Hello, my dear readers. It's been a while. I have been writing that quite a bit in the last few chapters.
This is the last chapter that I started in 2023 and the second that will be published in 2024. I hope that the new Year has all been treating you well.
This is going to be a two-chapter write. The anniversary and the normal one. As luck would have it, it's just on the Kyoto Arc in the anime, which for the requester and myself, is really convenient as this is going to be another highlight of this fic.
We got the entire Kyoto episodes in this chapter. It's going to be quite a ride.
Started on 27/12/2023
Ended on 20/01/2024
Published on 26/01/2024
Openings song. Five Finger Death Punch. When the seasons change.
"Talking."
'Thinking'
[Telepathic conversation]
[Phone call]
Despite the high nature of the ISA, some things would never change. Like traveling to a destination, especially over longer concourses, was done in Japan by train.
Inside the shuttle, many envious eyes looked over at the couples that had been seated in a four-seat in the middle of the train.
Madoka Orimura had her head on Dan Gotanda's shoulder. They had fallen asleep on the ride and none had dared to wake them up, especially with how adorable they looked.
Ichika Orimura had another place with Houki Shinonono as they were just sitting in silence, enjoying the time between them.
Normally, it would have been just the first years on the trip but Dan had been allowed to go along on the trip, alongside with Itsuka Yukimura.
Chifuyu had been relieved her boyfriend had come along. She doubted that she could show any signs of public affection (like she was any good at that) but an extra teacher could keep the girls in line, which frankly, was really needed.
Not that it was just her, Maya, and Itsuka.
Natasha Fairs had also been taken along although Chifuyu doubted that she'd be much help. Natasha was seated next to Mattheus in another compartment and unlike the Brunhilde, the Silver Gospel Pilot never hid the fact that she was dating a student.
It helped that the student in question had been passed the age of 18.
And the fact that he was the surrogate father of a 12-year-old punk. Joel had been seated in Natasha's lap, an extreme show of affection that Joel rarely portrayed. Mattheus didn't mind as Natasha and he were also in conversation.
They had to watch over Djbril and Airis who both hadn't forgiven Mattheus for his past transgressions, even though he had saved their lives as Airis had lost her shit, figuratively and literally, during the Golem invasion.
Joel hadn't paid much attention to the glares and stares as he had been working on a few new projects which he claimed "I finally have the time for!"
This trip was going to be tons of a sight to behold. Kyoto was a beautiful place and the Autumn leaves had begun to fall.
For a few couples, it would be one romantic trip.
Scene skip
At the hotel, the group had been greeted by a hostess while Chifuyu laid down the ground rules.
"We'll be here for two days. Please be sure that we can return here." Chifuyu announced to the full group.
"Yes, ma'am!" The chorus echoed over the place.
"You have a few hours off. Please return here on time! Our place of meeting is the Kiyomizu Temple!"
Maya added and Ichika was about to leave with Houki. It would be their first time alone.
Then, it was cut off by an attendant in the house.
"Excuse me, Ichika Orimura. You have a package." Briefly, Ichika wondered. How would a person know that they would be here?
"Give me a second, Houki. I'll be right back." The Shrine Maiden had hoped he would stick around but found that it was better to wait.
Madoka hooked her arm into Dan and they already left the place. The engineer had a few ideas on what he wanted to visit and Madoka gleefully tagged along.
Joel had been seated on Mattheus's back who carried him along. Natasha had already figured out that the time they would spend would be a make-shift family kind of thing.
Meanwhile, Ichika had made its way over to the place where the suitcase had been located.
It was a pretty big one as well although Ichika wondered why he would have one. He already had most of his belongings with him and he doubted that he would need something else.
The tags read "Ichika Orimura. Secret!" The extra drawings made him suspicious.
"Ichika, is something the matter?" Kanzashi asked as the Knight looked it over.
"I'm trying to figure out what could be inside of the suitcase. It doesn't have an address from where I got it."
Whatever was in it, it began to move and Ichika summoned Izanagi as precaution. The last few times had been crazy enough already that he didn't want to find any nasty surprises.
Springing out, was Tatenashi Sarashiki. She was wearing some sort of guide girl attire and with a bright smile, she had her flag out.
"Tada! It's your big sister, Tatenashi!" Ichika began to have his eye twitching when he saw her. Just like his sisters, he already had grown tired of her.
"Tatenashi-san?!"
Kanzashi already moved in and wanted to shove Tatenashi back into the suitcase.
"What are you doing here?! This is for the first years!"
The two sisters began to fight and struggle as Kanzashi wanted nothing more than to shove back in the suitcase.
Ichika groaned as he began to help out Kanzashi. Together, they managed to get Tatenashi back in and sent her the way she came from. By throwing the suitcase in a post car it was shipped back up to the ISA.
Kanzashi was relieved but Ichika knew better. He knew that they hadn't shipped off Tatenashi. But he wasn't going to worry about it. It would be more trouble than it was worth it.
He could call his sister later and fight it out with her. Or not.
Ichika had other things to look forward to. Like being around his lover. He didn't forget that he had a duty either. He had to take pictures of the school trip. But that would be for another while.
The leaves had begun to fall down. Ichika found that the place looked beautiful in this season. Houki was still in the place where he had left her.
"What was the issue, Ichika?"
The Knight just kissed her on the lips.
"I rather don't tell. It'd ruin the mood." So with that done, Ichika and Houki began to make their way around the place. Arm in arm, they walked over Kyoto. Admiring the beauty of the city.
When Ichika found a few stairs, he hesitated to ask but Houki could read his mind. The boy could have his own fears but she could act for him.
"Do you want me to stand on those stairs?"
Shyly, Ichika nodded to her and he raised his camera.
"Thank you, Houki." The girl stood above it, with a certain pride on her body. Ichika found the right angle and before long, he had taken the picture. Going down, Houki looked at them and was pleasantly surprised at how she was right in the middle.
The leaves did wonder at her beauty and Ichika smiled. How did a woman, so perfect, agree to love him?
Then he showed the picture to her and Houki blushed about how Ichika had done his best.
"That came out well," Houki announced which made the Knight blush.
"You think so too." It was kind of weird how shy they could be in public but were so completely open to each other in private.
"Orimu! Orimu! Orimu!" Turning their heads, they found Honne and two of her friends, with kitsune masks on. Making the mental note that he had to buy one for Mattheus (if he hadn't gotten one himself).
They had their hands out like foxes in front of a statue.
"Take a picture of us!"
Ichika looked like he wanted to ask permission from the girl but Houki nodded. She knew what Ichika had signed up for.
Unfortunately, it had a waterfall effect of other girls asking for pictures as well.
Before long, he had three different groups of girls who wanted their own pictures.
Houki just tagged along as Ichika began to take pictures of the temples around the place, the golden palace, and a wedding nearby. Luckily, they didn't notice the picture as the girls stood nearby.
Houki began to dream and when Ichika hugged her closer, there was even a light blush.
"One day, that is going to be us." Marriage had never been far from her mind and now, they were inching closer to it.
There was no denying Ichika's blush either.
Scene skip
Dan had no idea why Madoka had wanted to go to the shrine of matchmaking or the Jishu Shrine but he found himself, being playfully dragged along.
It was busy, that was for sure. Several people were selling small trinkets and charms. The lanterns hung out and on several hangers, there were the wishes.
They did enjoy the chatter and the buzzing as they walked arm in arm around the place, looking around the place. When he spotted blond and silver hair on one particular spot, he pulled Madoka closer.
"We better get out of here ASAP. I saw a few of your classmates and not the ones that I am comfortable with." Turning her head, she could hear Cecilia's voice, chatting with Rin and Laura.
"Agreed, let's get out of here before we get into more trouble."
Madoka got closer to him as they walked through the place before their hunger set in.
"Let's get something special. We're here in Kyoto. We could get something special."
Locker-room talk had been going on between Dan. Just in his regular schools and later, with Mattheus and Joel. The older man had good advice for the younger guy who gratefully took it.
It really helped that the guy Madoka called "Nii-chan" had both Dan's and Madoka's best interests in mind.
"Orimu!" They turned their head to find Honne 'running' away, in a traditional kimono as she grinned.
"I'm being chased by Kan-chan!" There wasn't much chasing as Honne didn't make much speed while Kanzashi began to catch up
"Honne, wait up? Jeez, where are you going?" Dan looked over at Madoka and was puzzled by the crazy.
Even with her boyfriend spending the second semester at the ISA, he didn't interact with the student body as he was an engineer and a pupil of Joel.
The majority of his time was spent in the tech bay.
The so-called craziness had been something that Dan had managed to avoid.
"Eh?"
"Don't play fetch. It's only going to cause more trouble." Madoka said as Dan took that as decent enough words.
His girlfriend dealt with those issues more regularly than he did so he waited and let her do the talking.
"Kanzashi?! Why are you wearing that?"
She began to blush and stutter.
"Madoka! Well, I just rented this costume. Because everyone said that I should get one." Dan just patiently waited. While they were good material, he wasn't sure if Madoka could do well in such an outfit.
"I wasn't really into it but I got sweet-talked into it."
Madoka had an honest answer to the question.
"I think it looks really well on you." The youngest Orimura talked as she spoke her heartfelt feelings.
"You do?"
Dan had learned that it was better to keep his mouth quiet on that.
"But if you don't mind, we were about to get some lunch," Dan announced, indicating to Kanzashi that the conversation was now over.
Never get in between a teenage boy and his food.
At the Nishiki Market, the two lovebirds sat down as Dan ordered a few Dashimaki Tamago. The omelet smelled delicious and both dug in greedily.
"Thanks for this, Dan. I didn't want to say but I got hungry myself." Dan smiled as he and Madoka had been quietly sitting down.
At that point, they didn't need anything else.
Airis had hoped that she would be able to find a way between them. It came on Djbril holding her back to avoid making a scene.
It just wasn't right when they wanted to stop.
Djbril began to dislike her job even more. She remembered when she was a cadette and she came to this city when she was young.
She loved every second of it.
In a part, she had hoped that she would be able to explore the city and show her mistress of the city.
Unfortunately, it showed that Airis wasn't able to forget about the twins.
At least, she wasn't hunting Mattheus down. The Hunter had shown that despite his rough edges, his protégé had saved her own from death. They couldn't ignore that.
Scene skip
Joel had fallen asleep on the back of Mattheus while the grown-ups began to make their way to the next place. The bridge had been clearly showing its age.
Mattheus had always liked the history of a place and Kyoto was the most historic place in Japan.
They just enjoyed the place in silence as they walked around. The forest that edged on the bridge, made the hair on the back of the Hutner stand up.
"Mattheus?" Natasha asked as he peered in the forest.
The Hunter shook his head as he felt something staring at him. The feeling was uncomfortable and it felt like something was creeping up on him.
"Eh, sorry, Natasha. It felt like something was in the forest." The Silver Gospel would normally dismiss those ideas but she had also felt the same stares.
"We're definitely not welcome here." The voice came from behind Mattheus' back and the two turned to find Joel awake as he stretched out from his nap.
"Let's get out of here and find a more hospitable place."
In the forest, Chelsea came out and looked over at the two. She had been free from her mistress to explore the city on her own. It was always nice to be free from duties.
There was a regrettable sigh when she saw the two leave.
Mattheus had been a lot of what she had looked for in a guy. Yet, he had found himself a woman that was right for him.
It hurt as she had never experienced love. Never experienced someone who would fit so well for her.
They couldn't see but from a pair of binoculars, the three had been watched. Covered by darkness, leaves, and the forest itself, a pair of purple eyes had the most hateful glare at the three.
But when they found a new place of shops, with a food market, they forgot their worries.
They were sharing a korroke, a type of croquettes, which made all three eat from the same tray as Joel had chosen Natasha's lap as they ate from Mattheus's hands.
Normally, it would feel weird to have a boy like Joel but Natasha, felt how Mattheus and Joel were.
They came as a package deal.
But then Joel felt that nature called.
"I gotta go. You two mind staying here?" The punk got off his mother's lap and walked over to a public restroom.
Natasha smirked and took the box from Mattheus's hands.
"Time to feed you." The Hunter sat back and let Natasha feed him. He wouldn't suck on her fingers and bite on them.
"Tastes good. Nice." Joel watched from afar as the two adults teased and flirted. There was something in watching his parents together.
He never thought Mattheus and himself would find a woman who could put up with the two. Then again, he was just a foul-mouthed but genius engineer punk. Not a teddy bear who came to life.
They had watched thirty minutes of that movie. That was thirty minutes they would never get back.
The sun wasn't setting yet, it was just growing darker. The autumn season was in full swing. Soon, the year would come to pass.
Autumn and winter were always their favorite seasons. Coldness made public forms of affection easier. It was more fun to hug your older brother when you were shivering instead of sweating your ass off.
