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  When the brightness, thunder, and steam cloud began to recede, the fight was already over. My rising uppercut carried me twenty feet into the air out and above my attack. I watched as all ten enemy were knocked flying in all directions, all of them ending outside the ships railing and falling into the bright blue sky. Shouts of dismay trailing away after them as they fell to the water below.

  My attacks cloud dissipated completely as I landed back where I started. I stood tall and clapped my hands together as if wiping them off.

  The whole main deck had seen their fellows go flying and now thirty of the crew were staring bloody murder at me, negation asps in hand, and getting ready to come my way.

  “Oh hello, I just met some of your friends.” I paused and looked over each of my shoulders and then back at the enemy and pointed back over my shoulder with my thumb. “They had to leave though, so rude of them not to say goodbye right?”

  I held my hands up in a, what can you do gesture, while growls and curses were thrown at me.

  “Those were our comrades! Yeah, you’ll pay for that!” Voices rang out.

  “Well, say hello to my little friend, comrades.” I said, pointing up into the air as the world darkened around us.

  Chapter 2

  Choices

  The boy watched his friend leave. He wanted to reach out to him, to stop him, to say he was sorry and so many other things, but he couldn’t. The boy’s voice seemed to not work he opened his mouth but not a sound came out. The other one didn’t even look back and see that much, in a few moments was gone.

  The boy and his other friends stared at the space in the forest where the other one had gone. This was it, the moment in time where everything changes. History is all made of right and wrong turns, decisions and actions that determine the fate of worlds. This was one of those such moments in time. This was the defining moment that would mold a generation.

  All this went through the boy’s mind in a moment. The boy wasn’t cognizant of it, in fact it was his subconscious, that hidden part of humanity that controls so many of our actions and reactions. It was the boy’s subconscious that would trace everything in the days and years to come, back to this one moment in time. This one moment where everything had changed for everyone. The world would never be the same.

  TRACK 5 – TENDERNESS – GENERAL PUBLIC

  “Black Hole Sun!” Justin Belmont screamed.

  The youngest Belmont floated in the air, his familiar dark miasma surrounding him like black burning liquid fire. It grew in size until it covered the sun behind it and was the reason things had gone dark. Satisfied with the amount of power he had gathered, Justin smiled cruelly, then raised his fist high.

  BLACK HOLE SUN (Level – 3) – The host uses his Affinity Power and the solar power of the sun to fuel a bomb. This bomb is a reality buster that pulls all Affinity energy in the surrounding area of fifteen feet then exploding from the center when it hits critical mass, warping gravity and sending it out in an Affinity Powered wave. This wave sends all those hit with it flying with waves of gravity and power.

  “Won’t you come!” He called, flipping midair and streaking down towards the deck like a demonic avenging angel.

  Before the crewmen could react, Justin plunged down into the center of the deck, his Affinity Power surrounding him as he hit and then the darkness imploded, sucking in on itself and everything around it. All the enemies fell to the deck as they were pulled inward almost to the point where they were going to crash into Justin. Then they paused and space seemed to pulse and slow for a moment before it erupted outward, flinging people and Affinity Power in all directions.

  Justin stood up and looked around him at the newly cleared deck, all the crewmen having been launched over the sides, as I walked down from the stern stairwell and met him in the center of ship.

  “You’re welcome.” Justin said.

  I raised an eyebrow at him and then shook my head.

  “Whatever dude.” I replied.

  He opened his mouth but whatever he was about to say never came out, as the door to the Captain’s cabin slammed open with a loud crack, grabbing both our attention. Out from the doorway strode a giant of a man. He was so large he had stooped to get out and now standing at his full height was two feet taller than either Justin or myself.

  Our AR-2s pinged in unison and I looked at the information.

