I would get comfortable if I were you. This is going to be a long one. I got my job calling me in. I had just finished the undisclosed fic and then I got a call. With nothing to do since March as my country went on lockdown, I was not refusing.
It does mean that writing will slow down a good bit as I have mentioned in the chapter from last week.
I have worked every weekday since the 17th of September. And at the weekend, I was catching up with a game.
Now, I am going to write out on my fics during the weekdays. Also, my father is out for a holiday this week. So I had to profit in the first days of the weekend.
As I said, this is going to be a long one. We're wrapping some bits of two episodes in this fic.
Now for the guest reviews.
Sev on the 7th of September. I'm from Western Europe. That's all you gonna get.
LL on the 28th of September. Thank you for the compliment. Will do.
Started on 21/09/2020
Ended on 10/10/2020
Chifuyu Orimura was a lot of things. First Brunhilde, extraordinary pilot, trained fighter, teacher.
And a loving sister of a set of twins. It was only due to the many witnesses that were gathered around. That and the fact she had trained Laura. Still, she kept the three in class. Sending a look made it clear she was on their side.
"Okay, Laura. What was that about?" Chifuyu had her arms crossed and her voice had made it clear that eavesdroppers would not be allowed.
"I have said this. I don't accept them as your siblings." The silverette pointed a thumb at them while Ichika was sitting on a desk while his younger sister stood next to him.
"Yeah, that's hard to change. Biology and all. She's our sis, we're her siblings. You don't get to change that." The three had decided it was better to leave the story about their REAL origin in the ground. it was hard enough coming to terms with that.
They would not drag others in that mess.
Laura glared at the male but her gaze was then on Madoka.
"You! How dare you take her face? You are not worthy of that." Ichika could only admit that his younger sister looked like his older sister during her high school days. Chifuyu was more voluptuous during the high school days compared to Madoka.
Not that it was his fetish. He just noticed it.
Madoka just walked up to her and she crossed her arms. Standing before the woman, she summoned a glare from her older sister.
"I don't care what you think. Cyclops. But I am her sister. And Ichi-nii is her brother. I don't know what relation is with my big sister, but I think you should leave things be." Laura began to fume and she was about to pull a knife on the twins.
"Laura. Think about what you are going to do." A slow turn went to Chifuyu who was glaring at her.
"Instructor. Tell me something. Why are you wasting your time on them? Those two. They're just not worth it." Chifuyu walked up to her and she towered over Laura. Some fear seeped in her system as she looked at the Brunhilde.
"Because they are. They're my siblings. And I don't allow anyone to hurt them. So if you have a problem with them, I would advise you to take it up during the Inter-Class Tournament." Laura went back to the twins and back to Chifuyu.
"Very well, instructor. I do hope that you'll see the errors of your ways when I defeat them." And with that, Laura left the classroom.
With an air and her shoulders straight, she walked away. Ichika got off the desk and he joined his little sister. Both looked at Chifuyu.
"Chifuyu-nee, explain." The same tone of voice was used by the two of them. Monotone but a bit wanting for answers. The teacher sighed on that while she ruffled both the hairs of the two.
"I don't think I have to tell where she is from. Germany. I met her back during my time there. I trained her and you can say that she got attached to me."
She let go on Madoka who smiled at her. It wasn't her usual upbeat one.
"Any idea why she doesn't like us? I mean. It's not like we did anything to her. I mean. About myself, I can understand." The two were the same in the face. Chifuyu was larger and carrier her hair in a ponytail.
It was just a show of genetics.
"I don't understand why she is mad at Ichi-nii." Chifuyu sighed as she looked at Ichika.
"Laura was always about strength. Comes with the territory of being a soldier. I think that she finds me being soft on you might be a weakness." The siblings knew much about that. Ichika just crossed his arms and eyed his older sister.
"So what do you want us to do now? I don't think your admirer will stop going after us." The tension broke as Madoka and Chifuyu got into a fit of giggles. Ichika looked proudly at them while Chifuyu shook her head.
Madoka joined her brother as she got serious again. They wanted advice. And the advice that was worth a damn.
"Nice one, little brother. I would advise this for the two of you. Pair up for this and prepare for this match. You might think that Laura is just another Representative Candidate but she is strong. Like really, really strong. Both of you should take her seriously. It's better to overestimate her than underestimate her."
They took the words to heart and after a hug from the two, the twins walked out, to their dorm.
"Ichi-nii." The male looked at Madoka.
"Yes." The eyes of the sister shined at him.
"I think we need to find a solution to the regards of our fight." Ichika knew what she meant. It was either choosing a partner or getting a random one.
Ichika was first thinking of going with Mattheus or Charles (neither of them knew her real name yet). That had shifted with the introduction of Laura and the threat she had shown them. This wasn't something they could ignore.
"I get it. I think we need to ask Adjzof about it."
"Ask me about what?" They nearly got whiplash as they eyed the Hunter with Joel in his back. He was wearing a Bismarck Sweater.
"What are you doing here?" Madoka looked at the two. Feigning hurt, Mattheus clutched his heart and stood back.
"You wound me with those words, Madoka. Can you not trust me?" A raised eyebrow and amused look made the man shut up.
"After hearing your stories, no," Mattheus recalled those. That day that he went to eat too many things.
Poffertjes (sort of small pancake) after chicken wasn't a good mix. They did taste good, though. Those poffertjes.
"Point taken. So what's up on your end?" Joel had slid out the back and stood next to the older man.
The twins shared a look with each other. When a nod came, Mattheus let his hands hang.
"We were having a talk with Chifuyu-nee about Bodewig. She told us to fight it out. About the tournament. We have a request." Madoka told her bestie. Joel could guess it.
"What is it?"
"We want you to pair up with Dunois." Okay, Joel guessed wrong. The boy looked at Mattheus who was only surprised in that regard.
"Pair me up with him? Any particular reason why?"
"Yeah, we are going to fight Bodewig so we think it's better that you find a partner first. Otherwise, it will be a lottery and that might not work out too well." The clogs in his brain were turning around as he looked at the twins. He was fond of them and well, he should get closer to the two. It wouldn't hurt him.
"Fair point. So you want me to take care of Dunois during that. Good thing we got some time. Tomorrow we can train. And well, some tricks can't hurt." Happy that the Hunter didn't ask questions, the twins relaxed.
"Now, we are done. Mattheus, can we get our food? I am starving. I heard that the cafeteria is serving honey glazed ribs tonight." Joel shouted and on his face, Mattheus looked like a hungry wolf.
"Fuck. You are right. Hey, you two coming? We all need a bite." Ichika could only laugh. Madoka was horribly self-conscious about her figure despite Chifuyu telling her she would fill out eventually. Honey glazed ribs didn't fit in.
Ichika had seen enough on Mattheus that he liked to eat meat. Was food really the only thing that got him moving? And well, the looks they got. Both Mattheus and Joel had at least seven plates full of bones. And they were picked clean.
Well, at least, the Hunter didn't care about it. Straws had to be plastic so he didn't make his glass dirty.
The next few days would be crazy.
And soon enough, the next day, Ichika found himself in a room. His focus was on his hands. Sitting in a lotus position, his hands were touching and in focus, he was trying to establish the connection.
It was there. Both he and his sister knew that.
And they would try their hardest to find and keep that connection. If they could make that work in a fight, it was like they would use one brain. Like a hive that connected the two. It was the best thing to use.
That was for sure and with their powers combined, they could make things work out just fine for them. Especially for this fight. Their fights were great but it needed more. It had to be more refined.
Ichika found a bleep. It was lost but his mind went back to it.
Meanwhile, Madoka was sitting on the other side of the arena. Just like her brother, she was sitting in the same position. The link was there, the connection was going. The two were just trying to pinpoint. There was no telling if it would work out for this hive mind idea they were working on.
