Danbōru Senki/ダンボール戦機 1. Chapter 1

**I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.**

**So I will be editing a few chapters to match the ages of the character and so that I can remove the Author's Note.**

**For new readers, I'll be raising the ages of the characters by two years which means everyone in Arata's grade is 16, Jin will be 20, but everyone in Bandit will still be 18.**

* * *

Arata could only smirk as he, Reika and Hikaru walked closer to the school where they will be studying for the next few months. Hikaru was saying something about admissions, but he did not care about that and walked up to the gates. Reika followed his suit, leaving Hikaru alone.

Hikaru frowned as he looked at Arata and Reika's stats on his tab again. So far, none of their records could be found except they had won three tournaments, but there was no information about the tournaments they won; also, although they claimed to be brother and sister, they do not have any resemblance to each other. He smirked slightly. 'Looks like things are going to get interesting.'

He followed them just as a guard was confirming their identities.

"Now, please leave any LBXs, CCMs, or other portable devices you have here." One of the guards told them and they complied without any questions.

They continued to walk until they reached the front entrance where two teachers were already there to greet them.

"Honshihara Hikaru, Sena Arata, follow me." Mito–sensei ordered the two of them while the other, Higurashi-sensei motioned for Reika to follow her, which she did.

They walked along the corridors of the school for a while before they stopped in front of one of the classes and to be honest, Reika was not looking forward to it.

* * *

"Today, we have a new addition to our class, Sena Reika." Higurashi-sensei introduced.

Reika glanced around the class shyly and bowed. "Nice to meet you, I am Sena Reika. Yoroshiku."

"Reika, you can sit at the empty seat beside Suzune." Higurashi-sensei turned to the said girl. "Suzune."

Suzune raised her hand. "Hai. Over here." Suzune gestured to the seat beside her.

Reika smiled a bit and went over to the seat. "Thanks."

* * *

During recess, Suzune and Takeru decided to take Reika under their wing and showed her around the school.

"And finally, this is the canteen." Suzune said as she concluded the tour. "I'm sure that you will find what you like to eat here."

"Um...thanks." Reika said. She has come to like Suzune and Takeru.

"So, what do you want to eat?" Takeru asked her. Reika thought for a moment and shook her head. "I'm good."

Takeru and Suzune exchanged surprised looks and shrugged. "If you say so."

Reika glanced at her watch and frowned. "Gommen, but I have to be at somewhere else now. I'll see you back at class."She waved and ran off before Suzune and Takeru could say anything.

* * *

Meanwhile, Arata was wandering around the school grounds on his own. 'I wonder how Reika is doing.'

"Arata."

He turned around and smiled a bit when he saw his sister walking up to him. "How's class?"

Reika shrugged. "They were fine, you?"

Arata also shrugged. "I could say the same thing."

Reika glanced back at the school. "So, what do you think about the whole thing?" She gestured at the school.

Arata closed his eyes. "The school is not as good as our last... (Reika could have sworn she saw him smirk.), and I really think that the whole concept of the school is sickening."

Reika could not help but nod her head. Little did they know that someone was listening to them.

"They use kids like us to fight proxy wars, how heartless could they get." Reika spat.

Arata's eyes snapped open and he glared at the school darkly. "This world is already heartless. We should not be surprise about this."

Reika looked at her brother nervously for whenever he was in that mood, it was not good. "Arata, calm down. We cannot let other students know that we know. Besides, a world with no heartless people is a _fantasy."_

Arata smirk when he heard the hidden meaning behind her words. "Yeah." He glanced at his watch. "We should get back to class now."

Reika nodded and walked back to the school building, a little while later, Arata followed.

The person who was listening to them stepped out of the shadows. 'Just who are you, Sena Arata and Sena Reika?' Muraku wondered. Earlier, he had heard about them and decided to look up on them in case they would be threats to Rossius, but ended up learning something else.


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Danball Senki Wars.

* * *

As Mito-sensei brought Reika, Arata and Hikaru down to the Second World, the other students were gathering in their own briefing rooms. In Harness' briefing room, an interesting conversation was going on among the 1st platoon.

"Ne, which LBX do you think Reika would choose?" Suzune asked Takeru and Inui. Takeru folded his arms across his chest and thought for a moment. "If I have to choose, I would say Siren. She mentioned to me that she is more comfortable with using strider frame LBXs."

"Demo, would the commander approve of it?" Inui wondered.

The chatter died down when Higurashi-sensei came in with Reika.

"Firstly, for you to join War Time, you will have to choose which LBX you want to use, Siren, DC Offenser, DC Braver, or DC Aerial." Higurashi-sensei told Reika.

Reika looked thoughtful for a moment and made her decision. "I would like to use Siren."

Takeru nudged Suzune. "I told you so."

"However, I think it is better that you use a DC Offencer."

Everyone looked up and saw a young man in his late teens with black hair and a white streak at the bangs, and red eyes.

"Commander."

Reika looked mildly surprise at him. "Kaidou Jin." SHe muttered.

"I understand that you are more use to using Strider Frame LBXs, but, given the way that you battle, I believe that you would find DC Offencer more suited to your fighting style." Jin explained.

Reika carefully considered his words before nodding. "I see. In that case, I will use DC Offencer."

Jin nodded and begun to address the students. " Today's mission is to capture the point at Reefside Fort. Arabista is expecting us to attack there, so be on guard. 1st and 2nd platoon are to create a diversion at the East Side of the Fort in order for the 4th platoon to capture the point. 3rd platoon is to step in wherever needed."

"Don't worry," Inui whispered to Reika when he saw how nervous she was. "Just stick with me and Suzune and we will be fine."

Reika nodded but was still a bit doubtful about it.

* * *

The students exited the briefing room and went to their respective control pods. The moment Reika stepped into her control pod, she let out a shaky breath. 'Calm down, you can do it.'

"Reika."

Reika jumped a bit when she heard Takeru call out to her. "Hai?"

She could hear Takeru chuckle a bit over the line. "Just checking on you. You know how to operate your control pod, don't you?"

"Yeah," Reika nodded even though she knew that Takeru could not see her. "This is not the first time I have to use a control pod."

"Souka, if you have any difficulties, just let us know." Takeru told her.

Reika paused a bit. 'Why are they so nice to me? I am not like them...Would they still be nice to me if they found out?'

* * *

Meanwhile, Arata was wondering about the same thing as his DC Offencer was transported to the Second World. 'Although Mito-sensei and Haruki are strict and Hikaru is a bit cold to me, almost everyone in class is nice to me. Is this the right thing...to lie to them?' Arata shook his head to get those thoughts out of his head. 'Stop it, Arata. You are not here to make friends, but to complete Maddie's mission.'

"Arata, is everything alright?" Haruki asked through the intercom.

"Yeah."

"Don't get distracted. We are landing soon."

Arata raised an eyebrow. He was so engross with his thoughts that he did not notice that they had arrived at their destination. As soon as they landed, they dashed to engage the enemy, well, with Hikaru disobeying Haruki's orders. To be honest, he was not doing well because he was not use to using his DC Offencer. "Che, it's so hard to use it."

'I wonder how is Reika doing?'

* * *

Reika on the other hand was faring a bit better.

'Kaidou-sensei was right. It's much better to use DC Offencer.' She thought as she trashed a Vernel. In fact, her personality took a 180 degrees change now that she was battling, which surprised Suzune, Inui and Takeru.

"Good. The enemy is coming here as planed." Inui said. "Suzune, take the one on the right, I'll take the one on the left, Reika, back us up. The 2nd platoon will take care of the rest."

"Understood."

Reika backed up a bit to let Suzune and Inui defeat the enemy and give them the backup they need. A frown crept up her face when she spotted a Vernel trying to sneak up on Suzune.

"Suzune, behind you!" She cried as she shovelled her DC Aerial away just as the Vernel fired at her. Suzune and Reika sighed in relief.

"Are the both of you alright?" Inui asked as he approached them. Reika nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

"Thanks for saving me." Suzune thanked her.

Reika rubbed her head sheepishly. "Don't mention it."

An alarm went off at that moment.

_"The point has been captured. Please cease all fighting. The ownership of Reefside Fort will be transferred from Arabista to Harness..." _A mechanical voice called out.

"We did it!" Suzune cheered.

Reika smiled. 'I wonder if Arata is doing as well as we are here.'

* * *

Sadly, she was a bit mistaken. Arata was still trying to figure out how to use his new LBX properly.

It did not take long before Haruki notice this. "Arata, if you do not know how to use your LBX properly, just sit out on this mission."

Arata frowned. "And leave you alone to them, not a chance. Just tell me how to use it properly and I can fight!"

Haruki sighed. "Fine."

As they fought, Haruki told Arata the basics of using his DC Offencer.

"...Can you use your LBX now?"

Arata nodded "Yeah."

As Arata fought, Haruki was surprised on how fast he could pick up. 'He could actually use DC Offencer that well after just telling him about the basic controls.'

Hikaru also watched him, feeling a bit jealous at his skills.

_"The point has been captured. Please cease all fighting. The ownership of Oasis 3 will be transferred from Rossius to Jenock..." _The same mechanical voice called out.

Arata sighed as he stepped out of his control pod and followed Haruki to the briefing room. On the way there, he decided to use telepathy to communicate with Reika. _'How bad was it?'_

He could hear a mental chuckle from Reika. _'What makes you think that I am having a bad time like you are? We won here actually.'_

Arata mentally groaned. _'We won too, but I had a hard time using my new LBX.'_

_'Well, that does sound bad. I'll see you later at the gates and we can talk about it.'_

_'Sure, gotta go now.'_ Arata cut off the communication when they reached the briefing room.


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Danball Senki Wars.

* * *

Reika sighed for the hundredth time as she waited for Arata to come out. 'What's taking him so long?'

Finally fed up with it, she decided to send her thoughts to him. _'Arata! What's taking you so long? Suzune and Takeru have already went to the dorms already!'_

_'Calm down Reika.' _Arata calmly relayed his thoughts to her. _'I'm just coming out. By the way, I got company.'_

Reika huffed. _'You and company? I thought you prefer to be by yourself.'_

She could practically see Arata roll his eyes. _'Unless you know the way to the dorms, I would ditch them.'_

_'Fine.'_ She mentally groaned. She glanced at the main entrance and was rather surprise that Arata and Hikaru were following a girl with brown hair and green eyes. In fact she reminded her of Arata's late girlfriend!

"Reika," Arata snapped her out of her thoughts as they came over. "Sorry, we got held up a bit." He glanced over at Yuno's curious face and his serious face nearly softened. Like Reika, he also felt that Yuno reminded him of Maddie. "This is Yuno. Yuno, this is my sister, Reika."

Reika smiled shyly and extended her hand out. "Nice to meet you."

Yuno smiled back and shook Reika's hand. "Like your brother said, I'm Yuno, class 2-5's vice president and a member of the 4th platoon."

"Souka." Reika smiled pleasantly. "So, which LBX did you get, Arata?"

Arata dug into his pocket and drew out his LBX. "DC Offencer."

Reika clapped her hands together. "I got the same too."

Arata raised an eyebrow. "I see." He muttered.

"But, it looks like you had problems in operating it." Hikaru remarked.

"And you got scolded by Haruki for disobeying his orders." Arata retorted. Reika stiffed a giggle. There was not one time that she remembered that Arata did not have a retort for anything.

"Haruki wants you two to stand on your own as soon as possible." Yuno explained. "That's why he's so strict. Oh, and because he is the class president too. But, don't think bad of him, ok?"

Arata shrugged. "Well, I'm use to facing strict people. They maybe hard on us, but in the end, they are real softies underneath and care for our welfare."

Yuno giggled a bit. "That sounds like the proper way to say it. Some stuff happened to him recently..."

"What stuff?" Arata asked curiously.

"You'll know sooner or later." Yuno said mysteriously. Reika stared at her. Other than appearances, Yuno's personality was absolutely nothing like Maddie's.

They continued to walk in silence until they reached town.

"How do you like the island?" Yuno asked them as they passed some shops.

Arata looked around for a moment. "It's nice considering that it doesn't have the hassles of a city."

Noticing Yuno and Hikaru's curious faces, Reika decided to do a bit of explaining. "We grew up in a town until we were eight and went to boarding school. So, we really don't like cities."

Yuno slowly smiled. "He~, you went to a boarding school before. If that's so, then, I think you can easily adapt to studying here."

Reika gave her a small smile before she noticed something. "Say, I noticed that the students in other classes have different uniform colours."

Arata and Hikaru thought for a moment before nodded.

"Now that you mentioned it, you're right." Arata said.

"The colour of your uniform depends on the virtual country you are aligned with." Yuno explained. "The grey uniforms you see everywhere belong to the Rossius Federation. The ones in khaki are part of the Arabista Allied Forces."

"So, the purple ones are from Harness?" Reika asked.

Yuno nodded. "Yup, you are in Harness, aren't you?"

Reika nodded. "Yes."

"See you later, Yuno." A blonde girl wearing the same uniform as Yuno waved as she ran past them.

Yuno waved back and continued to explain. "And the ones in navy are us, Jenock."

Arata nodded in understanding as he processed this information in his brain.

* * *

After meeting the dorm leader of the Duck Manor and getting their rooms, Reika discovered that she had the room all to herself unless Harness gets a new addition.

'Boy, it's a good thing I get the room all to myself...but then Arata has to share a room with Hikaru...I wonder how is he doing?' Reika wondered as she unpacked her things. She took a good look at her room. There was two beds and desks, one for each occupant, and the window gave her a good view of the sea.

"Hope it stays this way." She muttered to herself as she did not want anyone to find out about her secret just yet. She sighed and held up her hand. A water sphere formed in it and she glared at it.

Suddenly, someone knocked on her door, causing her to lose focus and the water sphere vanished into thin air with a pop.

"Reika, are you alright? What was that pop sound?" Suzune's voice came through the door.

Reika did some quick thinking. "Nothing, I just dropped something."

"I see. Supper is almost starting; do you want to go together?"

"Alright."

Reika sighed in relief as she went to the door. 'That was a close one.'

* * *

As Reika ate her supper, she thought about all that happened today and could not help but feel impress with her new school despite her discussion with Arata earlier that day.

"Ne, Reika," Takeru interrupted her train of thought. "How did you find your first day here?"

Reika swallowed her food before answering. "It's good. The atmosphere is a bit friendlier than my last school."

"How so?" Inui asked her.

Reika contemplated on this for a while and decided to tell them. "My last school was a martial arts boarding school...So, we tend to get a little competitive and it is not often that we have friends unless you are family."

Their eyes went wide at her explanation.

Takeru was the first to speak. "Wow, you know martial arts?"

"Since I was eight." Reika said in an offhanded way like it was not a big deal. "It's not a big deal. Arata and I just felt that we needed to take care of ourselves, so we decided to learn martial arts."

"So, what is the name of the school?" Inui asked curiously.

"I don't think you would have heard it before, but it is Fantasy Academy. And don't ask me about the name, I have no idea why in the world would they name the school like that." Reika warned them.

* * *

Over at Arata's table, it was rather quiet considering that all of them except for Sakuya were not the type to start a conversation.

"Say Arata, who is the girl with auburn hair and green eyes you were talking with earlier?" Sakuya asked curiously.

"My sister, Reika." Arata answered shortly.

Haruki and Sakuya glanced at him then at Reika and back at Arata.

"Um, no offence, but you and your sister don't seem to have any resemblance in any way." Sakuya carefully chose his words.

"I notice that too." Hikaru remarked.

Arata's eyes darkened for a moment but quickly became normal as he spoke. "We're adopted."

An awkward silence fell upon them but Arata just carried on with his meal like it was not a big deal. However, Haruki could have sworn that he saw a flicker of sadness in his eyes.

"I'm done." Arata announced as he picked up his tray and walked off. Hikaru followed him not long after.

When he was sure that Arata was out of earshot, Haruki whispered to Sakuya. "Say, I noticed that Arata and Reika have similar necklaces like my cousin that went missing two years ago, do you think that these things are related?"

"I don't know, but it is best to keep an eye on them." Sakuya whispered back. "Or we can ask them if they had seen her before."

Haruki was a bit uncertain about the suggestion but decided to ask when the both of them were settled down.

Unbeknown to them, Reika had heard the whole thing thanks to her enhanced hearing. 'It looks like I have homework tonight.'


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Danball Senki Wars.

* * *

Reika yawned as she flopped on her bed. Although she wanted to do some research on Haruki's cousin, she was really tired from the long day. But then, her curiosity got the better of her.

"Just an hour." She muttered. "Then I can sleep."

She took off her necklace which had a yellow and green circle with a blue lightning bolt at the centre, there was also a bubble print behind the circle and pressed her thumb on the lightning bolt to let it scan her fingerprint.

_"Voice Recognition."_ A barely audible automate voice came from the necklace as it glowed red.

"Sena Reika." Reika said softly.

_"Voice recognition accepted." _

Reika turned off the lights and locked her door as a screen and keyboard hologram appeared from her necklace. All students from the Fantasy Academy were required to have the necklace with the academy's symbol and their element printed on it. It had a communicator and CPU built into it.

She tapped a few things onto the keyboard and she was online. 'Good, now, just who in the world could be Izumo Haruki's cousin?'

As she scrolled down the list of the names of the students both past and present, she could not help but notice that there was one student who seem to resemble Haruki a little.

'No way! It can't be her!' Reika thought as she stared at the name of the student. Maddie Lockheart.

* * *

Arata woke up the next day at the insistent vibration of his alarm watch. He groggily pressed a button on the side of the watch to stop the vibrations. '5:30 am, too early.'

However, he still got up because he knew that if he did not keep up with his practice, his teacher would surely pull him out and put him back into his old training classes.

A small smirk crept up his lips. '_Reika, are you awake?'_

_'I am now.' _A grumble reply came. _'Isn't it a bit too early?'_

_'Remember, we have to keep up with our lessons, or...'_

_ 'I'm awake!'_

Arata chuckled softly as he imagined Reika's reaction to his threat. He quietly got dress as not to wake up Hikaru and left. When Arata stepped out of the dorms, Reika was already waiting for him with a scowl on her face.

"You just had to remind me about it." Reika grumbled as she jogged along the path to the park.

Arata shrugged as he kept up with her. "You were getting lazy for the past few weeks, so, I would say that this would be necessary for you."

Reika muttered something incoherent and pulled ahead of her brother. Arata only rolled his eyes but smiled at the girl who was his sister in anything but blood. Ever since their foster parents died, Arata did his best to protect her in every way.

* * *

"Arata, all I can say is that you're going down!" Reika jumped and kicked at him several times, all which he blocked. He dodged another kick and did a low sweep, knocking Reika off her feet. But at the last minute, she stood on her hands and twisted her body to give Arata a good hard kick in the chest and got back up.

"Looks like you're still game." Arata grinned, despite the bruise growing on his chest.

Reika smirked in return. "Not bad for someone who is lazy, huh?"

Arata slowly nodded. "Yeah, but not good enough!" He rushed at her and did a roundhouse kick at her side and brought his other leg up to kick her head, which she jerked backwards to avoid his feet.

"Seriously, when was the last time you washed your shoes?" Reika joked as she grabbed Arata's arm and flipped him over her shoulder...only for him to land on his feet and flip her instead, catching her off guard.

"Looks like I win again." Arata smirked as he hauled Reika up.

"No fair. You caught me off guard." Reika pouted.

Arata rolled his eyes and smiled. "Life is not fair. You said that, remember?"

Reika opened her mouth to retort, but closed it. It has been a long time since Arata smiled like that, not since Maddie died.

* * *

During War Time that afternoon, Reika and her platoon were not assigned to any missions, so they decided to head to the viewing room.

"Man, it's so boring with no missions." Suzune complained.

"I'm fine with it. It gives us a chance to observe how things go instead on the field." Reika nudged her.

"Demo it's still boring." Suzune whined, earning a sigh from Inui.

"Oh yeah, where is Takeru anyway?" Reika asked when she noticed that their mechanic was not with them.

"He's probably at the lab or late." Inui told her.

"So," Suzune came to a halt. "Which viewing room should we go to?"

"Kaidou-sensei told us earlier to go to watch Jenock." Inui spoke up.

Reika's ears twitched slightly at that. 'Jenock, huh?'

"Then, we should go to that one, right?" Suzune pointed at one of the doors. Inui only nodded and they went inside. It was very crowded inside that they barely managed to find seats.

"I wonder what the occasion is. Normally no one comes to watch Jenock unless there is something going to happen." Suzune remarked.

"It looks like Rossius is planning something on Jenock by the looks of it." Reika said as her eyes swept through the room, noting that majority of the students there were from Rossius.

"It seems that Jenock doesn't have any idea what we have in store for them." One of Rossius' student whispered to his companion as three DC Offensers flew beside the train to guard it.

"Yeah, by the time they come to their senses, they would be LOST and their cargo will be ours." His companion whispered back.

Despite the fact that they were far from Reika, she could hear every word of it thanks to her enhanced hearing. She smirked at what she heard. If they were going to underestimate Arata, they will be in for a big surprise.

"Oi, look at that!" Suzune pointed at the screen.

Arata's DC Offenser was grabbed by a Gunther who swung its sword down, only for Arata's unit to punch it away. His DC Offenser then grabbed the arm holding his and flipped the LBX overhead, which caused it to land with a crash, making it break over.

Reika winced a bit when the Gunther crashed. "If it was a real person that he flipped, then that would hurt real badly."

Inui and Suzune gave her a strange look but continue to focus on the fight. In the end, Rossius retreated and Jenock continued on their mission.

"Oi, maji?" The same student from just now gasped. "He took down Marco's Gunther with no effort and Marco is one of our best players."

"Let's go, there is nothing good to watch now." His companion nudged him and they left. Reika wished that she had a camera for their faces were so comical.

"Wow, that move was so cool." Suzune squealed.

"Reika, when you said that the move would hurt a person real badly, were you kidding?" Inui asked her sceptically.

Reika shook her head. "Nope, and I got bruises from this morning to prove it."

"Then I would not like to get on your brother's wrong side." Inui shrudded.


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.**

* * *

****"Oh come on!" Reika groaned as she fell down when Arata made a low sweep at her feet, tripping her. "Why am I always ending up on the ground?!"

Arata shrugged. "Maybe it's because you stopped practice for a long time already."

"So did you." Reika pointed out and grunted as she sat up. "So far, it looks like our scores are even, 100 to 100."

Arata nodded as he hauled her up. "Hopefully we can get some interesting missions today. Yesterday's was a bore."

"But a lot of people were impressed with that overhead flip you did during War Time yesterday." Reika pointed out.

Arata shrugged. "That was just like a warm up." He suddenly tensed when he heard something. "Who's there?!"

There was no reply for a moment but Jin stepped out from behind a tree a moment later which surprised Reika.

"Kaidou-sensei?"

Jin nodded at them with a smiled. "You are early."

Arata eyed him warily. "So are you."

"Arata." Reika nudged him and turned back to her teacher. "Kaidou-sensei, why are you so early today?"

"I just wanted see what you do in the morning since I heard from several people in town that you two would wake up early every morning and head to the park." Jin explained. "So, you wake up this early to practice your martial arts skills?"

Arata shrugged. "It's a habit we have been doing since we were eight. We haven't been doing this in a while though."

Jin nodded. "I see."

"Do you want to watch us?" Reika asked suddenly that caught Arata off guard.

"If it doesn't distract you." Jin replied.

Arata wanted to protest, but Reika gave him a look that told him that it will be alright. So, he relented. "Fine, Reika, get in position. You need to master the blind eye technique."

Reika nodded and took out a blindfold from her pocket and tied it over her eyes. "Ready."

Arata nodded and aimed a punch at Reika. Although it looks like it will hit, Reika tilted her head to the right at the last minute, which earned a smirk from Arata. He raised his leg to kick her. Like before, Reika merely tilted her body slightly to avoid it.

"Last one." Arata announced. He aimed a kick on her chest and she arched her body backwards just before Arata's feet came in contact with her chest. However, without warning, he aimed another punch at her gut which she barely managed to block. "Good. You are improving, but you will not be able to master it completely unless you have more than one person training you."

From the sidelines, Jin was watching with interest. He was quiet impressed with their skills and could tell that they had practiced hard in order to perform these moves.

"How long have you been doing this?"

"Six years." Arata answered with a shrug. "I don't see why people make a big deal out of it."

"Maybe it is because not many people can do what you do." Jin explained. "They are only impressed with what you can do."

Reika nodded as she removed the blindfold. "Sounds logical."

Arata shrugged. "I guess so."

"By the way," Jin spoke up. "I heard that there will be a new sports centre opening on the island soon. You could practise your martial arts skills and other sports there."

"A new sports centre, huh?" Reika looked interested in it. "I thought the island wanted to keep to the 1960's theme, so why would they let a sports centre be build here?"

"From what I heard from the headmaster, the management approved of it as the curriculum of the school does not give much selection of sports, so the sports centre will be there to fill up those sports." Jin explained.

Reika and Arata exchanged eager looks.

"Sounds like a good place for the students to hang out." Reika remarked.

Jin nodded in agreement. "Yes, it is from what I heard."

* * *

As Arata looked at the sea on the school roof during recess, he could not help but wonder if anyone would be impress with his powers. 'They will definitely see me as a freak like everyone else.' He thought bitterly. Unconsciously, he formed a ball of fire in his palms, which heated up the fence a bit. The sound of the door opening, snapped him out of his thoughts and the ball of fire disappeared with a pop, but not before the person at the door seeing it.

'Oh no!' Arata panicked when he realised that someone saw him using his powers. He wanted to run away but before he could, the person at the door said something that stopped him.

"Don't worry, I will not tell anyone about what I saw."

Arata looked at him in surprise. Upon closer inspection, he realised who the person was. "You are Mia's twin."

The person, Hojou Muraku nodded. "Yes. I know all about Fantasy because she goes there like you."

Arata slowly nodded. Although Mia and her brother were not on the best terms, she often talked about him. And one thing that was certain about him was that he will not back out on his words. "I see."

Muraku look at him closely. "How well do you know Mia?"

Arata shrugged. "She is friends with Reika and me."

Muraku nodded. "I see."

"She often talks about you." Arata blurted out.

Muraku looked a bit surprise at that. "I didn't think that she would since we are not as close as we were before she went to Fantasy Academy."

Arata smiled gently at him. "I may not know much about your relationship with your sister, but one thing I know about siblings that is certain. No matter how close you are in the past and present, how much you don't get along with each other, absolutely nothing can break the bond between siblings whether they are blood related or not. Mia may not be as close to you as she was before, but I can tell that she cares a lot for you although she does not admit it."

Muraku was slightly surprise at Arata's words but smiled back nevertheless. "Thank you for the advice."

"Anytime," Arata said as he left the roof. "Violet Devil. I hope that we will have a chance to meet on the battlefield."

Muraku smirked as he watched Arata leave. "Sena Arata. Now I know why you like him, Mia."

* * *

'_Ok...Mia's brother found out about our powers this morning and now you are facing him!?' _Reika mentally screamed at her brother through their connection. When she decided to watch Arata and Jenock at the Wall of Gigant, she did not expect her brother to face the Violet Devil on the same day he met him!

_'Reika, please stop yelling in my brain! I cannot afford to be distracted now!' _Arata mentally yelled back at her. On the screen, Arata barely avoided Gunther Yzelphar's sword when he said that.

Reika sighed. _'Fine.'_ She stopped the connection and focused back to the screen. Thankfully, none of her teammates were there or they would be curious on why she was distracted.

* * *

Arata sighed in relief when he felt the mental line between him and Reika cut off. But he did not dwell on it as he noticed that Gunther Yzelphar raised its sword, aiming to finish off Haruki's DC Offencer. Thinking quickly, Arata had his DC Offencer to use as attack function at it.

"Hissatsu Function!"

_Attack Function_

_Hyper Energy Bomb_

However, Gunther Yzelphar merely deflected the attack function at a pillar. The pillar exploded, revealing a motor system in it.

Arata raised an eyebrow. 'That is what is inside the pillars? That's lame.'

"Arata, Hikaru assume the Escape Stance!" Haruki ordered them. Arata and Hikaru nodded and did the Escape Stance.

But Gunther Yzelphar was not done yet. Before Arata's DC Offencer fully assumed the Escape Stance, it raised it sword to hit Arata's LBX. But it was stopped when someone fired at it from afar. Arata noticed who's LBX it was and frowned. 'Gendou-san?'

* * *

Reika sighed in relief as Arata's LBX assumed the Escape Stance. 'Thank goodness. That was a close one.' She got up from her seat and left.

When she met her brother, she was surprise of his company. "Arata, when did you start to walk back with them?"

Arata shrugged while the others were a bit confused at Reika's statement.

Yuno pulled her aside and whispered to her, "Ne, Reika, what did you mean by that?"

Reika glanced over to her brother and then at Yuno. "Arata has always been a loner who prefers to be by himself. So, I'm a bit surprise that he would choose to walk back with you guys."

Yuno blinked in surprise. "He doesn't act like a loner to me."

Reika shrugged. "That's just how he is. He prefers to be alone but act differently."

"Hojou Muraku?!"

Haruki's voice made them jump in surprise.

'Hojou Muraku? Masaka?!' Reika craned her head to look at the said boy who was leaning on the wall, clearly waiting for them. 'He really is Mia's twin. They even have the same postures.'

Muraku walked over to them looking at Arata. "You're the first to ever land a blow on my unit. Sena Arata, I'll remember your name."

He walked off, leaving the group surprise, though Reika was surprise for a different reason.

Haruki was the first one to open his mouth. "Hojou Muraku..."

"...Was the Violet Devil's player?" Yuno finished for him.

Reika shook her head as she walked ahead of the group. _'I guess he acts differently around other people, right Arata?'_

_'My thoughts exactly.' _Arata answered her. _'No wonder Mia often gets annoyed at him.'_

Reika giggled silently. _'The love of siblings.'_

Arata rolled his eyes. _'Be thankful that I am not like him.'_

_ 'Oh, I will~'_ Reika ended the connection and ran ahead.


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.

* * *

Up on roof of the dorms, Arata was lying down on his back, looking at the stars while tracing the constellations with one finger. 'It has been a long time since I've last done this.'

"Arata?"

Arata shot up and glanced behind him. "Yuno?"

"I noticed that you were up here for the past few nights. Do you mind if I join you?" Yuno asked as she carefully approached him, not wanting to fall down. Arata merely nodded and gestured at the place beside him.

"So, you really like stargazing." Yuno commented as she watched Arata trace another constellation.

Arata nodded. "In my previous school, we had a platform for anyone who wants to do some stargazing during the weekends. And I liked to go there with my girlfriend."

Yuno was surprise at that. "You have a girlfriend?"

"Had." Arata corrected her.

Yuno's expression saddened. "So, what happen to her?"

Arata's hands fell to his side as he sat up. "She's dead." He said quietly. "She died in an accident last year."

Yuno gasped. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He reached into his pocket and took out a white heart shape locket with a yellow gem in the middle with many multi coloured stones around it. He pressed the gem and the locket opened. "This is a photo of her that I carry around." He handed the locket to Yuno to see it.

When Yuno saw the picture she gasped. The girl in the photo had long dark hair and grey eyes. But surprisingly, she and Yuno shared some similar features like the shape of their eyes and face.

"She really looks like you." Arata remarked.

Yuno nodded wordlessly and handed the locket back. "Yeah."

Arata gazed back at the sky. "She's really sweet, just like you. But underneath that is a warrior who will fight for her friends."

"...Souka."

After a moment of awkward silence, Yuno decided to ask him a question that has been on her mind. "Arata, why are you so nice to me? I talked with Reika and she said that you are usually not as nice to everyone else like you are to me."

Arata kept silent for a moment. "I don't know. I was just nice because I wanted to...but, sometimes I wonder if it is because you look like Maddie a lot." He sighed. "I'm sorry. But I really don't know."

Yuno gently placed a hand on his arm. "I'm sure that you will find out one day. And if you do, just know that I will not be mad at you if you are nice to me just because I look like your late girlfriend."

"...Arigatou." Arata fiddled around his pocket and took out a leaf. "I used to play this song to Reika when she was sick." He placed the leaf to his mouth and blew it, creating a melodious tune.

Yuno listened to it with her mouth open. "The music...it's so beautiful." Yuno said when Arata had finished the song.

Arata smiled softly. "Thanks."

* * *

Reika smiled softly as she watched Arata play the song she grew to love. Ever since Maddie died, he refused to play the song again no matter how much she begged. Now, to listen to it again, to her, it was a miracle.

* * *

Muraku frowned as he reread the letter in his hands and furrowed his brow.

"Muraku, what's wrong?" Kageto asked him when he noticed his friend's expression.

Muraku closed his eyes. "Mia, my sister, is coming to this school next Monday."

Vanessa, Kageto and Mikhail exchanged curious glances.

"We never knew that you have a sister." Vanessa remarked.

Muraku just kept quiet and picked up his tray along with the letter.

* * *

"Arata, where are we going?" Reika asked curiously as she tugged on her skirt. She was wearing a purple long sleeve shirt, a blue skirt with very short pants underneath and a pair of calf length brown boots as today was Saturday, so all the students can wear their casual clothes and not their uniforms.

Arata on the other hand was wearing a casual red t-shirt and black jeans with red running shoes. Her held up a letter. "Someone sent me a letter telling us to visit the new sport centre building."

"Who could it be from?"

"I have an idea." Arata said mysteriously. "By the way, I heard that Mia is starting school here next Monday."

Reika grinned and jumped up and down. "Yup, she said that she wants to help us with our mission."

Arata nodded silently. "Yeah, also, Yuko-nee will be coming to the island soon."

Reika suddenly paused. "Wait, what is the name of the sports centre?"

Arata's lips turned upward into a small smile. "Kuriko's Fantasy Sports Centre."

Reika's jaws dropped. "Does this mean...?"

Arata nodded. "Yup, Yuno-nee and Atsuya-senpai are running the sports centre."

* * *

"Here we are."

Reika looked at the building in surprise. In contrast to the 1960's buildings on the island, the sports centre building was a huge white square shape building. The outside was pretty much like any ordinary building, but knowing Yuko-nee, she probably managed to get some hidden rooms for them to practice their powers secretly.

"Come on, let's go in." Arata's voice broke through her train of thoughts.

"Hai."

The inside of the building was certainly more impressive than the outside. The lobby had a fountain and several couches around the room. Pass there was the main hall which has a small bar for snacks and drinks and one can see the sky from the glass roof.

"Reika, look." Arata pointed at a mural on one of the walls. The mural shows three dragon-like beings. The one in the centre was the largest and white and black in colour. Its white wings were spread open revealing black streaks on it. Its upper body is white which fades into black at the lower body. Also, the eyes are amber in colour with a fire in it and have a horn about 3 inches long between its eyes.

The other two on each side of it were slightly smaller than but still just as beautiful as it. The one on the right has white wings and body which fades to grey at the lower parts and beautiful blue eyes. The horn on its head was gold and the spikes on its back were silver.

The one on the left had the same design as the one on the right, but its colours were purple at the top which fades to black and the horn and spikes on its back are crimson.

"The original Avianes." Reika whispered in awe.

"Glad to hear that your knowledge on the Avianes hasn't rusted yet."

Reika and Arata shared a grinned before they turned around to face the person who spoke and her companion.

"And I'm glad to see you lovebirds again." Reika said cheekily. "Mia, Atsuya."

* * *

**For those of you who have questions about the Avianes, you can PM me and ask.**


	7. Chapter 7

I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.

* * *

"And I'm glad to see you lovebirds again." Reika said cheekily. "Mia, Atsuya."

Mia, a short girl with long black hair like her brother with blue streaks and purple-yellow eyes, rolled her eyes and wacked Reika across the back of the head. "Is this how you greet us after not seeing us for eight months?"

"Ow~," Reika cried as she rubbed her head.

Arata rolled his eyes and did a fist bump with Atsuya. "Great to see you again, Atsuya-senpai."

Atsuya grinned. "Great to see you guys too."

"And Mia, it has been a long time." Arata said as he turned to her.

Mia smiled and shook his hand before turning to Reika with a small smirk. "This is the proper way to greet us."

Reika pouted. "I don't see why I can't greet you my way!"

"That's because your way is too blunt!"

They glared at each other in a heated silent argument. Atsuya sweatdroped and whispered to Arata. "Do you think we should break them up?"

Arata watched them for a moment and smiled. "Nah, this happens most of the time. It will turn out fine in the end."

Just as he had said that, a laugh from both Reika and Mia caught their attention.

"You certainly haven't lost your touch, Rei."

"So have you Mia."

They hugged each other and turned to the boys. "So, did we miss anything?"

"Um, no."

* * *

"Seriously though, how long have you been on the island?" Reika asked her best friend as Atsuya prepared drinks behind the bar. Arata had wandered off saying that he wanted to have a look around the building.

Mia tapped her chin. "I would say...for three days?"

"Three days and you did not even tell us?!"

Mia just shrugged like it was not a big deal. "Oh, with all that work cleaning up this place, you would tend to forget about other things."

"Like telling your brother that you are here already?" Reika asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Mia groaned and banged her head on the table. "Can we not get to that? It's bad enough that he has to be famous in school."

Reika gave her a wry smile. "Just so you know, he already found a rival in Arata."

"What?" Mia moaned. "The next thing I know, everyone would be expecting me to be as good as him."

Reika patted her shoulder. "Ma~, if that happens, show them your skills!"

"Reika, my skills in using an LBX are only second to Arata and yours" Mia deadpanned.

Reika wagged a finger. "I'm not talking about your LBX skills; I'm talking about your martial arts skills. That should shut them up for a while."

Mia had to laugh. "You're crazy, you know that?"

"So I've heard."

"Anyway, I will be going to the school later to find out which class I will be in. Hopefully I will not be in the same class as Muraku."

Reika raised an eyebrow at that but did not say anything about it.

"Hai, here you go." Atsuya came to their table with two drinks on the tray. "One ice blended strawberry milkshake," He placed the drink in front of Reika, "and one orange milkshake." He gave Mia the drink.

"Thank you Atsuya." Reika took a huge sip of her drink. "Ah~, these are so good."

Atsuya grinned. "It took me all night just to get the recipe right. Glad that you like it."

Mia silently sipped her milkshake as she flipped through the school guide book that Reika had lent to her in order for her to familiarize herself with the school.

"Mia, is it good?"

Atsuya's question made her look up from her reading and grin. "Just like always, it is the best."

Atsuya chuckled. "But, it is all thanks to you."

Reika rolled her eyes. "Please, if you're going to flirt, get a room. Oh, and I don't think that Muraku would like it if you flirt with Atsuya in front of him."

Mia huffed. "He has no right to tell me what to do. So, if he doesn't like it, then I don't care."

* * *

"We're back." Reika called as she and Arata returned to the dorms. After seeing the sports building, they decided that if they did not return back soon, they will be late for lunch.

"Ah, welcome back." Sakuya greeted them. "Lunch is in five minutes."

"Thanks." Reika stretched her muscles. "That was a very tiring walk."

"Heh, so you went for a walk."

Arata nodded. "You should go out there and get some exercise instead of staying copped up in your room the whole day."

Sakuya scratched his cheek sheepishly. "I would, but I have to finish fixing the LBX before I can do anything else."

Arata nodded in understanding. "Can I help you after lunch?"

"Sure."

* * *

"So, Arata, I meant to ask you, but where did you learn to do that overhead throw that you did that day when Rossius attacked our cargo train last week during War time?" Sakuya asked as he fixed Hikaru's DC Offencer.

Arata looked up from polishing a part. "Oh, it's nothing. Reika and I went to a martial arts school before this. I just like to input my martial art skills into my LBX skills. But...these LBXs are not like my last one. They cannot withstand it if I use them too much."

Sakuya nodded in agreement. "As a mechanic, I can tell that the move had placed a huge strain on your DC Offencer's arm. That's why you did not you it again, right?"

"Yup."

Sakuya though for a moment. "Say Arata, were did you and Reika get those necklaces?"

Arata looked down at his necklace. Like Reika's it has the Fantasy Academy embalm but his has a flame print on it instead of a bubble. "We got them from our previous school. Every student is given one with the element print of their choice. Reika and I keep ours for memory sake."

"Heh," Sakuya said in awe. "Haruki once mentioned that his cousin had one just like that."

Arata jerked up at that. "Really? Hm, maybe I should ask him who his cousin is. Maybe Reika or I might know him or her."

Sakuya sighed as he finished fixing Hikaru's LBX. "Mah, Haruki doesn't really like talking about her since she disappeared two years ago."

"Is that why he is so strict?"

Sakuya shook his head. "No, actually, he cannot help it. Thanks to an error in his plans, our old teammates' LBXs became LOST. Thanks to the Violet Devil."

Arata blinked in surprise.

"It was Haruki's first time leading the platoon, and he was so excited..." Sakuya trailed off as he remembered what happened that day. Unbeknown to him, Arata used his powers to read his mind and saw all that happened that day in his mind.

"So, that's why he is like that." Arata muttered softly.

"The Violet Devil's strength is stellar. It was pure luck that Haruki got out safely. But he still failed the mission and lost his teammates thanks to his own judgement. That is why he is like that." Sakuya paused for a moment. "I think you're both good players. But it's all over once you are LOST. We mechanics can't repair your machines if they can't be recovered."

Arata thought for a moment. "I see. I think I understand what he had gone through. Most of the time Reika and two other girls depend on me to guide them through the martial arts lessons. There was this one time though, due to the fact I misjudged something in my calculations, I accidentally injured one of the girls and she could not walk properly after that."

Sakuya looked at him in surprise. "Wow that must have been bad."

Arata nodded. "Yeah, even until now, I've never stopped feeling guilty about it because I was supposed to guide her but I ended up injuring her and destroying her dream of being a dancer."

Sakuya patted his shoulder. "Ma, it was in the past, so you should let it go. I'm sure that the girl doesn't blame you for what happened."

Arata glanced out the window. "You're right, she didn't."

* * *

Mito-sensei stiffened as a man in a business suit stood across the table. "May I help you?"

The man wordlessly placed a briefcase on the table and opened it.

Mito-sensei's eyes became wide when she saw the contents. "These are..."


	8. Chapter 8

**I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.**

* * *

Mia grinned as she left the office of the headmaster after knowing which class she will be in. She pulled out her CCM from her handbag and quickly dialled Reika's number.

"Guess what?"

_"You know which class you will be in and it is not class 4-1."_

"Yes! Now I won't be in the same class as Muraku." Mia squealed.

_"Alright, so which class are you in?"_

Mia glanced at the paper which told her which class she was in. "Class 4-5."

_"That's Jenock's class."_ Reika said in surprise. _"You will be with Arata."_

Mia shrugged. "That's good, I suppose. He can keep my temper in check that way."

_"You are still taking those anger management classes, aren't you?" _Reika deadpanned.

Mia rolled her eyes. "Yes, I am, as a matter of fact."

_"Glad to hear that. I'll tell Arata that you are in the same class as him. I'll see you tomorrow."_

"Bye." Mia hung up and tossed her CCM back into her handbag carelessly.

* * *

Mia hummed as she walked around the park, given her good mood after the visit to the school.

A ball rolled to her feet as some kids nearby kicked it too far.

"Sorry, can you kick it back?" One of the kids called. Mia grinned and kicked it back. The ball sailed through the air and landed directly into the kid's arms.

"Arigatou!"

Mia smiled and waved.

"You have not changed a lot at all, Mia."

Mia sighed and turned around to face her brother with a small smirk. "Hello, Muraku." She eyed him critically for a moment. "I can see that you did change a bit."

A small smile crept up Muraku's lips. "I guess so."

An awkward silence followed after that.

"How long have you been on the island?" Muraku asked, breaking the silence.

Mia thought for a moment. "Three days. I was helping to set up the new sports centre."

Muraku nodded. "I see."

"And," Mia flipped her hair. "I went to see the headmaster just now, and I am in class 2-5."

"Jenock's class." Muraku stated.

Mia nodded. Another awkward silence came.

"Well, I heard that you started a rivalry with Arata."

Muraku nodded and stared at the distance. "Ah, he is the first one to land a hit on my unit."

Mia slowly nodded. "Souka." She thought for a moment and spoke. "If you stay out of my mission, I will stay out of yours."

Muraku's gaze sharpened. "Ah."

* * *

Arata closed his eyes and tried to meditate but could not with all the racket from the students in the class.

"Ne, ne, I heard that we are having a new student in our class!" Yuno exclaimed.

"Also, I heard that she is related somehow to one of the top players of the school!" Catherin added her input.

Arata silently groaned at their blaring voices. "How can anyone be so excited for a new student is beyond my imagination." He muttered grouchily.

Sakuya sweatdropped at that. "Ma, I guess it is ok to be excited about something every once in a while."

"Say, Arata, what do you think about our new addition?" Yuno asked as she went to him.

Arata sighed. "A new student means that we get stronger. End of discussion."

Yuno pouted. "Mou, you are no fun."

The door opened and Mito-sensei stepped in. "Quiet. Today, we have a new addition to Jenock." She turned to the door. "Come in."

Much to the shock of everyone, except for Arata, a girl with long black hair with blue streaks and purple-yellow eyes wearing Jenock's uniform walked in. But what is shocking is that she looks exactly like Hojou Muraku.

"Hojou Mia. Yoroshiku." Mia bowed.

"Wait just a minute!" Catherin raised her hand. "She is related to Hojou Muraku and there could be a chance she can sneak information to him!"

Mia's eyes flared up for a moment and opened her mouth to retort. But Arata caught her eye and shook his head, indicating her to calm down. She took a deep breath and closed her mouth.

Mito-sensei watched this exchange and made up her mind. "Quiet. I have made up my mind. She will not be officially part of the first platoon, but, she will join them in their missions."

Mia closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. "Hai."

"Also, first platoon, to the front."

Arata, Haruki, Hikaru and Sakuya got up and went to the front.

"I'm sure that your LBX are not in the best of shape." Mito-sensei began. Mia raised an eyebrow at that, wondering what had happened.

"So, in today's mission, we'll have you use these." Mito-sensei placed a briefcase on the table and opened it. Inside was four boxes of LBX. "We were issued these brand new models for use during War Time. Thus, we will have the first platoon and Mia tests these new LBX."

Arata frowned as he tried to figure out what _that person_ was thinking, giving them new LBX.

"Izumo Haruki will receive Orvane, Honshihara Hikaru will get Val Sparos, Sena Arata will get Dot Phasor, and Hojou Mia will get Phantom Blaze."

There were mummers of protest at this.

"Sensei, why only the first platoon?" Rikuya demanded. "Also, why give the new student one of the new LBXs?"

"My thoughts exactly!" Catherin joined in. "They failed their last mission!"

Mia really wanted to lunge at her but Arata placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Stop it. Best not to cause a scene here." He whispered to her softly.

Mia growled but nodded.

* * *

"Great, just when I thought I could get away from Muraku and the comparisons, he indirectly created more problems for me." Mia grumbled to Arata and Reika as they ate their lunch at the roof.

Reika shrugged. "It could be worst. At least Arata was there when he was to stop you from blowing your top."

"Yeah!" Mia snapped. "I could have at least taught her a lesson or two! She better be thankful that Arata stopped me or she would be having a bloody eye or two!"

"Mia! Watch your language!" Arata scolded her.

Mia flinched but nodded. "Hai, I'm sorry."

Arata sighed. "You have to remember this. If you get angry over every single thing related to Muraku, you will definitely find it hard to fit in with Jenock. So, try to keep your temper in check. I cannot be there to stop you every time you lose it."

"I will when they stop making me angry!"

"Mia," Arata placed a hand on her shoulder. "You must remember this. It is not them who make you angry; it is you who chooses to be angry."

"So, I should remember that I have a choice and keep my temper in check like this. I know, I know." Mia held up her hands.

Reika giggled. "Wow, Arata, you are becoming more like Master Yuriko."

Arata gave her a wry smile. "Seems like it."

"By the way, I heard from Yuno that you have new LBX." Reika spoke up.

Mia and Arata nodded and took their LBX out.

"He~. So this is Dot Phasor and Phantom Blaze." Reika took Phantom Blaze and admired it. "If I did not know better, I would say that they look like your previous LBXs."

Arata's face became solemn. "I think, Yuko-nee had a hand in giving us these LBX. Their designs and capabilities are exactly like our previous ones that allowed us to infuse our martial arts skills into it."

"Now that you mentioned it..." Mia took back her LBX and looked at it carefully. "I think you are right."

"Ma, it doesn't matter," Reika shrugged. "We can ask her when she arrives at the island."

Arata nodded. "By the way, the opening ceremony of the sports centre is this Saturday. Yuko-nee said that we can invite anyone we want."

"Are you going to invite Muraku?" Reika asked Mia curiously.

Mia sighed and nodded. "Yup, I gave him the invitation yesterday when I saw him."

"Also, Yuko-nee wants you and me to do a demonstration that day." Arata said while smirking at Mia.

Mia rolled her eyes. "What demonstration?"

"Martial arts."

Mia's lips twitched a bit. "Fine by me."


	9. Chapter 9

I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.

* * *

"I can't wait to see how well these new LBX will function during War Time." Sakuya said excitedly as the 1st platoon walked to Jenock's briefing room. Haruki and Hikaru nodded in agreement.

"Ah, they seem stronger than an average LBX, so, I believe that they will be a great asset to Jenock." Haruki remarked.

Mia did not bother to listen as she lagged behind with Arata from the group. Although Sakuya had made an effort to welcome her, Haruki was a bit cold to her and Hikaru had ignored her most of the time like her classmates. The only one in class that was friendly to her was Arata, and it was only because he was her long time friend.

"Arata, do you ever feel that you don't fit in this school just because you came from a...different school than everyone else?" She suddenly asked him.

Arata tapped his chin for a moment. "Maybe, but just a bit. Haruki and Sakuya were great in helping me and Hikaru adjust to the school, and Reika's teammates were friendly to her from the start from what she told me." Noticing Mia's slightly disappointed look because of the cold reception she got when she first joined, he patted her shoulder. "Cheer up. Give them some time, once they see that you are nothing like Muraku, they might like you. And who knows? Maybe they will be grateful for having a strong teammate on their side."

Mia gave him a slight wry smile. "I guess, but still..."

Arata held up his hand to stop her. "Just trust yourself and have confidence in your abilities. That is all you need to gain their respect."

"...If you say so, teacher."

The corners of Arata's lips curved up slightly. "Teacher, huh? I haven't heard that nickname in a long time."

* * *

"Takeru, what's so important that you want to tell me?" Reika asked the mechanic after her platoon was given free time...again. "I want to see Arata and Mia's new LBX in action and they are probably starting now."

"Gomen." Takeru apologised. "I just wanted your opinion. I'm going to make a new LBX that I had on my mind for a while and I kind of need your reference on weapons."

Reika raised an eyebrow. "And what does my reference on weapons have to do with the new LBX?"

"Well," Takeru scratched the back of his head. "I meant to make it for you to use." If he looked closely at Reika, he would have seen her eyes light up like a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve.

She pretended to think for a moment. "Seeing Arata and Mia in action can wait. I can spare some time to give you some reference!"

Takeru sweat dropped a little at her change of mood. "Ok, do you think you can spare twenty minutes?"

Reika nodded vigorously and dragged him by the arm. "What are we waiting for, c'mon."

* * *

When the 4th platoon lured the guarding LBX away from the point, Mia smirked as her LBX dropped down from the craft carrier. Those people were dumber that she would give them credit for. 'Don't tell me that Muraku have to work with these people.'

"Let's see what these LBX can do." Arata mused as Dot Phasor dashed forward to attack.

Hikaru tensed and prepared to rush ahead of Dot Phasor but Haruki had different ideas. "Hikaru, Mia, back Arata up."

"Hai." Mia had Phantom Blaze bring out its katana and she ran to intercept the enemy LBX while Hikaru hesitated until he remembered what Haruki had told him.

_"You can't win on your own."_

After a moment of hesitation, he relented. "Roger."

As the Gunthers and Gleriors attempted to fend off Jenock by shooting at them with their guns and launchers, Dot Phasor merely dodged all of them and jumped over the flag. As he landed, the capturing process begun and a countdown sign appeared above the flag. Phantom Blaze followed him not far behind and together, they slashed at two of the guarding Gleriors with their sword and katana respectively, making them break over.

'Not only their designs and compatibilities are just like our old ones, their strength is significantly stronger.' Mia silently thought.

As the Rossius LBX shifted their attacks to Dot Phasor and Phantom Blaze, Val Sparos leaped through the air and took out a Gunther with its daggers. Haruki on the other hand, took out a Glerrior with Orvane's hammer. The rest of the guarding LBX took a few steps back, obviously not wanting to mess with them, only to meet the barge of attacks from the 2nd platoon and the 3rd platoon.

"2nd platoon, get rid of the remaining enemies. Began capturing procedures." Gendou instructed.

Soon enough, the remaining two LBXs break over. The 2nd platoon entered the flag area while the 3rd platoon remained outside.

"The 2nd platoon will continue to stand by." Gendou informed.

"The 3rd platoon will remain here as defence."

"Roger. 1st platoon and Mia, attack the remaining Rossius LBX." Haruki instructed Hikaru, Arata and Mia.

"Roger!"

The four LBX went forward to intercept the remaining LBX that returned from chasing the 4th platoon.

"Enemies spotted ahead." Hikaru informed them.

"Like we cannot see them." Mia said with her voice laced with heavy sarcasm.

"Move to the front and break them up." Haruki said, ignoring Mia. "I'll assist you."

"Roger." Val Sparos dashed forward while Orvane placed its hammer back into its slot on its back. As the enemy LBX jumped down to attack them, Orvane changed forms into O-cannon mode. Using its cannon, it managed to defeat several LBX before Val Sparos moved in and slashed at one of them several times.

While Val Sparos and Orvane took out some of the enemy LBXs, Phantom Blaze slashed her katana at any nearby LBXs within her sight. Her movements were so graceful that it almost looked like she was dancing.

Arata grinned as he watched her for a moment before moving in himself. 'It seems that Mia has not lost her touch at all. Now it's my turn.'

Twirling his sword so that it is facing the opposite direction, Dot Phasor brought his arm up and slashed at a nearby Glerior and kicked another Gunther, sending it flying to Phantom Blaze who stabbed it with her katana and jumped away as it break over.

"Well done." Arata praised her.

_"The point has been captured. Ownership of East End Bridge will be transferred from Rossius to Jenock. Cease fighting immediately. All units from Rossius, please evacuate from East End Bridge."_

* * *

'Jenock's new warriors...our new powers.' Mito-sensei silently thought. "Now we can finally..." She was cut off by the ringing of her CCM. Sighing, she took it out and answered the call. After listening to the person on the line for a while, her eyes became wide. "Yuko?!"


	10. Chapter 10

I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.

* * *

****"Yuko!?"

_"Yes it's me." _The person on the line deadpanned. Mito-sensei could almost see her roll her eyes which made her smile a bit. _"Just calling to see if we can meet up again for old time sake."_

Mito-sensei raised an eyebrow. "Now? We haven't been in contact for years. Why do you sudden want to see me?"

Yuko sighed. _"I'm sorry for not contacting for so long. My father forbade me to contact my old friends after we moved away for personal reasons."_

"...It has something to do with your powers, does it?"

_"You got me. Anyway, just so that you know, two of my old students from Fantasy are in you class and they are like me. They have powers."_

Mito-sensei's eyes became wide. "What did you say!?"

_"If you want to know who it is, why don't you come to the sports centre tomorrow when you are done with your class?" _Yuko suggested. _"Oh, and if you figure out who it is before that, please don't say anything to them. Please."_

Mito-sensei thought for a moment and sighed. "Fine. I'll come over at five."

_"Thank you so much!"_ Yuko squealed over the phone and hung up. For one minute, Mito-sensei almost regretted her decision, but, she trust that her old friend will explain everything.

'Two of my students have powers like Yuko...just who could they be...Masaka!?'

* * *

"Those LBXs are awesome!" Reika exclaimed as she pounded Mia as she and Arata walked out of the main entrance.

Mia nodded her head enthusiastically like Reika. "I know. There were really great in their performance! And, Phantom Blaze's weapon is so cool!"

They continued their conversation at five hundred miles an hour that Arata gave up on catching up on them and let them talk all they want. All the same, he could not keep the amused smile off his face. There are times that this scene reminded him of the days where they would complement and support each other on their wins or loses. Laughing away all their worries and hanging out at their favourite juice bar after school and martial art practise.

A slight movement caught his eyes as he stopped in front of an alley. Not looking at the person leaning on the wall of the alley, he smirked. "Aren't you going to talk to your sister, Muraku?"

Muraku glanced at the girls who were already a distance away and shook his head. "She seems to settling down fine. I do not want to bother her now."

Arata sighed. "Don't tell her that I told you this, but, I think it would take a while before she completely settles down. Most of the class do not want to accept her because she is your sister."

"Souka." Muraku said quietly and straightened up. "Please look out for her."

Arata nodded. "Will do."

Muraku watched Mia and Reika walk off for a moment before he walked down the alley. Arata watched walk off for a moment before he smiled. 'Mia, try looking at your brother's point of view. He really cares for you and I believe that he doesn't want you to be suffering because of him.'

* * *

"Tome-san, we have a new student!" Reika called as she and Mia entered the dorms. Arata had excused himself earlier with the excuse of needing to buy some stationery. But the girls knew that he made up the excuse to see Atsuya about Yuko-san.

"Ah, so it seems. Reika-chan, is it ok with you that she shares a room with you? Currently all the remaining girl's dorms are taken up and you are the only one without a roommate." Tome-san asked.

Reika nodded. "Sure. We shared a dorm together in our last school. Come on, Mia!" She grabbed Mia's arm and dragged her to their room.

"Oh, Reika-chan, where is your brother?" Tome-san enquired.

"Shopping!" Reika called back before she and Mia disappeared upstairs.

* * *

Later, when the girls came down for dinner Arata was waiting for them downstairs.

"Took the both of you long enough. I was seriously considering asking Yuno to fetch the both of you down." Arata remarked.

Reika rolled her eyes as she wrapped her arm around Mia's. "Really, Arata. There's no need to bother her. We were just catching up for old time's sake."

Mia sighed. "Can we go now? I'm hungry."

The siblings nodded and went to the dining room.

"Oh, and Mia, do you want to sit with me or with Reika?" Arata suddenly asked.

Mia frowned. "I don't know..."

"If you sit with Arata, you will also have his platoon mates at his seat." Reika informed her. "On the other hand, I'm sitting with those in my platoon. I'm sure that they would welcome you."

Mia shifted her gaze to Arata then to Reika. Finally, she took a deep breath and gave Arata an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Arata. But I want to sit with Reika."

Much to her relief, Arata nodded in understanding. "I figured you would say that. Don't worry, I'll have a talk with Haruki and Hikaru about their cold behaviour to you."

Mia nodded. "Thanks."

Arata shrugged. "That's what friends are for."

* * *

"Where's Mia?" Sakuya asked Arata when he noticed that their newest member was not with him.

Arata gestured to Reika's table. "She's with Reika."

Haruki frowned a bit but did not push it. Hikaru looked like he could not care less.

"Oh, and Haruki, Hikaru. I would like to have a word with you after dinner." Arata added. Haruki and Hikaru exchanged curious looks but nodded.

Over at Reika's table, Mia seem to get along well with Reika's teammates.

"Heh, so you were in the same school as Reika and her brother before." Suzune marvelled. So far, none of them had talked about her brother, which made Mia relief so she opened up a bit.

Mia nodded. "Yeah, I studied there since I was seven but dropped out last year."

"Um, I don't mean to pry, but why did you drop out?" Takeru asked. "But you don't have to say it if you don't want to." He rushed to add.

Mia shrugged. "I would rather not talk about it. It's not one of the best memories."

"You don't have to tell us now." Inui assured her.

Reika watched them interact and smiled. Mia was a lot more relaxed now that she was around people who did not care about to whom she was related. Rather, they were more interested in her herself. 'Probably because Harness is more focus on Arabista than on Rossius. Even so, they would have probably accepted her.'

Arata also saw Mia's more relaxed and happier look and smiled to himself. Letting Mia to go with Reika was the right decision.

* * *

"So, what do you want to talk with us about?" Haruki asked as Arata lead him and Hikaru outside to a more quiet part of the dorms.

"Don't you think that you are a bit too harsh to Mia?" Arata asked as he observed a plant beside him, not bothering to look at them. When he did not get an answer, he continued. "Haruki, I know that you dislike her brother because of what he had done to your old teammates, but it doesn't give you an excuse to be cold to her. Don't hold her responsible for what happened in the past just because she is Muraku's sister."

Haruki kept quiet. There was a lot of logic in Arata's words. He had been cold to her because of what Muraku had done to his old teammates. And it was unfair to Mia. This had nothing to do with her as she had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Muraku had made his old teammates LOST.

"Also, Hikaru, try to accept her as a teammate. Although she is not officially part of the first platoon, she is still part of Jenock. Jenock is like a team and a stool. If the team cannot work together well, it will be like losing a leg for a stool. The team and the stool will fall easily. Can you at least make some effort to welcome her?"

Hikaru sighed. "You're not letting us go until we agree, aren't you?"

Arata shrugged. "I just wanted to help her. You can go now if you want. And I'm sorry if I took up your time with my words but I hope that you would think about them." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked back to the building. "Give her a chance. Once you get to know her, you'll be thankful that Jenock has a strong addition."

Without looking back, he could tell that his words had got to them and he had faith that they would be a bit nicer to Mia.

* * *

**I'm so sorry if you think that Haruki is a bit occ. But, I felt that he might feel that way to Mia because of her brother making his teammates LOST. As for Hikaru, it seems to fit his character. Once again, I'm sorry if it looks like I'm bashing Jenock for shunning Mia...then again, that's what they might do.**


	11. Chapter 11

I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.

* * *

"Hah~, War Time is over." Suzune stretched like a cat. "I almost thought that it would never end."

Reika nodded in agreement and rolled her shoulders a bit. "Yup. It's rather tensed today; I think my shoulder muscles are sore from having to keep my LBX steady for so long."

For today's mission, the first platoon was told to raid one of Arabista's forts and the flag was on a tiny island in the fort. The problem? There was only a tiny plank that could bring them to the island. Therefore, they had a hard time trying to keep their LBX steady on the plank and avoid Arabista's attacks. However they were forced to retreat before they could finish the mission.

"We need to think of a way to get across without falling off the plank and avoid Arabista's attacks at the same time." Inui told them.

"You know, it is times like this I prefer to have a strider frame LBX instead." Reika remarked. "It would have been much easier."

"How so?" Takeru asked curiously.

Reika shrugged. "I'm much more use to using strider frames, and let's just say that I have an idea of getting across if I had more flexibility."

"I see." Takeru thought. "Then, I'll try and get your LBX done by tomorrow. Hopefully we can have you to use it by the next mission."

Reika nodded thoughtfully. "That would be good." She glanced at her watch and gasped. "Oh man! I'll suppose to meet up with Mia and Arata in five minutes!" She quickly stuffed all her things into her bag and ran out of the classroom in a rush. "I'll see you guys later!"

"...What was that all about?"Suzune wondered.

"Sa. Let's go back now." Inui suggested. The others nodded in agreement and headed back to the dorms.

* * *

"So, how long do you think Reika will be late?" Mia grunted as she aimed a kick at Arata's head, which he stopped by grabbing her leg and twisting it. Mia's body immediately reacted and twisted her whole body and yanked her leg away, landing nearby.

Arata shrugged as he punched Mia in the gut. "Don't know."

"Ow!" Mia cried as Arata's fits came in contact with her gut. "Have you been having coffee or something? You seem more energetic these days."

Arata blinked. "Am I?"

"Sorry I'm late!" Reika cried as she ran over to them only to dodge Arata's kick at her. "Lay off the coffee, Arata!"

Arata rubbed the back off his head sheepishly. "Gomen. Maybe I should ask for tea instead for breakfast."

Mia and Reika nodded their heads simultaneously. "Yup, you should."

"By the way, why are we still practising here when we can practise at the sports centre?" Mia wondered.

"Yuko-nee is having her friend over there today, so we can only start practising there tomorrow." Reika explained.

"Well," Arata relaxed a bit and sat down by a tree. "I guess we can take a break for a moment, but...Reika, 10 laps around the park for being late."

Reika's eyes became wide like saucers. "But...but...fine." She took off running, leaving Arata and Mia giggling a bit.

"That was a bit harsh." Mia chided softly.

Arata shrugged. "If I didn't, she would probably be late all the time for practise."

Mia nodded in agreement. "True, very true."

* * *

Mito-sensei paused in her tracks when she saw the sports centre. Her eyes narrowed at the reason why she was her. As she tried to push the front door, she realised that it was locked.

"Oh, Reina-nee-san."

Mito-sensei glanced to her right and recognised Atsuya. "Atsuya-kun."

"The front doors will be locked until the opening ceremony, so we have to use the back door." Atsuya explained about the locked door. "Come on, the back door is just around to corner." Atsuya gestured to Mito-sensei to follow him. Mito-sensei stared at him for a moment and followed him.

* * *

Stepping into the main hall, Mito-sensei understood why the doors were locked. Yuko was standing in the middle of the room with her hands stretched out and glowing light brown. Over at the other side of the room, several training mats weights were being moved by some unknown force and the mats were set up on one side of the room while the weights were shifted to one corner.

"Yuko?" Mito-sensei carefully asked.

Yuko's hand stopped glowing as her head perked up and turned on her heels. "Reina!" She went to her old friend and shook her hand. "It has been too long."

Mito-sensei nodded. "Ah."

Yuko smiled gently and turned to Atsuya who was manning the bar. "Atsuya, can you make some drinks for us?"

Atsuya gave thumbs up. "Sure thing. They will be done in a sec."

"Arata and Mia are the ones who have powers like you, right?" Mito-sensei asked, getting straight to the point as she sat down on at a table. "And if I'm not mistaken, Reika too."

Yuko nodded. "Ah."

"And you are telling me this because..."

Yuko shrugged. "I figured that I might as well tell you before you find out yourself."

Mito-sensei nodded slightly. "Souka."

There was silence until Atsuya came over with their drinks. "Hai, here is mango lassie for you nee-san, and for Reina-nee-san, tea."

"Thank you."

"Go clean up the gymnasium room. There is a lot of dust there." Yuko told her brother.

Atsuya made a mock salute. "Hai." He rushed off, knowing that it was his sister's way of getting rid of him.

"...So, why did Arata, Reika and Mia enrolled here?" Mito-sensei asked quietly.

Yuko froze for a second and for a moment, Mito-sensei saw sadness in her eyes before it disappeared.

"About two years ago, an ancient artefact that was entrusted to my family was stolen and somehow ended up on this island. Last year, we sent a student of my here to find it. Unfortunately, she died before she could retrieve it." Yuko quietly explained.

Mito-sensei frowned. "Masaka... the accident at that time...the victim was your student?"

Yuko nodded. "Yeah. She was also a good friend of Arata, Reika and Mia. Mia was upset when Maddie died, so she left the academy in hopes of finding out what happened from home while Arata and Reika remained at the school. We remained quiet for a year or so to avoid any one connecting Maddie's death to the academy."

"...I see. Then, Arata and Reika enrolled here to find the artefact, right?"

Yuko nodded. "At the same time, I heard that your father disappeared on the island, so, I decided to come here and help you find him while looking for the artefact."

Mito-sensei's eyes moisten for a moment before she blinked back her tears. "Thank you."

Yuko smiled gently at her. "That's what friends are for."

"So," Mito-sensei quickly rubbed her eyes a bit. "What is the artefact that was stolen?"

Yuko's face immediately became serious. "The gem of wishes."


	12. Chapter 12

I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.

* * *

Mia grinned as she walked around the park after practise that afternoon. Given the cool evening air and the soft breeze in the air, she could not resist not walking around a bit before going back to the dorms.

"Oh, it's that onee-san from back then!" A kid who was playing with his friends nearby immediately recognised her. She also recognised the boy as the one whom she returned the ball to a few days earlier. "Do you want to play with us?"

Grinning, she waved at them. "Gomen, but maybe another time."

The boys pulled on sad faces as she said that. "Eh~?"

Mia really could not resist their cuteness at this point. "How about this, next time I come around, I promise I will play with you guys."

This seems to lighten them up. "Hai!"

Smiling, Mia continued her walk until she reached the cliff side. She sat down and pulled her knees close to her body to watch the sunset.

"I figured that you would be here."

Mia inwardly groaned. "What do you want, Muraku?"

"I just want to talk to you." He calmly replied. He walked over and sat down beside Mia. "I saw your LBX during War Time. You are good."

Mia scoffed and tossed her head. "So what about it? Everyone would definitely say that you are better than me."

Muraku raised an eyebrow. "Do you really believe that?"

"I have heard the same sentences too many times." She started to mimic other people's voices. "'Muraku is good in this.'; 'Muraku is a whole lot better than you are in LBX battling.'. And their favourite, 'Why can't you be as good as Muraku?'"

Muraku eyed her carefully. "Do you actually believe them?"

"Sometimes." Mia shrugged.

"But then, did you have faith in your skills today when you fought?" Muraku suddenly asked.

Mia thought for a moment and slowly nodded. Muraku gave her one of his rare smiles. "If that's the case, I believe that you would be fine here. You don't have to be afraid of the comparisons or criticisms. Just have faith in your skills and do your best."

Mia raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Why are you giving me advice? I thought we are supposed to be enemies."

"I'm giving you advice as a brother." Muraku said shortly and got up. "Don't stay out too long."

"I don't plan to." Mia answered curtly.

* * *

"So, Reika, are you sure that you can use this weapon?" Takeru asked Reika with a blueprint in his hands.

Reika looked at it for a moment and nodded. "Yup. Don't worry, I used it before with my old LBX. I can handle it." She patted Takeru on the shoulder. "Thanks for making this LBX for me."

Takeru smiled and shifted his hat a bit. "My pleasure. I haven't had a project in a while. So making this LBX can take some free time off my hands."

"Glad to hear that." Reika stiffed a yawn. "I think I'm going to turn in early. Good night."

"Good night."

"Ne, Takeru, what weapon were you showing Reika?" Suzune asked curiously as she came up to him. Takeru showed her the blueprints and Suzune gasped. "She wants to use theses?! They are practically hard to master!"

Takeru shrugged and took back the blueprints. "She said that she used them before, so I think it should be fine."

On the blueprints was a drawing of a pair of tessens.

* * *

"Yosh. Reika, it's done!" Takeru showed her the blue strider-frame LBX with white accents. Its head had two spikes and green eyes while the rest of its body looks a bit like Siren. "This is Aquarius Sirena."

Reika took it and grinned. "Thank you Takeru."

"You can use it in today's mission. From what I heard, we are going to retry and capture the point we failed to yesterday." Inui informed her.

"Ah."

* * *

"Looks like we don't have any missions today." Mia remarked to Arata as they walked down the corridors to the viewing rooms. "That means we can see if Reika gets her new LBX or not."

Arata smirked and nodded. "I can't wait to see the faces of Arabista when she shows them her moves."

Mia nodded in agreement. "Yup. Her jazz kung-fu is hard to beat."

Arata stopped in front of one of the viewing rooms. "We're here."

* * *

"Today's mission is to retry and capture Baracuda Fort from Arabista." Inui informed Reika and Suzune as the craft carrier flew to their destination. "Reika, would you like to have the honours of taking the flag?"

Reika smirked and cracked her knuckles. "I thought you would never ask."

"We are at the drop off point." Takeru informed them.

"Decend!" Inui ordered.

The LBX dropped down and almost immediately, Arabista's LBX started retaliating by shooting and rushing at them. Reika's smirk grew wider as Sirena kicked a Jirant straight at its head and used her tessens to slash at it, causing it to break over.

"I love these tessens already!"

"Reika, head to the flag, we'll distract them." Inui told her.

"Roger!" Sirena ran at an amazing speed to the plank and stopped. "Now it's time to see if Sirena can pull it off." Sirena jumped onto the plank and did a few flips without losing its balance.

Suddenly, a Vernal jumped on to the plank and tried to shoot at her. But much to everyone's surprise, Sirena tapped its heels and started moving like it was half dancing and half fighting, giving its opponent a hard time trying to hit or dodge its attacks.

* * *

Mia stiffed a giggle as she watched Sirena attack by elbowing her opponent as thought she was dancing to her favourite song. "They cannot keep up with her Jazz Kung Fu."

Arata nodded in agreement. "That's for sure. Even I cannot keep up with it."

"Arabista is toast."

* * *

Back with Reika, she was having the time of her life as she continued to input her dancing skills into her fighting skills.

'Ok, now with a little kick,' Sirena slid her right leg on the plank and kicked away a Vernal. 'And a little twist,' this time, Sirena twisted her body backwards and slashed a Jirant right on the chest with her tessens. 'Add them together, you get a clear path.' Indeed, the plank was clear of the enemy LBX and Sirena can proceed to the flag without any interruptions.

"Good job Reika." Inui praised her. "We are done with the enemy LBX here. Take the flag!"

"Roger!" With one last flip, Sirena landed in the flag area and in no time, Baracuda Fort was theirs.

* * *

As soon as Reika stepped out of her control pod, she was assaulted with questions of her teammates.

"Where did you learn how to fight like that?!"

"It was like you were dancing and fighting at the same time!"

"That's enough!" Reika yelled to stop them from overwhelming her. "I learned to fight like that by using my dance moves in my fighting skills. And we should go back to the briefing rooms now."

Everyone nodded in agreement and walked back. Reika lingered behind to use her telepathy to talk to Arata and Mia.

'_Did you see that?! Aquarius Sirena is so cool!'_

_ 'Yes, we saw it.' _Arata answered. '_I have to admit, you improved a lot since the last time you used your Jazz Kung Fu.'_

_ 'And you did well considering you were using a new LBX.' _Mia added.

_'Can we have a new LBX battle soon then?'_ Reika asked eagerly.

'_Depends if you could afford to be on time for practice.' _Arata mentally chuckled.

_'ARATA!'_


	13. Chapter 13

I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.

* * *

As the days passed, Jenock was clearly getting stronger with their capture of Black Wind Canyon and Eldar City. Harness on the other hand was gaining more territory thanks to Reika's skills and Takeru's inventions.

"It is a good thing that you joined Harness when you did." Suzune remarked to Reika that Friday after school. The both of them were hanging out in Reika's room as Suzune's roommate had taken up the room with her friends and Mia had gone to visit Atsuya.

"Why so?" Reika asked lazily from her bed.

Suzune swung her legs as she sat on the chair. "To be honest, before Kaidou-sensei became our sub-commander, Harness was doing badly. Almost every day, we would lose to Arabista and many of Harness' student's were transferred to different classes. Even my old friends were transferred and the next thing I knew, they refused to have anything to do with me because I am in a different virtual country."

Reika scoffed. "If they did that, then don't bother about them! People like them are not true friends from the start. Stick to those who are willing to stick by your side no matter where or who they are!"

Suzune was slightly surprise at this but slowly nodded. "You're right! If they are going to look down on me just because we are in different virtual countries, they are not worth worrying about!"

Reika nodded with a smile. "Exactly! Just show them who's boss and they will regret messing with you."

Suzune pumped her fist in the air. "I got to improve so that I can show them that just because I am in Harness, it doesn't mean that I am weak and they can snub me."

Reika nodded and suddenly remembered something. "Oh yeah, tomorrow Mia, Arata and I are suppose to help organise the opening ceremony of the Kuriko Fantasy Sports Centre. Do you want to come to the ceremony?"

Suzune's face lighted up. "You bet. I'll get Inui and Takeru to come too."

"Brilliant!" Reika clapped her hands. She dug into her bag and pulled out an envelope. "Inside are all the details of the ceremony."

Suzune took the envelope and smiled. "We'll be there. Bye." She waved and left the room just as Mia came back. "Reika, I'm back."

Reika waved at her. "Welcome back. Done making out with Atsuya?"

Mia stormed over and wacked Reika across her head. "What I do with Atsuya is not what you think!"

"Ow!" Reika rubbed her head. "Then what were you doing?"

"I was only helping him set up the decorations for the opening ceremony." Mia huffed.

Reika rolled her eyes. "Yeah right. But just don't start making out with Atsuya in front of everyone."

"Reika, I am seriously considering to chop off your head if you continue." Mia warned.

Reika gave a nervous chuckle and pretended to zip her lips.

* * *

The next morning, Arata's alarm watch went off at its usual time. Even though it was a Saturday and they did not need to wake up that early, he figured that they should wake up early to help with the last minute preparations.

As soon as he got dress, he quietly exited the building. An evil smirk formed on his lips as he thought of a way to wake Mia and Reika up.

_'Mia! Reika! WAKE UP!' _Arata mentally yelled into Mia and Reika's minds.

* * *

Inside Mia and Reika's room, the two girls were soundly asleep, unaware of Arata's sneaky plan to wake them up.

'_Mia! Reika! WAKE UP!'_

As a result, Reika fell off her bed, tangled up in her blankets while Mia shot up panting.

_'Arata, what was that for?!' _Reika mentally screamed back.

_'Just a wakeup call.'_ Arata casually answered. _'It's six o'clock and we have to be there at 7.'_

_'Give us a moment.'_ Reika grumbled. Even though they had an hour to get ready and could have gotten up half an hour later, but it was typical of Arata to wake them up earlier.

"Mia, we have to get ready now or Arata would yell in our heads again." Reika informed her roommate when she noticed that Mia had not bothered to make a move to get ready. Instead, there was a distant look in her eyes like she was daydreaming about something.

"Oh! Right." Mia quickly grabbed her casual clothes from the wardrobe and went out to the bathroom. Reika frowned. It was not like Mia to daydream like that.

* * *

Arata tapped his foot on the pavement as he waited for Mia and Reika to come out. Tome-san had been slightly surprised when she saw that he was up this early and even more when he informed her that he, Mia and Reika would not be around for breakfast. Nevertheless, she gave them permission to skip breakfast with the other students.

"Arata, if you ever yell into our minds again, I will see that you will never see your fire staff again." Reika threatened as she and Mia walked over to him.

Arata only grinned. "Now you know how bad it is when you scream into my mind."

Reika pouted. "Mou, it was really bad in the way you did it. Right, Mia...Mia?" She looked at her friend questioningly when Mia did not answer and saw that she was in a daze again. "Mia?"

Mia snapped out of her daze and shook her head. "Ah...gomen."

"Mia, are you alright?" Arata asked her worriedly and looked at her carefully.

Mia nodded. "Yeah, I'm just a bit tired as I did not sleep well last night."

Reika raised an eyebrow. "That's rare. You usually sleep like a log."

Mia sighed. "I know. But for some reason, something was nagging at me the whole night."

"Maybe you should sit out of the demonstration today and let Reika take your place." Arata suggested but Mia would have none of it.

She shook her head firmly. "If you think I'm going to sit out on this just because I'm a little tired, you're wrong!"

Reika grinned. "Here's the Mia that we know."

Arata sighed. "Fine, but if you feel that you cannot handle it, tell us immediately. We cannot afford to have you sick just because you pushed yourself too hard."

"Yes mom." Mia said sarcastically.

They continued to walk to the sports centre but Mia could not shake the sinking feeling that kept on nagging her. Also, ever since she came to the island, she has been getting vision like images of what would happen soon. But it usually happens only at night and once a day; however she had received two visions already and was a bit scared of them.

'What in the world is happening to me?' Mia worriedly wondered as she lagged behind. 'I've never received these visions before...What had triggered them?'


	14. Chapter 14

I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.

* * *

"Muraku, remind me again why you wanted to attend the opening ceremony of the sports centre." Vanessa sighed as she, Mikhail and Kageto followed Muraku to the sports centre at his request to accompany him.

Muraku flicked his eyes at Vanessa and back to the road. "I was invited."

"By whom?" Kageto asked curiously.

"Mia." Muraku answered shortly, making them jerk up.

"Your twin sister?" Mikhail asked incredulously. Of course, Muraku had mentioned her once or twice and the fact that she was one of the reasons Jenock have been getting stronger of late made them have the impression that she was the cold and quiet type like Muraku.

How wrong they were when they met her a few days ago. She was very hot headed and was a bit hostile to Vanessa when she unintentionally hurt her by comparing Mia to Muraku. Not to mention, there were times where Mia and Muraku would lapse into an awkward silence, indicating that they were not as close as Muraku's teammates originally thought.

Muraku nodded. "But you don't have to follow me actually. I asked you to come because I thought that you might be interested."

Vanessa shrugged at that. "It's not that we mind coming with you. It's just that we are surprise because Mia doesn't strike us as the type of person that could get along with others including you."

Muraku made no comment on that but deep in his heart; he knew that Vanessa was right. There were only a few people whom Mia would willingly open up to and he was sure that he was not one of them. Although there were times they could talk civilly without any arguments and awkward silences, it could not mend their relationship back to before Mia discovered her powers and was shipped off to Fantasy.

* * *

Inside the main hall of the sports centre, Mia and Erika were done with the last of the preparations while Atsuya was at the bar preparing his equipment for drink making. Meanwhile, Arata had set up the necessary equipment for the martial arts demonstration for later.

"OK, is everything done here?" Yuko asked when she came out from the back.

Arata nodded. "Ah. It looks like everything is set up here."

Yuko nodded. "Good, I need you and Mia to get ready for your demonstration soon."

"Hai!" Arata and Mia exchanged competitive smirks and went to the locker rooms to change.

Reika shook her head. "Those two are the most competitive people I ever seen."

Atsuya nodded in agreement. "Yeah. But it's only natural since they are the strongest fighters in your batch."

Reika sighed and glanced at the clock. "I have to check on a few things first. Take care of the bar."

"Ah." Atsuya went back to taking care of his post while Reika wandered off to the upper floors.

* * *

Rossius' sixth platoon stopped in front of the starch white building.

"So, this is the place?" Vanessa asked as she looked over Muraku's shoulder to see the invitation that Mia gave him in his hand.

Muraku nodded and pushed the doors open. Vanessa looked at the building again. "It might as well be the only modern building on this island."

Mikhail nodded in agreement. "Looks like it."

"Vanessa, Mikhail, come on." Kageto called them as he entered the building.

"Coming!" Vanessa called as she grabbed Mikhail's hand and pulled him along.

Inside the building, they saw that Reika was already at the bar with a boy that they did not recognised. When Reika saw them, she smiled warmly and waved at them to the seats nearby. Muraku nodded and gestured to his teammates to follow him. As he was looking around, he spotted the mural of the Original Avianes. Curiously, he walked over to have a closer look at it.

"Muraku?" Mikhail called after him.

Muraku merely waved at them. "I want to have a look at something first. Go and sit down first."

"Hai." They duly chorused and went to sit down at where Reika had indicated them to. Muraku glanced at them and back at the mural. He was sure that he had seen it somewhere before.

"This is the same mural that was on the academy's walls back then." Mia explained as she walked up to him, sensing what he was thinking. "You might have seen it when you and mom came over to visit back then."

Muraku looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. "What are you wearing?"

Mia looked down at her clothes. She was wearing a white tank top and grey training pants. Not to mention she was barefooted. She looked back at Muraku and raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with it? I have a demonstration to do later."

Muraku shook his head. "Nothing, I was not expecting you to wear something like that."

Mia shrugged. "Get use to it then."

Muraku glanced at her, wondering what she meant by that. A loud yelp and the sound of glassware breaking broke through his thoughts. He and Mia glanced at the bar where the commotion came from. Atsuya was splattered head to toe with the smoothie he was making.

Mia covered her mouth to hide her laughter. "Atsuya, what happened to you?!"

Vanessa gasped and laughed a bit while Mikhail and Kageto tried to contain their laughter. Reika, who was taking down their orders, burst out laughing loudly. "I can't believe you forgot about the cover."

"What happened?!" Arata asked as he ran into the main hall wearing a red jacket, orange shirt and brown pants. Spotting Atsuya, his lips twitched but managed to hold down his laughter. "Yuko-nee is going to be mad at the mess you made. Not to mention, you broke a glass."

Atsuya groaned. "I'm going to get changed. Tell nee-san that I'll be back in a few minutes."

Muraku raised an eyebrow at Mia. "Does this happen all the time?"

Mia nodded cheerfully. "Yup."

Yuko walked in with Mito-sensei, Jin, and the headmaster and raised an eyebrow. "Can someone tell me why the bar is in a mess?"

Reika and Mia instantly straightened up. Arata stepped forward to explain. "Atsuya forgot to cover the blender again."

Yuko nodded as though it was the only explanation she needs. Turning to Mia she gestured at the mess. "Tell Atsuya to clean it up as soon as he gets back. The ceremony will start in an hour."

"Hai." Mia replied and went to another room.

"Ah, it's nice to see that the students can have this kind of atmosphere here, Kuriko-san." The headmaster praised. "Am I to assume that the rule of no discrimination of race, nationality, and country is applied here?"

Yuko smiled and nodded. "Yes. I may be able to overlooks some of the rules but this is one of the rules I wish to take seriously with no exceptions." Their voices faded away as they went to the upper floors.

Vanessa gave Reika a curious look. "What are they talking about?"

Reika shrugged. "I may or may not have an idea what they are talking about, but there is no guaranty that you would like it."

They exchanged glances but did not push the matter. Reika looked back at the bar and grinned. "Looks like Atsuya's back. I'll give him your orders and be back with them in ten minutes." Reika walked to the bar to give their orders as Muraku rejoined them.

"You know, if Reika was not in Harness, I would have liked her." Vanessa commented offhandedly, earning disbelieving stares from Mikhail and Kageto.

"...What?"

Mikhail quickly shook his head. "Nothing. Right, Kageto?"

Kageto followed his lead and shook his head. "Yeah, nothing at all."

Vanessa looked at them suspiciously but shrugged. "Ok then."

Muraku watched them with amusement in his eyes. "It is times like this I am glad that I have friends like all of you with me."

"Oi," Vanessa folded her hands. "What about the other times?"

Muraku smiled and closed his eyes. "You guys are like my siblings."

"Vanessa, what did you think Muraku was going to say?" Kageto teased her.

Vanessa blushed and held up her hands. "It's not what you think."

Mikhail smiled. "Glad to hear that."

They laughed as Vanessa huffed. Not far from them, Mia watched them with jealously at how close they were. 'Like us in the old times.' Giving them one last glance, she turned around and went into one of the rooms to wait until it was time for her and Arata to take the stage.


	15. Chapter 15

I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure to have all of you here for today's events!" Yuko greeted the crowd of students and teachers that had arrived for the ceremony. "I would like to thank everyone for coming here today and please drop by and use our facilities."

There was a polite applause from the crowd and it quickly died down as Yuko continued to speak. "For this day, I have prepared a special show consisting two of my former students who will demonstrate their skills of martial arts!"

Taking it as their cue, Arata and Mia stepped out from an adjacent room and stepped onto the mat set up in the middle of the hall. Mia had her hair tied up into a loose ponytail and removed her fingerless gloves. Arata on the other hand had removed his jacket and was wearing red training pants instead.

"Oi," Sakuya blinked. "Arata and Mia...they're doing the demonstration?"

"Seems like it." Hikaru remarked as Arata and Mia took their respective positions on the mat.

Haruki said nothing as he watched them. But deep down, he was interested to see how this fight will go.

"Ready?" Yuko called from the side of the mat.

Mia and Arata nodded and took their stances. Seeing that they were ready, Yuko nodded and blew her whistle. "Begin!"

They started exchanging blows and to everyone watching, they were evenly matched.

"I can't believe they are on par with each other. Their last fight was rather on sided on Mia's side." Reika softly remarked to Atsuya who was standing beside her.

Atsuya frowned. "That's not it. It is all part of Arata's plan."

"Eh?" Everyone nearby looked at him.

"Arata is not doing his best now. Rather, he is calculating Mia's movements and forming a strategy against it." Atsuya explained. "It has been one year since they last fought. That's why Arata is going easy on her at the moment to observe her."

"On the other hand, Mia gives her all in the beginning to end the fight quickly." Reika continued, starting to understand what Atsuya was trying to say. "This gives Arata a huge advantage."

"So that's it." Yuno said in realisation. A loud thud caught their attention and their averted their gaze back to the centre only to see Arata had floored Mia by hooking his ankle around her foot and tripped her.

"You got lucky." Mia huffed as she got up. A buzzer sounded to indicate that Mia had one fault.

"Reika, can you tell us how this demonstration works?" Takeru asked the red haired girl.

Reika nodded while keeping her gaze on Arata and Mia. "We have a system where if one side completely falls on the mat, he will have a fault. When one side gets two faults, the fight is over and the winner will be declared."

"So, Mia already has one fault...it means that she has to be careful." Atsuya mused.

* * *

Arata grunted as he tried to kick Mia but she kept on dodging by doing some back flips to put some distance between them. "Smart. But it is no use!"

He lunged at her and feinted a punch on her head, which she expectedly dodged by tilting her body to the right, Arata took this chance and kicked at her exposed side. Just when they thought that she would receive another fault, Mia flipped so that she was standing on her hands!

"What the-!"

Mia reared her legs and struck Arata on his chest like how a scorpion strikes with its tail, sending him to the mat. The buzzer sounded again and the both of them have one fault now.

* * *

"Wow...I was not expecting that." Vanessa whispered in awe.

"Arata did not seem to be expecting it either." Muraku nodded at the said person whose mind gears were working on a way to stop her from using that move again.

A smirk made its way to Arata's lips. "Great move Mia. But I'm afraid that I have seen through it."

"I know." Mia calmly replied. "That's why I won't use it again for this match."

"Just as expected of the both of them." Atsuya shook his head. "Arata is smart enough to figure it out while Mia is wise enough not to use the same surprise move twice in a match."

"Has it always been like this?" Yuno asked him.

Atsuya opened his mouth but it was Reika who answered. "Not usually, their competitive streak in these fights makes them fight more aggressively."

"Since this is just a short demonstration, they do not need to be aggressive." Atsuya added. "But their competitiveness is still there."

* * *

Back on the mats, Mia did a sideway punch to Arata's stomach and quickly flipped back to avoid any attacks Arata tries on her. Arata noticed this change of strategy and quickly made up his mind. He backed up a bit, much to everyone's confusion.

Mia frowned. 'What is he trying to do...Wait! Don't tell me-!'

She tried to move sideways but it was too late. Arata ran forward and did several flips, kicking and punching Mia each flip. Finally Mia cannot take it anymore and fell down, earning another fault.

"It looks like Mia has two faults already!" Yuko stepped on to the mat. "Therefore, Arata wins this round!"

Arata grinned and offered his hand to Mia who took it. "Great job! You were really good, especially with that handstand kick."

"You were pretty good yourself." Mia complimented.

"Alright, the both of you can go and take a break." Yuko said as she approached them. "I'm going to bring them on a tour of the building, so rest up until we get back."

"Hai!"

Atsuya grinned and handed each of them a towel. "Good job. Sis is quite please with your demonstration."

"Thanks." Arata dried the sweat on his face with the towel. "That was a real workout."

Mia nodded in agreement. "You've said it."

"But it was great." Reika said as she came over. "Everyone said so, including Muraku."

Mia looked up slightly. "I guess that's good."

* * *

"Reika, thanks for inviting us over." Suzune thanked the red head girl after the ceremony. "It was fun."

"Glad you enjoyed it." Reika cheerfully smiled. "Look, I still have to do some things here, so I won't be going back with you."

Takeru nodded. "Ok. See you at dinner."

"Bye."

Reika went back inside the building and went to Yuko's office which was on the fourth floor. "The last of them are gone." She declared as she entered the office.

Yuko nodded and gestured to the chair beside Mia for her to sit down. "Now that all of you are here and the excitement of the sports centre is gone, it's back to business."

There was a chorus of groans but they paid attention to what Yuko has to say.

"It is important that we find and retrieve the Gem of Wishes as soon as possible," Yuko began. "Before the Night Lurkers find out that it is gone from the academy. Although it has been two years since it ended up here, there have been no attacks on the academy so far, so they do not know that it is gone yet."

Arata frowned. "Have the sensors managed to detect its precise locate yet?"

Yuko nodded. "Yes." She took out a map from one of the drawers of her desk and spread it out. "It is here." She pointed at the red dot on the map which just so happen to be where the school is. "I think it is hidden a few hundred meters under the school."

Reika furrowed her brow. "Does this mean that it is in the Second World?"

"Most likely." Mia replied.

"Sis, what should we do about it?" Atsuya asked.

Yuko tapped her chin with a pen for a while. Finally she spoke, "For now, Mia, Arata and Reika will continue to monitor things in the Second World. Report anything suspicious to me. Atsuya and I will continue to find out more about the school from here."

Everyone nodded. "Hai."

Yuko nodded and looked at the clock. "It's getting late. The three of you should go back now."

Arata and Reika nodded and got up but Mia hesitated a bit. "Yuko-san, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Yuko was slightly surprised at the request but nodded and sent Atsuya out too. "Is there anything troubling you?"

Mia slowly nodded. "Ever since I came to the island, I've been getting these dreams that seem to show what would happen in the future."

If Yuko was surprise at this, she did not show it for she nodded at Mia to continue.

"And last night, I dream about both the demonstration and something else."

Yuko frowned. "You dream about that surprise move you used on Arata, right?"

Mia nodded. "It just came to me and I remembered that I dreamed about it..."

Yuko studied her for a moment. "You said that you dream about something else too. What is it?"

Mia seems to be scared of it for her hands were trembling a bit now. "The thing is...remember the pictures of the Shadow War that you showed us during my first year at the academy?"

Yuko slowly nodded, dreading where this was going to.

"Well...during my dream last night, it was real!" Mia gripped her hands together tightly. "I saw many Night Lurkers and us fighting in same battlefield as the one in the pictures!"

Yuko's mouth dropped wide open and she grabbed Mia by the shoulder. "Are you sure!?"

Mia nodded. "Yes. It was too real."

Yuko frowned and released Mia's shoulders. "If what you saw is true...then it means that there might be a chance that there will be a second Shadow War..." She gripped the edge of the table.

"But, I am not entirely sure if it will really happen." Mia cut in. "There are times where my dreams are 50/50 correct or never happened at all."

Yuko turned around sharply at her. "If that's true, then there is a chance we can prevent it...the Gem of Wishes can do it like it did before."

Mia frowned. "Should we tell the others?"

Yuko thought for a moment and shook her head. "Now is not the best time. We need to look further into your new ability. But in the mean time, I'm afraid I have to erase your memory of the second Shadow War."

Before Mia could protest, Yuko's eyes glowed green for a moment and Mia's eyes glowed in the same colour.

'I'm sorry, but this is for the best.' Yuko thought as the glow in her eyes faded.

Mia was a bit confused for a moment. "What happened?"

"You wanted to talk to me about your dreams and we found out it is future sight ability." Yuko lied.

Mia slowly nodded. "Ok..."

"Since we figured it out, I think you should go a back before it gets dark." Yuko opened the door for Mia to leave which she did.

As soon as Mia left, Yuko sighed and sank into her chair. "I hate to do this, but this is for the best."


	16. Chapter 16

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

* * *

"My beautiful students, you're all looking quite lovely this morning." The headmaster happily greeted the mass of students during the assembly that Monday morning. It was all Mia could do to not gag at his words but one glare from Arata made her squirm.

In front of them, Yuno whispered something to Haruki, "Haruki, I heard from some friends in another class earlier that Arabista asked Jenock to join their alliance."

That seems to turn Arata's attention from Mia. 'Arabista did?'

"Now, it's what you've all been waiting for," The headmaster continued and paused dramatically, "the announcement of who accumulated the most silver credits last week!" He paused again, looking at the tablet in his hands. "5th place this week goes to...Hosono Sakuya, high school section, second year."

Sakuya gasped in disbelief. "Me!?"

Murmurs of admiration and disbelief rippled among the students as the headmaster continued speaking. "We have recognized his skills as a mechanic for his groundbreaking development of a new type of equipment. This development lent a great hand in Jenock's capture of Eldar City last week."

"Congratulations!" Mia praised him.

"You did it, Sakuya." Arata complimented.

"That's awesome."

"It's not that of a..." Sakuya did not have a chance to complete his sentence as the headmaster continued to talk.

"As you can see, even the mechanics can enter the rankings like this. I would like the rest of you to follow his example..."

Sakuya blushed as the headmaster continued his announcement. Arata and Mia exchanged grins and continued to focus on what the headmaster was saying.

* * *

"Looks like we have a star mechanic in our mist." Mia remarked during recess as she, Arata and Reika lazed around on the roof. "I nearly thought that for a moment Sakuya was going to faint."

"And it looks like we have a jealous mechanic down there." Arata said mildly from the ledge he was sitting on, looking at something down on the grounds.

"Hm?" Reika and Mia joined him and saw a familiar red head student in Rossius' uniform scribbling something into a notebook furiously, occasionally jabbing the table he was sitting at with his pencil.

"He looks a bit familiar..." Reika placed a thumb on her cheek as she tried to remember who that student was.

"He is Muraku's platoon mechanic." Mia told her. "I'm not surprise that he is jealous though. From my opinion, his mechanic skills his somewhat close to Sakuya and yet..."

"Sakuya got the recognition he did not get." Arata finished for her. "From what I think, he could get it if he is determined to do better, but jealously does not help."

Suddenly, Reika grabbed Arata and Mia by the shoulder and pulled them away from the ledge as Kageto looked up at where the three of them were earlier. Frowning, he turned back to his notebook which was full of scribes. He gritted his teeth and tried to think up of something that could be better than the ridding armor.

"…Maybe we should go back to class now." Reika nervously suggested as she peaked down again and much to her relief, Kageto did not seem to have noticed them.

Arata nodded and turned to Mia, "Are you coming?"

Mia blinked and shook her head. "You go first. I still want to stay here for a while."

"…Ok, just don't be late for class."

Once Arata and Reika left, Mia sighed and closed her eyes tightly. Ever since she discovered her future sight abilities, she could not sleep well, staying up most of the night trying to figure out how to use the ability properly. She was so lost in thought that she did not notice the door opening and someone approaching her until she felt a hand on her shoulder, making her jump.

But she relaxed a bit when she saw that it was only her brother. "Oh, Muraku."

"Sorry for startling you." Muraku glanced down to see Kageto who was still there. "I wanted to look out for Kageto from here."

Mia followed her brother's gaze and smiled a bit at him. "His current situation reminds me a lot of myself whenever I feel frustrated that you are better than me."

Muraku flicked his eyes at her and back at Kageto. "What do you suggest I do?"

"Leave him be for a while." Mia advised him. "When he has cooled down, talk to him."

Muraku nodded. "Thanks."

Mia smirked and turned around so that her back was leaning on the metal fence. "It has been too long since we had a proper conversation like this."

Muraku had to agree on that. Most of the time, they were arguing or Mia would be hostile at him. He looked over at Mia who had her eyes closed and enjoying the wind in her hair.

"Do you ever miss those times when we were younger?" Mia suddenly asked.

Muraku cocked his head a bit. "Maybe a little."

Mia chuckled a bit. "Do you remember the time when we accidentally locked ourselves out of the house for one whole day? We ended up playing at the park and nearly gave mom and dad a panic attack when they got home and we weren't there."

The edges of Muraku's lips twitched a bit as a smile threaten to form on his lips. "Ah, that was one of the best times we had."

"I really wish that we could go back to those times." Mia said wistfully. "Things were much easier then."

Muraku's face fell a bit. "Ah." He agreed quietly.

Mia got up from the fence. "Ma, it's best not to dwell on memories. We each have our own jobs to do."

Muraku frowned a bit as he understood what she was saying. "True…"

Mia walked over to the door and opened it slightly when she remembered something. "Be careful. I have a feeling that your mission will be harder from now on."

Muraku frowned a bit but nodded nevertheless. "Take care of yourself too."

* * *

Later during lunch, the main discussion was about why Mito-sensei declined Arabista's offer to join their alliance.

"I wonder why Mito-sensei refused them." Yuno wondered as she sat with her platoon.

"What a waste." Catherin complained. "We had this great chance to join the Arabista Allied Force!"

"But if we join, then we have to follow Arabista's orders." Arata pointed out.

"Not to mention that Mito-sensei did the right thing to rely on our own strength." Mia added. "If we rely on someone else to do our own work, it would be bad for Jenock itself."

"But," Yuno spoke up, "Arabista stresses the importance on being an 'alliance'. They don't take over countries like Rossius does."

"The key point is our independence." Arata told her. "Mito-sensei believes that Jenock should be an independent country, that's why she turned down that offer."

"But if you think about it realistically, forming an alliance would be better for us..." Haruki added his input.

"Mito-sensei's decision was right." Hikaru suddenly spoke. His words made everyone look at him.

"All the virtual countries are enemies by default." He continued. "It is too dangerous to trust someone that might betray you at any moment."

"Joining an alliance means becoming allies, you know!" Catherin protested.

Picking up his tray, Hikaru stood up to leave, but not before saying something, "You can't even trust your allies. In the end, the only one you can believe in is yourself."

"What is his problem?" Catherin complained once Hikaru was out of ear shot.

Arata watched him for a moment and sighed. "He has a point when he said that Mito-sensei was right and that the virtual countries are enemies by default."

"Don't tell me you agree with him?!" Catherin exclaimed in horror.

Arata calmly shook his head. "No, I only agree that Mito-sensei's judgment is correct and that the virtual nations are enemies. I disagree that we should not trust our allies."

A small smile crept up Mia's lips. "Rather, we should form alliances with people who have the same goals as Jenock or our actions will clash."

"That's true." Sakuya nodded in agreement. "But, how long can we last alone?"

"Have faith in our comrades." Arata advised him. "It is the key factor to our success."

* * *

"Tome-san, we're back." Arata greeted as he, Haruki and Sakuya returned to the dorms. Mia was not with them as she had stayed back to wait for Reika as they had agreed to go shopping earlier.

"Welcome back. You're quick today." Tome-san greeted them.

"Our platoon did not have a mission today." Sakuya explained as they put away their outdoor shoes.

"Then, would you care to help me with some chores?" Tome-san asked, making the three boys flinch.

"Cleaning out the back and fixing the roof…" She listed. "Oh, and the laundry too."

"I need to complete the ridding armor..." Sakuya stated nervously. He quickly put on his indoor shoe and went back to his room. "Sorry!"

"I need to write up a report." Haruki stated and went back to his room, leaving Arata alone.

'Dang it!' Arata silently cursed. 'How can those two leave me to Tome-san on my own?!'

"You look free." Tome-san noticed.

Arata tried to rack his brain to think up of an excuse but came up blank. Sighing, he stood up and asked, "Just cleaning, fixing and laundry, right?"

Tome-san grinned sadistically. "Yup, the tools are right by the rack."

* * *

"That was a drag." Mia complained as she and Reika walked back to the dorms. "I could not find the book that I need and they don't sell guitar strings here."

Reika shrugged. "Maybe we should ask Yuko-nee to help us buy the things that we need the next time she goes to the mainland."

"Good idea." She paused for a moment when she spotted Arata on the roof. "Hm, what is Arata doing up there?"

Reika followed her gaze and quirked an eyebrow. "Beats me." She cupped her hands to her mouth and called her brother, "Arata, what are you doing up there?"

Arata looked up as he wiped off the sweat on his brow with his sleeves. "Oh, you're back. Tome-san needed some help in chores, so Sakuya and Haruki volunteered me by leaving me alone to deal with her." He said sarcastically.

Reika and Mia sweat dropped and exchanged wry smiles. "Then can we help you?"

"Ah, good of you girls." Tome-san said coming up to them from behind, making them jump. "You can help with the laundry then. Arata, you can rest after you fix the roof."

"Thanks." Arata waved and gave the girls an apologetic smile. They sighed and followed Tome-san inside to do the laundry.


	17. Chapter 17

I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.

* * *

"Boy, that was harsh." Suzune said during dinner when Reika finished listing the chores that Tome-san gave them. It turns out, after they were done with the laundry, she made them clean up the kitchen along with Arata.

"Tell me about it." Reika groaned. "I nearly had a heart attack when she joked that she should have us do all the chores from now on."

"Ma, at least she did not make you clean the store rooms." Takeru remarked. "That room is considered to be the dustiest room in the entire dorm."

Reika groaned again, burying her face in her hands. She sat up straight though when Tome-san came over to their table.

"Reika, as a thank you for helping me with the chores, you, your brother and Mia will get an extra portion for dinner." Tome-san placed a tray in front of Reika who gulped at the amount of food on it.

"Enjoy."

When Tome-san walked away, Reika sighed and scrapped away some of the food. "I don't think I can finish all of this. Anyone interested in the extras?"

Takeru raised his hand. "Can I?"

By all means, take it." Reika placed the food she scraped away onto Takeru's bowl.

"But, isn't it a waste?" Inui asked. "Tome-san gave you extra as a thank you for helping her, but you don't want it."

"I don't usually eat a lot at night." Reika said dully. She looked over at Arata's table and saw that he and Mia had the same problem and gave part of their dinner to Sakuya and Haruki. "One thing about us is that we have very small appetites at night."

* * *

"I'll see you guys later." Reika waved at Arata and Mia as she went to her class.

"Ah." Arata nodded and turned to Mia. "Can you go on to class first? I have to ask Mito-sensei about something related to today's War Time."

Mia nodded. "Ok."

But what Arata and Mia did not know is that someone wearing Rossius uniform was watching them from behind a cupboard. As soon as Arata was out of sight, he went over to Mia.

"Hey there cutie."

Mia whipped around with a frown. "What is it?"

"Oh, nothing." He said as he walked closer to her. "I just wanted to say 'hi' to the Violet Devil's sister. It is not every day you see someone this pretty and is related to our residential star fighter. I am Bruce Bladow by the way."

Mia instinctively tried to walk away but he stepped in front of her, preventing her from leaving the scene.

"Oh, it is rude to walk away when someone is speaking to you." He grabbed her arm when she tried to push him away. "I don't think I caught you name at all too."

"That is none of your business!" Mia said frostily and jerked back her arm. "And don't touch me!"

"What is going on here?"

They turned to the side and saw Muraku standing there with the rest of his platoon standing behind him.

Mia let out a sigh of relief. "Muraku."

Muraku glanced at her and turned his attention to Bruce. "I would appreciate it if you would leave my sister alone."

"I was just saying hello, that's all." Bruce folded his arms arrogantly.

"Not from the way we saw it." Vanessa remarked, earning a glare from him but she ignored it.

"If you don't leave her alone, I can report you for harassing a student." Muraku warned him.

"Fine, then." Bruce held up his hands as he walked away. "I let it go for now. But," He stopped for a while. "It doesn't mean that I will let it slide completely."

Mia tried to lunge at him but Muraku placed an arm in front of her to stop her. Once he was out of sight, she turned to her twin agitated. "Muraku, why did you let him walk away like that?!"

Muraku blinked. "You were about to lose your temper. Do you want to get into trouble because of it?"

Mia bit her lip and shook her head. Muraku smiled a bit. "I figured so. If he bothers you again, please let me know."

Mia huffed. "I'm not the defenseless girl from before. I could have kicked him in the face if you did not stop me." She grumbled and stormed off to her class.

"Is she always like this?" Mikhail enquired curiously.

Muraku nodded slightly. "Ah. Come on. We cannot be late for class."

