Chapter 15 Reunion

“Here ya go~ Orange permanent soft serves”

“Oh? Thanks!” Haru snatched the cone swiftly and wastes no time digging in using the spoon stuck atop the pale orange icy treats.

Shiro planted herself comfortably on the park benches, slowly nibbling at her own cup of soft serves.

The sight wasn’t exactly what Haru would’ve expect for the first location around this futuristic capital city, although that never mean it was disappointing in any capacity.

Despite the clock striking directly at the middle of the day, under no shades from foreseeable cover. The air around them seems to suggest otherwise, despite the sun being at it’s utmost hot in the day, Haru felt as if it was the temperature akin to a breezing autumn instead of the suppose summer season they are supposed to be in.

Families, Couples and friends strun about the narrow rocky tiles pathways that is surrounded by trees of differing sizes or settling down on picnic blankets. Calming chirping of the birds hiding in the trees or the brush of tree leaves as it hit by the winds drowns most of the small chatter that can be mostly heard from children running around the green open field.

“Pretty nice huh~?” Shiro cuts the silence as the two’s ice-cream are down to the last few spoonful.

“Yea… despite being right in the middle of the city”

“Alternium dome surrounds this park, making the hot hot sun not so hot hot~”

“So that’s why the ice-cream didn’t melt huh?” surprised as the last bit of Haru’s orange softserve is still vicious enough to hold on the plastic spoon.

“This is Shiro’s favorite place… Well, second favorite from the gamestore~”

Haru lightly chuckles “I’m not surprised”

For a few moments, both their gazes and minds weren’t set upon anything particular nor remarkable, a boring yet peaceful sight. Devoid of any interfaces, warning or communications ringing in their minds or eyes.

Time pass by as each of the girl’s mouns of permanently frozen ice-cream starts to dwindle bit by bit, leaving Haru with the final tip of the waffle cone.

“Maybe I’ll come jog here in the evening somedays…” Haru thought.

“Alright~ We had our treats, let’s continue our trip around town~” Shiro bounces herself from the benches, with her eyes setting back to main road outside the park.

Haru toss the last bit of the waffle into her mouth before following the same motions as Shiro out of her seats. “So, what’s our next stop?”

“Hm… there’s a shopping mall nearby we could check out how about that~?”

“Sure thing, lead the way”

Before walking towards the way they initially entered the park, Shiro quickly scuttle towards the nearby trash can.

“Ah~ Mph~” scooping as much ice-cream as she can out the bottom of her cup for one last bite.

“Eh?”

Shiro just stood there in front of the trashcan, frozen almost like a glitched out video game character. Causing her orange haired friend to check up on her.

“Hey… Uh something interesting?” Haru ask, peeping over Shiro’s head enough to see what she might be seeing.

There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, Shiro was static and still holding her cup which is filled with a light pink vicious milk at the bottom.

“It melted…” Shiro muttered.

“Well, that’s what ice-cream do sleepy head, what’s so shocking about that…” Haru gave a light pat to Shiro’s back, thinking it would knock this weird revelation out of her friends mind.

“Melted ice-cream… wait” It only took a few awkward seconds of silence for Haru to realize it as well.

“Alternium ice cream just doesn't melt normally like that…” Shiro swiftly snaps to Haru, eyes visibility widened with her eyebrows apart.

“Unless…”

They notice it upon each other’s faces, and sweats start to appear left and right. This whole time they spent under an afternoon sun, they didn’t feel as much as a single drop from the radiant head of sweltering summer sun.

But why now?

“F-FIRE RUN!!”

“W-WHAT WAS THAT THING?!”

“QUICK GET OUT OF HERE!!”

Accompanying the incoherent screams and panic sounding loudly across the entire park, a sudden force of energy radiating with heat blasts in radius that reaches the two girl in an instant.

Reflexes from both linkers were quick enough to catch the attack by raising their arm to block the blast.

“W-White flames?!” Haru exclaimed, snapping her attention towards the once serene forest of the park be engulfed in a smothering flame that are shades of gray and white.

The sky is covered in the same shades of colors from the rising smoke that fumes in an endless constant form, not even the sunlight could pierce through it.

“Phantom…” Shiro threw her cup to sides before running heads first deeper into the fire.

“O-oi wait first!!” Haru sprints in pursuits.

As she approaches closer towards the center of the park, temperature continues to rise to the amount that any normal human would be charred in black by this point.

Upon reaching around the center of the park where a water fountain resides which is now surrounded by a bleak gray darkness from the permating smokes and the Phantom’s rift that's beginning to cover the sky, she finally caught up to Shiro.

“Haru Shrio, do you hear me?!” Aiko’s webcam appears in both of the linker sights, frantically typing on her keyboard along with her eyes jittering everywhere.

“The outbreak has already started, the rift and Phantom activities are in full effect” Shiro answers, head looping all over around to observe all they can get.

“Lin and Riku are on their way, you two first deal with the central Phantom located at the park’s open field!” Nodoka feeds also follows up on their sights.

With a shared single nod between Haru and Shiro, they sprint off towards the designated positions as projected on their 3D holographic layout in their interface’s. As they get closer towards their objective, the indicator of temperature on their heads up display starts to rise at an abnormal rate. Their visions can barely make sense of the things around them, it all became a mass of smokes, fumes and wafting flames all in shades of faded colors.

Haru huffs more than usual, her breathing becomes irregular. The Alternium in her body regulates and controls the amount of oxygen in her bloodstream, that she felt is certain due to the fact that she hasn’t faint already from excess burnt byproduct gas as she has noted from her Rescue training class.

