The sun was already high up in the sky when Saya and
the rest of the Summerbolts got in the family car driven by Graid and headed
for the Nebula Park on 28 May.
They reached their destination rather fast as all
those leaving Deckstoru by car had already left and there wasn’t much traffic
by the time they left, thankfully for everyone in the vehicle.
The car that was painted in dark red and bore the
family insignia in a jungle-green color on its roof had five seats to house all
the five Summerbolts and had always been very comfortable to ride in. Now that Yuki
was added to their numbers, things had got a little more difficult.
Iziya was put next to Graid in the front while all the
rest were in the back, Hikaru sitting in the center with Rose on his lap, Saya
and Yuki occupying the side seats. Thus, everyone was relieved when they
stopped at Nebula’s entrance and got off their transport to go inside.
(Rose) ‘-I think it’s time to get a new car.’
(Graid) ‘-Sure thing, mom. You want to pay for it?’
(Yuki) ‘-I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I’ll find
some work to help with the funding for a new car, so we don’t have to go
through this again. Maybe at the Octohorn Ring.’
(Graid) ‘-You’re not to come close to my bar again,
Yu!’
(Iziya) ‘-Would you stop your complaining, so we can
get to work?!’
(Hikaru) ‘-Easy thing to say for the one who was in
the front seat! What about you, mom? Mom?’
Saya had not given a response as she was looking at
the park around her with a small, somewhat nostalgic smile on her face, her
son’s words breaking the trance she was in.
(Saya) ‘-Sorry about that, Hikaru. I was just thinking
about how this place hasn’t changed one bit.’
(Hikaru) ‘-You’ve fought in a Class Battle here,
right?’
(Saya) ‘-I’m the only member of our family … (she
paused for a moment, wondering if she should say what was on her mind, but
decided to do it anyway) … aside from your father … (Hikaru’s mother paused
again to see if her words had saddened her son in any way, but found he was
still smiling) … who’s fought in a Class Battle. And the only Class Battle I
participated in took place right here.’
(Hikaru) ‘-Was it the same one my father has
participated in?’
(Saya) ‘-It was. (the smile returned to her face as
more memories from a wonderful past flooded her mind) We were fighting for
opposing sides, though.’
(Hikaru) ‘-Who won?’
(Saya) ‘-It ended in a draw.’
(Hikaru) ‘-Because you two loved each other too much
to finish off the other?’
(Saya) ‘-Wh-what?! No, no! We weren’t … it wasn’t …
back then we still weren’t …’
Saya hadn’t been this flustered in a long time and
looking at her child’s face, which reminded her so much of that of her husband,
didn’t help deal with this at all, so she looked away to regain her composure.
(Hikaru) ‘-Are you blushing? I’m not sure I’ve ever
seen you blush.’
The boy just made things worse with every word he
said. Unable to maintain control anymore, the fiery mom just let loose on him
and smashed a burning first on his head, slamming him in the ground.
(Saya) ‘-Stop focusing on me and the past! You’re here
today for one reason and one reason only!! To beat those Martian bastards!!
Turn your full attention to that if you don’t want to be returned to me in
pieces!!’
The hot-headed six moved beyond the slightly rusty
fence, the integrity of which was very questionable, finding debris from
previous Class Battles that had not been properly cleaned inside Nebula. There
were fallen trees of the deciduous type, mainly oaks, birches and beeches, here
and there, only tree stumps being left in other places, the land still being
scarred by cracks, cuts, holes and the like.
Some members of Earthling Class #1 had already arrived
and had gathered at the base of a 20-meter observation tower that looked a bit
run-down, Yuki and Hikaru joining their classmates right away.
The brats were all wearing the typical attire for
students in the Earthling year who were participating in a Class Battle: either
T-shirts or tank tops for both the boys and the girls, wristbands and longer
shorts for the boys and elbow braces, knee sleeves and shorter shorts for the
girls. The greater part of the T-shirts/tank tops was forest green and a lesser
part – azure, this being applied in reverse for the shorts. Both the upper and
lower half of the outfits had a wide bright yellow band on them, going across
the chest for the T-shirts/tank tops and to the sides of each leg for the
shorts. The wristbands and elbow braces were azure with a forest green line in
the middle and the knee sleeves were forest green with an azure line in the
middle.
Only one person’s outfit stood out – that of Seiren. While
wearing a tank up like some of the others, he had covered his left arm from
under the shoulder to the wrist with an azure sleeve that had forest green
lines at both ends. That left only his right arm with a wristband while the lower
half of his right leg was covered by a forest green sleeve with azure lines at
both ends.
If Saya were to judge this group by their appearances,
she would say they were battle-ready and more than that – they were eager for
victory. Even Exo had a certain confidence and ferocity about him, which was
surprising after everything Hikaru had told her about the techno-genius.
(Saya) ‘-You brats sure look very lively today. What’s
got in you that even you’re so pumped, Exo?’
