Chains Of Pride

Kia always did have an appreciation towards nature, and like most places nowadays, Cendo Academy tended to grow with nature rather than without it. There were trees scattered throughout Anctum with an easily navigable forest here and there.

Of course, there were benches and such within for one to sit and rest if need be. It was even known that some lovers were known to frequent these locations for a bit of a 'rendezvous' whenever the mood struck.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to breathe the clean air, and even wished to hear the birds singing, something that happened every now and again on random days. However, the screams from the group that tried to stop them before did not allow that last wish to come true.

He got annoyed at this point and opened one eye and looked to the side, he saw that none of them was stabbed, but they were definitely beaten senseless. He smiled when he saw this "Hmm he has self-control, he's a bit cold but certainly worth befriending."

"PWEASHE!! Shtap we won't caush pwobems anymoah!!" Xiao Yu begged for mercy unable to take anymore as Gero unleashed a large amount of his fury on him, specifically on his face which was now swollen beyond recognition.

Gero was not satisfied with this as it had been a long time since he found someone to speak with that did not exhibit the traits of class dependency and the stink of discrimination, and now the very same thing he hated, chose to disturb the little peace he managed to find.

However, just as he was about to land another blow on the legs of another of Xiao Yu's cohort, a hand landed on his shoulder, which froze his actions. He didn't turn around when he felt this, already knowing who it was, well it wasn't like there was anyone else around for the most part.

"You're gonna kill em if you continue y'kno? I mean you didn't necessarily stab them which is good, but let's leave this mess as the admission fee for our viewers shall we?" Kia was trying to get Gero to stop mostly so that he could still make it in time for the Sequence.

"Hahahahahaa busted! Okay hahaha, I like them, and that Kia is perceptive!! No doubt about it, they are something else, can't feel em returning to the origin, but they got you!! Hahaha. When are you gonna take them under your wing? You know the Organization will take them when they find them if you don't act now."

Vizio was laughing when she witnessed everything that just happened and couldn't help from holding her gut from how hard she was laughing.

"I'll go to that Sequence before I decide how I'll move forward, even though they are different in many aspects, I still have to make sure they are worthy of my full efforts." He paused for quite some time, watching how Kia and Gero walked away from the bodies with the Armis in tow, and to Vizio's surprise, released a faint smile.

"Hhmm let's get those fools who followed that idiot's commands to the medical ward before they suffer some lasting damage, they should be fine in a little over a week. Only looks like some broken bones here and there, that kid is brutal enough. Anyways, they should be good in a week or so, probably less. But those pieces of shit really think they can use me as their personal clean up with no consequences, we'll see about that!"

"Why the hell should I help you with this?! They're your protégés, not mine, do it yourself." she pouted when she said this obviously not pleased that he wanted her to help him in lugging limp bodies through the Academy like a coroner.

Vizio just watched from the side and shook her head. The Takeshi from back then wouldn't let anything get to him like now, she thought to herself that maybe these three boys were good for him in ways he didn't even know.

Gero looked back at where he left the wailing digiums to the side like some pieces of refuse. "You sure we're good leaving them like that? I mean I'm pretty sure all of them have something broken, whether it be their bones or their dignity I can't say I care which."

There were cameras all over the Academy yes, but the sheer acreage of the island made it hard for each and every area to be monitored exclusively, plus they were in front of Building A, not a blind area mind you, but seen as a zone where nothing should happen, since it was in front of Building A.

The only reason why Xiao Yu chose to act as unbridled as he did, was simply because the area was more or less vacant, what with Engage taking place and all.

"Don't worry about it, for now, I don't think we're gonna hear the end of this anyway, but let it be, for the time being, trust me...Ah, good stuff, there's the bike hub. Let's get moving, those guys in Pelerion must be sweating buckets, we're probably gonna hear from them soon.

As soon as Kia and Gero hooked up the hangar to the bike, they took off at top speed, and just as Kia expected, his transmitter vibrated with Omni informing him that Lanzo was calling. Since he foresaw this, he told Omni to accept the call and hooked the transmitter to the dashboard in front of him.

Lanzo's image popped up on the screen, but before Lanzo even got the chance to say anything, Kia advised him not to worry and that they were only 20 mins away before disconnecting.

"Hahaha! so Gero, thinking about it like this, I guess those other rumours about you beating the living shit out of Phoolesh Akiru and his pawns were true after all?" Since they connected their bikes to better tow the hangar, it also granted them the feature of being able to converse with each other through the bike's intercom.

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, they should keep a better leash on their dog is all," Gero said only this much and nothing more, regressing to his non-talkative ways.

Kia didn't mind this, knowing that this was just how he is. 17 minutes later they made it to the Arena and after providing their ID's and the reason for their entry being the not fake Armis on the hangar behind them. They swiftly made their way to Proelius's waiting room and soon after making their presence known through the door's comlink.

After a few moments, it opened up to reveal Captain Himiya with a stern expression; apparently, he was not pleased being made to wait during such an important event. "Get in."

Only one sentence was uttered but was done in such an overbearing way that both Kia and Gero didn't take too kindly to it, they were just about to respond to it, but stopped when they saw Lanzo staring in their direction and telling them not to mind it and to enter.

Reluctantly they made their way inside and saw every member looking in their direction with a tense expression, though they understood the reason for it, it didn't mean they had to like it.

"If you guys were any later I'm pretty sure all the guys here would start shitting bricks," Lanzo said in an indifferent tone, he took the initiative to approach them when he felt the odd mood. They were after all infamous within the Academy in their own way, coupled with the fact that they came in so late with a pivotal piece of equipment needed for a sequence that was starting in less than half an hour.

"Forget it, no more small talk, you two just unload that Armis right now! Lanzo, everybody's already engaged with their suit, get in yours, we already know the strategy, we did it a 100 times in the simulator."

At this, he looked in Kia and Gero's direction "we have little time as it is, so we can't waste any more!" Captain Himiya was understandably angry and couldn't help but just ready everyone as quickly as he can.

Gero, only lazily replied. "Aye Captain."

"Uhm yeah no..." This small objection came from Kia and froze everyone in place just as quickly as they got in motion.

"Excuse me?" The Captain was visibly shaken when heard this, when was the last time someone objected to his commands, here he was law, and everyone here followed his orders without exception. Well...except with Gero, for some reason, even though he gave orders to the fighter, it felt more like he did it simply because he wanted to, but he didn't mind since, in the end, he got what he wanted.

Kia's next few words would send the Captain in a rage. Pointing with his thumb behind him he stated, "This suit, and uh follow my fingers here," switching to his index finger he pointed in Gero's direction "is for him".

"WHAT!!!"