The sun had started getting higher in the sky when Saya and the rest of the Summerbolts got in the family car driven by Graid and headed for the Nebula Park on 28 May.
They reached their destination rather fast as all those leaving Deckstoru by car that Saturday had already left and there wasn’t much traffic by the time they left home, thankfully for everyone in the vehicle.
The small jeep that was painted in bright red and had the family insignia sprayed in a jungle-green color on its roof was equipped with five seats to fit all the five Summerbolts and had always been very comfortable to ride in. Now that Yuki had been added to their numbers, however, things had gotten a little more difficult.
Iziya was put next to Graid in the front while everybody else was in the back, Hikaru sitting in the middle with Rose on his lap, Saya and Yuki occupying the side seats. And the rising temperature outside that was a bit too hot for the end of May made the prolonged stay in the jeep all the more unbearable. Thus, everyone was relieved when they stopped at Nebula’s entrance and got off their transport.
(Rose) ‘I think it’s time to get a new car.’
(Graid) ‘Sure thing, mom. You wanna pay for it?’
(Yuki) ‘I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.
I’ll find some work to help get money for a new car, so we don’t have to go through this again. Maybe at the Octohorn Ring?’
(Graid) ‘You’re never getting close to my bar again, Yu!’
(Iziya) ‘All of you gonna stop bitching any time soon? Cuz we’ve got work to do!!’
(Hikaru) ‘Easy thing to say for the one who was in the front seat!
What do you think, mom? Mom?’
Saya did not answer as she was looking at the park in front of her with a small, somewhat nostalgic smile on her face. Only after her son shook her shoulder a couple of times was Mrs. Summerbolt freed from her trance.
(Saya) ‘Sorry about that, Hikaru. I was just thinking about how this place hasn’t changed one bit.’
Seeing her focus was on a completely different topic from the Summerbolt family car problems, Hikaru continued their conversation in this new direction.
(Hikaru) ‘You’ve fought in a Class Battle here, right?’
(Saya) ‘I’m the only member of our family …’ – she paused for a moment, wondering if she should say what was on her mind, until eventually she decided to do it anyway – ‘… aside from your dad … who’s fought in a Class Battle. And the only Class Battle I participated in took place right here.’
(Hikaru) ‘Was it the same one my dad was a part of?’
(Saya) ‘It was.’ – the smile returned to her face as more memories from a wonderful past flooded her mind – ‘We were fighting for different teams, though.’
(Hikaru) ‘Who won?’
(Saya) ‘It ended in a draw.’
(Hikaru) ‘Because you two loved each other too much to finish off the other?’
(Saya) ‘Wh-what?! No, no! We weren’t … it wasn’t … back then we still weren’t …’
Saya hadn’t been this flustered in a long time and looking at her child’s face, which reminded her so much of that of her husband, didn’t help deal with this at all, so she looked away to regain her composure.
(Hikaru) ‘Are you blushing? I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you blush.’
The boy just made things worse with every word he said. Unable to maintain control anymore, the fiery mom let loose on him and smashed a burning first in his head that slammed him in the ground.
(Saya) ‘Stop focusing on me and the past! You’re here today for one reason and one reason only!! To beat those Martian bastards!! Turn your full attention to that if you don’t want to be returned to me in pieces!!’
After Yuki picked Hikaru up to carry him along, the Summerbolt family moved beyond the slightly rusty fence with questionable integrity to go inside the Park, finding debris from previous Class Battles that had not been properly cleaned there. There were fallen trees of the deciduous type, mainly oaks, birches and beeches, here and there, only tree stumps being left in other places, the land itself still being scarred by cracks, cuts, holes and the like.
Some members of Earthling Class No. 1 had already arrived as well and had gathered at the base of a 20-meter steel observation tower that looked a bit run-down, Yuki and the now fully functioning Hikaru joining their classmates right away.