* * *

"Hya!" Mia cried and kicked the training dummy in front of her. Then, she punched it in the face and smirked. "How's that!?"

"It's only a training dummy. Of course you would win." Atsuya deadpanned. After an exhausting War Time to guard the lab from a large droid, Mia wanted to let out some steam by doing some training at the sports centre. Currently she was in one of the training rooms with her boyfriend watching her.

She huffed and kicked the dummy aside. "I was imagining the dummy's face was Bruce Bladow's. He had the nerve to flirt with me!"

Atsuya winced. "Ouch."

"And did you know that he even touch me!" She continued ranting.

Atsuya sighed and wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into a sideways hug. "The thing I love about you is that you don't let any other boys except for me to be close to you." He told her and leaned his face closer to hers.

Mia rolled her eyes and pushed his face away slightly. "Not true. Arata is my best friend/brother, and I have two brothers you know."

"But that's ok with me." He pulled her hands away from his face and kissed her forehead. This earned a pout from his girlfriend.

"No kiss on the lips?"

He smirked and turned her around slightly so that she was facing him. "Since you have been a good girl to keep those flirty boys away from you, here's your reward."

He tilted his head to the side and pressed his lips in a fierce way on Mia's and she quickly responded by kissing back in the same fiery manner. His hands went to her side and pulled her closer so that she was now pressing against him. Mia smirked and wrapped her hands around his neck tightly. He brushed his tongue across her bottom lips and she opened up a bit to let him in.

"Wah!"

They jumped and pulled apart and saw Reika covering her eyes with Arata by her side with a small smirk.

"Could you knock!?" Mia yelled at them, feeling very embarrassed to be caught making out with Atsuya.

"Could you not make out in the exercise rooms?!" Reika yelled back.

"Alright girls," Arata stood in between them with his hands up. "Knock it off. Mia, we got to go back now that's why we came to fetch you. And the rooms are soundproofed, so you would not hear us even if we knock."

Mia groaned and pulled away from Atsuya. "Must we?"

"You could stay here and continue making out with Atsuya and miss dinner…" Reika did not finish her sentence when Mia gave her the death glare.

"Give me a minute to change and I will be right out." She said in a warning tone. Reika gulped and ran out. Arata on the other hand, shook his head and turned to Atsuya.

"Don't let Yuko-nee know what you were doing with Mia in here."

"I know." Atsuya groaned. "Don't tell her about it."

"Will do." Arata did a handshake with him. "See you tomorrow."

"Ah."


	18. Chapter 18

I do not own anything f rom Danball Senki Wars.

* * *

Just a day after defending the lab from the large droid, Reika was in the briefing room with the rest of Harness after War Time. Today was disastrous when Bandit interrupted their mission and made all of the senpais LOST.

Jin and Higurashi-sensei were rather upset at what happened today and were giving the LOST senpais a final briefing about Bandit before dismissing them.

"It's been getting worse since Bandit appeared." Suzune complained. "Many students became LOST and we are unable to carry our missions."

"The funny thing is that they don't even care who they are attacking." Inui pointed out. "Their attack patterns are random and no one knows who they are."

"Say, I noticed that for every LBX they made LOST, they made a left had jab motion at the core box." Reika pointed out, remembering what she saw when they were watching what happened during War Time that day.

Takeru nodded in agreement. "I saw that too."

"Shouldn't we tell Kaidou-sensei about it?" Suzune asked.

"I'll be surprise if he didn't know this yet." Reika said mildly. "Anyway, I can't afford to be late for practice again. I have to go now." She picked up her bag and left.

* * *

"So, Bandit, huh?" Yuko mused. "What do you know about them?"

"Their attacks and skills are ruthless, and their attack patterns are pretty much random. Also, they always do a left hand jab right into a LBX's core box to make a student LOST." Reika listed.

"Wait," Arata held up his hands to stop her for a moment. "A left hand jab in the core box?"

Reika nodded in confirmation. "They even made everyone from Arabista and Harness who were in a mission today LOST. So we can safely say that they do not even care who they target."

"Who knows what Bandit could do to our mission?" Mia said worriedly.

Yuko looked thoughtful for a moment and glanced over at Arata and Mia. "And I am guessing that Jenock is so far the only country that hasn't encountered Bandit."

Arata and Mia nodded. "Ah."

"They you should be careful." Atsuya warned them. "They might choose to target you guys next."

"We will." Arata told him determinedly.

"By the way, I meant to show you this last week but I forgot." Yuko got up from her seat and gestured for them to follow her. Atsuya grinned as he knew what his sister was going to show them. "I'll go back to the bar first, nee-san."

Yuko nodded and led the three of them to the highest floor. "Normally, students and outside people are not allowed at this floor, which is my and Atsuya's rooms. But, for our mission, I created two hidden rooms for us to use our powers in."

The three teens exchanged excited looks. "So, where is it?" Reika asked eagerly.

Yuko smiled and pushed a book on one of the shelves and turned a vase 90 degrees clockwise. A click was heard and her hand glowed brown before she touched a shelf at the other end of the room. As she did that, a small green portal opened in front of them.

"Come on." Yuko motioned them to step in it.

Arata grinned. "Don't mind if I do." He took a step forward into it and was immediately transported into a large white room with several pillars and balconies on the walls.

"This is so cool!" Mia exclaimed behind him when she and Reika were transported there. She had the same look of amazement as he did.

"I knew that you would like it." Yuko said as she came through the portal. "You can use your powers here freely and not get caught."

Arata nodded. "Is this room part of the building?"

Yuko gave him a mysterious smile. "Yes and no."

"Huh?" Reika tilted her head in confusion.

"The room is actually part of the Aviane Dimension." Yuko explained. "The real portal to the entrance is in between two walls at the back of the building. The only way people can get into this room is through there. Only we can use the portal in that floor."

"That's good." Yuko nodded and brought them back in to the building. "Now, you can use this room to practice your powers."

"What about the other one?" Mia asked curiously.

"That will be saved for emergencies." Yuko told them. "You should go back now."

"Hai!"

"Oh, and one more thing, you can use your Avianes in there." Yuko added.

Arata grinned. "Thanks. We'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

"Today's mission is to capture Rossius' Tandem Harbor." Mito-sensei told the students gathered in the briefing room the next afternoon. "Tandem Harbor is an extremely strategic point, being an export terminal. If we can block it off, we'll deal a heavy blow on their logistic system. Under that logic, the enemy should have heavy defenses set up around this area."

_'Do you think we could test out the new feature of our LBX today?' _Mia asked Arata in her thoughts.

_'I don't see why not.' _Arata replied and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly which was not noticeable to anyone but Mito-sensei who saw it.

'Just what are they planning?' She silently thought. But she shook it off and continued, "This will be a joint mission between the first and third platoons."

"Will we be launching a series of surprise attacks?" Rikuya asked.

"Yes." Mito-sensei nodded in confirmation. "Tandem Harbor is surrounded by deep waters all the way through out to the coast to allow larger ships to pass through. We'll use that to or advantage."

"We will be entering through the sea." Haruki said in realization.

"Then I'll switch out your core boxes for waterproof ones so that you can operate underwater." Sakuya told him.

"Thanks a lot."

"Hm." Sakuya nodded and went out with Kouta to fulfill that task.

"So, we'll be landing at two spots." Haruki mused as he observed the screen which displayed their landing spots. "The first platoon will be on the western pier."

"And the third platoon will take the eastern pier." Rikuya added.

"What do we do when we land?" Mia asked.

"Let's decide on our formation after reaching shore." Haruki told her. "Arata, take the vanguard. Hikaru, you'll follow him. Mia and I will back you two up."

"Sounds good to me." Arata said nonchalantly.

"Me too." Mia nodded in agreement.

"Wait." Hikaru cut in. "I'll lead this time." Everyone looked at him in mild surprise.

"Hikaru…"

"When Arata battles, he gets sucked into the battle and loses sight of his surroundings." Hikaru explained. "This can put the whole platoon in danger."

Arata thought for a moment and nodded. "I see your point. Alright," He threw up his hands. "If you want to be in the lead, then be my guest."

Nearly everyone blinked in surprise. They were not expecting Arata to be this calm after what Hikaru had said. But Mia on the other hand frowned, knowing that whenever Arata is sadistic, he will act calm when on the inside, he is actually plotting something against Hikaru.

"Arata are you sure about this?" Haruki asked.

Arata merely nodded. "If he believes that he can do it more efficiently, then let him do it."

Haruki sighed. "Alright, we'll have Hikaru take the front this time." He turned to the other platoon captain in the room. "Rikuya, what will the plan be?"

"We will operate on our own terms, so you are free to do as you wish. Is that fine with you, Mito-sensei?"

"I will leave the planning up to you." She told them. She sneaked another glance at Arata and Mia and noticed that the latter was frowning while Arata had his eyes closed, lost in thought. For a moment, she saw that Mia's frown deepened and Arata's fist clenched slightly. She frowned. 'Masaka, they were using their powers to communicate with each other from the start…if that's so, what are they discussing about?'

* * *

_'Arata, whatever you are planning against Hikaru, you better not do it!' _Mia mentally told him.

_'Don't tell me what to do Mia!' _Arata yelled at her mentally.

Mia's frown deepened. _'Do you want to get into trouble because of it!? You always told me to keep my temper in check, so please keep to your word!'_

Arata clenched his fist. _'Fine, but that doesn't mean that I would let him go that easily.'_

There was no reply from Mia, but inwardly, she was worried.


	19. Chapter 19

I do not own anything f rom Danball Senki Wars.

* * *

After Sakuya had dropped them off at one part of the Harbor, they swam towards the pier silently and Mia could not shake off the thought that something bad might happen, especially since her dreams showed her that Bandit will attack and someone from the third platoon will become LOST.

"What's that?" Arata asked as some pointy balls came into sight.

"It's a naval mine." Haruki explained. "Proceed with caution, you three."

"Roger."

The four LBX swam carefully, avoiding the mines and Mia had to admit that they were very well placed but not good enough to prevent LBX from getting past them. It did not take long for them to reach the landing point.

"Reached landing point." Hikaru reported. "Checking situation."

As Val Sparos swam up to the surface, Mia rolled her eyes. 'What is it with him stating the obvious all the time?'

* * *

When Val Sparos broke through the surface, Hikaru surveyed the area and spotted three of Rossius' LBX. "One Gunther and two Gleriors spotted."

"The third platoon has landed at the eastern pier." Sakuya informed them. "The battle has initiated."

"Alright." Arata flexed his arm. "It's time for us to move!"

"Hikaru, we'll leave the timing of the landing to you." Haruki told him.

"Alright."

Up on the surface, a large explosion caught the attention of the guarding LBX. They quickly moved towards the eastern pier where the explosion occurred. And when they reached a certain point, Hikaru decided to move.

"Land now!"

"Roger!"

They jumped on land and Val Sparos ran towards the Gunther and finished him off with a slash of his dagger. He soon ran over to one of the Gleriors and made it break over too.

"Show off." Mia muttered as Arata defeated the other Glerior.

"Who, me or Hikaru?" Arata asked.

"Both."

Arata chuckled and turned to Hikaru. "What should we do now?"

"Head for the flag while we have the chance!"

_'Can we use it now?' _Mia asked in her thought to Arata.

_'Yeah. We might not get a chance if we wait any longer.' _Arata answered her.

_'Yosh.'_ Mia and Arata's eyes glowed for a moment and an invisible force field emerged from their LBXs and spread out through the entire area. After it had scanned the area, it returned back to their LBX.

_'Arata, I have negative results.' _Mia informed him.

_'Me too.'_ Arata told her grimly. _'The gem of wishes is not in the area.'_

* * *

With Yuno and her platoon, they were mildly surprise to see Hikaru in the front instead of Arata.

"Huh? Hikaru is in the front this time." Yuno remarked.

"That's new." Catherin added.

"I wonder if they will be ok." Yuno said worriedly.

"What do you mean?" Catherin asked.

"It just doesn't feel right." Yuno explained.

"Hikaru is more careful than Arata, so isn't this formation for the better?"

"Judgment, reversed." Kiyoka pronounced. "Mistaken expectations will lead to unwanted consequences."

Not far from them, Reika grimaced as she knew that Yuno was right to be worried for them. She could tell that Hikaru must have done this because he was jealous of Arata.

"I guess Hikaru has been keeping it in for too long now." She muttered.

* * *

Back on Arata's side, the first platoon had rejoined with the third platoon.

"Now it's simply a matter of who will reach the flag first." Rikuya stated.

"Of course we will be first!" Hikaru declared.

"Great. Now it's a race." Mia muttered.

"Get use to it, Mia." Arata told her.

The seven LBXs ran towards the flag. But Haruki soon became uneasy. "Strange, it's too quiet."

Arata frowned. "I have to agree with you on that."

"Haruki…" Sakuya's voice came through but it was distorted. "the…rth…enga…"

"What? I can't hear you!" Haruki called.

"The north side of the port is engaged in battle." Sakuya repeated.

"What!?"

"Rossius' defenses are exchanging fire with five unclassified units!" Sakuya continued.

"Could it be Bandit!?" Haruki exclaimed.

Mia narrowed her eyes. 'They really are here.'

Arata frowned. 'Now it looks like it is Jenock's turn.'

"This is a chance." Rikuya spoke up. "While the enemy is distracted, we will take the flag."

"Roger." The third platoon ran ahead.

Mia frowned. "You shouldn't underestimate the warning. Bandit can show up at us anytime."

"I second that." Arata said as Haruki and Hikaru went ahead of them too. "Be careful and watch out for anything suspicious."

Suddenly, a Gunther jumped out in their path. Orvane and Val Sparos were ready to attack, but Dot Phasor and Phantom Blaze were tensed up.

"Wait!" Arata called at his two companions. "Something is not right here!"

The Gunther glanced at them, but did not bother to attack them. Instead, it fired at three incoming units that no one recognized. The units shot at the Gunther and it break over.

"Are those Bandit?" Mia wondered out loud.

"Looks like it." Haruki answered her. The three units turned to them and started firing at them, forcing the first platoon to take cover.

"It's just as the rumors say. They don't care who they take out." Rikuya mused.

"Less musing and more fighting!" Mia yelled. "You got company!" She cried as one of the units ran over and fired at the third platoon.

"Look out!" Shin shield his captain with his LBX.

"Shin!"

"Requesting damage report." Rikuya requested when the unit ceased its fire when Arata attacked it with its sword.

"They took out my motor." Shin informed him. "Movement is impossible."

Arata grunted. "Looks like I have to use it."

Dot Phasor kept its sword and pulled out a handle with a long chain with a large ball at the end. "Z-Mace!"

It swung the ball at one unit and it connected, causing it to fly away. Then, it stepped on the ball with its feet and used the chain to defend itself from the enemy unit's assaults. "Haruki, I need you to get out of the way for a moment."

"Roger!" Haruki had Orvane back up a bit out of the radius of the chain. Seeing that he was out of the way, Arata spun the ball around him for a few seconds as it gain momentum before he released it at the unit that was fighting with Hikaru who jumped away to avoid it.

"I did not need your help!" Hikaru snapped at Arata as he continued to fight his opponent.

"You're welcome." Arata answered sarcastically as he grabbed the handle of the mace.

Over at Rikuya's side, Bandit launched a nonstop assault against them that Shin and Akito felt that they were unable to protect Rikuya any longer.

"Don't worry about me, just go!" Shin told them. "Akito, take care of Rikuya-san!"

"Roger!"

"We will continue forward."

Arata watched them leave Shin behind and shook his head. "Even if you do you not…no, you cannot be LOST, you don't have to sacrifice your teammates."

Mia grunted as she brought down her katana at her opponent as it dodged. "Haruki, what should we do? We are getting nowhere at this rate."

Haruki tensed and had Orvane shoot its cannon to lure two of the units away from Hikaru and Arata. "We have to fight them. It's the only way!" Orvane fired one more time and called at them. "Now, you two!"

Arata and Hikaru jumped out of their hiding spots and chased the two units of Bandit. But Sakuya, who was monitoring the whole situation, noticed that they were getting further from Haruki and Mia. "This means…they are being baited in?"

"Arata, Hikaru, this is all part of their plan!" He warned them.

Meanwhile, Mia and Haruki were not doing well that they were being tossed around by Bandit. Haruki also knew that they could not protect Shin at the same time too.

"Shin, take the escape stance!"

But before he could do so, one of the units of Bandit jumped in front of him and raised its left arm. Mia saw this and gasped. This was the same action that her dream and Reika had described. The unit jabbed its hand into the core box, and Mia could have sworn that the eyes of Bandit blinked for a second before pulling its hand out and Shin's LBX exploded.

Haruki gritted his teeth. "Mia, go and help Arata and Hikaru. I'll hold them back!"

Mia glanced at Bandit and sighed. "Roger."

She broke away from her opponent and ran over to the direction that they went. Soon enough, she found them cornered and taking fire. "Guys!" She ran over and threw her katana at the unit in front of Hikaru, distracting it long enough for Val Sparos and Dot Phasor to escape.

"Come on, we better go back to Haruki!" Phantom Blaze quickly retrieved its weapon and led them back to Orvane who was fighting with an unknown black unit with a red scythe.

"Haruki!" The three LBX jumped in front of him protectively and the four other Bandit units jumped in front of the mysterious black unit with the red scythe.

"This looks bad." Mia frowned.

Arata smiled wryly. "If the situation was not that tensed, I would have laughed at that." The smile dropped when a purple blur brushed past a Bandit unit that was standing on top of some pipes. The Bandit unit break over and fell down. Standing in its place was Hojou Muraku's Guther Yzelphar.

"Oh no." Mia groaned.

Gunther Yzelphar jumped down from the pipe and slashed its sword at the black LBX who backed up and, with his companions, left. The alarm blared at that moment, signaling the end of War Time that day.

"The time up saved us." Haruki sighed in relief.

Mia sighed and slumped in her seat. "Thank goodness."

* * *

"So, Tandem Harbor had negative results." Yuko mussed as her computer showed the results of Dot Phasor and Phantom Blaze's scans.

"Ah." Arata nodded. "Also, Bandit attacked us today and one of our classmates was LOST."

"And the time up had to save us." Mia added grouchily.

"Cheer up." Atsuya wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "You guys are alright, that's all that matters."

"But then, did you notice anything suspicious when Bandit attacked?" Reika asked them.

"Well, there was some transmission noise right when they had started their assault…" Arata remembered.

"Also, when they did that left hand jab in Shin's LBX, I saw that their eyes were blinking for a second before they pulled out." Mia added. "It was like they were searching for something."

"Probably the Parasite Key." Reika said dismissively.

"I see." Yuko thought for a moment. "Alright. I'll see what I can do to find out what is the transmission noise. In the meantime, finish up your mission and keep an eye out for Bandit."

"Ok." Arata and Mia nodded.

"By the way, Arata, I might need your help on the blind eye technique again." Reika spoke up. "Can you spare a few minutes?"

Arata nodded. "Sure," He turned to Mia with a sheepish smile. "Sorry, but I guess you have to go back by yourself."

"That's ok." Mia waved it off. She pecked Atsuya's cheek and grabbed her bag. "I'll see you guys later."

Atsuya frowned and followed her to the front door. "I don't think it is a good idea to let you go by yourself."

"Don't worry," Mia assured him. "I'll be fine. I got a spare bottle of pepper spray in my bag."

"But…"

He was cut off when Mia kissed him on the lips softly.

"I told you, I'll be fine." She assured him.

He sighed. "Fine, call me when you get back. I won't be at rest until you do so."

"I will." Mia promised and walked back.

As he watched Mia leave, Atsuya rubbed his temples and muttered. "That girl will be the death of me."

"But that's for sure."

Atsuya looked up. "Charlotte, what did I tell you about seeing me here?"

Charlotte Rein giggled and stepped out from behind a tree. "What, can't I see you after a stressful War Time? You haven't told her that you are seeing me, huh?" She cocked her eyebrow.

"I can't." Atsuya groaned. "I do like you, but she comes first."

Charlotte snapped her head up and glowered. "Why?"

"Because I love her." He told her emotionlessly. "What we have is just a mutual attraction."

"Oh, come on." She scoffed. "I know that deep inside you love me too. You just don't show it because of her." She walked over to him and placed a hand on his cheek. "Kiss me."

"With pleasure." He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek for a second and pulled away. "Now if you would excuse me, I have to go in before my sister gets suspicious."

Charlotte clenched her fist when he went back inside without giving her a second glance. "One day, you will be mine. And until that day comes, I will make you suffer, Hojou Mia."


	20. Chapter 20

I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.

* * *

"Mikhail, Vanessa, I want the both of you to guard the flag no matter what happens while I fight Bandit and Jenock." Muraku instructed them as they walked back to their dorms. "Kageto, please monitor the situation and inform us if anything happens."

They nodded but when Muraku was not looking, they exchanged uneasy glances. It was rather clear that they were not comfortable with Muraku facing off Bandit and Jenock alone.

"Aren't we supposed to talk to him?" Kageto whispered to Vanessa and Mikhail.

"Depends if you know how to talk him out of this." Mikhail answered.

Vanessa eyed Muraku for a moment and when she was certain that he was far ahead of them, she sighed. "Sometimes, I wonder if Muraku could even be talked out of doing something once he made up his mind on it."

"Your guess is as good as mine." Mikhail shrugged.

* * *

"Arata, don't you think Atsuya has been acting strange recently?" Reika asked as she dodged another blow from Arata while blindfolded.

"What makes you think so?" He asked.

"For starters, he leaves the building at random times for a few minutes or so, and when he comes back, he looks flustered." Reika listed. "Also, he has been getting a lot of secret calls from someone. When I asked who it was, he snapped at me, telling me to mind my own business."

Arata paused in surprise. "He snapped at you?!" He repeated incredulously.

Reika nodded as she untied the blindfold. "Yup. But I noticed that he never acts this strange whenever he is with Mia."

"Do you think it could be that Atsuya is doing something for Mia?" Arata wondered.

Reika shook her head. "Then why did he snap at me? You know that when he is planning a surprise for Mia, he always gets flustered but never snapped."

Arata eyed her for a moment. "Perhaps we are only over thinking things."

"Maybe…" She trailed off when Atsuya came in, talking with someone on his CCM. From the looks of it, Arata guessed that it was Mia.

"Glad to hear that you got back safely….Yes, you were right….Ok, I'll see you tomorrow." He hung up and noticed that Arata and Reika were staring at him strangely. "What?"

"Nothing." Arata quickly shook his head and turned to Reika. "It's about time we went back. Come on."

Reika glanced at Atsuya and nodded at Arata. "Ah."

They quickly ran out of the room, leaving Atsuya alone in the room. He scratched his head in confusion. "What was that?"

* * *

Mia looked up from her book when Reika came in. "About time you came back."

Reika nodded wordlessly and sat down on her bed. "Can I ask you something?"

Mia cocked an eyebrow but nodded. "Sure."

"Do you think Atsuya has been acting strange lately?"

The question caught Mia off guard. "What do you mean?"

Reika merely shrugged. "You know what I mean. What do you think about it?"

Mia slowly shut her book and sat up on her bed. "I don't know what is going on with him," She slowly stated. "But I trust him that he isn't doing anything bad."

Reika frowned. "How can you say that so easily? He could be cheating on you for all we know." The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself. Her hand flew to her mouth when she realized what she had said.

Mia clenched her jaw and a layer of frost formed on the book. "I _trust_ him. And please don't sprout nonsense like that."

"I'm sorry." Reika lowered her head. "But I'm just worried for you. He isn't acting right at all these days."

"Don't worry about it." Mia shrugged it off. "I'm sure that he's just pressured about the drinks bar and his responsibilities."

Reika kept quiet for a moment and grabbed some clean clothes. "I'm going to shower now."

When Reika was out of the room, Mia clenched her fist. "I trust him." She whispered to herself.

* * *

"Haruki talked to me about our plan for today's War Time at breakfast." Arata told Mia the next day as they walked to school. "He said that we should avoid fighting Gunther Yzelphar and try to get to the third platoon."

Mia nodded. "Sounds good to me. But I have a feeling that it would not be that simple."

"Did you see anything last night?" Arata asked, referring to her future sight visions.

"Not anything related to today's War Time." Mia regretfully informed him. "Just some nonsense of Atsuya flirting with some girls."

Arata raised an eyebrow. "And you're talking like it is nothing."

Mia sighed. "You know him. No matter how many times I try to stop him, he won't change his womanizing habits."

Arata narrowed his eyes. "I don't get him sometimes. He has you for a girlfriend and yet, he still wants to flirt with other girls like he doesn't have one."

"That's just the way he is." Mia said tonelessly. "I gave up on ticking him off a long time ago."

A loud thunder rumbled in the distance and for the first time, Mia noticed how dark the sky was. "We better hurry before it rains."

Arata nodded and they started running to the school building.

* * *

"Ohayo, Yuno." Arata greeted the brown haired girl when they came into class.

"Oh, ohayo Arata, Mia." She greeted back with a smile.

Mia looked out of the window and smiled. "I'm glad that we made it in time before the downpour. It's raining cats and dogs outside."

Yuno looked out too and nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I've never seen it rain this much during my time on the island."

"Hopefully it stops by the time War Time is over." Arata remarked as he took his seat.

"Ah." Yuno flashed her smile at him, making him smile back. Beside him, Mia was grinning slightly.

_"You like her."_ She conveyed her thoughts to him.

Arata frowned slightly. _"As a friend."_

_ "Oh come on, I know that look. It's the same one you like to give Maddie."_

Arata's frown turned into a glare. _"Are you implying that I like Yuno just because she looks like Maddie?"_

_ "No."_ Mia shook her head a bit. _"I'm just saying that you might have moved on from Maddie and like Yuno now."_

_ "But how can I tell if I like Yuno just because she looks like Maddie or because I had moved on from her?"_

_ "So you're admitting that you like Yuno more than a friend." _Mia thought with a smug smile.

Arata glared at her for a moment and mentally sighed. _"I admit that I do like her in some ways, but I just want to make sure that it is not because she resembles Maddie or she would be hurt."_

_"…Maybe we should stop this here. But just so you know it is good if you moved on. Maddie would not want you to be constantly blaming yourself and stay like this." _Mia whispered softly into his mind.

_"…I know."_ He cut off the connection as more people entered the class including Hikaru who was soaked to the bone. He raised an eyebrow. He was pretty sure that Hikaru had left earlier before he and Mia did but shrugged it off. 'Just concentrate for today's War Time.'


	21. Chapter 21

I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.

* * *

"I hope that Hikaru will be well enough by War Time to participate." Mia said as she and Arata walked down the hallways. The rain was still pouring outside and it did not look like it would stop for some time.

Arata nodded in slight agreement. A wicked idea came into his head as they approached the infirmary. His smirked and said in a loud voice. "I hope so too, but if he doesn't, he could get into hot water. We cannot defend his LBX all the time."

Mia shot him a glare as they continued to walk, unaware of Arata's prank. "Arata, don't talk like that. I'm sure that he'll want to fight in War Time."

Arata shrugged. "Say all you want. It won't matter if Hikaru actually does get over his…inner conflicts and focus on the mission."

Mia eyed him for a moment. She had to agree with him on that matter but still…

"Arata, are having something in your mind?"

"What makes you say that?" Arata asked innocently.

Mia studied him for a moment and shook her head. "Never mind."

* * *

Inside the infirmary, Hikaru clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. He had heard every word from Arata and Mia and knew that Arata had intentionally said them.

'If he thinks that he is better than me, I'll prove him wrong!'

* * *

"Alright, please enlighten me on your prank on Hikaru." Mia demanded once they were far from the infirmary.

Arata merely shrugged. "I just wanted to get him out of his wallowing."

Mia shook her head. "I believe that you have the most ridiculous ways of bringing out people from their misery."

"Mia, I thought you should have known me by now." Arata said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, yeah." Mia rolled her eyes. "A serious, academically smart student who everyone thinks is a role model, but is also a sadist at times."

"Yup." Arata nodded proudly as though being a sadist was something good. "I do enjoy torturing someone if they deserve it from time to time."

"I sympathize your next victim." Mia muttered. "But, really, you and Muraku can be very alike in some ways."

Arata raised an eyebrow. "Does this mean that he is a sadist too?"

"No!" Mia exclaimed, horrified at the idea that her brother was just as sadistic as Arata. "What I meant was, you and Muraku give out that serious, calm and collected aura, but on the inside is a very different story. Muraku can be very terrifying when he gets very angry."

"I would love to see it sometimes." Arata chuckled but the dead serious look in her eyes told him that she was not joking.

"I'm serious, Arata. His temper rages can be as bad as yours anytime." She insisted.

Arata frowned. He knew that his temper rages was quite dangerous at times because his mind would only be filled with rage and he would lash out with his powers uncontrollably that even Reika and Mia had a hard time stopping him. If Mia thinks that Muraku's temper rages was just as deadly as his, does this mean that he has powers too?

But as though she knew what he was thinking, Mia shook her head. "No, he is scary in a way because the both of you block out everything and your minds are filled with rage. Also, the both of you tend to attack everyone blindly."

Arata whistled. "Wow, I never knew that we're alike in some ways. I guess that is why we get alone well outside of school."

"Tell me about it." Mia muttered as she rolled her eyes.

* * *

That afternoon, all of them climbed into their control pods, including Hikaru who had miraculously recovered in time for War Time.

"Arata, Hikaru, Mia, you understand our roles in today's mission, right?" Haruki asked them before War Time started.

"Yup." Arata replied. "Just leave it to us."

"Got it." Mia gave her own reply. Hikaru said nothing so Mia assumed that he was in deep thought. She decided to do something about it and turned the frequency so that she would be talking to Hikaru. "Hikaru, snap out of it. War Time is about to begin."

"I don't need you to tell me that." Hikaru answered rudely.

Mia felt her temper flare but tried to keep it down. "Fine." She hissed through her clenched teeth. "Get lost in your thoughts and let your LBX become LOST for all I care." With that, she turned off the line and sank back in her seat.

_'Lay it off, Mia.' _Arata told her. _'He's not worth it.'_

Mia grumbled and tensed up as the countdown began.

_5...4...3...2…1…War Time Begin_

Almost immediately, the four LBX from Jenock jumped into their hiding places as Gunther Yzelphar's back was on them, looking for Bandit.

"There's no sign of Bandit on the radar." Haruki remarked as he checked the area.

"That would mean that they are not within the vicinity." Arata concluded.

"Let's go back up the third platoon. Don't let down your guard." Haruki told them but before their eyes, Val Sparos jumped out of its hiding spot with Orvane and ran towards Gunther Yzelphar.

"Hikaru?!"

"Is he trying to get himself in trouble!?" Mia wondered out loud.

Gunther Yzelphar soon spotted him and slashed Val Sparos away with no effort. Mia grimaced a bit. "That's go to hurt." She said, referring to Hikaru's pride as Val Sparos continued to attack her brother's LBX with no effort but each time he was blocked.

"This is bad." Arata frowned. "Haruki, what should we do?"

"Mia, I need you to lure the Violet Devil's attention so that Hikaru can get away. Arata, back her up." Haruki instructed.

"Got it!"

Phantom Blaze and Dot Phasor jumped out and ran towards them. But one of Bandit's units landed in front of Phantom Blaze and attacked her.

"Arata, go to Hikaru!" Mia told him as she kicked away her enemy. "I can take care of this."

Arata hesitated as he felt the malicious aura around Mia's opponent. It was something that he had never sensed before on Bandit but only on this particular one and it was directed towards Mia. But he relented when he saw her holding up against it, so he jumped at Gunther Yzelphar with his sword and just as he hoped, it had to leap away from Val Sparos to avoid it.

"Think about what you are doing, Hikaru!" Haruki scolded him. Orvane grabbed the break over Gunther's rifle and started shooting at the Violet Devil. Even so, Hikaru still would not back down and continued his attacks.

'I hope that he knows what he's in for or he would end up like the owner of this damned LBX in front of me!' Mia furiously thought as she finally managed to stab it with her katana and as though it knew not to mess with her, it ran away.

_'Mia, we'll talk about your usage of language later.' _ Arata informed her as he quickly pulled Val Sparos away from Gunther Yzelphar and Mia threw her katana in front of it to distract it. They regrouped with Haruki in front of them, still having the rifle.

"Hikaru, what are you doing?" Arata demanded.

"I cannot lose to you!" Val Sparos was at it again and Mia sighed.

"You went overboard, Arata."

_"Requesting back up from the First Platoon!" _Akito's voice rang, sounding distressed. _"We can't hold on much longer."_

Hikaru ignored the request and kept up the fight until he was thrown into a nearby building. With him out of the way, Gunther Yzelphar set his sights on Dot Phasor.

_"First Platoon where are you!?"_

"Haruki, what should we do now?" Mia asked as she eyed her brother's LBX warily.

Haruki gritted his teeth. "Hikaru, Mia, head over to the Third Platoon's position!"

"What? I need to defeat the Violet Devil!" Hikaru protested.

"Don't make me drag you over there!" Mia threatened. "Because I totally can!"

Hikaru tightened his grip on his controls. "But you can go alone!"

"Calm down." Haruki said. "Our highest priority is to capture this point, not defeat the Violet Devil!"

"But, I…"

"This is an order!"

"…Roger." Hikaru finally relented and followed Phantom Blaze to the flag. Halfway there however, they were intercepted by the same unit that Mia was fighting against earlier.

"Go, I'll handle this!" Mia told Hikaru and threw one of her daggers at the Caliper.

"Ah." Val Sparos continued to its destination while Mia was left to fend off opponent.

Inside her control pod, Charlotte Rein smirked triumphantly. "Now I have you where I want you. GET LOST!"

Her caliper shot at Phantom Blaze, but it was too fast for it to have a proper aim. She gritted her teeth. "When you are out of the picture, Atsuya will pay more attention to me." Caliper threw a grenade at Phantom Blaze which clouded its vision. "That's why I cannot let you walk away here!"She cried as Caliper rushed at where Phantom Blaze was only to find nothing there.

"What…!?"

Phantom Blaze suddenly rushed at her from behind and grabbed Caliper's arm. She twisted it hard until Caliper flipped over to the ground.

"Normally I would refrain myself from fighting violently like this, but you leave me no choice." Mia muttered. Phantom Blaze hauled Caliper up roughly and kicked it mercilessly a few times before she swung it into a building. As a finishing blow, Mia stabbed it with her dagger before leaving to catch up with Hikaru.

* * *

"Gezz, that was a close call." Reika said to Yuno who was sitting next to her.

Yuno nodded. "I never seen Mia attack that viciously before."

"Believe me, it could have been worse." Reika said without taking her eyes off the screen. "Mia always had trouble with her temper but when she is fighting like that, it is usually because she is positively pissed off."

"And I wonder how she is even related to Hojou Muraku." Catherin muttered.

"You better not say that in front of her." Reika warned. "She doesn't take kindly to people comparing her to him."

"I'm just stating a fact." Catherin protested. "Hojou Muraku's way of fighting is rather cruel and vicious as for Mia…" She trailed off when she realized something. "Come to think about it, she doesn't fight cruelly except for just now, but she can be just as vicious."

Reika nodded. "Yeah. Muraku and Mia have somewhat similar fighting styles which put my Jazz Kung Fu and Arata's collective style to shame. She doesn't realize it though that she can be as strong as Muraku if she wants to, but she is unconsciously holding back all the time."

A hand flew to her mouth when she realized what she had said. Hanako noticed it though. "Unconsciously holding back?"

Reika sighed. "Mia will have my head if she learns that I told you this. Just pretend that I did not say that earlier. Mia would be very upset and mad if she knew that I told you what I did just now."

"Um, ok." Yuno nodded.

* * *

As Phantom Blaze ran towards the flag, she smiled when she saw Hikaru fighting normally against Muraku's teammates. "Looks like he came through."

Spotting Rikuya and Akito hiding behind some crates while the guarding LBXs who were not preoccupied with Val Sparos were closing in on them, she smirked and jumped in the middle of the group and threw two throwing knives at two of them, breaking over them at once. Sensing a missile fired at her, she jumped out of the way and quickly stabbed the culprit with her katana.

"That's the last of them." She sighed. A movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention and she glanced over at the flag. At the base, Mikhail and Vanessa's LBXs were tensed as Hikaru slowly approached them. But what caught her attention was the Bandit unit up at the flag sneaking up on the remaining Gunther that was guarding the flag. "Oh no…"

Just as she suspected, it jabbed the core box of the poor Gunther for a few seconds and jumped back as it exploded.

"This is bad." Mia frowned, the adrenaline from defeating the Caliper earlier wearing off, making her unsure of herself again.

But after a few tensed seconds, it left, leaving everyone shocked. But what was more surprising was Mikhail and Vanessa's units soon left after. Mia figured that Muraku had something to do with this. She may not have known Mikhail and Vanessa well, but she knew that the only way to get them to leave was to have Muraku call them off.

_"I give you my thanks, First Platoon." _Rikuya told them.

"All I did was fulfilling my role." Hikaru answered shortly.

Mia smiled at that and nodded at Rikuya. "You're welcome. Go and take the flag."

"Ah." Rikuya then addressed Akito. "Tanishta-kun, can you recover the Bandit unit?"

_"Of course."_

Mia sighed in relief that it was over when Hikaru suddenly addressed her. _"Mia, I'm sorry for being rude at you before War Time."_

Mia smiled at him. "Apology accepted."

It did not take long for the flag to turn and the ownership of Tandem Harbor was theirs.

"It looks like it is over." Arata said in relief but he said it too soon because an explosion came from where the Bandit unit that they were suppose to retrieve.

"What the-!"

* * *

"It self-destructed…" Yuno whispered in shock.

Reika frowned. "Does this mean that they are hiding something within the LBXs?"

"It looks like it." Kiyoka commented. "But this was an unforeseen tragedy. Now the Third Platoon is down to two people."

Reika narrowed her eyes. "I better go now. Higurashi-sensei is probably waiting for me at the briefing room."

Yuno nodded at her. "Alright. We'll you at the dorms later."

* * *

As Reika passed by Rossius' briefing room, she winced at the angry voices inside. 'Muraku and his platoon are probably in trouble for what happened at Tandem Harbor.'

She shook it off as she entered Harness' briefing room. 'Oh well, these things were bound to happen.'


	22. Chapter 22

I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.

* * *

"Well, that was helpful." Mia muttered sarcastically to Arata after they left for the dorms. "Not only did I get a scolding for letting off that Bandit unit I was fighting, the unit that we wanted to collect self destructed."

"You did not know that it got away, so don't take it to heart." Arata assured her. "Besides, if you had stayed around, you would probably be LOST because it would self destruct and Rikuya would probably be in the same boat as Akito."

"True." Mia sighed. "I hate to admit it though, I feel bad for Muraku."

Arata looked over at her curiously. "Why so?"

She shrugged. "We're twins, so in a way, we are very close to each other…even when we are not exactly that close, if you get what I mean."

Arata nodded in understanding. "Go on."

"We could sort of feel what each other are feeling and I can feel that he's really frustrated and maybe he's a bit…sad?"

Arata raised an eyebrow. "Wow, I wish I could feel Reika's emotions just like you and Muraku."

"I'm serious here." Mia groaned. "He really is down in the dumps."

"Then go find him." Arata advised her. "Isn't what siblings suppose to do? Support and comfort each other when one are down?"

"Maybe…" Mia sighed. "I don't know what to say to him. For the longest time, we have been somewhat distant yet close at the same time."

Arata smiled softly at that. "You should really try to understand him. You may be twins but yet, you cannot understand him completely."

"And what is that suppose to mean?"

"You'll see." He chuckled.

* * *

Mia sighed for the hundredth time, trying to understand what Arata meant. Earlier, she had went separate ways with Arata when she wanted to have some time to think by herself. She was so immersed in her thought that she did not notice someone following her until a hand landed on her shoulder. She jumped and reared back her hand to punch the culprit but he was too quick and grabbed it.

"What do you want!?" She snarled at the person who was no other than Bruce Bladow.

He only smirked and slammed her into a wall and pinned her fist above her. "Girls like you shouldn't be violent, you know."

"Just leave me alone!" Mia growled and she fought to free herself but Bruce had a tight grip on her wrist.

"Come now." He leered at her. "What could you do without your brother saving you this time?" He then got closer as though he wanted to kiss her.

Mia only snarled back and grabbed the arm that was holding her with her free arm and twisted it so that it would let her go and twisted it harder so that Bruce's entire body flipped and he ended up kissing the ground instead.

"If Muraku was here, I would probably be holding back, that's what! You better watch your mouth and actions or I will hurt you worst than I have just now." She said coldly and stormed away, unaware that her brother was watching her with sad eyes.

* * *

"That dirty bastard dared to touch me again." Mia grumbled to Reika in their room when she came back.

Reika winced as she looked up from her homework. "Ouch. You thrashed him up?"

Mia nodded wordlessly and Reika groaned. "Do you know that you could be in big trouble for that?"

"It was in self defense." Mia defended herself. "He was invading my personal space and would not back off even when I told him too."

Reika stared at her for a moment. "Oh. But I think its best that you don't tell anyone about it though."

"Believe me, I wasn't planning to." Mia huffed and took out her clothes from her drawer. "I'm going to shower now."

Reika watched her leave and shook her head. "That girl needs to control her temper better."

* * *

"Our next target is this." The map zoomed in on a fort at the eastern coast of Rossius.

"Angel Piece?" Haruki spoke up in surprise. Currently only the first, third and fourth platoons were in the briefing room to be briefed on their next mission. "Mito-sensei, we've just captured Tandem Harbor. So why are we going there?"

"We're outsmarting Rossius." Mito-sensei casually explained. "Rossius probably thinks that we will turn Tandem Harbor into a base in order to expand our territory. That's where we'll strike."

"That sounds logical." Arata muttered to himself as he examined the map again.

"Angel Piece is a fort located on the eastern coast of Rossius." Mito-sensei continued. "The fort is equipped with a long-range large aperture gun, and is protected by countless anti-aircraft riffles. It's their marine defense base."

"Guns." Arata muttered to Mia in disgust. She nodded in agreement and continued to observe the base.

"And the Grey Best is stationed there." Sakuya spoke up.

"Grey Best?" Arata asked, his curiosity piped up.

"The garrison leader of Angel Piece." He explained. "The most fearless combat fighter in Rossius. It crushes all enemies in its path mercilessly, like a beast. And so it's nicknamed the Grey Beast."

Arata folded his arms as he thought of the challenge it would provide. "The Grey Beast…Sounds like a challenge, I'm in."

Mia jumped at the fiery blue aura surrounding Arata. It was rare to see him pumped up for something, let alone an LBX battle. 'Just how can one person make him so pumped up?'

"It's good that you are exited, but first we have to figure out how to get there." Mito-sensei interrupted her thoughts. "If we approach from above waters, their radar will detect us and we'll fall victim to the rail gun. If we go by sky, the anti-aircraft guns will get us. And the area surrounding it is filled with mines."

"Even if we manage to get on land, the main gate is heavily reinforced. It'd be hard to break through with LBX." Haruki murmured.

"This place is pretty tough."

Mia rolled her eyes. Why do they always depend on LBX when the solution was right in front of their eyes? As for the rail gun and anti-aircraft guns, she was disgusted that Rossius had relied on such machines to defend themselves instead of their own strength. 'If they were as strong as they claimed, I can only imagine that it is because they rely on guns! Of all things.'

"I got it!" Arata smirked, causing all eyes to turn to him. "I've got a good idea."

* * *

_'I really hope that your idea will work.' _Mia said to Arata as they got ready in their control pods.

_'Just as how I am capable of detecting what Muraku is feeling, he can detect my feelings, even if it is through LBXs.' _Mia slowly explained. _'And I overheard that he is at Angel Piece too.'_

_ 'So, he will know that we are nearby if you are in range?'_

_ 'Yes.'_ Mia answered hesitantly. _'I did not bring this up earlier since everyone would probably not believe me.'_

_ 'Good.'_

Mia cocked her head in surprise. _'Eh?'_

_ 'We cannot carry out our plan unless he knows that we're there.' _Arata explained. _'Anyway, we would have to utilize this into our favor if things go wrong. We'll be bound to fight him anyway. So it doesn't matter whether he can detect you or not.'_

_ 'Remind me again why must we need him to know that we are coming?'_

The corners of Arata's lips twisted into a smirk. _'So that we can have a challenge when we get there. It's not as interesting to simply arrive there undetected and run through the plan smoothly as to wreck havoc there.'_


	23. Chapter 23

**I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.**

* * *

An alarm blared at a fort at the icy coast belonging to Rossius, yet, no one exactly flinched at the sound since it is quite common.

_"Foreign entity detected approximately 1200m to the front." _One of the operators informed them. Just as an ice block crashes against a larger ice block, the item on the radar disappeared. _"Entity has disappeared."_

"Another ice block?" Gregory sighed. "No need to be cautious. Continue preparing for the Jenock invasion."

_ "Roger."_

Muraku surveyed his environment, wondering why he feels that Mia was close by. Being twins had its perks as he can easily sense his sister if she is close enough, even through LBX. It suddenly struck him that Jenock could be here to attack Angel Piece. Not listening to Gregory's ranting, he tried to pinpoint exactly where Mia is, knowing that it was highly possible that Jenock would be nearby.

"We're leaving as soon as we're ready." Gregory declared. "We'll take Jenock and all those other tiny countries, and wring them dry."

Muraku hardened his gaze when he finally managed to pinpoint Mia's whereabouts. A missile was fired from Gunther Yzlephar's launcher towards a large block of ice, drawing shock looks from everyone, including his teammates.

"What?" Gregory gasped.

The missile hit its mark, making the ice block break into pieces with smoke covering the whole thing.

"What are you doing?!" Gregory demanded Muraku.

"You told me to shut my mouth, so I did." Muraku reminded him, drawing a snicker from Vanessa. "It's the enemy."

"What?"

The three Jenock platoons which were hiding in the ice were force to reveal themselves with the lost of their cover.

_ 'I didn't expect them to find us this fast.'_ Arata groaned.

_'I did warn you that Muraku would find us out sooner or later.'_ She reminded him with a sigh.

* * *

_"Hide under the ice?" Mito-sensei repeated._

_"Yes, we'll just disguise ourselves as ice floes." Arata clarified. _

_ "Ice floes?" Catherin said in disbelieve. "There's no way we're going with a stupid plan like that…"_

_ "Why you-!" Mia attempted to lunge at her for insulting Arata but was held back by him._

_ "Mia, calm down!"_

_ "It might work!" Sakuya said loudly to grab her attention. All eyes, including Arata and Mia's, were turned to him._

_ "This place is surrounded by ice floes. Angel Piece's radar probably detects absolutely everything that moves. We can take advantage of this and hide LBXs in the ice. That way, we'll just be dismissed as blocks of ice."_

_ "And we might be able to trick the enemy!" Yuno concluded._

_ "So much for a stupid plan huh, Catherin?" Mia said snidely towards the girl. Arata sighed and tugged on her arm sharply._

_ "That's enough, Mia."_

_ "Mito-sensei, I think we should try this out." Sakuya quickly requested to change the subject._

* * *

The alarm sounded again and this time, everyone was high on alert.

_"Our first order of business is to take out the anti-aircraft guns on the east side of Angel Piece." _Mito-sensei instructed.

"Fourth Platoon! Let's do this before the enemy gets back on their feet!" Catherin told Yuno and Hanako.

"Roger!" The three Sirens dashed across the ice block they were standing on towards the base.

"Let's go too!" Haruki added.

"Right!" Soon, the entire first platoon was following the fourth platoon. Not too long later, the third platoon came behind. Up on the fort, the LBX form Rossius were still stunned at Jenock's surprising daringness to invade Angel Piece, but Muraku was glaring at Arata's Dot Phasor.

"I've been waiting for you, Sena Arata!"

"A surprise attack from Jenock?!" Gregory cried in disbelieve. "Fight back! Turn them into Swiss cheese!"

The cannons were aimed at the incoming LBX and fired. But Jenock's LBX kept on dodging them. Soon enough, they got too close that they cannot reach them.

_"No can do! They're so close that we can't shoot!"_

"You pesky Jenock brats!" Gregory cursed. "Everyone, prepare for battle! Show them the power of Angel Piece's defense force!"

All of the LBX except for Muraku's platoon followed the Grey Best down to get ready. Before following them, Muraku gave Mikhail and Vanessa an order.

"Vanessa, Mikhail. Jenock's goal is most likely to take out the anti-aircraft guns." He told them.  
You two stay here."

"Roger!"

* * *

The fourth platoon leapt up to the fort but before they could proceed any further, one of the cannons turned and aimed at them. But Haruki stepped in and saved them by destroy it with Orvane's Orcannon.

"Thanks Haruki!" Catherin thanked him. "Let's all rush in!"

The three Sirens jumped gracefully up to the top of the fort where the anti-aircraft guns were located.

"There's our first target!" Hanako exclaimed when she spotted the closest gun. Catherin's Siren took aim at it but Vanessa's Guther jumped out of nowhere and attacked Hanako's Siren. The other two jumped away but Mikhail's Glerior began to shoot at them from behind one of the guns. But Yuno's Siren retaliated with her guns.

"We'll keep these two back!" Yuno cried.

"Catherin, go now!" Hanako told her captain.

"Gotcha!" Catherin began to destroy the guns one by one with her launcher and soon enough, all the anti-aircraft guns were taken down.

"Alright!"

Vanessa gritted her teeth and gripped the controls hard. 'How could we fail Muraku!?'

"Fourth Platoon here." Catherin reported in. "We've destroyed the targets!"

"Moving on to the second stage of operation. Fourth platoon, fall back and meet with the First Platoon." Mito-sensei instructed.

"Roger!" All three Sirens jumped back down to regroup while Mikhail and Vanessa stared after them, not believing that they were falling back already. Suddenly, a craft carrier flew into view.

"Reinforcements?!" Mikhail gritted his teeth.

Arata smirked. "Nice timing, Sakuya."

"LBX should not be able to break down that door alone." Vanessa frowned.

"It can't be…" Mikhail gasped.

"Drop the Riding Armor!" Mito-sensei told Sakuya.

"Roger!" The Riding Armor was dropped and Dot Phasor jumped into it.

"Dot Phasor, Ride On!"

"Destroy the door with the Riding Armor. Invade the base and capture Angel Piece!" Mito-sensei gave them some last instructions.

_'Mia, while I destroy the door, scan the area!' _Arata told her as Dot Phasor smashed the door.

_'Got it!' _Mia's eyes began to glow but a loud crash snapped her out of it and made her gasp. In front of them was a larger Riding Armor from Rossius!

_"You won't get through here as long as this Grey Beast is still standing!" _Gregory boasted.

"Don't tell me…Rossius made their own riding armor…" Sakuya blinked in disbelief.

Mia gritted her teeth. "Those copycats…They're going to pay!"

Gregory merely laughed and taunted them, "The riding armor isn't just a Jenock thing!"

As much as Arata hate to admit it, it was faster and stronger than the one that Sakuya designed. "It's strong!"

"Strong countries make stronger weapons!" Gregory bragged. "This is war!"

As the two riding armors clashed, Rikuya began to move to the entrance and was soon followed by the other two. Arata noticed this and wanted to slap his head. 'That idiot will get himself killed!'

Gregory laughed and took this moment where Arata was distracted by Rikuya's foolish actions and landed a heavy blow where Arata's Riding Armor was knocked down.

"What's up? Is that all you got?" He taunted. He frowned when noticed Rikuya sneaking into the base and fired at them. Nishimura and Ooyama were quick to react and shield Rikuya's LBX with theirs.

"Oh dear." Mia muttered but stayed where she was with no intent to help Rikuya. For her, if he wanted to get careless and let his companions or himself LOST, it was none of her concern. Her main worry is facing her brother later on in the base. Not too long later, Nishimura and Ooyama's LBX were destroyed while Rikuya's LBX was safe thanks to the Escape Stance.

Arata gritted his teeth and clenched his controls tightly. "Dang it! That idiot…"

"Arata, calm down. Take a deep breath." Mia advised. "No good getting worked up now when we have to defeat the Grey Beast. Especially if it is going to attack you in five seconds."

That got Arata out of his fuming in time to jump out of the way. "You should have told me earlier!"

"Just stand still and I'll make it easier for you!" Gregory yelled.

"I'll show you!" Arata lunged at the Grey Beast only for it to dodge.

"You cannot defeat the Grey Beast like this!" He jeered.

"Arata!" Phantom Blaze quickly leapt beside Dot Phasor and held up its katanas. "Need a hand?"

"Sounds good!"

Using Dot Phasor's Riding Armor as leverage, Phantom Blaze flipped up and landed on the back of the Grey Beast's and jammed one of her throwing knives into the arm joint, rendering it unable to move.

"Get off me, you pest!" The Grey Beast waved its free arm around to shovel Phantom Blaze off. But it merely kicked the arm away and jumped down onto Dot Phasor's Riding Armor's waiting arms.

"Why you-!" The Grey Beast was immediately met with a barge of attacks from the rest of Jenock's LBX. Arata landed a finishing blow which knocked the entire Riding Armor into the ocean. Once he was sure that the threat was gone, he released a breath he did not know that he was holding. He glared at Rikuya's LBX which was now safe. If he wanted to keep the Parasite Key safe, he should not be this reckless.

"Arata, we have to get to the flag!" Haruki's voice snapped him out.

"Alright." He sighed. _'Any luck on the scanners?'_

_ 'No. I could not scan the area because of the grey beast.' _Mia informed him.

_'Try again now.' _ Their eyes glowed as they scanned the area. The results were pretty much the same.

_'Negative…again.' _Mia said dully.

Arata shook his head. Their range was only up to 200 meters. If their range was extended, they could surely find the Gem of Wishes sooner. He quickly adverted his attention to the door in front of them which was slowly opening.

But once to door fully opened, every single one of Jenock's LBX froze.

"Gunther Yzelphar!?" Arata exclaimed, shocked because he thought that Muraku had been in another part of the building. "What is he doing here?"

"I've been waiting for you, Sena Arata!" Muraku said to himself. His gaze drifted to Mia for a moment before he turned back to face Dot Phasor.

Suddenly the alarm sounded and all the LBX were frozen in place.

_"Time is up. Today's War Time will now end." _

Mia gritted her teeth. She was sick of constantly meeting her brother in their attacks and needing the time up to save them. As she got out of her control pod, Arata was immediately by her side.

"I hope that you would not need me to warn you of what would happen if you lose your temper." He said in a low tone.

"Don't worry, I have it under control." She growled. "But I won't guaranty of what I would do next."

Arata observed her for a few seconds and sighed. "Just don't do anything extreme."

That made her smirk. "What makes you think that I would do so?"

Arata rolled his eyes. "When was the last time you were angry and did not do anything extreme?"

Mia shot him a glare. "Stop it." She said in a tone that warned him to shut his mouth which made him concern. True, Mia could be violent sometimes and easily lose her temper, but never once did she lose it on him.

"Mia, is there something bothering you?" He carefully asked.

"No, there isn't." She said shortly and walked away, ignoring Arata's doubtfully look. When she was a good distance from him, she clenched her fist. "What good is telling Arata about my doubts of Atsuya when he's still hurting from Maddie."

She took a deep breath to calm herself and continued walking to the control room, unaware that Haruki and Yuno heard what she had said. Haruki furrowed his brow in confusion of his cousin's name, wondering the Maddie Mia was talking about was the same Maddie that was his cousin. Yuno on the other hand had a sad look, wondering if Arata would ever notice her crush on him.


	24. Chapter 24

**I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.**

* * *

When Reika reached the gate where Arata and Mia were waiting, she grimaced at their grim expressions. "Hey, did anything happen?"

"Nothing." Mia muttered and went ahead of them. Reika gave her brother a look as to ask why was Mia like this.

"Just after Mito-sensei dismissed us, Catherin went up to her and told her that she should stay out of the mission since she would be bound to hold back against Muraku." Arata whispered. "Of course, Mia became upset and told her to shut up. I don't blame her for it though."

Reika sighed, knowing all too well how true Catherin's statement was and how much it hit Mia to the core. "So what happened in your mission?"

"We are supposed to capture Angel Piece from Rossius. By the end of War Time, we already reached the chamber where the flag is but…"

"Muraku is there." Reika finished for her brother. "My mission today was to capture Ocean Blue City from Arabista on the west coast. It was relatively easy except we had to be careful of the snipers. But as usual, my jazz kung fu saved the day. Though I think some of the class is getting annoyed that I'm the one taking all the glory in the missions."

"No surprise there. It's just like orphanage days. They were always jealous and fearful of what we could do." Arata said softly.

"Yeah." Reika said just as softly. They turned back their attention back to Mia who was deep in her own thoughts.

"Do you think she would actually hold back against Muraku tomorrow?" Reika wondered.

"Time will tell." Arata shrugged.

* * *

Later, the three of them were at the sports centre trying to do their homework away from the other students.

"Just who in the world thought that calculus would be a good topic to be taught at school?" Mia groaned as she poured over her math homework.

"The one who thought that it would be a good idea to torture everyone by having them learn it even though they would not use it in the future." Reika grumbled back.

Arata rolled his eyes from the table he was sitting away from them when he heard their complaints. "Come on girls, it would be much simpler if you stop grumbling about it."

"Try doing some of Kaidou-sensei's assignments, then you would know how much we are suffering on calculus." Reika challenged.

But Arata shook his head. "No, do your work now."

Reika huffed and buried her head back into her books. Not too long after that, she screamed and slammed her hands on the table, making everyone jump. "This is hopeless!"

Arata sighed and gestured to her to the seat beside him. "Come on, I'll see if I can help you."

"Yes." Reika silently cheered and ran over to her brothers table. Mia resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Reika's way of getting Arata to do her homework for her. She looked back at her homework and groaned. She has been working on it for at least an hour or so and she was nowhere halfway through.

"Calculus?"

Mia looked up to see the amuse face of her twin brother. "Yes, so?"

"You seem to have problems with it." Muraku stated.

"I know." Mia groaned. "What do you want?"

Muraku did not say anything but sat down beside her and took a look at her work. "You did this one wrong." He said pointing at one of the questions.

Mia quickly did a double take at the question and looked at her brother questioningly. "What's wrong with it?"

"It's supposed to be like this…"

For the next hour or so, the twins went over Mia's homework and she had to admit that it was much simpler with Muraku explaining it. By the time they were done, it was already close to dinner.

"Thanks for the help." Mia thanked her brother once they were done.

Muraku nodded but did not get up yet. "Before tomorrow's War Time, I want to talk to you."

Mia flicked her eyes to him then back at her books. "It's about facing you, isn't it?"

Muraku did not reply for a while but silently nodded. Mia sighed. "Fine, we'll meet at the roof at lunch time but, I don't want anybody else there."

"Fine by me." Muraku agreed.

When Mia finally looked up from keeping her books in her bag, she smirked. "Looking forward to going back to California next week?"

"If it means being around Maya for the whole summer holiday of two and a half months, then, no." Muraku said mildly.

"Oh come on, Maya isn't that bad." Mia rolled her eyes. "I don't understand why the both of you never get along at all. By the way, are you inviting anyone to visit us?"

"Since Vanessa and Mikhail's parents will be working overseas for the summer, I offered to let them stay with us." Muraku carefully said. "And Kageto said that he'll be coming with us too for two weeks at least while his parents are out of town."

Mia raised an eyebrow. "Then it's a good thing I'm not having anyone over. We'll have a full house with your friends alone."

Muraku cocked his head. "I thought you were going to get Reika and Arata to visit?"

"They can't come over." Mia shrugged, but secretly worried about the reason why they won't be coming. "Heard that they are going on a retreat or some sort."

"I see." Muraku checked the clock on the wall and nodded at her. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night." Mia said with a curt nod.

* * *

"So what's the plan?" Mia asked Arata after dinner. They were sitting in the garden outside with the interior plan of the flag room of Angel Piece spread out before them.

"Given that all of us are just at the entrance, I would not be surprise if Muraku would choose a frontal attack straight on." Arata mused. "I have a feeling all of his attention would mainly be on me though. So, I'm guessing that Mikhail and Vanessa would be the ones guarding the flag, so the others can take care of them. However, even though we outnumber them, the worst thing we could do in this mission is to underestimate them."

Mia nodded in agreement. "Yeah. But it will also mean that you and Muraku would be bound to fight."

"I could fight him for the purpose of distract him from the others, but I don't think it would be honorable." Arata frowned. "He wants me to fight him seriously and it would not be honorable to fight him half heartedly."

"An honorable fight is what makes you an honorable warrior." Mia recited what Yuko had taught them. "Show honor to your opponent, and they will honor you back if they are a noble warrior."

Arata nodded. "Yup, that's why, even if the others oppose it, I'm not going to fight Muraku half heartedly but give all I got."

Mia suddenly frowned. "Wait a minute, why are discussing this without the others?"

"Because whatever we plan here, they would be bound to be opposed to it." Arata replied mildly. "If I know Haruki, he would be protesting against it, Catherin would probably not understand my 'honorable spirit' as she would say."

"So true." Mia gave a humorless chuckle. "It's best to keep it to ourselves then. By the way, what am I suppose to do?"

Arata thought of a moment and sighed. "I'm afraid I have absolutely no idea. You could help me…"

"Then it's settled." Mia cut in. "I'll stick to you tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" Arata asked her skeptically.

"Absolutely. And I don't care what Catherin would yell in my ear." Mia said firmly.

"If you are sure then. We'll keep it between ourselves for now…though I bet everyone would guess it by now."

Mia nodded in agreement and suddenly hung her head. "Sorry for getting mad at you this afternoon. I was a bit annoyed and I was letting a personal issue bother me."

"Apology accepted. But what is the personal issue that's bothering you?" Arata gently asked.

Mia contemplated it for a few minute and sighed. "I don't know if it is a real problem or not…I don't want to talk about it for now."

"Ok, but if you want to talk, just let me or Reika know." Arata said. "By the way, I overhead Catherin saying something about stalking you just in case you do give Muraku any information."

Mia snorted and shook her head. "Good luck to her. I'll probably create an illusion just to throw her off."

"Good idea." Arata laughed.

* * *

**If I had to be honest, Catherin is not one of my favorite characters. Just so you know, Mia and Catherin don't like each other. Catherin does not trust Mia and Mia hates her guts.**

**Also, please review! Check out Kamui Pokemon Academy while you are at it!**


	25. Chapter 25

**I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.**

* * *

Mia had to stiff her laughter as she and Reika went to school the next day. True to her word, Catherin had trailed after them the moment they left the dorms. Of course, an amateur like her could not hide herself from the two highly trained girls.

"Mia, why is Catherin tailing us?" Reika whispered having noticed her trailing them within the first five seconds.

"I suspect it has something to do with Muraku and today's mission." Mia said with her lips curved up in amusement.

Reika covered her mouth to hide her giggles. "In that case, shouldn't we humor her?"

"Let's." Mia smirked and raised her voice. "You know, I've been thinking."

"What have you been thinking?" Reika smirked back, playing along.

"Given what Muraku told me…" Mia trailed off pretending to be in deep thought. "I doubt that he would enjoy..." Mia whispered something in Reika's ear but Catherin assumed it was about today's mission.

"Why so?"

"Given our attitudes and sense of fun, I doubt that we would make it easy for him." Mia snuck a glance at Catherin inconspicuously and was satisfied to see the girl riled up at her words. She must be wondering what Muraku had told her.

"But, I really hope I would get to see it but I might not be there." Reika groaned.

"Not everything can go our way, my dear friend." Mia comforted her. "Besides, it's not like we can't record it and show you on Skype."

Mia could sense Catherin's confusion now and gave a satisfied smirk. "I mean, he said it himself that he won't enjoy the summer because Maya's home too. We can tease him all we want and surely he would have some sort of reaction."

Reika chuckled and nodded. "Ok, too bad we can't visit at all."

"You should drop by California once." Mia motioned Reika to slip into the alley while Catherin was thrown off by their conversation. Once she was sure no one was watching, she created an illusion to hide themselves.

* * *

Catherin snapped out of her confusion long enough to notice that both Mia and Reika were gone. "Where could they have gone?" She grumbled. "They must have gone ahead."

She gave the alley a spare glance to make sure that they were not hiding inside but Mia's illusion was too strong for her to see through it and walked by it. Once she was gone, Mia and Reika burst into laughter.

"That was so good!" Reika clutched her sides which were hurting with laughter. "We tricked her real good!"

"Yeah, she thought that we were talking about the mission!" Mia slapped her thighs. Her laugher began to subside and sobered up. "But we have a problem. She thinks that we are ahead of her."

"Leave that to me~" Reika sang and threw a crystal. A light blue portal opened and they jumped into it.

* * *

Catherin halted in her tracks when she noticed a glow from the trees from the corner of her eye and went to it to investigate. She did not expect to see Mia and Reika playing with a key chain that also works as a flashlight.

"Huh!?"

"Oh, Catherin, nice of you to drop by." Reika grinned. "Check out my new flashlight key chain." She flashed it a few times to show her. "See? Cool, isn't it?"

Catherin stood frozen on the spot, not knowing what to say. "Um..

"Well, it looks like Mia's the only one interested." Reika sighed and linked her arm into hers. "Come on, let's go."

Catherin did not move as she stared at the two girls in utter confusion. Once they were a good distance away, Mia sighed in relief. "Thank goodness I sensed her when we came out or we would have some questions to answer."

"But coming up with the excuse of a flashlight was a pain." Reika moaned.

"We better be more careful then." Mia told her. "But no doubt she would give up tailing me from now on."

* * *

"You came." Muraku gave Mia a curt nod.

She returned it with a smile and looked around. "And your friends are not here. What do you want to talk to me about?"

Muraku did not answer her immediately and looked at her closely. "Can you stay out of my fight with Arata later?"

Mia quirked an eyebrow in mild surprise and went to stand beside him. "I suppose it has something to do with Arata being your rival?"

Muraku nodded. "I need to settle things right here and right now."

"No offence, but I'll say that Arata is strong enough to hold his ground against you." Mia said nonchalantly. "Besides, I understand your feelings but weren't you given a direct order to protect Angel Piece?"

"Mia, have you been in my head again?" Muraku sighed.

"Once or twice." Mia said innocently.

"I told you before that I don't appreciate you poking inside of my head without my permission." Muraku reminded her.

"Call it retaliation for criticizing my wardrobe choice, my relationship with Atsuya, my friendship and closeness with Maya…"

"Alright, I get your point." Muraku cut in. "But that does not mean you can simply look into my mind whenever you want."

"It was just a spur moment of frustration." Mia defended. "Besides, even if I didn't I would have found out through our twin bond sooner or later."

"Even so, if I remember correctly, you seldom obey direct orders, so you're one to talk." Muraku pointed out.

"Touché." Mia muttered and sighed. "I think we strayed from the main point here."

Muraku sighed too and leaned on the fence. "So are you going to participate in the fight?"

Mia thought for a moment and groaned. "I'll do as you ask, but on two conditions."

"What is it?" Muraku asked although he had a bad feeling about it.

"One. You have to go to the summer beach concert with Maya and I."

"What?!"

"You heard me." Mia said smugly. "Maya said that the youth club voted for me to do a song or two then, so I expect you to be there. You can bring your friends too. I'm sure that they'll enjoy it too."

Muraku sighed. He was not planning to go at all but he could not see any way out of it without having Mia joining the battle. "Fine."

Mia smirked victoriously and held up two fingers. "Two. Don't hold back at all. Arata is going to go all out so I'll expect you to do the same."

Muraku blinked in surprise but smiled back. "Sure. Tell him that I'm looking forward to our battle."

"Right." Mia opened the door to leave but pause before she left. "But don't blame me if Mikhail and Vanessa get defeated! It's your fault to ask me not to interfere with you and Arata!" She called over her shoulder not able to resist a joke.

Muraku opened his mouth to retaliate but Mia closed the door behind her before he could. "That girl…"

He closed his mouth and smiled. "That's just the way she is. I'm sorry, Vanessa, Mikhail. But it looks like you would have some difficulties with her."

* * *

"So how did it go?" Mikhail asked his captain when he came back to class.

"She agreed to leave Arata to me." Muraku said shortly.

"So she's going to be up against us." Vanessa confirmed. "Looks like we got a tough opponent on hand."

"Even so, be careful of the rest of Jenock." Muraku warned them.

"Don't worry, we'll definitely protect the flag." Mikhail assured him. "We'll hold them off until you win your battle with Arata."

Muraku smiled at his two best friends. "I'm counting on the both of you."

"Muraku, there's something I don't understand though." Kageto spoke up confusedly. "Why did she agree to step away from the fight?"

Muraku tensed for a few seconds and answered. "We came to an agreement."

"What sort of agreement?" Vanessa asked curiously.

"I suppose she will brag about it when we get to California next week." Muraku said mysteriously, signaling the end of the conversation.

The three friends exchanged glances and shrugged. It couldn't be too serious from what Muraku is suggesting.

"By the way, thanks for having us over for the summer." Vanessa suddenly spoke.

"It's fine." Muraku smiled. "Although don't mind Mia and my cousin, Maya, if they drag you around."

"Don't worry. It's probably better than staying at home alone." Mikhail said.

Muraku's lips twitched at his words but went unnoticeable to anyone. 'Mia and Maya would probably make him eat his words.' He thought to himself.

* * *

**I had fun writing Mia's prank on Catherin and her attitude with Muraku~**

**Please review! Check out Kamui Pokemon Academy too!**


	26. Chapter 26

**I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.**

* * *

"Let's get this show on the road." Arata silently hummed as he approached his control pod.

"Someone's in a good mood today." Mia remarked beside him.

"When you get an opportunity to battle someone worthy of recognition after a disappointing victory the day before, you tend to get excited." He said rolling his eyes.

"I hear you." She stopped beside her control pod. "Would it make any sense if I said that I'm changing my mind at the last minute and not going to intercept Muraku at all?"

"Why am I not surprise?" Arata chuckled. "You and Muraku worked it out during lunch break when you saw him, though I have a feeling that a bargain was involved."

"I'll give you the details later." She said and hopped inside her control pod. Arata smirked and was about to hop into his when he caught Haruki's suspicious look. He raised an eyebrow and shrugged. He'll ask him about it later. For now, he'll place his focus on War Time.

* * *

As soon as War Time began, Gunther Yzelphar fired several missiles at the Jenock LBX which made them jump to dodge. Phantom Blaze landed beside Dot Phasor and the Riding Armor. She tapped the Riding Armor and Dot Phasor jumped out of it.

_'You weren't going to fight him with that bulky armor were you?' _Mia teased.

_'Only in your dreams Mia.' _Arata chuckled. He readied his weapons and pointed them at Gunther Yzelphar. It tossed its launcher to the side and brought out both its swords. They dashed forward and intercepted each other.

Haruki took this chance and signaled the others to follow him. "Leave this to Arata. Let's go get the flag!"

"Roger!"

Once they entered the room, Mikhail's Glerior started shooting them from the flag area. They immediately hid behind the pillars in the room for some cover.

'This will be tough.' Mia mused. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Vanessa's Gunther jumped around the corner and clashed with Hanako's Siren. 'They will definitely want to handle her.'

Just as she predicted, Yuno told Haruki, "We'll lure this one away."

"Take this chance and go to the flag, First Platoon." Catherin added.

"Roger that. Hikaru, Mia, let's move!" Haruki ordered.

"Alright."

"Fine." Mia muttered. They jumped out of their hiding place and went to intercept Mikhail. She spared a glance at where Arata and Muraku were clashing. "Good luck." She wished to the both of them.

* * *

For some reason, Arata felt a thrill he never felt before as he and Muraku exchanged blows. Until now, he had played LBX for the sake of playing it but now, he enjoyed the adrenaline rushing through his blood as he and Muraku were locked on with their swords. Had it been a real combat fight, he was sure that he and Muraku would have been on par. But Gunther Yzelphar suddenly managed to push him backwards. He barely dodged to the side before he could fall down the platform.

"Gah!" Arata grunted. "He's tougher than I thought."

Gunther Yzelphar gave Dot Phasor no room to attack and all Arata could do is to block them.

* * *

Mia was unsure to be amazed or annoyed at how hard it was to even get close to the flag. She had to admit that Mikhail and Vanessa were really good at this. Heck, she would not be surprise if either of them could match Muraku in a LBX battle.

"Ha!" Phantom Blaze tossed a throwing knife at Glerior's direction the same time Val Sparos threw its Shuriken at it. That was enough to turn Mikhail's attention to them fire at them. Both Phantom Blaze and Val Sparos used their respective weapons to shield themselves as they jumped into the flag area. Orvane followed them and entered just seconds behind them.

"We've entered the flag area!" Haruki announced.

"Crap!"

Mia rolled her eyes and folded her arms. Now that they were in the flag area, there was the matter of waiting. She had no intention of interrupting the catfight between the fourth platoon and Vanessa nor did she want to get involved with the struggle between Mikhail and two very strong Jenock players.

* * *

Up with Arata and Muraku, neither side was easily giving up and giving their all. Arata suddenly turned around and ran away from his opponent. This made Muraku suspicious and chased after him. All of the sudden, Dot Phasor sharply turned back and made a dash at him, slashing him while he was at it.

Muraku had to smirk. Arata was certainly ingenious to set a trap like that. As they clashed again, he could not help but notice that Mia was watching them from below. He suppressed a smirk at her attitude of not bothering to help her teammates but watching them instead. He had to end this fast if he wanted to help Mikhail protect the flag. He soon saw an opening and used his Belial Sword to hook on Arata's Z-Lance out of its hands and it impaled the ceiling.

Dot Phasor was now defenseless with no weapons on hand. Muraku took a deep breath and raised Gunther Yzlephar's sword. "This is the end!"

But just before Muraku could bring down the sword fully, several shots rang out and hit the sword, making Muraku halt and turn to the entrance. Much to his annoyance, there was a DC Braver at the door with some sort of weapon in its hands. He guessed that it was for Arata and knew that he could not let him get it so he jumped back and threw his sword at the DC Braver. Much to his dismay, it managed to toss the weapon to Dot Phasor. He braced Gunther Yzelphar for what was to come from the weapon which he could see clearly now that it was a modified gun.

Mia grimaced when Arata's disgust hit her. She could already tell that he hates Kaito for being a good comrade on this occasion. 'Oh dear.'

Nevertheless, Arata cocked the gun at Gunther Yzelphar and pulled the trigger. Mia would be lying if she said that she was not impressed with the way the Dot Gatling Gun fired shot after shot through its six muzzles. Gunther Yzelphar could not defend itself completely with only one sword and the bullets were chipping away the armor.

"I'll not finish!" Muraku roared and jumped up and grabbed the Z-Lance. Regardless of the oncoming bullets, it fired up its boosters and severed the arm which was holding the Dot Gatling Gun. Time seemed to freeze between the two LBX until Gunther Yzelphar break over. Almost immediately after that, the alarm sounded, indicating that Jenock had captured the flag.

Mia sighed in relief that it was finally over. She could feel Muraku's satisfaction from their twin bond and unsurprisingly Arata's displeasure at the victory.

* * *

"You won."

Arata looked at Reika's frowning face when he met her at the gates. "Yeah. So?"

"You're dissatisfied about it." She stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "Let me guess, you feel that it was not fair and square."

Arata nodded and gestured her to follow her as he walked. "It feels like I cheated since I was given a new weapon to beat him in the middle of the fight but I don't want to hurt Sakuya's feelings by tossing the _gun_ aside."

Reika gave him a sideways sympathetic smile. "I can see that. So where's Mia?"

"Held up by Mito-sensei…again."

"For not doing anything except watching you and Muraku clash?" Reika guessed.

"Bingo."

Reika shook her head. "I don't suppose they know by now that we're too independent for them to control. We do what we want when we want."

"Probably they'll find out by the time we turn thirty." Arata joked.

* * *

"That was the worst lecture she's ever given me." Mia grumbled as she left the school building. "On top of that, Catherin just had to rub it in my face and Haruki had to give yet another lecture!" She paused at the bottom of the stairs and spun around to face her brother. "And not a word from you Muraku!"

Muraku merely gave her an amused smile and kept in pace beside her as she ranted how half the class loves to be against her and she was always at the brunt end of scolding.

"So how's Arata feeling about his victory?" He cut in when Mia paused for breath.

"He's disappointed." She answered after some thought. "He felt that it wasn't an entirely fair battle."

"How so?"

"For starters, someone interrupted and helped him even if it was unwillingly, and he got a new weapon in the middle of the battle which somewhat pissed him off. Don't tell anyone about this, but he considers it more of a draw than a victory."

Muraku slowly nodded in understanding. "I see. But I'm glad either way. I felt the same thrill I use to feel when I was still an innocent child playing LBX without a care in the world."

Mia huffed and folded her arms. "You're not the most expressive person in the world. I doubt that Mikhail, Vanessa, and Kageto ever seen you laugh at all. I find it even harder to believe that you enjoyed the whole battle."

"You're just more expressive of your temper."

Mia grimaced and ducked her head to the side. "Not all the time. Anyway, where are you headed now?"

"I was hoping you would tell me. I'm just following you." Muraku shrugged.

"The sports centre. I tell you what, drinks is on me since you got badly beaten up." Mia smirked.

"…Fine by me."


	27. Chapter 27

**I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.**

* * *

"I don't know why, but I have the feeling we are being followed." Arata whispered to Sakuya the next day as they walked to school with Mia and Haruki behind them arguing about something while Hikaru was ignoring them.

"Probably because everyone is staring at you since you defeated Hojou Muraku, the Violet Devil." Sakuya answered back with a sweatdrop.

"Great, the last thing I need is to attract more attention." Arata groaned just as two girls from Arabista came over.

"Sena Arata, we would like to have an autograph please." The girls handed out a pad and a pen for him to sign.

Mia burst out laugh at that until her side hurt. "Arata, you and your big mouth! Go on now. Wouldn't want to hurt a girl's feelings, don't you?"

Arata sent her a glare that said 'shut up' and gave them an autograph. "There."

"Thank you very much!" And they left the group alone.

Once they were out of earshot, Mia started laughing again followed by Sakuya. Hikaru turned his head to the side to hide his face which was screwed up from trying not to laugh though his heaving shoulders gave him away.

"What is so funny?" Arata demanded exasperatedly. "Come on or we'll be late!"

"Alright." Haruki sighed and followed him for about three steps before shaking in mirth.

"Not you too Haruki!"

* * *

"Just four more days till summer." Reika sighed as she and Takeru were walking around the grounds. "And we're not going anywhere."

"Neither am I." Takeru shrugged. "Nee-san is getting busier given her increasing popularity after she won her last tournament so I don't think we can go anywhere without being bombarded with questions about her."

"It'll be boring." Reika moaned. "By the way, are you done with Vampire Cat Militas?"

"Yup, all I need now is having your brother test it out." Takeru said triumphantly. "But I'm afraid that he's been either busy or with his friends when I tried to find him."

"Why can't I test it out for you?" Reika pouted.

Takeru flinched. He dare not say the real reason why he did not ask her to test his newest LBX. Instead, he gave her a lame excuse. "I figured that Vampire Cat Militas' mobility might be a bit hard for you. That's why I think Arata's control of Dot Phasor would give him a better chance of bringing out its abilities."

Reika gave him a suspicious glare. "Does it have anything to do with what you and Shirokouji-san were talking about this morning?"

"What?! No!" Takeru immediately denied. Reika did not seem convinced but pushed it aside for the while.

"So, can you help me to ask Arata to help be Vampire Cat Militas' test player?" Takeru asked to chance the subject.

"No."

"Why?"

"It's your LBX that you want him to try out. Not mine." Reika pointed out. Truth to be told, she knew all about what Takeru was discussing about with their easily jealous classmate and was smarted at how Takeru would not be honest with her.

'So talk to Arata yourself and see if you would consider being dishonest again, especially after I tell him about it.' Reika thought to herself spitefully. It wasn't in her nature to be sadistic or spiteful, but she hates it when people lie to her.

* * *

Later after school, the hairs on the back of Arata's neck pricked again when he felt someone watching them. "What is wrong with me today?"

"What do you mean?" Yuno asked.

"I keep feeling that someone is either watching me or following me." Arata admitted and glanced behind his shoulder.

"Maybe it's another fan wanting an autograph but too shy to ask." She suggested although there was a hint of jealousy in her voice. Arata heard it and managed not to blush. He was no stranger to Yuno's crush on him but his past relationship with Maddie made it impossible for him to be sure if he really likes Yuno more than a friend.

Mia suddenly came over to them with her CCM and an irritated look. "Arata, Reika wants to talk to you. And before you ask, I can't make out what she's saying. Only you can understand her when she's rambling."

Arata nodded and took her CCM. He stepped away from the two girls so that he could listen better. Mia stood beside Yuno with a rueful grin. "Whenever Reika gets mad or angry, she'll ramble on about it to either me or Arata. But most of the time, I can't understand a word she's saying."

Yuno giggled and shook her head. "I suppose that's why he can understand half of Catherin's rambling at times."

Mia's face screwed up at the mention of her arch nemesis' name. Yuno saw this and decided to change the subject. "Mia, I've being meaning to ask you this, but how much do you know about Arata's previous girlfriend?"

Mia was taken aback by the question. She pressed her mouth in a thin line in thought for a while, and said, "Well, she was one of my best friends in Fantasy and she's pretty much like you in many ways, that I can tell you."

"In terms of our appearances?"

Mia visibly flinched. "More than that. The both of you are selfless, kind, willing to put others' needs before your own and strong in heart. But the only difference is that Maddie is a softie and sometimes shy but you are more open and bubbly."

Yuno slowly nodded as she processed the information in her mind but straightened up when Arata rejoined them. They slightly winced at his dark mood.

"Mia, do you know who the mechanic for Reika's platoon is?"

Mia cocked her head to the side. "Um, it's Kojou Takeru."

"Can you give me a brief description of what he looks like?"

"He has dark blond hair, dark purple eyes and likes wearing a cap…in fact, he's right over there." She said pointing at a corner. Arata turned around just in time to see a blond head with a cap ducking behind the corner.

* * *

'Oh man, how did it end up like this?' Takeru wondered as he got up after he accidentally bumped into two seniors from Arabista. He felt that he should be lucky to be let off by them with a warning to be more careful in the future but that had cost him a few seconds and Arata and his friends had caught up with him.

"Kojou Takeru, right?" Arata asked as soon as they caught up.

"Um, yes." Takeru hesitantly answered.

"Care to tell me why you have been stalking me the whole day?" Arata asked in an annoyed tone.

"So that's what Reika was rambling about?" Mia asked mildly.

"Half of it." Arata turned his attention back to Takeru. "Well?"

"Well…" Takeru pulled out a LBX and showed it to them. "Please try my LBX out!"

* * *

Later in the common room at the dorms, they were joined by the rest of the first platoon as Takeru showed them his LBX.

"It's called Vampire Cat Miltas? But does Harness use the DC Series like Jenock?" Sakuya wondered.

"This unit is still in the testing stages." Takeru explained. "Vampire Cat Militas is an amazing LBX that can use whatever it holds to its greatest potential. It's based on Vampire Cat, an LBX I made a few years ago."

"The same one which is used by Kojou Asuka." Mia clarified.

"Yup." Taker nodded in pride. "As I was say, to bring out its full potential, I need an amazing player to match it. But not too many people fit the bill…"

"So you're saying that Reika is not a strong player?" Arata asked with a hint of annoyance.

"Not at all!" Takeru quickly denied. "I believe she's a good player but one of our classmates said that since we know all of her skills, she won't bring Vampire Cat Militas' full potential out. Personally, I agree with her."

Arata's eyebrow twitched as a tick appeared on his forehead. He felt his overprotective side urging him to give him a dressing down but the logic side told him to wait and payback on the LBX itself.

"Oh dear, I have a feeling Arata is having an internal conflict on whether to give Takeru a karate lesson or not." Mia whispered to Yuno.

"Is that bad?" Yuno hesitantly asked.

"Depends if you side with his overprotective side." Mia chuckled.

"So why did you decided to ask me to test it out?" Arata asked calmly while carefully concealing his fury at him.

"Reika was telling me about how good you were so I decided to have a look myself." Takeru grinned, unaware of the hidden fury directed at him. "Ever since then, I have been paying attention to your battles. After yesterday's battle, I thought to myself, 'This is the player that I've been looking for!'."

"Arata-kun, please do me this favor! Try this LBX out!" Takeru plead. "I want to see Vampire Cat Militas work at its fullest potential!"

Arata raised an eyebrow at Mia who shrugged. He looked the LBX over and smirked as an idea began to form in his mind. "Well, after all that, I can't say no."

"I have to say no." Haruki cut in. "By using that LBX, you'll essentially become a test player for another virtual country."

"It's not that of a big deal to me." Arata shrugged.

"It's only for a short while Haruki." Sakuya put in. "I want to see what Takeru's LBX is capable of doing too."

"Please!" Takeru begged.

Haruki thought about it for a moment and sighed. "Fine."

They gathered at the diorama with Hikaru as Arata's opponent. Arata synced up Vampire Cat Militas to his CCM and nodded at Hikaru. "I'm ready."

Mia raised an eyebrow as she recognized the glint in his eyes. "Arata, do you happen to have anything in mind?"

"What makes you say that?" Arata grinned.

"You have that glint in your eyes." She tapped her eye to make a point.

Arata rolled his eyes. "Just because I have a glint, it doesn't mean that I'm scheming anything."

"I wouldn't be so sure." She replied mildly.

"Can we begin?" Hikaru asked impatiently.

"Sure."

"Val Sparos!"

"Vampire Cat Militas!"

Their LBX landed inside the diorama and Vampire Cat Militas made the first move by dashing forward at an astounding speed.

"I've never seen speed like that before!" Yuno said in amazement.

However, because of its speed, Vampire Cat Militas overshot Val Sparos and completely missed it. It skidded to a stop and Val Sparos attacked it from behind. Vampire Cat Militas could barely defend itself as Arata supposedly struggle to control it. Each time it tried to attack, it would always miss that Val Sparos did not need move to even dodge.

Arata gritted his teeth in mock frustration. "It's no use. It's responding too well that I can't adjust."

Just as he finished speaking, Vampire Cat Militas was rammed into the mountain and Val Sparos moved in for the kill. Suddenly, Vampire Cat Militas jumped overhead and flipped mid-air and attacked, taking everyone by surprise.

"It can move like that?!" Yuno gasped.

"Right when I thought he'd be done by Val Sparos…" Haruki trailed off, unable to describe it.

Arata's fighting style changed from there and made use of Vampire Cat Militas' agility to attack. Mia narrow her eyes as she recognized the fighting style.

"Wait a minute…That's Reika's fighting style!" All eyes were turned to her as she continued to observe Vampire Cat Militas.

"I thought her signature style is her jazz kung fu?" Sakuya wondered out loud.

"It is. But she also has an ordinary fighting style which Arata is using now…"She glared at Takeru with a knowing look.

Arata smirked and quickly made a good work of Val Sparos. However that was not his objective in that battle. He quickly cornered Val Sparos at the mountain and his smirk widened. Perfect.

He dashed at Val Sparos and was not altogether surprise when it jumped out of the way. Since he had put too much distance between them, he was sure that it would avoid it in time. And Vampire Cat Militas crashed into the side of the mountain as a result since Arata could not stop it in time.

"Not too bad for a unit that cannot last under Reika's operation." Arata said sarcastically as he handed back the LBX to Takeru. "I believe that she would last much, much longer than I did out there."

"Now that you are done, I hope that you would know now that the reason why we cannot be test players for other virtual countries is because their LBX's fuctioning is completely different from ours." Haruki spoke up to divert Arata from continuing his sarcastic condemnation.

"I can see that. I still don't see _why _he can't choose someone from Harness." Arata said smoothly and walked out of the room.

Mia elbowed Takeru to get his attention. "You know, I may not be able to understand _most _of Reika's rambling, but I did catch a few words like 'deceiving blond heads' and 'lying mechanics'. Ring a bell?"

"She's mad about a little thing?" Takeru said incredulously.

Mia held up her hands. "I can't say anything for certain, but I can give you a piece of advice. Piss Reika off would mean pissing Arata off too."

* * *

"You happy now?" Mia sighed as she entered her shared dorm with her best friend who was sprawled on her bed. "Using Arata's over protectiveness to get back at Takeru seems like a cruel thing to do."

"I know. Arata spoke to me about that, though I had the impression he actually enjoyed it." Reika groaned as she sat up. "I have to do the whole second routine for the next three days as punishment."

"You know, the both of you can be terrifying at times." Mia remarked.

"Thank you very much." Reika huffed. "Got everything packed yet?"

"Not yet. Just a few things here and there…"

"Including your passport?" Reika reminded her since Mia had a bad tendency to misplace it.

"I gave it to Muraku last week for safekeeping when our plane tickets came in." Mia said and took out her suitcase from under her bed and tossed a few sets of clothes inside. "What about you?"

"Just need to pack my laundry once it dries then I'm done."

As Mia snapped her suitcase close and replaced it under her bed, she became thoughtful. "You know, I've heard a rumor from Muraku that there may be a possibility that there will be massive renovations on the school and dorms during the summer…do you think it's a possibility?"

"Anything is possible what with the management getting unpredictable." Reika said plainly. "We just have to keep our eyes and ears open for any possible leads on the Gem of Wishes and for any signs of the Night Lurkers on the island."

"I know." Mia said softly. "I know."


	28. Chapter 28

**I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.**

**So this chapter will look into the origins of Arata, Reika, Mia, Atsuya and Yuko's powers. Also, Jin may be a little ooc since I have a hard time portraying him in here.**

* * *

The day before everyone broke up for the summer, the headmaster called for a sudden meeting with the staff.

"Headmaster, what is this meeting about?" One of the teachers asked.

The headmaster, who until now had his back to the teachers, turned around and almost everyone was shocked at his pale serious face.

"I had received really bad news from the management." The headmaster began. "Just last week, this was caught on the security cameras around the island. Meta-chan."

The robotic human, Metazawa, flicked his screen on and an image of an undistinguishable figure, but one thing that was sure is that it did not look like human. It looked like it has long nails like claws and purple skin. But the worst part about it was the blood-thirsty red eyes.

Mito-sensei's eyes narrowed in confusion. She was sure she had seen it before but could not remember exactly where. "Headmaster, what is that thing?"

"I don't know either." The headmaster shook his head. "The management has no idea what it is at all. In fact, they are asking that during the summer holidays, we upgrade our security on the school and the island in case something happens. Also, it is important that no one outside this room finds out about it. If anyone asks, say that it is a prank done by one of the students."

All the teachers nodded in agreement, and the headmaster continued to give them some instructions of what to do if they see it. No one noticed that Mito-sensei was not paying much attention as she should nor did they see her slip her CCM out and took a picture of the thing on Metazawa's screen; except Jin.

* * *

"This is the first song I ever performed on stage, which is about three years ago." Reika showed Suzune a video of her performing 'Make it Shine' on her laptop. Since they had only a day before going back, all their electronic gadgets were returned to them and Suzune had asked to see some of the videos of her performing which Reika gladly complied.

"Oh." Suzune's eyes lighted up in admiration. "It's so good."

"Mia wrote and composed the song; I sang and danced to it. So it's a combine effort actually." Reika replied with rare modesty.

"I heard some of your songs along with hers and you two are great in the music industry." Inui praised her.

"In that case, why don't we do a song to celebrate the beginning of summer?" Mia suggested with a grin as she came over.

"Can you?!" Suzune squealed.

"I don't see why not." Reika returned a grin. "Let's ask Yuko-nee and get Arata to help us."

Mia giggled and followed her to look for their mentor and friend.

* * *

"Mito-sensei, I saw you take a picture of that thing that the headmaster showed us back then." Jin said straightforwardly when he confronted her later when she was on her way to visit Yuko.

Mito-sensei flicked her eyes at him. "I don't know what you are talking about. If you would excuse me, I'm on my way to see Yuko."

"Does that thing have anything to do with her?" Jin pressed.

"I don't know." She admitted quietly. "But I have a feeling that she should know what it is."

"Why so?"

"Not everything is what it seems." Mito-sensei said calmly.

"I would like an explanation now or I'll tell the headmaster about this." Jin threatened.

Mito-sensei glared at him for a moment and sighed in defeat. "Fine, but let Yuko do the explaining because she would do a better job at it than I can."

Jin was curious at her words but decided to trust her on this.

* * *

When they came inside the main hall, Reika was performing a song to a growing crowd with Mia as back up and keyboardist and a reluctant Arata as guitarist.

_Here's 2 Us (by Victoria Justice)_

_Oooooooh_

_(Reika) Here's to the Mondays  
Watching all the cars on the freeway  
I ain't got a thing to do  
Can I sit here next to you?  
And oh oh ohhh_

_Yeah, I kinda wish I got paid  
'Cause my card got maxed out yesterday  
Could you give me a shot?  
And I'll work with what I got  
Not a dollar in my pocket but I rock it like I ain't broke.  
You know?  
(Mia) Oooooooh  
(Reika) Here's to us uh-oh  
Here's to us  
(Mia) Ooooooooooh  
(Reika) Here's to us uh-oh  
Here's to never winning first place  
Here's to crying on your birthday  
Here's to every single heartbreak  
Here's to us  
Here's to us_

Mito-sensei and Jin slipped in unnoticed over to Yuko who was leaning on a wall at the side of the hall while bobbing her head to the music.

"We need to talk." Mito-sensei whispered to her friend.

Yuko cocked her head and one look at the dead serious look in both Mito-sensei and Jin was enough to make her worry. She gestured upstairs. "My office."

* * *

"What's wrong?" Yuko said when the door shut close behind them. Mito-sensei said nothing and showed her the picture. Yuko's eyes narrowed when she saw it and looked at her friend sharply. "When was this taken?"

"Last week according to the headmaster." Mito-sensei frowned at her. "Do you know it?"

"This is bad." Yuko said, not really hearing Mito-sensei's question. "Who else knows about it?"

"All the teachers, the headmaster and the management." Mito-sensei listed.

Yuko turned her gaze to Jin. "And him?"

"He caught me taking that picture. We're not supposed to tell anyone about it actually."

"Then get out." Yuko hissed. "You are in no position to know about this."

"I want an explanation of what is that thing or I'll get the headmaster here to hear this too." Jin said with a leveled gaze.

Yuko groaned and sank down in her chair. "Why must you always have stubborn friends Reina!?"

"Sorry." Mito-sensei sighed. "But I think he'll figure out eventually."

Yuko rubbed her temples and opened her eyes. "Alright, but first, I must warn you that you must not say anything to anyone about what I tell you."

Jin exchanged a look with Mito-sensei and nodded. "I promise that I won't."

"Good. Get comfortable because this will take a while to explain."

Jin and Mito-sensei sat down and gave her a look for her to start.

"The thing in the picture is a Night Lurker." Yuko began. "They are vicious creatures that have no heart or soul. They crave for a certain type of meat and blood."

"And that is?" Jin hesitantly asked.

"Aviane meat and Valorite or Vigilite blood." Yuko sighed. "Avianes are beings that originated from a different dimension from ours. As for Valorites and Vigilites, they are descendents of original Avianes that mated with humans in their human form several thousands of years ago."

Jin looked skeptic of her explanation. "Why should I believe a story as wild as that?"

"The picture is already proof that Night Lurkers already exist." Yuko pointed out. "Also, Valorites and Vigilites have special powers because of our heritage. We are classed as Valorites or Vigilites according to which Aviane was our ancestor."

Jin cocked his head in confusion. The story sounds hard to believe and Yuko is implying that she has those 'special powers'. As though sensing his thoughts, Yuko raised a hand which glowed purple. A book on the bookcase opposite of her instantly floated over to her waiting hand. Jin's eyes were wide as saucers at that.

"Believe me now?" Yuko said, cocking an eyebrow. "I'm classed as a Vigilite by the way because of my geokinesis."

Jin shook his head to clear it. "If what you say is true, then does this mean that there are more Valorites and Vigilites on the island?"

Yuko nodded. "Yup, Arata, Reika, Mia are Valorites while Atsuya is a Vigilite."

Jin's jaw dropped open and turned to Mito-sensei. "And you knew about this?"

"Sort of." She admitted. "I'm sorry, but I was allowed to know about this because I knew Yuko when we were little and I already knew about hers and Atsuya's powers. As for their origins, this is the first time I heard about it."

"Actually, they were the bedtime stories my mum used to tell us during our sleepovers. But I think you dismissed them as a fictional story which is why you did not know. Also, the tapestry in our old living room shows a battle between an Aviane and a Night Lurker."

* * *

After Yuko was done with her explanations, Jin and Mito-sensei left the office and went back down. Jin's mind was still reeling from the revelations in the office.

"What are you going to do now?"

Jin turned around to face Mito-sensei's tensed gaze. "I'm not going to tell anyone if you are wondering. I know altogether too well how people will react to it."

Mito-sensei let out a breath she did not know she was holding. "Thank you." She bowed and took her leave.

Jin turned his gaze over to the trio who had finished another song. He caught Mia staring at him intently. Something about her stare told him that she knows that he knows about them. She tilted her head and Jin could practically hear her voice in his head.

_'How will you treat Reika from here?'_

He tilted his head, wondering how he should reply but he knew exactly what he would do. 'No different from everyone else.'

Mia seemed satisfied with his answer and nodded at him. _'Thank you.'_

Jin shook his head and left the building. He was not sure why the Night Lurker was on the island although he had an inkling that it was connected as to why Arata and Reika suddenly showed up in the school. The question is what are they exactly doing here.


	29. Chapter 29

**I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.**

**For certain chapters that have connection with the storyline, I'll post them here instead of The Side Stories No One Likes to Share. This one feels to have significance in Different Than You which is why I'm posting it here.**

* * *

Somewhere deep in Japan's mountains, a small town was hidden by the illusion makers and barriers against Night Lurkers surrounding the entire area. The reason behind this is to hide the special school, Fantasy, from prying eyes. So far, this tactic had worked for centauries against Night Lurkers all thanks to the Gem of Wishes. However, without it, the barriers were severely weakened and illusion makers were the only line of defense against the Night Lurkers other than the army of students from Fantasy currently led by a brown haired, hazel eyed senior, Arianna and her second-in-command, Arata. Currently, both of them were perched on a tree on the lookout for more Night Lurkers than the ones already gathered.

"Looks like more reinforcements came in the night." Arata whispered to Arianna, passing her the pair of binoculars he was using. "Their numbers had doubled."

"So it seems." Arianna said with a frown. "We have to report this. Come on."

The both of them hopped from tree to tree until they reached a fenced compound. They landed in a large field of the compound and ran to the only building.

"It looks like we have to move our less experienced students away with the town people." Yuko mused after Arianna and Arata gave their report. "There is no way we can put them in danger. Should anything happen to us, they will be the ones who will continue our fight."

"In that case, why don't Reika-chan oversee that with the other teleporters?" One of the teachers suggested.

Yuko thought about it for a moment and nodded in agreement. "Alright. Inform Reika about this and have her get it done by tomorrow night."

"Hai!" Arianna saluted and went to find Reika and deliver the news. Arata on the other hand, remained in the debriefing room.

"When should we commerce our attacks?"

"When we are sure they will attack." Yuko said grimly. "There may be a small chance they are only scouting. We don't want to provoke them into truly attacking."

"In that case, should we find a temporary energy source to power up the barriers?" The same teacher asked.

"Nothing can withstand the tremendous strain from the barriers except for the Gem of Wishes."

"Yuko-san!" Arianna burst into the room. "The Night Lurkers are moving forward! If this keeps up, they'll reach town in an hour!"

"Evacuate the town people to the basement! Arianna, gather all troops and get them ready for battle. Arata, you and Reika will be airborne on your Avians to monitor the situation and give back up wherever needed."

"Right!"

* * *

Back in California, Mia and Wataru suddenly felt a foreboding feeling run down their spines. Maya and Nick saw it but the rest did not. Mia got up and went to her room.

"Mia?" Her step father called after her.

"I'm not hungry," Came her reply. The others waited until dinner was over before joining her.

"Mia, what's wrong?" Maya asked. She glanced over at Wataru who had the same strain look. "What happened?"

"We felt it." Wataru forced out. "The Night Lurker attack has started."

Everyone fell into silence until Maya punched the wall. "We should be back with them, not here!"

"There's no point in getting angry with that. We have our own mission here now." Nick tried to calm her down. "Night Lurkers were also spotted here in LA so we have to track them down and get rid of them."

"Some vacation this is." Mia groaned. "How are we supposed to do that without Muraku and co noticing?"

"I don't know." Nick shrugged. "But we'll cross the bridge when it comes to it."

Mia tried to be reassured by his words but her mind somehow got connected with someone on the battle field and she could see everything that is happening out there. She trembled at one scene where one Night Lurker mercilessly cut down a girl with electrokinesis powers and would have drank her blood had someone not saved her.

Wataru was in the same predicament but was less controlled with his emotions. "Stop it!" He cried. "I don't want to see them."

Maya and Nick were startled by his words but figured it was a connection to his telepathy. They looked at Mia and could see she was in the same situation with Wataru. Maya sighed and touched Mia to copy her telepathic powers and used them to block Mia and Wataru's minds from the gory scenes.

"This is bad." She muttered. "They aren't up to the level of control needed to block this out themselves."

Nick shook his head and buried it in his hands. "This is going to be hard for all of us."

Mia nodded in agreement. She really hoped that Arata and Reika will be safe along with their friends.

* * *

"Reika, give the blue team some support!" Arata yelled to her from on top his Aviane, Blaze. Blaze had a large red dragonoid body and two sets of massive wings. It was defeating Night Lurkers by spewing fire and fire balls from its mouth.

Reika on the other hand was riding Aquila, her long aqua blue serpentine friend with one set of long wings. She waved to show that she got the message and directed Aquila over to the blue team where they were being cornered. "Aquila, help them!"

Aquila complied by spreading her wings and blue plasma orbs formed along each side of the wings. When it brought down its wings, the plasma orbs instantly flew at the Night Lurkers and disintegrated them.

Reika sighed in relief and patted Aquila on the back. "Good job. Now fly to the southern gate."

Her Aviane hummed in reply and did as it was told. As soon as it arrived at the southern gate, it flew close enough to Blaze so that Arata and Reika can converse.

"We're pushing them back!" Reika yelled over the chaos.

"I know!" Arata shouted back. "But we have to get them to retreat. I doubt that the ground troops can take it much longer!"

"Double strike?"

Arata nodded in confirmation. "Double strike!" He pressed the button on his ear comn to reach Arianna. "Arianna, Reika and I are going to go with a double strike! Pull back the others!"

"Alright!" Arianna answered and turned to everyone around her. "Everyone, pull back! Spread the message!"

Soon enough, every single Valorite and Vigilnite were falling back while the Night Lurkers chased them on as expected. However, they did not noticed the two Avianes that were concealed by the thick foliage until they emerged suddenly, spewing fire and water at the same moment. The two attacks merged and destroyed more than half of the remaining Night Lurker army. Realizing they were outnumbered, what was left of the Night Lurkers immediately ran off.

* * *

Arianna sighed in relief after the battle and oversaw the cleanup. Overall, they had lost no one but many had sustained serious injuries that warrant immediate medical attention. But all in all, everyone was alive and that's what matters, she told herself.

"Arianna-senpai, we're done with the cleanup." Arata told her.

"Good." Arianna nodded and sighed, "We may have won the first round, but there will be more to come. And more than half our forces are badly injured."

"They are currently recovering in the Pool of Healing in the Aviane dimension." Arata informed her.

Arianna nodded in acknowledgment and gestured for Arata to walk with her. "What about Mia in California?"

"I haven't talked to her or the others there since we came back."

Arianna frowned. "I wonder if it was really worth it to send them to California. The Night Lurker spotting's might be false after all."

"I don't know but its better safe than sorry." Arata sighed but silently agreed with her. He wished that Mia was around with them now but there was no way she can come without getting past Muraku.


	30. Chapter 30

**I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.**

**In case you are confuse, some of the information in The Side Stories no one likes to Share will be canon in here, including Yuko's father and the fight from the last chapter. Also, the explanation of the Avianes is much more detailed in here**

* * *

"Alright!" Arata smiled in triumphant after Yuko had confirmed that all of the Night Lurker signals in the area had vanished. "We did it."

_"Even so, do be careful. Night Lurkers are well known for their nasty surprises after battle. Tell Arianna that I'm expecting her in the command room after you are done on the clean up on your side."_

"Roger that. Arata out." Arata turned off his ear comn and ran over to Arianna. "Arianna-senpai, Yuko-nee wants to see you as soon as we are done here."

"Very well. We are nearly done here." Arianna glanced over at the row of bodies of the fallen students. "Give me a moment to pay my respects to them."

Arata nodded and stepped aside so that his commander and senior could pass. Suddenly, Arianna stopped and turned sharply to the left where a dozen students were treating their wounds. Without a warning, she ran over and used her telekinesis to push them away. "Bomb!"

Arata's face morphed into a horrified expression when he realized that Arianna could not get away in time and ran over too. "Arianna-senpai!"

But before either of them managed to get out of the bomb's range, the said item glowed orange and exploded.

"Arata!" Reika cried as she tried to get to the site but someone held her back and pushed her to the ground. She could not remember much about what happened other than the searing hot wave that brushed her neck and the adraline that was pushing her to get up and run over to Arata. When everything went quiet, Reika was the first one on her feet and running to the bombed site. "Arata!"

"R…Reika…"

Reika skidded to a stop and dropped down beside her brother and gasped. His entire back was burned and a large portion of his lower body was burnt to the bone. "Arata, hang on. We'll get you back to the Avaine dimension so you can heal."

"Arianna…senpai?"

Reika looked up and saw several other survivors of the blast standing over the charred body that was once Arianna. She let out a chocked sob and shook her head. "She's gone. She was burnt alive."

"Reika! Arata!" Atsuya called as he ran over to them. He tried to not grimace when he saw Arata. "Oh dear. Nee-san is getting the stretchers now so just hang on."

But Arata shook his head. "Let others first…"

"You're in the worst shape out of everyone who needs medical attention!" Yuko shot it down as she and another teacher came over with a stretcher.

"But…"

"Don't you dare fight Yuko-nee again or I'll personally drag you all the way to the Aviane dimension myself!" Reika said fiercely.

Arata grimaced and turned to Yuko with a sigh. "Fine."

Yuko nodded in satisfaction and gently moved Arata onto the stretcher. She turned to Reika and looked over her carefully. "You might want to take care of that." She pointed at the deep gash along her forearm.

Reika sighed and nodded. She held her uninjured hand above the gash and healed it up. But because it was very long and deep, it left a scar on it. "Great, I should have known that it would leave a mark."

"At least you can heal it. Help the other students with their injuries." Yuko ordered. "I'll be back as soon as we get all the ones who need serious medical attention to the Aviane dimension."

"Why can't I just open up a portal for you?"

"Save your strength and help the others." Yuko sighed. "We need to make sure a small wound turns into a big problem."

* * *

At that very same time, a very anxious Kinako was pacing around her living room. She had heard about the Night Lurker attack from Muraku and that they were bringing Mia to the hospital. Truth to be told, she knew all about what was going on with the secrecy about the true face of Fantasy. It was not simply a martial arts school or a school for people who had powers like Mia and Wataru. No, it was set up as a base in their dimension so that the can counter the Night Lurker attacks if needed. Right now, she wished she never let her ex-husband to even talk her into enrolling Mia in the school because if only meant that she would get hurt all the time. Worst, she wished she never needed to hide this from Muraku.