But they would try.
Meanwhile on the arena.
Mattheus was blasting Brothers of Metal while the shooting went on. He noticed a presence and was greeted by an orange IS. Charles stood well in it and maybe he should have a talk with Ichika and Madoka about his growing suspicion.
"Hello, Adjzof." The greeting was friendly and the Belgian would do the same thing to her.
"Midday, Dunois. What's up?" The eyes went over the machine.
Joel was sitting back while he was working on the computer.
He wasn't looking at the machine of Charles as he found that there were more important things that demanded his attention.
"Well, I was wondering. Do you know if the twins have a partner for this upcoming Tournament?" The wry smile of Mattheus betrayed that he knew who they would pick.
"Make a guess. I think all of us are too late for a partner." Not that the Hunter blamed them that they decided to roll together. You got either got a partner before the fight or they would go through a lottery.
"Yes, I can think of who they would choose. What about you? Did you have one?" Mattheus shook his head.
"Nope. Which reminds me. Do you want to be my partner for this one?" It took Charles for a surprise when Mattheus asked him.
Maybe they could be happy with this assignment. Or with the information, she could relay from Mattheus Infinite Stratos.
"So about your Infinite Stratos? What are you using?" Mattheus eyed the machine as he found it impressive. Although he wasn't the expert
"The Rafale Revive Custom II. It was made by the Dunois company." Charlotte proudly declared as Mattheus just looked it over.
"Joel. Stats on this Infinite Stratos." The boy was just sitting down and looking it all over.
"Well, Dunois. Is this machine a second-gen or a third-gen? I would say that it's the former given the design of it." Joel just looked it over and he drooled over the many guns that this weapon had.
"It's a second-generation as you guessed. While it isn't as good as a third-gen, this beauty can still pack a punch."
Joel crossed his arms as he looked it over. Machines like these had a backup. And so far, it was a simpler design but hey, he could look it over.
"What's your secret? If this thing can keep up with third-generation units, there must be a reason for it." Joel's comment made Charles blush a bit.
"Yes. This machine has a lot of different weapons." Mattheus just kneeled to Joel. When the boy was secure, he lifted his engineer up.
"The kid can be the judge of that. If you don't mind." The French "guy" shook his head as Joel began to work things over at his phone. A whistle escaped the boy as he went over it.
"You weren't lying. Over six weapons and counting. So from what I get, this is much like the Rafale Revive Basic but with a lot more customization, aight?" Charles wasn't judging on what Joel was saying. It looked like that boy really knew what he was doing.
"Yes. You really are good at this stuff, aren't you?" Joel just shrugged but he scratched his chin for a second to get his gears to grind.
"Charles. This machine of yours. It's much like an all-round version. Most of the weapons are guns." Joel's head began to think.
"What do you propose, Pearce?"
"Well, Mattheus prefers to use his rifle for long-distance. So when you two are going in, it would make sense if you two just fight like that. Either from close range. You got an AR, SMG, and shotgun. There are some CQB weapons as well but still. Dunois what is your strongest point?"
Charles began to think out loud. "I'm somewhat decent with fighting hand to hand but guns are my specialty. Gray Scale is a good weapon but it takes time to work it out." Mattheus crossed his arms. He noticed that he was through his gloves again.
"I would prefer it if you would use guns. I can avoid friendly fire like that." Charles turned to him and the smile was genuine. Some heartstrings were pulled. Freya would really have liked this girl.
"So what do you propose?" Mattheus summoned Chasseur and he twirled it around on his shoulder.
"How about we test it out?" Before long, they started out and when targets came popping out, it was clear that raw power was Mattheus's most important feature.
Meanwhile, the twins were working over it.
They couldn't find the idea of working things over. But what they did notice was that they were better off being in synch. Sure, some would call it their creepy twin shit but there was no denying they had a link. Something they had noticed that during their fights, they didn't need to speak. They could feel out the other and found their bodies moving alongside.
They were faster, better, and more at peace with the other around.
'Ichi-nii.' Ah, now he heard the voice of his little sister. That was good news for him. He smiled and he could feel her.
'Madoka. Hey, there. Do you hear me?'
'Loud and clear. We can train later. But first a bit of a focus.' He couldn't agree more with his little sister. Which meant that he could ask her something.
'Hey, Madoka. Did you notice something?'
'During looking for our connection. Yeah, it was like you were going through contacts. Which is weird. Because so far, I think we are the only ones that can communicate like this.'
'Yeah and this might sound weird but I had one connection that felt a lot like you.'
'You don't think?' Madoka asked as the sister was quick on the uptake.
'I don't know. But it would make sense. I mean, Chifuyu-nee isn't a normal human either.' A touchy subject and one of the three Orimura tried to avoid as much as possible. Just because they came to terms with the idea of it, didn't mean that they had to spend a lot of time really thinking about it.
So far, the story was that Chifuyu escaped with them from their parents.
And the three of them believed the lie so much that it became truth to them.
So for now, they would try their hardest to make sure that they got their connection going. This was good. Yeah, they could make their thoughts sync. That would make it easier for them.
Because after their thoughts, their bodies would follow.
'Do you hear me calling?' Ichika smiled while he felt out his sister. Their bond rang through. In his body, he opened a hand and while she wasn't present, he could still feel two hands enclosing around him.
Yeah, he had this connection with his sister. There was a time later to find out but right now, they had to move. Luckily for them, the rooms they were in was empty.
So when both stood up, they moved.
The breath was taken at the same time. Madoka was streaming music and for a change, Ichika could agree on the tone.
But if we wanted the truth
We wouldn't buy the lies
Punching invisible enemies, they jumped and in the air, they made a shoulder roll. Both of them summoned their sword and made moves. You could stream it and it was like a perfect mirror in how the twins moved.
Stepping back, Madoka did the same as Ichika. It wasn't like one was in charge and the other mimicked as they had often done that when they were younger.
Now, both just moved their bodies. In a fight, you had to use the space between your thoughts. Luckily for them, their heads were there as well. They could enjoy the fight. A swipe and Madoka moved with Ichika.
It was fun to do this. It was great to fight like this. It proved they weren't crazy. They were sure that they had reached a point that they could fight.
Yes, they had to test out their skills later in a match with wooden swords and they had to test out the stuff with their Infinite Stratos. But this small fight just proved that they were ready for this.
Ichika moved out of the room and nearly on autopilot, he was sending signals to Madoka. A smile was formed on his face as he moved with his eyes closed.
There was no guessing game and nothing else. Before long, he felt a presence. His eyes opened and saw the mirror of them.
"Looks like that worked, Madoka."
"That it did, Ichi-nii." They just stood in silence as they could hear guns.
Mattheus was giving instructions to Charlotte. Ichika remembered a talk with the older man. You could believe that some men could lead but when you are the youngest man among older men, you shut up and listen to them.
Respect had to be earned and when that happened, it was given. In return, Mattheus got the same thing imprinted in him from a young age.
When the twins left, they were assaulted by three faces that looked very familiar.
And they had the same sour expression.
"Ichika, about time you showed up."
"Madoka, you're late. What took you so long?"
"Ichika-san, Madoka-san. It's not polite to keep a lady waiting."
In the order of who spoke, Houki, Rin, and Cecilia.
Ichika crossed his arms as he looked at the three.
"What are you three doing here?" He could guess why but he wanted to hear from their mouth. Madoka relaxed a bit and saw that Mattheus was sharing some tips with Charles.
Well, sharing tips. Joel was lifted and he was speaking about that. The youngest wasn't sure if she should let Tabane meet Joel. She might like the guy or murder him at the spot. Charles took the advice to heart.
They still needed to find out the real name. Something told her that it wasn't too much inspiration. But that could wait.
She listened to the three girls all blabbing about the fact they wanted to teach the twins.
