Despite Layla's irritation, the bonk to her head hadsnapped her out of her…wild thoughts.
She was about to reach up and grab the bat, but it broke apart into pixels as Tsukuru placed it in his System's Inventory.
"I can't believe you just did that," Layla muttered, rubbing her head in the spot that Tsukuru had bonked her, despite the fact that it hadn't hurt in the least.
A smile crept across Tsukuru's face.
"Aw, don't be a wet blanket!" he replied. "We've just spent the last three days on a Red Portal Planet! Let me have my levity!"
Layla let out a sigh. Tsukuru did have a point. She turned back to Quinn. Now that his System had deactivated his Charm Stat, Layla no longer had that urge that was giving her wild thoughts. However, they didn't stop her from noticing how different Quinn looked now.
Looking at him reminded Layla of Vorden, as far as the looks department went. Even though Layla didn't particularly like Vorden, she knew a pretty boy when she saw one.
"Are you two okay?" she asked, turning from Quinn to Tsukuru. "And…what happened?"
Quinn glanced over at Tsukuru.
"There anybody else around?" he asked.
Tsukuru shot a glance at his System's Minimap. However, the only dots he saw in the immediate proximity were the white dot representing himself, the purple dot representing Quinn, and the green dot representing Layla.
"We're alone," he replied.
Layla glanced over at Tsukuru.
'Can he…somehow sense when others are nearby?' She thought.
She flashed back to the first time the three of them had gone to the part to run tests on Quinn. He had known that Riley was approaching them before he had even appeared.
Quinn nodded and then turned back to Layla.
"Alright, here's what happened…" He replied.
***
"...From that point on, it was pretty much smooth sailing." Sergeant Faye replied, continuing her retelling of their mission on Pioletic. "We headed straight to the shelter's training center." However, she then narrowedher eyes. "However, things didn't stay like that for long," she replied.
Paul narrowed his eyes, listening intently.
"The entrance to the training center was riddled with the bodies of dead Rattaclaws," Faye replied before glancing back at Shizuka. "As well as scorch marks indicating anotherexplosive."
Seeing the look, Shizuka rolled her eyes.
Sergeant Faye turned back to the Head General.
"Additionally, the door was in rough shape," she replied. "It looked completely mangled. It looked as if someone with the Magnetism Ability had ripped it down and then tried to hastily put it BACK UP. It was in such bad shape that it wouldn't open even after I entered the access code."
Paul raised an eyebrow.
"Then how did you get in?" He asked.
Sergeant Faye glanced over at Leo.
"Hecut the door in half." She replied.
***
Back in the doctor's office, Quinn told Layla about his adventures on the Red Portal Planet. Seeing as how Tsukuru had spent most of his time in that damned forest, he didn't have much to add.
Layla looked down at the ground.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there." Layla apologized in a solemn voice. "I said that I would help you, but I couldn't."
However, Quinn merely smiled.
"Hey, don't worry about it," he replied. "It's not like I expected anyone to jump in after me. That's practically suicide!"
At Quinn's words, Tsukuru looked away, sheepish.
"They did," she muttered under her breath.
For some reason, Layla felt like Tsukuru, and more importantly, Vorden, had one-upped her in the loyalty scale.
Layla hardened her resolve. She clenched her fists.
"Just remember, if you need any blood, you can always count on me!" she yelled as she turned around and headed towards the door. "You don't have to rely on Vorden!"
Tsukuru and Quinn watched as she rushed out of the doctor's office. The room was quiet for a second before Tsukuru spoke.
"I feel like I've been caught in the middle of some weird love triangle," he muttered.
***
Back in the meeting room, the eyes of General Nathan, General Duke, and Sergeant Dillon all widened. However, Head General Paul and Oscar were unfazed. They knew exactly how strong Leo was. It was the whole reason that they had fought so hard to get him to join the military.
Standing next to Paul, Hayley's eyes darted back and forth nervously.
"So…uh," she replied, causing the others to turn to her. "I guess I'll be on my way then."
Oscar gave her a dismissive wave.
