When he first heard the helicopters, what Graid felt was fear. But not fear for himself as he had been in situations as bad as this, if not worse, before. The fear came when his eyes shifted from the horizon to his nephew and Yuki. He feared for the young ones.

Looking over at Zoran, he had only needed a few moments to get over the shock, his strategic mind seeming to already be planning what action to take from here on. The levelheadedness of the History teacher was something the Octohorn Ring’s owner had always been envious of, but never more so than in the present.

Rather than being composed, Graid couldn’t decide if he would better protect the brats by staying with them and taking them to safety or by clashing with the enemy head-on to draw them away from the civilians. When he had been in situations like this before, there had never been such impossible choices to make. The option had always been only one: fight. And fighting was much easier than what he currently had to go through, the panic in some of the youngsters’ voices only making things worse for him.

(Exo) ‘-This sound … there must be thousands of them out there … but how?!’

(Annabel) ‘-Something like this … it’s too much for us!!’

Hikaru’s uncle had tried not to look at any of the Martians’ faces up to that point, but after hearing the techno-genius’ shaking voice, he forced himself to look, seeing terror in almost all of them. Some of the boys along with Yuki seemed more angered than afraid, but all other members of their class were frozen with fear, no doubt already recollecting what they had experienced during the Class Battle.

The state of the Octohorn Ring’s clients was just about the same, all of them having fallen silent due to both confusion and dread of the sound they heard that kept growing louder.

Finally Graid turned his eyes to the sky above the sea again, now being able to not just hear, but see the silhouettes of thousands of aircrafts there. THEY were coming. They would soon reach the beach and only death and ruin would follow then unless someone stopped them. Unless someone protected all the people at the bar or rather, all the people in Deckstoru.

(Zoran) ‘-Graid. (the fastest Summerbolt looked at Sunbird’s former headmaster, whose expression was the embodiment of focus and determination) Getting everyone away from here, including the brats, should be our top priority.’

(Graid) ‘-I’ll deal with the clients, you handle the brats. (he stepped forward, raising his voice to make sure everyone in the vicinity heard him) Alright, everybody! I suggest we don’t just wait around to see what the thing making that sound is and get out of here! (some of the clients looked at him, but were still too confounded, forcing Graid to engage his fake angry mode by roaring at all of them while enveloping his body in Reloid and Daroid) RIGHT NOW, GOD DAMN IT!!!!’

That roar spurred the civilians into action, all of them getting up from their seats and heading toward the stairs that led to the seaside street that ran parallel with the beach, Zoran and the Martians arguing as he pushed them back.

(Reimei) ‘-Sensei, it seems everyone here but me knows what’s going on! Will you explain it to me in at least one sentence?!’

(Vega) ‘-What’s going on, Mei, is we’re in a lot of trouble!!’

(Zoran) ‘-All you Martians, listen to me. First, make sure all these people get out of here safely. Then find the nearest policeman and get them to tell you where the controller for the deva suppressor chips is currently located. You need to shut it down so the deviants in this city can go all-out in the coming battle. Headmistress Ilre lives nearby, so I’ll call her to help you. Once you’ve found out …’

(Hikaru) ‘-Hold on, sensei! Just what is this?! (he looked at Zoran, then at Graid and then back at Zoran) Are you two planning on staying here alone? While the rest of us simply turn our backs on the battle?!’

(Graid) ‘-We’ll be fine, Hikaru! Just do what Zoran tells you for now!!’

(Hikaru) ‘-Ever since we got back to school, we underwent rigorous training! And I and Yuki underwent a lot of training back home, too!! Wasn’t this the reason for all that training?! Weren’t you preparing us for the coming battle?! That battle is here now and I’m not about to leave you when we’re on the verge of war!!!’

That may have indeed been the intention of both Zoran and the Summerbolts when they had started the former Earthlings’ training program post-Class Battle, but the current circumstances had changed Graid’s opinion on the matter. At the present time he didn’t care how prepared the brats thought they were, but only cared about ensuring their safety, even against their will. With that intent and a face overtaken by blazing fury, he grabbed his nephew by the shoulder and pulled the mad genius to himself, roaring at Hikaru more than he ever had.

(Graid) ‘-If you don’t want to die, you’ll do exactly as you’re told!!! There’s no time for any of this!!’

The dual-compound user did not yet know how on the spot his last statement was, realizing that when he heard the sound of something flying over his head. It was actually a number of things – larger missiles and smaller rockets, hundreds of them having been launched at once, hitting the Octohorn Ring as well as many other structures across the beach and some on the streets beyond it. The blasts caused by the first wave of the attack were not only very powerful but pale green in color to the last one, further terrifying Zoran’s students. That terror provided an excellent opportunity, however, as it distracted the brats long enough for their homeroom teacher to teleport them on a nearby street with a burst of his phoenix flames.

The timing of the teleportation was also excellent as the burning remains of the bar fell apart seconds later, Graid bearing witness to this after he jumped aside with Zoran.

All the crystal horns crumbled to pieces along with the pedestals they were on, the chairs shattering to splinters shot in all directions, the fire finally consuming the establishment’s main ring. The pale green flames ate away at the pillar in the main ring’s center, eventually the eight-horned octopus statue with a ring around each tentacle falling in the sand where the fire mutilated it as well.

