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When they arrived, they saw everyone. Benji, Debra, and Neariah were all standing at the other side of the room. Debra, with a interested look on her face, and Benji with a bigger smirk than usual. Zach gulped, as he detected something was about to happen. "It's time for the final test, Zach." Neariah said. Zach observed Neariah was dressed in an armored outfit. A battlefield rose up and Neariah jumped onto it. Sarah crept behind Zach, pushing him onto the rising platform. Debra then pressed a button, causing a transparent screen to rise.

"What the hell?!" Zach said, slashing away at the screen.

"The final test… is a fight with the leader. I am Neariah Roarke, Commander for Ranked #1 Soul Guardian Squadron. You must last in battle with me to pass!" Neariah said while charging forward.

Neariah took out her double daggers and swung at Zach. Zach narrowly dodged, and fell unbalanced on his bottom.

"Get up, Zach!" Neariah yelled sending a green ball at him. Scared silly, he crouched down to dodge. 'She means business...', he thought rising after this realization. Zach shot a flurry of bullets at Neariah, and ran forward.

"It's gonna take more than that to beat me!" Neariah scoffed sending a green blast to the incoming bullets. The blast disintegrated the bullets, and knocked Zach clean off his feet. Coping with the pain, Zach rose, swaying to gain balance. Zach charged forward, to establish close combat. Neariah swiped at Zach, missing. Seeing the opening, Zach landed a few blows on Neariah then shot a burst of bullets, which to his surprise, came out shrouded in a yellow aura. 'Bullet Beam..' whispered.

Neariah slid backwards, and green aura started to pour out. Zach charged at her again, seeing the attempt, Neariah extended her dagger as it spewed out green fire. Zach, going to fast to stop, was caught by the fire, feeling stinging pain.

"Blazing Amazon." Neariah said.

Zach's rage started to boil, and run at Neariah with a plan. Neariah connected a stab to the left arm on Zach, but he grabbed her arm and smiled. He pulled Neariah close, and kicked Neariah upwards. Airborne, Neariah's eyed widened. Zach jumped up landed multiple blows and slashed Neariah down to the battlefield. Zach, still in the air, felt instinct take place. His eyes turning gray, he miraculously separated his blade into two machine guns. Neariah, still on the ground, saw nothing through her blurred eyes. Zach began to spin rapidly fast downward, firing endless bursts of golden bullets. Benki marveled in awe, as what looked like a golden tornado engulfed Neariah.

"Bullet Brigade!" Zach yelled from the top of his lungs.

Bullets pressed down on Neariah rapidly, and when Zach finally collided with Neariah, smoke rose into the air. Zach crawled out of the smoke, still on guard. When the smoke cleared, Neariah was standing with minor injury. Neariah limped forward and said "Well played, Zach."

"That special attack would have killed me if I didn't use Celtic Barrier back there."

Zach looked back to see the green force field still standing. Zach smiled and as fatigue sat in, he fainted. Neariah caught him, and smiled. 'Great job brother...' she thought lovingly.

...

Zach woke up in his room, and had a heavy headache. He saw the sunshine rays coming through his window and the sound of the birds singing. As he tried to get up, he immediately felt a stinging pain in his left arm. He groaned in pain, and heard a loud ringing noise. A handset that he never noticed was at his bedside.

"Hello?" he weakly muttered.

"Get up, Zachie-boy. Breakfast, get used to it." Benji said hanged up immediately after.

Zach grimaced and slowly got out of bed. He limped into the living room, to see Debra in an apron and everyone eating breakfast. "Come on, Zach. Come dig in." Neariah said with a fork full of food.

Zach pulled up a seat between Neariah and Sarah, and gazed at his food. It was scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, with a glass of orange juice. Zach took a fork and took small amounts of food at a time. "Zach, I never got the chance to tell you, but that attack you did was absolutely breathtaking!" Debra said with a mouthful of eggs.

Everyone nodded in agreement and Zach smiled. "I'm not even really sure how I came up with it, really," Zach said.

"Your labyrhythm's reaction to your intense emotion" Sarah said happily eating her breakfast.

"Still, that fight took a toll on me. I don't think I'll heal from this fast..." he added.

"Ms. Know it all strikes again!" Benji says while typing on his laptop.

"That's my sister you're talking about, you illiterate buffoon." Debra said.

Zach stifled his laughter, and Neariah glared at him with a look he knew well. Whenever Zach did something wrong or annoying, Neariah had always given the same look. "Shut up, triggerhappy." Benji said.

