chapter 3 hehe

INFINITE STRATOS belongs to Izuru Yumizuru.

TRON belongs to Stephen Lisberger and The Walt Disney Company.

Out of all the years in his career, Grayson Morrow had never been as frustrated as he was now.

Growing up in the Land Down Under, Grayson was a man who always thought he knew how the world worked. He may be 42, and most of his best years were behind him, but the agent always stuck to his principles. If you can hold your own, you'll survive. Life will always throw you a curveball when you expect it least. And finally, everyone is equal, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, religion, or whatever. At the end of the day, we all bleed the same red, and that's how it was always gonna be.

Then the IS happened.

When it was revealed that an ultra-powerful mechanical suit that obsoleted all previous instruments of weaponry before it had came about, Grayson was intrigued to say the least. However it was also revealed that only women could pilot it. So thanks to his XY chromosome, Grayson, along with so many other men, were now virtually powerless. Equality is an important thing, but let's not lie to ourselves and say there was never a gender power struggle. But now that the IS was here, it was clear to many that women were the superior gender of the two. Grayson, on the other hand, didn't once care for this so-called gender superiority struggle because he didn't believe that women were better for even half of a second. He wasn't a misogynist. He respects women immensely and he probably had no idea what kind of man he'd be without his mother. However, he also believed that mech suit or not, women were still humans, with every flaw and weakness that came with being one. So when he joined the Australian Intelligence Community, specifically the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, he gave all he had, blood, sweat, and tears, to ensure that he wasn't looked down upon purely for his lack of a set of boobs.

He was an extremely decorated agent, solving each case by the letter with pinpoint precision. There wasn't a single mission he couldn't pull off, a single criminal he couldn't catch. Not only did he dance the part, but he looked the part too, with his pristine shirt, perfectly combed hair, and stylish trenchcoat, a khaki tan made out of 100% cashmere. He also ended up strengthening the already solid relationship between the ASIS and the CIA of America, by taking command in multiple joint operations that were mutually beneficial. He was allowed to join the CIA as a dual operative for both agencies, and he was highly celebrated by colleagues, governments, and normal people alike. Sure, he had his detractors and his critics, who would always tell him to leave the heavy lifting to the women, but he simply brushed them aside. He had no time to listen to such close-minded individuals. Everything he accomplished was all because of his sheer work ethic. He was a man with drive, determination, and an eye for the future. Grayson Morrow could truly do no wrong.

So why the hell was he so frustrated?

The mysterious disappearance of the Master Control Program made international headlines when the National Infinite Stratos Embassy of Singapore had first reported it. Apparently, a small plane en route to the Philippine Islands had suspiciously passed over the building in the dead of night. Eyewitness reports say three vague shadows had emerged from it before the plane had flown off. Those same shadows ended up flying, far into the night, no doubt to catch the plane, and only a few hours later, members of the NISES awoke to found the code for the MCP completely wiped from all their systems. Grayson knew that this was, without a doubt, the work of people who possessed an IS. This would mean the culprits were all women, seeing as the lone male who could use an IS was a 16 year-old high school freshman in Japan. Not only this, but no evidence of an intrusion was found, meaning the culprits either had an inside woman or were inside women themselves. The recent resurgence of terrorist group Phantom Task was a big contender for the perpetrator.

Grayson gritted his teeth as he overviewed the files relating to the disappearance. Phantom Task launching an attack on Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto resulted in immense collateral damage to the area, including his sister Adelaide, who was visiting at the time, being put in critical condition and falling into a coma. Typically, in most cases Grayson would end up growing a hatred for the IS, but you'd be wrong. Instead, his hatred ebbed onto the disgusting terrorist group who orchestrated the attack and the foolish teenagers who recklessly believed they could stop them. His contempt for these people grew more and more every day. And the MCP's vanishing was the straw that broke the camel's back. Grayson knew that the IS Academy in Tokyo was a frequent target of Phantom Task's operations for a strange reason he could never quite decipher, though he had a few theories. The Aussie agent knew that if information on PT was what he needed, that was the place to start. He was more then familiar with one Ms. Chifuyu Orimura, the former Mondo Grosso champion and current teacher at the school. There was no one on Earth more suitable to know anything about Phantom Task excluding the infamous terrorist group themselves. He picked up his phone and dialed his superior.

"State your name and intention."

"Agent Grayson Morrow, sir. I would like to inquire with Mr. O'Henry about something."

"Understood. Redirecting now."

Grayson waited as his phone silently redirected him to his boss.

"Identification?"

"This is Agent Grayson Morrow, sir. I would like to request and/or inform you of a potential lead on the MCP case."

"Of course. Go ahead."

"After carefully looking over the files and accounts, it is my belief that the organization Phantom Task is behind the disappearance of the MCP. However, this is only a hunch, so I would like to begin collecting potential evidence by interviewing a prominent victim of their operations."

"I see. Who might this person be?"

"Ms. Chifuyu Orimura, sir."

"Ah, yes. The Mondo Grosso champion. She teaches at the IS Academy now, correct? ISA has been noticeably under attack much more often ever since she stepped foot there. It is extremely plausible to believe that she would know something about Phantom Task."

"When will I be allowed to leave, sir?"

"I will give you one week's time to prepare for your mission. Bring whatever equipment you so desire, I will have the armory open and ready for you. I expect you to be in Japan by next Monday."

"Affirmative, sir."

"Good luck, Agent Morrow."

Grayson's phone switched off with a lick, and the agent put it down on his desk. He sighed, then got up, walked to the kitchen, grabbed a pot of coffee, and poured himself a mug. As he takes a sip, he wonders to himself just how far back this conspiracy possibly went. Why Phantom Task would need the MCP, and what they'd use it for.

He might have gotten himself into something big.

Ah, yes. The morning.

The birds are chirping, the sun is shining, the wind is blowing, and a security program is staring in immense confusion at the young Russian girl a few inches away from him.