The youngsters were all wearing the typical attire for students in the Earthling year who were participating in a Class Battle: either T-shirts or tank tops for both the boys and the girls, wristbands and longer shorts for the boys and elbow braces, knee sleeves and shorter shorts for the girls. A greater part of the T-shirts/tank tops was forest green and a lesser part – azure, this being applied in reverse for the shorts. Both the upper and lower half of the outfits had a wide bright yellow band on them, going across the chest for the T-shirts/tank tops and to the sides of each leg for the shorts. The wristbands and elbow braces were azure with a forest green line in the middle and the knee sleeves were forest green with an azure line in the middle.
Only one outfit stood out – Seiren’s. While wearing a tank top like some of the others, he had covered his left arm from under the shoulder to the wrist with an azure sleeve that had forest green lines at both ends. That left only his right arm with a wristband while the lower half of his right leg was covered by a forest green sleeve with azure lines at both ends.
If Saya were to judge this group by their appearances, she would say they were battle-ready and more than that – they were eager to win. Even Exo had a certain confidence and ferocity about him, which was surprising after everything Hikaru had told his mother about the techno-genius.
(Saya) ‘You brats sure look very lively today. How come even you are so pumped, Exo?’
Though being surpised to be addressed by Mrs. Summerbolt at first and then turning timid for a moment, Exo suddenly smiled confidently. And looked directly at Saya as he spoke – something Hikaru had told her he never did with people he didn’t know well.
(Exo) ‘We made a deal with Line-sensei. While we’re fighting on this battlefield, he’s fighting his own battle in the hospital. The next time we meet, we’re to greet the other with news of victory. So we’re definitely going to win today.’
(Rose) ‘That’s a great spirit. Don’t lose it during the whole Battle and make sure to put those junior bullies in their place!!’
(Tokura) ‘Wait a minute. You’re cheering for us? Aren’t the observers supposed to be neutral?’
Iziya and Graid, who had just come back from the top of tower after leaving the five big metal boxes they had taken out of the trunk of the car there, joined the conversation before Rose could answer.
(Iziya) ‘The Battle hasn’t started yet, so we can cheer on whoever we want.’ – her smile was replaced by a very serious look as she turned to Saya – ‘But we need to get some stuff ready before it starts, big sis, so we might as well get up there.’
(Seiren) ‘What’s in those boxes you took to the top of the tower?’
(Graid) ‘The monitoring and recording equipment we’ll use.’ – looking away from Seiren for a moment, Graid saw the same thing Saya had just noticed – the arrival of all the missing Earthlings – ‘Looks like the rest of your class is here, so why don’t you guys go over your strategy again while we get ready?
We got a call on the way here that the Martians have already got their whole class together, so as soon as we’re done with the prep, the Battle starts and you won’t get a chance like this again.’
As the hot heads gathered closer together to discuss their strategy, Saya pointed at them with her eyes while she and the rather sad Yuki looked at each other. Miss Iceflame had said the night before she had come to terms with not participating in the Class Battle, but maybe seeing everyone in their outfits and being present on the field with them had changed her mind. So Mrs. Summerbolt couldn’t just leave her alone.
(Saya) ‘Go and join them. You guys have been planning a scenario in which you might fight along with the rest, right?’
(Yuki) ‘Hikaru came up with a plan like that, yeah.’
(Saya) ‘Go over that plan with them one more time just in case, then. The four of us can handle the preparations.’
The white-haired beauty joined the rest of the Earthlings with a joyous smile right after while the four Summerbolts made their way to the top of the tower, where Graid unlocked the metal boxes. Four of them contained twelve minidrones each engraved with Sunbird’s crest – a bird with its spread wings brought closer together and a four-pointed star in its chest. The contents of the fifth were different, having four tablet-like devices and four digital voice recorders also bearing Sunbird’s crest in it.
Each member of the quartet took one of the tablets and recorders, synchronizing the former with the set of drones connected to it to test and tune the devices, which were the only good piece of equipment provided for Class Battles like this, as the fully gathered Earthling Class No. 1 went over their strategy one more time.