(Exo) ‘-We made a deal with Line-sensei. While we’re
fighting on this battlefield, he’s fighting his own battle in the hospital. The
next time we meet, we’re to greet the other with news of victory. So we’re
definitely going to win today.’
(Rose) ‘-That’s a great spirit. Don’t lose it during
the whole Battle and make sure to put those villains in their place!!’
(Tokura) ‘-Mrs. Summerbolt, aren’t you supposed to be
neutral as an observer of the Battle?’
Iziya and Graid, who had just come back from the top
of tower after leaving the five metal boxes they had taken out of the trunk of
the car there, joined the conversation.
(Iziya) ‘-The Battle hasn’t started yet, so we’re free
to favor whoever we want to favor. (she turned to Saya) But we need to make
some preparations before it starts, big sis, so we might as well get up there.’
(Seiren) ‘-What’s in those boxes you took to the top
of the tower?’
(Graid) ‘-The monitoring equipment we’ll use. Looks
like the remaining members of the class are arriving, so why don’t you guys go
over your strategy again while we get ready? Your opponents have already
assembled their full force, so as soon as we’re done with the preparations, the
Battle begins and you won’t get a chance like this again.’
As the brats gathered closer together to discuss their
strategy, Saya pointed at them with her eyes while she and the rather sad Yuki
looked at each other. She had said the night before she had come to terms with
not participating in the Class Battle, but maybe seeing everyone in their
outfits and being present on the field had changed her mind.
(Saya) ‘-Go and join them. You guys have been planning
a scenario in which you might fight beside the others, right?’
(Yuki) ‘-Hikaru came up with such a plan, yeah.’
(Saya) ‘-Go over that plan with them one more time
just in case, then. The four of us can handle these preparations.’
The baby doll joined the rest of the Earthlings while the
four Summerbolts made their way to the top of the tower, where Graid unlocked the
metal boxes. Four of them contained twelve minidrones each with Sunbird’s logo
– a bird with its wings brought closely together and a star between them. The contents
of the fifth were different, having four tablet-like devices in it.
Each member of the quartet took one of the tablets,
synchronizing it with the set of drones connected to it, testing and tuning the
devices as the Earthlings gathered their full strength and went over their
strategy one more time.
Before Saya realized it, all was ready, the drones being
sent ahead and above the park. The fiery mom’s set was placed across the
deciduous area, her sister’s – over the pinewood area, her brother’s – over the
Kisdeya River area and the sides of the park and her mother’s – above the rocky
area. An additional indication the time to start this event had come was that the
group at the base of the tower sounded like they were getting really fired up.
Hikaru’s mother wished she could postpone it further,
but she had duties to fulfill as the chief observer of the Class Battle, so
delaying was no longer an option. Neither was worrying about her son. She
needed to steel herself to make proper observations and comments as an
observer. And to believe in her child with all her heart and soul as a mother.
Going down to send him off would only serve to
distract her, so she chose not to, instead calling to the whole class from atop
the tower.
(Saya) ‘-Enough talk, brats! Get yourselves ready!
Yuki, get up here! (Yuki hugged Seiren and
then Hikaru, waving to the rest of her classmates as she moved away from
them, Saya giving the white-haired beauty a flare gun when she reached her)
Here you go. It sends up a flare to signal the Earthlings’ departure. The
Martians have a flare gun like this as well. When they see the drones are
positioned above them, they’ll fire their flare. Then you fire yours and
announce the beginning of the Battle, OK? (Yuki looked a bit insecure at first
but regained her confidence soon enough and nodded, Saya taking her tablet in
her arms then) Looks like my drones are in position. How about the rest of you?’
(Iziya) ‘-All good.’
(Graid) ‘-Me, too.’
(Saya) ‘-Mom?’
(Rose) ‘-Almost there … just a second. Yes! Mine are
positioned as well.’
(Saya) ‘-Earthling Class #1, are you ready?’
(The Earthlings) ‘-Yes, sir!’
The head of the Summerbolt family rained small flames
of the bright yellow type she used on the students’ heads, roaring at them with
the full might of her lungs, her faith in them channeled through every word she
said.
(Saya) ‘-THEN GO FORWARD WITH THE SUMMERBOLTS’
BLESSING AND BLAST THIS PARK TO PIECES ALONG WITH YOUR OPPONENTS!!!! SHINE AS
BRIGHT AS THE FLAMES RAINING ON YOU NOW!!! AND LET A NEW DAWN OF FREEDOM FOR
SUNBIRD COME WITH YOUR VICTORY!!!!’
(The Earthlings) ‘-YES, SIR!!!!’
The brats shot up lightning bolts, beams of bright red
fireworks, dull green energy projectiles, Daroid energy rays and many more deva
attacks to further demonstrate their resolve, Saya turning to Yuki after everyone
calmed down.