Rinzler knew that the girls of this academy were thirstier then Ricky Megee and Mauro Prosperi combined, but he was unsure whether or not this also applied to Currier Luccukchefka, or "Teddy Bear Girl". Hell, this might not even be the case. Perhaps she was just an avid sleepwalker. Maybe she could teleport. Or maybe this was all his fault and he ended up sleeping in the wrong bed. He quickly checked around to make sure the latter wasn't the case. He sighed in relief when he realized it wasn't. He checked the time on the small alarm clock on the bedside table next to him. 6:57 am. Perfect. The usual time breakfast would be ready in his household. He then got lost in thought, thinking about what was happening back in his home universe. Maybe an open-casket funeral was being held for him. Perhaps a state-wide manhunt. Or if the gods of the multiverse liked him enough, he'd only have been gone from home for the night and his life would be right back to normal.

Hah. Yeah, right.

Rinzler sat up and took a look at the girl who had, unbeknownst to him, had somehow crawled into his bed at one point in the night prior. She was still sleeping peacefully, with a half-satisfied look on her face. He could only wonder just why she had decided to join him. Shit, it'd be worse if anyone managed to walk in on them at this very moment. After everything Ichika had told him about the girls he hung out constantly attacking him both verbally and physically purely because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, usually with his hands on the wrong pair of tits, the security program didn't find it unrealistic to assume that he would befall the same fate if someone were to get the wrong idea. He gently shook Currier to try and get her to wake up.

"Hey...hey. Teddy Bear Girl. Get up...it's morning." He rocked her body gently with his hands on her shoulder in an attempt to help her regain her consciousness.

"Mmf..." she muttered, as she slowly started to succumb to Rinzler's wake-up call. She rolls over from her sideways sleeping position and looks up at the man who awoke her.

"Rinzer?"

"Hey, you. You're finally awake."

"It's morning?"

"Yup."

"Oh..."

The Russian squeezed her teddy bear harder and buried her chin in it. Rinzler decided to ask the million dollar question.

"What exactly were you doing in my bed?"

"Huh?"

"You were sleeping in my bed. Why?"

"Oh..." Currier seemed to flush a bit. Rinzler made a mental note to experiment a bit more. Maybe she wasn't as toddlerlike as she or Chifuyu would have him believe. "I had a nightmare."

Rinzler's expression softened a little. "Oh shoot, really? What was it like?"

Suddenly, her own expression shot to life, filled with a strange, sort of scared enthusiasm.

"In my dream, Puu-chan came to life! But he wasn't nice. He was evil and mean! He had a bunch of sharp teeth and long claws, and he had four arms! He was chasing me through my house trying to eat me! It was so scary!" She detailed, as she shuddered at the thought of her precious plaything springing to life and devouring her whole. "But I know the real Puu-chan would never do that. And even if he did, big strong Rinzer will save me!"

Rinzler smiled at the girl's innocence. "Well, if your teddy bear ever became The Thing 2.0, I'm sure you'd let me know." He joked. She smiled back at him. She then turned to the empty bed next to her, the sheets still disheveled from her climbing out of them during the night.

"Ruu-chan! Did you sleep well? I hope you didn't have a nightmare like me..."

...

"Oh, good! I'm glad!"

Rinzler merely shook his head in exasperated humor. This girl was really something special. But there was something about her that made the warrior need to protect her like a brother would. Maybe it was the fact that she has the brain of a 6 year-old, but even if she didn't, Rinzler would still probably want to. Suddenly, a thought struck him. Currier seemed to sense this and turned towards the program with anticipation.

"Hey, Teddy Bear Girl...what class are you in?" He asked. The green-haired girl's face suddenly shifted into one of thought, with her eyebrows scrunching up as she attempted to remember. Rinzler had never see the young girl like this before. It was certainly interesting to see a side of her that wasn't either half-asleep or childlike. Her eyes then lit up and she searched around the pockets of her uniform, which she had slept in. She then held up a small piece of paper that read Class 1-3 Student List. She handed it to him with a grin.

"Oh, Class 1-3? So these must be your classmates..." Rinzler read out each of them as Currier fixed her uniform and combed Puu-chan's hair...er...fur. "Savannah Torres...Elayna Vu...Roxanne Ward-Hirsch...ok, seems pretty normal so far...Itsuka Ichiwara...Lillian Bischoff...ok...F-forte Sapphire? Who names their kid Forte? Is her mother a pianist, a fencer, or both?" He said more to himself then to Currier, though the latter shrugged at the last question. "Velvet Hell? Ok, that's straight up just a porn star name-"

"I can see why you'd think that." said a smooth and soothing yet mature voice from the door. Rinzler let out a yelp and jumped backwards. At his and Currier's door was a tall, beautiful woman who had long, silky red hair, unnaturally large breasts (because of course she did), a pair of blue glasses, a clipboard in hand, and a friendly smile that was similar yet more mature then Currier's.

"Uh...are you Velvet Hell? S-sorry about that...I was being an ass." Rinzler admitted. He wasn't the type of guy to lash out when corrected, but he had to concede that he was a little jerkoffish there.

"It's perfectly ok. If I'm being honest, you're kind of right." Rinzler breathed a silent sigh of relief in knowing the red-haired girl held no hard feelings towards him for that one-off comment.

"So what exactly are you-"

"VELVY!" yelled an elated voice from across the room. Rinzler turned to see Currier run towards Velvet happily. The two then embraced. "Good morning!"

"Wait, you know her, Teddy Bear Girl?"

"Yes!" Currier exclaimed. "Velvy is my second bestest friend forever!" Velvet smiled at the fact that Currier believed she was her second best friend, arguably her first if you count out the imaginary one.

"When I heard about Currier getting a brand new roommate, I felt obligated to take a look. Imagine my surprise to see that it was a boy." said the red-haired girl. Her voice then slipped into a sickly sinister tone. "However, if I hear that you do anything to her...I will- "

Rinzler expected something like this. Velvet sounded more like Currier's mom then she did her friend. "Ok, Jesus Christ, Crimson Dynamo. Not only do I have someone already, but she's like a toddler. I might as well be on a sex offender watchlist if I attempted anything of the sort. You don't have to worry about it." Velvet gave him a soft grin, indicating to him that she was satisfied with his declaration. All the while, Currier looked at them in confusion.

