Part 5: Fever Pitch

-CAMBRIDGE INT'L AIRPORT, ENGLAND-

Cecilia stepped out of the Terminal 3 bathroom, trying to escape the memories of the renegade and the maid that shall not be named, in her words. She came to the front lobby, expecting to be welcomed back with open arms.

Instead, everyone ignored everything and paid all mind to the newscast on the Jumbotron (AFTER IT PLAYED THE PRIME MINISTER'S MESSAGE WHAT THE F-)

"This after the renegade succeeded in stealing the Silverio Gospel and fending off attacks from Captain Laura Bodewig of the German Army, and Huang Lingyin, President of China. The entire world is now on edge, as the renegade has once again evaded capture, along with former Phantom Task members Squall, Autumn, and M. The IS Academy has issued a statement saying that the staff will suspend all enrollment this semester to concentrate on finding and subduing the-"

"Don't ask anyone about the renegade anymore," Cecilia facepalmed, dreading what will happen when she returns home.

She went into a taxi to take her back to her estate, thinking the drivers would know all the shortcuts. Not exactly...

Not ten minutes away from the airport did they run into a traffic jam.

"What the-" Cecilia said, "What are they doing out here?!"

"Ever since the announcement made by the Prime Minister," the driver answered, "people here have been clamoring for an end to our removal from the UN, and they want our militia to intervene for the search of the renegade."

Cecilia winced, "What?! Don't they know that this will cause another World War?! Those IS are more powerful than ten nukes! Who's responsible for this?!"

"Well, the renegade and the Japanese prime minister," the driver said, "but there's a protest going on nearby, and the Countess of Cambridge."

Cecilia's wince turned into a snarl, "Reroute to Kings Hedges. I will have word with the Countess."

-KINGS HEDGES LEARNER POOL-

A massive demonstration is underway. A gathering just outside the townhouse complexes, calling for a March to Parliament, demanding that the UK Armed Forces join the fight, all led by Countess Rachel, who's on a makeshift stage with her assistants.

"We have had enough of this male horror terrorizing our society long enough!" she bellowed into the microphone and speakers, "We will rise up and take the fight to this male menace and take back our weapons! Weapons that only females can use, and that will never change!"

The crowd wailed wildly in support, chanting for the male menace to crawl back under their rocks and stay their. Cecilia was able to push through the crowd and see the Countess live. She saw them, the Countess of Cambridge at the center, her guard at both her sides, and two IS soldiers at the ends.

"The time has come to take back our pride!" the Countess shouted, punching the air, "Our very soul! Who will join me in the March to Parliament?!"

The crowd cheered, and chanted, "March to the Queen! March to the Queen!"

Rachel waved to her supporters when she heard a voice familiar to her demand, "And what do you think you're doing?!"

Cecilia stepped forward into the open space and confronted the Countess, confounding the crowd about her return. Rachel stepped forward and pointed down to move the spotlight to her.

"What does it look like?" Rachel haughtily said, "I'm rallying the population out of their couches and into action!"

"I know that part," Cecilia protested, "but intervention? War? Do you have any idea what that would entail?"

Rachel turned back to her guard and snickered with them. She turned back to Cecilia, "Well, whatever the result, anything would be infinitely better than what you've done."

"What are you talking about?" Cecilia asked, worried that word about her sudden departure spread throughout the U.K.

"Why, you should know," Rachel said, painfully jogging the month before renegade surfaced, "After all, you were supposed to oversee the IS Institution's completion and groundbreaking ceremony. But you forced it onto me, because you couldn't stand the idea of your dearly beloved with another woman."

"What?" Cecilia stepped backwards, "That's not..." Unfortunately, it's true.

"Don't deny it!" Rachel pointed, "Chelsea told me everything!"

Amidst the crowd of laughter, Cecilia clenched her fists. First, Ichika dear ran off with someone that's not her, then the renegade embarrassed her by going toe to toe on a default setting, now this! "That little traitor..."

"And thanks to that little outburst," Rachel continued, "the Committee has chosen me to be the new headmaster!"

"WHAT?!" The final blow. Cecilia got her recommendations already, but what she didn't know was that they would only be valid after the tour. If she went back, they would be voided, "I'm supposed to be the headmaster! It was already decided!"

"Yes, it was," Rachel reminded her, "Until you decided to extend your tour and force everything onto me! As usual."

Cecilia charged on stage and pointed her rifle at her, "Rrgh...you take that back!"

The guards surrounded Rachel and deployed their U.K. Issue IS units. Rachel smirked, "And what if I don't?"

Rachel deployed her IS and shocked the crowd. They saw her in action before, during drills, but they never knew about this.

Cecilia stepped backwards, "Is that..."

"Yes," Rachel said, "The next step in the Blue Tears's evolution, which surpasses the Silent Zephyrs. I call it the Maid of Horror. For obvious reasons."

None of this information was disclosed to Cecilia, even when she came home after the Third Mondo Grosso. She knew that Parliament had a hidden agenda, and now she pieced it together. They turned their back on her, in exchange for fresh blood. "How?..."

