"Tensei, pay attention!"

I snap out of my reverie and return my focus to the scene in front of me. Sera scowls at me with her arms folded across her chest while Rose and Kira are listening to the briefing being given by Representative Michael through the headsets each of us are wearing, both to hear each other and to block out the noise of the helicopter's engines. We had boarded the helicopter at SOPO HQ and were now making our way as the crow flies towards Charlie Mountain. From the helicopter's window, I can make out the combined SOPO and ORPO formation made out of patrol cars and armored vehicles rushing into the Charlie Mountain District to deal with the threat that had triggered the citywide klaxons.

Michael gives me an apologetic smile and asks, "Penny for your thoughts? You seem distracted."

"I'm just worried about Irene, sir." I say, "Don't mind me." Irene is somewhere down there, in the middle of the SOPO column. My mind has been thrown into turmoil lately regarding her, and its all my fault.

Ever since I have started ... seeing ... Sera, I have continued meeting with Irene in private as well. And I think Irene suspects something. Just the other night, she told me that she wouldn't mind making way if I ever met my true love. My heart broke upon hearing this statement. Does Irene think so little of me, that I would throw her aside just like that?

Never. Ever since our first time together, I swore that I would take responsibility. I will never leave Irene. Just as I will never abandon Sera to her demons. Now more that ever, I must defeat Nicholas and claim my inheritance. That is the only way I can make a place for both of them, not just in my heart, but in the world as well. I clench my fist hard, my determination renewed.

Rose pouts, "I thought Tensei was admiring our clothes, but it turns out he was thinking about an old woman."

"No! No!" I quickly reassure, "You look great Rose. Though I have been wondering, why is our armor designed like this?"

I call it armor, but what Rose, Sera and I are wearing is better described as a black skin tight body suit with an extremely sheer cut. The armor seems to accentuate our respective figures, bringing out our profiles in the most flattering light. Rose has been preening at her curves ever since donning the armor back at SOPO HQ while Sera looks embarrassed at the attention the armor draws to her well proportioned chest.

Michael grins and replies, "Like it? Its a skintight advanced polymer weave. The material will protect you from the digestive juices of the Alpha One while the tight, light design enables you to move swiftly around the battlefield. The armor is hot off the fabricators at Ascension Tower, custom made for each of you."

Sera grumbles while trying to hide her bosom with her arms, "Why doesn't Kira have a set then? She's lounging back there in casual clothes."

Kira barely notices Sera's complaint as her attention is totally consumed with staring at me. "I like the armor." she mumbles in a far off voice, drool beginning to leak from her mouth. I feel heat rise to my cheeks and lay my hands over my crotch, to the annoyance of Kira who gives a ill tempered huff.

Michael gently shakes Kira by the shoulder, breaking the trance she is in to my relief. He then answers, "Kira's place is here with me. Also be grateful that I am wearing a business suit and not the armor. You wouldn't want to see me in that get-up."

We laugh at that weak joke, some of the tension dissipating. Michael's face then turns serious and he explains, "SOPO and ORPO will establish a secure perimeter around the Alpha One. Kira will then stun it with her magic from the helicopter. That's the reason why she won't need the armor."

Sera fiddles with the medical injector that had been issued with the armor and remarks, "Then we are supposed to drop on top of the Alpha One and sedate it right? Why not let SOPO do it directly?"

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Michael shakes his head, "Its for their safety and yours. Our experts tell us that the Alpha One is agitated by the presence of large numbers of mages. A small elite team is the safest way of handling this matter."

"Why not just destroy the Alpha One?" I ask, "Its obviously a danger to The City as a whole."

"Again, for safety reasons." Michael sighs, "Fighting it would cause too many civilian casualties, and that's not mentioning collateral damage. Sedating the Alpha One was deemed the neatest way of handling the threat. I will arrange for the Alpha One to be taken away once it has dozed off."

"Don't worry Tensei!" Kira pumps her fists in a cheer, "My magic has gotten much stronger. I should be able to keep the monster stunned long enough for you to do your part."

