---

"Sure, that’s no a problem. Don’t worry," Subaru replied when Mila apologized about not being able to give her anything now, before going back to her routine.

"Hmm? Thanks," Mavis said as she accepted Mila’s treat. "As far as I’m concerned, there’s no right time for these sort of things. As long as you follow your guts, everything is bound to work out in the end," she added before popping the candy into her mouth.

Mavis took her time chewing it while feeling the breeze absentmindedly until Mila’s question shook her back to the real world. "Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention," she apologized before address the question, "Anyway, that didn’t mean anything important. I was just thinking that, perhaps, things are kinda fine the way they are right now. We — humanity, I mean — went through a lot but we are still here and... look ahead of you. The world is quite well the way it’s now. Don’t you think?"

The red headed girl got back to her feet just as she was about to finish what she was saying, "Maybe, just maybe… we should keep fighting but not because we hate the Invaders, but simply because fighting to survive is what living creatures do best?"

"I’ve finished processing the data," Subaru said just as Mavis got back to her feet. "The other groups seem to have ran into larger types of invaders, but I don’t detect anything in our final destination. Not a single single invader in the scan range," she added just before opening another portal towards their last sensor.

"We can go as soon as you two are ready. The sensor is located on the courtyard of an old Edo-style mansion. I can take you to the entrance gates, but you’ll have to make out the rest of the way like usual," Subaru said as Neptune hovered silently beside the portal, waiting for the others to go through it.

"Well then, I think it’s about time we move forward. Let’s nail this one and go back home," Mavis said as she readied herself up, waiting until Mila was prepared as well before crossing the portal.

---

Falk Fukuzawa

When the others arrived, Falk was lounging against the sensor, waiting for them. "We should hurry." Falk said, his voice slightly muffled by the helmet he was wearing. He inclined his head slightly towards Al. "I already did. Don't freak out or anything, but we're-" The last part of that thought was "-surrounded", but saying so would have been redundant, because that was the point when four squads of invaders jumped out at them. Instantly, Falk sprung into action. His fingers tightened, and suddenly, the threads he had manifested tightened, creating an invisible web. No amount of pushing or pulling would be able to break it. If they were really smart, they might figure out that they had to cut it, but he doubted they could if they couldn't see it. With catlike grace, Falk clambered up a tree.

Falk had heard the rumors that the invaders communicated with ESP through a "leader," and he for one believed them. He held out his left hand, and then fired the loaded grenade right at the humanoid one. With a FOOMPH, a pink bomb shot out of it at high speed. One of his pink satchel charges, with a small, but intensely powerful blast. Designed for building demolition or large game.

---

Riyame felt…unnerved by the brooding silence of Team Afterglow. She glanced over from first Cellica and then Fiore, noting how each girl looked downright miserable. Maybe it was because she was used to R.R.’s brash persona, but the tension was running deep among her temporary team. It was why she felt more grateful to the behemoth of armor that was Tian-Gui, who broke the moody silence with his occasional whistling. It made the final stretch to their second sensor more bearable.

Standing at her post as Team Afterglow’s Gunner, Riyame kept a lookout for any Invaders that might sneak up on them while the actual team patched up the sensor. With luck, the rest of the teams were swiftly on their way to their final targets as well-a loud crack in the air turned her head in another direction. “That doesn’t sound good….” she said, looking over at Team Afterglow’s Linker. “Fiore, is there anything near us? What direction did that explosion come from?”

So powerful were Falk’s bombs that even Team Novae could hear it faintly. R.R., initially relieved no one would blow her cover, turned her ears to that direction as well. “Hey, uh, you’re the Linker again, right? Can you find out what the hell that was,” she asked Kuni. Both Linkers would find the explosion had come from Team Yui Gang; indeed, even Raphel’s Linker, if their team chose to do so, would find the cluster of Invaders that had funneled at that location suddenly gone. But there was something more.

The massive blip on everyone’s radars shifted drastically. Despite the large humanoid Invader having successfully been blown apart by Falk’s attack, the blip remained ever present. But instead of being anywhere near Team Yui Gang, it was now surprisingly, dangerously close to Team Arizona. The moment Mavis and Mila stepped through the portal it would be too little, too late for Subaru to warn them of the sudden blip that appeared on her radar.

