Masou Gakuen - Silencing pride (Patreon)

On a calm day at Ataraxia, Aine, Yurishia and Hayuru were doing some basic training fighting the magitech dummies built by the engineer club.

Although you couldn’t really call it fighting. It was more of a one-sided massacre, with the three beautiful warriors tearing through dozens of the so carefully assembled training robots.

The engineers watching from the side-lines groaned in pain for their machines, silently cursing the girls for not considering their feelings and effort in building them.

“Do they know how much time it takes to fine tune just one of those things?” One of the young men muttered.

“I know, right? And here they are, tearing them apart just to work off some stress!” Another growled, clenching his fists.

“Don’t worry you guys, it’ll be over soon.” Momo comforted her friends.

And those smug women won’t be looking down on us forever either. She thought as she frowned at the blonde, black and blue haired trio which had just destroyed the last three of their opponents. 

None of the girls had even broken a sweat as they powered down their hybrid gears, leaving them in just their skimpy skin-tight pilot suits.

Aine brushed her long, flowing, pale blue hair past her shoulders. Her revealing white suit hadn’t suffered a single scrape or tear, so it still perfectly accentuated those large breasts of hers as well as her luscious hips and thighs. 

“Puh,” she huffed, “this was supposed to be training? These things barely even offered any resistance.” She said rather thoughtlessly.

"HEY!" The engineers nearby yelled, visibly upset.

"Now, now Chidorigafuchi." Yurishia reprimanded as she walked up to her fellow warrior, her voluptuous mammaries bounced happily in her tight and revealing blue suit which could barely function as swimwear. "They did their best. There's just too wide a gap between their equipment and ours."

"Not to mention our skill." Aine rebutted. “Even a hundred of these things wouldn’t offer us a decent fight.”

"Well excuse us for not giving you a decent challenge!" Momo said as she strode over to the buxom girls. "I'll have you know we're designing prototypes that'll knock your socks off!"

"Are you really?" Hayuru entered the conversation. Her outfit was a bit more conservative than the other two, covering up her front entirely with pristine white spandex-like material. However her suit, like the others’, was a tailored fit to match her curves perfectly, making it just as tight and revealing as that of Yurishia and Aine. "I didn't know the engineering club had such a project running." She said, sounding genuinely intrigued.

"Oh we do!" Momo said proudly. "We're pooling all our resources and spare time to build you guys the ultimate training equipment!" 

"Wow! I'd be delighted to have a crack at those." Yurishia chimed. "I've been dying to have a proper work out without putting my life on the line. When could you have the new toys ready?"

Momo's eyebrow twitched for a moment. "T-toys?!"

"She meant no disrespect, Momo-san!" Hayuru said hastily.

"Of course not." The blonde American said with a gentle smile. "I was just so eager at the prospect of a good mock battle."

"Hmf, I strongly doubt it'll amount to much." Aine said haughtily.

“Oh really?” Momo said annoyed. “Then how about I give you a preview?”

The busty engineer then pulled out a large gun, but strangely enough the ammo on top was… tape?

“What is that supposed to be?” Yurishia asked curiously.

Momo returned a cheeky grin. “You’ll see soon enough.”

“Is that grey stuff tape?” Hayuru added inquisitively.

The engineer nodded. “It is, but not your ordinary tape. This material was designed by us!”

“And what is it supposed to do?” Aine asked impatiently. “It doesn’t look all that impressive to me.”

“T-take that back” Momo yelled heatedly. “You don’t even know how it works!”

“I don’t need to know.” The bluenette said stubbornly. “I’m sure it’ll turn out to be a bust like all your other inventions.”

“You! What’s up with your attitude?!”

“It’s one of the perks of being the Ace of the entire world.” Aine boasted. “I’m sure an engineer simpleton would never understand.”

“Will you cut it out with the attitude!” Momo snapped. “Or I’ll shut that big mouth of yours up!” She threatened, cocking her gun to arm it.

The bluenette bombshell frowned at the engineer. “I’d like to see you try! I can’t recall any of your inventions ever working properly. What makes you so sure this one will be different?” She sniped.

Momo took aim with her gun. “Keep pushing me and you’ll find out!”

“Hmf, give it your best shot.” Aine said haughtily, brushing her long flow hair aside since the wind had blown it in front of her again. She played with it a little as she settled her long locks into place. “I’d be very surprised if whatever you’re planning to shoot at me actually reach- MMMMPFH?!”

The bluenette’s boast was cut short by a single strip of grey tape slapping itself over her lips by a carefully aimed shot from Momo’s gun.

Immediately, the adhesive stuck to every pore on the skin of her face.

What the-?! She thought startled, reaching up to try and peel off the tape.

“Hmr!” She groaned embarrassed as she realized Momo had gotten one over on her. She took hold of a corner of the tape and pulled.

But it wouldn’t release.

“HMNR?!” The bluenette yelped in shock, pulling even harder.

Momo chuckled. “Having trouble? I for one think that look suits you.”

“HMMMPFFF!!” Aine moaned in pain as the tape stubbornly kept clinging to her face. She glared at the dark haired engineer.

Just you wait until I get this stuff off!

“HMRRRR!!” She growled again, pulling at the corner of the tape so hard her neck was starting to hurt from bracing it.

But the tape remained in place.

“That won’t work I’m afraid.” Momo taunted Aine. “I’m delighted to see you having so much trouble. Not even an Amaterasu member is strong enough to beat my tape it seems. Thanks for the valuable data!”

Yurishia giggled. “My, my, looks like our dear Aine-chan is in a pickle!” She mused.

“Aine-san, you’re just messing around right?” Hayuru asked. “There’s no way you could be having this much trouble with that flimsy piece of tape.”

“HMMMRRR!” The still gagged warrior growled at her onlookers. The way those three were mocking her was beginning to get on her nerves! 

Stupid tape! What the hell is this stuff?! It just won’t release… Fine then, I’ll just destroy it! See how you like your toy going up into flames!

Aine focused her mind in order to summon up her 'Zeros' battle suit again. Her idea was to create a force field around her fist that would evaporate the tape. So long as her own abilities created the destructive aura her body would be absolutely fine, for a perfect victory.

But… Her powers were nonresponsive.

“HMRNG (WHAT)?!” She shrieked in shock. My suit won't materialize?! And I can’t call upon any strength!

“MPPHHFF!!” Aine moaned into the tight gag as she tried to force her armour to come out. But the more she strained herself, the weaker she felt.

“Oh? Did you exhaust yourself during the training?” Hayuru remarked surprised.

Yurishia giggled. “That would be so typical of her. She always gets in way over her head, then needs me to bail her out.”

“Hpnh hmmm (come on)!” She grunted in vain to draw upon her Zeros. It just wasn’t working. In fact, if anything she felt like all of the power she put out just got absorbed by the tape covering her mouth!

“Hmpf, hmpf, hmmmn.” She panted for a moment. Nothing?! She thought flustered. Now what?!

“HMMMMRRRR!!” She growled angrily as she began pulling at the strip again, trying to hook her fingernails underneath the adhesive strip to work it loose. But it wouldn’t budge.

I don’t get it! Isn’t this just tape?! Why is it so firmly stuck to my face? It’s making me feel weird too.

Because Aine now began realizing her strength was being sapped somehow.

The tape so perfectly silencing the fierce bluenette was actually modified medical tape. It had been designed for battle, and was originally intended to seal up wounds. As a result, it was designed not to come off too easily, regardless of it coming into contact with heat, cold, dirt or even water. But Momo along with the engineering club had taken this already sturdy piece of equipment to the next level by modifying it into an energy drainer as well.

“Hmmnfff.” The bluenette moaned softly as her knees grow week.

My head feels light. What’s going on? My Hybrid count… 

Her power diminished rapidly, until her hybrid count had declined to a mere 10%!

I feel like I’m being drained. This isn’t good, if this goes on… COME OFF YOU STUPID STRIP!

“HMFN HHMRRR!!” Aine shrieked, pulling at the tape with both hands using whatever strength she had left.

Yurishia and Hayuru gazed upon their friend with wide eyes. They couldn’t believe what they were seeing. That single strip of tape was giving Aine trouble?!

“Hmnn (help)!” The blue haired girl suddenly moaned at Yurishia and Hayuru. She’d muttered the plea before she fully well realized, and her cheeks began burning with embarrassment. To think I have to ask THEM for help! Damn you, Momo!

Aine’s mewl had startled the two almost as much as the bodacious bluenette herself.

“Did she just… call out for help?” The American ace said.

“I think she did.” Her Japanese counterpart replied. “Should we get closer and inspect that tape?”

“And get it on ourselves? No thank you!” The blonde said firmly, crossing her arms beneath her hulky bosom. “I think that look suits her. Her decibel level is a lot more agreeable like this too.”

Hayuru chuckled. “That’s another way to look at it.”

“I’m sorry, Aine-san. But you’ll have to figure out a solution by yourself.” Yurishia teased.

“You got yourself in that predicament after all.” The raven haired warrior added. “It’s only fair you come up with a way out on your own as well.”