"Thanks." I smile gratefully at Kira, "We'll be counting on you."

Rose gives an annoyed scowl at Kira before turning to me, "She's just going to be sitting pretty up in the sky you know. There are people that are going to be fighting alongside you."

Before a quarrel can break out, Michael cuts in, addressing me directly, "Tensei, thank you for agreeing to help us. I know that I promised to render aid with regards to your contest against your brother, but I am already receiving favors from you before delivering on my part. I, no, the entire City is indebted to you." Michael concludes by solemnly bowing his head at me.

I shake my head vigorously, "I came on my own accord. You had originally just asked Kira to help right? No way am I going to let her face that kind of danger alone. So you don't owe me anything."

"Oh Tensei." Kira sighs, her cheeks blushed and a hand laid gently over her chest.

Sera coughs and raps the scabbard of her saber against the helicopter's deck to get our attention. "And no one here would allow Tensei to face this danger on his own right?" she says sweetly.

Rose links her arm through mine and glares daggers at both Kira and Sera as she delcares, "Of course not. Tensei still needs to do his duty as part of my family."

I feel my body begin to overheat from all the stares directed at me and quickly find a topic to distract everyone with, "Uh, how did the Alpha One show up anyway?"

"No one knows." Michael says gravely, "Reports say it just appeared at the Grand Boulevard and began eating people. We will probably have a clearer picture once things calm down."

I look out of the window again and see that the SOPO and ORPO formations have separated from each other and formed a circular cordon with both groups sealing their respective flank. And in the middle of the cordon, among the abandoned cars and fleeing civilians is a heaving lump of, what I guess is meat?

"That's the Alpha One?" I ask all the while trying to keep my bile from rising. The lump of meat thrashes about in the middle of a wide road lined with palm trees, its multiple limbs grabbing frantically at something. Multiple faces line the body of the Alpha One and it frantically tries to shove whatever in its hands into its army snapping mouths.

"Father!" Sera cries in alarm as she recognizes the figure that the Alpha One is attempting to swallow. "We need to do something now!" she demands, looking squarely at Michael.

Michael hurriedly nods at Kira who busies herself with the audio equipment that the helicopter is equipped with. Hopefully the boost from those massive speakers mounted on the copter's exterior will be enough for Kira's song to subdue the Alpha One. I then notice a man clad in a familiar trench coat crawling away from the Alpha One on all fours.

Gallant. I don't know what he is doing here, but that coward is going to abandon Sera's dad to die. Heat fills my body, not from embarrassment this time, but from anger. Gallant is strong, I know that for a fact. But now he's only interested in saving himself. Disgusting. Unforgivable. I shudder at the possibility that we may have some connection to each other.

The melody of Kira's song is carried away by the helicopter's speakers and the Alpha One immediately slumps to the ground, freeing Sera's dad from its grip. He rolls bonelessly across the road, no doubt feeling the effects of Kira's song as well. While I am curious why Sera's dad is naked, that question can wait. We need to sedate the Alpha One first. I nod to my friends as Michael slides open the helicopter's door and throws down a length of rope for us to disembark.

As the cold wind hits my face, Rose squeezes my shoulder and points at the scene below. Following her finger, my stomach drops at the sight of Gallant staggering towards a wrecked cab and rifling through its opened boot. That should not even be possible. The Alpha One and Sera's dad have both been stunned by Kira's song. Is this Gallant's real strength?

Gallant pulls out a long gun from the cab's boot and brandishes it at the Alpha One. No! That idiot will just provoke the Alpha One into fighting. We need to stop him, now!

I hook the armor's safety harness on to the rope and slide down without hesitation. As the scenery before me blurs from the speed of my descent, I hear the loud boom of an explosion coupled with the enraged roar of the Alpha One.

Late. I'm too late to stop Gallant from attacking the Alpha One. But I can still save Sera's dad.

I can still save everyone.