Sigma lay on his back, his body encased in darkness. Then his eyes snapped open and he gasped for a breath his mechanical body did not need. Immediately his systems restored around his vision, bringing up displays and information as his body scanned itself for any persisting issues. Damage along his spine, his back, but nothing critical. He had been hit though, and hit hard.

But by what? His system had not detected anything approaching him and now he was suddenly recording impact all over his metal frame. Sigma sat up and observed his surroundings, noting he was still on the battlefield, surrounded by Bahari carcasses and a few remaining Goliaths that had not been recovered and were now abandoned.

Syn was also still nearby, in a similar position to Sigma on the ground. The two exchanged a glance of confusion over the vast distance between them, their built-in binocular vision making the gap seem like they were right next to each other. Other than the two of them though, Sigma's radar was not picking up any other presences. He would simply have to use his vision to find this new enemy.

It didn't take long for Sigma to turn his head and stare straight up at the massive form of Ur'wrath. The hulking Bahari towered over both the androids, watching over them. From its palms tendrils were receding into holes, their jobs done. That made more sense then. Biological weapons Sigma's mechanical systems could not detect would have caught him by surprise. No more now though.

Sigma leapt into the air, trying to take off with a burst of his super-powered speed. His jets stuttered, holding him to a hover but nothing more. The android glanced down at his feet, baffled. "System test, run." He dropped to the ground as his computers went through a momentary reset and self-scan, running through all of his programs and functions in an effort to isolate issues. Functions normal, read the report.

The cyborg's brain tried to process all possibilities for explanation, scanning the environment and attempting to analyze his new enemy. But there was nothing. No other Bahari had done this to Sigma before. Not even electronic devices had crippled him prior to this. "Your escape will not be so easy target Sigma." Ur'wrath's voice echoed out without the use of his mouth, transmitting into the mind of Sigma directly. "I know that you will not run though, target Syn."

"It knows me so well," Syn glowed, relishing the words from the Jahari assassin. "Let us do the great dance of death with it then." Syn leaped up into the air, his own boosters struggling to keep him afloat and nothing more.

"No, Syn, we can't fight it, that's just-"

"What it wants? I know." Syn turned and winked at Sigma, using his eyes to motion away towards the horizon. Sigma nodded, slowly at first until he picked up at the hint. "Now then," Syn said, turning back to face Ur'wrath, "today you will get your hands on target Syn and I, in turn, will be able to put my hands into your flesh and skin you."

"Syn..." Sigma backed away from the two and began to sprint. Was Syn doing this for anything more than his own amusement and entertainment? Or was there something else inside of him? No time to think though. That monster could easily cover the distance using its size alone. Sigma just needed to get far enough before whatever was interfering with his speed was gone. Then he would return to the island with Allyson...and never leave it again.

* * * * *

"Hey, what's up Porter?" Chase smacked the youth on the back as he sat next to him in class. "You've been all quiet forever now and it hasn't even been because of sleep."

A pair of hollowed eyes turned to look into Chase's soul. The hothead nearly fell out of his seat at seeing them, but managed to barely keep his composure. "Nothing. Nothing is up." Chase shuffled away in his seat.

"Uh...tell me Ardwen, does Porter seem different to you lately?" Chase nudged his academic leader and pointed at the darkened Porter.

"Well..." Ardwen tapped his pen against his lips, pausing to mull over his observational thoughts on Porter. Instead there was a memory of Gretta, then of Gretta at lunch, then some Goliath schematics, then Gretta again but there wasn't much in his brain about Porter. "No, I haven't really noticed anything strange."

"I have," Raul cut in, leaning over in his seat to put his head between the two, his serious demeanour slicing apart Ardwen's absentmindedness. "He has seemed a little less perky of late."

"Maybe it has to do with his studies?" Ardwen continued to tap his pen as he thought. "Stressing about tests or assignments."

"This would make the most sense here," Raul stated with empty emotions.

"Well then why don't you ask him about that then Chase?" Ardwen flipped his pen around and started to take notes again.

"Me?!" Chase waved his hands in front of his body, shaking his head back and forth. "No way, I'm not going near him again. He will suck out my soul."

"He will what?" Ardwen said, his eyes shifting back to Chase. "I don't even think souls are real there mister, and how could they even get sucked out to begin with?"

"Wait a second, wait a second," Chase argued. "We power giant robot battle suits with the embodiment of our life force called chi but you're wondering about souls being real or not?"

"Yes," came the unified reply from Raul and Ardwen.

"Fine, then you talk to him Ardwen."

"Sure, it's not that hard to just talk to a friend." Ardwen twisted his chair around to look at Porter's dead eyes. "So Porter, what's up? Anything going on lately?"

Porter's head slowly turned, bringing with him a wave of cold air that wrapped around Ardwen and sucked out his warmth. "Nothing...nothing at all."

Ardwen and Raul snapped back in their chairs, staying as far away from Porter as possible. "Our souls..." Ardwen started.

"...will be sucked out..." Raul finished.

"He is the embodiment of death itself," Ardwen said.

"My life essence is drained by his vision," Raul muttered.

"What did I tell you?" Chase gloated, though he was equally as terrified as the other two.