“HMPRRRR!!!” The bluenette growled at her supposed friends, her eyes dangerously wide and nostrils flaring. I’ll get you two for this!

Aine began dancing around, both her hands tugging relentlessly on the gag. She eventually got so wild she completely drained herself, her hybrid count stranding at a mere 5 percent as she sunk to her knees.

At that point Momo finally took pity on the smug ‘universal Ace’ and deactivated the emitters weaved into the tape. With them off, the draining effect was terminated and a great deal of the adhesive strength disappeared, allowing Aine to finally remove the strip.

“Aahhh!!” She gasped, panting heavily as she tossed the vile metallic coloured strip as far from her as she could. The bluenette glared at Momo.

“So, I hope you learned something today?” The engineer asked with a satisfied smirk.

But to the dark haired girl’s annoyance, Aine brushed off her surprise attack as a fluke.

“Hmf! You just caught me off guard!” She snapped, hoping fervently the anger and humiliation burning away inside her wasn’t visible. “Now that I’ve seen it, this won’t happen again!”

No, we’d do best not to let that stuff get on us. Hayuru thought to herself, making a mental note to be weary the first time the engineer club added a new device to the training regimen.

Yurishia meanwhile began giggling cutely. “I fear it is mainly your own fault for making such a rookie mistake, Aine-san.” She lectured. “You should never try and take an attack head-on if you’ve never seen it before. Everyone knows that!”

The bluenette glared at the bodacious blonde. “Well maybe we should have Momo fire at you once to see how you’d handle it.”

“Oh, I’d rather not give any more away than I already have.” The cute engineer said. “After all, you three keep pestering us to give you ‘a decent challenge’. So, the more surprises we have in store, the better I’d say!”

“Hmf, keep telling yourself that. It won’t make any difference.” Aine boasted, stubbornly crossing her arms and puffing up her boobs a little in the process.

“You say that, but this little demonstration has made me curious.” Yurishia replied. “I have a feeling our next training will be a lot of fun!”

Momo frowned again. Fun?! What is up with those girls?! Don’t they have any sense of danger?! Fine then, if that’s how you want to play it.

“What do you three think about making things a little more interesting?” The busty inventor suddenly asked.

“Interesting? How?” Hayuru replied.

“Let’s make a bet.” Momo replied. “You three against the best the engineering club has to throw at you: We’ll prepare an obstacle course for you to beat.”

“And the terms for the victor and defeated?” Yurishia asked curiously.

“If you manage to defeat our obstacle course, then me and my fellow engineers will wait on you hand and foot for an entire weekend.”

“OHHH! I’d LOVE that!” The blonde chimed, her eyes lighting up at the prospect of having a small army of servants.

“BUT,” Momo interrupted the American’s daydreaming, “if you fail then you three have to spend that same weekend as the engineer club's flunkies.”

Hayuru frowned. “You’d turn us into slaves?”

“Nothing that bad. Just subordinates.” Momo replied calmly. “Besides, you didn’t look as opposed to having us as your slaves.”

“What does it matter what our terms for losing are?” Aine intervened. “There’s absolutely zero percent chance we’d actually lose out to a bunch of training dummies.” She said confidently.

As far as the bluenette was concerned, the bet’s reward provided just an added bonus alongside the testament to her excellence, as well as payback for that sneak attack just now.

“We accept!”

“A-Aine-san, that isn’t your choice to make!” Hayuru stammered. “This involves all of us!”

“But it’s such a neat idea!” Yurishia replied, genuinely intrigued. “Besides, Aine does have a point. Our track record against the engineer club is flawless. There’s no reason to suspect we’d lose out”

“I suppose.” The raven haired warrior admitted.

The blonde bombshell leaned a little closer. “On top of that, we now have time to practice and prepare for this new device Momo has developed whilst they get the obstacle course ready.” She added with a playful wink.

Hayuru sighed. “I see it’s two against one here. And I must admit the prospect of a decent challenge is making me feel excited too…”

The three girls turned to Momo, proudly straightening their back and making their impressive busts stand out all the more.

“We’ll accept the challenge.”

“GREAT!” Momo chimed. “I’ll let my colleagues know so we can start getting busy. We’ll let you know when the obstacle course is finished. Let’s say we start the match on a Friday. Then the weekend that follows will resolve the bet.”

“Sounds perfect.” Yurishia chimed, clasping her hands together eagerly.

“Good luck then, Momo.” Hayuru wished the dark haired engineer as she deployed her hybrid gear in preparation for take-off.

“You’ll need it.” Aine snided as she did the same but zipped off straight away without waiting for a response.

Momo glared at the bluenette. “Just you wait Aine. No, the three of you. We’ll teach you not to underestimate us engineers!”

The shapely engineer then dashed off to the her and her friends’ hangar to inform the rest of the club. They all received the news extremely well. Completely fired up at the prospect at finally putting the three aces in their place, the group got busy like never before.

The three girls retreated to the cafeteria after a nice shower. “Do you think this was a good idea?” Hayuru asked her team members. “Momo seemed quite upset.”

“She’ll get over it.” Yurishia said calmly. “Besides, she was the one who offered the bet. I think a little bit of competition can help improve us both.”

“Hello, Yurishia!” Scarlet greeted the blonde. “Hi everyone!” She added soon after. “What competition are you talking about?”

“Scarlet! Nice to see you!” The blonde replied cheerfully.

“We are talking about a challenge Momo and the engineers offered us.”

“What kind of challenge?” Scarlet asked curiously.

The girls explain to their fellow hybrid gear wielder the terms of their bet. Yurishia was tempted to provide Scarlet with her the funny anecdote of Aine being gagged by Momo, but the bluenette’s glare stopped her. I’ll leave it for when the two of us are alone…

“That sounds incredible!” The redhead mused. “I’ll join you!”

“Sorry?” Hayuru said.

“Well, if Yurishia is joining then I should too!” The team leader of the masters declared. The ‘masters’ were Amaterasu’s counterpart, namely the ace team of American hybrid gear users.

Given that Yurishia was also an American, not to mention the top ranked pilot, Scarlet had always felt a strong sense of rivalry with the buxom blonde. Obviously, she wasn’t going to let this chance pass by!

“I’ll accept the same terms, but I will join you on that stage!” Scarlet said stubbornly.

Yurishia sighed. “Fine then. I don’t see any harm. I’ll talk to Momo about it later. I strongly doubt she’ll be opposed.”

“And it actually increases our chances.” Hayuru added.

“Great! Just let me know when and where!” The redhead chimed, darting off.

Yurishia giggled. “Always up for a challenge, that Scarlet.”

One week flew by, and Momo sent a message to Aine, Hayuru, Yurishia and Scarlet that the obstacle course had been finished.

They were to report at the training grounds Friday morning, all geared up of course.

With it still being Thursday, the four girls made a quick stop at Kizuna Hida’s room in turn over the course of the late afternoon and evening. All of them were suffering from a rather low Hybrid count due to their week of intense preparations, so they were in dire need of a heart hybrid session.

Kizuna deployed his masterful skill in pampering the gorgeous ladies even more diligently than usual, given that he had been summoned for special training by his sister and hence wouldn’t be around to see the girls tackle the obstacle course.

He had therefore done all he can in helping them prepare, standing by during their training sessions to provide feedback during the week, and right now by massaging and rubbing their bodies to reach new heights of ecstasy and replenish their hybrid count.

The following day, the four buxom warriors arrived at the engineer’s hangar.

To their surprise, there was already quite a large crowd present. Over the course of the past week the rumour of their challenge had passed around the school grounds. Naturally it had fired up all of their fellow students and right now most of the academy had turned up to watch the highly-anticipated revelation of the engineer club's newest creations, and to witness the Amaterasu squad's mettle against it.

Momo got up on the massive platform the engineers had erected. They had done so overnight, to avoid any of the girls sneaking in and spying on how their machines worked.

The raven haired girl brought the mike to her lips.

“Welcome everyone! Today the Amaterasu squad, plus Scarlet Fairchild from the Masters squad, will be taking on the engineer club’s most recent creation! A fully automated obstacle course meant to rigorously test their hybrid gears!!”

“HUUOOOO!!!” The crowds cheer excitedly.

“And with that, allow me to welcome our brave fighters on stage!”

Another loud roar erupted from the crowd. Meanwhile Aine was ‘backstage’ rolling her eyes. “She’s really milking this for all it’s worth.”

“Oh, come on, this is fun!” Yurishia giggled. “It’s like we’re movie stars!”

Hayuru was blushing a little. “I don’t share your sentiment. Somehow it’s a bit weird having to do this obstacle course with so many people watching.”

“Don’t you ever have practice sessions with crowds?” Scarlet asked surprised. “We do that all the time on our West-USA mega float.”

“Well so do we.” Yurishia replied. “Just not with a crowd quite as large as this.”

“It makes no difference anyways.” Aine said stubbornly. “One spectator or a hundred, all we have to do is wreck the training dummies and anything else that course throws our way.”

“PLEASE WELCOME HARYURU HIMEKAWA!”

“You’re up, Hayuru!” Yurishia said cheerfully, playfully smacking the raven haired girl’s bum.