(Saya) ‘-Wait for their flare. (within half a minute a
flare was shot up in the sky in the distance, bursting in a lot of red sparks,
dark red and brown smoke) Go, Yuki.’
The baby doll pulled the trigger of the flare gun,
sending the Earthlings’ flare high up, where it burst in green sparks, dark
blue and dark green smoke.
The burst of the flare was followed by a shout that
rivaled the might of Saya’s inspirational address.
(Yuki) ‘-Earthling Class #1 vs. Martian Class #3!!!
COMMENCE CLASS BATTLE!!!’
The Earthlings ran forward between the trees, Yuki
looking at the image on Saya’s tablet she could no longer follow them with her
eyes, the drones showing their movement from above.
Hikaru’s mother zoomed in on the image of the drone
that had the best view of the group at this time, the structuring of that group
being clearly visible now. Hikaru, Seiren, King and Tokura were moving in the
front, Vega, Exo and two more girls being at the back. Quartets of girls were
placed on the sides with five more girls having a center position, Annabel
being among them.
(Saya) ‘-They’re moving with good speed so far. And
are keeping a tight formation. How’re the Martians doing?’
(Rose) ‘-They’ve made their move already, so we should
see some action very soon.’
(Iziya) ‘-Woah! Something passed through the pinewood
area very fast! It seemed like a couple of steam deva teleportations.’
(Graid) ‘-It was. Those three at the river were
responsible for that.’
(Yuki) ‘-There! I think it’s begun!!’
The image in focus on Saya’s tablet showed how great
amounts of steam came in at the Earthlings from the trees in front of them, blue
dots appearing amid the vapor when it spread enough. Suddenly hundreds of orbs
made of blue flames came out of the steam, all of them moving in pairs and the
orbs in each pair rotating around the same axis with increasing speed. Their
rotation speed soon became high enough for the orb pairs to become rings of
fire, reaching the frontal assault quartet just then.
Tokura reacted first, directing his hands forward, which
caused all the rings to be wrapped up in azure energy and then disappear. Their
absence lasted only a couple of seconds, though, before they appeared some
distance away from the pseudoknight’s classmates.
Upon reappearing, the rings cut down some trees in their
way before breaking apart in tiny flames that were completely extinguished
without setting anything ablaze.
Earthling Class #1’s ‘small’ battering ram proceeded
to shield himself with his energy sphere that turned invisible after the fire
rings were disposed of, shouting something at his classmates before teleporting
forward with a burst of azure energy.
A hard right turn was made by the class group to go
around the steam and continue beyond this area while the drones focused on
where Tokura was showed how three silhouettes came out amid the vapor that had
already lessened in quantity.
The silhouettes were revealed as three girls, two of them
being twins, who were rather short in stature, with cyan hair tied in two pig
tails, light blue eyes and lighter skin. The third one was much taller, with a
dirty-blond bowl cut, cloud-gray eyes, average complexion and piercings at both
ends of her lower lip. Their outfits mirrored those of the Earthling group in
design, the only difference being the color scheme. The Martians’ colors were light
red and dark brown with a blue band across the chest and on the sides of both
legs of their shorts.
(Saya) ‘-Lara Jade and the Nelaz twins, also known as
Martian Class #3’s Hera Trio, clashed with the Earthling group first. They
showed excellent use of their devas and their surrounding environment by going
to the Kisdeya River, where the twins used their blueflame devas to heat up the
water and produce a lot of steam. That steam was then used to fuel Lara Jade’s
steam deva and allow her to teleport all three over a great distance with just
a couple of high-speed teleportations. Tokura Braveheart remained behind to face
them while his classmates continued forward, their frontal assault group having
one member less now.’
(Iziya) ‘-Earthling Class #1 has just entered the
pinewood area, heading for the big field at its center.’
(Graid) ‘-Three Martians have remained just beyond the
Kisdeya River, while the rest have already moved on to the pinewood.’
(Rose) ‘-It appears the main forces of both classes
are bearing down on the big central field. I wonder what the three left behind by
the river plan on doing, though.’
(Yuki) ‘-Our guys just reached the central field!’
As Mrs. Summerbolt kept her attention on the clash
between Tokura and the Hera Trio, Yuki went over to Iziya’s side to see how
things will develop at the center of the park, the baby doll’s scream drawing
the attention of Hikaru’s mother.
The advance of her son’s class across the field was
halted when the ground under their feet crumbled to reveal a pit full of
coral-colored crystal spikes, blades and stakes that were created beforehand.
Saya ‘s lips could not move to comment on the
situation’s development for all her energy was focused in her eyes, straining
to their limits to see every detail of what was happening on the field. To see
Hikaru was alright.
Before she could confirm that, a typhoon quickly
formed above the hot heads and tens of meteors rained on them, both attacks
smashing the group right in the masses of sharp crystals.
Points: 31
Reviews: 65
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