'He will be very upset if he knew that he is the only one who did not know about this.' She thought grimly. Even her current husband knew about Fantasy as he was once a teacher there before he resigned to help her raise the family.

"Mom."

Kinako snapped out of her thoughts and quickly got in front of Muraku. "Muraku, how is Mia?"

"She'll be fine." He assured her. "In fact, she just need to stay at the hospital overnight for further observation."

"Thank goodness." Kinako sighed in relief before she went back to her motherly mode. "Are any of you hurt? Do you need to go to the ER?"

"Mom, if we needed to, we would have gone there when we dropped off Mia." Wataru cut in. "We are all fine by the way."

Kinako took a few seconds to let this digest in her brain. "Alright. All of you are fine." She repeated.

"Yes mom." Wataru added. "But I think all of us need to rest because of what happened."

"Very well." Kinako nodded. "There's roasted chicken if you want anything for dinner later. And some leftover pasta if you want."

"Thanks mom." Wataru hugged her and went upstairs to his room, followed by the others. Muraku was about to follow them when Kinako called him back.

"Muraku, I need to talk to you for a moment."

Muraku tilted his head quizzically but remained in the living room. Once everyone had gone upstairs, Kinako sank onto the couch and gestured for Muraku to sit beside her.

"Muraku, what exactly happened to Mia?"

Muraku almost hesitated before he remembered that his mother knew all about Fantasy and maybe more than he did. "All I know is that Mia got caught up in the Night Lurker attack and she, Maya and Nick had to use their powers to stop them."

"I see." Kinako said quietly.

"Mom, can you be honest with me with whatever I ask you."

Kinako was startled with her oldest son's request but she knew that he would eventually ask this question given how perceptive he was. "Is it about Fantasy?"

At Muraku's nod, she buried her face in her hands. "I'm so sorry Muraku. I shouldn't had hidden this from you. But your father made me swear that I would never tell you under any circumstances but right now, you have every right to know."

"Mom, I had every right to know since the day you shipped off Mia." Muraku said angrily.

"I know." Kinako quietly sobbed. "I really wanted to tell you but your father said that he wants you to remain as the only one who was not affected by the burden of this truth each time I wanted to." She waited until she calmed down before starting the story.

"I'm sure that you know all about the original Avianes who created all the Avianes and how they are the ancestors of people like Mia, Wataru and Maya. This is a story that was passed down from generation to generation but it has been mostly lost. Thousands of years ago, the Avianes lived peacefully in their dimension until the mysterious bloodthirsty beings called the Night Lurkers. The Night Lurkers were the predators who feasted on the meat of Avianes. In a final attempt to restore their energy, two of the original Avianes fled to our dimension and lived among humans in their human form. In their two hundred years in our dimension, they mated with many humans and eventually and thousands of ancestors called the Valorites and the Vigilnites. However, the Night Lurkers had caught up with them after defeating the original Aviane that was left in the Aviane dimension. When they sensed the Valorites and Vigilnites, their bloodlust went out of control. They found that the blood of these people was just as feasible as Aviane meat. Therefore they started hunting them down. The two Avianes tried to protect their children but were overwhelmed. But just when they were about to give up, several Valorites and Vigilnites began to show signs of being able to do things beyond a normal human. It is because of this they managed to turn the victory to them."

She paused to let it sink in Muraku's brain and as she suspected, he was able to piece the pieces of the puzzle together. "So Fantasy was a site of the battle?"

"Yes, it was the site where the Shadow Wars as it was called started. But it was also where the war ended. Even with the help of the powers of the Valorites and the Vigilnites, it was not enough to push the Night Lurkers completely back to their dimension. Therefore, the remaining original Avianes had to turn to their defeated friend for help. In response, the third original Aviane transferred all its remaining power into a gem called the Gem of Wishes and with it, they banished all the Night Lurkers back to their dimension and sealed it. Fantasy was created not long after that and it served several purposes."

"One of them is to train the future Valorites and Vigilnites?" Muraku guessed.

"Once again you are correct." Kinako managed to smile. "They take in children who have the powers of the Avianes and train them so not only they can control their powers, they can protect the Gem of Wishes in the future as well as other normal humans should the Night Lurkers escape. It is also the hiding place for the Gem of Wishes. Should it ever be removed, the seal will break and the Night Lurkers will be able to return to our dimension."

"But what about the Aviane dimension?"

"It was permanently closed off with only a few selected people can have access to it." Kinako wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. "Muraku, please understand. I never wanted Mia to go there anymore than you do but if she were to be left alone without any proper training, she can easily hurt those around her including herself. I only wanted her to be able to control her powers and come back. But your father was against it."

"Then why did she came back home last year?" Muraku enquired with a puzzled expression.

"I don't know much of the details, but I heard that one of her friends mysteriously died in an accident on Kamui Island. Mia did not believe it was an accident and came home so that she could quietly investigate the case but Fantasy eventually called her to Kamui to help two of her friends in their mission."

Muraku slowly let the pieces in their right place in his mind and paled. "Mom, if the Night Lurker attack proves anything, the Gem of Wishes must have been removed from Fantasy."

"I suspected that much."

"And given that Arata and Reika suddenly appearing on the island not long before she came, I think the Gem of Wishes is in Kamui Island." Muraku said slowly. "And they are looking for it so that they can bring it back to Fantasy and seal the Night Lurkers back. Also, the management must have some part of Mia's friend's death."

Kinako nodded. "It is vital that what I told you does not get out to others, including your 'friends' in the government."

Muraku visibly winced at that. "How long have you known?"

"Since the very beginning." Kinako sighed. "I am against it but at the same time, I am proud of you. You are willing to put everything on the line just to save others, something I knew Mia had but not in you."

Muraku blushed but his hair hid it. He cleared his throat and decided to ask about the very thing in his mind for a while. "Vanessa is suspicious of Mia. Do you think I can just tell her about Mia's powers and not about anything else that you told me?"

"Only if Mia lets you." Kinako sighed. "Remember, it is her who has powers, not you."

Muraku stiffened but did not say a word. He was secretly jealous that he was the only child in the family who did not have any powers. But after hearing the story, he now understood what Mia and Wataru had to go through because of their powers.

_With great powers comes great responsibilities._

He can comprehend now what Mia was trying to tell him. If anything, he was the only child in the family who could be considered to have an easier life compare to Mia and Wataru.


	31. Chapter 31

**I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.**

* * *

"So how are you feeling?" Maya asked after she came back to the hospital after dropping off the others at home with Nick.

"Better." Mia grunted. "Any news from Yuko-nee?"

Maya bit her lip and nodded. "Yes but I think it is better for you to hear it from Reika herself."

Mia raised an eyebrow. "Why Reika? No offence but the both of you barely get along."

"It is related to Arata."

Mia instantly shot up but her back protested at the movement so she sank back down in the bed. "What happened?"

Maya did not say anything but passed her Nick's laptop. "It's best that you call her now. I'll see you tomorrow to pick you up."

Mia waited until she was out before starting up the call. 'I hope nothing bad happened. But then again, anything can happen in a Night Lurker battle.'

* * *

Right now, Reika had finally returned to her room after healing as much people as she could. Using her powers both during and after battle had drained her and Yuko refused to let her see Arata which left her emotionally drained. But before she could flop on her bed, her laptop chirped to inform her that she has a call coming in from Skype.

Reika groaned and dragged herself over to her desk and answered the call. "Who is it?"

_"Reika, what happened?"_

Reika shot up and squinted at the screen. "Mia? Why are you in a hospital room?"

_"Night Lurker attack."_ Mia said simply. _"They attacked the campsite at Big Sur so Maya, Nick and I had to act."_

"I see…"

"What happened at your side?" Mia asked worriedly. "Maya said that something happened to Arata."

"Bomb is what." Reika growled. "Those sneaky Night Lurkers planted a bomb in the battle field when we were not looking and blew it up after the battle. Initially, it would have blown up several people who were treating their wounds but Arianna-senpai…" She had to pause and wipe her tears. "Arianna-senpai pushed them away and was caught up in the blast…She's dead. Arata wanted to help her and recklessly ran _towards_ the bomb and was caught up in it too."

Mia gasped and her hands flew to her mouth. _"How is he?"_

"I don't know!" Reika wailed. "Yuko-nee refused to tell me about his condition now but it was awful! His entire back was charred and his lower body was burnt rather badly to the bone!"

Mia flinched and shook her head. It was clear that Reika was now emotionally unstable because of this. _"I'll call Atsuya and ask him to at least convince Yuko-san to let you know how Arata is now."_

"Thanks." Reika sniffed. "By the way, although we had completely pushed back the Night Lurkers here, I don't think we'll still make it for the beginning of the autumn semester. Arata would probably take several months to heal and I'm not going back until he can."

_ "Would Yuko-san let you?"_

"No, but I'll convince her. Don't worry."

_ "I am worrying. I'm worried for you."_ Mia said pointedly. _"But, we'll talk about this another time. I'm sure there's a nurse coming by soon."_

Reika sniffed and nodded. "Alright. I'll call you later." Reika ended the connection and went to her bed. She pulled out a photo from her bedside cabinet and tears slipped out of her eyes. "Papa, mama, please protect Arata. I don't want to lose him to."

In the photo, eight-year-old Reika and Arata were grinning brightly at the camera while their foster parents were smiling at them in the background. The photo was taken just days before their foster parents died, so it held a special meaning in Reika's heart.

* * *

Mia closed the laptop and placed it on the bedside cabinet. Inwardly, she was worried for Reika and Arata. When someone knocked at the door, she did not bother to sense who it was and simply answered, "Come in."

"Mia."

Mia jumped and fell of the bed which aggravated her injuries.

"Mia!" Muraku and Vanessa quickly went over and helped her back up on the bed.

"You need to stop doing that." Mia groaned. "Next time, give me a warning!"

"Sorry. But we need to talk to you."

Mia frowned at how serious they were and decided to let it drop…for now. "What is it?"

Vanessa looked at Muraku who nodded and turned to Mia. "How did those cans float by themselves and hit those thugs straight at their head?"

Mia glared at Muraku for a second before signing. "Telekinesis."

Vanessa blinked in surprise. "What?"

"Telekinesis." Mia repeated with a roll of her eyes. "Never watched any sci-fi movies, have you?"

"I know what telekinesis is." Vanessa cut in. "I just can't believe that you can do that."

Mia raised an eyebrow. "You saw the cans flying by themselves and you don't believe it?"

"Ok, maybe a little but still…" Vanessa did not complete her sentence as Mia raised her hand and Nick's laptop floated up into her waiting hand. Vanessa gasped and stumbled back a little.

"Vanessa?" Muraku asked worriedly.

"I need to sit down." Vanessa quickly sat down on the chair and took a deep breath. She eyed Mia warily who simply replaced the laptop on the bedside cabinet. "So that's all you can do?"

"I still have several, cryokinesis being one of them. The rest of them are related to telepathy."

Vanessa raised a skeptic eyebrow at Muraku. "And you knew?"

"Yes." Muraku sighed.

"Don't blame him for not telling you." Mia added. "This is not exactly something that you would go around telling everyone."

Vanessa thought about it for a moment and had to admit she had a point. "Ok, but how exactly did you get your powers?"

"Heritage." Mia simply said. "I heard that some people have powers like me because of something in their genetic encoding."

'Not exactly the entire truth but it was better than the entire story.' Muraku silently thought to himself.

"Vanessa, can you keep quiet about this?" Mia requested. "I don't really like people finding out about it. If needed, I will explain the full story another time but not now."

Vanessa frowned at the mention of the full story but the nurse came in and shooed them out. Once she and Muraku were outside, Muraku decided to ask her a question, "How did you figured it out?"

Vanessa thought for a moment and shook her head. "I don't know. I just sort of guessed it." She paused for a moment and added, "Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that I'm more observant than Mikhail and Kageto."

A smirk tugged on Muraku's lips. "Maybe." He became serious and placed a hand on Vanessa's shoulder to pull her to a stop. "You do understand that you cannot tell anyone about her powers, not even Mikhail and Kageto."

Vanessa tilted her head and smiled. "If you can keep it your sister away from us for so long and not tell us about her powers, then I can too."

* * *

"Why isn't he waking up?" Yuko wondered worriedly. It has been two weeks since the explosion and Arata had shown no signs of waking up from the forced coma yet.

"I don't know." One of the telepathic teachers shook her head. "His brain patterns are showing abnormal activity but every time I try to get in, something keeps on pushing me out."

"Do you think that explosion did more than burn him?"

"Hard to say. All the other students who survived the explosion have woke up from their forced coma. But Arata…I have a hunch this has nothing to do with the explosion but rather his mind."

Yuko frowned and pressed two fingers on his wrist. "Nothing wrong with his pulse. So why?"

"I have no answer to that."

* * *

_'Where am I?'_

_ "Ten Element Stones..."_

_ 'What? Element Stones?'_

_ "They were created to restore the power of the Gem of Wishes should its power ever be completely drained."_

_ 'But I thought the Gem of Wishes has an unlimited supply of energy.'_

_ "Make no mistake fire child. The energy was meant to be used to seal the Night Lurker dimension and protect Fantasy. Should any outside force ever use it for their selfish desires, the gem will slowly lose its powers."_

_ 'Who are you?'_

_ "I cannot revel myself just yet. But know this, you have yet to unlock the full potential of your Avianes. You will need it when you face the Night Lurkers. Your future battles will not be as easy as your last one."_

_ 'What? What do you mean by that?'_

_ "Farewell Sena Arata. I may not be able to communicate with you again, but I will not leave now without passing you a warning. Your friend, Houjou Muraku, has a terrifying potential to either save his sister or end her. You must keep them safe."_

_ 'Wait! How can Muraku end Mia!?'_

_ "Until we meet again."_

* * *

"Wait!" Arata shot up from the bed but winced in pain

"Arata!" Reika jumped. She had fallen asleep while watching for any signs of Arata waking up again and was very startled when Arata jumped.

"Reika?" Arata turned his head with a confuse frown. "Where am I?"

"The medical wing." Reika explained and pushed the red button on the wall to call Yuko. "When Yuko-nee said that you were not waking up from the forced coma, I got worried."

"Wait, how long was I out?"

"More than two weeks." Reika sighed. "We were getting worried that you would not wake up."

"Two weeks!?" Arata repeated with wide eyes. "But it didn't feel that long…"

"Arata you are finally up." Yuko sighed in relief when she saw him. "I was beginning to think that something was wrong and maybe the Night Lurkers actually did something to you."

"Yuko-nee, I need to ask you a question." Arata grunted as he sat up.

"Don't." Yuko pushed him back down. Instead, she reached for the remote control for the bed and raised it up. "Sakami-sensei will be here soon. You can ask me when she's done."

"It is important." Arata persisted. "It's about the Gem of Wishes, and..." He trailed off, unsure if he should tell them about what the voice told him about Muraku and Mia.

"And what?" Yuko asked with a serious frown.

"And there was a voice telling me about it when I was in the force coma." He said instead.

Yuko observed him carefully and could tell that he was hiding something but decided to address their current situation. "So there was a voice telling something about the Gem of Wishes in your mind when you were in the forced coma?" She clarified.

"Yes." Arata nodded. "It said that should the energy of the Gem of Wishes ever be used for the selfish desires of outside forces, it will slowly lose its powers."

Yuko and Reika froze and exchanged glances. Finally, it was Yuko who first opened her mouth, "We'll talk about this after Sakaami-sensei is done with her checkup." She placed a hand on Reika's shoulder and led her to the door. "For now, rest."

Arata frowned as they left. He can tell that Yuko does not entirely believe him. 'The element stones…I wonder if she even knows what they are given she does not believe that the Gem of Wishes will not run out of energy…Also, what did it mean by Muraku's potential to end Mia?'

Even he was stumped at that part. But he suddenly remembered something. 'Wait, Muraku and Mia are twins so how is it that Mia has powers and he doesn't? Their genetic makeup should be similar so the chances of Muraku having powers too should be very high and yet, he does not have any.' This made him very suspicious of Muraku's supposedly no-power genetics. 'If my suspicions are correct, something must be sealing off Muraku's powers and not even Mia or Muraku himself knows about it.' He thought grimly.

* * *

**Ok, I know I'm being crazy by planing _way_ ahead when I'm not even done yet. I already have most of the plot planned out so I'm already thinking up of a sequal (I really am crazy for thinking that up at this point). I'm beginning to see a patern in all of my stories. All of the long multi-chaptered ones have a sequal...but I really never actually planned to do so originally.**


	32. Chapter 32

**I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.**

**Any Animation Lover: I did not remove Character x reader series because of a sarcastic comment. This certain reviewer warned me that he would report my story if I did not do so. So I moved it to Qoutev (the link is on my profile if you need it). And no, I'm not stopping it. I just need a break to look for more inspiration and therefore I'm not taking request either for the time being.**

* * *

Reika could not help but mule over Arata's mysterious words about the Gem of Wishes and the voice in his head later that night. After Sakami-sensei gave him a check-up, Yuko went to talk with Arata but forbidden her from visiting him anymore that day after that.

Now, Reika was curious as to what was Arata and Yuko talking about so she quietly snuck out of her room and tiptoed to the medical wing. Once she crept into Arata's room, the lights turned on, causing her to jump.

"Reika, what are you doing here?" Arata whispered to her from the bed with his fingers still on the switch.

"Arata, turn off the lights." Reika hissed and sat down beside the bed after Arata complied and turned off the lights. "I came here because I wanted to know about what you were talking to Yuko-nee about."

"In the middle of the night?" Arata asked with a raised eyebrow even though she could not see it.

"Yuko-nee won't tell me anything and she wouldn't let me see you after that for the rest of the day."

Arata glanced at the clock and smirked. It was now midnight so Reika can easily justify her actions without getting into too much trouble. "I don't know if this is such a good idea but it's better than spending the night alone."

"What did you tell Yuko-nee that made her so anxious?" Reika asked while resting her head on the bed beside Arata's arm. "She was so nervous after your meeting with her that she locked herself up in the library."

"You sure you want to know?" Arata asked. When he felt Reika nod from the bed, he closed his eyes and started, "When I was in the forced coma, I heard this voice telling me about the ten Element Stones. Like I said to you and Yuko this morning, if the Gem of Wishes were to be used by outsiders for their selfish desires, the gem will slowly lose its energy. Therefore, the Element Stones were created to restore its power."

He paused but when he did not hear anything from Reika other than a nudge to go on, he continued, "It also said that we have not unlocked the full potential of our Avianes. I have a feeling we might have to find a way to do so because it also added that our future battles will not be as easy as our last one."

"Who calls a battle with deaths and explosions easy?" Reika grumbled.

"I know. But there is one more thing that worries me."

Reika lifted her head slightly and frowned. "What is it?"

"There is something I did not dare to tell Yuko-nee about just yet. It's about Muraku and Mia."

Reika's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "What about them?"

Arata hesitated before continuing, "It said that Muraku has the potential to end Mia or save her. I don't understand what that means."

"End or save Mia?" Reika said in horror. "But, Muraku does not have powers like us. He said so and even Mia told us several times."

"Don't you find it strange then? Mia and Muraku are _twins_ and yet, only one of them have powers."

Reika let it sink in and gasped. "You mean they could be lying that Muraku does not have any powers?"

"No, rather, maybe Muraku has powers but neither of them know about it." Arata explained his theory. "Perhaps there is something sealing them within him and not letting them surface. There are several artifacts and ways that can do that, remember?"

Reika thought back to their classes several months back before they went to Kamui Island and remembered learning about that. "I remember now. But do you really think that it is actually possible that Muraku has powers like us?"

"I don't know but if the voice is going this far as to tell us, then it must be implying something." Arata said thoughtfully.

* * *

Atsuya could not help but feel bad for eavesdropping on Reika and Arata but his curiosity of Yuko's change of behavior worried him. Now, he was very worried for Mia.

"There's got to be a way to protect her." He said to himself and went to the library. He was greeted with the sight of Yuko tossing a book behind her back at the growing pile of books she discarded. "Nee-san?"

Yuko looked up and sighed. "Atsuya, why are you up this late?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Atsuya said mildly and sat down beside her. "What are you looking for?"

"More information of the ancient Aviane Council." Yuko grunted. "Arata told me that the Gem of Wishes will lose its powers if it continues to remain in the Second World and about something call the Element Stones. That's why I want to check and see if it is true."

Atsuya hesitated and took her hand. "Can I ask you something that is not related to the Gem of Wishes?"

Yuko blinked and closed the book in her hand. "I could use a break but what is your question about?"

"Boy-girl relationships." Atsuya said awkwardly.

Yuko blinked again in surprise and tossed the book behind her back. "What problems are you having with Mia?"

"I feel that our relationship is not progressing much." Atsuya admitted. "Every time I try to take a step forward, she refuses to follow me and takes a step down."

"You should be more understanding of her feelings." Yuko chided him. "Mia has a lot of integrity which is why she does not want to go further than kissing and hand holding. Don't push her if she does not want to go further. In fact, you should take a leaf from her book. You already have her and yet, you insist on flirting with other girls. Do you know how much you are hurting Mia because of it?"

Atsuya lowered his head in shame. He had hoped that by flirting with other girls, Mia would pay more attention to him. But instead it had the opposite affect and he got hooked up with Charlotte. He never wanted to but he ended up liking Charlotte and dated her behind Mia's back.

* * *

"Alright. All loaded up." Nick slammed the boot closed after loading up Kageto's luggage.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay longer?" Mikhail asked his friend.

"Sorry, but I haven't seen my parents in a long time and I already promised to spend the rest of the summer with them." Kageto shrugged.

"Don't worry, we understand." Muraku nodded. "We'll drop you off at the airport and then we'll head over to Big Stop for lunch." He told them.

"Sounds good." Vanessa grinned.

"Guys, we got to go now or we'll not reach the airport in time." Nick called from the driver's seat and they got on.

* * *

Once they were gone, Mia and Wataru went out to the veranda and discussed about the next Night Lurker attack with the map of California spread out before them on the table.

"So far, we managed to defeat the Night Lurkers at Big Sur and downtown last week." Mia said and placed cross marks on the said places.

Wataru sighed as he remembered the fight at downtown last week. He and Nick had to sneak out of their houses in the middle of the night to deal with it. Luckily there was no one around so they could use their powers freely. Nevertheless, their struggle was caught on a security camera and they had to call Atsuya al the way at Japan to help them deal with it.

"Can you find a pattern in them?"

Mia squinted her eyes and shook her head. "Not at the moment since it is only two attacks."

"There's got to be a reason why they are in California though." Wataru frowned thoughtfully.

"Probably after us?" Mia voiced out her thoughts though she knew that it was very unlikely.

"No, they showed up before Nick, Maya and I came back." Wataru shook his head. "I was thinking, what if the Night Lurkurs had evolved during their time sealed up in their dimension. I mean, there are endless possibilities of what they could learn because of their time in captivity and it is possible that they could gain some intelligence."

Mia raised an eyebrow and tapped her fingers in thought. "Normally I would say that it is crazy, but I have to remind myself that you are not the type of person who would simply rely on logic but on your imagination. But it is usually correct…If the Night Lurkers really became smarter like you think, then it could be that they figured out that they needed to separate us from the school to prevent us from stopping their invasion on Fantasy, given almost all of us are Level 5 and above. You are quite close to reaching Level 4."

Wataru nodded and tapped on the map. "I also think that these attacks are purely random. We just so happen to stumble upon them at Big Sur while acting on a report. But even so, it is worrying."

"You are smarter than your teachers' give you credit for." Mia said with a small smile. "But on the other hand, I don't think we should worry about anymore Night Lurker attacks because since the invasion was pushed back, if your theory is correct, they wouldn't have any excuses to attack California anymore."

"Unless they are thirsty." Wataru deadpanned.

Mia banged her head on the table in frustration. "I forgot."

Wataru shrugged and kept the map just as Maya barged into the veranda with two bags in her arms. "Enough with the head banging. Let's go to the beach before Muraku gets home! We haven't been there all summer!"

Mia lifted her head off the table and smiled widely. "Sounds like a good idea. You're coming, Wataru?"

"Ah, sure." Wataru nodded eagerly.

Maya smirked and yelled into the house. "Aunty Kinako, I'm bringing Wataru and Mia to the beach!"

"Alright, remind Mia to use sunscreen." Came the reply.

Mia groaned and started to head back inside. "I'm going to get it now."

"Not to worry." Maya dug around one of the bags. "I got everything we need so we'll just change there. Oh, here's the sunscreen." She tossed a tube of supper strong sunscreen to her.

Mia grinned and dug into the other bag. "What else did you bring?"

"Just our bathing suits and lunch." Maya yanked the bag away. "Don't worry Wataru, I got yours too. So come on now. We don't want to ruin the surprise for Muraku when he gets back. It's too bad that he had to go to Big Stop and leave us here."

Mia and Wataru exchanged grins and followed Maya to her car and they left before Nick came back with the others.

* * *

**Sorry if this chapter is more like a filler. I can't actually think of anything to put in. Anyway, the next chapter will be posted in The Side Stories No One Likes To Share and will pick up from where this chapter left off. Don't worry, I'm planning to continue with the main story soon.**


	33. Chapter 33

**I do not own anything from Danball Senki Wars.**

**Any Animation Lover: I'm not mad at you at all. In fact, I'm over it.**

**So this will pick up from Heart to Heart talk on TSSNLTS (Very long acronym. I know.)**

* * *

Summer went by quickly and soon, the air was growing crispier and cooler, and leaves were slowly but surely turning brown.

"I can't believe summer is already over." Reika said to Arata after his rehab session. So far it was going well and he was recovering well but it will still take him a few more weeks before he was fully recovered and discharged from the medical wing.

"Yeah. Time really does fly." Arata said with a smile and took in the cool evening air. "Isn't Mia coming back to Japan tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but she's heading straight to the school since Muraku and his friends are with her." Reika said ruefully. "So she won't be dropping by for a visit."

"Too bad." Arata sighed and rested his head on the pillow. "What did you do to convince Yuko-nee to let you stay back until I'm done with my rehab?"

"Oh, about that…" Reika smiled sheepishly. "I sort of begged her day and night until she gave in."

Arata snorted and grinned. "Why does that not surprise me?"

"So do you think Mia will be alright without us?" Reika wondered.

"I don't know." Arata shrugged. "Maya, Nick and Wataru will not be going there until next week. Plus, she got Muraku and Atsuya there with her."

"But you do remember Mia's track record of beating up boys who get too close to her, do you?" Reika deadpanned. "Neither of them will be able to stop her once she goes on a rampage. Only you can."

"Then it's about time she learns how to control her temper without me around." Arata said mildly.

* * *

Mia was dead nervous by the time they arrived at the airport in Japan. It would be the first time she started school without Arata and Reika around but at least she would have Atsuya around before Maya came over. But even with that thought in mind, her palms were getting sweatier by the minute and it was all she could do to not let Muraku see it.

"Mia, are you alright?" Muraku asked, noticing how pale she was.

"Yeah." Mia said quickly. "I'm just a little nervous." She quickly hopped into the cab that would take them to the docks before Muraku could ask any more questions. Muraku stared after her for a few seconds before Mikhail broke him out of his thoughts.

"Muraku, are you coming?" He asked his platoon captain as he climbed into the backseat where Vanessa and Mia were already seated.

"Ah." Muraku nodded and got into the passenger seat and the driver took off towards the docks.

"So you're from Kamui Daimon?" The driver asked.

"Yes."

"Wow, you guys are luck." The driver whistled. "I heard from several colleagues of mine that there were tons of changes done on the school's security to make it safer."

All of the occupants jerked their head at him at that. It was Muraku who broke the silence. "Since when did they strengthened the security?"

"I don't know." The driver shrugged. "I heard about it just two months ago. But even then, I think they had already started for some time."

Muraku could feel Mia's eyes burning holes at the back of his head and pursed his lips.

* * *

"You got to be kidding me!" Mia half yelled half shouted at the sight of the school. It was now painted grey and high walls were built all around the campus. But what's more surprise was the sight of the grey building with several other blocks surrounding it where the Duck Manor was once was from where they were standing in front of the school gates. And not too far away, they could see a large white building where the clinic was previously and to Mia, the word 'hospital' screamed all over it.

"When that cabbie said that there were changes done on the security…"

"…this is the last thing we expected." Vanessa finished for Mikhail.

"It looks more like a prison than a school now!" Mia ranted as she waved her hands at the school in exasperation. "Even my old school did not have high walls like this even though the security was strict!"

"That's enough Mia." Muraku placed a hand on her shoulder. "We should go in and report to our homeroom teachers."

"That sounds like a good idea." Mikhail said and picked up his things.

Mia huffed but followed his suit and they went inside and went their separate ways to their classrooms. As Mia walked down the corridor to her class, she shook her head. The interior was worse than the exterior in her opinion. The walls were painted white instead of the brown that she was familiar with and all the sliding doors of the classes were replaced with metal automatic doors.

"This feels more and more like a prison." She shivered. "Even Fantasy was more like what this was like before…I wonder what Arata and Reika would say when they hear about this…"

"Mia!" Yuno squealed and glommed her from behind. "It's so good to see you again!"

"It's good to see you too Yuno." Mia gasped. "But can you let go of me?" She asked with a sweatdrop.

Yuno grinned and released her. Mia turned around to get a better look of her friend and raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You're not tying up your hair anymore?"

"No." Yuno shook her head. Now Mia can see that her light brown hair was a few inches past her shoulder and her bangs were clipped back with a black hairclip with a sunflower on it. But overall, Mia can still see that her eyes were as lively as ever.

"And it seems that you decided to try on something new too." Yuno pointed out. "I like your fishtail braid."

Mia smiled sheepishly and fingered the braid that was rested on her shoulder. She decided to try out the braid at her mother's suggestion. With her blue streaks, it created a marble like effect on the braid. "Thanks. My mom thought that it'll look good on me so I tried it out and I like it."

Mia picked up her things that she dropped when Yuno hugged her and followed her to their class. "What do you think about the place now?"

"It's hard to describe." Yuno sweatdrop. "I'm already used to the old 50's style so seeing this place so modern-like is a little..."

"Weird?"

"Yeah."

Mia snorted and clutched her things tighter. "I think it looks more like a prison now."

Yuno chuckled nervously. "It does feel like it."

They stopped in front of their class and went inside. Mia could see that a large portion of the class was already back and frowned. 'It's really my first time starting a new semester without Arata or Reika around.'

Mito-sensei was sitting at her usual place and nodded in greeting to them. "Take your seats. I will be briefing everyone about the new changes once Arata arrives…"

"Um about that," Mia spoke up nervously. "Arata won't be coming back until later in the semester."

Mito-sensei and everyone looked at her in surprise. Finally, Haruki asked, "Did he say why he's not coming back until later?"

"Arata got into an accident not long ago and is still recovering from it." Mia slowly said. "He should be back with Reika around the third week though."

Mito-sensei inwardly sighed and made a mental note to ask Yuko about this once she was done with the briefing. "Alright, take your seats now."

Mia and Yuno nodded and scrambled to their seats. Once Mia was settled down, Haruki tilted his head slightly and asked, "What happened to him?"

"I'll explain later." Mia promised and sat straight when Mito-sensei stood up.

"As all of you can see, there has been some major changes all around the island regarding the school and the dorms. However, this should not distract you from your studies and War Time which will go on as usual. Regarding the dorms, all of them have been moved to the location where the Duck Manor was before. Each virtual country will have one block to themselves except for Jenock, Harness and Proton as they will sharing one block. All rooms will be allocated to each student by the head of the block you are staying in. Tome-san is still your head of your dorms so she will give you all the details regarding any new changes of the rules when you see her later." Mito-sensei paused and looked up from her papers. "Is there any questions?"

Mia hesitantly raised her hand and asked, "Is there a reason for the sudden renovations on the school and dorms?"

"The reason is not open to the students to know. It was the management who decided on it, so we will have to bear with it." Mito-sensei told her. "The semester will officially start next week so please finish preparing for it by the end of the week. You may head over to the dorms and start unpacking."

There were murmurs as everyone shuffled to the door but Haruki grabbed Mia's arm. "So what happened to Arata?"

"I would like to know what happened too." Yuno spoke up as she fell into step with them. "And why is Reika not back either?"

"Arata…got into a fire accident and got nasty burns two months ago." Mia slowly explained. "He's recovering well but the hospital he is in now hasn't discharged him yet since he's going for rehab. As for Reika…long story short, she begged Yuko-san to let her stay back with Arata until he recovers."

"Can Kuriko-san do that though?" Haruki asked with a confuse frown. "What will her parents say…?"

"Yuko-san can because she's their legal guardian." Mia said a little more forceful than she would like. "Don't ask me anymore questions because I cannot answer them." With that, she went on ahead of them. Haruki and Yuno exchanged stun glances at this revelation.

"I never knew that Kuriko-san was their legal guardian." Haruki said in surprise.

"Me either." Yuno shook her head. "But if she is…then what about their parents?"

"I don't think Mia will give us any answers on that nor will Arata and Reika I think." Haruki said. "Maybe it is best that we don't bring it up."

"I know." Yuno nodded. "I think it is a sensitive subject for them though, given how they always avoid talking about their parents…and they are adopted siblings, aren't they?"

"Yeah, Arata said so himself." Haruki nodded in confirmation.

"Do you think…"

"Let's not jump to conclusions yet." Haruki interrupted her. "We'll wait until they trust us well enough to tell us."

Yuno pursed her lips but nodded nevertheless.

* * *

"Welcome back everyone!" Tome-san greeted the students of Jenock, Harness and Proton once they gathered outside of their block. "As all of you know now, this block will be your dorms now and I am still your head of dorms so if you need anything, don't be shy to ask. Now, I have posted the arrangement for your rooms on the notice board and once you find your room, come and see me to get your keys. Oh, and this time, there will be four students to a dorm instead of two."

"Four?!" Mia hissed loudly. Now she and Reika may not be roommates any more when she comes back and worse, they could not use their powers freely around their roommates anymore. Mia knew that it was dangerous to have roommates that did not know about this because there were times when she and Reika accidentally used their powers in their rooms in their sleep. Luckily this doesn't happen to Arata so Hikaru never found out.

'Oh dear. If that is so, then Wataru has to be extra careful.' She thought grimly as she remembered his tendency to somehow phase through his bed and wake up in the morning with half of his body on the bed and the other half stuck in the bed.

"Hey Mia, you're sharing a room with me and Reika." Yuno told her as she came over to her after finding her room.

Mia jumped in surprise and blinked. "What? You saw the list already?"

"Of course." Yuno tilted her head. "You were spacing out while everyone was gathered around the notice board."

"Oh." Mia chuckled in embarrassment. "Sorry, but wait, wasn't it four to a room?"

"It looks like there's no one else." Yuno shrugged. "I guess it is because we're in the last room on the girl's floor."

"I see." Mia smiled. "So I guess it's you and me until Reika gets back."

"Yup. I'll go and get the keys so can you help move some of my things up first?"

"Sure." Mia nodded. Later though, she wished that she did not agreed to because Yuno had more bags than she since Yuno had more clothes than she did.

"Great." Mia panted as she managed to get half of the bags on their floor. "When Yuno said some of her things, she did not mention that they were this much!" She muttered as she went back down to get the rest of them. But halfway up, she lost her footing.

"Oh no!" Mia quickly grabbed the rails to steady herself but missed. She would have fallen down the stairs had a pair of hands not grabbed hers in time.

"Woah, steady now." The owner of the hands chuckled in a strong Australian accent as he helped steady Mia.

Mia blinked in surprise as she recognized the voice. She lowered the bags so that she could have a better look of him and her eyes shot up in surprise. "Daimen!?"

Hearing his name, Daimen lifted his head and his mouth dropped open in shock. "Mia!?"

Neither of them moved for a second before Mia broke into a wide smile. "I would have given you a hug but given that my hands are full…"

"It's ok." Daimen chuckled again. "Here, let me help with some of them." He said and took half of them off Mia's hands. "I didn't know that you had this much luggage."

"Their mostly my roommate's." Mia grunted as they headed up to the girl's floor. "By the way, I haven't heard from you for two years and…what are you doing here?"

"Oh, my mom got me out of Fantasy due to some family emergency and I picked up LBX during my time back at home and got into it. So here I am." He shrugged. "What about you?"

"Long story. By the way, which virtual country are you in?"

"Jenock." He told her. "I was supposed to turn up at the class just now but the headmaster held me up for a while so by the time I got to the class, everyone was already gone and the teacher…Ms. Mito, right? She was talking on the phone with someone so I got to wait longer. By the time she was done, she gave me a brief introduction of the basis of the school and left."

"I see." Mia nodded in understanding though she figured that Mito-sensei was actually talking to Yuko about Arata. "Well, here's my floor, so can I have the bags back? I don't think many of the girls on this floor will be happy to see a guy here."

"Ah." Daimen nodded in understanding. "I'll see you at dinner then?"

"Sure." Mia nodded and watched as Daimen went back down to the boy's floor before moving all the bags to her and Yuno's room only to find her there.

"What took you so long?" Yuno asked.

"You have a lot of bags, so I can't go up the stairs any faster." Mia deadpanned.

Yuno raised an eyebrow. "Did you know that there's a lift there?" She said, pointing at the lift that was just close to their room.

Mia groaned and dropped all of the bags. "You should have told me earlier!"

* * *

**So a new character is introduced and Haruki and Yuno are close to finding out Reika and Arata's past. And the main storyline will resume! But there will be some changes though.**


	34. Chapter 34

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**As some of you had noticed, I'm discontinueing Hybrid's Inferno. One of the reason is because of the lack of feedback from the readers which is why I felt that it was a chore to continue it and I know that if I think that way, the story will not turn out so well. So I want to say that giving feedback is important to a writer and me because I have absolutely no idea what you think about the story so far. Please give feedback not only for Different than You but for Battle of the Throne and Supernatural City too.**

* * *

The week went by quickly and soon enough, the semester was about to start. Mito-sensei could not help but wonder about Jenock's newest addition, Daimen. She knew that he was not an ordinary student so she mentioned him to Yuko and much to her surprise, Yuko had absolutely no idea that he was attending the school.

During the opening assembly, as the headmaster went up to give his welcome back speech, her mind drifted back to a few days ago when she went to see her about Arata and Reika to get the details of the accident Arata was involved in.

* * *

_"Reina, what is it that you want to talk about?" Yuko asked as she invited her to her office._

_ "What exactly happened to Arata?" She asked, getting straight to the point. "Mia said that he got into an accident and did not give the specific details."_

_ Yuko inwardly sighed and opened her mouth to deliver the speech she was preparing for a few days to give to her friend about Arata's absences. "I cannot tell you anything other than Arata got some nasty burns and is still recovering so he won't be coming back for a while and you will have to put up with it." She droned on._

_ Mito-sensei raised an eyebrow. "And what about Reika?"_

_ Much to her surprise, Yuko groaned and slammed her head on her desk. "She literally begged me all day and all night until I agreed."_

_ "Ok…" _

_ "So you get to take care of troublesome teens again while I watch from the sidelines." Yuko sighed dramatically. _

_ "And an extra student of yours." Mito-sensei said mildly._

_ Yuko lifted up her head in surprise. "What are you talking about?"_

_ Mito-sensei narrowed her eyes. "Do you know Daimen Palk?"_

_ "Daimen? Yeah." Yuko nodded. "Technically, he's no my student but he used to study at Fantasy until two years ago before we found out that the Gem of Wishes was missing. I heard that he had left due to some family problems so he left. Is he here on the island?"_

_ "Yes." Mito-sensei nodded, stun that her friend had no idea that Daimen was her student since she had assumed that Daimen was sent by Yuko to the school._

_ "He must be here on his own will then." Yuko shrugged. "I cannot give him any details of the school or Arata's mission since he's officially not part of Fantasy anymore, so it'll be best if none of us mention this to him until he finds out himself. I'll pass on the message to Mia and Atsuya."_

_ "Fine by me." Mito-sensei said while thinking. "I think I can use his ignorance to officially announce Jenock and Harness' alliance as well as revealing the truth of the Second World to them."_

_ "You know, there are times where I'm wonder if you are the same Mito Reina that I once knew." Yuko spoke up softly. "The Mito Reina that I knew would never use her students for her own personal gain."_

_ "Then what about Fantasy?" Mito-sensei shot back. "Aren't you using your own students to find the Gem of Wishes?"_

_ "I didn't assign the missions to them." Yuko said plainly. "I told them about what happened to the Gem of Wishes and each and every one of them knew the risk that would be involved and yet, they still agreed to take it...Though some of them have personal reasons for agreeing. It's different from you because at least they know the risk and have the choice to pull out whenever they want. I'm just saying that you need to be more honest with your students. You have to explain your reasons behind your actions and choices before it is too late."_

_ Mito-sensei could only keep quiet and ended the conversation by walking out of the room._

* * *

'Am I really that selfish to use my students to find otou-san?' She wondered.

Jin soon noticed that something was distracting her so he tapped her shoulder. "Mito-sensei, is there anything the matter?"

Mito-sensei snapped out of her thoughts and shook her head. "Nothing very serious. I'm just thinking about something that Yuko said to me a few days ago."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Maybe later." Mito-sensei said and diverted her attention back to the headmaster who was done with his speech and dismissed the students back to their classes.

* * *

The rest of the day went by smoothly and Daimen was officially introduced to the class. Now though, Mito-sensei had to figure out how to tackle the problem of Arata's absence and Mia and Daimen's positions in Jenock. In the end though, she decided to move up Mia's position to take over Arata's place until he came back and place Daimen unofficially in the first platoon like she did for Mia. As she started the briefing, she contemplated on Yuko's words but pushed them aside.

'Now is not the time.' She told herself. 'I need to wait a little bit more then tell them the truth.'

She straightened herself as her students filed in and focused the map on the floor to Angel Piece. "Angel Piece is now in a fairly stable condition. From here on, we will make it a base of operations and use it to advance further into Rossiun territory. On that note, there is something that interest me."

The map then zoomed out and refocused on a dark patch of land of Rossius to the west of Angel Piece. Everyone could see that Rose City, Rossiu's capital, and the Wall of Gigant were located close to it.

"The large Girant Forest, located here." Mito-sensei continued. "First platoon, you have given Daimen his LBX, correct?"

"Yes." Sakuya nodded.

"I order you to investigate the Girant Forest in today's mission." Mito-sensei told them.

"Hai!"

* * *

It was not long before all four LBXs were on their riding saucers with the craft carrier behind them.

_'So what do you think about your DC Offencer?' _Mia asked Daimen half way to Girant Forest.

_'It's useless.' _Daimen deadpanned. _'Actually, scratch that, all of the LBX distributed to the students, except for yours and the first platoon's, are useless.'_

_ 'What makes you think that? Even Reika and Arata can use them quite well even though Arata had problems in figuring out how to use it initially.' _Mia told him as her mouth quirked up in amusement.

Daimen rolled his eyes. _'I'm just saying…'_

_ 'We'll talk about it later.'_ Mia suddenly cut in. _"We're here.'_

Daimen blinked and saw that they were indeed at Girant Forest. 'Wow, I didn't even notice it.'

"300 meters until we reach the Girant Forest." Sakuya reported.

"Craft carrier and Daimen, stay on watch here." Haruki ordered. "Hikaru and Mia, we'll swoop down and start investigating. Always be on the alert!"

"Why am I the one staying back?" Daimen grumbled.

"Because you're inexperienced." Mia said mildly and joined Val Sparos as they followed Orvane down to the Girant Forest.

"It doesn't seem like there's anything here." Mia sighed after a few minutes of surveying the area and noted the large span of pines that surrounded the place.

"Let's go in a little further." Haruki suggested and directed Orvane further into the forest with Val Sparos and Phantom Blaze flying closely behind it.

But it was not long before the earth started to rock and Mia narrowed her eyes at the site where ground was shaking. "I guess looks can be deceiving after all."

The particular patch of forest suddenly began to move upwards much to the first platoon's surprise, drawing gasp from them. Eventually, the patch stopped rising and they could see that it is some sort of fort with multiple rows of anti-aircraft guns aligning the walls.

"This is…a Rossiun fort." Haruki gasped in shock.

"Haruki, I think we should get going!" Mia exclaimed as the guns cocked around and aimed at them.

Haruki knew that Mia was right and immediately turned Orvane around. "Retreat!"

"Roger!" Val Sparos and Phantom Blaze quickly followed its suit just as those guns opened fired. They had to fly while avoiding the onslaught of fire from the guns but Val Sparos and Phantom Blaze's flying saucers were soon taking damage and had a hard time steading them.

Haruki gritted his teeth and had Orvane throw several smoke bombs behind them, covering their escape. As soon as they were far away, the gun ceased their fire. They soon rejoined the craft carrier and Daimen and left the area.

"That was a close one." Sakuya sighed in relief.

"Yeah." Mia closed her eyes shut. "But to think that Rossius was hiding such a large fort in that forest underground."

"It's not uncommon." Daimen shrugged. "A lot of desert animals will hide underground until rain comes and come out to enjoy it. In this case, we are the rain that triggers them."

"I don't think that analogue is helping." Hikaru told him with a small frown.

"Just trying to lighten things up." Daimen shrugged. "The situation could have been worse."

"Daimen, I think now is not the time to jinx us." Mia sighed as she opened her eyes.

"Whatever you say."

"We need to see what Mito-sensei thinks about this." Haruki spoke up seriously. "I doubt that she will not want to take down that fort though. Head back to the base."

"Roger!" All of them flew back to Jenock's HQ and by the time they reached there, War Time ended.

Mia hopped out of her control pod after retrieving Phantom Blaze and suddenly sensed someone watching her when the hairs at the back of her neck started to prick. She narrowed her eyes and subtly cocked her head around only to find that no one was nearby and shook her head.

'I must be getting more paranoid.' She thought and quickly caught up with the rest of the first platoon and followed them back to the briefing room.

* * *

As it turned out, Muraku was the one watching her from his position and he turned around to face Mikhail and Vanessa. "Get ready for another confrontation with Jenock."

"Alright."

As they walked back to Rossius' briefing room, Mikhail gave Jenock's first platoon one more glance and narrowed his eyes. "It looks like they have a new member."

"And Sena Arata is not with them." Kageto noted as he came over to them.

Muraku cocked his head to the side and remembered that he had not seen his rival since they came back. "Let's go. I'll ask Mia about it later."

"Will she even talk to you later?" Vanessa asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I have my ways." Muraku simply replied with a mysterious smile.


	35. Chapter 35

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Author's note: I mentioned this in Supernatural City, but in case you don't read it, I'm going to say it again here. Unless you really want me to, I'm thinking of picking up Hybrid's Inferno again on the condition that my readers continue to support me by giving feedback.**

**Also, I've been posting some headcannons for Different than You and funfacts for Supernatural City on tumblr. I'm also starting a drabble series of Mikhail x Vanessa there too. The link to my tumblr account is on my profile. Just search for the danball senki or danball senki wars tags on my tumblr account.**

* * *

Later that evening at the sports center, Mia felt Muraku tugging on their twin bond again. She sighed and looked up from her homework. 'Muraku has been doing that ever since War Time ended…Can't he just leave me alone for one day?'

She tried to focus on her homework again but it was getting increasingly annoying as the tugs were getting more frequent and stronger. She sighed and packed up her books. "Maybe it'll be a good idea to so what he wants. Atsuya, I'm going back now!"

"Alright, stay safe." Atsuya said as he came over and kissed her lightly.

"Sure." Mia nodded and left. Once she was outside, she took a deep breath and decided to try out something she hasn't done in a long time. She touched the bond between her and Muraku after ignoring it for years. In response, she felt Muraku sending two words to her.

_Gulf Peak_

"You sure have a way of persuading me to meet you." Mia said to herself with a wiry smile.

* * *

Muraku can't say that he's surprise that Mia had come to Gulf Peak like he requested but what surprised him was the fact that she used their bond to communicate instead of calling like she would usually do. 'I guess Wataru was right that we've been becoming closer now.'

"Muraku, why were you calling me?" Mia asked as soon as she arrived.

"I just wanted to talk a bit." He said casually and leaned against the railing with his back to her.

"If it is about Death Forest…"

"No, it isn't." Muraku cut in. "I noticed that you have a new addition to Jenock and you seem close to him."

Mia inwardly groaned. "Is there a problem with that?"

"Mia, as your brother, I'm just concern whenever you get too close to boys…"

"Stop." Mia suddenly interrupted with her hands up and lowered her head. "If this is a lecture of which type of boys I can be close with, then you really don't know anything."

"Mia…"

"Do you really know everything that is going on in this school?" Mia demanded fiercely. "You always seem to know everything…except for anything related to me."

"That's not true." Muraku narrowed his eyes. "I've heard how you got into fights with boys from other classes."

"Have you ever wondered why then?" Mia asked as she lifted her head. "Do you know that every boy I beat up are the ones who are harassing me!? Do you know how painful it is to be constantly compared indirectly by the teachers and how agonizing it is just to listen to Catherin and the others mock me because I'm your sister?!"

Muraku was visibly taken aback. It had never fully occurred to him that his reputation as the Violet Devil had indirectly hurt her. "Mia…"

"Look, if that's all you called me out to talk about, then there is nothing more to speak of." Mia cut in coldly. "Unless you have something absolutely important to talk about, and I don't mean about War Time, don't call me again."

As Muraku watched her leave, he lowered his head in shame as he realized how insensitive he was to Mia's feelings.

* * *

"I take it that it didn't went well." Mikhail remarked when Muraku got back to the dorms and joined them at dinner. They had noticed his downcast face and was wondering how his conversation with Mia went.

"No." Muraku shook his head. "We got into an argument instead."

"Ouch." Kageto winced. "I get into arguments with my brothers and sisters all the time but it looks like yours with Mia is a lot worse than mine."

Vanessa frowned and kicked the mechanic underneath the table. "Kageto." She hissed.

Kageto winced as her foot connected with his shin and lowered his head. "Sorry."

"It's alright." Muraku told him. "But on another note, we have to prepare ourselves for Jenock's invasion on Death Forest. Even if we outnumber them, the chances that they will succeed in taking it are still there."

"Right." They nodded and Kageto got out the map of Girant Forest out from his pocket. "I think we should figure out their possible point of entry so that we won't make the same mistake as we did at Angel Piece."

"Good idea." Muraku nodded and observed the map. He narrowed his eyes, however, at the two points close to it. "Isn't that Wall of Gigant and Rose City?"

"Yup." Kaget nodded in confirmation. "The Wall of Gigant is closer to Girant Forest so I think we can safely say that we will be receiving reinforcements from them if things get messy."

"But what if Jenock also realizes this?"

Vanessa, Mikhail and Kageto glanced at their leader in surprise as they caught on to his thinking.

"You don't think…"

"Yes." Muraku nodded. "It is very likely that they'll want to remove the obstacle of the reinforcements before invading Death Forest."

"I see." Mikhail mused. "In that case, shouldn't we mention this to the commander?"

"I'll put in a request to transfer there first thing in the morning." Muraku told them. "Meet me in front of the briefing room half an hour before class starts."

"Sure." They nodded.

Muraku smiled but he caught sight of Mia and Daimen out of the corner of his eyes and cocked his head in their direction. He frowned at their close proximity and how Daimen placed a hand on Mia's shoulder and told her something funny which made Mia and the rest of the first platoon at the table laugh.

Vanessa noticed this and followed his gaze. She tapped her fingers on the table as she contemplated on whether she should mention something that Mia told her before. "Muraku, there's something I think you should know about what Mia once mentioned to me."

This caught not only Muraku's attention but Mikhail and Kageto's too.

"What did she tell you?" Muraku asked with a small frown.

"She once told me that she does not want to depend on you to solve the problems of the boys harassing her because she wants to set up her own identity and not as your sister." Vanessa said hesitantly.

Muraku's eyes shot up in surprise. "So you knew that she was being harassed?"

"Yeah." Vanessa nodded. "But I thought that she would mention it sooner or later to you so I didn't say anything about it. But the main point it, I got the impression that she's tired of being compared to you even though she doesn't show it."

Muraku inwardly grimaced but kept a straight face. "I see. We were actually arguing about that just now."

"Wow." Vanessa said with wide eyes. "Maybe I should have mentioned this earlier then."

"It would have happened either way. So don't take it to heart." Muraku told her. "But back to what we were talking about earlier, Kageto, can you make sure that all of our LBXs are ready for tomorrow?"

"Of course." Kageto nodded. "And, I've completed the new weapon that we were talking about before summer started. I'll give it to you before War Time starts."

"Thank you." Muraku nodded gratefully.

* * *

Over at the first platoon's table, Mia was frowning sourly whenever she spotted Muraku and Daimen was curious as to what happened.

"Mia, why are you giving Houjou Muraku sour looks each time you see him?"

"We got into an argument just now." She said glumly.

"Mia…"

"Don't worry, it was nothing related to War Time, if that's what you're asking." Mia said with a roll of her eyes at Haruki. "Just some personal matter."

"Oh, by the way, where's Hikaru?" Sakuya wondered.

"Wasn't he with you guys?" Mia asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He was until just now, he went back to the dorms." Daimen spoke up. "Said that he wants to check on something."

"So how are you finding Kamui Daimon?" Mia asked him.

"Ace!" Daimen said with a grin. "Though I prefer the pancakes my mo makes. But no drama, I like the toast here too."

"No drama?" Sakuya repeated with a confuse frown.

"It means 'no worries' in his Aussie slang." Mia explained.

Daimen grinned and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Mia, my ever trusty translator, you are always correct."

Mia rolled her eyes and swatted away his hand. "Only because I hang out with you a lot. I think you're going to corrupt me again with your accent."

"So the both of you known each other for a while?" Sakuya asked curiously.

"We're actually friends since elementary school." Daimen shrugged. "She smashed the wits out of the bully who was mocking my accent and that's how we became friends."

Mia blushed as Sakuya and Haruki gave her deadpan looks.

"Why does that not surprise me?" Haruki sighed. "You're basically gaining a reputation for beating up guys who get…"

"Don't you dare say it Haruki." Mia said with a warning in her voice. Haruki complied and closed his mouth.

Daimen shifted his glance between them with a puzzled look and then at Sakuya who shrugged. "What happened?"

"Nothing." Mia said curtly.

"Yeah, and Bunyips exist." Daimen said with a roll of his eyes.

"Aren't Bunyips mythical creatures of the outback?" Yuno asked as she passed by them.

Daimen grinned with a nod. "I see someone knows their Aussie slang. Yes, Bunyips don't actually exist."

"Thanks, but I just heard about them from a friend of mine who lives in Australia." Yuno said with a smile.

Mia raised an eyebrow between the both of them but straightened up when Hikaru came over with a serious look. Yuno took her cue and went back to the fourth platoon's table

"Haruki, I think notice something when I was looking at the map." He said and spread out the same map that Kageto was having. He pointed at the Death Forest. "This is the Death Forest, and," He shifted his finger to another point close to it. "The Wall of Gigant is here. They are close enough that they can send reinforcements to Death Forest."

"I see." Sakuya bobbed his head in understanding. "So we have to get rid of the danger at the Wall of Gigant first."

"That should also give us an amply of time to think up of a strategy to take down Death Forest too." Mia said in thought.

"And if we take control of the Wall of Gigant, we can make use of it when we attack the Death Forest." Daimen added in realization.

"I see." Haruki said in thought. "We should try proposing this idea to Mito-sensei."

Everyone nodded in agreement and Hikaru kept the map, but knocked over Mia's tea over in the process.

"I'm sorry."Hikaru told her as he helped her grab some tissues and wiped down the table.

"It's fine." Mia said and removed her gloves as it got soaked too. As she reached for some tissues, Haruki suddenly grabbed her wrist.

"Mia, when did you get that tattoo?" He asked as he stared at the purple and white butterfly tattoo on the back of her hand.

Mia raised an eyebrow as she pulled her hand away. "I always had it. My father insisted that Muraku and I get these matching butterfly tattoos when we turned 13 for no real reason other than it was necessary that we have them. Nevertheless, my mom threw a huge fit when she found out."

"So the gloves…"

"We don't like people staring at them, so we wear gloves all the time to hide them." Mia shrugged.

"So I'm guessing that Muraku's is purple too?" Sakuya wondered.

"Nope," Mia shook her head. "His is black."

"Not purple?"

"Don't ask me. We didn't pick the colors, our dad did." Mia sighed and cleaned up the rest of the tea.

Haruki, Hikaru and Sakuya exchanged shrugs and threw away all of the tissue papers that was used to clean up the mess.

"So are we all in agreement that we should see Mito-sensei tomorrow about taking the Wall of Gigant?" Haruki asked for a confirmation.

"Yup." The rest of the first platoon nodded.

'The Wall of Gigant, that's where Arata and Muraku clashed for the first time.' Mia suddenly remembered. 'But this time, it'll be different. I know that you'll be there so I'll fight you this time.'


	36. Chapter 36

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Just to let you guys know, I've updated the Character x reader series last week and the lucky guy is Seredy! **

* * *

"Capture the Wall of Gigant." Mito-sensei mused the next day when the first platoon proposed this idea to her.

"Yes." Haruki nodded in confirmation. "We believe that if we cut off the Death Forest's connection with the Wall of Gigant, we'll be able to succeed in capturing it."

"A good point." Mito-sensei said in agreement. "The reinforcements from the Wall of Gigant would be troublesome."

"Since Hikaru and I had fought at the Wall of Gigant once before, we know what the battle there will be like."

"I see. I'll make my decision and announce it before War Time." Mito-sensei told them.

"Hai."

They left the office and was about to head back to their class when someone called Mia.

Mia jumped in surprise and turned around. "Maya?"

"Yup." Maya offered a small smile and pulled her into a sideways hug. "I can see that the uniform really suits you…unlike me."

Mia blinked and glanced at Maya's uniform. "Arabista?"

"Exactly." Maya sighed.

"Um, Mia, who's this?" Sakuya asked.

"That's Maya, her cousin." Daimen answered for her, drawing surprise looks from the rest of the first platoon.

"But…she looks western…"

"My mom is American while my dad is Japanese." Maya explained with a roll of her eyes. "Anyway, I need to see my teacher now. I'll talk to you later."

"Alright, sure." Mia smiled while Haruki silently sighed.

"You can't blame Mia for having family in different virtual countries." Daimen told him with a grin. "Besides, Maya is practically an older sister to her."

"Shouldn't we head back to class now?" Hikaru spoke up. "The next class starts in five minutes."

"Right."

* * *

That afternoon, all of the students gathered in their country's respective briefing rooms and waited for their instructions.

"…And that's what the first platoon proposed we do." Mito-sensei concluded after explaining their plan. "Under this plan, today, all platoons are to help with the attack on the Wall of Gigant. Our goal is to attack the pillars that contain the Wall of Gigant's motor system. The first, second and fourth platoons will carry this out. The third and fifth platoon are to patrol and defend the parameter."

"So we are just the support…" Kaito complained.

"The defense is just as important as the offense." Rikuya told him.

"The second platoon has sufficient manpower, the fourth has speed and the first has a balance of those two." Mia mused silently to Daimen, paying no attention to the small rivalry moment between the second and fourth platoons. "And the third and fifth have sturdy defenses. I'll say that Mito-sensei placed us well so there's no reason for Kaito to complain."

"Can't believe you figured that out." Daimen whispered back.

"I worked with them for half a semester already." Mia said with a wink.

"However, Bandit may appear again today." Mito-sensei warned them. "In the case that they appear, I will give orders based on the situation."

Mia subconsciously frowned at the mention of Bandit. 'Why is it that whenever I think of Bandit, I would somehow think of Atsuya too?'

* * *

Meanwhile, over at Rossius briefing room, everyone was dismissed but the sixth platoon have yet to leave.

"These are the new weapons I made for Gunther Yzlephar." Kageto said as he opened a briefcase containing a rifle and a shield. "The Belial Rifle and Gigant Shield. Please use them."

Muraku blinked in surprise as this was the first time that Kageto gave him this type of weapons. Normally, he made swords to suit his close range combat style.

As though sensing his confusion, Kageto quickly explained, "I know that you are used to using close range weapons. But, the enemy is increasing their power with new weapons, so I thought…"

"You're right." Muraku said after some thought and smiled. "I'll be pleased to use them."

Kageto smiled and handed them over to him. Muraku suddenly thought of something and turned to his mechanic. "What is the range of the Belial Rifle?"

"About 5 feet. Why?"

"Mia's throwing range is about 3 feet." Muraku mused softly, not entirely hearing his question.

"My guess is that his newest target is Mia." Vanessa whispered to Kageto with a sigh.

"But, why is it that he wants to fight Mia?" Mikhail wondered curiously. "Up till now, he never showed any signs of wanting to face her."

"Your guess is as good as mine." Kageto shrugged.

* * *

Soon, three Jenock craft carries entered the Wall of Gigant's territory while the other two remained at the border.

"Descend!" Haruki called once they got close enough. Ten LBX instantly fell out of the craft carries and charged towards the humongous wall as soon as they landed. Each of them attacked the Gunthers and Gleriors with their own respective weapons with the enemy LBX retaliating but not as efficient as they were taken by surprise by Jenock's attack on the Wall of Gigant since they had assumed that they would be attacking Death Forest.

Despite his initial skepticism of DC Offencer's capabilities, Daimen was actually doing quite well while fighting back to back with Mia's Phantom Blaze.

"Gezz, you'd think that they'll be stronger." Daimen complained as he took down a Gunther with his accurate shots and Mia covering him with her throwing knives.

"I know what you mean." Mia smiled. "The only players in Rossius I can give credit to are probably Muraku's platoon."

"Say, what happened between the both of you?" Daimen asked as he still continued to fight two Gleriors.

"None of your business." Mia sighed as she helped him finish off one with her katanas. "I don't even want to talk about it."

"Oh come on, you can tell me." Daimen tried to persuade her.

"Maybe later?" Mia said as her voice dropped into a serious note. "We got company." Phantom Blaze turned around and held up its katanas to shield itself as she sensed someone opening fire behind her but what she did not expect was for Gunther Ylzephar to fire at it with its new rifle and was pushed back by a few meters.

"Mia!"

"I'm alright." Mia said through her gritted teeth. "Don't interfere with this Daimen. This is between me and Muraku."

"What…That's Muraku's LBX?" Daimen said in shocked. As much as he wanted to help her, he knew from a long time ago that Mia would reject his help and if he did interfere…let's just say that the next practice session with her will be very painful for him. "Alright." He finally said. "I'll take on the other two behind him then?"

"Be my guest. But you might need Haruki and Hikaru's help with those two."

Daimen nodded and got DC Offencer to move away while Vanessa and Mikhail did the same to their LBXs.

'Muraku, I was always in your shadow and endured everything that was thrown my way for the past few months all because I respected you and cared for you. But you didn't return the favor at all. Instead, you refused to respect my boundaries and did not trust me at all. I would never lash out at anyone other than in self-defense or in combat practice, and you already know that.' Mia thought to herself as she clenched the controls of the control pod tightly. 'That's why we have to settle this here and now!'

Phantom Blaze made the first move and made a dash at Gunther Ylzephar with her katanas in front of her. Gunther Ylzephar quickly fired its rifle at her but she merely jumped around to avoid the purple plasma beams. When she was a few inches away from it, she brought down her katanas but Muraku blocked it with his shield.

"Mikhail, Kageto, I think we misunderstood something." Vanessa spoke up to her teammates as she and Mikhail fought Daimen's DC Offencer. "It is not Muraku who wants to fight Mia, but other way around."

"Mia is the one who wants to fight Muraku." Mikhail said in realization.

"So that's why he wanted to know the range." Kageto gasped. "He wanted to be prepared for the inevitable fight with Mia."

Mia gritted her teeth as she jumped to avoid more beams from Muraku and was soon cornered by the wall.

"Mia!" Daimen wanted to rush over and help but he had two problems. 1) Mikhail and Vanessa were not letting up to let him assist her. 2) Mia would have his head if he even got closer to them.

"Mia, head for the flag!" Haruki suddenly ordered her, unaware that she was facing Muraku since they were on the other end. But that order was what she needed to formulate an idea to get away from Muraku for the time being.

"Got it!" Mia nodded and directed Phantom Blaze up the wall by jumping on the ledges on the cliff. She reached the top in no time at all and threw her throwing knives at the LBX guarding the flag and ran towards it but Gunther Ylzephar leapt overhead and landed in front of her, having followed her up.

'Mia, you have improved a lot since the last time I fought you.' Muraku thought to himself as he fired his rifle and Phantom Blaze constantly using its agility to its advantage to avoid the beams, having figured out that it was useless to use its throwing knives at this range. 'I'm really sorry if my reputation caused you more harm than good. But, defeating me won't change anything. It'll bring you more harm than it has now. That's why I cannot let you win.'

Gunther Ylzephar soon got in front of Phantom Blaze and aim its rifle point blank range at Phantom Blaze's face. But before it could finish it off, two bright lights from above shot out at them and Muraku was the first one to notice this. Gunther Ylzephar quickly pushed Phantom Blaze away before jumping away itself.

Muraku and Mia looked up from their LBX and saw a blue mysterious LBX materialized above them. They tensed up as the mysterious LBX opened up its wings. Muraku did not hesitate and fired at the LBX repeatedly but most of them missed while the ones that hit did not do any damage to it. It swooped down and began to attack Phantom Blaze, much to Muraku's horror.

"Gezz, what's with this LBX!?" Mia yelled as she blocked its attacks with Phantom Blaze's katanas.

_'Mia, get out of there!'_ Muraku called to her through their bond. But Mia ignored him continued to parry the LBX's attacks and Muraku had enough. He had Gunther Ylzephar jump in front of Phantom Blaze as the blue LBX tried to stab it. But because of Gunther Ylzephar's Gigant Shield, they were sent flying back into the cliff behind the wall. Both platoon's teammates watched in horror as their companions fell down into the cliff.

"Mia!"

"Muraku!"

* * *

**Cliffhanger~ Cliffhanger~ Cliffhanger~**


	37. Chapter 37

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review!**

* * *

"Why can't it move?" Mia muttered as she tried to move Phantom Blaze. But the impact from fall had damaged its motor so it could not budge an inch. "Great." She sighed. "Not only would I get a lecture from Sakuya, but Haruki would be bound to have a word with me. But it wasn't my fault. I was just doing as he asked. Take the flag. But that creepy LBX just had to interfere."

She sighed again and stretched out her mind to Daimen. _'Daimen.'_

_ 'Mia!' _He replied in relief. _'Where are you?'_

_ 'Down in the abyss. Don't worry about Phantom Blaze. It's still in one piece but the motor system is damaged so I can't move. How is the situation up there?'_

_ 'We're pushing them back.'_ Daimen told her. _'Yuno has gone up and taken the flag so we should be able to recover Phantom Blaze soon.'_

_ 'Alright, I'll wait here patiently then.'_

With that, she ended the connection and leaned back in her control pod. 'Even if I said that, it's going to be very boring.'

She suddenly felt Muraku tugging on the twin bond again and she frowned irritably. 'Just what does he want?'

Instead of replying, she slammed up her mental shields and blocked the bond. She could feel Muraku recoiling as a result and stopped tugging on it. She smiled smugly and settled down in the control pod but the emergency communication line started beeping before she could get comfortable.

She groaned and accepted it. Just as she expected, Muraku's voice came though. _"Mia, why did you block the bond?"_

"I thought I told you not to call me unless you have something absolutely important to talk about." Mia said irritably.

_"Why do you want to fight me?"_

Mia frowned, feeling puzzled as to what was Muraku trying to say this time. "Isn't it obvious? I want to break out of your shadow."

_"Mia, listen, I know that you might hate me for saying this, but fighting me won't help that cause. If you did, you will only be hurt even more than now."_

"And how!?" Mia yelled. "All my life I have been used as a comparison object to you just for everyone's amusement. It's like I'm destine to be the person whom people use to check if you are living up to their standards…" Once she started, she could not stop the flow of the thoughts and feelings she kept bottled up all this time and Muraku simply let her.

Once he was sure that she was done, he asked, _"Feeling better now?"_

Mia sucked in a deep breath and nodded although he could not see it but she knew that he continue anyway.

_"Mia, if you had won this round, you will be in danger." _Muraku told her seriously. _"After my lost against Arata, the country supporting me told me that they will eliminate anyone close to me if I lose again, starting with you."_

"What?" Mia said in shock, feeling a trickle of sweat falling down her face. "Is it really that serious?"

"I'm afraid so." Muraku said guiltily. "I'm sorry. I wanted to rescue everyone here from this proxy war but I did not think that it will get to this."

Mia clenched her fist tightly. "They have gone too far…But this does not excuse your behavior yesterday! Can't you just stop being overprotective about what boys I'm with! Even Arata doesn't do this to Reika. Also, why can't you just trust me?!"

Muraku really wanted to facepalm himself then. Here he was warning her about the possible consequences of him losing again and yet, she was worried about such a trivial thing. As though sensing his thoughts, Mia was about to open her mouth when the alarm sounded.

_The point has been captured. Ownership of the Wall of Gigant will be transferred from Rossius to Jenock. Cease fighting immediately…_

_ "We couldn't protect it…"_ Muraku's voice trailed off.

Mia frowned as she felt the craft carrier's claws coming down to get her and clenched her fist. Just because she acting like she didn't care about what Muraku said, it doesn't mean that she's fine with it. 'Just what in the world have you gotten into? I have to talk to Yuko-san about this.'

* * *

"Alright, talk." Daimen said, blocking her way to the sports center. "What's gotten into you? Ever since the mission ended, you've been worried about something. And you didn't even flinch once at Catherin's insult, one which you would normally react badly to."

"Sorry, but I'm in a hurry. I need to talk to Yuko-san about something." Mia said apologetically and tried to sidestep him but he merely blocked her with his foot.

"Mia, I'm your friend and I really want to help you if you have any problems." He told her sincerely.

Mia rolled her eyes at him. "Sorry, but this is P&amp;C stuff with Yuko-san, Muraku and I."

"What does Muraku have to do with it?" Daimen tilted his head curiously, lowering his foot.

"Everything." Mia sighed. "Go back to the dorms without me. I need to talk to Yuko-san and I know that you don't get along with Atsuya."

"If only you knew why." Daimen muttered as he stepped aside to let her pass and watched her go.

"I wonder what she is going to discuss about with Kuriko-sensei." Daimen said as he scratched his head. "But, she'll be around that annoying flirt too. I wonder why in the world she picked him instead of me…" He trailed off as he smiled sadly.

* * *

"Hey." Atsuya greeted Mia when she arrived with a kiss and she managed to smile.

"Hey. Is Yuko-san around?"

"She's in the office." Atsuya jerked his thumb at the third floor. "Why? Is there something urgent?"

"Very." Mia nodded and headed towards the stairs. "I'll talk to you later."

"Ok…" Atusya trailed off and caught Charlotte's eye as he turned around. She had a smug smile on her face and was about to approach him but he managed to avoid her by slipping back into the drinks bar and took the order of several students.

Charlotte felt her face growing scarlet in anger but she quickly calmed herself down. 'No matter. I will make sure that Houjou Mia becomes LOST and you will have all the time in the world to be with me.'

* * *

"It is that serious?" Yuko frowned after Mia had explained everything about Muraku's predicament.

"I'm afraid so. I'm not too worried about them coming after me since I can take care of myself, but I'm worried about Wataru and mom if he really loses again." Mia said plainly.

"Mia, I want to help you but I don't think I have the resources or connections to do so." Yuko sighed. "And even though you are strong, would you risk exposure just to protect yourself?"

"I don't know." Mia admitted.

Yuko eyed her for a moment and leaned forward a little. "Have you talked to Muraku about this at all after War Time?"

"No. We…got into an argument and I'm avoiding him now." Mia said sheepishly.

"About what?"

"About…me getting too close to Daimen and beating up boys who are harassing me." Mia said, looking down while fiddling with her skirt. "I got angry at him for not trusting me enough and sort of blurted out that his reputation as the Violet Devil had been causing me a lot of problems in school."

"Oh." Yuko gave her an understanding nod. "The comparison stuff. I thought he already knew about it?"

"He knows that people are comparing me to him, he just didn't understand how much." Mia shrugged.

"So you are trying to avoid him and yet, you are still concern about him, given that you are trying to find a way to break his connections to the government that he's associated with." Yuko said with an amused smile.

Mia blushed and ducked her head. "It's not like I can just sit around and wait for the men in black to shoot me in the face, can I?"

"Well, I'll see about what I can do." Yuko said, standing up. "But I'm going to need your help too."

"Anything." Mia nodded.

"First, they have to be communicating with Muraku through some form of media or in person." Yuko said thoughtfully.

"So basically, spy."

"Exactly." Mia nodded.

"Alright. Thank you, Yuko-san." Mia bowed.

"It's alright." Yuko smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. "By the way, have you seen Maya and the rest yet?"

"I've only seen Maya but Wataru and Nick, not yet."

"Then go and find them." Yuko said as she pushed her to the door.

"Alright." Mia nodded and headed out the door. But she paused halfway and turned back to her mentor. "By the way, is there any word about Arata?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. He will be discharged tomorrow if all goes well so he and Reika should be back the day after."

"Great." Mia smiled.

"And Mia?"

"Hm?"

"Try to make things right with Muraku." Yuko said with a smile.

Mia raised an eyebrow but nodded. "I'll try."


	38. Chapter 38

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review!**

**Author's note: This will be the last update in a while as I'm having my semester finals in early July so I'll probably start updating again in the third week of July.**

* * *

As Mia wandered around the second floor corridor in search of Maya and the rest, she sighed as she watched Atsuya flirt with several girls. At times, she wondered why she was even still with him despite of all of his womanizing habits. But then he wasn't like this when she first started dating him.

'What made him change?' She wondered sadly.

"Mia, stop looking so down." Maya said as she pounced her from behind. "Leave him to be. He's doing all that just to get your attention but I'll tell you that you shouldn't pay it any head since he's acting like a lady's man to every female student body instead of showering it on you."

"Do you really think so?" Mia asked skeptically.

"Of course." Maya shrugged and lightly pushed her towards the nearest training room. Mia blinked as she watch Nick and Wataru spar in the middle of the room, unaware of the two Houjou cousins coming in.

"You're leaving your right side open when you do that." Nick grunted as he dodged Wataru's punch and did a roundhouse kick of his own at his now open side.

"Ow!" Wataru rubbed his tender side and was about to get into stance again when he noticed Mia and Maya. "Mia!" The sparing match was forgotten as he ran over and hugged her tightly.

"Hey, it's only been what? Three weeks since we last saw each other." Mia laughed.

"But still, it feels like a long time since we went back to Fantasy before this and needed to help out with the rebuilding." Nick commented.

"So how was it?" Mia asked with a frown.

"We've been hit pretty badly this time around but nothing we can't recover from." Maya assured her. "So anything we need to know?"

"Nothing too important but Wataru…I think it is best that no one finds out that we are step-siblings." Mia told him. "Muraku and I have enough enemies as it is so if they find out about this, they'll come against you."

"Mia, I can take care of myself." Wataru rolled his eyes. "Besides', I faced worse bullies before."

"But still…"

"Mia, Wataru is already a capable LBX player and fighter." Nick spoke up. "Put some trust in him."

"I'm just worried that they will treat him like how they treat me." Mia said softly.

"Mia, I know that you cannot stand the criticisms and comparisons." Wataru said understandingly. "But I can. I just want to stand up to them my own way."

"I'll be calling myself a hypocrite if I continue to be overprotective on you." Mia sighed. "Muraku is already bad enough. But just remember, if you really need help, don't hesitate to ask for it."

"Sure." Wataru nodded. "By the way, Nick and I are in Rossius."

Mia would have fallen over had Nick's strong arms not catch her in time. "What the heck…"

"I don't know why either, but I don't really mind." Wataru shrugged.

"Neither do I." Nick smiled. "I'll keep an eye on him and Muraku if you want."

"Thanks." Mia said uncertainly but she pushed it aside. "Maya, want to spar with me now?"

"You're on." Maya said with a vicious glint in her eyes. Nick and Wataru sweatdropped at that. Maya was considered to be one of the most violent fighters in their group but knowing Mia, she wouldn't want Maya to hold back against her just because she was her cousin and one of the few people in her 'favorite people' category.

* * *

Mito-sensei tapped her fingers on her elbow as she waited for Jin to show up at Jenock's briefing room. She has been thinking about it and realized that they have to officialize the alliance as soon as possible. If her hunch is correct, there will be more chaos in the Second World here now not only because of Bandit, but of the Night Lurkers too. And she desperately needed to find the Lost Area to find her father. Despite Yuko offering to help, she could not help but feel that it will not be too successful. She straightened up when the doors opened and Jin stepped in.

"Mito-sensei." Jin greeted her.

Mito-sensei nodded back in greeting. "I have been thinking about this, Kaidou-sensei. We cannot move around in the shadows any more. We need to make our alliance known to the students before Bandit causes more chaos. If the students know that we are combining forces, we have a bigger chance of countering Bandit and finding the Lost Area."

"I see." Jin nodded in understanding. "How should we do it?"

"I want to test the first platoon on how well they can solve a mission unrelated to War Time directly." Mito-sensei stated. "Do you have the transmission of one of Harness' missions like I requested?"

"Here." Jin gave her a pen drive. "I think I know what you are thinking of now. I will speak to Higurashi-sensei about this too."

"Thank you." Mito-sensei nodded. "By the way, I don't think there is any point in including Mia in this mission as she already knows through Sena Reika that you are the sub-commander of Harness and I want to give her a different assignment."

"And what is that?" Jin asked curiously.

"I want her to throw the first platoon off-track to show me the ability that Yuko told me about, illusion manipulation."

* * *

The next day before school started, Mito-sensei called the first platoon sans Mia to the briefing room for an important assignment.

"Mito-sensei, why did you call the first platoon and yet, Mia is not here?" Haruki asked when they arrived.

"I have a different assignment for her later which is somewhat similar to the one that I will be giving you." Mito-sensei explained. "Now that we have captured the Wall of Gigant, our next target will be Death Forest. I expect Rossius will defend it as if their lives depend on it. Even without the reinforcements from the Wall of Gigant, Rossius can easily overpower our forces, the way they are now. So I want to form an alliance."

"An alliance?" Haruki said in surprise while the others straightened up.

"Yes, one with Harness. Though Harness is expending its teritory bit by bit, they started off with barely anything. The alliance will be in their favor as well."

"So you are saying that our interest match up." Haruki said, remembering what Mia had once said that it is better to form alliances with virtual countries that has the same goals with Jenock.

"Exactly." Mito-sensei nodded. "That' why, I would like the four of you to become the bridge between this alliance." She continued, ignoring their gasps. "Go meet the commander of Harness and negotiate with them in private."

"Excuse me, not to sound rude or anything, but why us?" Daimen asked.

"I am just fulfilling a request that my friend asked of me." Mito-sensei finally said after a pause. "After you complete this mission, I will reveal to you more about the possible affects this alliance will provide to Jenock and its students."

Now Daimen was curious at her words. What in the world did she mean by that? And by the looks of it, Haruki, Hikaru and Sakuya were just as curious.

Haruki thought about it for a moment and nodded. "I understand."

"But there's just one problem: We have no idea who the commander is." Mito-sensei told them.

"Isn't the commander Higurashi-sensei from class 2-3?" Haruki spoke up in surprise.

"No. The commander's codename is 'Doldkins'." Mito-sensei said with narrowed eyes. "We learned of their name through our intelligence team. I'd like all of you to uncover Doldkins' identity by today evening and propose an alliance between Jenock and Harness." She took out a pen drive from her pocket and gave it to Haruki. "In here are some transmissions of Harness that we managed to intercept. If you analyze the data, you might be able to find a clue about their identity. This is a private mission for the four of you only. Don't forget that."

"We understand." Haruki nodded.

"Good, you may leave now. Call in Mia for me."

"Hai."

XX

* * *

"I wonder what mission is Mito-sensei giving Mia." Sakuya wondered as they walked back to class.

"I have no doubt that it will be different from ours." Daimen sighed but stopped when he noticed something. "We are supposed to keep this mission to ourselves, right?"

"Exactly." Haruki nodded. "Why?"

"That." Daimen pointed at Catherin who was trying but failing to hide behind a wall. Haruki had to suppress a groan but Daimen nudged him and whispered. "Just don't take notice of her."

But unfortunately for them, Catherin made a beeline towards them. "What was Mito-sensei talking to you about back there?"

"P&amp;C stuff." Daimen said with a shrug before Haruki could say anything and went on ahead but Catherin went on bugging him.

"So come on, we are a team so you can tell us."

"Catherin, I'm very tempted to do an Aussie Salute at you." Daimen muttered under his breath.

"We just got a private mission for our platoon." Haruki sighed. "It is none of your business."

"But…"

"Catherin, please mind your own bizzo." Daimen cut in as politely as he could without getting mad at her and promptly pushed the others away from her. "I've never seen a persistent fly as her." He muttered once they were far enough. "No wonder Mia hates her guts."

"So what are we going to do about the mission?" Hikaru asked.

"You and Daimen ask Higurashi-sensei for any information while Sakuya and I will analyze the recording." Haruki whispered back.

"Alright…" Daimen trailed off when he spotted Mia heading towards them. "So what did Mito-sensei want with you?"

"P&amp;C stuff." Mia smiled. "I heard about your mission but I won't be joining you guys since she wants me to do something else. But I have a feeling we'll meet up eventually." Mia said with a small grin. "I'll see you guys back at class."

"Why do I have a feeling that she's enjoying her mission?" Haruki wondered.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Daimen shrugged. "But as long as we accomplish our own respective missions, I wouldn't really bother about it."


	39. Chapter 39

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review!**

**So my exams are over and I'm on holiday now so the updates will resume.**

* * *

Later that afternoon, the first platoon, with the exception of Mia, met up at Sakuya's control room first.

"Sakuya, play the file." Haruki told him as he gave him the pen drive.

"Alright." Sakuya slotted the pen drive into the USB drive in the computer and played it.

_"We've arrived at the target."_

_ "Roger."_

_ "Continue on with the plan. Proceed with both ambition and caution."_

_ "Roger!"_

"It'll be faster to delayer the sound wave lengths to check if there is anything suspicious." Daimen suggested.

"Do you know how to do that?" Sakuya asked. "Because while I am sure that the computer can do that, I don't know how to."

"Yeah." Daimen nodded.

"In that case, I will go with Hikaru to ask Higurashi-sensei about Doldkins while you help Sakuya with that and analyze the recording." Haruki suggested.

"Sounds good to me."

Haruki nodded and turned to Hikaru. "Come on." They left the control room and Sakuya resumed the recording.

_"Opening break. I wish you good luck."_

Daimen frowned as he listened. He was sure that he did hear something but unless the sound waves are delayered, he could not be certain. "Sakuya, do you mind if I take you seat?"

Sakuya shook his head and got up. "Go ahead."

"Thanks." Daimen said as he began to delayer the recording.

"How do you know how to do this?" Sakuya asked curiously.

"My dad is a sound engineer and he taught me a thing or two." Daimen shrugged. "I hope Haruki and Hikaru can get a clue from Higurashi-sensei. I think this will take a while."

* * *

At the infirmary, Haruki and Hikaru were unfortunately not having any luck.

"Are you sure that you cannot tell us where Doldkins is now?" Haruki asked with a twinge of disappointment.

"I'm sorry but I can drop a message to him but it will take me a while to contact him." The teacher informed them.

"I see, thank you." Haruki said with a small bow and left the room where Hikaru was waiting for him.

"How did it go?"

"She wouldn't give anything." Haruki sighed. "Do you have any options?"

"Well…" He trailed off as Higurashi-sensei came out of the infirmary and walked past them down the corridor. As Haruki and Hikaru watched her, an idea began to form in the latter's mind. "We could try and follow her to get some clues."

"Are you sure that it is a good idea?" Haruki asked skeptically. "If we get caught…"

"Do you have any other ideas?" Hikaru countered with a raised eyebrow.

"…Point taken but we have to be careful."

* * *

"This is where my mission starts." Mia said with a smirk as she watched Haruki and Hikaru leave the school. She pulled out her CCM and sent a message to Mito-sensei, informing her about this. Once she was done, her eyes glowed as she covered herself with an illusion and followed Haruki and Hikaru to town.

* * *

Haruki and Hikaru hid behind a shop as they watched Higurashi-sensei roam around Owl's Used Books.

"Hikaru, do you think that we will really be able to get any information like this? We might as well wait for Daimen to delayer the recording for clues." Haruki said doubtfully.

"And what if the recording does not have any?" Hikaru shot back. He suddenly ducked behind the shop when Higurashi-sensei came out and walked down the street. But for some reason, it did not feel like it is Higurashi-sensei even though he was seeing her. But he knew that they had to follow her so he gestured for Haruki to be quiet. "Come on."

They quickly sped off quietly, following 'Higurashi-sensei', unaware that another Higurashi-sensei came out the Owl's Used Books and went in the opposite direction.

In the shadows, Mia chuckled as she directed the 'Higurashi-sensei' that Haruki and Hikaru are tailing towards the boutique in town. It was a little difficult to maintain the illusion for so long without letting it flicker and give the game away but she figured that she might as well get some practice.

Haruki and Hikaru were unsure of their next move at this point when she used her telekinesis and opened the door, directing the Higurashi-sensei insides, while fooling the shopkeepers too. Mia suddenly felt a huge pressure was being pushed on her mind after using two psychic powers at the same time, something that she had never done before. She gritted her teeth as she steadied herself on the wall and directed the illusion to escape out of the back door of the store before dissipating it. At the same time, she felt the pressure on her mind being lifted, much to her relief.

"Finally." She thought, as she wiped her sweaty brow with her sleeves. "I better go report this to Mito-sensei."

Her eyes glowed again as she shield herself with her illusion and snuck out of her hiding place undetected by her platoon mates and ran over to the arcade.

* * *

"Have you delayered the sound waves yet?" Sakuya asked Daimen as time was running out.

"I'm nearly there…I got it!" Daimen said in triumph. "I have managed to separate the student's and Doldkin's voices as well as the back ground noise, but there is one sound that sounds out of place to me."

He played back the sound he heard earlier and they can hear it more clearly now.

"You're right." Sakuya said in agreement. "But what could it be? It sounds like something hitting an item but…"

"Wait." Daimen's face became screwed up in thought. "I think I heard this sound before. But where…"

* * *

_ "And this is the arcade." Mia said, pointing at the said building. Since they had a lot of free time before the semester started, Mia had offered to tour Daimen around the island which he gladly accepted._

_ "So can we go in?"_

_ "Sure, but just so you know, I haven't been in there once." Mia shrugged and they went inside to find only one person at the pool table._

_ "Does it always look like a tomb in here?" _

_ "I don't know." Mia shrugged. "Like I said, I've never been in here before."_

_ "Alright, where to next?" Daimen asked as he and Mia headed out but before they left, the person at the pool table hit the cue ball with the cue stick which resulted in the balls flying around the table._

* * *

"I remember now!" Daimen said loudly with a snap of his fingers. "This is the sound of the balls in pool hitting together. I bet Doldkins is at the arcade right now!"

"I see." Sakuya straightened up. "We better head there now and inform Haruki about this. There's barely anytime left."

"Alright." Daimen got up and they ran out of the school and Sakuya called Haruki.

"Haruki, we know where Doldkins is."

_"Really, where is he?"_

"We think that he is in the arcade. Daimen managed to delayer the sound waves and we found one sound that is out of place. So we figured it out that it is billiards so he must be at the arcade." Sakuya hastily explained as he and Daimen ran into the town.

_ "I see. Hikaru and I will meet you two there." _Haruki said and hung up. He exchanged nods with Hikaru and ran off towards the arcade instead.

* * *

"Here we are." Daimen said as he and Sakuya came to a halt in front of the arcade just as Haruki and Hikaru arrived. "Where were you guys anyway?"

"We were trying to tail Higurashi-sensei to see if she will leave any clues but we lost her when she went into the Lady's Quail." Haruki explained. "We're out of time, let's go in."

The other three nodded and they stepped into the building only to find Mito-sensei standing right in the middle of the room.

"Mito-sensei!?"

"You're slow." She grunted.

"Mito-sensei." Mia said as she came in, ignoring the stun looks of her comrades. "Sorry, I got a bit side tracked but I did as you asked me to."

"Mia, what's going on?" Daimen asked her in surprise.

"I gave her a different mission from yours which I am not going to explain here." Mito-sensei said curtly, saving Mia from having to explain.

Just the, Higurasi-sensei stepped out of the shadows and stopped beside her colleague. "I'll be leaving now."

"Thank you, Higurashi-sensei." Mito-sensei thanked her.

"When the time comes, be sure to tell them what we're trying to do." Higurashi-sensei added in a low voice.

"Of course." Mito-sensei nodded as Higurashi-sensei left the building.

"Mito-sensei, did you plan this?" Haruki said in realization.

"If it took you this long to complete a mission of this level, it is clear that you need more work." She said in her usual aloof manner.

"You do earn an A+ in information analyzing." A voice spoke out from behind her. "As for your tailing…"

"Ahem." Mia cleared her throat to get his attention and he got the message.

"Let me introduce you to Harness' commander." Mito-sensei spoke up before anyone can question Mia and Jin stepped out of the shadows. Instantly, Hikaru recognized him and gasped, "Kaidou Jin!"

"Kaidou Jin…that famous LBX player?!" Daimen said in shock.

"Kaidou Jin is Doldkins…"

"…The commander of Harness."

"Mia, did you know about this?" Daimen asked her, noticing how she was not as surprise as she should be.

"About that, I knew all along because Reika told me so but Mito-sensei told me not to mention it to anyone for your mission's sake." Mia said with a sheepish smile.

"He came to this island half a year ago and has been working as a substitute teacher for class 2-3 as well as Harness' commander since then." Mito-sensei explained.

"How did you know about all this?" Haruki demanded.

"The two of us have already joined forces." Mito-sensei told them, causing them to gasp.

"Sensei." Jin nodded at her which she returned it.

"Tomorrow, we will officially announce the formation of the Jenock-Harness alliance." Mito-sensei declared. "The mission at Death Forest will be our first joint operation. And we must succeed at all costs. Also, tomorrow I will be making an important announcement to the class. But be prepared, it may affect your decision to continue fighting the Second World battles in the future."

"Sensei?" Jin turned to her in surprise as did Mia. This was clearly not what they had planned at although they had a suspicion of what she was going to announce the next day. The first platoon on the other hand was curious as to what the announcement was about.

Mito-sensei then waved her hand dismissively. "You may go back now. But I want to talk to Mia for a moment."

Daimen raised an eyebrow and turned to Mia who shook her head and made a gesture for him to follow Haruki and the rest out which he did. Once they were gone, Mia turned to Mito-sensei. "What is it that you want to talk to me about?"

"I want to know just how much to you know about the Second World and how did you find that information from." Mito-sensei stated. "It is clear that you, Arata and Reika know more than you let on."

Mia raised an eyebrow and leaned against one of the gaming machines. "I already know that the wars conducted in the Second World will influence the situation in the real world and that this whole game is nothing more than a proxy war conducted by the various governments in the ERP. As to how I know all this, I heard about it from Yuko-san."

"Where did she get this information from then?" Jin asked this time.

"I don't know. I was no longer in Fantasy at that point." Mia shrugged. "If you really want to know, you have to ask her. But, I have a hunch that it was given to her by one of her father's connections that he has within the Japanese government."

"I see." Mito-sensei mused. "You may leave now."

Mia nodded and went to the door, but before she pushed it open, she turned back to her teacher. "Why do you want to announce the true purpose of the Second World to Jenock?"

"I want to fulfil a request of a friend of mine." Mito-sensei said quietly.

"It's Yuko-san." Mia state more than asked.

"Yes." Mito-sensei nodded.

Jin frowned in confusion but gestured at Mia to leave which she did and he turned to Mito-sensei. "What are you going to do if Jenock refuses to fight for us?"

"I know my students. They will continue fighting." Mito-sensei said steely.

* * *

**Sorry of you were looking forward to the fourth platoon joining them but I really believe the first platoon can actually do it themselves if they think hard.**


	40. Chapter 40

**I do not own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Author's note: I'm really sorry because I did not noticed that I uploaded the wrong chapter until last night so this should be the 40th chapter while the one that I originally uploaded is the 41th chapter.**

* * *

Mia really could not stand her headache anymore as she walked back to the dorms. Not even the medicine that Yuko gave her was working at all. 'Just when I delayed reporting back to Mito-sensei because of this.' She sighed as she placed a hand on her forehead. 'But, she's right. I shouldn't have pushed my limits back then. Keeping up that façade in front of everyone was a tricky thing too.'

"Mia, are you alright?"

Mia lifted her head and her mouth dropped open at the sight of her brother in front of her. She closed her mouth as she contemplated on ignoring him or answering. Luckily Muraku saved her from the trouble and pull off one of his gloves, placing his hand on her forehead.

"You look paler than usual yet your temperature is seems normal."

"Just a little exhausted." Mia swatted his hand away, eyeing his own black butterfly tattoo on his hand warily. "What do you want?"

"I didn't see you or your platoon during War Time at all and was curious as to what you were doing." He simply said, not bothered by her actions.

"I was just doing a small assignment for Mito-sensei." Mia said stiffly.

"One that involves you using your powers?" Muraku asked with a raised eyebrow, clearly trying to hide his displeasure.

Mia narrowed her eyes and glanced away. "Who told you that?"

"No one. I felt you using your powers and the huge strain it was causing you." Muraku frowned. "What were you doing?"

Mia closed her eyes and walked past him. "You'll find out if you are smart enough. But don't even think about wasting your energy on me anymore. Arata will be back tomorrow and he will defeat you again if don't watch out."

Muraku's frown deepened by Mia walked off, leaving him standing alone. He clenched his fist and walked into the alley, not stopping until he arrived at a crossroad. A man wearing a dark suit and purple goggles stepped out and gave him a heated stare though Muraku did not react to it.

"What was that performance from two days ago?" He demanded coldly. "If you had simply left the other LBX alone, you would have been able to take down the mysterious LBX."

"No, I wouldn't." Muraku retorted calmly. "That mysterious LBX is too strong for me to take on myself."

"Are you implying that you are too weak to defeat it?" The man sneered. "Let's face it, ever since your sister came to this school and Sena Arata's appearance, your performance had significantly dropped. I suggest that you step it up before my superiors order a target on Houjou Mia."

Muraku visibly paled at that statement and gritted his teeth. "Don't worry, I will."

"You better." With that, the man turned away and returned back into the shadows.

Muraku stayed where he was and knew that he had to trouble Kageto to tune up Gunther Yzlephar again. If this keeps up, Mia would certainly be in danger and it would be his fault. But what he did not know is that Mia was watching the whole thing while keeping herself and her mind cloaked so that none of them would have saw or sensed her. Once he left the alley too, she allowed her shields to fall down.

'I never knew that he was putting so much pressure on himself just to keep me safe and I was so selfish that I could not see this.' She thought sadly. 'I really don't know what to do anymore.' She sighed and slumped against the wall.

* * *

Arata let out a deep breath as he walked out of the boat with Reika behind him. Being cooped up in his room save the times he had his rehab was driving him nuts. He was glad when he was finally discharged and can finally come back.

"I'm glad that I'm finally out of that room." He sighed.

"You and me. I can't wait to see what's going on with Harness now." Reika grinned.

"You'll be surprise with the changes within Jenock and Harness soon enough." Mia smiled as she came over.

"Mia!" Reika dropped all her bags and jumped on her. But upon closer inspection of her friend, she frowned at the dark bags under her eyes. "Mia, why are there bags under your eyes? Have you been sleeping well?"

Mia's hand drifted to her eyes and sighed. "Not really. I stayed up most the night last night because of a really terrible headache."

"So are you alright now?" Arata asked concernedly as he went over and took a close look at her. There was something within her mind that was bothering him but before he could press further, Mia slowly drew up her mental shields, blocking him from her mind. He immediately was high on alert but did not say anything about it.

"Yeah, just a little tired." Mia said as she stiffed a yawn. While it was true that her headache came back last night and kept her up, she could not sleep even when it went away. The guilt of not understanding Muraku's situation was weighing heavily on her and she did not know how to deal with it.

"So, on another note, Maya and the others are already here. And there's someone in Jenock you would be glad to see Arata." Mia changed the subject.

"Look, I know why you are shipping me with Yuno but there's no need to go about this here." Arata groaned while sprouting a blush on his cheeks.

"Who said that I was talking about Yuno?" Mia said slyly. "I'm talking about someone else."

Reika burst out laughing at Arata's slip as the latter turned red. "You got him! Even I can tell that she's not talking about Yuno but you…" She trailed off as she clutched her stomach and doubled over, laughing louder than before.

"Are you done yet?" Arata muttered, looking away to conceal his blush.

"Yes, as a matter of fact." Mia said, straightening up. "We should be heading to the school now or we will be late. By the way, I haven't told anyone that you're coming back today so it should be good enough of a surprise for them plus the possible shock of the Jenock-Harness alliance."

"Jenock-Harness alliance!?" Reika screamed and jumped on her again. "You have to give me details. What happened that made Mito-sensei and Kaidou-sensei agree to join forces?"

"I'll explain as we walk." Mia promised as she helped Arata take his duffle bag.

"Mia, I can take it myself." He said pointedly.

"Aw, just let me take this so that I can tell myself that I did something to help the invalid and not smother you later." Mia joked.

"Alright, I hear you." Arata rolled his eyes but was smiling. "It's good to be back you know."

Mia and Reika exchanged smiles and Mia whispered, "So what are the restrictions?"

"No heavy work, which means no workout until Yuko-nee clears him. And he has some dietary restrictions too…I guess that's about it." Reika whispered back.

"I just cannot take milk* like usual and no fast food stuff." Arata sighed.

"Noted." Mia nodded as they started walking. "So about the Jenock-Harness alliance…"

* * *

As soon as Reika went separate ways from Arata and Mia to her class, Arata pulled her aside to talk. "Mia, what happened to you?"

"What do you mean?" Mia asked tiredly.

"I mean that something is bothering you to the point where your mind might have a breakdown soon." Arata said worriedly. "I don't think you should even be coming to school today. Why don't you go and see Higurashi-sensei and be excused for the rest of the day."

Mia became torn at that and much to Arata's dismay, she looked like she would collapse any moment. "Mia…"

"Arata!?"

Mia and Arata jumped and soon enough, Yuno ran over and hugged him tightly. But once she realized what she was doing, she quickly pulled away and they shifted on their feet awkwardly.

"Um, when did you come back?" Yuno finally asked.

"This morning." Arata managed a smile. "I heard from Mia that she was planning to surprise my return since she didn't mention anything about me coming back today."

"Oh." Yuno turned to Mia with a pout. "You should have told us yesterday."

"Sorry, it slipped my mind yesterday." Mia said sheepishly. "So I improvised and turned it into a surprise."

Yuno had to sigh at that. "Oh yeah, whatever you were doing yesterday had left dead tired on your feet. You wouldn't even tell us what you were doing."

Arata narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Mia which she squirmed under. "Oh really."

Yuno glanced between them curiously and turned her gaze to Arata. "So, do you want to go to the class now? I bet all of the class would be glad to see you again."

"We'll catch up soon." Arata said, shifting his gaze to Mia. "I just need a word with Mia for a moment. Oh, I think you look nice with your hair down."

Yuno nearly blushed but nodded. "Alright. But don't be late. Mito-sensei has an important announcement too that she wants to give to the class regarding the Jenock-Harness alliance."

"Don't worry, we won't." Arata smiled but once Yuno was out of earshot, it dropped and he gave Mia a hard glare. "Mia, did you press your limits again with your psychic powers?"

Mia nodded as she lowered her head in shame. Arata had to fight down the urge to yell at her and took deep breaths to calm himself. "You do remember what Yuko-nee told you before about using your psychic powers to the limit. You could…"

"Die. I know." Mia sighed. "I'm sorry but I had to or…"

"Or what?" Arata cut in. "The Jenock-Harness alliance might not have succeed or because Mito-sensei told you to?"

"She didn't tell me to tire out myself. I did it by mistake." Mia said quickly.

Arata eyed her for a moment and sighed. "Alright, I'll take your word for it this time. But, I want you to promise me that you will not tire yourself out like that again nor will you use your powers if she or anyone else who is not a teacher from Fantasy tells you to."

"Yes, I won't." Mia said demurely.

Arata's glare softened into a warm smile as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Glad that you understand. Come on, let's get to class now. I don't want to get a detention on my first day back."

Mia nodded and trailed behind him to their class. She stopped and tugged on his arm. "Thanks for caring about me."

"It's what I know I should do." Arata shrugged with a smile. "You're like a sister to me just as much as Reika is."

Mia ducked her head in embarrassment and looked away. "Thanks. And, I want to talk to you privately about…my problems with Muraku."

Arata lifted his head in surprise but nodded. "Sure. After school then?"

"After school, Gulf Peak." Mia nodded in confirmation.

They stopped in front of Jenock's doors just as Mito-sensei arrived. She raised an eyebrow at them but let them enter first. "I didn't know that you would be coming back today." She stated.

"It was a rushed thing actually." Arata sighed as he prepared himself, stepping inside the class. Immediately, everyone became quiet and all eyes were boring into him. "Hi, sorry I'm late so please save your questions for later." He said, grabbing Mia's hand and dragging her to their seats. He nearly stumbled though when he spotted Daimen who gave him a thumbs up and mouth 'later' as Mito-sensei stepped into the class and murmurs broke out.

"Quiet. Homeroom will be starting soon." She said firmly. "As all of you already know, the Jenock-Harness alliance will now be effective starting today. I expect all of you to respect it. The operation of the Death Forest will be our first joint mission."

Murmurs broke out again until Mito-sensei raised a hand to quiet them down. "Also, I have a question that I will state right now and I want all of you to give me an answer before War Time when I return to the class. What is war?"

* * *

*Reference to Allergy sucks in The Side Stories No One Likes to Share. Arata is actually allergic to cream and lactose intolerant. (PS I actually don't know if it is possible to have the both of them at once but let's just assume that in the real world, it's not possible.)


	41. Chapter 41

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review!**

**This is not a new chapter. I accidentally uploaded this chapter as the 40th chapter when it should be the 41th chapter. I have already corrected this so do check out chapter 40 if you haven't.**

**I need to stop forgetting to mention this. The student's uniforms are now different too. They have to wear white shirts with the schools logo on the sleeves under a vest in the color of the virtual country they are from. The skirts/pants are also in the color of their virtual country too.**

* * *

"I wonder what did Ms. Mito meant by her question." Daimen sighed as he stood up and headed to Arata's place once the lunch bell rang. "Great to see you mate! I can't believe you are here too."

Arata looked up and smirked extending his fist out. "Me either. Mia did hint that you were here but I didn't think that you would really be here." Daimen smirked and extended his fist too, doing a fist bump.

"How do they know each other?" Yuno asked Mia as she and Haruki approached her.

"They're best friends for as long as I remember." Mia said with a wry smile. "The both of them make up the Chaos Route back at Fantasy."

"The Chaos Route?"

"Don't ask." Mia sighed. "They were bad enough back then. But now…War Time will be…how I should put it…disastrous."

"Oh come on Mia." Daimen wrapped his arm around her shoulder and gave her a playful squeeze. "I can't believe you would think of us that way."

"Whatever." Mia rolled her eyes and swatted his arm away but she was smiling though.

"Anyway, I need to see Mito-sensei about catching up with my schoolwork so I'll be back in a while." Arata said, standing up but Haruki placed a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back into his seat.

"Let us go." He suggested, gesturing to him and Hikaru. "I mean, you've just recovered from a fire accident."

"Not you guys too." Arata groaned. "Reika was bad enough treating me like an invalid."

"I have a feeling the others will be following their suit." Mia sweatdropped as Haruki and Hikaru left and Yuno and Catherin huddled together with the other girls from the fourth platoon, no doubt plotting something.

Arata came close to banging his head on the table but Daimen placed a hand on his shoulder. "Why don't you enjoy it while it last? I mean, it could be fun to watch them do all the things for you and you get to sit back and relax."

"Daimen, you're going to eat your words sooner or later." Mia sighed, noticing the glint in Arata's eyes.

* * *

"I thought Mito-sensei would be at the office but she's not…" Haruki trailed off when he heard voices coming from Haness' class. Beside him, Hikaru frowned as he recognized them.

"It's Mito-sensei and Jin-san."

"What are they talking about?" Haruki wondered and they stepped closer to the door.

"…Mito-sensei, I think it is too rash to let them know about the Second World right now." Jin said.

"True, but give the current situation, I think it is about time. There's something suspicious with Arata and Reika's absence and the sudden increase in transfer of Yuko's students to the school." Mito-sensei explained. "Also, there is the thing about what she told us that is bothering me. I have a feeling we might as well let Jenock know the truth about the Second World so that they can understand our actions."

"I see. But the fact that the Second World is a proxy war might discourage them instead."

Behind the door, Haruki and Hikaru froze as Jin said that, not wanting to believe it.

"We better get back to the class and tell the others about this." Haruki whispered to Hikaru who automatically nodded and followed him back to their class.

* * *

"…I cannot believe it. Did they really say that?" Yuno said, having the same feeling of shock as her classmates when Haruki and Hikaru explained everything they heard from Mito-sensei and Jin's conversation.

"How can you be sure that it is true though?" Kaito said skeptically.

"Only one way to find out." Daimen said with narrow eyes at the door. "Incoming in twenty seconds."

Everyone glanced at him with disbelieving faces but Mia looked down at her watch and silently began counting down. When she reached zero, Mito-sensei opened the door and stepped inside the classroom.

"Quiet, please take your seats." She ordered, not entirely aware of the tension of her students directed at her.

As much as Haruki wanted to ask her about the truth, he knew that now may not be the best time. Unfortunately, Mito-sensei had noticed the tension and Haruki's hesitance, she raised an eyebrow. "What is going on?"

At first, no one dared to say anything but Daimen made a bold move and stood up. "We would like to know why you have been hiding the truth of the Second World from us. We know that it is actually a proxy war, not a stimulation like you told us."

Immediately, everyone's jaws were dropping and even Mia and Arata were impressed with his bravery. Mito-sensei on the other hand, leveled his gaze with her own glare.

"And how did you know about this?" She asked, flicking her eyes to Arata's direction for a second before back to Daimen again, an action that was not missed by him.

Haruki decided that it was time to intervene and stood up. "We're sorry, but Hikaru and I accidentally heard you and Jin-san talking about it just now."

Mito-sensei suppressed a sigh as she surveyed the class. This was not exactly how she intended to tell them, but what's done is done. Strangely though, Arata was acting too calm about it. After a moment of thought, she spoke, "Remember the question I asked everyone this morning?" When no one answered her, she continued, "War is: the physical clash between countries through the use of military force to settle matters that cannot be resolved through diplomatic means. A final resort. The outcome of that clash decides history and has an effect on the country's territory, economy, culture, and beliefs. It also brings about the most casualties. To avoid such casualties, we utilize the Second World, an experiment created by the countries that participate in the ERP, or Experiment Realism Project. The results from our War Time decides the outcome of actual diplomatic issues with the system acting as a mediator between those countries."