Despite the threat of imminent invasion, the fastest Summerbolt couldn’t help but stare at the destruction brought upon one of his favorite places in Deckstoru. A place he had built from nothing all by himself, had ran for years and had many fond memories of.

All of it was now gone – a fate that would soon be shared by many other beautiful places throughout the city, Hikaru’s uncle feared. Every piece of infrastructure was insignificant compared to the lives of the people, however, Graid’s focus returning to that as he realized he and Zoran were now finally alone.

(Graid) ‘-Thanks for teleporting those brats out of here. They were getting on my nerves. (he stepped forward on the sand, cladding himself in his energy compounds more and more) Now, deviants can use up to 50% output under extreme circumstances, right?’

(Zoran) ‘-That’s right. But such circumstances first need to be recognized to grant permission to reduce the chips’ suppressing effect.’

(Graid) ‘-How long do you think before they do that?’

(Zoran) ‘-Probably until a neighbourhood or two are burnt down. And anyway, even 50% won’t be enough against this. That’s why it’s imperative someone gets to that controller as soon as possible and breaks it to bits.’

(Graid) ‘-Don’t waste any more time and call Neana so she can help the brats, then. Meanwhile, I’ll go shake the first wave of bastards up.’

(Zoran) ‘-Will you be able to hold out alone while I make the call?’

(Graid) ‘-Hold out, old man? (he turned to look at the History teacher one last time, increasing his output to reach around 70%) They just destroyed the Octohorn Ring. (he shot himself forward like a Reloid-Daroid projectile, throwing sand all around and cracking the earth underneath it) You better hope there’ll be some left by the time you join the fray!!!’ 

No enemy craft had landed yet, which meant the battle was going to take place in the sky. Graid hadn’t fought an actual battle in the air in a very long time, so he was much more used to moving fast on the ground, this being an adtantage for his enemies. The good part about having the battle take place above land was that the civilians near the shore were going to have more time to evacuate and that was more important than anything else.

Soon enough the bartender had gained enough momentum by running to fly up, clearly seeing the crafts of the enemy forces now, the nearest ones being of two types. There were the jet-like ones that had a cockpit in the center with black wings on both sides roughly in the shape of two halves of a kite and two engine exhausts at the back placed vertically next to each other – those resembled black hearts if one applied enough imagination.

They were more manoeuvrable, but with less firepower compared to the other vessels in the air – the heavier and better armed grayish helicopter-type crafts. They differed from normal helicopters by how pronounced the segmentation between their three parts (cockpit, trooper area, tail) was as well as the fact the better part of their tails was covered by an armored compartment, that compartment and the cockpit having a sharp point right at the end. Just like the jets were most reminiscent of hearts, these were most similar in shape to wasps.

The missiles from earlier had been fired by the black hearts’ six-shot missile launchers on the front part of each wing and the rockets – by the heliwasps’ 19-shot rocket pods, more of those being fired at Graid now along with attacks of other types. Those attacks included firing the energy miniguns on both sides of the black hearts’ cockpit and 50 cal standard munition guns inside the trooper area of the heliwasps who also shot energy beams out of the minicannons on both sides of the cockpit. The combination of the rotor and engine sounds with that of the barrage unleashed produced a deafening roar that shook the skies, the light of the blasts being almost blinding.

It was through that barrage Graid would have to make his way if he was to reach any of the fiering crafts and bring them down and that didn’t worry him one bit. Fueled by a lust for revenge and a duty to protect, he charged at all the attacks head-on with the sheer madness of a true Summerbolt.

While not being able to move as fast as on the ground, the dual energy cloak around the bartender still gave him a certain amout of acceleration, managing to dodge most of the bullets. The rest were deflected along with the energy beams and explosions from the missiles and rockets by the Reloid might of his fists as he swung again and again, being given great cover by all the smoke that had risen from the barrage.

The enemies had not noticed, but from the moment he had reached the sky, he had been spreading particles of his energy compounds across a wide area, those particles adhering to the crafts and allowing him to pinpoint their exact location. In short, with the veil of smoke in the sky the villains could not see him, but Graid could see all of them.

As he closed his eyes, everything around him turned black, amid that blackness mixtures of scarlet and jungle green energy forming here and there, taking the shape of the heliwasps and black hearts’ outlines. The counterattack could now begin.

Hikaru’s uncle came out of the smoke, launching Reloid-Daroid projectiles in all directions to block the next wave of attacks coming at him and distract the enemy, successfully reaching one of the black hearts, grabbing it by the hull. He hadn’t picked up something so heavy in many years, so Graid needed a moment to reaffirm that he could easily manipulate such weights before throwing it at another craft of the same type.

He flew beyond the explosion caused by that, not paying attention to the burnt-up body of the pilot that fell down toward the sea as he sped up a little more, piercing straight through three heliwasps one after the other. Stopping a few meters short of the following blasts, the Octohorn Ring’s owner saw another black heart flying toward him being blown up, which brought a smile to his face. Zoran had joined the battle, which was good for his comrade as he couldn’t keep flying with his deva at only 70% for much longer and thought it too early to go at 100% yet.