"I am most suited for helping you through this combat and learning you how to pilot." Cecilia had her arms crossed so she pushed her tits up.
"Get real, you blonde cow. If anyone should teach them, it's me." And of course, Rin would go in that regard.
"I am the one who knew them the longest." Houki was next.
"Would you three maybe consider the fact that we are pretty decent already?" Ichika shut all of them down and the three just glared at him. Deciding that her brother would need some help, Madoka joined them.
Putting a hand on his shoulder, she stood next to her brother. Ichika relaxed even more as Madoka leaned on her brother with her arm.
"Ichi-nii makes a point. We both are pretty experienced and have handed your butts to two of you. But if you insist, we can show you what we can do." Ichika read in her eyes what Madoka wanted to do.
If he could be honest, Ichika was looking for a bit of roughhousing.
"Sure thing, little sis. Ready when you are."
Madoka looked where the Uchiganes were training. Japan had to stop on that regard of swords but she would let those girls do their bits. Now, it was her time.
"Come forth, Kuroshiki." Madoka's black unit was formed around her and the youngest Orimura stood without a mask, waiting until her brother reacted.
"Hear me, Byakushiki." The opposite of her own unit was made. Ichika felt how his machine was made and a white flash showed his unit.
"Ready when you are." The twins looked at the other with a vicious grin. In speed, higher than most could have seen, their swords clashed while the three fell their mouth hitting the floor. The speed and technique were incredible. It looked like the twins were ready to fight and rock.
"I can't believe this," Cecilia said as Ichika and Madoka clashed.
"Where did they learn to fight like that?" Rin commented.
'I know that Ichika and Madoka spent a year with my sister. But this isn't from neesan.' When Ichika turned his sword around from above, Houki realized where she had seen such a move before.
Even Mattheus and Charlotte stopped training as they witnessed the matching moves. They were good, he admitted that. Joel was the one who recorded their fight. Even during their matches, he could see where they got their moves from.
Looks were the only thing that Ichika and Madoka had inherited from Chifuyu. They were really, really close to the fighting style of their sword. Yet, they had their own version. Ichika was closer to his sister in regard to strength.
Madoka, on the other hand, relied more on finesse and speed. Not abnormal given their bodies and the difference in them. Ichika was more muscular. Those tightfitting swimsuit material showed that off and well, Madoka was more petite. She was wearing a black suit as well and it showed that.
Joel looked up. It looked like they had an unwanted visitor.
Laura Bodewig stood in her black unit. Looking over the two with contempt in their eyes. It was a good thing that Joel had been in all their coms.
[You two. Stop killing each other and look to Ichika's left.] They stopped and turned to see Laura standing with her arms crossed. Her unit was built around her. It would be intimidating for most people. But not for Ichika and Madoka. The twins just stopped and looked at her.
Lifting his Yukihira, he swung it on the shoulder. He eyed the woman and he was ready to protect his sister. And Madoka was ready to fight Laura.
"What do you want?" Ichika asked with a grin. His eyes wandered around as it was clear that both Mattheus and Charlotte would help them. Turning his eyes to the back, he found to see that Cecilia and Rin were ready to help them out as well.
"I came here for a fight. I heard that you two got a Personal Unit, each?" Madoka dissolved her Yukihira and pulled out the Star Breaker.
"So? What do you want from us?" Madoka asked.
"I want a match from you two. I will fight you two using my Schwarzer Regen." Laura glared at them but when she heard the bolt of a rifle chambering a new round, she looked to find Mattheus aiming his rifle at her.
"Yeah, I think we got the gist of that. There is a tournament coming up where the two can kick your ass. So how about we wait till then?"
She wanted to protest but Charles had sneaked around and found that she aimed her shotgun at her.
"You dare to stand in my way with inferior machines? Are you insane?" Mattheus smiled at her as he flew closer to the twins.
"I am not insane. But the same can't be said from you. Inferior. That's the last thing you can call my machine. There is a punk who can shout that at you." Mattheus looked at Joel who was fuming.
His Lavathenian. Inferior. To that Third Generation clusterfuck. He would not let that stand.
"My machine can be handled much better than yours. And it can be mass-produced unlike yours. So whose machine is inferior?" Charles aimed her guns while the Starbreaker got at her.
A small smile was shown at the French "man" while Ichika nodded to Mattheus.
"Dunois and Mattheus are right. If I were you, I would stop. So there is that. We can kick you on your flat butt." Madoka was serious and the German looked around. It was true that she was outnumbered.
And from looking at the weapons, she was outgunned. She could fight back, that wouldn't be the right solution.
She dissolved her Infinite Stratos and walked out of the arena. That could have gone real bad, real fast. It wasn't something that the twins wanted. If they would fight Laura, it would be on their terms.
"What the fuck is her problem?" Mattheus asked Ichika as they eyed the silverette leaving. The Knight turned to him.
"You really want to know. I'll tell you later." Mattheus turned to Ichika and well, he could agree on that regard. The Hunter knew that something was festering between the twins and Laura. The sooner it got worked out between them, the better it was for everyone.
"Okay. Now let's get out of here. I think I am in dire need of a shower." All of them moved. Joel would see Mattheus in his room as he was the only one who could have remained seating on his lazy ass.
The boy was ten times smarter here compared to the others and he could guess what was going on with Laura. And with Dunois. But the French girl was of little concern to him. Right now, he had to look up what drove Laura. Sure, it had shit to do with him or Mattheus but they couldn't take risks.
Before the punk shut down his laptop, he looked something up.
Valkyrie Trace System. Shit. His father had normally destroyed all of that. Who the flying fuck would have made it?
But for now, he could wait until Mattheus went back out of the shower. In that, the three "males" were each to their own. Charles preferred to go to her room to shower.
Both males had a growing suspicion but so far, they left that to the others. Mattheus could ask Joel about the stuff that was going on and Ichika would see her later.
Mattheus was happy to go alone and didn't like it when people made a ruckus. The Hunter also asked Ichika to give his shoulders a massage.
If no one looked over his shoulders now, it would hurt more later.
"Fuck, Ichika. Where the hell did you learn this?" He groaned and bit through the pain as the knots were out.
"Chifuyu-nee forced me to learn this. I like doing it for her. And also for Madoka. I take that you like it as well." Mattheus groaned again as he could feel the fingers taking care of this.
"Fuck yeah. Joel makes one powerful rifle but fucks me up like this. Thanks to you, I can use it." When the two males heard a knock, they stopped.
"You think that Dunois forgot something?"
"Ichi-nii. You there?" Well, that stopped the answer there. It wasn't Charles but Madoka.
"Madoka, yeah. I'm decent. Door is open." The sister walked in and she found the image of her brother giving her bestie a massage funny. And kind of hot.
Ichika did not appreciate that image of her head at all. This school was all kinds of messed up. And while he began to like Mattheus as well, he didn't go for guys. He still liked females a lot more.
Madoka giggled at Mattheus's stupid look as Ichika glared at her.
"So Mattheus, what you think of Dunois?" The Hunter stood up and took his sweater. Without wincing it was pulled over his head.
"Decent fighter. Knows his stuff. He can use guns well and it's a good switch. In a fight, he might be a good partner for me. But he lacks power." A raised eyebrow and pause made Mattheus continue.
"You two got one-hit kills. A bit like my rifle. But that can't be said from this guy. Dunois ain't bad. I daresay that he is really good. But he needs to put a lot of lead downrange to have a shot. I don't know if the same can be done here." The twins understood.
Like Mattheus, they used shock tactics. Hit fast and hard. Don't leave too much for the opponent over.
"He might be able to stall a foe for me to finish it or I can get things done." Madoka nodded at them.
"I'll see at your room, Ichi-nii." With a bow, Mattheus tried to crane his neck to Ichika.