Stalking the area just a few feet away from where Mavis and Mila stepped out of was a large Invader. True to its appearance, it scuffled low to the ground like an animal, snarling at the smaller of its kind. In turn, these smaller Invaders would scurry along elsewhere, as if being ordered to. Even so, nothing could explain why the blip had moved from one side of the map to another. Was it a jamming signal? Either way, both Psychers had walked openly into its territory and it would take no longer for it to notice both girls.

---

Finally getting out of the muck, their efforts had been rewarded with safe, stable ground. However, before Yui could even say 'Ayo, what's up my nerd?', Falk had warned them of a large swarm.

The explosive had collided directly with the large humanoid robot, a large explosion surrounded the area. Surprisingly, it obliterated everything. The humanoid robot and its quadrupedal friends were annihilated. Unfortunately, it obliterated everything. The very thing they had sworn (implied) to protect (implied) had been destroyed (literal). It wasn't even a "we can fix this later" type of repair job. No, the entire sensor was absolutely demolished. The explosion had triggered the batteries to also explode, the small relay essentially toppling onto itself and shattering into a irreparable mess.

“!”, Yui turned to face the bomber in a tree with her eyes open 110% and her annoyance palpable, “you just did that.” Her hand raised to head and then shot out a foot towards Falk in a fit of salt. “Why did you think that would be a good idea? I swear I'm going to SRK you when we make it out of this. Jeez, if we weren't surrounded before, we are now.”

Yui raised her blade. The batteries slide up the hilt and collided with her hand. In a swift motion, she thrust the blade backwards, lodging it into the ground and leapt forward. The long blade easily slid out of the hilt as the batteries were left hanging. She was ready to fight. Even if it meant unleashing her inner power.

Man, that was going to suck.

While making the quiet, gloomy trek towards the last sensor, it seemed like everyone had noticed the explosion; not surprising, since it was an explosion. Fiore, pulled out of her worries by Riyame's request, takes a quick look around the perimeter; her psychic drive (and her common sense) places the area of the blast near Team Yui Gang. Fiore guesses it must have something to do with Falk's bombs; she hopes the damage isn't severe. It was extremely close to their first sensor...

Checking her radar, Fiore discovers another strange occurrence, one that takes the form of the afore-mentioned "large target" that appeared on the map earlier. Weirdly enough, it seems to have teleported halfway across the map, and while Fiore can't be sure, she has a bad feeling it wasn't just for the heck of it. No, it's hunting down somebody. Or somebodies.

"The large Invader has moved its position drastically. Or... It's a different one? I can't tell, but it suddenly appeared, and..." Fiore shrugs, then frowns as she inspects the map before her. "Wait. Mila and Mavis are close, really close. Do you think they can handle it or...?"

Moved drastically? How fast was that thing? Furrowing his brow upon the news, Tian-Gui made a snap decision. “Team Arizona has Subaru,” he spoke, standing up and turning to the direction of the explosion. “Worse comes to worse, she can warp them out. We won’t be able to make it in time regardless. For now…”

More decisions to be made. They completed their own mission, and Cellica already had her mobility hampered. But they had Riyame on the assist and Falk’s group was larger than normal as well. And even if he was willing to give up on a team that was much too far away for them to help, Tian-Gui had no intent on ignoring the plight of a team that was close enough to reach on his two feet. He let out a breath.

“Fi, give Ceci the painkillers. Same formation as before. Riyame, you take vanguard and engage in the invaders as soon as possible. When I come in, drop back to Fiore and Cellica and support them, because they’ll be largely immobile. We’ll assist Team…Yui Gang or whatever. Doesn’t sound like it’s a problem that can be solved all that cleanly if they’re busting out the big bombs already.”

A pause, a nod.

“Cellica, you’re on sniper support. Don’t fire more than necessary, cause your ankle might not be able to manage the recoil. That's all. Let's go.”

