Brian saw the Gaplant moving forward to his position when he prepared his Schneider knives. “Hehe. You think I’m willing to take this lying down?” As soon as the Gaplant began to make its attack the Revenge Gundam latched onto the mobile armor as part of the dive. “Hope you can handle this!” He warned as he began to tear away at the
“Dave! We’ve got a problem!” Brian heard the familiar Schwarz Bruder cosplayer begin to warn.
“Urgh. What is it?”
“America is headed this way! She’s probably still on your case!”
“Well great. Looks like I’ve got someone to look out for.” He recognized the piles of junk around him and knew he had something to assist him. “Seems like a convenient choice that we managed to be placed in this environment.”
“Do you have anything planned for this?”
“Just keep them out of my way and let me finish this battle.”
The cosplayer shrugged when he went to meet with his prior friend, “That’s concentration for you at least.”

“Place your bets here! Place your bets here! Get them in before the match is over!” The Schwarz Bruder cosplayer came up to him and whispered something no one nearby heard. The Mr. Bushido cosplayer began, “Okay people can you pleased mover over here? Give the audience a little more space.”
Hedy found herself among those being moved when she asked, “Hey what’s the big idea? We’re trying to see this!”
The Mr. Bushido cosplayer dismissed it answering, “Yeah yeah, you can get it when you’re watching further back in the crowd.”
“Oh come on. It’s not like we’re causing any trouble. What do we have to move away for?”
“Our front, you follow our rules lady.”

The Danish and Egyptian champions saw the small match occurring within the club. The Danish was the first to observe, “So it looks like that New Zealand rep has a certain amount of anonymity he wishes to maintain.”
“You really think so? I’m just seeing him getting a second wind of maneuvers.”
“As soon as any enemy sees their greatest foe, they will do everything to avoid being seen.”
“I don’t see this as being any different. He’s just battling that Gordon guy like anyone with a decent effort would.”
“He’s not using the Vigna Ghina however.”
“Huh… That’s a thing I guess.”
“It’s clear he has some kind of past he wishes to maintain this for now. Whatever the case there doesn’t seem to be any malicious intent.”
“So you think it’s no problem letting that guy try to be who he is right now?”
“As long as he tries to provide a decent challenge I don’t’ see a problem with it for now.”
“If you think so then I think you of all people should be trying to put your best stuff forward.”
“Believe me; I’m not trying to let the idea get to my head. But we have to save our best efforts for the 11th hour. Relying on our most powerful assets causes us to slack in our best skills. When the time is right, they’ll know when to bring forth their best efforts as well.”

YingJue tried to see if she could squeeze past the Mr. Bushido cosplayer, hoping that as a somewhat obscure fighter, she was under the radar enough not to be recognized. She wanted to get see how this Gordon fought.

Gordon laughed at how the battle was getting interesting for him. "You're the leader alright!" He praised. "But if I defeat you I decapitate the head of the fanclub!" The Gaplant transformed back into it's Mobile Suit form. The damage from the Revenge Gundam was nothing to him so far and in retaliation pushed his opponent's Gundam into the pile of junk to bury him in. "You won't see what's coming to you!" The man further taunted, now shooting at the tower of junk to destabilise and bury his enemy further. Gordon clearly relied on his instincts reminiscent of a beast, meaning he plays dirty and give no chance to his opponents.

Kartal was also forcefully moved back. "Hey, I just want to see the fight here." He protested.
Lindemann turned to see the Danish and Egyptian champions, fortunately not in their sights. "I've got to go." She said to Kartal and left. "I remembered that I need to buy some supplies."
The Turkish champion gave a shrug. "Okay then." He replied. He saw how she quickly left like if she's trying to avoid someone. He returned to Hedy and YingJue. "So what happend now?" He asked them.

Brian braced himself for the dive when he began to fall to the ground at Gordon’s second comment. “Couldn’t be any more right.” When he heard the warning of his next attack Brian looked up and saw the tower of junk above him beginning to crumble. “One detail you can’t seem to consider though…” The Revenge Gundam stood up and took out its energy beam rifle and began to fire at his opponent. In the midst of the blasts the Revenge threw its Schneider knives into the air warning, “Mess with the head, you get the fangs!” With the two throws he began to fire towards the Gaplant again in effort to fire on his blind side.

Hedy tried to answer Kartal’s request but found the cosplayer a problem when she answered, “I’m trying to see but he won’t let me…” She saw some of the cosplayers cheer from something in the battle forcing Hedy to curse, “Oh come on! At this rate I’m not going to be able to see any of the good stuff!”

"I get the feeling there are too many competitors here, and the cosplayer doesn't want us all seeing what tricks he has," YingJue offered, "it must be difficult wanting to keep his tactics a secret but still needing to build publicity at the same time."