She doubt it was simply excitement nor fears, possibly the attribute from both that creates a sensation that forces her to constant be in motions both mind and body.

As the two girls crosses the final stretch passing through the walls of flames perpetuated by trees that have crashed down on one and another. A sounds rumbles to the core of each one of them, a stomp that is loud enough to crush through the soil ground below accompany by growls heavier than any normal animals registered on the linker’s mind.

“A-Tier Phantom detected! Moving in for execution!” Haru answers a louds as she reaches her hands for the Nexus and Module to materialize in her hands.

Tho all the while Haru has prepared herself to rush straight for the Phantom, her partner was just still. Moments of staring at the threats that she has dealt with for the better part of her life, yet this “thing” incite a feelings unlike anything in Shiro’s chest.

Burning.

Scorching, more than the flames that surrounds her.

The two massives hinds that stands atop the tallest of structure in this park, narrowed body akin to a lizards and a melted face that reveals the skulls that hosts it’s serrated teeths.

The exact same one all those years ago.

“So… it’s you…” Shiro chuckles, from that turns into a full on laughing.

“Oh how so ironic, the day I visited Hana… You decided to show your ugly face…”

“Shiro! Shiro! Oi! Shiro are you there!”

But her views and thoughts are interrupted in an instance by her orange haired colleges.

“Oh? Nothing really” Shiro walks by Haru to get a full glimpse once again, the dinosaur phantom has also noticed the linker as it stares eye to eye with the once flimsy child from 4 years ago.

“Just… this is going to be a fight I really… really Enjoy~” Shiro points her finger upon the Phantom’s face.

Suddenly the intact right eye of the creature bursted open as a object moving at speed even Haru couldn’t track rushes past it. The Phantom flinced, letting out a painful screech that shakens and blows past the leftover nature surrounding the area.

“Heh… Just like back then~”

The white hawk then flew towards Shiro grasp before changing its form into her sniper rifle along with the Module.

“Well Well I see how it is” Haru steps up to stand side by side. “Let’s give this thing a good beating!!”

“PHANTASM SET!!”

“PHANTASM SET!!”

Bright cyan and navy blue light flared amidst the grayed views of the entire park as the girls ready their transformations. Two high velocity bullets flew in synchronization into the skies before returning into the linkers, forming the black suits and winter camouflage uniform respectively for both Haru and Shiro.

“Haru…” Shiro turned to her friend, eyes widened with emotions Haru couldnt even identify. Rage or Excitement doesn't matter to either of them. “Shiro is going all out… try and keep up~”

“You betcha!!”

The two linkers, dashes in a blink of an eye in seperate directions, leaving the Dinosaur Phantom in shocked before it was attacked by a swift cut through its appendages and a powerful shots directly past its stomach.

“That’s just the start!!” Shiro shouted, still in fast motions around the phantom not letting any seconds not be filled with hyper sonic bullets rapidly firing.

The Phantom, in response, tries to repeatedly stomps the ground in an attempt to catch the wolf linker who is speeding by, circling around its bipedal legs leaving minor yet painfuls cuts with her knife. The Phantom roars in a fits of pain, it stomps ground below with its massive hind, trying to catch its attacker off guard.

“Too slow!!” Haru shouted, lunging forwards past under the Phantom’s body. Gripping her knife with all the muscles, in one swift and powerful slash, the knife flew through the air and tore apart the left knee.

The creature's body trembles as the wind insides its lung emerges into a screech of pain. In swift motions, it snaps its gazes towards Haru, readying to lunge upon the one who inflicted such pain. However, its balance weavered, unable to withstand its own weight under the wounds, with a thunderous crash, the Phantom collapses onto the floor, leaving dust and dirt into the air.

“Shiro, now!!” Haru snapped her sight behind her, bright white light blooms at the other ends of the creature's body, tiny orbs of energy manifesting out of thin air, culminating into the center.

Trails of energy lead towards the center of Shiro’s own rifle, feeding and growing the generator that houses inside. The low thrumming sounds rapidly cascade into crackling sparks. Shiro clutches the grips of the rifle, containing its violent trembles and aligning its barrel towards the Phantom’s own gaze.

“PRECISION, EXECUTE PHASE”

“This is for Hana.” Shiro finger pulled the trigger, a blast of pure kinetic recoils her rifle upwards before sending a bullet at speeds that blew a sonic boom around the area, hurling itself directly towards the phantom.

A blast ruptures through the entire body of the laying Phantom, shockwaves push through dirt and winds against both of the Linker, masking the sights of their target.

“Did we do it? Is it dead?” Haru shoutes

Shiro’s eyes squinted, the sensors projected in her own perspectives darted all over in an attempt to locate any remaining traces of the Phantom’s Alternium.

When all of the sudden, the usual cyan color heads up display turns red, the temperature reading spikes up, clouds of dust and smoke that permeates, a sudden gust of whirling flame propels rapidly towards her directions.

Seconds before the heat can reach Shiro’s face, without even moving a single muscle, her body flung upwards into the sky, leaving only her hair bun slightly singed by the flame.

“Gotcha!!” Haru's arms wrapped Shiro as they soar before landing back.

“What just happened to the Phantom?!” Shiro quickly wriggled out of her teammate's grips.

Before both Linkers could take another step forwards, their lungs writhe in pain, coughing out ashes and sparks that now circulates the air around them.

The bright orange hue illuminated from the burning flames now akin to normal natural fire, lit up to reveal the results of their assault against the Phantom.

“What…” Haru muttered in between the excessive coughing.