"As a mediator…" Haruki said, surprise.

"That is right." Mito-sensei nodded. "A silent war if you will. Ever since the Second World began its operations, there has been no wars involving the countries participating in the ERP."

"Really?" Yuno said doubtfully, mirroring the class' skepticism at this.

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen any wars mentioned in the news for the past three years…" Hikaru said thoughtfully.

"But it doesn't feel real…Is that really happening…"

"What is real and what isn't is not a matter about feelings, it's about what you see and know." Arata spoke up for the first time since Haruki and Hikaru told them the news. "I must admit that I knew about this long before I came to the island."

Haruki and just about nearly everyone gave him surprised looks. "You knew!?"

"Yeah." Arata nodded. "I'm sure that some others in the school knows about this too. But long story short, I found out about it by accident. But I was told to keep it to myself."

"Who told you about it?" Mito-sensei demanded.

"I cannot tell you because I was force to make a promise that I will not divulge the identity of this person no matter what." Arata said firmly.

"But without any absolute prove, we cannot be certain that what you and Mito-sensei are telling us is true." Kaito spoke up.

"I don't care if you believe it or not." Arata said off-handedly. "But I have a feeling that all of you and Mito-sensei does."

"Mia, did you know about this too?" Daimen whispered to her.

"Yeah." Mia nodded guiltily. "I knew about it because of what Muraku is doing here but, I told him on the day I first met him on the island that I will not interfere with his mission if he does not interfere with mine. Which means that we are in no position to expose each other's secrets."

Daimen narrowed his eyes at that. "Then what is your mission?"

"Maddy and the Gem of Wishes." Was all Mia said. Daimen nodded in understanding and drew his attention back to the class. Everyone was quiet as they struggled to make sense of this truth and whether to believe it or not. He sighed as he too tried to digest this information. When he decided to pick up LBX, he thought that his life from Fantasy was over but meeting Mia again made him wonder if leaving Fantasy was the right choice.

'I cannot let them know the real reason though.' He thought grimly. 'If Mia knew…'

"Excuse me, may I have a word?" Roy suddenly requested.

"What is it, Roy Chen?" Mito-sensei grunted.

"I can clear everyone's doubts."

Everyone stared at him in surprise and he continued, "And that is because the country I come from was affected by this war."

As he launched into an explaination about the conditions of his home country, Arata subconsciously rubbed his shoulder. Hearing Roy's life in a war country made him remember about what happened just during the beginning of summer. They had worked so hard to defend their school and in the end, they had succeeded but not without any sacrifices. He can still remember the last battle where he was nearly burn to death while Arianna died, trying to protect her friends.

"…To be honest, it still perplexes me to this day. But it's far better than having to listen the sounds of war ringing through the town." Roy concluded his story and turned to Rikuya. "Rikuya-san, I have a message for you from your father."

Rikuya instantly straightened up. "What?"

"Now that Bandit is getting serious, the third platoon alone cannot protect it. You must look to the rest of Jenock for their support."

Rikuya was absolutely mortified by this message. "My father said that!?"

"Yes." Roy nodded in confirmation.

Rikuya's mortified face morphed into disbelieve as his face fell. "That can't be…"

"Um, what's this about?" Daimen asked awkwardly.

Akane stood up and faced them. "Roy and I were deployed here to protect Rikuya-san. We're here under the orders of Tougou Giichi, the prime minister of Japan."

"The prime minister?" Mia raised her eyebrows. "Thinking back, Rikuya's last name is Tougou too…"

"That means…Rikuya is the son of the prime minister?!" Kaito exclaimed.

"That's right." Rikuya confirmed, not looking up to face him.

"Roy, what do you two mean when you said 'to protect Rikuya'?" Haruki asked.

"To be more precise, we have to protect Rikuya-san's LBX, the DC Offenser." He clarified. "All the previous members of the Third Platoon were sent here with the same orders. We must protect Rikuya-san's LBX at all cost. Because a Parasite Key is hidden inside."

"A Parasite Key!?" Mito-sensei exclaimed in shock. "One of the Parasite Keys is in Rikuya's LBX?"

"Um, what is this Parasite Key?" Yuno asked.

Mito-sensei realized her slip too late and sighed. "This information was supposed to be kept secret from the students. Please remember to keep that in mind. 'Parasite Key' is the name of a program that allows one to enter the so-call 'Lost Area', a place that allows you to control the Second World. There are three of them in existence, and they are each hidden in LBXs that are used in the Second World. In order to enter the Lost Area, you need to gather all three of the keys."

"So why is one of them hidden in Rikuya's LBX?" Mia wondered out loud.

"It was all part of the plan my father created to protect the Second World." Rikuya forced out.

"So Bandit is trying to steal the Parasite Keys and take over the world?" Hikaru realized.

"That just might be the case." Mito-sensei nodded in agreement.

"That left hand jab they always do must be the key then." Mia said thoughtfully. "Each time they do that, their eyes will blink. They must be scanning the core box for the program then."

"And the unit we tried to recover at Tandem Harbor self-destructed so we would not figure out its goals…" Haruki added.

"But it's strange." Mito-sensei spoke up. "The Parasite Key has a special property that lets it transfer to another LBX if the one that it is currently in is about to be completely destroyed. If Bandit is truly aiming for the Parasite Keys, then they would act differently."

"Then it is either they do not know about it or they do and have a way around it." Arata suggested. "And personally, I think that the transmission noise we hear each time we encounter them might be the key."

"That could be a possibility." Mito-sensei narrowed her eyes. Privately though, she was wondering as to how much did Arata really knew. It was becoming more and more apparent that he knew more than he let on and was good in hiding it.

"Everyone in Jenock! Please, help us in protecting Rikuya-san!" Roy pleaded. "We're begging you."

He bowed with Akane following his suit. "We beg of you."

Looking around, everyone was unsure of what to do but Arata suddenly stood up. "Understand this, I have my personal opinion about the Second World, but I'm not going to turn away from a friend in need nor will I let Bandit take over the world. I'll fight for that. I will not let Bandit take the Parasite Key."

"I agree with you." Hikaru said after some thought. Soon enough, the whole class began voicing out their agreement to continue fighting to protect the world from Bandit.

"Thank you very much, everyone!" Roy thanked them.

"Alright, we are all in agreement." Haruki nodded. "But wouldn't it be better if Rikuya don't participate in our missions from now on?"

"We can't let that happen." Mito-sensei shot it down. "If we don't let Rikuya on the battlefield, then Bandit will know that he holds one of the Parasite Key. And this joint mission with Herness will decide on the fate of Jenock's future strategies. All the platoons must participate. I cannot withdraw that order now."

"If that is the case, then what are the arrangements for Daimen and Mia since Arata's back?" Yuno asked, remembering that important issue.

"Daimen will be the back-up for the second platoon while Mia will resume her position as the first platoon's back-up." Mito-sensei decided. "Arata, are you allowed to participate in War Time?"

"Absolutely." Arata nodded determinately.

"Then you will resume your position in the first platoon."

Arata smirked as he sat down. Mito-sensei was clearly suspicious of how much he knew of the Second World. But try as she might, she would need to get past Yuko if she wanted to know.


	42. Chapter 42

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review!**

* * *

"As some of you may know, we will be having a joint mission with Jenock today to capture the Death Forest." Jin announced to Harness before War Time started. "This will be our first joint mission with them so do your best."

"Hai!"

"Reika, it's nice to have you back." Inui told her when Jin dismissed them.

"You really had a long summer break." Suzunne piped up.

Reika forced a smile and nodded. "You could say that again."

'Especially one that involves fighting Night Lurkers and seeing Arata getting hurt with a lot of others dying, not that they will know.' She privately thought.

"Reika, here's Aquarious Sirena." Takeru said, handling her the said LBX.

"Thanks." Reika nodded and took it. "It feels good to be battling alongside you guys again."

"Oh please, we had an excellent time without you with our missions." Otohime snorted as she passed by. "Make sure that you don't drag us down." She let out a haughty laugh as she walked off, the rest of her platoon giving Reika apologetic looks as they passed her.

"Jezz, and I thought Arata had a big head when he beat me in chess." Reika muttered, not looking offended by her cruel remarks.

"Reika, how can you be so calm after what she said?" Suzunne asked indignantly.

"I'm used to it already." Reika waved it off. "Besides, I don't want to waste my time and energy getting mad at her just before an important mission. I've been waiting for this day for a long time to let her spoil my mood."

"Well, we better get going then. I'll see you guys later." Takeru waved as he headed off to his control room while the rest headed to their control pods.

"I really am looking forward to battling aside you again." Suzunne told Reika before she hopped into her pod.

Reika looked slightly surprised at that but smiled back. "So am I."

* * *

_5…4…3…2…1…War Time, begin!_

All the craft carries from Jenock were deployed and converged with Harness' craft carries, heading to the Death Forest.

_'Reika, it's good to be on a mission with you this time.'_ Arata whispered into her mind just before the craft carries entered the Death Forest's zone.

_'Yeah, but will you be alright?'_ She asked worriedly. _'I mean, you just got out of the hospital.'_

_'Don't worry about me. I'll be fine.' _He assured her. _'Let's take down the Death Forest together and then we can _celebrate_ at Yuko-nee's place. Ok?'_

_'Fine, but if you really feel that you cannot go on, take the escape stance.'_

_ 'I'm more worried about Mia than myself.'_ Arata told her seriously. _'I have a feeling that she will have a mental breakdown soon.'_

_'I'm worried for her too.'_ Reika frowned. _'But what did she do that made her dead on her feet?'_

_ 'She'll tell you in her own time.' _Arata told her and silently closed the connection as the craft carriers came to a stop. All of the LBX from Jenock and Harness immediately dropped down to face the larger army of Rossius. But before either of them could make the first move, the ground started shaking and rumbling as something moved towards the fort.

"What's that?" Vanessa wondered out loud with a slight tremor in her voice. "It's doing too good for just a single unit…"

"Is it a distraction from the enemy?" Mikhail voiced his thoughts though everyone could tell that he was not entirely convinced.

Muraku's frown deepened when there was some transmission voice from who knows where but he paid no attention to it since his thoughts were preoccupied by the object that was heading their way. When the video was finally brought up, he did not dare believe his eyes. 'A large droid!? But how…and who…'

Even when the guns fired at it and tried to keep it back, it kept on pushing forward like their efforts in stopping it were nothing. Eventually, it broke into the fort and it became quiet. Muraku was absolutely tense as to what it would do now. His question was answered when the fort started shaking.

"Vanessa, Mikhail, be on your guard." He warned them, not liking the feeling in his gut.

"Roger."

But just a second later, the front entrance burst open, revealing the large droid that invaded the place. Everyone gasped at it as it is not one that they had seen before nor was it your average large droid. The droid opened its core and destroyed all of the Rossiun LBX at the front with one beam fired from it, shocking everyone.

"What insane power…" Arata trailed off.

The droid leapt out of the entrance and landed at the spot which was once occupied by the now destroyed Gunther and Gleriors, towering the Jenock and Harness LBX.

"All units, withdraw!" Haruki yelled.

The first platoon naturally reacted to Haruki's command and leapt away but one of the blades attached to it swung at Val Sparos and sent it flying while cleaving off one of its arms at the same time.

"This much damage with one hit?" Hikaru gritted his teeth in disbelieve. The rest of the first platoon immediately shield it by standing in front of it.

_"Hurry! Get away from the large droid!" _Jin ordered them.

Not wanting to be crushed by it, all platoons, save Jenock's third platoon, got away from the droid as fast as possible.

Arata gritted his teeth. 'Rikuya is not responding even to Mito-sensei or his friends…don't tell me…'

He knew that he had to do something before his DC Offencer was crushed. "Sakuya, the Riding Armor!"

The said item was dropped down from Sakuya's craft carrier and Dot Phasor hopped into it. He dashed towards the third platoon and held the feet of the large droid in place before it could crush them.

"Sena-kun?" Rikuya said in surprise.

"Run for it!"

"Hurry captain!"

Rikuya quickly directed his DC Offencer to get away from the large droid with Roy and Akane following his suit.

"Arata, get out of there!" Reika called as the large droid pressed down on the riding armor. Arata took her heed and had Dot Phasor jump out of the riding armor just in the nick of time as the large droid destroyed the riding armor.

"It's so strong." Daimen gritted his teeth. Everyone became tense as the droid moved around for a few seconds but then it jumped back up to the entrance of the fort and lumbered back inside.

"What…what is that?" Arata managed to get out.

"I don't know." Mia shook her head. A sudden chill ran down her spine as something malicious brushed her mind. Not daring to let down her shields, she turned the frequency of the control pod such that she would only be talking to Arata. "Did you feel that?"

"Yeah." Arata nodded, his face turning pale. "I felt it before…Over there!"

Dot Phasor twisted its body to the right and Mia, Reika and Daimen followed their suit with their LBX and gasped. Everyone soon saw the thing that made them shock and for the second time, Muraku could not believe his eyes.

'A Night Lurker?!' Arata, Mia, Reika, Daimen and Muraku thought in horror as the menacing figure lumbered over to the fort.

"What the…" Jin trailed off as he watched the Night Lurker raised its clawed hand and destroyed part of the fort. "What is that thing doing in the Second World?"

_"Kaidou-sensei." _Mito-sensei called him. _"We need to have everyone withdraw from the fort and abandon the mission."_

"Right." Jin nodded and they were about to issue the order when the time-up alarm went off. Instantly, the Night Lurker disappeared too.

"…Should we continue with the mission?" Jin finally asked.

"I'll think about it." Mito-sensei finally said after a tensed pause.

* * *

"What?!" The headmaster exclaimed when the commanders of Harness, Jenock and Rossius approached him later with the news of the Night Lurker. "That thing appeared in the Second World?!"

"Yes." Jin nodded. "But it vanished just as the time-up alarm sounded."

"I see. Then we will suspend the classes and War Time for tomorrow to investigate this matter, whether you are already in a mission or not." The headmaster told them. "I don't want to risk the students finding out more about that…thing before we can clarify as to what it is."

None of the commanders really wanted to protest against it so they left the office and went back to their respective virtual country's briefing room.

"Mito-sensei, what did the headmaster say?" Haruki asked once she entered.

"Tomorrow's classes and War Time will be suspended for a day so that they can investigate this matter." She said plainly.

"What in the world was that thing?" Yuno wondered.

"I have no idea either. Anyway, I have yet to decide as to whether we should continue the mission or not. Once the investigations are done and the school reopens, do not be surprise if I call off the mission."

"Understood."

"Now, you may go back." She dismissed them.

Mia, Arata and Daimen exchanged glances and nodded. It seems that they had some reporting to do to Yuko before they went back.


	43. Chapter 43

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

For once, Yuko relished the silence in her office since Arata and the others haven't come over yet which was strange to her considering not only the usual group was not here yet, Maya, Nick and Wataru had not even arrived yet. But sadly, the silence was about to be shattered.

"Yuko-nee!" Arata and the others burst into the office. And altogether, they began speaking at the same time that Yuko had a hard time making out what they were saying.

"Enough!" She yelled and all of the noise subsided. "One at the time please. Arata, you start."

"A Night Lurker appeared in the Second World during War Time while we were having our mission and this made the school suspend all classes and War Time tomorrow." Arata explained.

Yuko's eyes became wide in shock. "A Night Lurker in the Second World…what happened to it once War Time ended?"

"It disappeared." Wataru put in. "We were watching from the viewing room and that Night Lurker disappeared as soon as the time out alarm rang."

Yuko pursed her lips as she drummed her fingers in thought. "That Night Lurker may be back again the day after tomorrow when War Time starts again…"

"Um, Yuko-nee, what are you thinking of?" Reika enquired.

"Ever since Reina told me about the Night Lurker spotted on the island, I have been thinking of the best way to counter them without being exposed." Yuko said slowly. "So, after the invasion on Fantasy, I have been developing something that could help us do that."

She went over to her bookshelf and pulled it aside, revealing a heavy safe in the wall. She unlocked it and took out a rectangular box. Everyone crowded around her to see what was inside which Yuko showed them by taking out something that resembled a silver band with a small button on the side.

"Yuko-nee, what's that?"

"It's the Fantasy Band." Yuko smiled and gave it to Arata to have a look. "As all of you know, Valorites and Vigilnites have two forms within the same body. One is the human form and the other is the original form. This band can help us separate the two forms so that the human form can remain in the control pod and handle his or her LBX while the original form will be teleported into the Second World to battle the Night Lurker."

"Cool." Arata grinned and handed the Band around for the others to see. "We can all fight the Night Lurker if it appears again."

"Unfortunately, no. I only managed to finish two of them while the others are still within the development stages." Yuko told him as she took it back. "Also, until I give the all clear…"

"No heavy work for me." Arata finished with a small sigh. "So who are going to get them?"

"I was thinking of a weekly rotation schedule among all of you until I complete all of the Bands. But for now, Mia and Daimen will hang on to them." Yuko said and gave the both of them the bands. "If the Night Lurker appears the day after tomorrow or during any other time during the rest of the week, the both of you have to take care of it."

"We will." Daimen nodded. Mia quietly took the band and had a good look at it.

"Well, I suppose that tomorrow will be a huge workout day for us then?" Maya asked.

"No." Yuko shook her head. "Go rest and relax tomorrow. There will be no point in tiring yourself if the Night Lurker does appear again."

* * *

Once they left, Arata and Mia headed over to Gulf Peak just as they had agreed beforehand.

"So, what problems are you having with Muraku?" Arata asked, sitting down on one of the benches.

Mia took a deep breath and sat down beside him. "A few days ago, we got into an argument about me beating up boys who, you know…"

Arata nodded in understanding. "I get it. Continue?"

"And I kind of allowed my temper to get a little out of hand and yelled some hurtful things at him." Mia said shamefaced. "That and the next day, we had to take over the Wall of Gigant. Muraku's and my LBX got separated from the others and we used the emergency line to communicate. He told me that his dealings with his supporting country has been getting out of hand. If he loses one more time, there will be a target on me and possibly on our family."

Arata did not show much expression at this but Mia knew that he was in deep thought. He looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. "I'm guessing that that's not all of it?"

"Yeah." Mia nodded. "After the alliance mission, I bumped into Muraku on the way back and sort of followed him without being seen and he met with one of the agents he was communicating with. Until then I never actually knew how pressured he was just to keep me safe and I am the most insensitive sister in the world."

"Sounds to me the both of you have understanding issues." Arata said after a moment of thought. "When was the last time you had a proper conversation with him?"

"I dunno, probably when we were at home for the summer?"

"Then I think it is because the both of you don't actually relax much at school. I suppose the both of you were very tired and stressed from War Time when you had your argument and neither of you are willing to step down from your pride to apologize. As to Muraku's problems with that agent, I don't think I can help you." He said apologetically.

"That's fine. Thanks for listening and giving advice anyway." Mia smiled. "I already asked Yuko-san to help me regarding the last bit."

"Glad to hear that." Arata nodded and hugged her briefly. "If you have any problems, you can always come clean with them. It's never good to keep them bottled up. But I think you learned that last night since you did not have a good night's sleep. Come on, let's go back so that you can get some rest."

Mia nodded and followed him back to the dorms. But privately, Arata was thinking of a way to help Mia reconcile with Muraku and decided to take advantage of the day off tomorrow by having some free, relaxing time at the sport center's pool.

* * *

"So where's Mia?" Reika asked as she bounced over to Arata on their way to the dining room.

"She's turning in early tonight." Arata said as he grabbed a tray. "By the way, aren't you joining your friends? I thought you wanted to catch up with Suzunne."

"Soon." Reika smiled slyly and followed Arata down the line with her own tray. When Arata was about to reach for the chicken, Reika stopped him and gave him a knowing look. "No fried chicken."

Arata rolled his eyes and took the steam chicken instead. Reika grinned and took the friend chicken. This went on for a while with Reika pointing out the food that he cannot eat and taking them instead, which drew amused looks from those behind them. At the end of the line, Arata turned to Reika and shook his head. "You're going to get fat with all that food you are taking."

"What can I say? I want to try out the food now that it has changed." Reika smiled cheekily.

"But does it have to be the food types that I cannot eat?"

"It would make it more fun to be torturous to you. That's what you get for making me worry all this time." Reika flashed an angelic smile and went up to the counter to pay. Arata only rolled his eyes and followed her suit.

But once he went to his table where the first platoon was waiting, Catherin suddenly materialized out of nowhere.

"Arata, you must be hungry after travelling back to Kamui Island." Catherin said with a grin. "So we girls thought of something to welcome you back. Tada!" She stepped aside, revealing Yuno and Hanako holding out boxes of pizza which they probably got from the new pizza joint that opened up last week.

Arata's eyes became very wide as he backed away. "Sorry, but I cannot eat pizza."

"Oh come on, just a piece." Catherin insisted as she thrusted a piece in front of Arata.

"Catherin, I really cannot eat pizza now." Arata said and glanced at the others for help only for them to shake their heads.

"Arata, please. We spent a lot of silver credits for this."

"Just leave him alone!" Reika roared as she came over and snatched the piece in Catherin's hand and tossed it back into the box. "He has dietary restrictions and the No.1 food he must avoid is fast food! And I am the only one who is allowed to smoother him so leave him alone!"

"Thank you Reika." Arata muttered as Catherin and the others went off disgruntledly. He turned his gaze to his friends and frowned, "You should have helped you know."

"Sorry, we thought that you really would accept the pizza since we didn't know that you had dietary restrictions." Sakuya said apologetically. "Besides, you just got out of the hospital so…"

Arata huffed and grabbed his tray. "I don't think I can eat in here if all people think is that I'm an invalid."

Reika cast them a glance and grunted, "My advice, don't treat him like an invalid. He may seem to be one but he is in fact far from it."

With that, she went back to her table while the rest of the first platoon exchanged glances.

* * *

Arata soon found himself wandering around the grounds after bagging his dinner, looking for a quiet spot where no one would bother him. He soon came to the gardens and found a bench to sit at. But as he got closer, he saw that Muraku was there too so he was about to turn to find somewhere else when Muraku called him.

He glanced around and raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes?"

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" He hesitantly asked.

"Sure." Arata nodded and sat down at the bench. "So what's this about?"

"Has Mia talked to you about anything between the both of us before?"

Arata raised an eyebrow. "You have to be more specific of when and what. There has been many conversations with us regarding that."

Now it was Muraku's turn to raise his eyebrow. "She really talks about us that much?"

"Well, don't tell her I told you this, but yes, in a good way." Arata said carefully. "When she first came to Fantasy, she was always lost and distant from everyone. But as we became friends, I realized why she was like that. She misses her other half, which is you. She was used to having her twin beside her all the time that it was hard for her to adapt. But I think the reason why she changed and opened up was because she grew used to me filling in the position of an older brother in her life. But, don't think that she's kicking you out of her life just to make room for me. I'm just a brother figure but you, you are her brother, her twin and the one who understands her the most, despite your differences."

Muraku was staring at Arata with wide eyes at his speech. Somehow, hearing Arata tell him all of this made him a lot better.

"By the way, back to your first question, if you are referring to the time between the semester started and when Reika and I came back, then yes. We talked about it just now. I figured that the both of you have some understanding issues. She was also breaking down because…well, again, don't tell her I told you this. She overheard your conversation with the agent you were communicating with and sort of felt guilty because she thinks that she's the reason why you are under so much pressure just to keep her safe."

"She what…"

"Listen, I can only help you so much. By the way, we're planning on going swimming at Yuko-nee's place tomorrow since we have the day off. So feel free to drop by. I have a feeling that Mia will not be bursting into any temper tantrums then." He said with a small smile. "I hope that the both of you reconcile soon. It's killing the both of you just to remain mad at each other."

Muraku muled over his words and gave him a small smile. "Thanks for the tip. Are you sure that the other's won't mind if I join in on your plans tomorrow?"

"Why not? It'll only be me, Reika, Mia, and Daimen." Arata shrugged and opened the bag of dinner. "If you'll excuse me…"

Muraku nodded and left the bench as Arata ate his meal. As he walked back to his room, he realized that Mia was right that he needed to relax a bit. He smiled as he made up his mind to make things right with Mia tomorrow.


	44. Chapter 44

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

**So, there's some MurakuMia brother-sister bonding and indirect AraYuno. But there is some sad parts at the bottom.**

* * *

Yuno was really confuse as she walked over to her shared room with Mia and Reika. For one, she had never seen Reika as scary as just now when Catherin was trying to persuade Arata to take the pizza although she knew that they were partly to be blamed since they didn't know that it was part of Arata's dietary restrictions. And secondly, Arata was really pissed off when he left the cafeteria after talking with the first platoon. She had never seen the both of them get mad like that before.

"Hey, what's with the long face?" Mia asked jokingly when her roommate came in.

"Oh Mia, I thought you were asleep." Yuno said as she sat down on her bed.

"I just woke up a minute ago." She shrugged. "My stomach won't stop growling so I was going to head down to the cafeteria and grab something. So what are you bothered about?"

"Nothing, I'm just confused."

"Of what?"

"Just now at dinner, Catherin and I thought that it would be a good idea to celebrate Arata's return so we got pizza from town…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop right there." Mia held up her hands with a disbelieving look. "You got pizza for Arata?"

"Yeah." Yuno nodded guiltily. "We didn't know that he couldn't have pizza until…"

"Reika went mother bear on you two?" Mia asked with a knowing smile.

"Mother bear?" Yuno said in surprise.

"Well, Reika has a bad tendency to be overprotective of Arata if he got injured or something." Mia laughed. "It drives him crazy but she still gives him some space so he wouldn't feel smothered. But don't take it to heart. She's just cranky because Arata had already caused her a lot of panic and worry during and after his accident. I bet she'll be back to her normal self by tomorrow."

"Oh." Yuno sighed in relief. "I'll apologize to them tomorrow."

"That's not really necessary." Mia rolled her eyes. "But I can tell that it was not only Reika who got mad tonight, isn't it?"

"Um, not long after we left him alone, he was talking with the first platoon about something that made him get annoyed at and he stormed off." Yuno said hesitantly.

"No doubt that they said something that made Arata assume that they were thinking him as an invalid." Mia sighed. "Arata is very sensitive to being seen and treated as an invalid since he is naturally very independent so we try to avoid that subject whenever he comes out of the medical bay at our old school or the hospital. Reika is the only exception to this to a certain extent like I told you earlier. But don't worry too much about it. I expect him to cool down by tomorrow and apologize to Haruki, Sakuya and Hikaru."

"I see." Yuno smiled. "That's a relief. For a second there I thought we did something to offend them."

"Nah, besides, there's no way Arata would be mad at you for long." Mia smiled cheekily.

Yuno immediately turned red and threw her pillow at her which she dodged and quickly ran out of the room. Once she was alone, Yuno sighed and lied down on her bed. "There's no way he would like me like that."

* * *

The next morning at the crack of dawn, we see Arata watching Daimen, Reika and Mia race from the edge of the pool with a small smile on his face. As much as he wanted to enter the pool and join them, he needed to wait for Muraku to come first. Thankfully, it was not too long before the said person came.

"Morning." Arata smiled without turning around at Muraku as he came up to the pool.

"Morning." Muraku nodded curtly at him and his gaze drifted to the race which ended and now engaged in a water battle. "Aren't you going in?"

"Nah, not yet." He shook his head. "I'm going to wait until they're done with fun."

"Same here." Muraku nodded in agreement, sitting down beside him. His eyebrows were raised though at the breathing tube fastened to Arata's swimming trunks. "What is that for?"

"Emergencies." Arata simply shrugged. "I wonder how long it would take for them to realize you are here."

Mia was the first one to spot Muraku and she froze. "What are you doing here?"

Daimen and Reika both stopped splashing as they realized his presence too.

"I invited him." Arata shrugged nonchalantly. "Reika, Daimen, wanna race now?" He asked, slipping into the water.

Catching on to Arata's plan, they nodded and swam back to the end of the pool, leaving Mia with Muraku. She watched them for a moment before joining Muraku's side. "So Arata invited you."

"Yeah." Muraku nodded. "Listen…"

"I owe you an apology." Mia blurted out. "I'm sorry for yelling at you that day. I was just angry that you did not trust me enough to take care of myself and for my self-control."

Muraku stared at her in shock but slowly smiled. "I owe you an apology too. To me, you were always the little sister who clung onto my back. I never actually thought that you had grown up all this while to the headstrong young lady you are now. I had no right to think that you were the same as me or the hopeless girl you once were."

Mia blushed and ducked her head. "You'll be surprise to learn how tough of a teacher Yuko-san is. She never lets us slack off so of course I had to become stronger."

"I see." He glanced over at the others who were already done with their races and were now relaxing at the opposite end of the pool. "Do you want to race now, like old times?"

Mia's lips turned up to a smirk as she slipped into the pool. "You're on."

* * *

"Do you think they had made up yet?" Reika wondered as she watched her friend talking with her brother.

"I'm pretty sure that they have." Arata grinned.

"I'm surprised that you managed to think up of this idea in such a short time." Daimen remarked.

"Well, it's not hard to think it up since Mia once mentioned that she used to go swimming a lot with Muraku back at their Californian home. So I figured that it must have been the common thread between the both of them other than LBX. Even if the school didn't give the day off, I would have pushed for a swimming hangout during the weekend." Arata explained and Reika and Daimen had to smile at that.

"Hey guys!"

The three of them jumped when they heard Catherin's voice. Arata quickly dived into the water with his breathing tube on his mouth while Reika and Daimen quickly slid into the water to hide him. Not too long later, Catherin and Yuno appeared at the pool.

"We heard that you guys would be here so we decided to check up on Arata." Catherin explained and her expression turned into disdain at Muraku and Mia racing.

"Sorry to say this but you missed him." Reika said, drawing her attention back to them. "He said that he had something to do so he already left."

"That's too bad." Yuno's face fell. "Can you tell him that we were looking for him if you see him later?"

"I'll…I'll see what I can do." Reika forced a smile.

"See ya!" With that, both girls left. Reika nudged Arata with her foot and he resurfaced, pulling the tube off his mouth.

"Thanks for that." He groaned. "Why can't they leave me alone?"

"Well, all I can say is, I can tell that Yuno really cares about your wellbeing which is why she's seeking you out. But Catherin…"

"Is an annoying fly." Reika finished for Daimen.

"What happened just now?" Mia asked as she and Muraku swam over.

"Oh, you just missed Yuno and Catherin." Reika sniggered. "They were looking for Arata here so we had to hide him underwater."

Mia burst out laughing at that while Muraku politely smiled though the corners of his mouth were twitching. Arata rolled his eyes and swatted water at Reika and Mia. "Are you done yet or can we go now? I told Yuko-nee that we would only use the pool until ten o'clock."

"We still have ten more minutes." Daimen informed them. "Mia, do you want to race with me this time?"

"Sure." Mia smirked. "Just don't blame me if you lose."

"Hey!" Daimen chased her down to the starting point where they began swimming up and down the pool.

"Arata, I don't mean to pry, but can you explain a bit of Daimen and what he is to Mia?" Muraku asked quietly.

"He's Aussie and from Fantasy too but left two years ago for a family emergency. I certainly was not expecting to see him here again." Arata said with a shake of his head.

"And he has been Mia's best friend for a long time." Reika in putted. "But to be honest, Daimen thinks Mia more than that, not that she knows. I heard that he even got into a feud with Atsuya just to compete for her feelings but she ended up with the latter and made it clear that Daimen's only her best friend."

"That really happened?"

"Yeah." Arata slowly nodded. "Daimen doesn't like to talk about it with her but they managed to remain friends nevertheless."

Muraku nodded as he stored this information. A scream then caught his attention and he saw Daimen and Mia fooling around with the former splashing water all over her while all she could do was shield herself. But anyone could tell that they were having fun.

* * *

Once all of them were out of the pool and changed, Mia found Muraku waiting for her outside the changing rooms.

"Muraku?"

"Mia," Muraku lowered his head as he tried to piece together his words. "I'm sorry. I never wanted to put you in danger but the agent…"

"I know." Mia said gently and placed a hand on his shoulder. "And I understand. But like I told you before, I'm not the hopeless little girl you used to know. I can take care of myself."

Muraku's lips twitched slightly and he sighed. "I know. But I really want you to know that at the first opportunity available, I will try to cut off my ties with them."

Mia was certainly surprise at this, knowing how hard Muraku worked to gain their trust in his abilities and their resources just to free everyone from the awful proxy war. "Are…are you sure about this?"

"I can't keep up with their underhanded ways and methods." Muraku admitted.

"I understand." Mia hugged him. "I'll be behind you the whole way."

Muraku tensed up at first but did not hesitate to hug her back. Once Mia pulled away, she took his hand. "Come on, I think we could use something to drink. My treat."

"If you insist." Muraku relented with a smile. But as they rounded around the corner, what they saw shocked Mia to the core. She nearly dropped her bag as her hands flew to her mouth as she watched Atsuya make out with Charlotte. Muraku turned pale in rage as he felt the shock, anger and sadness roll off Mia and gripped her elbow to support her. So far, neither of them were seen by Atsuya but that was going to change.

Mia soon snapped out of her shock and stormed over to them. She pulled Atsuya away and slapped him as hard as she could. Atsuya's face turned pale when he realized that his girlfriend had seen everything. Charlotte on the other hand did not care about the situation and had a smug smile on her lips.

"Um, Charlotte, please leave. I'll find you later." Atusya finally managed to force out.

"But I…"

"Now." Atusya said firmly. She closed her mouth and casted a smug look at Mia before heading off in the opposite direction which Mia and Muraku came from.

"How long?" Mia demanded.

"Mia, this isn't how it looks…"

"I asked, how long!?" Mia said a bit more forcefully. "How long have you been seeing her behind my back!?"

"Since…since four months before summer started." Atsuya said guiltily.

Mia's mouth dropped open as tears rolled down her cheeks. But she drew her mouth into a thin line. "Did you think it was funny to laugh behind my back while you dated her? I thought you loved me!"

"I do!" Atsuya raised his voice. "But things between us were not working out! I flirted girls just to get your attention but you never responded to me! Instead, you pushed me away in favor of Daimen!"

"Daimen is my friend and nothing more!" Mia all but yelled back. "Don't bring him into this."

Atsuya stared at her hard for a moment and sighed. "Mia, I hate to do this but we are getting nowhere at this rate. I think it is best that we break up."

The words hit Mia like a freight train and she struggled to breath. "If…if you badly wanted to get rid of me, you could have just told me in my face instead of breaking my heart like this."

"I'm sorry." Atsuya squeezed his eyes shut.

Mia refused to listen anymore and sank onto the floor while covering her ears. Atsuya turned away and quickly left, unable to watch her anymore. As Muraku walked over to Mia, he casted a hateful glare at Atsuya's back.

"Muraku, what did I do wrong?" Mia sobbed. "Why doesn't he want me?"

"It's not your fault, Mia." He said in a hard voice as he pulled her body close to him. "It was his choice and it has nothing to do with you."

"I knew that there was something going on with him." Mia gasped out. "But I trusted him. I trusted him to remain loyal to me."

Muraku knew that words would not comfort her now so he simply held her and allowed her to bury her face into his shirt as she cried.


	45. Chapter 45

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

"Really, where could he be?" Yuno sighed as she wandered down to the juice bar. Catherin had long left when she realized that Kiyoka needed her back at the dorms so the task of looking for Arata fell onto her.

"Hey Yuno." Reika greeted cheerfully as she appeared from the changing rooms. "If you are looking for Arata, he should be coming here any moment now…As long as Catherin isn't here."

"Oh, she went back to the dorms since Kiyoka needed to talk to her about something." She explained.

"Great." Reika plopped down on one of the benches. "I admit, there is not much that Arata's afraid of but let's just say that he's afraid of people who try to smoother him, which this time around would be Catherin."

"Well, she can be a little insensitive at times and easily jump to conclusions without checking the facts but she's a good friend." Yuno sweatdropped.

Reika shrugged and patted the seat beside her. "Well, since we have a while until Arata or Mia joins us, can we have a chat?"

"Um, sure." Yuno nodded and sat down beside her.

"So, you really like Arata?" Reika suddenly asked her seriously.

Yuno jumped at her question and sighed. "Yes, I do like him a lot. But it's very hard for me to tell him."

"Why so?" Reika tilted her head.

"Well, he said that he was still getting over Maddie so I'm afraid that if I confess to him, he would only accept it because I look like her." Yuno said with a sigh.

Reika frowned and folded her arms. "That is a predicament. But, here's a really silly question. If he were to be hiding a very unacceptable secret, would you still like him?"

"Huh?" Yuno blinked in confusion. "Of course, it depends on what the secret is but if it is nothing really bad, then yes, I would still like him."

Reika's face softened and she grinned. "Then I'll help you and Arata get together."

"Eh!?" Yuno's face morphed into shock. "But Reika…"

"It's fine. I know that you like him, he likes you, and so you want to become a couple. Don't worry, I think you are cute together." Reika smiled mischievously. "Besides, I've seen the looks he gave you. I know that he likes you for who you are, not for your looks. If he had been for the latter, he would have treated you differently. I've seen how he was with Maddie and with you. I can certainly say that there is a huge difference in that."

"Well, I don't know…" Yuno trailed off when she spotted Arata heading over to them.

"Morning Yuno." He smiled at her and sat down on the other side of Reika. "I heard that you were looking for me?"

"Yeah." Yuno nodded, smiling back. "I just wanted to see how you are. And I'm sorry about last night. We didn't know that you couldn't have pizza…"

"It's fine." Arata waved it off. "Besides, I'm over it, though I'll be staying away from Catherin for the time being until she leaves me alone."

"Right." Yuno and Reika sweatdropped.

Reika glanced at her watch and gasped. "Oh no! I promised Yuko-nee that I'll do a song soon. Sorry, but I have to go." She grabbed her bag and ran to the door leading to the back of the stage. There was a fair number of people in the main hall and Arata was sure that there were more in the rooms upstairs. Ever since the sport center opened on the island, a large number of students began to spend most of their time there either just to study or use the facilities.

"That girl." Arata shook his head with a smile.

"Well, she seems to be settling down." Yuno smiled too.

"Yeah, she's always been the chirpier one of the both of us." Arata said dryly. "Do you mind helping me catch up with my schoolwork later?"

"Not at all." Yuno shook her head, pleased to have a chance to help him.

* * *

It has been more than half an hour since Daimen last saw Mia and he was getting worried. He wandered around the corridors and was about to turn around a corner when he heard some sniffling. It made him paused in his steps and peaked around the corner and saw Mia on the floor with Muraku's arms around her, sobbing her eyes out.

"How could he do this to me…?" Mia cried. "Was I really not good enough for him?"

"Mia, listen to me." Muraku shook her shoulders. "None of that matters because it was his fault to begin with. He chose to cheat on you, and don't you dare say that you are not good enough! You are the toughest, bravest, and most strong hearted sister I have the privilege of having. It's his lost for not valuing you."

The insides of Daimen churned. They were no doubt talking about Atsuya and from the looks of it, he cheated on Mia. 'How dare he!' Daimen thought furiously. 'He worked so hard just to win Mia's heart and he threw it all away like it was nothing.'

He teleported away, unable to bear listening to Mia's cries. He would have gone and comforted her but she had Muraku for that. For now, he had more important things to discuss with Atsuya.

* * *

As Reika got ready to go on stage, she could not shake the feeling that something was happening. And her suspicions were proven right when Yuko burst into the backstage.

"We got trouble." She said grimly. "I found out that there are several Night Lurkers at the beach on the other side of the island. I need you and the others to take them out."

"Alright." Reika nodded, tossing her bag into a locker. "Arata won't be coming, won't he?"

"No." Yuko shook her head. "Go get Mia and Wataru. I'll get Daimen."

"Right." Reika ran out the door and headed down the corridor where she sensed Mia was. But when she saw her friend sitting on the floor with a downcast face and her brother beside her, she frowned as she fell to her side. "Mia, what happened?"

Mia lifted her head and rubbed her eyes furiously to get rid of the tears. "Atsuya and I broke up."

"What?" Reika gasped, stun at what she heard but she remembered what she came for and took her friend's hand. "Mia, Yuko-nee told me that there are Night Lurkers at the beach. We have to go and deal with them, but only if you feel up to it."

"Is it serious?" Muraku narrowed his eyes.

"When a Night Lurker appears, it is always serious." Reika answered dryly.

Mia wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand and stood up. "Who else is going?"

"Wataru and Daimen." Reika forced a smile. "Yuko-nee said that she'll get Daimen so we have to get Wataru and meet up with him there."

"He should be at one of the training rooms." Mia said thoughtfully. "Can you go and get him? I'll meet the both of you at the back."

"Right." Reika nodded and tossed a crystal in front of her, creating a portal that led to the training room which Wataru was and jumped inside it.

"Are you sure that you are up to this?" Muraku frowned once the portal closed behind Reika.

"Yeah." Mia nodded. "Duty comes before personal matters. I'm not going to let what happened between me and Atsuya get in my head when I fight the Night Lurkers. But to be on the safe side, stay here until I get back."

"Take care." Muraku gave her a brief hug.

"Don't I always?" Mia smiled wryly and ran out to the back where Reika and Wataru were waiting for her.

"Mia!" Wataru greeted her as she ran up to them. "I heard from Reika-san about what happened with you and Atsuya-san…"

"Save it for later Wataru." Mia cut him off and nodded at Reika. She nodded back and threw a crystal on the ground. A large portal appeared on the ground and they fell into it.

* * *

Atsuya had the nastiest shock of his life when Daimen teleported behind him out of nowhere in his room and slammed him onto the wall. He had been mopping around his room, not bothering to find Charlotte again after what happened in the corridor. He deeply regretted breaking up with Mia but it had to be done or their relationship would get out of control. But as he was thinking back of the memories they spent together, he found himself flung at the wall no thanks to Daimen.

"You idiot!" Daimen screamed. "How could you do this to Mia!?"

"What…"

"You know what I am talking about." Daimen growled. "You broke up with Mia all for the other girl that you were seeing!"

"Let me go." Atsuya struggled in his grip.

"Did you forget or not that you and I competed over her heart? And now, you simply threw all of that away and now she is heartbroken after what you did." Daimen raised his fist to punch him but was suddenly pulled off Atsuya by an invisible force and flung onto the bed.

"Really Daimen, I thought you would know better than to use violence like that." Yuko said crossly from the door.

"Sorry, Kuriko-sensei." Daimen apologized, shooting glares at Atsuya.

"When, if you're done, then go join the others." Yuko said, sending him warning glances. "They're fighting the Night Lurkers at the other side of the island, so to speak."

"Hai." Daimen nodded and as he walked past Atsuya, he whispered, "This is not finish yet. Just wait until Arata hears about this."

Atsuya did not show any reaction to this threat and simply kept a blank look on his face. Once Daimen teleported out of the building, Yuko turned to her brother, "Alright, talk. What was going on just now?"

"It's nothing." Atsuya shook his head. "I deserved it in some ways."

Yuko frowned and stood in front of him. "Atsuya, I'm only going to ask this one more time. What was going on?"

"I broke up with Mia." Atsuya finally said after a moment of silence.

Yuko's jaw dropped and her hands fell to her side. "What? But why?"

"I was cheating on her. And I felt that things will break down if I did not end our relationship." Atsuya said quietly.

Yuko's lips pressed into a thin line as she turned to leave. "Well, I think I know now why Daimen reacted the way he did. But, know this, I'm not happy that you have been seeing someone behind Mia's back. So I won't defend you if Arata comes after you."

Atsuya waited until Yuko left the room before collapsing on the bed. In his heart, he knew that he still love Mia but he does not want to drag this on. Being with Charlotte, he was happier than he was with Mia because Charlotte never denied his advances and was only too eager to please him. But, there was something that set her apart from Mia and that was her lack of sensibility and integrity. And those qualities were the very things that drew him to Mia in the first place.


	46. Chapter 46

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

"What do you know? One free day and we end up fighting you guys!" Reika cried as she punched a Night Lurker with her fist that was glowing blue. "Why can't you just leave us alone!?"

"They always chase us down. It's what they do best." Mia replied as she unleashed several ice bolts that froze all of the Night Lurkers around her.

"But can't we even have a day off anymore with them around?" Daimen wondered as he created three mini tornados around him.

"I don't think so." Wataru panted as he phased through a Night Lurker and pulled it through the ground, emerging back seconds later and repeated the process. But each time all of them defeated one, two would take their place.

"Man, we're getting swamped here!" Daimen gasped. "If only Arata was here!"

"We can do this even without his help!" Reika chided him as she raised her hands and created a huge whirlpool above her, sending it towards the group of Night Lurkers behind Wataru. "Come on, we can do this!"

Reluctantly, all of them doubled their efforts and continued taking down the Night Lurkers.

* * *

Not too far from the clearing that they are battling at, Haruki and Hikaru emerged from LBX Hill with their backpacks and casual clothes.

"I wonder if it was really a good idea to come hiking this early in the morning." Hikaru spoke up. "And why aren't Arata and Sakuya joining us?"

"I tried to invite Sakuya but he said that he doesn't care much for a hike. As for Arata, I haven't seen him or Mia at all this morning and Catherin told me that they went swimming at the sports center." Haruki patiently explained. "But, I was hoping for some platoon bonding time today. Pity that's it is only the both of us."

"Then what's the point of today's hike?" Hikaru muttered under his breath.

"Hold on." Haruki suddenly halted and held up his hand. "Do you hear that?"

Hikaru paused to listen and nodded. "Yeah, it sounds like explosions. We better check it out."

* * *

"Hey, didn't Reika say that she would be going on stage a while ago?" Yuno noticed as she gave Arata the notes that she had on the lessons he missed.

"You're right. She's taking too long." Arata said with a worried frowned. "I'm going to see if she's alright."

"I'll come with you." Yuno offered.

"No, but thanks." Arata declined and headed off to the dressing room where he saw Reika go only to find that she was not there but her bag was, indicating that she was here. He frowned as he looked around. 'Where is she?'

"Arata, I thought you were outside." Yuko said in surprise when she passed by.

"I was looking for Reika since she said that she was going to perform not too long ago but it has been ages since then so I wanted to see if there was anything wrong." Arata explained.

Yuko nearly panicked but covered it up well. "I canceled her performance since I needed her and the others to…run an errand."

"I see." Arata narrowed his eyes, catching Yuko's pause. "Well, if that's so, then I'll just continue catching up with my school work."

"Arata, wait." Yuko called him as he was about to leave.

"Yes?" Arata tilted his head back.

"Just so you know, I'm actually considering clearing you soon." She smiled. "But due to circumstances…"

"What circumstances?" Arata raised an eyebrow curiously.

"You'll know later." Yuko shrugged. "Anyway, good luck with your school work. I'll be in my office if you need me."

"Sure." Arata nodded. But he could not help but feel that she was hiding something and something is happening not only to Reika but to Mia and Daimen as well.

* * *

"Reika, I don't know how much longer we can last." Mia panted as she and her friend fought back to back. "We have to call for back up."

"I know but how call we call for help when we are fighting!?" Reika groaned as she sent several Night Lurkers flying with her water spheres. In frustration, she threw her hands up. "Where is that gank when you need her!?"

"We're right here!" A loud piercing scream resonated through the bunch of Night Lurkers at the edge of the clearing, sending them flying. Vines then shot out of the ground and created a wall, dividing Reika, Mia, Daimen and Wataru from the Night Lurkers.

"You're welcome by the way." Maya said smugly with Nick by her side.

"Who asked you?" Reika snorted.

"Reika, we would have been toasted if they had not came." Mia pointed out, catching her breath with the others. "Thanks for the save by the way."

"Well, we figured that we should come and save your butts since Kuriko-sensei called us." Maya waved it off and narrowed her eyes at the vines that were slowly being torn apart. "Get ready. They're coming."

Everyone got into stance as the Night Lurkers broke through the vine wall and started rushing at them. The six of them met them head-on and used their powers and martial arts skills to defeat them.

* * *

"That's it, I'm going to look for them." Arata sighed as he kept his books.

"What?" Yuno cocked her eyebrow in confusion.

"Sorry, but I'm going to go look for Reika and Mia." Arata apologized. "It's been too long since they left and I have a bad feeling in my gut."

"I'll come with you." Yuno offered.

"No, I'll be fine. Stay here" Arata insisted. "I just want to see if she is fine then I'll come back."

Yuno was very concern for him as she watched him head out and raised her fist to her heart. "I hope he stays safe. I don't like this feeling I'm getting." After contemplating something in her mind, she pressed her lips into a determined line. "I better go after him."

She gathered her things and ran to the door but she paused when she spotted Muraku call out to Arata at the lobby and spoke about something to him that made him panic and ran off. Yuno frowned and quietly followed him all the way to the other side of the island. She was getting curious as to what did Muraku tell him that made him come all the way here. But as she tried to keep up with him, she tripped over a root, alerting him of her presence.

"Yuno?" Arata blanched when he turned around and noticed her. He quickly went over and help her up. "Were you following me?"

Yuno looked away and slowly nodded. "Yeah. I saw Houjou Muraku telling you something that made you freak out so I decided to follow you just in case."

Arata sighed and realized that he had forgotten to lower his mental shields so he did not detected her this whole time. He opened his mouth to say something when they heard Haruki and Hikaru calling them.

"Haruki? Hikaru?" Arata raised an eyebrow. "What are you two doing here?"

"We were hiking at LBX Mountain when we heard some explosions coming from over there." Haruki explained, pointing at the direction of the clearing where the battle was. Arata frowned and headed over with the others following him. He pulled away some branches hiding the view and gasped. Had he known that the others were battling here, he would have made sure that Haruki and the others would not see it but it was too late.

"Is that Reika?" Yuno's mouth fell open when they saw her and Mia and Daimen using their powers. They had been separated from Wataru, Maya and Nick so they did not see them.

"And Mia and Daimen?" Hikaru said, just as amazed and shock as her.

"Arata, what is the meaning of this?" Haruki hissed.

"I can explain…" Arata trailed off when he saw Reika kicked by a Night Lurker from behind and sent flying into a tree. The Night Lurkers then gathered around her with their claws extended to the fullest. Reika whimpered as she tried to push herself up and defend herself but she was too tired to. Mia and Daimen were barely holding their own so they could not come over and help her.

"No!" Arata gritted his teeth. Without thinking, he leapt in front of Reika and unleashed a fire wave that disintegrated the Night Lurkers. "Mia, get down!"

Mia was surprise to see Arata but did as he told her to and quickly got on the ground, encasing herself in ice to be on the safe side. As soon as he was sure that she would be alright, Arata narrowed his eyes in concentration. "This is for disturbing our day off and attempting to harm my friends!" His fist were ignited and he swung them, sending waves after waves of fire straight at the Night Lurkers, defeating all of them.

"You chose a good time to show up." Maya muttered under her breath. She and Nick were relatively unharmed thanks to Wataru who had the forethought of grabbing them, making them intangible to the flames.

"Maya, wait." Nick suddenly grabbed her arm when she was about to approach them and pulled both her and Wataru into the bushes as Haruki, Hikaru and Yuno emerged from their hiding spot. "I have a feeling that it is best that we don't show ourselves just yet. They will be overwhelmed by them, so let's not reveal our secret now."

"But will they be alright?" Wataru wondered worriedly.

"Don't worry. It's about time they come clean with their friends." Nick shrugged. "We better head back and give Kuriko-sensei a head's up about the situation though to be on the safe side."

"Right." The other two nodded and slipped back to the sport's center.

Over at Arata's side, Haruki was giving Arata a disappointed and upset glare as he spoke, "You guys have powers."

"Yeah." Arata nodded guiltily. "But please hear us out. We have a good reason to hide them."

"And that is?" Hikaru raised an eyebrow.

"How would you like it if you were called freaks because of your powers since you are born?" Arata spoke heavily.

Haruki, Hikaru and Yuno blinked in surprise. When he did not have any response, Arata continued, "Reika and I were orphans since we were born but not because our parents died, they abandoned us at the orphanages. We grew up with people who called us freaks, monsters, you name it."

"Daimen and I had a few issues with people who thought of us differently due to our powers." Mia admitted.

"That's terrible." Yuno said softly. She blinked in realization as she thought of something, "So the reason why you didn't tell us is because you were afraid that we would ostracize you for being different."

"Yeah." Reika nodded. "Please understand. We could never tell if people would truly accept us or not, so even when we knew each other better, we could bring ourselves to tell anyone."

The accusative glares that they were giving them melted away in understanding. Haruki exchanged glances with Hikaru and Yuno and nodded. "We understand. If we were in your shoes, then we would have probably done the same thing. You're all forgiven."

"But next time, please don't keep secrets from us just because you think that we would think of you differently." Yuno added.

"She's right. We are teammates, right?" Hikaru smiled.

Arata blinked in surprise and so did the others. However, he slowly smiled. "Yeah. We're sorry that we didn't tell you guys about this earlier."

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Daimen wondered.

"For starters, I'm going to admit this to Sakuya. He deserves to know too." Arata shrugged. "Can you guys go ahead without me?"

"I guess we could." Reika said hesitantly.

_'We'll going to have to face Yuko-san anyway. There's no point in delaying it.' _Mia mentally pointed out, sensing her hesitance.

Reika subtly nodded and gestured for Mia and Daimen to follow her. "Come on. But Arata, do try to catch up once you are done."

"Alright."Arata nodded.

"We'll go on ahead too if you don't mind." Haruki spoke up. "Hikaru and I will be hiking back instead."

They left, leaving Yuno and Arata alone together. He turned to her and raised an eyebrow. "Are you really fine with us keeping secrets like that?"

"I have to admit that I was upset and angry at first but now, I'm really disappointed at you." Yuno said stiffly.

"I'm really sorry, but you see, I was scared that you would see me as a freak…"

"Did you honestly thought that I would do that?" Yuno demanded, folding her hands across her chest.

"No, but it's the rejection in the past that I experienced that held me back." Arata admitted. "Nobody is perfect for we have our flaws and fears. I have my own fears too."

"I guess so." Yuno soften her tone. "But you were very brave to confess back then. It takes a lot of courage to do so even if it hurts."

"You're right." Arata smiled wryly. "Are you still mad at me?"

"When was I ever?" Yuno grinned.

"But just now…"

"I just wanted to scare you as payback." She giggled. "But all is well. I actually think that you were cool back there, defeating all those monsters."

Arata's face darken at that. "Those monsters are actually Night Lurkers. We have been fighting them for a long time."

"Eh?" Yuno looked at him in surprise.

"I'll explain everything further once we get back and I tell Sakuya about this." Arata promised.

"Alright then. I'll take your word for it." Yuno winked and they headed back together to the dorms.


	47. Chapter 47

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

Back at the sports center, Mia, Reika and Daimen were huddled around Yuko's office with their heads low as Yuko glared at them from her table.

"Really, I thought you guys would be more careful than that. Now you have three of your friends knowing who you are." She said with a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"We're sorry." Reika said dolefully, hoping that it would make Yuko give them a lighter punishment if they put on an apologetic front.

"You know that you have to bring them here so that I can erase their memories." Yuko sighed.

"What?!" Reika exclaimed. "But you can't!"

"I'm sorry Reika, I don't want to do this anymore than you do. But I'm afraid that it must be done as they can easily get word out, intentionally or not." Yuko told her.

"Then what about Kaidou-sensei?" Mia demanded. "Why didn't you do the same to him when you told him?"

Yuko kept quiet at that and Mia pressed on. "Not to mention, Mito-sensei and Muraku also know this truth and never once did you think of doing so."

"Wait, Kaidou-sensei knows?" Reika looked at her and Yuko in surprise.

"Yes." Yuko nodded with a guilty look. "He actually knew because I told him after he and Reina came to see me to tell me about the first sightings of the Night Lurkers. And Mia, you know very well why Muraku is an exception."

Mia's lips curled into a disdain frown and Yuko continued, "Also, Reina knew about this since we were kids and not once did she tell anyone. So I trust her. As for your teacher, Kaidou-sensei, I don't think he would actually spill since he is very careful so I trust him."

"Then what if we trust our friends not to spill?" Daimen asked. "It's no different than all the people that Mia mentioned."

"That's because they are indirectly connected to your mission. To find the Gem of Wishes and combat the Night Lurkers, you need to utilize the Second World, which means participation in War Time, something that they are participating too." Yuko explained. "Imagine if one of you were fighting the Night Lurkers in there and got hurt, do you think they will be in the state of mind to guard what they say?"

"Yuko-nee, our original forms are unrecognizable by sight." Reika pointed out. "All we need to do is not show them our original forms and they will not think that it is us."

"Maybe, but…"

"Look, Kuriko-sensei, if we do erase their memories now, wouldn't they find out about it again in the future?" Daimen asked. "I mean, if they found out today because of a Night Lurker attack, wouldn't they find out again if they stumble across another one?"

Yuko had to admit that he had a point at that. It would be troublesome if she had to erase their memories over and over again but if they were to retain them, they could help them keep others away from prying into the fights. She tapped her fingers in thought as the trio held their breaths for the final verdict.

"Fine, I'll leave them alone. But they if they allow anyone to know about your powers, whether it is intentionally or not, I will have to erase their memories." She finally said.

"Thank you so much!" Reika jumped and hugged Yuko tightly, much to her surprise. Once she let go, she, Mia and Daimen ran out, barely able to contain their relief at her decision.

"Well, I hope they don't make me regret this." Yuko muttered to herself. "But it's nice to see that they are having friends now. Even accepting Mia and Daimen as one were hard for Arata and Reika."

* * *

Once they left the office, Mia excused herself to go train which Reika and Daimen did not say anything about. Once inside the training room, she pulled out two training katanas from the rack and began practicing against a dummy. Her emotions were in a flurry and this was reflected in her actions as she was unable to land proper hits. She was so caught up in her training that she did not hear the door open and Muraku slipped inside. It was only when she dropped her katana and bent down to take it did she see him.

"You're back." He said as he went over to her side and hugged her. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah." She nodded and kept the katanas back in the rack. "Fighting the Night Lurkers had helped me calm down a little. You were the one who told Arata of what was going on, right?"

"Sorry, I got worried after you didn't come back so when I saw him, it was the first thing that came into my mind."

"I don't blame you." Mia shook her head. "But, I'm relief now that it's over for now."

"I see." Muraku placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. "I hope that you would understand now why I don't like Atsuya at all."

"I know." Mia said with a slightly dazed look.

"Back there, it almost felt as though you were expecting him to dump you though." Muraku said with a small frown.

"Well, I found some mascara stains on his clothes some time ago and I knew that Yuko-san does not own any makeup products so I got suspicious." Mia admitted. "But even so, I really wanted to trust him. But in the end, Reika was right. She once mentioned that he might have been cheating on me but I did not want to believe it."

"I see." Muraku sighed. "But I don't believe that you should be hard on yourself just because he dumped you. Instead, I believe that you can stand up again and show him that you are still happy with yourself even if he doesn't want you."

"For someone who has never dated before, you seem to know a lot when it comes to heartbreaks." Mia said jokingly.

"I may be single but that doesn't mean that I'm not blind to everything that's going around me." Muraku said with an amused smile. "I just prefer to keep to myself and not poke my nose in other people's businesses."

And Mia had to laugh at that.

* * *

A few hours later, Reika finally found Arata in the Aviane dimension working with Blaze while practicing with his powers.

"So Yuko-nee gave you the ok to train?" She asked as she approached him.

"Yeah." Arata nodded as he wiped his face with his sleeve.

"So how did Sakuya take it?" She asked curiously.

"Better than I expected. But I had to come back and explain further about the Night Lurkers to him and the others. Don't worry, I didn't tell him anything about our heritage."

"Well, Yuko-nee would indeed be mad if you did." Reika sighed. "She wanted to erase their memories but we managed to talk her out of it."

"I'm glad to hear that." Arata said in relief. "So what do you think about this now?"

"Honestly, I'm fine with them knowing if that's what you're asking." Reika shrugged. "By the way, have you heard about what happened with Mia and Atsuya?"

"Yeah." He nodded sadly. "I can't believe he had the gall to hurt her like that."

"So what are you going to do with him?"

"Beating him up is out of the question since he has a higher black belt level than us." Arata rolled his eyes.

"So, humiliate him?" Reika said mischievously.

"Exactly." Arata said with his signature glint in his eyes.

* * *

The next day, all of Jenock was debating on whether Mito-sensei will resume the mission or cancel it and if it is the former, then what they should do about the large droid. On the other hand, Mia and Daimen were wondering if the Night Lurkers would appear and what course of action should they take.

"Morning." Arata greeted his teammates at breakfast.

"Arata, morning." Sakuya greeted him while Haruki and Hikaru nodded at him. "Where's Mia and Daimen?"

"They left early this morning." He said. "Said something about seeing Mito-sensei about something. So, has anyone heard anything about our mission for War Time?"

"Nothing much yet." Hikaru told him. "We don't even know if Mito-sensei will ask us to continue the mission or not."

"I do think that she will cancel it though." Haruki spoke up. "That large droid is too powerful for all of us to take on. Although, I find it strange that it went back inside after coming out to demolish the Rossius LBX."

"I doubt that that's the end of its rampage." Arata said thoughtfully. "I have a bad feeling that more chaos will happen later on."

"But on one note, should we be worried if the Night Lurkers come and attack the Second World?" Hikaru asked in a low voice.

"Don't worry, we got that covered." Arata reassured them. "Also, please don't talk about it here. Walls have ears."

"Ok."

"I'm going to kill you!"

Everyone jumped at that proclamation which came from Maya as she gave the Rossius girl who was sitting with Nick her infamous death glare.

"Oh dear." Arata muttered under his breath. "She's toast."

"Really toast." Reika muttered in agreement as she approached the table.

"You dare to lay a finger on him!?" Maya continued to dig at her.

"Yeah, so?" The girl said defiantly although she was shaking on the inside.

'Big mistake.' Arata, Reika, Nick, and Wataru, who was watching too, cringed inwardly.

Maya grabbed the girl's coffee and poured it all over her. And then, she grabbed the girl's hair and pulled her out of her seat, causing her to yelp in pain. Maya took no notice of her and took her spot while Nick was giving her disapproving looks. Everyone did not dare to incur her wrath on them so they promptly continued to have their breakfast while making an effort not to look at her, least they gain her attention.

"What was that all about?" Haruki finally said.

"The infamous nasty temper of Houjou Maya, that's what." Reika said in a low voice. "She gets like that whenever she deems that someone, namely beautiful girls, get too close to her boyfriend."

"If you thought that Mia's hot temper was bad, Maya's temper is ten times worse than hers." Arata added. "Also, Maya can get extremely violent at times which will result in terrible results at times."

"But she seemed so nice to Mia when we first met her." Sakuya sweatdropped.

"Maya has a soft spot for only three people, Mia, her boyfriend, and Mia's stepbrother. Any other people she will deem as enemy or a respected person. I'm somewhere in between." Reika grinned.

"Hey, check it out." Arata pointed at Muraku who was going to Maya's table and tried to talk to her only to be told off and she would have banged her tray on his head had Nick not stopped her. He quickly gestured for Muraku to leave which he promptly did so and headed out of the hall with his platoon to head to school.

"What the…"

"If I remember correctly, Mia said that Maya and Muraku never got along well and often got into arguments." Reika said thoughtfully and smirked. "But, in the end, Mia and Nick have to break them apart before they resort to physical violence, or at least on Maya's side."

* * *

Meanwhile, Muraku's friends were unsure of what to make of Maya's actions just now as they walked to school. Sure, they had heard Muraku and her argue all the time when they were staying with him for the summer but never once did Maya resort to physical bullying.

"Sorry that you had to see that." Muraku suddenly apologized to them.

"Well, it's fine. We're just surprise of what Maya did." Mikhail said hesitantly.

"It's no surprise there." Muraku rolled his eyes slightly. "To be honest, she's very vicious at times and the only reason why she did not act like that when you guys were around is because Mia and Nick were there to stop her."

"I see."

They walked in silence of a while before Vanessa broke it. "Muraku, what should we do about the large droid in the Death Forest?"

Muraku halted in his tracks and took a deep breath. "We just have to defeat it and defend the base. It may not be easy but I have faith that we can do it."

His teammates smiled at his words and he smiled back. Despite not being accepted by the other platoons of Rossius, he had his friends with him and that's what matters.


	48. Chapter 48

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

Later that day, all of Jenock gathered in their briefing room to hear the final verdict of whether they should continue the mission or not. Mito-sensei was standing straight as Jin was on the adjacent screen facing Harness.

Jin took a deep breath and addressed both Harness and Jenock's students, "To the mixed forces of Jenock and Harness, we will now announce our strategy for today."

He subtly glanced at Mito-sensei who continued, "All units are to retreat."

There was barely any response at this as a large majority of the students expected this. Jin then began explaining their reasons, "After extended analysis, we have concluded that the large droid's mission is not to destroy our LBXs, but to demolish the Death Forest."

"Our goal is to take control of the Death Forest. It is not to engage with Bandit. Thus, until Bandit has finish demolishing the Death Forest, we will withdraw from the scene. After that, we will resume our mission to take control of the forest." Mito-sensei finalized.

"Understood."

Mia and Daimen exchanged glances and subtly nodded. They were certainly going to go on with their original plan should the Night Lurkers appear.

Arata on the other hand could not help but raise an eyebrow as he realized an important flaw in the plan. However he did not voice it out.

Mito-sensei glanced over at Arata and frowned. For some reason, it feels like he knows something but is not telling them, just like the transmission noise. She is beginning to realize that Arata is the type of person who would easily figure things out but won't share them to anyone unless necessary. Part of her wondered if it was because of Yuko's influence and if it was, then what in the word did they teach in Fantasy.

* * *

_5…4…3…2…1…War Time began_

"All platoons, withdraw immediately!" Jin ordered.

All of Jenock and Harness began to pull back their LBX but when they were halfway to the craft carriers, two Night Lurkers jumped out of thin air and attacked them.

_ "Mia, Daimen, this is your cue!"_ Arata told them.

_"Roger!"_

The both of them simultaneously touched the button on the side of their Fantasy Bands and they began to glow. They gritted their teeth in pain as their original forms were pulled out of their bodies and teleported to the Second World.

In the Second World, the fourth platoon were struggling to get away from the Night Lurkers as they were the closest to them.

_"Fourth platoon, hurry up and get away from it!" _Mito-sensei told them.

"We're trying to." Catherin gritted her teeth as her Siren took a blow from the Night Lurker's claws and was sent flying at Hanako's Siren, the both of them breaking over as a result.

"Catherin, Hanako!" Yuno yelled but gasped as the Night Lurkers began to advance to her.

"Look out!" Dot Phasor suddenly appeared behind it and pulled it away just as Mia and Daimen's original forms appeared.

Mia's original form had pale white skin and silver spiral tattoos all over her arms. Her eyes were purely black and almond shape now. Her hair had shortened and is now just past her shoulders and light blue in color.

Daimen's form on the other hand had a healthier skin tone unlike Mia and had white spiral tattoos on his arms. His eyes were solid brown and the same shape as Mia's. His hair was now longer and wavier, sliver in color.

They stared at Dot Phasor and Yuno's Siren for a moment before going heads on with the Night Lurkers.

Yuno shivered as Dot Phasor guided her Siren to her craft carrier. She felt the intense power within their eyes and it was overwhelming in her opinion. But it seems like they were trying to protect her as they were trying to make sure that none of their attacks hit them and keeping the Night Lurkers from doing so.

"Yuno, get ready." Arata suddenly told her.

"What?" Yuno snapped out of her thoughts and saw that Kiyoka had positioned her craft carriers such that the entrance was directly facing them. Dot Phasor then put down Siren and it ran into the craft carrier, thankful for Arata's help.

Once Siren was inside, Dot Phasor then turned to head over to the first platoon's craft carrier. But along the way, one of the Night Lurkers managed to avoid Mia and Daimen's attack by jumping overhead and swiped its claws at it.

"Arata!" Reika yelled in warning as Sirena shoveled it out of the way and the Night Lurker sent it flying straight into the fort.

'Reika!' Arata's jaw dropped in horror and halted in its tracks to turn around and ran towards the fort.

"Arata, what are you doing?" Haruki demanded.

"I'm going to retrieve Sirena." Arata said like it was the most obvious thing.

"But we have to retreat…"

"Sorry Haruki, I would never go against your orders under normal circumstances, but I'm not going to abandon my sister." Arata told him determinately.

There was a sigh on the other end of the line but he knew that Haruki understood. So he turned off his radio and went inside the fort. Once he entered the fort, he was met with various broken LBX parts littered all over the corridor and tracks no doubt from the Large Droid. He carefully ventured inside and from what he knew, Sirena was thrown through this corridor and based on the force of it, Sirena would probably be at the end of the corridor.

'Which also means, it's at the core of the fort.' Arata thought grimly as he went down the corridor. As he approached the core, he could hear explosions and gunshots no doubt from whatever remaining LBX that was battling the Large Droid.

"Dang it." He muttered to himself when he finally managed to sneak into the core. "Just where are you?"

As he scanned the area, he soon found a pile of rubble at the corner of the room where Sirena was most likely was. Over at the Large Droid, Muraku was the only one left fighting it and from the looks of it, he was barely holding his own so he wouldn't be able to confront him even if he wanted to. With that in mind, he stuck close to the wall and snuck over to the pile of rubble. Once there, he dug around for a few minutes and eventually found Sirena.

"Thank goodness." He sighed in relief as Dot Phasor picked it up. 'But, how am I supposed to get out?'

His question was answered when part of the wall of the fort came down, revealing one of the Night Lurkers crashing straight into the Large Droid when it was about to fire its laser beam, thus saving Gunther Ylzephar at the same time.

Arata glanced outside the hole and smirked when he saw Mia standing not too far away. 'I see. So Mia used her telekinesis to crash the Night Lurker into the wall. Well, she just gave me an idea as to how I can get Sirena out of here.'

He turned back on his radio and called Takeru. "Takeru, can you hear me?"

_"Arata-kun? Did you find Sirena?" _Takeru's relief voice came through.

"Yeah. I need you to bring your craft carrier over to the hole and turn its entrance at us." Arata told him.

_"Got it!"_

Not too long after he said that, the craft carrier flew over to the hole and Dot Phasor, with Sirena in its arms, jumped up and threw it straight into the craft carrier.

"Now get out of here. I'll catch up soon." Arata told Takeru.

_"Are you sure?"_

"Yeah." Arata nodded and turned the radio off again as he turned to face the Large Droid. The Night Lurker had thankfully already left the fort and was now battling Mia again. He let out a breath as he used the Multi-Gimmick Sack to summon out Dot Phasor's Z-Rifle. Despite his dislike for guns, there was no choice in this matter. 'Here goes nothing.'

He fired several shots at the Large Droid, gaining its attention. He then circled around the Large Droid as it tried to hit it with its large arms. He soon came to a stop beside Gunther Ylzephar and opened the emergency communication line with him and his radio as well.

"Arata, you'll regret coming back here!" Muraku warned him.

"Nah, I won't." Arata said breezily. "Besides, since I came back here to rescue Sirena, why can't I help you as well?"

He could tell that Muraku was taken aback by this but he had no time to laugh at it since the Large Droid's foot was descending on them. They quickly had to jump and dodge it.

'But then again, I haven't actually thought it through. How are we supposed to defeat that thing?' Arata inwardly grimaced as he and Muraku quickly dodged the blows from the Large Droid. On the bright side, he could feel that the Night Lurkers being defeated so that is one worry down.

_ "Arata-kun, can you hear me?" _Takeru suddenly called him.

"Takeru?" He raised his eyebrows.

_"I found the Large Droid's weakness! Sending you the data now!"_

As soon as the data was uploaded to his control pod, the screen popped up, showing the Large Droid's open core.

"I see! So that's what it is!" Arata cried in realization. "All parts of it are heavily armored but only the core is exposed when it opens up to fire the laser beam. Muraku!"

"Alright!"

The Large Droid opened its core and fired its cannon but Dot Phasor and Gunther Ylzephar jumped to its sides as they avoided the laser beam coming from it. As soon as it stopped shooting the laser beam, Arata and Muraku immediately reacted.

"Hissatsu Function!"

_Attack Function_

_Hawkeye Drive_

_Hyper Energy Bomb_

The impact of both hissatsu functions was too much for the Large Droid to handle and it slumped forward. The light in its eyes flickered for a moment before completely darkening.

"That was one heck of a battle." Arata sighed in relief. "I'm glad that's over."

"Me too." Muraku said in agreement. But then, the Large Droid's eye began to blink red again and Muraku and Arata frowned.

"This is…" Arata's eyes widened when he sensed the heat emitted from the droid. "Muraku, come on!"

Muraku did not question this mainly because he also knew what he did and Dot Phasor led Gunther Ylzephar over to the hole which the Night Lurker created before and they ran out as the Large Droide exploded. Somehow, the energy wave from the explosion pushed them further out and they managed to get out in time as the entire fort exploded.

'Muraku, Arata.' Mia thought worriedly. But as soon as the smoke dissipated, they could see that Dot Phasor and Gunther Ylzephar were relatively unharmed in the crater of the explosion.

But soon, Arata, Mia, Daimen and Reika flinched at the outburst of energy coming from the crater and they could see that there was some sort of door at the bottom of the crater.

"This is…the Lost Area!" Arata said in realization. "And the hiding place of the Gem of Wishes!"

Suddenly, the mysterious black LBX from Bandit swooped down and hovered right in front of both Dot Phasor and Gunther Ylzephar.

"Bandit!"


	49. Chapter 49

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

Arata glared at the mysterious LBX as it continued to hover above Dot Phasor and Gunther Ylzephar. But for some reason, he felt an ominous aura from this LBX, one that he was sure that he should know but did not know where to place it. As the black LBX spun its scythe and flew at them, Dot Phasor and Gunther Ylzephar began to shoot at it but they kept on missing and eventually, they had to jump away to avoid it as it swooped down to their previous standing spot.

"Z-Mace!" Arata yelled as Dot Phasor whipped out its mace and threw the sphere at it but the black LBX merely grabbed it and swung him into a boulder. Gunther Ylzephar then jumped behind it and fired at it but it jumped out of the smoke and swung down its scythe. Gunther Ylzephar had barely dodged it as it jumped.

"Note to self, long range weapons don't work on him." Arata muttered to himself as Dot Phasor and Gunther Ylzephar regrouped.

_'Arata, we're coming over. Mito-sensei ordered the first platoon to come and help you.' _Mia told him as the first platoon's craft carrier swooped overhead and the three LBX dropped down in front of Dot Phasor when it fell at the black LBX's scythe.

"You guys." He sighed. "I really wish you guys would just let me handle this by myself."

"Technically it wouldn't be yourself even if we didn't come." Mia pointed out, reminding him of the fact that Gunther Ylzephar was still there.

"We must eliminate Bandit, those are the orders of the commander." Haruki told him.

"Right." Arata drawled. "And it's about time too."

As the black LBX dashed at them, Val Sparos tried to shoot at it but it was too fast and kept on dodging.

"Hikaru, I learned the hard way that long range weapons don't exactly work on it so you might have to sit this one out." Arata warned him and used the chain of his mace to protect Haruki from the oncoming blow of the scythe.

Mia gritted her teeth and swung Phantom Blaze's katanas away from her and slashed at the black LBX but each slash was blocked by the handle of the scythe. However, Dot Phasor used this chance and summoned out its Z-Lance and began hitting it from behind while Mia continued to slash at it from the front. Unexpectedly, the black LBX stopped blocking them and allowed them to attack it.

"What…Mia, fall back!" Arata warned as Dot Phasor stopped attacking and fell back.

"What?" Mia frowned and was about to move Phantom Blaze away but the black LBX raised its scythe with speed too fast for the human eye to see and brought it down. Mia quickly had Phantom Blaze shield itself with its katanas but when their weapons collided, she sensed the same aura Arata had earlier but this time it was intensified.

"This is…" Mia gasped and Phantom Blaze faltered. The black LBX took this chance and knocked it away. Then, it proceeded to attack Val Sparos, cutting off its remaining hand in the process.

"Hikaru!"

When the black LBX landed, Orvane was about to slam down its hammer on it but it spun around and slashed its scythe down on it, sending it flying.

"Haruki." Arata gasped.

_'Muraku don't make any foolish moves!' _Mia warned her brother when she saw that Gunther Ylzephar was aiming its rifle at it.

But unfortunately, he did not heed it and was about to pull the trigger when the black LBX disappeared from sight only to appear behind it.

"What the…"

The black LBX slashed across its back and stood over it when it fell. As it was about to stomp on its face, Phantom Blaze swung down its kanatas at it, causing it to dodge.

_'Muraku, listen to me, this guy is no doubt dangerous. You will know if you can sense its aura.'_ Mia told him.

"It's aura?" Muraku blinked and looked closer at the black LBX and saw that there was a black aura surrounding it. "What is that?"

_'I don't know but if my hunch is correct, then we are in for a lot of trouble.'_ Mia said grimly. Phantom Blaze then held up its katana as a shield in front of it as the black LBX was about to attack it. But Dot Phasor knocked it away with its sword and they began to exchange blows.

The black LBX soon got the upper hand and slashed at Dot Phasor's face, destroying one of its eyes at the same time.

"This is really bad." Arata gritted his teeth as he brought up its sword as the scythe was brought down. Currently, the only thing keeping the scythe from striking it was its sword. Never before did Arata feel so helpless and pressured as he had no idea of what to do now. The scythe then began to push it back and he knew that it was only a matter of time before it won.

But all of the sudden, he felt a surge of power in his brain and blinked, the brim of his iris turning magenta color. He managed to command Dot Phasor to jump away from the scythe and attack the black LBX at full speed.

* * *

Reika did not believe her eyes as she watched Dot Phasor fight the black LBX. She focused her concentration on Arata and was shocked to sense a large amount of energy concentrated in his brain.

_'Mia, are you sensing this?'_ She asked her friend worriedly.

_'Yeah.'_ Mia replied back just as worriedly. _'It is not any psychic power as far as I know. I cannot reach him either.'_

_ 'Then what is it?' _Daimen frowned as he asked.

_'I don't know…Oh no, I can feel that the telepathic network is breaking down!' _Mia warned them. _'Cut off the connection before it's too late!'_

_ 'Alright.'_ Reika and Daimen reluctantly agreed and severed the connection, wondering what the cause of it was.

* * *

Dot Phasor managed to hurl the black LBX into a boulder and summoned out its Z Lance. It rushed at it at full speed, stabbing the black LBX and cutting through the boulder at the same time.

"How is this possible?" Mia gasped and had Phantom Blaze head closer to it but stopped when the right arm of Dot Phasor broke off and the time up alarm sounded. As soon as her control pod opened, she jumped out and headed to Arata's, bumping into Reika on the way.

When Arata's pod opened, they were shock to see Arata leaning forward on his pod.

"Arata!" Reika rushed over and helped him out. "Are you alright?"

When Reika touched him, Arata sensed her aura and his eyes became wide in realization.

"I see…so that's what it was…" He muttered before his eyes rolled backwards and he fainted.

"Arata!" Daimen and Mia rushed over.

"We have to bring him to the infirmary." Haruki told them.

"Right." Mia and Reika lifted him onto Daimen's back and they went to the infirmary.

But when Mia spotted Muraku, she slowed down and whispered to Reika. "Go on ahead. I'll be back as soon as I report this to Yuko-san."

"Alright." Reika nodded understandingly and went on ahead.

Mia cocked her head at Muraku and gestured for him to follow her.

"What does she want?" Vanessa wondered.

"I'm going to find out." Muraku closed his eyes for a moment. "Go on back without me. I have a feeling that this will take a while."

"Alright." Mikhail nodded and led the other two with him while Muraku walked over to Mia.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Come on." Mia cocked her head and walked ahead of him. Muraku stared at her for a moment and followed her. Once they were outside the building, Mia finally said, "I suppose you want to know what that was?"

"Yes, but I have a feeling that you don't really know what it is." Muraku said pointedly.

"True, but whatever it was broke down the entire telepathic network Arata and I set up between Reika, Daimen and us." Mia frowned. "That tells me that it is some sort of powerful telepathic power."

"And what if it isn't?"

"Then I'll graciously admit that I'm wrong." Mia shrugged but soon became serious. "That LBX's aura was not normal. It is different from all other Bandit LBX in a way."

"How so?" Muraku asked with narrowed eyes.

"Bandit's LBX emit a malicious, spiteful aura but this one's is particularly stronger and it is almost similar to the aura that Reika, Arata, Daimen and I emit." Mia said, giving him a knowing look.

Muraku paused in surprise. "The controller of that LBX is also a Valorite or Vigilnite?"

"Most likely a Vigilnite since I can tell that it is an umbrakineticist."

Muraku racked his brain for a moment to understand that term. "He is a darkness manipulator?"

"Right." Mia nodded. "This tells me that Bandit is not just some simple group going around messing around with other virtual countries."

Muraku frowned as he realized her implications. "What should we do about Bandit now?"

"For starters, we don't know anything about them, so we'll just leave it up to time to decide what to do." Mia sighed. "I have to go and report this to Yuko-san. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Sure." Muraku nodded and they went their separate ways.

* * *

"_Welcome back, fire child."_

_ Arata blinked and looked around. He was floating in darkness and it was the same voice talking to him as when he was in coma. "You again?"_

_ "Yes, indeed." The voice chuckled. "That was an impressive display just now."_

_ "But I don't know what that was." Arata shook his head. "All I know is that it is not any telepathic power that I know of."_

_ "That is because it is not a telepathic power. It is something very new in your world and has nothing to do with the power of the descendants of the Avianes. Your teacher will be explaining this further when you wake up."_

_ "I see." _

_ "Anyway, I came to you today with a warning. Houjou Muraku's potential is growing. Unless dealt with immediately, his sister will die."_

_ "What?!" Arata exclaimed. "But what is Muraku's potential?"_

_ "I am sure that you had already figured it out." The voice said gravely. "Even ages ago, both children who are twins always have powers no matter who they are. The Houjou twins are no exception. There is a reason why they were separated when they were younger. Houjou Muraku's powers were sealed away in exchange for sustaining Houjou Mia's life. But being together more often than before has weakened the seal. She will not notice this at first, but her powers are slowly draining her from the inside and once the seal is close to completely breaking, she will already be greatly weakened."_

_ Arata swallowed hard at this revelation. "And why are you telling me this?"_

_ "Because although you will forget about what I had told you about them, you will subconsciously know to look out for them." The voice explained._

_ "Just who are you?" Arata asked softly._

_ "I am your friend since your birth." The voice said after a pause. "You may not know me just yet, but I have been watching out for you since the day you were born."_

_ There was a moment of silence as the voice paused for a moment before continuing, "I cannot hold you here anymore or there will be a detrimental effect on your time. This time, I will leave you some interesting information for you to remember when you wake up. There is a book in the Library section of the Kuriko Guardian's place. It will tell you more about the secret of the Aviane's full potential as well as the Ten Element Stones I told you about before."_

_"…Thank you." Arata finally said._

_ "Now go." The voice commanded and there was a bright light which Arata had to squint at._

* * *

Arata's eyes shot open as his breath became raged.

"Arata!" Reika jumped to his side at once. "You're awake."

Arata glanced at her and then saw his friends around the bed, looking very relieved. "Guys…where am I?"

"The infirmary." Reika explained as Higurashi-sensei called Jin to let him know about this. "Do you remember what happened after War Time?"

Arata racked his brain to find the answer but all he got was a pounding pain in his head. "I…I don't know. My head hurts."

Reika pursed her lips and folded her hands across her chest. "You fainted after I got you out of your control pod. And it has been two hours since you have been out, by the way."

"Two hours." Arata blinked. He was sure that he had been talking with the voice longer this time and yet it has only been two hours since then. He then remembered what happened both during and after War Time. "I remember now, we were fighting Bandit and then…"

"And then the strangest thing happened and you LBX was going crazily fast." Daimen filled in for him. "So what in the world happened?"

"I don't know." He shook his head. "All I remember is that everything seemed to have slowed down in my eyes."

"Slowed down?" Hikaru frowned.

"I don't know." Arata shrugged and tried to sit but Reika immediately pushed him down.

"No, just stay down." She frowned at him. "If you haven't been this weak, I would be hitting you by now for making us worry."

Arata let out a weak chuckle and turned to Sakuya. "How are everyone's LBX?"

"It'll take some time to repair them." He sighed. "Only Mia's is in a better shape than; the three of you."

"How did she manage to avoid sustaining a lot of damage?" Arata wondered with a quirked eyebrow.

"I think the fact that she was more focused on defending herself helped that." Haruki said mildly as Arata once again tried to sit up. This time, Reika knew that it was pointless to argue and helped him up. The door then opened and Jin came in.

"Jin-san." Haruki greeted him.

Jin glanced at Arata and walked over to the foot of the bed. "I saw what happened. It's possible that the immerse pressure you went through caused you to instinctively activate a special power sleeping in your mind."

"A special power?" Reika frowned.

"Sena Arata, you used the Overload." Jin said gravely.

"Overload?" Daimen in surprise. "I heard of it before. There were rumors back at home that it is a powerful weapon for a LBX player."

"Indeed." Jin nodded. "The Overload activates when the human mind is pressed to its very limits. One becomes able to see their environment in slow motion and experience a boost in their reflexes. In other words, it is possible to become one with their LBX, engaging in high-speed combat."

Arata's face became unreadable as he lowered his head. "I guess that explains it. But I feel very tired after that."

"The sudden jump in your brain activity must have put a lot of stress on your body." Jin concluded.

Higurashi-sensei then tossed him a bar of chocolate. "It'll help you feel better."

"An increase of sugar intake is necessary to help revitalize your brain." Jin explained.

"I can't have it." Arata shook his head. "I'm lactose intolerant."

Reika rolled her eyes and reached into her pocket. "I still have some sweets if you need any."

"Thanks." Arata thanked her and took the sweets, popping one by one into his mouth.

"It would be best to carry something sweet around at all times." Jin advised him. "What happened today was incredibly important. If you can manage to master the Overload, then we will be at a large advantage."

At that, Arata chocked on his sweets and Reika quickly landed a thrust on his back to force the sweets back up his airway. Once he was sure that he can speak, he turned to Jin with an incredulous look. "No offence, but I am not going to master a powerful weapon if it means putting others at a huge disadvantage. I would rather fight everyone fair and square than to rely on something that I do not know about."

Everyone stared at him in stun silence but only Reika and Daimen understood. Finally, Jin spoke, "For now, just take your time and rest well."

* * *

On the way back, Reika and Arata hung back behind Haruki and the rest as they discussed what happened.

"I'm was not sure about it back then but I am absolutely positive now that the controller of that black LBX is an umbrakineticist." Arata said in a low voice.

"I know. Mia came to the same conclusion. She told me about it when she came back briefly after reporting this to Yuko-nee." Reika said softly. "And also, what happened when you were out? I can tell that something had spooked you."

"The voice spoke to me again." Arata whispered. "It told me that there is a book in Yuko-nee's library that can tell us about the secrets of the Avianes and the ten Element Stones. Also…I don't know why, but I had a feeling it said more, but I cannot remember anything about it."

"I see." Reika sighed. "Did you know that the Overload brought down the entire telepathic network?"

"It did?" Arata said in surprise and frowned. "I guess it gives me even more reason why I shouldn't use it again."

"Don't talk like that." Reika elbowed him playfully. "But I guess it is natural why you are so afraid of it. It was just like before when we were afraid of our powers because we were looked down because of them."

"Yeah, I guess so. But do you think I should use it again?"

"That's for you to decide." Reika said pointedly.


	50. Chapter 50

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

"It's just a stakeout, it's just a stakeout." Yuko kept on repeating to herself as she watched the black agent talking with Muraku about Arata's Overload. It was all she could do to refrain herself from hitting the agent when he threatened Muraku again with Mia and walked away. Taking her cue, she silently followed him and soon he came to a dead end where he pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"It's me." He said in a hushed whisper but Yuko could easily pick up what he was saying. "Yes…that boy with the Overload?"

Yuko's breath hitched as she realized that he was talking about Arata. Mito-sensei had warned her about it and at the same time, she knew how powerful it was to bring down an entire telepathic network, something that is not easily done since Arata and Mia had reinforced it over time to ensure that nothing can tamper with it.

"Yes…" The agent continued speaking and he suddenly gasped. "You can't be serious…of course not…right, I will see to it tomorrow…seek out this Sena Arata and recruit him…right I will."

As he hung up, he was thrown into the wall by an unknown force and pulled up by a hand on his throat. He looked up and was met with the murderous glare of Yuko.

"Who are you?" The agent chocked out. "Let me go!"

"I would advise you against screaming." Yuko tightened her grip subtly and he got the message and shut his mouth. "Now, here's the deal. You tell me who were talking to with just now and what did you talk about. Then, I will let you go. Got it?"

The agent frantically nodded as the hand on his throat was beginning to cut off his air supply. Yuko nodded in approval and loosened her grip by a fraction. The agent greedily gulped as air filled his lungs. Yuko tapped her foot to remind him of the deal and he quickly said, "That was my boss just now on the phone! He told me that I should recruit Sena Arata to our cause since he has the Overload and have him have a match with Houjou Muraku. If Muraku wins, then he gets to remain as our recruit but if he losses, then we will cancel our contract with him and kill his sister!"

Hearing that, Yuko's blood boiled and she tightened her grip again. "What is the name of your boss?"

"That's not part of the deal…" The agent tried to protest but was silenced when Yuko tightened her grip further and gave him a fierce glare.

"I will only ask you one more time. Who. Is. Your. Boss?"

"He's…he's...Tougou Giichi!"

Yuko's eyes became wide in disbelief. 'How is it possible? Wasn't the agent from another country? How is it possible that the Prime Minister of Japan is involved with this?' She observed him carefully for any traces of lies but found none. 'I think this calls for further investigations. But was otou-san right? That Tougou Giichi is more than what meets the eye?'

"Um, can you please let me go now?" The agent pleaded.

Yuko huffed and her eyes glowed green and slammed his head against the wall. 'He won't remember a thing at all but he'll be wondering about the bump. Never mind, there are more important things to be take care of right now.'

* * *

"Overload?" Yuno repeated as they walked to school the next morning and listening to Arata's explanations of what happened during War Time.

"Yeah." Arata nodded. "But I still don't understand much about it despite Kaidou-sensei's explanations. And my head still hurts every once in a while."

"How was he doing last night?" Haruki whispered to Hikaru since he and Arata are in the same dorm.

"I couldn't tell." Hikaru admitted. "It's hard to figure out what Arata is thinking at times."

"Then, Mia, what do you think?" Haruki turned to the said person but she didn't give any response. Instead, she was staring at Arata. Haruki frowned and touched her shoulder. "Mia?"

Mia snapped out of her daze and cocked her head at him. "I'm sorry, you were saying?"

"I sad, what do you think about this?" Haruki repeated.

"Can't really say anything about it." She shrugged. "Arata is not exactly an open book to read. But I can tell that the Overload did more than tire him out."

"How so?" Hikaru raised an eyebrow.

Mia frowned and glanced around to make sure that no one was nearby and said in a low voice, "Arata is a pyrokineticist and a telepath. The Overload must have done some damage on the telepathy side."

"Is that dangerous?" Haruki frowned.

"Not really from what I can tell." Mia narrowed her eyes at Arata. "But on the safe side, I'm going to try and check it out later. Telepathy can be very bothersome to the user if they cannot control it properly."

"So you're a telepath too?"

"To be more specific, I'm part crynokineticist and part telepath but my telepathic powers are stronger than Arata's since he only has telepathy and some empathic powers but I have a wider range." Mia explained.

"Then what about Reika?" Haruki asked curiously.

"That…"

"Mia, you've said enough." Arata cut in from the front. "Let them find out in their own time."

"Right." Mia nodded and gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry, but what Arata says must be obeyed."

Haruki and Hikaru had slightly disgruntled looks at that but Mia simply went over to Arata's side and whispered something to him that made him frown. He paused when he noticed Muraku coming out of the alley in front. "Muraku?"

"I think he wants to talk to you." Mia whispered. "I'll see you at school." She said and hooked her arm through Yuno's to pull her away despite her protest. Naturally, everyone's attention was on them so Arata slipped away and went over to Muraku.

"Morning." He greeted.

"Do you have time to talk?" Muraku asked.

"Sure."

* * *

"I guess I'm in your debt." Muraku stated once they got away from Mia and the rest.

"Nah, I just did it because I couldn't sit at the side and not help someone in need. If it weren't for your sake, it would be for Mia's." Arata shrugged.

Muraku glanced at him in surprise but nodded gratefully. "Thank you." There was a pause before he continued, "About that power you used yesterday…"

"It's called the Overload." Arata filled in. "But I imagine that you already know about it. The only problems that I have with it is that people only see is as a tool for victory and it's messing with my powers."

"Does this mean that you won't use it again?" Muraku asked almost hopefully.

Arata did not missed that and shook his head. "I'll try not to. But I need to at least learn to control it so that I won't use it subconsciously again and damage my powers."

"But will you actually use it again? Against Bandit, I mean."

"Probably not. But before yesterday, my main focus is on defeating the Night Lurkers and protecting those close to me. What we found out yesterday about that umbrakineticist changed my priorities. Now, I need to find out more about that black LBX and its user. If we can find out more about Bandit, then we can find that umbrakineticist."

"How dangerous can he be if he is acting out of the control of Fantasy?" Muraku wondered worriedly.

"Very." Arata said seriously. "Even before this, we have a long record of the Valorites and Vigilnites acting out of the control of Fantasy who turned out to be very dangerous as there is no telling of what they would do with their powers. It could be for crime, it could be for exposure and worse, it could be for stealing the Gem of Wishes from Fantasy which unfortunately happened."

"Then, do you really think that it is a rouge Valorite or Vigilnite that stole it?" Muraku asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not very sure about that. Even Yuko-nee is not sure herself." Arata shrugged. "But we'll talk about this later. Back to the subject, no, I won't try to use it against anyone during War Time including you and Bandit. I wish to fight everyone fair and square even if they play dirty, but with some exceptions on Bandit."

"I suppose that is nicely put." Muraku said mildly. "But on the other hand, what are you going to do about the Night Lurkers."

"Defeat them no matter what." Arata replied with a steel voice.

* * *

By the time they arrived at school, they barely had time to put down their bags in their respective classes before the headmaster ordered the students to the gym for a sudden assembly.

"Arata, what do think this is about?" Mia whispered to him.

"I don't know." Arata shook his head, rubbing his temples as his headache bothered him again. Voices of the thoughts of the students around him began to flare up in his mind and he shook his head to get rid of them.

Seeing this, Mia subtly placed a hand on his shoulder and channeled some of her psychic powers into him. Immediately, he felt more at ease. "I think I should take a look during recess. There's no telling of what the Overload did to you."

"Sure." Arata nodded and they straightened up as the headmaster stood at the podium.

"It seems like you're all in lovely spirits today." The headmaster greeted them but they could see that it lacked his usual enthusiasm. "I called you all here today because I have two important announcements to give. The first is this: Today, we are proud to introduce a new teacher into our faculty here at Kamui Daimon Comprehensive Academy."

Murmurs broke out from all of the students and Daimen leaned in closer to Mia. "Weird that it happened just after yesterday."

"I agree." Mia frowned and reached out and lightly touched Mito-sensei and Jin's minds and found that they too did not know anything about this. "It seems that none of the teachers knew anything about this."

Seeing the teachers' confuse faces, Daimen nodded in agreement as the headmaster continued. "Well now. If you would, Seredy Kreisler."

Everyone gasped in shock and surprise as a boy around their age with light blue hair and black eyes with red irises walked up to the headmaster's side. But when Mia tried to search his aura, she frowned when she saw that it was very different from a regular person but in the sense where his brain is more mature than his body. Also, she could sense something inorganic working within his body.

'What in the world is this person?' She thought with a frown.

"Kreisler-sensei is a young genius who skipped a number of grades. The world see him as the light of the future. He is also widely recognized for his various LBX-related achievements and was appointed to profess at our academy." The headmaster explained although it was clear that he was displeased by this.

Seredy glanced around and introduced himself, "It's a pleasure to meet you all. I am Seredy Kreisler."He turned to the headmaster and said, "Headmaster, if possible, I'd like to give the second announcement myself. Is that alright?"

"Go right ahead." The headmaster said in a slightly annoyed tone and stepped aside for him to ascend the podium.

"Then, this is the second announcement." Seredy paused again to look around. His eyes landed on Arata and he shivered because of how unnatural they look. Seredy smirked and continued, "A new class will be added to this school. I will be in charge of that class. The name of that country will be Ezeldarm. It will be a special class, consisting of students hand-picked by me. I will now announce the names of the students chosen to be in this class."

At this point, Arata turned to Mia and Daimen with a troubled face and it was clear that they felt the same way. There was something unnatural with this teacher and it was very disconcerting.

* * *

Once the recess bell rang, Mia, Arata and Daimen headed out of the school building to the gardens with Reika where they will not been seen or heard by anyone.

"That teacher is just too mysterious. Either my senses are too paranoid recently or my mind is going crazy, but there is something about him that I cannot put my finger on that makes him feel like he's not human." Reika stated with a worried frown after they found a place to rest.

"It's neither." Mia reassured her. "I tried to read his aura but I found that it was strange too. Not to mention, there seems to be something inorganic working within him."

"Hey mate, what do you think about this?" Daimen asked Arata.

"For starters, I agree with the both of you, but we should wait and see." Arata said thoughtfully. "We should not let this distract us from our mission. Find the Gem of Wishes and defeat the Night Lurkers on the island."

"But we already know where it is now since we already found the Lost Area and felt that energy wave coming from it." Reika pointed out.

"True, but we still need the three Parasite Keys to enter." Daimen reminded her. "We already have one. So the question is, where are the other two?"

"We can't wait for Mito-sensei and Kaidou-sensei to find them, that's for sure." Arata said grimly.

"You felt it too?" Mia said with a frown.

"Yeah." He nodded. "After the explosion of the Large Droid, it exposed the entire door of the Lost Area. That now allows the energy from the Gem of Wishes to roam freely in the Second World, maybe even the whole island. Before that, the Death Forest helped prevented that as it acted as a cork to prevent the energy from escaping."

"But what's wrong with the energy roaming freely?" Reika tilted her head in confusion.

"It may be harmless initially, but the accumulated energy will eventually be trapped in the island since it is surrounded by a large mass of water. If you read the books in the library, this accumulated energy will form a barrier around the island and trap it within the spaces between the Aviane dimension and our own. That is why the Gem of Wishes was originally kept in the Crystal Cave. The crystals inside it helps absorb this energy and release it safely into the mountain." Mia explained.

"Then how much time do you recon we have before that happens?" Daimen asked them.

"Based on the amount of energy let out yesterday, I'd say that we probably have at least two months to find the remaining Parasite Keys and open the door to the Lost Area. If we move fast enough, we can take back the Gem of Wishes before it's too late." Mia shrugged.

"So we have a new goal then. Find the remaining Parasite Keys and retrieve the Gem of Wishes, defeat the Night Lurkers that try to stop us, and prevent Bandit from interfering with us while finding out more about their umbrakineticist." Arata told them.

"That's a lot to do within two months." Daimen let out a low whistle.

"Maybe, but we dealt with worse deadlines before." Arata smirked.

"You're right." Reika suddenly smiled.

"Since we are closing this subject, we still have one more thing to do." Mia reminded Arata. "Reika, Daimen, I need the both of you to be on lookout for anyone coming while I check on Arata's mind."

"Sure." They nodded and teleported away.

Mia turned to Arata who nodded and closed his eyes. Mia proceeded to place her fingers on both side of his forehead and entered his mind. She shook her head at the damage done to his telepathic powers. She pulled out and Arata gave her a worried look.

"How bad is it?" He asked.

"Very." Mia shook her head again. "It's going to take me a while, but I think I can at least fix a few things so that you won't be having anymore headaches and hearing the thoughts of others for now. I'm going to have to take a look again later after school."

"Ok." Arata nodded and closed his eyes again as Mia entered his mind again. This time, she carefully used her powers to repair part of the damage done and managed to do it by the time Reika approached her.

"Mia, the bell is going to go off soon so you better hurry." She told her urgently.

"I'm nearly done." Mia replied and pulled out of Arata's mind. "Ok, I'm done for now. Where's Daimen?"

"Here." Daimen said as he teleported beside her. "Come on, I don't want to get a detention today."

"Ok." Arata nodded as he opened his eyes and they headed back to class just in time as the bell rang.


	51. Chapter 51

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

"It's mysterious." Maya mused to Mia as she sat down beside her at the viewing room of Ezeldarm's base. "Extremely mysterious that we see them doing nothing at all."

"Yeah, not to mention that they have an extremely creepy teacher too." Mia shook her head and glanced back at the row behind her where Hikaru and Arata were sitting. "By the way, why haven't you gone out on a mission yet?"

"Nope, because some dork had the nerve to drop my new LBX on the ground the second I was about to get it and now I'm waiting for it to be repaired. Although, I have a feeling that they are intentionally keeping me out of participating War Time." Maya groaned.

"Oh, I see. But back to the topic, what do you think Ezeldarm is exactly doing by doing nothing?" Mia asked with a questioning frown.

"Hard to say, that's for sure. But if it is one thing that is for certain, they are not an ordinary bunch." Maya tapped her finger on her chin.

* * *

Later after school, Arata and co. had gathered in the security room in the Sport's Centre to report to her.

"Now that we know that the Gem of Wishes is in the Lost Area, we have to find a way to obtain the other two remaining Parasite Keys before Bandit does." Yuko stated as she flipped a switch on the wall and instantaneously, the walls on the other side of the room spun around, revealing Yuko's worktable and a large frame computer hung on the wall. The image on the screen flickered to the Lost Area. "Right now, one of them is in Tougou Rikuya of Jenock's LBX. Also, we already know now that Bandit has a Vigilnite, an umbrakineticist, on their side which makes them more dangerous than before. Also, there is the issue of the accumulating energy that is coming out of the Lost Area. If it accumulates too much, then I'm sure that all of you know what disastrous results will come from it."

"For the Parasite Keys, it would help to build a scanner to find them, but I'm pretty sure that Kaidou-sensei is building one now." Reika spoke up.

"But there is no telling if it would work at all." Yuko pointed out. "So I'm going to try and build my own but I'll need to analyze the LBX to obtain the data I need for that. But I'm sure that I can get it from Reina if I ask her."

"So what should we do about Bandit and their umbrakineticist?" Nick asked.

"That will have to be up to you. But my advice is that you don't engage this umbrakineticist in a fight." Yuko warned them. "There is no telling of what he can do so it would be foolish to challenge him when we know nothing of him."

"Ok then. But we basically know nothing about Bandit so we cannot chase after them." Arata pointed out.

"You will have to be patient when doing that. Remember, it never takes a second to build a skyscraper but years. In the same way, it never takes a minute to find out everything, but in a long time." Yuko advised them. "By the way, about your Overload…"

"I'm not going to use it at all, if that's what you're asking." Arata quickly said.

"But you will need to learn how to control it." Yuko mused.

"I was planning to do that once Mia finish repairing the damage on my powers."

"Ok then." Yuko thought for a moment and turned to Mia. "Can you teach Arata telekinesis to control the Overload then?"

"Why telekinesis?" Mia frowned in confusion.

"If you think about it, the Overload is basically using the 'move your brain faster' concept. And telekinesis is moving objects with your mind. So they are somewhat similar in concept."

"I get your point. I'll give it a try then." Arata shrugged.

"Then it's settled." Yuko adjourned the meeting but Arata hung back.

"Yuko-nee, there's something else." Arata said seriously. "When I was out after using the Overload, I heard the voice spoke to me again. It said that there is a book in the library of the Kuriko Guardian's place that tells about the secret of the Aviane's full powers and the ten Element Stones."

"Did it say which book it is?" Yuko frowned.

"No." Arata shook his head. "It only told me what I said just now."

"Arata, it's not that I doubt you or anything, but I don't believe that there is such a book because I went through ever single book in our library when I was young and never had I found a book like that." Yuko sighed. "Also, for the Gem of Wishes to lose its powers…I don't believe that either. But if you want to try and look for that book, then I'm not going to stop you."

"Thanks." Arata nodded at her and went up to the Aviane Dimension where Mia was waiting for him.

"So what were you talking with Yuko-san just now?" She asked curiously as she placed her fingers on both sides of his forehead.

"Something that you would probably not believe either." He sighed and closed his eyes.

Mia frowned at him but she focused on the task at hand. She carefully entered his mind and resumed repairing the damage on his powers. It took longer than before but she eventually finished by the time it was time for them to head back.

"Thanks a lot for helping me back there." He thanked her as they went back.

"No worries." Mia shook her head. "You would have done the same if I was in your position. By the way, when do you want me to start teaching you telekinesis?"

"Tomorrow." Arata stated. But he paused when he saw that Mia had lost focus and was staring ahead. He followed her gaze and narrowed his eyes. Atsuya was making out with Charlotte in a gross manner in his opinion. He wordlessly pulled Mia into the alley not too far away from them and placed a finger on his lips. Mia gave him a questioning look but she kept quiet. He peaked back at them and snapped his fingers. Instantly, Atsuya's shoes were set on fire!

Atsuya jumped away from Charlotte with a yelp, much to her surprise but because she was slightly disorientated, she did not notice the flames. Arata snapped his fingers again and the fire was extinguished and there was no signs of burnt marks on the shoes. Charlotte began to yell at Atsuya for jumping away which he tried in vain to explain.

"You're cruel and evil." Mia whispered but there was a grin on her lips and her shoulders were shaking with mirth as she suppressed her laughter.

"What can I say? I'm a sadist who would do anything for you and Reika." Arata shrugged with a smile as he nudged Mia playfully.

* * *

The next day, Arata stretched as he and Mia entered the class and were greeted by Yuno.

"Morning." She smiled.

"Morning." Mia smiled back but Arata simply nodded at her and went to his place.

Mia noticed the slightly hurt face on Yuno and nudged her. "Don't mind him. He's in a slightly bad mood because Sakuya…well, he and Takeru want to build a new LBX for him, one that can withstand the Overload. And long story short, Arata went on a protesting spree but Reika ended up forcing him to agree to it."

"But why is he opposed to it?" Yuno frowned in confusion.

"He wouldn't if Sakuya had not mentioned that it can withstand the Overload. Arata really has no intention of using it again, but with Jin-san giving the blueprints of the LBX to the mechanics, it only irked him more since he does not want to see it as a weapon."

"Well, I understand why he's upset about that." Yuno shrugged and went back to her place. "But I do wish that he would reconsider it."

Mia raised an eyebrow and turned to Arata but saw that he was reading a letter. "Where did you get that?"

"It was in my drawer." Arata shrugged and tossed it in the wastepaper basket. "Just some annoying fan mail."

But Catherin took out the mail from the basket and read it. When she was done, she had a mad look on her face. "Arata, how could you!?"

"How could I what?"

"How could you simply leave a girl hanging when she wants to see you?" Catherin demanded as she waved the letter in front of his face. Yuno turned paled at that while Mia stared at Arata stunned.

But Arata was no fazed by this and simply said, "I'm not going to see her. I have no interest in talking with someone whom I don't know. Besides, I have plans."

"Hey, who is this girl?" Yuno asked when she found her voice.

"Charlotte Rein from Ezeldarm." Catherin stated matter-of-factly.