"That sounds fine to me," Lucia replied as Kuni mentioned the shortest route would involve a moderately steep hill, "A little hill workout won't do us harm."

Another transmission came in on the global channel, and this time R.R's name came up. The Striker replied by practically begging them to keep quiet about her presence, though for what reason Lucia couldn't say. She glanced to her Gunner and Linker for a moment, and when neither one of them seemed to have any objections Lucia spoke up.

"Alright then," she said, "We'll keep our mouths shut for now. Let's keep moving, shall we?"

She set the backpack with the batteries down near Akari, since it would be her turn to change the next one, then started walking toward the hill. When she got to the base of it she quickened her pace to a mild jog to get up it, and at the top she took time to survey the area from the slightly increased height.

No traces of emotions - noticeable that is - betrayed Mila's thoughts as she looked down at her hand after Mavis' speech. Humans, Living Creatures. Was she still those things? Maybe. Probably.

The thought did not bother her for long, however, for there was a mission to complete. Mila nodded to Mavis and followed her partner into the portal.

The very moment that they arrived in the courtyard, the scene was as clear as day: this thing was unavoidable. At least so thought Mila. A quick glance at Iron Saga told her she only one one single charge of Gravity Pull left. Taking what Mavis earlier told her about threat assessment at face value...Mila launched herself...aside and around the Invader.

Her Psycher's augmented speed really showed, as it looked like she had just skipped across the small pond of the courtyard. Mila placed herself at about a 65 degree angle, Mavis as point zero. From this location and from what her quick look at the target told her, this was the optimal location for what she wanted to try.

"This thing looks dangerous. From range or melee - at least this should help if Mavis get in close." she thought to herself before shooting her one remaining Gravity Pull rod. Aiming not at the ground like usual, but at the Invader directly. More accurately, inside one of the target's metallic armor's crack or nook hoping that, with Iron Saga's launching power, it might stay on the target making it so her Psychic Drive could support Mavis even with the target's moving out of the usual zone.

Iron Saga's engine began to charge up as Mila aimed straight at the beast, ready to support Mavis at a moment's notice.

"He is ready for you, Captain!...Gravity Pull." With those words, the rod did some high pitched sound and the top part of it broke off, followed by a very loud and bass-like sound as a 20ft radius around the invader suddenly saw it's gravity drastically augmented.

"He...hehe..." Not too high into the sky, just barely enough to not crash into any ruins/trees, was a certain girl clinging onto a drone - way larger than the usual size - from above. "C'mon...!" She complained as the drone kept moving forward. "Faster!" Before one of her eye's lighted up for a moment and the drones speed increased. "Just a bit more..." The girl kept talking to herself with a smile - despite blood running down the corner of her mouth.

It was all about the timing. Some people were on-time, others too early (or too late), a few never even showed up, protagonists were all about being fashionably late, and a handful of morons were too-too early. Today, this particular girl was neither of those. Too late for being fashionable, yet too early to be too-too-too late. Today, Rin-Rin would simply be better late than never.

'Why?' one could wonder; 'Because.' would be her answer.

...
...
...

It took Rin a few more seconds but, finally, beyond the mushroom cloud, she could see them: Her allies. Not only were there her fellow trainees, but also her team! Having left most of her mandatory sensory equipment behind it appeared more and more that 'heading towards the big explosion that looked like Falk's head' had indeed been the bestest choice.

Now, here she was. Letting the piece of junk descend in a crash-landing like manner, the raven-haired girl jumped off meters before hitting the ground. Landing out of pure coincidence rather closely next to Falk's tree, Rin-Rin stretched out her arms before saying. "DYNAMIC ENTRANCE!... You got nothing to fear, Rin-Rin's here!" Right, enemies. Despite giving off the slight vibe of a sickly child, Rin stared directly towards her other team member, Yui. Rin's eye lightning up, nose now bleeding, Yui could suddenly feel the muscles in her legs tighten!

---

"Whoa! Out of the fridge and into the frying pan!" Mavis exclaimed as the massive Invader crept up on them right as they came out of Subaru's portal. It was almost as if it had tracked them through some unknown means, but that wasn't something that mattered at the moment, not when Mila had already taken action to control the threat.