"So how are you liking it here at the academy?" asked Velvet. Rinzler gave a deep sigh and scratched the back of his neck.

"Honestly? It's like a hormonal minefield of danger and death. Seriously, I keep track of everything and everyone I see in this place just in case nothing ends up biting me in the ass later. I might as well plaster this room with yellow wallpaper and lock myself in it for 12 hours. There's a total of like, 4 girls I've met that aren't clinically insane, and 2 of them are teachers."

"Who might be the other 2?"

"You and Teddy Bear Girl."

Velvet seemed to blush a little at his words, but recomposed herself. "I see."

"Yeah. It's certainly an experience."

Rinzler then checked the time again. It was almost 7:30.

"Ugh, damn it. 7:30. Class begins in an hour and I haven't eaten yet."

"That reminds me. I was here to fetch Currier and get her something to eat. Our classroom is on the other side of the academy so we have a bit of a constriction."

Rinzler nodded. "Well, I'll see you soon, Teddy Bear Girl. And it was nice meeting you, Velvet."

"The feeling is mutual." Velvet gave him one last smirk. "Come now, Currier. Let's get you and Ruu-chan some bacon."

"Yay! Bacon! Bye Rinzer!"

The two then exited the room. Rinzler smiled as he watched Currier joyfully mince down the hall with her giant teddy bear still in her arms. Velvet wasn't a bad addition to his admittedly small list of friends he had made at ISA. After all, only Ichika and Currier were on that list, though he preferred to make it longer.

Speak of the devil...

"Oh hey! Rinzler!" called out the "harem king", Ichika Orimura. Rinzler noticed that ever since he had arrived at the ISA, the blue-haired boy was always attempting to stay close to him. Rinzler could totally understand, of course. After everything he had told him about his life, especially that whole weird-ass World Purge thing (I mean, seriously? Laura, the aggressive super soldier and the girl who tried stabbing me a day ago, fantasized about wearing nothing but an apron for him?), he couldn't blame the guy for a second for clinging to him. After all, in a world full of hormonal girls who can't get sex off their minds, you'd obviously take solace in the one person who doesn't want to desperately hook up with you.

"What's up, bro?"

"Was just on my way to get some chow. Do you want to come with?"

"Why the hell not?"

As the two walked down the halls, their conversation suddenly shifted to the sparring match Rinzler was scheduled to have with Laura after school. Rinzler was all but ready for the battle except for one little issue- he knew jackshit about Laura's IS. He was able to figure out that the second Disc he had was for his own IS, which he found out to just be one glorified extension of himself but with wings, which he had no problem with, but due to Chifuyu's little stunt during class yesterday, the German was at least a little aware of Rinzler's various abilities. This couldn't stand, and since the program was unable to wipe memories, having some foresight on Laura's own technology would be the very least he could do to even the odds of the fight. The conversation then shifted again to the two girls Ichika saw leaving Rinzler's room. As the two sat down at their table with their breakfasts, Rinzler couldn't help but feel a few pairs of eyes boring into him.

"So she has the mind of a toddler...and carries a teddy bear everywhere? AND has an imaginary friend?" Ichika said in disbelief, unintentionally ignoring the 6 girls at the table he instinctively sat at. When he turned to look at his friend, he found that he was staring with a humored expression. He then finally noticed that he had unconsciously sat at, and by extension led Rinzler to, the table he usually sat at with his friends.

"Why. Is he here." growled Houki.

Rinzler couldn't help but notice a new girl he hadn't seen before. She had blue hair, large glasses, red eyes, and was looking at him with awe rather then disdain.

"I could ask myself the same question...err.."

"Oh, that's right!" Ichika said in utter ignorance of the tension in the air. "I haven't introduced you to everyone yet! Rinzler, meet Houki Shinonono, Charlotte Dunois, and Kanzashi Sarashiki." He pointed to each of the respective girls as he stated their names, with Houki glaring at him, Charlotte giving a pitied smile, and Kanzashi still eyeing his suit.

"Hey." Rinzler said nonchalantly. Rin growled at him.

"Woah there, Ling the Merciless." He joked. Rin's expression grew angrier hearing what he had called her. "Who taught you manners? Squidmen?"

This earned glares from every girl at the table, sans Kanzashi, who was trying to hold in her laughter, only to be met with a swift elbow from Cecilia. Rinzler gained immense satisfaction from the fact that at least ONE of them understood the joke.

"You didn't answer my question, Ichika." said an irate Houki. "Why. Is. He. Here?" Before Ichika could open his mouth, the boy beside him held him back with one arm.

"Oh, I'm just here for what UFC calls a pre-fight press conference. Just a little meet-up with my opponent before the big showdown." He said, shooting a smug smile at the one-eyed girl he was due to fight, who returned it with a grimace. "Now, I have a proposition. Thanks to Ms. Orimura, my opponent now has a basic layout of my abilities. However, I find it just a wee bit unfair that I know nothing about my opponent. So why don't you be a pal and let me scan you with my Identity Disc."

Everyone stared at him in disbelief, sans the German, who's expression shifted from anger to apathy.

"And why exactly would we accept a proposition like that?" asked Cecilia.

"Yeah, and it's your fault for rising to Chifuyu's little challenge in the first place." added Houki.

"That's only because her glare is like if Medusa and the Basilisk had a baby and then imbued it with the Spirit of Vengeance." Rinzler shot back. "And even so, I respect her too much to turn her down."

Everyone rolled their eyes, except for Ichika, Charlotte, Kanzashi, and Laura. The latter was still thinking upon her decision. On the one hand, a tactical advantage over the enemy was something she could not lose if she wanted to win, but at the same time, what would her spouse think if she won over his friend with a clear advantage? No doubt Ichika would disapprove of Laura using underhanded tactics to win. He might even go so far as to divorce her. The super soldier shuddered at the thought. She had made her decision.

