Chapter 24 - "Departure"
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The deployment hangar roared to life.
Red emergency lights pulsed across the ceiling. Sirens wailed once—short, sharp—then cut off. The massive doors groaned open, revealing the dark night beyond.
Footsteps hammered the metal floor.
Miku and Riku—the twins—came running from opposite ends of the bay.
Miku (left ponytail, yellow-trimmed suit) shouted ahead.
"Ren! Wait up!"
Riku (right ponytail, same suit) finished the sentence without missing a beat.
"We're here—!"
They reached Ren's mech at the same moment, leaping up the external ladder in perfect sync. Miku climbed inside the cockpit while Riku took position on the mech's right shoulder—Sniper already unfolding.
Ren looked up at them, one corner of his mouth lifting.
"Took you long enough."
Miku grinned from inside.
"Had to grab ammo."
Riku leaned over the shoulder.
"And say goodbye~"
Before the hatch closed, Riku bent down. Kissed Saki—quick, soft, right on the lips.
Saki's eyes widened.
"Sorry… because of me you're being punished. I should've told you the rules—"
Ren touched her cheek.
"Don't worry. It'll be over soon."
He stepped inside.
Hatch sealed.
Across the bay, Mio was already climbing into their mech—Unit 03.
She reached down, grabbed Kaito's wrist, pulled him up.
"Move, Kaito! No time!"
Kaito scrambled into the cockpit.
Before the hatch closed, he looked down.
Akane stood on the floor below—alone.
She wasn't looking up at him.
Her head was bowed. Hands clenched at her sides.
The hatch hissed shut.
Darkness inside—then screens lit up blue.
Rei stood silent on the mech's left shoulder—black combat gear, silver hair tied high, blades sheathed but ready. Her violet eyes scanned the horizon once.
Inside Ren's mech, Miku's hands flew across the console.
Heat sync initiated.
Blue lines pulsed across the screens.
Sync rate climbed.
50%… 55%… 60%… 70%… 80%.
Stable.
Miku exhaled.
"Normal range. 80%. Male-female sync is usually 60–80%. Acceptable."
Ren leaned back.
"50–59% is low but usable. 30–49%? Mech barely moves. 81–99%? Exceptional. Rare. 100%?"
He smirked.
"Impossible."
Across the bay, Mio's mech powered up.
Kaito felt the hum through his seat—deep, almost alive.
Mio's fingers danced.
Heat sync.
Blue lines surged.
60%… 70%… 75%… 78%.
Stable.
Mio grinned.
"As you know—heat sync is the main part. Remaining? Just clicking buttons."
She looked at Kaito.
"Ready?"
Kaito nodded once.
"Ready."
The mech took one step.
Then another.
The hangar doors finished opening.
Night air rushed in.
Mio marked the coordinates—Southern Prefecture—on the nav screen.
Red line stretched across the map.
The mech leaned forward.
Engines roared.
Unit 03 launched into the dark.
Ren's unit followed—two steps behind.
Rei stood steady on the shoulder, wind whipping her hair.
Miku and Riku moved in perfect harmony—one inside, one outside.
The academy shrank behind them.
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Southern Prefecture.
Night.
The sky burned purple.
Mana monsters poured from the cracked earth—dozens, hundreds.
Some were massive—twenty meters tall, stone-and-vine bodies, purple veins glowing.
Others small—fast, insect-like, skittering.
One had wings—leathery, tattered—but couldn't fly. It glided short bursts, crashing into buildings.
Through the sea of monsters, two silhouettes walked.
They didn't run. They didn't hide. They just moved through the swarm like they owned the night.
The first girl walked with a steady, haunting calmness.
The second girl skipped, her movements twitchy and high-energy.
The calm one spoke, her voice cutting through the growls of the beasts.
"We found him."
The energetic one threw her head back and laughed.
"Hahaha"
"Finally! A new toy! It's been way too long!"
The monsters stopped.
Every glowing purple eye in the plaza turned toward them. The giants leaned down. The insect-types hissed, baring rows of teeth.
They surrounded the girls in a tightening circle of claws and shadow.
The energetic one grinned, her teeth flashing in the purple light.
"Looks like they want to play first."
The calm one gave a single, slow nod.
"Don't take too long."
**Scene Cut**
Silence.
The screaming had stopped. The growling had stopped.
The street was a graveyard of meat and stone.
The monsters hadn't just been killed—they had been dismantled.
One twenty-meter giant lay slumped against a building. Its head was gone, crushed into a flat, unrecognizable pancake of rubble and violet ichor.
Beside it, a pack of the insect-types lay scattered. Their eyes had been gouged out—clean, hollow sockets staring at nothing.
Another beast had been torn vertically from the jaw down, its vine-veins spilling onto the asphalt like tangled, steaming guts.
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*End*