When the box was empty, it was time that he joined the two again.
Scene skip
Charlotte and Laura had been walking together, side by side as they visited Kyoto. It felt nice to spend time together.
They weren't talking and neither of them had any interest in doing so. The voices of Ichika and Madoka were spooking through their heads when they were thinking about each other.
They had escaped from the matchmaking shrine as Rin and Cecilia were bickering over there.
The two began to think and sighed.
The chances of getting either of the twins were next to none. Not with Houki and Dan around.
Passing by a shrine, the two looked at each other. There was a silent nod as they stood before it.
A prayer could be said in silence and so they did. Their hands clasped together as they had seen others done so often.
Their eyes matched and there was a certain grin on their faces when they walked away from the shrine. Closer, with each other and there had been a certain relief on their faces.
They could maybe speak those words soon enough. When they had figured out what they felt, they could go from there.
It was maybe something of fate as they walked through the place.
"You know, Charlotte, I'm wondering. What are you going to do when your three years of high school are over?" Laura asked as Charlotte began to think about it.
"I haven't found something to do. I don't know how welcome I'll be at home. I can't say that for sure. What about you, Laura?"
The German Soldier sighed as she began to think back at it.
"I'll be summoned back home most likely. The way how this is structured, there will be something for me. But as you put it, Charlotte, it hangs on what happens during the upcoming three years."
Hugging her closer, Charlotte used her bigger body to cover over the German.
"Whatever happens, we got each other, don't we?" Laura couldn't comprehend why she had begun to blush. But still, she couldn't comprehend why she was blushing. Why her cheeks were beginning to color.
So, with a shy nod, Laura went as Charlotte and she walked closer to the place. It was just fine like this.
Scene skip
Itsuka wished that he could enjoy this trip the same way as the students. Goofing around, sightseeing, being couples, and all that.
But unfortunately, he couldn't do all that.
Chifuyu and he agreed that it was best that the teachers would go around and spot any signs of trouble.
She was taking a route through the Fushimi Inari Shrine which lay to the south of the place but Itsuka was taking up the north route of going around the place.
He couldn't deny that it was fun for a bit as several students would ask around for pictures or ask him about the place.
The red leaves were already falling down on the ground, making the man melancholic.
'It's the first time that I am alone. Then again, we aren't schoolchildren.'
He was fine with walking around the place on his own but he vowed that he would return with Chifuyu. Just the two of them.
On the other side of the city, Chifuyu and Maya patrolled through the red gates.
It was the green-haired teacher who started the conversation.
"Orimura-sensei… Is something bothering you?"
Maya asked while Chifuyu didn't turn around to face her, the Brunhilde began to talk.
"Yes. Since our school and our students have been targeted several times already, please pay close attention to the area, so the students can enjoy the trip."
Maya grinned at her senior with a teasing smirk.
"Is that why you sent out Yukimura-sensei for his own patrol?"
Chifuyu glared back at her which caused her friend to gulp from that.
"My, Maya. What goes through that head of yours? It's almost like you believe there is an explicit relationship between me and Yukimura-sensei. Would you really want to verify that?"
Chifuyu inched in closer which caused Maya to shiver even more.
"Don't get involved in a business that is not your own. Understood?"
"Crystal, ma'am." The greenhaired teacher managed to squeak out.
Scene skip
Houki and Ichika were walking together, side by side, as they had crossed the bridge.
Close, side by side, they were walking by, her arms around his as they walked together. It was just silent enjoyment as Ichika began to reminiscence.
When he was a kid, how Chifuyu took care of him and Madoka. How they drove her to be better. For her to become champion.
'She told me that I should never forget those who have been with me the longest.' His head went down on Houki who smiled up at him.
"Is something on your mind, Ichika?"
The Knight looked down at her and his smile widened when he thought over it.
Houki and himself went way back, the girl that was closest to him, aside from his sisters.
"Just a bit of thinking." Then he leaned in closer, pressing a kiss on her lips.
When they let go, thoughts filled his head again. He had to tell Houki one day what he really was. That would be an incredibly dangerous endeavor.
They had been through a lot but he wondered if she could take, the idea of him not being human. Or not a normal human at the least.
Those worries washed away when he got to the bamboo forest.
It was one of the most beautiful places in the world. It was certain that this forest had a calming effect on anyone who walked through the place.
"This place is so nice." Houki's voice was so clear and warm, like the last bit of summer sun that went down.
"It really is."
The boy looked back at her.
"You haven't forgotten that we took walks together. When we were kids." Puberty was that sweet spot between childhood and adulthood. Before everything changes.
Houki's blush began to grow even more.
"We sure did. You'd invite me for a walk after our training." Houki got even closer to him as he felt the hugs of her.
"Lots of memories we made." Pecking on the cheek, she hugged him even closer.
"And we are going to make a whole lot more." Ichika couldn't tell her all that he wanted to tell her.
So he simply settled for something else.
"Hey, Houki. Can I take another picture of you?"
The shrine maiden blushed as she got the question.
"If you don't mind, would you like me to take a picture for you?" The heads of the teenagers turned to find a lady standing.
She was wearing a red dress with over that a big scarf, even though it wasn't that cold.
The dress did little to hide the incredible body underneath. Her beautiful face was warm and friendly towards the two with red eyes that shined at them.
Ichika couldn't shake the feeling that he had to watch himself around her. His body began to shiver but he kept his watch on her.
"You would like to be both in the picture, right?" The woman continued with a friendly smile as Ichika began to think about it.
"If you don't mind, then please do." He handed her the camera and they stood together, his right arm around Houki's waist as she hugged his body.
Looking at the picture, her purple eyes shined at it.
"Thank you very much!"
The woman nodded to the two.
"You two look great together." The woman then turned on her heels after Ichika had said a quiet "Thank you."
"Have a nice trip, Orimura Ichika-kun." Then she was off with a smile on her face, her heels clacking over the pavement. They could hear those when she left.
"I didn't mention my name to her, did I?" That gut feeling never left Ichika. It didn't even diminish when she saw the woman leave.
"You didn't." Ichika really didn't like to ask Chifuyu to make the training harsher but was glad to see that Houki had the same uncomfortable feeling. It made her wonder about it and she could feel that part of Ichika.
When the two moved back, they hadn't even noticed Rorentsuine who had hidden behind a few trees.
The candidate from the Netherlands had hidden herself from the two. She had been following the Knight and his Maiden, ever since they left the train.
She had hoped there would be a good time to separate the two. Yet, she found herself outmatched. Those two were joined at the hip. It was beyond infuriating.
It really didn't help the two looked so good together.
Scene skip
The sun had begun to set already when the ISA first-year students had gathered on the Kiyomizu's terrace and they had an incredible view of the place.
"Kiyomizu's terrace sits on the 13-meter high mountain slope, supported by 139 pillars, called "hell posts"!"
Of course, the place was a big place to buy souvenirs and the girls looked around. Mattheus had gotten the fox mask and had been wearing it on the side as Madoka had gifted him that.
Natasha, Joel, and Dan both had laughed themselves stupidly, as they howled from the looks of the man.
The Hunter grumbled as Madoka told him that would be the perfect thing to wear when he visited Babymetal.
The Hunter swore that he would never wear such a thing at a metal concert.
"Beautiful sight!" Charlotte had been looking at the view.
"Magnificent!" Cecilia had her hands clasped together.
Maya began to call out on the group as the day was coming to an end.
"Everyone, we'll meet up at the monorail stop at the scheduled time!"
As good, dutiful students, they voiced back to the teachers.
"Yes, ma'am!"
Itsuka had gotten closer to Chifuyu and whispered the necessary information in her ear. It was relieving to hear that he didn't notice anything but then again, she knew how sneaky Phantom Task could be.
The girls scattered around the place, checking out the souvenirs and running along.
Ichika had found himself alone as Houki was helping out Shizune with making a choice on souvenirs.
Chifuyu couldn't believe how Madoka did but she had sneaked underneath her sister's arm and hugged her close.
The picture was too adorable as Madoka couldn't help but cuddle.
The two women didn't even notice that Ichika had them in the camera.
They turned around and Chifuyu sighed as she knew that stopping Ichika wouldn't be something on her mind.
"It's not nice to take a photo of a woman without asking her permission first."
Ichika turned it around and showed it to the two.
"I couldn't resist. Just a little bit too adorable, Orimura-sensei." Turning his camera, he showed it to the two.
Both Chifuyu and Madoka looked it over as they smiled.
"Nice one, Ichi-nii. Be sure to give us a copy." Madoka was the one who talked for the two as she stuck with her brother.
Dan gave Ichika a high five while Houki waved at Madoka. The youngest Orimura grinned as she was eager to see the pics.
"Can I see the pics you have taken today?"
Ichika was about to hand them over but then Cecilia and Charlotte from both sides began to look over his hands to the camera.
"I want to see them too!"
"Yes, Ichika! Can I see?" The Knight always hated when those kinds of things made the waterfall happen he got surrounded by the girls as Ichika tried to keep his hands up. Madoka was also in the danger zone of being trampled.
Houki and Dan got away and were about to call a teacher (or Mattheus) to help them out as the camera began to slip from his hands and before long, it made the dive from 13 meters high.
Dan turned over to Houki and scratched his head.
"I hope that you got them saved somewhere or that Joel can work it over. From that high, anything breakable is broken."
Houki fervently nodded to Dan. It was just the way how things would go.
Ichika sighed when he watched his camera go.
"I'll go get it."
"Hold on, Ichi-nii. I'll tag along." Madoka said as she ran after her brother. Something told her that it was for the best that she went along.
The twins ran down from the place. There was something in the setting sun that made them afraid. That made their instincts scream at them.
[You felt something today, Ichi-nii.]
It was best they wouldn't rouse suspicion for them to talk.
[Yep. One blonde woman knew my name. I didn't feel one bit comfortable with that.]
Madoka went right after him. The usual teasing fell out from that.
[I don't know why but I didn't feel comfortable leaving you alone.]
Ichika looked back at her with a relieved grin. Madoka also relaxed from that.
[It's why I am glad that you are around.]
The twins were on the ground and Ichika found his camera back quickly enough.
Then their instincts told them to turn around.
Their heads craned to see a familiar but unwelcome sight of another set of twins, looking at them.
"It seems that they are getting better at this, aren't they, onii-sama?" The girl spoke as there was a creepy giggle.
"Yes, onee-sama. I wonder how good they actually are." The boy agreed as Ichika and Madoka inched closer.
Pocketing his camera, Ichika joined his sister.
[Let's see how they handle an IS.] The Knight asked his sister.
[Two of them.]
Ichika and Madoka moved in closer to make their unit but their foes were just a bit faster.
"Onii-sama. Should we let it play? I think that I'd like that." The giggle of the girl made Madoka's skin crawl.
"You know that I hate it, onee-sama. But you are right. It'd be best suited for it."
The two said the same line which made Ichika and Madoka gulp.
"Evil Witch!" Light engulfed them as the two made their unit.
[That is ten times creepier. Even for us.] Ichika spoke to his sister in their mind.
[We can be creepy twins. Not like this]. Madoka replied to her brother.
"What do you think of this, onii-sama, onee-sama? Pretty impressive, right?" The unit had been something that neither twin had ever seen.
It looked like a bulky unit that was piloted by the girl who had made the armor around her look like some witch, with a witch hat and witch robe.
The underside had been a broom from which the other pair of twins could see the boy seated.
"How is this, onee-sama, onii-sama? Proud of what we can do."
Ichika raised his bracelet. "Byakushiki!" Madoka was right behind him.
"Kuroshiki!"
[You're with me, Madoka.]
[Always, Ichi-nii.]
Scene skip
The time edged closer to the departure time. Mattheus knew that Ichika and Madoka weren't the tardy type.
"Something wrong, Mattheus?" Dan asked as the Hunter nodded to Joel's pupil.
"Yeah." Then he found Joel on Natasha's hips as the woman he loved and his boy had the same expression.
They could feel the same problem that was brewing.
"What do we do, big guy?" Natasha asked and Mattheus nodded to her.
"Go to the monorail. All of you. Natasha, keep an eye on them. If it's nothing, I'll find a way home with the rest of us in the city."
"Then allow me to continue to look with you." The words of Chelsea were the same voice as usual. Natasha scoffed at the remark but when she saw the look of the maid, the Silver Gospel backed down.
"My mistress hasn't returned either. I fear that something is amiss."
Natasha scoffed at that remark as she glared, while Joel was on her hip.
"There is always something wrong with your mistress. I won't leave you alone with my man."
Mattheus looked back at the group. A resolution had to be made now.
"Natasha, it's not up for discussion now. Go back with Joel and Dan to the monorail. We'll catch up with you."