"Yeah, yeah," he replied. "You're dismissed, Doctor Hayley."
Hayley gulped and headed towards the door.
Once outside, she leaned against the door and took a deep breath. Dealing with the Generals on the base was one thing. But she felt like she was on pins and needles being in the presence of the Supreme Commander.
Soon, she got up from leaning on the door and began heading back towards the doctor's office.
Back inside the room, Sergeant Faye continued.
"As soon as we entered the training center, we noticed that things were a bit…off," she replied. "First of all, it was completely dark."
Nathan raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"'Dark'?" he asked. "Those buildings contain lights powered by Beast Energy. They're designed to work forever! How could the place be completely dark?!"
Shizuka glanced over at him.
"Apparently, something smashed them," she replied. "We were forced to play a game of 'follow the leader' with Sergeant Leoleading us through the building." Her eyes narrowed. "Or, at least, until we came across a crossroad."
Paul raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"A 'crossroad'?" he asked.
Sergeant Faye sighed.
"Upon reaching the reception area, we came across a blood trail leading towards the living quarters," she explained. "Not knowing if it came from one of the three students, and them appearing to be in the arena according to Shizuka's scanner, we decided to split up."
She then turned to Oscar.
"Me, Shizuka, Del, and Hayley went to follow the blood trail while Leo continued towards the arena."
Paul's eyes narrowed.
"Let me guess, the blood trail led you to..him," He replied, glancing over towards Leo. But everybody knew that he was referring to the body in the body bag on the floor next to him.
Faye and Shizuka nodded with steely expressions.
"We then followed the blood trail into the arena,' Faye continued. "There, we found Sergeant Leo talking to the students at a tablein the center of the arena.' She then glanced to the side. "Upon which, Shizuka…tackled Hikiko Tsukuru out of his chair, and the two went flying across the arena."
Immediately, everyone snapped their heads towards Shizuka. Their eyebrows raised.
Seeing the look, Shizuka immediatelypuffed out her cheeks in a pout.
"Well, excuse me for being worried about my little Tsu-Tsu," she replied, crossing her arms indignantly.
Faye glanced over at her out of the corner of her eye.
"Worried enough to end up in a game of tug-of-war with his 'Harpie' over him, huh?" Faye muttered.
Shizuka snapped her head towards Faye.
"Hey!" She shouted indignantly.
Paul pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head.
"Is there anything else?" He asked.
Faye and Shizuka exchanged looks. It was as if they were trying to decide whether or not to tell them about how Leo knew about Truedream's "arrangement".
In the end, they decided not to bring it up. Seeing how hard the military had fought to get Leo to join them in the first place, it was unlikely that they would even do anything.
They turned back to Paul.
"Nope," Shizuka replied.
"That's pretty much it, sir,"Faye replied. "We accessed the computer in the reception area, used it to bring up the Portal, and traveled back."
Paul nodded. He then turned to Nathan.
"General Nathan." He replied.
Nathan let out a sigh and slumped back into his seat.
"Yeah, yeah," he replied. "I'll go write up the report for Truedream. I am the 'paperwork' guy around her after all."
He got up from his chair and began making his way towards the door.
Oscar then turned to Shizuka.
"Honestly, I'm surprised, Sergeant Shizuka," he replied. "I can't believe that Hikiko Tsukuru was somehow able to talk you out of killing General Duke."
Duke gulped, and his heart began to race.
This was it. It was time to figure out just whatidea that boy had given Sergeant Shizuka. And seeing as how she had said that he would wish that she had killed him, Duke doubted it was going to be anything he was going to like.
A wide cheshire cat grin spread across Shizuka's face.
"Let's just say that Truedream will be receiving an extra Ability upon his visit," she replied, before turning and looking square at General Duke. "A Level 8 Earth Ability, to be exact."
Suddenly, Nathan's hand froze mere inches from the door. A wide smirk crept across his face. A moment later he burst out laughing. The others watched as he continued opening the door and walked out. They could still hear his laughter echoing down the hall, his laughter getting quieter and quieter, until his voice could no longer be heard.