While the attack on the Gaplant with the beam rifle was easily dodged the knives at the blind-spot was effective to damage the articulation between the body and legs. "Biting back makes a better opponent!" Gordon laughed. Despite being immobilised now he continued the fight with barrage of the beam rifle and one strike will allow the New Zealand champion to win.

Kartal saw some point. "That will explain a lot." He commented on YingJue's insight. "He's more savvy than we thought. He has secrecy as his advantage." In contrast, Gordon doesn't seem to care.

The German champion panted for breath after going back to the hotel. She didn't want to see the Danish champion after how they previously left in poor terms previously. "I can't see him." She muttered. She tapped her room card at the door of her room to go in and dropped to her bed with conflicted feelings.

The Revenge made another slide from the blasts the Gaplant offered but Brian could see the damage was being done by now. He cursed how long it was taking before he commanded, "Damn it it's got to end at some point! Come on and go down!" It was a few moments before the blasts from the Revenge Gundam managed to make its few hits. The instance brought about an explosion that would have had anyone see it as an explosion. "Hah. Looks like I have another win to chalk up. Now you ought to know your place loser."

Hedy gave up any chances of seeing the battle from afar when she agreed, "I guess. I could almost swear they had something planned." Before she completely gave up hope though she managed to see a hint of yellow in the distance from the gunpla base. "What? Hey let me see that! Let me through!"
The Mr. Bushido cosplayer spread his arm asking, "Hey what's the big idea now?"
Hedy tried to think of a quick excuse when she answered, "Oh I uh... Just dropped my hairpin is all."
He let his arm down permitting, "Oh alright. Just pick it up quick." Hedy bent over when she dropped a pin to the ground attempting to seem as though she was looking. In just a few moments she managed to have a better view of the gunplas that were being used at the base but had some trouble seeing the Carozzo cosplayer's from her edge. "You find it?"
Hedy bent back up when she answered, "Yes! I've got it!" She made a quick gesture to appear as she was placing a pin in her hair and hoped she didn't seem to be suspicious to anyone at the moment.

YingJue approached Hedy, realizing what she was doing and asked in a whisper, "Did you see anything?"

Hedy turned around to YingJue when she heard the whisper. She backed away from the crowd a few steps when she answered, "I thought I did. It looks like that David guy out there has a gunpla I thought I saw before."

Kartal raised his eyebrow with what Hedy said. "Are you sure about that?" He asked her. "I can see that in a non-customised model but a custom model is something peculiar. Where have you seen the model? It may have been on videos." The most likely answer would be the videos on social networks and fansites if it is custom.

Gordon laughed despite his defeat. "And turns out he does bite back when provoked!" He responded. The Gaplant was inspected for damaged before being placed away. "Hey, you're strong and I'll happily work for you when you need a muscle." He gave a handshake with his name card hidden in his palm, intending to pass it on. When he finished his handshake he saw YingJue in the crowd. "So you came to cheer for me? I hope you saw how a real fighter should fight." He laughed and left.
Kartal found the man that spoke to the Chinese champion savage. "He sounded happy to know you were watching his match." He remarked. "What got him interested in you?"

Hedy explained her predicament when she had a chance, "I thought I saw that model back in my qualifying tournament back in Honolulu. I couldn't really see it though."

Brian placed the gunpla into his case before shaking Gordon's hand, "Heh, not a bad deal. See you in the next round then." He said looking down at the card.

The battle had ended and Hedy saw Brain leaving back for his trailer where he would undoubtedly await the next day for the tournament. "Well it looks like it's over now. At least it sounds like David managed to beat Gordon." When she saw Gordon making his way to greet YingJue she became more curious of the situation. She hoped to hear YingJue honestly provide an answer for how she knew him.

YingJue blanched, "H-he came and congratulated me...after the last battle. He told me he admired how I fought..." On the one hand, she felt guilty about shooting the Thai champion in the back, on the other hand she didn't think she needed to feel sorry for wanting to win. She still didn't have the courage to just come out and say it, especially if the three of them wanted to continue to trust each other in the future.

It was with YingJue's comment that Kartal remembered the photo of the Zansbine shot from the back. "I think that's all for today." He dismissed the group. "Better prepare for tomorrow." He got walking back to the hotel, thinking about the disturbing news and couldn't say anything about it. He got himself a beer at the convience store close to the hotel and got himself a copy of the tournament's pamphlet with details on the fighters. He spent the night reading the pamphlet while sending some of his work for the day back to Istanbul.