There was a crack behind Arata and he spun around. He saw that Mia had accidentally snapped her ruler into half when Catherin said her name. "Um, Mia, are you alright?"

"Oh, I'm fine." Mia hurriedly gathered the broken pieces of the ruler and threw it into the wastepaper basket.

"By the way, what could be more important than meeting a girl anyway? Also, she said that if you are not free during recess, then you can find her during the lunch break or after school." Catherin turned back to Arata.

"Catching up on my school work for one." Arata ticked his fingers. "I'm planning to do that during recess. And I already promised Reika that I'll help her with her science at lunch. And Yuko-nee is holding her monthly movie marathon evening after school and I'm not going to miss that since I already agreed to help set up for it."

"You sure are fully booked." Yuno said in amazement. On the other hand, Mia was confused as she was sure that Yuko had cancelled the movie marathon evening since Reika failed her last math test. But, she soon understood that Arata had purposely said that so that Catherin wouldn't bother him about it anymore.

"But you're going to have to tell her that you're not free or she'll be waiting at the roof for you." Catherin pointed out.

"I'll leave a note later." He said lazily. He cocked his head at Mia and winked. Mia felt more at eased and gave him a thumbs up.

"Morning." Sakuya greeted them as he went to his seat.

"Oh, Sakuya." Mia greeted back but frowned at the bags under his eyes. "Did you sleep at all last night?"

"Not really…" Sakuya rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Arata muttered something incoherent under his breath and earned a kick from Mia from behind.

"Well, our LBX were hit hard but that does not mean you should lose sleep just to think of a way to fix them." She said with a knowing look and shook her head slightly at Sakuya. He got the message and went to talk to Bunta about something before calling Kiyoka and Rinko for the same thing.

* * *

"Thanks a lot for helping me with this." Arata thanked Yuno as he and Mia sat down at a bench so that Arata can do his missed school work while Yuno sat at the opposite side.

"My pleasure. I did originally agree to it." Yuno smiled and gave him some of her notes. "By the way, did you leave the note on the roof to tell Charlotte Rein that you're not free?"

Mia accidentally pressed her pencil too hard on her book at that and the lead snapped. Arata looked at her worriedly as he gave her his sharpener. "Mia, are you alright?"

"Yeah, why shouldn't I?" Mia shook it off and went to a nearby dustbin to sharpen the pencil.

Once she was out of ear shot, Arata whispered to Yuno. "Please don't mention her name around Mia anymore."

"Why not?" Yuno whispered back.

"Charlotte Rein is the reason why she broke up with her boyfriend." Arata said grimly.

"Oh." Yuno nodded in understanding and a thought occurred to her. "Is that why you don't want to meet her at all?"

"Yeah. I'll just leave her to wonder why I'm not even responding her to note." Arata said with a small grin. "Besides, I would rather your company than hers."

Yuno blushed at that and smiled back. "Thanks for the compliment."

"So, you're free after school?" Arata suddenly asked.

"Yeah, I think I will be. Why?" Yuno cocked her head in confusion.

"Do you want to go on a date with me at the new Chinese restaurant later?" Arata blurted out.

"But I thought you had plans…"

"The movie marathon was cancelled since Reika failed her last math test." Arata said with a grimace. "Yuko-nee can be very strict on us with our academic studies even if she lets us get away with most things."

Yuno giggled at that and nodded her head. "I would love to."

"So did I miss anything?" Mia asked when she came back.

"Nothing." Arata and Yuno said in unision although Mia could sense that they were happy about something. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at them but decided to drop it after some thought.

* * *

Meanwhile on the roof, Charlotte was getting more and more irritated as Arata did not show up.

"Oi, are you sure that you gave the note to him?" Itan called out from the door.

"I'm sure!" She snapped. "He should be here by now. I asked around and I found out that he's free at this time."

"But even so, I think he rather have the company of two girls instead of one." Itan said lazily, peaking over the ledge.

"What?!" Charlotte exclaimed and looked over the ledge too. She soon spotted the bench that Arata was using and clenched her fist on the fence as she watched Mia and Yuno laugh with him at some joke.

"Looks like your letter did not work." Daigo snickered.

"Whatever, I have my own ways of summoning him to me. I don't need to rely on a fan mail to get him to see me." Itan waved his lollipop and left the roof with the others soon following him. Only Charlotte remained on the roof.

She glanced over the ledge again and spat on the ground. 'I bet it's that Houjou Mia who foiled my letter plan. Even Atsuya does really want to be around me much anymore now that they broke up. It looks like she still holds some influence in him. I better make her LOST as soon as possible or I will lose everything.'

* * *

**So finally Arata asked Yuno out! But I don't want to go into detail about the date so don't be too disappointed if I don't provide much details about it.**


	52. Chapter 52

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

"About time you did." Reika blurted out when Arata told her that he had asked Yuno out. "And just when I was about to step in and help you guys too."

"But you have to promise that you won't tell anyone, especially Catherin." Arata warned her and took out his science text book. "Although I suppose I have to be grateful that you failed your math test so Yuko cancelled the movie marathon."

"Whatever." Reika rolled her eyes. "So what's this about that I heard about you receiving a fan mail from Atsuya's new girlfriend?" She spat the last words out in disgust.

"She asked me to meet her on the roof, but I left her high and dry, wondering why I didn't show up." Arata smirked which made Reika laugh.

"She deserved it." But she suddenly sobered up. "Do you think that she would do anything to Mia because of this?"

"What do you mean?" Arata frowned.

"You said last time at Tandem Harbor that one of Bandit's LBX's malice was directed directly at Mia. So I was thinking, who in the world would hate Mia so much to the extent that that's person's LBX emits his or hers aura?"

"A lot of people hate her and her brother." Arata thought grimly which was unfortunately true since Muraku was the Violet Devil who made hundreds of students LOST and Mia had a bad reputation outside of Jenock and Harness because of her hot temper.

"But I was thinking, what if it was never about War Time?" Reika said seriously. "What if all this time, Charlotte was the one who was behind that Bandit LBX and did all that because Atsuya and Mia were still together?"

Arata frowned as her words held some logic in his mind. "Then she must have been aiming to make Mia LOST at that time so that she would be expelled and she can have Atsuya."

"Which is why I'm worried that she'll do something to Mia since she may want to take out her frustration of you not appearing on the roof on the person she hates most." Reika said worriedly.

Arata sat silently in thought and said, "But on the other hand, if she really is the one behind that Bandit LBX, then do you know what this means?"

Reika stared at him in confusion until it dawned on her. "We have a lead to Bandit."

"Exactly." Arata nodded. "So, I don't really think that she would do anything to Mia now since someone is constantly by her side nowadays. And Mia can hold her own against her in War Time so for the time being, we don't need to worry about that. But on the other hand, we should check up more on Ezeldarm."

"Ezeldarm? Why?" Reika tilted her head.

"Think about it." Arata patiently explained. "They have a teacher who is strange and for some reason, during the assembly, I sensed some of the students who were picked emitting a recognition aura, which means, they know Seredy."

Reika nodded in understanding at that and turned her attention back to her books. "I suppose the study session is off then?" She asked hopefully.

"Sorry, but no." Arata smirked. "You're not getting away with it, especially since you have a test coming up soon."

Reika grumbled and began doing the exercise that her teacher gave her. Arata chuckled as he watched her and went through her notes. But he frowned when he sensed the umbrakineticist's aura nearby and lifted his head. However, he did not see anyone around the bench that he and Reika were sitting at so he brushed it aside and resumed looking through the notes.

* * *

Later that evening, Reika watched as the mechanics from Jenock, sans Kouta, and Takeru discuss about the lab usage for the next day. The platoon captains from Jenock, sans Rikuya, were also gathered there to oversee the meeting.

"What are you saying Sakuya?" Bunta said in confusion. "You want to borrow the lab for another day? Does this mean that you haven't finished repairing the first platoon's LBX?"

"More like I couldn't repair them." Sakuya corrected him. He exchanged nods with Takeru and continued, "Actually, Takeru-kun and I have been busy making another LBX."

Takeru then picked up for him, "We're making full use of both Jenock and Harness' labs. But we expect that manufacturing the unit will take all of tomorrow."

"Two whole days when you are already making full use of the labs?" Rinko said in amazement.

"We already have permission from our teachers and the platoon captains." Sakuya looked around and lowered his head. "Please, let me use the lab again tomorrow! This is all for Jenock and Harness…not, the entire Second World!"

"Go ahead."

Sakuya and the two girls gasped and glanced at Bunta who spoke. "If Sakuya's going this far to ask us, then it must be really important. This is for the entire Second World, right? Then we got to help out."

"Thank you so much!" Sakuya thanked him.

"Then, I'll take your LBXs and repair them for you." Bunta offered. At Sakuya's confuse look, Bunta continued, "All you got to do is focus on your lab work."

"Bunta…"

"Can I help out too then?" Kiyoka spoke up and picked up Dot Phasor. "I've always been interested in this unit."

"Kiyoka, thank you!" Sakuya thanked her this time.

This left Orvane with Rinko who did not seem to mind. She turned to Sakuya with a curious face and asked, "But what kind of LBX needs that much time to manufacture?"

"One that we have never made before." Takeru said grimly. "Units that can…"

"Oh, Arata, what brings you here?" Reika asked loudly when she spotted him so Takeru would not complete his sentence.

Arata halted in his tracks when he saw that the mechanics and the platoon captains were gathered in the room. "…Sorry, I was looking for Mia. Did I interrupt something?"

"Nope, not at all." Reika shook her head. Arata regarded her suspiciously for a moment and spotted his platoon's LBX on the table and realization dawned on his mind. But, he decided not to push it for now and left to find Mia.

"That was close." Sakuya sighed. "Thanks for the save Reika."

"No worries." Reika grinned as she settled back down on the couch. "Just remember not to say a word to Arata about the LBX manufacturing tomorrow and I'll handle the rest."

"Is Arata really that against the new LBX?" Rinko asked curiously.

"Not exactly, but he isn't looking towards it. It's best not to mention it around him." Reika sighed.

Once the meeting was over, Reika hung back with Takeru as he worked on the blueprints of the new LBX.

"What's it called?" She asked as she peaked over his shoulder.

"Dot Blastrizer." Takeru said proudly. "It is based on Dot Phasor with a few changes and a new feature called Ragnarok Phase which allows it to withstand the Overload's strain." He frowned and turned to her. "But what would Arata say when he has to use it?"

"Don't worry, he already agreed to it so he'll use if even if it is reluctantly." Reika reassured him. "But just in case, I got a recording of him agreeing to it so he won't have any excuse to not use it."

"I wonder what goes on in the both of your heads sometimes." Takeru chuckled.

"You wouldn't want to know." Reika giggled. "But I know that he is actually looking forward to having a new LBX. It's the reason behind obtaining it that irks him."

"But why is he against using the Overload?" Takeru frowned in confusion. "If I were a player and had the Overload, I would definitely want to use it."

"It's not that he's against it, he's afraid of using it." Reika sighed.

"Afraid? Why would he be afraid of it?"

"It's just his personality." Reika shrugged. But she knew that he was only afraid because it reminded him of the freaks that they were to everyone when they were little.

* * *

"So basically I have to sit in my control pod and do nothing." Arata clarified the next day during the briefing at what Mito-sensei told him to do.

"Yeah." Haruki nodded. "Hikaru and I will be using DC Offencers while Mia will use Phantom Blaze since it's still usable."

Arata instantly felt suspicious and turned to Sakuya. "So I'm not going to use any units today?"

"Nope." Sakuya shook his head. "Just do what you are told to."

Arata raised his eyebrow but did not say anything about it. "Fine then."

But secretly, he knew what they were actually going to do and why they were not telling him. 'Then again, it is my fault for being so touchy with the subject.' He inwardly grimaced as he went to his control pod.

On Reika's side, she flexed her fingers as she got ready to defend the lab while Takeru and Sakuya worked on Dot Blastrizer.

"Reika, is everything clear at your side?" Inui asked her.

"Clear." She answered back.

"Defending the lab sure is boring." Suzunne complained after a while.

"Takeru is busy making a very important LBX. Be responsible and protect him." Inui chided her.

"Fine…" She sighed. Inui inwardly wondered if she'll ever learn to be responsible and stop being hot headed.

Reika had a wry smile as she had to agree with the both of them. While defending the lab was boring, protecting the lab was their first priority. Not to mention, they were counting on the new LBX to help Arata overcome his fears of using the Overload.

"A very important LBX." Suzunne said wishfully. "I wonder what kind of…" Instantly her words became gibberish as the transmission noise that Bandit always use sounded.

"Not now!" Reika gritted her teeth when she realized what it was. Several Gordons and Calipers then emerged from the foliage and attacked Inui and Suzunne's LBX. Sirena instantly came to their rescue and kicked away one of the Gordons and slashed at the other with her tessens. The hair at the back of Reika's neck pricked when she sensed not only the umbrakinetcist's LBX but also three Night Lurkers entering their dimension but she could not tell where.

_"All units! Protect the lab at all cost!"_ Jin ordered them.

'Mia, where are the Night Lurkers attacking this time?' Reika thought but got no reply. She then remembered that Mia and Arata have yet to repair the telepathic network so she and Daimen could not reach them. But since there were not Night Lurkers appearing in her area, she decided that they must be at another part of the Second World so she placed all of her attention on Bandit.

But as Harness fought off Bandit, they were quickly overwhelmed and one by one, their LBXs were being defeated. Even Reika was being pushed back even though she was the only one in Harness who had a higher leveled LBX.

"There's no end to them." Reika gritted her teeth as she fought a Caliper with her Jazz Kung Fu. "At this rate…" She gripped her controls tightly as she tried her best to defeat Bandit but Sirena was slowly taking heavy damage from them. Several more Bandit units jumped out of nowhere with grenade in their hands and threw them right at the lab.

"No!" Reika gasped. "Takeru, can you still continue making the LBX?"

_"I can't."_ Takeru said grimly. _"There's just too much damage!"_

Reika's grip on the control pod joystick tightened to the point where her hands were shaking. "I am not going to get mad. I am going to teach them a lesson!"

Her whole demure changed that she began using her original style of fighting instead of her Jazz Kung Fu. Ignoring Inui's order to regroup, she charged at the closest Gordon and began fighting it as though she would to a normal person.

In Harness' briefing room, Jin was wondering if this was the same Reika who he had mentored for the past few months. She always followed his and Inui's orders and now it was almost as though she had underwent a split personality change. Not only did she refuse to listen to Inui's orders, she was taking his order to defend the lab a little too seriously now.

Over with Arata, he sighed as he watched Reika fight. "They won't be able to get her to listen to them in this state."

"Arata, what's going on with Reika?" Haruki asked bewilderedly.

"All I can guess is that she lost control of her emotions…again." Arata sighed. "And in the worst case scenario, it can lead to disastrous results, which I have to step in…again." He muttered the last part under his breath.

"This is bad." Mia muttered in her control pod after her original form returned to her body when it had finished off the Night Lurkers that appeared near to Jenock's lab. "Arata, I think we better think of a plan B before Reika really unleashes her dark side."

"And what sort of plan B should I use when I don't have a unit to use?"

"I have the new LBX being made in our lab now!" Sakuya suddenly told him. "Be ready to head out!"

"You mean Dot Blastrizer?" He said in surprise.

"Yeah." Sakuya then began to muttering things that he did not quite understand while manufacturing the LBX. In the end, Sakuya managed to finish the LBX and synched it with his CCM.

Arata narrowed his eyes determinately and flew Dot Blastrize out towards Harness' lab. 'Just hold on Reika, I'm coming.'


	53. Chapter 53

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

The black Bandit LBX was ruthless as it attacked the remaining Harness and Jenock LBXs that were still functional. It slashed at Inui and Catherin's LBXs, causing heavy damage on them but a tessen came flying in the air and slashed at its body. It grabbed the tessen and glared at Sirena as it leveled it with a glare of its own. It threw the tessen back at Sirena with a lot of force and cut off Sirena's arm. Just as it was about to finish off Catherin and Inui's LBXs, Yuno's Siren fired shots at it, causing it to back off. The Siren then gathered in front of the two badly damaged LBXs with Gendou and Suzunne's LBXs to protect them.

'Arata, please help us.' Reika desperately tried to reach him as the black LBX dashed forward.

_'I'm here Reika. Don't worry.'_

Reika jerked her head up in surprise as a red sword with a green blade was tossed at the black LBX, halting it in its tracks. The sword flew back up and a new LBX caught it as it jumped off its Riding Saucer. Reika gasped as she recognized it from the blueprints that Takeru had shown her. "That's…"

"Dot Blastrizer." Arata finished for her and smiled lightly. "You can relax now Reika. I'm here."

Reika managed to calm herself down and nodded. "Alright."

Arata then turned his gaze to Bandit and his gaze hardened. "You're dead meat." He said in a deadly voice. As though rising to the challenge, the black LBX spun its scythe and dashed at Dot Blastrizer. It met it head on and their weapons clashed. They tried to outdo each other by attacking and parrying each other but they were soon blow back by the impact of their attacks.

"Arata, the multi-gimmick sack!" Sakuya told him.

"Right!"

Dot Blastrizer tossed its swords up and they transformed into the Blast Magnum. In a quick session, it fired at the black LBX and damaged its left leg. Behind him, the remaining Bandit LBXs which were forgotten cocked their guns and rifles at it but Arata was faster. In an instant, it had its Dual Blade and shield out. It spun around its Dual Blade, neutralizing the gun shots.

"Bandit…you had messed with the wrong people." Arata said in a low voice. "I will not stand aside and let you bully my friends and love ones anymore!"

Much to his surprise and everyone else's, he activated the Ragnarock Phase, the mode that was created to withstand the Overload.

"Finish them off, Arata!" Jin ordered.

In response, Dot Blastrizer used its claws and clawed at the black LBX, sending it flying and flew up to slash it one more time, this time sending it falling to the ground. The black LBX painfully pushed itself up and flew away, with the rest of Bandit retreating as well, not wanting to mess with Arata. Sighs of relief were released from both the students and teachers. Arata, on the other hand, grinned and turned back to Sirena who was standing away from the rest of Jenock and Harness' LBXs and his grin faded slightly.

XXXXXX

As soon as the alarm sounded, signaling the end of War Time, the control pods opened and Arata hopped out of his while admiring his new LBX.

"That was amazing Arata." Mia said as she and Daimen approached him.

"Yeah, man." Daimen nodded in agreement. "You sent Bandit fleeing with their tails between their legs."

Arata nodded absentmindedly as he watched Inui and Suzunne trying to talk to Reika but she ignored them and simply walked away.

"Do you think she'll be alright?" Haruki asked as he came over to them having seen what happened.

"Well, I'll say that she just needs time to cool off since it's not every day she lost control over her emotions." Arata shrugged. "But I'll try talking to her after school."

"But let's go and thank Sakuya for his effort for making Dot Blastrizer for now." Mia spoke up.

"You're right." Arata nodded and followed them back to the briefing room. He glanced back at Reika and nearly scowled when he saw Takeru trying to talk to her and she seemed to respond a bit.

Daimen saw this and smiled slyly. "Mia, I think we got to make sure that Arata doesn't go overboard with the 'I'm the older brother so I have to protect you' thing."

Mia followed his gaze and giggled. "I wonder if there is anything between those two though. I think Catherin has her eyes on him since he's Kojou Asuka's brother."

"Nah, I think she's only chasing him because she wants his sister's autograph." Daimen laughed.

* * *

As the group walked back after their teachers dismissed them, Arata pulled Reika aside and asked, "You alright?"

"Maybe." Reika said dully. "I haven't lost control like that in a long time and why now?"

"Well, I think it started when you got angry that Bandit destroyed Harness' lab so Takeru could not continue making the LBX." Arata said thoughtfully and chuckled. "I never thought that you were the type to get angry over such a small thing. They can just continue making it another time or at Jenock's lab."

"But you just don't get it!" Reika cried frustratedly. "If we cannot make it then you won't be able to overcome your fears of using the Overload and that also means that you can't move on from the past!"

"But have you?" Arata asked pointedly and sighed. "I never regretted having my powers Reika, nor do I feel ashamed of it. Ok, maybe I haven't moved on from the past entirely, but this has nothing to do with the Overload. I just don't like the feeling it gives me when I use it. Also, because of it, I have to take lessons from Mia on using telekinesis."

Reika stared at him for a moment and burst into tears. She latched onto Arata's shirt and buried her face in it.

"Oi, Reika, what's wrong now?" Arata asked in exasperation.

"You should have told me that before!" Reika wailed. "Now that I lost control over my emotions, what will everyone say!?"

'That's what she's worried about?' Arata thought with a sweatdrop. He wrapped his arms around her and patted her head. "Hey, it'll be alright. As long as you apologize about it, then I'm sure that they'll forgive you."

"Fine." Reika sniffed and rubbed her eyes.

"By the way…what's between you and Takeru?" Arata asked suspiciously.

Reika blinked and jumped away. "We're friends and I don't have a crush on him!"

"You just admitted that you have a crush on him Reika." Mia said mildly as she peaked around the corner.

"Mia!" Reika jumped again. "How long have you been listening?!"

"Long enough to see you and Arata having a sibling moment." Daimen answered as he too peaked around.

"Who else is there?" Arata sighed.

"Just us." Mia smiled angelically. "We wanted to make sure that Arata…don't go overprotective but I can't believe that you admitted that you have a crush on Takeru."

"I don't have one! I said that before." Reika protested.

"You know, whenever you say one thing, you usually mean the opposite, especially when it comes to crushes and boyfriends." Arata pointed out.

Reika glared at him and then at Mia and Daimen. "Go back first."

Mia exchanged glances with Daimen and shrugged. "Sure."

As soon as they left, Reika turned to Arata. "I'm a big girl now. There's nothing wrong with me having crushes. Also, it's not like I'm going to act on them at all."

"And why not?" Arata folded his arms and leaned on the wall.

"Because I'll have to tell him about my powers sooner or later and he'll reject me." Reika said with a downcast look.

Arata sighed and pushed off the wall. "I think you're the one who could not let go of the past. We need to learn to accept ourselves if we want others to accept us."

"Easy said than done." Reika sighed. "The memory of those kids saying mean things and bullying me always stayed with me even after all these years."

"It is hard to let go. But like Yuko-nee said, it doesn't take a second to build a skyscraper, but years." Arata smiled. But it fade when he sensed briefly umbrakinetic energy. He glanced around but did not see anything. He frowned and placed a hand on Reika's shoulder. "It's getting late. You should go back."

"Huh? But what about you?" Reika frowned.

"I have something I need to take care of." Arata said briefly and ran off.

* * *

Itan smirked as he and the other 'generals' of Bandit waited for Arata to appear behind an abandon building. He sucked on his lollipop and made sure that his energy signature was covered for the time being so that Arata would naturally find them and not suspect them.

"Itan, are you sure that whatever you do will work?" Bruce asked. "And by the way, what exactly did you do to make him come?"

"I got my own ways." Itan said lazily.

"Hmp, and what ways would that be?" Charlotte huffed. She was in a bad mood because she had to miss a date with Atsuya just to come for this meeting.

"Can't say them here." Itan shrugged and straightened up when he spotted Arata walking down the rows of buildings. "He's coming."

Arata soon came over but when he spotted them, he narrowed his eyes and was about to walk away but Itan quickly got in front of him. "Nice to meet you, Sena Arata. I am Itan Kyouji from Ezeldarm."

"I'm pretty sure that I know that from the assembly and your uniform." Arata said warily. Although the energy signature had suddenly disappeared, he was sure that it came from here or specifically one of the five people there. Also, there was Charlotte Rein, the person he did not want to see the most.

"Why so hostile? I only want to talk to you about joining Ezeldarm." Itan said breezily. "I wanted to talk to you about it at the roof when Charlotte invited you but you never showed up."

"Well excuse me for thinking that it is a prank mail." Arata said bitingly at her direction. 'Yeah, _meet me at the roof_. Like that's going to trick me. You're not the first one to do that. And you are the last person I would ever want to see.'

"Whatever." Itan shrugged it off while Charlotte looked like she wanted to spit fire. "Anyway, like I was saying, you should join Ezeldarm or your Overload will go to waste the way you are using it now."

Arata frowned at him as he tried to guess his motives. "And why should I do that?"

"Ezeldarm aims to eradicate all signs of war from the real world. And to do that, we need the power of your Overload." Itan explained.

"And how exactly do you plan on using my Overload?" Arata asked skeptically.

"Have you heard about the Parasite Keys?"

"Yes." Arata nodded warily.

"We are currently looking for them but we have only successfully obtained one. With Bandit around, we cannot search for them properly. If we have the Overload on our side, I'm sure that we can find them in no time." Itan smirked.

Alarms went off in Arata's mind. He knew that he cannot give out the fact that one of the Parasite Keys is in Rikuya's LBX, especially since they were now suspicious of Ezeldarm. "Well, sorry to say this, but I don't trust you guys. In fact, I would rather stay in Jenock, thank you very much."

"Why you-!" Bruce was about to lunge at him but Itan held up his hand and stopped him.

"So you are going to let your Overload go to waste?"

"Something like that." Arata said nonchalantly. "Now, if you'll excuse me." He spun around and left the area.

"Are you just going to let him go like that?" Tooru demanded.

"Never mind him." Itan waved his lollipop. "We got better things to do."

But when the others were not looking, Itan glared at the direction where Arata left. 'Sena Arata, I will get back at you for what you did back there. And don't worry, I know your secret as well. You and I are the same. You will join Ezeldarm sooner or later.'


	54. Chapter 54

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

After his encounter with Ezeldarm, we see Arata standing in front of the bookshelf in Yuko's office with the said person by his side.

"Are you sure that you want to find it? It may not exist at all." Yuko said quietly as she got ready to open the entrance to the second hidden room.

"It doesn't matter if I do find it or not. If I don't try, the voice that spoke to me will be disappointed in me." Arata sighed.

"But who is this person speaking to you?" Yuko frowned. "It's not that I doubt you but…"

"Yuko-nee, I understand." Arata placed a hand on her arm comfortingly. "But for some reason, I believe that the voice is not lying. I really need to try."

"Alright then." Yuko held up two fingers and uttered something in the language which Arata half understood and pointed them at the bookcase. A brown aura flew out of her fingers to the bookcase and it moved aside, revealing the wall but a portal then opened and they stepped inside it.

Arata could not believe his eyes when they adjusted to the bright light. Yuko smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Do you like it?"

"Who would not like a paradise like this?" Arata muttered in disbelief. The room that they had entered was in fact a greenhouse with various plants and trees scattered around and glass panels on the celling emitting artificial sunlight while displaying clouds. There was a small pond at the corner of the room with a swing large enough to fit two people near it. While a large number of trees and plants were no longer bearing flowers since it is autumn, the flowers in there were blooming beautifully. At another corner of the room, there was a greenhouse which was filled with bookshelves and a table.

"Is this why you would not come out of your office most of the time?" Arata asked in awe of the place.

"I admit that I do like to come here and relax when you guys are at school, but most of the time, I'm busy with either Fantasy's school stuff or worrying that you or Reika failing your classes." Yuko said playfully and sobered up. "I know that Fantasy's schooling system was not one of the best since our main focus was on training you guys to control your powers and learning to take care of yourselves rather than providing good academic education. But I'm glad that you're taking the initiative to push both Reika and yourself to work hard in your classes."

Arata broke into a smile and shook his head. "It's what we should do. I don't want Mito-sensei and Jin-san to think that you haven't been taking care of us well and chase after you."

"You don't need to worry about that. Atsuya and I managed to graduate from Fantasy at a young age and I excelled in my university course years ago. So you don't need to worry about failing. If we didn't, you and Reika won't either." Yuko rubbed her hands together and led Arata to the greenhouse. "I moved all of the books that was in our library over here since the last Night Lurker attack there so that they won't get destroyed."

"That's a clever idea." Arata smiled as he stepped inside. But it faded at the sight of the number of bookshelves and the amount of books stacked in it. "This is going to take a while."

"Don't push yourself. I'll call you when it's time for you to go back." Yuko told him and went back to her office.

"Alright." Arata said distractedly as he picked up a book and sat down to read it.

* * *

"Arata isn't back yet?" Mia asked Reika as they headed down for dinner.

"Nope." Reika shook her head. "But I'm sure that he got caught up with whatever he's doing at Yuko-nee's place."

"But it's rare to see him come back so late." Mia sighed and suddenly stopped. "So have you apologized to Takeru and the rest yet?"

"Yeah…sort of…"

"Sort of?" Mia raised an eyebrow.

"In my defense, it wasn't my fault." Reika held up her hands. "I was apologizing to them when Miss Ojou-sama just had to ruin it by saying really nasty things. I had to walk out after that just to cool down before I did anything bad and never got to complete my apology.

"That girl can be as bad as Catherin." Mia scrunched her nose.

"I know." Reika groaned. "But on another note, I think I know now why she is always trying to make life hard for me. Everyone in Harness knows that she has a crush on Kaidou-sensei and he always seems to look out for me."

Mia stared at her for a moment and clapped her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing. "…She…she has a crush on Jin-san?"

Reika giggled and nodded. "Yup. But Kaidou-sensei usually does not takes any notice of her unless necessary."

"So how does Jin-san look out for you?" Mia asked curiously as they walked to the dining room.

"Oh, he often teaches me how to use Sirena better when we're at Yuko-nee's place and he would often give me tips on how to study better." Reika shrugged.

"That's helpful. But I wonder why he wants to look out for you that much." Mia cocked her head.

"I wondered about that myself but I grew used to it." Reika shrugged. They kept quiet when they reached the dining room and headed over to their respective tables. Much to their surprise, Arata was already in there.

"Arata, I thought you haven't come back yet." Mia remarked as she sat down at the first platoon's table.

"Well, let's just say that I got caught up looking for something at Yuko-nee's place." Arata shrugged and turned to Sakuya. "Thanks again for making Dot Blastrizer for me."

"You're welcome." Sakuya smiled. "So can you use it well?"

"Of course." Arata nodded. "But I'm sorry for being very touchy on the subject for the past few days."

"Apology accepted." Sakuya nodded.

"So now all we have to do is to fix up the others." Haruki spoke up.

"Well, the others agreed to help so I think we can get them back in shape in no time." Sakuya said thoughtfully.

"By the way, what happened back there with Ezeldarm?" Hikaru suddenly asked Arata.

Arata paused in eating and looked up at him. "You saw that?"

"I just so happened to be passing that area when I saw those students from Ezeldarm talking to you but I could not hear what you were talking about." Hikaru said plainly. This caught the rest's attention and they turned to Arata, waiting for an explanation. He glanced around and leaned forward with the others following the suit.

"They wanted me to join Ezeldarm to look for the Parasite Keys." Arata said in a low voice once he was sure that no one was listening. "But I turned them down. Also, they also said something interesting to me."

"What's that?" Haruki asked.

"I'll tell you guys later outside. I need Rikuya to hear this too." Arata said as he flicked his eyes to Catherin's table where she was casually leaning towards them. "But Mia, get ready."

Mia nodded in understanding while Haruki, Sakuya and Hikaru exchanged confused looks.

* * *

Later after dinner, while Arata fetched Rikuya, Mia and the rest of the first platoon headed out to the grounds and waited for them. Mia soon sensed Catherin as she tried to eavesdrop on them so she waved her fingers at her side and created illusions to throw her off guard again.

"Mia, what did you do?" Haruki asked when he saw Catherin suddenly sneaking away as though she was following thin air to another place.

"I just made an illusion so that she would leave us alone." Mia shrugged. "Don't worry, she'll head back to the dorms once she realizes that the 'us' that she's following vanishes."

"You don't happen to have anything to do with the Higurashi-sensei that we were following during the 'Doldkin's mission', do you?" Hikaru asked critically.

"You got me." Mia said sheepishly. "Mito-sensei actually knew about our powers a long time ago so she told me to make it harder for you guys to find Jin-san." She cocked her head around and nodded at Arata and Rikuya as they came over. "They're here."

"Arata, since we are here, can you tell us what did those guys from Ezeldarm told you about?" Haruki went straight to the point.

Arata nodded and lowered his voice. "They mentioned that they already have one of the Parasite Keys in hand."

"What?" Rikuya gasped. "Sena-kun, are you sure about that?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Arata nodded grimly. "This guy, Itan Kyouji, told me clearly and he wants me to join them so that I can help them find the other Keys with my Overload. But don't worry, I didn't mention that one of them is in your LBX."

"But how could they have one of them when they have only been established only two days ago?" Sakuya wondered.

"That's what's bothering me." Arata frowned. "They also said that because of Bandit, they could not go further. But think about it, ever since Ezeldarm was established, not once did Bandit appeared other than at the lab this afternoon. And Ezeldarm did not even have any signs of activity."

"I think we should mention this to Mito-sensei. Ezeldarm is getting overly suspicious every minute." Mia told Haruki who nodded in agreement.

"We'll tell her about this tomorrow."

* * *

Yuko sighed as she replaced one of her father's journals back into the shelf. So far, her investigations of Tougou Giichi has not been very successful and she had resorted to looking through her father's journals even though she once swore that she would never look inside them.

She took out another one and flipped through it tiredly. 'No wonder Arata was so tired when I sent him back just now. It's just too much to look for a single topic within many books.' But as she continued to flip through it, a page caught her eyes and she stopped there.

_29 September- My old student, Tougou Giichi came to me, demanding that I handed over the Gem of Wishes so that he can use it for the Second World on Kamui Island. Of course, I refused and threatened to lock him up if he did not leave. He soon left, but not without a warning that he will get his hands on the Gem of Wishes, no matter what. I know just too well how powerful he is right now. He had used the ERP to gain power over various countries and blackmailed others to attain his position. Therefore, in order to protect the Gem of Wishes while keeping my family safe, I decided to disappear for a while so that I can gather evidence against Tougou and prevent him from getting his hands on the Gem of Wishes. _

Yuko paused and dropped the journal on the table. "This is absurd. If otou-san wrote this before he disappeared…" She trailed off and flipped to the next page.

_3 March – Despite my best efforts, the Gem of Wishes was stolen from the Crystal Cave. My biggest regret is that I had left Yuko and Atsuya for nothing, making them think that I had abandoned them. But I'm not giving up. I have to fulfil my duties as a Kuriko guardian and stop Tougou before he causes more damage than he has before. I trust that my children will be able to find the Gem of Wishes and bring it back to Fantasy before it is too late. In the meantime, I will continue my mission and stop Tougou from making more mistakes. The Gem of Wishes is in fact too powerful for him to control and he will unfortunately learn soon enough. I will entrust this journal to my friend Houjou Mitsuki to replace it in my library so that Yuko can read this sooner or later._

By the time she was done, tears were slipping out of the corner of her eyes. 'After all this time, otou-san was working so hard to uncover Tougou Giichi's schemes and yet, I blamed him for leaving me and Atsuya. Oh, otou-san, you're so stupid, we could have helped you.'

_"Nee-san, Reina-nee-san wants to see you." _Atsuya called her through their necklaces.

Yuko sniffed and quickly wiped off her tears. "Alright, send her to my office." She quickly kept the journal and went back to her office just as Mito-sensei came in.

"Hey, you wanted to see me?" Yuko forced a smile in greeting.

"Yeah." Mito-sensei nodded and sat down. "I just wanted to give you the data that you asked about. But how are you going to use it to find the other Parasite Keys?"

"I graduated from the MIT, remember?" Yuko reminded her. "So I can build a scanner to find the Parasite Keys as soon as possible. I don't think we have much time left."

"Why so?" Mito-sensei frowned.

"Let's just say that the energy from the Gem of Wishes will become a danger if too much is left to accumulate." Yuko said grimly. "Anyway, thanks for giving the data to me."

"I just hope that it'll help." Mito-sensei nodded and got up. "I have to go now. I'm meeting Jin soon so that we can discuss our next move."

"I don't think it would be a good idea for Jenock and Harness to think about gaining territory now." Yuko advised her. "Bandit may be more dangerous than we think."

"I agree." Mito-sensei nodded grimly. "I know from Arata that there is an umbrakineticist with them but we don't know who."

"We'll work on that. For now, focus on preventing Bandit from taking the Parasite Key that's with you." Yuko promised her.


	55. Chapter 55

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

The next morning, as soon as breakfast was over, Arata, Rikuya and Haruki headed over to the teacher's office to inform Mito-sensei about the whereabouts of the second Parasite Key. But on the way there, they spotted Seredy entering the office too. He soon saw them and flashed them a smile before entering.

"This will be tricky, especially with Seredy around." Arata frowned. "It'll be bad if he knew that we already know that they have one of the Parasite Keys and eventually figure out you-know-what. And I doubt that Itan Kyouji would actually let him know that we already know."

"Do you really think that Seredy would give it to us if we asked for it?" Haruki wondered.

"I don't think we should risk it." Rikuya shook his head. "If our suspicions are correct, then they won't hand it over that easily."

"Anyway, I think we should find another time to inform Mito-sensei about this. I doubt that we should let the other teachers hear this anyway." Arata shrugged.

"You're probably right." Haruki nodded and they headed back to the classroom. But what they did not know is, Ayabe was listening to their conversation having left Gendou's side for a moment to spy on them. Now that he had heard enough, he slipped away to head back to the classroom before they got suspicious.

* * *

Mito-sensei did not know what to say when Rikuya quietly asked to see her privately with Arata and Haruki during recess hour in the class. But she did know that if Arata was involved, it usually meant something important.

"What is this about?" She asked when all of the other students left the classroom, leaving her with Rikuya, Arata and Haruki.

Rikuya nodded at Arata who nodded back and told her, "We know where one of the Parasite Keys is. Yesterday, Ezeldarm tried to convince me to join them because of my Overload and told me that they already have one in the process."

"Ezeldarm?" Mito-sensei raised an eyebrow. "They have one of the Parasite Keys…and what did you tell them?"

"I refused to join them and said nothing about Rikuya's Parasite Key." Arata promised her.

"Good." Mito-sensei nodded in approval. "Currently, a lot of teachers are suspecting Ezeldarm for various reasons and one of them is that they are Bandit. It is important that we don't let anyone know about Rikuya's Parasite Key outside of Jenock and Harness and I would like to keep it that way. Who else knows that you were scouted?"

"Only the first platoon, including Mia, and Rikuya." Haruki answered.

"Tell them that under no circumstances are they to tell anyone about this. And Rikuya, we need to come up with a strategy so that Jenock can protect the Parasite Key better."

Rikuya nodded but Arata could tell that he was disappointed that the responsibility of protecting it was no longer only his and the third platoon's responsibility. But even so, he knew that Rikuya have to come to terms with it eventually so he said nothing about it.

* * *

"Rossius pressed an attack on Ezeldarm during today's War Time." Mito-sensei told the student gathered in the briefing room after War Time. "Here's the video." She stood aside as the screen came up.

Mia immediately scanned the Gunthers and Gleriors and was relief to find neither Muraku's platoon nor Wataru's. But her relief turned into shock when Ezeldarm's LBX turned out to be the exact same type of LBXs that Bandit uses. "What the…"

"Those are Bandit's LBXs." Arata frowned. Their strength was very similar to Bandits as they mercilessly cut down the Gunthers and Gleriors, making them LOST. Daimen leaned forward to have a better look but winced and quickly straightened up. Arata saw this and raised an eyebrow. He also noticed that Mia was holding on to her left arm in a casual manner but he could see that her face will screw up in pain for brief seconds before turning back to normal.

"In terms of numbers, Rossius' army was three times the size of Ezeldarm's. However, all of their units became LOST. They were wiped out." Mito-sensei said seriously.

"All were LOST…" Yuno whispered.

"They're strong." Haruki remarked.

"But using the same units as Bandit…" Arata trailed off as he did not know what to say.

* * *

"Care to tell me how did they both of you get injured?" Yuko asked Daimen and Mia as she and Atsuya nursed their injuries when they came over.

"Their numbers were triple of what we fought for the last few days." Daimen winced when Yuko dapped some alcohol on the long gash across his shoulder blades. "So we had to go down there personally instead of splitting. If we did so, then we would easily tire out and the Night Lurkers would have defeated us."

"Maybe splitting isn't such a good idea after all." Mia said as Atsuya fastened an armband onto the part of her arm where the bone was broken. The armband vibrated when turned on and began to fix the fracture. But when he was done, his hand lingered on her arm for a moment. Mia rolled her eyes and jerked away. "Anyway, not that I don't like the Fantasy Band, but there has to be a way to go fight the Night Lurkers without anyone finding out instead of spittling."

"Maybe. But for now, we just have make due with what we got. I'll try and look for other methods though." Yuko told them as she fastened the bandages on Daimen. "Since the week is nearly over, you two should have a break. Reika and Nick can take the next round."

"Great." Daimen held up his thumb.

Yuko nodded and went over to the portal at the end of the room. "Come on. The sooner we get you to the Pool of Healing, the sooner you can go back."

Daimen sighed and stood up, careful not to lean forward and followed her into the portal, casting a glare at Atsuya.

"I better get going." Mia reached for her bag but Atsuya stopped her.

"Your arm isn't healed yet."

"I know." Mia said frostily as she pushed past him, pulling the armband off. "But that doesn't mean that I'm going to stay here for long."

"Can't we talk about it?"

Mia spun on her heels with a heated glare at him. "What's there to talk about? You're happy with your new girlfriend and I'm happy being single. I don't have to worry about you breaking my heart again and you don't have to worry about me dragging you and Charlotte Rein down."

"Mia, I'm sorry for what I did. But I realized too late that you were more important to me than Charlotte is." Atsuya pleaded.

"Too bad. Because I have no intentions for falling for your lies again." Mia snapped and quickly headed down where Arata was waiting for her.

"How's your arm?" He asked her as they walked out together.

"Better." Mia subconsciously rubbed the part the bone fractured. "But Daimen has to stay there longer."

"I see." Arata kept a thoughtful expression on his face. "If you split from your Original Form, your injuries would normally be half of what you got in the fight. But if you transform into it, you will still sustain your injuries."

"Yup." Mia nodded and sighed.

Arata could see that she was sad about something and frown. "Did Atsuya say anything to you?"

"Yeah." Mia nodded while pushing away some strands of hair that slipped out of her fishtail braid. "He's regretting breaking up with me."

"Can't believe he's regretting when it is his fault in the first place." Arata muttered under his breath. "So how are you holding?"

"I didn't slap him for that so I could say that I'm holding up well." She shrugged.

"I see. But did he say that he wanted to get back with you?"

"Not directly." Mia shook her head. "But even if he got down on his knees and begged, the results will still be the same, I'll reject him."

Arata said nothing at that but his eyes glinted at the prospect of executing the plan which he and the others had painstakingly put together to teach Atsuya a lesson for cheating on Mia that weekend.

* * *

That night, Arata read through another book which he borrowed from Yuko's library and flipped through it on his bed. Hikaru got curious at it since it was an old leather cover with jewels imbedded in the binder. "Arata, what book is that?"

Arata peaked over the cover at him. "Oh, it's a book that I borrowed from Yuko-nee. She has this huge library with books about our powers and how to control them so I want to read some of them to see if I can power up my powers."

Hikaru raised an eyebrow at that. Since he had found out about Arata's powers, Arata had been a little more open with him, Haruki and Sakuya to the point where Arata would talk openly about them if there was no one else around. "Do you think that the Night Lurker attacks would stop anytime soon?"

"Unfortunately, no." Arata shook his head as he shut the book close. He was about to put it back into his bag when there was a yell and a thud sound from the room beside them.

"Isn't that from Rikuya's room?" Hikaru frowned.

"Yeah." Arata nodded with a thoughtful look. "Let's go check it out."

They scrambled for the door and glanced out. There was already a crowd in front of Rikuya's room, including Roy.

"What's going on?" Arata asked as he and Hikaru went over.

"We don't know. But Kouta said that he wanted to talk to Rikuya earlier so I'm assuming that something happened in there." Roy told them.

"…You know what these are, don't you?" Sure enough, Kouta's voice travelled through the door. "These are the units of the players who believed in you and became LOST for your sake! And now you are saying that you want to run away? They'll never forgive you for that!"

"We knew that Rikuya was very upset that his father was dividing the responsibility of protecting the Parasite Key so Kouta wanted to talk about it with him. But I guess that it is unsuccessful" Roy sighed as he explained why Kouta was yelling that at Rikuya.

"You won't get much through his head just by telling him that." Arata said bluntly and opened the door despite everyone's protest.

Rikuya and Kouta glanced up in surprise at them as Arata strode over to Rikuya. "You are an idiot you know. If I had a father and he gave me a duty, I would be extremely glad to do so no matter what the cost. Even if he divides the workload among my friends, I still would be happy, because the main responsibility is still mine and it shows that he cares for me and wants to lessen the burden on me."

Rikuya blinked in surprise as did the others. This was the first time they heard Arata openly say that he did not have a father. "Sena-kun…"

Arata gave him a small smile. "Your father may be scared because of Bandit. That's why he wants you to share the responsibility. But that does not mean that he's giving up on you or he would have just told you to give the Parasite Key to someone else."

"He's right." Roy said in agreement. "We have to protect the Parasite Key for the sake of the world. It is our duty. But no one understands that the most is your father. Please, understand his feelings."

"We are classmates, aren't we?" Arata asked him. "Like I told you before, I have my personal opinion on the Second World, but that does not mean that I will turn away from a friend in need. I'm sure that everyone in Jenock feels the same. So, we'll help you protect the Parasite Key."

"You don't have to shoulder this burden alone anymore." Haruki added.

"He's right." Hikaru nodded in agreement and so did the others.

"Everyone…"

* * *

"That really happened last night?" Reika said in surprise as she, Arata, Diamen, Yuno and Mia walked to school together.

"Yup. But I think Rikuya will be fine from now on." Arata smiled. "By the way, Yuno and I will be going to the teacher's office first when we get to school so that we can get permission for Yuno to use Dot Phasor."

"You're giving it to Yuno?" Daimen said in surprise.

"Yeah. I always wanted to try it out." Yuno nodded enthusiastically.

"But didn't you promise Daimen that…" Mia shut her mouth when Daimen elbowed her in the ribs. She glared at him and elbowed back twice as hard.

"What's wrong?" Yuno raised an eyebrow at the sceen.

"Nothing." Daimen shook his head. But he leaned in closer to Arata and whispered. "You owe me for this."

"But of course." Arata whispered back sarcastically.

Reika giggled and hooked her arm around Mia. "So what did Arata promise Daimen?"

"He said that he can use Dot Phasor if he gets a new unit." Mia whispered back with a chuckle. "But I think he forgot about it. That's why he agreed to let Yuno use it."

"What are you talking about?" Yuno cocked her head at them.

"Ah~ Yuno, you certainly do not know what my brother did, don't you?" Reika sighed dramatically. "So I'll tell you. He…"

"That's enough Reika!" Arata clamped his hand over her mouth.

"Ow, Afada!" Reika cried but it was badly muffled by Arata's hand over her mouth and Mia and Yuno burst out laughing at that.

"Reika, you should hear what you are saying now." Daimen snickered.

Reika pouted as she yanked off the hand. "Arata, they're being mean to me!"

"Reika, you're sixteen. Act like it." Arata said in mild amusement. The rest of the group burst out laughing again. Reika pouted further but eventually, the edges of her lips twitched and she laughed along with them.

'Life's certainly never boring even with the Night Lurkers prowling around.' Arata thought to himself with a smile.


	56. Chapter 56

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

"We would like to see Arata, Hikaru and Mia out alone this time." Haruki told Mito-sensei that afternoon at the briefing room.

"Are you sure that they will be alright without their platoon captain?" She questioned.

"Yes, they'll be fine by themselves." Haruki nodded.

After some thought, she relented. "Then, I'll let the first platoon escort the delivery train. We'll begin our patrols from four different spots. The second platoon will patrol the area around Jenock's HQ…"

"Haruki, I promise that we will complete your LBX during today's War Time. Be ready to move out." Sakuya told him softly.

"Alright." Haruki nodded and turned to Hikaru. "Hikaru, you'll give the orders until I return."

"Ok." He nodded.

As soon as they were dismissed, they ran to their control pods and hopped inside. As Mia placed Phantom Blaze inside, she frowned when she sensed something dark approaching the control pod beside hers which belongs to Hikaru. But when she reached out to see what it was, it vanished as fast as it appeared. Instantly, she was high on alert.

'Weird.' She frowned. 'What was that?'

"Dispatching Riding Saucers." Sakuya told them. Mia shook her head and concentrated on directing her LBX while keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.

About an hour later, the three of them had escorted the train halfway to its destination but at the same time, they were getting further away from Jenock. To make matters worse, the sky had darkened and it started raining.

"It's going to be harder to spot any threats at this rate." Arata frowned. Just as those words left his mouth, the transmission noise began to appear.

"Arata, you and your big mouth!" Mia slammed her head on the screen.

"They're coming!" Hikaru warned them.

"I know!" Arata gritted his teeth. Each and every one of them were tensed as they anticipated Bandit. Arata closed his eyes to get a better grasp of his surroundings and they snapped open as he made Dot Blastrizer jump just as the black LBX came swooping down at his riding saucer. Another Bandit fired its gun down at Val Sparos and Phantom Blaze that made them jump from their riding saucers.

Arata's eyes became wide when he realized this. "This is what they want. We need to get out of here the first moment we get!"

"You think?" Hikaru grunted. "I think you should take care of the black one while Mia and I take the others."

"You got it." Arata said firmly while Mia nodded. Dot Blastrize snapped its swords out and began attacking the black LBX while the other two engaged with the other three Bandit units. But as they fought, Mia found herself being drawn away from Dot Blastrizer and the same thing was happening to Val Sparos.

She gritted her teeth and had Phantom Blaze slice off the Bandit's axe and stabbed it straight in its chest. It jumped back as it exploded and went to Val Sparos' location to help him. But along the way, she froze when she saw how fast the black LBX was moving as it attacked Dot Blastrizer.

"That's…impossible!" She gasped. "Those moments are similar to Arata's…when he was using the Overload. Don't tell me that the umbrakineticist can also use the Overload!?"

"Seems that way!" Arata grunted as he tried to parry the blows. He was slowly getting accustomed to the speed of the black LBX so he could predict where it was going to strike next. But this did not sit well with the black LBX as it changed its target and swung its scythe at Phantom Blaze.

"What!?" Mia exclaimed and quickly blocked it with its katanas. But a black energy wave shot out of the scythe and struck Phantom Blaze right at the chest, sending it flying. Mia gasped as a sharp pain engulfed her chest and realized that the umbrakineticist was attacking her through their LBXs.

_'Mia, what did he do to you?'_ Arata asked worriedly as he prevented the black LBX from attacking Phantom Blaze again by engaging with him.

_ 'I don't know.'_ Mia winced as the pain intensified when she used her telepathy. _'It hurts if I think out my thoughts.'_

_ 'Then don't.' _Arata told her and narrowed his eyes at the black LBX. 'Just what did it do?' He was careful to watch out for any signs of the black energy again but being cautious had cost him. The scythe of the black LBX hooked on Dot Blastrizer's foot and tripped him.

"Arata!" Hikaru yelled and Val Sparos threw its shuriken at the black LBX just as it was about to land a finishing blow on Dot Blastrizer. But the black LBX caught it and threw it back at Val Sparos with greater force. Mia's eyes became wide when she finally managed to sense what the black LBX's owner is thinking and gasped at what she saw.

"Hikaru, get out of there!" She yelled before doubling over, clutching her chest.

But Hikaru could not react on time and the shuriken sliced off Val Sparos' arm. "What?!" The next second later, pain erupted from all over his body as his control pod electrocuted him.

"Hikaru!?" Arata tried to reach him. But when he did not answer, he decided to check on his mind briefly and found that he was unconscious. The black LBX raised his scythe on Val Sparos which was deactivated because of the electrocution and Arata and Mia realized what it was trying to do.

"Stop!" Dot Blastrizer tried to get there in time to stop it. Out of nowhere, someone fired several shots at the black LBX which made it back away from Hikaru's LBX. All three LBXs shot up at the fourth LBX on the scene and Arata and Mia's jaws dropped open when they saw that it looked very similar to Orvanne, which means…

"Arata! Recover Val Sparos and retreat now!" Haruki's voice rang out.

"It really is you." Mia sighed in relief.

"So that new LBX is…"

"Yeah. This is the new unit that Sakuya and Rinko made, Trivhine!" Haruki answered Arata's question. He had it continue firing shots right at the black LBX and when he saw the fourth platoon approaching, he carefully aimed his shots such that it would drive it into their direction without it noticing. Eventually, the black LBX jumped to make a getaway but the fourth platoon took this chance and fired their guns and launchers at it.

"Sorry we're late." Yuno apologized.

Trivhine jumped down and slashed its new claws at the black LBX, sending it crashing into a cliff wall and steadied itself for a hissatsu function.

_Attack Function_

_Tri-Cannon_

Trivhne combined the two claws and the cannon merged in the center while the other two cannons at its shoulders aimed at the black LBX. Together all thre cannons fired at it. As the smoke cleared away, the black LBX flew out badly damaged and retreated.

* * *

As soon as the control pods opened, Haruki and Arata ran over to Hikaru's pod and carried him out. Arata pressed two fingers on his wrist and was relief to find a pulse even if it was weak. He lifted his head and saw Reika helping Mia out of her control pod and spoke to her in her mind. _'Get her to Yuko-nee's place now. It's best that we don't let others raise questions about this just yet.'_

Reika nodded and moved Mia away while everyone's attention was on Hikaru. Soon, a stretcher was brought over by two of the staff with Higurashi-sensei and Mito-sensei. After an initial checkup, Higurashi-sensei spoke quietly with the staff and they carried Hikaru on to the stretcher and rolled him out.

"Higurashi-sensei, how is he?" Arata asked her apprehensively.

"He'll be fine. His injuries are not life threatening." She reassured him and the other students gathered. "But we don't have the equipment to treat him here so they're taking him to the hospital in town."

Arata pressed his lips in a thin line as he glanced back at Hikaru's control pod. "Just what in the world happened?" He blinked when he saw Haruki crouch down and picked up something. He slipped over to his side as Haruki glanced up and show him a fragment of a devise of some sort.

"It was under Hikaru's control pod." He explain.

"Yuko has some equipment that can examine this." Arata said quietly. "Give it to Mito-sensei so that she give it to her."

Haruki nodded and went over to Mito-sensei while Arata slipped away and went to the corridor which Daimen was waiting for him at.

"What happened to Mia back there?" He asked as they walked off.

"I don't know. But if it is the umbrakineticist's attack, then it could spell trouble for Mia." Arata answered quietly.

"The bathroom." Daimen simply said and pulled him into the nearest one. Once they checked all the stores for any students, Daimen placed a hand on Arata's shoulder and teleported them over to the sports center.

* * *

After explaining the situation to Yuko, Reika helped her mentor to hook up several wires on Mia in the health room on the third floor while Atsuya lingered at the door with worried eyes.

"How is she?" He finally asked.

"We're not sure yet." Yuko said without taking her eyes off the screen which was monitoring Mia's vitals. "But from the looks of it, that umbrakineticist had struck her with umbrakinesis energy which is why she cannot use her psychic powers without suffering."

"I remember now." Reika narrowed her eyes. "Psychics are weak against umbrakinesis attacks. But why did he attack her only and not Arata? If he did, then Arata cannot use the Overload as well."

"That's what I would like to know." Arata said as he and Daimen appeared in the room.

"How's Hikaru?" Reika asked as she went over to his side.

"What happened to him?" Yuko raised her head curiously.

"He got electrocuted in his control pod but as for how, we don't know yet. But Haruki found a fragment of a device under his control pod. Mito-sensei should be bringing it over soon to give it to you." Arata explained.

"Alright." Yuko nodded and turned her attention back to Mia. "I think she'll be fine in a while. But I want her to stay here overnight for further observation. I'll call the dorms to let them know of this."

"Thanks." Arata nodded and left with Reika and Daimen. Once they were gone, Yuko gently placed a hand on Mia's forehead and it glowed for a second before dimming.

"Anything?" Atsuya asked as he came in.

"The umbrakinesis energy is slowly being released from her body but it'll take some time before it's completely gone. But here's a strange thing. I've been sensing another type of umbrakinesis energy entering her body but being harmlessly released too. This energy has been going through this cycle for some time now." Yuko slowly said with a frown.

"Does this mean that there's another umbrakineticist?"

"Likely." Yuko nodded. "Umbrakineticists, like photokineticists, are very rare in numbers. So the possibility of another umbrakineticist on the island should be close to nil. But what I sensed in Mia changes that."

"Do you think that she is even aware of it?" Atsuya frowned.

"Not very likely." Yuko shook her head. "Anyway, since she's stabilized, let's go see if Reina is here or not."

Atsuya reluctantly followed her down and sure enough, Mito-sensei was there along with Jin.

"I heard about what happened." Yuko said as she brought them up to her office. "Arata told me that they found something at the control pod, right?"

"Yeah." Mito-sensei took out the fragment that was wrapped in tissue and gave it to her. "Do you know what is it?"

"Unfortunately, not yet." Yuko shook her head and changed her course to the security room. "Come on."

She flipped the switch on the wall of the security room and the wall spun around with all of her equipment and work table emerging. She placed the fragment on a tray and started up the scan. "In the meantime, can you tell me what happened during War Time relating to Hoshihara Hikaru's LBX?"

"When Bandit showed up, the black one attacked Dot Blastrizer while the other three took on Phantom Blaze and Val Sparos. But the black LBX's user turned out to be an Overload user too so Mia and Hikaru had to quickly finish up their opponents to help him. But at the end of the fight, Val Sparos' arm was cut off and that was when the pod electrocuted him." Mito-sensei explained.

"Then this is only my theory, but I think that the device is in fact something that short circuits the pod when the pod draws in more electricity than usual. I think that this happens when the player has to defeat a lot of opponents at one go like what Hikaru had to in order to get rid of the Bandit units that he was facing and when Val Sparos' arm was cut off, it was the last straw." Yuko said thoughtfully. She glanced back at the screen and saw that her suspicions were correct with the analysis of the fragment. "Look at this."

Mito-sensei and Jin crowded around the screen and read the results. Jin frowned and folded his arms. "But why would anyone do that?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Yuko shrugged. "But I have a very strong suspicion that Bandit is the culprit. Also, if they wanted to take someone out, wouldn't they target Arata since everyone knows that he has the Overload and would want to make sure that they are not threatened by it?"

"They would. But I have a feeling that it's not as simple as that." Mito-sensei shook her head.

"In the meantime, be more aware of your surroundings. I don't like how things are now." Yuko frowned.

"You and me." Mito-sensei sighed.


	57. Chapter 57

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

"This is the last one." Arata muttered as he took out the last book in the shelf. The book was badly worn out with a brown leather cover and a cluster of jewels of ten colors were imbedded in the center. "I really hope that this is the one."

As he flipped through the pages, he frowned. "The words are in the ancient language of the Valorites and the Vigilnites but for some reason, I cannot understand them."

A feeling in his gut told him to stop and he glanced down at the page which he stopped. Right before his eyes, the words began to move around the page and stopped. He had to blink and pinch himself to see if he was not dreaming or imagining about it. Now, he can understand what the words said despite being in a slightly different form from the original text.

He quickly scanned through the text and his eyes became wide. "This is a description of the Element Stones. It is just as the voice said, the Element Stones were created to restore the power of the Gem of Wishes. I have to show this to Yuko-nee!" But as he got up, the words shifted again and he frowned when he read it. "This text is written by the Ancient Aviane council. The book was written with our powers such that different people with different elements will read and interpret the text differently. The words will rearrange into the form which is readable by the reader according to the element of him. But be warned, each element holds a different message. To fully interpret the book, one must gather ten descendants of the Avianes of the ten elements in existence and put together each meaning of the book to obtain the full message."

He looked up with a thoughtful look and tapped his finger on the table. "No wonder Yuko-nee said that she never heard of a book with the Element Stones and the true power of the Avaines. The book was here all along but in a different text form."

A glance at his watch told him that he would be late for dinner if he did not leave now so he quickly stuffed the book in his bag and started back for the dorms after putting back the other books.

* * *

Muraku was not one to be easily paranoid but since the agent had not contacted him for the past few days even though he said he would, he knew that he had every right to be, especially since he had not seen Mia since War Time ended.

"Muraku, what's wrong?" Mikhail asked when he noticed that his platoon captain seems worried about something.

"It's nothing." Muraku shrugged and picked up his tray. "I'm just wondering why I haven't seen Mia since War Time."

Vanessa lifted her head and tapped her fingers thoughtfully on the table. "I think I overheard the same thing from the girl whom Mia dislikes a lot from her class…Catherin Ruth, I think. She was telling her friend that Mia ran off before Hoshihara Hikaru was sent to the hospital, so I'm assuming that she left before that."

Muraku frowned and glanced over at Haruki's table. Arata had yet to come back and his friends were getting worried. But out of the corner of his eye, he saw Reika going over to their table and told Haruki about something that made him frown but nodded. Reika nodded back and left the dining room.

"I'll be back." He told his friends and went after her. As soon as he got out of the dining room, he heard someone call his name and glanced to his right where Reika was standing with her arms folded.

"I assume that you want to ask me about Mia?" She cocked her head.

"Yes." Muraku nodded.

"Then come on." She gestured him to follow her. They went out to the garden and once Reika was sure that no one was around, she turned to Muraku and sighed. "You saw that black LBX strike her with something, right?"

"Yes." Muraku nodded quietly. "But everyone else did not seem to be able to see it."

"Then, I guess that's good news." Reika shrugged and frowned. "That was actually umbrakinesis energy and it can be very deadly on psychics so Mia's resting at Yuko-nee's place for the night. But I think she'll be fine though."

"I see." Muraku nodded. Something occurred in his mind regarding the agent so he asked, "Do you anything from Arata or Mia regarding the agent I am meeting with?"

Reika cocked her head in confusion as to why Muraku was asking her this but answered nevertheless. "Well, I only know from them that he's the one threatening you with Mia's life if you don't do well in War Time. Why?"

"I was just wondering because we were supposed to meet yesterday but he never showed up. One thing that I learned about the agent is that he never misses an appointment." Muraku frowned as he explained.

"I don't really know…wait…" Reika tapped her feet as she tried to remember something. "I think I heard from my classmates that there's this guy fitting the description of the agent wandering around the island with absolutely no memory and mumbling strange things like 'LBX Battle', 'scary blondes' and such."

"What?" Muraku frowned in confusion.

"I don't know if it's true or not. They heard it from the old lady who owns that Chinese restaurant so if you really want to know more, you can ask her. But don't say that you heard it from me." Reika shrugged.

Muraku slowly nodded as he stored up this information in mind. "Thanks a lot."

"Gezz, what's that downhearted look. Mia will be fine."

Reika jumped and spun around, glaring at Maya who sat on a bench nearby with a smug smile. "What are you doing here gank?"

"You're lucky I'm more interested in talking with Muraku about something to argue with you." Maya rolled her eyes as she got up.

"What is it, Maya?" Muraku asked coolly.

"I just want to talk. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"You usually don't talk, you argue." Reika pointed out.

Maya glared at her and shoveled her away. "I mean it. Either you leave now, or you can deal with my fist."

Reika scowled and turned to Muraku. "I'll leave you two to talk. Good night."

Muraku watched her go back to her dorms and turned to Maya with a suspicious look. "What is it that you want to talk with me?"

Maya rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "Have you ever wondered what Mia always thinks about the comparisons directed at her?"

"We went through that before. Of course I do know." Muraku said stiffly.

"Boy, I kind of wish you went to Fantasy before and studied all the elements. Especially umbrakinesis." Maya sighed. "I may not be a genius of what that attack on Mia is, but I do know something about their power. Umbrakineticist draw on the darkest thoughts of their victims in order to empower their attacks. The darker the thoughts, the more powerful the attacks are."

"Why didn't Reika tell me this?" Muraku frowned.

"This is actually a higher level of education which Nick and I took. Reika is not up to that level yet, nor is Arata or Mia." Maya sighed. "But I just want to warn you about this, unless you can convince Mia to let go of the memories of the comparisons, the umbrakineticist will continue to target those thoughts and eventually, she'll be unable to handle it and…" She trailed off and Muraku understood what she was trying to say.

"Alright, I'll talk to her about it." He nodded.

"You better." Maya warned him and went back inside.

Muraku sighed and sat down on the bench that Maya occupied just now. 'Why must things become so complicated now?'

* * *

After leaving Muraku with his 'talk' with Maya, Reika began to wonder if it was alright leaving him alone with Maya since she can be very unpredictable at times and she made it very obvious that she will not hesitate to hurt Muraku if he angered her.

"Reika, what's with the face?" Arata asked her, looking up from the book his was reading in the common room.

"Arata!" She jumped. "Where were you just now?"

"I got caught up in something so I was late for dinner." He shrugged and got up. "Are you free now? I got something I need to show you."

Reika blinked but nodded. Arata took her hand and pulled her into one of the storage rooms and turned on the dim overhead light above them.

"So what is it?" Reika asked him curiously.

"This." Arata pulled out the book he found and let her read it. She flipped over the pages and stopped at one page. After reading it, she frowned and looked up at him. "What is this? I can recognize the text, but for some reason, I cannot read it."

"Look again."

Reika frowned and reverted her eyes down to the book and they became wide as the words shifted as they did before Arata and now she could read it. "How…"

"The text shifts into a more readable form to the reader according to the element of the reader." Arata explain. "And each element text contains a different meaning within one book. Can you read out loud what it says?"

"The Avianes were once the strongest beings in the universe until their sworn enemy and predator, the Night Lurkers appeared and attacked them, devouring all who stands in their path. But ever since the appearance of the descendants of the Avianes, the Valorites and Vigilnites, the Avianes managed to stand a chance against them. Because of that, they bestowed their friendship to their descendants as well as their strongest arsenal." Reika read.

"What is it?" Arata urged her.

Reika flipped a page and what she read made her nearly drop the book. "I don't believe it!"

"What? What is it?"

Reika scanned though the text again to make sure that she did not read it wrong and lowered the book with a shock look on her face. "The strongest arsenal is the Avianes themselves bonded with the Valorites and Vigilnites, or to be more specific, to transform into an armor for them."


	58. Chapter 58

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

"The strongest arsenal is the Avianes themselves bonded with the Valorites and Vigilnites, or to be more specific, to transform into an armor for them!"

"What!?" Arata wanted to grab the book but stopped when he remembered that only Reika can read the text as it is now. "So you mean, they become some sort of armor for us?"

"That's what it says." She nodded and flipped to the next page which was blank. "Do you think that we should give it a try on someone else now? Because it's blank."

Arata took the book and the page remained blank. "I think so. But let's wait until tomorrow and ask Daimen to have a look."

"Agreed." Reika nodded and peaked out of the door. Once she was sure that the coast is clear, she and Arata snuck out and headed back up to Arata's floor.

"Thank goodness it's a Saturday tomorrow. That way, we won't have to worry about school or War Time." Reika remarked.

Arata paused at that and frowned in thought. "Now that I'm thinking about it, except for that day when they appeared on the other side of the island and Haruki and the others found out about us, the Night Lurkers only attacked the Second World and only during War Time."

"Do you think that it's connected to the Gem of Wishes?" Reika whispered.

"Maybe. But we should ask Yuko-nee tomorrow. Let's go to bed early tonight." Arata yawned.

"Alright." Reika bobbed her head sleepily and went up to her room where she was greeted by a worried Yuno.

"Reika, where's Mia? We haven't seen her after what happened during War Time."

"Well, certain things happened and let's just say that it is best that she remains with Yuko-nee for the night." Reika shrugged. "But nothing to worry about."

Yuno frowned and got up from her bed. "Reika, it's been days since you told us everything with your powers. Why are you still holding back from us?"

"It's not that I don't trust you, it's too complicated to explain and even I have no idea of what happened to Mia." Reika shook her head in frustration and sat down at her bed, pulling out her songbook. Ignoring Yuno's slightly hurt look, she buried her head in the book and made some scribbles, not really writing down anything useful for her song.

'Man, I wish that Yuno and the others never really found out about us.' She sighed to herself. 'I don't want to talk about my powers or the other's for the matter. Why can't they understand that it is one thing to reveal ourselves and it is another to talk about it? Arata and Mia may not have that problem, but I have serious problems with that.'

* * *

The next morning, we see Reika bringing hers and her roommates'' laundry down to be hung up since Yuno was out and Mia was not around. She felt bad for being rude to Yuno last night and wanted to apologize to her but the brown haired girl was nowhere to be seen since breakfast.

When she came to the laundry line, she was mildly shock to find Catherin using a stick and push what clothes that were hanged on the lines to one end.

"There we go." Catherin smirked as she dropped the stick.

One of the students who was watching Catherin in shock ran over with rage. "What the heck are you doing!?"

"I'm just opening up some space." Catherin said nonchalantly. "You're taking up too much of the line anyway even though you are a tiny country."

"What was that!? Did you just call us tiny!?" The girl demanded as her friends quickly held her back to stop her from beating Catherin up. Reika then recognized her as one of Porton's students and one of their strong players who coincidently had a short temper. Right now, she could not blame her since Mia had the same thin line of patience for people like Catherin and the blond girl was just plain rude with her actions and words.

"Hey Catherin." Reika called as she placed down her basket. "Morning."

"Oh Reika, good morning." She greeted back. "Are you here to hang your clothes too?"

"Yeah." Reika nodded and glanced at the line. "But that was until I saw you push back the clothes belonging to those students there. And since you were implying that tiny countries should only have little space, I think I might as well wait until your clothes dry and hang them up since I'm from a tiny country called Harness."

Catherin froze, not realizing that Reika had heard all that she had said. "Wait! W-what I meant was…"

"I understand Catherin." Reika sighed dramatically. "But I have to say, you have a way with words and never understand just how deep they cut into other people."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Catherin pouted.

This time, Reika sighed for real and straightened the Porton student's clothes on the lines that they were evenly apart now. "I don't think that you would understand the meaning of it unless it happens on you. I'll hang up your clothes as well as mine so that they will be evenly hanged on the line."

"Well…thanks." Catherin said awkwardly and went back inside the dorms.

"Thanks a lot of the help." The dark skinned girl said as she helped to hang up the clothes too.

"It's nothing." Reika shrugged as she and the plump girl hung some of Catherin's clothes on the lines. "I just can't stand her words sometimes and one of her favorite pastimes is badmouthing my best friend even if she doesn't realizes it."

"Ha!" The girl who got mad at Catherin just now spat. "I bet that even if the whole world told her that, she would still not change."

"I can only hope that she will one day." Reika shrugged. The girl huffed and stormed off.

"Sorry about her behavior." The dark skinned girl apologized. "Hinako is rather short tempered and has a lot of pride for Porton even if it is just a tiny island."

"I can relate with that." Reika smiled sympathetically. "I'm Reika by the way."

"I'm Umi and this is Ririka." The dark skinned girl introduced themselves.

"It's nice meeting you." Reika smiled and continued to hang the clothes. Not too far away from them, Arata watched her with a small smile and went inside to catch up with Sakuya.

"So how's Reika?" The green haired mechanic asked when Arata joined him.

"She's doing fine." He shrugged. "But I wonder what happened that made that girl from Porton mad. She nearly bit our heads off for a small remark."

"I don't know." Sakuya shrugged. "But Hikaru does look better now, doesn't he?"

Arata snorted at that. "If I know him, he'll be bound to be back by Monday, Tuesday being the latest."

"True." Sakuya chuckled in agreement. "What about Mia? Will she be back by Monday too?"

"I think so." Arata checked his watch and grabbed his wallet from his schoolbag, tossing it into his locker. "Sorry, but I just remembered that I have to buy a few things so I'm going back to town now."

Sakuya watched him go curiously. He noticed that Arata's locker was not closed properly so he went to close it when he saw something that made him sweatdrop. 'Just what does he plan to do with all those Halloween mask and cloaks?'

* * *

Along the way to the stores, Arata hummed as he looked around town. Since Halloween was around the corner, most of the town was already decorated with pumpkins, spider cobwebs and black cutouts of cats and bats.

'It's a nice change of scenery.' He thought to himself. Back at Fantasy, no one ever celebrated Halloween or any other holidays since the teachers always thought of it as a waste of time. Instead, they would plan out tournaments or increase their training load to take their minds off of it. He pulled his scarf tighter around his neck and tucked his hands inside the pockets of his jacket, wondering how Mia can even stand the weather now without her jacket given that she usually tied it around her waist and went around with only a scarf carelessly tossed around her neck.

"Hey mate!" Daimen greeted him with a grin as he ran over to him when he spotted him. "Doing last minute shopping for the big prank tomorrow?"

"I got almost everything except a plastic Grim Reaper scythe." Arata smirked.

"I got the batteries and the torchlight. Gendou was wondering if I was afraid of the dark though because of that." Daimen grimaced. "Anyway, I know that Wataru has his camera and Maya managed to find the pair of…what shoe is it called again?"

"Stiletto heeled boots." Arata answered. "Reika also got a pair and Nick got the voice modulators. So we're good to go for the big prank."

"Yeah. The Chaos Route and their friends will show him what happens to people who messes with Mia!" Daimen declared, drawing strange looks from on lookers. Arata rolled his eyes and pulled him into the supermarket.

"We're not supposed to tell anyone about it." He reminded him.

"Sorry." Daimen rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He remembered something and pulled out the mysterious book that Arata gave him after breakfast. "By the way, I read the book already. I can understand what it's saying, but it doesn't make any sense."

"Really?" Arata cocked an eyebrow at him. "Tell me about it when we get to Yuko-nee's place."

"Sure thing." Daimen bobbed his head. He suddenly snapped his head up and grinned slyly. "Look at your five o'clock."

Arata cocked his head at the direct Daimen indicated him at and raised an eyebrow at Yuno who was going through some of the costume props on display. "So what?"

"Aren't you going to say something to her?" He asked knowingly. "I mean, you guys are dating and all."

"It was only one date and I don't think we're official yet." Arata shot back with a glare at him.

"Then make it official." Daimen said like it was the most obvious thing. "A lot of people in our class are wondering if you guys are even official at all so put a stop to that by helping her out with her Halloween costume."

"But I haven't celebrate Halloween for the last eight years." Arata pointed out with a raised an eyebrow.

"Then it's time that you started again before people begin laughing at you for not." Daimen sighed. "I remember the first year I was home during Halloween, all my cousins and neighbors laughed at me for not wanting to celebrate it. Why don't you observe what Yuno's costume is then come up with a complimentary one."

"No thanks." Arata rolled his eyes. "But just so that you won't bother me anymore, I'll do as you first suggested, talk to her." Without waiting for Daimen's reply, he went over to Yuno and tapped on her shoulder. "Hey."

Yuno glanced up and smiled when she saw him. "Arata. Are you looking for something for your costume?"

"Not exactly. I'm not celebrating Halloween." Arata said awkwardly.

"You're not?" Yuno said in surprise. "Why not?"

"Well, blame my teachers in Fantasy. They brainwashed me into thinking that it's a waste of time." Arata said hesitantly.

Yuno frowned at that and folded her arms. "Halloween is not a waste of time. It's the time of the year everyone gets to dress up and act as a child no matter how old you are."

"Maybe, but I have only celebrated it four times in my entire life." Arata said quietly.

"What?" Yuno blinked in surprise.

"But anyway, I'm fine with not celebrating it. I've always been told that I'm too mature for my age so it'll be better that I don't celebrate it." Arata quickly assured her so that she would not press it.

"Well, if you're fine with not celebrating it, then I won't push you to. But I was hoping that you would attend the Halloween party which will be held at the sports center." Yuno said hopefully.

"Halloween party?" Arata said in surprise. Yuko was never one to host this kind of parties so hearing that she will be was shocking.

"Didn't you know?" Yuno pulled out a black and orange flyer from her bag and gave it to him for a look. "She's hosting this party on Halloween evening which will be opened to everyone on the island as well as some special classes on making Halloween desserts next weekend."

Arata stared at the flyer in shock but snapped out of it when he saw Daimen not too far away, waving the Grim Reaper scythe he was looking for in his hands. He turned back to Yuno with a wry smile. "Well, I'll think about it. But I have to go now. Daimen found what I want so I'm going to visit Yuko-nee now."

"Alright, I understand. And if you see Mia, tell her I said hi." Yuno nodded.

"Sure, will do." Arata nodded back and went to the counter where Daimen was waiting for him and paid for the toy scythe.

"So how did it go?" His friend asked him excitedly.

"Fine."

"Fine? That's it?" Daimen frowned.

"There wasn't much to talk although I did find out that Yuko-nee is hosting a Halloween party and Halloween dessert making classes." Arata said mildly.

"Now that's shocking." Daimen shook his head with wide eyes.

"We can ask her about it when we get to her place. And you have to tell me about what you read in the book." Arata reminded him as they walked down the street.

"Right." Daimen's face became serious when he remembered about it.

* * *

**So I included a small scene from episode 24 but I'm not going to go into that episode that much so don't be disappointed. And as for the prank, it will be in The Side Stories No One Likes To Share eventually but not now. And the Halloween Party will be up after Hikaru's recovery. **


	59. Chapter 59

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

"Are you sure that you are alright now?" Muraku asked his sister as he sat down across from her at the table at the lobby of the sports center. She seemed so engross in whatever she was drawing on a piece of paper that Muraku did not dare to disturb her until just now.

"Yes." She muttered, not looking up from her work.

"What are you working on?" Muraku asked curiously.

"The Halloween party poster." Mia said, taking one from the pile which she was done and gave it to him to look at.

Muraku raised an eyebrow as he read it. "I thought you don't celebrate Halloween."

"Neither do you." She pointed out. "Which is why I'm only helping out with the preparations. I would rather look forward to spending the evening wrapped in a blanket in the common room drinking hot coco."

Muraku quirked a small smile at that. "But I heard that Maya is hosting a scare-storytelling circle that night like we used to do when we were kids."

"At the dorms, halfway during the party and only you, me, Wataru and Nick are invited, like old times." She rolled her eyes. "So you're going to be there?"

"Maybe, maybe not."

Mia pursed her lips at that. But she suddenly narrowed her eyes as Charlotte walked over with a small smirk on her lips. As she passed by, she purposely allowed her handbag to knock over the complete stack of the finished posters.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Charlotte said with false pretense which did not fool the twins one bit. "You just placed the stack too close to the edge of the table. But," She flicked her eyes down at the posters and gave a disgusted snort. "You have no creativity at all in these posters. You might as well throw them all in the trash where they belong."

Mia glared at her with a hard look and clenched her fist so hard that they shook. "No one asked for your opinion and Yuko-san will be the judge of that, not you."

Charlotte's smirk only grew as she reached down and picked up a handful of the posters. "She only asked you to do this only because she's sympathizing you, her brother's former girlfriend." She tossed the posters at Mia's face at that.

Muraku was about to snap something at her when a trolley suddenly appeared out of nowhere and crashed into Charlotte, making her yelp in shock and pain as she crashed onto the floor.

"Oh my, I'm _so_ sorry!" Daimen cried as he ran over with an apologetic look but Muraku and Mia could see the mischievous look in his eyes and the sarcasm behind the apology. "I lost control of the trolley just now. But mean, malicious words tend to make me clumsy most of the time, especially when they are directed at my best friend."

Charlotte stood up with a furious look. "How dare you! I'm going to report you to the owner of this place!"

"Go ahead then." Daimen said lazily. "But just so you know, the owner of this place doesn't really take kindly to sneaks, especially those who only know how to sprout unkind words from her mouth."

"But I'm her brother's girlfriend, surely she would listen to me." Charlotte said smugly which made Mia and Daimen snort.

"Unfortunately, I do not do my brother's girlfriends any favors. If you don't believe me, ask Mia." Yuko said in a quiet, authoritative voice as she came over to them, having heard the last sentence. "And just so you know, I don't like Atsuya's current choice of a girlfriend. If I were you, I would keep quiet about it. Just like before, you don't have any authority in this place any more than Mia did before just because you are Atsuya's girlfriend. So if I hear even one single complaint against you, I will not hesitate to bar you from this place."

Charlotte squirmed under Yuko's glare and words, mumbling something about going to see Atsuya and sulked off. Yuko turned her attention to Daimen. "As for you, as much as I would not like to punish you, you have to clear up all the junk in the storeroom for what you did to a visitor."

"As long as it's for Mia, I don't mind." Daimen shrugged, winking at Mia before pushing off the trolley, heading up to the storeroom.

Mia merely rolled her eyes at that while Muraku raised an eyebrow. 'Does she really not think that his words and actions just now were just a friendly gesture of a friend? It seems more than that to me. Then again, Arata and Reika did say that she and Daimen are best friends so this kind of action is probably common for her.'

"Oh, Mia. These posters are perfect." Yuko said, picking up the posters on the floor. "Once you are done with the others, you can start helping Daimen with the decorations."

"Alright." Mia nodded. Yuko seemed pleased with that and walked off.

"Are you sure that you don't need to rest?" Muraku asked concernedly.

"Well, I'm fine now." Mia shrugged. "It doesn't hurt anymore if I want to use my psychic powers. Yuko-nee also said that I'm fine now so I can go back to the dorms tonight."

"I suppose that's a relief." Muraku said thoughtfully.

"Then, I'm going to pass these up to Arata then I'll be upstairs if you need me." Mia smiled and was about to head up when Muraku grabbed her wrist.

"Wait, there's something that I've been meaning to talk to you about for a while." He said as he pulled her back to the table.

Mia quirked an eyebrow at that. "What is it?"

Muraku took a deep breath and stared at her straight in the eye. "How do you actually think of the comparisons now?"

"Maya set you up to it, didn't she?" Mia asked while drumming her fingers irritably on the table.

"She's just worried about you just like I am." Muraku explained.

Mia raised an eyebrow and sighed. "I admit that I would always hate the comparisons between us no thanks to a certain father of ours."

"You're still mad at him." Muraku asked quietly.

"Yup." Mia growled. "He was the one who separated us and picked me when he and mom divorced. But then all he can say is mean things about me and how I can never compare to you."

"But do you really think that?" Muraku asked her pointedly. "You have excel in martial arts like Arata. Also, you're a great singer and composer. Not to mention, you have a wide range of powers."

"Which I don't like using to be honest." Mia sighed. "But you're the better swimmer, the better LBX player and you also have a fifth degree black belt in taekwondo, which I'm betting that you don't let anyone know, especially your friends."

Muraku managed a wry smile at that. "I prefer to use non-violent methods to defuse conflict, unlike you. I learned taekwondo for self-defense, not just to simply beat anyone up."

"Tell that to the students you made LOST." Mia rolled her eyes. But at her brother's pained look, she flinched. "Sorry, I didn't mean it…"

"I understand." Muraku said softly. "But just so you know, its ok for you to feel upset about the comparisons. I just hope that you won't continue to dwell on them. I'm always willing to listen to you if you want to vent out your frustrations. Don't keep them bottled up anymore."

Mia looked surprise at his words but nodded curtly and got up. "Thanks." She said so softly that if Muraku was not close enough, he would not have heard it.

* * *

"So how did it go?" Arata asked as he met Daimen at the storeroom.

Daimen smirked and held up an ok sign. "She got what she deserved. A nice whack by a trolley."

Arata chuckled at that but it faded when he picked up the book. "So what did you read inside it that confuses you?"

"The book said something about each of the Element Stones, whatever they are, represents a virtue. And it will only bond with someone who it deems worthy of its power through that virtue." Daimen scratched the back of his head. "Do you happen to know anything about the Element Stones?"

"Yes." Arata sighed and launched into an explanation of the voice which spoke to him whenever he was unconscious and what it told him about the Element Stones and the full potential of the Avianes.

When he was done, Daimen let out a low whistle. "Wow, you got it hard recently. But I can see now why you were holing yourself up in Kuriko-sensei's office now."

Arata tilted his head at him with a confuse look. "Why do you call Mito-sensei as Ms. Mito but call Yuko-nee Kuriko-sensei?"

"You probably don't remember this but I used to call Kuriko-sensei as Ms. Kuriko until Mia taught me Japanese in exchange for me teaching her English so I kind of got used Kuriko-sensei once I understood what 'sensei' means." Daimen shrugged. "But for Ms. Mito, I got the habit of calling my teachers like that after two years back at home. I still call Kuriko-sensei 'sensei' out of habit."

"Ok." Arata said slowly and headed for the door. "I think it's about time I told Yuko-nee about the truth about the book. And I bet Mia would be looking for me to pass over the posters."

At the mention of the posters, Daimen's smile dropped. "Just so you know, Charlotte used the posters as a target at her. So try not to…be overly critical about it."

"I'll keep that in mind." Arata reassured him. As he went over to Yuko's office, he bumped into her. "Mia! You have the posters?"

Mia nodded and gave them to him without a word. Arata ran his eyes over it and smiled. "As usual, your creativity really is something. I'll have these distributed around town soon."

"Are you sure that they are alright?" Mia hesitantly asked.

"Whatever that Charlotte said to you, flush it out of your brain." Arata said sternly. "Trust me, she's just jealous that you still have Atsuya wrapped around your finger, whether you know it or not."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Mia frowned.

Arata looked thoughtful for a moment as he chose his words carefully. "Please don't think that I'm saying this to get you and Atsuya back together. But for the past few days, I noticed that he wouldn't spend as much time with Charlotte as he would with you when the both of you were still dating. Also, I noticed the looks he was giving you."

Mia raised a skeptic eyebrow at that. "I'm not sure…I mean, he was the one who wanted to go behind my back and broke up with me."

"Maybe because he still loves you." Arata shrugged. "But just so you know, I'm not good in giving these kind of advices, but I hope that you would just talk to him and work it all out with him. That way you two can stay friends instead of avoiding each other entirely."

Mia did not reply at that but walked off. Arata smiled wryly and rubbed the back of his head. 'Well here I am, asking Mia to talk with Atsuya when we're going to be playing that big prank on him. Oh well, once we're done, hopefully he'll know what he did wrong.'


	60. Chapter 60

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

**So I'm back since my exams are over and my break has already started. The updates will be more frequent again. Sorry if Jin is ooc in this chapter...again.**

* * *

It was rather quiet that Monday after school when Reika and Mia left the school, chatting about what they did during War Time.

"…And then, Miss Ojou-sama's Siren accidentally tripped and we had to protect her while her teammates get her out of there. All in all, we lost Bayview Beach to Arabista and Kaidou-sensei is positively mad at us." Reika lamented.

"That's harsh." Mia shook her head. "All we did is patrol our grounds. I don't think Rossius is going to bother us for the time being, given their state, so we won't be fighting them any time soon. And Mito-sensei is not interested in taking any more territory after we found the Lost Area."

Reika paused at that and raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think that the Lost Area is their objective all along, not increasing their territory?"

"Very…likely." Mia said slowly. "But why do they want to look for it in the first place?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Reika shrugged and stopped suddenly in front of the Swallow Café and gasped. "No way!"

"What?" Mia rushed to her side and saw the sign in front of the Swallow Café. "Half price off parfaits!?"

"And it's only for today." Reika grinned and ran inside with Mia following closely behind. But when they entered, they were met with the scene of Hinako and Catherin nearly starting an LBX battle outside of a D-Cube. All of the sudden, Reika materialized out of nowhere and grabbed their LBX.

"Eh?" Mia glanced to her side where Reika was a second ago and wondered if the girl had used her powers to teleport there though it seemed unlikely.

"What are you doing!?" Hinako demanded.

Reika did not say a word and deposited the LBXs right into their owner's hands. "If you two had really fought here, then not only will the both of you get into trouble, Porton and Jenock's reputations will be tarnished. The D-Cubes were invented for a reason, you know."

Hinako and Catherin growled at her but Hanako, Sakuya, Umi and Ririka let out audible sighs of relief while Kiyoka let out an inaudible sigh but Mia can tell that she was relief too that Reika had stepped in before any damage was done.

"Alright, let's settle this during War Time then." Hinako finally said after she calmed down a little.

"Huh?" Catherin frowned.

"I'll beat you into a pulp and show you off to the entire school!" Hinako declared.

"For the record, I did not meant for you to settle this at War Time." Reika sighed.

"War Time, I don't think I can…" Catherin's frown deepened, knowing too well that Mito-sensei will never approve it.

"Are you running?" Hinako taunted. "Well, it's fitting, since all Kojou Asuka does is run around her opponents."

That did the trick and the next thing everyone knew, Catherin agreed. Sakuya and Hanako gulped, Reika facepalmed and Mia was beginning to wonder how far Catherin's pride would make her go and what was she going to explain to Mito-sensei tomorrow.

* * *

Later, Mia and Sakuya had to explain everything to Haruki and Arata at dinner. As expected, they were exasperated by Catherin's action.

"It's not possible, Mito-sensei will never agree to it, so you don't have to worry too much about it." Arata shook his head.

"Yeah, but you should have seen the look in Catherin's eyes. I may not like her but that look tells me that she's going to do it, regardless if Mito-sensei lets her or not." Mia said thoughtfully as she tapped her soup bowl with her spoon.

"But if I know Mito-sensei, she will never let Catherin use War Time for her personal interest like that. But Catherin…I think you're right." Haruki admitted.

"So what should we do?" Sakuya asked worriedly.

"Well, based on my personal experience, interfering with fights regarding prides are the worst thing one can do." Arata shivered. "I remember that there was one senior of ours was sent to the hospital for a broken rib and nose when he foolishly tried to stop two student who have alpha male complex from breaking out into a fight."

"Oh, Stevens Regis, I remember him." Mia chuckled mildly. "The teachers ended up using him as an example on why we shouldn't interfere with physical fights for months."

"So what you're trying to say is that we should just watch at the sidelines." Haruki clarified.

"Yup. Throw in a comment or a word of advice but never directly interfere. Let Mito-sensei do that." Mia nodded.

"I hope it works." Sakuya said worriedly.

Arata gave him a wry smile and exchanged knowing looks with Mia. There is no way Catherin will simply stop just because Mito-sensei told her to.

* * *

Over at Yuko's office, Yuko was fuming as she reread the DNA report that Mito-sensei gave her. Her friend was visibly disturbed by the contents of the report as well.

"You never knew?" Mito-sensei finally asked.

"No." Yuko shook her head with a sigh. "Where did you find this?"

"In Jin's drawer, by accident." Mito-sensei pursed her lips. "Are you going to tell her?"

Yuko flicked her eyes back to the report and after some thought, she shook her head. "The only true family they have in their eyes is each other. There's no way I can change that."

Mito-sensei nodded her head in understanding, knowing who Yuko was referring to. "I think Jin knows that too, that's why he never said anything about it."

"But…this is absurd." Yuko crumbled up the paper and rubbed her hands across her eyes.

"Um, nee-san." Atsuya peaked his head inside.

"What?" Yuko turned to him exasperatedly. "Didn't I tell you that I don't want to be disturbed?"

"Jin-san's here." Atsuya said before Jin shoveled him aside and stormed inside the office. His eyes landed on the report and his gaze hardened at Yuko.

"Where did you get that?"

"I found it in your drawer so I showed it to her." Mito-sensei stepped in, taking the blame. "Why didn't you tell us that Reika is related to you?"

Jin clenched his fist as he took deep breaths to calm himself, but failing to do so. One problem he had over the past few months being a teacher is that he had no way to release the stress that came with the job. In the past, he would simply call up one of his friends for a quick LBX battle just to release the pent up stress. But on the island, he cannot simply ask for his friends to come over just for a battle and there is no way he can challenge the students.

Seeing his distressed look, Yuko's face softened and she pushed a chair towards him. "I think you need to sit down. I'll have Atsuya get a cup of tea for you."

"No, no thanks." Jin shook his head as he sat down and rubbed his face with his hand. He stared at the DNA report which Yuko handed him while she and Mito-sensei waited for his explanation.

"I knew for some time that Reika could be related to me since she came to the island because she reminded me a lot of my late mother. That's why I did that DNA test." Jin finally spoke.

"So, Reika is your…"

"She's my sister."

A blanket of heavy silence fell on the room with equally disbelieving and shocked looks from Yuko and Mito-sensei, but for entirely different reasons.

"Jin, Reika was abandoned at an orphanage when she was a baby." Yuko said carefully.

Jin frowned and pulled out a picture from his pocket, handling it to her. Mito-sensei got curious and went over to Yuko's side to have a look. There was a young couple in the photo with what could be a four year old Jin with a baby in his arms. But what caught Yuko's attention is how similar the lady in the photo is to Reika.

"I admit, if this is your mother, then she looks a lot like Reika. But that doesn't necessarily mean that she's your sister. She could be your cousin for all you know. DNA reports can only go so far as to identifying if you share blood or not, not tell you if Reika is your sister or cousin." Yuko said with a frown at him.

"I know that." Jin tapped his fingers on the table impatiently. "But somewhere in my heart, I know that she is my sister. As for how she ended up in the orphanage, we were separated when our parents died in the Tokio Bridge Collapse incident. I meant to look for her when I was older but I did not know where to start."

"Ok." Yuko said slowly. "I believe you."

"What?" Mito-sensei looked at her in surprise.

"What?" Yuko shrugged. "In my world, the heart always tells the truth. A sixth sense if you want to put it that way."

"I see. But you said that Reika was abandoned at the orphanage." Mito-sensei frowned.

Yuko bit her lip at that and glanced away. "The truth is, I never got the full story out of the both of them about their childhood. I only bits of it here and there, but that was enough for me to put together the story. However, I did manage to obtain the names of the two orphanages Reika and Arata were from respectively. Honestly, I would not be surprise if the caretakers were lying to Reika about her being abandoned there if what I gathered from their reputation is correct."

"What do you mean?" Jin demanded.

"The orphanage knew about her." Yuko said with a knowing look, noting their stun faces. "They knew about her powers. And from what I was told, she was a target for bully from both her fellow orphans and caretakers because of that. And Arata…He was in a similar state, but worse since the orphanage Reika was in was on government support, meaning that the conditions were more desirable than most. But Arata's was not. So the conditions were more…uglier."

Jin glanced up in surprise. He too was an orphan but he had to consider himself lucky for Kaidou Yoshimitsu took him in the second he saw him at the bridge so he did not have to spend one day at the orphanage. It made him wonder whether it was just as bad as what Yuuya suffered all those years as a guinea pig.

As though sensing his thoughts, Yuko shook her head. "Believe me. I did not get the full details, but even I'm horrified by what he told me. Finding out more about that orphanage did not help me either. Anyway, what are you going to tell Reika? She deserves to know this at some point."

"I don't know." Jin shook his head tiredly. "Can I ask you something?"

"It depends on what it is." Yuko shrugged.

"At what point did Arata and Reika met if they were from different orphanages and became siblings?"

Yuko nearly dropped her cup at that question. She gave him a look which Mito-sensei and Jin could not read. After a moment of thought, Yuko shook her head. "That's not my story to tell. Arata or Reika might tell you if you ask, but they'll want a reason first. And when that happens, it's either you come up with the 'I'm-just-curious' excuse which I won't guarantee that it will work. Or tell them the truth about Reika."

"I don't think I can do that." Jin sighed.

"Why not?" Mito-sensei asked although she had an idea why.

"It'll only ruin them." Jin said firmly and picked up his photo. "I'm fine with looking out for her in the background. But from what I observed, Arata is the one who can take care of her and protect her."

Yuko eyed him for a moment and nodded. "I understand. But one day, if she doesn't find out about this on your terms, you will have to be prepared to explain everything."

"I know." Jin said quietly. But both women could tell that even if he doesn't show it, he was troubled by his decision to not tell Reika the truth.


	61. Chapter 61

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

"For some reason, I have a really bad feeling that Catherin is going to disobey Mito-sensei's orders. Especially after she didn't show up like that Porton student wanted. And not to mention, there was that scene this morning." Mia shuddered as she and Arata walked down to the briefing room, having been summoned by Mito-sensei.

"I know. But there's nothing we can do about it." Arata shrugged.

"But don't you think it's strange that Hanako told us that Mito-sensei wants to see us right after she gave us our mission. Because Mito-sensei would never call us out straight before War Time." Mia said uneasily.

"And not to mention, Haruki was called to see Sakuya by Kiyoka." Arata replied just as uneasily.

"You don't think…"

Arata pursed his lips and gestured for Mia to follow him. "Only one way to find out."

"Where are you going?" Mia asked, startled because Arata was running in the direction they came from.

"Sakuya's control room." Arata called over his shoulder.

Mia frowned but ran after him. Soon enough, they arrived at the control room only to find it locked from the outside with someone pounding on it inside. From what they could make out, it was Haruki and Sakuya calling Kiyoka to open up.

"Haruki, what happened?" Arata asked loudly enough for them to hear.

"Arata." He sighed in relief. "Kiyoka tricked me and locked me and Sakuya in here. I thought you were going to see Mito-sensei?"

"We figured that it would be a hoax just like what happened to you." Mia called back. "The door is locked from the outside. Any idea how to unlock it?"

"Nope." Arata shook his head. "Hang on guys. We're going to get the janitor."

"Ok."

As Mia and Arata were about to turn to go, they suddenly froze and exchanged knowing looks.

"Night Lurkers." Mia hissed.

"And in here too." Arata replied cautiously and backed up to the door. "Guys, we got a little problem right now. I think its best that you stay in there until it's over."

"What are you talking about?" Haruki asked worriedly at the tone which he was using. The lights suddenly went out as the power went out with only the emergency lights illuminating the hallway dimly. "What's going on?"

"Trouble." Arata answered back warily as he and Mia stood back to back, getting in stance. Out of the blue, he threw a kick straight at his side where he had sense the Night Lurker coming. Behind him, Mia followed up with a punch and a roundhouse kick at it.

"Take the left!" Arata yelled as he broke away and spun on his right foot to punch a Night Lurker with the momentum. Beside him, Mia grabbed the wrist of a Night Lurker and twisted it very hard until it spun in midair and landed on its back.

"No, Mia!" Arata called when he saw that she was about to use her powers to finish it off. "Even though the power is off, the teachers can still see what's happening down here!"

Mia growled in frustration and threw off the attacking Night Lurkers away with a strong sweep of her arms. "Then what do you suggest we do?"

Arata was about to reply when the alarm sounded, catching him off guard. Two Night Lurkers took this chance and punched him in the chest, sending him flying at the wall.

"Arata!" Mia cried as she flipped over the Night Lurkers and kicked them away. She quickly helped him up and realized that he might have a concussion, given how dazed and confuse he was. "Great."

"What's going on!?" Sakuya called with panic rising in his voice as he pounded on the door. A thick metal door then fell over Sakuya's control room door with the same thing happening

"Just be thankful that you're inside!" Mia yelled as she dodged a Night Lurker's claws, only for it to be imbedded in both the metal door and the normal door. Mia winced and hoped that Sakuya and Haruki were far from the door when the claws broke through the door. Thankfully, when the Night Lurker yanked its claws out, there were no bloodstains on it. But this only served to make her anxious. If the Night Lurkers were strong enough to break through a thick layer of metal, then she and Arata were in vulnerable positions.

'And not to mention, the same thing would have happened to all the doors in the school. This must be the security upgrade that cabbie talked about that day.' Mia thought in frustration. 'Now what can I do? I can't take on them myself and Arata is in no shape to fight.'

"Mia, we have to go back to the briefing room." Arata rasped out as he leaned on the wall to support himself.

"But the doors…"

"We'll have to put our telekinesis lessons to the test then." Arata attempted a grin.

Mia was uncertain about it given Arata's possible concussion but nodded nevertheless. If it was one thing about Arata that made him their unofficial leader, it is the ability to gain the trust of everyone close to him, regardless of how sane those decisions are.

Once they saw an opening, Mia immediately punched a Night Lurker close to her and threw him into three others, creating a small path. Mia quickly grabbed Arata's arm and pulled him along as they ran down the corridor to escape the Night Lurkers but luck was not on their side.

The Night Lurkers soon caught up with them and shot laser beams from the palm of their hands at them. Mia had barely missed some of them and one of them had nicked her upper arm, causing her to wince in pain but she did not slow down until they were approaching Jenock's briefing room. However, this proved to be a fatal mistake as one Night Lurker caught up with them and stab her side. Mia gasped in pain and without thinking, she flung it away with her telekinesis.

"Mia." Arata spoke up weakly.

"Not now. Yell at me later." She gritted her teeth as she squeezed her eyes to prevent herself from crying for the pain in her side was killing her. Once they were only a few feet away from the room, she and Arata stretched out their hands at the same time and ensured that their mental brainwaves were on the same channel before unleashing their powers to force the door to open slightly.

Inside, Mito-sensei was nervously pacing around the briefing room. It may be uncharacteristic of her to show her anxiety, but in this case, she did not care. The headmaster had brief the security upgrades to the teachers at the start of the semester and told them that they will only be activated if the Night Lurkers, or 'monsters' as the headmaster puts it, appears within the school grounds. Now, the very thing all the teachers had dreaded, whether they would admit it or not, has happened.

When the door started creaking and pry open, Mito-sensei jumped and considered the possibilities of a malfunction when Arata and Mia jumped in through the small opening, closing it as another Night Lurker jumped in too. But it disintegrated when the door closed on it.

"Are the both of you alright?" Mito-sensei asked as she rushed over.

"I hope so." Arata moaned as he slide down the door, only to be pulled away by Mia when the claws of the Night Lurkers pierced through.

"They can cut through the door no matter how thick it is." She grimaced. Arata glanced at her and noticed the remnants of the claws of the Night Lurker sticking out of her side.

"Mito-sensei, is there a first aid kit here?"

Mito-sensei nodded and took it out from one of the cupboards. Arata took it and began pulling out the claw fragments with a pair of tweezers. Blood was already pooling out of the wound profusely so after he was done, Mia pulled off her vest and pressed it against the wound.

"Why did the Night Lurkers appear here?" Mito-sensei frowned.

"I don't know." Arata groaned and leaned against the wall. With the adrenaline wearing off, his dizziness from the concussion returned.

"Yuko-san and Atsuya are outside." Mia suddenly spoke up. Sure enough, Arata could sense his mentor and Atsuya outside, fighting the Night Lurkers.

Mito-sensei pursed her lips and began bandaging Mia's wounds. "I don't care what happens after this. But I do know that it is best for you to retrieve the Gem of Wishes as soon as you can so that they will not come back."

"I know. But the headmaster would make it easier for us from here on. Probably starting next week." Mia muttered.

Mito-sensei raised an eyebrow and turned to Arata. He sighed and shrugged. "Precognitive dreams. But from what I know, they come randomly."

"What I don't understand is, why did the Night Lurkers attacked outside of the Second World?" Mia gasped out.

Mito-sensei and Arata turned to her with questioning faces until Mito-sensei's eyes became wide as she understood what Mia was sayin. "Until now, the Night Lurkers only appeared in the Second World. So why did they appear outside of the Second World?"

"I think the energy emitted from the Gem of Wishes is the answer." Arata spoke up, wincing as he tried to sit up. "I think the energy is what drew them here in the first place. But that energy, like we talked before, is confined on this island. But we never talked about the effects of it on the island."

"Are you saying that…"

"The Night Lurkers can only cross over to our dimension if there is a sufficient amount of energy on the other side and also creates an environment similar to the Aviane Dimension." Arata concluded. "All the other sites of where the Night Lurkers appeared before are similar except, while they do not have a similar environment to the Aviane Dimension, there are the parts where the barrier between this dimension and the Night Lurker's dimension are the weakest."

"The Second World is changing because of this energy." Mia frowned in realization. They paused when the security measures were lifted and the alarm stopped blaring.

"The Night Lurkers must be gone." Mito-sensei finally spoke. At the same time, the time out for War Time sounded. "Come on. Before the students come back, we better get you two to Higurashi-sensei. The least questions asked, the better."

Mia and Arata could barely protest as Mito-sensei quickly led them over to the infirmary. Along the way, Arata caught a glimpse of something that made his eyes become wide.

'Maddy?'


	62. Chapter 62

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

**I'm so sorry it's taking me so long to update but recently I got hooked to the Rockman EXE series even though it's a holiday for me.**

* * *

"I can't believe this had happened." The headmaster moaned for the hundredth time, much to the irritation of those in the infirmary. "To attack two students like that…"

"It is a lucky thing that the both of you know self-defense or the injuries will be worse." Hugurashi-sensei said quietly.

"I see." The headmaster sighed in relief and turned to the invalids. "By the way, how did you know how to fight them off?"

"Karate class."

"Taekwondo class." They said at the same time.

The headmaster blinked in surprise and turned to Mito-sensei for confirmation. She merely shrugged.

"I don't actually keep track of the school's activity clubs unless I'm in charge."

Nearly everyone in the room sweatdrop at that. Arata laughed nervously and grimaced when he felt a wave of dizziness sweep through him. Noticing this, Higurashi-sensei gave the headmaster a look. "Headmaster, I think it would be best to let them rest for now."

"Oh, right." The headmaster nodded. "I still have to decide on whether to cancel the classes for tomorrow or not." He muttered as he walked out. Once he was out, Haruki and some of their classmates and Reika came in.

"Really, you know how to worry a sister Arata." She said as she plopped down on the chair beside his bed. "This is the second time this semester that something happened to your brain."

"It's just a mild concussion. It'll go away by tomorrow." Higurashi-sensei told her.

"But still, you get into a lot of situations which worries me." Reika gave him a pointed look.

Arata held up his hands in defeat. "Fine, I promise that I'll try to stay out of trouble."

Reika smiled in satisfaction and moved aside for Haruki. Arata blinked at him in surprise. "Who let you out of the control room?"

"The doors automatically reset after the security system was lifted." Sakuya told him. Behind the group of students, one could see that Catherin was fiddling uncomfortably.

"At least Arata got a mild concussion and can go for War Time tomorrow. You can't go to War Time like that." Reika said to Mia.

"Nice to point that out." Mia said sarcastically.

"With your injuries and a broken rib, it's no wonder." Reika said drily.

"You're lucky I can't move for now." Mia scowled.

"By the way, why did you take on that group of monsters?" Gendou asked them.

"It was fight or get…attacked by them." Arata said mildly. "We were not sure as to what they were going to do so the only thing that came into our minds was to defend ourselves."

'Nice lie Arata. Nice lie.' Reika thought in amusement.

"That's enough. Go back to your dorms." Mito-sensei said firmly.

"Hai."

"I'll see you later." Reika said as she hugged Arata briefly before leaving.

"Just give me a few more minutes and I'll clear the both of you to go back. But I'm afraid that you will have to stay out of War Time for a while until your injuries are healed." Higurashi-sensei told them after Mito-sensei left as well. "But I advise the both of you to be careful, given your injuries."

"Thank you, Higurashi-sensei."

* * *

"So I heard that you got into trouble again." Muraku said as he sat down on the bench Mia was occupying outside the dorms.

"It's not like I can help it. Being trapped outside our control pods and Sakuya's control room, fighting back would be the only option of survival." Mia pouted.

"But why weren't you in your control pod in the first place?" Muraku asked with a frown.

Mia was about to tell him that the fourth platoon had tricked them when she decided not to and closed her mouth. "It was a bad sense of timing, that's all I can say."

Muraku raised an eyebrow, knowing that she was hiding something. "Mia I know that you know something about it. No use hiding it."

"And what if I don't want to tell you why?" Mia smirked cheekily. "Also, you don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine in two days or so."