"Oh? You don't know?" Rachel cocked, "The Chairwoman of the Committee herself recommended me to take the test to determine my compatibility with an IS. And what do you know, I got an S Rank." The highest rank on a test, which surpassed even Cecilia's high marks, "So, last chance to go back to your gated househole."

Cecilia didn't know what to do. She suspected as much during her tour, but now that someone has taken over the spotlight, she deemed her family fortune as good as gone. She looked around, and saw condescending faces all telling her to get off. She looked back at Rachel, with that evil grin and merciless eyes.

"No..." she whispered, "you've taken away more than enough," and deployed her Mermaid's Tears, "And in doing so, you've left me with nothing but anger!"

Rachel backed away. She knew that Blue Tears was the first in a long line of an IS production company. Therefore, they gave it basic qualities and abilities. It wasn't supposed to be anymore than that. She pulled up the specs and lost it.

"What did you do?!" She shouted, "The original Blue Tears wasn't supposed to have a second shift!"

Cecilia closed her eyes and recounted the battle with the renegade. She recalled every single movement she made on her previous shift, and how a reckless hit forced her to rely on her IS to protect her life, giving it the ability to advance to the next level, "It's not supposed to, but it does...courtesy of the renegade."

"The-HE DID WHAT-" Rachel and her guard were flabbergasted. How it came to pass that one of the most vile criminals in all the world would ironically help her gain even more power, they don't want to find out. Rachel thought that she must be onto them. After all, it was the Weaver family that has been trying to obtain the Alcott family's fortune for some time. Could the renegade have somehow found their secrets and leaked them onto Cecilia's IS? Would she have the gall to associate herself with someone inferior to woman in every which way?

"Lady Countess," a guard member whispered, "She knows."

"Then, she must die," Rachel commanded.

If only they knew how dunce he really was...

Cecilia called them out of their minds and into the world with a shot to the guard. Then she released her drones to surround them and aim at Rachel's backside, while charging toward another guard member and knocking her off the stage. "You see," she said, resting her rifle on her shoulder, "I've been in life-threatening battles that you only dream about. Care for a small taste of the hell I've been through?" She swung her rifle like a bat and knocked a guard member into the backdrop, collapsing the stage and knocking the spotlights towards the sky. All pilots backed away, but two of them backed straight into the drones and paid for it with all their energy.

Rachel flew high into the sky and called her Gatling Ranger rifle out. She aimed it at Cecilia and fired. Her Maid of Horror's sniper rifle can fire continuous rapid shots, like a long-range machine gun, only with deadly accuracy and widespread impact. The shots were able to pour down on Cecilia, during her brawl with the guard members. They all got caught in the bombardment and instantly became incapacitated. But not Cecilia, who was shielded by her two droned before they were destroyed as well.

Cecilia shot Rachel's head and charged in, flipping her rifle around to smack her head. Rachel used the recoil to dive down and dodge her attack, then continued to fire back and hit Cecilia. Cecilia stopped to hold back the barrage of energy bullets. She fired her laser, but it was even with Rachel's gatling bullets. Cecilia peeked her head out to see what was keeping her from plunging her laser into enemy territory.

Rachel's bullets were all energy frag bullets. When they hit something, they don't immediately disintegrate. They split into particles and spread out to find another target, and each particle has the power of a high-explosive bomb. No wonder that she couldn't penetrate any deeper. Rachel's rifle is outfitted with professional-grade ammunition! They really have left the Blue Tears behind.

Cecilia stopped firing and sidestepped the gunfire. Rachel tried to shoot her down, but she wasn't fast enough. It was only after she suffered a brutal blast to the gut that she hit her target. They were blown back against the building walls.

They dropped on their feet, about to fire one more barrage of bullets, but someone threw Cancellers at their necks and brought them to their knees. They were about to throw a fit when-

"Both of you, stop!" A commanding voice boomed.

"Huh?" Cecilia recognized that voice. She turned in its direction and quivered, "The Queen of the United Kingdom..."

"Heh," Rachel grinned, thinking that the Queen was on her side, "Know your place, Alcott."

"And know YOUR place, Weaver," the Queen shouted.

Rachel couldn't believe what she heard. She went over and bowed, "M-My Queen!" she tried to gain her favor, "What attracts your Grace to my prese-"

The Queen slapped her across the cheek, "Zip it, crackpot." Rachel was downright scared, but the Queen continued, "I saw everything, right down to that poster you made, with Cecilia's face blotched in red."

"But-well, I can explain everything!" Rachel again tried to say her mind, but the Queen would not have it.

"Don't bother," the Queen slammed, "You've explained enough. It seems I've made a severely grave mistake choosing you to take Cecilia's place."

Rachel took offense to that remark and raised her voice, "What?! You can't say that! Not after all my family has done for Parliament!"

"All you've done, easily destroyed because you provoked her," the Queen pointed to Cecilia, who was trying to hide her fear of what was to come next.

"No, that's not what happened!" Rachel snapped, "She has the audacity to associate herself with that filthy rat renegade, and she brazenly insulted my-"

"CAN IT!" The Queen punched Rachel's stomach and made her kneel. And while her subject was busy taking air for her gut, she yanked the Canceller from her neck and retreated the IS to standby mode.