“Kya!” She yelped as she was propelled towards the steps.

The Japanese ace gingerly stepped onto the starting platform, blushing heavily as the crowd looked at her and shouted encouragements.

“N-Neros.” She muttered as she quickly materialized her hybrid gear in order to hide a bit more of her body than that skimpy latex suit did.

“UP NEXT, PLEASE GIVE A LOUD APPLAUSE FOR YURISHIA FARANDOLE!!”

The buxom blonde literally skipped next to her friend, her enormous yet firm chest bouncing like jelly with each of her feather light steps.

If anything, the cheers were even louder than the ones for Hayuru.

“Hihi, I could get used to this.” The blonde mused as she donned her Kuros.

“NOW, HOW ABOUT ANOTHER APPLAUSE FOR AINE CHIDORIGAFUCHI!!”

Aine strode up on stage, straight for her blonde and black haired fellow Amaterasu members. She even equipped her Zeros whilst one the move, solely to stand out from the others.

She also received quite a few cheers from the audience, though not as loud as the previous two times. And that bugged her. Greatly.

Just watch, I’ll be the one to stand out during this obstacle course! I’m fully energised again thanks to Kizuna’s efforts last night.

A faint blush appeared on her cheeks as she thought back to the dark haired young man and his skilful hands.

“AND LASTLY, GIVE A BIG WELCOME TO OUR GUEST FROM THE WEST USA FLOAT: SCARLET FAIRCHILD!!!”

The crowd went wild for the fourth time as the red haired American cutie walked up on stage, her hybrid gear already deployed.

She joined the three others, taking up position next to Yurishia and arching her back a little as if to somehow bridge the gap in bust size by thrusting hers out a little.

Momo powered down the mike for a moment "Are you girls ready?" The raven haired engineer asked the four warriors.

Scarlet and Hayuru just nodded. Yurishia gave out a calm smile.

"Just hurry up!" Aine said impatiently, already bracing herself to rush off first. "I'm taking out the most of them today!"

"Oohh, that sounds interesting, let's make it a race amongst ourselves as well!" The blonde bombshell suddenly suggested.

“Do you think that is wise?” Hayuru replied.

“Why not? I only came here to challenge Yurishia anyways.” Scarlet replied confidently. “So I’m definitely not planning to underperform!”

“It doesn’t matter what all of you have planned. I’ll still win.” The bluenette stated without any hesitation.

“Oh, is that right Aine-san?” Hayuru replied. “You do remember what happened last week don’t you? If you’re not careful, you’ll have to do most of the course whilst being silenced.” The dark haired girl teased.

Aine frowned at her rival. “That goes for you all too you know!”

“HMPFF!!” Yurishia mouthed, keeping her lips firmly shut to mimic the sounds Aine had made back then.

Scarlet giggled softly. “I wish I could’ve seen it!”

“Who knows, you might still!” The blonde taunted.

“I won’t be gagged again.” The blue haired girl retorted confidently. “I’m probably the one best prepared for this whole course. If anything, you three should be careful not to get shut up this time!”

“Hmkay (okay).” Yurishia replied, making Hayuru and Scarlet giggle and even forcing Aine to crack a smile.

Momo twitched a little as she walked towards the end if the starting platform and jumped off. 

You four are too laid-back about this! She thought annoyed. Well, it only makes things easier on us. If your guard is down this much, we'll have you girls defeated in no time flat!

Momo was right. Each of them did look unusually relaxed given the fact they were about to take on an obstacle course they knew nothing about. It had long since been known the Amaterasu squad treated the training sessions as nothing more than target practice, fooling around and trying to show each other up. But even by those standards, the four girls were acting incredibly confident.

No doubt this was because they’d already seen Momo’s prototype and had spent the past week practicing counterattacks and evasive manoeuvres for a variety of scenarios. By now the four girls felt so well prepared, they couldn’t possibly envision getting into trouble during this small match. 

The dark haired engineer couldn’t help but grin however. If they think a tape gun is all they have to watch out for, they have another thing coming…

"Ready. Set… GO!" The cute engineer shouted into her mike, after which a loud starter buzzer howled and the platform began trembling a little as all of the underlying machinery powered up.

The four beautiful warriors rushed into the obstacle course without hesitation, or thinking even. With their confidence soaring as high as their hybrid counts, they figured they could easily defeat it just like any other time they’d engaged in a training course.

And the start proceeded exactly like usual, with them ploughing through the magitech robots and gunfire.

But that all changed when they reached a large open space with a few dozen pillars spread around on the perimeter. They would soon discover those pillars were actually one of the new machines designed by the engineers. They looked rather inconspicuous, almost decorative. With their simple steel cylinder design and a shiny black rim at the top, the only vaguely intimidating element was their height of almost 8 feet. But since the pillars didn’t move or seemed to respond in any other way, the four beautiful warrior simply charged onto the platform as they took out more of the magitec robots.

When they’d made it halfway, the dark rims at the top of the cylinders began glowing faintly red. They were in fact very sensitive motion and heat sensors. The pillars themselves had been programmed to respond whenever the specific heat signature of a hybrid gear user got within their range.

That response consisted out of opening up in several areas and firing weird, metallic grey ribbons.

The ribbons themselves were also heat seeking, incredibly durable, and slightly adhesive to make it easier to grab hold of their target.

“Wow, more elaborate than I had expected!” Yurishia remarked. “I had assumed a barrage of small strips like the ones that silenced Aine, not entire streams!”

“But it’s still well within our calculations.” Scarlet replied, firing a few of her missiles to take out the ribbons nearest to hers. “We can handle this.”

“Exactly!” Hayuru replied, dashing forward as she sliced through half a dozen ribbons in the blink of an eye. “You can leave this platform to me and move on to the next.” She said confidently. “I’ll catch up soon.”

The blonde bombshell chuckled. “If you say so, but be careful you don’t end up gagged and drained of energy like Aine.”

“Oh please!” The raven haired girl shouted back. “We’ve had a week to prepare for this, this’ll be over in less than five minutes!”

These are just larger versions of the tape gun Momo used to fire at Aine. As long as I don’t get any of it on me, I’ll be fine!

At first, the slender Japanese was proven right. She effortlessly predicted and cut down the majority of ribbons assailing her, dodging any others that made it past her sword.

“This is proceeding smoothly.” She said to herself. “The ribbons move in pretty straightforward patterns. The more I fight, the easier they become to dodge. If I can keep this up I’ll be able to join the others before they- HMPF?!!”

A stray ribbon had approached Hayuru from her blind spot and had, almost as if using a tactical manoeuvre, let three others work as a distraction to keep the raven haired warrior’s attention and sword out of its way.

The moment it slapped itself across her lips, the remainder of the ribbon swiftly started wrapping around her entire lower face in a double layer, firmly sealing her mouth shut and even blocking her jaw from moving properly. The rest of it then tore off so the strip that stayed behind could fuse and meld into the layer below, turning it into more of a single solid gag rather than a length of wrapped tape.

“MMNRRR!” The raven haired girl moaned in shock as she felt the sticky material bandage up her lower face, drawing in her jaw to transform her every word into unintelligible ‘mpffs’.

Where did this thing come from?! Hayuru thought flustered as she instinctively tried to pull off the tape.

Her cheeks began growing red as the knowledge she’d been duped sank in. 

So much for me declaring I wouldn’t be gagged like Aine-san. How embarrassing! I have to get this stuff off quickly before the others notice!

“HMPFF!!” She pulled at the tape as hard as she could.

But just like Aine, the raven haired girl couldn’t get it to budge.

What? How can it be so strong?! She thought in shock. A pit began developing in her stomach. If she was having this much trouble removing only one strip, imagine if the rest of her body got caught!

I have to hurry!!

“Hmnff!!” She groaned into her gag as she tugged at the perfectly smooth piece of metallic tape with all her might. But the more she tried to work it loose, and the louder she moaned due to her exertions, the tighter it seemed to stick!

Momo had designed her tape to respond to any outside interference, be it force or sound or anything else, in order to ensure that once it had stuck on there was no way to pull it off without deactivating the emitters woven into the material. As a result, Hayuru was powerless to remove her gag. Of course, the stubborn and proud ace of the Japanese forces wouldn’t dream of admitting defeat so quickly.

“HMMPFFFF!!” She moaned as she kept searching for a corner on what she still assumed to be a single long strip. The longer she fumbled around, the larger the pit in her stomach grew.

It didn’t exactly help that she didn’t have the liberty to focus solely on removing her gag. She was still constantly slashing away at ribbons trying to grab hold of her, keeping her sword arm more than busy whilst the other fumbled around her lips.

It’s so tight! Why can’t I get it off me?! It’s annoying and distracting!! She thought frustrated, slashing through a few more of the ribbons. 

And its companions are starting to get on my nerves! Just how many of these things are there?! They seem endless!

“HHMMPPPHHS!!” Come off darn it! I can’t concentrate properly with this stuff out of the way!

She was having more than just concentration issues too. The Japanese ace had felt her hybrid count declining far more rapidly than normal. That tape was sapping away at her strength!