"So pall. Mind telling me now why Bodewig got such a dislike for you and your little sis? Must be more than just the face of Chifuyu." The Hunter was sharper than most let him on.
"You're right. It's more than that. You know of the Mondo Grosso Championship?" Mattheus nodded as he eyed Ichika.
"You gotta be stupid not to know about that. Didn't your big sis win one?"
"Yes. Chifuyu-nee won the first time. She would have won the second time but I and Madoka got kidnapped. To get us, she postponed her match, raced to get us out but she had to go one year to Germany to train the cadets there." Ichika touched one sore spot for Mattheus who bit back a curse.
"I already got it. Ichika. One of those cadets was Laura. We all know what the score is in that regard."
"Yes. Chifuyu-nee told me that Laura sees the idea of looking after us as a weakness." The wry laugh that Mattheus made Ichika's skin crawl.
"Stupid bitch. Taking care of the ones you love ain't a weakness. That is strength." The Hunter stood up with a grin on his face.
"Thanks for this one. I can use my shoulder again. I'll see you at our dinner or not." Ichika could understand why Madoka got closer to Mattheus. The Hunter was something he lacked. A good example of what a male should be.
Or something else.
Meanwhile, he wasn't sure why but he got an influx of hormones coming to his direction. That was Madoka. Racing up from his chair, he ran in one breath to his room. Damn, this training was paying off big time.
When he got into his room, he entered it to see Madoka sitting on the bed with a red face.
"What's with you?" She pointed at a running shower.
"How in the world did you she managed to hide those?" Ichika just couldn't help but look at the shower door.
The tension could be cut with a knife. The head of Charles came peeping out. "Madoka-san, I am sorry that you had to see that. Could you please keep it a secret for?" She shut up as she saw Ichika standing.
"Ichika-san." Raising an eyebrow, Ichika looked at the wet hair clinging to the woman standing. Looking down, he noticed the tits on her. That was what his sister meant. She had large breasts. The outfit that she was wearing now was just great.
After she was done, Ichika and Madoka had taken one seat at a bed and now looked at Charles.
"So."
"So. You two now know my secret." Ichika handed her a cup of tea while the two just waited.
"We had a growing suspicion. But what is your real name, girl?" Madoka asked as she looked at the French woman.
"I'm Charlotte. Charles was an easily chosen name." Ichika sat back with his sister. Pulling his legs back, he looked at her.
"So Charlotte, why did you choose to come here cross-dressed," Madoka asked. She still eyed the tits. It was unbelievable. She looked down on her own. If she had her hair cut like her brothers, she would be able to pass for Ichika instead of Chifuyu. Not that she really could as her face was closer to her sister.
"It was on the orders of my father."
"The CEO of the Dunois corporation?" Madoka had an idea where this was going but she wouldn't say it just now.
"Well, I'm not the real daughter of his wife. So it was an order from my father." With a nod, she continued her story.
"Well, I was born and lived a quiet life in the countryside. Free from all worries."
"Your mother passed away." She softly nodded. Despite the years passed, she could feel the sting of it. Losing family wasn't easy.
"After my mother passed, I was forced to come to them. It was discovered that I was exceptionally good with the Infinite Stratos. I became an unofficial test subject." The stomach of Ichika turned when he heard that. This wasn't the plan of the girl and yet, she could feel how her choice was made for her.
"After the Dunois entered financial troubles, they pulled this plan. By sending me as male, they wanted me to become close to you, Ichika. And to you, as well, Madoka." Ichika picked up after that.
"Well, Charlotte. Isn't the Dunois corporation one of the bigger ones in the Infinite Stratos branch?"
"Yes, but we missed the boat to the third-gen after some problems. So I was here for publicity." She swallowed a lump.
"So what happens now?" Madoka asked.
"Most likely, I'll end up in prison." The twins stood as one and walked up to her. Placing a hand on her shoulder, it was a long time she felt human warmth on her body.
"I think that is not going to happen."
"Your father or any of those bastards can't do anything to you. As a student, you represent a country but they can't harm you. You have three years to prove yourself. And we will help you." She looked at them and the twins felt an arm around their neck.
"Thank you, thank you two." Both stood awkward but decided it was best to return the hug. With their hands, they softly tapped the back of Charlotte.
"You're welcome, Charlotte. Now, I think that we can all use some sleep." The twins smiled at her as she felt warmth.
And for the first time in a long, long time, Charlotte Dunois fell asleep with a smile on her face, warm and at peace. The twins just looked at her. Madoka was happy as well while she matched the look with Ichika.
The next day.
Houki had begun to think back on the times. It had been some time that she had some time off to think about herself. For her, she hadn't told Ichika and Madoka why she was so much loathing her sister. The twins knew that she was good on kendo and that she would be a good fighter.
There was a tournament before the past and Ichika had agreed on becoming her boyfriend when she would win.
If he only had known about that promise.
She lost by default as her sister chose right at that time to introduce her invention. That meant she had to leave Ichika and her life as she knew it.
Easier days, simpler days. A thing that couldn't last.
Just like the twins, her name would be forever tied to the Infinite Stratos.
But there was little she could change about that. It was just how it was. The twins had changed while they lived for a year with their sister. She would have never guessed that Ichika would have come here.
He was strong.
The reason why was something she got. Her sister showed the Infinite Stratos and that machine had caused the world to go crazy.
Houki would have a target painted on her back so that was why she was moved for her own safety.
She lived without her parents and she had no one else.
So she continued to practice kendo.
For Houki, the sport was more than anything. It was a link to the past.
She loved Ichika since she was a young girl. When she got that.
And for her, Madoka was another girl that could fight well. That was great to have around.
Madoka could match her. She was a rival. One to admire and befriend. Yet, with the whole stuff, she missed those days.
Maybe a semblance could come back now with Ichika around. Yet, she knew that she had many rivals after him. She wouldn't stop though.
Scene change
Rin walked in the arena, ready to train but stopped when she heard a haughty voice.
"Ah, you're early. I thought I would be the first one here." That voice and the outfit began to piss her off. Especially with how the tits were spilling out.
"I'm about to train in preparation for the tournament." Rin reacted to Cecilia who just sighed.
"I have the exact same intention." In synch, the girls pouted to the other.
"Maybe it's not so bad to decided who's the stronger one right now." Rin showed her bracelet with her own unit on and after that, she put her hands on the hips while Cecilia crossed her arms.
"You fought Ichika, I lost to Madoka. But with you, we'll settle who is more elegant and more powerful."
Cecilia glared at her but Rin just shook her head. It was going to be easy for her to take down the Brit.
Both activated their machines after some boasting. It was clear how this was going to go.
In their eyes, they got a little bit crazy. But before they could get crazy, a shot was fired, breaking up their fight.
Turning around, they were greeted by a familiar grey outfit and a black unit with grey streaks.
Schwarzer Regen. And Laura had fired at them. Her eyes were the same sort of crazy. Both of them could see the information sent through. It was the third-gen much like theirs.
"What are you thinking, shooting at us like that?!" Rin reacted back at the German. "You got some nerve." Just like the two, she could see the information about the units.
"Shenlong from China and Blue Tears from England. They looked better on paper." The scoff was clear.
"What? Do you want to fight? You came all the way from Germany to get beaten?" Rin had her spark back while she eyed the pilot. It would be two versus one.
"Now, now, Rin-san. she does not speak the same language we do so it would be bullying to tease her too much." Cecilia turned to Laura and just like the Chinese cadet, she was sure that they had the upper hand.
"For girls like you two to have personal third-generation units as I do." Laura could hardly believe that girls like them had earned those. In her own eyes, it was a waste.
"Countries known only for their population and for their history, they must be scraping the barrel when they picked you." Now, that, neither Cecilia and Rin wouldn't let that stand.