"Ok, guys, we can't fight something this big on our own, so... here's the plan. Mila, keep holding it back for as long you can while I swap the battery. And you, Subaru, get ready to beam us out of here as soon as we are done," Mavis said as she ran to the sensor, using her shield to deflect the fire from the machine gun on the enemy's back.

It would only take a moment for her to do her job, but before she could finish it, Subaru replied, "That'll not be possible. Something about this Invader is interfering with the stability of the nearby time an space continuum."

"What? Could you, huh... translate that, please?" Mavis replied as she popped out the old battery and placed the new one in place and sighed a sigh of relief. Thank God for the fact they didn't have to do any other kind of maintenance in this thing.

"No portals. You'll have to get away on foot, I suggest heading to the west and linking with the other teams," Subaru replied in a dry voice as Neptune returned the enemy's fire with a pair of concussion torpedos.

"Ok then, guys, new plan. Let's just... RUN!" Mavis said as she threw her shield towards Mila, right in time to have it deflect an energy blast from the Invader's tail cannon. The deflected shot tore apart a section of the courtyard's wall creating an impromptu gate that Mavis was all too eager to explore.

As long as Mila decided to follow them, it was only matter of time before the other teams would begin to notice both the signals of Team Arizona and the giant Invader heading towards them...

---

Falk Fukuzawa

Falk swore under his breathe, half out of being upset, but half out of amazement as he watched the aliens and their goal be vaporized in a small mushroom cloud. Welp. There went his first mission. "Sorry, I thought the blast would be a little smaller..." Falk said over the comm, pulling one of the strings taut until it tore down one of the trees, crushing an invader under them. He was just about to swing down from the tree when Rin alighted next to them.

"Rin. Just in time." He said, then leapt free of the branch. In mid-air, he fired one of his strings at her drone, swinging from it into a flying-kick at one of the invaders before lighting on a tree opposite them. He was a bit sheepish about using his grenades what with his teammates in melee. Luckily, he was just as good at fighting with his Drive.

@Burger@Skyswimsky@Melkor

---

How curious it was to see each student’s reaction to the large Invader, who until now had remained crouched and inquisitive of what was happening. As it turned out, Mila was the first to make a move, launching herself up and over the Invader before firing off a single Gravity Pull rod. The round landed squarely into the Invader’s back, making its legs buckle slightly. The sound of wrenching metal on metal filled the air as the round was activated.

The gravity around the Invader suddenly became augmented, forcing the creature not down but kept in place. Slowly, with shuddering effort, it turned its alien face towards first the cyborg and then Mavis. More sounds of metal moving were heard as it trained the turret on its back right at Mavis, firing a round of fire with messy precision. All the same, its tail snapped in wild abandon, throwing out energy projectiles at Mila. Both had been deflected by Mavis’ shield, right until the human had decided retreat was the best approach to engage.

Or rather, disengage. As Mavis and Mila ran in the opposite direction, having completed their sensor task, the effects of the gravity field finally began to wear off. Its legs shifting about, the Invader lowered itself on its haunches before suddenly leaping forward in hot pursuit. It ran with all the ferocity and bloodlust of any wild Earth animal. Only this one was fitted with heavy gunfire, each moving left and right to spray forward onto Team Arizona’s path.

It would be chasing the two girls into a clearing, unaware of the other converging teams either nearby or rapidly approaching their position. The explosion was heard by everyone so there was no doubt the sound of gunfire and trees being cut apart by the Inavder’s attack would go unmissed as well. Certainly not for Team Afterglow, of who Riyame nodded along to Tian-Gui’s orders.

Although they would be bringing reinforcements to Team Yui Gang, the sound of gunfire was getting closer and closer to the point where Riyame felt a fight would be breaking out with the big one regardless. The same could be said for her other teammate, R.R. pointing her head towards the direction of the chasing Invader. “Holy shit, whatever that is, it sounds like it has fucking power!” she said aloud to no in in particular. The gleam in her eyes and the way she snapped her jaws probably gave Team Novae an idea of what she wanted to do…

---

“Excuse me, coming through!” Crashing through the landscape, Tian-Gui propelled himself with sheer strength rather than eloquent agility, one hand raised outwards as golden material formed in his palm. It was a star, no a cross of brutal proportions, and he reared it back as he burst through the clearing.