Hayuru moaned in pain as she momentarily backed off and began pulling at the gag with all her might. 

But it was useless. And her stubbornness in wanting to remove her gag turned out to be her undoing.

Because that gave the other ribbons the room they needed to move in. Before she’d full well realized, another sneaky ribbon had wrapped itself around her left wrist, yanking at her to make her lose her balance as it slithered along her arm towards her shoulder. The emitters remained inactive for now, which was why the ribbon wasn’t sticking to the raven haired girl’s body as much as the gag.

“HMMNNN (NOOO)!!” The raven haired beauty shrieked flustered, cutting the ribbon to prevent it from moving further up her arm. She then began trying to peel the part that remained off her in a panicked reaction thanks to the hyper-effective gag having rattled her so much. 

If she’d maintained a clear head, she would have realized that such a small strip wrapped around her wrist and lower arm posed no threat even if it began clinging to her. But the sticky feeling had sent a shiver down her spine and prevented her from action rationally. Instead of backing away to safety, she momentarily turned her full attention to prying off the strip, which left her wide open for a few seconds and gave others the chance to dash in her direction, 10 at a time!

Hayuru gasped into her tape gag and her eyes shot wide open as she realized her mistake by the sound of several ribbons whipping around as they moved in. She quickly retook her sword stance and slashed through the ribbons coming her way at high speed.

But her response had been too late, and one of the ribbons made it through her defence to capture her left leg at the ankle.

“HHMPFFFNNN!” She screamed in frustration as she felt that same warm pressure on her arm now pinning down her leg. 

Out of reflex she tried to reach for it, but to her shock she then discovered her arms were stuck together!

The short piece of metallic tape on her left arm she’d been forced to ignore had been able to jump limbs thanks to Hayuru grasping her sword with both hands, the traditional way of handling a katana.

The ribbon had then quickly begun coiling around her right arm as well to keep her wrists and forearms pressed firmly together.

“HMRNNN?!!!” She shrieked in fear as her failure to prise her arms apart made her heartbeat skyrocket.

I’m stuck?! NO!

In addition to restraining her, the tape pressing her arms together meant she was also squishing her own breasts. The second she felt this the pure and innocent Hayuru began to feel terribly flustered. Her chest was still sensitive from the heart hybrid she and had performed yesterday!

“Hmmnf!” She moaned softly as her bosom began feeling warm thanks to the pressure that reminded her of Hida’s firm grasp.

This isn't good! My body’s not listening to me. I have to get out of here!

Hayuru tried to jump clear off the platform, but the ribbon that had wrapped itself around her ankle had not released from the cylinder like all the others that made contact had done. As a result, she remained leashed to that corner of the platform, unable to escape the countless other ribbons coming for her.

“HMMPHHN?!” She yelped in shock.

I’m going to be captured! She thought in despair. If only could get these stupid strips off of me, but they’re just impossible to remove by yourself!

The raven haired girl’s eyes widened. By yourself… I know the secret to this obstacle course!

“HMMNFNN (EVERYONE)!!” She tried to call out to her friends.

But it wasn’t until that moment that Hayuru realized just how effective her gag actually was. Up until now she had only been grunting or moaning in frustration at failing to remove the gag. She’d never consciously tried to get a coherent word out. Now that she had her important message to deliver, her heart sank. Because no matter what she tried, she couldn't get a decent word out anymore!

“HMMNNNN (HEEEELP)!!!” She screamed at the top of her lungs as the ribbons slowly restrained her body. “MPF MMN MHH! MMMNN MMH!! (ALL OF YOU! HELP ME!!)”

I have to make them realize! If I don’t warn them, all of us will end up like me!!

But not one of the three girls turned around to pay attention to her cries. They were too focused on getting ahead and taking down the most opponents.

Hayuru's eyes widened as she began squirming and thrashing wildly in a desperate attempt to dislodge her bindings, but she turned out powerless to prevent them from restraining her beyond any hope of escape.

Her arms ended up wrapped in tape from wrist to elbow and hoisted above her head.

The Japanese beauty’s legs had been wrapped up separately, forced into frogties with several layers of the incredibly durable tape.

“Hmnn!!” She whimpered as her arms and legs were slowly rendered completely immobile. 

Hayuru was then hauled off by the cylinder that kept her arms raised.

“HMMPPF!!” She moaned in pain as her entire weight rested on her arms. And her heart sank even more when she realized it was doing nothing to compromise the restraints!

I’m completely helpless. She realized as she stared in the direction the cylinder was taking her.

A large square pedestal began rising up from the floor at the far end of the platform, nearest to the crowd. The helpless Hayuru was lowered onto it and remained sticking to the base thanks to the adhesive of the strips on her legs. Whether it was some sort of magnetism or just more of the special adhesive, the bound and gagged girl couldn’t say. She didn’t really care either, since it made no difference in her inability to move.

“MMHNHH!!” She cried out to her friends once more as she wriggled and squirmed on the pedestal. But the helpless Japanese failed to even lift up her legs, let alone make a dash to safety.

The cylinder that had carried her released the leftover ribbon running above her arm bindings, after which it looped around a framework that had risen from the pedestal, reaching far above her head. It kept Hayuru’s arms firmly pinned above her head, leaving her with nothing to hide her magnificently outlined chest from view.

At the front of the pedestal was a display, which now lit up to show the dark haired captive’s name and the time it took for her to be captured: 8 minutes, 46 seconds.

Lastly another, thicker, piece of metallic strap came out of from either side of the framework. The ends wrapped themselves around her waist and tightened up, preventing the helpless dark haired girl from so much as meekly wriggling!

“Hmnn!!” She mewled as the thick band brushed underneath her breasts, sending a shiver down her spine. Once in place, that huge band grew cold to make her squeal and shiver. But even worse was it drained their hybrid count all the way down to 5%!

Her hybrid gear dematerialized, and poor Hayuru was left on the pedestal in nothing but her skin tight white battle suit.

“HHMPPFF?!”

No! She though panicked as the crowd began screaming in surprise and adoration. I can’t stay here like this! Not in front of all these people!

Her cheeks began burning bright red. She could feel the countless young men ogling her bare thighs and taking measure of her beautifully outlined chest.

Why did none of them come to my aid?! Hayuru cursed into her thick gag as she glared over at the other side of the platform, where the three remaining girls were still battling away. Not one of them has grasped the secret to beating this obstacle course, and now I have no way of telling them!! Stupid selfish girls, ignoring my calls!

Because even though Hayuru hadn't stopped desperately resisting the restraints for a single second during her entire capture, even though she’d been calling out to Aine and the others with every breath she had, not one of the three others had bothered to turn back and assist her.

They’d noticed the raven haired girl getting into trouble of course, but they’d just all had the same reaction:

“One less opponent to deal with.”

Aine in particular hadn’t been able to stop smirking after she’d heard Hayuru’s first ‘mmppf!!’. 

Let’s see how you like being gagged. The bluenette thought as she blew through several more of the ordinary training dummies before majestically dodging 5 capture ribbons and making them hit another dummy, tangling all of them together for her to take out in a single attack.

The helpless ace of Japan’s forces sighed heavily as she slumped in her bindings. Well, it’s out of my hands. I hate to say it, but the engineering club really did a number on us. I can’t think of a single way to escape these bonds.

“HMMMRRRRRR!!!” The beautiful girl shrieked to vent her frustrations, bucking wildly on her pedestal in an effort to redeem herself.

By now Aine, Yurishia and Scarlet had left the ribbon platform behind them. They’d barged through a dozen or so magitech dummies and had arrived at the second platform. Aine had dashed ahead, telling the two Americans to take care of the opponents whilst she cleared a path to the third platform.

Yurishia wasn’t exactly comfortable with taking orders from Aine, but since there were now only two of them left they had their hands full battling their newest opponents.

There were more cylinders spread out around the second platform’s outer rim, but this time they didn’t fire ribbons. Instead large, dark purple spheres came out.

Those orbs were made of a sticky, gel-like substance. Like the ribbons, they were infused with nanomachines that helped them fly and home in on a target. The difference lay in how they reacted upon making contact.

The orbs exploded into a sticky gunk on contact, which was just as durable and resilient as the tape. Thanks to the random splatter pattern, it also made it a lot more difficult to successfully dodge everything that came at you.

Luckily, the two Americans had the benefit of wielding long range Hybrid Gears. It allowed them to disarm the orbs from a safe distance.

At least, if they worked with rather than against one another.

“You’re not getting tired yet are you, Yurishia-sempai?” Scarlet challenged her blonde rival. “If you want I can slow down for you.” She added rather cockily.

“You’re joking right?” The voluptuous gunner shouted back, detonating three splatter bombs at the same time before they got in range. “Do you honestly think I would have trouble keeping up with you?! Shouldn’t you be running scared by now?” The blonde taunted back. “I’m sure you’re just about running out of ammo!”

The redhead chuckled. “Oh don’t you worry about that! Hida-kun replenished my reserves up to full last night.” She said with a faint blush on her cheeks.