His tone left little for argument and before long, he and Chelsea ran off into the city while Natasha turned on the two boys.
"I hate it when he does that." The teacher knew that Mattheus was going to prioritize Joel's safety.
"I hope that he'll find them back. Madoka is missing and I can't reach her." Dan said as he wished that he could go to the city.
But if this was going south, it would be Mattheus and Chelsea who could help them.
Scene skip
Mattheus ran through the city while Chelsea could keep pace with him, all too easily. It amazed him how fast she could run while staying wearing that dress.
"Chelsea, it might seem late to ask but if we get in trouble, how would you?"
He didn't even manage to finish his question as Chelsea answered before him. She guessed that he wanted answers instead of polite manners.
"I have a unit with me. Something that has been finished."
They turned around a corner as they ran through the city.
"A Unit like the Blue Tears that your mistress uses?"
Turning his head, Chelsea's playful wink made his heart go up for a bit.
"How did you figure that out?" The maid asked as she winked again at him.
"Hoping for it. If we run in a scrap, we can both use our sniper rifles. Chasseur outshoots everything. Big bang that rifle gives."
Before Chelsea could reply, Mattheus had fallen back on the corner, grabbed her, and pulled her down on the ground.
Chelsea could feel the warmth of his body and the strength of his muscles. She would have been blushing if she could ignore the expression.
And the shot that had come their way.
The fire had scatted over them as their heads turned up.
"Oh, fuck." Mattheus said as he helped Chelsea up.
In front of them, hung Mandarinia. It really resembled an Asian Hornet. The two adults looked over at their foe who did nothing but keep her mask up.
There was that eerie grin on the face while Mattheus recognized the unit.
"That's Phantom Task. Chelsea, ready with me?"
The maid had her eyes open and glared at the unit.
"You can bet on that, Mattheus. Dive To Blue!"
Mattheus let the rings on his cheeks shine.
"Lavathenian! Let's roar!"
The woman smirked at the two as the two got airborne. The first few lasers came at Mattheus who started to make evasive actions as he couldn't even summon his Chasseur.
[Chelsea! She's focused on me. Get further from her and try to shoot at her!]
He would be the decoy for her. She could live with that.
Scene skip
When the students had made their way back to the train, the question came around if everyone was on it. There were a few missing, which became clear.
Chifuyu hid her worry of her siblings behind a mask of professionalism.
"Sensei. Orimura-kun and Orimura-san aren't here. Neither are Alcott or Shinonono."
Natasha barreled through with Joel and Dan, right next to her.
"Fairs-sensei." Chifuyu turned to her colleague.
The American Pilot spoke for the two as she caught her breath.
"Mattheus went to look for your siblings. As Alcott was missing, Blackett went with him. Honestly, Orimura-sensei, this feels like a trap."
The words had just left her mouth as the train doors closed and with a rocky leave, the train left the station.
"Crap." Joel got captured by Dan and placing him down, Joel lifted out his laptop and went right to a seat.
"This is bad, right?" Dan asked as Joel had his device open and his fingers checked this out.
"Yeah, this is not just bad. This is a fuck up of not-insignificant proportions." Joel could see what was going on.
"Kanzashi, try to get in the control system. I have another egg to fry." Joel had already found something that worried him.
"Oi, Orimura-sensei! Take a look. We're fucked seventeen ways into Sunday!" Chifuyu loomed over his device and they could see the information that Joel had found back.
The news wasn't great at all as there was a bomb on the train. Joel had found out that much as soon he sat down.
But he couldn't find where it was exactly.
"We need to contact the school right away and request military backup!"
The Brunhilde was about to turn away from it but Joel had turned back at her and shook his head.
"Don't ask them to come here! I got a fleeting suspicion what sort of bomb we are dealing with here!"
Dan began to dial Madoka again.
'Please be safe, girl.'
Scene skip
Ichika and Madoka weren't the only ones in the fight. Houki and Cecilia had stayed behind to look for Ichika and Madoka as neither had returned.
Neither of them had liked the idea of having Rorentsuine with them but unfortunately, they didn't have much of a choice as she had also joined in with them to look for the twins.
Before they could continue, they had found themselves under attack.
Their foe had been a familiar but unwelcome sight in the form of Autumn.
They had barely avoided the railgun that had fired at them.
Unfortunately for the Phantom Task Agent, she was facing three units at the same time.
Cecilia with her Blue Tears, Houki with her Akatsubaki, and Rorentsuine who was using the Aulandy Bloom.
An all-round unit, unlike the former units but with heavier support to ranged combats if the railguns were something to go by.
The three teens began to avoid the shots from the crazed lady as she began to fire. It wasn't easy as they had split up to avoid more fire coming their way.
"We have to find our way back to the monorail! But that won't be possible if we have this bitch on our asses!"
Rorentsuine had taken the role of leader.
"Alcott, fire at her!" Cecilia didn't hesitate and pulled the trigger. Autumn barely had the time to make her own railgun fire back at the Brit who had no trouble avoiding the attack.
The distraction had given Rorentsuine the time to fire.
"Hell yeah! Eat this!"
Autumn had taken the hit at full force but the dust wasn't settling yet.
"We are not done with her! We need to decide! Go to the monorail or take her out!" Houki had the frightful idea that it wasn't over just yet.
'Ichika, please. Be safe.'
From the dust, Autumn came and the group had their decision made for them.
Scene skip
Standing over the city, from out of the tallest towers, Squall looked out from a pair of binoculars. The setting sun was making this city so much more beautiful. Just like the chaos that had been enveloping the entire city.
There was a smile on her face. Those dogs were off the leash. Just on time for it.
"It's really something that you rich folks do. Looking over the city gracefully from a place like this?" Tatenashi had been right to stick around in the city and take care of the first years.
Her arms were crossed and her confidence oozed from her.
"Was what the name of your Unit again? "Moscow Thick Fog"?"
Tatenashi continued to talk, as she wasn't outdone.
"That's outdated. It's called "Mysterious Lady" now." The stare-down continued as Tatenashi knew this was just the beginning.
"What are you plotting, Phantom Task?" Squall had now fully turned her attention to her foe.
"How much do you really know, Sarashiki Tatenashi-san?" Tatenashi wasn't going to sit back and do nothing.
"I know that I won't let you have your way with the city. Or with my cute juniors."
There was credit where credit was due.
"Congratulations on finding me here but I guess you were a little late!"
At that point, the pseudo-civility was over and it was time to fight. From her back, Squall launched her snake. Tatenashi couldn't escape the grasp of it as the might of the older Pilot was now proven.
"It's already begun!"
At that point, Squall began to force Tatenashi back from the building as the second year struggled.
"I told you. I won't let you have your way!"
Squall grinned as she knew how to push the buttons.
"I'll let you know the monorail where your academy is on, right now. We planted a bomb there!"
Tatenashi had her horrible gut feeling come true as she realized how bad this really was.
"I'll enjoy watching as you try your hardest to prevent a tragedy."
Tatenashi had her own tricks as she kept the snake further away, as much as she could.
"Good point. I'll get on that, right now?"
Despite the incredible hostility, neither woman lost their proper speech.
"I'm not so sure you'll be able to." With the end of the claw, wrapping around Tatenashi's body, Squall knew this would be one blow the Sarashiki family would never be able to recover from.
"Goodbye, Tatenashi Sarashiki."
The body of Tatenashi was engulfed in water and with that, she was gone. Squall cursed on the obvious ability that Tatenashi had stored up and used to her detriment.
The water went around her body and with a shock, caused the tower to shake.
In the sky, Tatenashi stood as she watched over her foe.
"Miss Phantom Task. I'll leave you for later." Squall smirked as she watched Tatenashi leave.
"Oh, come on. Don't be so cold!"
The unit of Squall came just later and she flew right after Tatenashi as she opened fire.
It came down to the Russian Candidate to avoid the fire and make sure she could make that work.
Scene skip
Inside the train, both technical experts had been working on their forte. Kanzashi had been trying to get into the mainframe.
Chifuyu had trusted that Joel could do his own work and find more of the bomb.
But it wouldn't be that easy. Phantom Task had taken over the whole system. Now, finding the opening would be the best thing to have.
"Pearce, how does it look on the bomb?" Joel waved her over and forced her to take a look at his laptop.
"Luckily for me, my computer is a separate unit. There is a reason why I asked you not to let anyone near the monorail." Chifuyu looked horrified at the weapon that had been chosen.
"This is what some people would call an IS bomb. This thing violently reacts to a unit and can make the unit work like another separate bomb. We're even more fucked than I would have guessed before."
Chifuyu had to come to the facts that Joel was spouting.
"Pearce."
"If you put any Pilot near this bomb, we're lighting up like a barbecue. Plus, all the cores we have inside. One." He counted Kanzashi. "Two." He pointed at Djbril. "Three." The next one was Airis. "Four." Only then he would recognize his surrogate mother. "Five." Charlotte was the following pilot. "Six." That was Laura.
"And not to mention so many more. If that thing goes off with us in it, well, let's just say that it would make Nagasaki, the ninth of August, 1945, look like a firecracker."
Everyone on the train heard Joel and none, not even Chifuyu could hold back the gulp.
"Tell me you have good news."
The punk nodded and showed where the bomb was.
"I have an idea on how to dismantle. Eh, Sarashiki. For good measure, don't halt the train when you can. Find a way to unlock the doors. Something tells me that this bomb is tied to our speed."
The younger Sarashiki nodded at the information that she received from Joel.
"What do we need, Pearce?" Chifuyu asked as she began to fear what he was going to say.
"We need someone to go outside of the train and manually disable the bomb. That has to be someone who has no ties to an Infinite Stratos Unit and someone who is technically advanced enough for that."
With a heavy sigh, Joel jumped from his chair.
"I'll do it." Before he could take one more step, Chifuyu and Natasha had restrained him, by each grabbing one of his arms.
"Absolutely". The Brunhilde could get one word out before the Gospel Pilot cut her off.
"No way, boyo. No way. I am not going to tell Mattheus what you did."
Dan stepped up and walked over to Joel.
"Joel, you have something planned for this. Or something we can use, right? I know you well enough for that."
Grabbing out of his backpack, Joel showed the group what he was hinting at.
It was a pair of long trousers and a shirt with long sleeves with a set of gloves as well.
"Mattheus is gonna bitch but this is going to be his next suit. I don't blame him for not wanting to wear an IS suit but those bomber clothes are ridiculous. Plus, he must be freezing his ass off right now."
Joel laid it open for Chifuyu and Dan to see.
"I have been working on something else. It's not an IS suit but a customized version of what a male would wear. I'll be making one for Ichika as well. This is more breathable material than the shit you're making your brother wear. Especially on a crotch"
Chifuyu couldn't fault the harsh words that Joel said as they were the truth.
"Why do you show me this, Pearce?" The punk let out an audible sigh, signaling his frustration.
"This suit can climb out. It's loaded with all the stuff you need to make an IS pilot. Loaded with all you need. Plus, this thing can be used to hook yourself on this train and climb out. That's where the gloves come in."
Joel showed it off to them and with a grin on his face, Chifuyu could feel herself breathing again.
"It is not going to be that easy, is it, Pearce?" The Irish boy looked back at her and nodded.
"So far, only three people on this train to hell can suit this up. Myself, Dan or Yukimura-sensei." The male teacher stepped forward, about to take the suit.
"I'll do it." He said, the solemn expression making clear what the doctor was going to do.
"No, you won't." The voice came from Dan who stood behind everyone and he pushed the teacher aside, looking over at Joel.
The engineer nodded to his pupil.
"I prefer that Dan does this. First of all, I trust him a whole lot more than Yukimura-sensei. The second thing is that he is technically a whole lot more developed. The third point is that he can listen to me, something that you struggle with, Itsuka."
The jaw tightened. Joel knew how to carry a grudge. It showed when Itsuka couldn't retort.
Joel's visage became softer when he looked at Dan.
"I can't force you to wear that thing though, Dan. It's an incredibly risky job." Dan nodded to Joel as he took up the clothes. Strolling them out, there was a fire in his eyes.
The fire that men carried when they would carry out their duty.
"If Joel says that I can do this and I am the safest option, then we trust his words." Chifuyu pulled on his arm.
"I'll say the same as Pearce said. I can't force you, Gotanda. But please come back alive. My sister would never forgive me if you don't."
Dan nodded and Joel looked him over.
"Get changed. You can keep your underwear on but the rest has to go." The redhead nodded and walking over to a compartment, he began to change.
The guy had no clue what he was doing exactly. But there had been something in him. He had seen the fights that Madoka had been in. The risks that she carried, and the achievements she received.
During the performance, he was distracted but when the Golems landed, he knew better than anyone that Madoka was an IS Pilot.
Maybe, this was a way in which he could show everyone that he was not just anyone.