"Very well. I will let you scan my IS."

"WHAT?" Rin yelled at the highest volume she could go up to, attracting some onlookers in the cafeteria, as she got up and slammed the table with both her hands. "WHAT KIND OF IDIOT ARE YOU?"

"Oh shut it, osanana-jackass." Rinzler deadpanned. Rin's face flared even more as metaphorical flames of her anger rose up behind her. She was suddenly snapped out by a laughing Kanzashi, leading the irate Chinese girl to turn to the blue-haired one.

"What. Could POSSIBLY. Be funny right now?" she asked, incensed.

Kanzashi looked up at her with a humored expression. "Anime term burn."

"Well, two can play at that game, hikiko-MORON!" Rin spat.

This struck a nerve in Kanzashi. She stood up, slammed her hands against the table, and stood against Rin. "Hey, you know what?!"

"GUYS!" said an increasingly concerned Charlotte. "Let's all calm down for a second! Laura, why are you letting Rinzler scan the Schwarzer Regen?" Rin and Kanzashi sat down and continued glaring at each other.

"Well, it simply wouldn't be very fair if I had a clear overview of his powers. After all, I want this fight to be a measurement of skill rather then technology or equipment." Laura stated, knowing she could never reveal the true reason. Rinzler raised an eyebrow, but held out his disc and watched as a blue light projected from the middle and raked over the German. He then noticed that the disc also gave him data on Laura herself, which Rinzler didn't exactly need, but it gave him ammo to make fun of her with. After all, anything that negatively affects your opponent can be used in your favor. He decided to play a little prank on her. The program assumed a shocked expression on his face and looked at the girl with a fake disgusted glare.

"Hm? What is wrong? Floored by how superior my technology is?"

"How in the blue hell do you have chlamydia at 15 years old?" Rinzler asked, mock-appalled. His acting skills came in full display as everyone at the table looked at her with their jaws hanging open. Laura turned a shade of red akin to Velvet's hair. She quickly looked at her comrades who were staring at her in disbelief. She glared at the program before quickly shaking her head. Rinzler continued the prank. "Look, I know Germany's age of consent laws are...awful, to say the least, but goddamn, dude."

"NEIN! NEIN! THAT IS TOTALLY UNTRUE! HOW DARE YOU SPEAK SUCH LIES?"

"Laura, explain yourself immediately!" shrieked Cecilia, who was one confirmation away from blasting the German to smithereens with her drones.

"Sheesh, I was just kidding, Laura." Rinzler said with a chuckle. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, except for the victim of the prank. If looks could kill, Rinzler would have been drowning in a pit of lava. He then scrolled towards her IS data and began to peruse the info.

"Jesus Christ. A Vernichter MM-5 Purizushi Railgun? Wire-guided daggers...plasma wrist blades?!" Rinzler said, impressed by her IS' vast arsenal. He was beginning to rethink his decision a little, but he decided that everything would be a-ok as long as he came up with suitable counters.

"What's with the tone?" asked a suddenly-smug Laura. "Scared now that you have an ample overview of the weapons you will unfortunately be losing to later today?"

"No, just a little worried that someone like you got entrusted with a probable cause on legs."

It took everything Laura had in her to maintain her now-indifferent expression.

The entire IS Academy was positively buzzing with excitement come the ring of the final bell. Everyone and their mother were more then ready to finally see the newest superstar pilot in the school strut his stuff, even with the previous day's demonstration. The match was set to begin in about 20 minutes, and the combatants were ordered to report to separate IS hangers where they will undergo pre-match evaluation. As Rinzler and Ichika slowly walked down into the IS hangar to prepare for the former's big match, the security program's face split into a smile when he spotted two very familiar people from earlier.

"RINZER!"

"Teddy Bear Girl!"

The taller boy knelt down to give the running Russian girl and her teddy bear a hug, with her red-haired friend trailing behind her. Ichika stared in slight confusion, wondering when Rinzler had met this girl, but he was glad the program had a friend other then himself.

"What's up, Scarlet O'Hair-a?" Rinzler joked.

"It's great to see you, Rinzler. Currier and I wanted to come by and wish you luck on your upcoming match. Bodewig is a very tough opponent, but I have faith in you. And I'm sure she does, too." Velvet said, indicating to a rapidly nodding Currier. She then turned her head to Ichika. "So you must be Orimura? Splendid to finally meet you."

She stuck out her hand, and the blue-haired boy extended his own to meet hers in a handshake. "Nice to meet you, too. Glad to see that Rinzler here has made more friends then just me."

Suddenly, a drone carrying an IS package zoomed through the halls. Ichika quickly pushed Velvet out of the way, but stumbled and lost his footing, falling right on top of her. Rinzler covered his laughter while Currier simply stared. Ichika held his head before noticing the extremely compromising position he was in. He immediately stood up and straightened himself.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so, so sorry! I'm not a pervert, I swear, I didn't mean to-" the pilot apologized profusely. The last thing he needed was yet another girl thinking of him lowly due to a misunderstanding, especially one he was hoping to make a good first impression on to avoid exactly those types of situations. Luckily for Ichika, Velvet was an understanding and kind girl at heart.

"It's not an issue, really. I'm sure these sorts of things happen to you a lot here. Besides, if you didn't take action, I probably wouldn't have noticed that drone and I'd have gotten seriously hurt." She smiled reassuringly. Ichika breathed a large sigh of relief knowing that he didn't lose a new friend. Rinzler put a hand on his shoulder.

"You're mad lucky that Velvet here has basic human intuition." he laughed. "Or else you might be dodging swords or lasers right now."

Ichika scratched the back of his neck while the two girls laughed. Ichika then checked his digital watch and noticed a text from Ms. Yamada. It was one informing him to tell Rinzler that Laura was going be late to their match due to an unforeseen complication she had to address.