Yurishia frowned. Even though she herself had paid a visit to the tall, dark haired young man last night, that still made her feel jealous somehow! Even though Hida was the captain of their team, part of her didn’t like the fact she had to share him.

Am I acting like a spoiled princess? She wondered to herself. No. It’s perfectly natural to want to be the only girl in a man’s life. Scarlet is in the wrong for butting in!

“Good to know.” The buxom blonde replied coolly. “Then you’ll have no trouble dealing with these!” She yelled, firing a volley of energy blasts towards two dark purple spheres which had been heading for Scarlet.

Their explosion meant they wouldn’t make direct contact with her, but due to their proximity the splatter very nearly hit the redhead.

“HEY! Be careful!” She reprimanded.

“Sorry!” The blonde sneered haughtily. “I was afraid you’d missed those two so I took care of them. You can thank me after the game. I know you have trouble keeping track of multiple targets after all.”

Scarlet frowned. She needs to be put in her place. URGENTLY.

“I think you have that backwards. You’re the one failing to spot a sneak attack!” She yelled, firing at sphere hovering right above Yurishia.

The blonde barely jumped clear of the explosion, having to use a hail of energy bullets just to avoid getting any of the gel on her.

“Watch out Scarlet, or I might stop having your back!” The luscious warrior taunted, folding her arms underneath her massive knockers and cocking her hips alluringly. It was as if she was trying to show her rival just how confident she felt, being able to pose in the middle of the battlefield.

“I don’t need you to have my back, I can take care of myself just fine!” The red haired Hybrid Gear user retorted, turning her back to Yurishia and destroying over half a dozen orbs at the same time.

Sadly, that massive salvo meant she needed a few seconds to recharge. And during those valuable few seconds, one of the dark purple balls of eerie gel managed to dive straight into her back.

Yurishia saw it happen. “Scarlet, watch out!” She yelled in a reflex attempt to warn her friend, temporarily forgetting to be annoyed with her for talking down to her ‘sempai’.

But the red haired girl rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right.” She said, not turning her back. “Like I’m going to fall for-“

*SPLAT*

“AAAHHHH!!” Scarlet yelled, so startled by the impact she tumbled around in mid-air.

The eruption of glue had meant it had splattered all over her Hybrid Gear, covering a large portion of her wings and even her body. The sticky substance weighed her down just enough to disrupt her Gear’s delicate flight balance, causing the redhead to start hovering unevenly and making her far less agile.

“What is this stuff?!” She yelped, trying to peel some of it off her arm. But much like the tape she’d seen Hayuru get caught up in, this weird substance wouldn’t be coming off easily.

“Hahaha, suits you right!” Yurishia sneered pridefully. “I tried to warn you but as always you wouldn’t listen! Guess that means it’s just Aine and me no-MMPHHFF?!”

She never saw it coming because she was too busy enjoying the sight of Scarlet covered in gunk, but a sneaky orb had made a high-altitude approach and swiftly dived down to hit and splatter along the blonde’s upper chest and lower face.

Scarlet had seen the sphere of gel diving towards her blonde friend, but felt too spiteful to give her a warning.

“HMMNN!” The blonde moaned in disgust at the gooey substance bubbling away until it covered the whole of her lower face. She tried to open her mouth, but her gelatinous gag stopped her. As a result, her beautiful voice was rendered nearly mute.

What kind of material is this? It feels gross! Yurishia thought to herself.

“Hmnfff!” She groaned as she tried to pull it off her face. But she wasn’t having any more luck than Scarlet was having getting rid of her blob. “HMMRRRR!!”

It’s not… coming off! The blonde had to finally admit. The adhesive’s too strong.

She tried plucking at the gel with her slender fingers, hoping to peel bits of it off. But that didn’t work either.

“HMMMRRRRN!!”

“Haha, at least I wasn’t so unlucky I got hit where it hurts!” Scarlet taunted her rival. “How’s it feel to have to keep that big mouth of yours shut for once?”

“Hmf!” Yurishia huffed, her pride denying from asking for help. Instead she glared at the redhead. When I get this stuff off, I’m throwing it at her! The blonde thought annoyed.

“You’ve never sounded better!” Scarlet continued to mock her. “This must be karma or something, for you always talking down to people.”

“HMPFF HMMN NNN (I DO NOT)!” The buxom American blonde protested. Using her Hybrid gear to make a few evasive manoeuvres to avoid incoming spheres. Even whilst airborne, she never ceased yanking at her gag in an effort to free up her lips. But there was nothing she could do.

“hmf, hmn, hmnfff.” She breathed softly through her nose as she gave up on trying to pull off the slime and retracted her hands. Or at least, she tried.

“HMRN?” She yelped in shock. My hands are stuck too now?!! NO!

The buxom American warrior pulled with all her might to try and separate her hands from her face.

“HMMN HMMMHHPFF (COME OOOON!!)” She shrieked in desperation, pulling so hard it felt like her head would come off. But that weird material simply wouldn’t give in.

“HMRRR!!” She howled in frustration. Of all the people to see this! She thought annoyed, glaring at Scarlet who was almost crying with laughter.

“HAHAHAHA!! That look suits you, Yurishia!” The red haired warrior jeered. “Which of us is in trouble now, huh?!”

The red haired girl was having so much fun relishing in her friend’s humiliating predicament she forgot about her own.

With the both of them more focused on one another, they responded far too late to the dozens of orbs that had suddenly surrounded them.

Whether it was remote control, tactical planning or just blind luck, those crafty spheres had cut off their path to the next platform!

No! The two girls realized as the orbs sped towards them like hunting dogs.

“Hmmnnn!!” Yurishia yelped in fear as she took to the air in the hopes of outrunning her attackers, desperate to avoid any more of that gunk trapping her body.

Meanwhile Scarlet hunkered down on the ground, planning to shoot down everything nearby.

“Damn it!” Scarlet cursed. “I can’t believe I messed up like this! I should’ve kept paying attention rather than making fun of Yurishia.” She growled as she fired salvo after salvo to keep her spherical assailants at bay.

I am NOT ending up gagged!! She’ll never let me live that down!

Sadly, neither of the girls’ plans worked out in the end.

The awkward position of Yurishia’s hands didn’t allow for her usual mobility. And save for shooting her own face, she’d tried everything to get her hands out of the slime gagging her.

With every sharp turn she made, the orbs gained on her. Until finally one of them got lucky. A second dark purple ball splattered across her right leg, and immediately began coating both it and the left one!

“HMPFPFF!” The blonde shrieked panicked, making a corkscrew in mid-air to fling it off. But it firmly held its ground, and slowly trapped both her calves to keep her legs firmly pinned together.

“HMMRR!” Yurishia’s eyes widened. Oh no! What do I do?!

Not only could she no longer move her legs freely like this and limit her freedom of flight considerably, the drag it created slowed her down enough for the other capture spheres to rapidly start catching up.

Back on the ground meanwhile, Scarlet had discovered her gunfire was partially inhibited because of the slime that had covered her wings earlier. She barely managed to destroy all of the orbs and their splatter in time to keep herself clean.

How long will this go on for? I’m burning through my ammo and Hybrid count! She thought nervously.

Like Yurishia, she was terrified of the slime getting on her. As a result she kept her gaze firmly fixed on the air so as not to miss a single orb coming her way.

Except for the one that snuck up from her blind spot, just like the one to first hit her blonde rival had done.

*SPLAT*

“AHHH!!” The red haired girl yelped as she felt the warm gelatine hit her neck. Immediately after, it began crawling round until it had absorbed her neck and lower face.

“NO!” She shrieked. “GET OFF ME! STAY AW-MPPFFF!!” The ace of the ‘Masters’ crew was cut off, pulling at the icky substance to keep it from covering her mouth. But it had simply crawled over her hands and trapped those along with covering up those sensual pink lips of hers.

“HMMPPNNN (NOOOO)!” Scarlet screamed in horror as she began yanking at her gag, desperate to free up her mouth again even though she’d seen Yurishia fail to do the same thing earlier.

The redhead didn’t have much time to work out a strategy either, because more orbs were coming her way.

“HMMRRRR!!!” She growled furiously, emptying her magazines to create some room around her as she continued to pull at her gag with her arms.

However, not only did she fail utterly to free up her mouth, she couldn’t even get her hands out of the gunk!

Is this what happened to Yurishia? Don’t tell me I’ve fallen for the same trick!

But she had. The panic was to blame of course, but that didn’t lessen the sting of realizing she was now just as silent as her voluptuous blonde friend.

“HHHHHFFF” Scarlet moaned as she made one last ditch effort to pull her hands free or maybe even rip the gag off. But even after using all her strength, she failed to make the slime release its hold on her.

Yurishia flew by her rival and caught a glimpse of her predicament. If she hadn’t been feeling so worried about what would become of the two of them, she probably would’ve laughed heartily.

To think, her rival who had been mocking her rather than help her when she’d ended up gagged was now in exact the same comical situation: rendered utterly silent and with her hands stuck to her face!

But both the blonde and the redhead were far too busy dealing with the countless spheres that were still flying their way, pressuring the two American warriors.