Thunder echoed in the sky, but looking over at the clouds in the distance they didn’t seem to be of the cumulonimbus type, Graid guessing his enemies had finally decided to send deviants at him, seeing as how their crafts were no match for him. The source of the thunder turned out to be Hikaru, having hopped on a surf made of lightning along with Yuki, the fact that he had created and was steering such a thing meaning the mad genius had already gone beyond the 15% he was allowed to use. Soon enough another blast occurred, this time bringing an end to a heliwasp, Seiren’s cloud-like creation made of vermillion fireworks coming out of it with him and Reimei on top. Finally pale red – orange flames spread in the sky, Zoran flying over the dual-compound user’s head with his phoenix wings and crushing in another group of crafts.

With the enemy’s attention being drawn to the former headmaster the uncle got a chance to scold his nephew, wasting no time to take advantage of this.

(Graid) ‘-Just what do you think you’re doing here?!?!! And you even brought others with you?!’

(Hikaru) ‘-You didn’t really think I’d run and let you and Lawell-sensei fight alone, did you? And I didn’t bring anyone. These three decided to come despite me trying to convince them to leave with the others.’

(Yuki) ‘-I wasn’t just about to let two Summerbolts die in front of me because of their stupidity.’

(Seiren) ‘-I’m here for Yuki.’

(Reimei) ‘-And I’m here for Hikaru.’

(Graid) ‘-None of that matters!!! This is not like the Class Battle or anything else you’ve ever been through!!!’

(Hikaru) ‘-And you’ve been through something like this, then?!’

(Graid) ‘-I wouldn’t be fighting now if I hadn’t!!! You’re expected to kill if you enter this battle!!!’

(Hikaru) ‘-Yu told me we’re up against dead men, so I already know I have to kill them! If that’s what it takes to protect you and our city, then I’ll do it!!!’

(Graid) ‘-But you don’t have to!!! You’re still a child!!!’

(Hikaru) ‘-I’m as much a citizen of Deckstoru and a Summerbolt as you!!! We share the same duties, no matter our age!!!’

The mad genius ended the conversation, splitting a black heart with a lightning disk while throwing spears made of his deva at other crafts, the three youngsters with him following suit as more attackers engaged Graid. While dodging and blocking their attacks, he was still able to observe how the quartet’s members performed.

Reimei crushed waves in the soldiers operating the 50 cal guns of a couple of heliwasps, spreading the water from those waves inside the crafts to further distract the soldiers there, meanwhile Seiren creating blasts shaped like hydra heads from his fists to blow up all the distracted opponents.

Hikaru sent Yuki through the air, the baby doll spinning while shooting blades, spikes and needles of very hard ice from her body, each type of weapon quite large in size, those attacks hitting many opponents around her. With the precision she had developed and the lack of remorse for the undead resulting from her previous clash with their kind, all the soldiers she targeted were killed. After executing that attack, she didn’t seem one bit worried about falling down, the reason for that being Graid’s nephew flying under her with his surf to pick her up with perfect timing.

All four brats continued to other surrounding vessels, more and more of them converging on the troublesome four, Zoran dealing with plenty of opponents himself while Graid thought over his current situation in the middle of the melee in the skies.

In truth, he knew all too well how Hikaru felt. He too had once been a boy ordered to stay away from battle by his family that had still charged right at the enemy ranks. His stubbornness had been so great that no one had managed to take him away from the fight and everyone had eventually accepted that he was going to participate as much as any other warrior.

What was different was that in the present the uncle could see things from the other side’s perspective as well. He was now the older one seeing the young ones exposing themselves to danger, finally learning how the old dogs of his time had felt back in the day. On the one hand, Hikaru, Yuki, Seiren and Reimei all seemed as only children to him and all he wanted was to keep them safe, no matter how much they wished to fight.

On the other hand, he had seen how well they had performed and it made him feel something he hadn’t experienced in a long time. Graid had never fought alongside his nephew like this and there was a thrill to fighting against an insurmountable threat with one’s family , the feeling of which had no rival. Experiencing that once again in the present, Graid was barely able to resist the urge to give into the thrill completely despite knowing it was wrong.

In the end, he shot over right to where Hikaru and Yuki were, grabbing two rockets launched at them from behind before either of the youngsters could react, containing the explosions with his two energy compounds as the duo turned to him. Whether they were surprised by the fact they were saved by the bartender of by the huge and wild grin on his face, he couldn’t say. All he knew for certain was that he would not be able to forgive himself if he did not allow his nephew and the rest to answer the call of the battle, especially after seeing how well they had performed so far. So all he could do was answer that call alongside them, being an example for the next generation to ensure they would survive this as the previous generation had once inspired him.

(Graid) ‘-Alright, then, brats! Let’s see what you’ve got! Any of you get hurt, though, I’ll throw you in the sea, no questions asked!!’

He now saw mirror versions of his grin on Hikaru and Yuki’s faces.

(Hikaru) ‘-Make sure not to get wounded yourself first!!

(Yuki) ‘-Time to avenge the Octohorn Ring!!!’