Before Saya had realized it, all was ready, the final step of the preparations being to send the drones ahead and above Nebula Park. Her set was placed across the deciduous area, her sister’s – over the pinewood area, her brother’s – over the Kisdeya River area and the sides of the park and her mother’s – above the rocky area.
When the quartet confirmed all their drones were in position, an additional indication that it was time to start the event came from the group at the base of the tower, who sounded like they had gotten really fired up during the strategy revision.
Hikaru’s mother wished she could postpone this event further, but she had duties to fulfill as the chief observer of the Class Battle, so delaying was no longer an option. Neither was worrying about her son. She needed to steel herself to make proper observations and comments as an observer. And to believe in her child with all her heart and soul as a mother.
Going down to send him off would only serve to distract her, so she chose not to, instead calling the whole class from atop the tower.
(Saya) ‘Enough talk, brats! Get yourselves ready! Yuki, get up here!’ – Yuki hugged Seiren and then Hikaru, waving to the rest of her classmates with a wink as she moved away from them, Saya giving the white-haired beauty a flare gun when she reached her – ‘Here you go. It sends up a flare to signal the Earthlings’ departure.
The Martians have a flare gun like this, too. When you see them fire their flare, you fire yours and announce the start of the Battle, OK?’ – after hearing that, Yuki looked a bit insecure at first, but regained her confidence soon enough and nodded, Saya setting her tablet aside for a moment to look at the group of hot heads gathered below her – ‘Earthling Class No. 1, are you ready?’
Whether it was because the head of the Summerbolt family as well as its other members were smiling confidently at them or because of how much faith they had in each other, all the Earthlings shouted as one at the observer group with equally excited smiles.
(The Earthlings) ‘Hell yeah!!!’
Saya rained small bright yellow flames on the students’ heads with her deva then, roaring at them with the full might of her lungs, every word she said imbued with her faith in them.
(Saya) ‘THEN GO FORWARD WITH THE SUMMERBOLTS’ BLESSING AND BLAST THIS PARK TO PIECES ALONG WITH YOUR OPPONENTS!!!! SHINE AS BRIGHT AS THE FLAMES RAINING ON YOU NOW!!! AND LET A NEW DAWN OF FREEDOM FOR SUNBIRD COME WITH YOUR VICTORY!!!!’
Hikaru and the rest shot up lightning bolts, beams of bright red fireworks, pale green energy projectiles, Daroid energy rays and many more deva attacks to demonstrate their resolve already made clear by how loud they were roaring, Saya turning to Yuki while the multi-deva barrage illuminated the area in a variety of colors.
(Saya) ‘Now wait for their flare.’ – within half a minute of her saying that, a flare was shot up in the sky in the distance and burst in a lot of red sparks, dark red and brown smoke, Miss Iceflame gulping and looking at Mrs. Summerbolt one more time to receive final confirmation – ‘Go, Yuki.’
The white-haired beauty pulled the flare gun’s trigger then, sending the Earthlings’ flare high up, where it burst in green sparks, dark blue and dark green smoke.
In the wake of the flare bursting was unleashed a roar that rivaled the might of Saya’s inspirational address and the likes of which she had never seen Yuki let out before.
(Yuki) ‘Earthling Class No. 1 vs. Martian Class No. 3!!! CLASS BATTLE START!!!’
Yuki’s class ran forward between the trees, Miss Iceflame looking at the image on Saya’s tablet when she could no longer follow them with her eyes, the drones showing their movement as seen from above.
Hikaru’s mother zoomed in on the image of the drone that had the best view of the group at this time, the structuring of that group being clearly visible now. Hikaru, Seiren, King and Tokura were moving in the front, Vega, Exo and two girls being at the back. Quartets of girls were placed on the sides with the core of the Earthling force consisting of the five remaining girls, including Annabel.
(Saya) ‘They’re moving with good speed so far. And are keeping a tight formation. How’re the Martians doing?’
(Rose) ‘They’ve made their move already, so we should see some action very soon.’
(Iziya) ‘Woah! Something passed through the pinewood area real fast! It looked like a couple of steam deva teleportations.’
(Graid) ‘Yeah, it was. Those three at the river did that.’