Muraku blinked in surprised but remembered that the Valorites and Vigilnites had faster healing factors which made their wounds and injuries heal faster than normal people. He sighed and ran his hand on her side which made her wince. He shook his head and gave her a stern look. "Mia, you should be resting right now. I have every right to worry about you right now."

"Muraku!" Mia exclaimed. "You're too much of an overprotective brother!"

"It's my job to be one." Muraku deadpanned. "Go to bed. I don't think that your injuries will heal that fast if you stay out here."

"Fine." Mia pouted. But after a while, she broke into a smile and playfully shoveled him. "Keep it up and I'll prefer to have Arata lecture me instead of you."

"I doubt that he is any better than me." Muraku said drily and got up. "Go and rest. I really want to see you in War Time again soon."

"I doubt that that's going to happen even if I get better early." Mia muttered. "You were suspended from War Time for a while now since the fight at Death Forest."

"It'll be lifted soon." Muraku said dismissively. "The commander cannot afford to leave me out for another week given how Bandit is attacking us viciously."

Mia eyed him for a moment and smirked. "Care to play truant for a few days?"

Muraku narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her. "What are you planning?"

"A way to power up our LBX battling skills. You're interested?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Arata had secretly snuck up to the roof and was watching Mia and Muraku with their conversation. He was interested in what they were saying but there was something that was bugging his mind ever since War Time ended.

'I'm sure that I saw Maddy back then. But that's impossible. She's dead…and yet, she looks so sad.' Arata thought to himself, wondering why he saw Maddy in the first place.

"I knew that you'll be here." Reika smiled as she sat down beside him. Arata jumped slightly at her sudden appearance.

"When did you come up here?"

"Just now." Reika shrugged. "You're thinking about Maddy?"

"Eh?" Arata jerked his head at her in surprise.

"You have that look." Reika pointed out.

"What look?"

"The look that you always have when you're thinking about her." Reika explained calmly but frowned worriedly. "Why are you thinking about her?"

"Well, when Mito-sensei was bringing us to the infirmary, I thought I saw Maddy."

"You had a nasty hit to the head. I would not be surprise if you were hallucinating."

"But it did not feel like it was a hallucination." Arata shook his head. "It felt so real and it looks like she was sad."

"Sad?" Reika frowned. "But why…and why would you see her in the first place?"

"I don't know." Arata shook his head.

"Are you over her?" Reika asked softly.

"Maybe, maybe not." Arata hung his head. "I know that this is not fair to Yuno, but I honestly don't know if I am over Maddy."

Reika shifted at her spot and sighed. "To tell the truth, I found out something about Maddy when we first came to the school."

Arata lifted his head at her curiously. "What about her?"

"During our first night here, I overheard that Haruki has a cousin with the same necklaces that we have." Reika stated nervously.

"You mean these?" Arata said in surprise, pulling out his own Fantasy necklace from under his shirt.

Reika nodded as she pulled out hers too. "After that, I did some research and I found out that…Maddy is Haruki's cousin."

* * *

"Oh, Hikaru, you're back!" Sakuya greeted him as he came into the class the next day. "Are you alright now?"

"Absolutely." Hikaru nodded. "Higurashi-sensei said that I can go for War Time."

"I'm glad to hear that." Haruki offered him a small smile.

"Where's Mia?" Hikaru wondered as he sat down at his seat.

"She's playing truant." Arata said without looking up from his book.

"Playing truant?"

"Yeah, I don't know why but I have a small idea of what she's playing."

"I don't think it would really matter, given her injuries." Haruki pointed out. Arata lowered his head and closed his book with a small sigh. Ever since the revelation Reika gave him last night, he found that he could not look into Haruki's eyes like he did before.

"I did hear about what happened yesterday from Mito-sensei. Arata, are you sure that you can even be at school today?"

"I'm fine." Arata said dismissively. "Higurashi-sensei already told me that I can join War Time as long as I don't feel nauseous by noon."

"I suppose that's good." Haruki said slowly. "But at the same time, I'm curious as to what Mia could be doing right now."

"Who knows." Arata shrugged.

* * *

"Mia, what are we doing here?" Muraku asked her as they stepped into one of Yuko's training cabins which she secretly built in LBX Hill.

"LBX Battling skills power up." She shrugged. "I told you that already, didn't I?"

"But how exactly are we going to do that?"

"The same way I got my battling style."

It took Muraku a while to comprehend but when he did, his eyes became wide as saucers. "Are you serious?"

"Yes." Mia simply nodded. "I noticed that you tend to rely heavily on your weapons. But if it comes to a time where you cannot use them, you turn helpless. That's why I'm going to train you to use Gunther Ylzephar's real strength instead of relying on your swords, guns and shields all the time."

"But you rely on your katanas as well." Muraku pointed out.

"But I use my years of training to use them efficiently." Mia waved it out. "Besides, if you didn't notice, I use my fighting skills almost all the time while saving my katanas as a final blow."

Muraku kept quiet for a while and sighed in resignation. "Where do we start?"

Mia grinned and pulled out a few mats, placing them on the floor. "We'll do some light warm ups and sparing for now."

"Are you sure that you can do it, given your injuries?"

"Don't worry about me." As though to prove her point, she lifted her shirt up slightly and much to his surprise, the wound was barely there. "See? I can fight now."

Muraku hesitantly took off his shoes and jacket, stepping on the mat. "If you're sure…"

Mia grinned and threw off her jacket, kicking off her shoes while she was at it and got on the mat. "First up, we'll do the usual warm ups and then we'll have one round of sparing."

"Fine by me."

"But just so you know, my usual warm ups may not be the same as yours." Mia warned him.

An hour later, Muraku was leaning against the wall panting hard while Mia was next to him and barely out of breath. So far, they had done fifty pushups, ran ten rounds around the cabin, and finally punching a sparing dummy for fifteen minutes.

"Mia, is this what you do every day?" Muraku asked in between pants.

"Of course, why do you think PE is always boring for me?" She asked sarcastically.

"Of course, you just have to have harsher training." Muraku muttered under his breath. He then saw Mia setting up a weird dummy with a round bottom and when she lightly punched it, it fell over but soon swung back up and she neatly blocked it from hitting her face. Sensing that Muraku was watching her, she gestured him over and pointed at the dummy. "See if you can hit it without letting it swing back up. But you have to use your hardest punch."

"But the dummy will surely fling back at my face." Muraku frowned.

"I'll give you a hint, you don't have to punch the first thing you see on the dummy." Mia smirked.

"What?" Muraku narrowed his eyes and examined the dummy. Logically, it would be best to punch the head if it were a normal dummy but this dummy can swing back up and deal twice the damage on a person when it does. He then thought of something and moved the dummy with his feet slightly and found that it was not pinned to the ground. 'Maybe I can do that…'

He drew in a deep breath and punched with all his might at the lower body of the dummy, sending the whole thing flying into the wall.

'He's good. Not a lot of people realize that the trick of defeating the dummy is to hit it as far away from you as possible.' Mia thought in admiration. A beeping on her CCM snapped her out of her musing and she glanced at it, seeing a message from Yuko, asking if still needed the cabin.

She sighed and replied that she still needs it for a few more days. 'Given the rate that Muraku is going, it would not be long before he will be ready to go back to the Second World, but I'm worried still. Gunther Ylzephar is not the best LBX to put what he learned here to use.' She glanced back at Muraku who was already hitting another dummy now. 'Oh well, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Right now, all I can hope is that we can get this done in time before Bandit's next big attack.'


	63. Chapter 63

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

Over the next few days, the sixth platoon could tell that something was different about their platoon leader. Not only did he not show up at school for a few days, they could see that he was covered in bruises and had sore muscles most of the time during dinner. But every time they try to question him about it, he would either avoid them and change the subject or tell them that it was nothing.

"Aren't you guys worried about Muraku's behavior?" Kageto asked his two friends after Muraku had excused himself from dinner after not answering their questions about his whereabouts that morning.

"Of course we are, but there's no way Muraku is going to get us involve in his matters." Vanessa said disgruntledly.

"But he has to show up at school tomorrow or our platoon will get a black mark for him skipping school for nearly a week without reason." Mikhail pointed out worriedly. This made Vanessa and Kageto stiffen. It was not the black mark on them that worried them, but rather what it would do to Muraku's currently spotless record.

"Hey guys." Nick greeted them as he came over.

"Nick." Mikhail lifted his head in surprise. "Are you looking for Muraku?"

"Sort of, but I don't think you guys know where he is either." Nick admitted as he sat down with them.

"Do you know about what Muraku may be doing for the past few days? Given that you're dating his cousin and all." Vanessa asked him casually.

"As a matter of fact, no, I'm afraid I have no idea." Nick shook his head. "I may be dating Maya, but I never got to know Muraku well, even after spending the summer with their family. I'm looking out for him and Wataru mostly just for Mia's peace of mind."

"I see." Mikhail slowly nodded. "Well, actually, I think Muraku would be somewhere outside if I'm not mistaken. Try looking at the gardens. He likes to spend his free time there."

"Thanks." Nick nodded. "If you want me to pass on any messages to him, now would be a good time."

"Just tell him that he'll get a black mark if he doesn't show up at school tomorrow." Kageto simply said.

"Will do." Nick nodded and headed to the gardens. Sure enough, he found Muraku simply sitting on a bench doing nothing. "You know, from what Mia and Maya told him, I would never chalk you down as someone who does nothing during his free time."

Muraku snapped his head at him and gave him a small nod. "Nick, were you looking for me?"

"Yup." He nodded. "I just wanted you to know that I was assigned to Rose City's patrol and I would start in a few days."

"That's it?" Muraku cocked his head questioningly.

"Yeah, and your friend wants me to tell you that you'll get a black mark if you don't go to school tomorrow, which brings me to my next question, where were you and Mia for the past few days?"

"She thought it would be a good idea to train me like how she was trained." Muraku shook his head but when the first part of what Nick said sank in, he groaned. "And I need to tell her that I need to be at school tomorrow."

"Let me guess, she gave you the Crash Course of Doom?" Nick asked slyly.

"The what?"

"The Crash Course of Doom is like its name suggests. Students who come in later in Fantasy, mostly 13-17, are usually given the crash course in order to give them the basics of martial arts before they start their classes." Nick explained with a small smile. "But given its difficulty, a lot of students usually call it that."

Muraku gave him a curious look at that. "So there are people who discover their powers late?"

"In rare cases, yes." Nick nodded, knowing why Muraku asked that. "But it is not always the case. Many times, some young Valorites and Vigilnites don't show themselves for obvious reasons which is why it would be harder for the school to find them. But eventually, they may show up. For those who are older, they usually don't bother to show up or the school leaves them alone for they usually can control their powers by that time."

"I see." Muraku mused softly.

Nick eyed him for a moment and smiled softly. "You know, I told your friends just now that I don't know you as well as Maya and Mia, but I can tell that you are feeling left out because you are the only one in the family who doesn't have any powers. But don't worry about it. It is a luxury you should feel grateful to have."

"What do you mean?" Muraku asked apprehensively.

"I don't have to explain it." Nick said seriously for once. "You already know it."

Inwardly, Muraku had to admit that he did indeed know the downsides of having powers. In fact, he remember the very first time Mia accidentally used her powers, she nearly killed him and herself. It was only thanks to their father that neither of them were badly hurt. But it was the start of the rift between them, something Muraku wished did not exist. It was also through this experience that he first feared Mia, something he regretted to this day. For the Valorites and Vigilnites, their powers made people fear them. Remembering what Mia often mentioned about Arata and Reika, he knew what fear would drive people to do.

"I didn't think that the both of you would be here." Mia remarked casually as she came over.

"I was just passing on a message from his teammates." Nick grinned and winked at Muraku. "Anyway, I'll leave you two to talk."

"Thanks Nick." Mia nodded gratefully and sat down at the spot Nick previously occupied.

"Mia, I cannot afford to skip another day of school." Muraku said immediately. "So if you still want to train, it has to be in the weekends."

"Fine by me." Mia shrugged. "It's not like I can skip school for one more day either. Mito-sensei is going to get suspicious."

"I heard that Honshihara Hikaru had to go for some therapy because he could not operate well in his control pod." Muraku spoke up.

"Yeah, doing kendo." Mia smirked.

"Kendo?" Muraku smiled quirkily. "Did he ask for tips?"

"Yup, but I told him that I don't do kendo, despite the fact that I'm a dual blade wielder." Mia shrugged. "But I'll be worried for yourself if you ask me. Sakuya's been building a new LBX for him."

"I'm not worried." Muraku shook his head with a smile. "Truth to be told, I know that you're worried that Gunther Ylzephar is no longer the best LBX for me. But don' worry about it, Kageto and I already addressed the problem. He's trying to make a new LBX for me."

"But still…"

"You did train me, so there shouldn't be any problem." Muraku said smoothly.

"I suppose so." Mia sighed.

* * *

During War Time the next day, Dot Phasor, Trivhine, and Phantom Blaze defended Tandem Harbor from Arabista while Hikaru have his kendo classes. Currently, the three LBX were fighting off a large group of Vernels and Jirants from taking the flag with their LBX's personal strengths. Dot Phasor fought at the base of the flag with Phantom Blaze while Trivhine guarded the flag and gave them back up.

"That's the last of them on the radar." Sakuya informed them

"Continue monitoring the situation." Haruki told him.

"Roger."

"Sakuya, how's the new LBX doing at the lab?" Arata asked.

"It's still in the middle of manufacturing. But I think it will be finished during this War Time." Sakuya said, glancing at a separate screen which was showing the production of the new LBX.

Arata smiled at that. "Then all we need is for Hikaru to get over his fear of the control pod and get his butt here."

"And I thought I was the one who had issues with language usage." Mia muttered under her breath with Haruki and Sakuya smiling mildly at that. But the beeping of the alarm made them snap into attention.

"A new group?" Haruki frowned. This would be the fifth group that day and it would seem that Arabista is pouring all of their resources just to obtain Tandem Harbor. But given that it was the first platoon guarding it, it would be logical since they were not easily pushed over. "Sakuya?"

"Enemy reinforcements are approaching. There's ten…twenty…Over thirty units this time!" Sakuya exclaimed in shock.

"Didn't Reika mention a similar tactic like this before?" Mia narrowed her brow.

"It's mass raiding." Haruki told her. "They were trying to gauge how much they needed to send for the final wave just now. With this tactic, they will try to overwhelm us at once. But we'll protect these grounds."

"Roger!"

* * *

Wataru silently hummed to himself as he made his way down to the viewing rooms, wondering which one he should go to.

"Rose City? Nah, Nick said that there will only be patrol…Bayview Beach? Nope, reminds me of home…Wherever Maya is…maybe not." Wataru cringed at the last option.

"Wataru, what are you doing here?" Muraku asked as he walked over to him.

"Oh, I was told that I don't have a mission today, so I wanted to watch some of the other countries but I don't know which one." Wataru rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"I'm planning on having a look at Tandem Harbor since Mia is there." Muraku told him casually. "Do you want to come too? I heard that they're fending off Arabista."

"Sounds good." Wataru grinned, wanting to see his step sister in action. But he then noticed that his step brother's friends were not around and pointed it out.

"They're preoccupied with another battle elsewhere. Can't say that they are fond of watching a battle taking place in a territory we failed to defend against Jenock in the past." Muraku closed his eyes briefly to block the memories of what happened that day.

"But even if Mia's there, why do you still want to watch them?" Wataru asked pointedly.

"I need to see how much Arata has improved since the last time we fought against each other so that I can come up with a proper countermeasure against him." Muraku said blankly.

"No offense, but no amount of crash course or analyzing can get you ready against him." Wataru said matter-of-factly, much to his dismay. "I know Arata longer than you have. If it is one thing that can make him stronger than you, it's his sheer determination. It's not like how you think it is, but rather, his determination drives him to work harder even when he's already at the top."

"I don't understand." Muraku frowned.

"For LBX battles, one may think that you have to rely on skill and mechanic customization alone, but for him, it's not the case. Just like in real life, he knows that to truly reach the next step, he has to improve himself. Practices and learning important life lessons are what make him strong." Wataru patiently explained.

"I see your point." Muraku said slowly and his lips showed the barest of a smile. "Sometimes, I hate how perceptive and wise you are."

Wataru merely grinned at him as they entered the viewing room and found places to sit. "If it helps, you can match up to him if you have the same determination to improve and never stop at the level you are currently at."

"I'll keep that in mind." Muraku nodded and glanced at the screen. While Arabista clearly outnumbered them, the three LBXs were still holding up well and still managed to defeat more than three quarters of the numbers. But the LBXs still kept on coming.

* * *

As yet another wave showed up, Arata scowled. "Man, they just keep on coming!"

Haruki tilted his head when he heard several more LBX appearing up at the flag and gasped, knowing that he could not move around the flag to stop them on time. "Oh no!"

Just as Phantom Blaze was about to jump up and stop them, a black and blue LBX jumped off a Riding Saucer, effectively cutting off the enemy LBX from getting to the flag. It raised its katana and swiped it at the enemy LBX, defeating them.

"Sorry I'm late." Hikaru apologized.

"Hikaru." Arata sighed in relief and then smirked, "It looks like your record of being on time is now broken." He joked.

Hikaru rolled his eyes but knew that his friend was only joking. "Haruki, I'll have Val Diver at the front."

"Alright." Haruki nodded. "Arata, support him. Mia, get up here and help me defend the flag."

"Roger!"

Val Diver jumped down and swiftly cut down several LBX and ignited its boosters, flying around, overpowering more LBXs.

"It's mobility is amazing." Haruki said in awe.

"Show off." Mia muttered as Hikaru cut down all of the remaining Arabista LBX. "You just had to have the same weapon as I do."

Hikaru smirked at that but straightened up when the all too familiar transmission sound came up. "Bandit!"

Sure enough, a Gordon with an axe as its weapon jumped out of nowhere and eyed them menacingly. Val Diver got into stance and dashed at it.

"Hikaru!?"

"Don't interfere!" He told them. Arata then understood his intentions and nodded.

"Go and redeem your previous lost against them." He said softly. As Val Diver clashed with the Gordon, everyone can see that while the Gordon had more power, Val Diver was faster than it and despite the two blows on its chest, it managed to cut off the arm with the axe thanks to its katana and its boosters.

"Hissatsu Function!"

_Attack Function_

_Storm Sword_

Mia and Arata silently cheered as the hissatsu function annihilated the Gordon.

"You did Hikaru." Arata said quietly with a small smile. "You have conquered your fears."

* * *

"It completely overpowered one of Bandit's units." Wataru said in awe.

"Jenock's first platoon, it has gotten stronger." Muraku said quietly and left the viewing room. Wataru smiled knowingly and glanced back at the screen.

"I have to get stronger too to catch up to Mia and Arata." He told himself determinately.


	64. Chapter 64

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

It has only a day since Hikaru had gotten Val Diver and Muraku regretted coming back to school instead of having his sparing sessions with Mia. Much as he hates to admit it, he enjoys them greatly for it gave them the chance to spend time together and make up for the time they were separated all those years and also because it meant that he did not have to deal with his annoying classmates.

"The Violet Devil is such a joke." One of them whispered to his friend.

"Yeah. He thinks that he's so good to ditch school for the past few days." His friend whispered back. This is what greeted him when he entered the class.

Vanessa and Mikhail were glaring heatedly at the two classmates that they failed to notice Muraku until Kageto spoke up. "Muraku."

That snapped Vanessa and Mikhail out of their glaring and nodded at their platoon captain. "Good morning."

"Morning." He greeted back and took his seat. "Ignore them. They aren't worth the trouble." He said, nodding at the said people.

"But this has been going on for too long." Vanessa protested. "At this rate, they'll never stop."

"Maybe. But if one of you were to _accidentally_ slip to Mia their names and how they like to badmouth us, I'm sure that she'll only be too happy to bash them up at War Time or maybe even humiliate them somehow." Muraku said casually.

The three of them stared at him like he had grown an extra head. When he noticed his, Muraku shrugged. "Just because I don't like Mia's hothead attitude, it doesn't mean that I can't take advantage of it from time to time."

The corner of Vanessa's lips twitched at that. "That reminds me, I had asked Mia to accompany me for shopping later. I suppose I could let it slip."

Mikhail and Kageto stared at her weirdly and backed up a little from them. Seeing this, Muraku and Vanessa chuckled.

"Don't worry, we're perfectly normal. I just needed that." Muraku assured them. "School is too stressful for me most of the time."

"Same for me." Mikhail smiled wryly and Kageto gave him a small understanding look. "But still…this is very out of your character."

"Just because I don't show sadism, it doesn't mean that I can't have it." Muraku pointed out. "But don't worry, I wouldn't dream about using it on you guys."

"That's a relief." Kageto muttered under his breath. When the bell rang, all of them returned to their seats and waited for their homeroom teacher to come who thankfully was not Commander Ivan.

"Class, settle down please." The teacher told them when he came in. "We will be having an extra addition in our class so please welcome her well."

'A new student?' Muraku frowned. It was uncommon to have students this late in the year, much less in their grade. Judging from the looks of his teammates, they were thinking of the same thing.

"Please come in." The teacher motioned at the door and a young girl whose hair look black but if anyone looked closely, they'll see that it is actually dark brown, light brown eyes and a light blue cardigan over her vest. But the most striking feature of hers is that she looks more like a Chinese than Japanese. In fact, this was soon proven when the teacher introduced her. "Everyone, this is Lara Lei Feng Yu. Now, due to the fact that she is Chinese, I hope that every one of you will be patient with her if she does not understand our language."

No one but Muraku caught the ridiculous look Lara threw at the teacher. And judging from the looks of it, she could understand clearly everyone he and the…mockers, had to say.

"Jezz, the next thing you'll know, they'll simply allow outsiders to enter, three wins or not." One of the students in front snickered. It was not long before similar comments or hurtful racist remarks came but Muraku frowned when he saw Lara's eyebrows twitched and can only guess what her response will be.

"Now, if there are no questions, Lara, you can take a seat behind Muraku." The teacher said slowly as though she could not understand but unfortunately, she understood every word and every comment and racist remark from her fellow students. Lara however did not speak up in her defense but eyed each and every one of the students who were mocking and making hurtful remarks against her with a hateful glare.

Muraku cringed at that. For all of its glory, a large number of Rossius' students were not the friendliest or understanding people, a fact he can attest to. And he was fairly sure that Lara had learned of this the hard way and was not taking it well. He only noticed that Lara was looking for him when Mikhail nudged him lightly. He raised his hand to catch her attention and nodded at the seat behind him.

Lara nodded and eyed him carefully but he only showed openness in his eyes. She was taken aback by this and Muraku could only sympathize her. It was not easy being the one bearing the brunt of the meanness of the class.

* * *

"Thanks a lot for agreeing to go shopping with me." Vanessa said when she met up with Mia at the entrance of the town. "But wouldn't your platoon be…I don't know, upset?"

"It's fine." Mia waved it off. "I don't really care about what they say. I don't see why I can't have friends outside Jenock or why we must consider all virtual countries as our enemies. That is the worst way to destroy relationships."

"I don't exactly feel the same, but as long as a friend of Muraku's is a friend of mine. That I can tell." Vanessa shrugged.

"You don't say." Mia said slyly. "You automatically counted me as your friend just because you think I'm friends with Muraku since we are siblings?"

Vanessa flushed and shook her head. "I think even if you were not getting along with Muraku well, I would still count you as my friend. You didn't let the virtual country separation get to you that much when we spent the summer at your home."

"Not much." Mia said ruefully. "But at some point, I got a little irritated at the fact that Muraku spends a lot of time with you guys."

"You're jealous?" Vanessa asked hesitantly.

"Used to be." Mia shrugged. "But I got over it. There's no point in getting envious of you and the boys. You guys are just as important to Muraku as I am."

Vanessa eyed her carefully to see if she was sincere but could not find any deceit in her words so she smiled. "Glad to hear that. I'm sure that Muraku would be too if he knew. He was worried at times that he was spending too much time with us instead of you."

Mia jerked her head sharply at her. "One word about this to him and you'll regret it."

"Oh, but I thought you were not the type to threaten your friends." Vanessa said playfully.

"You'll be surprise." Mia smirked. "So what is it that you want to buy in town?"

"Just some stationary…maybe we can get a parfait or some juice at the sports center later. By the way, we have a new student in our class. A Chinese to be precise."

"A Chinese?" Mia perked up with interest. "Interesting. But how did the class take it?"

"Not very well." Vanessa grimaced. It suddenly occurred to her that this may be her chance to bring up about the bullies in their class. "They were badmouthing her just like how they badmouth Muraku and the worst thing is, they think that she doesn't understand what they are saying, but I think she does."

Mia snapped her head up at the mention of Vanessa's classmates badmouthing Muraku. "Wait, your classmates are badmouthing Muraku?"

"He never told you?" Vanessa raised an eyebrow.

"There are a lot of things we don't tell each other." Mia grumbled. "But is all of the class that mean?"

"Other than us, no." Vanessa shook her head. "Muraku's reputation doesn't grant him much privilege with friends."

Mia frowned and clenched her fist. "I am the worst sister in the world. I'm so selfish and inconsiderate that I focus on my problems and not bother to think about Muraku's."

Vanessa was surprise by this but she could understand where this was coming from. Muraku was never one to divulge about his problems, preferring to keep them to himself as to not worry his friends. "Well, if it helps, he doesn't let us in either. It can be very worrisome at times."

Mia huffed and stopped in front of the bookshop. "Let's just get over the shopping and go to the sport center. I'm dying for a drink."

"You said it." Vanessa bobbed her head as they went inside. But almost instantly, all eyes in the store were on them. Vanessa and Mia grimaced at this as it was uncommon to see a student from Rossius hanging out with a student from Jenock, given that they were sworn enemies.

"Maybe we should have done this another day." Vanessa whispered hesitantly to Mia.

"The results would be the same." Mia pointed out drily. "Just get what you want and we'll bolt. The sooner the better."

Vanessa nodded in agreement and quickly bought what she needed and they ran off to the sports center.

"Well, that was fun." Mia muttered sarcastically. "Next time we want to go shopping, let's do it on the mainland instead."

"Maybe." Vanessa nodded and they went inside but they stopped when they saw Mikhail and Kageto staring at something at the bar area from the lobby. "What are you guys doing?"

"Look at that!" Mikhail hissed after getting over the initial shock of seeing them. Vanessa and Mia followed their gaze and their jaws dropped open in shock. Over at one of the tables, Lara and Muraku were chatting amiably and the most surprising this was Muraku was actually smiling.

"W-what!?" Mia nearly yelled. "H-how…Someone pinch me…."

Unexpectedly, she pinched herself very hard and winced in pain. "Ok, I'm not dreaming…"

"Maybe we should…go…and leave them…" Mikhail stated uneasily.

"I agree. Although Mia looks like her brain got short circuited." Kageto remarked as he backed away to the door.

"Well, thanks for hanging out with me Mia. We'll come back for the drinks another time." Vanessa stated hurriedly and followed her two teammates out of the building, leaving Mia alone, gapping at her brother. It didn't help that Muraku soon noticed her and grimaced, knowing what's to come.

"Muraku, what's wrong?" Lara asked, noticing his change in demure.

"My sister is here." He motioned at her direction where she was still staring.

Lara blinked and glanced at her. "Is she your twin? The both of you look exactly alike, minus the highlights in her hair."

"They are natural, unfortunately."

Lara casually glanced back at her but suddenly narrowed her eyes. 'No, it can't be…'

"Sorry, but I have to go now. I think you have to talk to your sister. She looks frozen there." She said briskly as she gathered her things. "But thanks for the welcome, I greatly appreciate it."

"You're welcome." Muraku nodded. Lara quickly left but as she passed by Mia, Mia's eyes became wide and stared after her.

"Mia, why are you staring at her?" Muraku asked with a frown as he went over to her side.

"Um, did you sense anything from her?" Mia asked him uneasily.

"No." Muraku shook his head. "Why?"

"Nothing." Mia mumbled and headed upstairs. 'I'm sure of it. She's a photokineticist. That aura and glow is too obvious. And she obviously knows about me.'


	65. Chapter 65

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

**Author's note: I know this will disappoint some of you but I'm not going to do the Halloween party chapter. I know many of you were looking forward to it but I realized that I want to rush on all of my stories and aim to finish all of them within a few months so that I can try writing new stories or resume old ones.**

* * *

"Assembly, again." Reika groaned as she and her classmates entered the hall. "Why do we even have to have assemblies?"

"Reika, we need them so that we can be up to date with whatever that is going on in the school." Inui explained with a sigh.

"But they're always boring." Suzunne complained.

"Why me?" Inui muttered to himself. Takeru only chuckled sheepishly as he guided the half asleep auburn haired girl to her spot.

"Reika, this may be important. I heard that the headmaster received news from the management which he needs to convey to us today." He tried to get her attention. And that seem to do the trick. Instantly, Reika snapped up alert and gave him a playful glare.

"Why didn't you tell me that earlier?"

"Well, you were sleepy." Takeru said, scratching his cheek. "So what kept you up last night?"

"Just some random news that Ma told me that got on my nerves." Reika grumbled, remembering what happened when Mia told them about Lara, the photokineticist. Yuko of course, did not really believe them but had to accept it once she saw the footage and also managed to sense her aura. And for them, they did not know how to react to her given that they have no idea if she is a rouge or not but after some debate they decided to leave her be but observe her from the distance.

"Shh. The headmaster is going upstage." Inui shushed them.

Reika lifted her head up and was taken aback. For the longest time she could remember, the headmaster had a flair with dramatics and was rather…disturbing in Mia's opinion. But today, his face was grim and serious like the time Seredy was introduced into the faculty.

"It seems that you are all in lovely spirits this morning. You've all done well in keeping up with War Time every day." The headmaster greeted them. "I'm always exited to see how well you all do. The peace of our world is dependent on how well the Second World operates."

'But in a different way from what you tell us.' Certain people thought.

"Keeping that in mind, please continue to exert your best efforts…is what I'd like to say. However, Bandit continues to wreak havoc upon us!" The headmaster's entire demure changed and was now very serious. "If Bandit ever appears during one of your missions from now on, you will suspend it at once, no matter what you are doing! We must rid them at all cost! This is an order handed down to us by the management. I expect all of you to abide by it!"

Murmurs broke out at that and many were at disbelieve for they were sure that they will not be able to fend off Bandit, given how they always overpower all LBX they encounter save a very small margin of students, namely the first platoon of Jenock. The said virtual country however, was not too disturbed by the news like everyone else.

"It's about time they did." Arata whispered to Daimen. "If we do this, we may be able to limit Bandit's attacks and find out more about the umbrakineticist."

"Yeah. And that should also cover us if we need to get down there to fight the Night Lurkers." Daimen whispered back.

"But it's strange though that he headmaster is not willing to divulge to the students about them, considering what happened the last time." Arata frowned.

"They probably want to prevent a large scale panic." Haruki told them, having heard what they said.

"Still, it's going to cause more panic when it comes to light." Daimen said in a low voice.

"I have to agree with you on that." Arata sighed and the headmaster dismissed them so they left the hall and walked back to their classroom but Daimen split with them to join Gendou's group. "It'll be nice though, to plummet some Bandit LBX during War Time."

Mia was about to agree with him when she jerked her head up as something touched her mental shields. This was no a malicious touch like the Night Lurkers but more of a warm light that was beckoning her somewhere. Inwardly, she had an idea of who it may be. "Sorry, but I need to use the bathroom first. Go on without me." She murmured to them and slipped away following where the light was leading her to. Soon, she arrived at an old unused classroom where the light was warmer and brighter in her mind.

Mia frowned and pulled the door open, stepping inside while being cautious for anything that may jump at her.

"Are you always this tense?"

Mia jumped and spun around in stance but she gasp when she saw Lara standing by the door. "What are you doing here?"

"I called you here. I'm Lara by the way." Lara said calmly. "I know what you are just as you know what I am. So we can drop all the pretense and talk to each other as fellow Valorites."

"How do you know about the Valorites when you are not from Fantasy?" Mia demanded suspiciously.

"Hmp, the school is foolish if they think that they are as secretive as they are. If you look at the correct places and listen to the correct rumors, you'll find out a lot of things people think that is secret. Although I have to give them some credit, it took me years just to figure that out."

"Why did you call me here?"

"Because you are the only one on this island that I know of that is a Valorite. I just want to make a deal with you. If you don't tell anyone, including your brother, about myself, I will be willing to keep your secret a secret as well." Lara explained.

Mia narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her. "And why do you not want Muraku to know that you're a photokineticist?"

"And telepath." Lara added and became serious. "You really cannot sense it, can you? The growth in his aura even though you are siblings…but then again, I don't think you would since you are indirectly tied to it."

"What are you talking about?" Mia frowned, not understanding what Lara is saying.

"You'll find out one day and I hope that it will not be painful for you." Lara merely said but Mia caught a sad smile being sent in her direction.

Mia frowned as she watched the orient girl leave the classroom. Lara had been very vague but from what she could gather from their conversation, she is clearing stronger than Mia if she managed to detect something which she could not.

'But why Muraku?' Mia frowned. 'Lara said that his aura is growing…but how…'

* * *

And so, for the whole day, Mia was lost in thought and barely paid attention in class which got her into trouble several times with the teachers but thankfully, she was not given a detention.

"Mia, what's happen that you're lost in thought during class?" Daimen asked her during their break.

"Sorry. But there's something nagging me." Mia sighed. "But nothing to worry about. I'll be pay attention now. I'm sure that the other teachers will give me a detention if I don't."

"But whatever that's nagging you must be something important to have you distracted like that." Daimen pointed out. "Is it about that creepy class that Seredy gave?"

"Nope, it isn't." Mia shook her head. "I'm just wondering about somethings about Muraku."

"What about it?"

"I'm just bothered at the fact that we're twins and yet, there's a lot of things that we don't know about each other nor can we read each other well." Mia said with a sigh.

"That should not be surprising given that the both of you grew up separately." Arata told her, joining in the conversation.

"But still, I can't help but feel strange. We're twins and yet…" She trailed off and tapped on her forehead and the two of them got the message.

"I agree that it's strange that the both of you are different in that aspect." Arata said slowly. But there was something pressing in his mind that told him that it was something important, but as for why, he cannot remember.

"I wonder how Muraku and Wataru will be if they have to work together during War Time." Mia suddenly brought up.

"Like any other battle. I suppose." Daimen shrugged.

"They're good players and Muraku will be there to look out for Wataru if needed. And they got Nick to look after them." Arata reminded her.

"As a sister, I can choose to worry about them when needed." Mia smirked.

* * *

_Up at the roof…_

Muraku and his platoon were discussing about their strategies for War Time when Wataru burst into the roof. "Muraku!"

"Him again?" Vanessa sighed. Despite Wataru being related to Muraku, they found his hyper activeness trying at times.

"Good day guys!" Wataru bowed and swung up very fast that his movements were a blur to most of them. "I got assigned to lead a raid on a super important base in today's mission!"

"Don't say that in a loud voice." Mikhail warned him in exasperation although Muraku did not seem bothered by it.

"Oh…Sorry!" Wataru bowed. "But I really wanted to tell you!" He said, pounding his fist on the wire fence, scaring Kageto so he shuffled away. When they glanced at the spot Wataru was pounding, there was a small dent on it.

"What does this kid eat to make himself hyper _and_ strong?" Kageto muttered under his breath.

"Wataru." Muraku called, getting his attention.

"Yes?"

"Rossius has lost much of its former strength." Muraku stated, thinking back about all the territories they had lost to Jenock. "We are here to take that power back. I'm counting on you to help. Carry your mission with vigor!"

Wataru shifted awkwardly but nodded resolutely. Despite not as passionate as Muraku was regarding Rossius, he knew how important it was to him. "I got it."

"And one more thing, don't forget to be wary of Bandit." Muraku added as an extra precaution.

"Of course. If they show up, I'll do what Mia does. Plummet them so that they won't get back up!" Wataru pumped his fist.

"…Try not to copy her too much." Muraku said with a small sweatdrop, worried that he'll become too much like Mia.

"But that's what we're supposed to be doing anyway." Wataru pointed out.

Muraku resisted the urge to facepalm and offered a small smile instead. "In any cases, I'm sure that you'll do well against them."

"Thanks!" Wataru beamed and bowed again. "Excuse me!" He cried and ran back to his class.

"What a troublesome kid." Kageto muttered under his breath.

"He's very energetic but I hope he doesn't get too ahead and slip up." Mikhail voiced his concerns.

"I don't believe so." Muraku shook his head. "He may be hyperactive and unfocused, but in battle, he'll stay sharp and complete his mission."

"By the way, is his battling style modeled after yours?" Vanessa asked him.

"No, it's after Mia's. She was the one who taught him after all." Muraku corrected her. "And I'm sure that there will be 'plummeting' by Wataru on Bandit's LBX if they show up today."

* * *

"I never thought that Bandit would actually show up." Wataru confided in Muraku's platoon after school ended. "Everyone started getting LOST like that one after another…it was my first time in a battle like that."

"We were on the edge of our seats too!" Vanessa remarked.

"As much as I hate to admit it, you sure gave them a good beating." Kageto commented.

"You fought back without hesitating. That's an impressive feat." Mikhail added.

'Yeah, but that was actually nothing compared to a Night Lurker's fight where it is an actual life and death situation.' Wataru silently thought to himself, not feeling that he deserved their praises. Even so, he thanked them for it.

"That much is good." Muraku spoke up, seeing his disgruntled look. "Don't forget that feeling. The one you had when you faced Bandit. It will remind you that you can face them."

That cheered up him and Wataru nodded firmly. "Hai!"

Once Wataru had left the common room, Vanessa, Mikhail and Kageto gave their platoon captain a curious look. Upon seeing this, he shrugged. "Let's just say I don't like to see my siblings downcast."


	66. Chapter 66

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

"This has got to be the most boring Sunday in the whole world!" Reika growled while Arata supervised her as she studied for her retake on the failed English test from Friday. They were currently at the sports center's drinks area while Daimen and Mia were at the center practicing their speed and balance on the balance bars and beams. Wataru stood not too far from them and keeping watch of their timing with his stopwatch in hand.

"Reika, Yuko-nee already told you that she'll ground you if you fail any more of your test." Arata reminded her. "And it's not like I'm in a better position to spend my Sunday than you are."

"But English is Daimen's best subject. Why can't he be the one who supervises me?" Reika grumbled.

"That's because I'll only corrupt you with my accent!" Daimen called from the makeshift obstacle course. "Our English teacher is sick and tired of me using my Aussie accent that she threatened to fail me if I use it in her class!"

"That's prejudice!" Mia cried in horror.

"I know!" Daimen yelled back.

"Stop distracting us!" Arata called to them as he placed a mock test in front of Reika and gave her a pointed look. "Do this. I'm going to use the bathroom. If you try to sneak out, your grounding period will be longer."

"I know." Reika groaned and started doing the mock test. Once he was satisfied that Reika will be fine, Arata went to the bathroom.

"Man, it must be a bummer for Reika." Daimen panted when he and Mia finished the obstacle course. "To do nothing but study all day."

"Well, Arata did tell her to study for it the day before the test but I think Reika got distracted when Jin-san asked her to run some errands for him." Mia mentioned as she took a gulp from her bottle. "I'm going to practice some more on the balance bar."

"And we'll watch." Daimen grinned as he grabbed Wataru around the neck and pulled him down with him so that they can watch Mia.

"No manhandling my brother!" Mia warned him.

"Got it." Daimen gave her a thumbs up and let go of Wataru, much to his relief. They watched Mia as she grabbed the bars and swung her feet upwards and hooked them onto the bars. Once she was sure that her feet were secure, she let go of the bar and hung upside down with nothing but her feet.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Muraku frowned as he came up to Daimen and Wataru.

"Nah, Mia's a pro at this." Daimen shook his head. Suddenly, Mia kicked her feet off the bars and flipped so that she would land on her feet.

"Daimen, Miss Ojou-sama is coming in." She warned him. Daimen groaned and glanced at the door. Sure enough, Otohime was coming through the doors with a furious look on her face.

"But, what is she angry about?" Wataru wondered.

"Nothing good which she associates with Reika, I suppose." Mia grunted and went over to Reika. "I'm going to see if I can minimize the damage."

"Which could cause more damage." Daimen added as he followed her.

"Sena Reika!" Otohime roared as she came over. "You got some nerve!"

"What did I do this time?" Reika mumbled, returning her glare with a tired look. "Can we do this another time? I'm supposed to be studying here."

Ignoring her last comment, Otohime thrusted a piece of paper in front of Reika's face. "How dare you!?"

"You keep on telling me that but you won't tell me what's getting on your nerve and for the last time, I didn't do anything!" Reika complained.

"Don't play dumb." Otohime growled. "You have tricked all of us long enough! I know that Kaidou-sensei is your brother so stop acting!"

At that, Mia and Daimen froze on the spot while Yuko, who was nearby watching them, dropped her mouth wide open as she fumbled for her CCM to call the teacher here. Reika on the other hand, frowned in confusion. "I have no idea of what you are talking about."

Otohime growled and raised her hand to slap her but Arata had somehow materialized behind her and grabbed her hand.

"I don't appreciate it when people try to hurt my sister." He said in a low voice.

"Hah!" Otohime pulled her hand away. "I bet you won't see her as your sister anymore once you know that she's not your sister at all!"

"I know that." Arata said calmly. "I know that we are not related by blood but that doesn't change a thing."

"Oh, but she tricked all of us!" Otohime screeched. "She is Kaidou-sensei's sister!" She yelled and thrusted the paper into Arata's hands.

Arata frowned as he took in and read it. His face became pale when he saw that it was a DNA report with Jin and Reika's names on it. The report stated their DNA had a match.

"Arata, what does it say?" Reika asked worriedly. Arata could not say anything but only clench his jaw.

"Otohime, you have no right to sneak through my drawers and take my things!" Jin scolded her as he rushed over to them and took back the DNA report from Arata.

"K-kaidou-sensei." Otohime squeaked.

"Jin-san, what is the meaning of this?" Arata quietly asked.

Jin bit his lip and glanced at Yuko who slowly nodded. He shifted his gaze to Reika who was imploring that it was not true and sighed, "I'm afraid that it's just like what Otohime said. Reika is indeed my sister."

Reika let out a strangled chocking sound, shaking her head in disbelief. "No…It can't be!" She pushed away Arata and ran out.

"Reika!" Arata called after her and ran after her. Mia and Daimen were about to follow when Jin stopped them.

"Jin-san?" Mia frowned at him.

"Let them be. I'll go after them." Jin simply said and left the building as well.

"W-well, I'll be going as well…"

"Not so fast!" Daimen grabbed Otohime by the collar as she tried to sneak away. "Until all three of them get back, you're going to stay here and apologize to them when they return!"

"You do know that it is rude to sneak through other people's things without their permission." Mia folded her hands across her chest in agreement.

"I have a feeling that they'll take a while to come back though." Wataru whispered to Muraku. Both of them were just a stunned as everyone else was about what happened just now.

"But I guess Reika will eventually face it." Muraku whispered back. "There's no way Arata would simply let Reika run away like that."

"You may be right, but you don't know Reika like we do." Mia muttered as she went over to them. "It'll take a while for her to accept Jin as her brother."

"Mia, you are the one who taught me that Arata is the best brother anyone can have." Muraku reminded her with a weak smile. "If anyone can help her get through this, it'll be him."

Mia pressed her lips together in thought and nodded with a smile. "Yeah, but that makes you the annoying brother who can be overprotective."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Muraku smiled, knowing that Mia was only joking.

"In the meantime, watching Daimen, scare Miss Ojou-sama is more entertaining than doing nothing waiting for Reika and Arata come back." Wataru grinned, handing out some snack packs to them and sat down on one of the bean cushions, enjoying the sight of Daimen glaring at a terrified Otohime while waiting for Arata, Reika and Jin to come back.

"Good idea." Mia and Muraku sat down on another bean cushion and watched the amusing sight, occasionally popping a snack from the snack pack.

* * *

Reika kept on running, not caring if she bumped or knocked down anyone as she ran to the one spot she knew that she could be alone for the time being. She came to a halt at Gulf Peak and clenched the railing tightly.

"Kaidou-sensei…is my brother?" She panted out, tears coming out of her eyes. She shook her head furiously and sank on the floor. "That can't be! My parents abandoned me! They don't want me! But Kaidou-sensei…He didn't tell me because he was afraid of me, wasn't he…"

"Reika!" Arata quickly ran over to her. "Get a grip of yourself."

"How can I?" Reika sobbed. "You know that my parents abandoned me! So why would Kaidou-sensei care if I'm his sister?"

"Reika, I too was abandoned, remember?" Arata gently reminded her, leading her to the bench to sit down. "You can talk to me, you know?"

"I know." Reika rubbed her eyes. "But you didn't need to deal with a sibling coming out of the blue."

"Maybe not, but remember, no matter what happens, I'll be by your side to face it." Arata wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Thanks." Reika replied with a hiccup.

"Why don't you listen to what he has to say?" Arata suggested. "From what I gathered, if he did hate you, he wouldn't have gone through the trouble to find out through the DNA report. There may be a chance he never knew he had a sister."

"They why did he randomly picked me to do that DNA report?" Reika retorted.

"Point take. But the point it, I don't think he hates you. If he did, he would have treated you differently all this time." Arata reminded her.

Reika bit her lips as she remembered how Jin always looked out for her and gave her advice on LBX battling and schoolwork. "I guess…"

"I think he really wants to talk to you about it." Arata grinned and spoke over his should. "Isn't that right, Jin-san?"

"You have sharp senses." Jin merely said as he walked out of the spot he had been listening to them. Hearing how Reika believed that she was abandoned broke his heart. But now, he had a chance to explain things so he was going to take it. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all. I'll be nearby though." Arata got up and went up the stairs, lingering there while watching Jin sit down at the spot he was just now. He closed his eyes and allowed his mind to connect to Mia's. _'Mia, Reika's calm down and talking with Jin-san now.'_

_'Thank goodness.'_ Mia replied in relief. _'We'll be waiting for you to come back then. Daimen has cornered Miss Ojou-sama and won't let her go unless she apologizes to you, Reika and Jin.'_

_'Don't know why she needs to apologize to me. But we'll come back as soon as Reika and Jin are done talking.'_

_ 'Take your time. We're having fun watching Miss Ojou-sama squirm without Daimen lifting a finger or saying a word.'_ Mia's amusement came back to him.

_ 'Sounds like fun.'_ Arata mentally chuckled. _'Try sending some flashes of that to me. I want to see it too.'_

_ 'Will do.'_

Arata closed the connection and glanced back at Reika and Jin. He smiled and leaned against a tree while watching them.

* * *

Reika flicked her eyes at Jin and back at the sea. So far, Jin had not said anything and was giving her time to pull her thoughts together. "Did our parents hate me?"

Jin's eyes became full of sadness and shook his head. "No, they would have never hated you no matter what."

"Then…where are they?"

Jin's eyes became moist and he stared at the direct of the mainland shore. "They died in the Tokio Bridge Collapse incident when you were months old. But it was because of the low quality material." He quickly added, knowing that Reika might blame herself for it. "And after that, we were separated. I wanted to look for you but I didn't know where to start."

Reika's hands which were folded together tightened at that. "But when you found out, why didn't you tell me?"

"I know that whatever you went through in life was not easy so you have come to depend on Arata. I could not bring myself destroy that." Jin said quietly. "Also, if I wanted to continue to be close enough to take care of you, I could not let anyone know."

"What do you mean?" Reika frowned.

"The school has a rule whereby they cannot take in relatives of the staff members to prevent partialness among students and staffs." Jin explained. "If I were to revel that you are my sister, either one of us has to leave the school."

Reika bit her lower lip at that. "I see. But that may be inevitable now. Miss Ojou-sama made a big scene of it back there."

"I know. But since it comes to that, I'll willing to be the one that leaves." Jin told her.

Reika refused to reply and turned her head away. Jin hesitantly placed a hand on her shoulder. "Reika?"

"I always believed that my parents hated me!" Reika burst out with a sob. "I always believed that. It's what they told me…"

"Let me guess, the caretakers of the orphanage you were from?" Jin asked darkly.

"No use lying." Reika rubbed her eyes. "You obviously know a lot from Yuko-nee. And she obviously knew."

"Yes, but I was the one who asked her to keep it a secret. Please don't blame her for it." Jin told her and pulled her into a hug. She hesitantly returned it but soon pulled away.

There was a moment of silence before Reika spoke again. "It's going to take some time for me to acknowledge you as a brother instead of a teacher."

"I expected that. But don't worry, I'm not going to push you nor am I going to change anything you have with Arata." Jin promised her. "For me, taking care of you from afar was enough."

Reika's hands shook as her body trembled. "You're leaving the island, aren't you?"

"It's either that or you'll be expelled. I know that you still have a duty to do within the school."

"And so do you." Reika looked at him pointedly. "Look, we'll think up of something so that neither of us need to leave the island even if we have to leave the school."

"Reika, the whole reason I'm here is because I want to help Mito-sensei look for her father. He was my teacher and was like a father figure to me." Jin said slowly.

Reika sucked in a breath at that. "I know how it feels like. To have a father figure only for him to be ripped away. Arata and I went through that and I don't want you to go through it. It was horrible."

Jin frowned as he wondered what Reika experience that made her traumatized. He then remembered the day when Bandit attacked the lab and Reika had a breakdown. He chalked that to the traumatizing experience she had in the past and frowned. He would have some digging to do.

"I can't tell you everything about my life just yet. But maybe one day when I'm ready." Reika whispered.

"I'll be waiting for that day."

* * *

"So, you've talked it all out?" Arata asked as he and Reika walked back to the sports center with Jin walking a way back.

"Yeah." Reika nodded softly. "I'll tell you about it later."

"Alright." Arata nodded. They did not say anymore until they reached the sports center and Arata smiled sadistically. "You're going to love what's coming next."

Reika shot him a suspicious look but Arata merely smiled and pushed open the door to the drinks area and they were met with the sight of Daimen glaring at Otohime who was too scared of him to move and Muraku, Mia and Wataru were watching them from the bean cushions with the latter two giggling every now and then while the former had a tiny smile of amusement.

"What's going on here?" Jin asked when he saw the scene too.

Daimen looked up, much to Otohime's relief, and grinned. "Waiting for you guys to come back so that this brat here can say something that, I don't know, rhymes with 'I'm florry'?"

Mia and Wataru burst out in laughter and were rolling on the floor while Muraku, Arata and Reika had trouble holding in their laughter. Jin on the other hand, had a serious scowl on his face. "He's right. Otohime, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Otohime gulped and took a step back but was stopped by Daimen. "I suggest you quickly get on with it so that we can go back to the dorms." He whispered harshly.

Otohime nervously looked around but seeing that she had no way out of this, she quickly bowed. "I'm sorry!"

"To who?" Daimen asked innocently.

Otohime shot him a spiteful glare but Daimen merely smirked at her and she backed down. "To Kaidou-sensei for snooping through his things."

"And?"

Otohime scowled and turned to Arata and Reika. "I'm sorry for the harsh things I said to Reika. But it is true though that she's a liar…Ow!" She cried in pain when an apple was thrown at her head.

"Ara, ara." Mia drawled. "So terribly sorry, I meant to pass that to someone else and missed."

Otohime turned to scowl at her but Mia returned it with Maya's infamous death glare and she shrank back.

"Now that that's resolved, we can go back." Daimen grinned as he stretched. "What are you waiting for? Scram!" He roughly shoveled her away, causing her to panic and run out of the doors at record speed.

"Now that she's gone, we can go back." Mia stood up but doubled over again with giggles. "I honestly thought she was going to faint when I gave her the death glare."

"You have been hanging out with Maya too much." Muraku mere shook his head as he pushed her and Wataru out.

"Where's Yuko-nee?" Reika wondered as she looked around.

"She went out just after you guys left." Atsuya told her when he came back in after sorting the stock in the storeroom. "But she told me to tell you that she won't be back until tonight and she wants Reika to pack up and move here tomorrow."

"What?!" Reika and Arata exclaimed in shock.

"She said that she'll explain everything tomorrow." Atsuya said apologetically.

Reika pursed her lips and turned to Jin who frowned and wondered what Yuko was trying to do.


	67. Chapter 67

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

Later that night, Arata and Reika had snuck up to the roof to talk over what Jin had told Reika.

"Wow, I didn't know that your parents are actually dead." Arata shook his head in amazement.

"I feel guilty of thinking badly of them all this time." Reika said softly.

"But if they knew what you went through, they would not blame you at all." Arata assured her and leaned against the roof on his back so that he can have a better view of the stars. "Did Yuko-nee tell you why she wanted you to move in with her?"

"No." Reika shook her head. "But she said that she'll tell us tomorrow. Even so, I wonder why she would want me to move in."

"Did Jin-san give any indication that he knows anything about it?" Arata asked her.

"No. But he said that he'll be leaving the island tomorrow after handing in his resignation letter." Reika sighed sadly.

"It's the rule that staff cannot have relatives among students, isn't it?" Arata guessed, having heard about the rule from Muraku. When Reika did not say anything, Arata knew that he was right.

"When are you going to tell Haruki about Maddy?" Reika suddenly asked.

"After we find the Gem of Wishes or he'll think that she died in vain." Arata told her softly.

"You know that he won't think badly of you if you told him." Reika pointed out.

"But that doesn't mean that I won't think differently of myself." Arata said stubbornly.

Reika knew that he didn't want to pursue the matter anymore so she changed the subject. "By the way, Yuno is looking for you. She wants to talk to you about whether you actually want to make it official or not."

Arata groaned and banged his head lightly on the roof. "I don't know anymore. True, I really like Yuno. But after seeing Maddy that day, I don't know if I'm truly over her or not."

"You have a very complicated web of emotions." Reika sighed dramatically. "But then again, you are an empathic. It'll be natural. So are you going to talk to her?"

"Maybe not for the time being." Arata admitted as he sat up. "I want to get my emotions sorted out first before that."

"I understand." Reika nodded and rested her head on his shoulder. "It's been a long time though since we did this."

"I know." Arata breathe out. "You know that no matter happens, I'll be there for you."

"Of course." Reika snuggled closer to him. "You're the best brother anyone can have."

"Oh, and what about Jin-san?" Arata asked in amusement.

"I'll revise that once I get to know him better as a brother." Reika replied airily. "You wouldn't mind though if I find Kaidou-sensei…no, Jin-san better than you?"

"To be honest, I don't mind at all as long as you are happy." Arata smiled at her.

* * *

The next day, the air in the staff room was so thick a knife can cut through it when Jin entered. He could feel the eyes of many teachers boring into him. But he shook it off and went to his desk which was in between Higurashi-sensei and Mito-sensei's desks.

"Kaidou-sensei, the headmaster wants to speak with you." The latter told him softly.

Jin inwardly sighed and clutched the resignation letter that was in his pocket tightly and followed her out.

"How are you feeling about this?" Mito-sensei asked him.

"Overwhelmed. But I'm fine knowing that Reika has a chance to remain in the school and on the island."

Mito-sensei halted in her tracks in surprise. "Yuko didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Jin raised an eyebrow.

"She pulled Reika out yesterday." Mito-sensei told him slowly. "But the headmaster will explain it better than I can."

Jin narrowed his eyes and his mind went spinning. What in the world was Yuko thinking?

They stopped at the headmaster's office and Jin went inside with only confusion in his mind while Mito-sensei waited for him outside.

"Ah, Kaidou-sensei, please sit down." The headmaster greeted him and gestured at the couch in front of him. Jin apprehensively sat down and waited for the headmaster to speak. "Honestly, I never would have thought that Reika-chan is your sister. But I gathered that she didn't know about it at all until yesterday."

"Yes." Jin nodded. "To be honest, I didn't know myself until recently since we were separated when we were little."

"I see. That explains a lot of things. Under the school rules, we are not allowed to take or keep students or staff who are related to each other and only one party can remain here if found out. But Reika-chan's guardian already took care of that. She came here yesterday and told me that she decided to pull Reika-chan out of the school. I admit I was surprise at first, but now I know why."

Jin pursed his lips together and tightened his fist. "Will she be leaving the island?"

"Ah, she won't."

"What?" Jin cocked his head in confusion.

"You see, when Reika-chan and Arata-kun were enrolled, we were already making plans to open up the sports center with Kuriko-san running it. She asked that should they ever be expelled, they can remain on the island with her, given that she is their legal guardian that they have no other living relatives, so we agreed. So Reika-chan will now be staying with her." The headmaster explained. "I understand that the both of you wish to remain on the island together somehow and now you have your answer. But because you did not report to me about Reika being your sister in the first place, I have to suspend you from duty for the next three days."

Jin was speechless but nodded in understanding. The headmaster was pleased at that and stood up. "Thank you for your time and I hope to see you again once your suspension period is over."

Jin bowed in reply and quickly left the office where Mito-sensei was waiting for him.

"How did it go?" She asked him quietly.

"The headmaster has suspended me for three days and Reika is going to remain on the island while staying at Yuko's place." Jin answered with a soft sigh. "Do you mind letting Higurashi-sensei know that I won't be around for the next three days?"

"Sure. In the meantime, what are you going to do?"

"I'm thinking of visiting a friend of mine on the mainland." Jin said after some thought.

Mito-sensei nodded in understanding and checked her watch. "If you leave now, you might be able to pack your things and make it to the next boat heading back there."

"Thanks." Jin nodded and left.

* * *

As Jin packed the things that he needed for his brief stay at the mainland, his mind wondered as to whether the friend he wanted to see was even back in Japan so he whipped out his CCM and dialed a number. It took a while for the person on the other line to answer though.

_ "Hey Jin!" _Ban's voice rang out, making him smile.

"Ban-kun." Jin greeted back. "Are you back in Japan now?"

_"Yes. I just got back from America yesterday. I heard that you are on Kamui Island from Yagami-san. Who knew that you had it in you to teach?" _Ban joked.

Jin rolled his eyes even though Ban could not see it. "As a matter of fact, the moment I finish what I have to here, I'm leaving. You don't know what's it like being in a class full of teens."

_"Well, I'm guessing that this is not a simple social call then?"_ Ban suddenly asked.

Jin raised an eyebrow but replied evenly. "Depends. I need to talk to someone right now."

_"Oh?"_

"It's my sister." Jin said seriously.

_"You mean your long lost sister? You once mentioned that you found her in one of your emails but she doesn't know that you're her brother yet."_ Ban remembered. _"So you told her?"_

"More or less. I got a few days off so I'm thinking of heading over to Tokio City for a visit. Do you mind?"

_"Not at all."_ Ban replied cheerfully. _"Why don't we meet up at the Blue Cats café? It's recently been reopened. Maybe we can squeeze in a LBX battle too, for old time's sake."_

"I'm fine with that. I'll try to make it there by noon."

_ "Don't rush. I'll see you soon."_

"Ah." Jin nodded and hung up. He stuffed the last of his things in his bag and headed out to the port in order to catch the last ferry on time. Along the way, he sent a short text to Reika, informing her that he'll be out for a few days.

* * *

Ban silently hummed to himself as he strode down to the Blue Cats Café. He inwardly wondered what was it that Jin wanted to talk to him about but he had the feeling that he was related to Jin's long lost sister. Long ago, Jin had confided in him about her and expressed his desire to look for her, something which Ban promised to help wherever he can. But it seems that it was unneeded given how Jin told him that he found her.

'Even so, Jin sounds troubled by it.' Ban thought to himself. 'I wonder why? And from what I remember, the email actually came months ago. So Jin kept it from her for a long time?'

He stopped when he arrived at the Blue Cats Café and went inside. There was a fair number of people there and most of them were heading down to the underground arena. He soon spotted Jin in a quiet corner, stirring his cup of coffee, barely touching it. He shook his head with a smile and sat down beside him. Jin raised his head and gave him a smile.

"Ban-kun, it's been too long."

"Yeah." Ban nodded in agreement. "When I went to America to study, I didn't know that you came back to Japan until Jessica told me."

"Sorry about that." Jin apologized. "But something came up with a friend of mine here whom I befriended during my studies there needed my help so I had to rush back to Japan."

"I understand. It's about Mito-hakasen, right?" Ban asked with a pointed look.

"You got me." Jin admitted with a shrug.

"But I'm guessing that's not what you called me out for."

"Her name is Reika." Jin said after a while of silence. When Ban did not say anything, he continued, "When I found out about her, I really wanted to tell her. But when we were separated, she was sent to an orphanage which treated her badly and lied to her that her parents abandoned her. I know that she was adopted and has a foster brother but something happened to her foster parents which neither of them want to talk about. But it is because of this, she is close to her foster brother and I was afraid that if I told her that I'm her biological brother, it would tear them apart."

Ban looked thoughtful by the time Jin was done. He drummed his fingers thoughtfully on the table and gave him a questioning look. "So how did she find out?"

"Blame a student of mine." Jin grimaced. "She found the DNA report I did on me and Reika and she caused a big scene about it."

"So I take it that if the student never found the DNA report, you would not have let her know about it at all." Ban summarized. When Jin did not answer, he sighed, "I know that you don't want to break her relationship with her foster brother, but tell me, how did she react when she found out?"

"Freaked out." Jin murmured. "She believed that her parents abandoned her for her whole life. So knowing that I'm her brother made her break down for a moment. But once I explained everything, she's slowly accepting me."

"That's good to hear. But you don't sound happy about it." Ban observed.

Jin sighed and lowered his head. "I am glad that I found her and that she knows who I am. But at the same time, I find it hard to connect to her, given how different our personalities are."

"It can't be any different from when we became friends." Ban pointed out with a wry smile.

"True." Jin said with a small chuckle. "But the thing is, I don't know if I can actually connect to her. We have different interest and personalities. It'll be hard for me to understand her."

"Jin, I may be a single child, but even I can tell that it's not your differences that will separate you or hinder your understanding of her. It's your fears of not being able to be the brother that she wants." Ban told him. "If you keep up that fear, you'll only end up pushing her away and lose her again."

"I suppose you are right." Jin admitted. "Alright, I'll try not to worry about that too much."

"Good." Ban patted his shoulder. "So how about a cup of coffee and we'll go down there to have a battle?"

"Sounds good to me." Jin smirked. "Just so you know, I haven't been lazing around for the past four years."

"Neither have I." Ban smirked back and waved for a waitress to take his order.

* * *

"I wonder how Reika is doing at Yuko-san's place." Mia mused to Daimen as they gathered up their things after War Time.

"She's probably better off there." Daimen shrugged. "We know that she's struggling with her school work here so maybe she's better off with Kuriko-sensei tutoring her instead."

"That may be true but whether she would work hard or slack off remains to be seen." Mia replied drily. Suddenly, their CCMs went off informing them of mail received. They whipped them out and narrowed their eyes as they read it.

"No time to lose then." Mia muttered and quickly gathered the rest of their things. "I would not be surprise if the others got the same mail."

"Wait, where's Arata?" Daimen asked, looking around.

"He went on ahead." Mia rolled her eyes as they rushed out of the classroom and lowered her voice, "He's hiding from Yuno."

"I guess he doesn't have the answer to his feelings yet." Daimen rolled his eyes as well. Unbeknown to them, Yuno had heard every word they said and had a small smile.

'So that's why.' She thought to herself and giggled softly. 'Well, if he needs time, I'll give him time. But I hope that you'll have your answer soon.'

Meanwhile, Daimen and Mia had rushed to the sports center and headed up to Yuko's workshop where the rest of the gang had already gathered.

"You guys." Reika greeted them. "You're the last ones to arrive."

"Sorry." Mia nodded apologetically and turned to Yuko to address her, "Yuko-san, why did you call all of us here?"

"That's because I have something to show all of you." Yuko grinned and activated her computer.

"Did you finish the rest of the Fantasy Bands?" Wataru asked eagerly.

"No, not yet." Yuko shook her head regretfully. "But I did modify the ones that we're using currently. But I'll get to that later. This is what I wanted to show you, the PK-Searcher."

"PK-Searcher?" They crowded around the screen as the program was activated.

"It's a program that I came up with to look for the Parasite Keys. This is our key to look for the remaining ones." Yuko explained. "I'm going to install it into your LBXs and when there is a response, it'll alert you by sending a signal to your necklaces. Your necklaces will then record the data of that particular LBX and we'll find a way to retrieve it before Bandit can."

"That's great." Daimen exclaimed. "Now we don't have to worry about looking for them all over."

"Unfortunately, they only have a 500 meter radius like the Gem of Wishes search program I previously installed. But given that all of you are in various virtual countries, I'm sure that we can narrow it down soon."

"It'll take some time with Rossius and Arabista give how big they are. And the uncovered areas will be Londonia, Glenschtiem, Proton, Ezeldarm and Harness." Nick pointed out.

"Don't worry. Most of their students come here often. I can take care of that." Reika told him. "And besides, we already know that one of them is with Ezeldarm but we only need to find out which one."

"I have already inputted Tougou Rikuya's DC Offencer's data into it so it won't record it twice." Yuko informed them and gestured at the tray beside her. "Put your LBX and CCM on it and I can install the program."

"Alright." Arata nodded and one by one, they placed their LBXs and CCM on the tray and waited for the program to be installed.

"While we're waiting, I might as well explain about the changes I made to the Fantasy Bands." Yuko told them and took out the two bands from her drawer. "I modified them such that they'll now teleport the user into the Second World in their Original Form instead of separating them, given how strong the Night Lurkers have become."

"But if that's so, then we won't be able to operate our LBX and people will start to get suspicious of us." Arata frowned.

"Which is why I added another feature." Yuko stated patiently and took out blank cards from the drawer. "Dummy cards. Using these cards, a dummy will appear in your Control Pod and take over. Don't worry, as long as you use the dummy cards to scan your necklace first, it'll record your playstyle, voice and mannerisms to be inputted in the dummy so no one will be suspicious."

A beep from her computer then alerted her that the installation was completed so they retrieved their LBX and CCM. "Let's do a test run on the program." Yuko told them.

They nodded and found the program on their CCMs and activated it. At first there was nothing but their necklaces blinked to show that it picked up a response.

"I didn't expect them to pick up something so soon." Yuko frowned as Arata pulled out his necklace from under his shirt and turned on the computer inside it. The holographic screen came up and everyone's eyes became wide at the results.

"The last Parasite Key is in Wataru's LBX!?"


	68. Chapter 68

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

"The last Parasite Key is in Wataru's LBX!?"

"But how!?" Wataru cried, being close to freaking out.

"Breathe Wataru." Maya instructed him. Wataru did as told and calmed down. Nevertheless there was a look of pure worry on his face.

"What am I supposed to do now with the Parasite Key in my Gunther?" He wondered as he inspected his LBX, wondering how in the world the Parasite Key could be programmed into his LBX.

"Simple, we're going to use it to bait out Bandit." Yuko told him and extended her hand. Wataru handed Gunther to her and she set it on the tray again. "I'm going to scan for the Parasite Key program and extract it out from your LBX. Then, I'll replace it with a dummy. The dummy will then track down Bandit's movements and if our hypothesis about Ezeldarm being Bandit is true, we'll find the second one. After that, we'll have to think of a way to convince Tougou Rikuya to lend us the last one so that we can get into the Second World and retrieve the Gem of Wishes. We can finally push the Night Lurkers back where they belong then."

Arata pressed his lips into a thin line as he remembered what the mysterious voice had told him. 'No, we will need to gather the ten Element Stones to fully push the Night Lurkers back to their dimension and seal it once again. Yuko-nee obviously will not believe it. But the others did once I explained it and showed them the book. All that's left now is to show Mia and Atsuya it and ask him to help me convince Yuko-nee to believe it.'

"Hang on." Yuko frowned as she read something on the screen. She narrowed her eyes and glared at it. "There is a log in the program. Someone already has a lock on it."

"What?"

"It seems that we're not the only ones who found it." Yuko mused as she leaned back on her chair. "Alright, change of plans, we'll take the Parasite Key out and keep it here."

"Then what should I do if Bandit attacks us?"

"We'll lure them here. Once they figure out that the Parasite Key is no longer in here, they'll track it down. Once that happens, we can trap them." Yuko grinned.

Everyone exchanged glances and nodded. This idea may work since all of them are trained and not to mention, Yuko would never stand for anyone to simply sneak into her workplace so she would definitely prepare something to trap him. After Yuko finished extracting the Parasite Key, she gave back Gunther to Wataru and turned to the others.

"In case they don't fall for it, you still have to search for it." She told them. "Put the scanners to good use."

"Got it." Everyone nodded.

* * *

After the meeting, everyone went back with anticipation for the plan to trap Bandit and uncover their identity. As soon as he returned to his dorm room, Arata took out his notebook and flipped through it, stopping at the page which he recorded what everyone read in the mysterious book.

'So far, fire is the Element Stones, water is the Aviane Armor, air is the virtues each Element Stone represents…and plant is about the Grim Lurkers.' He thought grimly. 'But what are the Grim Lurkers? Even Nick was stumped when he read it.'

His eyes began to feel heavy and he shook his head to stay awake but the heaviness only grew. 'What on earth? I'm getting sleepier by the minute…Maybe going to sleep early is a good idea.'

He groggily replaced his notebook in his bag and slumped on his bed, soon falling into a deep slumber.

* * *

_ As soon as he opened his eyes, he recognized the place he was in and sighed. "Can I presume that you were the one who made me drowsy?"_

_ 'Indeed.' The voice chuckled. 'I am sorry, but there are some urgent things I must tell you now, or everything will fall into despair.'_

_ "What is it about?" Arata asked curiously._

_ 'First of all, I believe it is time for me to show myself to you.' There was a bright flash of light that Arata had to squeeze his eyes shut. When it died down, Arata opened his eyes and gasped at the sight of the Aviane in front of him._

_ "You're the third Original Aviane!" He exclaimed. _

_ 'Yes.' The Aviane nodded. 'My name is Oracle. I am sorry for not tell you earlier, but if I had told you in the beginning, I feared that you would not have been able to accept it and not listen to what I have to say.'_

_ "So what changed that?"_

_ 'Many things. You maturing greatly in your journey on this island for one.' Oracle explained. Her eyes became sad and she lowered her head. 'I have many things that I need to tell you but I will start with the most urgent one. You have found the Book of Secrets as I have instructed and found out about the Grim Lurkers.'_

_ "What are the Grim Lurkers?" Arata asked._

_ 'The Grim Lurkers are the evolution of the Night Lurkers.' Oracle explained seriously. 'They are smarter, more cunning, and stronger than an average Night Lurker. Your friend, Kenbishi Wataru once made a hypothesis about this and I am afraid to say that he is correct.'_

_ "So we can't defeat them as easily as we did to the Night Lurkers we fought with before." Arata concluded._

_ 'Exactly.' Oracle nodded. 'But be forewarned, you cannot defeat them unless you have the Aviane Armor. The way to summon the Aviane Armor will be explained when a cryokinesis interprets the Book of Secrets, which brings me to the next point. Houjou Mia is already badly weakened by her brother. If this goes on, Houjou Muraku may be the one who brings her down permanently.'_

_ "You keep on saying that Muraku will somehow harm Mia, but you never explained how." Arata frowned._

_ 'It is not my place to explain it. All I can say is that you have all the clues you need and all you need to do is draw the final conclusion from the clues. But I must warn you that it will not be simple to deal with.'_

_ Arata narrowed his brow in thought as he tried to figure out what Oracle meant._

_ 'Fire Child, there is one more thing. You must explain everything to the Kuriko Guardian by tomorrow and don't hide your findings on the Book of Secrets from her anymore.' Oracle told him. 'She needs to know about this if we want to win the war with the Night Lurkers and Grim Lurkers. As for Houjou Mia and Houjou Muraku, you must find their father and explain everything I told you about them before it is too late. Only he can help Houjou Muraku save his sister.'_

_ "I will." Arata promised._

_ 'Good.' Oracle nodded. She observed him and cocked her head. 'Is there something bothering you?'_

_ "Muraku is an umbrakineticist, isn't he?" Arata asked her, looking straight into her eyes. "That's why Muraku and Mia's father sealed up his powers, to protect Mia, isn't it?"_

_ 'You have all the answers you need. Now it is time to take action.' Oracle merely said. But it was enough to answer Arata's questions. 'But whether you choose to let Houjou Muraku know of this, it is your choice. Go back now, and think about what I said.'_

* * *

When Arata woke up, he realized that it was in the middle of the night and his dorm mates were already asleep.

'That voice…is the third Original Aviane, Oracle!' Arata blinked in amazement. 'But what it said…' He reached for his bag and pulled out both the Book of Secrets and his notebook. 'I have to tell Yuko-nee everything and find a way to contact Master Houjou. Atsuya should have his number since he was trained by him.'

"Arata, you're awake?" Hikaru asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?"

"No, I just had a feeling that you'll be up since you slept early." Hikaru shook his head. "Are you thinking about something?"

"Yeah." Arata nodded truthfully. "The past few weeks has been a huge trial for our patience what with the Death Forest mission going wrong, me having the Overload, you getting electrocuted, and our new LBX."

"I know." Hikaru nodded in agreement, hugging his legs closer to his chest. "But I think that out of all of the platoons in Jenock, ours is the one with the most incidents happening."

"Probably because of me and the Overload." Arata admitted.

"Even so, we managed to overcome all obstacles in our way. Doesn't that say that we're getting stronger each time?" Daimen said with a grin, pushing himself up.

"Yeah." Arata nodded in agreement after some thought and smiled. "Let's continue to try our hardest. We can't let Rossius or Arabista get ahead of us."

Daimen and Hikaru smiled in agreement and nodded.

"We have to get stronger so that we can defeat Bandit once and for all." Hikaru muttered and laid back down on his bed. "Good night."

"Night." Daimen saluted, falling back down on his bed and started to snore. Arata sweatdropped but chuckled softly.

'Hikaru's right. We have to get stronger so that we can defeat Bandit, the Night Lurkers, and the Grim Lurkers when they show themselves.'

* * *

"Because of Jenock and Harness' attack, along with Bandit's invasion, Rossius has lost many of its soldiers. While we reorganize our forces, we need you to devote yourselves to protecting Rose City." Commander Ivan began the briefing the next day before War Time. Wataru gulped and shifted on his feet uncomfortably. His transfer to Rose City had been abrupt and he had no idea of what he was supposed to do other than patrol. But if anyone tried to invade them, he could only hope that the frontline LBX would take care of them before they reached the inner parts of the fort.

As the students dispersed to head down to the control pods, Muraku went over to Wataru and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. Just remember what Mia and I taught you."

"Thanks." Wataru nodded gratefully at his step brother. "I'll do my best. And for me to have the same mission as you, it is an honor!"

Muraku blinked in surprise but nodded with a satisfied glint in his eye. He and Wataru then began walked out of the briefing room and headed to their control pods. "By protecting this land, we will secure Rossius' revival. Face this mission with care."

Wataru cocked his head curiously at him. "Muraku, why are you so passionate about Rossius even though it never appreciates your work despite all the hard work you put in?"

Muraku halted in his steps and mulled on his words. "Good question. But I suppose it has to do with loyalty. Since I am assigned to Rossius, I have to do my best for it and bring glory for it."

"Wow." Wataru blinked in awe. "And to think that you have to go through a lot of scorn by others in Rossius too. You're brave to keep on holding on to that principle despite what others say about you."

Muraku quirked an eyebrow at him. "I don't think so. I'm not as brave as you are to take on the Night Lurkers. Even Arata and Mia did so when they could not use their powers."

"But if I can't use my powers in a Night Lurker fight, I'd rather run than fight." Wataru grinned sheepishly. "By the way, what's between you and the new student in your class?"

"There's nothing between me and Lara. We just became friends because our situations are very similar." Muraku sighed.

"Is she a good battler?"

"I suppose so."

"Then I'd like to battler against her one day." Wataru grinned and ran off in the direction of his control pod. Muraku only shook his head and hopped inside. He however could not shake off the bad feeling that was pooling in his gut.

'Please let this be a false alarm.' He silently prayed.

* * *

_"We are ready to begin with Operation Raid Rose City." _Someone reported to Lara through an earpiece.

"Good, keep me posted. Once you see Kenbishi Wataru's LBX, corner him so that I can retrieve the Parasite Key." She told the person on the line as she slipped into her control pod and tweaked around.

_ "Who gave you the right to order us around?_" Another voice grumbled.

"Would you prefer Seredy-sama asking you to jump into an active volcano?" Lara asked pointedly. There was no argument on the other side so she knew that she won. She smirked at that prospect and place her LBX inside to be sent off. Unlike the rest of Bandit, she owns a black strider frame LBX with red ribbons intertwining around its Minerva-like ears and blood red boots which hides boosters. There was also a blood red ribbon tied around its waist, fluttering in the wind.

'Bloody Idol, let's give Rossius a scare.' She smirked. Since this is a Bandit mission, she was going to use it instead of her issued Glerior or it would give away her identity. Also, she secretly tweaked her control pod such that the port that it would be exiting from would be Ezeldarm's. 'Kenbishi Wataru, please forgive me for doing this. You may be Muraku's step brother, but that does not stop me from doing what I have to.'

* * *

'Everything is going normal for the patrol.' Muraku thought in relief as they continued to monitor the surroundings of Rose City. 'But that bad feeling in my gut is still growing. What is it trying to tell me?'

Unfortunately, he got his answer soon enough when the familiar transmission noise sounded and everyone instantly tensed up.

_"Attention all units! Bandit has appeared! Be on guard!"_ Their commander warned them. A blast rang out and a shot was fired straight at Wataru's rifle, destroying it and sending Gunter flying away at the same time.

"Wataru!" Muraku cried in shock. Nearby, Nick had his Glerior throw one of his swords to him so that he would have a weapon.

"I'm alright!" Wataru sighed in relief when he checked that there was no damage done on his LBX. "And thanks for the sword, Nick!"

"No problem, but we got bigger worries here." Nick grunted as he glared at the monitor showing the number of Bandit units out there. "We have ten times the usual number of Bandits coming our way!"

"Say what!"

"Wataru, keep calm when engaging them." Muraku advised him. "We have to protect Rose City!"

"Got it!"

_"To all units: Destroy Bandit and protect Rose City with your lives!" _Commander Ivan ordered them.

"No need to order us that when we already know that." Nick muttered under his breath and all of them got ready to fight off Bandit as they charged at Rose City. Soon, the entire fort was a huge one sided battle ground with Bandit easily destroying the Rossius LBX one by one.

"This is not what I had in mind when they said that I was assigned here." Nick groaned as he blocked a Bandit unit's axe with his other sword and kicked him away. But because of his Glerior's bulky size, it barely did any damage. "Now I understand why Arata and the others hate Brawler Frame LBX…Although Dot Blastrizer is more flexible than others"

"It can't be helped." Wataru said as his Gunther stabbed a Bandit and punched another. "We're going to have to rely on punches instead."

However, he noticed something. Almost half of Bandit's numbers are aiming at him. 'Don't tell me they haven't figured out that the Parasite Key is no longer in my LBX.'

It seems that Muraku had also realized this. "Wataru, they're all aiming at you. Take the Escape Stance when you can."

"And leave you to fight them? No way!" Wataru shook his head stubbornly and continued to fight off Bandit. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the black LBX heading to Gunther Ylzephar's position and yelled out a warning. "Muraku, the black LBX is approaching you!"

Thanks to Wataru's warning, Gunther Ylzephar was able to parry a blow from the black LBX's scythe and clashed with it. Down with Wataru, Vanessa and Mikhail had came to his aid but they too were being pushed into a tight spot.

"Why are they all aiming for Wataru?" Mikhail looked around desperately for an opening.

Wataru gritted his teeth scanned the area. He gasped and pushed down Vanessa and Mikhail's LBX just as Bloody Idol swooped down and swung its sword at them, sending Wataru's Gunther flying.

"I should have known that they would not be able to carry out a simple order." Lara growled to herself and fired up Bloody Idol's boosters and pushed Wataru off the platform they were on. "Then again, he's Muraku's brother. What should I expect?"

Both Bloody Idol and Gunther clashed with their swords but Bloody Idol was able to hook her sword around Wataru's and pulled it over to her hands, leaving Gunther defenseless.

"Wataru!" Muraku exclaimed when he saw this but the black LBX grabbed Gunther Ylzephar's face and smashed it to the ground. Over at Mikhail and Vanessa, they were cornered so they can't help him or Wataru. Nick was already having his hands full with two Gordons. The black LBX dragged Gunther Ylzelphar to the ledge of the wall and smashed his head there while letting him have a full view of what's going to happen to Wataru.

Bloody Idol raised its hand and was about jab into Wataru's core box but Lara suddenly stopped. There was something off with the Gunther but she could not place her finger on it. She quickly shook it off and brought down her hand when everyone froze into place and the alarm went off.

"Those idiots!" Lara cursed. "I haven't got the Parasite Key yet!"

Up in the air, all of the craft carries of the other virtual countries hovered and were in shock at how Bandit had trashed the place and also because the alarm that was sounded was the same one used when one virtual country captured another country's territory.

_"The point has been captured. Ownership over Rose City will transfer from Rossius to Ezeldarm. Ceases fighting immediately. All units under Rossius, please evacuate from the premise of Rose City."_

"Ezeldarm!?" Daimen gasped in shock.

"Didn't Bandit come to attack them?!"

"So Ezeldarm is really the cover of Bandit." Arata gritted his teeth. 'And to think that it had to be confirmed this way. And the LBX that attacked Wataru…it's strong and different from the other Bandit, no Ezeldarm, LBX.'

* * *

**When writing this, I did not noticed that I made a lot of mistakes until now so I have already corrected them. Sorry to the ones who read it earlier and are confuse.**


	69. Chapter 69

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

"So now what? We already know that Ezeldarm is the cover of Bandit so what is taking the teachers so long just to fire Seredy?" Mia said frustratedly as she paced around the briefing room while waiting for Mito-sensei to return with the news of what would happen to Seredy and Ezeldarm. At the same time, she was fiddling with her necklace as there was a response to the search program but they will have to wait until they get to Yuko's work area to know the results.

"It's not going to be as simple as that." Arata said calmly. "Up until now, no one knew that the students of Ezeldarm are Bandit. Seredy must be someone very cautious so I would not be surprise if he has more surprises up his sleeves."

"But Ezeldarm was the one who tried to get you to join them after they found out that you have the Overload and they told you that they have one of the Parasite Keys, right?" Rikuya frowned as he came over. "So our theory about Ezeldarm being Bandit was true."

"If that's so, then they must have gotten that Parasite Key when they were parading around as Bandit." Arata concluded. "But what's bugging me is why now?"

Everyone in the room glanced at him with questioning looks so he elaborated. "Up until now, the students of Ezeldarm have been going around as Bandit and never uncovering their identity. So why risk now to show themselves?"

"You're right." Sakuya said in realization. "So what changed?"

The doors then opened and Mito-sensei came it and the question was forgotten as everyone gathered around her.

"How was it, Mito-sensei?" Haruki asked.

"Bandit…no, Ezeldarm's capture of Rose City was officially approved." She said disgruntledly. There was the expected gasp of disbelief and indignation from the students.

"That can't be!" Haruki protested. "But it was an act of terrorism!"

"Once the management has made its decision, we have no choice but to abide by it. That's how it goes around here." Mito-sensei merely said.

"It's always the management's final say." Arata grumbled under his breath. 'Wonder why they won't fire Seredy and approve the act of terrorism. It goes against everything they told us about the Second World…and sooner or later, they'll lose the trust of the students.'

"Will Rossius disappear?" Haruki frowned. Mia instantly tensed up at that question and begged inwardly for a no. Thankfully, this was answered with a shake of Mito-sensei's head.

"No, it seems that they moved their headquarters before War Time. Their territory has shrunk, but they still continue to exist as a country."

* * *

"This…is…awful!" Maya yelled, slamming her fist on Yuko's worktable, causing the teacher to glare at her in irritable and Maya scooted away.

"I understand your feelings, but please refrain from destroying my workplace." Yuko said firmly.

"Yes, Kuriko-sensei." Maya said demurely. As must as she didn't want to admit it, she was in awe of the teacher and she did not dare lose her temper at her.

"Yuko-nee, the scanners found the last LBX, but it is not an LBX that is registered in the school. Although, we did pull off a name of the LBX. It's call Bloody Idol." Arata informed her after he and Reika had checked the scanner's info. He sent the info to Yuko's computer and she pulled it up to the screen. Wataru and Nick gasped as they recognized it.

"It's that LBX that attacked me and nearly destroyed my LBX!" Wataru exclaimed. Everyone looked at him in shock and then back at Bloody Idol on the screen.

"You mean, they tried to take the Parasite Key?" Yuko frowned. "That doesn't make any sense. If they locked on the Parasite Key, they should know that it is not in your LBX anymore…unless they didn't bother to update their info." She said in disgust. "They got cocky and underestimated us."

"But I think the operator of Bloody Idol is suspecting something. It paused when it was about to do that one hand jab but it tried to do it again but the point capture alarm sounded." Wataru pointed out.

"The irony of the situation. They went to capture the Parasite Key, they got territory instead." Daimen smirked.

"Anyway, unless they check their scanners again, they won't find the Parasite Key in Wataru's LBX." Yuko muttered and double checked the storage to see if the Parasite Key was still in there. Satisfied that it still was, she turned to her students. "Right now, we need to find out more about that LBX and find a way to extract the Parasite Key from it. We find it, we get the Parasite Key as well as more info on that umbrakineticist."

"Actually, I might have an idea on who the umbrakineticist is." Arata raised his hand. He brought something up on his necklace CPU and displayed it on the screen. "Itan Kyouji, student from Ezeldarm. No info on his LBX, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it is the black LBX with the scythe. The reason why I suspect him is because the day Ezeldarm tried to recruit me, they actually lured me to them by emitting the black aura. And each time I managed to sense the aura, Itan was always there. He may think that I didn't see him, but I actually did catch glimpses of him to put the picture together."

"Alright, I run through a facial recognition on him in our database but don't be surprise if nothing comes up. And it may take some time too. In the meantime, you guys should train in case the Night Lurkers pop up suddenly. They have been quiet for a while, but that doesn't mean that we can relax."

"Alright."

Everyone started to leave but Arata stayed back. "Yuko-nee, there's something I need to tell you."

Yuko looked at him in surprise and was even more so when she noted that he had the guilty look he had whenever he kept something important from her. "What is it?"

Arata sat down across from her, clutching the notebook and Book of Secrets in his bag as he slowly explained to her everything. From the Book of Secrets' power to what everyone had told him after they read the book, what he dreamt last night and finally, what was happening to Mia and Muraku. By the time he was done, Yuko had a look of angst and understanding. He even gave her his notebook and the Book of Secrets back.

"I wish you told me about Mia and Muraku when you found out." Yuko shook her head with a hand over her mouth. "No wonder I sensed another umbrakinesis energy in her and why her power's stats have been falling recently."

"I'm sorry. But I was not sure of what was going on myself until last night." Arata lowered his head in shame. "Oracle said that I have to find Master Houjou so that he can save them."

"I'll handle that. And about the ten Element Stones…to be honest, I started to believe in what you said about them a few weeks ago." She admitted, pulling out a journal from her drawer.

"That's Master Kuriko's journal!" Arata said in shock, recognizing it. "But Yuko-nee, I thought you didn't want to read it."

"I didn't. But the circumstances are dire enough for me." Yuko said calmly as she flipped it to a certain page. "Otou-san knew about the Element Stones for a while before he disappeared. The legend that the Gem of Wishes will never run out of energy was based on the condition that it would only be used to protect Fantasy and seal the Night Lurkers in their dimension."

"That's what Oracle told me." Arata frowned. "But Yuko-nee, I'm more worried about Mia now. She may not show it, but I can tell that she's getting weaker each day, even if it is very unnoticeable to everyone including herself."

"I'm going to go back to Fantasy tonight." She finally decided. "There is no time to waste. Time is not on our side and Ezeldarm and the Night Lurkers can attack anytime. I'll try to bring back some crystals from the Crystal Cave to slow down the built up of the energy."

"That may be a good idea." Arata nodded in agreement. "But please hurry back. I have a really bad feeling about everything that is happening."

Yuko nodded in understanding and patted his shoulder. "Don't worry. Mia will be alright by the time all of this ends."

"I can only hope so."

* * *

A few hours later, Yuko was so engross in working on the remaining Fantasy Bands that she did not hear Mito-sensei entering until she placed a hand on her shoulder, making her jump.

"Hey, what brings you here?" She asked tiredly as she kept the bands in her drawer.

"I…I don't know. It's just, something tells me that something bad is going to happen soon." Mito-sensei sighed as she sat down on one of the seats. "And as each day passes, I don't have much hope that I can find my father."

Yuko frowned and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Stop it. This pessimistic attitude is what's going to make you fail instead of succeed. I admit that a lot of things had happen today that's making us tense in anticipation for the next Ezeldarm attack, but losing hope will only make the things you fear the most come true." She turned back to her computer and pulled out a memory stick, pressing it into Mito-sensei's hand. "For now, you should take this."

Mito-sensei shifted her gaze from the memory stick to Yuko. "…What's this?"

"Just something I need you to hold on to and to take somethings off your mind. I have to go back to Fantasy tonight. There's an emergency that I need to attend to right now. So while I'm gone, can you help me keep an eye on Arata? He may act mature and all but underneath all that, he's still a kid who's learning to cope with the world."

"Of course." Mito-sensei agreed though inwardly wondering what emergency was so important that Yuko had to return to Fantasy.

As though sensing her friend's thoughts, Yuko smiled. "It's nothing too concerning but I would rather attend to this matter sooner than to let it be. I'll be back within this week though. And if I'm not mistaken, Jin will be back by tomorrow too."

"You're right. But still, I would rather have the both of you on the island at the same time in case something happens."

"Don't worry. I'll be back as soon as I can." Yuko promised. "And one more thing, don't look at that memory stick until I return to the island. It contains some sensitive information that I don't want anyone to know just yet."

Mito-sensei was slightly surprise that her friend would entrust such information to her and clenched it tightly in her fist. "I'll keep it safe with me until you get back."

* * *

The next morning, the air in the staff room was as tensed as it was when everyone found out that Jin is Reika's brother. Mito-sensei rolled her eyes and sat down at her table. Sometimes, she thought that her fellow teachers were too gullible to think that they can get their way all the time. This was in fact proven wrong when Seredy blackmailed the headmaster to retain his position at the school. A person like Seredy would be bound to have an ace up his sleeves especially since he knew the risk of exposing Ezeldarm as Bandit.

'Jin said that he'll be back by this afternoon and I can only hope that nothing bad happens again until then.' She silently thought to herself.

"Mito-sensei, may I have a word."

Mito-sensei lifted her head and raised an eyebrow at Muraku and his platoon. "Yes?"

"The headmaster asked me to give you this note." Muraku said, giving her a note which has the headmaster's signature on it. Mito-sensei took it and read it through. If she was surprise by its contents, she barely showed anything other than her eyebrow raising higher.

She folded the note and turned back to him. "Do you know about the transfer already?"

"More or less." Murau said neutrally.

'Mia and Muraku are twin and yet, the differences in their personalities are very clear. I heard the students mention it once or twice but seeing it now makes it much easier to believe.' Mito-sensei privately thought. She flicked her eyes to each member of the platoon and back to Muraku. "Have gotten your new uniform?"

"Yes." Muraku nodded.

"Then get changed and meet me in front of the class." Mito-sensei merely said before resuming whatever she was doing before they came. Muraku exchanged looks with his friends but left the staff room. Along the way, they bumped into Mia who blinked in surprise.

"Muraku, I thought you would be in your class by now."

"I could say the same to you."

"I have to pass up some papers to one of the teachers." Mia huffed. "So what are you doing here?"

"We went to see Mito-sensei. We're supposed to be transferred to Jenock today." Muraku said carefully while gauging his sister's reaction.

Mia's eyebrows flew up and her mouth dropped. "What…?"

"We're just as surprise as you are." Mikhail shrugged.

"By the way, is Mito-sensei always that…cold?" Vanessa asked.

"You'll get used to it." Mia shrugged. "But she's a good teacher and commander, nevertheless. So I'll see you guys at class?"

"Just don't drop the bomb yet." Muraku told her with a nod.

"Alright. Wish that I have a camera now though." Mia giggled. But once she was a fair distance away from them, she stopped giggling and her face darkened. 'The whole reason why I never wanted to be in the same class as you is because I don't want to make it easy for others to compare us. But now…' Her hand shook as she dreaded the moment Muraku and his platoon were officially introduced to their class. Unbeknown to her, Itan was watching her and was amused by her anxiety and her thoughts.

"Those are some interesting thoughts you have there, Houjou Mia. But sadly, I'll be using them and you to bring down the Violet Devil once and for all."

"Itan, I thought we had an agreement that we should not use our powers on the island unless Seredy-sama tells us to." Lara said with a scowl as she stepped out of her hiding place. "And you already broke that weeks ago. Don't deny it. I already heard about it from Seredy-sama himself."

"Sometimes, you got to break some rules to achieve your goal, Feng Yu." Itan merely smirked at her.

A tick formed on Lara's forehead at Itan's usage of her Chinese name. "I thought I told you not to call me that!"

"What? It's what I've been calling you forever." Itan shrugged.

Lara grunted at that, unable to deny it. Once upon a time, Itan and Lara were good friends until Itan became power hungry and Lara became hateful of her own heritage. Now, she could not stand to be in the same room as him because he would only call her by her Chinese name, reminding her of the pain she felt whenever she was faced with a racist and he can't stand her because she always stopped him from using his powers to harm others unnecessarily.

"Why would you stop me from controlling her anyway?" Itan asked with an arched eyebrow. "It's not like she isn't a power telepath and cryokineticist. She'll be our best bet to obtaining the rest of the Parasite Keys since the last one is very likely in Jenock and the other one which you failed to get is in her step brother's LBX."

Lara jerked her head sharply at him. "I swear, you are enjoying this too much. It was those idiots fault! Seredy-sama clearly said that obtaining the Parasite Key is our first priority but they went and captured the fort instead!"

"But if you didn't hesitate then, we would have the Parasite Key by now." Itan shot back.

Lara scowled and was about to retort when she remembered why she hesitated. "No, there was something wrong with that LBX, but I can't figure out what."

"Oh?" Itan said disinterestedly.

Lara turned to Itan and gears began to work in her mind. She gulped and swallowed her pride, knowing what she's going to ask from him would be enough to make him taunt her for the rest of her life. "I need your help."

"What?" Itan cocked his head at her in surprise.

"Do you want to get the second Parasite Key or not?"

"Obviously yes. What's your plan?"

Lara smirked, knowing that Itan was going to go with her plan without taunting her. "Simple, we'll put on an act to fool them and steal the Gunther right under their noses."

"Oh." Itan smirked, his interest perked. "What act should we put on?"

"The hero that saves the damsel."

* * *

**Ps. Lara's Chinese name is 雷凤玉, in case you're wondering, which literally mean 'thunder phoenix jade'. You can check out how they are pronounced in google translate.**


	70. Chapter 70

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

Everyone in class was tensed as they waited for Mito-sensei to start homeroom but she was running late today. Mia sighed, guessing that it had to do with waiting for Muraku and his platoon to report to her. But still, she needed to keep her guard up despite Muraku transferring to her class because Ezeldarm may try to strike Wataru again if they think that he still has the Parasite Key.

The classroom door then slid open and Mito-sensei stepped inside, carefully choosing her words in her head and preparing to gauge their reaction when their newest platoon came in.

"Four new students have been added to Jenock's forces." She announced, going straight to the point.

"Four at once?" Yuno whispered in disbelief. The numbers were so precise to create a new platoon but Mia knew that it was a platoon being transferred over.

Mito-sensei stopped at her desk and turned to the door. "Come in."

Four students stepped in and everyone gasped in shock as the students are none other than Muraku and his platoon!

* * *

_At the same time…_

Over at the small town within the mountains that is hidden with Fantasy, Yuko hastened her pace towards the school, occasionally stopping to greet some of the people she met along the way but never more than five minutes. By the time she reached the school, it was already early in the morning and she was already tired, having travelled since dawn. But even so, she pushed all that aside and went inside without a second thought.

"Oh my! Yuko, what are you doing here? I thought you were on Kamui Island." Sakami greeted her.

"Sorry for coming back on short notice but I need to speak with Master Houjou. It's important relating to his children." Yuko grasped the other teacher by the arm urgently.

"Master Houjou…I'm afraid that he went up the mountains to meditate and won't be back for another day." Sakami said apologetically.

"There's no time for that." Yuko shook her head in frustration. "I'm going to go and find him. Which direction did he go to?"

"Northeast. I think he's gone up to the Crystal Falls." Sakami said, pointing at the direction of the large waterfall further up the mountain from the school.

"Thanks." Yuko nodded and grabbed a canister of water on the way out and started her hike up to the top of the falls which was a popular meditating ground for the masters of the school.

* * *

Up at the Crystal Falls, Master Houjou Mitsuki was sitting cross-legged on top of the waterfall. He could be said to be the origin of Mia and Muraku's looks because of his purple-yellow eyes and dark hair with white highlights although the twins inherited their mother's face shape. He also wore white and black robes and purple shoes. His eyes were now closed in meditation while taking in the sounds of nature namely, the sound of the crashing waterfall, the chirp of the birds and the pants of someone climbing up…

He paused in his meditation and slowly opened his eyes. Sure enough, Yuko was running up the steps to the top and he frowned. 'Yuko will never leave Kamui Island with the mission going on unless it is something really important…Is it happening now? Is Mia…' He wondered worriedly but he shook his head, knowing that he would have to wait for Yuko to come up and confirm his suspicions. He knew that it was a bad idea to allow Mia to be in the same school as Muraku but he felt that he owed it to them to at least let them be together after separating them for a long time.

"But it's for their own good too." He whispered.

"Master Houjou!" Yuko gasped as she reached the top. "I'm too out of shape." She muttered to herself and straightened up. "Master Houjou, I need to talk to you about Mia and Muraku."

"I can guess what you are going to say." He sighed. "I know about what's going on to them because I was the one who sealed up Muraku's powers."

"I know that. But the reason why you did that is because Muraku is an umbrakineticist and more importantly, Mia's twin." Yuko started. "You were afraid that if you left it alone, Muraku's powers would kill Mia through their bond as twins since she's also a telepath." She took a deep breath and paused before continuing, "But what I cannot understand is why did you separate them and why you pushed Mia away?"

Master Houjou sighed again and stared at the sky. "It may be a selfish move on my part. But Kinako's family comes from a long line of telepaths and although she did not inherit that power, Mia did. And I am an umbrakinesis and there are some cryokineticist in my family which was split between the twins. And unfortunately, Muraku inherited my powers. Kinako and I decided that this may be the only way to keep Mia alive and give Muraku a normal life at the same time when we discovered about their powers at birth."

He rubbed his face in his hands and continued, "But the method that I used was not very stable even though I blocked Muraku's powers. If Mia and Muraku use their twin bond more frequently than usual, then I'm afraid that the seal will break and Mia might be instantly killed. Because of that, I knew that I had to separate them. But at the same time, it was the guilt of tearing apart my family that made me push Mia away because I didn't want to hurt her when she finds out that I am the reason our family is broken. Not even Kinako knew about the dangers of sealing Muraku's powers."

"But that seal is breaking now and they need you." Yuko insisted. "Mia and Muraku need you more than they ever did in their lives."

Master Houjou stared at the sky in thought and turned to her. "Have you found the Gem of Wishes?"

"We have its location but we cannot retrieve it yet." Yuko said in surprise at the change of subject. "Why do you ask?"

"I cannot break the seal without endangering Mia without it." Master Houjou admitted.

"Just what method did you use?" Yuko wondered, rubbing her head.

"Something you don't want to know."

* * *

_Switch back to Kamui Island_

"Why is Murkau's platoon in Jenock?" Rinko wondered out loud.

"Rossius lost much of its territories in yesterday's War Time when Ezeldarm took Rose City." Mito-sensei explained although she was still noting the expressions of her students. "As a consequence, they were forced to send one of their platoons off to another virtual country."

"So out of all of their students, why did they choose to send these guys?" Catherin complained.

'You'd think that she learned her lesson after what happened with Proton.' Arata silently sighed. Despite everything, he and Mia had decided not to tell Mito-sensei that the reason why they got hurt in the last Night Lurker attack to give Catherin another chance and Haruki and Sakuya had reluctantly agreed to it. But it seems that once the shock wore off, Catherin was back to her old self of criticizing and not being considerate of others.

"The transfer was decided by the management. Starting from today, they will be Jenock's sixth platoon." Mito-sensei added, ignoring Catherin's remark.

Arata blinked and shifted his gaze to Mia who kept her appearance as neutral as possible. 'No wonder she was so quiet since she came back. She must have known about it.' He shifted his gaze and froze at Haruki. 'Oh, right. Haruki lost his teammates to Muraku during his first mission as platoon captain. That also made him hate Mia when she first came over.'

Haruki seemed lost in thought and suddenly stood up, heading to the front of the class. Everyone's eyes were on him as they anticipated whether he would accept them or reject them. Thinking that it was the latter, Mikhail and Vanessa moved in front of Muraku protectively and glared at Haruki when he stopped in front of Muraku.

'Interesting, what's going to happen next?' Arata thought with a small smile. Opposite of what Mikhail and Vanessa think, Haruki would never think about rejecting a new teammate no matter who they are.

This was proven true when Haruki extended his hand. "Glad to have you." He greeted, taking everyone off guard. "It's reassuring to know that a strong platoon is joining our side. Welcome." He smiled.

Mikhail and Vanessa blinked in surprise and were unsure of what to do but Muraku stepped forward, pulling off his glove and shook Haruki's hand. "Of course, we are happy to be here."

Mia nearly snorted at that but caught herself when Arata sent her a glare. She shook her head, taking in Mikhail, Vanessa and Kageto's expressions. Contrast to what Muraku said, Mikhail and Vanessa were still unsure of their position in Jenock while Kageto only had a sullen look on his face.

* * *

"Ace. Haruki has come from the back of Bourke." Daimen grinned during break when they gathered around Arata's table. Currently, the sixth platoon was not around as they were meeting with some teachers to arrange for their schoolwork to be transferred to their class.

"Huh?" Almost everyone gave him a confused look.

"He means, Haruki has come a long way." Mia translated with a roll of her eyes. "Seriously Daimen, when will you learn to speak normally instead of your Aussie slangs? They'll only corrupt us and we'll fail in English."

"Speaking normally is not my bowl of rice." Daimen gave her a cheeky grin.

"Can I assume that he meant that speaking normally is not his cup of tea?" Yuno whispered to Mia.

"Yup. You'll get used to it in a while." Mia rolled her eyes again. She shifted her gaze to her watch and frowned.

"Mia, what's wrong?" Daimen asked her when he saw her frown.

"Sorry, I got to go. I'll be back soon." She muttered and left the class.

"Gezz, what's with her?" Catherin complained. "Going of like that when we are supposed to plan for…" 

"Catherin, you're a yabber." Daimen cut in.

"Even I don't need Mia to know what he's talking about." Arata smirked to himself.

* * *

"You're early." Lara lightly remarked when Mia came up to the roof. "I asked you to come in five minutes, not immediately."

"Sorry, but when you ask me to come up here telepathically, I kind of assumed that this must be something important." Mia said coolly.

"I see." Lara twirled a strand of her dark hair. "Can you guess why I called you here?"

"You're the operator of Bloody Idol." Mia stated more than asked. "You're part of Ezeldarm even though you're from Rossius."

"Correct." Lara nodded and took out Bloody Idol from her pocket, letting Mia see it. "I was the one who tried to retrieve the Parasite Key from Kenbishi Wataru's LBX. But it seems that there is something troubling about it. But anyway, yes, I am part of Ezeldarm, or rather one of Seredy's high-ranking admins."

"Can't think why." Mia said neutrally. "And what is the real reason you called me up here? You wouldn't just ask me to come up here to confirm things that I already know and let me walk away when I might tell someone."

"You won't." Lara simply said. Mia frowned and took a step forward but her air supply was suddenly cut of as something wrapped around her throat. She tried to claw on her throat but the thing around it was actually invisible.

"W-what…" Mia managed to choke out but the thing tightened and lifted her off her ground. But much to her surprise, Lara was glaring over her shoulder.

"Itan, stop it!" Lara yelled, creating a yellow energy ball in her hands

Instantly, the thing wrapped around Mia's neck loosened and she dropped on all fours as she gasped and tried to regain her breath. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a black tentacle that flickered in the light heading back to the person who casted it. Based on her suspicions and what Lara called him, Mia could assume that it was Itan Kyouji.

"Man, Feng Yu, way to spoil my fun." Itan stepped into view while sneering at Mia.

"Whatever." Lara growled at him and turned back to Mia. "You saw what we can do. So I advise you that you keep all this to yourself or there will be consequences."

"What makes you think that you can easily scare me like that?" Mia panted as she stood up. "I'm not going to be intimidated by the both of you. Lara, I'm giving you this warning. Stay away from my brother if your intentions for getting close to him is to spy on him. I will not hesitate to tell him about your powers and your affiliations with Ezeldarm if you don't."

"And luckily for you, that's not my intention." Lara shot back with narrowed eyes. "But I'm warning you for your own good. You are the one who has to stay away from him."

"What?" Mia tried to take a step forward again but fell over as the pain in her throat intensified.

"Once I mark you, there is no escaping from me." Itan smirked, his irises glowing black as a black aura surrounded her throat. "You better remember whom you are dealing with."

"Stop it." Mia begged as the pain was too much for her to handle.

"Itan." Lara said in a warning tone. Itan shrugged and blinked. His irises returned to normal while the aura around Mia's throat died down. Lara eyed him to make sure he didn't try anything funny. "Itan, leave. I can handle this myself."

"Fine." Itan shrugged and left the roof. But as he passed by Mia, she shuddered and flinched. She did not dare relax even when she was sure that he was already back at his class.

"I'm sorry for that." Lara suddenly said and helped her up. She winced at the bruising on her neck and arranged her scarf to cover it. "Itan can be very brutal with his powers even when he's not supposed to use them."

"Who are you?" Mia asked softly. "You are part of Ezeldarm and you tried to make my brother LOST. And yet…"

"I have my own sense of honor." Lara merely said. "Just because I'm part of Ezeldarm, it doesn't mean that I have to agree with everything they do. But I have to follow orders though."

Mia eyed her warily although she knew that Lara's powers could not hurt her but she did not dare let down her guard nevertheless. "Then why are you telling me all this? You know that I can split on you any time I want."

Lara's eyes were filled with guilt as she remembered when Seredy told her about his plan which sadly involves Mia and several others being his puppet. "I don't want to tell you, but you'll find out sooner or later." She stepped away and began walking to the door. "But believe me when I say this, if I could stop Seredy from carrying out his plan, I would gladly do so."

Mia frowned and her hand drifted to her throat. She trembled when she remembered how powerful Itan is to control his powers like that and how powerful Lara's energy ball was even though she did not fire it.

'Just what are we getting into?'

* * *

That evening, the entire class of Jenock held the welcoming party for the sixth platoon at the common room of the dorms but Mia slipped away early and went up to the sports center.

"Mia?" Reika said in surprise as she greeted her friend when she came into the main area. "What are you doing here? I thought you would be at the dorms for the welcoming party for Muraku and his platoon."