"Quiet in my classroom," Mr. Shotuku shouted, giving a death glare that would normally have petrified the students, were they not already stricken with fear. "Chatter brings with it the highest punishment! The death penalty!" Four black slippers whipped through the air, smashing into each student's forehead. Only Porter remained seated after, enduring the blow without flinching, while the rest toppled to the ground.

"Interesting," Shotuku mused, stroking his beard. "He appears to be possessed by the spirit of an invincible demon," the teacher concluded, noting the spirits of Porter's classmates floating around the youth's head.

"What on earth are you talking about you old buffoon?!" Chase shouted but he was silenced with footwear to the face.

"Then it seems I will need to use the highest penalty on the indestructible Porter...the Triple Death Penalty!" Three slippers smashed into Porter's forehead at once, with enough force to put a hole through a wall. Instead, they harmlessly fell to the ground, and the teens dead eyes remained unchanged.

"Nothing...nothing is up," Porter mumbled.

"You silly boys don't know anything about dealing with emotions," Nami butted in, standing up from her chair with Riya following suit. Gretta poked her head in through the hallway door but a flying slipper scared her away from making any comments.

"When it comes to problems of the heart," Riya said, in her quiet way, "only a girl knows how to soothe the soul."

"Fine go right ahead," Chase blurted out from the ground, trying to take his seat again while wiping blood from his head. "That demon will eat your hearts though."

"Appropriate language!" Shotuku yelled before slapping Chase across the head with a shoe, sending the hothead careening across the room.

"Does anyone else feel like this is completely interrupting our class lesson, or am I the only one who noticed that?" Ardwen raised his finger up trying to gain attention but stares from every other student in class quickly shut him down.

"Now then." Nami crossed over to Porter and stood in front of his desk, slamming her hands down on either side of it and leaning down to gaze directly into Porter's empty eyes. "Let's see what we've got here." There was a dead silence in the room as Nami stood there and Porter sat. Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Nobody breathed. "You're right, he's completely soulless!" she finally stated, toppling backwards as if her spirit had been sucked right out of her body.

"Porter please," Riya whispered, placing a hand on Porter's shoulder and leaning in close. "If there's a problem, you can tell me about it at least."

"Nothing...nothing is up." Porter scribbled notes onto his computer screen, regardless of the lack of lecture going on around him. The rest of the class looked onwards in total confusion and shock at Porter's state of mind and soul-sucking abilities. Nami had to begin comforting Riya in a corner as she pondered her failure at cracking the demon Porter.

Mr. Shotuku eventually resumed his lesson for the day, teaching the ways of chi to his students as they all sat in a very large circle as far away from Porter as possible. At the end, Shotuku released all but the CRU from his class, keeping them back so he could have a private word with all of them.

"Porter's condition aside, the six of you will need to prepare yourselves for upcoming deployment in the field," Shotuku explained. An array of screens appeared behind the professor displaying the Jahari and their forces on the field of battle. "The arrival of the Jahari has been quite surprising to the Enian armies. While the invasion from the Artisans is now over, the demand for reserve units is taxing on the military. They will need the full support from the academy if more Bahari attacks occur, and we plan on sending them our best." Shotuku scanned the group, from a crestfallen Riya being babied by Nami, to a bruised and battered Chase, to Raul and Ardwen who were convinced their souls were stolen, to Porter who was syphoning souls away. Shotuku sighed, thinking of the famous heroes he had trained in the past. "I suppose you are the top we have in the school due to your past accolades."

"So we need to get ready to battle the Jahari in the future?" Ardwen spun his pen between his fingers. "We can do that. I'm sure the academy database has enough information loaded in now."

"Perhaps," Shotuku agreed. "Strategy will not necessarily win this kind of engagement though. From your previous encounters though, plans haven't necessarily been the strongest suit of the Crisis Rescue Unit. Prior to this, your skills have been enough to get you through your situations, but now I am no longer sure. I do believe in your talents individually, but you can no longer go about relying on singular moments of heroism to win your fights."

"Except for my moments of-" Chase was silenced before he could finish his bragging as a slipper bounced off his forehead.

"Teamwork is the key to success here. It is entirely possible you will be deployed within an existing force as well, so you may all be receiving new commands from generals, and not from Ardwen."

"No, will always have commands." Ochenkov stood in the doorway, his massive body taking up the entire door frame. The barbarian moved into the room and stood next to Shotuku. "Rhino recovered. Am coming as well with kids. I will be general."

"Hmm, interesting." Mr. Shotuku pulled on his beard for a bit, his eyes moving between Ochenkov and the students and then back once more to the screens behind them. "Maybe it would be best then to be under Ochenkov's lead. While he may not be completely up to his former strength, his knowledge should be enough to carry you all through most engagements.

"So we are on standby until further notice?" Raul asked, getting a nod from Shotuku in response.

"Until the call happens..." Shotuku said, reviewing the screens before turning to look back at the class with a twisted grin on his face, "it will be a harsh training until your bodies break!"

A/N: Syn can make sacrifices? Perhaps there is more to the man within the machine after all. Meanwhile, the CRU is stuck on hold until the next Jahari attack. But when is that?!