Heine began helping Miguel pack up their recording set as the crowd began to disperse. He stopped when he saw the Charlotte cosplayer battered with all the crowd that gathered. She even didn't have time to throw away the bucket now filled with bones from Gordon's fried chicken. Heine approached her. "Please let me throw this away for you." He said to her and got the bucket into the bin labelled combustible as Japan is known for segregating waste between combustible and non-combustible.
The Charlotte cosplayer was surprised by the kindness. "Thank you." She blushed. "You really didn't need to."
Heine gave a smile. "Helping out is a human thing." He appreciated her gratitude. "Miguel and I record the event for television and becuase we were able to film a good battle I wanted to show some thanks to the fanclub." He thought about the third period tomorrow. "I'm also a fighter, representing the Kansai region of Japan." He explained. "Please watch my matches"
The cosplayer smiled back. "I will." She replied and waved when the two left.

***

On the next day, Heine began his filming early. "Good morning everyone! It's the image character Heine again! Today is now speeding up to the third period of the tournament! I have got news regarding this period from the staff:

"This period will be unique as opposed to using your own Gunpla, random and premade Gunpla will be assigned to every fighter! Yes, it is the 'Random Gunpla' period! A master Gunpla builder must be able to adapt under any circumstances and this will be a challenge for all!"

The broadcast then showed a colossal capsule machine. "This machine will randomly assign Gunpla and the fighter's opponent. Actually it will be a combination of skill and luck for your opponent may have an advantage of a superior Gunpla. Heine here and that's all!"

Day three had arrived in the Gunpla tournament and Hedy realized that she wouldn’t need to bring her gunplas this time around. “Oh boy, time to see if I get lucky or if I’m going down today.” She turned to her two friends when she pointed out, “At least things will probably be interesting when we get to see what we can work with right?”

“Well shit. Not going to have my best performance out there today. I’ll just have to stick with what I’m good at.” Brian cursed. His new Vigna Ghina had brought him through every obstacle but he would have to prepare for the worst scenario if given a crappy gunpla to work with.
He heard the Schwarz Bruder cosplayer knock on his door when he announced, “We’re on Dave! You ready to give them a real deal of pain?”
Brian put his helmet back on when he agreed, “Of course! I have a reputation to keep out there don’t I?”

The Egyptian Champion observed the machine and the line he and the Danish Champion waited in when he asked, “So is it going to be much of a challenge for you?”
The Danish Champion shook his head when he explained, “Hardly. It’s like they how they introduced. Anyone who can handle hard situations will be able to move forward. It’s just a matter of who has what skill to achieve victory.”
The Egyptian Champion scratched his head when he agreed, “I guess you right. I’m kind of worried about getting a gunpla without any flight capabilities.”
The Danish Champion agreed when he pointed out, “I don’t want to say that this will sort out those who are worthy of going forward. It might be the intent but we’ll be able to show what we’re capable of under such random cases.”

YingJue stood in line with Hedy and Kartal. The random gunpla event would definitely take her out of her comfort zone and she felt completely unprepared. Then again, she had recently trained with the Gundam Mk. V, a suit completely unfamiliar to her. And funnels or bits were fairly common, so she might get lucky. "I wonder what we're all going to get. I wish us all luck," YingJue said with some trepidation.

Gordon was the first to crank the machine. A small capsule fell out of the machine and he opened it up to see his Gunpla. There were some laughter from the queueing fighters with how he got a Geze, a Mobile Suit for junk collecting. He was assigned number 13.
The next to get a random Gunpla was the Israeli Josef, who got a Gundam Dynames. "It's a good thing the sponsors can do nothing about this." He remarked, receiving number 20.
Heine gave a deep breath before cranking the machine. "You can do this despite the odds." He told himself. What he got was a Gundam Throne Zwei, to his luck an orange Mobile Suit that he favours as his presonal colour. 42 was the number he received.
Sanada cranked the machine to get his Gunpla. He was assigned an Octape for the battle, given number 56. "If this is how the champion will be decided, I will accept the challenge." He commented as he held his Gunpla.
Lindemann gave her prayers for a decent Gunpla from the machine. Her prayers were answered with a Gundam Spiegel, concidentally representing Germany in G Gundam. "Should I say my moves?" She thought to herself.
It was Kartal's turn to get his Gunpla assigned, he gulped to see what he will get for the battle. When his capsule fell, his felt his luck is coming by how he received a Gundam X Divider. "I'm confident with this!" He said, also assigned number 33.
YingJue went just after Kartal to have her Gunpla assigned. The God of the capsule machine gave her the distinctive Gundam Ashtaron and number 64. One of the creepy Gundams used by the Olba Frost it's odd transformation got his foes offguard and if YignJue can master this she won't have a hard time.

While the rest of the fighters got their Gunpla selected by the capsule Torres and Saegusa looked at the fixtures of the third period. "I got to say Kid had a good idea." Torres gave his favourable comment. "Although it forced him to build a lot of models it will prevent parts sabotages."
Saegusa gave a nod. "He's now taking a nap after pulling an all-nighter." He informed him. "For the next period Astonage will be in charge of identifying counterfeit parts."

