Chapter 10

At the hospital an ambulance arrives. The doctors take the two boys in for a check up.

"What happened?!" - a man in his 40s asked.

"The older one was hurt during the battle. The younger was electrocuted somehow." (nurse)

"The older isn't in danger. Check the young boy first!" - he said.

"Yes!"

'Huh? They...talking about me? This...is bad....can't understand much.' (Lance)

They were checking the boys when Blake, Shin, Lulu and Petia came.

"How are they doctor?" (Lulu)

"They are fine. The older boy, Luxen, has minor bruises but his arm is sprained, so he won't be able to use it for a while. The other boy, Lance, is also fine. Althoug he was electrocuted he has no injury. When he wakes up, he can go home."

"That's good to hear." (Petia)

"Yes, it was all thenks to Blake's first aid that things didn't get any worse."(Shin)

"It wasn't that big of a deal." (Blake)

Diridiringring-shalalalalaa!

Shin's phone rang and his friends chuckled because of the melody.

"Hello!" (Shin)

"Hi, Shin! It's me, Mary!"

"Mary! I haven't heard or seen you in quite a while. How are you?"

"I'm fine. I'm on a special training with the rest of my class. I finally got the chance, so I decided to call you. How's the situation? I heard that a kid from your class was going to have a fight with Luxen. How did it went?"

"Oh, it was amazing! Lance was so good and actually defeated Luxen!"

"Really?! I didn't expect it!"

"Yeah, me too. But something bad happened and now both of them are in the hospital." (Shin)

"Why?" (Mary)

"Luxen got beaten up seriously and Lance suddenly got electrocuted. We don't know the reason for this. His ONE just flashed and then he was struck!"

"Hmm. It might have been a side effect. Did he do something strange?"

"Yes, he got powered up like in a movie."

"It must have been an Overdrive. There has been one such case in the past, so that is the reason."

Shin heard someone calling Mary.

"I have to close now. I'll call you again!" - she hung up.

"Who was it?" (Blake)

"A childhood friend of mine. Her name is Mary. She's also in this school." (Shin)

"In which class is she?" (Petia)

"In class A-1." (Shin)

"What? Even though you are childhood friends, there is such a diference...Which number in the class is she?" (Blake)

"I don't know. We haven't talked that much but she said that the reason Lance got hurt might be because of that Overdrive thing. Do you know about it Petia?"

"I haven't seen it but I have heard. So this was an Overdrive!" - she mumbled to herself.

"Speak! Do you know about it or not?!" (Blake)

"Sorry, I got distracted. I know about it. An Overdrive is when an user releases an amazing amount of energy from his ONE. When that happens, the attacking power increases several times fold. As far as I know, in the whole army there are only five people can do it. Whit Lance, are six." (Petia)

"Wow. He shure is amazing. Who are those five people?" (Blake)

"I only know the names of three of them. First is the captain of the air army of the USA, the famous 'Invincible Phoenix' Peter Hampthon. Second is the chief of the ship Neptune, the 'Goddes of the sea' Clementine Amfaro. And the third is the most feared and according to my opinion, the strongest of the five. He was a general during the war and after the ONE was created he was one of the first to use it. They say he can deal with a whole armada of ARDs alone and they only dispatch him during an emergency. The 'Fortress' of the battlefield, general Flint Myer." (Petia)

=== Meanwhile at the control room ===

"Where are they landing?!" (Alisa)

"It's not good! They are landing 2 km away from Resca! We have less than three hours before the crash!" - a girl answers.

"Then we better hurry up." (Flint)

"General!!" - the people saluted.

"Haha! There is no need to. I'll just accompany miss Alisa and her subordinates on this mission."

"Bbut..."

"There is no problem. Get the fastest boat ready, we're going there imediately!" (Alisa)

"General, please go with Kurama. He'll show you where the battle suits are." (Melinda)

"There is no need to. I'll go like that." (Flint)

She didn't try to argue with him and went to get ready. (Let me tell you the 'battle suit' isn't something like those in Hundred. It's quite plain.) They quickly got ready and departed. It was good that the ship was going to stop at Resca's harbor soon so they weren't too far away. It was bad because the ARDs were landing close to the city, close enough to start attacking as soon as they get out of the 'capsules' they were in.

"Get ready! From the data they are landing both on shore and sea. This time they detected six enemies and there is bound to be a floating type, so be wary of surprise attacks!" (Alisa)

"Roger!" - the others said.