His clothes went off and the suit went on. Joel wasn't lying. The materials were pleasant and warm. It was something that one could wear for long periods without any sort of issues. When the gloves came on, the lines came on and Dan could feel what Joel had done.
Walking back out, the immense panic hadn't stopped any of the girls to make goo-goo eyes at Dan and even Djbril and Maya were also enjoying the fact that the suit was on his skin. Not as bad as Ichika was but one couldn't choose.
"How does it feel?"
"Not too bad. Pretty nice, actually. Joel, what's that?"
The punk had taken up a helmet with a camera attached.
"This is my own personal version of the Go-Pro. Or how do you think that I can follow the moves of Mattheus so well? Never thought I would ever use this again."
Dan knew exactly what Joel wanted him to do. Kneeling down to Joel, the punk first took out a bandana.
"This will be good to wear. Pull it over your head and protect your mouth and nose." Dan followed his orders and Joel put the helmet on. Pulling down the plastic mask, much like a guy with a torch would carry, it was necessary to protect the eyes.
"Don't worry about the camera. If it stayed on the flights of Mattheus, it would stay on this. Plus, the helmet also has comms to me."
Handing Dan a toolbox that was closed in a sling, was another part.
"You'll need this as well. When you get to the bomb, we'll talk. It'll stay on you during your crawl." Dan didn't even wonder what Joel meant by that.
Chifuyu and Itsuka looked at Joel with worry in their eyes.
"Pearce, don't take this the wrong way but why did you bring this all along? There is no way you could have foreseen this."
The punk turned to them and his eyes betrayed that he was too young for that look.
"With all the shit we have been through, going somewhere unprepared is just looking to get killed. There is a lot of shit you learn when you live like I have lived."
No one dared to talk back at him or ask him the questions that he had.
"Well, no one can complain about that. Joel, what would you have me do?"
Dan asked as he checked the camera. It worked beautifully as Joel got a clear stream on his computer.
"Kanzashi, how does it look?" The younger Sarashiki didn't answer that question as she was working on it.
"As long as she doesn't open the doors, we can't get you out. I'd say that you have to start at the back of the train. Go there and wait for instructions."
Dan nodded, the three teachers were all thinking that he was brave enough for this and Joel saluted to him with two fingers.
"You can do this. I know that." Joel said and Dan began to run to the back.
'I'll show you. The things you do for love.'
Scene skip
Madoka had always learned that the limits of the Infinite Stratos were not even words that were worth writing down.
A Stratos could be as Infinite as the words were in the name. Yet, she found that the machine in front of them should never have come to be.
"Evil Witch? That is one fucked up name." Ichika had been spending too much time around Mattheus and Joel. Yet, Madoka couldn't fault the language. The machine was the typical appearance of an Evil Witch.
"It appears that our onii-sama and onee-sama are now boiling over." The girl spoke as she aimed a mechanical arm at Madoka and Ichika.
"Maybe, we shouldn't focus on that, onee-sama. After all, we have a train to catch."
Gretel was about to answer that until she heard a voice speaking on them.
The twins in the machine smirked at Ichika and Madoka.
"Unfortunately, we don't have time to play. We have our orders." The blast gave a huge shockwave, for both Ichika and Madoka had to protect themselves. The machine took off and flew right away as Ichika helped out Madoka.
"That isn't good," Ichika said as he watched the machine leave.
"No, it isn't. Ichi-nii, strategy?" Madoka asked as they took off, flying right after the Evil Witch.
[How do you want to do this? It's not the first time that we fought those bastards?] Ichika asked in his mind as Madoka flew right beside him.
[Not the usual thing. I'm coming with you on close range. You know that we can think with one brain.]
Ichika would never admit it but the idea that Madoka would be watching his back really did wonders for his ease of mind.
The two were rapidly catching up to the Evil Witch but for some reason, the Evil Witch kept on flying.
[We need to catch their attention. Would you be so kind?]
Ichika summoned Izanami and Izanagi. The bullets pierced through the sky as the giant machine found itself peppered by bullets. Not that it did much damage but Gretel turned to see the two.
"I was hoping that you wouldn't catch up to us, onii-sama, onee-sama. We have our business."
The voice of the boy was even creepier.
"They are really better than we have taken them for. Let's see how much they can do."
The arms turned to Madoka and when she saw the two ends open up, she began to fear what they were.
[Ichi-nii. Those are rail guns. We need to get out of the firing line!]
Avoiding bullets was one thing but a line of lasers required a good bit more of flying. Luckily, the Orimura twins knew exactly how to avoid getting on each other's flight path.
Madoka's Star Breaker sang as she was much better to deal with that. The Evil Witch was focused on Ichika which made him happy to act like a decoy as Madoka was firing her rifle.
Madoka would have continued to fight if she didn't get her brother's desperate shout.
[Madoka, that broom can fire missiles. Get out of there!]
Just a second later, she found that her internal warnings went off as rockets were fired at her. Those weren't too hard to avoid as the missiles weren't guided too much.
[Do you think we can get close?]
Madoka asked as her rifle had taken care of the missiles. They were in the middle of a city. Plenty of civilians around which made fighting even more difficult.
[I really hope we don't get back up. It's difficult enough.] Ichika spoke to Madoka as he tried to get closer.
Gretel was maybe half of their size but with the machine, she had nearly grown quintuple in size.
The Knight had found it easy enough to get closer as Hansel and Gretel were focused on Madoka.
"Eat this!" Ichika shouted as his sword flung down. Before there was a connection between him and the sword, Gretel had brought up her own arm as protection.
"I don't think so, onii-sama. We are not done yet." Ichika brought out Intetsu with his left hand and clashed with her.
Despite his best efforts, he was not even making a dent in her.
"You really think you can win this, onii-sama? Have you ever…" The line was cut off as another sword crashed from behind her. Gretel turned to find Madoka who had also raced in closer for the blow.
"You are not the only pair of twins. We also have our strengths." Ichika said as he got closer to Gretel.
Dissolving Yukihira, Izanami took its place and from close by, Ichika unleashed a bullet hose on Gretel's face. The screams didn't even move Ichika or Madoka as they could hear the shouts from Hansel.
"Get off onee-sama, you big, ugly fucks!"
That broom had more tricks up its sleeves as an energy field was enveloped around them which blew them away.
Ichika and Madoka could feel their bodies being smashed into the buildings and down the streets.
"That will keep them off our backs for a while, onee-sama." Hansel had calmed down from his outburst.
"Let's hope so, onii-sama. We still have a train to catch. Otherwise, this would be quite a hassle." Gretel replied as they took off. The Evil Witch had her target. A train full of naughty children.
Scene skip
The fight that was between several pilots wasn't going very well. Mattheus and Chelsea had their own foe which seemed hyper-fixated on the male Pilot as there was nearly nothing that he could do, aside from avoiding those lasers.
The attacks were relentless and aggressive. They were bordering on psychotic and fixated.
"What the fuck?!" Mattheus shouted at her as she was getting closer to him while Mattheus fired his pistol in desperation.
He began flying in evasive maneuvers. The one good thing was that Chelsea could fire at their foe but it was like the shots of the maid didn't even register.
Their foe was focused on Mattheus and only Mattheus. It was like for her nothing else but Mattheus and seeing him hurt.
The man was firing his sidearm in desperation but it appeared that she could avoid those, just as easily.
Still, the Chasseur Pistol didn't stop with its bark.
'I really have to get a fully automatic weapon. And I'm not thinking about a handgun.'
Putting the idea of getting a Ma Deuce or other arm-barreled heavy machine guns in his head, Mattheus moved further away as his evasive maneuvers allowed him to get his pistol away and deploy his spear.
Goedendag was out and ready to fight back.
"I was hoping you deploy that weapon. Shitbag." The woman spoke and Mattheus had felt those words to be eerily familiar.
But with his spear out, he wasn't going to sit back and do nothing.
Lavathenian was built for speed and this woman would know it. Mandarinia met Mattheus's head on and they clashed.
The stingers that she had out, were not opened for the railguns but closed so she could meet the spear that Mattheus had out but her arms would prevent him from actually damaging her.
Mandarinia had two on the 'upper arms' two on the 'lower legs' and one in the middle. That didn't hide the last one that came through at the end of the unit.
Often, it was Mattheus who had to disengage and fight back while Chelsea tried to cover him with fire.
There were split decisions she had to make and while Mattheus baited her, it was nearly impossible to calculate where their foe would go.
[Mattheus. Do you know this woman?]
[Can we not have this discussion when I'm nearly unable to dodge? Fuck.]
To prove his point, Matheus had to dodge the lasers that were coming his way. Chasseur barked against her but for Mandarinia, it was not an issue to avoid those.
[Chelsea, cover fire would be really appreciated!]
The woman could hear the desperation in his voice. The laser fire of the maid was doing wonders on keeping the foe at bay as Mattheus joined along.
[I have more bad news. We are on our own. There are other fighters but the monorail has been highjacked.]
Chelsea feared that revealing what Joel had discovered would make Mattheus completely lose focus. That IS bomb would be devastating and she couldn't afford to lose him in this fight.
[Just great. This is getting worse by the second.]
When Mattheus let his unit fall down, there was another barrage in which he got caught.
His body was rocked and he could feel the pain in his body.
Mandarinia came in closer and grabbed his body in a deadly hug. Even with the Shields, that didn't stop the drilling stingers as they were boring through.
He couldn't see the face of the woman, hidden behind a mask but the smile was enough.
Mattheus couldn't know how much that would actually hurt him.
Pain wasn't uncommon for him but this was a whole new level. This woman was drilling through his machine and wanted to get in his body.
"AAAAAAAHHH! Fuck, this hurts!" It was like this woman wasn't just fighting. This was a torture. One she enjoyed very much as she delivered that on him.
Then the woman spoke again.
"Scream more for me I want to hear to hear you in pain! Shitbag!"
Mattheus tasted blood in his mouth. The foul, metallic feeling of it filled his mouth. He needed to get out of her attack before he lost his life.
Yet, his arms were blocked by the pincers and he couldn't move his legs to even kick her away.
Before she could continue, a blast blew her away. Unlike what a normal pilot would have done, avoid another blast, Mandarinia was furiously turning to Chelsea. Unlike Cecilia who would have boasted, the maid fired a few more rounds at her.
Her face was a solemn mask as Chelsea made sure that she couldn't reach Mattheus again.
The Hunter took a few deep breaths, the pain getting out of his system.
Lavathenian had gotten a serious beating from this but he wasn't out of the fight yet.
"I don't care, Psycho. You know, I'm going to call you that. You are one sick woman." Chelsea had prevented the freshly dubbed Psycho from getting near Mattheus again.
Materializing his rifle, Mattheus needed a split second to aim his rifle and pull the trigger.
Energy blasts were fun but no one could deny that a high caliber bullet was also impressive. Especially if it could blast an IS out of the sky.
Unfortunately, the two were out of luck as Psycho managed to get out of her descension and turn back at the two.
"I have been waiting for this one. A long, fucking time." The giggle made both their skin crawl.
"Lady, I don't even know you." Chelsea believed it was time they were winning time. As long that was happening, it was less time they had to spend fighting.
But Chelsea knew that she was focused on Mattheus. She didn't have to confirm with the Hunter as she began to etch away while Psycho was focused on him.
"Oh, but I know you. And those screams." Licking her lips, it was like her stomach was grumbling.
"Those were delicious. I bet you can do a lot more." The Hunter had caught on the game and as long he could keep his temper in check, he could make her balk.
"I can scream quite a bit. Although, I'd rather have it somewhere else." Again, there was the eerie giggle.
The woman was grinding her legs together. Fuck, she was getting off on this shit. If Mattheus could help it, he would prefer not to be slaughtered like that.
"Oh, but I believe that you can. It would bring me the utmost joy." He had his Chasseur rifle still in hand. If she moved, it wouldn't be an issue for Mattheus to raise his rifle and fire another round.
"But that is of course what I have in mind for you. Because I can read you, Mattheus Adjzof. You aren't afraid. You would walk through hellfire. But I know something. Something that could do much more for you. Joel."
Mattheus' eyes began to scan and saw how Chelsea was charging her rifle. He had to keep this up for a bit longer.
Even if she hit her mark, and Mattheus had no doubt, she would, Mattheus would send another bullet on Psycho. No one threatened Joel as long he breathed.
"I believe that's what I look forward to the most. To break that boy. I know you two are very, very close. Killing you would break him. Oh, and what I love to have."
The rest of the vulgar line was cut off as Chelsea hit their foe right on the mark. Mattheus couldn't hide the smirk on his face as he watched how their foe was now smashed into the pavement.
Her Unit was pretty much cooked from the attack.
It wasn't a normal blast like the previous one. Chelsea had blasted the entire body of Psycho which buried her right in the street. Still, Mattheus believed that she owned another bullet.