"Come to me. It might cause me to break a sweat. But I won't lose to bitches who fight over a breeding dog. Or a disgrace."
It was clear that Rin and Cecilia had a lot to learn. Keep your cool.
Otherwise, neither of them would have gone after Laura as they did. Without too much, the two went after Laura.
Madoka and Mattheus were walking back to train the arena a bit.
Joel was seated in his back.
"You think it's okay to train?"
"Might as well get some bits done. The more we fight, the more data Joel has to play with, the better we'll be." The punk smiled as Madoka shook her head. She really liked that boy.
"You think you can do something for me?" Joel just looked at her and back at the bracelet. Ideas began to form in his head.
"I am not sure. We'll see how it goes for your brother. I think that Cassidy ain't going to stick with him."
Before long, they saw a few girls moving. Hearing the lines "Thee national candidates reps are having a mock battle in the third arena!" sent a chill down their spine.
"Foute boel. [Not good!]" Mattheus just said as he followed them.
In their run, they found Ichika and Charlotte heading to the same location. Words weren't spoken. They just ran together to the place. That had begun to fill with girls around them. Houki was also around. Ichika greeted her as he watched in horror how Laura was beating Cecilia and Rin into the ground.
The two were heavily breathing while Laura stood there spotless.
"What are they doing?"
"Something very brave or very stupid if you were to ask me," Joel said while he looked at them.
When Rin shot a bullet at Laura, it was just stopped.
"How in the world did she stop that?" Ichika couldn't believe there was such technology already out.
"She's equipped with an A.I.C." Charlotte spoke up.
"Of course, and with that, she doesn't even need to avoid the attack." Ichika looked a bit puzzled. The name rang a bell but it was far away in his head.
"A.I.C. stands for Active Inertia Cancelled, the Schwarzer Regen third-generation weapon." Charlotte began to tell the twins.
"This means that she can cancel all attacks. Taba—nee had told us about this." Joel just scoffed.
"I don't think you can stop everything. Hit something hard and long enough and you're done. But that isn't happening now." It was clear that Laura was toying with the two. When Cecilia launched a missile on close range, Charlotte guessed that would be enough.
Clearly, it wasn't. Laura stood undamaged by the attack. "My turn." She said simply.
"Oh, that can't be good," Joel said and he was right on the money. Her wire daggers got around the neck of the two and she began to strangle that. Plus, she used one merciless beatdown.
"Their shield points are draining. That means they are vulnerable right?" Houki gave Mattheus a nod.
"Yes and their Infinite Stratos mandatory won't protect them. It could result in their death." Ichika and Madoka shared a look. Talking to Laura wasn't going to work.
So storming in would.
"Ready when you are, Ichi-nii."
"Let's do this!"
Both lifted their bracelets. They looked at Charles and Mattheus.
"Will you two help us?"
"Yes," Charles replied.
"Sure thing!" Mattheus was next.
"Byakushiki!"
"Kuroshiki!"
"Rafale!"
"Lavathenian!"
Four units were built. Ichika smashed through it. Madoka was right behind him while Charlotte followed them. Mattheus stayed back.
"I'll cover you guys." He transmitted while deploying Chasseur rifle. "Get them out of there!"
Houki looked at him, appalled by his cowardice to lay back.
"You're going to be the coward and stay here instead of fighting?" Over his shoulder, he sent her one scathing glare.
"No, I am going to be the sane one! Joel, call our teach." The punk needed a second to process but Mattheus was right. Chifuyu was the only one who could stop Laura now.
And all of them got a way to contact her.
"Orimura-sensei. It's Joel speaking. Get yourself to Arena Three. We've got the skitters in bad ways over here. Bodewig is ready to commit a massacre. Your siblings are a part of that. No joke!"
Houki and Mattheus looked horrified at the boy. It was bad but not that bad. If Joel wanted to make Chifuyu haste herself, he could have chosen better words.
"I'll be right there." Chifuyu's words caused Joel to shiver when he put down the phone.
"I think I went overboard." The boy said while the two glared at him.
"Shinonono, whack him for me, would you please?" The Hunter looked at the Shrine Maiden and she agreed on that. Joel would have seen that coming.
Meanwhile, in the arena, the siblings were ready to fight.
Laura would have guessed that Ichika would fly up to her.
She had no problem stopping and rapping him with her A.I.C. Both Rin and Cecilia's unit deactivated and they fell out for the count.
"You're too emotional for this. I have never seen a greater fool to charge in. You're no threat. Now be gone!" Before she could carry out her threat, she saw something coming from the corner of her eye.
"Ever heard of a diversion, bitch? Let my brother go.
Her energy dagger clashed with Madoka's Yukihira while Charlotte laid down suppressive fire. Charlotte had joined in. Laura couldn't keep Ichika in so she had to let him go. Laura pushed Madoka off her and avoided the fire of Charlotte.
She was ready to fire at Ichika but was met by a familiar, huge bang. Ichika saw how Mattheus had lined up his shot. A smoking barrel was the evidence of the shot.
The Hunter spat on the floor.
"Adversor et admorsus." He softly spoke while he waved to Ichika. The boy nodded at them.
Two against one was no problem for Laura but four against her proved too much. Especially since Mattheus continued to lay down fire as fast as his rifle allowed. He had to get a semi-auto weapon for situations like these.
Not that it really mattered as Laura had to avoid the bullets who despite the pause were harmful for her.
Charles stayed out the daggers of Laura but she continued to lay fire on her.
Madoka came from different sides and unlike the two gunfighters, she used her sword to cut off Laura. Blocking from the back looked cool but it was hard to pivot the sword like that. She glared at the youngest Orimura.
"Damn you."
The girl shrugged while she continued to use her fighter powers. Ichika brought Rin and Cecilia out of harm's way.
"That was disgraceful of us." The Brit was relieved that he came in like a hero.
"Ichika. What are you doing here?" Rin asked while she looked at the Knight.
Meanwhile, Ichika got a message coming in.
"Ichi-nii! Hurry up. I can't hold out against this cyborg. I need your help!" Turning around, caused his blood to boil when he witnessed how Laura was slamming HIS little sister in the ground.
"Get off her!" Accompanied by fire from Mattheus, Ichika raced to her. Laura had time enough to stop the bullets despite the hurt they had caused her.
But she had to block the attack of Ichika again. Before long, a thundering voice was heard.
"That's enough!" Everyone turned to Chifuyu Orimura. She had shouted and in the arena, she stood with a katana that was normally attached to an Uchigane Infinite Stratos.
Joel and Mattheus gulped. Their teacher had moved officially on their "Never shit" list. She stood on the sword and glared at everyone in the arena.
"Instructor." Laura's look was one of pure shock and horror. Ichika bounced off her and he flew to Madoka who was relieved but a little worried that their big sister had jumped in to save them.
Charlotte also stood back as the teacher made her dominance known. Mattheus dissolved Chasseur and he stood up while offering a hand to Joel. The boy took it and on his hip, Mattheus landed in the arena.
Chifuyu looked at the five fighters. Her gaze ended on Joel. "Good thing you called me, Pearce. This could have gone down very badly."
Taking a breath, she looked around. "Honestly, you can practice all you want. But I can't overlook as a teacher the fact that you destroyed the barriers of the arena. So training is postponed. Settle this at the inter-class tournament." Laura deactivated her unit and got down.
"If those are your orders."
"Orimura, Dunois. You're fine with that too, right?" Charles spoke to his teacher.
"It's an acceptable compromise."
Ichika walked to his sister with Madoka in tow. Crossing his arms, The Knight looked at Chifuyu. "We need to have a talk. Big time." The glare that he was met was a mirror of his own. Chifuyu sighed as she was met with a glare of her sister. They were right. She needed to have some talk with her siblings about this.