(Yuki) ‘There! I think it’s started!!’
The image in focus on Saya’s tablet showed how great amounts of pale bluish steam came at the Earthlings from the trees in front of them, blue dots appearing amid the vapor when it had spread enough.
Suddenly hundreds of orbs made of blue flames came out of the steam, all of them moving in pairs and the orbs in each pair rotating around the same axis with increasing speed. Their rotation speed soon became high enough for the orb pairs to become rings of fire, reaching the frontal assault quartet just then.
Tokura reacted first, directing his hands forward, which caused all the rings to be wrapped up in azure energy and then made to disappear. Their absence lasted only a couple of seconds, though, before they appeared some distance away from the pseudoknight’s classmates.
Upon reappearing, the rings cut down some trees in their way before breaking apart in tiny flames that were completely extinguished without setting anything ablaze.
Earthling Class No. 1’s ‘small’ battering ram proceeded to shield himself with his energy sphere that turned invisible after the fire rings were disposed of, shouting something at his classmates before teleporting forward with a burst of azure energy.
A hard right turn was made by the class group to go around the steam and continue beyond this area while the drones focused on where Tokura was showed how three silhouettes came forth amid the vapor that had already lessened in quantity.
Those silhouettes were revealed as three girls, two of them being twins who were rather short in stature, childish in appearance, with cyan hair tied in two pig tails, light blue eyes and lighter skin. The third one was much taller, with a dirty-blond bowl cut, cloud-gray eyes, average complexion and piercings at both ends of her lower lip.
Their outfits mirrored those of the Earthling group in design, the only difference being the color scheme. For them the colors were light red and dark brown with a blue band across the chest and on the sides of both legs of their shorts.
Seeing as how an actual battle was about to begin, Saya set her control tablet next to those of the others on the table in front of her and picked up her voice recorder, pressing a button on it to start the commentary.
(Saya) ’10:02:48 hours on 28th May, 59 A.O.A. Chief observer Saya Summerbolt starting the official commentary of the Class Battle between Earthling Class No. 1 and Martian Class No. 3 at the Nebula Park, Deckstoru.
Lara Jade and the Nelaz twins, also known as Martian Class No. 3’s Hera Trio, clashed with the Earthling group first.
They showed excellent use of their devas and their surrounding environment by going to Kisdeya River, where the twins used their blueflame devas to heat up the water and produce a lot of steam. That steam was then used to fuel Lara Jade’s steam deva and allow her to teleport all three over a great distance with just a couple of high-speed teleportations.
Tokura Braveheart remained behind to face them while his classmates continued forward, their frontal assault group having one member less now.’
As soon as Saya was done saying that, her younger sister joined the commentary using her own voice recorder, her younger brother and mother following suit as well.
(Iziya) ‘Earthling Class No. 1 has just entered the pinewood area, heading for the big field at its center.’
(Graid) ‘Three Martians have remained just beyond the Kisdeya River while the rest have already moved on to the pinewood.’
(Rose) ‘It appears the main forces of both classes are bearing down on the big central field. I wonder what the three left behind by the river plan on doing, though.’
(Yuki) ‘Our guys just reached the central field!’
As Mrs. Summerbolt kept her attention focused solely on the clash between Tokura and the Hera Trio, Yuki went over to Iziya’s side to see how things would develop at the park’s central area. And just a little bit later the white-haired beauty screamed so loud that Hikaru’s mother couldn’t afford to ignore her.
She looked at Iziya’s tablet to see how the advance of her son’s class across the field was halted when the ground under their feet crumbled. In the wake of that collapse was revealed a pit full of coral-colored crystal spikes, blades and stakes that had apparently been created beforehand.
Saya‘s lips could not move to comment on the situation’s development for all her energy had been redirected to her eyes, straining her vision to its limits to see every detail of what was happening on the field. To see Hikaru was alright.
Before she could confirm that, a typhoon quickly formed above the Earthlings and tens of meteors were rained down on them, both attacks smashing the group right in the masses of sharp crystals.