So there was another giant bang as he fired at her. Even if he killed her, there were no qualms.
You did not fuck with Joel Pearce. End of discussion.
Cycling the bolt, Mattheus witnessed how Chelsea joined him. The maid could read that he was close to breaking point.
"Chelsea." His voice was thick and raw but for Chelsea, there was something in the way he spoke.
"Yes?"
The restraint that he showed her, was impressive. She could read how much he wanted to hug or maybe even kiss her. Yet, he calmed down and just looked at her in gratitude.
"Thank you."
The maid smiled. He wasn't completely lost on that but she knew that he was also incredibly happy with her course of action.
"You're welcome. I believe that I have done right by you."
The Hunter nodded and their heads turned. Sounds of battle were not too far away.
"We still got a lot to clean up. Let's go help out our friends, shall we?"
It was maybe for the best that Natasha Fairs couldn't see their flight. Those two flew a lot closer to each other now.
Scene skip
Despite her eccentric attitude and her dirty mind, neither Cecilia nor Houki couldn't deny the fact that Rorentsuine was a big help to the two.
The Dutch candidate was an incredible fighter and her railguns were the intermediate stopgap between Cecilia's long-range attacks and Houki's sword fight.
She didn't give Autumn one chance to fight back as Cecilia used the momentum to make the Blue Tears really shine on firing her rifle.
For the three candidates, that was an awesome combination. For the receiving party of Autumn, that was the complete opposite.
Her railguns peppered the battlefield which made Autumn more unhinged in her attacks.
"Shinonono. Wait until Alcott fires! Alcott, on my mark!" Neither girl would argue with her. The plans she was making, were damn impressive.
Houki got in closer to make a few more hits to make sure that Autumn couldn't guess when the shot would come.
Rorentsuine let Houki fly off before she opened fire again.
After one barrage, she shouted at Cecilia.
"Alcott, now!"
The sniper had already moved into position and blasted Autumn right on the mark. Their foe couldn't stay in the sky.
"You little brats!"
Cecilia didn't miss her mark and the bullet came on crashing through on Autumn who could barely stay in the sky.
Houki didn't hesitate one bit and the shrine maiden raced right after the fallen foe. The swords of Akatsubaki were buried in Arachne. There was a struggle in which Houki really had to think about her own power.
But when both swords had impaled Autumn, she flew up and turned to her companions.
"Cecilia, Laurent! Now!"
The two had already gotten their marks ready.
"Got it!"
The explosion made the earth rumble as they hit their mark. They couldn't afford for the dust to settle.
"That was quite a fight!" Rorentsuine was all smiles as she had gotten a newfound admiration for Houki and Cecilia.
"Let's hurry to the train!" Cecilia replied back which made Houki nod. They found themselves joined by Mattheus and Chelsea. The two new had their marks of the fight.
"Looks like you got yourself in a scrap." The Hunter said as the three girls nodded.
"We were not alone on that. We had Arachne, you?" Laurent asked as Chelsea replied for the two.
"Mandarina. I will say that it was highly unpleasant for us." The maid had gotten a few surprised gasps from how the others now noticed that she was wearing an IS suit.
"Chelsea, that is."
"Dive to Blue, mistress. My apologies but I had been sworn not to tell anyone." Cecilia understood where the maid came from and she nodded to her.
"I… see."
Mattheus was now turning to the rails and the sun that was setting down.
"We need to catch up. Any of you have been able to get in contact with the monorail or the twins?"
Unsurprisingly, all four girls turned sheepish when they hadn't thought of contacting their teacher.
"No worries, same with me." His hand turned to his ear and he wanted to listen.
"Hey, anyone there? This is Mattheus. I have Cecilia, Rorentsuine, Houki, and Chelsea with me. We defeated two Phantom Task Agents. We're now getting to the monorail. Anyone copy?"
The five in the sky then turned to hear Chifuyu talk.
[Adjzof. Good to hear your voice. We can talk later. But don't come over just yet. Pearce announced there was a bomb on the train. Any Pilot that comes even near it, would make it go off.]
That wasn't good news and all five gulped when they heard that.
"We can't just sit here and do nothing!"
Another voice came through, which was a surprise to a few.
[Adjzof, I am under attack from another agent. If you can't get to the monorail, I would appreciate the support.] Tatenashi had come over the intercom and the five knew better than to argue.
[Before you help Sarashiki, let me inform you that I haven't been able to get in contact with Orimura. Also, we have found a person who can disable the bomb. Please, keep those enemies off our backs. As soon as the bomb has been cleared, I can send additional support. Adjzof, you're o, charge.]
The Hunter had an uneasy gut feeling when he heard that from Chifuyu.
"You heard the lady. Let's do this!"
They took off quickly. The direction had been set in but this fight wasn't over yet.
Scene skip
Joel was getting desperate from the fact he wasn't able to do anything. Dan had run to the back of the train. The signal had been strong and clear.
"Kanzashi. Now would be good to open the door!"
The younger Sarashiki was bypassing the system while Rin, Laura, Charlotte, and Djbril were getting anxious. They were eager to fight and go out. Yet, they knew that they didn't have to doubt the words of Joel.
Airis was doing better than last time. She was holding herself together. Chifuyu didn't know how much was true but she couldn't let that girl out.
Kanzashi had found the right way to connect to the system and managed to open the doors.
"All locks have been unlocked! Dan can get out now."
Joel's hand went to his headset.
"You heard her, Dan! Get out."
[Aye, aye, Joel.] As soon as the door went open, he could feel the heavy wind blowing through. The speed was just incredible.
[Joel, you're sure that this will work.] Dan jumped up and felt how his hands and arms were connected to the train.
[There is an amount of power that I am monitoring. Too high and you can't lift your arm. Too low and you'll be blown off like a leaf. Try to crawl. Your suit acts like a transmitter. I can scan the train for the bomb. Faint signal. Climb further on.]
The redhead gulped and when his body was fully on the train, he began to crawl to the place. Muscle by muscle, Dan moved his body as he was pressed on the train.
He couldn't do anything but just continue his struggle.
'I had to play the hero.' He shook his head as he was crawling over the roof.
[Keep one limb on the train. It's the best way that I can keep you on the train. You're doing awesome, Dan. Don't lose focus.]
[Joel, no complaints but what if you activate the upper body as a suit?]
The punk scoffed at that remark.
[If I do that, you won't be able to move. Just keep this up. You're getting closer!]
Dan would wonder later how he would make the jump on the next train. It would be too easy if a bomb was placed on the last wagon of the train.
He would just have to continue to climb. Before he could, his ears picked up something. A zooming noise which seemed to be getting closer and closer to the train.
The boy barely dared to turn his head and he really was glad that he went to the toilet before he boarded the train.
[Eh, everyone, if you all could take a look to your left. You might wanna see this.]
He couldn't see it but he could only imagine it. There was maybe the fact that he and Joel were on a private channel for their coms.
He picked up bits of Maya's voice.
[There is an enemy unit coming up above the train!]
Chifuyu got to the window and saw the monstrosity that was the Evil Witch. Itsuka who also taken a look had his mouth drop open.
"What the?"
"I have never seen a unit like that," Chifuyu said as she watched how their foe was now preparing a shot to come their way.
Everyone knew when their foe fired at them, they would be dead. Dan braced for impact but it wouldn't do him any good.
They could only pray for a miracle. Chifuyu had ordered everyone else to clear out and there was no one around.
The laser that came their way and before it even hit the train, it was blocked by two familiar units.
"Yeah, not" Ichika opened his mouth
"Gonna happen." Madoka followed up.
The twins glared at their foes as they kept their eyes fixated on them.
[Ichika! Madoka!] The screens of Laura, Rin, Charlotte, Djbril, Airis, Kanzashi, and Joel picked up as they were all too happy to see them.
"We had hoped you had died from that, onii-sama, onee-sama."
Madoka replied back to their counterparts.
"Yeah, we don't die that easily."
Ichika brought out Izanagi and handed it to his sister who gratefully took it in her left hand as he took Intetsu and shoved it into Yukihira.
It was now a larger sword that he would need to use two hands for but for Ichika, that was fine. This time, he would make the sword count for more.
"We have a score to settle." Ichika let his energy flow and his glare was kept on the two.
"Chifuyu-nee, do you mind if we take care of this ourselves?" Madoka asked as they heard their older sister talk.
[Orimura, there is a bomb on the train! We can't send anyone out! Whatever you do, keep that Unit away from us!]
They wouldn't ask why but the twins had their orders.
Ichika and Madoka would have to fly close as they got in close and in perfect tandem, they slashed through the unit.
"You damned," Gretel spoke as she turned the unit.
"After them, onii-sama!" Hansel had to move with his sister as their Evil Witch wasn't as fast or nimble as Byakushiki or Kuroshiki.
Ichika got a message from Houki.
[Ichika, we're also on our way. I am here with Cecilia, Blackett-san, Mattheus, and Laurent! We can help you as well.]
His heart was pulled on the strings but he had to get his head straight for this fight.
"Houki, I'd love to have you around but please. Madoka and I have to take care of this."
Madoka nodded as she and Ichika flew off while drawing bombardment from their foe.
Her eyes had nearly mistaken for how Dan had been crawling on the roof of the train. Chifuyu prayed her sister had missed that little titbit. If she saw her boyfriend, it could be really dangerous.
The twins had known each other's move and with their experience, they began to move as one. Of course, the Evil Witch was after them but it couldn't have predicted how fast Ichika and Madoka turned.
Just like with the Golems, they could see how their foe got confused by that. Before Gretel could react, Ichika had smashed right into her with both his swords while Madoka aimed for lower and got right on Hansel.
The boy might have been well protected by the 'broom' but that didn't stop Madoka from having her Yukihira do considerable damage.
[Good idea you had to switch up.] Ichika told his sister about their connection as he kept on smashing.
[I have good ideas, Ichi-nii.] Madoka said as she made Hansel scream by making Izanagi sing.
The bullets kept on smashing on the broom as she began to tear through the armor. It was pushing on her while Ichika was tearing through the same of Gretel. It was showing even more as he was using the bigger sword at the time. More and more of it fell off.
[Are we going to kill them?] Madoka asked Ichika who didn't even stop to ponder that question.
[I won't mind if we 'accidentally' kill them.] Ichika answered back as they were not happy with what those two were.
There were too many questions that would come up if they were kept alive.
Madoka and Ichika had never made illusions. Chifuyu had killed before. It was how she kept them going during all these years.
When Ichika had broken through, there were more frizzled wires and he could see Gretel, stuck in the Evil Witch.
The glare that he received from her, was incredibly hateful but it did nothing to deter him.
"Oh, you really have done it now." She said while Ichika was wondering how much more damage he could do.
"Onee-sama is right." For some reason, Ichika guessed they had the same telepathy as he had with Madoka.
"When we are done with you," Hansel said as Madoka narrowed her eyes at him.
"Which is going to be incredibly much fun in its own right," Gretel followed up while Ichika felt his knuckles tighten around his sword. Those bastards were vulgar.
"We are going to kill our dear eldest sister. And we'll make sure to make you watch when we gut her." Hansel finished the lines.
For a split second, the heads of Ichika and Madoka were blank. Then both got eerily quiet as they replayed those words in their heads.
'Gut her. Elder sister. Kill. Gut. Sister. Kill. Dear. Watch. Gut. Kill. Elder. Sister. Torture. Sister. Sister. Gut. Sister. Torture. Sister. Sister. Kill. Sister. Gut. Sister. Sister. Sister. Sister. Sister. Sister.'
Their eyes were covered by their hair which had begun to change colors. Ichika's black locks slowly turned to a yellow-white as they shined, showing off his eyes which were also now pure yellow.
Madoka's hair got a purple touch, just like her eyes. They looked at their foes but they looked through them. They didn't see enemies. They didn't see kids who were similar to them.
No, what they saw, was something that they needed to destroy.
They didn't even register an explosion which for them was a minor noise in the background.
"You're dead." It wasn't the boasting like Hansel and Gretel had done. No, this was soft-spoken. Like saying thank you after someone handed them the jam on a breakfast table.
Ichika took some distance from his foe as Yukihira's white light was now shining, brighter than most suns. Madoka joined her older brother as her darkness was blacker than the moonless nights.
Izanagi dissolved and in its place, came a blade, made out of pure energy. Instead of two Infinite Stratos Pilots, the older twins were looking like a pair of samurai.
Both of the older twins had not a shred of mercy in their veins.
Reiraku Byakuya and Odoru Kage became activated as energy began to swirl around the two with violent abandon. Unlike the usual occurrence when they used their that mode, namely, the twins losing their energy, there was another peculiar occurrence.