"Adjzof. Due to the fact that your protégé called me, besides you, everyone else is banned from practice." Mattheus shut down his Infinite Stratos.
"No complaints from me."
Chifuyu just looked at her twins. While still in her teacher's strict, the twins were not backing down.
But they had other worries now. They would be tending to the wounded classmates. Mattheus walked to the two girls and Ichika followed him.
"You carry Huang, I'll carry Alcott." He spoke in the same way as Chifuyu. Dragging Cecilia wasn't a problem in a fireman carry. Rin was carried bridal style. Charles and Houki were fuming when they saw that.
Madoka let go of one huge breath. Their sister was right. Dealing with them was a huge pain.
In the infirmary, Rin and Cecilia were all bandaged up. The twins and Charles were now visiting them.
Rin at back with one tied up from her shoulder and Cecilia had one that tied her hair up.
"You didn't have to save us like that."
"If we had continued, we would have won." Cecilia still couldn't let her pride go.
Their wounds were so bad that they hadn't changed out their usual outfit.
Madoka pinched her nose and Ichika found that she really looked like Chifuyu when she did that.
"You think not? Hate to break it to the two of you but look at the two of you. You're all wounded. Without us jumping in, would it occur to you that you might have died?"
Charles walked up to them and handed them two glasses of water.
'You're just embarrassed because of a poor showing in front of the person you like, right?"
Now, this would have flown over Ichika's head were it not that a lightbulb hit Madoka. A flush was set in on the three girls and Ichika could feel how the two girls felt about him.
Not that the two girls would agree on that.
"I have no clue what you're talking about!" Rin tried to look anywhere but Ichika and Madoka.
"I am not trying to act tough at all." Cecilia looked outside and she took a sip of her drink. Meanwhile, Ichika slowly began to put the pieces in his head together.
Just great. For now, he would wait before that he would make a decision.
"In the first place, how did you end up in a fight with Laura?"
'Incoming.' The two got out of dodge before they were sprayed by water as the two girls coughed. Houki and Charles were not so lucky.
"Well…"
"How should I put it…"
Cecilia was the first to get an answer. "Because she insulted a woman's pride."
'Remind me to thank you for not being so prideful.' Ichika sent the link to Madoka who rolled her eyes.
She had her pride for sure but compared to the two in front of them, that wasn't the case. Now, Madoka was ready to let this go. But she needed to have a talk with Charlotte about the stuff here.
"Did she speak badly of Ichika?" She couldn't continue when the two tackled her to a bed, shutting her up.
"You seriously have a big mouth, you know that?!" Rin asked. In most cases, a guy would like the idea of being on a bed while the girls were dressed in skimpy clothes. But Charles didn't.
"That's right. She is so right!" Ichika could only shake his head. This wasn't good.
If they would move around, their wounds could only grow worse.
"Stop that. You're both hurt, so you should stop moving around." Touching the bare shoulder of the two, the two got a huge blush.
Going down, he looked at the show.
"See? You two idiots. Stop acting tough."
'Idiot.' His sister sent through.
'What now?'
"Who are you calling idiots, you idiot!" Rin shouted at him, her blush forgotten and tears in her eyes.
Cecilia veered back up.
"You're the big idiot!" Were these girls Representative Cadettes from their countries?
"Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!" Rin backed Cecilia up.
Yeah, now, Ichika was agreeing with his sister. Those girls could be one major pain. This was getting annoying.
Where was something to distract them? Ichika's pray was heard as the shelves with the medicines began to shiver and tens of dozens of girls filled the infirmary.
The poor door was just run down as the room was flooded by the other girls.
"What is this?"
All of them showed a paper and Madoka took one. She read it over.
"In the upcoming Inter-Class Tournament, to stage more realistic mock battels, you are required to patriciate in pairs. Those who do not choose their won pairs will be assigned a partner through a lottery."
Both Cecilia and Rin blinked when they heard that.
"Yeah, I hate to break this to all of you but I have already signed mine. My partner is Ichi-nii. So you're out of luck."
Multiple dreams were shattered at the same point as Madoka shut them down for the hopes of pairing up with her brother.
Charles was about to be asked when the girls had a miraculously short recovering time. Grateful that the twins pressured him to join up with Mattheus.
"I hate to say this but I already picked Adjzof to be my partner." The girls were again deflated by hearing that all males were already picked.
Unfortunately, Rin decided otherwise. She dragged the youngest on her arm.
"Madoka! Partner with me!" Rin shouted at her.
"Ichika-san! I want you to be my partner. I am your classmate!" Cecilia was pulling Ichika closer.
Before the twins could say anything, the two were shut down by Maya Yamada. For a change, she looked really, really, really serious.
"The damage to your respective IS units is over level C." She looked at a report. "Not toe mention your own wounds. I can't permit your participation in the tournament." It looked like Laura had done more damage to them then what was thought at first.
"What?! But I can fight!" Rin shouted at the teacher while the twins and Charles kept their mouth shut.
"I cannot accept that, either!" Cecilia also wanted to participate. How she was going to shoot with her right arm bandaged, Madoka would never know.
Maya put her foot down.
"No means no. Your units need to be fully repaired or else fatal flaws can surface later. End of discussion!"
"Either way, you two need to win this," Rin shouted at the two.
"In our stead. We will be fully supporting you."
Madoka showed them a smile that sent shivers down their spine.
"You don't need to tell us. We were intending that. Which reminds me. Ichi-nii."
Ichika knew what Madoka wanted from him.
"Yep. Sorry, but we gotta be somewhere." With that, the two had left the room. Charles stayed behind.
He didn't know what they wanted or were going to do and he didn't want to.
After some walking, they ended up in their sister's room.
After one knock, the door was opened. Chifuyu stood there, worried a bit and her eyes were showing it.
"I was expecting you two. Come in."
The door closed and in waled the twins.
"Chifuyu-nee." Madoka started.
"That match wasn't normal." Ichika finished for her.
"You don't have to tell me. I have seen the wounds." Chifuyu sighed as she looked over the two.
"You two. Well, you two know what the score is. I can't do much to change that. I do think that the only way to show Laura the error of her ways is to defeat her." Ichika crossed his arms while Madoka eyed her sister.
"You two can. After all, I am not sure if I should tell you. But Laura is the same as you two." Ichika raised an eyebrow while Madoka looked surprised.
"Chifuyu-nee?"
"She was born in the same way as you two. Out of a tube. The Germans had finally caught up with Phantom Task. They did the same thing. I don't think I have to tell you what that means." Madoka was horrified.
"And unlike you two, who had me, Laura grew up in an environment where kindness and warmth were seen as weakness. You can tell what sort of effect that had on her psyche. So you two. Maybe if you defeat her, it won't change." Putting an arm on both their shoulders, she comforted the two.
"You two. You taught me that. The lesson that I needed to learn. But she didn't." She let them go and with the hands-on their shoulder, Chifuyu looked at the two.
"You can defeat her. And maybe teach her what it really means to be strong." So with that said, the two walked out.
Chifuyu craned her neck. She wasn't weak. She was strong. She was strong to protect the two.
Scene skip.
The stadium was packed. Not just by the schoolgirls as they were all gathered. But also officials from different countries were gathered.
Ichika could see who was all seated in their changing room. VIPs from all different countries. Mattheus had taken on his heavy sweater and was tying up his pants. Joel wasn't around.
With their current luck, Chifuyu had asked Joel to stay with her and Maya in the room in case something was going awry.
Not that Joel complained. In his gut, he could feel that something would go horribly sideways.
"You are really itching to fight Bodewig?" Charles asked Ichika who just shrugged. The talk of his sister rang in his head.
"Yeah. That's what I am hoping for."
"Don't let your emotions affect you. I think that Bodewig-san is the strongest in the freshman class right now." Mattheus kept his scoff in.