"I can't be there." Mia shook her head with a downcast face. "I just can't."

Reika frowned worriedly and led her to an empty table. "Mia, what happened? Did something happen between you and Muraku?"

"The teachers were comparing me to him in front of the whole class." Mia choked back a sob as she remembered what the teachers had said during the classes after the break. For her, it was an utter humiliation as though everything she did for the past few months to establish herself away from him was for nothing. "And I nearly punched one of them."

"Youdidwhat!?" Reika screamed.

"I couldn't help it!" Mia slammed her fist down in frustration. "Worst of all, Muraku did not do anything to stop it! And then during break, Lara and Itan confronted me and…"

"Wait, Lara?" Reika grabbed her shoulders to make her stop and narrowed her eyes in confusion.

"She is part of Ezeldarm!" Mia burst out as her hand drifted to her throat. "She asked me to meet me on the roof and the next thing I knew, she was telling me that she is one of Seredy's admins and Itan attacked me."

Reika's eyes became wide in horror and eyed her friend up and down. "Did he do anything to you?"

In response, Mia slowly lowered her scarf, revealing the ugly bruise that ran along her neck.

"Mia, why do you have that bruise!?" Atsuya demanded when he saw the bruise and confronted her.

"Atsuya!" Reika hissed and pushed him aside and began to talk to him in hushed whispers. "Mia now unstable so don't startle her. Let me do the talking."

"But…"

"I know that you're worried about her but who do you think she'll rather confide in? You or me?"

Atsuya bit his lip and let out a defeated sigh. "Fine, but I want to talk to her after this though."

"If she lets you." Reika pointed out and sat back down beside Mia while Atsuya sat at the other end of the table. She eyed the bruise cautiously. "How did you get that?"

"He strangled me with his powers." Mia shuddered as she remembered what happened. "But…I don't know why, Lara stopped him."

"Huh?" Reika tilted her head. "But she's on the same side as he is, isn't she?"

"Maybe she has her own conscience." Jin suggested as he joined the conversation, having heard what happened.

"Kaidou…no, Jin-san, what are you doing here? When did you come back?" Reika asked in a rush.

Jin held up his hands to stop her and turned to Mia. "Sorry, I could not help but eavesdrop on your conversation. To answer your questions Reika, I came back this afternoon and I wanted to check up on you."

"You said that Lara has her own conscience." Atsuya brought up, joining in. "You sound like you're speaking from experience."

"I am." Jin nodded in clarification and turned to Reika. "I don't know if you know about this, but after we were separated in the Tokio Bridge collapse, I was adopted by Kaidou Yoshimitsu, who at that time is the leader of the Innovators."

"Hence the surname 'Kaidou'." Reika guessed. "And he tricked you into becoming a bad guy?"

"I wouldn't word it that way." Jin said with a shrug. "But actually, you're half correct. He tricked me into thinking that Innovator's ideals are perfect and I wanted to help him accomplish that to earn his approval. But my assignment to spy on my now best friend actually turned the tables on him."

"So you basically allowed your conscience to rule out your grandfather's ideals?" Mia guessed.

"Yes." Jin nodded. "Ban actually showed me that grandfather's ideals were not as black and white as I thought and my conscience began to act up. I couldn't let anyone else suffer anymore because of him. That's why I decided to join his side."

"Well, Lara did say that she has her own sense of honor, but it could be similar to what you are saying." Mia brought up slowly. She shivered when she remembered how Lara got easily annoyed at Itan if he tried to hurt her badly. "Lara didn't exactly disapprove Itan of strangling me in the first place. But when he went overboard, that's when she made him stop."

JIn frowned and observed her bruise. "We have to tell the headmaster…"

"No." Mia, Reika and Atsuya shook their head.

"If we tell him, we're going to have to tell him how he hurt her and he might tell the headmaster about us instead. We'll lose either way." Atsuya pointed out.

"In that case, you shouldn't go around alone anymore Mia." Jin suggested. "I know you wouldn't like it. But if Itan tries to attack you again, you cannot guarantee that Lara will stop him or even will be there to do so."

"And we should tell Arata and Daimen…"

"Absolutely not!" Mia suddenly snapped. "If we do, then they'll only tell Muraku and who knows what he'll do? He might confront Lara and Itan might hurt him too. I don't know why but I feel that Itan is protective of Lara and would not hesitate to attack if he feels that Lara might be in danger."

Jin raised an eyebrow at that. "Even if it means risking yourself getting hurt again?"

"Yes." Mia nodded. "Or I can skip school for a few days and hide out here if you want. I'm not in the mood to go to school anyway."

Reika and Atsuya exchanged glances at that and the former asked the latter. "Is that ok? Since it'll keep her safe..."

"Fine by me." Atsuya quickly said.

"I'll inform Mito-sensei then." Jin offered. "Don't worry, I won't give her the details but just enough for her to know that you're here."

"Thanks." Reika gave her brother a grateful smile and hugged him. "I'll get the futon ready then. You can sleep with me in my room."

Mia nodded gratefully and went upstairs with her.

"I'll be going then. Tell Reika that I'll be back again later with dinner. Do you need anything?" Jin asked Atsuya.

"No, no thanks." Atsuya declined. "I better check on the security and inform Arata that Mia's staying here for a while." He said and went up to the security room but in his heart, he was aching to beat up Itan Kyouji for attacking Mia like that.

'I won't let him hurt Mia ever again.' He swore.


	71. Chapter 71

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

"There. You can sleep here now." Reika said to Mia once she set up the futon in her room.

"Thanks." Mia ran a hand tiredly through her hair and slumped down on it. "I'm going to turn in early if you don't mind."

"With all that happened, I'm not surprised. I'll be downstairs." Reika shrugged and switched off the lights as she left the room. As she headed down to the bar, she soon spotted Jin sitting at one of the tables and was clearly waiting for her so she bounced all the way down the stairs. "Jin-san, how come you are still here?"

"I wanted to have dinner with you." Jin smiled and pushed a box of mixed rice at her when she sat down opposite of him.

"Thanks." Reika grinned and dug into it. "So what is going to happen now? Muraku's platoon is transferred to Jenock and Ezeldarm is clear that they are going to be serious from now on."

"We'll just have to keep fighting back until we find the rest of the Parasite Keys." Jin shrugged.

Reika froze and glanced at Atsuya who was cleaning the bar. He shrugged as to say that it's up to her if she wants to tell Jin where the remaining Parasite Keys are. She cleared her throat and twirled her fingers together. "Jin-san, there's something I have to tell you. The truth is, we already know where the remaining two Parasite Keys are."

Jin's jaw nearly dropped open in shock. "You do?"

Reika nodded and took out her current LBX, a blue colored Pandora with lighter blue swirls and white color bubbles. "Yuko-nee created a program in our LBXs that can track down the Parasite Keys easily while giving the profile of the student who has it. We found one in one of our friend's LBX and already extracted it. Another one is with Ezeldarm."

"Ezeldarm." Jin frowned. He then remembered what happened at Rose City between Bloody Idol and Wataru's Gunther. "So the LBX that was targeted by Ezeldarm was the one holding the LBX?"

"Yup." Reika nodded. "But they didn't know that we already have it. And the attacker LBX is call Bloody Idol and it has the final Parasite Key."

Jin leaned back in amazement, impressed that they had managed to figure out this much. But on the other hand, the last Parasite Key is with Bandit so that will create some complications. "So do you know who the operator of Bloody Idol is?"

"It's Lara, the one who called Mia to the roof where she was attacked by Itan Kyouji." Reika explained. "And he may be the operator of the black scythe LBX."

"That explains a lot." Jin said thoughtfully. "But on the other hand, it means that they will do anything to get their hands on the Parasite Key with you when they find out. And we must keep it a secret that Rikuya's LBX has the last Parasite Key they are looking for. Currently, three parties have one Parasite Key each, Jenock, Ezeldarm and Yuko. Whoever obtains one more Parasite Key from another party will clearly have an advantage over the others."

"Which means that we have to be careful with our own. Now that Yuko-nee is on the mainland, we have to be extra careful with the security here." Reika mused. "But it's should be fine. Atsuya and I had just installed a new barrier to prevent anyone from entering the security room as well as sensors all over the third floor to alert us if any unauthorized people try to sneak up there."

"That's good I suppose. But you should keep your guard up nevertheless." Jin pointed out.

"I know." Reika nodded dully and continued to eat her dinner.

"And one more thing, you can call me nii-san."

Reika froze again and lowered her spoon. "Like I said before, I'm still getting used to the fact that you're my brother. Calling you nii-san will come eventually."

"I noticed that you never called Arata nii-san. Is there any particular reason for that?" Jin asked curiously. At that, Atsuya clamped his mouth with his hand as he tried to hold in his laughter. Reika on the other hand blushed and promptly bit down on her hand, much to Jin's bewilderment.

"That's what Reika does when she doesn't want to tell anyone something." Arata said with a flustered sigh, having heard Jin's question when coming him. Behind him, Daimen had no qualms about holding in his laughter and was bellowing loudly with Muraku giving him a funny look.

"Oh boy, the reason…why Reika….never calls him nii-san is because…Oh, I can't say it!" Daimen tried to say but ended up bursting into another round of laughter and doubled over, clutching his stomach.

Arata let out a groan and sat down beside Reika. "In actual fact, Reika is older than me by one month."

Jin and Muraku blinked in surprise while Daimen only laughed harder while Atsuya finally could not stand it and started laughing as well.

"And the reason why he doesn't call me nee-san is because he was adopted first and is more mature than I am." Reika mumbled while staring at her food. Jin blinked at that while Atsuya and Daimen managed to control their laughter.

"Anyway, we came here to see if Mia is here." Arata cleared his throat.

"Oh, she's asleep in my room." Reika nodded upstairs.

"Good." Arata sighed in relief. "I was worried that she'll do something rash when we noticed that she wasn't around after what happened in school today."

"I'll leave you guys to talk then. Good night." Jin nodded at them and left.

"So how's Mia emotionally wise? She was more hot tempered today." Daimen asked as he and Muraku sat down on the bench Jin was sitting on just now.

"She'll explain to you guys once she's awake." Atsuya said stiffly.

"Who asked for your opinion?" Daimen snarled.

"Easy Daimen." Reika sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I can't tell you what exactly she told us because she made us promise that we won't say a word. But you can ask her about it tomorrow."

Muraku frowned at that. "Can I see her for a moment?"

"Third floor." Reika pointed upstairs with her spoon. "Turn left and second door on the right."

"Thanks." Muraku nodded gratefully and headed upstairs.

But once he was out of earshot, Arata leaned in and whispered, "So what in the world happened? I can tell that it is more than simply being compared that shaken Mia."

"Well, Mia told me not to tell you guys. But I think that she's being too paranoid to do so." Reika whispered back.

"Reika." Atsuya hissed.

"Atsuya, you know that we have to tell them whether Mia wants us to or not. They would have found out anyway." Reika shot back. "Lara is a spy of Elzeldarm."

"What!?" Daimen and Arata exclaimed.

"Shh!" Reika shushed them and glanced back that the third floor. Seeing as Muraku had already gone to her room to see Mia, she sighed in relief and gave them a glare. "Not so loud. If Muraku knew about this, what do you think would happen?"

"What are you talking about?" Daimen scratched his head cluelessly. "The only link that I know of Muraku and Lara is that they're classmates."

"Oh gezz." Arata slapped his face in exasperation. "Weren't you listening to the rumors? There may be some chemistry between you know…"

Daimen blinked and his eyes became wide when realization hit him. "EH!?"

Reika quickly reached forward and clamped his mouth shut. "How many times must I tell you to keep it down!?" She hissed.

"Sorry." Daimen held up his hands defensively while looking apologetic.

"So Mia is afraid that Muraku will get hurt if he found out which is why she doesn't want you guys to find out in case you accidentally slip it to him." Atsuya concluded, catching on to what Reika was thinking.

"I see." Arata nodded understandingly but he flicked his eyes at Reika and she gulped, knowing that Arata did not fall for it one bit and the eyes promised an interrogation later on.

* * *

Meanwhile, Muraku sat down beside Mia's futon and stroked her hair. "I told you before that you can come to me if you could not handle the comparisons. Why didn't you?" He paused in his actions and clenched his fist. "Is it that you could not trust me?"

He withdrew his hand and pulled off his glove. Recently, his butterfly tattoo was hurting his hand for no reason while emitting a black aura. Even he was confused as to what was happening. Thankfully, this did not happen often or someone would have spotted it that morning when he took off his glove to shake Haruki's hand.

"Could it be that you were afraid of me?" He wondered to himself. "You were attacked once by dark aura so you became afraid of me when this happened?"

Suddenly Mia shifted in her sleep and clutched her right wrist as a purple aura formed on the tattoo. Muraku frowned and shifted his gaze from his hand to Mia's.

'Just what in the world in happening to us?' He wondered worriedly. In her sleep, Mia's face became scrunched up in pain.

* * *

"Alright Reika, explain why did you lie or rather, tell the half-truth." Arata demanded once he cornered her in the storeroom out of range of Daimen and Atsuya.

Reika began to panic and bit down on her hand again. Arata raised an eyebrow at that. "So that's how it is?"

Reika nodded even though her hand is still in her mouth.

"Ok…If that's so, then I'll just ask Mia tomorrow." Arata shrugged and turned to leave the storeroom when Reika suddenly grabbed his hand.

"Wait!" She tightened her grip for a second and then let go. "Don't go ask her. I…I'll tell you."

Arata raised an eyebrow and folded his arms. "Why? One moment you won't tell me but after I suggested going to Mia, you changed your mind."

Reika sighed and peaked out of the door momentarily to ensure that no one was listening through the door and turned back to him. "You deserve to know." She finally said. "Jin-san already knows so it's only right that you know. And Mia is our sworn sister. I don't want her to suffer any more than she has."

Arata softened his expression and pulled her into a hug. "I don't want you to tell me because you think that you have to for my sake. I want you to do so for Mia's sake. Like you said, she's our sister. It is up to us to try to help her whenever we can."

Reika snuggled closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "I know, but I just don't want you to get jealous because I'm giving one brother more attention than the other."

"Oh Reika." Arata shook his head with a small smile as he pulled away. "You don't have to think so. As long as you're happy, I will never mind whatever attention you give Jin."

"You promise?" Reika stared at him.

"I promise."

Reika let out a breath of relief and straightened up. "The truth is, Lara was not alone when she revealed to Mia that she is part of Ezeldarm."

Arata's face darkened at that as he started to figure out what happened. "Itan Kyouji was also there."

Reika nodded in affirmation. "Yup. He attacked Mia."

"What!?" Arata hissed. No one simply attacks his friends and family and gets away with it. His fist clenched tightly as angry thoughts swarmed his mind.

"Arata wait." Reika grabbed his hand to stop him from doing anything rash and snapped him out of his thoughts. "If you go and confront him, you'll only lose. Remember that Yuko-nee said that we cannot confront him until we have a better gauge of his abilities."

Arata took deep breaths to calm himself and stared at the door. "Mia must be still traumatized by the last time Itan attacked her through their LBX."

"I guess. But I'm curious about something though. Why is it that Itan only attacks her but not you when he probably knows that you're a telepath too?" Reika pointed out.

"Seredy's orders I suppose." Arata snorted in disgust. "He would want me because of my Overload. But unfortunately for him, I'm not going to join him."

Reika let out a small breath and leaned against the wall. "Have you got full control of the Overload?"

"I'm close to it." Arata gave her a reassuring smile. "But I want to refrain from using it for the time being. I want to prove to Seredy and Itan Kyouji that even without the Overload, I can still defeat them."

* * *

"Lara, what do you mean that you believe that the Parasite Key is not in Kenbishi Wataru's LBX?" Seredy questioned her in Elzeldarm's briefing room when Lara came over after sneaking out of the dorms.

"I mean, there is something strange about it, but I cannot put a finger on it. That's why I hesitated when I tried to capture the Parasite Key yesterday." Lara explained with her head lowered.

"And can you confirm this?"

"Houjou Mia has an idea of it, but I'm afraid I cannot draw anything out of her when I tried to question her this afternoon." Lara reported and then frowned. "Itan is also getting out of hand. If this keeps up, he may rebel against us when he is consumed by his powers."

"I agree." Seredy said after some thought. "But for the time being, I'll keep him here. I need him so that I can complete my plan."

Lara's frown deepened and she gulped. "Seredy-sama, it's not that I want to rebel against your plan, but controlling the students to be part of our army is not practical. It goes against humanity and it was only used once four years ago by Detector and on one occasion by Omega Dain, but that doesn't mean that we have to copy them…"

"Quiet Lara!" Seredy snapped, causing her to flinch and bow down.

"I'm sorry sir, I didn't meant to bring up those memories." She said hurriedly.

"No matter." Seredy huffed. "In any case, we will go with the plan. My goal is not only to eradicate all wars from the surface world and the Second World, but for revenge as well. Tiny Orbit and Seekers will pay for what they did to Lex and Mami!"

Lara gulped again and took a step back. No one was sure about the history between Seredy and the two people he was talking about except for one of his oldest friend. She dare not pry further and made her way to the door. "Seredy-sama, if there is nothing else to discus, I will take my leave."

Seredy waved his hands in dismissal. Once Lara left, he winced and rubbed his face. "I've been too harsh on her. She is one of the few people who understands me other than Ayabe. She's very much like her father. But at the same time, she's too soft for my general goals."

He tapped his foot on the floor in thought and shook his head. "No matter. All I have to do now is complete my goals. Soon, the world we envisioned will come true, Lex."

* * *

**Sorry if this is taking too long. I'm busy right now and I have assignments due soon as well as my semester finals coming up. Please don't ask me to update soon because I only can get back to my normal habits in March. **


	72. Chapter 72

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

**Ok I'm back and I have a few things to say here. First of all, I want to thank everyone for being patient with me since I haven't been doing as much I would like because of college life. Secondly, I have finished thinking up the plot for this story so I guess I will be able to finish this very soon and start on the sequel. On the other hand, I have a few new ideas for Battle for the Throne but I don't want to continue working on it until I have the plot fully outlined. Sorry about that but don't feel shy to given any ideas.**

* * *

_A few days later_

Mito-sensei surveyed the students in the briefing room and noted that Kageto was absent. Mia was surprisingly here as she had already skipped school for two days but for what reason, she refused to divulge and Mito-sensei respected that. But on the other hand, the transition of the sixth platoon has both its upsides and downsides.

While most of the students had accepted them with open arms after Haruki's welcome, Rikuya had shown some hostility towards Muraku. Because of that, the rest of the third platoon followed his example and isolated themselves from the sixth platoon. Also, she had heard that because Muraku and Mia are now in the same class, many of the teachers had taken upon themselves to compare Mia and Muraku. But on the other hand, Muraku and his platoon had proved to be good battlers in the small missions she had assigned to them in the past few days.

Back to business, she thought and prepared herself to give out today's mission which would be troublesome in her opinion. "We'll begin the meeting now. We've learned that Ezeldarm is planning attacking Harness during today's mission."

"Ezeldarm." Arata muttered under his breath in disgust. "Picking on others just like bullies."

"After conferring with Kaidou-sensei, we've decided to send the second, fourth and fifth platoons to aid Harness. As for the first, third and sixth platoon, you will attack and take control of Ezeldarm's base at Sieg Gigantes now that its main forces are away on their mission." Mito-sensei continued. On the floor screen, the photo of Sieg Gigantes appeared and everyone noted that it was none other than the fort in Rose City with the only difference being a dome added over where the flag was.

Mia risked a glance at Muraku and his platoon, noting how they became stiff. "So can we assume that the flag is in that dome?"

"That's right." Muraku nodded.

"So they strengthened their defenses." Haruki said grimly. Everyone stared at the image until the doors slid open and Kageto stepped inside with a small box in his hands.

"I'm sorry for being late!" Kageto apologized.

"What took you, Kageto?" Mikhail scolded him.

"Sorry, I didn't expect the final adjustments to take so long." Kageto said apologetically but was grinning at the same time.

"Final adjustments?" Vanessa gasped when she realized what he was talking about. "You mean you finished it?"

"Yup." Kageto nodded in confirmation and turned back to Muraku. "Muraku-san, this is your new LBX, Magna Orthus." He said, holding out the box for him to see the trademark violet colored LBX with the sword and shield in the box as well.

Mia glanced over and smirked at him. "Looks like you got yourself a new LBX. Now you can pass on Gunther Yzlephar to someone else. I bet Magna Orthus will suit your current level now."

"Seems like it." Muraku said lightheartedly. Inwardly, he was worried of how this will impact her. As far as he can tell, ever since he transferred to Jenock, she was keeping up a mask if indifference but in reality, she was angry and hurt about a lot of things that happened in the past few days. But as usual, she did not give any indication of indifference on her face.

"It might be a little hard to operate, but I know that you can master it." Kageto told Muraku.

Reverting back his attention to Kageto, Muraku smiled. "Alright, thank you, Kageto."

Arata smiled and nudged Mia. "When are you going to get a new LBX?"

"Not really interest in changing mine right now." Mia shrugged with a small grin.

* * *

_'Too convenient.'_ Mia thought to Arata and Daimen as they hopped into their control pods. _'What are the odds that Ezeldarm would want to attack Harness, our ally, just after their failure to obtain Wataru's Parasite Key?'_

_'I agree with you.' _Arata told her. _'But you know what they say. To disable a trap…'_

_'You have to spring it.'_ Daimen finished with an unnoticeable grin. _'Good luck though. I won't be able to help you guys.'_

_'That's fine. I had enough of these bullies so I wouldn't mind making them pay for it.'_ Arata thought darkly. Both Mia and Daimen shivered but they dare not say anything else mostly because they agree with Arata's sentiments.

As the alarm for War Time sounded, Arata and the rest felt nasty shivers going down their spines.

_ 'Time to test out the dummy cards.' _Arata thought to Mia, who has the other Fantasy band. He held up the dummy card up to his necklace while Mia did the same for hers. They activated their Fantasy Bands and were teleported into the Second World in the Original Forms.

_'It takes about an hour for our craft carries to reach Seig Gigants so let's finish up before that.'_ Arata told her. His original form had orange skin with red tattoos swirling up his arms and legs in the pattern of flames. His hair becomes yellow and spikier, while his eyes are wider and solid black. Like the others, he wore a traditional red robe and long orange pants and shoes.

_'I second that.'_

Together, they took down the group of six this time and given that they're in their Original Form, their powers are increased significantly and they did not hesitate to use their powers unlike the last time.

"Take this!" Arata summoned out his Fire Staff and spun it, creating a fire vortex around two of the Night Lurkers which incinerated them. He then pulled out the sword from the staff and sliced up one more. Kicking away two more, he sent a fireball towards another one. Mia on the other hand found herself struggling to keep up, much to her shock and confusion.

"Snow Katanas!" Mia summoned them out but found that her energy was significantly drained by this simple gesture. As she fought back the last one, she found her muscles growing heavier by the minute.

"Mia!" Arata called, sending a stream of fire at the Night Lurker while Mia jumped away but was unsteady on her feet. "Mia, are you alright?"

"I don't know why, I feel very tired." She panted out, leaning on him for support. Arata bit his lip when he realized that this may be the effect of whatever that's happening between the link she and Muraku had. But instead of saying anything to her about it, he pulled her up and deactivated her Fantasy band as well as his, sending them back into their control pods as the dummies reverted back into cards.

_'Are you alright now?'_ He asked her.

_'A little.'_ She managed to tell him. _'I don't know why, but I was feeling very drained just now but I'm better now.'_

Arata frowned at that. _'If you cannot go with the mission…'_

_'I'll be fine.'_ Mia cut in. _'I can still fight.'_

_ '…Don't push yourself.'_ Arata finally said. They fell silent as they approached Seig Gigantes.

"Though their main forces are away, their defenses should still be strong. Don't let down your guard." Haruki told them.

"Roger!"

_"We've arrived above Seig Gigantes." _Sakuya informed them.

"Descend!" Haruki called. Instantly, ten LBX dropped out of the craft carries to land at their respective landing points. But during their descent, there was no alarms and no one was firing back, a fact that was pointed out by Mikhail.

"…I'm 100% positive now that this is a trap." Arata blurted out.

"It's too late to turn back now even if it is." Haruki spoke warily, realizing the same thing. The LBXs soon landed and they moved towards the dome. But along the way, the hairs on the back of Arata's neck were tingling. He frowned and subtly studied the area but could not spot anything suspicious.

'That was weird. I could have sworn that I felt something.' He frowned. But he had to push those thoughts away as they entered the dome.

"There's the flag!" Vanessa pointed out. But almost immediately after they were all inside, the black scythe LBX, which they finally learned its call Gruxeon, landed from its hiding place along with the other Bandit admin LBX including Bloody Idol, causing all of Jenock's LBX to halt in their tracks.

"A trap." Arata deadpanned. "Why am I not surprise?"

"But I am." Muraku said mildly.

"As much as I hate to agree with him, I'm surprise too." Rikuya admitted. Arata wanted to bang his head on his consoles at that. The black LBX suddenly pointed its scythe at Rikuya's DC Offensor and everyone gasped in shock.

"It can't be…Protect Rikuya!" Haruki ordered as they realized the dreaded realization. Bandit has found Rikuya's Parasite Key. Roy and Akane had their units surround the targeted DC Offensor but they knew that that will not be any good unless they could escape. The rest of the units save Magna Orthus and Trivhine went to pick their oponents from Bandit's side while they did the same except for Gruxeon who went for the kill, intending to take the Parasite Key but Magna Orthus shoveled him away, pulling out his sword from its holding place in its shield. Not too far from them, Bloody Idol and Phantom Blaze were staring down on each other.

Back with Magna Orthus and Gruxeon, the latter had rushed to attack him, only to be blocked. Both units began flying around, exchanging blows.

'This speed and power, it's far greater than Gunther Ylzephar.' Muraku noted to himself. However, Gruxeon suddenly flipped and despite Muraku's quick reaction, he found that Magna Orthus's reaction speed was slightly off. Had it not been for his shield, Gruxeon's scythe would have cut it instead.

'Its response is off by a bit?' Muraku gritted his teeth. Behind them, Bloody Idol was dodging Phantom Blaze's throwing knives before using her sword to knock them back at it. The rest of the units were trying their best to fight off Bandit while protecting Rikuya's DC Offenser.

"Dang it! That's what I was feeling just now. They were scanning us!" Arata yelled in frustration as he cleaved through one unit with Dot Blastrizer's Dual Blade, making it explode before heading to Trivhine's side.

"We can't keep this up much longer." Haruki said as he realized that besides Arata, none of the others were able to bring down their oponents. "Retreat!"

"Good idea!" Arata nodded in agreement, bringing out Dot Blastrizer's Blast Magnums to help Trivhine blast open the doors but soon, Charlotte's Caliper showed up and tried to deter them.

"Despite the fact that I can't fight Houjou Mia right now, I'll take you down. Blame her for being your friend!" Charlotte yelled in her control pod as her caliper attacked Dot Blastrizer. "Because of her Atsuya broke up with me!"

On the other hand, Arata was getting exasperated with her. "…Oi, I'm not your anger dummy." He let out a sigh and aimed his Blast Magnum at Caliper. "Got to finish her off before I turn _her_ into my anger dummy." With that, he fired in quick session, making it explode.

"…It may have been overkill, but it had to be done." Arata rubbed the back on his head and went back to helping Haruki blast open the doors.

Back at Bloody Idol and Phantom Blaze, Mia was clearly struggling to land an attack on her given how exhausted she actually was and how fast Bloody Idol can dodge her attacks.

"This is clearly not her true strength. There's no meaning in battling her when she is not at her best." Lara muttered to herself. "Maybe we overdid it that day. I shouldn't have let Itan attacked her." Because of that, she did not bother to attack Phantom Blaze but avoided her attacks only. 'I wonder how things are on Itan and Muraku's side. I know this is weird for me to say, but I hope Muraku wins.'

But unfortunately for her, Muraku was not having better luck than Mia. Magna Orthus could only defend itself from the onslaught barge of attacks from Gruxeon. It was not long before it was knocked over. As Gruxeon loomed over it, Muraku thought back to Kageto's words before War Time. He clenched the controls tightly as a determined look spread across his face.

'Kageto, I'll put my trust in you.' He thought to himself, knowing that despite the delay in the reaction time, Kageto must have known that he accurately time his reactions to overcome it. Just as Gruxeon raised its scythe to finish him off, Muraku jerked at the controls, causing the boosters at the back of the unit fire up and propelled him backwards and land a few feet away.

"Hissatsu Function!" Muraku called, seeing his chance.

_Attack Function_

_Catastrophe Drive _

The three copies of Magna Orthus managed to badly damage Gruxeon but did not defeat him. Over at the third platoon trio, one Gordon had managed to break through the defenses and was about to jab into the DC Offenser's core box until both Magna Orthus and Phantom Blaze, having given up in fighting Bloody Idol, threw their respective weapons at it, causing it to slide away as the twin's units, Dot Blastrizer and Val Diver guarded the DC Offenser, daring them to try again.

Seeing that all the enemy LBX had gathered around their leader, Haruki took this chance. "Now! Hissatsu Function!"

_Attack Function_

_Tri Cannon_

The attack blew up the already weakened door and Haruki called over to all the Jenockian LBX. "Everyone, retreat!"

No one disobeyed the order and ran out. Seeing that Ezeldarm was not following them, the mechanics dropped down the craft carriers and flew away.

_'I'm beat.'_ Mia lamented to Arata who lightly chuckled.

_'I told you not to push it.'_

_'But Lara was not taking this seriously. Had she did like when she was going after Wataru's Parasite Key, I doubt that I would have won.'_ She admitted.

Arata stopped chuckling and looked thoughtful. _'I think I understand where Lara's actions are coming from. But I wonder if she is really as honourable as she makes herself to be?'_

* * *

"We heard about what happened." Yuno said to Arata and the others including the sixth platoon and Daimen after War Time ended. "Was Rikuya alright?"

"Yup, and just barely." Arata nodded and turned to Muraku with a small smile. "And I bet he won't be as cold as before towards you."

"Really?" Muraku raised an eyebrow.

"Take it from me, no one ever welcomes you easily unless you save their butts or have someone knock some sense into them." Mia said sarcastically. Behind her, Haruki shifted on his feet uncomfortably and judging on the face of Rikuya, who was coming up to them, he heard Mia's remark too and remembered what happened at Tandem Harbor. Muraku shifted his gaze between them but focused on Rikuya as he stopped in front of him.

"Thank you." Rikuya said, surprising everyone. "You saved me back there."

But Muraku merely shrugged. "We are classmates from the same virtual country. I just did what anyone else would do."

"But still, you did it despite everything." Arata pointed out. "You could have chosen to simply not help him since he was mean to you, but in the end, you still decided to instead of letting Ezeldarm take the Parasite Key." He said, flicking his eyes towards Haruki as well as he said that.

Haruki caught the movement and realized that he was referring to the time the sixth platoon transferred to their class and he was the first one to welcome them. He smiled back at him and shook his head. "Seriously, Arata, you should be a philosopher."

"Nah, not my style." Arata waved it off. "I'm more of the action kind of person than to sit and think things through for too long. I got my limits despite my appearance."

"Yeah, and you barely talk like this since…" Mia quickly slapped Daimen's mouth shut before he could slip.

"What?" Yuno raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing." Diamen quickly shook his head. "I was just thinking about an old friend of ours when I said that."

"Who is this old friend?" Hikaru asked curiously. So far, they had been very closed up on their life in Fantasy other than they learned how to control their powers and defend themselves there.

"Just an old friend." Arata spoke up, much to Mia and Daimens' shock. "But one of the best persons to know."

Inwardly, Mia and Daimen were panicking because Haruki was close by as well as Yuno. While they were careful to guard their tongues, or not so much in Daimen's case, Yuno could accidentally mention her name since she did not know that Maddie was Haruki's cousin. If she put together who Arata was talking about, she could accidentally mention her name. Thankfully, that did not happen as Yuno had shifted her attention to Vanessa and they began to talk about girl's stuff.

The both of them shifted their glances to Arata to find that he hand a peaceful expression on his face. This made them wonder if he had figured out his feelings and was willing to give it a go with Yuno.


	73. Chapter 73

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

As the usual group began walking to Yuko's place, Arata was held back by Muraku. They were currently taking the longer way there through park instead of cutting through town.

"So care to share what's on your mind?" Arata asked his companion. In response, Muraku hesitantly removed his glove, showing him tattoo which was now swirling with black energy. Arata blanched when he saw it and he felt a throbbing pain in his head.

"I think you know what this is." Muraku said pointedly. "This is why Mia is weaker than normal and why she's been avoiding me whether she knows it or not."

Arata bit his lip and rubbed the back of his head. "How much do you know about your parent's heritage?"

"No much." Muraku confessed. "They were very tight lip about it around me. Not even my step-father would tell me anything."

"Your father, Master Houjou, is an umbrakineticist master with some cryokineticist in his family, especially among the females." Arata said after debating in his mind about whether to tell him or not but decided in the end to just do so. "So it surprised the whole community when he married your mother, or so I was told."

Muraku was surprise about it. "How come?"

"Your mother…" He was cut off when they heard a scream.

"Lara?" Muraku said in surprise, recognizing the voice and sprinted off in the direction of the scream with Arata close behind. The red-haired boy was wondering what Lara was going to pull this time. He did not need to wonder for long when they soon found Lara and much to their shock, Wataru who was lying face down with a puddle of blood around his head.

"Wataru!" Muraku cried and leaned down besides Lara who was trying to wake him up as well. "What happened?"

"I'm sorry." Lara chocked back a sob. "It's because of me…"

"We can hear the story later. We got to get him to the hospital." Arata cut in, helping Wataru up on one side. Muraku took the other side and together, they managed to pull Wataru up and rushed him to the hospital. Meanwhile, Lara lingered behind and glared up ahead with a blank look.

"Itan Kyouji, you have gone way too far. I told you to simply steal his bag as well as mine. Now I won't be able to keep my cover like this."

_"Lara, do you copy?"_ Seredy's voice rang out from her bracelet.

Lara sighed and held it up. "Yes, Seredy-sama."

_"I heard about your little plan to get the Parasite Key from Itan Kyouji. I'm glad it had succeeded. I already have the Gunther with me."_ He told her. _"While I agree that Itan's actions were very…barbaric. This is our chance to obtain the last two Parasite Keys."_

A feeling of dread pooled in Lara's stomach but she nodded. "How so?"

Over the line, Seredy smirked. "Here's what I want you to do and you'll have Itan backing you up…"

* * *

As soon as they got Wataru to the hospital, he was brought to the ER and all they could do is wait. A few minutes later, Mia arrived and grabbed Muraku hand. "Muraku, how did this happen?"

"I don't know." He shook his head. "Arata and I heard Lara scream and we found him like this. By the way, where is she?"

"I don't think she came with us." Arata frowned, looking around. "I'll go and look for her. Hopefully she's calmed down to give us the whole story."

"Thank you." Muraku said gratefully to him as he sat down beside Mia to wait for him. Not too long later, the doctor came out.

"Sensei, how is our brother?" Muraku asked, rushing to his side.

"We've managed to stabilize him but because of the head trauma, he's gone into a coma." The doctor explained. "But we believe that he'll wake up in a few days once his head injury is healed. You can see you tomorrow."

"Thank you, sensei." Muraku bowed and turned to Mia, who had been listening but not moved at all. "Come on. We better get back and inform Tome-san so that she can inform the headmaster and police about this."

Mia let out a slight nod and followed him out of the hospital building. But before they could head back, Muraku's CCM beeped with a message. He took it out and frowned as he read it. "It's from Lara. She's on the hospital roof."

"The roof?" Mia blinked in surprise and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What else did she say?"

"She's going to tell us what happened Wataru."

"But why the roof?" Mia narrowed her eyes.

"I don't know. But it could explain why Arata cannot find her until now." Muraku shrugged and turned to head back into the hospital. Mia bit her lip but soon followed him inside. But as they went up through the emergency staircase, she mentally sent a message to Arata informing him about this.

* * *

Once they were up in the roof, they found Lara standing in the middle. "Took you guys long enough."

"So what happened back there?" Mia's eyes narrowed further, shocking Muraku with her hostility.

Lara unfolded her arms and had a blank look on her face. "I'm sorry, Muraku." She created a light orb in her hands and sent it at them much to their shock. They barely managed avoid it but when Mia landed, something took hold of her and slammed her on the ground.

"Mia!" Muraku yelled and tried to get to her but another barge of light orbs from Lara forced him to halt in his track to avoid them.

"Light whip." Lara muttered and summoned out a whip made of light energy and swung it at Muraku, sending him flying into the wall.

"This is as far as you two go, Houjou Muraku, Houjou Mia." Itan said with a smirk, stepped out of the shadows, literally.

"Itan Kyouji." Mia spat out as she tried to push herself up.

"Lara, you're a Valorite!?" Muraku cried when realization settled in.

"That's right." Lara nodded. "I don't suppose Mia mentioned that to you? Or the fact that I'm one of Seredy's high ranking admins?"

"What?!" Muraku's face morphed into shock, disbelieve and worst of all, hurt. "Then Wataru…"

"It was all just a ploy to get his LBX. You see, his LBX contains a Parasite Key which we want. When Itan pretended to be a mugger, your brother of course had to play the hero and try to save me." Lara smirked. "But I didn't expect him to put up much of a fight. Had he simply went down at the first blow, he would not have landed in the hospital."

"What!?"

"It doesn't matter anymore, Violet Devil. Feng Yu is going to return to our side and you and your sister will play large parts of Seredy's plans." Itan smirked.

Mia growled and mustered up enough strength to send a blizzard right at them, blinding them. Using this chance, she picked herself up and went over to help Muraku up. "Come on!"

"Oh no you don't!" Lara's whip cut thorugh the blizzard and Itan summoned out a long blade, infusing it with his own dark aura and swung it down, creating a shockwave which hit Mia straight on her back.

"Mia!" Muraku grabbed her before she fell to the ground but Lara sent another barge of light orbs, badly weakening them.

"Lara, time's up." Itan suddenly said and dark aura formed around his fist. "It's time to bring them to Seredy."

"That's right." Lara nodded. Itan opened his fist and formed two black tentacles, picking them up.

"I won't let you take them!"

A black lance shot out of nowhere and pierced through the tentacles holding Mia and Muraku, releasing them.

"What the!?" Itan cried while Lara was shocked.

"That's as far as you will go." Master Houjou announced as he stepped out a shadow with Yuko behind him.

"O-otou-san?" Muraku muttered weakly before passing out.

"Stone barrier." Yuko muttered. Stones formed around them and formed a barrier to protect them.

"That will not work on us." Itan arrogantly declared.

"Itan, wait…" Lara tried to warn him but he sent his attack the stone barrier and while the barrier broke, rocks were sent flying straight at him.

"…I told you so." Lara muttered. She eyed Mia who was barely conscious and made up her mind. "Itan, we're better off taking our original target."

"I agree." Itan growled. Lara raised her hand and created a bright flash which blinded everyone. Itan took this chance and grabbed Mia before running straight into a shadow while Lara transformed into a ball of light, fleeing the scene.

"Wait!" Master Houjou tried to enter the shadow but it was cut off. He gritted his teeth and punched the fence. "Those two were more power than I thought."

"Master Houjou, we need to get out of here." Yuko spoke up while heaving Muraku up.

"…You're right." He nodded and helped Yuko. Together, they went through a shadow before the hospital workers could arrive to check out the commotion.

* * *

Seredy looked up as Lara and Itan came back to his submarine which was moored a few miles away from the coast of Kamui Island with Mia restrained between them. He smirked and walked up to them. "Good job. But what about Houjou Muraku?"

"It seems that he got lucky and two masters showed up and saved him." Itan said irritatedly.

"Masters?" Seredy frowned but shrugged. "No matter. With Houjou Mia with me, I doubt that they would actually dare to attack me." He reached for his pocket and took out a silver collar. Lara instantly stiffened at the sight of it while Mia recoiled when Seredy tried to put it on her.

"Itan." Seredy nodded at the boy and he grabbed Mia's head, restraining her movement. Mia panicked and tried to squirm out of their grasp but their grips were too tight.

"There's no need to be afraid." Seredy said in a falsely sweet voice. "This won't hurt one bit." He fastened the collar on Mia and activated it. Mia screamed as the collar overtook her thoughts and her powers tried fighting back against it but with no avail.

"You won't be able to fight back against the slave collar even with your powers. I took the liberty of analyzing Lara's brainwaves to know how strong I need to make the collar's waves to counter your powers." Seredy smirked as Lara and Itan released Mia and she dropped onto the ground, clutching her head. Behind her, Itan was smirking with glee while Lara was inwardly worried and guilty for the pain Mia had to go through. Suddenly, Mia stopped clutching her head and stood up, her eyes were now blank.

"Took a while but it finally worked." Seredy smirked and turned to the computer. "By the way, Itan, Lara, did you know that Kenbish Wataru's LBX is empty?"

"What?" Itan growled while Lara looked surprise and jerked her head at Mia.

"Don't tell me they already knew that and moved the Parasite Key somewhere else?"

"It seems like it." Seredy mused and turned to Mia. "Where is Kenbishi Wataru's Parasite Key?"

"At the sports center." Mia said in a monotonous tone which scared Lara.

"I see." Seredy smirked. "You're going to pay them a visit as well as Tougou Rikuya and take _his_ LBX. Then we will have all three Parasite Keys. Lara, bring us back to the island."

"Yes, Seredy-sama." Lara said hesitantly and took Mia and Seredy's hands, getting ready to bring them back to the island. She transformed in to the ball of light with Mia and Seredy this time and flew back to the island.

* * *

"It's getting late. Why isn't Muraku back yet?" Mikhail muttered as he and the rest of the sixth platoon stared outside the window from the common room.

"Arata and Mia aren't back either." Yuno added worriedly.

"Guys!" Catherin cried as she and Haruki rushed into the common room. "Trouble! Arata and Muraku are back but Muraku is badly beaten up!"

"What!?"

Together, they rushed into Tome's office where Arata was explaining what happened while she fixed Muraku's injuries.

"Arata, what happened? Why is Muraku like this!?" Yuno cried as they came over.

"A double attack from Ezeldarm, that's what." Arata said darkly.

"Double attack?"

"I don't know what happened but Ezeldarm attacked Mia and Muraku's step-brother just after school and he landed in the hospital."

"Wataru was attacked!?" Mikhail said in surprise.

"Yup." Arata nodded. "He's stabilized for now though. But after I left to find Lara, the only witness to what happened, Mia and Muraku were lured away and attacked. I don't know what happened but they have Mia now."

"EH?!" All of them exclaimed.

"What do they want Mia for!?" Yuno managed to force out.

"I don't know." Arata shook his head frustratedly. "Anyway, we have to inform the headmaster about this. Ezeldarm cannot be allowed to do as they pleased now since they've started to resort to physical attacks and kidnapping."

"I agree." Haruki nodded in agreement. "When Muraku wakes up, we should be able to get some answers."

"I'm afraid that it won't be tonight though." Tome told them. "It's already past curfew and you all need to rest. Even if Muraku-kun wakes up tonight, he needs to rest. And so does the rest of you."

"Will he be alright?" Vanessa asked worriedly.

"I believe so." Tome nodded and ushered them out. "But for now, it would be best that all of you go to sleep."

Nobody protested and went straight to bed although some of them could not sleep. Arata in particular since he remembered what happened after Mia secretly told him about what Lara was planning. He barely had enough time to inform Yuko and Master Houjou before rushing to Wataru's room to stand guard in case someone from Ezeldarm tried something funny against him until Daimen came and took over. After the adults had saved Muraku, they gathered to the sports center where an interesting conversation took place.

* * *

_ "Oh my!" Reika's hands flew to her mouth when Yuko, Master Houjou and Arata came in with a battered and unconscious Muraku carried by Master Houjou. Thankfully, they had just closed up so there was no one else there except for them, and Atsuya._

_ "What happened?" Atusya asked, quickly moving some of the tables together to form a makeshift bed._

_ "Itan and Lara is what happened." Yuko said tiredly as she and Master Houjou settled Muraku on the tables. "Not only did they attack them and Wataru, they have Mia."_

_ "What?!"_

_ "It all happened too fast." Master Houjou said frustratedly. "I should have stopped them."_

_ "But is Muraku alright?" Reika asked concernedly._

_ "I think so." Yuko reassured the girl and went to the counter and retrieved a bottle of water. "This is the water from the Pool of Healing. It should reduce his visible injuries so that there will be no traces of Lara and Itan's powers although he'll have bruises though."_

_ "That's good enough." Master Houjou nodded and he and Yuko began to treat Muraku. _

_ "…Mia." Muraku mumbled as his eyelids moved, causing everyone to look at him._

_ "Muraku, are you alright?" Master Houjou asked, helping him sit up._

_ Muraku's eyes flickered open and he looked at his father in surprise. "Otou-san…why are you here?"_

_ Master Houjou did not answer but had a sad look in his eyes. Muraku looked around and realized something. "Where's Mia?"_

_ "…Itan and Lara took her." Yuko said after a pause of silence. "We're sorry, we could not save her. But we'll find a way to get her back."_

_ Muraku gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. "Was Lara telling the truth? That she is part of Ezeldarm?" _

_ "I'm afraid so." Arata nodded grimly. "But Mia was the one who insisted that we cannot tell you."_

_ Muraku grunted and pulled off his glove, revealing the butterfly tattoo but what they saw made them gasped. The black aura around it was now swirling intensely that one could not actually make out the shape of the tattoo at all. "Otou-san, what is the meaning of this?"_

_ Master Houjou took his son's hand and his own hand glowed darkly. Instantly, the black aura on Muraku's hand subsidized. "I'm sorry Muraku. But there is something you should know…"_

* * *

After Master Houjou had explained everything to Muraku, he was understandably upset since his father had hid this from him for so long, making him feel like the outcast of the family and making him feel useless when Mia was taken since he could have helped her. But Master Houjou had instantly erased all those thoughts when he explained that because they were twins and Mia is a telepath, he could have killed Mia. After that, Yuko and Master Houjou retreated back into the Aviane dimension, no doubt to discuss about the events on the island, while he brought Muraku back here.

"You're awake?"

Arata blinked and noticed Diamen sitting on his bed, wide awake. He pushed himself up and gave his best friend a smile. "How's Wataru?"

"No changes. The nurses kicked me out so I'm here." He shrugged and became grim. "I heard about what happened to Mia and Muraku. How is he?"

Arata flicked his eyes at Hikaru and his other roommate from Proton who were asleep before answering. "He's shaken up. But it's understandable since it's very sudden that he learned that he is actually an umbrakineticist."

"And Master Houjou sealed them up to protect Mia." Daimen concluded and shook his head. "Who would have thought? But why did he always antagonize Mia if that's the case?"

"From what Yuko-nee told me, it was the guilt from hiding this from Mia and Muraku and forcibly separating them that brought that about." Arata sighed. His CCM started vibrating, making him raise an eyebrow. "Who would be calling at this time?" He looked at the caller ID and raised an eyebrow. "Reika?"

Daimen was also intrigue and sat down beside his friend as he took to the call.

"Reika, why are you calling me at this time?"

_"Arata, bad news! Someone broke into Yuko-nee's computer and stole the Parasite Key inside!" _Reika frantically told him.

"What!?" Arata hissed as to not wake up the others. He gestured for Daimen to follow him and they went out to the bathroom and placed the call on speaker. "How did this happened?"

_"I don't know. But the intruder alarms did not sound and he or she could pass through the barrier we set up at the security room."_ Reika said and paused. When she spoke again, she was scared. _"Arata, Atsuya checked the security cameras. It was Mia. She took the Parasite Key."_

A cold dread washed over all of them. Arata gulped and clenched his CCM tightly. "Seredy…I don't know how did you managed to force Mia to submit to you, but we're going to save her for sure."

"By the way, you guys better watch out for Mia around the dorms. It's very likely that she'll try to get Rikuya's Parasite Key too." Reika informed them.

Arata closed his eyes and suddenly, they snapped open. "She's just outside in the corridor!"

"Let's go!" Daimen announced, swinging the door open. They ran over to Rikuya's room and sure enough, Mia was standing over Rikuya's fallen form and was about to head inside to get his LBX when Arata tackled her.

"Mia, stop this!" He yelled but Mia threw him off and escaped by jumping out of the window. He ran over to the window and saw that Mia had landed safely and was now running away.

"Arata, we have to follow her." Daimen told him, grabbing his hand to teleport them down and they started to give the chase. But after a while, they lost her.

"Dang it, she's shielding her mind so I can't track her." Arata cursed.

"What should we do now?" Daimen frowned, looking around.

"We better head back and see if Rikuya is alright." Arata said resignedly. "Hopefully we can find her tomorrow and find out how Seredy is controlling her."

Daimen nodded and teleported them back to their dorms. When they reached the common room, they were surprised to find almost everyone including Rikuya there.

"What happened?" Arata demanded.

"Ah, Arata!" Yuno gasped. "Ayabe stole Rikuya's DC Offenser."

"Ayabe!?" Arata and Daimen gasped.

"Yeah." Rikuya nodded. "Right after Mia came and knocked me out, I came to and Ayabe knocked me out again and this time, my DC Offenser was gone."

"Where were the both of you anyway?" Hikaru asked them.

"We tried to chase Mia but we lost her." Arata hung his head.

"But why would Mia want to do that?" Haruki frowned.

"I think I know why." Rikuya spoke up. "Before she knocked me out, I saw that she has a slave collar."

"Slave collar?" Arata's frown deepened, dread pooling in his gut.

"What is a slave collar?" Catherin asked.

"Basically, it turns the victims into mindless players of the controller. I heard about those things from my father." Rikuya explained.

"So Seredy is using a slave collar to control Mia against her will?" Yuno gasped.

"Yeah. But what I want to know is why Ayabe would want to steal my LBX." Rikuya said in slight frustration.

"Maybe he was part of Ezeldarm." Kiyoka suddenly spoke up, making everyone look at her in shock.

"That can't be right." Catherin protested. "I mean, Ayabe-san and Seredy just met here for the first time!"

Everyone immediately flashed back to their class with Seredy and how they had to introduce themselves to each other.

"It's not impossible that it could been an act."

"Muraku!?" Everyone gasped when they spotted him by the entrance. He still looked a little weak but his face was still determined.

"Muraku, you should be resting." Haruki chided as he and Arata helped him in and sit down on the couch opposite of Rikuya.

"Sorry, but I heard about what happened so I had to see for myself."

"But even so…"

"Is it true that Mia tried to take it in the first place though?"

"I'm afraid so." Rikuya told him. "But frankly, I cannot blame her since she's under Seredy's control and doing this against her will."

Muraku still lowered his head as though he cannot believe that Mia had been forced to undergo this. Arata wanted to comfort him but could not find the words to say so. Instead he closed his mouth and looked around. His eyes narrowed when he spotted something.

"Akane, isn't there something stuck in the window behind you?"

Everyone perked up and Akane glanced at the said window and saw a card. "Yup." She pulled the card out and read it. Her face instantly became pale when she was done.

"What does it say?" Gendou asked her, taking the card and read it. His eyebrows knitted tightly as he read it out loud. "Glory to the World Sabers, Ayabe."


	74. Chapter 74

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

"G-glory to the World Sabers?!"

"Isn't the World Sabers a terrorist group?" Arata said, trying to remember what Yuko told him and Reika about them when the said group came up on the news once.

"Yup." Yuno nodded grimly. "They're a horrible group that caused bombings and kidnappings all over the globe…So Ayabe is part of the World Sabers?"

"It seems like it." Gendou said grimly. Arata had to sympathize him since he very likely never knew that his butler was actually part of a psychotic terrorist group.

"If that's so, then it is very likely that Seredy is part of the World Sabers too." Haruki said in realization.

"That explains everything. Why the headmaster could not put an end to Bandit…Why Seredy, who strongly opposes the Second World, was never evicted…It is because someone in the Management is affiliated with the World Sabers." Muraku realized.

After a moment of thought, Haruki told everyone, "Let's go with our original plan and report this to Mito-sensei in the morning and await our next orders."

* * *

"Alright, I will speak to the headmaster about this." Mito-sensei told her students when they told her everything that happened that evening. Muraku was not with them however as Tome had made him stay back at the dorms to recurperate his injuries.

"May I come too?" Rikuya requested. "I must report this to my father as well."

"Of course." Mito-sensei nodded. "The rest of you, head to your class. We'll be back in a moment."

"Hai."

But before the group could head into the school, someone grabbed Arata's shoulder, making him jump and punch the person, thinking that it was Ezeldarm but only for it to be blocked.

"Arata!" Yuko scolded him out of nowhere.

Arata jumped again and took a better look at the person and gulped. "Master Houjou…"

Beside him, Daimen also gulped. "Uh oh."

"Isn't that…"

"…Muraku and Mia's father." Daimen finished for Haruki in a whisper.

"Forgive me, Master Houjou." Arata quickly slammed his fist in his open palm and bowed. "I was paranoid and thought you were Ezeldarm…"

"Never mind that. We need to speak with the headmaster now." He said urgently.

"But, he's meeting with Mito-sensei and Rikuya now…"

"I said now." Master Houjou gave him a harsh glare that silenced him and made Arata and his friends flinch. Yuko gave them an apologetic nod.

"Sorry about that, but it has to do with Ezeldarm and the World Sabers. Before you ask, yes, we already know about the connection between them."

"If you put it that way…" Arata trailed off and glanced at Haruki. He nodded and stepped in front.

"Come on, the headmaster's office is this way." With that, the whole group including the two adults headed towards the headmaster's office.

"You cannot go in-mo." The Metazawa at the door told them. "The headmaster said so-mo."

Arata and Daimen gulped and gestured for the others not to get into Master Houjou's way as a tick appeared on his forehead.

"I don't have time to wait, nor do I have time to deal with the likes of you." He said, roughly knocking the Metazawa out of the way and stormed inside the office while Yuko followed him looking indifferent to his rough handling while the others were reluctant to.

"Excuse me, but what is the meaning of this?" The headmaster demanded. Mito-sensei's eyes became wide in shock when she saw Yuko with the group.

"Excuse our actions, headmaster, but there is something very pressing which we need to discuss relating to the World Sabers and Ezeldarm." Yuko apologized. Behind them, the students had flocked around the adults to hear what they have to say.

"What about it?" Mito-sensei asked.

"As this teacher and student here probably told you, my children were attacked last night with my daughter kidnapped by Seredy's grunts." Master Houjou began.

The headmaster blinked at that. "Your children…You're Mu-kun and Mia-chan's father!?"

"Yes." Master Houjou said impatiently. "Anyway, ignoring the reason why I am here, after what happened to them, I had Yuko help me looking further into the nature of the World Sabers and went even as far as to hacking into Ezeldarm's mainframe."

"Hack?" Mito-sensei quietly asked her friend.

"Sorry, Master Houjou was insistent of it." Yuko said apologetically and straightened up. "Anyway, we found out some very interesting info. For the past few months, Seredy has been smuggling rare metal and components into the island and processing them at one of the warehouses at the docks. I did some research and found out that the metal and components are found not in LBX, but in slave collars."

"What?!"

"Then the slave collar that Mia had…" Arata trailed of as beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

"Mia had a slave collar?" Master Houjou looked at him in shock. "When did this happened?"

"Last night, when she tried to take my LBX, sir." Rikuya told him. "But in the end, Ayabe took it though."

"So Seredy had been planning all along to take someone from Jenock to take Rikuya's Parasite Key?" The headmaster frowned.

"I'm afraid that that's not the only slave collar he's been making." Yuko told him grimly. "We did some calculations and…the materials he smuggled in are enough not to make only one collar, but…"

"Thousands?" Arata guessed.

"A thousand and five hundred to be precise."

"A thousand and five hundred slave collars!?" The headmaster exclaimed. "You might as well take the whole student body with that number!"

"That may be the case." Master Houjou rolled his eyes. "Because we hacked further into the mainframe and found two interesting names in there."

"And they are…"

"Hiyama Ren, aka Lex, and Hiyama Mami."

"Lex and Mami!?"

"Yes." Yuko nodded. "With all due respect, it would be wise to inform the Management of this development and ask them to look further into their history with Seredy as well as countermeasures against him now that we know that he's planning to do something inhuman to the students. Not only that, they have three Parasite keys on hand now. They can enter the Lost Area anytime they want."

"All three!?" Mito-sensei said in shock.

"I'm afraid so. Before Mia went to take Rikuya's LBX, she broke into my computer and stole the Parasite Key which we found in Kenbishi Wataru's LBX and stored there beforehand. We also have reason to believe that Ezeldarm were also trying to get it despite being moved which is why they attacked him yesterday. Also, we found out that one of Ezeldarm's LBX has one of the Parasite Keys."

The headmaster slumped down in his seat in shock at this development. "To think that it would come to this…The Second World will face its biggest threat ever. If Ezeldarm, no, the World Sabers enter the Lost Area, they will manipulate the Second World and once again bring war and chaos to the real world. For now, we must protect the Second World as well as we can. For the sake of a world without wars."

"How long are you planning on tricking your students, headmaster?" Seredy's voice rang out from the speakers, making everyone gasp.

"Seredy Krisler!" The headmaster exclaimed, jumping out of his seat. Master Houjou snapped his head at the speaker and ran out of the office.

"Master Houjou?" Yuko quickly followed him while Arata and Daimen remained where they are.

"Don't tell me…"

"He's probably going to strangle Seredy if he doesn't kill him first." Arata sighed and turned his attention back to the speakers.

"Are you eavesdropping on us!?" The headmaster demanded.

"If you are then you should know that you're toast when master Houjou finds you." Daimen spoke up.

"That is if he finds me first." Seredy taunted back. "But back to what I was saying, making the students fight a proxy war, all under the guise of keeping peace…let's put an end to this farce, shall we?"

Without waiting for an answer, he continued, "It's not the peace that you want to protect, but the information within the Underbalance."

The headmaster gasped at that and Arata knew that Seredy was not lying. But he was still curious as to what the Underbalance is which Seredy was gladly explaining now.

"Allow me to explain, dear students of Kamui Daimon Comprehensive Academy. In the center of the Second World is the Lost Area, a place where Grand Master, the computer that controls the system is stored. In that computer, is a chip called the Underbalance, which contains the military, research, development, and other information of every participating country of the ERP. In other words, if we can retrieve the Underbalance, we will know every secret that the participating nations are hiding."

"Then why hide them together in a chip in the first place?" Daimen muttered to Arata.

"I don't know. But let's listen. He hasn't mentioned the Gem of Wishes yet so he either knows or doesn't know about it." Arata whispered back.

"Stop the broadcast!" The headmaster ordered the Metazawa in the office.

"Got it-mo!" The Metazawa was about to open the door when it swung open, flinging it into the wall.

"There's no need to." Master Houjou came in with dark look with a worried Yuko behind him. "He's not in your school's broadcasting room or anywhere in the building."

"What?"

"I told you so." Seredy said smugly. "But anyway, let me make it clear for you. The goal of the Second World is not to achieve world peace but to hide the inconsistencies of the world. Of course, this is all for the benefit of a few selected leaders. We, the World Sabers, make it our mission to eras the deception and deceit surrounding those leaders."

"You've gone too far, you terrorist!" The headmaster tried to counter.

"We are simply rebelling against you, the selfish leaders who feed people lies for your own benefit." Seredy replied innocently.

"Quiet!" The headmaster snapped. "Your group are no better! You only wreak havoc around the world!"

"Oh, you'll stop at nothing to make yourself seem justified, won't you, headmaster?" Seredy said in slight exasperation but his voice had a smirk when he next spoke, "Mito-sensei, are you listening? You are looking for your father, Mito Eisuke-hakasen, are you not?"

Her students looked at her in shock as this is the first time they heard about this. Mito-sensei, however, did not rise to the bait.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Yuko muttered.

"I'm sure all of you are aware that he is the professor who developed the Grand Master, the computer that controls the Second World." Seredy continued casually. "Three years ago, the professor went missing after coming to this very island. Thinking that you might find some clue of your father's whereabouts on Kamui Island, or more specifically, the Lost Area, you entered this academy as the commander of Jenock. Since then, you've been looking for a way to enter the Lost Area. What a tearful, moving story"

'Three years ago?' Arata and Yuko frowned. 'If it was three years ago, then it would be around the time the Gem of Wishes was taken and when the school was opened…don't tell me…'

'…The Gem of Wishes is used to power up the Second World!?'

"There's nothing tearful and moving if it is you who tells it!" Daimen yelled at the speakers, ignoring the headmaster's glare at him. "What's your point about telling us this? You already made us very mad with the staff with your blabbing, you whacker (idiot, or someone who you have very little patience with in Aussie slang)!"

"What?" Seredy said with a visible frown.

"Be thankful that you cannot understand his slangs to begin with." Arata rolled his eyes. "But you make it sound like you know where Mito-sensei's father is so tell us!"

Seredy smirked at that. "As you wish. But remember, you are the one who asked for it. Your father is within the Lost Area."

"Inside the Lost Area?" Mito-sensei gasped, not understanding what he was saying.

"Indeed, however…"

"Stop!" The headmaster yelled.

"I'm just getting to the best part. You can't stop me even if you tried. Mito-hakasen is locked up inside the central computer, Grand Master. As a part of it."

Mito-sensei gasped and slowly turned her head to the headmaster in disbelieve. But the look on his face was all she needed to tell her that Seredy was not lying.

"Humans are needed in order to control the Second World's systems." Seredy explained. "In other words, the professor was sacrificed for the Second World under the glorified name of 'world peace'!"

"No…otou-san…" It was too much for Mito-sensei to handle and she fainted. Arata, Haruki and Yuno quickly caught her before fell down.

"Reina." Yuko rushed to her friend's side and glared at the speakers. "If you knew about this right from the start, then why didn't you tell her?"

"That would not be as dramatic as I would like." Seredy said smugly.

"You coward! You yabber! You wacka!" Daimen yelled at the speakers and continued to spew every bad name he could think of.

"Do you see?" Seredy said, ignoring Daimen's outburst. "See how inhuman the Second World is."

"You're one to talk." Arata shot back. "You're just as inhumane as the people who thought up this idea! I understand where your ideals are coming from, but the way you are doing it is no better than what the people who put Mito-sensei's father in the Second World did!"

"You are still young, you'll never understand war until you experience it." Seredy merely shrugged it off.

"Arata, stop it." Yuko placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. She knew that one wrong word and it would be broadcasted all over the school.

"We now declare this: We will now begin liberating all you people who have been victimized by the Second World and its rulers. We already have all three Parasite Keys under our control. The door to the Lost Area will soon be opened. That will be the signal to a new age. May we meet on the battlefield."

"Since you already the three Parasite Keys, then let Mia go now!" Master Houjou spoke up.

"Ah, the Houjou senior. Unfortunately, I cannot just do so yet. You see, she still has not outlived her usefulness. Once I am done with my revenge scheme, I promise that I will let her go…if she's still alive that is."

"What?!" Arata gritted his teeth. "Revenge scheme…Does this have anything to do with Hiyama Ren and Hiyama Mami?"

"Exactly." Seredy applauded. "Kuriko-san, I must applaud you for your hacking skills as not many are able to break into Ezeldarm's mainframe. But anyway, yes, my revenge scheme does have something to do with Lex and Mami. You see, after their father died being wrongly accused for something he didn't do, I encountered Lex and took him in. We share the same ideals you see. The government is nothing but a farce. If something suits them, they'll do anything to accomplish it, no matter the cost of the lives of others. So we decided to set out in our different paths to accomplish it. Unfortunately, Lex died before he could accomplish his. But thankfully, not long before that, I found Mami and reunited the siblings before that. So Mami continued his legacy but in the end, it failed to. Now, she's locked up in a high end prison somewhere in America. Well, after I'm done here, I'll head there and break her out to enjoy the fruits of my labor. We shall celebrate for the dream of Lex will come true!"

There was a beep as the broadcast ended and a thick air loomed over everyone.

* * *

"…Mia." Muraku muttered as his eyes flicked open.

"Ah, you're finally awake." Tome greeted him and helped him sit up. She clicked her tongue and shook her head. "Really, those Ezeldarms punks! Who do they think they are, going around beating around other people and then kidnapping them?"

"Is there any news about Mia?" He asked her.

"I'm afraid not." Tome shook her head regretfully. "And you should not have gotten up last night. I know that it was an emergency what with Rikuya-kun's LBX being stolen, but that does not mean that you can simply go around when you haven't recovered yet."

"I'm sorry." He apologized.

"Anyway, I think you are fine enough to go to school now. I don't think your teacher would mind if you are late, given the circumstances."

Muraku looked surprise at that. Seeing that, Tome let out a small chuckle. "I know that you would try to sneak out and try to look for your sister. While I would not advice that, I believe that you should go and help your friends whatever way you can so that you can defeat Ezeldarm sooner and save Mia-chan."

"Thank you." Muraku gave her a grateful nod and grabbed his uniform which was placed at the end of the bed and went to the bathroom to change. Once he was done, he rushed over to the school and was greeted by Yuko and his father just as they were leaving with Arata and Haruki escorting them.

"Muraku, what are you doing here?" His father asked him sternly.

"I came here to fight Ezeldarm." Muraku said and side stepped him to go into the school but Master Houjou grabbed his shoulder.

"No, you have to rest." He said firmly.

"Since when do you care?" Muraku shot back frostily. Master Houjou was taken aback by this while Yuko, Arata and Haruki shifted uncomfortably on their feet as they watched them.

"You never actually cared for Mia, did you?" Muraku continued. "You may have separated us for her own good, but never once did you show that you love us as your children. Not only did you pushed her away, you made her insecure of herself and turned me into your comparison dummy for her to the point where she did not trust me enough to tell me that Lara is actually part of Ezeldarm. If she had, she would still be here instead of in Seredy's hands!"

"Don't talk to me like that!" Master Houjou snapped at him. "I'm your father so…"

"You never did anything to earn our respect to you as our father! Even Wataru's father is ten times better as a father than you are to us!"

With that, Muraku jerked his shoulder free from his father's grip and stormed into the building while Master Houjou stood there in shock.

"…I should be heading back." Yuko finally said to Arata. "But remember, whatever you choose to do next will impact your battle against Ezeldarm but I will be behind you all the way."

"Thanks a lot, Yuko-nee." Arata gave her a strained smile and headed back inside with Haruki.

"I take it that Mia and Muraku don't get along well with their father?" Haruki asked, breaking the silence on the way back to their class.

"I'm afraid so." Arata sighed. "As far as I remember, Mia never talked to her father unless necessary which is hard, given that he's a teacher at Fantasy too. I don't know much about Muraku, but I think the…argument just now summed it up."

"But what did he mean that their father separated them for their own good?" Haruki frowned. "Is it that Muraku…?"

"He's like us." Arata said quietly. "But we didn't find out until recently. Apparently because Muraku's powers are capable of harming Mia so their father had to seal them off so that she won't be hurt."

"Then Muraku should not act that way to his father."

"It's not that simple." Arata shook his head with a sigh. "Because, like Muraku said, his father had turned him into a comparison dummy against Mia, they hold a lot of resentment at him for that."

"No wonder." Haruki shook his head. "It must have been hard not only for Mia but for Muraku too. To have his sister hate him because of that."

"Yeah." Arata nodded in agreement. "But in the end, I know that they managed work it out with each other, but the resentment is still there."

As they approached the class, they saw Muraku standing at the door but not going inside.

"Muraku, aren't you going to go in?" Arata asked him.

"I heard about everything from Andrei-senpai when I bumped into him just now." Muraku said quietly. "Who knew that this would happen and that the Second World would come to this?"

"Everyone is really down at the moment." Haruki noted when he peaked into the class. "But even I don't know if we should continue fighting Ezeldarm or not. Seredy made several valid points regarding the Second World."

"But the way he is doing it is not right nor is his intentions." Arata reminded him. "Come on, I'm sure Mikhail, Vanessa and Kageto will be glad to see you." He addressed Muraku.

"Right." Muraku breathe out and his hand hovered over the door knob.

Seeing this, Arata opened the door instead. "If you are still unsure of where you should place your feet, the best thing to do is to think quietly about it and decide on what is the right action rather than what is right or wrong now. Give me your answer once you figured it out. I have already decided that I'm going to fight the World Sabers to save Mia and protect those who could be victimized by Seredy."

Muraku and Haruki were surprised by this but Arata did not elaborate and went inside. All eyes landed on them and became wide when they saw Muraku.

"Muraku, are you alright?" Mikhail asked his friend as he took his seat.

"Yeah, I'm feeling better now." He reassured him. "And I heard about what happened."

"Oh." His friend's faces fell.

Arata sighed as he took his seat. The air of confusion and doubt was clearly hanging heavily among them and no one was sure if they should even fight Seredy when the school has been at fault just as much as he has. But even so, he cannot fault everyone for having doubts. Had Mia not been taken by Seredy, he would have doubts as well. The order to create the alliance with other virtual countries to take down Seredy from the headmaster did not help either. But because he knows that he has something to fight for, he isn't affected as much as they are.

"Arata, I have made up my mind." Muraku suddenly told him with the sixth platoon members behind him and raised his voice so that the others can hear him. "I've had my doubts about the Second World this whole time. But right now, I believe that we should protect it. If it falls into the hands of Seredy and his group, the world will come to an end."

Arata smirked when he realized what Muraku was saying. "So what is the right action you believe that we should take?"

"To fight back."Muraku said resolutely. "We won't do it because the headmaster or our commander told us to. We'll do it because we believe we should."

"You're saying that we students should take down Ezeldarm ourselves..." Hikaru realized. The idea appealed to everyone as they voiced their agreement to the plan.

Muraku smiled at Arata and nodded before turning to Haruki. "Contact Harness and Rossius…no, contact all the countries."

"Right, we should tell the students this truth." Haruki nodded in agreement.

"We'll do it because we believe we should…Sounds very Arata-like." Yuno pointed out.

"Yup, he's good at giving motivational speeches or advice." Daimen grinned before becoming serious. "We should add one more thing. We want to fight them to save Mia too."

"Once we defeat Ezeldarm, we'll hand the reins back to the adults and they will arrest Seredy. We can save Mia and Mito-sensei's father then." Arata told them.

"Right!"


	75. Chapter 75

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

After War Time had ended, Haruki, Arata, Hikaru, Muraku and Sakuya snuck over to the broadcasting room and Haruki turned on the mike. "As you all know, Seredy Krisler is a member of the worldwide terrorist organization, the World Sabers. Their goal is to obtain a chip call Underbalance which within the Lost Area under the Death Forest. This chip contains data on many countries' military, research, and development plans, and if it falls into the hands of the World Sabers they will be able to rule over us all."

He paused and glanced at the notes Sakuya gave him and spoke again, "And that's not all. At the end of today's War Time, Ezeldarm's new aerial base emerged. They have been constructing this base in secret to begin their capture of Death Forest."

Arata reached over and took over. "Please lend us a hand. We, the soldiers of the Second World, are the only ones who can stop them now. Accoring to Sakuya's calculations, their aerial base will reach the Death Forest by tomorrow's War Time. But between Jenock and Harness, we don't have the manpower to stop them. We'll fight for what we believe is right and not because other people tell us to."

He handed the mike back to Haruki and gave him an encouraging smile. Haruki nodded and resumed his announcement. "I'd like to hold a schoolwide strategic meeting. All platoon captains who are willing to help us out, come to the observation room..."

He was cut off when the door burst open and several teachers came in with annoyed faces.

"You! What are you doing? War Time is over, return to your dorms at once!" Commander Ivan ordered them but none of them budged an inch.

"Why won't you do as I say?" He grumbled.

"It's useless." Muraku told him with narrowed eyes. "Now that we learned the truth about your goals, Seredy's identity, and the reason behind this school's existence, we will no longer obey you!"

The teachers were taken aback by this. "That's preposterous! What can you do by yourselves?"

"We may not be able to win, but that does not matter. The point is, if we didn't take matters into our own hands, we would never would have obeyed you nevertheless if you ordered us to take down Ezeldarm, because we are done being your puppets! We have cut our strings so you can no longer control us." Arata declared.

"Why you-!"

"Complain to the Management all you want, but that won't change a thing. We're going to take down Ezeldarm our way, not yours." Haruki told him calmly and walked out of the broadcasting room with the other following him out.

"You'll pay for this!"

"Yeah, yeah." Arata rolled his eyes. "I think we pissed off the teachers."

"You don't say." Hikaru said sarcastically.

Sakuya chuckled nervously at that and turned to Haruki. "But are you sure that our plan would work though?"

"It has to." Haruki nodded. "Besides, it's the only thing that we can think of."

"And if it doesn't, we'll just have to forcefully defeat them." Arata sighed.

"You don't mean…"

"Yup." Arata nodded, confirming their suspicions. They soon arrived at the observation room where the other platoon captains of Jenock were waiting, having helped set up the place earlier and now, a stream of platoon captains from other virtual countries were coming in. Soon, the entire room was full to the point where there wasn't enough room for everyone. Haruki began to explain the plan which Sakuya came up with Arata's help in certain areas. It was simple but crucial to carry out as Ezeldarm's LBX are no joke. Not to mention, they also have Lara and Mia now. Arata was not sure if Mia was going to participate in the battle but he can only plan for the worst case scenario.

"Not bad! I like it." Andrei-senpai exclaimed. "We wouldn't be able to win against them if we did not have a do-or-die strategy like this!"

"Let's go with the plan, commander." Musashi suggested.

"C-commander? Me?" Haruki stuttered.

"Hm? Did I get that wrong?"

"We need a commander to direct such a large scale strategy like this." Andrei-senpai added.

Haruki was clearly still hesitant on accepting the position. It was obvious to everyone that he lacked the confidence to do it.

"I think it would be good if you were commander, Haruki." Catherin encouraged him. "You'll be fine. You managed to lead your platoon well for so long."

"We will abide by your orders, Izumo-kun." Rikuya added.

"Do it for us, Haruki."

"But..."

"We'll do all we can to support you." Muraku spoke up.

"Muraku..."

After some thought, Haruki agreed. "Understood. For the sake of the world, I'll do my best as I can as your commander. Then, once tomorrow's War Time begin, we'll put this plan into action. Rossius, Arabista, Porton, Londonia, and Glenstien's platoons will deploy on the surface and intercept the enemy. I trust you to give the orders on the ground, Gregory-senpai."

"What?"

"You are the only one who can manage and direct multiple platoons at once." Haruki explained.

"You are the Grey Beast, the longtime captain of Angel Piece's garrison." Muraku added. "I believe that not a single person here doubts your credibility."

Murmurs broke out when everyone heard it.

Andrei smiled and had a determine look. "Alright. I'll take it on."

Haruki nodded and continued. "Harness and Jenock will ambush the aerial base. There is less than 21 hours until the tomorrow's War Time. All hands, begin preparations at once!" Everyone started to cheer on that.

"To protect the world, all the virtual countries have come together." Hikaru said in amazement.

"It's the birth of a global alliance!" Yuno exclaimed.

Arata smiled briefly at that and then slipped out. He had some things to discuss with the others which cannot be heard by others.

* * *

"Hey, how was the meeting?" Daimen greeted Arata once he entered an abandoned classroom at an unfrequented part of the school where the others were waiting, including Reika and Atsuya.

"We managed to unite the virtual countries and have a solid plan, but I want to be ready for the worst case scenario if the Night Lurkers appear." Arata told him, running his eyes around the room. "Or worse, Mia."

"What about Wataru?" Maya asked uncharacteristically worried.

"I don't think that they'll go for him." Nick shook his head, wrapping an arm around her. "They already have all three Parasite Keys so they shouldn't have any reason to bother him anymore."

"I agree." Arata nodded. "And after what happened last night and this morning, I heard that the headmaster posted some guards at the hospital in case Seredy tries anything funny."

"So Reika and I will be on Night Lurker busting duty while you guys focus on beating Ezeldarm." Atsuya said. "Nee-san also said that she'll participate if necessary."

"Ok." Arata nodded. "Remember, once we defeat them, we'll retrieve the Parasite Keys and then enter the Lost Area. We'll divide ourselves into two groups then. The first group will follow Haruki and the others to save Mito-hakasen while the other group will sneak in and take the Gem of Wishes. The authorities can handle taking in Seredy and his crooks."

"What about Mia?" Atsuya frowned.

"I rather think that Master Houjou would want to take the honors of saving her." Arata said mildly.

"…Agreed." Atsuya nodded.

"Alright." Arata clapped his hands. "We should get going and get ourselves prepared for the inevitable fight. I wish everyone all the best and hopefully, we'll end everything tomorrow."

"Right."

* * *

Jin let out a brief smile as he watched the students rush around to prepare for War Time tomorrow from his class. If only the adults could learn from them. It amazed him how dedicated these children were to solving this matter. It brought him back a sense of nostalgia of four years ago when he had joined Ban to stop Detector and Omega Dain. But he can't complain for not being on the frontlines anymore. His time was up so it was time to pass the baton to someone else.

"Jin-san?"

He lifted his head up and smiled warmly at his sister. "Reika, what brings you here?"

"Just thoughts." Reika shrugged and sat down at one of the empty desk and looked around wistfully. "I admit that I miss this place a little."

"Hard to imagine that." Jin joked. "Most of the time, I can tell that you never actually enjoy the classes."

"Haha." Reika rolled her eyes and lowered her head. "I don't like the classes not by choice. I just cannot keep up with them."

"What do you mean?" Jin asked curiously.

"I have dyslexia." Reika admitted with a sigh, surprising him.

"Dyslexia?" Jin gulped.

"Yup." Reika nodded and slumped on the table. "That's why I have a hard time keeping up with the teachers and why I have to rely on Arata a lot to learn."

Jin shook his head. That would explain a lot of things. And based on Reika's personality, there's no way she would openly tell anyone about it. He pulled up a chair and sat down beside her. "There's nothing to be ashamed of it."

"You never heard Miss Ojou-sama's colorful language then." Reika snorted. Jin let out a small chuckle at that but shook his head, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I don't care about that. You're my sister and I'm going to make it up to you for all the years we were separated."

"Let's talk about that after this crisis." Reika shrugged. "By the way, do you know anything about Hiyama Ren and Hiyama Mami?"

Jin paused and slowly nodded. "Unfortunately, yes." At Reika's enquiring look, he continued. "Like Seredy said, their father was blamed by my grandfather for something he did not do and that made Lex extremely vengeful against him. So he killed him."

Reika visibly winced at that. "That must have been hard for you. And if you had not been sensible, you would have continued the cycle of vengeance."

"You're right." Jin sighed. "Had it not been for Ban, I might have done the same what Lex did to grandfather. But I didn't. Anyway, after Lex's battle with Ban, he repented and committed suicide by remaining on an exploding ship. As for Mami, four years ago when we were fighting Detector, not knowing that at that time was actually Ban's father, Omega Dain sent a killer droid after us."

"What's a killer droid?"

"It's the initial design of a large droid invented by Mami. She used it as a weapon of hate against us while making us think that she was Lex under a disguise. In the end though, when she revealed herself to us, she told us that she intended to finish what Lex started using Adam and Eve, two AIs controlling the military satellite Paradise. But eventually, after a hard fight, we managed to convince Mami that Lex had changed and then arrested her. I guess Seredy never knew that they changed or he didn't care which is why he's doing this."

"Wow, this circle of vengeance went on until today." Reika said in amazement.

"Yeah." Jin nodded in agreement. "That's why it has to stop now or it'll never end."

Reika smiled and hugged him briefly but as she pulled away, she noticed something that made her frown. "Jin-san, did you ever have a wrist injury?"

Jin jerked away in shock, surprise that Reika found out. He swallowed thickly and nodded. "How did you know?"

In response, Reika lifted his wrist and examined it. "I got this kind of injury before. It put my wrist out of commission for weeks. But yours…" A flash of realization came across her eyes and she gave her brother an accusing glare. "When did this happen?"

"…Four years ago."

Reika let out a sigh as she let go of Jin's wrist. "No wonder. You practically forced yourself to play when you had a broken wrist during the Detector crisis. That's why it hasn't healed even until now."

Jin winced at that and clenched his wrist. When Mongoose came to him to ask him to help Ban, he was still recovering from his broken wrist which he got when he pushed down the stairs of his school by some bullies. Because of that, his skills had deteriorated during that time. But the only people who noticed it were Ban and Yuuya and he did not have the heart to tell them about his injury. Had he did so, they would have insisted that he stayed at the sidelines instead of the frontlines where they were fighting. Of course, the longer he prolonged his injury, the harder it was for it to heal completely so by the time they defeated Mizel, he knew that he cannot go pro because of his wrist so he decided to study under Mito-hakasen. Mito-sensei knew to some degree of his injury while Ban finally found out when he went to visit him that day. Naturally, he had been livid that his best friend had been keeping this from him for so long.

"You should go and get therapy for it before it gets any worse." Reika told him.

"It'll be fine." Jin dismissed it. "I've been putting up with it for four years."

"But if you put off getting therapy any longer, there's a chance that you won't be able to use your wrist anymore and worse, you can't play LBX every again." Reika pointed out.

"I'll go after we save Mito-hakasen." Jin sighed in resignation.

"You better." Reika said triumphantly.

* * *

And so, all the students worked hard to come up with strategies on how to take on Ezeldarm's LBX. Bunta and several others had brought onigiri made by Tome for dinner and the mechanics did their best to customize all the World Alliance's LBX to bring out the fullest of their potential as they will need it for their opponents will be Ezeldarm. As it got late, Haruki had to call for a stop so that all the students would rest or they won't be able to focus during the next day's battle.

Some of the students who had not been busy with the preparations helped to set up the sleeping bags on the roof or classrooms after pushing aside all the tables and chairs. Others did shifts to guard the teachers in their office and the headmaster's as to prevent them from leaving and interfere with their efforts. But occasionally, Mito-sensei and Jin could been seen checking up on the students and they let them since they won't openly oppose them.

On the other hand on Ezeldarm's side, they had locked themselves in one of the spare control pod rooms while Lara and Mia remained on the submarine on Seredy's orders. In fact, they were to participate the battle from there instead of the school in case anything should go wrong.

As Lara patrolled the sub, she came across Mia's cell and peaked inside. Mia was lying on the tiny bed in the room but tossing around with a pained expression as the slave collar sparked occasionally.

'Is she trying to fight the slave collar?' Lara wondered and leaned in closer. 'I don't want to deactivate the collar in case she manages to escape but it's causing her a lot of pain. What should I do?'

"Lara-san." One of the soldiers came over and saluted. "His excellence is requesting for your presence in the communication room."

"Alright." Lara nodded and followed him to the communication room. She picked up one of the headset and put it on. "Seredy-sama."

_"Lara, I have a task for you."_

"What is it?" Lara raised an eyebrow.

_"Tomorrow, I don't want Mia to use Phantom Blaze. Instead, have her use the LBX I placed in your room. Come back to the island and retrieve it."_ Seredy told her.

"As you wish." Lara nodded even though he could not see her. She removed the headset and went up to the hatch. Taking a deep breath, she transformed into the ball of light and flew back to the island, praying that no one would see her.

* * *

The next day, the same routine as last night went on until lunch time when Haruki asked for a brief meeting with the leading platoon captains to finalize a few matters before gathering all the students to the assembly hall where they would have their briefing.

"I am the commander of the World Allied Forces, Izumo Haruki." Haruki greeted them. "We will soon put our strategy into action. The fate of both the Second World and the real world rest on this battle. This will be our final War Time. Let's defeat Ezeldarm and save the world!"

Cheers erupted from the students and they rushed to their control pods as War Time began. While most of the teachers headed to the viewing rooms to watch, Mito-sensei and Jin remained in Jenock's briefing room as the former cannot bring herself to face the teachers who knew the truth of her father all along but never told her while Jin was there to keep her company.

"All units, tune into transmission channel 3." Haruki told everyone. "This will be the shared channel for the World Alliance Forces. Ezeldarms' forces are powerful. Remember to take them in groups."

As the alarm for War Time sounded, all units deployed and rushed to gather at the Death Forest before Ezeldarm did and took their positions. In the meantime, Jenock and Harness' troops save for the fourth platoon remained in the clouds while Catherin's platoon was on the lookout.

'Just a little longer and we'll save you Mia.' Muraku thought to himself, clenching his controls tightly.

* * *

**Sorry if this is a short, boring filler chapter, but the action will start in the next chapter. Anyway, I got the idea of Jin having an injuring from the fact his skills in W did not match up to his skills in the original series. He's still a strong player but his skills had went down as he no longer uses some of the tricks he used in the original series.**


	76. Chapter 76

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

About half an hour after War time started, all the troops were in position and when the sky fortress Dol Garuda appeared, they waited for it to get into range of their weapons before attacking.

"Surrender now, Ezeldarm!" Andrei yelled. "If you continue to resist, we of the World Allied Forces will exert all our efforts to repel you outsiders!"

The only response Ezeldarm gave was to deploy two-thirds of their troops down to the ground to get rid of them. The World Allied Force too began their attack and it became an all-out fight between the two fronts. Up in the clouds, the fourth platoon smirked to themselves when they saw that the plan had worked and the defenses on the fortress had thinned.

"The enemy has begun deploying its forces!" Catherin informed Haruki.

"Roger!" Haruki nodded. "Begin carrying out the ambush!"

"Roger!" The craft carriers of Jenock and Harness emerged from their hiding place in the clouds and flew towards the fortress.

"Descend!" All the LBX from both virtual countries dropped down, using their weapons or shields to protect them from the onslaught of gunshots from the turrets on the fortress.

"Disperse! Focus on landing on the aerial base!" Haruki ordered. The students obeyed his orders and each platoon landed at different points of the fort.

"Landing successful!"

Sure enough, the remaining units on the fortress began to swarm the enemy units to defend the base.

"All units! While destroying the enemy LBX, move towards the central motor system!" Haruki instructed. "We'll stop Seredy's ambitions here!"

"Roger!"

Muraku scanned the area and noticed Bloody Idol headed towards his direction. "I'll take her on. Mikhail, Vanessa, take on the other units!"

"Roger!"

Meanwhile, Arata grimaced when he noticed that his opponent was an unknown LBX. But from the way it was operated, he could tell that it is Mia.

"Great, what did they do to you, Mia?" Arata wondered. The LBX in front of him was silver in color and the design was similar to Bloody Idol except for the ribbons and it has white bonny wings as well.

"Yukina, get him." Mia muttered emotionlessly in her control pod. The LBX, Yukina, pulled out its long sword and dashed at Dot Blastrizer. It could only hold up its shield to defend itself as Yukina attacked it. Blocking a blow with his Dual Blade, Dot Blastrizer managed to slam its shield at Yukina but it flipped over and kicked it instead.

"Even until now, she's still a fighter." Arata grumbled. He flexed his fingers and began fighting back in the same manner. They exchanged blows and soon enough, Arata found an opening and hooked his shield in the gap between Yukina's wings and the shoulder blades and managed to kick it away.

"Forgive me, Mia." Dot Blastrizer spun its Dual Blade and stabbed it into Yukina's core box, thus making it break over.

Over with Magna Orthus and Bloody Idol, the latter could only dodge from the former's onslaught for Muraku could care less if Bloody Idol was destroyed as long as he can save Mia.

"So this is the strength of the Violet Devil." Lara grimaced as Magna Orthus knocked over Bloody Idol and held his blade over its throat. Just as Magna Orthus was about to deliver the finishing blow, Gruxeon flew out of nowhere and knocked it away.

"Your opponent is me, Violet Devil!" Itan declared, pointing Gruxeon's scythe at Magna Orthus.

"Then I'll gladly defeat you." Muraku growled as his eyes flickered black and his tattoo glowed again. This time, Magna Orthus' movements increased by a notch and Itan found himself in a tight spot as it attacked Gruxeon from all angles.

"No way! Is this the Overload?!"

"No, it isn't. Just like Itan's, it isn't a real Overload." Arata muttered. "Muraku's Overload comes from the stimulation of his powers. His latent powers are now powering him up now, fueled by his anger."

"Muraku…" Vanessa and Mikhail trailed off as they watched their captain pushing Gruxeon closer to the ledge of the fortress.

But behind him, the forgotten Bloody Idol was now sneaking up on it until Dot Blastrizer landed in the clearing and pulled Manga Orthus away, causing Bloody Idol to accidentally attack Gruxeon instead.

"Arata?!" Muraku growled. "Don't get in my way!"

"Stop and calm yourself down!" Arata said firmly. "Really, when Mia said that you're just as bad as I am when I lose my temper, I can see what she meant now."

"I have to defeat them!" Magna Orthus tried to break out of Dot Blastrizer's grip but he held firm.

"Not until you hear what I have to say. You can't defeat Ezeldarm nor can you save Mia in this state. Trust me, I'm speaking from experience. Nothing goods comes out from acting in anger. What would Mia say if she found out that you're attacking out of anger?" Arata said as patiently as he could while having Dot Blastrizer defend itself from Bloody Idol and Gruxeon's attacks while maintaining his grip on Magna Orthus, a feat Vanessa and Mikhail had to admire.

Muraku somehow managed to comprehend Arata's words and slowly took deep breaths to calm himself. One Arata was sure that Muraku was calm enough to fight, he released Magna Orthus.

"Better?"

"Yeah." Muraku nodded. "Thanks for the pep talk."

"Don't mention it." Arata nodded and faced Bloody Idol and Gruxeon. "Go on to the core. I'll handle them."

Muraku was visibly surprise at that. "What?"

"Right now, we need to focus on defeating Ezeldarm by retrieving the Parasite Keys and destroying this base. I'll hold them off so that your platoon can head on over there."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Arata nodded, replacing his shield and breaking his Dual Blade apart to obtain his swords.

"Alright." Muraku nodded after some thought. Soon, Magna Orthus and Vanessa and Mikhail's units left, leaving Dot Blastrizer alone with Bloody Idol and Gruxeon.

"Planning to take on us 2 on 1? Not very wise." Itan sneered at Dot Blastrizer while Lara tensed up, feeling that there may be more to that.

Inside his control pod, Arata calmly unbuckled his wristbands and allowed them to fall on the ground of his control pod, creating a resonating thud.

"D-don't tell me he was wearing weights this whole time?" Sakuya realized. Even Haruki and Hikaru were shocked by this.

"Yup." Arata nodded. "Daimen and I have weights on our wrist and shoulders this whole time as part of our training with Yuko-nee. And now, I think it is an emergency enough for me to remove them."

"Even so, that won't help you." Itan said smugly.

"Itan, I swear your pride and arrogance will come back to bite you." Lara groaned.

There was a tense moment where neither side dared to make the first move until Gruxeon leapt and tried to slice Dot Blastrizer while Bloody Idol did the same. But Dot Blastrizer calmly held up its swords and blocked the move. Tilting the swords by a fraction, he managed to push them off and kicked Gruxeon into the wall. Within a blink of an eye, he charged at Bloody Idol and slashed across its chest several times.

"Gah! He's faster than before and he's not using the Overload!" Lara grunted. "Is this his strength when he removes his weights?"

Gruxeon pushed itself off the wall as its operator growled. "Now you've done it." Gruxeon charged at Dot Blastrizer and brought down its scythe while Bloody Idol tried to stab it with its sword. But Arata calmly had Dot Blastrizer jump away and switched one of its swords to his Blast Magnum and shot at Bloody Idol, making it break over.

"Now it's down to 1 on 1." Arata taunted.

"That's it. I'm done playing games with you!" Itan blinked and his eyes had the signature red around his iris as he activated his Overload.

In response, Arata activated Ragnarok Phase. While he had no intention of using the Overload, he figured that it would be best to be on the safe side especially since he can fly in that move and keep up with Gurxeon. As the duo clashed, Gruxeon was clearly faster than Dot Blastrizer despite Arata removing his weights and was attacking it from all angles. It eventually slashed Dot Blastrizer, sending it flying away for a few meters before Arata managed to steady it.

"He's faster than before." Arata said to himself, thinking back to the day when Hikaru was electrocuted in his control pod. No doubt that that event was orchestrated by Ezeldarm and Itan was holding back at that time which is why he could eventually keep up with him. As Gruxeon jumped at Dot Blastrizer to deliver its finishing blow, missiles shot out of nowhere and hit dead on Gruxeon. But it remained undamaged despite that when it flew out of the smoke but that distraction was all Arata needed to put more distance between it. He soon saw that the object that show out the missiles was a small blue craft.

"Looks like the Dot Phoenix managed to make it in time." Sakuya grinned as his face appeared.

"Dot Phoenix?"

"Yup. It's a support unit made specifically for Dot Blastrizer." As to demonstrate its power, the Dot Phoenix shot out a plasma beam from its tip, hitting Gruxeon and created significant damage on it.

"Looks like you're having a hard time there." Seredy's voice rang out of nowhere. "I suppose I have to join the fray." An LBX mysteriously appeared out of nowhere which Arata deduced to be Seredy's LBX.

"Arata, that is the LBX that was at the Wall of Gigant that day!" Daimen realized.

"The one who was attacking Mia and Muraku." Arata said grimly.

"Don't butt into this!" Itan yelled angrily. "I'll take care of him myself!"

"You misunderstand. Firstly, you cannot defeat Sena Arata by yourself." Seredy said as though he was teaching a small kid. "And secondly, I did not come here to help you. I came here to end you." Seredy's LBX opened its wings and swooped down, cutting off Gruxeon's arm, shocking Arata and Itan.

"The Master Key is complete. Your role is over now." Seredy shrugged.

"No…" Lara watched with wide eyes in horror. Itan may be a brute that she could not stand, but he was still her friend and even until now, he was the only one who understood her the most. To think that Seredy is getting rid of him just because he was going overboard and his usefulness is over. It made her worried that Seredy will get rid of her as well when her role, whatever it was, is over.

Gruxeon grabbed the severed arm which has the scythe and flew up to Seredy's LBX, clearly dissatisfied with what's happening. But Seredy's LBX calmly stabbed Gruxeon.

"Once a mercenary has lost its purpose, they must be dismissed. Isn't that right?" Seredy's LBX carelessly flung Gruxeon away, sending it falling down into the Death Forest.

"Seredy…" Arata gritted his teeth. To think that he would simply throw away Itan Kyouji like that after he had outlived his role.

* * *

Meanwhile, the other platoons of Jenock and Harness were making good progress in defeating all the enemy LBX on the deck.

"The deck has been cleared of enemies!" Sakuya told them.

"Alright, let's proceed to the final stage of the plan. All units, head for the central motor system. Hikaru and I will head to Arata's aid." Haruki told them.

"Roger!"

Meanwhile, over at Arata and Seredy's side, neither of them had moved and the Dot Phoenix was still flying around, waiting for Sakuya's command to attack.

"Sena Arata, I ask you once more: how would you like to walk alongside us?" Seredy asked him.

Arata let out a small scoff at that. "No matter how many times you ask, my answer is still the same. I will never join you!"

"Pity. I hoped that you would be reasonable to see the truths in my ideals." Seredy sighed. "But unfortunately, you refuse to acknowledge it."

"Unfortunately for you, I have a stubborn streak." Arata rolled his eyes. "And worse yet, you messed with the wrong person. You took my best friend and turned her into your robotic slave so of course I will have to defeat you!"

With that, Dot Blastrizer tried to attack Seredy's LBX but it kept on avoiding it.

"I see, looks like I'll have to teach you the hard way!" With that, his LBX began to retaliate and despite Arata's attempts to land an attack on him it kept on dodging and when it found an opening, it knocked Dot Blastrizer away with its sword. Even the Dot Phoenix's attempts were futile as it was fast in avoiding the missiles sent at it. As it continued to attack, Seredy soon saw that Arata had accidentally let down his guard and had his LBX point its sword tip straight at Dot Blastrizer's face, rendering it immobile.

"What a fool. You too are unneeded." Seredy fumed at Arata's refusal to join him. Just as he ordered his LBX to finish him off, shots rang out from the fortress and hit it, making it fly away from Dot Blastrizer.

"Haruki! Hikaru!" Arata sighed in relief, seeing their LBX. After confirming that he was fine, Sakuya reappeared at the screen on Arata's control pod.

"Arata! Fusion!"

"Eh?" Arata tilted his head in confusion.

"Dot Blastrizer can become more powerful if it fuses with Dot Phoenix." Sakuya explained.

"Ok, I'll do it." Arata nodded. The Dot Phoenix flew over and broke into several parts. As Dot Blastrizer's body turned red, it fused with the parts of Dot Phoenix and became Dot Blastrizer G-Ext. "Let's go!"

The two railguns on its back flipped over and fired at Seredy's LBX along with missiles. It barely dodged the railgun rays while dodging the missiles but eventually, one struck it which slowed it down and the other missiles caught up to it. As it flew out battered, Val Diver began to attack it with its katana, sending it flew down back to the fortress where Muraku, who surprisingly did not follow the others to the central core system, continued the chain of attack and sent it rolling a few meters away.

"Hissatsu Function!" Arata yelled.

_Attack Fucntion_

_Sintou Kamui_

The purple blade seemingly destroyed Seredy's LBX but Arata lost control of it and it ended up cutting through the armor of the base as well, making the base shake dangerously.

"W-what?"

"The aerial base is…"

"Uh oh." Arata gulped, realizing what his carelessness had gotten them into.

"This is dangerous." Haruki realized as explosions rang out throughout the fortress. "Change of plans! All platoons, retreat!"

"But the Parasite Keys…"

"We have to give up on recovering them." Haruki said heavily. Soon enough, the craft carriers swooped down to save the LBXs on the fortress while what remained of the ground troops ran away from the area. As the craft carriers flew away, the entire fortress glowed as imploded, thereby ending Ezeldarm's schemes.

* * *

"Sintou Kamui was too powerful for me to control." Arata clenched his teeth when he reported to Yuko at the sports center later. "Had I been able to, I would not have destroyed the aerial base and we could retrieve the Parasite Keys."

"No use moping over spilt milk." Maya told him and then frowned. "But they never found Lara and Mia, did they?"

"Nope." Daimen shook his head. "It seems that they were nowhere on the island according to Seredy when War Time occurred and Itan Kyouji escaped before they could apprehend him."

"I see." Yuko sighed heavily.

"Where's Master Houjou?" Arata asked, finally noticing that the master was not with them.

"He went up to LBX Hill." Yuko rolled her eyes. "It seems that Muraku's words cut deeper than we thought. Anyway, I went to visit Wataru just now but there's no change on his condition. And since we don't have the Parasite Keys anymore, we're going to have to do things our way. But to do that, we need to wait for Wataru to wake up so that he can phase into the Lost Area."

"I wonder where Lara is hiding though. She must be wherever Mia is to ensure that the slave collar is working." Arata remarked.

"Is Mia still blocking you from sensing her?" Nick asked.

"You can say that again. Given that I never got to memorize Lara's mind pattern, I have no idea how to find her." Arata said frustratedly.

"Wait…" Reika frowned. "If Seredy's still hiding Lara and Mia, does this mean that he could still be planning something on Kamui Island? The school's authorities never found the slave collars that were manufactured on the island so he could be hiding them where Lara and Mia are."

"That's a good point. But the question still remains is where?" Atsuya pointed out.

Yuko sighed and tilted her head back. "Arata, Reika, I need you two to go down to the Second World tonight. See if you can go inside, Reika. Arata will be there in case anything happens. I'll try to find more information about the World Sabers."

"Then we'll go and visit Wataru then." Maya shrugged, gesturing at her and Nick.

* * *

When Maya and Nick arrived at the hospital, they were not surprise to see Muraku in Wataru's room.

"Hey." Maya greeted him and sat down on one of the chairs beside the bed while Nick left to get some drinks. "I heard about what happened between you and uncle."

Muraku did not reply but instead, he gripped Wataru's hand tighter.

"You know, I was always jealous of you…and my brother." Maya confessed. "For some twisted reason, they always favor the males of our family."

"I know that." Muraku said a little forcefully. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to say, I understand why Mia acted the way she did all these years but the main difference between is that you still care for her despite all that while my brother could care less about me." Maya shrugged.

"Is that why you hate me?" Muraku asked softly.

"No, I hate your uptight attitude." Maya said sarcastically. "Yes, of course, I hated you for that. But that's probably why, unlike Mia, I gave up on trying to impress my dad and went rebel. I mean, he doesn't really care much about what I do as long as it is not illegal. But I think Mia subconsciously knew that uncle cared deeply for her which is why she never stopped striving to please him."

"But still…"

"You shouldn't be that mad at him." Maya remarked. "There are times when neither you nor Mia are watching, but I saw how he tried to look after the both of you from the shadows. I know that it's hard to believe it, but different people might find it hard to openly express their feelings while others find it too easy to do so. You and Mia are prime examples of that."

Maya glanced at the clock in the room and stood up after ruffling Wataru's hair. "Don't worry too much about him. Wataru is tougher than he looks. I'm sure that he'll wake up soon."

"I know." Muraku nodded and let out a breath. He thought of something and turned to her. "By the way, did you know about this beforehand?" He asked pulling off his glove to show her the black aura that was swirling around his tattoo again.

"Nope." Maya shook her head. "Although, I did wonder a lot about it. But since my brother is a normal person…I never actually thought that this is the truth."

"I see."

Maya shrugged and headed out but poked her head back in. "This may be late to say, but welcome to our world."

* * *

That night, Arata snuck out of the dorms and went over to the sports center where Reika was waiting for him.

"You're early." She remarked when he came in.

"Got to get changed." Arata shrugged. Soon, both of them were dressed on black with black hats and a cloth covering their face.

"I'm skeptical if I can actually get into the Second World." Reika remarked as she threw a crystal to open a portal. "I mean, like Daimen, I have to be able to picture the place in mind before getting there."

"It's worth a try." Arata shrugged and the both of them went inside the portal. Once they were at the other side of the portal, Reika looked around in awe.

"So this is what the Second World looks like when it is not activated."

"Ah." Arata nodded in agreement, looking around. He soon spotted the Lost Area entrance and gestured for Reika to follow him. They soon arrived at the crater and examined the door.

"This really brings back memories of the day you found out about the Overload." Reika said nostalgically.

"Yeah." Arata nodded in agreement with a small smile. "You're Sirena got trashed up then."

"Yup. And it took Takeru days just to repair it." She said with a small grimace. She knelt down and placed a hand on the door. "Do you think that it would work if I tried to picture the Lost Area as a dark place?"

"It's worth a shot." Arata nodded. So Reika closed her eyes to picture the place and then opened the portal. But when she tried to enter it, a force field repelled her instead.

"Gah!" Reika grunted as Arata helped steady her. "I think I got it but the energy from the Gem of Wishes had solidified into a barrier down there which means…"

"Other than the Parasite Keys opening the door, we cannot get it." Arata sighed heavily and banged his head against his palm. "Why didn't I do something else instead of using the hissatsu function?"

"Arata…" Reika wrapped her arms around him and shook her head. "It's not your fault. You didn't know that you could not control Sintou Kamui. You're not the strongest nor are you almighty."

Arata bit his lip at that. "But there are times that I wish I was though. That way I can protect those around me…"

"Hey, what happened to Mia and Wataru was out of our control." Reika nudged him. "It was Lara and Itan's fault and not to mentioned, you had the best intentions when you used Sintou Kamui. Besides, Yuko still has the data of Rikuya's Parasite Keys. If needed, we can create duplicates."

"…You're right." Arata relented hugging her tightly. He became serious as Reika pulled away and created another portal to go back to the sport center. "But we have to remember to be on our guard though. Seredy is not the kind of person to take a risk unless he has a backup plan. We have to expect him to pull something to prevent being arrested tomorrow."

Reika nodded in agreement. "Maybe by then, we can find out where Mia is and rescue her."

* * *

**The bad thing about having long stories is that you'll forget to address several things which may confuse the readers so I'm going to put some of them here.**

**1\. Atsuya broke up with Charlotte just a day before Ezeldarm's raid on Rose City hence her attitude towards Arata during Jenock's invasion on Sieg Gigantes.**

**2\. Arata and Yuno are not a couple yet despite the date they went on many chapters ago. They are currently somewhere in between the friend zone and the couple zone.**

**3\. Bruce no longer tries to flirt with Mia after a warning from Lara and Seredy.**

**And that's all. If you are still curious about somethings that I did not address here, feel free to tell me in the reviews.**


	77. Chapter 77

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

The next morning, most of the students of Jenock, the first platoon of Harness, Nick and Maya could be seen at the port where the school's guards and teachers were leading the students of Ezeldarm and Ayabe up the ramp to the ship that will bring them to the mainland where the local authorities will apprehend them.

"So everyone from Ezeldarm are expelled." Arata muttered, not sympathizing them one bit.

"This won't happen again if we rebuilt the school. These will be the last ones to get expelled…" Haruki remarked. Earlier, they had their assembly where they thanked every student for helping them defeat Ezeldarm and expressed their desire to rebuilt the school into a real school for LBX once they find a way to cut the school off from the ERP. Currently, Rikuya was trying to convince his father to do since he is the center figure of the project but strangely, when Arata told Yuko about it, she was apprehensive and warned him not to get his hopes up, baffling him.

He snuck a glance at Muraku and saw how tired he was as he did not get any sleep last night no doubt worried about Mia. He still refused to talk to his father and his friends were getting worried for him.

"Itan Kyouji…Looks like they haven't found him yet." Hikaru remembered with a frown.

"They're still on the search for him. It's only a matter of time before they find him." Sakuya added.

"It'll be hard considering he can hide in the shadows thanks to his powers which is no doubt what he's doing now." Daimen muttered to Arata who nodded in agreement.

"Not to mention, Lara is free and Seredy is no doubt plotting something since we cannot find her or Mia." Arata said with a small frown as Seredy was brought over.

"After this, you will be judged appropriately in court. Be prepared to pay for your crimes, Seredy Kreisler." Instructor Saruta told him. But much to their surprise, Seredy burst out laughing and on the other side of the port, the waters started churning, taking them by surprise.

"What's happening!?" Gendou exclaimed. Arata and the others became tense as something burst out of the water, revealing to be a large black submarine.

"In war, you must always be one step ahead of your opponents. Isn't that right, Instructor Saruta?" Seredy asked mockingly. All the students and teachers were now scared as Seredy held up his hand. "Now, let us begin. The _true_ war…"

The hatch of the submarine opened and soldiers dressed in black armor and having rifles stepped out and surrounded the students and teachers before the remaining soldiers went into the town and school to secure it. Lara soon came out of the sub with Mia behind her and bowed before Seredy.

"Seredy-sama."

"Glad to see you, Lara." Seredy nodded back.

"Mia." Muraku gritted his teeth, seeing his sister behind Lara and upset to see her emotionless and hunched over. He narrowed his eyes and realized that his tattoo was glowing slightly. Remembering what his father told him, he knew that his latent powers were badly weakening her even though he could not reach her.

"Mia, wake up!" Maya yelled at her. "You can fight it!"

"Shut up!" One of the soldiers snapped, jabbing his rifle at her back. Maya gritted her teeth but kept her mouth shut after that.

"Listen well." Seredy spoke after waving his hand to make the soldier stand down. "Kamui Island is now under the control of the World Sabers."

"Ayabe…" Gendou trailed off, seeing his former butler standing nonchalantly at Seredy's side.

"Do you truly think you can get away with this?" The headmaster demanded. But Seredy was smart enough not to rise to the bait and merely smirked.