=== Meanwhile at Resca airport ===

"I can't believe it! I should have known that something will get wrong when I had so much luck these days..." (Secilia)

"Cheer up cap- Secilia! There is no danger. The Romen base is near and I'm sure they have dispatched people to destroy the ARDs." (Marty)

BOOOOOM!! x6

"What was that?!!" - the people got scared.

"So they have arrived...the ARDs." (Secilia)

Two landed in the sea and the rest around the city. The peole got panicked and started screaming. They ran towards the underground shelters as fast as they could but Secilia didn't budge.

"Aren't we going there?" (Marty)

"No. The ARDs are attracted to large groups of humans. Even if the shelter is safe, imagine that the exit gets blocked or a more powerfull ARD manages to get in? What are you going to do? We're going to stay here. Prepare the equipment!"

"Roger!"

Bziiiiing...BOOOM!

One of the ARDs was a long range lazer canon type. It looked like a giant lazer with four legs and two 0 shaped wings. It was up in the air and was charging for the next attack when another beam hit it. It was Alisa's ONE a 'dragon' canon type. They had reached just in time.

"Kurama,Melinda, take care of the two floating types! While I and-"

"Haha! You four go to the land! I'll deal with the two here!" (Flint)

"What are you talking about?!" (Kurama)

"You didn't had time to check but I know...there is a mixed type hiding in the water. You won't be able to deal with it." (Flint)

"A MIXED type?!" (Kurama)

"Yes, you better go." (Flint)

"Roger! We'll go!" - Alisa said and led the others to deal with the ARDs on land.

The general activated his ONE. He had thick armor and a huge battle axe.

"Come at me!" (Flint)

From the water two ARDs emerged. One was a level 8 and the other was level 4 mixed type. The general was a bit disappointed. He expected a level 3 or 2 but it turned out to be 4.

'At least I'll have a bit of action.' (Flint)

He jumped and attacked the two ARDs. On land Alisa and the others were fighting the other ARDs. Alisa shot the flying type down and Kurama finished it with one final stab to the core. Melinda was protecting the city and Chuo had finished the second ground type. He then headed to assist Alisa and Kurama with the third ARD. It was a level 7 with extremely hard armor two tentacles that used as whips and sharp pincers. They struggled for a bit but defeated it. Then they got a call from Melinda.

"I just scanned the area. There are no ARDs. Shall I get the people out of the shelter?"

"Yes, you...WAIT! Something isn't right. There should be one more on land. Where was the last place the fourth was detected?" (Alisa)

"It was 2,3 km north-west from your current position." (Melinda)

"Let's go! We have to go there as fast as we can!" (Alisa)

They ran towards the place and reached it shortly after. There were two masked people. They wore cloth masks on the bottom of their faces. They were also covered with long mantles with hoods. Only their eyes could be seen. They weren't verry tall and looked young. In front of them laid a level 6 ARD with it's core removed. One of them had a big metal container on his back. There was a strange emblem on it. It looked like a winged snake around some strange letter.

"Stay right there and don't move!" (Kurama)

The two turned around and looked at the group.

"I told you we should have hurried." - with a muffled girl's voice said one of them.

"Shut up! I was just having a bit fun, how should I know they would come so fast?!" - the boy with the container said.

Although their voices were muffled they sounded not like adults but more like kids. They were around 15-16 years old. They were also equipped with weapons similar to the ONEs but had a bit diferent characteristics and feeling to it. To sum it up - those two were strong and dangerous.

"Who are you?!" (Alisa)

"Hehe. We are the Varions!" - the boy was quickly slapped on the neck by the birl.

"What did you do that for?!" (boy)

"IDIOT! What if they discover something about Prof. Shiroyama. Let's go!" (girl)

"Be gratefull! We're leaving you live today!" (boy)

"WAIT!" (Kurama)

They disappeared in the forest.

"What were they talking about?" (Chuo)

"I don't know but it was important. I think they are the poachers." (Alisa)

They returned to the city to help Melinda and meet with Flint. When they reached the meeting place Melinda was helping the people remove the rubble from the streets. The general came shortly after and joined them. There were a few casualities and a lot of injured. There were even crying children. The scene wasn't good. As they were talking with some of the workers Chuo noticed two people in reinforced battle clothes and with weapons coming from the airport's direction.

"Who are you?" (Chuo)

"There is no need to be so tence~." - the woman spoke.

A younger boy was following her nervously. She pulled a pink wallet with a panda on it and opened it, showing her ID card.

"I am Secilia Loiachi commander of team Alpha from the WPO's secret forces. I have come here in order to board Romen and meet with Shina Miki."

"What buisness do you have with Prof. Miki?" (Alisa)

"That...is a secret." (Secilia)