"You really haven't seen those two fight. If we are up against them, we'll be in for a tough time."
And as if on cue. Their first match was shown on the screen. Ichika shared a look with the two other occupants. Mattheus summarized their thoughts in one four-lettered word.
"Fuck."
On the screen, the first match was this written down.
Ichika Orimura and Madoka Orimura vs Charles Dunois and Adjzof Mattheus.
But that wasn't the only thing that worried them.
It looked like Houki was paired up with Laura for this match.
"Ran out of luck?" Ichika asked while Mattheus cracked his knuckles.
"We all going to need to more to win this fight."
Scene skip.
The four participants were now in separate hangars, waiting to be released. Charles and Mattheus at one end and Ichika and Madoka at the other.
"Neh, Adjzof-kun?" Pulled from his musing, he turned to the androgynous male. Mattheus had a mirthless smile on his face. Fighting the twins would be one major pain. Especially cause both Charles and he was using guns as the main weapon instead of a sword.
They had no close-quarter fighting.
And Mattheus wasn't going to switch his weapon Goedendag.
"Yes."
"Do you think we can win?" Going over his cheek, Mattheus noted to shave. His face was a bit painful when he looked at it.
"I am afraid not. Both of them got major one-hit weapons. They got a backup in that case. So yeah, I can't see us coming out victorious. You?" Charles shook his head. He had to agree with Mattheus. This was going to be one tough fight. One they couldn't win.
"I am of the same mind. But I won't throw in the towel without a good fight."
Standing next to Charles, Mattheus lifted his fist. The guy looked up and down.
"Same here. Let's give the two of them hell." Charles understood what he meant. So after bumping, the two made their Infinite Stratos. Outside, Ichika and Madoka were waiting.
As team leaders, Mattheus had to get closer to Ichika.
"I hope you don't mind I am going to wipe your butt." Mattheus deployed Chasseur and swung the rifle to his shoulder. He eyed Ichika. A good look in the eyes. The Yukihira was menacing at the Hunter.
"Try it. I'll send you home packing." Mattheus's face got friendlier.
"I can understand why you want Cyclops. Not making it easy for you."
[Are both sides ready?]
"Yes!" The two shouted.
The countdown set in. looking over the shoulder, Mattheus noticed how Madoka was ready. He didn't look over his shoulder.
Three.
"This is going to be fun," Ichika said while the Starbreaker was aimed at the two males. Ichika knew his sister would aim at Mattheus. He trusted Madoka enough that she could shoot a bullet next to his face without it hitting him.
Two.
"That it will be," Mattheus answered. Charles aimed his guns at Madoka. Ichika wasn't the only one who
One.
"Rock and roll!" Mattheus shouted before blasting off. In a seated position, he was ready to fire his gun. A huge bang exploded as Ichika avoided that. The pistol appeared and as fast as his trigger allowed it, lead spewed his direction.
Madoka aimed her Starbreaker at Mattheus. She could have taken him out easily. But her own sensors told her that she had to get out. Spews of lead aimed at her direction made her move out for Charlotte.
Normally, dual-wielding guns wasn't a good idea but given the fact that Charles had no reason to reload his guns plus the fact that divergence was the means to this end instead of hitting her caused Madoka to move out.
It was no problem seeing where the pilot was aiming. She would have asked Ichika to take care of Charles but so far, her brother was busy chasing after Mattheus. The Hunter hadn't moved away from the rifle but used his own handgun to fire at Ichika.
Byakushiki could move out for the fire but getting closer wasn't happening. And when some distance was built, Mattheus holstered the pistol, pulled the bolt straight, and aimed again. Ichika cursed the fact that Cassidy was out of the question as well.
Now, for Madoka, that meant she couldn't move closer to Charles. Both the Orimura had their own Yukihira to fight back but with both their opponents using guns, there was no way to get closer. Sure, she could aim and fire at Charles and pull the trigger. But the pilot could move out the way.
In terms of firepower, the long-range just hurt her as the distance wasn't that much. She was stalling Madoka. Just like Mattheus but why?
'Ichi-nii. Wanna switch.'
'Yep. Hold on, I'll meet you up.' Ichika broke off the contact as Mattheus aimed his own rifle. Ichika avoided the bullet. He cursed Madoka out enough on this but now was never happier to have a girl like his sister to train with.
'So what do you suggest?' Ichika asked as he was close to Madoka.
'Try to stay out Dunois fire. I'll handle Mattheus.' Ichika nodded as avoiding fire was something he could. Madoka used an evasive measure she witnessed her sister perform a couple of years ago. She ducked fast and turned around. One last shot aimed at Charles caused her to avoid the bullet. Ichika closed in.
The assault rifle balked rounds while Ichika could do his damndest to avoid getting attacked. The French Pilot was now the Hunted.
Mattheus witnessed it and with a smirk, they had played in their hands. Dissolving his handgun, he went higher and Madoka had one chance to avoid the shot. By catapulting herself to the ground. she avoided the shot but bullets hitting her.
Mattheus made a two-fingered salute to her and blasted Ichika who wanted to take out the pilot. It was a sideways shot so he wasn't out but was thrown off balance.
Charles began to pump lead again and Mattheus got lower to aim at Madoka. From upstairs, he fired his rifle.
This worked rather well.
Flashback.
"When the fight starts, I gotta meet up Ichika. They will guess that I will go after Madoka and lose my focus on him." Mattheus told Charles who listened with attention.
"So he'll try to take me out by that and Madoka will then aim at you. With me out, it'll be easier to take you."
"So what do you suggest?"
"We'll do the opposite. Instead of going after Madoka, I will aim my guns at Ichika. I'll entertain him or take him out. I got my handgun for closer fights." Charles nodded at him.
"I want you to fire at Madoka. You don't have a Marksman rifle in your loadout, right?" Charles shook his head.
"No. I do have several other weapons. As mentioned, I can use a wide array of weapons. Assault rifle, submachine gun, shotgun, knife, and a battering ram. You want me to go close quarter with Madoka-san?"
Mattheus looked horrified by the suggestion.
"Absolutely not. In a sword fight, the two got us beat. Goedendag is an emergency weapon for this. We got guns so let them bark. Madoka only got a sniper rifle for this so I want you to fly around. She had a lower fire rate than yours. So use those guns. AR or SMG, I don't care but please keep her busy. You weren't there but she got Alcott beat with a sword fight. I don't want you to come closer."
"Noted. What do you propose if she comes closer?"
"On that off chance, if you see fit, a shotgun would work. My plan is to wait until they switch. We don't work too well together because we don't know each other enough. But you know my guns and I know yours. So is this plan doable?"
Charles nodded but began to worry.
"But that is stalling? What if they switch?"
"When they do, I want you to."
Yeah, that was one strategy they could use.
End of flashback.
The twins played in their hands. Charles deployed her shotgun. Buckshot flew Ichika's direction who answered with Cassidy. Joel really had to give him a better weapon.
Meanwhile, Madoka flew closer with her Yukihira in hand. Now, if Mattheus was a chivalrous fighter, he would allow her to come closer and fight with his spear.
But that wasn't on his mind. So he fired his own handgun while he fell down. She went after him and the Hunter fell back on the handgun.
Yeah, he had to look for a better one in times like these. Maybe a machine pistol.
Madoka went after him and instead of firing her own rifle, she raced while Mattheus spews lead in her direction. Ichika, on the other hand, had fired Cassidy several times while Charles began to use his AR for this.
That would make things easier as there was more distance. Ichika's shield points were chipping away. Unlike his sister, his gun hadn't enough reached to fire back effectively to be a threat plus he wasn't as used to this.
In one upwards pull, at top speed, Charles lost sight of him as he raced up.
'Stop!'
Madoka did what she was told and right before her nose, she saw her brother passing.
