even agreeing to her plan.

Elie: " don't lose to him Eva!"

She yelled commanding a cracked Beargguy who was yet refusing to give up.

Elie: " you know who you're! He can't rewrite you! Hissatsu Function!"

" Attack Function: Heart Impact!"

The mace which Beargguy was holding glowed as he direct a head-on hit to the closest Killer Gear.

Elie sighed as he fell down and made a note to thank both her brother and Mizel.

Jin: " remember who you're Eva! You're a human first! You can't be hacked!"

Zenon swayed his hammer vigorously around, knocking back some of the droids.

Fenrir was slashing at those who got past both of them, preventing them from reaching Eva at all costs.

Lilyan: " Eva-san! Don't let yourself get absorbed! Listen to everyone's voices! They will guide you!"

Evangeline closed her eyes tightly, still fighting Leviathan's hacking.

Evangeline : " I can hear them... That's true... I'm Evangeline Mech..."

The dragon's eyes widened when the statics and glitching faded. He could feel her pushing apart the grasp he had on her.

Evangeline : " I'm a human! You can't hack me!"

Her strength increased, using her swords, she slashed her way out and her opponent staggered for a fraction.

Leviathan : " impossible! Do you mean to tell me her image is stronger than mine!"

Again gripping her swords, she made for the attack.

Evangeline : " Midnight Katanas!"

A swift move, as though dancing with her blade, it was all it took for her to slash at the dragon, beheading him as he faded into bits while she flew past him at max speed. There was hardly any time left. All few seconds separated them from the alignment with the satellite.

In the real world, Mizel's armor finally gave in. Cracked and broken, Mizel Trouzer keeled back, fading into specs of light as it revealed the body of Mizel, diving downwards before hitting the ground.

Ban: " Mizel!"

He rushed over to where he had fallen just as he struggled up, all bruised and injured and all the same flicking.

Mizel: " damn it... you guys better hurry..."

Evangeline's eyes widened upon seeing what laid behind the light. A great red dome with data sucked into it as it glowed.

Evangeline : " that's it..."

Kirito: " she reached Bahamut Gate!"

William: " come on!"

Evangeline held both swords up high.

Evangeline : " Yusei Oo no Ken!"

Her wings grew brighter and larger before both glowing blades fell upon the orb that cracked, letting a hot bright light.

Evangeline : " break down!"

As she poured more strength into her swords, the cracks widened and the stream of fleeing data broke the whole thing down.

Kirito: " well done Eva! Lilyan! Put it!"

Lilyan placed her CCM down on the scanner.

Kirito: " wake up now, Minerva!"

And he hit the enter key. Lilyan's CCM shone in blue. Eva took a step back as another stream of data erupted, this time blue in color, and climbered upwards.

In the Kaidou Mansion, the antenna pointed towards the sky could be seen emitting a thin beam of light that shot upwards as well and faded into the sky.

The beam hit the small satellite swimming in the darkness of space. Its antennas blinked repeatedly in a bleu glow before a larger beam was shot out of it. It stopped a few inches before Leviathan, forming a great blue owl that went diving into his body, phasing through the metal.

Leviathan gave a roar that shook the ground and buildings around them. Not before long, all the enemies units not only there, but around the world, ceased functioning almost immediately, as though they could no more take orders from whoever was moving them. The whole world gave a sigh of relief then and all eyes flicked towards the main fight in Tokio City, where Leviathan stood still, motionless...