Monstrous size had no intrinsic merit, but monstrous strength was always relevant, and with a great howl, the golden titan hurled his construction towards the largest pack of invaders he saw, intending on turning them into scrap with a single throw. Without bothering to confirm the results, he manifested a tower shield and a halberd out of Flamestone next, the armaments burning bright in the sunlight. A bigger one was coming, but for now, they had to clear up the trash.

“Yui Gang, any injuries? We have Fiore here to treat ‘em!"

---

Raphel had been looking out into the far yonder for quite some time. Nothing looked to be coming his way specifically, but there seemed to be a large concentration of enemies around one of the other sensors, which was likely destroyed by some idiot who tried to use explosives against them. The gargantuan one caught Raphel's eye the most since, from what he observed, it seemed to be the one that was large and in charge. You know how the saying goes; "Giant Enemy Crab. Attack the weak point for massive damage."

The question was where this weak point was meant to be, exactly...

...

The most logical place to start was the head. After all, assuming the invaders' anatomy had even the slightest resemblance to that of the humans, that was where the brain would reside, protected by nothing a shot from the Voice of Reason couldn't break through in its entirety. As he took his time to aim at the correct spot, Raphel contemplated what the giant invader would do once it realized it was under attack. Assuming his earlier deduction was correct, he'd probably have to then deal with a few goons that would come his way. He could quite easily handle one or two, perhaps even three in a pinch, but he would definitely need support if any more were to charge his position. Still, Raphel was sure the teams that were fighting the invaders off would appreciate the distraction.

With that, Raphel made his shot, a clean snipe from the far yonder, straight into the giant invader's skull.

There was little to see, much to do. In the span of what seems to be just a couple of minutes their mission had shifted to something different in its entirety. Invaders took the scene and battle had amassed at their corner, converging at the center would perhaps be the most optimal play, have the strikers all lead up to a secular assault, while the gunners supported from afar and the Linkers would shelter themselves in the midst of all providing what they do best. There was no purpose to activate his psychic drive just yet, and sensors where out due to an explosion not too far out on the center. Raphael stood post, firing his gun at the tyrant heading towards them, mowing anything at its path. The smaller creatures displayed potency as well, perhaps they were still inexperienced or maybe through some type of evolution they managed to conquer recorded antics. Either way, their threat level needed to also be place into priority. The side of Hiro's lip rose in looming thought, the mere possibility of an outcome where they would end up dead seemed all too probably, but also avoidable. He needed to ponder quickly, not sway from into worry. Overthinking could also lead to failure. "Sensor's are down, we're fighting blind for the most part." Hiro spoke, tinkering with a gadget strapped to his wrist, a couple of inputs and codes were enough to shift the screens between one and the other through a small holographic projection Gungnir, his drone, reflected.

"Still have most of the map details intact, however. It would be best to converge with the others, but I can't stop thinking about bringing auxiliary power to a faux sensor. Maybe if we distribute power through some of the nearby antenna's we can relay the signal and bring back vision. The center is taking most of the attention, so maybe we can use that as a means to evade trouble." Hiro's hands extend to the hologram, crimson highlights begin to dot across three buildings, which now circle the sensor that was destroyed in the process. There a couple of smaller dots, of yellow hue now begin to indicate a rough location of where the teams would be positioning and where he suggested they move during this entire ensemble.