  NEO RUS AIR CAPTAIN – (Level – 4 Elite)

  WEAPON – Dual Affinity Enhancing Battle Axes

  ARMOR – NRE Officer Issued Affinity Enhanced Studded Airman’s Leathers

  AFFINITIES – Air

  All the NRE airships are controlled by NRE Air Captains. These captains all have the Air Affinity and are the best fighters on their ships. NRE Captains are not chosen for their intelligence, instead are chosen for their fierce battle prowess and extreme loyalty. All NRE Air Captains are equipped with better weapons and gear then their NRE Crewmen.

  “Who the hell are you and what the hell are you doing on my ship!” The Captain roared, then looking around suspiciously seemed to realize he was alone. “Where the hell is my crew?”

  “You want to take this one?” I asked, glancing sideways at Belmont.

  “Pfft, feel free, this dude doesn’t seem like the brightest star in the sky.” He scoffed.

  “What did you say you damned brat?” The monster of a man roared again, and began striding towards the two of us, pulling two axes from his back as he came. “You’re dead, D, E, D, dead!”

  “See?” Justin laughed, dropping into a fighting stance and holding his hands up as his Scythe appeared in them, Affinity Power coating the glowing curved purple-black blade.

  “I hate agreeing with you…” I responded, dropping into my own stance and activating Fire and Ice once again. “…but, yeah, he’s a dumbass, let’s finish this up, times running out.”

  “Don’t tell me what…” Justin started to argue.

  “Graaahhhh!” The Captain roared, cutting Justin off and banging his axes together, then flaring his Affinity Power and rushing us.

  The humungous man covered half the distance in a flash as the Air Affinity increased his speed. The deck shook with each stomp of his massive foot, it was like an earthquake the way the ship started to rock.

  “Heyyyyy youuuu guyyyssss!” A familiar voice rang out, catching all three of our attention.

  I turned to see a group of ABBAs heading our way and they were coming in hot. All of them were moving so fast I almost couldn’t tell who it was, but my AR-2 helped identify them. Then, I recognized the RKP and SNES students along with the Sophomores who went to save them. Blake and Lancelot were in the lead, both burning with Affinity Power, and they jumped off their boards in unison flying at the NRE Captain, Superman style. The two boys were mirror images of each other, Blake with his right fist extended and Lancelot with his left, streaking towards the Captain, who turned just in time to see the two students.

  The big Neo Rus officer’s eyes widened comically as Blake’s glowing purple black fist and Lancelot’s shining silver gauntlet smashed into both sides of his face. My senses were in overdrive due to activating my level three skill and I watched the attack in slow motion. The Captain’s face seemed to collapse in on itself as their two fists struck. His cheeks flapping backward like a skydiver’s and then his head rocking back as well followed by the rest of his massive body.

  I released my Affinity Power and watched as the NRE Captain flew sideways, first his head then the rest of his body, all the way off the ship and out into the bright blue sky. Justin had powered down as well and we both watched the big man go until he was out of sight. Blake and Lancelot landed and high fived, while nodding and grinning at one another, like they were best buddies.

  “Nice one old chap.” Lancelot said.

  “You to man.” Blake replied, as they high fived again, then he turned to Justin and me. “Pretty cool right little bro?”

  “That guy was mine, Blake.” Justin scoffed, putting his scy
the away and scowling at his older brother.

  “Jeez, take a chill pill little dude.” Blake said, laughing and sharing a look with Lancelot that said, ‘little brother is right?’

  Just then Tuki and Commander reappeared.

  “Hey boss, all done.” Tuki said, at my shoulder. “Commander is a right snake, but he did his job as well. I know you said to disable the engines and weapons but both of us decided to just take them over, I mean the Neo Rus Affinity systems are super primitive compared to ours.”

  “Good job buddy, that changes things.” I told him, as the rest of the students landed on the deck.

  I strode forward and relayed the information that Tuki told me, Justin reiterated it with Commander, and new plans were made.

  “Robyn can you fill Anna in.” I asked the AI. “Oh, can you also interface with all the rest of the students? I think it’s time to lay our cards on the table, so to speak.”

  “Done and done.” He replied.