Both were feeding off each other's energy and replenishing the other while they felt an unbridled rage in their bodies.
It was rushing through them, the feeling of rage and fury. Yet, there was no hint of malice in the two.
[You know, Ichi-nii. I think it's high time to show these knock-offs who exactly they are fucking with.]
Madoka sounded so much like Chifuyu but Ichika couldn't disagree with that notion.
[Completely agree. They got a landmine they can't defuse.]
Hansel and Gretel briefly saw air stir before Ichika and Madoka had moved away.
"Where are th…" Gretel had no time to finish her sentence as Ichika and Madoka appeared back in vision.
Ichika and Madoka flew side by side, at hypersonic speed. Moving in perfect unison, their swords were ripping through the Evil Witch.
They were so caught up in their fighting that they didn't even notice anything else.
They were so focused on fighting that they didn't notice daggers flying through the air and rockets landing on the broom
Ichika and Madoka turned their heads to find Charlotte, Laura, Rin, and Kanzashi, in the sky with them.
"Ichika, Madoka!" Snapping out of their bloodlust, the twins were somewhat relieved to see their friends.
Not only for the added backup but also for the fact they would prevent their friends from committing a horrific crime.
"Took you long enough." Madoka's dry remark brought a chuckle from the group as Charlotte began to pepper the Evil Witch with bullets.
"We're sorry we're late. That bomb on the train prevented us from leaving.
[Orimura.] The voice of their sister was another big help.
[You have backup from those four. Do not, I repeat, do not let the enemy do any damage.]
Either their friends were so caught up in the fight but Ichika's and Madoka's hair changed back to the usual darker raven locks, they were so proud to have.
"Where is Houki, Chifuyu-nee?" Ichika couldn't believe that only now he would ask about his girlfriend.
[I repeat. Shinonono is fighting with a few others, under Adjzof's lead against another Phantom Task Unit. if it's any comfort, Fairs-sensei is also going to that location.]
More didn't need to be said and Madoka was trying to ignore the ache in her heart. Something had happened to Dan and she couldn't even blame her sister for not telling what.
Losing focus in a fight was a great way to get killed.
Scene skip.
Dan had crawled further through the place. This was incredibly good muscle training but he knew that he would feel this in the coming days. It had taken him nearly ten minutes and he was pushing himself on it.
But then he heard the words from Joel as those brought him even more relief.
[Found the bomb. It's right under the roof. If my calculations are correct, you're right above it.]
The redhead crawled further on it and then saw the bomb. The beeping and the giant piece of metal. It was foreboding.
"You're right about that, Joel. Any suggestions on how I get the lid off?"
The punk scoffed at it but then luckily remembered the suit was meant to carry quite a bit of weight.
[Dan, this is gonna be risky but it's the fastest way. Use your knees, sit on them, and then throw the lid off. It shouldn't be too hard to do that as they did this without us noticing.]
The Gotanda boy felt how his mouth dropped open.
"You gotta be shitting me, Joel. How do you think that I?"
He was stopped from freaking out and cut off by the same boy who talked calmly about it.
[Dan, the suit is meant for an IS Pilot. I can amplify the strength of this for you to do that. It's my stuff we are talking about]
Joel was never the type of boy who made any sort of jokes on that so Dan gratefully believed him.
Getting his gloves under the open places, Dan began to press on those materials. He couldn't believe what Joel had been going on.
[Okay, Dan. This sort of bomb has an external skeleton. Luckily for us, I have known those types. You still have your tools with you.]
Dan opened his mouth to talk.
"Yes. What do you want me to do, Joel?"
The next few words would horrify him.
[In your toolbox, there should be an Oxyacetylene torch. My own design. Gently, you can burn through. Trust me. I'll watch over you.]
There was a shudder that Dan couldn't escape from. He knew how much Joel had been acting on this but weren't there other ways?
That couldn't stop him though. Dan opened the box and pulled out the torch.
Pulling out the flame, Dan began to weld on Joel's orders.
[This is a very important place, Dan. You need to cut through enough. It's better that you make a few cuts instead of burning too deep. Make a big enough opening.]
"For what, Joel?" Despite his immense panic, Dan kept on cutting through the bomb. He could see some cables through where his flame had been.
Everyone, above the age of 13, had felt the feeling you had shat themselves, without actually doing so. Dan was now having the same emotion of that.
[You can use my suit to gently pry it open further.]
Then Dan heard something else. A beeping sound, that he heard going off. He heard it before but now, it was louder.
The redhead had seen enough police and military dramas to know what that meant. And even if he didn't, there was no way that he could be mistaken.
"Joel, I don't want to be a stick in the mud, but is there any chance you missed this damn bomb was a fucking time bomb as well?"
No one could ever deny that Joel could stay as cool as a cucumber in the face of death.
[In that case, don't take a risk, Dan. There is a forest right next to us. Throw it there. Kanzashi, speed this damned train up. As fast as you fucking can! Dan, when you throw that thing away, cover your head with your arms and pray nothing hits you!]
Dan was overjoyed that he had Joel who had an answer for everything. Chucking the bomb, he counted his blessings that he played baseball in junior high, and he chucked the bomb away.
It was the right course of action because as soon as the bomb was off the train, a catastrophic explosion went off and the train shook on its hinges.
It was a damn miracle the train didn't derail or the effects that Joel had feared, namely a chain reaction of explosions were avoided.
Joel was looking on the outside and he saw the giant cloud.
"Well, given the fact that we didn't go off with it, I'd say that we came out well. Dan, that was an excellent choice of action. Dan? Dan? Dan?!"
Joel was tossed away by Chifuyu from his laptop She did not want to be the one to tell her sister that her boyfriend had sacrificed himself for them.
"Pearce, is he?"
The punk got back behind his laptop and found the answer Chifuyu asked for.
"He's still on this train but he's unresponsive. I believe that the blast did something to him" His head turned to Itsuka who had already gathered a first aid kit.
Joel had to admit. Itsuka was one hell of a professional.
"I believe that it's my time to show what I can do." Chifuyu also switched back to her role.
"Everyone with a Personal Unit gets out of the train now! I need two who watch over Yukimura-sensei when he gets out." The doctor/teacher already turned and found two people.
"Emulail, Highness. I'll need your support to watch over me when I go out there. There is a good chance that Gotanda might be injured." The princess and her bodyguard nodded as they were also getting ready.
"Might I all remind you that we need to stop this damned train first? We can send out units already." Joel added to them.
"Fairs. You're going over to Adjzof and his group. No doubt they can use the support. Pearce, you stay here and provide support. Dunois, Bodewig, Huang, and Sarashiki stop this train. As soon as that is done, go and help out Orimura."
No one had dared to go against Chifuyu and not even Joel added his additional quip. His fingers glided over the keyboard as he began to monitor.
'Really wish I could fly with you, brothers. I hope you're fine.' He would have to contact Mattheus later.
The six left the train via the door as they jumped out and activated their units. It didn't take long before they were airborne.
Rin took charge of the operation outside.
"Charlotte, you and Kanzashi are going to stay around the train and intercept any enemies if they come close. Only when this is stopped, we can help Ichika and Madoka. Emulail, you and the princess. Fly to Dan and make sure he is safe."
Djbril nodded to Rin and even Airis agreed.
"Yukimura-sensei, I have first aid. Should I?"
[If you know what you are doing, by all means. It's vital that he gets help now. But be careful, there is no doubt that Gotanda can be fragile.]
Joel had also been tapped in their comms.
[You have the location. Be sure to keep us updated. From what I read, he's still alive.]
The girls were sent off as Charlotte and Kanzashi began to circle around the train while Rin and Laura flew to the front.
Even for two state-of-the-art machines, stopping a train at full speed wouldn't prove to be an easy task.
Gritting their teeth, the speed at which the train accelerated made it even more daunting. Sparks were flying from their feet.
It had an incredible pressure on both of them.
"Please hold on, Shenlong!"
It was taking them a bit longer than they had expected but it was slowly but surely, the train began to lose momentum.
Airis and Djbril had found Dan, where they had expected him to lie.
"Doctor, he is unconscious. What are our orders?"
[Is he lying with his face down or up? If he is the latter, please gently turn him over.]
The Knight had gotten a harsh and full education so she knew exactly what she had to do and turn him over. Airis had her eyes shut as she felt a certain uneasiness when she watched what had become of Dan.
Inside the train, Itsuka had been facing a dilemma. For once, it wasn't too severe.
"Pearce, in the most likely case, to save Gotanda's life, we'll have to cut through the suit. I fear that pulling it out of him will cause irreparable damage to him." For a split second, Joel had to decide on what he should allow.
"You wouldn't have to ask. I can remake the suit. I can't remake Dan." Chifuyu was relieved to hear what Joel thought of his inventions.
Inwardly, Joel made a note.
'I'm not going through that again. Auntie can have fun with that.'
Itsuka relayed that information to the Knight outside.
"Emulail, if you can, proceed to cut through the suit. You need precision for that. A scapple if you will. If that is not on your person, pull up his shirt to see for bruises on his chest and abdomen. Not too far, make sure that you don't break any bones."
Djbril didn't have a scapple as Itsuka put it with her, so as gently as she could, pulled up the shirt.
The train had begun to lose even more speed and so she made sure that Dan didn't move.
"So far, doctor, it appears that Gotanda doesn't have bruises. I assume you'd be looking for the ones of internal bleeding."
Itsuka wasn't surprised by that remark as he was wearing a headset. Chifuyu had handed him one that he could use for communication.
[You are correct. Now, the train is halting. Can I rely on yourself and Highness to guard me? I won't have time to move the boy.]
Airis wanted to shout back but she heard the sounds and saw how Laura and Rin had fulfilled. The train had finally come to a stop.
Then finally, the train stopped and the other girls made their way to the topside of the train. All four couldn't bear to look at the boy. It was clear he wasn't in the greatest shape.
Then Chifuyu's voice cut through.
[You have your orders. Emulail. Highness. You stay here to protect the train and Yukimura-sensei. The rest of you, scatter to help out Orimura. Yukimura-sensei, please make sure that you'll keep me updated on Dan.]
Running out with a first-aid kit, Itsuka had reached Dan.
"I'll be doing just that, Orimura-sensei."
Djbril didn't find any fault in being shooed away from her spot as Itsuka pulled it back down. Getting his surgical mask on, with the plastic gloves, he pulled down the shirt and made one cut through it to make sure that Dan didn't have internal bleeding.
The Knight had joined her lady on the outside of the train as they were looking at the show of the four girls helping out Ichika and Madoka.
Airis could zoom in on the fight between the fighters. Even with her unit, the Seventh Princess, it still was a show of how much better Ichika and Madoka were.
Itsuka would be in luck for a few things.
Dan was out cold so there wasn't a chance that he would panic. Still, there had to be a reason for that.
Going over the list, he had learned, Itsuka began to examine his patient.
The suit and his position right next to the wall of the roof had protected him from much of the blast. There was no internal bleeding as Djbril had relayed.
With great care, Itsuka removed the helmet and bandana. So far, there was no debris in his eyes. Turning the boy to the side, Itsuka had the ears checked, there was no rupture there either. The advice he got from Joel to cover his head, had proven to be beneficial.
With even a more gentle hand, Itsuka opened the eyes. Dan was still out but there was nothing that showed the eyeball was ruptured.
'The right equipment. We were lucky to have that on board, Pearce.'
The pants could be removed without breaking bones and Itsuka was somewhat relieved that Dan had kept his boxers on.
Pearce would have to bring up his usual clothes to avoid any embarrassment on Dan's end or a murderous rage on Madoka's end.
The legs were not showing any injuries either and nothing had opened up.
Only then, Itsuka di remember to check for the pulse.
[How does it look, Yukimura-sensei?] Chifuyu would have been the only one who could get him out of his concentration. Somewhere, he was grateful for that. He needed to make sure that he kept up with her.
"So far, Gotanda had a mix of incredible luck and the fact that the suit Pearce prepared, was top of the line. You might be interested to hear, Pearce, that I managed to recover the pants. The shirt, well,.."
There was something of Joel's relieved voice that he was glad to hear that.
[It is better than nothing. But it's still better to hear that Dan is okay.]
"I imagine that the blast just gave him a good scare and his emotions got the better of him. Which wouldn't surprise me. He's still civilian."
There were no burns either and Itsuka found that the pulse had been satisfactory.
Airis had been looking over her shoulder, trying to avoid seeing any flesh. This was so inappropriate. Djbril wished that she could fight back but going against Itsuka was not the wisest course of action.
Then Itsuka began to monitor his breathing. Slow, weak but even.
Despite that, they had to move him to a hospital as soon as Itsuka deemed Dan good enough to move.
He would need the whole nine yards before Itsuka could find it good enough. Still, it couldn't hurt to give Dan some intravenous fluid.