The line moved along before Hedy was finally next. “Oh goody my turn! My turn!” Hedy began to crank the handle enthusiastically when she hoped for her number to come out. “Come on give me a good one…” As soon as she received number 98 she got to see what gunpla she was given. The GPB-04B Bearguy. She scratched her head at receiving what was basically just a novelty of a custom model when she decided, “Uh. It could have been worse right?”

When the Danish Champion came up next he received number 14 and obtained the XXG-01H Gundam Heavyarms. “Guess I’ll get to see what Oleg likes about this one.”

Brian was next when he received number 82 the XXXG-01SR2 Gundam Sandrock Kai. He took a look at his gunpla and considered the disadvantages he would have for the moment. “Hm. Not sure what’s going to be worse, these weird swords or the fact that I get the one used by the pilot who plays with swords.”
Somewhere in the audience a Quatre lookalike somehow overheard the comment when he sighed, “Are those claims never going to end?”
The Schwarz Bruder cosplayer greeted him when he congratulated, “Nice crank Dave. I’d say you got one that’s going to make up for the Vigna Ghina’s absence.”
Brian tolerated the cosplayer’s presence when he agreed, “Not the best outcome, but a formidable machine after all.”
The cosplayer seemed happier than usual when he agreed, “You’re right. So far the best thing that’s happened is the fact that Ms. Germany got my gunpla. I’ve got to find out if there’s some kind of astrological mojo about that.”
Brian made his way towards the waiting area when he requested, “Whatever it is, save it for after the match alright?”

When all fighters got their designated Gunpla the fixtures were shown on screen. Gordon's Geze is up against a Blu Duel, Heine and his Throne Zwei are facing a Gundam Airmaster, Josef and his Dynames will meet a Buster Gundam, Sanada's Octape is against a De'nan Zon, Lindemann and Gundam Spiegel's Team Germany is set up with a GM Sniper II, Kartal is fighting Hector again but with a X Divider and Qubeley respectively, YingJue's opponent is a Gaia Gundam. None of these battles are in a particular order.
Kartal noticed that his rival had a Qubeley, shaking him slightly. "It's nothing." He said to himself. "It's not the same Qubeley as four years ago."

Gordon gave a stunning victory against an opponent in a far superior suit, tearing off limbs, the head and just pummeling the cockpit. "You're just too soft for this Mobile Suit." He mocked his defeat opponent.
"Go! GN Fangs!" Heine ordered as the fangs from the Throne Zwei flew to the Airmaster. The pilot of the Airmaster skillfully dodged most of them before getting hit in the vernier while still in it's fighter mode. Heine charged and bisected his enemy in half, ending the match.
Josef and his opponent knew where each other were but had to make an accurate shot for a victory. They both hid themselves across the canyon. Josef zoomed his sniper rifle's scope and once he got a sight of the Buster pulled the trigger. The Buster Gundam lost it's arm before a chain reaction took the rest down.

YingJue tried to get as familiar with the Ashtaron as possible within the short amount of time before her match. She noticed her opponent was also using a transforming MS. This gave her an advantage as the Ashtaron was flight capable, while the Gaia was not. However, the Gaia had a better assortment of long range weapons, so YingJue's best bet would be to get up close and take advantage of the Ashtaron's imposing claws. While these thoughts ran through her mind, she watched with some awe at how Gordon tore through his opponent despite having a significantly inferior MS.

When it was Hedy’s turn to engage in battle she went up against a gray Impulse Gundam that the Spanish Champion was given. The battle was located in the Armory One colony with the void of space right beneath them. Against very incredible odds Hedy managed to use up her mega particle cannon and missile launchers in a distant attack. Against some incredible odds the duel ended when she managed to use her bear claw to tear the wings off the Gundam and then resorted to using the extending claws to clip the wings of the Gundam. Afterwards the battle boiled down to the two in a brawl that left the Bearguy heavily dented but the Impulse Gundam punched through floor of the colony resulting in Hedy’s victory as the gunpla exploded.

The battle between the Danish Champion and its opponent was unsurprisingly one sided when the Heavyarms unleashed its rockets resulting in the near complete decimation of Torrington Base. The opponent Elmeth was practically only debris among the rest of the base before the Danish Champion fired his gatling guns on the remains.

When Brian’s turn came he used the Sandrock Kai to slice his Kapool Corin Nander Custom opponent to pieces. Even in the limits of space near Vulkanus Brian was able to use its Beam machine gun to help in long range attacks. With the assistance of the heat shotels he was able to slice his opponents’ weapons one by one before he sliced the cockpit area and finished his opponent.