  “Wow, that was fast.” I said, looking around the ship and seeing everyone pausing and accessing their AR-2s.

  “What did you expect Hiro? I’m a super advanced Affinity Intelligence with the processing power of…” Robyn began, but paused in his self-praise for a moment before continuing. “…it seems that Anna has already begun issuing orders. Ah, she also says that you and her need to talk about why we waited so long to… ah, never mind, you can talk to her yourself when we meet up.”

  “Uh, that doesn’t sound super good.” I said, under my breath.

  “All right we got ourselves another ship. Let’s get this tub moving!” Blake cheered, making the ‘round em up’ gesture with his left hand, then he took the helm and the NRE ship began moving off towards our friends and the LDS.

  I made my way to the small group of students and a round of handshakes, high fives, daps, and hugs were given. Only six kids had made it from the other schools. Lancelot’s squad, which had Mordred and Nimue, and Kagero’s squad, which had Oburo, and Tomoe. Of course, the psycho ninja girl was here, SMH…

  “Thanks for the help.” Lancelot said, walking up and pounding fists with me.

  “You’d have done the same.” I said, brushing the compliment off.

  “Yes, thank you Hiro, Justin, and to all of you.” Kagero said, walking up also and bowing, followed by her squad members and the other RKP students.

  After a few minutes we pulled up alongside the LDS and both our ships retreated from the battle and school at full speed. I watched from the stern as Warrior Academy shrunk in the distance. The dreadnaught had docked at the Main Tower and the rest of the NRE-FAAGs had stationed themselves around the school and town. I could see ABBAs flying around the perimeter of the campus.

  They had taken over our school in less than a day. It was hard to believe. I replayed the events of the morning over again and then thought about what Lord Belmont had told us to do. I hardened my resolve. Mine and Belmont’s feud could wait, it had to.

  “Tuki, we have a lot of work ahead of us.” I said to my sprite.

  “You have the gift of understatement boss.” Tuki replied. “It reminds me of the old man.”

  “Which one?” I asked.

  “Both.” He replied.

  We shared a quick laugh and then my mind drifted back to memories of my Master and Sensei. I thought about the training that was so difficult that I thought I was going to die. Then something clicked in my mind and I knew what we had to do, what we all needed to do if we were going to take back the academy and then beat the NRE.

  “Hiro, what the hell do you think you’re doing hiding Robyn from me…” Anna growled landing at my side.

  “Anna good, you’re here. I have plan.” I said, turning to the beautiful Belmont girl and completely cutting her off.

  “Wha… wha… what?” Anna stammered, my interrupting her throwing her off her angry tirade.

  The best defense is a good offense and all that. Although, my Master and Sensei disagreed on that principal.

  “I said, I have a plan. Gather everyone together, we should all discuss this in person.” I said, looking the girl right in the eyes trying to convey my seriousness.

  “Alright.” Anna replied, looking at me a little askance but giving me the benefit of the doubt. “Let’s get somewhere a bit safer and then we will hold a meeting.”

  “Thanks.” I said, staring back out at the now tiny school. “I know just the place.

  TRACK 6 – FEEL THE PAIN – DINOSAUR JR.

  “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard today.” Justin Belmont growled, banging the table with his fist to emphasize his point. “Like I keep saying. We need to head to our family’s lands and Belmont Manor. Once there we can...”

  “No.” Lancelot cordially interrupted. “The Isles is where we should go, the Royal Knights are there and…”

  “That would be folly. The land of the Rising Sun and Mt. Fuji is the answer. The Samurai and Shinobi warriors are…” Kagero interjected, in her soft but firm voice.

  “OMG! We’ve saying the same thing over and over and over again.” Anna said, exasperated, throwing her hands up in the air and scoffing loudly.

  “Well, I have some new information that may help decide things.” Robyn said, from the Towers speakers.

  We were all in Tower 12, sitting in various positions around the main room. After leaving the battle I suggested we go to the Tower and regroup. For the last half an hour we had been arguing about what to do and had pretty much gotten nowhere. We were at the point where all of us appreciated the break in the arguing, frustrations were getting high.