"Yeah, my trigger was really happy when it nearly beat you." Zack replied.

"Ooohhhh!" spread all across the room. Benji rolled his eyes and replied "Nearly is the word in that one,"

"Check this out…" Benji muttered at his laptop screen.

"What's up, Benji?" Neariah asked.

"I just got notification from HQ that squads of brutes are coming to attack us here." Benji said.

Zach couldn't help but feel puzzled by that comment.

"What's a brute?" Zach asked, his curiosity yanking at him.

"They are the Deceiver's fighters. They dress in black robes and they are pretty capable fighters." Sarah said.

"Whoever is leading these guys doesn't seem to think we can handle ourselves. Let's get suited, guys!" Neariah said. Zach's body throbbed; he hadn't fully recovered from using Bullet Brigade. Sarah noticing that, she commented "Zach hasn't recovered yet. I don't think Medic heals fatigue,"

Zach feeling belittled said "Ummm I can still fight, I think."

Neariah shook her her saying "Zach just go rest right now, we will call you when it's time to fight, okay?"

Zach nodded and went into his room.

He heard murmurs of conversation outside his door. He dozed off to the sound of the chatter. A loud sound woke Zach up. He threw off the sheet cover and took out his BulletBlade. No longer feeling the soreness, he went down to the apartment entrance. A he arrived he saw men in black gowns pinning down his friends. Zach jumped down from the staircase and sent down multiple Bullet Beams, and landed a powerful blow on one brute. "Wake me up, huh?!" Zach yelled while combating a brute.

"You were tired, Zach. It wasn't a good idea to have you fighting your first Deceiver bout not at 100%" Neariah said while swinging at another brute.

"You guys were about to lose!" Zach cried, sending one brute flying.

"We knew you'd come in the nick of time! So just start fighting!" Neariah said impaling a brute.

Zach continued fighting off the brutes. Still feeling minor effects, he noticed there were about 70 in total. Benji growled, and slayed a brute ready to kill Zach.

"Pay attention!"

Debra used a move she called "Lancing Dancing" to fling one brute in a hanging lance on the wall. Sarah elongated her staff, striking the enemies in bunches with blue aura bombs. Soon enough, the brutes retreated.

"That was a workout," Benji said, wiping his forehead.

Description
When they arrived, they saw everyone. Benji, Debra, and Neariah were all standing at the other side of the room. Debra, with a interested look on her face, and Benji with a bigger smirk than usual. Zach gulped, as he detected something was about to happen. "It's time for the final test, Zach." Neariah said. Zach observed Neariah was dressed in an armored outfit. A battlefield rose up and Neariah jumped onto it. Sarah crept behind Zach, pushing him onto the rising platform. Debra then pressed a button, causing a transparent screen to rise.

"What the hell?!" Zach said, slashing away at the screen.

"The final test… is a fight with the leader. I am Neariah Roarke, Commander for Ranked #1 Soul Guardian Squadron. You must last in battle with me to pass!" Neariah said while charging forward.

Neariah took out her double daggers and swung at Zach. Zach narrowly dodged, and fell unbalanced on his bottom.

"Get up, Zach!" Neariah yelled sending a green ball at him. Scared silly, he crouched down to dodge. 'She means business...', he thought rising after this realization. Zach shot a flurry of bullets at Neariah, and ran forward.

"It's gonna take more than that to beat me!" Neariah scoffed sending a green blast to the incoming bullets. The blast disintegrated the bullets, and knocked Zach clean off his feet. Coping with the pain, Zach rose, swaying to gain balance. Zach charged forward, to establish close combat. Neariah swiped at Zach, missing. Seeing the opening, Zach landed a few blows on Neariah then shot a burst of bullets, which to his surprise, came out shrouded in a yellow aura. 'Bullet Beam..' whispered.

Neariah slid backwards, and green aura started to pour out. Zach charged at her again, seeing the attempt, Neariah extended her dagger as it spewed out green fire. Zach, going to fast to stop, was caught by the fire, feeling stinging pain.

"Blazing Amazon." Neariah said.

Zach's rage started to boil, and run at Neariah with a plan. Neariah connected a stab to the left arm on Zach, but he grabbed her arm and smiled. He pulled Neariah close, and kicked Neariah upwards. Airborne, Neariah's eyed widened. Zach jumped up landed multiple blows and slashed Neariah down to the battlefield. Zach, still in the air, felt instinct take place. His eyes turning gray, he miraculously separated his blade into two machine guns. Neariah, still on the ground, saw nothing through her blurred eyes. Zach began to spin rapidly fast downward, firing endless bursts of golden bullets. Benki marveled in awe, as what looked like a golden tornado engulfed Neariah.