"Luckily you're able to maneuver well with your weapon, and if anything happens I'll Tether with you and you'll be able to sustain yourself long enough to not know the difference. Either way, we have to move responsibly. These creatures don't seem to be as reckless and unintelligent as I'd like to believe. Alternatively, I have a couple of vantage points that can help you in your shooting, bit of a climb though, Raph. Not sure which one you would prefer. "

If she could have afforded it, Mila might have remained motionless due to the surprise of receiving the order to run. One moment she was ready to fight, the next she and Mavis were running away. Her speed and general mobility allowed her to evade the energy projectiles with relative ease while catching up to her Leader. Mila remained some distance away from Mavis and stopped every few moments to shoot Iron Saga's sustained laser at the invader, hoping to slow down it's constant advance. Then, again, she used her augmented speed to catch up.

Despite their best efforts, the enemy seemed like it would eventually catch up. However, they were bound to get closer and closer to the other teams. It did not help that despite all of her movements, Mila had be hit by a few round of machine gun fire. Nothing that her personal barrier couldn't absorb, but she could not afford to take any more fire without taking the risk of becoming a liability by being wounded.

As soon as they would reach the others location, Mila quickly eyed everything: it seemed like they had got into a fight, but the invaders remaining were either put down or fleeing at this point. It was not her job to give orders or propose strategy, so rather then take the time to explain or warn the others - which she knew Mavis would do if they were not already aware thanks to the comms - Mila quickly turned around and launched herself on the first floor of a nearby ruined building, lying in wait. From what she saw of the invader, it was more likely to keep on charging the new comers then search for her specifically, meaning she'd be ready to unleash Iron Saga into it's back as soon as it would engage with the others.

Her main focus: the gun on it's back or the tip of it's tail

---

Despite the success in their mission, as well as the cadets' best efforts, the situation was getting more and more hectic with each passing second. Falk and Tian were able to down half a dozen of the invaders that encircled Yui Gang in their first attack, however, the remainder of the aliens scattered around the area. The aliens were trying to avoid any more casualties from wide area attacks, while taking the chance to flank any vulnerable targets, aiming to kill in one fell swoop.

In fact, four of those who avoided Tian's first attack attempted to slip right past him; their target was none but the visibly vulnerable Cellica. Their strategy was simple but effective, with two of the aliens charging at their prey — one from each of Tian's sides — and the last two going straight to the striker, in an effort to draw his attention.

The same trick would be used in Yui Gang's case, with the exception that the invaders ignored the striker and charged at both Falk and Rin. The trees wouldn't offer as much protection as the two imagined, since the alien's innate agility allowed them to leap and bound out of the branches, going right after the targets they pleased all thanks to the situation Yui Gang found themselves into.

The remaining aliens spread around and attacked anyone they could close into.

However, this was just the beginning of their fight. The main attraction was just about surface, after summarily shrugging off Raphel's shot with a swing of its tail before firing back at the gunner with an explosive shot.

---

"I don't think we will need maps for what's coming," Subaru said over the open radio as Hiro talked about the damaged sensor. While his information was far from accurate — only one sensor had been damaged, which was hardly a liability — she didn't have time to point it not when there were just a few more seconds before... "Everyone, brace for impact in three, two, one—"

"Yahoo!" Mavis overexcited shout cut right through Subaru's transmission. The redhead came flying like a missile seconds before the large invader burst right through one of the old buildings, spreading debris and dust all over the place, covering the area in a thick cloud of powdered concrete.

The leader of team Arizona crashed against the ground with a dry thud. She used her shield to absorb most of the impact while flattening one of the invaders that were charging at right at Tian before rolling back to her feet. "Yiha! I wasn't expecting this to happen at all when I tried to jump on that thing's back," she said to herself while coughing a hefty amount of dust. "Oh, hey Big Guy! How's it going? I, erm... brought a gift for everyone. Hehe," she said, with a playful smile on her lips, as soon as she noticed that she landed right next to the imposing figure of Tian in his armor.

---

Four invaders came next, right as Tian-Gui readied his armaments. Even at this distance, he could read their intent, and struck summarily. Rather than hold his ground, the Striker lunged forwards instead, his halberd swinging out in a horizontal arc to catch the one on his right side. Fully extended, the sheer centrifugal force generated by the swing would be more than sufficient to carry through the first invader to fatally damage the second, right as Mavis did her superhero landing and crushed the third. Not sparing a moment, the golden monolith dropped his halberd next and pitched his arm back, before throwing a fast ball at the one invader that managed to get away. It was nothing more than a misshapen lump of poorly put together Flamestone, but the lack of structural integrity worked favorably this time, the cannonball dissolving mid-flight into grapeshot instead, punching countless holes into the lupine invader.

