Little Battlers eXperience (Revised ver.)

Paradise

As they were happily chatting amongst themselves about the success on the space battle earlier, Ban, Hiro, and Ran were called in by Professor Yamano. Not long after, a yellow beam narrowly missed them and passed through their right. Takuya's voice came and ordered for them to brace for turbulence.

To think we're already within their radar... "That was fast." Eva muttered as she buckled herself up.

Jin was right beside her, nodding. "Paradise is close. We just have to hold on."

"Yeah, literally."

Soon, their calm ride turned into that of a rollercoaster's. The same yellow beams as before were just barely missing them. Professor Oozora and Otacross came in, ran across the cockpit and headed for the front. How they had managed to keep their balance the entire time was a mystery they had no time to think about, as the Duck Shuttle continued to dodge more lasers before eventually slowing to a stop right below the satellite.

They watched from the monitor as Ikaros Zero, Ikaros Force, and Minerva Kai destroyed Paradise' hangar door. The Duck Shuttle landed inside, and upon his mother's orders, Hiro went to a panel and had Ikaros Force extract information.

The three returned to the cockpit, where they all greeted them warmly.

"I knew you'd pull through." Kazu praised.

"It's only thanks to our LBXs." Ban replied.

"Hiro, your prize is this tomato juice." Asuka came up to hand him one.

Hiro gave a confused smile. "Thank you...?"

Before any of them could catch a break, Otacross appeared on screen. "All of you, look at this!"

"These are Paradise' blueprints?" Whether Jin meant it as a statement or a question didn't matter. They all already knew.

"Adam and Eve's control room is located here."

"It's in the dead center." Ami muttered.

"The only way to get to the control room is to stop the four amplifiers and use the elevator system." The four branching parts of the map colored itself yellow. "But there's just one problem. In order to stop the amplifiers, we have to get rid of the devices that control them. However, those devices are surrounded by lasers that humans can't get past." The image enhanced to one of the branches, showing a rough draft of the lasers' positioning.

"So that means we'll have to use LBXs." Yuuya stated.

Otacross' face reappeared. "Exactly. We don't have much time, so you'll break up into four teams and destroy them all at once."

"Right!"

~~~~~

They all got into proper air-tight suits, fit for short-term space travel. The top hatch of the shuttle opened and one by one they hopped out. The adults led the way, opening the doors leading into the satellite.

Professor Yamano turned back to them. "There's only one hour left until the laser finishes recharging." He said over their built in communications channel. "Let's hurry!"

Once they reached the other side, they were able to take off their suits, allowing free movement. Professor Oozora called out to Eva, showing her a panel.

"Use this to close the hangar with the emergency barricades." She ordered. "I could do it, but we don't have much time. You're the only one who can do this in seconds."

Jin nearly voiced his disagreement, but stopped himself when Eva made her way over, hardly hesitating. That surprised him. There were more people now than there were last year. Was she really comfortable with showing that ability in front of them all?

The others turned to one another before Hiro raised his voice. "Mom, what are you-"

He froze when sparks appeared on her palm. The professor took a step back and the blonde girl placed her hand on the panel. Its screen flashed white before some kind of coding appeared, scrolling faster than they could comprehend. In mere moments, it all disappeared, looking like nothing happened.

She let out a small smile. "There. I reactivated the ventilation too, so we can breathe without the suits when we want to get back in."

"Good job, Eva."

"What..." Asuka wasn't the only one who had her mouth hanging open.

"...was that?" Jessica did too. And so did the rest of the group. Or at least, those who never knew of her ability did.

Those who did, like Ban, was worried for her, remembering how tired she became back when he first saw her using it. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, I'm fine. I had a lot of practice."

"Are you sure?" Jin's tone showed more than just his concern, but her smile never faded.

"It's a story for a later date." She nodded at the others. Whether it was confusion, shock, or even fear running through their veins, it didn't matter at the moment. They have to focus on the task in hand.

Both professors nodded at each other before leading the way. Otacross guided them with the data from Ikaros Force. They were doing well, that is, until a certain duo got in their way.

~~~~~

Niara watched the blonde throw a D-egg, the field expanding wide enough to block the rest from getting through. They were talking to someone through a channel regarding another passage. Seeing how they didn't turn back, it looks like there aren't any.

"Niara..." She blinked when her name was called on. "You're Niara Levanov, right?"

Oh. It's her. "Yeah. That's me alright." No matter how hard she tried, her words didn't have as much cheer as she'd like it to.

"I didn't get to introduce myself properly last time." The blonde stuck her hand out with a smile. "I'm Evangeline Mech. You can call me Eva if you'd like."

She took it. "I kinda knew that already since you were at last year's Artemis, but I won't turn down a friendly greeting."

The younger girl seemed to be struggling to speak, but before she could ask- "We heard about Worthen. I'm sorry for your loss."

That surprised her. She was sorry? It was her enemy that died, so shouldn't she be overjoyed? Not only that, but- I'm also her enemy. Why is she showing pity?

She cracked into a small smile. "Yeah well... Thanks. Honestly, I don't know what I'm gonna do after this. I just followed Kirito around because..." She stopped herself short. Because what? Only now did she realize she had no answer for herself. What was it again? Was it because she didn't want to lose another home? What led her to that conclusion? Just because he hadn't kicked her out, doesn't mean he wouldn't do so.

Her stomach went up in knots. Kicked out... It hadn't even hit her that she could be thrown away at any moment. Especially after he 'revives' her... Kirito's whole journey was to complete a computer chip that is supposedly able to give androids human-like emotions. The android he had in his room was meant to be a replacement of the girl he fell in love with. The whole idea had always been ridiculous to her, but now... What if it could actually do that? He might just be using her this whole time, and would dispose of her when his goal was achieved.

"Niara?" Her head snapped back to reality. The red eyes she was staring into seemed innocent, but she could feel it piercing through her. "Are you okay?"

She scanned the hallway again. No one was behind them and the rest of NICS' group were focused on the battle shown in their CCMs. She took a deep breath. "Eva, battle me."

"...Alright."