Plus, they would need to monitor his movements. Even if he got out of this somewhat unscathed, there was a risk of rhabdomyolysis where his skeletal muscle tissue would break down.
Dan was around enough people and did enough activities to make sure that he was doing enough strenuous work.
If something was undoing his muscles, Itsuka would know.
"Hey, sensei. How did it go?" His voice croaked and his body felt like it had gotten a beating. But luckily, he was getting better.
"You were lucky enough. Still, we need to make sure you can go to a hospital." Dan groaned when he heard that.
Turning his head, he watched how Madoka and Ichika were fighting against the monstrosity. At this point, he couldn't guess on who was winning or losing. His bets were as always on his girl.
"Focus on them, Dan. It'll be easier for you. Deep breaths." Dan did so and when the needle entered his body, there was a coldness in his system.
"I get out of this alive?"
Itsuka scoffed when he heard the remark. That sort of humor was usually reserved for those who had a death wish.
"Most people who get injured from a shockwave get out alive. You won't have any permanent issues."
Dan didn't say much else and just watched the fight.
"Dan, how is your breathing?" The engineer shrugged.
"A bit wheezing but I reckon that is from the climb. I had it before." There was a sigh of relief from Itsuka.
"You're hearing this, Orimura-sensei?"
Dan wished he could hear what Chifuyu had to say about his predicament.
But he just remained lying.
"Keep breathing, Dan. Until then, I can be sure to move you." He looked up to the fluids.
"Just a bit until we are sure about this. Don't fall asleep. Focus on the fights."
Despite it all, Dan noticed that the sun was beginning to set. The evening would be here soon enough. But he wanted to be sure that he could give Madoka the reassurance that he was fine.
Scene skip
Tatenashi hadn't expected five people for backup but she was not going to complain about that.
Cecilia, Chelsea, Mattheus, Houki, and Rorentsuine were proven to be a big help.
"Glad that you are coming along for the fight." Squall wondered to whom she was talking but found that the bullet which cut through the evening air, was enough of a give-away.
Mattheus had taken up position and as assigned leader, he began to bark orders.
"Houki, you are going to help Tatenashi. I want you two to give our enemy no chance to get closer. Remember, we are on our own. No support from anyone."
The Shrine Maiden nodded and got closer to Tatenashi. Her sword blast from Amatsuki was enough to make Squall back down.
"Rorentsuine. Long or mid-range? Where does your unit fall?"
The Dutch Candidate was maybe a woman with many ideas but she also knew what Mattheus meant on that.
[Mid-range. Let me guess, give Houki support. Will do, captain.]
The railgun of Aulandy Bloom had already begun to boost up and the shots rang over the place.
Mattheus aimed on his scope and he began to zoom in on the woman.
In his mind, he had already begun to make calculations on what to do. The evening began to set and while he didn't doubt that he would be able to hit his target, Chasseur worked best on unsuspecting or distracted foes.
The note of adding a scoped rifle to his arsenal was put on his "To Do List"
"Cecilia, you and Chelsea are using a similar unit, right?"
The two Brits had remained by his side and were waiting for his orders.
"That is correct. Dive to Blue is an updated version of Blue Tears."
Mattheus already had set a plan in motion.
"We can switch up our attacks." The Hunter had another plan already.
"You two, take opposite sides and fire at her. Your Blue Pierce can shoot faster than my Chasseur but the load isn't as damaging. Get to it. Clean ones. Mind our friendlies."
Chelsea and Cecilia nodded as they flew off.
It came down to the maid of being one with the first shot that hit Squall right in the center.
Mattheus began to unravel his plans.
[Everyone, with six against one, there is no need for us to stretch too much. Our job is to take her down and preferably here. We are going to use hit-and-run tactics.]
The spear of Tatenashi was barking even more rounds in the direction of Squall while Houki flew past her and again. She wouldn't be locked in a sword-on-sword fight. Too many times she had experienced that stronger foes could beat her on that.
And Chifuyu was usually more merciful than she imagined Squall would ever be.
[Any other suggestions? That is not going to get her down.]
Mattheus grinned at the remark of Rorentsuine.
[That, my dear, relies on me. Chasseur has more bite than any of your weapons. I only need to find the right time to shoot.]
Mattheus did admit the sight was incredible. Houki and Tatenashi felt each other out perfectly, making Squall more and more frustrated as she was unable to get one hit on the two.
Even with her protection on, the two didn't even think of staying.
The Phantom Task Agent didn't even have the time to worry about those two as she found herself on either the receiving end of a railgun or bullets.
[Give yourself five seconds to attack, then switch up.]
Mattheus wasn't in the middle of the fight so he could afford to guide the fighters.
[Adjzof, when you are going to fire? Don't tell me that the rumors of your weapon are just that. Rumors.]
Mattheus smirked as he heard Chelsea speak to him.
Humor could always make people forget the life-or-death situation in which they were currently in.
[Do not worry. You'll get to my weapon's strength soon enough.]
The shots of Chelsea and Cecilia were now coming from two sides but Mattheus had to halt Houki and Tatenashi.
[One more time! After that, I fire!]
The two close-quarter fighters voiced their confirmation.
[Very well!]
[Agreed.]
In perfect synch, they attacked Squall while Mattheus watched the shots from Rorentsuine.
When both had left, Mattheus pulled the trigger.
People on the ground would have heard that bang as the giant bullet was flying at hypersonic speed to Squall.
The Phantom Task Agent had the warnings from her system but couldn't predict where the projectile was coming from.
Only took the hit as she felt her body being flung away. Not even her system could stop such a powerful attack.
[I will admit. That is impressive, Adjzof.] Mattheus had wished he shared the positive outlook of Chelsea as he followed Squall's flight path.
[Cecilia, Chelsea, Laurent! Keep on firing. We are not done with her yet.]
The moment of hesitation cost the Pilots dearly as Squall flew back up from her spot and she smirked at her foes.
"You brats have no idea with whom you are messing." Her Solid Flare began to fire canon-sized balls at the girls.
Unfortunately for the terrorist pilot, they had no problems avoiding those attacks as she flew back up.
[We damaged her protection but we are not done yet. If I can damage her shield again, it should allow either Houki or Tatenashi to fly in. Although, with her like this, I am not sure we'll be able to do that.]
Rorentsuine had grinned at the remarks.
[You really don't have much optimism, do you? No surprise though.]
Mattheus also had to fly away from the bullets and he let his unit fly faster as he wanted to get away from those fighters.
[Please, keep those jokes for another time.]
Mattheus lamented while Chelsea and Cecilia returned fire at their foe.
The other four didn't know what Mattheus and Rorentsuine were talking about so they ignored it.
Squall was not sure who came up with that strategy but whoever it was, it was someone who had some experience on it.
Inwardly, the leader cursed. She had told Aiden that it was best if they kept the comms local. That was now the worst possible combination.
When another bullet came her way, she found that her eyes landed on Mattheus.
It appeared that neither Psycho nor Autumn had done their job. Then again, could she be surprised?
But if she lived through this night, she would ask Psycho what her link was to Mattheus.
When another volley of fire came her way, those chances seemed to shrink further and further.
She really had thought her evening would be a whole lot more on bloodshed. One by one, she would pick the ISA students off and make them suffer.
Unfortunately, that proved to be not the case.
Houki was helping Tatenashi, switching up her attacks, the two swords were doing their best on her. Amatsuki was cutting through while she used Karaware for second purposes.
[Houki, switch!]
The railgun of Rorentsuine was doing her more damage than she had hoped for and avoiding that fire would have been one thing if she didn't have three snipers on her tail.
The laser bullets from Cecilia and Chelsea were one thing to consider as they were just more of them but they didn't hurt as much.
Every once in a while, the city could hear giant bangs. Mattheus was not concerned if he actually ended up killing Squall.
His giant bullets were hitting their mark, nearly every time that he fired his rifle. When Squall got knocked on the side track, she could only try to recover her flight.
Retaliation had to be cut short as the five mixed up their positions.
[You kids are doing some mighty fine work on her. Mind if I drop by?]
The voice of Natasha Fairs was a welcome sound for the students.
[Fairs-sensei. Good to see you! How is the train?] Tatenashi asked as her Heavy Rain was peppering Squall.
[It's taken care of. The train is safe. Now, how about I help you out? I got a system to work out.] Mattheus had always appreciated how his girl looked in her unit.
The Wings opened and the balls of energy that had haunted three of out the six fighters, were now their allies as the American Ace opened fire.
It was a sight to behold as Squall was now even pushed further. The Prominence Coat, her protection for many weapons was also getting more and more damaged.
[Alcott, go left on the Pilot. Blackett, you take the right. Continue to fire at her. When I say you stop, Shinonono. You and Sarashiki attack head-on. Laurent, you cover them! When I say it, Adjzof, you deliver the shot!]
The girls didn't want to argue with their teacher so they followed up the orders. It allowed the grownups, just a bit of respite. Mattheus joined right next to his lover. The position was just perfect.
He knew better than anyone that when Squall was distracted and her shields were damaged, he could really make the shot count.
"Sorry, I took so long." The Hunter waved her concerns away.
"Glad you are here. Where is Joel?" The Gospel Pilot didn't wonder why Mattheus asked that.
"He's on the train. Protecting us from other cyber attacks. That boy, really." She didn't need to say anything else as the girls were peppering her with shots.
"Everything all right? You look winded." Shouldering his rifle, Mattheus began to aim and calculate the shot.
"I'll tell you when this is over. Promised. But not right now." The woman knew that he wasn't lying. He would do that when this was all over.
Natasha then barked another order in the mics.
"Everyone, out of the way!" Her Wings were making her look like a Seraph and her light could be seen from everywhere in the city.
The energy attacks that Natasha unleashed were concentrated in one spot. Neither Houki nor Tatenashi wanted to be anywhere near that spot so they moved out.
"Mattheus, make sure that bitch stays at her spot."
The Hunter smirked when he heard those words. With Squall already in his sights, it was all too easy.
It was easy enough to underestimate Chasseur as a weapon but when the bullet crashed through Squall's protection, it showed what the weapon could do.
The bullet had been the precursor to what Natasha did. The beams of energy were all hitting the same spot which buried the terrorist in the ground.
"What a fucking hell." Mattheus cycled the bolt as the four other girls joined the two adults.
"That was impeccable timing, Fairs-sensei." Chelsea and Cecilia were wearing nearly the same unit as Natasha had to keep the role of teacher a bit longer.
The maid and Mattheus had been fighting together before.
"I was about to add that those five were a big help. Your help was also incredible. Thank you." Tatenashi knew when she had to give credit.
Before they could have their chances of saying even more thanks, they found that Squall had been incredibly damaged but her Unit was back up in the air.
The seven Pilots were standing as one.
"It seems we have underestimated you all. But I am not going to be taken prisoner. I bid you good night."
Before any could react, she had flown off without a chance of anyone, not even Mattheus nor Houki to catch up. It was fast and sudden. In one instance, she was gone.
It was Mattheus who groaned the loudest.
"All this fucking effort and nothing to show for it. Can't the fight be over now?"
All their heads turned to the other side where they could see other lights in the sky. They were remarkably still.
[Orimura-sensei. Fairs here. We have fought one Phantom Task Agent but she escaped after sufficient damage. How does it look at your end?]
Chifuyu's voice cut through the intercom which addressed the team further away.
[The same has happened to us. But given this was us, fighting back when we least expected, I can't say this wasn't too horrible.]
Mattheus wondered if the one that he and Chelsea were still on the spot. But something in his head told him that they shouldn't be that lucky.
Scene skip.
The others joined with Madoka and Ichika.
Having four more to fight with, especially if they were armed with more long-range abilities, was a boon for those fighters.
Kanzashi's rocket launcher was a perfect pairing with Rin's canon. Meanwhile, Charlotte and Laura were both covering one Orimura each.
When Laura had her daggers embedded in the broom of the Evil Witch, it came down to Madoka who was firing her Star Breaker.
With the damage they had done before, Hansel was feeling more and more closed in as he could see the stats of his unit. It was burning down fast.
Charlotte's automatic fire was perfect for Ichika to get close and slash through the upper body. Despite it all, the two hadn't shut down their Reiraku Byakuya and Odoru Kage. It was still on and they didn't even think of shutting it down.
Their lights were shining through the night. Neither of them had the intention of letting up.
The four girls had noticed how quiet they had been, instead of communicating with their partners, they relied on the skills of their friends to keep them safe.
None of them had the idea of even asking. They had seen that Ichika and Madoka had activated their One-Off ability and were absolutely ruthless to their foe.
They had greeted their friends and only had continued to fight against their foe.
[Ichika, look out! I nearly hit you!] Charlotte was horrified at how much damage he was doing.