"You realize that type of talk will be the end of the United Kingdom, do you not?" she asked.

"Yes...your Grace..." Rachel slowly nodded.

"I am well aware of Alcott's mistakes. However, I will deal with them, not you. Am I clear?"

Rachel slumped on the ground, utterly defeated. She wanted to be the one who finally puts Cecilia in her place, but that will not happen. No punishment would ever be enough for her.

"And speaking of mistakes..." the Queen walked towards Cecilia, who stood straight when the Queen came face to face with her.

"Yes, my Queen?" Cecilia said.

"Though you have saved our Kingdom, along with our world, on numerous occasions," the Queen folded her arms, "I will not overlook your sudden departure for and return from Japan. Nor will I excuse the behavior you've displayed during your time there."

"Wait! I can explain! It was the renegade's fault-" Cecilia tried, but the Queen held up her hand to stop the ramble.

"He is of later concern," the Queen said, "What concerns me now is your behavior during non-combat."

Cecilia became forlorn and braced for impact, "I understand..."

"Therefore, I am prepared to make a deal with you," the Queen pointed to Rachel, "Surrender your title of Duchess and all privileges thereof to Rachel Weaver, and I will allow your record clean, and your possession of the Blue Tears permanent."

Full-on collision. It was finally here. Cecilia always knew that something horrible would come her way, but she never knew what. Or how badly it would hit her. Always a headstrong woman, looking ahead without bothering to look back. The worst part was the sudden realization that she could've ignored the renegade altogether by not coming back to Japan when she heard that two IS Representative Cadets were contemplating engagement. She could've just wrote a damning letter, sent it to Ichika, and went on her merry way.

But, as usual, she had to stick it up to her friends. And look what happened.

Cecilia let the tears loose, "Done."

"So, it shall be," the Queen finalized the contract, "Everyone, go home."

The crowd dispersed, amazed by the massive fight and its collateral damage to the park, but even more amazed by the Queen's intervention. Some among the bystanders suspected favoritism, without taking into account the changing mentality of both the royal family and the common folk. Neither mattered in the face of current events, however. As the crowd left, Rachel and her guard stood up, dusting themselves off from the heated exchange.

Rachel most of all, "Tch...you got off lucky this time-"

"To Admiralty Arch, Weaver," the Queen commanded, "Now."

"Yes, my Queen," Rachel said as she and her guard mounted the roofless limousine, and made their way south, leaving Cecilia to deal with the Queen's wrath alone.

Or so they thought. The Queen patted out Cecilia's shoulder, "I will have another assignment for you soon. Until then, don't draw any attention to yourself."

Cecilia nodded. The Queen and her women left for their palace, leaving the now former Duchess to wander alone in the chilling night.

She had no idea what to do now, except to live with the fact that she had been cast aside. She, who withstood tragedy of Kings Cross Terminal and rebuilt it. She, who was able to tap into the hidden powers of her Blue Tears and take it to the next level. She, who must now rebuild herself a third time.

She saw an ATM and immediately dashed for it. She was able to withdraw £2 million before it crashed and collapsed into a pile of metal and paper.

Just like her chances of seeing Ichika's face again. Or Chelsea's. Or any of her friends faces now that they too will know that she has been reduced to a commoner with a very dangerous weapon. And the worst part?

Although the renegade added fuel to the fire, none of it was his fault. It was all her. And she knew that.

-SHIBUYA TECHNOLOGIES, JAPAN-

"Let's get this construction area cleaned up first," Chelsea said, holding up a rather large bar, "then, we can talk about the big fight, ok?"

"Sure, but we don't have long," a worker said, "Thanks to the prime minister, we're probably going to hang around the Stratos cooler 24/7 now."

"You know, it's rare to see an Englishwoman get her hands dirty in all this," a supervisor commented, "Why'd you stay here instead of go back to the IS Academy?"

Chelsea wiped the sweat off her brow, "I just need a break from everything, is all. There's enough pressure on you guys to advance the 6th generation, find the renegade, AND make your very first core."

"I get it," someone dunked a clipboard on her forehead, "You don't have to remind us. Just jump in and help whenever."

"Right..." Chelsea sat down to take a huge drink.

"Speaking of," a worker asked, "Any word on that Cecilia girl?"

"Don't count on her help," Chelsea angrily answered, "She left three afternoons ago, and said she's never coming back."

"Damn..." someone sighed, "We could sure use her right about now..."

Chelsea just emptied her water bottle and watched as the crew repaired the damage the renegade did to the tower, wondering what else the renegade was capable of.

At long last, the final clarion call has been sounded, and it is time for the moment of truth.

With the entirety of Japan overrun by the pandemic of the renegade, and the rest of the world slowly beginning to become infected thanks to the Prime Minister's message, time is no longer a factor. Nothing anyone does can be taken lightly.

Phantom Task is now a name to fear.

The IS pilots are at constant conflict with each other.

The ultimate force needed to send the world into total chaos is rapidly approaching, and very people trying to stop the renegade will be the one to unleash it.

What lies with the future of the IS now? Just two episodes until the end of Season 1 of Infinite Stratos...Virus.