Kicking up his halberd once more, Tian-Gui caught it and turned to the most potent threat of all: the big boi himself, the Invader your girlfriend told you not to worry about.

“Glad you’re feeling so energetic, Mavis,” he replied, a chuckle echoing through his helm, “Think best course of action’s gonna be to clear out the trash first, so could you give me a hand? I gotta stick near my team till these small invaders are taken care of.”

As he spoke, the titan skipped back a couple of steps, grabbing the shattered bodies of the invaders before summarily hurling them at their brethren, doing as much as he could at a range without leaving Fiore and Cellica out of his nebulous zone of protection.

The invaders had ignored Yui and instead went for the gang. Falk, now named the Brainless Bomber could handle himself. He could run with his stupid stinky wires. Her hot self-destructing support was getting rushed down by the very foes that ignored her. Combine that with the gargantuan threat that fired a massive blast somewhere in their general vicinity, Yui would have to act fast. And act fast she did.

“I'm coming babe!” She yelled at Rin-Rin. Without any hesitation, she turned heel and pushed forwards. Her leg dug deep into the ground, indenting the hard soil even further. An explosion of force drove from every fiber of muscle to the soles of her feet. She blasted forwards, running faster than the quadrupedal kill bots. No, run was a misnomer. She flew only to land and blast off again. Her body twisted around once more, her feet dragging holes into the ground as the rubber burnt off of her sweet kicks. Stopping just shy of colliding with Rin-Rin, her feet planted. Without an ounce of hesitation, she grasped her sword by the opposite ends of the grip, her ring finger moving an invisible switch. A quick crack of static and her arms tensed as they braced the change in weight.

Deceptively fast was the best way to put it. The sheer length of the blade made the disparity between the grip and the tip all the more noticeable. If it had been a normal sword, it would have been an obvious swing. Slow, heavy, horizontal. However, it wasn't an ordinary sword. Not by any stretch of the imagination. The unwieldy nature of a heavy ultra long sword had been negated by raw power and simple motions. The blade slashed horzontally at the charging quadrupeds as it ignored any impediments.

---

Where once there was confidence in the Invader’s steps, now lay a fear and hesitation dormant of their DNA. Now that the majority of the Psycher teams had all converged into one place, the odds of victory were becoming slim. Those who weren’t decimated by the efforts of the students were instead slowly backing off in retreat. And those unfortunate enough to run into the Big One were smacked aside by its metal paws and roared at. By the time it burst through the buildings, it was already seething with an animalistic anger.

On sight, the smaller Invaders immediately fled, running past the Big One, as little as their number was. Those that did remain were already engaged by the other teams, though they didn’t last long. Indeed, Yui’s swordwork made quick scrap metal out of the Invaders charging at her while the ones attacking Team Afterglow were dealt with just as fast. Riyame made sure to cover Cellica and Fiore’s flanks, doing what she could to defend the injured Gunner and team Linker with an array of flurrying bullets.

Mavis’ landing of course put a halt in the action, and Riyame looked over at the short shield girl with a puzzled expression before sighing. “Only you would be having this much fun right now. Well, you and R.R. I suppose,” she said to Mavis. A bellowing, metallic roar drew her attention back to the Big One. By now, it was the only real threat in the clearing and its alien eyes snapped back and forth with a desire for blood. Having already sent an energy shot from its tail at Raphael and Hiro’s positions, it now scanned the area for more lifeforms.

Specifically, its tail swiveled in motion before suddenly snapping in a seemingly random direction. With a flick of its tip, the Big One fired off an energy round right at Mila’s location, as if the appendage had a mind, or perhaps camera, of its own. Meanwhile, the main body kept low to the ground, stalking about and creeping slowly towards the group of students like a hunting predator. Its eyes glowed faintly, staring dead on at its soon to be prey.

---