The Knight remained quiet during that remark. He did move for Madoka's Star Breaker.
It was she who broke the silence.
[Kanzashi, do you mind switching up my position with Laura? I'm going to help my brother.]
The Typhoon had sent multiple rockets to the Evil Witch and she was running out of steam.
Before even waiting for confirmation, Madoka had joined up with Ichika.
The male Orimura had his sword out and aimed it, straight at the upper body of the Evil Witch. His sword was burning with energy and none of their friends had thought that Ichika was capable of sending a blast of energy to their foe.
[What is that, Ichika?] Rin had moved out of the way so as not to get caught up in a barrage of Laura and Charlotte.
Ichika remained quiet and he continued to fire. His body was burning up but he couldn't care.
Then came the words of Madoka.
[Ichi-nii, same as always?] Ichika just wordlessly nodded as Madoka had caught up with him.
[Everyone, please move away if you don't want to get blasted.] The younger Orimura brought the news over to the rest.
[Madoka, what has that unit said to you which made you two so angry?] It was Rin who asked the question that was burning on their lips.
[Kill Chifuyu-nee. Uncrossable line.] Ichika answered back. The comms had been open and on the train, they heard the same
For Chifuyu Orimura, the twins were holy.
That did make everyone gulp and even Dan who laid on the train, heard that line.
So it was Chifuyu who could bring those two back from their murderous rage.
[Orimura. Don't get yourself killed. Take down the foe. Don't kill them.]
On the train, everyone had heard the voice that Chifuyu heard. It was the same, cold, regular tone. But there was the underlining hint of begging.
On the air, the four, who hadn't let up their attacks, had also seen the behavior of Ichika and Madoka change.
Ichika took a few deep breaths while Madoka tuned down her anger.
[Yes, Chifuyu-nee.] The answer came in perfect synch.
Then the elder twins moved in perfect unison to their foe.
Hansel had a complete meltdown during those attacks so it was Gretel who had the absolute honor and horror to watch Ichika and Madoka getting in range for their attacks.
But she wasn't going to sit there and watch how they attacked. Raising her arms to attack, she had forgotten about the four.
Rin and Kanzashi's artillery attack had torn the left arm while Laura had restrained the right.
[Thanks, girls.] Madoka said before the twins made their way back. Side by side, they flew as they were inching closer to their foe.
A shot in the dark came and together, Ichika and Madoka smashed the right into the Evil Witch.
"Onee-sama, onee-sama, onee-sama, onee-sama, onee-sama, what is happening?" Hansel wanted to scream even more as he felt his legs shaking. He didn't even dare to look up to see what Ichika and Madoka were doing.
They had flown from over the city, right into the mountains.
When Ichika and Madoka had found a good spot, they brought the Evil Witch down and it was buried in the ground.
Only then, their War God Mode had died down as they watched the machine, 75% of it destroyed.
"Should we push through?" Ichika asked as there was more bloodlust in his system.
"Enough, Ichi-nii. You heard Chifuyu-nee." Madoka replied as they were watching their foe.
"We're not done yet, onii-sama. Onee-sama. We will see each other again." Gretel had calmed down and then a light shined through. Before either of the elder twins could react, when the light had finally died down, the Evil Witch was gone.
[Chifuyu-nee, bad news. The Evil Witch ran away.] She had switched to a private channel between the two.
[I had expected that. Don't beat yourselves up for that. Join up with your friends on the train. We're staying one more night here.]
Chifuyu had turned over and heard the news from Natasha Fairs on what happened with their foe. Phantom Task had more friends than she had granted. So she voiced that over to the other team.
[The same has happened to us. But given this was us, fighting back when we least expected, I can't say this wasn't too horrible.]
Then Chifuyu paused for a second.
"Meet us at the train. It's been enough for one night."
Ichika and Madoka flew back together and it didn't take long before all Personal Unit Users had gathered around the train.
It was little surprise that Houki invoked jealousy as Ichika had clashed with her machine. Mattheus had shut down his unit when he got to the station. Grabbing Joel up, he hugged his younger brother tight while Natasha had a sideways hug from the two.
Madoka found Dan, sitting up while Itsuka was patching him up.
"Dan, what happened?" She had so many questions about why her boyfriend was like that, in a weird suit and wounded.
Itsuka cut to the heart of the matter.
"That is for later. He needs to go to a hospital, right now. I have done the first aid that I can and so far, it appears that he is fine. But we need to be sure."
Madoka nodded and offered a hand to Dan. The engineer forewent his pride and allowed himself to be princess carried.
"Make sure he stays stable, Orimura-san." Madoka nodded and when her head turned to Chifuyu, the older sister waved her off.
"Let me know how it goes and if you stay in the hospital. I also called ahead so they would expect you."
The Kuroshiki Pilot nodded and flew off at top speed.
The other Pilots had also been all too happy they got out of this scrap in one piece and all of them started to relax a bit more. It had been one hell of a night.
Scene skip, hours later.
Ichika's groan echoed over the bath as he, Mattheus, Joel, and Dan sank down in the hot water.
"Oh. That hits the spot." Only when their friend was back, after a full X-ray Scan and Ultra scan, did the other males allow themselves to relax.
"How did Zus take the news of you acting like a hero?" Mattheus asked as he was washing his younger brother, Dan grinned.
"Well, she was of course worried sick. But I can say that being a hero isn't so bad when you have top-of-the-line support." Dan said as he looked over at Joel.
"I would be way worse off if it wasn't for your suit, Joel. And Yukimura-sensei did wonders of checking me up and making sure that I was fine. I owe that to both of you." Joel grinned and looked back at Dan.
"Did my sister give you a hard time?" Ichika asked as Dan sank into the hot water.
"Madoka is a lot more sensible than my own sister. If she would ever give so much of a crap about me. She understood why I dismantled the bomb."
Mattheus got up from his spot and sank into the hot waters as well.
"I have to ask, Dan. It takes a special kind of guy to risk his life like that." Joel immersed himself in the hot water and looked up at Mattheus.
"I wanted to do that but Orimura-sensei and Tasha didn't think it was a good idea." All three older boys looked over at Joel as he said the lines in a matter that made someone think he was denied ice cream.
"Yeah, that is kind of the normal reaction, Joel. Chifuyu-nee was right to deny that."
Mattheus glared over to his protégé.
"Natasha and Orimura-sensei knew that if they allowed you on the roof, I wouldn't forgive them. They were right. All in all, it's not too horrible. We fucked up Phantom Task and gave them a beating. None of us died or got even close to it."
Mattheus had talked to Chelsea when he got a moment alone. He made her swear up and down that she couldn't tell anyone about the fact their foe had been after Joel.
"If you call me crawling over a train, not dying, then you might be correct on that." Dan grinned while he remembered that Madoka asked him what possessed him to do what he did.
Then again, it was his own choice.
"We all got lucky. But there are still some questions." Matteus's groan came out even louder as he enjoyed the hot water.
From the other side of the hot springs, they could hear the girls entering.
Cecilia's voice was the first as she practically jumped in the pool. All four boys just grinned when the girls were chatting. Mattheus could even hear Natasha's voice in the mix.
There was nothing else that they needed to say as they just listened to the girls talk while the four boys just enjoyed themselves.
Ichika knew he would pull Houki along later and Dan knew that Madoka had some more stuff to talk about while she would kiss him senselessly.
On the other side of the bath, Ichika could feel the link of Madoka. She was sending him the sights of what she was seeing.
Ichika blushed when he had a private look at the baths. Houki, Cecilia, Charlotte, Laura, Rin, Natasha, Tatenashi, Kanzashi, Djbril and Airis.
All were naked and their bodies were just showing off.
[Liking the view?] Madoka teased her brother as she had no shame in giving Ichika a good look around.
"Oh, Houki-chan. Did your breasts grow again?" Tatenashi teased the Shrine Maiden as she sank back into the hot water.
"You think so." Houki tried to hide her chest while Tatenashi was looking over at her.
"Do you want me to grope them and see for myself?" The second year teased the girl.
From the other side, there was one booming voice. "HANDS OFF 'EM!" Madoka looked over at Tatenashi with a grin on the younger Orimura's face.
"I believe that is clear enough, Tatenashi-senpai." Stretching out, Madoka showed off her bust. It wasn't anywhere the size of Houki, Cecilia, or Tatenashi herself but she had beaten Rin, Laura, and Kanzashi with her size.
Airis wasn't counted among them as she was even younger than most.
"I can't believe he can hear us," Djbril muttered as she joined the school girls.
"Them," Madoka replied back to the Imperial Knight.
"Them?" Cecilia asked as the girls looked over at them.
"It's not just Ichi-nii. Mattheus, Joel, and Dan are also taking a bath." That gave Ichika a nice idea as he turned his head. Dan was standing up and he gave Madoka a sight of her boyfriend, naked.
[You really want to do this?] Madoka hissed to Ichika.
[Popping a boner isn't in my best interest. Nor in your interest either. Knock it off.] Madoka did just that as Ichika stretched out his body.
"So Mattheus is also taking a bath. What I wouldn't give for a mixed bath. I could wash your back." Natasha said that just loud enough to make the girls blush first and then the boys.
Mattheus shouted back at his girl.
"If it was just us, I'm all for that. You seem to forget that most of those girls there are below the age of 18. That is just asking for problems."
There was a delightful part of Joel. He was foul-mouthed, interested in weapons, and in many parts, he was mature. But in terms of sexuality, Mattheus wished that he remained a child a good while longer.
That showed when Joel shouted back.
"No, thanks. I don't need to watch several teenage girls in their Eve's costume either." Dan and Ichika wisely kept their mouths shut.
"Shame. You're missing quite a sight here." Natasha said back to the wall as Mattheus hoisted out of the bath. He needed to cool off a bit.
"Would you please keep your mouth shut? There would be no way that my mistress needs to be watched by such a barbarian."
Joel barked a laugh when he joined Mattheus as he climbed under the arm of his brother. Mattheus shook his head. The words would be scandalous enough.
"Get real. He wouldn't even look at her. Mattheus has always been a guy who prefers full women. If you get my drift." Joel wasn't interested in sexual matters but he had learned the words from Mattheus's friends from a young age.
"Full women?" Ichika asked, in a voice, which was too innocent for a sixteen-year-old.
Mattheus didn't know what made him so open but his hands made a move. Both teenage boys followed the lines he made with his hands.
Full chest, nice hip-to-waist ratio.
The banter would continue the entire time while the girls had smaller conversations amongst each other.
Houki felt a bump on her shoulder. Her sister-in-law turned to her with a grin.
"Hey."
"Hey."
The two sword fighters greeted each other.
"Don't know about you but I wouldn't be fine with showing off my guy off to other women. You?" Madoka revealed this to Houki.
The Shinonono heiress nodded.
"With all of them here. Me neither. Ichika is mine."
Scene skip
Sitting at the bar, Maya Yamada and Chifuyu Orimura awaited the report of Itsuka Yukimura.
He joined his girlfriend and wrapped a hand around her shoulder. It was a good thing the bar was empty as he pressed a kiss on her cheek.
"And?"
"He'll be fine. I got the report back from the hospital. Gotanda was lucky enough that he didn't sustain too many injuries. Although, we can't really write down that we sent him up there."
Chifuyu blew out another sigh. This day was just getting better and better.
"We can be glad that all the kids are all right." Maya got in the world between the two and Chifuyu knew it wouldn't be the end.
There were details she would need to get out of the twins. Activating Odoru Kage and Reiraku Byakuya and the damage they did. It wasn't normal.
"We are going to be busy on the reports for a while. This is going to be a pain. I say that we head to bed after our drinks."
Itsuka ordered a bourbon and nodded.
"This was better than the Silver Gospel. No injuries and the kids made sure we didn't have any casualties. That was the saving grace." Maya was still relieved about that fact.
"We haven't seen the end of Phantom Task. That is for damn sure." Itsuka began to fear he would have a few more field operations.
"Everyone has become quite dependable," Maya added while Chifuyu began to think.
They hadn't seen the end of this yet but she knew there would be more to uncover.
Something even told her this was just the tip of the iceberg.
I have, for second time, this month, to thank Virus-Go for his medical experience and his tips for the fic.
The stuff from Dan and the right way of treating that came from him.
I knew I had a bit more time for this chapter but it's still done, right on the Saturday before the anniversary.
Finished in The Hague, right before I went to see The Burning Witches. Again.
And the day after, I would see them in Venlo. We're going to spend a good while on the train to the place again.
The Hague concert was awesome. Great show with Gomorra, it was lots of fun.
Those ladies always find ways for me to have some stuff from them. They have good merch. Let's hope the poster survives the ride home.
Aside from that, this was a chapter the requester was looking forward to. Me as well.
Now, onto the next chapter. Which will be a breather chapter.
Saluut.
