“Ready, Owan?” Elf calls out.

    “Just like we practiced, yeah?” is the response.

    Looking at his other partner, Elfie sighs and gives a laborious, “Ready, Paul?”

    “Let’s hit it, Elf,” Paul calls out confidently.

    As the boys count the enemy, they see it’s six students versus five Ultimen and a Powered.  “Whatever you do, guys,” Elfie loudly advises, “don’t let the Powered grab you, or you’ll be fighting for the wrong side.”  Having done this, the ethical elf boy contacts his mom with a very important question.  “I know these aren’t real Ultimen, but do we need to worry about using lethal force on them?”

    The reply quickly comes.  “I know you know the biblical difference between ‘Thou shalt not murder’ and the properly sanctioned settings for otherwise, such as self-defense and warfare, but even so, these are only practice bots, so don’t hold back, baby.”

    And there you have it, this is a simulation, so no real Ultimen are hurt, and it is based on a war setting, so we’re good.  This means the boys can go all out, even if their weapons are toned down for their own safety anyway.  The three young men put their strategy to work, Paul distracting with his speed while Owan’s Crimson Cannon and Elf’s blade add to the fray.  Of course, the Ultimen are no chumps, so the guys are going to have to be tricky if they want to win.  As far as the numbers are concerned, Elf and his teammates are attempting to keep the five smaller foes busy so the girls can focus on simply avoiding the big boy while they slowly hit him with energy shots.  Unfortunately, one of the Ultimen managed to get to the girls, so they’re having to fight this foe as well.

    Seeing how well the guys are working together, even with Paul’s clumsiness, Gigi yells to the other gals, “Hey, are we going to let the men show us up, or what?”  Grace then fires a stream of sharp, horizontal rings of energy at the giant machine, but only does minimal damage.  “Aw, snot!  That attack looked so much cooler in the catalogue!”

    Nearby, Faye was excited about working with her sister, but is stuck getting along with Kammy C. as they dance with the pesky Ultiman.  This is actually a female fire user, which is why she was so determined to fight the girls.  I guess that makes her an Ultiwoman.  At any rate, this is the girl that’s annoying Faye and K.C.

    “You think I’m scared of fire?” taunts Faye, “You realize fire attacks are some of the oldest, most useless attacks, don’t you?”  And lest you think our girl is getting herself into trouble, I’ll inform you that she’s not bluffing here.  Something about fighting an opponent with fire attacks gives her a bit of confidence to the point she does have to resist the urge to fake getting burned just to surprise attack her foe.  She’s having fun, but she doesn’t want to get too cocky.

    Kammy doesn’t see it that way.  “Faye, stop bragging and do your job, please!”

    “Sorry….”

    Only a nanosecond later, the two turn when they hear Gigi shrieking.  What they see is the girl running up the arm of the Powered, having narrowly escaped being captured, and Gracie is furious.  “Oh, yeah?  Well, if you wanted to get closer, how’s this do for ya?!”  Once she gets close to the head, she starts firing away, which pesters the automaton, but doesn’t really harm it.  “Hmm, maybe I should try the eyes.  Or maybe Mom can stop nerfing our powers to be all childproof.  Oh, well.”

    We return to the guys’ side of the fight and analyze their opponents a little more closely.  The four male Ultimen are a Jungle Man, an Ani Ultiman, a dude with wings and, just for Entoni Franklin, an elf.  Sure, there are more powerful Ultimen to choose from, but Duplica didn’t want to overdo it.  She thought about a speedster for Paul, but decided against it in case Paul’s speed proved to be essential to the class surviving.  See?  She’s not totally heartless.

-Next Page-

-Previous Page-