'Charles down below. Fire!' Madoka just turned around and she witnessed the pilot. The eyes were still on Ichika. The sensors went off as she felt a hot bullet ripping at her unit.
"Merde!" He cursed. Not done yet but this had left him with less than a hundred points.
He aimed up and fired at the twins who were excellent at avoiding the shots as they switched from one side to the next.
Not one bullet hit its mark.
At least, none of the bullets that came from Charles.
When Madoka turned around, to deliver the killing shot, she had the French Pilot right in her scope.
"Bang!" Right after she pulled the trigger, she felt a warning going off. The power was more than enough to throw her down. Ironically enough, right next to Charles. Her own shield points were depleted. She could see that on her own notifications.
She was barely standing while Charles had gone down on one knee.
On the screen, both their names were scrapped and their pictures grew gray with a cross over them.
Now, in fights like these, it would be enough for a tie but the end was decided by the last person standing.
Either Ichika won this or Mattheus did. Ichika's eyes flamed at Mattheus.
Dissolving Cassidy, Ichika deployed the Yukihira. He was close enough to deploy Reiraku Byakuya. He knew better than to use that now.
The Hunter's rifle was still smoking and the bolt was pulled straight. Aiming at Ichika, Mattheus was ready to go again.
As long there were rules, Mattheus wouldn't add anything.
Ichika went right after Ichika. Pulling the trigger, Ichika avoided the shot by rolling over and flying right at him. Mattheus didn't move, he just pulled the bolt and aimed again. Again, the trigger was pulled and with Ichika just three meters in front of him, he fired.
The bullet was cut clean off the sword. Then Mattheus moved and he raced downstairs. As if he was seated, Mattheus fired at Ichika. Hip firing wasn't a healthy thing with a bolt action rifle but it was an act of desperation. Ichika moved out again as he moved in closer.
The bullet scratched his cheek. Still, the fire in his eyes hadn't died.
Down on the ground, Madoka and Charles dissolved their Infinite Stratos. Exhausted, they fell on the floor. Charles wanted to make his way to the lifts. He had to crawl as he was hurt from the fights and his legs didn't obey the command to stand.
Medics would normally carry them out but with bullets that could cut a human in half, that wasn't done. Madoka knew that they were in danger of staying down.
Normally, they would have halted but that hadn't happened. She knew that she was in danger. Unlike Charles, she could move easily. She stood up and found she was able to run. Without hesitation, she raced over to the French Pilot. In one fluid movement, she had Charles on her shoulder and ran to a lift.
Chifuyu luckily had one eye on the monitors. Before Madoka could push it, the lift opened. Charles didn't even leave her shoulders.
"Why you did that?"
"In love and war, everything is permitted, Char." The pilot blushed.
"And I couldn't leave you on the floor. Not with those two." She saw the fight as Ichika tried to race to Mattheus. In a boost, the Yukihira met the barrel of Chasseur. This fight wasn't over yet.
In that struggle, Mattheus deployed his handgun with the left hand. Over the sword, Mattheus fired the gun. Ichika had enough of it and grabbed him with his left hand. Throwing him over the right shoulder, Mattheus had no clue where he was going. When Ichika threw him away, he deployed Cassidy.
Firing a double-barreled shotgun with one hand, in gangster-style, that was impressive. Mattheus admitted that while he fired his own handgun. Ichika moved out the way for those. They both flew up and watched the other.
Mattheus used his right hand to swing the rifle on his shoulder, aiming the handgun.
Ichika mimicked him. On the shoulder, he had Yukihira while Cassidy was aimed at the Hunter. The two stared at each other for a couple of seconds. The entire arena was as quiet as a mouse.
Even in the control room, where Joel was watching the scene. Yeah, the punk knew this was how it would go.
Mattheus made the first move and dissolved the handgun. Swinging the rifle back, the left hand touched the barrel. He nodded over to Ichika who eyed him and let Cassidy go. Taking the sword in his two hands, Ichika waited on Mattheus tot make a move.
The older man looked aside and gurgled in his mouth. Blood mixed with spit came out and Mattheus whipped his mouth. His attention went right back to Ichika.
The Hunter sighed. A few tense seconds passed. There wasn't much else to do. Ichika smirked at him.
"You gonna come to me? Or do I have to come to you?" Mattheus pulled the trigger and the bullet aimed at Ichika was split by the sword. What Ichika guessed was that Mattheus would pull the bolt and fire again.
The Knight felt the butt of a rifle slamming in his face. That hurt. Now, he looked up to see how Mattheus was in front of his face. Ichika recovered and before the gun could slam his face again, he blocked Mattheus. The sword clashed against the rifle.
A rifle wouldn't be used as a CQB weapon. At least, not modern-day rifles. Made from polymer and plastic, they would break from a sword.
Hence why Chasseur resembled the bolt actions. A large butt could be used and the material could withstand roughhousing.
In a truly absurd fashion, Yukihira clashed with Chasseur. Chifuyu had never seen a fight where a sword was diverted by a rifle's barrel.
Mattheus' fist slammed at Ichika's face who used the sword to ram on the arm. From close, Mattheus fired the bullet but Ichika avoided it by pulling back.
Twirling the rifle, Mattheus pulled the rifle around, the barrel landing in his hand and the bolt was pulled. Mattheus stopped Ichika who clashed on the barrel.
"I think it's time."
"We ended this."
Ichika activated his Reiraku Byakuya and energy filled him. The energy ate away and Ichika slammed Mattheus down towards the ground. The last points were eaten away and Mattheus had lost.
But right before the buzzer could go off, Mattheus aimed from his position. Byakushiki lost the last points and pain entered Ichika's system.
Luckily for him, the notification that Mattheus had lost had gone first so Ichika and Madoka were passed for the next round.
Ichika checked his points. He was done for the count as well. Mattheus landed his own unit where he met with Charles. The pilot sighed.
"Looks like you were right. We lost." The Hunter shrugged on that.
"We were close. Fucking sucks to be this close and lose but it's what it is." Ichika met up with Madoka who sighed as he did. This had nothing to do with skill or training.
It was pure luck they had won. That was it.
"We were lucky, Ichi-nii," Madoka said to Ichika who relaxed and shut down his unit. His body was feeling the effects.
"That we were, Madoka." The twins could use some time off. Ichika met Mattheus and Charles in the locker room. Nothing was said as none of them wanted to. They wanted to take it easy.
Mattheus had gone out of the room as the first person. Placing a hand on Charles' shoulder, he gave a comforting squeeze. She took it back and squeezing his hand.
Mattheus's soft smile fell from his face as he witnessed the next fight that Ichika and Madoka were in.
"Shit." He softly said as he saw that Houki and Laura had won their fight.
Ichika walked out and found his eyes also on the screen. Unlike the other two, he had a bloodthirsty grin on his face.
'Madoka.'
The girl could feel the eagerness in his face.
'Ichi-nii? What's up?'
'Do you know who we will fight?' Madoka could only guess.
'Let me guess. We can fight Bodewig.' The same tone of joy and enjoyment was set in.
'Indeed.' Ichika said as he could barely wait.
'I look forward to that.'
'Same here, sis. Same here.'
Ichika was going to meet up with Madoka now. They could prepare for this fight now. Mattheus and Charles didn't even notice them leaving.
And here we end it. The fight of Laura vs the twins will be for the next chapter.
It took me longer than I would have guessed but as you all might be notified off, last week, I am at my job, and time for writing or anything else have been cut down by a good part.
Still, I am happy with how this ended up.
Largest chapter of this fic to date and well, I did enjoy writing those fight scenes.
The next chapter might be fun but it can take a good long time.
For the next update, Pillar Winged. Good thing it's only plot so that is doable at the end of a long day.
When I have fights, I would like to get my energy for that. So that is why this is a weekend update.
Saluut.