"Hey, Rinzler?" The program turned to face his friend.

"Ms. Yamada just texted me. Laura's running late. She's apparently doing something important."

"Like what? Failing the Voight-Kampff test?"

"I don't really know. It wasn't specified in the text."

Rinzler put his hand to his chin. Well, at least it gave him a bit more time to plan out an effective strategy. Her data was extremely useful for figuring out how to counter her attacks specially, but he also acknowledges that he was unaware of how Laura would utilize the weapons at her disposal. After all, it's how you use the weapon that makes it a weapon. Her railgun was certainly formidable, but he had a brief idea of how to dispatch of it. Her AIC was a fairly weaker version of his Light Barrier, so he should be able to work around it due to the AIC's weakness for light and sub-atomic based weaponry, which he had a fair amount of. Finally, he thought about her wire guided daggers, which will certainly be a problem. The data he collected with his disc did not specify how far the wires went for, so that was something he was going to need to test in the arena. The plasma blades are standard melee weaponry, so that should be fine.

"Rinzler?" Ichika asked.

The program snapped out of his strategizing. "Yeah?"

"You never really told me about your IS. I've seen you fight without one, but I've never seen your own."

"Well, there's about 5 minutes till the match. I guess I can show you what it looks like." He briefly detached his disc.

Alright. You have next to no idea how to activate this thing. The only theory you have is a codephrase that hopefully will only respond to your voice. You got this, Rinzler. Hoooo. You got this.

He held his disc high to the heavens like his hero, took one of the deepest breaths he had ever taken, steeled his nerves, and gazed with pure determination into the sky.

"I FIGHT FOR THE USERS!"

Nothing happened at first, leading Rinzler to believe he was looking like an idiot- until suddenly, his disc floated in the air and a beam of blue light shot out from it and engulfed him as he slowly rose in the air. Ichika, Velvet, and Currier watched in pure awe as Rinzler's suit began to extend and embiggen itself. Heavier plates of armor, larger hands and legs, a chestplate emblazoned with the iconic T logo, and two, giant orange wings, humming with pure Grid energy and electricity. The beam of light vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and the man called Rinzler retrieved his disc from the air, which grew in size as soon as he touched it, and stood triumphantly in the hangar, with his IS fully deployed and ready for battle.

"That was...AWESOME!" Ichika yelled in elation. Currier gave a happy squeal and nodded to Ichika's words.

"Just what kind of quantum conversion technology does that IS have? It's incredible! It's unlike anything I've ever seen!" Velvet raved. She quickly wrote something down on her hand with a pen that no one was able to make out.

"Dude, what is its name?!" The blue-haired boy asked excitedly. Rinzler's brain quickly rushed around itself. He hadn't thought of a name for it yet! A few seconds of comprehending went by until inspiration hit him like a disc to the face.

"I call it To Run On Nothing." said the security program proudly.

"To Run On Nothing?" Velvet mused. "That's not the name I was expecting."

"Yeah, me too. Sounds like a movie title." Ichika said. Rinzler hid a laugh. You have no idea.

"Well," Rinzler began. "I tend to call it by its abbreviation more."

Ichika and Velvet began comprehending what that meant, but their attention was then taken by a small "hmm.." from Currier, who was scrunching her eyebrows up in thought. If you listened closely, you could almost hear the gears in her brain going.

"Your IS is...Tron?"

Rinzler was unable to keep the smile off his face.

"So this is your IS." mused the German super soldier, as she stood across from Tron and Rinzler in her own Schwarzer Regen. "It's a little too small for my taste, but it'll do."

Rinzler snickered. "Phrasing."

It took everything Laura had (again) to contain the blush that was rapidly starting to creep on her face. She clenched her teeth and gave the security program a deadly glare. As the timer counted down, the two opponents stared at each other with a mix of apprehension and determination. It was about to be a very, very tough battle for both combatants.

"I hope you're prepared to enter...THE DANGER ZONE!" Rinzler declared, while silently berating himself as it sounded better in his head.

"The what?" Laura responded, confused.

"You know, the danger zone? From Top Gun?"

"What is this Top Gun you speak of?"

"You have a lot to learn..."

5...

Ichika and the remainder of the girls, along with Chifuyu and Ms. Yamada stood in the control room.

4...

"Come on, Rinzler. Show the world what you can do." whispered Ichika.

3...

"You better not be cheering for that jerk, Ichika!" Rin snapped.

2...

"Even if he does, it won't do anything. Laura is taking the victory home either way." Cecilia mused.

1...

"Just watch." Chifuyu said. "It's time."

0!

"I WILL CRUSH YOU!" Laura hollered.

"Jesus, so cliche. Get better material." Rinzler deadpanned. His mind then zoomed into fight mode, but this problem couldn't be solved with mindless violence like the drones. He quickly began calculating disc ricochet trajectory. Knowing that he had an angle, he unsheathed his two discs, split them apart, and threw them with all his might...away from Laura. The German scoffed, but Rinzler had a trick up his sleeve. He then activated his Light Staff and zoomed towards Laura, who grinned as she unleashed her AIC. Rinzler was stuck in it, and a weird feeling unlike anything. He was unable to move. Every attempt to move a limb or a joint was stopped by an invisible force.

"As I suspected. The data I gave you flew right over your head. You pose no true threat to me or mein bride. You are just an arrogan-"

"God, do you ever shut up? Your voice is like a kidney stone. Oh, and by the way..." Rinzler cut her off. Before she could comprehend what he meant, two large blows were dealt to her back. The AIC dematerialized and Rinzler sighed in relief that he could move again. His two discs flew back into his hand. He put them away and held out his Light Staff, ready for the next strike from his opponent.

"Damn you...you tricked me!"

"No shit."