_'Reika, can you hear me?' _Arata asked mentally.

_'Yeah. The soldiers are heading here and we can't fight them or who knows what they'll do to the students or the people in town.' _Reika replied grimly.

_'Listen, you have to hide in the Aviane Dimension.'_

_ 'That's not possible.' _Reika said sounding distressed. _'Yuko-nee and Master Houjou had went into the Aviane Dimension earlier before all this happened. Atsuya and I figured that it would be better that we let ourselves get captured while Yuko-nee and Master Houjou remain in the Aviane Dimension. Atsuya just broke the vase we need to enter it to delay them from coming out.'_

Arata gritted his teeth and nodded even though she could not see him. _'I understand. If anything happens to us, at least Yuko-nee and Master Houjou will not be captured and they can find a way to get back up from the mainland.'_

"You! Don't you dare lay a finger on the students!" Instructor Saruta yelled but a bullet in between his feet silenced him.

"Watch what you say." Seredy admonished. "Or else you could get hurt." He looked at Maya as he said that and Nick had to physically restrain her so that she did not do anything foolish.

"Seredy-sama, should we proceed to the school?" Lara politely asked even though she was inwardly seething at him for throwing Itan away like thrash and controlling Mia and the island the way he did.

"Of course, but first…" He snapped his fingers and the soldiers dropped several grenades on the ground, startling the students.

"Get down!" Arata yelled just in time before they went off and smoke exploded all around.

'Knock out gas!' He realized as he covered his mouth and he felt dizzy while everyone around him became unconscious. While the effects of the knock out gas was there, it didn't affect him and the other Valorites and Vigilnites as their bodies were more resistant to it.

Daimen raised his hand and created a gust of wind which blew away the smoke, revealing that while Seredy and his men had gas mask, all the other students and teachers were knocked out.

"Good, I knew that you would be able to resist it." Seredy said in amusement.

"Dang it! You purposely did that to rat us out!" Arata cursed weakly.

"Of course. I only know that Mia and you are like Lara and Itan but to get to the others, I needed to do this so that I can find out who else are your friends." Seredy said gleefully. "Now, you are going to do as I say and no one will get hurt." As he said that, the soldiers pointed their guns on the students with their fingers on the trigger. Seredy even pulled out an Ipad out of nowhere and showed him the footage from the sports center where Reika and Atsuya were chained to a table leg and the soldiers had their guns trained on them.

"You bastard…" Maya growled.

"Maya." Arata held up his hand to stop her before she could do something she would regret. "Stop it. We are in no position to fight back and even with our powers, they're armed so we cannot risk it."

"A wise decision." Seredy nodded in approval and snapped his finger again. This time, a soldier came out of the submarine with a tray. On the tray was four red color bands and the soldier held them out.

"These are restrictive bands. They prevent you from using your powers." Seredy smirked. "Despite what you say, I'm not taking any chances. But don't worry, your two friends at the sports center already have them. Put them on."

Seeing as the others were not making any move to take them, Arata begrudgingly took one and fastened it on. Immediately, he could feel his body getting heavy as his powers were sealed up. One by one, the others hesitantly took the bands but not without cursing or casting hateful glares at Seredy and Lara.

"Now that we're done…" Seredy waved his hand and the soldiers knocked them out with the butt of their rifles. "Take them to the school and drop off the students at their respective classes. But for the teachers, lock them in the staff room but bring Kaidou-sensei and the headmaster to his office."

He turned to Ayabe and gestured him over. "Bring Mito-sensei to the headmaster's office as well."

"Of course." Ayabe bowed and headed up to the school first while the soldiers began carrying the students and teachers back to the school as well. Seredy soon followed them with Lara and Mia following him.

Lara had mixed thoughts about the whole operation and glanced at Mia. While she outwardly was indifferent to everyone at first glance, she could tell that the side effects of the slave collar was beginning to affect her as beads of sweat formed on her forehead and the way her fingers were twitching.

'This is going too far.' Lara thought fearfully. 'If Seredy can easily throw away Itan despite being part of the World Sabers just as long as I was, then he can get rid of me at the snap of his fingers…not to mention, I never knew that Seredy had those restrictors and he can use it on me too. The way he is doing things is now scaring me as well. Oh, if only I can break free from his grasp and help Mia escape too.'

* * *

"Sena-kun, wake up." Rikuya shook Arata's shoulder urgently. Arata blinked and slowly opened his eyes. He saw that he was back in their class and more than half of the class was still unconscious and they were slumped on their respective seats including him. The others who were not at the port or have regained conscious were now trying to wake the others up.

"They used knock out gas on us." Arata grunted as he pushed himself up from his desk. "What's the situation now?"

"We're held hostages in our classes." Rikuya told him grimly. "Seredy planted his soldiers all around the building so it'll be hard to escape, considering that they are armed and outnumber us."

Arata drew a breath and let it out. Most of the class were coming to and were depressed by the situation. He glanced down at the restrictor bands and frowned. Even if he had his powers, there's no way he could stand up to all of the soldiers at once. He could only hope that Yuko-nee and Master Houjou can get out of the Aviane Dimension soon to save them.

He blinked when he noticed that two of the students were not around though. "Where are Haruki and Yuno?"

"No long after they came to, some of the soldiers ordered them and the other class presidents out but for what, I don't know." Rikuya shook his head.

But thankfully, they didn't need to worry for long as they came back with a large cart.

"They gave us lunch." Haruki said humorlessly. Everyone shifted uncomfortably in their seats as they ate their lunch while Haruki and Yuno told them about the blown up recon helicopter that the mainland sent.

"They must know about our situation." Haruki concluded.

"It must be because I didn't check in with my father earlier." Rikuya remarked.

"That could be good news." Daimen said, trying to lift the mood.

"Maybe." Arata said absentmindedly. The entire class fell silent and it was broken when the PA rang and they gasped.

_"Students of Kamui Daimon Comprehensive Academy. It's Seredy Kreisler."_ Seredy's voice rang out. "I've appointed myself as the new headmaster of the academy. I hope I can do a good job."

'As if.' Almost everyone thought but did not dare to voice out.

"You all must want to know what we the World Sabers are up to now. Our goal is to show every citizen the reality of the Second World. We will show them the faults of the Experiment Realism Project and correct the hypocrital errors that Prime Minister Tougou Giichi and its other creators made. How will we do this, you ask?"

"I have a bad feeling about this." Arata murmured, sneaking a glance at Rikuya.

Inside the PA room, Seredy smirked as the Second World was activated. "Beginning at 3 pm today, we will permanently put the Second World on a 24 hour schedule and War Time will no longer run on its regular schedule. The school will operate as I see fit."

"What did he say!?" Catherin exclaimed.

"If he does that, then we can't perform maintenance on the LBXs!" Sakuya realized nervously.

"24/7…he's forcing a constant state of tension on us."

"But for what?" Arata frowned.

"Please look forward to War Time. And if any of you would like to join Ezeldarm, feel free to contact me. We are ready to accept anyone who shares the same views as us. You have until noon tomorrow to think it over. I'll be waiting." Seredy ended his announcement, not caring at the least that many of the students were complaining.

'Tomorrow noon…what could be so important that he needs to set the deadline to then?' Arata frowned. 'Don't tell me he's planning something bigger than the island takeover on us students…'

"That's right! I have one more to say." Seredy suddenly remembered. "Sena Arata, I'd like to have a talk with you. Come to Jenock's control room at once. If you come, I might consider releasing Houjou Mia."

Arata gasped and shot up from his seat. "What?!"

"You head me." Seredy said smugly. "I'll be waiting for you."

"Arata, don't go. It could be a trap." Yuno begged him.

"As much as I hate to admit it, he could not be intending to release Mia even if you go." Muraku said through gritted teeth.

"Maybe, but he didn't mention the underlying message. He's saying that to remind us that Mia is in his hands and he can hurt her any time he wants." Arata said furiously. "If I don't go, who knows what he'll do to her."

"But what if he blackmails you into joining Ezeldarm?" Haruki demanded.

"Look, we won't get anywhere arguing with this." Arata sighed and made his way to the door. "If he does forces me to do so and fight you guys, I trust that you guys will be able to do the right thing when the time comes."

"Wait! Arata! What do you mean by that!?" Yuno tried to stop him but he already left the classroom. She turned desperately to Daimen. "Why didn't you stop him!?"

Daimen let out a sigh at that. "Because I want Mia safe just as much as he does. Like Arata said, Seredy will not hesitate to hurt her in any way. And if you know Arata well, you find that he won't hesitate to protect those close to him no matter what it takes. Even if I tried, I will not be able to change his mind."

"Then are you just going to let him go!?" Yuno all but yelled, slamming her hands on Daimen's desk.

"Of course not." Daimen shook his head and pointed at the food cart. "I would never let Arata go alone into enemy territory. So I got an idea all ready."

Yuno blinked in surprise at that. "What…"

"But I'll need you and Haruki's help though." He rubbed the back of his head.

"I see." Haruki mused and nodded. "Alright, we'll go with whatever idea that you have. Hikaru, come on. We have to protect him."

"Alright." Hikaru nodded and Muraku stood up.

"I'll come too." He said determinately.

"Muraku…thank you." Haruki nodded.

"If that's so, then I might have to stay back." Daimen suddenly spoke up. "The cart can only fit two people."

* * *

Once everyone was in place, Yuno opened the door and stepped out.

"What is it?" The soldier demanded.

"We just finished our meal." Yuno calmly explained. "Also, our class president seems to have a fever so I'd like to take him to the infirmary…"

"What?" The soldier peaked inside the room and saw that Haruki was holding his head like he was in pain. Also, the students were scattered all over the class as to cover up Hikaru and Muraku's absence.

"Alright. Go on." The soldier finally said.

"Thank you." Yuno said quietly and Haruki pushed the cart out with Muraku and Hikaru hiding inside the compartments of the cart.

Once the door closed behind them, Daimen sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. I wasn't sure that he wouldn't fall for it."

"What do you mean by that?" Vanessa hissed, getting in front of Daimen.

"It's a test of intelligence." Daimen held up his hands. "The fact that he fell for a simple lie and did not count us students indicates that they are actually simple grunts and not serious soldiers like we originally thought."

"…Is that even important?" Kageto deadpanned.

"It could be useful information for later on." Daimen shrugged.

* * *

Meanwhile, oblivious to what happened in the class and that three of his friends were heading to the briefing room through the vent, Arata stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath before entering. His eyes scanned the room and noted that no one was around.

"Seredy! You asked me to come here so here I am!"

"Sena Arata." The screen in front of him sprang into life, revealing Seredy. Arata frowned when he noticed that Seredy was in a gondola in the Second World with Mia behind him. "Since you came, does this means that you're willing to join us?"

"Of course not!" Arata snapped back. "Since I'm here, let Mia go!"

"I only said that I _might_ consider that. I never said that I would actually do it." Seredy said smugly. "But it's alright that you don't want to join us."

"You were the one who said that I'm unneeded like Itan Kyouji." Arata shot back.

"Hm, I did say that, but that does not necessarily mean that I would give up on an opportunity." Seredy chuckled. "Do you remember the lecture I gave?"

"I forgot every word about it." Arata said proudly.

"Then why don't we go through it again?" Seredy said, unaffected by Arata's attitude. "We want to unify the world and erase the tension between the countries that manifest in war. To do that, we must defeat the leaders that divide people and pull the strings of war. They are the reason behind discrimination and class differences. So how do we defeat those leaders? It's simple. We just have to become something greater than them."

"I don't follow you." Arata frowned in confusion. "How can the Overload make me greater than them if that's what you're talking about?"

"You catch on quick." Seredy praised genuinely but Arata missed it. "That is correct, to have the Overload and a pure one…not one influenced by your powers like Itan Kyouji, it shows that you are one of the chosen ones. The Overload is a wonderful gift. It makes you not only stronger, but faster as well. Along with your powers, the Overload can be said to be a power that surpasses human limits. You understand, do you not? With the Overload, you managed to survive in this school and help your teammates. That power should be used to unite the world! It's your duty as a chosen one."

"If that's what you called me out to talk about, then I'll have you know that you're wasting your time." Arata said with a resolute expression. "I understand why you hate the Second World and why you want revenge. Believe me, I had those thoughts before. But that does not mean that I'll compromise my values and morals just for some petty plot of yours. Your way of doing this is wrong, that's all I know."

Seredy's face fell and he became grim. "Is that so? I see. That is the decision you have come to."

"Yes."

Seredy blinked and smirked. "I'm heading towards the Lost Area now."

Arata inhaled sharply. "How? The Parasite Keys are gone!"

"I have the keys. They are not gone." Seredy said mysteriously and the screen went blank.

"What did he mean by that…" Arata trailed off in shock but soon turned to leave. "Anyway, I have to stop him!"

For some reason, as he rushed to the control pods, none of the soldiers bothered to stop him which made him think that Seredy intentionally told them not to stop him if he came here. But he didn't care about that and hopped into his control pod and sent Dot Blastrizer into the Second World. Instead of taking a riding saucer, he opt to use Ragnarok Phase and flew over to the Lost Area.

"Wait!" He called out once he caught up to Seredy at the Lost Area and Dot Blastrizer came to a halt in front of him.

"What is it?" Seredy asked impatiently.

"Seredy, what do you mean when you say you have the keys!?" Arata demanded. Seredy smirked and up up his hand and Phantom materialized in it, making Arata gasp. "But I thought I destroyed it!"

"Phantom won't fall easily. The Parasite Keys have combined into the Perfect Master Key within it." Seredy explained.

"In it!?" Arata said incredulously. He then realized that ever since Mia and Ayabe took the Parasite Keys, they forgot that they can locate them with Yuko's program what with everything that happened.

Sereredy chuckled and Phatom flew forward. "What will you do, Sena Arata? Would you like to try your hand at destroying Phantom?"

Phantom opened its wings and began to attack Dot Blastrizer while it was unable to retaliate and pushed it down to the crater. When the dust cleared, Phantom flew back to Seredy while Dot Blastrizer was struggling to get up. Seeing this, sparks flew from Mia's slave collar and her eyes briefly regained its light before becoming blank again when the collar regained control.

As Dot Blastrizer managed to get up, shots rang out towards it, forcing it to jump to avoid it only to find itself surrounded by numberless Ezeldarm units. As it tried to fight the units, Seredy and Phantom flew down to three crystals at the base. The crystals turned red when it resonated with the Parasite Keys in Phantom's core and sunk into the ground, opening the entrance to the Lost Area.

"Oh no! He's in the Lost Area!" Arata cursed when he saw Seredy enter the Lost Area with Mia but could not go and stop him due to Ezeldarm's continuous attacks which made it hard to move. It soon found itself in a tight spot as Ezeldarm's units fired rounds after rounds at it and it cannot move.

"At this rate, we'll never save Mia and the Second World…" Arata gritted his teeth and beads of sweat fell down his face. Eventually, something in him snapped and he blinked, a pink hue surrounding his purple eyes. "Get out of my way!"

His Overload resonated with Ragnarok Phase and it flew around in neckbreaking speed, destroying the Ezeldarm units one by one with its speed and power boost. As soon as all the Ezeldarm units were defeated, he speeded towards the Lost area, only to be halted when Phantom attacked it again. By this time, the Overload had subsided and Arata was panting heavily in his control pod. While in practice, he can use it over and over without feeling tired but without his powers, he's as weak as a normal human wold.

Phantom resumed its attack and Dot Blastrizer could not keep up with its speed and power now that Arata's Overload was deactivated. It got pressuring to Arata to the point where he managed to activate the Overload for the second time, enabling him to stop Phantom's attack and retaliate. As they fought, Phantom folded back its wings and shot its electric rays at Dot Blastrizer only for them to be avoided. The two LBXs clashed again and soon, Arata found a chance and knocked Phantom back to the crater. Just as it was about to land the finishing blow, a riding armor arrived and knocked it away, sending Dot Blastrizer flying into a boulder.

Arata was hunched over and panting heavier than before, his Overload deactivating. As he lifted his head up to see who his attacker was, he wished that he was dreaming. "Val Sparos…Kaito?"

"I will not let you interfere with Seredy-sensei's plans." Kaito said smugly, not being remorseful for defending Phantom.

"You betrayed us?!" Arata said in shock, not daring to believe it.

"I guess you could say that." Kaito shrugged and continued his attack on Dot Blastrizer. Arata was too tired to defend himself and allowed Val Sparos to beat it up even though he was upset at the betrayal. Just as Val Sparos was about to defeat Dot Blastrizer with the riding armor's charge lance, shots were fired at it, forcing it to let go of Dot Blastrizer and move away to avoid more. Trivhine, Val Diver and Magna Orthus swooped down and landed protectively in front of Dot Blastrizer.

"Hikaru, Haruki, Muraku." Arata said weakly in mild surprise.

"Don't push yourself anymore!" Hikaru chided him.

"Kaito! How dare you!" Haruki growled.

"Seredy…Kaito..." Arata uttered before he blacked out, with his friends calling out worriedly for him.


	78. Chapter 78

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

It was already evening when Arata came to. The first ones to notice this were Catherin and Yuno.

"He's awake!"

"Arata!"

Arata blinked and noticed that most of his classmates were there too and that he was in the infirmary. He tried getting up but Daimen appeared by his side and pushed him down.

"Don't stress yourself, man. Using your Overload like that took a lot out of you."

Arata sighed but did as he said. "Seredy got into the Lost Area. And Kaito…he really betrayed us, didn't he?"

"I'm afraid so." Daimen nodded grimly. "But don't blame yourself for letting Seredy into the Lost Area. It was an uncontrollable circumstance which we could not predict."

"He's right." Haruki nodded in agreement. "We didn't know that Seredy's LBX actually survived Sintou Kamui and that Kaito would want to betray us."

"I thought that he was acting strange ever since that lecture, but…" Tadashi trailed off.

"Does this mean that we have to fight him too?" Nozomi said worriedly.

"Let's take him back!" Yuno proposed.

"That's impossible." Bunta said regretfully. "Once he sets his heart on something, he becomes blind to everyone else."

"Yuno, this is Kaito's own choice. Even if we take him back, he'll only join Seredy again." Arata told her. "There's no way Kaito would willingly come back to us."

"As much as I hate to admit it, he's right." Haruki sighed. "We're going to have to consider Kaito and Val Sparos our enemies."

Arata clenched his fist at that, unaware that his restrictor band was sparking. 'This is bad now. Kaito has joined Seredy and he has a riding armor. If Seredy takes it into his head to mass produce them, we're in big trouble.'

Daimen's eyes became wide and turned to Arata. Somehow, he could hear what Arata was thinking despite the restriction bands. 'Oi, Arata, can you hear me?'

But much to his disappointment, Arata did not seemed to have heard him which led him to conclude that it was only a one way thought path and yet, he did not know.

'Could this be the effects of the Overload?' Daimen wondered.

* * *

Higurashi-sensei soon cleared Arata to head back and he, his platoon mates and Muraku decided to head back together. They subtly noted that the soldiers were still monitoring the entire school which made the students nervous.

"He shouldn't need us students anymore. So why wouldn't he make us leave?" Muraku wondered.

"It's probably for the same reason he has the slave collars and Mia." Arata said darkly. "This is not the end of his schemes. He's still planning something and I don't like what everything implies it to be."

The entire group tensed up until they saw Jin not too far away as though he was waiting for them.

"Jin-san." Arata headed towards him but felt dizzy and collapsed. It was only thanks to Muraku and Jin that he did not fall on the ground.

"Are you alright?" Muraku asked him concernedly.

"Yeah, I got dizzy, that's all. I'll be fine once I get some suger." Arata tried to reassure them as he straightened himself with Muraku and Jin's help.

"No, it may not be that easy." Jin shook his head and glanced over his shoulder where the soldiers were staring at them. "Let's go before they start suspecting us."

The group quickly resumed their trek back to the dorms with Jin this time.

"Things are different than before."

"What do you mean?" Arata frowned in confusion.

"Your Overload is evolving too quickly." Jin said grimly. "Even with your powers, your body might not be able to handle it."

"I thought so. Before, you had the backing of your powers to ensure that there will be no permanent side effects to your brain but now…" Muraku trailed off, eyeing the restrictor band.

"I'll be fine." Arata said forcefully. "I now know that the Overload is needed to defeat Seredy and save Mia."

"But is it worth it if it has detrimental effects on your mind?" Jin demanded. "A number of countries used to study the Overload but since it puts too much of a burden on the brain, most of them stopped their research. Humans are not meant to use all the functions of their brain. They subconsciously keep their power in check to survive. The Overload removes that limiter. It's too dangerous. Don't use it anymore."

With that final warning, Jin left the group and headed back to his house. Arata on the other hand was conflicted by what Jin told him and as a result, was more quiet than usual for the rest of the day until bedtime.

That night, he could not sleep and only lie awake as he tried to process what Seredy and Jin told him regarding the Overload. Unbeknown to him, Daimen and Hikaru were watching him and were inwardly worried for him but for different reasons.

* * *

"Hey, you got a minute?" Daimen asked his best friend as they went to use the bathroom.

"Sure. What is it?" Arata shrugged.

"Didn't you know that the Overload is damaging your restrictor band?" Daimen asked quietly.

Arata looked at him in shock and then at his restrictor band, noticing that it was sparking. "No…"

"I was able to hear your thoughts faintly yesterday at the infirmary but you couldn't pick up on what I was thinking." Daimen said softly, eyeing the door occasionally. "I think the Overload had messed with your powers again but making them stronger this time."

Arata pursed his lips at that. "Thanks for letting me know."

"So do you have any plans now?"

"Not for now." Arata shook his head and stared at his reflection in the mirror. "But all we can do is hope that we can think of a way to stop Seredy before this gets too far."

"You know, I'm actually afraid of you now." Daimen suddenly confessed, startling his friend.

"What do you mean?" Arata asked with a frown.

Daimen sighed and stared at the mirror. "You remember how you used to not use your Fire Staff during sparing practice when we were kids even though your opponent was using his weapon?"

"Yes." Arata said slowly, not understanding what Daimen was saying.

"I asked about it and you told me this: 'I do not want to turn up to the next level just because my opponents do so. I will if I know that my limits are pushed to the end.' You never used your weapon against your armed opponent because you knew that you can take on him without your weapon. But with your Overload…" Daimen said plainly.

The saying clicked inside Arata's head and he turned to his friend. "I understand what you are trying to say." He closed his eyes and rested his head on the mirror. "I was too focused on using the Overload yesterday in order to defeat Seredy. That's why I would have lost whether Kaito betrayed us or not."

"Glad you understand that." Daimen smiled. "Don't worry. We can defeat Seredy without the Overload. We still have our martial arts skills on us. So it's not the end of the world just yet."

Arata let out a small smile and nodded in agreement. "Yeah."

* * *

The moment Arata stepped into the school, he knew Seredy was not wasting any time. The entire campus had cameras fitted all over including the classrooms.

"This has been taken to a whole new level." He shook his head. "At this rate, even our privacy is taken away."

"He probably wants to prevent a repeat of yesterday's stunt." Haruki remarked. The door then opened and Mito-sensei stepped in, glaring at the cameras as she did.

"Mito-sensei, what are those cameras?" Arata asked her.

"I don't have a clue either." She shook her head. Arata frowned when he noticed that she was paler than usual and had a troubled air around her but he dare not pry. The announcement bell rang at that moment and everyone tensed as they glared at the speaker.

"Good morning, students of Kamui Daimon Comprehensive Academy. As you've likely noticed, I've set up cameras within the school. The footage here is being broadcasted to the world at this very moment. With this, the people of the world will know everything about this school."

"What was that?" Daimen hissed. "This invasion of privacy has gone too far."

"Daimen." Arata shot him a look to quiet him. "Now's not the time for that."

"Well, let's begin War Time. I hope you all remember that I control when it starts and ends. Start." Seredy concluded his announcement.

Everyone reluctantly left their classes and headed down to their respective briefing rooms where Seredy showed them the target of their mission which turns out to be the Lost Area.

"The battle will be at the Lost Area." He explained the 'mission'. "There, we, the World Sabers will fight you of the World Allied Forces. Oh, and I added an interesting little feature to your control pods. Look forward to it." Seredy said the last part gleefully.

"New feature?" Mikhail wondered.

"It can't be anything good." Vanessa replied which voiced out everyone's thoughts.

Arata stared at the screen which showed the Lost Area until he head footsteps coming his way and looked up, mildly surprise to see Mito-sensei in front of them.

"Please, save my father." She begged, bowing down, startling her students.

"Mito-sensei…"

"I used all of you in order to enter the Lost Area." She confessed. "I know very well how selfish this is of me. But please…save my father from the Lost Area. There's no more time."

Arata narrowed his eyes sharply at that. "What do you mean by that?"

"Allow me to explain." Jin said as he appeared at the side screen. "As you all know, War Time used to only operate for two hours a day. That was so that we wouldn't put too much stress on Mito-hakasen's body. But now that the restriction has been removed, the burden on his body has grown. If this continues, his life will be in danger."

"So Seredy knew this?" Arata asked darkly.

"I'm afraid so." Mito-sensei said shakily.

Everyone exchanged glances and nodded. They will save Mito-hakasen before Seredy can exploit him any longer.

"Mito-sensei, we'll definitely save the professor!" Arata reassured her.

Their teacher was visibly shocked by this as she didn't have much confidence that her students would help her after what she did. "Thank you, everyone."

* * *

As War Time began, Arata contemplated on everything that Jin, Seredy and Daimen told him during the journey to the Lost Area. While he knew that it was dangerous to use the Overload again, it was the only thing that they have now to break the restrictor bands without Seredy knowing. But Seredy would target him again if he tried to use it.

He clenched the controls of his pod tightly as he made up his mind on what to do. 'It'll be risky but worth it in the end.'

As the craft carriers hovered above the entrance of the Lost Area, he took deep breaths to calm down his racing heart at the prospect of going against the World Sabers again before descending. The entire place was pitch black save for the entrance and the red vine like lines on the floor which glowed.

Arata, Daimen, Maya and Nick gasped as they were hit with a strong wave of power coming from inside the Lost Area.

'This wave…the Gem of Wishes?' Arata though. A familiar sensation flowed through his body and his eyes became wide when he recognized it. 'Oracle?'

_ 'Can you hear me?'_ Oracle's voice rang through his mind. _'For some reason, I cannot focus on you very well.'_

_'Seredy placed restrictors on us.'_ Arata explained as he tensed up to get ready to face Ezeldarm's units as they appeared. _'Oracle, we need your help.'_

_ 'I am afraid that I cannot do anything more than to guide you this far.'_ Oracle said sadly. _'As the legends explained, I transferred all my powers into the Gem of Wishes. Therefore, there is nothing I can do to help you now. I wish that I can help you though. Seredy's plans are just as terrible as the one who took the Gem of Wishes away from Fantasy. I'm afraid that all I can do is to warn you that once you stop Seredy, you still have one more trial to pass. Your journey to find the Element Stones will not be as easy as your journey on Kamui Island. I cannot hold the connection much longer so I wish you all the best.'_

'Wait!' Arata tried to call her back but was met with blankness. He jerked his head up and realized that the World Sabers were beginning to attack so he had to pour all of his attention to fighting them. He quietly kept his weapons and began to fight the World Saber LBX hand to hand. He was going to show Seredy who he is and that he doesn't rely on his weapons or Overload to win. He soon came face to face with Yukina and flexed his fingers.

"Come on!" Dot Blastrizer and Yukina became engaged in a fist match whereby they were struggling to land a blow on each other as they parried and blocked each other's moves thanks to the fact that they can easily predict each other's moves. Arata soon found himself locked in position as Yukina grabbed one of his arms and twisted it. But Dot Blastrizer soon broke free by kicking its feet at Yukina's face and punched it away. It then flipped and kicked away several enemy units and delivered an upper cut on Yukina as it charged back at it.

Arata grinned in his control pod as he had Dot Blastrizer jump and punch Yukina again and it broke over.

"…No way." Haruki muttered to himself as Trivhine used its hissatsu function to destroy three Ezeldarm units. "He took down Yukina without using a weapon or hissatsu function?"

"That's Arata for you!" Daimen grinned.

"Don't get too cocky!" Kaito yelled, snapping due to how well the World Allied Forces were actually doing. A massive Large Droid dropped down from above, sending all LBX in range flying from the shockwave.

"Fear the power of Cylongarter, the upgraded version of Draganzeid!"

Cylongarter began to attack the LBX with its long tentacle blades but all the LBX managed to dodge them. But this only served to display how strong it was.

"Jenock will hold this one back." Haruki ordered.

"Roger!" All of Jenock's units concentrated their long range attacks on Cylongarter while the others continued to fight the World Sabers' units. But it was clear that their attacks were not doing much and the large droid launched missiles at them, catching them off guard as they scrambled to take cover behind pillars. But Catherin's Siren was too slow in dodging and ended up getting caught up in a blast that was too close to it. It was sent flying and ended up damaged.

"Oh no!"

"Catherin!"

Cylongater raised one of its blade tentacles to strike the fallen Siren which cannot move even to dodge it. Catherin could only squeeze her eyes shut as the tentacle was about to land on her. But the impact did not come. Instead, when she opened her eyes, much to her shock, Rikuya's DC Offenser and his Riding Armor were in between the tentacle and her.

"Rikuya!" She cried out in shock. Roy and Akane had their units attack the tentacle to break it as it kept on pushing down on the riding armor.

"Run while you can!" Rikuya told Catherin. "I can't hold this much longer! Hurry!"

"Don't worry about me!" Catherin called back. "Rikuya, you run!"

However, it was clear that Rikuya was not going to move away as he was tired of abandoning his companions so this is the least he could do in his mind. The blade pushed further into the joint which it struck and Roy and Akane's attacks were not doing anything at all. Finally, the large droid became impatient by the resistance showed and raised another blade to finish the job. Just as the second blade was about to connect to Siren and the riding armor, Yuno rashly had Dot Phasor grab Siren at the very last minute and as a result, only the riding armor and Rikuya's DC Offenser were destroyed. However, it did not end there as it opened the laser barrel on its chest and fired straight at Roy and Akane's LBX, destroying them on the spot as well.

"Roy…Rikuya…Akane…" Kouta said in horror.

Inside his control pod, Rikuya was both relief and sad that Catherin was saved while he could not continue to fight Seredy anymore. "Now…now I can't fight with you all anymore…"

However, his train of thought was interrupted when purple smoke sprouted out from his control pod. The same thing was in fact happening to Roy and Akane's pods as well.

"My strength…is sapping away…" Rikuya gasped weakly and that was the last thing Kouta heard from him and the other two.

"Hey! What's wrong!?" He tried to reach them. But no reply came at all.

Mito-sensei was also watching the insides of the three control pods and was growing anxious at the lack of response from any of them.

"Mito-sensei, what's happening?" Arata asked her as calmly as he could.

Mito-sensei could not answer that and made an attempt to contact them this time. "Third platoon! Do you three copy? Rikuya! Roy! Akane!"

But when she was met with silence again, she gasped when realization hit her which made her blood run cold. "Could this gas be…?"

"Exactly. It is poison gas." Seredy smirked as his face appeared. "Once LOST, the player in the control pod will be gassed and killed."

Everyone let out gasps of horror at this revelation and cold sweat fell down their faces. Even the teachers were horrified by this news too.

"I just wanted to make this childish play war a little more realistic. Please enjoy it." Seredy explained with growing smugness.

All over, the students began to panic and were banging on the control pods, begging to be let out. This caused a lot of disarray and confusion among the LBXs in the Second World unfortunately.

"Rikuya's platoon is dead…" Haruki said shakily as though he was unable to believe it.

"…And we might end up like them." Hikaru added just as shakily.

"No way…" Yuno whispered.

"Death goes hand-in-hand with true war. You all have simply been playing a game up until now." Seredy simply said. "Do you understand now?"

Inside his control pod, Arata was shaking uncontrollably. "Death…why must you kill them just for the sake of your propaganda!? They are all innocent lives!"

"That's war." Seredy said creepily, scaring Ayabe and Lara who were with him. "Of course innocent lives will be lost."

Arata gasped as everything became clouded in his mind and the only sole thought was to destroy the World Sabers. "I…I will destroy each and every one of you!" With that, his irises became highlighted with the signature purple as Dot Blastrizer automatically activated Ragnarock Phase.

"Arata, stop!" Muraku tried to reach him.

"It's no use." Daimen gritted his teeth. "Arata has snapped emotionally and now he can't even control his own thoughts. He's going to attack the World Sabers like a wild animal!"

"But at this rate, the Overload will kill him." Muraku protested.

"What!?" Daimen gasped, given that Arata never told him about his conversation with Jin.

"Dot Phoenix!" Arata called. The blue craft responded to his call and merged with Dot Blastrizer. Once armed, it began to cut off all the tentacles of Cylongater. The large droid roared and tried to hit it with its missiles but Dot Blastrizer managed to avoid all of it including the laser beam. Once it subdued its attacks, Dot Blastrizer had a clear path of attack.

"Hissatsu Function!"

_Attack Function_

_Sintou Kamui_

The hissatsu function instantly cut Cylongater into half and it exploded. However, this was not the end of Arata's rampage as it swooped down and cut down all World Saber units in his path but left the World Alliance Forces alone.

"Even in his emotionally unstable state, he can still make out who are his allies." Haruki said in amazement.

"Daimen, is there any way to stop him?" Yuno asked him worriedly.

"Only Reika and Mia can snap him out of it but neither of them are here." Daimen shook his head eyeing Dot Blastrizer warily.

Eventually, Dot Blastrizer had taken down more than half of the World Saber's forces and paused. Arata lifted his head and glared at Phantom as it materialized in the air.

"Seredy!" Arata quickly had Dot Blastrizer stab the LBX with its drill before it had time to react. "Your biggest mistake is taking the friends I care about away from me!"

Dot Blastrizer pulled out its drill as Phantom exploded. Arata gasped as the fog in his mind cleared and he shook his head, deactivating his Overload. He slumped over on his controls as he felt the mental and emotional exhaustion overcome him. He barely managed to lift his head and see the smoke clear but revealing an entirely new LBX right where Phantom was.

"What…?!"


	79. Chapter 79

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

"Boulder break!" Yuko called as boulders emerged from the ground and hit the portal that was supposed to bring them back to the sport center but was repelled as all other attacks.

"Yuko, take a break." Master Houjou sighed. "We aren't getting anywhere at this rate."

Yuko let out an uncharacteristic grunt of frustration and sat down to catch her breath. "At this rate, we won't be able to stop Seredy from whatever he's doing."

"Don't give up on hope Yuko." Master Houjou said sternly. "If you do, we'll never be able to get out of here and stop him."

Yuko sighed and touched the portal. "For some reason, there's a barrier in it that's stopping us from getting out so we have to take it down before we can link the portal to the other secret room and get out from there."

Master Houjou touched the barrier as well and frowned. "Isn't this the energy from the Gem of Wishes?"

Yuko's face perked up at that and pressed her hand on the barrier while closing her eyes. "You're right."

"And didn't you bring some of the crystals from the Crystal Cave to the island?" Master Houjou inquired.

Yuko slapped her forehead and reached into her training pouch. "As a matter of fact, yes." She pulled out a crystal and placed it in front of the barrier and the crystal glowed as it slowly began to absorb the energy from the barrier.

"This is going to take some time." Master Houjou sighed. "We can only hope that Arata and the rest can hold their ground until we come."

Yuko did not say anything but agreed with the older master. 'Hang on Arata, we'll come as soon as we get out of here. Stay strong until then.'

* * *

Arata stared at the new LBX in shock and horror. "Don't tell me…I only destroyed the outer cover of Phantom."

"That is correct." Seredy chuckled maniacally. "Meet D Ezeldee!"

The bits on D Ezeldee's back detached from the main body and transformed into red swords to intimidate all the students before they transformed again into green bits and all six of them fired green laser. Everyone watched in horror as the lasers destroyed all LBX in its path. Many students cried in panic as their control pods were filled with gas while others were panicking as they tried to avoid the lasers, breaking up the entire formation.

One laser shot at Dot Blastrizer and pushed it into a pillar. But thanks to its shield, it was not destroyed like the other LBX but it only served to exhaust Arata more.

The bits transformed back into their sword form and randomly attacked the World Allied Forces LBXs. The sword bits were very powerful to the point many students could not stand up to them and ended up becoming LOST. Soon, more than half of the World Allied Forces' units were destroyed including Mikhail, Catherin and Bunta when he tried to protect Nozomi and Tadashi's LBX with his craft carrier which was destroyed and was gassed as a result.

The fight came to a standstill with various LBX parts littered all over the floor. Arata trembled badly as he surveyed the entire place, having regained some of his strength. He folded his arms around his body tightly. "This…this is all my fault…It's my fault…they're dead…"

"Do you finally understand now?" Seredy's voice rang out in his control pod. "You have no chance at victory."

D Ezeldee then directed all the bits solely on Dot Blastrizer. Arata was too tired and hurt to attack them so he only tried to dodge them but the bits kept coming and Dot Blastrizer was soon being attacked by them. On impulse, Arata activated the Overload again to avoid the bits.

"Arata, what are you doing?" Muraku clenched his teeth. "Why are you running away?"

"Arata..." Daimen looked on worriedly. "Pull yourself together. Reika and Mia are waiting for you to save them. You have to fight back."

All of the suddenly Arata snapped again and fought back against the bits. He lured the bits around and when it was sure that they were close enough, he flew over to D Ezeldee on a crash course. But just as he was about to collide into it, he flew away at the last moment. However, D Ezeldee saw through his plan and held up its hand. The bits flew around it and attacked Dot Blastrizer instead, sending it crashing on the floor this time.

Once again, the Overload was deactivated and the bits transformed to fire the lasers. But just as it was about to connect at Dot Blastrizer, Magna Orthus jumped in and took half the damage as well.

"Muraku!?" Arata cried in shock.

'If you cannot resolve yourself to fight properly, then I will.' Muraku thought to himself. "Hissastsu Function!"

_Attack Function_

_Catastrophe Drive_

However, three of the bits transformed into some sort of shield and protected D Ezeldee from the attack. The rest of the bits attacked Magna Orthus and it was sent crashing along the ground.

"Muraku!" Arata gasped. The time up alarm rang and he inwardly sighed in relief. Had it dragged on, he did not know how to explain to Mia and Master Houjou about what happened to Muraku.

"To those who survived, recovered your LBX at once. You may perform maintanence on them and prepare yourself for the next War Time." Seredy instructed. He proceeded to give his speech to the world but Arata blocked it all out as he trembled in his control pod.

'All this happened because of my emotional outburst.' He thought to himself while chocking back a sob. 'If only I didn't attack Phantom…then none of this would have happened.'

He was so engross in thought that he didn't notice that the control pods had opened until Daimen placed a hand on his shoulder. He jerked up in surprise but at the look of his friend's face, his face fell.

"Come on. I'll help you to the infirmary." Daimen said softly as he helped Arata out of the control pod. All the pods containing the students who were LOST remained shut and the surviving students were trying to open them but it was in vain.

"Stop it." Daimen suddenly said.

Arata blinked in surprise at him. "What?"

"Stop blaming yourself." Daimen said forcefully this time. "I know that you feel guilty for all this and you are trying to run away from all of it. But that won't help anyone. Not Mia, not Reika and not everyone else who are still alive."

Arata froze at that but Daimen continued to help him to the infirmary. "We don't blame you for what happened back there. Life is all about being unpredictable. We cannot force or change what has come and gone. It's how we deal with it that's important."

"…Thanks."

"We're best friends." Daimen shrugged. "It's what we do. You helped me more than once so it's only right that I help you now. You should let others in and help you too, you know. Don't force yourself to carry all the burden."

Arata had no reply to that but Daimen knew that he understood. So after dropping him off at the infirmary, he headed back to class. All around, he could hear sobs and fearful words coming out of all the classes that he passed by. His heart clenched at that and when he slipped into his class, the atmosphere was worse than outside.

"Daimen, how's Arata?" Sakuya managed to ask him as he went back to his desk.

"Tired. But that's natural since he activated the Overload and broke down emotionally twice in a row." Daimen sighed as he sat down. He had a solemn look and despite what he said to Arata, he's still afraid of what's to come.

* * *

Down at the control pod area, the soldiers were busy opening the control pods and taking out the students before closing them back. Ayabe was there too to oversee the process.

"Ayabe-san, how is it proceeding?" Lara asked when she came by to check on it.

"It is proceeding well, Feng Yu. We expect to be done with the process within an hour." Ayabe told her politely.

Lara winced at being called by her Chinese name but let it slide as she knew that was Ayabe's way of showing respect to her. She carefully observed Ayabe and noticed that he was feeling just as trouble as she was regarding this plan. After carefully choosing her words, she said, "I've cut off the footage of Kamui Island from the world at Seredy-sama's orders. He already made his point and he doesn't want anyone to know about the plan."

"What do you think about this, Feng Yu?" Ayabe suddenly asked. "Please give me your honest opinion."

Lara's jaw dropped but she closed it as she looked thoughtfully. "This is all wrong. I don't mind the past missions because the destruction was directed at people who truly deserve it. But we're talking about innocent children here. If Seredy-sama wanted to make his point known, he didn't need to use these children to do so. He could have chosen other ways. And to force people into doing what he wants through mind control…"

"I feel the same." Ayabe said quietly. "The Seredy-sama that I once fought alongside would never think about doing such a terrible thing."

Lara clenched her fist and turned to go. "I have to go and check on Mia. Please see to it that everything is done by the time Seredy-sama returns."

"As you wish."

Lara made her way down to one of the empty classrooms where Mia was and waved away the soldiers at the door. When she peaked into the room, she was shocked by what she saw. Mia was leaning over on the desk she was sitting at and seemed to have difficulty in breathing.

"Mia!" Lara rushed to her side and checked the collar. She frowned when she saw that there was nothing wrong with the collar but still, Mia was sweating heavily and her breaths were becoming ragged. When Lara reached out to check on her mind, she gasped. "This cannot go on any longer. She'll die if this keeps on."

"What are you doing, Lara?" Seredy demanded when he came in.

"Seredy-sama!" Lara jumped. "Mia will not last any longer if she keeps on wearing the slave collar. Since we have the restrictor bands, can't we use them on her instead? At least until the next War Time…"

"I'm afraid that that's not possible." Seredy gave his signature smirk. "If I do so, she'll find a way to counter the slave collar the next time we put it on."

"But Seredy-sama…!" Lara protested but Seredy ignored her and left the class. She gritted her teeth and created a light orb with a tint of purple in her hands. "If you refuse to remove the slave collar, I'll just have to replenish her energy this way."

She inserted the orb into Mia's back and slowly, Mia's breath was stabilized and she fell asleep.

"That did the trick." Lara sighed in relief but became grim. 'By giving her part of my powers, not only am I replenishing her energy, I'm also giving her a power boost. At this rate she'll break out of the slave collar's influence…but I don't care much about that. I'll be glad if she could anyway. I don't want her to suffer anymore."

* * *

Meanwhile, Seredy had headed to the broadcasting room and glanced at Ayabe who was at his side. "Ayabe, are all the preparations ready?"

"…Yes, Seredy-sama." Ayabe bowed despite being against the whole idea.

"Then let's begin." Seredy said, either missing Ayabe's reluctance or ignoring it. He activated the broadcasting mike and spoke, "To the students of Kamui Daimon Comprehensive Academy, it is Seredy Kriesler."

All the students in Jenock's class tensed as Seredy spoke, dreading the War Time which Seredy might put into action.

"Don't worry, this is not a declaration of War Time." Seredy said smoothly, as though reading the thoughts of the students. "I am merely proposing a game to all of you."

"A game?" Daimen narrowed his eyes, not trusting anything Seredy throws at them to be good.

"It's simple. I will select several students to battle against my players in a one on one LBX battle in certain locations. If the student wins, he will be given a chance to get off the island. But if he doesn't…"

"You're going to pull the gas trick on them." Daimen said accusingly.

"No, that will be for me to know and you to find out…if you get selected." Seredy said gleefully. "Now, on the students who are chosen…"

Seredy then listed the students he had chosen to play his game and the place they have to go. When he came to Jenock, he surprising only called one student.

"…From Jenock, Vanessa Gala, the observation room. That's all."

"What? Why Vanessa only?" Yuno turned to the purple haired girl who was shaking her head.

"I won't go." She declared with a scowl. "What's the use of going if we know that it's a trap? I'm sure that he won't keep his word like he didn't keep it when he said that he was going to release Mia."

"Oi, what are you waiting for? Go!" The soldier guarding the door suddenly barged in and pointed his gun randomly at some students who cowered in fear.

"I forgot to say this. I am not inviting you to play my game. I'm ordering you to participate in it." Seredy suddenly said as an afterthought.

Vanessa clenched her fist and reluctantly grabbed her CCM and Gunther.

"Vanessa." Muraku grabbed her arm but she pulled away.

"I'm sorry, but I don't want anyone to get hurt just because I refuse." She said without looking at him and then left the class before anyone could say anymore.

"I'm worried for her." Yuno said after the soldier left as well.

Muraku clenched his fist and slammed it on his desk, startling almost everyone since he rarely showed any kind of outburst.

"Muraku, there's nothing we can do." Kageto said defeatedly. "We can only hope that she wins and Seredy would somehow miraculously keep his word and let her go."

* * *

It didn't take long for Vanessa to arrive at the observation room. She took a deep breath and pushed open the door. The room was pitch black so she groped around for the switch as the soldiers closed and locked the door.

"For real?" She whispered in disbelief. "They left the room pitch black with possibly no one inside. And now they locked the door. What am I supposed to do?"

She finally found the switch that turned on the lights. But when the room was lit up, she saw the person at the front of the room and nearly collapsed. "H-how…?!"

* * *

It was nearly half an hour since Vanessa left to participate in Seredy's 'game' and she has not returned yet.

"Great. Now we have no idea if she's safe or not." Kageto bit on his nails nervously. Muraku was tempted to hit the desk again but refrained himself from doing so. All he could do is hope that she's safe. At that moment, he felt his CCM vibrate in his pocket, signaling a message. But he dare not look at it as he knew that it was from Vanessa.

Daimen suddenly stood up and turned to Haruki. "We should go and see how Arata is." He turned to Sakuya, Yuno and Hikaru. "You guys coming?"

They exchanged glances and nodded. Muraku had an idea and stood up as well. "I'm coming too."

"Alright." Daimen shrugged. Together they made it pass the guards at the door with little problem and arrived at the infirmary to see that Arata was still asleep and Higurashi-sensei was nowhere to be seen but Jin was in there.

"Jin-san." Daimen greeted him.

"You guys." Jin acknowledged them. "Higurashi-sensei figured that it would be better for her to go and comfort Harness. And Arata hasn't woke up since he came."

Daimen let out a small sigh at that while the others were worried at that. On the other hand, Muraku subtly swept his eyes around the room and found that like he suspected, there were no security cameras in the room for some reason. So he subtly took out his CCM to see what Vanessa had sent him while the others surrounded Arata's bed.

"Arata, get up. There's no way you'll let yourself rest for more than two hours." Daimen shook his red haired friend's shoulder.

"Daimen, maybe we should let him rest…"

"No way." Daimen cut Yuno off. "Resting for only two hours is some sort of a discipline action for him. There's no way he would let himself sleep it off for more than that."

"You got me." Arata admitted from his position on the bed but he made no move to get up.

"Arata." Yuno went over and touched his hand. "We were worried about you. Daimen said that you had an emotional breakdown."

"…It's not as bad as he makes it out to be." Arata said quietly.

"But not from what we saw." Hikaru pointed out. "You took down more than half of the World Saber units."

"Which he retaliated by taking more than half of our forces." Arata muttered.

Daimen slapped his face and shook him harder. "What did we talk about just now? Stop blaming yourself for something that's not your fault and you shouldn't be shouldering the burden to yourself."

"I know. But it's hard to do that when you're already used to it." Arata sighed, finally sitting up. Everyone frowned when they saw how red his eyes were as evidence that he was crying.

"Arata, why do you think that everything is your fault?" Haruki asked him. "What happened today was cruel but you don't have to assume that you brought it about."

Something clicked in Jin's mind as he remembered what Yuko had once told him.

* * *

_"Don't be surprise if they start blaming themselves for something that isn't their fault when something bad happens." Yuko told Jin in her office one day. _

_ "Why would they do that?" Jin frowned._

_ "When they were kids, they received the backlash of people who blamed them for something out of everyone's control." Yuko said vaguely. "It left a huge emotional scar on them that hasn't healed even until now. If they start blaming themselves, make sure that they have a lot of support."_

* * *

'So this is what she meant.' Jin mused. He recalled Reika's own emotional breakdown during Dot Blastrizer's manufacturing mission and realized that when under a lot of pressure, Arata and Reika breakdown easily and only they can help each other snap out of it. It made him wonder if he was wrong to step in between them and that he cannot be the brother who can support Reika.

"Arata." Daimen sighed in exasperation and sat down on the bed. "I always thought that you were the mature one between you and Reika and you always told her that you have to move on from the past to get stronger in the future. Do you realize that you are going against your own words? Reika will never forgive you if she knew."

"He's right." Yuno nodded in agreement. "You're Reika's role model. So you should try and pick yourself up."

Arata sighed at them and smiled humorously. "Is today 'picking on Arata day'?"

"It will be if you don't get a grip on yourself." Muraku said sternly as he joined them. "What were you thinking? Activating the Overload twice when you knew that it might kill you and instead of facing D Ezeldee, you ran away."

Arata lowered his head in shame while Yuno glared at him. "Muraku, you don't need to make him feel bad."

"Yes, he does." Daimen nodded his head. "How else will he learn from his mistakes? I personally think that he'll get through Arata better than we will."

"Arata, running away will not solve any problems." Muraku stated. "I know that in the past you may have had troubles that you had to run away from. But now, we need you. Not your Overload, not your powers, but yourself. You are the one who always kept the moral up despite the circumstances. Not once did you give up on fighting Ezeldarm. Even when we had our doubts, you were firm with your beliefs and honor that you inspired us to fight back."

He paused for a breath and looked around the room. "Do you honestly believe that Seredy is going to stop now just because you are trying to run away or breakdown? This is exactly what he wants and he wants it from all of us, not only you. That's why you need to pull yourself together and help us stop him."

Arata kept quiet as he thought about Muraku's words. "…You're right. Maybe I'm feeling too sorry for myself. That's why I broke down and why I was trying to run away."

"There's nothing wrong with feeling hopeless when under pressure." Jin spoke up. "But different people have different ways of dealing with pressure. It's up to you how you choose to deal with it. I know that you don't want to run away from it or breakdown because of it. But have you thought that by sharing the burden among your friends, you can lessen it?"

"Many times." Arata muttered.

"Then why didn't you?" Hikaru questioned.

"Because he doesn't know how to." Daimen snorted, earning a glare from Arata. "You have to understand that while it is easy to approach him, it's hard for him to open up to others."

"I can relate to that." Muraku said mildly. He shook his head and observed the red head carefully. "So what are you going to do now?"

Arata took a deep breath and stared at the ceiling for a while before answering. "I'm scared of continuing this battle. But we need to stop Seredy before he continues his mad plan. So I'm going to continue to fight."

"That's good." Muraku sighed in relief before becoming grim. "Arata, there's something you guys should know."

"What is it?" Jin asked him.

"Not too long before we came to see you, Vanessa sent me this." Muraku said, giving Arata his CCM. "But because of the cameras, I did not dare to have a look at it. But since the infirmary doesn't have any, I took a look at it and I think you should see it."

Arata frowned as he opened the mail and saw that it was a video clip. He gave Muraku a questioning look but he remained stoic and refused to divulge the contents so Arata played the file while the others looked on curiously. As the clip played, all of them had their eyes wide open and mouth open in shock and disbelief.

"How is this possible!?" Yuno exclaimed.

"I don't know." Jin shook his head, not believing what he was seeing. Haruki and Hikaru kept quiet but their confusion was written on their faces.

"Arata, I think we may have found out what Seredy intends to do with those slave collars he's hiding." Daimen gulped.

"Ah." Arata said darkly in agreement. In the clip, it was shown that Vanessa's opponent was none other than Mikhail wearing a slave collar.


	80. Chapter 80

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

**Sorry if most of it is confusing but I had a hard time trying to handle multiple scenes and if there are any blanks spots where by I only mention but did not describe, then please forgive me. I'll probably be ending this very soon though...in one or two chapters.**

* * *

Seredy frowned as he watched the security cameras and noted that some of Jenock's students had gone to the infirmary for long time and had not come out yet. He then realized that it was a bad idea not to install cameras in the infirmary but he didn't think much about it at that time. But it didn't matter to him now. No matter what they planned, it will never work on him.

He smirked and glanced at another screen showing all the Slave Players he made from the students who were LOST. He had to compliment his acting skills as he managed to fool every single person on the globe that the gas was poisonous when it was actually sleeping gas. His initial plan was to go for the poison gas approach but Lara talked him out of it and some of his admins actually suggested turning them into slave players instead and set up the whole 'game' for their own amusement.

While Lara wasn't against using the sleeping gas, she and as far as he could tell, Ayabe, were not please with turning the LOST students into slave players just for their amusement. But it didn't matter to him since they followed his orders nevertheless.

"Shall we start the next round of the game?" Seredy mused slyly and headed out of the office to the broadcasting room to make his announcement.

* * *

Meanwhile, those in the infirmary were turning grim when they realized Seredy's plans.

"There's no doubt about it." Jin clenched his fist. "Seredy is planning to turn all the students into his slave players so that he'll have an army to take down Tokio City."

"But why Tokio City?" Sakuya wondered with a frown.

"That's where Tiny Orbit and the Seeker Base is." Jin said seriously. "If Seredy wants revenge for Mami and Lex, then he'll try to destroy the very people who destroyed them. If I know my friends, they're bound to be there by now. So logically, Seredy will take this chance to strike while he can."

"But what should we do to stop him?" Hikaru frowned. "None of us can land any attacks on D Ezeldee and there are still many World Saber units. Not to mention, the whole World Allied Forces is demoralized by what happened."

"But now that we know that the gas is not poisonous, we should let everyone know so that they won't be afraid." Yuno suggested.

"That's not possible." Arata shook his head. "The moment we make it known that Seredy has been bluffing the whole time, we'll only get into trouble and Seredy can simply continue his game to turn more players into slave players. I have no doubt that Vanessa and everyone else who were called out have been turned."

"Then what should we do for our next step?" Haruki frowned.

"For now, I have a plan. But you guys are not going to like it." Daimen said sheepishly.

"And what is that?" Muraku asked suspiciously.

Daimen looked away innocently to avoid the suspicious glares but the announcement bell rang at that moment.

"To all the remaining students of Kamui Daimon Comprehensive Academy, I have a special announcement." Seredy declared. "We will now begin the second round of the game. As I said earlier, if you win, I will let you off the island but if you lose…" He then announced the name of the students he wanted to participate and called out Haruki, Hikaru and Yuno's names.

"This is bad. Haruki is the leader of the World Allied Forces. Without him, no one will be able to direct everyone in War Time." Muraku narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, and Kaidou-sensei. I would like you to participate in the game too. You will have to go to the sports center to meet your opponent. As for the rest of the students, get ready for War Time." Seredy added.

"Reika." Jin whispered horsely. "He wants me to battle Reika."

Arata instantly threw off the covers of the bed and stood up. "We don't have any time to waste. Daimen, what was the plan you were thinking of just now?"

"That you should use your Overload to break the restrictor band." Daimen said in a rush. "Given that your Overload is boosting your powers, it shouldn't be long before it literally overloads the band and it'll break."

Arata raised an eyebrow at that. "I happened to be thinking the same thing."

"But if you use the Overload again, there's no telling if you'll ever be alive after that." Haruki said sharply.

"Do we have much of a choice?" Arata shot back. "I'm going with that plan."

"As much as I hate to admit it, it's the only think we can let Arata do." Muraku sighed.

"Muraku." Haruki cried in exasperation. "Don't you care about what happens to Arata next?"

"Yes." Muraku nodded sharply. "But that's why I trust him. I know that despite the dangers of the Overload, he will break the restrictor band and will be able to stop Seredy. Besides, this has to stop."

There was a moment of thought and Haruki sighed. "Be careful."

"Thank you Haruki." Arata patted his shoulder. "Take care of yourself."

With that, all of them went separate ways to their destination of battle.

* * *

As all the students who were not called to Seredy's game reluctantly hopped into their control pods, none of them were aware that Mito-sensei had gone down to the Second World nor Gendou had gone and tried to talk to Seredy. The results were not very pleasing on Gendou's side and not only that, Seredy had revealed some startling information to him.

"You and Ayabe wandered through battlefields together?" Gendou said in disbelieve before his face hardened. "Absurd. That's impossible."

'It is possible if your name is Seredy.' Lara privately thought beside Ayabe. Mia was in one of the gondolas, waiting for Seredy to finish his conversation with Gendou.

"That's beside the point." Seredy brushed it off. "What's important is that the people of the world come to learn what war truly is like."

"We experienced first-hand who low and cruel fights on the battlefield may be. There's no more fitting word for it than 'Hell'." Ayabe added, confirming Seredy's claims.

"Those experiences is what taught us that war will never disappear, as long as there are rulers in place. Those fools divide the people and create conflict. Doing that makes it easier for them to rule." Seredy continued. "I want to make this truth known to the masses. This place is the finest example of what I want to show. That's why I decided to expose the reality behind it, be it at the cost of your lives."

"Are you kidding me?!"

Lara clenched her jaw at that and Ayabe clenched his fist. Seredy on the other hand merely smirked. Suddenly, Lara lifted her head as though she sensed something and turned to Seredy. "Seredy-sama. Itan is in the school."

"I'm not surprise. I'll leave him to you. Ayabe, go see to it that the students are in their control pods and that no one interfers with Lara." Seredy gestured for them to leave while he hopped into the gondola. Along the way, he cocked his head at Gendou. "You better head back to your control pod now." With that, the soldiers escorted a fuming Gendou back to his control pod while Ayabe inwardly berated himself for not standing up for him.

* * *

"My dear soldiers. It's Seredy Kriesler." Seredy announced to the students in the control pods. "We'll begin the briefing now. There's currently an intruder in the Second World's diorama. Our mission today is to eliminate this intruder. This order goes to both World Sabers and World Allied Forces. Now let me show you who the intruder is."

"Mito-sensei?!" Arata exclaimed in shock when he saw that it was their teacher. All over, there were murmurs of shock and confusion as well. "Don't tell me she went in to save her father?!"

"Everyone, we don't have to follow Seredy's orders." Muraku told them, assuming the temporary role of the World Allied Force's leader. "We'll protect Mito-sensei so that she can save her father. Once he is out, the Second World will no longer function and we don't have continue Seredy's sick game of War Time!"

That earned the support of all the remaining forces and they were determined to protect Mito-sensei and not let the World Sabers harm her.

* * *

"Of all people…Seredy really has a wicked sense of humor." Hikaru growled as Val Sparos blocked a blow from the Dark Gunther Slave Player Vanessa was using while Haruki tried to shoot at Dark Glerior which was controlled by SP Mikhail.

"It's a good thing that Muraku is not here though." He grunted. Strangely, Seredy had set him and Hikaru up on a double battle with Vanessa and Mikhail in one classroom and they were clearly stronger than they were the last time they battle them.

Meanwhile, Yuno was not any better than them in the library for her opponent was none other than her platoon captain, Catherin.

"Catherin…wake up, please!" She begged her. "I don't want to fight you!"

"You don't have a choice." SP Catherin said monotonously and sent her LBX in. "Dark Siren!"

* * *

Jin cautiously stepped into the sports center and found that it was dark as none of the lights were turned up. But the moment he stepped into the sports bar, the lights turned on and illumined the place. He could see SP Reika in the center while Atsuya was chained up and giving them worried looks.

Jin straightened himself and went over to her. "Reika."

"Jin-san, be careful." Atsuya whispered to him.

"I will." Jin said stoically as Reika led him to the mountain diorama in the room and sent out her Pandora. Jin gripped his CCM and LBX in his pocket tightly before sending it out. "Triton!"

With both LBX in the diorama, Pandora dashed at it and used its tessens to slash Triton but it blocked it with its anchor hammer. Triton tried to bring down the anchor on Pandora but it proved to be more agile than it looks as it merely sidestepped it and brought down its tessens on Triton.

Jin gritted his teeth as Triton jumped back to put some distance between them. 'Reika's biggest strength is her agility and speed which is also prominent in her LBX battling skills. Not to mention, she still has her Jazz Kung Fu up her sleeves which until now, not a lot of people can keep up with.' He shifted his glance to his wrist and inwardly prayed that it'll last for the whole match and not give out.

Pandora broke him out of his musings when it kicked Triton away and slashed it tessens on it. Jin immediately retaliated by stabbing the tip of his anchor at Pandora, sending it flying into the mountain. It painfully crawled out and flipped away just as Triton brought down its anchor again but managed to kick its head at the same time.

"Reika, please. Open your eyes and fight the collar." Jin begged as he clenched his wrist when a sharp pain shot through it. He knew that he cannot last any longer but at the same time, he knew that he cannot win against her at this rate.

Pandora froze for a second but almost immediately, it began attacking Triton again. Jin gritted his teeth in pain as Triton could not go on offence and his wrist was hurting more as the seconds passed. But unexpectedly, the match ended in a peculiar way.

Before anyone knew it, Reika's slave collar suddenly broke apart and she fainted, thereby ending the match. Jin stood in shock and saw that Reika's savior was none other than a tired Yuko with her staff and a blade in her hands.

"Yuko?" Jin said in shock.

"Sorry we're late." Yuko said tiredly as she knelt down to check on Reika while Master Houjou slashed through the chains holding Atsuya and the restrictor band with his sabers. "Getting out of the Aviane Dimension took longer than expected because of the energy built up."

Jin's knees nearly bucked and he fell down on one of the seats instead. He rubbed his wrist as the pain began to diminish while his free hand retrieved Triton from the diorama. "Thank you."

Yuko observed him carefully and carried Reika over to him. "She'll be alright. But I suggest that you come with me and hide here. We can handle the World Saber soldiers and Seredy."

"Alright." Jin sighed, knowing that there was not much he can do and he did not dare to leave Reika alone here. He followed Yuko up to her office where the portal she and Master Houjou used to get out was still open.

"Get in." She told him. With slight hesitation, Jin obeyed and stepped inside with Yuko behind him. She led him to the fountain and he placed Reika on the chair. "You're going to have to stay here until I get back. Hopefully we'll defeat the World Sabers for good this time."

Jin nodded so after ensure that they'll be alright, Yuko left the hidden room and closed the portal before rejoining Master Houjou and Atsuya below.

"Yuko, Atsuya and I have talked about it and we decided that we have to find the others at the school and remove their restrictor bands." Master Houjou stated. "Maya and Nick can take care of the soldiers in town while the others stop Seredy be it physically or through the Second World while you and I retrieve the Gem of Wishes."

"Sounds like a plan." Yuko nodded. The three of them entered a shadow portal Master Houjou opened and headed towards the school. Unbeknown to them, a friend of theirs was sneaking out of the hospital.

* * *

"Leave us." Lara ordered as she approached Itan's control pod which was gassed due to Muraku tapping into the same power he used the other day to create his own Overload and destroyed Gruxeon. She knew that the sleeping gas would not have much effect on him just like the knock out gas on Arata. But she knew that it would at least weaken him enough for her to quickly subdue him.

Her eyes glowed as she forced the control pod open and Itan tumbled out. He chuckled darkly when he noticed her. "Lara. Are you going to remain as Seredy's dog?" He sneered. "Or are you going to wait until he throws you away like thrash like he did to me to see that your loyalty to him is blind and pointless!?"

"Shut up!" Lara hissed. "You lost the right to talk to me like that the moment you let your lust for power ruin whatever friendship we had."

"Is that so?" Itan raised an eyebrow and smirked. He promptly stabbed his feet with a shadow spike and used the pain to force himself awake. Lara watched in shock as Itan limped away.

"Where are you going!?" She demanded.

"Nowhere where you are." Itan grunted. "You made it obvious that we're no longer friends. There's no reason for me to hang out on this island anymore."

Lara's mouth dropped open in shock. "Why?"

Itan spared her a glance and then turned away. "You'll never understand. You better stay away from Seredy Kriesler if you don't want to end up like me."

Lara watched speechlessly as Itan walked into a shadow and disappeared. She closed her eyes and realized that she could not sense him anymore on the island so he escaped to the mainland. She opened her eyes and saw Ayabe standing not too far away from here. Wiping her eyes as tears were beginning to form, she turned to him. "What is it?"

"You should leave while you can." Ayabe advised. "Seredy is planning to throw you aside like Itan Kyouji after he takes over Tokio City."

"Why are you telling me this?" Lara questioned him.

"Your father saved my life once. It is only right that I save yours for his sake." Ayabe merely said and bowed before leaving the scene. Lara could only clench her fist as she made up her mind on what to do next.

* * *

Atsuya was a blur as he dashed around, knocking down the soldiers with neck breaking speed as he headed down to the control pod area. He and his sister decided that all of them should split and each of them will take on one building each while moving down towards the control pod area. So far, he had taken down all of the soldiers in the main building and was heading down first ahead of the others.

But along the way, he soon came across a class where the guards were tripled and there were some familiar angry yells and shouts coming from it.

'Maya.' He thought with a small grimace. After knocking out the guards and smashing the security camera in the corridor, he carefully opened the door and ducked just in time to avoid Maya's swinging fist at him. "Maya! It's me!"

Maya blinked in surprise and scowled. "Took you long enough."

"Relax Maya." Nick said behind her. "Now that he's here, we can get rid of these restrictor bands."

Maya's scowl deepened as she extended her hand. Atsuya chuckled nervously and cut through both hers and Nick's restrictor bands with his bardiche.

"Now that we're rid of those disgusting restrictor bands, I'm up for some World Saber bashing." Maya said darkly.

"You two can start on the town." Atsuya told them. "Nee-san and Houjou-sensei said that the rest of us will take care of the school."

"Fine by me." Maya smirked while Nick facepalmed, hoping that his girlfriend will not go overboard. She and Nick jumped out a window to get out of the school and transformed into their Original Forms along the way.

Maya's skin is now pure white and has silver metallic vines crawling up her arm and solid grey eyes. Her hair had shortened and turned pink.

Beside her, Nick's transformation had made his skin green with camouflage patterns and olive green vines up his arm. His eyes had turned solid brown and his hair had elongated and turned green like his skin.

Both of them were wearing traditional robes with Maya's being silver and Nick's being light green.

After watching them leave, Atsuya took a deep breath and prepared himself to transform as well but a hand on his shoulder startled him. "Ah!"

"I'm sorry!" Wataru cried, holding up his hands.

"Wataru!?" Atsuya blinked in surprise and shock. "I thought…"

"I woke up this afternoon but pretended to be still in a coma when I sensed the World Saber soldiers. When the guards left, I took the chance and escaped from the hospital. It helps to be intangible most of the time." Wataru quickly explained.

"…That's smart of you." Atsuya said in slight admiration but because serious. "Listen, Arata and Daimen are the only ones left with the restrictor bands. We have to get down to the control pod area so that we can free them and defeat Seredy."

"I know." Wataru nodded. "When I was in coma, Arata often spoke into my mind and told me about what happened. I know that Mia's a slave player too."

"Alright. Since you are up to date with our current predicament, let's transform into our Original Forms and head down to the Control Pod area." Atusya told him.

Wataru nodded and together, they transformed into their original forms.

* * *

Arata panted as he took down yet another group of World Saber units with his Overload. What he didn't expect was for it to take a long while before the effects of the Overload kicked in and boost his mental powers.

"Arata, are you alright?" Daimen asked him concernedly. This may have been his idea but based on the way it was taxing on Arata, he knew that they might have to abandon the plan instead.

"Yeah." Arata nodded, wiping off some sweat from his face. "Don't worry about me. We've narrowed down the World Saber's units to one-quarter. We're nearly done." He said, glancing at the entrance to the Lost Area. Earlier, Mito-sensei had managed to enter in without any problems and is no doubt trying to rescue her father but not long after that, Seredy and Mia had entered in too. Arata knew that if they want to stop Seredy, they will have to go down there themselves.

"If you say so." Daimen cracked his knuckles and continued to fight while Arata went and engaged Kaito's Val Sparos.

"Kaito!" He called out. "If you want to stop the World Allied Forces, you're going to have to get past me to do so!"

"Che." Kaiton muttered and got ready. He knew that despite having the riding armor, there was only a slim chance that he can defeat a determined Arata using the Overload. The only reason why he was able to obtain the upper hand when he first betrayed Jenock and the World Allied Forces is because Arata had been exhausted from using the Overload twice.

Dot Blastrizer, merged with Dot Phoenix, flew at him and within a blink of an eye, it reappeared before Val Sparos. Before Kaito could react, Dot Blastrizer punched it out of the riding armor and proceeded to beat it up like it did the day before without using any weapons but using the Overload to power up his attacks. Eventually, Val Sparos could not stand it anymore and exploded.

"At last." Arata panted as the restrictor band frizzled and fell off his wrist. He smirked and slowly felt some of his energy return now that his powers were no longer restricted.

"You got it off?" Muraku asked.

"Yup." Arata sighed in relief and eyed the remaining forces of the World Sabers which was less than twenty units. "Leave the rest to me. Have all the others pull back now."

"Got it." Muraku nodded in affirmation and gave the order for all units to pull back while Dot Blastrizer kept the remaining World Saber units busy with its railgun and missiles. He soon eliminated all the remaining LBX and grinned. "Sakuya, I'm leaving Dot Blastrizer to you."

"Alright. Be careful." Sakuya told him.

"Arata, can you force your pod open?" Daimen asked him.

"Only one way to find out." Arata shrugged and blinked. His eyes glowed purple and the control pod became eloped in the same color and slowly opened. Much to his surprise, all of the soldier guards were already down.

"Arata!?" Atsuya cried as he came to a sharp halt in front of Arata's control pod.

"Atsuya." Arata sighed in relief and hopped out and saw Wataru opening Daimen's control pod. "Wataru!"

"You're awake!" Daimen cried as he hopped out.

"Glad to see you guys too." Wataru grinned.

"Come on." Atsuya gestured for them to follow him. "There's no time to lose."

They ran down to the entrance of the Second World but were met with several soldiers guarding the place.

"Halt!" One of them called out and pointed his gun threateningly at them but strangely, neither of them were fazed by it.

"…Seriously?" Arata raised an eyebrow before delivering an upper cut to him.

"Get them!" Another one yelled but within seconds, they were on the ground thanks to the other three boys who took them down.

"We better get going." Atsuya said and was about to hop into one of the remaining gondolas but Wataru grabbed his hand.

"Wait. Psychic Ribbons!" Wataru casted his hand back at the place they came from and created five ribbons from his fingers which are made of pure energy that he managed to solify with his telekinesis. The ribbons shot towards the direction Wataru pointed at and dragged a disgruntled Ayabe out.

"Ayabe!"


	81. Chapter 81

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

**So this will be the second last chapter for the the whole story and post an epilogue. When I first started writing this, I didn't expect it to be over 80 chapters or will I gain this much support for this. I want to thank everyone for staying with me and I hope that you will enjoy this and its sequel.**

* * *

"Ayabe!"

Wataru's eyes became wide and nearly loosened the ribbons but Daimen shook his head. "Don't. There's no telling of what he can do."

"I would rather if you would release me." Ayabe said politely but with annoyance laced in his voice.

"Not until you tell us how to deactivate those slave collars without needing their opponents to defeat them in an LBX match." Atsuya said sternly. "Jin-san never won his but he would never would have had nee-san not stepped in and cut the slave collar. I doubt that the other players would find it easy too."

"So the other matches are still going on?" Daimen asked.

"Unfortunately, yes." Wataru nodded.

"So?" Atsuya raised an eyebrow at him.

"As if I would say anything." Ayabe said defiantly.

Arata knelt down to study him for a moment and touched some of his thoughts. When he was done, he smiled. "Ayabe, you're not an evil person like Seredy is."

Everyone, including Ayabe, looked at him in shock. "What are you saying, Arata?" Atsuya asked him.

"He had a gun with him the night he took Rikuya's LBX." Arata said plainly. "He could have used it to silence Rikuya, but he didn't. Also, Seredy's initial plan was to use poison gas but he and Lara talked Seredy out of it. And most importantly, he never agreed with Seredy's plan to use the slave collars. In fact, he and Lara never knew about the slave collars until the manufacturing was done."

"Is it true?"

"Gendou!?" Daimen exclaimed, seeing his unofficial platoon captain come up with Muraku. They nearly freaked out when they realized that he saw Wataru's psychic ribbons but Gendou shook his head before they could open their mouth.

"That is not the main point right now." He said and turned to Ayabe. "Is Arata right?"

Ayabe was silent for a moment but he found that he could not lie to his former charge and nodded. Gendou was satisfied with that and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ayabe, then please tell us how to deactivate the slave collars. You don't like them any more than we do. So help us, please. I promise you that I will see to it that you will not be prosecuted badly in court if you tell us."

Ayabe remained silent for a moment but he seemed to have come to a decision for he turned to Daimen. "If I remember correctly, you have some knowledge on sound equipment, right?"

"Yes." Daimen said slowly. "What does that have to do with this?"

"You need to create a certain frequency to disrupt the collar's frequency. It won't shut them off completely, but they won't be able to fight back so their opponents will have an opening to defeat their LBX and the collar will automatically deactivate."

"What frequency?" Daimen demanded.

"Around 9000Hz." Ayabe told him.

"Got it." Daimen nodded.

"Muraku, are all the students in the control pod area evacuated?" Arata asked him in which he nodded. He took a deep breath at that. "Alright, Gendou, can you bring Ayabe to the docks and watch over him?"

"Of course." Gendou nodded. Arata nodded at Wataru and he promptly released Ayabe from his ribbons. Gendou helped Ayabe up and led him out of the area.

"Daimen, you're the best at sound creation. You have to create the frequency and broadcast it all over the school, including the Second World." Arata continued.

"Got it." Daimen nodded and was about to head off when Arata added, "And take Atsuya and Wataru with you."

"What!?" Daimen halted in his tracks abruptly and Atsuya looked at him in shock while Wataru had a confuse look. "Why him!?"

"He can help you. He an electrokineticist. And Wataru will be there as extra guard." Arata simply said as he and Muraku got onto one of the gondolas. "And don't think of saying no." He added as a warning.

Daimen spluttered and tried to protest but eventually he relented. "Fine! Come on you two. The sooner we make that frequency, the sooner we can broadcast it!"

Arata shook his head as he watched them leave and the gondola set off.

"Are you sure that it's a good idea to pair up Daimen and Atsuya?" Muraku questioned.

"Maybe not, but that's why I had Wataru go with them. He's best at diffusing fights between those two." Arata admitted. He frowned when he realized that the gondola is going as fast as it can but at this rate, they'll be too late by the time they get to the Lost Area. "Hang on, I'm going to make it go faster."

Before Muraku could question it, Arata summoned his Fire Staff. He went to the back of the gondola and spun the staff around, creating a stream of fire that pushed them forward at a quick pace.

"Good thinking!" Muraku managed to call out as he grasped the railings of the gondola tightly. With this, they would get to the Lost Area in a mere matter of seconds.

* * *

Down in the Lost Area, Mito-sensei had just arrived at the central computer where her father was locked up. Once she could see her father, she hastened the gondola over and hopped off.

"Otou-san!" She cried as she ran over to the capsule holding her father. She flicked her eyes at the monitor and seeing that the vitals were all red, she immediately went over and unlocked the capsule. But just as she was about to get him out, a shot rang out and hit the capsule but missed her hand by centimeters. She gasped and turned around. "Seredy!"

"I cannot let you do that. The Second World needs the professor to function. I won't allow anyone to interrupt my plan to unite the world." Seredy smirked as he walked over with his gun in his hands and Mia trailing behind him. However, what he could not see is that her eyes were flicking back into their normal state and she slowly regained control of herself.

Mia shook her head to get rid of the fogginess in her brain and the first thing she saw was Seredy pointing his gun at her teacher, intending to finish her off. "No!"

She lunged for the gun and before Mito-sensei's eyes, Seredy accidentally fired the gun and the bullet went straight through Mia's chest. Mito-sensei gasped in shock but Seredy growled and grabbed her slave collar, mentally turning up the power to regain control.

"Mia!" Arata and Muraku yelled in horror as they hopped off the gondola, having seen what happened.

"Get them!" Seredy growled.

Mia stood up shakily and clutched her chest but she blocked Arata and Muraku's path before they could reach Seredy and threw down a D-Egg, trapping them inside it.

"Dang it!" Arata cursed and reached for his pocket only to remember that Dot Blastrizer was with Sakuya at the moment. "Muraku, you have to stop her. I don't have Dot Blastrizer with me."

"I know." Muraku nodded tersely and sent out Magna Orthus. "How long before Mia will bleed out?"

"Chest shot, probably hit her lungs…" Arata analyzed and turned to him with a grim look. "Three minutes if we want to get her to the hospital in time."

"I can do it in less than that." Muraku narrowed his eyes and Mia sent out Yukina to start the battle.

* * *

"You monster." Mito-sensei hissed. She knew that the gunshot wound was fatal to Mia if she did not reach the hospital in time. But Seredy did not care about that and is still forcing her to fight.

"She's expendable." Seredy scoffed. "Itan…Tooru…Charlotte…Bruce…Daigo…Kaito…and even Lara. They were all expandable from the beginning."

"I've heard enough." Lara announce, suddenly appearing before him after arriving there in her light orb form with a dangerous look in her eyes.

"Lara." Seredy said calmly. "Are you sure about what you are doing? Once you turn your back on me, you'll be turning your back on the World Sabers. You'll only be alone in this world again."

"No, I won't." Lara said fiercely. "Do you know why? I have friends now who will not turn their back on me. I now know what Itan meant. He was always my friend but I never appreciated him because you kept on filling my head with lies about world peace and said that I'll never be alone if I stayed with you. It's over for you Seredy! All the World Saber LBX units have been defeated and all the soldiers have been arrested. Even Ayabe turned himself in."

"That traitor." Seredy muttered and pointed his gun at her. "You never should have come here then. You are the last person I want to do this to."

"You're lying." Lara snarled but made no move to defend herself. "You said it yourself that I was expandable."

"Maybe. But still, that doesn't mean that I would have thrown you out." Seredy narrowed his eyes.

"Not from what Ayabe told me." Lara glared.

"Hmp. So what?" Seredy smirked. "Had it not been for your father, he would not be here today. He's only saying that because he misunderstood what I said and he felt obligated to tell you his interpretations of my words."

"You have no right to talk about my father!" Lara roared.

Seredy made no indication of acknowledging Lara's outburst and continued to train his gun at her. "I'm giving you one last chance. Step away and I won't hurt you."

"No." Lara shook her head, standing defensively in front of Mito-sensei.

"Then so be it." Seredy sighed in resignation and was about to pull the trigger for the second time when he was suddenly knocked out by Yuko and Master Houjou.

"Reina!" Yuko rushed over to her friend. "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah." Mito-sensei nodded and turned back to the capsule to get her father out. "Help me."

Yuko promptly took the other side of Mito-hakasen and hauled him out of the capsule. "Wait here. I'm going to find the Gem of Wishes."

As her eyes flicked brown to scan the area for the artifact, Master Houjou turned to Lara. "That was very foolish of you to confront Seredy like that."

"Maybe, but I'm done with the World Sabers. I know that Ayabe is too or he would not have told Arata and Muraku how to stop the slave players." Lara sighed. "Are you going to capture me?"

"No." Master Houjou shook his head. "It's not for me to decide on that."

"Master Houjou, the Gem of Wishes is in the water." Yuko called, pointing down at the water below the platform they were on.

"Alright." Master Houjou went to join her and together, they dived down into the water to find the Gem of Wishes. Lara turned to Seredy's unconscious form and flicked her eyes to the D-Egg dome.

"Muraku, I'm so sorry. If anything happens to Mia, I'll never forgive myself." She muttered to herself.

* * *

"That's not how you do it! Give it here!" Daimen yelled at Atsuya as he tried to grab the laptop that was in his hands to broadcast the frequency.

"Who's laptop is this and who had to rush back to the sports center to get it!?" Atsuya yelled back as he tried to plug the laptop into the speaker in the room instead of the main network by mistake.

Wataru could only watch them in exasperation as this has been going on for a while and neither of them wanted to allow the other to claim the credit of saving the students. A tick formed on his forehead as he grew impatient. Normally, he had more endurance for arguments like this but this was getting too much for him to handle and they needed to save Mia now.

"QUIET!" He finally snapped, causing Atsuya and Daimen to freeze in place. "This is not the time for your childish fight! What matters now is that the students and Mia must be saved, not who claims the save! Daimen, hook up the laptop to the main network of the broadcasting system! Atsuya, play the frequency!"

"But-!"

"NOW!" Wataru roared and Daimen and Atsuya promptly shut their mouths and the former quickly hooked up the laptop to the sound systems while Atsuya shifted on his feet uncomfortably. But suddenly, they snapped their heads up when they sensed something.

"Don't tell me…" Daimen groaned.

Wataru peaked out through his intangibility and when he pulled his head back in, he had a grim smile. "The Night Lurkers. Twenty of them."

"I'm done." Daimen stood up and went over to Wataru's side. "We're leaving the rest to you, Atsuya."

"What!?" Atsuya gasped.

"We're going to hold them off while you broadcast it." Wataru explained.

"Wait…!" Atsuya's words fell onto deaf ears as Wataru grabbed Daimen's hand and pulled him out. Scuffles could be heard outside and Atsuya wasted no time by typing furiously into his laptop. The door suddenly broke down and two Night Lurkers rushed in.

"I don't have time to waste on you!" Atsuya yelled as he shot out electricity from his outstretched hand. The Night Lurkers were disintegrated and Atsuya finally found the program to broadcast the frequency. "Go!" He hit the enter button and the frequency was broadcasted all over the school…

* * *

_With Haruki and Hikaru_

Val Sparos and Trivhine were in no better shape than Dark Gunther and Dark Glerior but the latter two had the upper hand as Val Sparos' katanas were broken and Trivhine no longer has any ammunition to fire while the Dark LBX still had enough power to take them down.

"We're not going to be able to defeat them at this rate." Hikaru gritted his teeth.

"We can't give up." Haruki tightened his grip on his CCM. "Arata and the others are fighting hard to stop Seredy. We have to do the same."

Hikaru flicked his eyes at him and then back at his CCM. "You're right."

But suddenly, the slave collars frizzled and the LBX stopped moving. Haruki's eyes shot up at this and turned to Hikaru who nodded. Together, their LBX grabbed the Dark LBX's weapons and used them against themselves, causing them to explode. The slave collars and Mikhail and Vanessa sparked dangerously and fell off, leaving them unconscious. After retrieving their LBX, Hikaru and Haruki quickly checked on them.

"They're alright, I think." Haruki said, helping Mikhail sit up.

"We better get them to the hospital though." Hikaru suggested as he carried Vanessa.

"Good idea." Haruki nodded and slung Mikhail's arm over his shoulder.

_With Yuno_

Yuno really wanted to cry right now as Dot Phasor was cornered by Dark Siren. SP Catherin was merciless in her attack and it didn't help that Yuno did not want to fight her. "Catherin…"

"It is over." SP Catherin sneered. Dark Siren pointed its launcher point blank range at Dot Phasor and was about to destroy it.

"Stop it!" Yuno begged, squeezing her eyes shut.

But before it could activate the launcher, SP Catherin suddenly froze as her slave collar sizzled. As such, Dark Siren did not carry out its attack.

"Now!" Yuno quickly had Dot Phasor activate its multi-gimmick sack and used its Z-Lance to run through Dark Siren, obliterating it.

Catherin gasped as the slave collar sparked and fell off. Yuno rushed to her side and shook her. "Catherin!"

"Yuno!" Haruki called from the entrance of the library.

"Haruki!" Yuno gasped and when she saw Mikhail, her eyes became wide. "The same thing happened to you?"

"Yes." Haruki nodded. "Come on, we have to get them to the hospital."

"Right." Yuno nodded and helped Catherin up. "But where's Arata?"

"I don't know. But I'm sure that he and the others are safe." Haruki shook his head as they met up with Hikaru and left the building.

* * *

_With Muraku and Arata_

"She more powerful than the last time I fought her." Arata gritted his teeth as Magna Orthus was being thrashed around by Yukina.

Muraku gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on his CCM as he noted the time. 'It's been two minutes since the match started…We only have one more minute.'

Unbeknown to him, his tattoo was swirling black again and Mia's tattoo was flaring up as well. She gasped and gripped the side of the diorama as she felt the dark aura from Muraku travelling over their twin bond over to her side and crawling up her brain. At the same time, the slave collar was frizzling as the frequency was broadcasted down at the Second World.

"Mia!" Arata gasped. Muraku quickly took this chance and slashed at Yukina several times, making it break over. The slave collar fell off and the dome faded.

"Mia!" Lara exclaimed as she caught Mia before she fell to the ground. Behind her, Mito-sensei's eyes were wide in horror as she noticed the amount of blood coming out from the gunshot wound.

Arata noticed this as well so he ripped off his vest and pressed it on the wound. "Hang on Mia! We're going to get you to the hospital."

Mia's fingers twitched and she groaned as the black aura intensified as so did the pain in her mind. Seeing this, Lara pressed her hands on the side of her head and they glowed.

Muraku's eyes became wide as well and he nearly pushed her away but Arata stopped him. "No! Your dark aura is killing her. Lara is doing the right thing to block it until your father comes back!"

"What's happening!?" Master Houjou demanded when he and Yuko resurfaced with the Gem of Wishes in Yuko's hands. The Gem of Wishes was a clear, round crystal with a rainbow tint on it. The surface was very smooth as well, which was different from normal gems.

"Master Houjou! Yuko-nee! The barrier between Mia and Muraku is close to shattering!" Arata informed them worriedly.

"Lara, I need your help." Yuko told the dark haired girl. "Use your aura on the Gem of Wishes. Hurry!"

Lara quickly complied and sent a ball of light into the Gem of Wishes. Yuko turned to Mia and extended the Gem of Wishes at her. "Go!" The Gem of Wishes shot out the amplified aura at Mia and she calmed down.

"Yuko-nee, what did you do?" Arata asked in amazement as he felt the dark aura in Mia but it was no longer hurting her.

"I'll explain later. We have to get Mia and Mito-hakasen to the hospital first." Yuko said, gesturing at the latter and Mito-sensei.

Arata nodded and with Muraku's help, they managed to lift Mia onto the gondola and went to help Mito-hakasen when Arata suddenly created a fire ball and shot it behind him without even looking behind. The fire ball came in contact with D Ezeldee and it exploded.

"Seredy Kriesler, you don't know when to give up, don't you?" Arata sighed and turned to glare at him but his eyes as well as everyone else's, became very wide when they saw Seredy turned into an old man. "What the heck!?"

"Explanations come later." Yuko said firmly and pushed him up onto the gondola as Master Houjou helped Mito-hakasen up as well. One by one, the others got up the gondola and left the Lost Area. When they resurfaced, the entire Second World was falling apart for it no longer has Mito-hakasen to control it nor does it have the Gem of Wishes to power it up.

* * *

After they had returned to the entrance of the Second World and brought Mia and Mito-hakasen to the hospital, they turned Seredy in to the authorities and watched as all the World Saber soldiers and students were arrested, Kaito and Ayabe included. It turns out, during all the chaos last night, the headmaster managed to call the mainland and informed them of the situation so the government was able to send help.

Jin, having been brought out by Yuko, then wheeled old man Seredy in a wheelchair over. "Headmaster."

The headmaster took one look at Seredy and gasped in shock. "Is this man Seredy Kriesler?"

"He's actually 90 years old." Jin explained, having heard about it from Yagami who let him know last night. "The majority of his body is artificial…they're Optima organs."

"That's explains a lot of things like why we sensed that there was something artificial about him." Reika whispered to Arata as they watched Jin bring him to one of the helicopters.

"And how he controlled his LBX without a CCM." Arata added in realization. "But the major drawback about it is that he tied his LBX to his Optima organs. Had he not, he would not have become like this when I destroyed D Ezeldee."

"I can't believe you resorted to using a fire ball to defeat it." Reika shook her head.

"I didn't have Dot Blastrizer with me at that time." Arata shrugged. "Plus, Mia was going to die if we didn't bring her to the hospital soon. I would rather sacrifice my honor just once if it is for a good cause."

He shifted his gaze to one of the helicopters that was leaving with Mito-sensei and her father in it. "I hope Mito-sensei's father gets well. Neither of them deserve to go through this."

"Ah." Reika nodded in agreement. "Yuko-nee did mention that she's going to visit her again once her father is better to get a pen drive she forgot to take back after entrusting it to her for safe keeping."

"Really?" Arata cocked his head at her in surprise. Reika nodded in confirmation and he face lighted up when Muraku came over. "Muraku, how's Mia?"

Nearly all of Jenock turned to him, expecting his answer. Muraku gave them a strained smile. "She'll pull through. But they're going to send her to the mainland for better treatment though."

"That's a relief." Yuno sighed.

"But…" Muraku hesitated and cocked his head at the direction where the medics were bringing an unconscious Mia onto a helicopter. "They are not sure if she'll wake up any time soon. Lara mentioned that Mia was placed under a huge amount of mental stress by the collar. That along with the shock from being shot placed her in a coma."

"Will she wake up though?" Arata asked.

"The doctors dare not make any guesses on that which is why they would rather her on the mainland where they have better treatment facilities." Muraku explained grimly. "Oh, and the students who were gassed and/or turned into slave players are waking up."

"What will happen to Lara though?" Rinko asked. "I mean, you said that she had helped you."

"Well, the headmaster said that there is no need for her to be prosecuted if she willingly cooperates with the authorities, given that she defected the World Sabers before it officially fell. The same goes for Ayabe."

"That's a relief." Gendou said quietly.

"Guys."

Everyone turned around and were mildly surprise to see Rikuya and the rest of the third platoon. "Rikuya!"

Rikuya offered them a small smile. "I came here to say goodbye."

"You're leaving?" Haruki said in surprise.

"Yes." Rikuya nodded seriously. "I received word that my father went missing just last night. I have to go back and see it for myself."

Everyone was visibly surprise by this and Arata cocked his head at him. "But are you planning on returning?"

"No." Rikuya shook his head. "My mission here is over anyway. To be honest I never wanted to be here. But now, it's a little hard for me to leave."

"We hear you." Haruki offered a small smile. "But you're welcome to return whenever you want."

"Thank you." He shook hands with him and turned to Arata. "I have to thank you as well."

"For what?" Arata blinked.

"You were the first one to extend a hand to help me up when I needed it." Rikuya admitted.

Arata blinked again and smiled. "What are friends are for?" He asked and shook his hand. "I hope that you'll find your father though."

"Thanks." Rikuya nodded. Soon, it was not long before the helicopter that the third platoon was riding took off.

Haruki let out a small breath and turned to the direction of the school. "We'll be very busy now if we want to turn it into a real school for LBX."

"Yup." Daimen nodded in agreement. "But it'll be worth it. The government can't afford to stop us now since everyone knows what they goals for the school is. But, I'm sure that we'll gain a lot of support after this if we make our goal known."

"Ah." Hikaru nodded. "We can't give up on our dream just yet."

Nobody noticed Arata and Reika exchanging apprehensive looks at that nor did they notice that Daimen was casting sad looks at them except for Yuno.


	82. Epilogue

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS**

**Do review! (Is it really that hard to simply type a few words and hit a button?)**

* * *

"I can't believe I forgot to get my pen drive back." Yuko muttered as she went through some paperwork in her office to finalize the transfer of the ownership of the sports center to someone else while waiting for Arata and the others to return from the docks.

"Nee-san, what's so important in the pen drive?" Atsuya asked her as he came in, having heard what she said.

"I have some important findings in it which relates to what I found in otou-san's journals." She sighed. "By the way, I permanently closed off the Aviane dimension entrances in the building and moved them back to our house at Fantasy town just so you know."

"Do you really want to sell off the sports center?" Atsuya asked her concernedly.

"There's no reason to keep it." Yuko shrugged. "We got bigger things to worry about now so I'm not going to need this place. Fantasy is going to need us more than the island does."

"Good point." Atsuya slowly nodded.

"Yuko-nee, we're back." Arata announced as he and the others came in with Muraku.

"Is my father around?" He asked.

"He's probably at LBX Hill. Try to look for him there." Yuko offered.

"Thanks." Muraku nodded and left.

Yuko turned to Arata and Reika and hugged them tightly. "I'm very proud of the both of you. The both of you have grown stronger this whole time and accomplished the mission."

"It's not just us, Yuko-nee." Arata shook his head as she released them. "It was everyone's efforts that enabled us to find the Gem of Wishes."

"What he said." Reika grinned.

Yuko smiled softly at them and turned to the others. "So what are you guys going to do from here on?"

"Go back to Fantasy to graduate and then head back to LA." Maya shrugged.

"Same here." Nick swung his arm around Maya's shoulder in agreement.

"I want to go back to Fantasy." Wataru admitted. "As much as I like it here, it's not the school that I love. I want to continue to expand my potential to be as strong as Mia is."

"And we know that you will." Daimen grinned, patting his shoulder.

"So what about you?" Reika asked him curiously.

"Me? I'm going to stay here help turn the school into a real LBX school. I mean, I do love LBX even before I came here." Daimen rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. But his face fell when he turned to Arata. "You guys are leave too though, aren't you?"

"Yeah." Arata nodded. "I want to stay at Fantasy and continue investigating the Element Stones from there. Plus, I only came here for Maddie."

"But now that we have the Gem of Wishes, you have to tell Haruki the truth of what happened to her." Reika frowned.

"I know." Arata nodded. "But I don't want to ruin the mood now so I'll tell him tonight. You're going to stay with Jin-san now, right?"

"Just for a while to make up for lost time. Probably until you start your search on the Element Stones." Reika shrugged. "But for the time being, I'm going to get him to go for treatment for his wrist and then we'll see how things go from there."

Yuko let out a small smile. All of them were growing up and she could not be any prouder for them. Her mind flashed back to the Book of Secrets and her smile nearly dropped. When Atsuya and Maya read it this morning, they found out that the Grim Lurkers can only be defeated through the Combo Blast but there were no instructions on how to do it. Also, Maya found out that to use the Aviane Armor, one must have a strong bond with their individual Avianes which is tricky since most of them have only a friend bond with them and not what the Aviane armor required. She flicked her eyes to her safe and frowned. The Gem of Wishes had lost a lot of power when it was used to power up the Second World and only had enough power to power up the shield generators in Fantasy but not send back the Night Lurkers back to their world and close all the portals around the world where they can slip through.

"By the way, Yuko-nee, how did the Gem of Wishes stop Muraku's aura from harming her with Lara's aura only?" Arata asked, snapping her out of her musing.

"That's a long story." Yuko sighed. "It turns out, Master Houjou first used the Gem of Wishes seal up Muraku's powers with otou-san's help. But it turns out, at that time, the Gem of Wishes was acting strangely so the seal was very unstable. But given that neither Muraku nor Mia were showing signs of developing their powers at that time, they were not very worried of what would happen but for safety sake, Master Houjou decided to separate them for the reasons you already know. Not too long ago, Otou-san already found an alternative to save them which is to use a photokineticist's aura, amplified by the Gem of Wishes, to make her immune to Muraku's dark aura."

"Wow. But at least Mia's safe from it." Reika sighed in relief. "But what about their tattoos?"

"Master Houjou knew that despite sealing them up, Muraku's powers may break free anytime so if made them get those tattoos to act as a focus point of their powers, sealed or not. That way, if anything were to happen to them, Master Houjou can easily solve the problem through the tattoos."

"Speaking of which, is Muraku going to study in Fantasy now that he has his powers?" Maya asked.

"I'm not sure. But that'll be his decision." Yuko told her.

* * *

Master Houjou let out a breath as he meditated on a high rock. It's been days since he last meditated and he needed it now after all the exciting and worrisome days. Mia may be in coma now but at least she was out of danger. If anything happened to her, he didn't know how to explain this to Kinako.

"Otou-san."

Master Houjou slowly opened his eyes and jumped down from the rock. He turned to his son and raised an eyebrow. "Muraku."

Muraku hesitantly took a step forward. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I was unfairly angry at you for the things that were out of our control." Muraku said softly. "You only wanted to protect us. It may not have been the best way but nevertheless…"

"It's alright, I know that I am in the wrong." Master Houjou said, pulling his son closer. "I should have told the both of you the truth a long time ago. And Mia rightfully hates me since I did nothing for her as a father should."

"I'm sure that she will understand especially since you came all the way here just to save her." Muraku offered a weak smile.

"When she wakes up." Master Houjou reminded him. "What will you do from now on?"

Muraku gripped his hand where the tattoo was swirling again but with less intensity as the past few days. "As much as I want to learn how to control my powers to prevent anyone from getting hurt, I want to stay on the island too. I love LBX since a long time ago and this is the school of my dreams despite everything that happened."

"Even after the people behind it threatened you with Mia?" Master Houjou raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Yes." Muraku nodded. "Because after this, I very much doubt that they can do much with the Second World for their schemes given that it is completely out of order now."

"I agree but I wouldn't put it past them to attack you out of revenge. Which is why, I'm going to stay on the island as well for the time being."

"What?" Muraku looked at him in shock.

"You heard me." Master Houjou shrugged. "At the same time, I'll be your mentor so that you can control your powers and learn how to defend yourself."

Muraku was at lost for words but seeing how sincere his father was, he could not help but squeeze his eyes shut as his emotionless mask fell off and tears were forming at the corner of his eyes. "Thank you."

* * *

The night was calm as Arata walked down the shoreline at the beach just near the dorms. He had decided to come out here after telling Haruki the truth about Maddie. Of course, Haruki was visibly upset that Arata had kept this from him for a long time and sad at the same time since his cousin was dead. But, in some ways, he was glad for the closure. Apparently, not a lot of his family members were too concerned of her wellbeing so for him to be the first to know, it was like a huge burden lifted from his heart.

"Arata, are you alright?" Yuno asked as she approached him.

"Yuno." Arata lifted his head at her in acknowledgment. "What brings you here?"

"I wanted to talk to you…before you leave tomorrow." Yuno admitted.

"You know?" Arata cocked his head at her as they sat down on the sand.

"I could tell." Yuno gave him a small smile. "When everyone was talking about rebuilding the school, you and Reika were the only ones not enthusiastic about it. And Daimen clued me in about it."

"I was going to tell the whole class tomorrow." Arata shrugged. "But since you found out, I don't mind it."

"Do you really have to go?" Yuno asked sadly.

"Well, as much as I hate to say it, Fantasy needs me more than Kamui Daimon. But that doesn't mean that I won't come back and visit." Arata offered her a smile. "And regarding us…I know that I was avoiding you most of the time because I could not figure out if I am over Maddie and the guilt of her death. But now… I know that I'm over her and that I really like you."

Yuno was speechless at Arata's confession but she grinned and latched on to his arm tightly. "Thank you. Truth to be told, I really like you too."

Arata merely chuckled at that and pecked her cheek. "I know."

Yuno's eyes became wide and her face became red not only because of the kiss but because Arata always knew about her feelings. Seeing this, Arata nearly burst into laughter. "It's not that hard to decipher. I always had a knacking for knowing what girls are thinking based on their expresions. It drives Reika and Mia crazy most of the time."

Yuno's blush only deepened and she smacked his arm. "Are you sure that you aren't using your powers to do that?"

"Nope." Arata shook his head. "I never try to pry into anyone's mind unnecessarily but I do sense their emotions easily if they think it out unintentionally."

Yuno pouted at that when she realized that Arata could easily sense her emotions if she's not careful but Arata chuckled with a wave of his hand. "Don't worry, most of the time, I shield myself from receiving other people's thoughts since they give me very bad headaches from hearing what everyone is thinking or feeling at the same time."

Yuno sighed in relief and snuggled closer to him. "Since you're going back tomorrow, can we spend more time together tonight?"

"My thoughts exactly." Arata grinned.

* * *

The next day, the docks were surprisingly filled with people as many students were going back and their friends were there to send them off. Arata, Reika, Maya, Nick and Wataru were only some the few who were going back to the mainland while Yuko and Atsuya were going back later after they settled everything regarding the sports center.

"Do you really have to go?" Suzunne pouted as she hugged Reika tightly.

"Yeah." Reika laughed sheepishly as Inui and Takeru had to help her unlatch Suzunne. "I want to go back with Jin-san and make sure that he goes for treatment for his wrist and then go travelling together. But that doesn't mean that we won't see each other again. We can write too."

"See?" Inui patted Suzunne's head. "It won't be forever till we see her again."

"Reika, do you want to take Sirena with you?" Takeru asked her and showed it to her but Reika shook her head.

"No thanks." She said, eyeing Sirena sadly. "I stopped being its owner since I left the school. You should have found another player who can bring out its potential by now."

"Maybe, but for me, you'll always be the best person to use it. That's why I built it for you." Takeru scratched his chin.

Reika blinked in surprise and stared at Sirena but shook her head again. "Sorry, but I can think of many people who would like it. You should keep it, as a memento. I don't know when I'll be back so you can keep it and remember me when you see it."

"You do know that those words can be interpreted differently if Takeru wasn't too dense." Suzunne whispered into her ear, making her blush.

However, an oblivious Takeru nodded. "Alright, if that's what you want."

"Reika! We should get going!" Arata called after saying goodbye to his classmates.

"Coming!" Reika called over her shoulder and gave each of her former platoon mates a hug. "Thank you so much for all that you've done for me." When she stopped at Takeru, on impulse, she kissed him on the cheek for a second and immediately ran over to Arata with a very red face.

"Oi…" Takeru tried to call out to her but she had dragged a confused and annoyed Arata from being manhandled up the gangplank.

Suzunne covered her mouth with her hand to prevent her smirk from been seen while Inui shook his head with a small smile. On Jenock's side, they were blinking owlishly from Reika's abrupt interruption and being unable to finish their farewells to Arata.

"What just happened?" Sakuya wondered.

Yuno glanced over at Harness's side where Takeru was blushing and grinned. "I think I just found out what happened."

Muraku shook his head and turned to Wataru. "Are you sure that your head is fine now?"

"Yup." Wataru nodded with a small grin. "The doctors said that it's alright although they were annoyed that I snuck out last night. But don't worry. I'll be at Fantasy from now on so if anything happens to me, the teachers there will know."

"Alright then." Muraku relented. While he was sad that Wataru was leaving, he's glad though that he wants to continue pursuing what he actually loves.

"Hey, Vanessa. A little woman to woman tip, stay away from perfect dudes. They're always the ones who are hiding something." Maya whispered to the purpled hair girl. Her eyes flicked at Muraku as she said that.

"Um, thanks." Vanessa said confusedly. But Muraku understood what she was implying and glared at her. Daimen on the other hand, decided to turn their attention away from figuring out what Maya meant.

"So I guess it means that you think that Nick's hiding something?" He asked innocently.

"Oh he was…until I found out." Maya rolled her eyes, making Nick blink in confusion.

"What exactly was I hiding?" He questioned.

"That you were born _in Canada_!" Maya spat and went up the gangplank, leaving Nick more confused.

"It wasn't a secret." He called to her and quickly followed her up.

"Well, that was interesting." Daimen said and turned to Wataru. "Did she really not know that Nick is from Canada?"

"I thought she knew as well." Wataru rubbed the back of his head, not entirely comprehending the situation.

Muraku resisted the urge to roll his eyes and gently pushed Wataru to the boat. "You should get going. I take it that you'll be dropping by the hospital to see Mia before you go back?"

At Wataru's nod of confirmation, he reached into his pocket and gave him a MP3 player. "Play this for her please? It's from our father."

"Sure." Wataru took the MP3 player, not minding the least. "I'll see you soon!"

Up on the boat, Arata was still miffed at Reika. "Reika, can you please tell me why you had to manhandle me to get me on the boat?"

"Sorry." Reika blushed and looked away.

Arata's sharp eyes caught it and it clicked in his mind. He smirked and peered over the railings. "Takeru is still looking for you."

Reika yelped and ducked behind Arata. But when she felt him laugh, she gave him a death glare. "Arata!"

Arata burst into laughter and had to clutch the railings to prevent himself from rolling on the ground.

"What's going on?" Jin asked them as he approached them.

"Oh, Jin-san." Arata somehow managed to get his laughter under control. "You're leaving too?"

"Yes." Jin nodded. "My job here is done so there's no reason for me to stay."

"You have to go for therapy now." Reika reminded him. "And don't think about getting out of it. I'll call all of your friends after you introduce them to me and have them make sure that you don't get out of it."

"Of course." Jin rolled his eyes. But inwardly, he's glad that Reika cares for him deeply. "But since you want to meet them, why don't you come along as well, Arata?"

"Eh?" Arata looked at him in surprise.

Jin smiled at that and explained. "Like you, they had their fair share in saving the world. You don't have to mention anything about your powers. You can just share your experience with dealing with the World Sabers with them."

Arata and Reika exchanged glances and grinned. "I would love to do that."

The flaghorn bellowed and Reika gasped. "Come on Arata! We have to get to the deck!" She grabbed him hand and again, she nearly manhandled him all the way there.

"Reika! Let me go! I can walk there myself!" Was what Jin managed to hear Arata say and shook his head with a chuckle.

The Sena siblings soon reached the deck where Catherin, Hanako and the rest of the leaving Jenock students were and joined them in waving goodbye to their friends.

"It's strange, isn't it?" Reika mentioned to Arata when they lost sight of the docks. "When we first came to the island, we never thought that we would gain a lot of friends."

"Ah." Arata nodded in agreement with a smile. "We may not be at the same place anymore, but the memories of them will always be in our heart whether we see them again or not."

"Well said." Gendou nodded in agreement along with the rest.

Arata flicked his eyes at them and back at the direction of the island. He let out a small smile and clutched the railings tightly as he tried to stop himself from crying. 'Thank you, my friends. It is thanks to everyone that I am a different person from before.'

* * *

"One more paper to sign." Yuko muttered and placed her signature on the last piece of paper to be added to the large pile next to her.

"Nee-san, the mail came through at last." Atsuya said as he placed a pile of mail on the table.

Yuko shifted through them and paused at a particular one and frowned. "This handwriting…" She gasped and quickly ripped it open.

"Who is it from?" Atsuya asked her as he went around to peak over her shoulder and gasped as well. "This is…"

_Yuko and Atsuya,_

_ I'm sorry that I cannot show myself just yet. But I am close to finishing my investigations so I will be able to see the both of you again soon. Before you start your search on the Element Stones, you must decipher this document. It shows the method to do the Combo Blast which you will need to defeat the Grim Lurkers. Remember, decipher it before you start your search._

_-Yours truly, Otou-san_

* * *

**Thank you so much readers for staying with me for the past two years. I hope to see all of you again in the sequel: Hunt For the Element Stones. I am also glad to say that I'm finishing up the plot for Battle for the Throne. So I'll try to finish one chapter on that before I start on Hunt for the Element Stones which will take place six months after Different than You which would be in April 2054 since this ended in mid November 2053.**


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Danbōru Senki/ダンボール戦機, Adventure, Fantasy