Sensing the aggressive stance of Vorden, Leo simply smiled.
"Relax, you three." He replied as he reached them. "I mean you no harm."
Leo then turned to Quinn.
"What happened to your gauntlets, boy?" Leo asked. "They're no Beast Energy emitting from your hands."
Quinn's eyes widened. He had almost forgotten that he was no longer wearing the Basic-Tier Black Horned Gauntlets.
"Oh, they're…gone." He replied, looking away. He then looked back up at Leo. "I'm sorry, I'll pay you back."
Leo raised his hand, signalling Quinn to stop.
"Boy, there is no need." He replied. "Those weren't expensive to begin with. But for something to break a set of Beast Gear, you must have fought some pretty dangerous Beasts, then."
Quinn let out a nervous laugh. He wasn't really prepared for this and didn't really know howto answer.
"Oh, no. Nothing like that." He replied. "One of those rat Beasts jumped at me, and all I did was lift my arm up to defend myself. The Beast wouldn't let go, so I had no choice but to take them off and run."
Leo stared at Quinn for a moment before speaking.
"Quinn, do you remember what I said to you after we got out of that interrogation room last week?" He asked.
Quinn's eyes widened as Leo's words from that day flashed in his mind.
***
"Boy, your heart was beating so fast, it was starting to give me doubts that maybe you were hiding something."
***
'Crap.' Quinn thought, realizing that he had been caught red-handed. He gulped, and he was afraid of what the man might do next.
On the other side of the table, Vorden was getting ready to switch with Raten.
"Quinn, truth be told, I don't really carewhat you are." Leo said, causing the three boys to relax slightly. They all let out a sigh of relief. However, Leo then narrowed his eyes. "But, I do have one question for you. Are you on Humanity's side?" He asked.
***
Hearing Shizuka's words, Faye slammed her fist against the wall.
"Why them of all people?!" She muttered.
The "Big Four" families were the four strongest "Original" families. So strong that they could rival the military. However, even among the Big Four families, the Truedream family was a…unique case. They had a specialconnection with the military. This was because their leader, Jack Truedream, was a close business partner of the Supreme Commander. He possessed the ability to…steal Abilities. If anyone ever tried to rebel against the military, they would receive a visit from Jack Truedream. And after that…they would never be able to use their Ability again.
The only drawback of Truedream's Ability was that while he could take Abilities, he could not use them. He merely…stockpiled them. Because of this, he needed a strong ally. And that's why he got close to the military.
However, once he felt safe and protected, he started to gather his own men. He would give out the Abilities he had "collected" to those he trusted. And they, in turn, would feel grateful and indebted to him. But, there was always a fear in the back of Truedream's mind. A fear that he would be betrayed by his own men. With no powers of his own, he decided to stay at the military's side.
This fear kept people in line, as well as making people feel complacent in the System that the military had made. Although many didn't agree with their cruel ways and the "carrot and stick" approach the Military had with the Earth Ability, they had no choice.
Faye's face hardened.
"We can leave him here for now, but we should bring his body with us." She replied. "It'd be a pain, but the Truedream Family should feel grateful that we brought back one of their own."
With that, the group decided to leave Ian's torso in the room and followed the blood trail back into the arena.
***
Back in the arena, Quinn was thinking about the question Leo had just given him. Tsukuru's words had pretty much confirmed that Leo knew that there was something up with Quinn.
'If I answer him wrong, will he attack me?' Quinn thought. 'Or, maybe even turn me in?'
And even if Quinn lied to give Leo the answer he wanted, as their previous conversation had shown, Leo would know.
Everything about the current human society made Quinn feel sick to his very core. It wasn't just the military and the government, but the Originals, as well. Why did they only choose to reveal their powers right when the Humans were about to lose? If they had shown themselves soon, so MANY Humans could have lived. His parents…could have lived. And why did the military create this caste system that put everyone into categories? In a way, Tsukuru wasn't the only one who wanted to see the current society fall.
But…did he want everyone to die? No, he didn't. Did he want the Dalki to win the war? No, he didn't want that, either. And, now that he thought about it, Quinn was in a rather interesting position. He couldn't exactly call himself a Human anymore. And if the other humans found out what he was, would they accept him over to their side? Probably not. Humans were scared of the unknown.
Quinn then looked around, seeing Tsukuru and Vorden.
However, some people had. Such as his two friends here, as well as Layla. They all knew what he was, and they hadn't stopped speaking to him or treated him any differently. At that instant, Quinn knew his answer.
"I'm on my own side." He replied. "But there are people that I want to protect on this side, too."
Hearing Quinn's words, a wide smile appeared on Tsukuru's face.
In Ray's story, he had done something similar. He had grown up in a school similar to Military Base 2, but far worse. There, the school had been secretly under the control of the "Pure-Hearted", the "Pure" of that age. After ousting them and overtaking the school's council in one of the most hilarious things Tsukuru had ever read, he essentially overtook not only the school, but the city surrounding it, as well, creating his own faction, the "Red Wings".
"I think that's a perfect answer." Tsukuru replied under his breath, causing Vorden to glance towards him.
Leo heard his words as well. He glanced over at Tsukuru before turning back to Quinn. Looking at the boy, he stared at the bright, purple flame that was his strange aura. Leo then nodded.
"Yes." He replied. "I suppose it is."
***
Back with the rest of the retrieval team, they had finally made it into the Arena. As they did, they saw the three boys sitting at a large folding table, with Leo standing in front of Quinn.
However, before any of them could react, Shizuka sprinted past them like a rocket.
"TSU-TSU!"
Quinn and Vorden watched as a navy-blue streak hit Tsukuru like a guided missile.
"Agh!" Tsukuru screamed as he was knocked out of his seat.
Quinn and Vorden watched wide-eyed as the two Hikiko siblings tumbled across the floor, with Shizuka eventually ending up on top of him.
"Tsu-Tsu, don't you ever do something like that again!" Shizuka cried. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"
Shizuka wrapped Tsukuru in a tight embrace, hugging him. However, due to their height difference, rather than them hugging face-to-face, Tsukuru's face had ended up smashed into Shizuka's chest.
"Can't…breathe…" Tsukuru muttered as his face was starting to turn blue. Tsukuru found this scenario supremely ironic, as he had seen it numerous times in anime before. It was usually played off for laughs. But…now in the situation himself, he didn't find it very humorous.
At the same time, Deldashed forward and wrapped his arms around the remaining two boys.
"I'm so glad that both of you are safe!" He said, tears rolling down his face.
Quinn and Vorden thought that this was sweet. They didn't realize that their homeroom teacher cared about them this much.
However, the truth was far harsher. Del didn't care about them at all. He was filled with tears of joy that they could finally leave this place. He felt like the longer he stayed on his planet, the more likely he was to die. Especially after seeing Ian's corpse.
A moment later, the sound of electronic interference could be heard.
The others all snapped their heads towards the source of the noise. When they did, they saw pixels begin to appear behind Tsukuru. The pixels clustered together into the form of his Harpie Summon. There was a flash of light, and she fully appeared.
Instantly, she wrapped her arms around Tsukuru's waist and tried pulling him away from Shizuka.
"Lady Shizuka, I know you're happy to SEE HIM, but you're suffocating him!" She yelled, a strain in her voice as she tried to wrench her liege out of the Sergeant's grip.