The two then engaged into an extremely heated hand-to-hand melee battle. Laura took a stab at Rinzler, similar to how they first met, but the program quickly parried and spun his Light Staff in a flurry, slashing her shield with the glowing blades, As the fight raged on, plasma sparks and rays of light reflected across the arena. Each strike hit with precision and each counter was executed with ease. The two were very much equally matched in melee combat, but Laura knew she had the upper hand. After countering a upwards arced hit from Rinzler, she quickly unleashed 4 of her wire-guided daggers at him. Tron rocketed into the air to dodge the daggers, as Rinzler flew around desperately, trying to avoid being ensnared by her purple wires.

"Need to think of a plan...these things are mad fast!" Rinzler thought out loud, as he dodged and maneuvered with difficulty around the extremely flexible wires. Suddenly, he felt his flight path screech to a halt in midair. One of the ropes had wrapped around his leg. The security program could only watch as he was being dragged back down to Earth at breakneck speed. He could almost see his opponent's shit-eating grin.

Come on, come on, think of something...

He thought of something. He could still fight without his IS, right? So if he just called Tron back, the rope would have nothing to be snared on and he could freefall before turning Tron back on. It was a short-term solution, but he could ride with it for now. With all his mental willpower, he yelled in his mind to turn off his IS.

TRON! RETURN! RETUUURN!

Nothing was working. He was rapidly approaching the ground. He was panicking...until he realized that was probably why Tron wasn't responding. He quickly remembered the lessons Ms. Yamada taught him about the compatability between the IS and its pilot. It will learn, you just have to be patient and concentrate. He closed his eyes, and gently asked the IS to be called back.

In the IS control room, the young students were staring in awe at the ordeal. The girls were happy to see Rinzler supposedly being knocked off his block, but Ichika was growing worried. Why were his eyes closed? Was he just gonna accept defeat?

"Hah! I knew that Laura could beat-" Rin started, before she quickly had the air stolen from her lungs. Rinzler had deactivated his IS and was now freefalling towards Laura. Houki quickly turned to Chifuyu.

"He deactivated his IS?! Stop the match! He would lose automatically! You're not allowed to do that!" She demanded, earning nods from the rest of the girls.

"Except he didn't." Chifuyu said. The girls looked at her in disbelief, but Ichika was thinking, until finally, a metaphorical lightbulb shone above his head.

"His suit...HIS SUIT IS HIS IS!" he yelled in a eureka moment. The girls looked at him in disbelief this time, but Chifuyu merely nodded.

"Precisely, Orimura. Ever notice how he still has access to all his weapons without needing to know the Rapid Switch? His IS is him, and he is his IS. His armor, wings, and larger limbs are all mere extensions of his body. As long as he has that suit on, his IS is deployed."

Meanwhile, as the security program was freefalling, his face automatically contorted into worry when he saw that the wire daggers were still hot on his trail. Despite his rapid descent, the daggers were relentless, and merely turned themselves around in an attempt to catch Rinzler. Quickly, his mind began running circles around itself. How to get rid of those damn daggers? Those were gonna be a pain in his ass for the rest of the match if he doesn't do something about them. Again, an idea miraculously appeared in his brain, as if a divine force from the heavens was silently placing them in their. He quickly equipped his six Light Conduits and threw them with all his might on to different parts of each of the daggers. Laura assumed an expression of confusion and amusement, as were the girls watching in the control room. Chifuyu, however, smirked. She knew what he was up to. This was certainly gonna be a lesson to her former military trainee.

Rinzler outstretched his arms, making the 6 conduits glow.

Alright, if this doesn't end up working...I'm probably fucked.

He then pulled back and threw out his newly crossed arms. Light Cables suddenly erupted out of each conduit across from each other. The daggers were unable to resist the sudden forcible trajectory shift and began ramming into each other. As they were programmed to go after the target, they ended up entangling themselves in each other as they rushed towards Rinzler, and as Rinzler deactivated and recalled the Cables and the Conduits, all that was left of Laura's daggers were a giant tangled ball, similar to wired earplugs in a pocket. Rinzler then turned around and unsheathed his Light Sword, and as he neared the ground, he winded his arms up for a strike.

He barely landed it.

Everyone in the arena was dumbfounded. Ichika, Chifuyu, and even Laura herself were impressed by Rinzler's quick thinking and how it dispatched the Schwarzer Regen's arguably second strongest weapon in its arsenal. The German growled in rage as her shield energy was now reduced to a mere 385, and her daggers were stuck high in the air, struggling to get themselves off each other.

"DAMN! I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT WORKED!" the program taunted as he redeployed Tron, enraging Laura even more.

"WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE ALREADY?!"

"You're not a very creative person when it comes to battle one-liners, huh?"

Rinzler quickly leaped into the air and made a slice with his Light Sword, but Laura blocked it. Rinzler saw it as a perfect chance to propel another launched attack again, but unfortunately, his opponent saw right through him. As he rocketed towards Laura, she quickly held out her AIC, stopping him in his tracks and rendering him unable to move.

"Right...forgot about that." He said, closing his eyes at his own short-mindedness, before opening them again...only to be met with a charging railgun.

"OH SHI-"

The program was blasted out of his immobility, zooming at mach speed towards the wall of the arena, and landing with a hard thud on the wall, creating a cloud of smoke from the impact. This was met by a gasp from the audience, a triumphant smirk from Laura, cheers from Rin, Houki, and Cecilia, and concerned looks from Ichika, Kanzashi, Ms. Yamada, and Charlotte. Rinzler grasped at his head, a major hit to his shield energy. He pulled up the meter and saw it was out a pitiful 206.

"Son of a bitch...how much did that do?" He quickly reviewed his data on the AIC, and while scrolling, noticed that not once during the match had he used any of his explosives or his smoke bombs. This then gave him a whole new game plan. But first, a little psychological warfare was in order. He quickly placed 3 smoke bombs on his hand and his disc in the other. He activated his wings again, and rushed towards Laura, who only gave him a surprised yet foreboding smile.

"What is that idiot doing?!" yelled Rin. "He just got ass-blasted across the arena for doing exactly what he's doing now! Why is he rushing her again?!"