“HMPFFF!!” Yurishia wailed as another orb managed to splatter over her left wing, covering up some of her barrels.

“MRRRMGGG!!” Scarlet groaned as she was forced to flee her position to allow her Hybrid Gear to reload.

But their valiant efforts were only postponing the inevitable.

The longer their struggle went on, the more ground they lost. Until finally, neither of them could fire a shot anymore, having become too thoroughly enveloped by the engineer’s viscous restraints.

“HMNNFF!!” The two girls howled in fear as they lost control of their body, no longer able to move or speak as they liked thanks to the orbs’ powerful adhesive.

But that was only the beginning.

As soon as their bodies were covered in it, the slimy material began lighting up to deactivate their battle armour. After that it started crawling all over their bodies, forcing their limbs along for the ride.

They fought with all their strength, but the weird substance slowly taking over their bodies didn’t seem affected by their efforts at all. Both the blonde and red haired damsels kept shaking their heads around wildly, their hair dancing around as they tried to fling that horrible -yet slightly sweet- mucus off their face and free up their mouths.

Aine had yet to notice her fellow warriors getting capture. If they could just call out to her, maybe she could get them out!

“HMPHMMH (AAINEEE)!!!” Both of them shrieked. But whatever this stuff was, it was quite resistant to noise. They barely even heard themselves!

NO! Scarlet thought as panic set in. There’s no way to call out?!

This isn’t good. Yurishia thought nervously. I don’t like how quiet that sounded. And I can’t get any of this stuff of me either! What do I do?! 

“Hmnnnn!!” The two girls moaned, both in fear and discomfort. The weird gel slithering around their bodies was sending shivers down their spine, and it didn’t help that stuff couldn’t distinguish which parts of the female anatomy it was crawling around on.

Because it wasn’t just the slime covering their arms and legs that suddenly got so lively. No, every single molecule of that fiendishly sticky material had come to live, including the bits covering their breasts or crotches bubbled. And every time there was movement in those areas, the bound and gagged damsels howled into their gags.

“MMNNNHHH!!” Yurishia mewled as the dark purple goop began expanding and contracting around her breasts, forcing her to endure a massage that set her loins alight.

N-no! Don’t! She pleaded in her mind. I can’t take it! Her mind drifted off to the dark haired boy without her permission. The groping she was enduring right now simply was that strong, it transported her mind and body back to the love room. Her eyes widened as she felt her nipples beginning to brush against her pale blue suit.

“MMMHHNNNN!!” Scarlet howled, almost in unison with the blonde. T-This is too much! She thought nervously as her nipples stood erect inside her suit. My body isn’t used to being handled so roughly! Hida-kun is much more gentle!

After what felt like hours, the sticky material finally subsided. Their bodies had been forced to adopt a positively helpless position:

Yurishia’s arms had ended up trapped behind her back horizontally on top of one another. Her legs were joined together and folded underneath her body so she could rest that magnificent tush of hers on her heels.

Her gag now consisted out of a single large glob covering her entire lower face as well as her neck and shoulders.

Scarlet soon sound her arms trapped either side of her body, with the slime covering them from shoulder to even the tip of her fingers so as to utterly immobilise them.

Her legs met a similar fate as Yurishia’s, leaving the redhead to remain kneeled directly opposite of her blonde rival.

The two crossed looks for just a moment, spotting they were both blushing bright red from the arduous experience. The redhead and the blonde were both breathing quite laboured too, no doubt because they’d spent so much of their rapidly diminishing energy putting up a useless resistance.

However, just when they thought their ordeal was over, the bindings started to glow and bubble yet again. This time the colour they gained was red.

What’s going on?! Yurishia thought panicked.

What is this stuff going to do next?! Scarlet wondered nervously.

What it did, was drag both girls towards each other.

“HMMNNN!!” The two shrieked in surprise as their chests were pushed into one another.

“Hmnn mmh (let go)!!” Scarlet yelled at Yurishia as she felt her breasts being squashed against the blonde’s.

“Hmn cmnn (I can’t)!” She moaned back, leaning back with all her strength in a bid to separate herself. But the goop covering their bodies had begun fusing together.

Both girls grunted into their gags as they fought with all their might to free themselves. But no matter what they tried, they remained firmly stuck together.

Next, the glue around their mouths started to glow red.

The two American captives’ eyes widened.

You don’t mean-! Yurishia thought stunned.

It can’t be-! Scarlet realized.

But their fears were only confirmed as their heads were drawn together and locked in a gagged kiss by the adhesive covering their mouths.

“Mmpfffmmnnn!!” The two mewled as their cheeks burned red with embarrassment.

I can’t believe we’re being forced to do this in front of all these people! Yurishia thought as she squirmed and fidgeted, thereby only agitating her body and Scarlet’s all the more.

Scarlet groaned in frustration.

This is ridiculous! This can't be called training at all! This is no better than a public shaming!! Challenging opponents, my ASS!!

Yet however odd these opponents were, they were doing a hell of a job keeping her and her rival in check. And even worse was, the fiercer their wriggles, the tighter that gel clung to their bodies, almost mimicking the sensation of somebody groping them.

"HMNN (NOOOO)!" Yurishia mewled into the gag as the slime located in between her legs bulged for no apparent reason. Not there! I'm still sensitive from Hida-kun rubbing me there last night!!

It was worst around their breasts, since Scarlet’s impressive bust kept rubbing into Yurishia’s humongous mounds every time either of them so much as twitched!

“Hmmnff!!” The red and blonde haired captives mewled hornily as they were carried off to join Hayuru’s side.

A second pedestal rose up to a similar height, which was a good two feet above Yurishia's

Yurishia and Scarlet were planted there by the gel sticking to the base of the column. Just like with their raven haired fellow damsel, a display lit up to show their names and the exact same time, since they got captured simultaneously: 13 minutes, 2 seconds.

To their horror, the gel now began hardening, effectively freezing them into place and robbing them of any movement whatsoever, keeping them trapped in their embarrassingly lewd embrace and kiss.

Naturally the kept trying, but both Scarlet and Yurishia could spot Hayuru out of the corner of their eye.

The Japanese ace was slumping down, hanging from the tape pulling her hands above her head. From the way she was panting it was clear the poor girl was utterly exhausted. That meant she’d given her utmost trying to escape her predicament. But from the looks of it, she hadn’t made any progress at all.

Scarlet’s eyes met with Yurishia’s, and the two bound and gagged American beauties realized they too had been permanently incapacitated.

“HMMNFF!” Scarlet moaned angrily, both with Yurishia for fooling around and with herself for getting drawn into their stupid bantering.

“HGGRRRMMNN!” 

Yurishia shared her red haired friend’s fury. She strained her arms with what little strength she had left in a desperate attempt to shatter the now hard gel covering her luscious body, but she might as well be trying to destroy concrete with her bare hands.

“Hmf, hmff, hmnnn.” She panted softly, inevitably rubbing her body into that of Scarlet’s.

“Hmnnn!” The shorter American yelped. She hadn’t at all been ready for Yurishia’s squirming, which had done nothing to help cool down her erotically charge body.

Don’t tell me the two of us are going to have to sit here like this until the match is over? I’ll have a melt down! 

“Mhn mrrhee (I’m sorry).” Yurishia suddenly whimpered at her friend.

“Hmn (what)?”

“Mhn mrrhee mhr mhhn mhh mhnmo mhsh mhh. Mhee mhf hff hmn mrr mhss mhn hm mhh mhn ohf mff mhsh mhrss (I’m sorry for dragging you into this mess. We should have kept our eyes on the goal and fought off those gel spheres).” The blonde warrior apologised. She only hoped Scarlet wouldn’t think of it as a hollow gesture.

“Hmn mrhee mhh (I’m sorry too).” The redhead reciprocated, nudging her face into her friend’s as a peace offering.

“Hmnn.” Yurishia breathed softly in relief. At least she won’t hold a grudge against me for this. It’s not much, but it helps.

The American duo then tried to find a comfortable position to wait out the rest of the challenge, hoping fervently Aine would manage to clear the entire obstacle course to save the Amaterasu and Master squad’s name.

Now Aine was the only girl left on the obstacle course. Despite that, she put up a valiant fight against the hordes of magitech robots. She’d cleared the blobs and tape but now found herself nearing a third platform.

If I keep going, there’s a good chance some kind of other device will trap me like the others. I hate to admit it, but I might be in trouble here.

The bluenette frowned as she soared at full speed, punching a hole in three magitech dummies and launching them through the air to knock aside three more. That gave her a few valuable seconds to weigh her options.

Having seen her friends taken down by the engineer club’s devious inventions had made her slightly nervous to proceed. She’d never felt like that before, and although that annoyed her, it also made her cautious enough not to move without thinking.

This entire obstacle course has been focused on singling us out and overwhelming us with restraints… If the four of us had been combining our might, none of us would’ve ever gotten caught.

Of course, knowing that now did her no good. There were no ‘four of us’, only Aine.

The bluenette had finally realized Momo’s genius in the set-up of this entire obstacle course: To exploit their tendency to work solo rather than as a team, and divide them up so as to capture the girl rather than incapacitate them.