"Bullet Brigade!" Zach yelled from the top of his lungs.

Bullets pressed down on Neariah rapidly, and when Zach finally collided with Neariah, smoke rose into the air. Zach crawled out of the smoke, still on guard. When the smoke cleared, Neariah was standing with minor injury. Neariah limped forward and said "Well played, Zach."

"That special attack would have killed me if I didn't use Celtic Barrier back there."

Zach looked back to see the green force field still standing. Zach smiled and as fatigue sat in, he fainted. Neariah caught him, and smiled. 'Great job brother...' she thought lovingly.

...

Zach woke up in his room, and had a heavy headache. He saw the sunshine rays coming through his window and the sound of the birds singing. As he tried to get up, he immediately felt a stinging pain in his left arm. He groaned in pain, and heard a loud ringing noise. A handset that he never noticed was at his bedside.

"Hello?" he weakly muttered.

"Get up, Zachie-boy. Breakfast, get used to it." Benji said hanged up immediately after.

Zach grimaced and slowly got out of bed. He limped into the living room, to see Debra in an apron and everyone eating breakfast. "Come on, Zach. Come dig in." Neariah said with a fork full of food.

Zach pulled up a seat between Neariah and Sarah, and gazed at his food. It was scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, with a glass of orange juice. Zach took a fork and took small amounts of food at a time. "Zach, I never got the chance to tell you, but that attack you did was absolutely breathtaking!" Debra said with a mouthful of eggs.

Everyone nodded in agreement and Zach smiled. "I'm not even really sure how I came up with it, really," Zach said.

"Your labyrhythm's reaction to your intense emotion" Sarah said happily eating her breakfast.

"Still, that fight took a toll on me. I don't think I'll heal from this fast..." he added.

"Ms. Know it all strikes again!" Benji says while typing on his laptop.

"That's my sister you're talking about, you illiterate buffoon." Debra said.

Zach stifled his laughter, and Neariah glared at him with a look he knew well. Whenever Zach did something wrong or annoying, Neariah had always given the same look. "Shut up, triggerhappy." Benji said.

"Yeah, my trigger was really happy when it nearly beat you." Zack replied.

"Ooohhhh!" spread all across the room. Benji rolled his eyes and replied "Nearly is the word in that one,"

"Check this out…" Benji muttered at his laptop screen.

"What's up, Benji?" Neariah asked.

"I just got notification from HQ that squads of brutes are coming to attack us here." Benji said.

Zach couldn't help but feel puzzled by that comment.

"What's a brute?" Zach asked, his curiosity yanking at him.

"They are the Deceiver's fighters. They dress in black robes and they are pretty capable fighters." Sarah said.

"Whoever is leading these guys doesn't seem to think we can handle ourselves. Let's get suited, guys!" Neariah said. Zach's body throbbed; he hadn't fully recovered from using Bullet Brigade. Sarah noticing that, she commented "Zach hasn't recovered yet. I don't think Medic heals fatigue,"

Zach feeling belittled said "Ummm I can still fight, I think."

Neariah shook her her saying "Zach just go rest right now, we will call you when it's time to fight, okay?"

Zach nodded and went into his room.

He heard murmurs of conversation outside his door. He dozed off to the sound of the chatter. A loud sound woke Zach up. He threw off the sheet cover and took out his BulletBlade. No longer feeling the soreness, he went down to the apartment entrance. A he arrived he saw men in black gowns pinning down his friends. Zach jumped down from the staircase and sent down multiple Bullet Beams, and landed a powerful blow on one brute. "Wake me up, huh?!" Zach yelled while combating a brute.

"You were tired, Zach. It wasn't a good idea to have you fighting your first Deceiver bout not at 100%" Neariah said while swinging at another brute.

"You guys were about to lose!" Zach cried, sending one brute flying.

"We knew you'd come in the nick of time! So just start fighting!" Neariah said impaling a brute.

Zach continued fighting off the brutes. Still feeling minor effects, he noticed there were about 70 in total. Benji growled, and slayed a brute ready to kill Zach.

"Pay attention!"

Debra used a move she called "Lancing Dancing" to fling one brute in a hanging lance on the wall. Sarah elongated her staff, striking the enemies in bunches with blue aura bombs. Soon enough, the brutes retreated.

"That was a workout," Benji said, wiping his forehead.