Laura outstretched her remaining hand again, and stopped Rinzler dead in his tracks. As she gave him a shit-eating grin, Rinzler smiled under the helmet. The AIC was seemingly impervious to small sound waves, so she was unable to hear the beeping coming from the smoke bombs.

"An attempted strike mirroring the move you just performed and I just countered? What was so different this time? You used your little dinner plates instead of your lamppost? You are simply pathetic. You talk a lot of game, but you are simply unable to demonstrate any true combat prowess and are merely relying on absurd ideas based on one-note theories and dumb luck. NOW BEGONE!" yelled the German.

As her railgun began to charge again, Rinzler decided to egg her on one last time.

"Hey, you mind if I have any final remarks before you finish me off?"

"I don't see why not. You certainly have a lot to say anyway." Laura spat.

"FLASH! AAH-AAH!"

"What? What kind of-" was all she was able to get out before her eyes were pierced by a fierce burst of light. Rinzler's smoke bombs had activated, creating a brief flashbang before exuding smoke rapidly. Due to her blindness, Laura was unable to see anything. She deactivated her AIC and rubbed her eyes by instinct.

"WHY YOU-" was all she could get out again before her lungs were filled with smoke. She was surrounded by a cloud of the stuff, and now she was angry. Too angry, in fact, to notice Rinzler slipping a few Light Grenades in the barrel of her railgun.

"Smoke bombs..." Kanzashi slowly muttered. "That's...that's genius!"

"How in the hell is that genius?" asked Houki.

"Yeah, if anything, it's cheating. All he did is obscure her vision!" Rin chimed in.

"That's precisely why it is genius." Chifuyu said, shocking the group. "You've all fought with or against Bodewig before, correct? So you should know the main weakness of her AIC. It can only be as effective as the pilot's focus is on its target. Take the match Bodewig and Shinonono had against Orimura and Dunois. The latter two were able to defeat Bodewig by taking advantage of their exceptional combat chemistry. Bodewig was unable to handle two opponents at once, leading to her downfall. Rinzler, on the other hand, doesn't have this advantage, so he uses the next best thing. His control over light and smoke means he can use a human's sensory instincts to his advantage, and Bodewig won't be able to use her trump card to stop him because you can't focus on something you can't see at all."

Meanwhile, back on the battle field, Rinzler had attached two Light Cables to his two discs, and began spinning them around threateningly. He then rushed into the smoke cloud, and all anyone could see from there are brief flashes of purple and orange light erupting from the cloud. After a few minutes, Rinzler was launched out of the cloud and was sent rolling across the arena floor. He was struggling immensely to get up. When the smoke cloud cleared, there stood Laura Bodewig, looking as arrogant as ever.

"I will admit, you impressed me. Your strategies were somewhat affective. However, it all comes down to skill. Now prepare to DIE!" Laura charged up her railgun, not knowing that she was about to be met with an explosive surprise.

Rinzler opened his helmet and coughed up some blood. "L-look who's talking..."

Laura could only wonder what he was talking about, before glancing at her railgun, which was seconds away from combusting. her face quickly shifted into horror before-

BOOOOOOOM

The explosion rocked the arena. A gust of wind and sand was sent in every direction, and for a few minutes, no one was seen in the pit. The inhabitants of the IS Control Room watched in anticipation and worry as the smoke slowly began to clear. As it unhurriedly dissipated, the entire audience was hit with a wave of shock as the once-indomitable Laura Bodewig laid on the ground, IS completely out of shield energy, struggling to get up. Her railgun was obliterated. Rinzler had won the fight.

The security program flew towards her and jumped down the crater she had made. Despite the fact that she was his enemy, he was still fairly concerned for her safety.

"Hey, are you alright?" He said, watching the dazed soldier come to.

"You...you beat me? How?" she muttered, too tired for her voice to assume a bewildered tone.

"I kinda slipped some Light Grenades into your railgun." Rinzler said bluntly.

"Wha- gottdammt! I cannot believe I lost!" She said, mentally berating herself.

"Well?" Rinzler said, holding his hand out to her.

"What are you doing? You won. Why aren't you gloating or making fun of me?" inquired the soldier.

"Because I respect you, Laura Bodewig." Rinzler said. Laura assumed a surprised expression, and as did everyone watching in the Control Room. "Not only did you willingly stand up for the honor of both yourself and Ichika, but you also allowed me to get insight on your abilities to make this a fair fight based purely around skill instead of the superior robot. If I'm being totally honest, I see a lot of you in me. And I also see a lot of the woman I love in you as well."

Laura was floored at his last sentence. He never mentioned he had a girlfriend. She would have to inquire about this later.

"You gave me one hell of a fight, defended your name and the name of your friends, and while you may have not won, you still battled hard anyway. That's what a protector does. So from one protector to another-"

He reached out his hand further.

"-let's defend the world together."

The soldier stared at him for a few minutes, before taking his hand, and allowing him to pull her up off the ground. They then shook hands, signaling an alliance between two legendary warriors.

If she were to take a good, long, look at the past few months, Clarissa Harfouch would have been hard-pressed to find a single peaceful day in her calendar until today. Yeah, she was the second-in-command of the German special forces unit the Black Hare Squadron, or Schwarzer Haze, but even then, military personnel were human too, and humans need off days if they needed to function. But the German girl wasn't willing to just kick back with a drink. She wasn't a total work horse, but she had an ethic, and she needed to stick to it. Although she was a lot more relaxed then she was a few years ago, due to the fact that war was not an expected event to occur anytime soon, there was still an obligation to perform and protect her comrades and her homeland. Even then, the BHS base is one of the most covertly hidden and concealed military bases in all of Germany and perhaps even the world. As of right now, the only job that was required of the squad was to train the best German IS pilots into experienced and battle-ready warriors, with occasional reconnaissance missions for German intelligence.