"The only way to beat this course is to work together." The bluenette figured as she destroyed part of the platform and kicked the debris towards her charging opponents. "So if I stubbornly keep powering on ahead, I'll probably end up captured at some point.”

The bodacious warrior kept fighting off the training dummies at her current position, rather than trying to move ahead and risk triggering more of those 'new weapons'. It seemed like the platforms were the only areas outfitted with capture devices.

Aine had also noticed that there was considerably less movement on the platforms she’d passed by. No doubt because those machines had found their recourses depleted due to Hayuru, Yurishia and Scarlet putting up such a good fight.

"I don’t know what’s ahead of me, but I’ve seen what the machines behind me can do. On top of that, they’re more likely to run out of ammo.” The blue haired warrior reasoned. “So that means, my best bet right now is turning back, and get the others off those pedestals."

He voluptuous ace fighter grinned. “I bet those engineers never counted on a fighter getting back in the game after they’d been tied down. All I need to do is get them by my side and we’ll win this challenge!”

And with that, Aine rushed over to free some of her comrades.

The dark purple spheres sprang to life as soon as she set foot on the platform, but without any magitech dummies to stand in her way Aine had made it to the other side before those orbs ever had the chance to grow in number. She launched some debris to make the already airborne orbs splatter and dashed on to the first platform.

That one she crossed with a mighty leap, using some of her reserves to stay airborne and get up speed, thereby avoiding the ribbons altogether

Within two minutes, Aine had made it all the way to the edge of the obstacle course where her friends had been hunkered down on their pedestals.

“HMMNNNN!!” The three helpless young women moaned in relief as they saw the bluenette racing towards them.

I never expected Aine to come to our rescue! Yurishia thought surprised, but pleased nonetheless.

Hurry up and free us! Scarlet moaned into her goop, thereby tickling her fellow captive’s lips since they were almost touching.

Aine-san, please be careful! Hayuru thought nervously. If you get captured, that’s it for us!

“Hey you guys, looks like it’s up to the ace of the entire world to save the day!” Aine boasted. “Good thing I’m around, isn’t it?” She winked playfully as slowed down and eventually stopped near the two pedestals.

But the bluenette was about to find out that the engineer club -and their machines- turned out to be cleverer than she’d given them credit for: They’d set a trap!

Aine had only 5 foot to go when a third pillar suddenly rose beside the other two.

“What?! What’s going on?” She said surprised. “Don’t tell me-“

Two robot arms sprung from beside the bluenette’s feet, using pressure sensors to determine the location of her legs so they could clamp them down and keep her from jumping back.

“Wha- MPPHHNNN!!”

Aine’s yelp was muffled by a third robotic arm clamping a muzzle over her face. The arm soon retracted, but a metal panel gag had locked itself around her head. The same emitters that were woven into the tape and incorporated in the gel had been built into that clamp, meaning Aine immediately began losing strength.

Her first move was to reach around her head with both arms and to try and open up whatever was holding down the clamp.

“Hmppff!” Where is it? There must be some kind of buckle or lock that keeps this thing in place! So why can’t I get it off?! She thought as she fumbled around the cold metal. 

Her fingers slipped from her hair onto the clamp and back, running over every inch in search of a mechanism to unlock her again. But she found no such thing.

“MMHPFF!” She cried in frustration. So, no easy way out then. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, the engineers aren’t idiots after all. Still… THIS IS ANNOYING.

Aine began kicking her legs next, hoping to break the clamps holding her ankles so she could jump clear of this tricky platform and buy herself some time. But none of her restraints gave way.

“HMMRRR!” The bluenette growled angrily as she now started pulling at her gag with all her strength to try and tear the metal apart. Her Hybrid Count was dropping, but she should still have had enough left for Zeros to increase her physical prowess. Even so, the metal proved to be even stronger!

What is this thing made of?! It’s even more durable than the test dummies. I- I can’t break it!

“Hmf, hmf.” Aine panted for a moment, frowning as she let go of her gag.

She clenched her fist. Am I going to have to punch myself? That’ll look stupid I’m sure…

“Hhhmpf.” She sighed. 

But I don’t have much time. Any moment now another creepy device is going to come flying at me to try and restrain me even more I’m sure. So if attacking myself gets this dumb gag out of the way then so be it. One time of being rendered silent is more than enough thank you.

Her fist began crackling as her Zeros created a force field in preparation of her attack.

Aine closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Here goes.

But mere second before she was going to unleash her attack, the robots that had been holding down her legs suddenly slammed into one another, pressing her legs together and making her tumble forward.

“Hmnnn!!” The voluptuous girl shrieked as the energy she built up was lost and she instinctively held out her hands to break her fall and prevent her enormous breasts from being flattened.

But that meant the pressure sensors now knew where her hands were, and in a split second two more clamps had risen to grab hold of Aine’s hands.

Her eyes shot wide open. “HMN (NO)!” She screamed, pulling and thrashing with all her might to try and tear her restraints apart. 

“HMRRNNN!!” Let go of me! Stupid machines!

But the muzzle keeping her so humiliatingly quiet had drained her far quicker than she could ever have expected. Even while the robotic clamps holding her arms began to force them to touch behind her back, Aine’s battle suite had already begun destabilizing and eventually evaporated.

“hmnnn!!” The now defenceless girl growled in fury and frustration. She kept putting up a brave fight, but in the end she didn’t even slow the machines down from slipping a tight leather armbinder over her arms.

“HMRNNN!!” She groaned in pain as she felt her arms being forced to touch from wrist to elbow. What manner of binding is this?! My arms… they’re completely pinned down! I can’t even MOVE them anymore!

The bluenette grunted into her gag again, trying to wrest her body free from the clamps and binder but failing utterly.

“Hmpff, hmpff.” She panted.

And this gag, what’s up with THAT?! They didn’t have to build in gags at all! Just put the emitters in the restraints! What harm is us using our mouths going to do?!

Obviously there was the communication issue, but the four gorgeous warriors couldn’t help but suspect Momo had had another reason for silencing them so thoroughly: To increase their humiliation. And by God did it work!

With Aine already firmly pinned down, two more leather contraptions similar to the armbinder were now brought in.  One moved to cover her luscious thighs and force them together, the other did the same for her slender calves. 

The moment they were laced up, the voluptuous bluenette’s found those powerful legs she was so proud of had been rendered them nearly immobile!”

“HMPPHH (OOOWW)!” She moaned as the pressure on her legs seemed to swell with each new tug from the robotic arms to press her legs closer together and with every inch the zipper moved to keep the binders that way. 

As soon as the binders were zipped up, a mechanical clicking betrayed something had disabled the zipper. No doubt this was done to prevent the last of the stunning female warriors from worming her way out of her incredibly tight leather restraints.

The robotic arms then picked Aine up by her binders and hoisted her off the platform, slowly carrying her towards the pedestal.

“HMMPPRRRNN!!” The blue haired warrior growled, bucking fiercely in an attempt to dislodge herself from the grabbers. But they kept a firm hold of her until they reached their destination, gently lowering her on the base panel.

The last thing two of the robotic arms did before retreating again was force Aine’s legs to bend at the knee, so far that her ankles were resting on top of her leather capsuled fists. The third arm meanwhile had retrieved a rather large and sturdy padlock, which it now hooked into the D-ring sown into the end of the blue haired damsel’s arm binder and next into a similar metal ring dangling from the end of her lower leg binder.

*Click*

That sound marked the finishing touch to Aine’s predicament: An incredibly tight, inescapable hogtie.

Finally, to ensure she wouldn’t roll off the pedestal and hurt herself -or escape-, a metal clamp rose out from her pedestal to lock around her slender waist with a metallic *clank*.

The robotic arms then finally retracted, leaving behind a completely subdued Aine, forced to lie and squirm beside her equally helpless friends with a display reading her name and a time of 20 minutes flat.

This is it. All four of the girls realized as their hearts sank. We’ve all been caught. We’ve- we’ve lost…

“UHMMMHHHHPNNNFFFF!!” The foursome screamed at the top of their lungs. They were near-primal growls, dripping with fury, frustration, embarrassment, and a myriad of other blood-boiling feelings.

Despite having long since realized how futile it was, how counterproductive to wear themselves out, the four gorgeous warrior began writhing around in their bindings as if their lives depended on it.

Hayuru had spent most of her time resting, hoping back-up would appear at some point so she could assist them in her liberation. Now that she no longer had such a saviour to look out for, she figured an all-out struggle was her best bet.

She soon proved herself wrong. All she’d ended up doing was tightening up the ribbons that encircled her body, most of all the ones brushing so closely along her erogenous zones.

“Hmnnff!” She gasped into her wrap gag as her clit began to swell, purely from rubbing herself against her restraints. I- I can’t go on! If I keep pushing myself like this, I-I’ll…

Terrified of the prospect of having an ‘accident’ on stage in front of so many people, the gorgeous raven haired Japanese slumped down in her bindings. Like her Hybrid Count, her fighting spirit had been sapped away by the sturdy and cunning restraints.