  Robyn activated the holo-vid as while he talked, and the room went quiet as we all focused on the images in the center of the room. The picture resolved itself and in the middle was a man who looked much like Commodore Stalin, but bigger, meaner, and more intimidating.

  “Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening to you all, depending where you are in the world. Most of you know me but for those of you who don’t, my name is Emperor Zod, the ruler and commander of the Neo Rus Empire and all its military and civilian might.” He paused, staring into the camera for a moment, before letting an evil grin creep across his face. “Now, I’m also the ruler and commander of all of you as well.”

  The screen changed and now it was a multi-view of different scenes which all had one theme in common, the Neo Rus Empire attacking somewhere. Gasps sounded throughout the room as each of the students saw what was on the holo-vid.

  “That’s Belmont Manor.” Anna said softly.

  “On no, that’s RKP.” Nimue cried.

  “SNES!” I heard Tomoe say.

  Every single student’s home cities, Noble Houses, and other bastions of the different countries were under siege by the Neo Rus Empire. The images on the holo-vid kept changing until it seemed as if the whole world was under attack. The view switched back to Emperor Zod and a split screen with Warrior Academy next him.

  “As you can see, the first bastion of many has fallen, your Warrior Academy is under NRE control, it is only a matter of time before the other defenders fall as well.” The Emperor said, gesturing at the conquered school, with all the ships and now a giant NRE flag waving from the Main Tower.

  The split screen changed again, and the image of WA was replaced with Commodore Stalin.

  “Emperor Zod, all of Warrior Academy is under our control, as is the town, all hail the Neo Rus Empire, all hail Emperor Zod!” Commodore Stalin cheered, saluting by banging his right hand on his chest and flicking it outward fist clenched.

  The Image zoomed out and showed a third person view of the whole of WA and the surrounding town. On every ship and across the campus hundreds upon hundreds of NRE soldiers and students, chanted and saluted the Emperor. The image changed a few moments later back to the Emperor.

  “Well done Commodore, all enemies of the Neo Rus Empire shall kneel before Zod!” The Emperor cheered, pumping his fist in the air.

  “That’s enough of that.” Robyn said,
turning the holo-vid off.

  Silence reigned throughout the room, the feeling of futility and of already having lost permeated the mood and dominated the quiet. The gloom was so dark and thick it was almost tangible, it felt as if you could cut it with a blade. No time like the present, I thought to myself. It was time to layout my plan.

  “It seems that our choice has been made for us.” I said into the quiet, slowly everyone’s eyes turned to me. When I was sure I had everyone’s attention I continued. “If we are to fulfill the Headmaster’s wishes, all of their wishes, we need to train and get stronger. Then, when we are ready, we take back our homes and destroy our enemies.”

  Resolve began to take the place of despair as I looked around the room into the newly hardening faces, even Justin’s morose mug had turned thoughtful at the idea. When everyone began nodding, even a tiny bit, I took advantage of the moment and used their pause as acquiescence and continued.

  “Good, here’s the plan. We go to where I was raised and train…” I started.

  “Why should we go to your training place, why not somewhere else?” Justin interrupted.

  He wasn’t going to make it easy on me. Even running for our lives, he was a total prick, I took a deep breath and blew it out gathering my center.

  “If I may Hiro?” Robyn asked.

  I just nodded and let the AI take over.

  “Master Belmont, the Island where Hiro was trained is actually an advanced training facility. I have begun creating training regimens for everyone that will start once we arrive. First, we will do group training and after that we will break into teams and then individual training based on each person’s personal skill level.” Robyn explained.

  “Hold on, how do you know our personal skill levels?” Blake asked.

  “I took the liberty of assessing everyone’s abilities when I was given access for communications.” Robyn replied. “Try not to get bogged down in the semantics young Master Belmont. Now, does everyone agree that we should head to Isla de la Muerta?”