However, in the back of her mind, Clarissa had begun to grow a little worried due to the lack of contact that had been made between the BHS and their leader, Commander Laura Bodewig. Of course, there was always the chance Laura had her hands full with her "bride", Ichika Orimura, and the vast expanse of girls attempting to steal him away from her. But even with Ichika as top priority, Laura had always made sure to find time for checking in on the base and seeing how everyone is doing. That's the mark of a good leader, after all. Clarissa always appreciated whenever she checked up on them. Getting on Laura's good side alone was already a Herculean task in and of itself, since the silver-haired girl was practically the definition of the Ice Queen anime trope, but to be considered one of her good friends was considered a huge accomplishment. Clarissa was glad she had achieved that accolade, and she planned to hold on to it for a long time.

The lack of calls changed a few days ago, that is, when her Commander had called in with panic clear in her voice, one of the first times Clarissa had ever heard such a tone, which frightened her. However, she was even more floored when she heard the reason for the call. Not only did another boy appear at the IS Academy, but he immediately hit it off with Ichika, implied that Laura's knowledge of marriage was lacking, effortlessly evaded her attack, held her neck to a mysterious never-before-seen weapon, and challenged her to a fight, which she accepted. The amount of news Clarissa had to soak in was mind-boggling. A new boy? A fight? But most of all, she was appalled that anyone would dare challenge her info on marriage. After all, Japanese manga and anime was obviously a 100% accurate depiction of real life, with absolutely no flaws, discrepancies, or contrivances whatsoever. It would be foolish for anyone to question such a fact.

Many of the squad were already finishing up last minute reports, dossiers, and files, but some were already turning into bed. As Clarissa overlooked her team typing away and sorting things out over the balcony ahead the main command center, she couldn't help but smile, congratulating herself for another succcessful day at the Schwarzer Haze.

Psyche.

Before she knew it, one of her resident tech whizzes were running up to her with a clearly distressed face, clutching papers to her chest. Clarissa's expression shifted from relief to a mix of exasperation and concern. What the hell could have possibly ruined her perfect day this time?

"Zelda? What is it? What's wrong?" she asked her comrade. Zelda took a moment to catch her breath before looking up at her commander with fear in her eyes.

"It-it's our computers, ma'am! They're being forcibly-AAH!" She screamed, as she pointed at the computers in the main control center. Clarissa looked on dumbfounded as the entire command center's digital pillar began glitching and crackling uncontrollably, followed by every other computer in the vicinity. Squadron members started desperately fiddling with their keyboards in an attempt to stop it, but it was no use.

"Is this some kind of cyber attack? Initiate the manual override!"

"We've tried, ma'am, but it won't respond to any of our orders! We can't even check the time!" She pulled up her digital watch as proof, and sure enough, it was fizzling like nobody's business. Clarissa gritted her teeth in anger. There was nothing she could do but attempt to figure out what was behind this. Quickly, she racked her brain thinking of possible perpetrators for the incident. A virus? A hacker? Wasn't that master control thing stolen the other week from Singapore? Maybe that was it? Clarissa grew irritated more and more as she reviewed the possibilities in her mind. She stormed down the stairs and stared into the computers. Surprisingly enough, they all stopped crackling. Whoops of relief and joy were heard around the station as the interfaces went back to normal. All their data was completely intact...except for one tiny issue.

"Um...Commander?"

"Ja?"

"We have a problem."

Clarissa looked over her comrade's shoulder and her jaw fell to the floor. All of their data was there...if all of it meant about 80% of it. The girl scrolled through the database as Clarissa became more and more irate. It was at this point where she realized this could be no coincidence, as every file removed had one thing in common. They had to do with three people.

Chifuyu Orimura, Ichika Orimura, and Commander Laura Bodewig.

Nearly every single thing that involved any or all of the 3 was completely wiped from the systems. Reports they wrote, videos and pictures featuring them, emails and text messages to and from them, dossiers involving them, medical records, morphology charts, data on their IS'. Everything was gone. Nothing was left. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

"What the hell happened? How come Commander Bodewig's data was wiped?"

"Not just them. Instructor Orimura and her younger brother have also been washed from the database and the codebase. This wasn't a coincidence- this was a deliberate strike on our information banks."

Clarissa racked her brain again, and made the gears in her head turn exceptionally quick in order to decipher anything, anything they could still possibly have on the three individuals affected. Her face then briefly lit up, remembering their infoboxes, which were stored separately from both the data and code bases. She ordered her comrade to check on them. She quickly typed a few words into the computer, and relief washed over them...until they were met with a terrifying sight. The pictures on the infoboxes for the commander, the instructor, and her younger brother all featured their faces...with a glaring difference. They were made to look like they were missing their eyes, complete with blood oozing from their sockets. The girl at the computer stifled the urge to throw up, and Clarissa was utterly speechless.

"Who...would...do this? Open the goddamn file!" She ordered. The girl swallowed her vomit and clicked on the infoboxes. Clarissa's pupils dilated as she looked upon the infoboxes, which became nothing but garbled gibberish, random letters and numbers, redacted and blocked out text. However, there was something she noticed.

"Hey, wait. Scroll up and activate full view." Clarissa demanded, and she got her command. She stared on and saw that several terrifyingly vague words were specifically bolded and accentuated throughout the documented. 6, to be exact. As she put them together, her blood ran cold.

In all of the years she was a soldier, Clarissa Harfouch hoped and prayed to the gods themselves that she would never have to experience this dreadful feeling again. Unfortunately, the gods heard her wishes and burned them in front of a live audience, laughing at the soldier's misery. She knew it was back. As Clarissa read the put together words, the feeling befell her again. The feeling of an arrow dipped in pure, unadulterated fear piercing through your very heart and soul.

Shaking, she read the words one final time.

I WILL CREATE THE PERFECT SYSTEM

Next time on End of Line: Field of Dreams (And Nightmares)!

IS Academy's annual Field Day is steadily approaching, and Ichika is in for one of the most dangerous days of his life! With both a figurative and a literal race for his affections coming up, how will the poor boy stay alive long enough to see the end of the week? All the while, Rinzler searches for a good drink, because God knows he's gonna need one.