Yurishia and Scarlet tried their hardest as well, although they had the added obstacle of getting in each other’s way whenever they tried and force their solidified restraints to give in.

Whenever the buxom blonde tried to move one way, she was hindered by her red haired friend moving another. 

“Hmrrnmmff (Scarlet)!” Yurishia moaned as the redhead pulled her head backward and dragged Yurishia’s along for the ride. “hmflhh mhh hhmm! (follow my lead!)”

“Hhmn, hmmff fhlhh mhhn! (No, you follow mine!)” Scarlet said stubbornly.

The two kept growled back and forth for a little while longer, mouthing incomprehensible commands and vent some frustration at getting so aroused despite this not being the time at all! Every time Scarlet rubbed her knockers into Yurishia’s huge mammaries, both girls yelped hornily.

But eventually they managed to sync their movements and pool their strength to try and tear themselves free from their sticky prison. Sadly, even those combined attempts fell down.

Aine still had the most energy left to spend, which meant her throes were the wildest of all.

But that didn’t mean she was having any more luck. Between the leather binders that left her with no slack whatsoever and the metal band that prevented her from rolling around, never even managed do move an inch.

She kept trying to flex her fingers or pull apart her legs, but the sturdy leather simply wouldn’t give way. There was on slack to exploit, no wriggle room to use. 

Every time she kicked her legs, her arms would be dragged along forcing her to groan painfully into the muzzle silencing her.

“HMRNN MMHH (COME OOOON)!!” She screamed, furious with herself for being trapped in such a humiliating fashion, even after she’d seen three of her friends go down in similar circumstances.

I was supposed to have saved the day! How on Earth did I end up like this?! She thought flustered, her cheeks burning red with embarrassment.

The girls put up their valiant, moan-filled fight for over 20 minutes, but in the end they all failed miserably to escape from their pedestals.

“Hmff, hmff, hmffff.” Aine was panting heavily, her face bright red from her exertions.

If only we'd watched each other's backs. Then those stupid machines never would've gotten so far! She realized, as did the others.

This would never have happened if we'd turned around to help Hayuru the moment we heard her cry out! Yurishia cursed.

This wasn't a training, it was nothing more than a plot to humiliate us! Scarlet thought furiously. What the hell have they been doing to the engineers that they’d hold a grudge like this?!

But an even bigger question offered itself round about now: 

What are we supposed to do now? We can't possibly escape from here, so does that mean… The engineers beat us! Yurishia realized, her cheeks burning red from embarrassment, both at her predicament and the way the restraints were turning her on. Are we going to end up playing their servants for an entire weekend?

There was only one person who could answer that, and she was climbing up on the stage whilst her fellow engineers deactivated all of the devices.

Momo held the mike to her widely grinning mouth.

“WELL, I THINK IT’S PRETTY CLEAR TO EVERYONE WHO HAS WON THIS CHALLENGE!!” She declared, her voice dripping with satisfaction, which only made the bound and gagged warriors tremble with more anger.

“THE ENGINEERING CLUB IS VICTORIOUS!!!!”

The entire crowd cheered, but not half as loudly as the engineers themselves.

“NOW, CAN I GET A BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR OUR BRAVE HEROINES!!”

“HMNF?!” The four captives yelped in surprise.

For us?!

They hadn’t expected that.

And to their surprise, the audience began cheering and clapping for them now!

Lying or sitting or hanging there in their humiliating positions, the four girls felt themselves burning up. They honestly didn’t feel worthy of any sort of praise right now.

Nevertheless, Momo showered them with it.

“THEY’VE PUT UP A VALIANT FIGHT AGAINST OVERWHELMING ODDS, AND EVEN THOUGH THEY ENDED UP LOSING I HONESTLY FEEL THEY DESERVE RESPECT. THEY ARE TRULY THE ACES OF OUR HYBRID GEAR ARMY, AND THE HOPES OF OUR WORLD!!”

“UUOOOOHHH!!” The crowds cheered, clapping even louder.

“AND MAYBE SPECIAL PRAISE IS DUE FOR AINE! NOT ONLY DID SHE HOLD OUT THE LONGEST, SHE ALSO TURNED BACK IN ORDER TO SAVE HER FRIENDS!!”

“YEEEAAHHH!!”

“Aine-chaaan!”

“We love youuuu!”

The bluenette couldn’t help but blush. Shut up. All of you. Or get over here and get me out!

“WELL THAT’S ALL FOLKS!” Momo then declared. “I HOPE YOU’LL HAVE A NICE DAY AND A NICE WEEKEND! TAKE CARE!”

After that the crowd slowly cleared out, commenting on how action-packed the obstacle course was and how cool the Amaterasu group plus Scarlet were.

They also complimented the engineers for showing such amazing skill. None of them ever expected the girls to actually lose.

With the students leaving, Momo powered down her mike and turned to the defeated.

"So you still think the engineering club doesn't have what it takes?" She asked smugly.

“HMMNN!!” Aine groaned, frowning at Momo.

“Hmnff mhs hmmn (let us out)!” Hayuru demanded angrily.

But the engineer just chuckled, a playful glint dancing in her eyes.

"Starting tomorrow, you girls we be our subordinates." She stated. “Those were the terms of the bet.”

“Hmnf hmnn (we know)!” Yurishia mouthed into her gel.

“Hmn mhh mhs mmh mhrmnnh (so let us go already)!” Scarlet whined. Her body was growing stiff, and she was desperate for a shower. All of her and Yurishia’s squirming into the goop had made her feel icky, and the excitement coursing through her body had yet to settle.

“Let you go? When did we make that arrangement?” The busty engineer asked coyly.

“HMRNNNGH??!!” All four girls shrieked as they perked up to look at their captor.

"I feel it would be best if I left you like this overnight inside our hangar, to make sure none of you weasel out of the bet by going into hiding.”

"HMRNN!! (NOOOO!!)" All of the girls shrieked, squirming in angry protest. However the four of them were forced to a halt because they’d spent too much of their stamina already. 

"Don't worry, there is always personnel present in case of emergencies. You won’t be in danger. And if you girls behave there might even be a chance of us removing those gags!" The dark haired girl teased.

“hms mshn fhmnnh, mhmh (This isn’t funny, Momo)!” Yurishia growled, glaring at the cute engineer.

“Hmrhss mh fhmm mhh mhrrhmhh mhnss (Release us from these horrible things)!” Hayuru moaned, angrily pulling at her arms.

“Hmf mhs mhhmnhh mhrnmhnsmphh (This is completely unreasonable)!!” Aine screamed, bucking so wildly she was making the metal belt around her waist clammer.

Momo turned to the bluenette. “Hmmm, I suppose I could make a small concession…” She mused.

The four girls quietened down for a moment, looking at the raven haired engineer in wonder.

She grinned at Aine. “How about if you say: ‘The engineering club is the best there is!’”

“Hmn?”

“Do that and I’ll set the others free!” Momo offered the bluenette ace.

“HMPFF?!” You want me to praise you guys? After what you did to me?! And I don’t even get out?!!

“HMRRNNHPPPF!” Aine growled angrily, cursing at the engineer as she twisted and turned in her arm and leg binders. But as usual, she got nowhere.

“hmnnfff.” She sighed. If it frees the others. Maybe they’ll come and free me when the coast is clear.

“Hmf mphfmphrr mhh mhss mh mhs mhrr mhh! (The engineering club is the best there is!)” She said as loud and coherently she could.

The three other girls sighed in relief. Thank you Aine-san. Hayuru thought.

Honestly, I was a little scared she’d be too stubborn. Scarlet thought to herself.

We should try and figure out a way to free her later. Yurishia pondered.

“I’m sorry, but that didn’t sound anything like what I asked of you.” Momo suddenly said.

“HMNR (WHAT)?!” Aine growled, glaring at the raven haired girl.

“You just spouted some random ‘mmmphs’. For all I know you were putting a curse on us!”

“HMRNGMMGNFFNGGNNNMMMPPHH!!”

Whatever it was that the blue haired captive kept shouting at Momo, it was lost underneath the tight as ever muzzle clamped over her jaw.

“See? You’re being unreasonable.” Momo taunted, making the three other damsels flare up.

All of them ‘mpphed’ at the top of their lungs to protest against the engineer’s unreasonable behaviour.

But to their despair, Momo completely ignored them.

She jumped off the platform. "Maybe next time you'll learn to be a bit grateful for our efforts in providing you with training equipment." She sneered as she walked off in the direction of the hangar.

“MMPH MPHH (MOMO)!!” The four young women howled furiously, renewing their fight for freedom.

But they were powerless to prevent their pedestals to prevent their pedestals from chasing their creator.

The girls were calmly -but not quietly- transported to the hangar, where the blonde, black, red and blue haired captives were forced to spend their day helplessly bound and gagged whilst engineers passing by whistled at their gorgeous bodies, put on full display in their skimpy battle suits.

Naturally the bodacious women squirmed with whatever strength they could muster, desperate to escape their fate.

And somewhere very deep down, the four of them slowly began wishing that Hida would come along to heart hybrid with them. Though whether this was because it could offer them a way of escape, or just because they felt so horny, they couldn't say…